Notes and Queries, Number 84, June 7, 1851 / A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.

by Various

Replies to Minor Queries.

Countess of Pembroke's Epitaph (Vol. iii., p. 307.).

—Let me thank your correspondent MR. GATTY for his information. In order to complete the history of this inscription, it may be stated that though Gifford is silent as to Jonson having any claim to it, yet, by admitting it into his works (vol. viii. p. 337.), he concurs apparently with Whalley and others, in assigning this "delicate epitaph," as Whalley terms it, to Jonson, though it "hath never yet been printed with his works." Gifford considers that Jonson did not "cancel," as it has been alleged, the six lines, "Marble piles let no man raise," but that he possibly never saw them. They certainly contradict the preceding ones; admitting that such a character as the Countess might again appear. These last-mentioned verses, Gifford adds, were copied from the poems of William Herbert Earl of Pembroke, "a humble votary of the Muses." This nobleman, whose amiable character is beautifully drawn by Clarendon, deeply venerated his excellent mother; he, perhaps, could not feel satisfied in leaving her praises to be sung by another poet, and therefore added this well-intended but feeble supplement.

J. H. M.

Court Dress (Vol. iii., p. 407.).

—There are no orders of the Earl Marshal, printed or manuscript, upon the subject of court costume—it is not within his department. It is more likely that the Lord Chamberlain has notices upon the subject. In all cases of court mourning, his lordship specifies the dress, and notifies the changes, not always, however, strictly adopted or comprehended.

Ʒ.

Ex Pede Herculem (Vol. iii., p. 302.).

—The origin of this proverb is to be found, I think, in Plutarch, who is quoted by Aulus Gellius (i. 1.) as saying in substance as follows:

"Pythagoras ingeniously calculated the great stature of Hercules, by comparing the length of various stadia in Greece. All these courses were nominally 600 feet in length, but Hercules was said to have measured out the stadium at Olympia with his own feet, while the others followed a standard of later days. The philosopher argued that by how much the Olympic course exceeded all others in length, by the same proportion did the foot of Hercules exceed that of men of a subsequent age; and again, by the same proportion must the stature of Hercules have been pre-eminent."

(The original is to be found also in Plutarchi Varia Scripta, ed. Tauchnitz, vol. vi. p. 393.)

C. P. PH***.

The Day of the Accession of Richard III. (Vol. iii., p. 351.).

—I have examined the original inrolment of the entry upon the Remembrance Roll ex parte Capitalis Rememoratoris Hiberniæ, of the second year of Richard III., with the fac-simile of that entry which appears in the Irish Record Reports (1810-1815, plate 9.), and I find that the fac-simile is correct. The accession of Richard III. is shown by the entry upon the original record to have taken place on the twenty-sixth day of June. This entry is, as I have stated, upon the roll of the second year of Richard III., and not of the first year, as stated by the said Record Reports, there being no Remembrance or Memoranda Roll of the first year of that monarch to be found amongst the Exchequer Records of Ireland. Upon this subject of Richard III.'s accession, I beg to transmit to you the copy of a regal table which is entered in the Red Book of the Exchequer, probably the most ancient, as well as the most curious, record in Ireland. Judging by the character of the handwriting of this Tabula Regum, I would come to the conclusion, that the entries prior in date to that of Henry VIII.'s reign have been made during the time of that monarch; or, in other words, that this table has probably not been compiled at any time previous to the reign of Henry VIII.

J. F. F.

Nomina Regum [Angliae] post [conquestum] [Willielmi] [Bastardi].

	[Willielmus] conquestor regnavit [per]	XXI [annos]. Beried at Cane.
	[Willielmus] Rufus regnavit [per]	XIII [annos].
	Henricus primus regnavit [per]	XXXVI [annos].
	[Stephanus] regnavit [per]	XX [annos].
	Henricus [secundus] regnavit [per]	XXXVI [annos].
	Henricus [tercius] regnavit [per]	unum [annum] [imperfectum] & ideo non [debet] scribi.
	[Ricardus] regnavit [per]	IX [annos].
	[Johannes] regnavit [per]	XVIII [annos].
	Henricus [tercius] regnavit [per]	LVI [annos].
	Edwardus [primus] regnavit [per]	XXXV [annos].
	Edwardus [secundus] regnavit [per]	XIX [annos].
	Edwardus [tercius] regnavit [per]	L [annos] & CXLVIII dies.
	[Ricardus] [secundus] regnavit [per]	XXII [annos] & C dies.
	Henricus quartus regnavit [per]	XIII [annos] [quarterium] [anni] XXIIIJ., II dies.
	Henricus [quintus] regnavit [per]	IX [annos] & [quarterium] anni LXIII dies.
	Henricus sextus regnavit [per]	XXXVIII [annos] [quinquaginta] & III dies.
	Edwardus quartus regnavit [per]	XXII [annos] XXXVII dies.
	[Ricardus] [tercius] regnavit [per]	II [annos] [dimidium].
	Henricus septimus regnavit	XXIII [annos] & [dimidium] sex [septimanas].
	Henricus [octavus] regnavit	XXXVIII [annos].
	Edwardus sextus	VII [annos].
	Philipus et Maria	V.
	Elizabeth regina nunc	XLIII.
	Jacobus qui hodie regnat	XXII plane.
	Carolus Rex.

Tennyson's "In Memoriam" (Vol. iii., pp. 142. 227.).

—I beg to withdraw my former suggestion as to "the crimson-circled star," which, on reconsideration, appears to me manifestly erroneous.

If you can find space for a second suggestion, I think the question will be cleared up by the following extract from the valuable work which I cited before (the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, edited by Dr. W. Smith):

"Eos, Ἠώς, in Latin Aurora, the goddess of the morning red, who brings up the light of day from the east. At the close of night she ascended up to the heaven from the river Oceanus to announce the coming light of the sun to the gods as well as to men. In the Homeric poems, Eos not only announces the coming Helios (the sun), but accompanies him throughout the day, and her career is not complete till the evening: hence she is sometimes mentioned when one would have expected Helios (Od. v. 390. x. 144.); and the tragic writers completely identify her with Hemera (the day), of whom, in later times the same mythes are related as of Eos."

As Aurora rises from the river Oceanus, he may be called her father, and as she sinks into the same, he may be called her grave. The expression then will mean neither more nor less than this, "We returned home before the close of day."

Perhaps Mr. Tennyson had a line of Lycidas running in his mind:

"So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed."

Milton's day-star, however, I take to be the sun himself.

Another of your correspondents, I see, suggests a different interpretation of the "crimson-circled star."

I hope I shall not be considered as taking too great a liberty if I avail myself of the medium of your pages to request Mr. Tennyson (deus ex machinâ) to descend and settle the question.

X. Z.

Cardinal Azzolin (Vol. iii., pp. 370. 371.).

—Cardinal Azzolini was appointed by Alexander VII. Intendant to Queen Christina on her receiving a pension of 12,000 scudi from that Pope. On the withdrawal of this grant by Innocent XI., her majesty wrote a furious letter to the Cardinal, which is one of the most curious pieces contained in a Collection of Letters, edited by M. Matter (Paris, chez Amiot). That a close intimacy existed between the Queen and the Cardinal appears from some allusions in contemporary letters (1685-1687). See M. Valéry's Correspondence de Mabillon et de Montfaucon avec l'Italie (Paris, 1846), vol. i. p. 99.: "La Reine de Suède, grande amie du Cardinal Azzolin" ... vol. ii. p. 83.:

"Il n'y a plus de différend qu'entre le marquis Del Monte et le Cardinal Azzolin [sic], à qui aura meilleure part dans les bonnes grâces de la Reine pendant sa vie, et dans son testament après sa mort."

The editor adds (vol. iii. p. 298.):

"Le Cardinal Azzolini fut le principal héritier de Christine."

C. P. PH***.

Babington's Conspiracy (Vol. iii., p. 390.).

—In Dr. Maitland's Index of English Books in the Lambeth Library will be found the following entry:

"* Babington (Anthony), His Letter to the Queen. No place, printer, or date." The asterisk denotes that it is not mentioned by Herbert in his edition of Ames.

This, I believe, will be a satisfactory answer to J. BT.'s Query.

H. P.

Robert de Welle (Vol. ii., p. 71.).

—Not observing that H. W.'s Query regarding Robert de Welle has as yet been answered, I would refer him to Blomefield's Hist. of Norf., vol. vii. p. 288., edit. 1807, 8vo., where under "Bicham-well" he will find a Robert de Welle, lord of the manor of Well Hall, an. 1326 (20 Edw. II.), which was held under the Earl of Clare, the capital lord. He died circ. 9 Edw. III.

I have met also with a Roger de Welle, in an old roll undated, but about the time of Hen. III., in which he is entered as holding a manor in Wimbotsham, co. Norf.:

Rogerus de Welle tenet manerium suum de Winebodesham cum libero tenemento villanis suis et cotariis ad illud manerium pertinentibus de comite Warenne per servicium quarte partis unius scuti et comes de domino rege in capite, per quale servicium nescimus. Et habet in eodem manerio unum messuagium et unam carucatam terre arabilis et xiiij acras prati in dominico unum molendinum ad ventum liberum tauros et verres eidem manerio pertinentes et facit sectam ad curiam de Castelacre de tribus septimanis in tres septimanas. Et capit amerciamenta pistorum et braciatorum et hoc sine waranto ut credimus. Et clamat habere warennam per cartam domini regis.

The manor passed from him to Ingaldesthorp, under which manor the continuator of Blomefield mentions (vol. vii. p. 517.) that Roger de Frevil in 13 Hen. III. had a carucate of land here. This is probably the same person as Roger de Welle, as it was not uncommon for persons at that period to be known by different designations.

Thomas Knox, M.P. for Dungannon, was created Baron Welles, 1780. H. W. will find the history of the family in Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, by Archdall, vol. vii. p. 195., ed. 1789.

G. H. D.

Family of Sir John Banks (Vol. iii., p. 390.).

—The following is a correct list of the descendants of Sir John Banks; and as his wife is an historical character, her own immediate descent, as well as the notice of those of the present day who may claim her as their ancestor, may not be uninteresting to your correspondent:—

Thomas Hawtrey, of Chequers, co. Bucks, Esq., A. 9 H. VII.
		|
		|
	Ralph Hawtrey, fourth Son	=	Winifred, d. and h. of Wm. Wallaston, Esq., of Ruislip, co. Middx.
		|
		|
	Edward Hawtrey, of Ruislip, Esq.	=	Elizabeth, d. of Gabriel Dormer, co. Oxon, Esq.
		|
		|
	Ralph Hawtrey, of Ruislip, Esq.	=	Mary, d. of Ed. Altham of Mark's Hall, co. Essex, Esq.
		|
		|
----------------------------
	|	|
	John Hawtrey, of Ruislip, Esq., eldest Son.	Mary, only daughter, d. 1661. Buried at Ruislip. The Heroine of Corfe Castle.	=	Sir John Banks, Queen's Coll. Oxon, 1604. Chief Justice, temp. C. I. 1640. D. 1644. Of Stanwell, Middx., and Corfe Castle, Dorset.
			|
			|
			|
		-------------------------------
		1. John Banks, d. before his father. 2. Sir Ralph Banks, Kt. 3. Jerome. 4. Charles. 5. William. —— 6. Bridget, d. 1636, at Stanwell, Middx. 7. Alice. 8. Elizabeth. 9. Mary. 10. Joan. 11. Anne, b. 1637, at Stanwell. 12. Frances. 13. Arabella, baptized July 31, 1642, at Stanwell.

Of these only two appear to have left descendants: Sir Ralph Banks, who is the ancestor of the Earl of Falmouth, and Baroness Le Despenser; and of George Bankes, Esq., M. P. for Corfe Castle, his lineal descendant. Mary Banks, third daughter, married Sir Robert Jenkinson, Knt.; and is the ancestor of the Earls of Liverpool and Verulam, of the Countesses of Craven, Clarendon, and Caledon; Viscountess Milton, and Viscountess Folkestone.

Burke's Commoners would probably answer the rest of R. C. H. H.'s Query, or Lysons' Middlesex.

L. H.

Charles Lamb's Epitaph (Vol. iii., p. 322.).

—I can explain to MARIA S. how this epitaph came to be attributed to Wordsworth. The late laureate did write some lines on the occasion of Lamb's death, beginning—

"To a good man of most dear memory,

This stone is sacred."

They were composed, the author says,

"With an earnest wish,

Though but a doubting hope, that they might serve

Fitly to guard the precious dust of him,

Whose virtues called them forth. That aim is missed."

—Vol. v. p. 141. ed. 1850.

C. P. PH***.

Quebeça and his Epitaph (Vol. iii., p. 223.).

This epitaph is said, upon the authority of Segrais, to be upon the king of Spain's preceptor, and to be seen at Saragossa. The version of it in my possession differs from that supplied by your correspondent, and is as follows:

"Here lies John Cabeça, preceptor of my lord the king. When he is admitted to the choir of angels, whose society he will embellish by his powers of song, God shall say to the angels, 'Cease, ye calves! and let me hear John Cabeça, the preceptor of my lord the king.'"

J. B. COLMAN.

Eye, March 24. 1851.

The Frozen Horn (Vol. iii., p. 282.).

—The story of the frozen and thawed words in Rabelais' Pantagruel, book iv. c. 55. and 56., is borrowed from a passage in Plutarch's Morals, vol. vi. p. 293., Leipsic, Reiske's edition. I beg to subjoin the Latin translation of this fable of so remote a date:

"Joco enim Antiphanes dixit, in urbe quadam voces illico frigore loci congelare, ac per æstatem, gelu soluto, demum exaudiri, quæ dicta erant hyeme; ita ille quæ adolescentes e Platone audivissent, aiebat, plerosque vix tandem ingravescente ætate intelligere."

C. I. R.

West Chester (Vol. iii., p. 353.).

—JOHN FRANCIS X. asks "why so designated?" Camden will answer him. That antiquary gives the Roman, British, and Saxon names, and adds:

"Nos contractius West Chester ab occidentali situ."—Britannia, edit. 1607, p. 458.

But X. adds:

"In Maps of Cheshire 1670, and perhaps later, the city is thus called."

The writer has the maps and plans of Braun, Hollar, Saxton, Speed, and Blome, before him, but these have "Chester" simply; and does not at present recollect any county map with the prefix mentioned. Perhaps X. will oblige by a reference.

LANCASTRIENSIS.

West Chester (Vol. iii., p. 353.).—So called in contradistinction to Chester-le-Street, Chester Magna, Chester Parva, Chesterfield, Chesterton, and a hundred other Chesters throughout England. To be sent to West Chester (frequently so called in the beginning of the last century), was to be sent into banishment, i. e. into Ireland; of which Chester was in those days the usual, and indeed almost the only, route.

C.

Registry of Dissenters (Vol. iii., p. 370.).

—I beg to inform D. X. that I have met with several instances of Dissenters' burials being entered in parish registers, at a time when a more amicable feeling than now exists prevailed between churchmen and themselves. In the register of Warbleton, co. Sussex, in particular, there are several entries of Quakers who were buried in their own cemetery in that parish, about 150 years since.

M. A. LOWER.

Lewes.

Registry of Ministerial Offices performed by Dissenters (Vol. iii., p. 370.).—The note of D. X. has led me to examine the baptismal registers of Ecclesfield parish, and I find on the parchment fly-leaf of the book which contains the baptisms, that date from nearly the beginning of the seventeenth century, the following heading—"Births of the children of some Dissenters enter'd as given." Then comes a list of the names of fourteen children, with the dates of their births; and, after several miscellaneous entries of baptisms, I find,

"January 3. 1750-1, Samuel, son of Thomas Sayles, said to be baptised at Sheffield by ye Popish priest."

The enrolment of births is, no doubt, quite improper. But the entering of dissenting baptisms in the parish register (mentioned by D. X.) would not, I think, be equally open to reprobation; inasmuch as the registering has always been of baptisms in the parish, and not merely in the church. Hence, if dissenting baptism be, as no doubt it is, a valid title to burial by the clergyman, he might, not unreasonably, be disposed to keep a list of such irregular administrations. That the law has regarded them as irregular, is evident from the fact, that when in 1812 an act was passed "for the better regulating and preserving parish and other registers of births, baptisms, marriages, and burials in England," the 146th chap. of the same distinctly declares, that when a baptism is performed by any other than the licensed minister of the parish, the certificate of its performance must state that it was "according to the rites of the United Church of England and Ireland." No dissenting baptism, therefore, could now be registered by the clergyman.

In our burial register there is a slip of paper pinned, with this inscription upon it:

"These are to certify that the remains of Ann, the wife of Thomas Ellis, was buried in the Methodist chapel-yard in Ecclesfield, the 5th day of November, 1826, aged (about) seventy-three."

The poor woman chose to lie apart from her "rude forefathers;" and she has continued to be the solitary tenant of the small enclosure round the chapel. It seems, however, that her friends did the best they could towards preserving her name on the list of those who sleep in the consecrated cemetery.

ALFRED GATTY.

Poem on the Grave (Vol. iii., p. 372.).

—A correspondent in your No. of May 10th, signed A. D., wishes to be informed of the author of "The Grave," a very beautiful poem; and he gives a portion of it thus:—

"1st Voice.

"How peaceful the grave, its quiet how deep,

Its zephyrs breathe calmly, and soft is its sleep,

And flow'rets perfume it with ether."

"2nd Voice.

"How lonesome the grave, how deserted and drear,"

(From what I remember of the poem, this stanza flows on thus):—

"With the howls of the storm wind, the creaks of the bier,

And the white bones all clattering together."

This poem extends to fifteen or twenty stanzas, and is exquisite in its imagery, and peculiarly forcible (its author was a Russian, I think Derzhavin), and in its original language might compare with the works of the most polished poetry of advanced nations. It can be found translated in Bowring's Russian Anthology, 12mo., published about 1824: where also will be found some beautiful translations from Lomonosoff, "Or Broken Nose," and other Russian poets. Derzhavin also has his grandest poem on God, translated there: this poem is popular in no less than thirty-six languages, and is familiar to the Chinese and Tartar nations, and even as far as Southern India. I give the exordium, which is noble:—

"O Thou Eternal One, whose presence bright

All space doth occupy, all motion guide;

Unchanged through time's all-devastating flight;

Thou only God! There is no God beside!"

And in a further portion of the poem, describing Heaven as the abode of God, he speaks thus:

"What shall we call them? Piles of crystal light,

A glorious company of golden streams,—

Lamps of celestial ether burning bright,—

Suns lighting systems with their joyous beams?"

I think I have quoted sufficient to direct A. D.'s attention to the northern poets, who, though few in number, make up their deficiency in quantity by the sterling and magnificent quality of their works.

GREGORY BATEMAN.

Tansor Rectory, near Oundle, Northamptonshire,
May 15. 1851.

The poem inquired for by A. D. is copied in an album in my possession "from Bowring's translation of Russian Poetry," and is entitled "The Churchyard."

J. R. PLANCHÉ.

Round Robin (Vol. iii., p. 353.).

—The "little predie round-robin," mentioned by Dr. Heylin, was no doubt a small pancake. (See Halliwell's Archaic and Provincial Dictionary, under "Round Robin.")

Of the derivation of the petition also called a round robin, I find the following account in the Imperial Dictionary:—

"ROUND ROBIN, n. [Fr. rond and ruban.] A written petition, memorial, or remonstrance signed by names in a ring or circle. The phrase is originally derived from a custom of the French officers, who, in signing a remonstrance to their superiors, wrote their names in a circular form so that it might be impossible to ascertain who had headed the list. It is now used to signify an act by which a certain number of individuals bind themselves to pursue a certain line of conduct."

The round robin sent to Dr. Johnson on the subject of his epitaph on Goldsmith is well known. In speaking of it Boswell states that the sailors make use of it "when they enter into a conspiracy, so as not to let it be known who puts his name first or last to the paper."

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge, May 3. 1851.

Derivation of the Word "Yankee" (Vol. iii., p. 260.).

—Your correspondent J. M., and M. Philarète Charles, are both incorrect in saying that this derivation is not given in any English or American work. In the Poetical Works of John Trumbull, LL.D., published at Hartford (U.S.), 1820, in two volumes, in the Appendix, appears the following Note:

"Yankies.—The first settlers of New England were mostly emigrants from London and its vicinity, and exclusively styled themselves the English. The Indians, in attempting to utter the word English, with their broad guttural accent, gave it a sound which would be nearly represented in this way, Yaunghees; the letter g being pronounced hard, and approaching to the sound of k joined with a strong aspirate, like the Hebrew cheth, or the Greek chi, and the l suppressed, as almost impossible to be distinctly heard in that combination. The Dutch settlers on the river Hudson and the adjacent country, during their long contest concerning the right of territory, adopted the name, and applied it in contempt to the inhabitants of New England. The British of the lower class have since extended it to all the people of the United States. This seems the most probable origin of the term. The pretended Indian tribe of Yankoos does not appear to have ever had an existence; as little can we believe in an etymological derivation of the word from ancient Scythia or Siberia, or that it was ever the name of a horde of savages in any part of the world."

I some time ago thought of sending you a copy of this "Note," but had forgotten it, until recalled to my memory by reading J. M.'s extract.

T. H. KERSLEY, A.B.

King William's College, Isle of Man.

Yankee—Yankee-doodle (Vol. iii., p. 260.).—In a curious book on the Round Towers of Ireland (I forget the title), the origin of the term Yankee-doodle was traced to the Persian phrase, "Yanki dooniah," or "Inhabitants of the New World." Layard, in his book on Nineveh and its Remains, also mentions "Yanghi-dunia" as the Persian name of America.

BENBOW.

Birmingham.

Yankee.—The following lines from a poem, written in England by the Rev. James Cook Richmond, of Providence, Rhode Island, and dated Sept. 7, 1848, gives the derivation of this word:—

"At Yankees, John, beware a laugh,

Against yourself you joke:

For Yenghees 'English' is, but half

By Indian natives spoke."

M. Philarète Charles then has too hastily concluded that this etymology is not given in "aucun ouvrage américain ou anglais," and has supplied us with a surprising coincidence, since he appears to have fairly translated the first two lines, viz.: "Les Anglais, quand ils se moquent des Yankies, se moquent d'eux-mêmes."

W. DN.

Letters on the British Museum (Vol. iii., pp. 208. 261.).

Your correspondent's Query as to the author of these letters, published by Dodsley in 1767, 12mo., has not yet been answered. The author's name was Alexander Thomson. It is inserted in manuscript in two copies of this work which I possess. I have also seen the assignment of the copyright to Dodsley, in which the same name occurs as that of the author.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Names of the Ferret (Vol. iii., p. 390.).

—The name by which the male ferret is known in the midland counties is the hob: the female is called the jill. In that district there is a saying current, which is applied to the human genus:

"There's never a Jack but finds a Jill."

In Welsh, the name of the ferret is ffured, which means a wily, crafty creature.

A RATCATCHER.

Anonymous Ravennas (Vol. i., p. 124.).

— W. C.'s Query has not received much elucidation as yet; as a small contribution, I may remark that the Benedictine Dom. Porcheron brought the MS. to light, and published it at Paris, 1686, 8vo., under the title, Anonymi Ravennatis, qui circa sæculum septimum vixit, de Geographiâ libri quinque, with a dedication to the Duc de Bourbon, son of the great Condé. My authority is, the Correspondence inédite de Mabillon et de Montfaucon avec l'Italie, par M. Valéry, Paris, 1846, vol. ii. pp. 2, 3, 5.

"Paucis abhinc diebus prodiit ab uno e nostris erutus in lucem Anonymus Ravennas, qui ante annos circiter mille de Geographia scripsit libros quinque. [Michel Germain à Gattola, Dec. 31. 1686.] Je vous destine un volume in 8vo. que notre cher Dom. Placide Porcheron vient de donner au public, c'est un Anonyme de Ravenne, Goth ou Grec de naissance, qui vivait il y a mille ans ... [the same, to Magliabechi, Jan. 10. 1687.]"

The editor gives the date 1688, and the form 4to., for this book; the date is evidently a misprint.

C. P. PH***.

The Lion, a Symbol of the Resurrection (Vol. i., pp. 385. 472.).

—As JARLTZBERG has not replied to MR. EASTWOOD'S Query, permit me to refer the latter to Sacred Latin Poetry Selected, by R. C. Trench, London, 1849, pp. 67. 152. 153.:

"The Middle-Age legend, that the lion's whelps were born dead and first roused to life on the third day by the roar of their sire, was often alluded to in connexion with, and as a natural type of the Resurrection. Adam de S. Victore (De SS. Evangelistis, verse 25.):

"'Est leonis rugientis

Marco vultus, resurgentis

Quo claret potentia:

Voce Patris excitatus

Surgit Christus....'

"Again, De Resurrectione Domini, verse 54.:

"'Sic de Judâ Leo fortis,

Fractis portis diræ mortis

Die surgit tertiâ,

Rugiente voce Patris....'

"Hugo de S. Victore (De Best., lib. ii. cap. 1.):

"Cum leæna parit, suos catulos mortuos parit, et ita custodit tribus diebus, donec veniens Pater eorum in faciem eorum exhalet, et vivificentur. Sic Omnipotens Pater Filium suum tertiâ die suscitavit a mortuis.

"Hildebert (De Leone):

"Natus non vigilat dum Sol se tertiògyrat,

Sed dans rugitum pater ejus suscitat illum:

Tunc quasi vivescit, tunc sensus quinque capescit."

C. P. PH***.

Paring the Nails, &c. (Vol. ii., p. 511.; Vol. iii., p. 55.).

—The legend that I have heard in Devonshire differs from that quoted in Vol. ii. It ran thus:

"Friday cut hair, Sunday cut horn,

Better that man had never been born."

The meaning given to it was, that cutting horn was a kind of work, and therefore a breach of the Sabbath and that cutting hair on the Friday was, like a hundred other things, thought unlucky on a Friday, from some obscure reference to the great sacrifice of Good Friday. Sir Thomas Browne shows that this was perhaps the continuation of ancient superstition; and it is peculiarly remarkable that amongst the Romans the Dies Veneris (Friday) should have been thought unlucky for hair-cutting. His reference to the crime of Manasses, "of observing times," enters into no detail, and the text is evidently a general condemnation of superstitious observances. I may as well here remark that Browne's reference to Manasses, 1 Chron. xxxv., in my edition (1686), is erroneous: it should be 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6.

C.

Meaning of Gig-Hill (Vol. iii., pp. 222. 283.).

—Your correspondent N. B., p. 283., has doubtless aptly illustrated Shakspeare's use of the word gig, but not as a local name, where "there is no indication of anything in the land to warrant it;" but if your querist K., p. 222., will refer to Bailey's Dictionary, article "Gig Mill," "a mill for the fulling of woollen cloth," he will find the key to the local name; and full information as to the illegality and injurious tendency of Gig Mills, with an order for their suppression, &c., will be found in the statute 5 & 6 Edward VI., c. 22, intitled, "An Act for the putting down of Gig Mills." The presence of such mills previous to the suppression would give the name to the sites now known as "Gig's Hills."

BLOWEN.

The Mistletoe on the Oak (Vol. ii., pp. 163. 214.; Vol. iii., pp. 192.226.).

—MR. BUCKMAN calls the Poplar and Lime native, and the Sycamore and Robinia foreign trees, and adds that the two latter are comparatively recently introduced.

Without doubt, all four are foreign, except the Asp among Poplars, which is a native tree. And the Sycamore was introduced into England long before the Lombardy, and I think before any of the Poplar tribe.

I have seen the Mistletoe propagated by seed inserted, with an upward cut of a knife, under the bark of an apple-tree.

On the Oak I have never seen the Mistletoe. The late Mr. Loudon, when shown it on an oak on the estate of the late Miss Woods, of Shopwyke, near Chichester, said he had only seen it in one other instance.

A. HOLT WHITE.

For much learned lore relating to this remarkable plant, see the Encyclopædia Metropolitana. Your querist ACHE may be assured that the Mistletoe may be often found in the counties of Devon and Somerset growing on oaks, and frequently on old apple-trees in neglected orchards. A specimen of it may also be occasionally found on other trees the bark of which is rough, such as the acacia and some species of willow, when of large size. I have heard of an instance of its growing in a furze-bush.

S. S. S.

Spelling of "Britannicus" (Vol. iii., p. 275.).

—If R. W. C. will turn to Akerman's Coins of the Romans relating to Britain, he will find, at p. 36., the description of a brass medallion of Commodus having on the reverse a legend commencing "BRITTANIA P. M. TR.," &c.

The author observes:

"The spelling of Britannia is worthy of observation. Dr. Charles Grotefend thinks it is from the Greek, Βρεττανια."

And in a Note to this adds:

"That in Horace and Propertius, the first syllable of Britannia is short, but in Lucretius, on the contrary, it is long."

I would further observe, that the same mode of spelling "Britannia," with two t's, obtains on the coins of Severus, Caracalla, and Geta.

J. COVE JONES.

Temple, April 17. 1851.

T. Gilbert on Clandestine Marriages (Vol. iii., p. 167.).

—Thomas Gilbert, the author of the MS. treatise mentioned by your correspondent, was the son of William Gilbert, of Priss, in Shropshire. He was born in 1613, and at the age of sixteen entered the University of Oxford. He took the degree of M.A. in 1638, and was afterwards appointed minister of Upper Winchington, in Buckinghamshire. He joined the Puritan party at the beginning of the rebellion, and was made vicar of St. Lawrence, Reading. Wood says that he turned Independent, "was actually created Bachelor of Divinity in the time of the Parliamentarian visitation," and was preferred to the rich rectory of Edgmond, in his native county of Shropshire. Being very active against the Royalists, he was commonly called the "Bishop of Shropshire." After the Restoration he was, of course, ejected, when he retired to Oxford, and lived obscurely many years, with his wife, in the parish of St. Ebbs. He lived latterly upon charity, and died in the extreme of poverty, in the year 1694. For more minute particulars of the life of this person, and a catalogue of his writings, see Wood's Athenæ Oxon., edit. Bliss, vol. iv. p. 406.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Dog's Head in the Pot (Vol. iii., p. 264.).

—I have seen this carved and gilt as the sign of R. O. Backwell, ironmonger, Devonport. A person now sitting by me recollects its being adopted there about forty years since. It is perhaps always the sign of an ironmonger, instead of a public-house, as suggested by your correspondent. The pot (as at Blackfriars) is the three-legged cast-iron vessel called in Devonshire a "crock."

K. TH.

Pope Joan (Vol. iii., p. 265.).

—If the man who believes in this fable can be found in England, he will meet with the demonstration of its falsehood in the cotemporary chronicles of Galindo, Bishop of Troyes, otherwise called by his assumed name of religion, Prudentius Trecensis, or Trecassensis. (See Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Hanover, 1826, vol. i. p. 449.) It there appears clearly that no Pope John VIII. succeeded Leo IV., or preceded Benedict III. Prudentius survived them both by three years. His words are "Mense Augusto Leo apostolicæ sedis antistes defunctus est, eique Benedictus successit. Eodem mense duæ stellæ majoris et minoris quantitatis visæ sunt," &c. &c.

It seems to me that a just blindness fell upon men so evil-minded as to desire the falsification of chronology and history for polemical ends, that they should have utterly missed the moral principle by which they would be thought animated. No prelate ordaining a young person, unknown to himself, save by academical reputation, could know that person's sex. The want of beard is no criterion; nor is the female lip in all instances very smooth. But if it were true that a person eminently distinguished by studies, and bringing from Athens a high reputation for merit, could upon those grounds alone obtain the suffrages of the Roman chapter, more honour would be conferred upon it than that chapter, or other dispensers of patronage, have usually merited. Instead of being unknown, the candidates in the days of Benedict III. were, if anything, too well known; for the jobbery and faction, of which this fable would indicate the entire, and almost unnatural, absence, were sufficiently at work.

A. N.

"Nettle in dock out" (Vol. iii., p. 205.).

—Bishop Andrewes uses the phrase, "in docke out nettle, in nettle out docke," to denote unsteadiness. The passage occurs in Sermon I., "Of the Resurrection," folio, p. 391.:

"Now then that we bee not, all our life long, thus off and on, fast or loose, in docke out nettle, and in nettle out docke; it will behove us once more yet to looke back," &c. &c. &c.

REVERT. Wittingham, Easter Eve.

Mind your P's and Q's (Vol. iii., pp. 328. 357.).

—This phrase was, I believe, originally "Mind your toupées and your queues,"—the toupée being the artificial locks of hair on the head, and the queue the pigtail of olden time.

There used to be an old riddle as follows:—Who is the best person to keep the alphabet in order?—Answer: A barber, because he ties up the queue, and puts toupées in irons.

NEDLAM.

"Lay of the Last Minstrel" (Vol. iii., p. 367.).

—The BORDERER, with whom, I fancy, every one will fully agree, has himself been guilty of incuria in charging it upon Walter Scott. The great festival at which Michael Scott marches off with the Goblin Page, was to celebrate, not the nuptials, but the betrothal, of the hero and heroine. I do not think I have read the Lay since I was a boy; but yet I will bet five nothings to one, that the following lines are spoken by the Lady, when she gives way, as she says, to Fate:—

"For this is your betrothing day,

And all these noble lords shall stay

And grace it with their company."

It would be an excellent thing if some of your correspondents would furnish you with materials for a corner, to be entitled, "The Prophecy of Criticism." It should give, by short extract, those presages in which criticism abounds, taken from the Reviews of twenty years or more preceding the current year. Thus, in this year of 1851, the corner should be open to any prophecy uttered in or before 1831, and palpably either fulfilled or falsified. In a little while, when the subject begins to cool, the admission should be restricted to prophecy of precisely twenty years of previous date. Such a corner would be useful warning to critics, and useful knowledge to their readers.

M.

Tingry (Vol. ii., p. 477.).

—In reply to E.V.'s Query, if there is any place in the north of France bearing that name, I may inform him that Tingry is a commune near Samer, in the arrondissement of Boulogne. Tingry Hill is the highest spot in the neighbourhood. In the Boulogne Museum are several mediæval antiquities found at Tingry.

P. S. KG.

Sabbatical and Jubilee Years of the Jews (Vol. iii., p. 373.).

—You must find it difficult to know what to do when a correspondent obtains admission into your columns who absolutely requires to be sent back to elementary books. On the one hand, care must be taken not to discourage communication: on the other hand, there is a species of communication which must be gently discouraged. Nothing has ever appeared in your columns which makes this remark more necessary than the communication headed as above, and signed by the venerable name of HIPPARCHUS. Your well meaning, but hitherto not sufficiently instructed, correspondent, seems to imagine either that the Jewish year was wholly lunar, or that a solar year may consist of a fixed number of (wrong) lunar months. Now, the lunar month is not 29 days, but 29-½ days; and the Jews, whom he calls ignorant of astronomy (which they were, compared with Hipparchus of Rhodes), met this, as most know, by using months of 29 days and of 30 days in equal numbers. And surely every one must know that the Jewish year was regulated, as to its commencement, by the sun and the equinox. The year opened just before the Passover, which required a supply of lamb. Unless lamb had been obtainable all the solar year round, a regular lunar year (such as the Mahometans have) would have made a due observance of the Passover impossible. I hope your correspondent can bear to be told, good-humouredly, that it passes all reasonable permission that he should speculate on chronological questions as yet.

M.

Luncheon (Vol. iii., p. 369.).

—I cannot help doubting this derivation; and I suspect that the true meaning of the word is, a piece, or slice (or vulgo, a "hunch") of bread. When people who dined early, and breakfasted comparatively late, wanted any intermediate refreshment, "a luncheon" (or, as we should now say, "just a crust of bread") was sufficient. The Query brought to my mind some verses of the younger Beattie, which were published with his father's Minstrel, &c., in which he uses the word "luncheon" for the piece of bread placed beside the plate at dinner. I have no doubt of the fact, though I cannot recollect the lines, or find the book. But after searching in vain for it, I took down Johnson's Dictionary; and under the word I found this couplet by Gay, which is perhaps a better authority:

"When hungry thou stood'st staring like an oaf,

I sliced the luncheon from the barley loaf."

S. R. M.

Prophecy respecting the Discovery of America (Vol. i., p. 107.).

—Your correspondent C. quotes the following passage from Seneca:

"Venient annis secula seris,

Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum

Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus,

Tethysque novos detegat orbes;

Nec sit terris ultima Thule."

Medea, Act II., ad finem, v. 375.

and he says that some commentator describes these lines as "a vaticination of the Spanish discovery of America." I believe, however, that Lord Bacon may claim the merit of having been the first to notice this vaticination. In his essay "Of Prophecies" he says:

"Seneca, the tragedian, hath these verses:—

'Venient annis

Sæcula seris, quibus Oceanus

Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens

Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos

Detegat orbes; nec sit terris

Ultima thule.'

"'A prophecy,' he adds, 'of the discovery of America.'"

I have quoted this from an edition of Bacon's Essays, printed at the Chiswick Press, by C. Whittingham, for J. Carpenter, Old Bond Street, London, 1812: and not the least curious circumstance is the curious form which Bacon, evidently quoting from memory, has given to the passage.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, March, 1851.

Shakspeare's Designation of Cleopatra (Vol. iii., p. 273.).

—I fully agree with your correspondent S. W. SINGER that an imperfect acquaintance with our older language has been the weak point of the commentators, but at the same time I think they have been equally guilty of an imperfect acquaintance with the history and character of Cleopatra, and one at least of a careless reading of the text; otherwise it appears incomprehensible how, on the one hand, the words of the great poet could have been so distorted; on the other hand, how Scarus could be thought to allude, by the word "ribald," to Antony. On reference to Rider's Dictionary, published in 1589, the very year in which Malone places Shakspeare's first play, First Part of Henry VI., may be found the word Ribaud, leno, a bawd, a pander; Ribaudrie, lascivia, obscœnitas, impudicitia, Venus; and Ribaudrous, obscœnus, impudicus, impurus.

Hagge, doubtless the word of Shakspeare, also may be found in Rider, answering to the Latin lamia, fascinatrix, oculo maligna mulier.

Arguing from the above, what more appropriate term than "ribaudred hagge" could be applied to Cleopatra, a queen celebrated for her beauty, her cunning, her debauchery, nay, even adultery. The sister and wife of Ptolemy Dionysius, she admitted Cæsar to her embraces, and by him had a son called Cæsarion, and afterwards became enamoured of Antony, who, forgetful of his connexion with Octavia, the sister of Cæsar, publicly married her; thus causing the rupture between him and Cæsar, who met in a naval engagement off Actium, where Cleopatra, "when 'vantage like a pair of twins appeared," by flying with sixty sail, ruined the interest of Antony, and he was defeated; and so were called forth the imprecatory words of Scarus.

"Yond ribaudred Hagge of Egypt,

Whom leprosy o'ertake."

FRANCISCUS.

Harlequins (Vol. iii., p. 287.).

—The origin of the word hellequin, unknown to M. Paul Paris, is to be sought in Scandinavia, especially Norway, whence so many swarms of fierce Pagan settlers rushed into Normandy and other parts of France. The helle-quinna or hell-quean was the famous hela or hel, the death-goddess (whence our word hell, the death-realm, as still used in the Creed, &c.), so well known also to our own West Scandinavian (commonly called Anglo-Saxon) forefathers. The Wild Hunt of the Helle-quinna (the Death-quean and her Meynie) was therefore soon easily synonymous with that of La Mort, and, as M. Paris has well observed, naturally led to the grotesque mummeries of notre famille d'Arlequin.

GEORGE STEPHENS.

Stockholm.

Christ's-cross Row (Vol. iii., p. 330.).

—Quarles, in his Emblems, b. 2. 12, p. 124., edition 1812, has the following passage: "Christ's cross is the christ-cross of all our happiness," i. e. the alphabet, the beginning, perhaps the alpha and omega. Grose, in his Olio, p. 195., 1796, relates the following story:

"An Irishman explaining the reason why the Alphabet is called the Criss-cross-Rowe, said it was because Christ's cross was prefixed at the beginning and end of it."

W. B. H.

Manchester.

Meaning of "Waste-book" (Vol. iii., pp. 118. 195. 251. 307.).

—The gentlemen who have hitherto attempted to explain this term are very evidently unacquainted with the subject on which they write; with the exception, however, of MR. CROSSLEY, whose quotation from the Merchant's Mirrour confirms what I am about to say. To the clerk in a merchant's counting-house, like him

"Who pens a stanza when he should engross,"

the waste-book may indeed be a weary waste; but he does not call it so for that reason, any more than he gives poetical names to the day-book or ledger. In short, we must not go to the merchant's counting-house at all to discover its meaning; or, if we do, "the book-keeper and cashier" who makes the Query may refer us to one of the elders, or head of the firm, who, if he be not too proud to own it, may just recollect that his progenitors or predecessors in the chandler's shop made their rough entries in a book which was literally waste. For origins we must look to the lowest forms or types existing. The merchant's system of book-keeping was not invented perfect; and we may see its various stages in the different gradations of trade at the present day. In many respectable shops, in the country especially, the waste-book is formed by a quire or two of the commonest paper used in the particular trade, that will bear pen and ink, sown together. An advance upon this is the waste-book as a distinct book, bound and ruled, of which the day-book or journal is merely a fair copy; and this being made, the former is held of no account. The importance, however, of reference to original entries has no doubt led to the preservation of the "Waste-book" in regular book-keeping, and a modification of its character.

S. H.

St. John's Wood, April 22. 1851.

Sallust (Vol. iii., p. 325.).

—May I ask your correspondent whether the following lines in the "Georgics" (iii. 284.), the most exact composition in existence, prove that they were first delivered by word of mouth, from notes only:—

"Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus,

Singula dum capti circumvectamur amore."

I might add the passage in Pindar, 4th Pythian, 439.:

"Μακρά μοι νεῖσθαι κατ' ἀμαξιτὸν· ὥρα γὰρ συνάπτει· καί τινα οἶμον ἴσαμι βραχύν."

Such passages are common in all authors.

C. B.

Hand-bells at Funerals (Vol. ii., p. 478.).

—With reference to B.'s remark on the Host being often preceded by a hand-bell, it may more correctly be stated, that the Host, when carried in procession to the sick, is in all Catholic countries uniformly preceded by a bell, in order to warn all persons of its approach, that they may be ready to pay all due reverence as the procession passes. The ringing of the bell on this occasion was first instituted by the Cardinal Guido, who was sent Legate to Germany, to confirm the election of the Emperor Otto.

R. R. M.

[Query, May not this have been the original passing bell?]

"Laus tua non tua Fraus," &c. (Vol. i., p. 416.; Vol. ii., p. 77.;Vol. iii., p. 290.).

—There is the following allusion to these lines by Question and Answer in the New Help to Discourse, published about 1670, p. 102.:

Q. "How came the famous Buchanan off, when travelling into Italy, he was, for the freeness of his writing, suspected of his religion, and taken hold of by some of the Pope's Inquisitors?"

A. "By writing to his Holiness this distich:

'Laus tua, non tua fraus, virtus, non copia rerum,

Scandere te fecit hoc decus eximium.'"

For which encomium he was set at liberty; and being gone out of the Pope's jurisdiction, he sent to his Holiness, and desired, according to his own true meaning, to read the self-same verses backward.

If George Buchanan, born 1506, was indeed the author of them, it is certain that no Pope Alexander could have been the subject of them, when written, I presume, in 1551, that being the year in which he obtained his liberty. And now to J. F. M.'s Query p. 290.—If he has transcribed Puttenham aright, he might justly condemn them as very bad "verse Lyon," if that be Leonine; but I take it that he has condemned what is worthy of some praise, and of being "called verse Lyon," for Lyric.

It would lose nothing of the lyrical by translation, but your readers being all classical I forbear.

BLOWEN.

Francis Moore (Vol. iii., pp. 263. 381.).

—Francis Moore, physician, was one of the many quack doctors who duped the credulous at the latter period of the seventeenth century; he practised in Westminster: in all probability then, as in our own time, the publication of the almanac was to act as an advertisement of his healing powers, &c. Cookson, Salmon, Gadbury, Andrewes, Tanner, Coley, Partridge, &c. &c., were all his predecessors, and were students in physic and astrology. Moore's Almanac appears to be a perfect copy of Tanner's, which was first published in 1656, forty-two years prior to the appearance of Moore's. The portrait in Knight's London is certainly imaginary. There is a genuine and very characteristic portrait, now of considerable rarity, representing him as a fat-faced man in a wig and large neck-cloth, inscribed "Francis Moore, born in Bridgnorth, in the county of Salop, the 29th of January, 1656/7.—JOHN DRAPENTIER, delin. et sculp."

I may mention it as a curious fact, that the portraits of these quack doctors, when in a good state, are frequently of great rarity. I possess one which was in the Stow collection, being a fine impression of the following print by Drapentier, for which the sum of five guineas had been paid:

"The effigies of George Jones, whom God hath blessed with greate success in healing."—"Student in the art of physick and chirurgery for about thirty years in the Upper More Fields, two golden balls on the tops of the two posts of the portel before my door."

W. W. C.

National Debts (Vol. iii., p. 374.).

—A description of the foundation of a "national debt" in Florence in the years 1344-45 is to be found in the Florentine History, by Henry Edward Napier, R. N. (published by Edward Moxon, Dover Street), chap. xxi. p. 125.

FIRENEYE.

Law Courts at St. Alban's (Vol. i., p. 366.).

—I beg to send a copy of a Latin inscription discovered some years since over the west door inside the great nave of St. Alban's Abbey. It may possibly prove to be a record of some historical value, and at all events furnishes a partial reply to the Query of Σ. in your First Volume:—

"Propter vicinii situm, et amplum hujus Templi spatium ad magnam confluentium multitudinem excipiendam opportunum, temporibus R. H. VIII. et denuo R. Elizabethæ, peste Londini sæviente, Conventus Juridicus hic agebatur."

Underneath this is written,—

"Princeps Dei Imago Lex Principis opus

Finis Legis Justitiâ."

Can any of your learned correspondents clear up the nature and extent of these fear-stricken flights to the old abbey? Was it the Commons, or Westminster Hall, or the Convocation, or all together, avoiding the plague? I may observe that our ancestors seem to have put to some practical use the vast space of an abbey-church on extraordinary occasions; and I would humbly suggest that we too of the nineteenth century might take the hint, and employ the many unoccupied naves of our ecclesiastical buildings for religious purposes on ordinary occasions.

W. M. K.

The Fifteen O's (Vol. iii., p. 391.).

—They are sometimes called St. Bridget's Prayers. I have a very small volume entitled:

"¶ A breefe Directory and playne way how to say the Rosary of our blessed Lady: with Meditations for such as are not exercised therein. Whereunto are adioyned the prayers of S. Bryget with others. Bruges Flandrorum, excudebat Hu. Holost. 1576."

At the end (beginning with fresh signature A i.) are—

"¶ Fifteene Prayers, righte good and vertuous, vsually called the XV Oos, and of diuers called S. Briget's prayers, because the holye and blessed Virgin vsed dayly to say them before the Image of the Crucifix in S. Paules Church in Rome."

Of this diminutive volume I never saw another copy. It was published by J. M., who dates his dedication to his dear sister A. M., "from the Englishe Charter House in Bridges (sic), the vigil of the Assumption of Our Lady, 1576." It seems that the sister was resident in England, and had, previously to her brother's departure for Bruges, requested him to send her a translation of the Rosary, which having obtained, his cousin and friend J. Noel procured it to be printed. J. M. willingly confessing "for that I know there be many good women in Englande that honour Our Lady, but good bookes to stirre vp deuotion in them are scarse." Would not a list of English books printed abroad be an interesting subject for some bibliographical antiquary, and an acceptable addition to our literary antiquities?

P. B.

Bunyan and the Visions of Heaven and Hell (Vol. iii., p. 89.).

—MR. OFFOR has very satisfactorily shown that Bunyan could not, from its grandiloquent style, have been the author of the Visions of Heaven and Hell, attributed to him in an edition of that work published in the reign of George I., entitled, The Visions of John Bunyan, being his last Remains.

This title must have been a surreptitious one, for, since MR. OFFOR made the above communication, I have obtained a copy of this scarce book published in the previous reign, under its legitimate title (as in the Sunderland copy of 1771, mentioned at p. 70. supra), and said to be "By G. L. φιλανθρωπο London, printed for John Gwillim, against Crossby Square in Bishopsgate-street, 1711."

In his address "To the Reader" (also signed G. L.), the author even makes the following direct allusion to Bunyan's allegory:

"And since the Way to Heaven has been so taking under the similitude of a dream, why should not the Journey's End be as acceptable under the similitude of a vision? Nay, why should it not be more acceptable, since the end is preferable to the means, and Heaven to the Way that brings us thither? The Pilgrim met with many difficulties; but here they are all over. All storms and tempests here are hush'd in silence and serenity."

It will therefore, I think, be admitted that the name of Bunyan ought no longer to be associated with this work, and that all inferences drawn from the fallacy of his having been the author of it should henceforth be disregarded.

It would, however, be desirable, if possible, to ascertain who G. L. really was, and how the spurious title-page came to be affixed by "Edward Midwinter, at the Looking-Glass upon London Bridge," to his edition of this allegory?

N. H.

Mazer Wood (Vol. iii., pp. 239. 288.).

—Your Querist asks, "Has the word Mazer any signification in itself?" It signifies Maple, being a corruptions of the Welsh word Masarn—the maple-tree. Probably, therefore, the use of the wood of the maple for bowls and drinking-cups prevailed in this country many centuries before the times of Spenser and Chaucer, in whose works they are mentioned. In Devonshire the black cherry-tree, which grows to a large size in that county, is called the mazer-tree. From this circumstance I conjecture that this wood has been used there in former times for bowls and drinking-cups as a substitute for maple. That the original word, mazer, should have been retained, is not to be wondered at. It is known that when the mazer bowl was made of silver, the old name was retained. The name of the maple-tree, in the Irish language, is crann-mhalpais; therefore the name of the Irish wooden drinking-cup maedher cannot be derived from it.

S. S. S.

Robertii Sphæria (Vol. iii., p. 398.).

—Any of your readers who are curious in natural history will find, in the Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. ii. p. 591., a very full description of this extraordinary production, by Dr. Pereira. It is used as a medicine by the Chinese, by whom it is called the "summer-plant-winter-worm," and who attribute to it great cordial and restorative powers. The mode of employing it is curious. A duck is stuffed with five drachms of the insect fungus, and roasted by a slow fire; when done, the stuffing is taken out, the virtue of which has passed into the duck, which is to be eaten twice a day for eight or ten days. In the same work, vol. iv. p. 204., Dr. Pereira gives a further account of the moth on whose larva the fungus grows.

E. N.

Southwark, May 19. 1851.

Count Xavier de Maistre (Vol. iii., p. 227.).

—I notice a slight inaccuracy in MR. SINGER'S reference to the author of Voyage autour de ma Chambre. He gives the name as "Jean Xavier Maitre;" whereas the correct designation is "Count Xavier de Maistre;" the s in the patronymic being distinctly pronounced. Such trifling errors are only worth noticing because they appear in a work, one of the main features of which is the correctness of its references to authors and books. No doubt it is his extensive acquaintance with both that induced MR. SINGER, on this occasion, to trust to his memory, rather than turn to a biographical dictionary.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, April, 1851.

Amicus Plato (Vol. iii., p. 389.).

—The origin of the sentiment, "Amicus Plato," &c., seems to be Aristot. Eth. Nicom. c. iv., where he disputes against Plato, and says: "Both being dear to me, it is right to prefer truth:

"Ἀμφοῖν φίλοιν ὄντοιν, ὅσιον προτιμᾶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν."

C. B.

The Coptic Language (Vol. ii., pp. 376. 499.).

—The reply of HERMAPION to the questions put by J. E. is scarcely satisfactory. I will endeavour to answer then more directly. The Coptic language is not an inflected one; and it has very few affixes. There are many prefixes to its nouns and verbs, which before the former are articles or demonstrative pronouns. Between these prefixes and the noun or verb, pronominal infixes are introduced, by which possession is denoted in the case of a noun, and the subject in that of a verb. Thus, ran is "a name;" pi-ran, "the name;" pe-v-ran, "his name;" i, is the verbal root, "come;" a, the prefix of the past tense; and a-v-i, "he came." Some nouns take affixes, as jo-v, "his head." Pronominal affixes are also joined to verbs to express their objects, and to prepositions. In the old Egyptian language, from which the Coptic is derived, there were more affixes. I am not aware that infixes have been met with in inscriptions prior to the eighteenth dynasty; and those which are in use are the same as the affixes which annexed to nouns denote possession, and to verbs the subject. The old Egyptian affixes which denoted the object of the verb, are in general different. En-v-tu would be "he bringeth thee;" and en-ka-su, "thou bringest him." In Coptic, the former would be e-o-en-k; the latter, e-k-en-v. Probably the Coptic prefixes were originally auxiliary verbs, or prepositions. The old Egyptian affixes greatly resemble the Hebrew ones, especially if s be substituted for the Hebrew h; and it is very remarkable that the Assyrio-Babylonian affixes differ from the Hebrew principally in this same respect. In like manner, the causative conjugation is formed from the simple one by prefixing h in Hebrew, but by prefixing s in both Assyrio-Babylonian and Egyptian. No doubt can then exist as to the old Egyptian language being Semitic; but the opposition between the Semitic languages and the Indo-European ones is by no means so great as was formerly supposed. Relations between them are now clearly to be traced, which prove that they had a common origin, and that at no distant period.

E. H. D. D.

Benedicite (Vol. ii., p. 463.).

— is, I believe, two words—benedici te—"that you may be blessed;" and not a single word, as PETER CORONA supposes. The ellipsis is of jubeo, or some similar word.

D. X.

Porci solidi-pedes (Vol. iii., pp. 263. 357.).

—I find, on further inquiry, that my account of the porci solidi-pedes is correct; and I can now add the following: that under the eye there was a small protuberance, not, I believe, found in our ordinary English pigs, but which forms a remarkable characteristic of the African wild boar. In the African species it is large; in the Chinese, if it be rightly so called, it is about half the length of a forefinger, and a quarter of an inch in height. I have no doubt that Mr. Ramsden, of Carlton Hall, Notts, would furnish additional information concerning these pigs, should it be required; and the publication of it would perhaps be interesting to many.

E. J. SELWYN.

Blackheath.

The Cart before the Horse (Vol. i., p. 348.).

—F. C. B. says, "I know not how old may be, 'to put the cart before the horse.'" Lucian quotes the proverb ἡ ἅμαξα τὸν βοῦν [scil. ἕλκει] to illustrate the case of the young dying before the old; it is an exact equivalent to the English proverb. (Lucian. Dial. Mortuor. vi. 2.)

C. P. PH***.

Dies Iræ (Vol. ii., p. 72.).

—I beg to refer MR. SIMPSON to the Rev. R. C. Trench's Sacred Latin Poetry Selected, London, 1849, pp. 270-277. The account of Wadding, historiographer of the Franciscan Order, is there adopted, who names Thomas of Celano as the author. The question has been thoroughly discussed by Mohnike, Hymnologische Forschungen, vol. i. pp. 1-24. See also Daniel, Thesaur. Hymnolog., vol. ii. p. 103.

C. P. PH***.

Apple-pie Order (Vol. iii., p. 330.).

—If MR. SNEAK will consult a work—viz. Mrs. Glasse's (or rather Dr. Hill's) volume of cookery, which may possibly be in his lady's library—he will find a receipt for making a Devonshire squab pie. This is to be formed "by alternate layers of sliced pippins and mutton steaks," to be adjusted in the most orderly manner. Now, from the nicety and care requisite in this arrangement, may we not "surmise," though, with Sir Walter Raleigh in the Critic, I may add, "forgive, my friend, if the conjecture's rash," that the expression "Apple-pie order" has sprung from the dish in question?

J. H. M.

The Image of both Churches (Vol. iii., p. 407.).

— There seems to be no doubt that this curious book, respecting which DR. RIMBAULT inquires, was written by Dr. Matthew Pattenson, or Patteson (not Paterson). Gee, in his Foot out of the Snare, published in 1624, the year after the publication of The Image of both Churches, in his Catalogue of "English Bookes," mentions "The Image of both Churches, by M. Pateson, now in London, a bitter and seditious book." The author is subsequently referred to as "F.(ather) Pateson, a Jesuit, lodging in Fetter Lane."

See also the Preface to Foulis's History of the Romish Treasons and Usurpations, 1671, fol., and Wood's Athenæ, edit. Bliss, vol. iv. p. 139., in which it is stated to have been mostly collected from the answers of Anti-Cotton and Joh. Brierley, Priest. In Dodd's Catholic Church History, vol. ii. p. 427., folio edit., it is also attributed to Dr. M. Pattenson, of whom some account is given, and who is mentioned to have been Physician in Ordinary to Charles I.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

School of the Heart (Vol. iii., p. 390.).

—Your correspondent S. T. D. will find in the "Prefatory Notice to the Synagogue," printed with Herbert's Temple, edit. Pickering, an account of Christopher Harvey and his works; also in Walton's Angler, edited by Sir H. Nicolas.

ϖ.

Meaning of Mosaic (Vol. iii., p. 389.).

—The breast-plate of the Jewish High Priest, as commanded by Moses, was to be four square, and that divided into twelve squares, to designate the twelve tribes of Israel: from this circumstance, the word Mosaic was derived as a term of Art, being a series or congregate of small squares of different coloured stones, applicable to the formation of any tesselated figure.

Vide 39th chap. of Exodus, from verse 8. to 14, inclusive.

JOHN KENTOR.

Glyn y mêl, May 21. 1851.

Mosaic.—This word would appear to be derived from the Greek, μοῦσα ἐκ μύω, to close by pressure; Latin, musa vel musivum, that is, "opus eximia compositione tessellatum," a piece of tesselated or chequered work of superior manufacture, in regard to the manner in which the small stones or pieces of wood are closed or joined together.

FRANCISCUS.

The Tradescants (Vol. iii, pp. 119. 286. 353. 391.).

—In common with several of your correspondents, I have for some time past taken great interest in the Tradescants, and have read with much pleasure the letters of DR. RIMBAULT, MR. SINGER, and MR. PINKERTON.

I have hitherto been unsuccessful in discovering any further particulars of the family of the Tradescants; but a few days since, in looking into a copy of Dr. Ducarel's tract on the subject, preserved among the books in the Ashmolean Museum, I found the following note in pencil, not very legibly written in the margin of the tract, where Dr. Ducarel says he has not been able to find any account in the Lambeth Register of the death of the elder Tradescant. "Consult (with certainty of finding information concerning the Tradescants) the Registers of ——apham, Kent." Since this note was written, the tract has been bound and the commencement of several words cut off. Amongst them is the name of the place of which the registers are to be consulted. I imagine it to be Meapham (apham is all that can be read).

Perhaps some of your correspondents may have an opportunity of consulting the registers of Meapham, and should any information respecting the Tradescants be found there, the marginal note will not have been without its use.

I am looking forward with great interest to the information which MR. PINKERTON promises us on the subject; and should this letter be the means of directing him to a new source of information, it will be a matter of great satisfaction to me.

C.C.R.

Linc. Coll., Oxon.

St. John's Bridge Fair (Vol. iii., pp. 88. 287. 341.).

—Having received the last polish at Peterborough Grammar School in 1840, and from a three years' residence off and on, I am enabled to speak to the fact of there being two fairs held at Peterborough.

One, commonly called St. John's Fair, is usually held on the 18th July; but whether it is also called St. John's Bridge Fair I am unable to say, as this fair was always held in our holidays, although it might be so termed.

The other, commonly called "Bridge Fair," is held in the early part of October, and is so called from its proximity to the bridge. The piece in which the fairs are held is called the Bridge Close. Indeed I believe both these fairs were held in the same piece, or at least close by each other, although held at different times.

I hope this may assist, but whether it is the same spoken of at p. 88. I cannot say.

J. N. C.

A Tye (Vol. iii., p. 263.)

is described by your correspondent as a place where three roads meet. Perhaps he means a place where one road divides into two. The nucleus of old English towns will be almost always found to consist of such a fork of one road into two, requiring three principal gates or entrances, and distinguishing the plans of towns from those of cities, in which four roads meet, forming the Carfoix, and requiring four principal gates. Is there any affinity of the words two, tye, and town? The parallel case of the junction of two rivers into one affects the names of places situated there, as Tiverton.

K. TH.

Vineyard (Vol. ii., pp. 392. 414. 446. 522.).

—In reference to the subject of the name "Vineyard" being still applied to certain places in England, it may be curious to note that the little village of Fingest, on the borders of Oxon and Bucks, was formerly called Vingest; and a farm in the same parish, now known as the Fineing, appears on an old tablet in the church as "the Vineing." I should add that the country around is full of steep sunny slopes; and would be, in a warmer climate admirably adapted for vines.

G. R. M.

Legend represented in Frettenham Church (Vol. iii, p. 407.).

—Your Cambridge correspondent C. J. E. will do well to refer to the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists, "June 25, St. Eloy,"—or to any of the numerous biographical notices of that saint, so dear to the French, especially to the Limousins; and he will find, if not the identical legend represented in Frettenham Church, the one which probably suggested it.

A. B.

Family of Rowe (Vol. iii., p. 408.).

—In answer to the inquiry of TEE BEE, I beg to refer him to vol. iii. No. 10., pages 225. to 231. of the Antiquarian Repertory, where he will find the will of Sir Thomas Rowe of the 2d May, 1569; of his wife Dame Sarah Rowe of the 21st March, 1579; and of Sir Thomas Rowe of Woodford. They were communicated to the publishers by T. Astle, Esq., as well worthy of publication, and containing many pious and charitable bequests, particular directions for their funerals, and the price of wearing apparel in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

I have been unable to learn in whose possession the original "MS. Extracts of Wills" now remain.

J. R. D. T.