23 APRIL 1994, Page 28

T'werp at t'mill

Sir: 'Twerp' was certainly being used well before the first world war (Letters, 2 April), and derives from the Lancashire cotton mill industry. When the werp got caught up in the woof it was the job of a young appren- tice to sort it out, and the cry would go up, `Where's t'werp, lad?' During the 19th cen- tury it gradually came to be understood as someone a bit slow and thick. I was told this interesting tale by my grandfather, who worked in t'mill all his life, first as a werp lad and later as a woof-minder.

One would expect Belgian pigeons to be twerps, but it didn't begin with them.

Kenneth Bridges

Avondale Guest House, 26 St Johns Road, Sandown, Isle of Wight