CAXTON'S PRINTING-OFFICE.

"Papa brevis vox est, sed virtus nominis hujusPerlustrat quiequid arcus uterque tenet."

"Papa brevis vox est, sed virtus nominis hujus

Perlustrat quiequid arcus uterque tenet."

Galfridus evidently derived his surname from his treatise on vines and wine; and he has been singularly unfortunate in the epithet, for I have never seen VIN-SAUF correctly printed. It varies from "de Nine salvo" to "Mestisauf." Pits and Oudin call him "Vinesalf" and Fabricius and Mansi change him into "Vine fauf."

The question now remains, Are the Roman Pontiffs and their Church answerable for the toleration of such language? Uncertainty may on this occasion be removed by our recollection of the fact, that a "Censura" upon the glosses of the papal canon law, by Manriq, Master of the Sacred Palace, was issued by the command of Pope Pius V. in 1572. It was reprinted by Pappus, Argent. 1599, 12mo., and 1609, 8vo., and it contains an order for the expurgation of the words before quoted, together with the summary in the margin, "Papa nec Deus est nec homo," which appears in every old edition; for instance, in that of Paris, 1532, sig. aa. iij. So far the matter looks well, and the prospect is not hopeless. These glosses, however, were revised by another master of the Apostolic Palace, Sixtus Fabri, and were edited, under the sanction of Pope Gregory XIII., in the year 1580; and from this authentic impression the impious panegyric has not been withdrawn. The marginal abridgment has, in compliance with Manriq's direction, been exterminated; and this additional note has been appended as a palliative:—

"Hæc verba sano modo sunt accipienda: prolata enim sunt ad ostendendum amplissimam esse Romani Pontificis potestatem."—Col. 4. ed. Paris, 1585.

R.G.

Poeta Anglicus(Vol ii., p. 167).—I cannot answer J.B.'s Queries; but I have fallen upon across scent, which perchance may lead to their discovery.

1. Ioannes Pitseus,de Scriptor. ad ann.1250, (Relat. Histor. de Rebus Anglicis, ed. Par. 1619, p. 322.), gives the following account "de Michaele Blaunpaino:"—

"Michael Blaunpainus, vulgoMagistercognominatus, natione Anglus, patria Cornubiensis, ... missus Oxonium, deinde Parisios, ... præ cæteris se dedidit elegantiæ linguæ Latinæ, fuitque inter præcipuos sui temporispoetusper Angliam potissimum et Galliam numeratus. Hunc subinde citat Textor in Cornucopia sub nomine MichaelisAnglici.... In lucem emisit: Historiarum Normanniæ, librum unum: Contra Henricum Abrincensem versu. librum unum. Archipoeta vide, quod non sit. (MS. in Bibliotheca Lunleiana.) Epistolarum et carminum, librum unum. Claruit anno Messiæ 1250, sub Henrici tertii regno."

2. Valerius Andreas, however, gives a somewhat different account ofMichael Anglicus. In hisBiblioth. Belg.ed. 8vo. Lovan, 1623, p. 609., he says:

"Michael Anglicus, Bellimontensis, Hanno, I. V. Professor etPoeta, scripsit:

Eclogarum, libros iv., ad Episc. Parisien.Eclogarum, libb. ii., ad Lud. Villerium.De mutatione studiorum, lib. i.Elegiam deprecatoriam.

Eclogarum, libros iv., ad Episc. Parisien.

Eclogarum, libb. ii., ad Lud. Villerium.

De mutatione studiorum, lib. i.

Elegiam deprecatoriam.

Et alia, quæ Paris. sunt typis edita. Hujus eruditionem et Poemata Bapt. Mantuanus et Joannes Ravisius Testor epigrammate commendarunt: hic etiam in Epithetis suisAngliciauctoritatem non semel adducit."

3. Franciscus Sweertius (Athenæ Belgricoe, ed. Antv. 1628, p. 565.) gives a similar account to this of Valerius Andreas.

4. And the account given by Christopher Hendreich Brandebargca, (ed. Berolini, 1699, p. 193.) is substantially the same; viz.,

"Anglicus Michael cognomine, sed natione Gallus, patria Belmontensis, utriusque juris Professor, scripsit Eclogarum, lib. iv. ad Episc." &c ... "Et diversorum carminum libros aliquot, quæ omnia Parisiis impressa sunt. Claruit autem A.C. 1500."

5. Moreri takes notice of this apparent confusion made between two different writers, who lived two centuries and a half apart. Speaking of the laterof the two, he says (Dictionnaire Historique, Paris, 1759, tom. i. par. ii. p. 87.):—

"Anglicus(Michel), natif de Beaumont dans le Hainaut, qui vivoit dans le XVI. siècle, étoit poëte et professeur en droit. Nous avons divers ouvrages de sa façon, des églogues, un traitéde mutatione studiorum, &c. (Valer. Andreas,Bibl. Belg.) Quelques auteurs l'ont confondu avec Michel Blaumpain. (Voyez Blaumpain.)"

Of the earlier Anglicus, Moreri says (ubi sup., tom. ii. par. i. p. 506.):

"Blaumpain (Michel) surnomméMagister, Anglois de nation, etPoëte, qui vivoit vers l'an 1250. Il est nommé par quelques-unMichel Anglicus. Mais il y a plus d'apparence que c'étoient deux auteurs différens; dont l'un composa une histoire de Normandie, et un traité contre Henri d'Avranches; et l'autre laissa quelques pièces de poësies;—Eclogarum, libri iv., ad Episcopum Parisiensem; Eclogarum, libri ii., ad Ludovicum Villerium, De mutatione studioram, Elogia deprecatoria, &c. Baptiste Mantuan parle de Michel Anglicus, qui étoit de Beaumont dans l'Hainault. (Pitseus,De Script. Angl.p. 322.; Valerius Andreas inBibl, p. 670.)"

Perhaps some of your readers may have access to a copy of theParis impressionof Michael Anglicus, mentioned by Andreas, Sweertius, and Hendreich. J.B. will not need to be reminded of these words of Innocent III., in his first serm. de consecr. Pont. Max., in which he claimed, as St. Peter's successor, to be

"Inter Deum et hominem medius constitutus; citra Deum, sed ultra hominem; minor Deo, sed major homine: qui de omnibus judicat, et a nemine judicatur."—Innocentii tertii Op., ed. Colon. 1575, tom. i., p. 189.

Did the claimoriginatewith Pope Innocent?

J. Sansom.

I must protest against the manner in which Arun (Vol. ii., p. 187.) has proceeded with the discussion of Caxton's printing at Westminster. Though writing anonymously himself, he has not hesitated to charge me by name with a desire to impeach the accuracy of Mr. C. Knight'sLife of Caxton, of which, and of other works of the same series, he then volunteers as the champion, as if they, or any one of them, were the object of a general attack. This is especially unfair, as I made the slightest possible allusion to Mr. Knight's work, and may confess I have as yet seen no more of it than the passage quoted by ARUN himself. Any such admixture of personal imputations is decidedly to be deprecated, as being likely to militate against the sober investigation of truth which has hitherto characterised the pages of "NOTES AND QUERIES." ARUN also chooses to say that the only question which is material, is, Who was Caxton's patron?i.e.who was the Abbot of Westminster at the time,—who may not, after all, have actively interfered in the matter. This question remains in some doubt; but it was not the question with which DR. RIMBAULT commenced the discussion. The object of that gentleman's inquiry (Vol. ii., p. 99.) was, the particular spot where Caxton's press was fixed. From a misapprehension of the passage in Stow, a current opinion has obtained that the first English press was erected within the abbey-church, and in the chapel of St. Anne; and Dr. Dibdin conjectured that the chapel of St. Anne stood on the site of Henry VII.'s chapel. The correction of this vulgar error is, I submit, by no means immaterial; especially at a time when a great effort is made to propagate it by the publication of a print, representing "William Caxton examining the first proof sheet from his printing-press in Westminster Abbey;" the engraving of which is to be "of the size of the favourite print of Bolton Abbey:" where the draftsman has deliberately represented the printers at work within the consecrated walls of the church itself! When a less careless reader than Dr. Dibdin consults the passage of Stow, he finds that the chapel of St. Anne stood in the opposite direction from the church to the site of Henry VII.'s chapel,i.e.within the court of the Almonry; and that Caxton's press was also set up in the Almonry, though not (so far as appears, or is probable) within that chapel. The second question is, When did Caxton first set up his press in this place? And the third, the answer to which depends on the preceding, is, Who was the abbot who gave him admission? Now it is true, as ARUN remarks, that the introduction of Abbot Islip's name is traced up to Stow in the year 1603: and, as Mr. Knight has observed, "the careful historian of London here committed one error," because John Islip did not become Abbot of Westminster until 1500. The entire passage of Stow has been quoted by DR. RIMBAULT in "NOTES AND QUERIES," Vol. ii., p. 99.; it states that in the Almonry—

"Islip, abbot of Westminster, erected the first press of book-printing that ever was in England, about the year 1471."

Now, it appears that the various authors of repute, who have given the point their consideration, as the editor of Dugdale'sMonasticon(Sir Henry Ellis), and Mr. Cunningham in hisHandbook, affirm that it is John Esteney who became abbot in 1474 or 1475, and not Thomas Milling, who was abbot in 1471, whose name should be substituted for that of Islip. In that case, Stowe committed two errors instead of one; he was wrong in his date as well as his name. It is to this point that I directed my remarks, which are printed in Vol. ii., p. 142. We have hitherto no evidence that Caxtonprinted at Westminster before the year 1477, six years later than mentioned by Stow.

JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS.

The Query of H.E. (Vol. i., p. 321.) seems to infer that the use of coffins may be only a modern custom. In book xxiii., chapters i. and ii., of Bingham'sAntiquities of the Christian Church, H.E. will find ample proof of the very early use of coffins. During the first three centuries of the Church, one great distinction betwixt Heathens and Christians was, that the former burned their dead, and placed the bones and ashes in urns; whilst the latter always buried the corpse, either in a coffin or, embalmed, in a catacomb; so that it might be restored at the last day from its original dust. There have frequently been dug out of the barrows which contain Roman urns, ancient British stone coffins. Bede mentions that the Saxons buried their dead in wood. Coffins both of lead and iron were constructed at a very early period. When the royal vaults at St. Denis were desecrated, during the first French revolution, coffins were exposed that had lain there for ages.

Notwithstanding all this, it appears to be the case that, both in the Norman and English periods, the common people of this country were often wrapped in a sere-cloth after death, and so placed, coffinless, in the earth. The illuminations in the old missals represent this. And it is not impossible that the extract from the "Table of Dutyes," on which H.E. founds his inquiry, may refer to a lingering continuance of this rude custom. Indeed, a statute passed in 1678, ordering that all dead bodies shall be interred in woollen and no other material, is so worded as to give the idea that there might be interments without coffins. The statute forbids that any person be put in, wrapt, or wound up, or buried in any shirt, shift, sheet, or shroud, unless made of sheep's wool only; or in any coffin lined or faced with any material but sheep's wool; as if the person might be buried either in a garment, or in a coffin, so long as the former was made of, or the latter lined with, wool.

I think the "buryall without a coffin," quoted by H.E., must have referred to the interment of the poorest class. Their friends, being unable to provide a coffin, conformed to an old rude custom, which had not entirely ceased.

Alfred Gatty

If the passage fromMeasure for Measure, which has been the subject of much controversy in your recent numbers, be read in its natural sense—there is surely nothing unintelligible in the word "delighted" as there used.

The object of the poet was to show how instinctively the mind shudders at the change produced by death—both on body and soul; and how repulsive it must be to an active and sentient being.

He therefore places in frightful contrast the condition ofeachbefore and after that awful change. The BODY,nowendowed with "sensible warm motion," to become in death "a kneaded clod," to "lie in cold obstruction, and to rot." The SPIRIT,now"delighted" (all full of delight), to become in death utterly powerless, an unconscious—passive thing—"imprisoned in the viewless winds, and blown with restless violence round about the pendant world," how intolerable the thought, and how repulsive the contrast! It isnotin its stateafter death, butduring life, that the poet represents the spirit to be a "delighted one." If we fall into the error of supposing him to refer to theformerperiod, we are compelled to alter our text, in order to make the passage intelligible, or invent some new meaning to the word "delighted," and, at the same time, we deprive the passage of the strong antithesis in which all its spirit and force consists. It is this strong antithesis, this painfully marked contrast between the two states ofeach, bodyandspirit, which displays the power and skill of the poet in handling the subject. Without it, the passage loses half its meaning.

MR. HICKSON will not, I hope, accuse one who is no critic for presuming to offer this suggestion. I tender it with diffidence, being conscious that, although a passionate admirer of the great bard, I am all unlearned in the art of criticism, "a plain unlettered man," and therefore simply take what is set before me in its natural sense, as well as I may, without searching for recondite interpretations. On this account, I feel doubly the necessity of apologising for interfering with the labours of so learned and able a commentator as MR. HICKSON has shown himself to be.

L.B.L.

Plutarch (tom. ii., p. 397.D.) has these words:

[Greek: "Ou gar esti theou hae gaerus oude ho phthoggos, oude he lexis, oude to metron, alla taes yunaikos: ekeinos de monas tas phantasias paristaesi, kau phos en tae psuchae poiei pros to mellon."]

If that be the passage referred to be Rollin, nothing is said there about ventriloquism. The Scholiast on Aristoph. (Plut.39.) tells us how the Pythian received theafflatus, but says nothing about herspeakingfrom her belly: He only has

[Greek: "Ta taes manteias hae mallon manias ephtheggeto hraemata."]

In another place of Plutarch (tom. ii., p. 414. E.) we have [Greek: eggastrimuthoi] and [Greek: puthones] used as synonymous words to express persons into whose bodies the god might be supposed to enter, "using theirbodies and voices as instruments." The only word in that passage which appears to hint at what we call ventriloquism is [Greek: hupophtheggesthai].

I have very little doubt that amongst the various tricks of ancient divination ventriloquism found a place; but I cannot give that direct evidence which MR. SANSOM asks for. I think it very likely that "the wizards that peep and mutter" (Isa. viii. 19.) were of this class; but it is not clear that the [Hebrew: 'obot]—the [Greek eggastrimuthoi] of the LXX.—were so. The English version has "them that have familiar spirits." The Hebrew word signifiesbottles; and this may mean no more than that the spirit of divination was contained in the person's body as in a bottle, "using his body and his voice as instruments," as in the place of Plutarch quoted above. We have something like this, Acts, xix. 15., where "the evil spirit answered," no doubt in the voice of the demoniac, "Jesus I know," &c. Michaelis (Suppl., p. 39.) gives a different meaning and etymology to [Hebrew: 'obot]. He derives it from the Arabic, which signifies (1)rediit, (2)occiditsol, (3)noctu venitornoctu aliquid fecit. The first and third of these meanings will make it applicable to the [Greek: nekromanteia] (of which the witch of Endor was a practitioner), which was carried on at night. See Hor.Sat.I. ix.

I do not think that the damsel mentioned Acts, xvi. 16. was a ventriloquist. The use of the word [Greek: ekraze] in the next verse, would lead us to infer that she spoke in a loud voicewith her mouth open; whereas the [Greek: eggastrimuthoi] are defined by Galen (Glossar. Hippocr.) as [Greek: oi kekleismenou tou stomatos phthengomenoi].

Consult Vitringa and Rosenmüller on Isa. viii. 19., Wolf and Kuinoel on Acts, xvi. 16., Biscoe on the Acts, ch. viii. §2; where references will be found to many works which will satisfy Mr. SANSOM better than this meagre note.

[Hebrew: B]

Ventriloquism(Vol. ii., p. 88.).—In reply to Query 1, I wish to call Mr. SANSOM'S attention toPlutarch de Oraculorum defectu(Lipsiæ, 1777, vol. vii. p. 632.), and to Webster'sDisplaying of supposed Witchcraft(chaps. vi. and viii.). Queries 2 and 3. Besides the extraordinary work of Webster, he may consult the elaborate dissertations of Allatius on these subjects, in the eighth volume ofCritici Sacri. Query 4. On the use of the term [Greek: eggastrimuthos] by the sacred writers,Ravanelli Biblioth. S., and by classical authors,Foesii Oeconomia Hippocratis; and for synonymous "divinorum ministrorum nomina,"Pollucis Onomasticon.

T.J.

Earl of Oxford's Patent(Vol. ii., p. 194.).—M.'s quotation from theWeekly Oraclerelates to Harley's having been stabbed at the council-table by the Sieur de Guiscard, a French Papist, brought up for examination 8th March, 1711. The escape of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the subject of an address from both Houses to the Queen; and upon his being sufficiently recovered to resume his seat, the Speaker delivered to him the unanimous congratulations of the House of Commons. Harley was shortly after created Earl of Oxford, by patent bearing date 24th May, 1711, which recites,inter alia,—

"Since, therefore, the two Houses of Parliament have declared that the fidelity and affection he has expressed in our service have exposed him to the hatred of wicked men,and the desperate rage of a villanous parricide, since they have congratulated his escape from such imminent dangers, and put us in mind that he might not be preserved in vain, we willingly comply with their desires, and grant him who comes so honourably recommended by the votes of our Parliament, a place among our peer," &c. &c.—Collin'sPeerage, vol. iv. p. 260. edit. 1789.

Guiscard died in Newgate of the wounds which he received in the scuffle when he was secured.

BRAYBROOKE.

[O.P.Q., who has kindly replied to M.'s inquiry, has appended to his answer the following Query:—"Is Smollett justified in using the wordsassassinandassassinate, as applied to cases of intended homicide, when death did not ensue?"]

The Darby Ram(Vol. ii., p. 71.).—There is a whimsical little volume, which, as it relates mainly to local matters, may not have come under the notice of many of your readers, to which I would refer your querist H.W.

It is entitled,—

"Gimcrackiana, or Fugitive Pieces on Manchester Men and Manners ten years ago. Manchester, 1833." cr. 8vo.

It is anonymous, but I believe truly ascribed to a clever young bookseller of the name of J.S. Gregson, since dead.

At page 185. he gives twelve stanzas of this ballad, as the most perfect copy from the oral chronicle of his greatgrandmother.

InThe Ballad Book(Edinb. 1827, 12mo.), there is another entitled "The Ram of Diram," of a similar kind, but consisting of only six verses and chorus. And theDublin Penny Journal, vol. i., p. 283., contains a prose story, entitled "Darby and the Ram," of the same veracious nature.

F.R.A.

Rotten Row and Stockwell Street.—R.R., of Glasgow, inquires the etymology of these names (Vol. i., p. 441.). The etymology of the first word possesses some interest, perhaps, at the present time, owing to the name of the site of the intended Exhibition from all Nations in Hyde Park. I sent to the publishers ofGlasgow Delineated,which was printed at the University press in 1826, a contradiction of the usual origin of the name adopted in that city, showing the impossibility of the expression bearing any reference to the dissoluteness or immorality of the former residents, and also contradicting its having any thing to do with "rats," or "rattons,"Scotticè; although, in 1458, the "Vicus Rattonum" is the term actually used in the Archbishop of Glasgow's chartulary. My observations, which were published in a note, concluded as follows:

"The name, however, may be also traced to a very remote and classic origin, although we are not aware that it has hitherto been condescended on. In ancient Rome was what was called the Ratumena Porta, 'a nomine ejus appellata (says Gessner in his LatinThesaurus) qui ludiero certamine quadrigis victor juvenis Veiis consternatis equis excussus Romæ periit, qui equi feruntur non ante constitisse quam pervenirent in Capitolium.' The same story is related by Pliny, from whom and other authors, it appears that the word Ratumena was then as proverbially applied to jockies as Jehu in our own days. From the circumstance of the Rotten Row Port (of Glasgow) having stood at the west end of this street, and the Stable Green Port near the east end, which also led to the Archbishop's castle, it is probably not only that it was the street through which processions would generally proceed, but that the port alluded to, and after it the street in question, were dignified by the more learned of our ancestors with the Roman name of which, or of the Latin Rota, the present appears a very natural corruption."

I may here refer to Facciolati'sDictionary, voce"Ratumena Porta," as well as Gessner's.

As toStockwell, also a common name, it is obviously indicative of the particular kind of well at the street, by which the water was lifted not by a wheel, nor by a pump, nor a pulley, but by a beam poised on or formed by a largestock, orblock of wood.

Lambda.

Hornbooks(Vol. ii., p. 167.).—Mr. Timbs will find an account of hornbooks, with a woodcut of one of the time of Queen Elizabeth, in Mr. Halliwell'sNotices of Fugitive Tracts, printed by the Percy Society, 1849. Your readers would confer a favour on Mr. Timbs and myself by the communication of any additional information.

Passages from Shakspeare(Vol. ii., p. 135.).—

Ang.We are all frail.Isab.Else let my brother die,If not a feodary, but only heOwe, and succeed thy weakness.Ang.Nay, women are frail too.Measure for Measure, Act. ii. Sc. 4.

Ang.We are all frail.

Isab.Else let my brother die,If not a feodary, but only heOwe, and succeed thy weakness.

Isab.Else let my brother die,

If not a feodary, but only he

Owe, and succeed thy weakness.

Ang.Nay, women are frail too.

Measure for Measure, Act. ii. Sc. 4.

I should paraphrase Isabella's remarks thus:—

"If it be otherwise, if we are not all frail as thou sayest, then let my brother die, unless he be but in the same case as others; if he alone possess and follow thee in that particular frailty to which thou has half confessed."

A feodary, I should observe, was an officer of the Court of Wards, who was joined with the escheator and did not act singly; I conceive therefore that Shakspeare by this expression indicates an associate; one in the same plight as others; negatively, one who does not stand alone. InCymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 2., we read:

"Senseless bauble,Art thou afeodaryfor this act, and lookstSo virgin-like without?"

"Senseless bauble,

Art thou afeodaryfor this act, and lookst

So virgin-like without?"

where feodary clearly means confederate, associate. According to some, the word signifies one who holds land by the same tenure as the rest of mankind; whilst Mr. Knight, in a note onHenry IV. Part i. Act i. endeavors to show that it includes both the companion and the feudal vassal.

"To owe" is frequently used by Shakspeare in the sense of to possess, to own, as in Act i. Sc. 5. where Lucio says:

"But when they weep and kneel,All their petitions are as freely theirsAs they themselves wouldowethem."

"But when they weep and kneel,

All their petitions are as freely theirs

As they themselves wouldowethem."

So also in the following instances:—

"The slaughter of the prince thatow'dthat crown."Richard III., Act. iv. Sc. 4."What art thou, that keepst me out from the house Iowe?"Comedy of Errors, Act iii. Sc. 1."Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldstowe."Sonnetlxx.

"The slaughter of the prince thatow'dthat crown."

Richard III., Act. iv. Sc. 4.

"What art thou, that keepst me out from the house Iowe?"

"What art thou, that keepst me out from the house I

owe?"

Comedy of Errors, Act iii. Sc. 1.

"Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldstowe."

Sonnetlxx.

Further examples will be found inA Lover's Complaint, the last line but two;Pericles, Act v. Sc. 1.;Twelfth Night, Act. i Sc. 5.,Love's Labour's Lost, Act i. Sc. 2.;King John, Act ii. Sc. 1.;King Lear, Act i. Sc. 4.

As the passage is allowed to be obscure, this attempt to explain its meaning is submitted with great deference to the opinions of your readers.

Arun.

Mildew in Books(Vol. ii., p. 103.).—In answer to B. I mention that the following facts connected with mildew in books have been elicited.

The mildew referred to is that which shows itself in the form of roundish or irregular brown spots.

It is usually most abundant in those parts which are most exposed to the air.

In making a microscopic examination of the spots, I ascertained that there was no new structure present; but in manipulating I found that these spots absorbed water more rapidly than the rest of the paper.

On applying litmus, these spots were found to have a powerful acid reaction.

On submitting the matter to a chemical friend, he ascertained that the acid in question was the sulphuric, or oil of vitriol. Experiments were then made with a dilute solution of this acid onclean paper, and spots were produced similar to those of mildew.

The acid does not naturally exist in paper, and its presence can only be accounted for by supposing that the paper has been bleached by the fumes of sulphur. This produces sulphurous acid, which, by the influence of atmospheric air and moisture, is slowly converted into sulphuric, and then produces the mildew. As this may be shown to be an absolutecharringof the fibres of which the paper is composed, it is to be feared that it cannot be cured. After the process has once commenced, it can only be checked by the utmost attention to dryness, moisture being indispensable to its extension, and vice versâ.

I do not know whether these facts are generally known, but they would seem to be very important to paper-makers.

T.I.

Pilgrims' Road to Canterbury(Vol. ii., p. 199.).—Your correspondent PHILO-CHAUCER, I presume, desires to know the old route to Canterbury. I should imagine that at the time of Chaucer a great part of the country was uncultivated and uninclosed, and a horse-track in parts of the route was probably the nearest approximation to a road. At the present day, crossing the London road at Wrotham, and skirting the base of the chalk hills, there is a narrow lane which I have heardcalled"the Pilgrims' road," and this, I suppose, is in fact the old Canterbury road; though how near to London or Canterbury it has a distinct existence, and to what extent it may have been absorbed in other roads, I am not able to say. The title of "Pilgrims' road" I take to be a piece of modern antiquarianism. In the immediate vicinity of this portion there are some druidical remains: some at Addington, and a portion of a small circle tolerably distinct in a field and lane between, I think, Trottescliffe and Ryarsh. In the absence of better information, you may perhaps make use of this.

S.H.

Abbé Strickland(Vol. ii, p. 198.), of whom I.W.H. asks for information, is mentioned byCox, in hisMemoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, t. i. p. 442., and t. iii. p. 174.

D. ROCK.

Etymology of Totnes.—The Query of J.M.B. (Vol. i., p 470.) not having been as yet answered, I venture to offer a few notes on the subject; and, mindful of your exhortation to brevity, compress my remarks into the smallest possible compass, though the details of research which might be indulged in, would call for a dissertation rather them a Note.

That Totnes is a place of extreme antiquity as a British town cannot be doubted; first, from the site and character of its venerable hill fortress; secondly, from the fact that the chief of the four great British and Roman roads, the Fosse-way, commenced there—"The ferthe of thisse is most of alle that tilleth from Toteneis ... From the south-west to north-east into Englonde's end;" and, thirdly, from the mention of it, and the antiquity assigned to it by our earliest annals and chronicles. Without entering into the question of the full authenticity of Brute and theSaxon Chronicle, or the implicit adoption of the legendry tales of Havillan and Geoffry of Monmouth, the concurring testimony of those records, with the voice of tradition, the stone of the landing, and the fact that the town is seated at the head of an estuary the most accessible, the most sheltered, and the best suited of any on the south-western coast for the invasion of such a class of vessels as were those of the early navigators, abundantly warrant the admission that it was the landing-place of some mighty leader at a very early period of our history.

And now to the point of the etymology ofTotenais, as it stands in Domesday Book. We may, I think, safely dismiss the derivation suggested by Westcote, on the authority of Leland, and every thing like it derived from the French, as well as the unknown tongue which he adopts in "Dodonesse." That we are warranted in seeking to the Anglo-Saxon for etymology in this instance is shown by the fact, that the names of places in Devon are very generally derived from that language;e.g.taking a few only in the neighbourhood of Totnes—Berry, Buckyatt, Dartington, Halwell, Harberton, Hamstead, Hempstin, Stancombe.

First, of the terminationaisoreis. The names of many places of inferior consequence in Devon end inhays, from the Ang.-Saxonheag, a hedge or inclosure; but this rarely, if ever, designates a town or a place beyond a farmstead, and seems to have been of later application as to a new location or subinfeudation; for it is never found in Domesday Book. In that ancient record the wordaisseis often found alone, and often as a prefix and as a terminal;e.g., Aisbertone, Niresse, Aisseford, Aisselie, &c. This is the Ang.-SaxonAesc, an ash; and it is uniformly so rendered in English: but it also means a ship or boat, as built of ash.Toten, the major of the name, is, I have no doubt, the genitive ofTohta, "dux, herzog," a leader or commander. Thus we haveTohtanoesc, the vessel of the leader, or the commander's ship,—commemorating the fact that the boat of some great invader was brought to land at this place.

S.S.S

Ædricus qui Signa fundebat(Vol. ii., p. 199), must surely have been a bell-founder: signum is a very common word, in mediæval writings, for a "bell."

D. ROCK

Fiz-gig(Vol. ii, p. 120).—I had expected that your Querist C.B. would have received animmediate reply to his Query as to the meaning offiz-gig, because the word is in Johnson'sDictionary, where he may also see the line from Sandys'Job, in which it caught his attention.

You may as well, therefore, tell him two things,—thatfiz-gigmeans a fish-cart and that Querists should abstain from soliciting your aid in all cases where a common dictionary would give them the information they want.

H.W.

Guineas(Vol. ii., p. 10.).—The coin named in the document quoted by A.J.H. is theGuiennoisa gold piece struck at Guienne by Edward III., and also by his son the Black Prince. It is not likely that the Guiennois was the original of the name given to the new gold coin of Charles II., because it could have had no claim to preference beyond theMouton, theChaise, thePavillon, or any other old Anglo-Gallic coin. I think we may rest contented with the statement of Leake (who wrote not much more than half a century after the event), and who says that theGuineawas so called from the gold of which it was made having been brought from Guinea by the African Company, whose stamp of an elephant was ordered to be impressed upon it.

J.C. Witton.

Numismatics.—My thanks are due to Mr. J.C. Witton (Vol. ii., p. 42.) for his replies to my Numismatic Queries, though I cannot coincide with his opinion on Nos. 1. and 3.

No ancient forger would have taken the pains to cut a die to strike lead from; and my specimen, from its sharpness, has clearly never been in circulation: why may it not have been a proof from the original die?

Of No. 2. I have since been shown several specimens, which had before, I suppose, escaped my notice.

On the coin of Macrinus, the letter below the S.C. now clearly appears to be an η, but the one above is not a Δ, but rather an L or inverted T. It cannot stand for [Greek: Lykabas], as on the Egyptian coinage, as Macrinus was slain by his soldiers the year after his accession.

The Etruscilla, even under a powerful magnifier, betrays no trace of ever having been plated and has all the marks by which numismatists determine the genuineness of a coin. The absence of S.C., I must remind Mr. W., is not uncommon onthirdbrass, though of course it always appears on the first and second.

I need go no farther than the one just mentioned of Tiberius, which has no S.C., and I possess several others which are deficient in this particular, a Severus Alexander, Elagabalus, &c. After Gallienus it never appears.

E.S.T.

Querela Cantabrigiensis(Vol. ii, p. 168.).—Dr. Peter Barwick, in the life of his brother, Dr. Jno. Barwick (Eng. Edit. Lond. 1724, 8vo.), after describing the treatment of the University by Cromwell, adds (p. 32.) "But Mr. Barwick, no inconsiderable part of this tragedy, together with others of the University, groaning under the same yoke of tyranny, and each taking a particular account of the sufferings of his own college, gave a distinct narrative of all these barbarities, and under the title ofQuerela Cantabrigiensis, or theUniversity of Cambridge's Complaint, got it printed by the care of Mr. R—— B——, bookseller ofLondonwho did great service to his King and country, by printing, and dispersing in the most difficult times, books written in defence of the royal cause." See alsoBiog. Brit., article "Barwick".

John I. Dredge.

Ben Johnson(Vol. ii., p. 167.)—So the name was spelt by most of his contemporaries. The poem mentioned by N.A.B. is printed in theUnderwoods, Gifford's edition, ix., 68; but the MS. may contain variations worthy of notice. I should doubt its being autograph, not merely because the poet spelt his name without theh, but because the verses in question are only part of hisEupheme.

J.O. Halliwell.

Barclay's "Argenis".—Since I sent you a Query on this subject, I have heard ofonetranslation, by Miss Clara Reeve, the authoress ofThe Old English Baronand other works. She commenced her literary career, I believe, by a translation of this work, which she published in 1772, under the title ofThe Phoenix.

Jarltzberg.

Hockey(Vol. i., p. 457.).—I have not observed that this has been yet noticed: if such be the case, permit me to refer to a letter of the poet Cowper, dated 5th Nov., 1785 (5th vol.Works, edit. by Southey, p. 174.) in which, alluding to that day, he says,

"The boys at Olney have likewise a very entertaining sport which commences annually upon this day; they call ithockey, and it consists in dashing each other with mud, and the windows also, so that I am forced to rise now and then and to threaten them with a horsewhip, to preserve our own."

F.R.A.

Praed's Poetical Works(Vol. ii., p. 190.).—Your Cambridge correspondent, Mr. Cooper, will be glad to know that Praed'spoemsare published in a collected form;Poetical Works of Winthrop Mackworth Praed, now first collected by Rufus W. Griswold; New York, 1844. This collection contains some thirty-six pieces. The longest poems, "Lillian" and "The Troubadour," each in two cantos, display passages of great beauty and exquisite musical flow. Among the charades, five in number, "Sir Harry, he charged at Agincourt", is not to be found.

W.M. Kingsmill.

We announced, after the last Annual Meetings of the Shakspeare Society, that it had been determined to publish a complete set of the Plays of one of Shakspeare's most prolific and interesting contemporaries, Thomas Heywood; and that the first volume of such collection, containing Six Plays, was then ready. A further contribution towards this collection, containingThe Royal King and Loyal Subject, which has not been reprinted since the old edition of 1637, and his very popular drama,A Woman killed with Kindness, has just been issued, with an Introduction and Notes by J. Payne Collier, Esq., the zealous and indefatigable Director of the Society, and will, we are sure, be welcomed by every lover of our early drama. The Shakspeare Society will, indeed, do good service to the cause of our early literature if it prove the means of securing us, a uniform series of the works of such of our Elizabethan dramatists as do not stand sufficiently high in the opinion of the uninitiated, to tempt the publishing world to put forth their productions in a collected form.

We have received the following Catalogues:—John Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue, Part CXV. (No. 9. for 1850), of Old and New Books; Cole's (15. Great Turnstile) List, No. XXVIII., of Useful Second-hand Books.

Diurnal Readings, 1 vol. 8vo.

Scottish Poems collected by Pinkerton, 2 vols. sm. 8vo., 1792.

Bell's Shakspeare's Plays and Poems. Vol. I.

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Edwards' Gangræna. Parts II. and III.

Asiatic Annual Register. Vol. VII. for 1805.

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Nocabis informed that the Prelate to whom he refers was created a D.D. by the late Archbishop of Canterbury. It certainly is not necessary that the recipient of such a degree should have previously taken that of M.A. or B.A.

H.I.G.,Northampton. The Editor would be happy to insert the Question of this Correspondent, relating to the Epistles of St. Paul, but he apprehends that the discussion to which it would give rise would, in order to its being of any use, require more space than could be afforded, and involve a good deal of criticism and argument not suited to these columns.

A.B.(Bradpole) will find a notice of the line "Incidis in Scyllam", &c., which is taken from Gualter de Lisle's Alexandriad, in Notes and Queries, Vol. ii., p. 86.

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Roman Art at Cirencester (with Engravings).

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