Page:Studies in Lowland Scots - Colville - 1909.djvu/262

238 bung. Can this be Fr. becquée, a billful? If it be a metaphor from bitch in the ordinary sense it is unintelligible.

Bools—Pery—Tap—"Bairns in France have exercise of the tap (toupie, a spinning-top), the pery (pirouette), the cleking (small wooden bat like a racket), and instead of our gouf, which they (know) not, they haves hinyes." Add hools, marbles (Fr. boule); also in bowling, Lat. bulla, a piece of lead.

From "Glasgow Records" (1691-1717): Burgh Records Society, 1908. We have in these Records the familiar usage in a Scots burgh at the time of the Union—

Bilgets—"To the quarter-master for his pains of giveing bilgets for the localities" (1695). Here we have an attempt to render Fr. billets, the l'mouillé, in which was a familiar Scots sound. We have also frenzies for fringes, where the same sound is represented by z. Similarly the name Daniel is spelt Dainziell, cf. guinzees (guineas).

Chirurgeon, surgeon—"Helping him to satisfie the chirurgen and furnishing drogs" (1696).

Drogs, as above; Fr. drogues. The pronunciation has remained to this day.

Fond, a fund; Fr. fond.

Gadge, a measure—"The baxters have raised their dame a considerable hight above the gadge and measure concluded." The word is still so pronounced. It is Eng. gauge, gage, to measure the contents of a vessel, and of French and Low Lat. origin. It is not necessarily a borrowed word, but the pronunciation, gadge, and the derivative gadger, an exciseman, are distinctively Scots.

Lettron, a reading desk—"The lettron of the clerk's chamber." Fr. lutrin; Eng. lectern; O.Eng. leterone, lectrun, from Low Lat. lectrinum. "It has no connection with lecture (Skeat). As the precentor's desk it lived till that functionary was ritualised out of existence.

Nottor, a notary—"His pairtie called in a nottar" (1701); Fr. notaire.

Syer, a sewer—"Go no farder youth nor the north side of the syre between gavell and well" (1692) "a strand or sayre" (gutter). The word is now pronounced syver. Skeat traces it