Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/386

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. vn. MAY n, 1901.

and ehhne. In Chaucer eyghen occurs in 4 Cant. Tales,' 1. 10,134 (Wright's text). *

In Chaucer's ' Prologue,' &c., edited by PROF. SKEAT, the glossary, under 'Tweye,' gives "Two, twain, A.-S. twegen. With this root we may connect twin, twine, twill, and twig. Tusser calls ewes that bear twins by the name of twiggers." Either the g of twegen did not disappear early, or Chaucer went back to A.-S. for this word of two syllables. The g in twiggers could not come at all from a mere glide! Chaucer's wryen^ from A.-S. ivrigen, and ywrye, from A.-S. gewrigen, show no shortening, and must come from a form, early or late, which retained two syllables. Per- haps PROF. SKEAT will admit thje possibility, or even the probability, of ivrigels (covering of any kind, cloth, garment) appearing as a dissyllable in Chaucer.

Wright- WiilckerV Semi-Saxon Vocabulary, No. XIII., is described in a note as follows :

"This vocabulary, which appears from the de- cadence of the grammatical forms, and from the orthography, to belong to the middle of the twelfth century, is an abridgment of No. X. (A.-S. of the eleventh century). It (in MS.) followed a copy of Alfric's grammar written in the same language, and is an extremely curious monument of this latter in its state of transition."

In this No. XIII. hrcef/el occurs in the form setraigel (a carpet, &c.), 547, 41 ; in No. X. it is setrce.gl (328, 33). Since the monosyllabic form dates from 924, the dissyllabic form remains in spite of the monosyllabic for ovei two centuries, and at the end of that time and in the transition stage of the language shows no sign of contraction.

There is always a considerable difference between spoken and written language, and a definite opinion that a word was obsolete a a particular date is a mere assertion, equally impossible to prove or refute. I submit tha it is not unreasonable to assume that a woro common enough to appear in writing at a particular date, would remain in the memory of many sixty or seventy years later, and ii remote districts much longer. A. C. W.

CONFIDENTIAL DISPATCHES TO THE WA OFFICE (9 th S. vii. 208). May I be allowed t refer to this question in connexion with th war in South Africa 1 ? I venture to remar that, Viscount Wolseley having asked tha a person deputed by him should look ove papers at the War Office, and name those he thought necessary for the maintenance of his character, the Marquess of Salisbury, from his place in the House of Lords, replied as follows :

" It is proposed to give unlimited power over con fidential papers of one of the principal depart-

ments of the State. We are the guardians of these )apers, and we have no right to give them up until ve have some security. I cannot admit that ecause a person is appointed by Lord Wolseley le has a right to take our responsibility upon his tioulders and to determine what confidential )apers it may be the most confidential papers hall be given for publication. It is a proposal for which there is no sort of precedent, and it is our uty to the public that we should not consent to it. 'he obvious course is to bring a motion forward in lore detail and at a later date, and then we should )e able to judge in respect of each paper demanded which should be laid on the table or not ; but to his roving commission of an unknown comniis- ioner, who is to decide upon some unspecified principle of arbitration, we are unable to assent." Daily Telegraph, 16 March.

HENRY GERALD HOPE. 119, Elms Road, Clapham, S.W.

THE 42ND AT FONTENOY (9 th S. vii. 286). See Scott's ' Antiquary,' chap, xxvii. : " ' Francie Macraw,' answered Edie Ochiltree, d'ye no mind Fontenoy, and 'keep thegither, Tontand rear'?"

JONATHAN BOUCHIER.

AUTHOR OF RECITATION WANTED (9 th S. vii. 1 50, 237). In the second chapter of ' Vanity Fair' Thackeray remarks :

' We may be pretty certain that the persons of either sex whom all the world treats ill deserve entirely the treatment they get. The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the re- flection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you : laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion ; and so let all young persons take their choice."

send this quotation as a side-light, not as a reply to the above query. H. E. M.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

The Journal to Stella. By Jonathan Swift. Edited

by George A. Aitken. (Methuen & Co.) MR. AITKEN'S labours in eighteenth-century litera- ture have culminated in this excellent and, in a sense, monumental edition of Swift's ' Journal to Stella.' There is no finality in literature, as in other things, and each generation demands its own edition of a classic. Were it otherwise, it might be assumed that Mr. Aitken's edition would answer all conceivable requirements. Swift has been for- tunate enough to secure many able and distinguished editors, and is still thoroughly in vogue. We should hesitate to say how many well-known scholars are now occupied with investigation and annotation. In the case of the ' Journal ' much had been done before Mr. Aitken entered the field. One thing at least the latest editor has done : he has left little for his successors. Johnson himself has scarcely been treated with more reverence than is Swift. The explanatory notes are so ample that little is left to the student except to read straight on. Something now and then is conjectural, but this constitutes a quite insignificant portion of the work.