Replies to Minor Queries.
Gig Hill (Vol. iii., p. 222.).—Perhaps your correspondent is mistaken in saying that "there is no indication of anything in the land to warrant the name." At least, the very fact of its being a hill is suspicious. If I could venture to affront you with a pun, I should say, that it seems to me very natural that the top of a hill should look like a gig. Mercy on us! do words wear out so fast? Why, I have not reached three-score, and did not I "whip my gig" when I was an "infant"?—not an infant born in a remote province, sucking in archaism with my mother's milk, playing with heirloom toys, and calling them by obsolete names, but a smart little cockney, born and bred in the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, where, no doubt, there were gig-whipping brats plenty. In the crowded state of your columns, you would not thank me for enlarging on the top-hic, or I should really feel disposed to enter into a dissertation on the nature and characteristic differences of whipping-tops, humming-tops, peg-tops, and gigs. As to the latter, it certainly occurs to me, now that the question is raised, that I have not seen such a thing for a long time; though I fancy gigs lying in the shop-windows, as they did at a period when I was more likely to observe them; and if they have become so far forgotten, it may be worth while, for the sake of Shakspeare, to say that they were generally (as far as I remember always) made of horn; and therefore, when Holofernes says "Go, whip thy gig" (which means just the same as Mr. Oldbuck's "Sew your sampler, monkey!"), Moth replies, "Lend me your horn to make one, and I will whip about your infamy circum circa; a gig of a cuckold's horn!" It is enough to add that the gig was made of the tip of the horn, and looked, while spinning, like an inverted extinguisher. It was hollow, but my impression is that there was sometimes lead at the bottom of the inside. Even with the ballast, it was a ticklish, volatile, kickety thing, much more difficult to set up and to keep up than the sober whipping-top, and bearing somewhat the same relation to one in bulk and motion,
that a ship's gig may do to herself, or a gig on land to a coach. As to Gig Hill, however, unless it has a conical top, some other explanation must be sought.
N. B.
[C., E. H., and numerous other correspondents, have also kindly replied to this Query.]
Epigram against Burke (Vol. iii., P. 243.).—
"Oft have I heard that ne'er on Irish ground,
A poisonous reptile ever yet was found;
Nature, though slow, will yet complete her work,
She has saved her venom to create a Burke."
The author of these lines was Warren Hastings himself; his private secretary (Mr. Evans) sat by his side during the trial, and saw him write the above. My authority is a niece of Mr. Evans, who formed one of her uncle's family at the period of the trial.
N. M.
Engraved Portrait (Vol. iii., p. 209.).—This is the portrait of Samuel Clarke, the ejected minister of Bennet Fink, London. I have three impressions of this engraving now before me. Two of these are in an illustrated Granger, and are in different states, the earlier one having no shading in the background. The third copy is prefixed to—
"A Collection of the Lives of Ten Eminent Divines, Famous in their Generations for Learning, Prudence, Piety, and painfuless in the work of the Ministry, &c. By Sa. Clarke, Preacher of the Gospel in St. Bennet Fink, London, 1662." 4to.
Very likely the same plate had been previously used for some other of Clarke's numerous publications. At the end of the verses beneath the portrait, my copies have "P.V.A.M. fecit," which, I suppose, are the initials of Peter Vinke.
John I. Dredge.
A full and interesting account of this worthy divine is given in Granger, vol. v. p. 73.; and the quatrain will be found annexed to a brief account of the same portrait in Ames's English Heads, p. 43.
J. F. Y.
Salgado's Slaughter-house (Vol. ii., p. 358.).—Your correspondent asks, Who was Salgado? and his question has not yet, I believe, been answered. James Salgado, whose name does not appear in any biographical dictionary, though it deserves to do, and whose pieces are unnoticed in Peck's Catalogue, though they should certainly not have been omitted, was a Spanish priest, who renounced the Roman Catholic belief, and was imprisoned by the Inquisition, and after undergoing many sufferings made his escape to England in the latter part of the reign of Charles II. His history is contained in An Account of his Life and Sufferings, in a 4to. tract in my possession, entitled, A Confession of Faith of James Salgado, a Spaniard, and sometimes a Priest in the Church of Rome, London, 1681, 4to. Watt and Lowndes both notice some of his pieces, but their lists are very imperfect, and do not comprise the tract, of which your correspondent gives the title, and which is also in my possession, and several others which I have noted in my copy of my Confession, but which it is perhaps unnecessary to enumerate here.
James Crossley.
Mathew's (not Matthew's) Mediterranean Passage (Vol. iii., p. 240.).—I have a copy of this work, and shall have pleasure in forwarding it to Mercurii for perusal, if he will address a note to me, which the publisher of "Notes and Queries" will forward.
Nibor.
Oxford, March 29. 1851.
The Mitre and the "Cloven Tongues" (Vol. iii., p. 146.).—My attention has just been directed to the remark of your correspondent L. M. M. R., who adduces the miracle of the "cloven tongues as of fire" as having supplied the form of the mitre.
This is an old explanation; but your correspondent does not appear to be aware that "cloven" has been rejected by high classical authority, as not being a correct interpretation of the word διαμεριζόμεναι. The exact translation is, "And tongues as of fire appeared, being distributed to them." The same verb is used in the passage, "They parted my garments among them,"—parted or distributed—the exact equivalent.
It appears to me that the translators have here made an extraordinary blunder. They have, I think, mistaken διαμηρίζω for διαμερίζω. For the peculiar meaning of the former verb I beg to refer those who have not observed it, to Liddell and Scott's Lexicon. The substitution of a letter here (η for ε) would give to the Scripture term a significance, which, though analogous to that of the current translation, is immeasurably distant from the exact interpretation.
Hughes Frazer Halle.
Chudleigh, March 24. 1851.
Slums (Vol. iii., p. 224.).—This word is, I take it, an Americanism, being an abbreviation of settlements.
The back settlements and back slums are used synonymously.
D. Q.
"God's Acre" (Vol. ii., p. 56.).—On looking back to some of your old numbers I find W. H. K. has never been answered with regard to the above application of the term to churchyards. Longfellow (Liverpool edition, 1850, p. 36.) commences one of his poems thus:
"I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls
The burial-ground God's Acre. It is just;
It consecrates each grave within its walls,
And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust."
Whether this may be any help to W. H. K., I know not, but I cannot refrain from the Query—What is the Saxon phrase alluded to?
W. H. P.
Wages in the last Century (Vol. iii., p. 143.).—I have a note on this subject which is at A. A.'s service, extracted from the Gentleman's Magazine for May 1732, vol. ii p. 771.:—
"Wages (Yearly) appointed by the Justices, A.D. 1732, to be taken by the Servants in the County of Kent.
| £ | s. | d. | |
| Head Ploughman, Waggoner, or Seedsman | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| His Mate | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Best Woman Servant | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Second Sort | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Second Ploughman | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| His Mate | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Labourers by the Day, in Summer | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ditto, in Winter | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| County of Gloucester. | |||
| Head Servant in Husbandry | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Second Servant | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Driving Boy under 14 Years | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Head Maid Servant in Dairy, and Cook | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Second Maid Servant | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mower in Hay Harvest, without Drink, per Day | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| With Drink, per Day | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mower and Reaper in Corn Harvest, with Diet, per Day | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Other Day labourer, from Corn to Hay Harvest, with Drink only, per Day | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| With Diet, per Day | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Without Diet or Drink, per Day | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Carpenter, Wheelwright, and Mason, without Drink, per Day | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| With Drink, per Day | 0 | 1 | 0." |
I send the note as I have it in my commonplace book; but I should think that the periodical from which the above is extracted, contains much that would suit A. A.'s purpose.
E. S. Taylor.
Martham, Norfolk.
Tradesmen's Signs (Vol. iii., p. 224.).—The projecting signs over tradesmen's shop-doors were removed under the London Paving Act, 6 Geo. III. c. 26. s. 17. In the Percy History of London, i. 179., the act is erroneously said to have been passed in 1762. From Malcolm's Anecdotes of London, pp. 468, 469., it seems that the clause in question was inserted in the act in consequence of inquiries by a committee appointed by the Court of Common Council in 1764. Mr. Peter Cunningham, in the "London Occurrences" prefixed to his Handbook for London, says: "1766. The house-signs of London taken down."
No doubt the existing Metropolitan Paving Acts contain clauses which will prevent tradesmen from again putting up projecting signs.
C. H. Cooper.
Cambridge.
Standfast's Cordial Comforts, &c. (Vol. iii., p. 143.).—Abhba will find in a catalogue of curious books published by G. Bumstead, 205. High Holborn, an early edition of Standfast. It is described thus:
"Standfast (R.), A Little Handful of Cordial Comforts, and a Caveat against Seducers; with the Blind Man's Meditations, and a Dialogue Between a Blind Man and Death, 12mo. 1684."
This may assist Abhba in his researches.
Z.
St. Pancras (Vol. ii., p. 496.).—Your correspondent Mr. Yeowell asks where C. J. Smith's collection of MSS., cuttings and prints, &c. relating to the parish of St. Pancras, are deposited? It is in the library of Richard Percival, Esq., 9. Highbury Park, Islington.
Can any of your readers give an account of St. Pancras? He was martyred May 12, 304.
R.
[Has our correspondent looked at the Calendar of the Anglican Church, lately published by Parker of Oxford? A brief notice of St. Pancras will be found on p. 274. of that useful little work.]
Lines on "Woman's Will" (Vol. i., p. 247.).—Although somewhat late in the day, I send you the following paragraph from the Examiner of May 31, 1829:
"Woman's Will.—The following lines (says a correspondent of the Brighton Herald) were copied from the pillar erected on the Mount in the Dane-John Field, formerly called the Dungeon Field, Canterbury:
'Where is the man who has the power and skill
To stem the torrents of a woman's will?
For if she will, she will, you may depend on't,
And if she won't, she won't so there's an end on't."'
H. C.
Workington.
Scandal against Queen Elizabeth (Vol. ii., p. 393.; Vol. iii., p. 11.).—In Hubback on the Evidence of Succession, p. 253, after some remarks on the word "natural," not of itself in former times denoting illegitimacy, this passage occurs:
"But as early as the time of Elizabeth the word natural, standing alone, had acquired something of its present meaning. The Parliament, in debating upon the act establishing the title to the crown in the Queen's issue, thought it proper to alter the words 'issue lawfully begotten,' into 'natural-born issue,' conceiving the latter to be a more delicate phrase. But this created a suspicion among the people, that the Queen's favourite, Leicester, intended after her death to set up some bastard of his own, pretending it was born of her, and bred up privately."—Duke of Buckingham On Treasons, cited Amos's Fortescue, p. 154.
J. H. L.
Coggeshall Job (Vol. iii., p. 167.).—Does J. C. allude to the tradition that the Coggeshall people placed hurdles in the stream to turn the river, and chained up the wheelbarrow when the mad dog bit it?
J. H. L.
Whale caught at Greenwich before the Death of Cromwell (Vol. iii., p. 207.).—B. B. wishes a record
of the capture of a whale at Greenwich, immediately previous to Cromwell's death. I take leave to inform him that, in a tract entitled A Catalogue of natural Rarities, with great Industry, Cost and thirty Years' Travel in foreign Countries collected, by Robert Hubert, alias Forges, Gent., and sworn Servant to his Majesty. And Dayly to be seen at the Place called the Musick House, at the Miter, near the West End of St. Paul's Church, 1664, there is the following item:—
"The vein of the tongue of that whale that was taken up at Greenwich, a little before Cromwell's death."
W. Pinkerton.
Ham.
Fronte Capillatâ, &c. (Vol. iii., pp. 8. 43. 124.).—The following lines from Tasso's Amore Fuggitivo contain the same figure as the Latin quoted above:
"Crespe hà le chiome e d'oro,
E in quella guisa appunto,
Che Fortuna si pinge
Ha lunghi e folti in sulla fronte i crini;
Ma nuda hà poi la testa
Agli opposti confini."
Robert Snow.
The lines quoted by your correspondent are from Peacock's "Headlong Hall," and are imitated from Machiavelli's "Capitolo dell' Occasione." The whole air stands thus; the second stanza differing slightly from the version given by Mr. Burt. The lines are very pretty, at least in my opinion.
"LOVE AND OPPORTUNITY.
"Oh! who art thou, so swiftly flying?
My name is Love, the child replied;
Swifter I pass than south-winds sighing,
Or streams through summer vales that glide.
And who art thou, his flight pursuing?
'Tis cold Neglect whom now you see:
The little god you there are viewing,
Will die, if once he's touched by me.
"Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,
Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?
Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speeding,
And Opportunity's my name.
What form is that which scowls beside thee?
Repentance is the form you see:
Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee.
She seizes them who seize not me."
W. R. M.
John Sanderson, or the Cushion-dance (Vol. ii., p. 517.).—Though I am unable to answer your correspondent Mac's inquiry as to the antiquity of this dance, it may interest him as well as others of the readers of "Notes and Queries" to know, that when Walpole made up his mind to abandon his Excise bill (which met with a still fiercer opposition out of doors than in the House of Commons), he signified his intention to a party of his adherents at the supper-table, by quoting the first line of the accompanying song:—
"This dance it will no further go!"[[7]]
This, at least, shows the popularity of this dance in the reign of George II.
H. C.
Workington.
Footnote 7:[(return)]
This occurred in the year 1733.
George Steevens and William Stevens (Vol. iii, p. 230.).—The late Sir J. A. Park wrote Memoirs of William Stevens, the Treasurer of Queen Anne's Bounty, and the biographer of Jones of Nayland. As little resemblance must have existed between this gentleman and "the Puck of commentators," George Steevens, as between the two Harveys:
"The one invented Sauce for Fish
The other Meditations."
J. H. M.
Memoirs of Stevens by the late Sir James Allan Park have been published, and are well worth reading; but this Stevens was not George Steevens, the Shakespearian commentator, but William, Treasurer of Queen Anne's Bounty, one of the most meek and humble minded of men.
"He was inferior to none in profound knowledge, and steady practice of the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England; austere to himself alone, charitable and indulgent towards others, he attracted the young by the cheerfulness of his temper, and the old by the sanctity of his life."
Miss Bockett should not confound such a holy character with George Steevens.
E. H.
Memoirs of George Steevens, Esq., F.R.S. and F.S.A. (Vol. iii., p. 119.).—In answer to A. Z. it may be stated that a brief memoir of Mr. Steevens was given in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, Vol. ii. p. 680.; further anecdotes, and some of his letters, in vol. v. of Nichols's Literary Illustrations; and further letters (his correspondence with Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore), in vol. vii. of the latter work; besides many incidental notices, which will be found by reference to the indexes. On the last occasion a copy of his portrait by Dance, was attached; and in vol. v. of the Literary Illustrations is an engraving of his monument by Flaxman, in Poplar Chapel.
N.
Tradescant (Vol. iii., p. 119.).—At what period the elder Tradescant came into England is not with certainty known, but it is supposed to have been about the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, or the beginning of that of James I. He obtained the title of Royal Gardener circa 1629.
It may not be superfluous to mention (on the authority of Allen's History of Lambeth, p. 142.) that formerly the three following lines were on the monument in Lambeth churchyard, until its
reparation by public subscription in 1773, when they were left out:
"This monument was erected at the charge of Hester Tradescant, the relict of John Tradescant, late deceased, who was buried the 25th of April, 1662."
Alfred W. H.
Kennington.
Origin of Harlequins (Vol. iii., p. 165.).—Your correspondent and querist E. L. N. wishes for an account of the Origin of Harlequins. I beg to refer E. L. N. to an account of the Hellequines, or "La Mesnie Hellequin," given by M. Paul Paris, in his work on the Manuscripts François de la Bib. du Roi, vol. i. p. 322. M. Paris says:
"On donnoit ce nom (Hellequines) à des espèces de feux follets ou génies plutôt malfaisants que favorables, et plutôt moqueurs que malfaisants.... L'origine de la tradition de la Mesnie Hellequin se perd dans l'obscurité des temps. On l'entendoit surtout bruire dans les environs de la ville d'Arles.... J'ignore la première origine de cette locution; mais ce qui me semble incontestable, c'est qu'on confondit facilement la Mesnie Hellequin avec celle 'de la Mort,' famille bariolée de rouge et de noir, et dont le manteau de cérémonie devoit être un grand pan de toile ou linceul. Déjà le lecteur a devancé la conséquence qu'il faut tirer de tout cela; la Mesnie Hellequin, partie nécessaire des cortéges effrayants ou grotesques dans le moyen-âge, est devenue insensiblement, sous la main des arrangeurs, notre famille d'Arlequin. Le costume bariolé d'Arlequin n'est rien autre que le fantastique costume du représentant de la Mort.... Et, si ce que je viens de dire est fondé, on ne répètera plus après Ménage (Gilles), que le mot Arlequin fut pris d'abord, sur la fin du XVI siècle, par un certain bouffon italien que le Président Harlay avoit accueilli. Il est certain que le mot Arlequin se trouve très-anciennement dans un grand nombre de mystères.
"'Numquid me velis,' ecrivoit Jean Raulin, mort en 1514, 'antiquam illam familiam Harlequini, revocare, ut videatur mortuus inter mundanæ curiæ nebulas et caligines equitare?'"
By the above extracts, which I fear you will find too long, harlequinades would seem rather to be derived from the wanton pranks of sprites than the coarse gambols of buffoons; and this derivation would certainly best agree with the accepted character of the modern harlequin.
H. C. C.
"Predeceased" and "Designed" (Vol. iii., p. 143.).—The former word is used in an active sense by Shakspeare, in his "Rape of Lucrece:"
"If children predecease progenitors,
We are their offspring, and they none of ours."
"Designed," in the sense of "designated," is employed by Locke:
"'Tis not enough to make a man a subject, to convince him that there is regal power in the world; but there must be ways of designing and knowing the person to whom the regal power of right belongs."
Cowgill.
"Quadrijugis invectus equis," &c. (Vol. ii., p. 391.).—These lines, in which "veriis" and "antesolat" are, of course, misprints for "variis" and "antevolat," apply with such peculiar exactness to Guido's celebrated Aurora, at the Rospigliosi Palace, that I cannot but think the painting has given rise to the lines. Besides, in the ancient mythology, the Horæ are said to be three in number, daughters of Jupiter and Themis, and one of their offices was harnessing the horses of the Sun. It is unlikely, therefore, that any classic author would mention them as being seven in number.
C. I. R.
St. John's Bridge Fair (Vol. iii., p. 88.).—Perhaps in the county of Northampton, and in the city of Peterborough, where a fair, commencing October 2d, is still called "Bridge Fair." The parish church of Peterborough is dedicated to St. John Baptist; but a fair on the saint's day would be too near the other, and probably more ancient fair, which is held on old St. Peter's Day, to whom the cathedral church is dedicated.
Arun.
Anticipations of Modern Ideas by Defoe (Vol. iii., pp. 137. 195.).—It is a singular fact, to which I do not remember a reference has hitherto been made, that Defoe, in his Life and Adventures of Captain Singleton, has foreshadowed the discovery by recent travellers of a great inland lake in the South of Africa. He describes his adventurous hero and companions, during their attempt to cross this vast continent from Mozambique to Angola, as having, on the ninth day of their journey, come in "view of a great lake of water."
"The next day," he adds, "which was the tenth from our setting out, we came to the edge of this lake, and happily for us, we came to it at the south point of it, for to the north we could see no end of it; so we passed by it, and travelled three days by the side of it."—Life, Adventures, and Piracies of Captain Singleton, chap. vi.
According to a rough calculation by one of the party, they were, a few days before reaching it, 700 miles from the coast of Mozambique, and 1500 from the Cape of Good Hope. Now Messrs. Murray and Oswell, the enterprising travellers to whom we owe the discovery of this vast South African lake, describe it as being in longitude 24° East, latitude 19° South; a position not very wide apart from that indicated in Defoe's amusing fiction.
T. C. Smith.
Lord Howard of Effingham (Vol. iii., p. 244.).—I submit that the passages quoted by your correspondent are not sufficient evidence to lead us to conclude that that nobleman ever was a Protestant. As to the "neglect of reverence to the Holy Sacrament," it is only said that the priests might pretend that as a cause; and it is not to be supposed that an ambassador would so far forget himself as to show any disrespect to the religion of the
prince he was sent to. Besides, it is likely that Lord Howard was chosen for the embassy as being a Catholic, and therefore more acceptable to a prince of the same religion.
2nd. Fuller's words only refer to testimony on a disputed fact, on which Catholic evidence the effect quoted by him would have peculiar weight.
3rd. The words to Garnet, who had declared his innocence and abhorrence of the imputed crime, are such as a Catholic would be most likely to use.
4th. The word "our," in the royal instructions, is the word of form, and resembles the editorial "we." In royal instructions to Mr. Shiel at Florence, Mr. Wyse at Naples, or Mr. More O'Ferrall at Malta, her Majesty would use the words "our religion;" would that imply that any or all of those gentlemen were Protestants?
After all, Lord Howard may have conformed to the court religion after the period of the Armada: occasional conformity was frequent at the period.
Kerriensis.
Separation of the Sexes in Church (Vol. ii., p. 94.; Vol. iii., p. 94.).—In Collectanea Topographica, &c., vol. iii. p. 134., is printed the "Account of the Proctors of the Church of Yeovil, co. Somerset, 36 Hen. VI. 1457-8." The learned editor says:
"The first item is remarkable, as affording an instance of seats being made subject to sale at so early a period;" and proceeds: "it may be observed that the two sexes must have sat in different parts of the church, as, with only one exception, the seats are let to other persons of the same sex as before."
Llewellyn.
Separation of the Sexes in Time of Divine Service (Vol. ii., p. 94.).—A proof of the correctness of the remark advanced in this note is afforded by the practice followed in the little church of Covington, Huntingdonshire, where a few of the old open seats remain towards the western end, in which each sex still sits on its proper side, although the custom does not hold with respect to the pews which some of the farmers and others have erected for themselves at the eastern end.
Arun.
Separation of the Sexes at Church.—Many of your correspondents have taken up the separation of the living at church, but none have alluded to the dead. I extract the following from a deed of the 34th of Elizabeth:—
"But also in the two severall vawtes or towmbes in the sayd chappell, and in the sowthe syde of the same, and in the wall of the sayd church, ffor themselves only to bury in; that is to say, in the upper of the same, standing eastwards, to bury the deade bodyes of the men, being ancestors of the sayd A. B.; and in the lower, standing westwards, to bury the deade bodies of the women, being wyves or children female of his, the said A. B.'s ancestors."
Perhaps some of your correspondents can tell us whether such separate vaults were customary?
Vox Populi Vox Dei (Vol. i., p. 370.).—Your correspondent Daniel Rock states these words to have been chosen by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Mepham, as his text for the sermon he preached when Edward III. was called to the throne; and in your Notices to Correspondents, Vol. iii., p. 254., you repeat the statement.
The prelate by whom the sermon was preached was not Simon Mepham, but his predecessor, Walter Reynolds, who was Archbishop of Canterbury when the second Edward was deposed, and when Edward III. was crowned, on February 1, 1327. This Walter Reynolds died on November 16, 1327, and Simon Mepham was appointed his successor on December 11, 1327. John Toland, in his Anglia Libera, p. 114., has this reference to the sermon which was preached by the Archbishop Reynolds on the occasion of the king's coronation:
"To Edward I. succeeded his son Edward II., who growing an intolerable tyrant, was in a parliament summoned by himself formally accused of misgovernment, and on his own acknowledging the truth of this charge, solemnly deposed. When his son, Edward III., was elected with universal consent, Walter, the Archbishop of Canterbury, preached the coronation sermon, and took these words for his text, "Vox populi Vox Dei, the voice of the people is the voice of God,"—so little did they dream in those days of the divine right of monarchy, or that all power did not originally derive from the people, for whom and by whom all governments are erected and maintained."
Sir Harris Nicolas in his Synopsis of the Peerage, and Dugdale in his Monasticon, give the name of this Archbishop as Walter Reynolds. Sir Richard Baker, in his Chronicle, describes him as Walter Reginald; and in Hume's England he is called Walter de Reynel.
St. Johns.
Mazer Wood (Vol. iii., p. 239.).—The Querist asks, "Has the word Mazer any signification in itself?"
It is used to signify a cup. Vide Walter Scott's Lord of the Isles, where Robert Bruce is speaking:
"Bring here, he said, the Mazers four,
My noble fathers loved of yore."
And it is probably derived from the Irish "Maeddher," a standing cup, generally of wood, of a quadrangular form, with a handle on each of the sides. The puzzle was how to drink out of it, which was done from the angles. A silver "Maeddher" was presented to Lord Townshend when leaving Ireland, who puzzled many of his English friends by placing it before them filled with claret. Uninitiated persons usually attempted to drink from the flat side, and poured the wine over their clothes. I think another was presented to Lord Normanby when in Ireland. We see gutta percha
cups and buckets everywhere now-a-days. Perhaps such an utensil might have been among the dishes, &c. mentioned in the Catalogue of the Tradescant Museum.
Kerriensis.
[See a curious note on Mazers, used as large drinking-cups, or goblets, in Walter Scott's Poetical Works, p. 488., edit. 1848.]
Traditions from remote Periods through few Hands (Vol. iii., p. 237.).—The following facts may not be uninteresting on this subject.
The late Maurice O'Connell of Derrynane, co. Kerry, died early in 1825, and would have completed 99 years on the 31st of March in that year. The writer hereof has heard him tell anecdotes derived from the conversation of Daniel McCarthy, of the same co., who died about 1740, aged at least 108 years. This Daniel McCarthy was commonly known by the nick-name of "Dhonald Bhin," or "Yellow Dan," and was the first man that ran away from the battle of Aughrim. There is a short account of him in Smith's History of Kerry, in which he is mentioned as lately deceased. You have thus a period of over 200 years, the traditions of which might be derived through three persons, the survivor of whom, your correspondent, is but middle aged. I remember being told in the co. Clare, circiter 1828, of an individual then lately deceased, who remembered the siege of Limerick by General Ginkle, and the news of the celebrated treaty of Limerick. It is to be wished that your readers who reside in, or may visit Ireland, would take an interest in this subject. I am certain that in remote parts of the country much curious tradition could be thus brought to light; and it would be interesting to compare the accounts of great public events, as remembered and handed down by the peasantry, with those which we take on the faith of historians.
As relating to this subject, I may refer to the allusion made in page 250. of the same Number to the Countess of Desmond, who was said to have lived to so great an age. I have seen the picture alluded to at Glanlearne in Valencia, the seat of the knight of Kerry; and it must have been taken at a comparatively early period of life, as the Earl of Desmond was outlawed, and his estates confiscated, in the reign of Elizabeth. Some record of how this old lady's jointure was provided for might yet be discovered, and the period of her decease thus ascertained.
Kerriensis.
Latin Epigram on the Duchess of Eboli (Vol. iii., p. 208.).—This beautiful epigram, which C. R. H. has somewhat mutilated even in the two lines which he gives of it, was written by Jerome Amaltheus, who died in 1574, the year in which Henry III. of France came to the throne; so that it is unlikely at least that the "Amor" was meant for Mangirow, his "minion." In the edition of the poems of the three brothers Amalthei, which I possess, and which was printed at Amsterdam in 1689, the epigram runs—
"DE GEMELLIS FRATRE ET SORORE LUSCIS.
"Lumine Acon, dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro,
Et potis est forma vincere uterque Deos.
Blande puer, lumen, quod habes concede puellæ,
Sic tu cæcus Amor, sic erit illa Venus."
I have seen it thus translated:
"One eye is closed to each in rayless night,
Yet each has beauty fit the gods to move,
Give, Acon, give to Leonill thy light,
She will be Venus, and thou sightless Love."
The relationship between the Duchess of Eboli and Mangirow I do not remember. Were they brother and sister? or was she ever known as Leonilla?
Among Jerome Amaltheus's other epigrams I find several about this "Acon;" and one, entitled "De duabus Amicis," begins—
"Me lætis Leonilla oculis, me Lydia torvis
Aspicit."
The mistress of Philip II. (who here, by the by, seems to have recovered her lost eye) would hardly have been the mistress of an Italian poet.
H. A. B.
Trin. Coll. Cam.
"Harry Parry, when will you marry" (Vol. iii., p. 207.).—E. H. has omitted the last line, which, however, is well known. May it not have the same meaning as the lines in the "Marquis de Carabas" of Béranger:
"Et tous vos tendrons,
Subiront l'honneur
Du droit du seigneur?"
The nursery rhyme may have been sung to the young Baron to teach him his feudal privileges, as the lines—
"Hot corn, baked pears,
Kick nigger down stairs,"
are used to inculcate the rights of a white man on the minds of infant cotton planters in the Southern States.
J. H. L.
Visions of Hell (Vol. iii., p. 70.).—In solving the Query propounded by F. R. A. as to "whether Bunyan was the author of the Visions?" it is very necessary that all the editions should be known of and collated. I have one not yet referred to, styled The Visions of John Bunyan, being his last Remains, giving an Account of the Glories of Heaven, the Terrors of Hell, and of the World to come, London, printed and sold by J. Hollis, Shoemaker Row, Blackfriars, pp. 103., with an address to the reader, subscribed "thy soul's well-wisher, John Bunyan," without date. "Thomas Newby, of Epping, Essex," is written in it; he might have been only the first owner of the book, which was certainly published before the year 1828 or 20, but I should say not much earlier.
Blowen.
"Laus tua non tua Fraus," &c. (Vol. i., p. 416.). Verse Lyon.—Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie, published in 1589, contains an earlier allusion to this epigram than any of those mentioned by your correspondents at Vol. ii., p. 77., and assigns to Pope Alexander [Qy. VI.] the doubtful honour of being the subject of it. The passage is at p. 11., and is as follows:—
"Another of their pretie inuentions was to make a verse of such wordes as lay their nature and manner of construction and situation might be turned backward word by word, and make another perfit verse, but of quite contrary sence, as the gibing monke that wrote of Pope Alexander these two verses:
'Laus tua non tua fraus, virtue non copia rerum,
Scandere te faciunt hoc decus eximium:'
which if ye will turne backward, they make two other good verses, but of a contrary sence, thus:
'Eximium decus hoc faciunt te scandere, rerum
Copia, non virtus, fraus tua, non tua laus;'
and they call it Verse Lyon."
Query, Why? and where else is Verse Lyon alluded to?
J. F. M.
[Is not "Verse Lyon" Puttenham's translation of Leonine Verse?]
Passage from Cymbeline (Vol. ii., p. 135.).—
"Some jay of Italy,
Whose mother was her painting, hath betrayed him."—Act III. Sc. 4.
The word painting (your correspondent's stumbling-block) evidently means resemblance—resemblance of character, and as such exactly corresponds to the German word Ebenbild, an image or painting, which is used in the same sense; e.g. Sie hat das Ebenbild ihres Mutters, "She is the very image of her mother."
Cranmore.
Rue de Cerf, 6. Brussels.
Engraved Warming-pans (Vol. iii., pp. 84. 115.).—As an earlier instance of this custom, it may be worth notice that I have one which was purchased some years ago at the village of Whatcote in Warwickshire; it is engraved with a dragon, and the date 1601. I think it probable that it originally came from Compton Wyniatt, the ancient seat of the Earls [now Marquis] of Northampton; the supporters of the Compton family being dragons, and Whatcote being the next village to Compton Wyniatt.
Spes.
Symbolism of the Fir-cone (Vol. i., p. 247.).—The Fir-cone on the Thyrsus—a practice very general throughout Greece, but which is very prevalent at Athens, may perhaps, in some degree, account for the connexion of the Fir-cone (surmounting the Thyrsus) with the worship of Bacchus. Incisions are made in the fir-trees for the purpose of obtaining the turpentine, which distils copiously from the wound. This juice is mixed with the new wine in large quantities; the Greeks supposing that it would be impossible to keep it any length of time without this mixture. The wine has in consequence a very peculiar taste, but is by no means unpleasant after a little use. This, as we learn from Plutarch, was an ancient custom (Sympos. Quæst. iii. and iv. p. 528. edn. Wytten); the Athenians, therefore, might naturally have placed the Fir-cone in the hands of Bacchus. ("Lord Aberdeen's Journals," Appendix to Walpole's Memoirs of Turkey, &c., vol. i. p. 605.)
F. B. Relton.
Dr. Robert Thomlinson (Vol. i., p. 350.).—The gentleman who is very anxious for the communication of any matter illustrative of the life of the doctor, his family, &c., will find considerable useful and interesting information relating to him, his widow, and brother, by referring to the under-mentioned Reports from the Commissioners for inquiring concerning Charities:
5th Report, pages 67. 69.; 23rd Report, pages 56. 450.; 31st Report, pages 754. 757.
There is a slight allusion to the doctor in the Returns of Corporate Offices and Charitable Funds, &c., p. 375.
H. Edwards.
Touching for the Evil (Vol. iii., p. 93.).—St. Thomas Aquinas refers the practice of touching for the evil by French kings to Clovis. See a work published in 1633, by Simon Favoul, entitled, Du Pouvoir que les Rois de France ont de guérir les Ecrouelles; also a work by Du Laurens, entitled, De Mirabili Strumas sanandi vi, regibus Galliarum Christianis divinitus concessa, libri duo, Paris, 1609, in 8vo.
Edward the Confessor is said to have been the first English king who touched for the evil. Consequently the English can hardly be said to have owed their supposed power to their pretensions to the crown of France.
E. J. R.
[We are indebted to Mr. J. B. Ditchfield and Mr. Joseph Sulley for very elaborate notices of the custom of the French kings touching for the evil; but the principal facts contained in those communications have already been laid before our readers by Mr. Cooper (Vide No. 69. p. 148. et seq.)]
Drax Free School (Vol. ii., p. 199.).—It appears by the will of Charles Read, dated July 30, 1669, that that gentleman had at his own charge erected a school-house at Drax, which he designed for a free school, and for the habitation of a schoolmaster, to instruct the children of the inhabitants of that parish gratis, to read, write, and cast accounts, and in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, as occasion should require; and that he had erected six almshouses at Drax, for six aged and impotent people at that parish, and the lodgment of six poor boys; and for the support and maintenance of the said school, master, alms people, and poor boys, he directed his executors to lay out 2000l. in
the purchase of freehold land of 120l. per annum in or near Drax, to be conveyed to trustees to let such land at the best improved rent, for the purposes and uses mentioned in his will; and he appointed the lord mayor and aldermen of York, visitors of the school and almshouses.
At the time of the inquiry by the charity commissioners, the estates purchaser in pursuance of the directions of Mr. Read's will amounted to 391 acres of land, let at 542l. per annum, and there was an accumulation of stock of 12,700l. in the Three per Cents, the whole income being 924l. 9s. 6d. per annum.
Mr. Dyson will find a copious account of this school, &c., in the following Reports of the Commissioners: XXI. p. 598.; XXXII. part 2d. p. 828.; and the latter gives a full detail of proceedings in Chancery, and other matters connected with the administration of the trust.
Henry Edwards.
Enigmatical Epitaph on the Rev. John Mawer (Vol. iii., pp. 184. 248.).—Perhaps it may be of service to J. H. to know that Arthur Llewellyn Tudor Kaye Mawer, referred to by J. T. A., was a short time ago an assistant bookseller at Oxford, and may be heard of by addressing a line to Mr. Vincent, Herald Office, or Mr. Wheeler, bookseller, Oxford.
Nibor.
Treatise by Engelbert, Archbishop of Treves (Vol. i., p. 214.).—Mr. Sanson may probably find the information he desires in the reprint of Bishop Cosin's History of Popish Transubstantiation, London, 1840, in which the references are verified, and the quotations given in full length.
T. J.
King John at Lincoln (Vol. iii., p. 141.).—There is no question of Matt. Paris alluding here to the old prophecy which forbade a king's wearing his crown in Lincoln, or, as some think, even entering the city. Although he makes John the first to break through the superstition, yet the same is attributed to his predecessor Stephen, who is described by H. Huntingdon as entering the city fearlessly—"prohibentibus quibusdam superstitiosis." This was after the great disasters of Stephen's reign; but as the succession eventually departed from his line, Lord Lyttleton observes that the citizens might nevertheless be strengthened in their credulity; and Henry II. certainly humoured it so far as to wear his crown only in the suburb of Wigford. John seems to have been very partial to the place, and visited it repeatedly, as did many of his successors. Many parallel superstitions might, no doubt, be gathered, as that of Oxford, and Alexander the Great at Babylon, &c.
B.
Lincoln.
Haybands in Seals (Vol. iii., p. 186.).—In your paper for March 8. I observe a Query by Mr. M. A. Lower respecting seals. It appears that Mr. Lower has in his possession one or two seals, temp. Henry VII., which are impressed on haybands, that is to say, the wax is encircled by a twisted wisp of hay, or split straw; and, if I rightly understand Mr. Lower, no device is apparent on the wax, but some ends of the hay or straw protrude from the surface of it. Under these circumstances Mr. Lower states his opinion that such seals belonged to mediæval gentlemen who occupied their time in fattening stock,—simply graziers.
It may be interesting to some of your correspondents, and especially to Mr. Lower, to know that a few seals, both pendent and impressed on the parchment itself, within haybands, may be found of as early a date as the reign of Edward II. From that time the fashion become very prevalent: in the reigns of Richard II., Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI., and, indeed, down to the period of Elizabeth, it was the common practice to secure the wax impression in this manner. Almost all the impressions of the Privy Seal of Henry V., called "the Eagle," are made on haybands. It is needless to give further examples, as they must be well known to all antiquaries who have studied the history of seals. It is not from the examination of a few specimens of early seals that a general conclusion is to be rationally drawn; and it is to be hoped that Mr. Lower may, even yet, be induced to abandon his singular theory of graziers' seals.
T. Hudson Turner.
If your correspondents on this subject will refer to the first volume of Kalendars and Inventories of his Majesty's Exchequer, published by the Commissioners of Public Records, they will find in the Introduction, written by Sir Francis Palgrave, at page cxlvii., a fac-simile representation of a letter upon paper from James IV. of Scotland to Henry VII., dated July 12, 1502, showing the seal encircled by a rush ring. At page cxxxvii. it is stated that in the fifteenth century a rush ring surrounding the fragile wax was not unfrequently used for the purpose of preserving it.
S. S. S.
Aver (Vol. iii., pp. 42. 157.).—Spelman, in his Glossary, derives averia from averare pro laborare. Averare he derives from the French ouvre and ouvrage, "vel potius a Latino operare, o et p, ut solent, in a et u, conversis." "Hence," he says, "our ancestors called beasts of burden averia, and the Scotch called them avaria." In Northumberland, he elsewhere adds, "they call a lazy, sluggish horse 'a faulse aver,' or 'afer.'"
Averum signified goods and chattels, and personal property in general, and, in this sense, is derived from the French avoir. It also signified the royal treasure, as appears from the following extract front the will of Philip Augustus, sub anno
1190. After directing his rents, services, and oblations to be brought annually to Paris, he adds—
"In receptionibus averi nostri, Adam clericus noster presens erit, et eas scribet, et singuli habeant singulas claves de singulis archis in quibus reponetur averum nostrum in templo."
The following story, which illustrates P.'s Query, is told by Blackstone:—
"Sir Thomas More (when a student on his travels) is said to have puzzled a pragmatic professor at Bruges, who gave a universal challenge to dispute with any person in any science: in omni scibili, et de quolibet ente. Upon which Mr. More sent him this question, 'Utrum averia carucæ, capta in vetito namio, sint irreplegibilia, Whether beasts of the plough, taken in withernam, are incapable of being replevied:'"
—a question likely enough to pose any man except an English lawyer.
Cudyn Gwyn.
Aver or Aiver is a word in common use in the south of Scotland for a horse. In Burns's poem entitled "The Dream," there is this couplet:
"Yet aft a ragged cowte's been known
To mak a noble aiver."
J. Ss.
Aver (Vol. iii., p. 42.).—Your correspondents G. M. and D. 2. are at cross purposes. The latter is unquestionably right in his opinion about haver cake, haver in that instance being the German Hafer, Sw. Havre, &c., as held by Brockett (North Country Words) and Carr (Craven Glossary). But aver, averium, on which G. M. descants, is altogether a different word. As D. 2. requires the authority of a dictionary, allow me to refer him to Lacombe, Dictionnaire du vieux Langage François, where he will find:
"Avoirs, animaux domestiques de la basse cour."
"Averlands, marchand de chevaux."
And in the second, or supplementary volume of the same work:
"'Avers,' bestiaux qui nantissent une ferme à la campagne."
See also Jamieson (Scottish Dictionary):
"Aver, a cart-horse."
A suggestion may also be gathered from Webster under Average.
F. S. Q.
In the Chronicle of Jocelyn de Brakelond, at p. 29. of Tomlins's translation, mention is made of one Beodric,
"Lord of that town, whose demesne lands are now in the demesne of the Cellarer. And that which is now called Averland was the land of the rustics."
Again, at p. 30.:
The Cellarer was used freely to take all the dung-hills in every street, for his own use, unless it were before the doors of those who were holding averland; for to them only was it allowable to collect dung and to keep it."
To this a note is appended to the effect that
"Averland seems to have been ancient arable land so called, held by rustic drudges and villans."
At p. 29. the said Cellarer is stated
To have aver-peni, to wit, for each thirty acres two pence."[[8]]
Roquefort, in his Glossaire de la Langue Romane, gives Aver, from avoir: "Bestiaux qui nantissent une ferme de campagne;" and Avè, "un troupeau de brebis," from ovis.
Raynouard, in the Nouveau Choix des Poésies des Troubadours, vol. ii., which commences the Lexique Roman, derives "Aver" also from Avoir; to signify possession generally I take it. 2dly, Troupeau,
"E play mi quan li corredor
Fan las gens e 'ls avers fugir."
("Et il me plaît quand les coureurs
Font fuir les gens et les troupeaux.")
Bertrand de Born, Be m Play.
Barbazan, in his short Glossary, derives the word from Avarus.
H. C. C.
Footnote 8:[(return)]
"Averpenny was a sum paid as a composition for certain rustic services."
I would inform D. 2. and others (Vol. iii., p. 42.) that aver, or haver-cake, which he states to be the name applied in North Yorkshire to the thin oat-cake in use there, is evidently derived from the Scandinavian words, Hafrar, Havre, Hafre, oats.
G. E. R. Gordon.
Stockholm.
"The Sword Flamberg" (Vol. iii., p. 168.)—An English Mother is informed that "Flamberge," or "Floberge," is the name of the sword won in battle from the Saracen admiral Anthenor by Mangis d'Aygremont, the hero of the romance of that name. Ancient swords were frequently "flamboyant," or with waved edges; more especially those used for purposes of state. The Dukes of Burgundy bore a two-handed sword of this form. Indeed, "flaming swords," as they were called, were worn down to the time of our Charles II., and perhaps later. It is rather singular that the ordinary synonyma for a sword should be "brand." The name of the weapon taken from King Bucar by the Cid was "Tizona," or the Fire-brand.
The flamboyant type may possibly be of Eastern origin. The krisses of the Malays, at the present day have serpentine blades.
W. J. Bernhard Smith.
Temple.
Cockade (Vol. iii., pp. 7. 196.).—The cockade was simply the knot of the riband that served to cock the broad flapped hat worn by military men in the seventeenth century, and which in fine weather, or going into action, &c., they used to cock, by means of hooks, laces, and ribands. We see still in the
cocked-hats of coachmen and beadles, the traces of these old ligaments. Hence the phrase to cock one's hat. Let me add one or two remarks on other points of dress arising out of old military habits. In old times coats were of the shape we now call frocks, and lined throughout, generally with a different colour from the outside. When a person in one of these coats was going about any active work, and particularly into fight, he doubled back his sleeves, and folded back the collar, which, being of a different colour, came to be what we now call the facings of military uniforms. The French, truer to their origin, still call them the "revers." So also on such occasions the broad skirts of the frock coat used to be hooked back not to impede the movements of the lower limbs, and thence the swallow tails of military uniforms. So also the high jack-boots, that covered the knees, used, in walking, to be turned down, and the inside being of a lighter colour, gave the idea of what are called top-boots.
C.