Minor Queries.
Vermuyden.
—I wish very much to obtain a portrait, painted or engraved, of Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, Knt., a celebrated Flemish engineer in the time of Charles I. Can any one kindly assist my object, and inform me where one is to be met with?
J.
Portrait of Whiston.
—Having an original and characteristic half-length portrait in oil, bearing to the left corner (below an oval, such as is found about portraits by Alex. Cooper) the name of William Whiston, which picture came from a farm-house named Westbrook, in Wiltshire, and was by my ancestors, who lived there, called a family portrait, I should be glad to know how such connexion arose, if any did exist.
In the possession of a member of my family, on the maternal side, is a large silver tobacco-box, bearing the initials W. W., and given as a legacy by Whiston to his friend Thomas White, Fellow and Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge. They were members of the same club.
WILLIAM FENNELL.
Wakefield, June 12. 1851.
Charities for the Clergy and their Families.
—I am desirous of procuring a complete list of charities confined to, or primarily intended for, the benefit of clergymen, their wives and families. There are a good many such throughout the country, but I am not aware that any list has ever been published. Will your readers furnish me with the particulars of such as they may be acquainted with, together with the names of the secretaries?
J. WHITAKER.
377. Strand.
Principle of Notation by Coalwhippers, &c.
—I shall feel much obliged to any of your readers who can inform me whether the principle adopted by the coalwhippers on the river Thames, and by the seafaring class in general, is adopted by any other class in these islands, or particularly in the North of Europe.
This principle may be thus explained, viz.:
1. A set of four perpendicular, equal, and equidistant straight lines are cut by a diagonal line, which runs from right to left; that is to say, from the higher end of the fourth line to the lower extremity of the first line. This diagonal then represents number 5, and completes the scale or tally of 5.
2. A similar set of four lines are cut by another diagonal, which passes from left to right, or from the higher extremity of number one, to the lower extremity of number four. The diagonal thus completes the second score or tally for number 5.
The two fives are marked or scored separately, and the diagonals thus form a series of alternations, which, when repeated, form a scale of ten, the tally of the coalwhippers.
The "navvies" of the railroads carry this principle somewhat further. They form a cross with two diagonals on the perpendiculars, and count for ten; then, by repeating the process, they have a division into tens, and count by two tens, or a score.
I. J. C.
Kiss the Hare's Foot.
—This locution is commonly used in some parts of the United Kingdom, to describe what is expressed by the Latin proverb: "Sero venientibus ossa." Will any of your readers be so good as to explain the origin of the English phrase?
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, May, 1851.
Old Dog.
—Can any correspondent of "NOTES AND QUERIES" inform me where "old dog" is used in the same sense as in Hudibras, part ii. canto 3. v. 208.:—
"He (Sidrophel) was old dog at physiology?"
P. J. F. G.
"Heu quanto minus," &c.
—From what author is this passage taken?
"Heu quanto minus est cum aliis versari quam tui meminisse."
J. O. B.
Loughborough.
Lady Russell and Mr. Hampden.
—Extract from a letter of Rev. Alex. Chalmers, dated London, Feb. 10th, 1736-7:
"Mr. Hampden ——[1] has had the misfortune to lose 5000l. by Lady Russell. ——[2] She was a Lady of good sense, and great piety in appearance, and made many believe she had a private way of tradeing which brought seven or eight per ct. to the adventurers, by which means she got above 30,000l. put in to her hands, and for which she only gave her Note to put it to the best advantage; for some years the interest was well paid, but at her death no books nor accts were found, and the principal money is all lost. She had a jointure of 2000l. a year, but that goes to her Son-in-law, Mr. Scawen, Knight of the Shire for Surry: her dissenting friends are the chiefe sufferers."
[1] M.P. for Buckinghamshire.
[2] "Sept. 2. Lady Russell, mother of the wife of Thomas Scawen, Esq., Kt. of the Shire for Surrey, and wife to Sir Harry Houghton, Bt. She had an excellent character."—Gent. Mag., vol. vi., 1736, p. 552. She had been previously married to Lord James Russell, 5th son of William, 1st Duke of Bedford, to whom she bore the daughter mentioned above. What was her maiden name?
Is anything more known of this story; and, if so, where is the account to be found?
DE CAMERA.
Burton Family.
—Roger Burton, in the reign of Charles I., purchased of the Earl of Chesterfield lands at Kilburn, in the parish of Horsley, co. Derby, which remained in the possession of his descendants for more than a century. Perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to inform me how he was connected with the Burtons of Lindley and Dronfield.
E.H.A.
"One who dwelleth on the castled Rhine."
—Longfellow, in his exquisite little poem on "Flowers," says:
"Spake full well, in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth on the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers so blue and golden,
Stars that in earth's firmament do shine."
To whom does he allude as dwelling "on the castled Rhine?" Cowley says:
"Upon the flowers of Heaven we gaze;
The stars of earth no wonder in us raise."
And Washington Irving gives an Arabian inscription from one of the gardens of the Alhambra, which commences with a somewhat similar thought:
"How beauteous is this garden, where the flowers of the earth vie with the stars of Heaven!"
SELEUCUS.
Lady Petre's Monument.
—In the church at Ingatestone, in Essex, there is a beautiful monument to Mary Lady Petre, of the date 1684, upon which there is the following curious inscription:—
"D. O. M.
Certa spe Immortalitatis
Parte sui mortali hoc tegitur marmore
Maria
Vidua Domini Roberti Petre Baronis
de Writtle Guilielmi Joannis et Thomæ
Una trium Baronum Mater
Quæ 13o Jannuarii Añ D͠mi 1684-5 annum
Ætatis agens 82 in terris devixit, ut
Æternum in cœlo viveret
Quo illam singularis in Deum pietas
Suavis in omnes benevolentia
Profusa in egenos liberalitas
Inconcussa in adversis patientia
Ceu igneus Eliæ currus totidem rotis haud dubie evixerunt—
Sicut Sol oriens Mundo in Altissimis Dei
Sic Mulieris bonæ Species in ornamentum domus suæ.
Ecclus. 26.
AEIOU."
I should be glad if any of your learned readers could elucidate the meaning of the five vowels at the foot of the inscription.
J. A. DOUGLAS.
16. Russell Square, June 7. 1851.
Dr. Young's Narcissa (Vol. iii., p. 422.).
—J. M. says that the Narcissa of Dr. Young was Elizabeth Lee, the poet's daughter-in-law. The letter quoted in the same article from the Evan. Mag. of Nov. 1797, calls her Dr. Young's daughter. Has not your correspondent been led into a mistake by calling Narcissa Dr. Young's daughter-in-law? as, if she were so, how could she have been named "Lee?" She might have been his step-daughter, though it has been generally understood that Narcissa was the poet's own and favourite daughter. Will you, or your correspondent J. M., be so good as to clear up this point?
W. F. S.
Surbiton.
Briwingable.
—What is briwingable, from which certain burgesses were exempted in a charter of John's? It cannot be a corruption from borough-gable, because all burgesses had to pay gable.
J. W.
Thomas Kingeston, Knt., called also Lord Thomas Kingeston.
—Can any of your correspondents give any clue or information touching this Lord Kingeston? He lived in the early part of the reign of Edward III.
In the extracts from Aske's Collections relating to the descendants of M. Furneaux, published in the first volume of Coll. Top. and Gen., at p. 248., it is stated:
"Mathew of Bitton was married unto Constantyne Kingston, daughter to the Lord Thomas of Kingston; and of the said Mathew and Constantyne came John of Bitton, which died in Portingale."
In a pedigree (Harl. MSS. 1982. p. 102.) which shows the descendants of Furneaux, the match between "Sir Math. Bitton" and C. Kingston is laid down, and her arms are marked sab. a lion ramp. or.
With regard to Mathew de Bitton, he was son and heir of John de Bitton and Havisia Furneaux. The residence of the family was at Hanham, in the parish of Bitton, Gloucestershire, at a place afterwards called "Barre's Court," from Sir John Barre, who married Joan, the great-granddaughter of the said Mathew. The house abutted on the Chace of Kingswood.
In the 48th of Edward III. a writ was issued, to inquire who were the destroyers of the deer and game in his Majesty's Chace, when it was found that Mathew de Bitton was "Communis malefactor de venasione Dom. Regis in Chacia predicta." It was proved that he had killed thirty-seven deer! After much difficulty, he was brought before the justiciaries, when he acknowledged all his transgressions, and placed himself at the mercy of the king. He was committed "prisonæ Dom. Regis, quousque Justiciarii habeant locutionem cum consilio Dom. Regis."
Any further information respecting him also would be very acceptable. A very detailed account of the inquiry is at the Chapter House, among the Forest Proceedings.
H.T. ELLACOMBE.
Clyst St. George, June 24. 1851.
Possession nine Points of the Law.
—What is the origin of the expression "Possession is nine points of the law?" The explanation I wish for is, not as to possession conferring a strong title to property, which is self-evident, but as to the number of points involved in the proposition, which I take to mean nine points out of ten. Has the phrase any reference to the ten commandments or points of law promulgated by Moses? I should add that three things are said to be necessary to confer a perfect title to land, namely, possession, right of possession, and right of property.
C.N.S.
Rev. Henry Bourne, A.M.
—Could any of your numerous readers furnish me with any information respecting Bourne, whose history of Newcastle-on-Tyne was published in 1736, after the author's decease? I know, I believe, all that is to be gathered from local sources, but should be greatly obliged by any references to printed or MS. works which contain allusions to him or his writings. One of his college friends was the Reverend Granville Wheler, Esq., of Otterden, Kent, who, though in holy orders, chose to be so described, being the eldest son of a knight, the amiable Sir George Wheler, Prebendary of Durham, and Rector of Houghton-le-Spring.
E.H.A.
Prior Lachteim—Robert Douglas.
—In Bishop Keith's Affairs of Church and State of Scotland, Vol. ii. p. 809., Prior Lachteim is mentioned: will any of your readers inform me who this person was? It is not explained in the note; but it is suggested that by Lachteim Loch Tay is meant. Is this correct?
Query 2. Is there any truth in the report that Mary, queen of Scotland, had a son by George Douglas, who was the father of Robert Douglas, a celebrated Presbyterian preacher during the Covenanting reign of terror in Scotland, after the Glasgow General Assembly in 1638? If, as I suppose, there is no truth in this, what was the parentage and early history of Mr. Robert Douglas? Wodrow notices this report, and says that he was born in England. See Wodrow's Analecta, 4to., 1842, vol. ii. p. 166.: printed for the Bannatyne Club.
A.C.W.
Brompton.
Jacobus de Voragine.
—Can any friend give any information respecting an edition of the above author printed at Venice, A.D. 1482? The following is the colophon:—
"Reverendi Fratris Jacobi de Voragine de Sancto cum legendis opus perutile hic finem habet; Venetiis per Andream Jacobi de Catthara impressum: Impensis Octaviani scoti Modoetrensis sub inclyto duce Johanne Moçenico. Anno ab incarnatione domini 1482, die 17 Mensis Maii."
I can find no mention of it either in Panzer or Brunet or Ebert.
BNE.
Brasenose.
Peace Illumination, 1802.
—Miss Martineau, in her Introduction to the History of the Peace, p. 56., repeats the story told in a foot-note on p. 181. of the Annual Register for 1802, of M. Otto, the French ambassador, being compelled to substitute the word "amity" for the word "concord" suspended in coloured lamps, in consequence of the irritated mob's determination to assault his house, unless the offensive word "concord" were removed, the said mob reading it as though it were spelled "conquered," and inferring thence that M. Otto intended to insinuate that John Bull was conquered by France. The story, moreover, goes on to relate that the mob also insisted that the blazing initials G.R. should be surmounted by an illuminated crown. This anecdote, notwithstanding its embalmment in the Annual Register, has always borne in my eyes an apocryphal air. It assumes that the mob was ignorant and intellectual at the same moment; that whilst it was in a riotous mood it was yet in a temper to be reasoned with, and able to comprehend the reasons addressed to it. But one cannot help fancying that the mental calibre which understood "concord" to mean "conquered," would just as readily believe that "amity" meant "enmity," to say nought of its remarkable patience in waiting to see the changes dictated by itself carried out. This circumstance occurred, if at all, within the memory of many subscribers to "NOTES AND QUERIES." Is there one amongst them whose personal recollection will enable him to endorse the word Truth upon this curious story?
HENRY CAMPKIN.
Planets of the Months.
—Can any of your numerous correspondents give me the names of the planets for the months, and the names of the precious stones which symbolize those planets?
T.B.
Wimpole Street.
Family of Kyme.
—Sir John Kyme is said to have married a daughter of Edward IV. Can any of your correspondents inform me where I can find an account of this Sir John Kyme, his descendants, &c.? I should be glad of information respecting the family of Kyme generally, their pedigree, &c. &c. I may say that I am aware that the original stock of his family had possessions in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, and that there were members of it of considerable importance during the reigns of the earlier monarchs succeeding William I. I am also acquainted with some old pedigrees found in certain visitation books. But none of the pedigrees I have seen appear to come down later than the fourteenth, or quite the beginning of the fifteenth, century. I should be glad to know of any pedigree coming down through the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, and to have any account of the later history of the family.
BOLD.
West of England Proverb.
—Can any of your correspondents explain the saying, used when a person undertakes what is beyond his ability,—"He must go to Tiverton, and ask Mr. Able?"
D.X.
Coke and Cowper, how pronounced.
—Upon what authority is Lord Coke's name pronounced as though it were spelt Cook, and why is Cowper, the poet, generally called Cooper? Is this a modern affectation, or were these names so rendered by their respective owners and their contemporaries? Such illustrious names should certainly be preserved in their integrity, and even pedanticism might blush at corrupting such "household words." There certainly should be no uncertainty on the subject.
C.A.
Orinoco or Orinooko.
—In the Illustrated News of May 26th is an account of the launch of the "Orinoco" steamer. Can any of your readers tell me if this is the correct mode of spelling the name of this river? I believe the natives spell it "Orinooko," the two oo's being pronounced u.
E.D.C.F.
Petty Cury.
—There is a street bearing this name in Cambridge, which was always a mystery to me in my undergraduate days; perhaps some correspondent can unravel it?
E.S.T.
Virgil.
—Æneid, viii. 96.:
"Viridesque secant placido æquore silvas."
Will any of your classical correspondents favour me with their opinion as to whether secant in the above passage is intended to convey, or is capable of conveying, the idea expressed in the following line of Tennyson (Recollections of the Arabian Nights):
—— "my shallop ... clove
The citron shadows in the blue?"
This interpretation has been suggested to me as more poetical than the one usually given; but it is only supported by one commentator, Servius.
ERYX.
Sheridan and Vanbrugh.
—Could any of your readers inform me as to the following? I find printed in Sheridan's Dramatic Works by Bohn, a copy of Sir John Vanbrugh's play of The Relapse, or Virtue in Danger. It is, with a very few omissions, an exact reprint, but bears the title of A Trip to Scarborough, or Miss in her Teens. No comment is made, or any mention of Vanbrugh.
O. O.
Quotation from an old Ballad.—
"Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,
But, why did you kick me down stairs?"
In what old ballad or poetic effusion may the above forcibly expressive, though not remarkably elegant, lines be found? A short time ago they were quoted in The Times' leading article, from which fact I suppose them to be of well-known origin.
NREDRA NAMB.