  I wish to note, and to suggest to students in ethnology, the Query, how it comes to pass that John Bull has a peculiar propensity to call things by his own name, his familiar appellative of Jack? Of all the long list of abbreviations and familiar names with which times past and present have supplied us, that which honest Falstaff found most pleasing to his ears, "Jack with my familiars!" is the household word with which ours are most conversant. Were not Jack the Giant-killer, Jack and the Bean-stalk, and Little Jack, the intimates of our earliest days? when we were lulled to sleep by ditties that told of Jack Sprat and his accommodating wife (an instance of the harmony in which those of opposite tastes may live in the bonds of wedlock); of Jack, the bachelor who lived harmoniously with his fiddle, and had a soul above the advice of his utilitarian friend; of Jack who, like Caliban, was to have a new master; of Jack Our childhood past, Jack still haunts us at every turn and phase of our existence. The smoke-jack and bottle-jack, those revolutionary instruments that threw the turnspit out of employment (and have well-nigh banished him from the face of the earth), cook the Jack hare, which we bring in in the pocket of our shooting-jacket. We wear jack-boots, and draw them off with boot-jacks; prop up our houses with jack-screws; wipe our hands on jack-towels; drink out of black-jacks, and wear them on our backs too, at least our ancestors did; while flap-jacks The four jack knaves, jack-a-lents, jack-a-dandies, jack-a-nasties, and jacks-in-office (jack-an-apeses every man jack of them), with that name fraught with mysterious terror, Jack Ketch, are the scape-graces of this numerous family; and, at every Jack who would be the gentleman, at a saucy Jack who attempts to play the jack with us, our indignation rises, like that of Juliet's nurse. But, on the whole, Jack is an honest fellow, who does his work in this life, though he has been reproached with Tom's helping him to do nothing; but let the house that Jack built vindicate him from this calumny. Jack, we repeat, is an honest fellow, and is so more especially, when as Jack-tar (Heaven protect him from Jack-sharks both on sea and shore!) he has old Ocean beneath, and the union-jack above him. Of black and yellow jack, who are foreigners, we make no mention; neither of Jack-Spaniards, nor of Jacko the monkey, whom we detest; but, go where we will, Jack meets us, and is master of all trades, for that we hold to be the right, though, we are aware, not the usual version of the saying. In short, with Merry Andrews, Jerry Sneaks, Tom Noddies, and Silly Simons, we may all have a casual acquaintance; but Jack, sweet Jack, kind Jack, honest Jack, Jack still is our familiar.
MYTHE VERSUS MYTH.When I first began to write on Mythology, I followed the Germans in using mythus for the Greek μῦθος. I afterwards thought it would be better to Anglicise it, and, strange to say, I actually found that there was a rule in the English language without an exception. It was this: Words formed from Greek disyllables in ος, whether the penultimate vowel be long or short, are monosyllables made long by e final. Thus, not only does βῶλος make bole, but πόλος pole, πόρος pore, σκόπος scope, τόνος tone, &c.; so also γῦρος, gyre; θύμος, thyme; στῦλος, style; κύβος, cube, &c.: I therefore, without hesitation, made an English word mȳthe. Mr. Grote, in his History of Greece, has done the very same thing, and probably on the same principles, quite independently of me; for, as I am informed, he has never condescended to read my Mythology of Greece and Italy, perhaps because it was not written in German. We have had no followers, as far as I am aware, but Miss Lynn, in her classical novels, and Mr. J. E. Taylor, in his translation of the Pentamerone, &c. Meantime the English language had got another form of μῦθος, namely, my̆th, which I believe made its first appearance in Mr. Cooley's Maritime and Inland Discovery, and so has the claim of priority, if not of correctness. This form has been so generally adopted, that it seems likely ere long to become a mere slang term. It is used for every kind of fiction whatever; indeed, I have seen it employed where the proper word would be hoax. Nay, to make matters worse, it is actually used of persons. Mrs. Harris, for instance, has been termed a myth, as also was Robin Hood, not long since, even in "N. & Q."! I wonder how Apolodorus would have looked, if he had heard Orion or Polyphemus called a μῦθος! Do I then expect the people of England to surrender their glorious privilege of going wrong without let or hindrance, in matters of grammar and etymology? Far from me be such folly and presumption. All I venture to expect is, that men of learning and good sense will, when they are speaking or writing about those venerable fictions which once commanded the assent of polished nations, use the more dignified term mȳthe, and the adjective mythic, instead of the hybrid mythical, leaving the poor unhappy little my̆th to be bandied about at the popular will and pleasure. WITCHCRAFT IN 1638.I inclose you an extract from an old document in my possession, which appears to be the examination of two witnesses against one Mary Shepherd for witchcraft. The nature of the offence is not
Who sayth, yt about Midsomer last past one Mary Sheapheard of Wareham did pull of one of this Exm̅t̅'s stockings, and within 2 howers after this Exn̅t̅ was taken in all her limbs that she could not stur hand or foot, where upon this Exn̅t̅ considered that the forsd Mary Sheapheard had done her that hurt, and forth wth cryed out upon the sayd Mary Shep. (though the sayd M. Shep. was not present), where upon this Exm̅t̅'s mother went unto the house of M. Shep. to perswaed her to come downe to this Exn̅t̅; but the sayd M. Shep. would not. Whereupon this Exn̅t̅'s mother went unto the Mayor of the Town, who com̅anded the sd M. Shep. to goe to this Exan̅t̅. At length the sd Ma. Shep. accordingly did (and being coe̅), she did wring this Exn̅t̅ by the hande, and pesently this Exn̅t̅ recouered. Ffurther, the Exn̅t̅ sayth, yt about ye 24 of July next followinge, this Exn̅t̅ was taken in ye like manner ye second time, wth her hands and feet wrested about, and so sent for the sd M. Shep., who instantly pulled the Exn̅t̅ by the hands, and pesently the Exn̅t̅ recovered again. Joane Coward de Warha̅, spinster £xx, To appear and give evidence at the next assizes agn̅t̅ Ma. Sheapheard. The Exam̅ of Ann Trew, single woman, of Wareham, taken upon Oath as aforsd. Who sayth, yt on ye 16th of March last past she saw Mary Shep. come into ye house of Joh. Gillingame, and likewise saw Ed. Gillingame come down bare-footed very well, without any lamnesse or sickness at all, and pesently after ye sayd Mary Shep. had pulled on the legginge upon the legge of ye sd Ed. Gill., he fell instantly both lame and sick. Further, the Exn̅t̅ asked the sd Ed. Gill. (in the time of his sickness) what Ma. Shep. did unto him, who answered, she did put her hand upon his thigh. Anne Trew de Warha̅, spinster £xx, To appear and give evidence at next assizes agn̅t̅ M. Shepheard. I should like to know if the effect of her supposed sorcery could be attributed to mesmerism. The document in my possession appears to be original, as Jone Coward's signature is in a different hand to that of the examination. Spetisbury. ST. AUGUSTIN AND BAXTER.I am not aware that any author has pointed out a remarkable coincidence in the Confessions of St. Augustin and of Baxter:
Sir W. Scott cites the above passages in his Life of Dryden, with sharp comments on the rigid scruples of the Puritans:
It probably did not occur to the biographer, that no less illustrious a saint than Augustin, to whom Puritanism can hardly be imputed, had made a parallel confession of like early depravity many centuries before. Enlarging on his own puerile delinquencies, and indeed on the wickedness of children in general, he confesses that, in company with other "naughty boys" ("nequissimi adolescentuli"), he not only stole apples, but stole them for the mere pleasure of the thing, and when he "had enough at home":
In comparing the two cases, the balance of juvenile depravity is very much against the great Doctor of Grace. He does not seem to have had even a fondness for fruit to plead in extenuation of his larceny. He robbed orchards by wholesale of apples, which, by his own admission, had no attractions either of form or flavour to tempt him. Yet the two anecdotes are so much alike, that one would be inclined to suspect one story of being a mere recoction of the other if it were possible to doubt the veracity of Richard Baxter. The incident, however, is one too familiar in schoolboy life to make the repetition of the story a matter of surprise. The property in an apple growing within the reach of a boy's hand has from time immemorial been in peril, and the law itself has not always regarded it as an object of scrupulous protection. The old laws of the Rheingau, and (if I mistake not) of some other states, warranted a wayfaring man in picking apples from any tree, provided he did not exceed the number of three. FOLK LORE.Subterranean Bells (Vol. vii., pp. 128. 200.).—In answer to J. J. S.'s inquiry, I beg to state, that at Crosmere, near Ellesmere, Shropshire, where there is one of a number of pretty lakes scattered throughout that district, there is a tradition of a chapel having formerly stood on the banks of the lake. And it is said that the belief once was, that whenever the waters were ruffled by wind, the chapel bells might be heard as singing beneath the surface. This, though bearing on the subject of "submarine" or "subaqueous," rather than "subterranean" bells, illustrates, I think, the tradition to which J. J. S. refers. Hordley, Ellesmere. Welsh Legend of the Redbreast.—According to my old nurse (a Carmarthenshire woman), the redbreast, like Prometheus, is the victim φιλανθρώπου τρόπου . Not only the babes in the wood, but mankind at large, are indebted to these deserving favourites. How could any child help regarding with grateful veneration the little bird with bosom red, when assured—
Why, a Pythagorean would have eaten a peacock sooner than one of us would have injured a robin.
JOHNSONIANA.I inclose you a transcript of a letter of Boswell's which I think worthy of being permanently recorded, and am not aware of its having been before in print.
Minor Notes.White Roses.—In an old newspaper, The Weekly Journal, or British Gazetteer, of Saturday, June 15, 1723, I find the following paragraph:
Can you, or any of your correspondents, explain this curious allusion? Is it to the emblem of the House of York, or the badge of the Pretender? Fifeshire Pronunciation.—I have observed, in various parts of Fifeshire, a singular peculiarity in the pronunciation of certain words, of which the following are specimens:
This strange mode is not altogether confined to the most illiterate portion of the people. My query is, Does this peculiarity obtain in any other portion of Scotland? Paisley. Original Letter.—The following letter, written by the French general at Guadaloupe, when it was taken in 1810, to his conqueror, is an exquisite specimen of something more than that national politeness which does not desert a Frenchman even in misfortune. I possess the original:
Erroneous Forms of Speech.—Since you allow your correspondents to correct such words as teetotal, I hope you will allow me to call the attention of your agricultural readers to the corruption in the word mangold, as they now write it. The word is in German mangel wurzel, root of scarcity. It is wrong to use even such a name as this, in my opinion, while we have the English name beet, which has the additional advantage of being derived from the botanical name Beta. But if a new name must be used, let it, at any rate, be the pure German mangel, and not the mongrel mangold. Indeed, those who spell the word in the latter way, ought in common consistency to write reddishes, sparrowgrass, and cowcumbers for radishes, asparagus, and cucumbers. |
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