Replies to Minor Queries.
"To Garble" (Vol. ix., pp. 243. 359.).—I venture, with deference, to express a doubt as to whether E. S. T. T. has correctly defined either the former or the present meaning of the verb to garble, when he says "it meant a selection of the good and the discarding of the bad parts of anything: its present meaning is exactly the reverse of this." The statutes referred to by your correspondent, the first enacting that no bow staves shall be sold ungarbled, and the second imposing a penalty on the sale of spices and drugs not garbled, appear to me to indicate the former meaning of the word to have been the selection (picking out) of the bad and the discarding of it. Experience shows that in all operations, involving the separation of objects worthless and of value, such as weeding, sifting, and winnowing, the former is removed from the latter and discarded. This view of the case seems to be supported by the fact of the dust and dross sifted from spices being called "garbles." The weeder removes weeds from flowers or plants, the garbler removes garbles from spices and bad bow staves from amongst good ones. Richardson's Dictionary contains the following notes under the head Garble:
"Fr. Grabeler; It. Garbellare. Cotgrave says, Grabeller, to garble spices, &c., (and hence) also to examine precisely, sift nearly, look narrowly, search curiously into."
After giving some examples of its use, Richardson says:
"As usually applied in England, to garble is to pick out, sift out what may serve a particular purpose, and thus destroy or mutilate the fair character of the whole."
To go no farther, the reports of the parliamentary debates, when a "Blue Book" happens to furnish matter for discussion, amply confirm Richardson's definition, that to garble is to pick out what may serve a purpose. In this sense, however, E. S. T. T. must admit that it would be as much garbling to quote all the good passages of a work as to quote all the bad ones. May we not then assume the present meaning of the word garble to be this—to quote passages with the view of conveying an impression of the ability or intention of a writer, which is not warranted by the general scope of the work?
C. Ross.
"Lyra Apostolica" (Vol. ix., p. 304.).—There is, I believe, a slight inaccuracy in the rotation of the names given at the above page as the writers in the Lyra Apostolica. They go in alphabetical order, thus α, Bowden; β, Froude; γ, Keble; δ, Newman; ε, Wilberforce; ζ, Williams.
B. R. A. Y.
The poems signed ζ. were written by Williams, not by Wilberforce.
Can you explain the meaning of the motto on the title-page—
"Γνοῖεν δ', ὡς δὴ δηρὸν ἐγὼ πολέμοιο πέπαυμαι"?
M. D.
[This motto is from Homer, Iliad, xviii. 125. Its literal translation is, They (the enemy) shall know that it was I who have long kept away from the war," and, by implication, that I have now returned to it; even I, the great hero Achilles; for he is the taunting speaker. Had it not been for my absence, he intimates, the Trojans had not gained so many and great victories. We must leave our correspondent to apply this Homeric verse to the Protestant dark ages of the Georgian era, and to the theological movement of 1833.]
John Bale, Bishop of Ossory (Vol. ix., p. 324.).—A catalogue, professing to be a complete one, of this over-ardent reformer's voluminous works, with a portrait, may be seen in Holland's Heroölogia Anglica, fol. 165-7. There are some curious notices concerning him in Blomefield's History of Norwich (fol. 1741), pp. 154, 155, 794., where reference is also made to his brother Robert as a learned man and great writer.
William Matthews.
Cowgill.
Burial in an erect Posture (Vol. viii., pp. 5. 59. 233. 455. 630.; Vol. ix., p. 279.).—How strange it is that all of us should have forgotten Charlemagne. When his tomb at Aix-la-Chapelle was opened by the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa in 1165, "he found the body of Charlemagne, not reclining in his coffin, as is the usual fashion of the dead, but seated in his throne, as one alive, clothed in the imperial robes, bearing the sceptre in his hand, and on his knees a copy of the gospels." (See Murray's
Handbook to Belgium.) The throne in which the body was seated, the sarcophagus (of Parian marble, the work of Roman or Greek artists, ornamented with a fine bas-relief of the Rape of Proserpine) in which the feet of the dead king were placed, are still preserved in the cathedral, where I saw them last year, together with some portions of the robes, and some curious ancient embroidery: these last are not usually exhibited to strangers.
W. Sparrow Simpson.
"Carronade" (Vol. ix., p. 246.).—"The folk story," as to the derivation of this word (if such a comparatively modern invention deserves such an epithet, for the Carron works, I believe, did not exist a hundred years ago) is quite correct. This gun is said to have been invented in Ireland by General Melville; but having been perfected at Carron, it thence took its name.
Landmann (no mean authority at the beginning of this century), in his Questions and Answers on Artillery, says: "The carronade takes its name from being first made at Carron."
H. T. Ellacombe.
"Largesse" (Vol. v., p. 557.; Vol. ix., p. 209.).—The use of this word is not confined to Essex and Northamptonshire, but extends also to Norfolk. It is met with in many parishes in the western division of Norfolk: where, at the time of harvest, after accompanying the last load of corn home with the procession of the "Harvest Lady," it is customary that the labourers on the several farms should go round their respective parishes, and collect various sums of money, under the name of largesse, at the houses of the chief inhabitants, whether lay or clerical. Few were to be met with who refused this species of "black mail" thus levied on them; doubtless regarding it as one out of many means of testifying their thankfulness to the "Lord of the Harvest" for "filling their mouth with good things," and giving them an abundance of "corn and wine and oil."
Σ.
This word is of common occurrence in Suffolk during the shooting season, where sportsmen are affrays greeted with it, for a donation, by the labourers on the land where game is sought for.
N. L. J.
Precious Stones (Vol. viii., p. 539.; Vol. ix., pp. 37. 88. 284.).—As the titles of so many works on this subject have been already given in your pages, perhaps I may be of some service to your correspondents in farther completing the list, and referring them to the following in my own collection:
On the Origin of Gems, by the Hon. Robert Boyle: London, 12mo.
The Mirror of Stones, in which the Nature, Generation, &c., of more than 200 Jewels, &c., are distinctly described by Camillus Leonardus, 12mo.: London, 1750.
A Treatise on Diamonds and Pearls, by David Jeffries, 2nd edit., 8vo.: London, 1751. [This work, which was very scarce, has been recently reprinted by E. Lumley for 6s.]
Traité des Pierres précieuses et des Pierres fines, par L. Dutens, 12mo.: London, Paris, and Florence. [Reprinted, with additions, in "Les Œuvres Mélés de Dutens:" Génève, 8vo., 1784.]
A Treatise on Diamonds and Precious Stones, by John Mawe, 2nd edit.: London, 8vo., 1823.
A Memoir of the Diamond, by John Murray, F.S.A., &c., 12mo.: London, 1831.
Besides these may be consulted, the treatise of Gemma, Delle Gemme pretiose, 2 vols. 4to., a ponderous map of obsolete puerilities; the Minéralogie of M. de Bomare; the Crystallographie of M. Romé Delisle; the essay of Wallerius, De Lapidum Origine; the learned researches of Bergman, Sur les Pierres précieuses, &c.
I may add, that a practical work on the nature and value of precious stones, comprehending the opinions and superstitions of the ancients respecting them, together with an essay upon engraved gems, an account of celebrated collections and specimens, &c., is much wanted, and would probably be well received.
William Bates.
Birmingham.
"A Pinch of Snuff" (Vol. vi., p. 431.; Vol. vii., p. 268.).—This work is correctly attributed to Benson E. Hill, Esq. The companion volume, A Paper of Tobacco, of which F. R. A. speaks in just terms of commendation, was the production of Mr. W. A. Chatto, the ingenious author of a History of Playing Cards, &c. His son, Mr. Thomas Chatto, from whom I received this information, is a bookseller, at No. 25. Museum Street, Bloomsbury: where I hope his civility, and anxiety to serve his visitors, will ensure the success he merits.
William Bates.
Birmingham.
Darwin on Steam (Vol. ix., p. 271.).—The lines in question are not cited quite correctly by Uneda. They run as follows:
"Soon shall thy arm, unconquer'd Steam, afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car;
Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear,
The flying-chariot through the fields of air."
They occur in the First Part of the Botanic Garden, p. 29., 2nd edit., 4to., London, 1791.
L. (1)
[We are also indebted to J. K. R. W. and other correspondents for similar replies.]
Gale of Rent (Vol. viii., pp. 563. 655.).—The word gale is used in the west of Philadelphia in the sense of an instalment. Thus, if land is
bought to be paid for in annual sums, one of these is called a yearly gale. I have supposed, I cannot now say why, that this was an Irish expression.
Uneda.
Cobb Family (Vol. ix., p. 272).—I have much reason to believe that Mr. Arthur Paget will find a clue to his inquiries in the following particulars extracted from documents in my possession. The estate of St. Katharine's Hall, or St. Kattern's, near Bath, belonged to the family of Blanchard; and in 1748 the property passed to the family of Parry of St. Kattern's by marriage with the heiress of the Blanchards, who is thus described:
"Thomas Parry, and Querinah his wife, niece and heiress-at-law of William Blanchard, who was only son and heir of Henry Blanchard, and Querinah his wife," [only child of John Curle, Esq.].
In 1795 Thomas Parry devised the estate to his son John Parry, who was the rector of Sturmer, co. Essex; and by his will [May, 1797] his property went to his sisters, Elizabeth Knight, Querinah Cobb, and Hannah Parry. Elizabeth married, Aug. 1781, Henry Knight of Lansdown, near Bath. Querinah married, Nov. 1781, William Milles Cobb, of Ringwood, gentleman, third son of Christopher Cobb, merchant, and Sarah his wife.
I have in my possession some portraits of the Blanchard, Curle, and Parry families; two by Sir Peter Lely, which may afford Mr. Paget farther evidence of the consanguinity of Richard Cobb, Esq., and the Cobbs of Ringwood.
J. Knight.
Aylestone.
On the principle that every little helps, and out of gratitude for Cranmore's assistance in the Milton-Minshull controversy, I would offer the following suggestions, which may haply serve as finger-posts to direct him on his way. William Cobb, Esq., of Adderbury, Oxon, immediate ancestor of the baronets of that name and place, derived from the Cobbs of Sandringham, in the hundred of Freebridge, Norfolk. Blomefield's History of the latter county might be consulted with advantage. The Cobbs of Adderbury bore "Sable, a chevron argent between three dolphins naiant embowed or, a chief of the last." Randle Holme, in his Academy of Armory, 1688, gives the following as the arms of Cobb,—"Per chevron sable and gules, two swans respecting each other and a herring cobb argent." Thomas Cobb, of Otterington, Yorkshire, a loyal subject of King Charles I., compounded for his estates in the sum of 472l. There is a brass in Sharnbrook Church, Bedfordshire, commemorating William Cobbe, who died in 1522, Alice his wife, a son Thomas, and other children.
T. Hughes.
Chester.
"Aches" (Vol. ix., p. 351.).—I am not aware of any rhyme which fixes the pronunciation of aches in the time of Shakspeare, but I think the following quite as decisive:
"Of the Fallacie in the Accent or Pronunciation.—The fallacie of the accent is, when a false thing is affirmed under colour of pronouncing it as another thing that is true. For example:
'Where no ache is, there needs no salve;
In the gout there is no H,
Therefore, in the gout, there needs no salve.'"
The Elements of Logicke, by Peter Dumoulin. Translated out of the French copie by Nathanael De-Lawne, with the Author's approbation: London, 1624, 24mo.
"Anthony. Thou bleedest apace.
Scarus. I had a wound here that was like a T;
But now 'tis made an H."
Ant. and Cleop., Act IV. Sc. 7.
See also on the "aitch" question, Letters of an Irish Student, vol. i. p. 256., London, 1812; and The Parlour Window, by the Rev. Edward Mangin, p. 146., London, 1841.
H. B. C.
U. U. Club.
"Meols" (Vol. vii., pp. 208. 298.).—There is an extensive parish called North Meols (the favourite watering-place of Southport being within it) in the sandy district to the south of the estuary of the Ribble, in Lancashire.
Prestoniensis.
Polygamy (Vol. ix., p. 246.).—The practice of monogamy had been established among the Jews before the Christian era, as is shown by various expressions in the New Testament; but their law (like that of other oriental nations) still permitted polygamy, and they were expressly prohibited by an enactment of the Emperor Theodosius, of the year 393, from marrying several wives at the same time (Cod. 1. 9. 7.); so that the practice was not then extinct among them. Monogamy was the law and practice of all the Greek and Italian communities, so far back as our accounts reach. There is no trace of polygamy in Homer. Even in the incestuous marriages supposed by him in the mythical family of Æolus, the monogamic rule is observed, Odyssey, x. 7. The Roman law recognised monogamy alone, and hence polygamy was prohibited in the entire Roman empire. It thus became practically the rule of Christians, and was engrafted into the canon law of the Eastern and Western Churches.
L.
Wafers (Vol. ix., p. 376.).—I have in my possession a volume of original Italian letters, addressed to a Venetian physician (who appears to have been eminent in his profession), Michael Angelo Rota, written during the early part of the seventeenth century. Many of these letters have been sealed with red wafers, still adhering to the
paper, and precisely similar to those now in use. The earliest of the letters which I have found sealed is dated April, 1607, which is seventeen years earlier than the earliest known instance, mentioned by Beckmann (History of Inventions, Bohn's edit., vol. i. p. 146.), of a letter sealed with a wafer.
Walter Sneyd.
Denton.
I have before me a reprieve from the Council, dated in 1599, sealed with a wafer, and am certain that I have earlier instances, had I time at this moment to look them up.
L. B. L.