[We gladly insert our correspondent's "claim to release," but doubt
whether he can establish it; inasmuch as St. Ivo or Evona, canonized on
account of his great rectitude and profound knowledge both of civil and
canon law, was both lawyer and churchman, like the CLERICUS so recently
discussed in our columns; and clearly sought for and obtained his patron
saint in his legal character.]
_Muffins and Crumpets, &c._--Not being quite satisfied with the
etymology of "muffin," in p. 205., though brought by Urquhart from
Phoenicia and the Pillars of Hercules, I am desirous of seeking
additional illustration. Some fancy that "coffee" was known to Athenæus,
and that he saw it _clearly_ in the "black broth" of the Lacedæmonian
youth. In the same agreeable manner we are referred to that instructive
and entertaining writer for the corresponding luxury of "muffins."
_Maphula_, we are told, was one of those kinds of bread named as such by
Athenæus; that is to say, "a cake baked on a hearth or griddle." If we
need go so far, why not fetch our muffins from Memphis, which is _Môph_
in Hebrew? (See _Hosea_, ix. 6.) It is, perhaps, _mou-pain_, in old
French, _soft bread_, easily converted into _mouffin_. So "crumpet" may
be a corruption of _crumpâte_ a paste made of fine flour, slightly
baked. The only difficulty would then be in the {254} first syllable,
concerning, which the ingenuity of your various correspondents, Mr.
Editor, may be exercised to some effect. Is it connected with the use of
the _crimping_ irons in producing these delicacies?