Notes and Queries, Number 26, April 27, 1850 by Various
page 9 of 67 (13%)
page 9 of 67 (13%)
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these writers mentions the _Solitaire_ as inhabiting Bourbon?
The "Oiseaux appelez _Flamands_" quoted by Mr. S., are merely _Flamingos_, and are devoid of interest as regards the present question. The history of the Dodo's head at Copenhagen, referred to by Mr. Singer, is fully recorded in the _Dodo and its Kindred_, pp. 25. 33. The name _Dodo_ seems to have been first applied to the bird by Sir Thomas Herbert, in 1634, who adds, in his edition of 1638, "a Portuguese name it is, and has reference to her simpleness." Before that time the Dutch were in the habit of calling it _Dodars_, _Dodaers_, _Toters_, and _Dronte_. I had already made the same guesses at the etymology of these words as those which Mr. Singer has suggested, but not feeling fully satisfied with them, I put forth my Query VII. for the chance of obtaining some further elucidation. Mr. Singer's reasonings on the improbability of Tradescant's specimen of the Dodo having been a fabrication are superfluous, seeing that the head and foot of this individual are, as is well known, still in existence, and form the subjects of six plates in the _Dodo and its Kindred_. In regard to my Query IX. as to the local habitation of the family of _Dronte_, who bore a Dodo on their shield, it has been suggested to me by the Rev. Richard Hooper (who first drew my attention to this armorial bearing), that the family was probably foreign to Britain. It appears that there was a family named _Dodo_, in Friesland, a member of which (Augustin Dodo, deceased in 1501) was the first editor of St. Augustine's works. Mr. Hooper suggests that possibly this family may have subsequently adopted the Dodo as their arms, and that Randle Holme |
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