Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/42

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NOTES AND QUERIES,

I. JAN: 8, '98.

to connect this with the Bavarian words ried and riedt, which are certainly derivatives of the root-verb *reuden. Schmeller gives the Bavarian ried, riad, fern., "ejn Stuck Feld, auch ein abgeschlossene Gegend, worin sich mehre Felder befinden"; and ried, riedt, neut., " ausgereutetes Buschwerk, Holz, &c. ; Platz, von Holz, Buschwerk, &c., gereinigt."

As far as the evidence goes at present, I should conclude (1) that the E. rye is from Mid. Fr. rie, O. Fr. riet, a word borrowed from the dialectal German riedt, the equivalent of Yorkshire royd, a clearing ; and (2) that the Gael, reidh, is the same word as the Irish reidh. a plain, O. Irish reid, smooth, flat. If this be right, these two words are from dif- ferent roots. The former is from a Teut. root reud, and the latter from a Celtic root reid ; which are quite distinct. It is the old story as to the distinction between royd and road. WALTER W. SKEAT.

' QUARTERLY REVIEW ' (7 th S. xi. 327). By strange accident the query at this reference received, it seems, no reply. As it is meet that a query admitted to these pages should have a reply recorded against it, whether widely known or otherwise, it may be recorded that the article in question was written by Miss Rigby, afterwards Lady Eastlake.

KlLLIGREW.

"DUNTER" (8 th S. xii. 348, 437). It would appear that in Scotland a " dunter " is a por- poise and a "dunter-goose" an eider duck. Of the former, Jainieson's definition is, "A porpoise, Porcus marinus, Teviotdale, appa- rently a cant term." Regarding the " dunter- goose " he quotes from Brand's ' Orkney ' p. 21 :-

" They have plenty both of land and sea fowls ; as Eagles, Hawks, Ember-Goose, Claik-Goose, Dunter- Goose, Solen-Goose."

Jamieson offers this alternative etymo- logical explanation of the name :

" Perhaps q. dun-eider goose, the goose which has eider-down; or, Su.-G. dun, down, and taer-a, to gnaw, whence E. tear, because it plucks the down from its breast as often as it lays its eggs."

THOMAS BAYNE. Helensburgh, N.B.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (8 th S. xii. 384).- MR. F. E. MURRAY will not be without plenty of advice I suspect, and probably, after all, will have to fall back on his own experience. He should, before starting on any bibliography, have some acquaintance with works that treat oi the subject, though they are mostly so old- fashioned that their advice will be of little use ; but still they must be read. In making these observations I assume MR. MURRAY is a

ipvice. I should like to refer him to my early 3ibliographies, that he may see how vilely }hese things can be printed, and to my Bibliography of Lord Brougham's Publica- tions,' to snow the improvement that is made ^n the printing. He might also observe
 * he arrangement of the books. He should

.ook at the Transactions of our "learned" societies, and most of the "bibliographies" that have been lately published, in order to* avoid their style of printing lists of books- One list I will mention by a friend of mine,, who gives the colophons in parentheses, in this way intimating that all the books he enumerates have no places of publication on their title-pages. At least that is the effect on my mind of (London, &c.), that they are anonymous as regards place of publication. Another authority, in the same periodical, advises simplicity in printing. When he comes to practice, he does not act on his own advice.

The 'Bibliotheca Cornubiensis,' and the difference between the printing of the lists of books in the first and second volume of catalogue of the Law Society, also by F. Boase ; the Catalogue of the Guildhall Library, and many others, may afford instruc- tion and hints.
 * Modern English Biography'; the dictionary

I contend that catalogues require sim- plicity of printing much more than ordi- nary books. I am only suggesting what the Erinter has already done in books, for, two undred years ago, capitals were used in a most unnecessary manner, as can be seen by the following quotation from Thomas Shadwell's 'Virtuoso,' a comedy published in 1676 :

" Thou profound Oracle of Wit and Sence ! Thou art no Trifling Landskip Poet, no Fantastick Heroick Dreamer with empty Descriptions of Impossibilities."

No printer of the present day would put capitals to any of these words, unless it happened to be a title-page.

For an example of the advantage of simple printing see Mr. W. Prideaux Courtney's 'English Whist.' It is full of references to authorities, but so skilfully printed that I doubt if an ordinary reader would even notice them, they are so unobtrusive ; so that the effect is that of a novel, though the book is learned.

If an artist paints a picture, he does not make the most unimportant thing in it the most prominent ; but the printer does. If he has to name a king who is the eighth in his line, a cursory glance at the page reveals nothing but an enormous VIII. ; or if there is a man