_Osbernus filius Herfasti_ (Vol. viii., p. 515.).--In reply to the Query of MR. SANSOM, "Whether Osborn de Crespon, the brother of the Duchess of Normandy, had a brother of the same name?" I beg to reply that there appears to be distinct evidence that he had; for in a grant of lands by Richard II., Duke of Normandy, who died in 1026, to the monks of St. Michael, there are, along with the signatures of his son Richard and several other witnesses, those of _Osbernus frater Comitissæ_, and _Osbernus filius Arfast_ (_Lobineau_, tom. ii. p. 97.). One of those may probably have become Abbot of S. Evroult. No doubt MR. SANSOM is well aware that one of the same family was Osborn, Bishop of Exeter. He was a son of Osborn de Crespon, and brother of the Earl of Hereford, premier peer of England. In 1066 he forbad the monks to be buried in the cloisters of their monasteries; but they resisted his injunction, and, on an appeal to the Pope, obtained a decision against him (_Mabillon_). For an eulogium on him see Godwin, _De presul. Angl_. He died in 1104, and was buried in the cathedral at Exeter. I would observe that the ancient orthography of the name is Osbern, which was continued for many centuries, and may even now be seen in Maidwell Church, Northamptonshire, on the monument of Lady Gorges, the daughter of Sir John Osbern, who died in 1633. OMICRON. I think there can be little doubt that Herfastus "the Dane" was the father of Gunnora, wife of Rich. I., Duke of Normandy; of Aveline, wife of Osbernus de Bolebec, Lord of Bolbec and Count of Longueville; and of Weira, wife of Turolf de Pont Audomere. The brother of these three sisters was another Herfastus, Abbot of St. Evrau; who was the father of Osbernus de Crepon, Steward of the Household, and Sewer to the Conqueror. H. C. C. _Devonianisms_ (Vol. viii., p. 65.).--Your correspondent MR. KEYS is at a loss for the origin of the word _plum_, as used in Devonshire. Surely it is the same word as _plump_, although employed in a somewhat different sense. _Plum_ or _plump_, as applied to a bed, would certainly convey the idea of softness or downiness. As to the employment of the word as a verb, I conceive that it is analogous to an expression which I have often heard used by cooks, in speaking of meat or poultry, "to plump up." A cook will say of a fowl which appears deficient in flesh, "It is a young bird; it will plump up when it comes to the fire." A native of Devonshire would simply say, "It will plum." As to the word _clunk_, it is in use throughout Cornwall in the sense of "to swallow," and is undoubtedly Celtic. On referring to Le Gonidec's _Dictionnaire Celto-Breton_, I find "_Lonka_, or _Lounka_, v.a. _avaler_."