372
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vm. NOV. 9, 1907.
(d. 1654). "the grandfather of the magnificent
duke of that name," is not correct. As a
matter of fact, the Duke of Chandos was
not the grandson of this George Brydges,
but a third cousin once removed.
W. F. PKIDEAUX.
S, ITS LONG AND SHORT FORMS (10 S. viii. 205, 258). The type used for printing A. Johnson's translation of Bacon's ' Novum Organum ' (Bell & Daldy, 1859) had the long s ; but the printer has not used the long form when the letter occurs at the end of words. F. JARRATT.
A later instance of the use of the long s than those given at the last reference is Thomas Wright's ' A History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art,' pub- lished by Chatto & Windus in 1875. One might add as a French example the ' His- toire du Chateau de Blois' by L. de la Saussaye, seventh edition, 1875, in which also the long s is used throughout.
BENJ. WALKER.
Gravelly Hill, Erdington.
The long s was used in Canon Sparrow Simpson's ' Chapters in the History of Old St. Paul's,'London, Elliot Stock, 1881.
W. PALEY BAILDON.
Lincoln's Inn.
" TOTTER-OUT " : "JAG" (10 S. viii. 5, 113, 294). MR. FORREST MORGAN says that I mistake "the meaning of 'jag' in slang usage," adding that " it is not a drink, but the results of the drink." To this I reply that my statement rests on observation, and contains no mistake whatever. Over and over again I have heard a limited refresh- ment generally part of a glass of whisky named "a jag," and the reference in every case was certainly to what was to be drunk, and not to the prospective results. Possibly such an application of the term was wrong, but if so the error does not rest with me. " You '11 have a jag before going " was a formula favoured by a generous host of other days, the suggestion being inevitably followed by the proffer of a modest libation. It is likely enough that the word so used is the Scottish substantive which denotes (as Jamieson puts it) " a prick with a sharp instrument." Alcohol in its proper place being a stimulant, a small portion thereof may well be " a jag," a mere pinprick, to wit, in comparison with the intrusive impact of a spur. Commenting on the scholarly pride of Reuben Butler in the ninth chapter of ' The Heart of Mid-Lothian,' David Deans
avers that " affliction may gie him a jagg,
and let the wind out o' him, as out o' a cow
that's eaten wet clover." In his ingenious
prologue to ' ^Eneid ' viii., Gavin Douglas
uses the corresponding verb when he intro-
duces his " ged staf to jag throw blak
jakkis." This may well be the " jag " that
has figuratively found, and is now losing, a
place in Scottish hospitality.
THOMAS BAYNE.
" DOWN IN THE SHIRES " (10 S. viii. 329). Suffolk people commonly speak of " the sheers " with an emphasis which at least suggests a feeling of intense dislike more accurately, perhaps, of unknown evil con- nected therewith. I have known instances of domestic servants who, having been per- suaded to take situations in one or other of the dreaded " sheers," have returned within a month or two to their native county, having found themselves unable to face a prolonged residence amongst " foreigners."
T. M. W.
The "sheers" is a common expression among the half-educated classes in Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and is meant to apply to Mercia and Wessex. " Shire " is a term of Greek derivation, and means a division, and is applied to counties divided by civil authority, as distinguished from those having the natural boundaries of seas, rivers, and estuaries.
I need hardly state that those who use the word "sheers" are most ingeniously ignorant of geography. WALTER SCARGILL.
E. G. T. asks whether this expression is used elsewhere than in Kent and Sussex. I cannot say, but perhaps it may be worth while to recall a similar one used in the same sense in Surrey. I remember when a boy being struck with the expression fre- quently used by the agricultural labourers near Esher, " He 's a low countryman " or "He came from the low country," appa- rently meaning from parts much further from London. W. T. LYNN.
Blackheath.
"UMBRE OTON " (10 S. viii. 329). Umbre is a variant of ombre ; and ombre is an occasional pronunciation of amber, a word which is duly explained in the ' N.E.D.' as meaning (when used of dry measure) the quantity of four bushels. The A.-S. form is ambre ; and umbre oton repre- sents the A.-S. ambre atena, four bushels of oats. The word is particularly interesting as occurring in King Alfred's description of
