Replies to Minor Queries.

Song of "Miss Bailey" (Vol. v., p. 248.).

—I think I am certain that when I first heard of the song of "Miss Bailey," which was about 1805, it was as having been sung in the farce of Love laughs at Locksmiths.

C. B.

Fern Storms (Vol. v., p. 242.).

—In Colonel Reid's Law of Storms, p. 483. et seq., 2nd edition, accounts are given of the violent whirlwind produced by fires. It maybe supposed that in former times they were on a larger scale than at present, and, from the great force described, they might have affected the weather at least, when on the turn already.

C. B.

The last of the Paleologi (Vol v., p. 173.).

—All that was known respecting the descendants J. L. C. will find in an article relating to the family in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries, Archæologia, vol. xviii. pp. 84-104.

"Whipping Graves" (Vol v., p. 247.).

—CYRUS REDDING will find that the "Ritus Absolvendi jam mortuum" in the modern Rituale Romanum (Mechliniæ, 1848), is performed exactly according to his description.

G. A. T.

Withyham.

Rev. John Paget (Vol. iv., p. 133.; Vol. v., p. 66.).

—CRANMORE'S inquiry has not been fully answered, nor am I able to point out the precise degree of relationship between John Paget and the editor of his works, Thomas Paget. The latter became incumbent of Blackley, near Manchester, about the year 1605, having been placed in that chapelry chiefly through the efforts of the Rev. William Bourne, B.D., a native of Staffordshire, who had married a kinswoman of Lord Burleigh, and who was for many years an influential Fellow of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. (See Hollingworth's Mancuniensis, pp. 106, 107.) In 1617 Thomas Paget was cited before Morton, Bishop of Chester, for nonconformity; and shortly afterwards he was convened before Bishop Bridgeman on the same ground. He is styled at this time "the good old man" (Brook's Lives, vol. ii. p. 293.), although he lived at least forty years afterwards. In the delightful Autobiography of Henry Newcome, M.A., the Presbyterian Minister of Manchester, edited for the Chetham Society by the Rev. Canon Parkinson, D.D. (2 vols. 4to. 1852), are several interesting notices of Mr. Thomas Paget. He is mentioned as "old Mr. Pagit, late of Blakeley," in 1658, and seems to have had the rectory of Stockport in 1659, although Richard Baxter spoke of him in 1656 as "old and sickly," and then living at Shrewsbury. He was well known, says the amiable Newcome, "as a man of much frowardness," and able to create "much unquietness;" but Baxter hoped, "not altogether so morose as some report him."

F. R. R.

Old Scots March, &c. (Vol. v., p. 235.).

—I happen to have the score of one of the tunes inquired after by E. N., namely, Port Athol, as given by the late Edward Bunting, in his collection of Irish airs, under the name of the "Hawk of Ballyshannon." It was composed by a famous Irish harper named Rory Dal O'Cahan, the Rory Dal of Sir Walter Scott's Legend of Montrose, who visited Scotland in the reign of James VI., and ultimately died there. He was the author of the Ports or tunes called Port Gordon, Port Lennox, M'Leods Supper, Port Athol, Give me your hand, The Lame Beggar, &c. &c. It has often struck me that this last tune is the origin from whence the air called Jock o' Hazledean was drawn. It is almost the same.

FRANCIS CROSSLEY.

Sir R. Howard's "Conquest of China" (Vol. v., p. 225.).

—Dryden, in his letters to his sons, writes:

"After my return to town, I intend to alter a play of Sir Robert Howard's, written long since, and lately put into my hands: 'tis called The Conquest of China by the Tartars. It will cost me six weeks' study, with the probable benefit of an hundred pounds."

The Biographia Dramatica states that this play was never acted or printed.

C. I. R.

Mary Howe (Vol. v., p. 226.).

—Mary Howe was probably one of the three daughters of Scrope, first Viscount Howe, by his second wife, Juliana, daughter of William Lord Allington. She was, in 1720, appointed a maid of honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales; and in 1725 married Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, whom she survived, as well as her second husband, John Mordaunt, a brother of Charles, Earl of Peterborough. She died in 1749 s. p.

BRAYBROOKE.

Dutch Chronicle of the World (Vol. v., p. 54.).

—"Historische Chronica. Mit Merianischen Kupfern. viii. Theile. Frankf. 1630. sqq. in 4. Hæc editio propter elegantiam figurarum rara est. Bibl. Solger. ii. p. 298."—Bauer. Bibl. Libror. Rariorum.

"Historische Chronica, &c., folio. Francf. 1657.

"—— 3 vol. fol. Francf. 1743, 45 and 59."—Bibliothecæ Regiæ Catalogus (in Mus. Brit.) s. v. Abelinus.

"Abelin John Philip, an historian, born at Strasburgh, died 1646; often known by the name of John Louis Gottfried, or Gothofredus. Historical Chronicle from the beginning of the World to the year 1619; being a number of plates by Merian, with letter-press descriptive of them."—Watt's Bibl. Brit.

The life of Merian is given by Sandrart, in his Academia Artis Pictoriæ. Strutt, in his Dictionary of Engravers, neglects to mention that Matthæus Merianus Basileensis was employed at Nancy, together with Brentel, A.D. 1608, in designing Pompæ (funebres) Caroli III. Lotharingiæ Ducis. They are etched in a slight style, but with great spirit. The procession consists of a great many plates: these, bound up together with the description, make a large folio volume. I bought a copy six years ago. Can any of your readers inform me whether there is another in England?

BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.

Thistle of Scotland (Vol. i., pp. 24. 90. 166.).

—I have just accidentally stumbled upon my promised note on this subject; and as it appears to be entirely different from any yet offered to you, I gladly send it for the information of your correspondents. I copied it from an old scrap-book:

"The Scotch Thistle.—The origin of the national badge is thus handed down by tradition:—When the Danes invaded Scotland it was deemed unwarlike to attack an enemy in the darkness of night, instead of a pitched battle by day: but, on one occasion the invaders resolved to avail themselves of stratagem; and in order to prevent their tramp from being heard, they marched barefooted. They had thus neared the Scottish force unobserved, when a Dane unluckily stepped with his foot upon a superbly prickled thistle, and uttered a cry of pain, which discovered the assailants to the Scots, who ran to their arms, and defeated the foe with great slaughter. The thistle was immediately adopted as the insignia of Scotland."

R. H.

Bull the Barrel (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—The practice of "bulling the barrel" or "cask," as mentioned by C. FORBES, is an every-day occurrence in the Navy. As soon as a rum cask is emptied, a few gallons of water are put into the cask (and it is struck down again into the spirit-room); this is done to keep the wood moist, and prevent it from shrinking, so as to keep the cask water-tight: this is called "bulling the cask;" and from the water receiving after some time a strong impregnation, which makes it really strong grog, salt water is used, though even the "salt-water bull," as it is called, when again poured out, has often proved too attractive for seamen to resist. Again, it is common to talk in the same way of "bulling a tea-pot," coffee-pot, &c.; that is, after the first "brew" has been exhausted, by adding fresh water, and boiling over again, to make a "second brew" from the old materials. This probably was derived from "bulling the cask;" but whether the "bulling" originally applied to the preserving the water-tight qualities of the cask, or to the making the "second brew," I cannot pretend to say, though I should define the present acceptation of the term "bulling" to be "the obtaining an impregnation from that which had been already used."

G. M. T. R. N.

Bishop Kidder's Autobiography (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—Mr. Bowles, in the introduction to his Life of Bishop Ken, vol. i. p. xi. (Lond. 1830), expresses his thanks to the late Bishop of Bath and Wells "for the information contained in the MS. life of Ken's successor, Bishop Kidder;" and adds:

"This work, never printed, is a very curious and valuable document, preserved in the episcopal palace of Wells."

J. C. R.

Which are the Shadows? (Vol. v., p. 196.).

—The story is told as of Wilkie at the Escurial by Southey in The Doctor, vol. iii. p. 235.; also, with a fine compliment to the "British Painter," by Wordsworth, in one of the pieces published with Yarrow Revisited (1835, pp. 305-6.). The coincidence with the note by Mr. Rogers—to whom, by the way, Wordsworth's volume is dedicated—has long perplexed me. One is unwilling to suppose that the touching words ascribed to the two monks were a stock speech common to aged monks who have such pictures to show; but what better explanation is there? I believe that the first edition of Italy appeared, not in 1830, as your correspondent supposes, but in 1822. Is the story to be found in that edition?

J. C. R.

Welsh Names "Blaen" (Vol. v., p. 128.).

—Although my acquaintance with the language of the Cymri is very limited, I think that a knowledge of the cognate Erse or Gaelic enables me to make a shrewd guess at the meaning of the word Blaen, prefixed to the names of so many farms in Wales. The Gaelic word Baile, pronounced Ballé, signifies a town—the Scotch toun—or farm, and, with the preposition an or na—Anglicè of—is written Baile'n, pronounced Ballen: this, I think, is probably the same word as Blaen, and means, being interpreted, "the farm of." In the examples given by your correspondent α, the words affixed to Blaen are descriptive; many of them scarcely differ in sound from their Gaelic synonyms e.g. Blaen-awen is the Gaelic Baile'n abhuinn, pronounced Ballen avine, Ang. "the farm on, or of the river;" Blaen-argy—Gaelic, Baile'n airgiod, "the silver farm," or perhaps 'n arguin, of strife; Blaen-angell—Gaelic, Baile'n aingeal, "angel farm"; Blaen-y-foss—Gaelic, Baile-na-fois, pronounced f[=o]sh, and synonymous with the Dutch lust, "leisure or pleasure farm;" and Blaen-nefern—Gaelic, Baile-na-fearn, "alder farm." In England these farms or towns would have been called respectively, Riverton, Silverton, Alderston, and so on. The same word, generally spelt Bally, forms part of the name of a very large proportion of the small towns and farms in Ireland.

W. A. C.

Ormsary.

The Verb "to commit" (Vol. v., p. 125.).

—The verb to commit, in the sense used by Junius, was employed by Lord Chesterfield so far back as the year 1757. In a letter to his son (Nov. 26), his lordship, after instructing Mr. Stanhope what to say to one of the foreign ministers, directs him to send to his own court an account of what he had done:

"Tell them you thought the measure of such great importance that you could not help taking this little step towards bringing it about, but that you mentioned it only from yourself, and that you have not committed them by it."

Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his Son were not published until 1774, which will account for Walker ascribing to Junius the merit of introducing into the English language the French signification of the verb to commit.

WILLIAM CRAMP.

Beócera-gent (Vol. v., p. 201.).

—As I asked a question relating to the Irish, perhaps I may be allowed the so-called Irish mode of answering it myself.

Beócherie is evidently derived from Beóceraige, the islet of bee-hives, or bee-keepers (who were regularly appointed officers in Saxon England); but as I was utterly at a loss for the word gent, I requested the opinion of Dr. Lèo, from whom I have received the following satisfactory reply:—

"The word gent seems to be the same word as our German gante, and the Scottish gauntree; i.e. a tree which forms a stand for barrels, hives, &c. In several parts of Germany, where the culture of bees has, from distant periods, been carried on extensively, the hives are transported from one place to another according to the seasons: now in the forests, when the pine-trees are in flower; now in the fields, when the rape blossoms; then again in the woods, when the heather blossoms; and at last, when winter approaches, in the barn. A tree forms the stand for the bee-hive, and thatch protects it from the rain. Such a tree seems to be the beócera-gent.

"In an old Glossary, the old high-German word, gantmari, is interpreted as tignarius (i.e. faber tignarius, a carpenter). This word presupposes another word gant, a beam or a rafter, probably equivalent to your Ang.-Sax. gent; and thus beócera-gent would be a beam upon which to stand bee-hives."

The question still remains, Why was the islet in question called Parva Hibernia?

B. WILLIAMS.

The Lodge, Hillingdon.

New Zealand Legend (Vol. v., p. 27.).

—This strange legend reminds me of the fine passage in Caractacus, of which I know not whether it is an original conception, or taken from any author:—

"Masters of wisdom! No: my soul confides

In that all-healing and all-forming Power,

Who, on the radiant day when Time was born,

Cast his broad eye upon the wild of ocean,

And calm'd it with a glance; then, plunging deep

His mighty arm, pluck'd from its dark domain

This throne of freedom, lifted it to light,

Girt it with silver cliffs, and call'd it Britain;

He did, and will preserve it."

C. B.

Twenty-seven Children (Vol. v., p. 126.).

—To E. D.'s Query, "whether there is any well-authenticated instance of a woman having had more than twenty-five children?" something like a reply will be found in the following paragraph, which formed one of a series of "Curious Extracts," in the Edinburgh Antiquarian Magazine (1848):—

"'Extraordinary Number of Children.—The following extraordinary, yet well-attested fact, is copied from Brand's History of Newcastle, lately published. The fact is mentioned and corroborated by a quotation from an Harleian MS. No. 980-87. A weaver in Scotland had, by one wife, a Scotch woman, sixty-two children, all living till they were baptized; of whom four daughters only lived to be women, but forty-six sons attained to man's estate. In 1630, Joseph Delavel, Esq., of Northumberland, rode thirty miles beyond Edinburgh, to be satisfied of the truth of this account, when he found the man and woman both living; but at that time had no children abiding with them. Sir John Bowes and three other gentlemen having, at different periods, taken each ten in order to bring them up; the rest also being disposed of. Three or four of them were at that period (1630) at Newcastle.'—European Magazine, Dec. 1786."

But, of course, the question still arises, can this wonderful instance be recognised as "a well-attested fact?"

R. S. F.

Perth.

In Wanley's Wonders of the Little Moral World (London, 1806), vol. i. p. 76., will be found several instances of numerous families by one mother; in one case (No. 27.) fifty-seven children; and in another (No. 6.), no less than seventy-three! Your correspondent can refer to the authorities, which are also given. The authenticity of one of the cases mentioned (No. 23.) will probably be easily ascertained, as it is said to be the copy of an inscription in the churchyard of Heydon in Yorkshire, to the following effect:—

"Here lieth the body of William Strutton of Padrington, buried the 18th of May, 1734, aged ninety-seven, who had by his first wife twenty-eight children, and by a second wife seventeen; was father to forty-five, grandfather to eighty-six, great-grandfather to ninety-seven, and great-great-grandfather to twenty-three—in all 251."—Gent. Mag. Aug. 1731.

There appears to be some mistake in the reference, and I may mention that I have not been able to find the epitaph in Mr. Urban's pages with the assistance of the general index.[8]

E. N.

[8] [It occurs in the October number of 1734, p. 571.—ED.]

Reeve and Muggleton (Vol. v., pp. 80. 236.).

—One of the handsomest quartos of our day, both in typography and engravings, is, Two Systems of Astronomy: first, the Newtonian System ... second, the System in accordance with the Holy Scriptures ... by Isaac Frost, London, 4to., 1846 (Simpkin and Marshall). This work is Muggletonian, and contains some extracts from The Divine Looking-Glass of the Third Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Reeve and Muggleton. I request your readers to draw no inference from the letter with which I sign my communications.

Black Book of Paisley (Vol. v., pp. 201.).

—In reply to ABERDONIENSIS, I beg to inform him that the "Maitland Club" (Glasgow) circulated as the contribution of the Earl of Glasgow in the year 1832 a very handsome volume, entitled Registrum Monasterii de Passelet, M.C.LXIII-M.D.XXIX. to which there was prefixed an highly interesting prefatory notice and illustrative notes, in which it is there stated—

"That it may be proper to correct a popular mistake regarding another record connected with the Monastery of Paisley. The Black Book of Paisley, quoted by Buchanan and our earlier historians, and which (having disappeared) was raised by later antiquaries into undue importance as a distinct and original chronicle, was nothing more than a copy of Fordun (Scotichronicon), with Bowers' Continuation. It appears to have been acquired by Thomas Lord Fairfax, but when Gale and Hearne wrote, had already been deposited in the Royal Library, where it is still preserved. (13. E. X.) Hearne particularly notices the inscription on this volume: 'Iste liber est Sancti Jacobi et Sancti Mirini de Pasleto.'—Præfatio ad Fordun, p. lxvi."

T. G. S.

Edinburgh.

Pasquinades (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—I have had these Italian lines in my MS. book for many years as an "Epigram on Bonaparte's Legion of Honor." If of earlier date, and another origin, they have been made good use of by the would-be wits of the day, as a quiz upon Napoleon's honorary badge.

HERMES.

Elegy on Coleman (Vol. v., p. 137.).

—The Elegy on Coleman I have seen paraphrased or travestied, and thus attributed to Dryden, who, not being able to pay his wine-merchant's bill, was told, on dining with this creditor, in the exhilaration of his cups, that if he (Dryden) would improvise four lines expressive of pleasure to God, to the Devil, to the World, and to the Merchant, the debt would be forgiven. Instantly, therefore, the poet extemporised the following verses, sufficiently redolent of their inspiring source:

"God is pleased when we abstain from sin;

The devil is pleas'd when we remain therein;

The world is pleas'd with good wine,

And you're pleased when I pay for mine."

J. R.

Cork.

Liber Conformitatum, &c. (Vol. v., p. 202.).

—On the Liber Conformitatum, I confidently assert, from accurate inquiry, that no edition preceded that of 1510, nor is there any authority for the alleged one of Venice. A long account of this most disedifying volume will be found in DeBure's Bibliographie Instructive, No. 4540. I am in possession of the second edition in 1511, perfectly identical in the text. Its absurdity is equal to its obvious, though not intended, blasphemy; for it is written in genuine simplicity of design. I have likewise the Alcorand des Cordeliers, with the second book by Conrad Badius, the son of Jodocus Badius Ascencius, a native of Belgium, but one of the early Parisian printers, and author himself of various works. The title of my edition of the Alcoran, printed at Geneva, 1575, differs from that of 1586, but necessarily of the same import, and quite as prolix.

J. R.

Cork.

Grimesdyke; Grimes Graves (Vol. v., p. 231.).

—As J. F. F. has repeated Blomefield's account of these curious pits (commonly known as Grimes Graves, in Weeting parish, Norfolk), it is right to add some more recent information respecting them. An investigation was made there last month, by digging a trench through the middle of a pit, and at the depth of about three feet an oval fire-place of flints was discovered, containing numerous bones of oxen, &c. One of the smaller pits was then similarly treated, and we found the same proofs of habitation. No stone implements were discovered, but further researches may bring some to light. Blomefield's statement that it is a Danish camp is quite without foundation, and his "form of a quincunx," in which he supposed the pits to be, could have existed only in his own imagination, stimulated by the learned labours of Sir Thomas Browne. There can be no doubt now that they were dwellings of the British, similar to the pits on the coast at Weybourne. That Grime was a Danish leader, "Præpositus," &c., is also open to doubt. When so many British earthworks are designated by this name, what is more likely than that the Saxons, not knowing whose hands had erected them, superstitiously ascribed them to the grim spirit, the Devil?—whence Grimsdyke, the Devil's ditch, &c. Neither this opinion, however, nor Mr. Guest's (a "boundary") seems applicable to a Hundred, as Grimeshoo, unless as being so full of Grime's operations.

C. R. M.

Junius and the Quarterly Review again (Vol. v., p. 225.).

—I confess that I could draw quite a different conclusion from that of CAROLUS CURSITOR respecting Junius's single misspelt mention of Lord Lyttleton's name. If, as the reviewer argues (supposing I remember the article correctly), the Hon. Thomas Lyttleton only once mentioned his father, in order to prevent public attention settling on himself as the author of Junius's Letters, it seems to me to be in unison with such artifice, that he should have purposely made a slight error in spelling the name. But is the writer, and not the printer, responsible for this blunder?

ALFRED GATTY.

Ink (Vol. v., p. 151.).

—A learned Cambridge professor, who has been a V.P.R.S., once related to me the following anecdote, in reference to the celebrated and most practical philosopher, the late Dr. Wollaston. In the rooms of the Royal Society the Doctor chanced to mention that he could not, for the life of him, discover the composition of the rich black pigment used by the ancient Egyptians in their inscriptions on the mummy cases. He had analysed it over and over again, and invariably found animal matter present. How was this? "Why," observed a member, to the grievous annoyance of the somewhat self-opinioned Doctor, "they used the ink of the (Sepia officinalis) cuttle-fish." This most remarkable excretion is of the deepest black hue; and that it retains its peculiar qualities unimpaired, even after being buried beneath the chalk formation of this earth of our's for unnumbered periods, is proved in the case of the well-known fossil ink of Dean Buckland. I know not whether or no this will answer the Query of MR. W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

COWGILL.

Maps of Africa (Vol. v., p. 236.).

—AJAX is informed that the best map of Morocco that has probably appeared is given in the volume of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie, entitled "L'Empire de Maroc par Berbrugger." An excellent map of Algeria by R. H. Dufour, is published at a moderate price by Longuet, 8. Rue de la Paix, Paris. The date on my copy is 1850; it forms one of a series of maps issued by the same parties, and forming an Atlas of Algeria. I add from the Leipzig Catalogue (1849, viertes Heft) the title of a work which may assist AJAX in his labours. Though I have not examined the work myself, I know it to be of some repute. The author now forms one of the mission for exploring Central Africa:

"Barth Dr. Heinr. Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer d. Mittelmeers, ausgeführt in den J. 1845, 1846 u. 1847. In 2 Bdn 1 Bd A.u.d. T.: Wanderungen durch das Punische u. Kyrenäische Küstenland od. Màg'reb, Afrik'ia u. Bark'a. Mit 1 (lith. u. illum.) Karte (in Imp. fol.) gr. 8. Berlin, Hertz."

The travels of Dr. Barth had especial reference to the discovery and identification of ancient localities.

NORTHMAN.

Learned Men of the Name of Bacon (Vol. iii., pp. 41. 151.; Vol. v., p. 181.).

—To this list may be added that of a learned lady, namely, of the Lady Ann Bacon (Cooke), second wife of the Lord Keeper, and mother of the Lord Chancellor. She translated, from the Italian of Bernardine Achine, Twenty-five Sermons, published about 1550.

Sir Nathaniel Bacon, the painter, was the youngest son of Nicholas, the eldest son of the Lord Keeper, and consequently the latter's grandson. This Nicholas, of Redgrave, Suffolk, was High Sheriff of Norfolk, 1597, and represented the same county in the parliament of 1603. He was the first person created a baronet; and from him are descended the Bacons of Redgrave, Suffolk, afterwards of Great Ryburgh, Garboldisham, Gillingham, and now of Raveningham, Norfolk, premier baronets of England.

There are engraved portraits of Lady Ann Bacon, and of Sir Nathaniel the painter.

COWGILL.

Paring the Nails (Vol. iii., p. 462.; Vol. v., p 142.).

—In reference to the superstitious practices in question, the readers of the Prose Edda, many of whose traditions still survive amongst us, will remember what it is therein narrated concerning the ship Naglfar. Amongst the terror-fraught prodigies preceding Ragnarök, or the Twilight of the Gods, and the Conflagration of the Universe, we are informed that "on the waters floats the ship Naglfar, which is constructed of the nails of dead men. For which reason," it is said, "great care should be taken to die with pared nails; for he who dies with his nails unpared, supplies materials for the building of this vessel, which both gods and men wish may be finished as late as possible." Of this ship, the more ancient and poetical Völn-spà also speaks in something like the following terms:—

"A keel from distant East is nearing,

Pilotted by Loki's hand,

Muspellheimr's children bearing,—

Sea-borne comes that horrid band!

With the wolf to join, are speeding,

In a grim and gaunt array,

Monster-forms 'neath Loki's leading,—

Byleist's brother leads the way."

COWGILL.

Mottoes on Dials.

—I have not seen the following motto noticed either in your pages or elsewhere. I quote it from memory, as I recollect reading it many years ago on the sun-dial in front of the Hospice on the summit of the Mont Cenis:

"Tempore nimboso securi sistile gradum—

Ut mihi sic vobis hora quietis erit."

J. E. T.

Mispronounced Names of Places (Vol. v., p. 196.).

—Allow me to add to P. M. M.'s list:

Spelling.	Pronunciation.
North-brook-end (Cambridgeshire)	Nobacken.
Mountnessing (Essex)	Moneyseen.
Brookhampton (Glostershire)	Brockington.
Barnstaple	Barum.
Crediton	Kirton.
Penrith	Perith.
Brougham	Broome.
Birmingham	Brummagem.

It is hardly worth while to mention the larger tribe of contractions, such as Alsford for Alresford, Wilsden for Willesden, Harfordwest for Haverfordwest; nor the class of derivations from the Roman Castrum, as Uxeter for Uttoxeter, Toster for Towcester, and the like.

The railroads are correcting these grosser errors wherever they fall in with them. I remember a few years ago, being at Gloster, and intending to take the train to Cisiter, as I had always called it. "Oh!" said the porter, with quite the air of a Lingo, "you mean Ci-ren-cester." But I believe the good folks of the neighbourhood still stick to Aberga'ny and Cisiter.

P. M. M.'s appeal to your Scotch and Irish correspondents will I think produce little. In Scotland, names are generally pronounced as written, with a few exceptions, such as Enbro' and Lithgow, and perhaps a few others: but in Ireland I do not remember a single instance of the corruption of a name; though certainly the Irish might be forgiven if they had contracted or mollified such names as Drumcullagher, Ballaghaddireen, Moatagreenoque, and Tamnaughtfinlaggan. The English are, I believe, the only people who habitually clip proper names of persons or places, but I think it is also the only language in which the spelling of words does not afford a general guide for their pronunciation. No other language that I know anything of can afford such anomalies as are to be found, for instance, in rough, cough, lough, plough, dough, through, &c. &c.

The following are such names of places as have come within my observation:—

Spelling.	Pronunciation.
Happisburgh	Ha'sboro'.
Wormegay	Rungay.
Sechehithe	Setchey.
Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen[9]	Maudlin.
Babingley	Beverley.
Methwold	Muell.
Northwold	Nordell.
Hockwold cum Wilton	Hockold-Wilts.

[9] By the last word this place is named to distinguish it from others beginning with the word "Wiggenhall."

J. N. C.

"There's ne'er a villain," &c. (Vol. v., p. 242.).

—In support of A. E. B., with whose view I entirely concur, it may be added that villain and knave do not make the proposition such a truism as Horatio (who is not intended for a conjuror, much less a verbal critic) admits it to be. Alexander the Great has been called a villain and a robber, but never a knave or a thief. By the Rule of Three, villain: robber:: knave: thief. As a truism, intended by Hamlet before the first line was spoken, it is not good enough for Hamlet's wit. But, supposing the second line invented, pro re natâ, to cover the retreat of the disclosure which was advancing in the first line, it is just what might have suggested itself—for Hamlet's uncle was both villain and knave.