Dec. 2. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



44i 



that the belly and back are almost brought to- 

 gether. 



Tiddy, a mother's milk. To give tiddy, is to 

 suckle the child. It is, no doubt, connected with 

 the word teat ; but the latter is now confined to 

 the organs of a beast, whereas the word tiddy is 

 only used with reference to human milk. 



Timbering made of wood. 



Tittle, a small talk ; probably the same as tatde. 

 Taut is used as a verb. 



To. This word is constantly employed instead 

 lOf at : as, " he has been to Plymouth," " he is to 

 i'almouth," and " where are you going to ?" 



Totelish, foolish, like an idiot. It is applied to 

 one who has had understanding, but has lost it, 

 either from age or other cause. 



Tottle, Toddle. To walk along" unsteadily, as 

 a child learning to go alone. 



Trapes, to walk along heavily, slowly, yet with 

 perseverance. It means a slouching sort of motion, 

 and is commonly used in a contemptuous sense. 



Trickei\ a dancer. It seems much the same 

 with tripper. 



Trone, a small furrow, or shallow line made in 

 the ground. 



Truckle, a small wheel. It is probably an 

 original Cornish word for any kind of wheel ; but 

 now it is applied to a small solid wheel or short 

 roller. To truckle along is applied to a person or 

 thing that moves as if conveyed with such a kind 

 of wheel ; steadily, without noise or apparent effort. 



Trule, to roll. A person is said to trule a ball, 

 when he rolls it from him without throwing it aloft. 



Tubbot, short and thick. It is probable that 

 this is from the same root as the word tub ; mean- 

 ing a short and thick vessel for holding liquids ; 

 and also of the name of the tubfish (Trigla 

 Jiirundo), which is the shortest and thickest, in 

 proportion to its bulk, of any of its kind. 



Turmet, turnip. 



Vady, damp, but only so much as to be slightly 

 felt. Bishop Berkeley, in his Farther Thoughts on 

 Tarwater, p. 9., uses what appears to be the same 

 ytord, fade, in the same sense. 



Vamp. It is used only by knitters, as applied 

 to stockings; to vamp which, is to work in new 

 feet to the old legs ; first ripping off the old wor- 

 sted, and then carrying on the new work from 

 its junction with the old. But the word has been 

 used for a sort of stocking, which comes no higher 

 than a little above the ankles. That the word has 

 a particular reference to the feet, appears from 

 the expression /awj/>,- which means, to tread along 

 heavily, with a firm use of the feet. Pope uses 

 the word vamped for a piece of writing formed of 

 old and new joined together ; but this is the 

 figurative, and not literal employment of it. 



Vang, to receive actually into the hand. It 

 seems to have meant originally to grasp ; and the 

 \rord fang, as meaning the claw of a beast, is from 



the same root. The Cornish word vang is there- 

 fore the lost verb of the substantive yaTig-, the 

 claw or talon for grasping or holding. 



Vester. A feather stripped of its vane all ex- 

 cept the point ; and used by children at a dame's 

 school, to point out the letter or word they are 

 studying, to save the print from being dirtied or 

 worn by the touch of the finger, if the latter were 

 employed. When hornbooks were in common 

 use, as I remember well, a little feather of this 

 sort was employed to point out the letter. This 

 word has been printed fescue, but vester (perhaps 

 a false pronunciation) was the only one known 

 here. 



Vineyd, mouldy, covered with mildew. In 

 Evelyn's Works (on the making of cider) it is 

 spelled ^ne?<)c?. 



Vish, for fish ; and so also, often vour for four. 



Vitty, fit, proper, appropriate. 



Vogget, to hop on one leg. 



Voitch, to tread on by trampling ; to trample 

 on a thinjj over and over again. Video. 



MASTERPIECES OF THE EARLY ENGLISH 

 DRAMATISTS. 



Will you allow me, through your pages, to 

 suggest a literary undertaking which I feel con- 

 fident, if well executed, would be very successful? 

 I mean a selection of the " Masterpieces of the 

 Early English Dramatists :" — not scenes, but com- 

 plete plays. Surely one chief cause of their being 

 so little read is, that they wrote so much and so 

 unequally. Each of them, with hardly an excep- 

 tion, has one or more pieces far superior to the 

 rest, both in quality and fame ; but these lie im- 

 bedded in the mass of the " Opera Omnia," which 

 few care to sift or purchase. The selection should 

 be made sparingly, with due regard to the general 

 taste, and with a preference of plays, the name of 

 which is already well known either through the 

 stage, or in any other way, — as Marlowe's Dr. 

 Faustus, since Gothe's Faust appeared. Take 

 Ben Jonson for example : give us Catiline, Sej'a- 

 nus, the Fox, the Alchemist, and Every Man in 

 his Humour. Would not this be the cream ? 

 enough to satisfy the general reader, and attract 

 many, farther ? The form of publication should 

 be pleasing, though not expensive ; no double 

 columns. Give us the best text ; notices if you 

 like, but as few notes as possible. 



Two considerations have occurred to me, which 

 perhaps you will allow me to mention: — 1. In 

 the case of authors celebrated also for poetry not 

 dramatic, should the best specimens of this be 

 given ? Ben Jonson's smaller poems are an in- 

 stance, and Marlowe's Hero and Leander. 2. 

 Should a few tragedies of later date be added, 

 taking celebrity, not merit, as the test of selection ? 



