I have always assumed 'dowey' to be a variant of 'dowie', as in the Scottish
border ballad 'The Dowie Dens of Yarrow'. Mind you, I have never bothered to
think what it actually means! However, the internet is a wonderful invention
for this kind of half-remembered detail, and I soon found a site which
translates it as 'doleful'. The ballad is one of the best known of the host of
Scottish ballads which swept the literary world under the influence of Walter
Scott and others, so by the time of 'Mary Postgate' the word 'dowie' was
probably in common use by the educated in all parts of Britain.
Liz Breuilly
John Radcliffe wrote:
> Max Rives has asked about the following issue. Can anyone shed light on the
> question he raises:
>
> 'While translating Mary Postgate, I stumbled on one of the nice names Wynn
> uses with Mary.
>
> In my Penguin version, it reads : "you dowey casoary". No one of my
> dictionaries, including Webster and OED even list such a word as "dowey". So
> I concluded that this Penguin version had one more misprint, and I opted for
> "dowdy", that nicely makes sense in the situation. However, consulting
> Seymour-Smith on the sibject of Mary Postgate, I found this very sentence
> quoted, with "dowey" again ! (p 344).
>
> I am inclined to think that Seymour-Smith copied the sentence in the Penguin
> version without noticing the misprint. But might it be that "dowey" mean
> something ?'
>
> All good wishes, John R
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