(_To the Editor of the Mirror._)
In the MIRROR, No. 358, the article headed "Memorable Days," the writer,
in that part of which the _Avver Bread_ is treated of, says it is
made of oats leavened and kneaded into a large, thin, round cake, which
is placed upon a girdle over the fire; adding, that he is totally at a
loss for a definition of the word Avver; that he has sometimes thought
avver, means oaten; which I think, correct, it being very likely a
corruption of the French, avoine, oats; introduced among many others,
into the Scottish language, during the great intimacy which formerly
existed between France and Scotland; in which latter country a great
many words were introduced from the former, which are still in use; such
as gabart, a large boat, or lighter, from the French gabarre; bawbee,
baspiece, a small copper coin; vennell, a lane, or narrow street, which
still retains its original pronunciation and meaning. Enfiler la vennel;
a common figurative expression for running away is still in use in
France. Apropos of vennell, Dr. Stoddard, in a "Pedestrian Tour through
the Land of Cakes," when a young man, says he could not trace its
meaning in any language, (I speak from memory) also made the same
observation where I was; being at that time on intimate terms with the
doctor, I pointed out to him its derivation from the Latin into the
French, and thence, probably, into the Scotch; the embryo L.L.D. stared,
and seemed chagrined, at receiving such information from a