The Influence of Low Dutch on the English Vocabulary

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Chapter XIII
The influence of Low Dutch on the English Vocabulary of Science, Literature, and Art

13. 1.^{13. 1.}

It is extremely difficult to delimit the influence of Low Dutch upon the literary vocabulary. Every Englishman who could read a book in a Low Dutch language or who studied in the Low Countries was liable to it. It is, then, the least sharply defined channel through which Low Dutch influence entered, but nevertheless certain definite facts emerge.

A greatly increased desire for knowledge of foreign languages and ways in the 15th century was due to the growth of foreign trade, and skill in languages seems to have been highly valued. When John Paston recommended a Clerk of the Kitchen to Lord Hastings, he said of him: ‘He is well spoken in Inglyshe, metly well in Frenshe and verry perfite in Flemyshe, he can wryght and reed.’

At the Renaissance Low Country scholars appeared at our universities to lecture and teach. In the Elizabethan period troops of English actors toured the Continent and visited many Low Country and Low German towns; the English plays which they performed came in the nature of a revelation.

From about 1590 intellectual life began to revive in the two commercial provinces of the Netherlands, and art, letters, and science made Holland a focus of intellectual development. Leyden university attracted the best elements and was the centre of learned studies. The famous teachers were Lipsius (till 1590), Scaliger, Heinsius, and Dousa. Under their leadership was educated a throng of young students of the classics, who introduced scientific methods into the municipal Latin schools of Holland and the neighbouring provinces and into other universities and schools in Europe. There were other universities at Groningen (from 1614) and at Harderwijk, the Frisian university. Many Protestant foreigners, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Danes, Swiss, and Germans, thronged the Dutch schools at this period, and the foreign students numbered almost as many as the native ones. The Low German universities also attracted English students. It was quite a common practice for English gentle-

13. 1. Blok, iii. 342-8; iv. 63; Abram, 177.

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men making the Grand Tour in the 17th century to matriculate at one of these universities, as, for example, did Evelyn at Leyden.

The Court at the Hague about 1640 was one of the most brilliant in Europe and a school for young courtiers and princes. German, French, English, Swedish, and Danish noblemen sent their sons there to learn what a nobleman ought to know.

13. 2.^{13. 2.}

In the 16th century the foundations of modern botany were laid by Low Dutch scholars, whose works were translated and adapted into English and inspired the studies and the achievement of the school of English botanists known as the Herbalists, many of whose terms were taken directly or adapted from Dutch.

William Turner published in 1538 his Libellus de Re Herbaria, a book which practically initiated the study of botany at Cambridge. He travelled in Holland, Germany, and Italy after 1540, and at Zurich became intimate with Conrad Gesner, the famous naturalist. Turner collected plants in many parts of the Rhine country and in Holland and East Friesland, where he became physician to the ‘Erle of Emden’, and made botanical expeditions to the islands lying off the Frisian coast. During this time he wrote his famous Herbal, but delayed its publication until he returned to England. Turner was the first Englishman who studied plants scientifically.

Henry Lyte's first and most important work was his translation of the Cruydeboeck (publ. Antwerp, 1554) by the great Flemish botanist Rembert Dodoens of Mechlin, which he made from the French translation of De l'Escluse. The first edition of the translation was printed at Antwerp in order to secure the woodcuts of the original. It bears the title: ‘A niewe Herball or Historie of Plantes ... first set foorth in the Doutche or Almaigne tongue by that learned D. Rembert Dodoens, Physitian to the Emperour, and now first translated out of French into English by Henry Lyte, Esquyer.’ This was a work of far-reaching influence on English botanical studies.

John Gerard published his Herball in 1597. This is in the main a translation, begun by Dr. Priest, of Dodoens's Pemptades, with more than 1,800 woodcuts, mostly by Bergzabern of Frankfurt.

13. 2. D.N.B., articles on Lyte, Henry; Turner, William; Gerard, John.

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One word appeared in Turner's first book, Libellus (1538), Wind, a twining plant, e.g. convolvulus; partly ad. M.Du. and MLG. winde, in the sense convolvulus, partly a direct formation on the vb. wind.

In his Names of Herbes (1548) Turner is responsible for the following. Buckwheat, a species of edible grain, with three-cornered seeds like beechnuts; probably a translation of Du. boekweit; Lyte says of it in his Dodoens, ‘very common in the lands of Brabant called Kempene, in base Almaigne, Boekweydt, after which name it may be Englished Bockwheat’; Googe, Heresbach's Husb. (1577), used the form beechwheat, thinking no doubt of the shape of the grains, and also buck, short for buckwheat. Crane's-bill, Cranesbill, a name for various species of the genus Geranium; a translation of Du. craenhals (G. kranichhals, MLG. kraneshals). Neeze-wort, a former name of Hellebore; ad. Du. nies-wortel (also nieskruid) or G. nies(e)-wurz(el). Soapwort, one or other of herbaceous plants which yield a saponaceous principle; an Anglicizing of Du. zeepkruid or G. seifenkraut. Wintercress, any of the cruciferous herbs of the genus Barbarea, the leaves of which were formerly used for a winter salad; after Du. winterkers. Wintergreen, the name for various plants of low growth and creeping habit whose leaves remain green in winter; after Du. wintergreen. Woundwort, a popular name given to various plants from their use in healing wounds; from wound and wort, after Du. wondkruid or G. wundkraut.

Another list comes in Turner's later book, his Herball (1551). Setterwort, the plant Bearsfoot; perhaps adopted from MLG., which has a variety of forms, sitro-, sutir-, sittir-, sitti-, siter-, sutten-, and sut-wort; this first element is of unknown origin. In the edition of 1562 appears Harstrang, Horestrong, hog's fennel; ad. LG. harstrang (G. harnstrenge, from harn, urine, and strenge, tightness, rigidity). New words appear in the edition of 1568. Moose, pottage, stewed vegetable; ad. Du. moes. Saltwort, any plant of the genus Salsola, a name for several maritime and salt-marsh plants; probably after Du. zoutkruid (G. salzkraut).

Lyte introduced many new words in his Dodoens (1578). Brantcorn, blight or smut; ad. M.Du. brant koren, lit. burnt corn. Buck-bean, bogbean; in Lyte Buckes beanes, which translates the Flem. bocxboonen; later transformed to buck-bean; O.E.D. translates bocx-boonen by ‘goats’ beans, but Ndl. Wdb. states that the sense of bocx, boks, in this combination does not

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appear. Catkin, the flower of the willow, birch, hazel, &c.; taken by Lyte from Du. katteken, kitten and catkin of willow, &c. (in Dodoens), diminutive of katte, cat. Henbit, ‘called of the base Almaignes Hoenderbeet’, the name given to two common weeds, the Ivy-leaved Speedwell and a species of Deadnettle; from hen and bit, after the Du. name. Rhein-berry, the buckthorn berry; ad. M.Du. rijnbesie, from Rijn, Rhine, and besie, berry. Rosewort, roseroot; from rose and wort, probably after Du. roosenwortel (Kilian) or G. rosenwurz. Standelwort, stand-grass; ad. MLG. standel-, stendelwort, from standel, stendel, from the root of the vb. to stand and wort, wort. Sundew, any plant of the genus Drosera, which comprises small herbs growing in bogs, with leaves covered with glandular hairs secreting viscid drops which glitter in the sun like dew; ad. e.mod.Du. son-, sundauw (G. sonnentau), a translation of L. rōs sōlis. Weedwind, black bindweed, also wild convolvulus; ad. M.Du. wedewinde, with assimilation of the first element to Eng. weed. Whitewort, a name for several plants with white flowers or roots, as Feverfew, Solomon's seal; from white and wort, after Du. witwortel (G. weisswurz).

One word appears in Higins, Junius' Nomencl. (1585). Woolblade, mullein; ad. M.Du. wolblad, from wolle, wool, and blad, blade.

Two words appear first in the Herball of Gerard (1597). Dewgrass, a name given by Gerard and other early herbalists to an esculent grass of Central Europe; from dew and grass, suggested by LG. himmeldau (med.L. rōs caeli), ‘dew of heaven’, manna. Guelder rose, the snowball tree, named from Guelders, a town in Germany, on the border of Holland, or from Guelderland, a province of Holland, formerly a German duchy of which Guelders was the capital; so Du. Geldersche roos, G. Gelderische rose, F. rose de Gueldres.

Much later comes a word introduced by Parkinson in his Theat. Bot. (1640). Glidewort, an old name for a species of Sideritis; a half-adoption, half-translation of M.Du. glidcruyt, Du. glidkruid, or G. glidkraut; the first element seems to mean limb, in reference to the use of the herb as a remedy for gout.

One word, Boor's Mustard, has altered its form since its first introduction by the Herbalists; Turner, in 1548, translated the G. Baurenseufe by Boures Mustard, and the 1578 and 1579 quotations in O.E.D. have the forms bowers and bowiers or

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bowyers mustard, which must be from the G. Bauren; but the last quotation, from Britten and Holland, Plant Names (1878), is spelled Boor's Mustard, so that the original Du. word has supplanted the G.; Du. has the same name, Boeren mosterd (Bense).

One plant name comes in at a period far anterior to that of the Herbalists. Buschbome (1513, Douglas, Aeneis), boxwood or box; ad. M.Du. buschboom, variant of bosboom; the curious form buschboun in Douglas is derived by O.E.D. from the Flem. busboom.

13. 3.

In the 16th and 17th centuries English scholars were much influenced in medicine and surgery by the practice of the Dutch. Dutch and Low German books were translated and Low Dutch medical and surgical terms transferred into the English vocabulary.

The following appear first in Andrew Brunswyke's Distilled Waters (1527). Droppell, in droppell-piss, -pysse, strangury; ad. MLG. or M.Du. droppel, small drop. Spean, a swelling of the uvula; ad. M.Du. or MLG. spene (Du. and Flem. speen, LG. spene, späne); this word appears later in Twyne, Aeneid (1573), in the sense ‘a teat or nipple, esp. of a cow’, and is perhaps a popular borrowing of agriculture. Spole-worm, a tape-worm infesting the human body; ad. older Flem. spoel-worm (Kilian). Wrat, wart; ad. MLG. wratte (LG. wratt, Du. wrat), or a metathetic variant of wart.

From Hollybush's Hom. Apoth. (1561) comes Skalfering, scurfiness or scurvy; from LG. schalfer or Du. schelfer, variant of schilfer (see Skilfer, below).

‘A.M.’ in his translations of medical works is responsible for some Low Dutch borrowings. In the translation of Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. (1597) appears Skilfer, a small piece, splinter; ad. Du. schilfer, earlier schelfer, scale, fragment; he uses it in the same sense in his translation of Gäbelhouer's Bk. Physicke (1599), and also in the sense ‘scurf, dandruff’. In this same work appear Kneeshive, the kneecap, from G. kneischeibe or Du. knieschijf, and Sliss, to slake or slack lime; ad. Du. or Flem. slissen, to slake.

Later is Slenker (1658, A. Fox, Würtz' Surg.), to dangle, swing; ad. LG. slenkern or G. schlenkern.

13. 4.

In the 16th and 17th centuries English scholars were much influenced also by Dutch and Low German work in the various branches of natural history and science. The close

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relation between the learned men of all nations, which is characteristic of later times, ensured that any advance in studies in Low Dutch lands almost immediately influenced English studies.

The following are terms of Ornithology. Wing-thrush (1544, Turner, Avium Praecip.), the redwing thrush; O.E.D. suggests that this word perhaps arose from a misunderstanding of LG. *wîngaardsvogel, weingartdrossel, from wîngaard, vineyard, and vogel, bird, and drossel, thrush; also that perhaps the word never had any currency. Siskin (1562, Turner, Herbal), a small songbird, in some respects closely allied to the goldfinch; ad. G. dial. sisschen or zeischen or older Flem. sijsken, cijsken (Kilian, Du. and Flem. sijsje, Du. sisgen), a diminutive form based on the MHG. zîsec, MLG. ziseke, sisek, which are apparently of Slavonic origin. Misken (1585, Higins, Junius' Nomenclator), a titmouse; probably a diminutive of M.Du. meese, Du. mees, titmouse. Nine-killer (1678, Ray, Willughby's Ornith.), the butcher-bird or shrike; a translation of Du. negendooder or G. neuntödter.

There are a few terms of Zoology. Flewen (1494), a polecat; ad. M.Du. fluwijn, probably a corruption of F. fouine. Roddikin (1599), the fourth stomach of a ruminant animal; perhaps ad. Du. or Flem. *roodekin, diminutive of roode (Kilian); this was perhaps a popular borrowing as a farming term. Rell-mouse (1752), the dormouse; ad. Du. relmuis or G. rellmaus.

A term of Entomology is Dop (1700, Leuwenhoeck), the pupa case or cocoon of an insect; ad. Du. dop, shell, husk, cover; this is the same word as Dop, p. 140.

There are two terms of Marine Zoology or Conchology. Seashilling (1713, Petiver, Aquat. Anim. Amboinae), a sea-urchin; ad. Du. zeeschelling. Wentle-trap (1758, H. Walpole), a marine shell of the genus Scalaria; ad. Du. wenteltrap, a winding stair, spiral shell.

Two terms of Physics were introduced in the 17th century. Blas (1662), a name for a supposed ‘flatus’ or influence of the stars producing changes of weather coined by the Fleming, J.B. van Helmont (1577-1644), in his Oriatrike or Physics Refined (trans. by J. C(handler)), most probably after the M.Du. blaes, which as late as the 17th century had the sense ‘wind’, or else he took over the MLG. blas, ‘der Hauch’; van Helmont also coined Gas, but it has not been included here because it did not have a Low Dutch basis. Weather-wiser (1667, Sprat,

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Hist. Roy. Soc.), an instrument serving to foretell the weather; ad. Du. wederwijzer, weerwijzer, from weder, weer, weather, and wijzer, agent noun from wijzen, to show.

The few terms of Archaeology and Antiquarianism are late and mostly refer to remains peculiar to the Low Dutch region. Gilbert White, however, in his Selborne (1778), introduced Sproutcale, which he thought was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of February, ‘our Saxon ancestors certainly had some sort of cabbage because they call the month of February sprout-cale’; it seems to be an erroneous rendering of older Flem. sprock-kelle (Du. sprokkelmaand). Terp (plural terpen, 1838), an artificial mound or hillock, the site of a prehistoric village and still in many cases occupied by a village or church, in parts of Friesland below sea-level or liable to inundation; these terpen, like the Italian terramares, have in modern times been excavated for the sake of the fertilizing soil which they yield and more recently for the prehistoric remains found in them; the name has thus passed into archaeological use; W.Fris. terp, village, mound, E.Fris. terp, N.Fris. têrp, sarp, village, O.Fris. therp, umlaut variant of O.Fris. thorp, village.

There are a few terms of Mineralogy. Tarras (1612, Sturtevant, Metallica), a kind of rock consisting largely of comminuted pumice, found along the Rhine between Cologne and Mainz, and formerly imported into Holland for making hydraulic cement, hence the mortar or cement made of this; ad. e.mod.Du. terras, tiras (Kilian), Du. tras, G. trasz, terrasz; of Romance origin, cf. OF. terrace, It. terraccia, rubble or rubbish. Also found as an independent borrowing in the form Trass (1796), ad. Du. tras or G. trasz. Willemite (1850), native silicate of zinc found in masses of crystals; ad. Du. Willemit (A. Levy, 1829), from Willem, William I of the Netherlands.

The channel of entry of the following word is hard to determine. Lacmus (1794, Sullivan, View Nature), litmus; ad. Du. lakmoes, from lak, of doubtful origin, and moes, pulp. Litmus itself comes in as a dyeing term; perhaps lacmus is a term of Botany; its second appearance in 1812, J. Smyth, Pract. of Customs, favours dyeing or trade.

One term of Bibliography has been formed in imitation of the Dutch or German. Offprint (1885, Skeat in Academy), a separately printed copy of an article; from off and print, in imitation of the Du. afdruk.

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13. 5.

The intimate relations between England and the Low Countries in matters of religion and theology is reflected in a few words. Arminian (1618), from the proper name Arminius, the latinized surname of the Dutch Protestant theologian, Jacob Harmensen; as his doctrines were embraced in whole or part by large sections of the Reformed Churches, his name became well known in England from the year of the Synod of Dort (1618-19) and has been used as an adj. and sb. ever since; it has become so thoroughly English as to have the following derivatives: Arminianish, Arminianism, to Arminianize, Arminianizer (Bense). Waterlander (1860), the section of the Mennonites who held the least strict doctrine of excommunication; from Waterland, a district in north Holland, and -er.

A name for members of a school of hagiology is Bollandist (1751), the name given to the Jesuit writers who continued the work called Acta Sanctorum, begun by the Flemish Jesuit, John Bolland, who lived in the 17th century.

13. 6.^{13. 6.}

William Caxton used a great number of Flemish words in his writings, and his contribution to the vocabulary is so large as to require a separate section with some account of his life and residences in the Low Countries. Caxton's great influence as the first English printer gave sufficient authority to some of these new words to maintain them in the English vocabulary; the majority, however, did not catch on and are to be found only in Caxton's writings.

Caxton, according to his own statement in the Prologue to The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, ‘was born ... in Kente in the Weeld’. He was apprenticed to a London draper named Large; after his master's death, but still under the terms of his apprenticeship, he left England for Bruges, where there was a large colony of English merchants. For the next thirty years he lived in the Low Countries. In 1446 Caxton came out of his apprenticeship and set up business for himself at Bruges, and in 1453 he entered the livery of the Mercers' Company in London.

Edward IV had granted in 1462 a charter to the Merchant Adventurers for the better government of their members living in the Low Countries, and permission was given them to appoint a governor for themselves at Bruges. Caxton fulfilled the duties

13. 6. W.J.B. Crotch, The Prologues and Epilogues of William Caxton. Introd. xxix, xxxvi, xli-xliv, lv-lxv, lxxii-lxxiv, lxxix-lxxxi, lxxxiv-lxxxviii, xciv-cii, cxvi; D.N.B. art. ‘William Caxton’.

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of the office until the appointment was ratified and before 1465 was definitely appointed governor. This points to Caxton's high standing in the English colony, for the duties of the office were most responsible; with the help of a small jury of fellow merchants he decided all disputes between English merchants in the Low Countries, he regulated and supervised the importation and exportation of merchandise, and he corresponded with the English Government on commercial matters.

Caxton frequently acted as envoy and ambassador for the English king. In 1464 a commercial treaty between England and the Low Countries was about to lapse, and Caxton and Sir Richard Whitehill were commissioned to negotiate for its renewal. The treaty, however, was not renewed, and Philip the Good of Burgundy excluded all English cloth from his dominions. The English Government in retaliation prohibited the import of all Flemish goods. The English merchants were driven to smuggling, and in 1466 the Earl of Warwick ordered Caxton to enforce penalties against them. The accession of Charles the Bold improved relations between the two countries, especially when the new Duke married Margaret, the sister of Edward IV. Caxton and two other English envoys were able to restore the trading relationships to their old footing. Caxton's official business sometimes took him far afield; there are records of several visits to Utrecht to treat with the Hanse, to the Hague, Middelburg, Gouda, and Cologne.

In spite of the press of business in these official years, Caxton seems to have found time to begin that long series of translations which engaged him up to the end of his life. In 1469 he started the translation of the Recueil des Histoires de Troye. He was greatly in favour with the Duchess of Burgundy from her first arrival in the Low Countries, and more and more tended to withdraw himself from commerce for the household service of the Duchess.

Caxton became acquainted with the newly discovered art of printing at the early press at Cologne, when he visited that city on official business in 1471. The Recuyell was probably printed in 1474, but the date and the exact circumstances of printing are not certain. There is doubt where Caxton learned the art. The opinion usually received is that Caxton and the Bruges printer, Colard Mansion, learned it together at Cologne, and that when Mansion set up a press in Bruges about 1473,

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Caxton supplied him with the money. The absence from the Recuyell of many of the technical points met with in the Cologne books of this time and the presence of many, though not all, of those found in the early books of the Mansion press at Bruges point to the conclusion that Caxton printed this book at Bruges.

In 1476 Caxton left Bruges to set up the first printing-press in England, and on the 18th of November, 1477, printed at Westminster The Dictes or Sayenges of the Philosophres, the first book printed in England. From 1477 to the end of his life Caxton was wholly employed in printing and translating. His industry in those years was immense. He printed nearly eighty separate books, some of them going to two and three editions, and translated twenty-one books from the French and one from the Dutch. He printed in most cases on paper made in the Low Countries and imported; very rarely he used vellum.

Caxton from his thirty years' residence in the Netherlands must have been perfectly bilingual. It is obvious that he thought as easily in Flemish as in English, and when he needed a word, the Flemish sometimes sprang to his mind instead of its English equivalent. It is therefore not surprising to find that, even when he is translating from French into English, the occasional Flemish word intrudes into the English text, sometimes for the commonest words for which the English term must have been perfectly familiar to him. Flemish words are most frequent, as is only to be expected, in the one translation which he made out of the Flemish. These words seemed so natural to Caxton that he simply transferred them to his English page, the corresponding English word never having entered his head.

In the Recuyell, translated 1471, appears Winbrow, an eyebrow; ad. MLG. winbrâ.

The Game and Playe of the Chesse, 1474, has Butter, used by Caxton in the sense ‘one who cheats at cards’; apparently ad. M.Du. or Flem. botter, in the same sense. Spincop, a spider; ad. older Flem. spinnekoppe (Kilian, Du., and Flem. spinnekop, from spinne, spider, or spinnen, to spin).

In the Metamorphoses of Ovyde, translated 1480, appears Bedwynge, to constrain, restrain; probably ad. Flem. bedwingen; Caxton used the pa. pple. of this verb in Reynart, 1481.

In the Dialogues of c. 1481 appear Mecop, the poppy; ad. Flem. mêkop, from mēn (corresponding to Du. maan), poppy,

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and kop, head. Meese, a tom-tit; ad. M.Du. mese, corresponding to ME. mose, whence corruptly mouse in titmouse.

One Flemish word comes in the Godeffroy of Bolyne, translated 1481. Pote, a paw; ad. M.Du. pote (Du. poot).

The great bulk of Caxton's Flemish words are to be found in The Historye of Reynart the Foxe, 1481. This is to be expected, as he had before him a Flemish original; he said himself in the Epilogue to that work: ‘For I haue not added ne mynusshed but haue followed as nyghe as I can my copye which was in dutche, and by me willm Caxton translated in to this rude and simple englysshe.’

After-deal, the hind parts, posteriors; probably ad. M.Du. achterdēl (Du. and W.Flem. achterdeel), in the same sense; but it is possible that this was an English word of native formation.

Bedrive, to commit, perpetrate, do; ad. older Flem. bedrijven (Kilian), in the same senses, and also intrans. ‘to have to do with’. Boussing, only in Caxton; fitchew, polecat; ad. M.Du. bûsinc (also bunzinc, Du. bunsing), polecat. Bruin, in Caxton brune, brunne, bruyn; the name of the brown bear in Reynart the Foxe; M.Du. bruun, bruyn, brun, brown; one of the few of Caxton's Flemish borrowings that have held their ground in the English vocabulary; it has even advanced so far in the direction of a common noun as to be often written without the capital B; the modern pronunciation of Bruin with two syllables points to a borrowing of the spoken from the written word Bruin or Bruyn, as in Flemish the word was of one syllable. Berisp, to censure, reproach; ad. Flem. berispen, in the same sense. Boil, an inflamed tumour; O.E.D. states that it is not clear whether this form of OE. bȳl is due to association with the verb boil (ad. OF. boillir) or influenced by Dutch or other forms; it is clear, however, that the plural form bules, used by Caxton in the sense ‘swelling’, is the M.Du. bûle, buul or the LG. bule; this form and sense are peculiar to Caxton.

Clope, a blow; ad. M.Du. clop (Du. klop), a blow, stroke, from cloppen, to strike, knock. Cluse, a monastic cell; ad. M.Flem. clûse, in the same sense; ultimately from L. clūsa, a shut-up place, monastic cell. Das, a badger; ad. Du. das (corresponding to G. dachs), a badger. Dow, to press, squeeze, wring; used by Caxton to render M.Du. duwen.

Forsling, and pa. pple. verslongen, to swallow down, gobble up; ad. M.Du. verslinden. Forslinger, to beat, belabour; ad. Du.

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verslingeren, from ver, for-, and slingeren, to twist, throw. Forwitting, reproach; from for-, prefix, and wite, vb., and -ing, after Du. verwijten. Glim, to shine, gleam; ad. M.Du. glimmen, to glow. Grate, the backbone of a fish; ad. Flem. graet, Du. graat. Growl, used impersonally, it growls me, ‘I have a feeling of terror or horror’; ad. M.Du. grouwelen, gruwelen, used impersonally in the same sense.

Lock, to allure, entice; ad. M.Du. locken. Loss, a lynx; ad. M.Du. los (corresponding to OE. lox, OHG. luhs); Caxton's lossem represents the unexplained variant lossen of the Dutch original.

Meerkat, a monkey; ad. Du. meerkat, monkey, apparently from meer, sea, and kat, cat. Mermoyse, marmoset; ad. M.Du. mermoyse, marmoeyse, believed to be a shortening of F. marmouset. Mis-deal, to distribute unfairly; from mis- and deal, but here in this sense after Du. misdeelen. Mis-sake, to deny, renounce; ad. M.Du. missaecken (Du. miszaken). Mouse-hunt, still dial.; a weasel, and generally an animal that hunts mice; ad. M.Du. muushont, weasel (Du. muishond), from muus, mouse, and hont, dog; there may also have been an English word from mouse and hunt.

Palster, a pilgrim's staff; ad. M.Du. and Du. palster, stick with iron spike, pilgrim's staff; cf. OE. palstr, palester, spike. Plaghe, to afflict with plague; Caxton's spelling plaghe was from M.Du. plaghen. Plump, blunt (in manners), dull; (1545, Ascham), of an arrowhead, blunt; (1545, as Plumpness), of full and rounded form; the primary and secondary senses correspond to M.Du. plomp, blunt in both senses, not pointed and not sharp, Du. plomp, plump, blunt, thick, coarse, clownish, dull, MLG. plump, plomp, massive, unshapen, blunt, stumpy, LG. plump, coarse, clumsy; the English word is probably from Low Dutch, and the later English senses appear to belong to the same word passing through the sense ‘blunt, rounded, not sharp’ into a eulogistic sense, perhaps through some association with plum, adj. and vb.

Rat, the wheel which was formerly used in one way of executing criminals and on which the dead bodies were afterwards exposed; ad. M.Du. and MLG. rat, rad or Da. rat (itself from LG.). Rutsel, to slide; ad. M.Du. rutselen, frequentative of rutsen, rotsen, to slide.

Scat, treasure; ad. M.Du. schat (MLG. schat, OE. sceat, ON.

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skattr). The vb. Scat was borrowed with a different meaning, to oppress by exactions; in Caxton ad. M.Du. schatten, from schat; in the Sc. use (1543, Aberd. Reg.) perhaps ad. ON. skatta, from skattr. Scrab, to scratch, claw, snatch; ad. M.Du. schrabben, allied to scrape. Siede, to boil; ad. M.Du. sieden (Du. zieden). Slepe, to drag; ad. M.Du. slepen (MLG. slepen). Spinde, a larder, pantry; ad. M.Du. spynde, spinde, variant of spende, corresponding to L. spenda. Spity, spiteful; ad. M.Du. spītich (Du. spijtig), from spīt, spite. Stade, chief town; ad. Du. stad (M.Du. stat, inflected stade).

Tattle, to speak hesitatingly, stammer, falter; in Caxton reproduces M.Flem. tatelen, a parallel form to the more usual M.Flem., M.Du., and MLG. tateren, with change of frequentative suffixes -er and -el. Tibert, the name of the cat in the apologue of Reynard the Fox, thence used as a quasi-proper name for any cat, and as a proper noun, a cat; ad. Flem. and Du. Tybert, Tibeert, OF. Tibert.

Wapper, sb. and vb., perhaps a leaden ball attached to a strap used as a striking weapon; ad. M.Du. wapper, cognate with wapperen, to swing. Warren, a piece of land enclosed and used for breeding game; ad. OF. warenne, but the form in Reynart is warande, adapted from the form in the Dutch original. Wentle, to roll or tumble about; ad. M.Du. wentelen (Du., MLG., and LG. wentelen). Wraw, to miaul, as a cat, to mew; ad. M.Du. wrauwen, of imitative origin. Wyke, to give way, withdraw; ad. M.Du. wijcken (Du. wijken), to give way, depart.

In the Boke for Travelers (c. 1483) appears Corf, a basket; the word has not been found in English before the 15th century and is probably from Low Dutch, which has the following forms, M.Du. corf, and korf, Du. and LG. korf.

One word appears in the Dialogues (c. 1483). Morberies, mulberry; after M.Du. moerbesie.

Spin-rock (1483, G. de la Tour), a distaff; ad. M.Du. spin-rocke, -roc, -rocken (Du. rokken); the word had some currency in the 17th century, probably as a fresh borrowing. Biseten (1483, Golden Legend); this is the only ME. instance of biseten for beset; Caxton must have used the M.Du. beseten, ‘possessed with devils, mad’, which suits the sense exactly. Okselle (1489, Fayttes of Armes), the armpit; apparently ad. M.Du. oeksele (Du. oksel, Flem. oksele). Mow (1489, Sonnes of Aymon), fleshy part, muscle; ad. M.Du. mouwe.

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The current spelling of Ghost (OE. gāst, ME. gǭst), has been influenced by the practice of Caxton; the spelling with gh-, so far as the material of the O.E.D. shows, appears first in Caxton, who was probably influenced by the gh- spelling common in M.Du. and M.Flem. gheest beside geest; this gh- spelling in English remained rare until the middle of the 16th century and was not completely established before c. 1590.

13. 7.^{13. 7.}

The Low Dutch peoples, who produced the great Flemish and Dutch Schools of painting, had a great influence on painting and the fine arts in England, and this influence is reflected in the English vocabulary of art.

The flourishing medieval school of native English art decayed, and during the 16th and 17th centuries England was content to import art and artists. It did not seem to occur to the English that England required painters born of the country. Foreign artists were attracted to England and among them a few great masters, who were covered with honours, even to the extent of receiving titles. By far the greater number of these artists came from the Low Countries and were representatives of the flourishing Dutch and Flemish Schools.

The first great Dutch master to come over was Anthonis Mor of Utrecht, who had been Court painter in Spain and was in the train of Philip when he came to this country to marry Mary. Mor only remained here for a few years, but long enough to paint some glorious portraits.

In the reign of James I quite a colony of Dutch and Flemish artists settled in London. The most prominent were Paul Van Somer of Antwerp, who was the favourite painter of James's queen, Anne of Denmark, Daniel Mytens of the Hague, who afterwards became King's painter to Charles I, George Geldorp of Amsterdam, the great friend of Van Dyck, and Janssen Van Ceulen, born in London in the Dutch colony there and for twenty years the most fashionable painter of the nobility and gentry.

Anthonis Van Dyck of Antwerp, a member of the school of the great Rubens, came to England in 1620, but stayed for only a year. When he returned in 1632, Charles I treated him with unusual honour; he was knighted as Sir Anthony Van Dyck and married a granddaughter of the Earl of Gowrie. His working period in England was six and a half years, and then he returned

13. 7. D.N.B. articles on the artists whose names are cited in the text.

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to Antwerp at Rubens's death to take over his school. By his supreme elegance and the aristocratic poetry of his style he is considered the father of the English School, which in its finest moments was, beyond everything, a school of portrait painters. Van Dyck had a few English pupils, including Dobson, Jameson, and the miniaturist Cooper; but his principal followers were, like himself, Low Countrymen.

Some of the members of this school returned home during the Civil War, as did Mytens and Van Ceulen, but others stayed on. Sir Peter Lely of Haarlem, whose real name was Pieter van der Faes, had a considerable private practice during the Commonwealth and even painted Cromwell. At the Restoration he was taken into high favour by Charles II, who kept him continually employed. So enormous was his practice that he was forced to keep a number of assistants to paint draperies and backgrounds. They were mostly Low Countrymen, some of them, like Gaspars of Antwerp, Lankrink of Antwerp, Roestraten of Amsterdam, a pupil of Franz Hals, Adraien Van Diest of the Hague, being considerable painters themselves. Lely had English pupils too, such as Greenhill and Mary Beale. Lely's only rivals in portrait painting until the arrival of Kneller were Jacob Huysmans of Antwerp and Simon Verelst of the Hague.

Sir Godfrey Kneller was born at Lübeck, but all his training was at Amsterdam. He came over to London at the invitation of a wealthy Hamburg merchant and succeeded Lely as the most fashionable portrait painter; he was especially favoured by William III, who knighted him. Kneller, too, kept a great number of assistants, mostly Low Countrymen. He amassed great wealth by his painting.

Not all the Low Country artists settled in London. Some of the lesser men went to the provinces, where they escaped the competition of Lely and Kneller. Thus Van der Eyden of Brussels settled at Northampton and Van Rymsdyck at Bristol.

Not all the painters were portrait painters. The two Van de Veldes of Leyden were ‘painters of sea-fights to their Majesties, King Charles II and King James II’; Lankrink and Jan Looten of Amsterdam were landscape painters; Van Huysum of Amsterdam and Verelst were painters of flowers, and Roestraten and Jan Van Son of Antwerp were painters of still life.

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Even when great native English painters appeared, Low Countrymen frequently assisted them in the painting of draperies and accessories; thus Van Haecken of Antwerp helped Hudson, and Alan Ramsay and Peter Vandyke of Holland helped Reynolds.

Some Dutch engravers also came to England to practise their art. Jan Van der Vaart of Haarlem was a mezzotint engraver and instructed the great English engraver John Smith. Other engravers were Van der Gucht of Antwerp and Robert Van Voerst of Arnhem.

Masterpiece (1579, Aberd. Reg.), a production of art and skill surpassing in excellence all others by the same hand; from master and piece, probably after Du. meesterstuk or G. meisterstück, which occurs much earlier and primarily denoted the piece of work by which a craftsman gained from his gild the recognized title of ‘master’; this word should perhaps be included among technical terms of industries and crafts and not among terms of art.

Manikin (1570), a little man, dwarf, pigmy; ad. Du. mannekin, diminutive of man, man; in the 1570 quotation, from Dee, the word has the sense of ‘an artist's lay-figure’ and was apparently borrowed from Du. in that sense. Sap-green (1578), a green pigment prepared from the juice of Buckthorn berries; from sap and green, probably after Du. sapgroen.

Lief-hebber (1654, Bramhall, Answ. to Militiere: ‘Put a Lief-hebber or Virtuoso among a company of rare pictures, and he will pick out the best pieces for their proper value’); an amateur; ad. Du. liefhebber, agent noun from liefhebben, to hold dear, from lief, dear, and hebben, to have. Maulstick (1658), a light stick used by painters as a support for the right hand and held in the left; ad. Du. maalstok, from malen, to paint, and stok, stick. Sketch (1668), a rough drawing of something; ad. Du. schets or G. skizze, earlier skitze, skize (neither of which is recorded before the 17th century), ad. It. schizzo; the foreign origin of the word in English is indicated in the uncertain spellings, as schytz (1691) and schetse (1697).

Easel (1634), a wooden frame used to support a picture while the painter is at work upon it; ad. Du. ezel (G. esel), ass; compare the similar use of horse. Etch (1634), to engrave by ‘eating away’ the surface with acids or other corrosives; ad. Du. etsen, ad. G. ätzen, to etch, from MHG. etzen, atzen, to cause to eat.

The verb Sketch (1694) is later than the sb.; to draw the

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outline, to make a rough drawing; from sketch, sb. or ad. Du. schetsen. Lay-man (1688), lay figure; ad. Du. leeman, for ledenman, from led, ‘membrum, articulus’ (Kilian), now lid, limb, joint, and man, man. Lay-figure (1795), a jointed wooden figure of the human body, used by artists for the arrangement of draperies, posing, &c.; lay in this combination is from the obsolete lay-man. Landscape (1598), a picture representing natural inland scenery as distinguished from a sea-picture, portrait, &c.; ad. Du. landschap, from land, land, and schap, ship; the corrupt form in -skip was, according to the quotations in O.E.D., a few years earlier than the usual form; the forms landtschap, -skap are also found. Skape (1773) is a back-formation from landscape; it is also found as the second element of combs., as seascape, cloudscape.