"INZOILUM."Frustra ego te laudo, frustra me, Zoile, lædas Nemo mihi credit, Zoile nemo tibi."
"INZOILUM.
"Frustra ego te laudo, frustra me, Zoile, lædas Nemo mihi credit, Zoile nemo tibi."
PHILOBIBLION.
—We are all aware of the popular repugnance to permitting the bodies of suicides to be interred within the "consecrated" or "hallowed" precincts of a churchyard. Burial at cross-roads was the usual mode. In many parts of Scotland such burials had to take place under cloud of night, to avoid the interference of the rabble. But it would appear from the extract given below, that public indignities were inflicted upon such corpses, to testify public detestation of this crime. The extract is taken from theDiarey of Robert Birrel, Burges of Edinburghe:
"1598, Feb. 20. The 20 day of Februar, Thomas Dobie drounit himself in the Quarrel holes besyde the Abbay, and upone the morne, he wes harlit throw the toune backward, and therafter hangit on the gallows."
Perhaps some correspondent of "N. & Q." may be able to point out similar instances of such a revolting procedure.
The "Abbay" referred to was the Abbey of Holyrood.
The "Quarrel," or Quarry holes, seem to have been fatal, in many cases, both to "man and beast;" for Sir David Lyndsay, in one of his poems, says:
"Marry, I lent my gossip my mare, to fetch hame coals,And heher drounit into the quarry holes."
"Marry, I lent my gossip my mare, to fetch hame coals,
And heher drounit into the quarry holes."
R. S. F.
Perth.
I should be very glad if, among the many learned contributors to the "N. & Q.," there should be any one who can give me information respecting a rare volume of English poetry, of which I do not recollect to have seen any notice, or any other copy than that in my own possession.
It is a 12mo., or rather small 8vo. volume, and, by the type and general appearance, was probably printed rather before than after 1660. It consists of three portions:
1. "God's Love and Man's Unworthiness," which commences thus:
"GOD! how that word hath thunder-clapt my soulInto a ravishment; I must condoleMy forward weakness. Ah! where shall I findSufficient metaphors t' express my mind?Thou heart-amazing word, how hast thou fill'dMy soul with Hallelujahs, and distill'dWonders into me!"
"GOD! how that word hath thunder-clapt my soul
Into a ravishment; I must condole
My forward weakness. Ah! where shall I find
Sufficient metaphors t' express my mind?
Thou heart-amazing word, how hast thou fill'd
My soul with Hallelujahs, and distill'd
Wonders into me!"
This poem is in two parts, and extends to p. 82.
2. "A Dialogue between the Soul and Satan," p. 83 to 124, including a short supplementary poem entitled "The Soul's Thankfulness and Request to God."
3. "Divine Ejaculations." One hundred and forty-nine in all. Each consists of six lines. I extract the tenth as a specimen:
"Great God! Thy garden is defaced:The weeds do thrive, the flowers decay:O call to mind thy promise past,Restore thou them, cut these away.Till then, let not the weeds have powerTo starve or taint the poorest flower."
"Great God! Thy garden is defaced:
The weeds do thrive, the flowers decay:
O call to mind thy promise past,
Restore thou them, cut these away.
Till then, let not the weeds have power
To starve or taint the poorest flower."
The copy now before me has no title-page or prefatory matter of any kind, and it wants the second sheet, p. 17 to 32. Yet I do not think it imperfect, for though the paging goes from p. 16 to p. 33, yet the catch-word on the 16th page is answered by the first word on p. 33, and the sense is consecutive.
It seems to me, therefore, that the author changed in some degree his plan, as the work was proceeding at the press, and that the little volume having thus the appearance of negligence and incompleteness, no title or preface was ever printed, and the book never issued for sale.
On this, or any other point, but especially on thequestion who was the writer of so much verse, I wish to receive information from some of the readers of your very entertaining and often instructive miscellany.
T. S.
I always thought that this unfashionable sort of worship was confined to some obscure fanatical sects in the East, and was not prepared to find an apparent record of its having been practised, amidst the frivolities and plotting of the French Court, by no less celebrated a lady than Catharine de Medicis. In theSecret History of France for the Last Century(London, printed for A. Bell, at the Cross Keys in Cornwel, (sic.) &c. 1714), I find such an odious charge advanced. I do not draw attention to it with the slightest shadow of belief in a story so ridiculous and incredible; but to ask, whether there existed any foundation for the following statement regarding the "steel box," and if so, what were its contents?
"In the first Civil War, when the Prince ofCondewas in all appearance likely to prevail, andKatherinewas thought to be very near the End of her much desir'd Regency, during the Young King's Minority, she was known to have been for Two days together, retir'd to her Closet, without admitting her menial Servants to her Presence. Some few Days after, having call'd for MonsieurDe Mesme, one of the Long Robe, and always firm to her Interest, she deliver'd him a Steel Box fast lock'd, to whom she said, giving him the Key,That in respect she knew not what might come to be her Fortune, amidst those intestine Broils that then shookFrance,she had thought fit to inclose a thing of great Value within that Box, which she consign'd to his Care, not to open it upon Oath, but by an Express Order under her own Hand.The Queen Dying, without ever calling for the Box, it continued many Years unopen'd in the Family ofDe Mesme, after both their Deaths, till at last Curiosity, or the Suspicion of some Treasure from the heaviness of it, tempted MonsieurDe Mesme'sSuccessor to break it open, which he did. Instead of any Rich Present from so great a Queen, what Horror must the Lookers on have, when they found a Copper Plate of the Form and Bigness of one of the AncientRomanVotive Shields, on which was EngravenQueenKatherine de Medicison her Knees, in a Praying Posture, offering up to the Devil sitting upon a Throne, in one of the ugliest Shapes they use to Paint him,Charles the IXth.then Reigning, the Duke ofAnjou,afterwardsHenrytheIIId., andthe Duke ofAlanson,her Three sons, with this Motto inFrench,So be it, I but Reign.This very Plate continues yet in the Custody of the House ofMesme, of which MonsieurD'Avaux, so famous for his Ambassies, was a Branch, and was not only acknowledged by him to be so, when Ambassador inHolland, but he was also pleas'd at that time, to promise a Great Man inEngland, a Copy of it; which is a Terrible Instance of the Power of Ambition in the Minds ofFrenchPrinces, and to what Divinity, if one dares give the Devil that name, even in Irony, they are ready to pay their adoration, rather than part with their hopes of Empire."—Pp. 6, 7.
R. S. F.
Perth.
—Two ancient charters, formerly belonging to the abbey of Bury St. Edmund's, and now in the possession of the corporation of King's Lynn, bear the indorsement of J. Rhesensis,i.e.John Ap Rice, the commissioner who was sent by Hen. VIII. to investigate the affairs of this abbey; and whose letter upon the subject to secretary Cromwell is published inLetters relating to the Suppression of the Monasteries.On one of the charters the indorsement has been erased all but the name; on the other it runs thus:—"Relat' in regiū Registr' ad v'bū, 1536, J. Rhesens', Registr'." Is anything known of the Royal Register referred to?
C. W. G.
—Who was the author of the address to the reader in theDoctrine of Conscience, by Bishop Prideaux, published in 1656? it is signed Y. N. Bishop Prideaux died in 1650.
G. P. P.
—I am anxious to obtain some information respecting the ancestry, wife, death, and descendants of this individual. I am already aware of the notices of him in Chalmers'sCaledonia(ii. 58.), and in theBannatyne Miscellany(ii. 347.).
E. N.
—I should be obliged if any of your correspondents would inform me when the word "Reverend" first came into use as distinctive of a clergyman. It never seems to have been applied to Hooker, who is always called Mr. Hooker in the different editions of his works.
QUESTOR.
—Information is requested as to the descendants of the Rev. Nathaniel Spinckes, one of the Nonjuring divines, who died July 28, 1727. He was rector of Glinton with Peakirk, Northamptonshire; and it appears from Chalmers'sBiographical Dictionarythat he left two children, William Spinckes, Esq., and Anne, who married Anthony Cope, Esq.
J. P. JR.
—Will any kind philologist come to the aid of the geologists in ascertaining the meaning of this uncouth word? In the current number of theQuarterly Journal of the Geological Society(No. 29.) we read:
"Certain quartziferous porphyries which occur in the mining districts of Cornwall as veins, partly in granite, partly in clay-slate, have been long thereknown under the name of 'Elvans.' We have in vain sought for the origin of this term in English writers. Henwood expressly says (Trans. Geol. Soc. of Cornwall, vol. v.) that the etymology of the word is unknown. May it not perhaps be derived from a place called 'Elvan?' Reuss says, in hisLehrbuch der Geognosie, that porphyry occurs near Elvan in Westmoreland."
On turning to Borlase (Natural History of Cornwall, p. 91.), I find that he gives the derivation as follows:
"Quasi ab Hel-vaen,i.e.the stone generally found in brooks; unless it be a corruption of An-von, which in Cornish signifies a smith's anvil, and might fitly represent this very hard stone."
The term is a Cornish one, and applied to a crystalline rock usually hard enough to strike fire readily on sharp friction; and may it not have been derived from the Cornish word "Elven, a spark of fire," given in Borlase's vocabulary.
S. R. P.
Launceston.
—There are few names of equal celebrity that have been so variously spelt, the sound remaining the same whether writtenWiclif,Wycliff,Wickliffe,Wykcliff, &c. Can any authority be given, to ascertain the correct spelling?
J. K.
—What is the origin of this periphrasis for cowardice? Certainly not the words of King Henry:
"Press where ye see my white plume shine,Amidst the ranks of war;And be your Oriflamme to-dayThe helmet of Navarre."
"Press where ye see my white plume shine,
Amidst the ranks of war;
And be your Oriflamme to-day
The helmet of Navarre."
A. A. D.
Trin. Coll. Dublin.
—The germ of Gray's—
"For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,"
"For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,"
occurs somewhere in Locke'sWorks. Can any one refer me to the passage; it commences:
"Who ever left the precincts of mortality, without," &c.
H. E. H.
—In excavating the chancel of St. Botolph's parish church, Boston, we have discovered a quantity ofhorse'sbones, and the jaw-bones of asheep. Can any of your correspondents enlighten us on this singular case?
THOMASCOLLIS.
Boston.
—I have recently purchased a copy of the above work to complete my set; but before doing so, I enquired of Mr. Pickering the publisher, if it was in all respects as well executed as the first copies. The answer, however, gave me no more information than "that the numbers of vol. i.Arch. Camb., which were destroyed by fire, have beenreprinted, so as to make up a few copies, and the price is consequently 21s." The "reprint" is not as well executed as the original copies, inasmuch as nearly a whole page of interesting matter is omitted, and very few of the reprinted pages correspond with the good old ones. I have been a long time looking for the first volume of theArchæologia Cambrensis, the greater portion of which had been so unfortunately destroyed by fire; and though I cannot consider the "reprint" quite as good as the old copies, still I was very glad to obtain it. I trouble you with this "Note," not because I am dissatisfied with the mode of execution of the reprint, but in the hope that some of your correspondents will favour me with a few words on the work, and inform me why the page has been omitted, and why the reprinted pages do not agree with those of the old copies. Are there any other faults in the "reprint" which may have escaped my notice?
R. H.
Dublin.
—The author of theFaggot of French Sticksremarks, that he never remained ignorant of anything which excited his attention in the streets of Paris when any one passing by could give him the information required: so now that there is such a living encyclopædia to consult as "N. & Q.," no knowledge should be lost for want of inquiry. In more than one publication it has been lately asserted, that presbyterian ministers take the following oath:
"We all subscribe, and with hands uplifted to the most High God do swear: 1. That we shall sincerely, really, and constantly through the grace of God, endeavour in our several places and callings to bring the church of God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, confession of faith, form of church government, &c. 2. That we shall in like manner, without respect of persons, endeavour the extirpation of popery and prelacy (that is, church government by archbishops, bishops, deans, and others.)"
The Bishop of Exeter, in a recent pamphlet, inserts this parenthesis:
"(Whether this actual subscription and oath be still continued, I know not: but the covenant is still a part of the Kirk's symbolical book, and published as such for the education of the people)."
Will some friend north of the Tweed be kind enough to settle this point?
C. T.
—Some years ago I saw in the shop of a dealer in curiosities, in London, an old snuff-box, which was said to have belonged to Dean Swift; it was accompanied with three printed leaves, of the common octavo size, the first page of which commencedwith "A Pinch of Snuff from Dean Swift's Snuff Box," (being a description of the snuff-box in question). The next subject on the leaves began with "'Tis a hundred years since." The leaves appeared to have been extracted from some Irish magazine or periodical, published about the year 1845-6, and to contain much valuable and amusing matter. As I have made repeated inquiries among the London booksellers in vain, for the name of the publication from which the above-mentioned extract was taken, I shall feel much obliged if you will permit me to make a similar inquiry through the medium of "N. & Q.," and by so doing you will confer a great favour upon
A SUBSCRIBER.
Gloucester.
—I believe that a skull, maintained by arguments of considerable weight to be the veritable skull of the Protector, is now carefully kept in the hands of some person in London. It is understood that this interesting relic is retained in great secrecy, from the apprehension that a threat, intimated in the reign of George III., that if made public, it would be seized by government, as the only party to which it could properly belong.
It is to be hoped that the time in which such a threat could be executed has passed by, and that no danger need now be apprehended by the possessor for his open avowal of the facts of the case, such as they are.
Indeed, it seems desirable that if fair means could lead to such a result, the skull of one who filled so conspicuous a position amongst England's most distinguished rulers, should become public property.
Perhaps some one in possession of the arguments verifying the identity of the skull in question with that of Cromwell, would, by a recapitulation of them, favour some readers of the "N. & Q.", and amongst others
J. P.
Dudley.
—Can any of your readers give information as to the existence of any member of this family in the male line? The senior line of descent from Guy's maternal uncle, John Voughton, became extinct in 1843 upon the decease of Elizabeth, the relict of Dr. Clarke of Weggington, brother of Sir Charles M. Clarke, Bart.
KT.
—In addition to this Query, which has elicited much to interest one, I beg to know at whatdateandwhythe use of the mitre in England was discontinued? At the coronation of George IV. I, for one, was grievously disappointed not to see the whole bench of bishopsmitredas well asrobed.
S. S.
—In the Diary of Dr. Edward Lake, published in theCamden Miscellany, vol. i. p. 16., occur the following paragraphs:—
"Dec. 23. 1677. I administered the sacrament to the Lord John Barclay, being not well."
To the word Barclay, the editor, George Percy Elliott, Esq., has subjoined the following note:—
"Probably Lord John Berkeley; he was afterwards Bishop of Rochester, and subsequently of Ely, and was deprived for not taking the oath of allegiance to William and Mary."
Can any reader of "N. & Q." suggest any authority for the statement in the editor's note? Francis Turner was Bishop of Ely from 1684 to 1691, when he was deprived for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. Turner was succeeded by Simon Patrick, translated from Chichester. As to the Rochester see, that was filled by Thomas Sprat from 1684 to 1713. His biography reminds one more of the Vicar of Bray than the sturdy Nonjuror.
J. Y.
Hoxton.
—In Milton's elegy upon the death of Bishop Andrewes there is an allusion to a fabledPalace of Luciferwhich I do not quite understand. It seems to refer to some romantic description or other, and I shall be much obliged to any one that will kindly tell me by whom. It is always important to know something of the train of an author's reading, as we then can better understand the ordinary train of his thoughts—
"Serpit odoriferas per opes levis aura Favoni,Aura sub innumeris humida nata rosis,Talis in extremis terræ Gangetidis orisLuciferi regis fingitur esse domus."Eleg. III.In obitum Præsulis Wintoniensis, l. 47./
"Serpit odoriferas per opes levis aura Favoni,
Aura sub innumeris humida nata rosis,
Talis in extremis terræ Gangetidis oris
Luciferi regis fingitur esse domus."
Eleg. III.In obitum Præsulis Wintoniensis, l. 47.
And now I will give Thomas Warton's note in full. He says:
"I know not where this fiction is to be found. But our author has given a glorious description of a palace of Lucifer in theParadise Lost, b. v. 757.:
"'At length into the limits of the NorthThey came, and Satan to hisroyal seatHigh on a hill, far blazing, as a mount,Rais'd on a mount, with pyramids and towersFrom diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold,ThePalace of Great Lucifer, so callThat structure, in the dialect of menInterpreted; which not long after, he,Affecting all equality with God,In imitation of that mount, whereonMessiah was declar'd in sight of Heaven,The Mountain of the Congregation call'd,' &c.
"'At length into the limits of the North
They came, and Satan to hisroyal seat
High on a hill, far blazing, as a mount,
Rais'd on a mount, with pyramids and towers
From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold,
ThePalace of Great Lucifer, so call
That structure, in the dialect of men
Interpreted; which not long after, he,
Affecting all equality with God,
In imitation of that mount, whereon
Messiah was declar'd in sight of Heaven,
The Mountain of the Congregation call'd,' &c.
"Here is a mixture of Ariosto and Isaiah. Because Lucifer is simply said by the prophet 'to sit upon the Mount of the Congregation on the sides of the North,' Milton builds him a palace on this mountain, equal in magnificence and brilliancy to the most superb andromantic castle. In the text,by the utmost parts of the Gangetic land, we are to understand the north; the river Ganges, which separates India from Scythia, arising from the mountain Taurus."
Some of your learned correspondents will, I doubt not, be both able and willing to throw some light upon a difficulty which may possibly have an indirect connexion with other difficulties also.
RT.
Warmington, Nov. 7. 1851.
—Can any of your correspondents direct me to some works on Ecclesiastical Geography?
AJAX.
—What work gives a history of the various courses of commerce between Europe and the East in ancient and modern times, or in either of them, as I cannot meet with any such book in the various catalogues and advertisements of the day?
X. Y. Z.
Cambria.
—Where can there be found any account of a trading company called the "Merchant Adventurers to Spain," who flourished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth?
C. I. P.
—InThe Blazon of Gentrie, by John Ferne, London, 1586, it is said (p. 248.):—
"If anie personne doth give, or by his testament shall bequeth money to build a temple, the walles of a city, port, a causey, churches, &c., he maye set his armes upon the same. If so be that he did this, of his owne free will and liberalitie. But if he did the same by compulsion (beeing for that purpose set unto some mulcte or fine, for his offence, and so constrained to make his redemption by the building or repayring of the like things), he may not set his armes in such publique workes, as that bishop was, which being condemned in the Præmunire, redeemed the punishment of that offence, by the glasing of the King's College chappell windowes in Cambridge, a glasse-work of worthy admiration."
Is there any foundation for this story, and who was the bishop?
C. W. G.
—Will some of your correspondents kindly inform me where I can meet with a drawing of this standardin blazon?The Relation of the King's setting up his Standard at Nottingham: 4to. Lond. 1642, gives anengravingof the same under the title; but I cannot trace the mode in which the banner in question wascoloured.
AMANUENSIS.
—In 1761 James Wilson, M.D., published in two volumes, octavo, a reprint of the mathematical tracts of his then deceased friend Benjamin Robins. To them he added an appendix containing a dissertation on the controversy about the invention of fluxions, which dissertation is very little cited. He makes various statements on his own authority, describing himself as having been the friend of Brook Taylor and of Dr. Pemberton. Among other things he furnishes something which might be cited in answer to my query in Vol. v., p. 103., affirming thatallCollins's papers fell into Jones'spossessionabout the year 1708. Dr. Wilson and Martin Folkes were joint executors of Robins, as the former states. Query, who was James Wilson, M.D.? What was his probable age in 1712? What means exist for forming an opinion as to his judgment and veracity, over and above his publications as aforesaid?
A. DEMORGAN.
—I have a copy of a work called Prestwich'sRespublica, or a Display of the Honours, Ceremonies, and Ensign of the Commonwealth, 1787; in which is an Alphabetical Roll of the Names and Armorial Bearings of many of the Present Nobility of these Kingdoms. The volume concludes with John Aspinhall, and a note states that the remainder of the roll should be given in the second volume. Has the second volume ever been published, as I cannot ascertain that it has? If so, how many years after the first?
G. P. P.
[It was the intention of Sir John Prestwich to continue this work, but not having received the encouragement he expected, and suffering also from ill health, the second volume was not published. See Nichols'Literary Anecdotes, vol. ix. p. 23.]
"In the obituary register for the ancient parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, is to be found the following very singular entry, viz.: 'Thomas Cam, died on the 28th of January, 1588, at the astonishing age of 207 years. He was born in the year 1381, in the reign of King Richard II., and lived in the reigns of twelve kings and queens.'"—Times, Dec.—1848?
Can this be authenticated; is there any truth in the story? Surely so venerable a patriarch must have attracted the notice of some of his cotemporaries. Your correspondent O. C. D. will, I fear, place this "instance" in the category of "ante-register longevities."
W. R. DEERESALMON.
[At the time the above paragraph was going the round of the papers, a friend consulted the parish clerk of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, respecting its authenticity, and was informed that some mischievous individual had altered the figure 1 into 2. It is correctly given by Sir Henry Ellis in hisHistory of Shoreditch, p. 77., as follows:—"Thomas Cam, aged 107, 28 January, 1588."]
—Will any of your correspondents kindly construe for me the following sentences?
"Valebat siclus sanctuarii tetradrachma Atticum: quod Budaeus estimat 14 solidis Gallicis, aut circiter: nam didrachma septim facit solidos, sicuti drachma simplex duos, et sesquialterum, minus denario turonico."
What was the value of "solidus Gallicus," or French sol, or sous; for this I presume to be its meaning in 1573, the date of the passage? And what was the value of the "denier Tournois," if that be the meaning of "denarium Turonicum?"
References are useless, for I have no access to libraries.
C. W. B.
[A numismatic friend, to whom we referred this Query, writes, "If it were not for the context, 'nam didrachma septim facit solidos,' I should suppose the 14 to be a misprint for 4. Wherecouldthis passage be taken from? The shekel was worth a tetradrachm. The French 'sol' was the twentieth part of a pound. The 'denier Tournois' was a penny. The whole passage, after the first line (which is plain enough), is to me unintelligible."]
—What is the etymology, and what the correct use, of this Anglo-Irish word?
A. N.
[Dr. Ogilvie, in hisImperial Dictionary, has suggested the following derivation: "Qy.sapia, in the L.prosapia; or Heb.shabet, a clan, race, or family, proceeding from a common progenitor."]
—An Essay to procure Catholic Communion on Catholic Principles, alluded to by J. Y., has just been republished by Darling, Gt. Queen Street. It is taken from Deacon'sComplete Collection of Devotions, 1734, and the editors attribute its authorship to Dr. Brett, on the authority of Peter Hall'sFragmenta Liturgica, vol. i. p. 42.
If J. Y. has not seen the reprint, perhaps this note may assist him in his inquiry.
R. J. S.
[The above is not the same work as the one referred to in J. Y.'s Query, which makes a 12mo. volume of 292 pages (edit. 1781); whereas the reprint published by Darling is a tract of 16 pages. There is also a slight difference in the title-pages of each.]
—What is the derivation ofbigot?
C. M. I.
[Richardson suggests the following:—"The French at this day apply the wordbigotto one superstitiously religious; not certainly from the oathbe-got, as Menage thinks, but rather from the A.-S.bigan, colere; and hence alsobegine, a religious woman. (Wachter in v.Bein-Gott.)"
Cotgrave says, "Bigot, an old Norman word (signifying as much as 'de par Dieu,' or our 'for God's sake') made good French, and signifying an hypocrite, or one that seemeth much more holy than he is: also, a scrupulous, or superstitious fellow."
Speight says, "Begin,bigot, superstitious, hypocrite." Upon which Thynne remarks, "whiche sence I knowe ytmaye somewhat beare, because ytsauorethe of the dispositione of thoseBeginsorBeguines, for that ys the true wrytinge."]
I hope your correspondent L., in his search for ancient trees, will not overlook the Great Oak at Tilford near Farnham, which is worth a visit for its size and beauty, if not for its antiquity. Mr. Brayley, in hisHistory of Surrey, vol. v. p. 288., thus speaks of it:—
"In the Charter granted by Henry de Blois about the year 1250, to the monks of Waverley, he gives them leave to inclose their lands wherever they please, within these bounds, 'which extend,' says the record, 'from the Oak of Tilford, which is called the Kynghoc [a quercu de Tyleford quæ vocatur Kynghoc], by the king's highway towards Farnham, &c.' ... The Tilford Oak is still standing, and is known by its ancient appellation of the King's Oak: a name which it could not have obtained unless it had been of considerable age and growth at the time of the bishop's grant; and it may therefore be reasonably supposed to be 800 or 900 years old. It is a noble tree, and still flourishing apparently without decay."
I very much doubt the identity of the present tree with the "King's Oak" of Henry de Blois.First, Because the present bounds of Waverley do not run within 300 yards of the tree; and the bounds are hardly likely to have been materially changed, inasmuch as the abbey lands are freehold and tithe-free, whereas the surrounding lands are copyhold and titheable.Secondly, because the tree itself appears still to be growing and vigorous. Cobbett describes it in hisRural Rides, p. 15., 1822, with his usual accuracy of observation:
"Our direct road was right over the heath, through Tilford, to Farnham: but we veered a little to the left after we came to Tilford, at which place, on the green, we stopped to look at anoak tree, which, when I was a little boy, was but a very little tree, comparatively, and which is now, taken altogether, by far the finest tree that I ever saw in my life. The stem or shaft is short, that is to say, it is short before you come to the first limbs; but it is full thirty feet round at about eight or ten feet from the ground. Out of the stem there come not less than fifteen or sixteen limbs, many of which are from five to six feet round, and each of which would in fact be considered a decent stick of timber. I am not judge enough of timber to say anything about the quantity in the whole tree; but my son stepped the ground, and, as nearly as we could judge, the diameter of the extent of the branches was upwards of ninety feet, which would make a circumference of about 300 feet. The tree is in full growth at the moment. There is a little hole in one of the limbs, but with that exception, not the smallest sign of decayThe tree has made great shoots in all parts of it this last summer, and there are no appearances ofwhiteon the trunks such as are regarded as the symptoms of full growth. There are many sorts of oak in England: two very distinct. One with a pale leaf, and one with a dark leaf; this is of the pale leaf."
Any other references to the age or history of this tree would oblige.
TILFORDIENSIS.
P.S. As your correspondent asked for information as to thespeciesof large oaks, I have inclosed some of the acorn-cups.
The letter at Vol. v., p. 175. of "N. & Q.," reminds me of a passage in aCommentary on the Acts of the Apostles, by the Rev. W. G. Humphry, B.D., which it may not be uninteresting to cite, in connexion with what your correspondent says of St. Paul's practice of quoting the writings of heathen authors.
It will be the ground also of an obvious query as to the source from which the quotation, if such it be, was borrowed by the Apostle.
In commenting upon v. 17. of chap. xiv.,οὐρανόθεν, &c., he says:
"Both the language and the rhythm of this passage lead to the conjecture (which does not appear to have been proposed before) that it is a fragment from some lyric poem. Possibly the quotation is not exact, but even without alteration it may be broken into four lyric measures, thus:
"Οὐρανό|θεν ἡ|μῖν ὑ|ετοὺςδίδους καὶ καιροὺς | καρποφόρους,ἐμπι|πλῶν τρο|φῆς καὶ |εὐφροσύνης | τὰς κα|ρδίας.
"Οὐρανό|θεν ἡ|μῖν ὑ|ετοὺςδίδους καὶ καιροὺς | καρποφόρους,ἐμπι|πλῶν τρο|φῆς καὶ |εὐφροσύνης | τὰς κα|ρδίας.
"1. Iambic; 2. Dochmaic and Choriamb.; 3. Trochaic; 4. Choriamb. and Iambic."
Mr. Humphry has some remarks on St. Paul's quotations at v. 28. of chap. xvii.
OXONIENSIS.
Broad Street, Oxford.
Your correspondent MR. GILL(Vol. v., p. 175.) suggests an inquiry as to the probable extent to which St. Paul was acquainted with the writings of Aristotle. His letter reminds me of a similar question of still greater interest, which has often occurred to me, and to which I should like to call your readers' attention, "Whether St. Paul had read Plato?" I think no one who studies the 15th of the First Epistle to the Corinthians—that sublime chapter in which the Apostle sets forth the doctrine of the Resurrection—and who is also familiar with thePhædo, can fail to be struck with a remarkable similarity in one portion of the argument. I allude especially to the 36th verse of the chapter, and those immediately following, "That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die," &c. The reasoning, as almost every Christian knows, is based on analogy, and tends to show that, as in the vegetable world life springs from death, the seed dies, but out of it comes the perfect plant; so the dissolution of our present body is only a necessary step to the more glorified and complete development of our nature. In thePhædo, sect. 16., Socrates is represented as employing the same argument in defence of his doctrine of the immortality of the soul. In the course of his discussion with Kebes and Simmius on this subject, a consideration of the phenomena of animal and vegetable life leads him to assert the general conclusion, "ἐκ τῶν τεθνεώτων, τὰ ζῶντά τε καὶ οἱ ζῶντες γίγνονται," and he then proceeds to demonstrate the probability that in like manner the soul will not only survive the body, but reach a higher and purer condition after its death. Wetstein, whose abundant classical illustrations of the sacred text are alluded to by your correspondent, refers to little else than verbal parallelisms in his notes on this chapter, and does not quote Plato at all; nor do I remember seeing any edition of the Greek Testament in which the coincidence is pointed out. Perhaps some of your correspondents can elucidate this subject; it is one of great interest, and when pursued in the reverent and religious spirit indicated by MR. GILL, can hardly fail to prove a source of profitable investigation.
JOSHUAG. FITCH.
My edition of thePlatonic Dialoguesis that of N. Forster of Christchurch, Oxford, dated 1745. In it the section I refer to is numbered 16; but in Stallbaum and some other editors, the arrangement is different, and the passage occurs in section 43.
I have in my possession a manuscript consisting of copies of various letters, and other memorials of Sir Alexander Cumming. It is of his own period, but whether of his own handwriting I cannot say.
They are clearly the compositions of a person of an unsettled intellect; but we may collect from them the following facts:—His captain's commission was dated May 29, 1703; he was called by his mother, a few days before her death, both Jacob and Israel. This is further explained when he relates that Lady Cumming, his mother, set out from Edinburgh the first of the "Borrowing Days," towards the end of March, 1709.
"The three last days of March are called 'the Borrowing Days' in Scotland, on account of their being generally attended with very blustering weather, whichinclines people to say that they would wish toborrowthree days from the month of April, in exchange for those three last days of the month of March. This lady was seventeen days in her journeys upon the road, and lived ten days after her arrival in London. She died on the Monday se'nnight in the morning after she came to London. On the Thursday before her death she called her son, Captain Cumming, to her bed-side, and gave him her blessing in the terms of the prophet Isaiah, to which she referred him, and gave him her own new Bible to read over on the occasion, and to keep for her sake. But this Bible was lost, with other baggage, taken by the French towards the end of the campaign, 1709. Colonel Swinton, this lady's eldest brother, was shot at the battle of Malplaquet, and died upon the field of battle."
The lady travelled attended by her daughter Helen Cumming, and her servant Margaret Rae.
But I see we have been wrong in writing the name Cumming with twom's. He writes it invariablyCuming. This would appear of little moment, but the change a little diminishes the probability of the writer's favourite notion, that the Hebrew wordCumiis in some way obumbrated in his patronymicCuming.
The passage of the prophet Isaiah which formed the substance of his mother's last benediction is chap. xli. verses 8 and 9, and chap. xliii. verses 2 and 3: "ThouIsraelart my servant,Jacobwhom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend," &c. He inclines to think that "the writer of the book called Isaiah was a friend to the British nation, and that the islands of Great Britain and Ireland are those addressed to, in order to renew their strength."
It was on April 23, 1730, O.S., that "by the unanimous consent of the people he was made law-giver, commander, leader, and chief of the Cherokee nation, and witness of the power of God, at a general meeting at Nequisee, in the Cherokee Mountains." He brought with him to England six Cherokee chiefs, and on June 18, in that year, he was allowed to present them to the King in the Royal Chapel at Windsor. This was at the time of the installation of the Duke of Cumberland and the Earls of Chesterfield and Burlington. On June 22nd was the ceremony of laying his crown at the feet of the King, when the Indian chiefs laid also their four scalps and five eagles' tails.
In a few years the scene was changed, and in 1737 we find him confined within the limits of the Fleet Prison; but having a rule of court, on the 8th of November he was at Knightsbridge, where about ten in the morning he opened the Bible for an answer to his prayers, and chanced upon the fifty-first and fifty-second chapters of Isaiah. He feels a call to a mission to the Jews, and contemplates visiting Poland. With that disposition of a mind disordered as his was, to turn everything towards a particular object, he thinks there was some mysterious connexion between the fact that Queen Caroline was seized with the illness which proved fatal, in her library, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 9th of November, the day after his call.
In 1750 he was still in the Fleet Prison, from whence, on May 15, he addressed a letter to Lord Halifax, asserting his right to the Cherokee Mountains, and proposing a scheme for the discharge of eighty millions of the National Debt; the scheme being, that 300,000 families of Jews should be settled in that country for the improvement of the lands, as industrious honest subjects. This letter notices also two facts in the Cuming history: 1. That Sir Alexander's father had been the means of saving the life of King George the Second; and 2. That he, Sir Alexander, had been taken into the secret service of the crown, at Christmas, 1718, at a salary of 300l.a-year, which was discontinued at Christmas, 1721.
J. H.
Torrington Square.
As everything connected with General Wolfe is entitled to notice, the following names and public positions of his direct or collateral ancestors may not be uninteresting to your readers. I lately furnished you, from Ferrar'sHistory of Limerick, a statement of the circumstances under which his great-grandfather, Captain George Woulfe, sought refuge in Yorkshire (I believe) from the proscription of Ireton, after the capitulation, in 1651, of Limerick, when his brother Francis, the superior of the Franciscan friars, not having been equally fortunate in escaping, was executed, with several others, excepted from the general pardon.
The family, of English origin, like the Roches, the Arthurs, Stackpoles, Sextons, Creaghes, Whites, &c., settled in Limerick between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, and gradually obtained high civil positions, when their successful commercial pursuits enabled them to acquire landed property in the adjoining county of Clare, where nearly all the above-named English families equally became extensive proprietors. In
1470. Garret Woulfe was one of the city bailiffs, as those subsequently called sheriffs were then named.
1476. Thomas Woulfe filled the same office, as did in
1520. His son and namesake.
1562. Nicholas Woulfe was bailiff.
1567. John Woulfe ditto.
1578. The same became mayor.
1585. } Patrick Woulfe was bailiff these two years,
1587. } but not in the intervening 1586.
1590. Thomas Woulfe }
1591. Richard Woulfe } were successively bailiffs,
1592. David Woulfe } as in
1605. Was James Woulfe.
From this date till 1613 scarcely a year passed without the dismissal of the chosen Catholic magistrates, and substitution by royal mandate of Protestants. In 1613 George Woulfe, grandfather[7]of the proscribed Captain of the same name as above, then sheriff (the title assumed since 1609), with his colleagues, John Arthur, and the mayor, David Creagh, was deposed for refusing the oaths of supremacy, &c.
[7]So I was assured, many years ago, by the late Lord Chief Baron Wolfe, from whom I also learned that all these magistrates certainly sprung from the same stem, though how they should be respectively placed as to constitute a form of genealogy, I cannot now exactly indicate.
In 1647 Patrick Woulfe was sheriff; but from 1654, when the city surrendered to Ireton, until June 1656, Limerick was ruled by twelve English aldermen. In 1656 Colonel Henry Ingolsby became mayor, and the regular order of magistracy was subsequently pursued.
I cannot at present trace the genealogy in strict deduction, although I believe it all might be collected from the subsisting papers of the family in the county of Clare; at least from Garret, the first-named bailiff in the preceding list. In my boyhood I saw some pedigree of it in the hands of an antiquary named Stokes, but which it would now be difficult to discover. If the present Sir Frederick A. G. Ouseley, Bart., son of my old schoolfellow, the late Sir George, be in possession of the papers of his grandfather, Captain Ralph Ouseley, I think it likely that some documents relating to General Wolfe's family, in its ancient line, will be found, as I recollect hearing Captain Ouseley, a resident of Limerick, speak of them.
J. R.
Cork.
—I think I am certain that when I first heard of the song of "Miss Bailey," which was about 1805, it was as having been sung in the farce ofLove laughs at Locksmiths.
C. B.
—In Colonel Reid'sLaw of Storms, p. 483.et seq., 2nd edition, accounts are given of the violent whirlwind produced by fires. It maybe supposed that in former times they were on a larger scale than at present, and, from the great force described, they might have affected the weather at least, when on the turn already.
C. B.
—All that was known respecting the descendants J. L. C. will find in an article relating to the family in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries,Archæologia, vol. xviii. pp. 84-104.
G.
—CYRUSREDDINGwill find that the "Ritus Absolvendi jam mortuum" in themodern Rituale Romanum(Mechliniæ, 1848), is performed exactly according to his description.
G. A. T.
Withyham.
—CRANMORE'Sinquiry has not been fully answered, nor am I able to point out the precise degree of relationship between John Paget and the editor of his works, Thomas Paget. The latter became incumbent of Blackley, near Manchester, about the year 1605, having been placed in that chapelry chiefly through the efforts of the Rev. William Bourne, B.D., a native of Staffordshire, who had married a kinswoman of Lord Burleigh, and who was for many years an influential Fellow of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. (See Hollingworth'sMancuniensis, pp. 106, 107.) In 1617 Thomas Paget was cited before Morton, Bishop of Chester, for nonconformity; and shortly afterwards he was convened before Bishop Bridgeman on the same ground. He is styled at this time "the good old man" (Brook'sLives, vol. ii. p. 293.), although he lived at least forty years afterwards. In the delightfulAutobiography of Henry Newcome, M.A., the Presbyterian Minister of Manchester, edited for the Chetham Society by the Rev. Canon Parkinson, D.D. (2 vols. 4to. 1852), are several interesting notices of Mr. Thomas Paget. He is mentioned as "old Mr. Pagit, late of Blakeley," in 1658, and seems to have had the rectory of Stockport in 1659, although Richard Baxter spoke of him in 1656 as "old and sickly," and then living at Shrewsbury. He was well known, says the amiable Newcome, "as a man of much frowardness," and able to create "much unquietness;" but Baxter hoped, "not altogether so morose as some report him."
F. R. R.
—I happen to have the score of one of the tunes inquired after by E. N., namely,Port Athol, as given by the late Edward Bunting, in his collection of Irish airs, under the name of the "Hawk of Ballyshannon." It was composed by a famous Irish harper named Rory Dal O'Cahan, the Rory Dal of Sir Walter Scott'sLegend of Montrose, who visited Scotland in the reign of James VI., and ultimately died there. He was the author of thePortsor tunes calledPort Gordon,Port Lennox,M'Leods Supper,Port Athol,Give me your hand,The Lame Beggar, &c. &c. It hasoften struck me that this last tune is the origin from whence the air calledJock o' Hazledeanwas drawn. It is almost the same.
FRANCISCROSSLEY.
—Dryden, in his letters to his sons, writes:
"After my return to town, I intend to alter a play of Sir Robert Howard's, written long since, and lately put into my hands: 'tis calledThe Conquest of China by the Tartars. It will cost me six weeks' study, with the probable benefit of an hundred pounds."
TheBiographia Dramaticastates that this play was never acted or printed.
C. I. R.
—Mary Howe was probably one of the three daughters of Scrope, first Viscount Howe, by his second wife, Juliana, daughter of William Lord Allington. She was, in 1720, appointed a maid of honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales; and in 1725 married Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, whom she survived, as well as her second husband, John Mordaunt, a brother of Charles, Earl of Peterborough. She died in 1749s. p.
BRAYBROOKE.
—"Historische Chronica.Mit Merianischen Kupfern. viii. Theile. Frankf. 1630. sqq. in 4. Hæc editio propter elegantiam figurarum rara est. Bibl. Solger. ii. p. 298."—Bauer.Bibl. Libror. Rariorum.
"Historische Chronica, &c., folio. Francf. 1657.
"—— 3 vol. fol. Francf. 1743, 45 and 59."—Bibliothecæ Regiæ Catalogus(in Mus. Brit.) s. v.Abelinus.
"Abelin John Philip, an historian, born at Strasburgh, died 1646; often known by the name of John Louis Gottfried, or Gothofredus.Historical Chronicle from the beginning of the World to the year 1619; being a number of plates by Merian, with letter-press descriptive of them."—Watt's Bibl. Brit.
The life of Merian is given by Sandrart, in hisAcademia Artis Pictoriæ. Strutt, in hisDictionary of Engravers, neglects to mention that Matthæus Merianus Basileensis was employed at Nancy, together with Brentel,A.D. 1608, in designingPompæ(funebres)Caroli III. Lotharingiæ Ducis. They are etched in a slight style, but with great spirit. The procession consists of a great many plates: these, bound up together with the description, make a large folio volume. I bought a copy six years ago. Can any of your readers inform me whether there is another in England?
BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.
—I have just accidentally stumbled upon my promised note on this subject; and as it appears to be entirely different from any yet offered to you, I gladly send it for the information of your correspondents. I copied it from an old scrap-book:
"The Scotch Thistle.—The origin of the national badge is thus handed down by tradition:—When the Danes invaded Scotland it was deemed unwarlike to attack an enemy in the darkness of night, instead of a pitched battle by day: but, on one occasion the invaders resolved to avail themselves of stratagem; and in order to prevent their tramp from being heard, they marched barefooted. They had thus neared the Scottish force unobserved, when a Dane unluckily stepped with his foot upon a superbly prickled thistle, and uttered a cry of pain, which discovered the assailants to the Scots, who ran to their arms, and defeated the foe with great slaughter. The thistle was immediately adopted as the insignia of Scotland."
R. H.
—The practice of "bulling the barrel" or "cask," as mentioned by C. FORBES, is an every-day occurrence in the Navy. As soon as a rum cask is emptied, a few gallons of water are put into the cask (and it is struck down again into the spirit-room); this is done to keep the wood moist, and prevent it from shrinking, so as to keep the cask water-tight: this is called "bulling the cask;" and from the water receiving after some time a strong impregnation, which makes it really strong grog, salt water is used, though even the "salt-water bull," as it is called, when again poured out, has often proved too attractive for seamen to resist. Again, it is common to talk in the same way of "bulling a tea-pot," coffee-pot, &c.; that is, after the first "brew" has been exhausted, by adding fresh water, and boiling over again, to make a "second brew" from the old materials. This probably was derived from "bulling the cask;" but whether the "bulling" originally applied to the preserving the water-tight qualities of the cask, or to the making the "second brew," I cannot pretend to say, though I should define the present acceptation of the term "bulling" to be "the obtaining an impregnation from that which had been already used."
G. M. T. R. N.
—Mr. Bowles, in the introduction to hisLife of Bishop Ken, vol. i. p. xi. (Lond. 1830), expresses his thanks to the late Bishop of Bath and Wells "for the information contained in the MS. life of Ken's successor, Bishop Kidder;" and adds:
"This work, never printed, is a very curious and valuable document,preserved in the episcopal palace of Wells."
J. C. R.
—The story is told as of Wilkie at the Escurial by Southey inThe Doctor, vol. iii. p. 235.; also, with a fine compliment to the "British Painter," by Wordsworth, in one of the pieces published withYarrow Revisited(1835, pp. 305-6.). The coincidence with the note by Mr. Rogers—to whom, by the way, Wordsworth's volume is dedicated—haslong perplexed me. One is unwilling to suppose that the touching words ascribed to the two monks were a stock speech common to aged monks who have such pictures to show; but what better explanation is there? I believe that the first edition ofItalyappeared, not in 1830, as your correspondent supposes, but in 1822. Is the story to be found inthatedition?
J. C. R.
—Although my acquaintance with the language of the Cymri is very limited, I think that a knowledge of the cognate Erse or Gaelic enables me to make a shrewd guess at the meaning of the wordBlaen, prefixed to the names of so many farms in Wales. The Gaelic wordBaile, pronouncedBallé, signifies a town—the Scotchtoun—or farm, and, with the prepositionanorna—Anglicèof—is writtenBaile'n, pronouncedBallen: this, I think, is probably the same word asBlaen, and means, being interpreted, "the farm of." In the examples given by your correspondentα, the words affixed toBlaenare descriptive; many of them scarcely differ in sound from their Gaelic synonymse.g.Blaen-awenis the GaelicBaile'n abhuinn, pronouncedBallen avine, Ang. "the farm on, or of the river;"Blaen-argy—Gaelic,Baile'n airgiod, "the silver farm," or perhaps'n arguin, of strife;Blaen-angell—Gaelic,Baile'n aingeal, "angel farm";Blaen-y-foss—Gaelic,Baile-na-fois, pronouncedf[=o]sh, and synonymous with the Dutchlust, "leisure or pleasure farm;" andBlaen-nefern—Gaelic,Baile-na-fearn, "alder farm." In England these farms or towns would have been called respectively,Riverton,Silverton,Alderston, and so on. The same word, generally speltBally, forms part of the name of a very large proportion of the small towns and farms in Ireland.
W. A. C.
Ormsary.
—The verbto commit, in the sense used by Junius, was employed by Lord Chesterfield so far back as the year 1757. In a letter to his son (Nov. 26), his lordship, after instructing Mr. Stanhope what to say to one of the foreign ministers, directs him to send to his own court an account of what he had done:
"Tell them you thought the measure of such great importance that you could not help taking this little step towards bringing it about, but that you mentioned it only from yourself, and that you have notcommittedthem by it."
Lord Chesterfield'sLetters to his Sonwere not published until 1774, which will account for Walker ascribing to Junius the merit of introducing into the English language the French signification of the verbto commit.
WILLIAMCRAMP.
—As I asked a question relating to the Irish, perhaps I may be allowed the so-called Irish mode of answering it myself.
Beócherieis evidently derived fromBeóceraige, the islet of bee-hives, or bee-keepers (who were regularly appointed officers in Saxon England); but as I was utterly at a loss for the wordgent, I requested the opinion of Dr. Lèo, from whom I have received the following satisfactory reply:—
"The wordgentseems to be the same word as our Germangante, and the Scottishgauntree; i.e. atreewhich forms a stand for barrels, hives, &c. In several parts of Germany, where the culture of bees has, from distant periods, been carried on extensively, the hives are transported from one place to another according to the seasons: now in the forests, when the pine-trees are in flower; now in the fields, when the rape blossoms; then again in the woods, when the heather blossoms; and at last, when winter approaches, in the barn. A tree forms the stand for the bee-hive, and thatch protects it from the rain. Such a tree seems to be thebeócera-gent.
"In an old Glossary, the old high-German word,gantmari, is interpreted astignarius(i.e.faber tignarius, a carpenter). This word presupposes another wordgant, a beam or a rafter, probably equivalent to your Ang.-Sax.gent; and thusbeócera-gentwould be a beam upon which to stand bee-hives."
The question still remains, Why was the islet in question called Parva Hibernia?
B. WILLIAMS.
The Lodge, Hillingdon.
—This strange legend reminds me of the fine passage inCaractacus, of which I know not whether it is an original conception, or taken from any author:—