Wormwood (Vol. ii., pp. 249. 315.).—The French gourmands have two sorts of liqueur flavoured with wormwood; Crême d'Absinthe, and Vermouthe. In the Almanac des Gourmands there is a pretty account of the latter, called the coup d'après. In the south of France, I think, they say it is the fashion to have a glass brought in towards the end of the repast by girls to refit the stomach.
C.B.
Puzzling Epitaph (Vol. ii., p. 311.).—J. BDN has, I think, not given this epitaph quite correctly. The following is as it appeared in the Times, 20th Sept., 1828 (copied from the Mirror). It is stated to be in a churchyard in Germany:—
"O quid tua te
be bis bia abit
ra ra ra
es
et in
ram ram ram
i i
Mox eris quod ego nunc."
The reading is—
"O superbe quid superbis? tua superbia te superabit. Terra es et in terram ibis. Mox eris quod ego nunc."
E.B. PRICE.
October 14. 1850.
[The first two lines of this epitaph, and many similar specimens of learned trifling, will be found in Les Bigarrures et Touches de Seigneur des Accords, cap. iii., autre Façons de Rebus, p. 35., ed. 1662.]
Umbrella (Vol. ii., pp. 25. 93.).—In the collection of pictures at Woburn Abbey is a full-length portrait of the beautiful Duchess of Bedford, who afterwards married the Earl of Jersey, painted about the year 1730. She is represented as attended by a black servant, who holds an open umbrella to shade her.