"And poor Mrs. Wright,Was in a great fright,For she swore that night,She saw a great light."
"And poor Mrs. Wright,
Was in a great fright,
For she swore that night,
She saw a great light."
Again—
"She felt a great heatCome thro' to her feet,As she sat herself downIn the black rod seat."
"She felt a great heat
Come thro' to her feet,
As she sat herself down
In the black rod seat."
I wish very much to find out this poem, or whatever else it may be called; can you assist me? I am told it was published in one of the weeklypapers at the time, probably theSunday TimesorDispatch.
T. B.
Exeter.
—In 1813, Leigh and Sotheby sold the books of Mrs. Anne Newton, professing to contain the collection of Newton's own books. As it is fully believed that nopersonalproperty of Newton descended to any relatives of his name, how is this pretension explained? The statement is copied from Sotheby's catalogue of sales into Hartwell Horne'sBibliography, and will be credited at a future time, if not now called in question.
M.
—What is the meaning of the wordRoyd, which is attached to the names of so many persons and places in Yorkshire, as Ackroyd, Learoyd, Brownroyd, and Boltonroyd?
C. W.
—I have in my possession a document, which shows that my great-grandfather, "William Cromwell of London," mason, was admitted into
"The freedom aforesaid, and sworn in the Mayoralty of Thomas Wright, Esq., Mayor, and John Wilkes, Esq., Chamberlain; and is entered in the book signed with the letter A., relating to the purchasing of freedom and the admission of freemen, (to wit) the 4th day of April, in the 26th year of the reign of King George the Third, and in the year of our Lord 1786. In witness whereof," &c.
The parchment bears the initials "J. W."
I am anxious to learn, from some of your numerous correspondents, whether this person once lived near Bath, and then at Hammersmith? and, secondly, whether he was descended from the Protector?
J. G. C.
—Who was Sir John Darnell, whom did he marry, who were his father and mother, and what arms did he bear? His daughter Mary was married to the Hon. Robert Ord, Lord Chief Baron of Scotland (alive in 1773). Any other particulars regarding his family will be gratefully received by
E. N.
—Can you inform me when, and under what circumstances, the use by royalty in Europe sprung up, of using the plural "we" instead of "I," the first person singular?
FRANCISJ. GRUBB.
—Mr. Macaulay, in one of his "Essays," remarks,
"The skill of the Spanish diplomatists was renowned throughout Europe. In England the name of Gondomar is still remembered."
True, oft have I heard of thee, Count Gondomar, and have read from time to time divers anecdotes of thy wit and wisdom, quips and quiddities. But is it not passing strange that this man, this Spanish Don, who, as is well known, exercised such a powerful influence over the weak-minded "Solomon of Whitehall," and who, moreover, bore so large a share in the murder of the brave and highly gifted Raleigh, should be excluded from a niche in the biographical temple; for such I am told is the case. Having deputed a friend to make search for me in the several biographical dictionaries, he reports that the name of Gondomar isnotto be found in the best book of the kind, theBiographie Universelle, nor in the dictionaries of Rose and Chalmers. This desideratum will, I confidently hope, ere long be supplied through the medium of "N. & Q.," by some of its learned contributors.
W. STANLEYSIMMONDS.
—At the sale of the library of Mr. Joseph Gulston, 1784, was sold a Journal of Mr. Nehemiah Wallington, a Puritan divine, written in the year 1630. This volume probably contains some curious matters respecting the Puritans of the day; and, as it is much desired, should any person know of its whereabouts, I should feel much obliged by a note of it.
R.
—Nicolas Oresmius, or d'Oresme, bishop of Lisieux, who died in 1382, wroteEpistola Luciferi ad prælatos Ecclesiæ, afterwards printed, Magd. 1549, 8vo., and in Wolf'sLect. Memor., vol. i. p. 654. So far Fabricius. Who was Lucifer? I mean, was he the potentate who goes by the opposite name of the Prince of Darkness? And what is the tenor of his letter? The bishop was a quiet man, of orthodox fame, and tutor to a king of France.
M.
—Being a collector of works on Druidical remains and Cambrian history, I shall feel greatly favoured if any of your numerous readers will answer me the following questions, viz.:—
1st. The name of the first book or commentaryprintedin any language abroad,previousto the introduction of printing into England, actually written by aCambrian?
2nd. The first bookprintedin the English language,actually writtenby a Cambrian then living?
3rd. The first and second booksprintedin England in theWelshlanguage?
4th. The first book printed in the Welsh language abroad?
5th. The first book printed in the Welsh language in Wales?
6th. The mostancient authorin MSS. and in print who mentions Stonehenge and Aubury; also the monument called Cromlêch?
7th. Who has on sale the most extensive collection of Welsh books, and those relating to British history?
P. B. W
7. Harrington Street, Regent's Park.
—As no professed Oriental scholar hasdirected any attention to this word yet, and as, although root in the words Karimat and Akram appears the same, the analogy toVCRIMDRis not very obvious, I may mention that on searching further I have found the adjectiveUcr, with the various meanings,weighty,precious,esteemed,honourable. I leave it to Orientalists to tell us ifVCRIMDRis a compound or an inflexion ofUcr. I regret that owing to a peculiarity in my handwriting, De Gauley was twice substituted for De Sauley in my last note, Vol. v., p. 149.
W. H. S.
Edinburgh.
"Oh, woman! thou wert born to blessThe heart of restless man; to chase his care;To charm existence by thy loveliness,Bright as a sunbeam—as the morning fair.If but thy foot trample on a wilderness,Flowers spring up and shed their roseate blossoms there."
"Oh, woman! thou wert born to bless
The heart of restless man; to chase his care;
To charm existence by thy loveliness,
Bright as a sunbeam—as the morning fair.
If but thy foot trample on a wilderness,
Flowers spring up and shed their roseate blossoms there."
Will any of your readers be kind enough to favour me with the completion of the above stanza, as well as to state who is the author of the same?
J. T.
—John Aubrey, the antiquary, in hisCollections for North Wilts, Part I. p. 51. (Sir Thomas Phillips's edition), describing the stained glass in Dauntsey Church, uses the following expression:
"Memorandum. The crescents in these coats: Therefore Sir John [Danvers] was not thepenkenol."
The word is correctly printed from the original MS. Can any of your readers explain its meaning?
J. E. J.
—On the right-hand side of the road between Tadcaster and Thorpe Arch, Yorkshire, extends the domain of the Fairfax family. The mansion, a comfortable old fashioned red-brick Tudor-looking structure, stands some two hundred yards back in the grounds through which, from the road to the front door of the house, extends a fine avenue of chestnuts, terminated at the roadside by a pair of venerable, rusty, and decaying iron gateswhich are kept closed; the entrance to the park being by a sort of side gateway of insignificant and field-like appearance further on. Can any of your readers give me the facts, or the local tradition which accounts for this peculiarity? I believe it is a family incident of somewhat historical interest, and a subject on which I am desirous of information.
G. W.
—In theLegal Observerof the 24th April, I find the following:
"LAWPROMOTION.—Mr. James Wilde has been appointed to the office ofPostman, in the Court of Exchequer. ThePostmanis the senior counsel without the bar attending the court, and has pre-audience of the attorney and solicitor-general in making the first motion upon the opening of the court. TheTubmanis the next senior counsel without the bar. ThePostmanandTubmanhave particular places assigned them by the Chief Baron in open court."
My Query is, from whence and at what date these two offices sprang into existence, with a list of the persons who have occupied them. And it would be as well to inquire what their duties are: for although Stephen'sBlackstonederives the names from theplacesin which the individuals themselvessit, still the explanation hardly conveys sufficient to gather what their duties are.
JOHNNURSECHADWICK.
—What chronicle narrates the circumstances of theseconddisinterment of King Arthur's bones in Glastonbury, temp. Edw. I. (A.D. 1298)?
H. G. T.
—InAnecdotes of British Topography, &c.(Lond. 1768), occurs the following, speaking of Boston:—
"The Churchwardens' account from 1453 to 1597, and the town-book, wrote by Mr. John Stukeley, 1676, one of his (Dr. Stukeley's) ancestors, are in the hands of the Doctor's son-in-law, Mr. Fleming."
Query, into whose hands have the above records fallen? Did Stukeley leave a family?
The name of "Wm. Stukeley" is appended to sundry parish records, anno 1713, at Boston. I believe he practised here for some years.
THOMASCOLLIS.
—Can any one inform me if there are any letters extant of Arthur, seventh Lord Balmerino, and where they are deposited?
W. PELHAMA.
Rochester.
—Is any portrait known of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who was beheaded at York,A.D.1572, for the part he took in the "Rising in the North?"
E. PEACOCK, Jr.
—Is it known who was the author of a satirical pamphlet against Newton:The Theology and Philosophy in Cicero's "Somnium Scipionis" explained, London, 1751, 8vo.? And has an absurd story which it contains, relative to Newton, Locke, and Lord Pembroke visiting Patrick, the barometer-maker, to be shown that the mercurial vacuum was not a perfect one, ever been told elsewhere?
M.
—We are informed by Baron Maseres, as quoted by Lingard, that the Danes, in the last invasion by Sweyn, 1013, had vanes in the shape of birds or dragons fixed on their masts, to point out the direction of the wind. Is there anyrecord of an earlier adoption of this method of ascertaining the way of the wind?
B. B.
—Is this work a forgery or not? Charles Julius Bertram, Professor of English in the Royal Marine Academy at Copenhagen, wrote to Dr. Stukeley in 1747 that such a manuscript was in the hands of a friend of his. It was not until some time had elapsed, and after Dr. Stukeley was presented to St. George's Church, Queen Square, that he "pressed Mr. Bertram to get the manuscript into his own hands, if possible; which, at length, with some difficulty, he accomplished;" and sent to Dr. Stukeley, in letters, a transcript of the whole. Authors go on quoting from this work as genuine authority, and therefore are perhaps misleading themselves and their readers; and it would be conferring a great boon if "N. & Q." could clear up the doubt as to its authenticity.
Mr. Worsaae, the eminent Danish author, or his English translator, are exactly in the position to render this further service to antiquarian literature; and, as relating to the subject of Roman Britain, the question is of so much interest that a little trouble would not, probably, be deemed uselessly expended in the inquiry.
G. I.
—Is it true that sixteen Spanish vessels, with 5300 men on board, were wrecked on the coast of Ireland in 1589, and all put to the sword or hanged by the executioner, at the command of the Lord Deputy; who found that they had saved and got on shore a good deal of their treasure which he wanted to secure for himself. Where is any account of it to be found? How came Spanish ships so far north?
CYRUSREDDING.
—In theJournal des Savantsfor April of this year, the celebrated mathematician Biot, in a review of theCorrespondence of Sir Isaac Newton and Cotes(Cambridge, 1850), makes mention, with the highest praise, of an analysis of Sir Isaac'sPrincipiacontained in theActa Eruditorumfor 1688. Mons. Biot says that at that time there were only two men who could have written such an analysis, Halley and Newton himself; but adds, that the style is not Halley's, being too concise and simple for him. His admiration could not have been contained within such bounds. M. Biot firmly believes that the writer of this analysis was no other than Newton himself (ex ungue Leonem), and earnestly calls on the learned of England and Germany to assist in discovering the origin of the analysis; should there perhaps be any means left for doing so in the literary depôts of the two countries. Permit a contributor to "N. & Q." to repeat M. Biot's inquiry through the medium of a publication far more extensively circulated in England than theJournal des Savants.
J. M.
—What was the origin of the peculiar hat so universally worn by women of the lower orders in Wales; and at what period did it come into use?
TREBOR.
[A gentleman who has resided for the last half century in the Principality, and to whom we submitted our correspondent's Query, has kindly forwarded the following reply:—"I have consulted bards, Welsh scholars, &c., and am sorry that I cannot forward any satisfactory account of the custom alluded to by TREBOR. Some say, we remember the time when the women wore ordinaryfelthats manufactured from their own wool: one or two travelling hatters occasionally settled at Bangor, who made and soldbeaverhats. We do not think that the women here intended to adopt any particular costume; but retained the hat as agreeing with the peculiar close cap, andprojectingborder, which it leaves in view, and inpossession of its own uprightness! The fashion is going out; all our young people adopt the English bonnet with the English language. The flat hat, with a broad brim, is still retained in the mountain regions."]
—Perhaps some of your readers will kindly inform the Pancake Eating Public as to the period "when," and the reason "why" such a custom grew into existence?
I have frequently heard the question mooted upon this anniversary, without ever hearing, or being able to give, a satisfactory elucidation of it; but it is to be hoped that "N. & Q." will supply the desideratum ere long, and confer a favour on
A LOVER OFPANCAKES AND ANUPHOLDER OFANCIENTCUSTOMS.
Temple, Shrove Tuesday, 1852.
[Fosbrooke, in hisEncyclopædia of Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 572., informs us that "Pancakes, the NormanCrispellæ, are taken from the Fornacalia, on Feb. 18, in memory of the practice in use before the goddess Fornax invented ovens." The Saxons called February "Solmonath," which Dr. Frank Sayers, in hisDisquisitions, says is explained by Bede "Mensis placentarum," and rendered by Spelman, in an inedited manuscript, "Pancake Month," because in the course of it cakes were offered by the Pagan Saxons to the sun. So much for the "when:" now for the reason "why" the custom was adopted by the Christian church.
Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, as it is sometimes called, from being the vigil of Ash Wednesday, was a day when every one was bound to confess, and be shrove or shriven. That none might plead forgetfulness of this duty, the great bell was rung at an early hour in every parish, called the Pancake Bell, for the following reasons given by Taylor, the Water Poet, in hisJacke-a-Lent(Works, p. 115. fol. 1630). He tells us, "On Shrove Tuesday there is a bell rung, called the Pancake Bell, the sound whereof makes thousands of people distracted, and forgetful either of manner or humanitie. Then there is a thinge called wheaten floure, which the sulphory, necromanticke cookes doe mingle with water, egges, spice, andother tragicall, magicall inchantments, and then they put it by little and little into a frying-pan of boyling suet, where it makes a confused dismal hissing, like the Lernean snakes in the reeds of Acheron, Stix, or Phlegeton, until at last by the skill of the cooke it is transformed into the forme of aFlap-Jack, which in our translation is called aPancake, which ominous incantation the ignorant people doe devoure very greedily, having for the most part well dined before; but they have no sooner swallowed that sweet-candied baite, but straight their wits forsake them, and they runne starke mad, assembling in routs and throngs numberlesse of ungovernable numbers, with uncivill civill commotions." In the "Forme of Cury," published with other cookery in Warner'sAntiquitates Culinariæ, p. 33., and written in 1390, we find a kind of fried cakes called "comadore," composed of figs, raisins, and other fruits, steeped in wine, and folded up in paste, to be fried in oil. This suggests another savoury Query, Whether this is not an improvement on our apple fritters?]
"Lay her i' the earth,And from her fair and unpolluted fleshMay violets spring!"Hamlet, Act V. Sc. 1.
"Lay her i' the earth,
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring!"
Hamlet, Act V. Sc. 1.
"'Tis well; 'tis something we may standWhere he in English earth is laid,And from his ashes may be madeThe violet of his native land."In Memoriam, XVIII.
"'Tis well; 'tis something we may stand
Where he in English earth is laid,
And from his ashes may be made
The violet of his native land."
In Memoriam, XVIII.
I remember having seen quoted,à proposof the lines of Shakspeare, a passage from some Latin poet (Claudian, I think) which contained the same idea. Can you, or any of your correspondents, favour me with it; as also where they are to be found? And can they give me the origin and reason of the idea.
H. JOHNSTON.
Liverpool.
[The passage to which our correspondent refers is most probably that already quoted by Steevens, from Persius,Sat.I.
"—— e tumulo, fortunataque favillaNascentur violæ?"]
"—— e tumulo, fortunataque favilla
Nascentur violæ?"]
My subsequent reading has not only confirmed, but added to the information conveyed in the reference quoted. I there surmised that the third was the ring finger, because the thumb and first two fingers have always been reserved as symbols of the blessed Trinity, and consequently the third was the first vacant finger. Both the Greek and Latin church agree in this, that the thumb and first two fingers signify the blessed Trinity. And whilst these three fingers signify the Trinity, the third and fourth fingers are emblematic of the two natures of Christ, the human and divine. As then the third finger served to symbolise the human nature, and marriage was instituted to propagate the human race, that was made the wedding finger. The right hand is the hand of power: hence the wife wears the ring on the ring finger of theleft hand. The Greeks make each of the first three fingers,i.e.the thumb and two fingers, symbolise one of the divine persons. M. Didron informs us that, during his visit to Greece in 1839, the Archbishop of Mistra—
"Whom I interrogated on the subject, informed me that the thumb, from its strength, indicated the Creator, the Father Eternal, the Almighty; that the middle finger was dedicated to Jesus Christ, who redeemed us; and that the forefinger, between the thumb and middle finger, figured the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and in representations of the blessed Trinity is placed between those two persons."
A bishop's ring is emblematic of the gifts of the Holy Ghost: and formerly bishops wore their ring on the forefinger of the right hand.
CEYREP.
"And the priest, taking the ring, shall deliver it unto the man, to put it uponthe fourth fingerof the woman's left-hand."
Rubric, Marriage Service.
Pray let the lady be comforted! Surely the most punctilious Rubrician will make no impertinent inquiries about the missing finger, so long asa fourthremains. But even if all be wanting, I will engage to find her a priest whose conscience will not be hurt at allowing the stump to pass muster.
DIGITALIS.
Having followed with interest the late discussion in your pages upon the earlier specimens of those strange productions, the Moravian Hymns, it seems to me, that although much that is curious has been elicited, the Query of P. H., touching the genuineness of the extraordinary sample reproduced by him from theOxford Magazinefor 1769, remains unanswered. It is therefore with a view to supply some information directly to this point, that I now beg to introduce to your readersmyearliest edition, which looks very like theeditio princepsof Part III.: at all events it takes precedence of that described by H. C. B. Its title is,A Collection of Hymns, consisting chiefly of Translations from the German Hymn-book of the Moravian Brethren. Part III. Small 8vo. pp. 168. London, printed for James Hutton, 1748.
At first sight there would appear to be no difference between H. C. B.'s volume and mine, beyond the latter being the earlier by one year;that year, however, seems to have been the exact period when the Brethren deemed it advisable, to avoid scandal, to revise and prune their hymn-book.
"In this part (especially) of our hymn-book," says the Preface, "a good deal of liberty has been taken in dispensing with what otherwise is customary and ornamental: and that for different reasons." Then follow these three reasons: the hymns being printed in prose, to save room; the retention of German diminutives which, although scarcely known in the English tongue, "have a certain elegance and effect" in the former language; and the use of "more antique, prosaic, and less polished diction, out of tenderness for the main point, the expressing more faithfully the doctrines of the congregation, rather than seek better at the expense of the sense."
"So much," continues the Preface, "seemed proper to mention to exempt this Book (which though calculated for our own congregation, will no doubt come into the hands of strangers) from the imputation of a needless singularity. Now we only wish that every Reader may also feel something of that solid and happy Bottom, from whence these free, familiar, and perhaps abrupt Aspirations, both in the composing and using of them, do sparkle forth: And so we commit thisThird Partof our Hymn-book to the Providence and Blessing of that dear Redeemer, who with his Ever-blessed Atonement, is everywhere the subject thereof."
As to the hymns themselves, I need say little more to describe them than to observe that the present edition contains not only the one quoted by P. H. from theOxford Magazine, but all the others which are there to be found, and which have raised doubt in your correspondent's mind whether they are not rather the fabrications of Anti-Moravians than genuine productions, and at the periods in use among the Brethren. Here, too, is to be found the "Chicken Blessed" of Anstey: in hisBath Guidehe correctly quotes it as "No. 33. in Count Zinzendorf's Hymn-book,"—that being its position in the present volume. The satirist has, however, given only half of "the learned Moravian's ode," but that faithfully. Besides these there are some of the hymns enumerated by Rimius in hisCandid Narrative of the Herrnhuters(London, 1753), in support of his charges against them.
Probably your readers are content with the specimens which have already appeared in your columns. Had it been otherwise, this curious volume would have supplied some of a singular character: as it is, I cannot resist extracting No. 77. and a part of No. 110.; the former relating an adventure between the Arch-Enemy and Saint Martin; the latter, "Concerning the happy little Birds in the Cross's-air, or in the Atmosphere of the Corpse of Jesus:"
"Once on a time a man there was,A saint whose name was Martin,Concerning whom, Severus says,Satan came to him dartingAs Lightning quick and bright array'd;'I am thy Jesus dear,' he said,'Me thou wilt surely worship.'"Martin looks straight towards his side,No Side-hole met his vision:'Let me,' says he, 'in Peace abide,Thou hast no side's Incision;Thou art the Devil, my Good Friend!The place where Jesus' sign does standBlindfold I could discover.'"The same's the case ev'n at this DayWith Jesu's congregation:For Larks who round his Body play,Have of his wounds sensation;Because our dear incarnate God,Will with his wounds as man be view'd,Be felt, and so believ'd on.""How does a cross-air Bird behave,When of the Tent it will take leave?The Body grows a little sick,The soul may find it long or quickTill she the Bridegroom see;There stands he presently.She views the Side, Hands, Feet, each Part;The Lamb upon her weary HeartA kiss then gives her:This kiss Extracts the soul quite out,And on his dear Mouth home 'tis brought,The Kiss's Print the Body shews,Which to its Fining-place then goes;When done the Soul does fetch it,And to the wound-hole snatch it."
"Once on a time a man there was,A saint whose name was Martin,Concerning whom, Severus says,Satan came to him dartingAs Lightning quick and bright array'd;'I am thy Jesus dear,' he said,'Me thou wilt surely worship.'
"Once on a time a man there was,
A saint whose name was Martin,
Concerning whom, Severus says,
Satan came to him darting
As Lightning quick and bright array'd;
'I am thy Jesus dear,' he said,
'Me thou wilt surely worship.'
"Martin looks straight towards his side,No Side-hole met his vision:'Let me,' says he, 'in Peace abide,Thou hast no side's Incision;Thou art the Devil, my Good Friend!The place where Jesus' sign does standBlindfold I could discover.'
"Martin looks straight towards his side,
No Side-hole met his vision:
'Let me,' says he, 'in Peace abide,
Thou hast no side's Incision;
Thou art the Devil, my Good Friend!
The place where Jesus' sign does stand
Blindfold I could discover.'
"The same's the case ev'n at this DayWith Jesu's congregation:For Larks who round his Body play,Have of his wounds sensation;Because our dear incarnate God,Will with his wounds as man be view'd,Be felt, and so believ'd on."
"The same's the case ev'n at this Day
With Jesu's congregation:
For Larks who round his Body play,
Have of his wounds sensation;
Because our dear incarnate God,
Will with his wounds as man be view'd,
Be felt, and so believ'd on."
"How does a cross-air Bird behave,When of the Tent it will take leave?The Body grows a little sick,The soul may find it long or quickTill she the Bridegroom see;There stands he presently.She views the Side, Hands, Feet, each Part;The Lamb upon her weary HeartA kiss then gives her:This kiss Extracts the soul quite out,And on his dear Mouth home 'tis brought,The Kiss's Print the Body shews,Which to its Fining-place then goes;When done the Soul does fetch it,And to the wound-hole snatch it."
"How does a cross-air Bird behave,
When of the Tent it will take leave?
The Body grows a little sick,
The soul may find it long or quick
Till she the Bridegroom see;
There stands he presently.
She views the Side, Hands, Feet, each Part;
The Lamb upon her weary Heart
A kiss then gives her:
This kiss Extracts the soul quite out,
And on his dear Mouth home 'tis brought,
The Kiss's Print the Body shews,
Which to its Fining-place then goes;
When done the Soul does fetch it,
And to the wound-hole snatch it."
Parts I. and II. of these hymns I have never seen; but besides the above described, I have the following editions:A Collection of Hymns of the Children of God, in all Ages from the beginning till now: in Two Parts. Designed chiefly for the use of the Congregations in union with the Brethren's Church.Thick 8vo. London, printed in the year 1754: this is the larger hymn-book alluded to by SIGMA.A Collection of Hymns, chiefly extracted from the larger Hymn-book of the Brethren's Congregation: London, printed and sold at the Brethren's chapels, 1769,—noticed by H. C. B. These are both extraordinary productions, but yield to the edition of 1748: it having already been observed of these hymns, that the later impression is always thetamer.
J. O.
I arrive at the conclusion, that the Cacosi of Latin writers, Cacous, or Cagous, represent thetrue name from which Cagots, thetbeing mute, is but a slight deviation; while some other forms have scarcely retained more than the initialCa. The etymology from the Goths (most absurdin substance, and worthy of the days when Languedoc was fetched fromLand-got, Land of the Goths,) has reference only to one of the French spellings.
Cacosus, meaning a leper, as well as a Cacous or Cagot, was fromκακὸν,κάκωσις, in Greek; and from it camecacosomium, contracted forcacoso-comium, not a merenoso-comium, but an asylum for lepers. See Ducange.
But the Cacous in question were not only lepers, but families in which leprosy was considered hereditary. For this reason they are called Giezites, les Gézits, les Gesitains, from Giezi, servant of Elisha and his posterity. (See Michel, vol. i. pp. 56. 148. 238. &c.) A simple leper was Lazarius or ladre. The latter were, like Lazarus, merely afflicted; but the former were deemed to be under an abiding curse, like Giezi.
But those who were Giezites by condition, as inheriting and transmitting the disease, were by many of the vulgar imagined to be Giezites by blood, and the real posterity of Elisha's servant, "Cagots de Chanaan." By an equally natural result, persons actually free from disease were shunned as Cacous; since the stigma attached to the race, not to the individual. Indeed, the wearing out of the malady has created the whole obscurity of the case.
Their most curious title, Crestiaas or Christians, was not given them in direct affirmation, but in denial of a negative, "not non-christian." Because, being considered of Giezi's lineage, not only Jews, but Jews under a curse, many would be disposed to repell them from communion. See Dom Lepelletier'sDict. Bretonne, in CACOUS.
Whether hereditary lepra was rightly thought to exist, or whether the negligence of the more abject and squalid families in communicating it to each other falsely raised that idea, is a separate question, which I must leave to physicians.
A. N.
Dalton saith:
"Vice comites have the same authority that the antient comites had; and at this day there are some relicts of that dignity, for he hathalbum baculum, and the grant of the office is commisimus vobis [comitatum]. And also he takes place of every nobleman during the time that he is in office."
The Writ of Assistance ran thus:
"To archbishops, bishops, dukes, earls, barons, knights, freeholders, and all others of our county of C. Whereas we have committed to our well-beloved A. B. the custody of our said county, with the appurtenances, during our pleasure, We command you that ye be aiding, answering, and assisting to the said A. B. as our sheriff of our said county in all things which appertain to the said office."
This form was abolished in 1833. The Lord Lieutenant is a military officer, who appears to have grown into permanence under the Tudors. The office of Custos Rotulorum, which, though quite distinct, is usually joined with it, is much more ancient; its duties are to keep the records of the sessions, which involve the appointment of the clerk of the peace, and the power of recommending to the Great Seal of persons to be inserted in the commission of the peace.
As for instances of such precedence beingclaimed, it is not easy to recollect what is usually taken as a thing so much of course. Perhaps the instance of a Duke, who had been Lord Lieutenant forty years, apologising to a Sheriff for having inadvertently taken precedence, may serve.
VICE. COM. DEPUTAT.
In answer to L. J.'s inquiry, upon what authority the precedency of the Sheriff over the Lord Lieutenant is maintained; may it not partly be founded on the office of Sheriff being of greater antiquity, and on this officer having the command over, and the power of summoning all the people of the county above the age of fifteen, and under the degree of a peer? The office of Lord Lieutenant was first created in the third year of King Edward VI., to suppress, as Strype tells us, "the routs and uproars" in most of the counties. We might suppose that the Sheriff already possessed sufficient power for this purpose: the means then adopted to promote tranquillity were not well calculated to be popular among the people. No drum or pipe was to be struck or sounded. Plays were forbidden. In the churches of Devonshire and Cornwall, Lord Russell was to take down every bell in a steeple but one, so as to prevent a peal being rung.
The precedency in question is acted upon to the present hour; and a Lord Lieutenant, however high his rank in the peerage, gives place to the Sheriff as a matter of course. But do not both these officers yield precedence to her Majesty's justices of assize, when actually engaged on the circuit?
J. H. M.
Two questions are asked by E. A. H. L. concerning St. Christopher: 1.Are there any known representations of St. Christopher in painted glass?There is a very interesting example in a window inSt. Neot's Church, Cornwall. It represents St. Christopher with the child Jesus on his back, andbelow has the legend: "Sante Christophere, ora pro me." This ancient window was presented to the church by three members of the Borlase family. Their benefaction is recorded in the inscription along the cill of the window:
"Orate pro animabus Catherine Burlas, Nicolai Burlas, et Johannis Vyvian, qui istam fenestram fieri fecerunt."
Another example of St. Christopher, bearing the divine infant, is in one of the lights of the three-light window over the altar ofAll Saints' Church, North Street, York. It is the work of the fifteenth century.
In the same city,St. John's Church, Micklegate, has two representations of St. Christopher in glass. One is the window north of the altar, but it is only a portion of the figure; the other is in the window south of the altar, and of perpendicular character. InSt. Martin-le-Grand, Coney Street, in the sixth or eastern window of the north aisle, is a figure of St. Christopher, of date about 1450.St. Michael-le-Belfroy, in the same city, has two figures of the saint: one, of perpendicular character, in the window north of the altar; the other, a fragment, in the fourth window from the east end on the south side, of date between 1540 and 1550.Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, possesses a very beautiful figure of the saint. It forms the fifth of a series of five large figures in the east window of the church, and seems to bear the date 1470.
The second question is, "What is the real meaning of the representations of St. Christopher that are so frequently found on the north walls of churches?" I cannot agree with MR. J. EASTWOODin thinking that the explanation he gives fromSacred and Legendary Art is sufficiently satisfactory. It appears to me that the figures of St. Christopher were meant to symbolise the privilege enjoyed by the faithful of receiving the body and blood of Christ, and thus becomingChristo-feri. The emblem may have had its origin in the earliest ages, when thedisciplina arcaniwas carried out. This opinion receives strength from the circumstance, that Christopher was a name assumed by the saint, and not his baptismal name. The extraordinary powers of cure spoken of in verses often inscribed below the figures of this saint, were understood by the faithful to allude to the efficacy of the Holy Communion, that made themChristopher's, i.e. persons bearing their blessed Saviour, not on their shoulders, but within their breasts. His figures in sculpture and painting are always represented as colossal, to signify that this heavenly food makes each of the faithful "as a giant to run the way" (Ps. xix. 5.) This explanation will probably satisfy E. A. H. L. that the important position occupied by St. Christopher in the iconography of the mediæval church is to be solved by its symbolical signification.
In addition to the representations of this saint in painted glass mentioned above, E. A. H. L. will find mention of another specimen in the last number of theArchæological Journal. It is in private hands, being the property of Mr. Lucas, who purchased a collection of specimens of old glass some years since at Guildford, said to have come from an old mansion in Surrey. The specimen in question is described as "St. Christopher carrying our Saviour—an octagonal piece of glass."—P. 101.
He will also find, in the same place, that a mural painting of St. Christopher has been lately discovered in the chancel of Gawsworth Church, Cheshire, of which a description is given in p. 103.
CEYREP.
E. A. H. L. asks if there is any known representation of St. Christopher in painted glass. There is one in All Saints, York, engraved in Weale'sPapers; and there is a small one on a brass in Tattershall Church.
C. T.
For information on this subject, I would refer E. A. H. L. to Warton,Poetry, vol. i. p. 451.; Coryatt'sCrudities, vol. i. p. 29.; Rudder'sGloucestershire, p. 286.; Gage'sHengrave, p. 64.;Winckelm. Stosch, ch. i. n. 103.
On a loose print of "Painted Glass at Leicester," Throsby del. 1788, now before me, is a representation of him who was once Psychicus the savage, but now the holy Saint Christopher, figured, as usual, under the likeness of a man of gigantic stature, carrying on his shoulder the little child Jesus, through the broad and deep waters of a turbulent river, and steadying his steps with an uprooted palm-tree laden with fruit, which he bears in his hands by way of staff. He is here exhibited in more seemly habiliments, and as a personage of much more dignified and venerable appearance, than in the well-known picture on the walls of Wotton Church. The latter, however, is a portraiture of superior antiquarian interest, on account of its accessories, wherein St. Christopher's especial office, as patron of field sports, is, with much rudeness it is true, but most efficiently and fully illustrated.
In the extract given by J. EASTWOODfromSacred and Legendary Art, we have merely the supposititious conclusions of an ingenious imagination, introduced to supply a void which the accomplished writer was unable otherwise to fill up. There is a pretty little work published by Burns, and entitledSt. Christopher; a Painting in Fordholme Church, which contains, much too much, however, in the suspicious form of a modern religious allegory, what professes to be the authentic "Legend" of this saint.
COWGILL.
E. A. H. L. makes the inquiry whether "there are any known representations of St. Christopherinpainted glass; if so, where?" This I am unable to answer; but your learned correspondent JARLTZBERGhaving sent you one version of the legend attached to this saint, may I venture to remind you of another? This is the one attached to the celebrated picture, "The Descent from the Cross," by Rubens, in the cathedral of Antwerp, in which the painter, adopting the Greek derivation of the name as given by JARLTZBERG, represents the saint supporting Christ on his removal from the crucifix. The picture was painted for the Arquebusiers of Antwerp, whose patron was St. Christopher; but they were dissatisfied with it, and refused Rubens his promised reward, a piece of land in their possession contiguous to his own, for which he had accomplished this, certainly one of his most beautiful paintings.
T. W. P.
I am not aware of any general pardon under the great seal having been printed; but the following transcript of one (the original with the seal attached is in the collection of my friend, R. Rising, Esq., of Horsey) is very much at J. G. N.'s service, and is especially interesting, as being one of the last acts of James II. before he quitted England for ever.
"Jacobus Secundus Dei grati:Anglie, Scocie, ffrancie & hibn̅ie Rex, fidei defensor, &c.Omnibusad quos p'sentes he n're p̶veniu't sal̅tem. Sciatis qd̅ Nos pietate moti, ac gr'a n'ra sp'iali ac ex certa scientia & mero motu n'risPardonabimusrelaxavimset remisimsac p̶ p'sentes p̶ Nobis heredibus, & successoribus n'ris, Pardonamsrelaxamset remittimsJoh̅i Trenchard nup̶ de medio Templo Londin' armigero seu quocunque alio nomine vel cognomine artis, misterii, loci vel locor' idem Joh̅es Trenchard sciatrcenseatrvocetrvel nuncupetraut nup' sciebatr, censebatr, vocabatrseu nuncupa batromn' et omni'od' Prodic'ones crimina lese maiestatis, mispris'ones Prodic'onis, Conspirac'ones, Sedic'ones, Insurrecc'ones, Concelament' Bellor', gestiones Bellor', machinac'ones, Imaginac'ones, et attempt' Illicit', convinc'ones verbor', p'palac'ones ac om'ia & singula ffelon', et al' malefi'a crimina Transgressiones, contempt' et offens' quecunq: p̶ ip'um Joh̅em Trenchard p̶ se solum sive cum aliqua alia p'sona, seu aliquib' aliis p̶'sonis qualicunq:, quandocunq:, seu ubicunq: antehac contra p̶sonam n'ram Regal' vel Gub'nac'onem n'ram, vel contra Person' Dn̅i Caroli sēdi nup̶ Regis Anglie preclarissimi ffratris n'ri vel Regimen suu' vel leges & statut' regni n'ri Anglie fact' com̅iss' sive p̶petrat'.—Necnon fugam & fugas sup̶inde fact'. Et licet p'fat' Joh̅es Trenchard p̶inde arrestat', ind'cat', impetit', utlagat', rectat' appellat' condemnat' convict' attinct' seu adiudicat' existit vel non existit aut inde arrestari, adiudicari, impetiri, utlagari rectari, appellari, condemnari, convinci, attingi seu adiudicari contigerit in futuro. Ac om'ia & singula Jud'camenta, convic'cones, judicia, condempnac'onas attinctur', execuc'ones imprisonamenta, Penas mortis, Penas corporales, fforisfutur', punic'ones & om'es al' Penas ac penalitates quascunq: de, p̶, sive concernen' p̶'missa, vel aliqua p̶'missor' insup̶ vel versus p̶'fat Joh̅em Trenchard habit' fact' reddit' sive adiudicat' vel imposter' h'end' f'iend' reddend', sive adiudicand' aut que nos versus ip'um Joh̅em Trenchard p̶ p'missis vel aliquo p'missor' h'uimus h'emus seu imposter' h'ere poterimus, ac heredes seu successores n'ri ullo modo he're poterint in futuro. Necnon omnes et singul' utlagar' versus p'fat' Joh̅em Trenchard rac'one seu occac'one p̶missor' seu eor' alicuius p̶mulgat' seu imposter' p̶'mulgand' At om'es & om'iod' sect', Querel', fforisfutur' impetic'ones & Demand' quecunq: que nos versus p̶'fat' Joh̅em Trenchard p̶ p'missis vel aliquo p̶'missor' h'uim' h'emus seu infuturo h'ere poterimus. Sectamq: pacis n're que ad nos versus p̶'fat Joh̅em Trenchard p̶tinet seu p̶tinere poterit, rac'one seu occac'one p̶'missor' seu eor' alicui. Et firmam pacem n'ram ei inde dam' et concedim' p̶ p'sentes.Nolentesq'd ip'e idem Joh̅es Trenchard p̶ Justitiar' Vice Comites Mariscallos Escaetor', Coronator', Ballivos seu aliquos al' ministros n're heredum vel successor' n'ror' quoscunq: rac'onib' seu occac'onib' p'd'tis seu eor' aliqu' molestetrp̶'turbetrseu in aliquo gravetrVolentesq'd he l're n're patentes quoad om'ia singul' p'missa sup̶ind menc'onat' bene, firme, valide, sufficien' et effectual' in lege erunt et existent licet Prodic'ones, crimina lese maiestatis, misprisiones Prodic'onis, conspirac'ones, sedic'ones, Insurecc'ones, concelament' Bellor', Gestion' Bellor', machinac'ones, Imaginac'ones, vel attempt' Illicit', convinc'ones verbor', Propalac'ones & ffelon' crimina, & offens' p'dict', minus certe specificat' existim't. Q'dq: hec Pardonaco' n'ra in om'ib' curiis n'ris et alibi interpretetret adiudicetrin beneficentissimo sensu p̶ firmiore exonerac'one relaxac'one & Pardonac'one p̶'fat' Joh̅is Trenchard ac etiam p'litetrallocetrin om'ib: Curiis n'ris absq: aliquo Brevi de Allocac'one mea parte pr'm's obtent' sive obtinend'. Et non obstante aliqua def'tu vel aliquib' def'tibus in his l'ris n'ris patentib' content' aut aliquo statuto, acto, ordinac'one provisione seu Restricc'one aut aliqua al' re, causa, vel materia quacunq: in contrar' inde ullo modo non obstante.
In Cuius rei testimoniu' has l'ras n'ras fier' fecimus Patentes.
Teste me ip'o apud West' decimo sept'o die Decembris anno regni n'ri tertio.
Per Breve de p'rato SigilloBARKER."
This was in the year 1688, just seven days after, according to Macaulay, that he had fled secretly from the kingdom, having previously thrown the great seal into the Thames, whence it was dredged up some months after by a fisherman. Being driven back by stress of weather, he returned to London, and on the 17th Pepys states,
"That night was a council; his Matyrefuses to assent to all the proposals, goes away again to Rochester."
andon that very nightwas this pardon granted, James probably endeavouring to prop up his totteringcause by attaching as many as possible to his own party. There were several documents in the collection of the late Josiah Trench, Esq., of Windsor (1648-1652) signed by John Trenchard, among the other regicides. Ewing, in hisNorfolk Lists, states that a portrait of him is in existence, and that he was a serjeant-at-law, and at this date (1688) M. P. for Thetford, being at that date merely an esquire. In 1692, according to the same authority, Sir John Trenchard was Secretary of State; and his death took place in 1694. I should be glad to add to these scanty notices, especially as regards the reason which rendered a pardon necessary at this time.
E. S. TAYLOR.
—Bishop Jewell writes:
"M. Harding would have had us put God's word todaying(i.e. totrial), and none otherwise to be obedient to Christ's commandment, than if a few bishops gathered at Trident shall allow it."—Replie to Harding,Works, vol. ii. p. 424. (Dr. Jelf's edit.)
"TheGer.TAGEN, to appoint a day.
TheD.DAGHEN, to cite or summon on a day appointed."—(Wachter and Kilian.)
AndDayesmanis he, the man, "who fixes theday, who is present, or sits as judge, arbiter, or umpire on thedayfixed or appointed."
It is evident that Richardson made much use of Jewell; but this word "daying" has escaped him: his explanation ofdayesmanaccords well with it.
Q.
—We certainly do not want the aid of Obadiah Bull and Joe Dun to account for these words. Milton writes, "I affirm it to be abull, taking away the essence of that, which it calls itself." And abullis, "that which expresses something in opposition to what is intended, wished, or felt;" and so named "from the contrast of humble profession with despotic commands of Papal bulls."
"Adunis one who hasdinnedanother for money or anything."—See Tooke, vol. ii. p. 305.
Q.
—I do not intend to enter the lists in defence of this "illustrious patriot." The pages of "N. & Q." are not a fit battle ground. But I request you to insert the whole quotation, that your readers may judge with what amount of fairness C. has made his note from Macaulay'sHistory.
"Communications were opened between Barillon, the ambassador of Lewis, and those English politicians who had always professed, and who indeed sincerely felt, the greatest dread and dislike of the French ascendancy. The most upright member of the country party, William Lord Russell, son of the Earl of Bedford, did not scruple to concert with a foreign mission schemes for embarrassing his own sovereign. This was the whole extent of Russell's offence. His principles and his fortune alike raised him above all temptations of a sordid kind: but there is too much reason to believe that some of his associates were less scrupulous. It would be unjust to impute to them the extreme wickedness of taking bribes to injure their country. On the contrary, they meant to serve her: but it is impossible to deny that they were mean and indelicate enough to let a foreign prince pay them for serving her. Among those who cannot be acquitted of this degrading charge was one man who is popularly considered as the personification of public spirit, and who, in spite of some great moral and intellectual faults, has a just claim to be called a hero, a philosopher, and a patriot. It is impossible to see without pain such a name in the list of the pensioners of France. Yet it is some consolation to reflect that in our own time a public man would be thought lost to all sense of duty and shame who should not spurn from him a temptation which conquered the virtue and the pride of Algernon Sidney."
History of England, vol. i. p. 228.
ALGERNONHOLTWHITE.
Brighton.
—At Neustadt, in Wirtemberg, there is a prodigious lime-tree, which gives its name to the town, which is calledNeustadt an der Linden. The age of this tree is said to be 1000 years. According to a German writer, it required the support of sixty pillars in the year 1392, and attained its present size in 1541. It now rests, says the same authority, on above one hundred props, and spreads out so far that a market can be held under its shade. It is of this tree that Evelyn says it was—
"Set about with divers columns and monuments of stone (eighty-two in number, and formerly above one hundred more), which several princes and nobles have adorned, and which as so many pillars serve likewise to support the umbrageous and venerable boughs; and that even the tree had been much ampler the ruins and distances of the columns declare, which the rude soldiers have greatly impaired."
There is another colossal specimen of the same species in the churchyard of the village of Cadiz, near Dresden. The circumference of the trunk is forty feet. Singularly, though it is completely hollow through age, its inner surface is coated with a fresh and healthy bark.
UNICORN.
—In reference to your correspondents' observations on skeleton monuments, I may mention that there is one inserted in the wall of the yard of St. Peter's Church, Drogheda. It is in high relief, cut in a dark stone and the skeleton figure half shrouded by grave clothes is a sufficiently appalling object. Beside it stands another figure still "in the flesh." It is many years since I saw the monument,and whether there be any inscription legible upon it, or whether it be generally known to whom it belongs, I cannot inform you.
URSULA.
There is a very good instance of an "altar tomb," bearing on it an ordinary effigy, and containing within it a skeleton figure, visible through pierced panel work, in Fyfield Church, Berks. It is the monument of Sir John Golafre, temp. Hen. V. Another fine instance I remember to have seen (I believe) in the parish church of Ewelme, Oxon.
HENRYG. TOMKINS.
Weston-super-Mare.
—In this neighbourhood is an ancient farm-house called Bee Hall, where I doubt not that bees were kept in great quantities in bygone ages; and am the more led to believe this because they always flourish best upon thyme, which grows here as freely and luxuriantly as I ever elsewhere observed it. About four miles from said Bee Hall, the other day, I was looking over a genteel residence, and noticing a shady enclosure, asked the gardener what it was for. He told me, to protect the bees from the sun: it was upon a much larger scale than we generally now see, indicating that the soil, &c. suit apiaries. Looking to the frequent mention ofhoney, and its vast consumption formerly, as you instance in royal inventories, to which may be added documents in cathedral archives, &c., is it not remarkable that we should witness so few memorials of the ancient management of this interesting insect? I certainly remember one well-built "bee-house," at the edge of Lord Portsmouth's park, Hurstbourne, Hants, large enough for a good cottage, now deserted. While on the subject I will solicit information on a custom well known to those resident in the country, viz. of making a great noise with a house key, or other small knocker, against a metal dish or kettle while bees are swarming? Of course farmers' wives, peasants, &c., who do not reason, adopt this because their fathers before them did so. It is urged by intelligent naturalists that it is utterly useless, as bees have no sense of hearing. What does the clamour mean,—whence derived?
B. B.
Pembroke.
—In reply to the Query, "Is anything known of Sally Lunn? is she a personage or a myth?" I refer your inquirer to Hone'sEvery-day Book, vol. ii. p. 1561.:
"The bun so fashionable, called theSally Lunn, originated with a young woman of that name at Bath, about thirty years ago." [This was written in 1826.] "She first cried them in a basket, with a white cloth over it, morning and evening. Dalmer, a respectable baker and musician, noticed her, bought her business, and made a song and set it to music in behalf of Sally Lunn. This composition became the street favourite, barrows were made to distribute the nice cakes, Dalmer profited thereby and retired, and to this day theSally Lunn Cakeclaims pre-eminence in all the cities of England."
J. R. W.
Bristol.
—An engraving of Baxter's pulpit will be found in a work entitledFootsteps of our Forefathers: what they suffered and what they sought. By James G. Miall, 1851, p. 232.
J. R. W.
Bristol.
—Although this work is now out of print, and thereby scarce, your correspondent ELGINENSISwill, I have no doubt, on application to Stevenson, the "well-known" antiquarian and historical bookseller in Edinburgh, be put in possession of a copy for 12s.
T. G. P.
Edinburgh.
—Some time ago a correspondent asked where he could obtain a list or lists of the ambassadors sent from this court. I do not recollect that an answer has appeared in your columns, nor do I know how far the following may suit his purpose:
"12. An Alphabetical Index of the Names and Dates of Employment of English Ambassadors and Diplomatic Agents resident in Foreign Courts, from the Reign of King Henry VIII. to that of Queen Anne inclusive. One volume, folio."
This is extracted from the letter of the Right Hon. H. Hobhouse, keeper of His Majesty's State Papers, in reply to the Secretary of the Commissioners of Public Records, dated "State Paper Office, Sept. 19, 1832." (See the Appendix to theCommissioners' Report, 1837, p. 78.)
TEEBEE.
—Lt.-General William Knollys, eighth Earl of Banbury, married Charlotte Martha, second daughter of the Ebenezer Blackwell, Esq., banker, of Lombard Street, and Lewisham, Kent.
The present Col. Knollys, of the Fusileer Guards, is his representative.
A. Blackwell, sister or daughter of John Blackwell, the father of Ebenezer, married an Etheridge.
W. BLACKWELL,Curate of Mells.
—I am reminded of a similar story connected with the two rose windows in the transept of the beautiful cathedral of Rouen. They were described to me by the old Swiss in charge, as the work of two artists, master and pupil; and he also pointed out the spot where the master killed the pupil, from jealousy of the splendid production of thenorthwindow by the latter: and, as theGuide Booktruly says, "La rose du nord est plus belle que celle du midi"—the master's work.
BENBOW.
Birmingham.
—Thanking you for the information given, may I further inquire if any of your correspondents are aware of the existence of any copy or print from the picture in the Church of Notre Dame, at Paris, of St. Bartholomew healing the Princess of Armenia (see Jameson'sSacred and Legendary Art); and where such may be seen?
REGEDONUM.
—The following inscription is painted in huge letters over the sun-dial in front of an old farm-house near Farnworth in Lancashire:
"Horas non numero nisi serenas."
Where are these words to be found?
Y.
—In my copy of this work, published in 1705, 8vo., formerly Isaac Reed's, he attributes it to Colonel Sackville Tufton. I observe also that Wilson (Life of De Foe, vol. ii. p. 335.) states, that in his copy it is ascribed, in an old handwriting, to the same author.
JAS. CROSSLEY.
—May not the use of this word in the sense ofspectaclesbe a corruption ofbinoculis; and has notbinnacle(part of a ship) a similar origin?
J. S. WARDEN.
—Any one who mixed in the society of the Scottish metropolis a few years ago must have met with two very handsome and accomplished brothers, who generally wore the Highland dress, and were known by the name of "The Princes." I do not mean to enter into the question as to whether or not they were the true representatives of "Bonnie Prince Charlie," which most persons consider to have been conclusively settled in the negative by an article which appeared in theQuarterly Review: but most assuredly a very strong point of evidence in favour of their having the royal blood of Scotland in their veins, was the remarkable resemblance which they bore—especially the younger brother—to various portraits of the Stuart family, and, among the rest, to those of the "Merry Monarch," as well as of his father Charles I.
E. N.
—C.J.P. may possibly be assisted in his inquiries by referring to De Castros'Jews in Spain, translated by Kirwan, pp. 190-196. This interesting work was published by G. Bell, 186. Fleet Street, London, 1851.
W. W.
La Valetta, Malta.
—This controversy was one of the many discussions relating to the Trinity which have engaged the theological activity of England during the last two hundred years. It arose in consequence of the imputed Arianism of some Presbyterian ministers of Exeter, the most conspicuous of whom were James Peirce and Joseph Hallet. It began in 1717, and terminated in 1719, when these two ministers were ejected from their pulpits. Your correspondent who put the question will find some account of this controversy in Murch'sHistory of the Presbyterian Churches in the West of England,—a work well worth the attention of those who take interest in the antiquities of Non-conformity.
T. H. GILL.
—When my father was at one time engaged in collecting the numbers drawn for the Sussex militia, he began by calling out for those men who belonged to the hundred ofMayfield; and though he three times repeated his call, not a single man came forward. A person standing by suggested that he should say "the hundred ofMearvel," and give it as broad a twang as possible. He did so; whennineteenout oftwenty-threepresent answered to the summons.Hurstmonceauxis commonly pronouncedHarsmouncy; and I have heardSomptingcalledSummut.
G. BLINK.
—Junius, Bailey, and Johnson seem all to agree that our wordpoisoncomes from the Frenchpoison. I am inclined to think, with the two first-mentioned lexicographers, that the etymon isπόσις, orpotio. Junius adds, that "Ita Belgis venenum diciturgift, donum;" and it is curious that in Icelandiceitrmeans both poison and gift. In theAntiquitates Celto-Scandicæ(p. 13.), I find the following expressions:—"Sva er sagt, at Froda væri gefinn banadryckr." "Mixta portioni veneno sublatum e vivis tradunt Frotonem." Should it not bepotioni, inasmuch as "bana," in Icelandic, signifies to kill, if I do not err, and "dryckr" is drink? Certainly, in Anglo-Saxon, "bana" (whence ourbane) and "drycian" have similar significations.