The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #159811 Message #3788115
Posted By: GUEST
01-May-16 - 10:11 AM
Thread Name: ADD: Beautiful Light o'er the Ocean
Subject: RE: What the heck is this word (Beautiful Light o'er..
Here are a couple more speculative ideas:
Mr. Breid of Missouri mentioned to me the word "nolve," a type of speech identifying a person, place or thing.
In the OED, I find "Nowell," in the 1300s a word shouted or sung as an expression of joy, originally to commemorate Christ's birth, now retained in Chrstmas carols. So, this one is tied to European singing tradition.