This is another discussion in which Shakspeare's love of antithesis has
not been sufficiently recognised.
The contrast in this case is in the ideas—ever receiving, never
retaining: an allusion to the hopeless punishment of the Danaïdes, so
beautifully appropriate, so unmistakeably apparent, and so well
supported in the context, that I should think it unnecessary to offer a
comment upon it had the question been raised by a critic less
distinguished than MR. SINGER; or if I did not fancy that I perceive the
origin of what I believe to be his mistake, in the misreading of another
line, the last in his quotation.
The hopelessness of Helena's love is cheerfully endured; she glories in
it:
"I know I love in vain—strive against hope—
Yet still outpour the waters of my love,
And lack not to lose still."
This last line MR. SINGER reads, "and fail not to lose still;" but
surely that is not Helena's meaning? She means that her spring of love
is inexhaustible; that, notwithstanding the constant, hopeless waste,
there lacks not (a supply) "to lose still!"
Johnson was one of those commentators enumerated by MR. SINGER, of
whom he observes, as a matter of surprise, "that none of them
should have remarked that the sense of the Latin 'captiosus,' and
of its congeners in Italian and French, is deceitful, fallacious;"
"and," he adds, "Bacon uses the word for 'insidious,'
'ensnaring.'" But surely Johnson the commentator was no other than
Johnson the lexicographer; and yet, for these precise definitions
of "captious," which J. S. W. thinks "too refined and recondite"
for Shakspeare's "small Latin," we need apply to no higher
source than to that familiar household companion—Johnson's
Dictionary, wherein is anticipated the citation of Bacon, and
even of the French word "captieux."
It could not therefore be from ignorance that Johnson failed to propose
this recondite sense, but from a conviction that it would not represent
the true meaning of Shakspeare.
It will be perceived that, in appreciation of "captious," I side with
Steevens, Malone, Knight, Collier, and even with J.S.W.; in whom,
however, with his irreverent allusion to "a man who had small Latin,"
I can recognise no true worshipper of Shakspeare.
Why should Shakspeare be constantly twitted with this "small Latin," as
if the "school-like gloss" of a hundred Porsons could add one
scintilla to the glory of his name? His was the universal language of
nature; and well does MR. SINGER remark that "We all know, by intuition
as it were, what Shakspeare meant." It is true that we discuss his mere
words in the endeavour to school our understandings to HIS level; but
he, hedged by the divinity of immeasurable genius, must, himself, be
sacred;—to attempt to measure his attainments by our finite estimation,
is indeed sacrilege!
In retailing Ben Jonson's unluckily chosen expression, J.S.W. does not
seem to be aware that it has been doubted, and ably doubted, by Mr.
Knight, in his History of Opinion, that Jonson himself used it by any
means in the pedagogue sense usually adopted. And it does seem scarcely
credible that Jonson would give utterance to a puff so miserably
threadbare, so absurd too on the very face of it; for in what possible
way could an alleged deficiency of Greek and Latin in Shakspeare,
affect a comparison, made by Jonson, between Shakspeare and the poets
of Greece and Rome? As well might it be said that ignorance of the Greek
language, in Napoleon Buonaparte, would prevent a parallel between him
and Alexander the Great! What if Ben Jonson meant his fifth line to
continue the supposition of the first?—"though" is a word which has a
hypothetical, as well as an admissive meaning; and there is no
difficulty in reading his lines in this way:
"If I thought my judgment were of yours, and though thy
learning were less; still I would not seek to compare thee with
modern men, but call forth thundering Eschylus," &c.
But I should like to ask J. S. W., as the nearest example from the same
play, which does he really think would require the larger Latin,—to
discover the trite and only meaning of "captiosus," or to use triple
in the sense conferred upon it in Helena's description, to the King, of
her father's legacy? We have not at present in the English language any
equivalent for that word as Shakspeare used it, and of which he has left
us another example in Antony and Cleopatra, where the triumvir is
called "the triple pillar of the world." We have failed to take
advantage of the lesson given us by our great master, and consequently
our language is deprived of what would have been a most convenient
acquisition.
It is true that Johnson gives a definition of "triple," in reference to
its application to Antony, viz., "consisting of three conjoined;" but
that meaning, however it might be applicable to the triumvirate
collectively, is certainly not so to the members individually. To meet
Shakspeare's use of the word, the definition must be extended to
"consisting of, or belonging to, three conjoined:" a sense in which
"triplex" was undoubtedly used by the Latins. Ovid would call the
triumvirate "viri triplices," and of course each one must be "vir
triplex;" but perhaps the clearest instance of the triune application is
where he addresses the Fates (in Ibin. 76.) as spinning out "triplici
pollice" (with triple thumb) the allotted task. Now as only one of the
sisters held the thread, there could be but one individual thumb engaged
(although with a sort of reflective ownership to all three); and there
can be no question that Ovid would apply the same term to the shears of
Atropos, or the distaff of Clotho.
Here, then, is a really recondite meaning, fairly traced to
Shakspeare's own reading; for had he borrowed it from any one else, some
trace of it would be found, and Warburton need not have stultified
himself by his sapient note—"IMPROPERLY USED FOR THIRD!"
But to return to "captious," there is, after all, no such great
difference whether it be one's goods, or one's wits, that are taken
possession of; or whether the capture be effected by avidity or fraud;
both meanings unite in our own word "caption:" and there seems no good
reason why "captious" should not derive from "caption," as readily as
"cautious" from "caution." It is for the antithesis I contend, as a key
to the true sense intended by Shakspeare: the whole play is full of
antitheses, uttered especially by Helena;—and certainly, if we
recognise the allusion to the Danaïdes (as who will not?), we cannot,
without depriving it of half its force and beauty, receive "captious" in
the sense of "deceptious." The Danaïdes were not deceived—the essence
of their punishment was utter absence of hope; Tantalus was
deceived—the essence of his punishment was hope ever recurring.
With respect to the suggestion of "capacious" by W.F.S. (p. 229.), he
could not have read MR. SINGER's paper with attention, or he would have
perceived that he had been anticipated by Farmer, who, by elision, had
obviated the metrical objection of J.S.W. (p. 430.). But the meaning of
"capacious" is "capable of containing," and, as such, it would be more
than antithetical, it would be contradictory, to "intenible." If
capacious be consistent with leaky, then the "uxor secreti capax"
must have been rather an unsafe confidante.
A. E. B.
Leeds, June 5. 1851.
The origin of this ceremony must undoubtedly be sought in man's natural
desire to cover a dead body from the public view. The casting a handful
of soil on the coffin is emblematic of the complete inhumation. The most
ancient writings have allusions to the shamefulness of a corpse lying
uninterred. Being thrown outside the walls of Jerusalem, with the burial
of an ass (Jeremiah xxii. 19.), was regarded as the worst possible fate.
Wheatly's observations upon this point, in his annotations on the burial
service in the Prayer Book, are as follows:
"The casting earth upon the body was esteemed an act of piety by
the very heathens (Ælian, Var. Hist., l. v. c. 14.), insomuch
that to find a body unburied, and leave it uncovered, was judged
amongst them a great crime (Hor. l. i. od. 28. v. 36.). In the
Greek Church this has been accounted so essential to the
solemnity, that it is ordered to be done by the priest himself
(Goar, Eucholog. Offic. Exeq., p. 538.); and the same was
enjoined by our own rubric in the first Common Prayer of King
Edward VI.: 'Then the priest casting earth upon the corpse,'
&c. But in our present Liturgy (as altered in Queen Elizabeth's
reign, 1559), it is only ordered that it 'shall be cast upon the
body by some standing by:' and so it is generally left to one of
the bearers, or sexton, who, according to Horace's description
(injecto ter pulvere, vid. supra), gives three casts of earth
upon the body or coffin, whilst the priest pronounces the solemn
form which explains the ceremony, viz. 'earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust.'"
The note in Horace upon the three words above quoted is very much to the
point:
"In sacris hoc genus sepulturæ tradebatur, ut si non obrueretur,
manu ter jacta terra, cadaveri pro sepultura esset." (Vet.
Schol.)
The ancients thought that the spirit of an unburied corpse could not
reach the Elysian fields, but wandered disconsolate by the Styx, until
some pious hand paid the customary funeral rites. See the case of
Patroclus (Iliad, xxiii. 70, et seq.). To lay the unquiet ghost, a
handful of earth on the bodily remains would suffice:
"Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescent."
The indignity of a public execution is much aggravated by allowing the
body of the criminal to remain exposed, as in the case of the five sons
of Saul whose corpses were guarded by Rizpah (2 Sam. xxi.); and in our
own recent custom of ordering pirates and the worst kind of murderers,
to be gibbeted in chains, as a monumental warning.
Three or four summers ago I buried an Irish reaper, who had suddenly
died in the harvest-fields. About half a dozen fellow-labourers, Irish
and Roman Catholics like himself, bore him to the grave. At the words
earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, they threw in handfuls
of soil; and, as soon as the service was over, they filled up the grave
with spades which they had brought for the purpose. No doubt, there was
religious prejudice in all this; but their behaviour was most reverent,
and what they did seemed to arise from the generous instinct to cover
the dead body of a comrade.
ALFRED GATTY.
Wheatly on the Common Prayer (ch. xii. §5.) derives this custom from
the ancients, and adds that—
"In the Greek Church, the casting earth upon the body has been
accounted so essential to the solemnity, that it is ordered to be
done by the priest himself. And the same was enjoined by our own
rubric in the first Common Prayer of King Edward VI."
For the Greek Church Wheatly refers to Goar Rituale Græcorum, p. 538.
The passage, which I transcribe from Goar, runs as follows:—
"Et cadaver in monumento deponitur. Sacerdos vero terram batillo
tollens superinjecit cadaveri, dicens, 'Domini est terra et
plenitudo ejus: orbis terrarum et qui habitant in eo.' His
peractis cadaveri superinfundunt lampadis oleum, aut e thuribulo
cinerem. Atque ita ut moris est, sepulchrum operiunt dum dicuntur
moduli," &c.
The following reference may also be added, Goar, 556., "Officium funeris
monachorum," where the earth is directed to be thrown "in crucis modum."
N. E. R. (a Subscriber.)
"The first folio," says Dr. Johnson, "has in both places prenzie, from
which the other folios made princely, and every editor may make what
he can." It will not be difficult, I conceive, to find out what sense
Shakspeare meant to convey by this word, and to show that what he meant
he has expressed with sufficient accuracy, though his meaning was soon
after misunderstood. Our language owes much of its wealth of words to
the talent which our great poet possessed for coining them—a talent
which he exercised with marvelous tact: and if now and then some of them
failed for want of being properly printed, we may rather wonder that so
many obtained currency, than that a few ceased to circulate soon after
they were first introduced.
The idea intended to be conveyed by the word prenzie, is that
which is expressed in the following passages:
"All this I speak in print; for in print I found it."
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act II. Sc. I.
"I will do it, Sir, in print."
Love's Labour's Lost, Act III. Sc. I.
on which Steevens remarks:
"In print means with Exactness—with the utmost Nicety."
He supports this meaning by quotations from other dramatic writers of
the same age:
"Not a hair about his Bulk, but it stands in print." (1605)
"I am sure my husband is a Man in print, in all things else."
(1635.)
When, therefore, Claudio, who, as your correspondent LEGES observes, is
aware of Angelo's reputation for sanctity, exclaims in astonishment:
he means the same as if he had said:
"What! that Man in print?"
"The printsy Angelo?"
But prenzie is a term applied to apparel as well us to character;
and how does this accord with the interpretation here given?
"O 'tis the cunning livery of hell,
The damned'st body to invest and cover
In prenzie guards!"
Here again we are supplied by Steevens with apt quotations in
illustration from other writers of the same age:
"Next, your Ruff must stand in print." (1602.)
and
"This Doublet sits in print, my Lord!" (1612.)
"In printsy guards" means the same, therefore, as "Guards in
print," or, robes put on "with exactness—with the utmost
nicety."
Printsy is a word of the same formation with tricksy; and the
phrase, "The printsy Angelo!" is as good English as "My tricksy
Ariel!" It was probably pronounced prentsy (prenzie) in the time of
Shakspeare; the word print being derived from empreinte. Sir W.
Scott speaks of "a prent book," for a printed book. Besprent is the
participle of besprinkle. Of similar formation with printsy and
tricksy, are linsy, woolsy, and frowsy; but as all these
adjectives, except the first, are derived from nouns representing
natural or familiar things, while printsy is founded on a word having
no connexion with any obvious idea, it is probable that this difference
may account for the fact that printsy so early fell into disuse, while
the rest were retained without difficulty.
By the word printsy, those four conditions are fulfilled for which
your correspondent so properly contends:—1. the word is "suitable to
the reputed character of Angelo." 2. It is "an appropriate epithet to
the word guards." 3. It supplies "the proper metre in both places." 4.
It is "similar in appearance to the word prenzie."
No other word has been produced which so fully represents the formality
and hypocrisy of Angelo, as described in the quotations so conveniently
brought into one view by your correspondent, though one of the epithets
made use of comes very near the mark: "Lord Angelo is precise!"
JOHN TAYLOR.
I would refer your correspondents H. B., H. I. (p. 372.), and
PHILOBODIUS and MR. JERDAN (p. 406.), to the following volumes: The
Last Battle of the Soule in Death, by Mr. Zacharie Boyd, Preacher of
God's Word in Glasgow, edited by Gabriel Neil, Glasgow, 1831; McUre's
History of Glasgow, with Appendix, Glasgow, 1830.
As the first of these vols. is now very scarce (a limited number being
printed by subscription), the following extracts may be interesting to
some of your readers, and at the same time correct some errors of our
correspondents:—
"Mr. Zacharie Boyd was descended from the family of the Boyds of
Pinkill (Carrick, Ayrshire). He was cousin to Mr. Robert Boyd, of
Trochrigg, who was appointed Principal of the University of
Glasgow in 1615. The date of his birth is not exactly known; some
time previous to 1590. He received his education at the school of
Kilmarnock. The first notice we have of him is in a letter to
Principal Boyd, from David Boyd, in 1605, wherein he says,
'There is a friend of yours, Zacharie Boyd, who will pass his
course at the colledge within two years.' After having finished
his course at the University of Glasgow, he studied at the
College of Saumur, in France, under his relation, Robert Boyd: he
returned to his native county in 1621. In 1623 he was ordained
Minister of the Barony Parish of Glasgow, in which situation he
continued till his death in 1653-1654."
Mr. Zacharie Boyd was never Principal or a Professor in Glasgow College:
the only office he ever held in the college was that of Lord Rector (an
honorary office annually elected), which he held in the years 1634,
1635, 1645. He was a great benefactor to the college, to which he left
20,000l. Scots, for buildings and bursaries.
The crypt below Glasgow Cathedral, called St. Mungo's Crypt, was the
barony church in Zacharie's time, and where he preached; it is this same
place which Sir Walter Scott so well describes in Rob Roy (vol. ii.
chap. 3., edition in 48 vols.), where Francis Osbaldistone heard sermon.
Z. Boyd was, both in prose and verse, a very voluminous writer; his
works, however, are chiefly in MS. in the library of Glasgow College.
In addition to editing The Last Battle, Mr. Neil has examined the
"Poetical Works" in MS.; and has given a summary of the whole in
the Appendix to the Biographical Sketch; and has printed for
the first time upwards of 3000 lines from the poetical MSS.
With regard to Mr. Boyd's poetry, the following account from Neil's
Biographical Sketch may be accounted satisfactory, with reference to
the lines often quoted as from Zacharie Boyd's Bible:
"The work, however, which has given the greatest public notoriety
to his name as a poetical writer, is that generally called
'Zacharie Boyd's Bible,' said to be a metrical version of the
whole Scriptures—an arduous task indeed, if ever he contemplated
the undertaking. But such a book as this has existed only in
name, not in reality; at least, it is nowhere to be found among
his works. The only one approaching to it is a metrical version
of the 'Four Evangels,' which proceeds through the Gospels of the
New Testament by chapter and verse.... And, among other works, he
produced two volumes under the title of 'Zion's Flowers,' and
it is these which are usually shown as his Bible, and have
received that designation. These volumes consist of a collection
of Poems from select subjects in Scripture History, such as
Jonah, Jephtha, David and Goliath, &c., &c., rendered into the
dramatic form, in which various 'Speakers' are introduced, and
where the prominent parts of the Scripture narrative are brought
forward and amplified. We have a pretty close parallel to these
in the 'Ancient Mysteries' of the thirteenth or fourteenth
centuries, and in the Sacred Dramas of more modern writers.
"It is from this work, Zion's Flowers, that the various
quotations which have occasioned so much mirth to the public are
said to have been made, but not one of these which are in
circulation are to be found there: the only 'genuine extract
from these MSS. is that printed by Pennant.'"—Biog. Sketch, p.
14. et seq.
The "genuine extract" will be found in Pennant's Tour in Scotland,
vol. ii. p. 156.
PHILOBODIUS, "NOTES AND QUERIES," Vol. i., p. 406., will find the four
lines he quotes given differently there.
S. WMSON.
P.S. To show the extent of Mr. Boyd's poetical perseverance, I subjoin
a note of the contents of one of his poetical MSS.:—the Flowers of
Zion, generally called Zacharie Boyd's Bible.
|
| David and Goliath contains about | | 850 | lines. |
| Historie of Jonah | | 1130 | " |
| —— of Samson | | 2100 | " |
| —— of Jephtha | | 720 | " |
| The Flood of Noah | | 860 | " |
| The Tower of Babylon | | 930 | " |
| The Destruction of Sodom | | 2000 | " |
| Abram commanded to sacrifice Isaac | | 840 | " |
| Historie of the Baptist | | 800 | " |
| The Fall of Adam | | 900 | " |
| Abel murdered | | 900 | " |
| Pharaoh's Tyranny and Death | | 2480 | " |
| Historie of Jacob and Esau | | 750 | " |
| —— of Jacob and Laban | | 1400 | " |
| Jacob and Esau reconciled | | 720 | " |
| Dinah ravished by Shechem | | 440 | " |
| Joseph and his Brethren | } | 1615 | " |
| Joseph tempted to Adultery |
| Nebuchadnezzar's Fierie Furnace | | 3280 | " |
| |
| Also at the end— |
| The World's Vanities (Divided into 8 Branches:—1st. Strength,
2nd. Honour, 3rd. Riches,
4th. Beautie,
5th. Pleasure, 6th. Wisdom,
7th. Children, 8th. Long Life) contains about | | 550 | lines. |
| The Popish Powder Plot (The Speakers—Christ—King
James—Elizabeth—Peeres of England—The Lords appointed to trye
the Traitors—The Earls of Nottingham, Suffolke, the Lord
Monteagle—The Sherriffe of Worcester—The Devill—the Jesuit
Gerrard—Robert Catesby—Thomas Percy, Guy Faux, &c. &c. &c.)
contains about | | 1560 | lines. |
—I beg to inform your
correspondent S. T. D., that in an old 4to. volume in my possession,
which treats principally of the topic about which he is inquiring, there
are several engravings of Death as a skeleton. In one he is armed with a
bow and arrow, an axe, and a scythe notched as a saw. In another he has
an axe only: while in a third, in which he is announcing his dissolution
to a man on his deathbed, he has a spade in his left hand, while with
his right he points upwards; and on his head is a wreath of thorns with
flowers standing up out of it. I do not know whether the book is a rare
one or not. It is in black letter, and at the end is the date 1515. The
title, which is a woodcut, rather curious, is—Sermones Johannis
Geilerii Keiserspergii, &c., &c. There are also six other woodcuts,
after the manner of Albert Durer, very quaint and curious. The volume is
in its original vellum, over oak boards, finely tooled, and has once
been bound at the corners and clasped with metal. In MS. on the top of
the title are the words "Monast. S. Udalrici Augæ." Though in very good
condition, the black-letter type is so curiously crabbed and abbreviated
that I have not had time to do more than ascertain that it seems a very
singular and a learned work.
H. C. H.
Rectory, Hereford, June 8. 1851.
[The author of the curious work in the possession of our
correspondent is John Geiler, called also Gayler, Keiserspergius,
an eminent Swiss divine, who was born in 1445, and died in 1510.
His works in German and Latin are books of rare occurrence, and
consist principally of Sermons. Oberlin published in 1786 a
curious life of Geiler. For the titles of his various works,
consult Panzer's Annales Typographici, vol. vi.]
Death (Vol. iii., p. 450.).—Has S. T. D. consulted the excellent
treatise of Lessing, "Wie die Alten den Tod gebildet?" It is illustrated
with many engravings. (See Lessing's Sämmtliche Schriften,
1839, vol. viii.)
C. P. PH***.
Oxford, Whit-Monday.
—If DR. RIMBAULT will turn to vol.
i., p. 10. of Campbell's Life of Mrs. Siddons, he will find that the
Kemble of smoking notoriety alluded to in the proverb, met his fate at a
date long subsequent to the Marian persecution. He was apprehended on a
charge of implication in Titus Oates's plot, and executed at Hereford,
August 2d, 1679, being one of the last persons who suffered death for
their religious opinions in England. He was hung, not burnt, and his
hand is still preserved in the Reliquary of the Roman Catholic Chapel at
Worcester. "On his way to execution," says Mr. Campbell,
"He smoked his pipe and conversed with his friends; and in that
county it was long usual to call the last pipe that was smoked in
a social company, a Kemble's pipe."
SPERIEND.
—Your
correspondent JARLTZBERG may find a copy of the Wyngaert in the
library of the Maatschappij van Letterkunde (Lit. Soc.) in Leyden, and
may read an account of the work in vol. ii. pp. 151, 152. of the
Society's Transactions. The copy in my possession is entitled Den
Wyngaert van Sinte Franciscus vol [not van] schoone historien,
legenden en deuchdelycke leeringhen allen menschen seer profytelyck.
Like most of the works issued from the press of Eckert van Hombach, it
is well printed on good paper; the leaves (not the pages) are numbered
up to 418, and besides there are six leaves without pagination for the
index, as well as three for the prologue, in which we learn why the work
was called Wyngaert. All the copies I have met with bear the date
1518, though in Hultman's Catalogue, p. 20. No. 92., we find 1578,
probably an error of the printer. In J. Koning's Catalogue, 1833, p.
17. No. 59., we are referred to Bauer, Bibl. libr. rar., vol. iv. p.
301.; and to the Catalogue raisonné de Crevenna, vol. v. p. 85., where
we read:
"Ce volume contient les vies des Saints de l'ordre de St. Franciscus,
précédées de celle de son instituteur, et n'est
point une traduction du Livre des Conformités (Liber
Conformitatum), quoiqu'il est probable qu'on ait pris beaucoup
de ce livre."
Van Bleyswijk, in his Description of Delft, vol. i. p. 339., says,—
"The Franciscans bought up the work, in order to suppress and
destroy it: it is therefore no wonder that copies of it are
scarce."
Unless you read it, says Professor Ackersdijck, in his Archief voor
Kerk. Gesch., you will hardly conceive it possible for any one to write
such a mass of folly and absurdity.
V. D. N.
NAVORSCHER, p. 179. June, 1851.
—The following anecdote, as
characteristic of the individual as illustrative of the above Query, may
perhaps be considered deserving a corner in your Journal:—
"A well-meaning friend calling one morning on Richard B.
Sheridan, wound up a rather prosy exordium on the propriety of
domestic economy, by expressing a hope, that the pressure of some
difficulties from which he had been temporarily removed, would
induce a more cautious arrangement in future.
"Sheridan listened with great gravity, and thanking his visitor,
assured him that he never felt so happy, as all his affairs were
now proceeding with the regularity of clockwork, adding (with a
roguish twinkle of the eye, and giving his arm the oscillating
motion of a pendulum), 'Tick, tick, tick!' It is needless to add,
the Mentor took a hasty leave of his witty but incorrigible
companion."
M. W. B.
—I believe that
there is no mistake as supposed in the inscription on the Geo. III.
shilling. The double "T" is expressive of the plural "Britt." for
"Britanniarum". Have we not many similar instances, e. g. "codd." for
"codices," "libb." for "libri;" or, one of every-day occurrence, "pp."
for "pages?"
W. M. N.
—W. R. C. (a Subscriber) will find some very interesting accounts
of this creature in Boate and Molyneux's Natural History of Ireland,
p. 137.; and in an excellent paper by Dr. Cane, in the Transactions of
the Kilkenny Archæological Society for the Year 1850, where several
works containing accounts of the animal are referred to. An interesting
memoir by Dr. Hibbert on the discovery of the Megaceros Hibernicus, or
fossil elk, in the Isle of Man, will be found in the fifth number of the
Edinburgh Journal of Science, published in 1826.[1]
R. H.
—The quotation—
"In time the bull is brought to bear the yoke,"
seems to be from Ovid, Tristia, iv. 6. 1.:
"Tempore ruricolæ patiens fit taurus aratri;"
or Ar. Am. i. 471.:
"Tempore difficiles veniunt ad aratra juvenci."
P. J. F. G.
Cambridge, May 22. 1851.
[N. B., E. C. H., and several other correspondents, have
furnished similar references to Ovid.]
—MR. CHADWICK'S quotations on
this word are very opportune, and useful by way of illustration, and for
elucidating the meaning of the word.
I will endeavour to explain this part of bell gear, and the purpose for
which it was used.
Baldrock (sic) is probably the patois of a locality for bawdrick,
which means a belt, or the leather strap and other appurtenances of the
upper part of the clapper, by which it was suspended from the crown
staple. In old black-letter bells (if one may use the term) the upper
part of the clapper was shaped like a stirrup, through which a strap of
stout leather, often doubled, was passed; but between this and the
staple a piece of hard wood of like width was inserted, and fitted to
work on the round part of the crown staple. Through this leather and
wood an iron pin was passed; and all was fastened together, and kept
stiff in place, by a curiously cut piece of tough wood, called a
busk-board, one end of which was tied round the stem of the clapper. I
have seen many such. There was one at Swanswich next Bath: but without a
sketch it is difficult to explain. I will enclose a sketch, to be used
at the Editor's discretion.
A few years ago, I made the following extracts from the very interesting
accounts of the churchwardens (guardians) of St. Edmund's, Sarum. I have
no doubt that similar entries may be found in all such old accounts, and
I hope these may induce other gentlemen to inquire for them.
Unfortunately I did not copy the sums paid.
"1591. Layd out for a Bawdrope for the Great Bell, 5s.
For grafting of Bawdropes & finding Leather.
Making of a 'pinn' for the fourth Bell Bawdrope.
1588. Paide for Lether to mend the Bawdricke.
1572. Payd for a Bald Rybbe for the fourth Bell.
(It occurs again for other bells.)
1552. Mendinge off the Bawdrycke off the greatt Bell.
1541. Payd for mendynge the wheles of the 3 Bells, and for Bawdrykes.
1524. Bawdderyke to the v. Bell.
1495. [Pro] emendacione rote ejusdem Campane et [pro] Bawdryke ejusdem Campane.
1482. [Pro] tribus Bawdrykys.
1473. Bawdryke bought for the iiij Belle.
1469. Bawderyke. Whyt Lethyr for the Bawdryke in the years of Ed. VI."
H. T. ELLACOMBE.
In a decree of the Court of Chancery of the year 1583 is the following
passage:
"It is alleged that a certain close ... in the parish of Smarden,
in the County of Kent, now called and known by the name of
Ropefield, was, long time sithence, given by one John of Hampden,
to and for the maintenance and finding of ropes, bawdricks,
oil, and leather, for the use of ringing of the bells in the
steeple of the said parish church of Smarden, &c., &c." James
v. Woolton, 6 May, 1583. (Reg. Lib. B. 1582. fo. 502.)
Not understanding the word "bawdrick," I applied to Messrs. Mears,
bell-founders, Whitechapel, who kindly gave me the following
information:
"The bawdrick is the head of the clapper, or the coupling by
which it hangs on the staple inserted in the crown of the bell.
It is fitted on to the head of the clapper, and a lining of
leather is inserted to prevent the creaking of the iron, when the
end of the clapper is oscillating. Hence, no doubt, the
introduction of 'leather' in the document referred to. The word
is still in use."
CECIL MONRO.
Registrar's Office, Court of Chancery, June 14. 1851.
The baldrick was a leather thong, or strap, fastened with a buckle, for
the purpose of suspending the clapper inside the bell, both of which had
loops or eyes to receive it; from its continual wear, new baldricks were
often required. I subjoin a few extracts from the parish accounts of St.
Antlins, or St. Anthony, Budge Row, relating thereto.
1590. "Paide the smythe for making a new clapper for the great
bell, xs.
"Paide for a bawdrick for the great bell, iis. vid.
"Paide for a buckell for the same, vid.
"Paide for a baldrick for the fift bell, is. viiid.
1594. "Paide for a new bawdricke for one of the bells the
Crownacion daie, iis.
1578. "Paide for an eie for the great bell clapper, vis.
"Item for a rope for the morning bell, ijs. vid."
I could adduce several other instances if required, but these may
suffice.
W. CHAFFERS, Jun.
—Your correspondent
Q. G. asked some weeks ago where the catalogue of Norman nobility before
the Conquest was to be found? In the Historiæ Normannorum, published
in Paris in 1619, at p. 1127., he will find the
"Catalogus nobilium qui immediate prædia a Rege conquæstore
tenuerunt."
In this list occurs the name of Geri (Rogerius) de Loges, whose lordship
was in the district of Coutances. At p. 1039. of the same work, we find
that Guarinus de Logis was feudal lord of certain domains in the
bailiwick of Falaise. In a roll of all the Norman nobles, knights, and
esquires who went to the conquest of Jerusalem with Robert Duke of
Normandy in the first crusade, and copied from an ancient MS. written on
vellum, found in the library of the cathedral of Bayeux, entitled "Les
anciennes histoires d'outremer," we also find the name of John de
Logis, who bore az. a cinque foile ar.
I think, therefore, that M. J. T. (p. 189.) is in error in confounding
the family of Ordardus de Logis with that of the Baron of Hugh Lupus.
The names of the Norman nobles were territorial; and it is probable that
these worthies were not related, as the names were spelt differently.
According to the Doomsday Survey, Gunuld, the widow of Geri de Loges,
held the manor of Guiting Power in Gloucestershire.
The elder line of Ordardus de Logis, Baron of Wigton, terminated in an
heiress, who carried the estate into the family of Lucy (I think in the
reign of Edward III.), Adam, the seventh and last baron, having died
without male issue; and it afterwards became the property, by marriage,
of the ancestor of the present Earl of Carlisle. The descendants of
Ordardus are still to be found in the remote valleys of the north of
Yorkshire, and in parts of Durham: and I have been told that the Rev.
John Lodge, late Fellow of Magdalen College, Cambridge, claimed to be of
this family.
S.
Oxford, June 13. 1851.
—I have before me a 24mo. tract of
forty-seven pages:
"Nicolai Barnaudi a Crista Arnaudi Delphinatis, Philosophi et
Medici, Commentariolum in Ænigmaticum quoddam epitaphium Bononiæ
studiorum, ante multa secula marmoreo lapidi insculptum. Huic
additi sunt Processus Chæmici non pauci. Nihil sine Numine,
Lugduni, Batavorum, CIƆIƆIIIƆ."
The first thirty pages are devoted to the epitaph on Ælia Lælia Crispus.
We are told:—
"Nec defuerunt alii, qui, ut audio, Animam hominis, alii nubium
Aquam, alii, ut hic intellexi a viro de litteris bene merito,
Eunuchum quemdam, alii alia varia, hoc epitaphio tractari
phantasmata suis scriptis contenderunt. Hæc ego cum
intellexissem, eorum misertus, qui abditioris philosophiæ in
castris militant, operæ pretium facturum me existimavi, si
trismegisticum hoc epitaphium eis aperire conarer."
This he proceeds to do very satisfactorily, as the following specimen
will show:—
"ÆLIA. Solaris, dubio procul, ut nomen indicat, sive solis filia,
immo substantia, essentia, radius, virtus, et illa quidem
invisibilis solis nostri, ne quis eam a sole vulgi natam,
perperam cogitet; neque tamen desunt, qui eam ex Urani et Vestæ
filio, Saturno, et Ope ejus sorore, a qua cum plures Saturnus
suscepisset liberos, eosque vorasset, et e vestigio evomuisset,
Jupiter servatus, ejusque loco lapis Saturno presentatus fuit, ac
si cum peperisset Opis, ab ipsis inquam, eam natam esse cogitent;
at quidquid sit, ÆLIA, seu solaris est, neque tamen (tanta est
ejus amplitudo), astro illo, mundi oculo amicta incedit; sed et
altero, minore luminari, Luna, quæ sub pedibus ejus est comitata,
ideo etiam dicitur LÆLIA, quasi solis amica, etc., etc."
On a fly-leaf I find the following written by an unknown hand:
"Commentarios in hoc epitaphium scripserunt Joannes Trevius
Brugensis, et Richardus vitus Basinstochius, jurisconsultus
Anglus cujus liber editus Durdrecti apud J. van Leonem Berawoul,
Anno 1618. Vid. et de hoc enigmate Boxhorn."
If MR. CROSSLEY does not make this note wholly superfluous, make use of
it as you please.
J. S.
Woudenberg, May 12. 1851.
—The following
version of this prayer, differing from that given by MR. FALCONER, may
be interesting.
In Archdeacon Bonney's Historic Notices in reference to Fotheringay,
p. 109., this note occurs:
"Seward asserts that the following lines were repeated by the
Queen of Scots immediately before her execution. They are set to
music by the late Dr. Harrington, of Bath, and other musicians.
"'O Domine Deus, speravi in Te!
O chare mi Jesus, nunc libera me!
In dura catena, in misera poena, desidero Te;
Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo,
Adoro, imploro, ut liberes me.'
TRANSLATION.
'O Lord my God, I have relied in Thee!
Now, O dear Jesu, set me, set me free!
In chains, in pains, long have I wished for Thee;
Faint, and with groans, I, bowing on my knee,
Adore, implore Thee, Lord, to set me free.'"
I may add, that the Latin lines have recently been very beautifully set
to music by that eminent composer, Mrs. Kingston.
W. G. M.
Your correspondent on the subject of the lines said to have been
repeated by Mary Queen of Scots on the scaffold, furnishes a translation
of them in lieu of others, which he condemns; and his version has
provoked me to try my hand at one, in which I have studied rhythm more
than rhyme: the rhythm and the intensity of the ordinal.
"Great God, I have trusted
In peril on Thee!
Dear Jesus, Redeemer,
Deliver thou me!
In my prison-house groaning,
I long but for Thee;
Languishing, moaning,
Bow'd down on bent knee,
I adore Thee, implore Thee,
From my sins set me free."
ALAN.
—Finding
that no correspondent of yours, in answer to a Query which appeared some
time back, viz.: "Whether any play of Aristophanes had ever been adapted
to the modern stage," has yet mentioned the only two instances of
which I am aware, I beg to refer the Querist to the Plaideurs of
Racine (an adaptation of the Wasps), and to a very ingenious
modernisation of the Birds by Mr. Planché, produced about four years
since at the Haymarket as an Easter piece, under its original title.
I cannot refrain from taking this opportunity of protesting, under your
justly powerful auspices, against the use of the word "Exposition" in
its French sense of Exhibition, now creeping into places where it
could scarcely have been expected.
AVENA.
—The version which I have of the
beautiful lines quoted by your correspondent is (I quote from memory):
"If this fair rose offend thy sight
It on thy bosom wear,
'Twill blush to find itself less white,
And turn Lancastrian there."
The succeeding couplet has equal merit:
"But if thy ruby lip it spy
As kiss it thou mayst deign,
With envy pale 'twill lose its dye,
And Yorkist turn again."
C. I. R.
The origin of the blush imparted to the rose is most beautifully
described by Carey:
"As erst in Eden's blissful bowers
Young Eve surveyed her countless flowers,
An opening rose of poorest white
She marked with eye that beamed delight;
Its leaves she kissed, and straight it drew
From Beauty's lip the vermeil hue."
J. A. DOUGLAS.
—The origin of the sign of the
dollar, concerning which T. C. inquires, is, I believe, a contraction of
scutum, the same as £, formerly written £i, is of libra. The
strokes through the S are merely the signs of contraction.
K. P. D. E.
—In a foot-note to Rapin (2nd edit.,
vol. i. p. 130.), the general assembly convened by Earl Goodwin, at
which Edward the Confessor was chosen king, is stated, upon the same
authority as Hutchins has referred to (viz. Malmsbury), to have been
"Gilingeham or London." If at Gillingham, there can be but little
doubt it was Gillingham near Chatham, of which latter place Goodwin is
stated to have been then possessed.
J. B. COLMAN.
Eye, June 10, 1851.
The share that Earl Godwin bore in the establishment of King Edward (the
Confessor) on the throne of England seems to make it probable that
Gillingham in Kent, not the Gillingham in Dorsetshire, was the scene of
the council referred to by your correspondent QUIDAM.
Edward, observe, was coming from the continent, and relied entirely on
the support of the great East Kentish Earl. Milton names the council in
his History of England, Works, vol. vi. p. 275., Pickering, ed. 1831.
He seems to be still quoting Malmsbury.
E. J. E.
Blackheath, June 9. 1851.
—In reading A Borderer's interesting note on The Lay of the Last Minstrel, it
occurred to me, whether there may not have been (perhaps unconsciously)
in Walter Scott's mind a link of connexion betwixt his own "elvish
page," as an agent in bringing about the nuptials of Lord Cranstoun with
the Lady Margaret; and the part played by Cupid, in regard to Dido,
after he had been transformed into Ascanius, as described in the first
Æneid. Indeed the beautiful "Song of Robin Goodfellow" (Vol. iii., p.
403) suggests a similar speculation; for in the gambols of Puck there is
something analogous to the freaks of Cupid after his metamorphose. But
other and closer parallels will probably occur to your learned readers,
and show that some of what are commonly esteemed the most original
modern creations owe much to classical invention.
ALFRED GATTY.
—J. S. will find the lines he
asks about, given (but without comment) in Knight's Cyclopædia of
London, p. 440.
P. M. M.
J. S. will find the lines he has sent you printed in Hone's Year Book
(1832), p 113.; where may be also seen the following
"Deluded men, these holds forego,
Nor trust such cunning elves;
These artful emblems tend to show
Their clients, not themselves.
'Tis all a trick, these are but shams,
By which they mean to cheat you;
For have a care, you are the LAMBS,
And they the wolves that eat you.
Nor let the thought of no 'delay'
To these their courts misguide you;
You are the showy HORSE, and they
Are jockeys that will ride you."
Hone does not give a hint as who was the author of either, nor can I
inform J. S.
EDWARD FOSS.
[The REV. MACKENZIE WALCOTT has also kindly informed us that the
original lines and the rejoinder are to be found in Brayley's
Londiniana, vol. iv. pp. 216-7.]
—H. C. K. makes an
error in supposing that "formido," as used by Virgil in the passage
quoted, and "sewell," are convertible terms. If there is any word
in that passage which could be considered coextensive in meaning with
the word "sewell," it would undoubtedly be "penna." Nor is "sewell" a
modern term, as he supposes; in proof of which I add an extract from a
letter written by Dr. Layton, one of the commissioners for the
suppression of monasteries, to Thomas Cromwell, dated 1535, in which the
word "sewel" occurs:
"We have sett Dunce (Duns Scotus) in Bocardo, and have utterly
banisshede hym Oxforde for ever, with all his blinde glosses, and
is nowe made a comon servant to evere man, faste nailede up upon
postes in all comon houses of easement: id quod oculis meis
vidi. And the second tyme we came to New Colege, affter we hade
declarede your injunctions, we fownde all the gret quadrant court
full of the leiffes of Dunce, the wynde blowing them into evere
corner. And there we fownde one Mr. Grenefelde, a gentilman of
Buckinghamshire, getheryng up part of the said bowke leiffes (as
he saide) therewith to make hym sewelles or blawnsherres to
kepe the dere within the woode, thereby to have the better cry
with his howndes."
H. C. K. wishes to know the origin of the word "sewell." Can any of your
readers explain the derivation of the term "blawnsherres?" Can it be
connected with the French blanche, from white parchment, &c. having
been used in making them?
E. A. H. L.
—Though I cannot throw any light
upon the question of T., Was this his real name? I may mention, as a
Worcestershire man, that it is a custom among the pastrycooks of
Worcester to make, at the beginning of Lent, a rich sort of cake;
consisting of a thick crust of saffron-bread filled with currants,
citron, and all the usual ingredients of wedding-cake, which is called a
"simnel." I cannot say how long this custom has existed, but I have
every reason to believe it is one of great antiquity. From Johnson's
explanation of the term, I conclude, that this practice of making
"simnels" must in former times have been more general than it is at
present.
E. A. H. L.
—I submit
that the "crimson-circled star" may be named without calling on the poet
to explain.
The planet Venus, when she is to the east of the sun, is our evening
star (and as such used to be termed Hesperus by the ancients).
The evening star in a summer twilight is seen surrounded with the glow
of sunset, "crimson-circled." The rose, too, was a flower sacred to
Venus, which might justify the epithet. But I suppose the blush of the
sky was what the poet thought of at such a moment.
Venus sinking into the sea, which in setting she would appear to
do,—falls into the grave of Uranus,—her father, according to the
theory of Hesiod (190). The part cast into the sea, from which Aphrodite
sprung, is here taken, by a becoming license (which softens the
grossness of the old tradition), for the whole; so that the ocean,
beneath the horizon of which the evening star sinks, may be well
described by the poet as "her father's grave."
That Venus is meant, the gender of the pronoun relating to the star
seems to prove beyond a doubt; there being no other sufficiently
important to occur in a picture of this kind, to which a female name is
given.
V.
Belgravia, June 12. 1851.
—D. X. will find all that is known of this king in the Armenian
version of Eusebius's Chronicle, 53., and in the Chronographia of
Georgius, Syncellus (and subsequently Patriarch) of Constantinople, p.
210. B. The former gives as his authority Abydenus, and the latter
Polyhistor. Both passages will be found in Cory's Ancient Fragments.
The Median king is called in both Astyages, and not Cyaxares; but the
date of the catastrophe being fixed by Ptolemy's Canon in 625 B. C., the
reviewer, I suppose, considered himself justified in altering the name
to that of the king who appears from Herodotus to have governed Media at
that date.
E. H. D. D.
—Your correspondent
C. J. E. may find some account of the legend illustrated on the walls of
Frettenham Church in the Calendar of the Anglo-Catholic Church, from
which it appears that St. Eligius, Eloy, or Loye, is the hero of the
incident. He was the patron of blacksmiths, farriers, &c.; and
accomplished, on one occasion, the shoeing of a refractory horse by
amputating the leg; and the operation performed, he replaced the severed
member. Doubtless, as C. J. E. suggests, the shoeing might have been
effected without so much periphrasis; but perhaps the saint intended to
teach the animal docility, and inspire the spectators with a more
palpable proof of his supernatural powers, than the performance of the
operation by his mere ipse dixit would have afforded. The church of
Durweston, Dorsetshire, is named in his honour, and a rude sculpture
over the doorway commemorates the incident.
C. A.
—When
the answer of C. to my inquiry first appeared, I doubted whether after
such strong reproof I ought again to address you; but as your valuable
paper was intended for the ignorant as well as for the learned, and as
C. (Vol. iii., p. 334.) places your respected correspondent MR.
DAWSON
TURNER in the same class as my humble self, I no longer hesitate.
When I proposed the Query, I had no ready access to any book
which would easily give me the required information, and it did not
appear to me to be any great sin in making use of "NOTES AND QUERIES"
for what I conceive is its legitimate object, the communication of
knowledge; and I do not think the space my Query occupied was wasted
when it called forth the interesting reply of P. C. S. S.
I would now take the liberty of asking C. to explain the following
extract from Souverains du Monde, not finding any particulars
respecting the first marriage here alluded to in those books to which I
have been able to refer:—
"Les enfans naturals du Roi Jaques II. sont 1.... 2.... 3....
"4. Catherine Darnley, mariée en premières nôces avec Thomas
Wentworth, Baron de Raby; et en secondes nôces, en 1699, avec
James, Comte d'Anglesey. Elle est morte en 1700. Sa mère étoit
Catherine Sedley, Comtesse de Dorchester, Baronne d'Arlington.
"5. N. mariée avec le Duc de Buckingham le 27 Mars, 1706."
You will observe that my former inquiry referred to the daughter above
stated as the fifth child.
It is plain that the compiler of Les Souverains du Monde is in error
in making the wife of the Earl of Anglesey a distinct person from the
wife of the Duke of Buckingham.
Who was the wife to the Thomas Wentworth here mentioned? and, if a
natural daughter of James II., I should be glad of the following
particulars,—the names of her mother and self—the dates of her birth,
marriage, and death—and the date of the death of her husband.
I must apologise for trespassing thus at length upon your space.
F. B. RELTON.
—The late Mr. Clarkson's
manuscripts were transferred to his son, the Rev. Christ. Clarkson;
whose address might probably be obtained by Q. D. from J. B. Simpson,
Esq., Richmond, Yorkshire.
M.
—I see that in the
"Notices to Correspondents," in No. 79., for May 3, you inform W. P. A.
that the Catalogue of Sir Thomas Phillipps's MSS. is privately
printed, and that there are copies at the Bodleian, Athenæum, and
Society of Antiquaries.
You may perhaps be interested to know that a catalogue of about three
thousand of the Middlehill MSS. is to be found in a work entitled
Catalogi Librorum MSSorum qui in Bibliothecis Galliæ, Hiberniæ,
Helvetiæ, Belgiæ, Britanniæ Magnæ, Hispaniæ, Lusitaniæ asservantur: à
Gustavo Haenel: Lipsiæ, 1830. A copy of this important work is in the
reading-room of the British Museum.
I may add that a copy of the privately printed Catalogue of Sir T.
Phillipps's MSS. is now to be found in the British Museum, but it has
only recently (within the last few months) made its way into the
Catalogue.
C. W. GOODWIN.
—Is not our excellent
correspondent MR. SINGER mistaken in supposing that the ears are the
ears of the scabbard or pitcher? If you draw one thing out of another by
the ears, it must be by the ears of the first, not of the second; yet he
also says that it is used for hilts.
C. B.
—May I add, in my defence
as to the Thracians' smoking, that all I said was, that there was
nothing in Solinus, chap. 15. I had looked at the Bipont edition, in
which, as I now see, the passage is in chapter 10.
C. B.
—I cannot but doubt
whether "La partie réelle de la métaphysique" means "all that has yet
been done in the philosophy of the human mind." I apprehend it means the
material, or physical part; that which is connected with the structure
of the body. This would apply to Hartley, though not to Mr. Gay: but I
speak in the dark, for I have not that edition of La Place which your
correspondent refers to.
C. B.
—That a funeral
creates a right of way, is an error founded on the fact that, being a
remarkable, and sometimes a crowded event, it is not an unfrequent
evidence of the previous existence of a right of way.
C. B.
—In reply to a Query in one of your late
numbers respecting the meaning of the expression "as drunk as Chloe," it
has been suggested to me that it refers to a lady who is mentioned
often in Prior's Poems, and who was celebrated for the propensity
alluded to.
ERYX.
—It appears, on a
reference to Burke's Commoners, that the ancestors of Sir J. Banks
were possessed of property in and about Keswick; and the present
representative of the family possesses black-lead mines in Borrowdale,
Cumberland. It is, therefore, very probable that the Mr. John Banks in
question may have been of the same family, though not a lineal
descendant of Sir J. Banks.
L. H.
—In the literal reprint of Puttenham,
1811, I find the words extracted by J. F. M., with one unimportant
exception, "And they called it Verse Lyon." J. F. M. may find some
account of Leonine verses, which "are properly the Roman hexameters and
pentameters rhymed," in Price's edition of Warton's History of English
Poetry, vol. i. p. cxviii.
H. G. T.
—A probable derivation is given in
Tyrwhitt's note on the passage in the Squire's Tale from the
French heronçeaux, which would probably, in English usage, become
either heronsewes, or heronshaws. It is of course a diminutive, like
"lioncel," "pennoncel," &c.
H. G. T.
—Who first taught that
the form of the earth was that of a sphere? In Isaiah xl. 22. appears
the following passage:
He that sitteth upon the CIRCLE of the earth and the
inhabitants thereof," &c.
Does not this extract prove that the Jews, as a people, were acquainted
with the spherical form of the earth in Isaiah's time; the prophets
usually addressing the people in popular language.
C. N. S.
—In the replies to
correspondents on the above head, I have not seen noticed Dr. Lamb's
translation of the old Greek poet Aratus, a work which, for a few
shillings, would satisfy most persons on the subject, and be found
entertaining in giving instruction.
T. M.
—On topical memory I can refer
your inquirer to Cicero de Oratore, book ii. lxxxvi., lxxxvii.,
§351-358., and Ad Herenn. iii. xvi.-xx., and Quintil. xi. ii. 2., p.
431. Rollin, ed. 1758.
E. J. S.
—The following illustration of this word
occurs in a MS. (Dd. i. fol. 7.) belonging to the University of
Cambridge. The date is about 1350:
"þe iewis herde þis word wel alle,
And anon eysel þei mengid wiþ galle."
It is here manifestly = vinegar.
C. H.
Eisell.—I have long been convinced that the true interpretation of
this word might be attained by a reference to the Welsh language; in
which may be found the word Aesell (idem sonans with Eisell),
implying verjuice, or vinegar. The two words are clearly identical (see
page 377.).
GOMER.
—A cross road, or that point
where four roads meet, is frequently called by the peasantry in Kent
"the four vents" in other counties, "the four wents," "the four want
way," &c. I have always considered the word as being derived from the
ancient VENTA: thus VENTA icenorum (Caister, near Norwich), the
highway of the Iceni; VENTA silurum (Caerwent, in Monmouthshire), the
highway of the Silures; VENTA belgarum (Winchester), the highway of
the Belgæ; both of which last-named cities retain in some degree the
ancient appellation.
W. CHAFFERS, Jun.
—Will your correspondent K. TH. give, if he can, an account of the word "carfoix?" Is it not the
French carrefour, a name applied to more than one place in Guernsey,
though not, I believe, necessarily to a spot where four ways meet? The
chief carrefour there is at the junction of the Pollet, High Street and
Smith Street; another is in the country, the Carrefour aux Lievres,
the precise locality of which I cannot quite recall. MR. METIVIER, whose
name I am glad to see in your pages, can tell, I dare say, of others. I
suppose the derivation to be in Quatuor fores, or some French
derivative from those words. "Carfoix" reminds me of "Carfax" in Oxford.
Are the names akin to each other?
E. J. S.
—The story of King Mûl is perhaps
rather far-fetched. If it would neither put your correspondent in a
stew, nor get myself into a broil, nor you into a mess or a
pickle, I would settle his hash by suggesting that terms of cookery
are frequently used as descriptive of disagreeable predicaments; and
that though in our time nothing except beer or wine is mulled, yet it
may not always have been so. Or may not the word be a corruption of
muddle? I stand up for neither, but I will back either against King
Mûl.
M.
—I expect that A. N. is labouring
under a mistake in inquiring about an account of the "conversion" of
"William Hone, THE COMPILER of the Every-day Book;" and that he means
"The Early Life and Conversion of William Hone, a narrative
written by himself, edited by his SON, William Hone, author of
the Every-day Book, &c. London, J. Ward & Co., Paternoster Row,
1841. One Shilling."
I have no doubt that the work may be procured at the publishers'; but
should not that be practicable, I shall be happy to lend your
correspondent my copy. It may perhaps be neither unjust nor
uninteresting to add, that I know (from his own communication, shortly
after the memorable trials) he was so affected by the celebrated
Parodies being charged as "blasphemous," that he immediately stopped
the sale of them; that, though money was then of some consequence to
him, he refused tempting offers for copies; and that he did so, because
he declared he would rather suffer any privations than be considered as
having sought to revile the religion of his country, or to do aught to
injure Christianity, which he deemed to be the hope of all, and the poor
man's charter. In making those observations, he emphatically placed his
hand on a Bible which lay upon my table.
A HERMIT AT HAMPSTEAD.
—The name of Gay is not very
common in the West of England, and MR. TAGART may possibly obtain some
account of the Rev. Mr. Gay from the descendants of Gay of Goldworthy,
near Bideford, in the county of Devon, who sprang from Hampton
Gay in the county of Oxford, but became seised of the manor of
Goldworthy, about the year 1420, by marriage with the daughter and heir
of Curtis of Goldworthy, a branch of the ancient family of Curtis of
Lostwithiel, in the county of Cornwall.
The latest representative of this family of Gay, of whom I have met with
any notice, is Mr. Lawrence Gay, who, according to Lyson, was living in
the year 1822 at South Molton, in the county of Devon. Lyson also says
that "John Gay, the poet, was of this family."
LLEWELLYN.
—I know nothing of any Lady
Mary's having married Mr. Maudsley, or Mosley of the Guards; but it is
certain that she could not have been, strictly speaking, of the same
family as Sir Henry Cavendish of Ireland, whose wife was created Lady
Waterpark, with remainder to her issue by Sir Henry, who was descended
from a natural son of the Devonshire family, and even, I believe,
before it was ennobled; so that it cannot be said that any Lady Mary
Cavendish was of the same family as Sir Henry.
C.
—In blessing the people,
the clergy of the Church of Rome raise the thumb and two forefingers,
and close the others, to represent the three persons of the Trinity; and
they give this some divine origin; but it is really an adoption of a
pagan symbol in use long before the introduction of Christianity, not
only by the Romans, but the Egyptians also. In Akerman's Archæological
Index, p. 116., is an engraving of a silver plate of Roman workmanship,
in which the figures representing Minerva and Juno have their hands
elevated with the thumb and finger so disposed, and the figure of Vesta
has the left hand in the same position. I wish some of your
correspondents who are familiar with the classics and Egyptian
antiquities, would further illustrate the origin of this curious and
ancient custom, which hitherto has been regarded as originating with the
Church of Rome only.
W. W.
—There is a good
engraving of this Horn, and the tradition about it is related, in p.
264, of the curious Dissertatio de admirandis mundi Cataractis of
Johannes Herbinius, Amstelodami, 1678, of which book there is a copy in
the library of the Geographical Society.
W. C. TREVELYAN.
Athenæum, June 16. 1851.
—How could such a question be asked? Covey
is couvée, French for a brood, a hatching, from couver, to hatch
eggs.
C.
—During many years of
seafaring life, I have frequently considered the origin of this phrase,
and have now arrived at the conclusion, that it is derived from the
scriptural account of the prophet Jonah. The word locker, on board of
ship, generally means the place where any particular thing is retained
or kept, as "the bread locker," "shot locker," "chain locker," &c. In
the sublime ode in the second chapter of the Book of Jonah, we find that
the Prophet, praying for deliverance, describes his situation in the
following words:
"In the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me
about:—the depth closed me round about:—the earth with her bars
was about me."
The sea, then, might not be misappropriately termed by a rude mariner,
Jonah's locker; that is, the place where Jonah was kept or confined.
Jonah's locker, in time, might be readily corrupted to Jones's locker;
and Davy, as a very common Welsh accompaniment of the equally Welsh
name, Jones, added; the true derivation of the phrase having been
forgotten.
W. PINKERTON.
—The use of this word may be traced to
an earlier period than has yet been shown by any of your correspondents?
In Florio's Worlde of Wordes, 1598, we have it thus:—
"Ombrella, a fan, a canopie, also a testern or cloth of state
for a prince, also a kind of round fan or shadowing that they use
to ride with in summer in Italy, a little shade."
Δ.
—A. N. is informed that naw is a
Celtic name for a ship (the w is sometimes sounded like oo); though
the word is obsolete, authority for its application may be found in
Davies' Mythology, &c. of the Druids. In the appendix to this work
there is a poem (No. 6.) by Taliesin, containing the following
example:—
"Ymsawdd yn llyn, heb naw."
"Sinking in the lake, without a ship."
The Britons consequently had a name for a ship, independent of Roman
influence. Can A. N. produce any evidence that the Britons in pre-Roman
times did not possess any vessels superior to the cwrygl? Is it
probable that the warlike aid which the Britons constantly rendered the
Gauls, was conveyed across the channel in mere "osier baskets?" Had the
"water-dwellers" (Dwr-trig-wys) of Dorsetshire (Durotriges) attained no
higher grade in navigation than that simple mode of water conveyance?
I am almost inclined to exclaim, "Mi dynaf y torch a thi" ("I will pull
the torque with thee") in respect to the position claimed for the Latin
longa; but passing this, I will advance the opinion that the Celtic
naw is the root of the Latin navis.
GOMER.
—Is not 1510 a mistake for
1550? The figures 1 and 5 are often confounded in manuscripts of
Spenser's age. The mistake was probably that of the sculptor.
D. X.
—The period over which
these Registers extend is thus shown in the Accounts and Papers printed
by order of Parliament in the year 1833, vol. xxxviii. p. 335:—
"County of Sussex.—Arundel Rape.
"Parish Register Books earlier than the new Registers commencing
with A. D. 1813 (according to 52 Geo. III. c. 146.), remain at
the following places:—
"Petworth R. No. I. Bap. Bur. 1559-1794, Marr. 1559-1753; No. II.
Bap. Bur. 1795-1812; Nos. III.-VI., Marr. 1754-1812."
The earlier register-book used by Heylin must have been removed from the
proper custody before the year 1831. If still preserved in any public or
private library it may perhaps reward some reader of "NOTES AND QUERIES"
in the next century by turning up when unsought for. In the mean time,
however, is there no official copy to be found in the Archbishop's
courts at Canterbury?
LLEWELLYN.
—The symbol of three
legs conjoined no doubt denotes the triangular shapes of the Isle of
Man, and Sicily or Trinacria. The τρία ἄκρα from which the name
of the latter is derived are the promontories of Lilybæum, Pachynus, and
Pelorus, now Capes S. Vito, Passaro, and Faro (Virg. Æn. iii. 384.). It
is somewhat curious that the earliest coinage of this island, A.D. 1709
(which by the bye is cast, and not struck in the usual way: Obv. The
crest of the Earls of Derby, the Eagle and Child, SANS CHANGER; Rev. The
three legs), has the motto QVOCVNQVE ·
GESSERIS · STABIT. The coinage
of 1723 is exactly similar, but struck; whereas that of 1733 and all the
succeeding coinages have QUOCUNQUE · JECERIS · STABIT, which is clearly
the correct reading. I may add that I am engaged on a work on the Copper
Coinage of Great Britain and her Colonies, and shall be thankful for any
information on the subject respecting rare types, their history, &c.
E. S. TAYLOR.