TWO ETYMOLOGIES.
ero TUB EDITOR OF THE "SPRCTAT011.1 should think that there can hardly be an etymological English dictionary in existence which is so bad as not to be equal to giving the information that shabby (see Spectator, July 27th) is a native English word, familiar to the speakers of nearly every English dialect. It is merely the adjective of the Anglo-Saxon sceab, pronounced nearly as shab, and mean- ing a seab or itch. Hence it was applied to sheep, and became a general term for anything unhealthy or not in good con- dition. Scabby is really the same word, but from a Norse origin instead of a native one. Shabbed sheep are mentioned in "Piers the Plowman," C. x. 264, in the time of Richard II., which is a good deal earlier than the Renaissance. Curiously enough, it was only last week that I was protesting against the unpatriotic guessing that would reduce our native language to a farrago of the dregs of the corruptions of all others.–. I am, Sir, &c.,
WALTEL W. SKEAT.
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