Carla O'Harris
February 2nd, 2006, 06:38 AM
Can anyone confirm this etymology of Locke's? Is this urban legend? It sounds like it, but if it's authentic I'd like to know :
"According to Christopher Bird, author of the classic book, "The Divining Hand", no one is absolutely certain of the origin of the verb to dowse". But it seemingly made its first official appearance in 1650 in an essay written by the famous English Philosopher John Locke whose noble writings inspired the framers of our own Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States. In his essay, Locke wrote that by the use of the dowsing rod, one could devise or discover water and precious minerals (such as gold & silver and mineral ore) Locke has appropriated his phrase from the long dead English west country language of Cornwall - where in Cornish Dewsys meant "Goddess", and "Rhod" meant tree branch, and from which he "coined" the phrase - Dowsing Rod.
In the 1700's and 1800's in England, Germany and France various books on mining and engineering referred extensively to dowsing, including the "1747 Mining Dictionary" and again in Bordlase's 1758 "Natural History of Cornwall", and also "The 1831 Quarterly Mining Review". Because the ancient art was widely used by miners in Germany for hundreds of years to locate water and ore deposits, today in that country libraries and museums of natural history, science, mining and engineering, private collections of art and sculptures have displays of woodcarvings, paintings and drawings, porcelain creations, coins, etc ... featuring dowsers holding forked sticks."
The key phrase is "Locke has appropriated his phrase from the long dead English west country language of Cornwall - where in Cornish Dewsys meant "Goddess", and "Rhod" meant tree branch, and from which he "coined" the phrase - Dowsing Rod."
This sounds like a modern interpretation to me, but I'd be fascinated if anyone can verify this. Where was this derived? Is there an authentic author behind this statement?
"According to Christopher Bird, author of the classic book, "The Divining Hand", no one is absolutely certain of the origin of the verb to dowse". But it seemingly made its first official appearance in 1650 in an essay written by the famous English Philosopher John Locke whose noble writings inspired the framers of our own Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States. In his essay, Locke wrote that by the use of the dowsing rod, one could devise or discover water and precious minerals (such as gold & silver and mineral ore) Locke has appropriated his phrase from the long dead English west country language of Cornwall - where in Cornish Dewsys meant "Goddess", and "Rhod" meant tree branch, and from which he "coined" the phrase - Dowsing Rod.
In the 1700's and 1800's in England, Germany and France various books on mining and engineering referred extensively to dowsing, including the "1747 Mining Dictionary" and again in Bordlase's 1758 "Natural History of Cornwall", and also "The 1831 Quarterly Mining Review". Because the ancient art was widely used by miners in Germany for hundreds of years to locate water and ore deposits, today in that country libraries and museums of natural history, science, mining and engineering, private collections of art and sculptures have displays of woodcarvings, paintings and drawings, porcelain creations, coins, etc ... featuring dowsers holding forked sticks."
The key phrase is "Locke has appropriated his phrase from the long dead English west country language of Cornwall - where in Cornish Dewsys meant "Goddess", and "Rhod" meant tree branch, and from which he "coined" the phrase - Dowsing Rod."
This sounds like a modern interpretation to me, but I'd be fascinated if anyone can verify this. Where was this derived? Is there an authentic author behind this statement?