March  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
587 
oabmsn  will  tell  you  that  he  knows  “ the  gamsst  ” 
(meaning  the  shortest)  road  to  such  and  ench  a 
place.  Another  cur:ous  phrase  is  that  of  “ mashing” 
instead  of  making  the  tea.  Is  this  a provincialism? 
— F.  B.  Doveton.  (Notes  and  Queries,  5th  S , i,  Mar. 
14,  1874,  p.  205.) 
Mashing  Tea. — (5th  S.,i.,205).  This  phrase,  mean- 
ing infusing  tea,  is  rot  peculiar  to  Sheffield.  It 
evidently  had  its  origin  from  the  brewer’s  mash-tub. 
In  certain  parts  of  Scotland  the  prooess  #f  infusing 
tea  is  called  mashing,  probably  a corruption  of  mash- 
ing.— W.  A.  C.,  Glasgow. 
Mash  is  to  infuse  (miseere),  familiar  in  the  brewer’s 
mash-tub  but  as  applied  to  the  tea-pot  it  is  gen- 
erally math: — 
Then  up  they  gat  the  masking  pat, 
And  in  the  sea  did  jaw,  man, 
And  did  nae  less,  in  full  congress, 
Than  quite  refuse  own  law,  man — Burns. 
— W.  G.  (Notes  and  Queries,  5th  S.,  i.,  Mar.  28,  1874, 
p.  255.) 
T«Ais  said,  in  Haydn’s  Dictionary  of  Bates  to  have 
beeu  brought  to  Europe  by  the  Dutch,  1610.  It  is 
mentioned  as  having  been  us:d  in  England  on  very 
rare  occasions  prior  to  1657,  and  sold  for  £6,  and 
even  £10,  the  pound  1 In  1666,  it  was  brought  into 
England  by  Lord  Oseory  and  Lord  Arlington,  from 
Holland,  and,  being  admired  by  persons  of  rank,  it 
wa*  imported  thence  and  generally  sold  for  sixty 
shillings  per  pound,  till  our  East  India  Company 
took  up  the  trade.  The  following  short  poem  by 
Edmund  Waller  is  believed  to  be  the  first  one  written 
in  praise  of  “the  eups  that  cheer  but  not  inebriate  ”. — 
Venus  her  myrtle,  Phoabus  has  his  bays: 
Tea  both  excele,  which  she  vouchsafes  to  praise, 
The  best  of  Queens,  and  best  of  terbcB,  we  owe 
To  that  bold  nation  which  the  way  did  show 
To  the  fair  region  where  the  sun  doth  rise, 
Whose  rich  productions  we  so  justly  priz'*. 
The  Muse’s  friend,  tea,  does  our  fanoy  aid. 
Repress  those  vapours,  which  head  invade, 
And  keeps  that  palace  of  the  soul  serene, 
Fit  on  her  birthday  to  salute  the  Queen.” 
Waller  was  born  in  1605  ; died  1687,  aged  82. 
— Fred.  Rule.  Ashford.  (Notes  and  Qureies.  5tli  S. 
l.  May  23rd,  1874,  p.  405.) 
Tea  in  Cumberland  in  1792.—  Housman's  ‘Notes,’ 
cited  in  Hutchinson’s  History  of  Cumberland  (1794) 
i.  177,  say  of  the  Crunwhitton  folk,  in  Eskdale  Ward  : 
“ Tea,  though  a luxury  stealing  in  upon  them,  is  held 
in  such  detestation  with  some,  that  they  would 
rather  cherish  a serpent  than  admit  a tea-kettle.”  He 
also  says,  ‘Not  till  this  year,  1792,  has  a newspaper 
entered  the  parish,  and  now  one  solitary  Cumberland 
Pacquet  has  been  introduced.  No  taste  for  science  or 
polite  literature  : books  are  regarded  as  puerile  amuse- 
ments.”— F J.F.  (Notes  and  Queries,  7th  S.  x.,  Nov.  22, 
1890,  p.  405.) 
Dutch  Tea  Caddy.— Can  any  amateur  of  old  silver 
plate  throw  light  on  tbe  history  and  present  where- 
abouts of  a small  Dutoh  tea  caddy  which  boars  an  in- 
scription recording  that  one  Dirk  Jans  did,  on  January 
21st.  1725,  with  horse  end  sleigh,  fetch  the  said  caddy 
from  Eukhuysen  ?— G.  W.T.  (Notes  and  Queries,  7th 
S.,  xi.,  June  6'.h,  1891,  p.  440) 
Tea-poy. — A friend  points  ont  to  me  what  he  deems 
a slip  in  Webster-Mahu  concerning  this  word.  There 
tea-poy  is  defined  as  a table  “inclosing  caddies  for 
helding  tea,”  or  “for  holdiDg  a cup  of  tea,  &o.”  the 
tee  justifying  tbe  explanation.  But  is  net  teapoy  (so 
well-known  to  Indian  residents)  really  oonnected  ety- 
mologically with  tripos,  the  tea  being  no  more  the 
beverage  than  cray  fish  is  a fish  ? 1 have  Dot  Col. 
Yule’s  “ Glossary”  at  hand.— Edward  H.  Marshall, 
m.  a.,  Hastings.  (Notes  and  Queries,  7th  S.,  xi.,  Feb,  7th, 
1891,  p.  106.) 
Tea-poy  - (7th  S.,  xi  , 106.)  The  following  extract  is 
gi\en  in  the  "Imrenal  Dicty.”  revised  and  an- 
notate d by  Annandsle  : — 
Tea-poy  is  in  England  often  supposed  to  have 
connection  with  tea ; but  it  has  no  more  than 
“ Cream  o’  Tartar  ” has  with  Crim-Tartary.  It  is 
a word  of  Anglo-Indian  importation,  viz*  tipd‘i 
an  Urdu  or  Anglo-Indian  corruption  of  the  Persian 
sipai,  tripos  (perhips  to  avoid  oenfusion  with  seapoy) 
and  meaning  a three-legged  table,  or  tripod  generally. 
H.  Yule.~  F.  O.,  Birkbtck Terry. 
Mr.  E.  H.  Marshs II  says  — “ I read  that  in  Wefcster- 
Mabn  &o.”  The  word  is  a Hindustani  one,  thipai,  end 
has  nothing  to  do  with  tea,  though  eo  misunderstood 
by  “griffs,”  as  newcomers  ere  called  in  India. 
I have  heard  a griff,  knowing  tl  at  char  in  Hindu- 
stani means  tea,  call  for  a chavpoy , which  means  a 
bedstead,  instead  of  a teapoy.  Any  kind  of  small  table 
is  called  a thipai  in  India;  but  whether  tbe  word  is 
“ connected  etymologioally  with  tripos  ” as  Mr.  E.  H. 
Marshall  thinks,  I cannot  say.  I fancy  it  is  a Persian 
word,  Hindustani  or  Urdu  being  composed  mainly  of 
Persian  and  Hindi.— D.  P.  Williams.  (Notes  and 
Queries,  7th  S.,  xi.,  April  11th,  1891,  p.  292.) 
Tea-poy.— (7th  S.,  xi.,106,  292.)  Col.  Yule’s  Glossary 
gives  a very  clear  explanation  of  this  word.  It  has 
nothing  to  do  with  tea,  but  is,  as  Mr.  Marshall  sur- 
mises, connected  etymologically  with  tripos.  It  is 
compounded  of  the  Hindustani  tin= 3,  and  the  Per- 
sian pat,  a foot,  and  means  a three-legged  table,  and 
thence  any  very  small  table.  Similarly  charpoy,  from 
Pers  : chihar  = 4,  and  pae,  signifies  a four-legged  bed- 
Bleed. — W.  F.  Prideaux.  Kashmir  Residency.  (Notes 
and  Queires-  7th  S..  xi  , May  16th,  1891.) 
Tfa-Caddy. — A lady  of  advanced  age  tells  me  that 
whatis  called  a tea-caddy  now  was  formerly  called  a 
tea-ohest,  and  that  the  smaller  boxes  inside  it  were 
called  caddies.  If  this  word  is  derived,  as  no  doubt 
it  is,  from  the  Chinese  katty,  a weight  of  something 
over  a pound,  this  will  probably  be  correot.  Have  we 
any  recorded  testimony  of  it  ? — R.  C.  A.  Prior.  (Notes 
and  Queries.  7th  S.,  iii.,  April  16th,  1887,  p.  308.) 
There  is  a story,  which  I think  1 have  oommuuicaled 
to  “ N.  & Q,”  but  I cannot  find  a reference  to  it, 
whioh  shows  that  “tea-chest”  was  in  common  use 
before  1741  to  denote  the  whole  box  containing  the 
tea  fer  tbe  use  of  the  table.  It  is  this  : — 
“ Tu  dooes.”  A correspondent,  observing  this  para- 
graph in  a newspaper,  ‘ Harry  Erskine,  the  Selwyn 
of  Edinburgh,  puzzled  the  wits  of  his  acquaintance  by 
inscribing  on  a tea-chest  the  words  “ tu  dooes,”  ’ 
observes  that  this  pun  was  on  the  tea-cbest  of  J,  Copl- 
eon,  f l.s.,  above  fifty  years  ago,  when  he  was  mem- 
ber of  tbe  mathematical  iree-sebool  of  Rochester.  He 
was  after  that  of  Sidney  College,  Oembridge,  and 
Luca>inn  Professor  of  Mathematics.”  Gentleman's 
Magazine,  Pt.  1.,  p.  259,  March,  1791.— Ed.  Marshall. 
Fifty  years  ago,  when  tea  was  dearer  than  in  these 
days,  my  mother  bad  a large  locked  box,  with  two 
metal  lined  boxes  with  lids,  and  b cut-glars  sort  of  large 
tumbler  for  the  dear  ‘loaf’  or  ‘lump’  sugar  of  those 
days.  The  large  box  with  the  lock  was  always  called 
the  tea-chest,  and  the  two  boxes  (for  black  and  green 
tea)  were  called  caddirs  or  caddeys,  each  meant, 
protably,  to  hold  about  a half-pound  of  tea.  They 
were  well-made,  and  lifted  up  out  of  the  tea- 
cbest,  and  their  lids  opened  to  take  out  the  tea, 
with  a small  silver  ehel  -form  scoop. — Este. 
The  n ell-kEown  punning  inscription  upon  “ what  is 
called  a tea-caddy  now  ’’  lores  all  point  of  iu-deces 
is  to  be  translated  “ tbou  tea-caddy.” — J.  Bose,  South- 
port.  (Notes  and  Queries,  7th  S.,  iii.,  May  28th,  1887, 
p.  435.) 
Tea-Caddy.— (7th  S.,  iii.,  308,  435.)  Sometimes  a box 
without  any  compartments,  end  not  metal-Jined,  is 
called  variously  “tea-box,”  “ tea-caddy,”  never  “ tea- 
chest’’  to  my  knowing.  I have  heard  seme  call  a 
tiubox  or  chest,  used  to  hold  tea,  a “tea-caddy,”  not 
having  any  divisions  inside.  On  tbe  other  band,  a 
large  ohesf,  such  as  described  by  Este  (71h  S.,  iii., 
435)  is  called  a “ tea-ch<  st  ” the  metal-lmed  boxes 
within  it  being  called  “ caddies.”  Some  of  these  large 
“ tea-chests,”  one  a very  old  one  I know  of,  also  con- 
tain^an  extra  compartment,  which  serves  as  a smell 
medioine-ohest.  But  “tea-caddy”  is  sadly  misused, 
aB  other  names. — Herbert  Hardy,  Thornhill  Lees, 
Dewsbury 
I noticed  in  one  of  your  late  numbers  an  enquiry 
as  to  the  origin  of  the  name  “tea-caddy.”  I import 
tea  from  Shanghai,  and  this  account  is  made  out  in 
