Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850

III. "The poor father was ready to fall down dead; but he grasped the broken oar which was before him, jumped up, and called in a faltering voice,—'Arrigozzo! Arrigozzo!' This was but for a moment. Receiving no answer, he ran to the top of the rock; looked at all around, ran his eye over all who were safe, one by one, but could not find his son among them. Then seeing the count, who had so lately been finding fault with his son's name, he roared out,—'Dog, are you here?' And, brandishing the broken oar, he rushed forward to strike him on the head. Bice uttered a cry, Ottorino was quick in warding off the blow; in a minute, Lupo, the falconer, and the boatmen, disarmed the frantic man; who, striking his forehead with both hands, gave a spring, and threw himself into the lake.

"He was seen fighting with the angry waves, overcoming them with a strength and a courage which desperation alone can give."—Marco Viconti, vol. i. chap. 5.

IV. A passage that has probably already occurred to the mind of the reader, Mucklebackit mending the cable in which his son had been lost:

"'There is a curse either on me or on this auld black bitch of a boat, that I have hauled up high and dry, and pitched and clouted sae mony years, that she might drown my poor Steenie at the end of them, an' be d–d to her!' And he flung his hammer against the boat, as if she had been the intentional cause of his misfortune"—Antiquary, vol. ii. chap. 13. Cadell, 1829.

V. "Giton præcipuè, ex dolore in rabiem efferatus, tollit clamorem, me, utrâque manu impulsum, præcipitat super lectum."—Petron. Arb. Sat. cap. 94.

The classical reader will at once recognise the force of the words "rabiem," "efferatus," "præcipitat," in this passage. The expression "utrâque manu" may not at first sight arrest his attention. It seems always used to express the most intense eagerness; see

"Ijecit utramque laciniæ manum."—Pet. Arb. Sat. 14.

"Utrâque manu Deorum beneficia tractat."—Ib. 140.

"Upon which Menedemus, incensed at his insolence, answered,—'Nothing is more necessary than the preservation of Lucullus;' and thrust him back with both hands."—Plutarch, Life of Lucullus.

"Women have a sort of natural tendency to cross their husbands: they lay hold with both hands [à deux mains] on all occasions to contradict and oppose them, and the first excuse serves for a plenary justification."—Montaigne, Essays, book 2. chap. 8.

"Marmout, deceived by the seemingly careless winter attitude of the allies, left Ciudad Rodrigo unprotected within their reach and Wellington jumped with both feet upon the devoted fortress of Napier," Pen. War, vol. iv. p. 374.

Any apology for the unwarrantable length of this discursive despatch, would, of course, only make matters worse.

    C. FORBES.

Temple.

ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES

1. Gnatch.—"The covetous man dares not gnatch" (Hammond's Catechism). From this, and the examples in Halliwell's Dictionary, the sense seems to be "to move." Is it related to "gnake?"

2. Pert.—I lately met with an instance of the use of this word in the etymological sense peritus: "I beant peart at making button-holes," said a needlewoman.

3. Rococo.—A far-fetched etymology suggests itself. A wealthy noble from the north might express his admiration for the luxuries of Paris by the Russian word [Cyrillic: roskosha], or Polish roskosz. A Frenchman, catching the sound, might apply it to anything extravagant enough to astonish a barbarian.

4. Cad.—The letters from Scotland ascribed to a Captain Burtt, employed in surveying the forfeited estates, give an account of the "cawdies," or errand boys, of Edinburgh.

5. Fun, perhaps Irish, fonamhad, jeering, mockery (Lhuyd, Archæologia Britannica).

6. Bumbailiff.—The French have pousse-cul, for the follower or assistant to the sergeant.

7. Epergne, perhaps épargne, a save-all or hold-all. Here seems no more difficulty in the transfer of the name than in that of chiffonier, from a rag-basket to a piece of ornamental furniture.

8. Doggrel.—Has the word any connexion with sdrucciolo?

9. Derrick.—A spar arranged to form an extempore crane. I think Derrick was the name of an executioner.

10. Mece, A.-S., a knife. The word is found in the Sclavonic and Tartar dialects. I thinly I remember some years ago reading in a newspaper of rioters armed with "pea makes." I do not remember any other instance of its use in English.

    F.Q.

MISTAKES IN GIBBON

The following references may be of use to a future editor of Gibbon; Mr. Milman has not, I believe, rectified any of the mistakes pointed out by the authors cited.

In the Netherlands … 50,000 in less than fifty years were … sacrificed to the intolerance of popery. (Fra Paolo, Sarpi Conc. Trid. 1. i. p. 422. ed. sec. Grotius, in his Annal. Belq. 1. v. pp. 1G, 17. duod., including all the persecutions of Charles V, makes the number 100,000. The supposed contradiction between these two historians supplied Mr. Gibbon with an argument by which he satisfied himself that be had completely demolished the whole credibility of Eusebius's history. See conclusion of his 16th book.) [Mendham's Life of Pius V., p. 303. and note; compare p. 252., where Gibbon's attack on Eusebius is discussed.]

In Forster's Mahometanism Unveiled, several of Gibbon's statements are questioned. I have not the book at hand, and did not think the corrections very important when I read it some time back. The reader who has it may see pp. 339. 385. 461-2. 472. 483. 498. of the second volume.

In Dr. Maitland's Dark Ages, p. 229. seq. note, a gross blunder is pointed out.

See too the Gentlemans Magazine, July, 1839, p. 49.

Dr. Maitland, in his Facts and Documents relating to the ancient Albigenses and Waldenses, p. 217. note, corrects an error respecting the Book of Sentences.

"Gibbon, speaking of this Book of Sentences, in a note on his 54th chapter, says, 'Of a list of criminals which fills nineteen folio pages, only fifteen men and four women were delivered to the secular arm.' Vol. v. p. 535. I believe he should have said thirty-two men and eight women; and imagine that he was misled by the fact that the index-maker most commonly (but by no means always) states the nature of the sentence passed on each person. From the book, however, it appears that forty persons were so delivered, viz., twenty-nine Albigenses, seven Waldenses, and four Beguins."

The following mistake was pointed out by the learned Cork correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine, I think in 1838; it has misled the writer of the article "Anicius", in Smith's Dictionary of Ancient Biography, and is not corrected by Mr. Milman (Gibbon, chap. xxxi. note 14 and text):—

"During the first five ages, the name of the Anicians was unknown. The earliest date in the annals of Pighius is that of M. Anicius Gallus, Tr. Plebis A.U.C. 506. Another Tribune, Q. Anicius, A.U.C. 508, is distinguished by the epithet Prænestinus."

We learn from Pliny, H.N. xxxiii. 6., that Q. Anicius Prænestinus was the colleague as curule ædile of Flavius, the famous scriba of Appius Cæcus, B.C. 304, A.U.C. 450. (See Fischer, Röm. Zeittafeln, p. 61-2.) Pliny's words are—

"[Flavius] tantam gratiam plebis adeptus est … ut ædilis curulis crearetur cum Q. Anicio Prænestino."

Gibbon's chapter on Mahomet seems to be particularly superficial; it is to be hoped that a future editor will correct it by the aid of Von Hammer's labours.

    J.E.B. MAYOR.

Marlborough College.

MINOR NOTES

"Ockley's History of the Saracens," and unauthentic Works.