Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/481

 9* s. xii. DEC. 12, lore.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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have been in use for many centuries before hoar-thorn was ever heard of, whilst it seems to be assumed, in direct contradiction to all evidence, that the contrary was the case. Hoarthorn is mere English ; but haiuthorn (i.e., "hedge-thorn") is a word of extreme antiquity, one of the old Germanic words existing long before the Saxons came to England, and still represented in three old Germanic languages viz., German, Dutch, and English. WALTER W. SKEAT.

It may interest PROF. SKEAT to hear that in August last a child in this village who had made a collection of pressed flowers and leaves pointed out to me amongst others the leaf of the hawthorn, which she described as a haga- thorn. H. M. BATSON.

Hoe Benham, Newbury.

"PALO DE COBRA" (9 th S. xii. 288, 374, 436)' A couple of references which I have casually come across, and which favour my suggested identification of this plant, may be of interest. In _Ogilyie's 'Imperial Dictionary' (1871 edition) it is observed that the rhizome of Ophiorrhiza mungos

"in the pharmacopceias is termed Radix serpenti- num. It is much esteemed in China, Java, Sumatra, &c., as preventing the effects which usually follow the naja, a venomous serpent [sic], and those of the bite of a mad dog/'

And in the ' Standard Dictionary ' of Funk & Wagnalls, s.v. ' Mungo/ it is mentioned that the mungoose "is said to eat this plant as a remedy for snakebite." A little time spent on following up these clues would, I have no doubt, definitely settle the matter.

J. DORMER.

TRANSLATIONS, GOOD AND BAD (9 th S. xii. 285). In a tentative sort of way I have done a little translating, so that I may timidly put forward a claim to offer a few remarks. All translations are bad, in the sense that all sub- stitutes are bad. A photograph is a poor consolation for the lost touch of a vanished hand. Most of us would gladly cover our walls with Kembrandts or Correggios. Failing these we content ourselves with the humble

Erint or etching. To many minds a trans- ition is an abomination ; my lamented father was of this severe school. But there is a numerous and influential class whose early studies were neglected or not pushed far enough along the lines of advancing scholar- ship, and to whom a first-rate translation is a necessity and a boon. In later life, with economic development, a taste for severe study often springs up. Thus a brilliant transcript of a classical writer may serve as an introduction to the writer himself, pre-

cisely as a first-class criticism of a modern author serves to draw readers to his works. For my own part, I have read most of the authors of antiquity in a modern dress, and have suffered no serious inconvenience there- from. The pleasure I derived has always been tempered by remorse for chances spurned in the heyday of youth. In one respect a transla- tion has a distinct advantage over the original production. One can examine its technique with the eye of a master, and ask oneself whether one could have bettered this or that phrase or turn of thought. As a matter of fact I never take up any translated work without seeking to discover points for admi- ration, either in the diction or the style. Yet I presume one ought to differentiate between the reproductions of the masterpieces of an- tiquity. At the present moment I am read- ing Lecky's * European Morals,' in which I find excerpts translated from the 'Epistles 'of Seneca, polished to such a degree of perfection that it puzzles one to conceive how the matter could be better managed. To me they seem the ne plus ultra in transcription. This is the judgment I am pleased to pass upon Jowett's ' Plato.' Jowett, in my humble opinion, has enriched the language with a new and almost original work. Plato him- self would have some difficulty in recognizing his own labours, unless he had acquired a mastery of English during his sojourn in the nether regions. Nor shall I ever forget the many thrills of exquisite pleasure I got out of John Hookham Frere's rendering of the ' Birds,' &c. of Aristophanes, which is a veritable tour de force, and is well-nigh matchless for symmetry, grace, and bril- liancy of diction. Now the student using a translation should always ask himself whether that rendering has enabled him to get a moderate insight into the fascinations of the original. Few translations rise to this severe test, and so disgust the student with his altogether blameless Greek author. Homer must feel very sore over his English exponents. Most reproductions seem to have been passed through an oven, they are so arid and gritty. All the scent of the rose seems crushed out of them. Like the writing of memoirs, translating is a fine art, which few men are by nature adapted for.

M. L. R. BRESLAR.

" WAKE "=A VILLAGE FEAST (9 th S. xii. 107, 134, 216). At Little Hucklow, in the High Peak of Derbyshire, Wake Sunday is the second Sunday in September. But the annual feast begins on the preceding Saturday, which is known as Wake Eve, or Wake Even, and, till late years, ended on the following Satur-