The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-16
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

49,
In o recent reply Ia q query as 10 ampersand
you made Passing reference % The lizard which
PTrecedes Il " the sipha6et The term WAS noIel
knew an older or rustic form zed. The Century
t Dictionary sets up T, " d, derivation Ep.S Of ,t this nE lz1a5d 1s
Stonce. Now what was the origin Of such a letter
name so utterly al variance with the plan on which
the other names OF our c onsonants are formedf
CL.BRlCUR.
The demolition OF the IS hard" explanation is
AbundAnuy justihed by two facts. one being that
there is no record at oil that Z was ever known as
hard s, the other being the Middle English name
OF ezed. from which the present form quite nat.
Nrally derives. The question is well discussed
in . paper by z. S, Sheldon on the English letter
names in the nrst volume Of the Harvard Studies
and Notes in Philology," His suggestion Is that
in the early formative days, when learning ceme
10 England through Norman sources, the alphabet
was recited. 30 far as relates 10 Its latter end, as
I. y and zed. In the French form I. y ct sed. As
the tonic accent Must rest on the y and again on
the red, etLed would naturally form a single word.
with the pronunciation esd, which exactly cor
responds TO the Middle English name. We may
90 q step further than our author. The form
eLed having once become established II would
come under the normal English influence Of re-
cession OF the accent; thus the tonic accent was
passed back upon the penult, and as the quality of
that syllable is short an czed would readily pass
over into lizard. This Is very simple as compared
with the completely Of the successful reasoning
with which Sheldon has accounted for another
abnormal letter name, that Of II.
Why in the past of our speech should one address
oxen In terms OF gee and haw' J.B Il. II.
Apparently these obscure yet noisy explosives
have come down from q period when the Saxon
franklin gadded his bullocks on the way where
Norman knights caracoled by on gayly housed de-
striers. In current usage gee orders the oxen 10
the right. hAw 10 the left and toward the driver.
OF gee the origin behind its Saxon use 10 quite un
known. The attempt 10 associate It with a SINH
| larly tiRed cTv In French d{1 the old Italian Mn.
seems negatlved by the fact that these cries have
q diametricany opposite purpose, namely TO direct
the beast toward the left. Yet Larousse contends
in opposition to the Academic FRANCHISE, an atu-
tude which In many Instances lie gladly assumes,
that In a great part OF France dG directs 10 the
right: he hnds the origin OF the French word In the
Celtic, did In Breton, deheu In Welsh, dehOu In Cor
nish. II these speCulations be well founded and gee
be associated with dd II must take Its place In the
short list Of British contributions 20 English. In
the case OF haw our best English authorities class
Il as a variant OF whoa. with a special sense OF direc-
ZION. Such a derivation may nnd hayheld support
In the freqency OF the double command gee -hAw,
which would then mean zee TO the right and haw,
or stop geeing. Here again LArousse takes issue
with the Academy, which had determined that dd
was 10 the right and huhGu Tor husl TO the left. lie
cites the usage In the French cantons OF Swttzer.
land which inverts this order, and links the two
words to Sanskrt ddlshtnG and SdrVG, right and
left respectively.
A friend OF mine holds that The song entitled
Sally in Our Alley" is an old English dltty OF bome
antiquity, while i hold 1t TO be a composition of
Dave BrahAm and originally sung in one OF the
correct HOWARD JANIS.
Sally is a classic with a record OF a century and a
half OF unfailing popularity, for It was written, both
words and music, by that Henry Carey OF whom II
was said he led a life free from reproach. and
hanged himself October I. l743," II begins:
or all the girls that are so smart
There's none like pretty Sally:
She is the darling OF my heart.
And she lives in our alley.
Carey told the story OF the origin OF the lysic in
these words: - shocmaker's apprentice making
holiday with his sweetheart treated her with a sight
Of Bedlsm, the puppet shows. the flying chairs and
all the elegancles OF Moornelds; from whence pro.
ceeding TO the Farthing Piehouse he gave her a
collation. OF buns. checsecakes, CANNON OF bacon,
stuffed beef and bottled ale; through all which
scenes the author lodged them charmed with the
simplicity Of their courtship), from whence he drew
this little sketch Of nature"
Please ad wise me which OF the subjoined sentences
is correct dramatically and in accordance with
the rules Of correct speaking people:
He had no coat except the one he wore"
He had no coat save only the one he wore"
WILLIAM HENRY TRIMBLE.
A not uninteresting problem In dictIon. Al
are grammatca and the hrst sentence is uneI
ceptonablc in current good usage. The last Is
also In good form. but in present speech would
preferably be slightly recast to read, He had no
other coat than the one he wore" The second
is slightly archaic. for the reason that save is now
obsolescent In that sense. II is not quite In good
RllZabethan English as II stands. yet II might be
easily cast to pass muster in the speech of Raleigh
and Drake and one greater than either. He had
no coat save that he wore" would probably serve.
or II the only were regarded as more than n super
huity, II might read. He had no coat save that
alone he wore" And even at that there might
- ,.r,I,.I % - ,s -uNu --l 1T
would warrant be had no coat save that he ware"
Can you tell me anything Of +. n. Spencer. a nor.
grandfather and grandmother by #. r. Spencer,
March. 1896" n. R0GEus.
Frederick r. Spencer. y. A.. was born In LennoN.
Madison county. n. y. January :, 1904; died In
Wampsv1lle, n. y. April 3. 1875. He had some In
struction In the American Academy In New York
and settled in this city about 1880. In 1887 he was
elected an associate and In lS46 an scademiClan Of
the National Academy. His portraits were gcner
ally successful and among his sitters were Robert
+. LaunitZ, Thomas Thompson and Ladock Pratt.
his portrait OF Edwin White is owned by the acad
envy. The CyclopRdia Of American Biog raphy Is
authority for the foregoing account. In Mrs.
Clements Artists OF the nth Century" II Is said that
In 1853 he retired 10 his native village OF Canastota
and that bis name rarely appeared In the catalogues
OF the metropolitan exhibitions after this year,
although he continued 70 paint until his death,
He was generally successful In securing the Hi eness
OF a sitter.
An inspection Of the general catalogue Of Dart
mouth shows that Or, LArdner was never a member
OF the faculty of the Institution. Those friends
who have been pursuing an interested inquiry
into the American career OF Or, Dionysius L-ardner
may ind some cnjoyment In Thackeray's satirlcal
yet not wholly unkind Characterization of that
literary inquire. 1t is taken from the Memoirs
of c. j. Nellowplush." and particularly from the
last paper In the collection. and reads as follows:
What name, SIR" sayt !, 10 the old gentleman.
"Name'-a a! now. you thief Of the Wurrld," SAYS
he, do you pretind nat 10 know me- Say It's
the Cabinet CyrlOpa no, | name the 1ltherAry
Chran-pshAl .hluthanowns,-s say It's Docthor bio
clesiAn larner | think he'l know me now"
Doctor Diolcsius IArner," says I.
doctor AthanAsius IArdner," SAYS Groville
Fltz Roy, our second tootman, on the fust landing
place.
Doctor, Ignsuus LoyolN,' says the groom Of
the chambers, who pretends " be a scholar, and
In the little genlmn went,
] have asked half q hundred people how to spell
Tam O'ShAnter." Hall Of them will spell Il Tam J
o. ShAnta" and the others insist that II is Tam
O'Shanter." Kindly enlightcn me as 10 which ia
correct. BurnsS poem Is spelled With the ending
"or, but Am sure ] saw II written tho other way, ,
and " so can you inform me OF the difference
JoHN u. BRAssFA.