21 JULY 1967, Page 24

Bottle honours

Sir: The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology has the following entry: booze, boose (sl. or colloq.) drink, 13th century. Middle English boas sb., boose vb.

If we are to believe Mr Hollis's derivation of the word (7 July), some rewriting of American history will obviously have to be undertaken. A. C. Wilson Barley, Royston, Herts