Birmingham.
Belle Sauvage (Vol. viii., p. 388.).—Your Philadelphian correspondent asks whether Blue Bell, Blue Anchor, &c., are corruptions of some other emblem, such as that which in London transformed La Belle Sauvage into the Bell Savage.
This is not the fact. The Bell Savage on Ludgate Hill was originally kept by one Isabella Savage. A cotemporary historian, writing of one of the leaders in a rebellion in the days of Queen
Mary, says, "He then sat down upon a stone opposite to Bell Savage's Inn."
James Edmeston.
Homerton.
History of York (Vol. viii., p. 125.).—There is a History of York, published in 1785 by Wilson and Spence, described to be an abridgment of Drake, which is in three volumes, and may be a later edition of the same work to which Mr. Elliot alludes.
F. T. M.
86. Cannon Street.
Encore (Vol. viii., p. 387.).—If A. A. knows the meaning of "this French word" I am a little surprised at his Query. Perhaps he means to ask why a French word should be used? It probably was first used at concerts and operas (ancora in Italian), where the performers and even the performances were foreign, and so became the fashion. Pope says: