FRENCH GABBLE. 91 



is of uncertain derivation : Swainson thought it akin to 

 Foumart, a polecat, meaning a foul martin, from the peculiar 

 and disagreeable odour of the bird, owing to the oil which 

 it emits and the rankness of its food. The oil vomited 

 by this bird when caught, is highly valued by the natives 

 of St. Kilda as a cure for all diseases (Gray). A bit of 

 weather-lore in the same island, as recorded by Inwards, 

 is that if the Fulmar seeks land it is a sign to the 

 inhabitants that the West wind is far off. The species 

 was formerly known as the Mallemucke or Mallemuck (q.v.). 



FULVOUS GRIFFON or FULVOUS VULTURE : The GRIFFON- 

 VULTURE. The first name is found in Harvey's "Fauna 

 of Cork " ; the second in Willughby and in Latham and 

 others. 

 FURZE-CHAT : The WHINCAT. Found in Rutty and Montagu. 



Swainson gives FURR-CHUCK as a Norfolk name. 

 FURZE CHEQUER : The MEADOW-PIPIT. (Provincial.) 

 FURZE CHIRPER or FURZE-CHUCKER : The BRAMBLING. 



(Provincial.) 



FURZE-CHITTER : The STONECHAT. (Cornwall.) 

 FURZE-HACKER: The WHINCHAT and the STONECHAT. 



(Hants.) 



FURZE KITE. An old name for the HEN-HARRIER. 

 FURZE LINNET : The LINNET. (Oxfordshire.) 

 FURZE WREN : The DARTFORD WARBLER. (Provincial.) 

 GABBLE-RATCHET. A name applied to one or other species of 

 wild geese when flying by night and crying as they fly, 

 although Swainson (quoting Macquoid's " About York- 

 shire," p. 143) gives the name to the NIGHTJAR. Newton 

 observes that : "In many parts of England, but especially 

 in Yorkshire, the cries of some kind of Wild Goose [pre- 

 sumably the BRENT, but according to Yarrell the BEAN- 

 GOOSE] when flying by night, are heard with dismay 

 by those who do not know the cause of them, and are 

 attributed to 'Gabriel's Hounds,' an expression equivalent 

 to 'Gabble ratchet,' a term often used for them, as in 

 this sense gabble, is said to be a corruption of Gabriel, and 

 that, according to some mediaeval glossaries, is connected 

 with gabbara or gabares, a word meaning a corpse [cf. Way, 

 ' Promptorium Parvulorum,' p. 302, sub voce Lyche] ; while 

 ratchet is undoubtedly the same as the Anglo-Saxon raecc 

 and Mid. Eng. racche or rache, a dog that hunts by scent 

 and gives tongue. Hence the expression would originally 

 mean ' corpse-hounds ' and possibly has to do with legends 



