Minor Queries.
Suffragan Bishops.
—Can any of your readers favour me with information in regard to any seals of suffragan bishops in England, besides that which is engraved in the Archæologia, vol. vii.? Any references or notices on the subject of suffragans would be thankfully received, which may not be included in the observations collected by Dr. Pegge.
ALBERT WAY.
Poison.
—I should feel much indebted to any of your correspondents who will inform me what is the true etymon of this word—the strict meaning of the term originally—and when first used in our language?
However trifling this Query may at first sight appear, yet I am very anxious to ascertain whether, originally, the term was applied exclusively or principally to deadly agents operating on the body through the skin, or an external wound, and not through the stomach?
The Greek word Toxicon is rendered "venenum," quod barbarorum sagittæ eo illinebantur (Vide Diosc. Lib. VI. cap. XX.) Again, Iòs, jaculum, sagitta. Item, venenum, quod serpentes et cætera animalia venenata ejaculatur. Horace uses the words "pus atque venenum," not to express two different things, but merely to add force and point to his satire; just as in like manner we read "crafts and subtleties" in the Liturgy, or "a thief and a robber" in the Scripture.
Now, is it not probable that our word "poison" takes its origin from this "pus?"
CARBO.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell.
—In the Critic of February 2, 1852, p. 78., there is an excellent letter, written by a lady, in defence of female doctors. In this letter Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., is mentioned with great respect. It appears, from the Critic of January 15, p. 45., that Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell is an American lady, and graduated in some American university, and that she was received with distinguished marks of attention both in London and Paris, and especially at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Can any of your correspondents favour us with a biography of this lady, and state in what university, and when she graduated?
SOB.
Martha, Countess of Middleton.
—In Worcester Cathedral is a marble monument to the memory of "Martha,[5] Countess of Middleton, who died the 9th of February, 1705, aged 71."
Can any of your readers inform me who this lady was? I have been unable to find her name in any of the pedigrees within any reach.
J. B. WHITBORNE.
[5] The name is Dorothy in Valentine Green's History of Worcester, vol. i. p. 149.—ED.
Lord Lieutenant and Sheriff.
—The latter officer, the sheriff, claims precedency over the Queen's representative, the lord lieutenant, in the county, whilst in office. It seems contrary to all reason, but will any of your legal friends state upon what authority such precedence is maintained; and in what instances they know that, when present, the lord lieutenant has ranked below the sheriff?
L. I.
Vikingr Skotar.
—Mr. W. F. Skene, in his Highlanders, quotes Ari Froda or Arius Multiscius for the assertion, that the Hebrides were occupied, on the departure of Harold Harfagr, "by Vikingr Skotar, a term which is an exact translation of the appellation Gallgael" (vol. ii. p. 27.). That is true, on the assumption that Vikingr is not Icelandic for pirate, but only for Scandinavian pirate; which assumption I should doubt.
But I wish to be informed in what edition of Ari Froda, and at what page thereof, the words Vikingr Skotar may be found.
A. N.
The Abbot of Croyland's Motto.
—Will you allow me to call MR. LOWER'S attention to a passage in his English Surnames, vol. ii. p. 122., 3rd edition, which he has passed over without comment, but which struck me as requiring some editorial notice:
"The motto of John Wells, last abbot of Croyland, engraved upon his chair, which is still extant, is:
"'Benedicite Fontes, Domine.'
"'Bless the Wells, O Lord!'"
Reading "Domino" for "Domine" would make the first line of this inscription plain enough, as a quotation from the canticle "Benedicite, omnia opera;" but what are we to think of the second line? Could not the worthy abbot have given the pun upon his name in English, without using those particular words, or placing them in such a position that they actually look as if they were intended as a translation, word for word, of their Latin companions, in defiance of all the laws of grammar?
C. FORBES.
Temple.
Apple Sauce with Pork.
—Why and when was the custom of eating apple sauce with pork first introduced?
BONIFACE.
Gipsies.
—In Shinar, or the province of Babylon, are the mountains of Singares, and the city and river of Singara. Have they anything to do with the origin of Zingari, the Italian name for gipsies?
L. M. M. R.
Breezes from Gas Works.
—Why do secretaries to provincial gas companies call small pieces of coke breezes; and why do they by letters offer to sell "breezes at tenpence per sack?" My residence is not far distant from the works of one of these Æolian gas companies; and when the wind is in the east, I inhale breezes which my senses tell me do not blow from "Araby the blest."
X. Y. Z.
The Phrase "and tye."
—The clerk in a parish in the north-west part of Sussex frequently makes use of an expression which I cannot understand,—nay more, he is unable to explain it himself! The expression is used by several of the old men in the parish, though by none of them so often as by the clerk. "Well, master, how are ye to-day?" He answers, "Middling, thanky'e and tye." He brings these two words in at the end of most sentences. If you ask him whether there are many people in the church, he will say, "Fairish number and tye;" or, "No, not many and tye."
Can any of your correspondents say if they have heard it elsewhere, or tell the meaning of it?
NEDLAM.
Stonehenge, a Pastoral, by John Speed.
—Is any MS. of this dramatic pastoral known to exist? It was acted, according to Wood, before the President and Fellows of St. John's College, Oxford, in 1635.
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
"Buro—Berto—Beriora."
—A gold ring was found in France, in the province of Artois, between thirty and forty years ago, bearing the following inscription:
"buro + berto + beriora."
The ring is of a proper size for a man's finger, is plain, and rounded on the outside. The words are on the inner side, which is flat. They are well engraved, and very distinct. The character is the black letter of the fifteenth century. Perhaps, through the medium of "N. & Q.," a satisfactory interpretation of the three words may be obtained, which has been long sought in vain.
A. F. A. W.
'Prentice Pillars.
—"Deaths by Fasting," and "Genevra's Chest," have reminded me of another tradition, no doubt equally groundless. It is said by the vergers that one of the circular windows in the transepts of Lincoln Minster was designed by an apprentice; and that the master, mortified at being surpassed, put an end to his own existence. There is another "'prentice window" at Melrose: a similar anecdote is connected with two pillars in Roslyn Chapel. And there may have been many more of these clever apprentices and foolish architects, but can one case be substantiated?
C. T.
Archer Rolls: Master of Archery.
—In George Agar Hansard's Book of Archery, 8vo. London, Longman and Orme, 1840, p. 151., it is stated that "Her Gracious Majesty, Alexandrina Victoria" has her name inscribed upon the Archer Rolls. Query, what are the Archer Rolls?
It is further said:
"That illustrious lady, in imitation of the warrior race of monarchs from whom she springs, has given a proof of real British feeling, by the appointment of a Master of Archery among her household officers."
I confess I can find no authority upon which this assertion is founded. I have looked into the Calendar of the time, and have consulted officers of the present household upon the existence of the office, without success.
I should be glad to ascertain the point, being engaged on a manuscript concerning the practice of archery.
TOXOPHILUS.
Witchcraft: Mrs. Hicks and her Daughter.
—In the Quarterly for March 1852, in the article on "Sir Roger de Coverley," mention is made of "Mrs. Hicks and her daughter," who were executed at Huntingdon in 1716 for "selling their souls to the devil, making their neighbour vomit pins, and raising a storm by which a certain ship was almost lost." I would wish to know whether there is extant any account of this trial; I do not mean of the result, but whether I can anywhere meet with any account of the trial itself; of the judge before whom it was tried; the evidence, especially as to the ship which was almost lost; and whether (what was observed upon in the answer of your correspondent H. B. C. to some Queries about "Old Booty's Ghost") the time of the crime being committed in Huntingdonshire, agrees with the position of the ship at the moment.
J. H. L.
University Club.
Antony Hungerford.
—In 4 Henry V. (1417) Sir Hugh Burnell, a descendant of Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Lord Chancellor in the reign of Edward I., entered into articles of agreement with Sir Walter Hungerford (through the King's mediation by letters) for the marriage of Margery, one of Sir Hugh's grandchildren, to Edmund Hungerford, son of Sir Walter. There was issue of this marriage, as I find by a fine levied by Antony Hungerford in the 32nd of Henry VIII.; but any further information respecting this family I am not able to meet with. If any of your correspondents can assist me in my inquiries I shall feel much obliged.
W. H. HART.
New Cross, Hatcham.
Rev. William Dawson.
—Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." favour me with some particulars regarding the ancestry of the Rev. William Dawson, minister of the Gospel at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who was appointed Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental languages in the University of Edinburgh in 1732? He is supposed to have been descended from the Irish family of Cremorne.
E. N.
"Up, Guards, and at them!"
—Is there authority for the "Up, Guards, and at them!" traditionally put in the mouth of "the Duke" at Waterloo? I have heard not.
A. A. D.
P.S. Is not the battle itself a myth?
St. Botolph.
—I much wish some of the readers of "N. & Q." would refer me to any authorities they may know of respecting St. Botolph?
Private hints directed "A. B., Mr. Morton's, Publisher, Boston," will be most thankfully received.
A. B.
Rental of Arable Land in 1333.
—In the year 1333, it appears from The Custom Book, fol. 60., that the then Sheriff of Norfolk sent a copy of the king's proclamation to the Bailiffs of Norwich, commanding them to cause proclamation to be made in the city that "no man presume to take more than 24s. for the best living ox fatted with grain, and if not fatted with grain only 16s.; the best fat cow 12s.; the best fat swine of two years old, only 4s.; the best fat mutton unclipped, 20d.; and if clipped, then 14d.; a fat goose, 2d.; two pullets, 1d.; four pigeons, 1d.; a good fat capon, 2d.; a fat hen, 1d.; and twenty-four eggs, 1d." Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." inform me what was the then yearly (average) rental of an acre of arable land, and the value per annum of an acre (average) of pasture? Also the relative value of one shilling sterling, as compared with one shilling at the present time?
JOHN FAIRFAX FRANCKLIN.
West Newton.
Dress shows the Man.
—Can any of your correspondents inform me in what Greek author ἱμάτιον ἀνήρ, "the dress shows the man," is to be found?
W. S.
Richmond, Surrey.
Burnet (Gilbert).
—Can any of your readers help me to identify the Gilbert Burnet, whose correspondence with Professor Francis Hutcheson on the Foundation of Virtue was published, first in The London Journal, and afterwards in a separate pamphlet, in 1735? Was he Gilbert son of Bishop Burnet, or was he the vicar of Coggeshall, who abridged the Boyle Lectures; or was he a third Gilbert Burnet, in addition to the other two?
TYRO.
Dublin.
Where was Cromwell buried?
—It has been the belief of many that the burial at Westminster Abbey was a mock ceremony, that in case a change in the ruling powers should take place, his remains were deposited in a place of greater security, and that the spot selected for his grave was the field of Naseby. The author of The Compleat History of England speaks of a "Mr. Barkstead, the regicide's son," as being ready to depose—
"That the said Barkstead his father, being Lieutenant of the Tower, and a great confident of Cromwell's, did, among other such confidents, in the time of his illness, desire to know where he would be buried; to which the Protector answered, 'where he had obtained the greatest victory and glory, and as nigh the spot as could be guessed where the heat of the action was, viz. in the field at Naseby in com. Northampton.' That at midnight, soon after his death, the body (being first embalmed and wrapt in a leaden coffin) was in a hearse conveyed to the said field, Mr. Barkstead himself attending, by order of his father, close to the hearse. That being come to the field, they found about the midst of it a grave dug about nine feet deep, with the green-sod carefully laid on one side and the mould on the other, in which the coffin being put, the grave was instantly filled up, and the green-sod laid exactly flat upon it, care being taken that the surplus mould should be clean removed. That soon after the like care was taken that the ground should be ploughed up, and that it was sowed successively with corn."
The author further states that the deponent was about fifteen years old at the time of Cromwell's death.
Some seven or eight years ago I visited the field of Naseby, and whilst there I met by accident with the aged clergyman of Naseby. Our conversation naturally referred to the historical incident that had given so much interest to the spot; and finally we spoke of this very subject. I remember his telling me that he had collected some very important memoranda relative to this matter, I think he said, "which proved the arrival of his remains at Huntingdon, on their road elsewhere."
Has this subject been properly investigated? and has any research been made which has led to a satisfactory decision of the question?
A. B.
Islington.