Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/362

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. i. APRIL 30, '98.

Hogarth's works, striking as the indications are of its being the work of the great satirist ; and no one seems to be able to say decisively whether this interesting relic was his work. J. H. MACMICHAEL.

THE NICHOLSON FAMILY OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND (9 th S. i. 228). MR. ISAAC WARD will find in 'Six Generations' a notice of Lady Betty Percy and her husband, - Nicholson. A cheap edition of this book is sold in the village of Bessbrook, near Newry. Headley Bros., Devonshire House, Bishopsgate Street, E.G., stock the earlier complete editions. J. P. S.

Paris.

"To SUE" (9 th S. i. 206, 316). At the last reference the explanation of hernsew as meaning " herring-follower " is a thing to be noted ; it is exquisitely delicious.

However, this is not so much an etymology as a charade. If it were true, we might argue that a donkey is a " key for dons," or a season the "son of a sea." I am afraid we are be- coming frivolous.

To those who care to know the truth about hernsew, and do not already know it, it is worth while to say that it represents an A.F. form *heronceau, later form of heroncel, "little heron," just as lioncel means " little lion." It has often been explained.

WALTER W. SKEAT.

The etymology of " heron-sue " is fixed, yet the editor of the * Encyclopaedic Dictionary ' marks it as " doubtful," including with it the forms in -shaw. Such an expression of un- certainty is, at any rate, better than the blind confidence with which your correspondent W. H N B Y propounds the ridiculous de- rivation printed ante, p. 316. " Heron-sue," forsooth, is " herring-sue," i. e., herring-pur- suer ! This beats Skinner by long chalks. He interpreted -sue as pursue, but had not the temerity to attempt a metamorphosis of poultry into fish. The achievement of this feat was reserved for the Yorkshire bumpkin who created the proverb " As thin as a her- ring-sue," and after him for your correspond- ent, who ought not to have broached the absurdity in your pages without consulting Prof. Skeat's 'Etymological Dictionary' or the * Century Dictionary.' " Heron-sue " is a corruption of O.F. heronceau, diminutive of heron, and therefore properly a young heron ; so lionceau means a young lion. Heron$aulx occurs in a French account dated 1330 (see Godefroy's ' Dictionnaire ' for the reference) : " III C XLV butors et herongaulx, a six s.p." Ten years earlier we find in the ' Liber Custum- arum,' i. 304 ; " Le bon herouncel [soit vendu]

pur xii deniers. Le bon butor pur xii deniers." Note in each quotation the juxtaposition of heron and bittern.

I refrain from speculation on the form " heronshaw " for the heronry properly em- ployed if -shaw be here a distinct English word because I lack examples. The follow- ing from Jamieson is startling: "Herone- sew, s. Properly, the place where herons build " affirming sew to be a corruption of shaw, without the least evidence that "heron- shaw " is the elder of the words ! Indeed, his example of "heronis sewis" (plural) for the bird is of date 1493 ; and the ' Catholicon Anglicum ' notices the term thus ten years earlier by conjecture : " Heron sewe, ardiola."

Halliwell gives " harnsey " as an East An- glian expression for " heron," adding " Hence 'harnsey -gutted,' lank and lean." ^ Oddly enough, in low London speech the equivalent is " herring-gutted." Whether it is a corrup- tion of " heron-gutted " or is of independent origin is problematical. F. ADAMS.

106A, Albany Road, Camberwell.

W. H N B Y is quite wrong in sup- posing that the old title of the heron, hernsue, contains the verb " to sue." Had he consulted Prof. Skeat's ' Dictionary ' he would have dis- covered that it is the Old French heronceau. For the English pronunciation compare the noun beauty and the old-fashioned sound of such names as Beaufort, Beaulieu, Beaumont, Beaupore. Prof. Skeat appears to look upon Shakspeare's hernshaw as a mere corruption of hernsue. We must, however, riot forget that the English surname Clemesha is parallel, and this, I am informed by a member of the family, is derived from the French Clemen- ceau. I should also like to point out that the Walloon dialect turns the diminutive termination eau into ia; thus I have heard milk called lasia an extension of the French lait. JAS. PLATT, Jun.

'THE BAILIFF'S DAUGHTER OF ISLINGTON' (9 th S. i. 229, 291). In my recent book ' Nor- folk Songs, Stories, and Sayings' I again claimed this to be as much a Norfolk ballad as the ' Babes in the Wood,' ' Our Lady of Walsingham,' and ' Old Kobin of Portingall ' (Lynn). A friendly critic having doubted the correctness of my statement, I supported it as follows :

" I venture to think that the internal evidence of the ballad is conclusive in my favour. The squire s son falls in love with the bailiff 's daughter, and i; sent up to London to be bound apprentice to get him out of her way. Now, from the Angel at Is- lington to Cheapside is but a mile and a half, and it would speak ill for the ardour of the lover if he, especially after acquiring some of the boldnc