"'Hora HorIs CEdIt, pereVnt sIC TeMpora nobIs,Vt tIbI fInalIs sIt bona, VIVe benè.'
"'Hora HorIs CEdIt, pereVnt sIC TeMpora nobIs,
Vt tIbI fInalIs sIt bona, VIVe benè.'
"The letters which are written in capitals were so in the original inscription, and were coloured red: probably the anagram of some one's name is concealed under them."
Having been a collector of existing dial mottoes for many years, I shall feel greatly obliged to anyof your correspondents who will inform me of remarkable ones in their own neighborhood.
There are four—one in English, one in Latin, one in Greek, and one in Hebrew—on the keep of Carlisle Castle; but though I possess the three former, I have not the last, and should be very glad to obtain it, if possible.
There is a motto at Bonneville in Switzerland, as I have been told:
"Soli Soli Soli."
"Soli Soli Soli."
What can be the interpretation thereof?
Of course I am acquainted with Leadbetter'sArt of Dialling, and the curious list of mottoes he gives, together with the still more curious translations of the same; ase.g.
"Aut Cæsar, aut nullus."(I shine, or shroud!)
"Aut Cæsar, aut nullus."
(I shine, or shroud!)
Or—
"Sic transit gloria mundi:"(So marches the god of day!!)
"Sic transit gloria mundi:"
(So marches the god of day!!)
But what I want is, mottoes from dials actually in existence.
HERMES.
Mr. Payne Collier communicates to theAthenæumof the 22nd November, 1851, an interesting letter relative to an unspoken epilogue to Dryden, and Nat Lee's famous tragedy ofThe Duke of Guise. This rare composition, entitled "Another Epilogue intended to have been spoken to the Play before it was forbidden last Summer, written by Mr. Dryden," occurs in conjunction with the Prologue and Epilogue which were actually spoken, upon a separate sheet of foolscap; in which shape, as Mr. Collier informs us, they were often printed for sale at the playhouse doors. Mr. Collier's acceptable communication suggests a Query or two. At the end of my copy of this play, the 4to. edit. of 1687, is the following
"ADVERTISEMENT.
"There was a Preface intended to this play, in vindication of it, against two scurrilous libels lately printed. But it was judged, that a defence of this nature would require more room than a preface would reasonably allow. For this cause, and for the importunity of the stationers, who hastened their impression, 'tis deferred for some little time, and will be printed by itself. Most men are already of opinion that neither of the pamphlets deserve an answer, because they are stuffed with open falsities, and sometimes contradict each other; but, for once, they shall have a day or two thrown away upon them, tho' I break an old custom for their sakes, which was to scorn them."
Was this threatened preface ever issued? Are the "two scurrilous libels" here spoken of so scornfully, known to be in existence?
The new-found Epilogue belongs as much to the political as to the dramatic history of those troublous times; and let us hope,maugrethe unfortunate coarseness of the school to which it belongs, that Mr. Collier will some day present us with a reprint of itin toto, accompanied by the above noted preface, if it exist. There is ample matter, as the pages of "NOTES ANDQUERIES" have lately shown, for a new volume of Dryden Miscellanies.
HENRYCAMPKIN.
—Can any of your correspondents refer me to the etymon of this name, given to a vocation attached to our English courts of law? I can find none even in the comprehensiveEtymological Dictionaryof Nat. Bailey, unless, indeed, by dividing the word into two portions, viz. "bar" and "rister," and then, with a little of the critic's license, assuming that the latter half might originally have been written "roister." But as this analysis wouldrenderit so little characteristic of the class so named, and would strongly imply that some portion at least of that distinguished body was once viewed as the "roisters,"i.e."bullies and blusterers," of that division of our courts called "the Bar," it is evident that we cannot reasonably look for the derivation of the latter part of the word from that source. But still, as there may be those who are inclined, in spite of these cogent objections, to doubt whether this may be its true etymon; and it is fit that any such lurking and slanderous suspicion should be dispelled from every sceptic mind, some one of your curious and learned correspondents, anxious to effect it, will, perhaps, tax his etymological skill to the suggestion of a less offensive, and more just and appropriate derivation, than "Bar-roister."
W. Y.
—Can any of your readers favour me with references to any works containing an account of the trick practised by jugglers in the East Indies, and known there by the name of "growing a mango?" In performing this trick a seed is planted in a pot or basket of earth, which is then covered up from the sight by a cloth or other wire; in a little time this is removed, and the seed is seen to have germinated, and its growth is similarly shown in successive stages, the last of which exhibits the plant in fruit. Hundreds of Europeans have seen the trick, but I have never heard of any one who was able to detect the successive substitutions in which it obviously consists. I do not at present recollect the name of any author who takes any notice of it.
N.
—The Priory of Hertford was founded by Ralph de Limesey and his wife Hadewise, some time after the Conquest. Can any of your antiquarian correspondents inform me in what year this took place?
The Rev. DR. ROCKhad the politeness to answer my Query respecting the Abbot Eustacius; perhaps he could oblige me by solving the present one.
J. L.
—Jacobi Creusii Theologi et Medici, Frisii, Victimas Humanas.I should be greatly obliged by any information respecting the author, or the book, which I find so mentioned in a MS. of 1677.
S. W. RIX.
Beccles.
—In the will of John Buttery of Bury, 1557, is this item:
"My capitall mesuage, with the maltinge house and the tenement called Banyards, with all the gardaines, yards, and close, to them belonginge,—except the ij tenements called theClekitHouse."
What is the meaning ofClekit? In the E.-Anglian dialect,clicketis "to chatter." Phillips has "CLICKET, the knocker of a door, but Chaucer uses it for a key."
BURIENSIS.
—Who is the author of a modern ballad on the Rising of the Vendée, of which the last lines are—
"We crush'd, like ripen grapes, Montreuil, we tore down old Vetier—We charged them with our naked breasts, and took them with a cheer—We'll hunt the robbers through the land, from Seine to sparkling Rhone.Now 'Here's a health to all we love: our King shall have his own!'"
"We crush'd, like ripen grapes, Montreuil, we tore down old Vetier—
We charged them with our naked breasts, and took them with a cheer—
We'll hunt the robbers through the land, from Seine to sparkling Rhone.
Now 'Here's a health to all we love: our King shall have his own!'"
D. B. J.
—In some of the early quarto editions of Spenser, in the "Shepherd's Calender," June, there is a stanza which in almost all the subsequent folio editions is omitted. I shall be much obliged for any information as to when and why it was left out; in the copies in which it appears it is the twelfth stanza, and is as follows:—
"Now dead he is, and lieth wrapt in led,(O why should death on him such outrage show?)And all his passing skill with him is fled,The fame whereof doth daily greater grow;But if on me some little drops would flowOf that the spring was in his learned head,I soon should learn these words to wail my woe,And teach the trees their trickling tears to shed."
"Now dead he is, and lieth wrapt in led,
(O why should death on him such outrage show?)
And all his passing skill with him is fled,
The fame whereof doth daily greater grow;
But if on me some little drops would flow
Of that the spring was in his learned head,
I soon should learn these words to wail my woe,
And teach the trees their trickling tears to shed."
The last line is a good specimen of alliteration.
E. N. W.
Southwark, Nov. 17. 1851.
—I remember seeing in the year 1837, I think in one of the morning papers, the following lines, which were said, as far as my memory serves me, to have been taken from an old almanac, in which they were prophetical of what should happen in the above-named year:—
"By the power to see through the ways of Heaven,In one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven,Shall the year pass away without any spring,And on England's throne shall not sit a king."
"By the power to see through the ways of Heaven,
In one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven,
Shall the year pass away without any spring,
And on England's throne shall not sit a king."
Can any of your readers inform me whether these lines were only composed after the events related took place—that is, at the time the lines appeared in the paper in which I saw them, or whether they are really to be found in any old almanac; and if so, in what almanac, and in what year?
N. L. N.
Maidstone.
—In a small volume of Sacred Poetry, in the possession of a friend of mine, the following lines on the Bible are ascribed to Byron:
"Within this awful volume liesThe mystery of mysteries;Oh! happiest they of human raceTo whom our God has given graceTo hear, to read, to fear, to pray,To lift the latch, and force the way:But better had they ne'er been bornWho read to doubt, or read to scorn."
"Within this awful volume lies
The mystery of mysteries;
Oh! happiest they of human race
To whom our God has given grace
To hear, to read, to fear, to pray,
To lift the latch, and force the way:
But better had they ne'er been born
Who read to doubt, or read to scorn."
Not having met with these lines in the works of Lord Byron, can any of your readers say whether they are his, or not, or who is the author?
JOHNALGOR.
Sheffield.
—The family of Cockayne of Ashbourne, co. Derby, used as a motto upon their seals, in the fourteenth century, the following words, "En bon et poyer." This has been explained to mean, "Boni est posse," or "Right is might." Can any of your readers suggest anything to confirm or throw doubt on this interpretation?
FRANCISM. NICHOLS.
—For nearly fifty years our countrymen have taught their children Nelson's last signal—
"England expects every man to do his duty."
"England expects every man to do his duty."
Such was my impression of this emphatic form of words. I am surprised to see upon the column in Trafalgar Square,
"England expects every manwilldo his duty."
"England expects every manwilldo his duty."
Pray is there any authority for the inscription as it there stands?
E. N. H.
—Can any of your readers refer me to any sources of information, printed or in manuscript, in addition to those mentioned in the last edition of Dugdale'sMonasticon, respecting the following religious houses in East Sussex:Otham,Bayham,Michelham,Robertsbridge?
E. V.
—Considerable attention has of latebeen excited with reference to the difficulties attending the ordinary means of access to various public depositories of documentary evidence in this country. In some of these departments, the commencement of a welcome reform is already apparent; others, it is but reasonable to hope, will, ere long, yield to the frank and inquisitive spirit of the times in this respect. The present communication is confined to a very wide, though less dignified source of official information, viz. Parish Registers. I am sure I need not say one word to illustrate the importance of the last-mentioned class of evidence to the genealogist, the topographer, or the archæological inquirer in general,—in one word, to those who enter into the spirit of the "NOTES ANDQUERIES." I beg, therefore, to submit the following inquiries:
1. Have the actual parishioners of a place a right to consult their own register of baptisms, marriages, and burials,gratuitously? If not:—
2. What fee islegallydemandable,—and by whom,—and under what restrictions? And—
3. Do the terms differ when the inquirer is not aparishioner? If so, in what respect do they differ?
These inquiries have reference to the contents of the chests kept in, or in connection with, parochial churches and chapels, and not to those in the custody of the modern "Registrar." I need scarcely add, that my concern is with the strictlylegalrights of search, and demand of fees; and not as to what courtesy may concede, or usage sanction.
D.
Rotherfield.
—In Boswell's Journal of hisTour to the Hebrideshe quotes the subjoined couplet, premising, "As Bacon says—
"Who then to frail mortality shall trust,But limns the water, or but writes in dust."
"Who then to frail mortality shall trust,
But limns the water, or but writes in dust."
Is notBaconhere a slip of the pen or press? Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Bacon, and Bacon the sculptor, are the only conspicuous men of the name, and none of them that I know wrote verses.
R. CS.
—Where can I obtain any particulars of the life of Tregonwell Frampton, Esq., commonly called the "Father of the Turf," who died at an advanced age about 1727-8. Reference is made to him in theRambler.
T. R. W.
—Can any of your readers direct the etcher of a portrait of Weever, where to find his autograph, from which to make a copy to illustrate it? It is not to be found in the British Museum. The extreme paucity of information respecting this worthy is somewhat strange, considering the value of his contributions to literature. In our leading biographies and cyclopædias his name does not occur. By-the-bye, where was he buried, and what inscription is there on his "funeral monument?"
An etched portrait is about to be published in the next part of theAntiquarian Etching Club, of Fuller, the author ofWorthies,Church History, &c., without a copy of his signature for the same reason, unless one should be discovered.
It has been suggested that search made in the library of Queen's College, Cambridge, might prove successful in both cases, from the fact of their having both belonged to that college. Perhaps some member of the university would kindly undertake the inquiry.
A. E. C.
—Turner (Sacred History of the World, Letter XV. vol. i. p. 428. 4th edit. 1833) says:
"The beaver, otter, andbadgerareamphibiouscreatures, but not oviparous."
Surely this is a mistake, and worthy of a Note? I cannot find the badger mentioned as anamphibiousanimal in any modern zoology. I certainly have not by me Kerr'sLinnæusto refer to, as a verification of Sharon Turner's note on this passage.
CHARLESPASLAM.
—I have nine volumes of a work published by Bew, Paternoster Row, and which appeared from 1778 to 1784, pretending to give sketches of the characters of public men by his Majesty. Can any of your correspondents inform me who was the writer, and what number of volumes were published?
B.
[This literary curiosity was completed in nine volumes, which are sometimes bound in three. In 1841 Mr. H. G. Bohn advertised a copy with all the names filled up in manuscript, the initials being no doubt sufficiently intelligible at that time. For a notion of the work on its first appearance, see theGentleman's Magazine, vol. xlviii. p. 130.]
—Paul Hoste, a Jesuit, published early in the seventeenth century a small quarto with diagrams on "Breaking the Line," so much discussed, as being first done in Rodney's action. If any one can give me some account of Paul Hoste and hisscientificviews on naval architecture, the information will be acceptable to
ÆGROTUS.
[See Chalmers' and Gorton'sBiographical Dictionaries; Moreri,Le Grand Dictionnaire, andNouveau Dictionnaire Historique, s.v.]
—Can any of your readers inform me if there be a copy of theLiber Mirabilisin any library in the United Kingdom? It contains a remarkable prediction of St. Cæsario, Bishop of Arles, in the year 542. The work isprinted in Gothic characters, and there is a copy in the Royal Library, Paris.
CLERICUS.
Dublin.
[A copy is in the library of the British Museum, consisting of two parts. Part I. is in Latin, and Part II. in French, 4to., 1523.]
—In the Romish Calendar we find, on the 7th February, amongst other saints, "Saint Richard, King of England." Which of our Richards does this refer to? I have never read in history of any of them having been canonized, nor should I have thought any of them at all a likely candidate for that honour; but if such was really the case, I presume that Cœur de Lion must be the man, and that his valour in the Crusades was suffered to outweigh his many other unsaintly qualities.
J. S. WARDEN.
Balica.
[St. Richard was an English prince, in the kingdom of the West Saxons, which it is probable he renounced that he might dedicate himself to the pursuit of Christian perfection. About the year 722, on his way to Rome, he died suddenly at Lucca in Italy. See Butler'sLives of the Saints, Feb. 7.]
—Can any of your correspondents direct me to where information may be found regarding the Saint Irene or St. Erini, from whom the Grecian island of Santorin takes its name?
Σ.
Bristol Dec. 1. 1851.
[Irene, Empress of Constantinople,A.D.797-802, was one of the most extraordinary women in Byzantine history. The Greeks have placed her among their saints, and celebrate her memory on the 15th of August. Consult Smith'sDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, and Gibbon'sDecline and Fall, chap. xlviii.]
The following passages collected from various sources, will perhaps help to illustrate the origin and the several meanings of this wordCockney:—
Fuller's first sense is—
"One coaks'd or cockered, made a wanton or nestle-cock of, delicately bred and brought up, so that when grown men or women they can endure no hardship, nor comport with pains taking."
"'Tis not their fault, but our mothers', our cockering mothers, who for their labour make us to be calledCockneys."—Dekker,A Knight's Conjuring, 1607.
"And when this jape is told another day I shall be halden a daffe or aCokenay."Chaucer,The Reve's Tale.
"And when this jape is told another day I shall be halden a daffe or aCokenay."
Chaucer,The Reve's Tale.
The following extracts will show that to this first sense Fuller might have added,one abundantly and daintily fed:—
"Unlesse it be shortly considered, and that faukons be broughte toa more homelye diete, it is ryght likely, that within a shorte space of yeares, our familiar pultry shall be as scarse, as be now partriche and fesaunte. I speake not this in disprayse of the faukons, but of them whiche keepeth them lykeCokeneys."—Elyot,The Governour, 1557.
"Some again are in the other extreme, and draw this mischief on their heads by too ceremonious and strict diet, being over precisecockney-like, and curious in their observation of meats."—Burton.Anatomy of Melancholy.
Fuller's second sense is—
"One utterly ignorant of husbandry and huswifery such as is practised in the country, so that he may be easily persuaded anything about rural commodities, and the original thereof."
He relates the oldcock-neighstory, and adds another jest of a similar kind:
"One merrily persuaded a she-citizen, that seeingmaltdid not grow, the good huswives in the country did spin it; 'I knew as much,' said theCockney, 'for one may see the threads hang out at the ends thereof."
Shakspeare uses the wordCockneyin this latter sense inKing Lear, Act II. Sc. 4.:
"Lear.Oh me, my heart, my rising heart! But down."
"Fool.Cry to it, nuncle, as theCockneydid to the eels, when she put 'em i' th' paste alive; she knapt 'em o' th' coxcombs with a stick, and cried 'Down, wantons, down;' 'twas her brother, that in pure kindness to his horse buttered his hay."
Cokeneywas apparently used in very early times to designateLondon. In theBritannia, art. "Suffolk," Hugh Bigod, a rebellious baron in the time of Henry II., boasts thus:
"Were I in my castle of Bungey,Upon the river Waveney,I would ne care for the King ofCockeney."
"Were I in my castle of Bungey,
Upon the river Waveney,
I would ne care for the King ofCockeney."
I conceive thatCokeneyin this sense is derived from the Anglo-Saxon wordcycene, a kitchen or cooking place. Nares, however, in hisGlossary, says:
"Le pais de cocagne, in French, means a country of good cheer; in old Frenchcoquaine; cocagna, in Italian, has the same meaning. Both might be derived fromcoquina. This famous country, if it could be found, is described as a region 'where the hills were made of sugar-candy, and the loaves ran down the hills, crying 'Come eat me,come eat me.'"
Hickes gives, in hisAnglo-Saxon Grammar, an ancient poem, describing the plenteous land ofCokeneyorCokaigne:
"Fur in see hi west SpayngeIs a lond ihote CocaygneTher nis lond under hevenricheOf wel of goodnis hit ilicheIn Cokaygne is met and drinkWithute care, how, and swink.......Ther nis lac of met no cloth.......Ther beth rivers gret and fineOf oile, melk, honi and wine.Water seruith ther to nothingBot to siyt and to waussing........Ther is a wel fair abbeiOf white monkes and of grei.......The gees irostid on the spitteFleey to that abbai, god hit wot,And gredith 'gees al hote, al hot.'"
"Fur in see hi west Spaynge
Is a lond ihote Cocaygne
Ther nis lond under hevenriche
Of wel of goodnis hit iliche
In Cokaygne is met and drink
Withute care, how, and swink
.......
Ther nis lac of met no cloth
.......
Ther beth rivers gret and fine
Of oile, melk, honi and wine.
Water seruith ther to nothing
Bot to siyt and to waussing.
.......
Ther is a wel fair abbei
Of white monkes and of grei
.......
The gees irostid on the spitte
Fleey to that abbai, god hit wot,
And gredith 'gees al hote, al hot.'"
Shakspeare's use ofCockney, inTwelfth Night, Act IV. Sc. 1., is somewhat obscure; but I conceive that the Clown means to express his opinion that the world is already replete with folly:
"Seb.I prithee vent thy folly somewhere else; thou know'st not me."Clown.Vent my folly! He has heard that word of some great man, and now applies it to a fool. Vent my folly! I am afraid this great lubber, the world, will prove aCockney."
"Seb.I prithee vent thy folly somewhere else; thou know'st not me.
"Clown.Vent my folly! He has heard that word of some great man, and now applies it to a fool. Vent my folly! I am afraid this great lubber, the world, will prove aCockney."
The Clown probably intends to say, that to vent his folly to the world will be like sending coals to Newcastle, or provisions toCocagne; for that, as regards folly, this great lubber the world will prove to be aCocagneorCokeney,i.e.a land of plenty. He may, however, mean to hint, in a round-about way, thatCockneys, or natives of London, are full of folly; or that the world is as well supplied with folly as aCockneyis with food.
I do not know whether I committed aCockney, aclerical, or acanonicalerror, when I wrote the name of Chaucer under the following lines instead of the wordCokeney:—
"I have no peny, quod Pierce, polettes for to bie,Ne neither gose ne grys, but two grene cheses,A few curdes and creame, and an haver cake,And two loves of beanes and branne, bake for mi folke,And yet I say by my soule, I have no salt baconNe noCokeney, by Christe, coloppes to make."The Vision of Pierce Plowman, printed 1550.
"I have no peny, quod Pierce, polettes for to bie,
Ne neither gose ne grys, but two grene cheses,
A few curdes and creame, and an haver cake,
And two loves of beanes and branne, bake for mi folke,
And yet I say by my soule, I have no salt bacon
Ne noCokeney, by Christe, coloppes to make."
The Vision of Pierce Plowman, printed 1550.
"At that fest thay wer seruyd with a ryche aray,Every fyve and fyve had aCokenay."The Turnament of Tottenham.
"At that fest thay wer seruyd with a ryche aray,
Every fyve and fyve had aCokenay."
The Turnament of Tottenham.
The sentence for which I am responsible, p. 318., should read thus: "Cokeney, in the above lines quoted by Webster, probably refers to any substantial dish of fresh meat which might be cut in collops." I may add that this use of the word brings it into close alliance with the Anglo-Saxon wordcocnunga, signifyingthings cooked,pies,puddings, andcock's-meat.
The French and Neapolitan festivals, calledcocagneandcocagna, appear to have presented themselves in this country under the form of Cockneys' feasts and revels conducted by the King of Cockneys. Strype, in the first appendix to his edition of Stow'sLondon, under the head "Stepney," describes at some length "The Cockney's Feast of Stepney;" and Dugdale, in hisOrigines Juridiciales, recapitulates an order entered on theRegister of Lincoln's Inn, vol. iv. fo. 81a, in the 9th of Henry VIII.:
"That theKing of Cockneysin Childermass-day should sit and have due service, and that he and all his officers should use honest and lawful manner and good order, without any waste of destruction making, in wine, brawn, chely, or other victuals: as also that he, his marshal, butler, and constable marshal, should have their lawful and honest commandments by delivery of the officers of Christmas: and that the said King of Cockneys, ne none of his officers, medyll neither in the buttry nor in the Stuard of Christmass his office—upon pain of xis. for every such medling. And lastly, that Jack Straw and all his adherents should be thenceforth utterly banisht, and no more to be used in this house upon pain to forfeit, for every time five pounds, to be levied on every fellow hapning to offend against this rule."
Some obliging bencher of Lincoln's Inn will perhaps have the goodness to examine, or to permit me to examine theRegister, to ascertain whether this potentate was king of Cockneys, as Dugdale has it, or of Cockney.
A LONDONER.
—J. C. W. enquires, "Isinfortunerto be found in any old Dictionary?" I would state that I have not been able to find it; but in Cockeram'sEnglish Dictionarie, 1639, I find "Infortunate, unhappy;" and in Bailey'sDictionary, vol. i. 1753, "Infortunate, unhappy, unlucky;" "Infortune, misfortune," referred to Chaucer; "Infortunes, an astrological term, applied to Saturn and Mars, because of their unfortunate influences;" "Infortunid, unfortunate," referred to Chaucer; and in vol. ii of Bailey'sDictionary, 1727, I find "Infortunateness, unhappiness, unluckiness." It is singular that Cockeram gives "infortunate" in his first alphabet, which, he says, in his preface, "hath thechoicestwords now in use, wherewith our language is enriched." "Unfortunate" he places in the second alphabet, which, he says, "contains thevulgarwords." Neither Cole'sEnglish Dictionary, 1685, nor Blount'sGlossographia, 1670, nor Phillips'World of Words, 1678, contain the word "unfortunate" in any of its terminations or applications. Mr. Halliwell, in hisDictionary of Provincial Words, gives the word "Infortune, misfortune," deriving it from the Anglo-Norman.
Whilst referring thus to our early lexicographers,allow me to allude to an anecdote respecting, Dr. Adam Lyttleton, who, when compiling his Latin Dictionary, announced the verb "concurro" to his amanuensis; the latter, imagining, from an affinity of sound, that the first two syllables gave the English meaning of the verb, said, "Concur, I suppose, sir." To which the Doctor peevishly replied, "Concur, condog." The scribe wrote down what he supposed his employer dictated, and the word "condog" was inserted, and stands as one interpretation of "concurro" in the first edition of the Dictionary; it is, of course, expunged from subsequent ones. I give this statement as I find it in print. I do not vouch for its correctness, not having the first edition of the Dictionary to refer to. Strange to say, however, "condog" was regarded as a synonym, or rather as an equivalent to "concur," long before the date of the first edition of Dr. Lyttleton'sDictionary. In Cockeram'sDictionarie, before referred to, sixth edition, 1639, I find the second alphabet, among the words which the author callsvulgar, the verb "to agree" defined "Concurre, cohere,condog, condiscend." Cockeram'sDictionarywas evidently a work of some authority in its day; it was dedicated to Sir Richard Boyle, and reached to, at least, asixthedition, which edition is announced in the title-page as "revised and enlarged," and therefore "condog" did not owe its place in it to the error of an amanuensis or transcriber. The book, although small, contains much curious matter, to which I may, perhaps, hereafter refer. In his "premonition to the reader," he says, "where thou meetest with a word marked thus +, know you that it is now out of use, and only used of some ancient writers." Among these words thus marked as obsolete in 1639, I find, on casually opening the book, the following, "abandon, abate, bardes, insanity." He also definesTroy weightas "a pound weight of twelve ounces, wherewithbread, precious stones, gold and silver are weighed." Blount also (1670), and Cole (1685), say bread was sold by Troy weight; the latter adds medicines to the articles sold by that standard. Cowell, in hisLaw Dictionary(1708), says, "Electuaries, and medicinal things, andbrede, are to be weighed by Troy weight;" Bayley, in 1753, says, "Gold, silver, drugs," &c., are weighed by Troy weight, but does not enumerate bread. Can any of your readers inform me when bread was first directed to be sold by Troy weight, and when it ceased to be so?
P. T.
Stoke Newington.
—There is a list of French ambassadors, envoys, ministers, and other political agents at the court of England, in theAnnuaireof the Société de l'histoire de France for 1848, which is the twelfth volume of the series. The list commences in 1396, and is continued to 1830.
I believe there is a copy of this most useful publication in the British Museum. If so, it should appear in theexperimentalcatalogue of 1841, under the head of ACADEMIES—EUROPE—FRANCE—PARIS—Société de l'histoire de France!
BOLTONCORNEY.
—ÆGROTUSasked if a copy of the petition to the above effect from the Corporation of London to the Crown can be found, as it is a droll historical document, which should not sink into oblivion; he jumps at the conclusion that it does exist, but I think is mistaken. Through the kindness of a friend who is in the Corporation, I have had the journals searched, and have not been successful in finding any address to the above tenor. There are abundance congratulating the Prince Regent on the successes of the Duke, but none of censure. I have likewise ascertained that some of the oldest servants of the City feel quite sure that no such address was ever carried. If ÆGROTUScan give me any grounds for his belief, or anything likely to aid my inquiry, I will renew the search.
E. N. W.
Southwark.
If any doubt could exist as to the value of theGermaniaof Tacitus, as an invaluable contribution to the history of all the Teutonic races, a glance at the Appendix to Klemm'sGermanische Altherthumskunde, in which that author has enumerated not only the best editions and translations of theGermania, but also the most important dissertations to which it has given rise, would at once dispel it. The scholar and the antiquary of this country may therefore be congratulated on the fact of Dr. Latham having prepared an edition of it, which has been issued under the title ofThe Germania of Tacitus, with Ethnological Dissertations and Notes. Although "the work," to use Dr. Latham's own words, "is rather a commentary upon the geographical part of theGermania, than on theGermaniaitself—the purely descriptive part relating to the customs of the early Germans being passed over almostsicco pede,"—yet our readers will have no difficulty in estimating its importance, when we inform them that the Ethnological Dissertations and Notes which accompany the text may be said to embody the views, (ofttimes indeed dissented from by Dr. Latham,) of Grimm and Zeuss, and the learning with which those distinguished men have illustrated the subject. Indeed, Dr. Latham, who sets an example of openly acknowledging his obligations to other scholars which we should be glad to see more generally followed, expressly states, that whether the work before us took its present form, or that of a translation with an elaborate commentary of Zeuss's learned and indispensable work,Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme, was a mere question of convenience.
If the story that we have heard be true, namely, that one of the most learned and active members of the episcopal bench did, at a late clerical meeting, hold up a copy of Whitaker'sClergyman's Diary and Ecclesiastical Directory, and pronounce it to be a little book so full of useful and invaluable information as to be indispensable to every clergyman, it is clear that the work is beyond all criticism.
The Family Almanack and Educational Register for 1852, contains—in addition to full particulars of nearly a thousand public schools, colleges, and universities, and a list (containing upwards of a thousand) of the principal private schools in the kingdom,—a vast amount of miscellaneous information (including for the first time the Statutes of the Irish University) and statistical tables, and so forms a volume which no person interested in the great question of education can at all do without.
While on the subject of education, we may acknowledge the receipt of several educational works, which we can only notice with great brevity.
M. Merlet'sDictionary of French Difficulties(which, but that the subject is almost too grave for such a jest, we should have suggested might very appropriately have been dedicated to the President) bears on its title the stamp of its merit in the words "third edition."
M. Falch Lebahn'sSelf Instructor in German;Practice in German; andGerman in One Volume(4th ed.), are very able attempts to facilitate the study of that most useful language.
The last work, containing as it does La Motte Fouque's beautiful tale ofUndine, with explanatory notes on all the difficult words and phrases, and its vocabulary of 4500 words synonymous in German and English, cannot be found otherwise than most useful.
SOUTHEY'SEDITION OFCOWPER. Vols. X. XII. XIII. XIV.
JOURNAL OF THEGEOLOGICALSOCIETY OFDUBLIN. Vol. I. Part I. (Several copies are wanted, and it is believed that many are lying in London or Dublin.)
MITFORD'SHISTORY OFGREECE. Vol. VI. Cadell, 1822. 8vo.
WILLIS'SARCHITECTURE OF THEMIDDLEAGES. 15s.will be given for a copy.
FLUDD(ROBERT, M.D.)aliasDEFLUCTIBUS, called the Searcher. Any of his works.
BEHMEN'S(JACOB) GENESIS.
LAW'SAPPEAL, &c.
LAW'SAPPEALCASE OFREASON.
HUNTER'SDEANERY OFDONCASTER. Vol. I. Large or small paper.
CLARE'SRURALMUSE.
CHRISTIANPIETYFREED FROM THEDELUSIONS OFMODERNENTHUSIASTS.A.D. 1756 or 1757.
ANANSWER TOFATHERHUDDLESTONE'SSHORT ANDPLAINWAY TO THEFAITH ANDCHURCH. By Samuel Grascombe. London, 1703. 8vo.
REASONS FORABROGATING THETESTIMPOSED UPON ALLMEMBERS OFPARLIAMENT. By Samuel Parker, Lord Bishop of Oxon. 1688. 4to.
***Letters, stating particulars and lowest price,carriage free, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
"Our correspondents will see, on very little reflection, that it is plainly the Editor's interest to take all he can get, and make the most and the best of every thing." Thus we spoke in our earlier numbers, and we repeat it now as a reply to two or three communications which have reached us during the present week. As in the management of"NOTES AND QUERIES"we can have no party to serve, no prejudices to gratify, we beg our correspondents—more especially those who are personally unknown to us (and to whose communications we always endeavor to give the earliest insertion possible, because we cannot explain to them, as we could to those to whom we are known, the reasons for delay.)—that for the delay or non-insertion of their communications there are always what we believe they would admit to be satisfactory reasons if they were but acquainted with them; although, from the difficulty attendant on the management of a work like the present, we are not able to bring those reasons before them.
Among other interesting articles which are in type, but necessarily omitted from the present number, are"The Crucifix as used by the Early Christians,"bySIRJ. EMERSONTENNENT; "Remains of James II.;" "Wady Mokatteb identified with Kibroth Hattavah,"by theREV.M. MARGOLIOUTH; "Legend of the Red Breast," &c.
JARLTZBERGis thanked. His suggestion will be carried out at the commencement of the New Year.
GRUS.Surely the inscription is not correctly copied. The first line we should read"LADI, HELP!"and the second, "MERCY, JHESU!"
P. M. M.The article on"Deep Wells,"is omitted this week only from want of room. The other communication is postponed for a short time.
W. W. R. (Oxford)is at present the only remonstrant. We will, however, give his suggestion our best consideration.
J. B. (Manchester),who inquires respecting the family of Tonge, is informed that his Query may be fully answered by a reference tovol. xiii.of the Rev. Canon Raine'sLancashire MSS.
W. L. (Hitchin)will find articles on"Vegetating Insects"in our3rd Vol. pp. 166, 398, 436.
LONG'SASTRONOMYhas been reported, and may be had by applying to our Publisher.
Full price will be given for clean copies ofNo. 19.upon application to our Publisher.
REPLIESRECEIVED.—Derivation of London—General Moyle—Cavalcade, &c.—Races in which Children are named after the Mother—Schola Cordis—Voltaire—Cagots—Carmagnoles—Use of Tobacco—Pigeons—Inscription on Spectacles—Talented—Latin verse on Franklin—Warnings to Scotland—Suicides—Earwig—Johannes Trithemius—Share of Presbyters, &c.—Countess of Desmond—Proverbial Philosophy—Crosses and Crucifixes—Theodolite—Mitigation of Capital Punishment—Milesian—Truth—Verses in Prose—Cabal—Jocelyns' Legacy—San Grail—Curious Tenure—Boiling to Death—Arbor Lowe.
Copies of ourProspectus,according to the suggestion of T. E. H, will be forwarded to any correspondent willing to assist us by circulating them.
VOLS. I., II.,andIII.,with very copious Indices, may still be had, price 9s. 6d. each, neatly bound in cloth.
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Erratum.—In last line but one of Art. 307. p. 424. for "proud father," read "grandfather."