Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/290

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vi. SEPT. 21, 1912.

1739, as Anthony Lovvther. (There were by that time ten regiments of Marines, the 44th to the 53rd Foot inclusive.) In the same magazine, January, 1746 (p. 45), is a note of the death of " Brig. Gen." Lowther ; and in February and May (pp. 107 and 273) are notes of the appointments of successors in the colonelcy of the regiment, the an- nouncement of February giving his rank as " Major Gen." He was buried in West- minster Abbey, 22 Jan., 1745/6 ; and Col. Chester says he attained the rank of major- general in May, 1745 (the appointment is in The Gent. Mag. for June, 1745). Chester does not, however, mention his connexion with the Marines. The two Anthony Lowthers were cousins. DIEGO.

"DACIA" = DENMARK (11 S. vi. 146). The term " Dae us " for a Dane dates from very early times. The church of St. Cle- ment Danes in the Strand very often figures in official documents as " Ecclesia Sancti dementis Dacorum." I think the question has been discussed before in ' N. & Q: W. F. PBIDEAUX.

By a curious coincidence the very next page (p. 147) of ' N. & Q.' supplies a signi- ficant comment on this equation, as it contains a reference to the " hundred of Dacorum " in Herts. In my ' Place-Names of Herts ' I explain that Dacorum means " of the Danes." WALTER W. SKEAT.

In 1565 William Lambarde had an abstract made of a ' History of the English ' by Henry, the Archdeacon to Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln (1145), which he concluded was merely an abridgment of that of Henry of Huntingdon. Throughout this "Dacia" = Denmark, and " Daci "=the Danes.

F. LAMBARDE.

CORIO, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA (11 S. vi. 190). It is not correct to describe Corio as " a town near Geelong." Corio was the original name of the northern part of the present city of Geelong, contiguous to Corio Bay. The word has no connexion whatever with the Italian family of Corio. It represents the round of the aboriginal name of the locality as it fell on the ears of the early settlers from the lips of the blacks. Geelong is also an aboriginal word. Seventy- five years ago, when the place was first occupied by whites, two settlements were formed one in the bay called Corio, and the other, a mile to the south on the River Barwoh, called Geelong. With the gradual

occupation of the intervening land Corio dropped out, and the whole town it was recently proclaimed a city came to be known as Geelong. But the oldest thorough- fare of Geelong still bears the name of Corio Street, and the municipal district to the north-west of the city is officially designated the " Shire of Corio." One of the early newspapers was called The Corio Chronicle. More than 50 years ago the late Daniel Bunce, Curator of the Geelong Botanical Gardens, compiled and published a vocabu- lary of the local tribes of blacks. In a pre- fatory note he remarks :

" By speaking this language with a soft Italian accent the reader will have little difficulty in making himself understood by the natives."

J. F. HOG AN.

Royal Colonial Institute,

Northumberland Avenue.

" YELVER " IN PLACE-NAMES (11 S. vi. 191). This word appears in the North of England in different forms, as " gilver," " gelver,'' " yelt," " geld," " gild," and means barren, unfruitful. " Geld soil," " geld rocks " = hard rocks ; " geld ground," a mining expression, is ground devoid of minerals. With such a meaning the word can very well appear in names of places, if these are situated on sterile or stony ground. See J. Wright, ' Engl. Dialect Dictionary,' s.v. ' Geld.' DR. FR. ROSENTHAL.

Sallstr. 3, Hannover.

"VISTO"=:" VISTA" (11 S. vi. 27, 95, 158). My friend Mr. William May, whose name is not unknown in these pages, has kindly supplied me with an interesting example of the use of the former word. He writes :

" Do you know of the following by John Gay ? It appears in his ' Miscellanies ' in a poem entitled ' To a Young Lady with some Lampreys,'' written, I should say, about 1715 :

Should Dian's Maids turn liqu'rish livers, And of huge lampreys rob the rivers, Then all beside each glade and Visto You'd see Nymphs lying like Callisto."

Gay's ' Poems on Several Occasions,' ac- cording to Lowndes, were published in 1720. JOHN T. CURRY.

REFERENCE WANTED (11 S. vi. 189). The lines,

Nor custom, nor example, nor vast numbers Of such as do offend, make less the sin,

are to be found on p. 308 of ' Massinger's Plays ' (Chatto & Windus) in ' The Picture/ Act IV. sc. ii. A. R.