Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/620

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NOTES AND QUERIES. tn s. vi. DEC. a. 1912.

' Universal Cambist,' 2nd ed., 1821, ii. 238- 243, s.v. ' Cloth Measure,' where over ninety ells, with their equivalents in English inches, are given. (See also various countries in the body of the book.)

Or they may consult J. H. Alexander's ' Universal Dictionary of Weights and Measures, Ancient and Modern ; reduced to the Standards of the United States of America,' Baltimore, 1850, in which are over a hundred measures under the names El, Ell, and Elle, reduced to their equiva- lents in yards and fractions of yards. These begin with twelve Dutch els, besides what is termed the Netherlandic el, which is a metre. The real old Dutch els range from that of Dordrecht, which was 0'74728 yard (26*90208 in.), to that of Dendermonde (wholesale), which was 0'79944 yard (28'77984 in.). The Amsterdam el (old measure) is given as 0'75219 yard (27'07884 in.). In Kelly it appears as 27'0797 in. (vol. i. p. 10), the difference being only '00086 in.

Not only does the metre appear under the name El or Ell (Holland) in these books, but it appears also (as Elle) in William Tate's 'Modern Cambist,' llth ed., 1862, p. 34. He adds, however, " In some of the Dutch colonies and settlements the former weights and measures of Amsterdam are still used." He gives under that " 100 Amst. Ells = 75'92 yards." That works out 1 ell = 27*3312 in. If the word "El" means by Dutch law a metre, it would appear to have been a mistake to try to make people use the old word " el," which meant about 68 centimetres, for a measure of 100 centi- metres.

All the above three books give 45 in. as the length of an English ell.

ROBEBT PlERPOINT.

GORE OF WEIMAR (US. vi. 402, 423). Permit me to add one further detail to the interesting notes on the above subject. A portrait of Miss Gore (probably Elisa V) may be seen at the Wittumspalais at Weimar. It was painted by Anton Graff (1736-1813), and may have belonged to the Dowager Duchess Amalie. The portrait is repro- duced in Spemann's ' Kunstkalender ' for 1912, on p. 50 (19 February).

HEINRICH MUTSCHMANN.

University College, Nottingham.

SYMBOL FOR " Li " (11 S. vi. 409). Surely the symbol is merely a variation of 00, indicating " no pounds." An addition of items would decide this point, if any totals are given in the document.

MATTHEW H. PEACOCK.

THE TERMINAL " AC " (11 S. vi. 430). The particle ac is Old Celtic in origin. It was of great utility and adaptability in composition, and for that reason it is diffi- cult to assign a concrete meaning to it. Its significance in place- and land - names is uniform, and it invariably indicates pro- prietorship, either tribal or personal. It is found only in Celtic countries, and very seldom occurs before the time of Augustus. Its use as an indication of proprietorship became general and widespread in Gallo- Rornan times. It is rarely found in the Spains or the Britannias ; but more than 400 instances of it are recorded in Northern Italy, and more than 2,000 in the Gauls.

The great majority of place-names com- pounded with ac present a Roman personal name as prototheme, but there is a good number on record in which the prototheme is a Celtic personal name. The compound forms are adjectival, and we get -oca and -acum as well as -acus. It is believed that the Gallo -Roman names with -ac- are new formations upon an ancient model, and that they were primarily masculines agreeing with fundus (an estate). For instance. Brennacus, Epiacus, Vindiacus have fundtis understood. Feminines, like Parisiaca and Eburaca, qualify ciuitas ; and Segontiacum and Eburacum are neuters agreeing with oppidum (a town) understood.

In English the land - name Brecknock contains this particle. " Brecheiniauc " is Old Welsh for *Brecaniacus, i.e., the fundus of Brficanus. The Middle Welsh form is Brycheiniawg, and that has become Bry- cheiniog.

There are other land -names in Wales which contain og for awg, the representative of ac : e.g., Rhyfoniog. Ysgeifiog, and Pebidiog. ALFRED ANSCOMBE.

In a chapter on French village -names in ' Names and their Histories,' the late Canon Isaac Taylor traced this suffix to the Gaulish -acos :

" Latinized as acus or acum. This formed adjectives which afterwards became substantives, denoting the dwelling, or possession, of the person to whose name it was affixed .... In the South and in Brittany the syllable ac has \isually been preserved owing to the accent falling upon it, Albiacus, the estate of Albus, becoming Albiac, and Calviacum, the property of Calvus, becoming Calviar." P. 333.

In other parts of France phonetic law has acted differently.

I confess that until I met with this teach- ing in Taylor I pleased myself with the guess that ac was cognate with aqua, and when I