MISCELLANEOUS.
Daphne and Muriel.—You had better make your own selection amongst those named in the “Directory of Girls’ Clubs,” (Griffith and Farran, St. Paul’s-churchyard, E.C.) The rules, fees, and prizes differ in the various societies respectively, so you should be acquainted with them. Any stationer would procure a copy for you, or you could write direct; price one shilling and sixpence. 2. A very little salad oil applied with a scrap of flannel, and rubbed dry with a chamois leather, would suit the black furniture.
Anxious Inquirer.—We thank you for your offer of articles; but our staff of experienced writers and authors is very ample, and we have no means of assisting you in this way. Good wood engravings sell well, but the competition is considerable.
Adelheid von Döring.—1. The word “anomalous” means irregular, deviation from ordinary rules, abnormal. 2. Pierre, in the line of Byron’s “Childe Harold”—
“Shylock and the Moor,
And Pierre cannot be swept or worn away,”
was a conspirator in Otway’s tragedy of Venice Preserved. He dies, stabbed by Jaffer.
Nest Bird.—The Castle of Hurstmonceux is Norman. Waleran de Monçeau, first lord of the district, gave his name to it. From an heiress of this family, it passed to Sir John de Fienes, whose descendants, the Lords Dacre, held it till 1708. An ancient manor-house existed on the site of the castle. This was built, temp. Henry VI., by Sir Roger de Fienes, entirely of brick. The interior, having fallen into decay, was demolished by Wyatt (architect), and used for enlarging the present mansion, Hurstmonceux Place, at one side of the park. The shell of the castle remains—half fortress, half mansion. The moat was drained, temp. Elizabeth. The flanking towers are eighty-four feet high, and capped by watch turrets. The shield of the Fienes, with their supporters, the alannes, or wolf-dog, figured in most of the windows, and over the porter’s lodge was a room called “The Drummer’s Hall,” in which, tradition says, a treasure chest was concealed and guarded by a supernatural drummer, whose drum was occasionally heard at midnight.
Tomboy.—Has your mother provided a leather (calfskin) suit for you of the “bloomer” or bathing-dress style? If not, how about the dresses she gives you? Surely they are very unsuitable for the “climbing of trees”? You may enjoy plenty of good exercise, in a great variety of ways, that will not injure your clothes. Of course, if a mad dog or ferocious bull were racing after you, no one could object to your climbing either a tree or a wall, and you might prepare for such an event by some lessons in gymnastic exercises.
Birne seems injudicious in her attempt to take high notes. She risks the over-straining of her voice, and in so doing may lose it altogether. One hour’s practice daily is quite sufficient, if not preparing as a professional, in which case the period allotted for it should be divided; and you should not attempt to sing after taking outdoor exercise.
High-school Girl.—1. Playing such games with your brothers under the circumstances you name could not be at all objectionable. 2. Your verses need counting through, and the beat or emphasis placed on the proper syllable, as on the corresponding one in its corresponding line. The verses have, otherwise, some merit.
White Rosebud.—The old brass coin which you describe appears to be only a token, and of no value.
Thomas D.—The story of the Barmecide Feast is given in the “Arabian Nights,” in the tale of the “Barber’s Sixth Brother.” Schacabac, the hare-lipped, a poor man in the greatest distress, called one day on the rich Barmecide, who, in merry jest, asked him to dine with him. Barmecide first washed in hypothetical water, Schacabac following his example; Barmecide then pretended to eat of various dainties; Schacabac did the same, and praised them highly, and so the feast was carried on to its close; Barmecide was so pleased that Schacabac had the good taste and temper to enter into the spirit of the joke without resentment that he ordered a real banquet, at which he made Schacabac a welcome guest. Thus, a Barmecide feast is a dream feast, an illusion, a “castle in the air.”
C. B. D.—1. We cannot quite make out whether you intended to hoax us or have been imposed on yourself by some would-be funny person. No such person as John Yarrow appears in “Alibone,” nor in any such book as a poet or elocutionist, nor as having refused the Poet Laureateship before it was offered to Tennyson. 2. What the “gold key of Windsor” is you must ask your informant to explain. Perhaps it is what the Irishman called “the kay to stay out” when he was ordered from the house!
Soldier’s Daughter.—A “drumhead” court-martial was a military court held on the spot, and the trial concluded without further meeting. The word originated from the fact that the big drum was placed on the three smaller ones for a table, and the court formed round it, the regiment being “in square” to witness the proceedings.
Scotch Lassie.—Your very gratifying letter deserves our warm acknowledgments. The wishes you express for us we heartily return on your behalf.
Mayflower (Halifax).—By some accident your flower has fallen out of your letter, and we regret our inability to enlighten you upon it.
Glasgow Lassie.—Sponge the leaves of the plant with tobacco-juice. We think that will free it from the vermin.
Dolly R.—1. Your verses have more merit than the majority sent to us. We could not promise their insertion, and in any case they were not certified according to our rule. 2. Read our article on the care of the hair, and consult our indexes for answers given on the same subject.
Ragged Robin.—You should procure an old almanack of the year 1857 for the information you require; likewise one for 1860.
Ralph Roister Doister.—The House of Parliament is spoken of as a whole, not as separate individuals. Thus you say “the House is,” “the House was,” not “the House are,” nor “the House were.” See “The Handbook of the English Tongue,” by Dr. Angus.
Tall Girl.—Provided that your intimacy with this man and the fact of his alluding to your eventual marriage be known to your parents and approved of, the next time he makes such an allusion, ask him about the wishes of his own family in respect to it, and say that you could not consent to any clandestine engagement; on your own part all was open and satisfactory, and you required that all should be equally so on his. An introduction to his parents should be arranged for without any further delay, and they and your own parents should have an interview together to settle all business matters on behalf of yourself and any future family.
Pop.—We could not say that to dye the hair is wrong; it is unwise and unbecoming. Some people’s hair turns grey in separate streaks and patches, and has a magpie effect, which forms some excuse for temporary dyeing. But it is a very silly, vain thing for a young girl to dye her eyebrows, especially as the attempt at deception of such a kind is so complete a failure. That no one knows your secret is a mere delusion. Your “no ones” must be remarkably “blind buzzards.”
Gumpot had better send her dress to a dyer’s, as she has made such a failure herself. Home-dyeing is usually so.
Wee-wo.—It is perfectly inadmissible to pick any description of bones in the fingers in any polite society. It is a dirty habit, which obtains amongst third or fourth class foreigners. Possibly you might see an old and decrepid person or invalid of the upper circles of society breaking through all acknowledged rules of good breeding when in the privacy of home, and do many little things which they would certainly not have done in former times. They take a special licence, as it were, in view of the infirmities of health or age; but no such liberty could be accorded to younger or stronger persons.
Miss Biggs.—If you look through one or two of our recent numbers you will find a long answer on the subject of phosphorescent plants, etc.
Leamingtonian.—1. We thank you warmly for your gratifying letter. We can quite understand that our answers, like the arrow “drawn at a venture,” will often strike where unknown to us, and carry, as you say, regarding yourself, “a message specially for me.” 2. The celebrated “White Horse of Wantage” (Berkshire), cut out of the chalk hills, commemorates a great victory gained by Alfred over the Danes during the reign of his then reigning brother, Ethelred I. It is called the Battle of Æscesdun (Ashtree-hill). The length of the horse is 384 feet, and it is visible at a distance of fifteen miles.
A Lady Student of Music.—We have read your letter with much distress; it reveals a state of things which should not exist. Professors in musical colleges should treat their young lady students with the same respect they would be obliged to show if they were giving lessons under their fathers’ roof. They should certainly not call them by their Christian names. We hope your letter is exaggerated; but we should, in any case, advise the authorities of such institutions to keep a sharper lookout, and, if need be, establish a duenna in each room, who should be empowered to keep these exuberant and presuming professors in order. There is nothing to prevent any girl from saying that she prefers being called Miss So-and-so to the use of her Christian name by strangers.
Ivy Leaf.—We believe that Lullington Church, in Sussex, is the smallest church in England; it is sixteen feet square; but, judging from some ruins on the exterior, it formed only part of a larger building, of which the present church may have been only the chancel. Tilham Church, near Gainsborough, is twenty-six feet long and seventeen feet wide. There are also small churches at Culborne, near Minehead, Chilcomb-grove, in Buckinghamshire, and St. Lawrence, in the Isle of Wight.
Matty.—We think, if your egg-eating hen be of little value, you had better have her killed at once; but the fault usually begins through lack of lime, which hens should always be able to get. Some people keep a box of old mortar and lime rubbish in a corner of the hen-house.
Mizpah.—Get a concordance, make a note of all the passages in which the term occurs, and draw your own conclusions. It is often the case that the accessories connected with certain acts—the company, hours, expenses, etc.—are alone to be condemned as more or less objectionable; not the mere act itself. Change these, and the latter may be good in itself. But we have no liberty to judge our neighbours in such matters. Every man must be “fully persuaded in his own mind.” “To his own Master he standeth or falleth.”
Spider.—It never was etiquette to wear gloves at dinner. Mittens may be worn. Sweetbreads are eaten with a fork; a knife is not necessary.
Emily Day.—How disgusting your description! To neglect brushing the teeth and cleansing the mouth brings its well-deserved and bitter punishment. A visit to a dentist is now essential, and you should make a bargain with him for doing all that is necessary after he has examined all the teeth.
G. Todd.—Consult our indexes, and send your gloves to a cleaner.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] More probably Threeneedle-street, from the fact of the Merchant Taylors’ Hall being situated in it.
[Transcriber’s Note—the following changes have been made to this text.
Page 323: Augoulême to Angoulême—“Angoulême at Hartwell”.
Augoulême to Angoulême—“marriage with the Duc d’Angoulême”.
Page 330: Bordoni to Bondoni—“Giotto di Bondoni”.]