Vol. IV.—No. 101. NOTES AND QUERIES: A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

V OL . IV.—No. 101.

S ATURDAY , O CTOBER 4. 1851.

Price Threepence. Stamped Edition, 4 d.

CONTENTS.

N OTES :—

Q UERIES :—

R EPLIES :—

M ISCELLANEOUS :—

Notes.

BATTLE OF BRUNANBURGH.

It is remarkable that the site of this great battle, the effects of which were so important to the Anglo-Saxon power, remains to this day undetermined.

The several chroniclers who describe it give various names to the locality, though modern authors generally adopt the name of Brunanburgh or "Town of the Fountains." Not however to insist on such variations in the name as Brunandune, Bruneberik, Bruneford, and Brumby, Simeon of Durham describes the battle as occurring at a place named Wendune, otherwise Weondune, to which moreover he assigns the further name of Ethrunnanwerch. The locality has been sought for in most improbable places,—in Northumberland and Cheshire. There can, however, be little or no doubt that this Waterloo of the Anglo-Saxons, as it has been called, is really to be found in the immediate neighbourhood of the Humber; though, whether on the northern or southern bank of that river seems quite uncertain: so far at least as the evidence hitherto adduced affords us the means of judging. In the Winchester volume of the British Archæological Association, M R . H ESLEDEN states his belief that he has traced the site of this battle on the south of the Humber, near Barton in Lincolnshire; but the evidence on which he grounds this opinion, whilst demanding for this locality further consideration, seems to me far from conclusive. M R . H ESLEDEN describes some curious earth-works in this situation, and thinks he has discovered the site of Anlaff's camp at Barrow, and that of Athelstan at Burnham (formerly, as he informs us, written "Brunnum"), where is an eminence called "Black Hold," which he thinks was the actual seat of the battle. At Barrow are places called " Barrow Bogs " and " Blow Wells ." Does M R . H ESLEDEN think we have here any reference to the "fountains" giving their name to Brunanburgh?

It is very desirable, in a topographical and historical point of view, that the site of this remarkable contest between the Anglo-Saxons and the allied Scandinavians and British reguli under Anlaff, should be determined on satisfactory data; and the allusion to it by M R . H ESLEDEN , in a recent communication to "N OTES AND Q UERIES " (Vol. iv., p. 180.), induces me to call the attention of your readers, and of that gentleman in particular, to some mention of this battle, topographically not unimportant, which is to be found in Egil's Saga ; the hero of which was himself a combatant at Brunanburgh, under the standard of Athelstan, and which appears to have escaped the observation of those who have discussed the probable site of this deadly encounter. The circumstantial account to be found in the Saga , chap. lii. and liii., has not been overlooked by [250] Sharon Turner, who however does not quote the passages having a special topographical interest. It is remarkable that the name of Wendune, for which among Anglo-Saxon writers there appears the single authority of Simeon of Durham, is confirmed by the testimony of the Saga : at least there can be little doubt, that the Vinheida of the Saga is but a Norse form for the Wendun or Weondune of the Anglo-Saxon chronicler. The natural and other features of the locality are not neglected by the author of the Saga , who describes it as a wild and uncultivated spot, surrounded by woods, having the town of Vinheida not far distant on the north. These particulars I take from the Latin of the Saga ; but the reader of the Icelandic would possibly find more minute characteristics, which may have been lost in the process of translation. As, by his residence in the neighbourhood, M R . H ESLEDEN is favourably situated for the further prosecution of this inquiry, I should be glad to find whether his conclusion as to the site of the battle received confirmation, or otherwise, from the passages of the Saga to which I have now ventured to direct attention.

I may here observe, that if we consider the situation of Jorvik , or York, the capital of the then Norse kingdom of Northumbria, we shall perhaps conclude that it was on the Yorkshire rather than on the Lincolnshire side of the Humber, that—

This conclusion is to some extent confirmed, when we connect with the above the tradition or historical fact, whichever we regard it, that it was after this battle that Athelstan, in redemption of a previous vow, made various costly offerings on the altar of St. John of Beverley, and endowed that church with great privileges, the memory of which exists to the present day. It must however be admitted, that such a presumption is anything but conclusive in regard to a topographical question of this description. In conclusion, I would suggest that the Domesday Book for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire should be carefully examined, in order to ascertain whether the place in question, under any of the names assigned to it, is there to be found.

J OHN T HURNAM , M.D.

Devizes.

THE CAXTON COFFER.

"Sans titres on fait des romans; pour écrire l'histoire il faut des preuves authentiques, des monumens certains."—J. J. Oberlin, Annales de la vie de Jean Gutenberg .

Gratified by the approbation with which my suggestion of a Caxton memorial has been received, both publicly and privately, and acquiring fresh confidence in its success, it is my intention to make a second appeal to the lovers of literature when the excitement of the present year shall have passed away, and home-subjects shall re-assume their wonted powers of attraction.

In the mean time, I recommend an assemblage of notes on the life and works of Caxton, designed to correct current errors; to expose baseless conjectures; to indicate probable sources of information, or to furnish such novel information as research may produce; and to assist in establishing the principles on which such a memorial as that suggested should be prepared and edited.

In justification of this advice, I must express my belief that there have been few men of celebrity on whose life and labours so many erroneous statements, and inadmissible conjectures, have been published in works of general repute.

Requesting the favour of contributions to The Caxton coffer from such persons as may take an interest in the success of the enterprise, I now proceed to set an example:—

"I have a great number of books printed by Caxton, and in very good condition, except a very few. I think the number is forty-two. Have you any notes relating to that good honest man? I think he deserves those titles, and if I may add industrious too."—Edward, earl of Oxford, to Thomas Hearne, 1731.

"In Osborne's shop-catalogue for 1749, No. 5954, occurs the 'Catalogue of the late E. of Oxford's library, as it was purchased, (being the original) inlaid with royal paper, in 16 vols. 4to. with the prices prefixed to each book—pr. 10. 10. 0.—N.B. There never was any other copy of this catalogue with the prices added to it.'—The same article, at the same price, is repeated in his cat. for 1750, No. 6583, and for 1751, No. 6347—after which, being discontinued in his subsequent cats. it was probably sold. Qu y . to whom and where is it now?"—Richard Heber, c. 1811.

The first of the above notes is copied from Letters written by eminent persons , London [Oxford], 1813. 8 o . The second note, which concludes with a query , forms part of some manuscript memoranda, now in my possession, on the matchless library to which it refers.

B OLTON C ORNEY .

ACCURACY OF PRINTING.

Much of the copy forwarded by the contributors to "N OTES AND Q UERIES " contains quotations from old books; which I presume are accurately given, without alteration of spelling or punctuation. [251] The difficulty is this; that the printer, or perhaps even the editor, may sometimes alter what he supposes to be a contributor's error of copying. Thus, in Query 93. (Vol. iv., p. 151.), there is medulla grammaticæ , where I wrote grammatice , as in my authority: but the vile punctuation of the subsequent extract (which is also that of the original) is duly preserved. It would be desirable to have some symbol by which to call attention to the fact that some glaring error is real quotation, and is to be preserved in printing. For example, an indented line (~~~~) drawn under the words in question, or at the side, would warn the printer that he is not to correct any error, however gross. If you would suggest this, or any other method, and request your contributors generally to adopt it, an increased degree of confidence in the quotations would result.

M.

[We are quite alive to the importance of our correspondent's suggestion. The excuse for such corrections by compositors and readers is, that copy frequently comes into their hands in such a state, that if they did not exercise a power somewhat beyond the strict limit of their duty, they would commit greater sins, and give more of offence both to writers and readers. It may be feared that some compositors would not know what was meant by an indented line, and would (especially if it was not carefully made) take it as a direction for Italics . The object may, however, probably be attained by the writer's placing in the margin, or in the line, or between the lines, so as to be either above or below the particular word or phrase to which it is meant to refer, the word "sic," with a line completely round it. All persons concerned in the practical part of printing understand, that "matter" which is thus circumscribed or circumlineated, is not to be printed, but is a private communication for the benefit of such readers of the written copy as it may concern. If there are many lines which require this caution, it will generally be enough to mark one or two of the first instances, for that will suffice to show that the writer knows that he is doing, and means to do, what looks as if it wanted correction.

We are inclined to add one suggestion, for which this seems to be a good opportunity, because it is peculiarly inapplicable to the correspondent who has drawn from us these remarks. It is this, that as those who know that they are telling a story which is likely to excite doubt, take more than usual care to put on a grave and honest countenance, so those who know that they are writing what is bad or questionable in grammar, spelling, &c., should use the precaution of being peculiarly legible.]

FOLK LORE.

Discovering the bodies of the Drowned (Vol. iv., p. 148.).

—It is curious that a similar practice to that of discovering the bodies of the drowned by loading a loaf with mercury, and putting it afloat on the stream, extracted from the Gent. Mag. , seems to exist among the North American Indians. Sir James Alexander, in his account of Canada ( L'Acadie , 2 vols., 1849), says, p. 26.:—

"The Indians imagine that in the case of a drowned body, its place may be discovered by floating a chip of cedar wood, which will stop and turn round over the exact spot: an instance occurred within my own knowledge, in the case of Mr. Lavery of Kingston Mill, whose boat overset, and the person was drowned near Cedar Island; nor could the body be discovered until this experiment was resorted to."

S.W.

Liverpool, Sept. 1851.

Tom Chipperfeild, &c.

—In Herrick's Works (W. and C. Tait, Edinburgh, 1823), p. 216., are the following lines:

Can any of your correspondents versed in the folk lore of the West of England give me any explanation of Tom Chipperfeild and Co.?

E.N.W.

Southwark.

East Norfolk Folk Lore (Vol. iv., p. 53.).

—Cure for Ague. The cure mentioned by M R . E.S. T AYLOR above, I have just learnt has been practised with much success by some lady friends of mine for some years past amongst the poor of the parishes in which they have lived. From the number of cures effected by them, I have sent the same application (with the exception of using ginger instead of honey) to a relative of mine in India, who has been suffering from ague acutely, and am anxiously waiting to hear the result. It would be satisfactory to have the medical nature of the remedy, as well as its effects, accounted for; but I fear this would be considered as out of your province.

W.H.P.

SERMON OF BISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR.

I have a 12mo. volume entitled—

"Christ's Yoke an easy Yoke, and yet the Gate to Heaven a straight Gate: in two excellent Sermons, well worthy the serious Perusal of the strictest Professors. By a Learned and Reverend Divine. Heb. xi. 4.: Who being dead yet speaketh . London, printed for F. Smith, at the Elephant and Castle, near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill, 1675."

Pp. 92., Exclusive of Preface. [252]

Facing the title-page is a portrait of Bishop Taylor, engraved by Van Hove. The Preface, without mentioning the author's name, informs the reader that the two sermons following, "by means of a person of Honour yet living, are now come into the press for public use and benefit." The first sermon is on Matt. xi. 30.: "For my Yoke is easy, and my Burthen is light;" and is contained in Taylor's Life of Christ (Eden's edit. of his Works , vol. ii. pp. 515-528.). The second sermon is on Luke xiii. 23, 24., and begins "The life of a Christian is a perpetual contention for mastery;" and ends, "If we strive according to his holy Injunctions, we shall certainly enter, according to his holy promises, but else upon condition." This sermon does not appear, as far as I have been able to discover, in any collection of Taylor's Works, nor amongst his Sermons in the new edition; nor do I find the volume itself noticed by any of his biographers. It would be extraordinary if, when so much has been printed as part of his works which did not belong to him, a sermon indisputably his should have been omitted by all his various editors; a sermon, too, which every reader will allow to be a fine one. Perhaps the rev. editor of the new edition of Taylor's Works can explain the reason of this omission. I shall be glad to be corrected if I have overlooked the sermon in any part of the Bishop's collected Works.

J AMES C ROSSLEY .

COWLEY AND GRAY, NO. II.

Gray, when alluding to Shakspeare, in his Pindaric ode on "The Progress of Poesy," had probably Cowley in memory:

Wakefield, in one of his notes, remarks on this—

"An allusion perhaps, to that verse of Virgil,

Instead of Virgil, I suspect that Gray was thinking of the first Nemean Ode of Pindar, wherein the infant Hercules is described as strangling the snakes sent to destroy him by Juno:

Let me give a portion of Cowley's translation:

The stretching forth of the child's hands he found in Pindar and Cowley; his "smiling" in Cowley alone, for there is no trace of it in the original. While speaking of Gray, one scarcely likes alluding to that great whetstone , Dr. Johnson; for certainly the darkest shade on his well-merited literary reputation arises from his unjust, ill-natured, and unscholarlike criticisms upon a poet whose sole transgression was to have been his cotemporary. But Johnson eulogises Shakspeare, as did Gray, and I cannot help thinking that he, as well as Gray, was indebted to Cowley: e.g. Johnson writes:

And with Dr. Johnson's sixth line—

we may, I think, compare Cowley's description of King David's earlier years:

But to return to Gray, Ode VI. "The Bard:"

Wakefield quotes Paradise Lost , lib. i. 535.:

Campbell, in The Pleasures of Hope , Part I., does borrow from Milton in the above passage:

but Gray is alluding to hair , and not to a standard; to the original derivation of the word comet ( κόμη ), and possibly to a different passage in Milton, viz. Par. Lost , ii. 706.: [253]

Or as Virgil before him, Æneid , lib. x. 270.:

One of the meanings of κόμη is "the luminous tail of a comet;" and Suidas mentions from the LXX, καὶ ἕσπερον τὸν ἀστέρα ἐπὶ κόμης αὐτοῦ ἄξεις αὐτον (Job xxxviii. 32.). See Scott and Liddell's Lexicon at the words Κόμη , and Πώγων and Πωγωνίας , which latter words are used in reference to the beard of a comet.

Gray must now speak for himself. He says in a note:

"The image was taken from a well-known picture of Raphael, representing the Supreme Being in the Vision of Ezekiel. There are two of these paintings, both believed originals, one at Florence, the other at Paris."

And Mr. Mason adds, in a note to his edition of Gray, vol. i. p. 75. Lond. 1807:

"Moses breaking the Tables of the Law, by Parmegiano, was a figure which Mr. Gray used to say came still nearer to his meaning than the picture of Raphael."

I cannot help thinking that Cowley too was not forgotten. Speaking of the angel Gabriel, he says:

Indeed, I must give the entire passage, however fantastic or unconnected with my purpose; for the last four lines, which describe the angel's wings , appear beyond measure dreamy and beautiful:

Again, in a verse which was inserted in the Elegy as it originally stood (and the subsequent rejection of which we must ever grieve over, as it almost surpasses any verse of the entire poem; and besides would have saved it from the imputation of having been written as a heathen poet would have written it), the words "sacred calm" occur, which are not unfrequent in Cowley:

Again, does not Mr. Gray's Ode to Spring —

remind one a little of Cowley's "Anacreontic to the Grasshopper?"

or the following lines

In his notes to "Spring," Wakefield gets quite pathetic at the words—

I have always believed that Gray was imitating Bishop Jeremy Taylor:

"Marriage is the mother of the world, and preserves kingdoms, and fills cities, and churches, and heaven itself. Celibate, like the fly in the heart of an apple , dwells in a perpetual sweetness, but sits alone, and is confined and dies in singularity."—Sermon XVII. The Marriage Ring , Part I.

If these random notes be interesting to any of your readers, they are only a portion out of many I could send; and any one who doubts Gray's partiality for Cowley may compare his second verse of the "Ode to Spring" with Cowley's lines on "Solitude," found amongst his Essays , especially verses 4. and 5.: [254]

And—

Or let him compare Gray's Latin and English verses upon the death of his friend Mr. West with Cowley's upon the death of Mr. William Harvey and Mr. Crashaw:

To these lines on Crashaw Pope is indebted for a sentiment which in his hands assumes a very infidel form:

Crashaw had become a Roman Catholic, and was a canon of Loretto when he died; but Cowley's Protestant feelings could not blind him to his worth, and he says:

How much the two last-mentioned poems of Gray's owe to Milton's "Lines to Mansus" and his "Epitaphium Damonis," any one acquainted with them may remember. I have only been alluding to Gray's reproductions of Cowley.

R T .

Warmington.

Minor Notes.

Remains of Sir Hugh Montgomery (Vol. iv., p. 206.).

—Allusion has been made to the following stanza from "Chevy Chase:"—

Having lately visited the sea-bathing town of Largs, my attention was attracted to a building in the churchyard forming the present burying ground. In this building, bearing date of erection 1636 by Sir Robert Montgomery (ancestor of the present Earl of Eglinton), there is an elaborately carved tomb of mason work, beneath which is a strongly arched stone vault, where, besides the founder and others, tradition has placed the remains of the brave Sir Hugh Montgomery. It is difficult to reconcile this with the long prior date of the battle of Chevy Chase, unless the vault, which has certainly a very ancient look, can be substantiated to have existed before the above building. Taking matters as they go, the remains of the warrior now appear in the most humiliating condition—reduced to a hard, dry bony skeleton deprived of legs and thighs, with the singular appearance of the skull having been cloven (most likely) by a battle-axe, the skull being held together by some plate or substance and rude stitching. The body is said to have been originally embalmed, and enclosed in a lead coffin, which was barbarously torn off some forty years ago, as sinks for fishing nets. The building, tomb, and vault, taken altogether, present perhaps one of the finest specimens of this species of architecture in Scotland, and are additionally curious from the cone roof of the building being highly ornamented with descriptive paintings in a tolerable state of preservation. It is understood that some historical notices of the whole have been privately printed by a Scotch antiquarian, of which some of your learned readers may be aware, and may furnish more ample details than the foregoing.

G.

Glasgow, Sept. 23, 1851.

Westminster Hall.

—The following extract from the Issue Roll of Michaelmas Term , 9 Hen. VII. 1493, may be interesting to some of your readers, and will perhaps lead to a speculation on the nature of "the disguisyings" alluded to:—

"To Richard Daland, for providing certain spectacles, or theatres, commonly called scaffolds, in the great hall at Westminster, for performance of 'the disguisyings,' exhibited to the people on the night of the Epiphany, as appears by a book of particulars; paid to his own hands, £28, 3 s. 5- 3 / 4 d. "—Devon's Issue Roll , 516.

Possibly the next entry, which is in Michaelmas in the following year, of a payment of five marks yearly "to John Englissh, Edward Maye, Richard Gibson, and John Hamond, 'lusoribus Regis' otherwise called in English the players of the king's interludes, for their fees,"—has some connexion with "the disguisyings."

D ESSAWDORF .

Meaning of "Log-ship."

—If you have a spare corner, can you grant it to me for the origin of a word which describes an article used in every sailing and steam vessel in the world, and yet perhaps not one sailor in a thousand knows whence it is derived. I allude to the word "log-ship," the name of the little wooden float (quadrant-shaped) by which, with a line attached, the vessel's speed is ascertained. Before the invention of the line with "knots" on it, a "chip," or floating-scrap, [255] was thrown overboard forward, and the "master," or whoever it might be, walked aft at the rate which the vessel passed the "chip," judging of his pace from experience. Hence the term "log-ship," or "chip," which is its true name.

A. L.

West Indies, Aug. 11. 1851.

The Locusts of the New Testament.

—While in Greece last year, I was talking one day with a highly intelligent person on the English translation of the New Testament. In the course of our conversation he said, that in the third chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel we had got an entirely wrong meaning for the verse in which we are told the food of St. John the Baptist, viz. "locusts and wild honey." I have not at this moment a Testament in ancient Greek by me but in the Romaic the paragraph alluded to runs thus:

He said that the word ἀκρίδες , which we have translated "locusts," means rather the "young and tender parts of plants." Since that time I have looked into various Lexicons and Dictionaries both of the ancient and modern Greek, but have been unable to find anything to assist me in fixing this meaning. In that of Hedericus, it is thus given: " Ἀκρὶς, ίδος, ἡ , Locusta." There is also, however, " Ἄκρις, ιος, ἡ , Summitas, cacumen montis. Ab ἄκρος , summus." Whether there may be any confusion between these two words I know not; and here, possibly, I may be assisted by some obliging reader. I have consulted, along with a clergyman who is well skilled in Greek literature, and who is perfectly acquainted with Romaic, many commentaries; but in every one we found this passage either entirely passed over, or very unsatisfactorily noticed.

Βορέας.

Queries.

COINAGE OF VABALATHUS, PRINCE OF PALMYRA.

A great boon would be conferred on numismatists if some of your correspondents would endeavour to elucidate the puzzling legend sometimes found on coins of this prince.

Vabalathus, or Vhabalathus, Athenodorus (which Mionnet and Akerman make to be the Greek translation of Vabalathus), was the son of the celebrated Zenobia, by an Arab prince, and was raised to the imperial dignity by his mother. His sway extended over some parts of Syria and Egypt, A.D. 266-273.

Aurelian gave to Vabalathus a petty province of Armenia, of which he made him king, though perhaps this arose from the mistake of Occo and Salmasius ( in Vopisc. p. 380.) in reading ΑΡΜΕΝΙΑϹ for ΑΥΓ . ΕΡΜΙΑϹ on his Egyptian coins (Vide infra).

His portrait appears on the reverse of coins of Aurelian, with the legend VABALATHVS . VCRIMDR. Frölich and Corsini have unsuccessfully attempted the interpretation of this word. Père Hardouin, considering, VCRIMOR as the correct reading, divides it V. C. R. IM. OR., i.e. Vice Cæsaris Rector Imperii Orientis ; but, as Banduri rightly observes, the existence of this legend is extremely doubtful, VCRIMDR being the authorised one, and is undoubtedly so in a specimen in my cabinet; and though the worthy Jesuit remarks, "Barbaram vocem aliquam arbitrari sub hisce Notis Latinis latere, frigidum genus exceptionis est, ac desperantium," I am inclined to think that the true interpretation is to be sought in the Syriac, or some of the Oriental languages.

I have two others in my collection, of the rude third brass of the Egyptian mint: Obv. AURELIAN, &c.

The first and three final letters of this last legend are very indistinct, and I should much like a correct reading of it, as it is, I believe, inedited. Other legends are given by Banduri: VABALATHVS . alii REX. VCRIM. P.P.—VABALATVS. VCRIMOR.—VABALATHVS . ITER. IMP. R.—IM. C. VHABALATHVS. AVG.— Α . ΕΡΜΙΑϹ . ΟΥΑΒΑΛΛΑΘΟϹ . ΑΘΗΝΥ .—ΑΥ . Κ . ΕΡΜΙΑϹ . ΟΥΑΒΑΛΛΑΘΟϹ . ΑΘΗΝΟΥ . ΟΥΑΒΑΛΑΘΟϹ . ΑΘΗΝΟΥ . ΑΥΓ . ΕΡΜΙΑϹ.

E. S. T AYLOR .

Minor Queries.

195. Chaucer, how pronounced.

—What is, or was, the original pronunciation of the name of the poet Chaucer? Was, or was not, the ch in his day a guttural? And was not the name Hawker or Howker ?

J AMES L AURIE .

196. The Island of Ægina.

—Having occasion to make some inquiry about the island of Ægina, in Greece, I have been sadly perplexed by the discrepancies of the modern authorities I have had an opportunity of consulting. The principal of these relates to the site of the temple of Jupiter, or Zeus Panhellenios, which Dr. Smith's Classical Dictionary , and M'Culloch's and Fullerton's Gazetteers , place in the N.E. part of the island; Fullerton, however, saying also that Mount St. Elias lies in the south part , though he does not say that the temple is built on that mount. But Blaikie's Gazetteer says that the temple stands on Mount St. Elias , which, according to Fullerton, is in the south . With this agrees the map in the Topographisch-historisch Atlas von Hellas , &c. von H. Kiepert, Berlin, 1846, which distinctly places the "Tempel von Zeus Panhellenios" in the south part of the island while the temple in the north-east is called "Tempel von Athena." The Atlas [256] to Anacharsis' Travels places it also in the south . Which of these authorities is right? or, can any of your readers tell me, from personal knowledge, in what part of the island the said Temple of Zeus Panhellenios really stands?

J AMES L AURIE .

197. Statute of Limitations Abroad.

—With so many foreigners sojourning among us, I should be glad if you could, by throwing out a hint in your paper, obtain from them what is the statute of limitations of the several countries to which they belong.

C URIOSUS .

198. Tapestry Story of Justinian.

—There is a series of ancient tapestries in Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, representing certain events in the life of the emperor Justinian. One of these exhibits him in the act of making his celebrated Digest of Law, surrounded by his lawyers; in a second, he is manumitting slaves before the temple of Janus, at the time, I presume, when he proclaimed the eternal peace , which lasted two years; in a third, he appears crowned, on his knees, swearing, it should seem, to observe the Lex Romana , which is held up to him in an open book by two lictors; in the fourth, he is seen in a wild country, with a hunting spear in his hand, coming, as it were by surprise, and in great alarm, upon two hounds in the agonies of death. A dish, from which they may have taken poison, lies on the foreground; and a stream, which may possibly have been poisoned, gushes from a neighbouring rock. Figures in the background seem to be slinking away from the scene here represented.

I shall be much obliged to any of your correspondents who can point out to me the ancient author in whose writings the circumstance alluded to in the last-mentioned picture is detailed.

W. N. D ARNELL .

199. Praed's Works.

—Can any reader of "N OTES AND Q UERIES " inform me if there be a collected edition of the works of Praed? Many of your readers are familiar with his fugitive pieces published in Knight's Quarterly Magazine , The Etonian , and other periodicals. And all, I am sure, who are acquainted with him, would be glad to see his graceful and elegant productions published in a collected form.

K. S.

200. Folietani.

—Who founded the order of Folietani , or leaf-eaters (to the exclusion of all grain and meat)? where and when? What Pope dissolved the order, and is the Bull extant?

A. N.

201. Berlin Mean Time.

—In the Nautical Almanac the day is supposed to commence at noon according to the custom of English astronomers. Foreigners, however, ordinarily commence the astronomical day at midnight, at least those of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain do. But can you or any of your correspondents tell me whether it is from the midnight succeeding, or the midnight preceding our noon of the same number? For instance, taking the longitude of Berlin to be 0 h 53 m 35 s .5 East, would the present moment, which is September 17, 3 h 40 m 30 s Greenwich mean time, if expressed in Berlin mean time, be September 17, 16 h 34 m 5 s .5, or would it be September 16, 16 h 34 m 5 s .5? (I have reckoned to days by ordinals, as, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c., without a 0-day, which, however, the foreigners generally use, employing a cardinal number, the hours minutes, and seconds being considered as a fraction to be added.) I ask this question because so many things now are announced in Berlin mean time.

D X .

202. De Foe's House at Stoke Newington.

—About the year 1722 De Foe built here a large and handsome house for his own residence. Is it still standing, and where? Many mansions in the neighbourhood appear to have been erected about that time.

S PERIEND.

203. Oxford Fellowships. —

"Upon this occasion I might repeat what I have observed before, page 33. of these Annals , where the highest fellowships in Oxford in 1534 or 1535 did not exceed 6 l. 13 s. 4 d. , nor the lowest fall under 3 l. , and that was in Brazen Nose College; at which time New College fellowships were but rated at 3 l. 9 s. 4 d. , nor any of Magdalen fellowships ( except two for Yorkshire that were obliged to go and preach in the countries abroad ) above 3 l. 15 s. 4 d. , as may be found in Mr. Twine's MS."—Smith's Annals of Univ. Coll. p. 372.

Can any of your correspondents throw any light upon the parenthetical clause printed in Italics?

E. H. A.

204. Leonard Fell and Judge Fell.

—Mr. Josiah Marsh, in A popular Life of George Fox , 8vo., London, 1847, p. 83., mentions "Leonard Fell of Becliff, a brother of the judge."

I shall be obliged by a reference to the authority on which this statement rests. George Fox frequently mentions both Leonard Fell and Judge Fell; but I cannot find in his Journal the slightest hint that they were in any way connected. Fell is a common name in the north of Lancashire. Leonard Fell was one of the preachers who sometimes accompanied George Fox in his wanderings. Judge Fell was a staunch member of the Church of England.

L LEWELLYN .

205. " Cleanliness is next to Godliness. "

—Will you, or one of your correspondents, have the goodness to inform me whence is derived the quotation "Cleanliness is next to Godliness?"

A M USSULMAN .

206. Davies Queries.

—I shall feel much obliged by a correct description of the monument erected to Sir John Davys, Davis, or Davies, the celebrated lawyer and poet, in St. Martin's church, [257] London, and particularly of the arms, crest, and motto (if any) which are on it.

I wish to know also the correct blazon of the following coats of arms: Thos. Davies, a fess inter three elephants' heads erazed; and Davis of London, on a bend cotissed inter six battle-axes three daggers: there is some mention of these arms in the Har. MSS., but I wish to know the correct colours of the shields and their charges?

L LAW G YFFES .

Minor Queries Answered.

Poet referred to by Bacon.

—To what poet does Bacon refer in the following passage of the Advancement of Learning ?—

"The invention of one of the late poets is proper, and doth well enrich the ancient fiction: for he feigneth that at the end of the thread or web of every man's life there was a little medal containing the person's name, and that Time waited upon the shears; and as soon as the thread was cut, caught the medals, and carried them to the river of Lethe; and about the bank there were many birds flying up and down that would get the medals, and carry them in their beak a little while, and then let them fall into the river," &c.—Vol. ii. p. 112. in B. Montagu's edition of Bacon.

E.

[We are inclined to think that Bacon's reference was to the Mirror for Magistrates , and will probably be found in connexion with the following lines:

The Violin.

—Which is the best work hitherto published on the history and construction of the violin?

M USICUS .

[Certainly the best work on the history of this favourite instrument is the amusing little volume published by Mr. George Dubourg, in 1836, under the title of The Violin, being an Account of that leading Instrument, and its most eminent Professors, from its earliest Date to the present Time: including Hints to Amateurs, &c. ]

Sir Thomas Malory, Knt.

—I should feel obliged if any of your correspondents could give me any information relative to Sir Thomas Malory, Knt., who translated into English The most Ancient and Famous History of the renowned Prince Arthur, King of Britaine ? Also any particulars relative the original author of that work?

M. P. S.

Inverness.

[Consult Herbert's edition of Ames's Typographical Antiquities , vol. i. pp. 59-61. 134.; Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities , vol. i. pp. 241-255.; and Wharton's History of English Poetry .]

Archbishop of Spalatro.

—In a note to the account of Chelsea College, in Lysons' Environs of London , which contains a list of the first fellows of the college, called by Archbishop Laud "Controversy College," of which Dr. Sutcliffe was founder and provost, I read—

"Many vacancies having occurred by the promotion of some of the fellows above-mentioned to bishoprics, and by the death of others, King James, by his letters patent, Nov. 14, 1622, substituted others in their room, among whom was the celebrated Archbishop of Splalato, then Dean of Windsor ."

I wish to ask who this archbishop was? and should be glad to learn any further particulars respecting him, especially as to whether he ever acted as a bishop in England? Splalato is, I presume, an error of the press for Spalatro .

W. F RAZER .

[Mark Antony de Dominis, born about 1561, was educated among the Jesuits, and was Bishop of Segni, and afterwards Archbishop of Spalatro. Bishop Bedell met with him at Venice, and corrected, previous to publication, his celebrated work De Republica Ecclesiastica . When Bedell returned to England, Dominis came over with him. Here he preached and wrote against the Romanists, and the king gave him the Deanery of Windsor, the Mastership of the Savoy, and the rich living of West Ildesley in Berkshire. De Dominis's wish seems to have been to re-unite the Romish and English churches. He returned to Rome in 1622, where he abjured his errors, but on the discovery of a correspondence which he held with some Protestants, he was thrown into prison, where he died in 1625. He was a man of great abilities and learning, although remarkable for a fickleness in religious matters. He was author of a work entitled De Radiis Visus et Lucis in Vitris Perspectivis et Iride Tractatus , and was the first person, according to Sir Isaac Newton, who had explained the phenomena of the colours of the rainbow. We are also indebted to him for Father Paul's History of the Council of Trent , the manuscript of which he procured for Archbishop Abbot.—See Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary , s.v. D OMINIS .]

Play of "The Spaniards in Peru."—John Heywood.

—Who was the author of The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru, expresst by Instrumentall and Vocall Musick, and by Art of Perspective in Scenes , &c., said to have been represented in the Cock Pit, in Drury Lane, at three in the afternoon punctually, 1658? Thus it stands in Jacob, but is not mentioned by Langbaine. The author of the British Theatre , however, mentions a remarkable circumstance in regard to it, which is, that Oliver Cromwell, who had prohibited all theatrical representations, not only allowed this piece to be performed, but even himself actually read and approved of it.

Also, what are the exact dates of the birth and death of John Heywood, in Henry VIII.'s time?

J AMES F. H ASKINS .

[Sir William Davenant was the author of The Spaniards in Peru , which was subsequently incorporated [258] in his piece, Playhouse to be Let . See his Works , fol. 1673, p. 103.; also Genest's Account of the English Stage , vol. i. p. 38.]

Selion.

—I have frequently met with the word "selion" in deeds relating to property in various parts of the Isle of Axholme, co. Lincoln. The term is used in the description of property; for instance, "All that selion piece or parcel of land situate, &c." It does not signify any particular quantity, for I have known it applied to fields of all sizes, from five acres down to a quarter of an acre. Will some of your numerous correspondents furnish an explanation of the word, and from whence derived?

L. L. L.

North Lincolnshire.

[Selion of land, or selio terræ , is derived from the French seillon , a ridge of land, or ground arising between two furrows, and contains no certain quantity, but sometimes more or less. Therefore Crompton says, that a selion of land cannot be in demand, because it is a thing uncertain.]

Replies.

PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS.
(Vol. iv., pp. 86. 140.)

Mr. H. C. D E S T . C ROIX may be assured that the first edition of the Prophecies of Nostradamus is not only in the National Library, but in several others, both in Paris and elsewhere. It is now, however, very rare, though until lately little valued; for at the Duc de la Vallière's sale, in 1783, it produced no more than seven livres ten sols,—not quite seven shillings. De Bure makes no mention of it: nor was it in the library of M. Gaignat, or various other collectors; so little sought for was it then. Printed at Lyons "chès Macé Bonhomme, M:D:L:V. ," it thus closes—"Achevé d'imprimer le iiii iour de Mai, M.D.L.V. " It is a small octavo of 46 leaves, as we learn from Brunet, and was republished the following year at Avignon, still limited to four centuries; nor was a complete edition, which extended to ten centuries, with two imperfect ones, published till 1568, at Troyes (en Champagne), in 8vo. Numerous editions succeeded, in which it is well known that every intervenient occurrence of moment was sure to be introduced, always preceded by the date of impression, so as to establish the claim of prophecy. I have before me that of J. Janson, Amsterdam, 1668, 12mo., which is usually associated with the Elzevir collection of works, though not proceeding from the family's press either in Leyden or Amsterdam. Several attempts at elucidating these pretended prophecies have been made, such as Commentaires sur les Centuries de Nostradamus , par Charigny, 1596, 8vo.; La Clef de Nostradamus , 1710, 12mo.; and one so late as 1806, by Théodore Bouys, 8vo. The distich "Nostra damus," &c. was the playful composition, according to La Monnoye, of the celebrated Genevan reformer Théodore de Béze. By others it is attributed to the poet Jodelle: but the author is still uncertain. Nostradamus, born in Provence, died in July, 1566, aged sixty-eight. His second son published the Lives of the Poets of his native province in 1575, 8vo.

Among those impositions on public credulity, one of the most famous is that referred to by Bacon, in his twenty-fifth Essay, and which he, as was then the prevalent belief, attributed to the astronomer John Müller, usually known as Regiomontanus, of the fifteenth century, and so denominated by Bacon. Its first application was to the irruption of the French king, Charles VIII., into Naples, in 1488, when the impetuosity of the invasion was characterised by the epithet, ever since so well sustained, of "La Furia Francese." Again, in 1588 it was interpreted as predictive of the Spanish attack on England by the misnomed "Invincible Armada;" and the English Revolution of 1688 was similarly presumed to have been foretold by it, which always referred to the special year eighty-eight of each succeeding century; while the line expressive of the century was correspondingly adjusted in the text. It was thus made applicable to the great French Revolution, of which the unmistakeable elements were laid in 1788, by the royal edict convoking the States-General for the ensuing year, when it burst forth with dread explosion. Its prediction, with the sole alteration of the century from the original lines, was then thus expressed:—

Though long ascribed to Regiomontanus, whose death preceded its first appearance, and therefore made its application to posterior events appear prophetic, the real author, according to the astronomer Delambre, was a German named Bruschius, of the sixteenth century, who pretended to have discovered it on a tomb (we may suppose that of Regiomontanus) in Bohemia, that learned man's country. Many other similar prophecies have deluded the world, of which the most celebrated were those of the Englishman Merlin. An early edition, printed in 1528, fetched sixteen guineas in 1812 at the Roxburgh sale, though preceded by three or four. It is in French, and at Gaignat's sale, in 1769, brought only thirty-one livres. It was No. 2239. of the Catalogue. [259]

J. R.

Cork, Sept. 17.

BOROUGH-ENGLISH.
(Vol. iv., p. 133.)

Since my former communication I have collected the following list of places where this custom prevails:—

There are some variances in the custom in these several places; the particulars would be too long for an article in "N OTES AND Q UERIES ;" but the principle of descent to the youngest son prevails in all.

It would be very desirable to complete this list as far as can be done, and I hope some others of your correspondents will give their aid to do it.

The origin of this custom, so contrary to the general law of descent by the common law, is also a subject worthy of more investigation than it has yet received. What is stated on the subject in the law books is very unsatisfactory. It might tend to throw some light on this point if any of your correspondents would communicate information as to any nations or tribes where the law of descent to the youngest son prevails, or did prevail, according to ancient or still existing custom.

I have also received the following list of places where the custom of Borough-English prevails, from Charles Sandys, Esq., F.S.A., of Canterbury. It is taken from notes to the third edition of Robinson's valuable work on Gavelkind, p. 391. note a. , and p. 393. n. c. This list had escaped me, as my edition of Robinson is an old one.

"It appears by communications from the stewards to the late Mr. Sawkins, that in the following manors, lands are descendible after the custom of Borough-English:—

"It appears by the communications from the stewards of the late Mr. Sawkins, that his customary descent is extended to younger brothers in the manors of—

"To all collateral males in the manors of—

"To females, as well as males, lineal and collateral, in the manors of—

G. R. C.

Southwark, Sept. 24, 1851.

The [260] accompanying extract is from the History of the borough of Stafford, in White's Directory and Gazetteer of Staffordshire , which is just published:—

"The ancient custom of Borough-English formerly prevailed here, by which the youngest son succeeded to property, as heir-at-law, in preference to the elder children. The origin of this part of our common law is not very well ascertained, but it is generally supposed to have arisen from the ancient system of vassalage , which gave the lord of the manor certain rights over his vassal's bride , and thus rendered the legitimacy of the eldest born uncertain; or perhaps it may have originated in the natural presumption, that the youngest child was least capable of providing for itself."

F. J. M.

PASSAGE IN VIRGIL.
(Vol. iv., pp. 24. 88.)

Permit me to make a few remarks on the passage of Virgil, "Viridesque secant," &c., and its attempted elucidation, Vol. iv., pp. 88, 89.

It is stated that the translation is not correct, and also that Servius was a very illiterate, ignorant, and narrow-minded man, &c.

In the short notice of Servius and his works in the Penny Cyclopædia , we have a very different character of him. Which is to be believed, for both cannot be right?

Harles, in his Introd. in Notitiam Lit. Rom. , speaks thus of the Commentaries of Servius :

"Quæ in libris Virgilii sub nomine Servii circumferuntur Scholia, eorum minima pars pertinet ad illum; sed farrago est ex antiquioribus commentariis Cornuti, Donati, &c., et aliorum; immo vero ex recentioris ætatis interpretibus multa adjecta sunt et interpolata."

Thus condemning the interpolations, but leaving intact the matter really belonging to Servius.

For a refutation of the impertinent comparison with a Yorkshire hedge schoolmaster, and the erroneous appreciation of the Commentaries , I must refer to the above-mentioned notice in the Penny Cyclopædia .

In the next place, with respect to the meaning of the passage:—the word seco , when applied to the movements of ships, is usually rendered by "sulco;" e.g. :

See also lib. xi. 479. "Travel along" would be insufficient to express the meaning in these instances; and sulco agrees with the modern phrase, "ploughing the deep," &c.

Moreover, I submit that the interpretation of seco is governed by the context, inasmuch as its application to both land and water travelling demands a different construction in the two cases. If this be allowed, then comparison cannot be made between the line in question and "viam secat ad naves;" for this refers to Æneas's leaving the infernals, after his visit there; or "secuit sub nubibus arcum," which refers to cleaving the air. Heyne's note is "secuit ... arcum; secando aerem fecit arcum; incessit per arcum."

The clearness or muddiness of the river has no connexion with the translation; for the words "placido æquore" clearly and definitely express the state of the surface of the river, and it is such as is required to favour the reflection of the trees, through whose images the ships ploughed their way; and, to make the sense perfect, the words "variis teguntur arboribus" are all that is required as showing the position of the trees with respect to the river.

P.S. I have not alluded to the special meaning of active verbs with accusative (Qy. objective) cases after them, &c.

ת.א.

The Query of your correspondent E RYX has elicited two conflicting opinions as to the meaning of the words "Viridesque secant placido æquore silvas." Perhaps the following suggestion may help to set the matter at rest.

If by these words is meant the cleaving of the shadows on the water, how could they, with any propriety, be applied to a voyage that was prosecuted during the darkness of the night as well as by the light of day?

W. B. R.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Ell-rake (Vol. iv., p. 192.).

—V ASHTI inquires the derivation of ell-rake or hell-rake . In this district (the Cotswolds) we generally suppose the derivation to be from the rake being an ell in width. In the vale, however ( i.e. about Tewkesbury), they are called heel-rakes , from their being drawn at the heel of the person using them, instead of being used in front, as rakes ordinarily are.

C. H. N.

Cirencester.

Heel-rake , Ell-rake , or Hell-rake , is a large rake, which upon being drawn along the ground the teeth run close to the heels of the person drawing it. This has given it the name of heel-rake , its right name. In Shropshire (and probably in other counties also) this has become contracted into ell-rake .

S ALOPIAN .

Freedom from Serpents (Vol. iii., p. 490.).

—Ireland is not the only country supposed to be inimical to reptiles. I may perhaps be allowed to add to the "Note" of your correspondent as to Ireland, that the Maltese declare that St. Paul after his shipwreck cursed all the venomous reptiles [261] of the island, and banished them for ever, just as St. Patrick is said to have afterwards treated those of his favourite isle. Whatever be the cause of it, the fact is alleged by travellers to be certain, that there are no venomous animals in Malta . "They assured us" (says Brydone in his Tour through Sicily and Malta , vol. ii. p. 35.) "that vipers have been brought from Sicily, and died almost immediately on their arrival."

Although perhaps more strictly coming under the head of folk lore, I may here advert to the traditions found in several parts of England, that venomous reptiles were banished by saints who came to live there. I have read that Keynsham—the hermitage of Keynes, a Cambrian lady, A.D. 490—was infested with serpents, which were converted by her prayers into the "Serpent-stones"—the Cornua Ammonis —that now cover the land. A similar story is told at Whitby, where these fine fossils of the Lias are called "St. Hilda's Serpent-stones;" and so, too, St. Godric, the famous hermit of Finchale, near Durham, is said to have destroyed the native race of serpents.

W. S. G.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Nao, for Naw, for Ship (Vol. iv., pp. 28. 214.).

—I am obliged to G OMER for his reference to Davies. In the cited passages from Taliesin and Meigant, heb naw means without being able to swim. The word nawv drops its final letter in order to furnish the rhyme. That appears, not only from the rejection of the word by all lexicographers, but from one of the manuscripts of Meigant, which actually writes it nawv . I esteem Davies's translation to be Daviesian.

By way of a gentle pull at the torques, I will observe, that I am not in the habit of proving that people "did not possess" a thing, but of inquiring for the evidence that they did. And when I find that tattooed and nearly naked people used coracles, and do not find that they used anything grander, I am led to suspect they did not.

My answer to the Query, whether it be probable that British warriors went over to Gaul in coracles is, "Yes, highly so." Rude canoes of various sorts convey the expeditions of savage islanders in all seas. And the coracle rendered the Scots of Erin formidable to the Roman shores of Gaul and Britain. I do not see that the Dorsetshire folk being "water-dwellers" (if so be they were such) proved them to have used proper ships, any more than their being "water-drinkers" would prove them to have used glasses or silver tankards.

No doubt the name ναῦς is of the remotest heroic antiquity, and the first osier bark covered with hides, or even the first excavated alder trunk, may have been so termed; in connexion with the verbal form nao , contract. no , nas , pret. navi , to float or swim. But to "advance that opinion" as to Britain, because two revolted Roman subjects in this province used the word in the sixth and seventh centuries after Christ, would be late and tardy proof of the fact; even supposing that the two bards in question had made use of such a noun, which I dispute.

A. N.

[This communication should have preceded that in No. 99., p. 214.]

De Grammont (Vol. iv., p. 233.).

—On the united authority of messieurs Auger and Renouard, editors of the works of le comte Antoine Hamilton, it may be affirmed that there is no edition of the Mémoires du comte de Grammont anterior to that of 1713. M. Renouard thus expresses himself: "En 1713 parurent les Mémoires , sans nom d'auteur, en un vol. in-12, imprimé en Hollande sous la date de Cologne."

B OLTON C ORNEY .

The Termination "-ship" (Vol. iv., p. 153.).

—The termination "-ship" is the Anglo-Saxon scipe , scype , from verb scipan , to create, form; and hence as a termination of nouns denotes form , condition , office , dignity .

T HOS . L AURENCE .

Ashbey de la Zouch.

The Five Fingers (Vol. iv., pp. 150. 193.).

—With something like compunction for lavishing on Macrobius and his prosy compeers so many precious hours of a life that is waning fast, permit me to refer you to his Saturnalia , vii. 13., ed. Gryph. 1560, p. 722., for the nursery names of the five fingers. They nearly coincide with those still denoting those useful implements in one of the Low-Norman isles, to wit, Gros det , ari det (hari det?) , longuedon or mousqueton , Jean des sceas , courtelas . The said Jean des sceas is, of course, "John of the Seals," the "annularis" or ring-finger of Macrobius and the Anglican Office-Book. Among the Hebrews אצבע אלהים , "the finger of God," denoted His power; and it was the forefinger, among the gods of Greece and Italy, which wore the ring, the emblem of divine supremacy.

G. M.

Marriages within ruined Churches (Vol. iv., p. 231.).

—The beautiful old church of St. John in the Wilderness, near Exmouth, is in ruins. Having in 1850 asked the old man who points out its battered beauties, why there were still books in the reading desks, he informed me that marriages and funeral services were still performed there. This, however, is my only authority on the subject.

S ELEUCUS .

Death of Cervantes (Vol. iv., p. 116.).

—No doubt now exists that the death of Cervantes occurred on the 23rd of April, 1616, and not the 20th of that month, which Smollett represents as the received date. In the Spanish Academy's edition, the magnificent one of 1780, as well as in that of 1797, it is so affirmed. In the former we read that on the 18th he received the sacrament of extreme unction with great calmness of spirit. It then adds: [262]

"Igual serenidad mantuvo haste el último punto de la vida. Otorgó testamento dexando por albaceas á su muger Doña Catalina de Salazar, y al Licenciado Francisco Nuñez, que vivia en la misma casa: mandó que le sepultasen en las Monjas Trinitarias; y murió á 23 del expresado mes de Abril, de edad de 68 años, 6 meses, y 14 dias."

The coincidence, however, of the renowned Spaniard's death with that of our Shakspeare, who certainly died apparently on the same day, the 23rd of April, 1616, on which, at a singularity, Mr. Frere, with others, dwells, wholly fails; for, in fact, that day in Spain corresponded not with the 23rd, but the 13th, in England. It is forgotten that the Gregorian or Reformed Calendar was then adopted in Spain, and that between it and the unreformed style of England a difference in that century existed of ten days:—thus, the execution of Charles I., in our writers, and in the Book of Common Prayer, is always dated on the 30th of January, while on the continent it is represented as on the 9th of February. The Reformed Calendar was adopted and promulgated by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582, while rejected by England, though acknowledged to be correct, until 1751, because coming from Rome. This disgraceful submission to prejudice in repudiation of a demonstrated scientific truth, practically sanctioned by a Napier, a Newton, a Halley, &c., is still pursued in the Greek church and Russian empire, where the present day, the 17th of September, is the 5th.

J. R.

Cork, Sept. 17.

Story referred to by Jeremy Taylor (Vol. iv., p. 208.).

—Although unable to point out the source whence Jeremy Taylor derived the story to which A. T R . alludes, I may be excused for referring your correspondent to Don Quixote , Part II. book III. chap. xiii., where the story, somewhat amplified, is given; but with this difference, that the staff is not broken by the injured person, but by Signor Don Sancho Panza, Governor of Barataria, before whom the case is brought for adjudication. That the story was founded on an older one may be well inferred, from its being stated that "Sancho had heard such a story told by the curate of his village; and his memory was so tenacious, in retaining everything he wanted to remember, that there was not such another in the whole island."

C. H. C OOPER .

Cambridge, Sept. 20. 1851.

Gray's Obligations to Jeremy Taylor (Vol. iv., p. 204.).

—I perfectly agree with R T . in his admiration for Gray; but, to my shame be it spoken, am not very well read in Jeremy Taylor. R T . would oblige me, as well as other admirers of "the sweet Lyrist of Peter-house," by furnishing an example or two of the latter's obligations to the bishop.

R T . will excuse me if I fail to perceive any great degree of similarity between his two last quoted passages from Gray and those from Cowley, which he adduces as parallel. This refers especially to the last instance, in which I trace scarcely any similarity beyond that of a place of education and a river being commemorated in each. Would R T . supply us with a few more examples of borrowing from Cowley?

With R T .'s wish for a new edition of Gray, "with the parallel passages annexed," I cordially coincide. However, failing this new edition, he will allow me to recommend to his notice (if indeed he has not seen it) the Eton edition of the poet, with introductory stanzas of great elegance and beauty, by another of Eton's bards, the Rev. J. Moultrie, author of that most pathetic little poem "My Brother's Grave."

K. S.

Blessing by the Hand (Vol. iv., p. 74.).

—An impression of the stamp on the bread used in the Eucharist in Greece (mentioned in the above Note) may be seen in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It was cut off a loaf in the remarkable monastery of Megaspelion in the Morea, by

W. C. T REVELYAN .

Sacre Cheveux (Vol. iv., p. 208.).

—This is a literal translation into heraldic language of the name of the family which uses it for a motto: Halifax = holy-hair , from the Anglo Saxon hali , or halig , and fax or feax . Tradition connects the origin of the Yorkshire town of that name with a head of singular length and beauty of hair, found at or near the place where the Halifax gibbet used to stand.

J. E ASTWOOD .

Pope and Flatman (Vol. iv., p. 210.).

—E. V. has entirely overlooked the very material circumstance that Flatman's poem was cited in your periodical (Vol. iv., p. 132.) from a book published in 1688, twenty-four years before the date he assigns to the composition of Pope's ode. Flatman died 8th December, 1688, and Pope was born 22d May, 1688; so that he was little more than six months old at the time of Flatman's death. I have now before me the 4th edition of Flatman's Poems and Songs , London, 8vo., 1686; "A Thought of Death" occurs at p. 55.

C. H. C OOPER .

Cambridge, Sept. 20. 1851.

Linteamina and Surplices (Vol. iv., p. 192.).

—In Goar's Rituale Græcorum , the most complete account is given of the ancient vestments of the priesthood, from which, or rather from the same source, those of the Romish and English churches have been derived. The names of these vestments are στοιχάριον , ὡραρίον , ἐπιμανίκια , ἐπιτραχήλιον , ζώνη , ὑπογονάτιον , φελώνιον , and ἐπιγονάτιον .

These were put on and taken off in the presence of the congregation, and a form of prayer appropriate to each vestment was repeated ( μυστικῶς ) by [263] the priest and deacon. In the notes of Goar and the accompanying plates, ample information is afforded of the symbolic meaning of these garments, both in respect of form and colour.

This meaning, lost to considerable extent by the Romish church, is recoverable by reference to the Greek rituals, which have retained, probably with little alteration, the ancient services of the early Christians. An explanation will therein be found of other matters besides linteamina and surplices by those who are curious in rituology, as of the δίσκον σφραγίδος, λόγχη, ἁστηρίσκον, κάλυμμα, ἀέρα, ἀπόλυσις, ἱερατεῖον, ναὸν, βῆμα, "σοφία, ὀρθοί," εἰλητόν, ῥιπιδίον, ζεόν, ζέσις , &c.

T. J. B UCKTON .

Lichfield.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

By all who are interested in the study of early German Poetry and Literature, the name of Von der Hagen must be gratefully remembered for the many curious and valuable works which he has published, sometimes under his sole editorship, at others, in conjunction with Busching, Primisser, &c. But far exceeding in interest any which he has before given to the press, especially to English readers, is one which we received some time since from Messrs. Williams and Norgate, but have only recently had an opportunity of examining. It is in three thick and closely printed octavos, and is entitled Gesammtabentheuer: Hundert altdeutsche Erzählungen, Ritter-und Pfaffen-Mären, Stadt-und Dorfgeschichten, Schwänke, Wundersagen und Legenden, meist zum erstenmal gedruckt , &c. This collection embraces, as the title accurately enough describes, a hundred early German Stories of every possible kind, Stories of Knights and Friars, of Cities and Villages, Merry Jests, Tales of Wonder, and Legends; and resembles in many respects the popular collections of French Fabliaux edited by Barbazan, Le Grand d'Aussy, &c. These are for the most part now printed for the first time; and besides the illustrations they afford of that love of humour, a characteristic of the German mind the existence of which it has been too much the fashion to deny, and to which we owe Owlglas and the Schildburger , these "hundred merry Tales" are of no small importance for the light they throw upon the history of Fiction—a subject which, in spite of the labour bestowed upon it by Dunlop, Walter Scott, Palgrave, and Keightley, is yet very far from being fully developed.

The new part of The Traveller's Library contains Mr. Macaulay's brilliant essays on Ranke's History of the Popes , and Gladstone On Church and State .

Messrs. Longman having become the sole proprietors of that valuable series of works The Cabinet Cyclopædia , have announced a re-issue of them at the reduced price of three shillings and sixpence per volume, instead of six shillings, at which they were originally published.

C ATALOGUES R ECEIVED .—John Miller's (43. Chandos Street) Catalogue No. 29. of Books Old and New; Sotheran, Son and Draper's (Tower Street, Eastcheap) Book Reporter No. 3. Miscellaneous Catalogue of Old and New Books; W. S. Lincoln's (Cheltenham House, Westminster Road) Seventy-third Catalogue of Cheap Second-hand Books; B. Quaritch's (16. Castle Street, Leicester Square) Catalogue No. 34. of Oriental Literature, &c.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.

F EARNE'S E SSAY ON H UMAN C ONSCIOUSNESS , 4to.

B ISHOP K IDDER'S L IFE OF A NTHONY H ORNECK .

T IGHE'S L IFE OF L AW .

M ACROPEDII , H ECASTUS F ABULA . 8vo. Antwerp, 1539.

O MNES G EORGII M ACROPEDII F ABULÆ C OMICÆ . Utrecht, 1552. 2 Vols. 8vo.

O THONIS L EXICON R ABBINICUM .

P LATO . Vols. VIII. X. XI. of the Bipont Edition.

P ARKINSON'S S ERMONS . Vol. I.

A THENÆUM . Oct. and Nov. 1848. parts CCL., CCLI.

W ILLIS' P RICE C URRENT . Nos. I. III. V. XXIV. XXVI. XXVII.-XLV.

R ABBI S ALOMON J ARCHI (R ASCHI ) C OMMENTAR Ü BER DEN P ENTATEUCH VON L. H AYMANN . Bonn, 1833.

R ABBI S OLOMON J ARCHI (R ASCHI ) Ü BER DAS E RSTE B UCH M OSIS VON L. H AYMANN . Bonn, 1833.

No. 3. of S UMMER P RODUCTIONS , or P ROGRESSIVE M ISCELLANIES , by Thomas Johnson. London, 1790.

H ISTORY OF V IRGINIA . Folio. London, 1624.

T HE A POLOGETICS OF A THENAGORAS , Englished by D. Humphreys. London, 1714. 8vo.

B OVILLUS DE A NIMÆ I MMORTALITATE, ETC . Lugduni, 1522. 4to.

K UINOEL'S N OV . T EST . Tom. I.

T HE F RIEND , by Coleridge. Vol III. Pickering.

* * * Letters stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free , to be sent to M R . B ELL , Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

Notices To Correspondents.

M R . H ALLAM'S Letter did not reach us in time for publication this week; and is consequently, with several other valuable communications, unavoidably postponed until our next Number.

T. C. S. Will our correspondent oblige us with a copy of the "Poetical Coincidences" to which he refers? It shall have immediate attention.

J. C. W. We are not sure what our correspondent means by Chaucer Forgery. Is he aware of the passages from his "House of Fame," printed in our 80th Number?

R. S. T., whose Query respecting an "Early German Virgil" appeared in No. 91. p. 57., is requested to favour us with his address.

R EPLIES R ECEIVED .— The Eighth Climate—A little Bird told me—Bummaree—Proverb of James I.—Stanzas in Childe Harold—Parish Registers—Sanford's Descensus—Printing—Matthew Paris's Historia Minor—North Side of Churchyards—Down on the Nail—Michaelmas Goose—Passage in George Herbert—Passage from Virgil—Curfew—Grimsdyke—Byron's Son of the Morning—Fides Carbonaria—Ancient Language of Egypt—Wyle Cop—Conquest of Scotland—Anagrams—Suicides' Graves—Borough-English—Pope's Honest Factor—Covine—Jewel's Works—Medical Use of Pigeons—Post Pascha—Linteamina and Surplices—Shakspeare's Antony and Cleopatra—Termination "-ship"—King's Way, Wilts—Stickle and Dray—Harris, Painter in Water Colours—Finkle—Equestrian Statue of Elizabeth—Going the whole Hog—Meaning of Nervous—Winifreda—The Willow Garland—Brother Johnathan—Expressions in Milton, &c.

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

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

N OTES AND Q UERIES is published at noon on Friday, so that our country Subscribers may receive it on Saturday. The subscription for the Stamped Edition is 10s. 2d. for Six Months, which may be paid by Post-office Order drawn in favour of our Publisher, MR. G EORGE B ELL , 186. Fleet Street; to whose care all communications for the Editor should be addressed. [264]

Printed by T HOMAS C LARK S HAW , of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5. New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride in the City of London; and published by G EORGE B ELL , of No. 186, Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, October 4. 1851.