Replies to Minor Queries.
Vandyking (Vol. ix., p. 452.).—Your correspondent P. C. S. S. asks the meaning of the term Vandyking, in the following passage of a letter from Secretary Windebanke to the Lord Deputy Wentworth, dated Westminster, Nov. 20, 1633, the Lord Deputy being then in Ireland:—
"Now, my Lord, for my own observations of your carriage since you had the conduct of affairs there [in Ireland], because you press me so earnestly, I shall take the boldness to deliver myself as freely.
"First, though while we had the happiness and honour to have your assistance here at the Council Board, you made many ill faces with your pen (pardon, I beseech your Lordship, the over free censure of your Vandyking), and worse, oftentimes, with your speeches, especially in the business of the Lord Falconberg, Sir Thomas Gore, Vermuyden, and others; yet I understand you make worse there in Ireland, and there never appeared a worse face under a cork upon a bottle, than your Lordship hath caused some to make in disgorging such church livings as their zeal had eaten up."—Strafford's Letters, vol. i. p. 161.
This passage, as well as what follows, is written in a strain of banter, and is intended to compliment the great Lord Deputy under the pretence of a free censure of his conduct. The first part of the second paragraph evidently alludes to Wentworth's habit of drawing faces upon paper when he was sitting at the Council Table, and the word Vandyking is used in the sense of portrait-painting. Vandyck was born in 1599; he visited England for a short time in 1620, and in 1632 he came to England permanently, was lodged by the king, and knighted; in the following year he received a pension of 200l. for life, and the title of painter to his Majesty. It was therefore quite natural that Windebanke should, in November, 1633, use the term Vandyking as equivalent to portrait-painting.
In the latter part of the same paragraph, the allusion is to the wry faces, which the speeches of this imperious member of council sometimes caused. Can any of your correspondents explain the expression, "a worse face under a cork upon a bottle?"
L.
Monteith (Vol. ix., p. 452.).—The Monteith was a kind of punch-bowl (sometimes of delf ware) with scallops or indentations in the brim, the object of which was to convert it into a convenient tray for bringing in the glasses. These were of wine-glass shape, and being placed with the brims downwards, and radiating from the centre, and with the handles protruding through the indentations in the bowl, were easily carried, without much jingling or risk of breakage. Of course the bowl was empty of liquor at the time.
P. P.
A. M. and M. A. (Vol. ix., p. 475.).—Juverna, M. A., is certainly wrong in stating that "Masters of Arts of Oxford are styled 'M. A.,' in contradistinction to the Masters of Arts in every other university." A. B., A. M., are the proper initials for Baccalaureus and Magister Artium, and should therefore only be used when the name is in Latin. B.A. and M.A. are those for Bachelor and Master of Arts, and are the only ones to be used where the name is expressed in English. Thus John Smith, had he taken his first degree in Arts at any university, might indicate the fact by signing John Smith, B.A., or Johannes S., A.B. If he put John Smith, A.B., a doubt might exist whether he were not an able-bodied seaman, for that is implied by A.B. attached to an English name. The editor of Farindon's Sermons, who is, I believe, a Dissenter, styles himself the Reverend T. Jackson, S.T.P., i. e. Sacrosanctæ Theologiæ
Professor. He might as well have part of his title in Sanscrit, as part in English and part in Latin.
I believe this mistake is made more frequently by graduates of Cambridge than by those of Oxford. Indeed, they have now created a new degree, Master of Laws, with the initials LL.M. (Legum Magister). But they are usually infelicitous in their nomenclature, as witness their voluntary theological examination, now made compulsory by all the bishops.
E. G. R., M.A.
Cambridge.
Greek denounced by the Monks (Vol. ix., p. 467).—In his History of the Reformation (b. I. ch. iii.), D'Aubigné says,—
"The monks asserted that all heresies arose from those two languages [Greek and Hebrew], and particularly from the Greek. 'The New Testament,' said one of them, 'is a book full of serpents and thorns. Greek,' continued he, 'is a new and recently-invented language, and we must be upon our guard against it. As for Hebrew, my dear brethren, it is certain that all who learn it immediately become Jews.' Heresbach, a friend of Erasmus and a respectable author, reports these expressions."
Had there been more authority, probably D'Aubigné would have quoted it.
B. H. C.
In Lewis's History of the English Translation of the Bible, edit. London, 1818, pp. 54, 55., the following passage occurs:
"These proceedings for the advancement of learning and knowledge, especially in divine matters, alarmed the ignorant and illiterate monks, insomuch that they declaimed from the pulpits, that 'there was now a new language discovered called Greek, of which people should beware, since it was that which produced all the heresies; that in this language was come forth a book called the New Testament, which was now in everybody's hands, and was full of thorns and briers: that there was also another language now started up which they called Hebrew, and that they who learnt it were termed Hebrews.'"
The authority quoted for this statement is Hody, De Bibliorum Textibus, p. 465.
See also the rebuke administered by Henry VIII. to a preacher who had "launched forth against Greek and its new interpreters," in Erasmus, Epp., p. 347., quoted in D'Aubigné's Reformation, book XVIII. 1.
C. W. Bingham.
Caldecott's Translation of the New Testament (Vol. viii., p. 410.).—J. M. Caldecott, the translator of the New Testament, referred to by your correspondent S. A. S., is the son of the late —— Caldecott, Esq., of Rugby Lodge, and was educated at Rugby School, where I believe he obtained one or more prizes as a first-class Greek and Hebrew scholar. After completing his studies at this school, his father purchased for him a commission in the East India Company's service; but soon after his arrival in India, conceiving a dislike to the army, he sold his commission and returned to England. Being somewhat singular in his notions, and altogether eccentric both in manner and appearance, he estranged himself from his family and friends, and, as I have been informed, took up his temporary abode in this city about the year 1828. Although his income was at that time little short of 300l. per annum, he had neither house nor servant of his own; but boarded in the house of a respectable tradesman, living on the plainest fare (so as he was wont to say), to enable him to give the more to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. In this way, and by being frequently imposed upon by worthless characters, he gave away, in a few years, nearly all his property, leaving himself almost destitute: and, indeed, would have been entirely so, but for a weekly allowance made to him by his mother (sometime since deceased), on which he is at the present time living in great obscurity in one of our large seaport towns; but may be occasionally seen in the streets with a long beard, and a broad-brimmed hat, addressing a group of idlers and half-naked children. I could furnish your correspondent S. A. S. with more information if needful.
T. J.
Chester.
Blue Bells of Scotland (Vol. viii., p. 388. Vol. ix., p. 209.).—Surely
of Philadelphia is right in supposing that the Blue Bell of Scotland, in the ballad which goes by that name, is a bell painted blue, and used as the sign of an inn, and not the flower so called, as asserted by Henry Stephens, unless indeed there be an older ballad than the one commonly sung, which, as many of your readers must be aware, contains this line,—
"He dwells in merry Scotland,
At the sign of the Blue Bell."
I remember to have heard that the popularity of this song dates from the time when it was sung on the stage by Mrs. Jordan.
Can any one inform me whether the air is ancient or modern?
Honoré de Mareville.
Guernsey.
"De male quæsitis gaudet non tertius hæres" (Vol. ii., p. 167.).—The quotation here wanted has hitherto been neglected. The words may be found, with a slight variation, in Bellochii Praxis Moralis Theologiæ, de casibus reservatis, &c., Venetiis, 1627, 4to. As the work is not common, I send the passage for insertion, which I know will be acceptable to other correspondents as well as to the querist:
"Divino judicio permittitur ut tales surreptores rerum sacrarum diu ipsis rebus furtivis non lætentur, sed imo ab aliis nequioribus furibus præfatæ res illis abripiantur, ut de se ipso fassus est ille, qui in suis ædibus hoc distichon inscripsit, ut refert Jo. Bonif., lib. de furt., § contrectatio, num. 134. in fin.:
'Congeries lapidum variis constructa rapinis,
Aut uret, aut ruet, aut raptor alter habebit.'
Et juxta illud:
'De rebus male acquisitis, non gaudebit tertius hæres.'
Lazar (de monitorio), sect. 4. 9. 4., num. 16., imo nec secundus, ut ingenuè et perbellè fatetur in suo poemate, nostro idiomate Jerusalem celeste acquistata, cant. x. num. 88. Pater Frater Augustinus Gallutius de Mandulcho, ita canendo:
'D'un' acquisto sacrilego e immondo,
Gode di rado il successor secondo,
Pero che il primo e mal' accorto herede
Senza discretion li da di piedi.'"
Bibliothecar. Chetham.
Mawkin (Vol. ix., pp. 303. 385.).—Is not mawkin merely a corruption for mannikin? I strongly suspect it to be so, though Forby, in his Vocabulary of East Anglia, gives the word maukin as if peculiar to Norfolk and Suffolk, and derives it, like L., from Mal, for Moll or Mary.
F. C. H.
This word, in the Scottish dialect spelt maukin, means a hare. It occurs in the following verse of Burns in Tam Samson's Elegy:
"Rejoice, ye birring paitricks a';
Ye cootie moorcocks, crousely craw;
Ye maukins, cock your fud fu' braw,
Withouten dread;
Your mortal fae is now awa',
Tam Samson's dead!"
Kennedy M‘Nab.
"Putting a spoke in his wheel" (Vol. viii., pp. 269. 351. 576.).—There is no doubt that "putting a spoke in his wheel" is "offering an obstruction." But I have always understood the "spoke" to be, not a radius of the wheel, but a bar put between the spokes at right angles, so as to prevent the turning of the wheel; a rude mode of "locking," which I have often seen practised. The correctness of the metaphor is thus evident.
Wm. Hazel.
Dog Latin (Vol. viii., p. 523.).—The return of a sheriff to a writ which he had not been able to serve, owing to the defendant's secreting himself in a swamp, will be new to English readers. It was "Non come-at-ibus in swampo."
Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the motto of the United States has been "E pluribus unum." A country sign-painter in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, painted "E pluribur unibus," instead of it on a sign.
Uneda.
Philadelphia.
Swedish Words current in England (Vol. vii., pp. 231. 366.).—Very many Swedish words are current in the north of England, e. gr. barn or bearn (Scotticè bairn), Sw. barn; bleit or blate, bashful, Sw. blöd; to cleam, to fasten, to spread thickly over, Sw. klemma; cod, pillow, Sw. kudde; to gly, to squint, Sw. glo; to lope, to leap, Sw. löpa; to late (Cumberland), to seek, Sw. leta; sackless, without crime, Sw. saklös; sark, shirt, Sw. särk; to thole (Derbyshire), to endure, Sw. tala; to walt, to totter, to overthrow, Sw. wälta; to warp, to lay eggs, Sw. wärpa; wogh (Lancashire), wall, Sw. wägg, &c. It is a fact very little known, that the Swedish language bears the closest resemblance of all modern languages to the English as regards grammatical structure, not even the Danish excepted.
Suecas.
Mob (Vol. viii., p. 524.).—I have always understood that this word was derived from the Latin expression mobile vulgus, which is, I believe, in Virgil.
Uneda.
Philadelphia.
"Days of my Youth" (Vol. viii., p. 467.).—In answer to the inquiry made a few months since, whether Judge St. George Tucker, of Virginia, was the author of the lines beginning—
"Days of my youth."
the undersigned states that he was a friend and relative of Judge Tucker, and knows him to have been the author. They had a great run at the time, and found their way not only into the newspapers, but even into the almanacs of the day.
G. T.
Philadelphia.
Encore (Vol. viii., pp. 387. 524.).—A writer in an English magazine, a few years ago, proposed that the Latin word repetitus should be used instead of encore. Among other advantages he suggested that the people in the gallery of a theatre would pronounce it repeat-it-us, and thus make English of it.
Uneda.
Philadelphia.
Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cambridge (Vol. ix., p. 493.).—Your correspondent will find his question answered by referring to the History of the Royal Family, 8vo., Lond., 1741, pp. 119. 156. For an account of this book, which is founded upon the well-known Sandford's Genealogical History, see Clarke's Bibliotheca Legum, edit. 1819, p. 174.
T. E. T.
Islington.
Right of redeeming Property (Vol. viii., p. 516.).—This right formerly existed in Normandy, and, I believe, in other parts of France. In the bailiwick of Guernsey, the laws of which are based on the ancient custom of Normandy, the right is still exercised, although it has been abolished for some years in the neighbouring island of Jersey.
The law only applies to real property, which, by the Norman custom, was divided in certain proportions among all the children; and this right of "retrait," as it is technically termed, was doubtless intended to counteract in some measure the too minute division of land, and to preserve inheritances in families. It must be exercised within a year of the purchase. For farther information on the subject, Berry's History of Guernsey, p. 176., may be consulted.
Honoré de Mareville.
Guernsey.
Latin Inscription on Lindsey Court-house (Vol. ix., pp. 492. 552.).—I cannot but express my surprise at the learned (?) trifling of some of your correspondents on the inscription upon Lindsey Court-house. Try it thus:
"Fiat Justitia,
1619,
Hæc domus
Odit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat,
Nequitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, bonos."
which will make two lines, an hexameter and a pentameter, the first letters, O and N, having perhaps been effaced by time or accident.
Neglectus.
[That this emendation is the right one is clear from the communication of another correspondent, B. R. A. Y., who makes the same, and adds in confirmation, "The following lines existed formerly (and do, perhaps, now) on the Market-house at Much Wenlock, Shropshire, which will explain their meaning:
'Hic locus
Odit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat,
Nequitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, bonos.'
The O and N, being at the beginning of the lines as given by your correspondent, were doubtless obliterated by age.">[
The restoration of this inscription proposed by me is erroneous, and must be corrected from the perfect inscription as preserved at Pistoia and Much Wenlock, cited by another correspondent in p. 552. The three inscriptions are slightly varied. Perhaps "amat pacem" is better than "amat leges," on account of the tautology with "conservat jura."
L.
Myrtle Bee (Vol. ix., p. 205. &c.).—"I have carefully read and reread the articles on the myrtle bee, and I can come to no other conclusion than that it is not a bird at all, but an insect, one of the hawkmoths, and probably the humming-bird hawkmoth. We have so many indefatigable genuine field naturalists, picking up every straggler which is blown to our coasts, that I cannot think it possible there is a bird at all common to any district of England, and yet totally unknown to science. Now, insects are often exceedingly abundant in particular localities, yet scarcely known beyond them. The size C. Brown describes as certainly not larger than half that of the common wren. The humming-bird (H. M.) is scarcely so large as this, but its vibratory motion would make it look somewhat larger than it really is. Its breadth, from tip to tip of the wings, is twenty to twenty-four lines. The myrtle bee's "short flight is rapid, steady, and direct," exactly that of the hawkmoth. The tongue of the myrtle bee is "round, sharp, and pointed at the end, appearing capable of penetration," not a bad popular description of the suctorial trunk of the hawkmoth, from which it gains its generic name, Macroglossa. Its second pair of wings are of a rusty yellow colour, which, when closed, would give it it the appearance of being "tinged with yellow about the vent." It has also a tuft of scaly hairs at the extremity of the abdomen, which would suggest the idea of a tail. In fact, on the wing, it appears very like a little bird, as attested by its common name. In habit it generally retires from the mid-day sun, which would account for its being "put up" by the dogs. The furze-chat, mentioned by C. Brown, is the Saxicola rubetra, commonly also called the whinchat.
Wm. Hazel.
Mousehunt (Vol. ix., p. 65. &c.).—G. Tennyson identifies the mousehunt with the beechmartin, the very largest of our Mustelidæ, on the authority of Henley "the dramatic commentator." Was he a naturalist too? I never heard of him as such.
Now, Mr. W. R. D. Salmon, who first asked the question, speaks of it as less than the common weasel, and quotes Mr. Colquhoun's opinion, that it is only "the young of the year." I have no doubt at all that this is correct. The young of all the Mustelidæ hunt, and to a casual observer exhibit all the actions of full-grown animals, when not more than half the size of their parents. There seems no reason to suppose that there are more than four species known in England, the weasel, the stoat or ermine, the polecat, and the martin. The full-grown female of the weasel is much smaller than the male. Go to any zealous gamekeeper's exhibition, and you will see them of many gradations in size.
Wm. Hazel.
Longfellow's "Hyperion" (Vol. ix., p. 495.).—I would offer the following rather as a suggestion than as an answer to Mordan Gillott. But it has always appeared to me that Longfellow has himself explained, by a simple allusion in the work, the reason which dictated the name of his Hyperion. As the ancients fabled Hyperion to be the offspring of the heavens and the earth; so, in his aspirations, and his weakness and sorrows, Flemming (the hero of the work) personifies, as it were, the mingling of heaven and earth in the heart and
mind of a man of true nobility. The passage to which I allude is the following:
"Noble examples of a high purpose, and a fixed will! Do they not move, Hyperion-like, on high? Were they not likewise sons of heaven and earth?"—Book iv. ch. 1.
Seleucus.
Benjamin Rush (Vol. ix., p. 451.).—Inquirer asks "Why the freedom of Edinburgh was conferred upon him?" I have looked into the Records of the Town Council, and found the following entry:
"4th March, 1767. The Council admit and receive Richard Stocktoun, Esquire, of New Jersey, Councillour at Law, and Benjamin Rush, Esquire, of Philadelphia, to be burgesses and gild brethren of this city, in the most ample form."
But there is no reason assigned.
James Laurie, Conjoint Town Clerk.
Quakers executed in North America (Vol. ix., p. 305.).—A fuller account of these nefarious proceedings is detailed in an abstract of the sufferings of the people called Quakers, in 2 vols., 1733; vol. i. (Appendix) pp. 491-514., and in vol. iii. pp. 195-232.
E. D.