Wonham, Reigate, August 3.
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Replies to Minor Queries.
_Solingen_ (Vol. ii., p. 135.).--Will you allow me to state, for the
information of T.S. LAWRENCE, who inquires who S_a_lingen, the sword
cutler, was,--that S_o_lingen is the name of a small town near
Elberfeld, in Westphalia; a sort of Sheffield for the whole of that part
of Germany. Immense quantities of cutlery of all sorts are made there,
and many knives are, I was told, made there, stamped with English names,
and imported into England as true British ware,--being equally good with
ours, and, of course, cheaper. Solingen is still, and has been for
centuries, renowned for its sword blades. You cannot ride through the
town without meeting a troop or two of girls with a load of sword blades
on their heads.
May I suggest to your inquirer JARLTZBERG that the derivation of
_blackguard_ is as likely to be _blagarode_, the Russian for _nobleman_,
as many words are to be descended from their reputed parents.