Chapter TURAKA to TURKEY of T by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

Turkie, or Ginnie Henne … I. Gallina d’India. H. Galina Morisca. G. Poulle d’Inde. L. Penélope. Auis Pharaonis. Meleágris.…

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“A Ginnie coeke or hen: ex Guinea, regione Indica … vnde fuerunt priùs ad alias regiones transportati. vi. Turkie-cocke or hen.”—Minsheu’s Guide into Tongues 2d edition).

1623.—“33. Gallus Indicus, aut Turcicus (quem vocant), gallinacei aevum parum superat; iracundus ales, et carnibus valde albis.”—Bacon, Hist. Vitae et Mortis, in Montague’s ed. x. 140.

1653.—“Les François appellent coq- d’Inde vn oyseau lequel ne se trouue point aux Indes Orientales, les Anglois le nomment turki-koq qui signifie coq de Turquie, quoy qu’il n’y ait point d’autres en Turquie que ceux que l’on y a portez d’Europe. Ie croy que cet oyseau nous est venu de l’Amerique.”—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, p. 259.

1750–52.—“Some Germans call the turkeys Calcutta hens; for this reason I looked about for them here, and to the best of my remembrance I was told they were foreign.”—Olof Toreen, 199–200. We do not know whether the mistake of Calcutta for Calicut belongs to the original author or to the translator—probably to the proverbial traditore.

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