Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/433

12 S. X. MAY 6, 1922.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 355 No. 1, married a daughter. Did Sir William Bushell reside in the house of his son-in-law's relations?

(12 S. x. 310). There seems evidence that the iordinate eating of beef dulls the intelligence. It is related that Sir Isaac Newton went on to a non-flesh dietary when writing his super-mathematical books. Sir Hiram Maxim is also quoted as being an abstainer from flesh, and fighting Jimmy Wilde trained his wits without meat. The fruitarian races of India are keen philosophic thinkers. The saints of most Churches were abstainers from flesh food, and the directions con- cerning the use of the Field of Ardath are explicit as to the fleshless diet of those who want to talk to angels. JOSIAH OLDFIELD. "BERWICK" (12 S. x. 229, 317). The words " berquet " and " bercovet," though appearing in Bailey's ' Dictionary ' (edition of 1751), were surely never used as the names of any English weight. "10 Pound in Russia, or 173, one-third Pound Aver- dupois " is Bailey's explanation of the two words, which he brackets together and accentuates in each case on the first syllable. But even this is not quite right. The Russian berkovets (stressed on the first syllable) = 400 Russian pounds=10 Russian poods =3601b. avoirdupois. The word is said by Berneker (' Slavisches etym'olo- gisches Worterbuch,' Heidelberg, 1908-1913, i. 50) to be borrowed from old Swedish bicerko in the phrase bicerkoa rcetter, " town- law." It denoted the Swedish skeppund, " ship's pound," of 400 pounds, customary by " tow T n-law " in Swedish commerce. Literally the Swedish words (and cognate phrases in other Scandinavian languages) mean " law of Bjarkey," a place which may be identified with the Birca mentioned by Adam of Bremen (i. 62 ; iv. 20) as an important centre of commerce not far from Upsala. L. R. M. STRACHAN. Birmingham University. " SORENCYS " (12 S. x. 190). I cannot forbear the conjecture that this word is a misreading of " sciencys " = sciences. L. R. M. STRACHAN. Birmingham University. PETER DUCASSE (12 S. x. 290). Ducasse is the Gascon equivalent for Duchene. Del- casse is another form of Ducasse. DE V. PAYEX-PAYNE. WINES (12 S. x. 309). The book to get is ' Wine and Spirits,' by Andre L. Simon (Duckworth and Co., 1919). STEPHEN WALTER. Let me commend ' Notes on a Cellar- Book,' by Professor G. Saintsbury (Mac- millan and Co., London, 1920), to H. P. H. It is well up to date and contains much information which he is in search of. D. K. T. I should like to refer your correspondent H. P. H. to two good books on wines and vintages- how to buy them, where to keep them, and so forth : ' Wine and Spirits,* by A. L. Simon ; and ' The Blood of the Grape,' by the same author. The first may be described as a handbook for the con- noisseur ; the other as a text-book of the trade. The author is a specialist in his subject. G. H. MILSTED. Saintsbury 's ' Notes on a Cellar-Book ' (1920) is one of the best modern books on vintages, with a chapter on bottles and glasses and cellar arrangements. Hints on the storing and keeping of wines will be found in Henderson's ' The History of Ancient and Modern Wines' (1824), Shaw's * Wine, the Vine, and the Cellar ' (1863), and Redding's 'History and Descrip- tion of Modern Wines ' (1851). ARCHIBALD SPARKE. RACING STABLE TERMS : COSH (12 S. x.. 286). It may be worth pointing out that this word, more correctly spelt kosht or kasht, which is included by MR. J. FAIRFAX- BLAKEBOROUGH in his list of stable slang phrases, is not really slang but genuine. Romany for a stick or tree. For the various forms of the word, see Pott, ' Die Zigeuner,' vol. ii., p. 120, and the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, N.S. vols. v., p. 32, and viii., pp. 45, 130. HERBERT W. GREENE. FLEET MARRIAGES: REGISTERS (12 S. x. 271). Eleven years later than the date of marriages at the Fleet quoted by RODMELL, viz., in 1755, John Wilkinson, Master of the Savoy, performed 1,190 "irregular marri- ages " in the Savoy Chapel, and the registers containing such entries are preserved in the vestry. Garrick informed against Wilkinson, who was transported and died on the passage out. These marriages seem to be similar to those at the Fleet. WALTER E. GAWTHORP. 16, Long Acre, W.C.2.