Minor Queries.
17. Margaret Maultasch—Arms of Halle.
—In "Marcel de Serres' Journey in Bavaria and the Tyrol" (printed in Arliss's Pocket Mag. 1825), in describing the statues ranged round the mausoleum of the Emperor Mathias in the Franciscan churn at Innspruck, he says:
"Amidst the Princesses, Margaret Maultasch may easily be discovered by the hideous conformation of her mouth, and her eyes which glow with sensual desires. The singular arms which may be seen over the gates of Halle, but too plainly betoken the shameful and licentious character of this insatiable female."
Where can I read the life of this "hideous" personage? And what are the arms alluded to? She was Duchess of Tyrol, and her portrait is in the Chateau d'Eu; but I have never seen an engraving.
G. CREED.
18. Test of Strength of a Bow.
—What is the test of the strength of a bow?
Does the distance the bow throws the arrow increase in ratio to its strength?
What was the length of the bows used in the good old times? Were the bows then made of more than one piece? Is there any advantage in having bow of more than two pieces?
What wood were the arrows made of?
TOXOPHILUS.
19. Vox Populi.
—I have a copper coin in my cabinet (halfpenny size) which I shall be glad to have explained.
The obverse has a bust laureate in profile to the left, with the letter "P." close to the nose. The bust appears to be of some popular Irish leader in 1760, as it is not like either to George II.'s or George III.'s busts; and the legend "Voce Populi."
Reverse: The figure of Hibernia seated, with an olive branch in her right hand, and a spear in her left; also a harp at her side. Legend: "Hibernia." Exergue, "1760."
J. N. C.
20. Meaning of Whig and Tory.
—May I beg sufficient space in your journal to inquire for the exact etymology of the terms "Whig" and "Tory?" We all know the exact time when these first came into use. We all understand precisely the meaning of the terms "Conservative," "Liberal," "Radical," "Peelite," "Protectionist," all of which, with the exception of Peelite, are equally applicable to things not political; but Whig and Tory can only be used in this one sense. From whence then their derivation?
A CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
21. "Fortune, Infortune, Fort une."
—In the church of Notre Dame de Brou, near the town of Bourg, in the department de l'Ain, the following inscription is engraved on the tomb of Marguerite d'Autriche, the wife of Philibert le Beau, Prince of Savoy:—
"Fortune, Infortune, Fort une."
In this epitaph, the first two words are intelligible enough, and allude to certain reverses of fortune which had chequered the life of the princess; but the expression fort une reads somewhat enigmatical, and I shall be obliged to any of your readers who can give the meaning of it.
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, June, 1851.
22. Unde derivatur Stonehenge.
—Antiquaries and topographers generally (Stukeley and Sir R.C. Hoare included) have been hitherto content to consider this word as a compound of stan and henge, Anglo-Saxon;—that is, "hanging stone." Now this etymology of the word has always appeared to me very unsatisfactory. The cross stones do not hang; they lie on the uprights, and are kept in their places by mortice holes. An ingenious friend of mine has, by what I consider a happy train of reasoning, arrived at another and a better conclusion. Every one knows that our German ancestors used the word horse adjectively. And we still have it so in use to designate many things as the largest of their kind; as horse-chestnut, horse-daisey, horse-mushroom, horse-emmet, &c. &c. Horsa and hengst or hengist, are convertible terms or if any difference, the latter word is used for stallion. If so, then, is it not reasonable to suppose that the stones of this Druid temple would provoke the largest idea of magnitude, and thence be called Stone-Hengst, or more euphoniously, Stone-henge,—stallion stones?
P. P.
23. Marriage of Bishops.
—I should feel obliged to any of your correspondents who would supply me with an example from early Church history of a bishop or priest marrying after ordination.
Deacons were expressly allowed to marry by the Council of Ancyra; but I should wish an example of either of the others.
Marriage after priestly ordination is now forbidden by the Greek church, and since the Council of Trullo bishops must be celibate or continent.
Second Query—What evidence is there that bishops in early times, if already married, were obliged to put away their wives? It is said that St. Gregory Nazianzen's father had children after he was raised to the episcopate. Can this be proved, and are there other instances?
From the silence of early Church writers as to any difference between the clergy and laity on this point, I am much inclined to believe that the Roman requirement of celibacy was then confined to the bishopric of Rome itself, and the immediately adjoining country.
St. Paul, in 1 Cor. ix.5., says:
"Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as the other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas?"
implying that he had power to marry even then; and our Saviour speaks of continence as a gift given only to certain persons. (St. Matthew, chap. xix. ver. 11, 12.)
A. B. C.
Edinburgh, July 10. 1851.
24. The Sign ¶.
—What is the meaning, and whence the origin of the sectional sign ¶, so much used in the Bible, and also at the head of the rubrical instructions in the Book of Common Prayer?
P. P.
25. Early German Virgil.
—I should like to know if the following name is that of a well-known publisher; and whether the book, from which I take the name, is known? also, whether it is very rare, and of literary value? "Gedruckt zu Frankfurt am Main durch David Zöpffeln zum Eisern Huth, 1559."
I find this at the end of a curious German translation of Virgil into verse—short and easy flowing.
There is a summary in verse, and a quaint engraving to every book. Bound in wood and leather. It has many odd peculiarities too long to mention.
In the Preface, this is said to be the second edition, that the first was published "many years ago, by a learned man." It must have been published about the same time as Bishop Gawain (or Gawin) Douglas's, and is something like it.
R. S. T.
26. Fairlight Church.
—In Diplock's New Guide to Hastings, St. Leonard, and the Neighbourhood, which, unfortunately, like most other works of this class, is worse than useless to the architectural visitor, it is stated that the old church at Fairlight, which was taken down not very long since, "was a small but ancient structure, apparently of the early part of the thirteenth century: it consisted of a chancel, nave, and square tower, and was built of brick."
Can any of your readers inform a visitor here whether this is a correct description?
ARUN.
St. Leonard's on Sea.
27. The Leman Baronetcy.
—I shall be extremely obliged by any account as to the succession of the disputed Leman Baronetcy or estates. Sir William Leman, of Northaw (or Northall), Herts, was, I believe, the last of that designation, and up to the present time doubts exist as to the heir male or other descendants, although great property and possessions are in abeyance or at stake.
H. M.
28. Armorial Bearings.
—Can any of your correspondents inform me to what family the following arms belonged: Sa. a lion ramp. or, betw. three fleur-de-lys ermine. Crest, a sea-horse. Motto, "Fortior vi virtus."
The above arms are painted on the portrait of a gentleman wearing a ruff, temp. James I., in the possession of my family, and I am anxious to ascertain who it represents.
F. J. B.
Winchester.
29. "History of Magnetical Discovery."
—In the Gentleman's Magazine for April 1840, I find the following notice:
"Thomas Stephens Davies, Esq., Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and Author of the History of Magnetical Discovery, &c. &c."
Being interested in all that concerns the late Mr. Davies, I shall feel much obliged to any one who will state where I can find the History here alluded to. I may add that I am acquainted with his papers on "Terrestrial Magnetism," published in the London Philosophical Transactions for 1835-6; but since they do not much partake of the character of "History," they can scarcely be the papers intended.
T. T. W.
Burley, Lancashire.
30. George Chalmers.
—Can any of your correspondents inform me what became of the MSS. of the late Mr. George Chalmers?
On the titles of many of the older poets and dramatists of Scotland I have met with his notes referring evidently to some MS. list of the lives of such writers in his possession. My inquiry has reference, therefore, more particularly to the MS. in question, which has not, I think, been published.
J. O.
31. Mistake as to an Eclipse.—
"Some," says Meric Casaubon, "have been deceived in the hour [of an eclipse], as in the eclipse that happened April 3, 1605; about which some very able artists are noted to have mistaken; and the reason is given by astronomers how such a mistake might happen."
Such is my "Note;" but I cannot just now give the reference. I will answer for its accuracy. Can any one give some account of that eclipse, and state the reasons alleged why "such a mistake might happen?"
VARRO.
32. Statue of Mrs. Jordan.
—In visiting Chantrey's studio some years since, in company with a sculptor still living, we received from Mr. Allan Cunningham a similar account to that which MR. PETER CUNNINGHAM has given, that is to say, that the design was Stodhart's, of which, indeed, it bore too certain evidence.
Chantrey was engaged at that time upon a colossal equestrian figure of Sir Thomas Picton, destined, I believe, for India. On that visit I was singularly impressed with the gracefulness and beauty of the statue of a female figure with three children; one was at her breast, and in the curled head of another at her feet was the mother's hand enfolded. On the pedestal of the statue was this inscription:
"Sacred to the memory of Norah Bland."
I learnt from Mr. Cunningham that this was the statue of Mrs. Jordan, and was executed for William IV., and that there was some difficulty respecting its place of reception. What is become of this noble work of art? The little boy amongst whose curls the mother's hand played, was the late Earl of Munster.
JAMES CORNISH.
Falmouth.
33. "A Posie of other Men's Flowers."
—Can any of your readers refer me to the following passage?—
"I have cull'd me a posie of other men's flowers, and nothing,
save the string that binds them, is mine own."
D. Q.
34. Sir Edmund Ployden or Plowden.
—I am desirous of obtaining information respecting Sir Edmund Ployden or Plowden, who (according to a tract published at Middleburg in Holland, in 1648, by a writer signing himself "Beauchamp Plantagenet") received a grant of land from the crown of England, covering portions of the present states of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Of this province, which was called New Albion, the grantee was "Lord Proprietor," "Earl Palatine," "Governor," and "Captain General." Your assistance I venture to ask, as this is a matter of historical interest here.
A TRANSATLANTIC READER.
Philadelphia, July, 1851.
35. Pope's Translations or Imitations of Horace (Vol. i., p. 230.).
—As you have, I hope, very largely increased the number of readers and contributors since I asked the question above referred to, and as it has as yet received no answer, I hope you will allow me to repeat it, in the hope that some of your new correspondents may be able to tell me what satirical "Imitation of Horace" can have been, so early as 1716, attributed to Pope?
I would also, on the same grounds, beg leave to repeat another question, formerly proposed by P. C. S. S. and by myself (Vol. i, pp. 201. 246.): What is the precise meaning of the last couplet of these lines of Pope:
"The hero William, and the martyr Charles,
One knighted Blackmore and one pensioned Quarles,
Which made old Ben and surly Dennis swear,
'No Lord's anointed, but a Russian bear.'"
That Pope had a precise meaning cannot be doubted; but I have never heard a reasonable guess at what it might be.
C.
36. John Bodley.
—Among the Parker MSS. in Corpus Library at Cambridge is a patent of Queen Elizabeth to John Bodeleigh to print the English Bible for seven years.
In the list of translators of the Bible in 1611, as given in the Introduction to Jameson's Glossary of the Holy Scriptures, appears the name "Burleigh, M.A.," but without any biographical notice, as in the other instances.
In Burn's Livre des Anglois à Génève, it is stated that John Bodleigh, the father of the celebrated Sir Thomas Bodley, was one of the translators of the Bible.
Can any of your readers throw light on the history of either of these men, or kindly point to any sources of information respecting them?
S. S. S.
37. Dr. Thomas Johnson.
—Can your readers give me any particulars of Dr. Thomas Johnson, the editor of Gerarde's Herbal? I do not require such information as I can obtain concerning him in Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, or Pulteney's Sketches of Botany; but I especially wish for some information relative to his place of burial, and whether there is any monumental or other record of its whereabout. He died from a wound he received during a sortie from Basing House on the 14th of September, 1644.
GAMMA.
38. "You Friend drink to me Friend."
—Can you inform me in what collection of glees I shall find an old one, the burden or chorus of which is—
"The more we love good liquor, the merrier we shall be?"
I think the first line is—
"You friend drink to me friend, and I friend drink to thee."
AN M. D.
39. The Latin Termination "aster."
—Can any of your correspondents tell me why the termination aster is used in a depreciatory sense in Latin, as poetaster, a bad poet; oleaster, the wild olive; pinaster, the wild pine? With regard to this latter substantive, I have seen the mistake made in a descriptive catalogue of the pine species, of calling this the star pine; but I have no doubt that it was named pinaster, as inferior to the stone pine, or Pinus pinea, which embellishes the Italian gardens, while the pinaster flourishes on the mountains and the sea-coast.
Probably other examples may be found where the terminal aster is used in a similar sense.
A BORDERER.
40. Portrait of Dryden.
—Can any of your correspondents or readers inform me where any undoubted original portrait of John Dryden is to be found? Malone, Dryden's biographer, enumerates seven or eight portraits, and he states where they were in 1800. I am aware that two are in the Bodleian Gallery at Oxford, the one stated by Malone "painter unknown;" and the other alleged to be by Kneller; but I do not consider the latter to be an original. I wish more particularly to know who has a half-length original portrait. Dryden was painted by Kneller, Closterman, and Riley.
BEVILLE.
41. Inscription on a Claymore out in 1745.
—On the retreat of the Highland army from England in 1746, Prince Charles Edward and his staff passed through Dumfries, and slept in a house now known as the Commercial Inn.
After their departure there was found a light claymore, apparently the property of an officer; and as it was never claimed, it remained in the house for some years, and ultimately came into my possession. It is formed of the finest tempered steel, and bears the following very curious inscription on one side,
☓ GOTT BEWAR DE;
and on the other,
☓ VERECHTE SCHOTTEN.
Some of your learned correspondents will oblige by giving a translation, and a reason for such an inscription on a Scottish sword.
T. M. W.
Liverpool.