PLEA?i: DO NOT REMOVE
THIS BOOK CARDP
A^UBRARY^
University Research Library
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below
REC'D MLO
$kl 019S4
JUL2 6J964
Form L-9-15m-10,'25
TWO
ANCIENT SCOTTISH POEMS-.
THE
GABERLUNZIE-MAN,
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
WITH NO^ES AND OBSERVATIONS.
S X
JOHN CALLANDER, ESQ^OF CRAIGFORTH.
By ftrange chanellis, frontcris, and forelandis,
Uncouth coiftis, and mony vilfum ftrandis,
JJow goith our barge - G. Douglas,
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY J. ROBERTSON.
SOLD BY J- BALFOUR, W. CREECH, AND C. ELLIOT,
EDINBURGH ; DUNLOP AND WILSON, GLAS-
GOW; ANGUS AND SON, ABERDEEN;
W. ANDERSON, STIRLING; AND
A. DONALDSON, LONDON.
KjDCCjLXXXII.
50288
162
PR
Q il
TO THE HONOURABLE
Sir DAVID DALRYMPLE, Bart.
LORD HAILES,
ONE OF THE SENATORS OF THE COLLEGE
OF JUSTICE.
MY LORD,
TN addrefles of this fort, it is almoft equally
-*- difficult to avoid the fervile tone of flattery,
as to fnpprefs the honeft feelings of the heart,
while we fpeak to thofe we love and efteem.
Happily for me, the public and private cha-
racter of Lord Hailes will ever fccure the au-
thor of the following obfervations from an
imputation he difdains, while he gladly em-
braces the opportunity of prefcnting this little
tract to the perfon who can bell judge, whe-
ther an attempt to replace the Etymology of
A our
I a 3
our ancient language on a rational and ftablc
bafis, deferves any attention from the public.
Your Lordflup has permitted me to look
to you, as the patron and guide of my re-
fearches ; and it is a poor return to this con-
defcenfion I now make, in fubfcribing myfelf,
MY LORD,
Your Lordfliip's much obliged,
And moft faithful humble fervant,
JO. CALLANDER.
Craig-Forth, April t.
1781.
y
INTRODUCTION.
W
E have publifhed thefe little poems,
which tradition afcribes to James the' ,s
Tifth. of Scotland, with a few notes, as a fpe-
cimen of the advantages which Etymology may
derive from comparing thofe called original,
and fijler languages, and their various dialects.
The fcience of Etymology has, of late years,
\s fallen into difrepute, rather, I believe, from
the ignorance or negligence of fome of its pro-
feffed admirers, than becaufe it is of little utility
or importance to the Republic of Letters. But
many attempts, and fometimes with fuccefs,
have been made in this kind of investigation.
The Dutch has been illuflrated by the Frijian
and Teutonic ; the Englijh by the Anglo-Saxon ;
and the German has been explained, with much
labour and care, by Wachter, and others, from
the ancient monuments of the Francs, Goths,
and Alamanni. The learned Ihre, Profefior at
A 2 Upfal,
4 INTRODUCTION.
Upfal, has illuftrated the ancient language and
laws of Sweden, in his Lexicon Swio-Gothicum,
a work that will ever be regarded as a noble
treafury of Scandinavian antiquities. Men of
learning need not be told how much Britain
owes to the labours of Hidkes, Junius, Spelman,
and Lye. Thefe writers have followed, with
indefatigable pains, the faint and almoft vanifh-
ing traces of our ancient language ; and have
fucceeded, as far as it was poflible for men to mc-
ceed, without the knowledge of thofe principles
which alone form the bafis of true Etymology,
Not attending to this great truth, which we
have recorded in the fcriptures, that the whole
race of mankind formed at Babel one large fa-
mily, which fpoke one tongue, they have con-
iidered the different languages now in ufe all
over our globe, as mere arbitrary founds,
names impofed at random by the feveral tribes
of mankind, as chance dictated, and bearing no
other than a relation of convention to the ob-
ject meant to be exprefTed by a particular found.
They were ignorant that the primaeval language
fpoken by Noah and his family, now fubfifts
no where, and yet every where ; that is to fay,
that at the difperfion of the builders of Babel,
each hord, or tribe, carried the radical words
of the original language into the feveral difiricls
to
INTRODUCTION. 5
to which the providence of God conducted
them j that thefe radical words are yet, in a
great meafure, to be traced in all the different
dialects now fpoken by men ; and that thefe
terms of primary formation are not mere arbi-
trary founds, but fixed and immutable, bearing
the ftricleft analogy to the things they defcribe,
and ufed, with very little material variation, by
every nation whofe tongue we are acquainted
with. The proofs of this great etymological
truth rife to view, in proportion to the number
of languages the refearches of the learned, and
the diaries of the traveller, bring to our know-
ledge ; and we hope, by the fmall collection we
have been able to form, and which, at fome fu-
ture period, we propofe to lay before the pu-
blic, to fet the truth of our affertion beyond the
reach of cavil. But this is not the place to enter
further into the arguments by v/hich we propofe
to elucidate our hypothefis, and therefore we
Ihall prefent to the reader a word or two, fe-
lecled from a vaft number of others which
might be produced, as a fpecimen how far our
principles are juft, and confonant to analogy.
Moon. Goth. mane. Ulph. mana, A. S. mona,
Ifl. mana. The primitive is the Oriental mtm,
enlighten, advertife. Hence Lat. monere, Engl.
moni/h, admonifh. Perf. mah, the moon. The
Turks
6 INTRODUCTION.
Turks write it ma. Gael. mana. Gr. ju>ii/, and
iEol. juva. Dan. maane. Alam. mano. In the
ancient Arabic manat. Hebr. meni, in Ifa. 66. ii.
and the Americans of Virginia fay manith, and
in the Malabar dialed: mena, a month. From
man the Greeks formed pxna., madnefs, fup-
pofed to be occafioned by the influence of
^ the moon. Hence our maniac, a mad-
man ; Menuet, minuet, facred dance, and of
very high antiquity, reprefenting the move-
ments of the fun and moon. The primitive
mun, pronounced man, fignifies the hand and a
fign. Hence nion, men, man, are applied to fun
and moon, alfo to denote every thing relative
to Jigns. Hence Lat. manus, and our month,
&c.
Inflead of carrying on our refearches into the
many other collateral meanings of this word,
we fhall amufe our readers with another, fhew-
ing that the fame principle of univerfality in
language prevails in all.
Malady. Hebr. malul, evil, chagrin, grief;
moid, patience. Perf. mall, evil. Hebr. mulidan,
to fuller. Arab, mel, patience. Celt, mal, bad,
corrupt. Hence Lat. malum ; Fr. mal; malade ;
maladerie, an hofpital ; the malandcrs, a difeafe
to which horfbs are fubjec"t.; malice, malignity,
Lat.
INTRODUCTION. 7
Lat. B. male-ajirofus, ill-Jiarred, as Shakefpeare
has it, Othello, Acl: V.
Had the laborious Johnfon been better ac-
quainted with the Oriental tongues, or had he
even underftood the firft rudiments of the
Northern languages from which the Englifh
and Scots derive their origin, his bulky volumes
had not prefented to us the melancholy truth,
That unwearied induftry, devoid of fettled
principles, avails only to add one error to ano-
ther.
Junius, Skinner, and Lye, though far fu-
perior to Mr Johnfon in their knowledge of the
origin of our language, yet, in tracing its foun-
dation, feldom go farther back than the Celtic,
and Ulphila's Gothic verfion of part of the New
Teftament. Nay, the elegant and learned Hire
tells us plainly, that it is unjuft to demand any-
thing further. But ftill the queftion recurs to
an inquifitive reader, Whence were thefe Celtic
and Gothic terms formed ? Every fmatterer
in Etymology knows that the Greek and Latin
are modern tongues, when compared to the
Oriental and Celtic dialects ; and the blunder-
ing attempts of Euftathius, the author of the
Etymologicon Magnum, Varro, and Feitus,
prove, beyond a doubt, that thefe writers were
equally ignorant of the true meaning of their
mother
8 INTRODUCTION.
mother tongues, and of the originals from
whence they were derived. Milled by thofe
blind guides, we find Voflius and Skinner very
gravely aflerting, that Venus is formed a veni-
endo, quia omnibus venit ; vulgus, a volvendo ;
malus, from the Greek jouAa? , black, and juaAaxo? ;
manus from munus ; and mons, a mountain, a
movendo, quia minime movetur ; mare, quod
amarum fit ; mufcle of the body, from mus j and
mufquet, from the Greek (j-oa-^oq, a calf.
It were eafy to fwell this catalogue, which
any of our readers may augment at their plea-
fure from every page of every Lexicographer*
ancient and modern.
Of all the Nothern dialects none has been
more neglected than the Scotch, though it
tranfmits to us many works of genius both in
poetry and profe ; and alfo fome gloffaries,
which are not unufeful in pointing out the
affinity of the ancient Scotch with its kindred
dialects. Of thefe, the largeft is that annexed
to Bifliop Douglas's verfion of the iEneid.
But it wants many words which actually ex-
ift in that tranflation, and a great many more
are fo diftorted by falfe derivations, that they
only ferve to multiply our doubts.
Our language, as it is at prefent fpoken by
the common people in the Lowlands, and as it
appears
INTRODUCTION. 9
appears in the writings prior to the feventeenth
century, furnifties a great many obfervations,
highly deferving the attention of thofe who wiih
to be acquainted with the Scandinavian dialects
in general, or the terms ufed by our anceftors
in their jurifprudence and poetry, in particular.
Many of thofe ferve materially to illuftrate the
genius, the manners, and cuftoms of our
forefathers. In Scotland, the Old Saxon dialect,
which came over with Oda and Nebriffa, the
founders of the Northumbrian kingdom, has
maintained its ground much longer than in
England, and in much greater purity. This
muft be owing to the later cultivation of this
part of the ifland, and its lefs frequent commu-
nication with ftrangers. In South Britain, the
numerous fwarms of Normans and French, who
followed William, and the Plantagenets, foon
made their language that of the bar, and of the
court. At the fame time, the long wars with
France, and the extenfive poffeffions of the Englim
on that part of the continent, entirely changed
not only the orthography, but alfo the pronun-
ciation of the original Saxon ; nor do we helitate
to fay, what we mall foon endeavour to prove,
that we, in Scotland, have preferved the origi-
nal tongue, while it has been mangled, and al-
moft defaced, by our fouthern neighbours.
B It
io INTRODUCTION*
It is an undoubted fact, that the original lan-
guage of this whole Ifland was the Celtic, now
fplit into the feveral dialects of the Gaelic, Welch,
and Armoric. In the prefent Scotch, we fee in-
deed a few traces of this ancient torgue, which
the inhabitants left behind them, when they
fled for refuge to the mountains of Scotland
and Wales j but thefe are very cafily diftin-
guifhed from the now prevailing language of
the country. In like manner we difcover to
this day, in the German, many marks of tho
fame original, which were infufed into it by the
neighbouring Belgae and Gauls, the pofterity of
the ancient Celts, by whom this Ifland was ori-
ginally peopled. Suf milch has proved this from
the likenefs of many German and Armoric
words. Many more examples might be addu-
ced from the Gaelic, in which the radical word
is often preferved, though loft in all the dialects
of the German language. Of this number is
the word fchleufe, the root of which is only to
be found in the Welch Llaw, the arm, or the
hand. From this word was formed Llazues,
which has been adopted into all the German
dialects, in the fame manner as maritca from
manus, or the Irifli word braccaile, a bracelet,
from brae, the arm, and caile, an ornament or
covering. The word treten, has alfo greatly
puzzled
INTRODUCTION. u
puzzled the German etymologifts, though it
feems naturally derived from the Irifh troed, the
foot, whence alfo comes our word tread.
The intimate connection of the Scots with
the Teutonic, German, Iflandic, and other
northern dialects, appears, firft, from the iimi-
larity of t found, and enunciation. < This is
principally to be remarked in the found of the
vowels, which retain the fame uniform tones
in the broad Scotch, that they do in the lan-
guages above mentioned ; whereas the lingular
caprice of the Englifh pronunciation has varied
and confounded them beyond the comprehen-
sion of rule. The German guttural pronunci-
ation of ch, g, gh, is quite natural to a Scotch-
man, who forms the words eight, light, fight,
bought, &c. exactly as his northern neighbours,
and as the Germans do. How much the Eng-
lifli have deviated from this, we may fee from
the few following examples.
German. Scots. Englijh.
Beide,
* Baith,
Both.
Eide,
Aith,
Oath.
Kifte,
Kift,
Cheft.
Meifte,
Maift,
Moft.
Brcnnen,
Bren,
Burn.
Gehe,
Gae,
Go, &c.
B 2 We
12
INTRODUCTION.
We have to obferve, in the fecond place, that
our language contains many words which were
never admitted into the Englifh dialect. Thefe,
a few excepted, which are derived from the
Gaelic, are either pure German, or Scandinavi-
an. We have annexed a few examples from
our Scoto-Gothic gloffary as a fpecimen.
Scots.
German, Sec.
Blate,
Bel.
Blode.
Dech,
Deeg.
Barm, yeft,
B.
Barm.
Kail,
G.
Kohl.
Coft,
Koeft.
Bikker,
G.
Becher.
Sicker,
Sicher.
Kemp,
Kampfen.
Haus,
G.
Hals.
Mutch,
G.
Mutz.
Skaith,
G.
Schade.
Slough, fkin,
B.
Slu.
Spill,
B.
Spillen.
Red, advife,
G.
Rathen.
Lift, fky,
G.
Luft.
Tig, touch gently,
B.
Ticken.
ForlofTen,
G.
Weglaufen.
Bruick,
G.
Brauchan.
Reek,
N.
Rauch.
Bouk,
G.
Baugh, the belly.
Fie, cattle,
G.
Vieh.
Kummer,
G.
Kummer, forrow,
Krummy, crooked,
G.
Krumm.
Fremd,
INTRODUCTION. i
Serfs. Germany &c.
Fremd,
G.
Fremd, ftrange.
Low, flame,
G.
Lohe, flame.
Leglen,
G.
Leghel, a milking-pail.
Win,
G.
Wohnen, to dwell.
Yammer,
G.
Jammern, to complain.
Keek,
B.
Kieken.
Girn,
Ifl.
Girnd, defire, anger.
Mail,
Ifl.
Molld, pulvis.
Egg,
Ifl.
Egg, acies.
Awn,
Goth.
Aigan, to pofTefs. ^////, my own.
Elden,
Ifl.
Eldur, fire.
Etter and ettercap,
Ifl.
Eitur, poifon, venom.
Dill,
Ifl.
Dil, to conceal.
Ern,
Ifl.
Ernur, large hawk.
Thefe may fuffice, though it were eafy to add
more examples.
The life of investigating our Scottish dialect,
will alfo appear from its retaining many radical
words, which are either totally loft in its fifter
languages, or which are no longer enounced in
the primitive founds. In this number is gear,
or gier, which Signifies drefs, furniture, wealth.
This word, like the Greek ayK, denoting ori-
ginally a goat-Jkin, afterwards ajhield, and laftly
the f acred Jhield of Minerva, has greatly enlarged
its primitive Signification. From the original
meaning of the Iflandic gera, a Sheep-Skin, this
word came to Signify covering, drefs, ornament,
goods,
14 INTRODUCTION.
goods, riches ; cattle being all thefe to the
moft ancient nations. Now this word is ufed
by our writers, in all thefe acceptations ; and,
though no longer found in the German, yet it
is the fruitful mother of many ancient and
modern words in that language. From it are
evidently derived haufegeraeth, the Saxon gerada,
and the Swedifh gerad and gerd, tribute paid
both in goods and money ; the etymon of
which neither Spegel nor Ihre underftood:
(Vide Ihre, Lex. in gerd, utgerd). The word
graith, in our language iignifying utenfils ancl
furniture of all kinds, is from the fame origin ;
as alfo the German gier, 2. mifer 5 gieren, to de-
fire anxioufly ; gcirig, covetous ; gem, willing-
ly ; whence our yearn, with many others of
the fame family, the fignification being changed
from the objeel itfelf to the defire of pofTefling it,
and afterwards enlarged to exprefs any defire in
general, in the fame manner as in Englifh the
word liquorijlo, from liquor, in its primary fenfe
firli denoted the defire of drinking, and after-
wards any lujiful defire. Our word gar, make,
prepare, is another word not found at prefent
in the German language, in its original meaning.
But from it come the words gar, ready ; garven,
to prepare and curry leather ; with a great many
more in the old and pure German dialect ; and
in
INTRODUCTION. 15
in the Alammanic garuuin, garuuen, whence
garue, ready, prepared ; the Iflandic gsonuerf
ready made ; and in the ancient Runic Infcrip-
tions, gjarva, kiarva, whence our carve, to cut
up, /'. e. prepare meat for eating. The Welfh
fay kervio, and the Gaels corrbham. Cafau,bon
and Stephanus were certainly driven to the laft
extremity, while they bring in this word from
the Greek iyxxgx, or aaga, a picture. But with
thefe writers, the moft extravagant conjectures
often fupply the want of folid principles.
To mention only one inflance more ; our
word grean, the muzzle or upper-lip of cattle,
is the only root from whence the German
grynen, to laugh, can be derived, the etymology
Of which has given rife to a variety of conjec-
tures. Out girn, and the Englifh grin, are from
the fame root.
Thefe few remarks may fiifUce to mew the
great ufefulnefs and importance of investigating
the terms and phrafes of our ancient language,
fince thefe not only tend to elucidate the ancient
manners and cuftoms of our remote anceftors,
but alfo throw much light on its fifter-dialects
of the North ; by which we mean all thofe
fpoken from the heads of the Rhine, and of
the Danube, to the fartlieft extremities of Scan-
dinavia and Iceland.
It
16 INTRODUCTION.
It is high time that fomething of this kind
were attempted to be done, before the prefent
Englifh, which has now for many years been
the written language of this country, fhall ba-
nifli our Scottifh tongue entirely out of the
world.
We cannot conclude thefe curfory remarks
without congratulating our readers on the
eftablifhment of a Society, which promifes to
revive a tafte for the ftudy of national antiqui-
ty. The worthy nobleman to whofe truly
patriotic fpirit it owes its inftitution, and the
gentlemen affociated for fo laudable a purpofe,
it is hoped, will look with indulgence on this
poor attempt to fecond their endeavours, in re-
ftoring and explaining the ancient language of
Scotland.
THE
THE
GABERLUNZ IE-MAN.
T
HE pauky auld Carle came o'er the lee,
Wi* mony gude eens and days to mee,
Saying,
Gaberlunzie~\ This word Is compounded of Gaber, Gab-
ler, a Wallet or Bag, and Lunzie, loin, /. e. the man who
carries the wallet on his back, an itinerant mechanic, or
tinker, who carries in his bag the implements of his trade,
and ftrolls about the country mending pots and kettles. In
fuch difguifes as this James V. (as is faid) ufed to go about
the country, and to mingle, unknown, with the meaneft of
his fubjecls. Thefe frolickfome excurfions often gave birth
to little amorous adventures, which our witty Monarch made
the fubje&s of his fong, as he was fecond to none of his age
in the fciences of poetry and mufic.
The root of the -word, gab is the Celt, cab, fignifying to con-
tain. Hence Scot, gab, the mouth, which contains our food;
Eng'lifh gobbet, a morfel ; the French gober, to fwallow, and
gofier, the throat. The large barks on Loch- Lomond for
C carrying
18 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
carrying wood, are called gaherts. From gab, and gab, come
Englifli gabble ; and gabbing is ufed by Douglas for idle
talking, Prologue to I. JEn. p. 6. v. 43. Rud. Edit. and
laft line of leaf 3. Lond. Edit. 4-to, 1553.
*' Quhilk is nae gabbing fouthly, nor no lye."
In the fame fenfe, Id. gabb ; Ludibrium, gabba, to deride ;
A. Sax. gabban, and many more words of the fame import,
gaggle, gaffer, and Old Fr. gaber, gabbaffer, to mock ; gaba-
tine, mockery ; Iflandic gamman, drollery ; Gal. geuhbeth,
falfehood ; and gams, eaiv, gab, cheating ; Old Fr. ganelon,
a traitor. We have collected thefe words from various lan-
guages, as they not only explain the primitive idea of the word
gaber, which none of our Etymologifts have done, but prove
what we fhall every moment have occafion to fhew, that the
radical term once afcertained, throws light on all its de-
rivatives, which are eafily reducible to it, though fcattered far
diftant from each other, among the various dialects ufed by
different nations. To this family belongs Lat. capio, whence
our capacity, capture ; the Scots cap, a drinking vefTel ;
cab, a meafure, mentioned in the Verfion of the Old
Teflament ; and many more, all including the idea of capacity,
or content; as cabin, Belg. kaban; Welfh, cab, caban, all fignify-
ing the fame thing ; Gr. hattcm) ; Lat. cabana, cabbage, from
the form of its top, refembling a bafon or large cup, which has
much puzzled Junius ; Lat. cuvuj, our cave, and the Fr.
and Engl, cabinet.
Lunzii] We have elfewhere obferved, with Mr Ruddi-
man, that the Z, by the old Scots writers, is always ufed in
the beginning of the fyllable for the Englifh Y. The reafon
is, that the figure Z much rcfembles the Saxon G, which the
Englifli often change into Y, as yard from geard; yea from gea;
year
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 19
ytar from gear, &c. Thus Tetland is by us written Zetland,
and ye, year, young ; ze, zere, zytig ; ranzies, fenzies, for
reins, feigns, and the like. This we remark once for all.
In other filler dialects Z has the force of S. Thus Bel.
zour, four ; zuid, fouth ; zon, fun ; Slav, zakar, fugar ; Ital.
zanni, Gr. <;a r -\'oi, and in the Bar. Gr. ^atvoi, buffoons,
whence our zany.
Lunzie~\ Lung, loin, lunzie ; bene, the thigh bone. In
Sv/ed. lend, land, the loin. In the Laws of Gothland, cap.
23. 4. Synes lend oc lyndtr ; fi appareant lumbi et pudenda.
They alfo write it Ljumske; Ihre, in voce. 111. lend, boh, ledivi.
Ger. lenden and lanken, and hence our flank. Welfh, Llnvyn;
and in Finland, landet, rhe loin. Ital. long/a; Yx.longe;
Scot. Jend. Vide Not. S. Kirk. St. From the ancient
Goth. Ljumske ; the Lat. lumbus ; Dan. ljujke ; whence our
lisk. The primitive is Lat, Let, broad, extended ; whence the
Gr. -tXo.tv(, and the Latin latus.
Thus the Gaberlunzie-man literally fignifies the man who
bears a bag, or wallet, on his back or loins ; a pedlar ;
Scot, a pack-man.
STANZA I.
Ver. 1. Pauky~\ Sly, cunning, Bel. Paiken, to coax or
wheedle. Douglas, p. 238, v. 37.
Prattis are repute policie, and perrellus paukis.
Auld] Old Ger. alt, as eald. III. aldradur. Dan. Eeld.
Scot. eild. Cafaubon brings this from ca\o<, vetus, and Lye
from stxJV-a, augeo ; as if our anceftors had no word to ex-
prefs old age, till they got it from the Greeks. But this is
indeed an old wife's tale. The primitive E denotes exiftence ;
every thing that lives. Hence Eve is called emphatically, the
mother of all living. Lat. ejl. Fr. etre, being, ejfen ':'a, whence
our ejfence, what conftitutes the being of that tiling. Hence
C 2 Hebrew
to THE GABEKLUNZIE-MAN.
Hebrew hei, life, and God emphatically ; i. e. He who lives,
heie, to live, life itfelf. Arab, hei hi, to live, to be glad.
In Zend, gueis, foul, life. This word furniflies a remarkable
example of the truth of our general principle, explained in the
preface, and therefore we hope the reader will allow us to
trace it a little further. The afpirate H, in the northern dia-
lects, is changed into W, and Qu, and hence Swed. weet,
wight, living animal ; Engl, and Scot, wight ; Goth, qrn : but
Cio$, life ; Cia, violence, Gta.K07ra.i, Ciqg, all come from
one primitive, as alfo Gr. /<, the vis of the Latins, tfxy<>
iCyjja, t(%vpoff only by fuppreffing the afpirate. In the
more ancient diale&s of Scandinavia, we find the fame word
denoting the fame objects ; Teuton, vttith. Ifl. vatir. a Sax.
vugkt, vight, all fign. animals, living creatures ; and the
Alam. quick, quickr. Old German queck. Dan. queg, living,
animal, every thing alive. Suab. vich, viech, animal. From
the fame fource we formed wife. Bel. nvjf, Swed. wif.
Suab. wib, all fignifying woman, mother of a family.
Thus we have followed this word from the remoteft Eair,
to the fartheft extremities of the Weft and North. Such coin-
cidences of found and meaning, demonftrate that language is
no arbitrary thing, nor etymology that fallacious fcience it
has been called, by thofe who find it more eafy to decide in
hafte, than to examine at leifure.
Carle'] The true fpelling is karl in all the Scythian dia-
lects, in which it denotes a man, or warrior. The primitive
is ear kar, flron*- This root we have preferved in the Ar-
menian,
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 21
menian, in \ybich car, poffe, valere, et carol, potens. Not
attending to the univerfality of language, the learned Ihre
did not fee the juftnefs of this Etymology. From kair, kar,
the Mefogothic, vair, a man ; whence the Lat. vir, vira, a
woman, as from the Gothic kas, they formed vas, which
Voffius could make nothing of, though he has flung together
every paffage almoft, where this word occurs. From karl are
formed the Alamm. karl; Ger. kerl; A. S. ceorl; Ifl. karl; L. E.
Carolus, karlus. Vid. Cange Glofs. in V. From kerl, Sued.
karlklader, men's clothes ; karlfmather, and karlpwag, the high-
way ; and in the old Gothic laws karljbo, man's habitation. The
word karl is oppofed to gaffe, a youth ; the former denoting a
man of ripe age. We find that of old, in the Gothic, as now
with us, karl, and carl, were ufed to fignify people of a low
rank, fuch as farmers, mechanics, &c. In the old laws, (ap.
Ihre glofs. Vol. I. P. 1033,) karl oc konung, plebs et prin-
ceps ; and in Gothr. Saga, cap. 86, cpter that I karls huji er
tj er in congs ranni, oft do we meet in a cottage, what we
feek in vain in the palaces of kings. In general, karl is ufed
to fignify a husband ; and in Sweden the country-women call
their hufbands ntin~karl. In the Swedifh tongue the gander
13 called gas-karl. So in Engl, a carle-cat, is the male of
that fpecies. The Anglo-Saxons fay ceorl, for a hufband,
and ceorlian, to marry.
As this word was commonly ufed to fignify rujlics, the En-
lifh from it formed churl, churlifo. In the A. S. ceorlborin
is a man meanly born ; cecrl'ife, a ruftic ; ceorlife hlaf, loaf
made of the fecond flour. In Dutch, kaerle a ruftic ; whence
the Italian phrafc, a la carlona, like a ruftic, ill-bred. The
Welch carl has the fame meaning. As karl, all over the
north, denotes an elderly man, from it we have formed carling,
an old woman of the loweft caft, a word which occurs in all
cur poets.
The
22 THE GABERLUNZ IE-MAN.
Saying, Gudewife, for zour courtefie,
Will zee ludge a filly poor man.
The
The Bar. Lat. Carolus, and our Charles, come from the
fame origin, a name of high antiquity among the Germans,
from whom we borrowed the name of the conftellation
Charles's ivain, in Gothic Karlnuagn, and in Sax. Car leas
luagn ; Dan. Karfoogn. This proves the ignorance of thofe
who will have this name given to thefe liars in honour of
Charles the Great, which was in general ufe many ages before
Charlemain was born. The Welch alfo call this conftellation
Cart IVyn.
Ver. i. Lee, or lea~] An unplowed field, or a field for-
merly under corn, and afterwards laid down in grafs. Primi-
tive la, and le, fignify broad, extended. A. S. lea, lecg,
leak. Old Ger. la, lo, lohe. Goth, lee, which Ihre explains,
locus tevipejlatibus fubduclus ; whence our loivn, calm. In
the northern parts of Germany, we have it in many names of
places, as Oldejloh, Kartla, Lohagen, &c. vide Grupen An-
tiq. Van Den Bonnen. P. 556. Id. logn, and Goth. lugn f
fign. calm. The Hebr. lech, denotes a meadow, green, ver-
dure ; and the Polifh leka is the fame, for all thefe are deri-
ved from the fame root, la. The Celtic and Gallic las, fign.
grafs. Welch Llys ', has, Brett, luzavan. Hence Lucent,
a fpecies of grafs growing abundantly in Switzerland. The
Canton of Lucem has its name from this plant, not the
plant from it, as the high antiquity of the word proves.
Ver. 3. Gudewife'] Properly the mother of a family ;
Goth, nvrf, a woman, a married woman. A. S. id. Ger.
nvci/l This by fome has been derived from nv/jhva, to
weave ; by others from ivif, or hw/f, a woman's head-drcfs,
in
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 23
in the fame way as the Swedes fay gyrdel and linda, the belt,
and girdle for the man and the , whence
ytyaco, to generate, y~visa, yzvos, race, family; yoPvj{>
parent ; yvv, , a wife ; Lat. genus, gigno, gens ; Chin, gin ;
Celt, gen, a man; Greenl. kora ; 111. Teut. Dan. kona; Cuen.
quin, woman ; and our quean and queen ; Gaelic, quenaj}, to
marry ; Slav, fyena, a woman ; and Fr. guenon, the female
monkey.
From the fame root the Earth, the nourifoer of men and
animals, is, in every language, called by the fame appellation.
Ch'mefe chi ; Gael, give ; Zend gnveth, enanm; Pehlvi^af,
ha, the world ; Gael, gnuaed, riches, goods produced by the
Earth ; Celtic, gueth, a poor man, one deftitute of thefe
goods, cornpofed of gue, the Earth, and the negative termina-
tion th ; Ancient Gr. \ta, yaw., yiu
are radical words, not knowing that no radical word ever con-
fided of two fyllables. Indeed, we may venture to affert, that
no example can be produced of a true radical word having more
than one. The public has lately been told, in very pompous
terms, that the Greek language is the work of philofophcrs,
complete and perfect; in itfclf. We can moft eafily fhew, that
this wild affertion is fo far from being true, that no perfon, but
one utterly devoid of all {kill in Etymology and the analogy of
language, could have hazarded an hypothecs fo replete with
abfurdity. So far -is the Greek tongue from being the work
of philosophers, that one of their belt philofophers, in one of
his (belt) dialogues, ingenuoufly confeffes, that he is quite ig-
norant of the origin of many of the moft common words in
the language. Such is the word Jj\yp mentioned above, and
avail number of others, which he, with a true Attic fupercili-
ous air, allows to have been borrowed from the Barbarians.
True it is, thefe terms do derive their origin from the Scy-
thians, Thracians, Phrygian:, and Celts, whofc language ex-
iffed many awes before Athens was even a poor village. The
very mcancft of thefe people, whom he ftigmatifes with the
nunc of Barbarians, could have informed him of the origin of
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 27
tfeTwe, as well as of many others of which he owns himfelf
equally ignorant. After Plato, it is almoft needlefs to obferve,
that thofe who were far inferior to this Athenian in the know-
ledge of language, were (till more unfortunate in their explica-
tions. Let every page of Hefychius, Euftathius, Suidas, the
Etymologicon Magnum^ Tzetzes, Harpocation, and the whole
herd of their commentators and lexicographers, bear witnefs
to their ignorance, and account for the diigrace into which the
ufeful ftudy of Etymology has, by their means, fallen among
thofe who have ralhly concluded, that becaufe nothing good
was done by thefe Scioli in the profeffion, therefore nothing
better could be done. Let us leave this language of yefterday,
faid to be formed by philofophers, to the admiration of thofe
profound philofophers, who have told us, that, in certain
Iflands in the Eaftern Ocean, the human race have tails, and
whofe credulity can digeft the account the natives of Attica
gave of themfelves, pretending that they fprung, like mufli-
rooms, from the very foil on which they dwelt. All thefe
pretenders to the higheft antiquity, were outdone in Grecian
rhodomontade by the Arcadians, who afferted, that they inha-
bited their mountainous diflricTt long before the moon appear-
ed in the heavens.
We haften to return from a digreffion, which, we are
afraid, many of our learned readers will deem unnecefiary ;
though perhaps others may think, that the hints here thrown
out, concerning the Greek tongue, may help to loofen the
college-fetters of thofe, who, from their early youth, have been
accuftomed to look upon nothing as genuine and valuable, un-
lefs found in fome of the writers of claflic authority ; nor any
thing expreffed with elegance and propriety, unlefs written
in Greek. The chronological blunders of thofe, who are per-
petually deriving Scythian, Tartar, and Celtic words, from
D 2 z
28 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
a language which did not receive its prefent form, till many
centuries after the others were fpoken and cultivated, deferre
nothing but contempt.
We have faid that v
Hyades, derived their name. The primitive au was fome-
times pronounced oua ; whence Fr. eau, the Lat. aqua, and,
with the termination tcr, oudter, water.
Ver. 6. Azont. Beyond. A. S. begeond, begeondan.
The primitive is ga ge, to go, and on,- forward, or beyond the
place one flood in. Ulphila, ganga, to go or walk ; whence
our gang, gae, and gete, way, as in S. G. it is written ga. From
ga, written ha, the Greeks formed Ceteo, Canvcc, and all
their derivatives. The Englifh gad-about is from the fame
origin ; and Ihre explains the S. G. gadda, capita conferre,
ut folent novas res molientes. The fame idea is found in the
A.S.gaderian,gadran ; Bel. gaderin ; whence Engl. gather;
the Ger. gatten and ehegatten, married pair. Ulphila, Mark
3. V. jfafahgaiddjajitt mangeei, the people were gathered
together. Wherever in the Maefo Gothic we find the prefix
ga, it always denotes a gathering, or going together. So
gaftnthja, comitatur ; garanznans, vicini, from razn, a houfe *
gadailans, partaker, from dait, a part ; galhaiba, contubernales,
from illaibs, bread ; Alamm. caleibo, literally Eaters of the
fame bread, whence Ihre deduces Fr. eomfiagnon, companion.
The Ifl. kuon gaudur, married, is from the fame origin, as
Wachter rightly obferves, though Ihre does not approve of
this derivation.
Ver. 6. Ingle. This word is commonly derived from
ignis. In our language it denotes a fire on the hearth, or in
kilns
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. '29
My dochter's fhouthers he 'gan to clap,
And cadgily ranted and fang.
O
kilns and ovens, and is ufed by Douglas in many places. It
is likewife preferred in Cumberland, as Ray informs us.
Ver. 7. Clap. From the 111. and Goth, klappa, to clap
the hands. Dan. klappe. Belg. Happen, cloppen. This word
is plainly an onomatapaa, formed from the found made by clap-
ping the hands. Hence too was formed the Greek koaattco,
tuhdere. Whence Junius idly derives our word clip. The
fpeaking by the fingers was an art well known to the ancient
Iflanders, who called it clapruner, or letters formed by the
motion of the hands, vide Worm. Litt. Run. p. 41. The
watchmen in Holland carry a wooden iniTrument with two
leaves, which, by clapping together, produce a great noife ;
whence thefe night-guardians are called klappermen. In the
ancient Alammanick, the tongue of a bell is called clepel ;
whence our Scots word to clsp, or talk idly, repeating the
fame thing over and over. The Dutch ufe the verb Happen,
in the fame fenfe. Goth, klxk, infamy, difhonour ; klxknamn,
klxkord, opprobrious language, nicknames. The ingenious
and learned profeflbr Ihre takes klapa, with great probability,
from the primitive laf, the hand ; Suiogoth. lofa, lo/hva ;
Welch llaiu ; whence Scot. lufe, the palm of the hand ; and
the Latin vola ; Welch llcffi, dyloffi, to ftroke with the hand.
Hefych.
To llricke, from the fame origin, as alfo colaphus, and
alapa, Bar. Lat. eclaffa. In a charter of the year 1285,
" Si mulier det ei unum eclaffa> non debet bannum." Ca?ige
in voce.
Ver. 8. Cadgily. After the manner of the cadgers, or
thofe who carry about goods for fide in cages, by us called
creels,
3 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAR
II.
O Wow ! quo' he, war I as free,
As firft whan I faw this country,
How blythe and mirry wad I be !
And I wad never think lang.
He
creels, on horfes backs, who ufe to fing, in order to beguile
the tedioufnefs of the way. Prim, ca, cad, cap, any thing
made for containing, as we have already obferved. Some
think it comes from the Gael, cadhla I.
Ver. 8. Ranted. Made a noife. Prim. Hebr. ran, to
cry. Hence the Latin rana, a frog, and French grenouille,
its diminutive. From hence Gr. yepxvoc, which Stephanui
in Bifvvia explains t/xpo? Ca.Tfa,Xi 5 a ^ written yvpjvo;,
yzpivo;, as Euftathius obferves.
STANZA II.
Ver. i. Wonv Interjection, from Ger. iveb, alas; Ifl.
war la, with difficulty ; Snorro, Tom. 2. P. 102. Siva war la
feck. Bratit ut aegre dirui poffit ; written alfo valla, verkunna,
to have pity; and S. G. ivar&unna, id. Douglas p. J58.
27.
" Ut on the wandrand fpreits iveiv thou cryis."
Ver. 3. Blytb.Ghd. A. S. blythe; Belg. bly, id. Ul-
phila bleiths, pitiful. Lucke 6. 36. 'Jab Atta ifivara bleiths
ifl, as your father is merciful. In the A. S. it denotes ?neek,
placid, fimple ; Ifl. bluther, blttdur, bland, affable. Hence
the A. S. blitbfan, bletfian, rejoice ; whence our blefs. In
Douglas it is written blyith.
Ver. 5.
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 31
He grew canty, and fcho grew fain ;
But little did her auld minny ken
What
Ver. 5. Canty. Cheerful Belg. hantig, merry. Esn
cantiger karl, a gamefome fellow ; and, as cheerfulnefs attends
good health, the Chefhire-man fays, very cant, God yield you,
i. e. very ftrong and lufty. To cant too, is ufed for recover-
ing or growing better ; Yorkfliire, A health to the goodwife
canting, recovery after child-bearing. Douglas, cant, merry,
cheerful ; cant, the language of gypfies, vid. Spelm. in Egyp-
tiani. Gaelic, caint, difcourfe ; canteach, full of talk. From
this Celtic origin comes Lat. cano, to ling ; Fr. ckanfon,
chanter, Sec. Lat. occento, de qua voce vide Fed. It would
have fared Voffius much labour, had he known the true
Etymon.
Ver. 5. Fain. Full of wiflies. Douglas writes h fane,
glad ; Ulphila faginon, id. Ifl. fiigin ; A. S. ivxgn, fagn.
Ulphila thus tranflates the Angel's falutation of Mary, Luke
1. xxviii. Fagino anjiaiaud ahafta, "Rejoice, thou full of
f grace ;" correfponding exactly to the Gr. v/fg / 10.. Jog-
nudur, joy.
Ver. 6. Minny mother. This word belongs to the In-
fantine Lexicon, being ufed by very young children to their
mothers. The prim, is min, little, beautiful, pleafant. Hence
Goth, ininna, to love ; Alamm. minnon ; Fr. miguan, and
viignard. From hence mama ; Sect, mamy ; Fr. maman ;
Goth, mamma ; *' vox" (fays Ihre) " qua blandientcs in~
f* /antes matre.ni compel/ant." Welch mam ; Armor, mam-
tvaeth, a nurfe. Gr. Woijua- Avia. Helladius (apud Phot,
in Eibl.) informs us, that in ancient Greece the mothers
were called irtLirirai. Confer Cange in Glofi. Graec. who
alfo obferves that, in the middle Latinity, the pap was callecj.
mamma ; and hence comes Fr. mammelle. Pelletier, in Lexi-
co
3 z THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
What thir flee twa togidder war fayen,
Whan wooing they war fae thrang,
III.
And O ! quo' he, ann zee war as black,
As evir the crown o 5 your daddy's hat,
'Tis
co Brit. p. 570, juftly obferves, ** Ce mot eft peutetre un des
" plus anciens du monde, car c'eft apres les cris, la premiere
?* ouverture de la bouche du petit enfant, a qui la nature dicle,
" qu'il a befoin de nourriture, qu'il ne peut recevoir que de
1* la mammelle, de celle qui lui a donne la vie." The Hebr.
em fignifies mother. From the Prim, min, little, is formed
the Lat. minor, (the or being the mark of comparifon), and
minimus. When we come to the Eighth Stanza of this Ballad,
we (hall explain the connection betwixt this and luinfome.
Ver. 2. Wooing. A. S. ivsgere, lover, whence our woo-
er. It has been thought, and with probability, that this word
was formed from the cooing of the dove, as Douglas fays, p.
404. 27.
I mene our awin native bird, gentil Dow,
Singand on hir kynde, J come bidder to tvoc,
So prikking her grene curage for to crowde
In amorus voce, and ivoivar foundis lowde.
This is, at leaft, a better conjecture than that of Junius,
who deduces it from *woe. The A. S. ivogan, fign. to
marry.
STANZA III.
Ver. 2. Daddy. Engl, dad, father. The prim, is da,
di, every thing elevated in dignity and power, and being
denote
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 33
formed by a ftrong preffure of the tongue againft the teeth, it
comes to be a part of the child's firfl language, addrefling him
whom he is taught to look up to with reverence. Hence this
radical word has given rife, in every language, to thofe which
denote elevation. Such is the Celtic Di, God, the Supreme:
Being ; dun, a hill ; dome, dum, din, a judge. Hence too
the Gr. JWetoif, J\vi>.ut<, power ; and the Lat. dominus,
dominatio ; the Greek d.u&w, to tame, /'. e. bring into fub-
jection ; our dame, miftrefs.
In many dialects the d is changed into /, and mod often,
in thofe fpoken in the North, though we alfo find it in the
Weft, as in the Lat. totus, (totality ; Fr. tajfer, entajfer, to
heap up. Ta, tata, father. From the idea of fatherly protec-
tion, were formed di, ti, prince or prote&or ; and the Lat.
tego, tettum, whence the Engl, protecl, pro-tec-tion ; and
many more.
We mail here collect a few more infantine words, plainly de-
rived from the ftructure of the vocal organs, and the mod eafy
movements of their feveral parts. Such are,pappa, mamma, dad,
atta ; Fr. ban ; bobo, bibbi, puppet ; Fr. poupee ; bufs. Thus
Cato, de Lib. Educand. talking of this part of language, " cum
" cibum et potum, buas et papas, vocent ; matremq ; maman,
" patrem, papam." We may add to thefe, pap, baba, and even
the ancient (lory of the word bek, pronounced by two chil-
dren educated by Pfammytichus king of Egypt, remote from
all commerce with mankind, as Herodotus informs us. Con-
fer. Prefident de Broffe's Mechanifm du Language, torn. 1 . p.
231. feqq. To evince the univerfality of this truth, we
might cite the Hebr. phe, and Chald. phum, mouth. Whence
the fari of the Latins; the Hebr. phar, ox par, ornament.
Whence Latin paro, and Fr. parer, parure ; Hebr. pitiful,
herbage. Whence the Lat. puis ; the Gr. Coc:, and 6Wxs ,
to feed; dfet, meat; Lat. voro, devoro, and our devour',
E Cct:o(,
34 THE GABERLUNZ IE-MAN.
'Tis I wad lay thee be me bak,
And awa \vi* thee I'd gang.
And
Caux, little; and the Ital. bambino; the Hebr. bag, nourifh-
fnent, from the Prim* bek ; from which is derived the Teuton,
and Ger. bccken, a baker ; Babble, Ger. babbelen.
But how happen all thefe coincidencies ? To this vain que-
ftion we will only anfvver, in the words of the learned Prefi-
dent lalt quoted, " L' hcmme parle, parceque Dieu Pa
" cree etre far/ant." The vocal organs are conftructed a-
like in every tribe of mankind, and all children pronounce
thofe founds raft, which are mod eafily formed by the mo-
tions of thefe wonderful inftruments. The founds they vary,
and multiply, in proportion as practice makes them better ac-
quainted with the organic powers, and more ready in the ap-
plication of them. For the fame reafon, too, we find all the
radical words in every tongue we are acquainted with, to be
vionofyllabks, thefe being the firfl effays of man in ufing the
vocal organs.
To the lift of languages, in which dad, tat, fignifiesy^-
ther, let us add the Gael, daid ; "Welch dad; Cornifli tad;
and Armorick tat.
Verfe 4. u4tua~\ Engl, anvay ; A. S. an ixaege, from
nuag, away. Douglafs, p. 124. 1. 4.
" And the felf hour mycht haif tane us <7w t, a fpade ;
cT/^sAA/Tf, a digger, one who ufes the fpade.
Ver. 7. Cleid] Engl, clothe. Our claith is the true
pronunciation, not the Englifh cloath, our word being im-
mediately formed from the Goth, klaede, clothing, and klaeda,
to clothe. Prim, kla kle, covering ; A. S. clath. Obferve,
that the ancient Scandinavians faid, Eff par kinder, a pair of
garments, for a complete fuit of clothes ; the one formed the
breeches, and the troja, or vert, the other. The old Teutonic
Verfion of the Gofpels (app. Ihre, vol. 1. col. 1076.) Luke
xv. ver. 22. " Hemtin mile fram thet bafta par klccder jak
" hafwer ;" Bring forth a pair of the belt garments I have.
Chron. Ryth. p. 121. " Eff hpfweligt ors, ok kinder ett
" par;" An excellent horfe, and a pair of garments.
The Iflanders pronounce it klxde ; the Germans kleide y
arm ; arm klade, a fcarf worn on the arm ; Jaga klader t a
monk's gown.
Braiu~\ Handfomely, elegantly. Prim. Celt. bra t
flrength, might, elegance ; every thing having thefe
qualities. Goth. braf y honeft ; Scot, bravery, fumptuous
apparel. In the Bas Bret, braiv, arm, id. Hence the
Fr. and our brave ; Ital. bravo. Hence too the Goth, brace.
a hero, and Brage, the name of one of the companions of
Odid, of whom Edda, Agietus ad Spatki, &c. He was very
elegant, and wife, and a great poet ; fo that from him all per-
fons, both men and women, who excelled in thefe arts, were
called Bragmadur. From the fame fource the bragebxkare,
or large cup, drunk off by the new King, juft before he a-
fcended
k n o v o
%J \J V ! ) O
3 8 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
IV.
Between the twa was made a plot,
They raife a wee befor the cock,
And
fcended the throne, while he folemnly vowed to atchieve fome
great deed in arras, of which many inflances occur in Snorro,
and the other hiflorians of the North. This ceremony gave
rife to the ufage, according to which the knights, in ancient
times, made vows of the fame kind at their folemn banquets.
The learned and accurate Annalift, to whom Scotland owes
the elucidation of many historical difficulties, obferves (ad an.
1306) that Edward made a vow after this form, by which
he bound himfelf to punilh Robert Bruce. See alfo St Palaye
Mem. De l'ancienne cheval. torn. 1. p. 184, and 244.
STANZA IV.
Ver. i. Ty.tvoi, aKd by Ulphila gaftraix.-ith. The ancients not
only
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 43
Scho clapt her hands, cry'd, dulefu-day i
For fome o* our gier will be gane.
Sume
only filled their beds with flraw, but on folemn days the
floors were covered with it ; and we remember to have read,
that Queen Elizabeth's ftate-rooms were ftrawed with green
grafs or hay. It was alfo a part of the holding of feveral
manors, both in England and Scotland, to furnifh flraw for
the Royal apartments, when the King made a progrefs. In
the Scandinavian writings, the flraw ufed at the feftival of
Tule, was called Ialhahn, vide Ihre in V. So in Olaf 's
Trygt-xas. Saga, p. 1. p. 204. it is faid of Thorleif, See/} ban
iiither utarliga utarjiga i halmin, He fat down on the
furthefl part of the flraw. Snorro tells us, torn. I. p. 403.
that when Olaf, fon of Harald, came to fee - his mother,
'Tnveir karlar, baro halmin i golfid, Two fervants brought flraw
into the apartments ; and, in the Hiftory of Alf, p. 41. one of
the Princes in the Court of King Hior, Their voru i balmi-
num nldur a golfinu, They fat on the. ground on the flraw.
It would appear, that this was commonly done in winter ;
for the fame reafon we ufe carpets to keep the feet warm :
for, it is remarked of Olaf Kyrra, that he had his apartments
covered with flraw, winter and fummer ; ban let giorajlragoljf
urn vetur, fern umfumur. The fame mode was obferved in
France. In a charter of the year 1 271 (ap. Cange in jfonchare)
'* Item debet et tenetur di&us Raulinus pro pradiclis, Jon-
" chare domum D. Epifcopi quando necefTe eft." Vide id. in
Junkus. Confer Spelm. in Strajlura.
Ver. 4. Gier, or gear~\ Clothes, furniture, riches. To
what has been faid in the preface of this word, and in the
rotes to Stan. 4. ver. 5. we have little to add. The prim, is
F 2 Cxi;
44 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
Sume ran to coffers, and fume to kills,
But nought was flown that cou'd be mift ;
She
Ge ; Gr. yu, the earth ; fource of all our riches. Hence
ufed by the Scots indifcriminately, to fignify every thing we
value, goods, tools, apparel, armour. So Douglafs fays,
graithed in his gear, armed at all points. Gear, in fome of
our old poets, is ufed for the membra viri genitalia. A. S.
gyrian, to clothe. Caedmon, 23.7. gyred ivtxdum, put on
his weeds or garments.
Ver. 5. Kijls~\ Engl, chefts. The primitive of this is
found in the form of the letter c, (for which the northern
diale&s generally ufe the A) fignifying every hollow, like the
hollow of the hand ; as cavus, cavea ; Gr. ko/A'? ; cavity,
cave, &c. This obtains in every language, as we mail prove
at fome length in our Scoto-Gothic GlofTary. With refpect
to this word, we formed it from Goth, kifta, a chefl: ; whence
kijlafte, precious goods which are kept in kifts ; 111. kiftu ;
Welch cift, cyjl ; Ger. kajlen ; Fr. caijje ; Gr. x/ to hide ; and the Lat. cslo,
the f being often added in the Scythian words ; as
frafwa, for rofwa, fpoliare ; fracha, for racka, tendsre,
sV. The Iflandic fiarlare is a thief, afealer; and hence
the Latin jlellio, ftellionatus, flellatura, occult fraud, as the
ingenious Ihre has juftly obferved, and thereby unfolded the
true etymon, about which all the Latin Lexicographers were
puzzled.
Ver. 7. Praife he hleff\ God be praifed. This is a
common form ftill in Scotland with fuch as, from reverence,
decline to ufe the facred name.
Ver,
46 THE GABERLUNZ IE-MAN.
VI.
Since nathing's awa, as we can learn,
The kirn's to kirn, and milk to earn,
Gae
Ver. 8. Leif} Loyal, honeft, truly. Dougl. p. 86. 46.
" The ceremonies lcil y i. e. holy ceremonies."
And p. 43. 20.
" -by the faith unfylit, and the hie lawte."
STANZA VI.
Ver. 1. Aiva~\ Engl. away. Angl. Sax. an tvsge,
from ixjitg, a way. Dougl. p. 124. 4.
" And the felf hour mycht haif tane us awt) j^tf/war/xtf* Vox ejus qui fe in-
digna pati conqueritur. In old Englilh this particle always
denotes aver/ion. Chaucer, La. Prol. v. 80.
" Of fuch curfed (lories I fayjfc."
And N. P. T. v. 73.
" Fie {linking fwine! fie foul mote the befall. "
From hence the Scots formed Fyle, to foul ; and the Engl.
Defile. We alfo fay Fych, on feeling a bad fmell, or feeing
any dirty object, from the Celt, each, kakoa, and caffo,
(linking. Hence our kakie, ventrem exonerare. From
this origin, too, comes the old French appellation cagots>
cacous, cak-etj, given to lepers, who being confidered as -a-
bominable, were (hut out from all fociety in the middle ages.
Thefe miferable wretches were found in great numbers about
the 1 2th and 14th centuries, fpread over Gafcony, Beam,
and the two Navarres, on both (ides the Pyrenean mountains.
Thefe were not allowed to trafRck with their fellow citizens ;
had a feparate dcjr to enter into the churches, and a holy
water-font, which they only ufed ; were forbid the ufe of
arms ; nay, fuch was the univerfal horror of mankind again'l
them, that the States of Berne, anno 1460, applied for an
order to prohibit their walking the ftreets bare-footed, led'
others might catch the infection, and to oblige them to
wear on their garments the figure of a goofe's foot,
which, it would appear, they had neglected to do for
many years pad. In the ancient For. de Navarre, compiled
about the year 1074, we ^ ee them called Gaffes and
Cakets at Bourdeaux. We find, among the Laws of the
Dukes of Brittany, anno 1474 and 1475, orders given, that
G 2 none
52 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
none of the Cacoji-caquets, or Cacos, mould appear without
a bit of red cloth fewed on the outer-garment. They were
forbid even to cultivate any land but their gardens, and were
confined to the fingle trade of carpenters. Bullet {Diftion.
Celt.) gives the following account of the rife of the public
hatred againft thefe poor people : " Cacous (fays he)
Noni que les Bas Brettons donnent par injure aux Cordiers et
aux Tonneliers, contre lefquelles le menu peuple eft fi prevenu,
qu'ils om befoign de 1'autorite du Parlement de Bretagne
pour avoir le fepulture, et la liberte de faire les fon&ions du
Chriftianifme avec les autres, parce qu'ils font crus fans
raifon, defcendre des Juifs difperfes apres la ruine de Jerufa-
lem, et qu'ilr paflent pour lepreux de race. Les Cacous font
nommes cacqueux dans un arret du Parlement du Bretagne."
Here we have a people, living in the moft deplorable ftate of
ilavery, from age to age, like the Gibeonites fubjecled to the
Jews, and treated in the fame manner as the Gauls were, after
being conquered by the ancient Franks of Germany ; the
very name they went by, implying the moft rooted averfion,
though nobody ever gave any account of the reafon of this
appellation ; for the frivolous differtations of Marca and
Venuti leave us quite in the dark as to this, as well as to
the caufes of this extraordinary hatred againft a devoted race
from age to age. We therefore adopt the account of it given
by the learned and moft ingenious Gebelin, (Monde Primitif,
torn. C. p. 247) that they were the fcattered remains of the
original inhabitants of Gafcony and Lower Brittany, who, be-
inw conquered by thofe now called Bretons, and the Cantabri,
who invaded Brittany and Berne, were reduced to this mifer-
able ftate by their Lords, in order to leave them no means of
revolt, and to render them ufeful as flaves. Du Cange in-
forms us, that the celebrated Hevin firft obtained, from the
Parliament of Rennes, a repeal of thofe cruel and ridiculous
conftitution
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. $$
conftitutions againft the Cacous. But the word Cagot ftill re-
mains a term of reproach, and now fignifies a hypocrite. Had
we leifure, it would be amufing to compare the miferable ftate
of the poor Cagots, with that infamy which is entaikd } 10
Hindoftan, on the caft or tribe of the Sooders. But we have
already made this note too long ; and all the apology we can
offer is, that we flatter ourfelves the reader will be glaa to find
here an account of a fet of men, whofe very name is little, if
at all, known in this Ifland, and againft whom far more in-
tolerable feverities were exercifed, than by our anceftors againft
the lepers, who abounded both in England and Scotland
during the middle ages.
Gar~\ Force one to a;vamider ; Gex.fnmd, a ftranger ; and
Scot, fremdman, one come from far.
Douglas writes this word fometimes fra and fray.
Whang~\ Prim, tan, a binding or cord. Hence every
thing of a long narrow fhape. Whang, a flice of cheefe, cut
in a long narrow form. Ulphila, tivang ; Ifl. tange, vin-
culum; Swed. tang, a ftrap hanging at the handle of a knife.
They alfo call an ifthmus tang, and we fay a tongue ef land.
111. thuing, a band; A. S. twang, whence our whang.
The primitive tan is found in all the Scythian dialects, and
thofc derived from them. Swed. tan, nerve. Leg, Goth. cap.
22. Thau enfundr er than hels edanacca ; Si abfeiflus fuerit
nervus colli. Welch tant, chorda ; Gcr. id. Alam. than, a
leather ftrap ; A. S. tan, vimen, virgultum ; and hence tan-
blyta, fortilegus. Swed. tanor, filaments in flefli. The Gr.
7i'fc>, is formed from tan, flgn. a nerve. OdyfT. 3.
** TiKiMl
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 61
The prieving was good, it pleas'd them baith,
To lo'e her for ay, he gae her his aith,
Quo"
" TlMKVS ^tiKO^i TiV0y] Eat. primus,
trior, princeps, and a vaft number of other words. At pre-
sent we confine ourfelves to the northern dialects, where we
find, in the Celtic, prid ; whence our price, or value of any
thing ; Ger. preis ; Lat. pretium ; Italian apprezzare ; Goth.
pris, id. and metaphorically, glory, honour, high efteem ;
whence Engl, praife. The truly learned and elegant Ihre ob-
ferves, that, in the old Swio-Gothic, they ufed prifoet in the
lame fenfe. In Chron. Ryth. p. 442.
" Och innan Jlrid Jlor prifliet was.'*
In war be was greatly prized.
With
6* THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
Quo' fhe, to leave thee I will be laith,
My winfom Gaberlunzie-man.
IX.
IVith them prifa, fign. to prize, apprize ; and thefe words
clearly indicate their northern origin. Hence, too, Fr. prifer,
meprifer ; nuinna prifet, to win the prize. In our dialect
prif, prieve, is proof, or trial, as here ; and in Douglafs, p.
309. 49.
" Thus rude examplis may we gif,
" Thocht God be his awin Creauture to prieve."
"We alfo ufe the verb, to prie, to tafle.
Ver. 5. Baith~\ Engl, both, by a faulty pronunciation j
for the primitive is found in Ulphila's, ba, bai, i. e. baith,
not both. So Luke 5. v. 7. Ba tbo skipa gafullidedun, they
filled both the fhips ; and Luke 6. v. 39. Bai in dalga dri-
nfand, both will fall into the ditch. A. S. ba, butu ; Alam.
bedu, beidu ; Ifl. bathur. It is diverting to fee Junius gravely
fuppofing that our word comes from Gr. tt^tu, as if our an-
ceftors could not reckon two, till the Greeks taught them.
The favages of Kamfchatka do more than this ; for they fol-
Jow the number of their fingers and toes up to twenty, and
having got thus far, they flop, and cry, Where (hall I find
more ? See the account of this country, published at Peterf-
burg, and tranflated by Grieve, p. 178. We jufl add, that
the fame obfervation may be applied to the words, aith, oath,
laith, loth, which occur in the verfcs immediately following,
and which have been equally vitiated by our fouthern neighr
bours, as this word baitk.
Ver. 7. Laitk~\ Loth. But ours is the true pronouncia-
tion, as derived from Al. kid, had ; Alam. lath ; Belg.
THE GABERLUNZ IE-MAN; 63
leyd, odious, ugly, troubltfome ; Old Danifh, tha the Icenvas
and Udedon inch, who hate and perfccute you. The primitive
of all thefe is fourrd in rhe Celt, lad, loc, to cut, pain, ot
wound ; Bafg. laceria, misfortune. We cannot deny our-
felves the pleafure of following this original through fome of
its many defcendants ; hence come Gr. KnPav ', Fr. lacerer\
Lat. lacerare, our lacerate ; Fr. loquete, cut out in flices ;
whence our lock of hair, or wool ; Celt, laza, to kill ; and
hence lay, a poem on any tragical fubjecl: ; fo Dougl. 321.
T. 5.
" The dowy tones, and layes lamentabil."
Ital. lai, and our lament, the true Scots appellation of E-
legiac fongs ; A. S. ley, id. which neither Menage, nor even
Skinner underftood ; Ger. lied, a fong, but properly a me-
lancholy ditty ; as the B. L. leudus alfo fignifies ; Fortunat.
Epift. ad Gregor. Turon. ad Lib. 1. Poemat. Sola fcepe bora-
bicans barbaros kudos harpa relidcbat. Id. Lib. 7. Poem 8.
" Nos tibi verficulos, dent barbara carmina leudor."
Hence, too, Lat. hjfus, and the Baf. Bret, lais, a melan-
choly found or cry ; e-legia, e-ltgy, lefion ; and the Fr. lezs
viajejlee, high treafon. We could eafily bring many more
proofs of the truth of our account of the term elegy, as that
paflage of Proclus, in Chreft. ap. Phot. Bibl. T3 yapd-pmo;,
ihiyiav ihtynv ot Ta.\&toh veteres luclum vocarunt -/eyov.
Ovid gives us the fame idea, Ped. de Lib. 3. Eleg. 1.
" Flebilis indignos elegia folve capillos,
" Heu nimis ex vero nunc tibi nomen ineft."
Vofiius (in Elegia) has quoted thefe paffages, but gives no
Etymology, as indeed the root is loft both in the Greek and
Roman languages. But we muft flop, after obferving that the
Fr.
64 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN;
IX.
O kend my minny I war wi* you,
Ill-fardly wad fhe crook her mou%
Sic
Fr. words Uid, (which of old fignified, ofFencc, injury, and
now uglinefs,) Lai Jew; laidron, and the Gr. Kot^ofna, to de-
fame, are all of this family.
Ver. 8. Winfom~\ We have have already (hewn the mean-
ing and origin of this word, in the note on Stanza II. ver. o.
In the old ballads we find it often ufed ; fo in the old fong of
Gilderoy, (Percy, vol. I. p. 324, 325.) My ivinfom Gilderoy j
Ger. minnefam, from minne, love, which we have already ex-
plained ; Alam. nvino, a friend ; A. S. vine, beloved.
STANZA IX.
Ver. 1. KenJ~\ The primitive kan-enen, fignifies art,
knowledge, dexterity. Hebr. gmoanen, an inchanter, and the
verb gvetv, tvvttvcti, fjrirtt&tLi, to
underftand. We fay here kenfpeckled, eafy to be known by
particular marks. The Goths ufe a fimilar phrafe, Kenefpak,
qui alios facile agnofcit ; Ihre in kenn.
Ver. 2. Ill-farJlf\ UUfavouredly, in an ugly manner;
In Engl, well-favoured, handfome, well-looking; and thus
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 6j
pur translators of the Bible ufe it, Geo. xli. v. 3. 4. Primi-
tive hfa, to eat, to feed on good things, as defcended from
the family of fa, denoting every action belonging to the mouth,
as eating, {peaking, & c \ So the Latin fari, whence Fr.
faribole, idle tale, and the like. From fa comes Latin favus,
honey-comb ; favere alicui, to favour one ; our favourite,
favour ; Fr. favor ifer, faitteur, and the Latin fautor. The
common word infant, Latin infans, comes not from in and
fari, one who cannot fpeak, as our herd of Lexicographers
fay, but fromy2?, to nourifh, to feed, whence fari itfelf is de-
rived, which being a difTyllable, can never be a primitive,
thole (as we have elfe where obferved) being all monofyllables>
in every language. From this root, too, we have fawn, a
young deer. N. B. The animals do not fpeak, therefore it is
impoffible that fanvn can come from Latin firi : but we muft
Hop here, left we offend thofe who hold, that the Ourang-
cutans, a fpecies of the monkey, belong to the human race;
and that, though they have pafTed above fix thoufand years
without framing a language, it is ftill very rationally expected,
that they will yet form one, (vide Origin and Prog, of Lang,
vol. I. p. 189. 272). Whenever we are happy enough
to poffefs a Dictionary, collected by fome learned Ouran-
outang, and a Grammar of this new fpeech, \ve nothing doubt,
but we (hall difcover many primitives of language yet unknown.
But this by the bye.
We find favour, in the Welch, fleafor, flanvr, and in the
Greek, $aw, $H(j.i ; and in what Feftus writes, faventia,
bonam ominationem fignificat; favere, enim, eft bona fari.
Hence the folemn form, Favete Unguis. Voflius has faid
much, to no purpofe, about this, in Favere ; but he had no
principles. We fee new proofs of the truth of our Etymology
in the hinnuleuj of the Latins, and the Gr. ,vj/o<-, fig. qr^/o.-, a
boy or your.g one. Vide Salm;if. Plin. Exercit. p. ic6. and
I Spchi!;.n,
66 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
Spelman, in Fenatio and Foinejium. Lye mentions fauntekin
as an old Englifh word, fignifying an infant or little boy, which
he rightly derives from the Iflandic /ante, a young man ;
"whence the Italian /ante, a page or fervant, and the French
fantajfin, a foldier who ferves on foot, and of thofe whom we
call In-fantry.
Ver. 2. Crook"] Prim. Celt. Crok, fignifies every thing that
takes hold ; and as nothing can take hold but what deviates
from the ftreight line, this word has formed a very numerous
family : Goth, krok ; the Gael, k rocky kruick, an earthen
pot or vafe ; Goth, kruka, id. We in Scotland call the iron
on which the kettle hangs a crook. Shepherd's crook, from
its bent form ; and, for the fame reafon, crotchet in mufic fig-
nifies a note, with a tail turned up. Hence, too, come the
French crotcheteur efcroi, a thief who feizes every thing he
can lay hands on ; crojfe, the fheep-hook, with which bifhops
are inverted; acrocher, to feize or lay hold of. Gebelin ob-
ferves, with his ufual acutenefs, that the French peafants
who revolted in 1598, were called Les Croquans, becaufethey
plundered and carried off every thing wherever they came.
Mou'] Mouth. Prim, muth, mun ; whence Ulphila
has munths, the mouth ; Celt. mu, id. alfo the lips.
Hence Fr. mot, what is fpoken with the lips ; motet, Bafq.
viotafa, found of the voice; Gr. ui
cellar iu?n t
70 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN.
eellarium, our cellar; French celer, our cori-ceal ; the Celtic
cal, a hut or ftable. Hence kal came to denote the materials
for inclofing, viz. ftones, and efpecially that foft kind of ftone,
eafily divided into fmall pieces, which the Englifh call chalk, and
we, more properly, pronounce kauk. Ifl. kalk; Gael, calch ;
Alam. calc; A. S. ceale, ceale, Jlan. From this root, too,
comes the Greek X* K '%> explained by Suidas, fxtxpov
A/.3-/JW, a little ftone, and more clearly by Hefych. -^vMKif,
o ett Trt? o:x.ouhorles~\ A perforated piece of circular (lone, fixed on the
fpindie to give it weight in turning round ; literally, ivhirlers,
to encrcafe the motion in whirling round. Scyth. ivhirra,
horra, "jjherta, tuibare, tumultuari, furfum et deorfum ferri.
Goth.
THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN. 73
Whilk is a gentle trade indeed,
To carry the Gaberlunzie on.
I'll bow my leg and crook my knee,
An' draw a black clout owr my eye,
A
Goth. huirfvael, our *whirl~d)':>:d, from tswerfiua, Ifl. kuerfa,
in gyrum agere. From the Goth, horra, the Engliih hurry.
Prim, girnxibir, circle. A. S. ymbbtertan, to be turned round.
Belg. ivernven, nvieren. Hence the fea-phrafe, to wear floip,
to bring her round. Fr. virer and verve, by which they
denote the furor poeticus, which ftrongly agitates the mind ;
and this affection the Iflanders, among whom of old it was*
very ftrong and frequent, call fcaldivingl. From this primi-
tive the Greek yvpav, and the Latin gyrare. It is remark-
able that the old Latins faid vervare, for circumagere ; and
urvare, to draw the circular line with the plough, to mark
the boundaries of the future city. The word is pure Gothic ;
but neither Feftus, nor any of his commentators, undentood
it. Confer Ada Sueciae Litterar. vol. IV. p. 386. Junius
has given us no etymon of ivhirl. Vid. in voce.
Ver. 6. Clout~\ Goth, klut, panni fruftum, a rag. The
prim, is clo-clu, covered, {hut up. Hence Lat. claudo, elude,
in-cludc, and our clofe, inclofe, difclofi. Douglas ufed cloys
for cloijler, place where monks and nuns are (hut up. In
the Gael, duff, in A. S. cleof, fignify joining of a rent.
A. S. geclutad hraegl, a clouted garment. " Ex his cca-
jicere licet (fays Ihre) klut, prima et antiquiffima fignifica-
tione denotafle panni frufta ad farciendas veftes immiffa." In
Engliih, a clouterly fellow, a mean man, a fellow in rags.
33elg. klcete, a fool ; Swed. klutare, a botcher of old clothes.
K Ver.
74 THE GABERLUNZIE-MAN,
A cripple or blind they will ca* me,
While we will be merry and fing.
Ver. 7. Cripple] Lame man. A word found in all the
Celtic dialefts. Welih crupl ; A. S. crypl ; Belg. irepel,
kreupel; Swed. krympling, paralytic, membris captus ; whence
our cramp, binding of the finews. The primitive is crafi
crify cram, to bind. Hence Gaelic crampa, French
crampon, cramponer. The fhell-fifh crab, from its claws,
and the French crapaud, are of the fame origin. Hence,
too, Greek ypvr&tY&i', in-curvari, y$via.\tov t a man bent
down or crippled with age. doff. Philoxeni Kp2.tirA\ovTtf,
vacillantes. Junius odly. deduces cripple, a Kpanra>w, cra-
pula : But we are weary of his blunders ; and fo, perhaps,
is the reader of ours.
Jam fat is eft r Planum de tabula*
ADDENDA,
ADDENDA.
FOR the following elucidations of the general principles
laid down in the Preface, and exemplified in the
Notes on the foregoing Ballad, the Public and I are indebted
to a learned and worthy friend of the Author*, whofe exten-
sive erudition is only equalled by the modefty and candour
confpicuous. in his whole deportment. 1 am fure our learned
readers will regret with me, that he has not pufhed his re-
fearches further than he has done. But, from the little he has
here given us, the general principle of Etymology I have en-
deavoured to eftablifh will derive new force, and our readers
Sew entertainment.
TO THE READER.
IN the following ftri&ures, I have, in a manner, confined
myfelf to the Oriental languages. My knowledge of the
Northern tongues is too much bounded to qualify me for pur-
fuing the coincidences of words through their various dia-
lects. I fhall, perhaps, be blamed for terminating the origin
of too great a number of words in the Hebrew. This, how-
ever, I did, from a conviction that their radical fyllables and
fignifications appeared moft obvious in that language. In a
few inftances I have taken the liberty to differ from tha
K 2 learned-
* Mr David Dj>ig, Re&or of the Academy in Stirling.
76 ADDENDA.
learned and laborious Author of the Notes. I have not;
however, the remotefl intention to detract from his well-known
abilities and merit. I imagined it might neither be difplea-
fing to himfelf, nor his readers, to fee, upon fome occafions,
the fame individual term placed in Various points' of light.
If the unlearned philologer (hall acquire one new idea by the
perufal of them, I ihall think myfelf abundantly rewarded for
the pains I have taken in throwing them together.
Before I proceed to the additional notes, I fhall take the
liberty to prefent to the reader one fingle word, which, in my
opinion, furnifhes a very ftriking evidence of the truth of the
Author's leading principle, with relation to the exiftence of
an original univerfal language.
Ur, aur, our'} Thefe words fignify fire, light, heat, and.
feveral other things nearly connected with thefe ideas. They
occur frequently in the Hebrew, and its fiftei -dialects. In
the Chald. we have Ur, the name of a city, where, it is
thought, the Sun was worfhipped by a perpetual fire. Alfo
Or-choe, the feat of the Chaldean aftxonomers called Or-
cheni, Strabo, 1. 16. p. 739. We find oreitx, ox or it a, in
different parts of the Eaft, the Chald. Atun B-ura, the fur-
nace of fire, occurs, Dan. chap. 3. ver. 6. &c. In the
Gentoo language ivar, which is only a fmall variation, im-
ports day, light, fee Halhed's Pref. to his Tranflation of
the Gentoo Laws. In the fame tongue, the moit ancient
Dynafty of the Gentoo Princes were called Surage, from Sur,
a name or epithet of the Sun See Halhed's Pref. and Col.
Dow's Introd. to the Hiit. of Hindoftan.
In the old Perfian, or Pehlvi, the word hyr fignifies fire t
the fame with ur, only with the afpirate prefixed.
Hyr-bad, a fire, temple ; Az-ur, Mars, i. e. the fiery
planet, compounded of Az, or AJ}, fire, and Ur, heiJt or
light. Hur, or Chur, is a common name of the Sun in that
language.
ADDENDA* 77
language. Kur, Rafcb, HoreJI?, Kv?o;, Gr. which lair$
Plut. Vit. Artax. fignifies the Sun. From the fame word we
have the firfr. fy liable of Or-mazd, the God of Light, the
chief Divinity of the Perfians. Here, too, we find Purimi
fignifying lots, denominated from the ceremonies of fire em-
ployed upon thefe occafions : Efth. chap. iii. ver. 7. &c.
The Arabian Uro-talt, Herod. 1. 3. cap. 8. is compound-
ed of ur, light, and jalath, high. In Egypt we find Orusi
or Horus, Apollo, the Sun, Herod, 1. 2. Diod. Sic. 1. 1.
Plut. Ifis and Ofiris, Horapollo, PalT. In the fame language
we have Athur, the name of a month, partly anfwering to
our October, on the 17th day of which Ofiris was put into
the coffin, a word compounded of ait, or at, or ath, heat,
and ur, or or See Plut. ubi fupra. The particle pi was
common in the Egyptian tongue, fee Kirch. Prolegom. Copt,
page 180, 297. Jamefon's Spicileg. cap. 9. parag. 4. Hence
pur, fire, and fometimes the 'Sun. Of this word, and the
Hebrew cbamud, or omud, columna, is compounded the
term x^pei//,',', pyramid, edifices, erected in honour of the
Sun.
The Tip of the Greeks^ according to Plato (Gratyl. .p.
410. Serr.) was borrowed from the Phrygians. Thefe laft
had received it from the Perfians by the Armenians, who
fpoke nearly the fame language. The word -rup produced a
numerous family, all defcendants of the oriental term Ur.
Or~\ Another modification of the fame word, produced
fcprt, tempeftas, a feafon, with a numerous train of connections.
Alfo t'p-', beauty ; a.oc, a fword, from its glittering, by
the fame analogy that the Scandinavians call it brandt : Alfo
opd.cc, video, and many others.
From aur we have the Eolic ctvpst, avfor, afterwards adopt-
ed by the Latins. From our we have ovp<, vcntus fecundus,
with all its compounds and derivatives ; alfo Kuvcixfa, the
North Pole-Star, which the Greeks have corrupted in a
* fhameful
$8 ADDENDA.
fhameful manner. It is really compofed of the Hebrew or
Phoenician kanes, congregavit, and ur, light, i. e. an Ajfem-
blage of Light. From the fame root we have ovpxvof, ccelum.
The laft part is probably the Oriental en, fignifying an eye, a
fountain, the Sun being the eye of Heaven, or fountain of
light.
In the Latin tongue we have a numerous tribe of words
defcended from ur, or, aur ; fuch are uro, buro, lurrum,
ap. Feftum pro rufu?n, purus, purgo. From the fame root
we hivzfuro, to rage like lire ; furia, a fury. Perhaps this
laft word may be a native of Egypt, from whence the Greeks
derived their ideas of the infernal regions. See Diod. Sic.
1. i. juxta finem. The Latian Jupiter was called Jupiter
Puer. I fufpecl this epithet is diflorted from pi-ur. In an-
cient times, it is probable, this Deity was no other than the
Sun. See Macrob. Saturn, cap. 17. His Minifters were
called Pueri ; and becaufe they were generally handfome
young men, feledted for that office, in procefs of time, I
fancy, the word puer came to fignify a young man in general;
At Prenefte, "Jupiter Puer was in high veneration ; he pre-
fided over the celebrated Sortes Preneftini, defcribed by
Cicero, de Divinat. 1. 2. From or we have orior, ordior,
and perhaps oro ; from aur we have aura, Aurora, aurum,
&c.
The words fire, air, &c. plainly defcended of die fame
ftock, under various forms, and with new modifications, per-
vade all the German and Scandinavian dialects ; an a/Tertion
which the Author of the Notes would certainly have demon-
ftrated, had that term occurred in the text of the Ballad.
In the French we have jour, with all its compounds, from
the very fame root. In the Celtic, ore, or aur, fignifies gold,
concerning which, Vofiius (Etym. V. Aurum) has told
heap of abfurdites. The name ore is given it in allufion
to its mining quality, a word which we have adopted,
and
ADDENDA. 79
and applied to fignify any raetal before it is purified
and refined. Aur alfo in Celtic fignifies yellow. Vid.
Bullet in Aur. Thofe who are well acquainted with
the remains of the ancient Celtic, can, no doubt, produce
many other cognates of the fame original term. If the above
detail mould be thought tedious, the beft apology I can make
is, that I am confident I have, for the fake of brevity, omit-
ted at leaft one third of what I could eafily have produced ;
At the fame time, all thefe analogies might have been con-
firmed and elucidated by a variety of quotations from ancieat
and modern authors, had the bounds I have prefcribed to my-
felf admitted fuch enlargements.
\
TITLE.
Gaber"] In fome places of Scotland, this word, among the
vulgar, denotes an idea very different from that affigned by
the Author of the Notes. When a thing is darned to pieces,
they fay it is driven to gaberts, or gabers. According to
this acceptation, the Gaberlunzie-man will imply a fellow
whofe clothes about his loins are all rags and tatters, all
worn out, ffc
The character exhibited throughout the Ballad, feems
rather to be that of a common beggar than of a tinker, though
indeed both profefiions were often united in the fame perfon.
Gab fcems originally to denote the roof of the mouth or
palate. In fome of the Eaftern languages it fignifies an emi-
nence, a protuberance, gibbous, &c. Hence Arab, gebal, a
hill; alfo the Lat. gibbus, hump- backed. According to this
idea, it was appropriated to fignify the roof of the Mouth,
which, indeed, rifes in a gibbous form or arch over the tongue
and lower part of the mouth. From the notion of a rifing
protuberance, it was probably transferred to fignify cabbage,
and whatever elfe imports eviinence, elevation, or gibbojity.
Hence
&o ADDENDA.
Hence gabah, fcyphus, a kind of cup, fo called from its
gibbouf protuberant belly, perhaps the origin of the Scotch
word cap, and of all its German and Scandinavian cog-
nates.
Caph, Hebr. the hollow of the hand, or any other cavity
fitted for containing. By changing the ph but a very little,
we have cav, gau, cony, and gonv, fyllables which occur in a
number of compounds, both in the Eaft and Weft. Plut. in
Alex, tells us that gau-gamela fignifies the houfeof the camel.
It were eafy to trace this word through many different lan-
guages. It is the origin of the Englifh word cave, Scotch
cove, and Welch conue ; Lat. cavus, a-um, hollow. Here,
I believe, we may difcover a compofition of the word ccelum
very different from that ufually afligned. Co is a houfe, and
El, or II, a Phnceician name of the Deity. Hence we have
Ennius's Allifonans Coil, Annal. L. i. and alfo the follow-
ing verfes :
" Coiluvi profpexit flellis fulgentibus aptum.
" Olim de Coilo laivum dedit inclytus fignum,
*' Saturnus quern Coilus genuvit.
" Unus erat quem tu tollas in coirila Coili
" Templa,"
Hence it is probable that Co-il originally fignified the Houfe
of //, or El, which is perfeelly conformable to the notion of
Heaven commonly exhibited in Scripture. The idea annexed
to this word carries us back to a very uncultivated ftate of
Societv. The fame 1 word being applied both to fignify a cave
and a houfe, intimates that the original men often dwelt in
cave:. Vid. the Poems of Offian, pamm.
" Domus antra fuerunt,
" Et denfi frutices, vinetas cortice virgrc."
Ovid. Metant.
As
ADDENDA. Si
As gome, gaw, caw, cow, originally fignified a houfe, in
proceis of time it came to import a collection of houfes, a
village, a city. This was the cafe both in the German and
Celtic tongues. Thus we have Cra-conv, Tor-gamy, Wonnes-
gaiv, Ncrd-gaw, Rkin-gaw : See CJuv. Germ. Antiq. 1. i.
cap. 13. p. 91. Confer Bullet in Gouri, and Gowrin.
In Scotland we have Glaf-cow, or Glaf-gow, Linlith-
gow, &c. In the old Britifh dialect, gowe, or rather
oowe, fignified likewife low, hollow ; Scotch howe. From
gow, or cow, and ri, a river, -we have Gowrie, a low fer-
tile tracl of ground, lying on the north bank of the river
Tay. In ancient times, this diflrift lay between the rivers
Tay and Erne.
Lunzie~] We call a bulky parcel, which one carries on his
haunch, under his coat, a lunchick ; perhaps the fame with the
Englifh luncheon, both derived from thje word lunzie,
STANZA I.
Ver. 1. Tke~\ This particle has a moft extenfive range
both in the Eaftern and Weftern parts of the Globe. Hebr.
zah, or zahah ; Chald. da, di, dik, din. Arab. Syr. much
the fame. Perf. di. From the- Chald. da, the Greeks
formed their r , the article of the neuter gender. It is the
fame with the Latin de, though of a different fignification.
The fame article runs through all the Gothic dialedts, with
very little variation.
Over'] This prepofition, however meanly it figures in our
dialeds, is, notwithstanding, one of the terms which made a
part of the original language of mankind. In Hebrew we
have ckabar, or, as fome pronounce it, obar, tranfivit,
tranfgreffus eft ; heber, tranfitus ; Chald. cheber, chiber, from
which word, fome think the pofterity of Abraham were called
L Hebrews*
8* ADDENDA,
Hebrews, transfiuviani, men from beyond the river. Syrian
chabara, or abara, whence Beth-abara, the houfe ofthepajf*
age, the ferry-houfe, John, chap. i. 25. Hence alfo chebar,
in Ezek. From Chabar, trans, over, were denominated the
Chabareni, a people beyond the mountains of Armenia,
Steph. Byzan. in Voc.
From the Chald. Chiber, we have all the fieri in the Eaft.
In Spain we have Celt-iberi, i. e. the Celtse beyond the
mountains ; the river fber, now Ebro, denominated,
I fuppofe, by the Gauls who. fettled in that country.
The word aber, fignifying the mouth of a river, pervades
all the Celtic dialects, and differs almofr. nothing from the
Chabar of the Eaft.
From the fame word we have the Greek vt,v, and ysvvpet,
a bridge. Alfo the Lat. fuper, fupra, with all their connec-
tions. Upon the whole, hardly any particle has pervaded a
greater number of dialects, both in Europe and Afia.
Lef\ Over all the North of Scotland they pronounce this
word ley, which comes very near the Greek hztos, hwtuv,
Mle, &C.
Ver. 3. Gude-wife~] Good, Scots gude, runs through all
the Northern dialects. Its primitive is found in the old Per-
fian language, where it is gatk, good. It is the root of the
Greek a.") *$><> good.
Wife~\ Of all the etymologies of this word, none feem to
me more plaufible than that which refers it to the very word
chevah. It is only changing the letter heth into iv, and
throwing away the he at the end ; but the profound etymolo-
gies will reject this derivation, were it for no other reafon
but becaufe it is obvious.
Kaiu, Kaio~\ Thefe words are originally Perfian. Kai,
or Hci, was a title given to a dynafty of their Kings.. Hence
the
ADDENDA. 3
the Princes of that family were called Kaianidcs, which fig-
nifies \h.lendid, or illuflrious. The word hai, hei, fignifies
fulgur, a flam of lightning. Hebr. kai, or kei, uftio,
aduftio ; Gr. Kctiw, uro. From the fame root the Latin
prsenomen Cains, borrowed, I fuppofe, from the Etrufcans,
a colony of Lydians, which lair, had it from their neighbours
the Medes.
yzvct(o'\ From ya&, gigno, which laft from yict, Terra,
it being the opinion of the ancient uncivilized Greeks, that
the original men fprung from the earth, according to the
doctrine ef Mofchus, Democritus, and Epicurus, which was
introduced afterwards, and formed upon the fame opinion.
The radical term is the Hebr. gia, vallis.
Gaudeo is, I believe, deduced from the Hebrew gaah,
fuperbire; whence gavah, exultatio, which produces the Gr.
ya.u and the Lat. gaudeo, originally gaveo. The Scots
word, gaff, to laugh immoderately, belongs to the fame fami-
ly. They feem to be originally onomatopaas, formed in al-
lufion to the found of the human voice in an extafy of joy.
Ver. 4. Ludge\ Celt. Lug, Log, a place ; whence Lat.
Locm, and the Scot. Logie, the name of feveral villages.
Hence alfb Ki I- logie.
Ver. 5. Nigkt~\ This word, in various forms, pervades
all the Northern diale&s. With a fmall variation, we have
Lat. nox, mtt ; Gr. n, ; Hebr. Chad. Syr. nuch, quievit,
requievit.
Wat~\ Perf. ab, av, aiv, a river ; the very fame with
the Celtic word av, fignifying the fame thing. Of au and
pbrat, the Greeks made F.t/ppaTH?, Euphrates.
Ver. 6. Ingle~\ The origin of this word is very obfcure.
In many places of Scotland they have no other fuel but peats,
furze, broom, heath, and brufliwood. Fires confiding of
fch materials mud be fed by continual fupplies, which they
L 2 call
8+ ADDENDA,
call beeting. The Welch vocable inghilf fignlfies feeding }
this I take to be the origin of the word ingle, alluding to the
content feeding of the fire. In like manner, Ifl. elldur is
fire ; elide, to boil with fire ; both from el, ool, ela, to feed.
Ver. 7. Dochter'j] This word is purely Perfian, as is
generally known.
Ver. 8. Cadgily~\ The word cadge is probably derived
from the Sclavonian chodge, to trudge on foot ; whence, too,
our fcodgy, a little wench, who does the dirty work in a far-
mer's kitchen. The word cadgy, in the prefent cafe, fhould,
I think, be written cagy, or cagie, which would agree better
with the pronounciation. It imports merry, chearful, jovial,
and is, I believe, an abbreviation of the old French word
cagedJer, the fame with cajoler, to cajole, flatter, cox.
STANZA II.
Ver. 5. Canty"] From Lat. canto, cano. Hebr. kanah y
canna, calamus, arundo, plainly alludes to playing on inftru-
ments made of reeds, the reed being the firfr. fubftance ufed
for wind mufic. The Hebrew chanah, among other nu-
llifications, denotes to ftng, to fay, to fpeak to, to tejlify, t
attejl. The Greek 2/JV, in ancient times, implied both to
Jing and to fpeak. By comparing thefe two ideas, it appears
that the ancients uttered their words with a canting tone of
voice, or in the recitative ftile. From this circumftance the
orations of the Greeks and Romans may poflibly have derived
fome part of that influence, which we (till admire, but have
never feen.
Ver. 6. Ken] This is another word of Perfian extraction.
In thai language it denotes a learned intelligent man, efpecially
in the Laws of Zerdufht. Hence all the defcendants of that
word in Greek, Latin, Gothic, &c
STANZA
ADDENDA. 85
STANZA III.
Ver. 2. Daddy} This word occurs, with little variation,
in many different languages ; ab, ap, av-us, at, atta, tat>
dad, &c. and are all mere onomatopaeas, fabricated from the
early prattle of infants. The found is formed by an applica-
tion of the point of the tongue to the roof of the mouth, one
of the mod natural efforts of the organs of fpeech. It was
probably caught by mothers and nurfes, and by them applied
to intimate the idea of father. This procefs was natural.
The firft articulate found enounced by the child was appropri-
ated to the idea of father, he being deemed fuperior in dig-
nity to the other parent.
DQ Mentioned in the notes on the preceding word, figni-
fies bright, luminous, fplendid, glorious. It occurs in many
of the Eaftern dialefts, and from thence probably found its
way into the Wed. Perfian div, a genius, whence Eol. A/o<,
Lat. divus, Hebr. zui, fplendor ; Lat. diu t in the day-
time ; Gr. Ait, Jupiter, originally the Sun j Atsft divinus,
and fo forth.
This word makes the firfr. part of Atowcoe, the Greek
name of Bacchus, a word which has been ftrangely garbled
by etymologifts. In reality, dio fignifies bright, and nafta,
princeps. The Eolians changed a into v. Hence Dionyfius
will fignify the bright Prince, or the Prince of Light, i. e.
the Sun, who was indeed the original Bacchus of the Greeks,
and Ofiris of the Egyptians.
Ver. 6. Dyke'} Heb. deik, munitio, propugnaculum ; Gr.
rnyoi. Hence all the progeny of that word throughout the
Greek and Gothic dialefts. Hence, too, the Gr.
Jukvoui, ofendo, to point out, as from the top of a bulwark,
fort, or tower. This word may be compared with the Lat.
fpecula, fpeculory to view fro a watch-tower. In ancient
times
86 ADDENDA.
times it was the practice to erect watch-towers, or eminences*
round the frontiers of a country, and in thefe to place a man,
whofe bufinefs it was to look out, and, upon the approach of
an enemy, to alarm the country by lighting up fires. Hence
the cburim, vigiles, Hebr. Chald. alluding to the kindling
up fires ; the Gr. vpupo/, from the fame idea ; the Lat.
[peculator a , and the Scandinavian gokefmen.
Ver. 7. Clead~\ To this family belong the Gr. KhaQa, neo>
and Ka9c, the eldeft of the Dejl'mles.
Bra E N D A.
Greek word fix the analogy to a demonftration. It was,
no doubt, applied to the Scythians, with a particular view to
exhibit the roving, reftlels difpofition of thofe people, who in-
habited all the Northern regions of Afia and Europe. Ana-
Jagous to this idea, the Perfians called the fame people Hhko./,
Sacse. Herod. 1. 7. cap. 64. - 1-^ Hitr-i 7r&vT*i T . 'ZviQcts
xa.Ki-. a Barbarian.
In the oriental dialects it fignified agrejlis, rujlicus, a pea-
fant ; what idea the Greeks annexed to its derivative, is too
well known to need to be mentioned.
The Author has fomevvhere obferved, that there is certain-*
ly a very ftrict connection among the particles of almoft all
languages. This obfervation is founded on fact ; and I may
add, that the not understanding the nature, relations, fignifi-
cation, and original import of thefe feemingly unimportant
terms, has occafioned not only great uncertainty, but nura-
berlefs blunders, in translating the ancient languages into
modern tongues. The Greek language, in particular, lofes
a confiderable part of its beauty, elegance, variety,
and energy, when the adverbial particles, with which
it is replete, are not thoroughly comprehended. An
exact: tranflation of thefe fmall words, in appearance in-
fignificant, would throw new light not only on Homer and
Hefiod,
94
ADDENDA.
Hefiod, but even on poets of a much pofterior date. Par-
ticles, which are generally treated as mere expletives, would
ofcen be found, energetically Significant. It is, however, al-
together impoflible to Succeed in this attempt, without a com-
petent (kill in the Hebrew, Chaldean, Syrian, Arabic, Per-
sian, Phoenician, Gothic, and Celtic languages. Such an
extenfive acquaintance with languages is, it is true, feldom
to be found in one and the fame perfon. I fnall here take the
liberty to mention a few of the moft familiar of thefe particles,
one or other of which occurs in almoSt every line of Homer,
and which, I am perfuaded, are generally mifunderftood.
Such are JV,=Ptf, /usi, nv, UetVy fxet, 7ot,y } 0, ynv, veftigium, footdep. Vide Pf. Ixxxvi. v. 19.
Ver.
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 107
Thir kirtles were of Lincome light,
Weel preft wi* mony plaits ;
They were fae fkych, whan men them nicht,
They fqueil'd like ony gaits,
Fu' loud that day.
IIL
Ver. 3. Gluvis'} So our anceftors fpelled ghves. Sax.
glofa. Jun. in Etymol. obferves, that in Danjfti they arc
called haand-kloffuer, from baand and kloffue, to fplit or di-
vide, which gives the true idea of the word glove. Hence
glofar, gloar, glofe, glove.
Raffal~] I don't well underftand the meaning of this word ;
but, from analogy, it muft fignify gloves of rough leather. Celt.
craf, nails of the fingers a file every thing that fcratches.
Hence Ikins drefled in a rough manner, with coarfe inftru-
ments, and not hnoothed. Confer Bullet in V. Craf.
Ver. 4. Straits] Quaere, Is this what we now call Mo-
rocco leather, from the Straits of Gibraltar ?
Ver. 5. Lincome] Is this rightly copied from the M. S. ?
Ver. 6. P /aits'] Folds. Douglas, p. 298. v. 4.
* And he his hand plait on the wound in hye."
Plait, nectere, contexere J Gr. rrhzrMv ; A. S. plett, pletta,
a Iheep-fold, they being of old made of wicker work. The
Scots called them faulds, for the fame reafon, and the
Englifb folds.
Ver. 7. Skygb] Shy. Skygg bajla, a fliy horfe Jun.
Ver. 8. Squeil'd] Shrieked. Sueo-Goth. fq>wallra %
blaterare ; fqwa-la, incondite vociferare j Asig\. fqueak, fqueal.
X)ouglas, cf cattle, p. 254. 40.
O 2 Bayth
io8 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEtf.
" Bayth fqucil and low."
And p. 248. 36.
" With loud voce /que /and.' "
It is ufed metaphorically to accufe ; Sqivallra uppa etif
aliquem accufare ; Vide Ihre Lex. Sueo-Goth. in Sqivallra.
Sqivalimgar, crying children, fqualing brats. Suio-Goth.
/kail, found; Alam. /call; Germ, fi halt. " Ufurpa-
" tur a nobis," fays the learned lhre, " vel pro fonitu for-
*' tiori in genere, vel etiam in fpecie, quum mukitudo, edito
" clamore, feras in cafles piopeliit." Hence Jkallalxghe, fociety
of hunters ; Jkalra t to cry out ; Jhalla, to bark or howl as a
dog. Hence fkalla, a fmall bell, which was hung to the robes
of men in power, that the paffengers might make way for
them. Chron. Ryth. Min. in Prasfat.
" Kunde han danza, fpringa ok hoppa,
" Han fkulle jw hafwa fkallo, och forgylta klocka."
" If he only could dance and hop gracefully, he had immediate-
" ly gilded bells given him." Confer Ihre in Skalla. The old
French Romance De la Viollette, ap. Cange in Mantum,
defcribing a rich robe :
" Et ot a chafcune flourette,
" Attachie une campanette.
" Dedans fi que rien n'en paroit,
" Et fi tres doulcement fonnoit,
" Quant an mantel frapoit le vent."
The antiquity of this ornament appears from the facerdotai
robes of the Jewifli priefts, and thofe ufed by other nations.
Apul. Met. Lib. 10. Et piftilibus balthasis, et tintinnabulis
perargutis exornatum. Adde Eccard. ad LL. Salic, p. 151.
where he obferves, that the ltd. fquilla is of the Gothic fami-
ly. In the Latin of the middle ages we have fchilla*
cfquill^f
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN, 109
III.
Of a' thir maidens, myld as meld,
Was lane fae jimp as Gillie 5
As ony rofe her rude was red,
Her lyre was lyke the lillie :
But
efquilla, and fquillare^ for fonare. It was alfo the cuftom to
hang bells to the necks of cattle, that they might be more
eafily found in the woods : And hence the penalty in the
Salic Law, cap. 29. againft him, Qui fkellam de caballis
furaverit. Confer Cange in Tintinnabulum.
Ver. 8. Gaits~\ Goats. Sax. geit, gat ; IfL geit t capra i
Goth, gatcins, hsedus. Gib.
This is one of the many examples where the Scots hare re-
tained the orthography and pronunciation of the mother lan-
guage, more exactly than the Englifh.
STANZA III.
Ver. I. Meid] Mead, hydromel, a favourite drink of our-
anceftors, and alfo of the Scandinavians, as we learn from
Snorro, and all the Northern hiftorians. Mead and ale, called
by them year ; geong, young ; and the Scots (till more frequent-.
ly, (as Ruddiman obferves) even where the Englifh retain
g; as yate, for gate; foryet, for forget, life. Junius has
ranged all the words in Douglas's Virgil, which begin with z,
under g. Vide his GIofT.
STANZA IV,
Ver. i. Skrapit'] So Ramfay's edition. Bifhop Gibfon
reads Jkripped, which he explains, " Made a courtfie to him
" in a mocking manner." *' Vox deducenda videtur (adds
he) per metathefin et fyncopen a Cimbv.Jkapraunade, opprobrio
vexabat. Bibl. Ifland. i Sam. i. 6.
Perhaps this word may be, with more facility, derived
from Sueo-Goth.yftrtf/a ; A. S.fcreope, aicraper; fcreopan^
radaere, fcalpere. Hence the faying, Fa en fcrapa, to be
blamed or mocked. Perhaps our phrafe, To fall into a f crape %
may have originated from this. Shall we look here, too, for
the root of the Latin crepo, increpo, with the s prefixed, as
the Goths ufually do ? Similar metaphor in the French, Etril-
hr de paroles.
We.
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 113
We have further to obferve, that the Goth. Jkrap properly
ligniiies ufelefs fragments of any thing, which we call fcraps.
Hence metaphorically a lazy ufelefs fellow. Anfg. Saga cap.
Ihre Lex. in Skrap, Thu efl mefta be wis Jkripe, Tu omnium
bipedum ignaviffimus es. As fuch people are often vain-
glorious, we have the verb Jkrappa. Jaclare fe, gloriari,
Jkrappa vet fkryta. Hence Lat. crepare, in the fame fenfe.
Skrap, jafratio, oftentatio.
Ver. 2. Murgeou'd~] Made mouths at him, G. The
A. S. murcnung, murmuratio, querela, querimonia j Goth,
and Ifl. mogla, murmurare.
Ver. 3. Luvid~\ This may be underftood in the common
acceptation of loving. But our anceftors ufed it for praifing.
Thus Douglas, Virg. p. 455.
" How Eneas, glaid of his victory,
" Lovil the goddis, and can them facrify.'
Bruce's Life, p. 248.
** They loved God, and were full fain,
" And blyth that they efcaped fo."
Perhaps from the French louer, fays Ruddiman ; but this word
is formed from Goth, lof praife. The words, in that language,
loft, lift, lyfta, all denote fomething high and lofty. Lofwa,
laudare ; Ifland. leiva. In the Havamal, Jltqueld fkal dag,
leiva konu tha kender, make er reindur, is tha yfer tint
killvier, i. e. Praife the day when evening is come, a wife
when you know her, a fword when you have tried it, and ice
when you have paffed it. Lofiig, laudable ; loford, com-
mendation.
P Vfp.,
1X4 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
He cherifh'd her, fcho bid gae chat him,
Scho compt him not twa clokkis,
Sae fchamefully his fchort goun fet him,
His legs war lyke twa rokkis,
On rungs that day.
V.
Ver. 5. Chat him~\ To go about his bufinefs, G. Pro-
perly to take care of himfelf, and not attend to her, from the
Gothic fkota, curare. Chron. Rython. apud Ihre, Lex.
p. 6ie>
" Han wille thet intet fkota,
" Parum id penfi habebat."
Ifl. Jkeita. Job 1 8. 1 'hes fern ecke fkeita urn gud, qui deum
non curant. The fame learned and mod ingenious etymolo-
gift obferves the correfpondence of the Fr. 77 ne me chaui, I
care not ; from the old chaloir. He adds, Credo noflrum a
fkotjinus fa&um, ut z.Jinus fit infinuare, adeoq; proprie ufur-
patum fuifTe de infantibus qui in finu portabantur, unde
hodieq; Jkoti no dicitur tenellus, quern nondum de finu de-
ponere licet. Hence applied to other things, Skotafit ambek,
to look after his charge. Adde Douglas, p. 239. v. 30.
Ver. 6. Clckkis~\ Beetles, fcarabasi, G. True, the beetle
in the Scot, is clok ; but perhaps it means here, fhe valued
him no more than the cluk of a hen, which our anceftors pro-
nounced clok, from the found the hen makes.
Ver. 7. Schort Goun'] Till the French taught us to wear
our clothes fhort in the prefeot fafhion, the gown, covering
the knees, was univerfally worn both in England and Scot-
land. Hence Jun. derives it from ytva. pro yvictTu, genua.
But
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 1/5
But the etymon is from the Welfh giun, a gown or cloak,
from gunio, fuere. In the True Protraiture of Geoffrey
Chaucer., the famous Englijk poet, as it is defcryved by Tho-
mas Ocleve, who ivas his fcholar, and is generally put before
the title-page in the old editions of Chaucer, we find him
cloathed in the true Englifh gown, clofe gathered at the col-
lar and wrifts, and flowing loofely down from the fhoulders
to the knees. The form of this garment we had from Ger-
many ; and it feems to have been imported by the Saxons, as
h was worn all over Germany. Vide Spelman in Guna.
The opulent had their gowns lined with ermine, and odier
rich furs ; the poorer people with hare and fheep {kins. Boni-
face, Archbifhop of Mentz, epift. 89. Gunnam de pellibus
lutrarum factum fraternitati vaeftrie mill. Vinea Benedict,
cap. 5. Senibus noftris gunnas pelliceas tribuimus. Some-
times wrote gonna. Thus Gul. Major, apud Cange, in Gonna ;
Canonici ejufdem ecclefias in gonnis fuis. In old French
Gonne. In the Romance of Guillaume del. Nez :
" Or feraigre, fil me tollent ma gonne."
And ibid, apud Cange ubi fup :
" Laifla le fiecle, pour devenir prodhom, (
*' Et prift la gonne, et le noir chaperon."
As guna, or gown, denoted the men's garment, the women's
was called, in the barbarous Latin of the middle ages, gunella,
becaufe made pretty near in the falhion of the men's robe.
Ital. gonella ; Fr. gotillon, cotillon. Cluverius Germ. Ant.
]. 1. c. 15. derives gunam a gonaco, quod Varro majus fagum
interpretatur, vocem Grascam efTe ait. Hyfech. Ketwuxett
rpauara, nrtfahattt ..-rt, ftragula, altera parte
villofa. We fhall, in another work, prove evidently, that
numbers of the Greek words are formed from the Gothic, of
P 2 which
n6 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
which this is one, the robe itfelf being of Gothic, and nos
Greek invention. We tind a Count of Angers firnamed
Grife-gonclle, from his wearing a gown furred with that
colour. Vide Cange Gloff. in Grifeus color. And we find
an Epiftle of Pope John, folemnly addreffed to him,
Goffrido Grifia-gonellas cognominato, nobilliffimo Ande-
gavorum comiti. The men's gown is fometimes called cappa.
Baldricus in Geft. Alberonis, ap. Cange, ubi fup. Clericali fe
togo induit et cappa de panno grifco fe fuper induit. Hence
the faying of Henry IV. of France : " Je ne fuis q'un pauvre
" here. Je n'ai que la cappe et l'efpee."
Ver. 8. Reikis'] Rock, in Gothic and Iflandic, properly
denotes a heap of any loofe things flung together. Thus rock
hoys, a heap or rick of hay ; and thus it is (till ufed in Belg.
Hence transferred to a heap of lint or wool put upon the
flick for fpinning. The tranfition was eafily made, when
rock was ufed to denote the piece of wood to which the lint
or wool was fixed. Thus the Chum. Ryth. apud Ihre Lex.
in Roak, p. 496.
" Quuinor tager theras harfl ock harnijflc ifra,
" Ok monde them med rockhi fla."
" Women took the horfes and breajl plates from the men,
" And beat them nuith their rocks."
Id. rock, and apud Kilian. Lex. Tuet. rocken, penfum colo
aptare. See the learned Ihre, Lex. Sueo-Goth. in voce.
Marefchall Obf. ad Verf. Angl. Sax. 4. Evangel, informs us,
that in the times of Paganifm, the belt of Orion was, by the
Scandinavians, called Frygr rock, colum deae Fryggae. Thus
the girl here compares Jock's gown to an ill fhaped heap of
lint on the rock. Might not his ill-fhaped legs, if flender,
&c be compared to the rock or diflaff? Anodier Scot-
tifh
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. n?
tifh Poem defcribes the legs like harrow-trams. Per-
haps, too, rock may here be meant of the gown he
wore, which looked a3 if it had been hung on a pole;
for rock Goth, and A. S. rocc, fign. toga, veftis ex-
terior ; AI. rokk. In the barbarous Latin, roccus, rocius.
Vide Cange GloflT. in voce. Gall, rochet. Whence we call
the outer-garment of a fucking-child a rochet., or rackety and
the Englifli, putting /"before, have formed their word frock ;
Gall. free. Stadenius derives rock from rauh, rough, hairy.
Ulphil. r'thy as our ancefbrs firff. were clothed in fkins, and
after wool came to be ufed, they continued to line their gowns
with furs of different kinds. The Finlanders ftill call a fur-
red gown roucka, and the bed-coverings they ufe, made of
flieep-fkins, are named roucat ; whence our rug.
From this origin comes rock/in, the linen vellment worn by
the priefls ; the bifhops rocket. Thus Hiftor. Sigifmund. ap.
Ihre Lex. vol. 2. p. 450. Aflagges prajiens Anvita rock/in,
abrogatur facerdotis linea toga. This word was ufed in the
fame fenfe by the ancient Latins, as we fee from Feftus ;
Rica, veitimentum quadratum, fimbriatum, purpureum, quo
Flaminse pro palliolo utebantur Titinius, Rica et lana fucidei,
alba veftitus. Our readers will find many learned and critical
miftakes in the notes on this paflage, which is quite plain to
thofe who know that it is a Gothic or Scythian term, as many
more of the ancient Latin words are. Confer Jun. Etym. in.
Roketts ; Spelm. in Rocketum.
Ver. 9. Rungs'] Round and long pieces of wood. Vox
in ufu apud Anglos boreales, G.
Properly poles, or long ftaves like hunting poles, frequent
in Douglas, and our old writers. Skinner fays the carpenters
call thofe timbers in a fhip, which conftitute her floor, and are
bolted to the keel, rungs.
STANZA
r*S CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
V.
Tarn Lutar was thair minflrel meet ;
Gude Lord ! how he cou'd lans !
He playt fae fchill, and fang fae fweet,
Quhyle Towfie took a tranfs,
Auld
STANZA V.
Ver. i. Minjlrel~\ This term was indifcriminately applied
to the harper, the fiddler, or the player on the bagpipe. Fr,
menejlrier. It appears to be derived from A. S. minfler ; and
thofe called minjlrells were employed in the public worfliip of
the cathedrals as fingers, (vide Jun. in voce) in the fame way
the Welfh called muficians cler t as employed in the fame
way. Thofe minftrels, during the middle ages, united the
arts of poetry, inftrumental and vocal malic, their fongs be-
ing always accompanied with the harp. Thus, too, our
Poet repreients his minftrel, in ver. 3. below, as playing and
finging. They feem to have been the genuine fucceflbrs of
the ancient bards, who, under different names, were admired
and honoured from the earliefr ages among the Gauls, Britifh,
Irifh, and Scandinavians ; and, indeed, by all the firft in-
habitants of Europe, whether of Celtic or Gothic origin. It
were eafy to add many curious particulars concerning this once
famed race of mufieians and poets ; but we refer our Reader
to the elegant dhTertation on the ancient Englifh minftrels,
prefixed to the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, where we find it
obferved, that the light of the fong (to ufe OfTian's expreflion)
never arofe without the harp. Douglas, Virg. 250. 1 8.
Syne
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. ii 9
" Syne the menftrallis, fingaris, and danfaris,
" About the kyndlit altaris."
Du Cange has colle&ed a number of curious anecdotes con-
cerning thefe minftrells, voce Miniftelli. The ufual theme of
their fongs we may learn from an old French romance, quoted
by this lexicographer :
" Quiveut avoir des bons et des vaillans,
* I! doit aler fouvent a la pluie et au champs,
" Et eftre en la battaille, ainfi que fut Rolans,
*' Les quatre fils Haimon, et Charlons li plus grans,
" Li dus Lions de Bourges, et Guion de Connans,
" Percival li Galoi3, Lancelot et Triftans,
' Alixandres, Artus, Godefroy li Sachans,
" Dequoy cil menetriers font les nobles Romans."
Ver. 2. Lans~\ To run or fkip ; metaphorically to dance.
Arm. Lanca, jaculari, Ianceam vibrare. The minfixels, in
general, could acquit themfelves as dancers, as well as fingers
and poets. Douglas, Virg. p. 297. 16.
" Turnus lanfand lightlie Over the landis,
" With fpear in hand purfewis."
Some think the phrafe to launch a flrip, comes from this word.
Vide EfTay prefixed to Reliques of Ancient Poetry, p. 41.
This ancient Celtic word has pervaded many dialeds. Bafq.
lancza ; Gael, langa ; Corn. lancets ; Alain, lamze ; Gr.
Koyyui Hung, lantfas, a fpearman. Hence Lat lancears t
lancinare. Confer VofT. Etym. Lat. in Lancea.
Ver. 4. Tranfs~\ The name of fome foreign dance, per-
haps then firfl ufed in Scotland, and oppofed to Lightfute, ..a
fpecies of the ' hayes, or, as the Scots call it, reel, a train.
Be!g. ircin, ingens efie clarum numerus (fays Jun.) qui
du&orem
!2o CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
Auld Light-fute thair he cou'd fore-lcet.
And counterfittct Franfs ;
He held him as a man difcriet*
And up the Moreis-danfs
He tuke that day.
VL
duclorem fuum comitatur; une queue trainante, une traine de
gens ; of which train Towfie was the leader, or choragus, as
in this manner the Morefco dances are ftiil performed, which
are mentioned below.
Ver. 5. Fore-kef^ To outdo, G. This is an error ; foi-
forlatcij Goth, fignifies to leave off, to defert. Job 4. 3. Ht
kan forlatat ? Quis illud derelinquere poterit ? Ulphil. tra-
letan. So Mark viii. 3. Jabai fralcta ins laufqui thrans } If
I fend them away empty. The Iflanders write \tfrilata, and
fyrirlita. Vide Snorro, vol. 1. p. 103. The prepofition
for> generally indicates a bad acceptation. Thus forhxda y
to contemn ; and, where God is fpoken of, to blafpheme.
Forhala, to delay ; forhecgda, to deftroy; forhalla, unjuflly
to detain what is due to another. An hundred more examples
might be given : Thus Towfie here fore-kets, leaves off and
defpiles the dances of his own country, and betakes him to the
French and Morefco tunes.
Ver. 7. Up-tuh~\ He took up; he began. Phrafis efl:
Cimbrica. Etenim tafia, tafia till, et tafia upp, ap. Ifiandos
fignificant incipere, ut, ogg drottins andetof ad vera med ho-
rum, caepitq; fpiritus domini effe cum eo. Gib.
Goth, taga, in general, to take. Taga til lanj, to take
on credit ; taga arf, to take or fucceed to an inheritance ; Ifl.
taka. The great antiquity of this word may be fcen in the
Latin
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. lii
Latin tagere, and tagax, ap. Ciceron. Qui Iubenter capit,
rapax. Plaut. Milite :
" Tetigit calicem clanculum."
That is, dole or took it. Hence integer, from whom nothing
is taken. Taga alfo fignifies proficere. Han tager fik
ivackert. Pulchre proficit. He takes to it. Meric. Caufau-
bon.de Ling. Angl. Sax. p. 366. Taojvel tclku, Tila.ua.. Aor.
2. Partic. TtJcLyav. Exponunt quidam rzivcLi, alii rtva,^,
alii deniq; Aet^uy, accipiens, prehendens, quos Steph. fequitur
Certe. Tw imper. ex ia.u omnes exponunt ka'M . Cape.
Angl. take. It fignifies alfo to choofi. Taka konung, regem
eligere. Snorro, vol. 1. p. 65. Taga lag, legem accipere.
Ver. 8. Morris Dance~\ Afric or Moorifh dance. A la
Mtrefca, It. Fr. Morefque : Hence corruptly Morris dance.
This kind was much ufed by our anceflors, and is included ia
the catalogue given by G. Douglas, Virg. 476. 1.
" Gan do double frangillis and gambettis,
" Danfis and roundis trafing mony gatis,
*' Athir throw uthir reland on their gyfe,
" Thay futtit it fo, that lang war to devife
" Thare haifty fare, thare revelling and deray,
" Thare Morifis."
Junius explains it Chironomica faltatio faciem plerumq; in-
ficiunt fuligine, et peregrinum veftium cultum afTumunt qui
ludicris talibus indulgent, ut Mecuri effe videantur ; becaufc
this fpecies of dance was firft brought into Spain by the Moors,
and from the Spaniards it was communicated to other Euro-
pean nations, together with the rebeck, or violin, which is a
Moorifh inftrument.
Q^ STANZA
122 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN,
VI.
Then Steen cam ftappin m wi* ftends,
Nae rynk might him arreft,
Splae-fut he bobbit up wi* bends,
For Maufe he maid requeift ;
STANZA VI.
Ver. i. Stends"} Long paces, or great fteps. G.
In old Scots, to ftent, to extend ; a Lat. tendcre. I>0U"
glas, p. 39. 34.
" Cruell Achil hextftentit his palzoun."
Ital. Jiendere. Hence Jiend. Douglas, defcribing horfes
running off with the car, p. 338. 31.
*' And brake away with the carte to the fchore,
" Wvhjicndis fell."
And p. 42. 53.
" Quhilkfleis forth fie wyth mony ane ftend. yy
Ver. 2. Rynk~\ Sax. rinc. Homo, robuftus, fortis, pra-
ftans, G. And hence it came to fignify, a man in general ;
as ivterccfft tire, fidus homo, Rinc, alfo ufed for hu(band.
Vide Casdmon. 4. 22. Lye, Sax. Lex. in Rinc. Here it
means a Itrong man, or foldier, as it is alfo explained by Lye,
Gloff. Sax. in Voce.
Ver. 3. Bobit up~\ Jumped, or danced, with many bend-
ings of the body. We find a fet of men, in the middle ages,
who
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN, lij
He lap quhyle he lay on his lends,
But ryfand was fae preifl,
Quhyle he did hoaft at baith the ends,
For honour o' the Feift,
And dauns'd that day.
vn.
who, from the imperfeft accounts given of them, appear to
have been a kind of itinerant dancers, and, like their other
wandering brethren, of no very good chara&er. Urftis. ap k
Spelman. in bobmes, bubones, lixs, calones Aliqando ne-
bulones et Furciferi. Ger. buhen. Chron. Colmar. ap. Cang.
in Bubli. Servorum autem pauperum (in exercitu) qui di-
cuntur bubii, tanta fuit multitudo de bobinare. Conviciare,
clamare, ap. Felt, ubi vide Scaliger.
Bab, bow often, or (ink low, apud Anglos occidentales, to
lob, or bob down. Gib.
Ve r. 5. Lap] Supped ; lapt. A Cimbr. lepia. in Imperf t
lapte, linqua vel lambendo bibere. G.
Surely our learned prelate has not attended to the obviou3
fe n fe of the pafTage : Our Poet defcribes a clown dancing and
leaping with fuch violence as to fall. To loup is to leap ; he
lap, he leaped. Thus the Bifliop of Dunkeld, p. 418. 47.
" Some in haift, with an loupe or ane fwak ?
" Thamfelf upcaftis on the horfis bak."
I Hand, ad kleypa, to run ; Sax. hleapere, faltator. Confer
Jun. GlofT. in Leap.
Lends] Loins. Sax. lencknu, lendena, lendene ; Ifl.
lendes, Gib. From Ifl. le'tngc, to extend, this being the
length of the trunk of the body. '
Q_2 VR,
I2 4 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
VII.
Then Robene Roy begouth to revell,
And Towfie to im drugged.
Let be, quo' Jock, and caw'd him Jevel,
And be the tail him tuggit :
Then
Ver. 7. Ho/lit"] Anglis Sept. to hoft, eft tuflire. Sax.
frivofta, eft tuffis ; Ifl. booji ; Angl. Occident, to huft, /'. e. to
cough violently. Gib.
Hcajl, hoft, cough; A. S. hivojta, from the Ifl. hoojle,
turns ; Angl. Bor. haujle, id. a dry cough, as Ray explains it.
Belg. hoaji n to cough.
STANZA VII.
Ver. 1. Revel/2 To grow noify or troublefome. Belg.
ravelen, raveelen, scftuare, circumcurfare. Skinner's etymolo-
gy from Fr. reveiller, is ridiculous. We may here obferve,
that of old the word revel did not fignify, as now, riot and
diforder, but decent mirth and cheerfulnefs. So G. Douglas,
p. 146. 48.
" With revele, blythnefs, and ane manere fere,
" Troyanis refavis thaim."
Chaucer alfo ufes it in the fame good fenfe ; as alfo riot, in
which he is followed too by the Bimop, p. 37.
" The gild and riot Tyrrianis doublit for joy\"
And p. 269. 46.
" The blisfull feift they making man and boy,
" So that thre hundredth rial temples ring,
" Of riot, rippet, and of revelling*
So
CHRIST'S KIRK. ON THE GREEN. 125
So the old French rioter, to feaft and be innocently merry.
In this, however, they have departed from the original
meaning of the Goth, reta ; Iiland. reita, ad iram concitare.
Rede, raide, anger. Inde Scot, rede ; Angl. rate, et prae-
pofito, wrath ; Alam. ratan, irritare. It is more than pro-
bable that the ancient Latins ufed ritare in the fame fenfe ;
and hence the etymon of irritare and proritare, which the
modern etymologifts can make nothing of. From riot, the
Barb. Lat. has formed riota, ufed in its original or bad fig-
nification. So Statuta Colleg. Corifop. apud Cange, in Riot-
ta : Ab omnibus contentionibus, rixis, jurgiis, convitiis,
riotis. And ibid. Ad invicem tunc inceperunt magnam
riottam, et fugerunt hinc inde. Ital. riotta. Villani Hift.
1. 9.. cap. 304. Venendo tra loro, a riotta. Fr. riote. So
Hift. de la Guerre Sacr. ap. Cange. Par cette mariage fut
faite Concorde du Roi de France, et de celui de Caftele, de
riote que eftoit entre eux. And the Poet, (ibid.)
" A tant commencent environ,
' A rihotter tout li Baron.".
We have in Ring Rob. Brece's Life, To riot all the land,
i. e. To plunder it.
Ver. 2. Drugged"] Came to him. Eft phrafls Cimbrica.
At draga till, eft venire ad, vel in. Deut. 1. v. 2. Draga.
yfer, tranfire. V. 24. Draga ut, egredi. Deut. 3. 1. Draga
fram, prsecedere. V. 18. Gib.
We have little to add to the learned Bifhop's obfervation,
but to remark the analogy of the languages derived from the
Gothic. Thus A. G. dragan; Angl. draw. In the ancient
laws of Wefter Gothland, ap. Ihre, Lex. in Draga, it is
written Draha, Ar eig or hufum drahit, fi ex a:dibus porta-
tum non fuit, in the fame fenfe as the Latin traho, Fr.
trainer. Draga ivagnen, to draw a waggon. Afthmatic
people are faid draga andan, in the fame fenfe almofl as the
Latins,
ffl CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
Latins, fplritum trahcrc. Vide Liv. 1. 4. cap. 21. Draga not t
to draw a net. Whence our fraall net, thrown with the hand,
is called a drag-net. We may a!fo hence derive the name oFthat
fpecies of net, called by the Latins tragula, a trakendo, fays
Turneb. Adverf. I. 26. c. 14. Vide Plin. 1. 16. c. 8. Ifi-
dorus calls it tragum. Metaphorically Dragaftn nvxg, to go
away. Lat. viam ducere ; Belg. trecken. Adde Cange in
Traho, where he notes the origin of the French tirer vers un
lieu. It is ufed alfo to fignify doubting^ the mind being
drawn hither and thither. Han nager vidjig, deliberat de
hac re We find quite a fimilar phrafe, Salluft. Bell. Jugurth.
cap. 93. Marius multis diebus et laboribus confumptis, anxi-
us trahere cum animo fuo, omitteret ne inceptura, an fortu-
nam opireretur. Tc deceive. Laur. Petri de muTa, ap. Ihre,
ubi fup. Chrijien almoga bafiv.vr lat it talje och dragka Jig.
Populus Chriftianus fe decipi paflus eft. Franc, trahir, to
deceive or betray.
Ver. 3. Jevel~\ Vox blandientis, forfan idem quod
jewel. Gib.
We cannot agree with the Bifhop in this interpretation.
Thefe people are about to quarrel, and therefore jevel muft
here be a term of reproach ; perhaps an evil-fpirit or daemon.
Goth, jette, giant; Ifland. gotun. The Saxons call a giant
Eton ; and hence, perhaps, the Scots Redeten, the name of a
Giant or Dasmon ufed by nurfes to frighten their children.
jfcttegrytor, ollae gigantum, round holes in the rocks, in
which (fay the vulgar) the Giants or Daemons cooked their
victuals. Uncertain as we are of the true reading of the MS.
we only hazard this as mere conjecture.
Ver. 4. Tuggif\ Drew. Scots tugge, to draw, from the
Goth, tab/an, lacerare, difcerpere. 'Ulph. Mark ix. z6. Filu
tthjands iua, Greatly fearing him. Adde Luke ix. 42.
Hence, as the learned Ihre obferves, (in voce) tugga, to
eat,
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. iz 7
The Kenzie clieked to a kevel,
God wots if thir twa luggit ;
They parted manly wi' a nevel,
Men fay that hair was ruggit
Jktwixt them twa.
VIII,
eat, to tear v/\th the teeth, as in chewing. Ifl. toga; A. S.
teogan, trahere. Confer Ihre, Lex. 2. p. 973.
Ver. 5. Kehzif\ The angry man. A. S. Kene, ken hirfutus ; and the name of the hare in that language,
hayoTot, alias turbatur; and Euftath. (Kaft^v, paipitare.
Ver. 3. CheifF] Or chefid, i. e. choofed. Tlius Douglas
too ufes it. Alam. kiefen y eligere, from the Ifland. kiooja,
eligere.
Flane~\ Arrow, alfo written flame. Angl. S. flan, flxn.
Perhaps (fays Lye) from fleogan or fleon, vol?re. Ifland.
flein, an arrow. Douglas, 387.
" Fleand with her bow fchute mony ane flane;'*
Effeir"] For this is the true reading ; not as in Ramfar,
affeir. He chofe out fuch an arrow as fuited his hand. This
is an ordinary term in old our laws : 4s effeir s, as belongs to,
as is proper and expedient. Efferand, or effering, conform to,
proper to. Vide Ruddim. GlofT. ad G. Douglas.
Ejferis alfo fignifies bufinefs. Douglas, p. 359. 48.
'* The greateft part of our werkis and ejferis
lt Ben endit how."
Unlcfs this be only another mode of fpelling affairs.
Ve-r. 4. Dirdum dardum~] Term of derifion ; a great
ado about nothing. Seems to be formed from the Ifland dyr,
pretiofus ; or rather from dyrd, gloria, dyrka, glorifito. The
other
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN 131
IX.
Wi ? that a frien o' his cried, Fy !
And up an arrow drew j
He forgit it fae forcefully,
The bow in flinders flew.
Sic
other word feems to be added only, euphonice gratia, unlefs
it be alfo from the Ifland. daare, rafli j whence our verb, to
dare.
Ver. 6. Ckard~\ This is another part of the verb cheir, in
the verfe before. Perhaps it may come from Goth. karfiva,
minutim csedere. Sax. ceorfan, beceorfan y amputare ; ceorf-xx*
fecuris. Hence char fignifies to wound, or cut ; and our
carve, to divide or cut meat into fmail pieces.
Ver. 8. Mard~\ Spoilt his mooting ; made him err fo
wide. Sax. amyrran, diflrahere, confumere ; Aleman.
merren, to hinder ; 111. meru, minutim, diffipare ; tnarde,
diflipavi,
STANZA IX.
Ver. 3. Forgit~\ Prefled. IR.fergia. In Prater. Fergde,
premere, compingere. G.
Farg, Preffura, apud Ve*elium. Hence, perhaps, our
word fardel, burden. " Ferg" (fays Ihre) " vocantur conti,
<* qui ad continendum corticem, quo domus ruricolarum te-
a guntur, faftigio utrinq; dimittuntur." From this idea of
R 2 prefiing,
i 3 2 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
Sik was the will of God, trow I ;
For, had the tree been trew,
Men faid, that ken'd his archery,
He wajd haif flain enow,
BelyVe that day.
X.
prefiing, perhaps the name of a fmith's forge is derived ; at
lcaft, this etymology may be as jull as thofe mentioned by
Menage and Junius, in Forge. Bifhop Douglas calls a fmith
forgeare, and a forge for gin.
Ver. 4. Flinders^ Splinters. Bifhop Douglas writes it
flendris, and Mr Ruddiman (in Glolf. ad Virg.) deduces it
from Lat. finderc, Fr. fendre. But the true origin is the
Gothic fiinga ; fruflum, utpote quod percutiendo rumpitur,
fays the learned Ihre. Isflinger, pieces of broken ice. And
thefe from flenga, tundere, percutere ; Gr. $hau, ferio.
Hence, too, Germ, flegel, our fa//, and the Fr. fieau. From
this idea, the Icelanders call a wedge fieigr, and the Suio*
Goths plugg, in the fame fenfe as we ufe it, viz. a piece or
wood driven into a hole. Vide Ihre, Lex. in Phtgg. This
moft accurate etymologift thinks that the ancient Iflanders pro-
nounced fldcc, fcgmcntum, fruflum, partem de toto demptam.
If this origin be juft, we have here the real meaning of the
A. S. flicce, and our fitch, as exprefiing a part of the carcafe
f the fow. Ifland. ftycke. In Trygwaf Saga, p. ii. p. 23.
Flcickis fr.eid, fruflum lardi. Confer Ihre, Lex. in v.
Fliicd, findere, partiri. Jun. in Flitch.
Ver. 7. That kend~\ Scribe quia kend.
Kend
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 133
Kendy From kunna, Goth. fare. Ulphila, kunnan, to
krioiv. Joh. vii. 27. Kunnum. Adde John xiv. ver. 4.
Hefychlus has mwuv, fcire'; kunntfi, fcientia, now pro-
nounced konji ; kunnogciy notum facere ; kunnog, fciens,
peritus. Knytl. Saga, p. 4. " Harald K. baud cunnugum
" mannum ;" " King Harald confulted the Diviners ;" or,
as we fay, the cunning men. Hence, he who attends to the
courfe of the fhip is faid to cunn the fhip. Transferred alia
to denote bodily ftrength, if this be not its primary fignifi-
cation. AI. cbunnan, poffe, valere, Germ, chonnen,
Anglice can.
Ver. 8. Enonx>~\ Enough, many. Sax. genog, genoh,
fatis ; Goth, ganohs, multus ; Ifl. gnoghty nogt, abundance ;
gnogr vel nogr y abundantia. G.
In Ulphila, Joh. xiv. 8. Gana unjis> fufKcit nobis. Alam.
genuoh, any, enough.
Ver. 9. Belyve] Senfus hujus vocis conflat ex Verfione
G. Douglas, ubi fie redditur hoc carmen.
" Extemplo Mnex fohuntur frigore meriibra."
" Belive ./Eneas' members fchuke for cauld ;" Et iftud,
" Ut primum lux alma data eft."
" Belive as that the halefum day wox licht."
Qui bus adde :
" How iEneas in Afric did arrive,
" And that with fchcte flew feaven hartis belive.''* G.
Mr Ruddiman would derive this word from Teuton, blick,
nidus oculi. We in Scotland fay, A thing was" done in a
blink, fuddenly ; from Ifl. blinka nidtare ; ogonblick, nidus
oculi. In the ancient Ballad of William ofCloudeJlie, (Rel.
cf Anc. Poetry, vol. 1. p. 164.)
" The
i 34 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
An hafty henfure, callit Hary,
Quha was an archer heynd,
Tytt up a taikel withoutten tary,
That torment fae him teynd,
i
" The fyrft boone that I wold afke,
** Ye wold graunt it me belyfe"
Ibid. p. 91.
" He thoght to loofe him bclive."
STANZA X.
Bimop Gibfon places here the Stanza beginning,
" A zape young man that flood him neift," !t$ct?&, which Hefychius explains iTnvS'e., haftens,
Ver. 2. Flane] Vide Note to Stanza VIII.
Ver-. 3. Hecht] Hoped. A. Sax. hiht, fpes. G.
Hecht 7 he promifed to himfelf, or vowed. So LL. Goth,
cap. 4. I. (ap. Ihre in Heta) Engin ma haita a huathki a
hult epa hauga. Nemo vota nuncupabit, nee luco nee tumulo.
Ulphila gahaitan. Vide Mark xiv. 1 1 . Al. heizan. Gloff.
Lipfii, Giheitan. Ifland. heita, unde heit votum. Streinga
belt, voto fe obligare.
S Ver.
i 3 $ CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
He hit him on the wame a wap,
It buft like ony bledder;
Bat fwa his fortune was and hap,
His doublet made o* lether
Saift him that day*
XIL
Ver. 4.. Wad~] Pawn. Goth. nvad, pignus ; A. S. nvedi
ivedde fyllan, pignus dare. Fenn. nveden. We muft obferve
here, for the illufixation of this phrafe, that nvad properly fig-
nifies cloth ; becaufe, in the fcarcity of cafh of old, cloth was
given as ready money, and received as fuch for other goods.
Hence, when any pledge was given, it was generally clothe
wad ; and from the frequency of this cuflom, ivad came to
fignify a pledge. We (till fay, the wadding of a gun.
!By the common change of f and ac, the Iflanders
pronounce fat, and fit. Alam. pfand '; Goth, pant,
pans ; Lat. pignus. Hence the Goth, verb nvadfctta, oppig-
norare, and the Scots law-term tvadfett, and to wy*v t?pYit*ao{ tk (Za&v, o sr/
tey&v ; filens, cui ereptus eft ufus loquendi. Chaucer
has abaived for abaihed. I was abaived for merveild.
Jun.
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. i 4 r
The wives came forth, an' up thay reft him,
A' fand lyfe in the lown ;
Then wi' three routs on's erfe they reir'd him,
An* cur'd him out o' foone,
Frae hand that day.
XIII.
jfun. derives it from Sax. heap ; de quo vide X.ye, Sax.
Diet. Confer Jun. in Bafe.
Ver. 2. BuJJjQ Fell down fuddenly. Dufcb, contendere,
allidere. Douglas, p. 225, 1.
" The fharp hedit fchaft dufchit with the dint."
And p. 296. 34.
' The birnand towris down rollis with ane ruche,
" Quhil all the hevynnefs dynlit with the dufche."
Ver. 5. Wives'] Women. Wif t ap. Sax. et tixiif, ap.
Cimbr. fseminam, vel mulierem fignificat. Gib.
Thus, Gen. iii. 2. xx. 5. This ivy/', This woman. Adde
Caedmon, 58. 9. Matth. ix. 20. An nvyf, quacdam mulier.
Jo. iv- 9. Sainaritanifce ivyf, A Samaritan woman. Gen.
y. 2. Were and nvif, Man and woman, male and female.
Vide plura ap. Lye, in Wif. Hence iviman, i. c.
nvifman, Mulier, f ; Germ.
miffilia j a $akxco, jacio.
Byre'] Cowhoufe. Theotif. Buer eft cafa, tugurium.
Item, byre eft villa, fiquidem bar eft pagus, villa praedium.
Gib.
In the old Gothic byr, pagus; a bo, habitare. Alfb by t
pagus. Hefych. fZvpic, hix.tiy.ct, habitatio. Etym. Mag.
ivfivpiov pro ivoixov, and (ZvfioSiy, Hefych. pro oiKod-ty.
u Qumque alias olira urbes non fierint, quarn grandi-
T " ores
x 4 6 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN,
Ane cryd, Fy ! he had flain a prieft,
A myle bezond a myre ;
Then bow and bag frae him he keift,
And fled as ferfs as fire
Frae flint that day,
XIV,
ores villae, hinc etlam urbes quantumvi3 ampliores, idem,
" nominis habuere, et etiamnum inter Danos habent,"
fays the learned Ihre. Hence By fogde r Prsefeftus civitatis.
By lag> Jus civitatis, who fornandes de reb. Get. tranflates
bellago, byfiven, city-officer, or conftable. Byr, an inhabitant ;
A. S. bare ; Germ, bauer.
Ver. 5. Slain a prieft"] This was, in thofe days of igno-
rance, deemed the raoft horrid murder that could be com-
mitted, and in a manner irremiflible, the perfon of a prieft be-
ing held much more facred than that of any layman. Hence,
in the laws of the middle ages, we find the fine, or compenfa-
tion for the murder of a prieft, much higher than that of a
layman, of whatever high rank he might be. They were efti-
mated according to their feveral degrees ; and hence, in the
laws of Kanute* P- 15 1. we find Tryhyndmon, Syxhyndmon,
/. e. Homo ducentorum, trecentorum, fexcentorum folidorum ;
every man's life, from the king to that of the cottager, having
a fixed price fet upon it. This was generally called wiregild,
wergild, and mantvyrd, the price of a man. By the laws of
King Athelftan, the King's life is valued at 30,000 thrymfas;
an Archbifhop's at one half of this fum. A common man's
life is bought for 267 thrymfas ; but a bifhop's at 8000; and
one in fimple prieft's orders at 2000. In the additions to the
Salic law, made by the Emperor Louis, anno 81 9, we find)
the
tHRtSt's KIRK ON THE GREEN. 147
XIV,
Wi* forks and flails they lent grit flaps,
And flang togidder like fryggs ->
Wi' bougars of barns thay befit blew kapps,
Quhyle thay of berns maid briggs.
The
the compenfation for a prieft always triple to tiiat of a layman ;
and if the offender had not wherewith to pay, he was ibid for
a (lave.
Ver. 7. Bag"] The quiver of arrows, which was often
made of the fkin of a bealh
KiiJT\ Cart.
STANZA XIV.
Ver. i. Flaps'} Douglas writes it ftappis, ftfokes given
with a blunt weapon, fuch as a flail. Hence Belg. flabby
colaphus, a fono, fays Ruddiman. Flap, fays Jun. extremi-
tas cujufq; rei mollis ac pendula, qua*q; ad levem motum fta-
tim concutitur. Ita throat-fiapy Anglis eft epiglottis. Flye-
fiap % raufcarium. Teuton, ftabbe, libens, praefixo D. Hence,
too, Suio-Goth. _/?#, os, labium, de quo vid. Ihr concilium ; raa
462. 16.
(t They laid this Pallas zing
** lagging thereon."
STANZA XV.
Ver. 1 . Girned] Dentibus frendebant ut folent homines
dolore iraque pcrciti. A. S. gnirne, indignatio, moeflitia.
Cxdmon 52. 19. Mid gnirne, cum quserimonia, indignatur.
It is written alfo gnome, mceftus, dejeftus, quserulus. Con-
fer Lye, Glofl*. Sax. in voce. The Saxon plainly flows from
Goth, knorra, murmurare ; Sax. gnarren, quod proprie (fays
the elegant Ihre in Lex.) de canibus hirrientibus ufurpatur
Ifl. knurr a, to murmur. Olafs Sag. cap 96. Buender knu-
rudu ilia ; ruflici murmurabant vehementer. Knurla and
kulta denotes the murmur of the turtle dove. Vide Efdr.
i 5 ? CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
38. 14. Secundum hoc (fays Ihre) knorra proprie erit,
malis fuis ingemifcere.
Gibfon for girned reads gloivred, which he rightly obferves
comes from Cimbr. Ati glora, lippe profpetfare ; but we know
not his authority here for this alteration. Adde Lye, in
Girnati.
Lute gird] Gave hard ftrokes. Douglas ufes gird, the
verb, to fignify Jlrike through. Throw gird, did thrufl
through. Sax., gird, virga. Vid. Exod. iv. ver. 2. Matth.
x. ver 10. Leg. Inae. 67. Virgata terrae, hoops being made
of rolls, before they were formed of iron. Hence Scots
gird, fig. a hoop ; and from it comes girdle. Gird to de-
ceive or beguile, to go about one, to take them in. In this
fenie, Douglas, p. 219, 22.
** Was it not evin by ane fenzet gird ;'*
*. e. falfe (lory, or trick. Alludit gyrus, gyrare, yvpos yvficc,
fiys Ruddimaru
Graves'] Groans. Douglas, granyt, groaned. The reader
will obferve in this verfe the propenfity of our old Scots poeta
to alliteration, a fort of ornament they feem fond of adopting as
often as poffible, and which was much in requeft with oar
Scandinavian anceflors, as we learn from Wormius de Lit-
terat. Runica, and the poems of the ancient Skalds ftill re-
maining.
Ver. 2. GoJJip] Properly godfather, pater luftricus ; Sax.
godftbbe y cognatus ex parte dei. Vide Jun. in Gofip. " And
" the child was called Godbeam," Godfon. Chaucer, p.
209. 6. ** And certcs parentele is in two manners, either
* ghoftlie or fiefhlie ; ghoftly, as for to dele with his gedfib."
From the drinking on thofe occaGons, the matres luftricae, or
godmothers, were called, in no very good acceptation,
Goftps i
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 1.53
Gofips ; and to go a gojppingy denoted a drinking match.
And in this fenfe our poet here ufes it of thofe drunken
clowns.
Ver. 3. Stings'} Poles, ftaves. Cimbr. Jlaung ; PJur.
fteingur, hafta, contus, baculus. Angl. Bor. Stangs. Gib.
Hence nidjlang> the fpear or pole of infamy, ere&ed againlt
thofe who were called nidingr, infamous. In what this in-
famy confided, {nid, fignifying infamy or reproach) fee in
Ihre, Lex. voce Nidin%% and Jus Sueon. Vetuft. p. 346.
which paffage Dr Robertfon has tranflated, Hiftory of
Charles V. vol. I. chap. 5. p. 291. of the various ceremonies
tifed in fetting up the fpear ox Jiang of infamy. Vide Barto-
Kn. Ant. Dan. p. 97. feqq. Steph. in Sax. p. 116. Egill
Skallagrim, the famous bard, deeming himfelf highly injured
by King Eric Bloddox of Norway, who had profcribed
him, refolved, before he left his dominions, to fet up the
nidjlangy or fpear of infamy, againft him. Having furpri fed
one of his villas by night, and killed one of Eric's fons, and
feveral of his friends, with his own hand, juft before he fet
fail for Iceland, " Confcenfa rupe quae continentem fpe&abar,
" gerens haftile corylinum," (fays Torfaeus, Hiftor. Nor.
vol. II. p. 177.) " caput ei equinum affixit, formulam hu-
" jufmodi praefalus ; Hie ego haftam infamise (nidfang) ad-
" verfus regem Eiricum et reginam Gunhildam ftatuo. Tunc
<* capite equino in continentem converfo, Converto, inquit,
* has diras, in Genios qui hanc terram incolunt, ita ut omnes
' incertis fedibus vagentur, nee quifquam eorum receptaculi
** compos fiat, donee regem Eiricum et Gunhildam tota hac
" terra ejecerint, et imprefTa fiffurae rupis hafta, litteris R.uni-
cis hanc formulam incidit." The learned reader will at
once fee the analogy of this ancient Scandinavian curfe, and
that of the Romans, devoting others to the infernal gods.
U Wc
t 5 4 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
We have tranfcribed this curious pafTage for two reafons,
Firjl, It ferves to explain a term in one of our Englim hillori-
ans, which our critics can make nothing of, though quite
intelligible to thofe who know the meaning of the word
nidingr. Matthew Paris, in his Hiftory of William Rufus,
p. 12. 34. " Rex ira inflammatus, ftipendiarios milites fuos
" Anglos congregat, et abfq; mora, ut ad obfidionem veniant,
" jubet; riifi velint fub nithing nomine, quod latine, nequavt
" fonat, recenferi. Angli, qui nihil contumeliefius et vilius
" seftimant, quam hujufmodi ignominiofo vocabulo notari,"
SsV. It is entertaining enough to fee Watts, the learned
editor of this Monkifh Hiftory, gravely deducing this word
from nidtb, night. Nor has Spelman fucceeded better (Gloff.
in Niderling) deriving it from nid, anefl, and ling, a chicken.
'* Ac fi ignavi ifti homines (fays' he) qui in exercitum pro-
" ficifci nolunt, pullorum inftar efTent, qui de nido non aude-
** ant prodire." Would it not have been better for the learn-
ed Knight to own, that he did not underftand the phrafe ?
We hence, too, explain the phrafe unnithing, in the Annals
of Waverly, anno 1088. " Rex Will. Junior miiit per to-
" tarn Angliam, et mandavit ut qui cunqj foret unnithing
" veniret ad eum.*' Un, privative, and nidiag, infamous ;
2. e . whoever was brave, and willing to fight.
The fecond motive for quoting particularly the paffage of
Torfaeus above, was to explain a cuffom {till prevalent among
the country people of Scotland, who oblige any man, who is
fo unmanly as to beat his wife, to ride aflride on a long
pole, borne by two men, through the village, as a mark of the
higheft infamy. This they call riding the Jiang ; and the
perfon who has been thus treated feldom recovers his honour
in the opinion of his neighbours. When they cannot lay hold
of the culprit himfelf, they put fome young fellow on the
fang*
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 155
Jiangs or pole, who proclaims that it is not on his own ao
count that he is thus treated, but on that of another perfon,
whom he names.
We may obferve here bow common and familiar the Gothic
was to the Englifli, even in the eleventh century. Eric Blod-
dox being driven out of Norway, came with his Queen and
Court to feek for protection from Athelftan, who gave him
Northumberland, anno 935. He lived much at York ; and
he and his people converfed familiarly with the Englifli of
that age, without needing an interpreter, as did his cotempo-
rary Eigil Skallagrim, the bard, when in the fervice of King
Athelftan. A century and an half before this period, we
find the great Alfred entering familiarly into the Danifh camp,
and diverting them in the feigned chara&er of a bard, without
their fufpedting him to be a foreigner, which could aot have
happened, had his language differed from their own.
Ver. 3. Stanes~\ Stones. Goth. Jiains ; Sax. Jtan, lapis;
Angl. Bor. J?ean, G.
The Iflandic Spelling is Jlain. Thus, in all the Runic
jnferiptions, N. rijlajlain, N. erected this flone, viz. to the
memory of fome deceafed perfon. Sometimes they write it
Jiein. Worm. Monum. p. 245. Safi fati Runir Stein. Safi
Runicum lapidem pofuit.
Ver. 4. Mifchevet\ The verb from mifchief. The Gothic
particle mifj, always implies defect, error, or fbmething bad ;
as miftruft, miflead, mifcall, mifapply, &c. So the French
mefiant, mecontent, mecompter, and the like. The Latins
ufed malexn the fame manner ; malefidus, m^/eva/idus, effemi-
natus. The Barb. Lat. Misfacere, male agere, peccare.
Confer Jun. in Glo Ulphil. p. 256. Ifl. mijater, people
who differ, among whom concord is wanting. Misfodfel,
U 2 an
V
156 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
The menftral wan within twa wains,
That day fu' weil he prievit ;
For he came hame wi* unbirs'd bains,
Quhair fechtars war mifchieved,
For evir that day.
XVI.
an abortion. Vide Ihre, Lex. in Mifs. Mijftyrma, male
et ignominiofe tra&are. Bibl- Ifl. Judg. xix. ver. 26. Og
peir kiendu bennar, og mijiyrmau henne alia pa nott> They
knew her, and abufed her all the night.
Ver. 5. Wan~\ Got within, or betwixt two waggons. So
Douglas ufes the phrafe, Wan bejore, He got before. Sax.
nvendan, to go ; nuendan hidar ac tbider y to wander hither
and thither. Vide Lye, in Wendon.
Wains'] Contracted from waggon, as from the Sax- ivagen
is formed nuxn and iveign. Alam. nvagan ; Ifland. vagn ;
alludit oyjivy ly^Ha, vehiculum.
Ver. 6. PrieviQ Proved, found. Ifland. pro/a, to exa-
mine or try. Hence Sax. profian ; id. prof, an experi-
ment. Hence Germ, prufen ; Ff. preuve, eprouver ;
Ang. proof. Kon. Styr. p. 14. Pronva med fullom Jk d~\ Unbruifed bones. Birr y force, vio-
lence ; alfo the noife an arrow makes in its flight. Douglas
ufes thus the word birrand. Ifland. bir t ventus fecundus ;
mier biri(tr t oportet me. Hence Sax. me by r tad, vel geby-
riad', all which include the idea of force and ftrengthi
And this is furely a more natural etymology than that from
vir t or vires t which the reader will find in Ruddiman's
GlofTary. Confer Voff. Etymol. in Brifa- Cimbr. brijtm t
abruife- Hefych. flfifat Kiitpy ftringendo premit.
Ver. 8. Fechtars~\ Here is another inftance of the old
pronunciation retained by the Scots. Alam. fehtan, vehtan,
to fight j and the Sax. fiobtan*
STANZA XVI.
Ver. i- Ryfs~\ Bough, twig, or ftake. A. Cimbr. ffriis,
quod virgam ramum, vel virgultum, fonat. Vil eg tyfta hann
med mavnanna hraife ; Caftigabo eum cum virga virorum.
Bibl. Id. 2 Sam. vii. 14- Hinc breifar apud Ifland. loco vir-
gultis obfita j et breys, virgultis conlita domus, cafula. Danis
quoa.;
i 5 3 CHRIST'S KIRxl ON THE GREEN.
quoq; Hriis fojlr, eft ftrues e ramis arborum congefta, ct a
rice dyke. Apud Anglos Sept. eft fepes ex csefis ramis et
virgis texta. Gib.
A. S, hris, vimen, frondes ; Al. ris ; Genu, rets;
Hib. ras; Fen. rifu. Alludit 'p/4 vimen, fays the learned
Ihre, in Ris. Ulphila ufes rata, to fignify a reed, which he
and Wachter derive from rifa, furgere, in the fame manner
as the Latin fur cuius. Suio-Goth. rifa, virgis caedere ; rif-
lad, verbera.
Ver. 2. Redd"} We cannot gqefs the Bifhop's meaning in
his note on this word red; Sax. to rati, confeftim, prefently.
To red, in Scots, fig. to loofe, to unravel, or unfold. So
Douglas, 127. 43.
* This being faid, commandis he every fere,
* Do red thair takillis, and ftand hard by there gare."
Confer p. 339. 44. where rede fig. to make way. So we
fay, To red the ivay ; to clear the way. To rede marches,
fettle boundaries betwixt contending parties ; figuratively (as
Rudd. obferves) to make peace. To redd a fray; to inter-
pofe betwixt two combatants ; and often thofe who do get
the redding Jiraik, get a blow from one or other. Sax.
hreddan, liberare ; hriddan, repellere. Hence Engl. To rid
one's hand of a thing. Riddance, raed, expeditus ; reyden t
parare. Hence E. ready. Suio-Goth. reda, numerare, fyno-
nimous with rakna: Whence reckon, reckoning. Hence
our ready money ; and the Goth, reda penningar, id. But
the Scots redd, as here ufed, comes immediately from reda,
explicare, expedire, ordinare. Reda ut Jit heir, to comb
cut, or, as we fay, to redd out the hair. Ifl.greida. Snor-
ro, vol. I. p. 99. Tha let Haraldur greida har fit ; Turn
Haraldus comam fuam explicandum curavit ; which, io
confequence of a vow, he had worn uncombed, till he fhould
become mafter of all Norway ; Snorro, ubi fup. Vide omnina
Ihre
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 159
Ihre, in Reda. We fay alfo, to rid one out of the world, /. hi
to kill him. So Knytling. Saga, p. 212; Han red fwarba
Plog, He killed Plog the black. Snorro, voll. II. p. 245.
Ratha af lij, to red one out of life. And henc* rad,
daughter.
Ver. 2. Rummy F] Gibfon explains it of thundering ;
but this is a milrake, though he quotes that of Virgil, Jx-
ionuere poli, tranflated by Douglas :
" The firmament gan fummyl."
Properly it fig. to rumble, grumble, roar, or bellow. Dou-
glas, p. 151. v. 7.
< Hillis and valis trimblit of thundir rummyl."
p. 200. v. 26.
" And landbirft rumbland rudely with fie bere,
* Sae loud nevir rummyft wyld lioun nor bere."
Suio-Goth. ramla, from the Ifland. rymber, murmur. Ryw.,
verb, raucam voce edo.
Ver. 3. Muddilt] Or muddeled, i. e. threw them down*
fays Gibfon. Ifland. mill, in minutas particulas divido.
Praterit. tnulde, unde a mill, and to mull. Vide Hickes.
Diftionar. Ifland. in Mill.
Ver. 4. Baity bummiV\ Effeminate fellow. Gib.
It mould be wrote Batie, that being a name our country
people, in fome parts of Scotland, give to their dogs. The
word bummil we remember not to have met with in any old
writer. Bulgia, Goth. fig. intumefcere ; bula, tumor; bul-
r.a, intumefcere. If thefe have any affinity with this word,
the meaning may be, that he was no vain boafter that he
was not a baty, or dog, that would fiuir!, but durfl not bite.
Ver.
160 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
Thocht he was wight, he was na* wyfs,
With fie jangleurs to jummil j
For frae his thoume they dang a iklyfs,
Quhyle he cried, Barlafummil !
I'm flain this day*
XVIL
Ver. 5. Wight"] We imagine the learned Bifhop has mif-
taken the fenfe of this word, explaining weighty, ftrong,
ponderous, from Ifl. nvi/t, libra, pondus, We rather deduce
'wight from Goth, ivig, pugna, certamen. Unde Sax. vig y
vige : hinc vigian, pugnare j vigend, bellator ; Al. ivigand,
id. We find vigan, pugnare, employed by Ulphila, Luke iv.
31. Ifland. wig, pugna ; Celt, givych, vir ftrenuus, bellator.
The elegant and accurate etymologist Ihre, juflly thinks he
has here found the root of the old Latin vicis, as ufed for
pugna ; and that it was ufed in this fenfe, we have the telH-
mony of Servius, in his Notes to thefe words of Virgil,
jEneid, 2. 433. Nee ullas vitaviffe vices Danaum. Hence,
too, pervicax, quod contentiofum proprie notat. Ifidorus tells
us, that the old Latins faid vicam, for vicloriam. The God-
defs of Victory was called Vica Pota. Suio-Goth. ivega,
certare, caedere ; enivig, certamen fingulare.
Ver. 6. Jangleurs] Gibfon reads j titers, (we know not
on what authority) which he explains from Cimbr. Jodur,
Titan, gigas, Cyclops. To jangle, is to quarrel, gannire, blate-
rare, altercari, a Teut. jancken.
Jummil] Juftle. G.
Jummil] Collidere, infundere, in fe mutuo irruere ; forte
a. jump, infilire, fays Skinner. Chaucer writes jombre ; Germ.
jumpe?ff
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. iG
jumpen, micare, exilire. Slcambris, gumpig, lafcivus, fport-
ful or playful.
Sklycc~] Oftimes written Jlyce y from Ifland. flita, dif-
rumpere, lacerare. Hence Sax. JIttan, and Alaman. flizzen ;
idem. Otfrid, lib. 4. cap. 19. 29. of Caiaphas, Slcizer fin gm-
nali, He rent his clothes. Tatian, cap. 56. 7. gifliz, rup-
tura. Sax. fiyten under, to flit and flice. Ulphila ufes
ga/leithjan, pecdexe, Mark viii. 36. Gafleitheith_/%y;W^
feJnai, perdit animam fuam. Plura vide ap. illuftrifH Ihre in
Slita. Ifland. Jlyfs, damnum, infortunium.
Ver. 8. BarlafummiQ Vox concertantium, nam in fingu-
lari certamine apud Scotos, agonifta, ictu gravi la?fus, porti-
nus exclamat, barlafummeL Vox videtur deduci ex bardlet,
ictus, verber, et fitnbul, grande, vehemens quid. G.
The original fignification of this word is to be found in the
Suio-Goth.y2r?/rf, which the learned Ihre interprets, Manibus
ultro, citroq; pertentare, ut folent qui in tenebris obambulanf.
The Iflanders fay fa/ma, which is certainly the original word,
as Alaman. felmo, fig. the palm of the hand ; and thus, ia
the paflage of Efaias (quoted by Ihre in Famla) timer, nvak
b'wiila finero folmo, Qms ponderavit coelos palmo fuo. Hence,
too, the Lat. palmus ; Ang. palm of the hand. Go\h.fum-
la, manibus contreclare, attre&are ; Fr. patiner, im-
probe contrectare ; Belg. fommekn. To fumble (fays
Jun. in GlofT. Angl.) proprie dicitur de iis, qui rem aliquant
infeite, infabre traclant, quod Suecis eft famla. Douglas
feems to ukfumbler to fignify a parafite, p. 482. 34.
" I am na caik fumler, full weil ye knaw."
Ruddiman here ingenioufly imagines caik fumler means a
cake-turner, a fellow that will do any mean thing to get a
bellyful ; or an avaricious perfon, who luhumbles, i. e. turns
and hides his- cake, left others fhould fhare with him. But
X the
i6z CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
XVII.
Quhen tliat he faw his blude fae reid,
To fle micht nae man let him ;
He weind it had been for auld feid,
He thocht ane cry'd, Haif at him.
He
the firft is certainly the beft interpretation. The other word
barla is plainly derived from parley, a (top or ceflation in
order to fpeak. It was held ungenerous to refufe this of old,
when demanded by one combatant of another. Hence we
ufe the -word parky, and to beat a parley, i. e. to make,a. (hort
truce, in order to propofe terms of accommodation ; and this
phrafe is often ufed even by boys in their games, Or may
we not fuppofe barla to be derived from, and a corruption of
Suio-Goth. barma, mifereri I Chron. Ryth. p. 165.
" Gud barme then omilde hempd
" Deus mifereatur immitis vindiclae."
Ulphila has arman. Mark x. 48. Armai mil, Miferere met.
And this from barm, finus, ibid. Luke xvi. 22. quod quae
nobis indeliciis funt, in finu fsepe foveantur, fays the elegant
Ihre (in 'Barm.) Hence Lat. infimiars, and our inftnuate.
Hence we may explain that unintelligible pafTage in AugufHn,
Epift. 178. Si licet, dicere non folum Barbaris lingua fua, fed
etiam Romanis, fi bora ar?7ien, quod interpretatur, Domine
miferere, iffc. Lege, Si Frauja (or Froja) armai, Domine
miferere ; Frauja (ignifying Lord in the Gothic. Vide Ulphila,
Matth. xxvii. 63.
STANZA
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 16*
STANZA XVII.
Ver. 2. Let him~\ Hinder or prevent. Sax. iettan, ge
lettan ; orig. from Goth, latjan, tardare, morari. Hinc
Ifland. latur; Al. laz j Dan. lat ; and Angl. late. Alludit
(fays Jun.) hn*%fia./ t Dor. Aa^o//*/, oblitus fum. This
proves Jfinius's fondnefs for Greek derivations, where the
originals are to be fought and found at home.
Ver. 3. JVeind~] Thought or imagined. Gibfon here
reads trciv'd, which he rightly derives from the Sax. trwwian,
credere. Ween comes alfo from the fame fountain ; nvenan,
exillimare ; Al. wanen. The root of all thefe is found in
Ulphila's iversnyan, or ivenjan, or gaivenjan, putare. Luke
iii. 15. Atnuenj andein than alai vianagein, exiftimante omni
populo. Adde Luke vii. 43. Confer. Jun. in Glofl*. Ulphif.
ivenjan. It is alio ufed for expeclation, becaufe this depends
on opinion ; Tbu is fa quimanda, thau antharanu nvenjaima ?
Art thou he that mould come, or look we for another? Luke
ii. 19. Douglas, 222. 19.
* It ftands not fo as thou ivenysJ*
i. e. thinkeft. He ufes ivenys ellewhere for tokens and
Jigns, as marks to point out the way, and determine our courfe.
P. 100. 6.
" I knaw and felis- the nuenys and the way."
Ver. 3. Feid] Enmity. Cimbr. fa tde ; Sax.fahth; Lat.
*Barb.faida,feida, inimicitise ; Anghfenvd. G.
Fee, Sax. inimicus; Ifland. faad. Hence foe, and feud,
enmity. Leg. Athelftan, 20. Sij he fa nvid done Cyvg, Sit
inimicus regis. In the Saxon laws, fab properly Cgnifies
that capital enmity that fubfifted on account of murder com-
X 2 mitted
164 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEK,
He gart his feit defend his heid,
The far fairer it fet him ;
Quhyle he was paft out of all pleidj
They fonld bene fwift that gat him,
Throw fpeid that day.
XVIII.
mitted. Vide Jun. in GlofT, et Leg. Ecclef. Canuti, 5.
Spelman obferves the fame in voce Faida. This favage cu-
ilom of obliging the male relation to revenge the Slaughter of
his friend, is as ancient as any thing we know of the ufages
of our Germanic anceftors. " Sufcipere tam inimicitias (fays
" Tacit.'de Mon Germ.) feu patris, feu propinqui, quam ami-
*' citias, neceffe eft." Obferve, it was not left to their choice,
but under the moft fevere penalties they were obliged^ to pro-
fecute this vengeance, by every mean in their power. The
excefs of this barbarity at laft brought on a cure, though the
lapfe of many ages was necefTary to foften the fierce manners of
our anceftors. We find many laws among the Salic, Langobard,
and Francic ftatutes, calculated to check this cuftom ; and
King Edmund in England, about an. 944, complaining in one of
his laws much of this evil, and fuggefting feveral remedies for
it, and ordering compenfations to be made by the aggrefTor.
However, we find it ftill prevailing even in the Norman times ;
but how thismhumanity gradually loft ground, and by degrees
was annihilated, would lead us into a hiftorical deduction, too
extenfive for thefe notes, but we may perhaps give it in ano-
ther work. Confer. Cange in Faida*
Out
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEtf. t6$
XVIIL
The town foutar in grief was bdwdin *
His wyfe hang at his waift ;
tlis body was in blude a* browdin*
He grain'd lyk ony ghaift*
Hir
Our poet here mentions auldfied; for thofe feuds of old
ftanding, being fharpened by their progref3 from generation to
generation, were, of all others, the mod deadly.
Ver. 7. P/eW] Gibfon has totally miftaken the meaning
of this word, explaining it by reach ; getting beyond their
reach. Pleid fignifies here the quarrel, broil, or contention*
Thus Douglas, p. in. y. 34.
" Bot gif the fatis but pleid,
" At my pleafure fuffered me life to leid;"
Adde p. 454. 42. where it fignifies oppofition, controverfy.
In Suio-Goth. pleet, iclus hevis ; Sax. plat, handplatas %
i&us in vola. Platan, ferire, unde Fr. playe ; and the Bre-
men pliete, vulnus. Ifland. plaaga, cruciatus. Alludrt
STANZA XVIII.
Ver. i. Soutar"] Shoemaker. G.
The wox A JJjee, now in ufe, is foftened from the ancient
Gothic /b, which is properly tegmcn, (fays the learned Ihre)
id
t66 CHRIST'S KIRK ONTHE GREEN.
id quod rem quamlibet tuetur fpeciatim ufurpatur pro eo
quod extremitates munit, et fpecialiflime de indumento pedum.
Leg. Dal. p. 15. Skttrper Jko a foti, fi calceus pedem urit,
i. e. If the neceiHty be very preffing. Ulphil. Jkote, fhoes ;
Mark i. 7. Sax. fco, fchoh; Ifland. jko; Aleman. feu.
May it not come come fromjkja, tegere? undejkj.
" quod tcgit omnia, caelum."
As the Latin nubej, a nubendo y i. e. tegendo. Itt.jkyfa, to
cover \fkyfwe, tegmen. Whence the Scots fcoug, a fhade or
cover ; under the /cough of a tree. Be this as it may, we
find the Gothic fkaud, a fhoe, and Jkauda raip, {hoes ropes ;
or, as we better pronounce, rai/>s, i. e. fhoe latchet. Skohs
is jkaudaraip and b/'ndan, calceamentorum ejus corrigia fol-
vere, Mark i. ver. 7. Alludit '{tLvjof, corium, fays Junius ;
ae if our Scythian anceflors had no name for a thong of lea-
ther, till they got it from Greece. If there is really any con-
nection, the latter certainly comes from the former. Skot-
iuange y the thongs or whangs of the fhoes. Gloves are called in
German handfehuk ; and, in fome parts of Denmark, boots are
called knuejko. Ihre obferves, that Harpocration has the word
iKvS-mof, which he explains nos \t W;/^a,7cK> genus cal-
ceamenti.
We find here the origin of the title, Skofhven, an officer
in the courts of the ancient Scandinavian monarchs. He
was a kind of Lord or Gentleman of the Bedchamber, whofe
duty it was to give the King his fhoes ; but being always
near his perfon, he was generally a rich and powerful courtier.
Thus, in Trygw. Saga, p. 2. p. 316. the rich Kali is called
Skofvein Elnars^ though he was a man of great power, and a
near relation of Einars,
Boc-
tmkIuov fpecies terribilis. Hence probably Scots goufty,
ufed by Douglas, wafte, defolate, and lonely places, becaufij
ghofis were thought to haunt fuch. Armor, goafta, vaftare,
to wafte. I find in Lye gaftoins, ager iqcultqs. Lat. Barb.
gaftina, de qua vid. Cange, GlofT,
Ver. 5. Goiuden] Liquefcente. / in iu, ex golden. Hinc
j-w/a/Scoti vocant gonvdy locks, fcil. pro more gentium feptent.
apud quas rutili et flavi capilli in maximo pretio habebantur.
Hinc Casdmon vocat Saram, Bryd blonden feax, ponfam
flavi comam. Lothum etiam appellat, Blonden feax ; et in
Edda Snorronis Iegimus Saturnum in taurum rutilum fe con?
vertifTe^
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. i6y
vertuTe, cujus pilus quilibet aureo nitebat colore, Var fagur
gnh litur a huortu bar. Memnon etiam omnes anteilTe pul-
chritudine dicitur, utpote cujus caefaries fifpra aurum nitebat,
Har hant var fegra en gull. Et uxor ejus fatidica, omnium
formofiffima, dicitur habuiffe capillos auro fimiles, Hun var
aljlra Kuenna fogurjl har hennar var fern gull. Cap. 3. Prae-
fat. Eddse. Neq; mirandum quod feptentr. fcriptores rutilum
caefariem tot elogiis celebrant, cum raultiplicem Gothorum
nationem, Vandalos, Wifigothos, Gepidas, ipfofq; Gothos
proprie fie dittos comas rutilos efle fcribit Procop. Hift. Van-
dal, lib. 1. Gib.
All the northern nations were remarkable for blue eyes,
and yellow or fair hair. Of the Germans, "Tacit. Mor. c. 4.
" Truces et cseruli oculei, rutilas comae." Juven. Sat. 13.
" Caerulea quis flupuit Germani lumina ? flavam .
" Caefariem."
Confer Cluver. Ger. Ant. p. 118. Ariftot. Problem,
feci. 14. 8. Conringius de Hab. Corp. Germ. p. II. 12.
Prom this mark, Tacitus (Vita Agricolas, cap. 2.) infers the
German origin of the Caledonians ; " Rutilas Caledoniam
" habitantium comas, et magnus anus Germanicam originem
adlervafie." Lucan, Pharfkl. L. 10. fpeaking of Cleopatra's
flaves :
" Pars tam flavas gerit altera crines,
" Ut nullus Caefar Rheni fe dicat in arvis
" Tarn rutilas vidiffe comas."
So fond were the Germans of this colour of hair, that they
ufed different ointments, both to . give and to preferve this
ornament; as Piin. informs us, lib. 28. cap. 12.
Ver. 7. Zonuden\ So it fiands in Ramfay's edition, but
whether according to the M.S. we cannot fay ; nor is the
meaning of this word very eafy to difcover. In the Gloflary
Y to
170 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
XIX.
The miliar was of manly mak,
To meit him was nae mows ;
There durft not ten cum him to tak,
Sae noytit he thair pows.
The
to Ramfay's edition, we find zolden, explained holden. In Dou-
glas we have zo/dirt, which feems to come neareft the fenfe
here, fignifying j/eilding, or yeilded. But we think it better
to own our ignorance, than to fill the page with idle con*
jedlures.
STANZA XIX.
Ver. 2. To meit him, &c] Gibfon reads this verfe,
" With him it was nae mows."
Mows'} Mockery, or jeft. Thus Lindfay of Pitfcottie,
of Sinclair, when the Lords feized him, " Is it moivs, or ear*
neft, my Lords ?" Battle of Har law, flan. 19.
" Their was nae moivis there them amang,
' Naithing was hard bot heavy knocks."
The French fay, Faire la moue, to laugh at one ; and hence
Chaucer, Tr. lib. 4. 1. of Lady Fortune ;
" And whan a wight is from her whele ithrow,
" Than laugheth fhe, and maketh him the moive."
Hib. magam illudere, defiderej magadh irrifio, derifus.
Moiv
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 17!
Mow alfo Cgnifics properly the mouih. Gothmund. Thus
/aire la monve, is to diftort the mouth, as is done in looking
contemptuously at any perfon. In Sui-Goth. mopa, illu-
dere, vexare, Chron. Rythm. (apud Ihre in Mopa.)
" Jak feer Erik will ofs mopa.
" Video Ericum nobis illudere relle."
Our elegant etymologift remarks die affinity betwixt this
and the Englifh mope.
Among the ^Etolians, mov a fignified cantilena, a fong ;
and in Celtic, moues denotes the fame thing. Hence Mofai,
the Mufes, who made and fung verfes. Vide Pexron, An-
tiq; p. ad voc. lAtieti. lAuwy a derider, comes from the
Celtic moch, a fow, from the action of that animal in turning
his fnout up into the air, and men doing fo, as a gefture of
contempt; [j.aKta, fannia, derifio; and the Celts fay, moccio,
for deriding. Hence the French moquer, and our mock.
Again, the ancient Gauls iaid gore, for a fonu. Hence
yoflcLa, irrideo, fubfanno; and from the fame origin, Xo/pc-?,
fus. The ancient Scholiafts truly remark, that this word
was feminine, among the ancient Greeks ; but they did not
know the reafon, which is, that gore in the Celtic properly
denotes fuj fxmina, 2.fow.
Ver. 3. There durjl not ten\ Gibfon reads the verfe
thus :
" There durfr. nae tenfome thair him tak."
Ver. 4. Noytit~] Gibfon reads cowed. Goth. nod. necef-
fitas. Inde fioda, cogere; nodde, coegit. Vide Gen. 33. v. 1 1.
Ulphila, Nautkjan, uibi vid. Jun. Douglas ufes noy for
hurt, annoy, and noyjum, hurtful, noxious. Thus pag. 191,
11.
" Sa fer as that thir noyfum bodyis cauld."
Y 2 Ray
i 7 2 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
The bufchment hale about him brak,
And bikkert him wi' bows,
Syne traytorly behint his back
They hew'd him on the hows
Behind, that day.
i XX.
Ray (Collet, of words) obferves, that in Lancafhire they
fay note, to pufh, frrike, or gore with the horn, as a bull or
ram. This he derives from the Sax. Hnitan, to pufh or
gore, Exod. xxi. 28. Gif oxa hnite. And this from the
Ifland. Hniota ferire, which is the true origin of our noyt%
Vide Hick. Didion. Ifland. in Hnyt.
Ponvs.~\ So the Scots pronounce Pol/, cacumen, vertex
capitis. Hence to poll at elettion, to have each head reckon-
ed ; poll-money, capitation tax; a pole of ling, caput afelli
pifcis faliti. Skin. ^
Ver. 5. Bufchmenf\ Comrade from Fr. embufchement,
ambufcade. We find bufchement ufed by Douglas. Am-
buflj may perhaps be derived from bujb ; and in woody places
ambuflies were generally placed. And this, too, is the opi-
nion of Jun. Gloff. in Ambujhes. Hence the Italian imbof-
cate, and the Lat. term fubfeffores, vid. Serv. ad iEneid v.
ver. 498.
Ver. 6. Bikkert~] Laid a load of rattling blows on him.
It would feem, that in this fenfe the word is ufed in the old
poem of Chevy Chace. Reliq. of Ancient Poet. vol. . p. 5.
" Bomen bickart uppone the bent
" With ther brow'd arras cleare."
i. e. their
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN, m
xx.
Twa that war herdmen of the herd,
On udder ran lyk rams,
Then followit feymen, richt unafieird
Bet on with barrow trams ;
But
/ e. their arrows rattled in the quiver as they moved. In an
old tranflation of Ovid, quoted in the Gloflary on this poem,
we find thefe verfes :
" And on that flee Ulyfles head
" Sad curfes down does bicker."
Hence it came to fignify fighting or Jkirmiflring; and here,
fay our boys to each other, Let us bicker, i. e. Jkirjni/b.
Ver. 8. Hows~\ The hams. How, from Angl. Sax. hog
and boh. ; and from this laft the Scots fay ftill hoch, as in
Douglafs. Belg. Haejfen, verb to hoch, to cut the back finews
of the leg, fuffragines fuccidere. Hence Jun. derives the
phrafe, hoxing of dogs, genu fcijfio canum. Adde Spelm. in
expeditare canem. Ifland. huka ; incurvare fe modo cacantis.
Perhaps, too, the huckle-bone had its name from hence. Belg.
hucken, defidere, in terram fe fubmittere. Vide, Lye Addit.
to Jun. GlofT.
STANZA XX.
Ver. i. Herdmen} Headfinen, G.
Ver. 3. Feymen] Lege faemen, i. e. enemies. Douglas
fometimes writes it fa, which is nearer to the Saxon fah,
inimicus ;
i 7 4 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
inimicus ; as from feond, fiend. Leg. Athelflani R. 20.
*' Sy he fa with done lyng ; Sit inimicus regis.'* Vide LL.
Edmundi R. 1. et Jun. Gloff. in Foe. From fab comes
feehldy feud betwixt two families on account of the flaughter
ofakinfman; Angl. feud; Ifand. feadj Dan.Jeyd. The La-
tins of the middle ages formed hence their faida> de qua
Spelman in Archaeol. B. Rhenanus Rev. Germ. 1. 2. p. 95.
** Faidam vocabant Franci fimultatem apertam, qua unus ali-
' quis uni vel pluribus bellum denuntiat. Ab hac Gallicani
fcribae faidofum appellat, qui faidam exercet. Germanis
** notum nimis vocabulum eft." Every difference, however,
was not called faida, but only that capital hatred which could
hot be appealed, but by the blood of the malefactor. Hence
GlofT. faida> vindi&a mortis. Faidam portare alicui, to de-
clare private war againft any perfon. The dreadful confe-
quences of this right of private war, and the numerous fta-
tutes againft it, are to be found in all the writers of the mid-
dle ages. See many curious particulars concerning it, ap.
du Cange in Faida. Hence the poor Albigenfes, while
cruelly perfecuted and murdered by the Papifts, were called
Faididi, quod profugi et exulantes erant.
Unaffeired~] Unaffrighted, without fear, or as we fpell it,
feir.
Ver. 4. Barronv'] From Sax. bfrenue, which comes from
Goth, bairan ; Sax. baran, beoran. Hence bier-, on which
the dead are carried ; and thofe who carry them are called
bearers, and the fpokes on which the coffin reds, bear-tiees.
Trams'] Tram, ortrum, is Gothic, and thus explained by
the elegant and learned Ihre : " Pars arboris longioris in
< plures partes diffe&ae, ut commodius plauftro injici queat."
Germ, trumm, fragorem ; Ifland, trumba. With the Ger-
man lawyers, tramrecbt, or traumrecht, denotes that right
v hich
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 175
which one neighbour has of letting the beams -or joifts of his
houfe into the neareft wall. Bohem, tram, trabs. Stadenius
(Explicat. Vocum Bibl. p. 663.) obferves, that the Germ.
thramen iignifies beams, and the crofs joifts on which wooden
flairs are fupported, which leads us to the thramjleins of UI-
phila, Mark i. v. 6. by which he translates the rtxp/JV? of
the Greek, which our verfion renders locujls, the food of John
Baptift in the defert. Many of the ancients, as well as the
Gothic Bifhop, underftand this paflage of the facred writer,
not of locufts, but the tender tops of forae fhrub, or fpccies of
plant, unknown to us ; as Bengelius obferves in his note on
this verfe; and therefore he deduces the laft part of the word
from telns, virga, ramus tenerior. Adde Wachter in Tram.
May we not attempt, from what is faid of this word tram,
to explain the word Jlr aha, ufed by Jornandes, when de-
ferring the funeral of Attila Getica, cap. 39. " Poftquam
" talibus lamentis eft defletus, ftrabam fuper tumulum ejus,
" ingenti commefTatione celebrant." Wormius (Mon. Dsn. p.
36.) quotes a paflage from Plac. Lactam, ad Stat. Theb. lib.
12. in the following words : " Exuviis hoftium extruebatur
regibus mortuis pyra, quem ritum fepulturse hodie quoque
" Barbari fervare dicuntur, quem Jirabas dicunt lingua fua."
Now we know that nothing is more common among all the
people of Gothic origin, than to putyT before their words.
The word trafnue, the learned Ihre fays, " ufurpatur de
" rebus quibufvis exaggeratis, ived t r afhue, eft ftrues ligno-
" rum," a heap, fuch as the funeral pile. Trafiwe alfo de-
notes a heap of corn cut down ; and hence our thrave, con-
fifting of twenty-four (heaves, as we fliall more fully explain
in our Gloffary of the ancient Scottifh Dialect ; vide Ray's
Collect, of Words, p. 75. Of this the barbarous Latin has made
trava, trava bladi, de quo Cange. The cuftom of the Goths
drinking
i;6 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
But quhair thair gobs thay were ungeir'd,
They gat upon the gams ;
CJuhyl bludy barkit was thair bairds,
As they had worriet lamms
Maift-lyk that day.
* XXI.
drinking largely at the funeral of their chiefs, is too well
known to need enlarging on in this place.
Ver. 5. Gobs'] Roftrum, beak, ufed of birds of prey.
Celtic, gob* roflrum. Hence our gab, ufed to fig. the mouth ;
and gobble, to devour greedily. Fr. gober. Junius obferves,
that the Gr. Ktfj3\se< has fome affinity to our words ;
and is explained by Hefychius, Ka}snriv&, devorat, ob-
forbet.
Ungeird] Unprepared. Sax. gearwian, praeparare ; and
this comes from the Iflandic giora, parare, facere. E%
(kal giora, or eg mun giora ; faciam, vel fa&urus fum.
Hickes (in Did. Id.) thinks, that hence is derived the Scots
to gar, to oblige, or force one to do a thing. Gear, Scot.
furniture, apparatus. Ifland. gearo, gearnue, paratus.
Ver. 6. Gams'] The gumtns ; Tent, gaum, gum, pala-
tum ; A. S. goma, gingiva. Douglas 345. 31.
" His gredy gammes bedyis with the rede blude!"
Ifland. gomur, palatum. Thefe ftrokes they got on the mouth
explains what the poet adds, that their beards were all be-
fmeared with blood.
Ver. 7. Bludy barkit] Gibfon, on what authority we
know
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 177
XXL
The wyves keift up a hideous zell,
Quhan all thir zounkers zokkit 5
Als ferfs as ony fire-fiauchts fell,
Freiks to the fields they flokkit.
Thd
know not, reads bludy-burn} the meaning of which we are
ignorant of.
Barkned] Covered with congealed blood, as hard, and in
the fame manner, as the bark covers the tree. Skinner de-
rives bark from Teuton. bergs n, tegere.
Ver. 8. Worried] Worry, vexare, dilacerare, vide Lye,
GlofT. Sax. in Worian. We find the original meaning of this
word in the following pafiage of Alfred's Verfion of Bede's
Hift. Ecclef. 1. 4. c. b. " Seo hreownes thass oft ewedenan
" woles feor & wide eal wees ckr>
infolence. Hence in Scots Jraflious, troublefome, quarrelfome.
Gud. Andrcae Lex, Ifland. They fay alfb, fnekur t fevus.
Herraud's Saga, cap. 1. Frakur i bcimtam, fsevus in exaclioni-
bus. Knitlyng. 5. p. 8. Oc var that ed fraknafta, Erant hi
milites fortiflimi. The learned and ingenious Ihre derives
the Latin Jerox, from the Goth, frueks or Jracks, with great
probability, in Lex. torn. 1. p. 585. This elegant writer alfo
aflerts (in voce Frankrike) that the Franks were called in the
ancient language Frakr, from their ferocity. All the Ger-
man writers agree in this. Gothofred. Viterb. Chron. part
1 7. in Proem, talking of the origin of the empire of the Franks,
' Germani adverfus Alanos movent exercitum, eos vincunt, et
" omnio extinguunt et propter eandem vi&oriam a Valenti-
niano Imp. Franci, id zOifercces funt perpetuo appellati."
Id. Catalog. Reg. Franc. " Poll modum ab Imperatore Va-
' lentiniano vocati funt Franci, /'. e. Feroces." And Ricardus
Epifcop. tit. de Leone 3tio Imp. " Sed quia tempore Valen-
" tiniani Imp. ejus mandato vicerunt Alanos, vocavit eos Fran-
" cos, id eft Feroces." Rigordus in geftis Philippi Augufti,
p. 74. " Ouos cum multis poftmodum idem Valentinianus
"^prseliisattentaflet, nee vincere potuiflet, proprio eos nomine
Z 2 < ; Francos t
i8o CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
The carlis with clubs did uder quell,
CJuhyl blude at breifts out bokkit ;
Sae rudely rang the common bell,
That a' the fteipill rokkit
For reid that day.
xxn.
" Francos, quafi Ferancos, i. e. Feroces appellavit." The rea-
der will find more to the fame purpofe in Cange, voce Fran-*
cus. Frekner, Ifland. fignifies alacer, ftrenuous. Olafr.
Tryg. S. p. 2. pag. 298. Tho at badi vueri Jlerker oc frek-
ner, Quamvis robufti fimul et ftrenui eflent. Freki, ferocia.
Confer Ihre Lex. vol. 1. p. 586.
Ver. 5. Carlh~] Clowns j Sax. Eorl and Georl, Gib. The
true origin is found in the Iflandic, not in the Saxon ; for
eorl properly denotes a nobleman, whence Earl ; but in the
mother dialect, the Iflan. Karl, fig. a ruftic, or man of mean
condition, as here. So too Alaman. karl. Voflius in Ety-
mol. voce Androfaces, brings another etymology, but not a
probable one. The Germans fay, Ein hapfer karl, a ftrong
man. Hence too our churle, de qua vid. Jun. in voce, who
obferves, that in the Sax.eeorelboren and tkegealorr. are oppofed
to each other ; the firft fignifying a plebeian, the fecond a gen-
tleman. It is from this idea of ftrength that the Englifh fay a
karlecat, carlehemp, &c. Carlijb is clownifh, ruftic. Thus
in the ancient ballad, the Childe of Elle, Reliq. of Anc. Poet;,
p. 112. vol. 1.
" And foremofi: came the carlifo knight,
f< Sir John of the north countraye."
$ueli
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. iSz
Quell"] Alam. quellen, Belg. quellen, domare, fubigere.
Sax. civellan. It is ufed alfo to fignify killing. Thus Dou-
glas, 153. 50.
M Thre vilis tho', as was the auld manere
" In wourfchip of Erix he bad doun quel."
and p. 263. 1.
" with this farayn rycht hand quellit and flane."
Hence kiveller, carnifex.
Ver. 6. Bokkit~] Burfl: forth. Bock properly to vomits and
fo ufed by Douglas. " VoXagro Lincolnienfi familiaris" (fays
Skinner) " alludit Hifpan. bofar, vomere ;" melius a Belg.
booker:, boken, pulfare.
Ver. 8. Rokkit~\ Shaked. Rock a c radle ; agitare, moti-
tare cunas. Douglas 157. 30.
" How that the fchyp did rok and tailzeve."
He elfewhere ufes rokkand fur rolling or toiling. Junius
brings it from the Tuton. rucken, trahere, loco movere. But
the true origin is from the Iflandic krocka, (as alfo Ruddi-
man has obferved in doff, to Douglas) cum impetu quodam
moved. It is ridiculous enough to find Mer. Caufaubon go-
ing to the Greek opyct&ty etvofyct^if, where there is not
the fmaUeft affinity of found. Vide Hick. Dick. Ifland. in
HroL
Ver. 9. Reid~\ I fufpecl it fhould be reird or rerde, noife
or clamour. Douglas, p. 300, v. 30.
With rerde and clamour of blythnefs."
and p. 37. 12.
" Syne the reird followit of the zounkeris of Troy."
Confer ibid. 324. 25. Ruddiman brings it, with probability
enough,
j8* CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
XXIL
Be this Tarn Tailor was in's gear,
When he heard the common bell ;
Said, he wald mak them all a* fteir,
When he cam there himfell :
He
enough, from Sax. reord, lingua, fermo, as originally it de-
noted the clameur of tongues*
STANZA XXII.
Ver. I. Gear"] Bifliop Gibfon obferves, that g for, in the
Iflandic, fignifies to prepare. True ; but that has nothing
to do with the word here ufed. Gear, in our ancient lan-
guage, denotes all kind of goods and pofleflions, among which
arms were reckoned by our warlike anceftors the raoft valu-
able. Primarily it denoted a fheep {kin in the Iflandic; and
as that was the ufual garment ufed by onr forefathers, it was
afterwards ufed to fignify cloathing in general; and hence ar-
mour, as we (till fay a coat of armour. Vide our remarks on
this word, Preface, p. 13.
Ver. 3. Steir~\ The Engliihj&'r, from the A. S. fiyran,
movere. It is ufed here for violent commotioD, as by Dou-
glas, p. 34- ver. 53.
" But ardentlie behaldis all onJlcre?\
Junius
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. tSf
He went to fecht with fik a fear,
While to the erd he fell ;
A wife that hit him to the grund
Wi* a grit knocking-mell
Feld him that day.
XXIIL
Junius has obferved the affinity betwixt this and the f}vpd.*f-
%Uy 9 of Hefychius, to ftimulate or prick forward. Ulphila
has a fimilar verb, (only compounded) Mark xiv. ver. 5.
Andftauridedun tho, they murmured againft her j where
fee the Gloflary of Juuiusi
Ver. 8. Knocking-mell] Mel/, from the primitive mal, de-
noting force, power; and hence metaphorically what occafions
/offering, or evil. This is the meaning it carries in the oriental
dialefts. Thus the Perfian mall, denotes anxiety, fuffering-;
moul, patience ; malul, difquiet ; Arab, mell, patience ; Celtic
mall, bad, corrupted. But this is not the place for thefe in-
vestigations, which we referve for our Scoto-Gothic Gloffary.
Of the fame family with our mell, is the Fr. mail, viaillet ;
whence the Englifh mallet. The Latin malleus comes from
the fame origin.
Our poet here alludes to the large wooden beetle, made
ufe of by our anctftors, to bruife and take the outer huflc from
the barley, to fit it for the pot, before barley mills were in-
vented. This cuftom of beeteling the barley, has not ceafed
yet in fome places of the Highlands ; and many of the hollow
(tones, ufed as the mortar, are ftill to be feen about our farm-
ers yards, though they are no longer applied by them to the
forrner purpofc.
Mellie
r84 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN.
XXIII.
When they had beirt like baited bullsj
And branewod brynt in bales,
They war as meik as ony mulis
That mangit ar wi' mails,
For
Mellie is, by our poets, ufed for combat, fighting. Life of
Robert Bruce, p. 12 1.
" That men may by this mellie fee."
Douglas has it frequently. Yx. melee; whence the L. B.
vielleia, and tnelletum ; and, from the Fr. Chaude, viellee, the
barbarous writers of the middle ages formed their monftrous
calida melleia, as Ruddiman has obferved. Vide Cange in
Melleia. We have, too, in our old law books, chaadmella.
Skene de Verb. Sig. though he knew nothing of the origin of
the word, has rightly explained melletum, by flrife, debate ;
as we fay that ane has melled or tulziedmth ane uther.
Mcll is ftill ufed in the north for a mallet or beetle, as Ray
informs us.
Ver. 9. Felld"] From the Ifl. fella, to beat down. So
the Englifh now apply it to trees, to fell timber. Alam. Fellen
lefillan. Junius's derivation of this word from velt, a field,
is almoft as ridiculous as that of Cafaubon, who brings it from
$i$hfxivx ', and yet thefe men were etymologies.
STANZA XXIII.
Ver. 1. Beirt~] Roared and fought with noife, like toth.it
of bulls when baited with dogs. Doughs ufes the word bere'
for
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 185
for crying or roaring. Bere and birr, according to Ray, fig.
force or might ; and in Chefhire they fay, with anu my beer,
with all my force. In Scotland too we ufe this word birr,
for might or ftrength. Hib. Baireadh, quod efFertur baireah,
denotat fremitum, et bairim, fremere.
In the old Englifh we find beray, berayed with blood or
dirt, befouled. Teuton, bem, merda. vid. Jun.
Baited] This word is ftill in ufe, though its origin is not
{b generally known. With Chaucer baye is the ftake to which
the bear or bull is tied, in order to be baited. Plowm. T.
ver. 87.
'* As boiftous as is bere at baye."
They then pronounced baigbt, which is now corrupted into
lait. Chaucer, ibid, v- 588.
** He fhall be baighted as a bere."
The root is the Iflandic beita, agitare, incitare. Suio-Goth.
he.keya, irretire, impedire. " Proprie dicitur" (fays Ihre) "de
' illis, quae cancellis aut caveis inclufa funt."
Ver. 2. Branenuod~\ Roaring like madmen. Braie, fre-
mere, vociferari, barrire, rudere. Hence Fr. braire. (lpxvco
not torment us. Matth. viii. 29. Qubampt hek faur mel
balwyan unfis ? Art thou come to torment us before the
time? Now Junius (ad voc.) properly obferves, that the tor-
ment fpoken of in the New Teftament is always reprefented
as by fire ; hence the origin of the Af. beel, rogus j Ifland.
laaly incendium. Had we room here, we could prove hence
the origin of Beltyne, the folemn fire kindled by our anceftors
in May, at which time the Celts began their year. Vide
Macpherfon, Ant. p. 164. Smith Gaelic Ant. p. 31. Pen-
nant's Tour, p. 94. From tine comes tinder, fomes ; Ak-
man. zundere, item tundre.
Ver. 4. Mangit~\ Ramfay interprets it maimed with carry-
ing ; Gibfon reads ivearied for majigit ; Douglas fometimes
writes it menzeit, confounded, marred, maimed. Thus of
Andromache fainting, p. 78. 15.
" to the ground all mangit fell echo doun."
and 440. 27.
" Bot then Turnus half mangit in affray."
Ruddiman brings it from S. mangzie, or manzie; Fr. #-
haign. Hence, too, our maim, per contract. In our old law-
books it is written mainzie. Reg. Majeft. 1. 4. c. 3. " He
" quha is accufit in fie pleyes, may declyne battle, be reafon of
" an manzie, or of his age." From mainzie, the writers of
the middle ages formed the barbarous Latin term mahainium;
though
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 187
For faintnefs thae forfochtin fulis
Fell down lyk flauchtir fails ;
Frefb men cam in and hail'd the duliSj
And dang them down in dails
Bedeen that day.
XXIV.
though Riiddiman erroneoufly derives our word from it. Char-
ta Henrici 2do. " Haec omnia concefli cum murdro, et morte
" hominis, et plaga, etmahaim, et fanguine." Charta Philip 3.
.Req. Fr. ann. 1273. ** Quod percuflus membrum amitteret
" feu vitam, vel etiam mahainium incurreret." Plura vide ap.
Cange, in Mahamiuvu
Mails'] Burdens.
Ver. 5. Forfochtin\ Wearied with fighting. G. We
bbferve here, that in the Gothic dialedls, and all its daugh-
ters, the particle fore, or for, increafes the fignification. Thus
hindre,forhindra, impedire ; minJka,forminJka, minuere ; and
oTten imports a worfe meaning than the original word. Thus
rahia numerare; forakna, fig. to err in the fum. Gora, facere j
for gora perimere. Arleta, laborare ; for arbeta fig. to over-
labour one's felf. Hence too Engl, done, foredone ; fworn,
forfworn, In the Latin, per and fir x have a fimilar meaning.
So oro, per or o; facio, perficio ; polens,rxpotehs, &c.
Ver. 6. Flaught'ir fails] Thefe are the thin fod pared off
the green furface of a' field, with the inftrument now called a
breafi plough, but anciently a flaughter fpade, which, as it
were, flays the foil ; from the Ifland. adfiaa, excoriare, cutem
detrahere : Dan;/*?;. A. S. lefix, excoriatus. Hence too
A a % &h;
-188 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEtf.
flakes offnoiu, from their broad thin (hape. Sax. flacea, floe-
cinivis. Alludit, Gr. jfrtflti cortex, and 9Ko,'q&-, corticem
aut pellem detraho ; Sax.flean, to flea. Confer. Jun. Etymol.
in fell. Ray fays, that the furface of the earth, which they
pare off to burn in Norfolk, is caxkd flags. This fort of firing
is (till common in all the moorifh countries of Scotland. The
word fale or pal, turf, cefpes, is found in Douglas's Virgil ;
and Ruddiman thinks thax/ealis only a eontradion of Jewel,
as being a common kind of firing in Scotland.
Ver. 7. Hail'd~\ To bail, Scot, is a phrafe ufed at foot-
ball, when the victors are faid to bail the ball, i. e. to drive
it beyond, or to the goal ; and as they may thus be faid to
cover tac goal, it may, perhaps, come from the Ifl. bill, tego;
hulde, texi ; as this from the Gothic buljan, tegere, operiri.
Matth.viii. 24. Gahulitb luairthanfr am ivegim, Covered with
the waves. Hence hell is called by Ulphila halje ; as theol,
hell, from belen, tegere, occultare. Thus heal in old Englifh
fignifies to conceal, from Sax. belan celare. We call the
hulks of corn the hull, from the fame origin. In Northum-
berland zflwine hull, a fow houfe, or fwine flye.
Dunes'] The goal or boundary of the courfe. We ima-
gine it comes from the Ifland. duel, moror, 'the ftopping-place
to which the ball was to be driven by the victorious party.
Dualde, moratus fum ; duel, mora. Hence to dwell, or make
abode.
Ver. 8. Dang"] * Perf. from ding, eedere, detrudere, to
beat down, " Haud dubie," fays Lye, ab Hibern. dingitn,
*t peHere, urgere." Douglas 229. 52.
" and with hir awin handis
" Dang up the zettis "
Teuton, dringen, from ding, dint, a flroak or blow ; Sax.
dynt, icl:us. Infra St. fee\g. fmade. id Teut.
khmachlich, contumeliofus. The root is the IR.fmaa, to
contemn ; Eg fmaae, I defpife ; fmaa, fnaar, little, finally
better pronounced, and nearer to the original, by the Scots
fma ; Goth, final., gracilis, tenuis; fmabia, gracilefcere.
Hence fmale denotes the fmaller cattle, as fheep and goats.
Alam. call msz$,fmallfecho. The ingenious etymologili Ihre
thinks
192 CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN,
His wyfe bad him gae hame, Gib Glaiks,
And fae did Meg his mudder ;
He turn'd and gaif them baith their paiks,
For he durft ding nane udder,
For feir that day.
thinks the Greek //ha*, faep, is nothing but the Gothic tern*
wanting the s. Smada, contumelia afficere ; fmadeordy con-
vicia ; Belg. fmaeden, fmadden> deturpare. And hence the
words fnmtfcii fmeta, fmitta ; unde Angl. fmitch, and our
fmity to infect or defile. In the parent dialed we find fma-
rede, reculae, minoris momenti res j fmaher, vile, abjefr.
Alfred, lib. I. cap. 25. 10. Smaher fcale tbin t Vilis fervus
tuus. Ifl. fina hinder, res viles ; fntcecka, minuere. Findur
Norr. ap. Ihre^in voce. Taku/nva riki ad fmackaji, Incipie^
bant regna turn minui. Hence the true idea of the name gi-
ven to Magnus, fon of Eric king of Sweden, called in deri-
lion Smaki not (as it is generally rendered) blanditiis delini-
tus, flattered ; but denoting a weak, contemptible fellow, who
allowed the whole province of Scania to be taken from him
by the Danes, and thereby fmeckad, diminished his heredita-
ry kingdom, contrary to the oath taken by the kings of Swe-
den when crowned. Vide Locceni, Hift. Suet. p. 1 06.
From this word, ftnacka, the barbarous Latin writers form-
ed fma ccare, to mutilate or maim, de qua vide Cange GlofT.
Ver. 4. Waldjlain} For would have flain. Gibfon reads,
that hurt my brother.
Ver. 5. Ghicks~\ An idle fauntering prattler. Glaffe, or
glave, is fmooth, according to Ray. Hence glavering is ufed
for flattering. In the Chefhire dialect glaver y to flatter; A. S.
g/iiver, fcurra, parafnus ; a gliwan, fcuiram agere, fmooth.
Ifland.
CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN. 179
Ifland. gUr mare, from its clearnefs ; zndgfer, vitrum Hence
Fr. glaire a* un ceufi white of an egg ; and Angl. gtare. Con-,
fer Jun. Etymol. in glayre.
Ver. 7. Paths'] Blows, repeated flrokes. Angl. paice,
Verbarare. I (hall well pate him, I'll beat him. This is not
to be confounded with pay, folvere debitum. Jun. derives
pate from Greek rratzivt verberare ; but the true etymon, is
from Cambr. pivyo, ferire, pulfare, percutere. In looking
into the learned Ihre's Lex. we find pak, fuftis ; and hence
perhaps we have paik, to beat with a cudgel. Pezron Celt.
Ant. takes notice of bach in the Celtic, fig. fujlis. The
Ang. Saxons, changing c into /, fay bat. Fr. baton. Our
mod ingenious etymologifr. obferves, that it is more than pro-
bable that the ancient Latins ufed bacus for a Jlick or po/e,
from the diminative bacu/us, (till in common ufe.
We have thrown thefe notes haftily together, they being
only meant, (as well as thofe on the Gaberlunzie-Man) as
a kind of fpecimen to a Gloffary of the ancient Scotifh language
we intend, at fome future period, to publifh, provided thofe
who are the proper judges of fuch an undertaking, fhall deem
fuch a work ufeful for promoting the knowledge of the anti-
ticjuities and language of our country.
FINIS.
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
A A 000 069 741
UMWERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
LIBRAE'
as ANGELES. CALIF