gate, August 3.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Solingen_ (Vol. ii., p. 135.).--Will you allow me to state, for the
information of T.S. LAWRENCE, who inquires who S_a_lingen, the sword
cutler, was,--that S_o_lingen is the name of a small town near
Elberfeld, in Westphalia; a sort of Sheffield for the whole of that part
of Germany. Immense quantities of cutlery of all sorts are made there,
and many knives are, I was told, made there, stamped with English names,
and imported into England as true British ware,--being equally good with
ours, and, of course, cheaper. Solingen is still, and has been for
centuries, renowned for its sword blades. You cannot ride through the
town without meeting a troop or two of girls with a load of sword blades
on their heads.

May I suggest to your inquirer JARLTZBERG that the derivation of
_blackguard_ is as likely to be _blagarode_, the Russian for _nobleman_,
as many words are to be descended from their reputed parents.

C.B.M.

P.C.S.S. believes that a little research would have enabled MR. LAWRENCE
(Vol. ii., p. 135.) to ascertain that _Solingen_ (not S_a_lingen) was
not the name of a sword cutler, but of a place in Prussian Westphalia,
long celebrated for the fabrication of that weapon, as well as of
fencing-foils. Of the latter instrument P.C.S.S. has several pairs in
his possession, all marked with the inscription "In Solingen." That the
Solingen manufactory still flourishes there, is stated in Murray's
_Handbook for Northern Germany_, p. 373.

P.C.S.S.

_Blackguard_ (Vol. ii., p. 134.).--In the second vol. of B. Jonson's
works by Gifford, page 169., there is the following note on this word:--

"In all great houses, but particularly in the royal residences,
there were a number of mean, dirty dependants, whose office it
was to attend the wool-yard, sculleries, &c.; of these the most
forlorn wretches seem to have been selected to carry coals to
the kitchens, halls, &c. To this smutty regiment, who attended
the {171} progresses, and rode in the carts with the pots and
kettles, the people in derision gave the name of _black_-guards"

I find also the following in Butlerts _Hudibras_, part 3.:--

"Thou art some paltry, _blackguard_ sprite,
Condemn'd to drudgery in the night;
Thou hast no work to do in the house,
Nor halfpenny to drop in shoes."

AREDJID KOOEZ.

_The Three Dukes_ (Vol. ii., p. 9.).--