— a 
—s 
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.). 
Futvous Grirron or Futvous Vutrure: 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.) 
Furzi-coitterR : The STONECHAT. (Cornwall.) 
FURZE-HACKER: The WHINCHAT and the STONECHAT. 
(Hants.) 
Furze Kirt. An old name for the HEN-HARRIER. 
Furze Linnet: The LINNET. (Oxfordshire.) 
Furze Wren: The DARTFORD WARBLER. (Provincial.) 
GABBLE-RatcHetT. 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 medieval 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 
