Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/105

 9 th S. II. JULY 30, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

97

which I regard as imitations of Chinee, Mai tee, Portugee. JAMES PL ATT, Jun.

I suppose Magdala even if wrong, as COL. PRIDE A ux shows us is the soldier's way of calling it. I had my boots cleaned in the street here not long since, and the man who " shined " them told me he had been present at the siege of Magdala. I accepted the pro- nunciation, on the exjyerto crede principle, but with a tinge of regret that the veteran had come to such base uses at last.

EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A.

Hastings.

MUGGERHANGER (9 th S. ii. 47). The last part of this name, which appears in Titten- hanger, Birchanger, Clayhanger, Panshanger, and many more, is plainly from the A.-S. hangra, a "meadow'* or "green," but the first part cannot be explained from any known language. Unfortunately the name does not appear in Domesday. Mr. Monk- house, in his 'Etymologies of Bedfordshire,' gives the oldest form he has been able to discover as Morhanger, which afterwards became Moderhanger, then Maugerhanger, and at last in 1612 Mogerhanger. The older form Morhanger, which would mean the " moor pasture," from A.-S. m6r, a " moor," survived till 1676. This is a good example of the uselessness of trying to interpret modern names without reference to their earlier forms, which usually explain them.

ISAAC TAYLOR. Settrington.

BURNS AND COLERIDGE (9 th S. i. 405; ii. 35). I am asked why I omit "the words with which Burns concludes the letter to Mrs. Dunlop." My reply is the very simple one that, acting on the principle that the half is more than the whole, I gave what was to the immediate purpose. THOMAS BAYNE.

Helensburghj N.B.

WADA (9 th S. i. 468). The following is from Dr. Brewer's 'Dictionary of Phrase and Fable':

"Wade's Boat named Guin'gelot. Wade was a hero of mediaeval romance, whose adventures were a favourite theme in the sixteenth century. M. F. Michel has brought together all he could find about this story, but nevertheless the tale is very imperfectly known.

They can so moche craft of Wades boot, So moche broken harm whan that hem list, That with hem schuld I never lyv in rest

Chaucer, ' Canterbury Tales,' 9298."

H. ANDREWS.

It appears that Wada is the Scandinavian St. Christopher, because he crossed a stream

with Weyland in his arms : hence his name, meaning "the wader"; Latin vadum, "a ford." The boat, it appears, really belonged to Weyland the smith or artificer, who con- structed a pair of artificial wings for him- self : so Gutngelot or Wingelot. Way land or Wieland is also known as Volundr.

A. HALL. 13, Paternoster Row.

DE BURGHS, EARLS OF ULSTER (8 th S. vi. 10). In Burke's 'Peerage' for 1898, under ' Clanricarde,' it is stated that " Richard de Burgh, died 1243, married Hod ierna, daughter of Robert de Gernon, and granddaughter, maternally, of Cahill Crovderg, King of Con- naught, and had two sons. Walter and William."

Allow me to ask, Is there any contemporary, or other sufficient, authority for the above- mentioned marriage and issue ? If so, where is it to be found 1 G.

" CORDWAINER " (9 th S. ii. 5). That a cord- wainer is a shoemaker must be known to almost every one, though the original mean- ing, "a maker of or dealer in Cordovan leather" ('H.E.D.'), may not be equally well known ; and a mistake such as GENERAL MAXWELL has pointed out can scarcely ever have appeared in print, for if even a few examples had been sent in, no doubt Dr. Murray would have noted the error.

C. B. MOUNT.

Oxford.

This word assuredly means a shoemaker, and, so far as I can make out, nothing else. There is an excellent article thereon, with numerous illustrative quotations, in the 'H.E.D.' The word is nearly obsolete, but I think not quite. I have heard it used by more than one old person during the last few years, and I know that it occurs in title- deeds and parish registers written in the early part of the present reign. It is strange that a writer of such wide and accurate knowledge as the author of the Quarterly paper on ' Pre- historic Arts and Crafts ' has proved himself to be should have made such a curious slip. We have here one more example of the fact that mere sound will often mislead all but the most wary. EDWARD PEACOCK.

Kirton-in-Lindsey.

For "cordwainer" as meaning shoe- maker, see ' N. & Q.,' 8 th S. x. 253, 343 ; xi. 52. The word has usually been associated with the French cordonnier. R. BOBBINS.

GEORGE OLD (9 th S. ii. 6). A remarkable instance of change of name in the present