28 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 193. 



by the fact, that the neighbouring Pelasgic tribes 

 have a similar meaning ; e.g., 



PerrhcEbi, alike to Pyrrha and irCp; ^thices, 

 cXdw ; Tymphcei, Txxpw ; Hesticei, karia. Add to this, 

 that the name Phthiotis seems indubitably to de- 

 rive its name from Phthah, the Egyptian Hephces- 

 tus, and to be a translation of the word Hellas. 



N.B. — The existence of an Egyptian colony in 

 that part is attested by the existence of a Phthiotic 

 Theb(e. 



(3.) On the other hand, the word Achaus seems 

 to be connected with &xos, axvvnai, and &xKvs in the 

 eense of gloom (of ovpdviov dxos). So the Homeric 

 Cimmerians are derived from *"?"'"?P3 (Job), de- 

 noting darkness. 



(4.) Lastly, I submit with great diffidence the 

 following examination of the words Dorus and 

 the iEolian Mini/ce, which I shall attempt to de- 

 rive from words denoting sun and moon respec- 

 tively. 



The word Dorus I assume to be connected with 

 the first part of the names Dry-opes and Dol-opes. 

 The metathesis in the first case seems sanctioned 

 by the analogy of the Sanscrit dri and Greek Stipw, 

 and the mutation of I and r in the second is too 

 common in Greek and Latin to admit of any 

 doubt, e.g. ap-yaXeos and aXyaXtros ; Sol and Sor- 

 ccte. With this premised, I think we may be 

 justified in connecting the following word with 

 one another. 



Dores, Dryopes with 'Zelpws (of 2i<is and AJos) 

 ^ipos, the Scythian sun-god OWd-cTvpvc, the Egyp- 

 tian O-siris, and perhaps the Hebrew "in and 

 Greek hriphq (the course of the sun being the 

 emblem of eternity). — Dol-opes with Sol, d\r}, 

 Selli, &c. 



On the other hand, the neighbouring MinycB 

 seem connected with fxivvdu, ixlvwda., minus, — all 

 with the sense of decreasing or waning ; hence re- 

 ferable, both in sense and (I fancy) in derivation, 

 to Greek /t^v, and Latin men-sis. J. H. J. 



: SHAKSPEABE READINGS, NO. IX. 



" It lies as sightly on the back of him 

 As great Alcides' shoes upon an ass." 



King John, Act II. Sc. I. 



** The ass was to wear the shoes, and not to bear 

 them on his back, as Theobald supposed, and therefore 

 would read shows. The ' shoes of Hercules ' were as 

 commonly alluded to by our old poets, as the ex pede 

 Jlercuhm was a familiar allusion of the learned." (Mr. 

 Knight in 1839.) 



Fourteen years' additional consideration has not 

 altered Mr. Knight's view of this passage. In 1853 

 we find him putting forth a prospectus for a new 

 edition of Shakspeare, to be called "The Stratford 

 Edition," various portions from which he sets be- 

 fore the public by way of sample. Here we have 



over again the same note as above, a little diversi- 

 fied, and placed parallel to Theobald's edition in 

 this way : 



" It lies as sightly on the back of him 

 As great Alcides' shows upon an ass." 



" The folio reads ' Great Al- "The 'shoes of Hercules'" 



rides' shoes.' Theobald says, were as commonly alluded to 



* But why s/ioes, in the name of in our old poets, as the ex pede 



Kropriety? For let Hercules and Herculcm was a familiar allu. 



is thoes have been really as big sion of the learned. It was not 



as they were ever supposed to necessary that the ass should be 



be, yet they (I mean \\\e shoes) overloaded with the shoes — he 



would not have been an over- might he shod (shoed) yiWhi 



load for an ass.' " them." 



Now who, in reading these parallel notes, but 

 would suppose that it is Mr. Knight who restores 

 shoes to the text, and that it is Mr. Knight who- 

 points out the common allusion by our old poetf? 

 to the shoes of Hercules ? Who would imagine 

 that the substance of this correction of Theobald 

 was written by Steevens a couple of generations- 

 back, and that, consequently, Theobald's proposed 

 alteration had never been adopted ? 



I should not think of pointing out this, but 

 that Mr. Knight himself, in this same prospectus, 

 has taken Mr. Collier to task for the very samo 

 thing ; that is, for taking credit, in his Notes and 

 Emendations, for all the folio MS. corrections,, 

 whether known or unknown, necessary or un- 

 necessary. 



Indeed, the very words of Mr. Knight's com- 

 plaint against Mr. Collier are curiously applicable- 

 to himself: 



" It requires the most fixed attention to the nica 

 distinctions of such constantly-recurring ' notes and 

 emendations,' to disembarrass the cursory reader frorr> 

 the notion that these are hond fide corrections of the- 

 common text 



" Who cares to know what errors are corrected in "■ 

 (the forthcoming Stratford edition), "that exist in no- 

 other, and which have never been introduced into the 

 modern text?" — Specimen, &c., p. xxiv. 



The impression one would receive from Mr, 

 Knight's note upon Theobald is, that Shakspeare 

 had his notion of the shoes from " our old poets,'" 

 while the learned had theirs from ex pede Her- 

 cvlem; but where the analogy lies, wherein the 

 point, or what the application, is not explained-. 

 Steevens' original note was superior to this, in so- 

 much that he quoted the words of these old poets,, 

 thereby giving his readers an opportunity of con- 

 sidering the justness of the deduction. The only 

 set-off to this omission by Mr. Knight is the intro- 

 duction of "ex pede Herculem," the merit of which 

 is doubtless his own. 



But it so happens that the size of the foot of 

 Hercules has no more to do with the real point of 

 the allusion than the length of Prester John's ; 

 therefore ex pede Herculem is a most unfortunate 

 illustration, — particularly awkward in a specimen 

 sample, the excellence of which may be ques- 

 tioned. 



