THE WORD " CHAP."
I. TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")
Sra,—I do not wish to intervene in the controversy noticed in the Spectator of last week, between Mr. Skeat and Mr. Wedg- wood, as to the etymology of " chap," but Burns's line,—
" When chapman billies leave the street," shows " cbapm au " so used as, without losing its proper meaning, to signify " fellowship." There was also a curious and signi- ficant use of the term " chap " in Scotland. It was always more characteristic of the west and south-west than of the east and south-east. The use of the word " chap " used to be held in the east as the note of the Glasgow-bred man. The common sobriquet of such a one was " Glasgow chappie." May not this have been due to the fact that the west, and especially Glasgow, was the home of the chapman, and the factory of his wares ?—
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