12 S. X. MAY 6, 1922.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 355
No. 1, married a daughter. Did Sir William Bushell reside in the house of his son-in-law's relations? Percy Hulburd.
Beef: Effect on One's Wit (12 S. x.
310). There seems evidence that the iordinate eating of beef dulls the intelligence.
It is related that Sir Isaac Newton went on
to a non-flesh dietary when writing his
super-mathematical books. Sir Hiram
Maxim is also quoted as being an abstainer
from flesh, and fighting Jimmy Wilde trained
his wits without meat. The fruitarian races
of India are keen philosophic thinkers. The
saints of most Churches were abstainers
from flesh food, and the directions con-
cerning the use of the Field of Ardath are
explicit as to the fleshless diet of those who
want to talk to angels.
JOSIAH OLDFIELD.
"BERWICK" (12 S. x. 229, 317). The
words " berquet " and " bercovet," though
appearing in Bailey's ' Dictionary ' (edition
of 1751), were surely never used as the
names of any English weight. "10 Pound
in Russia, or 173, one-third Pound Aver-
dupois " is Bailey's explanation of the two
words, which he brackets together and
accentuates in each case on the first syllable.
But even this is not quite right. The
Russian berkovets (stressed on the first
syllable) = 400 Russian pounds=10 Russian
poods =3601b. avoirdupois. The word is
said by Berneker (' Slavisches etym'olo-
gisches Worterbuch,' Heidelberg, 1908-1913,
i. 50) to be borrowed from old Swedish
bicerko in the phrase bicerkoa rcetter, " town-
law." It denoted the Swedish skeppund,
" ship's pound," of 400 pounds, customary
by " tow T n-law " in Swedish commerce.
Literally the Swedish words (and cognate
phrases in other Scandinavian languages)
mean " law of Bjarkey," a place which may
be identified with the Birca mentioned by
Adam of Bremen (i. 62 ; iv. 20) as an
important centre of commerce not far from
Upsala. L. R. M. STRACHAN.
Birmingham University.
" SORENCYS " (12 S. x. 190). I cannot
forbear the conjecture that this word is a
misreading of " sciencys " = sciences.
L. R. M. STRACHAN.
Birmingham University.
PETER DUCASSE (12 S. x. 290). Ducasse
is the Gascon equivalent for Duchene. Del-
casse is another form of Ducasse.
DE V. PAYEX-PAYNE.
WINES (12 S. x. 309). The book to get is
' Wine and Spirits,' by Andre L. Simon
(Duckworth and Co., 1919).
STEPHEN WALTER.
Let me commend ' Notes on a Cellar-
Book,' by Professor G. Saintsbury (Mac-
millan and Co., London, 1920), to H. P. H.
It is well up to date and contains much
information which he is in search of.
D. K. T.
I should like to refer your correspondent
H. P. H. to two good books on wines and
vintages- how to buy them, where to keep
them, and so forth : ' Wine and Spirits,*
by A. L. Simon ; and ' The Blood of the
Grape,' by the same author. The first may
be described as a handbook for the con-
noisseur ; the other as a text-book of the
trade. The author is a specialist in his
subject. G. H. MILSTED.
Saintsbury 's ' Notes on a Cellar-Book '
(1920) is one of the best modern books
on vintages, with a chapter on bottles
and glasses and cellar arrangements. Hints
on the storing and keeping of wines will
be found in Henderson's ' The History
of Ancient and Modern Wines' (1824),
Shaw's * Wine, the Vine, and the Cellar '
(1863), and Redding's 'History and Descrip-
tion of Modern Wines ' (1851).
ARCHIBALD SPARKE.
RACING STABLE TERMS : COSH (12 S. x..
286). It may be worth pointing out that
this word, more correctly spelt kosht or
kasht, which is included by MR. J. FAIRFAX-
BLAKEBOROUGH in his list of stable slang
phrases, is not really slang but genuine.
Romany for a stick or tree. For the
various forms of the word, see Pott, ' Die
Zigeuner,' vol. ii., p. 120, and the Journal
of the Gypsy Lore Society, N.S. vols. v.,
p. 32, and viii., pp. 45, 130.
HERBERT W. GREENE.
FLEET MARRIAGES: REGISTERS (12 S. x.
271). Eleven years later than the date of
marriages at the Fleet quoted by RODMELL,
viz., in 1755, John Wilkinson, Master of the
Savoy, performed 1,190 "irregular marri-
ages " in the Savoy Chapel, and the registers
containing such entries are preserved in the
vestry. Garrick informed against Wilkinson,
who was transported and died on the passage
out. These marriages seem to be similar
to those at the Fleet.
WALTER E. GAWTHORP.
16, Long Acre, W.C.2.
