Notes and Queries, Number 30, May 25, 1850 | Page 7

to have been "ex Britanniâ Oceani insula Saxonico
ex genere ortus." He died, and was buried in the abbey, between the
years 707 and 723; on which occasion the Abbot Benignus is said to
have exclaimed, "O signifer fortissime Christi militiæ BAGGA, nunc
mercedem laborum lætus accipis tuorum. Deprecare ipsum benignum

Dominum, ut unà tecum mereamur gaudere consortiis justorum per
ævum." Here is a prayer not for, but to the dead.
During the presidency of AUSTRULPHUS (ch. 13.), which began in
747 and ended in 753, a certain receptacle, in the form of a small
_pharos_, was driven ashore in the district of Coriovallum, which
contained a very fair copy of the four Gospels, beautifully written in
Roman characters on the purest vellum; and part of the precious jaw of
St. George the Martyr, as well as a portion of the "health-bearing"
wood of the true cross, duly labelled. The acquisition of this treasure
was of course ascribed to the immediate interposition of God. And as
about the same period the head of St. George was discovered at Rome,
through the intervention of Pope Zachary, it was conjectured that this
pontiff had given the wonder-working relic to some venerable men
from _Britain_, a country described as being "always on the most
intimate footing (_maximè familiares_) with the Apostolic See;" and
that, these being wrecked on their voyage home, or through some other
adventure, the said treasure was providentially driven ashore at
Coriovallum.

Chapter XV
. gives us an account of GERVOLDUS, who ruled this abbey eighteen
years, dying A.D. 806. He had been ambassador from Charlemagne to
Offa, King of Mercia. The son of Charlemagne demanded the daughter
of Offa in marriage, who refused his consent, unless his own son
should receive the hand of Bertha, the daughter of the French king.
Charles, in consequence, inhibited the subjects of Offa from trading on
the French coast. This inhibition was, however, withdrawn through the
mediation of the Abbot Gervoldus, who seems to have been in great
favour with Charles.
I need hardly say, that throughout the chronicle there is a tolerable
sprinkling of the marvellous. {487} I give you the following as a
warning to all dishonest bell-founders.
The pious builder of a church being desirous, according to custom, of
putting a bell in the turret, engaged a skillful craftsman to carry into
effect his design. This man, "at the instigation of the devil," stole some
of the metal with which he had been furnished for the work; and the

bell was, in consequence, mis-shapen and of small size. It was,
however, placed in the turret; but, as a divine punishment for his crime,
whenever the bell was struck, the dishonest founder was thereupon
seized with frenzy, uttering strange words and barking like a dog!
GASTROS.
* * * * *
ORIGIN OF THE WORD "NEWS."
I have great respect for "Mr. SAMUEL HICKSON," but I cannot treat
his derivation of the word "News" with any respect (No. 27. p. 428.). I
wish "Mr. HICKSON" had been a little more modest in his manner of
propounding his novelty. Can any thing be more dogmatic than his
assertions? which I will recapitulate as much as possible in his own
words, before I proceed to deal with them.
1. "I have never had the least doubt that this word is derived
immediately from the German."
2. "It is, in fact, 'das Neue' in the genitive case;" and "Mr. H." proceeds
to mention the German phrase, "Was giebt's Neues?" as giving the
exact sense of our "What is the news?" [which cannot be gainsaid; but I
shall have a word to say presently about neues in that phrase being the
genitive case.]
3. "That the word is not derived from the English adjective 'new,'--that
it is not of English manufacture at all--I feel well assured."
4. "In that case '_s_' would be the sign of the plural; and we should
have, as the Germans have, either extant or obsolete, also 'the new.'" [I
do not see the sequitur.]
5 "'News' is a noun singular, and as such must have been adopted
bodily into the language."
Such are "Mr. HICKSON's" principal assertions: and when I add, that
he has found out that the German "neu" was in olden time spelt "new,"
so that the genitive, "newes," was identical with the old form of the
English word "news;" and that he explains the transformation of a
genitive case of a German adjective into an English substantive by
English ignorance, which he further thinks is exemplified by the Koran
having been called "the Alkoran," in ignorance of "_Al_" meaning
"the," I have given not only all of his assertions, but also the whole of
his argument.
I now proceed to assert on my part that the word "news"