Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/339

 12 S.I. APRIL 22, 1916.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

333

" COFFER " AS AN ARCHITECTURAL TERM (v. sub ' A Coffin-shaped Garden Bed,' 12 S. li. 193). M. PIERRE TURPIN suggests that " coffer " is " an architectural term, meaning an oblong panel of ornamental character." I did not know that the panel was necessarily " oblong," but as the ' N.E.D.' was referred to I looked that up, and find the following for " coffer " :

"A sunk panel in a ceiling or soffite of orna- mental character, usually decorated in the centre with a flower or the like."

The ' Dictionarjr of Architecture ' describes " coffer " as

"A panel of any regular geometrical form, deeply recessed from the plane of a soffite, whether level or curved."

That description would include an " ob- long " panel, but I have no recollection of seeing a coffered ceiling or soffite with any but square panels.

WM. WOODWARD, F.R.I.B.A. Church Row, Hampstead.

"SWADDY" (12 S. i. 228). In.* Slang and its Analogues,' by John S. Farmer and W. E. Henley, one of the meanings given of " Swad" (also " Swadder, Swadkin, Swadgill, and Swaddy") is " a disbanded soldier (Grose)," to which is added " now-a-days a militia- man." None of the quotations given, except perhaps the first, points distinctly to a soldier, none at all to a " disbanded soldier," or to a " militiaman." On referring to ' A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue,' 3rd edition, 1796, and Pierce Egan's edition, 1823, I find that Grose has only " Swad, or Swadkin. A soldier. Cant"

In his ' Provincial Glossary,' new edition? 1811, Grose has " Swad, siliqua, a cod [i.e. a pod] ; a pease-swad : used metaphorically for one that is slender." This is reproduced by Nares in his ' Glossary,' but pronounced incorrect by Halliwell and Wright in the edition of Nares, 1872.

Jamieson, in his ' Dictionary of the Scottish Language,' says that " Swad " is a north of Scotland cant term for " soldier." See also the ' English Dialect Dictionary.' Barrere and Leland in * A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant,' 1890, give : " Swaddy (popular), an opprobrious name for a soldier ; in old cant swad, swadkin" They add:

" It is possible that it owes its origin to the cant term swadder, a pedlar, alluding to soldiers tramp- ing about with a knapsack like a pedlar's pack, or to the provincial swad, a sword.

To the quotations given in some of the dictionaries may be added an extract from "Bardolph and Trulla. In Imitation of

Horace and Lydia. By W. Vernon, a private- Soldier in the Old Buffs" :

Trulla, while I thy love enjoy'd,

Nor any of the swads beside, With you might toy and kiss ;

Not George himself in all his state,

And all his pow'r, was half so great,

Nor tasted half such bliss.

A foot-note says, " Swad, a cant Word for a soldier." Bardolph 's rival is a drummer, " Spruce Tom, the son of Serjeant Kite." This song, dated " Winchester, Nov. 2," is in The London Chronicle, Dec. 1-3, 1757, or vol. ii. p. 533. This William Vernon is mentioned in Allibone's dictionary as the author of ' Poems on Several Occasions/ London, 1758. The 3rd The Buffs (at one time called The Old Buffs), by origin a London regiment, is one of the few which have the privilege of marching through the City with drums beating and colours flying It majr be inferred that the word " Swad " (soldier) was used in England over one hundred and fifty years ago, probably much earlier.

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

"Swaddy " comes from an older substan*- tive, " swad," which, also meant a soldier. It originally meant a disbanded soldier, but later was used to describe a militiaman. With the disbanding of the militia the word seems to have fallen into comparative disuse, though in a barrack town I know one of the " calls " was, up to recent years,, parodied as follows :

The sergeants' wives get puddings and pies,

The poor old swaddles get none. The word is opprobrious in character, but it would appear to have arisen through the disorderly behaviour of disbanded soldiers* and militia. ARCHIBALD SPARKE.

Hotten's 'Slang. Dictionary ' (1865) sup- plies :

" Swaddy, or Coolie, a soldier. The former- was originally applied to a discharged soldier, and perhaps came from shoddy, which is made from soldiers' and worn-out policemen's coats." It may signify a toiler = a " swotter." To- " swot," which is used at Harrow for to- work hard, is said by Hotten to have origi- nated at Sandhurst ; it was due to the Scotch- pronunciation of " sweat " by one of the pro- fessors. We are referred to ' N. & Q.,' vol. i- p. 369. ST. SWTTHIN.

SONG WANTED (12 S. i. 227). If mjr memory serves me rightly, the name of the song asked for was 'The Dustman's Wife.' I remember hearing it often as a boy, but do not think I ever heard the name of the publisher. A. BURLS.