_Simnels_ (Vol. iii., pp. 390. 506.).--T. very sensibly suggests that
Lambert _Simnel_ is a nickname derived from a kind of cake still common
in the north of England, and eaten in Lent. I have never met with
_Simnel_ as a surname, and have actually been told, as a child, that the
Simnels were called after Lambert; which is so far worthy of note as
that it connects the two together in tradition, though, no doubt, as T.
suggests, it is Lambert who was called after the Simnels. As a child I
took the liberty to infer, in consequence, that Parkins (gingerbread of
oatmeal instead of flour, and also common in the north of England) were
called after Perkin Warbeck. I am aware of the superior claim of
Peterkin now; but the coincidence may perhaps amuse your correspondents.
[Dagger symbol]
_A Ship's Berth_ (Vol. iv., p. 83.).--I would suggest to your
correspondents S. S. S. (2) another derivation for our word _berth_.
The present French _berceau_, a cradle, was in the Norman age written
_ber[gh]_, as appears in a MSS. _Life of St. Nicholas_ in the Bodleian
Library. This Life has been printed at Bonn by Dr. Nicolaus Delius,
1850; but in the print the character [gh] has been represented by the
ordinary z. This is a pity, because, as all know who are familiar with
our MSS. of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this figure [gh] took
not unfrequently the place of ð (th); and on this account it is a
character which ought to be scrupulously preserved in editing. _Ber[gh]_
then was probably pronounced _berth_, or possibly with a little more of
the sibilant than is now found in the latter. How easily the _sibilant_
and the _th_ run into one another may be seen by the third person
singular of our present Indicative:
saith says.
doth does.
hopeth hopes.