Replies to Minor Queries.
Passage of Cicero (Vol. viii., p. 640.).—Is the following what Semi-Tone wants?
"Mira est enim quædam natura vocis; cujus quidem, e tribus omnino sonis, inflexo, acuto, gravi, tanta sit, et tam suavis varietas perfecta in cantibus."—Orator, cap. 17.
B. H. C.
Major André (Vol. viii., pp. 174. 604.).—The late Mrs. Mills of Norwich (née André) was not the sister of Major André; she was the only daughter of Mr. John André of Offenbach, near Frankfort on the Maine, in Germany; where he established more than eighty years ago a prosperous concern as a printer of music, and was moreover an eminent composer: this establishment is now in the hands of his grandson. Mr. John André was not the brother of the Major, but a second or third cousin. Mrs. Mills used to say, that she remembered seeing the Major at her father's house as a visitor, when she was a very small child. He began his career in London in the commercial line; and, after he entered the army, was sent by the English ministry to Hesse-Cassel to conduct to America a corps of Hessian hirelings to dragoon the revolted Americans into obedience: it was on this occasion that he paid the above-mentioned visit to Offenbach.
Having frequently read the portion of English history containing the narrative of the transactions in which Major André was so actively engaged, and for which he suffered, I have often asked myself whether he was altogether blameless in that questionable affair.
Trivet Allcock.
Norwich.
P.S.—This account was furnished to me by Mr. E. Mills, husband of the late Mrs. Mills.
Catholic Bible Society (Vol. ix., p. 41.).—Besides the account of this society in Bishop Milner's Supplementary Memoirs of the English Catholics, many papers on the same will be found in the volumes of the Orthodox Journal from 1813, when the Society was formed, to 1819. In this last volume, p. 9., Bishop Milner wrote a long letter, containing a comparison of the brief notes in the stereotyped edition of the above Society with the notes of Bishop Challoner, from whose hands he mentions having received a copy of his latest edition of both Testaments in 1777. It should be mentioned that most of the papers in the Orthodox Journal alluded to were written by Bishop Milner under various signatures, which the present writer, with all who knew him well, could always recognise. That eminent prelate thus sums up the fate of the sole publication of the so-called Catholic Bible Society:
"Its stereotype Testament ... was proved to abound in gross errors; hardly a copy of it could be sold; and, in the end, the plates for continuing it have been of late presented by an illustrious personage, into whose hands they fell, to one of our prelates [this was Bishop Collingridge], who will immediately employ the cart-load of them for a good purpose, as they were intended to be, by disposing of them to some pewterer, who will convert them into numerous useful culinary implements, gas-pipes, and other pipes."
F. C. H.
Cassiterides (Vol. ix., p. 64.).—Kassiteros; the ancient Indian Sanscrit word Kastira. Of the disputed passage in Herodotus respecting the Cassiterides, the interpretation[[7]] of Rennell, in his Geographical System of Herodotus; of Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities, vol. vi.; and of Heeren, in his Historical Researches; is much more satisfactory than that offered by your correspondent S. G. C., although supported by the French academicians (Inscript. xxxvi. 66.)
The advocates for a Celtic origin of the name of these islands are perhaps not aware that—
"Through the intercourse which the Phœnicians, by means of their factories in the Persian Gulph, maintained with the east coast of India, the Sanscrit word Kastira, expressing a most useful product of farther India, and still existing among the old Aramaic idioms in the Arabian word Kasdir, became known to the Greeks even before Albion and the British Cassiterides had been visited."—See Humboldt's Cosmos, "Principal Epochs in the History of the Physical Contemplation of the Universe," notes.
Bibliothecar. Chetham.
Footnote 7: [(return)]
His want of information in this matter can only be referred to the jealousy of the Phœnicians depriving the Greeks, as afterwards the Romans, of ocular observation.
Wooden Tombs and Effigies (Vol. ix., p. 62.).—There are two fine recumbent figures of a Lord Neville and his wife in Brancepeth Church, four miles south-west of Durham. They are carved in wood. A view of them is given in Billing's Antiquities of Durham.
J. H. B.
Tailless Cats (Vol. ix., p. 10.).—In my visits to the Isle of Man, I have frequently met with specimens of the tailless cats referred to by your correspondent Shirley Hibberd. In the pure breed there is not the slightest vestige of a tail, and in the case of any intermixture with the species possessing the usual caudal appendage, the tail of their offspring, like the witch's "sark," as recorded by honest Tam o' Shanter,
"In longitude is sorely scanty."
In fact, it terminates abruptly at the length of a few inches, as if amputated, having altogether a very ludicrous appearance.
G. Taylor.
Reading.
The breed of cats without tails is well known in the Isle of Man, and accounted by the people of the island one of its chief curiosities. These cats are sought after by strangers: the natives call them "Rumpies," or "Rumpy Cats." Their hind legs are rather longer than those of cats with tails, and give them a somewhat rabbit-like aspect, which has given rise to the odd fancy that they are the descendants of a cross between a rabbit and cat. They are good mousers. When a perfectly tailless cat is crossed with an ordinary-tailed individual, the progeny exhibit all intermediate states between tail and no tail.
Edward Forbes.
Warville (Vol. viii., p. 516.).—
"Jacque Pierre Brissot was born on the 14th Jan., 1754, in the village of Ouarville, near Chartres."—Penny Cyclo.
If your correspondent is a French scholar, he will perceive that Warville is, as nearly as possible, the proper pronunciation of the name of this village, but that Brissot being merely the son of a prior pastrycook, had no right whatever to the name, which doubtless he bore merely as a distinction from some other Brissot. It may interest your American friend to know, that he married Félicité Dupont, a young lady of good family at Boulogne. A relation of my own, who was very intimate with her before her marriage, has often described her to me as being of a very modest, retiring, religious disposition, very clever with her pencil, and as having received a first-rate education from masters in Paris. These gifts, natural and acquired, made her a remarkable young person, amidst the crowd of frivolous idlers who at that time formed "good society," not only in Paris, but even in provincial towns, of which Boulogne was not the least gay. Perhaps he knows already that she quickly followed her husband to the scaffold. Her sister (I believe the only one) married a Parisian gentleman named Aublay, and died at a great age about ten years ago.
N. J. A.
W is not a distinct letter in the French alphabet; it is simply double v, and is pronounced like v, as in Wissant, Wimireux, Wimille, villages between Calais and Boulogne, and Wassy in Champagne.
W. R. D. S.
Green Eyes (Vol. viii., p. 407.).—The following are quotations in favour of green eyes, in addition to Mr. H. Temple's:
"An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye."
Romeo and Juliet, Act III. Sc. 5.
And Dante, in Purgatory, canto xxxi., likens Beatrice's eyes to emeralds:
"Disser: fa che le viste non risparmi:
Posto t' avem dinanzi agli smeraldi,
Ond' Amor già ti trasse le sue armi."
"Spare not thy vision. We have station'd thee
Before the emeralds[[8]], whence Love, erewhile,
Hath drawn his weapons on thee."
Cary's Translation.
I think short-sightedness is an infirmity more common among men of letters, authors, &c., than any other class; indeed, one is inclined to think it is no rare accompaniment of talent. A few celebrated names occur to me who suffered weakness of distinct vision to see but the better near. I am sure your correspondents could add many to the list. I mark them down at random:—Niebuhr, Thomas Moore, Marie Antoinette, Gustavus Adolphus, Herrick the poet, Dr. Johnson, Margaret Fuller, Ossoli, Thiers, Quevedo. These are but a few, but I will not lengthen the list at present.
M——a S.
Footnote 8: [(return)]
Beatrice's eyes.
Came (Vol. viii., p. 468.).—H. T. G. will find this word to be as old as our language. Piers Ploughman writes:
"A cat
Cam when hym liked."
Vision, l. 298.
"A lovely lady
Cam doun from a castel."
Ib. l. 466.
Chaucer:
"Till that he came to Thebes."
Cant. T. l. 985.
Gower:
"Thus (er he wiste) into a dale
He came."
Conf. Am. b. i. fol. 9. p. 2. col. l.
Q.
"Epitaphium Lucretiæ" (Vol. viii., p. 563.).—Allow me to send an answer to the Query of Balliolensis, and to state that in that rather scarce little book, Epigrammata et Poematia Vetera, he will find at page 68. that "Epitaphium Lucretiæ" is ascribed to Modestus, perhaps the same person who wrote a work de re militari. The version there given differs slightly from that of Balliolensis, and has two more lines; it is as follows:
"Cum foderet ferro castum Lucretia pectus,
Sanguinis et torrens egereretur, ait:
Procedant testes me non favisse tyranno,
Ante virum sanguis, spiritus ante deos.
Quam recte hi testes pro me post fata loquentur,
Alter apud manes, alter apud superos."
Perhaps the following translation may not be unacceptable:
"When thro' her breast the steel Lucretia thrust,
She said, while forth th' ensanguin'd torrent gush'd;
'From me that no consent the tyrant knew,
To my spouse my blood, to heaven my soul shall show;
And thus in death these witnesses shall prove,
My innocence, to shades below, and Powers above.'"
C—S. T. P.
Oxford Commmemoration Squib, 1849 (Vol. viii., p. 584.).—Quoted incorrectly. The heading stands thus:
"Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!"
After the name of "Wrightson" add "(Queen's);" and at the foot of the bill "Floreat Lyceum." I quote from a copy before me.
W. P. Storer.
Olney, Bucks.
"Imp" (Vol. viii., p. 623.).—Perhaps as amusing use of the word imp as can be found anywhere occurs in an old Bacon, in his "Pathway unto Prayer" (see Early Writings, Parker Society, p. 187.):
"Let us pray for the preservation of the King's most excellent Majesty, and for the prosperous success of his entirely beloved son Edward our Prince, that most angelic imp."
P. P.
False Spellings from Sound (Vol. vi., p. 29.).—The observations of Mr. Waylen deserve to be enlarged by numerous examples, and to be, to a certain extent, corrected. He has not brought clearly into view two distinct classes of "false spelling" under which the greater part of such mistakes may be arranged. One class arose solely from erroneous pronunciation; the second from intentional alteration. I will explain my meaning by two examples, both which are, I believe, in Mr. Waylen's list.
The French expression dent de lion stands for a certain plant, and some of the properties of that plant originated the name. When an Englishman calls the same plant Dandylion, the sound has not given birth "to a new idea" in his mind. Surely, he pronounces badly three French words of which he may know the meaning, or he may not. But when the same Englishman, or any other, orders sparrow-grass for dinner, these two words contain "a new idea," introduced purposely: either he, or some predecessor, reasoned thus—there is no meaning in asparagus; sparrow-grass must be the right word because it makes sense. The name of a well-known place in London illustrates both these changes: Convent Garden becomes Covent Garden by mispronunciation; it becomes Common Garden by intentional change.
Mistakes of the first class are not worth recording; those of the second fall under this general principle: words are purposely exchanged for others of a similar sound, because the latter are supposed to recover a lost meaning.
I have by me several examples which I will send you if you think the subject worth pursuing.
J. O. B.
Wicken.
"Good wine needs no bush" (Vol. viii., p. 607.).—The custom of hanging out bushes of ivy, boughs of trees, or bunches of flowers, at private houses, as a sign that good cheer may be had within, still prevails in the city of Gloucester at the fair held at Michaelmas, called Barton Fair, from the locality; and at the three "mops," or hiring fairs, on the three Mondays following, to indicate that ale, beer, cider, &c. are there sold, on the strength (I believe) of an ancient privilege enjoyed by the inhabitants of that street to sell liquors, without the usual license, during the fair.
Brookthorpe.
Three Fleurs-de-Lys (Vol. ix., p. 35.).—In reply to the Query of Devoniensis, I would say that many families of his own county bore fleurs-de-lys in their coat armour, in the forms of two and one, and on a bend; also that the heraldic writers, Robson and Burke, assign a coat to the family of Baker charged with three fleurs-de-lys on a fesse. The Devon family of Velland bore, Sable, a fesse argent, in chief three fleurs-de-lys of the last, but whether these bearings were ever placed fesse-wise, or, as your querist terms it, in a horizontal line, I am not sure.
J. D. S.
If Devoniensis will look at the arms of Magdalen College, Oxford, he will there find the three fleurs-de-lys in a line in the upper part of the shield.
A. B.
Athenæum.
Portrait of Plowden (Vol. ix., p. 56.).—A portrait of Plowden (said to have been taken from his monument in the Temple Church) is prefixed to the English edition of his Reports, published in 1761.
J. G.
Exon.
St. Stephen's Day and Mr. Riley's "Hoveden" (Vol. viii., p. 637.).—The statement of this feast being observed prior to Christmas must have arisen from the translator not being conversant with the technical terms of the Ecclesiastical Calendar, in which, as the greater festivals are celebrated with Octaves, other feasts falling during the Octave are said to be under (infrà) the greater solemnity. Thus, if Mr. Warden will consult the Ordo Recitandi Officii Divini for 1834, he will see that next Sunday, the 8th inst., stands "Dom inf. Oct.," i.e. of the Epiphany, and that the same occurs on other days during the year.
May I point out an erratum in a Query inserted some time since (not yet replied to), regarding a small castle near Kingsgate, Thanet, the name of which is printed Aix Ruochim; it should be Arx Ruochim.
A. O. H.
Blackheath.
Death Warnings in Ancient Families (Vol. ix., p. 55.).—A brief notice of these occurrences, with references to works where farther details may be met with, would form a very remarkable record of events which tend to support one's belief in the truth of the remark of Hamlet:
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in our philosophy."
A drummer is stated to be heard in C—— Castle, the residence of the Earl and Countess of A., "going about the house playing his drum, whenever there is a death impending in the family." This warning is asserted to have been given shortly before the decease of the Earl's first wife, and preceded the death of the next Countess about five or six months. Mrs. Crowe, in her Night Side of Nature, observes hereupon:
"I have heard that a paper was found in her (the Countess's) desk after her death, declaring her conviction that the drum was for her."
Whenever a little old woman visits a lady of the family of G. of R., at the time of her confinement, when the nurse is absent, and strokes down the clothes, the patient (says Mrs. Crowe), "never does any good, and dies." Another legend is, that a single swan is always seen on a particular lake close to the mansion of another family before a death. Then, Lord Littleton's dove is a well-known incident. And the lady above quoted speaks of many curious warnings of death by the appearance of birds, as well as of a spectral black dog, which visited a particular family in Cornwall immediately before the death of any of its members. Having made this Note of a few more cases of death warnings, I will end with a Query in the words of Mrs. Crowe, who, after detailing the black dog apparition, asks: "if this phenomenon is the origin of the French phrase bête noire, to express an annoyance, or an augury of evil?"
Jas. J. Scott.
Hampstead.
"The Secunde Personne of the Trinitie" (Vol. ix., p. 56.).—I think it is Hobart Seymour who speaks of some Italians of the present day as considering the Three Persons of the Trinity to be the Father, the Virgin, and the Son.
J. P. O.