Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/105

 9 th S. V. FEB. 3, 1900.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

97

fying rank and cognate participles the sense of the latter does not signify conferring of rank, e.g., captained and marshalled. As to bishoped, my friend reminds me that sixteenth and seventeenth century writers use this term in the sense of " being confirmed by a bishop," in the ceremony of confirmation. He never heard of deaconed; and I wonder whether any one knows of archbishoped. Pace the REV. C. S. WARD, with due respect to him I must still be considered over- sensitive with regard to these verbs.

FRANCIS -P. MARCH ANT. Brixton Hill.

THE POET PARNELL (9 th S. iv. 495 ; v. 33). Those interested in the Parnell pedigree may like to know that a branch of this family is located in West Haddon. It is found firmly established in the village as far back as 1(582, in which year one Thomas Parnell was church- warden. His name may still be seen carved over the south porch of the church and also inscribed on the third bell. There have been five generations in this branch since then, in each of which the name Thomas Parnell duly appears. JOHN T. PAGE.

West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

SIR JOHNS (9 th S. iv. 534). Halliwell gives "Sir-John, a priest," with the following quotation :

" With much adoe and great difficultie obteined that a poore chapell, served with a single Sir John, and destitute both of font and churchyard, might remaine standing in the place. Lambard's ' Per- ambulation,' 1596, p. 317."

A writer on ' Parish Registers,' in Fraser's Magazine for 1861, p. 361, says :

"In the registers of this period [middle of six- teenth century] we shall come upon the old terms of

'Sir Knyght' and 'Sir Prieste.' whilst in the

churchwardens' books we meet with the more familiar phrase ' Sir John' itself."

H. ANDREWS.

Gainsborough.

For various examples and variants of this nickname, see the valuable ' General Index ' to the Parker Society's publications.

EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A.

Hastings.

"ARGH" (9 th S. v. 48). I think the sup- posed etymology from Gaelic may be set aside, and with it the Icel. erg, which is merely the Gaelic word done into Icelandic. See Vigfusson.

Derivation from Icel. erja is quite out of the question. Thesis a mere glide, and the Icel. erja is notoriously represented in Eng- lish by A.-S. erian, E. ear, to plough, with no guttural and a, lengthened vowel. The

slightest acquaintance with phonetics will show how impossible it is.

The evidence seems to show that the right form is hargh; cf. Siritis-herche, Niandes-hergh, Solh-her, Bret-hargfi. The loss of A in a secondarily accented syllable is common ; indeed, it is too common even when the syllable contains the primary accent.

If this be so, the origin is perfectly obvious. There was no necessity for Mr. Atkinson to resort to Icelandic (with the modified vowel o), when all the while the word is native English. Of course in the Wessex (Anglo- Saxon) dialect the a (before rh or rg) will be "broken" to ea. Thus, just as the 'New English Dictionary' derives the adj. argh, timid, from A.-S. earg or earh, so the form hargh is rightly represented by A.-S. hearh (gen. hearges), cognate with Icel. horgr. The original sense was a heathen altar or heathen temple; and I suppose there is no reason why there may not once have been a temple or place of worship (once heathen) at the places indicated.

Again, just as the nom. hearh would be- come hargh, hergh, argh, ergh in Anglo-French spelling (the scribes constantly dropped initial h), so the case-stem hearg(e) would give Harrow, as in Harrow-oii-the-Hill.

Why not work by phonetic rules instead of making impossible guesses ?

WALTER W. SKEAT.

" SOCK " (9 th S. iv. 539 ; v. 53). I was aware that " sock " is quite common, but the other form is, I think, not so common ; and it was about this that I inquired. MR. RATCLIFFE says he has heard it at Worksop. This is interesting, as proving that it is not purely local, but it does not throw any light on the origin of the prefix. C. C. B.

LES DETENUS (9 th S. iv. 288, 354, 425, 522). My grandfather, Dr. James Carmichael- Smyth, Physician Extraordinary to the King, was in Paris with his wife and two of his children when Napoleon insulted the English ambassador, declared war against England, and thrust some ten thousand English visitors into French fortresses for ten years. As my grandfather had ten children, mostly under <ge,4ris detention would have been an awful alamity. Luckily he had travelled in France in his early days, spoke French well, and, after settling in London to practise his pro- Cession, carried on a constant correspondence with eminent physicians in Paris on scientific subjects In nis distress he applied for their assistance, which was at once accorded. The President and a dozen other Fellows of the College of Physicians robed themselves and