46 SPRING-TIDE. 



J. I notice that they use " on " or rather, 

 " an," instead of " o/j"" almost invariably. 



S. There is a precedent for that from 

 the earliest times, and it was in use down 

 to the seventeenth century. What says 

 the song, 



" Complain my lute, complain on him. 



In the headings of the chapters of " Reynard 

 the Fox" you find how the different ani- 

 mals complained on him ; and Dame Juliana 

 Berners, recounting the terms used by 

 sportsmen in her day, when describing 

 the ages of the deer, says, 



" And ye speke of the Bucke, the fyrst yere he is 

 A Fawne soukynge on his dam say as I you wys." 



You laugh at my illustrations ; but I 

 think you will find that I have authority 

 for what I have advanced. 



J. In sober earnestness, I feel inter- 

 ested in them ; and henceforward shall 



