Replies to Minor Queries.
Robert Drury (Vol. v., p. 533.; Vol. vii., p. 485.; vol. viii., p. 104.).—I believe the Journal of Robert Drury to be a genuine book of travels and adventures, and here is my voucher:
"The best and most authentic account ever given of Madagascar was published in 1729, by Robert Drury, who being shipwrecked in the Degrave East Indiaman, on the south side of that island, in 1702, being then a boy, lived there as a slave fifteen years, and after his return to England, among those who knew him (and he was known to many, being a porter at the East India House), had the character of a downright honest man, without any appearance of fraud or imposture."—John Duncombe, M. A., one of the six preachers in Christ Church, Canterbury, 1773.
Mr. Duncombe quotes several statements from Drury which coincide with those of the Reverend William Hirst, the astronomer, who touched at Madagascar, on his voyage to India, in 1759. Ten years afterwards Mr. Hirst perished in the Aurora, and with him the author of The Shipwreck.
Bolton Corney.
Real Signatures versus Pseudo-Names (Vol. vi., p. 310.; Vol. viii., p. 94.).—There is no doubt that the straightforwardness of open and undisguised communications to your excellent miscellany is desirable; but a few words may be said on behalf of your anonymous contributors. If the rule were established that every correspondent should add his name to his communication, many of your friends might, from motives of delicacy, decline asking a question or hazarding a reply. By adopting a nom-de-guerre, men eminent in their various pursuits can quietly and unostentatiously ask a question, or contribute information. If the latter be done with reference to standard works of authority, or to MSS. preserved in our public depositories, the disclosure of the name of the contributor adds nothing to the matter contributed, and he may rejoice that he has been the means of promoting the objects of the "N. & Q." without the "blushing to find it fame." It should, however, be a sine quâ non that all original communications, and those of matters of fact, should be authenticated by a real signature, when no reference can be given to authorities not accessible to the public; and it is to be regretted that such authentication has not, in such cases, been generally afforded.
Thos. Wm. King (York Herald).
Lines on the Institution of the Garter (Vol. viii., p. 53.).—
"Her stocking's security fell from her knee,
Allusions and hints, sneers and whispers went round."
May I put a Query on the idea suggested by these lines—that the accidental dropping of her garter implied an imputation on the fair fame of the Countess of Salisbury. Why should this be? That it did imply an imputation, I judge as well from the vindication of the lady by King Edward, as also from the proverbial expression used in Scotland, and to be found in Scott's Works, of "casting a leggin girth," as synonymous with a female "faux pas." I have a conjecture, but should not like to venture it, without inquiring the general impression as to the origin of this notion.
A. B. R.
Belmont.
"Short red, God red," &c. (Vol. vii., p. 500.).—Sir Walter Scott has committed an oversight when, in Tales of a Grandfather, vol. i. p. 85., he mentions a murderer of the Bishop of Caithness to have made use of the expression, "Schort red, God red, slea ye the bischop." Adam, Bishop of Caithness, was burnt by the mob near Thurso, in 1222, for oppression in the exaction of tithes; John, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, was killed in retaliation by the bishop's party in 1231.
The language spoken at that time on the sea-coast of Caithness must have been Norse. Sutherland would appear to have been wrested from the Orkney-Norwegians before that period, and the Celtic tongue and race gaining on the Norse; but on the sea-coast of Caithness I should apprehend the Norse continued to be the spoken tongue till a later period, when it was superseded by the Scottish. The Norwegians in the end of the ninth century colonised Orkney, and expelled or destroyed the former inhabitants. The Western Isles were also subjugated by them at that time, and probably Caithness, or at all events a little later. It would be desirable to know the race and tongue previously existing in Caithness, and if these were lost in the Norwegians and Norse, and an earlier Christianity in Scandinavian Paganism. This may, however, lead to the unfathomably dark subject of the Picts. Is it known when Norse ceased to be spoken in Caithness? The story of the burning of the Bishop of Caithness forms the conclusion of the Orkneyinga Saga; and vide Torfæus, Orcades, p. 154., and Dalrymple's Annals of Scotland, of dates 1222 and 1231.
F.
Martha Blount (Vol. vii., pp. 38. 117.).—At "Brandon," the seat of the Harrisons on the James River, Virginia, is a likeness of Miss Blount by Sir Godfrey Kneller; and at "Berkeley," also on the James River, and the residence of another branch of the same family, is one of the Duchess of Montagu, also by Kneller. Thus much in answer to the Query. But in this connexion I would mention, that on the James River are many fine pictures, portraits of worthies famous in English history. At "Shirley" there is one of Col. Hill, by Vandyke; at Brandon, one of Col. Byrd, by Vandyke; also Lord Orrery, Duke of Argyle, Lord Albemarle, Lord Egmont, Sir Robert Walpole, and others, by Kneller.
These pictures are mentioned in chap. ix. of Travels in North America during the Years 1834-1836, by the Hon. Charles Augustus Murray; a gentleman who either is, or was, Master of the Queen's Household.
T. Balch.
Philadelphia.
Longevity (Vol. viii., p. 113.).—As W. W. asserts that there is a lady living (or was two months ago) in South Carolina, who is known to be 131 years old, he will no doubt be good enough to let the readers of "N. & Q." know it also. And although W. W. thinks it will not be necessary to search in "annual or parish registers" to prove the age of the singular Singleton, yet he must produce documentary evidence of some sort; unless, indeed, he knows an older person who remembers the birth of the aged Carolinian.
Having paid the well-known Mr. Barnum a fee to see a negress, whom the cute showman exhibited as the nurse of the great Washington, I have fifty cents worth of reasons to subscribe myself
A Doubter.
Its (Vol. vii., p. 578.).—B. H. C. is perfectly correct in saying, that I was mistaken in my quotation from Fairfax's Tasso. It only remains for me to explain how I fell into the error. It was, then, from using Mr. Knight's edition of the work for though the orthography was modernised, which I like, I never dreamed of an editor's taking the liberty of altering the text of his author. I love to be corrected when wrong, and here express my thanks to B. H. C. I inform him that there is another passage in Shakspeare with its in it, but not having marked it, I cannot find it just now: I think it is in Lear.
I have said that I like modernised orthography. We have modernised that of the Bible, and of the dramatists; why then are we so superstitious with respect to the barbarous system of Spenser? I am convinced that the Fairy Queen, if printed in modern orthography, would find many readers who are repelled by the uncouth and absurd spelling of the poet, who wanted to rhyme to the eye as well as to the ear. Let us then have a "Spenser for the People."
Thos. Keightley.
Oldham, Bishop of Exeter (Vol. vii., pp. 14. 164. 189. 271.).—Mr. Walcott will be interested to learn, that Bishop Hugh Oldham was not a native of Oldham, but was born at Crumpsall, in the parish of Manchester; as appears from Dugdale's Visitation of Lancashire, and the "Lancashire MSS.," vol. xxxi. His brother, Richard Oldham, appointed 22nd Abbot of St. Werburgh's Abbey, Chester, in 1452, was afterwards elevated to the bishoprick of Man, and, dying Oct. 13, 1485, was buried at Chester Abbey, Chester.
T. Hughes.
Chester.
Boom (Vol. vii., p. 620.).—This word, expressive of the cry of the bittern, is also used as a noun:
"And the loud bittern from his bull-rush home
Gave from the salt-ditch side his bellowing boom."
Crabbe, The Borough, xxii.
Ebenezer Elliott is another who uses the word as a verb:
"No more with her will hear the bittern boom
At evening's dewy close."
Cuthbert Bede, B.A.
Lord North (Vol. vii., p. 317.).—If C. can procure a copy of Lossing's Pictorial Field-book of the American Revolution, he will find in one of the volumes a woodcut from an English engraving, presenting to our view George III. as he appeared at the era of the American Revolution. It may serve to modify his present opinion as to the king's figure, face, &c.
M. E.
Philadelphia.
Dutch Pottery (Vol. v., p. 343.; Vol. vi. p. 253.).—At Arnhem, about sixty-five or seventy years ago, there existed a pottery founded by two Germans: H. Brandeis, and the well-known savant H. von Laun, maker of the planetarium (orrery) described by Professor van Swinden, and purchased by the Society Felix Meritis in Amsterdam. The son of Mr. Brandeis has still at his residence, No. 419. Rapenburgerstraat, several articles manufactured there: such as plates, &c. What I have seen is much coarser than the Saxon porcelain, yet much better than our Delft ware. Perhaps Mr. Van Embden, grandson and successor of Von Laun, could give farther information.
S. J. Mulder.
P.S.—Allow me to correct some misprints in Vol. vi., p. 253. Dutch and German names are often cruelly maltreated in English publications. In this respect "N. & Q." should be an exception. For "Lichner" read Leichner; for "Dorpheschrÿver" read Dorpbeschrÿver; for "Blasse" read Blüssé; for "Heeren" read Haeren; for "Pallandh" read Palland; for "Daenbar" read Daeuber.—From the Navorscher.
Cranmer's Correspondences (Vol. vii., p. 621.).—Will Mr. Walter be so good as to preserve in your columns the letter of which Dean Jenkyns has only given extracts?
Two points are to be distinguished, Cranmer's wish that Calvin should assist in a general union of the churches protesting against Romish error—Calvin's offer to assist in settling the Church of England. The latter was declined; and the reason is demonstrated in Archbp. Laurence's Bampton Lectures.
S. Z. Z. S.
Portable Altars (Vol. viii., p. 101.).—I am not acquainted with any treatise on the subject of portable altars, from which your correspondent can obtain more information, than from that which occupies forty-six pages in the Decas Dissertationum Historico-Theologicarum, published, for the second time, by Jo. Andr. Schmidt, 4to. Helmstad. 1714.
R. G.
Poem attributed to Shelley (Vol. viii., p. 71.).—The ridiculous extravaganza attributed to Shelley by an American newspaper, was undoubtedly never written by that gifted genius. It bears throughout unmistakeable evidence of its transatlantic origin. No person, who had not actually witnessed that curious vegetable parasite, the Spanish moss of the southern states of America, hanging down in long, hairy-like plumes from the branches of a large tree, would have imagined the lines,—
"The downy clouds droop
Like moss upon a tree."
Who, again, could believe that Shelley, an English gentleman and scholar, could ever, either in writing or conversation, have made use of the common American vulgarism, "play hell!"
The question of the authorship of such a production, apart from its being attributed to Shelley, is, in my humble opinion, a matter of little or no interest. But as a probable guess, I should say that it carries strong internal evidence of having been written by that erratic mortal, Edgar Poe.
W. Pinkerton.
Ham.
Lady Percy, Wife of Hotspur (Daughter of Edmumd Mortimer, Earl of March) (Vol. viii., p. 104.).—On reference to the volume and page of Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England, cited by your correspondent G., I find that not only does this lady, by her sweeping assertion, bastardise the second E. of Northumberland, but, in her zeal to outsay all that "ancient heralds" ever can have said, she annihilates, or at least reduces to a myth, the mother of Thomas, eighth Lord Clifford. This infelicitous statement may have been corrected in the second edition of the Lives, for in "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 42., there is a detailed pedigree tracing the descent of Jane Seymour through Margaret Wentworth, her mother, by an intermarriage with a Wentworth, and a granddaughter of Hotspur, Lord Percy, (not daughter, as Miss Strickland writes) from the blood-royal of England. My object, however, in writing this is not farther to point attention to Miss Strickland's mistake, but to invite discussion to the point where this pedigree may be possibly faulty. I will not say "all ancient heralds," but some heralds, at least, of acknowledged reputation, viz. Nicolas, Collins, and Dugdale[[6]], have stated that the wife of Sir Philip Wentworth was a daughter of Roger fifth Lord Clifford. If this be so, in truth there is an end at once of the Seymour's claim to royal lineage; for it is an undoubted fact that it was the grandson of Roger fifth Lord, namely, John, seventh Lord Clifford, K.G., who married Hotspur's only daughter.
C. V.
Footnote 6:[(return)]
Nicolas, Scrope and Grosvenor Roll, ii. 471.; Collins, Peerage, 5th ed., vi. 358.; Dugdale, Baronage, i. 341.
"Up, guards, and at them!" (Vol. v., p. 426.; Vol. viii., p. 111.).—Some years ago, about the time that the Wellington statue on the arch at Hyde Park Corner was erected, I was dining at a table where Wyatt the artist was present. The conversation turned much upon the statue, and the exact period at which the great Duke is represented. Wyatt said that he was represented at that moment when he is supposed to have used the words: "Up, guards, and at them!" It having been questioned whether he ever uttered the words, I asked the artist whether, when he was taking the Duke's portrait, the Duke himself acknowledged using them? To which he replied, that the Duke said that he did not recollect having uttered those words and, in fact, that he could not say what expression he did use on that occasion. The company at dinner seemed much satisfied with Wyatt's authority on this point.
J. D. Gardner.
Pennycomequick (Vol. viii., p. 113.).—A similar story to that related by your correspondent Mr. Hele is told of Falmouth. Previously to its being incorporated as a town by Charles II., it was called Smithick, from a smith's shop, near a creek, which extended up the valley. The old Cornish word ick signifies a "creek;" and as it became a village it was called "Pennycomequick," which your correspondent H. C. K. clearly explains. The Welsh and Cornish languages are in close affinity. The name "Pennycomequick" is evidently a corrupted old Cornish name: see Pryce's Archæologia Cornu-Britannica, v. "Pen," "Coomb," and "Ick," the head of the narrow valley, defile or creek. It has been thought by some to mean "the head of the cuckoo's valley;" and your correspondent's Welsh derivation seems to countenance such a translation. The cuckoo is known in Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall as "the Gawk Gwich." Mr. Hele, perhaps, will be amused at the traditional story of the Falmouthians respecting the origin of Pennycomequick. Before the year 1600, there were few houses on the site of the present town: a woman, who had been a servant with an ancestor of the late honourable member for West Cornwall, Mr. Pindarves, came to reside there, and that gentleman directed her to brew some good ale, as he should occasionally visit the place with his friends. On one of his visits he was disappointed, and expressed himself angry at not finding any ale. It appeared on explanation that a Dutch vessel came into the harbour the preceding day, and the Dutchmen drained her supply; she said the Penny come so quick, she could not refuse to sell it.
James Cornish.
Falmouth.
Captain Booth of Stockport (Vol. viii., p. 102.).—In answer to Mr. Hughes's inquiry about this antiquary, I beg to state that he will find an Ordinary of Arms, drawn up by Captain Booth of Stockport, in the Shepherd Library, Preston, Lancashire. It is one among the numerous valuable MSS. given by the executors of the late historian of Lancashire, Ed. Baines, Esq., M.P., to that library. In Lysons' Magna Britannia (volume Cheshire), your correspondent will also find a mention of a John Booth, Esq., of Twemlow, Cheshire, who was the author of various heraldic manuscripts. It may, perhaps, be hardly necessary to inform Cheshire antiquaries that an almost inexhaustible fund of information, on heraldry and genealogy, is to be found in the manuscripts of Randle Holme, formerly of Chester, which are now preserved among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum.
Jaytee.
"Hurrah," &c. (Vol. viii., p. 20.).—The clameur de Haro still exists in Jersey, and is the ancient form there of opposing all encroachments on landed property, and the first step to be taken by which an ejectment can be finally obtained. It was decided in Pinel and Le Gallais, that the clameur de Haro does not apply to the opposal of the execution of a decree of the Royal Court.
It is a remarkable feature in this process, that it is carried on by the crown; and that the losing party, whether plaintiff or defendant, is mulcted in a small fine to the king, because the sacred name of Haro is not to be carelessly invoked with impunity.
See upon the subject of the clameur, Le Geyt sur les Constitutions, etc. de Jersey, par Marett, vol. i. p. 294.
M. L.
Lincoln's Inn.
I do not think that the explanation of these words, quoted by Mr. Brent, is much more probable than that of "Hierosolyma est perdita." In the first place, if we are to believe Dr. Johnson, hips are not sloes, but the fruit or seed-vessels of the dog-rose or briar, which usually go by that name, and from which it would be difficult to make any infusion resembling wine. In the next place, it will be found, on reference to Ben Jonson's lines "over the door at the entrance into the Apollo" (vol. vii. p. 295., ed. 1756), of which the distich forms a part, that it is misquoted. The words are,—
"Hang up all the poor hop-drinkers,
Cries old Sym, the king of skinkers;"
the hop or ale-drinkers being contrasted with the votaries of wine, "the milk of Venus," and "the true Phœbeian liquor." Is it not possible, after all, that the repetition of, "Hip, hip, hip," is merely intended to mark the time for the grand exertion of the lungs to be made in enunciating the final "Hurrah!"?
Cheverells.
Detached Belfry Towers (Vol. vii., p. 333.; Vol. viii., p. 63.).—The bell-tower at Hackney, mentioned by B. H. C., is that of the old parish church of St. Augustine. This church was rebuilt in the early part of the sixteenth century, which is about the time of the present tower; and when the church was finally taken down in 1798, the tower was forced to be left standing, because the new parish church of St. John-at-Hackney was not strong enough to support the peal of eight bells.
H. T. Griffith.
Hull.
Blotting-paper (Vol. viii., p. 104.).—I am disposed to agree with Speriend in thinking Carlyle must be mistaken in saying this substance was not used in Cromwell's time. The ordinary means for drying writing was by means of the fine silver sand, now but rarely used for that purpose; but I have seen pieces of blotting-paper among MSS. of the time of Charles I., so as to lead me to think it was even then used, though sparingly. This is only conjecture; but I can, however, establish its existence at a rather earlier date than 1670. In an "Account of Stationery supplied to the Receipt of the Exchequer and the Treasury, 1666-1668," occur several entries of "one quire of blotting-paper," "two quires of blotting," &c. Earlier accounts of the same kind (which may be at the Rolls House, Chancery Lane) might enable one to fix the date of its introduction.
J. B-t.
The following occurs in Townesend's Preparative to Pleading (Lond. 12mo. 1675), p. 8.:
"Let the dusting or sanding of presidents in books be avoided, rather using fine brown paper to prevent blotting, if time of the ink's drying cannot be allowed; for sand takes away the good colour of the ink, and getting into the backs of books makes them break their binding."
From this passage it may be inferred, that fine brown paper, to prevent blotting, was then rather a novelty.
C. H. Cooper.
Cambridge.
Riddles for the Post-Office (Vol. vii., p. 258.).—The following is an exact copy of the direction of a letter mailed a few years ago by a German living in Lancaster county, Pa.:
"Tis is fur old Mr. Willy wot brinds de Baber in Lang Kaster ware ti gal is gist rede him assume as it cums to ti Pushtufous."
meaning—
"This is for old Mr. Willy, what prints the paper in Lancaster, where the jail is. Just read him as soon as it comes to the Post-Office."
Inclosed was an essay against public schools.
Uneda.
Philadelphia.
Mulciber (Vol. iii., p. 102.).—I beg to inform Mr. Warde that in the printed Key to the Dispensary it is said, "'Tis the opinion of many that our poet means here Mr. Thomas Foley, a lawyer of notable parts."
T. K.