Transcriber's Note: Italicized words, phrases, etc. are surrounded by underline characters. Greek transliterations are surrounded by tildes. Hebrew transliterations appear like this. Irish is indicated thus: Irish. Diacritical marks over characters are bracketed: x indicates a macron over the letter, x indicates a breve. Archaic spellings have been retained.

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{405} NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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"WHEN FOUND, MAKE A NOTE OF."—CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

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No. 209.] Saturday, October 29. 1853. [Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:— Page The Scottish National Records 405 Patrick Carey 406 Inedited Lyric by Felicia Hemans, by Weld Taylor 407 "Green Eyes," by Harry Leroy Temple 407 Shakspeare Correspondence, by Samuel Hickson, &c. 408

MINOR NOTES:—Monumental Inscriptions—Marlborough at Blenheim—Etymology of "till," "until" —Dog-whipping Day in Hull—State 408

QUERIES:— Polarised Light. 409

MINOR QUERIES:—"Salus Populi," &c.—Dramatic Representations by the Hour-glass—John Campbell of Jamaica—Hodgkins's Tree, Warwick—The Doctor—English Clergyman in Spain—Caldecott's Translation of the New Testament—Westhumble Chapel—Perfect Tense—La Fleur des Saints— Oasis—Book Reviews, their Origin—Martyr of Collet Well—Black as a Mourning Colour—The Word "Mardel," or "Mardle," whence derived?— Analogy between the Genitive and Plural—Ballina Castle—Henry I.'s Tomb—"For man proposes, but God disposes"—Garrick Street, May Fair—The Forlorn Hope—Mitred Abbot in Wroughton Church, Wilts—Reynolds' Portrait of Barretti—Crosses on Stoles—Temporalities of the Church—Etymology of "The Lizard"—Worm in Books 410

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:—Siller Gun of Dumfries —Margery Trussell—Caves at Settle, Yorkshire— The Morrow of a Feast—Hotchpot—High and Low Dutch—"A Wilderness of Monkies"—Splitting Paper—The Devil on Two Sticks in England 412

REPLIES:— Stone Pillar Worship and Idol Worship, by William Blood, &c. 413 "Blagueur" and "Blackguard" by Philarete Chasles 414 Harmony of the Four Gospels by C. Hardwick, T. J. Buckton, Chris. Roberts, &c. 415 Small Words and Low Words, by Harry Leroy Temple 416 A Chapter on Rings 416 Anticipatory Use of the Cross.—Ringing Bells for the Dead 417

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE:—Stereoscopic Angles 419

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:—Berefellarii—"To know ourselves diseased," &c.—Gloves at Fairs— "An" before "u" long—"The Good Old Cause" —Jeroboam of Claret, &c.—Humbug—"Could we with ink," &c.—"Hurrah!"—"Qui facit per alium facit per se"—Tsar—Scrape—Baskerville— Sheriffs of Glamorganshire—Synge Family—Lines on Woman—Lisle Family—Duval Family 420

MISCELLANEOUS:— Books and Odd Volumes wanted 423 Notices to Correspondents 424 Advertisements 424

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NOTES.

THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL RECORDS.

The two principal causes of the loss of these records are, the abstraction of them by Edward I. in 1292, and the destruction of a great many others by the reformers in their religious zeal. It so happens that up to the time of King Robert Bruce, the history is not much to be depended on. A great many valuable papers connected with the ancient ecclesiastical state of Scotland were carried off to the Continent by the members of the ancient hierarchy, who retired there after the Reformation. Many have, no doubt, been destroyed by time, and in the destruction of their depositories by revolutions and otherwise. That a great many are yet in existence abroad, as well as at home, which would throw great light on Scottish history, and which have not yet been discovered, there is no doubt, notwithstanding the unceremonious manner in which many of them were treated. At the time when the literati were engaged in investigating the authenticity of Ossian's Poems (to go no farther back), it was stated that there was in the library of the Scotch College at Douay a Gaelic MS. of several of the poems of great antiquity, and which, if produced, would have set the question at rest. On farther inquiry, however, it was stated that it had been torn up, along with others, and used by the students for the purpose of kindling the fires. It is gratifying to the antiquary that discoveries are from time to time being made, of great importance: it was announced lately that there had been discovered at the Treasury a series of papers relating to the rebellion of 1715-16, consisting chiefly of informations of persons said to have taken part in the rising; and an important mass of papers relative to the rebellion of 1745-46. There has also been discovered at the Chapter House at Westminster, the correspondence between Edward I., Edward II., and their lieutenants in Scotland, Aymer de Valance, Earl of Pembroke, John, Earl of Warren, and Hugh Cressingham. The letters patent have also been found, by which, in 1304, William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrew's, testified his having come into the peace of the king of England, and {406}found himself to answer for the temporalities of his bishopric to the English king. Stray discoveries are now and then made in the charter-rooms of royal burghs, as sometime ago there was found in the Town-house of Aberdeen a charter and several confirmations by King Robert Bruce. The ecclesiastical records of Scotland also suffered in our own day; the original charters of the assembly from 1560 to 1616 were presented to the library of Sion College, London Wall, London, in 1737, by the Honorable Archibald Campbell (who had been chosen by the Presbyters as Bishop of Aberdeen in 1721), under such conditions as might effectually prevent them again becoming the property of the Kirk of Scotland. Their production having been requested by a committee of the House of Commons, the records were produced and laid on the table of the committee-room on the 5th of May, 1834. They were consumed in the fire which destroyed the houses of parliament on the 16th of October of the same year. It was only after 1746, and on the breaking up of the feudal system, when men's minds began to calm down, that any attention was paid to Scottish antiquities. Indeed, previous to that period, had any one asked permission to examine the charter chests of our most ancient families, purely for a literary purpose, he would have been suspected of maturing evidence for the purpose of depriving them of their estates. No such objection now exists, and every facility is afforded both the publishing clubs and private individuals in their researches. Much has been done by the Abbotsford, Bannatyne, Maitland, Roxburgh, Spalding, and other clubs, in elucidating Scottish history and antiquities, but much remains to be done. "If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly," as every day lost renders the attainment of the object more difficult; and it is to be hoped that these clubs will be supported as they deserve.[1]

The student of Scottish history will find much useful and important information in Robertson's Index of Charters; Sir Joseph Ayloffe's Calendars of Ancient Charters; Documents and Records illustrative of the History Of Scotland, edited by Sir Francis Palgrave, 1837; Jamieson's History of the Culdees; Toland's History of the Druids; Balfour's History of the Picts; Chalmers' Caledonia; Stuart's Caledonia Romana; History of the House and Clan Mackay; The Genealogical Account of the Barclays of Ury for upwards of 700 Years; Gordon's History of the House of Sutherland; M'Nicol's Remarks on Johnson's Journey to the Western Isles; Kennedy's Annals of Aberdeen; Dalrymple's Annals, &c. &c.

ABREDONENSIS.

[Footnote 1: See Scottish Journal, Edinburgh, 1847, p. 3., for a very interesting article on the Early Records of Scotland.]

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PATRICK CAREY.

Looking over Evelyn's Diary, edited by Mr. Barry, 4to., 2nd edit., London, 1819, I came upon the following. Evelyn being at Rome, in 1644, says:

"I was especially recommended to Father John, a Benedictine Monk and Superior of the Order for the English College of Douay; a person of singular learning, religion, and humanity; also to Mr. Patrick Cary, an abbot, brother to our learned Lord Falkland, a witty young priest, who afterwards came over to our church."

It immediately occurred to me, that this "witty young priest" might be Sir Walter Scott's protege, and the author of "Triviall Poems and Triolets, written in obedience to Mrs. Tomkins' commands by Patrick Carey, Aug. 20, 1651," and published for the first time at London in 1820, from a MS. in the possession of the editor.

Sir Walter, in introducing his "forgotten poet," merely informs us that his author "appears to have been a gentleman, a loyalist, a lawyer, and a rigid high churchman, if not a Roman Catholic."

In the first part of this book, which the author calls his "Triviall Poems," the reader will find ample proof that his character would fit the "witty young priest" of Evelyn; as well as the gentle blood, and hatred to the Roundheads of Sir Walter. As a farther proof that Patrick Carey the priest, and Patrick the poet, may be identical, take the following from one of his poems, comparing the old Church with the existing one:

"Our Church still flourishing w' had seene, If th' holy-writt had euer beene Kept out of laymen's reach; But, when 'twas English'd, men halfe-witted, Nay, woemen too, would be permitted, T' expound all texts and preach."

The second part of Carey's poetical essays is entitled "I will sing unto the Lord," and contains a few "Triolets;" all of an ascetic savour, and strongly confirmatory of the belief that the author may have taken the monastic vow:

"Worldly designes, feares, hopes, farwell! Farwell all earthly joyes and cares! On nobler thoughts my soule shall dwell; Worldly designes, feares, hopes, farwell! Att quiett, in my peaceful cell, I'le thincke on God, free from your snares; Worldly designes, feares, hopes, farwell! Farwell all earthly joys and cares.

* * * * *

Pleasure att courts is but in show, With true content in cells wee meete; Yes (my deare Lord!) I've found it soe, Noe joyes but thine are purely sweete!"

The quotation from the Psalms, which forms the title to this second part, is placed above "a helmet and a shield," which Sir Walter has transferred {407}to his title. This "bears what heralds call a cross anchoree, or a cross moline, with a motto, Tant que je puis." With the exception of the rose beneath this, there is no identification here of Patrick Carey with the Falkland family. This cross, placed before religious poems, may however be intended to indicate their subjects, and the writer's profession, rather than his family escutcheon; although that may be pointed at in the rose alluded to, the Falklands bearing "on a bend three roses of the field."

J. O.

["Ah! you do not know Pat Carey, a younger brother of Lord Falkland's," says the disguised Prince Charles to Dr. Albany Rochecliffe in Sir Walter Scott's Woodstock. So completely has the fame of the great Lord Falkland eclipsed that of his brothers, that many are, doubtless, in the same blissful state with good Dr. Rochecliffe, although two editions of the poet's works have been given to the world. In 1771, Mr. John Murray published the poems of Carey, from a collection alleged to be in the hands of a Rev. Pierrepont Cromp, apparently a fictitious name. In 1820, Sir Walter Scott, ignorant, as he confesses himself, at the time of an earlier edition, edited once more the poems, employing an original MS. presented to him by Mr. Murray. In a note in Woodstock, Sir Walter sums up the information he had procured concerning the author, which, scanty as it is, is not without interest. "Of Carey," he says, "the second editor, like the first, only knew the name and the spirit of the verses. He has since been enabled to ascertain that the poetic cavalier was a younger brother of the celebrated Henry Lord Carey, who fell at the battle of Newberry, and escaped the researches of Horace Walpole, to whose list of noble authors he would have been an important addition." The first edition of the poems appeared under the following title, Poems from a Manuscript written in the Time of Oliver Cromwell, 4to. 1771, 1s. 6d.: Murray. It contains only nine pieces, whereas the present edition contains thirty-seven.—ED.]

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INEDITED LYRIC BY FELICIA HEMANS.

A short time since I discovered the following in the handwriting of Mrs. Hemans, and it accompanied an invitation of a more prosaic description to a gentleman of her acquaintance, and a relative of mine, now deceased. I thought it worth preserving, in case any future edition of her works appeared; but the 13th, 14th, and 15th lines are defective, from the seal, or some other accident, having torn them off, and one is missing. And though perhaps it would not be difficult to restore them, yet I have not ventured to do so myself. The last two lines appear to convey a melancholy foreboding of the poet's sad and early fate. Can any one restore the defective parts?

WELD TAYLOR.

Bayswater.

Water Lilies.

Come away, Puck, while the dew is sweet; Come to the dingle where fairies meet. Know that the lilies have spread their bells O'er all the pools in our mossy dells; Stilly and lightly their vases rest On the quivering sleep of the waters' breast, Catching the sunshine thro' leaves that throw To their scented bosoms an emerald glow; And a star from the depth of each pearly cup, A golden star! unto heaven looks up, As if seeking its kindred, where bright they lie, Set in the blue of the summer sky. .... under arching leaves we'll float, .... with reeds o'er the fairy moat, .... forth wild music both sweet and low. It shall seem from the rich flower's heart, As if 'twere a breeze, with a flute's faint sigh. Cone, Puck, for the midsummer sun uproars strong, And the life of the Lily may not be long.—MAB.

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"GREEN EYES."

Having long been familiar with only one instance of the possession of eyes of this hue—the well-known case of the "green-eyed monster Jealousy,"—and not having been led by that association to think of them as a beauty, I have been surprised lately at finding them not unfrequently seriously admired. Ex. gr.:

"Victorian. How is that young and green-eyed Gaditana That you both wot of?

Don Carlos. Ay, soft emerald eyes!"

* * * * *

Victorian. A pretty girl: and in her tender eyes, Just that soft shade of green we sometimes see In evening skies."

Longfellow's Spanish Student, Act II. Sc. 3.

Mr. Longfellow adds in a note:

"The Spaniards, with good reason, consider this colour of the eye as beautiful, and celebrate it in a song; as, for example, in the well-known Villancico:

'Ay ojuelos verdes, Ay los mis ojuelos, Ay hagan los cielos Que de mi te acuerdes!

* * * * *

Tengo confianza, De mis verdes ojos.'"

Boehl de Faber, Floresta, No. 255.

I have seen somewhere, I think in one of the historical romances of Alexander Dumas (Pere), a popular jingle about

"La belle Duchesse de Nevers, Aux yeux verts," &c.

And lastly, see Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV. Sc. 4., where the ordinary text has:

"Her eyes are grey as glass, and so are mine."

Here "The MS. corrector of the folio 1682 converts 'grey' into 'green:' 'Her eyes are green as {408} grass;' and such, we have good reason to suppose, was the true reading." (Collier's Shakspeare Notes and Emendations, p. 25.)

The modern slang, "Do you see anything green in my eye?" can hardly, I suppose, be called in evidence on the question of beauty or ugliness. Is there any more to be found in favour of "green eyes?"

HARRY LEROY TEMPLE.

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SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE.

On the Death of Falstaff (Vol. viii., p. 314.).—The remarks of your correspondents J. B. and NEMO on this subject are so obvious, and I think I may also admit in a measure so just, that it appears to me only respectful to them, and to all who may feel reluctant to give up Theobald's reading, that I should give some detailed reason for dissenting from their conclusion.

In the first place, when Falstaff began to "play with flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends," it was no far-fetched thought to place him in fancy among green fields; and if the disputed passage were in immediate connexion with the above, the argument in its favour would be stronger. But, unfortunately, Mrs. Quickly brings in here the conclusion at which she arrives: "I knew there was but one way; for," she adds, as a farther reason, and referring to the physical evidences upon his frame of the approach of death, "his nose was as sharp as a pen on a table of green frieze." We can hardly imagine him "babbling" at this moment. "How now, Sir John, quoth I;" she continues, apparently to rouse him: "What, man! be of good cheer. So [thus roused] 'a cried out—God, God, God! three or four times: now, I to comfort him," &c. Does this look as though he were in the happy state of mind your correspondents imagine? I take no account of his crying out of sack and of women, &c., as that might have been at an earlier period. At the same time it does not follow, had Shakspeare intended to replace him in fancy amid the scenes of his youth, that he should have talked of them. A man who is (or imagines he is) in green fields, does not talk about green fields, however he may enjoy them. Both your correspondents seem to anticipate this difficulty, and meet it by supposing Falstaff to be "babbling snatches of hymns;" but this I conceive to be far beyond the limits of reasonable conjecture. In fact, the whole of their very beautiful theory rests upon the very disputed passage in question. At an earlier period apparently, his mind did wander; when, as Mrs. Quickly says, he was "rheumatick," meaning doubtless lunatic, that is, delirious; and then he talked of other things. When he began to "fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his fingers' ends," though for a moment he might have fancied himself even "in his mother's lap," or anything else, he was clearly past all "babbling." In saying this, I treat Falstaff as a human being who lived and died, and whose actions were recorded by the faithfullest observer of Nature that ever wrote.

SAMUEL HICKSON.

Passage in "Tempest."—

"Thy banks with pioned and twilled brims, Which spongy April at thy best betrims, To make cold nymphs chaste crowns."

Tempest, Act IV. Sc. 1.

The above is the reading of the first folio. Pioned is explained by MR. COLLIER, "to dig," as in Spenser; but MR. HALLIWELL (Monograph Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 425.) finds no authority to support such an interpretation. MR. COLLIER'S anonymous annotator writes "tilled;" but surely this is a very artificial process to be performed by "spongy April." Hanmer proposed "peonied;" Heath, "lilied;" and MR. HALLIWELL admits this is more poetical (and surely more correct), but appears to prefer "twilled," embroidered or interwoven with flowers. A friend of mine suggested that "lilied" was peculiarly appropriate to form "cold nymphs chaste crowns," from its imputed power as a preserver of chastity: and in MR. HALLIWELL'S folio, several examples are quoted from old poets of "peony" spelt "piony;" and of both peony and lily as "defending from unchaste thoughts." Surely, then, the reading of the first folio is a mere typographical error, and peonied and lilied the most poetical and correct.

ESTE.

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MINOR NOTES.

Monumental Inscriptions (Vol. viii., p. 215. &c.).—I have never seen the monumental inscription of Theodore Palaeologus accurately copied in any book. When in Cornwall lately, I took the trouble to copy it, and as some of your readers may like to see the thing as it is, I send it line for line, word for word, and letter for letter. It is found, as is well known, in the little out-of-the-way church of St. Landulph, near Saltash.

"Here lyeth the body of Theodoro Paleologus Of Pesaro in Italye, descended from ye Imperyail Lyne of ye last Christian Emperors of Greece Being the sonne of Camilio, ye sone of Prosper the sonne of Theodoro the sonne of Iohn, ye sonne of Thomas, second brother to Constantine Paleologus, the 8th of that name and last of yt lyne yt raygned in Constantinople, untill subdewed by the Turkes, who married with Mary Ye daughter of William Balls of Hadlye in Souffolke Gent, & had issue 5 children, Theodoro, Iohn, Ferdinando, Maria & Dorothy, and departed this life at Clyfton ye 21th of January, 1636."

ED. ST JACKSON.

{409} Marlborough at Blenheim.—Extract from a MS. sermon preached at Bitton (in Gloucestershire?) on the day of the thanksgiving for the victory near Hochstett, anno 1704. (By the Reverend Thomas Earle, afterwards Vicar of Malmesbury?)

"And so I pass to the great and glorious occasion of this day, wh gives us manifold cause of praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for ... mercies and deliverances. For ye happy success of her Majesty's arms both by land and sea [under the] Duke of Marlborough, whose fame now flies through the world, and whose glorious actions will render his name illustrious, and rank him among the renowned worthies of all ages. Had that threatning Bullet, wh bespattered him all over with dirt, only that he might shine the brighter afterwards; had it, I say, took away his Life, he had gone down to the grave with the laurels in his hand."

Is this incident of the bullet mentioned in any of the cotemporary accounts of the battle?

E.

Etymology of "till," "until."—Many monosyllables in language are, upon examination, found to be in reality compounds, disguised by contraction. A few instances are, non, Lat. ne-un-(us); dont, Fr. de-unde; such, Eng. so-like; which, who-like. In like manner I believe till, to-while, and until, unto-while. Now while is properly a substantive, and signifies time, corresponding to dum, Lat., in many of its uses, which again is connected with diu, dies, both which are used in the indefinite sense of a while, as well as in the definite sense of a day. Adesdum, come here a while; interdum, between whiles. If te (Gr.) is connected with this root, then este, to-while, till. Lawrence Minot says, "To time (till) he thinks to fight."

Dum has the double meaning of while and to-while.

E. S. JACKSON.

Dog-whipping Day in Hull.—There was some time since the singular custom in Hull, of whipping all the dogs that were found running about the streets on October 10; and some thirty years since, when I was a boy, so common was the practice, that every little urchin considered it his duty to prepare a whip for any unlucky dog that might be seen in the streets on this day. This custom is now obsolete, those "putters down" of all boys' play in the streets—the new police—having effectually stopped this cruel pastime of the Hull boys. Perhaps some of your readers may be able to give a more correct origin of this singular custom than the one I now give from tradition:

"Previous to the suppression of monasteries in Hull, it was the custom for the monks to provide liberally for the poor and the wayfarer who came to the fair, held annually on the 11th of October; and while busy in this necessary preparation the day before the fair, a dog strolled into the larder, snatched up a joint of meat and decamped with it. The cooks gave the alarm; and when the dog got into the street, he was pursued by the expectants of the charity of the monks, who were waiting outside the gate, and made to give up the stolen joint. Whenever, after this, a dog showed his face, while this annual preparation was going on, he was instantly beaten off. Eventually this was taken up by the boys; and, until the introduction of the new police, was rigidly put in practice by them every 10th of October."

I write this on October 10, 1853: and so effectually has this custom been suppressed, that I have neither seen nor heard of any dog having been this day whipped according to ancient custom.

JOHN RICHARDSON.

13. Savile Street, Hull.

State: Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 1.—Professor Wilson proposed that in the "high and palmy state of Rome," state should be taken in the sense of city:

"Write henceforth and for ever State with a towering capital. State, properly republic, here specifically and pointedly means Reigning City. The ghosts walked in the city, not in the republic."—Vide "Dies Boreales," No. III., Blackwood, August, 1849.

Query, Has this reading been adopted by our skilled Shakspearian critics?

Coleridge uses state for city in his translation of The Death of Wallenstein, Act III. Sc. 7.:

"What think you? Say, shall we have the State illuminated In honour of the Swede?"

J. M. B.

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QUERIES.

POLARISED LIGHT.

During the last summer, while amusing myself with verifying a statement of Sir D. Brewster respecting the light of the rainbow, viz. that it is polarised in particular planes, I observed a phenomenon which startled me exceedingly, insamuch as it was quite new to me at the time; and not withstanding subsequent enquiries, I cannot find that it has been observed by any other person. I found that the light of the blue sky is partially polarised. When analysed with a Nichols prism, the contrast with the surrounding clouds is very remarkable; so much so, indeed, that clouds of extreme tenuity, which make no impression on the unassisted eye, are rendered plainly visible.

The most complete polarisation seems to take place near the horizon; and, when the sun is near the meridian, towards the west and east. The depth of colour appears to be immaterial, as far as I have been able to ascertain with an instrument but rudely constructed for the purpose. The light is polarised in planes passing through the {410} eye of the observer, and arcs of great circles intersecting the sun's disc.

From the absence (so far as I am aware) of all mention of this remarkable fact in works on the subject, I am led to conclude that it is something new; should this, however, turn out otherwise, I shall be obliged by a reference to any author who explains the phenomenon. The greater intensity towards the horizon would point to successive refractions as the most probable theory.

H. C. K.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

"Salus Populi," &c.—What is the origin of the saying, "Salus populi suprema lex?"

E. M.

Dramatic Representations by the Hour-glass.—I have seen it stated (but am now unable to trace the reference) that, in the infancy of the drama, its representations were sometimes regulated by the hour-glass. Does the history of the art, either among the Greeks or the Romans, furnish any well authenticated instance of this practice?

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

John Campbell of Jamaica.—I shall be very much obliged if any of your readers can give me any information respecting John Campbell, Esq., of Gibraltar, Trelawny, Jamaica, who died in January, 1817, at Clifton (I believe), but to whose memory a monument was erected in Bristol Cathedral by his widow. I should be glad to know her maiden name, and whether he left any surviving family? Also how he was related to a family going by the name of Hanam or Hannam, who lived at Arkindale, Yorkshire, about one hundred years before the date of his decease; he appears, too, to have had some connexion with a person named Isaac Madley, or Bradley, and through his mother with the Turners of Kirkleatham. This inquiry is made in the hope of unravelling a genealogical difficulty which has hitherto baffled all endeavour to solve it.

D. E. B.

Leamington.

Hodgkins's Tree, Warwick.—In the plan of Warwick, drawn on Speed's Map of that county, is a tree at the end of West Street, called on the plan "Hodgkins's Tree:" against this tree is represented a gun, pointed to the left towards the fields.—Can any of your readers furnish the tradition to this tree pertaining?

O. L. R. G.

The Doctor, &c., p. 5., one volume edition.—The sentence in the Garamna tongue, if anagrammatised into "You who have written Madoc and Thalaba and Kehama," would require a k to be substituted for an h in Whehaha. Query, Is this the proper mode of interpretation, or is there a misprint?

Saheco, p. 248.—What name are these composite initials meant to represent? The others are easily deciphered. Should we read Saneco=Sarah Nelson Coleridge?

J. M. B.

English Clergyman in Spain.—I am anxious to discover the capacity in which a certain clergyman was present with the English army in Spain early in the eighteenth century (probably with Lord Peterborough's expedition). Can any readers of "N. & Q." refer me to any book or record from which I can obtain this information?

D. Y.

Caldecott's Translation of the New Testament.—I have a translation of the New Testament by a Mr. John Caldecott, printed and sold by J. Parry and Son, Chester, dated 1834. It is entitled Holy Writings of the First Christians, called the New Testament (the text written from the common version, but altered by comparing with the Greek), with notes. I shall be glad to know who Mr. Caldecott was or is? and whether the edition appeared under the auspices of any society or sect of Christians?

S. A. S.

Bridgewater.

Westhumble Chapel.—There is a ruin of a chapel in the hamlet of Westhumble, in Mickleham, Surrey. At what time was it built? To what saint consecrated? and from what cause was it allowed to fall into its present ruinous and desecrated condition?

J. P. S.

Perfect Tense.—In Albites' "Companion" to How to speak French, one of the first exercises is to turn into French the following phrase, "I have seen him yesterday." I should be much obliged to MR. J. S. WARDEN (to whom all readers of "N. & Q." stand so greatly indebted for his excellent article on "Will and Shall"), if he would state the rule for the use of the perfect tense in English in respect to specified time, and the rationale involved in such rule.

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

La Fleur des Saints.—To Moliere's Le Tartufe (Act I. Sc. 2.) occur the following lines:

"Le traitre, l'autre jour, nous rompit de ses mains Un mouchoir qu'il trouva dans une Fleur des Saints, Disant que nous melions, par un crime effroyable, Avec la saintete les parures du diable."

Can any of your readers inform me what Fleur des Saints was? Was it a book? If so, what were its contents?

C. P. G.

Oasis.—Can any correspondent inform me of the correct quantity of the second syllable of this word? In Smith's Geographical Dictionary it is marked long, while Andrews' Lexicon gives it {411} short, neither of them giving any reason for their respective quantities.

T.

Book Reviews, their Origin.—Dodsley published in 1741 The Public Register, or the Weekly Magazine. Under the head of "Records of Literature," he undertook to give a compendious account of "whatever works are published either at home or abroad worthy the attention of the public." Was this small beginning the origin of our innumerable reviews?

W. CRAMP

Martyr of Collet Well.—One James Martyr, in 1790, bought of George Lake the seat called Collet Well, in the parish of Otford. Can any reader of "N. & Q." tell from what family this Martyr sprang, and what their armorial bearings are?

Q. M. S.

Black as a Mourning Colour.—Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me when black was first known in England, as the colour of mourning robes? We read in Hamlet:

"'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, That can denote me truly."

W. W.

Malta.

The Word "Mardel," or "Mardle," whence derived?—It is in common use in the east of Norfolk in the sense of to gossip, thus "He would mardel there all day long," meaning, waste his time in gossiping.

J. L. SISSON.

Analogy between the Genitive and Plural.—In a note by Rev. J. Bandinel, in Mr. Christmas' edition of Pegge's Anecdotes of the English Language, 1844, the question is asked at p. 167.:

"Why is there such an analogy, in many languages, between the genitive and the plural? In Greek, in Latin, in English, and German, it is so. What is the cause of this?"

Can you point me to any work where this hint has been carried out?

H. T. G.

Hull.

Ballina Castle.—Where can I see a view of Ballina Castle, in the county of Mayo? and what is the best historical and descriptive account of that county, or of the town of Castlebar, or other places in the county?

O. L. R. G.

Henry I.'s Tomb.—Lyttleton, in his History of England, quoting from an author whose name I forget, states that no monument was ever erected to the memory of this king in Reading Abbey. Man, on the contrary, in his History of Reading, without quoting his authority, states that a splendid monument was erected with recumbent figures of Henry and Adelais, his second wife; which was destroyed by the mistaken zeal of the populace during the Reformation.

Which of these statements is the true one? And if Man's be, on what authority is it probably founded?

PEMBROKIENSIS.

"For man proposes, but God disposes."—This celebrated saying is in book i. ch. xix. of the English translation of De Imitatione Christi, of which Hallam says more editions have been published than of any other book except the Bible.—Can any of your correspondents tell me whether the saying originated with the author, Thomas A. Kempis?

A. B. C.

Garrick Street, May Fair.—In Hertford Street, May Fair, there is fixed in the wall of a house (No. 15.) a square stone on which is inscribed:

"Garrick Street, January 15, 1764."

I shall be glad to know the circumstances connected with this inscription, which is not in any way alluded to in the works descriptive of London to which I have referred.

C. I. R.

The Forlorn Hope.—The "Forlorn Hope" is the body of men who volunteer first to enter a besieged town, after a breach has been made in the fortifications. That I know: but it is evidently some quotation, and if any of your readers should be able to give any information as to its origin, and where it is to be found, I should, as I said before, be much obliged.

FENTON.

Mitred Abbot in Wroughton Church, Wilts.—Not very long ago, while this church was under repair, there was discovered on one of the pillars, behind the pulpit, a fresco painting of a mitred abbot. I have corresponded with the rector on the subject, but unfortunately he kept no drawing of it; and all the information he is able to afford me is, that "the vestments were those ordinarily pourtrayed, with scrip, crosier," &c. Such being the case, I have troubled "N. & Q." with this Query, in the hope that some one may be able to give me farther information as to date, name, &c.

RUSSELL GOLE.

Reynolds' Portrait of Barretti.—Can any of your correspondents inform me where the portrait of Barretti, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, now is?

GEO. R. CORNER.

Crosses on Stoles.—When were the three crosses now usually embroidered on priests' stoles in the Roman Catholic Church introduced? Were they used in England before the Reformation? In sepulchral brasses the stoles, although embroidered and fringed, and sometimes also enlarged at the ends, are (so far as I have observed) without the crosses. If used, what was their form?

H. P.

{412} Temporalities of the Church.—Is there any record existing of a want of money for the maintenance of the clergy, or for other pious uses, in any part of the world before the establishment of the Christian religion under Constantine? or of any necessity having arisen for enforcing the payment of tithes or offerings by ecclesiastical censures during that period?

H. P.

Etymology of "The Lizard."—What is the etymology of the name "The Lizard," as applied in our maps to that long low green point, stretching out into the sea at the extreme south of England? My idea of the etymology would be (judging from the name and pronunciation of a small town in the immediate neighbourhood of the point) lys-ard, from two Celtic words: the first, lys, as found in the name Lismore, and others of a like class in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland; the second ard, a long point running into the sea. In Cornwall, to my ear, the name had quite the Celtic intonation Lȳs-ārd; not at all like Lizārd, as we would speak it, short.

C. D. LAMONT.

Greenock.

Worm in Books.—Can you or any of your numerous correspondents suggest a remedy for the worm in old books and MSS.? I know of a valuable collection in the muniment room of a nobleman in the country, which is suffering severely at the present time from the above destructive agent; and although smoke has been tried, and shavings of Russia leather inserted within the pages of the books, the evil still exists. As this question has most likely been asked before, and answered in your valuable little work, I shall be obliged by your pointing out in what volume it occurs, as I have not a set by me to refer to and thus save you the trouble.

ALETHES.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS.

Siller Gun of Dumfries.—Can any of your readers tell me the history of the "Siller Gun of Dundee" [Dumfries], and give me an account of the annual shooting for it?

O. L. R. G.

[The Siller gun of Dumfries is a small silver tube, like the barrel of a pistol, but derives great importance from its being the gift of James VI., that monarch having ordained it as a prize to the best marksman among the corporations of Dumfries. The contest was, by royal authority, licensed to take place every year; but in consequence of the trouble and expense attending it, the custom has not been so frequently observed. Whenever the festival was appointed, the 4th of June, during the long reign of George III., was invariably chosen for that purpose, being his majesty's birthday. The institution itself may be regarded as a memorial of the Waponshaw, or showing of arms, the shooting at butts and bowmarks, and other military and gymnastic sports, introduced by our ancestors to keep alive, by competition and prizes, the martial ardour and heroic spirit of the people. In archery, the usual prize to the best shooter was a silver arrow: at Dumfries the contest was transferred to fire-arms. See the preface to the Siller Gun, a poem in five cantos, by John Mayne, 1836.]

Margery Trussell.—Margery, daughter and coheiress of Roger Trussell, of Macclesfield, married Edmund de Downes (of the old Cheshire family of Downes of Taxall, Shrigley, &c.) in the fourth year of Edward II. Query, What arms did she bear? and were the Trussells of Macclesfield of the same family as that which, in consequence of a marriage with an heiress of Mainwaring, settled at Warmineham, in the reign of Edward III., and whose heiress, in later times, married a De Vere, Earl of Oxford?

W. SNEYD.

Denton.

[In the Harleian MS. 4031. fol. 170. is a long and curious pedigree of the Trussells and their intermarriage with the Mainwarings, in the person of Sir William Trussell, Lord of Cubbleston, with Maud, daughter and heiress of Sir Warren Mainwaring. The arms are: Argent a fret gu. bezante for Trussell. The same arms are found on the window of the church of Warmineham in Cheshire. These would consequently be the arms of Margery, daughter of Roger Trussell. The arms originally were: Argent a cross formee flory gu.; but changed on the marriage of Sir William Trussell of Mershton, co. Northampton, with Rose, daughter and heiress to William Pantolph, Lord of Cubbleston, who bore, Argent a fret gu. bezante.]

Caves at Settle, Yorkshire.—Being engaged on antiquarian investigations, I have found it necessary to refer to some discoveries made in the caves at Settle in Yorkshire, of which my friends in that county have spoken. Now, I cannot find any printed account. I have referred to all the works on the county antiquities, and particularly to Mr. Phillips's book lately published (which professes to describe local antiquities), but in vain. I cannot find any notice of them. It is very likely some one of your better-informed readers may be able to assist me.

BRIGANTIA.

Battersea.

[See two letters by Charles Roach Smith and Joseph Jackson in Archaeologia, vol. xxix. p. 384., on the "Roman Remains discovered in the Caves near Settle in Yorkshire." Our correspondent has perhaps consulted the following work:—A Tour to the Caves in the Environs of Ingleborough and Settle, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 8vo. 1781.]

The Morrow of a Feast.—It appears from the papers, that the presentation of the civic functionaries to the Cursitor Baron at Westminster, took place on Sept. 30. Pray is this the morrow of St. Michael, as commonly supposed? Does not the analogy of "Morrow of All Souls" (certainly the {413} same day as All Souls Day, i. e. Nov. 2) point out that the Morrow of St. Michael is the 29th, i. e. Michaelmas Day. That morrow was anciently equivalent to morning, we may infer from the following passages:

"Upon a morrow tide."—Gower, Conf. Am., b. iii.

"Tho' when appeared the third morrow bright, Upon the waves," &c.

Spenser's Fairy Queen, II. xii. 2.

"Good morrow."—Passim.

R. H.

[Is not our correspondent confounding the morrow of All Saints, which the 2nd of November certainly is, with the morrow of All Souls? Sir H. Nicolas, in his most useful Chronology of History, says most distinctly:—"The morrow of a feast is the day following. Thus, the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula is the 1st of August, and the morrow of that feast is consequently the 2nd of August."—P. 99.]

Hotchpot.—Will you kindly tell me what is the derivation of the local term hotchpot, and when it was first used?

M. G. B.

[The origin of this phrase is involved in some obscurity. Jacob, in his Law Dictionary, speaks of it as "from the French," and his definition is verbatim that given in The Termes of the Law (ed. 1598), with a very slight addition. Blackstone (book II cap. 12.) says, "which term I shall explain in the very words of Littleton: 'It seemeth that this word hotchpot is in English a pudding; for in a pudding is not commonly just one thing alone, but one thing with other things together.' By this housewifely metaphor our ancestors meant to inform us that the lands, both those given in frankmarriage, and those descending in fee-simple, should be mixed and blended together, and then divided in equal portions among all the daughters."]

High and Low Dutch.—Is there any essential difference between High and Low Dutch; and if there be any, to which set do the Dutchmen at the Cape of Good Hope belong?

S. C. P.

[High and Low Dutch are vulgarisms to express the German and the Dutch languages, which those nations themselves call, for the German Deutsch, for the Dutch Hollaendisch. The latter is the language which the Dutch colonists of the Cape carried with them, when that colony was conquered by them from the Portuguese; and has for its base the German as spoken before Martin Luther's translation of the Bible made the dialect of Upper Saxony the written language of the entire German empire.]

"A Wilderness of Monkeys."—Would you kindly inform me where the expression is to be found: "I would not do such or such a thing for a wilderness of monkeys?"

C. A.

Ripley.

["Tubal. One of them showed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey.

"Shylock. Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal: it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah, when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkies."—Merchant of Venice, Act III. Sc. 1.]

Splitting Paper.—Could any of your readers give the receipt for splitting paper, say a bank-note? In no book can I find it, but I believe that it is known by many.

H. C.

Liverpool.

[Paste the paper which is to be split between two pieces of calico; and, when thoroughly dry, tear them asunder. The paper will split, and, when the calico is wetted, is easily removed from it.]

The Devil on Two Sticks in England.—Who is the author of a work, entitled as under?

"The Devil upon Two Sticks in England; being a Continuation of Le Diable Boiteux of Le Sage. London: printed at the Logographic Press, and sold by T. Walter, No. 169. Piccadilly; and W. Richardson, under the Royal Exchange, 1790."

It is a work of very considerable merit, an imitation in style and manner of Le Sage, but original in its matter. It is published in six volumes 8vo.

WILLIAM NEWMAN.

[William Coombe, Esq., the memorable author of The Diaboliad, and The Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque.]

* * * * *

REPLIES.

STONE PILLAR WORSHIP AND IDOL WORSHIP.

(Vol. v., p. 121.; Vol. vii., p. 383.)

Stone Pillar Worship.—Sir J. E. TENNENT inquires whether any traces of this worship are to be found in Ireland, and refers to a letter from a correspondent of Lord Roden's, which states that the peasantry of the island of Inniskea, off the coast of Mayo, hold in reverence a stone idol called Neevougi. This word I cannot find in my Irish dictionary, but it is evidently a diminutive, formed from the word Eevan (Ioṁaiġ), image, or idol: and it is remarkable that the scriptural Hebrew term for idol is identical with the Irish, or nearly so—'WN (Eevan), derived from a root signifying negation, and applied to the vanity of idols, and to the idols themselves.

I saw at Kenmare, in the county of Kerry, in the summer of 1847, a water-worn fragment of clay slate, bearing a rude likeness to the human form, which the peasantry called Eevan. Its original location was in or near the old graveyard of Kilmakillogue, and it was regarded with reverence as the image of some saint in "the ould auncient times," as an "ould auncient" native of Tuosist (the lonely place) informed me. In the same immediate neighbourhood is a gullaune (gallan), or stone pillar, at which the peasantry used "to give {414} rounds;" also the curious small lakes or tarns, on which the islands were said to move on July 8, St. Quinlan's [Kilian?] Day. (See Smith's History of Kerry.)

However, such superstitious usages are fast falling into desuetude; and, whatever may have been the early history of Eevan, it is a sufficient proof of no vestige of stone pillar worship remaining in Tuosist, that, to gratify the whim of a young gentleman, some peasants from the neighbourhood removed this stone fragment by boat to Kenmare the spring of 1846, where it now lies, perched on the summit of a limestone rock in the grounds of the nursery-house.

J. L.

Dublin.

Idol Worship.—The islands of Inniskea, on the north-west coast of Ireland, are said to be inhabited by a population of about four hundred human beings, who speak the Irish language, and retain among them a trace of that government by chiefs which in former times existed in Ireland. The present chief or king of Inniskea is an intelligent peasant, whose authority is universally acknowledged, and the settlement of all disputes is referred to his decision. Occasionally they have been visited by wandering schoolmasters, but so short and casual have such visits been, that there are not ten individuals who even know the letters of any language. Though nominally Roman Catholics, these islanders have no priest resident among them, and their worship consists in occasional meetings at their chief's house, with visits to a holy well. Here the absence of religion is filled with the open practice of pagan idolatry; for in the south island a stone idol, called in the Irish Neevougi, has been from time immemorial religiously preserved and worshipped. This god, in appearance, resembles a thick roll of homespun flannel, which arises from a custom of dedicating a material of their dress to it whenever its aid is sought: this is sewed on by an old woman, its priestess, whose peculiar care it is. They pray to it in time of sickness. It is invoked when a storm is desired to dash some helpless ship upon the coast; and, again, the exercise of its power is solicited in calming the angry waves to admit of fishing.

Such is a brief outline of these islanders and their god; but of the early history of this idol no authentic information has yet been obtained. Can any of your numerous readers furnish an account of it?

WILLIAM BLOOD.

Wicklow.

* * * * *

"BLAGUEUR" AND "BLACKGUARD."

(Vol. vii., p. 77.)

I cannot concur in opinion with SIR EMERSON TENNANT, who thinks he has a right to identify the sense of our low word blagueur with that of your lower one, blackguard. I allow that there some slight similitude of pronunciation between the words, but I contend that their sense is perfectly distinct, or, rather, wholly different; as distant, in fact, as is the date of their naturalisation in our respective idioms. Your blackguard had already won a "local habitation and a name" under the reigns of Pope and his immediate predecessor Dryden. Of all living unrespectable characters our own blagueur is the youngest, the most innocent, and the shyest. He is entirely of modern growth. He has but lately emerged from the soldier's barracks, the suttler's shop, and the mess-room. As a prolific tale-teller he amused the leisure hours of superannuated sergeants and half-pay subalterns. Ten or twelve years ago he had not yet made his appearance in plain clothes; he is now creeping and winding his way with slow and sure steps from his old haunts into some first-rate coffee-houses and shabby-genteel drawing-rooms, which Carlyle calls sham gentility. He bears on his very brow the newest flunky-stamp. The poor young fellow, after all, is no villain; he has no kind of connexion with the horrid rascal SIR EMERSOM TENNENT alludes to—with the blackguard. That he is a boaster, a talker, an idiot, a nincompoop; that he scatters "words, words, words," as Polonius did of old; that he is bombastic, wordy, prosy, nonsensical, and a fool, no one will deny. But he is no rogue, though he utters rogueries and drolleries. No one is justified in slandering him.

The blackguard is a dirty fellow in every sense of the word—a gredin (a cur), the true translation, by-the-bye, of the word blackguard. Voltaire, who dealt largely in Billingsgate, was very fond of the word gredin:

"Je semble a trois gredins, dans leur petit cerveau, Que pour etre imprimes et relies en veau," &c.

The word blagueur implies nothing so contemptuous or offensive as the word blackguard does. The emptiness of the person to whom it applies is very harmless. Its etymon blague (bladder, tobacco-bag), the pouch, which smoking voluptuaries use to deposit their tobacco, is perfectly symbolic of the inane, bombastic, windy, and long-winded speeches and sayings of the blagueur. Every French commercial traveller, buss-tooter, and Parisian jarvy is one. When he deports himself with modesty, and shows a gentlemanly tact in his peculiar avocation, we call him a craqueur (a cracker). "Ancient Pistol" was the king of blagueurs; Falstaff, of craqueurs. I like our Baron de Crac, a native of the land of white-liars and honey-tongued gentlemen (Gascony). The genus craqueur is common here: as it shoots out into a thousand branches, shades, varieties, and modifications, judicial, political, poetical, and so on, it would be {415} quite out of my province to pursue farther the description of blagueur-land or blarney-land.

P.S.—Excuse my French-English.

PHILARETE CHASLES, Mazarinaeus.

Paris, Palais de l'Institut.

* * * * *

HARMONY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS.

(Vol. viii., p. 316.)

In answer to Z. I may state that the first attempt of this kind is attributed to Tatian. Eusebius, in his Ecc. Hist. (quoted in Lardner's Works, vol. ii. p. 137. ed. 1788), says, he "composed I know not what—harmony and collection of the gospels, which he called dia tessaron." Eusebius himself composed a celebrated harmony, of which, as of some others in the sixteenth and two following centuries, there is a short account in Michaelis's Introduction to the New Test., translated by Bishop Marsh, vol. iii. part I. p. 32. The few works of the same kind written in the early and middle ages are noticed in Horne's Introduct., vol. ii. p. 274. About the year 330, Juvencus, a Spaniard, wrote the evangelical history in heroic verse. Of far greater merit were the four books of Augustine, De Consensu Quatuor Evangeliorum. After a long interval, Ludolphus the Saxon, a Carthusian monk, published a work which passed through thirty editions in Germany, besides being translated into French and Italian. Some years ago I made out the following list of Harmonies, Diatessarons, and Synoptical tables, published since the Reformation, which may in some measure meet the wish of your correspondent. It is probably incomplete. The dates are those of the first editions.

Osiander, 1537. Buesching, 1756. Jansenius, 1549. Macknight, 1756. Chemnitz, 1593. Bertlings, 1767. Lightfoot, 1654. Griesbach, 1776. Cradock, 1668. Priestley (Greek), 1777. Richardson, 1654. Priestley (Eng.), 1780. Sandhagen, 1684. Newcome (Greek), 1778. Le Clerc, 1699. Newcome (Eng.), 1802. Whiston, 1702. White, 1799. Toinard, 1707. De Wette, 1818. Rein Rus, 1727. Thompson, R., 1808. Bengelius, 1736. Chambers, 1813. Hauber, 1737. Thompson, C., 1815. Doddridge, 1739. Warner, 1819. Pilkington, 1747. Carpenter, 1835. Michaelis, 1750.

J. M.

Cranwell, near Bath.

Tatian wrote his Euangelion dia ton tessaron as early as the year 170. It is no longer extant, but we have some reason for believing that this Harmony had been compiled in an unfriendly spirit (Theodoret, Haeret. Fabul., lib. i. c. 20.). Tatian was followed by Ammonius, whose Harmonia appeared about 230; and in the next century by Eusebius and St. Ambrose, the former entitling his production o~Peri tes ton Euangelion diaphonias~, the latter Concordia Evangelii Mattaei et Lucae. But by far the ablest of the ancient writings on this subject is the De Consensu Evangelistarum of St. Augustine. Many authors, such as Porphyry, in his Kata Christianon logoi, had pointed with an air of triumph to the seeming discrepancies in the Evangelic records as an argument subversive of their claim to paramount authority ("Hoc enim solent quasi palmare suae vanitatis objicere, quod ipsi Evangelistae inter seipsos dissentiant."—Lib. i. c. 7.). In writing these objections St. Augustine had to handle nearly all the difficulties which offend the microscopic critics of the present day. His work was urged afresh upon the notice of the biblical scholar by Gerson, chancellor of the University of Paris, who died in 1429. The Monotessaron, seu unum ex quatuor Evangeliis of that gifted writer will be found in Du Pin's edition of his Works, iv. 83. sq. Some additional information respecting Harmonies is supplied in Ebrard's Wissenschaftliche Kritik der evangelischen Geschichte, pp. 36. sq. Francfurt a. M., 1842.

C. HARDWICK.

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

Seiler says (Bibl. Herm., part II. c. 4. s. 4.) that "The greater part of the works on the harmony of the gospels are quite useless for our times, as their authors mostly proceed on incorrect principles." He refers only to the chief of them, namely:

Osiander, 1537. Macknight, 1756. Jansen, 1549-72. Bengel, 1766. Chemnitz, 1593. Buesching, 1766. Lightfoot, 1644. Bertlings, 1767. Van Til, 1687. Priestley, 1777. Lamy, 1689. Schutte, 1779. Le Roux, 1699. Stephan, 1779. Le Clerc, 1700. Michaelis in his New Test. May, 1707. Rullmann, 1790. Von Canstein, 1718-27. Griesbach, 1776-97. Rus, 1727-30. White, 1799. Hauber. De Wette, 1818.

For other Harmonies, see Mr. Horne's Bibliog. Index, p. 128. Heringa considers that the following writers "have brought the four Evangelists into an harmonious arrangement, namely:

Hesz, 1784. Stronck, 1800. Bergen 1804. Townsend, 1834.

And especially as to the sufferings and resurrection of Christ:

Voss, 1701. Michaelis (translated by Duckett, 1827). Iken, 1743. Cremer, 1795.

T. J. BUCKTON.

Birmingham.

{416} Ammonius, an Egyptian Christian nearly cotemporary with Origen (third century), wrote a Harmony of the four gospels, which is supposed to be one of those still extant in the Biblioth. Max. Patrum. But whether the larger Harmony in tom. ii. part 2., or the smaller in tom. iii., is the genuine work is doubted. See a note to p. 97. of Reid's Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, 1 vol. edition: London, Simms and McIntyre, 1848.

CHRIS. ROBERTS.

Bradford, Yorkshire.

* * * * *

SMALL WORDS AND LOW WORDS.

(Vol. ii., pp. 305. 349. 377.; Vol. iii., p. 309.)

A passage in Churchill, and one in Lord John Russell's Life of Moore, have lately reminded me of a former Note of mine on this subject. The structure of Churchill's second couplet must surely have been suggested by that of Pope, which formed my original text:

"Conjunction, adverb, preposition, join To add new vigour to the nervous line:— In monosyllables his thunders roll,— He, she, it, and, we, ye, they, fright the soul." Censure on Mossop.

Moore, in his Journals, notes, on the other side of the question, conversation between Rogers, Crowe, and himself, "on the beauty of monosyllabic verses. 'He jests at scars,' &c.; the couplet, 'Sigh on my lip,' &c.; 'Give all thou canst,' &c. &c., and many others, the most vigorous and musical, perhaps, of any." (Lord John Russell's Moore, vol. ii. p. 200.)

The frequency of monosyllabic lines in English poetry will hardly be wondered at, however it may be open to such criticisms as Pope's and Churchill's, when it is noted that our language contains, of monosyllables formed by the vowel a alone, considerably more than 500; by the vowel e, about 450; by the vowel i, nearly 400; by the vowel o, rather more than 400; and by the vowel u, upwards of 260; a calculation entirely exclusive of the large number of monosyllables formed by diphthongs.

I hardly know whether the following "literary folly" (as "D'Israeli the Elder" would call it, see Curiosities of Lit. sub tit.), suggested by dipping into the above monosyllabical statistics, will be thought worthy to occupy a column of "N. & Q." However, it may take its chance as a supplementary Note, without farther preface, under the none, for want of a better, of Univocalic verses:

The Russo-Turkish War.

A.

Wars harm all ranks, all arts, all crafts appal: At Mars' harsh blast arch, rampart, altar fall! Ah! hard as adamant, a braggart Czar Arms vassal-swarms, and fans a fatal war! Rampant at that bad call, a Vandal-band Harass, and harm, and ransack Wallach-land! A Tartar phalanx Balkan's scarp hath past, And Allah's standard falls, alas! at last.

The Fall of Eve.

E.

Eve, Eden's Empress, needs defended be; The Serpent greets her when she seeks the tree. Serene she sees the speckled tempter creep; Gentle he seems—perversest schemer deep— Yet endless pretexts, ever fresh, prefers, Perverts her senses, revels when she errs, Sneers when she weeps, regrets, repents she fell; Then, deep-reveng'd, reseeks the nether hell!

The Approach of Evening.

I.

Idling I sit in this mild twilight dim, Whilst birds, in wild swift vigils, circling skim. Light winds in sighing sink, till, rising bright, Night's Virgin Pilgrim swims in vivid light!

Incontrovertible Facts.

O.

No monk too good to rob, or cog, or plot. No fool so gross to bolt Scotch collops hot. From Donjon tops no Oroonoko rolls. Logwood, not Lotos, floods Oporto's bowls. Troops of old tosspots oft, to sot, consort. Box tops, not bottoms, schoolboys flog for sport. No cool monsoons blow soft on Oxford dons, Orthodox, jog-trot, book-worm Solomons! Bold Ostrogoths of ghosts no horror show. On London shop fronts no hop-blossoms grow. To crocks of gold no dodo looks for food. On soft cloth footstools no old fox doth brood. Long-storm-tost sloops forlorn work on to port. Rooks do not roost on spoons, nor woodcocks snort, Nor dog on snowdrop or on coltsfoot rolls, Nor common frog concocts long protocols.

The same subject continued.

U.

Dull, humdrum murmurs lull, but hubbub stuns. Lucullus snuffs up musk, mundungus shuns. Puss purrs, buds burst, bucks butt, luck turns up trumps; But full cups, hurtful, spur up unjust thumps.

Although I am the veritable K. I. P. B. T. of the former Notes, I sign myself now, in accordance with more recent custom,

HARRY LEROY TEMPLE.

* * * * *

A CHAPTER ON RINGS.

(Vol. vii. passim.)

The Scriptures prove the use of rings in remote antiquity. In Gen. xli., Joseph has conferred on him the king's ring, an instance more ancient than Prometheus, whom fables call the inventor of the ring. Therefore let those who will hold, with Pliny and his followers, that its use is more recent than Homer. The Greeks seem to have derived the custom of wearing it from the East, and Italy from the Greeks. Juvenal and Persius refer to {417} rings which were worn only on birthdays. Clemens Alexandrinus recommends a limit within which the liberty of engraving upon them should be restrained. He thinks we should not allow an idol, a sword, a bow, or a cup, much less naked human figures; but a dove, a fish, or a ship in full sail, or a lyre, an anchor, or fishermen. By the dove he would denote the Holy Spirit; by the fish, the dinner which Christ prepared for his disciples (John xxi.), or the feeding of thousands (Luke ix.); by a ship, either the Church or human life; by a lyre, harmony; by an anchor, constancy; by fishermen, the apostles or the baptism of children. It is a wonder he did not mention the symbol of the name of Christ (chi-rho), the cross which is found on ancient gems, and Noah's ark.

Rings were worn upon the joints and fingers, and hence Clement says a man should not wear a ring upon the joint (in articulo), for this is what women do, but upon the little finger, and at its lowest part. He failed to observe the Roman custom of wearing the ring upon the finger of the left hand, which is nearest the heart, and which we therefore term the ring-finger. And Macrobius says, that when a ring fell from the little finger of Avienus' right hand, those who were present asked why he placed it upon the wrong hand and finger, not on those which had been set apart for this use. The reasons which are given for this custom in Macrobius were often laughed at by H. Fabricius ab Aquapendente, viz. that it is stated in anatomical works, that "a certain nerve which rises at the heart proceeds directly to that finger of the left hand which is next the little finger," for nothing of the sort, he said, existed in the human body.

The ring distinguished the free-born from the servile, who, however, sometimes obtained the jus annuli, or privilege of the ring. It was used as a seal, a pledge, and a bond. Women, when betrothed, received rings; and the virgin and martyr Agnes, in Ambrose, says, "My Lord Jesus Christ hath espoused me with his ring." Theosebius also, in Photius, says to his wife, "I formerly gave to thee the ring of union, now of temperance, to aid thee in the seemly custody of my house." He advisedly speaks of that custody, for the lady of the house in Plautus says,

"Obsignate cellas, referte annulum ad me: Ego huc transeo."

Wives generally used the same seals as their husbands: thus Cicero (Ad Attic. xi. 9) says, "Pomponia, I believe, has the seals of what is sealed." Sometimes, however, they used their own.

Touching the marriage ring, of what style and material it was, and whether formerly, as now, consecrated by prayers to God. Its pattern appears to have been one which has gone out of use, viz. right hands joined, such as is often observed on ancient coins. Tacitus (Hist. i. ll.) calls it absolutely dextras, right hands. Among us it was called a faith (una fede. Comp. Eng. "Plight my troth"), and not without precedent, for on the coins of Vitellius, &c. right hands thus joined bear the motto Fides. An esteemed writer (Nider), in his Formicarium, mentions a rustic virgin who desired to find a material ring as a token of her espousal "in signum Christiferae desponsationis," and found a ring of a white colour, like pure silver, upon which two hands were engraved where it was united. It was formerly customary to bless a crown or a ring by prayers. The form of consecration used by the priest is thus given in ancient liturgies:

"Bene [symbol, cross] die Domine, Annulum istum et coronam istam, ut sicut Annulus circundat digitum hominis, et corona caput, ita gratia Spiritus Sancti circundet sponsum et sponsam, ut videant filios et filias usque tertiam et quartam generationem: qui collaudent nomen viventis atque regnantis in secula seculorum. Amen."

For the crown, see Is. lxii. 1. (E. V. lxi. 10.). The words of Agnes above cited have reference to giving the right hand and a pledge.

These particulars are from the Symbol. Epist. Liber of Laurentius Pignorius, Patar. 1628; where, in Ep. I. and XIX., many other references are to be found.

B. H. C.

* * * * *

ANTICIPATORY USE OF THE CROSS.—RINGING BELLS FOR THE DEAD.

(Vol. viii., pp. 130. 132.)

I trust that the following information may be acceptable to you and the authors of two interesting papers in "N. & Q." (Vol. viii., pp. 130-2.), viz. "Anticipatory Use of the Cross," and "Curious Custom of ringing Bells for the Dead."

When encamped, in 1823 or 1824, near the town (not the cantonment) of Muttra, on the river Jumna, a place of celebrated sanctity as the scene of the last incarnation of Vishnoo, the protective deity or myth of the Hindoos, an Italian gentleman of most polished manners, speaking English correctly and with fluency, was introduced to me. He travelled under the name of Count Venua, and was understood to be the eldest son of the then Prime Minister of Sardinia. The Count explained to me that his favourite pursuit was architecture, and that he preferred buildings of antiquity. I replied, that while breakfast was preparing I could meet his wishes, and led him to a large Hindoo edifice close by (or rather the remains), which a Mogul emperor had partially destroyed and thereby desecrated, the place having since been occasionally used by the townspeople as a cattle-shed, or for rubbish.

The Count, not deterred by heaps of cattle-dung, paced the dimensions, gazed on the solidity of the {418} stone masonry, approved of the construction and shape of the arched roof, pointed out the absence of all ornament excepting a simple moulding or two as architectural lines, and then broke out into enthusiastic admiration. "The most beautiful building! the greatest wonder of the world! Shame on the English government and English gentlemen for secreting such a curiosity! Here is the cross! the basilica carried out with more correctness of order and symmetry than in Italy! The early Christians must have built it! I will take measurements and drawings to lay before the cardinals!"

I was never more surprised, and assured the Count that I was unacquainted with the cathedral buildings of Europe, and I believed English gentlemen generally to be as ignorant as myself. I could not but acknowledge that the local governments had, as it seemed to him, evinced but little sympathy with Hindooism; and that whatever might be European policy in respect to religion, the East India Company might have participated in the desire which prevails in Europe to develop ancient customs, and the reasons of those customs. It might be presumed that we should then have contemplated this specimen of architecture with a knowledge of its original purposes, and the history of its events, had the Governor-General communicated his wish, and with due courtesy and disinterestedness invited the learned persons and scholars at the colleges of Muttra and Benares to assist such inquiries. It is but little the English now know of the Hindoo organisation, and the little they do know is derived from books not tested nor acknowledged by such learned persons.

I assisted Count Venua as far as I was able, for I rejoiced at his intention to draw the minds of the literati of Italy to the subject. Sad to say, the Count was some time after killed by falling into a volcanic crater in the Eastern Isles!

I may here mention that I first saw the old building in 1809, when a youthful assistant to the secretary of a revenue commission. The party, during the inclement month of September, resided in one of the spacious houses at Muttra, which pious Hindoos had in past times erected for the use of pilgrims and the public. The old temple (or whatever it might have been) was cleaned out for our accommodation during the heat of the day, as it then was cooler than the house. The elder civilians were men of ability, classical scholars, and first-rate Asiatic linguists. They descanted on the mythological events which renders "Brij," or the country around Muttra, so holy with the Hindoos, but not one of them knew nor remarked the "cross and basilica."

In youth, the language assigned to flowers appeared to me captivating and elegant, as imparting the finer feelings and sympathies of our nature. In maturer age, and after the study of the history of the customs of mankind, symbols and emblems seemed to me an universal language, which delicately delineated the violent passions of our kind, and transmitted from generation to generation national predilections and pious emotions towards the God of Creation. That mythology should so generally be interpreted Theism, and that forms or ceremonials of worship should be held to limit and define belief in creed, may, in my apprehension, be partly traceable to the school-book Lampriere's Classical Dictionary. You or your correspondents may attribute it to other and truer causes.

The rose, the thistle, the shamrock, the leek, the lion, the unicorn, the harp, &c. are familiar examples of national emblems. The ivy, the holly, and the mistletoe are joined up with the Christmas worship, though probably of Druidical origin. The Assyrian sculptures present, under the "Joronher," or effulgence, a sacred tree, which may assimilate with the toolsu and the peepul tree, held in almost equal veneration by the Hindoos. The winged lions and bulls with the heads of men, the angels and cherubim, recall to mind passages of scriptural and pagan history. The sciences of astronomy and mathematics have afforded myths or symbols in the circle, the crescent, the bident, the trident, the cross, &c.

The translators of the cuneiform inscriptions represent crucifixion as the common punishment for rebellion and treason. The Jews may have imitated the Assyrians, as crucifixion may have been adopted long before that of Christ and the two thieves (Qy. robbers). The Mahomedans, who have copied the Jews in many practices and customs, executed gang robbers or daccorts by suspending the criminals from a tree, their heads and arms being tied to the branches, and then ripping up the abdomen. I myself saw in Oude an instance of several bodies. It may be inferred, then, that the position of the culprits under execution was designated by crucifixion. The Hindoos mildly say that when their system of government existed in efficiency there was neither crime nor punishment.

To the examples mentioned by your correspondent, I admit that the form of the cross, as now received, may be derived from that of Christ, discovered on Mount Calvary in 236 A.D. Constantine, in 306 A.D., adopted it as a standard in Labarum. Other nations have attached staves to eagles, dragons, fish, &c. as standards and therefore, construing "Crux ansata" literally, the ensign of Constantine might be formed by attaching a staff to the Divine Glory represented in the Egyptian paintings and Assyrian sculptures.

I should be glad to learn the precise shape of the cross on the Temple of Serapis. If it be the emblem of life or the Creative Power, then the mythology of the Nile agrees with that of the {419} Ganges. If it be the symbol of life, or rather of a future state after judgment, then the religious tenets and creed of Muttra should be elucidated, examined, and refuted by the advocates of conversion and their itinerant agents. Moore's Hindoo Pantheon (though the author had at Bombay, as a military officer, little opportunity of ascertaining particulars of the doctrine) sufficiently treats, under the head of the "Krishna," the subject so as to explain to the conversionists, that unless this doctrine be openly refuted, the missionaries may in truth be fighting their own shadow.

The basilica seems to have originally been the architectural plan of the Roman Forum, or court of justice. The Christians may have converted some of these edifices into churches; otherwise the first churches seem to have been in the form of a long parallelogram, a central nave, and an aisle on each side, the eastern end being rounded, as the station of the bishop or presbyter. The basilica, or cathedral, was probably not introduced until the eighth century, or later.

I have not just now access to the works of Tod and Maurice. The former, I doubt not, is correct in respect to the Temple of Mundore, but I believe the latter is not so in regard to Benares. The trident, like that of Neptune, prevails in the province of Benares; and when it, in appropriate size, rises in the centre of large tanks, has a very solemn effect. I, a great many years ago, visited the chief temple of Benares, and do not recollect that the cross was either noticed to me or by me. This, I think, was the only occasion of observing the forms of worship. There is no fixed service, no presiding priest, no congregation. The people come and go in succession. I then first saw the bell, which, in size some twenty-five pounds weight, is suspended within the interior. Each person, at some period of his devotion, touched the tongue of the bell as invocation or grace. The same purpose is obtained by Hindoos, and particularly the men of the fighting classes, previously to commencing a cooked dinner, by winding a large shell, which gives a louder sound than a horn. The native boys however, on hearing it, exclaim in doggerel rhyme, which I translate,

"The shell is blown, And the devil is flown."

Fear seems so much the parent of superstition, that I attribute this saying to the women, who, as mothers, have usually a superstitious dread not only of evil spirits, but also of the evil eye of mortals towards their young ones. When, some twenty years ago, I was told by a Kentish countryman that the church bell was tolled to drive away evil spirits from a departing soul, I supposed the man to be profanely jocose; but since then I have travelled much in this country and on the Continent, and have seen enough to satisfy me that superstition prevails comparatively less in Asia than in Europe and the pages of "N. & Q." abundantly corroborate the opinion.

H. N.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Stereoscopic Angles.—I am concerned that my definition and solution of stereoscopic angles (a misnomer, for it should be space) in "N. & Q.," with subsequent illustrations, have not satisfied MR. SHADBOLT, as I am thus obliged to once more request room in your pages, and this time for a rather long letter. When I asserted that my method is the only correct one, it behoved me to be prepared to prove it, which I am, and will now do.

It seems that MR. SHADBOLT has not a knowledge of perspective, or, with a little reflection and trifling pains in linear demonstration on paper, he might have convinced himself of the accuracy of my method. It were well, then, to inform MR. SHADBOLT, that in perspective, planes parallel to the plane of delineation (in this case, the glass at back of camera) have no vanishing points; that planes at right angles to plane of delineation have but one; and that planes oblique have but one vanishing point, to the right or left, as it may be, of the observer's eye. This premised, let the subject be a wall 300 feet in length, with two abutments of one foot in front and five feet in projection, and each placed five feet from the central point of the wall, which is to have a plinth at its base, and a stone coping at top. On a pedestal four feet high, two feet wide, and six feet long, exactly midway betwixt the abutments, let an ass be placed, a boy astride him, a bag drawn before the boy, who holds up a long stick in line with the ass, &c., that is, facing the observer. The right distance for the observer's place is 450 feet. If the cameras be placed two inches and a half apart, on one line parallel to the wall, the stereographs will be in true perspective for the two eyes, that is, all the planes at right angles to the plane of delineation will have two vanishing points, which, being merely two inches and a half apart, will, in the stereoscope, flow easily into one opposite the eye; whilst the plinth, coping, and all lines parallel to them, will be perfectly horizontal; and the two pictures would create in the mind just such a conception as the same objects would if seen by the eyes naturally. This would be stereoscopic, true to nature, true to art, and, I affirm, correct.

Now, let the same subject be treated by Professor Wheatstone's method, when the cameras would be eighteen feet apart. Situated thus, if placed on one line, and that parallel to the wall, the extreme end at the right could not be seen by the camera at the left, and vice versa; so that they {420} must radiate from the centre when the glass at back of camera would be oblique to the wall, and the plinth, coping, top and bottom of pedestal, would have two vanishing points, at opposite sides of the centre, or observer's eye; both sides of the ass, both the legs of boy, and two heads to the drum would be visible; whilst the two sides of pedestals would have each a vanishing point, serving for all lines parallel to them. But these vanishing points would be so far apart that they could not, in the stereoscope, flow into one: the result would be, that the buttresses would be wider at back than in front, as would also the pedestal, while the stick held by the boy would appear like two sticks united in front. This would be untrue to nature, false to art, preposterously absurd, and I pronounce it to be altogether erroneous.

This being the case with a long distance, so must it be with shorter distances, modified in exact proportion to the diminution of space between the cameras, &c. For, let the object be a piece of wood three feet long, four inches wide, and six inches deep, with a small square piece one inch and six inches high, placed upright exactly on a line from end to end of the three feet (that is, one at each end) and midway between the sides. Let this arrangement be placed across another piece of wood three or four feet long, which will thus be at right angles to the piece at top. By my method all will be correct—true to nature and to art, and perfectly stereoscopic: whilst by the radial method (recommended by MR. SHADBOLT), with two feet space for cameras, there would be the top piece divided at the farther end, where there would be two small upright pieces instead of one; and this because the two vanishing points could not, in stereoscope, flow into one: whilst the lower piece of wood would have two vanishing points at opposite sides. This, then, being untrue to nature, untrue in art, in short, a most absurd misrepresentation, I pronounce to be utterly wrong. I have made the space two feet between cameras in order to show how ridiculous those pictures might become where there is an absence of taste, as, by such a person, two or ten feet are as likely to be taken as any less offensively incorrect.

As regards range of vision, I apologise to MR. SHADBOLT for having misconceived his exact meaning, and say that I perfectly agree with him.

With respect to the "trifling exaggeration" I spoke of, allow me to explain. For the sake of clearness, I denominate the angle formed from the focal point of lens, and the glass at back of camera, the angle of delineation; the said glass the plane of delineation and the angle formed by the stereograph to the eye, the stereoscopic angle. It must be borne in mind that the stereoscopic angle is that subtended by one stereograph and the eye. I find by experiments that the angle of delineation is very often larger than the stereoscopic angle, so that the apparent enlargement spoken of by MR. SHADBOLT does not often exist; but if it did, as my vision (though excellent) is not acute enough to discover the discrepancy, I was content. I doubt not, however, under such circumstances, MR. SHADBOLT would prefer the deformities and errors proved to be present, since he has admitted that he has such preference. I leave little doubt that, if desirable, the stereoscopic angle, and that of delineation, could be generally made to agree.

As to the means by which persons with two eyes, or with only one eye, judge of distance, I say not one word, that being irrelevant to this subject. But that the axes of the eyes approximate when we view objects nearer and nearer cannot be doubted, and I expressed no doubt; and it appears to me very probable that on this fact MR. SHADBOLT founds his conclusion that the cameras should radiate. This, however, ought not to be done for the reasons I have assigned. It will not do to treat the cameras as two eyes, and make them radiate because our eyes do; for it must be remembered that light entering the eyes is received on curved—whilst when it enters the cameras it falls on flat surfaces, occasioning very different results. And if this be maturely considered by MR. SHADBOLT, I believe his opinion will be greatly altered.

As to the model-like appearance, I cannot yet understand exactly why it should exist; but of this I am certain, the eyes naturally do not perceive at one view three sides of a cake (that is, two sides and the front), nor two heads to a drum, nor any other like absurdity; so that I perceive no analogy between this model-like appearance and natural vision, as stated to be the case by MR. SHADBOLT.

To confirm, practically, the truth of my illustrative proofs, I will send you next week some glass stereographs, to be placed at MR. SHADBOLT'S disposal, if he likes, and you will be so kind as to take charge of them.

T. L. MERRITT.

Maidstone.

* * * * *

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

Berefellarii (Vol. vii., p. 207.).—JOHN WEBB mentions the berefellarii as a distinct kind of mongrel dependents or half-ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages, dirty, shabby, ill-washed attendants, whose ragged clothes were a shame to the better sort of functionaries. He gave excellent and just reasons for his opinion, and a very probable construction of the sense of the word. But the etymon he proposes is rather unsatisfactory. Anglo-Saxonism is a very good thing; simplicity and common sense are very good things too. May not {421} berefellarius, the dirty raggamuffin with tattered clothes, be good monkish Latin for bare-fell (i.e. bare-skin), or rather bare-fellow? the most natural metamorphosis imaginable. Bere is the old orthoepy of bare; and every one knows that in London (east) a fellow naturally becomes a fellar.

P.S.—Excuse my French-English.

PHILARETE CHASLES, Mazarinaeus.

Paris, Palais de l'Institut.

"To know ourselves diseased," &c. (Vol. viii., p. 219.).—

"To know ourselves diseased is half our cure."

This line is from Young's Night Thoughts, Night 9th, line 38.

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

Gloves at Fairs (Vol. viii., p. 136.).—As an emblem of power and an acknowledgment of goodness, "Saul set up a hand" after his victory over the Amalekites, 1 Sam. xv. 12., (Taylor's Hebrew Concordance, in voce YDH), 2 Sam xviii. 18., Isaiah lvi. 5. The Ph[oe]nician monuments are said to have had sculptured on them an arm and hand held up, with an inscription graven thereon. (See Gesenius and Lee.) If, as stated by your correspondents in the article referred to, the glove at fairs "denotes protection," and indicates "that parties frequenting the fair are exempt from arrest," it is at least a remarkable coincidence. The Phoenicians were the earliest merchants to the west of England that we have any account of; can any connexion be traced historically between the Phoenician traffic and the modern practice of setting up a hand, or glove, at fairs? I well remember the feelings of awe and wonder with which I gazed when taken in childhood to see "the glove brought in" and placed over the guildhall of my native city (Exeter) at the commencement of "Lammas Fair." Has the glove been associated with this fair from its commencement? and if not, how far back can its use be traced? The history of the fair is briefly this: it existed before the Norman Conquest, and was a great mart of business; the tolls had belonged to the corporation, but King John took one-half, and gave them to the priory of St. Nicholas. Henry VIII. sold the fair with the priory; and anno second and third of Philip and Mary it was made over to the corporation, who have ever since been lords of the fair. (Izacke's Memorials, p. 19.; Oliver's History of Exeter, pp. 83. 158., &c.)

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

I may add that at Barnstaple, North Devon, the evening previous to the proclamation of the fair, a large glove, decked with dahlias, is protruded on a pole from a window of the Quay Hall, the most ancient building in the town, which remains during the fair, and is removed at its termination. May not the outstretched glove signify the consent of the authorities to the commencement and continuance of the festivities, &c., and its withdrawal a hint for their cessation?

I may add also that on the morning of proclaiming the fair, the mayor and corporation meet their friends in the council chamber, and partake of spiced toast and ale.

DROFSNIAG.

"An" before "u" long (Vol. viii., p. 244.).—The custom of writing an before u long must have arisen and become established when u had its primitive and vowel sound, nearly resembling that of our oo, a sound which it still has in several languages, but seems to have lost in ours. The use of an before u long, was then proper; habit and precedent will account for its retention by many, after the reason for it has ceased, and when its use has become improper. But although the custom is thus accounted for, there exists no satisfactory reason for its continuance, and I am sorry to learn from your correspondent that it is "increasingly prevailing."