History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 167

leka, to drip, leak, and may be from either, though the date and place (Essex) of its
first appearance favour a Low Dutch rather than a Scand. origin; it is very likely that in
later use the vb. was formed afresh from leak, sb. or adj. Leak, sb. (1487, Naval Acc.
Hen. VII), a hole in a vessel by which a fluid enters or escapes; the proximate source
is doubtful, but perhaps adopted from Low Dutch; cf. M.Du. and LG. lek (inflected lēk,
whence G. leck, Da. laek), Du. lek; it is possible that the Eng. word, notwithstanding its
late appearance, may represent an adoption from the ON. leke, or even an OE.
cognate. Leak, adj. (a. 1530), leaky; in OE. hlec (c. 897, AElfred); after OE. the word
does not appear until the 16th century, when it may have been adopted from M.Du.
and LG. lek (inflected lēk), cognate with ON. lekr; the exact relation between the adj.
and the sb. and the vb. is undetermined.
Split (1590), of storms, rocks, &c., to break up a ship; (1602), to suffer shipwreck;
(1593), to divide longitudinally by a sharp stroke; ad. M.Du. splitten, related to spletten
and splīten (Du. splijten, MLG. and LG. spîtten).
Crank-sided (1626), from crank, which appears first in this combination. Crank
(1696), liable to lean over and capsize; said of a ship when she is built too deep or
narrow or has not sufficient ballast; Du. and Fris. have krengd, of a ship, laid or lying
over on its side, pa. pple. of krengen, originally to apply pressure to, to push over,
spec. to lay or cause a ship to fall upon her side, e.g. in careening, also intrans., to lie
on one side, as a ship does when her cargo shifts in the hold; possibly this foreign
word was caught up and confused with the native crank.
Fother (1789), to cover a sail thickly with oakum, &c., with a view to getting some of it
sucked into a hole over which the sail is to be drawn; probably ad. Du. voederen, now
voeren, or LG. fodern, to line, used also nautically as above.
A word which is not a term of loss or damage, but rather of the prevention of loss, is
Ballast (1530), gravel, stones, iron, &c., placed in the hold of a ship in order to sink
her to such a depth as to prevent her from capsizing when under sail; the oldest form
is possibly O.Da. and O.Sw. barlast (a. 1400 and regularly in the 15th century), from
bar, bare, and last, load, i.e. mere lading or weight, whence ballast with -ll- for -rl- by
assimilation;
the later Da. baglast, backload, and 17th-century Du. balglast, bellyload, were
corrupted by popular etymology; the form ballast also occurs in MLG. before 1400,
and is taken as the original by Sch. and Lü., who explain it from bal, bad, as bad
lading; if this is well founded, barlast would rank with balglast and baglast as a popular
perversion; the final -t is lost in the 16th- and 17th-century form ballace, first in the vb.
where ballast was plausibly analysed as the pret. Ballass-ed, and a new infinitive
formed.
4. 10.
There are a few words connected with the shore, harbour, and tidal water.
Creek (c. 1250), a narrow recess or inlet in the coastline of the sea; (1478), a small
port or harbour; the ME. forms krike and cryke correspond to F. crique (14th century),
and creke and creeke to e.mod.Du. kreek (Kilian), creek, bay; the earlier history of the
word is not known, but F. crique is generally supposed to be of Germanic origin; it is

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