Queries.

"Ye (yea),stervehe shall, and that in lesse whileThan thou wilt gon a pas not but a mile;Thispoisonis so strong and violent."

"Ye (yea),stervehe shall, and that in lesse while

Than thou wilt gon a pas not but a mile;

Thispoisonis so strong and violent."

And again, v. 12822:

"It happed himTo take the botelle there the poison was,And dronke; and gave his felau drinke alsoFor which anone theystorvenbothe two."

"It happed him

To take the botelle there the poison was,

And dronke; and gave his felau drinke also

For which anone theystorvenbothe two."

Mr. Tyrwhit explains, "to die, to perish" and the general meaning of the word was, "to die, or cause to die, to perish, to destroy."

Strange Epitaphs.-The following combined "bull" and epitaph may amuse your readers. I copied it in April, 1850, whilst on an excursion to explore the gigantic tumuli of New Grange, Dowth, &c.

Passing through the village of Monknewtown, about four miles from Drogheda, I entered a burial-ground surrounding the ivy-clad ruins of a chapel. In the midst of a group of dozen or more tombstones, some very old, all bearing the name of "Kelly," was a modern upright slab, well executed, inscribed,—

"Erected byPatrick Kelly,Of the Town of Drogheda, Mariner,In Memory of his Posterity."———"Also the abovePatrick Kelly,Who departed this Life the 12th August, 1844,Aged 60 years.Requiescat in Pace."

"Erected byPatrick Kelly,

Of the Town of Drogheda, Mariner,

In Memory of his Posterity."

———

"Also the abovePatrick Kelly,

Who departed this Life the 12th August, 1844,

Aged 60 years.

Requiescat in Pace."

I gave a copy of this to a friend residing at Llanbeblig, Carnarvonshire, who forwarded me the annexed from a tombstone in the parish churchyard there:

"Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.Here lie the Remains ofThomas Chambers,Dancing Master;Whose genteel address and assiduityin Teaching,Recommended him to all that had thePleasure of his acquaintance.He died June 13, 1765,Aged 31."

"Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Here lie the Remains ofThomas Chambers,Dancing Master;Whose genteel address and assiduityin Teaching,Recommended him to all that had thePleasure of his acquaintance.He died June 13, 1765,Aged 31."

Here lie the Remains ofThomas Chambers,

Dancing Master;

Whose genteel address and assiduity

in Teaching,

Recommended him to all that had the

Pleasure of his acquaintance.

He died June 13, 1765,

Aged 31."

R. H. B.

Bath.

A gentleman living in the neighbourhood of London bought a table five or six years ago at Wilkinson's, an old established upholsterer on Ludgate Hill.

In a concealed part of the leg of the table he found a brass plate, on which was the following inscription:

"Le Cinq d'Avril, dix-huit cent quatorze, Napoléon Buonaparte signa son abdication sur cette table dans le cabinet de travail du Roi, le 2me après la chambre à coucher, à Fontainebleau."

The people at Wilkinson's could give no account of the table: they said it had been a long time in the shop; they did not remember of whom it hadbeen bought, and were surprised when the brass plate was pointed out to them.

The table is a round one, and rather pretty looking, about two feet and a half in diameter, and supported on one leg. It does not look like a table used for writing, but rather resembles a lady's work-table. The wood with which it is veneered has something the appearance of beef wood.

Wilkinson's shop does not now exist: he used to deal in curiosities, and was employed as an auctioneer.

The gentleman who bought this table is desirous of ascertaining at what time the table still shown at Fontainebleau, as that on which the abdication was signed, was first exhibited: whether immediately after the restoration of the Bourbons, or later, in consequence of a demand for shows of that sort? Whether it is a fact that the Bourbons turned out the imperial furniture from Fontainebleau and other palaces after their return?

The date, "cinq d'Avril," is wrong; the abdication was signed on the 4th. This error, however, leads one to suspect that the table is genuine: as any one preparing a sham table should have been careful in referring to printed documents. From the tenor of the inscription, we may infer that it is the work of a Royalist.

The Marshals present with Napoleon when he signed his abdication were Ney, Oudinot, and Lefevre; and perhaps Caulincourt.

A Cantab.

University Club.

I marvel much that none of your contributors in this line have touched upon a very interesting branch of legendary family folk lore, namely, the supernatural appearances, and other circumstances of a ghostly nature, that are said to invariably precede a death in many time-honoured families of the united kingdoms.

We have all heard of the mysterious "White Ladye," that heralds the approach of death, or dire calamity, to the royal house of Hohenzollern. In like manner, the apparition of two gigantic owls upon the battlements of Wardour is said to give sad warning to the noble race of Arundel. The ancient Catholic family of Middleton have the same fatal announcement made to them by the spectral visitation of a Benedictine nun; while a Cheshire house of note, I believe, that of Brereton, are prepared for the last sad hour by the appearance of large trunks of trees floating in a lake in the immediate vicinity of their family mansion. To two families of venerable antiquity, and both, if I remember right, of the county of Lancashire, the approaching death of a relative is made known in one case by loud and continued knockings at the hall door at the solemn hour of midnight; and in the other, by strains of wild and unearthly music floating in the air.

The "Banshee," well known in Ireland, and in the highlands of Scotland, is, I believe, attached exclusively to families of Celtic origin, and is never heard of below the Grampian range; although the ancient border house of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn (of Celtic blood by the way) is said to be attended by a familiar of this kind.

Again, many old manor-houses are known to have been haunted by a friendly, good-natured sprite, ycelpt a "Brownie," whose constant care it was to save the household domestics as much trouble as possible, by doing all their drudgery for them during the silent hours of repose. Who has not heard, for instance, of the "Boy of Hilton?" Of this kindly race, I have no doubt, many interesting anecdotes might be rescued from the dust of time and oblivion, and preserved for us in the pages of "N. & Q."

I hope that the hints I have ventured to throw out may induce some of your talented contributors to follow up the subject.

John o' the Ford.

Malta.

When was the English soldier first dressed in red? It has been said the yeomen of the guard (vulgoBeef-eaters) were the company which originally wore that coloured uniform; but, seventy years before they were established, viz. temp. Henry V., it appears the military uniform of his army was red:

"Rex vestit suosrubro, et parat transire in Normaniam."—Archæolog. Soc. Antiquar., Lond., vol. xxi. p. 292.

William III. not only preferred that colour, but he thought it degrading to the dignity of his soldiers that the colour should be adopted for the dress of any inferior class of persons; and there is an order now extant, signed by Henry, sixths Duke of Norfolk, as Earl Marshal, dated Dec. 20, 1698,

"Forbidding any persons to use for their liveries scarlet or red cloth, or stuff; except his Majesty's servants andguards, and those belonging to the royal family or foreign Misters."

William IV., who had as much of true old English feeling as any monarch who ever swayed the English sceptre, ordered scarlet to be the universal colour of our Light Dragoons; but two or three years afterwards he was prevailed upon, from some fancy of those about him, to return to the blue again. Still, it is well known that dressing our Light Dragoons in the colour prevailingwith other nations has led to serious mistakes in time of action.

Berkhampstead Records.—Where are the records of the now extinct corporation of Great Berkhampstead, co. Herts, incorporated 1618? And when did it cease to exercise corporate rights, and why?

J. K.

"The secunde personne of the Trinetee" (Vol. viii., p. 131.).—What does the "old English Homily" mean by "a womanne who was the secunde personne of the Trinetee?"

J. P. S.

St. John's, Oxford, and Emmanuel, Cambridge.—Can your readers give me any information respecting Thomas Collis, B.A., of St. John's College, Oxford, ordained priest by Richard (Reynolds), Bishop of Lincoln, at Buckden, 29th May, 1743? What church preferment did he hold, where did he die, and where was he buried?

Also of John Clendon, B.D., Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who was presented to the vicarage of Brompton-Regis, Somerset, by his College, in or about the year 1752? His correspondence with the Fellows of Emmanuel is amusing, as giving an insight into the every-day life of Cambridge a century ago. You shall have a letter or two ere long as a specimen.

Thomas Collis.

Boston.

"Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre."—Some years ago, at a book-stall in Paris, I met with a work in one volume, being a dissertation in French on the origin and early history of the once popular song, "Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre." It seemed to contain much information of a curious and interesting character; and the author's name, if I remember rightly, is Blanchard. I have since made several attempts to discover the title of the book, with the view of procuring a copy of it, but without success. Can any of your readers assist me in this matter?

Henry H. Breen.

St. Lucia.

Prelate quoted in Procopius.—In the 25th note (a), chap. xl., of Gibbon'sDecline and Fall, there is a quotation from Procopius. Can any of your readers conjecture who is meant by the "learned prelate now deceased," who was fond of quoting the said passage.

Σ.

The Alibenistic Order of Freemasons.—Can any of your readers, masonic or otherwise, inform me what is meant by this order of Freemasons? The work of Henry O'Brien of theRound Towers of Irelandis dedicated to them, and in his preface they are much eulogised.

H. W. D.

Saying respecting Ancient History.—In Niebuhr'sLectures on Ancient History, vol. i. p 355., I find—

"An ingenious man once said, 'It is thought that at length people will come to read ancient history as if it had really happened,' a remark which is really excellent."

Who was this "ingenious man"?

J. P.

An Apology for not speaking the Truth.—Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me where the German song can be found from which the following lines are taken?

"When first on earth the truth was born,She crept into a hunting-horn;The hunter came, the horn was blown,But where truth went, was never known."

"When first on earth the truth was born,

She crept into a hunting-horn;

The hunter came, the horn was blown,

But where truth went, was never known."

W. W.

Malta.

Sir John Morant.—In the fourth volume of Sir John Froissart'sChronicles, and in the tenth and other chapters, he mentions the name of a Sir John Morant, Knight, or Sir John of Chatel Morant, who lived in 1390-6. How can I find out his pedigree? or whether he is an ancestor of the Hampshire family of Morants, or of the Rev. Philip Morant?

H. H. M.

Malta.

Portrait of Plowden.—Is any portrait of Edmund Plowden the lawyer known to exist? and if so, where?

P. P. P.

Temperature of Cathedrals.—Can any of your readers favour me with a report from observation of the greatest and least heights of the thermometer in the course of a year, in one of our large cathedrals?

I am informed that Professor Phillips, in a geological work, has stated that the highest and lowest temperatures in York Minster occur about five weeks after the solstices; but it does not appear that the altitudes are named.

Dr. Eleazar Duncon.—Dr. Eleazar Duncon was of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, D.D., anno 1633, Rector of Houghton Regis same year, Chaplain to King Charles I., Prebendary of Durham. He is supposed to have died during the interregnum. Can any of your correspondents say when or where?

D. D.

The Duke of Buckingham.—Do the books of the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple disclose any particulars relating to a "scandalous letter," believed to have been written by "a Templar" to George Villiers, the Great Duke of Buckingham, in 1626, the year before his grace was assassinated by Felton; which letter was found by a servant of the inn in a Temple drinking-pot, bywhom it was handed over to the then treasurer of the Society, Nicholas Hide, Esq.? and was the author of such scandalous letter ever discovered and prosecuted?

Cestriensis.

Charles Watson.—Can any of your readers give me any account of Charles Watson, of Hertford College, Oxford, author of poems, andCharles the First, a tragedy?

I believe a short memoir of this author was to have appeared inBlackwood's Magazine(the second volume, I think); it was never published, however.

A. Z.

Early (German) coloured Engravings.—I have six old coloured engravings, which I suppose to be part of a series, as they are numbered respectively 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 14. They are mounted on panels; and on the back of each is a piece of vellum, on which some descriptive verses in old German have been written. The ink retains its blackness; but dirt, mildew, and ill usage have rendered nearly all the inscriptions illegible, and greatly damaged the pictures; yet, through the laborious colouring and the stains, good drawing and expression are visible. Perhaps a brief description may enable some of your readers to tell me whether they are known.

Nos. 1. and 11. are so nearly obliterated, that I will not attempt to describe them. No. 2. seems to be St. George attacking the dragon. The inscription is:

"Hier merke Sohn gar schnell und bald,Von grausam schwartzen Thier im Wald."

"Hier merke Sohn gar schnell und bald,

Von grausam schwartzen Thier im Wald."

No. 4. A stag and a unicorn:

"Man ist von Nöthin dass ihr wiszt,Im Wald ein Hirsch und Eikhorn ist."

"Man ist von Nöthin dass ihr wiszt,

Im Wald ein Hirsch und Eikhorn ist."

No. 12. An old man with wings, and a younger wearing a crown and sword. They are on the top of a mountain overlooking the sea. The sun is in the left corner, and the moon and stars on the right. The perspective is very good. Inscription obliterated.

No. 14. The same persons, and a king on his throne. The elder in the background; the younger looking into the king's mouth, which is opened to preternatural wideness:

"Sohn in dein Abwesen war ich tod,Und mein Leben in grosser Noth;Aber in dein Beysein thue ich leben,Dein Widerkunfft mir Freudt thut geben."

"Sohn in dein Abwesen war ich tod,

Und mein Leben in grosser Noth;

Aber in dein Beysein thue ich leben,

Dein Widerkunfft mir Freudt thut geben."

The inscription is long, but of the rest only a word here and there is legible. Any information on this subject will oblige,

History of M. Oufle.—Johnson, in hisLife of Pope, says of theMemoirs of Scriblerus:

"The design cannot boast of much originality: for, besides its general resemblance toDon Quixote, there will be found in it particular imitations of theHistory of M. Oufle."

What is theHistory of M. Oufle?

L. M.

[The History of the Religious Extravagancies of Monsieur Oufleis a remarkable book, written by the Abbé Bordelon, and first published, we believe, at Amsterdam, in 2 vols., 1710. The Paris edition of 1754, in 2 vols., entitledL'Histoire des Imaginations Extavagantes de Monsieur Oufle, is the best, as it contains some curious illustrations. From the title-page we learn that the work was "Occasioned by the author having read books treating of magic, the black art, demoniacs, conjurors, witches, hobgoblins, incubuses, succubuses, and the diabolical Sabbath; of elves, fairies, wanton spirits, geniuses, spectres, and ghosts; of dreams, the philosopher's stone, judicial astrology, horoscopes, talismans, lucky and unlucky days, eclipses, comets, and all sorts of apparitions, divinations, charms, enchantments, and other superstitious practices; with notes containing a multitude of quotations out of those books which have either caused such extravagant imaginations, or may serve to cure them." If any of our readers should feel inclined to collect what we may term "A Diabolical Library," he has only to consult vol. i. ch. iii. for a catalogue of the principal books in Mons. Oufle's study, which is the most curious list of the black art we have ever seen. An English translation of theseReligious Extravagancieswas published in 1711.]

Lysons' MSS.—Is the present repository of the MS. notes, used by Messrs. Lysons in editing their great work, theMagna Britannia, known?

T. P. L.

[The topographical collections made by the Rev. Daniel Lysons for theMagna Britanniaand theEnvirons of London, making sixty-four volumes, are in the British Museum, Add. MSS. 9408-9471. They were presented by that gentleman.]

"Luke's Iron Crown" (Goldsmith'sTraveller, last line but two). To whom does this refer, and what are the particulars?

P. J. (A Subscriber).

[This Query is best answered by the following note from Mr. P. Cunningham's new edition ofGoldsmith:"When Tom Davies, at the request of Granger, asked Goldsmith about this line, Goldsmith referred him for an explanation of 'Luke's iron crown' to a book calledGéographie Curieuse; and added, that by 'Damiens' bed of steel' he meant the rack. See Granger'sLetters, 8vo., 1805, p. 52."George and Luke Dosa were two brothers who headed an unsuccessful revolt against the Hungarian nobles at the opening of the sixteenth century: and George (not Luke) underwent the torture of thered-hot iron crown, as a punishment for allowing himself to be proclaimed King of Hungary (1513) by the rebellious peasants (seeBiographie Universelle, xi. 604.). The two brothers belonged to one of the native races of Transylvania called Szecklers, or Zecklers (Forster'sGoldsmith, i. 395., edit. 1854)."]

[This Query is best answered by the following note from Mr. P. Cunningham's new edition ofGoldsmith:

"When Tom Davies, at the request of Granger, asked Goldsmith about this line, Goldsmith referred him for an explanation of 'Luke's iron crown' to a book calledGéographie Curieuse; and added, that by 'Damiens' bed of steel' he meant the rack. See Granger'sLetters, 8vo., 1805, p. 52.

"George and Luke Dosa were two brothers who headed an unsuccessful revolt against the Hungarian nobles at the opening of the sixteenth century: and George (not Luke) underwent the torture of thered-hot iron crown, as a punishment for allowing himself to be proclaimed King of Hungary (1513) by the rebellious peasants (seeBiographie Universelle, xi. 604.). The two brothers belonged to one of the native races of Transylvania called Szecklers, or Zecklers (Forster'sGoldsmith, i. 395., edit. 1854)."]

"Horam coram Dago."—In the first volume ofLavengro, p. 89.:

"From the river a chorus plaintive, wild, the words of which seem in memory's ear to sound like 'Horam coram Dago.'"

I have somewhere read a song, the chorus or refrain of which contained these three words. Can any of your readers explain?

Σ.

[Our correspondent is thinking of the song "Amo, amas," by O'Keefe, which will be found inThe Universal Songster, vol. i. p. 52., and other collections. We subjoin the chorus:"Rorum coram,Sunt divorum,Harum scarumDivo!Tag rag, merry derry, perriwig and hat-band,Hic hoc horum genitivo!"]

[Our correspondent is thinking of the song "Amo, amas," by O'Keefe, which will be found inThe Universal Songster, vol. i. p. 52., and other collections. We subjoin the chorus:

"Rorum coram,Sunt divorum,Harum scarumDivo!Tag rag, merry derry, perriwig and hat-band,Hic hoc horum genitivo!"]

"Rorum coram,Sunt divorum,Harum scarumDivo!

"Rorum coram,

Sunt divorum,

Harum scarum

Divo!

Tag rag, merry derry, perriwig and hat-band,Hic hoc horum genitivo!"]

Tag rag, merry derry, perriwig and hat-band,

Hic hoc horum genitivo!"]

(Vol. ix., p. 19.)

Many years have passed away since I went over Bisham Abbey; but I was then informed that any family portraits belonging to the old House had been taken away by the widow of Sir John Hoby Mill, Baronet, who sold the property to Mr. George Vansittart in 1780, or shortly afterwards. I am not aware that there are any engraved portraits of the Hobys, excepting those mentioned by your correspondentMr. Whitborne, which form part of the series of Holbein'sHeads, published in 1792 by John Chamberlaine, from the original drawings still in the royal collection. In the meagre account of the persons represented in that work, Lady Hoby is described as "Elizabeth, one of the four daughters of Sir Antony Cooke, of Gidea Hall, Essex," and widow of Sir Thomas Hoby, who died in 1566, at Paris, whilst on an embassy there. The lady remarried John Lord Russell, eldest son of Francis, second Earl of Bedford, whom she also survived, and deceasing 23rd of July, 1584, was buried in Bisham Church, in which she had erected a chapel containing splendid monuments to commemorate her husbands and herself. The inscriptions will be found in Ashmole'sBerkshire, vol. ii. p. 464., and in Wotton'sBaronetage, vol. iv. p. 504., where the Hoby crest is given as follows; "On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a wolf regreant argent." The armorial bearings are described very minutely in Edward Steele's Account of Bisham Church, Gough MSS., vol. xxiv., Bodleian, which contains some other notices of the parish.

Braybrooke.

(Vol. viii., pp. 242. 452. 626.)

I send two specimens from this neighbourhood, which may, perhaps, be worth inserting in your columns.

The first is from a public-house on the Basingstoke road, about two miles from this town. The sign-board exhibits on one side "the lively effigies" of a grenadier in full uniform, holding in his hand a foaming pot of ale, on which he gazes apparently with much complacency and satisfaction. On the other side are these lines:

"This is the Whitley Grenadier,A noted house for famous beer.My friend, if you should chance to call,Beware and get not drunk withal;Let moderation be your guide,It answers well whene'er 'tis try'd.Then use but not abuse strong beer,And don't forget the Grenadier."

"This is the Whitley Grenadier,

A noted house for famous beer.

My friend, if you should chance to call,

Beware and get not drunk withal;

Let moderation be your guide,

It answers well whene'er 'tis try'd.

Then use but not abuse strong beer,

And don't forget the Grenadier."

The next specimen, besides being of a higher class, has somewhat of an historical interest. In a secluded part of the Oxfordshire hills, at a place called Collins's End, situated between Hardwick House and Goring Heath, is a neat little rustic inn, having for its sign a well-executed portrait of Charles I. There is a tradition that this unfortunate monarch, while residing as a prisoner at Caversham, rode one day, attended by an escort, into this part of the country, and hearing that there was a bowling-green at this inn, frequented by the neighbouring gentry, struck down to the house, and endeavoured to forget his sorrows for awhile in a game at bowls. This circumstance is alluded to in the following lines, which are written beneath the sign-board:

"Stop, traveller, stop; in yonder peaceful glade,His favourite game the royal martyr play'd;Here, stripp'd of honours, children, freedom, rank,Drank from the bowl, and bowl'd for what he drank;Sought in a cheerful glass his cares to drown,And changed his guinea, ere he lost his crown."

"Stop, traveller, stop; in yonder peaceful glade,

His favourite game the royal martyr play'd;

Here, stripp'd of honours, children, freedom, rank,

Drank from the bowl, and bowl'd for what he drank;

Sought in a cheerful glass his cares to drown,

And changed his guinea, ere he lost his crown."

The sign, which seems to be a copy from Vandyke, though much faded from exposure to the weather, evidently displays an amount of artistic skill that is not usually to be found among common sign-painters. I once made some inquiries about it of the people of the house, but the only information they could give me was that they believed it to have been painted in London.

G. T.

Reading.

(Vol. viii, p. 563.)

I cannot furnishBalliolensiswith the translation from Sheridan he requires, but I am acquainted with that from Goldsmith. It is to be found somewhere in Valpy'sClassical Journal. As that work is in forty volumes, and not at hand, I am not able to give a more precise reference. I recollect, however, a few of the lines at the beginning:

"Incola deserti, gressus refer, atque precantiSis mihi noctivagæ dux, bone amice, viæ;Dirige quà lampas solatia luce benignaPræbet, et hospitii munera grata sui.Solus enim tristisque puer deserta per agro,Ægre membra trahens deficiente pede,Quà, spatiis circum immensis porrecta, patescuntMe visa augeri progrediente, loca.""Ulterius ne perge," senex, "jam mitte vagari,Teque iterum noctis, credere, amice, dolis:Luce trahit species certa in discrimina fati,Ah nimium nescis quo malefida trahat!Hic inopi domus, hic requies datur usque vaganti,Parvaque quantumvis dona, libente manu.Ergo verte pedes, caliginis imminet hora,Sume libens quidquid parvula cella tenet ..."

"Incola deserti, gressus refer, atque precanti

Sis mihi noctivagæ dux, bone amice, viæ;

Dirige quà lampas solatia luce benigna

Præbet, et hospitii munera grata sui.

Solus enim tristisque puer deserta per agro,

Ægre membra trahens deficiente pede,

Quà, spatiis circum immensis porrecta, patescunt

Me visa augeri progrediente, loca."

"Ulterius ne perge," senex, "jam mitte vagari,

Teque iterum noctis, credere, amice, dolis:

Luce trahit species certa in discrimina fati,

Ah nimium nescis quo malefida trahat!

Hic inopi domus, hic requies datur usque vaganti,

Parvaque quantumvis dona, libente manu.

Ergo verte pedes, caliginis imminet hora,

Sume libens quidquid parvula cella tenet ..."

No doubt there is a copy of theClassical Journalin the Bodleian; and ifBalliolensiscan give me volume and page, I in turn shall be much obliged to him.

Hypatia.

The lines to which your correspondentBalliolensisrefers—

"Conscia ni dextram dextera pressa premat."

are a translation of the song in Sheridan'sDuenna, Act I. Sc. 2., beginning—

"I ne'er could any lustre see," &c.

They were done by Marmaduke Lawson, of St. John's College, Cambridge, for the Pitt Scholarship in 1814, for which he was successful:

"Phyllidis effugiunt nos lumina. Dulcia sunto.Pulcra licet, nobis haud ea pulcra micant.Nectar erat labiis, dum spes erat ista tenendi,Spes perit, isque simul, qui erat ante, decor.Votis me Galatea petit. Caret arte puella,Parque rosis tenero vernat in ore color:Sed nihil ista juvant. Forsan tamen ista juvabunt.Si jaceant, victâmente, rubore genæ:Pura manus mollisque fluit. Neque credere possum.Ut sit vera fides, ista premenda mihi est.Nec bene credit amor (nam res est plena timoris),Conscia ni dextram dextera pressa premat.Ecce movet pectus suspiria. Pectora nostrisIsta legenda oculis, si meus urat amor.Et, nostri modo cura memor nostrique calorisTangat eam, facere id non pudor ullus erit."

"Phyllidis effugiunt nos lumina. Dulcia sunto.

Pulcra licet, nobis haud ea pulcra micant.

Nectar erat labiis, dum spes erat ista tenendi,

Spes perit, isque simul, qui erat ante, decor.

Votis me Galatea petit. Caret arte puella,

Parque rosis tenero vernat in ore color:

Sed nihil ista juvant. Forsan tamen ista juvabunt.

Si jaceant, victâmente, rubore genæ:

Pura manus mollisque fluit. Neque credere possum.

Ut sit vera fides, ista premenda mihi est.

Nec bene credit amor (nam res est plena timoris),

Conscia ni dextram dextera pressa premat.

Ecce movet pectus suspiria. Pectora nostris

Ista legenda oculis, si meus urat amor.

Et, nostri modo cura memor nostrique caloris

Tangat eam, facere id non pudor ullus erit."

I have not sent the English, as it can be easily got at. The other translation I am not acquainted with.

(Vol. viii., p. 621.)

The placing of the royal arms in four separate shields in the form of a cross first occurred upon the medals struck upon the nativity of King Charles II., anno 1630; and adopted upon the reverse of the coins for the first time in 1662, upon the issue of what was then termed the improved milled coin, where the arms are so placed, having the star of the Garter in the centre; the crowns intersecting the legend, and two crowns interlaced in each quarter. The shields, as here marshalled, are each surmounted by a crown; having in the top and bottom shield France and England quarterly, Ireland on the dexter side (which is the second place), and on the sinister Scotland.[2]But on the milled money which followed, France and England being borne separately, that of France, which had been constantly borne in the first quarter singly until James I., and afterwards in the first place quarterly with England, is placed in the bottom shield or fourth quarter. Mr. Leake, in hisHistorical Account of English Money[3], after remarking that this irregular bearing first appeared upon the nativity medals of Charles II. in 1630, where the shields are placed in this manner, adds, that this was no doubt originally owing to the ignorance of the graver, who knew no other way to place the arms circularly than following each other, like the titles, unless (as I have heard, says he) that the arms of each kingdom might fall under the respective title in the legend; and this witty conceit has ever since prevailed upon the coin, except in some of King William and Queen Mary's money, where the arms are rightly marshalled in one shield. That this was owing to the ignorance of the workman, and not with any design to alter the disposition of the arms, is evident from the arms upon the great seal, where France is borne quarterly with England, in the first and fourth quarters, as it was likewise used upon all other occasions, until the alteration occasioned by the union with Scotland in 1707.

In reference to the arrangement consequent upon the union with Scotland, he observes that, how proper soever the impaling the arms of the two kingdoms was in other respects, it appeared with great impropriety upon the money. The four escocheons in cross had hitherto been marshalled in their circular order from theleft, whereby the dexter escocheon was the fourth; according to which order the united arms, being quartered first and fourth, would have fallen together; therefore they were placed at the top and bottom,which indeed was right: but then France by the same rule was then in the third place, and Ireland in the second; unless to reconcile it we make a rule contrary to all rule, to take sinister first and dexter second.

In the coinage of King George I., the representation of the armorial bearings in four separate shields, as upon the milled money of King Charles II., was continued. In the uppermost escocheon, England impaling Scotland; the dexter the arms of his Majesty's electoral dominions; sinister France; and in the bottom one Ireland, all crowned with the imperial crown of Great Britain. The marshalling of the four escocheon's in this manner might and ought to have been objected to by the heralds (has it been brought under their cognizance?), because it appears by many instances, as well as upon coins and medals of the emperors and several princes of the entire, that arms marshalled in this circular form are blazoned, not in the circular order, but from the dexter and sinister alternately; and thus the emperor at that time bore eleven escocheons round the imperial eagle. In like manner, upon the money of Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick, we see the crest with a circle of eleven escocheons in the same order. The same order is observed in marshalling the escocheons of the seven provinces of Holland and there is a coin of the Emperor Ferdinand, another of Gulick, and a third of Erick, Bishop of Osnaburgh, with four escocheons in cross, and four sceptres exactly resembling the English coins. That it was not altered therefore at that time, the mistake being so evident, can be attributed only to the length of time the error had prevailed; so hard is it to correct an error in the first instance whereby the arms of his Majesty's German dominions, which occupy the fourth quarter in the royal arms, do in fact upon the money occupy the second place; a mistake however so apparent, as well by the bearing upon other occasions as by the areas of Ireland, which before occupied the same escocheon, that nothing was meant thereby to the dishonour of the other arms; but that being now established, it is the English method of so marshalling arms in cross or circle, or rather that they have no certain method.

Until the union with Scotland, the dexter was the fourth escocheon; from that time the bottom one was fourth; now the dexter was again the fourth. Such is the force of precedent in perpetuating error, that the practice has prevailed even to the present time and it may be inferred, that fancy and effect are studied by the engraver before propriety. No valid reason can be advanced for placing the arms inseparateshields after their declared union under one imperial crown.

Footnote 2:(return)Evelyn'sDiscourse, edit. 1696, p. 121.Footnote 3:(return)London, 8vo., 1745, 2nd edit., then Clarenceux King of Arms, and afterwards Garter.

Evelyn'sDiscourse, edit. 1696, p. 121.

London, 8vo., 1745, 2nd edit., then Clarenceux King of Arms, and afterwards Garter.

(Vol. viii., p. 351. &c.)

The banks of the Rhine furnish abundant examples of this literary pleasantry: chronograms are as thick as blackberries. I send you a dozen, gathered during a recent tour. Each one was transcribed by myself.

1. Cologne Cathedral, 1722; on a beam in a chapel, on the south side of the choir:

"pIa VIrgInIs MarIæ soDaLItas annos sæCV-LarI renoVat."

2. Poppelsdorf Church, near Bonn. 1812:

"paroChIaLIs teMpLI rVIxIs æDIfICabar."

3. Bonn; on the base of a crucifix outside the minster, on the north side. 1711:

"glorifiCateetportate DeVMIn Corpore Vestro.1 Cor. 6."

4. Bonn; within the minster. 1770:

"CapItVLVMpatronIs pIeDICaVIt."

5. Aix-la-Chapelle; on the baptistery. 1660:

"sacrvMparoChIaLe DIVI johannIsbaptIstæ."

6. Aix-la-Chapelle.—St. Michael: front of west gallery. 1821:

"sVM pIa CIVItatIsLIberaLItate renoVata DeCorata."

7. Aix-la-Chapelle, under the above. 1852:

"eCCeMIChaeLIsaeDes."

8. Konigswinter; on the base of a crucifix at the northern end of the village. 1726:

"In VnIVs VerI aC InCarnatI DeI honoreMposVere.———Joannes Petrus Mümrer etMaria Gengers Conjuges2 dā Septembris."

9. Konigswinter; over the principal door of the church. 1828:

"es Ist seInes MenCher WohnUng sonDem eInherrLIChes haUsz Unseres gottes, i. b. d. ker.er. 29. c. v. i."

10. Konigswinter; under the last. 1778:

"VnI sanCtIssIMo Deo, patrI atqVefiLIo spIrItVIqVe sanCto."

11. Konigswinter under the last. 1779:

"erIgor sVb MaX. frIDerICo konIgsegg antIstIteCoLonIensI pIe gVbernante."

12. Coblenz.—S. Castor; round the arch of the west door. 1765:

"DIro MarIa IVngfraV reInLas CobLenz aubefohLen seIn."

Of these, Nos. 9, 10. and 11. are incised on one stone, the letters indicating the chronograph being rubricated capitals; but in No. 10. the second I in "filio," and the first I in "spirituique," though capitals, are not in red. I shall be much obliged to any of your correspondents who can supply a complete or corrected copy of the following chronogram, from the Kreutzberg, near Bonn. The height at which it was placed, and its defective colour, prevented me from deciphering the whole; nor do I vouch for the correctness of the subjoined portion:

"sCaLa IesV prnobis passI. a..CLeMente aVgVsto. . . . . .antIstIteCoLonIensI pIeaVgVstpretIosieXstrV."

"sCaLa IesV pr

nobis passI. a..

CLeMente aVgVsto

. . . . . .

antIstIte

CoLonIensI pIe

aVgVst

pretIosi

eXstrV."

Some parts of this inscription might be conjecturally supplied; but I prefer presenting it as I was able to transcribe it. The staircase in question was erected by the Elector Clement Augustus, in or about 1725, in imitation of the Scala Santa at Rome. (See Murray'sHandbook.)

W. Sparrow Simpson.

(Vol. viii., pp. 364. 471.)

In Primate Colton'sMetropolitan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry,A.D.1397, edited by the Rev. William Reeves, D.D., it is stated, at p. 44., that several persons therein mentioned took their oath "tactis sacrosanctis Evangeliis;" and in a note Dr. Reeves says that—

"Until the arrival of the English the custom of swearing on the holy evangelists was unknown to the Irish, who resorted instead to croziers, bells, and other sacred reliquaries, to give solemnity to their declarations. Even when the Gospels were used, it was not uncommon to introduce some other object to render the oath doubly binding. Thus in a monition directed by Primate Prene to O'Neill, he requires him to be sworn 'tactis sacrosanctis Dei evangeliis ad ea, et super Baculum Jesu in ecclesia cathedrali Sanctæ Trinitatis Dublin.' (Reg. Prene, fol. 117.)"

The following lines upon the subject in question will be found in theRed Bookof the Irish Exchequer:

"Qui jurat super librum tria tacit."Primo quasi diceret omnia que scripta sunt in hoc libro nunquam mihi perficiant neque lex nova neque vetus si mencior in hoc juramento."Secundo apponit manum super librum quasi diceret numquam bona opera que feci michi proficiant ante faciem Jeshu Christi nisi veritatem dicam quando per manus significentur opera."Tercio et ultimo osculatur librum quasi diceret numquam oraciones neque preces quas dixi per os meum michi ad salutem anime valeant si falsitatem dicam in hoc juramento michi apposito."

"Qui jurat super librum tria tacit.

"Primo quasi diceret omnia que scripta sunt in hoc libro nunquam mihi perficiant neque lex nova neque vetus si mencior in hoc juramento.

"Secundo apponit manum super librum quasi diceret numquam bona opera que feci michi proficiant ante faciem Jeshu Christi nisi veritatem dicam quando per manus significentur opera.

"Tercio et ultimo osculatur librum quasi diceret numquam oraciones neque preces quas dixi per os meum michi ad salutem anime valeant si falsitatem dicam in hoc juramento michi apposito."

Judging by the character of the handwriting, I would say that the above-mentioned lines were written not later than the time of Edward I.; and as many of the vellum leaves of this book have been sadly disfigured, as well by the pressure of lips as by tincture of galls, I am inclined to think that official oaths were formerly taken in the Court of Exchequer of Ireland by presenting the book when opened to the person about to be sworn in the manner at this day used (as we are informed by Honoré de Mareville) in the Ecclesiastical Court at Guernsey.

It appears by an entry in one of the Order Books of the Exchequer, deposited in the Exchequer Record Office, Four Courts, Dublin, that in James I.'s time the oath of allegiance was taken upon bended knee. The entry to which I refer is in the following words:

"Easter Term, Wednesday, 22nd April, 1618.—Memorandum: This day at first sitting of the court, the lord threasurer, vice threasurer, and all the barons being present on the bench, the lord chauncellor came hither and presented before them Thomas Hibbotts, esq., with his Majesty's letters patents of the office of chauncellor of this court to him graunted, to hold and execute the said office during his naturall life, which being read the said lord chauncellor first ministred unto him the oath of the King's supremacy, which hee tooke kneeling on his knee, and presently after ministred unto him the oath ordayned for the said officer, as the same is contayned of record in the redd booke of this court; all which being donn the said lord chauncellor placed him on the bench on the right hand of the lord threasurer, and then departed this court."

James F. Ferguson.

Dublin.

Splitting Paper for Photographic Purposes.—If the real and practical mode of effecting this were disclosed, it would be (in many cases) a valuable aid to the photographer. I have had many negative calotypes ruined by red stains on the back (but not affecting the impressed side of the paper); which, could the paperhave been split, would in all probability have been available, and printed well.

I was sorry to see in "N. & Q" (Vol. iii., p. 604.) an article under this head which went the round of the papers several months ago. Anything more impracticable and ridiculously absurd than the directions there given can hardly be imagined: "cylinders of amber!" or "cylinders ofmetallicamalgam!!" "excited in the usual manner," &c. I presumeelectricalexcitation is intended. Though, how cylinders ofmetalare to receive electricalexcitation, and to have sufficient attractive power over a sheet of paper as to rend it asunder, would be a problem which I believe even a Faraday could not solve: neither would excited glass cylinders effect the object any better; or if they could, it would be erecting a wheel to break a fly upon.

The whole proposition must originally have been a hoax: in fact, we live in a day when the masses of the people are easily induced to believe thatelectricitycando everything.

Another, and far more feasible plan has been proposed ("N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 413.), viz. to paste the paper to be split between two pieces of calico or linen; and when perfectly dry, part them. One half, it is said, will adhere to each piece of the linen, and may afterwards be obtained or set free from the linen by soaking.

I have tried this with partial, but not satisfactory success. It will be remembered that theresultsof thetrueprocess were some years ago exhibited before a scientific company (I think at the Royal Institution), when a page of theLondon Illustrated Newswas first exhibited in its usual condition, printed on both sides; and was then taken to an adjoining apartment, and in a short time (perhaps a quarter of an hour) re-exhibited to the company split into two laminæ, each being perfect. Neither thepastingplan, nor the electrical gammon, could have effected this. I hope some of your readers (they are a legion) will confer on photographers the favour of informing them of this art.

Cokely.

Curling of Iodized Paper.—The difficulty which your correspondent C. E. F. has met with, in iodizing paper according toDr. Diamond'svaluable and simple process, may be easily obviated.

I experienced the same annoyance of "curling up" till it was suggested to me to damp the paper previously to floating it. I have since always adopted this expedient, and find it answer perfectly. The method I employ for damping it is to leave it for a few hours previously to using it upon the bricks in my cellar: and I have no doubt but that, if C. E. F. will try the same plan, he will be equally satisfied with the result.

W. F. W.

How the Glass Rod is used.—Would you be kind enough to inform me how paper is prepared or excited with the glass rod in the calotype process? Is the solution first poured on the paper, and then equally diffused over it with the rod?

Duthus.

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