Item 17 - Letter from W. W. Skeat to W. Aldis Wright

1 folded sheet

(Place of writing not indicated.)—Discusses the phrase ‘pioned and twilled brims’ (in The Tempest) and the word ‘Cockney’.

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Transcript

May 6.

Dear Sir—

Walking in Warwickshire lately, in April, I looked out for “pioned & twilled brims”. At the roadside between Warwick and Kenilworth the ditch had been just cleared out by “pioning”, i.e. clean cutting of the spade—but all the “twilling” I could see was the ugly patches of mud on the bank above: thus:— [There follows a diagram of a section of the roadside, with parts labelled ‘bank’, ‘path’, and ‘ditch, cut clean, fresh, & square; with a little water.’ Half-way up the bank is a patch marked ‘A.’ and below the diagram is the note ‘A. splotch of mud.’] Is it possible, after all, that “twilled” is the French touillé besmeared?—See Cotgrave* {1}. That’s a new light, is n’t it.
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Look out riblette in Cotgrave, & you will see that “collops” require a skilled cook to make them. I believe, then (at present) that kokeney in P. Plowman (B. vi. 287) really does {2} mean a scullion: &, if so, then cockney in King Lear may mean so too.

See also guespine in Cotgrave for the phrase “a cockney of London”.
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If twilled = touillé, it gives great force to “betrims” in the next line. I saw that too; the fresh mud was beginning to be covered with green weeds. I saw the speedwell not far off. As for “spongy April”, I realised that by a walk through the fields from Leamington to Offchurch. In some places, the ground was unpleasantly true to the epithet. In March, that footpath would have been almost impassable, I shd think.* {3}

Yours ever.
W. W. Skeat.

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{1} Footnote: ‘*Especially the Proverb cited.’

{2} Underlined twice.

{3} Footnote: ‘*In one place, the field lay in “rigs”.’ Followed by a thumbnail sketch of the ridges.

This description was created by A. C. Green in 2022.