306
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. ix. APRIL 19, 1902.
tive "origin unknown." With all deference
to the learned editors of the great lexicon, I
submit that the etymology of " hog " is much
more transparent than that of a great many
words. It is, of course, Scandinavian from
O. Nor. hogg, a cut (koggw, to cut), whence
Dan. -Nor w. hug, Swed. hugg, a cut, and is
therefore connected with Eng. Aew=A.-Sax.
kedwan, Ger. hauen, to cut=O. H. Ger.
houivan. The compound terms hog-pig, hog-
sheep, hog-mutton, hog-colt, hog-bull, the
diminutives hogget, hoggrel, &c., and the
Scot, hogg and hoggie, which we find in our
dictionaries, denoted, at any rate originally,
cut, i.e. emasculated, animals (in the case of
sheep, also shorn); cf. Fr. couper, Ger. ver-
schneiden, to cut, to geld. Note also the dial,
verb " hog," to cut, as a horse's mane. Con-
fusion as to the exact meaning of the noun
has only arisen since the literal significa-
tion has been forgotten. " Hog " came to be
specifically applied to swine merely from the
great prevalence of that quadruped ; cf. the
'Catholicon Anglicum' (fifteenth century),
s.v. l Hogge/ " inajalis, est enim porcus carens
testiculis." The suggestion in the 'Concise
Etymological Dictionary ' (edition 1901) of
Prof. Skeat, "prob. from an A.-S. *hocff,"
seems scarcely feasible, for A.-S. eg generally
yields Eng. dg. : A.-S. ec0 = edge, mycg = midge,
wecg = wedge, hrycg = ridge (the Northern
" rigg " is from 0. Nor. hryggr). There is no
objection phonetically to deriving "hog"
from O. Nor. how, for Scandinavia itself has
fjord, from 0. Nor. fi'orftr ; ford, from /6VG,
"earth"; while O. Nor. htffuS, "head," has
produced hoved in Norway and hufvud in
Sweden; and we have A.-S. hold, "free-
holder," from O. Nor. holldr.
The facts that we find the stream-name Hogg Beck (0. Nor. leU-r) in the north of England, and hogge and hogastre occurring in the dialect of Normandy, as shown in Moisy's Caen publications, tend to clinch the Scandi- navian derivation. At all events, I have inserted this etymology against the name Hogg in my forthcoming 'Concise Etymo- logical Dictionary of British Surnames.'
Since writing the foregoing I have re- marked that the * Century Dictionary ' favours the notion of " cut " ; but its editors did not detect the direct Scandinavian origin of h g-" HY. HARRISON.
THE YOUNG PRETENDER IN LONDON SEP- TEMBER , 1761.-The old Duke of Norfolk told 1 nnce John Sobieski Stuart that at the coronation banquet of King George III. he was seated in the gallery next to the Young Pretender, and that at the instant of the
Champion throwing down his gauntlet Prince
Charles Edward let fall one of his white kid
gloves, as a challenge to any who would
dispute his father's right to the throne. The
above facts were related to me by Prince
John Sobieski Stuart in the Reading Room
of the British Museum.
H. SYER CUMING.
SIMON ERASER, LORD LOVAT. The follow- ing is a copy (from the original in my pos- session) of a letter which contains some interesting information concerning Lord Lovat :
London, March 14th, -47.
S r Since the writing my Letter I have got some intelligence of the yesterdays Proceeding against L d Lovat, which will not I presume be unacceptable to one of your Inquisitive Disposition, I shall there- fore venture to detain you a little longer with such a relation as a multitude of Business & want of leisure will permit. The Evidence against him was very strong, his own Secretary swearing point blank to his signing a letter produc'd in Court, to the Pretender, wherein he declares he had been active enough in promoting his cause to behead an hundred Lords & hang fifty Commonors. S r Edw d Faulkoner, the Duke of Cumberland's Secretary, appeard against him, concerning his Behaviour since his being Prisoner, and deposed upon oath that upon being taken he declared, in his hearing, that the Discontents of the Nation were so great & the Grieveances sufferdso manifold, that if Kouli Kan had landed in Scotland he believd he should have join'd him : his Deportment in that Days tryal shewd he had little Concern or fear at heart for the eminent danger he was then in, but on the Con- trary manifested rather an intrepidity of Mind arising either from the little appearance of making his escape out of the hands of avenging Justice or the Resolution of an inveterate offender : for when S r Edw d Faulk : had concluded his Evidence, L d Lovat turn'd about to him & with an air of Galantry, wish'd him Joy of his new wife. Further Proceed- ing are delay'd till Monday, which is only lengthen- ing a few Days, a life already burdensome through natural Decay, for the witnesses are so numerous & Facts so plain, that all the cunning he is master of cannot clear him of the accusation : three or four Days is thought by some to be the longest his Tryal will now continue, as they apprehend he has not so many witness as he pretends, to appear in his Defence, the sooner it Ends the better, for it is at present the subject of every ones thoughts & the chief employmt of their time, & that I may not draw you into the number of those misspenders of their valuable moments I shall forthwith subscribe my self Yours to Command
W m Gordon.
THOMAS TURNER. Mill Hill Road, Norwich.
"CHIC." It appears that this word is now recognized officially as good French, having been adopted by the French Academy.
N. S. S.
MACAULAY AND HANNAH MORE. At the beginning of his essay on ' Burleigh and his