Minor Queries Answered.

"Burgus in hoc tumulo nunc, Orthodoxus Itermus,Deposuit cineres, animam revocabit Olympus."

"Burgus in hoc tumulo nunc, Orthodoxus Itermus,

Deposuit cineres, animam revocabit Olympus."

The meaning of all which is obvious, except of the words "Orthodoxus Itermus:" and I should be glad to have this unscanning doggrel translated. It has been conjectured thatItermusmust be derived fromiter, and hence that Burroughs may have been atraveller, or possiblyan orthodox itinerant preacher: surely there can be no punning reference toa journeyman! The lines have been submitted, in vain, to some high literati in Oxford.

A. G.

Ecclesfield.

Sir Thomas Herbert's Memoirs of Charles I.(Vol. iii., p. 157.).—My friend, who is in possession of the original MS. of this work, is desirous of ascertaining whether the volume published in 1702 be a complete and exact copy of it. I will transcribe the commencing and concluding passages of the MS., and shall be obliged ifMr. Bolton Corneywill compare them with the book in his possession, and tell me the result.

"Sr,"By your's of the 22d of August last, I find you have receaved my former letters of the first and thirteenth of May, 1678; and seeing 'tis your further desire," &c."This briefe narrative shall conclude with the king's owne excellent expression:Crowns and kingdoms are not so valuable as my honour and reputation—those must have a period with my life; but these survive to a glorious kind of immortality when I am dead and gone: a good name being the embalming of princes, and a sweet consecrating of them to an eternity of love and gratitude amongst posterity."

"Sr,

"By your's of the 22d of August last, I find you have receaved my former letters of the first and thirteenth of May, 1678; and seeing 'tis your further desire," &c.

"This briefe narrative shall conclude with the king's owne excellent expression:Crowns and kingdoms are not so valuable as my honour and reputation—those must have a period with my life; but these survive to a glorious kind of immortality when I am dead and gone: a good name being the embalming of princes, and a sweet consecrating of them to an eternity of love and gratitude amongst posterity."

The present owner of the MS. has an idea that an incorrect copy was fraudulently obtained and published about 1813. Is there any foundation for this supposition?

Alfred Gatty.

Ecclesfield.

Comets.—Where may a correct list of the several comets and eclipses, visible in France or England, which appeared, or took place, between the years 1066 and 1600, be obtained?

S. P. O. R.

Natural Daughter of James II.—James II., inSouverains du Monde(4 vols. 1722), is stated to have had a natural daughter, who in 1706 was married to the Duke of Buckingham.

Can any of your readers inform me the name of this daughter, and of her mother? Also the dates of her birth and death, and the name of her husband, and of any children?

F. B. Relton.

Going the Whole Hog.—What is the origin of the expression "going the whole hog?" Did it take its rise from Cowper's fable,the Love of the World reproved, in which it is shown how "Mahometans eat up the hog?"

Σ.

Innocent Convicts.—Can any of your readers furnish a tolerably complete list of persons convicted and executed in England, for crimes of which it afterwards appeared they were innocent?

Σ.

The San Grail.—Can any one learned in ecclesiastical story say what are the authorities for the story that King Arthur sent his knights through many lands in quest of thesacred vesselused by our Blessed Lord at His "Last Supper," and explain why this chalice was called the "Holy Grail" or "Grayle?" Tennyson has a short poem on the knightly search after it, called "Sir Galahad." And in Spenser'sFaerie Queene, book ii. cant. x. 53., allusion is made to the legend that "Joseph of Arimathy brought it to Britain."

W. M. K.

Meaning of "Slums."—In Dr. Wiseman'sAppeal to the Reason and Good Feeling of the English People, we find the word "slums" made use of with respect to the purlieus of Westminster Abbey. Warren, in a note of his letter on "The Queen or the Pope?" asks "What are 'slums?' And where is the word to be found explained? Is it Roman or Spanish? There is none such in our language, at least used by gentlemen."

I would ask, may not the word be derived fromasylum, seeing that the precincts of abbeys, &c. used to be an asylum or place of refuge in ancient times for robbers and murderers?

W. M. W.

Stokesley.

Bartolus' "Learned Man Defended and Reformed."—Can any one inform the applicant in what modern author this excellent (and he believes rare) book in his possession, translated from the Italian of Daniel Bartolus, G. J., by (Sir) Thomas Salusbury, 1660, is spoken of in terms of high approval? The passage passed before him not long ago, but havingmade no note, he is unable to recover it.—Query, Is it in Mr. Hallam'sLiterary History, which he has not at hand?

U. Q.

Odour from the Rainbow.—What English poet is it that embodies the idea contained in the following passage of Bacon'sSylva? I had noted it on a loose scrap of paper which I left in my copy of theSylva, but have lost it:—

"It hath been observed by the Ancients, that when a Raine Bow seemeth to hang over or to touch, there breaketh forth a sweet smell. The cause is, for that this happenth but in certain matters which have in themselves some sweetnesse, which the Gentle Dew of the Raine Bow doth draw forth. And the like doe soft showers; for they also make the ground sweet. But none are so delicate as the Dew of the Raine Bow, where it falleth. It may be also that the water itself hath some sweetnesse: for the Raine Bow consisteth of a glomeration of small drops which cannot possibly fall but from the Aire that is very low. And therefore may hold giving sweetnesse of the herbs and flowers, as a distilled water," &c.—Bacon'sSylva, by Rawley, 6th ed. 1651, p. 176.

Jarltzberg.

Tradesmen's Signs.—ACitizenwishes to be informed in what year or reign the signs that used to hang over the tradesmen's shop-doors were abolished, and whether it was accomplished by "act of parliament," or only "by the authority of the Lord Mayor." Also, whether there is any law now in existence that prevents the tradesmen putting the signs up again, if they were so disposed.

Supporters borne by Commoners.—Can any of your readers state why some commoners bear supporters, and whether the representatives of Bannerets are entitled to do so? I find in Burke'sDictionary of Landed Gentry, that several gentlemen in England, Scotland, and Ireland continue to use them. See Fulford, p. 452.; Wyse, p. 1661.; Hay-Newton, p. 552., &c. &c.

The late Mr. Portman, father of Lord Portman, used supporters, as do Sir W. Carew, Bart., and some other baronets.

Guinegate.

[Baronets are not entitled,as such, to bear supporters, which are the privilege of the peerage and the knights of the orders.There are many baronets who by virtue of especial warrants from the sovereign have, as acts of grace and favour, in consideration of services rendered to the state, received such grants; and in these instances they are limited to descend with the dignity only. No doubt there are some private families who assume and improperly bear supporters, but whose right to do so, even under their own statements as to origin and descent, has no legal foundation. "Notes And Queries" afford neither space nor place for the discussion of such questions, or for the remarks upon a correction of statements in the works quoted.]

[Baronets are not entitled,as such, to bear supporters, which are the privilege of the peerage and the knights of the orders.

There are many baronets who by virtue of especial warrants from the sovereign have, as acts of grace and favour, in consideration of services rendered to the state, received such grants; and in these instances they are limited to descend with the dignity only. No doubt there are some private families who assume and improperly bear supporters, but whose right to do so, even under their own statements as to origin and descent, has no legal foundation. "Notes And Queries" afford neither space nor place for the discussion of such questions, or for the remarks upon a correction of statements in the works quoted.]

Answer to Fisher's Relation.—I have a work published at London by Adam Islip, an. 1620, the title-page of which bears—

"An Answere to Mr. Fisher's Relation of a ThirdConference betweene a certaine B. (as he stiles him) and himselfe. The conference was very private till Mr. Fisher spread certaine papers of it, which in many respects deserved an Answere. Which is here given by R. B., Chapleine to the B. that was employed in the conference."

Pray, whowasthe chaplain? I have heard he was the after-famous Archbishop Laud.

I pray your assistance in the resolution of this Query.

J. M.

Liverpool.

[This famous conference was thethirdheld by divines of the Church of England with the Jesuit Fisher (or Perse, as his name really was: see Dodd'sChurch History, vol. iii. p. 394.). The first two were conducted by Dr. Francis White: the latter by Bishop Laud, was held in May, 1622, and the account of it published by R. B. (i.e.Dr. Richard Baylie, who married Laud's niece, and was at that time his chaplain, and afterwards president of St. John's College, Oxford). Should J. M. possess a copy printed in 1620, it would be a literary curiosity. Laud says himself, that "hisDiscoursewas not printed till April, 1624."]

Drink up Eisell(Vol. iii., p. 119.).—Here is a passage inTroilus and Cressida, in whichdrink upoccurs (Act IV. Sc. 1.):

"He, like a puling cuckold, woulddrink upThe lees anddregsof a flat-tamed piece."

"He, like a puling cuckold, woulddrink up

The lees anddregsof a flat-tamed piece."

The meaning is plainly hereavaler, notboire.

Here is another, which does not perhaps illustrate the passage inHamlet, but resembles it (Act III. Sc. 2.):

"When we vow to weep seas, live in fire, eat rocks, tame tigers, thinking it harder for our mistress to devise imposition enough, than for us to undergo any difficulty imposed."

C. B.

[We are warned by several correspondents that this subject is becoming as bitter as wormwood to them. Before we dismiss it, however, we must record in our pages the opinion of one of the most distinguished commentators of the day, Mr. Hunter, who in hisNew Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 263., after quoting "potions of eysell" from the sonnet, says, "This shows it was not any river so called, but some desperate drink. The word occurs often in a sense in whichacetumis the best representative, associated with verjuice and vinegar. It is the term used for one ingredient of the bitter potion given to our Saviour on the cross, about the composition of which the commentators are greatly divided. Thus the eighth prayer of the Fifteen Oos in theSalisbury Primer, 1555, begins thus: 'O Blessed Jesu, sweetness of heart and ghostly pleasure of souls, I beseech thee for the bitterness of theayselland gall that thou tasted and suffered for me in thy passion,' &c."Since the above was written, we have received a communication fromAn English Motherwith the words andmusicof the nursery song, showing that the music does not admit the expressions "eatup," and "drinkup;" quoting from Haldorson'sIcelandic Lexicon, Eysill, m. Haustrum en Ose allsa; and asking what if Shakspeare meant either a pump or a bucket? We have also received a Note from G. F. G. showing thateiselin Dutch, German, and Anglo-Saxon, &c., meantvinegar, and stating, that during his residence in Florence in 1817, 1818, and 1819, he had often met with wormwood wine at the table of the Italians, a weak white wine of Tuscany, in which wormwood had been infused, which was handed round by the servants immediately after the soup, and was believed to promote digestion.]

Since the above was written, we have received a communication fromAn English Motherwith the words andmusicof the nursery song, showing that the music does not admit the expressions "eatup," and "drinkup;" quoting from Haldorson'sIcelandic Lexicon, Eysill, m. Haustrum en Ose allsa; and asking what if Shakspeare meant either a pump or a bucket? We have also received a Note from G. F. G. showing thateiselin Dutch, German, and Anglo-Saxon, &c., meantvinegar, and stating, that during his residence in Florence in 1817, 1818, and 1819, he had often met with wormwood wine at the table of the Italians, a weak white wine of Tuscany, in which wormwood had been infused, which was handed round by the servants immediately after the soup, and was believed to promote digestion.]

Saxon Coin struck at Derby.—In the reign of Athelstan there was a royal mint at Derby, and a coinage was struck, having on the obverse merely the name of the town, Deoraby, and on the other side the legend "HEGENREDES MO . ON . DEORABY." What is the meaning of this inscription?

R. C. P.

Derby, Feb. 26. 1851.

[IfHEGENREDESis rightly written, it is the name of a moneyer.MO . ON . DEORABYsignifiesMonetarius(or Moneyer)in Derby. Coins are known withMEGENFREDandMEGNEREDTES, and our correspondent may have read his coin wrongly.]

(Vol. ii., p. 393.; Vol. iii., pp. 11. 151. 197.)

The Marquis of Ormonde having been informed that certain statements, little complimentary to the reputation of Queen Elizabeth, and equally discreditable to the name of his ancestor, Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, have appeared in "Notes and Queries," wherein it is stated "that the Ormonde family possess documents which afford proof of this," begs to assure the editor of the journal in question, that the Ormonde collection of papers, &c. contains nothing that bears the slightest reference to the very calumnious attack on the character of good Queen Bess.

Hampton Court, March 17. 1851.

[If the Marquis of Ormonde will do us the favour to refer to our Number for the 8th March (No. 71.), he will find he has not been correctly informed with respect to the article to which his note relates. The family in which the papers are stated to exist, is clearly not that of the noble Marquis, but the family with which our correspondent "J. Bs." states himself to be "connected;" and we hopeJ. Bs.will, in justice both to himself and to Queen Elizabeth, adopt the course suggested in the following communication. We believe the warmest admirers of that great Queen cannot better vindicate her character than by making a strict inquiry into the grounds for the scandals, which, as has been already shown (antè, No. 62. p. 11.), were so industriously circulated against her.]

J. Bs.says papers are "said to exist in the family which prove the statement." As it is one ofscandalagainst a female, and that female a great sovereign, should he not ascertain the fact of the existence of any such paper, before supporting the scandal, and not leave atraditionto be supported by another tradition, when a little trouble might show whether any papers exist, and when found what their value may be.

Q. G.

(Vol. ii., pp. 163. 214.; Vol. iii., p. 192.)

From having been a diligent searcher for the mistletoe on the oak, I may be allowed to make a few remarks upon the question. Is it ever found now on other trees? Now, it not only occurs abundantly on other trees, but it is exceedingly rare on the oak. This may be gathered from the following list, in which numbers have been used to express comparative frequency, as near as my observations enable me to form a judgment:—

On Native Trees.25Apple (various sorts)20Poplar (mostly the black)10Whitethorn4Lime3Maple2Willow1OakOn Foreign Trees.1Sycamore1Robinia

On Native Trees.

25Apple (various sorts)20Poplar (mostly the black)10Whitethorn4Lime3Maple2Willow1Oak

Apple (various sorts)

Poplar (mostly the black)

Whitethorn

Lime

Maple

Willow

Oak

On Foreign Trees.

1Sycamore1Robinia

Sycamore

Robinia

From this it would appear that notwithstanding theBritish Oakgrows everywhere, it is at present only favoured by the companionship of the mistletoe in equal ratio with two comparatively recently introduced trees. Indeed such objection does this parasite manifest to the brave old tree, even in his teens, that, notwithstanding a newly-planted line of mixed trees will become speedily attacked by it, the oak is certain to be left in his pride alone.

I have, however, seen the mistletoe on the oak in two instances during my much wandering about amid country scenes, especially of Gloucester and Worcester, two great mistletoe counties. One was pointed out to me by my friend, Mr. Lees, from whom we may expect much valuable information on this subject, in his forthcoming edition of theBotanical Looker-out—it was on a young tree, perhaps of fifty years, in Eastnor Park, on the Malvern chain. The other example is at Frampton-on-Severn, to which the President of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club, T. B. L. Baker, Esq., and myself, were taken by Mr. Clifford, of Frampton. The tree is full a century old, and the branch, on which was a goodly bunch of the parasite, numbered somewhere about forty years. That the plant is propagated by seeds there can, I think, be but little doubt, as the seeds are so admirably adapted for the peculiar circumstances under which alone they can propagate; and the want of attention to the facts connected therewith, is probably the cause why the propagation of the mistletoe by artificial means is usually a failure.

I should be inclined to think that the mistletoe never was abundant on the oak; so that it may be that additional sanctity was conferred on theViscum guerneumon account of its great rarity.

James Buckman.

Cirencester.

Mistletoe upon Oak(Vol. ii., p. 214.).—Besides the mistletoe-bearing oak mentioned by your correspondent, there is one in Lord Somers' park, near Malvern. It is a very fine plant, though it has been injured by sight-seeing marauders.

H. A. B.

Trinity College, Cambridge.

Mistletoe(Vol. ii., pp. 163., 214.).—Do I understand your correspondent to ask whether mistletoe is found now except on oaks? The answer is, as at St. Paul's, "Circumspice." Just go into the country a little. The difficulty is generally supposed to be to find itonthe oak.

C. B.

(Vol. iii., p. 188.)

I have not been able to trace this sentence to its source, but it would most probably be found in that admirable book,Monosinii Floris Italicæ Linguæ, 4to, Venet., 1604; or in Torriano'sDictionary of Italian Proverbs and Phrases, folio, Lond., 1666, a book of which Duplessis doubts the existence! Most of Jeremy Taylor's citations from the Italian are proverbial phrases. Your correspondent has probably copied the phrase as it stands in Bohn's edition of theHoly Living and Dying, but there is a trifling variation as it stands in the first edition ofHoly Living, 1650:—

"Lavora come se tuhavestia campar ogni hora:Adora come se tuhavestia moriralhora."

"Lavora come se tuhavestia campar ogni hora:

Adora come se tuhavestia moriralhora."

The universality of this maxim, in ages and countries remote from each other, is remarkable. Thus we find it in theHitopadésa:

"A wise man should think upon knowledge and wealth as if he were undecaying and immortal. He should practise duty as if he were seized by the hair of his head by Death."—Johnson'sTranslation, Intr. S.

So Democratis of Abdera, more sententiously:

"Οὕτος πειρῶ ζῆν, ὡς καὶ ὀλίγον καὶ πολὺν χρόνον βιωσόμενος."

Then descending to the fifteenth century, wehave it thus in the racy old SaxonLaine Doctrinal:

"Men schal leven, unde darumme sorgen,Alse men Stärven sholde morgen,Unde leren êrnst liken,Alse men leven sholde ewigliken."

"Men schal leven, unde darumme sorgen,

Alse men Stärven sholde morgen,

Unde leren êrnst liken,

Alse men leven sholde ewigliken."

Where the author of theVoyage autour de ma Chambre, Jean Xavier Maitre, stumbled upon it, or whether it was a spontaneous thought, does not appear; but in his pleasing little book,Lettres sur la Vieillesse, we have it thus verbatim:

"Il faut vivre comme si l'on avoit à mourir demain, mais s'arranger en même temps sa vie, autant que cet arrangement peut dépendre de notre prévoyance, comme si l'on avoit devant soi quelques siècles, et même une éternité d'existence."

Some of your correspondents may possibly be able to indicate other repetitions of this truly "golden sentence," which cannot be too often repeated, for we all know that

"A verse may reach him who a sermon flies."

S. W. Singer.

Tennyson's In Memoriam(Vol. iii., p. 142.).—

"Before the crimson-circled starHad fallen into her father's grave."

"Before the crimson-circled star

Had fallen into her father's grave."

means "before the planet Venus had sunk into the sea."

In Smith'sDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, under the word Aphrodite or Venus, we find that—

"Some traditions stated that she had sprung from the foam (ἀφρός) of the sea which had gathered around the mutilated parts of Uranus, that had been thrown into the sea by Kronos, after he had unmanned his father."—Hesiod.Theog.190.

The allusion in the first stanza ofIn Memoriamis, I think, to Shelley. The doctrine referred to is common to him and many other poets; but he perhaps inculcates it more frequently than any other. (SeeQueen Mabsub finem.Revolt of Islam, canto xii. st. 17.Adonais, stanzas 39. 41. et passim.) Besides this, the phrase "clear harp" seems peculiarly applicable to Shelley, who is remarkable for the simplicity of his language.

X. Z.

Tennyson's In Memoriam.—The wordstarapplies in poetry to all the heavenly bodies; and therefore, to thecrescent moon, which is often near enough to the sun to be within or to beencircledby, the crimson colour of the sky about sunset; and the sun may, figuratively, be calledfatherof the moon, because he dispenses to her all the light with which she shines; and, moreover, becausenew, or waxing moons, mustsetnearly in the same point of the horizon as the sun; and because that point of the horizon in which a heavenly body sets, may, figuratively, be called itsgrave; therefore, I believe the last two lines of the stanza of the poem numbered lxxxvii., or 87, in Tennyson'sIn Memoriam, quoted by W. B. H., to mean simply—

We returned home between the hour of sunset and the setting of the moon, then not so much as a week old.

Robert Snow.

Bishop Hooper's Godly Confession, &c.(Vol. iii., p. 169.).—The Rev.Charles Nevinsonmay be informed that there are two copies of the edition of the above work for which he inquires, in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.

Tyro.

Dublin.

Machell's MS. Collections for Westmoreland and Cumberland(Vol. iii., p. 118.).—In reply to the inquiry ofEdward F. Rimbault, that gentleman may learn the extent to which theMachell MS. collections of the Rev. Thomas Machell, who was chaplain to King Charles II., have been examined, and published, by referring, to Burn and Nicholson'sHistory of Westmoreland and Cumberland, edit. 1778. A great part of the MS. is taken up with an account of the antiquary's own family, the "Mali Catuli," or Machell's Lords of Crakenthorpe in Westmoreland. the papers in the library of Carlisle contain only copies and references to the original papers, which are carefully preserved by the present representatives of the family. There are above one thousand deeds, charters, and other documents which I have carefully translated and collated with a view to their being printed privately for the use of the family, and I shall feel pleasure in replying to any inquiry on the subject. Address:

G.P. at the Post Office, Barrow upon Humber, Lincolnshire.

Two impressions of the seal of the Abbey of Shapp (anciently Hepp), said not to be attainable by the editors of the late splendid edition of theMonasticon, are preserved in the Machell MSS.

Oration against Demosthenes(Vol. iii., p. 141.).—For the information of your correspondentKenneth R. H. Mackenzie, I transcribe the title of the oration against Demosthenes, for which he makes inquiry, which was not "privately printed" as he supposes, butpublishedlast year by Mr. J. W. Parker.

"The Oration of Hyperides against Demosthenes, respecting the Treasure of Harpalus. The Fragments of the Greek Text, now first edited from the Fac-simile of the MS. discovered at Egyptian Thebes in 1847; together with other Fragments of the same Oration cited in Ancient Writers. With a Preliminary Dissertation and Notes, and a Fac-simile of a Portion of the MS. By Churchill Babington, M.A. London: J. W. Parker, 1850."

The discovery of the MS. was made by Mr.A. C. Harris of Alexandria, who placed a fac-simile in the hand of Mr. Churchill Babington, who edited it as above described.

My information is derived from an article on the work in theChristian Remembrancerfor October, 1850, to which I referMr. Mackenziefor further particulars.

Tyro.

Dublin

[Mr. Edward Sheare Jackson, B.A., to whom we are indebted for a similar reply, adds, "Mr. Harris contributed a paper on the MS. to the Royal Society of Literature"]

Mr. Sharpe has also published "Fragments of Orations in Accusation and Defence of Demosthenes, respecting the money of Harpalus, arranged and translated," in theJournal of the Philological Society, vol. iv.; and the German scholars Boeckh (in theHallische Litteratur-Zeitungfor 1848) and Sauppe have also written critical notices on the fragments; but whether their notices include the old and new fragments, I am unable to say, having only met with a scanty reference to their learned labours.

J. M.

Oxford.

Borrow's Danish Ballads(Vol. iii., p. 168).—The following is the title of Mr. Borrow's book, referred to byBruno:—

"Targum; or, Metrical Translations from Thirty Languages and Dialects. By George Borrow. 'The Raven ascended to the Nest of the Nightingale.'—Persian Poem. St. Petersburgh. Printed by Schulz and Beneze. 1835."

R. W. F.

Borrow's Danish Ballads.—The title of the work is—

"Romantic Ballads, translated from the Danish, and Miscellaneous Pieces; by George Borrow. 8vo. Printed by S. Wilkin, Norwich; and published at London by John Taylor, 1826."

In the preface it is stated that the ballads are translated from Oehlenslöger, and from theKiæmpé Viser, the old Norse book referred to inLavengro.

μ.

Head of the Saviour(Vol. iii., p. 168.).—The correspondent who inquires about the "true likeness" of the Saviour exposed in some of the London print-shops, is not perhaps aware that there is preserved in the church of St. Peter's at Rome a much more precious and genuine portrait than the one to which he alludes—a likeness described by its possessors as "far more sublime and venerable than any other, since it was neither painted by the hands of men nor angels, but by the divinity himself who makes both men and angels." It is not delineated upon wood or canvass, ivory, glass, or stucco, but upon "a pocket handkerchief lent him by a holy woman named Veronica, to wipe his face upon at the crucifixion" (Aringhi,Roma Subterran., vol. ii. p. 543.). When the handkerchief was returned it had this genuine portrait imprinted on its surface. It is now one of the holiest of relics preserved in the Vatican basilica, where there is likewise a magnificent altar constructed by Urban VIII., with an inscription commemorating the fact, a mosaic above, illustrative of the event, and a statue of the holy female who received the gift, and who is very properly inscribed in the Roman catalogue of saints under the title ofSt. Veronica. All this is supported by "pious tradition," and attested by authorities of equal value to those which establish the identity of St. Peter's chair. The only difficulty in the matter lies in this, that the woman Veronica never had any corporeal existence, being no other than the name by which the picture itself was once designated, viz., theVera Icon, or "True Image" (Mabillon,Iter. Ital., p. 88.). This narrative will probably relieve your correspondent from the trouble of further inquiries by enabling him to judge for himself whether "there is any truth" about the other true image.

A. R., Jun.

In your 70th Number I perceived that some correspondent asked, "What is the truth respecting a legend attached to the head of our Saviour for some time past in the print-shops?" I ask the same question. True or false, I found in a work entitledThe Antiquarian Repertory, by Grose, Astle, and others, vol. iii., an effigy of our Saviour, much inferior in all respects to the above, with the following attached:—

"This present figure is the similitude of our LordIHV, oure Saviour imprinted in amirvld by the predecessors of the greate turke, and sent to the Pope Innosent the 8. at the cost of the greate turke for a token for this cawse, to redeme his brother that was taken presonor."

This was painted on board. The Rev. Thomas Thurlow, of Baynard's Park, Guildford, has another painted on board with a like inscription, to the best of my recollection: his has a date on it, I think.

Pope Innocent VIII. was created Pope in 1484, and died in 1492.

The variation in the three effigies is an argument against the truth of the story, or the two on board must have been ill-executed. That in the shops is very beautiful.

The same gentleman possesses a Bible, printed by Robert Barker, and by the assignees of John Bill, 1633; and on a slip of paper is, "Holy Bible curiously bound in tapestry by the nuns of Little Gidding, 12mo., Barker."

In a former Number a person replies that a Bible, bound by the nuns of Gidding for Charles I., now belongs to the Marquis of Salisbury. Query thesize of that?

E. H.

Norwich, March 9.

Lady Bingham(Vol. iii., p. 61.).—If C. W. B. will refer to the supplementary volume of Burke'sLanded Gentry, p. 159, he will see that Sarah, daughter of John Heigham, of Giffords Hall, co. Suffolk (son of William Heigham, of Giffords, second son of Clement Heigham, of Giffords, second son of Thomas Heigham, of Heigham, co. Suffolk) married, first, Sir Richard Bingham, Knt., of Melcombe Bingham, co. Dorset, governor of Connaught in 1585, &c.; and secondly, Edward Waldegrave, of Lawford, co. Essex. This, I presume, is the lady whose maiden name he enquires for.

C. R. M.

Shakepeare's Use of Captious(Vol. ii., p. 354.).—InAll's Well that Ends Well, Act I. Sc. 3.:

"I know I love in vain; strive against hope;Yet in thiscaptiousand intenible sieve,I still pour in the waters of my love,And lack not to lose still:"

"I know I love in vain; strive against hope;

Yet in thiscaptiousand intenible sieve,

I still pour in the waters of my love,

And lack not to lose still:"

has notMr. Singer, and all the other commentators upon this passage, overlooked a most apparent and satisfactory solution? Is it not evident that the printer simply omitted the vowel "a," and that the word, as written by Shakespeare, was "capatious," the "t," according to the orthography of the time, being put for the "c" used by modern writers?

With great deference to former critics, I think this emendation is the most probable, as it accords with the sentiment of Helena, who means to depict hervastbut unretentive sieve, into which she poured the waters of her love.

W. F. S.

P.S.—I hopeMr. Singerand J. S. W. will tell us what they think of this proposed alteration.

Bognor, Feb, 22. 1851.

Tanthony(Vol. iii., p. 105.).—I would suggest that the "tanthony" at Kimbolton is a corruption or mis-pronunciation of "tintany,"tintinnabulum. I have failed to discover any legend of St. Anthony, confirmatory ofArun'ssuggestion.

Newark, Notts., Feb. 12.

By the bye(Vol. iii., p 73.).—Is your correspondent S. S. not aware that the phrase "Good bye" is a contraction of our ancestors' more devotional one of "God be wi' ye!"

D. P. W.

Rotherhithe, Jan. 21. 1851.

Lama Beads(Vol. iii., p. 115.).—It is a pretty bold assertion that Lama beads are derived from the Lamas of Asia.Lamma, according to Jamieson, is simply the Scotch foramber. He saysLamertyn steenmeans the same in Teutonic. I do not find it in Wachter'sLexicon.

Your correspondent's note is a curious instance of the inconvenience of half quotation. He says the Lamas are an order of priests among the Western Tartars. I was surprised at this, since their chief strength, as everybody knows, is in Thibet. On referring to Rees'sCyclopædia, I found that the words are taken from thence; but they are not wrong there, since, by the context they have reference to China.

C. B.

Language given to Men, &c.(Vol. i., p. 83.).—The saying that language was given to men to conceal their thoughts is generally fathered upon Talleyrand at present. I did not know it was in Goldsmith; but the real author of it was Fontenelle.

C. B.

Daresbury, the White Chapel of England(Vol. iii., p. 60.).—Thisjeu-d'espritwas an after-dinner joke of a learned civilian, not less celebrated for his wit than his book-lore. Some stupid blockhead inserted it in the newspapers, and it is now unfortunately chronicled in your valuable work. It is not at all to be wondered at that "the people in the neighbourhood know nothing on the subject."

Echo.

Holland Land(Vol. ii., pp. 267. 345.; Vol. iii., pp. 30. 70.).—Were not the Lincolnshire estates of Count Bentinck, a Dutch nobleman who came over with William III., and the ancestor of the late Lord George Bentinck, M.P. for Lynn Regis, denominatedLittle Holland, which he increased by reclaiming large portions in the Dutch manner from the Wash?

E. S. Taylor.

Passage in the Tempest(Vol. ii., p. 259, &c.).—I do not profess to offer an opinion as to the right reading; but with reference to the suggestion of A. E. B. (p. 338.) that it means—

"Most busy when least I do it,"

or—

"Most busy when least employed,"

allow me to refer you to the splendid passage in theDe Officiis, lib. iii. cap. i., where Cicero expresses the same idea:—

"Pub. Scipionem,... eum, qui primus Africanus appellatus sit, dicere solitum scripsit Cato,...Nunquam se minus otiosum esse, quam cum otiosus; nec minus solum, quam cum solus esset. Magnifica vero vox, et magno viro, ac sapiente digna; quæ declarat, illum et in otio de negotiis cogitare, et in solitudine secum loqui solitum: ut neque cessaret unquam, et interdum colloquio alterius non egeret."

Ache.

Damasked Linen(Vol. iii., p. 13.).—I believe it has always been customary to damask the linen used by our royal family with appropriate devices. I have seen a cloth of Queen Anne's, with the "A. R." in double cypher, surrounded by buds and flowers; and have myself a cloth with a view of London, and inscribed "Der Konig Georg II.," which was purchased at Brentford, no doubt having come from Kew adjoining.

H. W. D.

Straw Necklaces(Vol. ii., p. 511.).—Having only lately read the "Notes and Queries" (in fact, this being the first number subscribed for), I do not know the previous allusion. It makes me mention a curious custom at Carlisle, of theservants who wish to be hired going into the marketplace of Carlisle, or as they call it "Carel," with a straw in their mouths. It is fast passing away, andnow, instead of keeping the straw constantly in the mouth, they merely put it in a few seconds if they see any one looking at them. Anderson, in hisCumberland Ballads, alludes to the custom:—

"At Carel I stuid wi' a strae i' my mouth,The weyves com roun me in clusters:'What weage dus te ax, canny lad?' says yen."

"At Carel I stuid wi' a strae i' my mouth,

The weyves com roun me in clusters:

'What weage dus te ax, canny lad?' says yen."

H. W. D.

Library of the Church of Westminster(Vol. iii., p. 152.).—The statement here quoted from theDélices de la Grande Bretagneis scarcely likely to be correct. We all know how prone foreigners are to misapprehension, and therefore, how unsafe it is to trust to their observations. In this case, may not the description of theBibliothèque Publique, which was open night and morning, during the sittings of the courts of justice, have originated merely from the rows of booksellers' stalls in Westminster-hall?

J. G. N.

The Ten Commandments(Vol. iii., p. 166.).—Waterland (vol. vi. p. 242., 2nd edition, Oxford, 1843) gives a copy of the Decalogue taken from an old MS. In this the first two commandments are embodied in one. Leighton, in hisExposition of the Ten Commandments, when speaking on the point of the manner of dividing them, refers in a vague manner to Josephus and Philo.

R. V.

Sitting crosslegged to avert Evil(Vol. ii.,p. 407.).—Browne says:—

"To set crosselegg'd, or with our fingers pectinated or shut together, is accounted bad, and friends will perswade us from it. The same conceit religiously possessed the ancients, as is observable from Pliny: 'Poplites alternis genibus imponere nefas olim;' and also from Athenæus, that it was an old veneficious practice."—Vulg. Err., lib. v. cap. xxi. § 9.

Ache.

George Steevens(Vol. iii., p. 119.).—A. Z. wishes to know whether a memoir of George Steevens, the Shakspearian commentator, was ever published, and what has become of the manuscripts.

I believe the late Sir James Allen Park wrote his life, but whether for public or private circulation I cannot tell.

The late George Steevens had a relative, a Mrs. Collinson, and daughters who lived with him at Hampstead, and with him when he died, in Jan. 1800. Miss Collinson married a Mr. Pyecroft, whose death, I think, is in theGentleman's Magazinefor this month: perhaps the Pyecroft family may give information respecting the manuscripts.

"The house he lived in at Hampstead, called the Upper Flask, was formerly a place of public entertainment near the summit of Hampstead Hill. Here Richardson sends his Clarissa in one of her escapes from Lovelace. Here, too, the celebrated Kit-Cat Club used to meet in the summer months; and here, after it became a private abode, the no less celebrated George Steevens lived and died."—Vide Park'sHampstead, pp. 250. 352.

I just recollect Mr. Steevens, who was very kind to us, as children. My mother, who is an octogenarian, remembers him well, and says he always took a nosegay, tied to the top of his cane, every day to Sir Joseph Banks.

Julia R. Bockett.

Southcote Lodge, near Reading.

The Waistcoat bursted, &c.(Vol. ii., p. 505.).—The general effect of melancholy: digestion is imperfectly performed, and melancholy patients generally complain of being "blown up."Bodvar's"blowing up," on the contrary, is the mere effect of the generation of gases in a dead body, well illustrated by a floating dead dog on the river side, or the bursting of a leaden coffin.

H. W. D.

Love's Labour's Lost(Vol. iii., p. 163.).—Your correspondent has very neatly and ably made out how the names of the ladies ought to have been placed; but the error is the poet's, not the printer's. It is impossible to conceive how, in printing or transcribing, such a mistake should arise; the names are quite unlike, and several lines distant from one another. Such forgetfulness is not very uncommon in poets, especially those of the quickest and liveliest spirit. It is the old mistake of Bentley and other commentators, to think that whatever is wrong must be spurious. These, too, we must recollect, are fictitious characters.

C. W. B.

Agreeing with Mr. Lower, that they who desire to know the truth as to the earlier periods of our national history, will do wisely to search for it among the mists and shadows of antiquity, and rather collect it for themselves out of the monkish chronicles than accept the statements of popular historiographers, we receive with great satisfaction the addition to our present list of translations of such chronicles, which Mr. Lower has given us inThe Chronicle of Battel Abbey from 1066 to 1176, now first translated, with Notes, and an Abstract of the subsequent History of the Establishment. The original Chronicle, which is preserved among the Cottonian MSS., though known to antiquaries and historians, was never committed to the press until the year 1846, when it was printed by theAnglia Christiana Societyfrom a transcript made by the late Mr. Petrie. Mr. Lower's translation has been made from that edition; and though undertaken by him as an illustration of local history, will be found well deserving the perusal of the general reader, not only from the light it throws upon the Norman invasion and upon thehistory of the abbey founded by the Conqueror in fulfilment of his vow, but also for the pictures it exhibits of the state of society during the period which it embraces.

Books Received.—The Embarrassment of the Clergy in the Matter of Church Discipline.Two ably written letters by Presbyter Anglicanus, reprinted, by request, from theMorning Post;—Ann Ash, or the Foundling, by theAuthor of 'Charlie Burton' and 'The Broken Arm.'If not quite equal toCharlie Burton, and there are few children's stories which are so, it is a tale well calculated to sustain the writer's well-deserved reputation;—Burns and his Biographers, being a Caveat to Cavillers, or an Earnest Endeavour to clear the Cant and Calumnies which, for half a Century, have clung, like Cobwebs, round the Tomb of Robert Burns.

Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson, of 93. Wellington Street, Strand, will sell on Monday next, and five following days, the valuable Library of the late Mr. Andrews of Bristol, containing, besides a large collection of works of high character and repute, some valuable Historical, Antiquarian, and Heraldic Manuscripts.

Catalogues Received.—John Gray Bell's (17. Bedford Street, Covent Garden) Catalogue of Autograph Letters and other Documents; John Alex. Wilson's (20. Upper Kirkgate, Aberdeen) Catalogue of Cheap Books, many Rare and Curious; E. Stibbs' (331. Strand) Catalogue Part III. of Books in all Languages.

Madame D'aulnoy's Fairy Tales, a small old folio. At the end of the Edition sought for, there are some Spanish Romances: it is in one vol.

Rural Walks—Rambles Farther, by Charlotte Smith. A Child's Book in 4 Vols. (of the last Century).

[However ragged and worn the above may be, it does not signify.]

Any Rare or Valuable Works relating in any way toFree Masonry.

Baronii Annales Eccles. cum cent. O. Raynaldi et Lauterbachii.25 Volumes.

L'Abbé Annales de Saint Pierre, Projet de Paix Perpetuelle, 3 Vols. 12mo. Utrecht, 1713.

Chevalier Ramsay, Essai de Politique, où l'on traite de la Nécessité, de l'Origine, des Droits, des Bornes, et des Différentes Formes de la Souveraineté, selon les Principes de l'Auteur de "Télémaque." 2 Vols. 12mo. La Haye, without date, but printed in 1719.

The same, Second Edition, under the title ofEssai Philosophique sur le Gouvernement Civil, selon les Princeps de Fénelon.12mo. Londres, 1721.

Biblia Hebraica, cum locc. pavall. et adnott. J. H Michaelis. Halæ Magd. 1720. Quarto preferred.

*** Letters stating particulars and lowest price,carriage free, to be sent toMr. Bell, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

We are this week compelled by want of room to postpone many interesting papers, among which we may mention one byLord BraybrookeonPortraits of Distinguished Englishmen,and one bySir F. Maddenon theCollection of Pictures of Bart. del Nave purchased by Charles I.Our next Number will be enlarged to 24 pages, so as to include these and many other valuable communications, which are now waiting for insertion.

Lucius Questorius.It is obvious that we have no means of explaining the discrepancy to which our correspondent refers. If we rightly understand his question, it is one which the publisher alone can answer.

Enquirer(Milford).The copy ofHudibrasdescribed is worth from fifteen to twenty shillings.

W. H. G.A coin of Aphrodisia in Caria. Has our correspondent consulted Mr. Akerman'sNumismatic Manual?

J. N. G. G.Anania, Azaria, and Mizael, occurring in theBenedicite,are the Hebrew names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. SeeDaniel, i. 7.

Laudator Temporis Acti.Will our correspondent who wrote to us under this signature enable us to address a communication to him?

Hermesis assured that the proposal for "showing the world that there is something worth living for beyond external luxury" is only postponed because it jumps completely with a plan which is now under consideration, and which it may in due time help forward.

Replies Received.—Lines on Woman—Meaning of Strained—Mounds or Munts—Rococo Sea—Headings of Chapters in English Bibles—Predeceased and Designed—Christmas Day—Ulm MS.—Bede MS.—Booty's Case—Good bye—Almond Tree—Snail-eating—Swearing by Swans—Rev. W. Adams—Engraved Portraits—Laus Tua—Nettle in—Portraits of Bishops—Passage in Gray—Oliver Cromwell—Fifth Sons—Lady Jane of Westmoreland—The Volpe Family—Ten Children at a Birth—Edmund Prideaux and the first Post-office—Dr. Thomlinson—Drax Free School—Mistletoe—Standfast's Cordial Comfort.

Vols.I.andII.,each with very copious Index, may still be had, price 9s. 6d. each.

Notes and Queriesmay be procured, by order, of all Booksellers and Newsvenders. It is published at noon on Friday so that our country Subscribers ought not to experience any difficulty in procuring it regularly. Many of the country Booksellers, &c., are, probably, not yet aware of this arrangement, which will enable them to receiveNotes and Queriesin their Saturday parcels.

All communications for the Editor ofNotes and Queriesshould be addressed to the care ofMr. Bell, No. 186. Fleet Street.

Errata.—No. 65., p. 68., col. 2, l. 14., should be—

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