fiction?"

"Is the _Great Seal_ alive, or only stuffed?"]

_The East Anglian Word "Mauther"_ (Vol. ii., pp. 217. 365.).--Skinner's
note on this word is

"Mawther, vox Norfolciensi agro peculiaris: _Spelman_ ipse eodem agro
ortus a Dan. _Moer_, Virgo, Puella, deflectit. Possit tamen et
declinari a Belg. _Maegd_, Teut. _Magd_, idem signante, addita term.
_er_ vel _der_, ut in proximo agro Lincolniensi in vocibus _Heeder_ et
_Sheeder_ quæ Marem et Feminam notant. Author Dict. Angl. scribit
_Modder_, et cum Kiliano deducit a Belg. _Modde_, _Moddeken_, Pupa,
Puella, Virgincula."--_Etymol._ sub voce.

Webster merely gives (with strange neglect, having Skinner before him):
{412}

"Mauther, a foolish young girl(not used)."--_Ben Jonson._

Skinner is, I believe, wrong in assigning the _r_ termination to the Danish
word. Such a termination of the word _maid_ is not to be found in any of
the Teutonic dialects. The diphthong sound and the _th_ appear frequently;
as,

1. Moeso-Gothic: _Magath_ or _Magaths_; _Mawi_,
dim. _Mawilo_.
2. Anglo-Saxon: _Maeth_, _Maegth_, dim. _Meowla_.
3. Old-German: _Maget_.
4. Swedish: _Moe_.