cial town, it nevertheless possesses many requisites for constituting it such; among others, its two rivers, the Ouse and the Foss, which flow through the city. The immortal General Wolfe, was also born in this ancient city.*

THE ZUIDER SEA.

The Zuider Sea, or as the Dutch have it, the Zuider Zee, was at one period a large tract of grazing land, belonging to an eminent grazer, of the name of Zuider, who, on one occasion, when walking over his pastures, discovered in a ditch, a herring! This omen made such an impression on his mind, that he hastened home, and disposed of the whole of his landed property in that district. His judgment was correct, as the result proved; for, within six months, the whole of the land, with a large tract adjacent to it, became an immense water, and has remained so to this day, well known under the appellation of the Zuider Sea, or Zuider Zee.

BARROWS, OR CAIRNS.

Dr. Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary" states, that Barrows, or Cairns, are very numerous in the Highlands of Scotland, in Ireland, and in Wales; they are likewise to be seen in Sweden, in Norway, and in other parts of the continent, as also in America. They were intended for monuments; and the probability is, that they were used as such from the earliest ages, by every people who could associate their ideas of duration with the properties of stone and rock. Cairns often measure 300 feet in circumference at the base, and twenty feet in height; they consist of stone, and the whole pile is shaped like a cone. Several opinions have been formed concerning the intention of them. In many instances they have been explored, and found to contain sepulchral urns; a circumstance which seems to be decisive in favour of the opinion, that they are monuments of the dead.

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Many of these piles consist wholly of earth; and this gave rise to an opinion, that the coped heaps of stone were intended for malefactors, and those of earth for the virtuous and the brave. The doctor continues, I never could ascertain to what extent this distinction was observed. From ancient authors we learn, that malefactors were buried under heaps of stone; and we know, that it was a common practice among the Druids, to erect Cairns on the spot where a criminal had been burnt. Hence, a "man beneath a Cairn," means in Gaelic, an outlaw." "I'd rather be under a Cairn," means, "I'd rather be punished as an outlaw." Though the ceremony of Cairn-raising is still prevalent in the Highlands, the meaning of it is changed; for on whatever spot a person is found dead, a few stones are immediately huddled together, and every passenger pays his tribute of a stone; the larger it is, the greater the respect shewn to the deceased. Hence a saying among the Gael, which, translated, is, "I will add to thy Cairn," betokens a friendly intention, and means, "I will keep the remembrance of thee alive." The ghost of the departed was supposed to haunt his Cairn; and few Highlanders would choose to pass it for the first time without adding to the heap, and thus keep on good terms with the spectre.

Tanner Row.-Ed.

NAMES OF A FEW PLACES AND PERSONS.

Ab, in the beginning of the names of places, is generally a contraction of abbot, and denotes a monastery to have been formerly there, or else that it belonged to some abbey; as Abington, q. d. Abbey Town.

Ac, Ak. These initial syllables take their origin from the Saxon word ac, which signifies an oak; thus Acton is Oak-town, or a town environed with oaks.

Ad, Adel, signifies noble, famous, as Adelstan for Æthelstan, the termination stan being anciently a mark of the superlative degree; and it is worthy of remark here, that instead of our modern word gentleman, nobleman, &c. our ancestors used the word Aedleman.

Al, Ald, signifies old or ancient, as Aldborough, i. e. Old Borough ; Aldgate, Old Gate, &c. Though many names have the initial al from the Saxon al, as Albert, Allbright; Alfred, All-peace, &c.

All or hal comes from the Saxon hall or palace, and hence it became a common termination, as White-hall, Moor-hall, &c.

Bald signifies Bold, as Baldred, Baldwin, &c. Berth, brave, as Bertha. Brad comes from the Saxon broad; thus Bradford is Broadford, originally.

Bourn or Burn, is from the Saxon, signifying a river, hence several towns are simply called Bourne, which stand near a rivulet or stream. Others have it in their composition, as Wimbourne, &c.

Brig, Brix, from the Saxon, a bridge, as Stockbridge, Brixton, &c. Burgh comes from the Saxon, a city, town, or castle; originally from the Gothic, bairg, a rock or mountain; for anciently most cities were built on rocky hills, and afterwards in vales, for the conveniency of water. Thus Edinburgh, i. e. the town on the hill Eden.* Petersburgh, a town dedicated to St. Peter, it being frequently wrote borough and oftentimes bury, as Salisbury, Edmondsbury, &c.

Bye, Bee, are terminations from the Saxon, an habitation; thus Kettleby, i. e. a town where kettle makers lived. So Derby, Appleby, &c.

Car is derived from caer, a city, as Carlisle, Cardiff, &c.

Chester and Caster, signify a city or camp; hence Chichester was the town or city of Sissa, who built it.

Cheap, Chip, Chipping, all come from the Saxon to buy, and they denote market towns; as Chippenham, Chipping Norton, &c.

Cliff, Clive, come from the Saxon, a rock, or steep place; hence Radcliffe, Redcliff, or Red Rock; so Whitecliff, for White Rock; Cleveland, for Rocky Land, &c. Still cliffs and rocks with us are synonymous terms. Comb at the end and comp in the beginning of words indicate the low situation of the place, from the Saxon comb, which signifies a valley. Hence those places called Compton, i. e. Valetown, and those which end in comb, as Wycomb, Winchcomb, &c.

Cot, Cote, a house, denotes a hut or cottage, or a village of such little houses to have been in the places bearing this syllable, as Coteswold, &c.

Croft signifies a little plot of ground, which we call a close; hence sundry names as Bancroft, Bearcroft, &c.

Cuth, known or famed, is found in several Saxon names, as Cuthbert, &c.

Dale, a little valley, is used in several names, as Greendale, Dibdale, for Deepdale.

* This is doubtful. See Edinburgh.—ED.

Den, Dean, are from the Saxon, signifying both a vale and any woody place; hence Tenterden, Morden, &c.

Dun, Don, a mountain or ridge of hills, from whence our name for them, Downs; hence Heydon, Swindon, Dunstable, &c.

Ea, ee, ey, from the Saxon Ea, water, as Eaton, Water-town; Anglesey, Jersey, &c.

Ed is from the Saxon, blessed, happy, as Ed-mund, &c.
Ethel, noble, as in Ethelbert, &c.

Ford, a shallow stream or rivulet, as Bradford, Guilford, Oxford, &c.

Fred, peace, hence Frederic is literally, rich in peace.

Gate, a way or passage, as Highgate, a highway or road; and grave in Saxon implies a grove, and sometimes a cave, as Norgrave, Waldgrave, &c.

Ham, a house, farm, or village, as Hamton, Wareham, &c. From this word comes our English word home, also Hamlet.

Holm comes from the Saxon Holm, a place surrounded by water or a little island; hence we find several such places called the Holmes.

Hurst, from the Saxon, a wood or forest, as Midhurst, Sandhurst, &c.

Lade, in Saxon, signifies to unload or purge. It generally signifies the mouth of a river, either where it empties itself into the sea, or some greater river, as at Cricklade, Leechlade, &c.

Marsh, from the Saxon, signifying fenny, watery, hence Marshfield, Saltmarsh, &c.; also Mere, a lake or pond, is found in many names of places, as Haslemere.

Rig, Ridge, seem to be derived from the Saxon, signifying the back; hence our phrase, a ridge of hills, and this is denoted in the names where it is found, as Lindridge, Eldridge, &c.

Sel signifies good, large, or spacious, which it denotes in various names, as Selby, Selwood, i. e. a great wood.

Stead of Sted signifies a place, and is in many names, Grimstead, Hampstead, &c.

Stan, a stone, and hence the names of many places and persons, Stanton, i. e. Stony-town, Stanley, Stony-field, Stanstead, Stonyplace, &c.

South, Sut, and Suth, are all from the Saxon South, as Sutton, South-town, Suthwell, South-well, &c. So also Sus in Sussex, i. e. South Saxony; hence also Suffolk, or the South Folk, in opposition to Norfolk, or the North Folk.

Thorp, a village, some villages and small towns are called so yet, as Thorp, near Chertsey, in Surry. Adlestrop seems to be contracted from Adelsthorp; also the surname Longthorp, Colthorpe, &c. denotes such families as had originally the lordship of some one or more of those thorps.

Ton signifies a town. This is one of the most common terminations of the names of places, as Hampton, Boston, Taunton, &c.

Weald, Wald, Walt, are all derived from a forest or wood, and imply the same thing in places which have these words in their names, as Walton, Waltham, Walden, &c.

Wie, Wich, signify sometimes a village, sometimes a port or harbour, and often a castle; hence Harwich, Norwich, Warwick, Wycomb, &c.

Win, a battle; hence this syllable in the names of places imports some battle to have been fought there, or victory obtained, as Winborn, Winchester, &c., and in the names of persons it implies that

some of the ancestors of the family had been great warriors and victorious, as Edwin, Baldwin, Godwin.

Worth signifies a court or forum, which is implied to have been in those places, the names of which are terminated herewith, as Wandsworth, Petworth, &c.-Clavis.

ADDITIONAL.

Such towns, cities, or villages, whose terminations are chester, caster, or cester, show that the Romans, in their stay among us, made fortifications about the places where they are now situated. In the Latin tongue, castra is the name of these fortifications. Such are Castor, Tadcaster, Chester, Doncaster, Leicester. Don* signifies a mountain, and ley, or lei, ground widely overgrown, in our ancient tongue. Wye, wick, or wich, means a place of refuge, as in the termination of Warwick, Sandwich, Greenwich, Woolwich. Thorp, before the word village was borrowed from the French, was used in its stead, and is found at the end of many town's names; for instance, Bishopthorpe, Middlethorpe, Saddlethorpe, Thorpe-arch. Bury, burgh, bery, signifies metaphorically, a town, having a wall about it; sometimes a high or chief place, likewise a place of burial: see Bury St. Edmunds. Wold means a plain open country, but in many instances applied to hills; take for instance the Yorkshire Wolds. Combe, a valley between two hills; knock, a hill, for instauce, Knock lofty; hurst signifies a woody place, such as Midhurst, Chiselhurst. Magh, a field; innes an island; worth a place situated between two rivers; and ing or ings a track of meadows. The word win, at the beginning, or ending of the names of places, implies, that some great battle was fought, or a victory gained there. The word is from the Saxon winnan, to win, or overcome. Bourn, or bourne, signifies a brook, stream, or rivulet, and terminates the names of many towns and places, such as Mary-le-bourne,+ Holbourn, or Old-bourne, East-bourne, Sitting-bourne, &c.

ADDITIONAL.

Waltham, from Wealdnam.
Worcester, from Wireceaster.

Wolverhampton, from Vulfrene's-hampton.

Farnham, from Fernham, a bed of Ferns.

Surrey, from Suthrey, the south side the river.

Seymour, from Saint Maur.

Selvedge, Salvedge, or safe edge.

Rosemary, from Ros-mare.

Rosamond, from Rosa Mundi.

Gibraltar, from Ghibal Tariff.

To cabbage, should be kabage, a northern word for steal.

* It must here be observed, that Doncaster derives its name from the river Don, therefore the above is not an invariable rule.-Ed. + See Mary-le-bone.

SECTION XV.

EPITHETS AND PHRASES.

EPITHETS.

The meaning of the word Wretch is one not generally understood, It was originally, and is now, in some parts of England, used as a term of the softest and fondest tenderness. This is not the only instance in which words in their present general acceptation bear a very opposite meaning to what they did in Shakspeare's time. The word Wench, formerly, was not used in that low and vulgar acceptation it is at preseut. Damsel was the appellation of young ladies of quality, and Dame a title of distinction. Knave once signified a servant; and in an early translation of the New Testament, instead of "Paul the Servant," we read "Paul the Knave of Jesus Christ." On the other hand, the word Companion, instead of being the honourable synonime of Associate, occurs in the play of Othello, with the same contemptuous meaning which we now affix, in its abusive sense, to the word "Fellow"-for Emelia, perceiving that some secret villain had aspersed the character of the virtuous Desdemona, thus indignantly exclaims :—

"O, Heaven! that such Companions thou❜dst unfold,
And put in every honest hand a whip,

To lash the rascal naked through the world!"

SPINSTER.

Formerly it was a maxim, that a young woman should never be married till she had spun herself a set of body, table, and bed linen. From this custom all unmarried women were termed Spinsters, an appellation they still retain in all deeds and law proceedings.

ROUNDHEAD.

The first origin of this party epithet, well known as being used during the troubles in the reign of Charles 1st, was introduced by Captain Hyde, drawing his sword amidst the mob at Westminster, on 28th December, 1641, and saying, he would crop the ears of those round-headed dogs that bawled against the bishops. The apprentices wore their hair cut round. From this trifling circumstance originated the distinction of "Roundheads" and "Cavaliers," and which, in a reign or two, gave way to the present one of "Whig and Tory."

CUT-PURSE.

This term, which we meet with so often in Shakspeare's plays and indeed in many works of more modern authors, is derived from the circumstance of persons in former days having their purses hanging in front from their girdles, from whence they were cut by the Pick-purse or Cut-purse, of former times.