Mar. 18. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



243 



musical sense of the words. The Chaldee reads 

 Xn^n by Xn2^, " to be sung on the pipe." The 

 word nVJD? is (from l"l¥3, to overcome, excel, or 

 accomplish) a performance, and Aquila translates 

 the entire title, tgS vikottoi^ eV \pa\uo7s /ieXaSr/jUa t£ 

 Aoui'8 ; and Jerome, Victori in Canticis, Psalmus 

 David. But Symmachus, imvliaos Bth tytxkT-qpiwv 

 (f5lj; and Theodotius, els rh vmos Iv vjxvois, who must 

 have read n¥J?. The best reading is- that of the 

 present text, nV3D7, which Jarchi, Aben Ezra, 

 and Kimchi render chief singer, or leader of the 

 band (=moderatorem chori musici), as appropriate 

 for a psalm to be sung and played in divine ser- 

 vice. Therefore the proper translation is, " For 

 the leading performer upon the neginoth." The 

 neginoth appear from the Greek translations, Sid 

 \pa\rT}plb}t> and ev ipa\/jio?s ($d\\eiv = playing on 

 strings), and from its root, pj, to strike, to be 

 stringed instrumentSj struck by the fingers or 



The words nkmSfl bx nVJE 1 ? at the head of 

 Psalm v. (for this is the only one so superscribed) 

 should, perhaps, be read with ?y instead of ?X, 

 meaning, " For the leading performer on the ne- 

 hiloth." The nehiloth appear from the root ??n, 

 to bore through, and in Piel, to play the flute, to be 

 the same instruments as the nd-y of the Arabs, 

 similar to the old English flute, blown, not trans- 

 versely as the German flute, but at the end, as 

 the oboe. But the Septuagint, Aquila, Symma- 

 chus, and Theodotius translate vircp rrjs KX-qpovo- 

 lxovarr\s\ and hence the Vulgate pro ea, quce heredi- 

 totem consequitur ; and Jerome, pro hereditatibus. 

 Suidas explains KXripovofiova-a by innX-riaia, which is 

 the sense of the Syriac. 



Psalm vi. is headed JWPWl by 1X&X3% and 

 Psalm vi. TV^Dt? by, without the "neginoth;" and 

 the " sheminith " is also mentioned (Chron. xv. 

 21.). The Chaldee and Jarchi translate " Harps 

 of eight strings." The Septuagint, Vulgate, Aquila, 

 and Jerome, virep rrjs oySoris, appear also to have 

 understood an instrument of eight strings. 



T. J. BUCKTON. 

 Birmingham. 



pernor $ate$. 



" Garble" — Mr. C. Mansfield Inglebt has 

 called attention to a growing corruption in the 

 use of the word " eliminate," and I trust he may 

 be able to check its progress. The word garble has 

 met with very similar usage, but the corrupt 

 meaning is now the only one in which it is ever 

 used, and it would be hopeless to try and restore 

 it to its original sense. 



The original sense of "to garble" was a good 

 one, not a bad one ; it meant a selection of the 

 good, and a discarding of the bad parts of any- 



thing : its present meaning is exactly the reverse 

 of this. By the statute 1 Rich. III. c. 11., it is 

 provided that no bow-staves shall be sold " un- 

 garbled:" that is (as Sir E. Coke explains it), 

 until the good and sufficient be severed from the 

 bad and insufficient. By statute 1 Jac. I. c. 19., 

 a penalty is imposed on the sale of spices and 

 drugs not "garbled;" and an officer called the 

 garbler of spices is authorised to enter shops, and 

 view the spices and drugs, " and to garble and 

 make clean the same." Coke derives the word 

 either from the French garber, to make fine, neat, 

 clean ; or from cribler, and that from cribrare, to 

 sift, &c. (4 Inst. 264.) 



It is easy to see how the corruption of this word 

 has taken place ; but it is not the less curious to 

 compare the opposite meanings given to it at 

 different times. E. S. T. T. 



Deaths in the Society of Friends, 1852-3. — In 

 " N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 488., appeared a com- 

 munication on the great longevity of persons at 

 Cleveland in Yorkshire. I send you for com- 

 parison a statement of the deaths in the Society 

 of Friends in Great Britain and Ireland, from the 

 year 1852 to 1853, the accuracy of which may be 

 depended on ; from which it appears that one in 

 three have attained from 70 to 100 years, the 

 average being about 74£ ; and that thirty-seven 

 attain from 80 to 90, and eight from 90 to 100. 

 It would be useful to ascertain to what the lon- 

 gevity of the inhabitants of Cleveland may be 

 attributed, whether to the situation where they 

 reside, or to their social habits. 



The total number of the Society was computed 

 to be from 19,000 to 20,000, showing the deaths 

 to be rather more than 1^ per cent, per annum. 

 Great numbers are total abstainers from strong 

 drink. 



Ages. 



Under 1 year 

 Under 5 years 

 From 5 to 10 



„ 10 to 



„ 15 to 



„ 20 to 



„ 30 to 



„ 40 to 



„ 50 to 



„ 60 to 



„ 70 to 



„ 80 to 



„ 90 to 100 

 All ages 



Male. 



13 



18 



4 



5 



5 



7 



8 



7 



16 



26 



20 



13 



144 



Female. 



8 



13 



2 



6 



3 



10 



8 



14 



14 



34 



46 



24 



6 



Total 



21 

 31 



6 

 11 



8 

 J7 



.16 

 21 

 30 

 60 

 66 

 37 



332 



Plymouth. 



w. c. 



