“GRVMETE.—­El muchacho que sirue en el nauio, y sube por el mastil, o arbol, y por la antena, y haze todo {338} lo demas que le mandan con gran presteza.”—­Sebastian de Couarruuias, 1611.

    “GRUMETE.—­El mozo que sirve en el navio para subir a la
    gavia y otros usos. Tirunculus nauticus.”—­La real academia
    Espanola.

    “GRUMETE.—­Grumete he o moco que serve como de criado
    aos marinheiros, sobindo pellos mastros ate a gavea,
    etc.”—­Raphael Bluteau.

We have a statement of the rank and ratings of the officers and men of a ship of war in the Sea grammar of captain Smith, 1627. 4to.  The word in question, as a rating, had then become obsolete.  The duties of the seamen are thus described: 

    “The sailers are the ancient men for hoising the sailes,
    getting the tacks aboord, haling the bowlings, and steering
    the ship.

“The younkers are the young men called fore-mast men, to take in the top-sailes, or top and yard, for furling the sailes, or slinging the yards, bousing or trising, and take their turnes at helme.”

Now, a comparison of the definitions of the Spanish and Portuguese gromete, and the English younker, leads me to infer that the latter term had been substituted for grummett or gromet, and that the duties of both classes were nearly the same.

If the above information should seem less precise than might be expected, I must make my apology in the words which Edward Jorden addressed to captain Smith on the publication of his Sea grammar: 

            “Who can
  Deriue thy words, is more grammarian
  Than Camden, Clenard, Ramus, Lilly were: 
  Here’s language would haue non-plust Scaliger!”

Bolton Corney.

* * * * *

BEAVER HATS.

Permit me to suggest that, in asking a question, it is often desirable that the querist should state briefly the amount of information he already possesses on the subject.  For instance, had Mr.  “T.H.  Turner,” when inquiring after beaver hats (No. 7. p. 100.), stated, that he had met with the mention of them as early as the time of Hen.  III., I, of course, should not have troubled you with a notice of them in the reign of Elizabeth.  Indeed, I owe Mr. Turner an apology; for if I had reflected a moment upon the extensive antiquarian information of the querist, I should certainly have concluded that he must be well acquainted with the authorities I cited, which happened to be at my elbow at the time I read the query.  Mr. B. Corney (No. 19. p. 307.) has supplied a beaver hat from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; we meet with another in his Testament of Creseide, v. 386., “in a mantill and a beaver hat.”  We may therefore conclude that they were not unusual in Chaucer’s time.  I now think it very probable that beaver hats were introduced into this country as early as the Norman Conquest; for we find mention of them in Normandy at a still earlier period.  In the “Chronicle of the Abbey of St. Wandrille” (edited by Acheri, in his Spicilegium), we find, amongst the gifts of the Abbot Ansegisus, who died A.D. 833,