Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850 | Page 4

music "at sight." I believe that both Replies contain an allusion to the fact that _Anger, grafted on sorrow, almost invariably assumes the form of frenzy; that it is in every sense of the word "Madness," when the mind is unhinged, and reason, as it were, totters from the effects of grief_.
Cassius had but just mildly rebuked Brutus for making no better use of his philosophy, and now--startled by the sudden sight of his bleeding, mangled heart--"Portia is--Dead!" pays involuntary homage to the very philosophy he had so rashly underrated by the exclamation--
"How 'scaped I killing when I crossed you so!"
I wish, if possible, to support this view of the case by the following passages:--
I. Romeo's address to Balthasar. "But if thou ... roaring sea."
II. His address to Paris. "I beseech thee youth ... away!"
_Romeo and Juliet_, Act v. Sc. 3.
III. "The poor father was ready to fall down dead; but he grasped the broken oar which was before him, jumped up, and called in a faltering voice,--'Arrigozzo! Arrigozzo!' This was but for a moment. Receiving no answer, he ran to the top of the rock; looked at all around, ran his eye over all who were safe, one by one, but could not find his son among them. Then seeing the count, who had so lately been finding fault {276} with his son's name, he roared out,--'Dog, are you here?' And, brandishing the broken oar, he rushed forward to strike him on the head. Bice uttered a cry, Ottorino was quick in warding off the blow; in a minute, Lupo, the falconer, and the boatmen, disarmed the frantic man; who, striking his forehead with both hands, gave a spring, and threw himself into the lake.
"He was seen fighting with the angry waves, overcoming them with a strength and a courage which desperation alone can give."--_Marco Viconti_, vol. i. chap. 5.
IV. A passage that has probably already occurred to the mind of the reader, Mucklebackit mending the cable in which his son had been lost:
"'There is a curse either on me or on this auld black bitch of a boat, that I have hauled up high and dry, and pitched and clouted sae mony years, that she might drown my poor Steenie at the end of them, an' be d----d to her!' And he flung his hammer against the boat, as if she had been the intentional cause of his misfortune"--_Antiquary_, vol. ii. chap. 13. Cadell, 1829.
V. "Giton pr?cipuè, _ex dolore in rabiem efferatus_, tollit clamorem, me, utraque manu impulsum, pr?cipitat super lectum."--Petron. _Arb. Sat._ cap. 94.
The classical reader will at once recognise the force of the words "rabiem," "efferatus," "pr?cipitat," in this passage. The expression "utraque manu" may not at first sight arrest his attention. It seems always used to express the most intense eagerness; see
"Ijecit utramque lacini? manum."--Pet. _Arb. Sat._ 14.
"Utraque manu Deorum beneficia tractat."--Ib. 140.
"Upon which Menedemus, incensed at his insolence, answered,--'Nothing is more necessary than the preservation of Lucullus;' and thrust him back with both hands."--Plutarch, Life of Lucullus.
"Women have a sort of natural tendency to cross their husbands: they lay hold with both hands [à deux mains] on all occasions to contradict and oppose them, and the first excuse serves for a plenary justification."--Montaigne, _Essays_, book 2. chap. 8.
"Marmout, deceived by the seemingly careless winter attitude of the allies, left Ciudad Rodrigo unprotected within their reach and Wellington jumped with both feet upon the devoted fortress of Napier," _Pen. War_, vol. iv. p. 374.
Any apology for the unwarrantable length of this discursive despatch, would, of course, only make matters worse.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
* * * * *
ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES.
1. _Gnatch._--"The covetous man dares not gnatch" (Hammond's _Catechism_). From this, and the examples in Halliwell's _Dictionary_, the sense seems to be "to move." Is it related to "gnake?"
2. _Pert._--I lately met with an instance of the use of this word in the etymological sense _peritus_: "I beant peart at making button-holes," said a needlewoman.
3. _Rococo._--A far-fetched etymology suggests itself. A wealthy noble from the north might express his admiration for the luxuries of Paris by the Russian word [Cyrillic: roskosha], or Polish roskosz. A Frenchman, catching the sound, might apply it to anything extravagant enough to astonish a barbarian.
4. _Cad._--The letters from Scotland ascribed to a Captain Burtt, employed in surveying the forfeited estates, give an account of the "cawdies," or errand boys, of Edinburgh.
5. _Fun_, perhaps Irish, _fonamhad_, jeering, mockery (Lhuyd, _Arch?ologia Britannica_).
6. _Bumbailiff._--The French have _pousse-cul_, for the follower or assistant to the sergeant.
7. Epergne, perhaps _épargne_, a save-all or hold-all. Here seems no more difficulty in the transfer of the name than in that of chiffonier, from a rag-basket to a piece of ornamental furniture.
8. _Doggrel._--Has the word any connexion with _sdrucciolo_?
9. _Derrick._--A spar arranged to form an extempore crane. I think Derrick was the name