445 



Is^OTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°*S. V. 126., May 29. '58. 



[1266-67], which enacts that "bread made Into a 

 simnel shall weigh two shillings less than Wastell- 

 brcnd ;" and also an old MS. (Consuetud. domus 

 de Farendon), which is to the same effect : — 



" Quando quarterium frumenti venditur pro xii. de- 

 rariis, tunc panes quadrantes de wastello ponderabunt vi. 



libras et xvi. sol Panis de Symencl ponderabit 



minus wastello ii. sol." 



TVfls^fZZ- bread was Ihe finest sort of bread. See 

 under the words " Cocket,'' " Cocket-bread" ^^Sim- 

 nell" and " Wastell- bread." . 



Ilerrick, who was born in 159 J, and died in 

 1674 (?), has the following in his Hesperides : — 



" TO DTANEME. 



" A Ccremonic in Glocester. 

 " lie to thee a Simvell bring, 

 'Gainst thou go'st a mothering. 

 So that, when she blesseth thee, 

 Half that blessing thou'lt give me." 



Bailey, in his Dictionary (folio, 1764, by Scott), 

 says simnel is probably derived from the Latin 

 .v'mila, fine flour, and means " a sort of cake or 

 bun made of fine flour, spice, &c." 



It will thus appear that simnel cakes can boast 

 a much higher antiquity than the reign of Henry 

 VIL, and that they were not originally confined 

 to any particular time or place. 



I hope the above will be satisfactory to your 

 correspondent, A Lover or AwcitNT Customs. 



W. II. W. T. 



ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY. 



(2"" S. V. 314. 867.) 



" Nihil est ab omni parte beatum ; " and as- 

 suredly, in the department of etymology, your 

 correspondents are not all felicitous. What doubt 

 can there be of the connection of coward with 

 couard ? 



In the Dictionnaire abregee des Termes du 

 Blasoii, prefixed to the Armorial Universel, Paris, 

 1844, we find — 



" Couard — se dit d'un Hon qui porte sa queue retrouss(?e 

 en dessous entre les jatnbes : " 



a lion is (heraldically) termed coward when he 

 carries his tail turned down between his legs. 

 The etymological affinity of couard with the word 

 queue is evident, and involves no greater change 

 than that which occui's between jeu and jouer, 

 aveu and avouer, epreuve and eprouver. 



PVom couard, by mere change of u into », the 

 Portuguese have formed the word quoted, p. 314., 

 viz. covarde. In Spanish this assumes the form 

 coharde. (Baretti, Diet., sub voc.) 



In Italian the analogy of the derivative with 

 the primitive is preserved better even than in 

 French. In Ital. tail is coda (Lat. cauda), while 

 coward is codardo. 



Let us now consult English Heraldry, In 



Parker's valuable and well-known Glossart/, 

 cov;ard is applied to " a lion or other beast having 

 his tail hanging between his hind legs, and usually 

 reflexed over his back," and a figure is referred 

 to. (Pp. 91, 92, 93.) 



I have not Guillim by me, but I feel sure that 

 his definition and the figure which accompanies it 

 agree with the above, in so far as the " tail between 

 the legs " is concerned. 



Is anything now wanting to prove that the idea 

 presented by the word coward is strictly that of a 

 man who imitates morally an animal which, in 

 actual terror, turns its tail between its two hinder 

 members ? 



Permit me, while animadverting on some of the 

 etymologists of " N. & Q.," to offer one word of 

 friendly advice. One of the great hindrances to 

 the proper explanation of words is ignorance, on 

 the part of etymologists, of general Archaeology. 

 The collation of dictionaries only proves that an 

 unknown word is common to many languages ; 

 its origin is very frequently ascertainable only 

 through an acquaintance with the customs of the 

 age, nation, place, &c. in which it arose. Now 

 Heraldry is not the least important branch of 

 Archaeology ; and, as in the present case, an he- 

 raldic reference often decides on the spot an ety- 

 mological question which otherwise must remain 

 for ever unsettled. I do not suppose that any stu- 

 dent of French and English blazon ever doubted 

 for a moment the precise meaning of the word 

 coward. 



Heraldry also saves us from such overwhelm- 

 ingly laughable errors as the following : — 



" If English dictionaries tind room for ke.T, the old 



English for hemlock, then wh}' not also for kexy ? 



if fitch, another form of vetch, is admitted, why not also 

 FITCHY ? " 



That is, Jitchy is the adjective of Jitch. How 

 the instance of Jitchy, cited in the note to the 

 above passage, could possibly give the impression 

 of any affinity between it and "fitch" is some- 

 what of a mystery : for the word is there applied 

 to certain sockets which " some conceive made 

 Jitchy or picked, to be put in the earth," whereas 

 the author quoted (Fuller) considered them to 

 have been made flat, to stand upon the ground. 

 How the quality of having a pointed extremity 

 could associate these instruments with the idea of 

 a vetch, I do not attempt to explain : but Fuller'a 

 meaning is unmistakeable ; he has merely applied 

 the heraldic term for a cross, the lower limb of 

 which is sharpened to a point, in order to admit 

 of its being planted in the ground, and left there 

 upright by itself, to these sockets, which by some 

 were conceived to have been similarly constructed, 

 for the same purpose. " FIche se'dit des croisettes 

 qui ont le pied aiguise," says Menestrier, Mithode 

 du Blason, p. 105. " Fitchy, — called by some 

 pitcliy, — pointed, generally at the lower part; 



