Minor Queries.
93. Frederick Egmont; Peter (Egmont?).
—They appear as booksellers merely and only, so far as I can make out, because the promptorius puerorum, or medulla grammaticæ, printed by Pynson, in 1499, is said, in the colophon, to be at their expense. Neither Ames nor Dibdin gives any further evidence. The following is therefore worth a Note. It is from the ad lectorem (or rather, the adolescentibus studiosis) of the Multorum Vocabulorum equivocorum interpretatio Magistri Johannes de garlandia: Paris, 1502, 4to.
"Sed nihil tam arduum tamque difficile fuit quod labor improbus non vicerit. Ut videlicet mei amicissimo Fredericho Egmont morem gererem optatissimus: qui cum in vestra excellentissima anglie patria. Et librorum sit fidelissimus mercator et amicorum suorum amantissimus, nullum unque librum ex officina sua nisi perquam castigatus emittet."
Query, was F. Egmont a printer as well as a bookseller? Granting that officina means a shop, how can a mere bookseller sell none but correctly printed works? The writer of the above was himself a bookseller (Joh. Ant. Venetus).
Of Peter above-mentioned, or rather of his name, the following is the history:—The colophon of the promptorius, of which there is a copy in the Grenville Library, runs as follows "... in expensis virtuosorum virorum Frederici Egmont et Petri post pascha, anno domini MCCCC nonagessimo nono, decima v'a die mensis Maii." Hence Hain and others have entered Peter post Pascha as an English bookseller, presuming that the words post pascha cannot belong to the date, because the more definite day, "May 15," follows. But surely, among the varieties of the time when every man did what seemed good in his own eyes as to titles, colophons, &c., it may easily have happened that a double description of a part of the date may have occurred, one description containing more than the other. Query, Can any other instance be produced of this hypertautology? [6] At any rate, such a thing is more likely than that a bookseller should have been called Peter After-Easter. At the same time such whimsical things were done in the Latinization of names, both by their owners and by others for them, that no certain conclusion can be drawn. For example, more atrocious changes have been made than would be that of Easterby into post pascha.
M.
[6] [We are glad to supply our correspondent with another instance of hypertautology, and from a work in great demand during this part of the year. On the cover of Bradshaw's Railway Guide we read, "Eighth Month (August) 1st, 1851.">[
94. Unlucky for pregnant Women to take an Oath.
—In a police case, reported in The Times of the 28th of May, a woman was called as a witness who, however, upon the book being tendered to her, positively refused to be sworn, with the remark, that it must be evident to the magistrate that she could not take an oath. The usher of the court said that the woman was pregnant, and that low women who were in that situation, entertained an absurd belief that it was unlucky to take an oath. What is the origin of this superstition? Is it common amongst the uneducated classes of society?
COWGILL.
95. Cockroach (Vol. i., p. 194.).
—Having seen in "NOTES AND QUERIES" some interesting particulars on the subject of beetle mythology, I am induced to put a Query as to the derivation of the word "cockroach." The common appellation for this insect in the French islands is ravet, but the more correct one is kakerlaque. Does the affinity in sound between this latter term and "cockroach," slight though it be, warrant the supposition that the one may be derived from the other?
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, May, 1851.
96. Felton.
—What has become of the letter said to have been found in Felton's hat when he stabbed the Duke of Buckingham? Upcott once had it, but it did not appear in the sale catalogue of his collection.
??
97. Date of a Charter.
—Having been in the habit of making frequent consultations to the MSS. in the British Museum respecting the county of Wilts, I found a charter temp. Henry III., the date of which is given as "Thursday next after the day whereon the King sent his daughter into Sicily!"
It is now three years since I last saw the original, and having mislaid my transcript, I quote from memory; but I believe I am correct in my rendering from the Latin.
Can you, through the medium of your valuable publication, fix with accuracy this date, as I have not been able to do so.
J. T. HAND.
29. Threadneedle Street, Aug. 13. 1851.
98. Thomas Tusser the "Husbandman."
—Has any new evidence been discovered to prove the correct dates of the birth and decease of this "old English worthy?" On his own authority we learn that Rivenhall, near Witham in Essex, was the place of his nativity, and his remains were interred (about 1580?) in St. Mildred's church in the Poultry. Are any particulars known of Sir Richard Southwell, one of Tusser's patrons?
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
99. Godfrey Higgins' Works.
—Have the works of Godfrey Higgins (the Celtic Druids and the Anacalypsis) ever been reviewed, and where? if not, can any of your readers inform me what is the opinion generally entertained of these productions?
OUTIS.
100. Noctes Templariæ.
—In turning over yesterday a MS. volume in the University Library, I met with a tract of 8 pp., with the title, Noctes Templariæ: a Briefe Chronicle of the darke Raigne of the bright Prince of burning Love. Stradilan is the name of the principal character in this most mad composition. As to the author, I shall be glad to receive information from those better acquainted with the fugitive literature of the seventeenth century than
W. R. C.
Cambridge.
101. Commissioners on Officers of Justice in England.
—On July 27th, 1733, commissioners were appointed to survey the officers of justice in England and Wales, and to inquire into their fees. Will any of your learned readers inform me whether these commissioners made any report of the returns of fees which they received in pursuance of their commission, and where is such report or returns deposited? This inquiry may lead to some important results.
INQUIRER.
102. Marcus Ælius Antoninus.
—Can you or any of your correspondents inform me what writer is concealed under the pseudonyme of Marcus Ælius Antoninus, in the following title?
"De scripto quodam cleri secundarii et leguleorum cololiensium planè detestabili, adversus Evangelii doctrinam et ordines Imperii nuper edito Querela Marci Ælii Antonini Imperatoris, qui Philosophus à bonis literis magna laude cognominatus est. 1543."
TYRO.
Dublin.
103. Derivation of Pic-nic.
—Can any of your subscribers inform me of the derivation of the word "Pic-nic?"
A. F. S.
Nottingham, Aug. 12.
104. Sir Thomas More's Knighthood.
—I should, be glad of the date when the honour of knighthood was conferred on this eminent man and also the date of his admission into the privy council. If I am rightly informed, the records of the privy council are preserved only since 1540.
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT
105. Portrait of Mandeville, author of the Fable of "The Bees."
—Could any of your numerous readers inform me whether there is in existence any authenticated portrait of Dr. Bernard de Mandeville, author of the fable of "The Bees?" I have made a fruitless search for several years past.
B. G.
106. Dingle, early History of.
—Any references to works, MS. or printed, containing notices of the early history of Dingle and its neighbourhood, in the county of Kerry, Ireland, will much oblige.
R. H.
107. Ancient Egypt, Language of.
—What are the best standard works on the study of the language of ancient Egypt, as preserved in its monuments? What are the best works on its chronology? What translations exist of its "Ritual of the Dead?" I am acquainted with Lepsius Todtenbuch. What MSS. of it, if any, are preserved in British museums or libraries? have they been collated? I am acquainted with that in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, formerly in possession of the late Lord Kingsborough, which, I believe, has never been even lithographed; though among the members of that university are a Hincks, a Wall, and a Butcher.
S. P. H. T.
108. Dr. Matthew Sutcliffe.
—None of the biographers of the famous Dr. Matthew Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter, the controversial writer, and founder of Chelsea College, state where he was born, or where interred. Faulkner, in his History of Chelsea, observes that he was probably a native of Devonshire; but there appears to be some ground for considering that he was of a family settled at Mayroyd, in the parish of Halifax in Yorkshire. In a conveyance of the estate, dated 29th January, 1581, the grantor is Matthew Sutcliffe, "Doctor of Civil Law, dwelling in London." He was of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Doctor of Civil Law: he died in 1629. In his will he desires to be buried in Exeter Cathedral. Probably the inscription on his tombstone, if still existing, might settle this uncertainty. I shall feel obliged to any of your correspondents who can throw any light on the subject.
JAMES CROSSLEY.
109. Names first given to Parishes.
—Is there any means of ascertaining the time at which names were first given to parishes? and can any reason be given for the recurrence of one termination in a particular locality? Thus between Caistor and Brigg in Lincolnshire, a distance of about nine miles, there are, I understand, the several parishes or hamlets of Clixby, Fonaby, Grassby, Ownby, Searby, Bigby, Barnetby, Wrawby, and there are many others in the neighbourhood. Of course, I know the meaning of by, as a termination; but I wish to know why it occurs so often in one locality, when perhaps a few miles off you have as many hams or thorpes.
Can you suggest any probable derivation of Swinhop?
F. B.
Leamington.
110. German Testament.
—What is the most literal German translation of the New Testament? Is the translation published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1844 to be depended on?
A. G.
111. The Man of Law.
—Who was the author of the following lines quoted by Mr. Serjeant Byles a short time since?—
"The man of law, who never saw,
The way to buy or sell,
Shall never rise, by merchandise,
Or ever speed him well."
They may not be quite correct, as I write from memory.
W. W. KING.
112. The Termination "Ship."
—What is the origin of the termination ship, in such words as consulship, prætorship, lordship, and others?
A. W. H.
113. Nullus and Nemo.
—I have two old quarto tracts, of eight pages each, printed, as seems both by the type and by an allusion contained in one of them, between 1520 and 1530, or thereabouts. They are part of a satirical controversy, the subject of which is very obscure, between Nemo of Wittemberg, and Nullus of Leipsic. Though printed, we must suppose, at the two places, the opponents have evidently clubbed for a woodcut to be common to the two title-pages.
In this cut an unfortunate householder stands in an attitude of despair, surrounded by what are as much in our day as in his the doings of nobody, as broken crockery, hardware, &c. In the distance his kitchen is visible, in which two nobodies are busy with his meat and wine. A young woman is carrying an infant to the priest to be baptized; and from the way in which the worthy man holds up his finger, we may fear she has just confessed that it is nobody's child. Can any of your readers give any information?
M.
114. The noblest Object of the Work of Art.
—Can any of your readers discover the answer to the adjoining riddles which I have met with, though I neither know its author nor answer?—
"The noblest object of the work of art,
The brightest gem that nature can impart,
The point essential in the tenant's lease,
The well-known signal in the time of peace,
The farmer's comfort when he holds the plough,
The soldier's duty and the lover's vow,
The planet seen between the earth and sun,
The prize that merit never yet hath won,
The miser's idol and the badge of Jews,
The wife's ambition and the parson's dues.
If now your noble spirit can divine,
A corresponding word for every line,
By the first letters plainly will be shown,
An ancient city of no small renown."
A. W. H.
115. Poulster.
—Can any one inform me if I am right in supposing that this word, used in the reign of George I. as an addition expressing trade, is the same as our upholsterer?
D. X.