Minor Queries.
313. "The Don," a Poem.
—This is an old work illustrative of the local antiquities, ancient families, castles, &c., on the banks of the Don, in Aberdeenshire. It is said to have been written during the usurpation of Oliver Cromwell by a Mr. Forbes of Brux, in the immediate neighbourhood. One of the ablest of our local antiquaries states, that he has never been able to satisfy himself of the existence of any edition of that poem earlier than that of the quarto one of 1742, which seems to have been reprinted from an edition of the year 1655; but is so thoroughly redolent of the spirit of a later age, that it is not possible to believe it to have been written in the seventeenth century. All subsequent editions (and they have been numerous) have reference to an edition of 1655. In 1655, it is said to have been originally written by a Mr. Forbes of Brux, as before stated, and published the same year, with a few historical notes, and reprinted in 1674; and again in 1742, with little or no alteration, and continued in that state until 1796; when Mr. Charles Dawson, schoolmaster of Kemnay, added a few more notes, and offered it to the public as his own composition in a small 12mo. pamphlet!!! price 4d.; which met with such encouragement, that a second edition appeared in 1798, with more copious notes, price 6d. An enlarged edition in 8vo. was published in Edinburgh in 1814. In 1819, Mr. Peter Buchan of Peterhead, the editor of Scottish Ballads, Gleanings of Scarce Old Ballads, &c. &c., published an edition, price 6d., which sold well; and in 1849, another edition was printed at the Hattonian Press, Fintray, Aberdeenshire, by John Cumming. I should be glad to hear if any of your correspondents have seen an edition of 1655 or 1674?
STONEHAVEN.
314. John Lord Frescheville.
—It is stated in the printed notices of this individual, with whom expired, in 1682, the barony of Frescheville of Stavely, co. Derb., that he was engaged, on the side of the king, at the battle of Edge Hill. I have no reason to doubt the truth of the statement: but I should like to know whether his name occurs in any of the contemporary accounts of the fight at that place, or rather Keynton; or whether he is anywhere mentioned in the royal musters. I think a correspondent of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" indicated an acquaintance with some local information relative to this affair, and the persons engaged in it.
D.
315. Meaning of "Pallant."
—While staying in the neighbourhood of a small country town in the south of England, I was requested to drive a friend to call on an acquaintance who lived in The Pallant in the said town. The word being an uncommon one, we naturally conversed on its probable derivation and meaning, but without arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. I have since seen it used in a number of Dickens' Household Words, where the scene of a ghost story is laid in an old house, or street (I forget which), called The Pallant. What is its true signification?
A DEVONIAN.
316. Rectitudines Singularum Personarum.
—This interesting Anglo-Saxon document is necessarily well known to many of your readers. Will they favor me with a Note, stating what they consider to be its date? In the mean time, I will say that it is not improbable that the date may be referrible to temp. Ethelredi II. The service of Sæ weard is insisted upon, and it is fair to suppose that such would not have been the case if the textus had been written at a period anterior to those times, when the coast was wasted by the piratical incursions of the Northmen. In the title "thegnes riht" it is mentioned in priority to "heafod weard" and "fyrdweard." It is again mentioned in the title "cotsetlan riht." This document was doubtless written by a priest, and probably by a secular one, for some of its concluding words show a habit, or at least a possibility, of migration on the part of the writer, viz.:
"Be thære theode theawe, the we thænne onwuniath."
The Latin translation, which accompanies the original, is of a date manifestly later than the Norman Conquest. The phraseology which it exhibits, and the gross mistakes which it contains, are sufficient evidence of the fact.
In the title "be thaw the beon bewitath," the words "self lædan" are translated "ipse minare." Sometimes the translator does not understand his original: in the first title he converts "bocriht" into "testamenti rectitudo;" and of the words "sceorp to frithscipe," he leaves the first word as he finds it.
H. C. C.
317. Sir Henry Tichborne's Journal.
—I should be obliged to any of your numerous correspondents or readers for any information given respecting a diurnal written by Sir Henry Tichborne, third baronet of Tichborne, co. Hants, of his Travells into France, Italy, Loretto, Rome, and other places, in the years 1675, 1676, and 1678.
Is the original in existence, or where might this MS. be found? Has any of your readers seen or heard of it?
I may here remark it is not in the possession of the family, neither have they yet been able to trace it.
THE WHITE ROSE.
Winchester.
318. Round Towers at Bhaugulpore.
—Lord Valentia (Travels to India, &c.) gives views of these towers, and the following description of them:—
"They much resemble those buildings in Ireland, which have hitherto puzzled the antiquaries of the sister kingdoms, excepting that they are more ornamented. It is singular that there is no tradition concerning them, nor are they held in any respect by the Hindoos of this country. The Rajah of Jyenagur considers them as holy, and has erected a small building to shelter the great number of his subjects, who annually come to worship here."
This is but a meagre account of them; and if any of your readers can give further information respecting them, and especially on the religion of those who go to worship at them, they will confer a great favour on your querist. Bhaugulpore seems to be about half-way between Calcutta and Patna, at some distance off the great road; and Jyenagur must be some 800 miles distant. The dominant race in the latter are Rajpoots, but there appear to be inferior races; which are the worshippers? What is the meaning of Bhaugulpore? has it any relation to Baal? Jeypoor is another name for Jyenagur.
DE CAMERA.
319. Johannes Trithemius.
—In my possession is a book entitled Liber de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, by the above author; the date of its publication 1494. Can any one inform me who Trithemius was, and whether the book, in point of accuracy, is to be relied on?
A. W. H.
320. Races in which Children are named after the Mothers.
—Will some correspondent favour me with a list of the races in which the children are named, or take their titles, or inherit property after their mothers, and not after their fathers; and where descent in any form is reckoned on the mother's side? I have a list of some, but I fear a very imperfect one; and all additions to it, with a memorandum of the authority on which the statement is made, will be very valuable to me. I wish the instances to be fetched as well from ancient as from modern nations.
THEOPHYLACT.
321. Foreign Ambassadors, Ministers, Envoys, and Residents from Foreign Courts.
—Will any of your readers inform me where there may be found the best, or any list of personages filling these diplomatic posts, between the 1st of King Henry VIII. and the end of the reign of King James II.?
S. E. G.
322. Critolaus and the Horatii and Curiatii.
—Has any writer on early Roman history noticed the extraordinary similarity, even in the minutest particulars, of the combat between the Horatii and Curiatii, followed by the murder of a sister of the former by her brother, for mourning for one of the opposite party, to whom she was betrothed, to the similar circumstances related of Critolaus the Tegean? The chances of two such transactions resembling each other so closely appear so very small, that there can be no doubt of one story being a copy of the other: but which was the original? I have no doubt the Roman historians adopted this tale from the Greeks, to diversify the barren pages of their early history. At all events, such a person as Critolaus undoubtedly existed, which is more than can be averred of the Roman hero. (See Encyc. Brit., art. "Critolaus.")
J. S. WARDEN.
Balica.
323. Cabal.
—I should like to know the earliest use of this word as signifying "a secret council," and, as a verb, "to plot or intrigue." Pepys applies it to the king's confidential advisers several years before the date (1672) when Burnet remarks that the word was composed of the initials of the five chief ministers; and Dryden uses the verb in the sense I have mentioned. Can any of your correspondents trace either verb or noun to an earlier period, or explain this application of it? The Hebrew verb kibbal signifies "to receive;" and the Cabbala was so called from its being "traditionary," not from its being "secret." A popular error on this point may, however, have given rise to the above-mentioned application of the word.
E. H. D. D.
324. "Thus said the Ravens black."
—In what modern poem or ballad do the following or similar lines occur?
—— "thus said the ravens black,
We have been to Cordova, and we're just come back."
D. B. J.
325. Symbols in Painting.
—In a painting of the Crucifixion by Guido (?) the following accessories are introduced, the meaning of which I cannot discover: the persons present are four, two of whom are evidently the Virgin and St. John; but the other two, who are both old men, are doubtful. On the ground, at the foot of the cross, is a skull and some bones; and at one side of the picture is a monster, somewhat like a gigantic toad, with his foot on a book; and at the other side lies a bell, with a twisted cord attached to it: the monster and the skull might be symbolical of sin and death, but what can the bell mean? It is a singular object for an artist to have introduced without some particular meaning; but the only instance I know of its use, is in the pictures of St. Anthony (in the fourth century), who is generally represented with a bell in his hand. Perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to explain its meaning in this painting. Can the handbell rung in Roman Catholic churches at the elevation of the host have any connexion with the subject in question?
B. N. C.
Oxford.
326. Latin Verse on Franklin.
—Can you inform me who wrote the line on Franklin:
"Eripuit cœlo fulmen, sceptrumque Tyrannis?"
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia.
327. General Moyle.
—Who was General John Moyle, who died about 1738? He resided, if he did not die, in Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk.
BURIENSIS.
328. Musical Compositions of Matthew Dubourg.
—I am induced, while preparing for the press a new edition of my opusculum on the violin, to seek your kind mediatorial aid in behalf of an object which some one or other of your correspondents, acquainted with Irish matters of the last century, may possibly enable me to attain. I am desirous of learning whether there be extant any of the musical compositions (especially the violin solos and concertos) of my progenitor, Matthew Dubourg, who held the post of director and composer to the king's band in Ireland, from 1728 until, I believe, his death in 1767.
As I do not know that any of these compositions (which appear to have been called forth by immediate occasions) were ever printed, my hope of now tracing them out is perhaps more lively than rational. If they have existed only in a manuscript state, it is but too possible that the barbarian gripe of the butterman may long ago have suppressed what vitality was in them. I cannot, however, relinquish the idea that a dusty oblivion, and not absolute destruction, may be the amount of what they have undergone; and that they may still exist in such condition as to be, at least, more susceptible of resuscitation than disinterred mummies. I have the honour to be, Sir, yours wistfully,
G. DUBOURG.
Brighton.
329. Collodion, and its Application to Photography.
—May I ask for information as to the first discoverer of Collodion, and the origin or derivation of the name? I should also be glad to know by whom it was first applied to photogenic purposes.
A PHOTOGRAPHER.
330. Engraved Portrait.
—Will some of your correspondents who are conversant with the history of engraved English heads, oblige me by naming the original of a copper-plate print in my possession, and also with the conclusion of the verses beneath, the lower part of the plate being mutilated. The verses, as far as I have them, run thus:
"Here you may see an honest face,
Arm'd against envy and disgrace;
Who lives respected still in spite
— — — — — — — — — —"
The addition of the names of the painter and engraver will increase the obligation.
HENRY CAMPKIN.
331. Lines by Lord Chesterfield on Queen Caroline's supposed Refusal to forgive her Son when on her Death-bed.
—In Coxe's Life of Sir Robert Walpole (vol. i. p. 549.), we read, in the account of the death of Queen Caroline, as follows:
"The tongue of slander has even reproached her with maintaining her implacability to the hour of death, and refusing her pardon to the prince, who had humbly requested to receive her blessing. To this imputation Chesterfield alludes in a copy of verses circulated at the time:
"'And unforgiving, unforgiven dies.'"
Can any of your readers refer me to the remainder of this copy of verses?
PROEM.