106 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2» d S. IX. Feb. 11. '60. 



which I had a design of printing, being countenanc'd 

 thereto by Dr. Hickes, Mr. Dodwell, &e. It is called Leo- 

 fric's Missal, because given by Bishop Leofric to his 

 church at Exeter. See Wanley's catalogue in Dr. Hickes's 

 Thesaurus, pp. 82, 83. Some part of this MS. is of later 

 date than Leofric's time, and Mr. Bedford therefore de- 

 sires to have my opinion of the antiquity of the canon of 

 the Mass, which is one part of it. I wish I could gratify 

 Mr. Bedford." Thomas Bedford was the editor of a work 

 by Simeon, a monk of Durham, entitled Libellus de exordio 

 atque procursu Dunhelmensis Ecclesia ; with a continuation 

 to 1154, and an Account of the hard usage Bishop Wil- 

 liam received from. Rufus. Lond. 8vo. 1732. Thomas 

 Bedford died at Compton in 1773, and was buried at 

 Ashborne. It is probable that the Bowdler manuscripts 

 (now in private hands) may throw some light on the 

 subsequent destiny of Dr. Hickes's manuscripts. — Ed.] 



BUEGHEAD: SINGULAR CUSTOM: 

 CLAVIE: DURIE. 



(2 nd S. IX. 38.) 



In addition to the two terms now requiring ex- 

 planation, clavie and durie, your correspondent 

 mentions a third — "the baileys." This, it ap- 

 pears, is a term invariably applied to the fortifica- 

 tions that crowned the heights of Burghead, and 

 is supposed to be a corruption of ballium=the Lat. 

 vallum. 



If the term "baileys" be thus of Latin origin, 

 may we not suspect the same of the two terms 

 now in question, clavie and durie? The durie, 

 your correspondent informs us, is " a small artifi- 

 cial eminence near the point of the promontory, and 

 interesting as being a portion of the ancient forti- 

 cations " (which, if not wholly Roman, are sup- 

 posed to have been Roman in their origin). May 

 not durie, then, be torre, which is the It., Sp., 

 Port., and Romance form of the Lat. turris ? Cf. 

 " Torres Vedras " near Lisbon (Turres Veteres). 

 Cf. also with durie (the "small artificial emi- 

 nence"), the Med-Lat. luretta, and Fr. tourelle, a 

 little tower. 



But of what nature was this durie, torre, turella, 

 or little tower ? Standing as it did near the point 

 of the promontory, may it not have been that very 

 usual appendage to a stronghold overlooking the 

 sea, a pharos or beacon ? For lighting up a 

 beacon it became usual, according to Coke, instead 

 of a stack of wood, to employ a "pitch-box" In- 

 deed our usual idea of an old-fashioned beacon is 

 a fire-box or tar-barrel upon a pole. This may 

 explain why the lads of Burghead annually fix a 

 pole into a barrel, into which tar is put ; and why, 

 when the tar has been set on fire, the barrel is 

 shouldered, carried up to the durie, and there 

 placed to burn : all very intelligible, if the durie 

 itself was originally a pharos or beacon. More- 

 over, suppose a promontory jutting out into the 

 ocean, and at its seaward extremity a tower look- 

 ing down upon the waves ; and we may at once 

 understand the name of the village itself. Burg- 



head, that is, Burg Head, Burg being here equi- 

 valent to the Gr. irvpyo;, a tower. Cf. Todd's 

 Johnson on Burgh, and Wachter on Burg. Burg 

 Head, a head or promontory surmounted by a 

 tower. 



But if " baileys " be ballium or vallum, and 

 " durie " be torre or turris, what is " clavie ? " 



The clavie, be it borne in mind, is, according to 

 your correspondent, the local name of the annual 

 tar-barrel burnt on the durie. Several etymolo- 

 gies of clavie might be suggested, but I will hazard 

 only one. 



"Calefonia" was one form (2 nd S. iii. 289,. 519., 

 &c. ) of " Colophony " or " Colofonia," an old name 

 for resin, used also for tar or pitch. May not 

 clavie, the tar-barrel, then, be a modified form of 

 calefonia ? Thus all the three terms, baileys, 

 durie, and clavie, would agree in having a Latin 

 origin. 



It does certainly appear, as your correspondent 

 suggests, that the annual ceremony of the clavie is 

 in part a remnant of old northern superstition, on 

 which subject I would refer to Grimm's German 

 Mythology, where he treats on the superstitious 

 practices connected viitkjire and Jire-nights (Deuts. 

 Mythol. 1843-4, pp. 567-597., passim). The Ger- 

 man votaries threw into their great annual bon- 

 fires offerings (" werfen in das Feuer Geschenkc," 

 p. 569.). So the Burghead youngsters, having 

 set fire to the clavie, throw into the midst of 

 the burning the staves of a second barrel, 

 which they break up for that purpose. This is 

 part of the annual rite. On the Weser the tar- 

 barrel (Theerfass) is fastened on the top of a 

 pine-tree (Tanne), and set fire to at night (p. 582.). 

 So, at night, the clavie is carried burning on the 

 top of a pole. From the German bonfires the 

 brands, ere wholly consumed, were carried home. 

 (" Von den Branden trug man gern mit nach 

 Haus," p. 582.). So, the clavie being upset ere it 

 has burnt out, fragments were formerly " carried 

 home, and carefully preserved as charms against 

 witchcraft." Thomas Boys. 



MALSH. 



(2 nd S. ix. 63.) 



The above word, slightly varied in form, is 

 common in all the eastern counties, and probably 

 elsewhere. In Lincolnshire we pronounce it 

 Melch. It is only used when speaking of the 

 weather, and signifies warmth united with mois- 

 ture. A few years ago, when we had a bad 

 harvest in this country, an old man met me one 

 drizzling morning late in the month of August 

 with the following salutation : — 



" It's strange melch weather, sir; I doubt the wheat 

 'ill sprout, but it not sa bad yet as it was in ninety-nine; 

 that was the melchest time I ever knew, when we had 

 to eat our bread with a spoon, it was so soft," 



