but was earlier used of soldiers in any way exposed to special danger. Cotgrave has enfans perdus, "perdus; or the forlorne hope of a campe (are commonly gentlemen of companies)." It is from obsolete Du. verloren hoop, where hoop, cognate with Eng. heap, is used for a band or company. In 16th-century German we find ein verlorener Haufe. Both the Dutch and German expressions are obsolete in this sense.
The military phrase to run the gauntlet has no connection with gauntlet, glove. The older form gantlope—
"Some said he ought to be tied neck and heels; others that he deserved to run the gantlope."
(Tom Jones, vii. 1.)
It is a punishment of Swedish origin from the period of the Thirty Years' War. The Swedish form is gatlopp, in which gat is cognate with Eng. gate, in its northern sense of "street," and lopp with Eng. leap and Ger. laufen, to run.
The press-gang had originally nothing to do with "pressing." When soldiers or seamen were engaged, they received earnest money called prest-money, i.e., an advance on "loan," Old Fr. prest (prêt), and the engagement was called presting or impresting. Florio explains soldato (see p. [154]), lit. "paid," by "prest with paie as soldiers are." The popular corruption to press took place naturally as the method of enlistment became more "pressing."
The black art is a translation of Old Fr. nigromance, "nigromancie, conjuring, the black art" (Cotgrave); but this is folk-etymology for nécromantie, Greco-Lat. necromantia, divination by means of the dead. The popular form négromancie still survives in French. To curry favour is a corruption of Mid. Eng. "to curry favel." The expression is translated from French. Palsgrave has curryfavell, a flatterer, "estrille faveau," estriller (étriller) meaning "to curry (a horse)." Faveau, earlier fauvel, is the name of a horse in the famous Roman de Fauvel, a satirical Old French poem of the early 14th century. He symbolises worldly vanity carefully tended by all classes of society. The name is a diminutive of Fr. fauve, tawny, cognate with Eng. fallow (deer). (See also p. [192], [n.])
A very curious case of folk-etymology is seen in the old superstition of the hand of glory. This is understood to be a skeleton hand from the gallows which will point out hidden treasure—
"Now mount who list,
And close by the wrist
Sever me quickly the Dead Man's fist."
(Ingoldsby, The Hand of Glory.)