116
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. i. FEB. 5, 1910.
"A MUTATION OF THROSTLES" (11 S. i.
70). In reply to H. P. L. I now supply a
copy of my note on the subject. The
reference (given on p. 119 of my paper
' Proper Terms,' Trans. Philological Society,
1907-1910 : Pt. III., 1908-9, Kegan Paul)
is to Science Gossip, 1 Aug., 1867, p. 189,
and therein Mr. J. B. Waters writes to explain
the phenomenon (i.e., "new legs for old,' 1
for the happy thrush) by stating that it is
virtually a superabundant growth of old
scales, which is very excessive, and that
" the scales of the legs increase to a prodigious
size, often being five or six times as large as the
ordinary legs, and, taking a downward growth,
frequently overhang the feet, and in some instances
prevent the bird from standing on a level surface.
These scales becoming extremely dry, they are by
the slightest accident detached from the leg as far
as the knee-joint ; the scales at that part being
smaller, and the skin more flexible, allow the
mass of scales, still retaining the shape of the
original legs, to remain suspended. The legs after
being divested of their old scales appear extremely
thin, and quite pale ; and to any person that does
not make such an examination as they should, but
arrive at a hasty conclusion that the bird has four
legs, and that the cast-off scales, which are so much
the largest, must be the old legs, are very likely to
be deceived themselves and misguide others," &c.
JOHN HODGKIN.
APSSEN COUNTER (10 S. xii. 349). Would not this be a counting-table, or counter, made of the wood of the aspen tree, or trembling poplar, a wood sometimes used in the construction of some lighter articles of daily utility ? A passage from a will quoted in the ' H.E.D.,' s.v. ' Counter,' II. 3, and contemporary with that given by MR. LUCAS, is as follows : " One fether- bed .... standing in the westmost chamber and the best counter, that is in the same chamber' 1 ('Wills and Inv. N.C.,' Surtees, ii. 306). J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL.
In Sussex the local name for an aspen tree was, and perhaps still is, " apse ' ? ; so no doubt the counter in question was made of the wood of an aspen. B. D.
SUSSEX IRONWORKS : OBSOLETE TERMS (10 S. xii. 349). 2. In the Funk & Wagnalls dictionary " swedge "- is described as " a heavy iron block or anvil having grooves, and often large perforations,, for shaping metal, upsetting bolts, &c. n The word is stated to be obsolete.
5. " A devil " is in the same work de- scribed as "a mandrel introduced by a blacksmith to prevent a hole from con- tracting while a piece is being worked, and driven out after the work is completed.' 4 R. VAUGHAN GOWER.
2. It is not clear why this should not
mean a notch-shaped anvil block " swage.'*
4. The parenthesized numbers may well refer to pages of the store ledger I or J.
H. P. L.
2. "Swedge' 1 is a variant of "swage," a piece of iron or steel of the nature of a die, used in giving some required shape to a forging.
5. " Devil " is a small portable grate ontaining a charcoal fire, used for drying
the internal surfaces of a mould.
TOM JONES.
'N. & Q.' : LOST REFERENCE (11 S. i. 9, 58). I much regret to find, upon turning up bhe reference to which two correspondents kindly direct me, that the information sought is not disclosed there. I fancy my par- ticular Hawkins quotation must occur rather later in the Series in question than iii, 415. W. McM.
" EARTH GOETH UPON EARTH " (11 S. i. 48). This verse is taken from an old poem of which a .version is given in E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick's ' Early English Lyrics,' p. 171. This version consists of five stanzas only ; the fourth of them runs as follows : Erthe gos appon erthe as golde appon golde. He that gose appon erthe gleterande as golde, Like as erthe never more go to erthe scholde, And yitt schall erthe unto erthe ga rathere than he wolde.
There is a long editorial note upon the poem, containing references to twelve different versions, one of which runs to twenty-seven stanzas, and to "a corrupt copy of one verse " said by Guest (' History of English Rhythms,' ed. Skeat, 1882) to have been discovered by Sir Walter Scott on a tombstone at Melrose. The version given in the collection I refer to is printed by Perry, 'Religious Pieces,' E.E.T.S. (1867), 95. * C. C. B.
In Rosherville Gardens, in the early sixties ,. the following admonitory notice might have been seen displayed on a painted board in one of the flower-beds :
Earth walks upon Earth like glittering gold, Earth turns to Earth sooner than it wolde ; Earth builds upon Earth cities and towers, Earth says to Earth, "All these shall be ours."
G. O. Ho WELL.
Shooters' Hill, Kent.
Many years ago I saw a monumental tablet in Beddington Church, Surrey, to the memory of a parishioner named Hill or Greenhill (I forget which). The date of it
