[** Transcriber's note. I used the Unicode combining diacritical to indicate a long o in Hæreseos. In the note on Parish Register's Tax, I could not make out one superscript; I have left it as an asterisk. I also could not make out part of the text in "HOWKEY or HORKEY"; I have left the unreadable text as a row of asterisks. **]
{1}| No. 31. | Saturday, June 1, 1850. | Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d. |
We cannot resist the opportunity which the commencement of our Second Volume affords us, of addressing a few words of acknowledgment to our friends, both contributors and readers. In the short space of seven months, we have been enabled by their support to win for "NOTES AND QUERIES" no unimportant position among the literary journals of this country. We came forward for the purpose of affording the literary brotherhood of this great nation an organ through which they might announce their difficulties and requirements, through which such difficulties might find solution, and such requirements be supplied. The little band of kind friends who first rallied round us has been reinforced by a host of earnest men, who, at once recognising the utility of our purpose, and seeing in our growing prosperity how much love of letters existed among us, have joined us heart and hand in the great object we proposed to ourselves in our Prospectus; namely, that of making "NOTES AND QUERIES" by mutual intercommunication, "a most useful supplement to works already in existence—a treasury for enriching future editions of them—and an important contribution towards a more perfect history than we yet possess of our language, our literature, and those to whom we owe them."
Thanks, again and again, to the friends and correspondents, who, by their labours, are enabling us to accomplish this great end. To them be the honour of the work. We are content to say with the Arabian poet:
"With conscious pride we view the band
Of faithful friends that round us stand;
With pride exult, that we alone
Can join these scattered gems in one;
Rejoiced to be the silken line
On which these pearls united shine."
Among the good services rendered to the public by yourself and your correspondents, few, I think will be found more important than that of having drawn their attention to Mr. Wyatt Edgell's valuable suggestions on the transcription of Parochial Registers. The supposed impracticability of his plan has perhaps hitherto deterred those most competent to the work from giving it the consideration which it deserves. I believe the scheme to be perfectly practicable; and, as a first move in the work, I send you the result of my own dealings with the registers of my parish.
It is many years since I felt the desideratum which Mr. Edgell has brought before the public;{2} and, by way of testing the practicability of transcribing, and printing the parochial registers of the entire kingdom in a form convenient for reference, I made an alphabetical transcript of my own, which is now complete. The modus operandi which I adopted was this:—1. I first transcribed, on separate slips of paper, each baptismal entry, with its date, and a reference to the page of the register, tying up the slips in the order in which the names were entered in the register; noting, as I proceeded, on another paper, the number of males and females in each year.
2. The slips being thus arranged, they came in their places handy for collation with the original. I then collated each, year by year; during the process depositing the slips one by one in piles alphabetically, according to the initial letter of the surnames.
3. This done, I sorted each pile in an order as strictly alphabetical as that used in dictionaries or ordinary indices.
4. I then transcribed them into a book, in their order, collating each page as the work proceeded.
5. I then took the marriages in hand, adopting the same plan; entering each of these twice, viz. both under the husband's and the wife's name.
6. Next, the burials, on the same plan.
7. I then drew up statistical tables of the number of baptisms, marriages, and burials in each year, males and females separately where the register appeared badly kept, making notes of the fact, and adding such observations as occasionally seemed necessary.
8. I then drew up lists of vicars, transcripts of miscellaneous records of events, and other casual entries that appeared in the register.A
I noted, as I went on, the time occupied in each of these operations. It was as follows:—
| 1. The first transcripts on slips, with addition of statistical tables— | ||||||||||
|
551/2 hours. | |||||||||
| 2. Collecting and filing alphabetically | 23 ---- | |||||||||
| 3. Sorting in strict alphabetical order | 131/4 ---- | |||||||||
| 4. Transcribing into book | 911/2 ---- | |||||||||
| 5. Copying statistical tables into book | 5 ---- | |||||||||
| Transcripts of miscellaneous entries, lists of vicars, &c. &c. | 7 ---- | |||||||||
| Total | 1951/4 hours. | |||||||||
My registers begin in the year 1558, and the present population of the parish is about 420, so that you have here an account of the labour necessary to complete an alphabetical transcript of the register of a rural parish of that extent in population.
I send you the result as a first step to a work of great national importance, and of inestimable value with relation to family descent, title to property long in abeyance, &c. &c. As to statistics, I doubt whether any data worthy of consideration can be obtained from these sources, owing to the constant irregularities which occur in keeping the registers.
No man, much less the minister of a parish, who has abundant calls upon his time, can be expected to sit down to the task of transcribing his registers through many consecutive hours; but there are few who could not give occasionally one or two hours to the work. In this way I effected my transcripts; the work of 195 hours being distributed through nearly five months—no great labour after all.
On an average, twelve words, with the figures, may be calculated for each entry, which will give for this parish about 500 folios. Each entry having been transcribed twice, we may call it, at a rough calculation, 1000 folios written out ready for printing.
If the authorities at the Registrar-General's office would give their attention to it, they must have there abundant data on which to form calculations as to the probable cost of the undertaking And I cannot help thinking that, setting aside printing as an after consideration, alphabetical transcripts, at least, might be obtained of all the parochial registers in the kingdom, and deposited in that office, at no insurmountable expense; and if the cost appear too heavy, the accomplishment of the work might be distributed through a given number of years; say ten, or even twenty.
Parliament might, perhaps, be induced to vote an annual grant for so important a work till it was accomplished; albeit, when we think of their niggardly denial of any thing to the printing, or{3} even the conservation of the public records, sanguine hopes from that quarter can hardly be indulged.
To insure correctness, without which the scheme would be utterly valueless, I would propose that a certain number of competent transcribers be appointed for each county, either at a given salary, or at a remuneration of so much per entry, to copy the registers of those parishes the ministers of which are unwilling to do it, or feel themselves unequal to the task. The option, however, should always, in the first instance, be given to the minister, as the natural custos of the registers, and as one, from local knowledge, likely to do the work correctly. To each county there should also be appointed one or more competent persons as collators, to correct the errors of the transcribers.
I throw out these rough hints in the hope that some of your correspondents will furnish their ideas on the subject, till we at last arrive at a fully practicable plan of carrying out Mr. Wyatt Edgell's suggestions, and, at all events, obtain transcripts, if not printed copies, of every register in the kingdom.
Footnote A: (return)To obviate the difficulties arising from capricious spelling, I assumed that which I thought to be the correct one, and entered all of the name under that one, placing, however, in parenthesis, the actual mode of spelling adopted in the instance in question, and also entering the name, as actually spelt, in its proper place, with reference to the place where the searcher would find it; e.g. In my register, the name of "Caiser" appears under more than twenty varieties of form. I enter them all under "Cayser". In the margin, opposite the first of these entries, I write consecutively the different modes of spelling the name—"Caisar", "Caiser", "Casiar", "Kayser", &c. &c. &c. In the table itself, I write,
Cayser, John.
[Casiar] John.
[Kaysar] John, &c. &c. &c.
Then, "Casiar", "Kaysar", &c., appear in their respective places sic, "Casiar", v. "Cayser", "Kaysar", v. "Cayser", &c., nearly on the plan adopted by Mr. Duffus Hardy in his admirable indices to the Close Rolls.
"He that fights and runs away," &c.—Your correspondent MELANION may be assured that the orations of Demosthenes do not afford any trace of the proverbial senarius, ανηρ δ φευγων και παλιν μαχησεται; and it does not appear quite clear how the apophthegm containing it (which has been so generally attributed to Plutarch) has been concocted. Heeren, in doing full justice to the biographical talent of the Chæronean, has yet observed, "We may easily see that in his Lives he only occasionally indicates his authorities, because his own head was so often the source." It is in the life of Demosthenes that the story of his flight is told, but briefly; and for that part which relates to the inscription on the shield of Demosthenes, he says, 'ως ελεγε Πυθεας. The other life among those of the Ten Orators, the best critics think not to be Plutarch's; and the relation in it is too ridiculous for credit; yet it is repeated by Photius.
The first writer in which the story takes something of the form in which Erasmus gives it is Aulus Gellius (Noct. Att. l. xvii. c. 21.):—
"Post inde aliquanto tempore Philippus apud Chaeroneam proelio magno Athenienses vicit. Tum Demosthenes orator ex eo proelio salutem fuga quaesivit: quumque id ei, quod fugerat, probrose objiceretur; versu illo notissimo elusit, ανηρ δ φευγων, inquit, και παλιν μαχησεται."
We here see that the senarius is designated as a well-known verse, so that it must have been in the mouths of the people long before it was applied to this piece of gossip. I have hitherto not been able to trace it to an earlier writer.
The Apophthegmata of Erasmus were first published, I believe, in 1531, in six books. I have an edition printed by Frobenius, at Basle, in 1538, in which two more books are added; and, in an epistle prefixed to the seventh book, Erasmus says,—
"Prodiit opus, tanta aviditate distractum est, ut protinus à typographo coeperit efflagitare denuo."
He names twenty-one ancient Greek and Latin authors from which the apophthegms had been collected; and, with regard to what he has taken from Plutarch, he mentions the licence he has used:—
"Nos Plutarchum multis de causis sequi maluimus quam interpretari, explanare quam vertere."
It is from this book of Erasmus that the worthy Nicolas Udall selected his Two Bookes of Apophthegmes; and he tells his readers,—
"I have been so bold with mine author as to make the first booke and second booke, which he maketh third and fowerth."
Udall has occasionally added further explanations of his own to those translated from Erasmus. He promises, in good time, the remaining, books, but says,—
"I have thought better, with two of the eight, to minister unto you a taste of this bothe delectable and fruitefull recreation."
Those who are desirous of knowing at large the course pursued by Erasmus in the compilation of this amusing and once popular work, will find it fully stated in his preface; one passage of which will show the large licence he allowed himself:—
"Sed totum opus quodammodo meum feci, dum et explanatius effero qua Graece referuntur, interjectis interdum quæ apud alios autores additur comperissem," &c.
The only sure ground, as far as I can discover, for this gradually constructed legend, is the mention of the flight of Demosthenes by Æschines and Dinarchus. In the more amplified editions of Erasmus's Adages, after the publication of the Apophthegmata, he repeats the story in illustration of a Latin proverb (probably only a version of the Greek), "Vir fugiens et denuo pugnabitur;" and I find in some collections of the sixteenth century both the Latin and Greek given upon the authority of Plutarch! Langius, in his Polyanthea (a copious common-place book which would outweigh twenty of our late Laureate's) has given the apophthegm verbatim from Erasmus, and has boldly appended Plutarch's name. But the more extraordinary course is that which one Gualandi took, who published, at Venice, in 1568,{4} in 4to., an omnium gatherum, in five books, from various sources, in which there is much taken from Erasmus, and yet the title is Apoftemmi di Plutarco. In this book, the whole of the twenty-three apophthegms of Erasmus which relate to Demosthenes are given, and two more added at the end. It appears that Philelphus, and after him Raphael Regius, had printed, in the fifteenth century, Latin collections under the title of Plutarch's Apophthegms, and, according to Erasmus, had both taken liberties with their original. I have not seen either of these Latin versions, of which there were several editions. As far as regards Demosthenes, I think we may fairly conclude that the story is apocryphal. The Greek proverbial verse was no doubt a popular saying, which Aulus Gellius thought might give a lively turn to his story, of which an Italian would say, "Se non vero è ben trovato."
Feb. 9. 1850.
The following extracts from a MS. "Day-book" of the celebrated Anne Countess of Pembroke, recording the daily events of the last few months of her life passed at Brougham Castle in 1675, afford a further illustration of the custom of presenting gloves (Vol. i. pp. 72. 405.) as a matter of courtesy and kindness; and show, also, that it was not unusual to make presents of small sums of money in exhibition of the same feelings on the part of the donor:—
"January, as the year begins on New Year's Day.
"10th day, And to-day there dined here with my folks my cousin Thomas Sandford's wife, of Askham, and her second son; so after dinner I had them into my chamber and kissed her, and took him by the hand, and I gave her a pair of buckskin gloves, and him 5s., and then they went away.
"12th day. There dined here in the Painted Chamber with my folks Mrs. Jane Carleton, the widow, sister to Sir W'm. Carleton, deceased. So after dinner I had her into my chamber, and kissed her and talked with her awhile, and I gave her 5s., and she went away.
"17th day, To-day there dined with my folks my cousin, Mr. Thomas Burbeck, of Hornby, and his wife and their little daughter, and his father-in-law, Mr. Cotterick, and his wife and his mother; and there also dined here Mr. Robert Carleton, only son to the widow, Lady Carleton. So after dinner I had them all into my chamber, and kissed the women, and took the men by the hand, and I gave to my cousin, Mr. Burbeck, and his wife each 10s., and his mother 10s., and his father-in-law, Mr. Cotterick, and his wife, each of them 10s., and 6s. to the child, and I gave Mr. Carleton a pair of buckskin gloves, and then they all went away."
In another entry the Countess records the gift to a Mrs. Winch of Settra Park of "four pair of buckskin gloves that came from Kendall."
It does not appear that any present was made to the Countess in return. As in the case of Archbishop Laud and Master Prynne (Vol. i. p. 405.), these gifts were evidently expressions of condescension and good will by one in a high position to another in a somewhat lower station. It is, I take it, evident that the money-gifts, from the rank in life of the parties, and their connection with the Countess, could have been made with no other meaning or intention.
Streatham, April 22. 1850.
Exhumation of a Body ominous to Family of the Deceased.—In the counties of Leicester and Northampton, and I doubt not in other parts of England, there is a superstitious idea that the removal or exhumation of a body after interment bodes death or some terrible calamity to the surviving members of the deceased's family. Turner, in his History of Remarkable Providences, Lond. 1677, p. 77., thus alludes to this superstition:—
"Thomas Fludd of Kent, Esq., told me that it is an old observation which was pressed earnestly to King James I., that he should not remove the Queen of Scots' body from Northamptonshire, where she was beheaded and interred. For that it always bodes ill to the family when bodies are removed from their graves. For some of the family will die shortly after, as did Prince Henry, and, I think, Queen Anne."
In the above-named counties, nine roasted mice, three taken each third morning, constitutes the common charm for the hooping-cough.
Suffolk Folk Lore.—I send you a few articles on "Folk Lore", now, or not long ago, current in the county of Suffolk, in addition to what is to be found in the latter part of the second volume of Forby's Vocabulary of East Anglia.
1. To ascertain whether her pretended lovers really love her or not, the maiden takes an apple-pip, and naming one of her followers, puts the pip in the fire. If it makes a noise in bursting from the heat, it is a proof of love; but if it is consumed without a crack, she is fully satisfied that there is no real regard towards her in the person named.
2. "I remember the wooing of a peascod instead of her." (Shakesp.)—The efficacy of peascods in the concerns of sweethearts is not yet forgotten among our rustic vulgar. The kitchen-maid, when she shells green peas, never omits, when she finds one having nine peas, to lay it on the lintel of the kitchen door; and the first clown who enters it is infallibly to be her husband, or at least her sweetheart.
3. If you have your clothes mended upon your back, you will be ill spoken of.{5}
4.
If you sweep the house with blossomed broom in May,
Y're sure to sweep the head of the house away.
Similar to which is the following:—
5. To sleep in a room with the whitethorn bloom in it during the month of May, will surely be followed by some great misfortune.
6. Cure for Fits.—If a young woman has fits, she applies to ten or a dozen unmarried men (if the sufferer be a man, he applies to as many maidens) and obtains from each of them a small piece of silver of any kind, as a piece of a broken spoon, or ring, or brooch, buckle, and even sometimes a small coin, and a penny; the twelve pieces of silver are taken to a silversmith or other worker in metal, who forms therefrom a ring, which is to be worn by the person afflicted. If any of the silver remains after the ring is made, the workman has it as his perquisite; and the twelve pennies also are intended as the wages for his work, and he must charge no more.
In 1830 I went into a gunsmith's shop in the village where I then resided, and seeing some fragments of silver in a saucer, I had the curiosity to inquire about them, when I was informed that they were the remains of the contributions for a ring for the above purpose which he had lately been employed to make.
Bible and Key.—Mr. Stevens's note on divination (Vol. i. p. 413.) reminds me of another use to which the bible and key are made subservient by the rustics in this locality. When some choice specimen of the "Lancashire Witches" thinks it necessary to decide upon selecting a suitor from among the number of her admirers, she not unfrequently calls in the aid of these auxiliaries to assist in determining her choice. Having opened the Bible at the passage in Ruth which states, "whither thou goest I will go," &c., and having carefully placed the wards of the key upon the verses, she ties the book firmly with a piece of cord; and, having mentioned the name of an admirer, she very solemnly repeats the passage in question, at the same time holding the Bible suspended by joining the ends of her little fingers inserted under the handle of the key. If the key retain its position during the repetition, the person whose name has been mentioned is considered to be rejected and so another name is tried until the book turns round and falls through the fingers, which is said to be a sure token that the name just mentioned is that of an individual who will certainly marry her.
Burnley, April 27.
P.S. In confirmation of the above, I may state that I have a Bible in my possession which bears evidence of having seen much service of this description.
(Eden's Edit.)
Part I. Ad sect. 8. § 2. p. 166.—"It was Tertullian's great argument in behalf of Christians, 'see how they love one another.'"—Apol. c. 39.
Part I. Discourse iv. § 4. p. 173.—"A cook told Dionysius the tyrant, the black broth of Lacedæmon would not do well at Syracuse, unless it be tasted by a Spartan's palate."—Cicero, Tusc. D. v. § 98. Stob. Flor. Tit. 29. n. 100. Plut. Inst. Lac. 2. [these have been already referred to in "NOTES AND QUERIES"]: and compare Plutarch (Vit. Lycurgi, c. 12.).
Part II. Ad sect. 12. § 4. p. 394.—"If a man throw away his gold, as did Crates the Theban."—Diog. Laert. vi. § 87.
Ibid. § 7. p. 395. note b.—"Gaudet patientia duris."—Lucan. ix. 403.
Ibid. § 16. p. 404. note y.—"Plato vocat puritatem αποκρισιν χειρονων απο βελτιονων." Definit. p. 415. D.
Ibid. § 41. (on the tenth commandment) p. 446. note z.—"Non minus esse turpe oculos quam pedes in aliena immittere, dixit Xenocrates."—Ælian. Var. Hist. xiv. 42. Plutarch de Curiositate, c. 12.
Part II. Sect. 12. Discourse xi. § 5. p 451.—"Harpaste, Seneca's wife's fool."—Seneca, Epist. 50.
Part II. Sect. 12. Discourse xiv. § 8. p. 496.—"Vespasian, by the help of Apollonius Tyaneus, who was his familiar."—See Philostratus (Vit. Apollon. v. 28. § 1.).
Part III. Sect. 13. Discourse xv. § 11. p. 526.—"What the Roman gave as an estimate of a rich man, saying, 'He that can maintain an army, is rich.'"—Cicero Off. I. § 25. Plutarch Vit. Crassi, c. 2.
Part III. Sect. 13. Discourse xvi. § 8. p. 554. note e.—"Hic felix, nullo turbante Deorum; Is, nullo parcente, miser."—Lucan, viii. 707.
(Eden's Edit.)
Serm. XVIII. Part I. sect. 2. § 2.—"Alexander, that wept because he had no more worlds to conquer."—Plutarch de Tranquillitate Animi, c. 4.
Serm. XXIII. Part I. p. 613.—"οφρυς επηρκοτες, και το φρονιμον ζητουντες εν τοις περιπατοις."—Plato Comicus apud Athenæum, p. 103. d. Lib. iii. c. 23. § 61. Cfr. Bato Comicus apud eundem, p. 163. b. Lib. iv. c. 17. § 55.
Serm. XXIV. § 5. p. 625.—"Lysander was πανουργος."—Plutarch, Lysand. c. 7.
(Eden's Edit.)
Cap. III. Sect. 7. § 7. p. 340.—"When men saw the graves of Calatinus, of the Servilii, the Scipios, the Metelli, did ever any man amongst the wisest{6} Romans think them unhappy?" Translated from Cicero (Tusc. Disc. 1. c. 7. § 13.)
Cap. III. Sect. 8. § 6. p. 345.—"Brutus, ... when Furius came to cut his throat, after his defeat by Anthony, he ran from it like a girl."—Valer. Max. ix. 13. § 3 Senec. Epist. 82.
Marlborough College, May 13.
I am not aware that the following epigrams have ever been printed. I transferred them to my note-book some time ago from the letters of Mr. Martyn, a littérateur of temporary fame in the first half of the eighteenth century, addressed to Dr. Birch; which are among the Birch MSS. in the British Museum. Mr. Martyn, if I remember right, gives them as not his own. You may think them worth printing in your agreeable Miscellany:—
EPITAPH ON ARCHBISHOP POTTER."Alack and well-a-day
Potter himself is turned to clay."
Two epigrams on the coffins of Dr. Sacheverel and Sally Salisbury being found together in the vault of St. Andrew's:—
"Lo! to one grave consigned, of rival fame,
A reverend Doctor and a wanton dame.
Well for the world both did to rest retire,
For each, while living, set mankind on fire."
"A fit companion for a high-church priest;
He non-resistance taught, and she profest."
The author of the volume of which I am about to give a character, from the Ms. of sir William Musgrave, seems to be the person who is described by Gough as "Arthur Dobbs, Esq. of Castle Dobbs, promoter of the discovery of the N.W. passage." The note may interest both historians and collectors of books.
AN ESSAY on the trade and improvement of Ireland. By Arthur Dobbs, Esq. Dublin, 1729-31. 8vo.
"This volume contains both the parts of the work and is a most curious collection of facts and accounts respecting the population revenue and trade of Ireland; and I believe it is scarce, as I have not often met with it, nor do I remember to have heard it quoted on either side during the warm disputes about the commercial intercourse between England and Ireland in the year 1785." [W. Musgrave.]
I procured this volume from the collection of Mr. Heber, vii. 1682.—Sir William Musgrave was a Trustee of the British Museum, and bequeathed near two thousand volumes to that incomparable establishment. He was partial to biography, and gave much assistance to Granger. His Adversaria and Obituary, I often consult. The latter work is an excellent specimen of well-applied assiduity. Ob. 1800.
Judging from the astonishment with which I learned from an eye-witness the circumstance, I think that some of your readers will be surprised to learn that, within the memory of witnesses still alive, a woman was burnt to death under sentence of the judge of assize, for the murder of her husband.
This crime—petty treason—was formerly punished with fire and faggot; and the repeal of the law is mentioned by Lord Campbell in a note to his life of one of our recent chancellors, but I have not his work to refer to.
The post to which this woman was bound stood, till recently, in a field adjoining Winchester.
She was condemned to be burnt at the stake; and a marine, her paramour and an accomplice in the murder, was condemned to be hanged.
A gentleman lately deceased told me the circumstances minutely. I think that he had been at the trial, but I know that he was at the execution, and saw the wretched woman fixed to the stake, fire put to the faggots, and her body burnt. But I know two persons still alive who were present at her execution, and I endeavoured, in 1848, to ascertain from one of them the date of this event, and "made a note" of his answer, which was to this effect:—
"I can't recollect the year; but I remember the circumstance well. It was about sixty-five years ago. I was there alone with the crowd. I sat on my father's shoulder, and saw them bring her and the marine to the field. They fixed her neck by a rope to the stake, and then set fire to the faggots, and burnt her."
She was probably strangled by this rope.
One Query which I would ask is, Was this execution at Winchester, in 1783 (or thereabouts), the last instance in England? and another is, Are you aware of any other instance in the latter part of the last century?
In a very curious little book, entitled Kronÿcke van Alemaer, and published in that town anno 1645, I read the following particulars about Cornelis Drebbel, a native of the same city.
Being justly renowned as a natural philosopher, and having made great progress in mechanics,{7} our Drebbel was named tutor of the young Prince of Austria, by the emperor Ferdinandus II.; an office which he fulfilled so well, that he was afterwards chosen councillor to his Majesty, and honoured with a rich pension for past services. But, alas! in the year 1620, Prague, the place he dwelt in, was taken by Frederick, then king of Bohemia, several members of the imperial council were imprisoned, and some of them even put to death.
Bereft of every thing he possessed, a prisoner as well as the others, poor Drebbel would perhaps have undergone the same lot if the High Mighty States of the United Provinces had not sent a message to the King of England, asking him to interfere in their countryman's favour. They succeeded in their benevolent request for his English Majesty obtained at last from his son-in-law, the Dutch philosopher's liberation, who (I don't exaggerate) was made a present of to the British king; maybe as a sort of lion, which the king of Morocco had never yet thought of bestowing upon the monarch as a regal offering.
Drebbel, however, did not forget how much he owed to the intercession of King James, and, to show his gratitude, presented him with an object of very peculiar make. I will try to give you an exact version of its not very clear description in the Dutch book.
"A glass or crystal globe, wherein he blew or made a perpetual motion by the power of the four elements. For every thing which (by the force of the elements) passes, in a year, on the surface of the earth (sic!) could be seen to pass in this cylindrical wonder in the shorter lapse of twenty-four hours. Thus were marked by it, all years, months, days, hours; the course of the sun, moon, planets, and stars, &c. It made you understand what cold is, what the cause of the primum mobile, what the first principle of the sun, how it moves the firmament, all stars, the moon, the sea, the surface of the earth, what occasions the ebb, flood, thunder, lightning, rain, wind, and how all things wax and multiply, &c.,—as every one can be informed of by Drebbel's own works; we refer the curious to his book, entitled Eeuwige Beweginghe (Perpetual Motion)."
Can this instrument have been a kind of Orrery?
"He built a ship, in which one could row and navigate under water, from Westminster to Greenwich, the distance of two Dutch miles; even five or six miles, as far as one pleased. In this boat, a person could see under the surface of the water, and without candlelight, as much as he needed to read in the Bible or any other book. Not long ago, this remarkable ship was yet to be seen lying on the Thames or London river.
"Aided by some instruments of his own manufacture, Drebbel could make it rain, lighten, and thunder at every time of the year, so that you would have sworn it came in a natural way from heaven.
"By means of other instruments, he could, in the midst of summer, so much refrigerate the atmosphere of certain places, that you would have thought yourself in the very midst of winter. This experiment he did once on his Majesty's request, in the great Hall of Westminster; and although a hot summer day had been chosen by the King, it became so cold in the Hall, that James and his followers took to their heels in hasty flight.
"With a certain instrument, he could draw an incredible quantity of water out of a well or river.
"By his peculiar ingenuity, he could, at all times of the year, even in the midst of winter, hatch chickens and ducklings without using hens or ducks.
"He made instruments, by means of which were seen pictures and portraits; for instance, he could show you kings, princes, nobles, although residing at that moment in foreign countries. And there was no paint nor painter's work to be seen, so that you saw a picture in appearance, but not in reality."
Perhaps a magic lantern?
"He could make a glass, that placed in the dark near him or another, drew the light of a candle, standing at the other end of a long room, with such force, that the glass near him reflected so much light as to enable him to see to read perfectly."
Was this done by parallel parabolical mirrors?
"He could make a plane glass without grinding it on either side, in which people saw themselves reflected seven times.
"He invented all these and many other curiosities, too long to relate, without the aid of the black art; but by natural philosophy alone, if we may believe the tongues whose eyes saw it. By these experiments, he so gained the King's favour, his Majesty granted him a pension of 2000 guilders. He died in London, anno 1634, the sixtieth year of his age."
Thus writes the Alkmaar chronicler. If you, or any of your learned correspondents, can elucidate the history of the instruments made by my countryman, he will much oblige all scientific antiquarians, and me, though not a Dr. Heavybottom, especially. I need not make apologies for my bad English, and hope none of your many readers will criticise it in a Dutch periodical.
Amsterdam, April, 1850.
I have in my possession a MS. book, in his own handwriting, of the late Rev. MARTIN STAFFORD SMITH of Bath, formerly chaplain to BISHOP WARBURTON, containing, amongst other matter, a series of letters, and extracts of letters, from the amiable and gifted, but unfortunate, CHARLES YORKE, to Bishop Warburton. At the close of this series, is the following note and extract:—
"Verses transcribed from the original, in Mr. C. Yorke's own writing, among his letters to Bishop Warburton; probably manuscript, and certainly his own composition: written from the Shades."
"Stript to the naked soul, escaped from clay,
From doubts unfetter'd, and dissolv'd in day,
Unwarm'd by vanity, unreach'd by strife,
And all my hopes and fears thrown off with life,—{8}
Why am I charm'd by Friendship's fond essays,
And, tho' unbodied, conscious of thy praise?
Has pride a portion in the parted soul?
Does passion still the formless mind controul?
Can gratitude out-pant the silent breath,
Or a friend's sorrow pierce the glooms of death?
No; 'tis a spirit's nobler taste of bliss,
That feels the worth it left, in proofs like this;
That not its own applause but thine approves,
Whose practice praises, and whose virtue loves;
Who lov'st to crown departed friends with fame,
Then dying late, shalt all thou gav'st reclaim."
It is my own impression, as well as that of an eminent critic to whom I communicated these lines, that they have been printed. If any contributor to "NOTES AND QUERIES" can tell where they are to be found, or can throw any light on their authorship, it will gratify
Bath, May 18. 1850.
It has been a frequent subject of remark, that geometry in its purest form has been cultivated in the northern counties, but more especially in Lancashire, with extraordinary ardour and success; and this by a class of men placed in a position the most unpropitious that can be conceived for the study—by operatives of the humblest class, and these chiefly weavers. The geometrical labours of these men would have gladdened the hearts of Euclid, Apollonius and Archimedes, and would have been chronicled by Pappus with his usual truthfulness and judicious commendation; had they only but so laboured in Greece, antecedently to, or cotemporarily with, those "fathers of geometry," instead of in modern England, cotemporarily with the Hargreaves, the Peels, and the Arkwrights. Yet not one in a thousand of your readers, perhaps, has ever heard of these men; and the visible traces of their existence and labours are very few, scarce, and scattered. A vague general statement respecting the prevalence of geometrical studies amongst the "middle-classes" of England was made by Playfair in the Edinburgh Review many years ago, which is quite calculated to mislead the reader; and the subject was dwelt upon at some length, and eloquently, by Harvey, at the British Association in 1831. Attention has been more recently directed to this subject by two living geometers—one in the Philosophical Magazine, and the other in the Mechanics'; but they both have wholly untouched a question of primary importance—even almost unmentioned:—it is, how, when, where, and by whom, was this most unlikely direction given to the minds of these men?
An answer to this question would form an important chapter in the history of human development, and throw much light upon the great educational questions of the present day. It may furnish useful hints for legislation, and would be of singular aid to those who were appointed to work out legislative objects in a true spirit. It cannot be doubted that a succinct account of the origin of this taste, and of the influences by which it has been maintained even to the present hour, would be a subject of interest to most of your readers, quite irrespective the greater or less importance and difficulty of the studies themselves, as the result would show how knowledge cannot only be effectively diffused but successfully extended under circumstances apparently the most hopeless.
Nor does Manchester stand as the only instance, for the weavers of Spitalfields display precisely the same singular phenomenon. What is still more singular is, that the same class in both localities have shown the same ardent devotion to natural history, and especially to Botany; although it is to be remarked that, whilst the botanists of Spitalfields have been horticulturists, those of Manchester have confined themselves more to English field flowers, the far more worthy and intellectual of the two.
We could add a "Note" here and there on some points arising out of this question; but our want of definite and complete information, and of the means of gaining it (except through you), compels us to leave the subject to others, better qualified for its discussion. Pray, sir, open your pages to the question, and oblige, your ever obedient servants,
Hill Top, May 27, 1850.
In former times it was the practice, upon the demise of those who died under sentence of excommunication, not merely to refuse interment to their bodies in consecrated ground, but to decline giving them any species of interment at all. The corpse was placed upon the surface of the earth, and there surrounded and covered over with stones. It was blocked up, "imblocatus," and this mode of disposing of dead bodies was designated "Asinorum Sepultura." Ducange gives more than one instance, viz., "Sepultura asini sepeliantur"—"ejusque corpus exanime asinorum accipiat sepulturam."
Wherefore was this mode of disposing of the dead bodies called "an ass's sepulture?" It is not sufficient to say that the body of a human being was buried like that of a beast, for then the term would be general and not particular; neither can I imagine that Christian writers used the phrase for the purpose of repudiating the accusation preferred against them by Pagans, of worshipping an ass. (See Baronius, ad. an. 201. §21.) The dead carcasses{9} of dogs and hounds were sometimes attached to the bodies of criminals. (See Grinds, Deutsche Rechte Alterthum, pp. 685, 686.) I refer to this to show that there must have been some special reason for the term "asinorum sepultura". That reason I would wish to have explained; Ducange does not give it, he merely tells what was the practice; and the attention of Grimm, it is plain, from his explanation of the "unehrliches begräbnis" (pp. 726, 727, 728.), was not directed towards it.
Ransom of an English Nobleman.—At page 28. vol. ii. of the Secret History of the Court of James I., Edinburgh, 1811 (a reprint), occurs the following:—
"Nay, to how lowe an ebbe of honor was this our poore despicable kingdome brought, that (even in Queen Elizabeth's time, the glory of the world) a great nobleman being taken prisoner, was freely released with this farewell given him, that they desired but two mastieffes for his ransome!"
Who was this great nobleman, and where may I find the fullest particulars of the whole transaction?
When does Easter end?—An enactment of the legislature directs a certain act to be done "within two months after Easter" in 1850, under a penalty for non-performance. I have no difficulty in finding that two calendar months are meant, but am puzzled how to compute when they should commence. I should be much obliged by being informed when Easter ends? that question set at rest, the other part is easily understood and obeyed.
Carucate of Land.—Will any one inform me what were the dimensions of a carucate of land, in Edward III.'s time? also, what was the comparative value of money at the same date? Are Tables, giving the value of money at various periods in our history, to be found in any readily accessible source?
Members for Calais.—Henry VIII. granted a representative in the English parliament to the town of Calais. Can any of your correspondents inform me whether this right was exercised till the loss of that town, and, if so, who were the members?
Members for Durham.—What was the reason that neither the county nor the city of Durham returned members to parliament previous to 1673-4?
Leicester, and the reputed Poisoners of his Time.—At page 315. vol. ii. of D'Israeli's Amenities of Literature, London, 1840, is as follows:—
"We find strange persons in the Earl's household (Leicester). Salvador, the Italian chemist, a confidential counsellor, supposed to have departed from this world with many secrets, succeeded by Dr. Julio, who risked the promotion. We are told of the lady who had lost her hair and her nails," ... "of the Cardinal Chatillon, who, after being closeted with the Queen, returning to France, never got beyond Canterbury; of the sending a casuist with a case of conscience to Walsingham, to satisfy that statesman of the moral expediency of ridding the state of the Queen of Scots by an Italian philtre."
Where may I turn for the above, more particularly for an account of the lady who had lost her hair and her nails?
April 9. 1850.
Lord John Townshend's Poetical Works.—Can any of your readers inform me whether the poetical works of Lord John Townshend, M.P., were ever collected and published, and, if so, when, and by whom? His lordship, who, it will be remembered, successively represented Cambridge University, Westminster, and Knaresborough, was considered to be the principal contributor to the Rolliad, and the author of many odes, sonnets, and other political effusions which circulated during, the eventful period 1780-1810.
May 4.
Martello Towers.—Is it the fact that the towers erected along the low coasts of Kent and Sussex during the prevalent dread of the French invasion received their designation from a town in Spain, where they were first built? By whom was the plan introduced into England? Is any account of their erection to be found in any Blue Book of the period?
Mynyddyslwyn.—The name of the parish Mynyddyslwyn, in Monmouthshire. This name, so full of Druidic suggestion, was lost from general use at, and anterior to, the incorporation of Wales with England by the statute of Rhudolan. In a list of the names of Welsh parishes at that time, the parish is called The Parish of Tudor ab Howell. Has any reader of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" met with Mynyddyslwyn in any document bearing an earlier date?
Abergwyddon.
Three Dukes.—Who were the three Dukes who killed the beadle on Sunday morning, 26th February, 1671, as commemorated by verses in Poems on State Affairs, vol. i. p. 147.?
Bishops and their Precedence.—Bishops, in all Tables of Precedency, have place before the temporal barons. No reason is assigned but it is generally supposed to be from the respect due to{10} the Church and their high calling which might have placed them higher.
Can any of your readers tell where any authority or reason is given by writers upon precedence why the precedence is given to them over the temporal barons?
Guineas.—What is the earliest instance of the use of the word guinea as a name for a coin? The common story is, that the piece of twenty-one shillings was so called in the reign of Charles II. from being made of gold from Guinea. What coin is meant in the following receipt?—
"Sachent tous que Mons. Gualhard de Dureffourt ... ad recue ... quatorze guianois dour et dys sondz de la mon[oye] currant a Burdeux."
The date is 12. Nov. 1387. The document is quoted in Madox's Baronia Anglica, p. 159. note d.
Parish Registers Tax.—In the Parish Register of Wigston Magna, Leicestershire, are the following entries against several dates in the Baptisms and Burials:—
1784. Septr. 5th (Burials), "P'd Tax to y's Day." —— Novr. 28th (Baptisms), "p'd Tax." 1785. Octr. 14th (Baptisms), "p'd Tax to this Day." 1786. Septr. 12th (Christenings), "p'd tax to this Day." 1786. Septr. 1st (Burials), "p'd tax to this Day." 1787. July 31st (Baptisms), "P'd Tax to this Day." —— Septr. 27th (Burials), "P'd Tax to this Day."
I should be glad to be informed what tax is here referred to. These are all the entries of the kind.
Charade.—Can any of your readers help me to a solution of the following poetical charade, which I believe appeared in the Times newspaper a few years back with this heading to it:—
"The following piece of mysticism has been sent to us as original, with a request for a solution. The authorship is among the secrets of literature: it is said to have been by Fox, Sheridan, Gregory, Psalmenazar, Lord Byron, and the Wandering Jew. We leave the question to our erudite readers."
"I sit on a rock
While I'm raising the wind,
But the storm once abated,
I'm gentle and kind;
I see kings at my feet,
Who wait but my nod,
To kneel in the dust
Which my footsteps have trod.
Though seen by the world,
I'm known but to few;
The Gentiles detest me,
I'm pork to the Jew.
I never have past
But one night in the dark,
And that was with Noah,
Alone, in the ark.
My weight is three pounds,
My length is a mile,
And when I'm discover'd,
You'll say, with a smile,
My first and my last
Are the wish of our isle."
I should be obliged if any body could give me a key to this.
Howkey or Horkey (Vol. i. p. 263.) is evidently, as your East Anglian correspondent and J.M.B. have pointed out, a corrupt pronunciation of the original Hockey; Hock being a heap of sheaves of corn, and hence the hock-cart, or cart loaded with sheaves.
Herrick, who often affords pleasing illustrations of old rural customs and superstitions, has a short poem, addressed to Lord Westmoreland, entitled "The Hock-cart, or Harvest Home," in which he says:—
"The harvest swains and wenches bound,
For joy to see the hock-cart crown'd."
Die Hocke was, in the language of Lower Saxony, a heap of sheaves. Hocken was the act of piling up these sheaves; and in that valuable repertory of old and provincial German words, the Wörterbuch of J.L. Frisch, it is shown to belong to the family of words which signify a heap or hilly protuberance.
We should have been prepared to find the word in East Anglia; but from Herrick's use of it, and others, it must have formerly been prevalent in the West of England also. It has nothing to do with Hock-tide, which is the Hoch-zeit of the Germans, and is merely [Transcriber's note: illegible] feast or highday of which a very satisfactory account will be found in Mr. Hampson's "Glossary" annexed to his Medii Aevi Kalendarium. An interesting account of the Hoch-zeit of the Germans of Lower Saxony occurs where we should little expect it, in the Sprichwörter of Master Egenolf, printed at Francfort in 1548, 4to.; and may perhaps serve to illustrate some of our obsolete rural customs:—
"We Germans keep carnival (all the time between Epiphany and Ash-Wednesday) St. Bernard's and St. Martin's days, Whitsuntide and Easter, as times, above all other periods of the year, when we should eat, drink, and be merry. St. Burchard's day, on account of the fermentation of the new must. St. Martin's, probably on account of the fermentation of the new wine: then we roast fat geese, and all the world enjoy themselves. At Easter we bake pancakes (fladen); at Whitsuntide we make bowers of green boughs, and keep the feast of the tabernacle in Saxony and Thuringia; and we drink, Whitsun-beer for eight days. In Saxony, we also keep the feast of St. Panthalion with drinking and eating sausages and roast legs of mutton stuffed with{11} garlic. To the kirmse, or church feast, which happens only once a year, four or five neighbouring villages go together, and it is a praiseworthy custom, as it maintains a neighbourly and kindly feeling among the people."
The pleasing account of the English harvest feast in Gage's Hengrave, calls it Hochay. Pegge, in his Supplement to Grose's Provincial Words, Hockey. Dr. Nares notices it in his Glossary, and refers to an account of its observance in Suffolk given in the New Monthly Magazine for November, 1820. See also Major Moor's Suffolk Words, and Forby's Vocabulary of East Anglia, who says that Bloomfield, the rustic poet of Suffolk, calls it the Horky; Dr. Nares having said that Bloomfield does not venture on this provincial term for a Harvest-home.
May 14. 1850.
(Vol. i. pp. 86. 275.)
If Charles Martel must no longer be the Mauler, he will only be excluded from a very motley band. Here are a few of his repudiated namesakes:—
1. The Maccabæi from Hebr. Makkab, a hammer.
2. Edward I., "Malleus Scotorum."
3. "St. Augustine, that Maul of heretics, was in chief repute with" Josias Shute, among the Latin Fathers. (Lloyd's Memoires, p. 294.) "God make you as Augustine, Malleum Hæreticorum." (Edward's Gangraena, Part II. p. 17. 1646.)
4. "Robertus Grossetest, Episcopus Lincolniensis, Romanorum Malleus, ob. 1253." (Fulman, Notitia Oxon. p. 103. 2nd ed.)
5. "Petrus de Alliaco, circ. A.D. 1400, Malleus a veritate aberrantium indefessus appellari solebat." (Wharton in Keble's Hooker, i. 102.)
6. T. Cromwell, "Malleus Monachorum:" "Mauler of Monasteries" [Fuller, if I recollect rightly, quoted by Carlyle]. Also, "Mawling religious houses." (Lloyd's State Worthies, i. 72. 8vo. ed.)
7. Bishop Prideaux, "Malleus Hæreseōs." (Wood, Ath. Oxon. iii. 267.)
8. Hooker, "Schismaticorum Malleus," Bp. H. King's Letter to Iz. Walton.
9. Peter Gunning, "Schismaticorum Malleus." (Barwick's Life, p. 22. Latin ed.)
10. Archbishop Usher, "Errorum malleus." (Univ. of Oxford. Parr's Life of Usher, p. 101.)
11. Henry Hammond, Errorum maleus, &c.. (Lloyd's Memoires, p. 401.)
12. Dean Comber, "falsi Malleus". (Ib. v. 450.) The reader will at once recollect "The hammer of the whole earth," in Jeremiah, L. 23. Grotius, in his note on the "Malleus universæ terræ" of that passage, says,—
"Sic vocat Chaldæos, pari de causâ ut ob quam
Francorum quidam dictus est Martellus".
Compare George Herbert of Lord Bacon,—"Sophismatum Mastix ... Securis que errorum," &c. &c. (Poems, p. 253, ed. 1844.) Nor must we forget Attila, "the scourge of God."
Charles Martel (Vol. i. p. 86.)—The following note may perhaps be acceptable in conjunction with that of G.J.K. (p. 86.), on Charles Martel. It is taken from Michelet's History of France, an easily accessible work.
"Charlemagne is usually considered as the translation of Carolus Magnus. 'Challemaines si vaut autant comme grant challes.' (Chro. de St. Denis, 1. i. c. 4.) Charlemagne is merely a corruption of Carloman, Karlmann, the strong man. In the above-cited chronicle itself, the words Challes and Challemaines are used for Charles and Carloman (maine, a corruption of mann, as leine of lana). In the Chronicle of Theophanes a still more conclusive text is found: he calls Carloman Καρουλλομαγνος; Scr. fr. v. 187. The two brothers must have borne the same name. In the 10th century, Charles the Bald was dignified, though most undeservedly, with the same title of Great, through the ignorance of the Latin monks.—Epitaph. ap Scrip. fr. vii. 322.
... Nomen qui nomine duxit
De Magni Magnus, de Caroli Carolus.
A similar kind of blunder was made by the Greek writers in the name Elagabal, which they transformed into Heliogabal, from "'Ηλιος, the sun."
With regard to Charles Martel, Michelet does not allude to M. Collin de Plaucy's explanation, and adopts the old version—
"Son surnom païen de Marteau me ferait volontiers douter s'il était chrétien. On sait que le marteau est l'attribut de Thor, le signe de l'association païcune, celui de la propriété de la conquête barbare."—Vide Michelet's Origines du Droit Français.
Charles was notoriously at variance with the Church. I should consider Michelet a much better authority than M. Collin de Plaucy, who, to judge from his preface to another work, Le Dictionnaire Infernal, slavishly submits his critical acuteness to the dicta of his Church.
I am not going to take part in the game of hockey, started by LORD BRAYBROOKE, and carried on with so much spirit by several of your correspondents in No. 28.; but I have a word to say to one of the hockey-players, C.B., who, per fas et nefas, has mixed up "feast and fast" with the game.
C.B. asks, "Is not the derivation of 'feast' and 'fast' originally the same? that which is appointed connected with 'fas,' and that from 'fari?'" I should say no; and let me cite the familiar lines from the beginning of Ovid's Fasti:—{12}
"Ne tamen ignores variorum jura dierum
Non habet officii Lucifer omnis idem.
Ille Nefastus erit per quem tria verba silentur:
Fastus, erit per quem lege licebit agi.
Neu toto perstare die sua jura putâris;
Qui jam Fastus erit, manè Nefastus erat.
Nam simul exta Deo data sunt, licet omnia fari;
Verbaque Honoratus libera Praetor habet."
The dies festus was not only not dies fastus, but dies nefastus.
Without going beyond feast and fast, I see nothing in C.B.'s suggestion better than the old derivations of the words feast from festus -um, and fast from the Anglo-Saxon; nor indeed anything half so good. Feast and fast are opposed in meaning: our word fast has a meaning which neither fas, fari, nor fastus, nor all three together, will explain.
The Badger's Legs (Vol. i., p. 381.).—In answer to one of your correspondents, who inquires whether there is any allusion to the inequalities of the badger's legs previous to that made by Sir T. Browne:—
"And as that beast hath legs (which shepherds fear,
'Yclept a badger, which our lambs doth tear),
One long, the other short, that when he runs
Upon the plain, he halts, but when he runs
On craggy rocks, or steepy hills, we see
None runs more swift or easier than he."
Browne's Britannia's Pastorals, B.I.
Song 5. A.D. 1613.
Twm Sion Catti (Vol. i., p. 456.).—Seleucus observes that Twm Catti flourished between the years 1590 and 1630.
I have seen the original pardon, under the great seal, countersigned Vaughan, and bearing date 15th Jan., 1st of Elizabeth (1559).
The pardon extends to—
"Thome Johns, alias Cattye, nuper de Tregaen in Com. Cardigan, Genº., alias dict. Thome Johns, alias Catty ae Tregaem, in Com. Cardigan, Generoso, alias dict. Thome Jones, alias Catty, Gent., sen quocunque alio nomine vel cognomine seu additione hominis cognitionis dignitatis, officii sen losi idem Thomas cognatur, vocetur seu nuncupetur," &c. &c.; and includes "omnia escapia et cautiones."
I have written the extract without all the contractions in the original.
May 21. 1850.
Christian Captives (Vol. i., p. 441.).—R.W.B. may probably obtain valuable information from the trustees of Lady Mico's Charity. See Attorney-General v. Gibson, 2 Beavan, 317. (n.)
A note on that case may not be uninteresting, as showing the vast increase of a fund originally small.
Lady Mico, in 1670, gave 1000l. to redeem poor slaves. In 1686 this fund was laid out in the purchase of land.
In 1827 an information was filed against Mr. Gibson and others and at that time the rental of the purchased land amounted to something like 3000l. a year, and the trustees had accumulated upwards of 115,000l. Consols.
Trustees were appointed in 1834, and their office is No. 20. Buckingham Street, Strand. The funds are applied towards the education of our emancipated slaves.
Cannibals.—Your correspondent W. (Vol. i., p. 186.) will field the origin of this word in Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae, Part II. Book i. c. i., where there are traced the gradations observed by travellers in the savagery of the several natives of America. Has it been recorded of any people in Europe, Asia, or Africa, that they were addicted to the practice of scalping?
Symbols of the four Evangelists.—The misappropriation of the four faces of the cherubim, originally designed to shadow forth the incarnate Deity, to the four evangelists, with whom these emblematic representations are still, as anciently, associated in architectural decorations and heraldic bearings, appear to have originated, among the early Christians, in the reverence with which they regarded the four gospels. JARLZBERG (Vol. i., p. 385.) explains why the lion is assigned to St. Mark, and desires to know the reasons assigned for the three other Evangelists' emblems.
"Aquila", says Aringhi, "dignissimum ilium ac lynceum in arcanarum rerum ac mysteriorum sublimitate speculatorem, Joannem Evangelistam sublimi velocium pennarum symbolo portendit."
The ox, according to the same author, has been assigned as well to St. Matthew as to St. Luke, as all laborious ministers of the gospel are aptly represented by the "animal natum tolerare labores."
Turkish Spy (Vol. i., p.334).—In the Gent. Mag. for March last, it is well observed that "It is a great fault in an historical writer not to be well read in Sylvanus Urban." The remark will apply to your inquirer concerning these celebrated letters, and indeed, to many others who devote much labour in exploring the contents of MSS., without being aware of what lies on the surface of literature. The late D'Israeli is a striking instance of this art of discovering in an old MS. what had been long known in print.
In consequence of what Mr. Hallam stated concerning these Letters of a Turkish Spy, I sent a communication to the Gent. Mag., which appeared{13} in vol. xiv. N.S. 142., on the subject, which gave rise to several interesting articles in the same and subsequent vol. from other more able writers. To these I would refer Dr. Rimbault, and it will afford me much satisfaction if he will aid in elucidating what still remains a vexata questio.
Dr. Maginn's Miscellanies (Vol. i., p. 470.).—In reply to J.M.B., I beg to state that the "Magazine Miscellanies" of Dr. Maginn were published in numbers, at 3d. each, by Dodsley and Co., Crane Court, Fleet St. I have nine numbers of it, all that were published, I believe, containing several tales, serious and humorous Poems, Irish Melodies, Maxims of Mr. O'Doherty, Miscellaneous Papers, The Tobias Correspondence, a translation of Lucian's Timon, Shakspere Papers on Sir John Falstaff Jaques, Romeo, Bottom the Weaver, Lady Macbeth, and Timon; a Translation of the Batrachomyomachia, and three or four of the Homeric Ballads.
Adelphi.
As your correspondent J.M.B. appears to be inquiring into the earliest contributions of Dr. Maginn to the periodical press in England, you may inform him that he communicated a great number of papers, &c., to the Literary Gazette before he left Cork, and wrote articles in Blackwood's Magazine. The former were his first appearances in print in England, though the Cork journals published many of his productions whilst yet a mere boy.
Trianon (Vol. i., p. 439.).—The meaning of this word is "a pavilion," and was applied, doubtless, to the elegant structures to which your correspondent refers, on account of the light and graceful style of their architecture.
Lee Trianons.—I have always understood that these gardens, &c., took their name from the village of Trianon, the site of which they occupy, and which village Louis XIV. purchased from the monks of St. Geneviève.
Pimlico (Vol. i. p. 383. and 474.).—Would it not be worth the while of some of your ingenious correspondents to inquire whether the following extract may not give a clue to the origin of this word?
In an enumeration of "strange birds" to be found in Barbadoes, there is mention of "the Egge Bird, the Cahow, the Tropick Bird, the Pemlico which presageth storms." America painted to the life. (The True History of the Spaniards' Proceedings in America, by Ferdinando Gorges, Esq., Lond. 4to. 1659.)
The Arms of Godin.—My attention has been drawn to a Query from Mr. KERSLEY, in page 439. of Vol. i., relative to the arms of Godin. I have seen these arms blazoned variously. Mr. Godin Shiffner bears them quarterly with his own coat of Shiffner, and blazons them thus:—Party per fess, azure and gules, a barr or; in chief, a dexter and sinister hand grasping a cup, all proper.
I am inclined to think this is an innovation upon the original arms, as I have them painted on an old piece of china azure, a cup or. They are here impaled with the arms of Du Fon, an ancient French family that intermarried with the Godins.
In the Théâtre de la Noblesse de Brabant, I find that "François Godin, Secrétaire ordinaire du Roy Philippe II., en grand conseil séant à Malines," was ennobled by letters patent, dated Madrid, 7th January, 1589, and "port les armoiries suivantes, qui sont, un escu de sinople à une coupe lasalade, ou couverture ouverte d'or; ledit escu sommé d'un heaume d'argent grillé et liséré d'or; aux bourlet et hachements d'or et de sinople: cimier une coupe de l'escu."
This blazoning is corrected in the index, where the arms are stated to be "un escu de sinople à la coupe couverte d'or."
In the Nobiliaire des Pays-Bas, I find that Daniel Godin, Seigneur de Beauvois, was enobled by Philip IV. in 1623, and "les armes sont, de sinople à une coupe couverte d'or."
In 1642, "Jean-François Godin, Seigneur de Baumez, Baillé et haut Justicier de Reumes" (son of François Godin, who was ennobled by Philip II.), obtained permission from Philip IV. to alter his paternal coat, and to carry "un écu de sinople à trois coupes couvertes d'or; cet écu timbré d'un casque d'argent, grillé, liséré, et couronné d'or, orné de ses lambrequins d'or et de sinople, et au-dessus en cimier, une tête et col de licorne au naturel."
His son, Jaques-François Godin, appears afterwards to have obtained the title of Baron.
The earliest mention I can find of the Godin arms is in 1588, when Christopher Godin carried "de sinople à une coupe couverte d'or." He was a son of Jacques Seigneur d'Aubrecicourt and of Françoise Lettin, and brother to the first-named François Godin. There appears to have been another brother, Jaques; and they were all three ennobled by Philip II., probably for their public services, as Christopher was Conseiller et Receveur-général des Domaines et Finances des Pays-Bas; Jacques, Conseiller et Maître de la Chambre des Comptes en Hollande; and François, Secrétaire du Grand Conseil à Malines.
I am not aware what connection existed between these Godins and the family of that name in Normandy (now extinct); but the cup in the arms, though borne differently, proves that they were of the same race.
May 23, 1850.
The Title of D.D.—The remarks of your correspondent "BROWN RAPPEE" (Vol. I. p. 438.){14} induced me to turn to the List of the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries, and I find it in my power to exonerate the compiler of the list on one point from the carelessness he imputes. "BROWN RAPPEE" says, "We see one or two D.D.'s deprived of their titles of 'Rev.'" I find but one D.D. in that condition, and in that instance the list is correct, and the usual prefix would have been an error; the gentleman in question not being in orders, although his services in Biblical literature have been acknowledged with the degree of D.D. Your correspondent does not seem to be aware that this doctorate is, like all others, an academical, and not a clerical, distinction and that, although it is seldom dissociated from the clerical office in this country, any lay scholar of adequate attainments in theology is competent to receive this distinction, and any university to bestow it upon him.
Emancipation of the Jews (Vol. i. p. 479.).—The following extract from Tovey's Anglia Judaica, p. 259., may be acceptable in connection with this subject:—
"As soon as King Charles was murther'd, the Jews petitioned the Council of War to endeavour a repeal of that act of parliament which had been made against them; promising, in return, to make them a present of five hundred thousand pounds: Provided that they could likewise procure the cathedral of St. Paul to be procured them for a synagogue, and the Bodleian Library at Oxford to begin their traffic with, which piece of service it seems was undertaken by those honest men, at the solicitation of Hugh Peters and Henry Masters, whom the Jews employed as their brokers but without any success."
Afterwards, however, the Jews of Holland sent a deputation, consisting of the famous Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel, and several wealthy Jewish merchants. When Cromwell came into full power their hopes were raised, for he was known to be favourable to their re-admission; but after much discussion, the popular feeling, and the voices of many influential preachers, were found to be so much against the measure that nothing was eventually done; and Charles II. must be regarded as the restorer of the Jews to this country. Tovey says that the Rabbi Netto, "the governor of the synagogue" in his time, had searched the Jewish registers at his request, and had found that, so late as 1663, there were but twelve Jews in England. It seems that while these negotiations were in hand, all sorts of absurd and idle rumours were afloat. Among these I incline to reckon the alleged proposal to purchase St. Paul's for a synagogue. It seems to be sufficiently refuted by the intrinsic absurdity of the thing. But beyond this we have the express denial, made on the spot and at the time, by Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel himself. On turning to his Vindiciæ Judæorum, written in this country, I find that after recapitulating various calumnies on his people—such as their sacrificing Christian children, etc.—he thus goes on:—
"'Love and hatred,' says Plutarch, 'corrupt the truth of every thing;' as experience sufficiently declares it, when we see that which comes to pass, that one and the same thing, in one and the same city, at one and the same time, is related in different manners. I myself, in my own negociation here, have found it so. For it hath been rumoured abroad, that our nation had purchased St. Paul's church, for to make it their synagogue, notwithstanding it was a temple formerly consecrated to Diana. And many other things have been reported of us that never entered the thought of our nation."
Sneck-up or Snick-up.—Surely this means nothing more or less than what we should write Hiccup! or Hiccough! so, at least, I have always supposed; misled, perhaps, by Sir Toby's surname, and his parenthetical imprecation on "pickle herring". I do not pretend to be a critic of Shakspeare, and must confess that I do not possess a copy of the "Twelfth Night" but after seeing your correspondent R.R.'s letter (Vol. i., p. 467.), I resolved to write you a note. First, however, I called on a neighbour to get a look at the text, and he brought me down Theobald's edition of 1773, where it stands,—
"Sir To. We did keep time, Sir, in our catches.
Sneck up!" [Hiccoughs.
The effort necessary to pronounce the word "catches" might help to produce a catch of another sort in the stomach of a gentleman oppressed with drink and pickle herring; and it seems likely that some such idea was in the author's mind.
The readiness which many of our friends have evinced to illustrate that most curious, interesting, and valuable of all gossiping histories, the recently completed edition of The Diary of Samuel Pepys, for which the public is indebted to our noble correspondent Lord Braybrooke, tempts us to call their attention to the no less important work now in course of publication, The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn. This we are the more anxious to do, inasmuch as, although the two volumes already issued complete the Diary, there remains still an opportunity of introducing into the concluding volumes such farther notes and illustrations as any of our readers may be enabled and disposed to furnish and who would not gladly so show his reverence for the memory of such a man as John Evelyn?
A List of Printed Service Books according to the Ancient Uses of the Anglican Church has recently been{15} printed by Mr. F. Dickenson (late M.P. for Somersetshire), as a first attempt towards getting a complete account of all such books, and of all copies of each class that are extant. Mr. Dickenson's object is, eventually to produce a complete Catalogue raisonnée of all books of this class, whether printed or MSS., comprising, as to the MSS., a careful abstract of the contents of each, with a notice of its probable age and of anything that may help to fix the place where it was written, or intended to be used; and as to the printed copies, supplying the title, colophon, foliation, and any peculiarities of type, woodcuts, or ornaments, and including besides, an account of the origin and history of the Anglican uses. Any information on these heads with which that gentleman may be favoured, our readers may calculate on seeing turned to good account.
We have tested De la Rue and Co.'s Improved Pamphlet Binder (registered by James MacCabe), for the purpose of facilitating the binding or extracting of any letter or pamphlet, without the possibility of deranging the consecutive order of any others that may be contained in it, and have found it answer extremely well the purpose for which it was intended. Whether containing one pamphlet or fifty,—and we tried with the numbers of our valued contemporary, the Athenæum,—it equally forms a perfect book; and we have therefore no doubt of its practical utility.
Messrs. Sotheby and Co., Wellington Street, Strand, will commence on Wednesday next a nine days' sale of the Philological, Philosophical, Historical, Classical, and General Library of the late Dr. Scott, of Bedford Square, a library particularly rich in Oriental Works.
(In continuation of Lists in former Nos.):
ARCANA OF SCIENCE, 1828.
Odd Volumes.
ERASMUS'S PARAPHRASE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, Vol. II., and Title-page to Vol. I.
BLOOMFIELD'S NORFOLK, Vol. III.
TRIAL OF THE EARL OF STRAFFORD (being Vol. VIII. of "Rushworth's Historical Collections").
*** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be sent to Mr. Bell, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
The matter is so generally understood with regard to the management of periodical works, that it is hardly necessary for the Editor to say that HE CANNOT UNDERTAKE TO RETURN MANUSCRIPTS; but on one point he wishes to offer a few words of explanation to his correspondents in general, and particularly to those who do not enable him to communicate with them except in print. They will see, on a very little reflection, that it is plainly his interest to take all he can get, and make the most, and the best of everything; and therefore he begs them to take for granted that their communications are received, and appreciated, even if two or three succeeding Numbers bear no proof of it. He is convinced that the want of specific acknowledgment will only be felt by those who have no idea of the labour and difficulty attendant on the hurried management of such a work, and of the impossibility of sometimes giving an explanation, when there really is one which would quite satisfy the writer, for the delay or non-insertion of his communication. Correspondents in such cases have no reason, and if they understood an editor's position they would feel that they have no right, to consider themselves undervalued; but nothing short of personal experience in editorship would explain to them the perplexities and evil consequences arising from an opposite course.
INDEX AND TITLE-PAGE TO VOLUME THE FIRST. The Index is preparing as rapidly as can be, consistently with fullness and accuracy, and we hope to have that and the Title page ready by the 15th of the Month.
Our readers will perceive some few alterations in the mechanical arrangement of our Paper. These have been adopted for the purpose of procuring additional space for their communications.
Errata in Vol. I.—P. 405. col. 1., for "Taxall" and "Texshall," read "Paxall" and "Pexshall," and for "Bacon," read "Becon;" p. 412. col. 2. l. 17., for "audato" read "andato," l. 20., for "Ginnone," read "Giunone," l. 23., for "DELLE," read "DETTE," l. 24, for "Gopelin," read "Gosselin;" p 468. col. 2., for "Estruscilla," read "Etruscilla;" p.481 col. 2., for "Prominens," read "Proximus," and for "proprior," read "propior;" p.486. col. 1. l. 23., for "vespertionum," read "vespertilionum."
Just published, price 1s. each.
THE UNIVERSITY COMMISSION; or, Lord John Russell's Post Bag of April 27. 1850. Parts 1 and 2. Part 3 in a few days.
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SELDEN'S TABLE TALK.
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THE TEMPLE, SACRED POEMS, and PRIVATE EJACULATIONS. By GEORGE HERBERT.
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A CHART of ANCIENT ARMOUR, from the ELEVENTH to the SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES; containing Eighteen Figures, with a Description and a Sketch of the Progress of European Armour. By JOHN HEWITT.
"A graphic outline of the subject of military costume during the period of its greatest interest to the English antiquary. The author has made a judicious selection of examples, chiefly from the rich series of monumental effigies; and, in the brief text which accompanies these illustrations, a useful resumé will be found of a subject which, not many years since, was attainable only through the medium of costly publications."—Archaeological Journal.
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