(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.)
A correspondent wishes to be informed of the definition of the word
_avver_. In the 15th volume of the "Beauties of England and Wales," it is
alluded to thus:--"This county (Westmoreland) being supposed unfavourable
to the growth of wheat, black oats, called _haver_, and the species of
barley called _bere_, or _bigg_, were the only grains it produced. Of the
_haver_, bread was made, or the species of pottage called hasty pudding;
this bread being made into thin unleavened cakes, and laid up in chests
within the influence of the fire, has the quality of preserving its
sweetness for several months; it is still in common use. The _bigg_ was
chiefly made into malt, and each family brewed its own ale; during the hay
harvest the women drank a pleasant sharp beverage, made by infusing mint
or sage buttermilk in whey, and hence called _whey-whig_. Wheaten bread
was used on particular occasions; small loaves of it were given to persons
invited to funerals, which they were expected "to take and eat" at home,
in religious remembrance of their deceased neighbour; a custom, the
prototype of which is evidently seen in the establishment of the
eucharist, for in this county it still bears its _Saxon name_, _Arvel
bread_, from appull, _full of reverence_, meaning the holy bread used at
the communion."