448 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 184. 



SPRTNG, ETC. 



Our ancestors had three verbs and three corre- 

 sponding substantives to express the growth of 

 plants, namely, spring, shoot, and sprout, — all in- 

 dicative of rapidity of growth ; for sprout (Germ. 

 spriessen) is akin to spurt, and denotes quickness, 

 suddenness. The only one of these which remains 

 in general use is shoot: for sprout is now only appro- 

 priated to the young growth from cabbage-stalks; 

 and spring is heard no more save in sprig, which 

 is evidently a corruption of it, and which now de- 

 notes a small slip or twig ; as we say, sprigs of 

 laurel, bay, thyme, mint, rosemary, &c. 



Of the original meaning of spring, I have met 

 but one clear instance : it is, however, an incon- 

 trovertible one, namely, 



" Whoso spareth the spring (i. e. rod, switch), 

 spilleth his children." — Visions of Piers Plowman, 

 V. 2554., ed. "Wright. 



Perhaps this is also the meaning in — 



" Shall, Antipholus, 



Even in the spring of love thy love-springs, rot ? " 

 Com. of Errors, Act III, So. 2. 

 and in " Time's Glory " — 



" To dry the old oak's sap and cherish springs," 



Rape of Lucrece. 



Spring afterwards came to be used for under- 

 Trood, &c. Perhaps it answered to the present 

 coppice, which is composed of the springs or shoots 

 of the growth which has been cut down : 



" The lofty high wood and the lower spring." 



Drayton's Muses' Elysium, 10. 

 " The lesser birds that keep the lower spring." 



Id., note. 

 It was also used as equivalent to grove : 

 " Unless it were 

 The nightingale among the thick-leaved spring." 

 Fletcher's Faith. Shep., v. 1. 

 "where, however, it may be the coppice. 

 " This hand Sibylla's golden boughs to guard them. 

 Through hell and horror, to the Elysian springs." 

 Massinger's Bondman, ii. 1. 

 In the following place Fairfax uses spriiig to 

 express the " salvatichi soggiorni," i. e. selva of his 

 original : 



" But if his courage any champion move 

 To try the hazard of this dreadful spring." 



Godf. ofBuU., xiii. SI. 

 and in 

 " For you alone to happy end must bring 

 The strong enchantments of the charmed spring." 



Id., xviii. 2. 

 it answers to selva. 



When Milton makes his Eve say — 



'< While I 

 In yonder spring of roses intermix'd 

 "With myrtles find what to redress till noon." 



Par, Lost, ix. 217. 



he had probably in his mind the cespuglio in the 

 first canto of the Orlando Furioso ; for spring had 

 not been used in the sense of thickets, clumps, by 

 any previous English poet. I am of opinion that 

 spring occurs for the last time in our poetry in the 

 following lines of Pope : 

 " See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings, 



Andheap'd with products of Sabaean springs." 



Ilessiah, 93. 



Johnson renders the last line — 



" Cinnameos cumulos, Nabathsi munera veris;" 

 and this is probably the sense in which the place 

 has generally been understood. But let any one 

 read the preceding quotations, and reflect on what 

 a diligent student Pope was of the works of his 

 predecessors, and perhaps he will think with me. 

 Thomas KEiGHTLEr.. 



NOTES AND QUERIES ON BACOn's ESSAYS, NO. Ill, 



(Vol. vii., pp. 6. 80.) 



Essay IX. p. 21. (note a). "They used the word 

 * prasfiscini.' " See, e. g., Plaut. Asin., ii. 4. 84. 

 (Weise) : 



" Praefiscini hoc nunc dixerim : nemo etiam me ad- 

 cusavit 

 Merito meo." 

 (Leonida boasts of his integrity.) 



Ditto, p. 22. (note c). "From the Stichus of 

 Plautus," ii. 1. 54. 



Ditto, p. 23. " Which was the character of 

 Adrian the Emperor." See Hist. Aug. Script., i. 

 149., ut supr. (Spartian. Vit, Hadrian, cap. 15.) 



Ditto, p. 26. " It was well said." By whom ? 



Essay X. ditto. " A poor saying of Epicurus." 

 Where recorded ? 



Ditto, p. 27. " It hath been well said, ' That the 

 arch flatterer,' " &c. By whom, and where ? 



Ditto, ditto. " It hath been well said, ' That it 

 is impossible,' " &c. By whom, and where ? 



Ditto, ditto. " The poet's relation." Ovid. He-- 

 void. xvi. 163. 



Essay XI. p. 28. " Cum non sis qui fueris," &c. 

 Whence ? 



Ditto, p. 29. " Illi mors gravis incubat," &c. 

 Seneca, Thyest. 401. (ed. Lemaire), Act II. ex- 

 trem. 



Ditto, p. 31. " That was anciently spoken." By 

 whom ? 



Ditto, ditto. " Tacitus of Galba." Tac. Hist^ 

 i. 49. 



Ditto, ditto. " Of Vespasian." T&c, Hist.,\. 50. 



Essay XII. ditto. " Question was asked of De- 

 mosthenes." See Cic. -De Orat., iii. 56. § 213. 



Ditto, p. 32. " Mahomet's miracle." Where re- 

 corded ? 



Essay XIII. p. 33. "The desire of power," &c. 

 Cf. Shaksp. Hen. VIII., III. 2. "By that sin (am- 

 bition) fell the angels," &c. 



