Transcriber's note: |
A few typographical errors have been corrected. They
appear in the text like this, and the
explanation will appear when the mouse pointer is moved over the marked
passage. |
No. 171. | Saturday, February 5. 1853. | Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d. |
Notes:— | Page |
Jacob Grimm on the Genius and Vocation of the English Language | 125 |
Preservation of valuable Papers from Damp; Drying Closets | 126 |
Position of the Clergy in the Seventeenth Century, by J. Lewelyn Curtis | 126 |
General Wolfe | 127 |
Inscriptions in Books | 127 |
Folk Lore:—Baptismal Custom—Subterranean Bells—Leicestershire Custom—Hooping Cough: Hedera Helix | 128 |
Minor Notes:—The Aught And Forty Daugh—Alliterative Pasquinade—The Names "Bonaparte" and "Napoleon"—A Parish Kettle—Pepys's Diary; Battle of St. Gothard—First Folio Shakspeare—An ancient Tombstone | 128 |
Queries:— | |
Excessive Rainfall, by Robert Rawlinson | 130 |
Baptist Vincent Lavall, by William Duane | 130 |
Graves of Mickleton, co. Gloucester, by James Graves | 130 |
Searson's Poems | 131 |
Minor Queries:—Haberdon or Habyrdon—Holles Family—"To lie at the Catch"—Names of Planets: Spade—Arms in painted Glass—The sign of "The Two Chances"—Consecrators of English Bishops—A nunting Table—John Pictones—Gospel Place—York Mint—Chipchase of Chipchase—Newspapers—On alleged historical Facts—Costume of Spanish Physicians—Genoveva—Quotation—"God and the World"—"Solid Men of Boston"—Lost MS. by Alexander Pennecuik—"The Percy Anecdotes"—Norman Song—God's Marks—The Bronze Statue of Charles I., Charing Cross | 132 |
Minor Queries with Answers:—Hutter's Polyglott—Ethnology of England—Pitt of Pimperne—"The Bottle Department" of the Beer-trade | 134 |
Replies:— | |
Bishop Pursglove (Suffragan) of Hull, by John I. Dredge, &c. | 135 |
The Gregorian Tones by Dr. E. F. Rimbault | 136 |
Love's Labour's Lost, Act V. Sc. 2., by Thos. Keightley | 136 |
Niágara or Niagára, by Robert Wright | 137 |
Drengage, by Wm. Sidney Gibson | 137 |
Chatterton | 138 |
Literary Frauds of Modern Times | 139 |
Sir H. Wotton's Letter to Milton | 140 |
Photographic Notes and Queries:—Sir W. Newton's Process—Collodion Film on Copper Plates—Treatment of the Paper Positive after fixing | 140 |
Replies to Minor Queries:—Essay for a New Translation of the Bible—Touchstone—Early Edition of Solinus—Straw Bail—Doctor Young—Scarfs worn by Clergymen—Cibber's Lives of the Poets—"Letters on Prejudice"—Statue of St. Peter, &c. | 142 |
Miscellaneous:— | |
Books and Odd Volumes wanted | 146 |
Notices to Correspondents | 146 |
Advertisements | 146 |
I send you a very eloquent tribute to the genius and power of the English language by Jacob Grimm, extracted from a paper entitled "Ueber den Ursprung der Sprache," read before the Royal Academy of Berlin, January 9, 1851, and contained in the Transactions of that Society, "Section of Philology and History for 1851," p. 135.: Berlin, 4to., 1852:—
"Jacob Grimm Ueber den Ursprung der Sprache. Abhandlungen der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1851.
"Keine, unter allen neueren Sprachen, hat gerade durch das Aufgeben und Zerrütten alter Lautgesetze, durch den Wegfall beinahe sämmtlicher Flexionen, eine grössere Kraft und Stärke empfangen, als die Englische, und von ihrer nicht einmal lehrbaren, nur lernbaren Fülle freier Mitteltöne ist eine wesentliche Gewalt des Ausdrucks abhängig geworden, wie sie vielleicht noch nie einer andern menschlichen Zunge zu Gebote stand. Ihre ganze überaus geistige, wunderbar geglückte Anlage und Durchbildung war hervorgeganen aus einer überraschenden Vermählung der beiden edelsten Sprachen des späteren Europas, der Germanischen und Romanischen, und bekannt ist, wie im Englischen sich beide zu einander verhalten, indem jene bei weitem die sinnliche Grundlage hergab, diese die geistigen Begriffe zuführte. Ja, die Englische Sprache, von der nicht umsonst auch der grösste und überlegenste Dichter der neuen Zeit im Gegensatz zur classischen alten Poesie, ich kann natürlich nur Shakespeare meinen, gezeugt und getragen worden ist, sie darf mit vollem Recht eine Weltsprache heissen, und scheint gleich dem Englischen Volke ausersehn künftig noch in höherem Masse an allen Enden der Erde zu walten. Denn an Reichthum, Vernunft und gedrängter Füge lässt sich keine aller noch lebenden Sprachen ihr an die Seite setzen, auch unsere Deutsche nicht, die zerrissen ist, wie wir selbst zerrissen sind, und erst manche Gebrechen von sich abschütteln müsste, ehe sie kühn mit in die Laufbahn träte."
(Translation.)
Of all modern languages, not one has acquired such great strength and vigour as the English. It has accomplished this by simply freeing itself from the ancient phonetic laws, and casting off almost all {126}inflections; whilst, from its abundance of intermediate sounds [Mitteltöne[1]], tones not even to be taught, but only to be learned, it has derived a characteristic power of expression such as perhaps was never yet the property of any other human tongue. Its highly spiritual genius, and wonderfully happy development, have proceeded from a surprisingly intimate alliance of the two oldest languages of modern Europe—the Germanic and Romanesque.[2] It is well known in what relation these stand to one another in the English language. The former supplies the material groundwork, the latter the higher mental conceptions. Indeed, the English language, which has not in vain produced and supported the greatest, the most prominent of all modern poets (I allude, of course, to Shakspeare), in contradistinction to the ancient classical poetry, may be called justly a LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD: and seems, like the English nation, to be destined to reign in future with still more extensive sway over all parts of the globe. For none of all the living languages can be compared with it as to richness, rationality, and close construction [Vernunft und gedrängter Füge], not even the German—which has many discrepancies like our nation, and from which it would be first obliged to free itself, before it could boldly enter the lists with the English.
I transmit the text, as many of your readers may prefer the extract—as most "foreign extracts" are preferred—"neat as imported:" although, owing to the kindness of a friend, it is fairly represented in the translation. It is however very difficult to find words which precisely express the meaning of German scientific terms.
Mitteltöne are those sounds which stand between the three fundamental vowels, a, i, u, as pronounced by the continental nations.
Footnote 2:(return)Romanesque. Those languages which have descended from the Latin, as the Spanish, Frank, or French, &c.
The desiccative powers of lime are familiar to chemists, and, I believe, to many practical men; but I do not know of lime having been used for the above purpose.
A strong chest, in my possession, containing important papers (title-deeds, marriage certificates, &c.), gradually became damp, and subjected its contents to a slow process of decay. This arose, I found, from a defect in its construction, wood having been improperly introduced into the latter, and concealed; so that some singular chemical compounds would appear to have been formed. The papers were gradually injured to an extent enforcing attention; and the process continued in them after their removal into a well-constructed chest, giving me the impression of a process resembling the action of a ferment. Several attempts were made to dry them by fires, the rays of the sun, &c.; but the damp was always renewed.
They were thoroughly dried in a very few days, and permanently kept dry, by placing and keeping in the chest a box containing a little quicklime.
At a later period, a large closet, so damp as to render articles mouldy, was thoroughly dried, and kept dry, by a box containing lime.
The chest was about 2 feet 6 inches, by 2 feet 1 inch, and 1 foot 8 inches; and the box placed in it for several months was about 1 foot 2½ inches, by 8½ inches, and 3 inches. After about a year, although no very perceptible damp was discovered, yet, in consequence of the value of the papers, and the beauty of some of them as manuscripts, I introduced two such boxes. These proportions were selected to enable the boxes to stand conveniently on a shelf with account-books and packages of papers.
The closet is about 11 feet 4 inches, by 2, irregular dimensions, which I estimate at about 6 feet, and 2 feet 4 inches. The box used in this case is 1 foot 4 inches, by 11 inches, and 7 inches.
The lime should be in pieces of a suitable size. For the chest, I prefer pieces about the size of a large English walnut; for the closet, of an orange.
It is necessary either that the box should be strongly made, or be formed of tin, or other metal, on account of the lateral expansive force of the lime. Room for expansion upwards is not sufficient protection. The same expansion renders it necessary that the box should not be more than two-fifths filled with fresh lime.
I leave the tops open. If covered, they must be so disposed that the air within the boxes shall freely communicate with that of the chest or closet.
I have used these boxes several years, and only changed the lime once a year.
Philadelphia.
The Proceedings and Papers of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Session IV., 1851-2, include a paper contributed by Thomas Dorning Hibbert, of the Middle Temple, Esq., being the second of a series of "Letters relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, temp. James I., Charles I., and Charles II."
One of these letters, written in or about the year 1605, by the Rev. William Batemanne, from Ludgarsall (Ludgar's Hall), "a parish which lies in the counties of Oxford and Bucks," and addressed "to his louinge father Ihon Batemanne, alderman at Maxfelde" (Macclesfield), contains, as the learned contributor remarks, "strong confirmation of Mr. Macaulay's controverted statement, that the country clergy occupied a very humble position in the sixteenth and seventeenth {127}centuries." He adds, that "no clergyman could now be found who would think of sending his sister to an inn to learn household matters."
The Rev. William Batemanne, "who appears to have been educated at Oxford," writes thus:
"... My sister Katren is placed in a verie good house in Bissiter [Bicester], wher shea shall learne to doe all manner of thinges that belonge to a good huswyfe. It is a vitailinge house greatlie occupied. Shea shall not learne onelie to dresse meate and drinke excellent well, but allso bruinge, bakinge, winnowinge, with all other thinges theirunto appertaininge, for they are verie rich folkes, and verie sharpe and quicke both of them. The cause why my Ant received her not, as shea answered us, was because all this winter shea intendeth to have but one servant woman, and shea thought my sister was not able to doe all her worke, because shea imagined her to be verie raw in theire countrey worke, wch thinge trewlie shea that hath her now did thinke, and theirefore her wage is the slenderer, but xvjs [16s.], wch in this place is counted nothinge in effecte for such a strong woman as shea is; but I bringinge her to Bissiter uppon Wednesday, beinng Michaelmas even, told her dame the wage was verie small, and said I trusted shea would mend it if shea proved a good girle, as I had good hope shea would. Quoth I, it will scarce bye her hose and shooes. Nay, saith shea, I will warrant her have so much given her before the yeare be expyred, and by God's helpe that wch wants I myselfe will fill upp as much as I am able...."
I copy the following interesting Note from the London Chronicle, August 19, 1788:
It is a circumstance not generally known, but believed by the army which served under General Wolfe, that his death-wound was not received by the common chance of war, but given by a deserter from his own regiment. The circumstances are thus related:—The General perceived one of the sergeants of his regiment strike a man under arms (an act against which he had given particular orders), and knowing the man to be a good soldier, reprehended the aggressor with much warmth, and threatened to reduce him to the ranks. This so far incensed the sergeant, that he took the first opportunity of deserting to the enemy, where he meditated the means of destroying the General, which he effected by being placed in the enemy's left wing, which was directly opposite the right of the British line, where Wolfe commanded in person, and where he was marked out by the miscreant, who was provided with a rifle piece, and, unfortunately for this country, effected his purpose. After the defeat of the French army, the deserters were all removed to Crown Point, which being afterwards suddenly invested and taken by the British army, the whole of the garrison fell into the hands of the captors; when the sergeant of whom we have been speaking was hanged for desertion, but before the execution of his sentence confessed the facts above recited."[3]
In Smith's Marylebone, p. 272., is a notice of Lieutenant M‘Culloch, according to whose plan Wolfe attacked Quebec. M‘Culloch became destitute, and died in Marylebone workhouse in 1793. A letter from Wolfe to Admiral Saunders is in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1801; and one addressed by him to Barré was sold by Puttick and Simpson about three years since.
A portrait of Wolfe by Sir Joshua Reynolds is in possession of Mr. Cole of Worcester.
Since my last notice, I have heard that Mr. Henry George, proprietor of the Westerham Journal, made some collections towards a life of Wolfe: if so, it is not improbable that Mr. Streatfield obtained them at his sale in 1844. In conclusion, I beg to inquire, whence come the lines quoted by the Marquis of Lansdowne?—
"Enough for him
That Chatham's language was his mother-tongue,
And Wolfe's great name compatriot with his own."
Knightsbridge.
[The incident related above has been preserved by Sir William Musgrave, in his Biographical Adversaria (Additional MSS., No. 5723., British Museum), who has added the following note:—"This account was had from a gentleman who heard the confession." For some further notices of Mrs. Henrietta Wolfe, the mother of the General, relative to her death and the disposal of her property, see the Addit. MSS., No. 5832., p. 78.—Ed.]
It occurs to me that an interesting collection might be formed of the various forms and methods by which the ownership of books is sometimes found to be asserted on their fly-leaves. Borrowers are exhorted to faithful restitution; and consequences are threatened to those who misuse, or fail to return, or absolutely steal the valued literary treasure.
I forward a few such Notes as have fallen in my way, thinking they may interest your readers, and shall be obliged by any additions. The first is an admonition to borrowers, by no means a superfluous one, as I know to my cost. It is printed on a small paper, about the size of an ordinary book-plate, with blank for the owner's name, to be filled up in manuscript:
"This Book
Belongs to . . . . . .
"If thou art borrowed by a friend,
Right welcome shall he be
To read, to study—not to lend,
But to return to me.
"Not that imparted knowledge doth
Diminish learning's store;
But books, I find, if often lent,
Return to me no more.
. . . . . .
"Give your attention as you read,
And frequent pauses take;
Think seriously; and take good heed
That you no dog's-ears make.
"Don't wet the fingers, as you turn
The pages, one by one.
Never touch prints, observe: and learn
Each idle gait to shun."
On the fly-leaf of a Bible I find the following, which, however, is taken from The Weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome, vol. ii. p. 198. No 15., dated Friday, Dec. 26, 1679:
"Sancte Liber! venerande Liber! Liber optime, salve!
O Animæ nostræ, Biblia dimidium!"
A very common formula, in works of a devotional nature, is as follows:
"This is Giles Wilkinson his book.
God give him grace therein to look."
We now come to some of a menacing description:
"Si quis hunc furto rapiet libellum,
Reddat:—aut collo dabitur capistrum,
Carnifex ejus tunicas habebit,
Terra cadaver."
And again:
"Si quis hunc librum rapiat scelestus,
Atque furtivis manibus prehendat,
Pergat ad tetras Acherontis undas
Non rediturus."
These last partake somewhat of the character of the diræ and anathemas which are sometimes found at the end of old MSS., and were prompted, doubtless, by the great scarcity and consequent value of books before the invention of printing.
Baptismal Custom.—In many country parishes the child is invariably called by the name of the saint on whose day he happens to have been born.
I know one called Valentine, because he appeared in the world upon the 14th of February; and lately baptized a child myself by the name of Benjamin Simon Jude. Subsequently, on expressing some surprise at the strange conjunction, I was informed that he was born on the festival of SS. Simon and Jude, and that it was always very unlucky to take the day from a child.
Warmington.
Subterranean Bells.—Hone, in his Year-Book, gives a letter from a correspondent in relation to a tradition in Raleigh, Nottinghamshire, which states that many centuries since the church and a whole village were swallowed up by an earthquake. Many villages and towns have certainly shared a similar fate, and we have never heard of them more.
"The times have been
When the brains were out the man would die,
That there an end."
But at Raleigh, they say, the old church-bells still ring at Christmas time, deep, deep in earth; and that it was a Christmas-morning custom for the people to go out into the valley, and put their ears to the ground to listen to the mysterious chimes of the subterranean temple. Is this a tradition peculiar to this locality? I fancy not, and seem to have a faint remembrance of a similar belief in other parts. Can any of your correspondents favour "N. & Q." with information hereon?
Leicestershire Custom.—A custom exists in the town of Leicester, of rather a singular nature. The first time a new-born child pays a visit, it is presented with an egg, a pound of salt, and a bundle of matches. Can any of your correspondents explain this custom?
Hooping Cough: Hedera Helix.—In addition to my former communications on this subject, I beg to forward the following:—
Drinking-cups made from the wood of the common ivy, and used by children affected with this complaint, for taking therefrom all they require to drink, is current in the county of Salop as an infallible remedy; and I once knew an old gentleman (now no more) who being fond of turning as an amusement, was accustomed to supply his neighbours with them, and whose brother always supplied him with the wood, cut from his own plantations. It is necessary, in order to be effective, that the ivy from which the cups are made should be cut at some particular change of the moon, or hour of the night, &c., which I am now unable to ascertain: but perhaps some of your readers could give you the exact period.
The Aught and Forty Daugh.—The lordship of Strathbogie, now the property of his Grace the Duke of Richmond, was anciently known by this name. It is one of the toasts always drunk at the meetings of agricultural associations, the anniversary of his Grace's birthday, &c., in the district. The meaning has often puzzled newspaper readers at a distance. It was the original estate of the powerful family of Gordon in the north of Scotland. A daugh, or davach, contains 32 oxgates of 13 acres each, or 416 acres of arable land. At {129}this rate, the whole lordship was anciently estimated at 20,000 acres of arable land, and comprehends 120 square miles in whole.
Alliterative Pasquinade.—The following alliterative pasquinade on Convocation, which I have cut from one of the newspapers, is, I think, sufficiently clever to deserve preservation in the pages of "N. & Q.:"
"The Earl of Shaftesbury has given notice that he will call the attention of the House to the subject of Convocation after the recess. The exact terms of his lordship's motion have not as yet been announced; but it is understood that it will be in the form of an abstract resolution, somewhat to the following effect:—
"'That this House, considering the consanguinity and concordant consociation of Gog and Magog to be concludent to, and confirmatory of, a consimilar connatural conjunction and concatenation between Convocation and Confession with its concomitant contaminations, and conceiving the congregating, confabulating, and consulting of Convocation to be conducive to controversy and contention, and consequent conflicts, confusion and convulsion, concurs in the conviction that to convene, and to continue Convocation, is a contumacious contravention of the Constitution, and a contrivance for constraint of conscience, and that the contemptible conspiracy, concocted for concerting the constituting and conserving of the continuous concorporal consession and conciliar conference of Convocation, is to be contumeliously conculcated by the consentient and condign condemnation of this House.'"
The Names "Bonaparte" and "Napoleon."—Among the many fabulous tales that have been published respecting the origin of the name of Bonaparte, there in one which, from its ingeniousness and romantic character, seems deserving of notice.
It is said that the "Man in the Iron Mask" was no other than the twin (and elder) brother of Louis XIV.; that his keeper's name was Bonpart; that that keeper had a daughter, with whom the Man in the Mask fell in love, and to whom he was privately married; that their children received their mother's name, and were secretly conveyed to Corsica, where the name was converted into Bonaparte or Buonaparte; and that one of those children was the ancestor of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was thus entitled to be recognised not only as of French origin, but as the direct descendant of the rightful heir to the throne of France.
The Bonapartes are said to have adopted the name of Napoleon from Napoleon des Ursins, a distinguished character in Italian story, with one of whose descendants they became connected by marriage; and the first of the family to whom it was given was a brother of Joseph Bonaparte, the grandfather of Napoleon I. Many are the jeux de mots that have been made on this name; but the following, which I have just met with in Littérature Française Contemporaine, vol. ii. p. 266., is perhaps the most remarkable.
The word Napoleon, being written in Greek characters, will form seven different words, by dropping the first letter of each in succession, namely, Ναπολεων, Απολεων, Πολεων, Ολεων, Λεων, Εων, Ων. These words make a complete sentence, and are thus translated into French: "Napoléon, étant le lion des peuples, allait détruisant les cités."
St. Lucia.
A Parish Kettle.—In the accounts of the churchwardens of Chudleigh in Devonshire, during a period extending from 1565 to 1651, occasional mention is made of "the church chyttel," "parish chettle," "parish chetell or furnace," "parish crock;" and charges are made for malt and hops for brewing ale; and the money received for ale sold is accounted for. There may also have been provided, for the use of the parish, a vessel of smaller dimensions than the crock, for in the year 1581 there is an entry of 1s. 2d. received "for the lone of the parish panne." As cyder must have been at that time, as it is now, the common drink of the working-classes, the parish "crock" must have been provided for the use of the occupiers of the land. I suppose that the term crock, for a pot made of brass or copper, had its origin in times when our cooking-vessels were made of crockeryware.
I have never seen, in the ancient accounts of churchwardens, any mention made of a "town plough," which Gastros notices (Vol. vi., p. 462.).
Pepys's Diary; Battle of St. Gothard.—Lord Braybrooke, in a note on 9th August, 1664, on which day Pepys mentions a great battle fought in Hungary, observes, "This was the battle of St. Gothard, fought 1st August, so that the news reached England in eight days." This would scarcely be possible even in these days of railways. The difference of styles must have been overlooked, which would make the intelligence arrive in eighteen days, instead of eight.
First Folio Shakspeare.—It would be extremely desirable that every one who possesses, or knows of a copy of the first folio, would send to "N. & Q." a note of the existence of such copy; its present owner's name; date of acquisition; last owner's name; the price paid; its present condition; and any other circumstances peculiar to the copy. When the editor should receive an adequate number of replies to this suggestion, he might publish a list in some methodised form, and subsequent lists as occasion might require. I have examined the libraries of several great country-houses, and have never found a first folio; not even at Wilton, {130}where, of all the houses in England, we are most sure that it must have been.
An ancient Tombstone.—In the month of December, 1851, a tombstone was found at the quay of Aberdeen, near Weigh House Square, in excavating for a common sewer. On it is carved a cross, and a shield containing the initials "G. M.," a nameless instrument, or a couple of instruments, placed crosswise, and a heart with a cross in the centre. Round the edge is cut exquisitely, in Old English letters, with contractions such as we see in old MSS., the following inscription, "Hic jacet honorabilis Vir Georgius Manzs (Menzies?), civis de Abirden, cum uxore eius Anneta Scherar, qui obiit XXVII die mensis Septembris, anno D. N. I. MIIIIXX." In former times, the Menzieses, the Collisons, and the Rutherfords held ruling power in Aberdeen, as in more recent times did the Gibbons, Bannermans, and Hogarths.
The following quotation induces me to put a Query to the numerous scientific readers of your widely-circulated publication:
"It is a remarkable circumstance that an unprecedented quantity of rain has fallen during the last year (1852) all over the world,—England, Ireland, Europe generally, Africa, India, and even in Australia."
Query, Is it anywhere recorded that so widespread a rainfall has been previously noticed? It is said that excessive rainfall has been general all over the world; and it would appear to have been general over a great portion of the land. This, however, does not constitute the whole world. The area of our globe is composed of about four-fifths water to one-fifth land; so that an excess of rain might fall upon every square mile of land, and yet the average rainfall of the whole world not be exceeded. This is an important truth, and should be generally understood. Taking the surface of the whole world, there is probably, year by year, the same amount of sunshine and heat, the same quantity of evaporation, and the same volume of rainfall; but there is inequality of distribution. We find a dry summer in America, and a wet one in Europe; excessive wet in the south of Europe, with excessive drought in the north; with similar excesses over much more limited areas. This case holds good even for the extraordinary year of 1852. Excess of rain has fallen on most of the land over the earth's surface; but there has been a minimum on the great oceans; as see the accounts of the fine weather, light winds, and calms, experienced in the voyages to Australia.
The question of general equality and local excesses may now, through our commerce, have that attention given to it which has hitherto been impossible. It is well worthy of study.
I have in my possession a manuscript of about six hundred pages, entitled "Lavall's Tour across the American Continent, from the North Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, in a more southern Latitude than any yet attempted: performed in the Years 1809 and 1810." A map of the route accompanies it.
The accounts of the country, and of the Indian tribes, correspond with what we learn from other sources; and gentlemen of information in Indian affairs believe the work to be the genuine production of a person who has been over the ground described.
According to this work, Lavall was a native of Philadelphia, and born in 1774. His father, who was a royalist, settled in Upper Canada, and engaged in the fur trade. In 1809 Baptist Vincent Lavall visited England to receive a legacy left him by a relation. Here he was persuaded to join a vessel fitting out for the purpose of trading in the North Pacific. It was a schooner of about two hundred tons, called the Sea Otter, commanded by Captain Niles. This vessel was lost upon the coast of Oregon, on the 15th of August, 1809, whilst Lavall and three of the crew were on shore hunting. They made their way across the continent to New Orleans.
Can any information be furnished from any custom-house in England as to the Sea Otter, Captain Niles?
Philadelphia.
There are three portraits engraved by Vertue, which give the pedigree of this family thus far:
John Graves of York, born 1515, ob. 1616. |
= | |||||||||||||||
—— Graves | = | |||||||||||||||
= Richard Graves of Mickleton, Esq., ob. 1669.ickleton, Esq., |
= | |||||||||||||||
—— Graves | = | |||||||||||||||
Richard Graves of Mickleton, Esq. ob. 1731.ckleton, Esq. |
= |
The title engraved on the plate states that the first Richard Graves given above, was twice {131}married, and had six sons and thirteen daughters. It does not give the Christian names of any of the children, and leaves it uncertain whether the Richard Graves who died in 1731 was a child of the first or second marriage. This last-mentioned Richard was an antiquary of some note, and a correspondent of Hearne, who calls him "Gravesius noster."
Query 1. Is the full pedigree of this family anywhere to be had? 2. Is there a record of any of the six sons of the Richard who died in 1669 having settled in Ireland, as a soldier or otherwise, in the time of the Commonwealth? According to Mr. Editor's excellent arrangement, I transmit to him a stamped envelope, and shall feel much obliged to any correspondent of "N. & Q." who will give me the desired information. In the life of the Rev. Richard Graves, a younger son of Richard the antiquary (Public Characters, Dublin, 1800 p. 291.), it is stated that his collections for the History of the Vale of Gresham came, after his death, into the hands of James West, Esq., President of the Royal Society, at whose death they were purchased by the Earl of Shelburne, A.D. 1772. Query, Are they still in existence?
Kilkenny.
The Query of G. C. (Vol. vi., p. 578.) relative to Mrs. Mackey's Poems, has induced me to trouble you with a similar one respecting the author of a volume in my possession. It is entitled Mount Vernon, a Poem, &c. &c., by John Searson, formerly of Philadelphia, Merchant; Philadelphia, printed for the author by Folwell. After the title-page (which is too long to be given in extenso) follows a dedication to General Washington, in which the author, after recording that he last returned to America from Ireland in 1796, and that having been established for several years at Philadelphia as a merchant, he had been subjected to unforeseen losses in trade and merchandize, proceeds as follows:
"Having a pretty good education in my youth, from an uncle, a clergyman of the Church of England, I published two poems in Ireland, was well received, and two publications since my last arrival in America, having disposed of the last copy of one thousand, Art of Contentment, and did myself the honour to visit your Excellency 15th May last [1799], so as to obtain an adequate idea of Mount Vernon, wishing to compose a poem on that beautiful seat, which I now most humbly dedicate to your Excellency, with your likeness," &c.
Next follows a "Preface to the readers of Mount Vernon, a Poem," in which he says:
"I published a rural, romantic, and descriptive poem of Down Hill, the seat of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Londonderry, in Ireland; for which the gentlemen of that country actually gave me a guinea per copy, and Sir George Hill, from Dublin, gave me five guineas in the city of Londonderry; more, I am assured, as feeling from my having seen better days, than from the intrinsic value of it."
Besides Mount Vernon, the book contains several other poems, &c., and extends to eighty-three pages, 8vo., with four pages subsequently inserted at the end. It is, I believe, a very scarce book in America, and the copy I possess is probably unique in this country. Like Mrs. Mackey's poems, it seems to have been written in earnest, and it is impossible within the limits of an article of this nature to give an adequate idea of the vein of self-complacency which pervades the book, or of the high estimation in which the author evidently held his own productions both in prose and verse.
A few quotations illustrative of his descriptive powers must suffice:
"Mount Vernon! I have often heard of thee,
And often wish'd thy beauties for to see."—P. 9.
"The house itself is elegant and neat,
And is two stories high, neat and complete."—P. 10.
"A thought now strikes my mind, of Mount Vernon,
That happiness may ever shine thereon;
For, Nature form'd it pleasing to the mind;
Therefore, true earthly bliss we here might find:
Or, in a cottage, if our God be there,
For He is omnipresent, everywhere.
A garden was the first habitation
Of our parents, and near relat'on," (sic) &c.—P. 14.
Of Alexandria he informs us that—
"The buildings here are generally neat,
The streets well pav'd, which makes walking complete.
I've seen their houses, where they preach and pray,
But th' congregation small on stormy day."—P. 38.
Of George Town he says:
"A pleasing rural prospect rises here,
To please th' enquiring mind as we draw near.
The building in George Town is very neat;
But paving of the streets not yet complete.
Some rural seats near to the Town is fine,
Which please the fancy and amuse the mind."—P. 39.
And lastly, from his Valedictory, we learn that—
"Poets, like grasshoppers, sing till they die,
Yet, in this life, some laugh, some sing, some cry."—P. 83.
These extracts are not given as the worst specimens. Is anything more known of John Searson, and of his other valuable productions, either in Ireland or America? As I perceive you have correspondents at Philadelphia, they will perhaps kindly afford me some information on the subject.
[Another work by this author may be found in some of our public libraries, entitled Poems on various {132}Subjects and different Occasions, chiefly adapted to Rural Entertainment in the United States of America. 8vo. 1797. The Preface to this work also gives some account of Searson's residence in Ireland, where, he says, "I lived happily for fifteen years, till another king (or agent) arose, who knew not Joseph, who, in the most inhuman, cruel, and tyrannical manner, made use of his interest to have me put out of my place." The work concludes with the following advertisement respecting himself:—"Being unemployed at present, should any of my kind subscribers know of any vacancy as tutor in some gentleman's family, a place in some public office, genteel compting-house, or vacancy for a schoolmaster, the author will be grateful for the favour of acquainting him of it. He may be heard of by applying to Mr. Mathew Carey, of Market Street, bookseller."]
Haberdon, or Habyrdon.—A manor now belonging to the school at Bury St. Edmund's bears this name. Can any meaning be given to the word?
The land formerly belonging to the Abbey of St. Edmund, several registers of that monastery, A.D. 1520 and 1533, let the said manor of Habyrdon, on condition the tenant should yearly find one white bull, &c. The leases all describe this manor of Habyrdon and make it specially necessary to find a white bull. The land is contiguous to the town of Bury, and is called Haberdon at the present time, presents a hilly appearance and remains of ancient intrenchments. I have not heard of any other place by this name.
Paddington.
Holles Family.—I am very desirous of obtaining any information that can be procured concerning the Holles family prior to the time of Sir William, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1540. I should also be obliged if any of your numerous correspondents can inform me, whether that member of the family who married a lady named Gelks, I think since 1700, left any posterity; from whom he was descended, and in what county he lived? Also, who the Gelkses were, and whether the family is represented now; and, if so, of what county they are?
The arms of the Holleses were—Ermine, two piles conjoining in the points sable. The crest was a boar's head erased, azure, langued gules, pierced with a pheon.
The Gelks bore—Ermine, three chevrons azure, charged with nine bezents inter nine annulets gules.
Reading.
"To lie at the Catch" (Vol. vi., p. 56.).—From accidental circumstances I have only lately seen the notice of my Query. Will you excuse my saying that I do not yet understand the meaning of the phrase "To lie at the catch," and that I shall be greatly obliged if you or any of your correspondents will explain it further, or, in other words, give me a paraphrase that will suit the two passages I have quoted.
Names of Planets—Spade.—Would any of your correspondents give me some information respecting the names of the different planets of our system, whether their titles are coeval with the apotheosis of the various denizens of Olympus whose names they bear; or whether such names were bestowed upon the heavenly bodies at some later date in honour of those divinities?
I should also like to hear explained, how the word spade, which from its affinities in other languages would appear to have originally meant sword, ever came to be transferred from a weapon of war to the useful and harmless implement it now designates.
Arms in painted Glass.—The following arms have recently been found in some decorated windows of the early part of the fourteenth century. Information as to whom belonging would be esteemed a favour.
1. Gules, a chevron, or.
2. Quarterly, first and fourth gules, a mullet, or, second and third sable, a cross, or.
3. Argent, on a chevron, or, three bucks' heads caboshed, tincture indistinct, probably sable.
The Sign of "The Two Chances."—An inn, at Clun, in this county, bears the unusual sign of "The Two Chances." What can this mean? Mine host is also Registrar of Births and Deaths for the district. Does it refer to these two chances?
Welsh-Hampton, Salop.
Consecrators of English Bishops.—It may appear a waste of space to insert in your columns my Queries on this subject, but when you consider that I have been an exile in India for the last eleven years, and consequently unable to refer, in this country, to authorities, which are easily accessible at home, I venture to hope that you will not only give a place to this, but also that you, or some clerical reader of "N. & Q.," will afford me the required information.
I have continued Mr. Perceval's list of English consecrations, given in his able work, An Apology for the Doctrine of Apostolical Succession, 2nd edition of 1841, but have been unable to complete it with the names of the consecrators of the following prelates, the objects of my Query; viz. 1. Bishop Gilbert, of Chichester, on 27th February, 1842; 2. Bishop Field, of Newfoundland, 28th April, 1844; 3, 4, & 5. Bishops Turton of Ely, Medley of Fredericton, and Chapman of {133}Colombo, on 4th May, 1845; 6. Bishop Gobat, 5th July, 1846; 7 & 8. Bishops Smith of Victoria, and Anderson of Rupert's Land, on 29th May, 1849; 9. Bishop Fulford of Montreal, 25th July, 1850; and 10. Bishop Harding of Bombay, on 12th August, 1851. The dates are, I believe, correct, but if not, of course I should like the mistakes to be pointed out. I also desiderate the date of Bishop Binney's (of Nova Scotia) consecration, in March or April, 1851, with names of his consecrators; and finally, the place of Bishop Lonsdale's (of Lichfield) consecration, on 3rd December, 1843. If these data are supplied, the lacunæ in my supplemental list of English consecrations, from the Reformation to the present day, will be complete.
Punjaub.
A nunting Table.—What is it? The word occurs in a quotation from Dr. Newman in the Irish Ecclesiastical Journal for December, 1852, describing a modern English church. I suppose I shall be snubbed for not giving the passage; but my copy of the journal has vanished.
John Pictones.—Is anything known of John Pictones, or Pyctones, a person mentioned in a MS. as having taught languages to Queen Elizabeth when she was young?
Gospel Place.—In a definition of the boundaries of Bordesley Abbey, dated 1645, given in Nash's Worcestershire, there frequently occurs the term "Gospel place," thus:
"And so to a Cross or Gospel Place near to Brown's cottage, and from thence to a Gospel Place under a tree near to a mill ... thence to the old Gospel Place oak that standeth on the common."
I have heard that at each one of these "Gospel places" there was kept up a mound on which it was usual to rest a corpse on its way to the churchyard, during which time some portion of the gospel was read. Can any of your correspondents say if such a practice was observed in any other part of the country, its origin, its intention, and the period of its discontinuance? And if not, can give any other explanation of the term?
York Mint.—Can any of your correspondents inform me of the names of the officers of the local mint at York, instituted about 1696?
Chipchase of Chipchase.—I should be glad to learn if any pedigree exists of the ancient family of Chipchase, or De Chipches (as the name is spelt in pleadings and deeds of the fourteenth century). A family bearing that name appears to have occupied or dwelt near the "Turris de Chipches," co. Northumberland, so early as Edward I.; at which time the manor of Prudhoe, of which Chipchase is a member, was held by the Umfravilles. The fact of the principal charges in the armorial bearings of both families being similar, seems to have led to the suggestion that the Chipchases were cadets of the former; but this opinion is without sufficient foundation.
Newspapers.—Which is the oldest newspaper, town or country, daily or weekly, now published? The Lincoln, Rutland, and Stamford Mercury (weekly), published at Stamford, is the oldest paper I am acquainted with. The paper for the 21st January, 1853, is numbered "Vol. 158. No. 8231." This gives the year 1695 as the commencement of the paper. Perhaps other readers of "N. & Q." will follow up this interesting subject. Vide Vol. ii., p. 375., and Vol. iii., pp. 164. and 248.
On alleged historical Facts.—
"During the troubles in the reign of Charles I., a country girl came up to London in search of a place as a servant-maid; but not succeeding, she applied herself to carrying out beer from a brewhouse, and was one of those then called 'tub-women.' The brewer observing a well-looking girl in this low occupation, took her into his family as servant, and, after a little while, she behaving herself with so much prudence and decorum, he married her; but he died when she was yet a young woman, and left her a large fortune. The business of the brewery was dropped, and the young woman was recommended to Mr. Hyde, as a gentleman of skill in the law, to settle her affairs. Hyde (who was afterwards the great Earl of Clarendon), finding the widow's fortune very considerable, married her. Of this marriage there was no other issue than a daughter, who was afterwards the wife of James II., and mother of Mary and Anne, queens of England."—Newspaper Paragraph.
What truth is there in the foregoing statement; and if in any degree true, what further is known of the fortunate "tub-woman?" Is her existence ignored in the Hyde pedigree?
Costume of Spanish Physicians.—I have been informed that the Spanish physicians for a very considerable period, and even until about forty years ago, wore a dress peculiar to their profession. Can any of your readers inform me where I can find a representation or a description of this dress; and also whether it would be the one worn by a Flemish physician residing in Spain about the middle of the sixteenth century?
Genoveva.—Can any of your readers inform me what history or legend is illustrated by a fine engraving in line, by Felsing after Steinbrück (size 13 × 11 inches), which has no other clue to its subject than the word Genoveva, in the lower border. It represents a beautiful maiden, with a sleeping child in her lap, at the foot of a beech-tree in {134}a forest, and a hind or fawn in the background approaching from a cavern. It was published some years ago at Darmstadt, and is not common: but beyond a guess that it is meant for St. Genevieve, the printsellers can tell me nothing about it; and I do not find in her history, as given by Alban Butler, any such incident.
Quotation.—In the Miscellaneous Writings of the celebrated Franklin (Chambers's People's Edition) I find the following anecdote, in an article on "The Art of procuring Pleasant Dreams." Franklin says:
"It is recorded of Methusalem, who, being the longest liver, may be supposed to have best preserved his health, that he slept always in the open air; for when he had lived five hundred years, an angel said to him, 'Arise, Methusalem, and build thee an house; for thou shalt live yet five hundred years longer.' But Methusalem answered and said, 'If I am to live but five hundred years longer, it is not worth while to build me an house: I will sleep in the open air as I have been used to do.'"
From what source did Franklin derive this information?
"God and the World."—I shall be obliged by being informed from what poet are the following lines:
"God and the world we worship both together,
Draw not our laws to Him, but His to ours;
Untrue to both, so prosperous in neither,
Th' imperfect will brings forth but barren flowers;
Unwise as all distracted interests be,
Strangers to God, fools in humanity;
Too good for great things, and too great for good,
While still 'I dare not' waits upon 'I would.'"
"Solid Men of Boston."—Where are the verses to be found of which the following were part? I have an indistinct recollection that they were quoted in parliament during the American revolution:
"Solid men of Boston, make no long orations;
Solid men of Boston, drink no strong potations;
Solid men of Boston, go to bed at sundown,
Never lose your way like the loggerheads of London.
Bow, wow, wow.
"Sit down neighbours all, and I'll tell you a merry story,
About a disappointed Whig that wish'd to be a Tory,
I had it piping hot from Ebenezer Barber,
Who sail'd from Old England, and lies in Boston harbour.
Bow, wow, wow."
Lost MS. by Alexander Pennecuik.—In the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, is preserved a MS. in 4to., called The whole Works of Alexander Pennecuik, Gent., vol. ii. It commences at p. 215. Upon the boards is written "Edinburgh, January 1759. Ex dono viduæ J. Graham, Bibliopegi, cum altero volumine." It is not known in what way the Faculty of Advocates became possessed of this volume. Query, Where is the first?
"The Percy Anecdotes."—Who were the compilers of this excellent collection, published about thirty years ago?
Norman Song.—In the year 1198 there was a song current in Normandy, which ran that the arrow was being made in Limousin by which Richard Cœur de Lion was to be slain. Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." inform me where the ballad is to be found, or if MS., give me a copy?
God's Marks.—In Roper's Life of More there is an account of Margaret Roper's recovery from an attack of the sweating sickness. The belief of the writer was, that the recovery was miraculous; and to enforce that opinion he asserts, that the patient did not begin to recover until after "God's marks (an evident undoubted token of death) plainly appeared upon her." (Roper's More, p. 29., Singer's edition.) Pray what is meant by "God's marks?"
The Bronze Statue of Charles I., Charing Cross.—What is known of the life and history of John Rivers[4], to whose loyalty the good people of London are now indebted for the preservation of this bust, which the Parliament in the time of Cromwell had ordered to be destroyed? That he was a brazier, and a handy workman, is all that I know of him.
Malta.
[John Rivett, a brazier living at the Dial, near Holborn Conduit. See Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting vol. ii. p. 319.—Ed.]
Hutter's Polyglott.—Can any one inform me whether the following work was ever completed, or give me any particulars respecting it? Biblia Sacra, Ebraice, Chaldaice, Græce, Latine, Germanice, Saxonice; Studio et Labore Eliæ Hutteri, Germani, Noribergæ, 1599. Of this work I have the first volume—a splendid book, which recently came from abroad; but I cannot hear of the other volumes: this includes the Pentateuch. A reply to this Query will be thankfully received.
[We have an edition before us, printed at Noribergæ, 1599, to the end of the Book of Ruth, but without the Sclavonic column. According to Ebert (Bibliog. Dict.) there is "a fourfold edition, differing only in the last column, and goes only as far as the Book of Ruth. Scarce, but of no value. The edition with the {135}Sclavonic column is the most scarce." In 1600, Hutter published a Polyglott of the New Testament, in twelve languages, viz. the Syriac, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Danish, and Polish; which, in an edition printed in 1603, were reduced to the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German. He died at Nuremberg, about 1603.]
Ethnology of England.—Will any of your readers favour me with a reference to the best work or works which refer to the ethnology of this island, more particularly in reference to the craniology of the different races which have settled in it?
I beg to ask whether it is yet clearly settled that there are types of the heads of Ancient Britons, Saxons, Danes, and other races, to be referred to as standards or examples of the respective crania of those people? If so, will any of your readers be kind enough to direct me to any work which contains engraved outlines of such crania?
[Ethnologicus is referred to the works of Dr. Prichard and Dr. Latham; more especially to The Ethnology of the British Islands, by the last-named writer, noticed in our 170th Number, p. 120. That types of the heads of the Ancient Britons, Saxons, Danes, &c. are to be found, there can be no doubt, though they have never hitherto been brought together for comparison. To do this is the object of the projected Crania Britannica, about to be published by Dr. Thurnam of Devizes, and Mr. J. B. Davis, of which some particulars will be found at p. 497. of our Sixth Volume.]
Pitt of Pimperne.—Can any of your readers tell me what works of Mr. Pitt, formerly Rector of Pimperne, Dorset, and translator of Virgil's Æneid, &c., have been printed?
Dorchester
[In addition to the Æneid, Christopher Pitt translated Veda's Art of Poetry, about 1724; and subsequently published a volume of Poems and Translations, 8vo. 1727. His Poems will be found in the twelfth volume of Chalmers's Collection.]
"The Bottle Department" of the Beer-trade was evidently terra incognita in those days:
"He that buys land buys many stones;
He that buys flesh buys many bones;
He that buys eggs buys many shells;
But he that buys good ALE buys nothing else."
"A favourite proverbial rhyme among topers," quoth that most amusing of lexicographers, old N. Bailey, Φιλόλογος, who inserts it under the word "Buy," folio edition.
Query, What was his Christian name?
[Nathan Bailey. A short account of him will be found in Chalmers's Biog. Dict.]
(Vol. vii., p. 65.)
Some time since, when at Tideswell (which is in Derbyshire, not Devonshire), I made a rubbing from the brass of Bishop Pursglove, from which I have copied the inscription asked for by A. S. A., on a plate of brass underneath the figure.
"Under this stone as here doth ly, a corps sumtime of fame,
In Tiddeswall bred and born truely, Robert Pursglove by name;
And there brought up by parents' care, at schoole and learning trad;
Till afterwards, by Uncle dear, to London he was had,
Who, William Bradshaw hight by name, in pauls wch did him place,
And yr at schoole did him maintain full thrice three whole years' space;
And then into the Abberye was placed as I wish,
In Southwarke call'd, where it doth ly, Saint Mary Overis.
To Oxford then, who did him send, into that Colledge right,
And there fourteen years did him find wh. Corpus Christi hight;
From thence at length away he went, a Clerke of learning great,
To Gisburn Abbey streight was sent, and plac'd in Prior's seat.
Bishop of Hull he was also, Archdeacon of Nottingham,
Provost of Rotheram Colledge too, of York eak Suffragan.
Two Gramer Schooles he did ordain with Land for to endure,
One Hospital for to maintain twelve impotent and poor.
O Gisburne, thou, with Tiddeswall Town, lement and mourn for may,
For this said Clerk of great renoun lyeth here compact in clay.
Though cruell Death hath now down brought this body wc here doth ly,
Yet trump of Fame stay can he nought to sound his praise on high."
"Qui legis hunc versum crebro reliquum memoreris
Vile cadaver sum, tuque cadaver eris."
The inscription is in black letter, except the words which are in small capitals.
On a fillet round the slab, with the evangelistic symbols at the corners,—
"This Robert Pursglove, sometyme Bishoppe of Hull, deceased the 2 day of Maii, in the year of our Lord God, 1579."
Wood says (Ath. Oxon., edit. Bliss, ii. c. 820.), that about the beginning of Queen Mary's reign he was made Archdeacon of Nottingham, and suffragan Bishop of Hull; but Dr. Brett, in a letter printed in Drake's Eboracum, 1736, fol., p. 539., says he was appointed in 1552, the last year of the reign of Edward VI.
John I. Dredge.
In Wharton's List of Suffragan Bishops, the following entry occurs:
"Robertus Silvester, alias Pursglove, epūs Hullensis, 1537, 38."
But this is probably a mistake, as, in a short account of his life by Anthony à Wood (vol. ii. col. 820., Athen. Oxon., edited by Bliss), I find it stated, that "on the death of Rob. Sylvester about the beginning of Queen Mary's reign, he was made Archdeacon of Nottingham, and suffragan Bishop of Hull, under the Archbishop of York." Wood afterwards adds:
"After Queen Elizabeth had been settled in the throne for some time, the oath of supremacy was offered to him, but he denying to take it, was deprived of his archdeaconry and other spiritualities."
It appears, from Dugdale's Warwickshire, that Pursglove assented to the suppression of Gisburne in December, 1540, and became a commissioner for persuading other abbots and priors to do the same. It is doubtful at what time he was appointed to the see of Hull; whether in the last year of Edward VI. or in Queen Mary's reign, though it is certain, in 1559, he refused to take the oath of supremacy to Elizabeth.
The hospital and schools mentioned in the epitaph are Gisborough and Tideswell.
(Vol. vi., pp. 99. 178.)
I have neither time nor inclination to expose all the errors and fallacies of Mr. Matthew Cooke's article on "Gregorian Tones;" but I cannot resist pointing out certain statements which are calculated to mislead the readers of "N. & Q." in no trifling degree. The writer says:
"The most ancient account we have is, that St. Ambrose of Milan knew of four tones in his day, and that he added four others to them; the former being those termed authentic, the latter the plagal modes."
Now the fact is, that St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (A.D. 374 to 397), chose from the ancient Greek modes four series or successions of notes, and called them simply the first, second, third, and fourth tones; laying completely aside the ancient heathen names of Doric, Phrygian, Lydian, Ionic, &c. St. Gregory the Great, who governed the Christian Church from A.D. 591 to 604, added the four additional tones. These eight ecclesiastical successions or scales, which still exist as such in the music of the Roman Liturgy, are called Gregorian after their founder. Thus the old Ambrosian chant is known at present only through the medium of the Gregorian.
The writer continues his statement in these words—
"Some years since, the renowned French theorist, Mons. Fetis, went to Milan for the express purpose of consulting the celebrated Book of Offices, written by St. Ambrose in his own handwriting, which is there preserved [the Italics are added]; and in his work, published in Belgium, he says that he collated them with those known and received amongst us; and that the variations were of the slightest possible character, the tones being ostensibly the same."
This extraordinary statement cannot be accepted without the title of M. Fetis' work, and the passage upon which it rests, verbatim in the author's own words. But I have no hesitation in saying that it is founded in error.
Thibaut (Ueber der Reinheit der Tonkunst, pp. 28-30.) speaks of a MS. of the Gregorian chants at St. Gall, in Switzerland, as old as the ninth century. This is believed, by all accredited modern writers upon music, to be the oldest MS. of the tones extant.
(Vol. vi., pp. 268. 296.)
Of this passage we might almost say conclamatum est; for really no good sense has yet been made of it, except by bold alterations. For my own part, I agree with A. E. B., that no alteration is required except in the punctuation, and not much even then. The text of the folios is given by Mr. Singer (Vol. vi., p. 268.), and I would read it thus:
"Nay, my good lord, let me o'errule you now.
That sport best pleases that doth least know how,
Where zeal strives to content, and the contents
Dies in the zeal of that which it presents.
Their form confounded makes most form in mirth,
When great things labouring perish in the birth."
The whole difficulty seems to lie in the word dies in the fourth line, and that I think may be removed by merely changing i into y, and reading dyes. The meaning then will be: That sport will yield most pleasure in which, though the actors are devoid of skill, they are zealous and anxious to give pleasure for their zeal in the endeavour, {137}dyes, or tinges (i. e. communicates its own hue to) the contents or satisfaction of the spectators (i. e. makes them sympathise with the actors). While on the other hand: My good lord, when, as in your late attempt, great things labouring perish in the birth, their confusion causes laughter and derision instead of pleasure, like the former simple effort.
I take, as will be seen, contents, in the third line, as the substantive of the preceding verb content, and not, with Mr. Knight and A. E. B., as "things contained." The poet put it in the plural evidently for the sake of the rhyme. In the next line, zeal may not be the word actually written by the poet, but it makes a very fair sense; and I know no word that could be substituted for it with certainty—we still use the phrase, to dye in. In understanding the last two lines of the mask of the king and his lords, I think I am justified by the remark of Byron:
"A right description of our sport, my Lord."
Perhaps it is needless to add, that labouring is i.q. travailing; and that most form in mirth means the highest form in (i. e. the greatest degree of) mirth.
In these, and any other remarks on Shakspeare with which I may happen to trouble you at any time, I beg to be regarded as a mere guerilla as compared with regularly trained and disciplined Shakspearians like Mr. Singer, Mr. Collier, and others. I have never read the folios of 1623 or 1632. I do not even possess a variorum edition of the poet; my only copy being Mr. Collier's excellent edition. Finally, my studies have lain most about the sunny shores of the Mediterranean; and I am most at home in the literature of its three peninsulas, and the coasts of Asia.
(Vol. vi., p. 552.; Vol. vii., p. 50.)
As I consider J. G.'s apology for the popular, though undoubtedly erroneous, pronunciation of this word to be far from satisfactory, may I trouble you with some evidence in favour of Niagára, which Mr. W. Fraser truly says is the Huron pronunciation? I also agree with him, that it is "unquestionably the most musical." For my own part, the sound of Niágara is painful to my ear; even Moore himself could not knock music out of it. Witness the following lines:
"Take, instead of a bowl, or a dagger, a
Desperate dash down the Falls of Niágara."[5]
How very different is the measured, solemn sound, which the word bears in the noble lines of Goldsmith, who, it is reasonable to suppose, was as well informed of its proper pronunciation as of its correct interpretation.
Travelling a few years since in Canada, I was assured by an old gentleman, who for many years held constant intercourse with the aborigines, that they invariably place the accent upon the penult. If this be true, as I doubt not, it is conclusive: and in order to testify to the correctness of the assertion, I could cite numberless aboriginal names of places in "The States," as well as in Canada: a few, however, will here suffice:
Stadacóna.
Hochelága.
Torónto.
Mississíppi.
Alleghány.
Apalachicóla.
Saratóga.
Ticonderóga.
Narragánset.
Oswégo.
Canandáigua.
Tuscalóosa.
Now, I am aware that there are other Indian words which would seem, at first sight, if not to contradict, to be at least exceptions to the rule, but upon investigation they, I conceive, rather strengthen my argument: for instance, Connécticut—the original of which is, Quonehtácut, the long river.
In conclusion, we should bear in mind that we have the prevalent pronunciation of such words through either of two channels,—the French or the American; consequently, in Canada, we find them Frenchified, and in "The States" Yankeefied.
I therefore hold that Niágara is a most inharmonious Yankeefication of the melodious aboriginal word Niagára.
40. Tavistock Street, Covent Garden.
(Vol. vii., p. 39.)
The tenure in drengage was common in, if it was not confined to, the territory which was comprised in the ancient kingdom of Northumbria. Drenghs are mentioned in Domesday on the lands between the Ribble and the Mersey, which then formed part of Northumbria. They occur in Yorkshire; and they are mentioned in the survey, called the Boldon Book, compiled in A.D. 1183, by order of Hugh Pudsey, the great Bishop of Durham, which may be termed the Domesday of the palatinate. Sir Henry Ellis, in his General Introd. to Domesday, says, "The drenchs or drenghs were of the description of allodial tenants ... and from the few entries in which they occur, it certainly appears that the allotments of territory they possessed were held as manors." (Domesd., tom. i. fo. 269.) But as menial services (to be rendered, nevertheless, by the villans of the tenant in drengage) were attached to the tenure, at all events in the county of Durham, it was inferior to military tenure; and the instance in the Pipe Rolls of Westmoreland, 25 Henry II., of the enfranchisement of drenghs, together with the particulars {138}given in records of the palatinate of Durham and the county of Northumberland, as to the services attached to drengage, show that it was far from being a free tenure. Yet Spelman (Gloss., ed. 1687, p. 184.) speaks of drenges as "tenantes per servitium militare;" and Coke calls them "free tenants of a manor."[6] From the Boldon Book we learn, however, that the services of the drengh were to plough, sow, and harrow a portion of the bishop's land, to keep a dog and horse for the bishop's use, and a cart to convey his wine; to attend the chase with dogs and ropes; and perform certain "precaria," or harvest works. To take an example from the roll of Bishop de Bury in 1336:—We find Nicholas de Oxenhale held of the bishop in capite the manor of Oxenhale, performing, amongst other services, "the fourth part of a drengage; to wit, he was to plough four acres, and sow the land with seed of the bishop's, and harrow it, and do four days' work in autumn." And in the Pipe Roll for Westmoreland, already mentioned, we find eighteen drenghs in the honour held by Hugh de Morvill, who had not been enfranchised by him, and who remained paying a fine to be exempt from foreign service. In Northumberland the tenants in drengage paid a fixed money-rent, and were subject to tallage, heriots, merchet, &c. So, in the palatinate, in 25th Bishop Hatfield (A. D. 1369), John Warde, of Hoton, died seised in his demesne of a messuage and sixty acres which were held of the bishop in capite, by homage and fealty in drengage, rendering six bushels of oats and three bushels of barley, at the manor of Middleham. But the agricultural and menial services were lighter than those of the villan, and, as already stated, were not performed by the tenant in person, or by those of his household. This tenure existed in Tynedale at the close of the thirteenth century, as appears from Rot. Orig. 20 Edw. I., vol. i. p. 70., where the "consuetudinem partium prædictarum" are mentioned. "A drengage," says Blount, in his Fragmenta Antiquitatis, "seems to have consisted of sixteen acres, to be ploughed, sown, and harrowed." The word drengage is derived, by the Rev. Wm. Greenwell, in the glossary to his recent valuable edition of Boldon Book, from the Anglo-Saxon dreogan, to do, work, bear; the root, according to Tooke, of our English word drudge. Drengage is, in Kelham's Norman-French Dictionary, explained to be "the tenure by which the drenges held their lands." In Lye's Saxon Dictionary I find "Dreng, miles, vir fortis."
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Spelman says they were "E genere vassallorum non ignobilium," and such as, being at the Conquest put out of their estate, were afterwards restored.
(Vol. vii., p. 14.)
The following account of the whole of the proceedings at the inquest which was held at the Three Crows, Brook Street, Holborn, on Friday, Aug. 27, 1770, before Swinson Carter, Esq., and ten jurymen, whose names are mentioned, is from a MS. copy in my possession.
I am not acquainted with any printed work which contains a report of the inquest. It is not in the large collection of Chatterton's Works and Lives, and the innumerable newspaper and magazine cuttings, which fill several volumes, and which belonged to Mr. Haslewood; nor is it in Barrett's Bristol, or Herbert Croft's Love and Madness.
"Account of the Inquest held on the body of Thomas Chatterton, deceased, at the Three Crows, Brook Street, Holborn, on Friday, the 27th August, 1770, before Swinson Carter, Esq., and the following jury:—Charles Skinner, —— Meres, John Hollier, John Park, S. G. Doran, Henry Dugdale, G. J. Hillsley, C. Sheen, E. Manley, C. Moore, —— Nevett.
"Mary Angell, sack maker, of No. 17. Brook Street, Holborn, deposed, that the deceased came to lodge at her house about nine or ten weeks ago; he took the room below the garret; he always slept in the same room; he was always very exact in his payments to her; and at one time, when she knew that he had paid her all the money he had in the world, she offered him sixpence back, which he refused to take, saying: 'I have that here (pointing to his forehead) which will get me more.' He used to sit up nearly all night, and she frequently found his bed untouched in the morning, when she went to make it. She knew that he always bought his loaves—one of which lasted him for a week—as stale as possible, that they might last the longer: and, two days before his death, he came home in a great passion with the baker's wife, who had refused to let him have another loaf until he paid her 3s. 6d. which he owed her previously. He, the deceased, appeared unusually grave on the 28th of August; and, on her asking him what ailed him, he answered pettishly: 'Nothing, nothing—why do you ask?' On the morning of the 24th August, he lay in bed longer than usual; got up about ten o'clock, and went out with a bundle of paper under his arm, which he said 'was a treasure to any one, but there were so many fools in the world that he would put them in a place of safety, lest they should meet with accident.' He returned about seven in the evening, looking very pale and dejected; and would not eat anything, but sat moping by the fire with his chin on his knees, and muttering rhymes in some old language to her. Witness saw him for the last time when {139}he got up to go to bed; he then kissed her (a thing he had never done in his life before), and then went upstairs, stamping on every stair as he went slowly up, as if he would break it. Witness stated that he did not come down next morning, but she was not alarmed, as he had lain longer than usual on the day before; but at eleven o'clock, Mrs. Wolfe, a neighbour's wife, coming in, they went and listened at the door, and tried to open it, but it was locked. At last, they got a man who was near to break it open; and they found him lying on the bed with his legs hanging over, quite dead: the bed had not been lain on. The floor was covered all over with little bits of paper; and on one piece the man read, in deceased's handwriting, 'I leave my soul to its Maker, my body to my mother and sister, and my curse to Bristol. If Mr. Ca....' The rest was torn off. The man then said he must have killed himself, which we did not think till then, not having seen the poison till an hour after. Deceased was very proud, but never unkind to any one. I do not think he was quite right in his mind lately. The man took away the paper, and I have not been able to find him out.
"Frederick Angell deposed to the fact of deceased lodging at their house; was from home when deceased was found. Always considered him something wonderful, and was sometimes afraid he would go out of his mind. Deceased often came home very melancholy; and, on his once asking him the reason, he said, 'Hamilton has deceived me;' but could get no more from him. Deceased was always writing to his mother or sister, of whom he appeared to be very fond. I never knew him in liquor, and never saw him drink anything but water.
"Edwin Cross, apothecary, Brook Street, Holborn. Knew the deceased well, from the time he came to live with Mrs. Angell in the same street. Deceased used generally to call on him every time he went by his door, which was usually two or three times in a day. Deceased used to talk a great deal about physic, and was very inquisitive about the nature of different poisons. I often asked him to take a meal with us, but he was so proud that I could never but once prevail on him, though I knew he was half-starving. One evening he did stay, when I unusually pressed him. He talked a great deal, but all at once became silent, and looked quite vacant. He used to go very often to Falcon Court, Fleet Street, to a Mr. Hamilton, who printed a magazine; but who, he said, was using him very badly. I once recommended him to return to Bristol, but he only heaved a deep sigh; and begged me, with tears in his eyes, never to mention the hated name again. He called on me on the 24th August about half-past eleven in the morning, and bought some arsenic, which he said was for an experiment. About the same time next day, Mrs. Wolfe ran in for me, saying deceased had killed himself. I went to his room, and found him quite dead. On his window was a bottle containing arsenic and water; some of the little bits of arsenic were between his teeth. I believe if he had not killed himself, he would soon have died of starvation; for he was too proud to ask of any one. Witness always considered deceased as an astonishing genius.
"Anne Wolfe, of Brook Street. Witness lived three doors from Mrs. Angell's; knew the deceased well; always thought him very proud and haughty. She sometimes thought him crazed. She saw him one night walking up and down the street at twelve o'clock, talking loud, and occasionally stopping, as if to think on something. One day he came in to buy some curls, which he said he wanted to send to his sister; but he could not pay the price, and went away seemingly much mortified. On the 25th August, Mrs. Angell asked her to go upstairs with her to Thomas's room: they could make no one hear. And, at last, being frightened, they got a man who was going by to break open the door, when they found him dead on the bed. The floor was covered with little bits of paper, and the man who was with them picked up several and took away with him.
"Verdict.—Felo de se."
Worcester.
(Vol. vii., p. 86.)
It is not for P. C. S. S. to explain the grounds on which Cardinal Wiseman considers the History of Formosa, and the Sicilian Code of Vella, as the most celebrated literary frauds of modern times. But he thinks that before he penned the Query, Mr. Breen might have recollected the well-known name of George Psalmanazar, and the extraordinary imposture so successfully practised in 1704 by that good and learned person; a fraud scarcely redeemed by the virtue and merits of a man of whom Dr. Johnson said, that "he had never seen the close of the life of any one that he so much wished his own to resemble, as that of Psalmanazar, for its purity and devotion."
With respect to the Sicilian Code of Vella, Mr. Breen will find, on a very little inquiry, that the work to which the Cardinal adverts (entitled Libro del Consiglio di Egitto, tradotto da Giuseppe Vella) was printed at Palermo in 1793; that the book, from beginning to end, is an entire fiction of the learned canon; that the forgery was detected before the publication of the second part—which, consequently, never saw the light; that the detection was due to the celebrated orientalist Hager, whose account thereof (a masterpiece of {140}analytical reasoning) was published in 1799 by Palm, the bookseller of Erlang (murdered in 1806 by order of the uncle of the present French emperor). But this was not the only imposture of the kind of which Vella was the author, and which his profound knowledge of Arabic enabled him to execute in a way which it would scarcely have been possible for any other European to have accomplished. He had published, 1791, at the Royal Press at Palermo, under the name of Alfonso Airoldi, a fictitious Codex Diplomaticus Siciliæ, sub Saracenorum Imperio, to the discovery of which ingenious fraud we are also indebted to the acute Pyrrhonism of M. Hager.
(Vol. vi., p. 5.; Vol. vii., pp. 7. 111.)
I am obliged to apologise for having made Sir Henry Wotton use the words "some long time before," instead of "some good while before," and therefore take the opportunity of saying that I think Sir Henry's allusion to "the art of stationers," in binding a good and a bad book up together, almost proves "our common friend Mr. R." to have been a bookseller. Notwithstanding the very high authorities against me, I will then venture to insinuate, that instead of John Rouse, or Robert Randolph, plain Humphrey Robinson is meant, by whom Comus was printed in 1637, "at the signe of the Three Pidgeons, in Paul's Church-yard."
Once grant the probability of this being the case, and we have no further difficulty in understanding why Comus should be stitched up "with the late Rd. poems," or Wotton be left in ignorance of the author's name. Lawes tells us in the dedication to Comus, that it was "not openly acknowledged by the author;" and the publisher would naturally keep the secret: but why Rouse or Robert Randolph should do so, appears to me inexplicable. I hope soon to have access to some public libraries, and also to return to this very interesting question again. Meanwhile, may I beg the forbearance of your more learned correspondents?
Warmington.
Sir W. Newton's Process.—Having been requested by several friends to give them a statement of my mode of proceeding with reference to the calotypic art, and as I am of opinion that we ought to assist each other as much as possible in the pursuit of this important branch of photography, I beg therefore to offer the following for insertion in your "N. & Q.," if you should deem them worth your acceptance.
To iodize the Paper.—1st. Brush your paper over with muriate of barytes (half an ounce, dissolved in nearly a wine-bottle of distilled water): lay it flat to dry. 2nd. Dissolve sixty grains of nitrate of silver in about an ounce of distilled water. Ditto sixty grains of iodide of potassium in another bottle with the like quantity of water. Mix them together and shake well: let it subside: pour off the water, and then add hot water: shake it well: let subside: pour off the water, and then add three ounces of distilled water, and afterwards as much iodide of potassium as will redissolve the iodide of silver.
Brush your previously prepared paper well with this, and let dry; then place them in water, one by one, for about one hour and a half or two hours, constantly agitating the water. As many as a dozen pieces may be put into the water, one after the other, taking care that there are no air-bubbles: take them out, and pin to the edge of a board at one corner.
When dry they will be ready for exciting for the camera by the following process:
(These are supposed to be in six 1-ounce bottles with glass stoppers.)
1. 1 drachm of No. 4., 6 drachms of distilled water. |
2. 20 min. of No. 3., 6 drachms of distilled water. |
3. A saturated solution of gallic acid. |
|
4. 25 grains of nitrate of silver to half an ounce of water. Add 45 minims of glacial acetic acid. |
5. 2 drachms of No. 4., 6 drs. of water. |
6. Equal parts of Nos. 1. and 2. N.B.—This must be mixed just before using, and the bottle cleaned afterwards. |
To excite for the Camera.—Mix equal parts of Nos. 1. and 2., and with a glass rod excite the iodized paper and blot off; and it may be put in the slide at once, or the number you require may be excited, and put into a blotting paper book, one between each leaf, and allowed to remain until required to be placed in the slide.
Time of Exposure.—The time varies from three minutes to a quarter of an hour, according to the nature of the subject and the power of the sun; but five minutes is generally the proper time.
To bring out.—Bring out with No. 3., and when the subject begins to appear, add No. 5.; and when sufficiently developed hold it up, and pour water upon it; and then put it into hyposulphite of soda to fix it, for about half an hour {141}or more, and then into water: this is merely to fix it for the after process at your leisure.
To clean the Negative.—Get a zinc tray about three or four inches deep, with another tray to fit in at the top, about one inch deep; fill the lower tray with boiling water, so that the upper tray may touch the water; put your solution of hyposulphite of soda, not strong, in the upper tray, and then your negatives one by one, watching them with care until the iodine is removed; then put them in hot water, containing a small piece of common soda (the size of a nutmeg to about two quarts of water), for about ten minutes; pour off the dirty water, and then add more hot water, shaking them gently for a short time; pour off the water again, and then add fresh hot water, and let it remain until it is cold, after which take them out CAREFULLY, one by one, and put them in clean cold water for an hour or two; then take them all out together, and hold up to drain for a short time, and then put them between three or four thicknesses of linen, and press as much of the water out as you can; then carefully (for now all the size is removed) lay them out flat upon linen to dry.
Mode of Waxing the Negatives.—Melt the pure white wax over a lamp of moderate heat, just merely to keep it in a liquid state; then fill the same deep tray as above described with boiling water, and with another similar to the upper one before described (which must be kept for this purpose only); put a clean piece of blotting-paper in this tray, and lay your negative face downwards, and with a soft flat hog's hair-brush, about an inch wide, dip it into the liquid wax, and brush the negative over, when it will be immediately transparent, and it can be done so that there is very little redundant wax, after which it may be put between two or three thicknesses of blotting-paper and ironed, if necessary, which, however, should not be very hot, when it is ready to take positives from.
Positives on Negative Paper.—Take one part of the iodide of silver before described, and add two parts of water; then add as much iodide of potassium as will redissolve it. Brush your paper with the foregoing, let dry, put into water, and proceed, in all respects, as above described for the negatives.
Excite for Positives.—Excite with No. 1.; blot off: lay it in your press, place the negative face downwards: expose to the light from ten seconds to half a minute, or more, according to the light (not in the sun), and bring out with No. 3.; and when it is nearly developed add No. 1.; then take it up and pour water upon it, and then place it in hyposulphite of soda (cold) until the iodine is removed; after which put it into allum water, about half a teaspoonful of powdered allum in two quarts of water; this will readily remove the hyposulphite, and also fix the positive more particularly; it will also take away any impurities which there may be in the paper, after which put it into clean cold water, and change two or three times.
I have been thus particular in describing the process which I have adopted, more especially for beginners; and with great cleanliness and care in each process, and especially in keeping all the bottles with the chemicals free from dirt of every kind, the foregoing will lead to favourable results.
I have been making some experiments in preparing the iodized paper in the following manner, more especially in consideration of the present price of iodide of potassium:—60 grains of nitrate of silver; 60 ditto of iodide of potassium, cleaned and prepared as before described, by the addition of three ounces of water,—that is 3 oz. altogether; 60 grains of cyanide of potassium; add a little of this at a time, and shake it up; and I generally find that this quantity is sufficient to redissolve the 60 grains of iodide of silver. Brush the paper over with the above, and when the wet surface disappears, dip it into cold water containing one drachm of dilute sulphuric acid to one quart of water; and then into water for half an hour, changing the water once: pin up to dry. I have not had an opportunity of trying this for negatives, but I have taken some good positives with the paper so prepared.
N.B.—I find that if the paper is allowed to dry with the cyanide of potassium, or that it is allowed to remain in the dilute sulphuric acid water too long, it weakens the paper so much as to be very absorbent. I would therefore wish to know from any of your correspondents whether this arises from taking away the size, or injuring the fibres of the paper? and, if so, whether a paper prepared with starch, instead of size, would be better? as it appears to me that this mode of iodizing might be an improvement. At all events, it is an enormous saving of iodide of potassium; as, for instance, to redissolve the 60 grains, it would take 1½ oz. of iodide of potassium (about four shillings); whereas 60 grains of cyanide would not cost more than one penny or twopence.
Collodion Film on Copper Plates.—Would any of your correspondents kindly describe the manner in which the collodion film may be transferred to prepared copper plates?
It was noticed by your correspondent H. W. D. in Vol. vi., p. 470.
Treatment of the Paper Positive after fixing.—1. Is it absolutely necessary for the preservation of the picture, that the size should be wholly removed from the paper? It seems to me that the hot-water treatment materially injures the tone. {142}
2. In re-sizing, what is the kind of size and degree of strength generally made use of, and mode of application? I have tried gelatine and isinglass size, of various degrees of strength, without satisfactory results.
3. Should the hot iron, used for improvement of tone, be applied previous to the picture being re-sized, or as a finishing operation? I find much difficulty from the liability of the paper to shrivel under it.
4. Is the glossy appearance, observed in finished photographs, attained solely by use of the burnisher?
5. What is albumenized paper? used, I believe, by some in printing; and the mode of its preparation?
P.S.—If I am not presuming too much upon your kindness, I should feel greatly indebted for information upon the above points, either privately or through the medium of "N. & Q.," according to the importance you may attach to them.
Essay for a New Translation of the Bible (Vol. vii., p. 40.).—This work was written by Charles Le Cene, a French Protestant minister, who, on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, sought refuge in England, and died at London in 1703. The translation was made by Hugh Ross, a Scotchman and sea-chaplain, but who was not sufficiently ingenuous to tell his readers that it was a translation. Orme says: "The essay contains a good deal of valuable information; points out many erroneous renderings of passages of Scripture; and suggests better meanings, and the means of correcting the modern translations generally."—Bibliothecha Biblica, p. 94. A short account of Le Cene will be found in Chalmers's Biog. Dict. See also Lewis's Translations of the Bible, 8vo. 1818, p. 338.
I have a copy of the Essay for a New Translation of the Bible, second edition, 1727 (not 1717), which your correspondent W. W. T. inquires about (Vol. vii., p. 40.). It is the translation of a work of the Huguenot refugee, Charles Le Cene, Projet d'une nouvelle version françoise de la Bible. H. R., who signs the dedication, was Hugh Ross, according to a note in my copy, which my father made on the authority of one of the clergy of Norwich about twenty years ago, I believe of Dr. Charles Sutton. I have been unable to ascertain anything about him, his name not appearing in any biographical dictionary I have seen, and the book not being in the Museum library. The Biog. Universelle charges Le Cene with a tendency to Pelagian or Socinian errors, both in his Projet, and in the Version he actually made, and which was printed at Amsterdam. This was a great curiosity in its way, the ancient Oriental titles, &c. being rendered in their corresponding modern analogues.
Touchstone (Vol. vii., p. 82.).—I think your correspondent Alphage is mistaken in alleging that the word touchstone is so called because it "gives a musical sound when touched with a stick."
The touchstone is the dark-coloured flinty slate or schistus (the Lapis Lydius of the ancients), which has been used from the remotest ages, down even to our own days, for testing gold. By touching the black stone with the metal, it leaves behind a clear mark, the colour of which indicates the distinction between the pure and alloyed. Pliny describes it (lib. xxxiii. cap. 43.):
"Auri argentique mentionem comitatur lapis quem coticulam appellant, quondam non solitus inveniri, nisi in flumine Tmolo, ut auctor est Theophrastus: nunc vero passim; quem alii Heraclium, alii Lydium vocant. His coticulis periti, cum e vena ut lima rapuerint experimentum, protinus dicunt quantum auri sit in ea, quantum argenti vel æris, scripulari differentia, mirabili ratione, non fallente."
This is the substance referred to in the apothegms of Lord Bacon, that "gold is tried by the touchstone, and men by gold."
The French, from the same practice, know the same substance by the name of Pierre de touche. The use of the touchstone, at the present day, is thus described by Ure in his Dictionary of Arts and Mines, under the head of "Assay:"
"In such small work as cannot be assayed, by scraping off a part and cupelling it, the assayers endeavor to ascertain its fineness or quality by the touch. This is a method of comparing the colour and other properties of a minute portion of the metal, with those of small bars, the composition of which is known. These bars are called touch needles, and they are rubbed upon a smooth piece of black basaltes, or pottery, which for this reason is called the touchstone."
66. Warwick Square, Belgravia.
Early Edition of Solinus (Vol. vi., p. 435.).—"Solinus de Situ et Memor. Orbis, editio princeps, folio, Venet. 1473." My copy was described as above in the catalogue of the bookseller of whom I purchased it. It contains a very fine illuminated initial letter, red, blue, and gold. It has no pagination. At the end, in capitals:
"IVLII SOLINI DE SITV ORBIS ET MEMORABILIBVS QVAE MVNDI AMBITU CONTINENTVR LIBER IMPRESSVS VENETIIS PER NICOLAVM IENSON GALLICVM. M.CCCC.LXXIII."
Should any gentleman wish to see it, I shall be happy to oblige him. Mine is marked "6s.," and below this price, "sold 10s."
Dartford.
Straw Bail (Vol. vii., p. 85.).—Part of this Query may be answered by the following extract:
"For the bribery and perjury so painfully frequent in Attic testimony, the editor contents himself with quoting from an article in the Quarterly Review (vol. xxxiii. p. 344.), in which the Greek courts of justice are treated of.—'We have all heard of a race of men who used, in former days, to ply about our own courts of law, and who, from their manner of making known their occupation, were recognized by the name of Straw-shoes. An advocate, or lawyer, who wanted a convenient witness, knew by these signs where to find one, and the colloquy between the parties was brief. 'Don't you remember?' said the advocate—(the party looked at the fee and gave no sign; but the fee increased, and the powers of memory increased with it). 'To be sure I do.' 'Then come into the court and swear it.' And Straw-shoes went into the court and swore it. Athens abounded in Straw-shoes."
See Mitchell's Wasps of Aristophanes, note on line 945.
Temple.
Doctor Young (Vol. vii., p. 14.).—J. H. will find an account of Mrs. Hallows, the lady meant as Young's housekeeper, in Boswell's Johnson, p. 351., ed. 1848; and I can add to Anderson's note, that in the Duchess of Portland's correspondence with Young, of which I have seen the originals, Mrs. Hallows is always mentioned by her Grace with civility and kindness.
Scarfs worn by Clergymen (Vol. vii., p. 108.).—Your correspondent will find the subject of his Query fully discussed in the Quarterly Review for June, 1851 (vol. lxxxix. p. 222.), the result being that the use of the scarf, except by chaplains of peers, dignitaries, &c., is a wholly unauthorised usurpation of very recent date.
Cibber's Lives of the Poets (Vol. v., p. 161.; Vol. vii., p. 113.).—Mr. W. L. Nichols has transmitted to "N. & Q." what he calls a "curious letter which appears to have escaped the notice of Mr. Croker, though it corroborates his statement," relative to Dr. Johnson's mistake as to the authorship of those Lives. Mr. Nichols is informed that he will find this "curious letter" in extenso in Mr. Croker's last edition of Boswell, p. 504., with the date of 1846; the letter itself having been published in 1843. It is again referred to in p. 818. as decisive of the question.
"Letters on Prejudice" (Vol. vii., p. 40.).—I have always understood from private and family sources, that Letters on Prejudice, inquired after by W. W. T., were written by a Miss Mary Kenny, an Irishwoman of great worth and ability. If I am right in this assertion, her brother, who was some time a fellow of the Irish University, and, if not lately dead, rector of one of the London churches, should be able to confirm it.
Belmont.
Statue of St. Peter (Vol. vi., p. 604.; Vol. vii., p. 96.).—On what authority does Ceyrep rest the confident statement, that this statue was undoubtedly cast for a St. Peter "in the time of St. Leo the Great?" I have always understood that it was an ancient statue which had been found in the Tiber; but here is a distinct assertion as to the period of its origin, for which some good authority would be very acceptable.
Lord Goring (Vol. ii., pp. 22. 65.).—I see him mentioned (in the Herstelde Leeuw, fol. 122.) as having been present at the baptism of William III. in 1651. He escorted Madam van Dhona, by whom the young prince was carried to church.—From the Navorscher.
Revolutionary Calendar (Vol. vi., pp. 199. 305.).—The lines to which C. refers may be seen in Brady's Clavis Calendaria, vol. i. p. 38. He gives them as the lines of an English wit, thus:
"Autumn, wheezy, sneezy, freezy,
Winter, slippy, drippy, nippy;
Spring showery, flowery, bowery;
Summer hoppy, croppy, poppy."
Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Scanderbags' Sword (Vol. vii., p. 35.).—This alludes to a proverb given by Fuller, "Scanderbags' sword must have Scanderbags' arm."
Rhymes upon Places (Vol. vii., p. 24.).—Lincolnshire:
"Gosberton church is very high,
Surfleet church is all awry;
Pinchbeck church is in a hole,
And Spalding church is big with foal."
Nicknames (Vol. vi., p. 198.).—If your correspondent will look at Mr. Bellenden Ker's Archæology of Popular Phrases, vol. i. p. 184., he will find an attempt to show the origin of nickname; but, whether we agree or not with Mr. Ker, the whole paragraph is worth reading for its comparative philology: it may, perhaps, bear out that the "nic" in "pic-nic" is also allied.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Nugget (Vol. vi., pp. 171. 281.).—E. N. W. inquires the meaning of the word nugget; and W. S. replies that in Persian nuqud signifies "ready money." This may have satisfied E. N. W., but it reminds me of Jonathan Oldbuck and {144}A. D. L. L. I should have thought that any one who had the slightest skill in etymology would have seen at once that a nugget is nothing more than a Yankee (?) corruption of an ingot. As many may be in the case of E. N. W., you may as well, perhaps, give this a place in "N. & Q."
Lawyers' Bags (Vol. vii., p. 85.).—I think the statement that "prior to the trial of Queen Caroline, the colour of the bags carried by barristers was green," will surprise some legal readers. I had been a barrister several years when that trial took place, and cannot think that I had ever seen (indeed that I have yet seen) a barrister or a barrister's clerk carrying a green bag. I suspect it is a mere blunder arising out of the talk about the "green bag" which was said to contain the charges against the Queen. That, however, I apprehend was not a lawyer's bag, whatever some lawyers might have to do with it.
J. St. J. Y. may assure himself that Colonel Landman is mistaken. I have been an attendant upon the Courts for fifty years, and therefore long before the terrible green bag containing the charges against Queen Caroline was brought into the House of Commons; and I can confidently assert that I never saw a green bag borne by a barrister or solicitor during that time. The only colours that were ever paraded in my experience by those legal functionaries, were purple and crimson; and they have so continued till the present time—I will not say without interruption, because I have been grieved to see that tailors and small London pedlars have invaded the privilege.
Catherine Barton (Vol. iii., pp. 328. 434.).—My attention has been drawn to some questions in your early Numbers respecting this lady. She was the daughter of Robert Barton of Brigstock, Northamptonshire, and Hannah Smith, half-sister of Sir Isaac Newton. The Colonel Barton of whom she is said to be the widow, was her cousin, Colonel Noel Barton, who served with distinction under Marlborough, and died at the age of forty. He was son of Thomas, eldest son of Thomas Barton of Brigstock.
The Lieutenant Matthew Barton mentioned by De Camera was the son of Jeffery Barton, Rector of Rashden, Northamptonshire, afterwards Admiral Barton. Jeffery was the youngest son of Thomas Barton of Brigstock.
Bells and Storms (Vol. iv., p. 508.).—Wynkin de Worde, one of the earliest of the English printers, in The Golden Legend, observes:
"It is said, the evil spirytes that ben in the region of th' ayre, doubte moche when they here the belles ringen whan it thondreth, and when grete tempeste and rages of wether happen, to the ende that the feinds and wycked spirytes should ben abashed and flee, and cease of the movynge of tempeste."
We have, in Sir John Sinclair's statistical account of Scotland, an account given of a bell belonging to the old chapel of St. Fillan, in the parish of Killin, Perthshire, which usually lay on a gravestone in the churchyard. Mad people were brought hither to be dipped in the saint's pool; the maniac was then confined all night in the chapel, bound with ropes, and in the morning the bell was set on his head with great solemnity. This was the Highland cure for mania. It was the popular superstition of the district, that this bell would, if stolen, extricate itself out of the thief's hands, and return to its original place, ringing all the way.
Latin Poem (Vol. vii., pp. 6, 7.).—Lord Braybrooke does not appear to be so correct as usual in his belief, that neither of the two Latin poems, which he quotes, have been previously in print. Crowe's beautiful monody will be found at p. 234. of his collected poems, published by Murray, 1827. The printed copy, however, which is headed
"Inscriptio in horto Auctoris apud Alton in Com.
Wilt.
——
M. S.
Gulielmi Crowe,
Signif. Leg. iv.
Qui cecidit in acie,
8 die Jan. A.D. 1815. Æt. s. 21."
has the following differences: line 7., "respexit" for "ascripsit;" l. 9., "solvo" for "pono." L. 10. and the following lines stand thus:
"Quinetiam assidue hic veniam, lentæque senectæ,
De Te, dulce Caput, meditando, tempora ducam:
Sæpe Tuam recolens formam, moresque decentes,
Dictaque, tum sancto, et sapienti corde profecta,
Tum festiva quidem, et vario condita lepore.
Id mihi nunc solamen erit, dum vita manebit.
Tu verò, quicunque olim successoris Hæres,
Sedibus his oro, mœsti reverere parentis,"
and so on to the end, with one or two alterations; except in the penultimate line, "sit" for "stet;" and, in the last, "jucundi" for "dilecti."
[Lord Braybrooke was certainly not aware that Crowe's monody had been published with his Poems. Lord Braybrooke's version was copied, about thirty years ago, verbatim et literatim, from a manuscript in the handwriting of the late Lord Glastonbury, who died in 1825.]
Daubuz (Vol. vi., p. 527.).—An interesting notice of the Rev. Charles Daubuz occurs in Hunter's Hallamshire, p. 175. It is unnecessary to quote the whole, and I shall content myself with merely observing that if the dates in the {145}Hallamshire are to be depended upon, and I have almost invariably found them correct, there is a slight inaccuracy in the note copied from the commentary. Mr. Hunter writes—
"He (Daubuz) was a native of Guienne, but at twelve years of age was driven from his native country, with his only surviving parent Julia Daubuz, by the religious persecution of 1686. In 1689 he was admitted of Queen's College, Cambridge, and remained in college till 1696, when he accepted the situation of head master of the (Grammar) School of Sheffield. He left Sheffield in 1699 on being presented to the Vicarage of Brotherton near Ferry-Bridge, where he was much loved and respected. He died there on the 14th of June, 1717," &c.
When the Levant Company surrendered their charter to the crown in the year 1826, Mr. J. T. Daubuz was treasurer to the Company. He was a highly respected merchant in the city of London, and had purchased the estate of Offington, near Worthing in Sussex, an estate formerly belonging to the Lords De la Warr. Mr. Daubuz still resides at Offington.
The Bride's Seat in Church (Vol. vi., p. 424.).—One of the sermons mentioned in Surtees' note, and inquired after by J. R. M., M.A., was written by William Whately, the learned and celebrated Puritan, who was vicar of Banbury in Oxfordshire. It is entitled
"A Bride Bush, or a Wedding Sermon, compendiously describing the duties of married persons. By performing whereof, marriage shall be to them a great helpe, which now find it a little hell. London, 1617. 4to. On Eph. v. 23."
I believe a copy of the sermon may be found in the Bodleian Library. Two propositions contained in this sermon led to Whately's being convened before the High Commission, when he acknowledged that he was unable to justify them, and recanted May 4, 1621. (See Wood's Ath. Oxon. by Bliss, vol. ii. col. 638.)
Louis Napoleon, President of France (Vol. vi., p. 435.).—Modern history furnishes more than one instance of the anomaly adverted to by Mr. Relton. After the murder of Louis XVI., his son, though he never ascended the throne, was recognized by the legitimists of the day as Louis XVII.; and on the restoration of the family in 1815, the Comte d'Artois assumed the title of Louis XVIII. In this way the revolutionary chasm was, as it were, bridged over, and the dynasty of the elder Bourbons exhibited on an uninterrupted line.
So it is as regards the Napoleon dynasty. The Duke de Reichstadt, Napoleon's son, was in the same predicament as the son of Louis XVI. He received from the Bonapartists the title of Napoleon II.; and Louis Napoleon therefore becomes Napoleon III.
A similar case might have occurred to the House of Stuart, if the Pretender's son, who began by taking the title of Henry IX., had not extinguished the hopes and pretensions of his ill-fated race, by exchanging his "crown" for a cardinal's hat. And to-morrow (though that is perhaps a little too soon) the same thing may happen again to the elder branch of the Bourbons, should the Comte de Chambord (Henry V.) leave a son of that name to ascend the throne as Henry VI.
St. Lucia.
Chapel Plaster (Vol. vii., p. 37.).—For an explanation of the word plaster, on which your correspondent has offered so elaborate a commentary, I would beg to refer him to White's Selborne (vol. i. p. 5; vol. ii. p. 340., 4to. edit.):
"In the centre of the village, and near the church, is a square piece of ground surrounded by houses, and vulgarly called The Plestor. In the midst of this spot stood, in old times, a vast oak.... This venerable tree, surrounded with stone steps, and seats above them, was the delight of old and young, and a place of much resort in summer evenings; where the former sat in grave debate, while the latter frolicked and danced before them.
"This Pleystow (Saxon, Plegstow), locus ludorum, or play-place, continues still, as in old times, to be the scene of recreation for the youths and children of the neighbourhood."
Chapel Plaster is, I believe, an outlying hamlet belonging to the parish of Box; and the name imports merely what in Scotland would be called "the Kirk on the Green"—the chapel built on, or near to, the playground of the villagers.
The fascinating volumes above named will afford a reply to an unanswered Query in your second volume (Vol. ii., p. 266.), the meaning of the local word Hanger:
"The high part to the S.W. consists of a vast hill of chalk, rising 300 feet above the village; and is divided into a sheep down, the high wood, and a long hanging wood, called The Hanger."—Vol. i. p. 1.
Lansdown Place, Bath.
Passage in Thomson (Vol. vii., p. 67.).—Steaming is clearly the true reading, and means that the exhalations which steam from the waters are sent down again in the showers of spring. This will appear still clearer by reference to a similar passage in Milton's Morning Hymn, which Thomson was evidently copying:
"Ye mists and exhalations that now rise
From hill or steaming lake, dusky or grey," &c.
Passage in Locksley Hall (Vol. vii., p. 25.).—If Tennyson really meant his readers to gather from the lines in question, that the curlew's call gleams about the moorland, he used a very bold figure of speech, yet one not uncommon in the vivid language of Greece. For example:
"Παιὰν δὲ λάμπει στόνοεσσά τε νῆρυς ὅμαυλος."
And again,
"Ἔλαμψε ... ἀρτίως φανεῖσα φάμα." (Sophocles.)
So also,
"Βοὰ πρέπει." (Pindar and Æschylus.)
May it not, however, be just possible that Tennyson did not mean anything?
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British Diary for 1794, by Cotes and Hall.
Heath's Palladium.
Reuben Burrow's Diarie, 1782-1788.
Marrat's Scientific Journal. New York.
Mathematical Correspondent (American.)
Leeds Correspondent. Vol. V., Nos. 1, 2, and 3.
Mathematical Miscellany. 1735.
Turner's Mathematical Miscellany. 1750.
Whiting's Select Exercises, with Key.
Walton and Cotton's Angler, by Hawkins. Part II. 1784.
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Reid's Historical Botany. Windsor, 1826. 3 vols. 12mo.
Anthologia Borealis et Australis.
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Letter of Church Rates, by Ralph Barnes. 8vo. London, 1837.
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The Gentleman's Magazine for January 1851.
Ben Jonson's Works. (London, 1716. 6 vols.) Vol. II. wanted.
Rapin's History of England, 8vo. Vols. I., III. and V. of the Continuation by Tindal. 1744.
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Notes on Books, &c. In consequence of the number of Replies waiting for insertion, we have thought it right this week to omit our usual Notes on Books, &c.
J. L. (Islington). The ordinary Spirits of Wine, sixty over proof, is that referred to. The Ether is to be common rectified Ether, and not the washed Ether.
A Constant Reader is informed that Stereoscopic views may be taken in any Camera. We must refer him for answers to his other Queries to any of the numerous dealers in such objects.
Inquirer (Edinburgh)'s Photographic difficulty shall be solved next week.
H. H. H. (Ashburton). It is only some specimens of Gutta Percha that can be acted upon by Collodion, which then takes up a very minute portion of a waxy substance which occurs in some Gutta Percha, and some other eastern products. The advantages derived from its use are very questionable.
T. N. B.'s offer is accepted with thanks.
T. K. G. The enigma
"'Twas whisper'd in heaven"
was certainly written by Miss Catherine Fanshawe. Another enigma from her pen, "On the Letter I," will be found in our 5th Vol., p. 427.
W. H. L. The line
"To err is human, to forgive divine,"
is the 525th of Pope's Essay on Criticism.
H. G. D. We should be glad to see the Notes referred to.
Varro. We have a letter on the subject of the Reprint of the First Folio Shakspeare for this Correspondent. Shall it be forwarded, or left at our Publisher's?
Shakspeare. We have in type, or in the printer's hands, two or three articles on the text of Shakspeare, to which we propose to give immediate insertion. After which we would suggest the propriety of our Correspondents suspending their labour on this subject until the appearance of Mr. Collier's promised edition, which is to contain all the MS. emendations in his copy of the Folio of 1632.
Prestoniensis. A Tandem was so named from some University wag, because he drove his two horses not abreast, but at length.
W. L. C. (Preston). A common brass medal, of no pecuniary value.
J. G. T. (near Eden Bridge). The word Quarantine is from the Italian Quaranto, and refers to the forty days, after which it was supposed there was no further danger of infection. The hymn "Rock of Ages" was written by Toplady; and "Lo, he comes, in clouds descending!" by Oliver.
T. F. (Taunton) is thanked for his suggestions. The first and second shall have due consideration. As to the third, the taking of it is in no case intended to be compulsory.
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to Mr. R.W. Thomas."
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Of Saturday, January 29, contains Articles on
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—— College, Cirencester, Sessional Examination at
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THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE AND HISTORICAL REVIEW for FEBRUARY contains the following articles:—
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2. The Roman Wall: with Engravings.
3. Sonnet to Wordsworth, by the Rev. C. V. Le Grice.
4. Giordano Bruno.
5. Notices of the American Indians.
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10. A Journey from Paris to Italy in 1736.
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