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[Transcriber's note: Original spelling variations have not been
standardized. Saxon and German blackletter characters have been marked
with braces {d}. The paragraph sign is shown as [p]. _Underscores_ have
been used to indicate _italic_ fonts; =equal signs= mark =bold= text.
Some Hebrew words may not be shown in an adequate way in this version. A
list of volumes and pages in "Notes and Queries" has been added at the
end.]




NOTES and QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION

FOR

LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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

VOL. V.--No. 118. SATURDAY, JANUARY 31. 1852.

Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5_d._




CONTENTS.

                                                                Page


      Calamities of Authors                                       97

      NOTES:--

      Portraits of Wolfe, by Edw. Auchmuty Glover                 98

      Notes on Homer, No. I., by Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie          99

      French Revolutions foretold                                100

      Idees Napoleoniennes, by Henry H. Breen                    100

      Dr. Johnson's Contributions to Baretti's Introduction,
      by James Crossley                                          101

      Minor Notes:--Bishop Bedell--Foreign Guide-books--Wearing
      Gloves in Presence of Royalty--Errors
      of Poets                                                   101

      QUERIES:--

      The Poet Collins                                           102

      Portraits of Henry Purcell, by Dr. E. F. Rimbault          103

      Query on the Controversy about Fluxions, by Professor
      De Morgan                                                  103

      Minor Queries:--Madrigal, Meaning of--"Experto
      crede Roberto"--Chronological Institute--Buzz--The
      Old Scots March--Hans Holbein--Ivory Medallion
      of Lord Byron--Trumpington Church--"Carmen
      Perpetuum," &c.--"The Retired Christian"--The
      Garrote--Monastic Establishments in Scotland--Bonds
      of Clearwell and Redbrook--Eliza Fenning--"Character
      of a True Churchman"--"A Roaring
      Meg"--Cardinal Pole--Theoloneum--Sterne in
      Paris--King Robert Bruce's Watch                           104

      Minor Queries Answered:--Hornchurch; Wrestling
      for the Boar's Head--Spectacles--Stoke--Author of
      Psalm Tune "Doncaster"--Dr. Henry Sacheverell              106

      REPLIES:--

      Meaning and Origin of Era                                  106

      Singing of Swans                                           107

      Queen Brunehilda, by Samuel Hickson                        108

      Coverdale's Bible, by the Rev. Henry Walter                109

      Serjeants' Rings and Mottoes                               110

      Extermination of Early Christians in Orkney                111

      The Crime of Poisoning punished by Boiling, by John
      Gough Nichols, &c.                                         112

      Replies to Minor Queries:--List of English
      Sovereigns --Moravian Hymns--Age of Trees; "Essex Broad
      Oak"--Arrangement of Books--The Ring-finger--Count
      Koenigsmark--Petition respecting the Duke of
      Wellington--Reichenbach's Ghosts--The Broad
      Arrow--Quarter Waggoner, &c.                               113

      MISCELLANEOUS:--

      Notes on Books, &c.                                        117

      Books and Odd Volumes wanted                               117

      Notices to Correspondents                                  118

      Advertisements                                             118




CALAMITIES OF AUTHORS.

In "N. & Q." of the 17th of this month a correspondent, under the
signature of A SMALL AUTHOR, pointed out, with much humour, and good
humour, the manner in which he had been applied to and induced to part
with certain "theological tomes" to some mysterious but most
"influential" critic. Since that article appeared we have received
information, which shows that the practice complained of is one which is
being carried on to a considerable extent; and we therefore think we
shall be doing some service, both to authors and publishers, by
reprinting in our columns the following correspondence between Messrs.
Butterworth and Sir J. E. Eardley Wilmot on the subject.

  (Copies.)

  Fleet Street, January 2nd, 1852.

  Dear Sir,--Authors with whom we have transactions, as well as
  ourselves, have recently been frequently applied to for
  publications "for the purpose of review in the daily, and other
  journals," by a person signing himself "JOHN B. EARDLEY WILMOT;"
  and as we happen to know, in an instance that has just occurred,
  we have been directed by one of our authors to send his works to
  the individual making application for the same under the
  impression that you were the party who did so, we write therefore
  in the first instance, as we have our doubts on the subject, to
  inquire if we are correct in presuming it is yourself who proffer
  the services of a reviewer, as in such case we shall be happy in
  sending the publications applied for, to be noticed accordingly.
  In the event of the letter alluded to (and which we send for your
  inspection) not having emanated from you, we beg you will further
  oblige us by stating if you know anything of the party who signs
  his name in a manner so similar to yourself.

      Waiting your reply,

      We are, dear Sir,
      Yours very respectfully,
      (Signed) H. BUTTERWORTH & CO.

      To Sir J. E. Eardley Wilmot, Bart,
      Barrister at Law, King's Bench Walk, Temple.


  Sessions, Warwick, January 5th, 1852.

  Dear Sirs,--I have the honour of acknowledging your letter of the
  2nd inst., which has been forwarded to me here.

  I have already on more than one occasion been applied to, to know
  if I am the individual who signs himself "J. B. EARDLEY WILMOT,"
  and who it seems is in the habit of writing to publishers, to ask
  for copies of new works, for the alleged purpose of getting them
  reviewed. Not three weeks ago I found on my table at my chambers
  in the Temple three very expensive books, which had been sent to
  me by Messrs. Longman & Co., supposing that I had offered to
  review them. I am very glad of the opportunity your letter affords
  me of stating that the individual who thus signs himself and I
  myself are totally different persons; I have no connection or
  influence whatever with any literary journal, nor have I ever been
  a writer in any, and I need scarcely assure you I have never asked
  any publisher in my life for a copy of any new work in the manner
  adopted by the individual to whom you allude.

  I may as well add, that there is no member of my family whose
  initials are J. B. Eardley Wilmot, nor is there, to the best of my
  knowledge, any family in England, except my own, which combines
  the two surnames of Eardley Wilmot. I must therefore presume that
  the signature of J. B. Eardley Wilmot is entirely a fictitious
  one, and adopted for sinister purposes.

  I beg to express my acknowledgments to you, for enabling me to set
  myself right with the literary world, more especially as I have
  lately brought out a little work of my own on a subject entirely
  professional.

      I am, Gentlemen,
      Your obedient Servant,
      (Signed) J. E. EARDLEY WILMOT.

      To Messrs. Butterworth,
      Law Booksellers and Publishers,
      Fleet Street, London.

We will but add one small fact. An author who had been applied to by
another influential reviewer, the Rev. A. B. Clerk, directed his
publisher to forward a copy of his book _by post_ to the place
specified. The publisher sent it _by rail_. The consequence was that the
reverend reviewer complained that the book had not reached him: while
the railway people _returned it because no such person could be found in
the place at which he professed to reside_.




Notes.


PORTRAITS OF WOLFE.

As the readers of "N. & Q." seem to take an interest in everything
connected with the celebrated and heroic Wolfe, I may mention that my
family possess two small paintings of that distinguished general, but by
whom painted is unknown, though they are supposed to have been executed
by some officer present with him at the taking of Quebec. A description
of them may not be unacceptable to your readers. One represents Wolfe in
the act of tying a handkerchief round his wrist, after he had been
wounded at the commencement of the battle on the Heights of Abraham;
and, from its unfinished appearance, seems to have been but a _premiere
pensee_ of the artist,--Wolfe's figure being the only one finished. The
other represents him leaning on a soldier, just after receiving the
fatal ball which deprived him of life, and his country of one of her
greatest heroes. The family tradition connected with both these
paintings is that they were painted immediately after his death by one
of his aide-de-camps, or by an officer in the forces under his command.
On the panels of the latter painting is the following inscription, some
of the words being partially effaced:

  "This painting represents the death of my [_here the words are
  effaced, but, as far as I can make them out, they are_] friend
  General Wolfe, who fell on the Heights of Abraham on [_nearly
  effaced_][the 13th day of September] 1759, before he could rejoice
  in the victory gained that day over the French."

"H. C." or "G." are the initials attached to this inscription, and under
it are written, in old-fashioned style, and in old paper, pasted to the
panels, the following lines, which I transcribe, as I have never seen
them elsewhere:

      "In the thick of the Fight, Wolfe's plume was display'd,
        And his [_effaced_] coat was dusty and gory,
      As flash'd on high his sabre's blade
        O'er that Field where he [fell][_or_][died] with such glory.

      "On Abraham's Heights he fought that day
        With his soldiers side by side,
      And he [mov'd][_or_][led them] along thro' that dreadful fray
        As Old England's Hope and Pride.

      "But short was the Hero's immortal career,
        For as the battle was nearly o'er
      He fell by a ball from a French musketeer,
        Which bath'd his breast with gore.

      "When wounded he leant on a soldier nigh,
        And the victory just was won,--
      For he heard aloud the cheering cry,
        'They run! they run! they run!'--

      "He faintly ask'd from whence that sound,
        And being answer'd, 'The Enemy fly,'
      He exclaim'd, as he slowly sunk to the ground,
        'Oh God! in peace I die.'

      "And there stretch'd he lay on the blood-stain'd green,
        Which a warrior's death-bed should be,
      And as in Life victorious Wolfe had been,
        So in Death triumphant was he."

There appear to have been initials affixed to these lines, but they are
effaced, as well as many words and letters which I have rather guessed
at than read. These paintings belonged to a great-uncle of mine,
Malborough Parsons Stirling, Colonel of the 36th Foot, who died Governor
of the Island of Pondicherry, and who, it is believed, received them
from his friend, Sir Samuel Auchmuty; but nothing positive is known of
their history, farther than that they are believed to have been the work
of some personal friend or aide-de-camp of Wolfe's, present with him at
the battle of Quebec. A portion of the sash said to have been worn by
him at the time of his death, and saturated with his blood, also
accompanied these paintings. This description may enable some of your
readers to discover by whom these paintings were executed; to whom they
originally belonged; and if there are duplicates of them in existence,
where they may be seen.

    EDW. AUCHMUTY GLOVER.


NOTES ON HOMER, NO. I.

_Homeric Literature._

There has been a very great difficulty in the world of literature, which
it were almost vain to think of removing. This difficulty is that
usually known as "the Homeric question." After the folios and quartos of
the grand old scholars of antiquity; after the octavos of Wolf, Heyne,
and Knight; after the able chapters of Grote, and the eloquent volumes
of Mure; after the Alexandrian Chorizontes; and after the incidental
reflections on the subject scattered through thousands of volumes, it
seems almost hazardous, and indeed useless, to offer any more
conjectures on "the bard of ages," and (to use the phrase of the
novelists) "his birth, education, and adventures." On a consideration of
the question, however, it will be seen that (strange fact!) the subject
is not yet exhausted; I shall therefore, with your kind assistance,
submit a retrospective view of the matter to the readers of "N. & Q.,"
and afterwards attempt to show what results may be drawn from the united
labour of so many minds. I shall then give a _resume_, first, of the
ancient history bearing on Homer, and, continuing the sketch to the late
volumes of Mure, draw my own conclusions, which, after much patient
consideration, I must say, appear to be nearer an approximation to the
truth, than any theory which has yet been promulgated.

Let us cast our eyes on antiquity. This very much misunderstood period
of the earth's progress offers to us the proofs of an appreciation of
Homer to which literary history affords but one parallel. The
magnificent flights of thought, which the Hellenes could so well
accompany, the tone of colouring at once so subdued and so glorious,
gained for the unknown poet a reputation everlasting and world and
age-wide. But as time fled by, there arose a race of men who wrote
poetry as schoolboys do Latin, by judiciously arranging (or _vice
versa_) appropriate lines from the earlier poets, called Cyclic poets,
or _cento_-makers. The men who wrote thus were, probably, persons either
engaged in itinerant vocal pursuits, or regular verse makers, who wrote
"on a subject," as our own street writers on the present day. Indeed, I
may say, that the state of the rhapsodists of Greece resembles much that
of our own "itinerant violinists," as an eminent counsel once
apostrophized the class which the excellent judge on the bench named,
according to general custom, "blin' fiddlers." The probable reason for
the introduction of passages into the original Homeric compositions was
the necessity of a novelty. The Cyclic poems are to Homer what the
letters of Poplicola, Anti-Sejanus, Correggio, Moderator, and the rest,
were to Junius. However, they prove in a remarkable manner how great the
excitement regarding "the poet," as Aristoteles calls him, ever
continued to be in Hellas.

These gentlemen, whose object was not to disgrace Homer by their puling
compositions, but only to practically observe the maxims subsequently
instilled by Iago into Roderigo's mind (viz., to "put money in their
purse"), were the precursors of another race of writers. In ancient
times, we are informed by Tatian[1], there were many writers on Homer,
whose works, it is to be lamented, have perished with the nominal
exception of a few fragments,--though, perhaps, scholars will once learn
to use those as a clue, and find, as Burges did in the case of
Thucydides[2], that many valuable passages are lying hid in the pages of
the lexicographers, who spared themselves the trouble of writing fresh
matter, by merely slightly changing the expressions of their sources,
and not "bothering" their lexicographical brains by attempting original
composition. It is thus, that even the weaknesses of the human mind
benefit after ages!

  [Footnote 1: Fabr. _Bibl. Graec._ II. 1. iii.]

  [Footnote 2: _Journ. of the Royal Soc. of Literature_, vol, ii.,
  New Series, and afterwards in a pamphlet in 1845.]

The names furnished us by Tatian are these:--Theagenes of Rhegium (the
earliest writer of whom we are cognizant, contemporary with Cambyses);
Stesimbrotos of Thasos (contemporary with Pericles[3]); Antimachos of
Claros; Herodotos, Dionysios of Olynthos, Ephoros of Cyme; Philochoros
of Athens, Metacleides, Chamaeleon of Heracleia[4]; Zenodotos of Ephesus,
(B.C. 280); Aristophanes of Byzantium (B.C. 264); Callimachus, whose
poetry, by the way, is dryer and more vapid than his prose, if the
little we have left of him allows us to form an opinion; Crates of
Malfus (B.C. 157); Eratosthenes of Cyrene; Aristarchos of Samothrace,
and Apollodoros of Athens. The minds or pens of these men in Hellas
alone, were occupied with this grand subject; and in Rome, that city of
translations and "crib," we find the pens of the scribes were at work,
and prolific in prolixity. Besides these authors, there are others whose
attempts at illustrating the text of the writers of antiquity have been
met in a most illiberal manner; I mean the Scholiasts, who have been
treated most unjustly. A goodly host of scribblers looks forth from the
grave of antiquity. And here, before proceeding to speak of the theories
of later times, it may be permitted me to suggest that casual allusions
by writers who write not expressly on the subject, and who are
sufficiently accurate on those points to which they have directed their
attention, are often more valuable than the folios of writers who go on
the principle of book-making.

  [Footnote 3: Plato, _Ion_, p. 550. c.; Xenoph. _Mem._ iv. 2. [p]
  10.; _Sympos._ iii. 5.; Plutarch, _Themist._ 2. 24.; _Cim._ 4. 14.
  16.; _Per._ 8. 10. 13. 26. 36.; Strabo, x. p. 472.; Athen. xiii.
  p. 598. e.]

  [Footnote 4: Quoted by Athenaeus (ix. p. 374. a.) under the title
  of [Greek: Peri tes archaias komodias], which, however, is also
  the name of a work by Eumelus.]

To enumerate the modern works of Homeric controversy, would be an
endless and tedious task, nay, even useless, when so able and full an
account exists in Engelmann's _Bibliotheca Classica_. The chief works,
however, are Wolf's _Prolegomena_; Wood's _Essay on the Original Genius
of Homer_; Creuzer, _Symbolik und Mythologie_; Hermann, _Briefwechsel
mit Creuzer ueber Homer und Hesiod_; Welcker, _Der Epische Cyclus_;
Lange, _Ueber die Kyklischen Dichter und den sogenannten Epischen Kyklus
der Griechen_; Lachmann, _Fernere Betrachtungen ueber die Ilias_
(_Abhandl. Berlin. Acad. 1841_); Voss, Nitzsch, O. Mueller, Thirlwall
(_Hist. of Greece_, vol. i. appendix 1. p. 500. foll.), _Quarterly
Review_, No. lxxxvii., Grote (_Hist. of Greece_, pt. i. chapter xxi.
vol. ii.), Mure's _Critical History of the Language and Literature of
Antient Greece_, the article in Smith's _Dictionary_, vol. ii. p. 500.,
and Giovanni Battista Vico (_Principi di Scienza nuova_).

The foregoing writers are the principal who have occupied themselves
with the subject. I will, in my next paper, pass on to a review of the
question itself.

    KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.

  January 26. 1852.


FRENCH REVOLUTIONS FORETOLD.

It seems strange to find in Dr. Jackson's _Works_ a prophecy which, if
then thought applicable to the French nation, is much more so now. I
have no opportunity of verifying his reference, but will extract all
verbatim, giving the Italics as I find them:--

  "And without prejudice to many noble patriots and worthy members
  of Christ this day living in that famous kingdom of _France_, I
  should interpret that dream of _Bassina (see Aimoinus, aliter
  Annonius) de Gestis Francorum, lib. i. c. 7. & 8. in the Corpus
  Franciae Histor., Printed in folio, 1613, Hanoviae_, Queen unto
  _Childerick_ the First, of the present state of _France_: in which
  the last part of that threefold vision is more truly verified than
  it was even in the lineal succession of _Childerick_ and
  _Bassina_, or any of the _Merovingian_ or _Carlovingian_ families.
  The vision was of three sorts of beasts: the _first, lions and
  leopards_; the _second, bears and wolves_; the _third, of dogs, or
  lesser creatures_, biting and devouring one another.

  "The interpretation which _Bassina_ made of it was registered
  certain hundred years ago. That these troups of vermin or lesser
  creatures did signifie a people without fear or reverence of their
  princes, so pliable and devoutly obsequious to follow the peers or
  potentates of that nation in their factious quarrels, that they
  should involve themselves in inextricable tumults to their own
  destruction. Had this vision been painted only with this general
  notification, that it was to be _emblematically_ understood of
  some state in Europe: who is he that can discern a picture by the
  known party whom it represents, but could have known as easily
  that this was a map of those miseries that lately have befallen
  _France_, whose bowels were almost rent and torn with civil and
  domestic broyls? _God grant her closed wounds fall not to bleed
  afresh again. And that her people be not so eagerly set to bite
  and tear one another (like dogs or other testie creatures) until
  all become a prey to wolves and bears, or other great ravenous
  beasts_, which seek not so much to tear or rent in heat of
  revenge, as lie in wait continually to devour and swallow with
  insatiate greediness the whole bodies of mighty kingdoms, and to
  die her robes, that rides as queen of monsters upon that _many
  headed beast_, with streams of bloud that issue from the bodies
  squeezed and crushed between their violent teeth; yea, even with
  the _royal bloud_ of kings and princes."--_Works_, book i. cap.
  xiii. lib. i. pp. 46-7.: Lond. 1673, fol.

    RT.

  Warmington.


IDEES NAPOLEONIENNES.

We hear a vast deal in these ages of what are called "Idees
Napoleoniennes," the wisdom of Napoleon, and so forth. Some of this is
invented by the writers, and ascribed to Napoleon; some of it is no
wisdom at all; and some is what may be called second-hand wisdom, an old
familiar face with a new dress. Of the latter sort is the famous saying:

  "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but a step."

For this remark Napoleon has obtained considerable notice: but the truth
is, he borrowed it from Tom Paine; Tom Paine borrowed it from Hugh
Blair, and Hugh Blair from Longinus. Napoleon's words are:--

      "Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas."

The passage in Tom Paine, whose writings were translated into French as
early as 1791, stands thus:--

  "The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that
  it is difficult to class them separately; one step above the
  sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous
  makes the sublime again."

Blair has a remark akin to this:

  "It is indeed extremely difficult to hit the precise point where
  true wit ends and buffoonery begins."

But the passage in Blair, from which Tom Paine adopted his notion of the
sublime and the ridiculous, is that in which Blair, commenting on
Lucan's style, remarks:--

  "It frequently happens that where the second line is sublime, the
  third, in which he meant to rise still higher, is perfectly
  bombast."

Lastly, this saying was borrowed by Blair from his brother rhetorician,
Longinus, who, in his _Treatise on the Sublime_, has the following
sentence at the beginning of section iii.:--

  "[Greek: Tetholotai gar te phrasei, kai tethorybetai tais phantasiais
  mallon, e dedeinotai, kan hekaston auton pros
  augas anaskopes, ek tou phoberou kat' oligon hyponostei
  pros to eukataphroneton.]"

This is referred to by Warton in his comments on Pope's translation of
the _Thebais of Statius_; and Dr. Croly, apparently unacquainted with
the passages in Paine and Blair, describes it, in his edition of Pope,
as the anticipation of Napoleon's celebrated remark. It will be seen
that the original saying, in its various peregrinations, has undergone a
slight modification, Longinus making the translation a gradual one,
"[Greek: kat' oligon]," while Blair, Paine, and Napoleon make it but "a
step." Yet, notwithstanding this disguise, the marks of its paternity
are sufficiently traceable.

So much for this celebrated "mot." And, after all, there is very little
wit or wisdom in it, that is not expressed or suggested by La
Rochefoucauld's _Maxims_:--

  "La plus subtile folie se fait de la plus subtile sagesse."

  "Plus on aime une maitresse, plus on est pres de la hair;"

or by Rousseau's remark--

      "Tout etat qui brille est sur son declin;"

or by Beaumarchais' exclamation--

      "Que les gens d'esprit sont betes!"

or by the old French proverb--

      "Les extremes se touchent;"

or by the English adage--

      "The darkest hour is nearest the dawn;"

or, lastly, by any of the following passages in our own poets:--

                      ----"Evils that take leave,
      On their departure most of all show evil."

      _Shakspeare._

      "Wit, like tierce claret, when't begins to pall,
      Neglected lies, and's of no use at all;
      But in its full perfection of decay
      Turns vinegar, and comes again in play."

      _Rochester._

      "Great wits are sure to madness near allied,
      And thin partitions do their bounds divide."

      _Dryden._

      "There's but the twinkling of a star
      Between a man of peace and war."

      _Butler._

      "For men as resolute appear
      With too much as too little fear."

      _Butler._

      "Th' extremes of glory and of shame,
      Like east and west become the same:
      No Indian prince has to his palace
      More followers, than a thief to the gallows."

      _Butler._

      "For as extremes are short of ill or good,
      And tides at highest mark regorge the flood;
      So fate, that could no more improve their joy,
      Took a malicious pleasure to destroy."

      _Dryden._

      "Extremes in nature equal ends produce,
      And oft so mix, the difference is too nice
      Where ends the virtue or begins the vice."

      _Pope._

I might adduce other instances, but these are sufficient to show that
the sentiment owes nothing to Napoleon but the sanction of his great
name, and the pithy sentence in which he has embodied it.

    HENRY H. BREEN.

  St. Lucia, Nov. 1851.


DR. JOHNSON'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO BARETTI'S INTRODUCTION.

Boswell notices Dr. Johnson having in 1775 written the preface to
Baretti's _Easy Lessons in Italian and English_; but neither he nor his
editors appear to have been aware of the preface which Dr. Johnson
contributed to an earlier work by Baretti, his _Introduction to the
Italian Language_, London, 1775, 8vo. It is accompanied by an Italian
translation, and is written with all his usual vigour, and commences:

  "Unjust objections commonly proceed from unreasonable expectation;
  writers are often censured for omitting what they never intended
  to perform."

The note, p 48:

  "Though the design of these notes is rather to teach grammar than
  morality, yet, as I think nothing a deviation that can serve the
  cause of virtue," &c.,

and the excellent remarks, p. 198., on Machiavel's _Life of Castruccio
Castracani_, have every internal evidence of Johnson's style, and were
no doubt dictated by him to Baretti, for whom Johnson in the same year,
1755, endeavours to obtain the loan of _Crescimbeni_ from Thomas Warton
(Croker's _Boswell_, edit. 1848, p. 91.).

Nothing is more wanted than a good and complete edition of Johnson's
Works, in which omissions similar to the above, of which I have a long
list when required, may be supplied. His prefaces and dedications to the
works of other writers are all models in their way, and not one of them
ought to be lost.

    JAS. CROSSLEY.


Minor Notes.

_Bishop Bedell._--This divine, to remind him of the need he had of being
cleansed and purified in heart by the Spirit, chose an ingenious device,
consisting of a flaming crucible, with a Hebrew motto, signifying,
"Take from me all my tin," in allusion to Isaiah i. 25. The reason for
selecting these particular words was, that the Hebrew word for _tin_ is
_bedil_.

    CLERICUS (D.)

_Foreign Guide-books._--The samples of foreign English preserved in your
pages are nearly equalled in ludicrous effect by the novel information
often found in guide-books and manuals published on the continent for
the use of strangers in England. Our metropolis is an inexhaustible
subject of blunders on the part of the compilers of these works, of whom
not a few deserve to rank with the Frenchman who, having heard something
of a coal duty in connexion with St. Paul's, gravely told his readers
that the cathedral was built on _sea-coal_.

The following extract is from a work entitled _Londres et ses Environs_,
Paris, 2 vols. with plates: the compiler states that, having resided
fifteen years in London, "il est, plus que tout autre, en etat d'en
parler avec certitude."

  "Ce gouffre majestueux a englouti la ville de Westminster, le
  bourg de Southwark, et quarante-cinq villages, dont les noms,
  conserves dans les differens quartiers qu'ils occupaient, sont--

      Mora
      Islington
      Falgate
      Mile End New Town
      Ratcliffe
      The Hermitage
      The Strand
      Shoreditch
      White Chapel
      Stepney
      Wapping
      The Minories
      S. James
      Bloomsbury
      Soho
      Saffron Hill
      Lambeth math
      The Grange
      Finsbury
      Hoxton
      The Spital
      Poplar
      Shadwell
      S. Catherine's
      Charing Cross
      S. Giles in the Fields
      Holborn
      Kennington
      Horsley Down
      Wenlaxbarn
      Wauxhall
      Newington Butts
      Rotherhite
      Clerkenwell
      Norton
      Mile End Old Town
      Limehouse
      East Smith Field
      S. Clement Danes
      Knightsbridge
      Portpool
      Lambeth
      Bermondsey
      Paddington, et
      Mary-le-Bone."

      Vol. i. pp. 39, 40.

We have here a strange admixture of the names of parishes, streets, and
prebends; amongst the last are Portpool, Mora, and Wenlake's Barn, the
precise locality of which many old Londoners would be puzzled to state.

I think the following specimen of foreigners' English, which appeared as
the address of a huge package received at the Exhibition, is worth
adding to your collection:--

      "Sir Vyat and Sir Fox Henderson Esqvire
      Grate Exposition
      Parc of Hide
      at London.

      "Glace
      to be posid upright."

    JAMES T. HAMMACK.

_Wearing Gloves in Presence of Royalty_ (Vol. i., p. 366.; Vol. ii., pp.
165. 467.).--Hull, in his _History of the Glove Trade_, says that
Charles IV., King of Spain, was so much under the influence of any lady
who wore white kid gloves, that the use of them at Court was strictly
prohibited. He refers the reader to the _Memoires de la Duchesse
d'Abrantes_, tome viii. p. 35.

    PHILIP S. KING.

_Errors of Poets._--In Vol. iv., p. 150., amongst the "Errors of
Painters" a picture is noticed, in which "the five wise and five foolish
virgins have increased into two sevens." A similar mistake is made by
Longfellow in his last poem, _The Golden Legend_, p. 219., where one of
the characters says:

      "Here we stand as the Virgins Seven,
      For our celestial bridegroom yearning;
      Our hearts are lamps for ever burning,
      With a steady and unwavering flame,
      Pointing upward for ever the same,
      Steadily upward toward the Heaven."

    H. C. DE ST. CROIX.




Queries.


THE POET COLLINS.

The deeply interesting additions lately made in your pages to our
knowledge of General Wolfe, induces me to hope, if not quite to expect,
that something, however small, may be done in the same joint-stock
manner for the memory of the poet Collins. Sir Egerton Brydges asserts
that "new facts regarding Collins are not to be had," and I am deeply
sensible of the value of Mr. Dyce's labours, as well as of those of the
editor of Mr. Pickering's Aldine edition of his works. No pains,
trouble, or expense, have been spared in collecting and arranging the
"dulces exuviae" of the highly gifted poet; and the memoir prefixed to
Pickering's edition reflects no small credit upon the good taste and
feeling of the editor.

Still may I not ask, through the medium of the "N. & Q.," whether some
further discoveries may not possibly be made? Cannot any one connected
with the town of Chichester, where Collins was born and died--any one
brought up at Winchester College, where he was educated, lend a helping
hand? Are there no additional traces of him as directly or indirectly
associated with the Wartons, Johnson, Quin, Garrick, Foote, and Thomson?
Cannot some of his letters be discovered? Some fragments of his poetry,
however disjointed? Some portions of his prose? There seems a mystery
about Collins himself, as strange as that about his own weird
compositions. Though beloved and admired by all, no one ever picked up
accurate information respecting him. He has been blamed for waywardness
and want of perseverance, as if these were not symptoms of the fearful
visitation that wrecked his noble mind; or as if perseverance and
concentration of energies in any pursuit were not natural gifts as much
as acquired, and gifts of a high and most valuable kind too. Collins did
not want perseverance whilst at school: he came off first on the roll of
which Joseph Warton was second; and his _Oriental Eclogues_, written
before his eighteenth year, are not unworthy of the boyhood of any of
our greatest poets. Besides, he was a highly accomplished classical
scholar, an accurate linguist, was well read in early English poetry and
black-letter books, was passionately fond of music; and some of his
poems, if nothing else, prove him to have viewed nature with a painter's
eye. In his own line of poetry, the personification of abstract
qualities, Collins stands unrivalled. Let us but compare him with all or
any of his numerous imitators, and we ever find him in the calm dignity
of genius,

      "Sitting where they durst not soar."

Amidst such a number of book-learned correspondents as you have, surely
I may "lay the flattering unction to my soul" that some interesting
discoveries could be made.

Collins is well worthy of all that can be done for his memory, for if
his _Ode on the Passions_ and his _Ode to Evening_ be not true poetry, I
fear that the English language has not much poetry to produce.

    RT.

  Warmington.


PORTRAITS OF HENRY PURCELL.

Being employed upon an entirely new biography of _Henry Purcell_, I am
most anxious to procure all the information in my power relative to the
various portraits extant of this "famous musician." Granger's list is
very imperfect, but having by my own researches considerably extended
it, I submit it to your readers for perusal, in the hope that those who
are versed in the lore of "print" or "picture collecting" may correct
errors, or point out omissions.

  _Paintings and Drawings._

  1. Head of Purcell, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Lately in the
  possession of E. Bates, Esq., of Somerset House.

  2. Half-length, said (but evidently erroneously) to have been
  painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Now in the meeting-room of the
  Royal Society of Musicians, Lisle Street, Soho.

  3. Half-length, originally used as a sign at the tavern known by
  the name of "The Purcell's Head," in Wych Street, Strand. Query,
  where is it at present?

  4. Portrait of Purcell when a very young man, formerly among
  Cartwright's pictures in Dulwich College. Query, what has become
  of it?

  5. An original portrait by Closterman. In his hand is a miniature
  of Queen Mary. Formerly in the collection of Charles Burney, Mus.
  Doc., at whose sale it was sold, in 1814, for 18_l._ 18_s._ I
  cannot trace this picture.

  6. Crayon drawing, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, from the
  first-mentioned painting. Formerly in Mr. Bartleman's collection.

  _Engravings._

  1. An engraving by T. Cross, prefixed as frontispiece to his
  _Twelve Sonatas_, 1683.

  2. Ditto, by R. White, from a painting by Closterman. Frontispiece
  to the _Orpheus Britannicus_.

  3. Ditto, engraved by W. N. Gardiner, from a drawing by S.
  Harding, taken from the original picture in Dulwich College, 1794.

  4. Ditto, by T. Holloway, from the crayon drawing by Sir Godfrey
  Kneller.

  5. An etching inscribed "Henry Purcell," but without the name of
  painter or engraver.

  6. A small engraving, by Grignion, in Sir John Hawkins's _History
  of Music_.

  7. An engraving by W. Humphries, after Sir Godfrey Kneller.
  Frontispiece to Novello's edit. of Purcell's _Sacred Music_.

    EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.


QUERY ON THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT FLUXIONS.

In the report made by the Committee of the Royal Society, it is stated
that the Committee had "consulted the Letters and Letter-books in the
custody of the Royal Society, and those found among the Papers of Mr.
_John Collins_....;" thus leaving it doubtful whether Collins's papers
_then_ belonged to the Society, or, it may be, meaning to distinguish
them as not so belonging.

In the preface to the _Analysis per Quantitatum Series_ ... by William
Jones (father of his more celebrated namesake), London, 1711, 4to.,
which contains some of the matter published in 1712 in the _Commercium
Epistolicum_, occurs the following passage:--

  "Etenim secundus jam agitur annus ex quo Scrinia _D. Collinsii_
  (qui, uti notum est, amplissimum cum sui saeculi Mathematicis
  commercium habuit) meas in manus inciderint; et in illis plurima
  reperi a cunctis fere totius _Europae_ eruditis ipsi communicata;
  et inter ea non pauca, quae a Viro Cl. D. _Newtono_ scripta
  fuerint."

This is hardly language which could be used with reference to papers
lodged in the custody of the Society: it would seem as if Jones, in 1709
or 1710, became the owner or borrower of papers, till then in private
hands exclusively. Can any evidence be brought forward as to the manner
in which Jones and the Royal Society, or either, obtained these papers?
I believe the Royal Society itself can give no information.

    A. DE MORGAN.


Minor Queries.

_Madrigal, Meaning of._--What is the derivation of the word _madrigal_?

    NEMO.

"_Experto crede Roberto._"--Can any of your correspondents inform me
what is the origin of the expression so frequently quoted, "Experto
crede Roberto?"

    W. L.

_Chronological Institute._--I understand a Chronological Institute has
been formed in London. Can you inform me where a prospectus can be
obtained?

    F. B. RELTON.

_Buzz._--What is the derivation of the word _buzz_, _i.e._ empty the
bottle; and how came it to have that extraordinary meaning?

    W.

_The Old Scots March._--Can any of your correspondents throw light on
the _measure_ of the "Old Scots March," which appears to have been beat
with triumphant success as to many of the onslaughts, infalls, and other
martial progresses of Gustavus's valiant brigades?

Grose has given what he styles "The English March," as ordered to be
beat by Prince Henry. And as a pendant, the recovery of "The Scots
March" would be very desirable.

    J. M.

_Hans Holbein._--Is the place of this eminent artist's sepulture now
known? His death (by the plague) in 1554 was probably a release from
neglect and poverty. When he was compelled to give up his painting-rooms
at the palace, after Henry's decease, he is conjectured to have resided
in Bishopsgate street.

    EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

_Ivory Medallion of Lord Byron._--In the catalogue which Mr. Cole, of
Scarborough, printed in 1829, of books in his private collection, he
mentions a copy of Lord Byron's _Marino Faliero_, 1821, bound in a
unique style, and having, inserted in a recess, on the front cover, a
finely finished head of the noble poet, on ivory, in high relief, of
beautiful Italian carving. Can any of your correspondents tell me who is
now the possessor of this work of art?

    W. S. G.

  Newcastle-on-Tyne.

_Trumpington Church._--On the north side of the tower of Trumpington
Church, Cambridgeshire, there is a curious recess in the basement story,
which I have not met with anywhere else, or seen fully accounted for. It
is sufficiently capacious for a man to stand in, having an arched
entrance six feet in height, with a turning to the westward of about two
feet, and is formed completely within the thickness of the wall. The
village tradition, that it was formerly used as a confessional, founded
on the existence of an opening into the interior part of the tower, now
blocked up, has long been disesteemed. In the volume by the Cambridge
Camden Society, on the Churches in Cambridgeshire, it is said to have
been made for an ecclesiastic to stand in, to ring the Sanctus bell. A
round hole, lined with wood, in the roof of the niche, evidently
intended for a bell-rope, and chafings upon the upper part of the little
aperture, such as the friction of one would produce, are very convincive
of its having been used for _some such_ purpose. But when we consider
that the Sanctus bell, except when a hand one, was "suspended on the
outside of the church, in a small turret over the archway leading from
the nave into the chancel,"[5] the probability that it was made for the
purpose above-mentioned seems very much weakened. I shall feel obliged
for a reference to any other instance, or a more satisfactory
explanation.

  [Footnote 5: Glossary of Architecture.]

    R. W. ELLIOT.

_"Carmen Perpetuum," &c._--Upon the title-page of a Bible which I have
had some years in my possession, I have just discovered, in my own
handwriting, the following very beautiful and apposite quotation:--

  "Carmen perpetuum primaque ab origine mundi ad tempora nostra."

I have lost all remembrance of the source from which I borrowed this
happy thought, so happily expressed; and shall feel much obliged to any
one whose better memory can direct me to the mine from which I formerly
dug the gem.

    HAM.

"_The Retired Christian._"--Who was the author of _The Retired
Christian_, so generally, but I believe erroneously, attributed to
Bishop Ken?

    S. FY.

_The Garrote._--The West India newspapers are filled with the details of
General Lopez's second attempt on Cuba, and his subsequent capture and
execution. The latter event took place at Havannah on the 1st September,
in presence of 8000 troops, and the manner of it is said to have been
the _Garrote_, which is thus described in a Jamaica Journal:--

  "The prisoner is made to sit in a kind of chair with a high back,
  to which his head is fastened by means of an iron clasp, which
  encloses his neck, and is attached to the back by a screw. When
  the signal is given, the screw is turned several times, which
  strangles the victim, and breaks his neck."

The word _Garrote_ being Spanish (derived probably from the French
"garrotter"), and the punishment having been inflicted in a Spanish
colony, it is to be presumed that we are indebted to the latter nation
for the invention of it. Can any of your readers give any information as
to the origin and use of this mode of punishment?

    HENRY H. BREEN.

_Monastic Establishments in Scotland._--Will any of your correspondents
be kind enough to furnish me with a list of the ancient monastic
establishments of Scotland? Having communicated with many learned
antiquaries, both in England and Scotland, and having failed in
obtaining what I desired, I conclude that no complete list exists.
Spottiswoode's list, now appended to Keith's _Catalogue of Scottish
Bishops_, is very imperfect. But there are great facilities now for
compiling a perfect list from such works as the publications of the
Roxburgh, Bannatyne, and Maitland Clubs, Innes's _Origines Parochiales_,
&c. I would like the list to be classed either according to the
different counties, or by the respective orders of the religious houses,
with a separate list of the _mitred houses_ that had seats in
parliament. The list is wanted for publication. Perhaps the writer of
"Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals" in the _Quarterly_ may have compiled
such a list.

    CEYREP.

_Bonds of Clearwell and Redbrook._--Can you inform me where I can find
the pedigree of the Bonds of Clearwell and Redbrook, in the county of
Gloucester?

    [+]

_Eliza Fenning._--Pray, what has become of the collection of documents
relating to Eliza Fenning, which was formerly in the possession of Mr.
Upcott?

Is it true that some years after the execution of Eliza Fenning a person
confessed that he had committed the offence of which she was found
guilty?

    ONETWOTHREE.

"_Character of a True Churchman._"--In 1711 a valuable essay was
published anonymously, entitled _The Character of a True Churchman_, in
a letter from a gentleman in the city to his friend in the country:
London, printed for John Baker, at the Black Boy, in Paternoster Row,
1711. Who is the writer of it?

    J. Y.

"_A Roaring Meg._"--What is the origin of calling any huge piece of
ordnance "a roaring Meg?"

Burton, in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_, says:

  "Musica est mentis medecina maestae, _a roaring meg_ against
  melancholy, to rear and revive the languishing soul."

The earliest edition of the _Anatomy of Melancholy_ is, I believe, the
Oxford one of 1624.[6]

  [Footnote 6: The first edition was published in 1621, 4to.--ED.]

The large old-fashioned piece of artillery, called _Mons Meg_, in the
castle of Edinburgh, which is so great a favourite with the Scottish
common people, is said by Sir Walter Scott to have been "fabricated at
Mons in Flanders, in the reign of James IV. or V. of Scotland;" that is,
between A.D. 1508 and 1514 (note to _Rob Roy_, vol. ii. ch. 10.).

This accounts for the _Mons_; but whence comes the _Meg_? The tradition
of the Edinburgh people is different from that of Sir Walter: and Black,
in his _Tourist of Scotland_, pp. 51. 341., says, it was forged at
Threave Castle, a stronghold of the Black Douglases; was used by James
II. in 1455; and that it was called _Mons Meg_ after "the man who cast
it and his wife." The date in the above must be a mistake, as I believe
James II. was killed in A.D. 1437.

There is another cannon of similar caliber, and bearing the name of
_Roaring Meg_, presented by the Fishmongers' Company of London to the
city of Londonderry in 1642 (Simpson's _Annals of Derry_, chap. vii. p.
41.).

Can any of your readers explain the origin of the name, and say whether
the phrase "A roaring Meg" occurs in any English author earlier than
Burton?

    W. W. E. T.

  Warwick Square, Belgravia.

_Cardinal Pole._--In 1513 Sir Richard Pole, a Welsh knight, married
Margaret, daughter of George Duke of Clarence, who was drowned in the
butt of Malmsey. Can any of your readers assist me in tracing his
pedigree? If of Welsh extraction, the name was probably Powell, that is,
ap Howel. Or can a connexion be shown with the old family of Pole,
Poole, or Pull, of Cheshire?

    I. J. H. H.

_Theoloneum._--In an agreement made A.D. 1103, before Henry I., between
the Abbott of Fecamp, in Normandy, and Philip de Braiosa, the Lord of
Bramber, mention is made of a "theoloneum, quod injuste recipiebant
homines Philippi, de hominibus de Staningis." What is a _theoloneum_?

    M. T.

_Sterne in Paris._--I should feel extremely obliged to any of your
correspondents who would refer me to any contemporary notices of
Sterne's residence at Paris in 1762. The author of _Tristram Shandy_
must have been somewhat lionized by the Parisian circles, and allusions
to his wit probably occur among the many memoirs of the period.

    T. STERNBERG.

_King Robert Bruce's Watch._--In Dalyell's _Fragments of Scottish
History_, I find the following:--

  "The oldest known English watch was made, it is said, in the
  sixteenth century. There exists a watch, which, antiquarians
  allow, belonged to King Robert Bruce."--_Preface_, p. 3.

Can any correspondent of "N. & Q." give information regarding such an
interesting relic of antiquity?

    R. S. F.

  Perth.


Minor Queries Answered.

_Hornchurch; Wrestling for the Boar's Head._--I have extracted from the
_Daily News_ of the 5th instant, the following paragraph, which appears
to have been quoted from the _Chelmsford Chronicle_, relative to this
custom:--

  "By ancient charter or usage in Hornchurch, a boar's head is
  wrestled for in a field adjoining the church; a boar, the property
  of the parish, having been slaughtered for the purpose. The boar's
  head, elevated on a pole, and decorated with ribbons, was brought
  into the ring, where the competitors entered and the prize
  awarded."

The paragraph goes on further to observe that if the prize be taken by
_a champion_ out of the parish, the charter is lost. And I shall be glad
to know the origin of the custom, and of the notion of the charter or
usage, as it is called, being lost if the prize be taken away as before
alluded to. I observe that it is noticed in the _Gentleman's Magazine_
for April, 1828, p. 305.

    JOHN NURSE CHADWICK.

  [It may be as well to state, as a clue to the discovery of this
  ancient custom, that the tithes of Hornchurch belong to New
  College, Oxford; the warden and fellows of which society are
  ordinaries of the place, and appoint a commissary, who holds an
  annual visitation. The lessee of the tithes supplies the boar's
  head, dressed and garnished with bay leaves, &c. Several curious
  notices are given by Hone in his works of the custom observed at
  Christmas at Queen's College, Oxford, of serving up at the first
  course at dinner, "a fair and large boreshead upon a silver
  platter with minstralsye;" but he has omitted to furnish the
  origin of the custom at Hornchurch. Perhaps some Oxonian connected
  with New College will favour us with a reply.]

_Spectacles._--In recent numbers of "N. & Q." there have been several
allusions to spectacles, and as I am not aware of any clear and
satisfactory data relative to the origin or antiquity of this most
important auxiliary to the extension and usefulness of that sense upon
which the enjoyment and value of life so much depends, I beg to submit
the Query, What is the earliest form in which evidence of the existence
of this invaluable optical aid to the human eye presents itself?

    H.

  [Dr. Johnson expressed his surprise that the inventor of
  spectacles was regarded with indifference, and has found no
  biographer to celebrate his deeds. Most authorities give the
  latter part of the thirteenth century as the period of their
  invention, and popular opinion has pronounced in favour of
  Alexander de Spina, a native of Pisa, who died in the year 1313.
  In the Italian Dictionary, _Della Crusca_, under the head of
  "Occhiale," or Spectacles, it is stated that Friar Jordan de
  Rivalto tells his audience, in a sermon published in 1305, that
  "it is not twenty years since the art of making spectacles was
  found out, and is indeed one of the best and most necessary
  inventions in the world." This would place the invention in the
  year 1285. On the other hand, Dominic Maria Manni, an eminent
  Italian writer, attributes the invention to Salvino Armati, who
  flourished about 1345. (See his Treatise, _Degli Occhiali da Naso,
  inventati da Salvino Armati_, 4to. 1738.) On the authority of
  various passages in the writings of Friar Bacon, Mr. Molyneux is
  of opinion that he was acquainted with the use of spectacles; and
  when Bacon (_Opus Majus_) says, that "this instrument (a
  plano-convex glass, or large segment of a sphere) is useful to old
  men, and to those who have weak eyes; for they may see the
  smallest letters sufficiently magnified," we may conclude that the
  particular way of assisting decayed sight was known to him. It is
  quite certain that they were known and used about the time of his
  death, A.D. 1292.]

_Stoke._--What is the meaning of the word _stoke_, with regard to the
names of places, as Bishopstoke, Ulverstoke, Stoke-on-Trent, &c.?

    W. B.

  [Bosworth (_Anglo-Saxon Dict._) derives it from "_stoc_, a place;
  hence stoke, a termination of the names of places; locus:--Wude
  stoc _sylvarum locus_, Sim. Dunelm. anno 1123."]

_Author of Psalm Tune "Doncaster."_--Our organist is about to add
another selection of psalm tunes to the large number already existing.
He has been able to assign all the tunes which it comprises to their
proper composers, with one exception--the tune called "Doncaster," the
author of which he has failed to discover. Will any of your
correspondents kindly supply this desideratum?

    W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

  [The well-known tune called "Doncaster" was composed by Dr. Edward
  Miller, for fifty-one years organist of Doncaster Church, but
  better known as the author of _The History and Antiquities of
  Doncaster_. See his _Collection of Psalm Tunes for the Use of
  Parish Churches_, 4to. 1790, pp. 32. 46. 106.]

_Dr. Henry Sacheverell._--Can any of your correspondents refer me to a
copy of the Assize Sermon preached at Derby by Dr. Sacheverell, and
which formed part of the charge against him?

    L. J.

  [We can favour L. J. with the loan of a copy of this sermon for a
  week or two. It shall be left for him at our publisher's.]




Replies.


MEANING AND ORIGIN OF ERA.

(Vol. iv., pp. 383. 454.)

It would greatly assist the elucidation of this word, if the earliest
instances extant of its use, in a chronological sense, could be
ascertained.

The dictionary of Facciolatus goes no further back than Isidorus the
younger, at the end of the sixth century; who perhaps was the first who
gave to era the meaning of a cursus of years: before his time, as well
as afterwards, it is certain that era was a synonyme of annus.

In recording dates, the Spanish account made no use of _annus_ either
expressed or understood--_era_ was an independent word, having numerals
in concord with itself: thus it was prima era, secunda era, tertia era,
&c. Spelman therefore had sufficient reason to contend that the origin
of _era_ might be Gothic and not Roman, and that it is but a variation
of our own word _year_. He says that Isidorus, when dating from the
Roman epoch, used the Roman word, but that when dating from the Gothic
epoch, he conformed to the idiom of the Goths, "apud quos," he adds,
"eram annum significasse ex eo liqueat, quod prisci Saxones (quibus
magna Gothis sermonis affinitas) annum '{ghear}' dicebant--Angli hodie
'year'--Belgi 'iaer.'"

The absence of the diphthong in era is attributed by Facciolatus to the
barbarism of the age; but it is at least equally probable that the
diphthong never did really belong to era, but that its claim to it
originated in the fanciful derivation from aes, as imagined by
Isidorus--or rather from es, as he would spell it, the real corruption
being in the latter word: thus, when the diphthong was restored to aes,
it would, as a matter of course, be also applied to its supposed
affinitive.

The Spaniards, who have the best right to the word, have never adopted
the diphthong. With them it is still era, and Scaliger asserts that
there is not in all Spain a single inscription in which the diphthong is
recognised. Alluding to Sepulveda, he says,--

  "Mirum mihi visum hominem doctissimum ac praeterea Hispanum, cum
  tot monimenta extent in Hispania in quibus hujus rei memoria
  sculpta est, ne unum vidisse--In illis, ut diximus, nunquam aera,
  semper era, scriptum est."

The practical institution of the Spanish, or era account, was probably,
like the Dionysian, long subsequent to its nominal commencement; so that
an enquiry into its earliest known record would possess the additional
interest of determining whether such were the case or not.

Censorinus, in his comparative enumeration of the various accounts of
years--the Julian--the Augustan--the Olympiad--and the Palilian, makes
no mention of the Era, which he would scarcely have omitted, had it been
then in existence and of imperial institution. Between his time,
therefore, which was towards the middle of the third century, and that
of Isidorus, the practice of computation by eras most probably arose.

As for its institution by Caesar Augustus, which rests on the authority
of Isidorus; that suggestion, even if free from anachronism, had
probably no better foundation than an accidental similitude in sound,
and a wish to compliment the bishop of CAESARAUGUSTA, to whom the epistle
containing it was addressed by him of Hispalis. The latter appears to
have dealt largely in conjecture in framing his Origines--as, for
example, in hora,--

  "Hora enim finis est temporis sic et orae, sunt fines maris,
  fluminorum, et vestimentorum"--

an analogy which reminds one of the cockney--hedge from edge, because it
_edges_ the field.

With respect to the initial-letter method of derivation, of which, in
the case of era, there are three or four different versions, something
has been already said upon that subject, with reference to the alleged
derivation of N. E. W. S. in the first volume of "N. & Q." Scaliger
called such suggestions puerile and ridiculous, and doubtless they are
little better; his castigation of Sepulveda's version was so complete
that it may well serve for its modern imitations.

The original meaning of era has been, like our own word _day_, expanded
into a period of indefinite duration; in that sense it is particularly
useful as a general denomination for a running account of years. It is
an elegant and convenient expression, and its service to chronological
and historical language could be ill dispensed with--it has, moreover,
the prescription of long usage in its favour.

But a modern and far more indefensible attempt has been made in the
opposite extreme, to deprive era of all duration, and to restrict its
meaning to that of a mere initial point--such a meaning, already well
supplied by the word epoch, is, in the case of era, opposed alike to
reason, analogy, usefulness, and usage.

    A. E. B.

  Leeds.


SINGING OF SWANS.

(Vol. ii., p. 475.)

Amongst the Egyptians, the SWAN was an emblem of music and musicians:
_Cygnus_ with the Latins was a common synonym for _poeta_, and we
sometimes use the expression ourselves; thus, Shakspeare is called "the
_swan_ of Avon."

This bird was sacred to Apollo, as being endued with DIVINATION,
"_because, foreseeing his happiness in death, he dies with singing and
pleasure_:"

  "Cygoni non sine causa Apolini dicati sint, quod ab eo
  divinationem habere videantur, qua providentes quid in morte boni
  sit, cum cantu et voluptate moriantur."--Tull. _Quaest. Tusc._ 1.
  c. 30.

      "The dying swan, when years her temples pierce,
      In music-strains breathes out her life and verse,
      And, chanting her own dirge, tides on her wat'ry hearse."

      Phineas Fletcher's, _Purple Island_, Canto I.

Giles Fletcher, in his _Temptation and Victory of Christ_, speaks of--

      "The immortal swan that did her life deplore."

An American poet has the following beautiful lines:

      "'What is that, mother?'
                              'The swan, my love;
      He is floating down from his native grove,
      No lov'd one now, no nestling nigh:
      He is floating down by himself to die.
      Death darkens his eyes, and unplumes his wings,
      Yet the sweetest song is the last he sings:
        Live so, my love, that when death shall come,
        Swan-like and sweet it may waft thee home.'"

      G. W. Doane.[7]

  [Footnote 7: I am not sure whether this gentleman be the American
  Bishop of New Jersey, or a namesake only.]

Tennyson, with all that luxury of dreariness, sadness, and weariness,
which characterises his masterpieces, has also sung of "The Dying Swan."
I subjoin an extract, wishing your limits would admit of the entire:

      "The plain was grassy, wild and bare,
      Wide, wild, and open to the air,
      Which had built up everywhere
        An under-roof of doleful gray.
      With an inner voice the river ran,
      Adown it floated a dying swan,
          Which loudly did lament.
        It was the middle of the day.
        Ever the weary wind went on,
          And took the reed-tops as it went.

       *       *       *       *       *

      "The wild swan's death-hymn took the soul
      Of that waste place with joy
      Hidden in sorrow: at first to the ear
      The warble was low, and full, and clear:
      And floating about the under-sky,
      Prevailing in weakness, the coronach stole
      Sometimes afar, and sometimes anear:
      But anon her awful _jubilant_ voice,
      With a music strange and manifold
      Flow'd forth on a carol free and bold."

So much for the melody of the _dying_ swan. That of the _living_ swan
also requires consideration. Mr. Nicol, in his valuable _Iceland,
Greenland, &c._, thus describes the _Cygnus musicus_ which frequents the
lakes and rivers of Iceland:

  "The largest and noblest of this class [the natatorial] is
  undoubtedly THE WILD OR WHISTLING SWAN, with pure white plumage,
  slightly tinged on the head with orange-yellow. This majestic bird
  is five feet long, and, with extended wings, eight broad. It is
  rarely seen in Greenland, and appears merely to rest in Faroe, on
  its journeys to and from Iceland in the spring and autumn. Some of
  them, however, remain all the winter in the latter, AND DURING THE
  LONG DARK NIGHTS THEIR WILD SONG IS OFTEN HEARD as they are
  passing in troops from one place to another. It appears to be a
  kind of signal or watchword to prevent the dispersion of the
  party, and is described as remarkably pleasant, RESEMBLING THE
  TONES OF A VIOLIN, THOUGH SOMEWHAT HIGHER, each note occurring
  after a distinct interval. THIS MUSIC IS SAID TO PRESAGE A THAW,
  and hence the Icelanders are well pleased when, in long-continued
  frosts, it breaks their repose."

He adds in a note, "The account of the MIDNIGHT SONG OF THE SWAN is from
Olafsen, who says it 'das allerangenehmste zu hoeren ist,' is very
delightful to hear."

Henderson says of the river Nordura in Iceland, near its confluence with
the Hrita:

  "The bleakness of the surrounding rocks was greatly enlivened by
  the number of SWANS that were swimming and SINGING MELODIOUSLY in
  the river."--_Iceland_, 2nd ed. p. 277.

In the Edda we find Njoerd, god of the winds and waves, when he came back
to the mountains to please his wife, thus singing:

  "How do I hate the abode of the mountains! There one hears nothing
  but the howling of wolves, instead of the SWEET SINGING OF THE
  SWANS who dwell on the sea-shores."

Waterton gives an account of the last moments of a favourite swan which
he watched, in hopes of catching "some plaintive sound or other, some
soft inflection of the voice," but was "disappointed."

    GERONIMO.


QUEEN BRUNEHILDA. (Vol. v., p. 40.) [8]

I am glad that C. B. has questioned the propriety of the epithet "female
monster," which some of your correspondents have applied to Queen
Brunehilda. Knowing how the passion and prejudice that characterise
party spirit have under our own observation been able to distort facts
and blacken characters, we should receive with the greater caution the
statements of those who, if they were free, which is hardly possible,
from a strong bias, lived in an age when exact information was hardly
possible to obtain, and when the most odious calumnies could defy
refutation. From the success with which Brunehilda maintained the
sovereignty of her husband's kingdom through a long life, I should
conclude that she was a woman of great abilities as well as energy; and
the terms in which Gregory the Great addresses her, tend to confirm this
opinion. And in reference to this it seems somewhat surprising that it
should not have struck those who first raised this question, that the
evidence of the "wise and virtuous pontiff" was at least as good as that
of the historian who might be neither wise nor virtuous. Gregory is
surely as powerful to raise Brunehilda, as Brunehilda to pull down
Gregory. But the plain fact is, that there is a tendency to be
hyperbolical in our estimation of crowned heads; in all probability, if
one was no monster the other was no saint.

The circumstances in favour of the more favourable view of Brunehilda's
character, are sufficiently well attested. That she was the superior in
every respect to Fredegunda probably she felt herself, and as probably
the latter was made to feel. Gregory of Tours was not merely struck by
the beauty of her person and her engaging manner, but he has also
remarked upon her good sense and her agreeable conversation. Sisterly
affection appears in the first instance to have precipitated her into a
conflict that ended but with her life. Her sister's murder was followed
by those of Sigebert and Merowig; and it is not a little remarkable that
though it is not doubted who was the instigator of these crimes, the
name of "monster" is never applied to Fredegunda, but reserved for the
familiar appellation of her victim. When we consider how generally vague
are the charges against Brunehilda, and, regarding what is otherwise
known of her, how improbable, I think some suspicion of an undue leaning
on the part of the Frankish historians will not be altogether misplaced.
My own opinion is that she was one of those remarkable women who from
time to time astonish the world; one, whom for her superior knowledge
and acquirements, the rumour of a rude age gifted with supernatural
powers. And I am farther inclined to think that in the course of time
the characters reported of her from opposite sources became finally so
antagonistic, that they came to be considered as those of two distinct
persons; and with a reference to the eternal enmity between Fredegunda
and herself, she became more world-wide famous than has been hitherto
supposed, as both the Criemhilda and Brunehilda of the _Nibelungen
Noth_. Many circumstances may be brought forward to support this latter
view.

[Footnote 8: Why do your correspondents adopt the barbarous French
corrupted form of this name, "Brunehaut?"]

    SAMUEL HICKSON.

  St. John's Wood.


COVERDALE'S BIBLE.

(Vol. v., p. 59.)

The answer of our friend MR. OFFOR to the inquiry of your correspondent
H. H. H. V., Vol. v., p. 59., would have required no remarks but for the
paragraph which follows his description of the copies of Coverdale's
Bible in his valuable collection. That paragraph was as follows:--

  "The introduction of the words _from the Douche and Latyn_ has
  never been accounted for; they probably were inserted by the
  German printer to make the volume more popular, so as to interest
  reformers by the German of Luther, and Romanists by the Vulgate
  Latin. The translation is certainly from the Hebrew and Greek,
  compared with Luther's and the Vulgate."

If MR. OFFOR will look at "the Prologue to the Translation of the
Bible--Myles Coverdale unto the Christian Reader," in that copy of his,
which he describes with the delight of an amateur of rare editions as
having "several uncut leaves," he may read in its first page, how
Coverdale confesses, with that humility which especially adorned his
character, that "his insufficiency in the tongues" made him loath to
undertake the task. He then touchingly alludes to Tyndale's adversity,
suppressing his name, while he speaks of his "ripe knowledge," and
laments the hindrances to his completing the translation of the
Scriptures. But "to help me herein," he proceeds, "I have had sundry
translations, not only in Latin, but also of the Dutch [_i.e._ German]
interpreters, whom because of their singular gifts and special diligence
in the Bible, I have been the more glad to follow for the most part,
according as I was required." And again he says, "Lowly and faithfully
have I followed mine interpreters."

My attention was drawn to this subject nearly thirty years ago by the
strange inaccuracies in Bishop Marsh's account of the sources of our
authorised version; in which he had assumed that Tyndale could not
translate from the Hebrew, which there is the clearest evidence that he
knew well; and that he therefore translated from the German, of which
language it is almost equally certain that he was ignorant.

I saw, on the other hand, that Coverdale honestly confessed that his own
translation was a secondary one, from the German and the Vulgate. He
named the language, but not the translator, Luther, for the same reason
that in two references to Tyndale's ability he desisted from naming him,
viz., that his translation was to be dedicated to Henry VIII., who hated
both their names.

To test the different sources from which Tyndale and Coverdale formed
their respective translations, nothing more is necessary than to open
any chapter in the Hebrew and German Bibles; and whilst the translators
from either will of course be found to agree in the broad meaning of any
verse, there will be delicate distinctions in rendering idiomatic forms
of speech, which will be decisive of the question. Having preserved my
collation of some verses in Genesis xli., I find the following:

Ver. 1. First word, [Hebrew: vayhiy], literally, _And it was_. An
introductory expression fairly represented by the Greek [Greek: Egeneto
de]. Tyndale, _And it fortuned_. Luther and the Vulgate have omitted it,
and therefore so has Coverdale.

[Hebrew: vehinneh], lit. _And behold_; Luther, {Wie}; Coverdale, _How
that_.

[Hebrew: alhay'or], LXX, [Greek: Epi tou potamou]; Tyndale, _By a
river's side_; Luther, {Am Wasser}; Coverdale, _By a water side_. Here
the Greek preserves the emphatic article [Hebrew: h], which pointed to
the Nile; the Latin necessarily lose it, Tyndale neglects it, Coverdale
copies Luther's vague expression. Our authorised version has correctly,
_By the river_.

Ver. 2. [Hebrew: minhay'or 'oloth] literally, _Out of the river
ascending_; LXX, [Greek: Ek tou potamou anebainon]; Vulg., _De quo
ascendebant_; Luther, {Aus dem Wasser steigen}; Coverdale, _Out of the
water there came_; Tyndale, _There came out of the river_.

Ver. 3. [Hebrew: vatta'amodenah], Tyndale, _And stode_, which is quite
literal; Vulg., _Et pascebantur_; Luther, {Und traten}; Coverdale, _And
went_.

Ver. 7. [Hebrew: vehinneh chalowm], lit. _And behold a dream_; Vulg.,
_Post quietem_; Tyndale, _And see, here is his dream_; Luther, {Und
merckte dass es ein Traum war}; Coverdale, _And saw that it was a
dream_.

Such instances might be multiplied to any extent. Their effect upon my
mind was to convince me that Coverdale did not even know the Hebrew
letters when he published his version of the Bible. In fact, the Jews
being then expelled from England, and the only Hebrew Lexicon, that of
Xantes Pagninus, having probably not arrived here, it was scarcely
possible for an Englishman to master the Hebrew tongue, without going
abroad to obtain access to learned Jews, as Tyndale did, and as
Coverdale himself did after the appearance of his Bible; and then, as I
think Mr. Pearson has afforded some evidence, he may have become
acquainted with Hebrew.

If H. H. H. V. desires to know more of Coverdale, he can find all that
late researches have been able to discover in the first volume of Mr C.
Anderson's _Annals of the English Bible_, and in the biographical notice
of Coverdale prefixed to the Parker Society's edition of his _Remains_,
by the Rev. G. Pearson. But when that gentleman describes Coverdale's
portion of Matthew's Bible, and says that the book of Jonah is of
Tyndale's version, he has made a mistake. Perhaps I may be allowed to
say, that the question, whether Tyndale put forth any version of Jonah,
is _adhuc sub judice_. At any rate, I can say, from collation, that the
Jonah in Matthew's Bible is identical with that which Coverdale put
forth in his own version.

The account of our early versions in Macknight's _Introduction to the
Epistles_ is very erroneous; and that prefixed to D'Oyley and Mant's
Bible, published by the Christian Knowledge Society, is far from being
correct.

    HENRY WALTER.


SERJEANTS' RINGS AND MOTTOES.

(Vol. v., pp. 59. 92.)

For much curious information upon these subjects, I would refer your
correspondents to a rather scarce and privately printed tract or volume,
entitled _Observations touching the Antiquity and Dignity of
Serjeant-at-Law_, 1765. I am not sure that it was not subsequently
reprinted and published. The author was Mr. Serjeant Wynne. He says:

  "The first introduction of rings themselves on this occasion (of
  making serjeants) is as doubtful as that of mottoes. They are
  taken notice of by Fortescue in the time of Hen. VI., and in the
  several regulations for general calls in Hen. VIII. and Queen
  Elizabeth's time. The antiquity of them, therefore, though not to
  be strictly ascertained, yet being thus far indisputable, makes
  Sir H. Spelman's account rather extraordinary (see _Gloss._ tit.
  _Serv. ad Legem_); but whatever is the antiquity of these rings,
  that of mottoes seems to fall short of them at least a century.
  That in the 19 & 20 Eliz. (1576-77) may perhaps be the first;
  because, till that time, they are nowhere mentioned.

  "When Dugdale speaks (p. 136.) of the posies 'that were usual,' he
  must be understood to speak of the usage of his own time."

The motto which Serj. Wynne notices as of the earliest occurrence in 19
& 20 Eliz., was _Lex regis praesidium_. The earliest of subsequent date
appear to be as follow:

13 Car. II. _Adest Carolus Magnus._

2 Jac. II. _Deus, rex, lex_, (at the call of Christopher Milton, the
poet's brother, John Powell, and others).

3 Jac. II. _Rege lege._

1 Wm. & Mary. _Veniendo restituit rem._

12 Wm. _Imperium et libertas._

2 Anne. _Deo et regina._

5 Anne. _Moribus, armis, legibus._

9 Anne. _Unit et imperat._

1 Geo. _Plus quam speravimus._

10 Geo. _Salva libertate potens._

20 & 21 Geo. II. _Mens bona, fama, fides._

Serjeant Wynne brings his list of the Serjeants called down to the year
1765, and gives in most cases the mottoes, which were not confined, it
would seem, to individuals, but adopted by the whole call. He remarks,
that in late years they have been strictly classical in their phrase and
often elegant in their application,--whether in expressing the just idea
of regal liberty--in a wish for the preservation of the family--or in a
happy allusion to some public event, and, at the same time, a kind of
prophetic declaration of its success. At p. 117. will be found an
account of the expense and weight of the rings, which, upon the occasion
referred to, were 1,409 in number, and the expense 773_l._ I will not
occupy further space, but refer your correspondents to the work of
Serjeant Wynne.

    G.

The custom of Serjeants-at-law presenting rings on their creation was
used in (and probably before) the reign of Henry VI. (See _Fortescue De
Laudibus Legum Angliae_, cap. 50,; and see instances and particulars in
the reigns at Henry VIII., Edward VI., Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth in
Dugdale's _Origines Juridiciales_, 2nd edit., pp. 116. 118. 122. 123.
124. 130.) Mottoes were used as early as 1606, but I am not prepared to
say they originated at that period, though I do not observe any mention
of them in Dugdale's accounts of the ceremonies at the creation of
Serjeants of an earlier date. The following mottoes may interest some of
your readers:

  Sir Edward Coke, 1606. _Lex est tutissima cassis._

  Sir John Walter and Sir Thomas Trevor, 1625. _Regi legi servire
  libertas._

  Sir Henry Yelverton, 1625. _Stat lege corona._

  Sir Robert Berkeley, 1627. _Lege Deus et rex._

  Robert Callis, 1627. _Regis oracula legis._

  Sir George Vernon, 1627. _Rex legis regnique patronus._

  Sir James Weston, 1631. _Servus regi serviens legi._

  Sir Robert Heath, 1631. _Lex regis vis regis._

  Sir George Jeffreys, 1680. _A Deo rex a rege lex._

  Sir Michael Foster, 1736. _Nunquam libertas gratior._

  Sir William Blackstone, 1770. _Secundis dubiisque rectus._

  Sir Alexander Thomson, 1787. _Reverentia legum._

  William Cockell, 1787. _Stat lege corona._

On Serjeant Cockell's call, "in consequence of a late regulation no
rings were given to the judges, the bar, or to the attornies."

Some of the older, and most of the modern, law reporters, mention the
mottoes on the rings given by the serjeants.

    C. H. COOPER.

  Cambridge.

T. P. is informed that the custom of Serjeants-at-law presenting rings
with mottoes prevailed long before A.D. 1670. In the _Journal of the
Arch. Institute_, vol. vii. p. 196., he will find mention of a mediaeval
ring of the kind, described as "A Serjeant-at-law's gold ring, the hoop
3/8 of an inch in width, and of equal thickness, inscribed _Lex regis
praesidium_."

    CEYREP.

On June 8, 1705, fifteen Serjeants-at-law took the customary oaths at
the Chancery Bar, and delivered to the Lord Keeper a ring for the Queen,
and another for his H.R.H. Prince George of Denmark, each ring being
worth 6_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ The Lord Keeper, Lord Treasurer, Lord Steward,
Lord Privy Seal, Lord High Chamberlain, Master of the Household, Lord
Chamberlain, and the two Chief Justices, received each a ring of the
value of 18_s._; the Lord Chief Baron, Master of the Rolls, the Justices
of either Bench and two Chief Secretaries each one worth 16_s._; the
Chief Steward and Comptroller each a ring valued at 1_l._; the Marshal,
Warden of the Fleet, every Serjeant-at-Law, the Attorney-General, and
Solicitor-General, each a ring worth 12_s._; the three Barons of
Exchequer a ring worth 10_s._; the two Clerks of the Crown, the three
Prothonotaries, the Clerks of the Warrants, the Prothonotary of Queen's
Bench, and the Chirographer, each a ring worth 5_s._; each Filazer and
Exigenter, the Clerk of the Council, and the Custos Brevium, each a ring
that cost 2_s._ 6_d._ The motto on the rings was this, "_Moribus, armis,
legibus_."

    MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

  48. Jermyn Street.


EXTERMINATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANS IN ORKNEY.

(Vol. iv., p. 439.)

It is capable of demonstration that Christianity was introduced into the
Orkney Islands, or at least that missionaries were sent there, long
previous to the invasion of Harold Harfagre. Your correspondent W. H. F.
mentions that Depping, in the _Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des
Normands_, states that Sigurd, the second nominally, though really the
first earl, expelled the Christians from Orkney, and he requests to know
Depping's authority; as the circumstance is not alluded to by Torfaeus,
the Orkneyinga-Saga or Snorro Sturleson, and has been "either overlooked
by Barry, or unknown to him."

The well-known "Diploma or Genealogical Deduction of the Earls of
Orkney," written by the bishop of that diocese in the year 1406, and
printed in Wallace's _Account of Orkney_, and in the appendices to
Barry's _History_, and the Orkneyinga-Saga, is generally looked upon,
from the circumstances under which it was drawn up, as an authentic
document of considerable historical value. It is there mentioned, that
the Norsemen found the islands inhabited by the Peti and the Pape, whom
they exterminated. But I transcribe the words of the Diploma:

  "Haec terra sive insularum patria Orcadie fuit inhabitata et culta,
  duabus nacionibus scilicet Peti et Pape, que due genera naciones
  fuerant destructe radicitus, ac penitus per Norwegenses de stirpe
  sive de tribu strenuissimi principis Rognaldi, qui sic sunt ipsias
  naciones aggressi, quod posteritas ipsarum nacionum Peti et Pape
  non remansit."

Though Chalmers (_Caledonia_, vol. i. p. 261.) is rather inclined to
discredit the above account, it seems probable that those Pape were
missionaries or priests, who were also found, under precisely the same
name, in Iceland when that island was colonised by the Norsemen
(Pinkerton's _Enquiry_, vol. ii. p. 297.). I have not my copy of Depping
at present by me, and therefore am unable to say whether he explains his
use of the word _Christians_ in his mention of their expulsion. It may
be that, without going into detail, he accepted, as proved, the identity
of the Pape and the priests, and believed himself warranted in making
the assertion. But perhaps he might have had some other authority of
which I am ignorant, as he attributes the expulsion (according to W. H.
F.) to Sigurd, whereas the words of the Diploma are, "per Norwegenses de
stirpe sive de tribu strenuissimi principis Rognaldi," by no means
limiting the deed to his (Rognald's) immediate successor, though
inferentially accusing Sigurd of participation. A careful consideration
of the entire passage in Depping, and of his general style, may tend to
show whether he relied merely on the Diploma, or whether he had some
more definite authority.

I may mention, that though it has escaped W. H. F.'s observation, he
will find, by referring to pp. 87. 116. 133., Headrick's edition, that
Barry did not overlook the early Christianising of the Orkneys, and the
extirpation of the Pape; although, seeing that the former is matter of
history, and the latter was not a mere tradition in 1406, but derived
from a more trustworthy source ("sicut _cronice_ nostre clare
demonstrant"), he is scarcely distinct enough, or decided in his
inferences. It would be interesting to know what were those "cronice"
appealed to by the bishop.

    A. H. R.

  Caithness.


THE CRIME OF POISONING PUNISHED BY BOILING.

(Vol. v., p. 32.)

MR. J. B. COLMAN has directed attention to the special act of attainder
passed in 22 Hen. VIII. in order to punish Richard Roose for poisoning
the family of the Bishop of Rochester; but I have reason to believe that
he is wrong in his assertion that, prior to that statute, "there was no
peculiarity in the mode of punishment" for the crime in question. In the
_Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London_, which I am now engaged in
editing for the Camden Society, I find an instance of the like
punishment being inflicted for the same crime in the 13th Hen. VIII.:

  "And this yere was a man soddyne in a cautherne (_sc._ a cauldron)
  in Smythfelde, and lett up and downe dyvers tymes tyll he was
  dede, for because he wold a poyssynd dyvers persons."

I would therefore beg to inquire whether MR. COLMAN has taken a correct
view of the statute of 22 Hen. VIII. as prescribing a new punishment,
_retrospective_ to the case of Richard Roose; and whether the act was
not, so far as he was concerned, simply one of attainder, to deprive the
culprit of the "advantage of his clargie," whereby he might otherwise
have escaped the legal punishment already provided for the crime. Having
declared Roose attainted of high treason, the statute proceeds to enact
that all future poisoners shall also be debarred of the benefit of
clergy, and immediately committed to death by boiling. Roose's own case
is recorded in the _Grey Friars' Chronicle_ with the same horrible
circumstances as those related in the former instance, of his life being
gradually destroyed:

  "He was lockyd in a chayne and pullyd up and downe with a gybbyt
  at dyvers tymes tyll he was dede."

A third instance occurs in 1542, when--

  "The x day of March was a mayde boyllyd in Smythfelde for
  poysynyng of dyvers persons."

This last is the same case which is cited by L. H. K. in your Vol. ii.,
p. 519. If my view of the statute of 22 Hen. VIII. be the right one, it
still remains to be ascertained when this barbarous punishment was first
adopted; and is it certain that it ceased with the reign of Hen. VIII.?

    JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS.

There appears to have occurred in Scotland _one_ instance at least of
this barbarous mode of executing justice. In his Notes to Leyden's
Ballad of _Lord Soulis_ (in the _Minstrelsy of the Border_), Sir Walter
Scott says:--

  "The tradition regarding the death of Lord Soulis, however
  singular, is not without a parallel in the real history of
  Scotland. The same extraordinary mode of cookery was actually
  practised (_horresco referens_) upon the body of a Sheriff of the
  Mearns. This person, whose name was Melville of Glenbervie, bore
  his faculties so harshly, that he became detested by the Barons of
  the country. Reiterated complaints of his conduct having been made
  to James I. (or, as others say, to the Duke of Albany), the
  monarch answered, in a moment of unguarded impatience, 'Sorrow gin
  the Sheriff were sodden, and supped in broo!' The complainers
  retired, perfectly satisfied. Shortly after, the Lairds of
  Arbuthnot, Mather, Laureston, and Pattaraw, decoyed Melville to
  the top of the hill of Garvock, above Lawrencekirk, under pretence
  of a grand hunting party. Upon this place (still called the
  _Sheriff's Pot_), the Barons had prepared a fire and a boiling
  cauldron, into which they plunged the unlucky Sheriff. After he
  was _sodden_ (as the king termed it) for a sufficient time, the
  savages, that they might literally observe the royal mandate,
  concluded the scene of abomination by actually partaking of the
  hell-broth.

  "The three Lairds were outlawed for this offence; and Barclay, one
  of their number, to screen himself from justice, erected the kaim
  (_i.e._ the camp, or fortress) of Mathers, which stands upon a
  rocky and almost inaccessible peninsula, overhanging the German
  Ocean. The Laird of Arbuthnot is said to have eluded the royal
  vengeance, by claiming the benefit of the law of clan Macduff. A
  pardon, or perhaps a deed of replegiation, founded upon that law,
  is said to be still extant upon the records of the Viscount of
  Arbuthnot.

  "The punishment of boiling," adds Sir Walter, "seems to have been
  in use among the English at a very late period, as appears from
  the following passage in Stowe's _Chronicle_:--'The 17th March
  (1524) Margaret Davy, a maid, was boiled at Smithfield for
  poisoning of three households that she had dwelled in.'"

According to tradition, however, the boiling, or _broiling_ rather, of
the Wizard-Earl Soulis, was still more frightful:--

      "On a circle of stones they placed the pot,
        On a circle of stones but barely nine;
      They heated it red and fiery hot,
        Till the burnished brass did glimmer and shine.

      "_They rolled him up in a sheet of lead_,
        A sheet of lead for a funeral pall;
      They plunged him in the cauldron red,
        _And melted him, lead, and bones, and all_."

    R. S. F.

  Perth.


Replies to Minor Queries.

_List of English Sovereigns_ (Vol. v., p. 28.).--The principal reason
why the names of the Empress Matilda, King Henry junior, and Queen Jane
(Grey or Dudley), are not inserted in the lists of English sovereigns,
as J. J. S. suggests they should be, arises from the fact of the periods
of their supposed reigns being concurrent with those of other monarchs,
and our constitution recognising one only at a time. The name of Queen
Jane has, however, found a place in some recent lists; following that
given in Sir Harris Nicolas's _Chronology of History_ (edit. 1833, p.
330.), where he states that her nominal reign extended from the 6th to
the 17th July, 1553. Appended to _The Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen
Mary_ (printed for the Camden Society), I have given a list of all the
public documents or state papers known to be extant which bear date in
the reign of Queen Jane, and the last is a letter of the Privy Council
to Lord Rich, dated the 19th July; this extends the period two days
longer than in the _Chronology of History_, and was certainly the last
public document that recognised Jane's authority. Only one _private_
document so dated has been discovered. It is a deed relating to the
parish of St. Dunstan's in Kent (dated 15th July), which was
communicated by Mr. Hunter to the _Retrospective Review_, N. S. vol. i.
p. 505. But an act of parliament of the 1st March, 1553-4, legalised all
documents that might be so dated from the 6th of July to the last day of
the same month (_Nicolas_, p. 316.). Among our historians, Heylin, in
his _History of the Reformation_, has apportioned a distinct division of
his narrative to "The Reign of Queen Jane."

    JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS.

_Moravian Hymns_ (Vol. v., p. 30.).--I cannot tell H. B. C. what is the
_editio princeps_ of these hymns; but as he appears to know of no
edition anterior to 1749, I beg to observe that an edition of _Psalms
and Hymns_ for the use of the Moravians was published by the Rev. John
Gambold, one of their bishops, at London, in 1738. It is in 12mo.
without the name of any printer. There is a copy of this book in the
archiepiscopal library at Lambeth. But as it is five-and-twenty years,
or more, since I saw it, I have no recollection of the particulars of
its contents.

    H. C.

  Thurles.

In 1801 a Moravian Hymn-book was issued, which, being out of print, was
reprinted in 1809. I should suppose the book a great improvement upon
the old Moravian hymn-books. I have a copy of the edition of 1809: about
half the hymns are translations from the German, and the rest selected
from Watts, Wesley, Steel, Robinson, and others. The hymn "To you, ye
Jesus' wounds" is not in it. The book contains also their simple and
beautiful liturgy, offices for baptism, burial, ordination of bishops,
priests, and deacons, &c.

    JAMES EDMESTON.

  Homerton.

The following is the title of a book, printed in 1749, for James Hutton,
Fetter Lane:--_Hymns composed for the Use of the Brethren by the Right
Rev. and most Illustrious C. Z._ (Count Zinzendorf?) I transcribe some
specimens.

      "God's side hole, hear my prayer,
        Accept my meditation;
      On thee I cast my care,
        With childlike adoration.
      While days and ages pass, and endless periods roll,
      An everlasting blaze shall sparkle from that hole.

       *       *       *       *       *

      Lovely side hole, dearest side hole!
        Sweetest side hole, made for me;
      O my most beloved side hole!
        I wish to be lost in thee.
      O my dearest side hole!
        Thou art to my bride soul
      The most dear and loveliest place;
      Pleura's space!
      Soul and body in the pass.

       *       *       *       *       *

      The daughters reverence do,
      Christess and praise thee too,
      Thou happy Kyria, daughter of Abijah;
      We reach each sister of Jehovah,
      Manness of the man Jeshuah,
      Out of the pleura Hosannah."

    JAMES CORNISH.

_Age of Trees--"Essex Broad Oak"_ (Vol. v., pp. 10. 40.).--Was not the
"Essex Broad Oak" identical with the "Fairlop Oak?" The Fairlop Oak is
thus described in _Excursions through Essex_ (Longman, 1818, vol. ii. p.
56.):

  "In Hainault Forest, about one mile from Barkingside, stands an
  oak which has been known through many centuries by the name of
  Fairlop. For an account of this celebrated tree (which seems to
  have escaped the attention of the laborious Camden, and his
  indefatigable continuator, Mr. Gough) we are indebted to the Rev.
  Mr. Gilpin. 'The tradition of this tree,' says this ingenious
  writer in his _Remarks on Forest Scenery and other Woodland
  Views_, 'traces it half way up the Christian aera. It is still a
  noble tree, though it has suffered greatly from the depredations
  of time. About a yard from the ground, where its rough fluted stem
  is 36 feet in circumference, it divides into eleven vast arms; yet
  not in the horizontal manner of an oak, but rather in that of a
  beach. Beneath its shade, which overspreads an area of 300 feet in
  circuit, an annual fair has long been held on the first Friday in
  July.' This celebrated tree was for some time fenced round with a
  close paling about five feet high. Almost all the extremities of
  its branches have been sawed off, and Mr. Forsyth's composition
  applied to them, to preserve then from decay; and the injury which
  the trunk of the tree had sustained from the lighting of fires
  have been repaired, as much as possible, with the same
  composition. On one of the branches a board was fixed, with this
  inscription, 'All good foresters are requested not to hurt this
  old tree, a plaister having been lately applied to its wounds.'"

If my recollection serves me correctly, a drawing and description of
this old tree is contained in one of Hone's publications,--I think his
_Table Book_.[9]

[Footnote 9: [The drawing and description of this venerable oak is given
in the _Mirror_, vol. ii. p. 81., where it is stated that Mr. Forsyth's
precautions were insufficient to protect it from an injurious custom
practised by many of its thoughtless visitors, of making a fire within
the cavities to cook their provisions; for, in the month of June, 1805,
it was set on fire, and continued burning until the following day, by
which the trunk was considerably injured. The high winds of February,
1820, at last stretched its massy trunk and limbs on that turf which it
had for so many ages overshadowed with its verdant foliage. The wood of
which the pulpit and reading-desk of St. Pancras new church are composed
was a portion of the Fairlop Oak; and are looked upon as matters of
greater curiosity perhaps, on that account, than even the beautiful
grained and highly polished material and the splendid carvings.--ED.]]

Another large tree is mentioned in the same volume (p. 87.) as being
called "Doodle [Query, _dole_ or _boundary_] Oke."

To conclude (if I have not already trespassed too much upon your space),
Is the Fairlop Oak still standing; and, if so, what is its present
condition?

    J. B. COLMAN.

  Eye.

Cypress trees on the continent of America grow to immense ages. By
counting the concentric rings observed in the wood, on sawing a trunk
across, it appears that 400 years is a common age. There is a gigantic
trunk near Santa Maria del Tula, in the province of Oaxaca, in Mexico,
whose circumference at the dilated base is no less than 200 feet. Of
this, taking 1.6 line as the average growth of a year, the age would be
3512 years. (Lyell's _Second Visit to United States_, vol. ii. pp. 254,
255. Prescott's _Peru_, vol. ii. p. 315. 4th edition.) Adanson, the
celebrated botanist, calculated the age of one of the famous Baobab
trees of Senegal to be 5150 years. (Marquis of Ormonde's _Sicily_, p.
76.) A tamarind tree in the Mahometan burial-ground at Putelam, in
Ceylon, is 39 feet in diameter, or upwards of 117 feet in circumference,
from which the age may be calculated on the above scale. (Sirr's
_Ceylon_, vol. i. p. 85.)

    T. G.

_Arrangement of Books_ (Vol. v., p. 49.).--Your correspondent L.'s
letter is very valuable. May I add a few contributions?

There is a mode of printing used in Cuvier's _Regne Animal_, which is
exceedingly useful for books of classification, that is, to print those
sentences which relate to the primary divisions in a larger type, and
full up to the side; the subdivisions to be printed short, as sums are
entered in an account book, and in a smaller type. I believe I had the
fortune to introduce a slight improvement in indexes. For instance, in
your index the subordinate items are arranged according to time, but
that gives a great deal of trouble. Under MR. BREEN'S name there are
fifteen items; they should be arranged alphabetically, like the
principal items, as is done in the same index in the case of notices of
books, unavoidably. But such subordinate items had better, in general,
have the word on which the alphabetical arrangement turns printed in
Italics to catch the eye, rather than invert the order of the words, as
_must_ be done in the principal items.

In what books the old spelling should be retained is a matter of
individual question, upon which no rules can be laid down. Walpole
complained that the _Paston Letters_ were printed with the old spelling,
and that, though a version is on the opposite page; but few persons will
agree with him in that. In such books we have a right to see the old
spelling in order to judge whether the version is right, as well as for
general information.

    C. B.

_The Ring-finger_ (Vol. iv., pp. 150. 198. 261.).--The two questions
mooted concerning the ring-finger, _i.e._ why the third finger is the
ring-finger, and why the wedding-ring is worn on the third finger of the
left hand? have not yet been satisfactorily answered.

The _third finger is the only recognised ring-finger_. Hence all who
wear rings _ex officio_, wear them on that finger. Cardinals, bishops,
doctors, abbots, &c., wear their ring on the third finger. The _reason
is that it is the first vacant finger_. The thumb and the first two
fingers have always been reserved as symbols of the three persons of the
Blessed Trinity. When a bishop gives his blessing, he blesses with the
thumb and first two fingers. Our brasses and sepulchral slabs bear
witness to this fact. And at the marriage ceremony, the ring is put on
to the thumb and the first two fingers, whilst the names of "The Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost" are pronounced. Thus the third is the
first vacant finger, and the ring-finger. _The wedding-ring is worn on
the left hand to signify the subjection of the wife to her husband._ The
right hand signifies power, independence, authority; according to the
words:

      "The salvation of his right hand is in powers."

      Psalm xx. 6.

      "The change of the right hand of the Most High."

      Psalm lxxvii. 10.

The left hand signifies dependence or subjection. Married women, then,
wear the wedding-ring on the third finger of the left hand, because they
are subject to their husbands.

Bishops, because they have ecclesiastical authority, and doctors,
because they have authority to teach, wear the ring on the ring-finger
of the right hand.

    CEYREP.

_Count Koenigsmark_ (Vol. v., p. 78.).--The Queries put by MR. MARKLAND
will be found solved in that excellent book, _The English Causes
Celebres_, edited by Mr. Craik, and published in 1840. It is a great
pity that Mr. Craik's undertaking was not prosecuted beyond vol. i.

Walpole was wrong, and Sir Egerton Brydges right. Charles John Count
Koenigsmark was the instigator of the assassination of Mr. Thynne. Philip
Christopher von Koenigsmark, the younger brother of Charles John, was the
presumed lover of Sophia of Zell.

Charles John von Koenigsmark was mortally wounded at the battle of Argos,
on the 29th August, 1686.

The presumed "foul play" in the Koenigsmark case consisted, I suppose, in
Chief Justice Pemberton summing up strongly, in accordance with the
known wish of the king, that the Count should be acquitted.

    JOHN BRUCE.

MR. MARKLAND will find his inquiries as to the two Koenigsmarks answered
in a late number of the _Quarterly Review_ (I think that for October,
1851), in an article on the Lexington Papers.

    C.

_Petition respecting the Duke of Wellington_ (Vol. iv., pp. 233. 477.;
Vol. v., p. 43.).--I thank AEGROTUS for the clue he has afforded me, as
to the date of the document he inquired for, and can now give him some
further particulars. At a Court of Common Council held Feb. 23, 1810, in
consequence of a proposition in the House of Commons to settle upon Lord
Wellington 2000_l._ per ann. for three lives, a motion was made, and
carried by sixty-five to fifty-eight, to petition the House against it.
The petition is very long, but it is to the following tenor: it
commences by objecting to the grant on the ground of economy, and that
his services have not deserved it; "that his gallant efforts in Portugal
have lead only to the disgraceful and scandalous Convention of Cintra,
signed by his own hand;" that the result of the battle of Talavera was a
retreat, with the abandonment of sick and wounded; that as yet they have
seen no inquiry into either of these campaigns; that he and his family
have held lucrative appointments in the East Indies; that no provision
has been made for the family of the highly deserving Sir John Moore. It
then goes on to say, "that it appears a high aggravation of the
misconduct of his Majesty's incapable and unprincipled advisers;" that
they advised his Majesty to refuse to receive from the Lord Mayor and
Sheriffs, either at a levee, or personal audience, a petition from the
livery praying an inquiry into the conduct of the commanders of the late
campaign. This is the substance of the petition which I should think
might be readily seen _in extenso_ by a reference to a file of
newspapers of the date.

    E. N. W.

  Southwark.

  P.S.--The petition from the Livery, doubtless agreed to in Common
  Hall, which the king refused to receive, and which is referred to
  above, is most probably the one which AEGROTUS inquires about, and
  of which the Duke complains in his dispatch of Jan. 1810. I have
  not been able to see it; but if I can find it, will send you notes
  of it; the mem. I have sent establishes the fact of its having
  been carried.

_Reichenbach's Ghosts_ (Vol. iv., p. 5.; Vol. v., p. 89.).--If A. N.
will do me the favour to refer to my question, he will see that his
remarks do not furnish a reply. Reichenbach says, that "thousands of
ghost stories will now receive a natural explanation," from his
discovery that the decomposition of animal matter is accompanied by
light, or luminous vapour, which is visible to certain sensitive
persons. As I originally stated, "my Query is, _where to find_ the
'thousands of ghost stories' which are explained by it." I now repeat
that Query in unaffected ignorance. I have read a good many ghost
stories, British and foreign; but I know that some of the writers in "N.
& Q." are much better acquainted with German literature and
superstitions than I am; and I ask them if they can tell me where to
find _such_ stories,--that is, ghost stories explained by Reichenbach's
discovery? I do not ask for "thousands," nor even hundreds--a score or
two will be quite enough; or even a dozen, if they are good ones.

    S. R. MAITLAND.

  Gloucester.

_The Broad Arrow._--I can only offer the following note on the above
subject as a conjecture, probably most of your readers will think a
very wild one.

It has sometimes occurred to me that the origin of the symbol now
generally known as the "broad arrow" might be traced back to the
mysteries of Mithras. At all events, it is known that the same figure
occurs on coins, gems, &c. as the symbol of Mithras as the _Sun_. Now,
so widely was the worship of Mithras spread throughout the Roman empire,
that I believe no one would feel any surprise at the adoption of a
Mithraic symbol even in the remotest parts of the empire; and indeed the
fact that Carausius, during his usurpation of the imperial authority in
Britain, issued coins with the inscription [Greek: Helio Mithra
aniketo], brings the worship of Mithras, as it were, home to our own
doors. Whether the symbol of the sun was ever employed for any such
purpose as our modern broad arrow, is a question on which I hope some of
your readers may be able to throw some light. Meanwhile, being quite
ignorant as to the antiquity of our Ordnance mark, the above is merely
thrown out as a conjecture. It is perhaps, to some extent, confirmed by
a statement of Grimm's (_Deutsche Mythologie_), that the symbol of the
_Moon_ was used by the ancient Germans precisely as our broad arrow,
viz. on boundary stones, &c.

I think there is more probability in another conjecture of mine, that
the same symbol occurs elsewhere, and for a very different purpose, viz.
in our churches, and as symbolical of the Sun of Righteousness. Our
painted windows and our altar-cloths contain the symbol [arrow symbol],
which I believe generally goes by the name of the "three sacred
nails,"--an explanation which I always thought ridiculous, even at a
time when I could give no other. Is it not far more in accordance with
the principles of symbolism, and the practice of the early Christians,
to believe it to be the adoption of a heathen symbol, and its
application to Christian purposes?

    J. M. (4).

  St. Mary Tavy, Tavistock.

_Quarter Waggoner_ (Vol. v., p. 11.).--I have met with a gentleman in
the navy who informs me that these words should be "Quarter Wagner," and
was so called from the publisher's name, "Wagner," who published the
charts in four parts answering to the four quarters of the globe. These
charts so called have been disused for near thirty years; and it was
commonly observed that they who did not make alteration by improvement
in the charts, or who knew not of anything beyond what was then known in
maritime affairs, did not know anything beyond what was noted on the
then existing charts by Wagner. Hence the phrase.

      [+]

In connexion with the notes of BOLTON CORNEY, I would mention that I
have a ponderous folio volume, with thick oak backs, covered with
canvas, on which is the name of the book, _The Dutch Waggoner_: the
printed title is--

  "The Lightning Columne or Sea-Mirrour, containing the Sea-Coasts
  of the Northern, Eastern, and Western Navigation; Setting forth in
  divers necessarie Sea-Cards, all the Ports, Rivers, Bayes, Roads,
  Depths and Sands, very curiously placed on its due Polus heigt
  furnished, With the discoveries of the chief Countries, and on
  what cours and distance they lay one from another. Never
  theretofore so clearly laid open, and here and there very
  diligently bettered and augmented for the use of all Seamen. As
  also the Situation of the Northernly Countries, as Islands, the
  Strate Davids, the Isle of Jan Mayen, Bear's Island, Old
  Greenland, Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla: Adorned with many
  Sea-Cards and Discoveries, gathered out of the Experience and
  Practice of divers Pilots and Lovers of the famous Art of
  Navigation. Whereunto is added a brief Instruction of the Art of
  Navigation, together with New Tables of the Sun's Declination, wit
  an New Almanach. At Amsterdam. Printed by Casparus Loots-man,
  Bookseller upon the Water in the Loots-man, 1689. With previledge
  for fiftheen Iears."

The "priviledge" is signed "Arent Baron van Waggenaer. By the
appointment of the States, Symon van Beaumont." The book is full of very
curious charts, sections, and headlands, and other engravings, and is
very rare; but I merely mention it to show that books of charts, &c.
_were_ known as _waggoners_.

    L. JEWITT.

MR. BOLTON CORNEY has traced the "Waggoner" to Wagenaer's work
satisfactorily; but surely the _Quarter_ is merely _Quarto_. I believe
the term is not now used in the navy, and apparently was never
_officially_ recognised: at least it does not occur in the _Admiralty
Instructions for the Navy_ of 1747, 1790, or 1808. I may add a reference
to Falconer's _Marine Dictionary_, where "Waggoner" is explained to be a
"book of charts, describing the coasts, rocks, &c.," and to Dalrymple's
_Charts and Memoirs_ (1772), where a work called _The English Waggoner_
is mentioned.

_Log-book_ is so called because the rate of sailing of the ship, as
ascertained by heaving the _log_, is one of the most frequent and
important entries.

    B. R. I.

_Cibber's Lives of the Poets_ (Vol. v., p. 25.).--I have not Croker's
_last_ edition of Boswell's _Life of Johnson_ to refer to, to see what
is there said respecting Cibber's title to the authorship of this book;
but I find the following MS. note on the fly-leaf of the first volume of
my copy of the _Lives of the Poets_:--

  "Steevens says that not the smallest part of the work called
  'Cibber's _Lives of the Poets_' was the compilation of Cibber;
  being entirely written by Mr. Shiells, amanuensis to Dr. Johnson,
  when his Dictionary was preparing for the press. T. Cibber was in
  the King's Bench, and accepted of ten guineas from the booksellers
  for leave to prefix his name to the work, and it was purposely so
  prefixed as to leave the reader in doubt whether he or his father
  was the person designed."

The American edition of the German _Conversations-Lexicon_, at vol. iii.
p. 190. makes the same statement, but without giving any authority. The
name of Robert Shiells, a Scotchman, is here given as the author of the
_Lives of the Poets_.

    P. T.

_Shakspere and the English Press_ (Vol. iv., p. 344.).--The _Second part
of Henry the Sixt_, ascribed to Shakspere by Heminge and Condell, is
founded on a play entitled _The first part of the contention betwixt the
two famous houses of Yorke and Lancaster_, which was first printed
anonymously in 1594. It was reprinted anonymously in 1600; and, as the
work of Shakspere, about 1619. The amended play first appeared in the
folio of 1623. The passage in which Jack Cade reproaches lord Say with
having promoted education, stands thus in the editions of 1594 and 1623:

  "Thou hast most traitorously erected a grammer schoole, to infect
  the youth of the realme, and against the kings crowne and
  dignitie, thou hast built vp a paper-mill."--1594. (J. O. H.)

  "Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in
  erecting a grammar-school: and whereas, before, our forefathers
  had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused
  printing to be used; and, contrary to the king, his crown, and
  dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill."--1623. (J. P. C.)

Fabian gives no information on the charges made against lord Say; nor do
the subsequent chroniclers. The received text contains two undoubted
anachronisms--to what extent, it would require a volume to decide. On
comparing the extracts, it appears that we must ascribe the anachronism
on paper-making to the earlier dramatist, and that on printing to
William Shakspere--who also borrowed the allusion to _the score and the
tally_ from a former speech in the work of his unknown precursor.

Malone, when he edited _The plays and poems of William Shakspere_,
undertook to distinguish by inverted commas the lines of this play which
the poet "retouched and greatly improved," and by asterisks, those which
were "his own original production." The design was commendable, but in
the execution of it he committed numerous oversights.

    BOLTON CORNEY.




Miscellaneous.


NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

_The Book of Familiar Quotations; being a Collection of Popular Extracts
and Aphorisms selected from the Works of the best Authors_, is a little
volume of such extracts from Shakspeare, Pope, and others of our
greatest poets as most frequently fall on the ear in conversation, or
meet the eye in the columns of the press and periodicals of the country.
The present selection is a very good one, as far as it goes, and has the
advantage over its predecessors of not only giving us the name of the
author of each passage quoted, but also its precise place in his works.

_Shall we Register our Deeds? answered by Sir Edward Sugden._ This
clever pamphlet proposes an important Query, and replies to it thus:
"Let us therefore to the question proposed, Shall we register our deeds?
answer with one voice, No!"

If the study of Natural History be one which may with advantage be
introduced into the family circle (and who can doubt it?) we know no
better medium than the clever and well-conducted little weekly paper
which has just been commenced under the title of Kidd's _London
Journal_, of which the first five numbers are before us.

Mr. Tymms, the active and zealous Secretary of the _Bury and West
Suffolk Archaeological Institute_, and Editor of the volume of _Bury
Wills_, printed by the Camden Society, is about to publish a _Handbook
of Bury_, on the plan of Cunningham's _Handbook of London_, and would be
glad to receive any notes upon the subject: more especially with respect
to its remarkable inhabitants.

We have to call the attention of our readers interested in the history
of our Constitution and Constitutional Law to a preliminary Essay on the
History of the _Law of Habeas Corpus_ recently published by Dr.
Marquardsen, under the title _Ueber Haft und Buergschaft bei den
Angelsachsen_. It is but a small pamphlet, but will repay the time spent
in its perusal. This mention of the Anglo-Saxon polity reminds us, that
the Second Part of _The Jubilee Edition of the Complete Works of King
Alfred_ has been issued, and, in addition to a continuation of the
_Harmony of the Chronicles_, contains a _Sketch of the Anglo-Saxon
Mint_, and a _Description of all the Coins of King Alfred_ now
remaining.


BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE.

FIELDING'S WORKS. 14 Vols. 1808. Vol. XI. [Being 2nd or Amelia.]

SHADWELL. Vols. II. and IV. 1720.

ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON. Vol. IV. 1819.

BARONETAGE. Vol. I. 1720.

  Ditto. Vols. I. and II. 1727.

CHAMBERLAYNE'S PHARONNIDA. (Reprint.) Vols. I. and II. 1820.

EVANS' OLD BALLADS. Vol. III. 1784.

HOLCROFT'S LAVATER. Vol. I. 1789.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. Vol. I. Third edition, published in 1794,
Edinburgh, for A. Bell.

DRECHSLERUS DE LARVIS. Lipsiae, 1674.

GIBBON'S DECLINE AND FALL. Vol. II. Dublin. Luke White. 1789.

ELSLEY ON THE GOSPEL AND ACTS. London, 1833. Vol. I.

SPENSER'S WORKS. Pickering's edition, 1839. Sm. 8vo. Vol. V.

WHARTON'S ANGLIA SACRA. Fol. Vol. II.

ARISTOPHANES, Bekker. (5 Vols. edit.) Vol. II. London, 1829.

LYDGATE'S BOKE OF TROYE. 4to. 1555. (Any fragment.)

COLERIDGE'S TABLE TALK. Vol. I. Murray. 1835.

THE BARBERS (a poem), by W. Hutton. 8vo. 1793. (Original edition, not
the fac-simile.)

THE DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME TRULY REPRESENTED, by
Edw. Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester, edited by William Cunningham,
Min. Edinburgh.

A CATECHISM TRULY REPRESENTING THE DOCTRINES AND PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH
OF ROME, with an Answer to them, by John Williams, M.A.

DODD'S CERTAMEN UTRIUSQUE ECCLESIAE; or a List of all the Eminent
Writers, Catholics and Protestants, since the Reformation. 1724.

FUESSLEIN, JOH. CONRAD, BEYTRAEGE ZUR ERLAEUTERUNG DER
KIRCHEN-REFORMATIONS-GESCHICHTE DES SCHWEITZERLANDES. 5 Vols. Zuerich,
1741.

VERUS CHRISTIANUS, OR DIRECTIONS FOR PRIVATE DEVOTIONS, &c., with
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Notices to Correspondents.

EXECUTIONER OF CHARLES I. _The passage from Lilly sent us by_ R. S. F.
_has already appeared in_ "N. & Q.;" _see_ Vol. II., p. 268. _The story
of Lord Stair being the executioner, forwarded by_ R. F. M. _and_ C.,
_is obviously a fiction. It was printed by Hone in his_ Cecil's Sixty
Curious and Authentic Narratives, _where it is given as a quotation
from_ The Recreations of a Man of Feeling.

R. GLENN _will find a list of Englishman who have been Cardinals in our_
2nd Vol., p. 406.

R. G. V. THE THREE BALLS OF PAWNBROKERS _is explained in our_ 1st Vol.,
p. 42.

T. B. H. _Does not our division of_ REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES _answer the
purpose suggested?_

H. G. D. _is thanked for his private note. The ballad is intended for
insertion. We will make inquiries respecting the old tablets. Many of
our early Numbers are out of print again._

J. J. D. _shall receive a note from us shortly, not only with reference
to the_ specimen _enclosed, but to his former communication, which has
not been lost sight of._

O. T. D. (Hull) _is thanked. His wishes shall be attended to._

M. W. B. (Bruges). _The order has been duly received._

REPLIES RECEIVED.--_Moravian Hymns--Clerical M.P.'s--Serjeants'
Rings--Salting Children--Bishop Bridgeman--Hieroglyphics
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Shakspeare--London--Dutch Chronicle--Church, meaning
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Drakes--Meaning of Groom--Count Koenigsmark--Sir W. Raleigh's
Snuff-box--Anagrams--Poets beware--Souling--Cross-legged
Effigies--Donkey--Hellrake; and many others which we are obliged to omit
the acknowledgments of, from the early period at which we are compelled
this week to go to press. From the same cause we have omitted several
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Street aforesaid.--Saturday, January 31. 1852.




[Transcriber's Note: List of volumes and content pages in "Notes and
Queries", Vol. I.-V.]

      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. I.                                   |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol., No.     | Date, Year        | Pages     | PG # xxxxx  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No.  1 | November  3, 1849 |   1 -  17 | PG #  8603  |
      | Vol. I No.  2 | November 10, 1849 |  18 -  32 | PG # 11265  |
      | Vol. I No.  3 | November 17, 1849 |  33 -  46 | PG # 11577  |
      | Vol. I No.  4 | November 24, 1849 |  49 -  63 | PG # 13513  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No.  5 | December  1, 1849 |  65 -  80 | PG # 11636  |
      | Vol. I No.  6 | December  8, 1849 |  81 -  95 | PG # 13550  |
      | Vol. I No.  7 | December 15, 1849 |  97 - 112 | PG # 11651  |
      | Vol. I No.  8 | December 22, 1849 | 113 - 128 | PG # 11652  |
      | Vol. I No.  9 | December 29, 1849 | 130 - 144 | PG # 13521  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 10 | January   5, 1850 | 145 - 160 | PG #        |
      | Vol. I No. 11 | January  12, 1850 | 161 - 176 | PG # 11653  |
      | Vol. I No. 12 | January  19, 1850 | 177 - 192 | PG # 11575  |
      | Vol. I No. 13 | January  26, 1850 | 193 - 208 | PG # 11707  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 14 | February  2, 1850 | 209 - 224 | PG # 13558  |
      | Vol. I No. 15 | February  9, 1850 | 225 - 238 | PG # 11929  |
      | Vol. I No. 16 | February 16, 1850 | 241 - 256 | PG # 16193  |
      | Vol. I No. 17 | February 23, 1850 | 257 - 271 | PG # 12018  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 18 | March     2, 1850 | 273 - 288 | PG # 13544  |
      | Vol. I No. 19 | March     9, 1850 | 289 - 309 | PG # 13638  |
      | Vol. I No. 20 | March    16, 1850 | 313 - 328 | PG # 16409  |
      | Vol. I No. 21 | March    23, 1850 | 329 - 343 | PG # 11958  |
      | Vol. I No. 22 | March    30, 1850 | 345 - 359 | PG # 12198  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 23 | April     6, 1850 | 361 - 376 | PG # 12505  |
      | Vol. I No. 24 | April    13, 1850 | 377 - 392 | PG # 13925  |
      | Vol. I No. 25 | April    20, 1850 | 393 - 408 | PG # 13747  |
      | Vol. I No. 26 | April    27, 1850 | 409 - 423 | PG # 13822  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 27 | May       4, 1850 | 425 - 447 | PG # 13712  |
      | Vol. I No. 28 | May      11, 1850 | 449 - 463 | PG # 13684  |
      | Vol. I No. 29 | May      18, 1850 | 465 - 479 | PG # 15197  |
      | Vol. I No. 30 | May      25, 1850 | 481 - 495 | PG # 13713  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. II.                                  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol., No.      | Date, Year         | Pages   | PG # xxxxx  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 31 | June  1, 1850      |   1- 15 | PG # 12589  |
      | Vol. II No. 32 | June  8, 1850      |  17- 32 | PG # 15996  |
      | Vol. II No. 33 | June 15, 1850      |  33- 48 | PG # 26121  |
      | Vol. II No. 34 | June 22, 1850      |  49- 64 | PG # 22127  |
      | Vol. II No. 35 | June 29, 1850      |  65- 79 | PG # 22126  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 36 | July  6, 1850      |  81- 96 | PG # 13361  |
      | Vol. II No. 37 | July 13, 1850      |  97-112 | PG # 13729  |
      | Vol. II No. 38 | July 20, 1850      | 113-128 | PG # 13362  |
      | Vol. II No. 39 | July 27, 1850      | 129-143 | PG # 13736  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 40 | August  3, 1850    | 145-159 | PG # 13389  |
      | Vol. II No. 41 | August 10, 1850    | 161-176 | PG # 13393  |
      | Vol. II No. 42 | August 17, 1850    | 177-191 | PG # 13411  |
      | Vol. II No. 43 | August 24, 1850    | 193-207 | PG # 13406  |
      | Vol. II No. 44 | August 31, 1850    | 209-223 | PG # 13426  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 45 | September  7, 1850 | 225-240 | PG # 13427  |
      | Vol. II No. 46 | September 14, 1850 | 241-256 | PG # 13462  |
      | Vol. II No. 47 | September 21, 1850 | 257-272 | PG # 13936  |
      | Vol. II No. 48 | September 28, 1850 | 273-288 | PG # 13463  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 49 | October  5, 1850   | 289-304 | PG # 13480  |
      | Vol. II No. 50 | October 12, 1850   | 305-320 | PG # 13551  |
      | Vol. II No. 51 | October 19, 1850   | 321-351 | PG # 15232  |
      | Vol. II No. 52 | October 26, 1850   | 353-367 | PG # 22624  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 53 | November  2, 1850  | 369-383 | PG # 13540  |
      | Vol. II No. 54 | November  9, 1850  | 385-399 | PG # 22138  |
      | Vol. II No. 55 | November 16, 1850  | 401-415 | PG # 15216  |
      | Vol. II No. 56 | November 23, 1850  | 417-431 | PG # 15354  |
      | Vol. II No. 57 | November 30, 1850  | 433-454 | PG # 15405  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 58 | December  7, 1850  | 457-470 | PG # 21503  |
      | Vol. II No. 59 | December 14, 1850  | 473-486 | PG # 15427  |
      | Vol. II No. 60 | December 21, 1850  | 489-502 | PG # 24803  |
      | Vol. II No. 61 | December 28, 1850  | 505-524 | PG # 16404  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. III.                                 |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol., No.       | Date, Year        | Pages   | PG # xxxxx  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 62 | January  4, 1851  |   1- 15 | PG # 15638  |
      | Vol. III No. 63 | January 11, 1851  |  17- 31 | PG # 15639  |
      | Vol. III No. 64 | January 18, 1851  |  33- 47 | PG # 15640  |
      | Vol. III No. 65 | January 25, 1851  |  49- 78 | PG # 15641  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 66 | February  1, 1851 |  81- 95 | PG # 22339  |
      | Vol. III No. 67 | February  8, 1851 |  97-111 | PG # 22625  |
      | Vol. III No. 68 | February 15, 1851 | 113-127 | PG # 22639  |
      | Vol. III No. 69 | February 22, 1851 | 129-159 | PG # 23027  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 70 | March  1, 1851    | 161-174 | PG # 23204  |
      | Vol. III No. 71 | March  8, 1851    | 177-200 | PG # 23205  |
      | Vol. III No. 72 | March 15, 1851    | 201-215 | PG # 23212  |
      | Vol. III No. 73 | March 22, 1851    | 217-231 | PG # 23225  |
      | Vol. III No. 74 | March 29, 1851    | 233-255 | PG # 23282  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 75 | April  5, 1851    | 257-271 | PG # 23402  |
      | Vol. III No. 76 | April 12, 1851    | 273-294 | PG # 26896  |
      | Vol. III No. 77 | April 19, 1851    | 297-311 | PG # 26897  |
      | Vol. III No. 78 | April 26, 1851    | 313-342 | PG # 26898  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 79 | May  3, 1851      | 345-359 | PG # 26899  |
      | Vol. III No. 80 | May 10, 1851      | 361-382 | PG # 32495  |
      | Vol. III No. 81 | May 17, 1851      | 385-399 | PG # 29318  |
      | Vol. III No. 82 | May 24, 1851      | 401-415 | PG # 28311  |
      | Vol. III No. 83 | May 31, 1851      | 417-440 | PG # 36835  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 84 | June  7, 1851     | 441-472 | PG # 37379  |
      | Vol. III No. 85 | June 14, 1851     | 473-488 | PG # 37403  |
      | Vol. III No. 86 | June 21, 1851     | 489-511 | PG # 37496  |
      | Vol. III No. 87 | June 28, 1851     | 513-528 | PG # 37516  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. IV.                                  |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol., No.       | Date, Year         | Pages   | PG # xxxxx |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol. IV No.  88 | July  5, 1851      |   1- 15 | PG # 37548 |
      | Vol. IV No.  89 | July 12, 1851      |  17- 31 | PG # 37568 |
      | Vol. IV No.  90 | July 19, 1851      |  33- 47 | PG # 37593 |
      | Vol. IV No.  91 | July 26, 1851      |  49- 79 | PG # 37778 |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol. IV No.  92 | August  2, 1851    |  81- 94 | PG # 38324 |
      | Vol. IV No.  93 | August  9, 1851    |  97-112 | PG # 38337 |
      | Vol. IV No.  94 | August 16, 1851    | 113-127 | PG # 38350 |
      | Vol. IV No.  95 | August 23, 1851    | 129-144 | PG # 38386 |
      | Vol. IV No.  96 | August 30, 1851    | 145-167 | PG # 38405 |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol. IV No.  97 | Sept.  6, 1851     | 169-183 | PG # 38433 |
      | Vol. IV No.  98 | Sept. 13, 1851     | 185-200 | PG # 38491 |
      | Vol. IV No.  99 | Sept. 20, 1851     | 201-216 | PG # 38574 |
      | Vol. IV No. 100 | Sept. 27, 1851     | 217-246 | PG # 38656 |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol. IV No. 101 | Oct.  4, 1851      | 249-264 | PG # 38701 |
      | Vol. IV No. 102 | Oct. 11, 1851      | 265-287 | PG # 38773 |
      | Vol. IV No. 103 | Oct. 18, 1851      | 289-303 | PG # 38864 |
      | Vol. IV No. 104 | Oct. 25, 1851      | 305-333 | PG # 38926 |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol. IV No. 105 | Nov.  1, 1851      | 337-358 | PG # 39076 |
      | Vol. IV No. 106 | Nov.  8, 1851      | 361-374 | PG # 39091 |
      | Vol. IV No. 107 | Nov. 15, 1851      | 377-396 | PG # 39135 |
      | Vol. IV No. 108 | Nov. 22, 1851      | 401-414 | PG # 39197 |
      | Vol. IV No. 109 | Nov. 29, 1851      | 417-430 | PG # 39233 |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol. IV No. 110 | Dec.  6, 1851      | 433-460 | PG # 39338 |
      | Vol. IV No. 111 | Dec. 13, 1851      | 465-478 | PG # 39393 |
      | Vol. IV No. 112 | Dec. 20, 1851      | 481-494 | PG # 39438 |
      | Vol. IV No. 113 | Dec. 27, 1851      | 497-510 | PG # 39503 |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. V.                                   |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol., No.       | Date, Year         |  Pages  | PG # xxxxx |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol. V  No. 114 | January  3, 1852   |   1-18  | PG # 40171 |
      | Vol. V  No. 115 | January 10, 1852   |  25-45  | PG # 40582 |
      | Vol. V  No. 116 | January 17, 1852   |  49-70  | PG # 40642 |
      | Vol. V  No. 117 | January 24, 1852   |  73-94  | PG # 40678 |
      +-----------------+--------------------+---------+------------+
      | Vol I. Index. [Nov. 1849-May 1850]             | PG # 13536 |
      | INDEX TO THE SECOND VOLUME. MAY-DEC., 1850     | PG # 13571 |
      | INDEX TO THE THIRD VOLUME. JAN.-JUNE, 1851     | PG # 26770 |
      | INDEX TO THE FOURTH VOLUME. JULY-DEC., 1851    | PG # 40166 |
      +------------------------------------------------+------------+





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 118,
January 31, 1852, by Various

*** 