Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/145

 12 s. vii. AUG. 7, i92o.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 117 Capt. Wolseley stated that he had expected, to meet the fleet of East Indiamen, but it was not thought possible for the French to 'have arrived so early. The Medea also sailed into the midst of the French, but succeeded in escaping before a i shot could be fired at her. The action with the Bell one took place on Aug. 11, not 12, 1782, the Coventry then being under the command of Capt. Andrew Mitchell. RICHARD HOLWORTHY. SPOONERISMS (1.2 S. vii. 6, 35, 52, 79). The following ' Line- 3 by an Oxford Don ' were ^printed in The Globe in .June. 1805 : . My brain, was filled with rests of thought, No more bv currving wares distraught, As lazing dreamily I lay In my Canoodian caaay. Ah me, methought, how leef were swite .If men could neither wreak nor spite ; No erring bloomers, no more slang, ' No tungles then to trip the tang ! No more the undergraddering tits Would exercise their woolish fits With tidal ales (and false, I wis) Of my fame-farred tamethesis ! I do not think the instance has been given 'of the cox at the Oxford eights, who at the starting-point gave the order, "stroke her backside." I may add that I can remember as a schoolboy hearing the master who was reading the lesson in chapel say " duff and -demb," and correct himself, " demb and duff." CINQVOYS. The defect commonly known as Spooner- ism is known in medical parlance as " Marrowskying," a term which has often puzzled me and gave me no suggestion of its origin. MR. WHIBLEY'S contribution that in 1863 it was known as the language Marouski leads one a step further and points probably to an individual of that name. May one of your readers track him to his lair ! As MR. MENMUIR appears to be seeking something more than examples of Spooner- ism he may be interested in the psychological explanation of the defect. It is said to be due to the intrusion of the subconsciousness of the speaker. We subconsciously construct our sentences before uttering them and -sometimes the preliminary work gets mixed up with the timber. The British Medical Journal some years ago ( alas ! the date is torn off my cutting) gave an extract from an article by Professor Jastrow in The Literary Diqest. The Professor says : " The complexity of speech requires the occupation with many processes at once, and some of these the nicer, more delicate, less familiar ones will receive the major attention, while the roiitine factors engage but a minor degree of concern. Slight fluctuations in the condition of the speaker physiological ones, such as fatigue, and for the most part, psychologi- cal ones, such as excitement, apprehension, embarrassment will induce variations in the nicety of adjustment that are recognizable as typical slips of the tongue or pen and still more of the tongue-and-pen-guiding mechanism.... There are the anticipations, persistencies, the interchanges, the substitutions and the entangle- ment of letters, and of words all of them in- dicative of shortcomings in the minute distribu- tion of attention and co-ordination." Marrowskying occurs in writing and should always be reckoned with in the interpretation of difficult passages in MSS. RORY FLETCHER. Some account of the form of slang called " Marouske " will be found in the late Henry Sampson's ''Slang Dictionary," where we find it termed "Marrowskying." with a reference to "medical Greek," which is described as : "the slang used by medical students at the hos- pitals. At the London University they have a way of disguising English, described by Albert Smith as the Gower Street Dialect which consists in transposing the initials of words." C. P. HALE. I tremble when I think what my father, one of your oldest contributors and jealous admirers, would have said, had he survived to find you collecting Spoonerisms. But, if it be done at all, here are some of the best, which should by no means be omitted : (1) "A toast which needs no commendation from me our queer Dean " [the speaker being then Dean of New College] ; (2) An unfortunate transposition in the names of two New College men, Bell and Headlam ; (3) An unintentional proposal, " Will you take me ? " (4) " Boil my icicle " ; (5) "I must hush my brat, for its roaring with pain." vV. E. B. JEDEDIAH BTJXTON (12 S. vii, 29). The full account in Granger's ' Wonderful Museum,' vol vi, 3108-3111 (1808) says he '' had several children. He died in 1778, being about seventy years of age ; " and gives his portrait, representing him at a much earlier period of life than as figured in Wilson's ' Wonderful Characters,'- and elsewhere. Notices of him and his arith- metical feats are in The Gentleman's Maga- zine for August 1751, and December, 1753. W. B. H.