"Mauther, a foolish young girl(not used)."—Ben Jonson.
Skinner is, I believe, wrong in assigning the r termination to the Danish word. Such a termination of the word maid is not to be found in any of the Teutonic dialects. The diphthong sound and the th appear frequently; as,
1. Moeso-Gothic: Magath or Magaths; Mawi,
dim. Mawilo.
2. Anglo-Saxon: Maeth, Maegth, dim. Meowla.
3. Old-German: Maget.
4. Swedish: Moe.
5. Norse: Moei.
I therefore suppose the r termination in mauther to be a mere corruption, like that pointed out by Skinner in the Lincoln Folk-speech: or is it possible that it may have arisen from a contusion of the words maid and mother in Roman Catholic times? In Holland the Virgin Mary was called Moeder Maagd,—a phrase which may possibly have crossed over to the East Anglian coast, and occasioned the subsequent confusion.
B.H.K.