224
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. iv. SEPT. IB, wn.
characterization of each ; these we give
in quotation marks, merely writing abbre-
viations in full ; the remarks in brackets
.are ours. Neeze is " now northern dialect
and Scotch " (we add that its use in the
A.V. and Shakspere seems to be limited
to the two passages in Job and ' Mid-
summer Night's Dream' not in 'N.E.D.') ;
.tache is " obsolete or archaic " (not in Shak-
- spere ; in the A.V. only among the technical
details of the Tabernacle in Exodus) ; mobled is " obsolete except in dialect " (used by Shakspere in one passage, to be ridiculed). Of the opposed list, scrannel is not called either obsolete or archaic, and the remark " now chiefly as a reminiscence of Milton's use " implies both that it has still some currency and that the Milton line is familiar (Browning, Mr. Austin Dobson, and Carlyle all use the word) ; Mahound is " now only archaic " (we give it for the reason that it is common in historical novels, and may be met also as a facetious archaic ornament) ; niddering is not called obsolete or archaic, and the remark " the modern currency of the word is due to Scott "
- again implies a certain currency (our special
reason for including it is that all schoolboys learn how William I. drew Anglo-Saxons to his standard by applying this epithet to the laggards). Of the other set of words that your critic would wish away unless neese and tache and mobled are admitted, chapeau-bras has a historical-novel currency, voe a travel-book currency, and Zeitgeist a newspaper currency.
It comes to this : your critic's real griev- ance is that we have made a dictionary of current English instead of a complete English dictionary. We willingly admit that all English is better than current English ; but current English is on our title-page. And have you considered what the difference in bulk would amount to ? It would be the merest absurdity (except perhaps for advertising purposes) to give all the Shak- sperian obsolete words like neeze, and the Biblical obsolete words like tache., unless the Shaksperian and Biblical obsolete senses of still current words were also given ; and the obsolete words are a drop in the ocean of obsolete senses.
2. "If vulgar words are recognized, why do we look in vain for cabbage, to pilfer, and razzle-dazzle, the showman's merry-go- round ? "
The latest * N.E.D.' quotations of cabbage in the slang senses pilfer and crib, being respectively 38 and 49 years old, confirm our impression that it is represented in
current slang only by its derivative cab, in
the etymology of which we accordingly refer
to cabbage as archaic. Razzle-dazzle may be
current in the sense named, but we have
never heard it, and the ' N.E.D.' has only
one quotation.
3. " Why should bridge, the game of cards, bean-feast, and nincompoop be queried as of unknown origin ? "
Bridge is queried because nothing is said of its etymology either in the ' N.E.D.' (vol. i., published before the word was current) or in any of our other authorities (Skeat, the 'Century,' the 'Standard,' &c.), and because we could find no confirmation of the etymology given in some small dic- tionaries. Bean-feast is queried because the ' N.E.D.' records three entirely different accounts of its origin, and authorizes none of them. Nincompoop is queried because the ' N.E.D.' declares its origin to be obscure.
4. " Was the original meaning of catacomb (cata-kumbas) ' at the boats ' ? The ' N.E.D.' does not commit itself to such a statement."
Nor do we.
5. "Is misty, used of undefined opinions, identical with misty (nebulosus) ? "
According to the ' N.E.D.' (and our other authorities), it is ; and with hazy and foggy to illustrate a figurative use already too obvious to require illustration, we see no reason to invoke the obsolete variant of mystic, which is the only other misty recorded in the ' N.E.D.'
H. W. AND F. G. FOWLER.
[We think the authors have distinctly under- rated the definite terms of praise in which we mentioned their work. We said we were *' most grateful" for it, and that sentiment is a good way off damning it with faint praise. "Mobled" in Shakespeare need not be ridiculed.]
LORDS KILMARNOCK AND BAL-
MERINO : THEIR FUNERAL.
THE bought ledger of an undertaker in business at Fleet Market, 1745-7, has recently come into my possession. Some entries are worth transcribing.
Amongst the purchases from Mr. Nowell, coffin-plate maker, in 1746, were : Aug. 18. Doub(le) Lead pl(ate) 3 p(ai)r
flo(were)d gilt (plates) Kilmarnock . 13
7 Coronets gilt . . Kilmarnock . 10 6
5 doz. drops . . . . . . . 42
Aug. 16. Doub. lead. pi. 3 pr. small flo'd.
Gilt . . . . Balmarino . 13 7 Lords' Coronets Gilt 10 6
6 doz'n Drops gilt . . . . . 42
