June 7. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



461 



" What shall we call them? Piles of crystal light, 

 A glorious company of golden streams, — 

 Lamps of celestial etlier burning bright, — 

 Suns ligiiting systems with their joyous beams?" 



I lliink I have (quoted sufficient to direct A. D.'s 

 attention to the northern poets, who, though few 

 in nmnber, make up their deficiency in quantity 

 by the sterling and magnificent cjuality of their 

 works. Gregory Bateman. 



Tansor Rectory, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, 

 May 15. 1S51. 



The poem inquired for by A. D. is copied in an 

 allium in my possession " from Bowring's trans- 

 lation of Russian Poetry," and is entitled " The 

 Churchyard." J. li. Pi,anche. 



Round Bolin (Vol. iii., p. 353.). — The "little 

 predie round-robin," mentioned by Dr. Heylin, was 

 no doubt a small pancake. (See HaUiweirs Archaic 

 and Provincial Dictionari/, under "Round llobin.") 



Of the derivation of the petition also called a 

 round robin, I find the following account in the 

 Imperial Dictioiwrij : — 



" Round Rop.in, n. [Fr. rond and ruhanJ] A written 

 petition, memorial, or remonstrance signed by names in 

 a ring or circle. Tlie phrase is originally derived from 

 a custom of the French officers, wl:o, in .signing a re- 

 monstrance to their superiors, wrote their names in a 

 circular form so that it might be impossible to ascer- 

 tain who had headed the list. It is now used to signify 

 an act by which a certain number of individuals bind 

 themselves to pursue a certain line of conduct." 



The round robin sent to Dr. Johnson on the 

 subject of his epitaph on Goldsmith is well known. 

 In speaking of it Boswell states that the sailors 

 make use of it " when they enter into a conspiracy, 

 so as not to let it be known who puts his name 

 first or last to the paper." C. II. Cooper. 



Cambridge, May 3. 1851. 



Derivation of lite Word " Yankee " (Vol. iii., 

 p. 260.). — Your correspondent J. M., and M. Plii- 

 larete Charles, are both incorrect in saying that 

 this derivation is not given in any English or 

 American work. In the Poetical Works of John 

 Trumbidl, LL.D., published at Hartford (U.S.), 

 1820, in two volumes, in the Appendi.x, appears 

 the following Note : 



" Viinkies. — Tlie first settlors of New England were 

 mostly emigrants from London and its vicinity, and 

 exclusively styled themselves the English. The In- 

 dians, in attempting to utter the word KiujUxh, with 

 their broad guttural accent, gave it a sound which 

 would be nearly represented in this way, Vauiiyhce-: ; 

 the letter c/ being pronounced hard, and approaching 

 to tlie sound of Ji joined witli a strong aspirate, like 

 the Hebrew chelh, or the Greek clii, and tlic / sup- 

 pressed, as almost impossible to 1)0 distinctly l)card 

 in that coml)ination. TI)e Dutch settlers on the river 

 Hudson and the adjacent country, during their long con- 



test concerning the right of territory, adopted the name, 

 and applied it in contempt to the inhabitants of New 

 England. The British of the lower class have since 

 extended it to all the people of the United States. 

 This seems the most probable origin of the term. The 

 pretended Indian tribe of Yankoos docs not appear to 

 have ever had an existence ; as little can we believe in 

 an etymological derivation of the word from ancient 

 Scythia or Siberia, or that it was ever the name of a 

 horde of savages in any part of the world." 



I some time ago thought of sending you a copy 

 of this " Note," but had forgotten it, vxntil recalled 

 to my memory by reading J. JM.'s extract. 



T. H. KERSI.ET, A.B. 



King William's College, Isle of Man, 



Yankee — Yankee-doodle (Vol. iii., p. 260.). — In 

 a curious book on the Round Towers of Ireland 

 (I forget the title), the origin of the term Yankee- 

 doodle was traced to the Persian phrase, " Yanki 

 dooniab," or " Inhabitants of the New "\^^orld." 

 Layard, in his bonk on Nineveh and its Pemains, 

 also mentions " Yangbi-dunia " as the Persian 

 name of America. Benbow. 



Birmingham. 



Yankee. — The following lines from a poem, 

 written in England by the Rev. James Cook 

 Richmond, of Providence, Rhode Island, and 

 dated Sept. 7, 1848, gives the derivation of this 

 word : — 



" At Yankees, John, beware a laugh. 

 Against yourself you joke : 

 For Venqhees ' English ' is, but half 

 By Indian natives spoke." 



M. Philarcte Charles then has too hastily con- 

 cluded that this etymology is not given in " aucun 

 ouvr.Tgc americain ou anglais," and has supplied 

 us with a surprising coincidence, since he appears 

 to have fairly translated the first two lines, viz. : 

 " Les Anglais, quand ils se moquent des Yankies, 

 se moquent d'eux-memes." W. Dn. 



Letters on the British Museum (Vol. iii., pp. 208. 

 261.). — -Your corresponilent's Query as to the 

 author of these letters, published by Dodsley in 

 1767, 12 mo., has not yet been answered. The 

 author's name was Alexander Thomson. It is 

 inserted in manuscript in two copies of this work 

 which I possess. I have also seen the assignment 

 of the copyright to Dodsley, in which the same 

 name occurs as that of the author. 



Jas. Crossley. 



Names of the Ferret (Vol. iii., p. 390.). — The 

 name by which the male ferret is known in the 

 midland counties is the hob : the female is called 

 the jill. In that district there is a saying current, 

 whicii is applied to the human genus : 



" There's never a .lack but finds a .lill." 

 In Welsh, the name of the ferret is ffurcd, whicli 

 means a wily, crafty creature. A liATCATCUEB. 



