Replies to Minor Queries.

Algernon Sydney (Vol. v., pp. 318. 426.).

—I can hardly suppose that MR. H. DIXON can have made any progress in his inquiries as to Algernon Sydney, without having met with the "authorities" mentioned by your correspondent C. E. D.; and yet it is certainly strange that, if MR. DIXON had seen these authorities, he could have called Sydney "an illustrious patriot." It may be therefore as well to state that the specific evidence which destroys Sydney's claim to the title not merely of an "illustrious patriot," but even of an honest man, and shows him to have been a corrupt traitor of the worst class, is to be found in the Appendix to Sir John Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. i. pp. 339. 386. (8vo edit. 1790), where are transcribed the secret despatches of the French ambassador, Barillon, to Louis XIV., detailing the bribes by which he engaged Algernon Sydney to that factious and traitorous opposition which had, for a hundred years prior to Dalrymple's publication, passed off for patriotism. I shall be very curious indeed to see what light MR. H. DIXON may be able to throw on this curious and infamous case; of which the best that even Mr. Macaulay can say is, that Barillon's louis d'ors were "a temptation which conquered the virtue and the pride of Algernon Sydney."—History of England, vol. i. p. 228.

Cock-and-Bull Stories (Vol. v., p. 414.).

—It may be doubted whether Mr. Faber will thank J. R. R. for republishing his absurd blunder. It must not, however, be allowed to gain a settlement in "N. & Q.," or to pass for a real explanation, while it is in reality one of the most unfortunate "cock-and-bull" stories that ever was invented. The truth is, that Reinerius, a writer of the Middle Ages, lays it to the charge of the Waldenses that they did not hold the traditions of the Church and, by way of instance, he specifies that they did not believe (as, he took for granted, all his orthodox readers did) that the cock on the church steeple was symbolical of a doctor or teacher. Reinerius did not think of adding a word of explanation about its overlooking the parish from its elevated position, or of its prescriptive right from the days of St. Peter to do a pastor's office by reminding men of the duty of repentance, or of any of the things which writers on symbolism had said, or might say. He nakedly states, "Item, mysticum sensum in divinis scripturis refutant: præcipue in dictis et actis ab Ecclesia traditis: ut quod gallus super campanile significat Doctorem." Mr. Faber, who was somewhat out of his way in dealing with the thoughts and language of mediæval writers, catching a sight of this passage, blundered between a bell and a belfry, put campanum for campanile, and thus got an idea of a "cock-on-a-bell," and that this symbol meant a doctor. Whereupon it occurred to him to set the world right with the wonderful discovery which J. R. R. has revived for the amusement of your readers.

S. R. MAITLAND.

Thomas Crawford (Vol. v., p. 344.).

—In the seventeenth century there were four professors of philosophy in every university in Scotland. Thomas Crawford was one of the professors in the University of Edinburgh from 1640 to 1662.

Thomas Crawford, educated at St. Leonard's College, St. Andrew's, graduated A.M. 1621. Succeeded Mr. Samuel Rutherford as Professor of Humanity in the University of Edinburgh, 1625. Appointed Rector of the High School of Edinburgh in 1630. Elected Professor of Philosophy (or Regent) in the University of Edinburgh, 1640, and continued in that office till his death, in 1662.

He was the author of A Short History of the University of Edinburgh, from 1582 to 1646, first printed in 1808; and of Notes and Observations on G. Buchanan's History of Scotland: Edinb. 1708, 8vo. pp. 187.

Both these posthumous publications are very meagre.

J. L.

Coll. Edinburgh.

Longevity (Vol. v., pp. 296. 401.).

—In the church of Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, is the following inscription on a slab in the floor:—

"In memory of Elizabeth, ye Daughter of Thomas Lewis, who departed this life the 31st day of May, 1715, aged 141 years."

I was assured that the age of the deceased, as here stated, is confirmed by the parish register.

W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.

Temple.

Theological Tract—The Huntyng of the Romish Fox (Vol. iii., p. 61.).

—Perhaps the following tract is one of those about which S. G. inquires:

"The Huntyng and Fyndyng out of the Romish Fox: whiche more than seven yeares hath bene hyd among the Byshoppes of England, after that the Kynges Hyghnes Henry VIII. had commanded hym to be dryven out of hys Realme. Written by Wyllyam Turner, Doctour of Physicke, and formerly Fellow of Pembroke College in Cambridge. Basyl, 1543."

This tract has just been reprinted, with some curtailments and amendments, and with a short memoir of the author prefixed, by my friend, Robert Potts, Esq., M.A. Trin. Coll., Cam.; and was published by J. W. Parker, London. The copy from which this reprint has been made is in the library of Trinity College.

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

Moke (Vol. v., p. 374).

—With the Editor of "N. & Q." I think the interpretation of "muck" for the old word used by Wyckliffe is "not satisfactory:" I therefore suggest another, perhaps equally questionable. Every rustic in grazing districts knows, that in the hot season of the year sheep are liable to be fearfully flyblown in their living flesh; and that the maggots thence resulting are called mokes, or mawks. Is not the preacher's allusion in the text to certain shepherds, or rather sheep of Christ's flock, who, rather than give one of their mokes to help one of their "needy brethren," will allow themselves to "perish" and "be taken of" these maggots? The term in question is, or was formerly, in provincial use as a metonym for lendiculosity in a figurative sense—a tetchy, whimsical individual, being said to be "maggoty," vulgo, mokey. Lendix has not, however, in all cases been treated with abhorrence; for one of the elder Wesleys not only printed a book of rhymes with the title of Maggots, but prefixed to it his portrait, with one of these animi impetu concitari represented as creeping on the forehead!

Ground Ice (Vol. v., p. 370.).

—J. C. E. will find a very elaborate and interesting paper "On the Ice formed, under peculiar Circumstances, at the bottom of Running Waters," by the Rev. J. Farquharson, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society for 1835, Part II. p. 329.

J. H.

Hallamshire.

Nobleman alluded to by Bishop Berkeley (Vol. v., p. 345.).

—I beg to suggest to your correspondent J. M., that this nobleman was Richard Boyle, third Earl of Burlington, and fourth Earl of Cork, who had a passion for architecture, and was the architect of numerous buildings in the metropolis and other parts of the kingdom. He repaired Inigo Jones's church of St. Paul, Covent Garden. He built the front of Burlington House in Piccadilly; the dormitory at Westminster School; the Assembly Rooms at York; and several villas and mansions in various parts of the country, besides publishing some architectural works. Bishop Berkeley was introduced to him by Pope about the year 1722, and I believe derived some benefit from his patronage. His architectural pursuits are alluded to by Pope in the epistle on the use of riches, which was addressed to him.

G. R. J.

House at Welling (Vol. v., p. 368.).

—Inquiry is made about one of our old English poets, who is said to have lived at the old house in Welling, where there is a high yew hedge.

I am the owner of the house referred to, and have lived here since 1811. I have never heard the report, but I think that it may have arisen from the fact, that about eighty years ago a Major Denham possessed the house. It is possible that he may have been mistaken for his namesake, Denham the poet.

ESTE.

Constable of Scotland (Vol. v., pp. 297. 350.).

—In vol. i. p. 175. of the Analecta Scotica (Edinburgh, 1834) will be found some curious "fragments relative to the office of Great Constable of Scotland," more particularly before it became heritable in the noble family of Erroll.

E. N.

The Iron Plate in Lewes Castle (Vol. v., p. 342.).

—In answer to A. W. I beg to say that the iron plate was taken from the ruins of a cottage which was burnt down on the estate of Sir Henry Shiffner some time since; it formed the fire-back of the kitchen: the inscription was turned to the wall, and therefore not visible.

This inscription is a fac-simile of the iron plate placed to the memory of Ann Forster in the church of Crowhurst in Surrey, and it would appear that the founder cast several plates similar to that in Lewes Castle, which are known to exist and be used as fire-backs. See Brayley and Britton's History of Surrey, vol. iv. p. 131., and note at foot of the same page.

WILLIAM FIGG.

Lewes.

The monumental (cast iron?) plate in Lewes castle, referred to by A. W., probably came from the church of Crowhurst in Surrey, where there are several monuments to members of the family of Gaynsford, and there were (in Sept. 1847, when I visited the building) more than one iron plate in the pavement with inscriptions of the exact character of that at Lewes, and with the letters similarly inverted and reversed. My impression is that I saw the memorial in question in the church; but I cannot now discover the notes I made on the subject at the time, nor a rubbing which I took of another iron plate of a more ornate though not less rude character. I remember, in passing within sight of the church on the Dover Railway, since 1847, to have noticed scaffolding about the tower; possibly the plate now at Lewes may have been removed at that time.

R. C. H.

The plate was presented to the Antiquarian Museum in Lewes Castle by Sir H. Shiffner, Bart., about two years ago, when he rescued it from a farm-house burnt down on his property near Lewes. It has been traced to a cottage where it previously served the same purpose as at the farm-house, as back to the fire-place; but no further record of its former history can be discovered. It is not unusual, however, to find monumental plates thus desecrated.

E. A. S.

Chelwoldesbury (Vol. v., p. 346.).

—Allow me to suggest to your correspondent W. H. K. the possibility that the name in question may originally have been Ceolwoldsburh or Ceolweardesburh, i.e. the burgh or castle of Ceolwold or Ceolweard, analogously with Brihthelmstûn, now contracted into Brighton. The A.-S. ce has constantly been corrupted into che.

"The King's Booke" (Vol. v., p. 389.).

—The printer's account supplied by MR. BURTT does not relate, except possibly to a very trifling extent, to the Basilicon Doron; but it is evidently Robert Barker's bill, mainly in the matter of King James's Apologie for the Oath of Allegiance.

R. G.

Key Experiments (Vol v., pp. 152. 293.).

—In an edition of Hudibras of 1704 appears the following "annotation" to the line "As Friar Bacon's noddle was:"—

"The tradition of Friar Bacon and the Brazen-head is very commonly known, and considering the times he lived in, is not much more strange than what another great philosopher of his name has since deliver'd of a ring that, being ty'd in a string, and held like a pendulum in the middle of a silver bowl, will vibrate of itself, and tell exactly against the sides of the divining-cup the same thing with, Time is, Time was, &c."

I have tried this experiment with the ring, and find the oscillation takes place as described by AGMOND with the shilling. If, however, the thread is tightly pressed between the finger and thumb, the vibration ceases. This latter circumstance appears to support AGMOND'S idea, that the motive power is due to the pulse, the circulation of the blood ceasing by pressure.

C. N. S.

Rhymes on Places (Vol. v., p. 404.).

—The places mentioned in the following lines are all within about four miles of each other in the county of Gloucester, and twenty years ago the adjectives exactly described the condition of the people; but the great civiliser, the steam-engine, has now taken away the force of the description; and although the first and third lines may be as true as ever, the second and fourth are not:—

"Beggarly Bisley,

Strutting Stroud,

Hampton poor,

And Painswick proud."

W. H. BAXTER.

Old Scots March, &c. (Vol. v., pp. 280. 331.).

—I have to thank both MR. CROSSLEY and DR. RIMBAULT for their information regarding the Ports, of which I have willingly availed myself by consulting the various works to which they refer; and I have been fortunate enough to see a translation of the greater portion of the Straloch lute-book. Hitherto, however, I have failed in my endeavours to discover two of the ports mentioned by MR. TYTLER namely, Port Gordon and Port Seton, both of which I am anxious to obtain.

E. N.

Ecclesiastical Geography (Vol. v., p. 276.).

—Allow me to add to the list of books on this subject, Atlas sacer sive ecclesiasticus, Wiltsch, published at Gotha in 1843.

W. S.

"Please the Pigs" (Vol. v., p. 13.).

—I am inclined to think that this phrase has more to do with the animate than the inanimate. It is a common saying in Devonshire "please the pixies," or fairies, and this reference is much more likely; as our ancestors were most particular in their superstitious attentions to the requirements of this most mischievous fraternity.

C. R.

The Word Shunt (Vol. v., p. 352.)

is quite common in the North of England; in Lancashire it is perhaps especially so. It signifies to shift, to move, to give way: as, speaking of a thing, a wall or foundation, which has moved from its position, we should say, "it has shunted;" or of a thing which requires moving, "Shunt it a little that way," "Shunt it at the other end." Shunt, to move, to slip, to give way; shuntu, they move; shuntut, they moved.—See Bamford's Lancashire Dialect: Smith, Soho Square.

The word grin, in the same county, signifies a noose to catch hares or other game, as well as the act of grinning with the teeth. The word gin is seldom used, except to express a horse gin-wheel, or the blue-ruin of the Pandemoniums.

P. D.

Plato's Lines in "Antho. Palat." (Vol. v., p. 317.).—

"Star of my soul! thine ardent eyes are bent

On the bright orbs that gem the firmament:

Would that I were the heaven, that I might be

All full of love-lit eyes to gaze on thee."

"You look upon the stars, my star! would I might be

Yon heaven, to look with many eyes on thee."

Abigail (Vol. iv., p. 424.; Vol. v., pp. 38. 94.).

—As your correspondents have not thrown much light upon this subject, I will here mention that the use of this name in the sense alluded to has probably originated from a "waiting gentlewoman" who figures in Beaumont and Fletcher's comedy of The Scornful Lady. As this play appears from Pepys's Diary to have been a great favourite after the Restoration, it was then most probably that the term came into use.

J. S. WARDEN.

Nuremberg Token, or Counter (Vol. v., pp. 201. 260.).

—G. H. K. appears to consider the object of H. C. K.'s Query a tradesman's token. This is by no means the case. It is a jetton, or counter, such as was formerly much in use for casting accounts, on a principle very similar to that of the abacus. They are found in vast numbers in England, but were principally manufactured at Nuremberg, where a large trade in them must have been carried on. The greatest manufacturers of the "Rechenpfennige" were the members of the families of Schultz, Laufer, and Krauwinckel. Of the three Krauwinckels, the productions of Hans are most numerous. Many of them have legends of a moral or religious character, as "Gottes Segen macht reich," God's blessing maketh rich; "Gott allein die Ehre sey," To God alone be the glory; "Heut rodt, Morgen todt," To-day red, to-morrow dead, &c. The date 1601 occurs on several of those of Hans K., with mythological devices.—See Snelling's Treatise on Jettons, or Counters.

J. E.

The legend on the counter described signifies

"John Kravwinckel in Nuremberg."

℞ "God's kingdom remains always."

I know not the signification of the solitary E. Snelling (Treatise on Abbey Pieces, &c.) has engraved and described many of these counters, and to him I must refer H. C. K. Hans means John, and has no reference to the Hanseatic League.

W. H. S.

Edinburgh.

Meaning of Lode (Vol. v., p. 345.).

—Lode and load, in Cornwall, is the name given to the vein that leads in the mine; or, the leading vein. The word lode is also in common use in Cambridgeshire, having similar reference to the watercourses by which the fens are drained.

Lodestar. The pole-star; the leading star, by which mariners are guided. The magnet is load-stone, that is, leading, or guiding stone. (Nares' Glossary.)

"O, happy fair!

Your eyes are lode-stars——."

Midsummer Night's Dream.

WM. YARRELL.

Rider Street.

Lode seems to have been anciently used as signifying merely a ditch to carry off water. (See "Inquisition, 21 Henry VIII." in Wells's Hist. of Bedford Level, vol. ii. pp. 8-17.) Lode means to carry. (Promptorium Parvulorum, ed. Way, p. 310.) The term lode is now used to signify a navigable ditch. In Cambridgeshire we have Soham Lode, Burwell Lode, Reach Lode, Swaffham Lode, and Bottisham Lode.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

Mother Damnable (Vol. v., p. 151.).

—Your correspondent S. WISWOULD will find some slight information respecting this worthy in Daniel's Merrie England in the Olden Time (Bentley, 1842), vol. i. p. 217.

It appears that Mr. Bindley had an unique engraving of her, and that a well-known alehouse at Holloway (of which a token is extant, with the date 1667) was sacred to her memory as Mother Redcap, as well as that in the Hampstead Road.

JOHN EVANS.

Monuments of De la Beche Family (Vol. v., p. 341.).

—The monuments referred to by ÆGROTUS are in the church of Aldworth: the effigies are certainly remarkable, especially one for its size and attitude. Another noticeable circumstance is that most of the figures are of older date than the tombs on which they lie, or than the church which contains them. The building consists of a nave and south aisle; and, at the time of its original construction, three canopied recessed tombs were introduced in each of the side walls to receive the effigies which must have existed in the older church. The style of the architecture belongs to the age of Edward III. There are nine figures altogether, some of them greatly mutilated. They are not entirely unknown to archæologists.

I may take this opportunity of calling attention to another very fine monumental effigy, of which I believe no moderately good representation has been published, at Tilton in Leicestershire. There are two figures in the church of as early dates as those at Aldworth, one an armed male, and the other a female. The former is in "edgering" mail, and is of good character; but the latter is of superior design, and very well executed, though unfortunately in a coarse material. The right arm is bent, and the hand brought up to the breast; the left hangs naturally by the side, and has the fore-arm and (bare) hand exposed from among the folds of the drapery. Slight traces of colour are discoverable.

R. C. H.

The village of Aldworth, in Berkshire, where the effigies of the De la Beche family are to be seen, is about five miles from the Goring Station, on the Great Western Railway, viâ Streatley. Hewett's Hundred of Compton furnishes a very interesting account of the ten monumental effigies which represent various members of the ancient family of De la Beche in that church, and will be read with no small pleasure.

FRANCIS POCOCK.

Stanford.

Coke and Cowper (Vol. iv., pp. 24. 76. 93. 244. 300.).

—However affected it may appear, these words have been more generally pronounced Cook and Cooper.

J. H. L. (Vol. iv., p. 76.) adduces the instance of Cowper being made to rhime to Trooper. And I have just stumbled upon a passage in Cowley where Coke is the answering word to Took.

"May he

Be by his father in his study took

At Shakspear's plays instead of my Lord Coke."

"Sylva; a Poetical Revenge," p. 44., Works, Part II., London, 1700, fol.

RT.

Warmington.

Monumental Portraits (Vol. v., p. 349.).

—Fully agreeing with my friend H. H. in his opinion of the brass of the Abbess of Elstow, considered as a portrait, I should yet be glad if your correspondents would send to "N. & Q." the names of any effigies which may appear to them exceptions to the rule of conventional portraiture, especially if of earlier date than the latter half of the sixteenth century. H. H. has mentioned one, Nicholas Canteys, 1431, at Margate: and I am inclined to add another in the well-executed little brass of Robert de Brentingham at East Horsley, Surrey; this is about the date of 1380. The artists of that time, in brasses as well as in painted glass, wood-carving, &c., may have sometimes desired to produce a portrait, but certainly they seldom succeeded: a religious severity of expression atoned for the deficiency. In English coins it is well known that there is no appearance of a portrait before the reign of Henry VII.

The particular costume, however, of the deceased was more attended to in monumental effigies; and it is this fact which renders the study of them so serviceable towards a knowledge of the manners and habits of our ancestors. Care was even taken not to omit any peculiarity which may have distinguished the deceased; of which the long beard of Sir Wm. Tendring, at Stoke, by Layland, is perhaps an instance, and many others might be quoted. If any decided portraits are known in stone effigies, it would I think be desirable to communicate such to the pages of "N. & Q."

C. R. M.

Motto on Chimney-piece (Vol. v., p. 345.)

—It does not appear to me that the mottoes sent by your inquirer C. T. are very difficult to solve. The first is Latin:

"VITATRANOVULAESTOLIM."

He says he is not certain as to one or two letters. I suspect the first O should be Q, and the V should be I. It will then read:

"Vita tranquila est olim."

"Life is henceforth tranquil."

A very proper motto for a fire-side.

The second is Italian:

"VE DAL AM DARO."

I suspect the R should be T. It will then read:

"Ve da'l amico dato."

"Given to you by the friend."

If the word is daro, it will be—

"I will give it to you from the friend."

JAMES EDMESTON.

Homerton.

The arms given by your correspondent C. T. are those of Cavendish (quartering Clifford), one of that family having been created Earl of Newcastle in 1610. Becoming shortly after extinct, John Holles, Earl of Clare (who had married the heiress of Cavendish), was created by King William III. in 1694 Marquis of Clare and Duke of Newcastle.

Might not the chimney-piece have adorned a mansion of the Cavendish family, who probably resided in Newcastle during the period above alluded to?

The motto underneath (which is not the family motto of Cavendish) certainly at first sight looks puzzling enough; will the following solution suffice, which I merely throw out as a first thought that may lead to a better elucidation?

"Vita : tran : ovula : est : olim."

Presuming "ovula" to be the diminutive of ovum (I am not sure if I am correct), and "tran" (if correctly transcribed) to be a component part of one of the numerous compounds of trans (say transitorius), may not the passage be freely translated: "(Our) transitory life (was) once (as mysterious, or hidden, or minute as) is (the germ of vitality) in an egg?"

If C. T. could give a description of the second coat, some connecting link may possibly be supplied toward unravelling the motto.

HENRY W. S. TAYLOR.

Southampton.

"Ve dâl am daro" (Vol. v., p. 325.).

—One of the mottoes which puzzle your correspondent C. T. is Welsh, and means that retribution will follow violence: "he will pay (i.e. suffer) for striking."

Σ.

White-livered (Vol. v., pp. 127. 403.).

—Bishop Ridley, in his conference with Bishop Latimer, whilst they were confined in the Tower, makes use of the expression: "For surely, except the Lord assist me with His gracious aid in the time of His service, I know I shall play but the part of a white-livered knight."

CARL.

Enigmatical Epitaphs (Vol. v., p. 179.).

—The brasses of John Killyngworth, 1412, formerly in Eddlesborough Church, now in Pitson Church, Bucks; and of a priest at St. Peter's, near St. Alban's, have this inscription upon them:

"Ecce quod expendi habui, quod donavi habeo, quod negavi punior, quod servavi perdidi."

That at St. Alban's has an English translation:

"Lo, all that ever I spent, that sometime had I;

All that I gave in good intent, that now have I;

That I never gave, nor lent, that now aby [3] I;

That I kept till I went, that lost I."

[3] So in my authority.

The same inscription is on a brass as late as 1584, at St. Olave's, Hart Street, London. (See Oxford Architectural Society's Manual of Monumental Brasses.)

UNICORN.

Pelican in her Piety (Vol. v., p. 59.).—

In Warner's Glastonbury, plate 18, fig. E., is a very early representation of the pelican feeding her young with her own blood: an emblem of Christ's love for His church. The stone was dug out of the ruins of the Abbey.

In Parker's Glossary the symbol is explained by a quotation from Ortus Vocabulorum:

"Fertur, si verum est, eam occidere natos suos, eosque per triduum lugere, deinde seipsum vulnerare, et aspercione sui sanguinis vivos facere filios suos."

H. F. E.

Names of Places, Provincial Dialect (Vol. v., pp. 250. 375.).

—In accordance with the suggestion of E. P. M., I forward you a few instances of a change between the spelling, and pronunciation:

	Spelling.	Pronunciation.
	Chadwell	Caudle.
	Wymondham (Norf.)	Wyndham.
	—— (Leicestersh.)	Wŭmundham.
	Swavesey	Swaysey.
	Lolworth	Lolo.
	Whitwick	Whittick.
	Scarford	Scawford.
	Croxton Kerrial	Crōson,
		the o long,
		and Kerrial entirely
		dropped.

R. J. S.

Examples of these are more numerous to the north of the Tweed than C. appears to imagine. The following list, which includes a few surnames, is the result of rather a hurried search:

	Spelling.	Pronunciation.
	Anstruther	Anster.
	Athelstaneford	Elstanfurd.
	Bethune	Beaton.
	Cassilis	Cassils.
	Charteris	Charters.
	Cockburn	Coburn.
	Croxton Kerrial	Crōson,
	Cockburnspath	Coppersmith
	Colquhoun	Cohoon.
	Crichton	Cryton.
	Dalziel or Dalyell	Dee-ell.
	Farquhar	Farkar.
	Halket	Hacket.
	Inglis	Ingils.
	Kemback	Kemmick.
	Kilconquhar	Kinnenchar.
	Macleod	Macloud.
	Marjoribanks	Marchbanks.
	Menzies	Meengis.
	Methven	Meffen.
	Monzie	Monee.
	Restalrig	Lastalrik.
	Rutherglen	Ruglen.
	Ruthven	Rivven.
	Sciennes	Sheens.
	Sanquhar	Sankar.
	Urquhart	Urcart.
	Wemyss	Weems.

Arbroath is a corruption of Aberbrothok, Gretna of Gretenhow, and Meiklam of M'Ilquham: but probably one of the most remarkable transformations in Scotland is to be found in the name of a small village, a few miles to the south of Edinburgh, where Burdiehouse has usurped the place of Bordeaux.

E. N.

The Term "Milesian" (Vol. iv., p. 175.).

—I beg to direct your attention to the accompanying extract, which furnishes a reply to MR. FRASER'S Query:—

"Whoever is acquainted with Irish history, or whoever has had opportunities of mixing with the natives of that country, cannot be ignorant that they claim a descent from a long race of Milesian kings, who reigned over them for thirteen centuries before the Christian æra. The stock from which this long line of monarchs emanated is traced to a pretended Milesian colony, supposed to have emigrated from Spain into Ireland under the conduct of Heremon and Heber. The most rational inquirers, however, into the subject consider it as nothing more than a tissue of imaginary events, originating in the fertile fancies of their bards. A very brief and general abstract of this contested part of Irish history shall be given in the words of Mr. Plowden:

"'About 140 years after the Deluge, Ireland was discovered by one Adhua, who had been sent from Asia to explore new countries by a grandson of Belus: he plucked some of the luxuriant grass as a specimen of the fertility of the soil, and returned to his master. After that the island remained unoccupied for 140 years; and about 300 years after the Flood, one Partholan, originally a Scythian, and a descendant from Japhet in the sixth generation, sailed from Greece with his family and 1000 soldiers, and took possession of the island. They all died off, and left the island desolate of human beings for the space of thirty years. Afterwards different sets of emigrant adventurers occupied and peopled the island at different periods. About 1080 years after the Deluge, and 1300 B.C., Niul (the son of Phenius, a wise Scythian prince), who had married a daughter of Pharaoh, inhabited with his people a district given to him by his father-in-law on the Red Sea, when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. The descendants of that Phenius (called more generally Feniusa Farsa) were afterwards expelled by Pharaoh's successors on account of their ancestors having favoured the escape of the Israelites through the Red Sea. They then emigrated and settled in Spain, whence, under the command of Milesius, a colony of them sailed from Brigantia in Galicia to Ireland, gained the ascendancy over the inhabitants, and gave laws and a race of monarchs to the island. The Milesian dynasty continued to govern Ireland without interruption till about the year 1168, when it ceased in the person of Roger O'Connor, and the sovereignty was assumed by our Henry II. Of this race of kings the first 110 were Pagan, the rest Christian.'"

Barlow's Hist. of Ireland, vol. i. pp. 22-4.

GEORGE RICHARDS, M.A.

Queen's Coll., Birmingham.

Title of D.D. (Vol. ii., p. 13.).

—The remark of your correspondent EYE-SNUFF, "that any lay scholar of adequate attainments in theology is competent to receive this distinction, and any university to bestow it upon him," is incorrect in two ways, as far as the university of which I am a member is concerned. A reference to the Oxford University Calendar, or to the Statutes of the University, will show him that no one can take the degree of B.D., or D.D., without first exhibiting his letters of priest's orders: and the theological attainments represented by the degree D.D. are next to nothing; the exercise required for B.D. used to be a mere form, and I believe is little more now; a certain number of terms kept in the university, and payment of certain fees, being all that is necessary for proceeding D.D. The case is the same, I imagine, at Cambridge.

W. FRASER.

Lass of Richmond Hill (Vol. ii., p. 103.).

—I have heard it said, of course with little regard to probability, that this once popular song was written by George IV. when Prince of Wales.

W. FRASER.

A Bull (Vol. ii., p. 441.).

—I have heard it argued that the word bull, meaning an incoherent blunder, was derived from the Pope's Bulls, the tyrannical contents and imperious tone of which often made so odd a contrast with the humility of the subscription, "Servus servorum Dei," that the name bull was applied to anything that seemed absurdly inconsistent or self-contradictory.

W. FRASER.

Remains of Horses and Sheep in Churches (Vol. v., p. 274.).

—We have good evidence that the Saxons used the places of sepulture which they found in England; and it is well known that Anglo-Saxon remains have often been discovered in the vicinity of churches, a fact which leads to the supposition that churches occupied the sites of Pagan temples. The bones of animals have often been found on and near the sites of our London churches.

J. Y. A.

Fern Seed (Vol. v., pp. 172. 356.).

—I am led to think there is an error in the notice of your correspondent R. S. F. on the above subject. The seed of St. John's Fearn cannot be gathered on Midsummer Eve, inasmuch as at that time it is in a merely embryotic state. The seed attains perfection late in autumn, and it remains attached to the dry brown stem until shaken off by the autumnal and winter blasts. The taking of it, therefore, is not, according to those versed in such mysteries, the easy task of a Midsummer twilight, but must be performed amid the darkness of a winter's night. On the midnight of Saint John the Evangelist, to whom the seed and plant are dedicated, must it be shaken, not pulled, from its stem. Very probably mystic virtues were imputed to the seed before the introduction of Christianity. And it were not perhaps hazarding too much to suppose that the old superstitious monks assigned it to Saint John from an idea that the potency of the seed might have influenced the wondrous revelations with which he, more than any other of the disciples, or all the disciples, was favoured.