Chess Forum / General Topics / April 2009

I think George and snits are real people who regularly post to the
USCF forums.  Can't argue with your other guesses.

On Apr 29, 11:11 am, "Jon D'Souza-Eva" <jon.dsouza...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Yes, 'Albert' is what we philologists call a 'Schweitzerism'. The word
stems from the word 'white' as explained by Hall [not Shakespeare] in
his Henry VIII, utilising the spelling 'ALBYN*':

  The same gate or tower was set with compassed
  images of auncient prynces, as Hercules, Alexander
  and other, by entrayled woorke, rycheley lymned wyth
  golde and albyn colours.

But this is obviously a borrowing from an even earlier term:

ALBYEN: The water; The meaning of the term will be found
in Ashmole's Treat. Chem. Brit p. 164.

Now, while Oxford took the gent's library and money, Ashmole,
as ani ful no, was a notorious alchemist.

Let that stand as a word to the wise, or should I say wize?   ;)

Now, I see that you have identified 'SAROS' which to put aside the
obvious, SARGENT; meaning ' a sergeant' //.MS Lydgate// also is
rendered SARRELICHE; a thousand years ealier, and though Anglo Saxon
in form is actually based on a the French form for 'closely'.

  The knave taught her way sikerliche,
  Thai riden wel sarreliche,

which occurs in Artour and Merlin, p 294,  and is a big racy for our
times, yet I let it stand as historically significant, though, and
even so it more exactly in an ealier page [ 224 ]

  It was nede for Cleodalis
  Stode on fot, and mani of his
  Aboute him stode sarreliche.

I must also note that the formation of POLL~ means to Rob [and who
supports her now?] and cheat, "Pilling and polling" was a very common
phrase, see Havelok 2685.

This though appears to be an apprehension upon a much earlier A. Sax.
word POLIMITE; many coloured?

Should you have some different opinion of this word, and will thereby
make sense of the following other than I and Halliwell think it,
please write me;

  Of [z**]ong Josephe the cote polimité
  Wrou[z**]te by the power if alle the Trinité

 // Lydgate, MS Soc Antiq, 134, f. 13

Cordially, Phil Innes

* a rather obvious deviation, or obscuring name
** probably as 'y' rather than any glottoral 'g'