Linwood.
Bull the Barrel.
—What is the origin and exact meaning of the word bull in this phrase? I made a note of the passage in which I found it, thinking that it might possibly be connected in some way with Milton's "bullish." (See vol. iii., p. 241; vol. iv., p. 394.)
"On the third day after my departure from Zashiversk, my liquor was at an end from the effects of a very common sort of leak—it had been tapped too often. I could do nothing but bull the barrel, that is, put a little water into it, and so preserve at least the appearance of vodkey."—Cochrane's Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey through Russia and Siberian Tartary, during the years 1820-23. [Murray, 1824, one vol. 8vo.] p. 225.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
Nuremberg Token.
—What is the meaning of the following legend, which I find on an old brass or copper coin of extreme thinness, and of the size of a shilling:—
"HANNS . KRAVWINCKEL . IN . NVR ."
encircling three crowns disposed in a circle with fleur de lis intervening.