27 MAY 1922, Page 14

"BONE-DRY."

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—The Spectator of May 6th, in its review of Professor Brander Matthews's Essays on English, seems to attribute the phrase " bonesiry " to American invention. "Bone-dry " was in common use in Lowland Scotland more than sixty years ago, and formed part of my childhood's vocabulary. It is a home- growth which, in all likelihood, has been carried to America by some settler and perpetuated there, like many another of our fine old Alive phrases. Pray excuse my taking up the cudgels for my country fully a day behind the fair, but, although I am fortunate enough to see the Spectator regularly, I receive it always a little late, hence the present delay.—I am,