Shrew

I know not whether it will at all help the inquiry of "W.R.F." to remind him that the local Dorsetshire name of the shrew-mouse is "*shocrop*" or "*shrocrop*." The latter is the word given in Mr. Barnes's excellent *Glossary*, but I have just applied for its name to two labourers, and their pronunciation of it is clearly the former. I should be glad to hear any conjecture as to the final syllable. The only *folk-lore* connected with it in this part of the country seems to be that long ago reported by Pennant and others, viz. "Cats will kill, but not eat it."