Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/58

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

s. v. JA*. 20, woo.

Stell was the Dutch Governor of the Cape ; he founded Stellenbosch, and his name is borne by Simon's Valley, and, it is believed, by Simon's Bay, on whose shores Simonstown has been built. Constantia, where a cele- brated Cape vintage is grown, was so named in 1686 after his wife. In 1675 Drakenstein was named in honour of the Baron van Rheede, Lord of Drakenstein in Geldern. In 1839 Coles berg was named after Sir Lowry Cole, then Governor of the Cape. Another Governor, Sir Henry Barkly, gave his name to Barkly West. Lord C. Somerset, son of the Duke of Beaufort, also a Governor, named the two districts of Somerset and Beaufort. Port Elizabeth bears the name of the wife of General Donkin. Lord Kimberley was Colonial Secretary when the diamond mines at the place which bears his name were dis- covered. The town and district of Paarl are named from a huge rounded block of granite called the "pearl," a neighbouring angular block being called the " diamond." Saldanha Bay bears the name of Admiral Antonio de Saldanha, who, in 1503, was there attacked and wounded by the natives while watering his ship. The Agulhas Bank, a great shoal which extends from Saldanha Bay nearly to Natal, takes its name from the extreme southern point of Africa, called by the Portuguese Cabo das Agulhas, the " Cape of the Needles." because here, at the time of the discovery, the needle of the compass showed no deviation, but pointed due north and south. One of the curiosities of local nomenclature is the name of the Cameroons, the greatest mountain mass in Western Africa, which means "shrimps," the Portuguese having given the name or Rio dos Carnaraons, "river of shrimps," to a stream south of the moun- tain, which subsequently took its name from the river. Johannesburg is named after Mr. Johannes Rissik, the Surveyor-General of the Transvaal, and not after Johannes Paul Kriiger, as I lately stated. I am asked how Kriiger's name should be pronounced. The g is not hard, and the u is modified, so that Kreehyer very nearly represents the pronunciation in English spelling.

ISAAC TAYLOR.

Would MR. PLATT, whose contributions are always exceptionally welcome, at least to me, be good enough to look a little further into the points discussed by him in your issue of 23 Dec., 1899, and to give us the results of his study ? I frequently converse with people from the Cape who know Cape Dutch ; and I gather that Capo Dutcli (as colloquially spoken) is very different from Holland Dutch. I have (e.g.) always heard Filljune, not Fill-

zune. I have also heard Filljee (Villiers). Joubert I have heard pronounced as in French, except that the final t is sounded (and pos- sibly the initial^ may be as in English, not in French). By the way, I am absolutely certain that the Cape (not the Holland) pronuncia- tion of kopje is identical with the English

copy.

11. J. WALKER.

ORDER OF THE BATH (9 th S. iv. 537). The proper contraction for Knight of the Bath, when the Order of the Bath consisted of one class only (as is now the case with the Garter, Thistle, and St. Patrick), was K.B. When the Order was divided into three classes, a Knight Grand Cross had G.C.B. put after his name, a Knight Commander K.C.B., and a Companion C.B., and the contraction K.B. as applied to the Order of the Bath ceased to be used because there were no longer any simple Knights. It is still perfectly correct to apply it to any one who was a Knight of the Order before it was divided into classes, if such a necessity arises in writing historically. The mistaken idea that K.B. means a Knight Bachelor is largely due to 'Debrett,' which Peerage, I think, until quite recently used it in its pages with that meaning, and added an equivalent explanation in the table of contractions. This contraction, however, ference the contraction " Knt.," which is the g roper contraction for Knight or Knight achelor. A. C. FOX-DAVIES.
 * Debrett ' has now abandoned, using in pre-

Before this Order was subdivided into the three grades of Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commanders, and Companions, the proper contraction of a Knight of the Bath was K.B., as a reference to Beatson's ' Political Index ' or to any Army List anterior to 1815 will show. In the case of a Knight Bachelor, the contraction " Knt." sufficed to describe him. W. F. PRIDEAUX.

K.B. means Knight of the Bath, old style' and was the proper description. There is no "inferior order of Knight Bachelor." The last Knights made according to the ancient forms were at the coronation of Charles II. The Order, military only, was revived with restricted numbers by George I. in 1725. At the conclusion of the war in 1814 it was decided to extend the limits ; and this was done on 2 January, 1815" for the purpose of commemorating the auspicious termination of the contest " by declaring that the Order should be composed of three classes. In 1847 it was further extended by the addition of Civil Knights Commanders and Companions; and the Order now consists of the three classes