Minor Queries.
"I could not love thee, dear, so much."—Where are the following lines to be found? what is the context?
"I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not honour more."
H.
Leicester as Ranger of Snowden.—In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Leicester was made Ranger of Snowden Forest, and using violent means to extort unjust taxes from the people, under cover of this appointment, he was opposed and resisted by eight Welsh gentlemen, under the leadership of Sir Richard Bulkeley, of Baron Hill, in Anglesey. Among these was a Madryn of Madryn, a Hugh ap Richard of Cefnllanfair, a Griffith of Cefn Amlwch, &c. These patriotic gentlemen met with imprisonment in the Tower of London as their only recompense; and there are extant poems by Guttyn, Peris, and other bards, addressed to them on the subject. I should be obliged to any of your correspondents to give me any farther information on this subject, or reference to documents which bear upon it.
Elffin ap Gwyddno.
Crabb of Telsford.—Any information respecting the settlement of the family of Crabb, or Crabbe, at Telsford, county of Somerset, together with the names of the present representatives of that family, would be most thankfully received through the medium of your valuable pages, or in any other way, by
One of the Name.
Tolling the Bell while the Congregation is leaving Church.—Can you inform me why this is done at Richmond Church; and whether the custom is adopted in any other?[[3]]
J. H. M.
Footnote 3:[(return)]
[This custom is observed in many of the London churches.—Ed.]
O'Brien of Thosmond.—In the Calendar of Inquisitions post mortem, there appears one taken on the death of Alicia, wife of Nicholas Thosmound, in the second year of King Henry IV. The estates were in Somersetshire. From the appearance of this name, I suspect it is not an English one; but rather an old form of spelling the name of the province of Tothmound or Thomond (South Munster), Ireland; and that this Nicholas was an O'Brien, who called himself from his family's principality, for it was not uncommon in England formerly to take names from estates. Perhaps some of your correspondents having access to the Inquisition would ascertain more on the subject, and give it to the public. The name of Nicholas O'Brien occurs in the Irish rolls of Chancery about that very period.
A. B.
Order of St. David of Wales.—In the reign of Queen Elizabeth there was an order of knighthood—the Order of St. David of Wales. When was that Order created? Who was the first knight? Who was the last knight? What prelate was the chaplain to the Order? Why was it dissolved? Why is it not revived again? We have several Welsh peers, noblemen, knights; four bishops, men of science and learning, Welshmen. I hope the good Queen Victoria will revive this ancient order of knighthood, and the Prince of Wales be created the first knight. The emblem of Wales is a red dragon.
Can any of your readers give an account of this ancient order? Some years ago there were several letters in The Times, and other papers, respecting it and the Welsh motto. Wales should have its knight as well as Ireland, Scotland, and England.
W.
Warple-way.—The manor of Richmond, in Surrey, has been the property of the crown for many hundred years, I may say from time
immemorial: and in all the old records and plans, the green roads are called "warple-ways." Some of the old plans are marked "worple way," some "warple way " Can any of your readers tell me the derivation and meaning of the word, and refer me to an authority?
Wm. Smythe.
Purlet.—Nelson, and the subsequent historians of Islington, relate a marvellous story on the authority of Purlet de Mir. Nat. x. c. iv.:
"And as to the same heavings, or tremblements de terre, it is sayde, yt in a certaine fielde neare unto ye parish church of Islingtoun, in like manner, did take place a wondrous commotion in uarious partes, ye earthe swellinge, and turninge uppe euery side towards ye midst of ye sayde fielde; and, by tradycion of this, it is obserued yt one Richard de Clouesley lay buryed in or neare yt place, and yt his bodie being restles, on ye score of some sinne by him peraduenture committed, did shewe or seeme to signifye yt religious obseruance should there take place, to quiet his departed spirit; whereupon certaine exorcisers, if wee may so term ym, did at dede of night, nothing lothe, using divers diuine exercises at torche light, set at rest ye unrulie spirit of ye shade Clouesley, and ye earthe did returne aneare to its pristine shape, neuermore commotion procedeing therefrom to this day, and this I know of a verie certaintie."—Nelson's Islington, 4to. 1811, p. 305., or 8vo. 1823, p. 293.
The spelling of this extract seems at least as old as the time of Cloudesley's death (1517), although it would appear to be a translation; and though the exorcism is apparently spoken of as having taken place long before the time of the writer. From these and other circumstances, I am led to suspect that Nelson was the victim of cruel hoax, particularly as I am unable to find any such book as Purlet de Mir. Nat. in the British Museum.
Query, Does any such book exist; and if so, where?
Frideswide.
Islington.
Liveries, Red and Scarlet.—In a Provincial paper, I noticed a paragraph dating the origin of wearing red coats in fox-hunting from a mandate of Henry II., who it appears made fox-hunting a royal sport, and gave to all distributors of foxes the scarlet uniform of the royal household: this also would involve another question as regards the origin of scarlet being the colour of the royal livery. Can any of your sporting or antiquarian correspondents give me any authority for the former, and any information about the latter?
W. E. W. Rumbold.
Dr. Bragge.—I shall be much obliged to any of your correspondents who will give me information respecting Dr. Bragge, who flourished about the year 1756. Who was he? Where did he get his degree? Who were his chief dupes? Where did he live? He appears, from various inscriptions round an engraved portrait, to have been a great duping dealer in pictures.
E. H.
Chauncy, or Chancy.—Any reference to works containing biographical notices of Charles Chauncy, or Chancy, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, circa 1620, will oblige
J. Y.
Plaster Casts.—Ruby would be thankful for a good receipt for bronzing plaster casts.
"Σίκερα."—In the prophecy regarding the birth of John the Baptist (Luke i. 15.) the angel says:
"Καὶ οἶνον καὶ σίκερα ὀυ μη πίῃ."
This is in the authorised version (I quote the original 1611 edit.) rightly rendered:
"And shal drinke neither wine nor strong drinke."
Now, in the Golden Legend, fol. cxl. (Wynkyn de Worde's edition, London, 1516) is this account:
"For he shal be grete, and of grete meryte tofore our Lord: he shall not drinke wyne, ne syder, ne thynge wherof he myght be dronken."
I need hardly remind your readers that that σίκερα was often used by the LXX translators for an intoxicating liquor, as distinguished from wine, viz. Levit. x. 9., Numbers vi. 3., &c., and in about nine places; but I do not remember "syder" as the "thynge wherof he myghte be dronken." Can any of your philological friends call to mind a similar version? I do not want to be told the derivation of σίκερα, for that is obvious; nor do I lack information as to the inebriating qualities of "syder," for, alas! an intimate acquaintance with Devonshire has often brought before my notice persons "dronken" with that exhilarating beverage.
Richard Hooper.
St. Stephen's, Westminster.
Dogs in Monumental Brasses.—Is there any symbolical meaning conveyed in the dogs which are so often introduced at the feet of ladies in brasses, and dogs and lions at the feet of knights? One fact is worthy of notice, that while the omission of the dog is frequent in the brasses of ladies (e.g. in that of Lady Camoys, 1424, at Trotten, Sussex, and Joan, Lady Cobham, 1320, Cobham, Kent, and several others), the lion or dog, as the case may be, of the knight is scarcely ever left out; indeed, I have only been able to find two or three instances. But again, in brasses later than 1460, the dogs and lions are seldom, if ever, found either in the brasses of knights or ladies. Can you afford me any information on these points?
B. H. Alford.
Tonbridge, Kent.