The  Origin  of  some  Old  Agricultural  Words.  G3 
But,  notwithstanding  the  identity  in  form,  there  is  a remark- 
able difference  in  sense  ; the  Latin  word  signifies  the  ridge 
between  two  furrows  in  ploughing,  whereas  the  English  word 
denotes  the  furrow  (or  trench)  between  two  ridges.  The  same 
thing  was  denoted  in  Old  French  by  the  word  which  we  spell 
trench.  We  must  never  lose  sight  of  the  Norman  portion  of 
our  language. 
The  Latin  for  furrow  was  sulcus.  But  the  literal  sense  of 
sulcus  was  merely  “ that  which  is  drawn  along,”  as  it  is 
allied  to  the  Greek  helkein,  to  draw  along,  in  which  the  original 
s has  been  replaced,  as  is  usual  in  Greek,  by  an  aspirate  ; com- 
pare the  Latin  sex  with  the  Greek  hex.  Hence  it  came  about 
that  the  very  same  word  sulcus , when  done  into  Anglo-Saxon 
in  the  form  sulh  (h  for  c,  as  above)  denoted,  not  the  furrow, 
but  the  actual  plough  itself  ! Neither  is  the  word  extinct,  for 
it  is  common  in  Devonshire  and  West  Somerset  in  the  form 
zool,  and  in  several  dialects  appears  as  sull , the  final  guttural 
being  lost.  But  in  Gloucestershire  it  is  sullow,  where  the  ow 
represents  the  final  h , just  as  in  the  case  of  furrow  itself. 
In  Scotland  “ furrow-and-ridge  ” is  replaced  by  “ fur-and- 
rig,”  and  this  expressive  phrase  may  be  used  of  the  ribbing  in 
knitted  stockings. 
A furrow  is  sometimes  improperly  called  a stitch  or  stetch. 
But,  strictly,  the  latter  term  means  a portion,  piece,  or  frag- 
ment, and  is  particularly  used  of  a portion  of  land,  often  very 
narrow,  lying  between  two  furrows  that  are  parted  by  some- 
thing wider  than  a ridge.  The  corresponding  word  in  German 
is  Stuck , used  of  a bit  or  fragment  of  almost  anything.  But  it 
has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  a stitch  in  one’s  side,  or  the 
stitch  made  by  a needle  ; these  are  connected  with  the  verb  to 
stick , as  when  we  are  talking  of  sticking  pins  into  a pin- 
cushion. 
A description  of  all  the  parts  of  a plough  requires  some 
technical  knowledge,  and  is  best  learnt  from  books  that 
describe  their  varieties,  and  that  give  illustrations  of  them. 
The  excellent  Book  of  Husbandry , by  Fitzherbert,  first  printed 
in  1534,  gives,  in  chapter  2,  an  account  of  their  “ dyvers 
maners  ” ; in  chapter  3,  “the  names  of  all  the  partes”;  in 
chapter  4,  “ the  tempryng  of  plowes  ” ; and  in  chapter  5,  “ the 
necessary  thynges  that  belonge  to  a ploughe,  carte,  and  wayne.” 
It  was  edited  by  m«  for  the  English  Dialect  Society  in  1882. 
But  many  changes  have  been  made  since  1534. 
2 Salisbury  Villas, 
Cambridge. 
Walter  W.  Skeat. 
