BOOK REVIEWS
Books in the MSC Library (Compiled by Don Drapeau)
- A Glossary of Wood ..... (reviewed) by John Sedgwick
REVIEW
by John Sedgwick
1. A Glossary of Wood, by Thomas Corkhill
Wood has been a part of our lives since the beginning of time. It was used in the shaft of arrows, boomerangs and lances, by which we fed and defended ourselves. It was used to make our houses, our transportation on land and water. We also burnt it for heat and cooking, used its sap to make glue, sugar and countless medicines. Even the air we breathe is provided by trees.
This relationship with wood has led to hundreds of words to be incorporated into everyday language. For example:
- Loophole - is a secret door operated by a looped string in a loophole.
- Breast high or Chest high - is a forestry term and is exactly 4' -3".
- Jack pot - is a lumbering term referring to an obstruction or blockage.
There are numerous hilarious and or obscure words and terms, which have faded from use over time, such as:
- Bessom - A broom made of bound twigs on a pole -- witches broom.
- Mumble bee - a small boat used in Devon, United Kingdom.
- Butt Gage - is not a device used at a Beauty Pageant, but a device used to measure the placement of door hinges. (Butts)
There are all the technical terms used now and in the past from around the world.
- Board feet of lumber - length x width x depth
- Car load - 1500 board feet.
There are carving, marquetry and architectural terms from "A" to "Z"
- Ancanthus Leaf - This is the plant from which most floral carving is copied around a border, etc. referred to as a "FRIEZE" - from "ANCANTHUS" to
- "ZOOPHORUS" - which are carvings depicting People and Animals.
Use to the Marquetarian
The book also lists hundreds of wood species and their common and Latin names, as well as any cross-referenced spellings. The book is, in fact, an illustrated dictionary, which to some not interested in wood may read like a telephone book. For the past month the book has been sitting on my coffee table and I have moved a bookmark steadily through it.
To summarize - if you have not yet begun to acquire wood reference material - start with this one. If wood terms and trivia are of interest, this is the answer to hundreds of questions.
The book is available, on loan, from the Marquetry Society of Canada and perhaps your local library. It is published by Stobart & Sons - 67/73 Worship St., London EC2A 2EC, U.K.
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