Replies to Minor Queries.

Portrait of Mesmer (Vol. v., p. 418.).

—Your correspondent SIGMA may be informed that there is an engraved portrait of Mesmer in tom. xiii. p. 261. of the Biographie Nouvelle des Contemporains, Paris, 1824.

TYRO.

Dublin.

Sleeveless (Vol. i., p. 439.).

—Your correspondent might have found "sleeveless errand" explained by Tooke; and from him by Todd and Richardson. It is "an errand without cover or pretext." Skinner, with the word sleeve, A.-S. slife, tegmen, before his eyes, could write, "a liveless or lifeless errand." Earm-slife is "that with which the arm is covered."

Barbarian (Vol. ii., p. 78.).

—Gibbon observes that—

"In the time of Homer, when the Greeks and Asiatics might probably use a common idiom, the imitative sound of Bar-Bar was applied to the ruder tribes, whose pronunciation was most harsh, and whose grammar was most defective."

Ch. 51. n. 162.

Tooke's suggestion is, that the Gr. βαρυς, strong, with a reduplication of the first syllable βαρ, gave the compound βαρ-βαρος; their great strength being the characteristic for which the barbarians were distinguished by the Greeks. (Div. of Purley, vol. ii. p. 183. 8vo. ed.)

"O wearisome condition" (Vol. iii., p. 241.).

—Q. inquired after the author of some remarkable verses quoted by Tillotson, beginning "O wearisome conditions of humanity." By the kind assistance of the Rev. A. Dyce, I am enabled to answer, that they are by Lord Brooke, in his tragedy of Mustapha, and may be found at p. 159. of his Works, in one vol. small folio, 1633.

The Meaning of "to be a Deacon" (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—An allusion to the fact, that to become a deacon (the first step in the priesthood) it was necessary to have the hair cut, which is also done previous to beheading. In Foxe's time the customs of the Roman church were known to all.

J. B. C.

Dr. Richard Morton.

—Perhaps the following brief particulars of this celebrated physician may be acceptable to your correspondent M. A. LOWER, Vol. v., p. 227. He was born in the county of Suffolk, educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he became Chaplain of New College. He was for some time chaplain, and probably tutor, to the Foley family in Worcestershire; but after the Restoration took his degrees in medicine, and became an eminent practitioner in London, dying at his residence in Surrey in the year 1698. An engraved portrait of him, with the large flowing wig of the period, now lies before me, with this inscription:

"Richardus Morton, M.D.

Colleg: Med: Lond: Soc."

I have not been able to discover whether this gentleman was related to the Mortons of Severn Stoke, co. Worcester.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

Moravian Hymns (Vol. iv., pp. 30. 502.; Vol. v., pp. 113. 129.).

—Your correspondents having met with the third part only, I will describe the first and second parts now before me. Both were printed for James Hutton, London, 1746, who printed also The Watchwords of the Covenant in the Blood of Jesus for the Years 1743 and 1746. They contain 403 hymns, and two supplements. I have sought in vain for the hymn in the New Bath Guide, but the two following will show that Anstey did not colour too highly.

Many circumstances concurred to render these books now very rare. The impression was undoubtedly limited, and the wear and tear of enthusiastic singers for above a century, of a 12mo. book of nearly a thousand pages, very great. Unless preserved in "N. & Q.," the existence of such hymns might be doubted some years hence, even by the religious fraternity for whom they were compiled, and whose collection is now widely different:

"Jesu! our joy, and loving friend,

Both thy dear wings around extend,

Thy little chickens hide.

Would Satan seize us as his prey,

Then let the angels sing and say,

This chick shall undisturb'd abide."

P. 328.

"My Jesus is my love,

I am his little dove,

Which flies upon his hands

And there her food demands;

Which wants herself to hide

In that his bleeding side," &c.

P. 548.

E. D.

Junius Rumours (Vol. v., pp. 125. 159.).

—In spite of the memorable declaration of Junius that his secret should perish with him, and the hitherto unsatisfactory attempts that have been made to draw him from his hiding-place, I have ever felt assured that he will eventually be unearthed. After half a century's active exertion, the "Iron Mask" was unveiled.

I recollect that, somewhere in Woodfall's edition, is a letter from Junius, requiring a copy of the letters to be sent him, bound in a particular manner and colour, which, at the time that edition came out, was thought likely to afford a clue to the detection: some such casual notice may not yet be unlikely to lead to the discovery. Many years since, in conversation with an old officer, then barrack-master at Pendennis Garrison, Captain Hall, he related a circumstance that occurred when he was a boy, that curiously impressed itself on his memory. His family and Woodfall's were intimate, and when about ten years old he was taken by his mother to see Woodfall, whilst in prison on account of the publication of these redoubtable letters.

During this visit a tea-service of plate was received by Woodfall as a present from Junius, and was exhibited with no small degree of pride and gratification. Surely two such circumstances could not occur without being known to more than one or two persons; and had the inquiry been keenly followed up, I think, not unreasonably, that a chance might be afforded for the solution of the problem.

JAMES CORNISH.

Wyned (Vol. v., p. 321.).

—The supposition that the initial w of this word may have been a misreading for pa, however ingenious, is not tenable. Not having the MS. at hand (it is in the University Library, Cambridge), I wrote to a learned friend there to request him to refer to the passage. He assures me that the word is wyned, not payned. Indeed, the precedent being fairly written in a clerkly hand, there was little possibility of mistake. I beg, therefore, to leave the word in the hands of your etymological reader for further suggestion or explanation.

C. W. G.

The Tradescants (Vol. iii., pp. 119. 286. 391. 393. 469.; Vol. v., pp. 266. 367. 385.).

—The ensuing Note, although it has no reference to the Tradescants who have been the subject of many interesting communications in "N. & Q.," will, perhaps, not be considered unacceptable; for, in conjunction with the mention made in the will of the younger John Tradescant (p. 367.) of his "two namesakes, Robert Tradescant and Thomas Tradescant of Walberswick in the Countie of Suffolk," to whom the testator, if his love is to be estimated by the amount of their legacies, would not appear to have borne much esteem,—it establishes the fact that there was, at that time, at least one collateral branch of the Tradescant family. I find in the town books of Harleston, in Norfolk, the name of a John Tredeskin as a resident in that town in the year 1682-83, and of Mr. Robert Tredeskin from 1683-84 to 1688-89 inclusive, and from that time to 1691-92 Mrs. Tradeskin, widow, appears as the occupier, in the last year the name being spelt Tradescant. The name also occurs in the Court Books of the Manor of Harleston. Robert Tradescant, and Martha his wife, are mentioned in 1687, and it appears that she survived and was afterwards the wife of Charles Fox, gentleman. In 1721 John Tradescant is described as son and heir of the said Robert and Martha, both deceased. I have not met with it at a later period. Whether this Harleston family branched from Walberswick, or whether either were actually related to the Lambeth Tradescants,—for the term "namesake" does not of itself imply relationship—is not certain, but both are at all events probable. I may observe that the prefix Mr. indicated a person above the rank of a tradesman, and such as we should now address upon a letter as "Esquire."

G. A. C.

Movable Organs and Pulpits (Vol. v., p. 345.).

—Of the first-named class of curious ecclesiastical structures I know of no examples; of one of the latter, the following notice occurs in Mr. Wesley's Journal, vol. iv. p. 213.:—

"Aug. 15 (1781). I went to Sheffield: in the afternoon I took a view of the chapel lately built by the Duke of Norfolk. One may safely say, there is none like it in the three kingdoms, nor, I suppose, in the world. It is a stone building, an octagon, about eighty feet in diameter.... The pulpit is movable: it rolls upon wheels; and is shifted once a quarter, that all the pews may face it in their turns: I presume the first contrivance of the kind in Europe."

This was an episcopal place of worship connected with a noble charity, "The Shrewsbury Hospital," a suite of liberally-endowed almshouses for old people of both sexes. The "chapel" in question, as well as the almshouses, have, many years ago, given place to a large market. But I must add, the charity still flourishes, and its recipients enjoy a suite of beautiful little dwellings, and a commodious place of worship, in a pleasant and airy part of "Sheffield Park."

J. H.

There is a movable pulpit in Norwich Cathedral.

J. B.

Scologlandis and Scologi (Vol. v., p. 416.).

—These words are derived from sgológ, a Celtic word meaning a farmer, a husbandman, and probably denote the husbandlands and husbandmen holding the kirktoun (church lands) of Ellon, or parts thereof. A distinction is drawn between the husbandman and the cotter in an unpublished return to an inquisition in 1450, concerning the payments and services due by certain tenants of some ecclesiastical lands—"that is to say, of ylke husband an thraf (threave) of corn and half an ferlot of meil, and of ylke coter an pek." The husbands of church lands (bondi of Scotch charter Latin?) were in all likelihood the "Kyndlie tenantis" of the church, who seem to have had a sort of hereditary right to renewal of their leases on payment of a fine, either taxed or uncertain. In a charter lately before me, a lease of tithes was renewed to the holder as "Kyndlie tenant," on payment of a grassum (equivalent to a fine), and it was declared that the said tenant and his ancestors had held the vicarage land hereditarily, past the memory of man, on payment of a rent, though the said vicarage land belonged in property to the vicar. Neither sgológ nor bondi are applicable to tenants of church lands exclusively. The compilers of the Highland Society's Gaelic Dictionary do not appear to have met with the word sgológ, or, if they did, have confounded it with scalóg or sgalóg, a boor, a hind, a countryman.

DE CAMERA.

St. Botolph (Vol. v., p. 396.).

—Your correspondent A. B. has anticipated an inquiry I was about to make as to the history of this saint, which I am desirous of learning. It is a rather singular circumstance that three churches dedicated to St. Botolph, and all of ancient foundation, are situated immediately without gates of the city, viz. at Aldgate, Bishopsgate, and Aldersgate. There was also before the Great Fire a church similarly dedicated at Billingsgate, and a water-gate, called Buttolph's gate (vide Stow).

I can hardly imagine that this is merely a coincidence, and should be glad to know whether any explanation can be given of it.

J. R. J.

Which are the Shadows? (Vol. v., p. 281.).

—An extract from the Memoirs of Wordsworth, vol. ii. p. 273., will throw some little light on J. C. R.'s perplexities:

"The anecdote of the saying of the monk, in sight of Titian's picture, was told me in this house (Rydal Mount) by Mr. Wilkie, and was, I believe, first communicated to the world in this poem, the former portion of which I was composing at the time ('Lines suggested by a Portrait by F. Stone, 1834'). Southey heard the story from Miss Hutchinson, and transferred it to the Doctor; my friend Mr. Rogers, in a note subsequently added to his Italy, speaks of the same remarkable words having many years before been spoken in his hearing by a monk or priest in front of a picture of the Last Supper, placed over a refectory table in a convent at Padua."

It is much to be feared that this goes far towards reducing "the mild Jeronymite's" remark to the established order of stereotype. On which supposition, one need not wonder that—

"his griefs

Melted away within him like a dream,

Ere he had ceased to gaze, perhaps to speak."

Nightingale and Thorn (Vol. iv., pp. 175. 242.; Vol. v., pp. 39. 305.).

—Is it known to your correspondents who take an interest in this subject, that the nightingale, when she builds her nest, inserts a thorn about an inch long in the centre of it, probably to lean her breast against.

During my angling excursions I often get comfortably housed at a little farmer's in Berks, and in conversation with him, about two years ago, relative to the habits of the nightingale, he mentioned this peculiarity, adding that he carried a nest home with a thorn an inch long built strongly through the middle of it. I recollected at the time the subject had been treated by some of our poets, but was not aware that it had any practical applicability.

In Berkshire they say of the nightingale's plaintive ditty:

"I've a thorn in my breast,

And can get no rest."

MARYBONE.

Groom of the Stole (Vol. v., p. 347.).

—Your correspondent J. R. (Cork) is in error when he asserts that the above-named office does not belong to female majesty.

Among the collection of pictures at Montreal, in Kent, is a portrait which was purchased at the sale at Strawberry Hill, in 1842, on the back of which is the following inscription in the handwriting of Horace Walpole:

"Lady Elizabeth Percy, only daughter and heiress of Josceline, last Earl of Northumberland. She was first married to Henry Holles Cavendish, Lord Ogle, only son of Henry, Duke of Newcastle. 2ndly, To Thomas Thynne, Esquire, who was murdered by Count Konismark. And, lastly, to Charles Seymour Duke of Somerset. To Queen Anne she was groom of the stole, and had great influence."

Vide Swift's Journal.

By Beatson's Political Index it appears that her predecessor in this office was Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough.

E. H. Y.

The De Clares (Vol. v., p. 261.).

—I am sorry that I am unable to give your correspondents, MR. GRAVES of Kilkenny, and E. H. Y., any information on the subject of the De Clares. The pedigree from which I quoted is not one of that family, but merely contains some few of them; introduced, as I said before, among the "præclarissimæ affinitates." The arms of Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, are brought into the shield of quarterings through the well-known line of Marshall, De Braose, Cantelupe, La Zouche, and thence through Burdet and Ashbye; nor, with the exceptions of the last three, is there much mention of each family, but merely what is necessary to show their descent.

H. C. K.

—— Rectory, Hereford.

Book of Jasher (Vol. v., p. 415.).

—You might have added to your list of editions of this work, one printed at New York in 1840, a number of copies of which have been recently sent to this country. The title is The Book of Jasher, referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel, faithfully translated from the Original Hebrew, 8vo. pp. 267. It was published with the recommendations of many learned men in America, one of which by Prof. Noah, who appears to be the translator, I think worth extracting as giving some idea of the character of the book:—

"Without giving it to the world as a work of divine inspiration, or assuming the responsibility to say that it is not an inspired book, I have no hesitation in pronouncing it a work of great antiquity and interest, and a work that is entitled, even regarding it as a literary curiosity, to a great circulation among those who take pleasure in studying the Scriptures."

WM. BROWN, Jun., Bibliop.

Old Street.

I have read this book formerly. It is the jeu d'esprit of an unbeliever. The drift of it is, to present a cotemporary naturalist account of the Mosaic and Josuetic histories, in opposition to the supernatural histories in the Bible. But I remember seeing announced among the intended publications of the Oriental Translation Fund, the "Book of Jasher." That proves a work, so entitled, to exist in some oriental language. What has become of that manuscript; and why was the translation of it never printed, as promised? I have long wished to learn.

A. N.

Chantrey's Sleeping Children (Vol. v., p. 428.).

—In a highly interesting and pathetic volume of elegiac poetry, written by Sir Brooke Boothby (and published in London by Cadell and Davies, 1796), entitled Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope, is contained a fine engraving of the exquisite recumbent figure by Banks in Ashbourne Church, referred to by your correspondent. Perhaps you will afford room for the quotation of the following sonnet (Sorrows, p. 18.), which may interest readers unacquainted with the volume:

SONNET XII.

"Well has thy classick chisel, Banks, express'd

The graceful lineaments of that fine form,

Which late with conscious, living beauty warm,

Now here beneath does in dread silence rest.

And, oh, while life shall agitate my breast,

Recorded there exists her every charm,

In vivid colours, safe from change or harm,

Till my last sigh unalter'd love attest.

That form, as fair as ever fancy drew,

The marble cold, inanimate, retains;

But of the radiant smile, that round her threw

Joys, that beguiled my soul of mortal pains,

And each divine expression's varying hue,

A little senseless dust alone remains."

H. G. T.

Weston super Mare.

Daniel De Foe (Vol. v., p. 392.).

—Your correspondent, on referring to Wilson's Life of De Foe (vol. iii. p. 648.), will find some mention of John Joseph De Foe, his unfortunate great-grandson (not grandson), who was executed at Tyburn, January 2, 1771. In the Sessions Papers for 1770-1 (p. 25.), he will also find the trial of John Clark and John Joseph Defoe, otherwise Brown, otherwise Smith, for the robbery, on the King's highway, of Alexander Fordyce, Esq. There seems to have been no distinct identification of De Foe as one of the parties committing the robbery; but in those days juries did not stand upon trifles, and he had but little grace accorded to him. He was probably the grandson of Daniel's second son, Bernard Norton De Foe, the abused of Pope; but this is not quite certain.

Of the descendant of Daniel De Foe, who lived in or adjoining Hungerford Market, your correspondent will also find mention in Wilson (vol. iii. p. 649.). In all probability there are many descendants of this great man now living in this country or abroad.

Your correspondent is under a mistake as to Robert Drury's Journal. The first edition of that work, which I have now before me, came out in 1729, and therefore could not have been made use of by De Foe in writing Robinson Crusoe, published ten years before. How far Drury's Journal is true or fictitious, and by whom it was written, are curious questions; but to attempt their solution would be out of place in this reply.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

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

—Is J. MT. satisfied that the scene written by the Earl of Rochester does not form part of Elkanah Settle's play, The Conquest of China by the Tartars (1676, 4to.)? It is also written in rhyme; and Rochester was, as is well known, a patron of Settle. If J. MT. have not referred to it, it may be worth while to do so, or to give a few lines from the scene, to afford an opportunity of ascertaining the point.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Buro, Berto, Beriora (Vol. v., p. 395.).

—A satisfactory explanation of these three words is much to be desired, as they have puzzled the antiquary, the linguist, and the classical scholar for nearly forty years. They remind me of a similar case I met with in my reading not long ago. The word Ilpadelt, painted on the windows of the church of the Celestines at Marconcies, was the puzzle of all that read it, till one day a Turk, who had received baptism, and was in the suite of Francis I., came to Marconcies in the year 1523, and discovered that the word was Syriac, and that it meant "God is my hope;" which explanation was registered in the abbey library. These words had been the motto of John de Montaign, who had founded the abbey, and enriched it with many valuable treasures, according to a vow he had made during the sickness of Charles VI.

However, if it will not disconcert the learned, I will, audax omnia perpati, venture upon a conjecture as to the meaning of these hidden words. Ought not the first letters, thought to be Bu, in reality to be read Pro? in which case the legend will be Pro Roberti Beri ora, i.e. pray for Robert Berry; and the ring will be a mourning ring.

While on this subject, I may add that the inscribed rings, commonly called talismanic or cabalistic rings, are improperly so designated. The Latin term is much more appropriate, "annuli vertuosi." Perhaps mystical might be a suitable name.

CEYREP.

Where was Cromwell buried? (Vol. v., p. 396.).

—A. B. will find that the interesting inquiry relative to the last resting-place of Cromwell, has been investigated in a little work by Henry Lockinge, M.A., late curate of Naseby, entitled Historical Gleanings on the Memorable Field of Naseby, published in 1830. Mr. Lockinge, besides alluding to the "Memoranda" of the vicar, the Rev. W. Marshall, on the subject, adduces evidence, apparently satisfactory, which leaves the Protector's remains slumbering, "uncommemorated, beneath the turf of Naseby Field."

OLIVER PEMBERTON.

Birmingham.

Glass-making in England (Vol. v., pp. 322. 382.).

—Allow me to refer MR. CATO to the late Mr. Turner's work on Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages. He will there find (pp. 73-83.) an interesting digression on the history of glass-making, and its introduction into domestic use. In addition to the facts contained in that work, the following anecdote from my common-place book may not be altogether uninteresting. It is recorded with gratitude that Robert de Lindesay, chosen Abbot of Peterborough in 1214, beautified thirty of the monastic windows with glass, which previously had been stuffed with straw to keep out the cold and rain. (Gunton's Hist. Ch. Peterborough, p. 27.; Stevens' Continuation of Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. i. p. 478.)

F. SOMNER MERRYWEATHER.

The Surname Devil (Vol. v., p. 370.).

—In answer to your correspondent, who inquires whether there are any persons named Devil, I beg to say that there is (or was, two years since) a person of that name, a labouring man, residing in the hamlet of Aston, in the parish of Hope, Derbyshire. Whether there are more of the name living there, I am unable to state; but I remember distinctly hearing of one, and the name being so peculiar, fixed itself in my memory.

R. C. C.