Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 16.djvu/298

290 mystery was called A straw lodger, or a lodger in straw; but, in the new-fangled way of spelling, Astrologer.

It is remarkable that the very word dipthong is wholly English. In former times, schoolboys were chastised with thongs fastened at the head of a stick. It was observed that young lads were much puzzled with spelling and pronouncing words where two vowels came together, and were often corrected for their mistakes in that point. Upon these occasions the master would dip his thongs (as we now do rods) in p—, which made that difficult union of vowels to be called dipthong.

Bucephalus, the famous horse of Alexander, was so called because there were many grooms employed about him, which fellows were always busy in their office; and because the horse had so many busy fellows about him, it was natural for those who went to the stable to say, "Let us go to the busy fellows;" by which they meant, to see that prince's horse. And in process of time, these words were absurdly applied to the animal itself, which was thenceforth styled Busy fellows, and very improperly Bucephalus.

I shall now bring a few proofs of the same kind, to convince my readers that our English was well, known to the Jews.

Moses, the great leader of those people out of Egypt, was in propriety of speech called mow seas, because he mowed the seas down in the middle, to make a path for the Israelites.

Abraham was a person of strong bones and sinews, and a firm walker, which made the people say, "He was a man (in the Scotch phrase, which comes nearest to the old Saxon) of a bra ham;" that is, of