Vol. IV.—No. 95. NOTES AND QUERIES: A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

VOL. IV.—No. 95.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23. 1851.

Price Threepence. Stamped Edition, 4d.

CONTENTS.

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

Notes.

THE PENDULUM DEMONSTRATION OF THE EARTH'S ROTATION.

If the propounders of this theory had from the first explained that they do not claim, for the plane of oscillation, an exemption from the general rotation of the earth, but only the difference of rotation due to the excess of velocity with which one extremity of the line of oscillation may be affected more than the other, it would have saved a world of fruitless conjecture and misunderstanding.

For myself I can say that it is only recently I have become satisfied that this is the real extent of the claim; and I confess that had I been aware of it sooner, I should have regarded the theory with greater respect than I have hitherto been disposed to do. Perhaps this avowal may render more acceptable the present note, in which I shall endeavour to make plain to others that which so long remained obscure to myself.

It is well known that the more we advance from the poles of the earth towards the equator, so much greater becomes the velocity with which the surface of the earth revolves—just as any spot near the circumference of a revolving wheel travels farther in a given time, and consequently swifter, than a spot near the centre of the same wheel: hence, London being nearer to the equator than Edinburgh, the former must rotate with greater velocity than the latter. Now if we imagine a pendulum suspended from such an altitude, and in such a position, that one extremity of its line of oscillation shall be supposed to reach to London and the other to Edinburgh; and if we imagine the ball of such pendulum to be drawn towards, and retained over London, it is clear that, so long as it remains in that situation, it will share the velocity of London, and rotate with it. But if it be set at liberty it will immediately begin to oscillate between London and Edinburgh, retaining, it is asserted, the velocity of the former place. Therefore during its first excursion towards Edinburgh, it will be impressed with a velocity greater than that of the several points of the earth over which it has to traverse; so that when it arrives at Edinburgh it will be in advance of the rotation of that place; and consequently its actual line of oscillation, instead of falling directly upon Edinburgh, will diverge, and fall somewhere to the east of it.

Now it is clear that if the pendulum ball be supposed to retain the same velocity of rotation, undiminished, which was originally impressed upon it at London, it must, in its return from Edinburgh, retrace the effects just described, and again return to coincidence with London, having all the time retained a velocity equal to that of London. If this were truly the case, the deviation in one [130] direction would be restored in the opposite one, so that the only result would be a repetition of the same effects in every succeeding oscillation.

It is this absence of an element of increase in the deviation that constitutes the first objection to this theory as a sufficient explanation of the pendulum phenomenon. It is answered (as I suppose, for I have nowhere seen it so stated in direct terms) that the velocity of rotation, acquired and retained by the pendulum ball, is not that of London, but of a point midway between the two extremes—in fact, of that point of the earth's surface immediately beneath the centre of suspension.

There is no doubt that, if this can be established, the line of oscillation would diverge in both directions—the point of return, or of restored coincidence, which before was in one of the extremes, would then be in the central point; consequently it would be of no effect in correcting the deviation, which would then go on increasing with every oscillation.

Therefore, in order to obtain credence for the theory, satisfactory explanation must be given of this first difficulty by not only showing that the medium velocity is really that into which the extreme velocity first impressed upon the ball will ultimately be resolved; but it must also be explained when that effect will take place, whether all at once or gradually; because, it must be recollected, the oscillations of the experimental pendulum cannot practically commence from the central point, but always from one of the extremes, to which the ball must first be elevated.

But this is not enough: there must also be shown reasonable ground to induce the belief that the ball is really free from the attraction of each successive point of the earth's surface over which it passes; and that, although in motion, it is not as really and as effectually a partaker in the rotation of any given point, during its momentary passage over it, as though it were fixed and stationary at that point. Those who maintain that this is not the case are bound to state the duration of residence which any substance must make at any point upon the earth's surface, in order to oblige it to conform to the exact amount of velocity with which that point revolves.

Lastly, supposing theses difficulties capable of removal, there yet remains a third, which consists in the undeniable absence of difference of velocity when the direction of oscillation is east and west. It has been shown that the difference before claimed was due to the nearer approach to the equator of one of the extremities of the line of oscillation in consequence of its direction being north and south; but when its direction is east and west both extremities are equally distant from the equator, and therefore no difference of velocity can exist.

I have directed these observations to the fundamental truth and reality of the alleged phenomenon; it is quite clear that these must first be settled before the laws of its distribution on the surface of the globe can become of any interest.

A. E. B.

Leeds, August 5. 1851.

Minor Notes.

The Day of the Month.

—Many persons might help themselves, as some do, by remembering throughout the year on what day the 1st of January fell, and by permanently remembering the first day of each month, which agrees with the first day of the year. Thus, this present year began on Wednesday, and the 6th of August is therefore Wednesday, as are the 13th, 20th, 27th. By the following lines the key to the months may be kept in mind:—

M.

Foreign English.

—The specimens given in "NOTES AND QUERIES" have reminded me of one which seems worthy to accompany them; in fact, to have rather a peculiar claim.

I believe the facts of the case to have been these. When it was known that Louis XVIII. was to be restored to the throne of France, a report was circulated (whether on any good authority I do not know) that the then Duke of Clarence would take the command of the vessel which was to convey the returning monarch to Calais. At all events the people of Calais expected it; and inferring that the English royal duke would pass at least one night in their town, and of course go to the play, they deemed that it would be proper to perform the English national anthem at their theatre. It was obvious, however, that "God save the King" was so very appropriate to their own circumstances, that, notwithstanding its Anglicism, it left less of compliment and congratulation for the illustrious foreigner than they really intended to offer. So that happy people, who can do everything in no time, forthwith prepared an additional verse. This being quite new, and of course unknown, they printed on the playbill, from which I learned it. If you give his lines a place in your pages, I will not say that the French poet's labour was thrown away; but for [131] the time it was so, as the English duke did not accompany the French king. I believe that the additional verse was as follows:—

I am sorry that I can only speak from memory of the contents of a document which I have not seen for so many years; but if I may have made any mistake, perhaps some reader may be able to correct me.

S. R. M.

Birds' Care for the Dead.

—It is not uncommon to find in poets of all ages some allusion to the pious care of particular birds for the bodies of the dead. Is there any truth in the idea? for certainly the old ballad of "The Children in the Wood" has made many a kind friend for the Robin Redbreast by the affecting lines:

Herrick also alludes to the same tradition in his verses "upon Mrs. Elizabeth Wheeler, under the name of Amarillis." (Works, vol i. pp. 62-3.: Edin. 1823)

In the earlier editions of Gray's Elegy, before the Epitaph, the following exquisite lines were inserted:

And about the same time Collin's "Dirge in Cymbeline" had adorned the "fair Fidele's grassy tomb" with the same honour:

RT.

Warmington, Aug. 9. 1851.

Snake's Antipathy to Fire.

—There is in Brazil a very common poisonous snake, the Surucucu (Trigonocephalus rhombeatus), respecting which the Matutos and Sertanejos, the inhabitants of the interior, relate the following facts. They say that such is the antipathy of this reptile to fire, that when fires are made in the clearing away of woods, they rush into it, scattering it with their tails till it is extinguished, even becoming half roasted in the attempt; and that when an individual is passing at night with a torch, they pass and repass him, lashing him with their tales till he drop it, and the snake is immediately found closely coiled round the extinguished torch. The greatest enemy of this snake is an immense Lacertian, five and six feet long, the Tiju-açu (the great lizard—its name in the Lingoa geral): it is said that when the snake succeeds in effecting a bite, the lizard rushes into the wood, eats some herb, and returns to the conflict, which almost invariable terminates in its favour.

JOHN MANLEY.

Pernambucco, June 30. 1851.

Aldgate, London. (A Note for London Antiquaries)

—After this gate was taken down in 1760, Sir Walter Blackett, of Wallington, Northumberland, obtained some of the ornamental stone (part of the City arms, heads and wings of dragons, apparently cut in Portland stone, and probably set up when the gate was rebuilt in 1606), and used them in decorating Rothley Castle, an eye-trap which he erected on the crags of that name, near Wallington.

W. C. TREVELYAN.

Wallington Aug. 11. 1851.

Erroneous Scripture Quotations.

—Some of your correspondents have done good service by drawing attention to these things. Has it ever occurred to you that the apple is a fruit never connected in Scripture with the fall of man;—that Eve was not Adam's helpmate, but merely a help meet for him;—and that Absalom's long hair, of which he was so proud, and which as consequently so often served "to point a moral and adorn a tale," had nothing to do with his death, his head itself, and not the hair upon it, having been caught in the boughs of the tree?

P. P.

Queries.

THE LADY ELIZABETH HORNER OR MONTGOMERY.

In some curious manuscript memoirs of the family of Horner of Mells, co. Somerset, written probably about the middle of the last century, I find the following statement:—

"The gentleman at Mells last mentioned, whose name I don't know, had his eldest son George, who succeeded him at Mells. He married the Countess of Montgomery, supposed to be the widow of that earl, who, in tilting with Henry II., King of France caused [132] his death by a splinter of his spear running into the king's eye. But most probably she was the widow of that lord's son, which I conjecture from the distance of the time of that king's death to her death, which must needs be near seventy years, as she lived at Cloford to the year 1628. She must certainly be a considerable heiress, as several estates came with her into the family, and, among others, Postlebury-woods in particular, and, possibly, also the Puddimore estate; as her son, Sir John Horner, was the first of the family that presented a clerk to that living in 1639, viz., William Kemp, who was afterwards one of the suffering clergy. Her jointure was a 500l. a-year, which was very considerable at that time."

Can any of your readers assist in elucidating this story, of which no existing family records afford any corroboration, and which the parochial registers of the neighbourhood appear rather to invalidate in some of its statements? As far as we can gather from such sources, the gentleman alluded to in the extract was not George but Thomas Horner, born 1547, M.P. for Somersetshire 1585, and sheriff 1607, who was buried 1612. He married three times: first, Elizabeth Pollard, who died, as well as her only son John in 1573; secondly, Jane Popham, who died 1591, having had, amongst other issues, Sir John, born about 1580; and thirdly, as it would seem, a person called "The Lady Elizabeth," who had issue Edward, born 1597, and who was buried at Cloford, in 1599. Even allowing for the errors attendant upon a tradition, it is scarcely possible that this "Lady Elizabeth" should have been widow of Count Gabriel de Montgomery,—Elizabeth de la Zouch,—who married her first husband in 1549, and was left a widow in 1574. She might have been widow of one of his sons; though the only two mentioned in the Biographie Universelle, Gabriel and Jacques, left issue, to whom their wives' property would have probably descended.

The whole matter, as far as I have been able to examine it, is a very obscure one, and yet can hardly, I should think, be without some foundation in fact. The title-deeds of Postlebury and Puddimore perhaps would throw light upon it.

C. W. B.

POPE AND FLATMAN.

I possess a small volume entitled Manchester al Mondo; Contemplations of Death and Immortality, by the Earl of Manchester: the 15th edit., 1688. At the end are appended several short but quaint poems on the subject of mortality. One of them is stated to be taken from the "incomparable Poems by the ingenious Mr. Thomas Flatman," and is entitled "A Thought of Death." I have transcribed it side by side with Pope's celebrated ode, "The Dying Christian to his Soul," in which some lines run remarkably parallel. Is it probable Pope borrowed his idea of the fine couplet,

from Flatman? If not, the coincidence is remarkable: has it been noticed before? Perhaps some of your readers may be better able to enter into the subject than he who communicates this.

WILLIAM BARTON.

19. Winchester Place, Southwark Bridge Road.

Minor Queries.

80. Southampton Brasses.

—French Church, otherwise God's House, Southampton. About eight or nine years ago, two monumental brasses were discovered, in making some alterations in this church. I should feel greatly obliged to any [133] correspondent who could give me a description of them, and inform me if they are still to be found there.

W. W. KING.

81. Borough-English.

—Which are the towns or districts in England in which Borough-English prevails or has prevailed; and are there any instances on record of its being carried into effect in modern times?

W. FRASER.

82. Passage in St. Bernard.

—Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Sonnets, Part II. 1.:

Note.—"Bonum est nos hic esse, quia homo vivit purius, cadit rarius, surgit velocius, incedit cautius, quiescit securius, moritur felicius, purgatur citius, præmiatur copiosius."—Bernard.

"This sentence," says Dr. Whitaker, "is usually inscribed in some conspicuous part of the Cistertian houses." I cannot find in St. Bernard's works the passage to which Wordsworth's sonnet alludes, though I often see it referred to: e. g. Whitehead's College Life, p. 44., 1845; and Mrs. Jameson's Legends of the Monastic Orders, Preface. Can any of your correspondents direct me to it?

RT.

83. Spenser's Faerie Queene (b. ii. c. ix. st. 22.).—

Warton (Observations on the Fairy Queen, vol. i. p. 121.) says that the philosophy of this abstruse stanza describing the Castle of Alma is explained in a learned epistle of Sir Kenelm Digby addressed to Sir Edward Stradling. In a foot-note he states that this epistle was—

"First printed in a single pamphlet, viz., Observations on XXII Stanza, &c., Lond. 1644, 8vo. It is also published in Scrinia Sacra, 4to. pag. 244. London, 1654."

Could any of your readers, acquainted with Sir Kenelm Digby's works, give his explanation of this stanza? There is no note on it in the one-volume edition of Spenser lately published by Moxon. The best explanation of it that I have seen is in the Athenæum, August 12, 1848.

E. M. B.

84. Broad Halfpenny Down.

—There is a beautiful chalk down in the parish of Hambledon, Hants, which goes by the above name, pronounced, of course, ha'penny, like the coin. Can any of your antiquarian readers give me the origin of this name? I have no doubt that the present appellation is a corruption of some British or Saxon word, having, when spoken, a sound somewhat analogous to the modern word into which it has been converted. The "Broad Down" had a name of its own, I doubt not, before the existence of either a penny or halfpenny.

EFFARESS.

85. Roll Pedigree of Howard, of Great Howard, Co. Lancaster.

—In 1826 an elaborate pedigree on vellum of the family of Howard, of Great Howard, in Rochdale, deduced, authenticated, and subscribed by Sir William Dugdale, about the year 1667, was in the possession of a gentleman in Rochdale, lately deceased. He is supposed to have lent it to some antiquarian friend, and its present locale is unknown. As no record of this singular document exists in the College of Arms, the writer of this note would feel obliged by being permitted to have a copy of the original for his Lancashire M.S. Collections.

F. R. R.

86. Rev. John Paget, of Amsterdam.

—Of what family was John Paget, pastor of the Reformed English church at Amsterdam for thirty years? He died there 1639, and his works were published 1641, being edited by Thomas Paget, who was, according to his own account, "called to the work of ministry many years ago in Chester diocese," and R. Paget, who writes a Preface "from Dort, 1641." Perhaps the editors of the "NAVORSCHER" may be able to give some information on the subject.

CRANMORE.

87. Visiting Cards.

—When did these social conveniencies first come into use?

OUTIS.

88. Duke de Berwick and Alva.

—A sword amongst the Spanish jewels in the Great Exhibition is said to be ordered by "S. E. Jacques Stuart, Duc de Berwick and Alva." Is this a descendant of James II.'s illegitimate son, the Duke of Berwick? and if so, can any of your correspondents give me any information as to his descent, &c.?

L.

89. The Earl of Derwentwater.

—The first earl, Francis, had several sons—Francis his successor, Edward died unmarried, Thomas a military officer, Arthur, &c. Can any of your readers inform me in which army this Thomas was an officer, whom he married, and where he died? The family name was Radcliffe.

BROCTUNA.

Bury, Lancashire.

90. "But very few have seen the Devil."

—Can any of your readers inform me where some lines are to be found which run somewhat thus?—I cannot remember the intermediate lines:—

W. FRASER.

Hordley, near Ellesmere, Aug. 4. 1851.

91. Aulus Gellius' Description of a Dimple.

—The poet Gray, writing to his friend Mr. West, asks him to guess where the following description of a dimple is found:

Mr. West replies in the following letter:

"Your fragment is Aulus Gellius; and both it and your Greek delicious."

I have never met with it in Aulus Gellius, and should be glad to find it.

RT.

92. Forgotten Authors of the Seventeenth Century.

—Can any of your correspondents point out any biographical particulars relative to the following authors of the seventeenth century?

1. WILLIAM PARKES, Gentleman, and sometimes student in Barnard's Inne, author of The Curtaine-drawer of the World, 1612.

2. PETER WOODHOUSE, author of The Flea; sic parva componere magnis, 1605.

3. ROWLAND WATKINS, a native of Herefordshire; author of Flamma sine Fumo, or Poems without Fictions, 1662.

4. RICHARD WEST, author of The Court of Conscience, or Dick Whipper's Sessions, 1607.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Minor Queries Answered.

Sundays, on what Days of the Month?

—Is there any printed book which tells on what days of the several months the Sundays in each year occurred, during the last three or four centuries?

If there be more such books than one, which of them is the best and most accessible?

H. C.

[The most accessible works are Sir Harris Nicolas' Chronology of History, and Companion to the Almanack for 1830, pp. 32, 33. Consult also L'Art de Vérifier les Dates and, above all, Professor De Morgan's Book of Almanacks.]

John Lilburne.

—A list of the pamphlets published by, or relating to, John Lilburne, or any facts respecting his life or works, will be of service to one who is collecting for a biography of "Free-born John."

EDWARD PEACOCK, Jun.

Bottesford Moors, Kirton in Lindsey.

[Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica contains a list of Lilburne's pamphlets, which would occupy two pages of "NOTES AND QUERIES!" A collection of tracts relating to Lilburne, 1646, 4to., 2 vols., will be found in the Towneley Catalogue, Part I. p. 636. Sold for 1l. 13s. Truth's Victory over Tyrants, being the Trial of John Lilburne, London, 1649, 4to., contains a portrait of him standing at the bar. Butler, in Hudibrus, Part III., Canto ii., has vividly drawn his character in the paragraph commencing at line 421.:—

"This character," says Dr. Grey, "exactly suits John Lilburne and no other. For it was said of him, when living, by Judge Jenkins, 'That if the world was emptied of all but himself, Lilburne would quarrel with John, and John with Lilburne;' which part of his character gave occasion for the following lines at his death:—

"Lilburne died a Quaker, August 28, 1657. See Mercurius Politicus, No. 379. p. 1597.; Mr. Peek's Desiderata Curiosa, from Mr. Smith's Obituary, vol. ii. lib. xiv. p. 30. Also a character of Lilburne, in Thurloe's State Papers, vol. iii. p. 512; and an account of his obstinacy, in his Trial, reprinted in the State Trials."]

Replies.

"LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL."
(Vol. iii., p. 464.)

I am obliged to M. for his notice of my paper upon this poem, and gratified by his concurrence with my remarks.

Very likely M. may be right in his explanations of the "incuria" imputed by me to the great author, and I may have made a mistake, without pleading guilty to the same charge: but if M. will refer to the 4th and two following Sections of sixth canto of the Lay, he will find it thus written:

Again, Sec. V.:

Again, Sec. VI.:

And again, in Sect. VIII. are these words:

Now, in the ordinary acceptation of these words the spousal rite means nuptials, and a bride means a newly married wife; and as the ceremony of the spousal rite is described as taking place with much pomp in the chapel, and at the altar, it looks very like a wedding indeed. But if, after all, it were only a betrothal, I willingly withdraw the charge of "incuria," and subscribe to the propriety of the [135] "Minstrel's" information, that the bridal actually "befel a short space;"

And now a word touching M.'s hint of giving a corner in the "NOTES AND QUERIES" to the "Prophecy of Criticism." If he will forgive me the remark, I do not think the phrase a very happy one. Criticism does not prophecy, it pronounces, and is valuable only in proportion to the judgment, taste, and knowledge displayed in its sentence. Above all, the critic should be impartial, and by no means allow himself to be biassed by either prejudice or prepossession, whether personal or political. Still less should he sacrifice his subject in order to prove the acuteness and point of his own weapon, which is too often dipped in gall instead of honey. To what extent these qualifications are found in our modern reviewers let each man answer according to his own experience: but as critics are not infallible, and as authors generally see more, feel more, and think more than the ordinary run of critics and readers give them credit for, I doubt not that a place will always be open in the "NOTES AND QUERIES," in answer to the fallacies of criticism, wherever they may be detected.

A. BORDERER.

MEANING OF "PRENZIE."
(Vol. iv., pp. 63, 64.)

As your correspondent A. E. B. has endeavoured to strengthen the case in favour of the word precise being the proper reading of "prenzie," will you allow me to suggest a few further points for consideration in inquiring into the meaning of this word?

I am afraid your etymological readers are in danger of being misled by the plausible theory that "prenzie" is not an error of the press or copyist, but a true word. In reference to this view of the case, as taken by your several correspondents, allow me to suggest, first: that Shakspeare was no word-coiner; secondly, that, for application in a passage of such gravity, he would not have been guilty of the affectation of using a newly-imported Scotch word; and, thirdly, that, as we may reasonably infer that he was essentially popular in the choice of words, so he used such as were intelligible to his audience. A word of force and weight sufficient to justify its use twice in the passage in question, if merely popular, would surely not so entirely have gone out of use; whereas if merely literary it would still be to be found in books.

My greatest objection to the word precise is its inharmoniousness in the position it holds in the verse; and this objection would not be removed by adopting Mr. Singer's suggestion of accentuating the first syllable, which must then be short, and the word pronounced pressis? How horrible! Besides, if that were the case, as Shakspeare does not vary in his accent, the corroboratory passage on which the advocates of precise depend would read, then, thus:

the double ending rhyme giving it the air of burlesque. The appropriateness of precise, moreover, depends chiefly upon its being assumed to express the quality of a precision, which has not only not been proved, but which I am inclined very much to doubt.

Has it not been a true instinct that has guided the early English commentators to the choice of words of the form of "princely," "priestly," and myself to "saintly," and do not the two passages taken together require this form in reference to a character such as that of a prince, a priest, or a saint? For instance, the term pious might be applied to Angelo, equally well with priestly or saintly; but it could not correctly be applied to garb or vestments, while either of the latter could.

In what respect is the "cunning" of the "livery of hell" shown, if "the damnedst body" be not invested in "guards" of the most opposite character? Shakspeare never exactly repeats himself, though we frequently find the same idea varied in form and differently applied. The following passage from Othello, Act II. Sc. 3., appears to be intended to convey the same idea as the one in question, and thus strengthens the opinion that, if not saintly, one of like form and meaning was intended:

Any of your readers who are acquainted with the common careless handwriting in use at the time, will greatly oblige by informing me if it be beyond likelihood that a word commencing with the letter s should have been read as though it began with p.

I have no intention of continuing the contest on the meaning of "eisell," nor should I have felt it necessary to notice the remarks of J. S. W. in No. 91., had they been avowedly in opposition to mine and MR. SINGER'S. But when the advocate assumes the ermine, and proceeds to sum up the evidence and pass judgment, I feel it only right that those points in which he has misrepresented my argument should not be passed over. I did not say "that the word cannot mean a river because the definite article is omitted before it." What I did say was, that "English idiom requires an article unless it be personified." Milton's lines merely confirm this, though I am willing to admit [136] that the argument is of little weight When, however, J. S. W. expresses his surprise that "a gentleman who exhorts," &c., had not looked to the general drift of the passage, I fancy he cannot have read my first observations with regard to it, in which I say "the idea of the passage appears to be," &c. What is this but the "general drift?" Before finally leaving this subject, allow me to explain, that, in objecting to the terms "mere verbiage" and "extravagant rant" of a correspondent, I took them together. I included the latter perhaps hastily. But, however "extravagant" the "rant" of his real or assumed madmen may be, I am satisfied that there is no "mere verbiage" to be found in Shakspeare.

SAMUEL HICKSON.

HOUSE OF YVERY.
(Vol. iii., p. 101.)

Some years ago, in the library of a noble earl in the north of England, I met with a "fair and perfect" copy of this rare book. The following is a list of the plates which it contained:—

• Vol. i.

•   1. View of the Manor of Weston, Somersetshire, p. 360.
•   2. Monument of Richard Perceval, p. 406.

• Vol. ii.

•   3. Manor of Sydenham, co. Somerset, p. 24.
•   4. Portrait of Richard Perceval, p. 120.
•   5. Another of the same, ib.
•   6. Portrait of Alice Perceval, p. 138.
•   7. Portrait of Sir Philip Perceval, p. 144.
•   8. View of Loghart Castle, Ireland, p. 192.
•   9. Castle Liscarrol, Cork, p. 215.
• 10. Portrait of Catherine, wife of Sir Philip, p. 320.
• 11. Portrait of George Perceval, p. 322.
• 12. Portrait of Sir John Perceval, p. 325.
• 13. View of Castle Kanturk, Cork, p. 335.
• 14. Portrait of Catherine, wife of Sir John Perceval, p. 361.
• 15. Portrait of Robert Perceval, p. 368.
• 16. Portrait of Sir Philip Perceval, second Baronet, p. 376.
• 17. Monument of ditto, p. 386.
• 18. Portrait of Sir John Perceval, eighth Baronet, p. 389.
• 19. Portrait of Catherine, wife to ditto, p. 396.
• 20. Portrait of the Hon. Philip Perceval, p. 400.
• 21. Portrait of John Perceval, Earl of Egmont, p. 403.
• 22. Map of part of the estate of John Perceval, Earl of Egmont, p. 404.
• 23. Portrait of Sir P. Parker, ancestor of the Countess of Egmont, p. 451.
• 24. Portrait of Catherine, wife of ditto, p. 452.
• 25. Portrait of the Countess of Egmont, born 1680, p. 453.
• 26. View of Mount Pleasant, near Tunbridge Wells, p. 461.
• 27. Portrait of John Viscount Perceval, p. 467.
• 28. Portrait of Catherine, wife of ditto, p. 467.
• 29. View of Beverstan Castle, p. 496.

The copy here described contains the "folding plate" mentioned by your correspondent; and as it was a presentation copy from the Earl of Egmont to Earl Ferrers, the presumption is that it is an unmutilated one.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

In answer to the Query of your correspondent H.T.E., I beg to state that the folding map of part of the estate of John Perceval, Earl of Egmont, does occur in my copy of The House of Yvery, at page 92. of the first volume. Lowndes, in his list of the plates, assigns this map to the second volume; but its proper place is as above. Perhaps this mistake of Lowndes may have given rise to the doubt as to the existence of this map; but I suppose any copy of the work without it must be considered imperfect.

J. H.

QUEEN BRUNÉHAUT.
(Vol. iv., p. 86)

I am sure that you will not be sorry to hear that "NOTES AND QUERIES" is a great favourite with young people; and I hope you will have no objection to encourage our "pursuits of literature" by admitting into your delightful miscellany this little contribution.

I have been reading Thierry's History of the Norman Conquest these holidays; and when I saw MR. BREEN'S Queries respecting St. Gregory and Queen Brunéhaut, I remembered that the historian had mentioned them. On referring to the passage, at p. 11. of the translation published by Whittaker and Co., 1843, I found that (1.) "Le Saint Pape Grégoire," who "donna des éloges de gloire" to Queen Brunéhaut, was Gregory the Great;—that (2.) This illustrious Pope did actually degrade himself by flattering the bad queen;—and (3.) That the proof of his having done so is to be found in a passage of one of Gregory's letters given by Thierry, and appearing in the foot-note "12" at p. 11. of Messrs. Whittaker's edition, as follows:

"Excellentia ergo vestræ quæ proba in bonis consuevit esse operibus."—"In omnipotentis Dei timore, excelleltiæ vestræ mens soliditate firmata."—Epist. Greg. Papæ, apud Script. rer. Gallic. et Francic., tom. iv. p. 21.

EDITH C.

Preston, Aug. 1851.

It is, I think, indisputable that the St. Gregory commemorated on the tomb of Brunéhaut is Pope Gregory the Great. Among his Letters are several addressed to the Frankish queen, betokening the unqualified esteem in which she was held by the Roman pontiff. See Gregor. Opp. (tom. ii., edit. [137] Paris, 1586), Lib. v. Indict. xiv. ep. 5; Lib. vii. Indict. i. ep. 5.; Lib. ix. Indict. vi. ep. 8.; Lib. xi. Indict. vi. ep. 8. I will give a short specimen from the first and last Letters:

"Excellentiæ vestræ prædicandam ac Deo placitam bonitatem et gubernacula regni testantur et educatio fidel manifestat."—Col. 766.

"Inter alia bona hoc apud vos præ ceteris tenet principatum, quod in mediis hujus mundi fluctibus, qui regentis animos turbulenta solent vexatione confundere, ita cor ad Divini cultus amorem et venerabilium locorum disponendam quietam reducitis ac si vos nulla alia cura sollicitet."—Col. 1061.

Much to her merit, in the eyes of Gregory, arose from her abjuration of Arianism, and the patronage she extended to religious houses. At the same time, it is impossible to acquit her of the serious charges under which she labours.

"Elle est diffamée," says Moreri, "dans les écrits des autres auteurs, par sa cruauté, sa vengeance, son avarice, et son impudicité."

C. H.

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

LORD MAYOR NOT A PRIVY COUNCILLOR.
(Vol. iv., p. 9.)

I entirely dissent from your correspondent's statements that "the Lord Mayor is no more a privy councillor than he is Archbishop of Canterbury." First, as to the argument on which your correspondent's conclusion is founded. He assumes first that the title of Lord is a mere courtesy title; and, secondly, that it is because of this courtesy title that the Mayor is deemed a privy councillor. The second assumption is the erroneous one. It is not necessary to have the courtesy title of Lord in order to be a privy councillor; nor are all courtesy lords styled Right Honorables. Your correspondent's assertion in this respect is a curious blunder, which every day's experience contradicts. No one styles a courtesy Lord "Right Honorable" except such persons as will persist in the equally absurd blunder of calling a Marquis "Most Noble." The Boards of the Treasury and Admiralty are not designated "Right Honorable" merely because of the courtesy title of "Lord" being attached to their corporate name, but because these Boards are respectively the equivalents of the Lord High Treasurer and Lord High Admiral, each of whom was always a member of the sovereign's Council. No individual member of the Board is, by membership, "Right Hon." Your correspondent's precedent is equally inconclusive on the subject. He says, "Mr. Harley, when (1768) Lord Mayor of London, was sworn of His Majesty's most honorable Privy Council." This precedent does not prove the argument; and for this simple reason, that the individual who holds the office is not "Right Honorable," but the officer is. Mr. Harley was not, as an individual, a privy councillor, till he was made one: he could only have appeared in council as "the Lord Mayor," and not as "Mr. Harley." The description, therefore, of "The Right Honorable A. B., Lord Mayor," which has probably misled your correspondent, is, like the "Most Noble the Marquis," a blunder of ignorant flattery; the correct description being "A. B., the Right Honorable the Lord Mayor:" or rather, the A. B. ought to be suppressed, except the individual, for a particular reason, is to be personally designated, and the style should be written, "The Right Honorable the Lord Mayor." This distinction between the officer and the man is almost universal in our system. Our Judges are Lords in court (yet, by-the-bye, this courtesy "Lord" does not give any one of them at any time the title of Right Honorable, another instance of the fallacy of your correspondent's reasoning), and they are Sirs in individual designation. In Scotland the Judges assume the titles of Baronies during their tenure of office, but become mere Esquires on surrender of it. The Lord Mayor is always summoned to the council on the accession of a new sovereign, and was formerly, when his office was of greater practical importance than at present, accustomed to put his name very high on the list of signatures attached to the declaration of accession. A commoner might by the bare delivery of the great seal become "Lord" in the Court of Chancery, and be the President of the House of Lords, where he would sit by virtue of his office, without having any title to speak or vote. Mr. Henry Brougham did so for one if not two nights before his patent of peerage was completed. The same distinction between officer and individual applies to the Lord Mayor, who is Right Honorable as Lord Mayor, but in no other way whatever.

L. M.

COWPER OR COOPER.
(Vol. iv., pp. 24.93)

The poet's family was originally of Stroode in Slinfold, Sussex, not Kent, as Lord Campbell (Lives of the Chan., vol. iv. p. 258.) states, and spelt their names Cooper. The first person who altered the spelling was John Cooper of London, father of the first baronet, and he probably adopted the spelling in affectation of the Norman spelling; the family having in those days been styled Le Cupere, Cuper, and Coupre in Norman-French, and Cuparius in Latin, as may be seen by the grants made to Battle Abbey. The pronunciation was never changed. All the Sussex branches continued the spelling of Cooper until the time of Henry Cowper of Stroode, who died 1706. In [138] Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors (p. 259.) the first letter is signed "William Cooper."

W. D. COOPER.

Cowper.—There is an affectation in the present day for pronouncing words, not only contrary to established usage, but in defiance of orthography. The Bar furnishes one example, and "polite society" the other. By the former, a judge on the bench is called, instead of "My Lord" and "His Lordship," "My Lud" and "His Ludship;" and in the latter, Cowper is metamorphosed into Cooper. Now, I fancy that "My Lord" is a vast deal more euphonious than "My Lud" and Cowper, as Shakspeare has it, "becomes the mouth as well" as Cooper. We don't speak of getting milk from the coo, but from the cow; and Cow being the first syllable of the poet's name should not be tortured into Coo, in compliment to a nonsensical fastidiousness, whoever may have set the example. As Cowper the poet has been hitherto known, and by that name will be cherished by posterity. John Kemble, the great actor, I remember, tried to alter the pronunciation of Rome to room, and was laughed at for his pains, though he had the authority of a pun of the bard's own for the change: "Old Rome and room enough." But Shakspeare was but an indifferent punster at the best, as is proved by Falstaff's refusing to give a reason on compulsion, even though "reasons were as plentiful as blackberries;" corrupting raisin into reason, for his purpose, which is as far-fetched as any instance of the kind on record, I think. But I digress, and beg pardon for running so away from the cow.

JOHN BULL.

Lord Campbell, in his entertaining Lives of the Chief Justices, says, in paragraph introductory to the life of Sir Edward Coke:

"As the name does not correspond very aptly with the notion of their having come over with the Conqueror, it has been derived from the British word 'Cock' or 'Coke' a 'Chief;' but, like 'Butler,' 'Taylor,' and other names now ennobled, it much more probably took its origin from the occupation of the founder of the race at the period when surnames were first adapted in England. Even in Queen Elizabeth's reign, as well as that of James I., Sir Edward's name was frequently spelt 'Cook.' Lady Hatton, his second wife, who would not assume it, adopted this spelling in writing to him, and according to this spelling, it has invariably been pronounced."

Lord Campbell, who seems rather fond of such speculations, however, in the case of Lord Cowper does not give the etymology of the name. But he gives a letter written from school by the subsequent chancellor, in which he signs his name "William Cooper." However, elsewhere, in a note he speaks of the propensity evinced by those who have risen to wealth and station to obliterate the trace of their origin by dropping, adding, or altering letters and among them he mentions "Cowper" as having its origin in "Cooper." Mr. Mark Antony Lower, too, in his Essay on English Surnames, classes Cowper among the surnames derived from trade. Possibly, therefore, notwithstanding the alteration, the original pronunciation has been continued.

TEE BEE.

Replies to Minor Queries

Voce Populi Halfpenny (Vol. iv., pp. 19. 56.).

—I have four varieties of this coin:

1. The one which J. N. C. describes, and which is engraved by Lindsay, in his work on the coinage of Ireland, and is considered the rarest type.

2. A precisely similar type, with the exception that the "P" is beneath, instead of being on the side of the portrait.

3. A more youthful portrait, and of smaller size than the preceding, and a trifle better executed. It wants the "P" altogether, and has for "MM." a small quatrefoil. The engrailing also very different.

4. A totally different, and older portrait than any of the preceding. "MM." and engrailing the same as No. 3., and it also wants the "P."

The reverses of all four appear to differ only in very minute particulars. Pinkerton, in his Essay on Medals, vol. ii. p. 127., after stating that the Irish halfpence and farthings were all coined in the Tower, and then sent to Ireland, there being no mint in that country, remarks—

"In 1760, however, there was a great scarcity of copper coin in Ireland; upon which a society of Irish gentlemen applied for leave, upon proper conditions, to coin halfpence; which being granted, those appeared with a very bad portrait of George II., and 'VOCE POPULI' around it. The bust bears a much greater resemblance to the Pretender; but whether this was a piece of waggery in the engraver, or only arose from his ignorance in drawing, must be left in doubt. Some say that these pieces were issued without any leave being asked or obtained."

E. S. TAYLOR.

I would have referred J. N. C. to either Pinkerton or Lindsay, where he would find a full account about his Irish halfpenny, but as he may not possess a numismatic library, perhaps you will allow me to trouble you with the extracts. Pinkerton says:

"In 1760 there was a great scarcity of copper coin in Ireland upon which a society of Irish gentlemen applied for leave, upon proper conditions, to coin halfpence; which being granted, those appeared with a very bad portrait of George II., and 'VOCE POPULI' around it. The bust bears a much greater resemblance to the Pretender; but whether this was a piece of waggery in the engraver, or only arose from his ignorance in drawing, must be left to doubt."

Pinkerton does not here specially refer to the [139] type, where "the letter P is close to the nose:" but if J. N. C. can turn to Lindsay's Coinage of Ireland, 1839, he will find his coin engraved in the fifth supplementary plate, No. 16., and in the advertisement, p. 139., the following remarks on it:

"This curious variety of the 'voce populi' halfpence exhibits a P before the face, and illustrates Pinkerton's remark that the portrait on these coins seems intended for that of the Pretender: it is a very neat coin, perhaps a pattern."

BLOWEN.

Dog's Head in the Pot (Vol. iii., pp. 264. 463.).

—The sign is of greater antiquity than may be expected. See Cocke Lorelle's Bote:—

THOS. LAWRENCE.

Ashby de la Zouch.

"O wearisome Condition of Humanity" (Vol. iii., p. 241.).

—As no one has hitherto appropriated these fine lines, as to the author of which your correspondent inquires, I may mention that they are taken from the "Chorus Sacerdotum," at the end of Lord Brook's Mustapha. (See his Works, fol. 1633, p. 159.) The chorus is worth quoting entire:

I should like to see a collected edition of the works of the two noble Grevilles, Fulke and Robert, Lords Brook; the first the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, the second the honoured of Milton. The little treatise on Truth of the latter, which Wallis answered in his Truth Tried, is amply sufficient to prove that he possessed powers of no common order.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

Bunyan and the "Visions of Heaven and Hell" (Vol. iii., pp. 70. 89. 289. 467.).

—The work referred to by your correspondents is so manifestly not the Composition of John Bunyan that it is extraordinary that the title-page, which was evidently adopted to get off the book, should ever have imposed upon anybody. The question, however, put by your correspondents F. R. A. and N. H., as to who G. L. was, has not yet been answered. The person referred to by these initials is the real author of the book, who was George Larkin, a printer and author, and great ally and friend of the redoubted John Dunton, who gives a long character of him, in his Life and Errors, in his enumeration of London printers. (See Life and Errors, edit. 1705, p. 326.)

"Mr. Larkin, Senior—He has been my acquaintance for Twenty years, and the first printer I had in London. He formerly writ a Vision of Heaven, &c. (which contains many nice and curious thoughts), and has lately published an ingenious Essay on the noble Art and Mystery of Printing. Mr. Larkin is my alter ego, or rather my very self in a better edition."

The book itself was first published about 1690, and went through many editions in the early part of the last century.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

Pope's Translations or Imitations of Horace (Vol. i., p. 230.; Vol. iv., pp. 58. 122.).

—I am much obliged to MR. CROSSLEY for having corrected the error (for which I cannot account) in the title of the pamphlet in question, which was certainly not by "the author of the Critical History of England," and certainly was by Dennis, as is marked by Pope's own hand in the copy now before me. As MR. CROSSLEY puts hypothetically the correctness of my quotation, I subjoin the whole passages.

"After having been for fifteen years as it were an imitator, he has made no proficiency. His first imitations, though bad, are rather better than the succeeding, and this last Imitation of HORACE the most execrable of them all."—P. 7.

Again:

"An extravagant libel, ridiculously called an imitation of Horace."—P. 11.

And again:

"Of all these libellers the present Imitator is the most impudent and incorrigible."—P. 15.

MR. CROSSLEY says he has a fragment of the "Imitation of the second satire of the first book of Horace," published by Curll in 1716. This, which I never saw, nor before heard of, would solve the difficulty; and I respectfully request MR. CROSSLEY to favour us with a transcript of the title-page, which is the more desirable, because all Pope's biographers, and indeed he himself (to Spence), have attributed his first imitation of Horace to a much later date, certainly subsequent to 1723. The imitation, therefore, of that satire [140] of Horace, printed in 1716 by Curll, is valuable as to Pope's history, and great curiosity and as MR. CROSSLEY states that Lady Mary is not mentioned in that edition, I am curious to know how Pope managed the rhyme now made by her name.

MR. CROSSLEY adds that this imitation was reproduced in "folio, printed by J. Boreman about 1734, with some alterations from the former edition." Would it be trespassing too much on your space and his kindness, to request him to give us a few specimens of the alterations, particularly the "change of initials" which MR. CROSSLEY mentions. MR. CROSSLEY seems to think that this poem was not reprinted after the folio in 1734, till it appeared in a supplement to Cooper's edition in 1756. This is a mistake. It was published by Pope himself, with his other imitations of Horace, in the collection of his works by Dodsley in 1738; and though only entitled "in the manner of Mr. Pope,", excited very natural surprise and disgust. His having deliberately embodied it in the general collection of his works, is Warton's only excuse for having reproduced it.

C.

Prophecies of Nostradamus (Vol. iv., p. 86.).

—In accordance with the wish of your correspondent SPERIEND, I have examined the series of early editors of this celebrated astrologer in the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the following is the result of my inquiries.

The earliest edition of the Prophecies of Nostradamus is not to be found in any library in Paris, but was published in 1555 (so says the latest account of the prophet, by M. Eugène Bareste) but contains little more than three centuries (or cantos, as they might be called) of prophecies; each century containing a hundred quatrains. The next edition, which before the French Revolution belonged to the Benedictines of St. Maur, is entitled:

"Les Prophéties de M. Michel Nostradamus, dont il y en a trois cens qui n'ont encore jamais esté imprimées. Adjoustées de nouveau par ledict Autheur. A Lyon, chez Pierre Rigaud, rue Mercière, au coing de rue Ferrandière. Avec permission."

It has, in MS., on the title-page, "1555 et 1558." M. Bareste says of this edition:

"On prétend qu'elle est de 1558; mais nous ne le pensons pas, car elle a été probablement faite l'année même de la mort de l'auteur, c'est à dire, en 1566."

However, as there is no known edition between 1555, the date of the first, and 1566, this doubtless is the earliest containing the ninth century; and at No. 49. of this century is to be seen the following quatrain:

"Gand et Bruceles marcheront contre Anvers, Sénat de Londres mettront à mort leur Roy; Le sel et vin luy seront à l'envers, Pour eux avoir le regne en desarroy."

I can find no edition of Nostradamus dated 1572; but in the editions of 1605, 1629, 1649, and 1650, the prophecy is given as above, almost letter for letter, so that there can be no doubt it was not first known in that form in 1672. As to the number of this quatrain agreeing with the year of King Charles's death, it is most probably an accident; for out of the nine hundred and odd quatrains composing the twelve centuries (the 7th, 11th, and 12th being imperfect), and which are nearly all regularly numbered, it is, I believe, the only one in which this singularity occurs. On the fly-leaf of a copy of Nostradamus in the Bibliothèque de Ste Geneviève (dated 1568, but really printed in 1649), I found, in an old handwriting, a couplet that may be new to the English admirer of the astrologer:

If SPERIEND wishes for more information on the subject of the life and works of Nostradamus, I should recommend him to look at the work I have quoted above, which treats very fully on all matters connected with this "vaticinating worthy." It is entitled Nostradamus, par Eugène Bareste: Paris, 1840, and will doubtless be found in the British Museum.

H. C. DE ST. CROIX.

I have an edition of 1605 of these prophecies, Revueës et corrigées sur la coppie imprimée à Lyon, par Benoist Rigaud, 1586, but without place or printer's name. It contains (century nine, stanza 49.), the quatrain quoted by SPERIEND.

The following quatrain may be thought to apply to Cromwell (century eight, stanza 76.):

The edition of 1605 does not contain the line quoted by SPERIEND, "Sénat de Londres," &c.; nor any address "A mes Imprimeurs de Hongrie;" but, in addition to the ten centuries contained in the edition of 1568 (the original edition), it contains the eleventh and twelfth centuries; also 141 stanzas of additional "Presages, tirez de ceux faicts par M. Nostradamus en années 1555 et suivantes jusques en 1567:" and 58 "Predictions Admirables pour les ans courans en ce Siecle, Recueillies des Memoires du feu M. Nostradamus, par Vincent Seve, de Beaucaire en Languedoc, dès le 19 Mars, 1605, au Chateau de Chantilly."

My edition is not mentioned by Brunet nor in any of the French Catalogues that I have been able to consult.

R. J. R.

Thread the Needle (Vol. iv., p. 39.).

—The following is an extract from a review in the Gentleman's Magazine of Dec. 1849, of the Life of [141] Shirley; it may be interesting as explaining some part of the verse in the game of "Thread the Needle:"

"Lord Nugent, when at Hebron, was directed to go out by the needle's eye, that is, by the small gate of the city; and in many parts of England, the old game of thread the needle is played to the following words:

"Now this explains and modifies one of the strongest and most startling passages of Scripture, on the subject of riches; for the camel can go through the needle's eye but with difficulty, and hardly with a full load, nor without stooping."

The above was copied out from the magazine on account of its explaining the camel and the needle's eye: it does not tell much upon the Query concerning the game of "Thread the Needle;" but it may be interesting, and so is sent with pleasure by

E. F.

P.S. A friend suggests, could the game have come from the Crusades?

A line of players, the longer the better, hold hands and one end of the line, which thus becomes almost a circle, runs and drags the rest of the line after it through the arch made by the uplifted arms of the first couple of the other end of the line—a process nearly enough resembling threading a needle. There are subsequent evolutions by which each couple becomes in succession the eye of the needle.

C.

Salmon Fishery in the Thames (Vol. iv., p. 87.).

—Those of your readers who know that I am connected with Billingsgate market would look to me for the reply to R. J. R.'s Query. I must therefore inform them that only thirty or forty years back salmon were taken in rather large quantities in the Thames; but since the introduction of steam-boats and the increase of traffic, the fish have gradually, I might say suddenly, disappeared, for during the last twenty years very few salmon indeed have been taken: those that found their way to market have realised high prices; not that Thames salmon was ever esteemed for its flavour, but only for its extreme rarity of late years.

The hindrance to salmon taking the Thames is the steam-boat and other traffic, which, agitating the water, frightens them (they being a very timid fish), and stirs up the mud, which chokes them; for there is no doubt that ever after a salmon enters a river, it lives by suction. It is possible that one or two salmon a season even make up our river now, for becoming frightened, and rushing on having back and head nearly out of water, and the tide with them, they would get a long way in a night, and possible reach clear water above bridge with life, but in a very weak state. I believe that, under the most favourable circumstances, salmon would not again frequent the Thames in any large quantities, it being too southern; and there is no doubt but that the fish have been fast decreasing of late years, for some of the best rivers in the north are now without salmon.

BLOWEN.

Billingsgate.

Entomological Query (Vol. iv., p. 101.).

—The insect which J. E. found on the Linaria minor is probably either the Euphitecia Linariata or E. Pulchellata. The former species is known to feed on Toad flax, and there is little doubt that the latter does also. If J. E. found any of the caterpillars he may identify them by referring to Westwood's British Moths, vol ii. p. 59., where the caterpillar of Euphitecia Linariata is engraved and described as "yellow or greenish, with dark chesnut spots on the back and sides."

B. P. D. E.

School of the Heart (Vol. iii., p. 390.).

—The editor of the Christian Poet referred to in a paragraph signed S. T. D. has not the School of the Heart by Quarles at hand, and cannot now examine whether the two small pieces quoted in the former volume under the name of Thomas Harvey from SCHOLA CORDIS in forty-seven emblems, 1647, belong to one or the other writer. The only authority, from which he recollects to have gathered them, he believes to be Sir Egerton Brydges' Censura Literaria, or his Restituta, which are very voluminous and miscellaneous, and are at present beyond his research. From internal evidence, he thinks the two poems are not by Quarles, though not unworthy of him in his best vein.

J. M. G.

Hallamshire.

P.S. Since the foregoing note was written, I have found the copy of Sir E. Brydge's Restituta, from which I copied the extract of Schola Cordis, in the Christian Poet.

"Schola Cordis: or the Heart of itself gone away from God, brought back again to Him, and instructed by Him. In 47 Emblems. 1647. 12mo. pp. 196."

Inscribed, without a signature,

"To the Divine Majestie of the onely-begotten, eternall, well-beloved Son of God and Saviour of the World, Christ Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords; the Maker, the Mender, the Searcher, and the Teacher of

The third edition, dated 1675, ascribes these [142] emblems to the author of The Synagogue, annexed to Herbert's Poems. This, according to Sir John Hawkins, in his notes on Walton's Angler, was Christopher Harvie: but Wood, in his Athenæ, positively affirms that the author of The Synagogue, in imitation of the divine Herbert, was Thomas Harvey, M.A., and first Master of Kingston School in Herefordshire. To him, therefore (adds Sir Egerton Brydges), we may presume to assign it, until a stronger testimony shall dispossess him of a tenure, which reflects honourable reputation on the copiousness of his fancy and the piety of his mind.

Fortune, Infortune, Fort une (Vol. iv., p. 57.).

—I agree with MR. BREEN that this inscription on the tomb of Margaret of Austria, in the beautiful church of Brou, is "somewhat enigmatical," a literal translation failing entirely to make sense of it. But perhaps MR. BREEN may be willing to accept the interpretation offered by a writer in the Magasin Pittoresque for 1850, where, describing the monuments in the church of Notre Dame de Brou (p. 22.), he says:

"Cette légende bizarre est assez difficile à expliquer, si l'on ne regarde pas le mot infortune comme un verbe. Avec cette hypothèse, la devise signifierait: 'La fortune a rendu une personne très-malheureuse?' Cette explication est d'autant plus plausible que la vie de Marguérite d'Autriche fut affligée de bien de revers. Destinée à regner sur la France, elle est répudiée par Charles VIII., son fiancé; elle épouse le fils du roi d'Aragon, qui la laisse bientôt veuve avec un fils qu'elle a aussi la douleur de perdre peu après; enfin, remariée à Philibert le Beau, elle le voit mourir au printemps de son âge."

There is little doubt, I think that the inscription was meant to typify the misfortunes of Margaret; but the preceding solution is still, in a grammatical point of view, unsatisfactory. If fort could be transposed to fait, the reading would be simple enough; but in these cases we are bound to take the inscriptions as we find them, and the Rebus in stone was the especial delight of the sculptors of the fifteenth century.

D. C.

St. John's Wood, July 28. 1851.

Ackey Trade (Vol. iv., p. 40.).

—Ackey weights were, and I believe are, used on the Guinea Coast for weighing gold dust: 1 ackey=20-1/32 grains Troy. The Ackey Trade must be, I suppose, the African gold dust trade.

W. T.

Curious Omen at Marriage (Vol. iii., p. 406.)

—H. A. B. asks at the end of his Note, "Why a coruscation of joy, upon a wedding day, should forebode evil?" and "Whether any other instances are on record of its so doing?"

As these questions have remained unanswered for some weeks, I am tempted to suggest that your correspondent may have laid too much stress on the fact of the joy having been expressed at a wedding, and that the passage he quoted from Miss Benger's Memoirs of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, may be simply an allusion to the old belief (still more or less prevalent) of "high spirits being a presage of impending calamity or of death." (See Vol. ii., pp. 84. 150.)

The late Miss Landon, in one of her novels, furnishes an additional notice of this belief:

"The ex-queen of Sweden has had one of the gentlemen of her suite put to death in a manner equally sudden and barbarous; and what excites in me a strong personal feeling on the subject is, that Monaldeschi, the cavalier in question, dines with me the very day of his murder, as I must call it. Such a gay dinner as we had! for Monaldeschi—lively, unscrupulous, and sarcastic—was a most amusing companion. His spirits, far higher than his usual bearing, carried us all along with them: and I remember saying to him, 'I envy your gaiety: why, Monaldeschi, you are as joyous as if there were nothing but sunshine in the world.' He changed countenance, and becoming suddenly grave, exclaimed, 'Do not call me back to myself. I feel an unaccountable vivacity, which I know is the herald of disaster.' But again he became cheerful, and we rallied him on the belief, which he still gaily maintained, that great spirits were the sure forerunners of misfortune."—Francesca Carrara, vol. ii. chap. 6.

Perhaps some of your readers may be able to say whether Miss Landon had the authority of any cotemporary writer for the anecdote. Is not the warning, "Sing before noon, and you'll sigh before night," also a proof of the dread with which "coruscations of joy" were looked upon by our forefathers?

C. FORBES.

Temple.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

The very unsatisfactory condition of the present laws on the subject of international copyright has induced the eloquent author the The History of the Girondists, when giving to the world The History of the Restoration of Monarchy in France, to consent to write in English some of the most important passages of that history with the view of assisting his publishers in their endeavour to protect themselves against piracy. To this circumstance we are indebted for the appearance at the same moment of the English and French editions; and both at a much lower price than that at which we have hitherto been accustomed to receive original works. M. de Lamartine's present contribution to the modern history of France cannot fail to excite great interest—despite of the manifest prejudices of the writer; for it is written with marked earnestness—not to say bitterness, and depicts in striking colours at once the military genius and the heartless selfishness of Napoleon. The history of the murder of Duc D'Enghien is told with consummate dramatic effect; and as the reader finishes the narrative he feels, the force of the author's closing words, "The murderer has but his hour—the victim has all [143] eternity." The book will be read and re-read for its brilliancy and interest; it can however never by quoted as an authority, for its writer has disdained to quote those on which his own statements are based. M. de Lamartine in making this omission has done injustice both to himself and to his readers.

Letters Historical and Botanical, relating chiefly to places in the Vale of Teign, &c., by Dr. Fraser Halle, is a small volume which we can conscientiously recommend as a desirable travelling companion to such of our friends as may be about to visit this beautiful district of

"Lovely Devonia, land of flowers and songs."

It is clearly the production of a thoughtful scholar; and besides its botanical notices and historical illustrations, contains many pleasant snatches of old song, and hints of by-gone legends.

Lives of the most eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, translated from the Italian of Giorgio Vasari, &c., by Mrs. Foster, vol. iii., is another volume of Mr. Bohn's Standard Library. Vasari's work was one of the favourite books of the unfortunate Haydon; and now, when so much attention is being devoted by all classes to the fine arts, when our nobles are throwing open their galleries to the public, and admitting all to a free study of the exquisite works in their possession, an English version of such a series of biographies as Vasari has given us, and enriched as it is by notes and illustrations drawn from his best commentators, cannot but find an extensive and ready sale.

Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson (3. Wellington Street) will sell on Wednesday next a valuable collection of Engravings, the property of a distinguished collector, by whom it was formed thirty years since, chiefly from the Durand Collection; and on Thursday next a most interesting collection of Manuscripts and Books of the poet Gray, the whole in beautiful condition, together with a collection of various editions of his works, a posthumous bust, and other items connected with the poet. On Friday the same auctioneers will be engaged in the sale of the interesting collection of Engraved British Portraits formed by the late Thomas Harrison, Esq.

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.—J. Lilly's (19. King Street, Covent Garden) Very Cheap Clearance Catalogue of Five Thousand Volumes; B. Quaritch's (16. Castle Street, Leicester Square) Cheap Book Circular, No. 32., Catalogue of Books in all Languages.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.

• NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ENTOMOSTRACÆ, by W. Baird, M.D. (Ray Society's Publication.)
• Barrington's Edition of THE ANGLO-SAXON VERSION OF OROTIUS, by Alfred the Great. 8vo. London, 1773. (An Imperfect Copy, containing only the Anglo-Saxon, from p. 1. to 242., would be sufficient.)
• BRITISH ESSAYISTS, by Chalmers. 45 Vols. Johnson and Co. Vols. VI. VII. VIII. IX. and XXIII.
• KNIGHT'S PICTORIAL SHAKSPEARE. Part XXV.
• BUDDEN'S LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP MORTON, 1607.
• THOMAS LYTE'S ANCIENT BALLADS AND SONGS. 12mo. 1827.
• DODWELL (HENRY, M.A.), DISCOURSE PROVING FROM SCRIPTURES THAT THE SOUL IS A PRINCIPLE NATURALLY MORTAL, &c.
• REFLECTIONS ON MR. BURCHET'S MEMOIRS; or, Remarks on his Account of Captain Wilmot's Expedition to the West Indies, By Colonel Luke Lillingston, 1704.
• GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. Vol. I. 1731.
• NEW ENGLAND JUDGED, NOT BY MAN'S BUT BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD, &c. By George Bishope. 1661. 4to. Wanted from p. 150. to the end.
• REASON AND JUDGMENT, OR SPECIAL REMARQUES OF THE LIFE OF THE RENOWNED DR. SANDERSON, LATE LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN. 1663. Sm. 4to. Wanted from p. 90. to the end.
• TRISTRAM SHANDY. 12mo. Tenth Edition. Wanted Vol. VII.
• MALLAY, ESSAI SUR LES EGLISES ROMAINES ET BYZANTINES DU PUY DE DOME. 1 Vol. folio. 51 Plates.
• AN ACCOUNT OF THE REMAINS OF THE WORSHIP OF PRIAPUS, to which is added a Discourse thereon, as connected with the Mystic Theology of the Ancients. London, 1786. 4to. By R. Payne Knight.
• CH. THILLON'S (Professor of Halle) NOUVELLE COLLECTION DES APOCRYPHES, AUGMENTÉ, &c. Leipsic, 1832.
• SOCIAL STATICS, by Herbert Spencer. 8vo.
• THE JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. The back numbers.
• ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. The part of the 7th edition edited by Prof. Napier, containing the Art. Mortality.
• OBSERVATIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON HEALTH AND MORTALITY, by Arthur S. Thomson, M.D. (A Prize Thesis.)
• REPORT ON THE BENGAL MILITARY FUND, by F. G. P. Neison. Published in 1849.
• THREE REPORTS, by Mr. Griffith Davies, Actuary to the Guardian, viz.:
• Report on the Bombay Civil Fund, published 1836.
• —— —— —— Bengal Medical Retiring Fund, published 1839.
• —— —— —— Bengal Military Fund, published 1844.
• OBSERVATIONS ON THE MORTALITY AND PHYSICAL MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN, by Mr. Robertson, Surgeon, London, 1827.

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

Notices to Correspondents.

H. E. (a Subscriber from 1 to 94). If this correspondent will forward copies of the Queries referred to, they shall have immediate attention.

R. H.:—

is the refrain of a song which was very popular some thirty or forty years since.

LLAW GYFFES. The motto of the extinct Viscounts Mount Cashel, "Sustenta la Drechura," is Spanish and signifies "Maintain the Right." The Davies Queries in an early number.

G. CREED. The Newcastle Apothecary, of whom George Colman records that he

was, we believe, altogether an imaginary personage.

REPLIES RECEIVED.—Stonehenge—English Sapphics—St. Paul—Collar of Esses—On the Word "Rack"—Suicides burned in Cross Roads—Bensley Family—Curious Inscription—In Print—Epitaph—Thistle of Scotland—Saint and Crosier, &c.—Charles Lamb and William Hone—Coke how pronounced—Caxton Memorial—Shakspeare and Cervantes—Umbrella—East Norfolk folk Lore—Bells in Churches—The Ten Commandments—Whale of Jonah—The Tradescants—George Steevens—Sun stand thou still—Remarks upon some recent Queries.

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

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

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

Erratum.—Page 125. col. 1. l. 33. and 37. for "proper" read "paper." [144]

Printed by THOMAS CLARK SHAW, of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5. New Street Square, on the Parish of St. Bride in the City of London; and published by GEORGE BELL, of No. 196. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, August 23. 1851.

      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | 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 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  |
      +-----------------------------------------------+-------------+