NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

"When found, make a note of."—CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

CONTENTS.

NOTES.

KING ALFRED'S GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE.

There is no other printed copy of the A.-S. Orosius than the very imperfect edition of Daines Barrington, which is perhaps the most striking example of incompetent editorship which could be adduced. The text was printed from a transcript of a transcript, without much pains bestowed on collation, as he tells us himself. How much it is to be lamented that the materials for a more complete edition are diminished by the disappearance of the Lauderdale MS., which, I believe, when Mr. Kemble wished to consult it, could not be found in the Library at Ham.

Perhaps no more important illustration of the Geography of the Middle Ages exists than Alfred's very interesting description of the Geography of Europe, and the Voyages of Othere and Wulfstan; and this portion of the Hormesta has received considerable attention from continental scholars, of which it appears Mr. Hampson is not aware. As long since as 1815 Erasmus Rask (to whom, after Jacob Grimm, Anglo-Saxon students are most deeply indebted) published in the Journal of the Scandinavian Literary Society (ii. 106. sq.) the Anglo-Saxon Text, with a Danish translation, introduction, and notes, in which many of the errors of Barrington and Forster are pointed out and corrected. This was reprinted by Rask's son in the Collection he gave of his father's Dissertation, in 2 vols. Copenhagen, 1834.

Mr. Thorpe, in the 2nd edit. of his Analecta, has given "Alfred's Geography," &c., no doubt accurately printed from the Cotton MS., and has rightly explained Apdrede and Wylte in his Glossary, but does not mention Æfeldan; and Dr. Leo, in his Sprachproben, has given a small portion from Rask, with a few geographical notes. Dr. Ingram says: "I hope on some future occasion to publish the whole of 'Alfred's Geography,' accompanied with accurate maps."

Rask has anticipated Mr. Hampson's correction respecting the Wilti, and thus translates the passage: "men norden for Oldsakserne er Obotriternes Land, og i Nordost Vilterne, som man kalder Æfelder." The mistake of Barrington and Dr. Ingram is the more extraordinary when it is recollected that no people are so frequently mentioned in the chronicles of the Middle Ages as this Sclavonic tribe: citations might be given out of number, in which their contests with their neighbours the Obotriti, Abodriti, or Apdrede of Alfred are noticed. Why the Wilti were sometimes called Æfeldi or Heveldi, will appear from their location, as pointed out by Ubbo Emmius: "Wilsos, Henetorum gentem, ad Havelam trans Albim sedes habentem." (Rer. Fris. Hist. l. iv. p. 67.) Schaffarik remarks, "Die Stoderaner und Havelaner waren ein und derselbe, nur durch zwei namen interscheiden zweige des Weleten stammes;" and Albinus says: "Es sein aber die riehten Wilzen Wender sonderlich an der Havel wonhaft." They were frequently designated by the name of Lutici,{314} as appears from Adam of Bremen, Helmond, and others, and the Sclavonic word liuti signified wild, fierce, &c. Being a wild and contentious people, not easily brought under the gentle yoke of Christianity, they figure in some of the old Russian sagas, much as the Jutes do in those of Scandinavia; and it is remarkable that the names of both should have signified giants or monsters. Notker, in his Teutonic paraphrase of Martianus Capella, speaking of other Anthropophagi, relates that the Wilti were not ashamed to say that they had more right to eat their parents than the worms.^[1] Mone wrote a Dissertation upon the Weleti, which is printed in the Anzeigen für Kunde des Mittelalters, 1834, but with very inconclusive and erroneous results; some remarks on these Sclavonic people, and a map, will be found in Count Ossolinski's Vincent Kadlubek, Warsaw, 1822; and in Count Potocki's Fragments Histor. sur la Scythie, la Sarmatie, et les Slaves, Brunsw., 1796, &c. 4 vols. 4to.; who has also printed Wulfstan's Voyage, with a French translation. The recent works of Zeuss, of Schaffarik, and above all the Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache, of Jacob Grimm, throw much light on the subject.

On the names Horithi and Mægtha Land Rask has a long note, in which he states the different opinions that have been advanced; his own conclusions differ from Mr. Hampson's suggestion. He assigns reasons for thinking that the initial H in Horithi should be P, and that we should read Porithi for Porizzi, the old name for Prussians. Some imagined that Mægtha Land was identical with Cwen Land, with reference to the fabulous Northern Amazons; but Alfred has placed Cwenland in another locality; and Rask conjectures that Mægth signifies here provincia, natio gens, and that it stood for Gardariki, of which it appears to be a direct translation.

It appears to me that the Horiti of Alfred are undoubtedly the Croati, or Chrowati, of Pomerania, who still pronounce their name Horuati, the H supplying, as in numerous other instances, the place of the aspirate Ch. Nor does it seem unreasonable to presume that the Harudes of Cæsar (De Bell. Gall. b. i. 31. 37. 51.) were also Croats; for they must have been a numerous and widely spread race, and are all called Charudes, Αρουδες. The following passage from the Annales Fuldensis, A. 852., will strengthen this supposition:—"Inde transiens per Angros, Harudos, Suabos, et Hosingos ... Thuringiam ingreditur."

Mr. Kemble^[2], with his wonted acumen, has not failed to perceive that our Coritavi derived their name in the same manner; but his derivation of the word from Hor, lutum, Horilit, lutosus, is singularly at issue with Herr Leo's, who derives it from the Bohemian Hora, a mountain, Horet a mountaineer, and he places the Horiti in the Ober Lanbitz and part of the Silesian mountains.

Schaffarik again, says that Mægtha Land is, according to its proper signification, unknown; but that as Adam of Bremen places Amazons on the Baltic coast, probably from mistaking of the Mazovians? it is possible that Mægthaland has thus arisen. In 1822 Dahlmann (Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der Geschichte, t. i. 422.) gave a German version of King Alfred's narration, where the passage is also correctly translated; but as regards the illustration of the names of the people of Sclavonic race, much yet remains to be done.

It is to be hoped that some competent northern scholar among us may still remove, what I must consider to be a national reproach—the want of a correct and well illustrated edition of the Hormesta, or at any rate of this singularly interesting and valuable portion of it.

S.W. SINGER.

Feb. 21. 1850.

Footnote 1: (return)

"Aber Welitabi, die in Germania sizzent, tie wir Wilze heizen, die ni scáment sih niche ze chedenne, daz sih iro parentes mit mêrem réhte ézen súlin danne die wurme." Albinus, in his Meissnische Chronicle, says they had their name from their wolfish nature.

Footnote 2: (return)

The Saxons in England, vol. i. p. 9. note.

THE FIRST COFFEE-HOUSES IN ENGLAND.

As a Supplement to your "NOTES ON COFFEE," I send you the following extracts.

Aubrey, in his account of Sir Henry Blount, (MS. in the Bodleian Library), says of this worthy knight,

"When coffee first came in he was a great upholder of it, and hath ever since been a constant frequenter of coffee-houses, especially Mr. Farres at the Rainbowe, by Inner Temple Gate, and lately John's Coffee-house, in Fuller's Rents. The first coffee-house in London was in St. Michael's Alley, in Cornhill, opposite to the church, which was set up by one —— Bowman (coachman to Mr. Hodges, a Turkey merchant, who putt him upon it) in or about the yeare 1652. 'Twas about 4 yeares before any other was sett up, and that was by Mr. Farr. Jonathan Paynter, over against to St. Michael's Church, was the first apprentice to the trade, viz. to Bowman.—Mem. The Bagneo, in Newgate Street, was built and first opened in Decemb. 1679: built by ... Turkish merchants."

Of this James Farr, Edward Hatton, in his New View of London, 1708, (vol. i. p. 30) says:—

"I find it recorded that one James Farr, a barber, who kept the coffee-house which is now the Rainbow, by the Inner Temple Gate, (one of the first in England), was in the year 1657, prosecuted by the inquest of St. Dunstan's in the West, for making and selling a sort of liquor called coffee, as a great nuisance and prejudice to the neighbourhood, &c., and who would then have thought London would ever have had near three thousand such nuisances, and that coffee would have been, as now, so much drank by the best of quality and physicians."

Howel, in noticing Sir Henry Blount's Organon Salutis, 1659, observes that—

"This coffe-drink hath caused a great sobriety among all nations: formerly apprentices, clerks, &c., used to take their morning draughts in ale, beer, or wine, which often made them unfit for business. Now they play the good-fellows in this wakeful and civil drink. The worthy gentleman, Sir James Muddiford, who introduced the practice hereof first in London, deserves much respect of the whole nation."

From these extracts it appears that the use of this berry was introduced by other Turkey merchants besides Edwards and his servant Pasqua.

Anthony Wood in his Diary, records, under the year 1654, that—

"Coffey, which had been drank by some persons in Oxon. 1650, was this yeare publickly sold at or neare the Angel, within the Easte Gate of Oxon., as also chocolate, by an outlander or Jew."

And in another place he says—

"This yeere Jacob a Jew opened a Coffey-house at the Angel, in the parish of St. Peter in the East, Oxon., and there it was by some, who delighted in noveltie, drank. When he left Oxon. he sold it in Old Southampton Buildings in Holborne, near London, and was living there 1671."

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

TRUE TRAGEDY OF RICHARD III.

In The True Tragedy of Richard the Third, the following passage—

is considered by Mr. Baron Field as unintelligible. It seems to me that the correction of it is obvious, and the explanation probable, though not exactly fitting what had been said before, which is merely that Lord Stanley had refused to come to Richard, not that he had actually joined Richmond, much less fought for him. I read—

i.e. and doom impartial, and interpret, "pass'd upon himself impartial judgment," or rather on his son, as is said just before:—

It is possible that doom by dint of sword may mean, to be executed by dint of sword; that is, on the son. The doom in the Scotch court, in the Heart of Mid Lothian, is not the verdict, but the punishment.

Immediately before, we have this passage, also described as unintelligible:—

"King. Did not your selves, in presence, see the bondes sealde and assignde?

"Lo. What tho my lord, the vardits own, the titles doth resign.

"King. The bond is broke, and I will sue the fine."

I see no emendation for this but the vardits own to mean, "the party who has the verdict in his favour," and the speech to be a question. The King tries to persuade himself that there is, ipso facto, no room for forgiveness. Lovel answers, upon the principle of the rule of law, "Qui vis potest renunciare juri pro se introducto."

C.B.

FOLK LORE.

Merry-Lwyd.—My attention has been called to an inquiry in No. 11. p. 173., as to the origin and etymology of the Merry-Lwyd, still kept up in Wales.

I believe that all these mummings may be traced to the disguisings which formed so popular an amusement in the Middle Ages, and that the name applied in Wales to this remnant of our ancient pastimes is nothing more than a compound of our English adjective "merry" and a corruption of the Latin word "Ludi," which these masquings were formerly termed.

Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes, Book iii. chap. 13., speaks of Christmas Spectacles in the time of Edward III., as known by the name of Ludi; and in Warton's History of English Poetry, it is said of these representations that "by the ridiculous and exaggerated oddity of the Vizors, and by the singularity and splendour of the dresses, every thing was out of nature and propriety." In Strutt's 16th Plate, specimens will be found of the whimsical habit and attire in which the mummers were wont to appear.

My impression that the Merry-Lwyd was by no means a diversion exclusively Welsh is corroborated by the fact noticed in your Number of the 23rd of Feb., of its being found to exist in Cheshire. And we know that many ancient customs lingered in the principality long after they fell into disuse in England.

GWYNN AB NUDD.

Glamorganshire, March 1. 1850.

Death-bed Superstition.—When a curate in Exeter I met with the following superstition, which I do not remember to have seen noticed before. I had long visited a poor man, who was dying of a very painful disease, and was daily expecting his death. Upon calling one morning to see my poor friend, his wife informed me that she thought he would have died during the night, and consequently she and her friends unfastened every lock in the house. On my inquiring the reason, I was told that any bolt or lock fastened was supposed to cause uneasiness to, and hinder the departure of the soul, and consequently upon the approach of death all the boxes, doors, &c., in the house were unlocked. Can any of your readers tell me whether this is in any way a general superstition amongst the lower orders, or is it confined to the West of England?

R.H.

[This remarkable superstition forms the subject of a communication of the Athenæum (No. 990.) of 17th Oct. 1846: in a comment upon which it is there stated "that it originates from the belief which formerly prevailed that the soul flew out of the mouth of the dying in the likeness of a bird."]

PASSAGE IN L'ALLEGRO—NOTES ON MILTON'S MINOR POEMS.

The suggestion of your correspondent B.H.K. (No. 18. p. 286.) has been anticipated by Mr. Warton, who, in his 1st edition of Milton's Poems, notices a similar interpretation of the passage, as the suggestion of an unknown correspondent. In the 2nd edition this correspondent is mentioned to have been Mr. Headley; and the editor discusses the point in a note of upwards of a page, illustrating it with parallel passages, and an analysis of the context. As the book is one of ready access, I need not trouble you with a quotation; but I may mention that Mr. Gilchrist has added, in a MS. note in my copy, that "Among the poems appended to those of Lord Surrey and Sir Thomas Wyatt, is one of considerable elegance in the same measure as those of Milton, nor is it unlike in its subject: the following lines may throw some light on the present inquiry (p. 200. ed. 1717):—

[The passage is at p. 57. of the 1st vol. of Dr. Nott's edition.]

I am glad of the present opportunity of mentioning, for the benefit of all whom it may concern, that my copy of the 1st edition of Warton's Milton is enriched with numerous notes and parallel passages by Mr. Gilchrist; and a copy of the 2nd edition has been similarly, but less copiously, illustrated by Mr. Dunston. I shall be glad if my mention of them should lead to their being made useful—or, if you wish it, I shall be happy to transcribe the notes for occasional insertion in your Journal.

May I be allowed to suggest that similar notifications to intending editors would have some tendency to do the same good results which may be expected from the announcements by intending editors suggested by your correspondent R.R. at p. 243? There must be hundreds of volumes enriched by the notes of scholars, such as those I have had occasion to mention, which are dispersed in private libraries, and might, by means of similar announcements, be made available to the cause of literature.

J.F.M.

[We are much indebted to our valued correspondent for the offer he has so kindly made us of the MS. Notes in question, which we shall gladly receive; and also for his extremely useful suggestion of the advantage of such notifications to intending editors, as he describes.]

Milton's L'Allegro.—Your correspondent (No. 18. p. 286.) has been anticipated by Headley, who suggested, long ago, that the word tale here implied the numbering sheep. When Handel composed his beautiful air, "Let me wander not unseen," he plainly regarded this word in the more poetical sense. The song breathes the shepherd's tale of love (perhaps addressed to "the milkmaid singing blithe") far more than it conveys a dull computation of the number of "his fleecy care." Despite of that excellent commentator, Tom Warton, who adopted Headley's suggestion, it is to be hoped that readers will continue, though it may be in error, to understand the line as your correspondent used to do: an amatory tête-à-tête is surely better suited to "the hawthorn in the dale," than either mental arithmetic, or the study of Cocker.

J.H.M.

DOCTOR DANIEL DOVE OF DONCASTER AND HIS HORSE NOBS—GOLDEN AGE OF MAGAZINES.

It appears from the preface to the last edition of The Doctor, &c. that the story of Dr. Daniel Dove and his horse was one well known in Southey's domestic circle.

A letter is there quoted from Mrs. Southey (then Miss Caroline Bowles), in which she says:—

"There is a story of Dr. D.D. of D. and of his horse Nobs, which has I believe been made into a Hawker's Book. Coleridge used to tell it, and the humour lay in making it as long-winded as possible; it suited, however, my long-windedness better than his, and I was frequently called upon for it by those who enjoyed it, and sometimes I volunteered it, when Coleridge protested against its being told."

While upon the subject of The Doctor, may I direct your attention to the following passage on p. 269. of the one volume edition, which you will admit in many respects accurately describes your "NOTES AND QUERIES"?

"Our Doctor flourished in the golden age of magazines, when their pages were filled with voluntary contributions from men who never aimed at dazzling the public, but each came with his scrap of information or his humble question, or his hard problem, or his attempt in verse.

"In those days A was an antiquary, and wrote articles upon altars and abbeys, and architecture. B made a blunder, which C corrected. D demonstrated that E was in error, and that F was wrong in philology, and neither philosopher nor physician, though he affected to be both. G was a genealogist. H was an herald who helped him. I was an inquisitive inquirer who found reason for suspecting J to be a Jesuit. M was a mathematician. N noted the weather. O observed the stars. P was a poet who peddled in pas{317}torals, and prayed Mr. Urban to print them. Q came in the corner of the page with his query. R arrogated to himself the right of reprehending every one who differed from him. S sighed and sued in song. T told an old tale, and when he was wrong, U used to set him right. V was a virtuoso. W warred against Warburton. X excelled in algebra. Y yearned for immortality in rhyme, and Z in his zeal was always in a puzzle."

Surely, Sir, you have revived the Golden Age of magazines, and long may you flourish.

Q.D.

THE USE OF BEAVER HATS IN ENGLAND.

The notice from Fairholt's Costume in England, concerning the earliest use of a beaver hat in England, is not very satisfactory. Beaver hats were certainly used in this country long before Stubbes's time. They were originally, like many other articles of dress, manufactured abroad, and imported here. Indeed, this was a great source of complaint by the English artizan until a comparatively late period. The author of A Brief Discourse of English Poesy, n.d. (temp. Eliz.) says:—

"I merveil no man taketh heed to it, what number of trifles come hither from beyond the seas, that we might clean spare, or else make them within our realme. For the which we either pay inestimable treasure every year, or else exchange substantial wares and necessaries for them, for the which we might receive great treasure."

"The beaver or felt hats (says J.H. Burn, in his interesting History of the Foreign Refugees, p. 257.) worn in the reign of Edward III., and for a long time afterwards, were made in Flanders. The refugees in Norfolk introduced the manufacture of felts and thrummed hats into that country; and by a statute of 5 and 6 Edward VI., that trade was confined to Norwich, and all other corporate and market towns in the country."

"About that time (says a History of Trade, published in 1702) we suffered a great herd of French tradesmen to come in, and particularly hat-makers, who brought with them the fashion of making a slight, coarse, mean commodity, viz. felt hats, now called Carolinas; a very inferior article to beavers and demicastors, the former of which then sold at from 24s. to 48s. a piece."

In the Privy-Purse Expenses of Henry VIII., we read, under the date 1532:—

And again—

These entries are curious, as the purchase of the hat was made in a foreign country. It was probably something that took the King's fancy, as we can hardly suppose that his majesty had neglected to provide himself with this necessary appendage before he left England.

Several interesting notices concerning hats, and apparel generally, may be seen in Roger Ascham's Schoolmaster, 1570, which I do not remember to have seen quoted; but the literature of this period abounds in illustration of costume which has been but imperfectly gleaned.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

EXTRACTS FROM OLD RECORDS.

If you think the insertion of scraps from the mutilated Exchequer records useful, I shall be most happy, from time to time, to contribute a few. The following are extracted from fragments of a book of entries, temp. Charles I.: the book appears to have been a large folio, and each leaf torn into at least four pieces. It is much to be regretted that the work of selection and mutilation was not assigned to more competent persons than the ignorant porters who I am told were entrusted with it.

ROBERT COLE.

Footnote 3: (return)

Qy. the statue now at Charing Cross.

QUERIES.

QUERIES ON OUTLINE.

The boundary between a surface represented and its background received two different treatments in the hands of artists who have the highest claims on our respect. Some, following the older painters as they were followed by Raphael and Albert Durer, bring the surface of the figure abruptly against its background. Others, like Murillo and Titian, melt the one into the other, so that no pencil could trace the absolute limit of either. Curiously enough, though for very obvious reasons, the Daguerreotype seems to favour one method, the Calotype the other. Yet, two Calotypes, in which the outlines are quite undefined, coalesce in the Stereoscope, giving a sharp outline; and as soon as the mind has been thus taught to expect a relievo, either eye will see it.

But if you look at your face in the glass, you cannot at once (say at three feet distance) see the outlines of the eye and cheek. They disappear every where, except in the focus common to both eyes. Then nothing is seen absolutely at rest. The act of breathing imparts perpetual motion to the artist and the model. The aspen leaf is trembling in the stillest air. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to Turner's use or abuse of his great faculties, no one will doubt that he has never been excelled in the art of giving space and relative distance to all parts of his canvas. Certainly no one ever carried confusion of outline in every part not supposed to be in the focus of the eye so far.

On the other hand, every portion of a large picture, however severe its execution, acquires this morbid outline wherever the eye quits one detail for another. Is, then, the law governing small and large surface different? Do these instances imply that a definite boundary, a modern German style, is indefensible? or only indefensible in miniature? Or, is such a picture as the Van Eyh in the National Gallery a vindication of the practice in small works?

I can answer that it is not; and this last question I merely ask to avoid all answers on the score of authority. No doubt that strange work is one of the most realising pictures ever painted,—more so than any neighbouring Rembrandt,—whose masses of light and shade were used as a "creative power." I want to know whether there is a right and wrong in the case, apart from every thing men call taste. Whether, whenever a work of art passes from suggestion to imitation, some liberty must not be given at the lines whence the rays are supposed to diverge to the two eyes from two different surfaces. Every advance in art and science removes something from the realms of opinion, and this appears to be a question on which science must some day legislate for art.

J.O.W.H.

CHRIST'S HOSPITAL—OLD SONGS ONCE POPULAR THERE

Amongst the numerous correspondents and readers of your very interesting little work, there may yet be living some who were scholars in the above institution during the last ten or fifteen years of the last century, coevals, or nearly so, with Richards, afterwards of Oriel College, author of a prize poem, Aboriginal Britons, and one of the Bampton Lecturers; Middleton, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta; Trollope, afterwards Master of the Grammar School; Barnes, afterwards connected with the Times; Stevens, Scott (poor Scott!), Coleridge, Lamb, Allen, White, Leigh Hunt, the two brothers Le G. Favell, Thompson, Franklin, &c., pupils of old James Boyer, of flogging celebrity.

If so, can any of them furnish me with the words of an old song, then current in the school, relating to the execution of the Earl of Derwentwater in the rebellion of 1715, of which the four following lines are all that I remember:

Of another song, equally popular, less pathetic, but of more spirit-stirring character, can any one supply the remainder?

NEMO.

WATCHING THE SEPULCHRE—DOMINUS FACTOTUM—ROBERT PASSELLEW.

Allow me to offer a query or two respecting which I shall be glad of any information your numerous correspondents may be able to furnish.

1. In Fuller's History of Waltham Abbey, pp. 269. 274., Nichol's edition, 1840, we have the following entries from the churchwarden's accounts:

"Anno 1542, the thirty-fourth of Henry viii. Imprimis. For watching the sepulchre, a groat."

"Item, for watching the sepulchre, eight pence."

The last entry occurs in "Anno 1554, Mariæ primo," but Fuller adds, "though what meant thereby, I know not." Can any satisfactory information be furnished which will explain the custom here alluded to?{319}

2. In the same work, page 278., a passage occurs, which not only explains the meaning of the term factotum, but furnishes matter for another query. The passage is this; speaking of "eminent persons buried" at Waltham Abbey, he says: "we spoil all, if we forget Robert Passellew, who was dominus fac totum in the middle—and fac nihil towards the end—of the reign of Henry III." Some parasites extolled him by allusion to his name, pass-le-eau, (that is "passing the pure water,") the wits of those days thus descanting upon him:

The learned Dr. Whitaker, in his History of Whalley, says, that "the word Paslew was of Norman origin (Pass-le-eau), and afforded a subject for some rhyming monkish verses, not devoid of ingenuity, which the curious reader may find in Weever's Funeral Monuments, p. 645;" and a question now arises whether the Passellew mentioned by Fuller belongs to the same family as the "Paslews of Wiswall," alluded to by Dr. Whitaker, one of whom, "John, Abbot of Whalley" was executed for the part he took in the "Pilgrimage of Grace." when it is stated that the Paslews of Wiswall bore "Argent a fess between three mullets Sable pierced of the field, a crescent for difference," probably some of your readers will be able to give some particulars respecting "Robert Passelew," and also identify the families if possible.

T.W.

Burnley, Lancashire, Feb. 23, 1850.

MINOR QUERIES.

Conrad of Salisbury's Descritio utriusque Britanniæ.—A good many years since I had a communication from the Baron de Penhouet, a Breton Antiquary, respecting a work which I have never yet been able to discover. I may ascertain, through the medium of your very useful publication, whether there exists a work under the title of a "Descriptio utriusque Britanniæ," by Conrad of Salisbury, from a MS. of the time of Henry I. I should feel much obliged to any one who would favour me with this information.

JAMES LOGAN.

Peruse or Pervise—Passage in Frith's Works.—Your correspondent T.J. rightly conjectured that the peruse of a modern reprint of Frith was an error. I have been able since to consult two black-letter editions, and have found, as I suspected, "pervise" and "pervyse."

If your same correspondent, or any other, can help me to correct, or to understand another erroneous clause in Russell's edit. of Frith, vol. iii. p. 227., I shall be still further obliged.

It is probably meant for some old rule in logic, but is printed there, "Ab inferiori ad suis superius confuse distribue." Foxe, however, has "suum" instead of "suis."

H.W.

Cromlech.—I shall feel much obliged if any of your readers will kindly refer me to any authority for the use of the word Cromlech, prior to the sixteenth century, whether in the Welsh or English language.

JAS. H. TODD.

Trin. Coll. Dublin, Jan. 31, 1850.

Meaning of "Grummett."—A Constant Reader is desirous of addressing such of your correspondents as are well versed in maritime history,—Mr. Bolton Corney to wit,—on the following subject. In the early ages of our Navy there was a distinct rating, called "Grummett," on board each man-of-war, and he was generally, as may be seen in the Cottonian MSS., placed after the "maryners and gonners." Now, the reader will be highly obliged to any one who will trace the designation to its source, and give information as to what were the special duties of the Grummett, or Gromet.

Σ.

Vertue's Manuscripts.—Steevens and Malone, in fixing the dates of Shakspeare's Dramas, frequently quote from Vertue's MSS. George Chalmers, in his Supplemental Apology, says, "On making some inquiries, by a friend, what manuscript of Vertue's it were, which I saw so often quoted about scenic matters, Mr. Steevens was so obliging as to say, 'The books, from which those extracts were made, with several others lost, belonged to Secretary Pepys, and afterwards to Dr. Rawlinson, who lent them to Mr. Vertue.' When the said MSS. were consulted by the two commentators, they were, I believe, in the possession of Garrick." Chalmers adds, "Much is it to be lamented, that any MS. or book, which furnished an illustration of Shakespeare, and having once been seen, should ever disappear." Every true lover of our great poet will heartily agree with this remark.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Loscop.—The Patent Roll, 1 Edw. III. part I, membrane 27, contains the exemplification or copy of a grant by Henry I. to his butler William de Albini of—"Manerium de Snetesham cum duobus hundredis et dimidio scil. Fredebruge et Smethedune cum wreck et cum omnibus pertinentiis suis et misteria de Luna cum medietate fori et theloneis et cum ceteris consuetudinibus et portu cum applicacione navium et loscop et viam ipsius aquæ et transitu cum omnibus querelis." I should be greatly obliged to any of your learned correspondents who would explain the word loscop. Luna is the town or port of King's Lynn. Misteria{320} may probably be translated "offices." See Ducange (Paris Edit. 1845) under the words misterium and ministerium. Loscop appears to be a word of similar formation to Laudcop and Lahcop, which occur in the Laws of Ethelred (Thorpe's Ancient Laws, vol. i. pp. 294, 295.). Can it mean a fee paid on loosing the vessel in order to leave the port?

C.W.G.

Ormonde House.—Perhaps some of your annotators on Cunningham's Hand-book of London, will be so kind as to inform me whereabouts "Ormonde House" stood in St. James's Square; also to state any particulars respecting its history before and after it was occupied by that noble family.

J.G.

As Morse caught the Mare.—I shall be glad to be informed the meaning of this expression—it is to be met with in the translation of Rabelais. There is also a song sung among the farmers of South Devon, of which the last line of each verse is "As Morse caught the Mare."

R.S.B.

Dustpot—Forthlot.—In a Manorial Compotus, temp. Hen. V., I find the following entry, under the head of Out-goings:—

"In custodes carucarum et carectarum nil quia per firmarium. Item pro eorum duspot (xij^d) nil, causa predicta. Item pro eorum forlot (iiij^d) nil, causa predicta," &c.

I have in vain consulted the glossaries within my reach,—Ducange, Spelman, Halliwell, for the meaning of the terms dustpot and forlot (or, as spelt in another Compotus, dustpot and forthlot). They appear to have been customary payments to the servants who had the care of the carts and carriages belonging to the manor, which, at the time of this particular Compotus, were not payable by the lord, because the demesne lands were in farm; and these dues were paid by the tenant. A reference to the Promptorinm Parvulorum (a further instalment of which I rejoice to learn, from Mr. Way's communication, in No. 15., is in a state of progress) has been equally unproductive. The editorial note to the communications inserted in No. 17., on the interpretation of Pokership, induces me to send you this query, in the hope of eliciting information, if not from the gentleman you there refer to, at least from some one or other of your numerous readers learned in Archaic words.

I may, at a future period trouble you with some further remarks arising out of the same Compotus.

G.A.C.

Tracts attributed to Eachard.—The writer of this article has long had in his possession an old volume (among many others of a like kind in his collection) published in 1685; and containing the following tracts:—1st. "The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy,... in a letter written to R.L., 9th edition." This letter is signed T.B. 2nd. "Observations upon the Answer to the Inquiry, &c., in a second Letter from T.B. to R.L." 3rd. "Hobbes' State of Nature, considered, in a Dialogue between Philautus and Timothy;" the "Epistle Dedicatory" is signed, J.E. 4th. "A Letter to his Old Dear Friend R.L. from T.B." 5th. "A Letter to B.D.," the publisher of Mr. Herbert's Country Parson, from T.B. 6th. "A Letter to the Author of the Vindication of the Clergy," from T.B. 7th. "A Letter to T.D.," the Author of Hieragonisticon, or Corah's Doom, from T.B. 8th. "A Letter to I.O. from T.B."

Now, it is mentioned in Dr. Hooke's Ecclesiastical Biography (vol. iv., art. Eachard), that Eachard was the author of these tracts. But the queries I would beg to propose, if any of your correspondents can answer them, are these:—1st. Why does Eachard sign himself T.B.; does that signature allude to any matter in particular? 2nd. Who are meant by the other letters, R.L., B.D., L.O., &c.; and who, if any persons in particular, by Philautus; and Timothy; and who was the author of Hieragonisticon.

Perhaps "Philautus" should be rather be "Philautos," and may mean "Hobbes" himself, as a self-sufficient person, and a great admirer or lover of himself. I wish these queries may not be thought too insignificant for your periodical, which to me, and so many others, is of peculiar interest and value.

GEO. WYATT (Clerk.)

Burghwallis, 1850.

Queen of Hearts.—Permit me to request some explanation of a passage in Miss Strickland's Life of Queen Elizabeth (vol. vii. p. 292.), where we are told that—

"Lady Southwell affirms that the two ladies in waiting discovered the Queen of Hearts, with a nail of Iron knocked through the forehead, and thus fastened to the bottom of the chair: they durst not pull it out, remembering that her like thing was used to the old Countess of Sussex, and afterwards proved a witchcraft, for which certain persons were hanged."

The author moralises upon this, but does not refer us to any authority, or tell where the affirmation of Lady Southwell is to be found, or where the account of the old countess is given; defects which I hope some of your correspondents will be good enough to supply.

F.R.A.

Guildhalls.—There are in most villages in this neighbourhood houses which from time immemorial have been called Guildhalls. These are situate among such small populations that they are manifestly unconnected with trade. Will any of your correspondents tell me—

1st. Why are they called Guildhalls?

2nd. For what purpose were they anciently used?{321}

3rd. Are they common in other counties besides Suffolk?

Also: What is the origin of the Friday Streets so common in most villages in this neighbourhood?

A SUBSCRIBER AB INITIO.

Guildhall, Framlingham, Suffolk, Feb. 6. 1850.

Vox Populi—Monody on Sir John Moore.—Can any reader give me the origin of the saying "Vox Populi, Vox Dei?"—and has any one of your correspondents ever heard of any doubts being raised as to the original author of the Monody upon Sir John Moore, which is now always assigned to the Rev. Dr. Wolfe? I saw it stated in an English paper, published in France some few years back, that Wolfe had taken them from a poem at the end of the Memoirs of Lally Tottendal, the French governor of Pondicherry, in 1756, and subsequently executed in 1766. In the Paper I refer to, the French poem was given; and certainly one of the two must be a translation of the other. I have not been able to get a copy of Tottendal's Memoirs, or of the Paper I refer to, or I would not trouble you with this Query; but perhaps some one can inform me which is the Merchant here, and which the Jew.

QUÆSITOR.

Reg. Coll. London.

Use of Coffins.—How long has it been the custom to inter the dead in coffins? "In a table of Dutyes" dated 11th Dec. 1664, and preserved at Shoreditch Church, it is mentioned:—

"For a buryall in the New Church Yard without a coffin, 00 00 08.

"For a buryall in y^e Old Church Yard without a coffin seauen pence 00 00 07.

"For the grave marking and attendance of y^e Vicar and Clarke on y^e enterment of a corps uncoffined the churchwardens to pay the ordinary duteys (and no more) of this table."

H.E.

Rococo.—Would any correspondent of "NOTES AND QUERIES" give the history of this word, or indicate where it is to be found? or, if the history is not known, state when, and by whom, it appears to have been first used?

T.

Oxford.

Howlett the Engraver.—Can any of your readers furnish me with an account of the "Publications of Bartholomew Howlett," who was an engraver of some note, and about forty-five or fifty years ago resided in London? He was a native of Louth in Lincolnshire, and about forty-five years ago, being then resident (as appears from his book) somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Blackfriars' Road, published by subscription a book containing a series of engravings, entitled "Views in Lincolnshire."

L.L.L.

The Bear, the Louse, and Religion.—I should be much obliged to any of your correspondents who will inform me where I can find The Bear, the Louse, and Religion: a fable. It commences—

I know no more. When was it written?—upon what occasion?—who are meant by the Bear and the Louse?

GRIFFIN.

Mar. 5. 1850.

REPLIES.

LETTER ATTRIBUTED TO SIR R. WALPOLE.

There are many reasons, drawn from style and other internal evidence, which induce P.C.S.S. to entertain strong doubts as to the authenticity of the letter attributed to Sir Robert Walpole (and reprinted from Bankes) in No. 19. Among others it seems very unlikely that a prime minister, confidentially addressing his sovereign (and that sovereign George II.!) on a matter of the greatest import, would indulge in a poetical quotation. And it is remarkable that neither the quotation in question, not any thing at all resembling it, in thought or expression, is to be found in any part of Fenton's printed works. P.C.S.S. has carefully looked them over, in the editions of London, 1717, and of 1810 (Chalmer's Collection, vol. x.), and he cannot discover a trace of it. He had at first imagined that it might be successfully sought for in Fenton's admirable Epistle to William Lamborde (the Kentish antiquary), where there is a remarkably fine passage respecting flattery and its influences; but nothing at all like the quotation cited in the letter is to be found in that poem, which (par parenthèse) seems to have met with much more neglect than it deserves.

P.C.S.S. would further notice the great improbability that Walpole would committed himself in writing, even to his royal master, by such a display of perilous frankness, in treating of the private character and principles of his great rival. He must have been aware that the letter would, most probably, at the decease of the king (then advanced in life) have been found among his majesty's papers, and, with them, have passed into the hands of his successor, by whom it would undoubtedly have been communicated to the very individual with whom it so hardly dealt.

P.C.S.S.

COLLEGE SALTING.

The money collected at the Eton Montem, now wisely abolished, was called "salt." In the{322} Consuetudinarium vetus Scholæ Etonensis, taken from a MS. in the library of Corpus, Cambridge, and the Harleian MS. 7044, p. 167., and printed by Professor Creasy in his Account of Eton College, p. 73. (from whose work I take the extract), the following passage occurs, under the head "Mense Januario." I would remark, that Montem was changed from January to Whit-Tuesday, about a hundred years since:—

"'Circiter festum Conversionis Divi Pauli ad horam nonam quodam die pro arbitrio moderatoris' (ex consueto modo quo eunt collectum Avellanas Mense Septembri), itur a pueris ad Montem. Mons puerili religione Etonensium sacer locus est; hunc ob pulchritudinem agri, amœnitatem graminis, umbraculorum temperationem, et Apollini et Musis venerabilem sedem faciunt, carminibus celebrant, Tempe vocant, Heliconi præferunt. Hic Novitii seu recentes, qui annum nondum viriliter et nervose in acie Etonensi ad verbera steterunt sale primo condiuntur, tum versiculis qui habeant salem ac leporem, quoad fieri potest egregie depinguntur. Deinde in recentes epigrammata faciunt, omni suavitate sermonis, et facetiis alter alterum superare contendentes. Quicquid in buccam venit libere licet effutire, modo Latine fiat, modo habeat urbanitatem, modo caveat obscœnà verborum scurrilitate, postremo et lacrymis salsis humectant ora genasque' et tune demum veteranorum ritibus initiantur. Sequuntur orationes et parvi triumphi, et serio lætantur, cum ob præteritos labores tum ob cooptationem in tam lepidorum commilitonum societatem."

It seems that "salting" was a sort of initiation, like that which prevails among our Teutonic brethren, where the "Fuchs" is raised to the sublime degree of a "Brandfuchs," "junge Bursch," "bemorstes Haupt," by successive promotions. Not improbably in after times, especially at the Universities, like "passing the Line," it admitted of being commuted for a money payment. The exact nature of the "salting" at Eton I cannot explain; perhaps your able correspondent, R.O., may afford information on this head.

C.R. SOC.

College Salting (no. 17. p. 261.).—I cannot but think that the asking for salt at the now abolished ceremony of the Eton Montem (whence also, as it is said, "Salt Hill" was named) must have been connected with the "College Salting." The salt, or money, then collected belonged, as is well known, to the head-boy who had "got Montem," as it (alas!) was called, and who was about to enter on his career (of course as a freshman) at Cambridge.

I would gladly, if permitted, draw the attention of your correspondents, who are considering the original subject, to the latter, by placing it in juxtaposition with "College Salting."

G.W.

Hamilton Terrace.

JUNIUS.

The questions asked by your correspondent "P." (No. 18. p. 172.) perplexed by their simplicity. The answer, if answer can be seriously required, was obvious. All that was ever urged in favour of every other claimant was against the claim of Sir George Jackson. Beyond this I know not what reply could be given. Emboldened by silence, "P." now proceeds (p. 276.) to adduce certain evidence which he supposes has some bearing on the question. "I possess," he says, "an unpublished letter by Junius to Woodfall, which once belonged to Sir George Jackson. My query is, 'Is it likely he would have obtained it from Junius, if he were neither Junius himself nor a party concerned?'" What can be the meaning of this, obtain from Junius a letter which Junius had sent to Woodfall? Why, it is obvious that Sir George must have obtained it as "P." obtained it—as all autograph collectors obtain their treasures—directly or indirectly, by gift or by purchase, mediately or immediately from one of the Woodfalls—probably from Henry Sampson Woodfall—probably from George Woodfall, who has recorded the fact that he lent one letter to a Mr. Duppa, which was never returned. "P." then proceeds a step further, and observes—"The manner in which Burke evades the question, as to himself being the author of Junius, makes me think two or three were concerned in these letters." Well, and it made others think so half a century or more since. The three Burkes have often been named—the Burkes again, with the assistance of Samuel Dyer: and Mr. Prior put forth a very reputable argument in favour of the claims of the Burkes, but it was delicate and died young. If your correspondent has nothing to urge in favour of this conjecture, why disinter it? "P.," however, has it in his power to do some service to the cause: let him send you, for publication, an exact copy of the Junius' letter, following carefully the spelling, the capital letters, the instructions, and even the punctuation.

Mr. John Sudlow's conjectures are still more simple. He evidently is not aware that when a public writer assumes a character he is bound to hold to it consistently; and that as "ATTICUS" was then writing on the subject of the national debt, and objecting to the financial policy of the minister, he naturally affected to be a fundholder, to be frightened, and to have, in consequence, removed his property. What a strange notion Mr. Sudlow must have of Steele and Addison, if he has read the The Spectator and The Tatler after this literal fashion. But I will not speculate on his speculations, but come to facts.

It is true that "amongst the letters attributed to Junius, and, in the opinion of Dr. Good, most certainly his production, is one signed Atticus,"{323} which your correspondent proceeds to quote, adding that it is "believed to be the first which appeared signed Atticus." This is really a little "too bad." It is known, and ought to have been known to your correspondent before he intermeddled, that Good, though he wrote so confidently in public, had "most certainly" very great doubts in private; that others who have examined the question have no doubt at all; and have, indeed, adduced such strong proofs against Good's conjectures, that the gentleman now engaged in producing a new edition of Good's work speaks, in the first volume, the only one yet published, of Good's "unhesitating affiliation" of these letters, and announces his intention of offering hereafter "strong proof" that the letters signed Poplicola, Atticus, and others, "were not written by Junius." That there may be persons who believe that the letter quoted was the first which appeared signed Atticus, I cannot deny; but all who are reasonably informed on the subject know that it is not so;—know, as stated not long since in the Athenæum, that letters signed Atticus appeared in the Public Advertizer from 1766 to 1773—possibly before and after—and that within that period there were at least thirty-seven letters published, from which Good was pleased to select four.

W.

WHITE HART INN, SCOLE.

Having an engraving of this sign, I am enabled satisfactorily to reply to Mr. Cooper's query (No. 16. p. 245.) respecting its existence. The engraving measures 17 inches and a half long, by 22 wide; it was "Published according to Act of Parliament May the 1st 1740." In the right-hand bottom corner appears "Jno Fessey Sculp.," and in the left "Joshua Kirby Delin^t." It is entitled, "The North East Side of y^e Sign of y^e White Hart at Schoale Inn in Norfolk, built in the year 1655 by James Peck, a Merchant of Norwich, which cost 1057l., humb^ly Dedicated to James Betts Gent by his most Obed^t Serv^t Harwin Martin." The sign springs on one side from a mass of masonry, and was joined to the house on the other: it was sufficiently high to enable carriages to drive under it. As it would trespass too much on your columns were I to particularise each of the figures, I will content myself with giving the printed explanation of them from the engraving, premising that each figure is numbered:—"1. Jonah coming out of the Fishes Mouth. 2. A Lion supporting the Arms of Great Yarmouth. 3. A Bacchus. 4. The Arms of Lindley. 5. The Arms of Hobart, now Lord Hobart. 6. A Shepherd playing on his Pipe. 7. An Angel supporting the Arms of Mr. Peck's Lady. 8. An Angel supporting the Arms of Mr. Peck. 9. A White Hart, with this Motto (this is the one which 'hangs down carved in a stately wreath')—'Implentur veteris Bacchi pinguisque ferinæ Anno Dom 1655.' 10. The Arms of the late Earl of Yarmouth. 11. The Arms of the Duke of Norfolk. 12. Neptune on a Dolphin. 13. A Lion supporting the Arms of Norwich. 14. Charon carrying a reputed Witch to Hell. 15. Cerberus. 16. An Huntsman. 17. Actæon [with three dogs, and this legend, 'Actæon ego sum Dominum cognoscite vestrum']. 18. A White Hart couchant [underneath appears in the engraving the artist's name—Johannes Fairchild struxit]. 19. Prudence. 20. Fortitude. 21. Temperance. 22. Justice. 23. Diana [with two greyhounds, one of whom is chasing a hare]. 24. Time devouring an Infant [with the legend, 'Tempus edax rerum,' below]. 25. An Astronomer, who is seated on a Circumferenter, and by some Chymical Preparation is so Affected that in the fine Weather he faces that Quarter from whence it is about to come." The whole sign is drawn by a scale of half an inch to a food, and most of the figures are of the size of life. On both sides of the engraving, but distinct from the sign, are seven coats of arms. Those on the right hand are: 1. Earl of Yarmouth. 2. Cornwallis impaling 1st and 4th Buckton, 2nd Unknown, 3rd Teye. 3. Castleton. 4. Unknown. 5. Mrs. Peck [these arms are wrongly blazoned by Blomefield; they are gules a fesse argent, between, in chief, two crescents, and in base, a lion passant guardant of the same]. 6. Great Yarmouth. 7. Unknown. The arms on the opposite side are: 1. Duke of Norfolk. 2. Hobart. 3. Bacon. 4. Thurston. 5. Mr. Peck impaling his wife [his arms, too, are wrongly blazoned; they should be—Or, on a chevron engrailed gules three crosslets pattee argent]. 6. Lindley. 7. Norwich.

Mr. Cooper will find a slight notice of this sign, both in Gough's Camden and in The Beauties of England and Wales; but both these are of later date than Mr. Cruttwell's Tour. I have only to add, that I should wish Mr. Cooper to see the engraving. I shall be very happy to send it by post for his inspection.

CRANMORE.

Parkership, Porkership, Pokership.—With every deference to the ingenious suggestions of Mr. Bolton Corney (No. 15. p. 218.), I think it will be found, on reference to the original documents, that "Pokership" is a misreading of the ancient writing for "Parkership." This question might be determined if any correspondent, acquainted with the present excellent arrangement of our records, could inform us whether the appointments under the old Earldom of March are extant. A large portion of Herefordshire was held under his tenure. Thomas Croft, of Croft, was, in 1473, "Parker" of Pembrugge, in that county: Rot. Parl. vi. 342. In 1485 John Amyas{324} was, by the act of settlement made on the accession of Henry VII., continued in his office "of the kepyng of our chase of Moketree in Wigmoresland under the Erledom of Marche," and Thomas Grove "in the keepying of our chase of the Boryngwood in Wigmoresland and of the 'Poulterership' and keping of the ditch of the same."

In An Abstract of the late King's Revenues (printed 1651, 4to.) is this entry relating to Bringwood:—

"To Sir Robert Harley for keeping Boringwood alias Bringwood Forest Com. Heref. 6l. 2s. 8d. per ann., for the Pokership 30s. 5d. by the year, and for the keeping the forest of Prestwood 18s. by the year."

In a survey made of mocktree and Bringwood Forests in 1633, it is stated, that "these Forests are stately grounds, and do feed a great and large Deer, and will keep of Red and Fallow Deer two or three thousand at the least."

These enclosures were disafforested temp. Charles II., and they now form part of the Downton Castle Estate.

W.H.C.

Temple.

Porkership-Accept my best thanks for your ready insertion of my observations in No. 18.; but I regret to say that the printer has unfortunately made a mistake in one word, and that, as it mostly happens, the principal one, on which the gist of my illustration in regard to the Pokership depends. The error occurs in the extract from the Pipe Roll, where the word has been printed Parcario instead of Porcario; added to which the abbreviations in the other words are wanting, which renders the meaning doubtful. It should have been printed thus:—"Et [i+] li[b+]ae const Porcario de [h+]eford,"—being, in extenso, "Et in liberatione constat Porcario de Hereford." Showing that in early times there was a hog warden, or person who collected the king's hog-rent in Hereford. And further, Mr. Smirke's extract in No. 17. p. 269., shows that in Henry VIII.'s time the Porcarius had become Pocarius, the fee being within 1d. of the same amount as that paid in John's reign.

May I, under these circumstances, crave a short note in your next Number, correcting the oversight, so that my Porker may be set on his legs again?

P.S.—In reference to the claim, the name of the place should be Burnford, not Barnford.

T.R.F.

Spring Gardens, March 4, 1850.

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

Coleridge's Christabel and Byron's Lara (No. 17. p. 262.).—What Christabel saw is plain enough. The lady was a being like Duessa, a Spenser; a horrible-looking witch, who could, to a certain degree, put on an appearance of beauty. The difference is, that this lady had both forms at once; the one in her face, the other concealed. This is quite plain from the very words of Coleridge.

The lifting her over the sill seems to be something like the same superstition that we have in Scott's Eve of St. John:—

I have no doubt that Lara is the Corsair; and Kaled Gulnare, from the Corsair: the least inspection is enough to show this. Ezzelin must also be Seyd; but that does not answer quite so well. All that there is to prepare it is, that Seyd is only left for dead, in a great hurry, and therefore might recover; and that he drank wine, and therefore might be of Christian extraction. In Lara he is described as dark; but his appearance is rather confusedly related, as if he never appeared but once, and yet Otho knows him, and he has a dwelling. The shriek is more difficult. There could be no meeting, then, between Ezzelin and Lara, because Ezzelin is surprised by meeting him at Otho's. Whether the shriek may not be owing to a meeting between Kaled and Ezzelin, is in not so clear. From the splendid description of her looking down upon him, it is not proved that she there saw him first; and Ezzelin never sees her at all there.

Nothing is more interesting than these mysteries left in narrative fictions. The story of Gertude, in that first of romances, the Promessi Sposi, is a very great instance; and the bad taste, of bringing her up again to the subject of a story by another writer, is so extreme, that I never could look into the book. That Mazoni has left the character, whom he calls the Innominato, in mystery, is historical, and not of his own contrivance.

I used to think that Scott had left the part of Clara, in St. Ronan's Well, intentionally mysterious, as to a most important circumstance; but we learn, from his Life, that he meant to have made that circumstance a part of the story, but was prevented by the publisher. It is natural that the altered novel, therefore, should retain some impressions of it. I refer particularly to the latter part of the communications between her and her brother. But the meeting between her and Tyrell in the woods, and their conversation there, I now think, forbid the reader to suspect any thing like what I speak of. In such cases I do not myself wish to know too much about the matter. Sometimes the author wishes you to have the pleasure of guessing, as I think, in Lara; sometimes he means to be more mysterious; sometimes he does not know himself. It would have been idle to have asked Johnson where Ajeet went to.

C.B.{325}

Sir William Rider (No. 12. p. 186).—"H.F." will find some account of the acts and deeds of Sir Thomas Lake and Dame Mary Lake his wife in the 13th Report on Charities, p. 280, as to their gifts to Muccleston in Staffordshire. In the 24th Report, p. 300, as to Drayton in the same county. Dame Mary Lake was also a benefactor to the parish of Little Stanmore, see 9th Report, p. 271. See also Stow's Survey 593. (ed. 1633.)

H.E.

God tempers the Wind (No. 14. p. 211.; No. 15. p 236.).—The proverb is French: "A brebis tondue Dieu mesure le vent;" but I cannot tell now where to find it in print, except in Chambaud's Dictionary. That is why Sterne puts it into the mouth of Maria.

C.B.

Complutensian Polyglot.—"Mr. JEBB" asks (No. 14. p. 213.), "In what review or periodical did there appear a notice of the supposed discovery of the MSS. from which the Complutensian Polyglot was compiled?"

He will find an article on this subject in the Irish Ecclesiastical Journal for April, 1847; from which I learn that there was a previous article, by Dr. James Thomson, one of the agents of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in the Biblical Review, a London periodical publication. Dr. Thomson, if I understand the matter aright, professed to have found at Madrid the MSS., so long supposed to have been lost.

There is also an article on the same subject by Dr. Bowring, in the Monthly Repository, vol. xvi. (1821), p. 203.

Tickhill, God help me (No. 16. p. 247.).—Of Tickhill I know nothing; but Melverley in this county goes by the soubriquet of "Melverley, God help;" and the folk-lore on the subject is this:—Melverley lies by Severn side, where that river flows under the Breiddon hills from the county of Montgomery into that of Salop. It is frequently inundated in winter, and, consequently, very productive in summer. They say that if a Melverley man is asked in winter where he belongs, the doleful and downcast reply is, "Melverley, God help me;" but asked the same question in summer, he answers quite jauntily, "Melverley, and what do you think?" A friend informs me that the same story appertains to Pershore in the vale of Evesham. Perhaps the analogy may assist Mr. Johnson in respect to Tickhill.

Let me take this opportunity to add to my flim-flam on pet-names in your late Number, that Jack appears to have been a common term to designate a low person, as "every Jack;" "every man-jack;" "Jack-of-all-trades?" "Jackanapes;" &c.

B.H. KENNEDY.

Shrewsbury, Feb. 18.

Bishop Blaise (No. 16. p. 247.).—Four lives of the martyr Blasius, Bishop of Sebaste in Cappadocia, are to be found in the Bollandine Acta Sanctorum, under the 3rd of February. It appears that the relics and worship of this saint were very widely spread through Europe, and some places seem to have claimed him as indigenous on the strength merely of possessing one of his toes or teeth. The wool-comb was one of the instruments with which he was tortured, and having become a symbol of his martyrdom, gave occasion, it would seem, to the wool-combers to claim him as their patron, and to ascribe to him the invention of their art. See Ellis's Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 29, 30; and query whether the veneration of St. Blaise by these artizans were not peculiar to England. Blasius of Sebaste is said to have been a physician; in consequence of the persecution raised by Diocletian, he retired to a mountain named Argæus, whither all the wild beasts of the country resorted to him, and reverentially attended him. But there is a legend of another Blasius of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, who is represented as an owner of herds (βουκολος), and remarkable for his charity to the poor. His herdsman's staff was planted over the spot where he was martyred, and grew into an umbrageous tree.

This variation of legends favours the idea that the cultus of Blasius was founded upon that of some deity worshipped in Cappadocia, whose rites and attributes may have varied in different localities.

C.W.G.

Sangred—Judas Bell.—"BURIENSIS" inquires (p. 124.) what sangred is. This term is noticed in Rock's Church of Our Fathers, t. ii. p. 372. In the very interesting, "Extracts from Church-warden's Accounts," p. 195., it is asked what "Judas' bell" was. I presume it to have been a bell named after, because blessed in honour of the apostle St. Jude, who, in the Greek Testament, in the Vulgate, and our own early English translations, as well as old calendars, is always called Judas, and not Jude, as a difference from Judas Iscariot.

CEPHAS.

La Mer des Histoires.—"MR. SANSOM" (No. 18. p. 286.) has inquired, What is known of Columna's book, entitled Mare Historiarum? Trithemius has made mention of the work (De Script. Eccles. DL.), and two manuscript copies of it are preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. (B. de Montfaucon, Biblioth. Bibliothecar. MSS. tom ii. p. 751. Par. 1739.) Douce very properly distinguished it from La Mer des Histoires; but, if he wrote "Mochartus," he was in error; for Brochart was the author of the Latin original, called Rudimentum Novitiorum, and published in 1475. As to the statement of Genebrard, that Joannes de Columna was the writer of the "Mater Historiarum," I should say that the mistake was produced by confounding the words Mer and Mere. Mr. Sansom may find all the information{326} that need be desired on this subject in Quetif et Echard, Scriptores Ord. Præd. tom. i. pp. 418-20. Lut. Paris, 1719. (Vid. etiam Amb. de Altamura, Biblioth. Dominican. p. 45. Romæ, 1677; Fabricii, Bibl. Med. et Inf. Latin. i. 1133. Hamb. 1734.)

R.G.

"What are depenings?" (No. 18. p. 277.)

The nets used by the Yarmouth herring busses were made in breadths of six feet. The necessary depth was obtained by sewing together successive breadths, and each breadth was therefore called a deepening.^[4]

ED.

Footnote 4: (return)

From a pamphlet written about 1615, not now before us. ED.

MISCELLANIES.

Tale of a Tub.—It is generally supposed that the title of Swift's Tale of a Tub was a jest originally levelled at the Puritan pulpit. It probably had served a more ancient purpose. In Bale's Comedye concerning Three Laws, compiled in 1538, Infidelitas says:

J.O.W.H.

A GENIUS.

(From the German of Claudius.)

Dedications (No. 17. p. 259.).—In Villaneuva's Dedication to the Duke of Medinaceli of his Origen Epocas y Progressos del Teatro Español (Madrid, 1802, sm. 4to.), the enumeration of the names, titles, and offices of his patron occupies three entire pages, and five lines of a fourth.

F.C.B.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

The Percy Society have just issued a reprint of a black letter tract, entitled "A manifest Detection of the most Vyle and Detestable Use of Dice Play," which exhibits a curious picture of the tricks in vogue amongst the gamesters of the sixteenth century, and, as the Editor very justly observes, "comprises fuller explanations of terms used by Shakspeare and other old dramatists than are to be found in the notes of the commentators. The mysteries of gowrds and fullams, high men and low men, stumbling-blocks to many intelligent readers of the works of the Stratford Poet, are here satisfactorily revealed."

Whatever hope the projectors of the approaching Exhibition of Works of Ancient and Mediæval Art entertained of forming such a collection of objects as might deserve the attention of the public generally, and accomplish the great end in view, have been more than realised. Thanks to the liberality with which the possessors of works of early art of this description, from the most distinguished personages of the realm, have placed their stores at the disposal of the committee, the very novel exhibition which will open to the public on Thursday next, will be as remarkable for its intrinsic beauty, as for its instructive and suggestive character.

We need scarcely remind lovers of fine editions of first class books that Messrs. Sotheby commence the sale of the first portion of the extensive stock of Messrs. Payne and Foss, of Pall Mall, on Monday next.

We have received from Mr. Straker, of 3. Adelaide Street, his Catalogue of English and Foreign Theology, arranged according to subject, and with an Alphabetical Index of Authors: and also Parts I. and II. of his Monthly Catalogues of Ancient and modern Theological Literature. Mr. Lilly, who has removed to No. 7. Pall Mall, has also forwarded Nos. 1. and 2. of his Catalogues of Rare, Curious, and Useful Books. Mr. Miller, of 43. Chandos Street, has just issued No. 3. for 1850 of his Catalogue of Books, Old and New: and Mr. Quarritch (of 16. Castle Street, Leicester Square) No. 14. Catalogue of Oriental and Foreign Books: and, though not least deserving of mention (by us, at all events, as he has the good taste to announce on his Catalogue "Notes and Queries SOLD"), Mr. Nield, of 46. Burlington Arcade has just issued No. 2. for 1850, in which are some Marprelate and Magical Books worth looking after.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

E. VEE. "When Greeks join Greeks," &c. is a line by NAT. LEE. See No. 14. p. 211.

K.D.B. The following—"In Flesh-monger-street, Siward the moneyer (renders) to the King 15d. and to William de Chesney houseroom, salt and water"—is a literal translation. Correspondents must be careful not to omit letters or contractions in extracts from original records. It would in this case have been difficult correctly to render "monet" without a contraction; and "Flemangerstret," as our correspondent wrote it, might have been changed into "Fell-monger-," instead of "Flesh-monger-street." The service of "house-room, salt, and{327} water," seems a singular one; it was, of course, a kind of entertainment, or a contribution to entertainment. If the Liber Winton contains no other notice of similar services, "H.D.K." will find the subject illustrated, though not the particular tenure, at pp. 260-267. of the first volume of Sir H. Ellis's Introduction to the Great Domesday.

Rue Strewed before Prisoners at the Bar of the Old Bailey. This custom originated in the fear of infection, at a period when Judges, &c. were liable to fall victims to gaol fever.

Erratum. No. 19. p. 307. col. 2., for "Plautorum Abbreviatis" read "Placitorum Abbreviatio."

Just published, price 5s.

AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF CUMNOR PLACE, BERKS, with Biographical Notices of the LADY AMY DUDLEY and of ANTHONY FORSTER, Esq., sometime M.P. for Abingdon; followed by some Remarks on the Statements in Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth; and a Brief History of the Parish of Cumnor and its Antiquities. By ALFRED DURLING BARTLETT, of Abingdon.

Oxford and London: JOHN HENRY PARKER.

Just published, a New Edition, revised and much enlarged, of the

HISTORY OF ENGLAND from the first Invasion of the Romans, to the Accession of William and Mary, in the Year 1688. By the Rev. Dr. LINGARD. Handsomely printed in Ten large octavo Volumes, price Six Pounds, cloth lettered, and enriched with a Likeness of the Author, engraved in the best style, from a Portrait taken last year by Mr. Skaile.

London: C. DOLMAN, 61. New Bond Street.

Now ready, 1 vol. 8vo, with etched Frontispiece, by Webnert, and Eight Engravings, price 15s.

SABRINAE COROLLA: a Volume of Classical Translations with original Compositions contributed by Gentlemen educated at Shrewsbury School.

Among the Contributors are the Head Masters of Shrewsbury, Stamford, Repton, Uppingham, and Birmingham Schools; Andrew Lawson, Esq. late M.P.; the Rev. R. Shilleto, Cambridge; the Rev. T.S. Evans, Rugby; J. Riddell, Esq., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford; the Rev. E.M. Cope, H.J. Hodgson, Esq., H.A.J. Munro, Esq., W.G. Clark, Esq., Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, and many other distinguished Scholars from both Universities.

The Work is edited by three of the principal Contributors.

London: GEORGE BELL, 186. Fleet Street.

In 8vo., 12s. 6d.; royal 8vo., 18s.

ORIGINES PATRICIÆ, or a Deduction of European Titles of Nobility and Dignified Offices, from their Primitive Sources. By R.T. HAMPSON.

In 2 vols. 8vo., with Illuminated Fac-simile Engravings of Anglo-Saxon Kalendars. Price 32s.

MEDII ÆVI KALENDARIUM; or Dates, Charters and Customs of the Middle Ages, with Kalendars from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century; and an alphabetical Digest of Obsolete Names of Days, forming a Glossary of the Dates and Ecclesiastical Observances of the Middle Ages. By R.T. HAMPSON.

FAC-SIMILE UNDER SEAL.

On a Sheet, 22 Inches by 30. Price 7s. 6d.

MAGNA CHARTA SUB SIGILLO REGIS JOHANNIS, An. Dom. M.CC.XV.

London: Henry Kent CAUSTON, at the Printing Offices, Nag's Head Court, Gracechurch Street.

Twenty Day's Sale of the First Portion of the valuable and extensive Stock of Books of Messrs. Payne and Foss.

MESSRS. S. LEIGH SOTHEBY and Co., Auctioneers of Literary Property and Works illustrative of the Fine Arts, will sell at their House, 3. Wellington Street, Strand, on Monday, March 18th, 1850, and Nine following Days, and on Monday, April 8th, and Nine following days, at One o'Clock precisely, the First Portion of the extensive and valuable STOCK of BOOKS of Messrs. Payne and Foss, retiring from Business: comprising interesting Publications in the Infancy of Printing, first and best Editions of the Classics, Productions of the Aldine Press, Theology and best Editions of the Fathers, French and Italian Books, Voyages and Travels, fine Books of Prints, English History and Miscellaneous Literature. Many of the Books are on Large Paper, and in Morocco and Russia bindings. To be viewed Two Days prior, and Catalogues had.

In 1 vol. royal 4to., with 18 Plates. Price 1l. 1s.

THE DODO AND ITS KINDRED, or the History of the Dodo, the SOLITAIRE, and other extinct Birds of the Mascarene Islands. By H.E. STRICKLAND, M.A., and A.G. MELVILLE, M.D. For reviews of this work see Blackwood's Magazine, Jan., 1849; Athenæum, Feb. 10., 1849; Westminster Review, April, 1849; Silliman's American Journal, Jan., 1849; Revue Zoologique, Oct., 1848; Zeitung für Zoologie, May 20, 1849, &c.

London: REEVE, BENHAM, and REEVE, King William Street, Strand.

VALUABLE QUARTO CLASSICS, in good condition and at reduced prices—Æliani Varia Historia, Gr. et Lat., Gronovil, vellum, 10s.; Æschylus, Gr. et Lat. Butleri, 4 vols., new, cloth, 2l. 2s.; Aurelius Victor, Aratzenii, calf, gilt, 8s. 6d.; Ausonius, Delphini, calf, gilt, 10s. 6d.; large paper, rare, 15s.; Demosthenes et Æschines, Gr. et Lat., Taylori, 2 vols., calf, neat, 10s.; Euripides, Gr. et Lat., Beckii, 3 vols., russia, extra, 1l. 15s.; Homerus, Gr. et Lat., Barnnessil, 2 vols., calf, neat, 15s.; Horatius, edidit Combe, 2 vols., calf, gilt, 1l. 5s. russia, extra, 1l. 15s.; Lucanus, Oudenorpil, 2 vols., calf, neat, 12s. 6d.; Lucanus, Burmanni, calf, neat, 10s. 6d.; Lucretius, edidit Keats, calf, extra, 6s., russia, extra, large paper, 10s.; Maximum Tyrius, Gr. et Lat., Marklandi et Davisit, calf, gilt, 10s.; Minuciux Felix, Ouzelii, vellum, 5s.; Phædrus Hoogstratani, calf, gilt, plates, scarce, 12s.; Plautus, Delphini, 2 vols., calf, neat, 18s., vellum, fine copy, 1l. 5s.; Plinii Historia Naturalis, Delphini, 6 vols., calf, neat, 1l. 5s.; Plinii Epistolæ, Cortii et Longolii, vellum, 12s.; Plinii Panegyricus, Schwarzli, sewed, 6s., russia, 12s.; Propertius, Brouckhusii, 1727, calf, gilt, or vellum, 6s.; Quintillanus, Burmanoi, 4 vols., calf, neat, 1l. 1s.; Quintus Curtius, Snakenburgii, 2 vols., calf, neat, 12s., calf, gilt, 15s.; Sallustius, Havercampi, 2 vols., calf, gilt, 1l. 4s.; Suetonius, Pitisci, 2 vols., calf, gilt, 15s.; Terentius, Delphini, calf, neat, 7s.; Thucydides, Gr. et Lat., Gottleberi et Dukeri, 2 vols., russia, 14s.; Tibullus, Brouckhusii, calf, gilt, or vellum, 5s.; Vilgilius, Masavicii, 2 vols., calf, neat, 10s. 6d.—A Catalogue, containing upwards of 2000 Articles, including Translations, Commentaries, Lexicons, &c., will be sent on receipt of two postage stamps.

R. SAYWELL, 193. High Holborn, opposite New Oxford Street.

The highly-interesting Collection of Autograph Letters of George Linnecar, Esq., of Liverpool; a Picture by Hogarth; various articles formerly in the possession of John Evelyn, &c.

PUTTICK AND SIMPSON, Auctioneers of Literary Property, will SELL by AUCTION, at their Great Room, 191. Piccadilly, on TUESDAY, March 19, and following day, the very select and interesting collection of AUTOGRAPH LETTERS of GEORGE LINNECAR, Esq., of Liverpool. The greater part of this collection has been selected from the extraordinary assemblage of letters formed by the late William Upcott, Esq., and consists mainly of interesting letters of English literary characters from the time of Alexander Pope to the present period. A volume of unpublished poems in the autograph of James Thompson, some miscellanies from the collection of John Evelyn, including his well-known drinking cup; a plaster cast from Thorwaldsen's bust of Byron (only two taken), a picture by Hogarth, miniature of Voltaire by Sir J. Reynolds, &c.

May be viewed the day before the sale. Catalogues will be sent on application.{328}

ILLUSTRATED WORKS.

RICKMAN'S GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. An attempt to Discriminate the Different Styles of Architecture in England. By the late THOMAS RICKMAN, F.S.A. With 30 Engravings on Steel by Le Keux, &c., and 465 on Wood, of the best examples, from Original Drawings by F. Mackenzie, O. Jewitt, and P.H. Delamotte. Fifth Edition. 8vo. 21s.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL TOPOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND. Part I. Bedfordshire. Part II. Berkshire. Part III. Buckinghamshire. 8vo. 2s. 6d. each. Part IV. Oxfordshire, nearly ready.

AN INQUIRY INTO THE DIFFERENCE OF STYLE OBSERVABLE IN ANCIENT PAINTED GLASS, with Hints on Glass Painting, illustrated by numerous Coloured Plates from Ancient Examples. By an Amateur. 2 vols. 8vo. 1l. 10s.

A BOOK OF ORNAMENTAL GLAZING QUARRIES, collected and arranged from Ancient Examples. By AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON FRANKS, B.A. With 112 Coloured Examples. 8vo. 16s.

A GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN BRITISH HERALDRY, with a Chronological Table illustrative of its Rise and Progress. 8vo. With 700 Engravings. 16s.

A GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN GRECIAN, ROMAN, ITALIAN, AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. The Fifth Edition, enlarged. Exemplified by numerous Woodcuts. 2 vols. 8vo., nearly ready.

MANUAL OF ENGLISH MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY. With a Practical Section, by a Lady. 16mo. With numerous Illustrations. 5s.

ARCHITECTURAL NOTICES OF THE CHURCHES IN THE ARCHDEACONRY OF NORTHAMPTON. With numerous Illustrations on Wood and Steel Royal 8vo., cloth, 1l. 15s. plain; 2l. 12s. 6d. India proofs.

WARMINGTON CHURCH, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. Views, Elevations, Sections, and Details. By W. CAVELER, Esq., Architect. 16 Plates, royal folio, cloth, 1l. 1s.

MINSTER LOVELL CHURCH, OXFORDSHIRE. Views, Elevations, Sections, and Details. By J. PRICHARD, Esq., Architect. Folio. Nearly ready.

ANGLICAN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. With some Remarks upon Ecclesiastical Furniture. By JAMES BARR, Architect. Illustrated by 130 Examples. The Third Edition, revised and enlarged. 12mo. 5s.

DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF SOME OF THE ANCIENT PAROCHIAL AND COLLEGIATE CHURCHES OF SCOTLAND. With Woodcuts. By O. JEWITT. 8vo. 7s. 6d.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 16mo. With 110 Illustrations. Price 4s. 6d.

THE ARCHÆOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Published under the direction of the Central Committee of the Archæological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, for the Encouragement and Prosecution of Researches into the Arts and Monuments of the Early and Middle Ages. With numerous Illustrations. Complete, with General Index. 5 vols. 8vo., cloth. 2l. 16s.

THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. By the Rev. Professor WILLIS, M.A., F.R.S., &c. 8vo. With 52 Woodcuts. 10s. 6d.

THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL. By the same Author. 8vo. With Woodcuts and Plan. 5s.

THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF YORK CATHEDRAL. With Woodcuts and Plan. 2s. 6d.

SPECIMENS OF CHURCH PLATE, SEPULCHRAL CROSSES, &c. Complete in 1 vol. 4to., cloth lettered, 1l. 3s.

THE SCULPTURES OF WELLS CATHEDRAL. With Observations on the Art of Sculpture in England in the Thirteenth Century. By C.R. COCKERELL, Esq., Professor R.A. In the Press.

THE PRIMEVAL ANTIQUITIES OF ENGLAND, illustrated by those of DENMARK. By J.J.A. WORSAAE, Member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Copenhagen. Translated from the Danish, and applied to the Illustration of similar Remains in England, by WILLIAM J. THOMS, F.S.A., Secretary of the Camden and Ælfric Societies. With numerous Illustrations. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

OXFORD PARISH BURIAL GROUND CHAPELS, the Working Drawings of. By H.J. UNDERWOOD, Esq., Architect. Folio. 15s.

REMARKS ON ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER. By the Rev. JOHN LEWIS PETIT, M.A. With 44 Etchings. Royal folio, cloth. 1l. 1s.

A MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF MONUMENTAL BRASSES, with a Descriptive Catalogue of Four Hundred and Fifty "RUBBINGS," in the possession of the Oxford Architectural Society. Topographical and Heraldic Indices, &c. With numerous Illustrations. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

A MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF SEPULCHRAL SLABS AND CROSSES OF THE MIDDLE AGES. By the Rev. EDWARD L. CUTTS, B.A. 8vo. Illustrated by upwards of 300 Engravings. 12s.

OXFORD: JOHN HENRY PARKER; AND 377. STRAND, LONDON.

Printed by THOMAS CLARK SHAW, of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5. New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride, in the City of London; and published by GEORGE BELL, of No. 186. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, March 16. 1850.