[To THE E'Drroa or raw " Sezerirox."3 Sza,—Your correspondent "H.
M. W." in your Issue of the 10th Inst. asks for enlightenment upon the term " black-mouth " as frequently applied (without the slightest offence) to Presbyterians in the North of Ireland. I have, more than once, heard it explained as having had its origin in the early days of the Church, when the Presbyterians (or Covenanters) were forced, by pressure of persecution, to assemble for their meetings in remote and mountainous spots, where, owing to great scarcity of food, they were driven to supplement their supplies with blackberries and other wild fruits which naturally stained their lips. Hence the appellation. It seems strange that "H. M. W." should express surprise at finding local " expressions " in Ulster. Surely he cannot have travelled extensively—say in Devon or Cornwall— without meeting numberless local terms which are quite unknown outside the district or county where they are "current ooin."— [Another correspondent says that the find Scottish Presby- terian immigrants into Ulster settled in a district called " Black- mouth," in North Down.—En. Spectator.]
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