Minor Queries.
The Rothwell Family.—When William Flower, Esq., Norroy, confirmed the ancient arms of this family to Stephen Rothwell, gent., of Ewerby, county of Lincoln, on the 1st April, 1585, and granted a crest (no such being found to his ancient arms), the said Stephen Rothwell was stated to be "ex sui cognominis familia antiqua in comitatu Lancastriæ oriundus." Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." give any information respecting the family from which he is stated to be descended?
Glaius.
Definition of a Proverb.—Where can I find the source whence I. D'Israeli took his definition of a proverb, viz. "The wisdom of many and the wit of one?"
C. Mansfield Ingleby.
Birmingham.
Latin Riddle.—Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticæ, lib. XII. cap. vi.) proposes the following enigma, which he terms "Per hercle antiquum, perque lepidum:"
"Semel minusne, an bis minus, non sat scio,
An utrumque eorum, ut quondam audivi dicier
Jovi ipsi regi noluit concedere."
The answer he withholds for the usual reason, "Ut legentium conjecturas in requirendo acueremus."
Is there among the readers of "N. & Q." an Œdipus who will furnish a solution?
R. Price.
St. Ives.
D. Ferrand—French Patois.—Hallman, in the 7th chapter of his Poesie und Beredsamkeit der Franzosen, gives several specimens of the French provincial poets of the sixteenth century, and among these the following from a poem on the dispersing of a meeting of Huguenots by the soldiers:
"Quand des guerriers fut la troupe entinchée
Non n'aleguet le dire du Prescheux,
Que pour souffrir l'ame est de Dieu tombée,
Femme et Mary, comme le fianchée,
Pour se sauver quitest leu zamoreux
En s'enfiant ocun n'avet envie,
De discourir de l'Eternelle vie,
Sainct Pol estet en alieur guissement
No ne palet de Bible en Apostille
Qui en eut palé quand fut en un moment
Les pretendus grippez par la Soudrille.
"Le milleur fut quand la troupe enrangée
Fut aux Fauxbourgs, hors de lieu perilleux,
Car tiel n'estet o combat qu'on Pygmée,
Qui se diset o milieu de stermée
S'estre monstre un géant orgueilleux
Les femmes ossi disest ma sœur, m'amie,
De tout su brit ie sis toute espamie,
Petit troupeau que tu as de tourment,
Pour supporter le faix de l'Evangile
Souffrira-t-on qu'on vaye impudement
Les pretendus grippez par la Soudrille."
D. Ferrand, Inv. Gen., p. 304.
Hallman gives no farther information. I shall be glad if any of your readers can tell me who D. Ferrand was, what he wrote, and of what province the above is the patois.
B. Snow.
Birmingham.
"Fac precor, Jesu benigne," &c.—In the Sacra Privata, new edition, Bishop Wilson quotes the following lines:
"Fac precor,
Jesu benigne, cogitem
Hæc semper, ut semper tibi
Summoque Patri, gratias
Agam, pieque vos colam,
Totâque mente diligam."
Can any of your readers inform me where they come from?
William Denton.
The Arms of De Sissonne.—Can any of your correspondents inform me where I could find a copy of Histoire Généalogique de la Maison Royale de France, or any other work in which are blazoned the arms of "De Sissonne" of Normandy, connected with that regal house?
J. L. S.
Sir George Brown.—Sir George Brown, of West Stafford, Berks, and of Wickham Breaux, Kent, married Eleanor, daughter of Sir R. Blount, of Maple Durham, Oxon; and by her had issue several children, and amongst them one son Richard, who was a child under five years of age in 1623. I shall feel obliged if any of your correspondents can tell me where I can find a pedigree of this Richard, and in particular whether he married, whom he married, and the names of his several children, if any.
Newburiensis.
Professional Poems.—Can you tell me who is the author of Professional Poems by a Professional Gentleman, 12mo., 1827, published at Wolverhampton; and by Longman, London?
Gw.
"A mockery," &c.—Whence is the quotation, "A mockery, a delusion, and a snare?"
W. P.
Passage in Whiston.—In Taylor on Original Sin, Lond. 1746, p. 94., it is said:
"Mr. Whiston maintains that regeneration is a literal and physical being born again, and is granted to the faithful at the beginning of the millennium."
The marginal reference is, Whiston on Original Sin, &c., p. 68.
I cannot find the book or the doctrine in any collection of Whiston's writings which I have met with; but as he was a copious writer and a versatile theologian, both may exist. Can any reader of "N. & Q." tell me where to find them?
J. T.
Shoulder Knots and Epaulettes.—What is the origin of the shoulder knot, and its ancient use? Has it and the epaulette a common origin?
Getsrn.
The Yew Tree in Village Churchyards.—Why did our forefathers choose the yew as the inseparable attendant upon the outer state of the churches raised by them? Apart from its grave and sombre appearance, I cannot help recognising a mysterious embodiment of the spirit of evil as the intention of the planters. We know that in all mediæval edifices there is an apparent and discernible endeavour to place in juxta-position the spirits of good and evil, to materialise the idea of an adversative spirit, antagonistic to the church's teachings, and hurtful to her efforts of advancement. I look upon the grotesque cephalic corbels as one modification of this, and would interpret many equally mysterious emblems by referring them to the same actuating desire. Now the yew is certainly the most deadly of indigenous productions, and therefore would be chosen as the representative of a spirit of destruction, the opposite to one that giveth life by its teachings, of which the building itself is the sensible sign. I crave more information from some learned ecclesiologist on the subject, which is certainly a most interesting one.
R. C. Warde.
Kidderminster.
Passage in Tennyson.—
"Or underneath the barren bush,
Flits by the blue seabird of March."
In Memoriam, xc. What bird is meant?
W. T. M.
Hong Kong.
"When the Maggot bites."—A note will oblige to explain the origin of the phrase, that a thing done on the spur of the moment is done "When the maggot bites."
Anon.
Eclipses of the Sun.—Where can I find a list of solar eclipses that have taken place since the time of the invasion of Julius Cæsar? I am greatly in want of this information, and shall be grateful to any correspondent who will give me the reference required.
C. Mansfield Ingleby.
Birmingham.
"An" before "u" long.—I should be much obliged to any of my fellow-students of "N. & Q." who would answer the following Query: What is the reason of the increasingly prevailing custom of writing an before words beginning with u long, or with diphthongs having the sound of u long? Surely a written language is perfect in proportion as it represents the spoken tongue; if so, this is one of the many instances in which modern fashions are making English orthography still more inconsistent than it was wont to be. It appears to me just as reasonable to say "an youthful (pronounced yoothful) person," as "an useful (pronounced yooseful) person."
If there is a satisfactory reason for the practice, I shall be delighted to be corrected but, if not, I would fain see the fashion "nipped in the bud."
Benjamin Dawson.
London.
Reversible Names.—Some female names spell backwards and forwards the same, as Hannah, Anna, Eve, Ada: so also does madam, which is feminine. Is this in the nature of things, or can any one produce a reversible proprium quod maribus? No arguments, but instances; no surnames, which are epicene; no obsolete names, such as Odo, of which it may be suspected that they have died precisely because an attempt was made to marify them: or say, rather, that Odo, to live masculine, was obliged to become Otho. Failing instances, I shall maintain that varium et mutabile semper femina only means that whatever reads backwards and forwards the same, is always feminine.
M.
Gilbert White of Selborne.—Can any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." inform me whether any portrait, painted, engraved, or sculptured, exists of this celebrated naturalist; and if so, a reference to it will greatly oblige
W. A. L.
St. John's Square.
Hoby, Family of; their Portraits, &c.—In the parish church of Bisham, in the county of Berks, are some fine and costly monuments to the memory of several members of this family, who were long resident in the old conventual building there. Are there any engravings of these monuments? And if so, in what work; or where are the inscriptions to be met with? I possess two fine engraved portraits of this family: the originals by Hans Holbein are said to be in "His Majesty's Collection;" where are the originals now? Do they still adorn the walls of Windsor Castle? The one is inscribed—
"Phillip Hobbie, Knight."
The other—
"The Lady Hobbie."
The orthography of the names is the same as engraved on the portraits. The former was Sir Philip Hoby, one of the Privy Council to King Henry VIII.; and the lady was, I believe, the wife of Sir Thomas Hoby, of Leominster, co. Hereford, who died in 1596, aged thirty-six. Was this the learned Lady Hoby, who wrote one of the epitaphs above referred to? Are there any other portraits of members of this ancient, but now extinct family, in existence? They bore for arms, "Arg. three spindles in fesse gules, threaded or." What was their crest and motto?
J. B. Whitborne.
Portrait of Sir Anthony Wingfield.—Can any person inform me where the picture of Sir Anthony Wingfield is, described in Horace Walpole's Letters, and which he saw in an old house in Suffolk belonging to the family of Naunton, descended from Secretary Naunton, temp. James I.; he says:
"Sir Anthony Wingfield, who, having his hand tucked into his girdle, the housekeeper told us had had his fingers cut off by Henry VIII."
Q.
Lofcopp, Lufcopp, or Luvcopp.—In some of the charters granted by our earlier monarchs (Henry I. for instance), there is contained a grant of a toll called lofcopp, lufcopp, or luvcopp. Could any of your correspondents give me any farther information respecting the meaning of the word, than is contained in the first Volume of "N. & Q.," pp. 319. 371.?
J. Ctus.
Humming Ale.—Having lately met with the above epithet applied to ale in one of James's novels (Forest Days), I should be glad to know its meaning.
W. H. P.