Hi all, My old dictionary gives this meaning...
Tocsin: (tok-sin) [M.F. toquesing (O.F. toquer, to TOUCH, sing, SIGNAL)], n. An alarm-bell; the ringing of an alarm-bell, an alarm-signal. Church-bells have been used as an alarm in times past. Is this another possibility? Ron (UK) -----Original Message----- From: David Rastall [mailto:dlu...@verizon.net] Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 1:15 AM To: damian dlugolecki Cc: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: le Tocsein de Gautier I might have missed something here, getting into the discussion late (I rejoined today---hellew everyone), but doesn't the English word "tocsin" refer to the pealing of a bell? I always thought "tocsin" came from an old form of French. Could some form of the word have existed in French in the 17th century with a similar meaning? Used perhaps in similar sense to Vallet's piece depicting bells in a village church. Davidr dlu...@verizon.net To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
