Replies to Minor Queries.
Berefellarii (Vol. vii., p. 207.).—John Jebb mentions the berefellarii as a distinct kind of mongrel dependents or half-ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages, dirty, shabby, ill-washed attendants, whose ragged clothes were a shame to the better sort of functionaries. He gave excellent and just reasons for his opinion, and a very probable construction of the sense of the word. But the etymon he proposes is rather unsatisfactory. Anglo-Saxonism is a very good thing; simplicity and common sense are very good things too. May not berefellarius, the dirty raggamuffin with tattered clothes, be good monkish Latin for bare-fell (i.e. bare-skin), or rather bare-fellow? the most natural metamorphosis imaginable. Bere is the old orthoepy of bare; and every one knows that in London (east) a fellow naturally becomes a fellar.
P.S.—Excuse my French-English.
Philarète Chasles, Mazarinæus.
Paris, Palais de I'Institut.
"To know ourselves diseased," &c. (Vol. viii., p. 219.).—
"To know ourselves diseased is half our cure."
This line is from Young's Night Thoughts, Night 9th, line 38.
J. W. Thomas.
Dewsbury.
Gloves at Fairs (Vol. viii., p. 136.).—As an emblem of power and an acknowledgment of goodness, "Saul set up a hand" after his victory over the Amalekites, 1 Sam. xv. 12., (Taylor's Hebrew Concordance, in voce, ידה) Sam 2 xviii. 18., Isaiah lvi. 5. The Phœnician monuments are said to have had sculptured on them an arm and hand held up, with an inscription graven thereon. (See Gesenius and Lee.) If, as stated by your correspondents in the article referred to, the glove at fairs "denotes protection," and indicates "that parties frequenting the fair are exempt from arrest," it is at least a remarkable coincidence. The Phœnicians were the earliest merchants to the west of England that we have any account of; can any connexion be traced historically between the Phœnician traffic and the modern practice of setting up a hand, or glove, at fairs? I well remember the feelings of awe and wonder with which I gazed when taken in childhood to see "the glove brought in" and placed over the guildhall of my native city (Exeter) at the commencement of "Lammas Fair." Has the glove been associated with this fair from its commencement? and if not, how far back can its use be traced? The history of the fair is briefly this: it existed before the Norman Conquest, and was a great mart of business; the tolls had belonged to the corporation, but King John took one-half, and gave them to the priory of St. Nicholas. Henry VIII. sold the fair with the priory; and anno second and third of Philip and Mary it was made over to the corporation, who have ever since been lords of the fair. (Izacke's Memorials, p. 19.; Oliver's History of Exeter, pp. 83. 158., &c.)
J. W. Thomas.
Dewsbury.
I may add that at Barnstaple, North Devon, the evening previous to the proclamation of the fair, a large glove, decked with dahlias, is protruded on a pole from a window of the Quay Hall, the most ancient building in the town, which remains during the fair, and is removed at its termination. May not the outstretched glove signify the consent of the authorities to the commencement and continuance of the festivities, &c., and its withdrawal a hint for their cessation?
I may add also that on the morning of proclaiming the fair, the mayor and corporation meet their friends in the council chamber, and partake of spiced toast and ale.
Drofsniag.
"An" before "u" long (Vol. viii., p. 244.).—The custom of writing an before u long must have arisen and become established when u had its primitive and vowel sound, nearly resembling that of our oo, a sound which it still has in several languages, but seems to have lost in ours. The use of an before u long, was then proper; habit and precedent will account for its retention by many, after the reason for it has ceased, and when its use has become improper. But although the custom is thus accounted for, there exists no satisfactory reason for its continuance, and I am sorry to learn from your correspondent that it is "increasingly prevailing."
J. W. Thomas.
Dewsbury.
"The Good Old Cause" (Vol. viii, p. 44.).—D'Israeli, in Quarrels of Authors, under the head of "Martin Mar-Prelate," has the following remarks on the origin and use of the expression, "The Good Old Cause:"
"It is remarkable that Udall repeatedly employed that expression, which Algernon Sidney left as his last legacy to the people, when he told them he was about to die for 'that Old Cause, in which I was from my youth engaged.' Udall perpetually insisted on 'The Cause.' This was a term which served at least for a watch-word: it rallied the scattered members of the republican party. The precision of the expression might have been difficult to ascertain; and, perhaps, like every popular expedient, varied with 'existing circumstances.' I did not, however, know it had so remote an origin as in the reign of Elizabeth; and suspect it may still be freshened up and varnished over for any present occasion."
Henry H. Breen.
St. Lucia.
The following curious paragraph in the Post Boy, June 3-5, 1714, seems to have been connected with the Jacobites:
"There are lately arrived here the Dublin Plenipo's. All persons that have any business concerning the Good Old Cause, let 'em repair to Jenny Man's Coffee House at Charing Cross, where they may meet with the said Plenipo's every day of the week except Sundays, and every evening of those days they are to be spoke with at the Kit-Cat Club."
E. G. Ballard.
Jeroboam of Claret, &c. (Vol vii., p.528.).—Is a magnum anything more than a bottle larger than those of the ordinary size, and containing about two quarts; or a Jeroboam other than a witty conceit applied to the old measure Joram or Jorum, by some profane wine-bibber?
H. C. K.
Humbug (Vol. vii., p. 631.).—The real signification of the word humbug appears to me to lie in the following derivation of it. Among the many issues of base coin which from time to time were made in Ireland, there was none to be compared in worthlessness to that made by James II. from the Dublin Mint; it was composed of anything on which he could lay his hands, such as lead, pewter, copper, and brass, and so low was its intrinsic value, that twenty shillings of it was only worth twopence sterling. William III., a few days after the Battle of the Boyne, ordered that the crown piece and half-crown should be taken as one penny and one halfpenny respectively. The soft mixed metal of which that worthless coining was composed, was known among the Irish as Uim bog, pronounced Oom-bug, i.e. soft copper, i.e. worthless money; and in the course of their dealings the modern use of the word humbug took its rise, as in the phrases "that's a piece of uimbog (humbug)," "don't think to pass off your uimbug on me." Hence the word humbug came to be applied to anything that had a specious appearance, but which was in reality spurious. It is curious to note that the very opposite of humbug, i.e. false metal, is the word sterling, which is also taken from a term applied to the true coinage of the realm, as sterling coin, sterling truth, sterling worth, &c.
Fras. Crossley.
"Could we with ink," &c. (Vol. viii., pp. 127, 180.).-If Rabbi Mayir Ben Isaac is the bonâ fide author of the lines in question, or the substance of them, then the author of the Koran has been indebted to him for the following passage:
"If the sea were ink, to write the words of my Lord, verily the sea would fail before the words of my Lord would fail; although we added another sea unto it as a farther supply."—Al Koran, chap. xviii., entitled "The Cave," translated by Sale.
The question is, Did Rabbi Mayir Ben Isaac, author of the Chaldee ode sung in every synagogue on the day of Pentecost, flourish before or since the Mohamedan era?
J. W. Thomas.
Dewsbury.
"Hurrah!" (Vol. viii., pp. 20, 277, 323.).—It would almost deem that we are never to hear the last of "Hurrah! and other war-cries." Your correspondents T. F. and Sir J. Emerson Tennent appear to me to have made the nearest approach to a satisfactory solution of the difficulty; a step farther and the goal is won—the object of inquiry is found. I suppose it will be admitted that the language which supplies the meaning of a word has the fairest claim to be considered its parent language. What, then, is the meaning of "Hurrah," and in whet language? As a reply to this Query, allow me to quote a writer in Blackwood's Magazine, April 1843, p. 477.
"'Hurrah!' means strike in the Tartar language."—Note to art. "Amulet Bek."
So then, according to this respectable authority, the end of our shouts and war-cries is, that we have "caught a Tartar!"
Again, in Blackwood, 1849, vol. i. p.673., we read:
"He opened a window and cried 'Hourra!' At the signal, a hundred soldiers crowded into the house. Mastering his fury, the Czar ordered the young officer to be taken to prison."—Art. "Romance of Russian History."
Thus, in describing the "awful pause" on the night preceding the Russian attack on Ismail, then in possession of the Turks, Lord Byron says:
"A moment—and all will be life again!
The march! the charge! the shouts of either faith!
Hurra! and Allah! and—one instant more—
The death-cry drowning in the battle's roar."
Works, p. 684. col. 2.
J. W. Thomas.
Dewsbury.
"Qui facit per alium facit per se" (Vol. viii., p. 231.).—"Qui facit per alium, est perinde ac si faciat per seipsum," is one of the maxims of Boniface VIII. (Sexti Decret., lib. v. tit. 12., de Reg. Jur. c. 72.; Böhm. Corp. Jur. can., tom. ii. col. 1040.), derived, according to the glossary (vid. in Decret., ed. fol., Par. 1612), from the maxim of Paulus (Digest, lib. 1. tit. 17., de Div. Reg. Jur. 1. 180.), "Quod jussu alterius solvitur, pro eo est quasi ipsi solutum esset."
E. M.
Tsar (Vol. viii., pp. 150, 226.).—Is not tsar rather cognate with the Heb. שַׂר (Sar), a leader, commander, or prince? This root is to be found in many other languages, as Arabic, Persian; Latin serro. Gesenius gives the meaning of the word שָׂרָה (Sarah), to place in a row, to set in order; to be leader, commander, prince. If tsar have this origin, it will be synonymous with imperator, emperor.
B. H. C.
Scrape (Vol. viii., p. 292.).—I do not know when this word began to be used in this sense. Shakspeare says "Ay, there's the rub:" an analogous phrase, which may throw light upon the one "to get into a scrape." Both are metaphors, derived from the unpleasant sensations produced by rubbing or grazing the skin. The word pinch is, on the same principle, used for difficulty; and the Lat. tribulatio=trouble, and its synonym in Gr., θλιρσισ, have a similar origin and application.
"To get into a scrape" is, therefore, to get into trouble.
B. H. C.
Baskerville (Vol. viii., p. 202.).—
Among the articles consumed at Mr. Ryland's at Birmingham, was the body of the late Mr. Baskerville, who by his will ordered that he should be buried in his own house, and he was accordingly interred there. A stone closet was erected in it, where he was deposited in a standing posture. The house was afterwards sold with this express condition, that it should remain there."—Account of the Birmingham riots in 1791, from the Historical Magazine, vol. iii., where it is said the house was burned on Friday afternoon, July 15."
B. H. C.
A great-uncle of mine owned the Baskerville property (he, Baskerville, was buried in his own grounds) at the time of the Church and King Riot in 1791; but it was the recent growth of the town that occasioned the disinterment.
R.
Sheriffs of Glamorganshire (Vol. iii., p. 186.; Vol. viii., p. 353.).—Your correspondent Tewars is certainly wrong in ascribing to the Rev. H. H. Knight the list of Glamorganshire sheriffs inquired for by Edmund W. It is true this gentleman printed a list of them many years after the former, which was privately printed by the Rev. J. M. Traherne, and subsequently published a Cardiff Guide, by Mr. Bird of Cardiff. I have seen both copies, and the latter may doubtless yet be seen upon application to Mr. Bird. I have also seen the more recent list by my learned friend the rector of Neath.
Bibliothecar. Chetham.
Synge Family—sub voce Carr Pedigree (Vol. vii., p. 558.; Vol. viii., p. 327.).—Has the statement made by Gulielmus, as to the origin of the name of Synge, ever appeared in print before? And if so, where? I have long been curious to identify the individual whose name underwent such a singular change, and to ascertain if he really was a chantry priest as reported. Was he George Synge, the grandfather of George Synge, Bishop of Cloyne, born 1594? Of what family was Mary Paget, wife of the Rev. Richard Synge, preacher at the Savoy in 1715? The name appears to have been indifferently spelt, Sing, Singe, and Synge. And I believe an older branch than the baronet's still exists at Bridgenorth, writing themselves Sing. The punning motto of this family is worth noticing: "Celestia canimus."
Arthur Paget.
Lines on Woman (Vol. viii., p. 350).—Your correspondent F. W. J. has occasioned me some perplexity in tracing the quotation which he refers to Vol. viii., p. 204., but which is really to be found at p. 292. He appears to have fallen into this error by mistaking the number on the right hand for the paging on the left. As accuracy in these matters is essential in a publication like "N. & Q.," he will excuse me for setting him right. The name of the author of the poem of "Woman" was not Eton Barrett, but Eaton Stannard Barrett. He was connected with the press in London. Your correspondent is correct in stating that the Barretts were from Cork. Eaton Stannard Barrett was a man of considerable ability. He published several works anonymously, all of which acquired celebrity; but I believe the poem of "Woman," published by Mr. Colburn, was the only work to which he attached his name. He was the author of the well-known political satire called All the Talents; of the mock romance of The Heroine, in which the absurdities of a school of fiction, at that time in high favour, are happily ridiculed; and of a novel which had great success in its day, and is still to be found in some of the circulating libraries, called Six Weeks at Long's. Eaton Stannard Barrett died many years ago in the prime of his life and powers. His brother, Richard Barrett, is still living, and resides in the neighbourhood of Dublin. He is the author of some controversial and political pamphlets, of which the principal were Irish Priests, and The Bible not a Dangerous Book. He afterwards conducted The Pilot newspaper, established for the support of Mr. O'Connell's policy in Ireland, and was one of the persons who suffered imprisonment with Mr. O'Connell, and who were designated in the Irish papers as the "martyrs."
Robert Bell.
Lisle Family (Vol. vii., p. 365. et ante).—R. H. C. will find in Berry's Hampshire Genealogies (1 vol. folio, London, 1833) a pedigree of the Lisles he alludes to as being buried at Thruxton, Hampshire. The shield, Lisle impaling Courtenay, on the altar tomb there would appear to belong to Sir John Lisle, Kt., who married Joan, daughter of John Courtenay, Earl of Exeter.
Arthur Paget.
Duval Family (Vol. viii., p. 318.).—If H. will have the kindness to address himself to me either personally or by letter, I shall be happy to give him any information I can, derived from old family documents in my possession, respecting the Duval family and the Walls of the south of Ireland.
C. A. Duval.
74. George St., Manchester.