Vol. V.—No. 124. NOTES AND QUERIES: A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

VOL. V.—No. 124.

SATURDAY, MARCH 13. 1852.

Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5d.

CONTENTS.

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

Notes.

READINGS IN SHAKSPEARE, NO. III.

Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 5.

This line (which might have suggested to our worthy patron, Captain Cuttle, the posy on our title-page) has, in my opinion, been misapplied and misinterpreted; and, as I am unable to convince myself that the view I take of it, albeit in opposition to all other readers of Shakspeare, is wrong, I venture to remove my light from under the bushel, although in so doing am sorely in dread of its being rudely puffed upon.

The more so, because the natural hesitation which must be felt, in any case, when challenging for the first time the correctness of a generally received reading, is, in this instance, greatly augmented, by finding that an illustrious commenter upon Shakspeare—himself a great and congenial poet—has conferred a special approbation upon the old reading, by choosing it out as an item in his appreciation of Hamlet's character.

I allude to Coleridge, whose remark is this:

"Shakspeare alone could have produced the vow of Hamlet, to make his memory a blank of all maxims and generalised truths that 'observation had copied there,' followed immediately by the speaker noting down the generalised fact—

"'That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.'

"Now, that this last line is really what Shakspeare intended to be noted down, is precisely the point that goes so much "against the stomach of my sense!"

This jotting down by Hamlet, upon a real substantial table, of one of those "generalised truths" which he had just excluded from the table of his memory, would be such a literalising of the metaphor, that it is a great relief to me to feel convinced that Shakspeare never intended it.

In Hamlet's discourse there may be observed an under current of thought that is continually breaking forth in apostrophe. In the present instance it is directed to his uncle:

Is not all this one continued apostrophe? The second line an admirative comment upon the first, and the fourth line, even in the present day, a common exclamation expressive of misdeeds, or intentions, unexpectedly brought to light? But it is not this most trite reflection, in the second line, that Hamlet wishes to set down. No, it is the all-absorbing commandment:

Set it down, in order that the exact words of the commandment—subsequently quoted to the very letter—may be preserved.

To suppose that Hamlet gets forth his tables for the purpose of setting down a common-place truism, because he has reserved no place for such matters in the table of his memory, is surely to materialise a fine poetical image by contrasting it with a substantial matter of fact operation.

And to suppose, with Coleridge, that the very absurdness of the act is a subtle indication of incipient madness, is an over refinement in criticism, as intenable as it is unnecessary.

Hamlet evinces no semblance of unsettled mind, real or assumed, until joined by Horatio and Marcellus; and, even then, his apparently misplaced jocularity does not commence until he has finally determined to withhold the secret he had twice been on the point of disclosing:

Again:

I do not know whether I am singular in the view I take of these two sentences, but I understand them as inchoate disclosures, suddenly broken off through the irresolution of the speaker.

For instance, I do not understand the last, as Horatio understood it—"There needs no ghost from the grave to tell us this;" but I understand it as an intended revelation, begun, withdrawn, and cleverly turned off by the substitution of a ridiculous termination. It is then, when Hamlet finally resolves to withhold the secret, at least from Marcellus (when or where Horatio afterwards acquires it, is not explained), that he seeks to conceal his overwrought feelings by assumed levity.

Such is the way I read this scene; and, while I freely admit the difficulty presented in the fact, that, amongst so many acute students of Shakspeare, no one before should have seen any difficulty in the usual interpretation of this passage, I must at the same time declare, that I can perceive no single point in favour of that interpretation, save and except the placing of the "stage direction" where it now is. But this may have arisen from the early printers being misled by the apparent sequence of the word "that," with which the next line commences:

It may be observed, however, that such a commencement, to a sentence expressive of wonder or incredulity, was by no needs uncommon. As, for example, in the first scene of Cymbeline:

I really can perceive little else than this "stage direction" to favour the usual reading, while, in that proposed by me, the sequence of action appears to be the most natural in the world:—

First, "My tables, my tables," &c.

Next, the continuation of the interrupted apostrophe, which occupies the time while getting forth and preparing the tables.

Next, the abrupt exclamation, "Now to my word."

And finally, the dictating, to the pen, the express words of the last line of the ghost's speech.

In point of fact, the best possible stage direction is given by Shakspeare himself, when he makes Hamlet exclaim, "Now to my word," or, now to my memorandum, reverting to the purpose for which he had got his tables forth. In the old reading, Steevens was driven to explain "now to my word" in this way, "Hamlet alludes to the watchword given every day in military service."

It is of the more importance that this point, raised by me, should be fairly and impartially examined, because, being in correction of alleged misinterpretation, its decision must have some influence upon a right discrimination of the character of Hamlet's madness, as opposed to the deduction drawn by Coleridge. In taking it into consideration, the following alterations in the existing punctuation must be premised:—

After "set it down," a full stop; after "and be a villain," a note of admiration; the stage direction "(writing)" to be removed two lines lower down.

A. E. B.

Leeds.

FOLK LORE.

Burning Fern brings Rain.

—In a volume containing miscellaneous collections by Dr. Richard Pococke, in the British Museum, MS. Add. 15,801, at fol. 33. is the copy of a letter written by Philip Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke, Lord Chamberlain, to the Sheriff of Staffordshire, which illustrates a curious popular belief of the period, from which even the king was not free. It is as follows: [243]

"Sr.—His Majesty taking notice of an opinion entertained in Staffordshire, that the burning of Ferne doth draw downe rain, and being desirous that the country and himself may enjoy fair weather as long as he remains in those parts, His Majesty hath commanded me to write unto you, to cause all burning of Ferne to bee forborne, untill his Majesty be passed the country. Wherein not doubting but the consideration of their own interest, as well as of his Maties, will invite the country to a ready observance of this his Maties command, I rest,

Do any other writers of the time notice this "opinion," and do any traces of it exist at present?

μ.

TRANSLATIONS.

It becomes needful that the translations which are to be copyright should be accurately made when the new international law comes into effect. In the Consulship and Empire of M. Thiers, vol. iii. p. 220., purporting to be translated by D. Forbes Campbell, "under the sanction and approval of the author," the following happy piece of translation occurs:—

"They urged also, that the Maltese people would offer great resistance to the destruction of those fine fortresses, and proposed the reconstitution of the Order on a new and more solid basis. They had no objection to allow the French language still to be used there, stipulating only that a college should be instituted for teaching the English and Maltese languages. The latter for the advantages of the Maltese people, who should have a share in its management; they were desirous of placing this new settlement under the guarantee of some great power, Russia for example. The English were in hopes that with the English and Maltese languages spoken by the people who would still be devoted to them, they should still have an influence in the island, which would prevent the French from again obtaining possession of it."

The translator has invented a college and system of instruction, because he did not know how to translate "langue!"[1] Thus this important passage is wholly perverted.

[1] "Langue" means Order of Knights of Malta, of the particular "nation" expressed.

"Ils alléguaient la resistance de la population maltaise à toute destruction de ses belles forteresses, et proposaient la reconstitution de l'Ordre sur des bases nouvelles et plus solides. Ils voulaient y laisser une langue française, moyennant qu'on y institût une langue anglaise et une langue maltaise, celle-ci accordée à la population de l'îsle, pour lui donner part à son gouvernement; ils voulaient que ce nouvel établissement fût placé sur la garantie d'une grande puissance, la Russie par exemple. Les Anglais espéraient qu'avec les langues anglaise et maltaise qui leur seraient dévotée, ils auraient un pied dans l'isle, et empêcheraient les Français d'y rentrer."

C. REDDING.

BALLAD OF LORD DELAMERE.
(Vol. ii., p. 104.)

A correspondent gives the first two lines of a ballad called Lord Delamere, and inquires to what political event it refers. DR. RIMBAULT (Vol. ii., p. 158.) suggests that this song may be another version of one published in Mr. Thomas Lyte's Ancient Ballads and Songs, which begins differently, and which Mr. Lyte fancies may refer to some corn-law debate in parliament about the years 1621 and 1622. I have a song which I took down from recitation in Derbyshire, entitled The Long-armed Duke, but which is no doubt identical with Mr. Lyte's, the first verse being nearly the same. That it refers to some transaction much later than 1622 is evident from the mention of Lord Delamere, that title having been first conferred by Charles II. upon Sir George Warrington. Henry, second Earl of Delamere, and William, Earl of Devonshire, are the heroes of the ballad, which I believe to be founded upon some obscure report of the quarrel which took place between the latter and Colonel Colepepper, of which an account will be found in the Works of Lord Delamere, London, 1694, p. 563. (reprinted in Howell's State Trials, vol. ii. p. 510.), and also in Collins's Peerage, vol. i. p. 343.; and see also Colley Cibber's Apology, chap. iii.

The Earl of Devonshire struck Colonel Colepepper in the anteroom at Whitehall, having previously received an affront from the Colonel in the king's palace. He was summoned to appear at the King's Bench, and gave bail to the amount of 30,000l.; Lord Delamere being one of his sureties. A fine to that amount was inflicted on him, but he appealed from the judgment to the House of Lords, where one of his warmest advocates was Lord Delamere. Vague reports of these proceedings would find their way into the North, where the matter would be handled by the balladmongers in a style congenial to the manners and ideas of their rustic auditory. Lord Delamere is described by a cotemporary versifier as

These lines are given, without a reference, in a note to Burton's Diary. Query, Where do they come from?

My version of the ballad was printed about nine years ago in a periodical called The Storyteller, which came to an abrupt conclusion in the [244] second volume, and is probably now in the hands of few. Mr. Lyte's volume also appears to be a rarity. I therefore append a copy, which you can add to this note if you do not think it too long. Perhaps your correspondent would send the remainder of his fragment, which it might be interesting to compare.

[2] According to some reciters, "Dutch."

C. W. G.

Minor Notes.

A Note on Henry III.

—In Vol. v., p. 28., is the Query, "Are our Lists of English Sovereigns completed?" Some further illustration of the case of the king usually styled Henry III., to which particular attention was directed, may be derived from the subjoined extract taken from a MS. (No. 146.) in the University Library at Cambridge. The MS. is a parchment roll containing a "genealogical tree" of the kings of England, with brief notices written in the fifteenth century. On one side of the medallion on which is inscribed "Henricus tercius," is a brief eulogy of the king; on the other side is the following:

"Iste Henricus dictus est tercius quia sic intitulatur in Cronicis hystoriis scriptis et cartis non ratione numerali sed regie denominationes (sic) vel dignitatis verbi gracia si numeretur. Henricus filius conquestoris. Deinde Henricus secundus filius Plantagenet postea filius eiusdem Henrici erit iste profecto quartus. Prætermittitur autem in stipite regnantium Henricus filius eius quia non regnavit, ratione igitur regnantium dicitur iste Henricus tercius. Obiit die sancti Edmundi Regis anno regni sui LVIIo et sepultus est apud Westmonasterium."

W. R. C. [245]

Old Books and New Titles (Vol. v., p. 125.).

—Your correspondent J. H. is quite correct in his remarks on the above subject. A friend of mine lately saw advertised in a catalogue the following title of a work, Fulfilment of Scripture Prophecies on Nations and Kingdoms, by John Hoyland. He sent for the book and found it was exactly the same as what he already had, viz., Epitome of the History of the World, by John Hoyland, but with another title. Such practices are neither fair nor honorable.

JOHN ALGOR.

Sheffield.

Bowdler's Family Shakspeare.

—It has occurred to me that a cheap edition of Bowdler's Family Shakspeare would be in much request, and might conveniently be published in numbers consisting of single plays at 3d. each. This would bring the whole to about 9s., bound in three handy volumes. A new edition might contain the more recent typographical corrections and the names printed at length, a very desirable amendment. Will Messrs. Longman, the publishers of Bowdler's Shakspeare, look favourably on this suggestion when they see it in "N. & Q."? It would be an invaluable addition to their Traveller's Library.

A LADY.

Torquay.

[We have reason to believe that Messrs. Longman have it in contemplation to produce such a cheap edition as our correspondent suggests, but not, perhaps, as a portion of their Traveller's Library.]

The French Language.

—It has continually appeared to me as a great absurdity, that the terms masculine and feminine should be applied to inanimate things in the French language, when common sense is opposed to such a distinction. I think the reason for using feminine and masculine articles in conjunction with nouns said to be of those genders, is to be found in the rule which obtains in the Irish or Celtic language, namely, that of "caol re caol," i.e. fine with fine, and "leatair re leatair," i.e. broad with broad vowels or sounds. I throw out this hint to those who are better qualified to investigate the matter; as I feel sure it would be a great benefit to learners of the French language to have a clear rule to guide them, instead of the present system, which is very complicated.

FRAS. CROSSLEY.

Curious Epitaph.

—The following portion of an epitaph from the tomb of Thomas Carter, 1706, in the church of St. Gregory, Sudbury, will doubtless interest some of your readers; it is as well to premise that he was a very charitable man, as the whole inscription (which would occupy about forty lines) fully records:

Permit me to translate it for the benefit of your lady readers:

The allusion is of course to St. Matthew xix. 24.

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

Queries.

"HOGS NORTON, WHERE PIGS PLAY UPON THE ORGANS."

I should be much obliged by any of your correspondents favouring me with their opinions as to the origin of the above saying. Evans, in his Leicestershire Words, says:

"The true name of the town, according to Peck, is Hocks Norton, but vulgarly pronounced Hogs Norton. The organist to this parish church was named Piggs."

But in Witt's Recreations, of which I have a copy of 1640, the eighty-third epigram is "upon pigs devouring a bed of penny-royal, commonly called organs:"

Organs from "organy;" French, origan; Latin, origanum.

Now it is evident that in 1640 the proverb was in vogue, and well understood; but organs were not at that time common in churches, especially parish churches, and as I do not know which of the many Nortons in England is Mr. Peck's Hocks Norton, I cannot help considering his derivation somewhat in the light of an anachronism.

I do not know the date of Howell's English Proverbs quoted by Mr. Halliwell in his Archaic Dictionary. Should there be such a place as Hog's Norton, or Hock's Norton, is the Hock = Hok = oak tree? Acorns and pigs were common associates.

The only instance that I recollect of pigs being connected with an organ, is in that curious freak recorded of the Abbé Debaigne, maître de musique to Louis XI., when he made a hog-organ by enclosing pigs of various ages and pitches of voice in a kind of chest; the older ones on the left hand for the bass, and the younger on the right for the treble: over all these was suspended a key-board, which, when played on, pressed long needles into the pigs' backs,—the result is left to the imagination.

THOS. LAWRENCE.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch. [246]

Minor Queries.

The Judge alluded to by South.

—South, in a note in his first Sermon on Covetousness (vol. iv. p. 448., 4th edition, 1727), tells us of a lawyer, "a confident of the rebels," who recommended that the Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Charles I., should be bound "to some good trade, that so he might eat his bread honestly." He then expresses wonder that Charles II. made this lawyer a judge; a practice, he adds, and doubtless with a meaning, "not unusual in the courts of some princes, to encourage and prefer their mortal enemies, before their truest friends."

Can any of your correspondents tell us more on the subject, and the name of the judge?

The recommendation was probably given at the time when the Duke and the Princess Elizabeth were removed from Penshurst to Carisbrooke, where, according to instructions, they were not to be treated as royal children.

I may refer your readers to Lord Clarendon's Hist. (vii. 84.), and to a letter and interesting note in Sir H. Ellis's Collection of Letters, iii. 329. Evelyn describes the Duke as "a prince of extraordinary hopes."

Did South, in his reflection on princes, refer to himself? Wood, his bitter foe, tells us that "he could never be enough loaded with preferment; while others, who had been reduced to a bit of bread for his Majesty's cause, could get nothing." In 1660 he "tugged hard," adds Wood, to be Can of Ch. Ch., but failed: in ten years afterwards he succeeded.

J. H. M.

Bath.

English Translation of the Canons.

—In the 36th canon the record of the subscriptions is, Quod liber publicæ Liturgiæ ... nihil in se contineat quod verbo Dei sit contrarium; quodque eodem taliter uti liceat. This is copied from Bishop Sparrow's collection. The English translation, to which subscription is now made, has the following rendering of the second clause—and that the same may be lawfully used. The word taliter seems to be not rendered at all. Without wishing to provoke theological controversy, I should ask, by what authority, and at what date, was the English translation imposed upon the clergy and graduates, all of whom understand Latin? Is it affirmed that the English renders the Latin fully, or is the English translation avowedly intended to fall short? I will not ask the meaning of the word taliter in the minds of those who imposed the Latin subscription, because answers might provoke the inadmissible kind of controversy.

M.

Snuff-boxes and Tobacco-pipes.

—In which book can I find the best account of the manufacture of snuff-boxes, particularly of those manufactured in Mauchline and Laurencekirk, Scotland?

Also of the manufacture of cigars in London, the number of persons engaged in the trade, and general statistics thereof?

Also of the manufacture of tobacco-pipes, and of the "Incorporated Company of Tobacco-pipe Manufacturers," and the statistics of the trade?

D. W. L.

Cromwell.

—Is it true that Oliver Cromwell held the office of cup-bearer to King Charles I.? I ask this question, because at a recent sale of MSS. by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson occurs this lot:

"226. Committee for Public Revenue. Order for the payment of arrears of annual salary of 66l. 13s. 4d., due Christmas last, to Major Oliver Cromwell, for his attending the late King as Cup-bearer. Signed ED. HOWARD (Lord Howard of Escrick, co. York); SIR H. VANE; H. EDWARDES; JOHN TRENCHARD; and COR HOLLAND: the receipt dated July 2, signed O. CROMWELL. Thomas Fauconberge subsequently became Cromwell's son-in-law; at the corner is his autograph order, for the amount to be promptly paid. July 2, 1649."

G. W. J.

Meaning of Wallop

—In the article of Collins's Peerage which narrates the history of the "Wallops, Earls of Portsmouth," great and deserved praise is bestowed upon Sir John Wallop, a most valorous and successful military commander.

Not to trouble you with more, I make one extract, which is, for more reasons than one, likely to be interesting:

"Sir John Wallop, in 6 Henry VIII., was sent as Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the fleet, to encounter Prior John, the French Admiral, who, landing in Sussex, had burnt the town of Brighthelmstone. The French getting into their own ports, Sir John Wallop sailed to the coast of Normandy, and there landed and burnt twenty-one villages and towns with great slaughter, and also the ships and boats in the havens of Treaport, Staple, &c., wherein he acquitted himself with such conduct and valour, that all our historians have mentioned this expedition much to his honour."

The Query which I desire to ask is, whether the significant, but somewhat coarse phrase of "to wallop," have its origin in the exploits of this gallant ancestor of the Earl of Portsmouth?

E. S. S. W.

Winton.

The "Mistral."

—There is an old French proverb which says:

The first of these scourges has disappeared: the third will probably last for ever: but what of the second?

The Mistral is a kind of whirlwind (partaking of the character of the African simoon, or of the West Indian hurricane), which pays its annual visits to Provence, and causes the most frightful [247] devastation along the banks of the Rhone. It is spoken of by Seneca, and other writers of his time; and the Emperor Augustus is said to have raised a temple to it during his residence in Gaul.

Has any attempt been made, in this age of scientific advancement, to explain the causes of the Mistral? Perhaps Sir William Reid, from his present position and opportunities, as Governor of Malta, may be induced to turn his attention to the subject. An attempt to investigate the origin of this phenomenon, coupled with an historical sketch of its progress and effects, would form a valuable chapter in any future edition of his work on the Law of Storms.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

Deaths from Fasting.

—In the church of St. Mary, Bury St. Edmund's, is a fine table-tomb, surmounted by a corpse in a winding-sheet, to the memory of John Bant, whose very curious will has been printed by the Camden Society. Tradition says that the death of this pious church decorator arose from the vain attempt to imitate Our Lord in fasting forty successive days and nights. This tradition has no foundation in fact, but owes its origin to the figure on the tomb, which would appear to have been made in the lifetime of the deceased. There are similar traditions in other parts of the kingdom. Can any of your correspondents state where, and whether accompanied by similar wasted figures?

BURIENSIS.

Ad Viscum.

—It has not been unusual among antiquaries of a certain class to cite the following Latin hexameter:—

Two or three times I have seen it accompanied by a general reference to one Ovidius. But having met with a copy of that author, to which an index of all his words is annexed, I collect therefrom that the said Ovidius never expressed himself to that effect.

I should wish to learn whether any body else ever did, and who; or whether the knave who first coined that false reference also coined the line.

A. N.

Whipping Graves.

—Excommunicated persons were formerly restored to the Church, according to the old Rituale Romanum, by the ceremony of whipping their graves. When it was resolved the dead party should be restored to the communion of saints, it was ordered that the body should not be disentombed, but that the "graves shall be whipped, and while the priest whips the grave, he shall say—'By the authority which I have received I free thee from the bond of excommunication, and restore thee to the communion of the faithful.'" I do not find this in the copy of the Ritual I possess. Have any readers of the "N. & Q." a copy with the directions for this singular service?

CYRUS REDDING.

John Rogers, Protomartyr

John Rogers, Protomartyr, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, and Rector of St. Sepulchre's, was burnt at the stake in Smithfield, rendering his testimony to the true religion of the Catholic Church of England: he left a wife and ten children. It is remarkable that no memorial of this celebrated man is to be found in the church of which he was the rector. Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." afford information as to his present descendants? John Rogers, Gentleman, of Charter House Square, was buried in the nave of the church, Nov. 19. 1775, aged fifty-four. The degree of consanguinity to the former rector is required for genealogical purposes.

KT.

Autograph Music by Handel.

—Before me lies a MS. duet in the autograph of Handel, and also an unfinished "Sonata da Cembalo" by the same composer. The former piece is thus authenticated by a note written at the bottom of the last page:

"This duett was given to G. Malchair by Philip Hayes, Mus. Dr., with a declaration that it is Mr. Handel's ohne handwriting."

On the wrapper which contains the two pieces is written:

"The two inclosed pieces of music ware given to me by my worthy friend Dr. Philip Hayes, with an ashurance that they are the handwriting of the celebrated Mr. Handel. The duett, indeed, has all the appearance of being the original conception of that greate man pen'd by himself."

I am desirous of ascertaining from some of your correspondents, better versed than myself in the soul-stirring music of this noble composer, whether the duet has been printed; and if so, where it may be found? The only means of identification which I can supply are these: it is written in two flats, and the words are—

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

The Layard Family.

—The ancestor of A. H. Layard, the youthful and everywhere celebrated "Navorscher" of Nineveh, came to England with William of Orange. He fought under this prince at the battle of the Boyne. I would ask, whether anything is known of his genealogy before 1688?

Q. Q. Q.

Zeist.

C.L.A.A.P.D.P.

—The famous Avis aux Réfugiéz, a work commonly attributed to Bayle, pretends on its title-page to have been written "Par Mons. C.L.A.A.P.D.P." Who can tell me whether these initials have any purport?

N. P. BIBLIOPHILUS.

Rotterdam. [248]

Prianho, De Pratellis and Prideaux Family.

—What ground is there for Dr. Oliver, the author of Historic Collections relating to the Monasteries of Devon, published 1820, and the Rev. G. C. Gorham, in his History of St. Neots in Huntingdonshire and in Cornwall, published in 1824, supposing that De Pratellis is the same name as Prideaux? Dr. Oliver says (p. 123.), Adam Prianho or De Pratellis al Prydeaux appointed prior. Gorham, vol. i. p. 172., says, Robert de Preus (alias Robert de Pratell?). And again, in vol. ii. p. clxviii., Robert de Preaux alias Prideaux, was presented by the prior and convent in 1270; his quotation is from Instituted rolls and Registers, Lincoln Cathedral: the roll reads Preus and De Pratellis.

G. P. P.

Joseph Adrien Le Bailly.

—In the choir of the church of St. Sauveur at Bruges is a monument of black marble, to the memory of Joseph Adrien Le Bailly, who died the 18th Oct. 1775, aged eighty-two. After describing him as the member of a noble and warlike family, the epitaph proceeds as follows:

"Victime de l'envie il mourût, en citoyen la calomnie avait flêtri sa vertu, la vérité en a déchiré la voile.... L'honnête homme a reparu, et la justice l'a vengé."

I have searched, but in vain, for some notice of this individual, and shall feel indebted to any of your readers who will be kind enough to give me some particulars which will throw light upon these mysterious expressions.

J. H. M.

Bath.

Minor Queries Answered.

The Great Bowyer Bible.

—Can you afford me information respecting the Great Bowyer Bible, which, I believe, about twenty years ago was valued at 1000l., and disposed of by lottery?

Is it in private hands, or in a public library?

J. S.

[The Bowyer Bible was disposed of, in 1848, in Mrs. Parkes's Club Subscription.

The name of the gentleman who was so fortunate as to obtain it, for his subscription of one guinea, is Saxon; a gentleman farmer, residing near Shepton Mallett in Somersetshire. He received the Bible in an appropriate cabinet from Mrs. Parkes, who knows nothing further of its subsequent history.]

Orloff, Derivation of.

—What is the derivation of the word orloff, as applied to the deck of a ship of war? The "orloff deck" is, I believe, the first lower deck which runs flush frown stem to stern.

W. A. L.

[Falconer and others spell it Orlop, from the Dutch overloop, a running over, or overflowing. Dr. Ogilvie says, "In a ship of war it is a platform of planks laid over the beams in the hold, on which the cables are usually coiled. It contains also sail-rooms, carpenters' cabins, and other apartments. Also, a tier of beams below the lower deck for a like purpose. In three-decked ships the second and lowest decks are sometimes called orlops."]

"A Captain bold of Halifax."

—Byron says, in a note somewhere, that many of the modern Greek poems are in the metre of the English ballad:

The same may be said of a metre much used Terence and Plautus.

Where is this ballad to be found?

ED. G. JACKSON.

Saffron Walden.

[Though we cannot point where this song, written by George Colman, and known as "Unfortunate Miss Bailey," is to be met with, we can refer our correspondent to a clever Latin version of it by the Rev. G. H. Glasse, printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1805, which commences—

There is also in the same magazine a French version which runs—

Goblin, Gorgeous, Gossip.

—May I ask the derivation of the following English words,—Goblin, Gorgeous, Gossip?

J. G. T.

[Goblin is derived from the low Latin Gobelinus; see Ducange, who defines it, "Dæmon, qui vulgo Faunus, Gallis, Gobelin Folastre, German, Kobold," and quotes as his authority Ordericus Vitalis.

Gorgeous, according to Skinner, is from the French Gorgias, probably from Gorge, and transferred from the palate to the eye. No such word as Gorgias is, however, to be found in Roquefort's Glossaire.

Gossip is from the Anglo-Saxon God-sibbe, "cognatus in Deo." Nares in his Glossary furnishes the following apt illustration of it: "Our Christian ancestors, understanding a spiritual affinity to grow between the parents and such as undertooke for the child at baptism, called each other by the name of God-sib, that is, of kin together through God; and the child, in like manner, called such his godfathers and godmothers."—Verstegan, p. 223.]

Maheremium, Arc de Arbouin.

—In a survey of the castle of Launceston made in the 11 Edw. III., occurs the following passage: "Una p̱va capella quar pietes sunt de maheremio et plaustro et maheremiū inde fere disjungit."

Will any of your readers kindly inform an unskilled person the meaning of this description?

The same record contains some notable instances of jocular tenures, such as "ccc volucrs quæ vocr [249] poffouns," from the holder of the Scilly islands; and "un arc' de arbouin," presumed to be a bow of laburnum wood, from the town of Truro.

S. R. P.

Launceston.

[The meaning of the first passage quoted by our correspondent is clearly, "una parva capella quarum parietes sunt de maheremio et plastro, et maheremium inde fere disjungitur," i.e. "one small chapel whose walls are of timber and plaster (or, as we say, built of lath and plaster), and the timbers thereof for the most part disjointed." Under the word Materia, Ducange gives Mæremium, Maheremium, and many other forms of the word, which is used for timber.

Un arc de Arbouin.—If our correspondent will refer to Ducange sub Arcus, he will find him, sub "Arcus de Aubour," citing Monast. Ang., tom. ii. p. 602., and explaining it, "arcus bellici species. Regestum Philippi Augusti, fol. 159. Habet sagittam et arcum de aubour cum corda." He next cites Le Roman de Garin (MS.):

A learned friend whom we have consulted reminds us that besides the common Laburnum, which it is obvious could not be the wood referred to, there is another sort known to our gardeners as "Cytisus Alpinus," Scotch Laburnum, which grows into an actual tree, and supplies the hard black wood used by the French as ebony, and called by them False Ebony. It is of notorious hardness, and would have done well for bows. It is a native of Dauphiné, and indigenous also in the Alps, and, even if unknown in England in the reign of Edward III., was probably used in the Alpine countries for bows, and possibly imported into England for the same purpose.]

Replies.

MORAVIAN HYMNS.
(Vol. v., pp. 30. 113.)

As no reply has been given to your various correspondents on the above subject by one of the Brethren's church, permit a friend to give a few particulars with which he has become acquainted.

The first authorised English edition of the Moravian hymn-book is that of 1754, in the preface to which it is stated, that though there had been some English Collections of Hymns, partly original, and partly translations from the German, in use among the societies in union with the Brethren's church, "these were never regularly authorised, nor always passably reviewed." This book is a bulky 8vo.: it is in two parts; the first consisting of 380 pages, and the second of upwards of 400; together containing about 1200 hymns and Scripture anthems. The next edition appeared in 1769; and a third twenty years later. There have been several editions during the present century, in 8vo., 12mo., and 18mo., the last of which was published in 1819; and the preface states that the whole of the hymns had been revised by "Brother James Montgomery" of Sheffield.

To the inquiry of C. B. as to the honesty of Rimius, I would refer him to an excellent essay by the Rev. P. Latrobe, appended to Jackson's translation of the Life of Count Zinzendorf, by Spangenberg. (London, 1838.)

The memory of your Thurles correspondent is at fault, as may be supposed, from a twenty-five years' recollection. Bishop Gambold could not have published a Moravian hymn-book in 1738, for he did not join the Brethren's church till November, 1742; nor was he consecrated a bishop till 1754.—See his Life, appended to his Works, printed by S. Hazard, of Bath, 1789.

When Southey's animadversions appeared, they were replied to by "William Okely, M.D., Presbyter of the Brethren's Church, and Minister of their Congregation at Bristol," in a letter written in a good-humoured style, yet caustic withal. Unfortunately, as long as Southey's work lasts the poison will remain, while the antidote will be forgotten. The Doctor observes:

"What could possibly induce you, with such ill-judged eagerness, to rake into the kennels of oblivion? Why do you exhibit among your authorities the publications of such a vile fellow as Rimius? Was you not informed that he wrote with all the rancour of a renegado, and all the spite of an enemy? Is such a man proper to be publicly called forth as a witness against a church which he had deserted from no excess of virtue; against a church which, yourself being judge, has, by its silent but honorable exertions, first glorified God among the heathen, and then stimulated the rest of the Christian world to engage in similar attempts; against a church which, according to your own representations, possesses in herself the rare principle of gradual melioration, and, by a constant course of good living, has, in the face of watchful enemies, been able to rise superior to the consequences of former acknowledged indiscretions in language? Did you know that those writings were sinking fast into deserved neglect? That the copies had become so rare, that it was scarcely possible to obtain one? What merit, I ask you, is there in such publications, that you should thus studiously fish them out of the mud which was already closing over them, and after carefully scraping off the filth and mould which they had contracted, spread over them a coating of your own poetical varnish?

— — —

"What motive shall we assign for your conduct? You could not have intended to warn the Christian world against indulging in similar imprudences; for you well know that in the present day, society has not the smallest tendency that way. You could not mean to warn the Brethren against the recurrence of the same absurdities; for you acknowledge yourself that they have already for a long period risen superior to them; and instead of the least tendency to relapse, they have repeatedly and publicly confessed their mistake, and have suffered so much, and such often unmerited obloquy, on account of their long-exploded [250] phraseology, that they are more likely in future to keep too far within bounds from over caution, than once more wildly to overleap them.

— — —

"The only way to account for your conduct in this respect, is to suppose it owing entirely to inadvertence. You were merely amusing yourself, like the boys in the fable, unmindful that your sport might perhaps prove death to a set of poor frogs. But ought you not to have remembered the golden rule of Christ, never to do unto others what you would not choose to have done to yourself? Are you not still smarting under the blows you so lately received from the battle-axe of Wat Tyler? Believe me, sir, communities have feeling as well as individuals. In the days of your ignorance, as you will now call them, you wrote what you are at present ashamed of. To have composed Wat Tyler, you feel to be little congenial with the spirit that ought to dwell in a poet-laureate. When that unfortunate effusion of your pen was officiously dragged into light, did it not touch you to the quick? And why? Because you repented that you had ever written it. We repent of having written and said those things which occasioned Rimius' trumpet to sound. We have repeatedly declared that we do repent, and our conduct has proved the truth of our declaration. Must we not, therefore, feel pain at seeing our old delinquencies, long forgiven and forgotten, once more coupled with our name by a man of your respectable character and abilities? Is not the pain we feel the very impress of what you have felt, and still feel, on the score of Wat Tyler?"

From a Pamphlet printed at Bristol, 1820.

SIGMA.

ARCHAIC AND PROVINCIAL WORDS.
(Vol. v., p. 173.)

In pursuance of my recommendation I now send to "N. & Q." the following provincial and technical words, as taken from the published evidence given before the coroner at the inquest on the Holmefirth catastrophe. Technical names have been there used, which are either strange or unknown even to many engineers, and which no dictionary that I am acquainted with contains. The inquiry is, however, one of such general interest at this time, as connected with the recent fearful loss of life, and enormous destruction of property, that I also give some words, the meaning of which is not so obscure. The names of the reservoir which was bursted, and of the village which suffered most damage, may be taken first.

Bilberry Reservoir: Bilberry is the local name of a berry growing on a heath shrub; a species of Vacci'nium: the genus consists of about fifty species. This berry, in England, is known as wimberry, blueberry, blaeberry, blae, whortleberry, whort and huckleberry; Saxon—heort-berg, hartberry; German—heidel-beere, heathberry; Dutch—blaauwbes, blueberry. The reservoir, no doubt, covered a site on which Vacci'nium Myrtillus, the common bilberries, grew.

Holmefirth: this name may be from holm, the Ilex, the evergreen oak; or holm, a tract of flat rich land on the bank of a brook or river. Frith, a passage or narrow channel; or frith, a kind of "weir" for catching fish.

Greenhowlers: the name of a place where one of the witnesses resides. Howler, or Owler, Alnus glutinosa, the common alder, a tree or shrub growing in damp places, in plantations and hedges, mistaken by the ignorant for the hazel. To send a boy "nutting amongst the howlers," is to put him upon a fool's task. This word is common in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Fall is applied to a number of trees cut down.

Fresh: a flood of water from heavy rain.

Drift: a small tunnel made for mining or engineering purposes.

Drift, in mechanics, a piece of steel or iron used to back a bolt, or to widen a bolt-hole.

Dyke: a small water-course or river.

Dyke, in geology, a protruded wall of basalt or whin rock.

Goit: a small artificial water-course leading to a mill or reservoir.

Runs: small dykes.

Bye-wash: an artificial water-course, to allow of the escape of flood waters from a reservoir.

Rag: a term for shale. In geology, thin-bedded, slaty strata.

Sludge or Sludgy: mud or muddy.

Puddle: prepared clay, tempered to form a wall in a reservoir bank, or a lining to resist water.

Puddle-bank, Puddle-wall, and Puddle-dyke mean the same.

Culvert, Sewer, and Sough mean almost the same; an arched channel of stone or brick for water or refuse to pass through. The first belongs more properly to water-works; the two latter are synonyms applied to town drainage, "Sough" being Lancashire.

Shuttle, Sluice, Valve, Clough, Paddle: these five names are synonyms; they mean that portion of the apparatus which slides, or is drawn up and let down, to inclose or let out the water of an artificial stream or reservoir.

Swallow: the inner portion of the culvert, or the throat which leads from the inner side of the reservoir to the "shuttle," the outer portion being the supply-culvert.

Valve: an apparatus to retain or let out water, steam, &c. A valve may slide as the shuttle, paddle, or sluice must do; or it may rise with a spindle, vertically, as in the safety-valve of a steam boiler; or may move on spindles or a hinge, as in some large pumps; or be in the form of a ball, and play loose in a case, as in a fire-engine pump: there are other forms of valves. Throttle-valve, a valve [251] fixed in the steam-pipe of an engine, to which the governor is attached, to throttle or reduce the supply of steam to the cylinder. In some engines, as the locomotive, there is no governor motion, and the throttle-valve is consequently used by hand.

Waste-pit: a vertical pit or well, leading from the "overflow" on the embankment into the supply; or, in this case, the "waste culvert."

Drawer: the man employed to draw water from the reservoir by raising the "shuttle."

Such is a brief explanation of some of the provincial and technical words used in the Holmefirth inquiry; and I think some of the readers of "N. & Q." will have a right to say that a process of desynonymising is required. So many names for the same thing, unless they are all understood, generally lead to confusion.

ROBERT RAWLINSON.

In the neighbourhood of Canterbury we have the following.

Nail-bourn is the name given to an intermittent land-spring, showing itself at uncertain intervals. There is one in the parish of Petham, another near Sir John Honywood's at Evington, and a third at Barham.

To chastise is commonly used in the sense of to tax, or to charge, a man; and is probably a mere corruption of to catechise.

Gazel is the Kentish word for the black currant.

To get lucker means to get loose or flabby.

To terrify is used almost universally for to tease, to irritate.

Φ.

I beg to forward for "N. & Q.," according to the suggestion of MR. RAWLINSON, a few provincialisms. I know not whether my orthography is correct, as I have never seen the words written, and therefore only spell them according to the sound.

Critch (Hants): any earthenware vessel; a jar.

Dillijon: a heavy two-wheeled cart. This word's similarity to the French diligence is apparent. I have only heard it at Fullerton, a secluded spot in Hampshire.

Rattlemice:[3] bats.

Scug[4] (Hants): a squirrel. "Let's go scug-hunting" is a common phrase.

Yesses (Dorsetshire): earth-worms.

[3] [4] [The words thus marked will be found in Halliwell; where we also read Esses, large worms (Kent).—ED.]

UNICORN.

MACARONIC POETRY.
(Vol. v., p. 166.)

In the "Notes on Books" references are made to Mr. Sandys' Specimens of Macaronic Poetry, and to M. Octave Delepierre's Macaronéana. This latter work I have not yet seen, but if it does not contain the following specimen which I recollect reading many years ago in a costly work, Wild Sports of the East, but which I have not since seen, I think its insertion may amuse the readers of "N. & Q.":

These verses I have dictated from memory after forty years, and there may be some verbal inaccuracies. The name of "Tippoo" seems to point out their Eastern origin, but I am not certain of the exact title of the work from which I quote them, and I am indebted to "N. & Q." for the name of Mr. Sandys as the author of Specimens of Macaronic Poems. In my copy there is no indication of the author. Was there a second edition?

JAMES CORNISH. [252]

YOUNG'S "NARCISSA."
(Vol. iii., p. 422.)

The inquiry by J. M. relative to the authority possessed by the letter quoted from the Evangelical Magazine for Nov. 1797, may be fairly answered by a reference to the letter in the magazine alluded to.

It is appended as a note to a "Memoir of the late Mr. Mouncher of Southampton, written by the Rev. Mr. Kingsbury." The letter itself was written from Montpellier in 1789, by Mr. Walter Taylor to his sister Mrs. Mouncher; and, from the position of all those parties, would appear to be deserving of credit as far as it goes.

It shows that Mr. W. Taylor, and others, conversed with the gardener of the "King's Garden;" and from him (son of the former gardener) heard that about forty-five years before Dr. Young had bribed the then under-gardener to allow him to bury "Narcissa," and would thus prove that the tradition existed at that time at Montpellier.

There is also in a retired part of the Botanic Garden (established by Henry IV.) a stone bearing an inscription to "Narcissa," as mentioned in Murray's Hand-Book, placed there probably in consequence of that tradition. Moreover, it is believed, in the family of a gentleman of Montpellier, that his maternal grandfather saw Dr. Young and his step-daughter at Montpellier about the year 1741; that the lady died there, and was buried, as is stated, in the garden; that however it was not Mrs. Temple, but a younger sister of hers.

It appears from records in this country, that Lady Elizabeth Lee, by her first marriage, had one son and two daughters. The son was buried at St. Mary's-le-Strand in 1743; the elder daughter married Henry Temple, son of Viscount Palmerston, and it appears died in France (perhaps at Lyons) in 1736; the younger, Caroline, married Captain, afterwards General Haviland, and died without issue. The General died at Penn in Buckinghamshire in 1784; but no record relating to his first wife, Miss Caroline Lee, is to be found there.

Such record, if found in any parish in England, would greatly tend to decide the question. Possibly some correspondent may be in a position to ascertain whether such record exists.

Lady Elizabeth had by her marriage with Dr. Young, a son only; it could not, therefore, be a daughter of Young's who died at Montpellier.

D. S.

DULCARNON.
(Vol. i., p. 254.; Vol. v., p. 180.)

Why this word should have "set all editors of Chaucer at defiance" is not very apparent, for he himself sufficiently explains its meaning by the context. The passage in which it occurs is in Troylus and Creseyde, b. iii. 931. seq. thus:

Now Speght, in his Glossary to the edition of 1602, says:

"Dulcarnon is a proposition in Euclide, lib. i. theorem 33. propos. 47., which was found out by Pythagoras after an whole yeeres study, and much beating of his brayne. In thankfulnes whereof he sacrificed an oxe to the gods; which sacrifice he called Dulcarnon. Alexander Neckham, an ancient writer, in his booke De Naturis rerum, compoundeth this word of Dulia and Caro, and will have Dulcarnon to be quasi sacrificium carnis. Chaucer aptly applieth it to Creseide in this place: showing that she was as much amazed how to answer Troilus, as Pythagoras was wearied to bring his desire to effect."

Master Speght is somewhat in error in his solution: let us hear another expositor. I have mentioned in your pages the existence of a translation into rhymed Latin verse of the whole of Chaucer's Troilus, with a copious commentary by Sir Francis Kynaston; and I may now add, for Mr. Lang's satisfaction, that it is penes me. The following note there occurs on this word:

"Dulcarnon, &c. By this exposition, which Pandarus makes of the word Dulcarnon, it is plaine that Chaucer sets it downe here as a worde in use in his time, and such a one as the logicians do call (being a word of no significant sense) vox significans ad placitum, as in English twittle twattle, fiddle faddle, quibling and conundrums, and the like. So Dulcarnon in those times was a word of the same signification as we at this day do use nonplus; as we say by a scholler that is apposed and cannot answer any further, that he is put to a nonplus, a phrase derived from Hercules' motto written upon the two great Gaditane pillars set on either side the Straights of Gibraltar: which Hercules constituted as the end of the world with these words, NON PLUS ULTRA: meaning that no man ever did or could go further than those pillars. For Neckham's far-fetch'd criticisme in deriving the etymologie of the word Dulcarnon from the Greeke word Doulia, and the Latine word Carnium, that is, the service of flesh, which Euclide sacrificed for joy of the invention of a probleme which he demonstrated, [and] on which he had long studied, [it] is in my minde quite from the purpose." [253]

The usual explanation, with a reference to Chaucer, will be found in Blount's Glossographia, and in Philips's World of Words, as well as in the folio edition of Bailey's Dictionary, where it is well defined "to be nonplussed, to be at one's wit's end."

Mr. Inglis's note to his translation of Richard de Bury's Philobiblion, which is taken from Billingsley, points out the connexion between the words Ellefuga and Dulcarnon, which, as he says, "have been a pons asinorum to some good Grecians." The reason will appear to have been that the words were derived from the Arabic, and not from the Greek, according to Dr. Adam Littleton:

"Dulcarnon, i.e. bicorne, cornutum, à figura sic dicta. A hard proposition in Euclid, l. 1. prop. 47. So called in Arabic, and used by old English writers for any hard question or point. DILEMMA, PROBLEMA."

So that to be at Dulcarnon may be said to be on the horns of a dilemma.

S. W. SINGER.

I cannot see the great difficulty which Mr. Halliwell and your correspondents perceive in the use of this word. Of course they are aware, that Iscander Dulcarnein (Alexander Bicornis) is Alexander the Great, the same name being also fabulously ascribed to a far more ancient and imaginary king; and that the æra of Dulcarnein (or Macedonian æra) is well known in Eastern chronology. There is therefore no doubt about the word, only about its application. Why did the name of this king stand for our Coventry or Jericho, a place to which the people are flemed or banished?

Because Dulcarnein built the famous iron walls of Jajuge and Majuge, within which Gog and Magog are confined until the latter days of the world; when God shall reduce the wall to dust, and set free the captive nations (Koran, cap. xviii.). Sending to Dulcarnein is merely an ellipsis of the person for his place, i.e. for the rampart of Dulcarnein. Certainly no men can be more effectually flemed than Gog and Magog were.

But as to the point of being "at one's wits end," no one can be so little conversant with human affairs as the inmates of the iron wall. Knowledge depends much on place. So sailors say, "he has been before."

I have only an uncommented text of Chaucer. But I cannot understand his editors allowing this word to "set them at defiance."

A. N.

ST. GEORGE HERALDICAL MSS.
(Vol. v., pp. 59. 135.)

It seems to be of so much importance to ascertain the safety of these manuscripts, that M—N. trusts he need not apologise for stating in "N. & Q." the result thus far of his inquiry after their present ownership. In consequence of the recommendation of E. A. G. (Vol. v., p. 135.), Sir Edward Tierney has been applied to, but he unfortunately knows nothing of their fate, suggesting, however, a reference to Mr. Woodgate, who was concerned as solicitor at the time of the sale. Mr. Woodgate has been written to, and states that the manuscripts were sold with the other effects of Lord Egmont, but he knows not to whom; he mentions Mr. Braithwaite as the auctioneer. To apply to Mr. Braithwaite would be only carrying the inquiry round in a circle, for twenty years ago, as was stated at page 59, no satisfactory information could be gained there. All, therefore, that remains is to place on record in this useful journal the fact of the disappearance of these manuscripts, in the hopes that some one of its numerous readers may be able now or hereafter to give some account of their existence. When it is recollected that the only copies of many of the latest visitations were among these collections, and that the latter portion of the seventeenth century, to which these visitations refer, is exactly that period in which genealogists, from many causes, find the connexion of pedigrees the most difficult, the discovery of their fate is not without its interest.

M—N.

Noble's account of the sale of these MSS., after the death of Garter in 1715, is as follows:

"Mr. Bridges of Herefordshire, his executor, obtaining possession of the heraldic books which Garter had in his house, never returned them to the College; they were very numerous and valuable, being some of the original visitations, taken by or under the authority of the St. Georges. With these also were many of Camden's books. These original documents were scandalously sold by Messrs. Wynne and Gregory [sons-in-law of Sir Henry St. George] to Thomas Percival, Earl of Egmont, a great lover of genealogical studies, who gave for them 500l.: they are now possessed by that nobleman's grandson, John-James, the present Earl of Egmont."—Hist. Coll. Arms, p. 353. 4to. 1804.

This statement has led to the inference, that the whole of St. George's MSS. were disposed of to Lord Egmont; but the fact is otherwise, for by far the most valuable portion of them was subsequently in the hands of Thomas Osborne, the well-known bookseller of Gray's Inn; who printed a list of them, with an index of the pedigrees, in his catalogue entitled:

"A Catalogue of several valuable Libraries of Books and MSS. &c. To which is prefixed a Genealogical Library in above Two hundred Manuscript Volumes in folio, &c. Collected and augmented by the late Sir Henry St. George, Knt., Garter King of Arms, and his ancestors, in the office of Arms, for above these hundred years past. To begin to be sold, 27 November, 1738." [254]

These MSS. are 216 in number, and many of them are at present in the British Museum, in the Lansdowne Collection of MSS. Osborne reprinted this list in his next catalogue for February 1738/9, entitled:

"An Extensive and Curious Catalogue of valuable Books and MSS. in all Languages, &c., including a very large Collection of Curious Genealogical Tracts," &c.

After the MSS., which occupy pp. 68-92., is an "Appendix," consisting of thirty-three pedigree rolls, chiefly on vellum, which also belonged to St. George.

To conclude with a Query, may I ask, if any complete list of Osborne's Catalogues can be obtained previous to 1756, when the list in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii., begins?

μ.

STERNE IN PARIS.
(Vol. v., p. 105.)

I inclose a copy of an autograph letter of Sterne's written when at Paris. It is very interesting, and is not contained among his published letters. Some few words are illegible, and several of the proper names may be inaccurately copied.

"Paris, March 15, 1762.

"My Dear,—Having an opportunity of writing by a physician, who is posting off for London to-day, I would not omit doing it, though you will possibly receive a letter (which is gone from hence last post) at the very same time. I send to Mr. Foley's every mail-day, to inquire for a letter from you; and if I do not get one in a post or two, I shall be greatly surprised and disappointed. A terrible fire happened here last night, the whole fair of St. Germain's burned to the ground in a few hours; and hundreds of unhappy people are now going crying along the streets, ruined totally by it. This fair of St. Germain's is built upon a spot of ground covered and tiled, as large as the Minster Yard, entirely of wood, divided into shops, and formed into little streets, like a town in miniature. All the artizans in the kingdom come with their wares—jewellers, silversmiths,—and have free leave from all parts of the world to profit by general licence from the Carnival to Easter. They compute the loss at six millions of livres, which these poor creatures have sustained, not one of which have saved a single shilling, and many fled out in their shirts, and have not only lost their goods and merchandize, but all the money they have been taking these six weeks. Oh! ces moments de malheur sont terribles, said my barber to me, as he was shaving me this morning; and the good-natured fellow uttered it with so moving an accent, that I could have found in my heart to have cried over the perishable and uncertain tenure of every good in this life.

"I have been three mornings together to hear a celebrated pulpit orator near me, one Père Clement, who delights me much; the parish pays him 600 livres for a dozen sermons this Lent; he is K. Stanislas's preacher—most excellent indeed! his matter solid, and to the purpose; his manner, more than theatrical, and greater, both in his action and delivery, than Madame Clairon, who, you must know, is the Garrick of the stage here; he has infinite variety, and keeps up the attention by it wonderfully; his pulpit, oblong, with three seats in it, into which he occasionally casts himself; goes on, then rises, by a gradation of four steps, each of which he profits by, as his discourse inclines him: in short, 'tis a stage, and the variety of his tones would make you imagine there were no less than five or six actors on it together.

"I was last night at Baron de Bagg's concert; it was very fine, both music and company; and to-night I go to the Prince of Conti's. There is a Monsieur Popignière, who lives here like sovereign prince; keeps a company of musicians always in his house, and a full set of players; and gives concerts and plays alternately to the grandees of this metropolis; he is the richest of all the farmer...; he did me the honour last night to send me an invitation to his house, while I stayed here—that is, to his music and table.

"I suppose you had terrible snows in Yorkshire, from the accounts I read in the London papers. There has been no snow here, but the weather has been sharp; and was I to be all the day in my room, I could not keep myself warm for a shilling a day. This is an expensive article to great houses here—'tis most pleasant and most healthy firing; I shall never bear coals I fear again; and if I can get wood at Coswold, I will always have a little. I hope Lydia is better, and not worse, and that I shall hear the same account of you. I hope my Lydia goes on with her French; I speak it fast and fluent, but incorrect both in accent and phrase; but the French tell me I speak it most surprisingly well for the time. In six weeks I shall get over all difficulties, having got over one of the worst, which is to understand whatever is said by others, which I own I found much trouble in at first.

"My love to my Lyd——. I have got a colour into my face now, though I came with no more than there is in a dishclout.

"I am your affectionate

"L. STERNE.

"For Mrs. Sterne at York."

H. A. B.

A letter from Sterne, dated Paris, May 19, 1764, giving an account of his mode of life there, and other notices of him in France, are to be found in [255] a small tract, Seven Letters written by Sterne and his Friends, hitherto unpublished, edited by William Durrant Cooper, 1844.

M. T. R.

Though not cotemporary, there are some lively notices of Sterne's journey to France in the London Magazine for 1825, pp. 38. 387.

COWGILL.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Collar of Esses.

—As an original subscriber, and the first Querist who opened the vexata questio of Collar of Esses, I shall perhaps be doing you a kind service, Mr. Editor, if I may be allowed to step forward once more as moderator between the disputants, as I did (Vol. ii., p. 394.) between ARMIGER and a much respected correspondent.

There may be some excuse for H. B. as he confesses (Vol. v., p. 182.) himself to be freshman in the pages of "N. & Q.;" and therefore he is a stranger to the tone of courtesy and good humour which are so essential to the prosperity, maintenance, and extension of your very useful periodical. A little more experience in his readings, and less of self-opiniatedness, would have spared him the severe but merited remarks of MR. L. EVANS (Vol. v., p. 207.).

As of old all writers were wont to consider their readers most courteous, so let those who write for your pages reverse this rule—and then there will be nothing contrary to such a tone, to the injury of "N. & Q."

S. S.

Quid est Episcopus (Vol. v., p. 177.).

—This passage does not, as X. G. X. thinks, come from Irenæus, but from St. Austin. I find the reference to it in Bingham's Antiquities (vol. i. p. 72. ed. 1843), where the whole passage is thus quoted at the foot of the page:

"Quid est episcopus, nisi primus presbyter, id est, summus sacerdos?"—Aug. Quæst. Vet. et N. Test. c. ci.

F. A.

Paper-making in England (Vol. v., p. 83.).

—I do not pretend to know anything of the history of paper-making; but it may be well to send you a passage from Fuller's Worthies (Vol. i. p. 224., ed. Nuttall), which lately fell in my way:

"Paper is entered as a manufacture of this county [Cambridgeshire], because there are mills nigh Sturbridge fair, where paper was made in the memory of our fathers. Pity the making thereof is disused: considering the vast sums yearly expended in our land for paper out of Italy, France, and Germany, which might be lessened, were it made in our nation."

J. C. R.

"Mother Damnable" (Vol. v., p. 151.).

—The real name of this shrew does not appear to have reached posterity, but she gave rise to the sign of Mother Red-cap on the Hampstead Road, A.D. 1676, and was probably the person represented on that sign; to her portrait, which may be found in a book published by "Arnett, Westminster, 1819," entitled Portraits and Lives of Remarkable and Eccentric Characters, are annexed the following lines:

JAMES CORNISH.

Miniature of Cromwell (Vol. v., p. 189.).

—At the last meeting of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, a curious jewel, belonging to the Earl of Leven, and entailed in his lordship's family, was exhibited by the Hon. Leslie Melville. It is believed to have been transmitted by the Speaker of the House of Commons to the Earl of Leven on the occasion of the surrender of Charles I., when the earl was in command of the army at Newark. The jewel encloses a beautiful little miniature of Oliver Cromwell.

E. N.

Etymology of Church (Vol. v., p. 79.).

—Gieseler, in his Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, vol. i., p. 1. ed. 4., says that the word kirche (and consequently church) is most probably derived from τὸ κυριακόν. In support of this opinion, he quotes Walafrid Strabo, who wrote about A.D. 840:

"Si autem quæritur qua occasione ad vos vestigia hæc Græcitatis advenerint, dicendum—præcipue a Gothis, cum eo tempore quo ad fidem Christianam, licet non recto itinere [i.e. by means of Arianism], perducti sunt, in Græcorum provinciis commorantes, nostrum, i.e. theotiscum, sermonem habuerint."

He adds that Ulphilas is evidence for the general adoption of Greek ecclesiastical terms by the Goths; and he confirms the idea of a Greek derivation by the remark that derivatives of κυριακόν occur, not only in the Teutonic languages, but in those of the Sclavonic nations, whose conversion [256] proceeded from Greece. Thus, the Bohemian word is cyrkew, the Russian zerkow, the Polish cerkiew. The use of derivatives of ecclesia (which I would remind MR. STEPHENS is also originally Greek) in the Roman languages, no doubt arises from the circumstance that that word had been adopted into Latin, whereas the other had not.

J. C. R.

The Königsmarks (Vol. v., pp. 78. 115. 183.).

—It is certain from the State Trials, ix. 31., that Count Charles John Königsmark, the murderer of Mr. Thynn, was the elder of the two brothers; for it appeared on the trial that the younger, Philip Christopher (a dozen years later the gallant of the young Princess of Hanover), was at that time a youth still under the care of a travelling tutor, who was examined on the trial. This is stated in the Quarterly Review, art. "Lexington Papers," to which inquirers had been already referred (Vol. v., p. 115.). I am a little at a loss to account for J. R. J.'s distribution of his epithets; he calls the case of the elder brother "mysterious," and that of the second "well-known," when in truth the former case is, and has been well-known these hundred and fifty years. Whereas the second case was so long a mystery that it was nowhere told but in a corner of Horace Walpole's Reminiscences, and he was mistaken as to the identity of the victim,—a mistake but recently cleared up. I believe, too, that until the discovery of the Lexington Papers, no one altogether believed the story; and the minuter details of the case, such as by whose order, and how, and when and where the deed was done, and how and where the body was disposed of, are still so far mysterious that Walpole's Reminiscences and the Princess's own notes differ essentially on all those points.

C.

L'Homme de 1400 Ans (Vol. v., p 175.).

—I have not immediate means of access to the French work referred to in No. 121. of "N. & Q.," and therefore do not know how far the personage there alluded to is described as "imaginary;" but it appears to me that Cagliostro may have intended reference to his great friend and predecessor in Rosicrucian philosophy, the Count de St. Germain. This arch-impostor, who attained no small celebrity at the court of Louis XV., pretended to be possessed of the elixir of life, by means of which he had prolonged his existence from a period which he varied according to the supposed credulity of his audience; at one time carrying back the date of his birth to the commencement of the Christian Era, at others being content to assume an antiquity of a few centuries, being assisted in his imposture by a most accurate memory of the history of the times, the events of which he related, and also by an able accomplice who attended him as a servant. On one occasion, when describing at a dinner table a circumstance which had occurred at the court of "his friend Richard I. of England," he appealed to his attendant valet for the confirmation of his story, who, with the greatest coolness replied: "You forget, Sir, I have only been 500 years in your service." "True," said his master, "it was a little before your time." The origin of this able charlatan, of whom many other amusing stories are related, is not known. He was sometimes thought, from the Jewish cast of his features, to be the "wandering Jew;" while others reported that he was the son of an Arabian princess, and that his father was a Salamander.

E. H. Y.

Close of the Wady Mokatteb Question (Vol. iv., p. 481.; Vol. v., pp. 31. 87. 159., &c.).

—I should not have said another word on the above question, had not DR. TODD seen fit to give a somewhat different turn to the criticism on Num. xi. 26. As it is, I must beg space to say, that it is the learned whose attention I solicit to examine the value of our respective criticisms, and not that of the unlearned, as DR. TODD intimates. I do not think that there are many regular readers of the "N. & Q." who can be classed amongst the unlearned. To the judgment of the learned, therefore, I now resign this protracted disquisition.

MOSES MARGOLIOUTH.

Was Queen Elizabeth dark or fair? (Vol. v., p. 201.).

—Paul Hentzner, who was presented to Queen Elizabeth at the palace of Greenwich, describes her majesty, who was then in her sixty-fifth year, as "very majestic; her face oblong, fair, but wrinkled; her eyes small, yet black and pleasant. She wore false hair, and that red." Delaroche, however, in his well-known picture at the Luxembourg, has given her a very swarthy complexion.

Query: What was the celebrated Lunebourg table, of some of the gold of which, according to Hentzner, a small crown which she wore was reported to be made?

H. C.

Workington.

Meaning of Knarres (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—A knare is a knot or lump, "knarry, stubby, knotty" (Coles's Dictionary, 1717). It was, no doubt, as J. BR. says, sometimes written gnare; and in that form is the root of Shakspeare's "gnarled (or knotty) oak." In Norfolk and Suffolk, small plantations—not "scrubby woods"—are called carrs, as J. BR. states, but certainly not from knare, but, as I rather think, from their square shape, carré. Those that I am acquainted with in those counties are generally of that form, and look like plantations made on purpose for game. When you hear a carr mentioned in those counties, you always think of a pheasants' preserve. I know not whether the [257] same word and meaning extend inland. Nor do I think that knare has any affinity with snare.

C.

In reply to your correspondent's Query, I beg to submit the following, which may prove of utility in tracing out the meaning of the word, viz.:—Forby's Glossary by Turner, vol. i. p. 56., thus has it:

"CAR, s. a wood or grove on a moist soil, generally of alders."

We have them in this country; also the term "osier-cars."

In Kersey's English Dictionary, 1708, we have thus:

"GNAR or GNUR, a hard knot in wood."

In Bailey's Dictionary, 1753, we have it thus:

"GNARR [Knorre, Teutonic], a hard knot in a tree.—Chaucer."

May it not thus mean a knot or clump of trees?

It is also allied to quarry, from the French carré, which signifies a bed, not only for digging stones for building purposes, but also as they are sometimes called, osier-beds, alder-beds.

The towns "Narborough" and "Narford" in Norfolk are so called from their being situated on the river "Nar;" the one a city or town on the river; and the other being, by means of a ford, originally over it. Both were originally written Nere as the prefix.

J. N. C.

Cheap Maps (Vol. v., p. 174.).

—PATERFAMILIÆ is informed that a good and not expensive map of Borneo has been recently published by Augustus Petermann; and a section of the Isthmus of Panama, showing the railway from Chargres to Panama, may be had of the Admiralty agent for a few pence.

NORTHMAN.

English Free Towns (Vol. v., pp. 150. 206.).

—A short ride from Oxford will take your correspondent J. H. PARKER to one or two market towns in Berks, answering to the description given of the French Villes Anglaises. Wokingham will afford an illustration somewhat resembling Winchelsea; the town is of triangular form, the streets meeting in a central area, which contains a quaint old market-house: it is within the prescribed limits of Windsor Forest, and the Forest Courts were formerly held there—the charter of incorporation has existed from time immemorial.

KT.

Sir Alexander Cumming and the Cherokees.

—There is a Query by S. S. (Vol. iii., p. 39.) about Sir Alexander Cumming and the Cherokees, which I do not think has yet had any reply. Vol. iii., p. 152., a replyist refers to a work in which is an autobiography of the baronet. I have not had an opportunity to refer to that, but I suspect it would not meet the question, as Sir Alexander Cumming of Coulter, who was created a Nova Scotia baronet 1695, and Alexander Cumming, the King of the Cherokees, were diverse persons. The last died in 1775, and according to Lysons was buried at East Barnet. At vol. iv. p. 20., under Barnet, Lysons gives the following account bearing on the Cherokees:

"In 1729 he (Cumming) was induced, by a dream of Lady Cumming's, to undertake a voyage to America, for the purpose of visiting the Cherokee nations. He left England on the 13th of September, and arrived at Charlestown on the 5th of December. On the 11th of March following he set out for the Indians' country; on the 3rd of April, 1730, he was crowned commander and chief ruler of the Cherokee nations, in a general meeting of chiefs at Nequisee among the mountains; he returned to Charlestown the 13th of April with six Indian chiefs, and on the 5th of June arrived at Dover; on the 18th he presented the chiefs to George II. at Windsor, where he laid his crown at his Majesty's feet; the chiefs also did homage, laying four scalps at the king's feet, to show that they were an overmatch for their enemies, and five eagles' tails as emblems of victory. These circumstances are confirmed by the newspapers of that time, which are full of the proceedings of the Cherokees whilst in England, and speak of them as brought over by Sir Alexander Cumming. Their portraits were engraved on a single sheet. In 1766 Archbishop Secker appointed him one of the pensioners in the Charter-House, where he died at a very advanced age."

His son, who succeeded him in the title, became deranged in his intellects, and died about three years ago, in a state of indigence, in the neighbourhood of Red Lion Street, Whitechapel. He had been a captain in the army: the title became extinct at his death.

C. G.

Junius (Vol. iii., p. 411.; Vol. v., p. 159.).

—As in No. 120. J. R. assumes the acrimonious bearing of M. J. in No. 82., I am induced to refer to the stale, flat, and unprofitable question of the authenticity of the Letters of Junius. If those gentlemen will refer to No. 82., p. 412., fifth line from the bottom, and read "who once" for "and once," they will find any acrimony unnecessary; and that the use of the word "and" was an accidental error. This useless riddle has occupied too much of the time of able and of idle men, on what is, moreover, a worthless subject. Dr. Johnson, in his paper on the "Falkland Islands," has given a severe but just criticism on Junius, and truly says, that most readers mistake the "venom of the shaft for the vigour of the bow." Junius has laid down no great principle, illustrated no political truth, nor given any clear and irrefutable proof of contemporaneous history. To attribute reprehensible motives always shows lowness and vulgarity of mind. Junius gives one the idea of a democratic ruff mounted on stilts going, from natural predilection, through the mud and dirt, and splashing it wantonly, so as to bespatter and annoy a few, and to excite the attention and surprise of many; but never to produce a conviction of being just and true on any one.—Requiescat in pace.

ÆGROTUS. [258]

Hell-Rake (Vol. v., p. 162.).

—The explanation given by J. SANSOM of the Devonian use of the term helling or heleing, signifying the roof or covering of a church, corresponds to the Midland meaning of the word hilling, s. bed-clothes or coverlet: "She has got no hilling at all." Ger. Hüllen, to wrap one's self up; Saxon, hilan. In Warwickshire used for the covers of a book: "It is the hilling which makes it so expensive." Hilled, p. hilled up, i.e. covered with bed-clothes. Leicestershire is particularly rich in quaint phrases and proverbs.

In Leicestershire it is common for the wives of farmers to style their husbands "the Master," and husbands to call their wives "Mamy;" and a labourer will often distinguish his wife by the title of "the O'man." There are people now living who remember the time when Goody and Dame, "Gaffer" and "Gammer," were in vogue among the peasantry.

KT.

Ambassadors addressed as Peers (Vol. v., p. 213.).

—I must leave you to judge whether a reference to Howell's Familiar Letters is likely to be new to your correspondent MR. J. G. NICHOLS, or of any service to him in his inquiry on this subject. His note reminded me that Howell had respectfully used the words "My Lord," and "Your Lordship," apparently in the modern sense of "Your Excellency," in his letters to the Right Hon. Sir Peter Wichts, and to the Right Hon. Sir Sackvill Crow, ambassadors at Constantinople. See Howell's Familiar Letters, Part I. Letters 115. 130.; Part II. Letters 18. 27.

C. FORBES.

Temple.

Red Book of the Irish Exchequer (Vol. iii., p. 6.).

—J. F. F. may find some information in Mr. Mason's description of the sketch in the 13th vol. of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy.

R. H.

Yankee, Derivation of (Vol. iii., pp. 260. 437. 461.).

—I send you a Note on the etymology of this word, which I do not see noticed by any of your correspondents:

"When the New England Colonies were first settled, the inhabitants were obliged to fight their way against many nations of Indians. They found but little difficulty in subduing them all except one tribe, who were known by the name of Yankoos, which signifies invincible. After the waste of much blood and treasure, the Yankoos were at last subdued by the New Englandmen. The remains of this nation (agreeable to the Indian custom) transferred their name to their conquerors. For a while they were called Yankoos; but from a corruption, common to names in all languages, they got through time the name of Yankee."—New York Gazetteer, June 1, 1775.

R. H.

Indian Jugglers; Ballad of Ashwell Thorp (Vol. iv., p. 472.).

—The correspondent who inquires about the Indian jugglers' trick of "growing a mango," is referred to Blomfield's History of Norfork, vol. v. p. 155. (8vo edition), where he will find a curious song, called the "Ballad of Ashwell Thorp," (said to be made in Sir Thomas Knevet's time, who was Sheriff of Norfolk in 1579, and died about 1616), showing that a similar trick was known in England at that time. An account is here given of an acorn being sown in the middle of a hall, growing up in a few minutes to a prodigious tree, bearing acorns, which ripened and fell; and how, after the tree had been with much difficulty cut down by two woodcutters, the trunk and fragments were finally carried away by two goslings. The feat is said to have been performed by a Londoner. The ballad-monger has perhaps improved a little upon the simple facts of the case. He concludes by saying:

C. W. G.

Meaning of Crabis (Vol. v., p. 165.).

—In quoting the note to Lord Lindsay's Christian Art, extracted from MS. Collectanea of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, and illustrating a story of the Pelican, your correspondent F. W. I. wishes for a translation of the word crabis, which Sir David makes use of in describing the undutiful behaviour of the young pelicans towards their paternal parent.

The old Scotch verb, crab, signified to tease, vex, annoy. As an active verb it is now obsolete, but it is still in use, at least its participles are in a passive sense. I have frequently heard crabbing used to describe the state of mind of one out of humour or sulking. Crabbed has long been an English word, and as such has its place in Johnson's Dictionary. It is not in such common use to the south as it is to the north of the Tweed; but from the Land's End to John-o'-Groat's, it is used to designate a chronic form of the same failing, which, in its temporary form, is described above as "crabbing." It is, moreover, applied to man's works as well as to his temper. A crabbed hand and a crabbed style of writing are expressions of every-day use in Scotland, and are eminently descriptive of the effect of such writing upon the temper of the reader.

W. A. C.

Ormsary.

"'Twas whisper'd in Heaven" (Vol. v., p. 214.).

—In Number 122. you answer an inquiry of DIABOLUS GANDER, by stating your belief that the enigma, "'Twas whisper'd in Heaven," &c., is by Lord Byron. [259]

Although it was for some time attributed to this author, it became subsequently well known to be the work of Miss Catherine Fanshawe, in whose handwriting I have seen it, together with another unpublished enigma of hers, in the album of a lady of my acquaintance.

E. H. Y.

"Troilus and Cressida," Act I. Sc. 3. (Vol. v., pp. 178. 235.).

—The meaning which your correspondent wishes to give the word dividable seems exactly the one wanted in this passage; but need we go so far from its apparent derivation as to derive it from divitias, dare?—One of the meanings of divido is to distribute,—why then should not dividable mean distributive, distributing their riches, &c.?

C. T. A.

Lyndon Rectory, Uppingham.

Stone-pillar Worship (Vol. v., p. 121.).

—The article "Hermae," in Smith's Antiquities, throws some light on this subject. The pillar set up as a witness (see Genesis there quoted, and the Classics passim)[5] is of course closely connected with the idea of sanctity attached to it. The Laplanders in selecting the unhewn stone "in the form in which it was shaped by the hand of the Creator Himself," seem, to a certain extent, unwittingly to have obeyed a command of the Creator: see Exodus, xx. 25.

[5] Is it not as the witness and keeper of Holy Writ that St. Paul calls the church Στύλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας?

A. A. D.

John of Padua (Vol. v., pp. 79. 161.).

—I am afraid we are not likely to obtain much additional information about John of Padua. The only account of him which I have ever met with is contained in the Earl of Orford's Works (vol. iii. p. 100. et seqq., edit. 1798). The warrant, dated 1544, is there copied from Rymer's Fœdera?; and from an expression which it contains, the inference is drawn that "John of Padua was not only an architect, but musician." I am not aware whether or no there is any other authority for such inference, but, if there is not, I submit that the evidence is far from conclusive. The words in the warrant run thus: A fee of two shillings per diem is granted to John, "in consideratione boni et fidelis servitii quod dilectus serviens noster Johannes de Padua nobis in architecture, ac aliis in re musica inventis impendit ac impendere intendit."

Now, Sir, I submit that res musica, in this passage, is used in the same sense as the Greek ἡ μουσικὴ for "the fine arts;" and that the passage can have no reference to the art of the musician.

If John of Padua had been a musician, we should most probably meet with his name in some of the accounts of plays and pageants during this reign; and the silence of your correspondents seems to imply that no information concerning him is to be obtained from those sources.

In the absence of further proof, then, I have no hesitation in proposing to the critical readers of "N. & Q.," a resolution that, It is the opinion of this council that there is no sufficient evidence that John of Padua was a musician.

ERICA.

Modern Greek Names of Places (Vol. iv., p. 470.; Vol. v., pp. 14. 209.).

—Your correspondent L. H. J. T. says, at p. 209.:—

"That with the utmost deference to SIR J. EMERSON TENNENT, he must deny that Cos, Athens, or Constantinople have been called by the Greeks Stanco, Satines, or Stamboul. These corruptions have been made by Turks, Venetians, and Englishmen."

This mode of expression would imply that the opinion which he corrects was held by me, whereas I have stated (Vol. v., p. 14.), even more explicitly than he, that—

"The barbarism in question is to be charged less upon the modern Greeks themselves, than upon the European nations, Sclavonians, Normans, and Venetians, and, later still, the Turks; who seized upon their country on the dismemberment of the Roman empire. The Greeks themselves, no doubt, continued to spell their proper names correctly; but their invaders, ignorant of their orthography, and even of their letters, were forced to write the names of places in characters of their own, guided solely by the sound."

J. EMERSON TENNENT.

Beocherie, alias Parva Hibernia (Vol. v., p. 201.).

—Beocera-ig, i.e. the bee-keeper's island, was one of the small islets adjacent to the larger one, Avallon, whereon the Abbey of Glastonbury stood. Glastonbury was early resorted to by Irish devotees; St. Patrick and St. Bridget necessarily resided there. Concerning Beocherie or Bekery, we are told that there "olim sancta Brigida perhendinavit" (MS. Ashmol. 790, quoted in the Monasticon, vol. i. p. 22.). This accounts for the name Parva Hibernia. Beocera-gent, in charter 652, is the name of some landmark or boundary. There can be little doubt that we should read beocera-geat, i.e. bee-keeper's gate, as suggested by Mr. Kemble in the preface to the third vol. of Codex Dipl. p. xxvi. The duties and rights of the beocere, beo-ceorl, or bocherus, are described in the "Rectitudines singularum personarum," Thorpe's Anc. Laws, vol. i. p. 434.

C. W. G.

Ruffles, when worn (Vol. v., pp. 12. 139.).

—Planché, in his History of British Costume, says that during the reign of Henry VIII., "the sleeves were ruffed, or ruffled at the hand, as we perceive in the portrait of Henry. They were not added to the shirt till the next century."

R. S. F.

Perth.

Long Meg of Westminster (Vol. ii., pp. 131. 172.; Vol. v., p. 133.).

—As an instance of this title being applied (as Fuller has it) "to persons very [260] tall," I subjoin the following notice of a death, which appeared in a newspaper of September, 1769:

"At London, Peter Branan, aged 104. He was six feet six inches high, and was commonly called Long Meg of Westminster. He had been a soldier from eighteen years of age."

This notice is extracted in the Edinburgh Antiquarian Magazine, but without mentioning the quarter from which it was taken.

R. S. F.

Perth.

Family Likenesses (Vol. v., p. 7.).

—To trace a family likeness for a century is not at all uncommon. Any one who knows the face of the present Duke of Manchester will see a strong likeness to his great ancestor, through six generations, the Earl of Manchester of the Commonwealth, as engraved in Lodge's Portraits. The following instance is more remarkable. Elizabeth Hervey was Abbess of Elstow in 1501. From her brother Thomas is descended, in a direct line, the present Marquis of Bristol. If any one will lay the portrait of Lord Bristol, in Mr. Gage Rokewode's Thingoe Hundred, by the side of the sepulchral brass of the Abbess of Elstow, figured in Fisher's Bedfordshire Antiquities, they cannot but be struck by the strong likeness between the two faces.

This is valuable evidence on the disputed point, whether portraits were attempted in sepulchral brasses.

VOKAROS.

"A Roaring Meg" (Vol. v., p. 105.).

—In Ghent, in Flanders, there is still to be seen a wrought-iron gun, a sister of Mons Meg, the famous piece of artillery in Edinburgh Castle. She is named Dulle Griete, Mad Margery, or Margaret, and may possible be the elder sister after whom the rest of the family have been named.

NORTHMAN.

Lyte Family (Vol. v., p. 78).

—A painted window representing the arms of the Lytes, and the families with whom they intermarried for many generations, is in the little church of Angersleigh, near Taunton.

E. M.

Nuremberg Token (Vol. v., p. 201).

—The legend of H. C. K.'s medal seems to me to be the following:—

(the name of the issuer of the token).

Possibly a tradesman's token.

G. H. K.

The Old Countess of Desmond (Vol. iv., passim.).

—Your several correspondents whose able remarks have excited much interest with regard to this very extraordinary individual, appear to have overlooked the fact that a cabinet portrait by Rembrandt is to be seen in the collection of the Marquess of Exeter at Burleigh; the age, costume, &c., corresponding exactly with the description given by Pennant, as quoted by A. B. R.

KT.

Pimlico (Vol. i., pp. 388. 474; Vol. ii., p. 13.)

—I find the two following mentions of Pimlico as a public place of entertainment:

1. In A Joviall Crew, or the Merry Beggars, by R. Brome: first acted, 1641, at Drury Lane, edit. 1708:

2. Massinger's City Madam:

G. H. K.

"Wise above that which is written" (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—This phrase is evidently a quotation of 1 Cor. iv. 6., though not according to the authorised translation, the words in the original being μὴ ὑπὲρ ὃ γέγραπται φρονεῖν. Here, however, the verb cannot mean "to be wise," which is the meaning given to it in the phrase in question; for the context requires it to be taken (as in our version) in the sense of "elation of mind, to the despising of others."

The Query of R. C. C. reminds me of another phrase, which in a somewhat similar way one hears continually quoted in sermons, &c., as a text: viz. "that he that runs may read." I should like to know whether this strange perversion of Hab. ii. 2., which seems to be the source whence it is derived, can be accounted for in any way.

F. A.

Sir John Cheke (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—C. B. T. will find an account of Sir John Cheke in Harwood's Alumni Etonenses, under the head of "Provosts of King's College." I send also from an old MS. the following account; not being responsible for its accuracy, nor for the correctness of the references:

"Sir John Cheke put into the Provostship by Edward VI., April 1, 1548, though not qualified, as not of the Society, nor in orders. See his Life by Strype; Fuller, Hist. Camb., 119.; Burnet, ii. 115., who says that in consequence of the controversy with Gardiner about the Gr. Pronuntiation he was either put from the chair, or willingly left it. This was not the case. He did not quit it till sent for by the King, as appears from the Life of his successor, Nic. Carr, p. 59.; see, too, Wood Hist. and Antiq., lib. i. p. 26. His mother stood godmother to the child of a poor woman in Cambridge Gaol on suspicion of murder. (See Latimer's First Serm. p. 125., edit. 1635; Burnet, ii. 213.; Wood, Hist. and Antiq., I. ii. 251.; Burnet, ii. [261] 51., and App. 150.; Fuller, 29. 127.; and Fox, Mart.; Burnet, ii. 155.; Burnet, ii. 8. 203.; Benefices conferred on Laymen, Walker's Attempt, ii. 68.; Wood, Athen., i. 111.) Burnet and Fuller's account of his retiring on the King's death do not agree. For his works see Bale, and his Life, by Dr. Gerard Langbaine, before a work of Cheke's, The True Subject to the Rebel, or the Hurt of Sedition: Oxon, 1641, 4to. Haddon wrote his epitaph. See Ascham's Letters: Oxon, 1703, p. 436., about his recantation. See Leland's Cygnea Cantio, 1558, p. 21.; and Preface to Hickes's Thesaurus, 1. 2."

J. H. L.

Richard Earl of Chepstow (Vol. v., p. 204.).

—H. C. K. will find in the Conquest of Ireland, by Giraldus Cambrensis, my authority for styling Richard Strongbow Earl of Chepstow: e.g. Dermod MacMurrough addresses a letter to him as follows: "Dermon MacMorogh, prince of Leinster, to Richard earle of Chepstoue, and son of Gilbert the Earle, greeting," &c. I quote from Hooker's translation, ed. 1587, p. 11. Hooker, in a note, p. 4., says that Chepstow in times past was named Strigulia, "whereof Richard Strangbow being earle, he took his name, being called Comes Strigulensis."

H. C. K.'s second conjecture, as to the parentage given to Earl Richard in the Ormonde charter, seems to be the correct one. I cannot call to mind an instance of a second Christian name used at so early a date.

The first coat given to the De Clares, in Berry's Encycl., viz. ar. on a chief az. three crosses pattée fichée of the field, occurs on the shield of the effigy in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, popularly said to be that of Richard Earl of Pembroke. Query, does Berry's statement rest on the authority of that tradition? if so, it has a very sandy foundation. I have very little doubt that the bearing visible on the shield, as represented on the earl's seal attached to the charter in possession of the Earl of Ormonde, is intended to represent three chevrons.

H. C. K. has my best thanks for his communication. I shall be still more obliged by an extract from the pedigree in his possession.

JAMES GRAVES.

Kilkenny.

Maps of Africa (Vol. v., p. 236.).

—If your correspondent, who inquires about maps of Africa, will consult the twenty-first map in Spruner's Atlas Antiquus, published at Gotha in 1850, I think he will find what he desires.

E. C. H.

Lady Diana Beauclerk.

—I have to thank you for inserting my memorandum respecting my miniature of Oliver Cromwell. I must further trespass on your kindness to correct an error (and a very inexcusable one) in my last statement, to which the kindness of a friend has called my attention.

Lady Diana Beauclerk was not, as I stated, a daughter of the Duke of St. Alban's, but of the Duke of Marlborough (Charles, second duke), and married the Hon. Topham Beauclerk, who was the friend of Dr. Johnson, and a well-known personage in his day.

The miniature therefore may have been "long" either in her own family, or in that of her husband; but I presume she meant in her own. The Churchills were as much connected with the "Stuarts" as afterwards with their successors. I regret this inattention on my part.

C. FOX.

"Litera scripta manet" (Vol. v., pp. 200. 237.).

—I was intimate some time since with a gentleman who had been a student in Maynooth College, and who frequently used to quote the words "Litera scripta manet," with the addition, "Verbum imbelle perit." This may give a clue to the source of the phrase, which may be found probably in some ecclesiastical or theological work of days gone by.

A. L.

"Qui vult plene," &c. (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—The first passage respecting which W. DN. inquires ("Qui vult plenè," &c.) will be found in the first chapter of the first book of Thomas à Kempis, De Imitatione Christi.

L. M. M.

Engraved Portraits (Vol. v., p. 176.).

—In reply to S. S., the best Catalogue of Engraved Portraits is one published by the late Mr. Edward Evans, of Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, many years since; and although the last number is 11,756, yet, as two and three portraits are mentioned under the same figures, the total number noticed greatly exceeds the above.

I believe a new edition is, or shortly will be, in the press.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

So long as the people of this country are animated by that deep-rooted love of true liberty and national independence, which have proved at so many momentous periods of our history to be at once their ruling principle and the country's safeguard, so long will the memory of Gustavus Vasa, the patriotic king of Sweden, be to all Englishmen an object of the deepest interest. The publication therefore of a History of Gustavus Vasa, with Extracts from his Correspondence,—which, although based upon the narrative of his startling adventures, his gallant exploits, and the picture of his manly sincere character, and his quaint but telling eloquence, given by Geijer in his History of Sweden, has been carefully elaborated by references to original authorities, and rendered more picturesque by the introduction of copious extracts from his correspondence,—is good service rendered to the cause of historic truth. The writer is obviously an earnest, able, and painstaking man; and we think that his work will be received (as it deserves) with such favour [262] as to induce him to furnish us with other illustrations of the history of the North.

If ever mortal man was a hero to his valet de chambre, such was the "Great Cardinal" to his gentleman usher Master George Cavendish; and to this fact and the reverent spirit which pervades his narration, may the great popularity of Cavendish's Life of Wolsey be in a great measure ascribed. Few biographies have been perused with greater interest; few have exercised the editorial skill of better scholars. Dr. Wordsworth, Mr. Singer, and Mr. Hunter, have all displayed their learning and ingenuity in its illustration; and we have been led into these remarks by the receipt of a new and very handsomely printed edition, which has just been published by Messrs. Rivington, and which has been edited by Mr. Holmes of the British Museum. Mr. Holmes' name is a sufficient guarantee for the manner in which that duty has been executed.

We learn from The Athenæum of Saturday last that the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Copenhagen, whose works illustrative of the early history both of Greenland and America are known to many of our readers, are about to publish a new edition of the Orkneyinga Saga, and sundry old Northern fragments relative to Great Britain and Ireland; and in the prosecution of this important and useful object they are desirous of having the assistance and co-operation of the scholars and antiquaries of this country. Antiquaries find favour in the North, for The Times reports that the general yearly meeting of this Society was held on the 25th of February at the Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, his Majesty the King of Denmark in the chair. The secretary, Professor C. Rafn, read the report of transactions for the last year, and gave a précis of the articles in the forthcoming archæological works of the Society. The printing and engravings of the second volume of the great work, Antiquités Russes et Orientales, are now nearly completed. The learned professor exhibited four Icelandic planispheres and maps of the world, from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and made some observations on the geographical and astronomical knowledge of the ancient Scandinavians. The second volume of the Arna-Magnean Committee's edition of Snorro Sturleson's, or the Younger Edda, was also nearly finished, and preparations were being made for the publication of an Icelandic Diplomaticum. His Majesty the King exhibited a remarkable collection of antiquities of the bronze period discovered at Smorumorre, evidently belonging to a workshop for the fabrication of such implements, and clearly proving that bronze weapons, &c. had been made in Denmark. On the characteristics of this collection His Majesty was graciously pleased to deliver some very interesting observations. Professor Wegener, Vice-President, read an able memoir on the history of the old castles of Soborg and Adserbo, in the north of Iceland. The Archæological Committee exhibited a collection of articles discovered at Anhalt (in the Cattegat) which belonged to a workshop for the manufacture of stone implements, on which Mr. Thomsen made some useful remarks. The museum was in a flourishing state. There had been 148 donations received and 761 presentations of antiquities. The proceedings were closed by the election of Victor Emanuel, King of Sardinia, and his Royal Highness Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg Gotha, as fellows of the Society.

BOOKS RECEIVED.—The French in England, or Both Sides of the Question on Both Sides of the Channel, being the Story of the Emperor Napoleon's projected Invasion. A brilliant, we might say eloquent, description of the feeling which ran through the whole length and breadth of the land when Napoleon's threats of invasion drew from the united nation, as with the voice of one man, the declaration that "England never did, and never shall lie at the proud foot of a conqueror!" In this picture of the past we have a prophecy of the future, if the peace of Europe should be again disturbed, and any attempt be made to renew the project of 1803. We do not think this likely; but to secure Peace we must be prepared for War: and he who, in the present aspect of affairs, would bid us disarm, must be or fool, or traitor, or both.—Memoirs of the late Thomas Holcroft, written by himself, and continued to the time of his Death, from his Diary, Notes, and Correspondence, forms the new parts of The Traveller's Library, and gives an interesting variety to this valuable series.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.

HALLERI (A.) ELEMENTA PHYSIOLOGIÆ CORPORIS HUMANI. 8 Vols. 4to. Lausannæ and Lugd. Batav. 1757-66. Vol III.

RACCOLTA DI OPUSCULI SCIENTIFICI, &c., dal Padre Calogera. Venezia, 1728-57.

POWNALL'S TREATISE ON THE STUDY OF ANTIQUITIES. London, 1782. 8vo.

THE WHOLE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN, by Way of Question and Answer: designed for the Use of Charity Schools. By Robert Nelson, 1718.

QUARTERLY REVIEW. Nos. 153. to 166., both inclusive.

BELL'S FUGITIVE POETRY COLLECTION. Vols. X. and XVI. 12mo. 1790.

THE CRITIC, London Literary Journal. First 6 Nos. for 1851.

VOLTAIRE, ŒUVRES COMPLETES DE. Aux Deux-Ponts. Chez Sanson et Compagnie. Vols. I. & II. 1791-2.

SCOTT'S CONTINUATION OF MILNER'S CHURCH HISTORY. Part II. of Vol. II. 8vo.

SPECTATOR. No. 1223. Dec. 6, 1851.

EDWIN AND EMMA. Taylor, 1776.

ANNUAL REGISTER, from 1816 inclusive to the present time.

MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL TRANSACTIONS. From Part II. of Vol. XI. March, 1819; and also from Vol. XXX.

THE CODE MATRIMONIAL. Paris, 1770.

PRO MATRIMONIO PRINCIPIS CUM DEFUNCTÆ UXORIS SORORE CONTRACTO RESPONSUM JURIS, COLLEGII JURISCONSULTORUM IN ACADEMIÂ RINTELENSI. Published about 1655.

GREGORY'S (DR.) SECOND MEMORIAL TO THE MANAGERS OF THE ROYAL INFIRMARY, EDINBURGH.

HERON'S (SIR ROBERT) NOTES. First Edition. Privately printed.

COBBETT'S STATE TRIALS. 8vo. Vol. VIII. 1810.

ISR. CLAUDERI DISPUTATIO DE SALE SUB PRÆSIDIO SAGITTARII. Jenæ, 1650.

CRESCENT AND THE CROSS. Vol. I. Third Edition.

MACKINNON'S HISTORY OF CIVILISATION. Vol. II. 1846.

LITE'S DODOENS' HERBAL. First Edition. (An imperfect copy to complete another.)

TURNER'S A BOOKE OF THE NATURES OF THE BATHES IN ENGLAND. 1568. (An imperfect copy to complete another.)

A MOST EXCELLENT AND PERFECTE CORNISH APOTHECARY. 1561. (An imperfect copy to complete another.)

*** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

Notices to Correspondents.

SUFFOLK BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY, IPSWICH. Will any of our Ipswich correspondents favour us with a copy of the prospectus of this institution, and the NAMES of any of the clergy [263] or gentry of Ipswich who take any part in its management, or are trustees or directors of it; as numerous applications for contributions of books to such library have recently been received by theological writers from Mr. "John Glyde, Jun.," a barber and hairdresser in Ipswich.

E. M. S., who asks for information respecting Queen Brunhilda or Brunéhaut, is referred to our 4th Vol. pp. 86. 136. 193., and our 5th Vol. p. 206.

REPLIES RECEIVED.—Black Book of Paisley—Traditions from Remote Periods—Archaic and Provincial Words—Madrigal—Bull the Barrel—Friday at Sea—The Verb "To commit"—Provincial Names—Arborei fœtus—Engraved Portraits—Young's "Narcissa"—Meaning of Knarres—Last of the Palæologi—Nuremberg Token—Martinique—Parish Registers—Collar of SS., &c.—Wise above that which is written—Dying Swan—Sir B. Howard—Conquest of China—Litera Scripta manet—Gospel Oaks—Qui vult plene, &c.—Old Scots March—Stone Pillar Worship—Plague Stones—Carmen perpetuum—Reeve and Muggleton—Broad Arrow—Hyrne—Essay on Catholic Communion—The Whole Duty of Man—Crooked Billet—Quotations wanted—Pasquinades—Junius and the Quarterly—Bishop Kidder's Autobiography—Which are the Shadows—Wolfe—Elegy on Coleman.

Copies of our Prospectus, according to the suggestion of T. E. H., will be forwarded to any correspondent willing to assist us by circulating them.

VOLUME THE FOURTH OF NOTES AND QUERIES, with very copious INDEX, is now ready, price 9s. 6d. cloth boards.

"NOTES AND QUERIES" is published at noon on Friday, so that the Country Booksellers may receive Copies in that night's parcels, and deliver them to their Subscribers on the Saturday.

Printed by Thomas Clark Shaw, of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5. New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride, in the City of London; and published by George Bell, of No. 186. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, March 13. 1852.