"Pray tell me whence you can derive the original of the word
_dun_? Some falsely think it comes from the French, where
_donnez_ signifies _give me_, implying a demand of something
due; but the true original of this expression owes its birth to
one _Joe Dun_, a famous bailiff of the town of Lincoln, so
extremely active, and so dexterous at the management of his
rough business, that it became a proverb, when a man refused to
pay his debts, 'Why don't you _Dun_ him?' that is, why don't you
send Dun to arrest him? Hence it grew a custom, and is now as
old as since the days of Henry VII."
Were these twin worthies, Obadiah Bull the lawyer, and Joe Dun the
bailiff, men of straw for the nonce, or veritable flesh and blood? They
both flourished, it appears, in the reign of Henry VII.; and to me it is
doubtful whether one reign could have produced two worthies capable of
cutting so deep a notch in the English tongue.
"To dine with Duke Humphrey," we are told, arose from the practice of
those who had shared his dainties when alive being in the habit of
perambulating St. Paul's, where he was buried, at the dining time of
day; what dinner they then had, they had with Duke Humphrey the defunct.
Your contributor MR. CUNNINGHAM will be able to decide as to the value
of the origin of Tyburn here given to us:
"As to the antiquity of Tyburn, it is no older than the year
1529; before that time, the place of execution was in _Rotten
Row_ in _Old Street_. As for the etymology of the word _Tyburn_,
some will have it proceed from the words _tye_ and _burn_,
alluding to the manner of executing traitors at that place;
others believe it took its name from a small river or brook once
running near it, and called by the Romans Tyburnia. Whether the
first or second is the truest, the querist may judge as he
thinks fit."
And so say I.
A readable volume might be compiled from these "NOTES AND QUERIES,"
which amused our grandfathers; and the works I have indicated will
afford much curious matter in etymology, folk-lore, topography, &c., to
the modern antiquary.