Page iv.
RT.
Warmington.
Cou-bache (Vol. v., p. 131.).
—In MR. SINGER'S note on the word cou-bache, in the enumeration of the cognate words which would appear to contradict the usual interpretation, he would seem to have forgotten the Greek Βήσσα, which confirms it, and has precisely the meaning of a shaded mountain valley, and certainly belongs to the same tribe of the Indo-Germanic languages as the pure Saxon bæccha.
RICHARD F. LITTLEDALE.
White-livered (Vol. v., p. 127.).
—The expression white-livered had its origin in the auspices taken by the Greeks and Romans before battle, in which the examination of the liver and entrails of the victim formed an essential part. If the liver were the usual shape, and a blood-red colour, the omen was favourable; if pale or livid, it was an augury of defeat. The transition from the victim to the inquirer was easy, and a dastard leader, likely to sustain disgrace, was called "a man of a white liver."
RICHARD F. LITTLEDALE.
Dublin.