It thereupon occurred to me that
just as _brock_, a still existing name for the badger, is clearly from
the Saxon _broc_, persecution, in allusion to the custom of baiting
the animal; so _schreava_ might be from _schraef_, a hollow, in
allusion to the hole in the ash tree; and on that supposition I
considered "shrew," as applied to a woman, to be a different word,
perhaps from the German _schreyen_, to clamour. I have, however, found
mentioned in Bailey's Dictionary a Teutonic word, which may reconcile
both senses of "shrew,"--I mean _beschreyen_, to bewitch. I shall
be obliged to any of your subscribers who will enlighten me upon the
subject.
W.R.F.
_A Chip in Porridge_.--What is the origin and exact force of this
phrase? Sir Charles Napier, in his recent general order, informs the
Bengal army that
"The reviews which the Commander-in-Chief makes of the troops
are not to be taken as so many 'chips in porridge.'"
I heard a witness, a short time since, say, on entering the
witness-box--
"My Lord, I am like a 'chip in porridge'; I can
say nothing either for or against the plaintiff."
Q.D.
_Temple Stanyan_.--Who was Temple Stanyan, concerning whom I find in
an old note-book the following quaint entry?
"Written on a window at College, by Mr. Temple Stanyan, the
author of a _History of Greece_:--
"Temple Stanyan, his window.
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