WIGEON. 235 



of cold weather. The wigeon, for coast night shoot- 

 ing, is like the fox for hunting, it shows the finest 

 sport of any thing in Great Britain. We shall, 

 therefore, hereafter make the pursuit of this fowl one 

 of our leading subjects. 



able world as pigeons, and therefore the word has escaped the 

 modern polish, or been neglected, which is the case with most 

 things that belong to absentees. Mr. Bewick spells " wigeon 1 * 

 without the d. I shall, therefore, take the liberty of following 

 his example, under the idea that lexicographers are not gods, but 

 men ; and therefore as liable to leave room for future improvement 

 as are all other students and authors. 



As the word pigeon was taken from the French, the d here 

 should, I presume, never have been introduced, though we see it 

 in the English translation of Anton Ernst Klausing's German 

 dictionary, taken, as he states, from Nathan Bailey's English 

 dictionary : (but, perhaps, from some very old edition). I have, 

 however, seen it spelt with a d in subsequent works. The other 

 bird was formerly spelt Widgen, as somewhat nearer to the 

 Saxon, from which it was probably derived, [See Scott's Bailey's 

 Dictionary, in 1/55, which says, prob. of pij^enb" (wiggend) 

 " Sax. Fighting"] ; and then, I believe, changed to widgeon. 

 We may, therefore, it is presumed, follow up the improvement, 

 and erase that consonant which is superfluous to the pronuncia- 

 tion ; since it has, of late, become the custom to do so with 

 other words. 



A thousand apologies for (if I may use a vulgarism) such a 

 long-winded note on one word, as this is quite unnecessary when 

 a work is in the hands of a reviewer, or any other liberal reader. 

 But I have inserted it merely for the amusement of the word- 

 rnleher; or, in other words, the little gentleman who looks more 

 at the leaves on the tree than the design of the landscape. 



