[64] The "stick" meaning survives in the yards of a ship. Yard was once the general word for rod, wand. Thus the "cheating yardwand" of Tennyson's "smooth-faced snubnosed rogue" (Maud, I. i. 16) is a pleonasm of the same type as greyhound (p. [135]). Yard, an enclosure, is a separate word, related to garden. The doublet garth, used in the Eastern counties, is of Scandinavian origin—
"I climb'd to the top of the garth, and stood by the road at the gate."
(Tennyson, The Grandmother, l. 38.)
[65] As Old Fr. uissier has given usher, I would suggest that the family names Lush and Lusher, which Bardsley (Dict. of English Surnames) gives up, are for Old Fr. l'uis (cf. Laporte) and l'uissier. In modern French Lhuissier is not an uncommon name.
[66] The onion, Fr. oignon, Lat. unio, union-, is so named because successive skins form an harmonious one-ness. It is a doublet of union.
[67] Perhaps a diminutive of Cymric bele, marten, but felt as from Fr. belle.
[68] Dozens of similar names for the weasel could be collected from the European languages and dialects. It is probable that these complimentary names were propitiatory, the weasel being an animal regarded with superstitious dread.
[69] Cf. Prester John, the fabulous priest monarch of Ethiopia.
[70] Cf. lordly, princely, etc., and Ger. herrisch, imperious, from Herr, sir.
[71] Modern Fr. écrou is used only in the sense of prison register.