Minor Queries with Answers.
Roman Roads in England.—Whose is the best treatise on the Roman roads in England?
Prestoniensis.
[Although the credit and fidelity of Richard of Cirencester have frequently been attacked, still, as
Gibbon remarks, "he shows a genuine knowledge of antiquity very extraordinary for a monk of the fourteenth century." In 1809, an edition was published in London, entitled The Description of Britain, translated from Ricardus of Cirencester, with the original treatise De Situ Britanniæ, with a map and a fac-simile of the MS., as well as a Commentary on the Itinerary. It has been reprinted in the Six Old English Chronicles in Bohn's Antiquarian Library, but without the map. The Itinerary contains eighteen journeys, which Richard says he compiled from certain fragments written by a Roman general, and from Ptolemy and other authors. He mentions 176 stations, while Antoninus has only 113.]
Inscription on the Brass of Sir G. Felbrigge.—Can any of your numerous correspondents afford me an explanation of the following fragment of an inscription from the brass of Sir George Felbrigge, Playford, Suffolk? Each word is separated by the letter
"Funda de per a dieu loange et dieu pur lalme de lui al [dieu quil est pete ei(t) ceste]."
This is the order in which the words now stand; but as they are quite unintelligible, and the fillet shows evident signs of having been broken in several places, we may reasonably suppose that they were misplaced when the brass was moved from its original slab. The principal word, about which I am in difficulty, is pete. Can it be the same as "pitië?" If so, I venture to suggest the following explanation, till some one may offer me a better:
"... fils de père qui funda ceste place, à dieu est loange et qu'il eit pitië, priez pur l'alme de lui à dieu."
The words printed in Italics are supplied to complete the sense.
F. G.
[Perhaps the following words in Italics may be supplied for those obliterated: "Ceste Chaunterie estait fonde de part de George Felbrigge, Chr. A Dieu soit loange et gloire ... priez pur l'asme de lui a Dieu quil eit pite ..."
The following notice of the destruction of this beautiful brass is given in Davy's Suffolk Collections, Add. MSS. 19,086. p. 342.: "The brass in memory of Sir George Felbrigge, which had for a long time been covered by the pews, was three or four years ago, in consequence of some repairs, uncovered, when the incumbent and his curate had it torn from the stone, and it was for some time lying in pieces at the mercy of any pilferer. Mr. Albert Way, the Director of the Society of Antiquaries in Feb. 1844, wrote to me, to ask what was become of the figure; and, in consequence, as I had not an opportunity of visiting the church myself, I wrote to Mr. Arthur Biddell for information; and the following is a copy of his answer, dated Feb. 23, 1844: 'Felbrigge's monument was removed, much against my wishes, from its former place in the N. E. corner of the church to the chancel under the communion table, where it is fixed; forming part of the pavement. The broken pieces of brass are again fixed in the stone; but so many of the pieces were long ago lost, and I think those which were lately separated from the stone are not placed in their original position: so, except the figure, there is little remains to convey an idea of the ornamental and beautiful work by which the figure was surrounded.'">[
Skipwith.—
"'Here lyeth the body of William Skipwith, Baronet, who deceased the 25th of February, 1764, aged fifty-six years. He descended from Sir Henry Skipwith of Prestwould, in Leicestershire, created baronet by King James I., was honoured with King Charles I.'s commission for raising men against the usurping powers, and proved loyal to his king, so that he was deprived of his estate by the usurper, which occasioned his and his sons' death, except Sir Gray Skipwith, grandfather of the abovesaid Sir William Skipwith, who was obliged to come to Virginia for refuge, where the family hath continued ever since.'
"Inscription copied from tombstone of Sir William, who lies buried at Greencroft, near Petersburg, Virginia."—See South. Messenger, vol. ix. p. 591.
I should be obliged for information as to Sir Henry.
T. Balch.
Philadelphia.
[Sir Henry Skipwith was created a baronet Dec. 20, 1622, and in 1629 obtained, jointly with Sir Thomas Walsingham, Knt., a grant of lands in the counties of Leicester, Derby, &c.; in 1631 a grant of free-warren for his lands in Leicestershire; in 1636 was high sheriff for the county; and in 1637 certain amerciaments against him on account of that office, which had been returned into the Court of Chancery, were certified to the Court of Exchequer. Heartily espousing the cause of Charles I., he was one of the Commissioners of Array for this county, and on May 28, 1645, had the honour of entertaining his sovereign at Cotes, after which he was fined 1114l. by the parliamentary sequestrators. He was the last of the family who resided at Cotes; and amongst his poems is "An Elegy on the Death of my never enough lamented master, King Charles I." The others are chiefly of a melancholy turn. Sir Henry, his second son, died soon after his father, unmarried; whereupon his title and estate went to his next brother Sir Gray, who, after the death of the king, went with several other gentlemen, to avoid the usurpation, over to Virginia, and there married, and left one son.—Nichols's Leicestershire, vol. iii. p. 367., which also contains a pedigree of the family. Consult also Lloyd's Worthies, p. 649.]
College Battel.—What is the derivation of a word peculiar to the universities, battels: is it connected with batten?
S. A.
[In Todd's Johnson we read, "Battel, from Sax.
Origin of Clubs.—Can any of your correspondents inform me from whence the cognomen of "club" came to be applied to select companies, and which was the first society that bore that title?
F. R. B.
[Club is defined by Johnson to be "an assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions." The present system of clubs may be traced in its progressive steps from those small associations, meeting (as clubs of a lower grade still do) at a house of public entertainment; then we come to a time when the club took exclusive possession of the house, and strangers could be only introduced, under regulations, by the members; in the third stage, the clubs build houses, or rather palaces, for themselves. The club at the Mermaid Tavern in Friday Street was, according to all accounts, the first select company established, and owed its origin to Sir Walter Raleigh, who had here instituted a meeting of men of wit and genius, previously to his engagement with the unfortunate Cobham. This society comprised all that the age held most distinguished for learning and talent, numbering amongst its members Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Selden, Sir Walter Raleigh, Donne, Cotton, Carew, Martin, and many others. There it was that the "wit-combats" took place between Shakspeare and Ben Johson, to which, probably, Beaumont alludes with so much affection in his letter to the old poet, written from the country:
"What things have we seen
Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been
So nimble and so full of subtle flame,
As if that every one from whom they came
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest."
Ben Jonson had another club, of which he appears to have been the founder, held in a room of the old Devil Tavern, distinguished by the name of the "Apollo." It stood between the Temple Gates and Temple Bar. It was for this Club that Jonson wrote the "Leges Convivales," printed among his works.]
Royal Arms in Churches.—When were the Royal Arms first put up in churches?
Are churchwardens compelled to place them over the chancel arch, or in any part of the building over which their jurisdiction extends?
In a church without an heraldic coat of Royal Arms, can a churchwarden, or the incumbent refuse legally to put up such a decoration, it being the gift of a parishioner?
Azure.
[For replies to Azure's first Query, see our Sixth Volume passim. The articles at pp. 227. and 248. of the same volume incidentally notice his other queries.]
Odd Fellows.—What is the origin of Odd Fellowship? What gave rise to the title of Odd Fellows? Are there any books published on the subject, and where are they to be had? Is there any published record of the origin and progress of the Manchester Unity?
C. F. A. W.
[Our correspondent should consult The Odd Fellows Magazine, New Series, published Quarterly by order of the Grand Master and Board of Directors of the Manchester Unity of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. We have only seen vols. i. to vii., which appeared between 1828 and 1842. Perhaps some of our readers may wish to know what is an Odd Fellow. Take the following description of one as given in vol. iv. p. 287.: "He is like a fox for cunning; a dove for tameness; a lamb for innocence; a lion for boldness; a bee for industry; and a sheep for usefulness. This is an Odd Fellow according to Odd Fellowship.">[
Governor-General of India.—Will some of your learned readers be good enough to inform me upon what authority the present Governor-General of India is styled, in all official notices, "The Most Noble?" I have always understood the style of a Marquis to be "Most Honorable."
Novice.
[Official notices from public departments are frequently incorrect in reference to the styles of persons. The style of a Marquis is only Most Honorable, that of Duke Most Noble.]
Precedence.—Supposing an earl's daughter marries a commoner, do her children by him take precedence as the earl's grandchildren?
Snob.
[The children take only the precedence derived from their paternal status.]