THE GIANT AND THE MAYPOLE OF CERNE. 115 



Another annotator suggests tacharum, and tacha is an instru- 

 ment used in fishing. James declares that the tails were those 

 "of thornback or lyke fysshes," and Galfrid, in his Anglo-Latin 

 dictionary of 1440, glosses " THORNEBAK, fysche " by ragadies. 

 Here, then, is a form of the word used by William. His fishes 

 belonged to the family of the True Rays, all of which inhabit the 

 sea. (38) His tails were, as Gotselin said, " marinorum piscium 

 caudae." From Weymouth or Bridport a catch of Skate had 

 found its way to Cerne at "a psychological moment," and it was 

 the long and slender tails of those marine animals that, by 

 means of their own hooks (see figure D), were promptly fastened 

 to the Friars' apparel. 



Monastic etymology is at fault. " Cerne " is an old river 

 name, and has nothing to do with St. Augustine. It occurs in 

 the names Charmouth and Charminster, formerly written 

 Cerminster. There was a River Cernei in Gloucestershire (39) 

 and a Cearn in Somerset, where salivaria (40), or salt works, 

 were constructed. There is also a Cern in Shropshire. 



The village in Dorset was, in 958 (41), called Cern and not 

 Cernei. In Domesday Book it appears as Cerne, Cernei, and 

 Cerneli. It seems probable that Cernei is Cern Hill, like Fernhel, 

 Stirtel, Morhel (42), and Caudel (43) in Dorset, and Ernesel 



(38) Of the Raiidce, Skate and Thornback are the most common in English 

 markets. In London they are both sold as Skate, and the females are denomin- 

 ated maids. The skin of these fish is beset with a number of curved spines, or 

 thorns, which are scattered over the surface of the body and arranged in rows 

 along the tail. The Sharp- nosed Kay is preferred by the French, whose boats 

 frequently visit Plymouth during Lent to purchase Skate. By the Sting- Ray the 

 tail is used to seize its prey. The Whip- Rays are so called from the great length 

 of their tail. So formidable is the tail of the Eagle-Ray that the Mediterranean 

 fishermen cut it off as soon as the fish comes within reach. Dallas, Animal 

 Kingdom, 354-6. 



(39) Domesday Book : also, in Kemble's Codex II., 48, a charter of the 

 year 852, gives it as Cirnea, or Cern- water. 



(40) Kemble's Codex, v. 45. The charter is assigned to the year 737. 



(41) Kemble's Codex, v. 398. 

 (42) Kemble's Codex. (43) Domesday Book. 



