May 19. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



391 



township ; and includes, not only what we should 

 call the town, but frequently two or more such col- 

 lections of houses, and always a certain tract of 

 country. What in England is called a toivn, is in 

 these states designated a village. The census of 

 the United States unfortunately does not give the 

 acreage of the towns, or the population of tlie 

 villages; and hence it is almost impossible, with- 

 out local knowledge, to estimate their relative 

 populousness. According to the Statistical Ga- 

 zetteer of the United States (New York, 1853), the 

 village of Dedham, which is the capital of Norfolk 

 county, contains " about 200 dwellings," which 

 would give a probable population of somewhat 

 over 1000. The town (or township) appears to 

 be of considerable extent, as it is stated in the 

 Gazetteer that " the Boston and Providence rail- 

 road passes through the town, and gives off a 

 branch railroad two miles long to the villa^^e." 

 The foregoing appears to be a very long answer 

 to a very simple question, but it embodies a Note 

 which may be of use to other readers of American 

 books besides your correspondent J. B. Let me 

 add, that in asking a question respecting any 

 place in the United States, the state should always 

 be added ; as there are frequently from ten to 

 twenty, and in some instances from 100 to 160 

 places of the same name in the Union ; there are, 

 for instance, 163 Washingtons, 136 Jacksons, and 

 so on. There happen to be, so far as I know, 

 only two "Dedhams, U. S. :" Dedham, Massa- 

 chusetts ; and Dedham, Maine. I have taken for 

 granted that the former is intended, as the latter 

 happens to be a very unimportant place. But 

 once again, Mr. Editor, impress on querists the 

 necessity for precision, in order to spare your 

 space and answerers' time. J. Thoene. 



Kennington. 



Mardel (Vol. ix., p. 233 , &c.). — When I pro- 

 posed the Anglo-Sax. matSelian as the etymon of 

 this word, I did so with some hesitation, as Bos- 

 worth gives "harangue" as its menning. In the 

 Ancren Riwle, however, the word occurs precisely 

 iu the sense in which it is now used in Norfolk 

 (p. 90): 



" People say of anchoresses, that almost every one hath 

 an old quean to feed her ears; ane mat^elild (another 

 reading is ma^elere) ^ ma'Sele'S hire all >e talen of {»e 

 londe." 



This Mr. Morton has rendered " A prating gos- 

 sip who tells her all the tales of the land ;" but in 

 the Norfolk dialect it might be rendered, " A 

 mardler who mardles to her all the tales of the 

 land." 



In the same passage occurs the word cheafle, 

 translated "idle discourse;" and by the editor 

 connected with Anglo-Sax. ceo/, chaff; or, Anglo- 

 Sax, ceafle, the jaw or cheek. In Norfolk, "j;iffle" 

 is used in the sense of idle discourse, of an inde- 



cent or malicious character ; and a prating busy- 

 body is said to be " always a snaffling and jafflin 

 about what don't concern him." I should derive 

 it from Icelandic ^q/?a, " blaterare." (Vide Jamie- 

 son's Scotch Diet, voce Gibblegabblb.) 



E. G. R. 

 Spenser and Tasso (Vol. xi., p. 121.). — The cir- 

 cumstance of the "lovely lay" being a translation 

 from Tasso, is noted in one edition of Spenser, 

 which perhaps your correspondent has not met 

 with. In The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, 

 5 vols., Boston (Little and Brown, 1842), I find 

 the following note : 



" LXXIV. 1. — The whiles, &c.] The song which fol- 

 lows is translated from Tasso, Jer. Del., Canto xvi., 

 Stanzas xiv. xv., where it is sung by a bird in a human 

 voice. I have subjoined the two stanzas in the beautiful 

 version of Fairfax, that the reader may compare them." 

 (Here follow the stanzas.) 



J. H. A. B. 



Cleveland, U. S. 



Battle-door (Vol. xi., p. 38.). — Surely we need 

 not go out of plain English for the etymology of 

 battle-door. Is hattle-doer anything more than 

 that with which we do battle, either against the 

 clothes in the wash-tub, or more generally against 

 the feathered cock, or perhaps cork, which flies 

 backwards and forwards like a shuttle ? — the word 

 shuttle itself probably being so called, from its 

 rapid shooting across the loom. Anon. 



Average annual Temperature (Vol. xi., p. 243.). 

 — There is a small map, containing isothermal 

 lines, published by the Society for Promoting 

 Christian Knowledge, price 4^^^. to members and 

 (I think) 6c?. to non-members. The venerable 

 Society has also published, at the same price, a 

 map of the distribution of plants, which I would 

 recommend F. J. L., B.A., to add to it. E. G. R. 



Dancette — Sir Bryan Tuhe. — In Vol. xi., pp. 

 242. 308., I saw a discussion respecting the heral- 

 dic term dancette, and some ancient instances of 

 it. There is a more ancient one mentioned in 

 Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ix., where the 

 writer, after giving an account of the family of 

 Tooke, proceeds : 



" Richard Tuke, a branch of the original Kentish stock, 

 though written by depreciation Tuke, like many other 

 branches, was tutor to the Duke of Norfolk and Lord 

 Thomas Howard ; and had arms assigned him by Edw.IV., 

 viz. a fess dancette between three lions passant." 



This Richaril is there said to be father to the 

 famous Sir Bryan Tuke; but in Harl. MS. 1541. 

 he is made his grandfather. I should be glad to 

 know what is meant by the expression " written 

 by depreciation ?" It seems absurd. 



The above arms are wholly different from those 

 borne by any other family of Tooke or Tuke, of 

 whom some were very ancient, particularly in 



