_Ennui_ (Vol. vii., p. 478.; Vol. viii., p. 377.).--The meaning of this
admirable word is best gleaned from its root, viz. _nuit_. It is somewhat
equivalent to the Greek [Greek: agrupnia], and signifies the sense of
weariness with doing nothing. It gives the lie to the _dolce far niente_:
vide Ps. cxxx. 6., and Job vii. 3, 4. _Ennui_ is closely allied to our
_annoy_ or _annoyance_, through _noceo_, _noxa_, and their probable root
_nox_, [Greek: nux.] It is precisely equivalent to the Latin _taedium_,
which may be derived from _taeda_, which in the plural means a torch, and
through that word may have a side reference to night, the _taedarum horae_:
cf. Ps. xci. 5. The subject is worthy of strict inquiry on the part of
comparative philologists.

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

_Belle Sauvage_ (Vol. viii., p. 388.).--Your Philadelphian correspondent
asks whether Blue Bell, Blue Anchor, &c., are corruptions of some other
emblem, such as that which in London transformed _La Belle Sauvage_ into
the _Bell Savage_.

This is not the fact. The Bell Savage on Ludgate Hill was originally kept
by one Isabella Savage. A cotemporary historian, writing of one of the
leaders in a rebellion in the days of Queen {524} Mary, says, "He then sat
down upon a stone opposite to Bell Savage's Inn."

JAMES EDMESTON.

Homerton.

_History of York_ (Vol. viii., p. 125.).--There is a _History of York_,
published in 1785 by Wilson and Spence, described to be an abridgment of
Drake, which is in three volumes, and may be a later edition of the same
work to which MR. ELLIOT alludes.

F. T. M.

86. Cannon Street.

_Encore_ (Vol. viii., p. 387.).--If A. A. knows the meaning of "this French
word" I am a little surprised at his Query. Perhaps he means to ask why a
French word should be used? It probably was first used at concerts and
operas (_ancora_ in Italian), where the performers and even the
performances were foreign, and so became the fashion. Pope says:

"To the same notes thy sons shall hum or snore,
And all thy yawning daughters cry _encore_."

It was not, I think, in use so early as Shakspeare's time, who makes Bottom
anticipate that "the Duke shall say, Let him roar _again_, let him roar
_again_," where the jingle of "encore" would have been obvious. It is
somewhat curious that where we use the French word _encore_, the French
audiences use the Latin word "bis."

C.

_"Hauling over the Coals"_ (Vol. viii., p. 125.).--Th