Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/347

 9 th S. X. OCT. 25, 1902.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

339

Q in the present issue. It is needless to say that the comparisons between this part and the correspond- ing portion of other dictionaries establish its para- mount claims. 2,729 words are recorded as against 1,058 in the 'Century,' and 9,480 illustrative quo- tations against 1,316 in the same compilation. In the case of Johnson's, Cassell's ' Encyclopaedic,' and Funk's 'Standard' the inferiority is still more marked. Teutonic words other than those belong- ing to O.E. are few. Quart and quey are from O.N. ; quacksalver, abbreviated into quack, from Dutch ; and quartz from Germar. Attention is drawn by the editor to onomatopoeic words ex- pressing the idea of shaking or trembling, as quag (quagmire), quave, quaver, quiver, &c. Quacksalver was a current form in the seventeenth century for what is now called a quack. The second element is salf, salve=ointment, the first being supposed to originate in the modern Dutch kwakken, to quack. The first quotation is from Gosson's 'School of Abuse' (1579), "A quacke-saluers Budget of filthy receites. The abbreviation now general of quack is first encountered in 1659. It would be curious to discover whether the word is in any way connected with the Parisian mountebanks of the Pont Neuf who used to vend their nostrums by the aid of recitations such as those of Bruscambille. Nothing, it must be owned, except the obvious similarity in the proceedings of quacks and mountebanks, favours a supposition the investigation of which would lead us far. After quitting the compounds of quack in its various senses we come upon the numerous words derived from quad, beginning with that word itself as Oxford slang for quadrangle. No foundation appears to exist between quad in this case and qiiod prison, though such is generally assumed to exist. Quaff, " to drink deeply," and also simply to drink, is probably onomatopoeic, the origin being obscure and suggested derivations being unsupported. Quagga is Hottentot, its earliest form being quacha. The reference to Mr. Platt's article in the Athenaeum should have been to May, 1900, not 1901. The history of quaint repays close study. Its origin is obscure, but it is employed in many senses from a very early date. It was only in the last century that it began to be reserved to express a sort of old-fashioned dainti- ness. In its substantive form its sense is obscure and does not seem connected with any adjectival use. Quaintise seems entirely obsolete, being vir- tually replaced by quaintness. Quaintry (obsolete) =finery. The origin of Quaker=Friend is supplied in the first illustrative quotation. It would perhaps be more strictly accurate to say that it was a few years ago "regarded as a term of reproach." It seems to have passed finally through that phase. Qiialityfiobility, a person or quality, first appears in North's ' Plutarch ' (1579-80). Under qualm we do not find we scarcely expected to find

Sternhold and Hopkins had great qualms When they translated David s Psalms.

Suggested origins for quandary, " qu'en dirai-je?" are dismissed. Quarrel in its various senses has an interesting history. Quarter is one of the most important words in the section. Many of the senses in which it is used seem to have Ijttle connexion with the original sense. Quassia is tiamed after Quassi, by whom its merits were discovered. The history pi queen is fairly well known to the student. A pleasing extract from Hood is given under quean. Queer is of uncertain origin, and was not much used

before 1700. Quell and quench both repay study. It is natural to find an illustration of query in Notes and Queries. Under questing is a quotation from Bailey's 'Festus.' No special reference is made to the " Questing beast." Only a conjectural derivation is given to quibble. Hours might be well spent over quick and its derivatives. Quid, slang for a sovereign, is of unknown derivation. For tobacco to be chewed it is a variant of cud. Quiddity is used in more senses than we should have supposed. Among obscure words must be counted quill. Quill-driving appears, to our sur-

frise, so early as 1719. Quiz is of obscure origin. ts assignment to Daly, a Dublin theatre manager, is doubted. Quoit discus, is also obscure, though probably of French .origin. Quotha, in the form quod a, is employed in 1519. Very satisfactory progress is maintained.

James VI. and the Oowrie Mystery. By Andrew

Lang. (Longmans & Co.)

THOUGH there is-no direct connexion between them, Mr. Lang's new volume may perhaps be regarded as a supplement to his ' Mystery of Mary Stuart.' The two are at least companion volumes similar in appearance and kindred in interest. Ample labour awaits the new (Edipus if he proposes to solve all the problems of Scottish legend. It has long been acknowledged that amidst European nations the history of Scotland stands foremost in picturesqueness and turbulence. To these may be added mystery, and perhaps, though on that point we will not insist, the revelation of baseness. In the case of the Gowrie mystery Mr. Lang is able to base his conjecture upon newly discovered materials, and to advance with the support of evidence a plausible and ingenious theory which may well win, if it has not already done so, the acceptance of historians. Distinct as are Mr. Lang's narrative gifts, and great as is his grace of style, to follow his argument and grasp his con- clusions requires close application. It is impos- sible for us to do more than indicate his views and point to, not tell, their source. It is necessary to assume on the part of the reader a knowledge of the Gowrie Conspiracy, a chapter in Scottish history so fascinatingly mysterious that, according to the opening'words of Mr. Lang's introduction, an old Scottish lady four generations ago used to say, " It is a great consolation to think that, at the Day of Judgment, we shall know the whole truth about the Gowrie Conspiracy at last." The ordinary assumption is that it was a plot of the Earl of Gowrie and his brother the Master of Ruthven to kidnap the king, carry him off to Fastcastle, and there wait developments. Writers in recent times have leant to the opinion that the plot was not laid by James himself, as has sometimes been main- tained, for the purpose of getting rid of the Ruthvens, whom he had some cause to fear and no cause to love. Jealousy of their joint atten- tions to Queen Anne of Denmark, who regarded both youths with favour and is almost held to have compromised herself with both, is even advanced as a motive for a supposed act of treachery on the part of James which is not irre- concilable with what is known of that monarch's character. At any rate, the outcome of the scheme of abduction was the death of the two Ruthvens, who, if they were, as Mr. Lang shows, presumably guilty of the attempt, carried it out in a very lax and slovenly manner. The task, however, though