That, what wi’ drams, and mony a horn,
And reaming bicker,
The ferly is, withouten scorn,
They wauk’d sae sicker.”
Mayne’s Siller Gun.
This animated little poem will be read with no common pleasure by every admirer of the Scottish muse. In felicity of description the author is not inferior to Burns, while in delicacy of humour he may claim the superiority.
This preposition is supposed by Mr. Gilchrist to be derived from forth, or rather to be a different form of that word. See his “Philosophic Etymology,” a work exhibiting considerable ingenuity and philological knowledge, combined with many fanciful and unphilosophical opinions.
[112] It is possible that the Greek ἀπό, and the Latin ab derived from it, had their origin in אב pater principium, “author,” or “principle of existence.”
[113] The verb, “to twin,” is still used in Scotland for “to part,” or “separate.”
[114] That the Saxon word ægther signified each, is sufficiently evident from a variety of examples; and the adjective either has continued to be used in that sense by reputable writers. Lowth, who, I apprehend, did not advert to its primitive signification, condemns the use of it as equivalent to each; and notwithstanding its original import, I agree with him in thinking, that it is much better to confine its meaning to “one of two.” The reason will be assigned hereafter.