Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/275

 9 s.x. OCT. 4, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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affected the derivatives of sing, so that sing-ing ', ting-er, song-ster, all followed suit. It is interesting to notice that, in some dialects, the old pronunciation of singing as (singgingg) may still be heard. On the other hand, as there was no verb to fing, or to ling, or to mong (at any rate in common use), the words finger, linger, monger, and the like kept the old sound, and keep it still. In other words, Jinger and singer are not parallel forms, and have stffered, accord- ingly, a different development.

Some cases are extremely interesting. Few people, for example, know the true meaning of the final -ue in tongue, which arose thus. The A.-S. form was tung-e (tungg'e), and was dissyllabic. The A.-S. un was replaced, as usual, by the A.-F. on, giving the Early E. form tong-e, with an unaltered pronuncia- tion. But the Normans (who controlled our spelling) were used to the O.F. langue, in which the ue showed that the preceding ng was (ngg), and perhaps also (ngg^w). Hence they sometimes substituted a final -ue for final -e in the form tong-e, thus producing a form tong-ue, the function of the -ue being to preserve the ng from being read as nj (njj). When the word became monosyllabic this spelling remained, though the final -ue was now totally useless, whilst the pronunciation became (tung), riming with G. -ung in Schreib-ung. Lastly, the (u) was "un- rounded," giving the modern English sound, which it is easier to pronounce than to write phonetically.

The most interesting cases of all are the three adjectives long, strong, and young ; for though the ng is now a mere (ng) in the posi- tive degree, the old (ngg) is still faithfully preserved both in the comparative and superlative. WALTER W. SKBAT.

"KouND KoBiN."-In 1896-7 ('N. & Q.,' 8 th S. x. 391 ; xi. 177) I denounced the absurd etymology of this phrase which had passed unchallenged down to the time of my writing. I showed that the assertion that "round- robin " is a corruption of rond ruban, accord- ing to some, or of ruban rond, according to others, is sheer fiction. Rond ruban is an impossible combination, rond being one of those adjectives "that must invariably follow their nouns" (Marin de la Voye, 'Comparative French Grammar,' pp. 320, 325) ; and ruban rond is not French because it is nonsensical. How can a ruban a " tissu de soie, etc. plat, mince, et plus ou moins etroit" become rond? And what is there in the disposition of the signatures like rayons de roue to suggest ruban 2 We may be sure that if ruban rond

had once got into speech it would never have been ousted in exchange for the cumbrous circumlocution, " piece [petition, protestation, &c.j revetue de signatures en cercle" (Gasc, 'Engl.-Fr. Diet.'); moreover, the corruption on this side of the Channel would have been " robin-round," in agreement with the word- order.

I have been led to recur to this subject by the fact that the silly myth has been granted a renewed lease of life in the latest English vocabulary, ' Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary ' : and in briefly recapitulating my argument I have in view the convenience of readers who may not have access to previous volumes of ' N. & Q.' F. ADAMS.

115, Albany Road, Camberwell.

JOHN WILLOCK, DIED 1585. In the life of this "Scottish reformer" in the ' D.N.B.,' Ixii. 30-1, it is stated :

" As a Scottish reformer Willock stands next to Knox in initiative and influence ; but it is possible that the rigid severity of Knox became distasteful to him, and apparentljtdeeming the religious atmo- sphere of England more congenial, he about 1562 in which year he was', however, in June and Decem- ber moderator of the general assembly became rector of Loughborough in Leicestershire, to which he was presented by his old friend the Duke of Suffolk."

This passage ignores the fact that the Duke of Suffolk was beheaded on 23 Feb., 1553/4, and it hardly gives a correct account of the origin of Willock 's connexion with Loughborough rectory. According to the ' Composition Books ' at the Record Office, Willock compounded for the first-fruits of the rectory on 6 Dec., 2 Edward VI. (1548), and it is therefore probable that he became rector about that time. According to the same authority, Arthur Lowe, being pre- sented to the rectory by the queen, com- pounded on 31 May, 1 Mary (1554), and this suggests that some attempt was made in Mary's reign to remove Willock from the rectory. In 1562, however, he was the recog- nized rector. But so far was he at that date from "deeming the religious atmosphere of England more congenial" than that which he was breathing in Scotland, that in May, 1562, he would have resigned the rectory but for his fear of a " Papist priest " being pre- sented by the patron to succeed him. He petitioned Cecil that he might be allowed, notwithstanding his absence in Scotland during the next five or six years, to retain the rectory, "finding a sufficient man to discharge his duties," and "bestowing the revenues thereof within the realm to godly uses." See ' Calendar of State Papers, Foreign, 1562,' Nos. 113, 119. H. C.