_Cure for the Hooping-cough._--"I know," said one of my parishioners,
"what would cure him, but m'appen you woudent believe me." "What is it,
Mary?" I asked. "Why, I did every thing that every body teld me. One
teld me to get him breathed on by a pie-bald horse. I took him ever such
a way, to a horse at ----, and put him under the horse's mouth; but he
was no better. Then I was teld to drag him backward through a bramble
bush. I did so; but this didn't cure him. Last of all, I was teld to
give him nine fried mice, fasting, in a morning, in this way:--three the
first morning; then wait three mornings, and then give him three more;
wait three mornings, and then give him three more. When he had eaten
these nine fried mice he became quite well. This would be sure to cure
your child, Sir."
W.H.K.
Drayton Beauchamp.
_Gootet._--In Eccleshall parish, Staffordshire, Shrove Tuesday is called
Gootet. I am not aware if this be the true spelling, for I have never
seen it in print. Can any of your readers supply the etymology, or state
whether it is so called in any other part of England? I have searched
numerous provincial glossaries, but have hitherto been unsuccessful.