Replies.

[The orderneverwas fulfilled. If the knights were entitled to armorial bearings, no fees whatever were demanded by or paid to the Heralds' College. The statutes of 1815 were, however, abrogated and annulled by the statutes of 1847, and the banners are not required to be suspended in the Abbey. The erection of the banners and plates, however, rested with the officers of the order, and the Heralds' College had nothing to do with the matter.]

Danish and Swedish Ballads.—What are the best and most recent collections of ancient Danish and Swedish ballad poetry?

J. M. B.

[We believe the best and most recent collection of Danish ballads is the edition ofUdvalgte Danske Viser fra Middelalderen, by Abrahamson, Nyerup, Rabbek, &c., in five small 8vo. volumes, Copenhagen, 1812. The best Swedish collection wasSvenska Folk-Visor fran Forteden, collected and edited by Geijer and Afzelius, and published at Stockholm, 1814; but the more recent collection published by Arwidson in 1834 is certainly superior. It is in three octavo volumes, and is entitledSvenska Fornsänger. En Samling of Kämp-visor, Folk-visor, Lekar och Dansar, samt Barn- och Vall-Sänger.]

Etymology of "Conger."—What is the etymology of the wordConger, as applied to the larger kind of deep sea eels by our fishermen (who, be it remarked, never add eel.Conger-eelis entirely used by shore-folk)?

I imagine that it may be traced from the DanishKongr, a king, or kings; for being the greatest of eels, the fishermen, whose nets he tore, and whose take he seriously reduced, might well call him in size, in strength, and voracity—Kongr, the king.

C. D. Lamont.

Greenock.

[Todd and Webster derive it from the Latincongerorcongrus; Gr.γόγγρος, formed ofγράω, to eat, the fish being very voracious; It.gongro; Fr.congre.]

"Si vis me flere, dolendum est primum tibi."—This is, I think, the ordinary form of a saying cited somewhere by Goldsmith, who calls it "so trite a quotation that it almost demands an apology to repeat it." Whence comes it originally? I am unable to give the exact reference to the passage in Goldsmith, but in hisCitizen of the World, letter 53rd, he has a cognate idea:

"As in common conversation the best way to make the audience laugh is by first laughing yourself, so in writing," &c.

W. T. M.

Hong Kong.

[Horace,De Arte Poetica, 102.]

(Vol. viii., p. 293.)

I possess a cast of this medal as described by your correspondentW. Fraser, but which is a little indistinct in some of the letters of its inscriptions. The yew-tree represented on it is generally supposed to be that which stood at Cruikston Castle nearly Paisley; and its motto "Vires" may perhaps have been intended to denote its natural strength and durability. The date of the medal being 1566, and Mary's marriage with Lord Darnly having taken place on July 29, 1565, the yew-tree may have been introduced to commemorate some incident of their courtship, and gives likelihood to the common tradition. I once had a small box composed partly of its wood, and ofthat of the "Torwood Oak" near Stirling, which was presented to me about thirty-five years ago by an aged lady, whose property it had been for a long time previously, and who placed much value on it as a relic. Though visiting Cruikston Castle in early life, I never heard of there being any feeling of "superstition" connected with such little objects as the crosses, &c. which were long made from the wood of the yew-tree. They are all, I think, to be viewed simply as curiosities associated with the historical interest of the place, and similar examples are to be found among our people in the numerousquaichs(drinking-cups) and other articles which have been formed from the "Torwood Oak" that protected the illustrious Sir William Wallace from his enemies; from his oak at Elderslie, said to have been planted by his hand, two miles to the west of Paisley; and lately from such scraps of the old oaken rafters of the Glasgow Cathedral as could be obtained in the course of its modern repairs.

As respects the yew-tree immediately concerned, some notices of its remains may be found in a work entitledThe Severn Delineated, by Charles Taylor, Glasgow, 1831, at page 82. The author, who was a very curious local antiquary, died in 1837, aged forty-two. As his book is now scarce, I may be excused from subjoining rather a long extract, but which also throws some light on other particulars of this subject:

"Retreating from Househill (a seat in the vicinity) to Cruikston Castle, the country is rich, and the scenery delightful. The castle itself might be the subject of volumes, as it has been the theme of many a poet, and the subject of many a painter's pencil. Its name is known all over the world, or may be so, from the circumstance of its once having been the residence of Mary Queen of Scots and Henry Lord Darnly; and though the famed yew-tree decks not now the 'hallowed mould,' as the poet expresses himself,'Is there an eye that tearless could beholdThis lov'd retreat of beauty's fairest flower?'About three years ago a large fragment fell from the south wing of this ruin, despite of all the attention Sir John Maywell paid to keep it up. The founder of this castle was one De Croc; hence the name Crockston, Crocston, or Cruikston. This family (says Crawfurd), failing in ane heiress, she was married to Sir Alexander Stewart of Torbolton, second son to Walter, the second of that name, Great Stewart of Scotland, and of this marriage are descended the families of Darnly and Lorn."

'Is there an eye that tearless could beholdThis lov'd retreat of beauty's fairest flower?'

'Is there an eye that tearless could behold

This lov'd retreat of beauty's fairest flower?'

About three years ago a large fragment fell from the south wing of this ruin, despite of all the attention Sir John Maywell paid to keep it up. The founder of this castle was one De Croc; hence the name Crockston, Crocston, or Cruikston. This family (says Crawfurd), failing in ane heiress, she was married to Sir Alexander Stewart of Torbolton, second son to Walter, the second of that name, Great Stewart of Scotland, and of this marriage are descended the families of Darnly and Lorn."

Cruikston is now the property of Sir John Maywell of Nether Pollock. Of the trunk of the once—

" . . . . . green yew,The first that met the royal Mary's view;When bright in charms the youthful princess ledThe graceful Darnly to her throne and bed."—

" . . . . . green yew,

The first that met the royal Mary's view;

When bright in charms the youthful princess led

The graceful Darnly to her throne and bed."—

Lady Maywell ordered to be made by an ingenious individual, at Pollockshaws, an exact model of the castle, and some table and other utensils, which are still in preservation at Pollock. Before its removal, many are the snuff-boxes, toddy ladles, &c. that have been made of it, and are still in preservation by the curious. The following couplet, composed by the late Mr. W. Craig, surgeon, is inscribed on one of these ladles, which has seen no little service:

"Near Cruikston Castle's stately tower,For many a year I stood;My shade was of the hallow'd bower;Where Scotland's queen was woo'd."

"Near Cruikston Castle's stately tower,

For many a year I stood;

My shade was of the hallow'd bower;

Where Scotland's queen was woo'd."

Another medal of Queen Mary's, of considerable size, of which I have seen a cast many years since, contained the following inscriptions:

"O God graunt patience in that I suffer vrang."

The reverse has in the centre:

"Quho can compare with me in grief,I die and dar nocht seek relief."

"Quho can compare with me in grief,

I die and dar nocht seek relief."

With this legend around:

"Hourt not theheart symbolquhais [heart whose] joy thou art."

"They all appear [says Mr. Pinkerton] to have been done in France by Mary's directions, who was fond of devices. Her cruel captivity could not debar her from intercourse with her friends in France; who must with pleasure have executed her orders as affording her a little consolation."

G. N.

Mr. Fraser'ssupposed medal is a ryal (or possibly a ¾ ryal) of Mary and Henry, commonly known as a Cruickstown dollar; from the idea that the tree upon them is a representation of the famous yew-tree at Cruickstown Castle. It appears, however, from the ordinance for coining these pieces, that the tree is a "palm-tree crowned with a shell paddock (lizard) creeping up the stem of the same." The motto across the tree is "DAT GLORIA VIRES." (See Lindsay'sScotch Coinage, p. 51.)

John Evans.

(Vol. viii., p. 344.)

The reply of Dr. Hincks appears to require the following. While seeking information upon the first of these matters, I took up one of my old school-books, and at the foot of a page found the following note: "Britannia is fromBarat-anac, the land of tin." I do not recollect to have seen it elsewhere; but it appeared to me so apt and correct that I adopted it at once.

That the Shirutana of the Egyptian inscriptions,or Shairetana, will be found to be the same people as the Cirátas of the Hindu Puranas, I have little doubt.

Cirátas is there applied as a name to the people who were afterwards known to us as the Phœnicians; but that either the Shirutana or the Cirátas will be found to have discovered Britain, though they may have given it a name, I do not expect. The Cirátas were a people of a later age to that of the first inhabitants of Britain. The first inhabitants of Britain I call the Celtæ, as I know no other name for them; but there seems reason for thinking that this island was visited by an earlier tribe, though probably they were of the same race.

The origin of the Cirátas and first inhabitants of Britain is this:—A powerful monarchy appears to have been established at the earliest dawn of history in the country we now call Persia, long before there was any Assyrian government, and under this monarchy that country was the true centre of population, of knowledge, of languages, and of arts. Three distinct races of men appear to have migrated in different directions from this their common country. One of these divides into two parts, one proceeding to the west, the other to the south-east of the place where the division took place. The western party passed through Asia Minor, and also by the north of the Black Sea, carrying with it all that was then known of the different arts and sciences, until we find the descendants at this day in the British Isles. The south-eastern party, also, continued its progress to the part now known to us as India, where its descendants may be found at this day. Long after the settlement in India, various tribes, all proceeding from it, migrated from that country to the parts now known to us as Egypt and Syria; and one of these tribes was the Cirátas.

That the Cirátas, Shirutana, or Phœnicians, call them as you may, were the first who passed the Pillar of Hercules in ships on their way to obtain tin here at first-hand, is almost certain; and that the western party, as described above, had broken ground to supply it long before their customers came for it, is scarcely less so. They all had a common origin, and used nearly the same language, religion, and laws.

My Query has brought out a highly satisfactory elucidation of the origin of the termBritain; and this, looking at the position in which that term stood on the day the last Number of "N. & Q." was published is by no means a slight acquisition. I now leave it.

G. W.

Stansted, Montfichet.

(Vol. vii., pp. 18. 91. 321.; Vol. viii., p. 318.)

The following list may prove an acceptable addition to those already printed in your pages. Some of your correspondents perhaps will make it more complete:

1707. Oxford. 8vo. Plates by John Sturt.1710. London. 8vo. Forty-four plates, with no engraver's name.1712. Oxford. 8vo. Plates by Sturt.1717. London. 8vo. Ruled with double red lines. Plates by Sturt.

1707. Oxford. 8vo. Plates by John Sturt.

1710. London. 8vo. Forty-four plates, with no engraver's name.

1712. Oxford. 8vo. Plates by Sturt.

1717. London. 8vo. Ruled with double red lines. Plates by Sturt.

Lowndes speaks of a large paper impression in quarto of this same edition: "The volume consists of one hundred and sixty-six plates, besides twenty-two containing dedication, table, &c. Prefixed is a bust of King George I.; and facing it, those of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Sturt likewise published a set of fifty-five historical cuts for Common Prayer in small 8vo."

1738. London. 8vo. With Old Version of the Psalms; and forty-four curious plates, including Gunpowder Treason, the Martyrdom of Charles I., and Restoration of Charles II. (Booksellers' Catal.)1794. London. Published by J. Good and E. Harding, with plates after Stothard by Bartolozzi and others (Lowndes).

1738. London. 8vo. With Old Version of the Psalms; and forty-four curious plates, including Gunpowder Treason, the Martyrdom of Charles I., and Restoration of Charles II. (Booksellers' Catal.)

1794. London. Published by J. Good and E. Harding, with plates after Stothard by Bartolozzi and others (Lowndes).

Lowndes also mentions "Illustrations to the Book of Common Prayer by Richard Westall, London, 1813, 8 vo. (proofs) 4to.," and "Twelve illustrations to ditto, engraved by John Scott, from designs by Burney and Thurston, royal 8vo."

I have reserved for more particular description two editions in my own possession:—One is a small 8vo., ruled with red lines: "In the Savoy, printed by the assignees of John Bill and Christopher Barker, Printers to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, 1667." It contains fifty-nine plates: these are identical with those in theAntiquitates Christianæ, or Bishop Taylor'sLife of Christ, and Cave'sLives of the Apostles(folio editions), which, if I mistake not, were engraved by William Faithorn. The Act of Uniformity is given in black-letter. The Ordinal is wanting. The three State Services are not enumerated in the Table of Contents, but are added at the end of the book. The Old Version of the Psalms (with its usual quaint title), a tract of 104 pp., is appended: "London: printed by Thos. Newcomb for the Company of Stationers, 1671." The other edition is a 12mo.: "London, printed by Charles Bill and the Executrix of Thomas Newcomb deceased, Printers to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, 1708" (ruled with red lines). In the frontispiece is represented a female figure kneeling with a prayer book open before her: an angelin the air holds a scroll, on which is inscribed, "The Liturgy of the Church of England, adorned with fifty-five historical cuts, P. La Vergne del., M. Van der Gucht sc." Beneath the picture, "Sold by Robt. Whitledge at the Bible in Ave Maria Lane, near Stationers' Hall."

Some of the cuts are very curious, as No. 16., which represents the Devil (adorned with a crown, sceptre, and tail) standing on the top of a high conical rock, and our Blessed Lord at a little distance from him. The appearance and attitude of the Apostles are somewhat grotesque. One of the best is St. Philip (No. 39.), who is represented as a wrinkled, bearded old man, contemplating a crucifix in his hand.

No. 51. is a picture of Guy Fawkes approaching the Parliament House, with a lantern in his hand. A large eye is depicted in the clouds above, which sheds a stream of light on the hand of the conspirator. No. 52. is "The Martyrdom of King Charles I." No. 53. "The Restoration of Monarchy and King Charles II." A number of cavaliers on horseback, with their conical hats and long tresses, occupy the foreground of this picture; the army appears in the background. This is the last, though the scroll advertises fifty-five cuts.

The Prefaces and Calendar are printed in very small bad type. The four State Services are enumerated in the Table of Contents. After the State Services follow, "At the Healing;" the Thirty-nine Articles, and a Table of Kindred and Affinity. This edition neither contains the Ordinal nor a metrical version of the Psalms. Notwithstanding the date on the title-page,King Georgeis prayed for throughout the book, except in the service "For the Eighth Day of March," when Queen Anne's name occurs.

Of the modern pictorial editions of the Book of Common Prayer may be mentioned that of Charles Knight "illustrated by nearly seven hundred beautiful woodcuts by Jackson, from drawings by Harvey, and six illuminated titles; with Explanatory Notes by the Rev. H. Stebbing," royal 8vo., London, 1838; reprinted in 1846. That of Murray, "illuminated by Owen Jones, and illustrated with engravings from the works of the great masters," royal 8vo., London, 1845; reprinted in 1850 in med. 8vo. That of Whittaker in 12mo. and 8vo., "with notes and illuminations." The last, and by far the best, pictorial edition is that of J. H. Parker of Oxford, "with fifty illustrations; selected from the finest examples of the early Italian and modern German schools, by the Rev. H. J. Rose and Rev. J. W. Burgon."

Jarltzberg.

(Vol. viii., p. 346.)

This has long been to me a vexed question, and I fear that none of your correspondents have given a satisfactory answer.

I have seen in London sprigs of yew and palm willow offered for sale before Palm Sunday. At this period they may, I think, be always found in Covent Garden Market. I saw them last year also in the greengrocers' shops at Brighton. To me these are evident traces of an old custom of using the yew as well as the willow. The origin is to be found in the Jewish custom of carrying "branches of palm-trees, and boughs ofthick trees, and willows from the brook" (Leviticus xxiii. 39, 40.).

Wordsworth alludes to this in his sonnet on seeing a procession at Chamouny:

"The Hebrews thus carrying in joyful stateThick boughs of palm and willows from the brook,March'd round the altar—to commemorateHow, when their course they from the desert took,Guided by signs which ne'er the sky forsook,They lodged in leafy tents and cabins low,Green boughs were borne."

"The Hebrews thus carrying in joyful state

Thick boughs of palm and willows from the brook,

March'd round the altar—to commemorate

How, when their course they from the desert took,

Guided by signs which ne'er the sky forsook,

They lodged in leafy tents and cabins low,

Green boughs were borne."

InA Voyage from Leith to Lapland, 1851, vol. i. p. 132., there is an account of the funeral of the poet Oehlenschläger. The author states,—

"The entire avenue was strewn, according to the old Scandinavian custom, with evergreen boughs of fir, and bunches of fir and box, mingled in some instances with artificial flowers. It is customary at all funerals to strew evergreens before the door of the house where the body lies, but it is only for some very distinguished person indeed they are strewn all the way to the burial place."

Forby, in hisEast Anglican Vocabulary, says it is a superstitious notion that—

"If you bring yew into the house at Christmas amongst the evergreens used to dress it, you will have a death in the family before the end of the year."

I believe the yew will be found generally on the south side of the church, but always near the principal entrance, easy of access for the procession on Palm Sunday, and perhaps for funerals, and that it was used as a substitute for the palm, and coupled with "the willow from the brook," hence called the palm willow.

A Holt White.

P. S.—I cannot agree with your correspondentJ. G. Cumming, that the yew is one of "our few evergreens." I doubt our having in England any native evergreen but the holly.

The etymology of the name of the yew-tree clearly shows that it was not planted in churchyards as an emblem of evil, but one of immortality. The name of the tree in Celtic isjubar, pronouncedyewar,i. e."the evergreen head." The town ofNewry in Ireland took its name from two yew-trees which St. Patrick planted:A-Niubaride, pronouncedA-Newery,i. e."the yew-trees," which stood until Cromwell's time, when some soldiers ruthlessly cut them down.

In the Note byMr. J. G. Cumming, a derivation is evidently required for the English wordyeoman, which he suggests is taken from "yokeman." Yeoman is fromeō, pronouncedyo,i. e.free, worthy, respectable, as opposed to the termsvillein, serf, &c.; so that yeoman means a freeman, a respectable person.

Fras. Crossley.

(Vol. viii., p. 270.)

Mr. H. T. Griffith asks where may any pedigree of theOsbornefamily, previous to Edward Osborne, the ancestor of the Dukes of Leeds, be seen. In reply, I am in possession of large collections relating to the Norman Osbornes, from whom I have reasons to believe him to have been descended. Those Osbornes can be proved to have been settled in certain of the midland counties of England from the time of the attainder and downfall of the son of William Fitzosborne, Earl of Hereford and premier peer, down to a comparatively late period. A branch of them was possessed of the manor of Kelmarsh in Northamptonshire; and their pedigree, beginning in 1461, may be seen in Whalley'sNorthamptonshire: but this is necessarily very imperfect, on account of the author's want of access to documents which have subsequently been opened to the public.

I may here notice that an inexcusable error has been committed and repeated in several of the collections of records published by the Parliamentary Commission, who have, in numerous instances, and without any warrant, interpretedOsb.of the MSS. as "Osbert." Thus they have deprivedFitzosborne, Bishop of Exeter (A.D.1102), of some of his manors, and within his own diocese, and conferred them onOsbert the Bishop, although there never was a bishop of that name in England. I took the liberty of pointing out this error to one of the chief editors concerned in these works; but as he has taken no notice of my observations, I must infer that he thinks it most prudent to excite no farther inquiry.

TheOsborns, now so numerous in London, appear to have come from the Danish stem from which the Norman branch was originally derived. Their number, which has increased even beyond the ordinary ratio of the population, may perhaps be dated from the wife of one of them who (temp. Jac. I.) had twenty-four sons, and was interred in old St. Paul's.

I shall be very happy to afford any assistance in my power to the gentleman who has occasioned these remarks.

Omicron.

(Vol. vi., p. 554.; Vol. vii., pp. 454. 603.; Vol. viii., pp. 108. 248.)

Many thanks are due to your correspondentCuthbert Bede, B.A., for his interesting series of inscriptions on bells. The following are, I think, sufficiently curious to be added to your collection:—

Rouen Cathedral:

"In the steeple of the great church, in the citie of Roane in Normandy, is one great bell with the like inscription." [Like, that is, to the inscription at St. Stephen's, Westminster: see "N. & Q." Vol. viii., p. 108.]

"Je suis George de Ambois,Qui trente-cinque mille pois;Mes luis qui me pesera,Trente-six mille me trouvera.""I amGeorge of Ambois,Thirtie-five thousand in pois;But he that shall weigh me,Thirty-six thousand shall find me."—Weever,Fun. Mon., edit. fol. 1631, p. 492.

"Je suis George de Ambois,Qui trente-cinque mille pois;Mes luis qui me pesera,Trente-six mille me trouvera."

"Je suis George de Ambois,

Qui trente-cinque mille pois;

Mes luis qui me pesera,

Trente-six mille me trouvera."

"I amGeorge of Ambois,Thirtie-five thousand in pois;But he that shall weigh me,Thirty-six thousand shall find me."—Weever,Fun. Mon., edit. fol. 1631, p. 492.

"I amGeorge of Ambois,

Thirtie-five thousand in pois;

But he that shall weigh me,

Thirty-six thousand shall find me."—Weever,Fun. Mon., edit. fol. 1631, p. 492.

St. Matthew, Great Milton, Oxfordshire:

1. "I as treble begin.3. "I was third ring.8. (Great bell) "I to church the living call, and to the grave do summons."

1. "I as treble begin.

3. "I was third ring.

8. (Great bell) "I to church the living call, and to the grave do summons."

Inscription suggested as being suitable for six bells, in theEcclesiologist(New Series), vol. i. p. 209.:

1. "Ave Pater, Rex, Creator:2. Ave Fili, Lux, Salvator:3. Ave Pax et Charitas.4. Ave Simplex, Ave Trine;5. Ave Regnans sine fine,6. Ave Sancta Trinitas."

1. "Ave Pater, Rex, Creator:

2. Ave Fili, Lux, Salvator:

3. Ave Pax et Charitas.

4. Ave Simplex, Ave Trine;

5. Ave Regnans sine fine,

6. Ave Sancta Trinitas."

Inscriptions are often to be found in Lombardic characters, and on bells of great antiquity. Can any of your ecclesiological correspondents furnish me with the date of the earliest known example?

W. Sparrow Simpson.

On bells in Southrepps Church, Norfolk:

"Tuba ad Juditium. Campana ad Ecclesiam, 1641.""Miserere mei Jhesus Nazarenus Rex Judæorum."

"Tuba ad Juditium. Campana ad Ecclesiam, 1641."

"Miserere mei Jhesus Nazarenus Rex Judæorum."

J. L. Sisson.

(Vol. viii., pp. 37. 83. 277. 329.)

I broached a theory with a concluding remark that it would give me great pleasure to see one more reasonable take its place. I fear that, if all your readers anxious to clear up an obscure point in an interesting science take no more trouble than P. P., we shall find ourselves nonearer our object in the middle of your eightieth volume than we are now in your eighth.

What P. P. is pleased to term the "routine" reason is after all but one among many, and is not better substantiated than some of the others quoted by me; for though the lozenge has a "supposed" resemblance to the distaff or fusil, heraldically it is but a supposed one, and by most writers the difference is very distinctly indicated.

Boyer says:

"A fusil is a bearing in heraldry made in the form of a spindle, with its yarn or thread wound about it.Fusils are longer than lozenges, and taper or pointed at both ends."

The same author thus describes a lozenge:

"A Rhimbus, in geometry, is a figure of four equal and parallel sides, but not rectangular."

Robson says:

"Fusil, a kind of spindle used in spinning. Its formation should be particularly attended to,as few painters or engravers make a sufficient distinction between the fusil and lozenge."

Nisbet describes a lozenge to be—

"A figure that has equal sides and unequal angles, as the quarry of a glass window placed erect pointways."

He adds:

"The Latins say, 'Lozengæ factæ sunt ad modum lozangiorum in vitreis.' Heralds tell us that their use in armories came from the pavement of marble stones of churches, fine palaces and houses, cut after the form of lozenges, which pavings the French and Italians call loze and the Spaniardsloza."

Sylvester de Petra-Sancta of the lozenge says much the same:

"Scutulas oxigonias scu acutangulus erectas, et quasi gradiles, referri debere ad latericias et antiquas domus olim, viz. Nobilium quia vulgus, et infamiæ sortis homines, intra humiles casus, vet antra inhabitantur."

Of the fusil Nisbet writes:

"The fusil is another Rhombular figure like the lozenge, but more long than broad, and its upper and lower points are more acute than the two side points."

He adds that:

"Chassanus and others make their sides round, as in his description of them: 'Fusæ sunt acutæ in superiore et inferiore partibus, et rotundæ ex utroque latere;' which description has occasioned some English heralds, when so painted or engraven, to call them millers' picks, as Sir John Boswell, in hisConcords of Armory, and others, to call them weavers' shuttles."

Menestrier says of lozenges:

"Lozange est une figure de quatre pointes, dont deux sont un peu plus étendues que les autres, et assise sur une de ces pointes. C'est le Rhomb des mathématiciens, et les quarreaux des vitres ordinaires en ont la figure."

Of fusils:

"Fusées sont plus étendues en longue que les lozanges, et affilées en point comme les fuseaux. Elles sont pièces d'architecture où l'on se sert pour ornement de fusées et de pesons."

The celebratedBoke of St. Albans(1486) thus describes the difference between a lozenge and fusil:

"Knaw ye yedifferans betwix ffusillis and losyng. Wherefore it is to be knaw that ffusillis ar euermore long, also fusyllis ar strattyr ouerwart in the baly then ar mascules. And mascules ar larger ou'wartt in the baly, and shorter in length than be fusyllis."

The mascle is afterwards explained to be the lozenge pierced. Again:

"And ye most take thys for a general enformacion and instruccion that certanli losyng eu'more stand upright ... and so withowte dowte we have the differans of the foresayd signes, that is to wete of mascules and losynges."

Dallaway, an elegant writer on Heraldry, says:

"Of the lozenge the following extraordinary description is given in a MS. of Glover, 'Lozenga est pars vitri in vitrea fenestra.' But it may be more satisfactory to observe that the lozenge, with its diminutive, are given to females instead of an escocheon for the insertion of their armorial bearings, one of which is supposed to have been a cushion of that shape, and the other is evidently the spindle used in spinning; both demonstrative of the sedentary employments of women. On a very splendid brass for Eleanor, relict of Thomas of Woodstocke, who died 1384, she is delineated as resting her head upon two cushions, the upper of which is placed lozenge-wise."—P. 140.

The above is taken from hisMiscellaneous Observations on Heraldic Ensigns, the following from the body of his great work:

"Females being heirs, or conveying feodal lordships to their husbands, had, as early as the thirteenth century, the privilege of armorial seals. The variations were progressive and frequent; at first the female effigy had the kirtle or inner garment emblazoned, or held the escocheon over her head, or in her right hand; then three escocheons met in the centre, or four were joined at their bases, if the alliance admitted of so many. Dimidiation, accollation, and impalement succeeded each other at short intervals. But the modern practice of placing the arms of females upon a lozenge appears to have originated about the middle of the fourteenth century, when we have an instance of five lozenges conjoined upon one seal; that of the heir female in the centre impaling the arms of her husband, and surrounded by those of her ancestors."—P. 400.

I think this quotation from so learned a writer goes far towards settling the whole question. I confess myself willing to have my theory placed second to this, while I must discard the "distaff"notion, unless better substantiated than by the French saying from their Salique law, which I here give for P. P.'s information: "Nunquam corona a lance transibit ad fusum." I am willing to admit the antiquity of this notion; for while the shape of the man's shield is traced by Sylvanus Morgan to Adam's spade, he takes the woman's from Eve's spindle!

"When Adam delved, and Eve span,Who was then the gentleman?"

"When Adam delved, and Eve span,

Who was then the gentleman?"

In Geoffry Chaucer's time the lozenge appears to have been an ornament worn by heralds in their dress or crown. In describing the habit of one, he says:

"They crowned were as kingesWith crowns wrought full of lozengesAnd many ribbons and many fringes."

"They crowned were as kinges

With crowns wrought full of lozenges

And many ribbons and many fringes."

As for the difference between the lozenge and fusil, I could multiply opinions and examples, but hope those given will be sufficient.

I cannot conclude these few hasty remarks without expressing a wish that one of your correspondents in particular would take up this subject, to handle which in a masterly manner, his position is a guaranty of his ability. I refer to the gentleman holding the office of York Herald.

Broctuna.

Bury, Lancashire.

(Vol. viii., p. 173.)

From a very early period, and throughout life, I have been accustomed to shooting, and well remember the bird in question, but whether the term was local or general, I am unable to state, never having met with it save in one locality; and many years have elapsed since I saw one, although in the habit of frequenting the neighbourhood where it was originally to be seen. I attribute its disappearance to local causes. I met with it during a series of years, ending about twenty-five years since, at which period I lost sight of it. It was to be met with during the autumn and winter in bogs scattered over with bog myrtle, on Chobham and the adjacent common; I never met with it elsewhere. It is solitary. I am unacquainted with its food, and only in a single instance had I ever one in my hand. Its tongue is pointed, sharp, and appearing capable of penetration. Its colour throughout dusky light blue, slightly tinged with yellow about the vent. Tail about one inch, being rather long in proportion to the body, causing the wings to appear forward, with a miniature pheasant-like appearance as it flew, or rather darted, from bush to bush, with amazing quickness, its wings moving with rapidity, straight in its flight, keeping near the ground, appearing loth to wing, never passing an intervening bush if ever so near; and I never saw one fly over eight or ten yards, and never wing a second time, which induced our dogs (using a sporting phrase) to puzzle them, causing a belief that they were in most instances trodden under the water and grass in which the myrtle grew, and which nothing but a dog could approach. I never saw one sitting or light on a branch of the myrtle, but invariably flying from thebaseof one plant to that of another. I am not aware that any cabinet contains a preserved specimen, or that the bird has ever been noticed by any naturalist as a British or foreign bird.

Should W. R. D. S. covet farther information as to the probable cause of its disappearance, and my never having met with it elsewhere, perhaps he will favour me with his address. I cannot think the bird extinct.

C. Brown.

Egham, Surrey.

(Vol. viii., p. 385.)

The earliest memoir of captain John Davis, the celebrated arctic navigator, is that given by the reverend John Prince in hisDanmonii orientales illustres,or the worthies of Devon, Exeter, 1701, folio. It is, however, erroneous and defective in important particulars, and has misled some eminent writers, as Campbell, Eyriès, Barrow, &c.

Despite the assertions of master Prince, Iquestionif captain Davis married a daughter of sir John Fulford; I amsurehe was not the first pilot who conducted the Hollanders to the East-Indies; I am sure the journal of the voyage is not printed in Hakluyt; I am sure the narrative of his voyage with sir Edward Michelborne is neither dedicated to the earl of Essex nor printed in Hakluyt; I am sure he did not write theRutter, or brief directions for sailing into the East-Indies; I am sure he wrote two works of which Prince says nothing; I am sure he did not makefivevoyages to the East-Indies; and I am sure, to omit other oversights, that he did not "return home safe again." To the latter point I shall now confine myself.

In 1604 king James, regardless of the charter held by the East-India company, granted a license to sir Edward Michelborne, one of his gentlemen-pensioners, to discover and trade with the "countries and domynions of Cathaia, China, Japan," &c. This license, preserved in the Rolls-chapel, is dated the twenty-fifth of June. On the fifth of December sir Edward set sail from Cowes with the Tiger, a ship of 240 tons, and a pinnace—captain Davis being, as I conceive, thesecondin command. In December 1605, being near the island of Bintang, they fell in with a junk of 70 tons, carrying ninety Japanese, most of them"in too gallant a habit for saylers:" in fact, they were pirates! The unfortunate result shall now be stated in the words of thepirateMichelborne:

"Vpon mutuall courtesies with gifts and feastings betweene vs, sometimes fiue and twentie or sixe and twentie of their chiefest came aboord: whereof I vould not suffer aboue sixe to have weapons. Their was neuer the like number of our men aboord their iunke. I willed captaine John Dauis in the morning [the twenty-seventh of December] to possesse himselfe of their weapons, and to put the companie before mast, and to leave some guard on their weapons, while they searched in the rice, doubting that by searching and finding that which would dislike them, they might suddenly set vpon my men, and put them to the sword: as the sequell prooued. Captaine Dauis being beguiled with their humble semblance, would not possesse himselfe of their weapons, though I sent twice of purpose from my shippe to will him to doe it. They passed all the day, my men searching in the rice, and they looking on: at the sunne-setting, after long search and nothing found, saue a little storax and beniamin: they seeing oportunitie, and talking to the rest of their companie which were in my ship, being neere to their iunke, they resolued, at a watch-word betweene them, to set vpon vs resolutely in both ships. This being concluded, they suddenly killed and droue ouer-boord, all my men that were in their ship; and those which were aboord my ship sallied out of my cabbin, where they were put, with such weapons as they had, finding certaine targets in my cabbin, and other things that they vsed as weapons. My selfe being aloft on the decke, knowing what was likely to follow, leapt into the waste, where, with the boate swaines, carpenter and some few more, wee kept them vnder the halfe-decke. At their first comming forth of the cabbin, they met captain Dauis comming out of the gun-roome, whom they pulled into the cabbin, and giuing him sixe or seuen mortall wounds, they thrust him out of the cabbin before them. His wounds were so mortall, that he dyed assoone as he came into the waste."—Purchas, i. 137.

Bolton Corney.

Clouds in Photographs.—I wish one of your photographic correspondents would inform me, howcloudscan be put into photographs taken on paper? Mr. Buckle's photographs all containclouds?

Σ.

"The Stereoscope considered in relation to the Philosophy of Binocular Vision" is the title of a small pamphlet written by a frequent contributor to this journal, Mr. C.Mansfield Ingleby, in which he has "attempted to sketch out such modifications of the theory of double vision as appear to him to be entailed on the rationale of the stereoscope." The corroboration thus indirectly afforded to the principles of Sir William Hamilton'sPhilosophy of Perceptionhas inducedMr. Inglebyto dedicate his word to that distinguished metaphysician. The essay will, we have no doubt, be perused with great interest by many of our photographic friends, for whose gratification we shall borrow its concluding paragraph.

"In conclusion we must not forget to acknowledge our obligations to the photographic art, not merely as one of the most suggestive results of natural science, but as a means of the widest and soundest utility. To antiquaries the services of photography have a unique value, for, by perpetuating in the form of negatives those monuments of nature and art which, though exempt from common accident, are still subject to gradual decay from time, it places in the hands of us all microscopically exact antitypes of objects which, from change or distance, are otherwise inaccessible. To the artist they afford the means of facilitating the otherwise laborious, and often mechanical, task of drawing in detail from nature and from the human figure."To the physician, to the naturalist, and to the man of science, the uses of photography are various and important, and already the discoveries which have been directly due to this modern art are of stupendous utility."To the metaphysician, its uses may be sufficiently gleaned from the applications considered in the preceding pages. But to all these classes of men the photographic art derives its chief glory from its application to the stereoscope; and if, for elucidating the principles of vision by means of this application, we have in any degree given a stimulus to the practice and improvement of the photographic processes, our pains have been happily and fruitfully bestowed."

"To the physician, to the naturalist, and to the man of science, the uses of photography are various and important, and already the discoveries which have been directly due to this modern art are of stupendous utility.

"To the metaphysician, its uses may be sufficiently gleaned from the applications considered in the preceding pages. But to all these classes of men the photographic art derives its chief glory from its application to the stereoscope; and if, for elucidating the principles of vision by means of this application, we have in any degree given a stimulus to the practice and improvement of the photographic processes, our pains have been happily and fruitfully bestowed."

Muller's Processes.—Would you inform me, through the medium of "N. & Q.," what manufacture of paper is best adapted to the two processes of Mr. Muller? I have tried several: with some I find that the combination of their starch with the iodide of iron causes a dark precipitate upon the face of the paper; and with those papers prepared with size, there appears to me great difficulty (in his improved process after the paper is moistened with aceto-nitrate of silver) to procure an equal distribution of the iodide over its surface, as it invariably dries or runs off parts of the paper, or is repelled by spots of size on the paper when dipped in the iodide of iron bath.—A reply to the foregoing question would greatly oblige

A Constant Reader.

Essex.

Positives on Glass.—Sometimes, when your sitter is gone, and you hold your portrait up to the light to examine its density, you find in the face and other parts which are dark, so viewed, minutetransparentspecks, scarcely bigger than a pin's point. When the picture is backed with black lacquer, you have consequently smallblackspots, which deform the positive, especially when viewed through a lens of short focus. A friend of minecures this defect very easily. After having applied the amber varnish, he stops out the spots with a little oil-paint that matches the lights of the picture; of course the paint is put upon the varnished side of the glass. When the paint is dry, the black lacquer is carried over the whole as usual.

T. D. Eaton.

Norwich.

Peculiar Ornament in Crosthwaite Church(Vol. viii., p. 200.).—I am exceedingly obliged toCheverellsfor his reply to any Query. I am sorry to say that I failed to make a note of the number of the circles; but, as far as I can remember, there are six windows in each aisle, so in all there would be twenty-four, each window having two carved upon it, one on the right jamb without, and the other on the left within.

R. W. Elliot.

Clifton.

Nursery Rhymes(Vol. viii., p. 455.).—I would suggest to L. that a consideration ofrhymesmay sometimes indicate, by the change in the pronunciation, the antiquity of the verse e.g.,

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