Replies to Minor Queries.
_Haberdascher.--Hurrer_ (Vol. v., p. 137.).--Precision is of great
importance in investigating the meaning of our ancient technical terms.
_Haberdascher_ was, I apprehend, the _generic_ name of dealers in small
wares. Hats and caps were formerley called _hures_ and _howves_ or
_houfes_; and when haberdashers dealt in such articles they were _pro
tanto hurrers_. But as early as the time of Edward I. there were traders
called hatters, who were not haberdashers; and at a later period, when
the term hurrer was obsolete, there were "haberdashers of hats." In the
reign of Edw. IV. a curious petition was presented to Parliament, which
is not unworthy of being put upon your Notes. It sets forth--
"That whereas huers, bonnets, and cappes, as well single as
double, were wont to be truly made, wrought, fulled, and thickked
by the might and strength of men, that is to say, with hand and
foot; and they that have so made, wrought, fulled, and thickked
such huers, bonnets, and cappes, have well and honestly afore this
gotten their living thereby, and thereupon kept apprentices,
servants, and good household. It is so that there is a subtile
mean found now of late, by reason of a Fullyng Mille, whereby more
cappes may be fulled and thickked in one day than by the might and
strength of four score men by hand and foot may be fulled and
thickked in the same day: the which huers, bonnets, and cappes, so
fulled and thickked by such mill, are bruised, broken, and
deceivably wrought, and cannot by the mean of any mill be truly
made."
The petitioners conclude by praying Parliament to impose heavy penalties
upon all who use the fulling mill, or who sell huers, hats, or bonnets
that have been "fulled or thickked" by means of any such mill. So early
did the antagonism between hand-labour and machinery prevail.
I doubt whether the more ancient name of _haberdasher_ were _milainer_.
There were _haberdashers_ at York in the time of Edward III., but no
_milliners_. In 1372 the _haberdashers_ of London were separated from
the _hurrers_, with whom they had been previously associated. I should
be glad to have a reference to the use of the term _milainer_, as
applied to traders of any sort prior to the reign of Edward III.
I should also be obliged to any of your correspondents who will tell me
what was the description of trade or business carried on by _uphalders_
in former times.
Δ.
_Cou-bache_ (Vol. v., p. 131.).--In Halliwell's _Archaic Dictionary_ the
word _balk_ is interpreted, "a ridge of greensward left by the plough in
ploughing, or by design, between the different occupancies in a common
field." This is exactly the meaning of the word as it is commonly used
in Yorkshire at this day; but in a Yorkshire village with which I am
acquainted, we have the very phrase of the _Golden Legend_,
"_cou-bache_," (pronounced _skoo-bauk_, the prefix _s_ being a not
infrequent corruption), as the name of a wide grassy road between
thorn-hedges, upon the verbage of which the milch cows of the villages
are pastured. This seems to be just the sort of place described in the
legend as the scene of Kenelm's murder. I need not add, that it is not
unusual to find pure Anglo-Saxon words retained in the rural dialects of
Yorkshire.
Δ.
_Meaning of Groom.--M. F. Barrière_ (Vol. v., p. 347.)--Having some
reason to doubt the high editorial authority attributed to M. Barrière
by J. R. (Cork), I would request your ingenious correspondent to favour
us with references to one or two (or more, if not too troublesome) of
the "_frequent cases_" in which the _Quarterly Review_ adopts M.
Barrière's statements.
The filthy _espièglerie_ related by that very suspicious authority St.
Simon, of the Duchess of Burgundy, already sufficiently _incredible_, is
rendered _impossible_ in J. R.'s version of "_administered to herself_."
St. Simon supposes no such legerdemain.
The _Groom of the Stole_ is the first lord of the King's bed-chamber;
under a Queen the equivalent office and title is _Mistress of the
Robes_.