﻿500 ON THE BURMHA 



B;>rrinLrton derives from the Persian p^e?'^; or gene- 

 ral ; and ex|)t)ses the absLirdiiy of" caUina; this j.-iece 

 a, (jiieen, hy askini?; how we are to metamorpho^se a 

 foot soldier or piwn into a queen, as adniitted in the 

 Enghsh-gavne, &c. Sir Wilham Jones n"> ore correct- 

 ly svrites it ferz, and adds " hence the French have 

 derived vierire ^r." — If so, the blu ider arises from 

 French gallantry. Vierge in French is virgo. and 

 consort'^d with the king they by a very natural 

 transition made their virgin a queen But whence 

 th° Persian title of ferz ? Mr. Richardson merely 

 inf<Jrms us that ferz, jerzeen, ferzan, and /eroee, 

 mean the queen at che^s. i he common term for 

 this piece in the Persian language is vizeer or 

 viizeer a miiuster, but in their emphatic way of 

 writing and speaking, they have in this case made 

 a noun substantive of a distinctive adjective, to de- 

 note the eminence of the piece, as I shall have further 

 occasion to notice. Ferz or jerzan, therefore, 

 neither means queen nor general in a literal sense ; 

 but eminent, distinguished, cScc. Ferzee further 

 means science, learning, wisdom, &c. 



The piece we call a Castle or P4,ook, the Honour- 

 able Mr. Barrington says, is derived from the Italian 

 il rocco — but what is il rocco (the castle) derived 

 from? Sir William Jones says, " it were in vain to 

 seek an etymology of the word r^ookh in the modern 

 Persian language, for in all the passages extracted 

 from Ferdausi and Jami where Rokli is conceived to 

 mean a hero, or a fabulous bird, it signifies, 1 believe, 

 no more than a cheek or face." — jMy enquiries teach 

 me that in this instance also a name has been form- 

 ed from a quality ; and tliat in modern Persian 

 roohh means facing or bearing in a direct line ; and 

 applied to ihe roukh at chess, and its moves, is 

 ver\' appropriate ; at the same time 1 have no doubt 



that 



