The Verb "to commit" (Vol. v., p. 125.).
—The verb to commit, in the sense used by Junius, was employed by Lord Chesterfield so far back as the year 1757. In a letter to his son (Nov. 26), his lordship, after instructing Mr. Stanhope what to say to one of the foreign ministers, directs him to send to his own court an account of what he had done:
"Tell them you thought the measure of such great importance that you could not help taking this little step towards bringing it about, but that you mentioned it only from yourself, and that you have not committed them by it."
Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his Son were not published until 1774, which will account for Walker ascribing to Junius the merit of introducing into the English language the French signification of the verb to commit.
WILLIAM CRAMP.
Beócera-gent (Vol. v., p. 201.).
—As I asked a question relating to the Irish, perhaps I may be allowed the so-called Irish mode of answering it myself.
Beócherie is evidently derived from Beóceraige, the islet of bee-hives, or bee-keepers (who were regularly appointed officers in Saxon England); but as I was utterly at a loss for the word gent, I requested the opinion of Dr. Lèo, from whom I have received the following satisfactory reply:—
"The word gent seems to be the same word as our German gante, and the Scottish gauntree; i.e. a tree which forms a stand for barrels, hives, &c. In several parts of Germany, where the culture of bees has, from distant periods, been carried on extensively, the hives are transported from one place to another according to the seasons: now in the forests, when the pine-trees are in flower; now in the fields, when the rape blossoms; then again in the woods, when the heather blossoms; and at last, when winter approaches, in the barn. A tree forms the stand for the bee-hive, and thatch protects it from the rain. Such a tree seems to be the beócera-gent.
"In an old Glossary, the old high-German word, gantmari, is interpreted as tignarius (i.e. faber tignarius, a carpenter). This word presupposes another word gant, a beam or a rafter, probably equivalent to your Ang.-Sax. gent; and thus beócera-gent would be a beam upon which to stand bee-hives."