Vol. V.—No. 125. NOTES AND QUERIES: A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

VOL. V.—No. 125.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20. 1852.

Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5d.

CONTENTS.

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

Notes.

THE CAXTON COFFER.

[Proposals of Mr. Randal Minshull, c. 1742.[1]]

[1] This document, though before printed, is as rare as a manuscript. Dibdin had not seen it when he wrote his memoir of Caxton, nor could he prove its existence but by a reference to the Bibliotheca Westiana. It is now reprinted from a copy in the Grenville collection in the British Museum. The specimen is a small folio, in pica type, and on thin laid paper. As my information on Mr. Randal Minshull is at present very scanty, I reserve it with the hope of more fortunate gleanings.—BOLTON CORNEY.

"Proposals for printing an exact and ample account of all the books printed by William Caxton, who was the first printer in England: wherein will be set forth some select chapters from each book, to shew the nature and diction thereof, with all his proems, prologues, epilogues, and tables, in his own words. There will be also interspersed several ancient and curious matters relating to the history of England, and other curious subjects: with a vocabulary of the old English words, and an explanation of them, which will greatly illustrate the ancient English language, as it was written in the reign of Edward III. and continued down to Henry VII. kings of England, as contained in the writings of Thomas Woodstock duke of Glocester, Anthony Woodville earl Rivers, John Gower, Geoffry Chaucer, John Lydgate, and other famous persons.

"By R. Minshull, library-keeper to the right honourable the earl of Oxford deceas'd.

"It is proposed by the editor hereof, as follows: viz.

"I. This work will contain about 200 sheets of paper, printed in the same form of letter and paper, as this specimen.

"II. There shall be no more printed than 500 [266] books, suitable to the proposed number of subscribers.

"III. That for the more expeditious carrying on, and effecting thereof, every subscriber shall pay to the editor two guineas; viz. one guinea at the time of subscribing, and the other guinea upon the delivery of a perfect book in sheets.

"N.B. Proposals will be delivered, subscriptions taken, and proper receipts given for the money, by the editor R. Minshull, at Mrs. Reffers, in Maddox-street, near St. George's church, Hanover-square.

"Received this [  ] day of [  ] 174[] from [  ] one guinea, being the first payment [for] The account of the books printed by William Caxton, according to the above proposals.

"An exact and ample account of all the books printed by William Caxton, &c.

"The first work of William Caxton, appears to be (as he calls it) The recuyell of the historyes of Troye, divided into three parts, the whole containing 778 pages (as numbred by my self, they not being figured in the printing) in a short folio, the paper being very thick and strong: there are no initial capital letters in this book, which shews that he had not formed any at that time. In his preface to this book he declares that he was born in the Weeld of Kent, where he first learned the rudiments of the English tongue; a place wherein he doubts not, is spoke as broad and rude English, as in any part of England: that he never was in France, but that he continued the space of thirty years, for the most part, in Brabant, Flanders, Holland and Zealand.

"He also says, that this history was first translated into French, from several Latin authors, by a certain worshipful man, named the right venerable and worthy Raoul le Feure, priest and chaplain to Philip duke of Burgundy, in 1464; being the fourth year of the reign of king Edward IV. In which year he was employed by that king in conjunction with Richard Whetchill, esq.; to treat and conclude certain actions of commerce between the said king and Philip duke of Burgundy: their Commission, as set forth in Rymer's Fœdera, is as follows; [See Rymer.]

"It was from the said French translation that Mr. Caxton formed this history, in the prologue of which he stiles himself mercer of the city of London; and it was by the command of his royal patroness, Margaret, sister to king Edward IV. after her marriage with Charles, duke of Burgundy, that he undertook it and finish'd it. A description of this noble marriage is largely set forth by John Stow and Hollingshead, in their chronicles; the latter gives the following character and description of this royal princess, viz. 'She was a lady of excellent beauty,'" &c. [See Holinshed.]

JOHN TRADESCANT THE YOUNGER, AN ENGLISHMAN.

Great is the interest attached to the name of Tradescant, and we believe few articles in our journal have been perused with greater satisfaction than those by MR. SINGER and other valued correspondents, which appeared in our third volume (pp. 119. 286. 353. 391. 393.), illustrative of their history. In the same volume (p. 469.) a correspondent, C. C. R., after quoting the following mutilated MS. note, written in pencil in a copy of Dr. Ducarel's Tract on the subject, preserved among the books in the Ashmolean Museum—

"Consult (with certainty of finding information concerning the Tradescants) the Registers of—apham, Kent,"—

suggested that Meopham was the parish referred to, and that search should be made there by some correspondent resident in that neighbourhood. The hint was not, however, taken, and the matter dropped for a time.

At the close of last year we received a communication from a learned and much valued friend, now, alas! no more,[2] telling us that Meopham was the place referred to, and suggesting that we should get extracts from the register for the information of our readers. Upon this hint we acted; but our endeavours, for reasons to which we need not more particularly refer, failed, and it was not until our attention was recalled to the subject by the endeavour that is making, and we trust successfully making, to procure subscriptions for restoring the Tradescant Monument at Lambeth, that we applied to another friend resident in the neighbourhood of Meopham for his assistance in the business. That assistance was (as it has ever been) rendered most cheerfully and most effectually; and we are now enabled to lay before our readers and the Committee of the Tradescant Monument Restoration Fund, the following evidence that John Tradescant the younger was a Man of Kent. It is extracted from the baptismal register of Meopham.

[2] That excellent man and ripe scholar, the Rev. Lancelot Sharpe, who was one of the first, on the appearance of "N. & Q.," to convey to us his good opinion of our paper, and to prove it by giving us his communications. For particulars of his life and literary labours, the reader is referred to the Gentleman's Magazine for January, 1852, p. 99.

"1608 August the iiij daye John the sonne of John Tradescant was baptised eodem die—"

Although we are not without hopes of receiving further information from the same source, we could not refrain from bringing this new fact in the history of the Tradescants at once before our readers. [267]

COWLEY AND HIS MONUMENT.

If Pope in his time could ask, "Who now reads Cowley?" and if Cowper, at a later period, could lament that his "splendid wit" should have been "entangled in the cobwebs of the schools," it may be in our day, when most good people who cultivate poetry, either as readers or writers, swear by Wordsworth or Tennyson, that the bare mention of Cowley's name, in some circles, would be resented as a kind of impertinence. But Pope's answer to his own question is as apposite now as when the question was first put. If Cowley—

The Davideis and the Herbs and Plants find few readers beyond those who resort to them for special purposes; but poets of more recent times, even whilst contemning his "conceits," have (as your volumes have frequently shown) often borrowed his ideas without improving upon the phraseology in which they have been clothed. Witness, for instance, Cowper's transmutation of his noble line:

into his own smooth generality of—

And Cowley's love of Nature, and his beautiful lyrics in praise of a country life, will always keep his name before us. However, to desist from this "nothing-if-not-critical" strain, let me beg of you to lay the accompanying transcript [see the next page] of a manuscript in my possession before your readers—that is, if you deem it of sufficient interest.

The verses themselves, evidently of a date not long subsequent to the erection of the Cowley monument in Westminster Abbey, are written on the back of a damaged copy of Faithorne's engraved portrait of him. They comprise a not very correct transcript of the Latin inscription on the monument, a translation and paraphrase of the same, and what is styled a "burlesque," in which one of the chief features of the monument itself is ludicrously associated with the profession of Sir Charles Scarborough, Cowley's friend. The "Per Carolum Scarborough, Militem, Med. Doctorem," implies, it may be presumed, that Sir Charles was the author of the Latin epitaph, of which it has always been understood, and indeed it is so stated in the later biographies of the poet, that Cowley's close friend and literary executor Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, was the author. Scarborough published an elegy to Cowley's memory, of which I am informed there is no copy in the British Museum library; and being unable to refer to it in any other collection, I have no means of ascertaining whether this elegy discloses the fact of the authorship of the epitaph. This is not an unimportant point, since it will be recollected that Dr. Johnson expends a considerable amount of indignation upon the epitaph, not on account of its Latinity, but on account of what he considers as the false sentiments of which it is made the vehicle.

The value of the manuscript depends of course upon the possibility of the chief item of its contents being unpublished. Whatever respect the writer may have entertained towards Cowley, he certainly seems inclined to be merry at the expense of Sir Charles Scarborough. The unwieldy urn which surmounts the monument, is variously designated as a "whimwham urn as broad as sawcer," and as "the surgeon's gally-pot." These are not very complimentary epithets, it is true; but if they ever met the courtly physician's eye he could afford to laugh with the laughers. Cowley's lack of success in his attempt to obtain the mastership of the Savoy is not forgotten; but the satirist speaks of the dead poet very goodhumouredly, and may be said to concur in opinion with those of his admirers who predicted for his writings an enduring immortality. But "sugar-candy Cowley," as the burlesquer terms him, is now obliged to be content with a few pages in the Selections from British Poets, where indeed he is entitled to a very eminent position; whilst "dull Chaucer," as he is irreverently called, with whom the writer quietly prays that Cowley may quietly "sleep in beggar's limbo," seems to live almost bodily amongst us; and his vivid pictures and naïve descriptions are so acceptable, that it may safely be predicted that an edition of the Canterbury Tales will always be a more profitable venture for a publisher than a speculation in a new edition of the Davideis.

But, after all, Cowley's acceptance amongst those who immediately survived him, is perhaps due quite as much to the recollection of his amiable personal qualities, as to his poetic abilities; and when Charles II., "who never said a foolish thing," declared, on being informed of the poet's death, that "Mr. Cowley had not left a better man behind him in England," the merry monarch may have intended exactly what he said, and no more. With these rambling remarks I leave the matter, only trusting, if I shall be found to have called attention to what may possibly be an old acquaintance of some of your learned readers, that my desire to contribute an occasional mite to the pages of a periodical, from which I gather so much information, will be accepted as an apology.

The words in brackets are supplied, conjecturally, in consequence of the manuscript being faulty in those places.

HENRY CAMPKIN. [268]

Englished—

COUNT KÖNIGSMARK AND THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET.

Several notices of Count Königsmark have lately appeared in "N. & Q.," Walpole's mistake having occasioned a question by MR. MARKLAND respecting his identity. There can, however, be no doubt that the person who was tried for being accessory to the assassination of Mr. Thynne in 1681-2, and whose trial is reported at length in the 9th volume of Howell's State Trials, p. 1., was Charles John Count Königsmark, as stated by MR. BRUCE in Vol. v., p. 115. of "N. & Q.," and whose biography and genealogy are more fully given by J. R. J. in p. 183. of the same volume.

In the Note on this subject by J. R. J. it is stated that "the most mysterious episode in the life of this Count Königsmark was brought on by his sueing for England's richest and highest heiress, Elizabeth, daughter of Josceline, second Earl of Northumberland." This is perfectly true; but the personal history of this lady, her connexion with Königsmark, her imputed privity to the murder of Mr. Thynne, and the savage allusion to these circumstances by Swift thirty years afterwards, deserve a more particular notice.

Elizabeth, Baroness Percy, was daughter and heiress of Josceline, Earl of Northumberland, who died in 1670. According to Collins (Peerage, vol. iv. p. 185.) she was four years old at the time of her father's death; so that she was born in 1666. In 1679 she was married to Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle, who was only son and heir of the Duke of Newcastle, and who died in 1680, before either party were of puberty to consummate the marriage. In 1681 the Lady Ogle was married to Thomas Thynne, of Longleat, in the county of Wilts, Esquire,—a gentleman of great wealth, a friend of the Duke of Monmouth, and the Issachar of Dryden's "Absalom and Achitophel." Sir John Reresby, in his Memoirs, p. 135., says "The lady, repenting of the match, fled from her husband into Holland before they were bedded." Whether this elopement had any relation to Königsmark does not appear: but a few months afterwards, namely, in February 1681-2, Mr. Thynne was assassinated in the Haymarket by foreigners, who were devoted friends of the Count, and who apparently acted under his direction, or, at all events, with his acquiescence. The Count was at that time a mere youth, and having been in London a few months before Lady Ogle's marriage with Mr. Thynne, had then paid his addresses to her. He returned into England about ten days before the murder, and was in London at the time it was committed. In endeavouring to escape beyond sea the day afterwards, he was taken in disguise at Gravesend, brought to Westminster, and examined before King and Council. Sir John Reresby says, "I was present upon this occasion, and observed that he appeared before the king with all the assurance imaginable. He was a fine person of a man, and I think his hair was the longest I ever saw." He denied all participation in the murder, but he was committed and tried with the principals, as an accessory before the fact; and although acquitted by the jury, a perusal of the trial produces a strong persuasion that he was privy to the purpose of the assassins. A fact much pressed against him was his inquiry of the Swedish envoy, "Whether or no, if he should kill Mr. Thynne in a duel, he could, by the laws of England, afterwards marry the Lady Ogle?" a question which showed beyond all doubt that he had in some form entertained a design against Mr. Thynne's life, and also that the attainment of the lady was the motive. But whatever may have been the intention of the Count, and whatever may have been the nature of his intercourse with the Lady Ogle, it is quite clear that they were not married. On the contrary, this lady of early nuptial experience, and of romantic but somewhat suspicious adventure,—who was married three times, and twice a widow, before she was sixteen years old,—was married on the 30th of May, 1682, and within four months after the murder of Mr. Thynne, to Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset. (Collins's Peerage, vol. i. p. 191.) Thus early practised in matrimonial intrigue, we find her thirty years afterwards the accomplished organ of political intrigue; the favourite and friend of Queen Anne, and the zealous partisan of the Whig party. In that character she became the object of Swift's pasquinade, the "Windsor Prophecy," which, though aimed at the Duchess of Somerset, and the destruction of her influence at court, recoiled upon the head of the author, prevented the queen from making him a bishop, and banished him from her favour for the remainder of her reign. The meaning of the "Prophecy," and the keenness of its sarcasm, were of course readily understood and appreciated by cotemporaries. Swift himself seems to have been highly pleased with it. He says, in one of his letters to Stella, "The Prophecy is an admirable good one, and the people are mad for it." The above recital of the early history of the Duchess of Somerset will render it fully intelligible at the present day. After mentioning some incidents and characters of the time, the "Windsor Prophecy" ends thus:

[3] Alluding to the Duchess of Somerset's red hair.

[4] Anna Regina.

[5] Lady Masham.

[6] Lady Masham's maiden name.

D. JARDINE.

FOLK LORE.

The pages of "N. & Q." have given the most varied and valuable contributions to the "folk lore" of Britain; your contributors have unquestionably saved many a scrap from oblivion, illustrated many an obscure allusion, recorded many an old custom, and generally, by the interesting nature of their notes (throwing, as they do, the newest and strongest light on the darkest and most out-of-the-way nooks and corners of the house and field life, and general turn of thought of the great mass of the people), paved the way for a higher estimate being formed by literary men, and the general reading public, of the real worth and present available use of this hitherto despised branch of inquiry; and stimulating to some extended and systematic garnering-up of those precious fragments that still exist in unguessed abundance (sown broad-cast, as they are, from Land's End to John o'Groat's), though fast perishing. I am confident that there is no county or district in Great Britain that would not yield, to a careful, diligent, and qualified seeker, a rich and valuable harvest; and where quaint memorials of the people might not be unearthed, to be gathered together and stored up, ready to the moulding hand of some coming Macaulay, who may there find illustrations to make clear, and clues to guide the searcher in the darkest and most entangled mazes of history.

Pardon, sir, for this most prosy and long-winded preface. I have been induced to address you by observing what is being done in other countries, by a desire to point out an example, and stimulate to its emulation that able and tried body of inquirers in this country, who, for love of the subject, have already collected such valuable stores.

In the Morning Chronicle of Monday, the 23rd of February, 1852 (No. 26,571. p. 6.), under the heading Denmark, is the following:—

"Two young Finnish students are wandering through the districts round Tammerfors, for the purpose of collecting and preserving old Finnish folk-tales, legends, songs, runes, riddles, and proverbs, &c. Their names are B. Paldani and O. Palander. They are not assisted by the Finnish Literary Society, whose funds at this moment are not in a condition to bear any extra expenses, but by two divisions of the students at Helsingfors, namely, the West Finnish and the Wiborg students, each of which has subscribed fifty silver rubles for this purpose. The two literary pilgrims have already collected rich treasures of Finnish folk-lore. Why do we not follow their example? When will some of our accomplished young scholars wander over the hills and dales of merry England, rescuing from oblivion our rich traditions, before they pass for ever from among us? Surely the Society of Antiquaries might arrange similar visits for a similar purpose. There is no want of men able and willing to undertake the task, only the ARRANGING HAND is wanting. In the meantime let every man do what he can in his own neighbourhood."

In hopes that the "arranging hand" may, through the medium of "N. & Q.," start out of chaos ready for its work, and the "men able and willing" not be wanting, I beg to state that (being unable to aid the cause otherwise) I will gladly contribute in the way of money, as far as my abilities go, should any systematic plan be arranged.

C. D. LAMONT.

Greenock.

LONDON STREET CHARACTERS.

Mr. Dickens's graphic description of the Court of Chancery, in his new work, Bleak House, contains the following sketch:

"Standing on a seat at the side of the hall, ... is a little mad old woman in a squeezed bonnet, who is always in court ... expecting some incomprehensible judgment to be given in her favour. Some say she really is, or was, a party to a suit: but no one knows for certain, because no one cares. She carries some small litter in a reticule which she calls her documents: principally consisting of paper matches and dry lavender."

There is a diminutive creature, somewhat answering to this description, who limps on a stick and one leg that is shorter than the other, all the early morning in the still courts of the Temple; and seems to be waiting the result of some consultation, before she reappears, as is her wont, in Westminster Hall. Whether this person suggested the victim of Bleak House, is a question of no moment. The story commonly told of her is a very similar one, namely, that she was ruined and crazed, like Peter Peebles, by the slow torture of a law-suit. Is anything known of her real history?

What were the fortunes and fate of a poor female lunatic, who was called Rouge et noir, from her crape sables and painted cheeks; and who used to loiter every day about the Royal Exchange at four o'clock; and seemed to depend for subsistence upon the stray bounty of the "money-changers?" It was said that she had a brother who was hanged for forgery, and that this drove her mad.

About thirty years ago, there might be heard any morning in the smaller streets of "the city," a cry of "dolls' bedsteads," from a lean lame man [271] on a crutch; who wore an apron, and carried miniature bedsteads for sale. Of this man it was generally reported, that he was implicated in the Cato Street conspiracy, and turned king's evidence.

Charles Lamb describes a character, whom it is also impossible to forget:

"A well-known figure, or part of the figure of a man, who used to guide his upper half over the pavements of London, wheeling along with most ingenious celerity upon a machine of wood.... He was of a robust make, with a florid sailor-like complexion, and his head was bare to the storm and sunshine.... The accident which brought him low, took place during the riots of 1780."

Is this all that is known of this half-giant?

When the old Houses of Parliament were standing, there used to be at one of the entrances a dwarf, long past middle age, who persisted in offering his services as a guide. His countenance was full of grave wisdom, quite Socratic in expression; but, I believe, he was an idiot. Does anything of interest attach to the remembrance of him?

And, lastly, not to "stretch the line out to the crack of doom," what became of Billy Waters? Do these street heroes die the death of common men—in bed, and with friends near them; or do they generally find their fate at last in the workhouse or the gaol; and get buried no one knows when, or by whom, or where?

I cannot agree with Mr. Dickens, that "no one knows for certain" about such persons, "because no one cares." Indeed, Mr. D.'s philosophy and practice are at variance in this matter. He makes his own sketch of "the little mad old woman," because he feels that it will interest. How much more would the original, could we get at it! But the truth is, these people are as mysterious as the fireman's dog. They "come like shadows, so depart:" leaving behind them on many minds ineffaceable impressions. Indeed, some of us could confess with shame, that the feathered cocked hat and fiddle of Billy Waters had survived the memory of a thousand things of real importance: which could hardly be, were there not some psychological force in these street characters—an inexplicable interest and attraction.

ALFRED GATTY.

Minor Notes.

Dean Swift on Herbert's Travels.

—In a copy, now in my library, of Herbert's Travels in Africa, Asia, &c., folio, 1634, there is a very characteristic note in the autograph of Dean Swift, to whom the book formerly belonged. Thinking that it may not be uninteresting to some of the readers of "N. & Q.," I send a copy of it:

"If this book were stript of its impertinence, conceitedness, and tedious digressions, it would be almost worth reading, and would then be two-thirds smaller than it is.

"1720. J. SWIFT."

"The author published a new edition in his older days, with many additions, upon the whole more insufferable than this. He lived several years after the Restoration, and some friends of mine knew him in Ireland. He seems to have been a coxcomb both ævi vitio et sui."

W. SNEYD.

Denton.

Joe Miller.

—The remains of this patriarch of puns and jokes, hitherto peaceably resting in the burial-ground in Portugal Street, will now be disturbed to make way for the new buildings of King's College Hospital. Surely "Old Joe" ought not to be carted away, and shot as rubbish. Some plain memorial of him might soon be raised, if an appeal were made to the public; and if every one whose conscience told him he had ever been indebted to Miller, would subscribe only a penny to the memorial fund, the requisite sum would soon be collected.

JAYDEE.

Hints to Book-buyers.

—Inquirers buy books on subjects which they have, at the time, no particular intention of closely investigating: when such intention afterwards arises, they begin to collect more extensively. But it often happens, I suspect, that it does not come into their heads to examine what they have already got, as to which their memory is not good, because their acquisitions were not made under any strong purpose of using them. The warning which suggests itself is as follows: Always remember to examine the old library as if it were that of a stranger, when you begin any new subject, and before you buy any new books.

Here is another warning, not wholly unconnected with the former: Never judge of a book, that is, of all which comes between the two boards, by the title-page, which may be only the first title-page, in spite of the lettering at the back. Persons who bind their books will not always be bound themselves, either by law of congruity or convenience. I once hunted shop and stall for a speech delivered in parliament a century ago, not knowing that I had long possessed it bound up at the end of a Latin summary of Leibnitzian philosophy. At the risk of posthumously revealing my real name, I will add that I wrote on the fly-leaf that I was not the blockhead who bound the book.

M.

Birmingham Antiquities.

—I wish to put on record in your journal a fact concerning the antiquities of Birmingham. There is a street in this borough, called Camden Street, which after crossing Worstone Lane, acquires the name of Lower Camden Street. On the right-hand side of Lower Camden Street (as you go from Camden Street), is some pasture ground, bounded on one side by a [272] stream called Chub-brook, which formerly flowed into the old Hockley Pool. This pasture ground shows the evident traces of a moat, and the foundations of several walls of a large building. I apprehend this is the spot referred to in Hutton's History of Birmingham, p. 254., fourth edition:

"The lord Clinton and his lady seem to have occupied the Manor-house, and Sir Thomas (de Birmingham), unwilling to quit the place of his affections and of his nativity, erected a castle for himself at Worstone; where, though the building is totally gone, the vestiges of its liquid security are yet complete."

As the field will probably be built on in a short time, I wish to identify the spot referred to by Hutton.

C. M. I.

Buchanan and Voltaire.

—Voltaire has obtained credit for a very smart epigram, and one which the Edinburgh Review (vol. xxi. p. 271.) calls "one of his happiest repartees." It was, however, stolen by him, either designedly or unwittingly, from the celebrated Buchanan. Here are the two versions, and the point will be observed to be the same in both:

"An Englishman visiting Voltaire in his retreat at Ferney, happened to mention Haller, in whose praise the philosopher enlarged with great warmth. The other observed that this was very handsome on the part of M. de Voltaire, as Haller was by no means so liberal to M. de Voltaire. 'Alas!' said the patriarch, 'I dare say we are both of us very much mistaken!'"

Is not this the same as Buchanan's epigram (Ep., lib. 1. ed. Wets.)?

PHILOBIBLION.

Indignities on the Bodies of Suicides.

—We are all aware of the popular repugnance to permitting the bodies of suicides to be interred within the "consecrated" or "hallowed" precincts of a churchyard. Burial at cross-roads was the usual mode. In many parts of Scotland such burials had to take place under cloud of night, to avoid the interference of the rabble. But it would appear from the extract given below, that public indignities were inflicted upon such corpses, to testify public detestation of this crime. The extract is taken from the Diarey of Robert Birrel, Burges of Edinburghe:

"1598, Feb. 20. The 20 day of Februar, Thomas Dobie drounit himself in the Quarrel holes besyde the Abbay, and upone the morne, he wes harlit throw the toune backward, and therafter hangit on the gallows."

Perhaps some correspondent of "N. & Q." may be able to point out similar instances of such a revolting procedure.

The "Abbay" referred to was the Abbey of Holyrood.

The "Quarrel," or Quarry holes, seem to have been fatal, in many cases, both to "man and beast;" for Sir David Lyndsay, in one of his poems, says:

R. S. F.

Perth.

Queries.

"GOD'S LOVE," ETC., AND OTHER POEMS.

I should be very glad if, among the many learned contributors to the "N. & Q.," there should be any one who can give me information respecting a rare volume of English poetry, of which I do not recollect to have seen any notice, or any other copy than that in my own possession.

It is a 12mo., or rather small 8vo. volume, and, by the type and general appearance, was probably printed rather before than after 1660. It consists of three portions:

1. "God's Love and Man's Unworthiness," which commences thus:

This poem is in two parts, and extends to p. 82.

2. "A Dialogue between the Soul and Satan," p. 83 to 124, including a short supplementary poem entitled "The Soul's Thankfulness and Request to God."

3. "Divine Ejaculations." One hundred and forty-nine in all. Each consists of six lines. I extract the tenth as a specimen:

The copy now before me has no title-page or prefatory matter of any kind, and it wants the second sheet, p. 17 to 32. Yet I do not think it imperfect, for though the paging goes from p. 16 to p. 33, yet the catch-word on the 16th page is answered by the first word on p. 33, and the sense is consecutive.

It seems to me, therefore, that the author changed in some degree his plan, as the work was proceeding at the press, and that the little volume having thus the appearance of negligence and incompleteness, no title or preface was ever printed, and the book never issued for sale.

On this, or any other point, but especially on the [273] question who was the writer of so much verse, I wish to receive information from some of the readers of your very entertaining and often instructive miscellany.

T. S.

PRAYING TO THE DEVIL.

I always thought that this unfashionable sort of worship was confined to some obscure fanatical sects in the East, and was not prepared to find an apparent record of its having been practised, amidst the frivolities and plotting of the French Court, by no less celebrated a lady than Catharine de Medicis. In the Secret History of France for the Last Century (London, printed for A. Bell, at the Cross Keys in Cornwel, (sic.) &c. 1714), I find such an odious charge advanced. I do not draw attention to it with the slightest shadow of belief in a story so ridiculous and incredible; but to ask, whether there existed any foundation for the following statement regarding the "steel box," and if so, what were its contents?

"In the first Civil War, when the Prince of Conde was in all appearance likely to prevail, and Katherine was thought to be very near the End of her much desir'd Regency, during the Young King's Minority, she was known to have been for Two days together, retir'd to her Closet, without admitting her menial Servants to her Presence. Some few Days after, having call'd for Monsieur De Mesme, one of the Long Robe, and always firm to her Interest, she deliver'd him a Steel Box fast lock'd, to whom she said, giving him the Key, That in respect she knew not what might come to be her Fortune, amidst those intestine Broils that then shook France, she had thought fit to inclose a thing of great Value within that Box, which she consign'd to his Care, not to open it upon Oath, but by an Express Order under her own Hand. The Queen Dying, without ever calling for the Box, it continued many Years unopen'd in the Family of De Mesme, after both their Deaths, till at last Curiosity, or the Suspicion of some Treasure from the heaviness of it, tempted Monsieur De Mesme's Successor to break it open, which he did. Instead of any Rich Present from so great a Queen, what Horror must the Lookers on have, when they found a Copper Plate of the Form and Bigness of one of the Ancient Roman Votive Shields, on which was Engraven Queen Katherine de Medicis on her Knees, in a Praying Posture, offering up to the Devil sitting upon a Throne, in one of the ugliest Shapes they use to Paint him, Charles the IXth. then Reigning, the Duke of Anjou, afterwards Henry the IIId., and the Duke of Alanson, her Three sons, with this Motto in French, So be it, I but Reign. This very Plate continues yet in the Custody of the House of Mesme, of which Monsieur D'Avaux, so famous for his Ambassies, was a Branch, and was not only acknowledged by him to be so, when Ambassador in Holland, but he was also pleas'd at that time, to promise a Great Man in England, a Copy of it; which is a Terrible Instance of the Power of Ambition in the Minds of French Princes, and to what Divinity, if one dares give the Devil that name, even in Irony, they are ready to pay their adoration, rather than part with their hopes of Empire."—Pp. 6, 7.

R. S. F.

Perth.

Minor Queries.

John Ap Rice's Register.

—Two ancient charters, formerly belonging to the abbey of Bury St. Edmund's, and now in the possession of the corporation of King's Lynn, bear the indorsement of J. Rhesensis, i.e. John Ap Rice, the commissioner who was sent by Hen. VIII. to investigate the affairs of this abbey; and whose letter upon the subject to secretary Cromwell is published in Letters relating to the Suppression of the Monasteries. On one of the charters the indorsement has been erased all but the name; on the other it runs thus:—"Relat' in regiū Registr' ad v'bū, 1536, J. Rhesens', Registr'." Is anything known of the Royal Register referred to?

C. W. G.

Prideaux's Doctrine of Conscience.

—Who was the author of the address to the reader in the Doctrine of Conscience, by Bishop Prideaux, published in 1656? it is signed Y. N. Bishop Prideaux died in 1650.

G. P. P.

John Adair, Geographer for Scotland (alive in 1715).

—I am anxious to obtain some information respecting the ancestry, wife, death, and descendants of this individual. I am already aware of the notices of him in Chalmers's Caledonia (ii. 58.), and in the Bannatyne Miscellany (ii. 347.).

E. N.

Clergymen first styled Reverend.

—I should be obliged if any of your correspondents would inform me when the word "Reverend" first came into use as distinctive of a clergyman. It never seems to have been applied to Hooker, who is always called Mr. Hooker in the different editions of his works.

QUESTOR.

Rev. Nathaniel Spinckes.

—Information is requested as to the descendants of the Rev. Nathaniel Spinckes, one of the Nonjuring divines, who died July 28, 1727. He was rector of Glinton with Peakirk, Northamptonshire; and it appears from Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary that he left two children, William Spinckes, Esq., and Anne, who married Anthony Cope, Esq.

J. P. JR.

Meaning of the Word "Elvan."

—Will any kind philologist come to the aid of the geologists in ascertaining the meaning of this uncouth word? In the current number of the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (No. 29.) we read:

"Certain quartziferous porphyries which occur in the mining districts of Cornwall as veins, partly in granite, partly in clay-slate, have been long there [274] known under the name of 'Elvans.' We have in vain sought for the origin of this term in English writers. Henwood expressly says (Trans. Geol. Soc. of Cornwall, vol. v.) that the etymology of the word is unknown. May it not perhaps be derived from a place called 'Elvan?' Reuss says, in his Lehrbuch der Geognosie, that porphyry occurs near Elvan in Westmoreland."

On turning to Borlase (Natural History of Cornwall, p. 91.), I find that he gives the derivation as follows:

"Quasi ab Hel-vaen, i.e. the stone generally found in brooks; unless it be a corruption of An-von, which in Cornish signifies a smith's anvil, and might fitly represent this very hard stone."

The term is a Cornish one, and applied to a crystalline rock usually hard enough to strike fire readily on sharp friction; and may it not have been derived from the Cornish word "Elven, a spark of fire," given in Borlase's vocabulary.

S. R. P.

Launceston.

Wiclif.

—There are few names of equal celebrity that have been so variously spelt, the sound remaining the same whether written Wiclif, Wycliff, Wickliffe, Wykcliff, &c. Can any authority be given, to ascertain the correct spelling?

J. K.

Showing the White Feather.

—What is the origin of this periphrasis for cowardice? Certainly not the words of King Henry:

A. A. D.

Trin. Coll. Dublin.

Gray and Locke.

—The germ of Gray's—

occurs somewhere in Locke's Works. Can any one refer me to the passage; it commences:

"Who ever left the precincts of mortality, without," &c.

H. E. H.

Horses and Sheep, Remains of in Churches.

—In excavating the chancel of St. Botolph's parish church, Boston, we have discovered a quantity of horse's bones, and the jaw-bones of a sheep. Can any of your correspondents enlighten us on this singular case?

THOMAS COLLIS.

Boston.

Archæologia Cambrensis, Vol I., Reprint.

—I have recently purchased a copy of the above work to complete my set; but before doing so, I enquired of Mr. Pickering the publisher, if it was in all respects as well executed as the first copies. The answer, however, gave me no more information than "that the numbers of vol. i. Arch. Camb., which were destroyed by fire, have been reprinted, so as to make up a few copies, and the price is consequently 21s." The "reprint" is not as well executed as the original copies, inasmuch as nearly a whole page of interesting matter is omitted, and very few of the reprinted pages correspond with the good old ones. I have been a long time looking for the first volume of the Archæologia Cambrensis, the greater portion of which had been so unfortunately destroyed by fire; and though I cannot consider the "reprint" quite as good as the old copies, still I was very glad to obtain it. I trouble you with this "Note," not because I am dissatisfied with the mode of execution of the reprint, but in the hope that some of your correspondents will favour me with a few words on the work, and inform me why the page has been omitted, and why the reprinted pages do not agree with those of the old copies. Are there any other faults in the "reprint" which may have escaped my notice?

R. H.

Dublin.

Presbyterian Oath.

—The author of the Faggot of French Sticks remarks, that he never remained ignorant of anything which excited his attention in the streets of Paris when any one passing by could give him the information required: so now that there is such a living encyclopædia to consult as "N. & Q.," no knowledge should be lost for want of inquiry. In more than one publication it has been lately asserted, that presbyterian ministers take the following oath:

"We all subscribe, and with hands uplifted to the most High God do swear: 1. That we shall sincerely, really, and constantly through the grace of God, endeavour in our several places and callings to bring the church of God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, confession of faith, form of church government, &c. 2. That we shall in like manner, without respect of persons, endeavour the extirpation of popery and prelacy (that is, church government by archbishops, bishops, deans, and others.)"

The Bishop of Exeter, in a recent pamphlet, inserts this parenthesis:

"(Whether this actual subscription and oath be still continued, I know not: but the covenant is still a part of the Kirk's symbolical book, and published as such for the education of the people)."

Will some friend north of the Tweed be kind enough to settle this point?

C. T.

"A Pinch of Snuff from Dean Swift's Box."

—Some years ago I saw in the shop of a dealer in curiosities, in London, an old snuff-box, which was said to have belonged to Dean Swift; it was accompanied with three printed leaves, of the common octavo size, the first page of which commenced [275] with "A Pinch of Snuff from Dean Swift's Snuff Box," (being a description of the snuff-box in question). The next subject on the leaves began with "'Tis a hundred years since." The leaves appeared to have been extracted from some Irish magazine or periodical, published about the year 1845-6, and to contain much valuable and amusing matter. As I have made repeated inquiries among the London booksellers in vain, for the name of the publication from which the above-mentioned extract was taken, I shall feel much obliged if you will permit me to make a similar inquiry through the medium of "N. & Q.," and by so doing you will confer a great favour upon

A SUBSCRIBER.

Gloucester.

Cromwell's Skull.

—I believe that a skull, maintained by arguments of considerable weight to be the veritable skull of the Protector, is now carefully kept in the hands of some person in London. It is understood that this interesting relic is retained in great secrecy, from the apprehension that a threat, intimated in the reign of George III., that if made public, it would be seized by government, as the only party to which it could properly belong.

It is to be hoped that the time in which such a threat could be executed has passed by, and that no danger need now be apprehended by the possessor for his open avowal of the facts of the case, such as they are.

Indeed, it seems desirable that if fair means could lead to such a result, the skull of one who filled so conspicuous a position amongst England's most distinguished rulers, should become public property.

Perhaps some one in possession of the arguments verifying the identity of the skull in question with that of Cromwell, would, by a recapitulation of them, favour some readers of the "N. & Q.", and amongst others

J. P.

Dudley.

Guy, Thomas, Founder of Guy's Hospital, and M.P. for the Borough of Tamworth, d. s. p. 1724.

—Can any of your readers give information as to the existence of any member of this family in the male line? The senior line of descent from Guy's maternal uncle, John Voughton, became extinct in 1843 upon the decease of Elizabeth, the relict of Dr. Clarke of Weggington, brother of Sir Charles M. Clarke, Bart.

KT.

Episcopal Mitre (Vol. iii., p. 62. et seq.).

—In addition to this Query, which has elicited much to interest one, I beg to know at what date and why the use of the mitre in England was discontinued? At the coronation of George IV. I, for one, was grievously disappointed not to see the whole bench of bishops mitred as well as robed.

S. S.

John Lord Berkeley, Bishop of Ely.

—In the Diary of Dr. Edward Lake, published in the Camden Miscellany, vol. i. p. 16., occur the following paragraphs:—

"Dec. 23. 1677. I administered the sacrament to the Lord John Barclay, being not well."

To the word Barclay, the editor, George Percy Elliott, Esq., has subjoined the following note:—

"Probably Lord John Berkeley; he was afterwards Bishop of Rochester, and subsequently of Ely, and was deprived for not taking the oath of allegiance to William and Mary."

Can any reader of "N. & Q." suggest any authority for the statement in the editor's note? Francis Turner was Bishop of Ely from 1684 to 1691, when he was deprived for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. Turner was succeeded by Simon Patrick, translated from Chichester. As to the Rochester see, that was filled by Thomas Sprat from 1684 to 1713. His biography reminds one more of the Vicar of Bray than the sturdy Nonjuror.

J. Y.

Hoxton.

Palace of Lucifer.

—In Milton's elegy upon the death of Bishop Andrewes there is an allusion to a fabled Palace of Lucifer which I do not quite understand. It seems to refer to some romantic description or other, and I shall be much obliged to any one that will kindly tell me by whom. It is always important to know something of the train of an author's reading, as we then can better understand the ordinary train of his thoughts—

And now I will give Thomas Warton's note in full. He says:

"I know not where this fiction is to be found. But our author has given a glorious description of a palace of Lucifer in the Paradise Lost, b. v. 757.:

"Here is a mixture of Ariosto and Isaiah. Because Lucifer is simply said by the prophet 'to sit upon the Mount of the Congregation on the sides of the North,' Milton builds him a palace on this mountain, equal in magnificence and brilliancy to the most superb and [276] romantic castle. In the text, by the utmost parts of the Gangetic land, we are to understand the north; the river Ganges, which separates India from Scythia, arising from the mountain Taurus."

Some of your learned correspondents will, I doubt not, be both able and willing to throw some light upon a difficulty which may possibly have an indirect connexion with other difficulties also.

RT.

Warmington, Nov. 7. 1851.

Ecclesiastical Geography.

—Can any of your correspondents direct me to some works on Ecclesiastical Geography?

AJAX.

History of Commerce.

—What work gives a history of the various courses of commerce between Europe and the East in ancient and modern times, or in either of them, as I cannot meet with any such book in the various catalogues and advertisements of the day?

X. Y. Z.

Cambria.

Merchant Adventurers to Spain.

—Where can there be found any account of a trading company called the "Merchant Adventurers to Spain," who flourished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth?

C. I. P.

King's College Chapel Windows.

—In The Blazon of Gentrie, by John Ferne, London, 1586, it is said (p. 248.):—

"If anie personne doth give, or by his testament shall bequeth money to build a temple, the walles of a city, port, a causey, churches, &c., he maye set his armes upon the same. If so be that he did this, of his owne free will and liberalitie. But if he did the same by compulsion (beeing for that purpose set unto some mulcte or fine, for his offence, and so constrained to make his redemption by the building or repayring of the like things), he may not set his armes in such publique workes, as that bishop was, which being condemned in the Præmunire, redeemed the punishment of that offence, by the glasing of the King's College chappell windowes in Cambridge, a glasse-work of worthy admiration."

Is there any foundation for this story, and who was the bishop?

C. W. G.

The King's Standard.

—Will some of your correspondents kindly inform me where I can meet with a drawing of this standard in blazon? The Relation of the King's setting up his Standard at Nottingham: 4to. Lond. 1642, gives an engraving of the same under the title; but I cannot trace the mode in which the banner in question was coloured.

AMANUENSIS.

James Wilson, M.D.

—In 1761 James Wilson, M.D., published in two volumes, octavo, a reprint of the mathematical tracts of his then deceased friend Benjamin Robins. To them he added an appendix containing a dissertation on the controversy about the invention of fluxions, which dissertation is very little cited. He makes various statements on his own authority, describing himself as having been the friend of Brook Taylor and of Dr. Pemberton. Among other things he furnishes something which might be cited in answer to my query in Vol. v., p. 103., affirming that all Collins's papers fell into Jones's possession about the year 1708. Dr. Wilson and Martin Folkes were joint executors of Robins, as the former states. Query, who was James Wilson, M.D.? What was his probable age in 1712? What means exist for forming an opinion as to his judgment and veracity, over and above his publications as aforesaid?

A. DE MORGAN.

Minor Queries Answered.

Prestwich's Respublica.

—I have a copy of a work called Prestwich's Respublica, or a Display of the Honours, Ceremonies, and Ensign of the Commonwealth, 1787; in which is an Alphabetical Roll of the Names and Armorial Bearings of many of the Present Nobility of these Kingdoms. The volume concludes with John Aspinhall, and a note states that the remainder of the roll should be given in the second volume. Has the second volume ever been published, as I cannot ascertain that it has? If so, how many years after the first?

G. P. P.

[It was the intention of Sir John Prestwich to continue this work, but not having received the encouragement he expected, and suffering also from ill health, the second volume was not published. See Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, vol. ix. p. 23.]

Instance of Longevity.—

"In the obituary register for the ancient parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, is to be found the following very singular entry, viz.: 'Thomas Cam, died on the 28th of January, 1588, at the astonishing age of 207 years. He was born in the year 1381, in the reign of King Richard II., and lived in the reigns of twelve kings and queens.'"—Times, Dec.—1848?

Can this be authenticated; is there any truth in the story? Surely so venerable a patriarch must have attracted the notice of some of his cotemporaries. Your correspondent O. C. D. will, I fear, place this "instance" in the category of "ante-register longevities."

W. R. DEERE SALMON.

[At the time the above paragraph was going the round of the papers, a friend consulted the parish clerk of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, respecting its authenticity, and was informed that some mischievous individual had altered the figure 1 into 2. It is correctly given by Sir Henry Ellis in his History of Shoreditch, p. 77., as follows:—"Thomas Cam, aged 107, 28 January, 1588."] [277]

Solidus Gallicus, &c.

—Will any of your correspondents kindly construe for me the following sentences?

"Valebat siclus sanctuarii tetradrachma Atticum: quod Budaeus estimat 14 solidis Gallicis, aut circiter: nam didrachma septim facit solidos, sicuti drachma simplex duos, et sesquialterum, minus denario turonico."

What was the value of "solidus Gallicus," or French sol, or sous; for this I presume to be its meaning in 1573, the date of the passage? And what was the value of the "denier Tournois," if that be the meaning of "denarium Turonicum?"

References are useless, for I have no access to libraries.

C. W. B.

[A numismatic friend, to whom we referred this Query, writes, "If it were not for the context, 'nam didrachma septim facit solidos,' I should suppose the 14 to be a misprint for 4. Where could this passage be taken from? The shekel was worth a tetradrachm. The French 'sol' was the twentieth part of a pound. The 'denier Tournois' was a penny. The whole passage, after the first line (which is plain enough), is to me unintelligible."]

Sept.

—What is the etymology, and what the correct use, of this Anglo-Irish word?

A. N.

[Dr. Ogilvie, in his Imperial Dictionary, has suggested the following derivation: "Qy. sapia, in the L. prosapia; or Heb. shabet, a clan, race, or family, proceeding from a common progenitor."]

Essay towards Catholic Communion (Vol. v., p. 198.).

—An Essay to procure Catholic Communion on Catholic Principles, alluded to by J. Y., has just been republished by Darling, Gt. Queen Street. It is taken from Deacon's Complete Collection of Devotions, 1734, and the editors attribute its authorship to Dr. Brett, on the authority of Peter Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica, vol. i. p. 42.

If J. Y. has not seen the reprint, perhaps this note may assist him in his inquiry.

R. J. S.

[The above is not the same work as the one referred to in J. Y.'s Query, which makes a 12mo. volume of 292 pages (edit. 1781); whereas the reprint published by Darling is a tract of 16 pages. There is also a slight difference in the title-pages of each.]

Bigot.

—What is the derivation of bigot?

C. M. I.

[Richardson suggests the following:—"The French at this day apply the word bigot to one superstitiously religious; not certainly from the oath be-got, as Menage thinks, but rather from the A.-S. bigan, colere; and hence also begine, a religious woman. (Wachter in v. Bein-Gott.)"

Cotgrave says, "Bigot, an old Norman word (signifying as much as 'de par Dieu,' or our 'for God's sake') made good French, and signifying an hypocrite, or one that seemeth much more holy than he is: also, a scrupulous, or superstitious fellow."

Speight says, "Begin, bigot, superstitious, hypocrite." Upon which Thynne remarks, "whiche sence I knowe yt maye somewhat beare, because yt sauorethe of the dispositione of those Begins or Beguines, for that ys the true wrytinge."]

Replies.

AGE OF TREES; TILFORD OAK.
(Vol. iv., p. 401., &c.)

I hope your correspondent L., in his search for ancient trees, will not overlook the Great Oak at Tilford near Farnham, which is worth a visit for its size and beauty, if not for its antiquity. Mr. Brayley, in his History of Surrey, vol. v. p. 288., thus speaks of it:—

"In the Charter granted by Henry de Blois about the year 1250, to the monks of Waverley, he gives them leave to inclose their lands wherever they please, within these bounds, 'which extend,' says the record, 'from the Oak of Tilford, which is called the Kynghoc [a quercu de Tyleford quæ vocatur Kynghoc], by the king's highway towards Farnham, &c.' ... The Tilford Oak is still standing, and is known by its ancient appellation of the King's Oak: a name which it could not have obtained unless it had been of considerable age and growth at the time of the bishop's grant; and it may therefore be reasonably supposed to be 800 or 900 years old. It is a noble tree, and still flourishing apparently without decay."

I very much doubt the identity of the present tree with the "King's Oak" of Henry de Blois. First, Because the present bounds of Waverley do not run within 300 yards of the tree; and the bounds are hardly likely to have been materially changed, inasmuch as the abbey lands are freehold and tithe-free, whereas the surrounding lands are copyhold and titheable. Secondly, because the tree itself appears still to be growing and vigorous. Cobbett describes it in his Rural Rides, p. 15., 1822, with his usual accuracy of observation:

"Our direct road was right over the heath, through Tilford, to Farnham: but we veered a little to the left after we came to Tilford, at which place, on the green, we stopped to look at an oak tree, which, when I was a little boy, was but a very little tree, comparatively, and which is now, taken altogether, by far the finest tree that I ever saw in my life. The stem or shaft is short, that is to say, it is short before you come to the first limbs; but it is full thirty feet round at about eight or ten feet from the ground. Out of the stem there come not less than fifteen or sixteen limbs, many of which are from five to six feet round, and each of which would in fact be considered a decent stick of timber. I am not judge enough of timber to say anything about the quantity in the whole tree; but my son stepped the ground, and, as nearly as we could judge, the diameter of the extent of the branches was upwards of ninety feet, which would make a circumference of about 300 feet. The tree is in full growth at the moment. There is a little hole in one of the limbs, but with that exception, not the smallest sign of decay [278] The tree has made great shoots in all parts of it this last summer, and there are no appearances of white on the trunks such as are regarded as the symptoms of full growth. There are many sorts of oak in England: two very distinct. One with a pale leaf, and one with a dark leaf; this is of the pale leaf."

Any other references to the age or history of this tree would oblige.

TILFORDIENSIS.

P.S. As your correspondent asked for information as to the species of large oaks, I have inclosed some of the acorn-cups.

ST. PAUL'S QUOTATION OF HEATHEN WRITERS—ST. PAUL AND PLATO.
(Vol. v., p. 175.)

The letter at Vol. v., p. 175. of "N. & Q.," reminds me of a passage in a Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, by the Rev. W. G. Humphry, B.D., which it may not be uninteresting to cite, in connexion with what your correspondent says of St. Paul's practice of quoting the writings of heathen authors.

It will be the ground also of an obvious query as to the source from which the quotation, if such it be, was borrowed by the Apostle.

In commenting upon v. 17. of chap. xiv., οὐρανόθεν, &c., he says:

"Both the language and the rhythm of this passage lead to the conjecture (which does not appear to have been proposed before) that it is a fragment from some lyric poem. Possibly the quotation is not exact, but even without alteration it may be broken into four lyric measures, thus:

"1. Iambic; 2. Dochmaic and Choriamb.; 3. Trochaic; 4. Choriamb. and Iambic."

Mr. Humphry has some remarks on St. Paul's quotations at v. 28. of chap. xvii.

OXONIENSIS.

Broad Street, Oxford.

Your correspondent MR. GILL (Vol. v., p. 175.) suggests an inquiry as to the probable extent to which St. Paul was acquainted with the writings of Aristotle. His letter reminds me of a similar question of still greater interest, which has often occurred to me, and to which I should like to call your readers' attention, "Whether St. Paul had read Plato?" I think no one who studies the 15th of the First Epistle to the Corinthians—that sublime chapter in which the Apostle sets forth the doctrine of the Resurrection—and who is also familiar with the Phædo, can fail to be struck with a remarkable similarity in one portion of the argument. I allude especially to the 36th verse of the chapter, and those immediately following, "That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die," &c. The reasoning, as almost every Christian knows, is based on analogy, and tends to show that, as in the vegetable world life springs from death, the seed dies, but out of it comes the perfect plant; so the dissolution of our present body is only a necessary step to the more glorified and complete development of our nature. In the Phædo, sect. 16., Socrates is represented as employing the same argument in defence of his doctrine of the immortality of the soul. In the course of his discussion with Kebes and Simmius on this subject, a consideration of the phenomena of animal and vegetable life leads him to assert the general conclusion, "ἐκ τῶν τεθνεώτων, τὰ ζῶντά τε καὶ οἱ ζῶντες γίγνονται," and he then proceeds to demonstrate the probability that in like manner the soul will not only survive the body, but reach a higher and purer condition after its death. Wetstein, whose abundant classical illustrations of the sacred text are alluded to by your correspondent, refers to little else than verbal parallelisms in his notes on this chapter, and does not quote Plato at all; nor do I remember seeing any edition of the Greek Testament in which the coincidence is pointed out. Perhaps some of your correspondents can elucidate this subject; it is one of great interest, and when pursued in the reverent and religious spirit indicated by MR. GILL, can hardly fail to prove a source of profitable investigation.

JOSHUA G. FITCH.

My edition of the Platonic Dialogues is that of N. Forster of Christchurch, Oxford, dated 1745. In it the section I refer to is numbered 16; but in Stallbaum and some other editors, the arrangement is different, and the passage occurs in section 43.

SIR ALEXANDER CUMMING.
(Vol. v., p. 257.)

I have in my possession a manuscript consisting of copies of various letters, and other memorials of Sir Alexander Cumming. It is of his own period, but whether of his own handwriting I cannot say.

They are clearly the compositions of a person of an unsettled intellect; but we may collect from them the following facts:—His captain's commission was dated May 29, 1703; he was called by his mother, a few days before her death, both Jacob and Israel. This is further explained when he relates that Lady Cumming, his mother, set out from Edinburgh the first of the "Borrowing Days," towards the end of March, 1709.

"The three last days of March are called 'the Borrowing Days' in Scotland, on account of their being generally attended with very blustering weather, which [279] inclines people to say that they would wish to borrow three days from the month of April, in exchange for those three last days of the month of March. This lady was seventeen days in her journeys upon the road, and lived ten days after her arrival in London. She died on the Monday se'nnight in the morning after she came to London. On the Thursday before her death she called her son, Captain Cumming, to her bed-side, and gave him her blessing in the terms of the prophet Isaiah, to which she referred him, and gave him her own new Bible to read over on the occasion, and to keep for her sake. But this Bible was lost, with other baggage, taken by the French towards the end of the campaign, 1709. Colonel Swinton, this lady's eldest brother, was shot at the battle of Malplaquet, and died upon the field of battle."

The lady travelled attended by her daughter Helen Cumming, and her servant Margaret Rae.

But I see we have been wrong in writing the name Cumming with two m's. He writes it invariably Cuming. This would appear of little moment, but the change a little diminishes the probability of the writer's favourite notion, that the Hebrew word Cumi is in some way obumbrated in his patronymic Cuming.

The passage of the prophet Isaiah which formed the substance of his mother's last benediction is chap. xli. verses 8 and 9, and chap. xliii. verses 2 and 3: "Thou Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend," &c. He inclines to think that "the writer of the book called Isaiah was a friend to the British nation, and that the islands of Great Britain and Ireland are those addressed to, in order to renew their strength."

It was on April 23, 1730, O.S., that "by the unanimous consent of the people he was made law-giver, commander, leader, and chief of the Cherokee nation, and witness of the power of God, at a general meeting at Nequisee, in the Cherokee Mountains." He brought with him to England six Cherokee chiefs, and on June 18, in that year, he was allowed to present them to the King in the Royal Chapel at Windsor. This was at the time of the installation of the Duke of Cumberland and the Earls of Chesterfield and Burlington. On June 22nd was the ceremony of laying his crown at the feet of the King, when the Indian chiefs laid also their four scalps and five eagles' tails.

In a few years the scene was changed, and in 1737 we find him confined within the limits of the Fleet Prison; but having a rule of court, on the 8th of November he was at Knightsbridge, where about ten in the morning he opened the Bible for an answer to his prayers, and chanced upon the fifty-first and fifty-second chapters of Isaiah. He feels a call to a mission to the Jews, and contemplates visiting Poland. With that disposition of a mind disordered as his was, to turn everything towards a particular object, he thinks there was some mysterious connexion between the fact that Queen Caroline was seized with the illness which proved fatal, in her library, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 9th of November, the day after his call.

In 1750 he was still in the Fleet Prison, from whence, on May 15, he addressed a letter to Lord Halifax, asserting his right to the Cherokee Mountains, and proposing a scheme for the discharge of eighty millions of the National Debt; the scheme being, that 300,000 families of Jews should be settled in that country for the improvement of the lands, as industrious honest subjects. This letter notices also two facts in the Cuming history: 1. That Sir Alexander's father had been the means of saving the life of King George the Second; and 2. That he, Sir Alexander, had been taken into the secret service of the crown, at Christmas, 1718, at a salary of 300l. a-year, which was discontinued at Christmas, 1721.

J. H.

Torrington Square.

GENERAL WOLFE.
(Vols. iv. and v., passim.)

As everything connected with General Wolfe is entitled to notice, the following names and public positions of his direct or collateral ancestors may not be uninteresting to your readers. I lately furnished you, from Ferrar's History of Limerick, a statement of the circumstances under which his great-grandfather, Captain George Woulfe, sought refuge in Yorkshire (I believe) from the proscription of Ireton, after the capitulation, in 1651, of Limerick, when his brother Francis, the superior of the Franciscan friars, not having been equally fortunate in escaping, was executed, with several others, excepted from the general pardon.

The family, of English origin, like the Roches, the Arthurs, Stackpoles, Sextons, Creaghes, Whites, &c., settled in Limerick between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, and gradually obtained high civil positions, when their successful commercial pursuits enabled them to acquire landed property in the adjoining county of Clare, where nearly all the above-named English families equally became extensive proprietors. In

1470. Garret Woulfe was one of the city bailiffs, as those subsequently called sheriffs were then named.

1476. Thomas Woulfe filled the same office, as did in

1520. His son and namesake.

1562. Nicholas Woulfe was bailiff.

1567. John Woulfe ditto.

1578. The same became mayor.

1585.  } Patrick Woulfe was bailiff these two years,

1587.  } but not in the intervening 1586. [280]

1590. Thomas Woulfe  }

1591. Richard Woulfe   } were successively bailiffs,

1592. David Woulfe     } as in

1605. Was James Woulfe.

From this date till 1613 scarcely a year passed without the dismissal of the chosen Catholic magistrates, and substitution by royal mandate of Protestants. In 1613 George Woulfe, grandfather[7] of the proscribed Captain of the same name as above, then sheriff (the title assumed since 1609), with his colleagues, John Arthur, and the mayor, David Creagh, was deposed for refusing the oaths of supremacy, &c.

[7] So I was assured, many years ago, by the late Lord Chief Baron Wolfe, from whom I also learned that all these magistrates certainly sprung from the same stem, though how they should be respectively placed as to constitute a form of genealogy, I cannot now exactly indicate.

In 1647 Patrick Woulfe was sheriff; but from 1654, when the city surrendered to Ireton, until June 1656, Limerick was ruled by twelve English aldermen. In 1656 Colonel Henry Ingolsby became mayor, and the regular order of magistracy was subsequently pursued.

I cannot at present trace the genealogy in strict deduction, although I believe it all might be collected from the subsisting papers of the family in the county of Clare; at least from Garret, the first-named bailiff in the preceding list. In my boyhood I saw some pedigree of it in the hands of an antiquary named Stokes, but which it would now be difficult to discover. If the present Sir Frederick A. G. Ouseley, Bart., son of my old schoolfellow, the late Sir George, be in possession of the papers of his grandfather, Captain Ralph Ouseley, I think it likely that some documents relating to General Wolfe's family, in its ancient line, will be found, as I recollect hearing Captain Ouseley, a resident of Limerick, speak of them.

J. R.

Cork.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Song of "Miss Bailey" (Vol. v., p. 248.).

—I think I am certain that when I first heard of the song of "Miss Bailey," which was about 1805, it was as having been sung in the farce of Love laughs at Locksmiths.

C. B.

Fern Storms (Vol. v., p. 242.).

—In Colonel Reid's Law of Storms, p. 483. et seq., 2nd edition, accounts are given of the violent whirlwind produced by fires. It maybe supposed that in former times they were on a larger scale than at present, and, from the great force described, they might have affected the weather at least, when on the turn already.

C. B.

The last of the Paleologi (Vol v., p. 173.).

—All that was known respecting the descendants J. L. C. will find in an article relating to the family in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries, Archæologia, vol. xviii. pp. 84-104.

G.

"Whipping Graves" (Vol v., p. 247.).

—CYRUS REDDING will find that the "Ritus Absolvendi jam mortuum" in the modern Rituale Romanum (Mechliniæ, 1848), is performed exactly according to his description.

G. A. T.

Withyham.

Rev. John Paget (Vol. iv., p. 133.; Vol. v., p. 66.).

—CRANMORE'S inquiry has not been fully answered, nor am I able to point out the precise degree of relationship between John Paget and the editor of his works, Thomas Paget. The latter became incumbent of Blackley, near Manchester, about the year 1605, having been placed in that chapelry chiefly through the efforts of the Rev. William Bourne, B.D., a native of Staffordshire, who had married a kinswoman of Lord Burleigh, and who was for many years an influential Fellow of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. (See Hollingworth's Mancuniensis, pp. 106, 107.) In 1617 Thomas Paget was cited before Morton, Bishop of Chester, for nonconformity; and shortly afterwards he was convened before Bishop Bridgeman on the same ground. He is styled at this time "the good old man" (Brook's Lives, vol. ii. p. 293.), although he lived at least forty years afterwards. In the delightful Autobiography of Henry Newcome, M.A., the Presbyterian Minister of Manchester, edited for the Chetham Society by the Rev. Canon Parkinson, D.D. (2 vols. 4to. 1852), are several interesting notices of Mr. Thomas Paget. He is mentioned as "old Mr. Pagit, late of Blakeley," in 1658, and seems to have had the rectory of Stockport in 1659, although Richard Baxter spoke of him in 1656 as "old and sickly," and then living at Shrewsbury. He was well known, says the amiable Newcome, "as a man of much frowardness," and able to create "much unquietness;" but Baxter hoped, "not altogether so morose as some report him."

F. R. R.

Old Scots March, &c. (Vol. v., p. 235.).

—I happen to have the score of one of the tunes inquired after by E. N., namely, Port Athol, as given by the late Edward Bunting, in his collection of Irish airs, under the name of the "Hawk of Ballyshannon." It was composed by a famous Irish harper named Rory Dal O'Cahan, the Rory Dal of Sir Walter Scott's Legend of Montrose, who visited Scotland in the reign of James VI., and ultimately died there. He was the author of the Ports or tunes called Port Gordon, Port Lennox, M'Leods Supper, Port Athol, Give me your hand, The Lame Beggar, &c. &c. It has [281] often struck me that this last tune is the origin from whence the air called Jock o' Hazledean was drawn. It is almost the same.

FRANCIS CROSSLEY.

Sir R. Howard's "Conquest of China" (Vol. v., p. 225.).

—Dryden, in his letters to his sons, writes:

"After my return to town, I intend to alter a play of Sir Robert Howard's, written long since, and lately put into my hands: 'tis called The Conquest of China by the Tartars. It will cost me six weeks' study, with the probable benefit of an hundred pounds."

The Biographia Dramatica states that this play was never acted or printed.

C. I. R.

Mary Howe (Vol. v., p. 226.).

—Mary Howe was probably one of the three daughters of Scrope, first Viscount Howe, by his second wife, Juliana, daughter of William Lord Allington. She was, in 1720, appointed a maid of honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales; and in 1725 married Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, whom she survived, as well as her second husband, John Mordaunt, a brother of Charles, Earl of Peterborough. She died in 1749 s. p.

BRAYBROOKE.

Dutch Chronicle of the World (Vol. v., p. 54.).

—"Historische Chronica. Mit Merianischen Kupfern. viii. Theile. Frankf. 1630. sqq. in 4. Hæc editio propter elegantiam figurarum rara est. Bibl. Solger. ii. p. 298."—Bauer. Bibl. Libror. Rariorum.

"Historische Chronica, &c., folio. Francf. 1657.

"—— 3 vol. fol. Francf. 1743, 45 and 59."—Bibliothecæ Regiæ Catalogus (in Mus. Brit.) s. v. Abelinus.

"Abelin John Philip, an historian, born at Strasburgh, died 1646; often known by the name of John Louis Gottfried, or Gothofredus. Historical Chronicle from the beginning of the World to the year 1619; being a number of plates by Merian, with letter-press descriptive of them."—Watt's Bibl. Brit.

The life of Merian is given by Sandrart, in his Academia Artis Pictoriæ. Strutt, in his Dictionary of Engravers, neglects to mention that Matthæus Merianus Basileensis was employed at Nancy, together with Brentel, A.D. 1608, in designing Pompæ (funebres) Caroli III. Lotharingiæ Ducis. They are etched in a slight style, but with great spirit. The procession consists of a great many plates: these, bound up together with the description, make a large folio volume. I bought a copy six years ago. Can any of your readers inform me whether there is another in England?

BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.

Thistle of Scotland (Vol. i., pp. 24. 90. 166.).

—I have just accidentally stumbled upon my promised note on this subject; and as it appears to be entirely different from any yet offered to you, I gladly send it for the information of your correspondents. I copied it from an old scrap-book:

"The Scotch Thistle.—The origin of the national badge is thus handed down by tradition:—When the Danes invaded Scotland it was deemed unwarlike to attack an enemy in the darkness of night, instead of a pitched battle by day: but, on one occasion the invaders resolved to avail themselves of stratagem; and in order to prevent their tramp from being heard, they marched barefooted. They had thus neared the Scottish force unobserved, when a Dane unluckily stepped with his foot upon a superbly prickled thistle, and uttered a cry of pain, which discovered the assailants to the Scots, who ran to their arms, and defeated the foe with great slaughter. The thistle was immediately adopted as the insignia of Scotland."

R. H.

Bull the Barrel (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—The practice of "bulling the barrel" or "cask," as mentioned by C. FORBES, is an every-day occurrence in the Navy. As soon as a rum cask is emptied, a few gallons of water are put into the cask (and it is struck down again into the spirit-room); this is done to keep the wood moist, and prevent it from shrinking, so as to keep the cask water-tight: this is called "bulling the cask;" and from the water receiving after some time a strong impregnation, which makes it really strong grog, salt water is used, though even the "salt-water bull," as it is called, when again poured out, has often proved too attractive for seamen to resist. Again, it is common to talk in the same way of "bulling a tea-pot," coffee-pot, &c.; that is, after the first "brew" has been exhausted, by adding fresh water, and boiling over again, to make a "second brew" from the old materials. This probably was derived from "bulling the cask;" but whether the "bulling" originally applied to the preserving the water-tight qualities of the cask, or to the making the "second brew," I cannot pretend to say, though I should define the present acceptation of the term "bulling" to be "the obtaining an impregnation from that which had been already used."

G. M. T. R. N.

Bishop Kidder's Autobiography (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—Mr. Bowles, in the introduction to his Life of Bishop Ken, vol. i. p. xi. (Lond. 1830), expresses his thanks to the late Bishop of Bath and Wells "for the information contained in the MS. life of Ken's successor, Bishop Kidder;" and adds:

"This work, never printed, is a very curious and valuable document, preserved in the episcopal palace of Wells."

J. C. R.

Which are the Shadows? (Vol. v., p. 196.).

—The story is told as of Wilkie at the Escurial by Southey in The Doctor, vol. iii. p. 235.; also, with a fine compliment to the "British Painter," by Wordsworth, in one of the pieces published with Yarrow Revisited (1835, pp. 305-6.). The coincidence with the note by Mr. Rogers—to whom, by the way, Wordsworth's volume is dedicated—has [282] long perplexed me. One is unwilling to suppose that the touching words ascribed to the two monks were a stock speech common to aged monks who have such pictures to show; but what better explanation is there? I believe that the first edition of Italy appeared, not in 1830, as your correspondent supposes, but in 1822. Is the story to be found in that edition?

J. C. R.

Welsh Names "Blaen" (Vol. v., p. 128.).

—Although my acquaintance with the language of the Cymri is very limited, I think that a knowledge of the cognate Erse or Gaelic enables me to make a shrewd guess at the meaning of the word Blaen, prefixed to the names of so many farms in Wales. The Gaelic word Baile, pronounced Ballé, signifies a town—the Scotch toun—or farm, and, with the preposition an or na—Anglicè of—is written Baile'n, pronounced Ballen: this, I think, is probably the same word as Blaen, and means, being interpreted, "the farm of." In the examples given by your correspondent α, the words affixed to Blaen are descriptive; many of them scarcely differ in sound from their Gaelic synonyms e.g. Blaen-awen is the Gaelic Baile'n abhuinn, pronounced Ballen avine, Ang. "the farm on, or of the river;" Blaen-argy—Gaelic, Baile'n airgiod, "the silver farm," or perhaps 'n arguin, of strife; Blaen-angell—Gaelic, Baile'n aingeal, "angel farm"; Blaen-y-foss—Gaelic, Baile-na-fois, pronounced f[=o]sh, and synonymous with the Dutch lust, "leisure or pleasure farm;" and Blaen-nefern—Gaelic, Baile-na-fearn, "alder farm." In England these farms or towns would have been called respectively, Riverton, Silverton, Alderston, and so on. The same word, generally spelt Bally, forms part of the name of a very large proportion of the small towns and farms in Ireland.

W. A. C.

Ormsary.

The Verb "to commit" (Vol. v., p. 125.).

—The verb to commit, in the sense used by Junius, was employed by Lord Chesterfield so far back as the year 1757. In a letter to his son (Nov. 26), his lordship, after instructing Mr. Stanhope what to say to one of the foreign ministers, directs him to send to his own court an account of what he had done:

"Tell them you thought the measure of such great importance that you could not help taking this little step towards bringing it about, but that you mentioned it only from yourself, and that you have not committed them by it."

Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his Son were not published until 1774, which will account for Walker ascribing to Junius the merit of introducing into the English language the French signification of the verb to commit.

WILLIAM CRAMP.

Beócera-gent (Vol. v., p. 201.).

—As I asked a question relating to the Irish, perhaps I may be allowed the so-called Irish mode of answering it myself.

Beócherie is evidently derived from Beóceraige, the islet of bee-hives, or bee-keepers (who were regularly appointed officers in Saxon England); but as I was utterly at a loss for the word gent, I requested the opinion of Dr. Lèo, from whom I have received the following satisfactory reply:—

"The word gent seems to be the same word as our German gante, and the Scottish gauntree; i.e. a tree which forms a stand for barrels, hives, &c. In several parts of Germany, where the culture of bees has, from distant periods, been carried on extensively, the hives are transported from one place to another according to the seasons: now in the forests, when the pine-trees are in flower; now in the fields, when the rape blossoms; then again in the woods, when the heather blossoms; and at last, when winter approaches, in the barn. A tree forms the stand for the bee-hive, and thatch protects it from the rain. Such a tree seems to be the beócera-gent.

"In an old Glossary, the old high-German word, gantmari, is interpreted as tignarius (i.e. faber tignarius, a carpenter). This word presupposes another word gant, a beam or a rafter, probably equivalent to your Ang.-Sax. gent; and thus beócera-gent would be a beam upon which to stand bee-hives."

The question still remains, Why was the islet in question called Parva Hibernia?

B. WILLIAMS.

The Lodge, Hillingdon.

New Zealand Legend (Vol. v., p. 27.).

—This strange legend reminds me of the fine passage in Caractacus, of which I know not whether it is an original conception, or taken from any author:—

C. B.

Twenty-seven Children (Vol. v., p. 126.).

—To E. D.'s Query, "whether there is any well-authenticated instance of a woman having had more than twenty-five children?" something like a reply will be found in the following paragraph, which formed one of a series of "Curious Extracts," in the Edinburgh Antiquarian Magazine (1848):—

"'Extraordinary Number of Children.—The following extraordinary, yet well-attested fact, is copied from Brand's History of Newcastle, lately published. The fact is mentioned and corroborated by a quotation from an Harleian MS. No. 980-87. A weaver in Scotland had, by one wife, a Scotch woman, sixty-two children, all living till they were baptized; of whom four [283] daughters only lived to be women, but forty-six sons attained to man's estate. In 1630, Joseph Delavel, Esq., of Northumberland, rode thirty miles beyond Edinburgh, to be satisfied of the truth of this account, when he found the man and woman both living; but at that time had no children abiding with them. Sir John Bowes and three other gentlemen having, at different periods, taken each ten in order to bring them up; the rest also being disposed of. Three or four of them were at that period (1630) at Newcastle.'—European Magazine, Dec. 1786."

But, of course, the question still arises, can this wonderful instance be recognised as "a well-attested fact?"

R. S. F.

Perth.

In Wanley's Wonders of the Little Moral World (London, 1806), vol. i. p. 76., will be found several instances of numerous families by one mother; in one case (No. 27.) fifty-seven children; and in another (No. 6.), no less than seventy-three! Your correspondent can refer to the authorities, which are also given. The authenticity of one of the cases mentioned (No. 23.) will probably be easily ascertained, as it is said to be the copy of an inscription in the churchyard of Heydon in Yorkshire, to the following effect:—

"Here lieth the body of William Strutton of Padrington, buried the 18th of May, 1734, aged ninety-seven, who had by his first wife twenty-eight children, and by a second wife seventeen; was father to forty-five, grandfather to eighty-six, great-grandfather to ninety-seven, and great-great-grandfather to twenty-three—in all 251."—Gent. Mag. Aug. 1731.

There appears to be some mistake in the reference, and I may mention that I have not been able to find the epitaph in Mr. Urban's pages with the assistance of the general index.[8]

E. N.

[8] [It occurs in the October number of 1734, p. 571.—ED.]

Reeve and Muggleton (Vol. v., pp. 80. 236.).

—One of the handsomest quartos of our day, both in typography and engravings, is, Two Systems of Astronomy: first, the Newtonian System ... second, the System in accordance with the Holy Scriptures ... by Isaac Frost, London, 4to., 1846 (Simpkin and Marshall). This work is Muggletonian, and contains some extracts from The Divine Looking-Glass of the Third Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Reeve and Muggleton. I request your readers to draw no inference from the letter with which I sign my communications.

M.

Black Book of Paisley (Vol. v., pp. 201.).

—In reply to ABERDONIENSIS, I beg to inform him that the "Maitland Club" (Glasgow) circulated as the contribution of the Earl of Glasgow in the year 1832 a very handsome volume, entitled Registrum Monasterii de Passelet, M.C.LXIII-M.D.XXIX. to which there was prefixed an highly interesting prefatory notice and illustrative notes, in which it is there stated—

"That it may be proper to correct a popular mistake regarding another record connected with the Monastery of Paisley. The Black Book of Paisley, quoted by Buchanan and our earlier historians, and which (having disappeared) was raised by later antiquaries into undue importance as a distinct and original chronicle, was nothing more than a copy of Fordun (Scotichronicon), with Bowers' Continuation. It appears to have been acquired by Thomas Lord Fairfax, but when Gale and Hearne wrote, had already been deposited in the Royal Library, where it is still preserved. (13. E. X.) Hearne particularly notices the inscription on this volume: 'Iste liber est Sancti Jacobi et Sancti Mirini de Pasleto.'—Præfatio ad Fordun, p. lxvi."

T. G. S.

Edinburgh.

Pasquinades (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—I have had these Italian lines in my MS. book for many years as an "Epigram on Bonaparte's Legion of Honor." If of earlier date, and another origin, they have been made good use of by the would-be wits of the day, as a quiz upon Napoleon's honorary badge.

HERMES.

Elegy on Coleman (Vol. v., p. 137.).

—The Elegy on Coleman I have seen paraphrased or travestied, and thus attributed to Dryden, who, not being able to pay his wine-merchant's bill, was told, on dining with this creditor, in the exhilaration of his cups, that if he (Dryden) would improvise four lines expressive of pleasure to God, to the Devil, to the World, and to the Merchant, the debt would be forgiven. Instantly, therefore, the poet extemporised the following verses, sufficiently redolent of their inspiring source:

J. R.

Cork.

Liber Conformitatum, &c. (Vol. v., p. 202.).

—On the Liber Conformitatum, I confidently assert, from accurate inquiry, that no edition preceded that of 1510, nor is there any authority for the alleged one of Venice. A long account of this most disedifying volume will be found in DeBure's Bibliographie Instructive, No. 4540. I am in possession of the second edition in 1511, perfectly identical in the text. Its absurdity is equal to its obvious, though not intended, blasphemy; for it is written in genuine simplicity of design. I have likewise the Alcorand des Cordeliers, with the second book by Conrad Badius, the son of Jodocus Badius Ascencius, a native of Belgium, but one of the early Parisian printers, and author himself of various works. The title of my edition of the Alcoran, printed at Geneva, 1575, differs from that of 1586, [284] but necessarily of the same import, and quite as prolix.

J. R.

Cork.

Grimesdyke; Grimes Graves (Vol. v., p. 231.).

—As J. F. F. has repeated Blomefield's account of these curious pits (commonly known as Grimes Graves, in Weeting parish, Norfolk), it is right to add some more recent information respecting them. An investigation was made there last month, by digging a trench through the middle of a pit, and at the depth of about three feet an oval fire-place of flints was discovered, containing numerous bones of oxen, &c. One of the smaller pits was then similarly treated, and we found the same proofs of habitation. No stone implements were discovered, but further researches may bring some to light. Blomefield's statement that it is a Danish camp is quite without foundation, and his "form of a quincunx," in which he supposed the pits to be, could have existed only in his own imagination, stimulated by the learned labours of Sir Thomas Browne. There can be no doubt now that they were dwellings of the British, similar to the pits on the coast at Weybourne. That Grime was a Danish leader, "Præpositus," &c., is also open to doubt. When so many British earthworks are designated by this name, what is more likely than that the Saxons, not knowing whose hands had erected them, superstitiously ascribed them to the grim spirit, the Devil?—whence Grimsdyke, the Devil's ditch, &c. Neither this opinion, however, nor Mr. Guest's (a "boundary") seems applicable to a Hundred, as Grimeshoo, unless as being so full of Grime's operations.

C. R. M.

Junius and the Quarterly Review again (Vol. v., p. 225.).

—I confess that I could draw quite a different conclusion from that of CAROLUS CURSITOR respecting Junius's single misspelt mention of Lord Lyttleton's name. If, as the reviewer argues (supposing I remember the article correctly), the Hon. Thomas Lyttleton only once mentioned his father, in order to prevent public attention settling on himself as the author of Junius's Letters, it seems to me to be in unison with such artifice, that he should have purposely made a slight error in spelling the name. But is the writer, and not the printer, responsible for this blunder?

ALFRED GATTY.

Ink (Vol. v., p. 151.).

—A learned Cambridge professor, who has been a V.P.R.S., once related to me the following anecdote, in reference to the celebrated and most practical philosopher, the late Dr. Wollaston. In the rooms of the Royal Society the Doctor chanced to mention that he could not, for the life of him, discover the composition of the rich black pigment used by the ancient Egyptians in their inscriptions on the mummy cases. He had analysed it over and over again, and invariably found animal matter present. How was this? "Why," observed a member, to the grievous annoyance of the somewhat self-opinioned Doctor, "they used the ink of the (Sepia officinalis) cuttle-fish." This most remarkable excretion is of the deepest black hue; and that it retains its peculiar qualities unimpaired, even after being buried beneath the chalk formation of this earth of our's for unnumbered periods, is proved in the case of the well-known fossil ink of Dean Buckland. I know not whether or no this will answer the Query of MR. W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

COWGILL.

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

—AJAX is informed that the best map of Morocco that has probably appeared is given in the volume of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie, entitled "L'Empire de Maroc par Berbrugger." An excellent map of Algeria by R. H. Dufour, is published at a moderate price by Longuet, 8. Rue de la Paix, Paris. The date on my copy is 1850; it forms one of a series of maps issued by the same parties, and forming an Atlas of Algeria. I add from the Leipzig Catalogue (1849, viertes Heft) the title of a work which may assist AJAX in his labours. Though I have not examined the work myself, I know it to be of some repute. The author now forms one of the mission for exploring Central Africa:

"Barth Dr. Heinr. Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer d. Mittelmeers, ausgeführt in den J. 1845, 1846 u. 1847. In 2 Bdn 1 Bd A.u.d. T.: Wanderungen durch das Punische u. Kyrenäische Küstenland od. Màg'reb, Afrik'ia u. Bark'a. Mit 1 (lith. u. illum.) Karte (in Imp. fol.) gr. 8. Berlin, Hertz."

The travels of Dr. Barth had especial reference to the discovery and identification of ancient localities.

NORTHMAN.

Learned Men of the Name of Bacon (Vol. iii., pp. 41. 151.; Vol. v., p. 181.).

—To this list may be added that of a learned lady, namely, of the Lady Ann Bacon (Cooke), second wife of the Lord Keeper, and mother of the Lord Chancellor. She translated, from the Italian of Bernardine Achine, Twenty-five Sermons, published about 1550.

Sir Nathaniel Bacon, the painter, was the youngest son of Nicholas, the eldest son of the Lord Keeper, and consequently the latter's grandson. This Nicholas, of Redgrave, Suffolk, was High Sheriff of Norfolk, 1597, and represented the same county in the parliament of 1603. He was the first person created a baronet; and from him are descended the Bacons of Redgrave, Suffolk, afterwards of Great Ryburgh, Garboldisham, Gillingham, and now of Raveningham, Norfolk, premier baronets of England.

There are engraved portraits of Lady Ann Bacon, and of Sir Nathaniel the painter.

COWGILL. [285]

Paring the Nails (Vol. iii., p. 462.; Vol. v., p 142.).

—In reference to the superstitious practices in question, the readers of the Prose Edda, many of whose traditions still survive amongst us, will remember what it is therein narrated concerning the ship Naglfar. Amongst the terror-fraught prodigies preceding Ragnarök, or the Twilight of the Gods, and the Conflagration of the Universe, we are informed that "on the waters floats the ship Naglfar, which is constructed of the nails of dead men. For which reason," it is said, "great care should be taken to die with pared nails; for he who dies with his nails unpared, supplies materials for the building of this vessel, which both gods and men wish may be finished as late as possible." Of this ship, the more ancient and poetical Völn-spà also speaks in something like the following terms:—

COWGILL.

Mottoes on Dials.

—I have not seen the following motto noticed either in your pages or elsewhere. I quote it from memory, as I recollect reading it many years ago on the sun-dial in front of the Hospice on the summit of the Mont Cenis:

J. E. T.

Mispronounced Names of Places (Vol. v., p. 196.).

—Allow me to add to P. M. M.'s list:

It is hardly worth while to mention the larger tribe of contractions, such as Alsford for Alresford, Wilsden for Willesden, Harfordwest for Haverfordwest; nor the class of derivations from the Roman Castrum, as Uxeter for Uttoxeter, Toster for Towcester, and the like.

The railroads are correcting these grosser errors wherever they fall in with them. I remember a few years ago, being at Gloster, and intending to take the train to Cisiter, as I had always called it. "Oh!" said the porter, with quite the air of a Lingo, "you mean Ci-ren-cester." But I believe the good folks of the neighbourhood still stick to Aberga'ny and Cisiter.

P. M. M.'s appeal to your Scotch and Irish correspondents will I think produce little. In Scotland, names are generally pronounced as written, with a few exceptions, such as Enbro' and Lithgow, and perhaps a few others: but in Ireland I do not remember a single instance of the corruption of a name; though certainly the Irish might be forgiven if they had contracted or mollified such names as Drumcullagher, Ballaghaddireen, Moatagreenoque, and Tamnaughtfinlaggan. The English are, I believe, the only people who habitually clip proper names of persons or places, but I think it is also the only language in which the spelling of words does not afford a general guide for their pronunciation. No other language that I know anything of can afford such anomalies as are to be found, for instance, in rough, cough, lough, plough, dough, through, &c. &c.

C.

The following are such names of places as have come within my observation:—

[9] By the last word this place is named to distinguish it from others beginning with the word "Wiggenhall."

J. N. C.

"There's ne'er a villain," &c. (Vol. v., p. 242.).

—In support of A. E. B., with whose view I entirely concur, it may be added that villain and knave do not make the proposition such a truism as Horatio (who is not intended for a conjuror, much less a verbal critic) admits it to be. Alexander the Great has been called a villain and a robber, but never a knave or a thief. By the Rule of Three, villain: robber:: knave: thief. As a truism, intended by Hamlet before the first line was spoken, it is not good enough for Hamlet's wit. But, supposing the second line invented, pro re natâ, to cover the retreat of the disclosure which was advancing in the first line, it is just what might have suggested itself—for Hamlet's uncle was both villain and knave.

M.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

Those who judge of a book's importance by its size will be most egregiously taken in by Regal Rome: an Introduction to Roman History by Francis W. Newman, Professor of Latin in University College, London. In this small volume of less than two hundred pages the [286] learned professor—who holds that wisely to disbelieve is our first grand requisite in dealing with materials of mixed worth—has followed, but not slavishly, the direction which Niebuhr's erudition and untiring energy have so appropriated, that by many it has been supposed to be exclusively Niebuhr's own; and the result is, that he has reconstructed a picture of ancient Rome, to which we refer our classical readers, in the full confidence that they will thank us for doing so; and that, if they do not, on perusal, agree with all Mr. Newman's views, they will at least concede to him the credit due to great learning and perspicuity.

When we consider the great influence which the Crusades exercised on the civilisation of Europe—how prominent is the position they occupy in the social and political history of their era—and how fertile a source of wealth they have proved to the poets and novelists of all succeeding ages, and of all countries—it is certainly a matter of surprise that amid the rage for translation which has of late years manifested itself among us, no one should have undertaken to lay before the English reader a translation of Michaud's able and interesting narrative of this great chapter in the history of the Middle Ages. Michaud's work acquired for its author, and very deservedly, an European reputation; and in issuing a well-executed version of it at a moderate price, the publisher of Michaud's History of the Crusades, Translated from the French by W. Robson, is rendering good service, not only to those who cannot peruse the work in the original, but to all classes of historical readers. This (the first volume) has prefixed to it a very interesting memoir of Michaud.

BOOKS RECEIVED.—Mr. Bohn's contributions to the cheap publications of the month are—in his Scientific Library, the fourth volume of Humboldt's Cosmos, translated by Otté and Paul; in his Standard Library, The Principal Works and Remains of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, with a new Memoir of his Life, by his Son the Rev. A. G. Fuller, which contains his Gospel its own Witness, or the Holy Nature and Divine Harmony of the Christian Religion contrasted with the Immorality and Absurdity of Deism; and his Calvinistic and Socinian Systems examined and compared as to their moral tendency—two works by which this excellent Nonconformist divine did much to stem the torrent of immorality and infidelity which the deistical and democratical writers of his time were infusing into the minds of the people. Cicero's Orations, Vol. ii., literally translated by C. D. Yonge, is the new volume of the Classical Library; that of the Illustrated Library being the second and concluding volume of Allan's Battles of the British Navy, illustrated with eighteen portraits of our most eminent naval worthies. The proprietors of the National Illustrated Library have completed their edition of Huc's most interesting Travels in Tartary by the publication of the second volume, and have issued a new edition in two volumes of Dr. Mackay's Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. The favour with which the original edition of this work, written in a pleasant gossiping style, was so generally received, will probably be increased towards the present one, as it has the advantage of numerous woodcut illustrations, many of them highly interesting, and all adding to the amusing character of the book.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.

NOTES AND QUERIES. No. 19.

EDWIN AND EMMA. Tayler, 1776.

GEMMÆ ET SCULPTURÆ ANTIQUÆ DEPICTÆ IN LATINUM VERSÆ, per Jac. Gronovium. Amstelodami, 1685.

MASSARII ANNOTATIONES IN NONUM PLINII HISTORIÆ NATURALIS LIBRUM. Basileæ, 1537.

SWALBACI DISSERTATIO DE CICONIIS, &c. Spiræ, 1630.

SYNTAGMA HERBARUM ENCOMIASTICUM, ABR. ORTELIO INSCRIPTUM. Ex officina Plantin. 1614.

TYRWHITT, THO. CONJECTURÆ IN STRABONEM. London, 1783.

CRAKANTHORP'S DEFENCE OF JUSTINIAN THE EMPEROR AGAINST CARDINAL BARONIUS. London, 1616.

HEARNE'S HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF GLASTONBURY. Oxford, 1722.

COSIN'S HISTORIA TRANSUBSTANTIATIONIS. Englished by Beaulieu, Lond. 1676.

SOME REMARKS ON THE CLAIM TO THE EARLDOM OF BANBURY. By the present Claimant, 1835.

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 ACADEMIA RINTELENSI. Published about 1655.

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