The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-15
INTERESTING WORD HISTORIES.
Queer Anteccdents OF Familiar
Terms Like Rismaroic, Faiy.Ho,
Bankrupt. Etc.

Some words have histories other
words embody history, as for example,
the word rigmarole. Everybody UNDER
stands it as signifying a confused and
meaningless tumble, but precious few re-
call the fact that it comes from ragman' S
roll. Now the ragman's roll is crown
document of no small Importance. 1t is
real roll of ancient parchment, and re-
cords categorica1y, the instrument and
deeds by which Scotland's nobility and
gentry gave in their adhesion. and swore
allegiance to Edward I. of England to-
ward the close of the Thirteenth century.
Naturally it is a somewhat confused doc
ument, but possibly not so much con-
fused as confusing to the good people Of
its own era. 1t must have been upset
ting in those days, to discover that the
lords and gentlemen thought to be
staunchest for the old order had gone
over to the invading king. Yet there is
something to be said for the lords and
Gentlemen-they loved not Scotlands in
depend nee less, but their heads and their
estates rather more.
Venison. which nowadays means al
ways and strictly the flesh of a deer,
is trulx any fish hunted-that is meat
huntng-thus foxes and wolves and badg-
ers furnish "venison" no less than the
lordly stag. Cur, the synonym for a
worthless dog, has somewhat the same
derivation. In feudal England the dogs
of the villienage, NJ doubt mostly straw
ing mongIels. were BY law required to
lie -tailed-that is. have their tails
cut short, so they might be readily dis
tngushed from the stag and boar
Of III
stag-hounds ran true upon the, scent the
mongrels would confuse and draw them
off from it, Sometimes the Villien-dogs
had TO suffer also "hombling,' that IS,
cutting away the two mi1dle toss from
each fore foot. 50 they could not run
with the hounds curtail-dog, or cur
tle-dog. in time became simply a cur
His owners, the villieus, who lived in clus
tered novels outside the castle walls, in
like manner gave rise to the word VII
lage.
Another wonderfully expressive phrase
also comes from the hunting field, where
il is to this day in comon use. 1t is 20
run riot" Foxhounds run riot when they
leave the drag of the fox. and go racing
and chasing off upon the scent of hares
and rabbits, whose company the fox seeks
when he finds himself pursued. Indeed,
in fox-hunting parlance. harc-scent is
ION the pad" as signifying going hither
and yon, also throws back to Reynard
the Fox His feet are known techni-
cally as pads-when he gets up and be-
gins to move about sportsmen say he Is
ION the pad
1t seems a far cry from the hunting
fold to the name Of fashionable coach,
but 1t is from the hunting field the tai
ly-ho gets its tile Tails hors, pro
nounced tally no, Norman French for
"out OF the thicket," was the proper cry
when the fox broke cover The hunts
men and the master Of foxhounds an
swered the cry with long blasts Of the
horn. Then when public coaches be-
gan 10 run, their horns blew the tally no
blasts; further as luxury progressed finer
coaches often took to the meet, and the
throwing off. fine people who did not in
tcnd to follow the hounds, but TO sec
them sncctacularly Between use and
luxury. she coach with seats on top crys-
tallzed az the tally-ho. The tally-ho T.
is likely to remain. unless all the world
should 20 automobile
Lombard's money-changers Of Venice,
sac on benches round about the plaza
of st. Marks. Banco Is Italian for