Meaning of Spon (Vol. iv., p. 39.).
—Is the word spooney derived from the Anglo-Saxon spanan, spón, asponen, to allure, entice, and therefore equivalent to one allured, trapped, &c., a gowk or simpleton? If C. H. B. could discover whether those specified places were ever at any time tenanted by objectionable characters, this verb and its derivatives might assist his inquiries. He will, however, see that Spondon (pronounced spoondon) in Derbyshire is another instance of the word he inquires after.
THOS. LAWRENCE.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Quaker Expurgated Bible (Vol. iv., p. 87.).
—I can inform the correspondent who inquires whether such a publication of a Bible, which a committee of Friends were intending to publish, ever took place, that no committee was ever appointed by the Society of Friends, who adopt the English authorised version only, as may be seen by their yearly epistle and other authorised publications. I have inquired of many Friends who were likely to know, and not one ever heard of what the authoress of Quakerism states.
A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
Cozens the Painter (Vol. iv., p. 368.).
—In Rose's Biographical Dictionary it is stated that Alexander Cozens was a landscape painter, born in Russia, but attaining his celebrity in London, where he taught drawing. In 1778 he published a theoretical work called The Principle of Beauty relative to the Human Face, with illustrations, engraved by Bartolozzi. He died in 1786.
J. O'G.