Q. S.
Straw Bail (Vol. vii., p. 85.).—In connexion with, though not as a reply to, Mr. Curtis's Query touching the origin of the expression "A man of straw," I beg to bring under notice a phrase I heard for the first time a few days ago, but which may nevertheless be well known to others. A seaman, talking to me of a strike for wages among the crew of a ship, said that the captain, as the rate of wages had not been raised, had manned his ship with a "lot of straw-yarders." On my asking the meaning of the expression, I was told that a "straw-yarder" was a man about the docks who had never been to sea, and knew little or nothing of the duties of a seaman.
Brutoniensis.
Pearl (Vol. vi., p. 578.; Vol. vii., pp. 18. 166.).—In the Old German, merikrioz is pearl; and in the Ang.-Sax. it is meregreot,—the latter from mere, sea, and greot, grit, sand, or grot, an atom. These are so similar to the Greek margaritas, and the margarita of the sister language (Latin), that we may be excused believing they have a common origin; more especially as we find the first syllable (at least?) in almost all the cognate Indo-Germanic or Indo-European languages: Latin, mare; Celt., mor; Gothic, marei; Sax., mære or mere; Old Germ., meri; Slavon., more and morze; Swed., mar; Iceland, mar; Esthon., merri; Lett., marrios.
Among modern languages, we have,—Span., margarita; Ital., margarita and maugherita; Fr., marguerite, but used only in the proverb, "Il ne faut pas jeter les marguerites devant les pourceaux." Johnson, Webster, and Halliwell give margarite as an English word. Probably all derived from the Latin.
At the same time, although not occurring (as far as I am aware) in either Greek or Latin, the word pearl is found in some shape in most of the same Indo-Germanic languages: thus, Ital. and Span., perla; Low. Lat., perla; French, perle; Eng., pearl; Dan., paarl; Swed., perla or p[)a]rla; Bohem., perle; Ang.-Sax., pearl and pærl; Low. Sax., berel. Webster says the word pearl may be radically the same as beryl. In the Celtic we find, Irish, pearla, and Welsh perlyn.
The Germans derive pearl from beer, a berry, making thus berle or beerlein; as in Latin bacca also means a pearl.
Some of your correspondents can, no doubt, inform us whether any analogous words to pearl and margarita exist in the Sanscrit?
A. C. M.
Exeter.