Minor Queries.
The Book of Nicholas Leigh.
—Some twenty or thirty years since a gentleman named Abraham Roth resided in London, having in his possession a manuscript of the early part of the seventeenth century bearing the above title, and relating to the history and internal polity of the town of Kilkenny. It is frequently quoted by Dr. Ledwich in his Antiquities of Kilkenny and Irishtown. Mr. Roth subsequently deceased in London, and it is believed his books and other effects were sold there.
Qy. Is The Book of Nicholas Leigh known to any of the correspondents or readers of "N. & Q.?"
JAMES GRAVES.
Kilkenny.
Gabriel Harvey's Notes on Chaucer.
—It appears by a note of Park's in Warton's Poetry, vol. iii. p. 86. (ed. 1840), that Bishop Percy had in his possession a copy of Speght's Chaucer, in which was a note by Gabriel Harvey to the effect that some of Heywood's Epigrams were supposed to be "conceits and devices of pleasant Sir Thomas More." Is the copy of Speght in existence, and where? If it contain many notes by Harvey, they would probably prove to be worth recording.
PHILO CHAUCER.
The Cholera and the Electrometer.
—During the late visitation of cholera, observations were made tending to establish a relation between the state of the Electrometer and the quotidian fluctuations of the disease.
Where can any authentic account of these observations be found, and what is the name of the observer?
T. J.
Terre Isaac.
—Can I be referred to any source of information respecting Isaac, mentioned in Domesday Book as holding lands in Norfolk of the gift of the Conqueror, and whether he had any descendants?
G. A. C.
Daundelyon.
—One of the earliest Queries kindly inserted in Vol. i., p. 92., requesting information regarding the legend and tradition of the tenor bell at Margate, being still unanswered, be pleased to append as a note the following lines from a descriptive poem called The Margate Guide, 1797, by the late Mr. Zechariah Cozens, an esteemed local antiquary, now buried within its sound:
"But on the north John Daundelyon lies,
Whose wondrous deeds our children yet surprise;
Still at his feet his faithful dog remains,
Who with his master equal notice claims;
For by their joint exertions legends tell,
They brought from far the ponderous tenor bell."
"Note.—Concerning this bell the inhabitants repeat this traditionary rhyme:
"John de Daundelyon with his great dog,
Brought over this bell upon a mill cog."
Page 31.
E. D.
Mallet's Death and Burial.
—Where did Mallet the poet die, and where was he buried?
F.
Classical Quotations in Grotius.
—I have been told that Grotius quoted from memory alone when writing his Commentary; is this possible, considering the number and variety of the quotations? One thing is certainly very remarkable, and goes some way towards favouring this notion, viz., in many of the quotations there are mistakes,—words are inserted, or rather substituted for others, but without destroying the sense. This I have frequently observed myself; but the observation applies only, as far as I know, to the poetical quotations;—may he not have quoted the poetry from memory, and, for the prose, had recourse to the original?
L. G.
The Authorised Version.
—You have allowed some discussion in your pages on what I consider the certainly incorrect translation of Heb. xiii. 4. in our authorised version. I do not think it at all desirable to encourage a captious spirit of fault-finding towards that admirable translation, but fair criticism is assuredly allowable. Can any of your correspondents account for the rendering in Heb. x. 23. of τὴν ὁμολογίαν τῆς ἐλπίδος by "the profession of our faith?"
I have never seen any reply to a former Query of mine (Vol. ii., p. 217.) about the omission of the word "holy" in the article on the Church in the Nicene Creed in all our Prayer-books. It is not omitted in the original Greek and Latin.
J. M. W.
Rector's Chancel.
—Would you, or one of your correspondents, kindly inform me how the following case has been settled; it is one which in all probability has often arisen, but I have not yet been able to learn anything about it that is satisfactory.
In old times when a church became too small for the parish, the ordinary custom was to build an additional part to it in such a way that the old church, after the alteration, formed an aisle to the new part, which henceforth because the nave. Until the Reformation the altar in the old chancel would probably remain after the new chancel was built, and be used as an inferior altar, while the new altar would be used for high mass; under these circumstances the rector's right in the chancel would probably remain untouched, and his obligation to keep it in repair undisputed. But when, at the Reformation, all but high altars were taken away, which chancel was accounted the rector's, the new, or the old, or both? This question has just arisen in an adjoining county.
H. C. K.
—— Rectory, Hereford.
Duchess of Lancaster.
—Can any of your correspondents inform us whether the Queen is really Duchess of Lancaster? The Lancastrians have always rather prided themselves on that circumstance, but some wise person has lately made the discovery that William III. never created himself Duke of Lancaster, nor any of the Hanoverian dynasty, and that consequently the title remains with the Stuarts, although the duchy privileges belong to the Crown. Is this really the truth?
A LANCASTRIAN.
Cheke's Clock.
—Strype, in his Life of Sir John Cheke, mentions that among other presents bestowed on him by the king, was his own clock, which after his death came into the possession of Dr. Edwin Sandys, Bishop of Worcester, who, about 1563, gave it as a new year's gift to Cecil the Secretary. Can any of your readers give a description of this clock, or what became of it after coming into Cecil's possession?
C. B. T.
Ruthven Family.
—In a pedigree by Vincent in the College of Arms, two sons of Patrick Ruthven are to be found, the first called Cames de Gowrie, the second Robert Ruthven; they were alive in 1660. Can any of your correspondents tell me what became of them?
S. C.
"The Man in the Almanack."
—Will some kind correspondent favour me with an elucidation of the phrase "Man in the Almanack," which occurs in the following quotation from the epilogue to Nat. Lee's Gloriana, or the Court of Augustus Cæsar?
"The ladies, too, neglecting every grace,
Mob'd up in night cloaths, came with lace to face,
The Towre upon the forehead all turn'd back,
And stuck with pins like th' Man i' th' Almanack."
Has this any reference to the practice of "pricking for fortunes?"
HENRY CAMPKIN.
Arkwright.
—What is the origin of this name? It might have been the family name of the patriarch Noah, but I suppose it hardly goes so far back.
M.
Burial, Law respecting.
—Is there in existence any law rendering burial in consecrated ground compulsory? Most people have a strong desire to receive such interment; but some few might prefer to have their mortal remains deposited in some loved spot, far away from other graves,—in a scene where many happy hours had been passed. It would be a very unusual thing; but supposing such a desire to exist, could its execution be prevented? It is recorded that Manasseh, King of Judah, "slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the gardens of Uzza."—2 Kings xxi. 18.
SAMPSON ANRAMENII.
Mr. Borrow's Muggletonians.
—If this gentleman correctly states (in his Lavengro) that a minister of the Antinomians, with whom he was formerly acquainted, was otherwise called a Muggletonian, the inconceivable fact of that wretched maniac of the seventeenth century (whose portrait indicates the most hopeless fatuity) still having believers, must be a fact. But I marvel how Antinomianism should arise out of the teaching of an Unitarian, as Muggleton was. Can Mr. B. have confounded Muggleton with Huntington?
A. N.
Puritan Antipathy to Custard.
—Can any of your readers inform me why "custard" was held in such abomination by the Puritans?—See Ken's Life, by W. L. Bowles, vol. i. p. 143.
W. N.
"Corruptio Optimi," &c.
—To what source is the well-known saying, "Corruptio optimi fit pessima," to be traced?
Hs.
Miss Fanshawe's Enigma.
—The enigma of Miss Catherine Fanshawe on the letter "H" is so good, as to make me wish much to see the other by the same lady, to which E. H. Y. refers in your Number of Vol. v., p. 258. If E. H. Y. could procure a copy, and send it to you for publication, he would probably oblige many besides
E. S. S. W.
Winton.
Mary Ambree.
—Is there any good account (not scattered notices) of Mary Ambree?
"That Mary Ambree
Who marched so free
To the siege of Gaunt,
And death could not daunt,
As the ballad doth vaunt?"
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.