Barry, help!

[Dennis R. Preston]

David,

I assume this list also queried the dating of the variants "prairie
oyster" and "Kentucky oyster"?

dInIs

>On another list the subject of the earliest example of oyster, mountain
>oyster, and rocky mountain oyster was posted.  OED was reported with
>1890 (acutally Cent. Dict. is the source in the late 20th century OED
>supplement by Robert W. Burchfield).  I've poked about a little and
>found the following for mountain oyster:
>
>And, if they choosed, to partake of the dainty of cruelty caught and
>primitively cooked "mountain oysters"--always found in great abundance
>where many calves are herded.  Baxley, H. Willis, _What I saw on the
>west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands_.
>New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1865, p 442
>
>It would not be unreasonable to expect an earlier dating, would it,
>Barry?
>
>Regards,
>David
>
>barnhart at highlands.com

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736