Compound words formed with "maze," on the other hand, are usually of an old-fashioned or local character, such as "Maze-Sunday," which in Devonshire dialect signifies a Sunday given up to feasting; such compounds are rarely formed for scientific or technical purposes. The sheet glass which is obscured by a system of wrinkles on its surface is, however, sometimes known as "maze-glass." The word _maze_ is probably of Scandinavian origin. Its oldest significance seems to be that of a state of bewilderment or confusion, or of being wrapped in thought--a use which we nowadays regard as metaphorical. In the Swedish and Norwegian languages are related words which mean on the one hand to dream, or lounge, or to move about in an idle or lazy manner, and on the other hand to chatter or indulge in aimless talk. Some dictionaries formerly stated that it was derived from an Anglo-Saxon word _mase_, meaning "a whirlpool," but it has been shown that there was no such word. In various dialects it is still used in its original sense. One may often hear from the older type of country folk such expressions as "It fair mazed me to see it," giving one the feeling that the syllable "a-" has been dropped, whereas it was never there. In Shakespeare the expression frequently occurs. Titania, in "Midsummer Night's Dream" (Act II, Sc. 2), says: "... the spring, the summer, The childing autumn, angry winter, change Their wonted liveries; and the maz'd world, By their increase, now knows not which is which." Talbot of Shrewsbury, in his dire straits before the walls of Bordeaux ("King Henry VI," Pt. I, Act IV, Sc. 2), exclaims: "O, negligent and heedless discipline! How are we park'd and bounded in a pale,-- A little herd of England's timorous deer, Maz'd with a yelping kennel of French curs!" (See also "King Henry VIII," Act II, Sc. 4, line 185.) That the word as here quoted has no identity with the word "amazed" is clear from a comparison of its context with that of the latter in the numerous instances of its employment by Shakespeare. The verb "to maze" is found in Chaucer: "'Ye maze, maze, gode sire,' quod she, 'This thank have I for I have maad yow see.'" (_The Marchantes Tale_, l. 2387.) In the sense of crazy, wild, or thoughtless, we find it in the dialect expressions "Mazed-antic" and "Mazegerry." As a metaphor it is employed in like manner to its Greek equivalent. In "The Taming of the Shrew" Petruchio declares: "I have thrust myself into this maze, Haply to wive and thrive as best I may." "Let us," says Pope, in the "Essay on Man," "Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man, A mighty maze! but not without a plan." The term has no connection with the word which we see in, for instance, Mr. Hall Caine's novel "The Deemster": "Nine maze--not bad for the first night." This is a variant of the word _mease_ and denotes a measure of 500 herrings!