Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 11.djvu/184

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. XL FEB. 28, 1003.

about ten miles south of Konigsberg. The poem * Aennchen von Tharau ' was written by Simon Dach, and dedicated to her on the occasion of her marriage to Pastor Johann Portatius in 1637. There is a tradition that Dach was in love with her, but the fact is that he had simply been a student friend of Portatius, and as such wrote the poem. The first six lines of the original poem are as follows :

Anke van Tharau osz, de my gefollt, Se osz mihn Lewen, mihn Goet on mihn Golt. Anke van Tharau heft wedder eer Hart Op my gerochtet on Low' on on Schmart. Alike van Tharau mihn Rihkdom, mihn Goet, Du mihne Seele, mihn Fleesch on mihn Bloet. Fuller information may be obtained from 'Simon Dach, seine Freunde, und Johann Roling,' vol. xxx. in Kiirschner's " Deutsche National-Litteratur," pp. xiii, 106, and 107. CHARLES BUNDY WILSON.

Iowa City, Iowa.

'HYMNS ANCIENT AND MODERN' (9 th S. viii. 101, 230, 388 ; ix. 36 ; x. 432, 512 ; xi. 77). Dr. Isaac Watts, in his 'Advertisement to the Readers' of his 'Psalms,' dated 1 Decem- ber, 1718, makes no allusion to altering or adding to the author's words (I suppose he did not contemplate such an enormity) ; but, with regard to omissions, he says :

" If the Psalm be too long for the Time or Custom of Singing, there are Pauses in many of them, at which you may properly rest ; or you may leave out those Verses which are included in Crotchets [ ] without disturbing the Sense: Or in some Places you may begin to sing at a Pause. Dp not always confine yourselves to six Stanzas, but sing seven or eight, rather than confound the Sense, and abuse the Psalm in solemn Worship."

w. s.

KIEFF, KIEV, KIEW (9 th S. xi. 8, 31). The second rendering is, I think, the nearest approach to the Russian, while the third is a Germanized form which, to an unsophisti- cated English reader, would rather suggest our own botanical gardens than the holy city of St. Vladimir. Gibbon's " Kiow" would be unintelligible to a Russian, but by the complicated law of permutations of letters Russian written e sometimes becomes o (e.g., poshel, "begone," is pronounced poshol). Prof. Morfill writes, with reference to ff or v :

"Generally they [Slavonic proper names] are retted among us as a mere jargon and written at random; thus the same person will frequently be found writing Gortchakoff and Woronzow, although the termination is identical in both." ' Early Slavonic Literature,' Preface.

Woronzow is a Germanized spelling of the lebrated Russian name pronounced Voront-

sbv. The "terrible Tsar" was Ivan Vasilie- vitch, sometimes written Wassiljewitch. In many histories he is called "John Basilowitz." Referring to a kindred language, I ask how many lovers of his compositions know how to pronounce the name of the Chekh Dvorak 1 ? Polish names, again (e.g., Mickiewicz), are unrecognizable, and appear unpronounceable. Some authorized canons for transliteration of Slavonic words seem to be urgently required, as MR. ARMSTRONG'S query hints.

FRANCIS P. MARCHANT. Brixton Hill.

The reply to the question "Are we right, or the French, or the Germans?" is that all three are right. Kieff and Kiev are right for English and French. The first represents the Russian sound, the second the Russian spelling. Kieff and Kiev are to one another as Mannering and Mainwaring. Kiew is right for Germans, because their final w is like English ff. Kiew is not right for Englishmen. An Englishman may appro- priately write either Kieff or Kiev, but if he writes Kiew he betrays ignorance. Gib- bon's Kiow is not Russian, but Polish. I may add that all the above forms are dissyllabic, and that the stress is always on the first vowel. JAS. PLATT, Jun.

MR. ARMSTRONG gives us excellent reasons for the correct spelling Kieff. May I ask why he calls this form " uncouth," and why he gives it as an example of a " quick sense of what is elegant " that the French " have followed the Latin word Kiovia " ? I should have thought that it was quite as elegant to be correct as to follow a barbarous mediaeval spelling. COMESTOR OXONIENSIS.

Why not generally adopt the spelling of the Russians themselves 1 If they want to transcribe the name of their ancient and glorious southern capital in our Latin characters, it is usually written Kiev by them, according to the French spelling, as Prof. Morfill informs us. Perhaps the most accurate way of transcribing it in English might be Keeyeff (corresponding with a second German spelling Kijew, and the Polish spelling Kijow). But who would like to accept such an awkward form ? H. K.

" PEACE, RETRENCHMENT, AND REFORM " (9 th S. x. 348, 412, 496). These words were in- scribed under the Three Polar Stars on the banner of Tittlebat Titmouse, successful candidate for the corrupt borough of Yatton in the unreformed Parliament (see Warren's \ Ten Thousand a Year '). Lord John Russell, in his speech on the ministerial plan of