, 1870-05-15
GUESSE8 AND QUERlh

Mount Ararat, as to attcrnpt 4 stunning get-up
With anything but bonnet OF onap 2o Of MAE aaa"
GUESsE8 AND QUER1EA
xx X, q, DODGE, * 1pnnoorrs HAdAzN1 FOE
KAI.
uHox il The dotn', air7" asked Of mo como
wceks aeo we1l-to-do farmer In Mou1tunbor-
ousb, New Hampshsre. He bad been Of ear-
vice 10 me in an emergency, was respectful,
md was deaisous to b communicative; but,
filling to comprehend his meaning, my reply
beeame necessarily tho question:
"What did 5ou ask ?"
"HoE II tho doin' down country, eir7"
bot ssey % as:paas ae: sssa,ad 3os pardon mo-
"Yea, dodn'l" ha replied. "you've corne
from Dover IN the atage-haten't youf--and
you ought to Know"
Ths light baokn upon ma, md answerod,
parity It ) venture nevertheless:
roads, and they bare not boon repaired
But pray tell INC. ta doing tho word you uso
ftE passing along the highwaysf"
Yea sir: That's tha word We use here.
mo" iansTered. III ns1ef heard it used
Il th.t sar,se BEFORE nd. nd DID I'D not Z; At a5st
New YoIk snii the West, thow tie hncelli.a
is: in Virginia, the CaroIinas, aud Georgia.
'how tho road is;' and in England, 'how Tho
so1ys are"
companion, and we parted.
stopping At HayeIlIli, Massachusetts, few
days Afterward, friend drove ma out Of town
to see the lakes, which he persisted in calling
ponds, In spite Of their sizo. Upon our return
ths h.1ness re- nsa hsose n, sna b requested ne e
s'Jised DE iockling." We were scarcely
intimate enough for mo to remark
upon any pecnlarity Of his language,
ard ! took no open notice of tho extzaordin-
Ary phrase. Al Beverly, IN the sAne 6sate,
however, then in Negburypozt, in Plymouth,
Rhode 1alana, Nithin vary few days haard
thnsame substitution, both in The form Of
verb and noun, OF "tackling :" for hArnass.
Hang up the taeklin8, !" s' tackle tho horse,"
send the t.cAling to be mended," sud
similar phrases. were in constant use. West
used IN the Connecticut Valley, not It sl
and in Berkshire County its moaning was t1n-
known. And yet, up from tho OLD Colony, al
along the coast te Hampton Be.eh,
Ind on the hanks OF tbs Mer-
thickly populated and not less highly cavllzed
than any portion OF equal extenk in America,
its nse was universal. Speaking OF this pecu-
liar word to HAryard professor, he told me
that it had been in use In Eastern MAaaacbu-
setta for more than two hundred yoxra, and
gave me the following curious account Of ito
origin:
When horses were brought from England
by the early setuera Of the Bay State, no
vehicles came with them. There wara only
bridlc-paths through the forest The animsls
were ridden, mover driven. Boats furnished
the principal means OF transportation, and
hcf1r In 1f1ffN hA rt14tnr %Inir
tac2ling WAS carefully put away. When the
ioe became thick enough on the rivers and
lnlttH to be ssfely travelled upon, sledges uare
made, aud in the lack Of ha1ness with which
to attach horse to the new contrivanee re-
course vas lad 70 TIE boat tsct1ing. Hence
serbia tie means by which the animal
was fastened 10 tho vehicle, held its own
when the rude invention gave way IL
course OF time, to its betser-htting successor.
The noun substantive existing, the verb easily
followed, and both promise to be part OF tho
1 TeruaculAr Of the rural seAboard~ townships
! for mnnJ }ears to come.
Ten years ago small, triangular piece OF
ground, standing At the corner of Cannon
street and St. Pauls Churchyard, London,
WIS for ea1e. It waa vary valuable. Many
persona desared to pnrch.seit. 1ts price ad-
offered for it seemed fabulous. An American,
passing il in company with London ner'
| chant, asked,
What is that lot really worth I"
"Why, that building lot"
II don't know what you me1n," replied The
latter, looking tho American full in the face
"the building societies ofrerno AlIotmeuts it
the city property, They deal only With leases
Both men were astzny % to the mean
ing OF each other, and ii was not until aftel
l Enr4 IA
learned that tho Englishman wss ignorant O
tho use Of the word " lot As applied t,
land it is unknown in the paflance Of Eng
Iand. 4 town lot, baiIding lot, pasture 10
would bo meaningless expreasions in any par
> Of tho three kingdoms, and get they have be
! como 40 interwoven in our language, and NJ
> , go necessary to our Americsn business Liz
: that the loss Of them, like that ot poor Not
: ards d1h-poie and lioe, might call Tor his el
h elsnatign 1 o. ae,tEPaif, "God anow'' 1t they'f
! Tho origin Of This word also dAtos back
= early transactions in the soabosrd tnwnshi4
= | pf massachusetts The e1taualTs salt ua4tshl
:. werp used for time in common ly the sa
nerB- There WIS enough Tor al Every M
: cooked, stacked, and cattsd home Is much h
y cied heterogeneous Of indivifnsl right
- the! municipal corporations. toe
= the matter in hand, and,
riding the nA5ehea into equal parts, the nul
= bcr o7 pszta corresponding to The number
i drawn for by lot at pu1lin meeting. II
:, Jonca' choice Wss then called Mr. Jones' To-
- - MI. Smiths choiea, Mr.. Smiths lot; u
a Jae1noaB, Mt. JsCksou's lot; until tn t
which had long passed away was applied TO T
= 1and that fctuained-still Jones' lot, 6nnitl
70 lot, and Lsckson'A LOT. Naturally enoug
~ when the word had begun to mean land in O
- = place it uss applied to Land In anothcr pix
irrespective OF tha manner in which the lal
II don altogether, obtained ita present seeonda
The same origin belongs to i;,;s word VII
~ used by children and uneducated people to I
~ press nurnbe1s; as, What lots Of candy =
bsss hsss IN H. ssa,s s Of .assn I Ss,
~ cousina, children Or saults. Inded, tho
~ itself, in its primitive meaning revived n
ancient Je~ish md early Christian times,
~ "the lot fell upon Jonah. "the lot fell ur
a. a. Matthias By The New England Puritana :
n ne being resorted to with firm belief in spee
" providence, After solemn sppcal By prayer
II God, in slraoat every emergency, it became
90 sociated, from the number Of lots corcspo
&. ing with tho number OF Persons engaged
ne' the transaction. with i considerable quaint
sud hcnce obtained this COMMON use. Natt
" in his {. Magn.lia, first published in the IA
~ pa1t Of the Seventeenth century, writes Of
" " 1.E1eat lot" Of evil Episits that poesesso
!o 1ou WOMAN in Beverly; and stories OF the g,
~ upon lota" OF beArs Killed by old Aoultou,
~ ~ still told ut the winter 6rettdes near the
OF Ossipee Nountains.
" The downs in Yorkshire form COMMONS
~ " thousands OF acres, uncrltiyated, witt
~ springs or streams OF water, and uunncloeet
tba walh or hedges. They arc used for 81
,a.s ~ pastursge. 1he flocks, guarded BY co
Gt,1sv }E1a Hxr IN fto;w or
Ky dIror hnme md cpnnted ovsrr r,;uht mi
= out afeld and again counted every noruin|
= 80 thick hedge Of hawthorn surrounds the
ua ae which hitter is usually placed in low Gro1
~" where water is most easily found. The
,,n. ~. one opening only, made by clipping tho he
~. ! OF size Just large enough TO admit 81
' c. sheer, and By tho outside Of It a seat is I
80 into tho ground upon which the shepherd
~ b to count or tale each member Of the fock
. ~ - coca in or comes out. "Ara the sheep tall
~. "como, boy, look sharp; tale tho flock"
~. AZ eur.snon pt-seee in Yorkshire dowr
rat ''Fedder the CATTLE" or "Drive the COT
g.s pasture" is IN New England. A coupi
81 Milton's " L'Allegro." ." the meaning Of viii
tb;s often misunderstood, refers TO this crsto
a1as @ the very words:
in un1,rr sbe LawthoTn in TIC dale~ !
than not his tLe Of inye II hrorn-1t
hao Amsrila, bat his talo OF shoep ~
this emerge from the fold, through Tho hAwt
h. opening, befose being driven to the down
ESht, A lady, recently converting with N II
INST gent Engtsh1omAu Of rank upon tho
d al paratiya chances to fat or lean people Of +
ehlo, ing old age, used the American adage
! ba YOU eet sood ,riu, Fou NAV i've forever
onts. swift Z" aRked the latter, with sur
cnEn I Nvr11f7 hasr the Urrr1