Vol. III.—No. 83. NOTES AND QUERIES: A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

CONTENTS.

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

ON THE PROPOSED RECORD OF EXISTING MONUMENTS.

[417] Although disappointed in the hope we had entertained of being, by this time, in a position to announce that some decided steps had been taken to carry out, in a practical manner, the great scheme of preserving a record of our existing Monuments, we are gratified at being enabled to bring under the notice of our readers several communications which show the still increasing interest which is felt upon the subject.

The first, by Sir Thomas Phillipps, besides some valuable information upon the matter immediately under consideration, contains several very useful suggestions upon other, though kindred points.

In approving of the design mentioned in your "Notes" by MR. DUNKIN, it has surprised me that in no one of the communications which you have there printed is any allusion to the multitude of inscriptions already collected, and now preserved in the British Museum and other libraries. A list of what are already copied should first be made, which would considerably abridge the labour of collecting. For instance, the whole of Gloucestershire has been preserved by Bigland, and nearly two-thirds of these have been printed. I should recommend his plan to be adopted, being multum in parvo, as to the headstones in the churchyards, and the clearest for reference by its alphabetical order of parishes. He copies them about 1780; so that now seventy years remain to be obtained. His collection would make two, or at most three, volumes folio, by which we can form an approximate idea as to the extent for the kingdom, which I estimate at one hundred volumes for the forty counties, because some of these are very small, and many monuments have been destroyed by the barbarous Gothlike conduct of church renovators and builders. (A propos of which conduct, I believe they are liable to an action at law from the next of kin: at all events, it is sacrilege.) In many county histories, all the monuments inside the churches, up to nearly the date of the publication, have been printed, as in Nichols's Leicestershire. I have myself printed the greater part of those for Wiltshire; but some are incorrectly printed, not having been collated; for I merely printed a few as handbooks to accompany me in my personal correcting survey of each church at another time. I have also printed as far as letter "E" of Antony à Wood's and Hinton's Oxfordshire Monuments, of which, I believe, MR. DUNKIN has a MS. copy. Now, it would be useless to reprint those which have been printed; consequently I should imagine twenty-five or thirty volumes, on Bigland's plan, would comprise all the villages; and I should imagine five or ten volumes at[418] most would comprise all the capital towns. Allow me here to suggest the absolute necessity of taking "Notes" of the residence, parentage, and kindred of every one of the families of that vast tide of emigration now quitting our shores; and I call Lord Ashley's and Mr. Sidney Herbert's attention to it. These poor people will, many of them, become rich in half a century; will then probably die without a kindred soul in America to possess their wealth; and their next of kin must be sought for in the mother land, where, unless some registered memorial of their departure and connexions is kept, all traces of their origin may be lost for ever. It was the neglect of an act like this which has involved the beginning of nations in such profound obscurity. It was the neglect of such a register as I here propose, that makes it so difficult now for the American to discover the link which actually connected him with England. There is a corporate body, long established in this country, whose sole occupation is to make such registers; but at present they confine themselves to those called gentlemen. Why not make them useful as registers of the poor, at a small remuneration for entering each family. These poor, or their descendants, will some day become gentlemen, and perhaps not ashamed of their ancestry, although they may derive it through poverty. How gratified they may feel to be able, by means of this proposed registry, clearly to trace themselves to Great Britain (once the mistress of half the world), when their now adopted country has risen up in her place, and the mother has become subject to the daughter.

And then, too, how valuable will Americans and Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders, find the proposed Monumentarium of MR. DUNKIN.

The next is from a frequent contributor to our pages, and we have selected it for publication from among many which we have received promising assistance in the carrying out of the great scheme, because it shows very strikingly how many of the memorials, which it is the especial object of that scheme to preserve, have disappeared within the last few years.

Your valuable remarks on this head have induced me to send you a few observations in the same direction. You have justly said that the means by which the object can be accomplished fall into the three distinct operations of Collection, Preservation, and Publication. The first will require the help of all antiquaries throughout the kingdom who will volunteer their services, and of the clergymen resident in country parishes. Where possible, it would be well to find a co-operator in every county town, who would undertake the collection of all ancient memorials in his own district, either by personal inspection, or by the aid of the clergy. For this county we have, fortunately, a record of all or most of the monuments existing in the time of James I., published in Burton's History. Besides the monuments, there are also mentioned the coats of arms preserved in the churches. In the useful and voluminous world of Nichols, the record is brought down nearly to the commencement of the present century. But in late years, many ancient memorials have been removed altogether, or displaced. A day or two ago, I found only one monument in a village church, where Burton says there were two in his time. The chancel of St. Martin's Church, Leicester, a few years ago, contained a large number, of which many have been placed elsewhere, in order to "improve" the appearance of this part of the edifice. I believe a list of the monuments is preserved somewhere. This kind of proceeding has been carried on very generally throughout the country since the desire for "church restoration" has prevailed, and has led to great alterations in the interiors of our old parish churches. I should be happy to lend a helping hand in the collections for Leicester and the neighbourhood.

From our next communication, it will be seen that the Scottish Antiquaries, whose zeal and intelligence in the preservation and illustration of objects of national interest, are beyond all praise, are working in the same direction; and although we have not seen the Origines Parochiales, we can readily believe in the great value of a work of such a character when undertaken by the Bannatyne Club.

It may interest some of your "Monumental" and "Ecclesiological" correspondents to be informed that in 1834 there was collected and published by D. Macvean, bookseller, Glasgow, a volume of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions in Scotland. Also, that there has just been published by Lizars, Edinburgh, for the Bannatyne Club, the first volume of the Origines Parochiales Scotiæ.

The former of these books (Epitaphs, &c.) is perhaps of no great value, being badly selected and worse arranged; but the latter (Origines, &c.) seems to be exactly such a work as W. J. D. R. (Vol. iii., p. 314.) has in his mind's eye for England.

A correspondent, MERCURII, has also directed our attention to a small volume, published in 1848, by one of the most valued contributors to our own columns, MR. DAWSON TURNER, under the title of Sepulchral Reminiscences of a Market Town, as afforded by a List of the Interments within the Walls of the Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, collected chiefly from Monuments and Gravestones still remaining, June, 1845. This little volume may be regarded as a public testimony [419] on the part of MR. DAWSON TURNER to the value of the plan under consideration, and there are few antiquaries whose opinions are entitled to greater respect upon this or any other point to which he has devoted his talents and attention. Can we doubt, then, the success of a plan which has met with such general approbation, and is undertaken with so praiseworthy an object,—an object which may well be described in the words which Weever used when stating the motive which led him to undertake the publication of his Funeral Monuments, viz., "To check the unsufferable injury, offered as well to the living as to the dead, by breaking down and almost utterly ruinating monuments with their epitaphs, and by erasing, tearing away, and pilfering brazen inscriptions, by which inhumane deformidable act, the honorable memory of many virtuous and noble persons deceased is extinguished, and the true understanding of divers families is so darkened, that the course of their inheritance is thereby partly interrupted."

Notes.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHAUCER, NO. VIII.

If, during his own lifetime, and under his own eye, poor Chaucer was so sinned against as to provoke this humorous malediction upon the head of the delinquent, it cannot be a matter of surprise that, in the various hands his text has since passed through, many expressions should have been perverted, and certain passages wholly misunderstood. And when we find men, of excellent judgment in other respects, proposing, as Tyrwhitt did, to alter Chaucer's words to suit their own imperfect comprehension of his meaning, it is only reasonable to suspect that similar mistakes may have induced early transcribers to alter the text, wherever, to their wisdom, it may have seemed expedient.

Now I know of no passage more likely to have been tampered with in this way, than those lines of the prologue to the Persone's Tale, alluded to at the close of my last communication. Because, supposing (which I shall afterwards endeavour to prove) that Chaucer really meant to write something to this effect: "Thereupon, as we were entering a town, the moon's rising, with Min al auwâ in Libra, began to ascend (or to become visible),"—and supposing that his mode of expressing this had been,

—in such a case, what can be more probable than that some ignorant transcriber, never perhaps dreaming of such a thing as the Arabic name of a star, would endeavour to make sense of these, to him, obscure words, by converting them into English. The process of transition would be easy; "min" or "men" requires little violence to become "mene" (the modern "mean" with its many significations), and "al auwâ" (or "alwai," as Chaucer would probably write it) is equally identical with "alway." The misplacement of "Libra" might then follow as a seeming necessity; and thus the line would assume its present form, leaving the reader to understand it, either with Urry, as,

or with Tyrwhitt:

Now, to Urry's reading, it may be objected that it makes the thing ascending to be Libra, and does not of necessity imply the moon's appearance above the horizon. But since the rising of the moon is a visible phenomenon, while that of Libra is theoretical, it must have been to the former Chaucer was alluding, as to something witnessed by the whole party as they

or otherwise this latter observation would have no meaning.

The objection to Tyrwhitt's reading is of a more technical nature—the moon, if in the middle of Libra, could not be above the horizon, in the neighbourhood of Canterbury, at four o'clock P. M., in the month of April. Tyrwhitt, it is true, would probably smooth away the difficulty by charging it as another inconsistency against his author; but I—and I hope by this time such readers of as are interested in the subject—have seen too many proofs of Chaucer's competency in matters of science, and of his commentator's incompetency, to feel disposed to concede to the latter such a convenient method of interpretation.

But there is a third objection common to both readings—that they do not satisfactorily account for the word "alway;" for although Tyrwhitt endeavours to explain it by continually, "was continually ascending," such a phrase is by no means intelligible when applied to a single observation.

For myself, I can say that this word "alway" was, from the first, the great difficulty with me—and the more I became convinced of the studied meaning with which Chaucer chose his other expressions, the less satisfied I was with this; and the[420] more convinced I felt that the whole line had been corrupted.

In advocating the restoration of the reading which I have already suggested as the original meaning of Chaucer, I shall begin by establishing the probability of his having intended to mark the moon's place by associating her rising with that of a known fixed star—a method of noting phenomena frequently resorted to in ancient astronomy. For that purpose I shall point out another instance wherein Chaucer evidently intended an application of the same method for the purpose of indicating a particular position of the heavens; but first it must noted, that in alluding to the Zodiac, he always refers to the signs, never to the constellations—in fact, he does not appear to recognise the latter at all! Thus, in that palpable allusion to the precession of the equinoxes, in the Frankeleine's Tale—

—by the hed of Aries, Chaucer did not mean the os frontis of the Ram, whereon Alnath still shines conspicuously, but the equinoctial point, from which Alnath was shove by the extent of a whole sign.

This being premised, I return to the indication of a point in the ecliptic by the coincident rising of a star; and I contend that such was plainly Chaucer's intention in those lines of the Squire's Tale wherein King Cambuscan is described as rising from the feast:—

Which means that the sign Leo was then in the horizon—the precise degree being marked by the coincident rising of the star Aldryan.

Speght's explanation of "Aldryan," in which he has been copied by Urry and Tyrwhitt, is—"a star in the neck of the Lion." What particular star he may have meant by this, does not appear; nor am I at present within reach of probable sources wherein his authority, if he had any, might be searched for and examined; but I have learned to feel such confidence in Chaucer's significance of description, that I have no hesitation in assuming, until authority for a contrary inference shall be produced, that by the star "Aldryan" he meant REGULUS, not the neck, but the heart, of the Lion—

1st. Because it is the most remarkable star in the sign Leo.

2nd. Because it was, in Chaucer's time, as it now is, nearly upon the line of the ecliptic.

3rd. Because its situation in longitude, about two-thirds in the sign Leo, just tallies with Chaucer's expression "yet ascending,"—that is, one-third of the sign was still below the horizon.

Let us examine how this interpretation consists with the other circumstances of the description. The feste-day of this Cambuscan was "The last idus of March"—that is, the 15th of March—"after the yere"—that is, after the equinoctial year, which had ended three or four days previously. Hence the sun was in three degrees of Aries—confirmed in Canace's expedition on the following morning, when he was "in the Ram foure degrees yronne," and his corresponding right ascension was twelve minutes. Now by "the angle meridional" was meant the two hours inequall immediately succeeding noon (or while the "1st House" of the sun was passing the meridian), and these two hours may, so near the equinox, be taken as ordinary hours. Therefore, when "Phebus hath left the angle meridional," it was two o'clock P.M., or eight hours after sunrise, which, added to twelve minutes, produces eight hours twelve minutes as the ascending point of the equinoctial. The ascending point of the ecliptic would consequently be twenty degrees in Leo, or within less than a degree of the actual place of the star Regulus, which in point of fact did rise on the 15th of March, in Chaucer's time, almost exactly at two in the afternoon.

Such coincidences as these could not result from mere accident; and, whatever may have been Speght's authority for the location of Aldryan, I shall never believe that Chaucer would refer to an inferior star when the great "Stella Regia" itself was in so remarkable a position for his purpose—assuming always, as a matter of course, that he referred his phenomena, not to the country or age wherein he laid the action of his tale, but to his own.

This, then, is the precedent by which I support the similar, and rather startling, interpretation I propose of these obscure words "In mena Libra alway."

There are two twin stars, of the same magnitude, and not far apart, each of which bears the Arabic title of Min al auwâ; one (β Virginis) in the sign Virgo—the other (δ Virginis) in that of Libra.

The latter, in the south of England, in Chaucer's time, would rise a few minutes before the autumnal equinoctial point, and might be called Libra Min al auwâ either from that circumstance, or to distinguish it from its namesake in Virgo.

Now on the 18th of April this Libra Min al auwâ would rise in the neighbourhood of Canterbury at about half-past three in the afternoon, so that by four o'clock it would attain an altitude of about five degrees—not more than sufficient to render the moon, supposing it to have risen with the star, visible (by daylight) to the pilgrims "entrying at a towne's end."

It is very remarkable that the only year, perhaps in the whole of Chaucer's lifetime, in which the[421] moon could have arisen with this star on the 18th of April, should be the identical year to which Tyrwhitt, reasoning from historical evidence alone, would fain attribute the writing of the Canterbury Tales. (Vide Introductory Discourse, note 3.)

On the 18th of April, 1388, Libra Min al auwâ, and the moon, rose together about half-past three P. M. in the neighbourhood of Canterbury; and Tyrwhitt, alluding to the writing of the Canterbury Tales, "could hardly suppose it was much advanced before 1389!"

Such a coincidence is more than remarkable—it is convincing: especially when we add to it that 1388 "is the very date that, by a slight and probable injury to the last figure, might become the traditional one of 1383!"

Should my view, therefore, of the true reading of this passage in Chaucer be correct, it becomes of infinitely greater interest and importance than a mere literal emendation, because it supplies that which has always been supposed wanting to the Canterbury Tales, viz., some means of identifying the year to which their action ought to be attributed. Hitherto, so unlikely has it appeared that Chaucer, who so amply furnishes materials for the minor branches of the date, should leave the year unnoted, that it has been accounted for in the supposition that he reserved it for the unfinished portion of his performance. But if we consider the ingenious though somewhat tortuous methods resorted to by him to convey some of the other data, it is by no means improbable that he might really have devised this circumstance of the moon's rising as a means of at least corroborating a date that he might intend to record afterwards in more direct terms.

P.S.—Since writing the foregoing I have obtained, through the kindness of Mr. Thoms, the several readings of the lines commented upon in six different MSS. in the British Museum. And I have great satisfaction in finding that five out of the six confirm my hypothesis, at least with respect to the uncertain spelling of "alway." The readings in respect of the two words are these:

I acknowledge that, from the first, if I could have discovered a probable interpretation of "mene" as an independent word, I should have preferred it rather than that of making it a part of the Arabic name, because I think that the star is sufficiently identified by the latter portion of its name "Al auwâ," and because the preservation of "mene" in its proper place in the line would afford a reading much less forced than that I was obliged to have recourse to. Now it very singularly happens that in "NOTES AND QUERIES" of this day (page 388.) I find, upon the authority of A. C. M., that there is an Armorican word "menex" or "mene," signifying a summit or boundary. Here is an accidental, though most probable, original of the Chaucerian "mene," because the moon's place in longitude at the time specified was precisely on the verge or boundary of Libra: or even in the sense "summit" the word would be by no means inappropriate to the point of a sign in the ecliptic which first emerges from the horizon; with such a reading the lines would stand thus, which is a very slight change from their present form:

Perhaps A. C. M. would be good enough to cite his authorities for the word "mene," "menez"—in the signification of "summit" or "margin"—with examples, if possible, of its use in these or kindred senses.

And perhaps some Arabic scholar will explain the name "Min al auwâ," and show in what way the absence of the prefix "Min" would affect it?

TRADITIONS FROM REMOTE PERIODS THROUGH FEW LINKS.

In some of your former numbers (Vol. iii., pp. 206.; 237.; 289.) allusions have been made by your correspondents, showing that traditions may come down from remote periods through very few links. Having myself seen a man whose father lived in the time of Oliver Cromwell, I trust I shall be excused for stating some particulars of this fact, which I think will be considered by your readers as one of the most remarkable on record. In the year 1844 died James Horrocks, a small farmer, who lived at Harwood, a short distance from Bolton, in Lancashire, having completed his hundredth year. This circumstance, however, was not so remarkable as that of his own birth, his father, William Horrocks, having been born in 1657, one year before the death of Cromwell, and having married in 1741, at the advanced age of eight-four, a second wife, a young and buxom woman of twenty-six, by whom he had one child, the above James Horrocks, born March 14, 1744, and baptized at Bradshaw Chapel, near Bolton.

It is believed that the first wife of William Horrocks had been employed in the well-known family of the Chethams, at Castleton Hall, near Rochdale (a branch of that of Humphrey Chetham), by whom they were both much respected; and soon after the second marriage, he and his youthful[422] wife were sent for to Castleton Hall by the Chethams, by whom they were treated with much kindness; and the remarkable disparity of years in their marriage having no doubt created great interest, a painter was employed to take their portraits, which are still in existence, with the ages of the parties at the time, and the dates, when taken, painted upon them.

I paid the son, James Horrocks, more than one visit, and on the last occasion, in company with James Crossley, Esq., of Manchester, the Reverend Canon Parkinson, Principal of St. Bees' College, and one or two other gentlemen, I took my son with me. It happened to be the very day on which he completed his hundredth year, and we found him full of cheerfulness and content, expecting several of his descendants to spend the day with him. I possess a portrait in crayons of this venerable patriarch, taken on that day by a very clever artist, who accompanied us on our visit, and which is an extremely faithful likeness of the original. Should it please Providence to spare my son to attain to his seventieth year, he also will be enabled, in the year 1900, to say that he has seen a man whose father lived in the time of Oliver Cromwell; thus connecting events, with the intervention of one life only, comprehending a period of very nearly two centuries and a half.

P.S. A very interesting narrative of all the facts of this case was published in the Manchester Guardian a few years ago, comprising many curious particulars not noticed by myself, a copy of which I shall be glad to send you, if you think it worthy of insertion in "NOTES AND QUERIES".

[We accept with thanks the offer of our valued correspondent.]

DR. YOUNG'S NARCISSA.

A pamphlet was recently published at Lyons and Paris, by a Monsieur de Terrebasse, intending to prove that the daughter-in-law of Dr. Young, so pathetically lamented by him in the Night Thoughts under the poetical name of "Narcissa," was not clandestinely buried at Montpellier; that Dr. Young did not steal a grave for her from the Roman Catholics of that city; and that consequently the celebrated and touching episode in Night III. is purely imaginary. This opinion of M. de Terrebasse, first given to the world by him in 1832, and now repeated, has been controverted by the writer of an article in the Gazette Médicale of Montpellier. The tomb, it is said, of Elisabeth Lee, Dr. Young's daughter-in-law, was discovered a few years since at Lyons; and M. de Terrebasse endeavours to prove, from that circumstance, and from a comparison of facts and dates, that this Elisabeth Lee was the "Narcissa" of the poet. Not having seen M. de Terrebasse's pamphlet, and being indebted to the Journal des Savants for this brief account of it, it seems difficult to discover from it how M. de Terrebasse can pretend so summarily to invalidate the solemn and touching assertions of the poet, which assuredly are anything but flights of fancy.

In the notes to an edition of the Night Thoughts, printed in 1798, by C. Whittingham, for T. Heptinstall—

"It appears," it is stated, "by the extract of a letter just printed, that in order to obtain a grave, the Doctor bribed the under gardener, who dug the grave, and let him in by a private door, bearing his beloved daughter, wrapped up in a sheet, upon his shoulder. When he had laid her in this hole he sat down, and, as the man expressed it, 'rained tears.' It appears also, that some time previous to this event, expecting the catastrophe, he had been seen walking solitarily backward in this garden, as if to find the most solitary spot for his purpose."—See Evang. Mag., Nov. 1797.

I do not know what authority this letter quoted from the Evang. Mag. may possess.

Minor Notes.

Curious Epitaph.—The following lines are on a stone in Killyleagh churchyard. I have a faint recollection of seeing a similarly constructed epitaph in Harris's History of the County of Down, which was perhaps composed by the same person. Is any of your readers acquainted with any English inscription in the same style?

It will easily be seen that the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth words are to be read in connexion, as are those that follow these, and those next in succession.

The person on whose tomb the lines occur was the Rev. William Richardson, who died in 1670, having been minister of Killyleagh for twenty-one years. By the way, is not mysta a strange designation for a Presbyterian minister? I should think it would be now considered as objectionable as sacerdos.

[423] The Curse of Scotland (Vol. i., pp. 61. 90.; Vol. iii., p. 22.).—

"The queen of clubs is called in Northamptonshire Queen Bess, perhaps, because that queen, history says, was of a swarthy complexion; the four of spades, Ned Stokes, but why I know not; the nine of diamonds, the curse of Scotland, because every ninth monarch of that nation was a bad king to his subjects. I have been told by old people, that this card was so called long before the Rebellion in 1745, and therefore it could not arise from the circumstance of the Duke of Cumberland's sending orders, accidentally written upon the card, the night before the battle of Culloden, for General Campbell to give no quarter."

The above extract from a communication to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1791, p. 141., is quoted in Mr. Singer's Researches into the History of Playing Cards, p. 271.; but the reason assigned by the writer does not explain why the nine of diamonds should have acquired the name in question. The nine of any other suit would be equally applicable.

The Female Captive: a Narrative of Facts which happened in Barbary in the Year 1756. Written by Herself, 2 vols. 12mo. Lond., 1769.—Sir William Musgrave has written this note in the copy which is now in the library at the British Museum:

"This is a true story. The lady's maiden name was Marsh. She married Mr. Crisp, as related in the narrative. But he having failed in business went to India, where she remained with her father, then agent Victualler at Chatham, during which she wrote and published these little volumes. On her husband's success in India, she went thither to him.

"The book having, as it is said, been bought up by the lady's friends, is become very scarce."

Pictorial Antiquities.—The following memorandum, in the autograph of Edward, Earl of Oxford (the Harleian collector), seems worth preserving:

One might have thought that these notes were made for the use of Horace Walpole's History of Painting; but their writer, the second Lord Oxford, died in June, 1741, long before Walpole could have thought of such matters. They perhaps may afford clues to other antiquaries.

Queries.

ENGLISH POEMS BY CONSTANTINE HUYGHENS.

It is probable that some of your friendly correspondents in Holland may have it in their power to indicate where the English verses of Constantine Huyghens are to be found which he refers to in his Koren Bloemen, 2de Deel, p. 528. ed. 1672, where he was given Dutch translations with the following superscriptions: "Aen Joffw Utricia Ogle, uyt mijn Engelsh;" and "Aen Me-Vrouwe Stanhope, met mijn Heilige dagen, uyt mijn Engelsh."

Huyghens appears to have had a thorough knowledge of our language, and his very interesting volume contains translations of twenty of Dr. Donne's poems, very ably rendered, considering the difficulty of the task. He refers to this in his address to the reader, and says that an illustrious Martyr [Charles I.] many years since had declared that he could not have believed that any one could have successfully accomplished it. Huyghens confesses that the Latinisms with which our language abounds, had given him much to wrestle with; and that it was difficult to express in pure Dutch such words as ecstasy, atomy, influence, legacy, alloy, &c. The first stanza of the song, "Go and catch a falling Star," may perhaps be acceptable to some of your readers, who may not readily have access to the book:

[1] Mandrake.

One more example of his translation, from the epigram on Sir Albertus Morton, may be allowed, as it is short:

Considering the affinity of the languages, and the frequent and constant intercourse with Holland, it[424] is singular that we should have to reproach ourselves with such almost total ignorance respecting the literature of that country. With the exception of the slight sketch given by Dr. Bowring of its poetical literature, an Englishman has no work to which he can turn in his own language for information; and Dutch books may be sought for in vain in London. The late Mr. Heber when in Holland did not neglect its literature, and at the dispersion of his library I procured a few valuable Dutch books; among others, the very handsome volume which has given rise to this note. It contains much interesting matter, and affords a most amiable picture of the mind of its distinguished author, who lived to the very advanced age of ninety-one. There is a speaking and living portrait of him prefixed, from the beautiful graver of Blotelingk, and a view of his chateau of Hofwyck, with detailed plans of his garden, &c. He was secretary to three successive princes of Nassau, accountant to the Prince of Orange, and Lord of Zuylichem; and lived in habits of friendly intercourse with almost all the distinguished men who flourished during his long and prosperous life. His son is well known to the world of science as the inventor of the pendulum.

Translations of three or four of Constantine Huyghens' poems are given by Dr. Bowring in his Batavian Anthology. And the great Vondel pronounces his volume to be—

THE REV. MR. GAY.

The very interesting notices which you have often given us of the truly great and inestimable Locke, induce me to trouble you with an inquiry relative to a philosophical writer, who followed in his school, I mean the Rev. Mr. Gay, the author of the Dissertation prefixed to Bishop Law's translation of King's Origin of Evil. It is sufficient evidence of the importance of that Dissertation, that it put Hartley upon considering and developing the principle of association, into which principle he conceived, and endeavoured to prove, that all the phenomena of reasoning and affection might be resolved, and of which Laplace observes, that it constitutes the whole of what has yet been done in the philosophy of the human mind; "la partie réelle de la métaphysique" (Essai Philosophique sur les Probabilités, p. 224. ed. 1825).

Of this Mr. Gay, I have not yet been able to learn more than that he was a clergyman in the West of England; but of what place, of what family, where educated, of what manner of life, or what habits of study, biographical or topographical reading has hitherto furnished me with any information. I should feel greatly indebted to any of your readers who would give the clue to what is known or can be known about him. It is probably within easy reach, though I have missed it. The ordinary biographical dictionaries make no mention of him.

Minor Queries.

Carved Ceiling in Dorsetshire.—In the south of Dorsetshire there is a house (its name I do not remember) which has a beautifully carved ceiling in the hall. This is said to have been sent from Spain by a King of Castile, who, being wrecked on this coast, and hospitably entertained by the owners of the mansion, took this method of showing his gratitude. Can any of your readers inform me what king this was, or refer me to any work in which I may find it?

Publicans' Signs.—Will any of your readers inform me whether the signs of publicans were allowed to be retained by the same edict which condemned those of all other trades?

To a T.—What is the origin of the phrase; and of that "To fit to a T.?" (Query, a "T square" = ad amussim.)

Skeletons at Egyptian Banquet.—Where did Jer. Taylor find this interpretation of the object of placing a skeleton at the banqueting table:—

"The Egyptians used to serve up a skeleton to their feasts, that the vapours of wine might be restrained with that bunch of myrrh, and the vanities of their eyes chastened by that sad object."

Certainly not in Herodotus, 2. 78.; which savours rather of the Sardanapalian spirit: "Eat, drink, and love—the rest's not worth a fillip!" Comp. Is. xxii. 13., 1 Cor. xv. 32.

Gloves (Vol. i., pp. 72. 405.; Vol. ii., p. 4.; Vol. iii., p. 220.).—Blount, in his Law Dictionary, fo. 1670, under the title "Capias Utlagatum," observes:

"At present, in the King's Bench, the outlawry cannot be reversed, unless the defendant appear in person, and, by a present of gloves to the judges, implore and obtains their favour to reverse it."

Perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to state when the practice of presenting gloves to the judges on moving to reverse an outlawry in the King's Bench was discontinued. The statute 4 & 5 Will. and Mar. c. 18., rendered unnecessary a personal appearance in that court to reverse an outlawry (except for treason or felony, or where special bail was ordered).

Knapp Family in Norfolk and Suffolk.—I should be much obliged to any Norfolk or Suffolk antiquary who[425] would give me information as to the family of Knapp formerly settled in those counties, especially at Ipswich, Tuddenham, and Needham Market in the latter county. My inquiries have not discovered any person of the name at present residing in any of these places; and my wish is to learn how the name was lost in the locality; whether by migration—and if so, when, and to what other part of the county; or if in the female line, into what family the last heiress of Knapp married; and, as nearly as may be, when either of these events occurred?

To learn by "Heart."—Can you give any account of the origin of a very common expression both in French and English, i. e. "Apprendre par cœur, to learn by heart?" To learn by memory would be intelligible.

Knights.—At some periods of our history the reigning monarch bestowed the honour of knighthood, 1306, Edward I.; at other times, those in possession of a certain amount of property were compelled to assume the order, 1254. Query, Was there any difference in rank between the two sorts of knights?

Supposed Inscription in St. Peter's Church, Rome.—When at school in France, some twenty years ago, I was informed that the following inscription was to be found in some part of St. Peter's Church in Rome:

It appears that the active part taken by the French in fomenting the great schism of the Church during the fourteenth century, when they set up and maintained at Avignon a Pope of their own choosing, had generated an abhorrence of French interference in the Italian mind; and that, when the dissensions were abated by the suspension of the rival Popes, the ultramontane cardinals had posted up this inscription to testify their desire for the exclusion of French ecclesiastics from the Papal chair. In one respect the prediction remains in force to this day; for I believe I am correct in saying that no Frenchman has worn the triple crown for the last 450 years. But that portion of it which is implied in the second meaning of "Gallus," has been woefully belied in our time by the forcible occupation of Rome by a French army, on which occasion the Gallic cock had all the "crowing" to himself.

I have never had an opportunity of ascertaining the existence of this inscription, and shall be obliged to any correspondent of "NOTES AND QUERIES" who will afford information on the subject.

Rag Sunday in Sussex.—Allow me to ask the explanation of "Rag Sunday" in Sussex. I lately saw some young gentlemen going to school at Brighton, who had been provided with some fine white handkerchiefs, when one observed they would not stand much chance of escape on "Rag Sunday." He then told me that each boy, on the Sunday but one preceding the holidays, always tore a piece of his shirt or handkerchief off and wore it in the button-hole of his jacket as his "rag." When a boy, I remember being compelled to do the same when at school at Hailsham in Sussex, and all boys objecting had their hats knocked off and trod on.

Northege Family.—Can any one tell me the county and parish in which the family of Northege were located in the sixteenth century?

A Kemble Pipe of Tobacco.—In the county of Herefordshire, the people call the last or concluding pipe that any one means to smoke at a sitting, a Kemble pipe. This is said to have originated in a man of the name of Kemble, who in the cruel persecution under Queen Mary, being condemned for heresy, in his walk of some miles from the prison to the stake, amidst a crowd of weeping friends and neighbours, with the tranquillity and fortitude of a primitive martyr, smoked a pipe of tobacco! Is anything known of this Kemble? and where can I find any corroboration of the story here told?

Durham Sword that killed the Dragon.—In the Harleian MS. No. 3783., letter 107., Cosin, in describing to Sancroft some of the ceremonies of his reception at Durham, mentions "the sword that killed the dragon," as a relic of antiquity introduced on the occasion. I should feel obliged, if you, or any of your antiquarian readers, could kindly refer me to some tolerably full account of the ceremony alluded to, or throw any light upon the meaning of the custom in question, the origin and history of the sword, and the tradition connected with it.

Minor Queries Answered.

"At Sixes and Sevens" (Vol. iii., p. 118.).—May not this expression bear reference to the points in the card-game of piquet?

May not this expression have arisen from the passage in Eliphaz's discourse to Job?

"He shall deliver thee is six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee."—Job. v. 19.

Mr. Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, vol. ii. p. 724., thus explains this phrase:

"The Deity is mentioned in the Towneley Mysteries, pp. 97. 118., as He that 'sett alle on seven,' i. e., set or appointed everything in seven days. A similar phrase at p. 85. is not so evident. It is explained in the Glossary, 'to[426] set things in, to put them in order;' but it evidently implies, in some cases, an exactly opposite meaning, to set in confusion, to rush to battle, as in the following examples. 'To set the steven, to agree upon the time and place of meeting previous to some expedition,'—West and Cumb. Dial. p. 390. These phrases may be connected with each other. Be this as it may, hence is certainly derived the phrase to be at sixes and sevens, to be in great confusion. Herod, in his anger at the wise men, says:

[Six and seven make the proverbially unlucky number thirteen, and we are inclined to believe that the allusion in this popular phrase is to this combination.]

Swobbers.—There is a known story of a clergyman who was recommended for a preferment by some great men at court to an archbishop. His Grace said, "He had heard that the clergyman used to play at whist and swobbers; that as to playing now and then a sober game at whist for pastime, it might be pardoned; but he could not digest those wicked swobbers;" and it was with some pains that my Lord Somers could undeceive him. So says Swift, in his Essay on the Fates of Clergymen; and a note in Sir W. Scott's edition (1824, vol. viii. p 231.) informs us that the primate was "Tenison, who, by all contemporary accounts, was a very dull man." At the risk of being thought as dull as the archbishop, I venture to ask for an explanation of the joke.

[Johnson, under "Swobber" or "Swabber," gives, "1. A sweeper of the deck;" and "2. Four privileged cards that are only incidentally used in betting at the game of whist." He then quotes this passage from Swift, with the difference that he says "clergymen." Were not the cards so called because they "swept the deck" by a sort of "sweep-stakes?"]

Handel's Occasional Oratorio.—Will DR. RIMBAULT, or some other musical correspondent of your journal, enlighten us as to the true meaning of the name Occasional Oratorio, prefixed to one of Handel's compositions, of which no one that I have ever met with has heard more than the overture? This composition has become almost universally known from the foolish practice which used to prevail of performing it as an introduction to Israel in Egypt, or any other work to which its composer had purposely denied the preliminary of an overture; a practice now happily exploded, which seems to have had its origin in a misinterpretation of the name; as though Handel had written the overture to suit any occasion when one might be needed, instead of, as I am rather disposed to believe, having some particular occasion in view for which the oratorio was composed.

[Surely, if there is no Occasional Oratorio to be found, the Overture must mean that it was to be used on occasion. Our correspondent does not seem to know the word as it is used by writers of a century ago, for "Occasional Sermons" or services, &c. The question is simply one of fact. Is there an Oratorio? Everybody knows the overture. The writer of this note remembers being horrified, when a freshman, at hearing the fugue break forth in the College Chapel, was pondering in his mind whether it was Drops of Brandy, or the Rondo in the Turnpike-Gate, both then popular tunes.]

Archbishop Waldeby's Epitaph.—W. W. KING would be obliged by a perfect copy of the inscription on the monumental brass of Archbishop Waldeby in Westminster Abbey.

[The brass is engraved in Harding's Antiquities of Westminster Abbey; but it appears that one half of the following inscription, which was formerly round the verge of the brass, has now been torn away:—

Weever, in his Funeral Monuments, quotes the following description of him from a MS. account of the Archbishops of York, in the Cottonian Collection:—

Verstegan.—Will any of the contributors to your valuable miscellany be kind enough to inform me if there are any engraved portraits of the quaint old antiquary Richard Verstegan, the author of a curious work, entitled A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence? The portraits may be common, but living in the country, and at distance from town, I have no friend from whom I can glean the required information. Can my informant at the same[427] time acquaint me with the best edition of his work? There was one printed at Antwerp in 1605.

[Our correspondent will find a notice of Verstegan's work in page 85. of this volume. The first edition was printed at Antwerp in 1605, and was reprinted at London in 4to. in 1634, and in 8vo. in 1655 and 1673. The first edition is deservedly reckoned the best, as well on account of containing one or more engravings, afterwards omitted, as also for the superiority of the plates, those in the subsequent editions being very indifferent copies. No portrait of the author is noticed either by Granger or Bromley.]

Royal Library.—In the new edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson (published by the proprietors of the Illustrated London News), in the National Illustrated Library, the editor, in reference to the library of King George III. (which is generally understood to have been presented to the nation by George IV., and which is recorded to have been given, in an inscription placed in that magnificent hall), has appended the following note:—

"It has recently transpired that the government of the day bought the library of George IV., just as he was on the eve of concluding a sale of it to the Emperor of Russia."

Can any of your readers inform me if this is correct, and whether the nation have really paid for what has always been considered a most worthy and munificent present from a monarch to his subjects? I trust to hear that the editor has been misinformed.

[The nation certainly never paid one farthing for this munificent present. The Russian Government offered, we believe, to purchase the library; and this is probably the origin of the statement in the note quoted by our correspondent.]

Replies.

HUGH HOLLAND AND HIS WORKS.

An accidental circumstance having led me to re-peruse the article entitled Hugh Holland and his works (Vol. ii., p. 265.), I feel myself called on, as a lover of facts, to notice some of the statements which it contains.

1. "He was born at Denbigh in 1558." He was born at Denbigh, but not in 1558. In 1625 he thus expressed himself:

2. "In 1582 he matriculated at Baliol College, Oxford." He did not quit Westminster School till 1589. If he ever pursued his studies at Baliol College, it was some ten years afterwards.

3. "About 1590 he succeeded to a fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge." In 1589 he was elected from Westminster to a scholarship in Trinity College, Cambridge—not to a fellowship. At a later period of life, he may have succeeded to a fellowship.

4. "Holland published two works: 1. Monumenta sepulchralia Sancti Pauli, London, 1613, 4to. 2. A cypress garland etc., London, 1625, 4to." Hugh Holland was not the compiler of the first-named work: the initials H. H admit of another interpretation. This, however, is a very pardonable oversight. I could give about twenty authorities for ascribing the work to Hugh Holland.

5. The dates assigned to the Monumenta Sancti Pauli are "1613, 1616, 1618, and 1633." Here are three errors in as many lines. The first edition is dated in 1614. The edition of 1633, which is entitled Ecclesia Sancti Pavli illvstrata, is the second. No other editions exist.

6. "Holland also printed a copy of Latin verses before Alexander's Roxana, 1632." No such work exists. He may have printed verses before the Roxana of W. Alabaster, who was his brother-collegian.

The authorities which I have consulted are Fuller, Anthony à Wood, Henry Holland, son of the celebrated Philemon Holland, Hugh Holland, and Joseph Welch; and in submitting the result of my researches to critical examination, I must commend the writer of the article in question for his continued efforts to produce new facts, and to explode current errors.

Insensible as modern critics may be to the poetical merits of Hugh Holland, we find him described by Camden as one of the most pregnant wits of those times; and he certainly gave a notable proof of his wit—for fame is that which all hunt after—in contributing some lines to Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, and tragedies.

On that account, if on no other, the particulars of his life should be inquired into and recorded. His Cypress garland, a copy of which I possess, is rich in autobiographical anecdote; and I have collected some of his fugitive verses, a specimen of which may amuse. As one of the shortest, I transcribe the lines which he addressed to Giles Farnaby, a musical composer of some eminence, on the publication of his Canzonets to fowre voyces, A. D. 1598.

THE MILESIANS.

(Vol. iii., p. 353.)

In reply to W. R. M., who asks for information respecting the round towers of Ireland, I beg to refer him to Dr. Petrie's essay on the Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, in which he will find a full discussion of the origin, uses, and history of the round towers.

In reference to the Milesians and other early colonists of Ireland, he will find the most authentic ancient traditions in the Irish version of the Historia Britonum of Nennius, lately published by the Irish Archæological Society of Dublin, with a translation and notes, by the Rev. J. H. Todd, D.D. The same volume contains also some very curious and valuable notes by the Hon. A. Herbert.

What W. R. M. says about the pronunciation of certain names of towns in Ireland, as confirming the tradition of a Milesian colony from Spain, is a complete mistake. The pronunciation of gh to which he alludes, exists only amongst the English (or Anglicised natives) who are unable to pronounce the guttural ch or gh of the Celtic Irish, and have substituted for it the sound of h, or the sound of the Spanish j, to which W. R. M. refers. Besides this, every philologist knows that the present language of Spain had no existence at the period to which the Milesian invasion of Ireland must be referred. It is true that on the west coast of Ireland some families among the peasantry retain many of the characteristic features of modern Spaniards; but this circumstance is due to an intercourse with Spain of a much more recent date than the Milesian invasion, and is therefore no evidence of that event. It is well known that considerable trade with Spain was carried on at Galway and other ports of western Connaught, two centuries ago, and that many Spanish families settled in Ireland, or intermarried with the natives during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

To remove W. R. M.'s mistaken impression that Drogheda, Aghada, &c., are names of Spanish origin, it may be well to inform him, first, that the gh in such names is not sounded like the Spanish j, except, as I have said, by—(I was on the point of writing foreigners), but I mean by those who are unable to pronounce our Celtic guttural aspirates. Secondly, that Drogheda, Aghada, &c., are names significant in the Irish language and perfectly well understood, and that as now written they are not seen in their correct orthography, but in an Anglicised spelling intended to represent to English ears the native pronunciation. In the last century Drogheda was usually written Tredagh in English; but the word in its proper spelling is Droichet-atha, the bridge of the ford, trajectum vadi. There are many places in Ireland named from this word Droichet, which is no doubt the Latin trajectum, the same which forms a part of the name of Utrecht (Ultrajectum), and other towns on the continent.

The word Agha, properly Achadh, signifies a field, and enters into the composition of hundreds of topographical names in Ireland. But in every case the gh (or ch, as it properly is) is pronounced gutturally by the peasantry; the h or Spanish j sound is a modern Anglicised corruption.

On the subject of Irish proper names of places and persons a vast body of curious and valuable information will be found in the publications of the Irish Archæological Society, and also in O'Donovan's splendid edition of the Annals of the Four Masters.

We mere Irish assume to be descended from a Phœnician colony; the word Milesian is not Irish, the families so designated being known in the Irish language only as "Clonna Gäel" (I spare the English reader the mute consonants, which would rather bother him to get his tongue round).

Our tradition is, that the leader of the said colony saw Ireland from a tower, still said to exist near Corunna; he bore the style of Mileadle Spaniogle, for which no better translation is offered than "the soldier of Spain." His brothers and sons, the chief himself having deceased, are said to have conducted the expedition to Ireland; and if your correspondent wishes for a full account of their adventures, he should consult Keating's History of Ireland, which will, at all events, afford him some amusement.

As to the round towers, Mr. Petrie's book on The Ecclesiastical Antiquities or Architecture of Ireland has set that question at rest. He has shown that they are undoubtedly Christian buildings intended as Bell-houses, which their name in Irish signifies; and further, probably, for the safe keeping of the sacred vessels, &c., in time of war or tumult. It is unfortunately too certain that agitation was always rife in Ireland. On all points connected with Irish antiquities, the safest and best reference is to the Secretary of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. If this answer attract any of your correspondents to visit the museum of that establishment, I venture to prophecy that they will account themselves well repaid for their trouble, even though they should miss visiting the Great Exhibition thereby.

THE TANTHONY.

(Vol. iii., pp. 105. 229. 308.)

I remember hearing a worthy citizen of Norwich remark, that it was very odd there should be three churches in the city called after saints whose names began with the letter T. Having been myself resident in that city many years, without[429] being aware of this fact, I took the liberty of inquiring to which three he alluded; when I was unhesitatingly told, "Why, Sain Tandrew's, Sain Taustin's, and Sain Tedmund's, to be sure!" Let me then be allowed to repeat ARUN'S question, and to ask, "Why not Tanthony for Saint Anthony?"

The same worthy citizen was once sheriff of Norwich, and, as is, or haply was, the custom,—for I know not how these matters are managed now-a-days,—went forth in civic state to meet the judges of assize. When their lordships were seated in the sheriff's carriage, one of them charitably observed, "Yours, I believe, is a very ancient city, Mr. Sheriff!" to which the latter, a little flurried, no doubt, at being thus so pointedly addressed, but in decided accents, replied, "It was ONCE, my Lord!" And without stopping to consider what was passing in his mind when he gave utterance to these somewhat ambiguous words, may we not take them up, and ask whether it be not even so, not only as regards Norwich, but most of her venerable sister towns as well? Where are their quondam glories—their arts and rare inventions—their "thoughts in antique words conveyed"—their "boast of heraldry"—their pageantries and shows? Where their high-peaked gables—their curiously wrought eaves and overhanging galleries—their quaint doorways, so elaborately carved, and all their other cunning devices?—"Modern Taste," with finger pointed to the newest creation of her plaster genius, triumphantly echoes the monosyllable, and answers, "Where?" Well, we are perforce content; only with this proviso:—if, fatigued with the tinselled superficialities and glossy refinements of the present, we are fain to "cast one longing lingering look behind," and chance to light upon some worthy illustrative memorial of the literature, the manners, or domestic life of the past,—that the spirit of Captain Cuttle's sage advice be made our own, and that we forthwith transfer our prize for the critical examination of "diving antiquaries" to the conservative pages of "NOTES AND QUERIES".

The Tanthony.—Will your correspondent ARUN permit one to refer him to an authority for the use of the word "Tanton" for St. Anthony? An hospital in York, dedicated to St. Anthony, after the dissolution came into the possession of a gild or fraternity of a master and eight keepers, who were commonly called "Tanton Pigs." Vide Drake's Eboracum, p. 315.

Tanthony Bell at Kimbolton.—"Tanthony" is from St. Anthony. In Hampshire the small pig of the litter (in Essex called "the cad") is, or once was, called "the Tanthony pig." Pigs were especially under this saint's care. The ensign of the order of St. Anthony of Hainault was a collar of gold made like a hermit's girdle; at the centre thereof hung a crutch and a small bell of gold. St. Anthony is styled, among his numerous titles, "Membrorum restitutor," and "Dæmonis fugator:" hence the bell.

"The Egyptians have none but wooden bells, except one brought by the Franks into the monastery of St. Anthony."—Rees' Cyclopædia, art. Bell.

I hope ARUN will be satisfied with this connexion of St. Anthony with the pig, the crutch, and the bell.

"The staff" in the figure of the saint at Merthyr is, I should think, a crutch.

"The custom of making particular saints tutelars and protectors of one or another species of cattle is still kept up in Spain and other places. They pray to the tutelar when the beast is sick. Thus St. Anthony is for hogs, and we call a poor starved creature a Tantony pig."—Salmon's History of Hertfordshire, 1728.

May I venture to observe, in confirmation of ARUN'S suggestion as to the origin of this term, that the bell appears to have been a constant attribute of St. Anthony, although I have tried in vain to discover any allusion to it in his legend?

Frederick von Schlegel, in describing a famous picture by Bramante d'Urbino (Æsthetic and Miscellaneous Works, p. 78.), mentions St. Anthony as "carrying the hermit's little bell;" and Lord Lindsay, in the Introduction to his Letters on Christian Art (vol. i. p. 192.), says that St. Anthony is known by "the bell and staff, denoting mendicancy." If this be the case, the bell at Kimbolton was doubtless intended originally to announce the presence of some wayfarer or mendicant. Tanthony is a common contraction for St. Anthony, as in the term "a Tanthony pig;" and a similar system of contraction was in use amongst the troubadours, who put Na for Donna; as Nalombarda for Donna Lombarda.

The bell carried by St. Anthony is sometimes thought to have reference to his Temptations; bells being, in the words of Durandus, "the trumpets of the eternal king," on hearing which the devils "flee away, as through fear." I think, however, that these words apply rather to church bells.

PILGRIMS' ROAD TO CANTERBURY.

(Vol. ii., pp. 199. 237. 269. 316.)

I think those of your readers who are interested in this Query will feel that the replies it has received are not quite satisfactory, and I therefore trust you will find some room for the following remarks.

I would beg to ask, can there be any doubt that from Southwark to Dartford, and from Rochester to their destination, Chaucer and his fellow pilgrims journeyed along the old Roman way, then for many centuries the great thoroughfare from[430] London to the south-eastern coast, and which for these portions of the route is nearly identical with the present turnpike-road? The Tales themselves make it certain that the pilgrims started on this ancient way; for when the Host interrupts the sermonising of the Reeve, he mentions Deptford and Greenwich as being in their route:

Shortly after leaving Dartford the turnpike-road bends to the left, reaching Rochester by Gravesend and Gadshill; whilst the Roman way, parts of which are still used, was carried to that city by Southfleet, and through Cobham Park; and it seems to me that the only question we have to solve is, whether Chaucer followed the Roman way throughout, or whether between Dartford and Rochester he took the course of what is now the turnpike-road. For I cannot but think it very unlikely that, with a celebrated road leading almost straight as a line to Canterbury, the pilgrims should either go many miles out of their way to seek another, as they must have done, or run the risk of losing themselves in a "horse-track."

In attempting to determine this point, your readers will remember the injunction of Poins:

"But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning by four o'clock early at Gadshill; there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses."—Henry IV., Pt. I. Act I. Sc. 2.

And Gadshill the robber tells his fellows:

"There's money of the king's coming down the hill; 'tis going to the king's exchequer."—Act II. Sc. 2.

Here we learn, not only that in Shakspeare's time the road between London and Canterbury was by Gadshill, but also that the tradition was that the pilgrims had been accustomed to travel that road. We cannot, I think, be far out of the way in concluding this to have been the road that Chaucer selected, and thus have the satisfaction of connecting with it in an immediate and especial manner the two greatest names in our literature; for, if he meant the only other road that seems at all likely, he would, near Cobham, pass within two miles of this famed hill. Nor can there be much doubt that so loyal a company, following a pious custom, would tarry at Rochester, to make their offerings on the shrine of St. William; if so, among the many thousands who have trodden the steps, now well-nigh worn away, leading to its site, is there one individual whose presence here we can recall with more pleasure than that of the father of English poetry?

It is evident that the road mentioned by S. H. (Vol. ii., p. 237.) is not Chaucer's road; but I can well understand why it should be called the "Pilgrims' Road;" nor should I be surprised to learn that other roads in Kent are known by the same name, for Chaucer tells us in the "Prologue" to the Tales that

and I need scarcely say that these widely scattered pilgrims would not all traverse the country by one and the same road, but that they would select various routes, according to the different localities from which they came. Hence, several roads might be called "Pilgrims' Roads."

From a paper which appeared in the Athenæum in 1842, and has since been reprinted in a separate form, the writer of which I take to be identical with the reviewer of Buckler's work referred to by MR. JACKSON, I think we may gather that what he speaks of as the "Old Pilgrims' Road" is the Otford Road noticed by S. H. and M. (2.) Messrs. Buckler's tract mentions no wayside chapels in Kent.

It may not be uninteresting to add, that the author of Cabinet Pictures of English Life—Chaucer has expressed his firm belief, the grounds for which must be sought in his work, that the "Pilgrims' Room" of the Tabard, now the Talbot, in Southwark, whence these memorable pilgrims set forth, must be at least as old as Chaucer, and that the very gallery exists along which Chaucer and the pilgrims walked.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Shakspeare's Use of "Captious" (Vol. ii., p. 354.; Vol. iii., p. 229.).—As W. F. S. does me the favour to ask my opinion of his notion respecting the passage in All's Well that Ends Well, I beg to say that I am very glad to find he agrees with me in regard to the signification of the word "captious;" but that I cannot suppose, with him, that Shakspeare wrote capatious in a passage in which the metre is regular; for what sort of verse would be—

"Yet in this capatious and intenible sieve?"

Surely W. F. S. has too good an ear to allow him to fix such a line in Shakspeare's text.

Inscription on a Clock (Vol. iii., p. 329.).—The words written under the curious clock in Exeter Cathedral, about which your correspondent M. J. W. HEWETT inquires, and which are, or were, also to be found under the clock over the Terrace in the Inner Temple, London, are, in truth, a quotation from Martial; and it is singular that a sentiment so truly Christian should have escaped from the pen of a Pagan writer:

"They" (that is, the moments as they pass) "slip by us unheeded, but are noted in the account against us."

What could Chrysostom or Augustine have said stronger[431] or better? The whole epigram is so good that I venture to transcribe it.

[2] We are indebted to several other correspondents for similar replies to this Query; and one, A. C. W., remarks that the epigram from which these lines are quoted, is thus translated by Cowley:

Authors of the Anti-Jacobin Poetry (Vol. iii., p. 348.).—I knew all the writers, some of them intimately; and I have no doubt of the general accuracy of MR. HAWKIN'S communication. The items marked B are the least to be relied on. I do not think Mr. Hammond, then Canning's colleague as Under-Secretary of State, wrote a line, certainly not of verse, though he no doubt assisted his friend in compiling, and perhaps correcting; good offices, which obtained him an honourable niche in the counter-satire issued from Brooke's, and preserved from oblivion by having been reprinted in the Anti-Jacobin to give more poignancy to Canning's reply, "Bard of the borrowed lyre," &c.

The Latin verses "Ipsa mali Hortatrix" were the sole production of Lord Wellesley, and he reprinted them a year or two before his death; Mr. Frere had no share in them: but, on the other hand, Mr. Frere may have been, and I think was, the author of the translation, "Parent of countless crimes." Lord Wellesley certainly was not; for it was made after he had sailed for India.

With regard to Mr. Wright's appropriation of particular passages of the longer poems to different authors, it is obviously impossible that it should be more than a vague conjecture. I know that both Canning and Gifford professed not to be able to make any such distribution; but both left on my mind the impression that Canning's share of the "New Morality" was so very much the largest as to entitle him to be considered its author. Ought not Canning's verses to be collected?

"Felix, quem faciunt," &c. (Vol. iii., p. 373.).—Though I cannot refer EFFIGIES to the original author of this passage, the following parallels may not be unacceptable to him:

Again:

It is remarkable that the annotator on this passage in the Delphin ed., Paris, 1685, p. 327., quotes the line in question thus: "Consonat illud: Felix quem faciunt," &c., without giving the authority.

Again:

Again:

This passage is assigned to Plautus in the Sylloge of Petrus Lagnerius, Francf. 1610, p. 312., but I cannot find it in this author.

Perhaps it is hardly an answer to EFFIGIES to tell him that the earliest occurrence of this line, with which I am acquainted, is in a rebus beneath the device of the Parisian printer, Felix Balligault, about the year 1496. Thus:

The device is a fruit-tree, from which a shield is suspended inscribed felix. Two apes are seated at the foot of the tree. The thought is, however, common to the wise and the witty of every age. Menander has it thus:—

And Plautus:

Compare Terence, Heaut. i. 2. 36.:

And Diodorus Siculus, i. ab init.:

And Tibullus, lib. iii. eleg. vi.:

These indications may perhaps put your correspondent in the way of a more satisfactory answer to his question.

Church Bells (Vol. iii., p. 339.).—Should the following extract from Mr. Fletcher's Notes on Nineveh have escaped the notice of MR. GATTY, it may probably interest him:—

"During[432] the following (12th) century Dionysius Bar Salibi occupied the (Jacobite) patriarchal throne, a man noted for piety and learning. He composed several works on theological subjects, among which we find a curious disquisition on bells, the invention of which he ascribes to Noah. He mentions that several histories record a command given to that patriarch to strike on the bell with a piece of wood three times a day, in order to summon the workmen to their labour while he was building the ark. And this he seems to consider the origin of church bells, an opinion which, indeed, is common to other Oriental writers."—Vol. ii. p. 212.

Chiming, Tolling, and Pealing (Vol. iii., p. 339.).—Though the following has not, I fear, canonical authority, nor is it of remote antiquity, still, as they are not lines of yesterday, they may serve as one Reply to MR. GATTY'S late Query on Chiming, tolling, and pealing:—

I think it probable (though I have no direct proof of it) that the great bell, or tenor, was always RUNG when a sermon was to be preached, which was not the case when there was to be only prayers. I believe it is so at this day at St. Mary's, Oxford; it is very certain that the great bell, being so rung, is in some places called the Sermon Bell, though I remember two legends on tenor bells, which seem to imply that they were intended to call to prayers, viz.:—

The difference between ringing the tenor (or any bell for prayers), and ringing it as a knell, is, that in the latter case the bell is set at every pull or stroke, which causes a solemnity in the sound very different from that produced by the very reverse mode of ringing it. Oh! what language there is in bells. In ringing, the bell is swung round; in tolling, it is swung merely sufficiently for the clapper to strike the side. Chiming is when more bells than one are tolled in harmony; if this be correct, to toll can be applied only when one bell is sounded, and Horne Tooke's definition of the word, from tollere, to raise up, must be wrong (humiliter loquor).

With regard to the present use of the old Sanctus Bell, which is called at Ecclesfield Tom Tinkler, the same is often called the Ting Tang.

Extraordinary North Briton (Vol. iii., p. 409.).—In answer to the inquiries of the reviewer in the Athenæum of May 17, and your correspondent, the writer of the Extraordinary North Briton appears to have been an individual of the name of William Moore, not, as apparently supposed, the poet William Mason. I have, amongst a complete series of the London newspapers of the day, a set of the Extraordinary North Briton, beginning Tuesday (May 10, 1768) and terminating with the 91st No. (Saturday, January 27, 1770). Whether it was continued further I do not know. The early numbers are published by Staples Steare, 93. Fleet Street, and the subsequent ones by T. Peat, 22. Fleet Street, and by William Moore, 55., opposite Hatton Garden, Holborn. The second and subsequent numbers are entitled, The Extraordinary North Briton, by W—— M——. In the last three numbers the W—— M—— is altered to William Moore, and at the end of each is "London, printed and sold by the author, W. Moore, No. 22., near St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street." In the 90th number is the following advertisement:

"Mr. Moore thinks it highly incumbent on him to acquaint the public, that Thomas Brayne (who was his shopman all last winter) is now publishing a spurious paper under the same title in Holborn; that they may not be deceived, Mr. Moore's name will be in front of every paper he writes. He begs leave further to add, that Brayne sold several papers last week in his name, and told those who purchased them, that they were wrote by Mr. Moore, and that he published for him. In order that the public may not be deceived by such low artifice, an affidavit of Brayne's proceedings in this respect, will appear in the public papers some time next week."

I have also the papers published by Brayne, which are advertised at the end to be "Printed and Published by T. Brayne, No. 55., opposite Hatton Garden, Holborn."

I have referred to No. 4, for Friday, June 3, 1768, addressed to Lord Mansfield, noticed in the Athenæum; but, with all due respect to the opinion of the reviewer, I cannot see the slightest similitude to the style of Junius. It appears to me to be a very feeble performance, and by a very inferior person. Indeed, the entire series of the Extraordinary North Briton seems poor and flat when compared with its predecessor, the original and famous North Briton.

The attempt to show Mason to be Junius is amusing and ingenious; but the reviewer has evidently failed in persuading himself, and therefore, amidst the many startling improbabilities by which such an attempt is encompassed, is scarcely likely to gain many converts to such a theory.

Fitzpatrick's Lines on Fox.—MR. MARKLAND, in your 78th Number (p. 334.), asks the true reading of[433] the third line.—The word should be "mind," not "course."

The lines are under the engraved bust of Fox, prefixed to the edition, in elephant folio, of his History of the early Part of the Reign of James II., and the word there given is "course." In my copy of that work is inserted a letter from Miller, the publisher, to a deceased friend of mine, who was an original subscriber at "Five Guineas, boards!"

That letter, so far as is material, is as follows:—

"The error in the engraving of the writing was certainly a very bad one, and not to be remedied, but it is a satisfaction to me that it was Lord Holland's mistake and not mine. I have his lordship's original writing of the four lines to clear myself. W. Miller, Albemarle Street, June 6, 1808."

Ejusdem Farinæ (Vol. iii., p. 278..).—This phrase was used in a disparaging sense long before the time of the "scholastic doctors and casuists of the middle ages," as may appear from Persius, v. 115-117., where he is showing that an elevation in rank does not necessarily produce a more elevated tone of mind; and says to an imaginary upstart:

It is needless to add that the metaphor is taken from loaves made from the "same batch" of flour, where, if one be bad, all the others must be equally so.

Stephens, in his Thesaurus, under the head of "Farinæ," states—

"Proverbiales locutiones sunt, Ejusdem Farinæ, Nostræ farinæ,"

but makes no allusion to its being a term expressive of baseness and disparagement. Nor does it seem to be so used by Persius in v. 115. of his 5th Satire:

"Si tu, cum fueris nostræ paulò antè farinæ."

We employ a somewhat similar expression, when we say, "both of the same kidney."

This expression may be traced beyond "the scholastic doctors and casuists of the middle ages." Erasmus, in his Adagia, says,—

"Ejusdem farinæ dicuntur, inter quos est indiscreta similitudo. Quod enim aqua ad aquam collata, idem ad farinam farinæ. Persius in 5 Satyr.

And again, on the proverb "Omnia idem pulvis," he says,—

"Quin nobis omnia idem, quod aiunt, pulvis: alludens ad defunctorum cineres, inter quos nibil apparet discriminis. Confine illi quod alio demonstravimus proverbio, ejusdem farinæ. Siquidem antiqui farinam pollinem vocabant."

Is. Casaubon, in a note on the above passage of Persius, says,—

"Proverbium Latinum ad notandum similitudinem, 'est ejusdem farinæ,' proprie locum habet in panibus."

Though the expression is generally, if not always, used disparagingly, as the corresponding expressions "birds of a feather" and "of the same kidney," yet I should doubt whether the term "farinæ" is itself expressive of baseness, any more than "feather" or "kidney." By the way, what is the origin of the latter of the above expressions?

The Sempecta (Vol. iii., pp. 328. 357..)—I have to return many thanks to DR. MAITLAND for his kindness in so promptly answering my Query. The reference to Martene has enabled me to find the poem in question. It is in Martene and Durand's Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, Paris, 1717; and will be found in vol. iii. col. 1333. The poem forms caput iii. of the second book of the Historia Monasterii Villariensis in Brabantiâ, ordinis Cisterciensis (a title which shows the monastery to which the old soldier-monk belonged instead of Croyland), and is headed "Incipit vita beati Franconis." I think there are few of your readers who will not thank me for calling their attention to it, if they will take the trouble to refer to Martene's work.

"Nulli fraus tuta latebris" (Vol. iii., p. 323.) will be found in Camerar. Emblem., cent. ii. 40.

Voltaire—where situated (Vol. iii., p. 329.).—If the Querist will look to the Critical Essays of an Octogenarian, by J. R. (the learned, venerable, and respected James Roche, Esq., of Cork), he will find, at p. 11. vol. i., that there is no such place, the word "Voltaire" being merely a transposition of the name of the party assuming it as a designation. Thus, he was called Arouet Le Jeune. Transpose the letters of Arouet L. J., and allowing j, u and i, v to be used for each other, you have Voltaire.

By the Bye (Vol. ii., p. 424.; Vol. iii., p. 109.).—In further illustration of this phrase, I would advert to the practice of declaring by the bye, which prevailed in the superior courts of common law, before the Uniformity of Process Act (2 Will. IV., c. 39.). The following extract from Burton's Exchequer Practice, 1791, vol. i. p. 149., will sufficiently explain this happily obsolete matter:—

"By the old rules it is ordered, 'That upon every defendant's appearance, the plaintiff may put in as many declarations as he will against every such defendant, provided they all be put in at one and the same time.' If there be more than one declaration delivered at the same time against the same defendant, every additional[434] declaration so delivered is called delivering the declaration by the bye."

In the King's Bench, in certain cases, any other plaintiff could declare by the bye against the defendant, and that even before the original plaintiffs had declared. See Crompton's Practice Common-placed, 2nd ed., 1783, vol. i. p. 100.

The Doctor (in chap. cx.) says—

"By the bye, which is the same thing, in common parlance, as by the way, though critically there may seem to be a difference; for by the bye might seem to denote a collateral remark, and by the way a direct one."

By the bye, what a pity it is there is no Index to The Doctor.

Bigod de Loges (Vol. iii., p. 306.).—There is an error, perhaps a clerical one, in M. J. T.'s statement, that "Bigod, whose name was attached to the charter of foundation of St. Werburgh's Abbey, is elsewhere, according to Ormerod, called Robert."

The remark is by Leycester, not Ormerod, and the purport is exactly the converse. To the words "Signum Roberti de Loges" is added, "alii Bigot de Loges hic legunt." Vide Monasticon, pars I., pp. 200. 202.

This passage will be found in Leycester's Antiquities, p. 111., reprinted in Hist. Chesh., vol. i. p. 13. But Leycester's Prolegomena is the heading, and the initials "P. L." are appended to the note.

Knebsend or Nebsend, co. York (Vol. iii., p. 263.).—A part of Sheffield is called Neepsend, which is probably the place inquired after by J. N. C., especially as the ordinary pronunciation of it is Nepsend.

Mrs. Catherine Barton (Vol. iii., p. 328.).—Your correspondent will find all that is known in Sir David Brewster's Life of Newton, and will see (p. 323.) that her maiden name must have been either Smith, Pilkington, or Barton itself.

Peter Sterry (Vol. iii., p. 38.).—In the title-page to his sermon, preached before the Parliament, Nov. 1, 1649 (Lond. 1650, 4to.), Sterry is called "sometime Fellow of Emanuel College, Cambridge; now a Preacher of the Gospel in London." Some account of him may be seen in Burnet's History of his own Time; and in the Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow. Wood says that Peter Sterry was notorious "for keeping on that side which had proved trump" (Athenæ, iii. 197., edit. Bliss).

Wife of James Torre (Vol. iii., p. 329.).—In reply to MR. PEACOCK'S Query I beg to inform him that the lady's name was Elizabeth, youngest of the four daughters and co-heiresses of William Lincolne, D.D., of Bottesford, and by her Mr. Torre had several children, all of whom died young except Jane, who married, in 1701, the Rev. Thomas Hassel. This is taken from Burke's Dictionary of Landed Gentry, vol. ii, M to Z, published by Colburn, London, 1847, where the Torre pedigree can be seen, but no other mention of the Lincolne family is there made. There are seven different coats of arms and crests under the name Lincolne in Burke's Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, published by Churton in 1843. This is all I can find at present.

Ramasse (Vol. iii., p. 347.).—One word to complete MR. WAY'S explanation. This style of sliding down the slopes of the Alps is called a ramasse, because the guides are ready below to ramasser, that is, to pick up, the travellers who are thus sent down.

This word is by no means obsolete in France, in the acceptation of "a sledge." In addition to the instances given from Barré and Roquefort by MR. ALBERT WAY, in his instructive note on the "Pilgrymage of Syr R. Guylforde, Knyght," I find in Napoléon Landais' Dictionnaire général et grammatical des Dictionnaires Français," the following explanation:—

"RAMASSE, chaise à porteurs, traîneau pour descendre des montagnes où il y a de la neige: descendre une montagne dans une ramasse."

He also says, in defining the meaning of the verb "ramasser:"

"Traîner dans une ramasse: on le ramassa pendant deux heures; quand il fut sur la montagne, il se fit ramasser."

The late Mr. Tarver, in his Dictionnaire Phraséologique Royal, has also the following:

"RAMASSE, s. f. (t. de voyageur), sledge.

"On le ramassa, they conveyed him in a sledge.

"RAMASSEUR, a man who drives a sledge."

Four Want Way (Vol. iii., p. 168.).—Halliwell describes the word "want" as meaning in Essex a cross-road. It is still used here as denoting a place where four roads meet, and called "a four want way." I always fancied it meant a wont way, via solita; but I have no authority for the etymology.

["Went" is used in Chaucer in the sense of "way," "passage," "turning," or road: thus, in Troilus and Creseide, iii. 788., he speaks of a "a privie went," and v. 605., "And up and doun there made he many a went;" and in the House of Fame:

Dr. Owen's Works (Vol. i., p. 276.)[435].—The editor of the Works of John Owen is informed, that in the valuable library of George Offor, Esq., of Hackney, will be found a thick volume in manuscript of unpublished Sermons on the Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah, in the Doctor's own hand-writing, and apparently prepared for publication. The same library also contains two scarce pieces by Dr. Owen, which it is thought have never been reprinted: 1. The Stedfastness of Promises, and the Sinfulness of Staggering, opened in a sermon preached at Margaret's, in Westminster, before the Parliament, Feb. 28, 1649, being a Day set apart for Solemn Humiliation throughout the Nation. By John Owen, Minister of the Gospel. London, 1650. 4to. pp. 54.—2. God's Work in Founding Zion, and his People's Duty thereupon. A Sermon preached in the Abbey Church at Westminster, at the opening of the Parliament, Sept. 17, 1656. By John Owen, a Servant of Jesus Christ in the Work of the Gospel. Oxford, 1656. 4to. pp. 48.

Bactrian Coins (Vol. iii., p. 353.).—Has your correspondent read the book by Masson On the Coins, &c. of Afghanistan, published by Professor H. H. Wilson? There are also references to authorities in Humphreys On Ancient Coins and Medals.

Bactria.—BLOWEN will find some trustworthy information respecting Bactria in Professor Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde, Zweiter Band, pp. 277. et seq. Bonn, 1849; and a list of authorities on the Græco-Bactrian coins in the same work, pp. 282. 283. (notes).

Baldrocks (Vol. iii., p. 328.).—On looking over a vestry book belonging to South Lynn in this town, commencing at 1605, and ending in 1677, I find some Churchwardens' Accounts, and amongst them the two following entries, which may, I trust, assist "A CHURCHWARDEN," and lead to an elucidation of this word:—

"1610.
"Janua. 17. ffor a balledrick to ye great Bell, xxid.
"1618.
"Novemb. 22. Item. for mendine of ye baldericke for ye foore bell, vjd."

From these entries it seems that the "baldrock" was something attached to the great bell.

In most of the recent English Dictionaries the word is applied to furniture, and to a belt or girdle. But in a Latin Dictionary published at Cambridge in 1693, I find in the Anglo-Latin part the following:—

English. A bawdrick of a bell clapper.
Latin. Ropali corrigia.

And the English of "Ropali Corrigia" seems (notwithstanding the English version given with it) to be "pieces of leather," or "thongs of leather" to the bell clapper, but for what purpose used I do not know.

P.S. The word "corrigia" is taken from the word "corium," a skin of leather.

[Were not these leather coverings?—that for the rope, to prevent its cutting the ringer's hands (as we constantly see), and also to prevent his hand slipping; and that for the clapper, to muffle it—straps of leather girded round them.]

Tu Autem (Vol. iii., pp. 265. 308.).—The "Tu Autem," still remembered at Oxford and Cambridge, and yet lingering at the public dinners of the canons of Durham, is the last fragment of what was once a daily, or at least an almost daily, religious form or service at those ancient places; and it is rather strange that such a fragment should have remained so long in the collegiate and cathedral refectory without having preserved any remembrance of its real origin and meaning. If Bishop Hendren or Father Holdfast would forego their favourite pursuits for a few minutes, and look into your interesting and improving miscellany, they might inform you that in the Romish Breviary—which, no doubt, has preserved many ancient religious services—there is a form entitled Benedictio mensæ. As the generality of your readers may not have the Breviary at hand, I send you so much of the service as may suffice for the present purpose.

"BENEDICTIO MENSÆ.

"Ante prandium Sacerdos benedicturus mensam, incipit, Benedicite, et alii repetunt, Benedicite. Deinde dicit Oculi omnium, et alii prosequuntur. In te sperant, Domine, et tu das escam illorum in tempore opportuno" &c. &c. Then "Gloria Patri" &c., and "Pater noster" &c. &c.

"Posteà Sacerdos dicit:

"Oremus.

"Benedic Domine nos, et hæc tua dona, quæ de tua largitate sumus sumpturi. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

"Deinde Lector. Jube Domine benedicere. Benedictio. Mensæ cœlestis participes faciat nos Rex æternæ gloriæ. Amen.

"Post prandium aguntur gratiæ hoc modo. Dicto à Lectore, Tu autem Domine miserere nobis. Deo gratias, omnes surgunt.

"Sacerdos incipit. Confiteantur tibi Domine omnia opera tua. Et Sancti tui benedicant tibi. Gloria Patri, &c.

"Posteà Sacerdos absolutè dicat: Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus, pro universis beneficiis tuis, &c.

"Deinde alternatim dicitur Psalmus. Miserere mei Deus.

"Vel Psalmus 116." (in our version, 117.), &c. &c. &c.

The service then proceeds with very much repetition. The performance of the whole would probably occupy twenty minutes.

I must[436] note that there are variations in the service depending upon the season, &c. &c.

I have indicated the rubric of the Breviary by Italics.

Commoner marrying a Peeress (Vol. ii., p. 230.).—Your correspondent L. R. N. inquires whether there is any decision subsequent to that in the reign of Henry VIII. on the claim to the Taylboys barony, respecting the right of a Commoner marrying a peeress to assume her title and dignity, he having issue male by her. In reply I beg to inform him that there appears to have been one on the claim of Richard Bertie, in 1580, to the Barony of Willoughby, in right of his wife Catherine Duchess of Suffolk, as tenant by the curtesy, which was rejected, and Peregrine Bertie her son was admitted in the lifetime of his father. It seems, however, from the want of modern instances, as also by the elevation of ladies to the rank of peeresses, with remainders to their children, thus enabling the issue to sit in the lifetime of the father, that the prevailing notion is against curtesy in titles of honour. This subject will be found treated at some length in Cruise's Digest, vol. iii. pp. 187, 188. 198. ed. 1818.

Ancient Wood Engraving (Vol. iii., p. 277.).—The subject of THE HERMIT OF HOLYPORT'S question is an engraving of the "Pinax" of Cebes, a Theban philosopher who wrote circa A. M. 3600, and who, in his allegorical work of that name, described human life under the guise of a picture.

This information is for the HERMIT'S especial benefit, as I suppose it will be old news to most of your correspondents.

I have an old Dutch edition of the "Pinax" (Gerard de Jager, 1683), bound in vellum, with the Enchiridion and other works of Epictetus; the frontispiece of which is the fellow to the Hermit's engraving.

Vegetating Insects (Vol. iii., p. 166.).—As the Query of MR. MANLEY in No. 70. has not been answered, I beg to say that Vegetating Insects are not uncommon both in New South Wales and New Zealand. The insect is the caterpillar of a large brown moth, and in New South Wales is sometimes found six inches long, buried in the ground, and the plant above ground about the same length: the top, expanded like a flower, has a brown velvety texture. In New Zealand the plant is different, being a single stem from six to ten inches high: its apex, when in a state of fructification, resembles the club-headed bulrush in miniature. When newly dug up, and divided longitudinally, the intestinal canal is distinctly visible, and frequently the hairs, legs, and mandibles. Vegetation invariably proceeds from the nape of the neck; from which it may be inferred, that the insect, in crawling to the place where it inhumes itself, prior to its metamorphosis, while burrowing in the light vegetable soil, gets some of the minute seeds of the fungus between the scales of its neck, from which in its sickening state it is unable to free itself, and which consequently, being nourished by the warmth and moisture of the insect's body then lying motionless, vegetates, and not only impedes the process of change in the chrysalis, but likewise occasions the death of the insect. The New South Wales specimen is called "Sphæria Innominata," that of New Zealand "Sphæria Robertsii;" both named, I believe, by Sir W. J. Hooker. In some specimens of the New Zealand kind now before me, the bodies of the insects are in their normal state, but the legs, &c., are gone.

Both specimens are figured and described in the Tasmanian Journal, vol. i. No. 4.

Prayer at the Healing (Vol. iii., p. 352.).—N. E. R. inquires whether this prayer found a place in the prayer-books printed at Oxford or Cambridge.

I have it before me in the folio Book of Common Prayer, "Oxford, printed by John Baskett, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, and to the University, MDCCXV." It is placed between the form of prayer for Aug. 1. (the King's Accession) and the King's Declaration preceding the Articles.

This form differs from that given by Sparrow, in his Collection, edit. 1684, p. 165., as follows:—

Sparrow gives two Gospels: Mark, xvi. 14., St. John, i. 1., the imposition of the King's hands taking place at the words "they shall lay," &c. in the reading of the first, and the gold being placed at reading the words "that light" in the second.

In Baskett's form, the first Gospel only is used, with the collect "Prevent us, O Lord," before it.

In Baskett's form, the supplicatory versicles and Lord's Prayer, which agree in their own order with the earlier form, follow this first Gospel, and precede the imposition and the suspension of the gold, during which (it is directed) the chaplain that officiates, turning himself to his Majesty, shall say these words following:

"God give a blessing to this work, and grant that these sick persons, on whom the king lays his hands, may recover through Jesus Christ our Lord."

This does not appear in Sparrow's form of 1684, neither does the following address, at the close, by the "chaplain, standing with his face towards them that come to be healed."

"The Almighty God, who is a most strong tower to all them that put their trust in Him, to whom all things in heaven, in earth, and under the earth do bow and obey, be now and evermore your defence, and make[437] you know and feel that there is none other Name under heaven given to man, in whom, and through whom, you may receive health and salvation, but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."

Objectionable as the ceremony was, there can be no doubt that a much more Protestant character was given to it by these alterations.

M. or N. (Vol. i., p. 415.; Vol. ii., p. 61.; Vol. iii., p. 323.).—With reference to the initials or letters M. and N. found in the Catechism and the Marriage Service of our Common Prayer Book, it has struck me that a fancy of mine may satisfy some of those who wish to find more than a mere caprice in the selection of them.

It is remarkable that in the Catechism we read N. or M., while in the service for Matrimony M. is for the man, N. for the woman.

I have imagined long ago that "N. or M." may mean "nomen viri; aut mulieris:" that M. may stand for "maritus" in the other place, and N. for "nupta."

N. stands (as it constantly did in MS.) for "nomen" or name; M. for N. N., "nomina" or names. You will observe that in black letter the forms of N and M are so very similar that by an easy contraction double N would pass into M, and thus the contracted form N. N. for "nomina" might have come into M. Corroborating this is the fact that the answer to What is your name? stands thus: Answer N. or M., and not M. or N.

P.S. Throughout the Matrimonial Service I observe M. attached to the man's name, but N. to the woman's.

Dancing Trenchmore (Vol. iii., p. 89.).—Your correspondent S. G. asks the meaning of this phrase? Trenchmore was a very popular dance in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The earliest mention I find of it occurs in 1564, and the latest in 1728. The figure and the musical notes may be seen in the fifth and later editions of The Dancing Master. See also Chappell's National English Airs, vol. ii. p. 181., where some amusing quotations concerning its popularity are given. Trenchmore (the meaning of which we have to seek) was, however, more particularly the name of the dance than the tune. The dance, in fact, was performed to various tunes. In proof of this I give the following quotation from Taylor the water-poet's Navy of Land Ships, 1627:

"Nimble-heel'd mariners (like so many dancers) capring in the pompes and vanities of this sinful world, sometimes a Morisco, or Trenchmore of forty miles long, to the tune of Dusty my deare, Dirty come thou to me, Dun out of the mire, or I waile in woe and plunge in paine: all these dances have no other musicke."

Demosthenes and New Testament (Vol. iii., p. 350.).—If your correspondent C. H. P. had referred to the Critici Sacri, he would have found his questions answered. With regard to the quotation from Acts xvii. 21., I beg to inform him that Drusius makes the same reference, but generally only, as Pricæus; while Grotius gives the passages with particular references, in the same manner as Lagnerius. As to the passage from St. Matthew xiii. 14., he would have found, had he consulted the Critici Sacri, that Grotius quotes the same passage from Demosthenes as Pricæus; but, as far as I can see, they are the only commentators in that work who observed the parallel passages. However, the fact of its being "employed as an established proverb by Demosthenes having been generally overlooked," as C. H. P. supposes, is not quite correct, as it is mentioned in the brief notes in Dr. Burton's Greek Testament, Oxon., 1831.

Roman Catholic Church (Vol. iii., pp. 168. 409..).—E. H. A. will find the information which he requires in the Notizie per l'anno 1851. It is a very small annual published at Rome by authority. Its price cannot exceed 4s. or 5s.

Yankee, Derivation of (Vol. iii., p. 260.).—In Webster's American Dictionary, and in the Imperial Dictionary, English, Technological, and Scientific, J. M. will see the etymology of Yankee, which M. Philarète Charles supposes not to be given in any work American or English.

English French (Vol. iii., p. 346.).—I take the liberty to inform C. W. B., for the justification of my countrymen, as well as of his own, that the Guide to Amsterdam was probably written by a British subject born between the tropics, and will point out, not by way of reprisals, but as a curiosity of the same sort, an example of French-English to be found in a book just published by Whittaker and Co., entitled What's What in 1851? Let any one who understands French try to read the article, p. 69., headed "Qu'êst que, qu'êst que la veritable luxure en se promenant," and if he can guess at the meaning of the writer, no foreign-English I ever met with will ever give him trouble.

Deans, when styled Very Reverend (Vol. iii., p. 352.).—I cannot answer this question, but I can supply a trace, if not a clue. I find in a long series of old almanacks that the list of deans is invariably given as the Reverend the dean down to 1803 inclusive. I unluckily have not those for the three next years, but in that for 1807 I find "the very Reverend the dean."

[438] Duchess of Buckingham (Vol. iii., p. 281.).—There is one circumstance omitted by P. C. S. S., in his remarks upon the Duchess of Buckingham, which explains why a Phipps, on being called to the peerage, chose the titles of Mulgrave and Normanby.

By her second husband—the Duke of Buckingham and Normanby—she had one son, who succeeded to the title and estates; but, dying unmarried during his mother's lifetime, bequeathed to her all the Mulgrave and Normanby property. Her daughter (by her first marriage with James Annesley, third Earl of Anglesey) was then the wife of Mr. W. Phipps, son of Sir Constantine Phipps, Lord Chancellor of Ireland: to their issue, Constantine Phipps, first Lord Mulgrave, the Duchess left by will these estates; thus founding her grandson's fortune, although she did not live to see him created the first Baron Mulgrave.

The Sheffield Buckingham family, although extinct in the male line, is represented in the female branch by the Sheffield Dicksons; Mrs. Dickson, the widow of Major Dickson, of the Life-Guards, being in direct descent from the Lady Catherine Darnley's husband, by another wife.

Swearing by the Peacock (Vol. iii., p. 70.).—Swearing in the presence of a peacock, referred to by T. J., from Dr. Lingard's History of England, time of Edward I., is, with the ceremony observed at the Feast of the Peacock, in the thirteenth century, related at full by Mr. Knight in his Old England, pp. 311. and 312.; and the representation of the Feast from the Bran of Robert Braunche, in the choir of St. Margaret's Church at Lynn (a mayor of Lynn), who died October 15, 1364, is given fig. 1088.

Howe Family (Vol. iii., p. 353.).—Your correspondent who asks what was the connexion of the Howes with the royal family, will find in Walpole's Reminiscences (ch. ii.) that Charlotte Viscountess Howe, the mother of Captain Howe, afterwards the celebrated admiral, and of General Sir William Howe, was the daughter of George I. by Madame Kelmansegge, Countess of Platen, created in England Countess of Darlington.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

Dr. Gregory, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, and the translator of Reichenbach's Researches on Magnetism, has just published a volume destined, we believe, to excite considerable attention, both from the nature of its subject and the position of the writer. It is entitled Letters to a Candid Inquirer on Animal Magnetism, and in the first Part, after describing the phenomena, and their application to medical purposes, and to the explanation of much that is obscure in what is called Magic or Witchcraft, "a great part of which appears to have rested on a knowledge of these phenomena possessed by a few in an ignorant age," Dr Gregory suggests, not as a fully developed theory, but simply as a conceivable idea, an explanation of the modus operandi in magnetic phenomena, especially in clairvoyance. The basis of this explanation is the existence of that universally diffused power or influence, the existence of which, in Dr. Gregory's opinion, Reichenbach has demonstrated. The second Part consists of a large and startling collection of mostly unpublished cases; and Dr. Gregory expresses his conviction that if the evidence is fairly studied, it will be impossible to believe that the alleged facts are the result of imposture or of delusion; or to resist the conviction, which investigation will confirm, that the essential facts, however apparently marvellous, are yet true, and have been faithfully reported. These cases are indeed most extraordinary, and would, at first sight, seem more fitted to fill our Folk Lore columns than to become the subject of scientific enquiry; and most readers, we believe, will rise from their perusal with an inclination to admit that there are more things true than are dreamt of in their philosophy—some with an anxious doubt whether these "arts" are not as "forbidden" as they are "curious."

The Society of Arts have opened a reading-room for the gratuitous use of foreign visitors to London during the Great Exhibition. Our readers will be doing a kindness to their friends from the Continent by making them acquainted with this act of liberality and good feeling on the part of the Society of Arts.

Messrs. Puttick and Simpson (191. Piccadilly) will sell on Wednesday and Thursday next a curious and valuable Library, rich more especially in the department of voyages and travels, and including a collection of very rare works relating to America.

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.—B. Quaritch's (16. Castle Street, Leicester Square) Cheap Book Circular No. 29. of Books in all Languages; C. Hamilton's (22. Anderson's Buildings, City Road) Interesting Catalogue No. 43. of Cheap Tracts, Law and Miscellaneous Manuscripts, &c.; J. Miller's (43. Chandos Street) Catalogue No. 23. of Books Old and New.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE.

DIANA (ANTONINUS) COMPENDIUM RESOLUTIONEM MORALIUM. Antwerp.-Colon. 1634-57.

PASSIONAEL EFTE DAT LEVENT DER HEILIGEN. Folio. Basil, 1522.

CARTARI—LA ROSA D'ORO PONTIFICIA. 4to. Rome, 1681.

BROEMEL, M. C. H., FEST-TANZEN DER ERSTEN CHRISTEN. Jena, 1705.

THE COMPLAYNT OF SCOTLAND, edited by Leyden. 8vo. Edin. 1801.

THOMS' LAYS AND LEGENDS OF VARIOUS NATIONS. Parts I. to VII. 12mo. 1834.

L'ABBÉ DE SAINT PIERRE, PROJET DE PAIX PERPETUELLE. 3 Vols. 12mo. Utrecht, 1713.

CHEVALIER RAMSAY, ESSAI DE POLITIQUE, où l'on traite de la Nécessité de l'Origine, des Droits des Bornes et des différentes Formes de la Souveraineté, selon les Principes de l'Auteur de Télémaque. 2 Vols. 12mo. La Haye, without date, but printed in 1719.

The same. Second Edition, under the title "Essai Philosophique sur le Gouvernement Civil, selon les Principes de Fénélon," 12mo. Londres, 1721.

PULLEN'S ETYMOLOGICAL COMPENDIUM, 8vo.

COOPER'S (C. P.) ACCOUNT OF PUBLIC RECORDS, 8vo. 1822. Vol I.

LINGARD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Sm.[439] 8vo. 1837. Vols. X. XI. XII. XIII.

MILLER'S (JOHN, OF WORCESTER COLL.) SERMONS. Oxford, 1831 (or about that year).

WHARTON'S ANGLIA SACRA. Vol. II.

PHEBUS (Gaston, Conte de Foix), Livre du deduyt de la Chasse.

TURNER'S SACRED HISTORY. 3 vols. demy 8vo.

KNIGHT'S PICTORIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Vol. IV. Commencing from Abdication of James II.

LORD DOVER'S LIFE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. 8vo. 1832. Vol. II.

LADIES' DIARY FOR 1825 AND 1826.

CHRISTIAN'S COUNSELS, &C., WITH THE SEPARATISTS' SCHISM, by Richard Bernard, of Worksop or Batcombe, 1608.

Any early Copies of Tyndale the Reformer's WORKS.

LIFE OF DR. RICHARD FIELD, 2 Vols. 8vo. London. 1716-17.

FAIRFAX'S TASSO, Singer's Edit. Large paper, uncut.

CRESPET, PERE. Deux Livres de la Haine de Satan et des Malins Esprits contre l'Homme. 8vo. Paris, 1590.

JACQUIER, N. FLAGELLUM DÆMONUM V. HÆRETICORUM FASCINARIORUM, &c. 8vo. Francfurt, 1581.

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

Notices To Correspondents.

Although we have again enlarged our paper to 24 pages, we are compelled to request the indulgence of our correspondents for omitting many highly interesting communications.

P. J. F. G. The communication referred to does not appear to have reached us.

T. T. W. Received with thanks. Will be used as soon as possible.

T. E. H. who suggests that by way of hastening the period when we shall be justified in permanently enlarging our Paper to 24 pages, we should forward to those correspondents who will circulate them copies of our Prospectus, for them to enclose to such of their friends as they think likely from their love of literature to become Subscribers to "NOTES AND QUERIES", is thanked for his valuable suggestion, which we shall be most ready to adopt. If therefore, T. E. H., or any other friend able and willing so to promote our circulation, will say how Prospectuses may be addressed to them, they shall be sent by return of Post.

MERCURII will find his Query respecting Matthew's Mediterranean Passage in our 74th Number, p. 210. This correspondent is assured that our paper is regularly published at noon on Friday,—and that the London agent of his bookseller is deceiving him if he reports it as "not out." If his bookseller will try another agent for a week or two, he will find no difficulty in getting "NOTES AND QUERIES" in time for the Yarmouth readers on Saturday.

REPLIES RECEIVED.—Barker the Panoramist—Redwing's Nest—Prenzie—Legend in Frettenham Church—White Rose—Image of both Churches—Vineyards—Eisell—Statistics of Roman Catholic Church—Robertson of Muirtown—Omen at Marriage—Old London Bellman—On Passage in "Measure for Measure"—Sewell—Penn Family—Court Dress—Noli me tangere—School of the Heart—Lay of Last Minstrel—Cachcope Bell—Baron Munchausen—To Three Queries by Nemo, &c., by C. P. P. (who is thanked for corrections)—The Tradescants—Meaning of Mosaic—Portugal—Genealogy of European Sovereigns.

VOLS. I. and II., each with very copious Index, may still be had, price 9s. 6d. each.

"NOTES AND QUERIES" may be procured by order, of all Booksellers and Newsvenders. It is published at noon on Friday, so that our country Subscribers ought not to experience any difficulty in procuring it regularly. Many of the country Booksellers, &c., are, probably, not yet aware of this arrangement, which will enable them to receive "NOTES AND QUERIES" in their Saturday parcels.

All communications for the Editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES" should be addressed to the care of MR. BELL, No. 186. Fleet Street.

Printed by THOMAS CLARK SHAW, of No. 8. New Fleet Square, at No. 5. New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride in the City of London; and published by GEORGE BELL, of No. 186. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186 Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, May 31. 1851.