Notes and Queries Vol. III.—No.85. Saturday, June 14. 1851

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

The Armorican Word "Menez."

I have been induced, in consequence of the scene of one of the Canterbury Tales being

"In Armorike that called is Bretaigne,"

to re-examine that tale (the Frankleine's) in the expectation that in it, if anywhere, some light might be thrown upon this newly discovered Chaucerian word "menez"; and I think I have succeeded in detecting its use in the sense of points or summits of rocks emerging from the surface of the water.

But in weighing the probability of this being the true sense in which it is used in the present instance by Chaucer, the wide applicability of the word "means" in its usual acceptation of instrument to an end, must not be lost sight of. There is scarcely the name of any one thing for which "means" may not be made a plausible substitution; so much so, that if a man were to ask for a hat to cover his head, his demand would be quite intelligible if expressed by "a means" to cover his head.

I make this proviso as an answer to the probable objection, that "menes," in its usual acceptation, gives sufficiently good sense to the passage in question; it may do so, and still not be the sense intended by the author.

The footing on which I wish to place the inquiry is this:

1st. We have an Armorican word which it is desirable to prove was known to, and used by, Chaucer.

2dly. We find this identical word in a tale written by him, of which the scene is Armorica.

3dly. It bears, however, a close resemblance to another word of different meaning, which different meaning happens also to afford a plausible sense to the same passage.

The question then is, in case this latter meaning should not appear to be better, nor even so good, as that afforded by the word of which we are in search, shall we not give that word the preference, and thereby render it doubly blessed, giving and receiving light?

In coming to a decision, it is necessary to take in the whole context. Arviragus and Dorigene live in wedded happiness, until the former, leaving his wife, takes shipping

Dorigene, inconsolable at his loss, sits upon the sea-shore, and views with horror the "grisly, fendly, rockes," with which the coast is studded, in every one of which she sees certain destruction to her husband in his return. She accuses the gods of injustice in forming these rocks for the sole apparent purpose of destroying man, so favoured in other respects, and she concludes her apostrophe in these words,—

Undoubtedly, in the third of these lines, "menes" seems to have a perfectly good meaning in the sense of instrument, or means to destroy. But, in the last line, the same sense is not so obvious—"means to destroy" must necessarily be destructive, and Chaucer would never be guilty of the unmeaning truism of repeating—"means which do no good but ever annoy."

Moreover, I am not aware that the accent is ever thrown upon the silent e where the signification of "mene" is an instrument—

but in the lines under discussion the last syllable in both cases is accented, agreeing in that respect with the Armorican sound—"menez."

Let us now examine whether the Armorican sense is capable of giving a perfect meaning to both lines? That sense is, a rocky ridge or emerging summit. Let us substitute the word rockēs for menēz, and then try what meaning the passage receives.

Here the sense is perfect in both lines—a sense, too, that is in exact keeping with Dorigene's previous complaint of THE USELESSNESS of these rocks—

I therefore propose the following as the true reading of the passage in question: viz.,

And if I have succeeded in making good this position we no longer stand in need of a precedent for the same reading in the case of—"In menez libra."

A. E. B.

Leeds, May 31. 1851.

P.S. I have been favoured, through the publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," with an obliging note from S.S.S. (2), communicating some authorities, of which the most germane to this subject are—

1. From Archæologia Britannica (Edward Lhuyd. Oxford, 1707): "Armoric, Men, a stone; menez, a mountain."

2. From Walter's Welsh Dictionary: "Welsh, Maen, a stone; maen terfyn, a boundary stone; maen mawr, a large stone."

If folk lore be worthy of a place in your columns, folk talk should not be shut out, and that the etymological solutions, gathered from this source, which I have previously forwarded, have not appeared, is doubtless attributable to some other cause than indifferentism to the authority. I have found many inexplicable words and phrases, occurring in the older writers, rendered plain and highly expressive by folk talk definitions; and a glance at the relative positions of the common people of this day, and the writers of the past, to the educated and scholarly world of the nineteenth century, will suffice to show good reasons for a discriminative reference to the language of the one, for the elucidation of the other's expression. In common with the majority of your readers, as I should think, I found the notes and replies on "eysell" and "captious" to be highly interesting, and of course applied to the folk talk for its definition. In the first case I obtained from my own experience, what I think will be a satisfactory clue to its meaning, and something more in addition. There is a herb of an acid taste, the common name for which—the only one with which I am acquainted—is green-sauce; and this herb is, or rather was, much sought after by children in my boyish days. At a public school not a dozen miles from Stratford-on-Avon, it was a common practice for we lads to spend our holidays in roaming about the fields; and among objects of search, this green-sauce was a prominent one, and it was a point of honour with each of us to notify to the others the discovery of a root of green-sauce. In doing this, the discoverer, after satisfying himself by his taste that the true herb was found, followed an accepted course, and signified his success to his companions by raising his voice and shouting, what I have always been accustomed to write, "Hey-sall." I have no knowledge of the origin of this word; it was with us as a school-rule so to use it; and I have no doubt but that "ey-sell" was in Shakspeare's time the popular name for the herb to which I allude.

Mixing much with the rural population of Warwickshire, I have, on many occasions, seen the word "captious" used in the sense of carping, irritable, unthankfulness, and self-willed; and, in my humble opinion, such a rendering would be more in accordance with the character of the fiction, and the poet's early teaching, than any definition I have yet seen in your pages.

EMUN.

[We are indebted to the kindness of the Rev. THOMAS CORSER for the opportunity of preserving in our columns the following interesting notice, from the Manchester Guardian of the 19th August, 1843, of the subject of his communication in our No. for May 31. (No. 83, p. 421.)]

Having heard of the extraordinary circumstance of an old man named James Horrocks, in his hundredth year, living in Harwood, about three miles from Bolton, whose father lived in the time of Oliver Cromwell, we took an opportunity, a few days ago, of visiting this venerable descendant of a sire who was contemporary with the renowned Protector. Until within the last few years he resided at Hill End, a small estate left him by an uncle when he was about twenty-six years old; but both his surviving daughters being married, and himself growing feeble, and his sight failing him, he left the land and went to reside with his eldest daughter, Margaret, and his son-in-law, John Haslam, at a place called "The Nook," near the Britannia, in Harwood. Here we found the old man, surrounded with every comfort which easy circumstances and affectionate friends can afford, and, to use his own language, "neither tired of living, nor yet afraid to die." He is a remarkably good-looking old man, with long, silvery locks, and a countenance beaming with benevolence and good nature. He has nearly lost the use of his eye-sight, and is a little dull of hearing, yet he is enabled to walk about. The loss of his sight he regrets most of all, as it prevents him from spending his time in reading, to which he was before accustomed; and, as he remarked, also denies him the pleasure of looking upon his children and his old friends. He converses with remarkable cheerfulness for one of his years. As an instance, we may mention, that, on observing to him that he must have been a tall man in his youth, he sprang up from his arm chair with the elasticity of middle age, rather than the decrepitude usually accompanying those few who are permitted to spin out the thread of life to the extent of a century, and, with a humorous smile upon his countenance, put his hands to his thighs, and stood as straight as an arrow against a gentleman nearly six feet, remarking, at the same time, "I don't think I am much less now than ever I was." He stands now about five feet eight inches and a half. A short time ago, on coming down stairs in the morning, he observed to his daughter, with his accustomed good humour, and buoyancy of spirit, "I wonder what I shall dream next; I dreamt last night that I was going to be married again; and who knows but I could find somebody that would have me yet." His son-in-law is an old grey-headed man, much harder of hearing than himself; and it frequently happens, that when any of the family are endeavouring to explain anything to him, old James will say, "Stop, and I'll insense him;" and his lungs seldom fail in the undertaking.

From this interesting family we learn, that William Horrocks, the father of the present James, of whom we have been speaking, was born in 1657, four years after Oliver Cromwell was declared protector, and one year before his death. He would be two years old when Richard Cromwell, who succeeded his father, resigned; and four years old when Charles II. was crowned in 1661. The exact period of his first marriage we have not been able to ascertain; but it is certain that his bride was employed as nurse in the well-known family of the Chethams, either at Turton Tower, or at Castleton Hall, near Rochdale. By this marriage he had four children, as appears from the following memorandums, written in an excellent hand in the back of an old black-letter Bible, printed in 1583:

"Mary, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Horrocks, was born the 15th day of September, and baptised the 23d day of the same month, Anno Dom. 1683."

"John, the son of William and Elizabeth Horrocks, was born the 18th day of January, and baptized the 25th day of the same month, Anno Dom. 1686."

"Ann, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Horrocks, was born the 14th day of March, and baptized the 23d day of the same month, Anno Dom. 1699."

"William, the son of William and Elisabeth Horrocks, was born the 9th day of June, and baptised the 17th day of the same month, Anno Dom. 1700."

At what time his wife died, we are also unable to ascertain; but there is no doubt he remained a widower for many years, and at length married his housekeeper, a comely blooming young woman, whose kindness to the old man was unremitting, and he married her in 1741, at the age of eighty-four, she being at the time only twenty-six.

This marriage evidently attracted much attention in the neighbourhood, and we find that, about two years afterwards, the old man and his youthful partner were sent for to Castleton Hall, the residence of a branch of Humphry Chetham's family, where they were treated with great kindness, and a portrait painter engaged to take their likenesses, which are now in the possession of their son, and add much to the interest of a visit to him. These portraits are well executed; and, of course, appear rather like those of a grandfather and his grandchild than of husband and wife, although he appears more like sixty than eighty-six. In front of each painting is prominently inscribed the age of each of the parties, and the date when the portrait was taken. Upon that of the husband the inscription is, "ÆTA: 86—1743." And upon that of the wife, "ÆTA: 28—1743." These, it appears, were taken two years after their marriage, and preserved in the Chetham family, at Castleton Hall, as great curiosities.

In the following year, the present James was born, as appears from the following entry on the back of the same old Bible:

"James, the son of William and Elizabeth Horrocks of Bradshaw Chapel, was born March 14th, 1744."

He will therefore complete his hundredth year on the 14th of next March. He was born in a house near Bradshaw Chapel, which has long since been removed. He was about twenty-seven years old when an uncle left him a small estate in Harwood, called Hill End; and soon after he married, we believe in 1773, and by that marriage had eight children. William, the son of James and Margaret Horrocks, was born February 21, 1776; Margaret, March 31, 1778; John, August 11, 1781; Simon, Dec. 23, 1783; Matty, June 28, 1786; James, Jan. 13, 1789; Sarah, Sept. 22, 1791; and Betty, Jan. 8, 1794.

Of these, the only survivors are Margaret, aged sixty-five, the wife of John Haslam, with whom the old man now resides; and Betty, the youngest, aged forty-nine, who is married, and has four children.

The old man was only eleven years old when his father died, and has no recollection of hearing him mention any remarkable event occurring in his lifetime.

On asking the old man how he came into possession of the portraits of his father and mother, he stated, that, some years ago, he saw in the newspapers a sale advertised of the property at Castleton Hall, and went there before the day to inquire after the portraits, with the view of purchasing them before the sale. The servants at the hall admitted him, and he found they were not there. He then went to the house of the steward, and found he was not at home; he, however, left a message, desiring that the steward would send him word if there was any probability of his being able to purchase the portraits. Accordingly, the steward sent him word that they had been removed, with the family portraits, to the residence of a lady near Manchester, where he might have the satisfaction of seeing them. The old man cannot remember either the name or the address of the lady. However, he went to the place, in company with a friend, and saw the lady, who treated him with the greatest kindness. She showed him the portraits, and was so much pleased with the desire he manifested to purchase them, that she said, if she could be certain that he was the heir, she would make him a present of them, as his filial affection did him great honour. His friend assured her that he was the only child of his mother by William Horrocks, and she then gave them to him, although she parted with them with regret, as she had no other paintings that attracted so much attention. His recollection of the circumstances are so perfect, that he remembers offering a gratuity to the servants for packing the portraits, which the lady would not allow them to receive.

As an instance of the health and vigour of this remarkable old man, it may be mentioned, that ten years ago, in the winter of 1832-3, he attended at Newton, to vote for Lord Molyneux, then a candidate for South Lancashire. He was then in his ninetieth year. He walked from Harwood to Bolton, a distance of three miles. From thence he went to Newton by the railway; and, having voted, he by some means missed the train, and walked to Bolton, a distance of fifteen miles. On arriving there he took some refreshment, and again set out for Harwood, and accomplished the distance of twenty-one miles in the day, in the depth of winter.—Manchester Guardian, Aug. 19, 1843.

—There is a couplet in Sir Charles Sedley's poems, which is quoted as follows in a work in my possession:

Does the context require the word "divide?" or is it a misprint for "deride?" Of course, the latter word would completely alter the sense, but it seems to me that it would make it more consistent with truth. The word "divide" supposes loyalty to be characteristic of fools, and places the Gods in antagonism to that sentiment; while the word "deride" restores them to their natural position.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, April, 1851.

—In the encounter between Mercutio and Tybalt (Act III. Sc. 1.), in which Mercutio is killed, he addresses Tybalt tauntingly thus:—

"Good king of cats, &c., will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? Make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out."

The first quarto has scabbard, all the later editions have pilcher, a word occurring nowhere else. There has been a vain attempt to make pilcher signify a leathern sheath, because a pilch was a garment of leather or pelt. To me it is quite evident that pilcher is a mere typographical error for pitcher, which, in this jocose, bantering speech, Mercutio substitutes for scabbard, else why are the ears mentioned? The poet was familiar with the proverb "Pitchers have ears," of which he has elsewhere twice availed himself. The ears, as every one knows, are the handles, which have since been called the lugs. Shakspeare would hardly have substituted a word of his own creation for scabbard; but pitcher was suggested by the play upon the word ears, which is used for hilts in the plural, according to the universal usage of the poet's time. The ears, applied to a leathern coat, or even a sheath, would be quite unmeaning, but there is a well sustained ludicrous image in "pluck your sword out of his pitcher by the ears."

S. W. SINGER.

"Mementi Mory.

"Here lieth Littele Samuell Barinton, that great Under Taker, of Famious Cittis Clock and Chime Maker; He made his one Time goe Early and Latter, But now He is returned to God his Creator.

"The 19 of November Then He Seest, And for His Memory This Here is Pleast, By His Son Ben 1693."

The correctness of this copy, in every respect, may be relied upon.

R. J. R.

Blackstone, in his Commentaries, vol. i. p. 224., says, the heir apparent to the crown is usually made Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester; upon which Mr. Christian in a note remarks, upon the authority of Hume, that this creation has not been confined to the heir apparent, for both Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were created by their father, Henry VIII., Princesses of Wales, each of them at the time (the latter after the legitimation of Mary) being heir presumptive to the crown.

Can any of your correspondents inform me upon what authority this statement of Hume rests? or whether there exists any evidence of such creations having been made? Do any such creations appear upon the Patent Rolls? The statement is not supported by any writer of authority upon such subjects, and, as far as your Querist's investigation has proceeded, seems without foundation. It is one, however, too important in connexion with royal titles to remain uncontradicted, if the fact be not so.

G.

—Information is requested respecting the ancestry of the Lady Mary Cavendish, who married a Lieutenant Maudesley, or Mosley, of the Guards. She is thought to have been maid of honour to Queen Anne. And a Sir Henry Cavendish, who was teller of the Exchequer in Ireland some sixty years ago, was of the same family.

CAVENDO.

—When the witches in this country were very numerous, Satan for convenience divided them into companies of thirteen (one reason why thirteen has always been considered an unlucky number), and called each company a covine. Is that the etymology of the word covey, as applied to birds?

L. M. M. R.

—Can any one help me to find a little book on "Speculative Difficulties in the Christian Religion?" I read such a book about four years ago, and have quite forgotten its title and its author. The last chapter in the book was on the "Origin of Evil." There is a little book called Speculative Difficulties, but that is not the one I mean.

L. M. M. R.

—In the Barnane Mountains, near Templemore, Ireland, there is a large dent or hollow, visible at the distance of twenty miles, and known by the name of the "Devil's Bit."

Can any of your readers assist me in discovering the origins of this singular name? There is a foolish tradition that the Devil was obliged, by one of the saints, to make a road for his Reverence across an extensive bog in the neighbourhood, and so taking a piece of the mountain in his mouth, he strode over the bog and deposited a road behind him!

SING.

—What is the origin of the supposed custom of land becoming public property, after a funeral has passed over it? An instance of this occurred (I am told) a short time since at Battersea.

R. W. E.

—Seeing it twice stated in Mr. G. F. Angas's Australia and New Zealand, that "in the Celtic dialect of the Welsh, Nao (is) a ship," I am desirous to learn in what author of that language, or in what dictionary or glossary thereof, any such word is to be met with. (See vol. ii., pp. 274. 278.) I doubt, or even disbelieve, the Britons having had any name for a ship, though they had a name for an osier floating basket, covered with raw hides. And when they became familiar with the navis longa of the Romans, they and their Gaelic neighbours adopted the adjective, and not the substantive. But the question of nao is one of fact; and having got the assertion, I want the authority.

A. N.

—I wish to meet with the interesting and touching account of the conversion of William Hone, the compiler of the Every Day Book, and should be obliged to any one who would tell me where it is to be found.

E. V.

—What is the origin of holding up the two forefingers and thumb, and pressing down the third and little fingers of the right hand in giving "the blessing," as we see in figures of bishops, &c.? Is it a mystic allusion to the Trinity?

A. A. D.

4. Moray Place, Birkenhead.

—I wish to know if this word is still used by the country-people in the midland counties, and on the borders of North Wales, to denote fire-wood. In a Report dated in 1620, from a surveyor to the owner of an estate in Wales, near the borders of Shropshire, the following mention of it occurs:

"There is neither wood nor underwood on the said lands, but a few underwoods in the park of hasell, alders, withie, and thornes, and such like, which the tenants doe take and use for Tinsel as need requires."

The working people in Shropshire and Staffordshire still speak of tining a fire (pronounced teening). This is but a slight change in the Anglo-Saxon word tynan, to light a fire.

S. S. S.

—A young sailor, in his passage from Alexandria to Trinadas, mentions a place under this designation. Query, Is there a place correctly so called, or is this one of the misnomers not unfrequent among seamen?

M. A. LOWER.

—What are the arms of the family of Emiott of Kent?

E. H. Y.

—Will any of your learned readers be kind enough to direct me to the best sources of information on this subject?

H. G. T.

—If a sailor is killed in a sea-skirmish, or falls overboard and is drowned, or any other fatality occurs which necessitates the consignment of his remains to the "great deep," his surviving messmates speak of him as one who has been sent to "Davy Jones's Locker." Who was the important individual whose name has become so powerful a myth? And what occasioned the identification of the ocean itself with the locker of this mysterious Davy Jones?

HENRY CAMPKIN.

—I shall be much obliged by information respecting the authorship and history of this work, printed at Vienna, 1749, 4to.

N. B.

—Information is requested as to when the custom of preaching from written sermons was first introduced, and the circumstances which gave rise to it.

M. C. L.

—I have in my possession an old Italian MS., 27 pages of large foolscap paper. It is headed "Caduta del Conte d'Olivares," and at the end is signed "Scritta da Ferrante Pallavicino," and dated "28 Genaro, 1643." Of course this Count d'Olivares was the great favourite of Philip IV. of Spain; but who was Pallavicino? Could it have been the Paravicino who was court chaplain to Philip III. and IV.? or was he of the Genoese family of Pallavicini mentioned by Leigh Hunt (Autobiography, vol. ii. p. 177.) as having been connected with the Cromwell family? What favours the latter presumption is, that a gentleman to whom I showed the MS. said at once, "That is Genoa paper, just the same I got there for rough copies;" and he also told me that the water-mark was a well-known Genoa mark: it consists of a bird standing on an eight pointed starlike flower.

If any one can give me any likely account of this Pallavicino, or tell me whether the MS. is at all valuable in any way, I shall owe him many thanks.

CHARLES O. SOULEY.

Broadway, New York, May 10. 1851.

—Can any of your readers inform me, whether Athelney Castle, built by King Alfred, as a monastery, in token of his gratitude to God for his preservation, when compelled to fly from his throne, is in existence; or if any remains of it can be traced, as I do not find it mentioned either in several maps, gazetteers, or topographical dictionaries? It was situated about four miles from Bridgewater, near the conflux of the rivers Parrot and Tone?

J. S.

Islington, May 15. 1851.

Athelney.—In a visit which I recently paid to the field of Sedgemoor and the Isle of Athelney in Somersetshire, I found on the latter a stone pillar, inclosed by an iron railing, designed to point the traveller's eye to the spot, so closely associated with his earliest historical studies, with the burnt cakes, the angry housewife, and the castigated king. The pillar bears the following inscription, which you may think perhaps worthy of preservation in your useful pages:—

"King Alfred the Great, in the year of our Lord 879, having been defeated by the Danes, fled for refuge to the forest of Athelney, where he lay concealed from his enemies for the space of a whole year. He soon after regained possession of his throne, and in grateful remembrance of the protection he had received, under the favour of Heaven, he erected a monastery on this spot and endowed it with all the lands contained in the Isle of Athelney. To perpetuate the memorial of so remarkable an incident in the life of that illustrious prince, this edifice was founded by John Slade, Esq., of Mansell, the proprietor of Athelney and Lord of the Manor of North Petherton, A. D. 1801."

J. R. W.

Bristol.

—Can you tell me anything more about this MS., and in whose possession it now is?

R. H.

["The Legend of St. Molaisse" was sold in a sale at Puttick and Simpson's, July 3, 1850, for the sum of £8. 15s.]

—Who was Bogatzky, the author of the well-known Golden Treasury? Any particulars of his life will be acceptable.

E. V.

[Bogatzky was a Polish nobleman, the pupil of the great Professor Francke, and of a kindred spirit. He died at an advanced age in 1768. It is not generally known that Bogatzky published a Second Volume of his Golden Treasury, which Dr. Steinkopff revised and edited in 1812, to which he prefixed a short but interesting account of the author. See also Allgemeine Enyclopädie von Ersch und Gruber, s.v.]

In answer to MR. HALLIWELL's Query, "whether the remarkable passage respecting Shakspeare in this work has descended to us in its genuine state," I beg to inform him that I possess a copy of the edition of 1596, as well as of those of 1617 and 1621, from the latter of which the reprint by Sir Egerton Brydges was taken, and that the passage in question is exactly the same in all the three editions. For the general information of your readers interested in Greene's works, I beg to state, that the variations in the edition of 1596 from the other two, consist of the words "written before his death, and published at his dying request," on the title; and instead of the introductory address "To Wittie Poets, or Poeticall Wittes," signed I. H., there are a few lines on A 2, "The Printer to the Gentle Readers:"

"I haue published heere, Gentlemen, for your mirth and benefit, Greene's Groateswoorth of Wit. With sundry of his pleasant discourses ye haue beene before delighted: But now hath death giuen a period to his pen, onely this happened into my hands which I haue published for your pleasures: Accept it fauourably because it was his last birth, and not least worth, in my poore opinion. But I will cease to praise that which is aboue my conceit, and leaue it selfe to speake for it selfe: and so abide your learned censuring.

"Yours, W. W."

Then follows another short address, "To the Gentlemen Readers," by Greene himself; and as this edition is so rare, only two copies being known, and the address is short, I transcribe it entire for your insertion:

"Gentlemen, The Swan sings melodiously before death, that in all his life time vseth but a iarring sound. Greene, though able inough to write, yet deeplyer searched with sicknesse than euer heretofore, sendes you his swanne-like song, for that he feares he shall neuer againe carroll to you woonted loue layes, neuer againe discouer to you youth's pleasures. Howeuer yet sicknesse, riot, incontinence, haue at once shown their extremitie, yet if I recouer, you shall all see more fresh springs then euer sprang from me, directing you how to liue, yet not diswading you from loue. This is the last I haue writ, and I feare me the last I shall write. And how euer I haue beene censured for some of my former bookes, yet, Gentlemen, I protest, they were as I had special information. But passing them, I commend this to your fauourable censures, and like an Embrion without shape, I feare me will bee thrust into the world. If I liue to ende it, it shall be otherwise: if not, yet will I commend it to your courtesies, that you may as wel be acquainted with my repentant death, as you haue lamented my carelesse course of life. But as Nemo ante obitum felix, so Acta exitus probat: Beseeching therefore to bee deemed hereof as I deserue, I leaue the worke to your liking, and leaue you to your delights."

Greene died in September, 1592; and this is curious, as being probably the last thing that ever came from his pen.

The work commences on sig. A 4, the other three leaves being occupied with the title and the two addresses. It concludes with Greene's "letter written to his wife," and has not "Greene's Epitaph: Discoursed Dialogue-wise betweene Life and Death," which is in the two later editions.

I may here mention that I possess a copy of an extremely rare work relating to Robert Greene, which has only lately become known, viz.:

"Greene's Newes both from Heaven and Hell. Prohibited the first for writing of Bookes, and banished out of the last for displaying of Connycatchers. Commended to the Presse by B. R." (Barnabee Rich) 4to. bl. lett. Lond. 1593.

Concerning the great rarity of this interesting tract, which was unknown to the Rev. A. Dyce when publishing his edition of Greene's works, your readers may see a notice by Mr. Collier in his Extracts from the Registry of the Stat. Comp., vol. ii. p. 233., apparently from the present copy, no other being known.

THOS. CORSER.

Stand Rectory.

Besides the copy of the above work mentioned by your correspondent J. H. T., several others are known to exist in this country. Among them I may mention one in the library of the Baptist College, Bristol. My own copy was supplied by a London bookseller, who has likewise imported several other copies from Holland, where it is by no means a scarce work.

The second illustrated edition was published twenty years after the decease of Van Braght. The first edition, without engravings, now before me, appeared in 1660, which was the edition used by Danvers. But Danvers does not appear to have known its existence, when the first edition of his treatise came out in 1673. The "large additions" of his second edition in 1674, are chiefly made from the work of Van Braght.

The original portion of Van Braght's work is, however, confined to the first part. The second part, The Martyrology, strictly so called, is of much earlier date. Many single narratives appeared at the time, and collections of these were early made. The earliest collection of martyrdoms bears the date of 1542. This was enlarged in 1562, 1578, 1580, and 1595. This fact I give on the authority of Professor Müller of Amsterdam, from the Jaarboekje voor de Doopsgezinde Gemeenten in de Nederlanden, 1838 en 1839, pp. 102, 103.

An edition, dated 1599, of these very rare books is now before me. It has the following curious and affecting title:

"Dit Boeck wort genaemt: Het Offer des Heeren, Om het inhout van sommige opgeofferde Kinderen Gods, de welcke voort gebrocht hebben, wt den goeden schat haers herten, Belijdinghen, Sentbrieuen ende Testamenten, de welcke sy met den monde beleden, ende met den bloede bezeghelt hebben, &c. &c. Tot Harlinghen. By my Peter Sebastiaenzoon, Int jaer ons Heeren MDXCIX."

It is a thick 12mo. of 229 folios, and contains the martyrdoms of thirty-three persons (the first of which is Stephen), which were subsequently embodied in the larger martyrologies. Each narrative is followed by a versified version of it. A small book of hymns is added, some of them composed by the martyrs; and the letters and confession of one Joos de Tollenaer, who was put to death at Ghent in 1589.

In 1615, a large collection of these narratives appeared at Haarlem in a thick 4to. volume. The compilers were Hans de Ries, Jaques Outerman, and Joost Govertsoon, all eminent Mennonite ministers. Two editions followed from the press of Zacharias Cornelis at Hoorn in 1617 and 1626, both in 4to., but under different editorship. The last edition was offensive to the Haarlem editors, who therefore published a fourth at Haarlem in 1631. As its title is brief, I will give it from the copy in my library:

"Martelaers Spiegel der Werelose Christenen t' zedert A. D. 1524. Joan, xv. 20. Matt. x. 28. Esai, li. 7. Joan xvi. 2. 1 Pet. iv. 19. [All quoted at length.] Gedrukt tot Haarlem Bij Hans Passchiers van Wesbusch. In't Jaer onses Heeren, 1631."

This edition is in small folio. The title-page is from a copperplate, and is adorned with eight small engravings, representing scenes of suffering and persecution from scripture. The narratives of martyrs extends from 1524 to 1624. It is this work which forms the basis of Van Braght's. He added to it the whole of his first part, and also some additional narratives in the second. To the best of his ability he verified the whole.

These works are frequently referred to by Ottius in his Annales Anabaptistici under the titles "Martyrologium Harlemense" and "Martyrologium Hornanum."

From a paper in the Archivs für Kunde österreichischer Geschichtsquellen, I learn that a MS. exists in the City library of Hamburgh, with the following title:

"Chronickel oder Denkbüechel darinnen mit kurtzen Begriffen, Was sich vom 1524 Jar, Bis auff gegenwärtige Zeit, in der gemain zuegetragen, vnd wie viel trewer Zeugen Jesu Christij die warheit Gottes so riterlich mit irem bluet bezeugt. 1637."

The work appears chiefly confined to a history of the Moravian Anabaptists: but from passages given by the writer, Herr Gregor Wolny, it is evident that it contains many of the narratives given by Van Braght. The earlier portion of the MS. was written previous to 1592, when its writer or compiler died. Three continuators carried on the narrations to 1654. The last date in it is June 7, 1654; when Daniel Zwicker, in his own handwriting, records his settlement as pastor over a Baptist church. Mention is made of this MS. by Ottius, and by Fischer in his Tauben-kobel, p. 33., &c. For any additional particulars respecting it, I should feel greatly obliged.

It does not appear to be known to your correspondent that a translation of the second part of Van Braght's work has been commenced in this country, of which the first volume was issued by the Hanserd Knollys Society last year. A translation of the entire work appeared in 1837, in Pennsylvania, U. S., for the use of the Mennonite churches, emigrants from Holland and Germany to whom the language of their native land had become a strange tongue.

E. B. U.

33. Moorgate Street, London.

—The corresponding German word is Spann-nagel-neu, which may be translated as "New from the stretching needle;" and corroborates the meaning given by you. I may remark the French have no equivalent phrase. It is evidently a familiar allusion of the clothmakers of England and Germany.

BENBOW.

Birmingham.

—There is an old Club in this town (Birmingham) called the "Bear Club," and established (ut dic.) circa 1738, formerly of some repute. Among other legends of the Club, is one, that in the centre of the ceiling of their dining-room was once a carved rose, and that the members always drank as a first toast, to "The health of the King," [under the rose], meaning the Pretender.

BENBOW.

—The "Occasional Oratorio" is a separate composition, containing an overture, 10 recitatives, 21 airs, 1 duet, and 15 choruses. It was produced in the year 1745. It is reported, I know not on what authority, that the King having ordered Handel to produce a new oratorio on a given day, and the artist having answered that it was impossible to do it in the time (which must have been unreasonably short, to extort such a reply from the intellect that produced The Messiah in three weeks, and Israel in Egypt in four), his Majesty deigned no other answer than that done it must and should be, whether possible or not, and that the result was the putting forward of the "Occasional Oratorio."

The structure of the oratorio, which was evidently a very hurried composition, gives a strong air of probability to the anecdote. Evidently no libretto was written for it; the words tell no tale, are totally unconnected, and not even always tolerable English, a fine chorus (p. 39. Arnold) going to the words "Him or his God we no fear." It is rather a collection of sacred pieces, strung together literally without rhyme or reason in the oratorio form, than one oratorio. The examination of it leads one to the conclusion, that the composer took from his portfolio such pieces as he happened to have at hand, strung them together as he best could, and made up the necessary quantity by selections from his other works. Accordingly we find in it the pieces "The Horse and his Rider," "Thou shalt bring them in," "Who is like unto Thee?" "The Hailstone Chorus," "The Enemy said I will pursue," from Israel in Egypt, written in 1738; the chorus "May God from whom all Mercies spring," from Athaliah (1733); and the chorus "God save the King, long live the King," from the Coronation Anthem of 1727. There is also the air "O! Liberty," which he afterwards (in 1746) employed in Judas Maccabæus. Possibly some other pieces of this oratorio may be found also in some of Handel's other works, not sufficiently stamped on my memory for me to recognise them; but I may remark that the quantity of Israel in Egypt found in it may perhaps have so connected it in some minds with that glorious composition as to have led to the practice referred to of prefixing in performance the overture to the latter work, to which, although the introductory movement, the fine adagio, and grand march are fit enough, the light character of the fugue is, it must be confessed, singularly inappropriate.

I am not aware of any other "occasion" than that of the King's will, which led to the composition of this oratorio.

D. X.

—They are found in the ancient churches in Ireland, and some are preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and in private collections. A beautiful specimen is engraved in Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities, p. 161.

R. H.

—The charge for a "Thanksgiving Book," mentioned by A CHURCHWARDEN, was no doubt for a Book of Prayers, &c., on some general thanksgiving day, probably after the battle of Blenheim and the taking of Gibraltar, which would be about the month of November. A similar charge appears in the Churchwardens' accounts for the parish of Eye, Suffolk, at a much earlier period, viz. 1684, which you may probably deem worthy of insertion in your pages:

			l.	s.	d.
	"Payments
"It.	To Flegg for sweepinge and dressinge upp the church the nynth of September beeinge A day of Thanks-givinge for his Maties delivañce from the Newkett Plot	}	00	03	00
"It.	For twoe Bookes for the 9th of September aforesaid	}	00	01	00

J. B. COLMAN.

Eye, April 29, 1851.

—Philip, King of Castile (father to Charles V.), was forced by foul weather into Weymouth Harbour. He was hospitably entertained by Sir Thomas Trenchard, who invited Mr. Russell of Kingston Russell to meet him. King Philip took such delight in his company that at his departure he recommended him to King Henry VII. as a person of spirit "fit to stand before princes, and not before mean men." He died in 1554, and was the ancestor of the Bedford family. Sir Thomas Trenchard probably had the ceiling. See Fuller's Worthies (Dorsetshire), vol. i. p. 313.

A. HOLT WHITE.

The house of which your correspondent has heard his tradition is certainly Woolverton House, in the parish of Charminster, near this town.

It was built by Sir Thomas Trenchard, who died 20 Hen. VIII.; and tradition holds, as history tells us, that Phillip, Archduke of Austria, and King of Castile, with his queen Juana, or Joanna, were driven by weather into the port of Weymouth: and that Sir Thomas Trenchard, then the High Sheriff of the county, invited their majesties to his house, and afforded them entertainment that was no less gratifying than timely.

Woolverton now belongs to James Henning, Esq. There is some fine carving in the house, though it is not the ceiling that is markworthy; and it is thought by some to be the work of a foreign hand. At Woolverton House were founded the high fortunes of the House of Bedford. Sir Thomas Trenchard, feeling the need of an interpreter with their Spanish Majesties, happily bethought himself of a John Russell, Esq., of Berwick, who had lived some years in Spain, and spoke Castilian; and invited him, as a Spanish-English mouth, to his house: and it is said he accompanied the king and queen to London, where he was recommended to the favour of Hen. VII.; and after rising to high office, received from Hen. VIII. a share of the monastic lands.

See Hutchins's History of Dorset.

W. BARNES.

Dorchester.

—The passage cited by C. H. P. as assigned to Plautus, and which he says he cannot find in that author, occurs in one of the interpolated scenes in the Mercator, which are placed in some of the old editions between the 5th and 6th Scenes of Act IV. In the edition by Pareus, printed at Neustadt (Neapolis Nemetum) in 1619, 4to., it stands thus:

"Verum id dictum est: Feliciter is sapit, qui periculo alieno sapit."

I was wrong in attributing it to Plautus, and should rather have called it Plautine. By a strange slip of the pen or the press, periculum is put instead of periculo in my note. Niebuhr has a very interesting essay on the interpolated scenes in Plautus, in the first volume of his Kleine Historische und Philologische Schriften, which will show why these scenes and passages, marked as supposititious in some editions, are now omitted. It appears that they were made in the fifteenth century by Hermolaus Barbarus. See a letter from him to the Bishop of Segni, in Angeli Politiani Epistolæ, lib. xii. epist. 25.

To the parallel thoughts already cited may be added the following:

"Ii qui sciunt, quid aliis acciderit, facile ex aliorum eventu, suis rationibus possunt providere."

Rhetoric. ad Herennium, L. 4. c. 9.

S. W. SINGER.

—I see that MR. G. STEPHENS states, that Mons. Roquefort's nine columns are decisive of Saint Graal being derived from Sancta Cratera. I am unacquainted with the word cratera, unless in Ducange, as meaning a basket. But crater, a goblet, is the word meant by Roquefort.

How should graal or greal come from crater? I cannot see common sense in it. Surely that ancient writer, nearly, or quite, contemporary with the publication of the romance, Helinandus Frigidimontanus, may be trusted for the fact that graal was French for "gradalis or gradale," which meant "scutella lata et aliquantulum profunda in quâ preciosæ dapes cum suo jure divitibus solent apponi." (Vide Helinand. ap. Vincentium Bellovacensem, Speculum Historiale, lib. 43. cap. 147.) Can there be a more apparent and palpable etymology of any word, than that graal is gradale? See Ducange in Gradale, No. 3, and in Gradalis, and the three authorities (of which Helinand is not one) cited by him.

A. N.

—The interpretation of this is probably from Jer. Taylor's own head. See, for the history of the association in his mind, his sermon on the "Marriage Ring."

"It is fit that I should infuse a bunch of myrrh into the festival goblet, and, after the Egyptian manner, serve up a dead man's bones as a feast."

Q. Q.

—Allow me to refer H. C. K. to a passage in the Letters on the Suppression of the Monasteries, published by the Camden Society, p. 71., for an example of the word sewelles. It is there said to be equivalent to blawnsherres. The scattered pages of Duns Scotus were put to this use, after he was banished from Oxford by the Royal Commissioners.

The word is perhaps akin to the low Latin suellium, threshing-floor, or to the Norman French swele, threshold: in which case the original meaning would be bounds or limits.

C. H.

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

—This word is a Latinised form of the Irish words Cul-{f}eabu{s} (cul-feabus), i. e. "a closet of decency" or "for the sake of decency."

FRA. CROSSLEY.

—Your correspondent H. A. B. will find the lines in his MS. beginning

printed, with very slight variations, amongst Beaumont's poems, in Moxon's edition of the Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, 1840. They are the concluding lines of "An Elegy on the Lady Markham."

W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.

—I find the following passage in the fourth edition of Blount's Glossographia, published as far back as 1674.

"Umbrello (Ital. Ombrella), a fashion of round and broad Fans, wherewith the Indians (and from them our great ones) preserve themselves from the heat of the sun or fire; and hence any little shadow, Fan, or other thing, wherewith the women guard their faces from the sun."

In Kersey's Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum, 1708, it is thus noticed—

"Umbrella, or Umbrello, a kind of broad Fan or Skreen, commonly us'd by women to shelter them from Rain: also a Wooden Frame cover'd with cloth to keep off the sun from a window."

"Parasol (F.), a small sort of canopy or umbrello, which women carry over their heads."

And in Phillips's New World of Words, 7th ed., 1720—

"Umbrella or Umbrello, a kind of broad Fan or Skreen, which in hot countries People hold over their heads to keep off the Heat of the Sun; or such as are here commonly us'd by women to shelter them from Rain: Also, a wooden Frame cover'd with cloth or stuff, to keep off the sun from a window."

"Parasol (Fr.), a small sort of canopy or umbrello, which women carry over their Heads, to shelter themselves from Rain," &c.

T. C. T.

—Your correspondent L. says, the true explanation of the circumstance of the nine of diamonds being called the curse of Scotland is to be found in the game of Pope Joan; but with all due deference to him, I must beg entirely to dissent from this opinion, and to adhere to the notion of its origin being traceable to the heraldic bearing of the family of Dalrymple, which are or, on a saltire azure, nine lozenges of the field.

There can be no doubt that John Dalrymple, 2nd Viscount and 1st Earl of Stair, justly merited the appellation of the "Curse of Scotland," from the part which he took in the horrible massacre of Glencoe, and from the utter detestation in which he was held in consequence, and which compelled him to resign the secretaryship in 1695. After a deliberate inquiry by the commissioners had declared him to be guilty of the massacre, we cannot wonder that the man should be held up to scorn by the most popular means which presented themselves; and the nine diamonds in his shield would very naturally, being the insignia of his family, be the best and most easily understood mode of perpetuating that detestation in the minds of the people.

L. J.

—Your correspondents will find some information on this word in Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, 2nd edit. p. 279.; and in Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities, p. 141. Ledwich seems to derive the word from the Teutonic Bawen, to construct and secure with branches of trees.

R. H.

—MR. GATTY will find a vivid description of the bone-house at Hythe, in Mr. Borrow's Lavengro, vol. i. I have no reference to the exact page.

C. P. PH***.

—The letters B and F are doubtless convertible, as they are both labial letters, and can be changed as b and p are so frequently.

1. The word "batten" is used by Milton in the same sense as the word "fatten."

2. The Latin word "flo" is in English "to blow."

3. The word "flush" means much the same as "blush."

4. The Greek word βρέμω is in the Latin changed to "fremo."

5. The Greek word βορὰ = in English "forage."

6. Herod. vii. 73. Βίλιππος for Φίλιππος; Βρύγες for Φρύγες.

7. Φάλαινα in Greek = "balæna" in Latin = "balène" in French.

8. Φέρω in Greek = "to bear" in English.

9. "Frater" in Latin = "brother" in English.

Many other instances could probably be found.

I think that we may fairly imply that the labials p, b, f, v, may be interchanged, in the same way as the dental letters d and t are constantly; and I see no reason left to doubt that the word Bacon is the same as the word Fagan.

Φιλόλογος.

—When A SUBSCRIBER TO YOUR JOURNAL asks for some account of the origin of the phrase "to learn by Heart," may he not find it in St. Luke i. 66, ii. 19. 51.?

"To learn by memory" (or by "rote") conveys to my own mind a very different notion from what I conceive to be expressed by the words "To learn by heart." Just as there is an evident difference between a gentleman in heart and feeling, and a gentleman in manners and education only; so there is a like difference (as I conceive) between learning by heart and learning by rote; namely, the difference between a moral, and a merely intellectual, operation of the mind. To learn by memory is to learn by rote, as a parrot: to learn by heart is to learn morally—practically. Thus, we say, we give our hearts to our pursuits: we "love God with all our hearts," pray to Him "with the spirit, and with the understanding," and "with the heart believe unto righteousness:" we "ponder in our hearts," "muse in our hearts," and "keep things in our hearts," i. e. "learn by heart."

J. E.

—Claudius Minois, in his Commentaries on the Emblemata of Alciatus, gives the following etymology of "Auriga:"—

"Auriga non dicitur ab auro, sed ab aureis: sunt enim aureæ lora sive fræni, qui equis ad aures alligantur; sicut oreæ, quibus ora coercentur."—Alciati Emblemata, Emb. iv. p. 262.

W. R.

Hospitio Chelhamensi.

—Add to the others Wynyard, so far north as Durham.

C.

—Mr. Barker lived in West Square, St. George's Fields, a square directly opposite the Philanthropic Society's chapel.

G.

Barker, the original Panorama Painter.—MR. CUNNINGHAM is quite correct in stating Robert Barker to be the originator of the Panorama. His first work of the kind was a view of Edinburgh, of which city, I believe, he was a native.

On his death, in 1806, he was succeeded by his son, Mr. Henry Aston Barker, the Mr. Barker referred to by A. G. This gentleman and his wife (one of the daughters of the late Admiral Bligh) are both living, and reside at Bitton, a village lying midway between this city and Bath.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Bristol, June 2, 1851.

—ARUN's Query is fully answered by a reference to Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, vol. ii. p. 379., where the bell is shown to be emblematic of the saint's power to exorcise evil spirits, and reference is made to several paintings (and an engraving given of one) in which it is represented. The phrase "A Tantony Pig" is also explained, for which see further Halliwell's Dict. of Arch. and Prov. Words, s.v. Anthony.

C. P. PH***.

—Three Queries by NEMO: 1. The Rev. Connop Thirlwall, now Bishop of St. David's, is the author of the essay in question. 2. Cicero, Tusc. Disp., i. 15. 39.:—Errare mehercule malo cum Platone ... quam cum istis vera sentire; (again), Cicero, ad Attic., l. viii. ep. 7.:—Malle, quod dixerim, me cum Pompeio vinci, quam cum istis vincere. 3. The remark is Aristotle's; but the same had been said of Homer by Plato himself:

"Aristot. [Eth. Nicom. l. i. cap. 6. § 1. ed. Oxon.] is reluctant to criticise Plato's doctrine of Ideas, διὰ τὸ φίλους ἄνδρας εἰσαγάγειν τὰ εἴδη: but, he adds, the truth must nevertheless be spoken:—ἀμφοῖν γὰρ ὄντοιν φίλοιν, ὅσιον προτιμᾶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν.

"Plato [de Repub., X. cap. 1. p. 595 b.]:—Φιλία τίς με καὶ αἰδὼς ἐκ παιδὸς ἔχουσα περὶ Ὁμήρου ἀποκωλύει λέγειν ... ἀλλ' οὐ γὰρ πρό γε τῆς ἀλήθειας τιμητέος ἄνηρ."

C. P. PH***.

—S. T. Coleridge has explained this paradox in The Friend, vol. iii. p. 88. ed. 1850: a note is subjoined regarding Aristotle's attempted solution, with a quotation from Mr. de Quincey, in Tate's Mag., Sept. 1834, p. 514. The passage in Leibnitz which Ἰδιώτης requires, is probably "Opera, i. p. 115. ed. Erdmann."

C. P. PH***.

—In connexion with this I would quote an expression in Keble's Christian Year, "On the Rainbow," (25th Sun. after Trin.):

C. P. PH***.

—JARLTZBERG will find one theory on this subject in Dr. Asahel Grant's book, The Nestorians; or, the Lost Tribes, published by Murray; 12mo.

C. P. PH***.

—There is an exquisite criticism upon the treatment of this subject by various painters, accompanied by an etching from Titian, in that delightful book, Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, vol. i. pp 354. 360.; and to the list of painters who have illustrated this subject, add Holbein, in the Hampton Court Gallery. (See Mrs. Jameson's Handbook to the Public Galleries, pp. 172. 353., 1845.)

C. P. PH***.

—Your correspondent is referred to The War of the Sicilian Vespers, by Amari, translated by the Earl of Ellesmere, published very lately by Murray.

C. P. PH***.

—C. B. says, alluding to JARLTZBERG's references, "there is nothing in Solinus;" I read, however, in Solinus, cap. xv. (fol. 70. ed. Ald. 1518), under the heading, "Thracum mores, etc.":

"Uterque sexus epulantes focos ambiunt, herbarum quas habent semine ignibus superjecto. Cujus nidore perculsi pro lætitiâ habent imitari ebrietatem sensibus sauciatis."

JARLTZBERG's reference to Herod. i. 36. supplies nothing to the point: Herod. iv. 2. mentions the use of bone pipes, φυσητῆρας ὀστεΐνους, by the Scythians, in milking; but Herodotus (iv. 73. 75.) describes the orgies of the Scythians, who produced intoxicating fumes by strewing hemp-seed upon red-hot stones, as the leaves and seed of the Hasisha al fokara, or hemp-plant, are smoked in the East at the present day. (See De Sacy, Chrestom. Arabe, vol. ii. p. 155.) Compare also Plutarch de Fluviis (de Hebro, fr. 3.), who speaks of a plant resembling Origanum, from which the Thracians procured a stupefying vapour, by burning the stalks:

"Ἐπιτιθέασι πυρὶ ... καὶ τὴν ἀναφερομένην ἀναθυμίασιν δεχόμενοι ταῖς ἀναπνοίαις, καροῦνται, καὶ εἰς βαθὺν ὕπνον καταφέρονται" [Opera Varia, vol. vi. p. 444. ed. Tauchn.]"

C. P. PH***.

—Dr. Todd, in his edition of Milton's Works, in 1809, p. 158., mentions the rumour, without expressing any opinion of its truth. I think he omits all mention of it in his subsequent edition in 1826, and therefore hope he has adopted the prevailing opinion that it is a contemptible libel. In a note to the former edition is a reference to Kennett's Register, p. 38., and to "Private forms of Prayer fitted for the late sad times," &c., 12mo., Lond., 1660, attributed to Dr. Hammond. An anonymous author, quoting the verbal assurance of "a certain active Whigg," would be entitled to little credit in attacking the character of the living, and ought surely to be scouted when assailing the memory of the dead. In Lowndes' Bib. Man. it is stated that

"This miserable trash has been attributed to the author of Hudibras."

J. F. M.

—I have two translations of this poem in English verse, in addition to that mentioned at p. 330., viz., one in 4to., Anon., London, 1797; and one by Daniel French, 8vo., London, 1807. The former, which, as I collect from the preface, was written by a lady and a foreigner, alludes to two previous translations, one in blank verse (probably Lockman's), and the other in rhyme.

J. F. M.

—Your correspondent C. H. appears to give me too much credit for diligence, in having "searched" after this document; for in truth I did nothing beyond writing to the rector of the parish, the Rev. Thomas Sockett. All that I can positively say as to my letter, is, that it was intended to be courteous; that it stated my reason for the inquiry; that it contained an apology for the liberty taken in applying to a stranger; and that Mr. Sockett did not honour me with any answer. I believe, however, that I asked whether the register still existed; if so, what was its nature, and over what period it extended; and whether it had been printed or described in any antiquarian or topographical book.

Perhaps some reader may have the means of giving information on these points; and if he will do so through the medium of your periodical, he will oblige both C. H. and myself. Or perhaps C. H. may be able to inquire through some more private channel, in which case I should feel myself greatly indebted to him if he would have the goodness to let me know the result.

J. C. ROBERTSON.

Beakesbourne.

—The solution of J. H. M. to MR. SNEAK's inquiry is not satisfactory. "Alternate layers of sliced pippins and mutton steaks" might indeed make a pie, but not an apple-pie, therefore this puzzling phrase must have had some other origin. An ingenious friend of mine has suggested that it may perhaps be derived from that expression which we meet with in one of the scenes of Hamlet, "Cap à pied;" where it means perfectly appointed. The transition from cap à pied, or "cap à pie," to apple-pie, has rather a rugged appearance, orthographically, I admit; but the ear soon becomes accustomed to it in pronunciation.

A. N.

[MR. ROBERT SNOW and several other correspondents have also suggested that the origin of the phrase "apple-pie order" is to be found in the once familiar "cap à pied."]

—For details of the tradition, and an engraving of the sword, see Surtees' History of Durham, vol. iii. pp. 243, 244.

W. C. TREVELYAN.

—Your correspondent F. E. M. will find the word Malentour, or Malæntour, given in Edmondson's Complete Body of Heraldry as the motto of the family of Patten alias Wansfleet (sic) of Newington, Middlesex: it is said to be borne on a scroll over the crest, which is a Tower in flames.

In the "Book of Mottoes" the motto ascribed to the name of Patten is Mal au Tour, and the double meaning is suggested, "Misfortune to the Tower," and "Unskilled in artifice."

The arms that accompany it in Edmondson are nearly the same as those of William Pattyn alias Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor temp. Hen. VI.—the founder of Magdalen College, Oxford.

F. C. M.

—Since my former communication on this subject I have been referred to the cut of the Bellman and his Dog in Collier's Roxburghe Ballads, p. 59., taken from the first edition of Dekker's Belman of London, printed in 1608.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge, May 17, 1851.

—Is your correspondent A. S. correct in his quotation? In a poem of Swift's, "On Poetry, a Rhapsody," are these lines:—

C. DE D.

—The words attributed to Milton are—

Paterson's comment, quoted by your correspondent, is exquisite: he evidently thinks there were two trepidations, one talked, the other first moved.

The trepidation (not a tremulous, but a turning or oscillating motion) is a well-known hypothesis added by the Arab astronomers to Ptolemy, in explanation of the precession of the equinoxes. This precession they imagined would continue retrograde for a long period, after which it would be direct for another long period, then retrograde again, and so on. They, or their European followers, I forget which, invented the crystal heaven, an apparatus outside of the starry heaven (these cast-off phrases of astronomy have entered into the service of poetry, and the empyreal heaven with them), to cause this slow turning, or trepidation, in the starry heaven. Some used two crystal heavens, and I suspect that Paterson, having some confused idea of this, fancied he found them both in Milton's text. I need not say that your correspondent is quite right in referring the words first moved to the primum mobile.

Again, balance in Milton never weighs. Scale is his word (iv. 997. x. 676.) for a weighing apparatus. Where he says of Satan's army (i. 349.),

he appears to mean that they were in regular order, with a right wing to balance the left wing. The direct motion of the crystal heaven, following and compensating the retrograde one, is the "balance" which "was the trepidation called;" and this I suspect to be the true reading. The past tense would be quite accurate, for all the Ptolemaists of Milton's time had abandoned the trepidation. As the text stands it is nonsense; even if Milton did dictate it, we know that he never saw it; and there are several passages of which the obscurity may be due to his having had to rely on others. Witness the lines in book iv. 995-1002.

M.

—I forward extracts from the Registers of the parish of Saint Benedict in this town relating to the baptism of Dissenters. (Mr. Hussey, mentioned in several of the entries, was Joseph Hussey, minister of a Dissenting congregation here from 1691 to 1720. His meeting-house on Hog Hill (now St. Andrew's Hill) in this town was pillaged by a Jacobite mob, 29th May, 1716. He died in London in 1726, and was the author of several works, which are now very scarce.)

"1697. October 14th. William the Son of Richard Jardine and Elisabeth his Wife was baptiz'd in a Private Congregation by Mr. Hussey in ye name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Witnesses, Robert Wilson, Richd. Jardine.

"1698. Henery the Son of John and Sarah Shipp was baptized in a Private Congregation by Mr. Hussey December 1. Elisabeth the Daughter of Richard and Elisabeth Jardine was born ye twenty-first day of January and baptized the second day of February 1698-9 in a Private Congregation.

"1700. Walter the Son of Richard and Elisabeth Jardine born July 23 and said to be baptized in a Separate Congregation by Mr. Hussey Aug. 20.

"1701. Elisabeth Daughter of Richard Jardine and Elisabeth his wife born October 7. and said to be baptized at a Private Congregation Novemb. 3d.

"1702. June 22. Miram the Son of Thomas Short and Mary his Wife said to be baptized at a Separate Congregation. Jane the Daughter of Richard Jardine and Elizabeth his Wife said to be baptized at a Separate Congregation Dec. 21.

"1703. John the Son of Alexander Jardine and Elisabeth his Wife said to be baptized at a Separate Congregation, Mar. 31.

"1705. Alexander the Son of Alexander Jardine and ... his Wife was as 'tis said baptized in a Separate Congregation July 1705.

"1706. John the Son of Alexander Jardine and Elisabeth his Wife said to be baptized at a Private Congregation Dec. 11.

"1707. Nov. 11. John the Son of Alexander and Elis. Jardine was said to be baptized in Separate Congregation.

"1710. Aug. 23. John ye Son of Bryan and Sarah Ellis was said to have been baptized in Separate Congregation.

Nov. 15. Nath. ye Son of Alexander and Elisa Jardine was said to be baptiz'd in a Separate Congregation.

I have no recollection of having met with similar entries in any other Parish Register.

C. H. COOPER.

—I think that upon further consideration C. J. A. will find his egg to be merely that of a blackbird. While the eggs of some birds are so constant in their markings that to see one is to know all, others—at the head of which we may place the sparrow, the gull tribe, the thrush, and the blackbird—are as remarkable for the curious variety of their markings, and even of the shades of their colouring. And every schoolboy's collection will show that these distinctions will occur in the same nest.

I also believe that there has been some mistake about the nest, for though, like the thrush, the blackbird coats the interior of its nest with mud, &c., it does not, like that bird, leave this coating exposed, but adds another lining of soft dried grass.

SELEUCUS.

—A correspondent, C. P. PH***., asks "What is Champak?" He will find a full description of the plant in Sir William Jones's "Botanical Observations on Select Indian Plants," vol. v. pp. 128-30. Works, ed. 1807. In speaking of it, he says:

"The strong aromatic scent of the gold-coloured Champac is thought offensive to the bees, who are never seen on its blossoms; but their elegant appearance on the black hair of the Indian women is mentioned by Rumphius; and both facts have supplied the Sanscrit poets with elegant allusions."

D. C.

The first volume issued to the members of the Camden Society in return for the present year's subscription affords in more than one way evidence of the utility of that Society. It is an account of Moneys received and paid for Secret Services of Charles II. and James II., and is edited by Mr. Akerman from a MS. in the possession of William Selby Lowndes, Esq. Of the value of the book as materials towards illustrating the history of the period over which the payments extend, namely from March 1679 to December 1688, there can be as little doubt, as there can be that but for the Camden Society it never could have been published. As a publishing speculation it could not have tempted any bookseller; even if its owner would have consented to its being so given to the world: and yet that in the simple entries of payments to the Duchess of Portsmouth, to "Mrs. Ellinor Gwynne," to "Titus Oates," to the Pendrells, &c., will be found much to throw light upon many obscure passages of this eventful period of our national history, it is probable that future editions of Mr. Macaulay's brilliant narrative of it will afford ample proof.

The Antiquarian Etching Club, which was instituted two or three years since for the purpose of rescuing from oblivion, and preserving by means of the graver, objects of antiquarian interest, has just issued the first part of its publications for 1851. This contains twenty-one plates of various degrees of merit, but all of great interest to the antiquary, who looks rather for fidelity of representation than for artistic effect.

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.—G. Bumstead's (205. High Holborn), Catalogue, Part LI., containing many singularly Curious Books; James Darling's (Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields) Catalogue, Part 49. of Books chiefly Theological.

• ALBERT LUNEL, a Novel in 3 Vols.
• DR. ADAMS' SERMON ON THE OBLIGATION OF VIRTUE. Any edition.
• ENGRAVED PORTRAITS OF BISHOP BUTLER.
• RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW. Vol. IV.
• DENS' THEOLOGIA MORALIS ET DOGMATICA. 8 Vols. 12mo. Dublin, 1832.
• MARLBOROUGH DISPATCHES. Volumes IV. and V.
• ART JOURNAL. 1839 to 1844 inclusive. Also 1849.
• BULWER'S NOVELS. 12mo. Published at 6s. per Vol. Pilgrims of the Rhine, Alice, and Zanoni.
• STEPHANI THESAURUS. Valpy. Parts I. II. X. XI. and XXIX.
• KIRBY'S BRIDGEWATER TREATISE. 2 Vols.
• The Second Vol. of CHAMBER'S CYCLOPÆDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.
• MITFORD'S HISTORY OF GREECE, continued by Davenport. 12mo. 8 Vols. Published by Tegg and Son, 1835. Volume Eight wanted.
• L'ABBÉ DE SAINT PIERRE, PROJET DE PAIX PERPETUELLE. 3 Vols. 12mo. Utrecht, 1713.
• AIKIN'S SELECT WORKS OF THE BRITISH POETS. 10 Vols. 24mo. Published by Longmans and Co. 1821. Vols. I. V. and VIII. wanted.
• CAXTON'S REYNARD THE FOX (Percy Society Edition). Sm. 8vo. 1844.
• CRESPET, PERE. Deux Livres de la Haine de Satan et des Malins Esprits contre l'Homme. 8vo. Francfort, 1581.
• CHEVALIER RAMSAY, ESSAI DE POLITIQUE, où l'on traite de la Nécessité, de l'Origine, des Droits, des Bornes et des différentes Formes de la Souveraineté, selon les Principes de l'Auteur de Télémaque. 2 Vols. 12mo. La Haye, without date, but printed in 1719.
• The same. Second Edition, under the title "Essai Philosophique sur le Gouvernement Civil, selon les Principes de Fénélon," 12mo. Londres, 1721.
• THE CRY OF THE OPPRESSED, being a True and Tragical Account of the unparalleled Sufferings of Multitudes of Poor Imprisoned Debtors, &c. London, 1691. 12mo.
• MARKHAM'S HISTORY OF FRANCE. Vol II. 1830.
• MARKHAM'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Vol. II. 1836. Sixth Edition.
• JAMES'S NAVAL HISTORY. (6 Vols. 8vo.) 1822-4. Vol. VI.
• HUME'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. (8 Vols. 1818.) Vol. IV.
• RUSSELL'S EUROPE FROM THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. 4to. 1824 Vol. II.

*** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

AN M. D. We cannot say whether the Queries referred to by our correspondent have been received, unless he informs us to what subjects they related.

C. P. PH*** is thanked for his corrigenda to Vol. I.

H. E. The proper reading of the line referred to, which is from Nat. Lee's Alexander the Great, is,—

See "NOTES AND QUERIES" No. 14. Vol. I., p. 211.

SILENUS. The oft quoted lines,—

by Sir John Menzies, have already been fully illustrated in our columns. See Vol. I., pp. 177. 203. 210.; and Vol. II., p. 3.

THE TRADESCANTS. In C. C. R.'s communication respecting this family, No. 84. p. 469., for "-apham" and "Meapham" read "-opham" and "Meopham."

CIRCULATION OF OUR PROSPECTUSES BY CORRESPONDENTS. The suggestion of T. E. H., that by way of hastening the period when we shall be justified in permanently enlarging our Paper to 24 pages, we should forward copies of our PROSPECTUS to correspondents who would kindly enclose them to such friends as they think likely, from their love of literature, to become subscribers to "NOTES AND QUERIES," has already been acted upon by several friendly correspondents, to whom we are greatly indebted. We shall be most happy to forward Prospectuses for this purpose to any other of our friends able and willing thus to assist towards increasing our circulation.

REPLIES RECEIVED.—Trepidation talked—Carling Sunday—To learn by Heart—Abel represented with Horns—Moore's Almanack—Dutch Literature—Prenzie—Pope Joan—Death—Gillingham—Lines on the Temple—Champac—Children at a Birth—Mark for a Dollar—Window Tax—Tradescants—Banks Family—A regular Mull—Theory of the Earth's Form—Heronsewes—Verse Lyon—Brittanicus—By the Bye—Baldrocks—A Kemble Pipe—Republic of San Marino—Mythology of the Stars.

VOLS. I. and II., each with very copious Index, may still be had, price 9s. 6d. each.

NOTES AND QUERIES may be procured, by order, of all Booksellers and Newsvenders. It is published at noon on Friday, so that our country Subscribers ought not to experience any difficulty in procuring it regularly. Many of the country Booksellers, &c., are, probably, not yet aware of this arrangement, which will enable them to receive NOTES AND QUERIES in their Saturday parcels.

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