"That which is now a horse, even with a thought,Therackdislimns, and makes it indistinctAs water is in water."Ant. & Cleo.Act IV. Sc. 12.
"That which is now a horse, even with a thought,
Therackdislimns, and makes it indistinct
As water is in water."
Ant. & Cleo.Act IV. Sc. 12.
"Far swifter than the sailingrackthat gallopsUpon the wings of angry winds."Women Pleased, Act IV. Sc. 1.
"Far swifter than the sailingrackthat gallops
Upon the wings of angry winds."
Women Pleased, Act IV. Sc. 1.
"Shall I strayIn the middle air, and stayThe sailingrack?"Faithful Shepherdess, Act V. Sc. 1.
"Shall I stray
In the middle air, and stay
The sailingrack?"
Faithful Shepherdess, Act V. Sc. 1.
"But as we often see, against some storm,A silence in the heavens, therackstand still."Hamlet, Act II. Sc. 2.
"But as we often see, against some storm,
A silence in the heavens, therackstand still."
Hamlet, Act II. Sc. 2.
"The winds in the upper regions which move the clouds above (which we call therack)."Bacon,Naturall Historie.
Steevens, in reference to the last quotation, says, "I should explain the wordracksomewhat differently, by calling it 'the last fleeting vestige of the highest clouds, scarce perceptible on account of their distance and tenuity.' What was anciently called 'the rack' is now termed by sailorsthe scud." It is sufficiently obvious from the above what is meant by the word; but I now come to put the question, What authority had Horne Tooke for deriving it from Recan? It is, in fact, nothing more than a guess, the less probable as the word represents only an indirect result—not the clouds themselves, but a peculiar effect produced upon the clouds by the action of the winds. In another passage (in which I recognise the hand of Shakspeare) the formation of therackis employed as an illustration; and in this instance "reek" would hardly stand as a substitute for the verb used.
"I might perceive his eye in her eye lost,His ear to drink her sweet tongue's utterance;And chasing passion, like inconstant clouds,—That,rackt upon the carriage of the winds,Increase, and die,—in his disturbed cheeks."Edward III., Act II. Sc. 1.
"I might perceive his eye in her eye lost,
His ear to drink her sweet tongue's utterance;
And chasing passion, like inconstant clouds,—
That,rackt upon the carriage of the winds,
Increase, and die,—in his disturbed cheeks."
Edward III., Act II. Sc. 1.
From this it would appear that therackis literally that which has beenwrecked, and that it should be derived from wrac, past part. of wrikan,to wreak; in short, thatit isidentical with the word in theTempestin the general sense ofremains; in the present case, in its special application, meaning, as Steevens explains, "the last fleeting vestige[4]of the highest clouds" previous to their final disappearance. Had it ever been used with the general sense ofvapourorexhalation, or even generally fora cloudorthe clouds, the case would be different; but in fact, no examples can be produced by which it can be shown that such was ever its meaning; and in the absence of proof it will be noted as not a little remarkable that,notbeing used to representthe clouds, whichalready existin the form of vapour or exhalations, it is only employed when a word is required descriptive of an effect of theirdispersion.
[4]Indeed, the action of the winds is one and the same, whether upon clouds on the face of heaven, or upon bodies at sea; and thewrackof one and the other, broken into fragments, for a fleeting spaceremains behindto tell the tale.
SAMUELHICKSON.
—There is a class of persons who fall under this denomination, and to whom the following lines may give a useful hint. Doubtless some of your correspondents, who are furnished with valuable libraries and works of reference, have suffered materially from a neglect of the rules herein laid down.
†.
Lines for the beginning of a Book.1."If thou art borrowed by a friend,Right welcome shall he be,To read, to study, not to lend,But to return to me.
Lines for the beginning of a Book.
1.
"If thou art borrowed by a friend,
Right welcome shall he be,
To read, to study, not to lend,
But to return to me.
2."Not that imparted knowledge dothDiminish learning's store;But books I find, if often lent,Return to me no more.
2.
"Not that imparted knowledge doth
Diminish learning's store;
But books I find, if often lent,
Return to me no more.
3."Read slowly, pause frequently,Think seriously, return duly,With the corners of the leaves not turned down."
3.
"Read slowly, pause frequently,
Think seriously, return duly,
With the corners of the leaves not turned down."
—Will you permit me to ask the reason of the absurd, and sometimes inconvenient, custom of substitutingIforJin MS. spelling of the names John, James, Jane, &c.? If it be correct in MS., why is it not equally correct in print? Let us, then, just see how the names would read in print with suchspelling:Iohn,Iames,Iane, &c.! Besides, if it be correct to putIforJin John, it must, of course, be equally correct to putJforIinIsaac, and to turn it intoJsaac. Indeed, if you happen in a subscription list, or a letter, or anything else intended for the press, to write in the MS. the letterI(whichrightlystands as the initial inthatcase), as the initial of some person namedIsaac, it is ten to one but the compositor substitutesJin its place in print. I have found SirI.Newton in my MS. thus metamorphosed into SirJ.Newton in print. I see in "The Clergy List" more than one name which ought to beI, turned into aJ. Now, Sir, it is folly to pretend thatIandJare synonymous letters, or that they express the same meaning, unless we are prepared to allowIsaacto be spelt with aJorI, according to the writer's pleasure or caprice. May I, then, be permitted to ask whether it is not high time for every one towriteIwhen hemeansI, and towriteJwhen hemeansJ? If compositors would alwaysprintMSS.as they are written in this particular, the palpable absurdity of puttingIforJwould, I am sure, soon be evident to all, and soon shame people out of the fashion. What ifUandVwere treated with as little ceremony asIandJ? So it once was. Thus T. Rogers, in his work on the Thirty-nine Articles,A.D. 1586, will furnish an example. In it we read: "Such is the estate principally of infants electedvnto life, and saluation, and increasing in yeers." But this old-fashioned mode of spelling has long become obsolete: may the substitution ofIforJsoon become the same.
C. D.
—A son of Daniel shines in Pope'sDunciad. Does the following notice refer to a son of that son? It is extracted from an old Wiltshire paper:
"On the 2 Jan. 1771, two young men, John Clark and John Joseph De Foe, said to be a grandson to the celebrated author of theTrue Born Englishman, &c., were executed at Tyburn for robbing Mr. F——, the banker, of a watch and a trifling sum of money on the highway."
And the writer then proceeds to moralise on the inequality of that code of laws, which could visit with death the author of a burglary committed on another man, who, by the failure of his bank, had recently produced an unexampled scene of distress, in the ruin of many families, and was yet suffered to go scatheless.
My next notice, which is also extracted from a Wiltshire paper, is dated 1836.
"In a street adjoining Hungerford Market, there is now living, 'to fortune and to fame unknown,' the great-grandson of the author ofRobinson Crusoe. His trade is that of a carpenter, and he is much respected in the neighbourhood. His father, a namesake of this great progenitor, was for many years a creditable tradesman in the old Hungerford Market."
Has it ever been noticed by bibliographers that theHistory of Robert Drury, which came out the year beforeRobinson Crusoe, may have had an equal share with Alexander Selkirk's story in forming the basis of De Foe's narrative?
WILTONIENSIS.
—During a visit to Bolingbroke, a village in Lincolnshire, the birth-place of Henry IV., the rapidity of the little stream, so unusual in a county remarkable for the sluggishness of its waters, suggested to me the probable origin of the name,bowling brook; "bowling along," and "running at a bowling pace," being not uncommon expressions. Here then, if we cannot meet with "sermons in stones" amongst the few vestiges of the castle, and in the church with its beautiful decorated windows, the heads of which are so disgracefully blocked up with plaster, we may "find books in the running brooks," and learn that "proud Bolingbroke" owed his appellation to this insignificant babbling rivulet.
C. T.
—Now that we hear no more of Bloomerism, a feeble attempt has been made to introduce a spurious scion of the defunct nuisance, almost as masculine, and to the full as ugly. I have but little fear of its gaining ground, having full confidence in the good taste of our countrywomen: but it will be curious to see what our ancestors of the seventeenth century thought of the wearers of the aforesaid garment. Vide the Glossary to Beaumont and Fletcher'sWorks:
"WAISTCOATEERS. Strumpets; a kind of waistcoat was peculiar to that class of females."
Verbum non amplius addam.
W. J. BERNHARDSMITH.
Temple.
—Professor De Morgan, in his useful List of Works on Arithmetic, published in 1847, enters one, under the date 1596, with the following title: "The Pathway to Knowledge, written in Dutch, and translated into English by W. P., 4to." To this he notes:
"The translator gives the following verses, which are now well known. I suspect he is the author of them, having never seen them at an earlier date. Mr. Halliwell, who is more likely than myself to have found them if they existed very early, names no version of them earlier than 1635:—
"'Thirtie daies hath September, Aprill, June and November,Febuarie eight and twentie alone, all the rest thirtie and one.'"
"'Thirtie daies hath September, Aprill, June and November,
Febuarie eight and twentie alone, all the rest thirtie and one.'"
Now it seems to me noteworthy to be recorded in your pages, that these lines, so familiar to us all from childhood, appear in a more complete shape in Harrison'sDescription of Britaineprefixed tothe first edition of Holinshed'sChronicles of England, &c., 1577, where at p. 119. the writer says:
"Agayne touching the number of dayes in every moneth:
"'Junius, Aprilis, Septemq; Novemq; tricenosUnū plus reliqui, Februytenet octo vicenos,At si bissextus fuerit superadditur unus.'
"'Junius, Aprilis, Septemq; Novemq; tricenos
Unū plus reliqui, Februytenet octo vicenos,
At si bissextus fuerit superadditur unus.'
"'Thirty dayes hath November,Aprill, June and September,Twentie and eyght hath February alone,And all the rest thirty and one,But in the leape you must adde one.'"
"'Thirty dayes hath November,
Aprill, June and September,
Twentie and eyght hath February alone,
And all the rest thirty and one,
But in the leape you must adde one.'"
A. GRAYAN.
—In the north of Lincolnshire the sore mouth with which babies are often troubled is calledthe frog. And it is a common practice with mothers to hold a real live frog by one of its hind legs, and allow it to sprawl about within the mouth of a child so afflicted. Is the same remarkable custom known elsewhere?
The disease is properly calledthe thrush, and bears some resemblance to the disorder of the same name which affectsthe frogof the horse's foot. I wish someone would unravel this entanglement.
W. S.
North Lincolnshire.
—Some time since, a woman refused to be sworn because she was in the family way. InThe Timesof the 5th March, a woman at Chelmsford is represented as having said: "I swear this positively on the condition I am in, being about to become a mother?"
Can anybody explain these facts?
A. C.
—I wish to inquire what is supposed to be the origin of begging apples, &c., on St. Clement's Day, and money (formerly wheat) on St. Thomas's? There is hardly any trace left of the former saint's day in this neighbourhood (Worcestershire, on the border of Staffordshire), but I have had convincing proofto-daythat St. Thomas is not forgotten, for we have had plenty of visitors,tomorrowbeing Sunday.
T. GOLDSEER.
Dec. 20. 1851.
In a biographical notice (MS.) of Speaker Lenthall by the Rev. Mark Noble, I find the following passage:
"His (Lenthall's) ancestor is mentioned in the will of Sir Richard WilliamsaliasCromwell. Sir Richard was the great-grandfather of Oliver Lord Protector. There was always a friendship between the family of Cromwell and that of Lenthall."
Can any one versed in Cromwellian lore kindly inform me if any such will is in existence; and if so, what is its date? I should be glad to know too if there is any further authority for the statement in the text, that there wasalwaysa friendship between the Cromwells and Lenthalls, assuming such friendship to have subsisted anterior to the days of the Commonwealth.
It is stated by Wood (Athen. Oxon., articleLENTHALL), and repeated in substance by Noble in hisProtectoral House of Cromwell, that "two or more" of the Speaker's son, Sir John Lenthall's speeches, "spoken in the time of usurpation," are in print. Having hitherto failed in discovering any trace of these speeches, I should greatly value any clue that may direct me to them if still extant. On Noble's authority, when unsupported, of course little reliance can be placed; but in any matter of detail, or pure and simple fact, related by Wood, I have considerable, though not altogether implicit, faith.
In a brief and singularly inaccurate memoir of Lenthall, in theLives of the Speakers, lately published by Churton, the following passage occurs:
"We omitted to state in reference to Mr. Lenthall's strenuous exertions in favour of the gallant Earl of Derby, that Mrs. Cromwell, in one of her letters to the Protector, urges him to endeavour to effect a reconciliation with the Speaker," &c. &c.
As no authority is cited, I should be glad to learn where the letters of Mrs. Cromwell thus referred to are to be found. Are they in print or MS.? If any of your readers should be able to enlighten me in respect of all or any of the above Queries, and would kindly do so either through the medium of the Notes, or to my address as below, I should be greatly obliged.
F. KYFFINLENTHALL.
36. Mount Street, Grosvenor Square.
I find that Robert Roper, Esq., of Heanor Hall, co. Derby, married ... daughter of William Nott, Esq., of Imbercourt, co. Surrey, and had issue, with other children, Rebecca; married first Sir William Villiers, Bart., of Brooksby, co. Leicester, elder brother of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham; and secondly Capt. Francis Cave of Ingarsby Hall, co. Leicester.
Can any one of your readers supply me with the Christian name of Robert Roper's wife; and with the names of his other issue: also whether the representation of this branch of the Roper family has devolved upon the descendants of Rebecca Cave? I find in my mem. book a reference to Dodsw. MSS. inBibl. Bodl.41. fol. 70., which I have no means of consulting at present.
I find that William Notte, with Elizabeth his wife, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, are buried at Thames Ditton, co. Surrey. Manning and Bray'sSurrey, vol. i. p. 463., contains the following passage:
"On a stone, or brass plates, are the portraits of a man kneeling at a table, and of a woman: behind the man are three sons; behind the woman, three daughters all kneeling, and underneath:
"'Here under lyeth the bodies of Robert Smythe, Gent., and Katheryn his wife, daughter to Sir Thomas Blount of Kinlett, Knyght, which Robert dyed the 3rd daye of Sept. 1539, and the sayd Katheryn dyed the x day of July, 1549.'
"Below these, on the same stone, are also the portraits of a man with fourteen sons behind him; and a woman with five daughters, all kneeling; and underneath:
"'Here under lyeth the bodies of William Notte, Esquyre, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter to the above-named Robert Smyth, and Katheryn his wyfe; whiche William dyed the 25th day of Nov. 1576, and the sayd Elizabeth dyed the xv day of May, 1587.'
"Above are the arms, Notte, on a bend between 3 leopards heads one and two, 3 martlets; crest, an otter with a fish in his mouth in a tussock of reeds.'"
Can any one of your readers refer me to any notice or pedigree of this family of Notte, who were lords of the manor of Imbercourt in the parish of Thames Ditton?
Can any one tell me to what family this Robert Smythe belonged? Was he one of the Smythes of Ostenhanger in Kent? Was his wife Katheryne too the daughter of Sir Thomas Blount by the daughter of Sir Richard Crofts of Eldersfield? The History of the Croke family does not notice her existence. And, lastly, would some one on the spot kindly inform me, whether the above-mentioned brasses are still extant, and in sufficiently perfect condition to admit of a rubbing being taken of them?
TEWARS.
—Can any of your readers favour me with information in regard to any seals of suffragan bishops in England, besides that which is engraved in theArchæologia, vol. vii.? Any references or notices on the subject of suffragans would be thankfully received, which may not be included in the observations collected by Dr. Pegge.
ALBERTWAY.
—I should feel much indebted to any of your correspondents who will inform me what is the true etymon of this word—the strict meaning of the term originally—and when first used in our language?
However trifling this Query may at first sight appear, yet I am very anxious to ascertain whether, originally, the term was applied exclusively or principally to deadly agents operating on the bodythrough the skin, or an external wound, and not through the stomach?
The Greek word Toxicon is rendered "venenum," quod barbarorumsagittæeo illinebantur (Vide Diosc. Lib.VI.cap. XX.) Again, Iòs, jaculum, sagitta. Item,venenum, quod serpentes et cætera animalia venenata ejaculatur. Horace uses the words "pusatque venenum," not to express two different things, but merely to add force and point to his satire; just as in like manner we read "crafts and subtleties" in the Liturgy, or "a thief and a robber" in the Scripture.
Now, is it not probable that our word "poison" takes its origin from this "pus?"
CARBO.
—In theCriticof February 2, 1852, p. 78., there is an excellent letter, written by a lady, in defence of female doctors. In this letter Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., is mentioned with great respect. It appears, from theCriticof January 15, p. 45., that Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell is an American lady, and graduated in some American university, and that she was received with distinguished marks of attention both in London and Paris, and especially at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Can any of your correspondents favour us with a biography of this lady, and state in what university, and when she graduated?
SOB.
—In Worcester Cathedral is a marble monument to the memory of "Martha,[5]Countess of Middleton, who died the 9th of February, 1705, aged 71."
Can any of your readers inform me who this lady was? I have been unable to find her name in any of the pedigrees within any reach.
J. B. WHITBORNE.
[5]The name isDorothyin Valentine Green'sHistory of Worcester, vol. i. p. 149.—ED.
—The latter officer, the sheriff, claims precedency over the Queen's representative, the lord lieutenant, in the county, whilst in office. It seems contrary to all reason, but will any of your legal friends state upon what authority such precedence is maintained; and in what instances they know that, when present, the lord lieutenant has ranked below the sheriff?
L. I.
—Mr. W. F. Skene, in hisHighlanders, quotesAri Frodaor Arius Multiscius for the assertion, that the Hebrides were occupied, on the departure of Harold Harfagr, "by Vikingr Skotar, a term which is an exact translation of the appellation Gallgael" (vol. ii. p. 27.). That is true, on the assumption thatVikingrisnot Icelandic for pirate, but only for Scandinavian pirate; which assumption I should doubt.
But I wish to be informed in what edition ofAri Froda, and at what page thereof, the words Vikingr Skotar may be found.
A. N.
—Will you allow me to call MR. LOWER'Sattention to a passage in hisEnglish Surnames, vol. ii. p. 122., 3rd edition, which he has passed over without comment, but which struck me as requiring some editorial notice:
"The motto of John Wells, last abbot of Croyland, engraved upon his chair, which is still extant, is:
"'Benedicite Fontes, Domine.'"'Bless the Wells, O Lord!'"
"'Benedicite Fontes, Domine.'
"'Bless the Wells, O Lord!'"
Reading "Domino" for "Domine" would make the first line of this inscription plain enough, as a quotation from the canticle "Benedicite, omnia opera;" but what are we to think of the second line? Could not the worthy abbot have given the pun upon his name in English, without using those particular words, or placing them in such a position that they actuallylookas if they were intended as a translation, word for word, of their Latin companions, in defiance of all the laws of grammar?
C. FORBES.
Temple.
—Why and when was the custom of eating apple sauce with pork first introduced?
BONIFACE.
—In Shinar, or the province of Babylon, are the mountains of Singares, and the city and river of Singara. Have they anything to do with the origin of Zingari, the Italian name for gipsies?
L. M. M. R.
—Why do secretaries to provincial gas companies call small pieces of cokebreezes; and why do they by letters offer to sell "breezesat tenpenceper sack?" My residence is not far distant from the works of one of theseÆoliangas companies; and when the wind is in the east, I inhalebreezeswhich my senses tell me do not blow from "Araby the blest."
X. Y. Z.
—The clerk in a parish in the north-west part of Sussex frequently makes use of an expression which I cannot understand,—nay more, he is unable to explain it himself! The expression is used by several of the old men in the parish, though by none of them so often as by the clerk. "Well, master, how are ye to-day?" He answers, "Middling, thanky'eand tye." He brings these two words in at the end of most sentences. If you ask him whether there are many people in the church, he will say, "Fairish numberand tye;" or, "No, not manyand tye."
Can any of your correspondents say if they have heard it elsewhere, or tell the meaning of it?
NEDLAM.
—Is any MS. of this dramatic pastoral known to exist? It was acted, according to Wood, before the President and Fellows of St. John's College, Oxford, in 1635.
EDWARDF. RIMBAULT.
—A gold ring was found in France, in the province of Artois, between thirty and forty years ago, bearing the following inscription:
"buro + berto + beriora."
"buro + berto + beriora."
The ring is of a proper size for a man's finger, is plain, and rounded on the outside. The words are on the inner side, which is flat. They are well engraved, and very distinct. The character is the black letter of the fifteenth century. Perhaps, through the medium of "N. & Q.," a satisfactory interpretation of the three words may be obtained, which has been long sought in vain.
A. F. A. W.
—"Deaths by Fasting," and "Genevra's Chest," have reminded me of another tradition, no doubt equally groundless. It is said by the vergers that one of the circular windows in the transepts of Lincoln Minster was designed by an apprentice; and that the master, mortified at being surpassed, put an end to his own existence. There is another "'prentice window" at Melrose: a similar anecdote is connected with two pillars in Roslyn Chapel. And there may have been many more of these clever apprentices and foolish architects, but can one case be substantiated?
C. T.
—In George Agar Hansard'sBook of Archery, 8vo. London, Longman and Orme, 1840, p. 151., it is stated that "Her Gracious Majesty, Alexandrina Victoria" has her name inscribed upon theArcher Rolls. Query, what are the Archer Rolls?
It is further said:
"That illustrious lady, in imitation of the warrior race of monarchs from whom she springs, has given a proof of real British feeling, by the appointment of a Master of Archery among her household officers."
I confess I can find no authority upon which this assertion is founded. I have looked into the Calendar of the time, and have consulted officers of the present household upon the existence of the office, without success.
I should be glad to ascertain the point, being engaged on a manuscript concerning the practice of archery.
TOXOPHILUS.
—In theQuarterlyfor March 1852, in the article on "Sir Roger de Coverley," mention is made of "Mrs. Hicks and her daughter," who were executed at Huntingdon in 1716 for "selling their souls to the devil, making their neighbour vomit pins, and raising a storm by which a certain shipwasalmostlost." I would wish to know whether there is extant any account of this trial; I do not mean of theresult, but whether I can anywhere meet with any account of the trial itself; of the judge before whom it was tried; the evidence, especially as to the ship which wasalmostlost; and whether (what was observed upon in the answer of your correspondent H. B. C. to some Queries about "Old Booty's Ghost") the time of the crime being committed in Huntingdonshire, agrees with the position of the ship at the moment.
J. H. L.
University Club.
—In 4 Henry V. (1417) Sir Hugh Burnell, a descendant of Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Lord Chancellor in the reign of Edward I., entered into articles of agreement with Sir Walter Hungerford (through the King's mediation by letters) for the marriage of Margery, one of Sir Hugh's grandchildren, to Edmund Hungerford, son of Sir Walter. There was issue of this marriage, as I find by a fine levied by Antony Hungerford in the 32nd of Henry VIII.; but any further information respecting this family I am not able to meet with. If any of your correspondents can assist me in my inquiries I shall feel much obliged.
W. H. HART.
New Cross, Hatcham.
—Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." favour me with some particulars regarding the ancestry of the Rev. William Dawson, minister of the Gospel at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who was appointed Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental languages in the University of Edinburgh in 1732? He is supposed to have been descended from the Irish family of Cremorne.
E. N.
—Is there authority for the "Up, Guards, and at them!" traditionally put in the mouth of "the Duke" at Waterloo? I have heard not.
A. A. D.
P.S. Is not the battle itself a myth?
—I much wish some of the readers of "N. & Q." would refer me to any authorities they may know of respecting St. Botolph?
Private hints directed "A. B., Mr. Morton's, Publisher, Boston," will be most thankfully received.
A. B.
—In the year 1333, it appears fromThe Custom Book, fol. 60., that the then Sheriff of Norfolk sent a copy of the king's proclamation to the Bailiffs of Norwich, commanding them to cause proclamation to be made in the city that "no man presume to take more than 24s.for the best living ox fatted with grain, and if not fatted with grain only 16s.; the best fat cow 12s.; the best fat swine of two years old, only 4s.; the best fat mutton unclipped, 20d.; and if clipped, then 14d.; a fat goose, 2d.; two pullets, 1d.; four pigeons, 1d.; a good fat capon, 2d.; a fat hen, 1d.; and twenty-four eggs, 1d." Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." inform me what was thethenyearly (average) rental of an acre of arable land, and the value per annum of an acre (average) of pasture? Also the relative value of one shilling sterling, as compared with one shilling at the present time?
JOHNFAIRFAXFRANCKLIN.
West Newton.
—Can any of your correspondents inform me in what Greek authorἱμάτιον ἀνήρ, "the dress shows the man," is to be found?
W. S.
Richmond, Surrey.
—Can any of your readers help me to identify the Gilbert Burnet, whose correspondence with Professor Francis Hutcheson on the Foundation of Virtue was published, first inThe London Journal, and afterwards in a separate pamphlet, in 1735? Was he Gilbert son of Bishop Burnet, or was he the vicar of Coggeshall, who abridged theBoyle Lectures; or was he a third Gilbert Burnet, in addition to the other two?
TYRO.
Dublin.
—It has been the belief of many that the burial at Westminster Abbey was a mock ceremony, that in case a change in the ruling powers should take place, his remains were deposited in a place of greater security, and that the spot selected for his grave was the field of Naseby. The author ofThe Compleat History of Englandspeaks of a "Mr. Barkstead, the regicide's son," as being ready to depose—
"That the said Barkstead his father, being Lieutenant of the Tower, and a great confident of Cromwell's, did, among other such confidents, in the time of his illness, desire to know where he would be buried; to which the Protector answered, 'where he had obtained the greatest victory and glory, and as nigh the spot as could be guessed where the heat of the action was, viz. in the field at Naseby in com. Northampton.' That at midnight, soon after his death, the body (being first embalmed and wrapt in a leaden coffin) was in a hearse conveyed to the said field, Mr. Barkstead himself attending, by order of his father, close to the hearse. That being come to the field, they found about the midst of it a grave dug about nine feet deep, with the green-sod carefully laid on one side and the mould on the other, in which the coffin being put, the grave was instantly filled up, and the green-sod laid exactly flat upon it, care being taken that the surplus mould should be clean removed. That soon after the like care was taken that the ground should be ploughed up, and that it was sowed successively with corn."
The author further states that the deponent was about fifteen years old at the time of Cromwell's death.
Some seven or eight years ago I visited the field of Naseby, and whilst there I met by accident with the aged clergyman of Naseby. Our conversation naturally referred to the historical incident that had given so much interest to the spot; and finally we spoke of this very subject. I remember his telling me that he had collected some very important memoranda relative to this matter, I think he said, "which proved the arrival of his remains atHuntingdon, on their roadelsewhere."
Has this subject been properly investigated? and has any research been made which has led to a satisfactory decision of the question?
A. B.
Islington.
—QUÆRENSwould be glad to know whether any of the Knollys family, claimants of the earldom of Banbury, married either anEtheridgeor aBlackwell?
Also, especially, who were the wives of Major-General William Knollys, calling himself eighth Earl of Banbury, and of his father, Thomas Woods Knollys, calling himself seventh earl.
[Thos. Woods Knollys, called Earl of Banbury (father of the last claimant to the Earldom of Banbury), married Mary, daughter of William Porter of Winchester, attorney-at-law; he died the 18th March, 1793; and she, 23rd March, 1798.
Their eldest son, William Knollys, called in his father's lifetime Viscount Wallingford, and afterwards Earl of Banbury, married ——, daughter of Ebenezer Blackwell.]
—I enclose a rude drawing of a halfpenny, and should be glad to be favoured with a more detailed account of its emblematical import than I at present possess. It is thus described in Conder'sProvincial Coins, Ipswich, 1798, p. 213.:
"A square of daggers, the word 'fire' at each corner, a foot in the middle, under it the word 'honor;' over it 'France,' and the word 'throne' bottom upwards; on one side 'glory' defaced, on the other 'religion' divided. 'A Map of France,' 1794."
On reverse, in a radiation, "May Great Britain ever remain the reverse," encircled with an open wreath of oak. Engrailed.
PETROPROMONTORIENSIS.
[The types here described appear to explain themselves. That of the obverse is clearly emblematical of the then state of France, with France surrounded by fire and sword, honour trodden under foot, the throne overturned, religion shattered, and glory defaced; while the reverse expresses a very natural wish.]
—Will any of your correspondents refer me to any collections of proverbs of different nations, or to writers who may have given lists of those of any particular people, either ancient or modern?
SIGMA.
[To answer our correspondent fully would fill an entire Number of "N. & Q." We had thought of giving him a list of the best collections of the proverbs of different nations, as Le Roux de Lincy'sLivre des Proverbes Français; Korte'sDie Sprichwörter und Sprichwörtlichen Redensarten der Deutschen; but we shall be doing him better service by referring him to two books, in which we think he will find all the information of which he is in search; viz., 1. Nopitsch,Literatur der Sprichwörter; and 2. Duplessis,Bibliographie Parémiologique. Etudes Bibliographiques et Litéraires sur les Ouvrages, Fragmens d'Ouvrages et Opuscules spécialement consacrés aux Proverbes dans toutes les langues.]
—An armiger had two wives, and issue by both: by the first, sons; by the second, who was anheiress, daughters only. Have the descendants of the second marriage right to quarter the ancestor's arms, male issue of the first marriage still surviving? It would seem that they have, as otherwise the arms of the heiress' family cannot be transmitted to her posterity, nor the heraldic representation carried on.
G. A. C.
[The daughter of armiger by his second wife would of course quarter her mother's arms with those of her father. In case of the daughter marrying and having issue, such issue, to show that the grandmother was an heiress, would, with their paternal crest, quarter those of the grandmother, placing the arms of armiger on a canton.]
—I have just had placed before me a memorandum to the effect that "there is at Leyden the perfect and undoubted original of Chantrey's celebrated figures of the children at Lichfield." The reference is to Poynder'sLiterary Extracts, Second Series, p. 63. As I have not seen the book, and have no access to it, will some correspondent of "N. & Q." inform me whether the foregoing passage contains the whole of Poynder's statement; or otherwise afford any information relative to its origin? I need scarcely add, that the reputation of the great English sculptor is nowise involved in the issue of the question.
D.
[We subjoin the whole of Mr. Poynder's article, which is signed "Miscellaneous:"—"There is at Leyden the perfect and undoubted original of Chantrey's celebrated figures of the children at Lichfield; and on a friend of the writer mentioning the circumstance to that artist, he did not deny the fact. The figures form the foreground of a celebrated painting in the Town-hall, commemorating the heroic conduct of a former defender of that city, when it was reduced by famine to the greatest extremities. On this occasion the citizens are represented as earnestly importuning the governor to surrender, and representing their deplorable condition from the effects of the siege. Many dying figures are introduced into the painting, andamong them the children in question are seen locked in each other's arms, precisely as in the sculpture at Lichfield. The story proceeds to relate, that the commander declared he would never surrender the city; and added, that whether his fellow-citizens chose to hang him, or throw him into the dyke, he was determined never to open the gates to such a monster as the Duke of Alva. It is further stated, that the providential relief of the city by some troops of his own side rewarded his courage."]
—In 1785,Institutes, Political and Military, of the Emperor Timour(incorrectly called Tamerlane), were published at Calcutta, printed by Daniel Stuart. This work, which may more properly be named autobiographical memoranda, written by Timour, was composed by him originally in the Turkish language, and translated by Abu Taulib Alhusseini into Persian, and by Major Davy into English, to which Dr. Joseph White, of Oxford, added notes; and other matter was affixed by a person whose name is not given. The rules for carrying to a successful result great enterprises are profound and dignified, and the enterprises extraordinary and interesting, though only given in outline. This part ends with the capture of Bagdat (d?). I wish to know if there exists an accredited translation from the original by Timour in the Turkish, and of what more this extraordinary work consists; and if any part, or all, has ever been printed in England, or in any European language?
ÆGROTUS.
[In the year 1787, the late Professor Langlés of Paris published a French translation of theInstitutes, under the title ofInstituts Politiques et Militaires de Tamerlane, proprement appellé Timour, écrits par lui-même en Mogol, et traduits en François sur la version Persane d'Abou Taleb al Hosseini, avec la Vie de ce Conquerant, &c. And in 1830 another English translation was published by Major Charles Stewart, late Professor of Oriental Languages in Hon. E. I. Company's College, entitled,The Mulfuzāt Timūr, or Autobiographical Memoirs of the Moghul Emperor Timūr. In the Preface to this edition our correspondent will find an interesting bibliographical account of the work and its various translations.]
I am somewhat of opinion that your correspondent PETROPROMONTORIENSISis correct, about this nobleman being bybirththe first subject in Scotland, only he has apparently omitted the word "hereditary" before those of Great Constable of Scotland, or Lord High Constable of Scotland. Indeed, some writers make himby birth, not only the first subject in Scotland, but also in England. Dr. Anderson, the learned and laborious editor ofThe Bee, at p. 306. of vol. v. of that publication, in the article on James, Earl of Erroll, who died 3rd June, 1778, says:
"As to rank, in his lordship's person were united the honours of Livingston, Kilmarnock, and Erroll. As hereditary High Constable of Scotland, Lord Erroll isby birththe first subject in Great Britain, after the blood royal, and, as such, had a right to take place of every hereditary honour. The Lord Chancellor, and the Lord High Constable of England, do indeed take precedence of him, but these are only temporary honours which no man can lay claim toby birth; so that,by birth, Lord Erroll ranks, without a doubt, as the first subject of Great Britain, next after the Princes of the blood royal."
It would appear that the personal appearance of Earl James was in good keeping with his high rank. He was accounted the handsomest man in Britain, and at the coronation of George III. he attended in his robes, and by accident neglected to take off his cap when the king entered. He apologised for his negligence in the most respectful manner; but his majesty, with great complacency, entreated him to be covered, as he looked upon his presence at the solemnity as a very particular honour.
The Earl of Erroll's charter of appointment to this high office, is dated at Cambuskenneth, 12th November, anno 1316; and is still preserved in the charter room of the family seat, Slains Castle, Cruden, Aberdeenshire. The youthful inheritor of this high office is the Right Honourable William Harry, Earl of Erroll, Baron Hay of Slains, Baron Kilmarnock of Kilmarnock, in the county of Ayr, Captain in the Rifle Brigade, born in 1823, succeeded his father, seventeenth Earl, in 1846.
INVERURIENSIS.
Although not affording answers to the Queries in Vol. iv., p. 438.et infra, the following may not be uninteresting to your correspondent. There is much concerning Wolfe in theHistorical Journal of Campaigns in North America, by Captain Knox, dedicated by permission to Sir Jeffery Amherst, who commanded that part of the expedition against Canada which, striking on the lower end of Lake Ontario, descended the St. Lawrence to Montreal, whilst Wolfe, ascending the river, operated against Quebec. Thus it appears that General and Sir Jeffery Amherst were one and the same person. The frontispiece to the 1st vol. is a portrait of General Amherst, that of vol. 2nd is a portrait of General Wolfe; both so characteristic, that I should presume they are likenesses, although no authority is given.
In 1828, I saw at Quebec the man who attended Wolfe as orderly-serjeant on the day of his death;and what may be considered a curious coincidence was, that he bore the same name as Wolfe's mother, viz. Thompson. Mr. Thompson was a very respectable and much-respected old man; and, I believe, was occasionally a guest at the Governor's table. He had a son in the Commissariat department, who is no doubt in possession of all his father knew concerning Wolfe.
According to Mr. Thompson, Wolfe always addressed his men "brother soldiers;" and their pet-name for him was, "The little red-haired corporal." Thompson was not the only remnant of Wolfe's army in 1828, as appears by the following:—
"General Orders, Head Quarters, Quebec, 7th Aug. 1828.
"1. The Commander of the Forces is pleased to authorise the payment of a pension, at the rate of 1s.per diem from 25th May last, to Robert Simpson, a veteran, now ninety-six years of age, who fought on the plains of Abraham under Gen. Wolfe," &c. &c.
On the 12th Jan. 1829, died at Kingston, U. C., John Gray of Argyleshire, N. B., aged ninety-six. He had served at Louisburg, Quebec, &c. &c. under Sir Jeffery Amherst and General Wolfe.
A. C. M.
Exeter.
I send the following extracts from the newspapers respecting Wolfe, scarcely knowing whether it may be worth while. Such as they are, they are at your service:—
"Hoc ultimum opus virtutis edens in victoria cœsus."
"To the highest military merit undoubtedly belongs the highest applause, but setting aside the froth of panegyrick—
"Who formed the 20th regt. of foot, exemplary in the field of Minden, only by practising what was familiar to them?
"Who at Rochefort offered to make a good landing, not asking how many were the French, but where are they?
"Who, second then in command, was second to none in those laborious dangers which reduced Louisburgh?
"Who wrote like Cæsar from before Quebec?
"Who, like Epaminondas, died in victory?
"Who never gave his country cause of complaint except by his death?
"Who bequeathed Canada as a triumphant legacy?
"Proclaim, 'twas WOLFE!"—Newcastle Courant, Oct. 27, 1759.
"The late brave General Wolfe was to have been married on his return to England to a sister of Sir James Lowther, a young lady whose immense fortune is her least recommendation. She had shown so much uneasiness at the thoughts of his making his campaign in America, that nothing but the call of honour could have prevailed with him to accept of that command in the discharge of which he fell so gloriously."—N. C. Journal, 1759.
"His mother is, we hear, so much afflicted for the loss of her son that 'tis feared she will never get the better of her disorders. The inhabitants in her neighbourhood sympathised with her so much that they did not make any public rejoicings, lest it should add to her grief. Even the mob of London discovered by their behaviour the night of the illuminations for the victory, what they felt for so brave a man.