Minor Queries.
357. Meaning of Ploydes.
—Perhaps the gentleman who has directed his attention to the folk lore of Lancashire (Vol. iii., p. 55.) can tell the meaning of the word ploydes in the following rhythmical proverb. The three parishes of Prescot, Huyton, and Childwall adjoin each other, and lie to the east of Liverpool:—
Prescot, Huyton, and merry Childow,
Three parish churches, all in a row;
Prescot for mugs, Huyton for ploydes,
And Childow for ringing and singing besides."
ST. JOHNS.
358. Green-eyed Monster.
—Whence the origin of the "Green-eyed Monster"? The Italians considered a green iris beautiful, thus Dante makes Beatrice have "emerald eyes;" again, the Spaniards are loud in their praise. Whence, then, the epithet in its present sense?
?
359. Perpetual Lamp.
—The ancient Romans are said to have preserved lights in their sepulchres many ages by the oiliness of gold, resolved by art into a liquid substance. And it is reported that, at the dissolution of monasteries, in the time of Henry VIII., there was a lamp found that had then burnt in a tomb from about 300 years after Christ, nearly 1200 years.
Two of these subterranean lamps are to be seen in the Museum of Rarities at Leyden in Holland. One of these lamps, in the papacy of Paul III., was found in the tomb of Tullia, Cicero's daughter, which had been shut up 1550 years.
From 2nd edit. of N. Bailey, φιλόλογος, 1731.
B.B.
360. Family of Butts.
—A very great favour would be conferred, if any of your antiquarian correspondents would give me information respecting the family of Butts of Thornage, co. Norfolk, of which were Sir William Butts, physician to Hen. VIII.; and Robert Butts, Bishop of Norwich, and afterwards of Ely. The principal object of the querist is to know whether this family sprang from that of But, Butte, or Butts, which attained great civic eminence in Norwich during the thirteenth and two following centuries.
COWGILL.
361. Greek Names of Fishes.
—Can any of your learned correspondents inform me upon what authority the Greek names of fishes occurring in the following verses from the Vespæ, 493, are translated "sprats" and "mackerel?" I have only Donnegan's very unsatisfactory compilation here.
"ἢν μὲν ὠνῆταί τις ὀρφῶς, μεμβράδας δὲ μὴ θέλῃ,
εὐθέως εἴρηχ' ὁ πωλῶν πλησίον τὰς μεμβράδας·
οὗτος ὀψωνεῖν ἔοιχ' ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ τυραννίδι," &c.
NICÆENSIS.
362. Drimmnitavichillichatan.
—Some twenty or thirty years ago there used to appear regularly in the Aberdeen and Belfast Almanack's list of fairs, one held annually at the above place in the month of May. Could any correspondent inform me where it is situated? I think it is in Argyle or Inverness-shires; but should like to know the precise locality, as it is not mentioned in any work to which I have access at present.
X.Y.Z.
363. Chalk-back Day.
—At Diss, Norfolk, it is customary for the juvenile populace, on the Thursday before the third Friday in September (on which latter day a fair and "session" for hiring servants are held), to mark and disfigure each other's dress with white chalk, pleading a prescriptive right to be mischievous on "chalk-back day." Does such a practice exist elsewhere, and what is its origin?
S. W. RIX.
Beccles.
364. Moravian Hymns.
—Can any of your readers give me an account of the earlier editions of the Moravian hymns? In the Oxford Magazine for July, 1769, some extraordinary specimens are given, which profess to be taken from "a book of private devotions, printed for the use of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravians." One of them is—
"To you, ye wounds, we pay
A thousand tears a-day,
That you have us presented
With many happy virgin rows.
Since the year forty,
Pappa! mamma!
Your hearts Flamlein,
Brother Flamlein,
Gives the creatures
Virgin hearts and features."
The others look still more like burlesque. I cannot find them in any Moravian hymn-book which I have seen; and have searched the British Museum in vain for that which is referred to in the Oxford Magazine. Are they genuine, or a fabrication of Anti-moravians?
P. H.
365. Rural and Urban Deans.
—The name and office of rural dean is familiar to every one; but may I ask your clerical readers in London, or in any other of the large towns of England, whether the office of dean is still existing among them; or have the urban deans altogether ceased to be chosen and to act?
W. FRASER.
366. Ducks and Drakes.
—When a man squanders his fortune, he is said in vulgar parlance to "make ducks and drakes of his money." Does this odd expression allude to the thoughtless school-boy practice of throwing stones as nearly as possible on a parallel with the surface of the water, whose elastic quality causes them frequently to rebound before they sink? In my younger days this amusement (so to speak) was called "ducks and drakes."
M. W. B.
Bruges.
367. Vincent Kidder.
—I shall be much obliged by any information respecting the descent of Vincent Kidder of Aghaboe in the Queen's County, Ireland, who held a commission as major in Cromwell's army. He married Ellen Loftus, the granddaughter of Sir Thos. Loftus of Killyan, one of the sons of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin; and, in 1670, had a grant of forfeited lands in the county of Kilkenny. I have reason to believe that he sprang from a family of that name in Sussex. His son, also named Vincent, was a lieutenant in Cottingham's regiment at the battle of the Boyne, Master of the Goldsmith's Company in Dublin in 1696, and High Sheriff of Dublin in 1718. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of —— Proudfoot, and left issue. I shall be glad of any information as to the marriage of the last-named Vincent, and as to the family of Proudfoot.
C. (Streatham.)
368. House at Welling.
—Every one who has travelled on the carriage-road between London and Erith must have noticed at the end of the village of Welling an old-looking house, with high garden walls, and a yew hedge about thrice the height of the walls. It is said that one of our English poets once inhabited this house; but who? is a Query to which no one seems able to give an answer. Perhaps some of your numerous correspondents may have a Note on the subject, and would kindly furnish it. It is said by some to have been Young, the author of the Night Thoughts; but this again is denied by others.
B.
369. Shropshire, Price of Land.
—What was the average number of years' purchase at which land sold in Shropshire and Montgomery between 1770 and '80? Is there any book where information on this subject can be found?
B. R. I.
370. Legal Time.
—The town clerk of Exeter, a short time since, in reply to the question "What is legal time?" said, that "one of the courts of law had decided (in reference to a young lady becoming of age in London) that St. Paul's was so." Now St. Paul's, as well as all other London clocks, keeps Greenwich time. Query, Is St. Paul's time legal time? Is it so because it is the cathedral clock of London, or because it is a commonly recognised standard of time for London?
EXON.