(a Subscriber from the beginning).
_Friday at Sea._--I have heard a story respecting the superstition in
which sailors hold Friday as a day of departure. To disabuse them of
this superstition, a ship--so runs the tale--was laid down on Friday;
launched on a Friday; commanded by a captain named Friday; sailed on a
Friday; and--so runs the story--was never heard of afterwards!
Is there--I believe not--any truth in this tradition; and where may the
earliest allusion to it be found.
[?]
_Meaning of "Knarres."_--In a minister's account of the time of Edward
II., relating to Caernarvonshire, is an entry for rent received "de
terra morosa et knarres:" the word is sometimes written _gnarres_. What
does it mean? I believe in Norfolk and in other counties a description
of scrubby woodland is known by the name of _carrs_ (Query spelling). We
find _Knares_-borough in Yorkshire, and _Knares_-dale in Northumberland,
_Nar_-borough in Leicester, _Nar_-burgh and _Nar_-ford in Norfolk.
Taking the _n_ to be the expressive letter, we have perhaps specimens of
its softened sound in the names of _Snare_-hill, _Snar_-gate,
_Snares_-brook, &c., in various counties. Some of your etymological
readers may be able to explain the derivation of these names, should
they be considered to come from a common source, and with that the
sentence quoted above.