Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-06-05

term of contempt. 1t did not as Paris sug-
gests, necessarily mean fool, but signltied
what we now mean by contemplate fell
low. Shakespeare, in Midsummer Nights
Dream" says:
A crew of patches, base mechanicals.
"Crosspatch" is the only remnant of the
word. 1t is very expressive OF cross,
ill-tempered, disagreeable person.
Mad as March Hare.-A familiar say
ing found in Skilton's "Reply against Ger
tayne Young Scholars" Q520), and also in
Heywood's ''Proverbs'' Q546).
Burden of a Song.-"Bourdon" is the
drone of bagppe, hence running accom-
paniment or repetition of musical sounds
sounds or words is called the burden"
Sadder and Wiser Man.-This phrase is
from the "Ancient Mariner" by Coleridge:
A sadder and wiser man
He rose the morrow morn.
Balderdash.- h.-Originally the froth or lath-
er made by BARRIERS in dashing balls Of soap
backwards and forwards in hot water.
Bubbly spume or BARRIERS bald rdash.-Nashe,
1899. ....
Every One to His Own Taste.-A literal
translation of the French proverb, Chdcona
q sou goM. 1t is generally used satirically,
as, "Well, didn't think he would associ-
ate with people of that kind; but with
shrug,) every one to his own taste"
Whisky.-The stuff itself was originally
an Irish manufacture, and was called usque-
baugh pronounced us k,Ce-6aW) from uisqe-
water, 6satha,-life. 1t meant "the water
of life." The reason the last syllable was
omitted may be that its use oftener led to
death than life. 1t was called usque, and
finally spelled whisky.
Folded Their Tents Like the Arabs
Longfellow in his poem, "The Day is
Done," wrote the verse from which this
now very common saying was taken:
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,
And silently steal away.
Siesta.-This Spanish term for nap in
the daytime has become completely natu-
rallied in this country. The Spanish nap
is usually taken about noon, which, in their
reckoning, is the sixth hour (sesta.) Hence
in Spanish sestear is to take the midday
nap, and sesteador is the room appropriated
for the purpose, usually on the north side
of the house.
Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady,
This is a very old proverb. In a "Proper
New Ballad in Praise of My Lady Mary
nes," printed in 1889, are these lines:
Then have amongst We once again,
Faint harts faire ladies never win.
In "Britain's Ida," by Spenser, Canto ",
| StanZa j., the second line reads:
Oh, fool faint heart fair lady never could win.
Cheers But Not Inebriates. .-Cowper used
this phrase in reference to tea, but it had
been previously applied by Bishop Berkeley
to tar-water. In his work "Siris," para
graph 217, the Bishop says: Clearwater is
of nature so mild and benign, and proper
toned to the human constitution, as to
warm without heating, to cheer but not in
ebriate, and to produce calm and steady
joy like the effect of good news"
Standing in Another's Shoes.-ln an ar
ticle on Legal Usages Among the Ancient
Mortimer, ,"in Bayley's graphic illustration
(London, 1884, it is said: "The right of
adoption obtained one form of it consisted
in making the adopted put on the shoes of
the adopter. 1t has been asked whether
our phrase of standing in his Shoes may
not owe it's origin to this CUSTOM"
A BIG WoRD.-A very old Welsh name
has just turned up, viz: Llanfairpwllgwyng-
Ivsitiogogogoch. This word of seventy
two letters and twenty-five syllables, the
name of village in Wales, constituted the
subject of a lecture lately given by the Rev.
J. King, M. A., at the Museum, Berwick,
in which he gavean explanation, as follows:
Lan means saint or church fair, Mary |;
pwll, pool; gwyn, white; gyll, hazel-(St.
Mary's white hazel pooD ger, near ;
trobwll, turning-pool ger, near; trio, turn
ing or turn bwll, pool; gerchwyrnbyll,
near the whirlpool goger, very near, &c.
In fact, the word simply means-St. Mary''s
white hazel pool, near the turning pool,
Llantsilio, fronting the red rocky islet of
Gogo. The place has the reputation, not
only of bearing the longest name in Her
Majesty's dominions, but enjoys the unique
position of rvaling the King of Siam, who
rejoices in the following cognomen. Phra
Bat Somdetch Pra Paramindr Maha Chula-
lon-K Korn Pra Chula Chom Klao Yu Hua.
If this Kings palace was in the above Welsh
village, it would be difficult to get much
more than the name and address upon an
ordinary postal card.