Aug. 13. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



161 



use of the word " unneath," used in Parnell's 

 Fairy Tale, have fallen into a slight mistake in 

 supposing that the seemingly old words used in 

 this poein are really so. I make no doubt that 

 Mr. Halliwell is correct in noting the word 

 •• unneath " as signifying " beneath," in the patois 

 of Somerset; but I gravely suspect that Parnell 

 had picked up the word out of our older poets, 

 and used it in the passage quoted without con- 

 sideration. 



The true meaning of " unneath " (which is of 

 Saxon origin, and variously written " unnethe, 

 imnethes ") is scarcely, not easily. 



Thus Chaucer says : 



" The miller that for-dronken was all pale. 

 So that unnethes upon his hors he sat," 



The Millers Prologue, v. 3123. [Tyrwhitt.] 

 And again : 



" Yeve me than of thy gold to make our cloistre, 

 Quod he, for many a muscle and many an oistre, 

 When other men hau ben ful wel at ese 

 Hath been our food, our cloistre for to rese : 

 And yet, God wot, nnneth the fundament 

 Parfourmed is, ne of our pauement 

 N' is not a tile," &c. 



The Sompnours Tale, v. 7685. 



" Unneath," signifying difficult, scarcely, with 

 difficulty, occurs so frequently in Spenser, that it 

 is unnecessary to burden your pages with refer- 

 ences. It may be remarked, however, that this 

 latter author occasionally employs this word in the 

 sense of almost. T. H. de H. 



Snail Gardens (Vol. viii., p. 33.). — In very 

 many places on the Continent snails are regularly 

 bred for the table : this is the case at Ulm, Wir- 

 temberg, and various other places. A very lively 

 description of the sale of snails in the Roman 

 market is given by Sir Francis Head, I have 

 collected much interesting information on t^liis 

 point, and shall feel grateful for any farther 

 " Notes " on the subject. Seleucus. 



Farvise (Vol. vii., p. 624.). — Perhaps the fol- 

 lowing quotation may throw light on your cor- 

 respondent D. P.'s inquiry respecting this word, 

 in French Farvis, It is taken from a Dictionnaire 

 Universel, contenant generalement tous les mots 

 franqois, tant vieux que modernes, ^c, par feu 

 Messire Antoine Furetiere, Abbe de Chalivoi, 

 three vols, folio, La Haye et la Rotterdam, 1701 : 



" Parvis, s. m. — Place publique qui est ordinaire- 

 ment devant la principale face dcs grandes Eglises. 

 Le parvis de Notre Dame, de Saint Genevieve. On 

 le disoit autrefois de toutes les places qui etoient de- 

 vant les palais, et grandes maisons, Les auteurs 

 Chretiens appellent le Parvis des Gentiles, ce que les 

 Juifs appelloient le premier Temple. II y avoit deux 

 Parvis dans le Temple de Jerusalem ; I'un interieur, 

 qui etoit celui des Pretres ; et I'autre exterieur, qu'on 



appellolt aussi le Parvis cTIsrael, ou le Grand Parvit. 

 — Le Cl, 



" Quelques-uns disent que ce mot vient de Paradtsvs ; 

 d'autres de parvisium, qui est un lieu au bas de la nef 

 ou Ton tenoit autrefois les petites Ecoles, a docendo 

 parvis pueris. Voyez Menage, qui rapporte plusieurs 

 litres curieux en faveur de I'une et de I'autre opinion. 

 D'autres le derivent de pervius, disant qu'on appelloit 

 autrefois pervis, une place publique devant un bail- 

 ment." 



T. H. DE H. 



Humbug (Yol. vii., p. 63 L). — Allow me to add 

 the following to the list of explanations as to the 

 origin of this word. There appeared in the Berioick 

 Advertiser the following origin of the word hum- 

 bug, and it assuredly is a very feasible one. It 

 may be proper to premise, that the name of bogue 

 is commonly pronounced bug in that district of 

 Scotland formerly called the " Mearns." 



" It is not generally known that this word, presently 

 so much in vogue, is of Scottish origin. There was iu 

 olden time a race called Bogue, or Boag of Wiat ilk, in 

 Berwickshire. A daughter of the family married a 

 son of Hume of Hume. In process of time, by default 

 of male issue, the Bogue estate devolved on one Geor- 

 die Hume, who was called popularly ' Hume o' the 

 Bogue,' or rather ' Aum o' the Bug.' This worthy 

 was inclined to the marvellous, and had a vast incli- 

 nation to exalt himself, his wife, family, brother, and 

 all his ancestors on both sides. His tales however did 

 not pass current ; and at last, when any one made an 

 extraordinary statement in the Mearns, the hearer 

 would shrug up his shoulders, and style it just ' a hum 

 o' the bug.' This was shortened into hum-bug, and the 

 word soon spread like wildfire over the whole kingdom." 



How far this is, or is not true, cannot be known ; 

 but it is certain that the Lands of Bogue, com- 

 monly called by country folk " Bug," passed by 

 marriage into the Hume ftxmily ; and that the male 

 representatives of this ancient family are still iu 

 existence. This much may be fairly asserted, 

 that the Berwickshire legend has more apparent 

 probability about it than any of the other ones. 



J. Mt. 



P. S. — " That ilk," in old Scotch, means "the 

 same:" in other words, Hume of that ilk is just 

 Hume of Hume ; and Brodie of that ilk, Brodie 

 of Brodie. 



Table-moving (Yol. vii., p. 596.). — I imagine 

 that the great object in table-moving is to produce 

 the desired effect without pressure. During ex- 

 periments I have often heard the would-be " table- 

 movers" cry "Don't press: it must be done 

 without any pressure." J. A. T. 



Scotch Newspapers (Vol. viii., p. 57.). — In Rud- 

 diman's Life, by G. Chalmers (8vo. Lond. 1794), 

 it is stated that Cromwell was the first who com- 

 municated the benefit of a newspaper to Scotland. 



