_Shrew_ (No. 24. p. 381.).--I know not whether it will at all help the
inquiry of "W.R.F." to remind him that the local Dorsetshire name of the
shrew-mouse is "_shocrop_" or "_shrocrop_." The latter is the word given
in Mr. Barnes's excellent _Glossary_, but I have just applied for its
name to two labourers, and their pronunciation of it is clearly the
former.
I should be glad to hear any conjecture as to the final syllable. The
only _folk-lore_ connected with it in this part of the country seems to
be that long ago reported by Pennant and others, viz. "Cats will kill,
but not eat it."