Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/92

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. n. JULY ao, i*.

Containing Perseus, Taurus, Draco, Scorpio, Sirius.

129. Zoroastrian Mithraic tablet, a white marble bas-relief, found in the Mithraic temple cave (Grotto di Metromania) in the Val di Metromania, Capri, now in Naples Museum. It is 4 ft. by 3 ft., and contains Taurus, Cancer, Perseus, Draco, Sirius, Procyon, Gemini. In Romanelli, ' Isola di Capri,' 1816 ; A. B. G., ' Notes from Italy,' No. 10, High Peak News, No. 1443, 3 May, 1879, p. 7.

130. Zoroastrian Mithraic tablet, bearing Perseus, Taurus, Scorpio, &c. In Smith, ' Dic- tionary of Antiquities,' p. iii. ; and in Smith, ' Concise Bible Dictionary,' p. 66.

131. Zoroastrian Mithraic tablet, similar to the Capri tablet, but Draco, instead of Sirius, is attacking Taurus. Of white marble, in Hall VII., Naples Museum. A. B. G.

INVERURY. It is surely a pity that In- verury, the royal burgh in Aberdeenshire, should have recently degenerated into In- verurie. The new spelling implies change of name not only for the town itself, but for the river at the mouth of which it stands. It is always undesirable that old geographical designations should be altered, and in this particular case no advantage whatever arises from the change. The new form of the name neither improves the form nor facilitates the pronunciation, and its raison d'etre, therefore, is not readily apparent. When the course of the story in the ' Lord of the Isles ' necessi- tates a direct reference Scott writes of the Ury. Further, the place is inseparably asso- ciated with the meteoric career of the lyrist William Thorn, whose headquarters it was when he was at the zenith of his reputation. He never calls the town anything but In- verury, and in his ' Blind Boy's Pranks ' he describes Cupid daintily thus : He launched a leaf o' jessamine, On whilk he daured to swim, An' pillowed his head on a wee rosebud, Syne laithfu', lanely Love 'gan scud Down Ury's waefu' stream.

The closing stanza of his impassioned and effective ' Jeanie's Grave ' is as follows : Move noiseless, gentle Ury ! around my Jeanie's bed, And I '11 love thee, gentle Ury ! where'er my foot- steps tread ; For sooner shall thy fairy wave return from yonder

sea,

Than I forget yon lowly grave, and all it hides from me.

That of itself if only it were known as well as it deserves to be should be sufficient to preserve intact the original form of the names for both river and tov. r n. Thorn's note on the subject merits quotation :

"These mountain streamlets brawl separately down their break-neck journey, and tumble in peace together at the woods at Newton, near Old Rayne. This quiet confluence is the Ury. Like worn-out racers, these boisterous burns take breath, gliding along in harmonious languor some three or four miles, when the peaceful Ury is, as it were, cut through by the Sadie, a desperately crabbed-look- ing rivulet, raging and rumbling from Benachie. From this last annoyance Ury moves onward in noiseless sweetness, winding and winding, as if aware of its own brief course, and all unwilling to leave the braes that hap the heroes of Harlaw. By and by it creeps mournfully past the sequestered graveyard of Inverury, kisses the ' Bass,' and is swallowed up in the blue waters of the Don, its whole extent being only ten miles."

William Thorn's biographer, Mr. W. Skin- ner, in a memoir prefixed to 'Rhymes and Recollections,' states why the old spelling of the place-name is retained in his narrative and in the letters of the poet, and offers an explanation of the later form. He says :

" The modern spelling of the name is Inverurie, adapted [tic] to avoid the possibility of mistake with Inverary, but we have thought it proper both here and in the letters to retain tlie old spelling."

Thorn will live as " the bard of Ury " his keen perception and lyric rapture will sustain him and there is reason to regret that, because the royal burgh in which he lived may possibly be confounded in the post-office with the capital of Argyllshire, its name should be perverted. The people of Inverury should assert themselves, like the people of Duns, and have their awn name or nothing, leaving Inverary or Inveraray to shift for itself. THOMAS BAYNE.

LEIGH : LEA. There are two topographic terms, Leigh and Lea, which are often con- fused, since they are homophones, that is, they are identical in sound, although they differ in spelling and are wholly diverse in origin and meaning. They descend from the two A.-S. words leak (m.) and leak (f.). If names arose from nominatives the derivatives of these words would be now quite undistinguishable, becoming Lee or Lea ; but as names are. usually from the dative singular, the pro- blem is simplified. The A.-S. ledh(m.) makes the genitive ledges or leas, and the dative singular led, whereas ledh (f.) makes the genitive and dative ledge. The first denotes a fallow, untilled land or pasturage, a lea ; while the second means a thicket or rough woodland pasture. Leigh, Leighton, and -leigh descend normally from ledge, while Lee and Lea are generally from led. Unfortu- nately, leigh having often lapsed into ley, a final -lea has usually, owing to assimilation, taken the same form, so that they cannot be distinguished without reference to earlier