PETER ALLAN.

(Vol. viii., pp. 539. 630.)

Peter Allan deserves more than a brief notice. His history is so full of romance, the relics of his name and fame are so many, and he is withal so little known, that I presume I may on this occasion trespass on more than the ordinary space allotted to a "minor," but which should be a "major" Query.

Peter Allan was born at Selkirk (?) in the year 1798. His parents were peasants, and Peter in early life became valet to Mr. Williamson, brother of Sir Hedworth Williamson. He afterwards became gamekeeper to the Marquis of Londonderry, and in that capacity acquired a reputation as an unerring shot, and a man of unusual physical strength and courage. He afterwards married, and became a publican at Whitburn, and in the course of few years purchased a little property, and occupied himself in the superintendence of dock works and stone quarries. In this latter capacity he acquired the skill in quarrying, on which his fame chiefly rests. Having a turn for a romantic life, he conceived the strange project of founding a colony at Marsden, a wild, rocky bay below the mouth of the Tyne, five miles from Sunderland, and three from South Shields. The spot chosen by Peter as his future home had been colonised some years before by one "Jack the Blaster," who had performed a series of excavations, and amongst them a huge round perforation from the high land above to the beach below, through which it is said many a cargo has passed ashore without being entered in the books of the excise. Here the cliff is formed of hard magnesian limestone, and rises perpendicularly from the beach more than a hundred feet. When Peter set to work, the only habitable portions were two wild caves opening to the sea, into which at high tide the breakers tumbled, and where during rough weather it was impossible to continue with safety. On the face of the rock Peter built a homestead of timber, and set up farm and tavern. In the rock itself he excavated fifteen rooms, to each of which he gave an appropriate name; the most interesting are the "Gaol Room," the "Devil's Chamber," the "Circular Room," the "Dining Room," and the "Ball Room." The height of the entire excavation is twenty feet, its breadth thirty, and its length, from the ball room to the cottage, one hundred and twenty. Several parts of the cave are lighted by windows hewn in the face of the rock, and these give the cave a picturesque appearance as viewed frown the beach below. In addition to these labours, Peter took possession of a huge table-rock, which stands some distance from the cliffs opposite to the grotto. By dint of extraordinary exertions he excavated a passage from the land side of this rock through its substance to the surface, and by placing scaling ladders against its face, made provision for ascent and descent at high water. The three-quarters of an acre of surface he colonised with rabbits, and built a shanty for himself and companions, where they dwelt for some time thinning the wild fowl with their deadly shots, and raising many an echo with their shouts of revelry.

To describe the strange scene presented by the grotto itself, the farm-buildings on the face of the cliff, the huge table-rock and flagstaff, the many quaint blocks, pillars and wild escarpments, and the numerous domestic animals, such as mastiffs, pigs, ravens, and goats, all congregated together in a small bay, and literally separated from the world by the barren waste land above, and the huge cliffs and restless sea below, would be beyond the scope of "N. & Q.," though it is worth a note in passing, that for the tourist a visit to Marsden would be highly remunerative.

Peter Allan endured many hardships in his cave at Marsden. He was accused of smuggling, and annoyed by the excise. He and his family were once shut in for six weeks by the snow, during the whole of which time it was impossible for any human being to approach them. Yet in spite of many hardships, Peter reared in the grotto a family of eight children, three daughters and five sons, all of whom are living and prospering in the world. The grotto is still kept by his widow, hiseldest son William, and one daughter, assisting Mrs. Allan in the management The son William is an experienced blaster, and occupies himself in excavations and improvements; the daughter, a brunette, is a first-rate shot, and a girl of extraordinary spirit and gaiety. She is the Grace Darling of the neighbourhood, and both her and her mother have saved many lives by their dexterity in boating and extraordinary courage. Peter himself was a bold, determined, and honest man, fond of a joke, and passionately devoted to bees, birds, pigs, and dogs, many of whom (pigs especially) used to follow him to Shields and Sunderland, when he went thither. After twenty-two years' possession of the caverns, the proprietor of the adjoining land served him with a process of ejectment; Peter refused to leave the habitation which he had formed by twenty years' unremitting toil, and which he had actually won from the sea, without encroachment on an inch of the mainland. After a tedious law-suit, judgment was given in his favour, but he had to pay costs. The anxieties of this lawsuit broke his heart, and he never recovered either health or spirits. He died on the 31st of August, 1849, in the 51st year of his age, leaving his wife and eight children to lament him. He was buried in Whitburn churchyard, and over his grave was placed a stone with the inscription:

"The Lord is my rock and my salvation."

Numerous memorials of Peter exist at the grotto, and in the neighbourhood of Marsden. Particulars of these and other matters touching this romantic history, may be obtained in No. 2. ofSummer Excursions to the North, published by Ward, of Newcastle; and in a paper entitledA Visit to Marsden Rocks, contributed by myself to thePeoples Illustrated Journal, No. XIV.

Shirley Hibberd.

(Vol. viii., pp. 127. 180. 422.)

I think that your well-read correspondentJ. W. Thomaswill agree with me that thebonâ fideauthorship of the beautiful lines alluded to must be ascertained, not by a single expression, but by the whole of the charming poem. The striking expression of Mohammed, quoted byJ. W. Thomas, is quite common amongst the Easterns even at the present day. I remember, when at Malta, in March, 1848, whilst walking in company of the most accomplished Arabian of the day, the conversation turned upon a certain individual who had since acquired a most unenviable notoriety in the annals of British jurisprudence, my companion abruptly turned upon me, whilst at the shore of the Mediterranean, and said, in his fascinating Arabic, "Behold this great sea! were all its water turned into ink, it would be insufficient to describe the villany of the individual you speak of."

Rabbi Mayir ben Isaac's poem corresponds not merely in a single expression, but in every one. The Chaldee hymn has the ink and ocean, parchment and heavens, stalks and quills, mankind and scribes, &c. Pray do me the favour to insert the original lines. I assure you that they are well worthy of a place in "N. & Q." Here they are:

גְּבוּרָן עָלְמִין לֵיה וְלָא סִפֵּק פְּרִישׁוּתָא׃‎גְּוִיל אִלּוּ רְקִיעֵי קְני כָּל חוּרְשָׁתָא׃‎דְּיוֹ אִלּוּ יַמֵּי וְכָל מֵי כְנִישׁוּתָא׃‎דַּיְרֵי אַרְעָא סַפְרֵי וְרַשְׁמֵי רַשְׁוָתָא׃‎

גְּבוּרָן עָלְמִין לֵיה וְלָא סִפֵּק פְּרִישׁוּתָא׃‎

גְּוִיל אִלּוּ רְקִיעֵי קְני כָּל חוּרְשָׁתָא׃‎

דְּיוֹ אִלּוּ יַמֵּי וְכָל מֵי כְנִישׁוּתָא׃‎

דַּיְרֵי אַרְעָא סַפְרֵי וְרַשְׁמֵי רַשְׁוָתָא׃‎

Moses Margoliouth.

Wybunbury.

In theDes Knaben Wunderhornthere is something of the same idea, though not quite to the same purpose:

"Und wenn der Himmel papyrige wär,Und e jede Sterne Schryber wär,Und jedere Schryber hat siebesiebe Hand,Ei schriebe doch alli mir Liebi Kesend!Dursli und Babeli."

"Und wenn der Himmel papyrige wär,

Und e jede Sterne Schryber wär,

Und jedere Schryber hat siebesiebe Hand,

Ei schriebe doch alli mir Liebi Kesend!

Dursli und Babeli."

G. H. R.

(Vol. viii., p. 102.)

This question was asked by H., and at p. 479. an answer to it was undertaken byEste. But, probably from over-anxiety to be very brief,Estewas betrayed into a most strange and unaccountable misstatement, which ought to be set right before the conclusion of the volume; since, if correctness be generally desirable in all communications to "N. & Q.," it is absolutely indispensable in professed answers to required information.Estesays:

"A person sailing to our Antipodes westward will lose twelve hours; by sailing thither eastward he will gain twelve hours."

This is quite correct. But if one person lose twelve, and another gain twelve, the manifest difference between them is twenty-four; and yetEstegoes on to say:

"If both meet together at the same hour, say eleven o'clock, the one will reckon 11A.M., the other 11P.M."

This is the misstatement. No two persons, by any correct system of reckoning, could arrive at a result which would imply a physical impossibility; and it is needless to say that the concurrence ofA.M. andP.M. at the same time and place would come under that designation. WhatEsteshould have said is, that both persons meetingtogether on the same day, if it be reckoned Monday by the one, it will be reckoned Tuesday by the other. They may differ as to Monday or Tuesday, but they cannot rationally differ as to whether it is day or night.

It may be added that, no matter where these two persons might meet, whether at the Antipodes or at any other place, still, upon comparing their journals, there would always appear a day's difference between them; and if they were to keep continually sailing on, one always towards the west, and the other always towards the east, every time they might meet or cross each other, they would increase the difference between them by an additional day.

Whence it follows, that if two ships were to leave England on the same day, one sailing east by the Cape of Good Hope, and the other west by Cape Horn, returning home respectively by the opposite capes; and if both were to arrive again in England at the same time, there would be found in the reckoning of the eastern vessel two entire days more than in that of the western vessel. Nor would this difference be merely theoretic or imaginary; on the contrary, it would be a real and substantial gain on the part of the eastern vessel: her crew would have consumed two whole rations of breakfast, dinner, and supper, and swallowed two days' allowance of grog more than the other crew; and they would have enjoyed two nights more sleep.

But all this is not an answer to H's question; what he wants to know is whether the day at the Antipodes is twelve hours in advance or in arrear of our day and, whichever it is, why is it?

But here H. is not sufficiently explicit. His question relates to a practical fact, and therefore he should have been more particular in designating the exact habitable place to which it referred. Our Antipodes, strictly speaking, or rather the antipodal point to Greenwich Observatory, is 180° of east (or west) longitude, and 51° 28′ &c. of south latitude. But this is not the only point that differs by exactly twelve hours in time from Greenwich; all places lying beneath the meridian of 180°, "our Periæci" as well as "our Antipodes," are similarly affected, and to them the same question would be applicable. H. is right, however, in assuming that, with respect to that meridian, the decision must be purely arbitrary. It is as though two men were to keep moving round a circle in the same direction, with the same speed, and at diametrically opposite points; it must be an arbitrary decision which would pronounce that either was in advance, or in arrear, of the other.

Regarding, then, the meridian of 180° as the neutral point, the most rational system, so far as British settlements are concerned, is to reckon longitude both ways, from 0° to 180°, east and west from Greenwich; and to regard all west longitude as in arrear of British time, and all east longitude as in advance of it. And this is the method practised by modern navigators.

It is not, however, in obedience to any preconceived system, but by pure accident, that our settlements in Australia and New Zealand happen to be in accordance with this rule. The last-named country is very close upon the verge of eastern longitude, but still it is within it, and its day is rightly in advance of our day. But the first settlers to Botany Bay, in 1788, were actually under orders to go out by Cape Horn, and were only forced by stress of weather to adopt the opposite course by the Cape of Good Hope. Had they kept to their prescribed route, there cannot be a doubt that the day of the week and month in Australia would now be a day later than it is.

The best proof of the truth of this assertion is, that a few years afterwards a missionary expedition was sent out to Otaheite, with respect to which a precisely similar accident occurred; they could not weather Cape Horn, and were forced to go round, some twice the distance out of their way, by the Cape of Good Hope; consequently they carried with them what may be called the eastern day, and since then that is the day observed at Otaheite, although fully two hours within the western limit of longitude.

From this cause an actual practical anomaly has recently arisen. The French authorities in Tahiti, in accordance with the before-mentioned rule, have arranged their day bywestern longitude; consequently, in addition to other points of dissent, they observe the Sabbath and other festivals one day later than the resident English missionaries.

I have extended this explanation to a greater length than I intended, but the subject is interesting, and not generally well understood; to do it justice, therefore, is not compatible with brevity. Much of what I have said is doubtless already known to your readers; nevertheless I hope it may be useful in affording to H. the information he required, and toEstemore fixed notions on the subject than he seems to have entertained when he wrote the answer referred to.

A. E. B.

Leeds.

Aceto-Nitrate of Silver.—I have collected together several ounces of aceto-nitrate of silver that has been used to excite waxed paper (iodized byMr. Crookes'method), and should be glad to know whether it can be used again for the same purpose.

John Leachman.

[The aceto-nitratemaybe used, but in our own practice we do not do so. It is apt to give an unpleasant brownish colour. The solutions of silver,whether used for albumenising or otherwise, being reduced to a state of chloride by the addition of common salt so long as any precipitate is formed: fine silver may then be readily obtained by heating a crucible, the chloride consisting of three-fourths of pure metal. It is a false economy to use dirty or doubtful solutions, and by adopting the above course the pecuniary loss is very trifling. Our ordinary stoves will not always give a sufficient heat, but any working jeweller or chemist having the ordinary furnace would accomplish it.]

On the Restoration of old Collodion.—Many plans have been suggested for the restoration of collodion when it has lost its sensitiveness by age. In the last Number of thePhotographic Journal, p. 147.,Mr. Crookesproposes "to remove the free iodine from the collodion by means of a piece of pure silver. For two ounces of liquid I should recommend a sheet of stout silver foil, about two inches long and half an inch broad. It will require to remain in contact with the collodion for about two days, or even longer if the latter be very dark-coloured; and in this case it will sometimes be found advantageous to clean the surface of the silver, as it becomes protected with a coating of iodide, by means of cyanide of potassium or hyposulphite of soda.

"When thus renovated, the collodion will be found as sensitive and good as it was originally."

This plan is certainly more simple than any that has yet been recommended. The action of the silver being its mere combination with the free iodine, thereby producing the reduction of the collodion to its original colourless condition, I would venture to put this question toMr. Crookes(to whom the readers of "N. & Q." are already under great obligations): Does he consider that it is the mere presence of free iodine which causes the want of sensitiveness in the collodion? This is all which appears to be accomplished by the process which Mr. Crookes recommends.

Now, as one who has had some experience, both in the manufacture and uses of collodion, such a view does not agree with my practice and observation. Occasionally, upon sensitising collodion, I have found it assume a deep sherry colour a few hours after being made. This must have depended upon the free iodide it contained, and yet such collodion has worked most admirably. I have now before me a large body of collodion almost red, and which has been made some three or four months; yet the last time I used this, about a week since, it was just as good as when it was first made. Undoubtedly collodion does more or less deteriorate with age; but here I would observe, that there is an immense difference in the different manufactures of collodion, and which can be ascertained by use only, and not by appearance.

But Mr. Hennah, who has had much practical experience, recommends the collodion to be made sensitive merely by the iodide of potassium; and he said, "if it did not work quite clearly and well, a little tincture of iodine brought it right." Here, then, is added the very thing whichMr. Crookesproposes to abstract.

Again,Mr. Crookesconsiders the free iodine to be the cause of the colouring of the collodion; will he then kindly explain itsmodus operandi?

As he has on several occasions given your readers the benefit of his great chemical knowledge, I trust they may be favoured by him with a solution of these difficulties, which have puzzled

An Amateur.

Admissions to Inns of Court(Vol. viii., p. 540.).—The following particulars may be of service to your correspondent who requires information upon the subject of the matriculations at the inns of court.

The books of Lincoln's Inn, which record the calls to the bar and other proceedings of the Society, commence in the second year of the reign of Henry VI., 1423. Those of the Inner Temple, which contain the admittances in 1547, and the calls to the bar in 1590; of the Middle Temple, which contain a regular series of admissions and calls, about the year 1600; and of Gray's Inn, about the year 1650. The earlier records of Gray's Inn were destroyed by fire, but the Harleian MS. No. 1912., in the British Museum, contains:

An alphabetical list of gentlemen admitted to that society, with the dates of their admission, from 1521 to 1674.

Table of the admittances into Gray's Inn, declaring the names of the gentlemen, the town and country whence they came, and the day, month, and year when admitted, from the year 1626 to 1677.

Arms and names of noblemen and knights admitted to the said society.

An alphabetical list of all persons called to the bar by the said society.

The Lansdowne MS. No. 106., which is also in the British Museum, contains:

Names of benchers, associates, utter barristers, &c. of Lincoln's Inn, and the same of the Inner Temple; and of the students of the several Inns of Court, apparently about the end of the reign of Elizabeth.

Jas. Whishaw.

Gower Street.

The MS. Harl. 1912. contains the admissions to Gray's Inn.

G. Steinman Steinman.

Inedited Lyric by Felicia Hemans(Vol. viii., p. 629.)—A surviving relative of the authoress in question begs to answer to the correspondent of "N. & Q." who has produced this lyric from an imperfect MS. original, that the piece has not remained inedited, but is to be found in the several complete editions of Mrs. Hemans's works published by Blackwood. The playful signature of the letter alluded to, as well as the subject of the lyric, it may be added, was suggested by some conversation respecting the fanciful creatures offairy-land, with whose ideal queen the authoress affected sportively to identify herself, and hence signed the little poem, produced rather as ajeu d'espritthan anything else, "Mab." In its subsequently corrected form, as admitted in the editions of her works, it is here subjoined:

Water Lilies: A Fairy Song."Come away, Elves! while the dew is sweet,Come to the dingles where fairies meet;Know that the lilies have spread their bellsO'er all the pools in our forest dells;Stilly and lightly their vases restOn the quivering sleep of the water's breast,Catching the sunshine through the leaves that throwTo their scented bosoms an emerald glow;And a star from the depths of each pearly cup,A golden star, unto heav'n looks up,As if seeking its kindred where bright they lie,Set in the blue of the summer sky.Come away, under arching boughs we'll float,Making those urns each a fairy boat;We'll row them with reeds o'er the fountains free,And a tall flag-leaf shall our streamer be.And we'll send out wild music so sweet and low,It shall seem from the bright flower's heart to flow;As if 'twere a breeze with a flute's low sigh,Or water-drops train'd into melody,Come away! for the midsummer sun grows strong,And the life of the lily may not be long."

Water Lilies: A Fairy Song.

"Come away, Elves! while the dew is sweet,Come to the dingles where fairies meet;Know that the lilies have spread their bellsO'er all the pools in our forest dells;Stilly and lightly their vases restOn the quivering sleep of the water's breast,Catching the sunshine through the leaves that throwTo their scented bosoms an emerald glow;And a star from the depths of each pearly cup,A golden star, unto heav'n looks up,As if seeking its kindred where bright they lie,Set in the blue of the summer sky.Come away, under arching boughs we'll float,Making those urns each a fairy boat;We'll row them with reeds o'er the fountains free,And a tall flag-leaf shall our streamer be.And we'll send out wild music so sweet and low,It shall seem from the bright flower's heart to flow;As if 'twere a breeze with a flute's low sigh,Or water-drops train'd into melody,Come away! for the midsummer sun grows strong,And the life of the lily may not be long."

"Come away, Elves! while the dew is sweet,

Come to the dingles where fairies meet;

Know that the lilies have spread their bells

O'er all the pools in our forest dells;

Stilly and lightly their vases rest

On the quivering sleep of the water's breast,

Catching the sunshine through the leaves that throw

To their scented bosoms an emerald glow;

And a star from the depths of each pearly cup,

A golden star, unto heav'n looks up,

As if seeking its kindred where bright they lie,

Set in the blue of the summer sky.

Come away, under arching boughs we'll float,

Making those urns each a fairy boat;

We'll row them with reeds o'er the fountains free,

And a tall flag-leaf shall our streamer be.

And we'll send out wild music so sweet and low,

It shall seem from the bright flower's heart to flow;

As if 'twere a breeze with a flute's low sigh,

Or water-drops train'd into melody,

Come away! for the midsummer sun grows strong,

And the life of the lily may not be long."

Anon.

Derivation of Britain(Vol. viii., p. 344.).—Since my last reference to this matter (Vol. viii., p. 445.) I find that the derivation of the name ofBritainfromBarat-anachorBrat-anach, a land of tin, originated in conjecture with Bochart, an oriental scholar and French protestant divine in the first half of the seventeenth century. It certainly is a very remarkable circumstance that the conjecture of a Frenchman as to the origin of the name ofBritainshould have been so curiously confirmed, as has been shown byDr. Hincks, through an Assyrian medium.

G. W.

Stansted, Montfichet.

Derivation of the Word Celt(Vol. viii., p. 271.).—If C. R. M. has access to a copy of the Latin Vulgate, he will find the word which our translators have rendered "an iron pen," in the book of Job, chap. xix. v. 24., there translatedCelte. Not having the book in my possession, I will not pretend to give the verse as a quotation.[2]

T. B. B. H.

Footnote 2:(return)24. Stylo ferreo, et plumbi laminâ, velceltesculpantur in silice?

24. Stylo ferreo, et plumbi laminâ, velceltesculpantur in silice?

"Kaminagadeyathooroosoomokanoogonagira" (Vol. viii., p. 539.).—I happen to have by me a transcript of the record in which this word occurs; and it is followed immediately by another almost equally astounding, which F. J. G. should, I think, have asked one of your correspondents to translate while about the other. The following is the word:Arademaravasadeloovaradooyou. They both appear to be names of estates.

H. M.

Peckham.

Cash(Vol. viii., pp. 386. 524.).—InThe Adventures of the Gooroo Paramartan, a tale in the Tamul language, accompanied by a translation and a vocabulary, &c., by Benjamin Babington London, 1822, is the following: "Fanam or casoo is unnecessary, I give it to you gratis." To which the translator subjoins: "The latter word is usually pronouncedcashby Europeans, but the Tamul orthography is used in the text, that the reader may not take it for an English word."

"Christmas-boxes are said to be an ancient custom here, and I would almost fancy that our name of box for this particular kind of present, the derivation of which is not very easy to trace in the European languages, is a corruption of buckshish, a gift or gratuity, in Turkish, Persian, and Hindoostanee. There have been undoubtedly more words brought into our language from the East than I used to suspect.Cash, which here means small money, is one of these; but of the process of such transplantation I can form no conjecture."—Heber'sNarrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India. vol. i. p. 52.

Angelo, in hisGazophylaceum Linguæ Persarum, gives a Persian word of the same signification and sound, as Italicècassa, Latinècapsa, Gallicècaisse.

Bibliothecar. Chetham.

"Antiquitas Sæculi Juventus Mundi" (Vol. viii., p. 502., &c.).—The authority of Fuller ought, I think, to be sufficient to establish that this saying was Bacon's own and not a quotation.

Fuller thus introduces it: "Asoneexcellently observes, 'Antiquitas sæculi juventus mundi,'" &c., giving the remainder of the paragraph from theAdvancement of Learning; and refers in a note to Sir Frances Bacon'sAdvancement of Learning(Holy and Profane State, ch. vi.).

E. S. T. T.

Caves at Settle, Yorkshire(Vol. viii., p. 412.).—Brigantiawill find a very circumstantial and interesting account of these caves, and their Romano-British contents, in vol. i. of Mr. Roach Smith'sCollectanea.

G. J. De Wilde.

Character of the Song of the Nightingale(Vol. vii., p. 397.; Vol. viii., pp. 112. 475.).—One poet, not so well known as he deserves, has escaped the observation of those who have contributed to your valuable pages the one hundred and seventy-five epithets which others of his craft have applied to the "Midnight Minstrel." I allude to the Rev. F. W. Faber, in his poem of theCherwell Water Lily. This poem his now become scarce, so I send you the lines to which I refer, as the "summary of epithets" which they contain, aswell as their intrinsic beauty, render them worthy of notice:

"I heard the raptured nightingale,Tell from yon elmy grove, his taleOf jealousy and love,In thronging notes that seem'd to fall,As faultless and as musical,As angels' strains above.So sweet, they cast on all things round,A spell of melody profound:They charm'd the river in his flowing,They stay'd the night-wind in its blowing,They lull'd the lily to her rest,Upon the Cherwell's heaving breast."

"I heard the raptured nightingale,

Tell from yon elmy grove, his tale

Of jealousy and love,

In thronging notes that seem'd to fall,

As faultless and as musical,

As angels' strains above.

So sweet, they cast on all things round,

A spell of melody profound:

They charm'd the river in his flowing,

They stay'd the night-wind in its blowing,

They lull'd the lily to her rest,

Upon the Cherwell's heaving breast."

To those interested in this subject, so full of historical and classical, as well as poetical associations, I would mention that a late Master of Caius College, Cambridge, the Rev. Dr. Davy, printed some years since, for private circulation, a small pamphlet entitledObservations on Mr. Fox's Letter to Mr. Grey, in which he refutes that eminent statesman's theory of themerrynote of the nightingale. This pamphlet is so full of elegance and classical research, that it is much to be regretted, not only that it has never been published, but that it is theonly workof the learned author—the friend and associate of Porson, of Parr, and of Maltby. I possess a presentation copy, which, as only a very few copies were printed, I would gladly lend to any of your readers interested in this curious and long-pending controversy.

Norris Deck.

Cambridge.

Add to the already long list, this from Spenser:

"That blessed bird, that spends her time of sleepIn songs and plaintive pleas, the more t'augmentThe memory of his misdeed that bred her woe."

"That blessed bird, that spends her time of sleep

In songs and plaintive pleas, the more t'augment

The memory of his misdeed that bred her woe."

And this exquisite little song, written by I know not whom, but set to music by Thomas Bateson in 1604:

"The Nightingale, as soon as April bringethUnto her rested sense a perfect waking,While late bare earth proud of her clothing springeth,Sings out her woes, a thorn her song-book making;And mournfully bewailing,Her throat in tunes expresseth,While grief her heart oppresseth,For Tereus' force o'er her chaste will prevailing."

"The Nightingale, as soon as April bringeth

Unto her rested sense a perfect waking,

While late bare earth proud of her clothing springeth,

Sings out her woes, a thorn her song-book making;

And mournfully bewailing,

Her throat in tunes expresseth,

While grief her heart oppresseth,

For Tereus' force o'er her chaste will prevailing."

H. Gardiner.

Inscriptions in Books(Vol. viii., p. 64. &c.).—John Bostock, sometime Abbat of St. Alban's, gave some valuable books to the library of Gloucester Hall, Oxford, with these lines in the commencement:

"Quem si quis rapiat raptìm, titulumve retractet,Vel Judæ laqueum, vel furcas sentiat. Amen."

"Quem si quis rapiat raptìm, titulumve retractet,

Vel Judæ laqueum, vel furcas sentiat. Amen."

Anon.

Door-head Inscription(Vol. viii., p. 454.).—A friend has kindly sent me an improved version of the inscription over the gate of the Apostolical Chancery, which, with his permission, I beg to forward to you:—

"Fide Deo, dic sæpe preces, peccare caveto,Sis humilis, pacem dilige, magna fuge,Multa audi, dic pauca, tace abdita, scito minoriParcere, majori cedere, ferre parem,Propria fac, persolve fidem, sis æquus egenis,Parta tuere, pati disce, memento mori."

"Fide Deo, dic sæpe preces, peccare caveto,

Sis humilis, pacem dilige, magna fuge,

Multa audi, dic pauca, tace abdita, scito minori

Parcere, majori cedere, ferre parem,

Propria fac, persolve fidem, sis æquus egenis,

Parta tuere, pati disce, memento mori."

H. T. Ellacombe.

Fogie(Vol. viii., pp. 154. 256.).—In the citadel of Plymouth, some twenty or twenty-five years since, there was a band of old soldiers (principally men of small stature) who went by this name. They were said to be the only men acquainted with all the windings and outlets of the subterranean passages of this fortification.

The cognomen "old fogie" is in this neighbourhood frequently applied to old men remarkable for shrewdness, cunning, quaintness, or eccentricity. This use of the term is evidently figurative, borrowed from its application to veteran soldiers. Cannot some of the military correspondents of "N. & Q." give the origin of the word?

Isaiah W. N. Keys.

Plymouth.

Sir W. Hewet(Vol. viii., p. 270.).—Mr. Griffithwill find in Thoresby'sDucatus Leodinensis, p. 2. (Whittaker's edit.), a pedigree of the family of Osborne, which gives two generations previous to Edward Osborne, who married Ann Hewet, namely,—

Richard Osborne, who married Elizabeth, daughter of —— Fyldene, by whom he had Richard, who married Jane, daughter of John Broughton of Broughton, Esq., and sister and heir to Edward and Lancelyn Broughton.

Sir Edward Osborne, Knight, Citizen, and Lord Mayor of London (1582), who died in 1591, married Ann, daughter and sole heir of Sir William Hewet, Lord Mayor of London, 1559, by whom he had Sir Hewet Osborne, born 1567, died 1614. Sir Edward had a second wife, Margaret, daughter of ——, who died in 1602.

There is a note at the bottom of the page, quoted from a MS. in the College of Arms, E 1. fol. 190., "That this descent was registered the 30th March, 1568, when Hewet Osborne was the age of one year and ... days."

Edward Peacock.

Bottesford Moors, Kirton in Lindsey.

Ladies' Arms borne in a Lozenge(Vol. viii., pp. 37. 83. 277. 329.).—The difference between the fusil and the lozenge is well known to all heralds, though coach-painters and silversmiths do notalways sufficiently describe it. IfBroctuna, however, be apracticalherald, he must often have experienced the difficulty of placing impalements or quarterings correctly, even on a lozenge. On the long and narrow fusil it would be impossible. When the fusil, instead of being a mere heraldic bearing, has to be used as the shape of a shield for the actual use of the painter or engraver, it must of necessity be widened into the lozenge; and as the latter is probably only the same distaff with little more wool upon it, there seems no objection to the arrangement.Broctunais too good an antiquary not to know on recollection that the "vyings of widows" had little to do with funeral arrangements in those days. Procrustes, the herald, came down at all great funerals, and regulated everything with just so much pomp, and no more, as the precise rank of the deceased entitled him to.

P. P. had not the smallest intention of givingBroctunaoffence by pointing out what seems a fatal objection to his theory.

Hugh Clark, a well-known modern writer upon Heraldry, gives the following definition of the word lozenge:

"Lozenge, a four-cornered figure, resembling a pane of glass in old casements: some suppose it a physical composition given for colds, and was invented to reward eminent physicians."

Plutarch says, in theLife of Theseus, that at Megara, an ancient town of Greece, the tombstones, under which the bodies of the Amazons lay, were shaped after that form, which some conjecture to be the cause why ladies have their arms on lozenges.

Ruby.

The Crescent(Vol. viii., p. 319.).—Be so good as to insert in "N. & Q.," for the information ofJ. W. Thomas, that the Iceni (a people of England, whose territory consisted of the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, &c.) struck coins both in gold and silver; having on their reverses crescents placed back to back generally, except where a rude profile is on a few of them.

Two of the gold coins have fallen into my possession; one of which, found at Oxnead in this county, I supplied to the British Museum some years since. Twelve of the silver coins are figured on a plate in Part LVII. of theNumismatic Chronicle.Mr. Thomasobserving (at p. 321.) he has no work on numismatics, induces me to make this communication to him through your very useful and instructive publication.

Goddard Johnson.

Norfolk.

Abigail(Vol. iv., p. 424. Vol. v., pp. 38. 94. 450.).—The inquiry suggested in the first of the above references, "Whence, or when, originated the application of Abigail, as applied to a lady's maid?" has not yet, to my mind, been satisfactorily answered. It occurs to me that it may have been derived from the notorious Abigail Hill, better known as Mrs. Masham, a poor relative of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, and by her introduced to a subordinate place about the person of Queen Anne. She rapidly acquired sufficient influence to supplant her benefactress. The intrigues of the Tory party received sufficient furtherance from this bedchamber official to effect ultimately the downfall of the Whig ministry; and the use of the term by Dean Swift, of which your original QueristMr. Wardenspeaks, would suffice to give currency and to associate the name of so famous anintriguantewith the office which she filled. It must be matter of opinion whether the Dean (asMr. W.thinks) employed the term asnot new in thosedays, or as one which hadtakenso rapidly in the current conversation of the day, as to require but his putting it in print to establish it in its new sense so long as the language shall be spoken or written.

Balliolensis.

Handbook to the Library of the British Museum(Vol. viii., p. 511.).—Neither Lord Seymour, norMr. Bolton Corney, nor Mr. Richard Sims, can with justice claim originality in the suggestion carried out by the latter gentleman in the publication of hisHandbook to the Library of the British Museum.

In my own collection is a book entitled,—

"A Critical and Historical Account of all the celebrated Libraries in Foreign Countries, as well ancient as modern, with general Reflections on the choice of Books," &c.... "A work of great use to all men of letters. By a Gentleman of the Temple. London, printed for J. Jolliffe, in St James's Street,MDCCXXXIX."

In the preface to which work the author says:

"It will be highly useful to such noblemen and gentlemen as visit foreign countries,by instructing them in the manner of perusing whatever is curious in the Vatican and other famous libraries."

And in which he promises that—

"If it should meet with the approbation of the public, he (the author) will proceed with thelibraries of these kingdoms," &c.

F. Seymour Haden.

Chelsea.

The Arms of Richard, King of the Romans(Vol. viii., pp. 265. 454.). With every respect for such heraldic authorities asMr. GoughandMr. Lover, I think the question as to whether the so-called bezants in the arms of Richard, King of the Romans, referred to his earldom of Poictou or of Cornwall, inclines in favour of the former: for instance, in 1253 he granted to themonks of Okebury a release of suit and service within his manor of Wallingford, which charter has a seal appended bearing an impress of the earl armed on horseback, with alion rampant crownedon his surcoat, inscribed "Sigillum Richardi Comitis Cornubiæ." Now this inscription seems to identify the lion as pertaining to the earldom of Cornwall; surely, if the bezants represented this earldom, they would not have been omitted on his seal asComes Cornubiæ.

Again, a very high heraldic authority, one of deep research, Mr. J. R. Planché, gives this opinion on the subject:

"The border bezantée, or talentée, of Richard, King of the Romans, is no representation of coins but of peas (poix), being the arms of Poitiers or Poictou (Menestrier,Orig., p. 147.), of which he was earl, and not of his other earldom of Cornwall, as imagined by Sandford and others. The adoption of bezants as the arms of Cornwall, and by so many Cornish families on that account, are all subsequent assumptions derived from the arms of Earl Richard aforesaid, the peas having been promoted into bezants by being gilt, and become identified with the Cornish escutcheon as the garbs of Blundeville are with that of Chester, or the coat of Cantelupe with that of the see of Hereford."—The Pursuivant at Arms, p. 136.

A simple Query then would seem to settle this matter. Is any instance known of bezants occurring as the arms of Cornell previous to the time of Earl Richard, or earlier than the commencement of the thirteenth century?

Norris Deck.

Cambridge.

Greek and Roman Fortifications(Vol. viii., p. 469.).—J. H. J. will find some information on this subject in Fosbroke'sGrecian and Roman Antiquities(Longman, 1833).

John Scribe.

Osbernus filius Herfasti(Vol. viii., p. 515.).—In reply to the Query ofMr. Sansom, "Whether Osborn de Crespon, the brother of the Duchess of Normandy, had a brother of the same name?" I beg to reply that there appears to be distinct evidence that he had; for in a grant of lands by Richard II., Duke of Normandy, who died in 1026, to the monks of St. Michael, there are, along with the signatures of his son Richard and several other witnesses, those ofOsbernus frater Comitissæ, andOsbernus filius Arfast(Lobineau, tom. ii. p. 97.). One of those may probably have become Abbot of S. Evroult. No doubtMr. Sansomis well aware that one of the same family was Osborn, Bishop of Exeter. He was a son of Osborn de Crespon, and brother of the Earl of Hereford, premier peer of England. In 1066 he forbad the monks to be buried in the cloisters of their monasteries; but they resisted his injunction, and, on an appeal to the Pope, obtained a decision against him (Mabillon). For an eulogium on him see Godwin,De presul. Angl. He died in 1104, and was buried in the cathedral at Exeter.

I would observe that the ancient orthography of the name is Osbern, which was continued for many centuries, and may even now be seen in Maidwell Church, Northamptonshire, on the monument of Lady Gorges, the daughter of Sir John Osbern, who died in 1633.

Omicron.

I think there can be little doubt that Herfastus "the Dane" was the father of Gunnora, wife of Rich. I., Duke of Normandy; of Aveline, wife of Osbernus de Bolebec, Lord of Bolbec and Count of Longueville; and of Weira, wife of Turolf de Pont Audomere. The brother of these three sisters was another Herfastus, Abbot of St. Evrau; who was the father of Osbernus de Crepon, Steward of the Household, and Sewer to the Conqueror.

H. C. C.

Devonianisms(Vol. viii., p. 65.).—Your correspondentMr. Keysis at a loss for the origin of the wordplum, as used in Devonshire. Surely it is the same word asplump, although employed in a somewhat different sense.Plumorplump, as applied to a bed, would certainly convey the idea of softness or downiness. As to the employment of the word as a verb, I conceive that it is analogous to an expression which I have often heard used by cooks, in speaking of meat or poultry, "to plump up." A cook will say of a fowl which appears deficient in flesh, "It is a young bird; it will plump up when it comes to the fire." A native of Devonshire would simply say, "It will plum."

As to the wordclunk, it is in use throughout Cornwall in the sense of "to swallow," and is undoubtedly Celtic. On referring to Le Gonidec'sDictionnaire Celto-Breton, I find "Lonka, orLounka, v.a.avaler."

I have neither a Welsh dictionary nor one of the ancient Cornish language at hand, but I have no doubt that the same word, with the same signification, will be found in both those dialects of the Celtic, probably with some difference of spelling, which would bring it nearer to the wordclunk.

It is not wonderful that a word, the sound of which is so expressive of the action, should have continued in use among an illiterate peasantry long after the language from which it is derived was forgotten; but many pure Celtic words, which have not this recommendation, are still in common use in Cornwall, and a collection of them would be highly interesting. Could not some of your antiquarian correspondents in the west,Mr. Boaseof Penzance for example, furnish such a list? I will mention one or two words which I chance to remember:mabyer, a chicken, Bretonmab, a son,iar, a hen;vean, little, Bretonvihan.

To persons acquainted with the Welsh or Breton, the names of places in Cornwall, though sometimes strangely corrupted, are almost all significant. The dialect of Celtic spoken in Cornwall appears to have approached more closely to the latter than to the former of these tongues; or perhaps, speaking more correctly, it formed a connecting link between them, as Cornwall itself lies about midway between Wales and Brittany.

Edgar MacCulloch.

Guernsey.

Gentile Names of the Jews(Vol. viii., p. 563.).—The names of Rothschild, Montefiore, and Davis are family names, and notnoms de guerre.

It is possible that the honoured names of Rothschild and Montefiore date from a purchase by some one of their ancestry ofGentile castles or lands, and with it the purchase right of name.

Davis is legitimately Jewish, but probably the Gentile name of Davis cannot boast of its pure source, and no doubt where Gentile pedigree loses trace, Jewish descent commences, either by a left-handed Jew connexion with a Gentile fair one, or a renegade ancestry.

Israel ben Isaac.

Red Lion Square.

Longevity(Vol. viii., p. 113.).—On October 15, Judy, a slave, died on the plantation of Edmund B. Richardson, in Bladen county, North Carolina, aged 110 years. She was one of eight slaves who nearly sixty years ago were the first settlers on the plantation, where she died. Of the seven others, one died over 90 years of age, another 93, and a third 81; two are living, one 75 and the other over 60 years of age.

Within five miles of the place where Judy died, William Pridgen lived, who died about five years ago, aged 122 years.

David Kennison, a soldier of the Revolution, died near Albany (N. Y.) on the 24th of February, 1852, aged 117 years.

M. E.

Philadelphia.

Reversible Names(Vol. viii., p. 244.).—Emme might have been added to your correspondent's list, a female name which, when first known in England, was spelt as above written, and not Emma, as at the present time. In an old book I have seen the name and its meaning thus recorded,—in English,Emme; in French,Emme, bonne nourrice.

I must beg to differ in opinion from your correspondent, even with his epicene restriction, who states "thatvarium et mutabile semper feminaonly means that whatever reads backwards and forwards, the same isalways feminine."

If M. will take the trouble to look in Boyle'sCourt Guidefor 1845, p. 358., he will find the name of a late very distinguished general officer, Sir Burges Camac. A wealthy branch of this family is now established in the United States, and one of its members bears the name of Camac Camac.

I am unable to give M. another instance, and doubt if one can be easily found where the Christian and surnames of a gentleman are alike, and both reversible.

W. W.

Malta.

Etymology of Eve.—Only one instance of a reversible name seems to me at present among thepropria quæ maribus, and that is Bob. As, however, the name of our universal mother has been brought forward, you will, perhaps, allow me to transcribe the following remarkable etymology:

"Omnes nascimur ejulantes, ut nostram miseriam exprimamus. Masculus enim recenter natus dicit A; fœmina vero E; dicentes E vel A quotquot nascuntur ab Eva. Quid est igiturEvanisiheu ha? Utrumque dolentis est interjectio doloris exprimens magnitudinem. Hinc enim ante peccatum virago, post peccatumErameruit appellari.... Mulier autem ut naufragus, cum parit tristitiam habet," &c.—De Contemptu Mundi, lib. i. c. 6., à Lothario, diacono cardinali, S.S. Sergii et Bacchi, editus, qui postea Innocentius Papa III. appellatus est.

Balliolensis.

Manifesto of the Emperor Nicholas(Vol. viii., p. 585.).—Allow me to correct a gross error into which I have been led, by an imperfect concordance, in hastily concluding that the words "In te Domine speravi, non confundar in æternum," were not in the Psalms, as I have found them in the Vulgate, Psalms xxxi. 1. and lxxi. 1.

T. J. Buckton.

Lichfield.

Binometrical Verse(Vol. viii., pp. 292. 375.).—In answer to these inquiries, the copyright of this united hexameter and pentameter belongs to Mr. De la Pryme, of Trin. Coll., Cambridge, who is also the author of another line which is both an alcaic and sapphic:

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