Chapter 3

"In time the bull is brought to bear the yoke,"

seems to be from Ovid,Tristia, iv. 6. 1.:

"Tempore ruricolæ patiens fit taurus aratri;"

orAr. Am.i. 471.:

"Tempore difficiles veniunt ad aratra juvenci."

P. J. F. G.

Cambridge, May 22. 1851.

[N. B., E. C. H., and several other correspondents, have furnished similar references toOvid.]

—MR. CHADWICK'Squotations on this word are very opportune, and useful by way of illustration, and for elucidating the meaning of the word.

I will endeavour to explain this part of bell gear, and the purpose for which it was used.

Baldrock(sic) is probably the patois of a locality forbawdrick, which means a belt, or the leather strap and other appurtenances of the upper part of the clapper, by which it was suspended from the crown staple. In oldblack-letterbells (if one may use the term) the upper part of the clapper was shaped like a stirrup, through which a strap of stout leather, often doubled, was passed; but between this and the staple a piece of hard wood of like width was inserted, and fitted to work on the round part of the crown staple. Through this leather and wood an iron pin was passed; and all was fastened together, and kept stiff in place, by a curiously cut piece of tough wood, called abusk-board, one end of which was tied round the stem of the clapper. I have seen many such. There was one at Swanswich next Bath: but without a sketch it is difficult to explain. I will enclose a sketch, to be used at the Editor's discretion.

A few years ago, I made the following extracts from the very interesting accounts of the churchwardens (guardians) of St. Edmund's, Sarum. I have no doubt that similar entries may be found in all such old accounts, and I hope these may induce other gentlemen to inquire for them. Unfortunately I did not copy thesumspaid.

"1591. Layd out for a Bawdrope for the Great Bell, 5s.For grafting of Bawdropes & finding Leather. Making of a 'pinn' for the fourth Bell Bawdrope.1588. Paide for Lether to mend the Bawdricke.1572. Payd for a Bald Rybbe for the fourth Bell.(It occurs again for other bells.)1552. Mendinge off the Bawdrycke off the greatt Bell.1541. Payd for mendynge the wheles of the 3 Bells, and for Bawdrykes.1524. Bawdderyke to the v. Bell.1495. [Pro] emendacione rote ejusdem Campane et [pro] Bawdryke ejusdem Campane.1482. [Pro] tribus Bawdrykys.1473. Bawdryke bought for the iiij Belle.1469. Bawderyke. Whyt Lethyr for the Bawdryke in the years of Ed. VI."

"1591. Layd out for a Bawdrope for the Great Bell, 5s.For grafting of Bawdropes & finding Leather. Making of a 'pinn' for the fourth Bell Bawdrope.

1588. Paide for Lether to mend the Bawdricke.

1572. Payd for a Bald Rybbe for the fourth Bell.

(It occurs again for other bells.)

1552. Mendinge off the Bawdrycke off the greatt Bell.

1541. Payd for mendynge the wheles of the 3 Bells, and for Bawdrykes.

1524. Bawdderyke to the v. Bell.

1495. [Pro] emendacione rote ejusdem Campane et [pro] Bawdryke ejusdem Campane.

1482. [Pro] tribus Bawdrykys.

1473. Bawdryke bought for the iiij Belle.

1469. Bawderyke. Whyt Lethyr for the Bawdryke in the years of Ed. VI."

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

In a decree of the Court of Chancery of the year 1583 is the following passage:

"It is alleged that a certain close ... in the parish of Smarden, in the County of Kent, now called and known by the name of Ropefield, was, long time sithence, given by one John of Hampden, to and for the maintenance and finding of ropes,bawdricks, oil, and leather, for the use of ringing of the bells in the steeple of the said parish church of Smarden, &c., &c." Jamesv.Woolton, 6 May, 1583. (Reg. Lib.B. 1582. fo. 502.)

Not understanding the word "bawdrick," I applied to Messrs. Mears, bell-founders, Whitechapel, who kindly gave me the following information:

"The bawdrick is the head of the clapper, or the coupling by which it hangs on the staple inserted in the crown of the bell. It is fitted on to the head of the clapper, and a lining of leather is inserted to prevent the creaking of the iron, when the end of the clapper is oscillating. Hence, no doubt, the introduction of 'leather' in the document referred to. The word is still in use."

CECILMONRO.

Registrar's Office, Court of Chancery, June 14. 1851.

The baldrick was a leather thong, or strap, fastened with a buckle, for the purpose of suspending the clapper inside the bell, both of which had loops or eyes to receive it; from its continual wear, new baldricks were often required. I subjoin a few extracts from the parish accounts of St. Antlins, or St. Anthony, Budge Row, relating thereto.

1590. "Paide the smythe for making a new clapper for the great bell, xs."Paide for abawdrickfor the great bell, iis.vid."Paide for abuckellfor the same, vid."Paide for abaldrickfor the fift bell, is.viiid.1594. "Paide for a newbawdrickefor one of the bells the Crownacion daie, iis.1578. "Paide for aneiefor the great bell clapper, vis."Item for a rope for the morning bell, ijs.vid."I could adduce several other instances if required, but these may suffice.

1590. "Paide the smythe for making a new clapper for the great bell, xs.

"Paide for abawdrickfor the great bell, iis.vid.

"Paide for abuckellfor the same, vid.

"Paide for abaldrickfor the fift bell, is.viiid.

1594. "Paide for a newbawdrickefor one of the bells the Crownacion daie, iis.

1578. "Paide for aneiefor the great bell clapper, vis.

"Item for a rope for the morning bell, ijs.vid."

I could adduce several other instances if required, but these may suffice.

W. CHAFFERS, Jun.

—Your correspondent Q. G. asked some weeks ago where the catalogue of Norman nobility before the Conquest was to be found? In theHistoriæ Normannorum, published in Paris in 1619, at p. 1127., he will find the

"Catalogus nobilium qui immediate prædia a Rege conquæstore tenuerunt."

In this list occurs the name of Geri (Rogerius) de Loges, whose lordship was in the district of Coutances. At p. 1039. of the same work, we find that Guarinus de Logis was feudal lord of certain domains in the bailiwick of Falaise. In a roll of all the Norman nobles, knights, and esquires who went to the conquest of Jerusalem with Robert Duke of Normandy in the first crusade, and copied from an ancient MS. written on vellum, found in the library of the cathedral of Bayeux, entitled "Les anciennes histoires d'outremer,"wealso find the name of John de Logis, who bore az. a cinque foile ar.

I think, therefore, that M. J. T. (p. 189.) is in error in confounding the family of Ordardus de Logis with that of the Baron of Hugh Lupus. The names of the Norman nobles were territorial; and it is probable that these worthies were not related, as the names were spelt differently. According to the Doomsday Survey, Gunuld, the widow of Geri de Loges, held the manor of Guiting Power in Gloucestershire.

The elder line of Ordardus de Logis, Baron of Wigton, terminated in an heiress, who carried the estate into the family of Lucy (I think in the reign of Edward III.), Adam, the seventh and last baron, having died without male issue; and it afterwards became the property, by marriage, of the ancestor of the present Earl of Carlisle. The descendants of Ordardus are still to be found in the remote valleys of the north of Yorkshire, and in parts of Durham: and I have been told that the Rev. John Lodge, late Fellow of Magdalen College, Cambridge, claimed to be of this family.

Oxford, June 13. 1851.

—I have before me a 24mo. tract of forty-seven pages:

"Nicolai Barnaudi a Crista Arnaudi Delphinatis, Philosophi et Medici, Commentariolum in Ænigmaticum quoddam epitaphium Bononiæ studiorum, ante multa secula marmoreo lapidi insculptum. Huic additi sunt Processus Chæmici non pauci. Nihil sine Numine, Lugduni, Batavorum,CIƆIƆIIIƆ."

The first thirty pages are devoted to the epitaph on Ælia Lælia Crispus. We are told:—

"Nec defuerunt alii, qui, ut audio, Animam hominis, alii nubium Aquam, alii, ut hic intellexi a viro de litteris bene merito, Eunuchum quemdam, alii alia varia, hoc epitaphio tractari phantasmata suis scriptis contenderunt. Hæc ego cum intellexissem, eorum misertus, qui abditioris philosophiæ in castris militant, operæ pretium facturum me existimavi, si trismegisticum hoc epitaphium eis aperire conarer."

This he proceeds to do very satisfactorily, as the following specimen will show:—

"ÆLIA. Solaris, dubio procul, ut nomen indicat, sive solis filia, immo substantia, essentia, radius, virtus, et illa quidem invisibilis solis nostri, ne quis eam a sole vulgi natam, perperam cogitet; neque tamen desunt, qui eam ex Urani et Vestæ filio, Saturno, et Ope ejus sorore, a qua cum plures Saturnus suscepisset liberos, eosque vorasset, et e vestigio evomuisset, Jupiter servatus, ejusque loco lapis Saturno presentatus fuit, ac si cum peperisset Opis, ab ipsis inquam, eam natam esse cogitent; at quidquid sit, ÆLIA, seu solaris est, neque tamen (tanta est ejus amplitudo), astro illo, mundi oculo amicta incedit; sed et altero, minore luminari, Luna, quæ sub pedibus ejus est comitata, ideo etiam dicitur LÆLIA, quasi solis amica, etc., etc."

On a fly-leaf I find the following written by an unknown hand:

"Commentarios in hoc epitaphium scripserunt Joannes Trevius Brugensis, et Richardus vitus Basinstochius, jurisconsultus Anglus cujus liber editus Durdrecti apud J. van Leonem Berawoul, Anno 1618. Vid. et de hoc enigmate Boxhorn."

If MR. CROSSLEYdoes not make this note wholly superfluous, make use of it as you please.

J. S.

Woudenberg, May 12. 1851.

—The following version of this prayer, differing from that given by MR. FALCONER, may be interesting.

In Archdeacon Bonney'sHistoric Notices in reference to Fotheringay, p. 109., this note occurs:

"Seward asserts that the following lines were repeated by the Queen of Scots immediately before her execution. They are set to music by the late Dr. Harrington, of Bath, and other musicians.

"'O Domine Deus, speravi in Te!O chare mi Jesus, nunc libera me!In dura catena, in misera poena, desidero Te;Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo,Adoro, imploro, ut liberes me.'

"'O Domine Deus, speravi in Te!

O chare mi Jesus, nunc libera me!

In dura catena, in misera poena, desidero Te;

Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo,

Adoro, imploro, ut liberes me.'

TRANSLATION.

'O Lord my God, I have relied in Thee!Now, O dear Jesu, set me, set me free!In chains, in pains, long have I wished for Thee;Faint, and with groans, I, bowing on my knee,Adore, implore Thee, Lord, to set me free.'"

'O Lord my God, I have relied in Thee!

Now, O dear Jesu, set me, set me free!

In chains, in pains, long have I wished for Thee;

Faint, and with groans, I, bowing on my knee,

Adore, implore Thee, Lord, to set me free.'"

I may add, that the Latin lines have recently been very beautifully set to music by that eminent composer, Mrs. Kingston.

W. G. M.

Your correspondent on the subject of the lines said to have been repeated by Mary Queen of Scots on the scaffold, furnishes a translation of them in lieu of others, which he condemns; and his version has provoked me to try my hand at one, in which I have studied rhythm more than rhyme: the rhythm and the intensity of the ordinal.

"Great God, I have trustedIn peril on Thee!Dear Jesus, Redeemer,Deliver thou me!In my prison-house groaning,I long but for Thee;Languishing, moaning,Bow'd down on bent knee,I adore Thee, implore Thee,From my sins set me free."

"Great God, I have trusted

In peril on Thee!

Dear Jesus, Redeemer,

Deliver thou me!

In my prison-house groaning,

I long but for Thee;

Languishing, moaning,

Bow'd down on bent knee,

I adore Thee, implore Thee,

From my sins set me free."

ALAN.

—Finding that no correspondent of yours, in answer to a Query which appeared some time back, viz.: "Whether any play of Aristophanes had ever been adapted to themodernstage," has yet mentioned the only two instances of which I am aware, I beg to refer the Querist to thePlaideursof Racine (an adaptation of theWasps), and to a very ingenious modernisation of theBirdsby Mr. Planché, produced about four years since at the Haymarket as an Easter piece, under its original title.

I cannot refrain from taking this opportunity of protesting, under your justly powerful auspices, against the use of the word "Exposition" in its French sense ofExhibition, now creeping into places where it could scarcely have been expected.

AVENA.

—The version which I have of the beautiful lines quoted by your correspondent is (I quote from memory):

"If this fair rose offend thy sightIt on thy bosom wear,'Twill blush to find itself less white,And turn Lancastrian there."

"If this fair rose offend thy sight

It on thy bosom wear,

'Twill blush to find itself less white,

And turn Lancastrian there."

The succeeding couplet has equal merit:

"But if thy ruby lip it spyAs kiss it thou mayst deign,With envy pale 'twill lose its dye,And Yorkist turn again."

"But if thy ruby lip it spy

As kiss it thou mayst deign,

With envy pale 'twill lose its dye,

And Yorkist turn again."

C. I. R.

The origin of the blush imparted to the rose is most beautifully described by Carey:

"As erst in Eden's blissful bowersYoung Eve surveyed her countless flowers,An opening rose of poorest whiteShe marked with eye that beamed delight;Its leaves she kissed, and straight it drewFrom Beauty's lip the vermeil hue."

"As erst in Eden's blissful bowers

Young Eve surveyed her countless flowers,

An opening rose of poorest white

She marked with eye that beamed delight;

Its leaves she kissed, and straight it drew

From Beauty's lip the vermeil hue."

J. A. DOUGLAS.

—The origin of the sign of the dollar, concerning which T. C. inquires, is, I believe, a contraction ofscutum, the same as£, formerly written£i, is oflibra. The strokes through the S are merely the signs of contraction.

K. P. D. E.

—In a foot-note to Rapin (2nd edit., vol. i. p. 130.), the general assembly convened by Earl Goodwin, at which Edward the Confessor was chosen king, is stated, upon the same authority as Hutchins has referred to (viz. Malmsbury), to have been "GilingehamorLondon." If at Gillingham, there can be but little doubt it was Gillingham near Chatham, of which latter place Goodwin is stated to have been then possessed.

J. B. COLMAN.

Eye, June 10, 1851.

The share that Earl Godwin bore in the establishment of King Edward (the Confessor) on the throne of England seems to make it probable that Gillingham in Kent, not the Gillingham in Dorsetshire, was the scene of the council referred to by your correspondent QUIDAM. Edward, observe, was coming from the continent, and relied entirely on the support of the great East Kentish Earl. Milton names the council in his History of England,Works, vol. vi. p. 275., Pickering, ed. 1831. He seems to be still quoting Malmsbury.

E. J. E.

Blackheath, June 9. 1851.

—In reading A Borderer'sinteresting note onThe Lay of the Last Minstrel, it occurred to me, whether there may not have been (perhaps unconsciously) in Walter Scott's mind a link of connexion betwixt his own "elvish page," as an agent in bringing about the nuptials of Lord Cranstoun with the Lady Margaret; and the part played by Cupid, in regard to Dido, after he had been transformed into Ascanius, as described in the first Æneid. Indeed the beautiful "Song of Robin Goodfellow" (Vol. iii., p. 403) suggests a similar speculation; for in the gambols of Puck there is something analogous to the freaks of Cupid after his metamorphose. But other and closer parallels will probably occur to your learned readers, and show that some of what are commonly esteemed the most original modern creations owe much to classical invention.

ALFREDGATTY.

—J. S. will find the lines he asks about, given (but without comment) in Knight'sCyclopædia of London, p. 440.

P. M. M.

J. S. will find the lines he has sent you printed in Hone'sYear Book(1832), p 113.; where may be also seen the following

ANSWER."Deluded men, these holds forego,Nor trust such cunning elves;These artful emblems tend to showTheir clients, not themselves.'Tis all a trick, these are but shams,By which they mean to cheat you;For have a care, you are theLAMBS,And they the wolves that eat you.Nor let the thought of no 'delay'To these their courts misguide you;You are the showyHORSE, and theyAre jockeys that will ride you."

ANSWER.

"Deluded men, these holds forego,Nor trust such cunning elves;These artful emblems tend to showTheir clients, not themselves.

"Deluded men, these holds forego,

Nor trust such cunning elves;

These artful emblems tend to show

Their clients, not themselves.

'Tis all a trick, these are but shams,By which they mean to cheat you;For have a care, you are theLAMBS,And they the wolves that eat you.

'Tis all a trick, these are but shams,

By which they mean to cheat you;

For have a care, you are theLAMBS,

And they the wolves that eat you.

Nor let the thought of no 'delay'To these their courts misguide you;You are the showyHORSE, and theyAre jockeys that will ride you."

Nor let the thought of no 'delay'

To these their courts misguide you;

You are the showyHORSE, and they

Are jockeys that will ride you."

Hone does not give a hint as who was the author of either, nor can I inform J. S.

EDWARDFOSS.

[The REV. MACKENZIEWALCOTThas also kindly informed us that the original lines and the rejoinder are to be found in Brayley'sLondiniana, vol. iv. pp. 216-7.]

—H. C. K. makes an error in supposing that "formido," as used by Virgil in the passage quoted,and"sewell," are convertible terms. If there is any word in that passage which could be considered coextensive in meaning with the word "sewell," it would undoubtedly be "penna." Nor is "sewell" amodernterm, as he supposes; in proof of which I add an extract from a letter written by Dr. Layton, one of the commissioners for the suppression of monasteries, to Thomas Cromwell, dated 1535, in which the word "sewel" occurs:

"We have sett Dunce (Duns Scotus) in Bocardo, and have utterly banisshede hym Oxforde for ever, with all his blinde glosses, and is nowe made a comon servant to evere man, faste nailede up upon postes in all comon houses of easement:id quod oculis meis vidi. And the second tyme we came to New Colege, affter we hade declarede your injunctions, we fownde all the gret quadrant court full of the leiffes of Dunce, the wynde blowing them into evere corner. And there we fownde one Mr. Grenefelde, a gentilman of Buckinghamshire, getheryng up part of the said bowke leiffes (as he saide) therewith to make hymsewellesorblawnsherresto kepe the dere within the woode, thereby to have the better cry with his howndes."

H. C. K. wishes to know the origin of the word "sewell." Can any of your readers explain the derivation of the term "blawnsherres?" Can it be connected with the Frenchblanche, from white parchment, &c. having been used in making them?

E. A. H. L.

—Though I cannot throw any light upon the question of T.,Was this his real name?I may mention, as a Worcestershire man, that it is a custom among the pastrycooks of Worcester to make, at the beginning of Lent, a rich sort of cake; consisting of a thick crust of saffron-bread filled with currants, citron, and all the usual ingredients of wedding-cake, which is called a "simnel." I cannot say how long this custom has existed, but I have every reason to believe it is one of great antiquity. From Johnson's explanation of the term, I conclude, that this practice of making "simnels" must in former times have been more general than it is at present.

E. A. H. L.

—I submit that the "crimson-circled star" may be named without calling on the poet to explain.

The planet Venus, when she is to the east of the sun, is ourevening star(and as such used to be termed Hesperus by the ancients).

The evening star in a summer twilight is seen surrounded with the glow of sunset, "crimson-circled." The rose, too, was a flower sacred to Venus, which might justify the epithet. But I suppose the blush of the sky was what the poet thought of at such a moment.

Venus sinking into the sea, which in setting she would appear to do,—falls into thegrave of Uranus,—her father, according to the theory of Hesiod (190). The part cast into the sea, from which Aphrodite sprung, is here taken, by a becoming license (which softens the grossness of the old tradition), for the whole; so that the ocean, beneath the horizon of which the evening star sinks, may be well described by the poet as "herfather's grave."

That Venus is meant, the gender of the pronoun relating to the star seems to prove beyond a doubt; there being no other sufficiently important to occur in a picture of this kind, to which a female name is given.

Belgravia, June 12. 1851.

—D. X. will find all that is known of this king in the Armenian version of Eusebius'sChronicle, 53., and in theChronographiaof Georgius, Syncellus (and subsequently Patriarch) of Constantinople, p. 210.B.The former gives as his authority Abydenus, and the latter Polyhistor. Both passages will be found in Cory'sAncient Fragments. The Median king is called in both Astyages, and not Cyaxares; but the date of the catastrophe being fixed by Ptolemy's Canon in 625B. C., the reviewer, I suppose, considered himself justified in altering the name to that of the king who appears from Herodotus to have governed Media at that date.

E. H. D. D.

—Your correspondent C. J. E. may find some account of the legend illustrated on the walls of Frettenham Church in theCalendar of the Anglo-Catholic Church, from which it appears that St. Eligius, Eloy, or Loye, is the hero of the incident. He was the patron of blacksmiths, farriers, &c.; and accomplished, on one occasion, the shoeing of a refractory horse by amputating the leg; and the operation performed, he replaced the severed member. Doubtless, as C. J. E. suggests, the shoeing might have been effected without so much periphrasis; but perhaps the saint intended to teach the animal docility, and inspire the spectators with a more palpable proof of his supernatural powers, than the performance of the operation by his mereipse dixitwould have afforded. The church of Durweston, Dorsetshire, is named in his honour, and a rude sculpture over the doorway commemorates the incident.

C. A.

—When the answer of C. to my inquiry first appeared, I doubted whether after such strong reproof I ought again to address you; but as your valuable paper was intended for the ignorant as well as for the learned, and as C. (Vol. iii., p. 334.) places your respected correspondent MR. DAWSONTURNERin the same class as my humble self, I no longer hesitate.

When I proposed the Query, I had noreadyaccess to any book which would easily give me the required information, and it did not appear to me to be any great sin in making use of "NOTES ANDQUERIES" for what I conceive is its legitimate object, the communication of knowledge; and I do not think the space my Query occupied was wasted when it called forth the interesting reply of P. C. S. S.

I would now take the liberty of asking C. to explain the following extract fromSouverains du Monde, not finding any particulars respecting the first marriage here alluded to in those books to which I have been able to refer:—

"Les enfans naturals du Roi Jaques II. sont 1.... 2.... 3....

"4. Catherine Darnley, mariée en premières nôces avec Thomas Wentworth, Baron de Raby; et en secondes nôces, en 1699, avec James, Comte d'Anglesey. Elle est morte en 1700. Sa mère étoit Catherine Sedley, Comtesse de Dorchester, Baronne d'Arlington.

"5. N. mariée avec le Duc de Buckingham le 27 Mars, 1706."

You will observe that my former inquiry referred to the daughter above stated as the fifth child.

It is plain that the compiler ofLes Souverains du Mondeis in error in making the wife of the Earl of Anglesey a distinct person from the wife of the Duke of Buckingham.

Who was the wife to the Thomas Wentworth here mentioned? and, if a natural daughter of James II., I should be glad of the following particulars,—the names of her mother and self—the dates of her birth, marriage, and death—and the date of the death of her husband.

I must apologise for trespassing thus at length upon your space.

F. B. RELTON.

—The late Mr. Clarkson's manuscripts were transferred to his son, the Rev. Christ. Clarkson; whose address might probably be obtained by Q. D. from J. B. Simpson, Esq., Richmond, Yorkshire.

—I see that in the "Notices to Correspondents," in No. 79., for May 3, you inform W. P. A. that theCatalogue of Sir Thomas Phillipps's MSS.is privately printed, and that there are copies at the Bodleian, Athenæum, and Society of Antiquaries.

You may perhaps be interested to know that a catalogue of about three thousand of the Middlehill MSS. is to be found in a work entitledCatalogi Librorum MSSorum qui in Bibliothecis Galliæ, Hiberniæ, Helvetiæ, Belgiæ, Britanniæ Magnæ, Hispaniæ, Lusitaniæ asservantur: à Gustavo Haenel: Lipsiæ, 1830. A copy of this important work is in the reading-room of the British Museum.

I may add that a copy of the privately printedCatalogue of Sir T. Phillipps's MSS.is now to be found in the British Museum, but it has only recently (within the last few months) made its way into the Catalogue.

C. W. GOODWIN.

—Is not our excellent correspondent MR. SINGER mistaken in supposing that the ears are the ears of the scabbard or pitcher? If you draw one thing out of another by the ears, it must be by the ears of the first, not of the second; yet he also says that it is used for hilts.

C. B.

—May I add, in my defence as to the Thracians' smoking, that all I said was, that there was nothing in Solinus, chap. 15. I had looked at the Bipont edition, in which, as I now see, the passage is in chapter 10.

C. B.

—I cannot but doubt whether "La partie réelle de la métaphysique" means "all that has yet been done in the philosophy of the human mind." I apprehend it means the material, or physical part; that which is connected with the structure of the body. This would apply to Hartley, though not to Mr. Gay: but I speak in the dark, for I have not that edition of La Place which your correspondent refers to.

C. B.

—That a funeral creates a right of way, is an error founded on the fact that, being a remarkable, and sometimes a crowded event, it is not an unfrequent evidence of the previous existence of a right of way.

C. B.

—In reply to a Query in one of your late numbers respecting the meaning of the expression "as drunk as Chloe," it has been suggested to me that it refers to a lady who is mentioned often in Prior'sPoems, and who was celebrated for the propensity alluded to.

ERYX.

—It appears, on a reference to Burke'sCommoners, that the ancestors of Sir J. Banks were possessed of property in and about Keswick; and the present representative of the family possesses black-lead mines in Borrowdale, Cumberland. It is, therefore, very probable that the Mr. John Banks in question may have been of the same family, though not a lineal descendant of Sir J. Banks.

L. H.

—In the literal reprint of Puttenham, 1811, I find the words extracted by J. F. M., with one unimportant exception, "And theycalleditVerse Lyon." J. F. M. may find some account of Leonine verses, which "are properly the Roman hexameters and pentameters rhymed," in Price's edition of Warton'sHistory of English Poetry, vol. i. p. cxviii.

H. G. T.

—A probable derivation is given in Tyrwhitt's note on thepassagein theSquire's Talefrom the Frenchheronçeaux, which would probably, in English usage, become eitherheronsewes, orheronshaws. It is of course a diminutive, like "lioncel," "pennoncel," &c.

H. G. T.

—Who first taught that the form of the earth was that of a sphere? In Isaiah xl. 22. appears the following passage:

He that sitteth upon theCIRCLEof theearthand the inhabitants thereof," &c.

Does not this extract prove that the Jews, as a people, were acquainted with the spherical form of the earth in Isaiah's time; the prophets usually addressing the people in popular language.

C. N. S.

—In the replies to correspondents on the above head, I have not seen noticed Dr. Lamb's translation of the old Greek poet Aratus, a work which, for a few shillings, would satisfy most persons on the subject, and be found entertaining in giving instruction.

T. M.

—On topical memory I can refer your inquirer toCicero de Oratore, book ii. lxxxvi., lxxxvii., §351-358., andAd Herenn.iii. xvi.-xx., andQuintil.xi. ii. 2., p. 431. Rollin, ed. 1758.

E. J. S.

—The following illustration of this word occurs in a MS. (Dd. i. fol. 7.) belonging to the University of Cambridge. The date is about 1350:

"þe iewis herde þis word wel alle,And anoneyselþei mengid wiþ galle."

"þe iewis herde þis word wel alle,

And anoneyselþei mengid wiþ galle."

It is here manifestly =vinegar.

C. H.

Eisell.—I have long been convinced that the true interpretation of this word might be attained by a reference to the Welsh language; in which may be found the wordAesell(idem sonanswithEisell), implying verjuice, or vinegar. The two words are clearly identical (see page 377.).

GOMER.

—A cross road, or that point where four roads meet, is frequently called by the peasantry in Kent "the four vents" in other counties, "the four wents," "the four want way," &c. I have always considered the word as being derived from the ancientVENTA: thusVENTAicenorum(Caister, near Norwich), the highway of the Iceni;VENTAsilurum(Caerwent, in Monmouthshire), the highway of the Silures;VENTAbelgarum(Winchester), the highway of the Belgæ; both of which last-named cities retain in some degree the ancient appellation.

W. CHAFFERS, Jun.

—Will your correspondent K. TH. give, if he can, an account of the word "carfoix?" Is it not the Frenchcarrefour, a name applied to more than one place in Guernsey, though not, I believe, necessarily to a spot where four ways meet? The chief carrefour there is at the junction of the Pollet, High Street and Smith Street; another is in the country, theCarrefour aux Lievres, the precise locality of which I cannot quite recall. MR. METIVIER, whose name I am glad to see in your pages, can tell, I dare say, of others. I suppose the derivation to be inQuatuor fores, or some French derivative from those words. "Carfoix" reminds me of "Carfax" in Oxford. Are the names akin to each other?

E. J. S.

—The story of King Mûl is perhaps rather far-fetched. If it would neither put your correspondent in astew, nor get myself into abroil, nor you into amessor apickle, I would settle hishashby suggesting that terms of cookery are frequently used as descriptive of disagreeable predicaments; and that though in our time nothing except beer or wine ismulled, yet it may not always have been so. Or may not the word be a corruption ofmuddle? I stand up for neither, but I will back either against King Mûl.

—I expect that A. N. is labouring under a mistake in inquiring about an account of the "conversion" of "William Hone, THECOMPILERof theEvery-day Book;" and that he means

"The Early Life and Conversion of William Hone, a narrative written by himself,editedby hisSON, William Hone, author of theEvery-day Book, &c. London, J. Ward & Co., Paternoster Row, 1841. One Shilling."

I have no doubt that the work may be procured at the publishers'; but should not that be practicable, I shall be happy to lend your correspondent my copy. It may perhaps be neither unjust nor uninteresting to add, thatI know(from his own communication, shortly after the memorable trials) he was so affected by the celebratedParodiesbeing charged as "blasphemous," that he immediately stopped the sale of them; that, though money was then of some consequence to him, he refused tempting offers for copies; and that he did so, because he declared he would rather suffer any privations than be considered as having sought to revile the religion of his country, or to do aught to injure Christianity, which he deemed to be the hope of all, and the poor man's charter. In making those observations, he emphatically placed his hand on a Bible which lay upon my table.

A HERMIT ATHAMPSTEAD.

—The name of Gay is not very common in the West of England, and MR. TAGARTmay possibly obtain some account of the Rev. Mr. Gay from the descendants of Gay of Goldworthy, near Bideford, inthecounty of Devon, who sprang from Hampton Gay in the county of Oxford, but became seised of the manor of Goldworthy, about the year 1420, by marriage with the daughter and heir of Curtis of Goldworthy, a branch of the ancient family of Curtis of Lostwithiel, in the county of Cornwall.

The latest representative of this family of Gay, of whom I have met with any notice, is Mr. Lawrence Gay, who, according to Lyson, was living in the year 1822 at South Molton, in the county of Devon. Lyson also says that "John Gay, the poet, was of this family."

LLEWELLYN.

—I know nothing of anyLady Mary'shaving married Mr. Maudsley, or Mosley of the Guards; but it is certain that she could not have been,strictly speaking, of the same family as Sir Henry Cavendish of Ireland, whose wife was created Lady Waterpark, with remainder to her issue by Sir Henry, who was descended from anatural sonof the Devonshire family, and even, I believe, before it was ennobled; so that it cannot be said that anyLadyMary Cavendish was of the same family as Sir Henry.

—In blessing the people, the clergy of the Church of Rome raise the thumb and two forefingers, and close the others, to represent the three persons of the Trinity; and they give this some divine origin; but it is really an adoption of a pagan symbol in use long before the introduction of Christianity, not only by the Romans, but the Egyptians also. In Akerman'sArchæological Index, p. 116., is an engraving of a silver plate of Roman workmanship, in which the figures representing Minerva and Juno have their hands elevated with the thumb and finger so disposed, and the figure of Vesta has the left hand in the same position. I wish some of your correspondents who are familiar with the classics and Egyptian antiquities, would further illustrate the origin of this curious and ancient custom, which hitherto has been regarded as originating with the Church of Rome only.

W. W.

—There is a good engraving of this Horn, and the tradition about it is related, in p. 264, of the curiousDissertatio de admirandis mundi Cataractisof Johannes Herbinius, Amstelodami, 1678, of which book there is a copy in the library of the Geographical Society.

W. C. TREVELYAN.

Athenæum, June 16. 1851.

—How could such a question be asked? Covey iscouvée, French for abrood, ahatching, fromcouver, to hatch eggs.

—During many years of seafaring life, I have frequently considered the origin of this phrase, and have now arrived at the conclusion, that it is derived from the scriptural account of the prophet Jonah. The wordlocker, on board of ship, generally means the place where any particular thing is retained or kept, as "the bread locker," "shot locker," "chain locker," &c. In the sublime ode in the second chapter of the Book of Jonah, we find that the Prophet, praying for deliverance, describes his situation in the following words:

"In the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about:—the depth closed me round about:—the earth with her bars was about me."

The sea, then, might not be misappropriately termed by a rude mariner, Jonah's locker; that is, the place where Jonah was kept or confined. Jonah's locker, in time, might be readily corrupted to Jones's locker; and Davy, as a very common Welsh accompaniment of the equally Welsh name, Jones, added; the true derivation of the phrase having been forgotten.

W. PINKERTON.

—The use of this word may be traced to an earlier period than has yet been shown by any of your correspondents?

In Florio'sWorlde of Wordes, 1598, we have it thus:—

"Ombrella, a fan, a canopie, also a testern or cloth of state for a prince, also a kind of round fan or shadowing that they use to ride with in summer in Italy, a little shade."

Δ.

—A. N. is informed thatnawis a Celtic name for a ship (thewis sometimes sounded likeoo); though the word is obsolete, authority for its application may be found in Davies'Mythology, &c. of the Druids. In the appendix to this work there is a poem (No. 6.) by Taliesin, containing the following example:—

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