In
further illustration of this usage, he also cites the words "the sun
began to peep," from a Scotch ballad in Scott's _Border Minstrelsy_,
vol. ii. p. 430. In p. 431. he explains the words "par son l'aube,"
which occur in old French poets, by "per sonitum aurorae;" and compares
the English expression, "the peep of day."
The Latin _pipio_ or _pipo_, whence the Italian _pipare_, and the French
_pepier_, is the ultimate origin of the verb _to peep_; which, in old
English, bore the sense of chirping, and is so used in the authorised
version of Isaiah, viii. 19., x. 14. Halliwell, in his _Archaic
Dictionary_, explains "peep" as "a flock of chickens," but cites no
example. _To peep_, however, in the sense of taking a rapid look at
anything through a small aperture, is an old use of the word, as is
proved by the expression _Peeping_ Tom of Coventry. As so used, it
corresponds with the German _gucken_. Mr. Richardson remarks that this
meaning was probably suggested by the young chick looking out of the
half-broken shell. It is quite certain that the "peep of day" has
nothing to do with sound; but expresses the first appearance of the sun,
as he just looks over the eastern hills.
L.
_Martinet._--Will the following passage throw any light on the origin of
the word _Martinet_?
Une discipline, devenue encore plus exacte, avait mis dans
l'armee un nouvel ordre. Il n'y avait point encore d'inspecteurs
de cavalerie et d'infanterie, comme nous en avons vu depuis,
mais deux hommes uniques chacun dans leur genre en fesaient les
fonctions.
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