Notes and Queries Vol. IV., No. 107, Saturday, November 15. 1851

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

In the Minutes of Evidence taken by the Select Committee on the British Museum, in May, 1836, p. 308., mention is made of "a paper giving an account of the landing of Perkin Warbeck, signed by Sir Henry Wentworth, and dated 16th [17th] Sept. 1497," as of historical value. This "paper" was at that time in the possession of the late Mr. Upcott; and when I drew up for the society of Antiquaries the article on "Perkin Warbeck's History," printed in the Archæologia, vol. xxvii. pp. 153-210., I had no opportunity of seeing it, and therefore merely made a brief reference to it in a foot-note. The document subsequently passed, together with a large and valuable portion of Upcott's collection, into the hands of M. Donnadieu, and at the recent sale of that gentleman's collection of autographs was purchased for the British Museum. It is a letter from Sir Harry Wentworth of Nettlested, co. Suffolk (ancestor of the Barons Wentworth), addressed to Sir William Calverley, of Calverley in Yorkshire, from whom descended the extinct baronets of that name. The letter is not of great historical importance, yet, as furnishing some notices of the measures taken by the king, on learning that Perkin had landed in Cornwall, on the 7th of September (only ten days previous), it will not be read without interest. The letter is written on a strip of paper measuring eleven inches by four inches, and is signed only by Sir Harry Wentworth.

"Right wourshipfulle cosin, I recommend me vnto you. And where[1] it fortuned me in my retourne home frome Westchestre, to meit my lord Darby, my lord Strange, and other at Whalley abbey, by whome I had the sight of suche lettres as were directed vnto theme frome the kinges grace; apperceyuing by the same that Perkin Warbeke is londid in the west parties, in Cornevelle, wherfore I wolle pray you, and allso in the kinges name aduertise you, to be in aredynes[2] in your owin persone, with suche company as you make, to serue his highnes, vpon an our[3] warnyng, whan his grace shalle calle vpone you. For the which I doubte not but his highnes shalle geve you thankes accordinge. As our lord knoith, who preserue you! Wretin in the kinges castelle of Knaresburght, the xvij dey of Septembre.

[1] whereas.

[2] readiness.

[3] hour's.

The Lord Strange mentioned in the above letter was the third son of the Earl of Derby, and died at Derby House, London, on the 5th Dec. 1497, less than three months after the letter was written.

F. MADDEN.

Some of the readers of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" may have chanced, as was the case with the writer, to have enjoyed a ramble through the park and village of Wentworth, in Yorkshire, one of Earl Fitzwilliam's estates. Should such be the case, the ramblers could not have failed to halt half an hour, probably an hour, before a neat house, now inhabited by one of his lordship's agents, and wonder and ponder over the intent and purport of a curious inscription, on a stone sun-dial, which is placed over the door of the house. Such I have learned to be the case with every new passer-by. Having spent some time in musing over the hitherto inexplicable puzzle, I think that I am enabled at last to offer a sort of solution of the same. I shall therefore at first give a simple description of the contents of the stone, and then my version of it.

In the centre of the slab, a dial plate is inserted; on its left are carved three lines, running thus:

On its right, eight lines are carved, and run thus:

There is scarcely any difficulty as regards the inscription on the left; the purport being a brief and clumsy account of the sculptor himself. The reason of the reference at the end of the second line may be a sort of justification for suffixing "Israelite" to his name; the following being the passage referred to: "One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." The principal perplexity is presented by the inscription on the right, and especially in the second line; containing, as it does, a group of five Hebrew letters, so arranged as to defy the ingenuity of the most erudite lexicographer; there being no word of such construction in the whole range of Hebrew literature.

I must premise, before I proceed any further, by stating that I apprehend the sculptor to have been a zealous, though very eccentric, Jewish convert to Christianity; to whom it seemed good to put up that enigmatical sun-dial, with a view to attract the attention, and conduce the inquiry of his Hebrew brethren; which would afford him an opportunity of propounding his Christian views from his own design.

I take the Hebrew letters מ מ ש י ר to be the initials of the following words:[4]

[4] According to the first canon of cabbalistical interpretation, called Notricon. See The Fundamental Principles of Modern Judaism Investigated, pp. 13, 14.

"The King Messiah, the Shiloh, the Lord my Shepherd." Hence those characters follow the A.D. date of the first line, and are followed by the appropriate words in the third line, viz. "A stone of stumbling." The fourth line then comes as a sort of explanation of the preceding one: "And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken." "See Isaiah viii. 14, 15." The fifth line, "Ps. cxix. 165. Ezek. iii. 20." consists of scriptural references as to the cause and effect of loving the law, and vice versâ; the first reference being, "Great peace have they which love thy law, and no stumbling-block for them" [according to the original]. The second reference being, "Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand." The words in the sixth line, "A stumbling-block," evidently refer to 1 Cor. i. 23.: "But we preach Christ crucified; unto the Jews a stumbling-block." The "sculptor Israelite" may have feared that a reference to the New Testament would betray his motive, and therefore judged it prudent and expedient to omit it. The supposition that Bezaleel had 1 Cor. i. 23. in view is supported by the seventh line, "Beware of Him." The last line appears to be an appropriate conclusion; as the passage referred to describes the extent of the Lord's kingdom, as well as his reception by "all nations, tongues, and kindreds." "For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a peace offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. i. 11.

One may well imagine an Israelite or two observing from the road the Hebrew characters ר ש מ מ—for they are very large, and are seen afar off—and after puzzling over their intent and purport for some time, proceed to ask for an explanation from the major-domo. The master, delighted that the bait caught, vouchsafes, in his peculiarly eccentric style, to lecture on his own device, and thus reads to his brethren A SERMON IN STONE.[5]

MOSES MARGOLIOUTH.

[5] The writer was anxious to obtain some information respecting that curious relic from the inhabitants of the place: he was induced, therefore, to address a note of query to the present resident, of the house in question, Mr. G. C. Hague; but the following was the extent of the reply received:—"All I know of the sun-dial is this: It is told that a Jew, who was a mason, and assisted in putting up the front of Wentworth House, the mansion of the Earl Fitzwilliam, made the thing, and put it up during his leisure hours. This is all that I ever learned about it. I should be greatly obliged to you If you would inform me what the translation of the Hebrew characters is.—I am, Sir, yours, &c.
"G. C. HAGUE."

So universal was Shakspeare's knowledge even of the arcana of other men's pursuits, that his commentators, in their anxiety to reduce his attainments to an ordinary standard, have attributed to him a sort of ubiquitous apprenticeship to all manner of trades and callings,—now a butcher,—now an attorney's clerk,—now a schoolmaster,—and anon a holder of horses at the theatre door, where doubtless he acquired that farrier-knowledge so profusely lavished upon Petruchio's charger in The Taming of the Shrew. Dr. Farmer, amongst other atrocities which have earned for him an unenviable immortality in connexion with Shakspeare's name, had the incredible folly to recognise, in the splendid image—

an allusion to skewer making! in which the rough-hewing was Shakspeare's, while his more skilful sire shaped the ends! Even Dr. Johnson cried "shop" at that passage of The Winter's Tale where Perdita, fearing lest Florizel's father might discover him "obscured with a swain's wearing," exclaims—

Whereupon the great critic utters this sapient apothegm, "It is impossible for any man to rid his mind of his profession"—meaning of course Shakspeare's profession of book making!

It is therefore surprising that none of them should have discovered a trace of Shakspeare in the occupation of ship-boy; since in no calling has he shown a more accurate knowledge of technicalities; and his seamanship has satisfied the strictest professional criticism. It is to this circumstance my attention is more especially directed at present by a singular blunder which I have observed in one of the illustrations to Knight's Illustrated Shakspeare.

The artist, W. Dicks, professes to illustrate Ægeon's description of his shipwreck, taking for his text these lines in the first scene of the Comedy of Errors:

But if he had studied the context he would have perceived that the "helpful ship" was not a goodly argosy, as he has depicted it, but "a small spare mast, such as seafaring men provide for storms."

Now, it must not be said that the inadvertence is Shakspeare's, because the term helpful, indicative of sudden resource, and these lines immediately following—

prove that Shakspeare never for a moment lost sight of the circumstances he was describing.

I was endeavouring to discover what particular nautical technicality might justify this application of ship in the sense of raft or float, when I recollected that sailors call the little float by which the log-line is held stationary in the water, by the term log-ship; and, by a rather singular coincidence, the origin of this very word log-ship is made the subject of comment in a recent number of "NOTES AND QUERIES" (p. 254.), by a West Indian correspondent, A. L., who thinks the term log-chip.

His story, however, if it be not altogether the offspring of his own ingenuity, appears quite unsupported by evidence; nor, even if authenticated, would it be conclusive of the inference he draws from it. For, surely, the same origin might be attributed to log itself, with equal, or even with greater probability. The very nature of log is, not only to float, but to remain sluggish or stationary in the water: and as it might not be convenient to provide a fresh log (or chip) for every occasion, there would be a clear advantage in tying a string to it, for the purpose of hauling it inboard again, to serve another turn. Moreover, I must remind A. L. that sailors do not say, "Heave the chip," but "Heave the log."

This same passage in the Comedy of Errors suggests another consideration; which is, that Shakspeare appears to have used league and mile synonymously. When Ægeon's "helpful ship" was "splitted in the midst," it was "ere the ships" (approaching to his rescue) "could meet by thrice five leagues;" so that each ship must have been at least five leagues distant when discovered. Now Shakspeare was too good a sailor to suppose that a ship could be visible to a man on the surface of the water a distance of fifteen miles; but at one-third of that distance it might be so. Therefore it would be necessary to take league as synonymous with mile in this instance, even if it were not corroborated by the necessity for a similar understanding in other places.

But wherever Shakspeare uses the word league, its equivalence with mile is not only consistent with the sense, but, in some cases, absolutely necessary to it.

Thus, in the opening scene of the Midsummer Night's Dream, Lysander appoints to meet Hermia "in the wood, a league without the town," but, in the next scene, Quince appoints the same place for the rehearsal, calling it "the palace wood, a mile without the town."

Again, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, when Silvia escapes with Eglamour, the latter reassures her by reminding her that they will be safe if they can "gain the forest, not three leagues off," which would be but poor comfort if by three leagues the lady was to understand nine miles.

By the way, this forest is described in all the "stage directions," upon what authority I cannot guess, as "a forest near Mantua;" whereas all the circumstances concur to place it in the immediate vicinity of Milan. There is nothing to warrant the supposition that any of the characters had journeyed far from Milan when they were seized upon by the outlaws; and it is to the Duke of Milan that the outlaws apply for pardon for misdeeds done in his territories.

A. E. B.

Leeds.

The following very curious account of the ancestry of this very talented individual is copied from the Berwick Advertiser—a paper confined to the provinces, and not likely to reach the metropolis. It appeared somewhere about four years ago; but in cutting the scrap from the paper I incautiously omitted inserting the date.

"NEW FACTS CONCERNING DONIZETTI THE COMPOSER.—We have learned from authority not to be questioned, that the late Donizetti, whose great talents as a composer are now beginning to be appreciated, was of Scotch origin. His grandfather was a native of Perthshire, of the name of Izett (or rather, I should think, Izatt). He was a farmer under the Earl of Breadalbane, and his son Donald was born at the farm. When very young the sprightly Donald left his paternal home, having been enticed by the fascinating address of a recruiting serjeant to enlist in the united services of Mars and his Majesty, to the great grief of his mother, who did not survive his departure many months. Young Donald soon got discontented with his military duties; and having been taken prisoner by General La Hoche during his invasion of Ireland, was quite delighted with the easy mode which presented itself of liberation from the unpleasant thraldom which he had been suffering, and quickly embraced an offer made to him to enter the General's service. With him he remained as private secretary till his untimely death. Subsequently he married an Italian lady of some fortune, and his name of Donald Izett was easily metamorphosed into Donizetti. The composer was the offspring of this marriage; and it is remarkable that evidence of his Scottish origin may be traced in many of his beautiful melodies. Thus, for instance, in 'Don Pasquale,' the exquisite air of 'O Summer Night' reminds us of some Highland strains sung to the bagpipe; and the entire score of 'Lucia di Lammermoor' is replete with snatches and fragments of the minstrelsy of Scotland."

There is then added a few lines relative to Rossini, whose family is also alleged to be Scotch.

How far this legend is true I know not; but perhaps some of your correspondents might throw light on the subject. But assuredly there did exist a Scotch family called Izett; and a lady of that name is at present living in, or near, the romantic town of Stirling. What is remarkable is this: that in the list of subscribers to the Edinburgh Circus, afterwards better known as Corri's Rooms, and now the Adelphi Theatre, occurs the name of Izatt or Izett, who followed the calling of a hatter. This was in 1790. On making inquiry, it has been ascertained that he came from Perthshire; that his father was a farmer there; and what is still more striking, that, having realised an ample fortune, he retired from business and purchased an estate in that county. It was also said, that he corresponded with some relative on the Continent. All this is very inconclusive, but still it is worth noticing.

J. G. S.

—The reason for giving ash sap to new-born children in the Highlands of Scotland is, first, because it acts as a powerful astringent, and, secondly, because the ash, in common with the rowan, is supposed to possess the property of resisting the attacks of witches, fairies, and other imps of darkness. Without some precaution of this kind, they would change the child, or possibly steal it away altogether. The herd boys in the district of Buchan, in Aberdeenshire, always prefer a herding stick of ash to any other wood, as in throwing it at their cattle, it is sure not to strike on a vital part, and so kill or injure the animal, which they say a stick of any other wood might do.

It is common practice with the housewives in the same district, to tie a piece of red worsted thread round their cows' tails, previous to turning them out to grass for the first time in the spring. It secures their cattle, they say, from an evil eye, from being elf-shot by fairies, &c. &c.

ABERDONIENSIS.

—On the 2nd of November, All Souls' Day, it is in Shropshire the custom for the village children to go round to all their neighbours souling, as they call it, collecting small contributions, and singing the following verses, which I took down from two of the children themselves:—

The soul-cake referred to in the verses is a sort of bun, which until lately it was an almost general custom for persons to make, and to give to one another on the 2nd of November. Perhaps some of your readers can state whether this custom prevails in other counties in England. It seems to be a remnant of the practice of collecting alms, to be applied to the benefit of the souls of the departed, for which especial masses and services were formerly sung on All Souls' Day.

W. FRASER.

—To the "Pasquinades" adduced in Vol. iv., p. 292., I may add one of a different character, though of older date, on a former Cardinal. On the decease of Pope Clement IX. in 1669, Cardinal Bona was named amongst those worthy of the tiara, when a French Jesuit (Père Dangières), in reply to a line inscribed, as usual upon those occasions, on the statue of Pasquin, "Papa Bona sarebbe un solecisma," made the following epigram:

The successful candidate, however, was Cardinal Emilio Altieri, who assumed the name of Clement X., in April, 1670: Bona (Giov.) died in October, 1674.

J. R. (Cork.)

—It is a singular fact, that an estate granted to George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, for restoring the monarchy, was by intermarriage eventually vested in Oliver Cromwell, Esq., of Cheshunt, who died in 1821; being then the last male descendant of the Protector.

A SUBSCRIBER.

—Lord Byron not only "deeply underscored," in admiration, M. D'Israeli's sentence, as quoted Vol. iv., p. 99., but he also reproduced the same idea in his Monody on Sheridan:

ALFRED GATTY.

Did the Romans throw corn, pulse, or beans on the flames of the funeral pile (rogus), or deposit them with the bones and ashes of the deceased in their sepulchres? The Query is suggested by a quantity of, to all appearance, calcined small field beans having recently been found by me, in small heaps, among a deposit of ashes embedded in sand, in the perpendicular cutting of a sand-pit at Comb Wood, near Kingston. The deposit is black, reduced to a fine powder, and, with the exception of the beans, homogeneous: it was perfectly distinct from the surrounding sand, and was about two feet under the surface of the soil. For centuries past Roman remains have been from time to time discovered at Comb Wood, and it is known to have been a Roman station. The locality in which I found the deposit is said to have been the sepulchre of the station; and from an intelligent person, engaged in excavating the sand, I learned that he occasionally came upon deposits similar to that in question, containing baked, but unglazed, clay vessels; some, of an oval form, about a yard in circumference and nearly a foot in depth, and others of the size and somewhat of the form of a flower-pot. These vessels fall to pieces after two or three days, through exposure to the air. He had also found pieces of copper or brass about an inch square, and of the thickness of a penny, as also coins.

Authorities (Virg. Æn. VI. 225.; Stat. Theb. VI. 126.; Lucan, IX. 175.) may be cited, showing that perfumes, cups of oil, ornaments, clothes, dishes of food, and other things supposed to be agreeable to the deceased, were thrown upon the flames; but I do not find corn or beans specifically mentioned as having been used on these occasions.

I may add, that the field containing the sand-pit (which is the property of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge) is close to the road leading by Putney Heath to Kingston, and on the brow of the declivity of Comb Hill, overlooking that ancient Saxon seat of royalty which is stated to have been built out of the remains of the adjoining Roman station.

JOHN AP WILLIAM AP JOHN.

Inner Temple, Nov. 1. 1851.

William Lord Dacre, of the North, had four sons: 1. Thomas; 2. Leonard; 3. Edward; 4. Francis. The eldest son Thomas married, and died in his father's lifetime; leaving a son George, and three daughters, all under age. This George, on his grandfather's death, became Lord Dacre; and was in ward to the Duke of Norfolk during his minority, and his mother became the Duke's second wife. George Lord Dacre was accidentally killed before he attained his majority, leaving his three sisters his coheiresses-at-law. Two of the coheiresses were married to the Duke's two sons, the Earl of Arundel and Lord William Howard. Can any of your readers state what became of the third sister?

On the death of George Lord Dacre, the title and estates were claimed by Leonard, the second son of William Lord Dacre, by virtue of an alleged entail on the heirs male of William. Leonard, taking part in the rebellion of 1569, was attainted and fled abroad; and soon afterwards died, and is buried at Brussels, I think. The next brother, Edward, was also implicated, and fled. Is it known when and where he died; and did he leave any issue?

Francis, the fourth son of William Lord Dacre, carried on a long contest at law with the Earl of Arundel and the Lord William Howard for the Dacre's estates; claiming, under the entail of his father William Lord Dacre on the male line. He married, and had a son and a daughter. He fell under suspicion of the government, and retired abroad about the year 1588, and died there. His son is stated to have compromised his claims to the estates with the Howards.

I wish to ascertain, and possibly some of your readers may be able to state, whom did Francis Dacre marry? What was the name of his son, and was he married; and the name of his daughter, and whom did she marry; and whether there are any descendants of this branch of the Dacre family now in existence?

ERCAD.

—I wish to ascertain the precise etymology of the word salter as applied to localities far removed from the sea, and from those districts in which the making of salt is carried on. It seems to be applied in the north of England to places adjoining ancient roads, or where these pass: e.g. part of the old highway from Rochdale to Burnley is called the Salter's Gate. The old road from Rochdale to Hebden Bridge crosses Salter Edge, on Blackstone Edge. The road from Rochdale to Middleton crosses Salter Edge in Hopwood. The road from Ashton to Peniston passes Salter's Brook in the woodlands of Cheshire. It is somewhat remarkable that all these roads lead in direct lines to the Cheshire salt works.

F. R. R.

—Sir John Mandeville, in giving the account of the growth of pepper in India, says:

"The long Peper comethe first, whan the Lef begynnethe to come; and it is lyche the Chattes of Haselle, that cometh before the Lef, and it hangethe lowe."

Is this old name for "catkins" retained in any part of England, or is it the same word?

H. N. E.

—Would some one of your correspondents furnish the authority for the saying, "Truth is that which a man troweth?"

Γ.

—Is there any work published, on which reliance may be placed, which would give me the numbers, or supposed numbers, of persons professing the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, Episcopal, and other varieties of religious worship? The number of professing members of the Greek Church is given in various works, but I have never seen any complete list of the numbers professing other religions.

Q. E. D.

—What is the date of the latest cross-legged effigy known, and is the person commemorated known to have been connected with the Crusades? Is there any cross-legged memorial effigy with the hands in the attitude of drawing the sword of so late a date as the fourteenth century?

Dugdale and others say that persons pledged to join a crusade were marked with the cross. How was this ceremony performed?

W. H. K.

—Has a collection of these ever been made? (I have a "Note" on the subject, but do not send it, feeling sure I must have been anticipated.)

A. A. D.

—From what family connexion did "Count Maurice Tanner de Lacy," general in the Austrian service, and who died in 1819, take the name of "Tanner?" What relative was General M. de Lacy to Joseph Francis Maurice Count de Lacy, field marshal under Joseph II., and who distinguished himself so highly during the Seven Years' War; also who was mother of the latter?

Ποθέω.

—Your correspondent E. H. D. D. (Vol. iv., p. 332.) says that the Sinaitic inscriptions have been already deciphered. May I ask, by whom?

T. D.

—Is any authentic portrait in existence of Dr. Bray, to whom the venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel owes its origin?

C.

—In M. Blundevill his Exercises, containing Eight Treatises, 6th edition, 4to., 1622, one of the eight is described thus:

Item. A plaine and full description of Peter Plancius his universall Mappe lately set forth in the yeare of our Lord 1592, containing more places newly found, as well in the East and West Indies, as also towards the North Pole, which no other Mappe heretofore hath."

Where is this Peter Plancius' map to be found?

J. O. M.

—Can any of your correspondents give the derivation of theodolite? I fear that θεάομαι δολος might be considered a libel.

J. S. WOOD.

—I should be glad to hear what attempts have been made, and with what success, to decipher the inscriptions upon the Lycian monuments in the British Museum. Col. Mure, in his History of Grecian Literature, vol. i. p. 84., speaks of them as at present unintelligible. The character, he says, is a variety of the Græco-Phœnician. I find several, if not the greater part, of the letters in Gesenius's Monumenta Phœnicia, especially Tab. 11. and 12. What is the language in which they are written? And if an aboriginal tongue, over what portion of Asia did the stock to which it belongs extend in the historical period, and what is that stock? Is it to that class of dialects that the language of the Gods, as Homer distinguishes a certain tongue from the language of men, belongs: which called the "night-jar" χαλκίς, named by men κύμινδις (Il. 14. 291.); and "the giant" Βριάρεως, instead of Αἰγαίων (Il. 1. 403.); and "the Xanthus, Ξάνθος, instead of Σκάμανδρος; and, which is more remarkable still, "the hillock" on the plain of Troy, the σῆμα πολυσκάρθμοιο Μυρίνης, while men named it Βατίεια (Il. 2. 813.) I have hitherto been accustomed to consider these names which the gods use to be the old Pelasgian names, assured as I feel that the Pelasgi occupied the north-west corner of Asia Minor before the Greeks (Hellenes) took Troy, which event I have looked upon as one of many in which the energies and [ ... ] of the young and vigorous Hellenic family were successfully exerted against their contemporaries of the other less powerful descendants of the old Pelasgic settlers in that part of the world. But I shall be thankful for the information which others wiser than I can give, even if it be but a theory: accompanied with the facts on which it is based, it will be worth attention.

THEOPHYLACT.

—Is it more reasonable to assign the Arabic character of the Maltese dialect to the fact of its early occupation by the Hebrew-speaking Phœnicians, or to the subsequent Saracen occupation? or may its difference from Hebrew and from Arabic be explained by the circumstances of its history, as having been twice, at two very different periods, occupied by invaders belonging to two branches of the same stock? Bochart, Canaan, i. 26., says that the name "Melete" is Hebrew, meaning refugium; and Diodorus Siculus, v. cap. 12., uses the term καταφυγή concerning it so pointedly, that it would almost seem as though he knew that to be the reason why the Phœnicians gave it its name.

THEOPHYLACT.

—You have inserted my inquiry respecting the frontispiece to Hobbes's Leviathan; I should also be glad to know the interpretation put by any of your readers on the various other symbols in that plate. They are, on one side of the title, a castle, a crown, a cannon, a pile of arms, and a field of battle, in compartments one below another; and on the other side, a church, a mitre, a thunderbolt, a collection of implements marked syllogism, dilemma, &c., and a tribunal.

I have my own view of the meaning of each part of this, which is at your service when required.

W. W.

Cambridge.

—Can any of your legal correspondents inform me whether there exist any reports of the addresses of the Lord Advocate for Scotland, the king's Attorney-General, or the Lord Chancellor, on the hearing or decision of this case in the year 1782?

The Lord Chancellor was Lord Thurlow; the Lord Advocate, Sir Henry Dundas; the Attorney-General, Mr. Wallace.

S. E. G.

—Forty or fifty years ago goods were advertised for public sale "by the candle." Can any of your readers inform me of the origin of this?

I may remark that it was the custom then at some sales to have candles marked with red circles; and the moment the candle burned down to the mark, the lot put up was knocked down to the highest bidder; and, at some sales, a common candle was burned during the sale.

J. S. A.

Old Broad Street.

—Will any of your correspondents inform me of the derivation of the word æra, as, if derived from the Latin word æra, no classical authority that I know of can be adduced. In Ainsworth I find æra signifies a kind of weed amongst corn; a mark upon money to show the value; a remarkable period of time.

J. N. G. G.

[In Andrews' Latin-English Lexicon our correspondent will find the following as the second definition of Æra, "ÆRA, Æ, f. (from Æra, the plural of Æs), a word belonging to Later Latin. 1. In Mathem. The given number, according to which a calculation is to be made. Vitruvius (Vetrubius) Rufus in Salmas. Exerc. I. p. 483. 2. The item of an account for which in the class. per æra, as plur. of æs, came into use. Ruf. Fest. in Breviar. in. The passage of Lucil. cited by Nonius, 2, 42., æra perversa, is prob. also plur. 3. The era or epoch from which time is reckoned."]

—Can any of your Cambrian correspondents inform me when Tudur Aled, a Welsh poet, flourished; and in what collection his works are to be found?

A STUDENT.

[Tudur Aled, so called on account of his residence on the banks of the Aled, in the county of Denbigh, flourished about the year 1490, and was a friar of the Order of St. Francis. He wrote a poetical account of the miracles reported to have been performed at St. Winifred's Well, in the town of Holywell, as well as the life of that saint. He was also one of the followers of Sir Rhys ab Thomas, of Dinevor in Carmarthenshire, and wrote several poems in praise of his great achievements. Some of our Cambrian readers can probably state where his pieces are to be found.]

—Can any of your Lancashire correspondents furnish me with information respecting the genealogy and family history of the Tonges of Tonge, near Middleton in that county? This family appears to have been of some consideration at an early period, and to have become extinct at the commencement of the last century.

J. B. (Manchester.)

[Some notices of this family will be found in Baines's History of Lancaster, vol. iii. p. 86.]

—Is there any edition of this book in English or Latin as early as 1595?

J. O. M.

[The Bodleian contains a copy printed in 1594:—"Robertus Hues, Tractatus de globis et eorum usu, accommodatus iis qui Londini editi sunt anno 1593, sumptibus Gul. Sandersoni. 8vo. Lond. in æd Thomæ Dawson, 1594." Also another copy, "8vo. typ. G. Voegelini, s.a."]

In forming a literary project, whether extensive or otherwise, it is advisable to keep in view the humble science of arithmetic. Without that precaution, it may become a source of vexation both to its projector and its promoters; and, in some cases, the non-completion of it may be a real injury to literature.

When I proposed a typographic memorial of William Caxton, in preference to an architectural memorial, and intimated that it might be compressed into an octavo volume, and produced at a very moderate price, I flattered myself with having made a more correct estimate than is commonly made by designers and architects—Paxton, Cubitt, and Fox, always excepted—and I venture to announce, on more mature reflection, the same decided opinion.

With thanks to MR. BOTFIELD for his enumeration of the translated works of Caxton, I must remind him that the proposal was a collection of his original compositions, with specimens of his translations. To reprint the entire works which proceeded from his press was never my project. I could not have entertained such an idea for one moment; nor should I think the realisation of it desirable, even if it could be effected by magic. I readily admit, however, that I have a liking for Fayts of armes and chyvalrye—that Thystorye of Reynard the foxe is very attractive—and that the Boke for travellers would be a choice morçeau philologique.

The publications of Caxton are about sixty in number, and I am sure that more than six pages would seldom be required for any one work, and that many articles might be properly treated in less than two pages each. A short memoir of Caxton, a glossary of obsolete words and phrases, an appendix of documents, and an index, are the only additions which I should consider as essential to the completeness of the design. All this might be comprised in an octavo volume of moderate extent.

The Typographical antiquities of Ames, as augmented by Dibdin, being the accredited source of information on Caxton, and having misled some superior writers, I shall presume to deliver my opinion of the first volume of that work—not having much acquaintance with the subsequent volumes. Dibdin had formed, at the very outset, a most injudicious resolution. Caxton was his hero; and he resolved, as he tells us in his autobiography, to "devote the first volume entirely to the productions of his press." In order to carry out this plan, he was led to introduce much extraneous and useless matter. We have endless repetitions of what Lewis says, and what Ames says, and what Herbert says, and even what the dreamer Bagford says, instead of such information as should have been derived from an examination of the books themselves. Moreover, he is very deficient in the logic of history, in point of method, and in point of accuracy; and the extracts, being in modern orthography, are to philological students UTTERLY WORTHLESS.

This, and perhaps more than this, I may hereafter have occasion to prove; and should it seem to others that I express myself harshly, due consideration shall be given to their objections.

I must now assure MR. BOTFIELD that it gives me satisfaction to observe him somewhat disposed to view my project with favour, and that I am not less disposed to make such modifications of the conditions of publication as may meet the wishes of himself and the other contributors toward The Caxton Testimonial. Two modes of union suggest themselves, which I submit to his consideration in the form of queries.

1. If the preparation and impression of the intended volume should be undertaken by a certain literary society, honourably distinguished by the substantial character of the works which have been edited under its sanction, would the committee of The Caxton Testimonial engage to take a certain number of copies, in case the council of the society alluded to should assent to such a deviation from its usual course?

2. If this arrangement should be objected to on either side, would the committee of The Caxton Testimonial undertake to produce a literary memorial of Caxton on the plan before-described, or not much differing from it, and under the editorship of persons to be named by themselves?

If neither plan should be approved, I shall not abate one jot of hope as to the success of the project; but, by permission of the editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES," proceed with my humble contributions to The Caxton Coffer.

BOLTON CORNEY.

Might not the purpose be attained by the establishment of a club (on the same principles as the Bannatyne, Maitland, and Spalding Clubs), for the republication of the works of the first English printer? His works are of such excessive rarity that they are inaccessible even to the most devoted antiquary, and indeed many of them are scarcely known even by name. They are principally thin quartos, and the actual expense of reprinting them could not be heavy. The only trouble would be in collating them; and if the matter was once set on foot, we have many able typographical antiquaries who, I have no doubt, would assist in editing them. Such a plan appears preferable, because in making the Club open to any party who chose to pay the agreed-on subscription, it would thus become better known throughout the kingdom, and consequently stand a much better chance of support and, of course, success.

The great object of the memorial, in addition to a just recognition of the important services of Caxton, appears to be to revive his memory; and this end can only be effectually gained by a republication of his works, and the plan of a club appears to be the only way by which they can be extensively circulated.

PETRO-PROMONTORIENSIS.

[Our correspondent has, he will perceive, misapprehended MR. CORNEY'S suggestion; which is a far more practical one, than a reprint of all the works which issued from the press of Caxton. In the first of the modes which MR. CORNEY now suggests for carrying out his views he appears to us to have hit upon a very happy expedient; which we think may easily be accomplished in a way to do credit to all parties concerned in it, and really to do honour to the memory of William Caxton.]

As your correspondent C. has noticed the copy of Sallust containing the autograph of Mary Queen of Scots, which was presented to the library of this University by our illustrious alumnus JOHN WILSON CROKER, I think it right to send you the following account of it.

The full title is as follows:—

The words here printed in Italics are in rubric in the original. Then follows on the title-page a table of contents of the volume, with reference to the folio in which each piece is to be found.

Then follows a small square woodcut, representing SS. Peter and Paul holding the sacred handkerchief with the face of Christ impressed upon it; and on each side of this is the date in rubric, thus,

The whole is surrounded with a framework formed of various woodcut ornaments. One of these (on the left) represents Judas betraying our Lord with a kiss; the other (on the right) our Lord bearing His cross.

On the reverse of the title is a dedicatory letter from Iodocus Badius Ascensius to Franciscus de Roban, Archbishop of Lyons.

Then follows Tabula Alphabetica, occupying four pages.

Then (on fol. A. iiij) a letter, "Aug. Mapheo rerū Ro. Thesaur. Pōp. letus. S." beginning "Marcus Valerius probus unice vetustatis amator."

On the next page is 'Caij Crispi Sallustij vita per Pōpo. letū."

On the next page begins "De historia et ea concernentibus collecta per ascensium;" and in the blanks round the heading of this page is one of the autographs of the unfortunate queen, in her large bold hand,

On the next page begin "Viginti precepta pro historica lege," which are continued on the next two pages. In the blank spaces left round the titles of the ninth and tenth precepta, the queen has again written,

On the next leaf begin the works of Sallust, with the commentaries and other apparatus. The sheets are in eights, so that the book is more properly large 8o than 4o, signatures A—S(but S is only a half-sheet). The prefatory matter (including the title) is contained on a single sheet, sig. A, of six leaves only. This is expressed by the printer's register at the end—

The colophon has not been completely given by C.; it is as follows:

"¶ Crispi Sallustii Catilina (sic) et Jugurthina cum reliquis collectaneis ab Ascensio: ut cum[que] explanatis: hic suum capit finem. Lugduni diligenti recognitione Impressus per Antoniū Blachard[6] anno domini M. quingētesimo. xxiii. pridie Calend. Sextiles."

[6] Not Blanchard, as C. has printed the name.

These particulars may enable your readers to identify this edition, which is, I believe, very rare.

After the colophon are two pages occupied by remarks on Sallust by "Jacobus a cruce Bononiensis:" leaving the last page in the volume blank, except that in the centre is a woodcut of larger size than that already mentioned, which is on the title-page, but representing the same subject, viz. SS. Peter and Paul holding the sacred handkerchief.

On the upper right-hand corner of this last page are the verses quoted by C., and correctly quoted, except that meæ and puellæ in the first line are mee and puelle in the original.

There is not the smallest shadow of probability for supposing these verses, or any of the other MS. annotations which occur in the volume, to be in the handwriting of Mary Queen of Scots. She wrote a large and not by any means a scholarlike hand, which is very well known; whereas these verses and the other annotations, are in a small and crampt scholarlike hand of the sixteenth century, as unlike the handwriting of Mary as any that can be imagined. In fact I was not aware, until I read C.'s letter in "NOTES AND QUERIES," that anybody had ever supposed it to be hers.

The note recording the donation of this book by James I. to Bishop Hall, occurs fol. xc. It is in a large schoolboylike hand, and is correctly quoted by C.

The book contains numerous woodcuts, which have no discoverable relation to the text, and are inserted merely to mark the commencement of the books, or different pieces of which the volume consists. Many of these are repeated several times.

The ornamental letter to which C. refers is the letter O, the first in the book. The grotesque character of it noticed by C. would not be easily observed except it were specially pointed out. C. may be assured that it was not particularly pointed out to Her Majesty when she did us the honour of inspecting this and some other literary treasures of our library in 1849.

JAMES H. TODD.

Trinity Coll. Dublin.

I trust that a few words more will not be deemed overmuch in pointing out what I think will be found to be the source of T. W.'s difficulty. We need not go to French or German translators, because it is reasonable to suppose that where any sense can be made out of the text as it stands, the last thing a foreigner would do would be to complete an elliptical expression. I agree with MR. COLLINS, who says the expression "is very good sense;" and from his adding "much more Byronic," I expect he will agree with me in adding also, "but very bad taste." T. W. seems to have felt this; and nothing can be more conclusive than his criticism upon this point. I trust that there are few men of taste who have not as utter an abhorrence of tyranny as Lord Byron; but I think that, strongly as men of genius may be supposed to feel, few would have lugged in the tyrants on such an occasion; as it seems to me it was just in the nature of the noble poet, with or without cause, to do. What Byron says is perfectly true; it is simply out of place: nevertheless, as the text stands, it is said with force. But adopt T. W.'s variation, and can a flatter truism be conceived? And, after all, the objection not removed; for the allusion would be equally out of place: unless, indeed, your correspondent could make out of the text that

SAMUEL HICKSON.

I will not dwell on T. W.'s last remarks about Byron's "Address to the Ocean," farther than to observe, that it is difficult to conceive how he can understand the French translation which he quotes, in such a way that it shall tally with the view which he has put forward. The translation says, "the waves wasted their shores in the days of liberty, as they have done since under many a tyrant." This is very different from making the line mean either "the waves wasted the tyrants," as T. W. thinks it means with Byron's punctuation, or "the shores obey the tyrants," as T. W. would make it mean with his amended punctuation.

In a recent number (p. 325.) MR. M. COLLINS objects to—

and exclaims, "In vain!" Why, did not Columbus, &c.? But this criticism also overlooks the meaning of the passage. The fleets traverse the ocean quite in vain, as to producing any permanent traces, as is explained in the very next words:

W. W.

Cambridge.

A reference to Dr. Guggenbühl's Letter to Lord Ashley on Cretinism, and to the reviews of the subject, of which I can name two in the Athenæum, one in 1848, p. 1077., and another on June 21, 1851, will, I think, show that there are no "races of Cretins," though the disease—for it is nothing but a disease—will sometimes largely affect even families. One of the principal characteristics of the disease is a disgusting goître, enlarging the neck to such a size, that a part of it becomes pendulous to the length of upwards of a foot, and can even be flung over the shoulder, and is, indeed, often carried there. It is very commonly accompanied by idiocy; and, in fact, the Cretin is one of the most distressing objects that can be seen. The disease is very common in some parts of Switzerland, especially, I believe, the Valais; some attribute it to the water: and probably climatic influences, in conjunction with the deleterious elements contained in the water, and the frequent intermarriage of the villagers, and deficient or unwholesome diet, are the chief sources to which it must be traced. It is curable; at the institution on the Abendberg the treatment is very successful. The disease never appears above a certain level, and disappears when, under favourable circumstances, the patient is raised to that level. Cases have been found in Lancashire, and at Chiselborough in Somersetshire, and at other places which present predisposing causes resembling those of Switzerland.

I do not think that AJAX'S suggestion "credentes" as the derivation of Cretin can be substantiated. Is it a term at all connected with diversity of religious opinion and consequent persecution? In the Alps, Cretinism is regarded with pity and kindness, as RUSTICUS truly remarks. The term cagot is current in the French with the meaning of an impostor, a hypocrite; "celui qui a une dévotion fausse ou mal-entendue," is the meaning in the Dictionnaire de l'Académie; also a bigot.

It is altogether a religious term. May I suggest that they are a relique of the old population of the mountain vallies imperfectly Christianised, therefore despised by the more enlightened population of the neighbourhood,—half-civilised, perhaps, and physically degraded by the same causes which have given the goître and the idiocy of the Cretin to the inhabitants of the Valais. If so, they may be Iberian, or what is commonly called Celtiberian, a term which I think there is reason for abandoning. I shall be glad to hear more of these Cagots; about the Cretins a good deal is known, and with much certainty, but nothing, as far as I can learn, that tends to identify them historically with any religious sect.

I am able to add further information concerning the Cagots. They are a miserable race, mostly beggars, or employed only about the meanest and filthiest work, abounding in leprosy and other cutaneous diseases, and in the most loathsome vermin; houseless, half-clad, inhabiting stables, barns, or any casual place of shelter, generally mutilated and lame, outcasts from society, reputed to lead infamous lives, indulging in the most horrible practices, even of cannibalism, and worse offences than that. Their brand used to be an eggshell on their clothes, and the custom was to pierce their feet with an iron. Scaliger derived their name from "Canis Gottus," and their origin has been assigned to some one of the northern nations which penetrated into the south of France and north of Spain in the third and fourth centuries before our era.

On this may I be allowed to forward a Query or two? What is their language? What are their own traditions concerning their origin? I am confirmed in my opinion that they are no way analogous to the Cretins; the latter being diseased, and Cretins because they are diseased; the Cagot being diseased and filthy, and despised because he is a Cagot, an individual of a degraded and outcast race of men.

THEOPHYLACT.

In the early church the sermon was delivered immediately after the reading of the Scriptures (Const. Apost. lib. viii. c. 5.), and sometimes preached without any text; at other times, upon more texts than one; but most commonly the text was taken out of some paragraph of the Psalms or Lessons, as they were read. Origen expressly calls Sermons, explanations of the Lessons (Orig. cont. Cels., lib. iii.). The Fathers sometimes so ordered the matter, as to preach upon the Psalm, the Epistle, and the Gospel all together, when they happened to be on the same subject. Thus St. Augustine (Serm. x. t. x. p. 112.) preached upon the subject of praise and thanksgiving, out of the Epistle, the Psalm, and the Gospel together, because they each had something relating to his subject. (Bingham, book xiv. ch. iv. § 17.) This may have given rise to the present plan of textual preaching. During the middle ages we frequently meet with the terms postilla, postillæ, postillare, and the like (from post illa verba Scripturæ sacræ), denoting sometimes merely expositions of Scripture, and sometimes popular discourses founded upon a passage just before read.

In England, about the year 957, Elfric, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, required the priest in each parish to explain the Gospel of the day, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, on Sundays and holydays. (Canon XXIII. Ælfrica, Wilkins, Concil. tom. i. p. 253.) The same person afterwards compiled Homilies in the Anglo-Saxon language, which for some time continued to be read in the English Church. (Cave, Historia Literaria, tom. ii.)

During the reign of King John, A.D. 1204, the custom of preaching from a text appears to have originated with Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and adopted by some of the divines of the University of Oxford. The practice, however, met with some opposition by the sages and seniors of that seat of learning, as related by the author [Sir John Peshall] of The History of the University of Oxford, from the Death of William the Conqueror to the Demise of Queen Elizabeth, 4to. 1773, p. 7.:—

"The ancient practice of explaining considerable portions of Scripture first showed itself openly in this University. This was to name a thesis or text from the Scripture, and make divisions upon it; which method is said to have been adopted by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, who therefore divided the Scriptures into chapters. The people at their religious assemblies much approved of this way, in preference to the raw discourses of young and ignorant preachers. Yet others, rejecting new customs and innovations, chose to follow their old way, which was that of the Saints Austin, Jerome, Barnard, &c.; and Robert Grostest, D.D. (whose word was a law with the university), was among the opposers. This was postillando, i.e. by expounding the words of Scripture as they stood in order, by inferences drawn from them. They took no text, but began in this manner: 'I intend, by the grace of God, in my following discourse, to treat of certain matters; and in these matters I intend to draw certain and true conclusions, for I intend now to speak of the fear of God. First, concerning fear,' &c. And so far down as the fifteenth century this kind of preaching continued: for so Vascanius, doctor and chancellor of the university, relates of himself: 'Anno 1450, in the octaves of St. John the Evangelist, on the Lord's Day, I showed in my sermon, preached at Oxford, in St. Martin's Church at Carfax, that Dr. Augustine preached four hundred sermons to the clergy and people without any thesis, and without taking a text at the beginning of his discourse. And so I (says he) preached the day and year above mentioned, in Oxford, by taking no theme or text; but I administered to the people profitable matters, without repeating of any text, but only words pertinent to matters proposed or declared.'"

The ancient practice of explaining considerable portions of Scripture to the people was revived by our reformers. Before them Colet had employed many years in publicly expounding all the Epistles of St. Paul. Archbishop Cranmer expounded Hebrews; as Bishops Hooper, Latimer, and Jewel, did Jonah, the Lord's Prayer, many of the Epistles, and all the Epistles and Gospels on Sundays and holydays.

"From the practice of Ambrose, Origen, Chrysostom, and Austin, among the ancients, and of our reformers, and more modern divines, we may safely affirm (says Mr. Shepherd in his Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer) that explaining and applying portions of Scripture read in the Lessons, is a very beneficial mode of preaching to ordinary congregations."

J. Y.

Hoxton.

Through the kindness of a friend, who takes an interest in the pedigree of the Gay family, I am enabled to offer the following information to MR. TAGART.

In Paley's Life of Law, prefixed to the Theory of Religion, mention is made of Gay's dissertation; and the author is there stated to be of "Sidney College." Inquiry was accordingly made in that quarter, and the following answer was returned:—

"I find there have been four persons of the name of Gay educated at Sidney College; three of them certainly—and in all probability the fourth—members of the same family. As I shall have occasion to refer to them subsequently, I will give you their several entries in the College Register:

"'1. Johannes, fil. Jacobi Gay, clerici, natus apud Meath in com. Devon. lit. gram. instit. per quinquennium apud Torrington sub Mro Reynolds, deinde per biennium sub Mro Rayner, apud Tiverton in com. prædicto. Adm. est Pens. min. anno æt. 18mo sub tut. Mro Nath. Popple, S.T.B., et Mro Laur. Jackson, M.A., 7mo Nov. 1717.'

"'2. Nicholas, fil Jacobi Gay, clerici, natus apud Meath in com. Devon. lit. gram. instit. per quinquennium apud Torrington sub Mro Reynolds, deinde per triennium sub Mro Rayner apud Tiverton, in com. prædicto. Adm. est Sizator 20mo Oct. 1718, anno æt. 17mo, Tut. Laurentio Jackson, A.M.'

"'3. Jacobus, fil. natû max. Revdi Joannis Gay, hujus Collii quondam Socii, posteà Vicarii de Wilshamstead, natus apud Wilshamstead, in com. Bedf. lit. gr. instructus apud Bampton in com. Devon. sub Mro Wood. Adm. est Sizator 24to Aug. 1752, annum agens 17mo, Tut. J. Lawson et J. Cranwell.'

"'4. Johannes, fil. natû max. Nicolai Gay, de Newton St. Cyres in com. Devon. Vicarii, ibidem natus, lit. verò gram. inst. apud South-Molton per sexennium, et apud Ottery St. Mary per triennium sub viro revdo Joanne Colridge. Adm. est Sizator 15to Junii 1762, annum agens 19mo, Tut. Gul. Elliston, Mro Ci et Joh. Hey.'

"Gay (1.) was a scholar of Peter Blundell's foundation, and in 1724 succeeded to a fellowship on the same foundation. This fellowship, of which there are two at this college, is tenable for ten years; and all our fellows are compelled to proceed regularly to the degree of B.D. (seven years after they have taken that of M.A.). Mr. Gay was M.A. in 1725, and might have proceeded to B.D. in 1732: but he never took any higher degree than M.A. He must therefore have vacated his fellowship before 1732. I find no mention of his name in our College Office-book later than 7th May, 1730. He was probably presented during that year to the vicarage of Wilshamstead (which of course would render void his fellowship), and subsequently entered upon another kind of fellowship, one of the results of which was Gay (3.).

"Of Gay (2.) I find it recorded that he was appointed Chapel Clerk in 1719; that he was B.A. 1722, and M.A. 1731. As far as dates are concerned, it might be questioned which of the brothers (1. or 2.) was the author of the 'Preliminary Dissertation.' In our University Library I can find only two editions of Law's translation of Archbishop King's work, viz. the 2nd edit., 1732, which contains the 'Preliminary Dissertation,' but no mention of its author; and the 4th edit., Camb. 1758, at the end of the Preface to which are these words: 'The following Dissertation was composed chiefly by the late Rev. Mr. Gay.' The author of the Dissertation must therefore have died in or before 1758. But in the entry of Gay (4.) 1762 (who was without doubt nephew of 1.), I do not find 'defuncti' attached to his father's name, which it has always been usual to add, in the case of the father being deceased.

"I am convinced in my own mind that the Mr. Gay of Sidney College, mentioned by Paley in his life of Bishop Law, was Gay (1.). There would be no difficulty, I should think, in ascertaining the time of Mr. John Gay's decease. The present vicar of Wilshamstead could no doubt readily inform you. If it should be found that Mr. John Gay died before 1758, then there can be no question but that he is Bishop Law's late Mr. Gay.

"Fellow of Sidney College."

The 8 Eliz. c. 15. and 14 Eliz. c. 11. provide that in every parish the churchwardens with six other parishioners shall yearly on one of the holydays in Easter week, and at every other time when needful, tax and assess every land and tithe-owner within the parish to pay such sums of money as they shall think meet according to the quantity of such their lands or tithes, and on nonpayment thereof within fourteen days after demand to forfeit five shillings, which, together with the sum assessed shall be levied by distress on the goods and chattels of such land or tithe-owner; and as well the said sums as penalties shall be delivered to two honest and substantial persons of the parish eligible by the churchwardens, to be named "The distribution of the provisions for the destruction of noisome fowl and vermin." Such is the authority required by J. B. (Manchester), by which churchwardens in old times paid sums of money for the destruction of vermin in the several parishes of England. It will, however, be observed that their authority was not confined to "vermin," but extended to the "fowls of the air;" and the "old volumes of churchwardens' accounts," to which your correspondent has access, amply testify to the fact that those churchwardens were fully alive to their duty, powers, and authority, under the above-named statutes; inasmuch as two, at least, of the ancient names belong to the feathered tribe; glead being identical with kite, and ringteal or ringtail (subbuteo) with a species of hawk, in some districts more commonly called the hobby. Greas' head I must leave to some other head to determine, unless indeed is meant the great-shrike or butcher-bird belonging to the same order (accipitres) as the kite and ringtail or hobby. Notwithstanding J. B.'s diffidence, I am much inclined to adopt his surmise, that the worthy churchwarden really intended badger when he wrote baggar.

FRANCISCUS.

It is hardly so impossible to identify the animals mentioned by your correspondent J. B. as he supposes. Glead is the A.-S. glida or kite, though, in our version of Deut. xiv. 13., both glede and kite are mentioned. Ringteal or ringtail is the female of the Circus cyaneus or hen-harrier, another species of falcon. Greas' head and baggar refer to the same animal (the badger), for there is no wonder that a scribe who writes greas' head for gray's head should write also baggar for badger. This latter animal has a variety of names by which he is known in one and the same district, e.g. gray or graye, bawson or bowson, brock and badger, and in our churchwardens' accounts these names occur indiscriminately. I hope some one will be able to point out the origin of paying for the destruction of these animals out of the parochial funds; I have frequently searched without success such authorities as I have access to. The earliest entry of the kind in the books of this parish (which date from 1520) is in 1583.

I subjoin a few extracts, which afford a curious instance of the respective prices put upon the heads of these animals at a time when such entries occur; as,

These entries are very numerous in our books with every variety of spelling, though the prices remain very much the same. I have found no entries of the kind after 1744, but that may be owing to the accounts being not entered fully in every case after that period; but I cannot agree with J. B. in his assertion that these animals are now considered innocuous; witness the vulgar error with regard to the hedgehog's sucking the teats of cows, an error which no process of reasoning can induce the farmers about here to renounce; moreover, I know for a fact that not more than a dozen years ago the farmers near Wakefield used to give a halfpenny per head for every unlucky sparrow (fledged or unfledged) that was brought to them by any bird-nesting youngster.

J. EASTWOOD.

Ecclesfield, Sheffield.

There is the more pressing need, in our day, of an Order of Victoria, or of Civil Merit—such as you justly and feelingly contend for and describe in the "NOTES AND QUERIES"—from the great and increasing numbers of our literary and scientific men, who are acutely sensible of the undeserved stigma and ban under which they lie, by being often excluded from the intellectual society so congenial to them, owing to their not possessing some recognised badge of honour and passport in life, equivalent to the degrees or distinctions so justly conferred upon those who have studied at our Universities, or are awarded to men who have won eminence in the Naval, Military, or Civil Service of the Crown. An honourable title, proceeding from the Sovereign herself, and bestowed alike on both sexes (for who would think—certainly not our beloved Queen—of wounding the delicate female mind by excluding a Somerville, a Hannah More, a Joanna Baillie, or a Felicia Hemans—the three latter not needing now our poor applause—from the cheering honours due to their genius, their talents, and their virtues?) would be a fitting tribute from a British, a Christian Monarch to that intellectual superiority and moral worth which are the immortal distinctions of our race. At present many individuals who have raised themselves by their native force of mind and acquirements to a position of honour and respectability as literary and scientific men, are yet looked upon and treated as pariahs by those who are the bestowers and guardians of national distinctions. The just pride and self-respect of such men will forbid their courting, by any unworthy advances, an introduction to society, from which, by their position, they stand excluded; and it would be a truly royal exercise of her sovereign rights, for Queen Victoria to extend, beyond the present line of demarcation, the barriers that now prevent those from meeting together, who, if they were better acquainted, would learn to value and esteem each other: while society at large would be an immense gainer in all its relations—scientific, literary, and artistic—by the honours and distinctions thus conferred upon a most worthy, but most contemned and neglected portion of the educated community.

A CONTRIBUTOR TO "NOTES AND QUERIES."

—In Rhodes's Peak Scenery, p. 228, it is said:

"Near Middleton, by Youlgrave, we found the celebrated Druidical monument of Arbor Low, one of the most striking remains of antiquity in any part of Derbyshire. This circle includes an area of from forty to fifty yards diameter, formed by a series of large unhewn stones, not standing upright, but all laid on the ground, with an inclination towards the centre; round these the remains of a ditch, circumscribed by a high embankment, may be traced. Near the south entrance into this circle there is a mound, or burial-place, in which some fragments of an urn, some half-burnt bones, and the horns of a stag, were found."

In the same work, at pages 236, 237., is an account of the Druidical remains at Stanton Moor. And at page 224. are the following remarks:—

"The Eyres is one of the oldest families in Derbyshire, where they have continued to reside through the long lapse of more than seven hundred years, as appears from the following curious extract from an old pedigree which is preserved at Hassop. 'The first of the Eyres came in with King William the Conqueror, and his name was Truelove; but in the battle of Hastings (14 Oct. 1066) this Truelove, seeing the king unhorsed, and his helmet beat so close that he could not breathe, pulled off his helmet and horsed him again. The king said, Thou shalt hereafter from Truelove be called Air or Eyre, because thou hast given me the air I breathe. After the battle the king called for him, and being found with his thigh cut off, he ordered him to be taken care of; and being recovered, he gave him lands in the county of Derby, in reward for his services, and the seat he lived at he called Hope, because he had hope in the greatest extremity; and the king gave the leg and thigh cut off in armour for his crest, and which is still the crest of all the Eyres in England.'"

A descendant of this person is the present Earl of Newburgh, of Hassop Hall.

At page 240. is an account of the village of Birchover, and also of the Rowter Rocks, but no mention is made of the family of the Ayres, or of the ruins of any house formerly belonging to them.

JOHN ALGOR.

Sheffield.

—The paragraph quoted by SIR F. MADDEN out of Prayers after the confession of sins, and the sense of pardon obtained, and well called by him "striking," is a verbatim copy of a passage in "A Guide for the Penitent," published at the end of Jeremy Taylor's Golden Grove.

The short preface, by a nameless hand, which precedes this division of the Golden Grove, would lead one to suppose that "A Guide for the Penitent" was a posthumous work of Jeremy Taylor; but this is not exactly stated. The prayers, however, have the same spirit and grandeur of piety which characterise those which are the acknowledged compositions of Bishop Taylor. Monmouth was beheaded eighteen years after Taylor died. It would be interesting to identify the author of "A Guide for the Penitent" (should there be any doubt on the subject): also, to ascertain how far Monmouth quoted, in his "prayers," from Taylor or any other divine.

MARGARET GATTY.

Ecclesfield.

—Your correspondent T. T., in reply to my Query respecting this work, says (Vol. iv., p. 328.) that it "was printed in Venice, 1538, in 4to." This is impossible: for the elder Buxtorf was born in 1564; and it would be singular if he had translated R. Elias' work, and printed it at Venice, twenty-six years before he was born.

T. T. seems not to have observed that my inquiry related to Buxtorf's translation, not to the original work of Elias Levita, which, although now rare, is sufficiently well known to Rabbinical scholars. I must therefore renew my inquiry (Vol. iv., p. 272.): has Buxtorf's translation ever been printed, or does it now exist in MS.?

JAMES H. TODD.

Trin. Coll. Dub.

—Idomeneus awaiting the attack of Æneas could hardly be compared with Junius attacking every body in his way. Burke more probably borrowed his boar from even a greater poet than Homer. See Psalm lxxx. verses 8 to 13 (Common Prayer Version), and the context before and following, which contains perhaps the most picturesque and beautiful, as well as practical, allegory in the compass even of sacred literature. "The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the field devour it."

J. M. G.

Hallamshire.

—I have always understood Byron's apostrophe "Son of the morning, rise! approach you here!" to be merely an appeal to one of the Orientals who then ruled in that region. And this appears to me to be confirmed by the suggestion which follows that the creed of Mahomet shall pass away as that of Jove has done. The words "Come—but molest not yon defenceless urn," did not appear to me to have any reference to the iconoclastic propensities of the person addressed. But this notice of your correspondent is ingenious.

W. W.

Cambridge.

—This quotation, the author of which was inquired for,—

is from a comedy in three acts called the Panel, altered from Bickerstaff's comedy 'Tis well it's no worse.

M. W. B.

Burges, Sept. 26. 1851.

—This anecdote, I beg to observe, is incorrectly represented; and surely presents to the reader no adequate provocation for the sharp retort on him attributed to the hostess, on his offering her a glass of wine. But the fact is, that the circumstance occurred, not at a small country inn, but in the city of Galway; nor solely in company with a brother advocate, as stated by M.W.B., but at the general bar-mess. The Connaught circuit was not Curran's, who had been called there specially, and who, having heard of the barmaid's ready wit, was determined to test it. Her name, I well recollect, was Honor Slaven; and her quick repartee to the not very delicate jokes constantly practised on her by the gentlemen (?) of the bar, had spread her fame beyond the province. Curran, however, was far superior to those whom she had foiled in these too often unseemly combats, and was expected to prove that superiority in this contest. Among the customary toasts of that time was a succession of three alliterative ones, of which the last was of flagrant indecency; and this Curran resolved should fall to Honor's turn to give in due rotation. Making her take a seat, with one interposed between them, he began with the first:—"Honor (directing himself to her) and Honesty," followed by "Love and Loyalty" from his next neighbour; when, ordering a bumper, he said, "Come Honor, you know the next toast; be not squeamish, and let us have it." "No, Sir," replied she, with an arch smile, "but I will pledge you in your own toast—'Honor and Honesty, or, your absent friends.'" These last words were uttered with special emphasis, and, in their provoked application, well sustained the barmaid's reported character; as, indeed, promptly acknowledged by Curran himself. I have more than once heard similar retorts from her when thus assailed.

J. R.

Cork.

—The erroneous use of the reflective pronoun, of which MR. FORBES gives an example in a quotation from the Legenda Aurea, is common in monkish writings. I have an instance before me, in a charter of Cnut (Kemble's Codex Dipl. Anglo-Sax., vol. iv. p. 28.):

"Eius (i.e. Christi) quippe largiflua bonitate regia dignitate subtronizatus, ego Knu[d] rex Angligenæ nationis, pro nauciscendo eius immensitatis misericordiæ dono, concedo sibi de suo proprio quæ mihi gratuito concessit, villam," &c.

C. W. G.

—I learn from the dictionaries of Walters and Owen, that casec gwanwyn, mare of spring, means a woodpecker. And the more curious part of the name is confirmed by Llwyd, who calls a woodpecker casec drychin, mare of storms. But here I read that casec gwenwyn, mare of poison, means a screech-owl. Of this I have not elsewhere found anything. Therefore I ask for more information; to save me from the heresy of thinking that that woman was turned into a woodpecker. In what country and language does mara mean a screech-owl?

A. N.

—Your inquirer L. M. M. will most probably meet with the information he desires in the county of Essex, of which portion of the kingdom they were Earls, and held immense possessions from the early part of the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Their principal estates were in the parishes of Moreton, Tollesbury, Chingford, Little Laver, Greensted, Ramsden, South Church, Wakering, Maldon, North Farnbridge, Lachingdon, Mayland, Langford, Great Totham, Bentley, Wickes, Tendring, Great Holland, Beaumont, Ramsey, Bromfield, Rivenhall, Halsted, Hanningfield, Chicknall, Ulting, Messing, Hedingham Sibil, Ballington, Foxearth, Belchamp, Toppesfield, Braintree, Little Easton, Chickney; Broxted, Roding Aythorp, Little Hallingbury, Walden, and Farnham. In all these parishes they held manors, with the advowsons of several of the churches. Many of the manors are called after the family, Bourchier's Hall; some members of the family were buried in Bilegh Abbey, which stood in the west part of the town of Maldon. In Halsted they founded a chantry for a master and eight priests; and adjoining Little Easton church still remains a fine chapel, known as Bourchier's chapel, where there are tombs to some of the family in fine preservation. By a visit to the churches of the parishes above enumerated, much information may probably be obtained, for there can be little doubt but so powerful a family were great benefactors to the churches of the several parishes where their estates and mansions were situated; and most probably many members of the family were interred in them, and had tombs to their memory.

J. R. J.

—TOXOPHILUS will find all his Queries well answered in Hansard's Book of Archery. The modern method of proving a bow is very different from that quoted by PHILOSOPHUS from Ascham, p. 211. A bow is now, I believe, tested by placing the bow across a piece of stout timber made for the purpose, and hanging weights to the string till it reaches about twenty-seven or twenty-eight inches. The weight necessary to do this determines the power of the bow.

H. N. E.

Bitton Vicarage, Oct. 1851.

—Is it worth while, in reference to SIGMA'S inquiry as to the name of the author of one of the Bishop of Worcester's works, to tell you a droll mistake on that point, which I have before my eyes? I have the work in a fine old binding, which in the gilt lettering on the back, states it to be by Ed. Wigorn. This reminds me of another similar naïveté. When the late Bishop Prettyman, then Bishop of Winchester, wrote to propose to Mr. Murray to publish his life of Pitt, Mr. Murray, following the signature too literally, addressed his answer to George Winton, Esq.

C.

—During the attacks upon the French outposts in 1755 in America, Governor Shirley and General Jackson led the force directed against the enemy lying at Niagara and Frontenac. In the early part of June, whilst these troops were stationed on the banks of the Hudson, near Albany, the descendants of the "Pilgrim fathers" flocked in from the eastern provinces; never was seen such a motley regiment as took up its position on the left wing of the British army. The band played music some two centuries of age, officers and privates had adopted regimentals each man after his own fashion; one wore a flowing wig, while his neighbour rejoiced in hair cropped closely to the head; this one had a coat with wonderful long skirts, his fellow marched without his upper garment; various as the colours of the rainbow were the clothes worn by the gallant band. It so happened that there was a certain Dr. Shuckburgh, wit, musician, and surgeon, and one evening after mess he produced a tune, which he earnestly commended as a well-known piece of military music, to the officers of the militia. The joke succeeded, and Yankee Doodle was hailed by acclamation "their own march." During the unhappy war between the American colonies and the mother country, that quaint merry tune animated the soldiers of Washington; it is now the national air of the United States.

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

—Some of the inquiries made at p. 271. respecting General Wolfe have been subsequently answered, I find, in p. 323., but no mention appears of his family beyond his father and mother; a deficiency which I can in some degree supply by ascending to his great-grandfather, Captain George Woulfe (sic), of whom we are told by Ferrar, in his History of Limerick, there printed by A. Watson, in 1787,—

"That on the capitulation of the city of Limerick in October, 1651, to the Parliamentarian general Ireton, twenty of the most distinguished of its defenders were excepted from pardon, and reserved for execution. Amongst them were two brothers, George and Francis Woulfe: the former, a military officer; the latter, a friar, who was hanged,—but the captain made his escape. He fled," says Ferrar (p. 350.), "to the north of England, where he settled; and his grandson, General Edward Woulfe, was appointed colonel of the 8th regiment of foot in the year 1745. He transmitted his virtues with additional lustre to his son Major-General James Woulfe, whose memory will be for ever dear to his country, and whose name will be immortalised in history."

Captain Woulfe married, and changed his religion; to which his brother the friar fell a martyr, exhibiting on the scaffold, it is related, far more intrepidity than many of his fellow sufferers of military rank. Ireton, however, finally pardoned several of those originally excepted from the capitulation. Woulfe's family was at that period one of the most eminent in the county of Clare, where it still retains a respectable rank; and one of its members was the late Chief Baron, Stephen Woulfe, a gentleman equally beloved in society as respected on the bench. Another was a chemist of some eminence in London, at the close of the past century. They retained the u in the name, which most others, like the captain's descendants, laid aside; as Bonaparte did during his triumphant campaign in Italy, in order to un-Italianise and Frenchify his patronymic Buonaparte. The Chief Justice Wolfe, who was so barbarously murdered in Dublin at the outbreak of young Emmet's rebellion in 1803, was of a different branch. Edward, the general's father, had distinguished himself under Marlborough, as did the son in 1747, at the battle of Lawfelst on the continent. My own family, I may add, has been brought into close connexion with that of the subsisting Irish branch of the general's stock by intermarriage.

J. R. (Cork.)

—This article reminds me of a distich said to have been inscribed on the violin of Palestrina, the "Musicæ Princeps" of the sixteenth century:—

Thus translated into French:

Palestrina's violin was made by a great musical instrument maker at Bologna, who had the same lines graven on his lutes, bass-viols, &c.

J. R. (Cork.)

—The allusion to the word "Earwig" induces me to repeat a charade on it, not without merit, though the last lines appear more responsive to the rhyme than to the fact:—

J. R. (Cork.)

—In answer to MR. DE ST. CROIX'S fair inquiry of the source whence I derived my assertion of the existence of the first edition of Nostradamus (at p. 329.), I have to say, that it was from the very intelligent bibliographer, A. A. Renouard. I had known him in Paris at his dwelling in the Rue de Tournon (where my friend, the celebrated Arthur O'Connor, with his wife, the daughter of Condorcat, had apartments), and I afterwards had some interviews with him in London at my own house; when, on observing in his Catalogue d'un Amateur the Elzevir edition of 1668, we entered into some conversation on the subject; and, in reference to the original edition, not much valued indeed as very imperfect, he said, that though now rare, because long, as not worth preserving, neglected, it still may, and must be, in the Royal Library; "il doit nécessairement s'y trouver, et non-seulement là, mais ailleurs." I too certainly thought that the great national repository must contain it, but I made no inquiry; and as MR. DE ST. CROIX so diligently pursued the search without discovering it, I conclude, of course, that it is not there; but if he authorises M. Renouard's son, who resides in the Rue Garancière, or any respectable bookseller, to provide the little volume for him, I feel confident of his success. Nor do I apprehend that the price will correspond with its rarity, like the works of so many other writers; such even as the prophecies of Merlin, as stated in the article referred to by MR. DE ST. CROIX, without recurring to our Shakspeare's early editions, or to those of Ariosto, Cervantes, Boccacio, Molière, Froissart, Le Roman de la Rose, Amadis de Gaule, the Romances of Chivalry in various languages, and the editiones principes of the classics, &c. &c., a comparison of the value of which two centuries or less ago, as we find them in old catalogues, with their present cost, so strikes the reader. Numerous books, on the other hand, have experienced a proportionally equal depreciation:

J. R. (Cork.)

—If this Query has already met with an answer, my apology for troubling you with this must be, that it has escaped my notice.

R. is undoubtedly right in supposing that a "toothed sleck stone" means a toothed or jagged whetstone; the word sleck preserving a greater resemblance to its Danish cousin slecht than the modern slick.

For "bullish," Milton shall be his own interpreter. "I affirm it to be a bull, taking away the essence of that which it calls itself."

The phrase "bid you the base" is apparently taken from the old game of Prisoner's Base, for which, if necessary, reference may be made to the Boy's Own Book. I am inclined to think that the very phrase was, in my school days, used in the game; but if wrong in any remembrance, I may still be right in my conjecture, and then the phrase would be equivalent to, "I challenge you to follow me," as one boy follows another in Prisoner's Base; and we should then have a curious illustration of the antiquity of the game.

PHILIP HEDGELAND.

—A. W. H. is referred to Dr. Latham's English Language, § 294. p. 372., ed. 2. The Dutch termination -schap, e.g. vriendschap, may be added.

CHARLES THIRIOLD.

—The following are merely a few rough notes made from time to time on this saying. I have tried to put them into some kind of order but they are too trivial, and too easily verified by reference, to deserve more space in print than they have hitherto had in writing:—

1. Last lines of King Henry IV. Part II., and Steevens's note.

2. The "pious lie" of Mahomet's pigeon. See Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. 1. Marg. lemma—"His character," the note beginning—"The Christians, rashly enough," &c. And—"Life of Mahomet" [Library of Useful Knowledge] note on p. 19. For line from—Dunciad—[a slovenly reference] see book iv. 358.

3. From the Greek? See Potter's Gr. Antiquities, book ii. chap. xv.—or Robinson's Antiq. Greece, book iii. chap. xv. ad init. as both refer to Aristoph. Aves. [600. 601. Bekker.]

4. Ecclesiastes, chap. x. 20.

To these I may add the origin assigned to the saying by Mr. Bellenden Ker, in his Essay on the Archæology of our Popular Phrases and Nursery Rhymes, 1837, vol. i. p. 63., viz.:—

"A LITTLE BIRD.

"A good humoured way of replying to, who told you this story? And imparting you don't mean to inform him, that you have a good reason for not letting him know. Er lij t'el baerd; q. e. by so doing [telling] I should betray [do wrong to] another," &c.

C. FORBES.

—May not this originate in the Hebrew Keri, used for the same purpose, and of nearly the same shape?

F. J.

Bradford.

For the purpose of expounding the law in the Jewish assemblies, the Pentateuch was divided into fifty-four sections (on account of the intercalary year), that the whole might be read over once annually. The sections were distinguished, as they still continue to be, in the Hebrew copies, by the letter Pe, or Phe, the initial of Pharasha, which signifies separation or division. This probably was the original reason for adopting the inverted black P [¶] which is retained in our translation of the Bible to mark paragraphs or transitions. The division of the Old and New Testament into chapters is a modern practice, and the subdivision of chapters into verses still more modern. See Shepherd on the Morning and Evening Prayer.

J. Y.

—The document inserted at this place is quoted with some variations, and the omission of the part referring to periwigs by the late Mr. Grimshawe, in his Life of the Rev. Leigh Richmond, p. 157. 4th edit. There is added the date, "Oct. 8, 1674;" and the following foot-note is appended, "See Statute Book of the University of Cambridge, p. 301." Car. II., Rex. Mr. Grimshawe's version is printed without any break or asterisks, as if entire.

W. S. T.

—CLERICUS quotes some paragraphs from the letters of Horace Walpole, dated 1764, wherein Walpole threatens vengeance for the dismissal of Conway; and CLERICUS concludes by asking, "If these extracts do not prove Horace Walpole to be Junius, &c., &c., what can he allude to?" Why, to the pamphlet which he was then writing, and which he immediately published, entitled A Counter Address to the Public, on the late Dismission of a General Officer.

W. J.

—I suspect H. E. has not read his seal quite correctly. I surmise it is Fermelioduni. However, no doubt Dunferline is meant; and the literal translation of the legend is, "Seal of the city of Dunferline." This place was a royal burgh, with a palace; and the word civitas was not then confined to towns which were Bishop's sees.

W. S. W.

Middle Temple.

—In Littlecote Hall, the fine old seat of the Pophams, in Wiltshire, one of these machines was preserved, and I doubt not but that it is still to be seen there.

It is of oak, and stands upon a pillar and base like those of a small round table. I always understood that it was employed as an instrument of domestic punishment.

W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.

Temple.

—The story of the device of a toad having been introduced into the armorial bearings of the Hungerfords, in memory of the degradation of some member of the family, is, in every way, nonsensical. "Argent, three toads sable" is certainly one of their old quarterings; as may be seen upon one of the monuments in the chapel at Farleigh Castle near Bath. But it was borne by the Hungerfords for a very different reason. Robert, the second Lord, who died A.D. 1459, had married the wealthy heiress of the Cornish family of Botreaux: and this has one of the shields used by her family, being in fact nothing more than an allusion, not uncommon in heraldry, to the name. This was spelled variously, Botreaux or Boterelles: and the device was probably assumed from the similarity of the name of the old French word Botterol, a toad: (see Cotgrave) or the old Latin word Botterella. The marriage with the Botreaux heiress and the assumption of her arms, having taken place many years before any member of the Hungerford family was attainted or executed (as some of them afterwards were), Defoe's story falls to the ground.

I take this opportunity of adding, that, having been for many years a collector of materials for a more methodical and accurate account of the Hungerford family and their property, than has hitherto appeared, and having completed the arrangement of what I have been able to collect, if any of your readers or correspondents should have it in his power to refer me to any sources of illustration, or to inform me of the existence of anything that might throw light on the subject—such as old deeds, seals, wills, entries in parish registers, family portraits, or the like—they would be rendering a kind service.

J. E. JACKSON.

Rectory, Leigh-Delamere, Chippenham.

The Salisbury Volume of the Archæological Institute, which has just been issued, contains some extremely interesting communications, among which we must particularise for its agreeable character Mr. Hunter's Reminiscences of the Topographical Gatherings at Stourhead,—for its learning and originality, Mr. Guest's Memoir on the Early English Settlements in South Britain.[7] Mr. Smirke contributes a valuable notice of the Custumal of Bleadon,—Mr. Newton, Notes on the Sculptures at Wilton,—Mr. Hawkins on The Mints of Wiltshire; and not the least interesting portion of the volume consists of notices respecting Silbury and Avebury, by the late excellent and lamented Dean of Hereford. The volume contains many other instructive memoirs, and is well calculated to advance archæological knowledge.

[7] Mr. Guest's suggestion (p. 30.), that Grimsditch means a boundary, deserves the attention of our correspondents.

The new volume of Bohn's Standard Library is the fourth of Mrs. Foster's excellent translations of Vasari's Lives of the most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. It contains no fewer than nineteen lives, including, among many whose names are less familiar to English amateurs, those of Sebastian del Piombo, and that admirable scholar of Raphael, whom Shakespeare has helped to immortalise by designating him that "rare Italian master Giulio Romano." All lovers of art are under great obligations to the publisher for placing this translation within their reach.—Mr. Cyrus Redding's History and Description of Modern Wines is the new volume of Bohn's Illustrated Library; and, as the author describes "the art of taking wine" as "the science of exciting agreeable conversation and eliciting brilliant thoughts," and discourses learnedly upon the subject, his book may well find friends.—Lucretius on the Nature of Things, literally translated into English Prose, by the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A., to which is added the Poetical Version, by J. M. Good, is another volume of Bohn's Classical Library; and the scholarship of Mr. Watson affords a sufficient justification for his prefatory remark, "that he who wishes to know what is in Lucretius without perusing the original, will learn it from this volume with greater certainty than from any other previously offered to the English reader." Every page bears evidence of the pains and ability displayed by Mr. Watson in his endeavour to clothe Lucretius in an English garb.

There is no Query so frequently put and so rarely answered to the satisfaction of the Querist as What is the fare? Walker's Cab Fare and Guide Map of London, in which all the leading streets and thoroughfares are marked off in half-miles, being so small that it may be carried in a pocket-book, yet so distinct as to admit of no doubt, will however put an end to the very unpleasant state of uncertainty and dispute in which all who ride in cabs are apt to find themselves involved.

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.—W. Waller & Son's (188. Fleet Street) Catalogue of Choice, Useful, and Interesting Books; W. Heath's (497. New Oxford Street) Catalogue No. 6. for 1851 of Valuable Second-hand Books; G. Honnor's (304. Strand) List No. 7. of Cheap Second-hand Books; J. Chapman's (142. Strand) Catalogue Part XIV. of Old and New Books in all Departments of Literature; G. Bumstead's (205. High Holborn) Catalogue Part LIII. of Interesting and Curious Books; J. Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue Part CXXVIII., No. 9. for 1851, of Old and New Books; Williams & Norgate's (14. Henrietta Street) Catalogue No. 4. of Foreign Second-hand Books.

CHRISTIAN PIETY FREED FROM THE DELUSIONS OF MODERN ENTHUSIASTS. A.D. 1756 or 1757.

AN ANSWER TO FATHER HUDDLESTONE'S SHORT AND PLAIN WAY TO THE FAITH AND CHURCH. By Samuel Grascombe. London, 1703, 8vo.

REASONS FOR ABROGATING THE TEST IMPOSED UPON ALL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT. By Samuel Parker, Lord Bishop of Oxon, 1688, 4to.

LEWIS'S LIFE OF CAXTON. 8vo. 1737.

CATALOGUE OF JOSEPH AMES'S LIBRARY. 8vo. 1760.

TRAPP'S COMMENTARY. Folio. Vol. I.

WHITLAY'S PARAPHRASE ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. Folio. Vol. I. 1706.

LONG'S ASTRONOMY. 4to. 1742.

MAD. D'ARBLAY'S DIARY. Vol. II. 1842.

ADAM'S MORAL TALES.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR. JOHNSON. 1805.

WILLIS'S ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (10s. 6d. will be paid for a copy in good condition.)

CARPENTER'S DEPUTY DIVINITY; a Discourse of Conscience. 12mo. 1657.

A TRUE AND LIVELY REPRESENTATION OF POPERY, SHEWING THAT POPERY IS ONLY NEW MODELLED PAGANISM, &c., 1679. 4to.

ROBERT WILSON'S SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF HAWICK. Small 8vo. Printed in 1825.

JAMES WILSON'S ANNALS OF HAWICK. Small 8vo. Printed in 1850.

BARRINGTON'S SKETCHES OF HIS OWN TIME. Vol. III. London, 1830.

BRITISH POETS (Chalmers', Vol. X.) London, 1810.

CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS TO HIS SON. Vol. III. London, 1774.

CONSTABLE'S MISCELLANY. Vol. LXXV.

ERSKINE'S SPEECHES. Vol. II. London, 1810.

HARE'S MISSION OF THE COMFORTER. Vol. I. London, 1846.

HOPE'S ESSAY ON ARCHITECTURE. Vol. I. London, 1835. 2nd Edition.

MULLER'S HISTORY OF GREECE. Vol. II. (Library of Useful Knowledge, Vol. XVII.)

ROMILLY'S (SIR SAMUEL) MEMOIRS. Vol. II. London, 1840.

SCOTT'S (SIR W.) LIFE OF NAPOLEON. Vol. I. Edinburgh, 1837. 9 Vol. Edition.

SCOTT'S NOVELS. Vol. XXXVI. (Redgauntlet, II); Vols. XLIV, XLV. (Ann of Grerstein, I. & II.) 48 Vol. Edition.

SMOLLETT'S WORKS. Vols. II. & IV. Edinburgh, 1800. 2nd Edition.

SOUTHEY'S POETICAL WORKS. Vol. III. London, 1837.

CRABBE'S WORKS. Vol. V. London, 1834.

Four letters on several subjects to persons of quality, the fourth being an answer to the Bishop of Lincoln's book, entitled POPERY, &c., by Peter Walsh. 1686. 8vo.

A CONFUTATION OF THE CHIEF DOCTRINES OF POPERY. A Sermon preached before the King, 1678, by William Lloyd, D.D. 1679. 4to.

A SERMON PREACHED AT ST. MARGARET'S, WESTMINSTER, BEFORE THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, MAY 29, 1685, by W. Sherlock, D.D. 4to. London, 1685.

POPE'S LITERARY CORRESPONDENCE. Vol. III. Curll. 1735.

ALMANACS, any for the year 1752.

MATTHIAS' OBSERVATIONS ON GRAY. 8vo. 1815.

SHAKSPEARE, JOHNSON, AND STEVENS, WITH REED'S ADDITIONS. 3rd Edition, 1785. Vol. V.

SWIFT'S WORKS, Faulkner's Edition. 8 Vols. 12mo. Dublin, 1747. Vol. III.

SOUTHEY'S PENINSULAR WAR. Vols. V. VI. 8vo.

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

Although we have this week again enlarged our paper to 24 pages, we have to request the indulgence of our friends for postponing until next Number many important papers which are in type. We hope shortly to make arrangements for the more prompt insertion of all communications.

A Copy of Smith's History of Virginia, folio, has been reported. Will the correspondent who wished for it send his name to the Publisher?

J. N. C. shall have our early attention.

K. G. K. is referred to our 1st Vol. pp. 234. 419. for the "locus" of "Tempora mutantur," &c.

K. Crest and Arms of Sir William Norris Young, of Marlow Park, Bucks.

F. A. B. We have at present no means of ascertaining the places of death and burial of Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke. They might probably be found in the Secret History of the House of Hanover, published a few years since, but we have not an opportunity of consulting that work.

OXONIENSIS will find the information he desires respecting the saying—

in our 1st Vol. pp. 347. 351. 421. 476.

The letter of "ANOTHER SUBSCRIBER TO THE ANGLO-CATHOLIC LIBRARY" reached us at too late a period for insertion in this week's Number. It shall, of course, appear in our next.

REPLIES RECEIVED.—Union Jack—Upton Court—Treatise of Equivocation—Kings have their Conquests—Lowey of Tunbridge—Borough-English—Childe Harold—"'Tis twopence now"—Monton—Anagrams—Yankee Doodle—Authors of the Homilies—Bramham Moor—Coins of Vabalathus—The Mother's Legacy—Ellrake—San Grail—Colonies of Spaniards—History of Anglesey—Convocation of York—Cavalcade—Collar of SS.—Petition for Recall of Duke of Wellington—Worse than a Crime—Miniature of Cromwell—Sept—Chatter, &c.

Copies of our Prospectus, according to the suggestion of T. E. H., will be forwarded to any correspondent willing to assist us by circulating them.

VOLS. I., II., and III., with very copious Indices, may still be had, price 9s. 6d. each, neatly bound in cloth.

NOTES AND QUERIES is published at noon on Friday, so that our country Subscribers may receive it on Saturday. The subscription for the Stamped Edition is 10s. 2d. for Six Months, which may be paid by Post-office Order drawn in favour of our Publisher, MR. GEORGE BELL, 186. Fleet Street; to whose care all communications for the Editor should be addressed.

Printed by Thomas Clark Shaw, of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5. New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride, in the City of London: and published by George Bell, of No. 186. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London. Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, November 15, 1851.