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Notes and Queries, Number 217, December 24, 1853
Author: Various
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{613} NOTES AND QUERIES:

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

"When found, make a note of."—CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

* * * * *

No. 217.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1853. [Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:— Page

Folk Lore in the Reign of King James I. 613

The Ballad of Sir Hugh, &c. 614

Pennsylvanian Folk Lore: Christmas 615

County Rhymes 615

Legends of the County Clare: Fuenvicouil (Fingal) and the Giant, by Frances Robert Davies 616

FOLK LORE MISCELLANIES:—Yorkshire Tradition—Custom on St. Thomas's Day—Custom on Innocents' Day—Marriage Custom at Knutsford, Cheshire—Folk Lore in Hampshire—Propitiating the Fairies—Cornish Folk Lore—King Arthur in the Form of a Raven—St. Clement's Apple Feast in Staffordshire—New Year's Eve and New Year's Day 617

MINOR NOTES:—Carlist Calembourg—Jewish Custom—Lachlan Macleane—German Tree—The late Duke 618

QUERIES:—

The Story of Crispin and Crispianus, by J. Davies Devlin 619

MINOR QUERIES:—Barrels Regiment—Okey the Regicide—Lady Mason's Third Husband—Creation of Knights—Martyn the Regicide—History of the Nonjurors—Florin and the Royal Arms—A Mistletoe Query 620

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:—Sewell Family—Greek Epigram—Translations from Aeschylus—Prince Memnon's Sister—"Oh! for a blast," &c.—Robin Hood's Festival—Church in Suffolk 621

REPLIES:—

Children called Imps 623

The Divining Rod 623

Change of Meaning in Proverbial Expressions, &c. 624

Sneezing, by Francis John Scott, &c. 624

Books burned by the common Hangman, by W. Fraser, &c. 625

Jews in China, by T.J. Buckton 626

Poetical Tavern Signs 626

The Curfew, by Cuthbert Bede, B.A. 628

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE:—Photographic Engraving—Collodion Negatives 628

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:—"London Labour and the London Poor"—Felicia Hemans's inedited Lyric—Sir Arthur Aston—Grammar in relation to Logic—Descendants of Milton—Pronunciation of Bible Names—Henry I.'s Tomb—Bells at Berwick-upon-Tweed—Return of Gentry, temp. Henry VI.—Peter Allan—Burial in an erect Posture—The Word "Mob"—Gen. Sir C. Napier—To Come—Passage in Sophocles—Party-Similes of the Seventeenth Century—Judges styled Reverend—Veneration for the Oak—Rapping no Novelty 629

MISCELLANEOUS:—

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 632

Notices to Correspondents 632

Advertisements 633

* * * * *

Notes.

FOLK LORE IN THE REIGN OF KING JAMES I.

In turning over the pages of an old book of controversial divinity, I stumbled upon the following illustrations of folk lore; which, as well from their antiquity as from their intrinsic curiosity, seem worthy of a place in your columns. They make us acquainted with some of the usages of our ancestors, who lived in the remoter districts of England early in the reign of James I. The title of the volume in which they occur is the following:

"The Way to the True Church; wherein the principall Motives persuading to Romanisme, and Questions touching the Nature and Authoritie of the Church and Scriptures, are familiarly disputed ... directed to all that seeks for Resolution; and especially to all his loving Countrymen of Lancashire, by John White, Minister of God's Word at Eccles. Folio. London, 1624."

This, however, is described as being "the fifth impression;" the Preface is dated Oct. 29, 1608; so that we arrive at the conclusion that the usages and rhymes, to which I now desire to invite the attention of your readers, were current in the north-west districts of England more than two hundred and fifty years since.

White is insisting upon "the prodigious ignorance" which he found among his parishioners when he entered upon his ministrations, and he proceeds thus to tell his own tale:

"I will only mention what I saw and learned, dwelling among them, concerning the saying of their prayers; for what man is he whose heart trembles not to see simple people so far seduced that they know not how to pronounce or say their daily prayers; or so to pray that all that hear them shall be filled with laughter? And while, superstitiously, they refuse to pray in their own language with understanding, they speak that which their leaders may blush to hear. These examples I have observed from the common people."

THE CREED.

"Creezum zuum patrum onitentem creatorum ejus anicum, Dominum nostrum qui sum sops, virgini Mariae, crixus fixus, Ponchi Pilati audubitiers, morti {614} by sonday, father a fernes, scelerest un judicarum, finis a mortibus. Creezum spirituum sanctum, ecli Catholi, remissurum, peccaturum, communiorum obliviorum, bitam et turnam again."

THE LITTLE CREED. "Little Creed, can I need, Kneele before our Ladies knee; Candle light, candles burne, Our Ladie pray'd to her deare Sonne, That we might all to heaven come. Little Creed, Amen."

"This that followeth they call the 'White Pater-noster:'

"White Pater-noster, Saint Peter's brother, What hast i' th' t'one hand? white booke leaves. What hast i' th' t'other hand? heaven yate keyes. Open heaven yates, and steike [shut] hell yates: And let every crysome child creepe to its owne mother. White Pater-noster, Amen."

"Another Prayer:

"I blesse me with God and the rood, With his sweet flesh and precious blood; With his crosse and his creed, With his length and his breed, From my toe to my crowne, And all my body up and downe, From my back to my brest, My five wits be my rest; God let never ill come at ill, But through Jesus owne will, Sweet Jesus, Lord. Amen."

"Many also use to weare vervein against blasts; and when they gather it for this purpose, firste they crosse the herbe with their hand, and then they blesse it thus:

"Hallowed be thou, Vervein, As thou growest on the ground, For in the Mount of Calvary, There thou wast first found. Thou healedst our Saviour Jesus Christ, And staunchedst his bleeding wound; In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I take thee from the ground."

These passages may be seen in the "Preface to the Reader," s. 13., no page, but on the reverse of Sig. A 4.

It might at first appear somewhat strange that these interesting remnants of early belief should have escaped the notice of your numerous correspondents, whose attention has for so long a period been directed to this inquiry: but this may be accounted for if we remember that the volume in which they occur is one which would seem, prima facie, least likely to afford any such materials. It is one of those uninviting bulky folios of which the reigns of James and Charles I. furnish us with so many specimens. Here we might fairly expect to discover abundant illustrations of patristic and scholastic theology, of learning and pedantry, of earnest devotion, and ill-temper no less earnest; but nothing whereby to illustrate the manners or customs, the traditions, or the popular usages or superstitions, of the common people. This may be a hint for us, however, to direct our attention to a class of literature which hitherto has scarcely received the attention to which it would appear to be entitled; and I would venture to express my conviction, that if those who are interested in the illustration of our popular antiquities were to give a little of their time to early English theology, the result would be more important than might at first be anticipated.

L. B.

* * * * *

THE BALLAD OF SIR HUGH, ETC.

The fact mentioned by your correspondent C. CLIFTON BARRY, at p. 357., as to the affinity of Midland songs and ballads to those of Scotland, I have often observed, and among the striking instances of it which could be adduced, the following may be named, as well known in Northamptonshire:

"It rains, it rains, in merry Scotland; It rains both great and small; And all the schoolfellows in merry Scotland Must needs go and play at ball.

"They tossed the ball so high, so high, And yet it came down so low; They tossed it over the old Jew's gates, And broke the old Jew's window.

"The old Jew's daughter she came out; Was clothed all in green; 'Come hither, come hither, thou young Sir Hugh, And fetch your ball again.'

"'I dare not come, I dare not come, Unless my schoolfellows come all; And I shall be flogged when I get home, For losing of my ball.'

"She 'ticed him with an apple so red, And likewise with a fig: She laid him on the dresser board, And sticked him like a pig.

"The thickest of blood did first come out, The second came out so thin; The third that came was his dear heart's blood, Where all his life lay in."

I write this from memory: it is but a fragment of the whole, which I think is printed, with variations, in Percy's Reliques. It is also worthy of remark, that there is a resemblance also between the words which occur as provincialisms in the same district, and some of those which are used in Scotland; e.g. whemble or whommel (sometimes not aspirated, and pronounced wemble), to turn upside down, as a dish. This word is Scotch, although they do not pronounce the b any more than in Campbell, which sounds very much like Camel.

B. H. C.

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{615}

PENNSYLVANIAN FOLK LORE: CHRISTMAS.

This anniversary holds the same rank in the middle, southern, and western states as Thanksgiving Day in the eastern states or New England, where, owing to the Puritan origin of the bulk of the inhabitants, Christmas is not much celebrated. In Pennsylvania many of the usages connected with it are of German origin, and derived from the early settlers of the Teutonic race, whose descendants are now a very numerous portion of the population. The Christmas Tree is thus devised: It is planted in a flower-pot filled with earth, and its branches are covered with presents, chiefly of confectionary, for the younger members of the family.

When bed-time arrives on Christmas Eve, the children hang up their stockings at the foot of their beds, to receive presents brought them by a fabulous personage called Krishkinkle, who is believed to descend the chimney with them for all the children who have been good during the previous year. The word Krishkinkle is a corruption of Christ-kindlein, literally Christ-infant, and is understood to be derived from the fact that a representation of the Infant Saviour in the manger formed part of the decorations prepared for the children at Christmas.

If the children have not been good during the year previous, instead of finding sugar-plums and other presents in their stockings on Christmas morning, they discover therein a birch-rod. This is said to have been placed there by Pelsnichol, or Nicholas with the fur, alluding to the dress of skins in which he is said to be clad. Some make Pelsnichol identical with Krishkinkle, but the more general opinion is that they are two personages, one the rewarder of the good, the other the punisher of the bad.

The functions ascribed to Krishkinkle in Pennsylvania are attributed to Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus in the State of New York, first settled by the Hollanders. The following poem, written by Clement C. Moore, LL.D., of New York, describes the performances of St. Nicholas on Christmas Eve, and is equally applicable to our Krishkinkle:

"A Visit from St. Nicholas. 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her kerchief and I in my cap Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash; The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of day to the objects below; When what to my wondering eyes should appear But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled and shouted and call'd them by name, 'Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! now, Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Dunder and Blixen! To the top of the stoop[1], to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!' As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys and St. Nicholas too; And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dress'd all in fur from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot. A bundle of toys he had flung on his back; And he look'd like a pedlar just opening his pack. His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook, when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laugh'd when I saw him, in spite of myself. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And fill'd all the stockings, then turn'd with a jerk; And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle: But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, 'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.'"

UNEDA.

Philadelphia.

[Footnote 1: Stoop means, in the language of the New Yorkers, a portico.]

* * * * *

COUNTY RHYMES.

KENT.

"He that will not live long, Let him dwell at Murston, Tenham, or Tong."

"Dover, Sandwich, and Winchelsea, Rumney and Rye, the five ports be."

CHESHIRE.

"Chester of Castria took the name, As if that Castria were the same."

{616} LINCOLNSHIRE—Stamford.

"Doctrinae studium, quod nunc viget ad vada Boum, Tempore venturo celebrabitur ad vada Saxi."

"Science that now o'er Oxford sheds her ray, Shall bless fair Stamford at some future day."

WILTSHIRE—Salisbury Cathedral.

"As many days as in one year there be, So many windows in this church you see. As many marble pillars here appear, As there are hours through the fleeting year. As many gates as moons one here does view Strange tale to tell, yet not more strange than true."

Chippenham—On a Stone.

"Hither extendeth Maud Heath's gift, For where I stand is Chippenham clift."

SURREY—Market House, Farnham.

"You who do like me, give money to end me, You who dislike me, give as much to mend me."

WokingSutton.

"Beastly 'Oking—pretty Sutton, Filthy foxglove—bach'lors button."

"'Oking was—Guildford is—Godalming shall be."

SOMERSETSHIRE.

"Stanton Drew, A mile from Pensford—another from Chew."

PEMBROKESHIRE.

"Once to Rome thy steps incline, But visit twice St. David's shrine."

"When Percelty weareth a hat, All Pembrokeshire shall weet of that."

J. EBFF.

Bolt Court.

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LEGENDS OF THE CO. CLARE: FUENVICOUIL (FINGAL) AND THE GIANT.

Once upon a time, a Scottish giant who had heard of Fuenvicouil's fame, determined to come and see which of them was the stronger. Now Fuenvicouil was informed by his thumb of the giant's intentions, and also that on the present occasion matters would not turn out much to his advantage if they fought: so as he did not feel the least bit "blue-mowlded for the want of a batin'," like Neal Malone, he was at a loss what to do. Oonagh, his wife, saw his distress, and soon contrived to find out the cause of it; and having done so, she assured him that if he would leave things to her management, and strictly obey her directions, she would make the giant return home faster than he came. Fuenvicouil promised obedience; and, as no time was to be lost, Oonagh commenced her preparations. She first baked two or three large cakes of bread, taking care to put the griddle (the iron plate used in Ireland and Scotland for baking bread on) into the largest. She then put several gallons of milk down to boil, and made whey of it; and carefully collected the curd into a mass, which she laid aside. She then proceeded to dress up Fuenvicouil as a baby; and having put a cap on his head, tucked him up in the cradle, charging him on no account to speak, but to carefully obey any signs she might make to him. The preparations were only just completed, when the giant arrived, and, striding into the house, demanded to see Fuenvicouil. Oonagh received him politely; said she could not tell any more than the child in the cradle, where her husband then was; but requested the giant to sit down and rest, till Fuenvicouil came in. She then placed bread and whey before him till some better refreshments could be got ready, taking care to give him the cake with the griddle in it, and serving the whey in a vessel that held two or three gallons. The giant was a little surprised at the quantity of the lunch set before him, and proceeded to break a piece off the cake but in vain; he then tried to bite it, with as little success: and as to swallowing the ocean of whey set before him, it was out of the question; so he said he was not hungry, and would wait. He then asked Oonagh what was the favourite feat of strength her husband prided himself upon. She could not indeed particularise any one, but said that sometimes Fuenvicouil amused himself with squeezing water out of that stone there, pointing to a rock lying near the door. The giant immediately took it up; and squeezed it till the blood started from his fingers, but made no impression on the rock. Oonagh laughed at his discomfiture, and said a child could do that, handing at the same time the lump of curds to "the baby." Fuenvicouil, who had been attentively listening to all that was going on, gave the curd a squeeze, and some drops of whey fell from it. Oonagh, in apparently great delight, kissed and hugged her "dear baby;" and breaking a bit off one of the cakes she had prepared, began to coax the "child" to eat a little bit and get strong. The giant amazed, asked, could that child eat such hard bread? And Oonagh persuaded him to put his finger into the child's mouth, "just to feel his teeth;" and as soon as Fuenvicouil got the giant's finger in his mouth, he bit it off. This was more than the giant could stand; and seeing that a child in the cradle was so strong, he was convinced that the sooner he decamped before Fuenvicouil's return the better; so he hastened from the house, while Oonagh in vain pressed him to remain; and never stopped till he returned to his own place, very happy at having escaped a meeting with Fuenvicouil.

FRANCES ROBERT DAVIES.

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{617}

FOLK LORE MISCELLANIES.

Yorkshire Tradition.—The following tradition of Osmotherly, in Yorkshire, was related to me as being current in that county. Can you inform me if it is authentic?

Some years ago there lived in a secluded part of Yorkshire a lady who had an only son named Os or Oscar. Strolling one day with her child they met a party of gipsies, who were anxious to tell her the child's fortune. After being much importuned she assented to their request. To the mother's astonishment and grief they prognosticated that the child would be drowned. In order to avert so dreadful a calamity, the infatuated mother purchased some land and built a house on the summit of a high hill, where she lived with her son a long time in peace and seclusion. Happening one fine summer's day in the course of a perambulation to have fatigued themselves, they sat down on the grass to rest and soon fell asleep. While enjoying this repose, a spring rose up from the ground, which caused such an inundation as to overwhelm them, and side by side they found a watery grave. After this had occurred, the people residing in the neighbourhood named it Os-by-his-mother-lay, which has since been corrupted into Osmotherly.

R. W. CARTER.

Custom on St. Thomas's Day (Dec. 21).—At Harvington, in Worcestershire, it is the custom on St. Thomas's Day for persons (chiefly children) to go round the village begging for apples, and singing the following rhymes:

"Wissal, wassail through the town, If you've got any apples, throw them down. Up with the stocking, and down with the shoe, If you've got no apples, money will do. The jug is white, and the ale is brown, This is the best house in the town."

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

Custom on Innocents' Day (Dec. 28).—At Norton (near Evesham) it is the custom on Dec. 28 to ring, first a muffled peal for the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and then an unmuffled peal of joy for the deliverance of the Infant Christ.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

Marriage Custom at Knutsford, Cheshire.—A singular but pleasing custom exists among the inhabitants of Knutsford in Cheshire. On the occasion of a wedding, when the bride has set out for the church, a relative invariably spreads on the pavement, which is composed of pebbles, before her house, a quantity of silver sand, there called "greet," in the form of wreaths of flowers, and writes, with the same material, wishes for her happiness. This, of course, is soon discovered by others, and immediately, especially if the bride or bridegroom are favorites, appear before most of the houses numerous flowers in sand. It is said that this custom arose from the only church they had being without bells, and therefore, to give notice of a wedding, they adopted it; and though now there are other churches and a peal of bells, they still adhere to the above method of communicating intelligence of such happy events. Why sand should be used I have not been able to learn, and I should be much obliged for any information on the point, there being no sandpits in the locality of Knutsford, or such like reason for its use.

One circumstance I may mention connected with weddings there. On the return of the party from church, it is usual to throw money to the boys, who, of course, follow, and if this is omitted, the latter keep up a cry of "a buttermilk wedding."

RUSSELL GOLE.

Folk Lore in Hampshire.—In Hampshire the country people believe that a healing power exists in the alms collected at the administration of the sacrament, and many of them use the money as a charm to cure the diseases of the body. A short time ago a woman came to a clergyman, and brought with her half-a-crown, asking at the same time for five "sacrament sixpences" in exchange. She said that one of her relations was ill, and that she wished to use the money as a charm to drive away the disease. This superstition may have arisen from the once prevalent custom of distributing the alms in the church to those of the poor who were present at the sacrament.

I have heard that the negroes in Jamaica attach the same "gifts of healing" to the consecrated bread, and often, if they can escape notice, will carry it away with them. As no account of this superstition seems to be recorded in "N. & Q.," perhaps you would like to "make a note of it."

F. M. MIDDLETON.

Propitiating the Fairies.—Having some years since, on a Sunday afternoon, had occasion to ride on horseback between two towns in the eastern part of Cornwall, I met a christening party, also on horseback, headed by the nurse with a baby in her arms. Making a halt as I approached her, she stopped me, and producing a cake, presented it to me, and insisted on my taking it. Several years after, when in the Isle of Man, I had the opportunity of hearing an elderly person relate several pieces of folk lore respecting the witches and fairies in that island. It had been customary, within his recollection, for a woman, when carrying a child to be christened, to take with her a piece of bread and cheese, to give to the first person she met, for the purpose of saving the child from witchcraft or the fairies. Another custom was that of the "Queeltah," or salt put under the churn to keep off bad people. Stale water was thrown on the plough "to keep it from the little {618} folks." A cross was tied in the tail of a cow "to keep her from bad bodies." On May morning it was deemed of the greatest importance to avoid going to a neighbour's house for fire; a turf was therefore kept burning all night at home. Flowers growing in a hedge, especially green or yellow ones, were good to keep off the fairies. And finally, the last cake was left "behind the turf-flag for the little people."

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

Cornish Folk Lore: King Arthur in the Form of a Raven.—In Jarvis's translation of Don Quixote, book II. chap. v., the following passage occurs:

"'Have you not read, sir,' answered Don Quixote, 'the annals and histories of England, wherein are recorded the famous exploits of King Arthur, whom in our Castilian tongue we always call King Artus; of whom there goes an old tradition, and a common one all over that kingdom of Great Britain, that this king did not die, but that by magic art he was turned into a raven; and that, in process of time, he shall reign again, and recover his kingdom and sceptre; for which reason it cannot be proved, that, from that time to this, any Englishman has killed a raven?'"

My reason for transcribing this passage is to record the curious fact that the legend of King Arthur's existence in the form of a raven was still repeated as a piece of folk lore in Cornwall about sixty years ago. My father, who died about two years since at the age of eighty, spent a few years of his youth in the neighbourhood of Penzance. One day, as he was walking along Marazion Green with his fowling-piece on his shoulder, he saw a raven at a distance and fired at it. An old man who was near immediately rebuked him, telling him that he ought on no account to have shot at a raven, for that King Arthur was still alive in the form of that bird. My father was much interested when I drew his attention to the passage which I have quoted above. Perhaps some of your Cornish or Welsh correspondents may be able to say whether the legend is still known among the people of Cornwall or Wales.

EDGAR MACCULLOCH.

Guernsey.

St. Clement's Apple Feast in Staffordshire.—On the feast of St. Clement's (Nov. 23) the children go round to the various houses in the villages to which they belong singing the following doggerel:

"Clemany! Clemany! Clemany mine! A good red apple and a pint of wine, Some of your mutton and some of your veal, If it is good, pray give me a deal; If it is not, pray give some salt. Butler, butler, fill your bowl; If thou fillst it of the best, The Lord'll send your soul to rest; If thou fillst it of the small, Down goes butler, bowl and all. Pray, good mistress, send to me One for Peter, one for Paul, One for Him who made us all, Apple, pear, plum, or cherry, Any good thing to make us merry; A bouncing buck and a velvet chair, Clement comes but once a year; Off with the pot and on with the pan, A good red apple and I'll begone."

How the above came to be conglomerated I know not, as there seem to be at least three separate compositions pressed into St. Clement's service.

I shall be glad to know if any of your contributors can furnish farther illustrations of St. Clement's apple feast. I believe, in Worcestershire, St. Catherine and St. Clement unite in becoming the patrons on these occasions.

G. E. T. S. R. N.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.—Another German custom prevalent in Philadelphia is the custom of celebrating the departure of the old year and the arrival of the new by discharges of fire-arms. As soon as the sun sets the firing commences, and it is kept up all night with every description of musket, fowling-piece, and pistol. It is called "firing out the old year" and "firing in the new year."

UNEDA.

Philadelphia.

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

Carlist Calembourg.—The original of the French jeu d'esprit in Vol. viii., p. 242., was a Carlist calembourg circulated in the salons about the middle of 1831:

"La nation n'aime pas Louis-Philippe mais en rit (Henri)."

There was another also very popular:

"In travelling to Bordeaux you must go to Orleans."

V. T. STERNBERG.

Jewish Custom.—In a recently published music-novel of some merit, called Charles Auchester, occurs the following:

"'I shall treat him as my son, because he will indeed be my music-child, and no more indebted to me than I am to music, or than we all are to Jehovah.' 'Sir, you are certainly a Jew, if you say Jehovah; I was quite sure of it before, and I am so pleased.'"

There is a great error as to custom here, for the Jews never attempt to pronounce the "four-lettered" Name, and in reading and speaking always use instead Adonai or Elohim. And even converted Jews retain for the most part the same habit. The writer of Charles Auchester can only defend himself by the example of the writer of {619} Ivanhoe, who has made the same oversight; and a still more glaring one besides in making Isaac the Jew wish his daughter had been called Benoni, i.e. the son of sorrow. The vowel letters of Jehovah are merely those of Adonai, inserted by the Massorites; but this is another subject.

W. FRASER.

Tor-Mohun.

Lachlan Macleane.—This individual, whose claim to the authorship of Junius has been lately revived, was in Philadelphia ninety-five years ago, and his name figures there in the accounts of the overseers of the poor, under date of November 9, 1758:

"By cash received of James Coultass, late sheriff, being a fine paid by Laughlane McClain for kissing of Osborn's wife (after his commissions and writing bond were deducted)

L24 : 5 : 0"

This was in Pennsylvania currency; but it was an expensive kiss even in that, being (besides the commissions and sheriff's charge for writing the bond) equivalent to sixty-four dollars and fifty cents of our present currency.

M. E.

Philadelphia.

German Tree.—The following extract concerning this accessory to Christmas, which is now so popular, may perhaps be interesting at the present season. It is taken from the Loseley Manuscripts, edited by A. J. Kempe, F.S.A., 1836, p. 75. note.

"We remember a German of the household of the late Queen Caroline, making what he termed a Christmas tree for a juvenile party at that festive season. The tree was a branch of some evergreen fastened on a board. Its boughs bent under the weight of gilt oranges, almonds, &c.; and under it was a neat model of a farm-house, surrounded by figures of animals, &c., and all due accompaniments. The forming Christmas trees is, we believe, a common custom in Germany: evidently a remain of the pageants constructed at that season in ancient days."

Is this the first notice of a German tree in England? The adjunct of the farm-house seems now to be dispensed with in this country.

ZEUS.

The late Duke.—The following curious coincidence, which lately appeared in the Meath Herald, deserves transplanting to the literary museum of "N. & Q.":

"From the fact of the Mornington family having been so connected by property, &c. with the parish of Trim, in which town the late Duke spent so many of his early days, and commenced his career in life by being elected, when scarcely twenty-one years of age, to represent the old borough of Trim, the following coincidence is worth relating. On the news of the death of the Duke reaching Trim, the Very Rev. Dean Butler caused the chime of bells to be rung in respect to his memory; and the large bell, which was considered one of the finest and sweetest in Ireland, hardly had tolled a second time for the occasion when it suddenly broke, became mute, and ceased to send forth its notes. Whether this was to be attributed to neglect of the ringer, or regret for the great man of the age, it is hard to say; but, very odd as it may appear to be, on examining the bell, it was found to be cast by Edmund Blood, 1769, the very year the Duke was born. Thus this fine bell commenced its career with the birth of the Duke, and ceased to sound at his death. The parish of Trim is now getting the bell recast, and the old metal is to be seen at Mr. Hodges, Abbey Street, Dublin."

J. YEOWELL.

* * * * *

Queries.

THE STORY OF CRISPIN AND CRISPIANUS.

A Recitation for the 25th of October, and other Convivial Meetings of Shoemakers.

"The CRISPIN trade! What better trade can be? Ancient and famous, independent, free! No other trade a brighter claim can find; No other trade display more share of mind! No other calling prouder names can boast,— In arms, in arts,—themselves a perfect host! All honour, zeal, and patriotic pride; To dare heroic, and in suffering tried! But first and chief—and as such claims inspire— Our Patron Brothers, who doth not admire? CRISPIN and CRISPIANUS! they who sought Safety with us, and at the calling wrought: Martyrs to Truth, who in old times were cast Lorn outcasts forth to labour at the last! Mould the stout sole, sew with the woven thread, Make the good fit, and win their daily bread. This was their strait and doing—this their doom; They sought our shelter, and they found a home! Helpless and hapless, wandering to and fro, Weary they came and hid them from the foe; Two high-born youths, to holy things impell'd, Hunted from place to place, though still they held Their sacred faith, and died for it, and threw The glory of that death on all who made the Shoe!

"Such is the story—so behaved our trade; And then the Church its zealous homage paid, And made their death-day holy, as we see Still in the Calendar, and still to be! And long the Shoemaker has felt the claim, And proved him joyful at such lofty fame; For theirs it was by more than blood allied, Alike they worshipp'd, and alike they died! Nor minded how the Pagan nipp'd their youth— They are not dead who suffer for the Truth! The skies receive them, and the earth's warm heart In grateful duty ever plays its part, Embalms their memory to all future time, And thus, in love, still punishes the crime; Sees, though the corse be trampled to the dust, The murder'd dead have retribution just!

{620} "Where are they now who wrought this fiendish wrong? We hate the actors, and have hated long. And where are they, the victims? Always here; We feel their glory, and we hold it dear! Oh yes, 'tis ours! that glory still is ours, And, lo! how breaks it on these festive hours; Each heart is warm, each eye lit up with pride, 'Tis sanction'd in our loves and sanctified! Far o'er the earth—the Christianised—where'er The Saviour's name is hymn'd in daily prayer, The winds of heaven their memories tender waft, Commix'd with all the sorceries of the craft. The little leather artizan—the boy To whom the shoe is yet but as a toy, A thing to smile and look at, ere the day Severer task will make it one of pay (A constant duty and a livelihood),— He, the young Crispin, emulous and good, Is told of the Prince Martyrs—sometimes Royal! (The trade, in its devotion, being so loyal, It fain would stretch the fact or trifle still, Eager, as 'twere, to get on highest hill.) Through the fair France, through Germany, and Spain, The blue-skied Italy, the Russias twain, And farther still, across the Western Main. There is the story known, engraft, 'tis true, With things, as often is, of weight undue; Yet still's enough, when sifted to the most, To make the trade rejoice, and as a toast, Now, as is wont, and ever to be given, Hail to the memory of our friends in heaven! CRISPIN and CRISPIANUS—they, the two, Who, like ourselves, have made the Boot and Shoe!"

The story as told in these verses is not exactly the same as the one current among the makers of the boot and shoe in our own island, an account in an old book called The History of the Gentle Craft (the production, no doubt, of the well-known Thomas Delony) being the basis of the tradition as received now by the British shoemaker. In the Golden Legende, one of the earliest of our printed books, and in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, as compiled from the Roman Martyrologies, as also in the inscriptions of some pieces of ancient tapestry formerly belonging to the shoemakers' chapel in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, but, when I saw them, in one of the galleries of the Louvre, is the like version as the one here given. The authority, too, of the Church Calendar of England, even as it still remains after the loppings of the Reformation, is another corroboration that CRISPIN and CRISPIANUS, brothers, were early martyrs to the Christian faith, and through that chiefly honoured, and not because the one became a redoubted general and the other a successful suitor to the daughter of some all-potent emperor. In the Delony version—itself, in every probability, a borrowing from the popular mind of the Elizabethan period,—these things are put forth; while in trade paintings and songs the Prince CRISPIN is assumed to have a wife or sister, one can hardly tell which, in the person of a princess, the Princess CRISPIANUS, and who figures as the patron of the women's branch of the shoemakers' art; CRISPIN himself presiding over the coarser labour for the rougher sex. This artifice, if not purely historical, is at least very excusable, because so natural, seeing that the duplex principle has such an extensive range; that even the feet themselves come into the world in pairs, and so shoes must be produced after the same fashion—paired, as the shoemakers have done by their adored CRISPIN and CRISPIANUS.

It has now but to be stated that the writer of the foregoing lines (a long time now the common property of his fellow-workmen) and this present paragraph, has for many years contemplated the production of something, which might assume even the size of a book, in connexion with the various curious particulars which may be affiliated with this Crispin story, and therefore would be glad to find some of the numerous erudite renders of "N. & Q." helping his inquiries either through the medium of future Numbers, or as might be addressed privately to himself, care of Mr. Clements, bookseller, 22. Little Pulteney Street, Regent Street.

J. DAVIES DEVLIN.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

Barrels Regiment.—I suppose that to this regiment a song refers which has for its burden,—

"And ten times a day whip the barrels, And ten times a day whip the barrels, Brave boys."

I shall be very much obliged to any one who will tell me where I can find this song, or the circumstances or persons to which it refers. It was probably written about the year 1747.

E. H.

Okey the Regicide.—I should be much obliged for any information relative to the descendants of Colonel John Okey, the regicide, executed April 19, 1662, O.S.

E. P. H.

Clapham.

Lady Mason's Third Husband.—Secretary Davison, in a letter dated London, 23rd December, 1581, and addressed to Lady Mason, requests this lady "to join with his honour her husband" in standing sponsor with Sir Christopher Hatton, or Sir Thomas Skirley, to his son, born a few days before. Sir John Mason, second husband to Lady Mason, died in 1566. Who then was "this honour," her third?

G. S. S.

Creation of Knights.—When were the following knights made?—Sir William Fleming, Sir George Barker, Sir George Hamilton, Sir Edward {621} de Carteret, Sir William Armourer:—the first by Charles I.; the four following by Charles II.

G. S. S.

Martyn the Regicide.—Was Martyn the regicide married or not? If married, is it known whether he had children? and if any of his children settled in Ireland, and became possessed of property in that country?

E. A. G.

History of the Nonjurors.—What are the best authorities for the history of the Nonjurors and their sufferings? Of course, Lathbury, Hickes's Life of Kettlewell, &c. are well known. Whence came their adopted motto: "Caetera quis nescit?" Any reader who would communicate any information on these points to C. R. would confer a favour.

C. R.

Florin and the Royal Arms.—What is the authority for placing the national arms (which are by royal proclamations ordered to be borne quarterly in ratification of the respective unions, and to be borne under one imperial crown) in separate shields? They surely cannot with any heraldic propriety be so arranged. The absurdity was remarked in the reign of the Georges, for by the separation of the coats the arms of the German Dominions of George I. obtained the second place, viz. the dexter side, with France on the sinister, and Ireland at the bottom or fourth place.

MAT O' THE MINT.

A Mistletoe Query.—Why has mistletoe the privilege of allowing the fair sex to be kissed under its branches, on condition that a berry is plucked off at the time? And also, when was this first allowed?[2]

J. W. ASTON (late of Trin. Col.)

[Footnote 2: This Query has been incidentally noticed in "N. & Q.," Vol. v., pp. 13. 208.—ED.]

* * * * *

Minor Queries with Answers.

Sewell Family (Vol. viii., p. 521.).—Your correspondent D. N. states, that "nothing farther is known of the family of Lieut.-Col. Sewell, who died in 1803, than that he had a son Thos. Bailey Heath Sewell, Cornet in 32nd Light Dragoons, and Lieutenant 4th Dragoon Guards." Had he referred to Lodge's Peerage, he would have found that the Honorable Harriet Beresford, fourth daughter of the Most Rev. Wm. Beresford, Lord Archbishop of Tuam, and first Baron Decies, married Jan. 25, 1796, Thos. Henry Bermingham (not Bailey) Daly Sewell, Esq.; and died June 11, 1834, having had three children, viz.:

1. Thomas, formerly Page of Honour to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, circa 1829, afterwards a pensioner of Trin. Coll. Dublin, and subsequently Lieutenant 13th Light Infantry; who died at Landour, Bengal, Aug. 1, 1836.

2. Isabella, who married her cousin Major Marcus Beresford, in October, 1828; and died in 1836.

3. Louisa, married to the Hon. Sir W. E. Leeson, and died in 1849 or 1850.

Will D. N. favour me with the dates of the birth and death of the late unfortunate, and, as I believe, ill-used Lieut.-General John Whitelocke, whom he mentions, with the localities where the birth and death occurred?

G. L. S.

[We have submitted our correspondent's communication to D. N., who has kindly forwarded the following reply:

"My communication (Vol. viii., p. 521.) I was aware was far from a perfect pedigree of the Sewell family, and my object was to give such notices as might form an outline to be filled up by some one more competently informed. Your correspondent G. L. S. has very well supplied the caetera desunt, where my information terminated with the appointment of Cornet Sewell to a Lieutenancy in the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards. In the London Gazette 13789, June 23, 1795, he is inserted as 'Mr. Bermingham Daly Henry Sewell' to be a cornet in the 32nd Light Dragoons; and as in filling up commissions much accuracy is always considered very essential, I am disposed to regard those Christian names as correct.

"There was a Rev. George Sewell, Rector of Byfleet, Surrey, Was he a brother of Lieut.-Col. Sewell of the Surrey Light Dragoons?

"Did the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell marry a second wife? For I find, in The Globe of October 9, 1820: 'Died, Saturday, Sept. 16, at Twyford Lodge, Maresfield, Sussex, in her seventy-eighth year, Lady Sewell, widow of the late Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell, Master of the Rolls and Privy Councillor, &c.' Now, in Manning's Surrey, vol. iii. p. 201., it is stated that Lieut.-Col. Sewell died in 1803, in his fifty-eighth year, which would render it impossible for him to be the son of the above-named Lady Sewell. In Horsfield's Sussex, 4to., 1835, vol. i. p. 375., I find a William Luther Sewell, Esq., who most probably was connected by the second marriage, residing at the above Twyford Lodge.

"I regret that I cannot reply distinctly to the inquiries of G. L. S. respecting the late Lieut.-General Whitelocke. I have ineffectually searched all the various biographical dictionaries to that of the Rev. H. J. Rose in twelve volumes, 1848, inclusive, without having found one that has taken the least notice of him. I had casually heard, some years since, that he had fixed his residence in Somersetshire, and that he had died there; which I find confirmed by a paragraph in the Annual Register, vol. lxxvi. for 1834 (Chronicle), p. 218., which states that he died 'near Bath,' in February, 1834. With such scanty information on the required points, I would still refer G. L. S. to a work entitled The Georgian Aera, in 4 vols., London, 1832; where he will find, in vol. ii. p 475., a short military memoir of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, which is dispassionately and candidly written, and which accounts very reasonably for the inauspicious result of his military operations. There is one slight error in the account of The Georgian Aera, viz. in the date of the {622} first appointment of Mr. Whitelocke to a commission in the army, which appears in the London Gazette, No. 11938. of December 26, 1778, and runs thus: '14th Foot, John Whitelocke, Gent., to be Ensign vice Day."—I trust some reader of "N. & Q." will furnish us with the dates of the birth and death of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, specifying when they took place, as desired by G. L. S., with an abridgment of deficient particulars in his history. D. N."]

Greek Epigram.—In the Bath Chronicle of the 10th of November last, I find the following advertisement:

"The Clergyman of a Town Parish, in which are several crippled persons, at present unable to attend divine worship, will feel very grateful to any gentleman or lady who will give him an old Bath chair for the use of these poor people; two blind men having offered, in this case, charitably to convey their crippled neighbours regularly to the house of God."

Surely this arrangement is not a new idea, and there is, if I mistake not, a Greek epigram that records its success in practice several hundred years ago. Can any of your readers, whose Greek is less faded than mine, refer me to the epigram?

GEO. E. FRERE.

[Probably the following epigram is the one floating in the faded memory of our correspondent:

[Greek: PHILIPPOU, hoi de ISIDOROU.] [Greek: Peros ho men guiois, ho d' ar' ommasin; amphoteroi de] [Greek: Eis hautous to tuches endees eranisan,] [Greek: Tuphlos gar lipoguion epomadion baros airon,] [Greek: Tais keinou phonais atrapon orthobatei,] [Greek: Panta de taut' edidaxe pikre pantolmos ananke,] [Greek: Allelois merisai toullipes eis eleon.] Anthologia, in usum Scholae Westmonast.: Oxon. 1724, p. 58.]

Translations from Aeschylus.—Whose translation of the tragedies of Aeschylus is that which accompanies Flaxman's compositions from the same? I ought to state that there is merely a line or two under each plate, to explain the subject of each composition, and that my copy is the unreduced size.

H.

Kingston-on-Thames.

[The lines are taken from N. Potter's translation of the Tragedies of Aeschylus, 4to., 1777.]

Prince Memnon's Sister.—Who was Prince Memnon's sister, alluded to by Milton in Il Penseroso?

J. W. T.

Dewsbury.

[Dunster has the following note on this line:—"Prince Memnon's sister; that is, an Ethiopian princess, or sable beauty. Memnon, king of Ethiopia, being an auxiliary of the Trojans, was slain by Achilles. (See Virg. Aen. I. 489., 'Nigri Memnonis arma.') It does not, however, appear that Memnon had any sister. Tithonus, according to Hesiod, had by Aurora only two sons, Memnon and Emathion, Theog. 984. This lady is a creation of the poet."]

"Oh! for a blast," &c.—Who was the author of the couplet—

"Oh! for a blast of that dread horn, On Fontarabian echoes borne?"

A. J. DUNKIN.

[The lines—

"O for the voice of that wild horn, On Fontarabia's echoes borne, The dying hero's call,"—

are by Sir Walter Scott, and form part of those which excited the horror of the father of Frank Osbaldiston, when he examined his waste-book in search of Reports outward and inward—Corn Debentures, &c. See Rob Roy, chap. ii. p. 24. ed. 1829.]

Robin Hood's Festival.—Can any of your correspondents refer me to a good account of the festival of Robin Hood, which was so popular with our ancestors, that Bishop Latimer could get no one to come to hear him preach on that day?

In the churchwardens' accounts of St. Helens, Abingdon, published in the first volume of the Archaeologia, there is an entry in 1566 of the sum of 18d. paid for "setting up Robin Hood's Bower."

R. W. B.

[The best account of Robin Hood's festival on the first and succeeding days of May is given in Robin Hood: a Collection of all the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, relative to that celebrated Outlaw; [by Joseph Ritson], among the notes and illustrations in vol. i. pp. xcvii—cx. Consult also A Lytell Geste of Robin Hode, by John Matthew Gutch, vol. i. pp. 60—64.; and George Soane's New Curiosities of Literature, vol. i. pp. 231—236.]

Church in Suffolk.—In restoring a church in Suffolk, apparently of the date of Henry VII., except two Norman doors, the walls were found full of Norman mouldings of about 1100, or not much after. Will you kindly give me a list of the works where I may be likely to find an account of this original church? Davy and Jermyn's Suffolk, in the British Museum, says nothing about it. The two Norman doors are universally admired, and the church is now Norman still throughout. In the reconstruction of about 1100, the two doors do not seem to have been in any way restored or meddled with.

G. L.

[Our correspondent may probably find some account of this church either in Suckling's Antiquities of Suffolk, 4to., 2 vols., Gage's History of Suffolk (Thingoe Hundred), 4to., or in H. Jermyn's Collections for a General History of Suffolk, in the British Museum, Add. MSS. 8168—8196.]

* * * * *

{623}

Replies.

CHILDREN CALLED IMPS.

(Vol. viii., p. 443.)

"Heere resteth the bodye of the noble Impe, Robert of Duddeley, Baron of Denbigh, sonne of Robert, Earle of Leicester, nephew and heire unto Ambrose, Earle of Warwick, brethren, both sonnes of the mighty Prince John, late Duke of Northumberland, that was cosin and heire to Sir John Grey, Vicount L'Isle, nephew and heire unto the Lady Margaret, Countesse of Shrewsbury, the eldest daughter and coheire of the noble Earle of Warr: Sir Richard Beauchampe here interred; a childe of great parentage, but of farr greater hope and towardnesse, taken from this transitory unto everlasting life in his tender age, at Wanstead in Essex, on Sunday, 19th of July, in the yeare of our Lord God 1584, being the 26th yeare of the happy raine of the most virtuous and godly Princesse, Queene Elizabeth, and in this place layd up among his noble auncestors, in assured hope of the generall resurrection."—Lady's Chapel, St. Mary's Church, Warwick.

H. B.

Warwick.

An inscription on a tomb at Besford, near Pershore, Worcestershire, of the same period as that at Aylesbury (mentioned by MR. BROOKS), contains also the word imp. The tomb at Besford is a most singular one, consisting of two large folding doors fixed against the wall, their panels and the interior being painted over with figures and inscriptions. From the latter, which are of some length, the following extracts will be sufficient to illustrate the subject:

"An impe entombed heere doth lie."

"... elder ... from Christ to straie, When such an impe foreshewes the waie."

The old poetical word sugared, "Noe sugred word," occurs in the inscription.

The "impe" is supposed to be Richard Harewell, who died in 1576, aged 15 years, to whom a second monument, of alabaster (close by the former), was also erected; a rare circumstance, I should suppose. The Harewells appear to have been a family at the time of the Conquest; the two following lines are a part of one of the inscriptions:

"Of Harewell's blodde ere Conquest made, Knowne to descende of gentle race."

Nash, in his History of Worcestershire, makes mention of this singular monument, but is anything but correct in giving its inscriptions.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B. A.

T. W. D. BROOKS will find this word used by some modern authors to denote a child. In Moral and Sacred Poetry, selected and arranged by the Rev. T. Willcocks and the Rev. T. Horton (Devonport, W. Byers, 1834), there is at p. 254. a piece by Baillie, addressed "To a Child," the first line of which runs thus:

"Whose imp art thou, with dimpled cheek?"

And in a poem by Rogers, on the following page, the children of a gipsy are called imps.

J. W. N. KEYS.

Plymouth.

* * * * *

THE DIVINING ROD.

(Vol. viii., pp. 293. 479.)

The inclosed extract from a letter which I have just received from a friend on the subject of the divining rod, will probably interest your readers as an answer to a Query which appeared some weeks ago in your excellent work. You may entirely rely on the accuracy of the facts stated.

J. A. H.

"However the pretended effect of the divining rod may be attributed to knavery and credulity by philosophers who will not take the trouble of witnessing and investigating the operation, any one who will pay a visit to the Mendip Hills in Somersetshire, and the country round their base, may have abundant proof of the efficacy of it. Its success has been very strikingly proved along the range of the Pennard Hills also, to the South of the Mendip. The faculty of discovering water by means of the divining rod is not possessed by every one; for indeed there are but few who possess it in any considerable degree, or in whose hands the motion of the rod, when passing over an underground stream, is very decided; and they who have it are quite unconscious of their capability until they are made aware of it by experiment.

"I saw the operation of the rod, or rather of a fork, formed of the shoots of the last year, held in the hands of the experimentor by the extremities, with the angle projecting before him. When he came over the spot beneath which the water flowed, the rod, which had before been perfectly still, writhed about with considerable force, so that the holder could not keep it in its former position; and he appealed to the bystanders to notice that he had made no motion to produce this effect, and used every effort to prevent it. The operation was several times repeated with the same result, and each time under the close inspection of shrewd and doubting, if not incredulous, observers. Forks of any kind of green wood served equally well, but those of dead wood had no effect. The experimentor had discovered water, in several instances, in the same parish (Pennard), but was perfectly unaware of his capability till he was requested by his landlord to try. The operator had the reputation of a perfectly honest man, whose word might be safely {624} trusted, and who was incapable of attempting to deceive any one—as indeed appeared by his open and ingenuous manner and conversation on this occasion. He was a farmer, and respected by all his neighbours. So general is the conviction of the efficacy of the divining rod in discovering both water and the ores of calamine or zinc all over the Mendip, that the people are quite astonished when any doubt is expressed about it. The late Dr. Hutton wrote against the pretension, as one of many instances of deception founded upon gross ignorance and credulity; when a lady of quality, who herself possessed the faculty, called upon him, and gave him experimental proof, in the neighbourhood of Woolwich, that water was discoverable by that means. This Dr. Hutton afterwards publicly acknowledged.

"The above I suppose will suffice for your present purpose; I could, however, say a great deal more, for I wrote a very long account many years ago to our friend ——, of what I have now only briefly stated. That letter was treated by certain scientific friends of his with contempt; but when I afterwards saw poor Dr. Turner, he said he would go down to Somerset to see it himself; but alas! he did not live to carry his intention into effect."

* * * * *

CHANGE OF MEANING IN PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS, ETC.

(Vol. viii., pp. 464, 465.)

Very hesitatingly I venture to express dissent from MR. KEIGHTLEY'S ingenious suggestion of a change of meaning in the proverb "Tread on a worm and it will turn." I support my dissent, however, by the following lines from Shakspeare:

"Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal sting? Not he that sets his foot upon her back. The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on; And doves will peck in safe-guard of their brood." Third Part of King Henry VI., Act II. Sc. 2.

King Henry says, Withhold revenge, dear God!

Clifford replies, The lion, the bear, the serpent, the smallest worm, and doves, if injured, will make an effort at revenge or defence. It is clear that Shakspeare uses the word worm as meaning, not a venomous serpent, but the most defenceless of reptiles.

Again, I do not think that MR. KEIGHTLEY'S quotation from Schiller's Wallenstein's Tod supports his view. I am not a German scholar, but I find that the translator of Wallenstein's Tod (I believe Lord Ellesmere) has translated or paraphrased the lines quoted by MR. KEIGHTLEY as follows:

"But nature gave the very worm a sting, When trampled on by man, to turn again."

The sense of the passage (spoken by Butler) requires that "wurm" should be understood to mean a harmless despised reptile, not a venomous serpent.

It seems that Schiller had Shakspeare in his mind when he wrote the lines in question; indeed, they are almost a copy of Shakspeare's line. I consider them as parallel passages.

It may not be irrelevant to observe that worm in some places still means a serpent; but I believe it has usually a prefix, as "hag-worm" in Westmoreland and the West Riding of Yorkshire; so also in the latter "slow-worm" means a species of small snake or viper found on some of the moors. (For "slow-worm," see "N. & Q.," Vol. viii., pp. 33. and 479.) I have been told that "blind-worm" in Surrey means a viper. I conclude with a Query, Does Wurm in modern German ever mean a serpent?

F. W. J.

"To put a spoke in one's wheel," is not singular in its double entendre (Vol. viii., pp. 262. 351. 464.). "There is no love lost between them" is in a similar predicament. We now speak of no love being lost between A. and B., when we would intimate that the warmth of their mutual affection may be accurately represented by 32deg Fahrenheit. That this has not always been the meaning of the phrase, the following verse from the old ballad of The Children in the Wood will testify:

"Sore sick he was, and like to die, No help that he could have; His wife by him as sick did lie, And both possess'd one grave. No love between these two was lost, Each was to other kind; In love they lived, in love they died, And left two babes behind."

R. PRICE.

St. Ives.

* * * * *

SNEEZING.

(Vol. viii., p. 366.)

A collection of "facts, theories, and popular ideas" upon this subject would fill a volume. I send, however, a few extracts, &c., which may interest your correspondent MEDICUS:

"Et n'esternuay point regardant le soleil."

"And did not sneeze as he looked upon the sun." Ronsard, tom. v. p. 158., quoted in Southey's Common Place Book, 3rd series, p. 303.

Here, not to sneeze appears to be looked on as an ill omen.

Ammianus has an epigram upon one whose nose was so long that he never heard it sneeze, and therefore never said [Greek: Zeu soson], God bless.—Notes on the Variorum Plautus (ed. Gronov., Lugd. Bat.), p. 720. {625}

Athenaeus, says Potter in his Archaeologia Graeca, proves that the head was esteemed holy, because it was customary to swear by it, and adore as holy the sneezes that proceeded from it. And Aristotle tells us in express terms that sneezing was accounted a deity: "[Greek: Ton Ptarmon theon hegoumetha]"—Archaeol. Graec. (5th ed.), p. 338.

"Oscitatio in nixu letalis est, sicut Sternuisse a coitu abortivum." Quoted from Pliny by Aulus Gellius, Noct. Att. III. xvi. 24.

Erasmus, in his Colloquies, bids one say to him who sneezes, "Sit faustum ac felix," or "Servet te Deus," or "Sit salutiferum" or "Bene vertat Deus."

"Quare homines sternutant?

"Respondetur, ut virtus expulsiva et visiva, per hoc purgetur, et cerebrum a sua superfluitate purgetur, etc. Etiam qui sternutat frequenter, dicitur habere forte cerebrum."—Aristotelis Problemata: Amstelodami, anno 1690.

Query whether from some such idea of the beneficial effect of sneezing, arose the practice of calling for the divine blessing on the sneezer?

When Themistocles was offering sacrifice, it happened that three beautiful captives were brought him, and at the same time the fire burnt clear and bright, and a sneeze happened on the right hand. Hereupon Euphrantides the soothsayer, embracing him, predicted the memorable victory which was afterwards obtained by him, &c.

There is also mention of this custom (the observation of sneezing) in Homer, who has introduced Penelope rejoicing at a sneeze of her son Telemachus:

"[Greek: Ouch horaas ho moi huios epeptaren]"

Sneezing was not always a lucky omen, but varied according to the alteration of circumstances—"[Greek: Ton ptarmon hoi men eisin ophelimoi, hoi de blaberoi]," "Some sneezes are profitable, others prejudicial"—according to the scholiast upon the following passage of Theocritus, wherein he makes the sneezing of the Cupids to have been an unfortunate omen to a certain lover:

"[Greek: Simichida men erotes epeptaron.]"

If any person sneezed between midnight and the following noontide it was fortunate, but from noontide till midnight it was unfortunate.

If a man sneezed at the table while they were taking away, or if another happened to sneeze upon his left hand, it was unlucky; if on the right hand, fortunate.

If, in the undertaking any business, two or four sneezes happened, it was a lucky omen, and gave encouragement to proceed; if more than four, the omen was neither good nor bad; if one or three, it was unlucky, and dehorted them from proceeding in what they had designed. If two men were deliberating about any business, and both of them chanced to sneeze together, it was a prosperous omen.—Archaeol. Graec. (5th ed.), pp. 339, 340.

FRANCIS JOHN SCOTT.

Tewkesbury.

The custom your correspondent MEDICUS alludes to, of wishing a person "good health," after sneezing, is also very common in Russia. The phrases the Russians use on these occasions are—"To your good health!" or "How do you do?"

J. S. A.

Old Broad Street.

* * * * *

BOOKS BURNED BY THE COMMON HANGMAN.

(Vol. viii., pp. 272. 346.)

To the list of these literary auto da fe's we may well add the burning of Bishop Burnet's famous Pastoral Letter, which was censured by the House of Commons, January, 1692, and was burned by the common hangman. The offence contained in it was the ascribing the title of William III. to the crown of England to a right of conquest. A recollection of this gives additional point to the irony of Atterbury in attacking Wake:

"William the Conqueror is another of the pious patterns he recommends, 'who would suffer nothing,' he says, 'to be determined in any ecclesiastical causes without leave and authority first had from him.'... His present majesty is not William the Conqueror; and can no more by our constitution rule absolutely either in Church or State than he would if he could: his will and pleasure is indeed a law to all his subjects; not in a conquering sense, but because his will and pleasure is only that the laws of our country should be obeyed, which he came over on purpose to rescue, and counts it his great prerogative to maintain; and contemns therefore, I doubt not, such sordid flattery as would measure the extent of his supremacy from the Conqueror's claim."—Atterbury's Rights, Powers, and Privileges of Convocation, pp. 158—160.

Atterbury never misses a hit at Burnet when he can conveniently administer one, and the Bishop endeavours to smile even while he winces:

"He writes with just and due respect of the king and the present constitution. This has come so seldom from that corner that it ought to be the more considered. I will not give that scope to jealousy as to suspect that this was an artifice; but accept it sincerely," &c.—The Bishop of Sarum's Reflections on the Rights, Powers, &c.. p. 4.

W. FRASER.

Tor-Mohun.

The following, may come under the list wanted by BALLIOLENSIS:

"The covenant itself, together with the act for erecting the high court of justice, that for subscribing the engagement, and that for declaring England a {626} Commonwealth, were ordered to be burned by the hands of the hangman. The people assisted with great alacrity on this occasion."—From Hume, Reign of Charles II., edit. London, 1828, p. 762.

On a copy of La Defense de la Reformation, &c., par I. Claude, a La Haye, 1683, I noted the following about thirty years ago as a striking passage, but cannot now recollect from whence I took it. This book was condemned by the Pope to be burned, on which circumstance the editor of an old edition of it very appositely observes:

"Books have souls as well as men, which survive their martyrdom, and are not burnt, but crowned by the flames that encircle them. The Church of Rome has quickly felt there was nothing combustible but the paper. The truth flew upward like the angel from Manoah's sacrifice, untouched by the fire, and unsullied by the smoke, and found a safe refuge at the footstool of the God of Truth."

G. N.

* * * * *

JEWS IN CHINA.

(Vol. viii., p. 515.)

The only people known as descendants of any of the ten tribes are the Spomerim, or Samaritans; whose chief peculiarity is, that they acknowledge as sacred only the five books of Moses: for, although other books held sacred by the Jews are known to them, such books are not written in the same ancient alphabetic character as those of the Samaritan Pentateuch. The ten tribes were then taken captive B.C. 721 (2 Kings xvii. 24—41.). The inference is, therefore, that all the books, from Joshua to Malachi inclusive, had not been composed or admitted into the holy canon till after that date. The criterion then for ascertaining whether the Chinese Jews are descended from the ten tribes, appears to be their adherence to the Pentateuch alone as sacred. I. The Chinese Jews have not the ancient Hebrew character, but the comparatively modern square Chaldee one, as in our printed Bibles. II. Gozani states that the Jews of Kaafung Foo, in Honan, had some traditions from the Talmud. The Mishnah, constituting the text of the Talmud, is manifestly a compilation subsequent to the closing of the Jewish canon; the quotations from the books following those of Moses being constantly in use therein. III. On Gozani mentioning Jesus the Messiah, the Chinese Jew said they had a knowledge of Jesus the son of Sirach. As, however, the book of the last-named writer is unknown in Hebrew, Gozani, who was ignorant of that language, may have mistaken him for Jesus (=Joshua) the son of Nun, with which book the Chinese Jew was acquainted.[3] In either case, more books than the Pentateuch were undoubtedly held sacred by these Chinese Jews; therefore the connexion with the ten tribes (house of Israel), as distinct from the house of Judah (the Jews properly so called), cannot be inferred. The authorities for the Samaritans are Scaliger, Ludolf, Prideaux, Jahn, Huntington, Winer, Schnurrer, and Kitto. For the eastern Jews: Josephus, Peritsol, Manasseh, Basnage, Buesching; Fathers Ricci, Aleni, Gozani, and other Jesuits, in the Lettres edifiantes et curieuses, vol. xviii.; and the Chinese Repository, vol. i. pp. 8. 44., vol. iii. p. 175.

Circumcision is too general a practice in the hotter regions of the south and east, to permit such practice to be deemed proof of Jewish descent, unless corroborated by other customs peculiar to the Jews. Besides the physiological characteristics of the native Australians preclude us from deducing their natural descent from either the Jews or the ten tribes.

T.J. BUCKTON.

Lichfield.

[Footnote 3: The opprobrious name of Christ amongst the Jews is Jesus son of Sadta, which Gozani may have mistaken for Sirach; indeed,—the Chinese pronunciation of Hebrew is quite peculiar, as they cannot pronounce, for instance, the letters b, r, th, naming them respectively p, l, z.]

* * * * *

POETICAL TAVERN SIGNS.

(Vol. viii., pp. 242. 452.)

I made a note of the following specimen of poetical tavern sign, in one of Mr. Mark Lemon's Supplements to The Illustrated London News (Dec. 27, 1851). I here transcribe it to add to MR. WARDE'S collection:

"The following is a literal copy of a sign conspicuously displayed in front of a small public-house in the village of Folkesworth,[4] near Stilton, Hunts. It contains as much poetry as, perhaps, the rustic Folkesworth folks are worth; and doubtless they think it to be (in the Stilton vernacular) 'quite the cheese:'

[A rude figure of a Fox.]

'I . HAM . A . CUNEN . FOX YOU . SEE . THER . HIS NO . HARME . ATCHED TO . ME . IT . IS . MY . MRS. WISH . TO . PLACE . ME HERE . TO . LET . YOU . NO HE . SELS . GOOD . BEERE.'

"The Captain Rawlinson of the district has deciphered this inscription, and conjectures its meaning to be as follows:

'I am a cunning fox, you see; There is no harm attach'd to me; It is my master's wish to place me here, To let you know he sells good beer.'"

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

[Footnote 4: It was in the lane between Folkesworth and the Norman Cross Barracks, that Borrow was first induced to try the gipsy life. (Vide Lavengro.)]

{627}

Bradford:

"Who lives here? who do you think? Major Lister: give him a drink. Give him a drink—for why? Because, when he's sweeping, He's always dry."

"John Thompson doth live here, He sweeps your chimney not too dear. And if your chimney should get on fire, He puts it out at your desire. Sweep that chimney clean, And then come down and drink."

The public-houses to which the above are appended are kept by sweeps.

"Call here, my boy, if you are dry. The fault's in you, and not in I. If Robin Hood from home is gone, Step in and drink with Little John."

The name of the public-house is "The Robin Hood."

Over another tavern door I noticed the following very pithy and brief sentence:

"Tobacco given away to-morrow."

CHARLES WILLISON.

Bradford, Yorkshire.

A sign at Newhouse, a small public-house on Dartmoor, hard by a rabbit-warren, on the roadside leading from Moreton to Tavistock, six miles from the former town. John Roberts was the worthy landlord some considerable time since. It ran thus:

"John Roberts lives here, Sells brandy and beer, Your spirits to cheer; And should you want meat, To make up the treat, There be rabbits to eat." (A verbatim copy.)

A swinging sign on the front of a public-house on the borders of Dartmoor could once boast of like following quaint invitations.

The side presented to view, prior to entering the wild waste, underneath a rude painting of a weary traveller in a storm, had the following rude couplet:

"Before the wild moor you venture to pass, Pray step within and take a glass."

The attempt at poetry on the reverse side, below a highly-coloured daub representing a Christmas fire on the hearth, surrounded by a goodly band of jolly fellows, read thus:

"Now that the bleak moor you've safely got over, Do stop a while, your spirits to recover."

Over the door of a spirit and beer shop at the lower end of Market or High Street, Plymouth, may be seen the following very salutary aid disinterested piece of advice. It is printed in the triangle formed by the spread of a gigantic pair of compasses, which gives name to the house:

"Keep within compass, And then you'll be sure, To avoid many troubles, That others endure."

The house is located near the quay; and it is devoutly to be wished that the jolly tars of the neighbourhood, who make it a constant place of resort, would profit by its wise counsel.

H. H. H.

There is (or was some two or three years since) at Coopersale, in Essex, a sign-board in front of the "Queen Victoria" (only a beer-house by the way), with these lines:

"The Queen some day, May pass this way, And see our Tom and Jerry; Perhaps she'll stop, And stand a drop, To make her subjects merry."

On the other side are some different lines, which I forget.

ALEXANDER ANDREWS.

* * * * *

1. At Overseal, Leicestershire:

"Robin Hood is Dead and gone: Pray call, and drink With Little John."

2. The sign of "The Bee Hive," in Birmingham and other places:

"Within this Hive, we're all alive, Good liquor makes us funny: If you are dry, step in and try, The flavour of our honey."

3. The sign of "The Gate" (of frequent occurrence):

"The Gate hangs well, And hinders none; Refresh and pay, And travel on."

T. H. KERSLEY, B.A.

Audlem, Nantwich.

In King Street, Norwich, at the sign of "The Waterman," kept by a man who is a barber, and over whose door is the pole, are these lines:

"Roam not from pole to pole, But step in here; Where nought exceeds the shaving, But the beer."

J. L. S.

There used to be at a small roadside inn, between Wetherby and Borobridge (Yorkshire), at a place called Ninivy, the following inscription; {628} whether or not it is still in existence I cannot say:

"At Nineveh, where dwelt Old Toby, Pray stop and drink before you go by."

C. I. R.

* * * * *

THE CURFEW.

(Vol. ii., pp. 103. 175. 189. 311.; Vol. iv., p. 240.; Vol. vi., pp. 53. 112.; Vol. vii., pp. 167. 530.; Vol. viii., p. 603.)

The curfew is still rung at Kidderminster at eight o'clock. It is the annual custom there, on a certain night, to continue the ringing for one hour, a sum of money having been left for that purpose as a thank-offering to God, for the curfew having been the means of saving a person from destruction. This person had lost his way on his return from Bridgenorth Fair, and when (as he afterwards discovered) on the point of falling from a great height, the sound of the Kidderminster curfew caused him to retrace his steps and regain the road. A five o'clock morning bell is also rung at Kidderminster. This and the curfew bell have been rung for many years past by "Blind William," who, notwithstanding his total blindness, finds his way along the streets that lead from his house to the church, and gains the belfry with the greatest ease. So well is he acquainted with the path to church, that he may be seen to turn the corners of the streets in as decided a manner as if his wide-open eyes were endowed with sight; and, with similar facility, he unlocks the gates and church doors. It is curious to see him on the dark winter evenings, apparently guiding his steps by the light of a lanthorn, which he probably carries in order to prevent careless people, who are blessed with sight, from running against him. Like most (if not all) blind people, he has an extraordinary ear for music, and will quickly reproduce on his violin any tune that may have caught his fancy. At this present festive period, a Kidderminster Christmas would lack one of its component parts, were Blind Willie and his fiddle not there to add to the harmony of the kindly season. During the month preceding Christmas, he promenades the streets at untimely hours, and draws from his old fiddle all the music which it is capable of giving forth. Indeed, Blind Willie may be considered (in Kidderminster at least) as the harbinger of Christmas, for he warns the inhabitants of its approach, long before the ordinary "waits" have taken their ordinary measures for the same purpose. And when Christmas Day is past and gone, he makes house-to-house visitation for the Christmas-box which is to be the reward of his "early minstrelsy."

The curfew is rung at Bewdley in Worcestershire.

At Durham the curfew is rung (on the great bell of the cathedral) at nine o'clock. It is therefore of the same use to the students of the University of Durham as "Tom" is to the students of the University of Oxford, viz. it marks the closing of the college gates.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Photographic Engraving.—I inclose a copy of a little book for your inspection, which is remarkable only in this, that the illustrations are produced by photography. The general theory of the method is this: a piece of glass is covered with a uniform thin coating of some substance, so as to be opaque or semi-opaque (the substance should be light coloured), and a design is etched on it with a needle. From this negative positive pictures are printed photographically.

As to details, the prints of the mice (p. 46.) and the cat (p. 37.) are from a glass coated with iodized collodion rendered sensitive, exposed to faint light for a short time and developed. In this method, the glass should be heated; and the collodion burnished with the hand, to make it adhere well.[5] The owl (p. 22.) and the stork (p. 10.) are from a glass coated with iodized collodion "rendered sensitive" only, and not developed so as to be only semi-opaque. On this high lights were put with opaque white, and darks were etched out. This has the effect of a tinted lithograph, but requires much more care in printing than the former method, in order to hit the right tint; so much so, that I have usually printed the stork faintly so as not to show the "tint" at all. The frontispiece is from a paper negative, a method much more troublesome and tedious than either of the others, both in preparation of the negative and in printing.

I have lately tried gilt glass to etch upon. This would be excellent, were it not most painful to the eyes. And more than two years ago, I prepared a negative by painting whites with water colour on transparent glass with moderate success.

I have recently received from Rome a positive printed from a negative on smoked glass, the subject being a mule's head. Of all the methods I have tried, the best is the first mentioned; and it seems to me easier than any species of engraving.

Query, What is the best coating for the glass; and what will be the cost of printing on a great scale, as compared with woodcut, lithograph, &c.; in which must be included the cost of the skilled workman which will be saved by this method?

HUGH BLACKBURN.

[When we add that the work referred to is an edition of The History of Little Downey, that the prints in it are executed by a lady, and printed at home by the photographic process, and that a limited number of copies may be had on application to Messrs. {629} Constable and Co. of Edinburgh, the sale being for the benefit of the Glasgow Ragged School, we have no doubt many of our readers will be glad to secure copies, and help to forward the good work which its publication is intended to promote.]

[Footnote 5: This method was suggested to me by Professor Maconochie, who indeed prepared the glass on which the mice were etched.]

Collodion Negatives.—Allow me to communicate a sure and simple way of darkening collodion positives for printing. It was shown to me by a friend of mine; and not having seen it in your "N. & Q.," I have undertaken to lay it before your readers, hoping that it may be found useful to many beginners.

After having developed your picture, as a positive, with protosulphate of iron and nitric acid, wash it well from the developing fluid, and keep it on one end that all the water may drop from the plate. Then take three parts of a concentrated solution of gallic acid, and one part of a nitrate of silver solution, 60 grains to the ounce of water; mix together, and pour on the plate. The picture will gradually begin to blacken; and after half an hour or more, you will obtain a sufficient density for printing a positive on paper.

Every one who will take the trouble to try it will be sure to succeed. Of all the ways to blackening a picture for printing I have tried, not excepting Professor Maconochie's method with chloride of gold and muriate of ammonia, the surest I find is the one which I have laid before you. Just try it, and you will be glad with the result.

F. M. (a Maltese.)

Malta, Valetta.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

"London Labour and the London Poor" (Vol. viii., p. 527.).—I beg to inform MR. GANTILLON that the above work is discontinued. The parts entitled "Those that will work" and "Those that cannot work" have been completed, and form a valuable book; but the discontinuance of the third part is no loss at all, for in commencing upon "Those that will not work," Mr. Mayhew began with a history of prostitution in ancient and modern times, a subject which did not possess the novelty or originality of his other divisions, and consequently his readers fell off so fast that he was forced first to raise the price of, and afterwards to discontinue altogether, the publication. Probably, if he had confined himself to treating the London prostitutes as he did the costermongers, the work would have been completed, and would then have formed a complete encyclopaedia of London Labour and the London Poor.

ARTHUR C. WILSON.

Brompton.

Felicia Hemans's inedited Lyric (Vol. viii., p. 407.).—Your correspondent MR. WELD TAYLOR seems to possess the first rude draught of the following beautiful piece by Felicia Hemans, entitled, "The Elfin Call," a duet sung by Miss A. Williams and Miss M. Williams, Miss Messent and Miss Dolby, Mrs. A. Newton and Miss Lanza, Miss Cubitt and Miss Porter, Mrs. Aveling Smith and Miss Sara Flower, Miss Emma Lucombe and Miss Eliza Birch, Miss Turner and Miss E. Turner. The music by Stephen Glover:

"Come away, Elves! while the dew is sweet, Come to the dingles where fairies meet; Know that the lilies have spread their bells O'er all the pools in our forest dells; Come away, under arching bows we'll float, Making each urn a fairy boat; We'll row them with reeds o'er the fountains free, And a tall flag-leaf shall our streamer be. And we'll send out wild music so sweet and low, It shall seem from the bright flower's heart to flow; As if 'twere a breeze with a flute's low sigh, Or water-drops train'd into melody, And a star from the depth of each pearly cup, A golden star into heav'n looks up, As if seeking its kindred where bright they lie, Set in the blue of the summer sky."

J. YEOWELL.

Sir Arthur Aston (Vol. viii., pp. 126. 302.).—Though unable to inform CHARTHAM and A READER in what part of the co. of Berks the above cavalier resided during the interval of time named by the former, I think I can state the connexion, by marriage only, between the Tattersall and Aston families: I believe it will be found that they were not "nearly related."

Thomas Howard, fourth duke of Norfolk, by his first wife, Mary Fitzalan, had Philip (jure matris), Earl of Arundel, who died 1595 attainted, and was succeeded by Thomas, created Earl of Norfolk. This last was father of Henry Frederick and grandfather of Charles Howard, of Greystock Castle, who married Mary, eldest daughter and coheiress of George Tattersall, of West Court, Finchampstead, and Stapleford, co. Wilts.

Charles Howard, as above, was the fourth brother of Henry, sixth Duke of Norfolk, which last was grandfather (through Thomas, his son, of Worksop) of Mary Howard, who married Walter Aston, fourth Baron Aston, of Forfar, in Scotland.

H. C. C.

I furnished a memoir of this famous soldier to the Gentleman's Magazine in 1833 or 1834.

G. STEINMAN STEINMAN.

Grammar in relation to Logic (Vol. viii., p. 514).—MR. INGLEBY evidently has but a superficial view of this doctrine, which is not only Dr. Latham's, but one, I apprehend, pretty well known to every Oxford undergraduate, viz. that, logically, conjunctions connect propositions, not words. By way of proving the falsity of it (which he says is demonstrable), he bids Dr. Latham "resolve this sentence: All men are either two-legged, one-legged, or no-legged:" and adds, "It cannot be done." I may inform him that the three categorical propositions, "A man is two-legged, or he is {630} one-legged, or he is no-legged," connected by their several copulas, are equivalent to and co-extensive with the disjunctive proposition which he instances.

MR. INGLEBY quotes Boole's Mathematical (?) Analysis of Logic in support of his opinion; but, from the following specimen of that work, it does not appear to be much of an authority. The author says:

"The proposition, Every animal is either rational or irrational, cannot be resolved into, Either every animal is rational or every animal is irrational. The former belongs to pure categoricals, the latter to hypotheticals."

Now the first sentence of this passage is an absurd truism; but the proposition in question can be resolved into—An animal is rational or it is irrational. Again, "the former does not belong to pure categoricals," it is simply disjunctive. MR. INGLEBY falls into the same error, and moreover seems not to be aware that a disjunctive proposition is at the same time hypothetical.

Logically speaking, a conjunction implies two propositions; and, strictly, connects propositions only. To say that conjunctions connect words, may be true in a certain sense; but it is a very superficial and loose mode of stating the matter.

H. C. K.

——Rectory, Hereford.

Descendants of Milton (Vol. viii., p. 339.).—I have in the course of my life met with or heard of more than once or twice, people of the same names, and those very uncommon ones, who were in no way related to each other; nevertheless, I venture to tell your correspondent J. F. M. that about twenty years ago there was living the skipper of a coasting vessel, trading between Bridport and London, named Caleb Clark. He or his family are probably living at Bridport now.

[Greek: Alpha].

Pronunciation of Bible Names (Vol. viii., p. 469.).—The clerk of a retired parish in North-west Devon, who had to read the first lesson always, used to make a hash of Shadrac, Meshac, and Abednego; and as the names are twelve times repeated in the third chapter of Daniel, after getting through them the first time, he called them "the aforesaid gentlemen" afterwards.

W. COLLYNS.

Harlow.

Henry I.'s Tomb (Vol. viii., p. 411.).—I fancy that the much mooted question, as to the existence of a monumental tomb over the remains of King Henry I. in Reading Abbey, may at once be set at rest by referring to Tanner's Notitia Monastica, edit. 1744, in the second column of p. 15.: where it is evident that a tomb and an effigy of King Henry I. had once existed; that they had both fallen into decay; and that, in the time of King Richard II., the Abbot of Reading was required to repair both the tomb and the effigy of King Henry the founder, who was there buried, within the space of one year, as the condition on which the charters were to be confirmed:

"Cart. 5 & 6 Ric. II. n. 24.; Pat. 8 Ric. II. p. 1. m. 18. Pat. 16 Ric. II. p. 1. m. 38.; Pat. 21 Ric. II. p. 3. m. 16. Confirm. Libertatum, modo Abbas infra unum Annum honeste repararet Tumbam et Imaginem R. Henrici Fundatoris, ibidem humati."

I. T. A.

Bells at Berwick-upon-Tweed (Vol. viii., p. 292.): Chandler, Bishop of Durham (Vol. viii, p. 331.).—I may perhaps "kill two birds with one stone," by reminding MESSRS. GATTY and NEWBURN that the Bishops of Durham were formerly Princes of the Palatinate. It was probably in that capacity that Bishop Chandler delivered a charge to the Grand Jury, and Bishop Barington licensed a meeting-house bell. This latter prelate was, I believe, the last who exercised the functions of that high office.

WM. HAZEL.

Return of Gentry, temp. Henry VI. (Vol. viii., p. 469.).—The return of 12th Henry VI. is printed in Fuller's Worthies, under each county.

G. STEINMAN STEINMAN.

I read in Fuller's Worthies, edit. Nuttall, vol. i. p. 60.:

"A later list might be presented of the English gentry towards the end of the reign of King Henry VIII."

Does this list exist in any of our record offices?

And has it ever been printed?

TEWARS.

Peter Allan (Vol. viii., p. 539.).—Your correspondent E. C. will find much interesting information respecting this person in an account of him reprinted from the Sunderland and Durham County Herald, and published (1848) by Vint and Carr, Sunderland, under the title of Marsden Rock, or the Story of Peter Allan, and Marsden Marine Grotto. He, his wife, eight children, and aged father and mother, are there described as being in a very flourishing condition: and (if I remember rightly) I saw them all, when I last visited the rock in 1850.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

Burial in an Erect Posture (Vol. viii., p. 5.).—The following passage, which I quote from Hearne's Collection of Antiquarian Discourses, vol. i. p. 212., may perhaps prove acceptable to CHEVERELLS, as showing (on traditional authority) that this mode of burial was anciently adopted in the case of captains in the army:

"For them above the grounde buryed, I have by tradition heard, that when anye notable captayne dyed in battel or campe, the souldyers used to take his bodye, and to sette him on his feet uprighte, and put his {631} launce or pike into his hand; and then his fellowe souldyers did by travell everye man bringe so muche earthe, and laye aboute him as should cover him, and mount up to cover the top of his pike."

I have a very curious print in my possession, illustrating the manners and customs of the Laplanders; and, amongst the rest, their modes of burial. In one case several bodies are represented standing in an upright posture, perfectly nude, with railings all round except in the front; and another, one body is represented in a similar condition, inclosed in a kind of sentry-box.

R. W. ELLIOTT.

Clifton.

The Word "Mob" (Vol. viii., pp. 386. 524. 573.).—Roger North, speaking of the King's Head, or Green Ribbon Club, which was "a more visible administration, mediate, as it were, between his lordship (Shaftsbury) and the greater and lesser vulgar, who were to be the immediate tools," says:

"I may note that the rabble first changed their title, and were called the mob, in the assemblies of this club. It was their beast of burthen, and called first mobile vulgus, but fell naturally into the contraction of one syllable, and ever since is become proper English."—Examen, part III. ch. vii. p. 89.

H. GARDINER.

Gen. Sir C. Napier (Vol. viii., p. 490.).—I may state, for the instruction of officers who think study needless in their profession, that, having enjoyed the intimate friendship of Sir C. Napier for some time before he had the command in the midland district of England, I constantly found him engaged in inquiries connected with his profession. He was always in training. Not long before this time he had returned from Caen, in Normandy, and he told me that when there he had surveyed the ground on which William the Conqueror had acquired military fame before he made his descent on England, and his conclusion was that that Conqueror was remarkably well instructed for his time in the art of war. He expressed his intention to write on this subject; but great events soon afterwards called him to India, which became the scene of his own mastery in military and civil command.

T. F.

To Come (Vol. viii., p. 468.).—In the Lower Saxon dialect, to come is camen, and the imperfect, as in Gothic, quam. It would therefore seem that the English came is not an innovation, but a partial restoration or preservation of a very ancient form. (See Adelung's Woerterbuch.)

E. C. H.

Passage in Sophocles (Vol. viii., pp. 73. 478.).—The Italics were introduced to draw attention to the new version which was adventured, "N. & Q." being an excellent medium for such suggestions.

Sophocles having referred to "an illustrious saying of some one," and the old scholiast having furnished this saying,

"[Greek: Hotan d' ho daimon andri porsunei kaka] [Greek: Ton noun eblapse proton hoi bouleuetai],"

it merely became necessary to compare the form which Sophocles adopted to suit his metre with the words of this "illustrious saying," whence it appeared that—

[Greek: hoi bouleuetai prassei d' oligoston chronon ektos atas];

and therefore I could not agree with the common version "and that he lives for a brief space apart from its visitation;" erroneous, as I submit, from the adoption of Brunck's reading [Greek: prassein], instead of reading, as I venture to do, with Hermann, [Greek: theos agei ... prassei d'], taking [Greek: theos] as the nominative of both verbs.

Neither the Oxford translation, Edwards's, nor Buckley's, renders [Greek: oligoston] "very brief," agreeably to the admonition of the old scholiast to the contrary. The word "practise" objected to is, I submit, derived from [Greek: prasso], to act, through [Greek: pragma], business, and [Greek: praxis], practice, and is therefore the most appropriate English word, although the word "does" will furnish Sophocles' meaning nearly as well. I shall, however, be most happy to submit to correction by any classical scholar.

T. J. BUCKTON.

Lichfield.

Party-Similes of the Seventeenth Century (Vol. viii., p. 485.).—I must beg of you to contradict the loose statement of JARLTZBERG at p. 486. of this Volume, "as to the object of the Church of England in separating from Rome." Now, the Church of England did never separate herself from any Christian Church; the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England is to be found in her Book of Common Prayer. Popes Paul IV. and Pius IV. offered to confirm this book, if Queen Elizabeth would acknowledge the Pope's supremacy; and Roman Catholics in these realms habitually conformed to the worship of the Church of England for the first twelve years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, after which time they were prevented from doing so by the bull of Pius V. (dated Feb. 23, 1569), which excommunicated that sovereign.

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