NOTES AND QUERIES:

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

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

CONTENTS.

NOTES

UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF HORACE WALPOLE

I have the pleasure of inclosing to you (I believe) an unpublished letter of Horace Walpole's. It was found among the papers of the late William Parsons, one of the Della Cruscan poets. That it is genuine I have no doubt. The handwriting is precisely similar to a note sent with a copy of the Mysterious Mother to Mr. Parsons, in which Horace Walpole writes, "he is unwilling to part with a copy without protesting against his own want of judgment in selecting so disgusting a subject; the absurdity of which he believes makes many faults of which he is sensible in the execution overlooked." It is also guaranteed by its date,—"Paris, July 28. 1771." By reference to his correspondence with Sir H. Mann (vol. ii. p. 163.), we find a letter dated July 6, 1771, in which he writes, "I am not gone; I do go to-morrow;" and in his General Correspondence, vol. v. p. 303., writing to John Chute, his letter is dated from Amiens, July 9. 1771, beginning, "I am got no farther yet;" and he returned to Arlington Street, September 6. 1771, having arrived at Paris on the 10th of July, and quitted it on the 2nd of September. I notice the dates, as they indicate the rate of travelling in some degree at that period. The Query is, to whom was it addressed? There is nothing on the original to indicate the person. The letter is of no great importance, except as it shows that Walpole, under certain conditions of being, was more earnest and sincere than perhaps was in his nature, or was generally his wont.

SPENCER HALL.

Athenæum, Feb. 25. 1850.

"Paris, July 28. 1771.

"Dear S'r.

"I have received no letter from my brother, and consequently have no answer to make to him. I shall only say that after entering into a solemn engagement with me, that we should dispose of the places alternately, I can scarce think him serious, when he tells you he has made an entirely new arrangement for ALL the places, expects I shoud concur in it; and after that, is so good as to promise he will dispose of no more without consulting me. If He is so absolutely master of all, my concurrence is not necessary, and I will give none. If he chuses to dispose of the places without me, That matter with others more important, must be regulated in another manner,—and it is time they shoud, when no agreement is kept with me, and I find objections made which, upon the fullest discussion and after allowance of the force of my arguments and right, had been given up twenty years ago.

"With regard to your letter, S'r, some parts of it are, I protest, totally unintelligible to me. Others, which I think I do understand, require a much fuller answer than I have time to give now, as the post goes out to-morrow morning. That answer will contain matter not at all fit for the Post, and which I am sure you woud not wish shoud be handled there; for which reason I shall defer it, till I can give my answer at length into your own hands. It will, I believe, surprize both you and my brother; and show how unkindly I have been {274} treated after doing everything to accommodate both. As to the conditions which you say, S'r, you intend to exact from my brother, you will undoubtedly state them to him himself; and cannot expect I should meddle with them or be party to them. Neither you nor he can imagine that I am quite so tame an idiot as to enter into bonds for persons of his recommendation. If the office is his, he must be answerable for it, and for all the persons he employs in it. I protest against every thing that is not my own act—a consequence he perhaps did not foresee, when he chose, contrary to his agreement with me, to engross the whole disposition. I have always known clearly what is my own right and on what founded; and have acted strictly according to my right, and am ready to justify every step of my conduct. I have sufficiently shown my disposition to peace, and appeal to you yourself, S'r, and to my brother, whether either can charge me with the least encroachment beyond my right; and whether I have not acquiesced in every single step that either has desired of me. Your letter, S'r, and that you quote of my brother, have shown how necessary it is for me to take the measure I am determined to take. I would have done any thing to oblige either you or my brother, but I am not to be threatened out of my right in any shape. I know when it is proper to yield and when to take my stand. I refused to accept the place for my own life when it was offered to me: when I declined that, it is not probable that I would hold the place to the wrong of anybody else; it will and must be seen who claims any part or prerogatives of the place unjustly; my honour demands to have this ascertained, and I will add, that when I scorned a favour, I am not likely to be intimidated by a menace.

"I say all this coolly and deliberately, and my actions will be conformable. I do not forget my obligations to you, dear S'r, or to your dead brother, whose memory will ever be most dear to me. Unkind expressions shall not alter the affection I have for you and your family, nor am I so unreasonable, so unjust, or so absurd as not to approve your doing every thing you think right for your own interest and security and for those of your family. What I have to say hereafter will prove that these not only are but ever have been my sentiments. I shall then appeal to your own truth whether it is just in you to have used some expressions in your letter, but as I mean to act with the utmost circumspection and without a grain of resentment to anybody, I shall say no more till I have had full time to weigh every word I shall use, and every step I mean to take. In the meantime I am,

"Dear S'r,

"Yr obliged humble serv't,

"HOR. WALPOLE.

"P.S. My refusal of the patent for my life has shown what value I set upon it; but I will have justice, especially for my character, which no consideration upon earth shall prevent my seeking. It must and shall be known whether I enjoy the place to the wrong of any man living. You have my free consent, S'r, to show this letter to whom you please; I have nothing to conceal, and am ready to submit my conduct to the whole world."

LADY ARABELLA STUART.

As a pendant to Mr. P. Cunningham's "New Facts about Lady Arabella Stuart" (No. 1. p. 10.). I send you a copy of Bishop James' Account and Quietus in respect of 300l., placed in his hands "for the expences of dyett and other chardges of the Ladye Arabella Seymour comytted to his safe kepinge." The original document is in my possession.

ROBT. COLE. Feb. 11, 1850.

"The Accompte of the Lorde Byshopp of Durham for cccli, receaved for the chardge of the Ladye Arbella Seymour.

"The Declaration of the Accompte of the Reverende Father in God Will'm James Lorde Bysshoppe of Duresme for the some of Three hundreth poundes imprested to him out of the Receipte of the Kinges ma^ts Exchequer at Westmynster for the expences of dyett and other chardges of the Ladye Arbella Seymour comytted to his safe kepinge w^th an inteneon to have caryed into the Bysshoprycke of Duresme there to have remayned under his chardge duringe the Kynges ma^ts pleasure, viz^t betweene the xiiij^th of Marche 1610 in the viij^th year of his highnes raigne and the last daye of the same moneth as followeth.

"Readye money receaved, viz. of

"The Threasorer and vnder threr. of Th'exchequer in Mychas terme in the viijth yeare of the Kinges ma'ts raigne by t'handes of Thomas Wattson Esquire one of the Tell'rs for the chardges of himselfe and his servaunts in his yorney w'th the saide Ladye Arbella Seymour by pvie Seale dated the xiij of March 1610 and Lves of the Lordes of the Councell ...cccli. whereof

"Expences of dyett and other chardges of the Ladye Arabella Seymour & others attendinge upon her, viz.

"Expences of dyett

"At Highgate for sixe dayes begonne the xvth daye of Marche 1610 and ended the xxjst of the same moneth on w'ch daye her Ladyshippe remoued to Barnett. xviijli. vs. lijd.

"At Barnett for xj^en dayes begonne the xxjst of Marche 1610 at Supper and ended the firste of Aprill 1611 at breakefaste beinge that daye remoued to Eastbarnett. lxxjli. vs. viijd.

"Chardges of y^e Stable, viz.

"Chardges of the Stable for the xvij dayes aboue-menconed, viz. at Highgate for vj dayes ixli. xvijs. xd. and at Barnett for xj dayes with vs. for dressinge one of the lytter horses xxviijli. xijs. xjd., in all the some of xxxviijli. xs. ixd.

{275}

"Lodginge and other necessaries, viz.

"Lodginge of some of the retinewe of the Lady Arbella and the sayde Lorde Bysshoppe, viz. Highgate xxs. and at Barnett viijs., in all xxviijs.

"Fyer lightes and other nessces with the lodginge of the saide Lorde Bysshoppe and some of his servauntes at Highgate and Barnett during the xvij dayes aforesaide. xjli. xjs.

"Rydinge and postinge chardges, viz. for posthorses from Lambeth to Highgate xxxiiijs. iiijd. and from thence to Barnett xxxiiijs. ixd. Mr. Beeston and others for there chardges three several tymes to Barnett from London and from Highgate xljs. iiijd. the servauntes of the Lorde Bysshoppe of Durham sent at several tymes in the Lordes of the Councell and for other busynesses concerning this servyce xlvs. vjd. and to Sr. James Crofes Knight for the chardges of himselfe his men and horses from Monday to Wednesday night attendinge at London for this service xlijs. vijd., in all ixli. xviijs. vjd.

"Rewardes to sondrye psons, viz. to messengers sent from the Courte duringe the stay of the Lorde Bysshoppe at Highgate and Barnett xxxixs. vjd. Dyverse psons whoe tooke paynes at those twoe places vijli. xijs., vjd., given in the Yune for glasses broken and in rewardes to the meaner servauntes at Barnett xxxs., given to such an attended about the posthorses vijs. vjd. and in rewarde to one of the Tellors Clerkes whoe told and delivered the cccli. and came to Durham House for the acquittance xxs., in all xijli., ixs. vjd.

"Money payde by the saide Lorde Bysshoppe pte of the cccli. by him receaved to Nicholas Paye gen. whoe hath for the same yelded his accompte to the Kinges ma'tie. cli..—cclxiijli. viijs. viijd.

"Aud soe remayneth the some of xxxvjli. xjs. iiijd.

"Whiche some the saide Lorde Bysshoppe of Durham hath payde into the Kinges m'ts receipte of Th'excheq'r the vij'th daye of Februarie in the nynth yere of his highnes raigne as by the tallie thereof remayninge may appeare. And soe here Quyte.

"EX p FRA GOFTON

"Auditorem."

THE NAME MARTEL.

I must confess that the article in No. 6. p. 86., which deprived Charles Martel of his long-possessed distinction of "the hammerer" gave me but little satisfaction. It was one of those old associations that one does not like to have destroyed. I could not, however, contradict your correspondents; and remained that very uncomfortable person, "a man convinced against his will." On turning over my Ménagiana, yesterday, I stumbled upon the name "Martel," and, as the passage combines both your elements (being a good note, and producing a query) I beg leave to offer it to you.

"Dans le ll'me siècle les procès se faisaìent aux vassaux par leurs Pairs, c'est-à-dire, par leurs convassaux, et toute sorte de procès se font encore présentement en Angleterre à toutes sortes d'accusés par leurs Pairs, c'est-à-dire, par des personnes de leur même état et de leur même condition, à la réserve des Bourreaux et des Bouchers, qui, à cause de leur cruauté ne sont point juges. Géoffroi Martel, Comte d'Anjou, fit faire ainsi le procès à Guérin de Craon, qu'il avait fait foi et hommage de la Baronnie de Craon à Conan, duc de Bretange. Géoffroi fit assembler ses Barons, qui, selon l'ancienne forme observée en matière féodale, firent le procès à Guérin, son vassal, et le condamnèrent, quoiqu'il fùt absent.—Et il est à remarquer à ce propos, que le Pape Innocent III., qui favourisait Jean sans-Terre, parcequ'en 1213 il avait soûmis son royaume d'Angleterre au Saint Siége au devoir de mille marcs d'argent par an, ayant allegué aus Ambassadeurs de Philippe Auguste que Jean sans-Terre avait été condammé absent, et que les loix défendent de condamner les accusés sans les ouïr; ils lui réspondirent que l'usage du Royaume de France était de condamner les absents, aussi bien que les présents, lorqu'ils avaient été deuëment cités en jugement. Chez les Romains il n'était par permis de condamner les absents: Non licet civem inauditum damnare."

Now, Sir, this passage shows "Martel," as a name, like that of "sans-Terre," bestowed for some quality or circumstances attached to the bearer;—and I should like to ask your correspondents if they know how this Comte d'Anjou, became entitled to it? He appears, from the date, to be the same Geoffrey who is the ancestor of our Plantagenets, as the Comte d'Anjou, contemporary with William the Conqueror, was named Fulk. If it can be proved that this Count received this addition from his martial prowess, I shall be strongly tempted to return to my creed regarding Charles Martel.

W. ROBSON.

QUERIES AS TO JUNIUS.

Amongst the letters attributed to Junius, and, in the opinion of Dr. Good, most certainly his production, is one signed "ATTICUS," under date of the 19th Aug. 1768, which contains an allusion to the private affairs of the writer, by no means unimportant. It is as follows:—

"The greatest part of my property having been invested in the funds, I could not help paying some attention to rumours or events by which my fortune might be affected: yet I never lay in wait to take advantage of a sudden fluctuation, much less would I make myself a bubble to bulls and bears, or a dupe to the pernicious arts practised in the Alley. I thought a prudent man, who had any thing to lose, and really meant to do the best for himself and his family, ought to consider the state of things at large, of the prospect before him, and the probability of public events. A letter which appeared some days ago in the Public Advertizer revived many serious reflections of this sort in my mind, because it seemed to be written with candour and judgment. The effect of those reflections was, that I did not hesitate to alter the situation of my property.

"I owe my thanks to that writer that I am safely {276} landed from a troubled ocean of fear and anxiety on which I think I will venture my fortune and my happiness again," &c. &c.

There is no reason to question the truth of these sentiments. The letter is believed to be the first which appeared signed "ATTICUS," and was written many months before the author became known as Junius, and before any necessity had arisen for the exercise of that habitual caution which he afterwards evinced in the mention of any circumstance at all likely to lead to his detection. Would it not, therefore, be worth while to ascertain the date of the letter in the Public Advertizer which influenced him, and then to search the names of the transferrors of stock between that time and the 19th August? Many of the contributors to the "Notes and Queries" have influence sufficient to obtain permission from the proper authority for such a search. It is observable, that as the amount transferred formed the greatest part of his property, it would be somewhat considerable, and might not be sold in the aggregate, but pass in various sums to several purchasers.

JNO. SUDLOW. Manchester.

Junius and Sir G. Jackson.—I find no one has answered my question about Sir George Jackson (No. 11. p. 172.). I will therefore put another. I possess an unpublished letter by Junius to Woodfall, which once belonged to Sir George Jackson. My Query is, "Is it likely he could have obtained it from Junius, if he was neither Junius himself nor a party concerned?" The manner in which Burke evades the question as to himself being the author of Junius makes me think two or three were concerned in these Letters.

P.

NEW EDITION OF REV. DR. OWEN'S WORKS.

I gladly avail myself of the hint thrown out by "R.R." (in No. 17.) to state that as I am engaged in editing a reprint of the works of the Rev. Dr. Owen, and as I am exceedingly anxious to ensure accuracy in the quotations from and references to the Fathers, any suggestions which may be furnished by those of your learned correspondents who may be conversant with the works in question, will be very acceptable. I should wish much to obtain original editions of the leading works, such as that On the Person of Christ; On the Work of the Spirit; On the Death of Death, in the Death of Christ. Have any of your correspondents ever taken the trouble of collating the Greek and Latin quotations with the authors quoted from, and examined the references made to the Fathers and other ancient writers? Any communication addressed to the editor of the works of Owen at Messrs. Johnstone and Hunter, Publishers, Edinburgh, will be promptly forwarded to me.

J.G. Dunnichen, Forfarshire.

MINOR QUERIES.

MS. Book of Hours.—In the sale catalogue of the library of John Bridges, of Lincoln's Inn, February, 1725, is entered Lot 4311:—

"Missale quondam Henrici VII., regis Angliæ, ut ex ipsius autographo in codicis initio patet, pulcherrime illuminatum, et inconibus fere 80 exornatum. In pergameno, et ornatissime compact."

It appears, from Wanley's Diary (MS. Lansd. 772.), that this volume, which he calls a Primer, was purchased for the Earl of Oxford (for 31l. 10s., as I learn from a priced copy of the catalogue), and was highly valued. To judge from the above description, it must have been a very beautiful book; and as it does not seem to be at present among the Harleian collection of MSS. in the British Museum, I should be glad to learn into whose hands it has fallen. It is not the celebrated volume of Hours known under the name of the Bedford Missal, since that was purchased by Lord Harley of Lady Worseley, and is now in the possession of the Rev. Mr. Tobin;—nor is it the book of Hours in the library of the Duke of Devonshire (described by Dr. Dibbin in the Bibl. Decameron, vol. i. p. 155.), which contains the autograph notes of Henry VII.;—nor is it the similar volume formerly in the libraries of George Wilkinson, of Tottenham Green (sold in 1836), and the Rev. Will. Maskell, and now MS. Add. 17,012. in the British Museum, in which are seen the autographs of Henry VII. and his Queen, Henry VIII., Catherine of Aragon, and others;—nor is it the beautiful volume of Hours executed for René d'Anjou, and subsequently presented to Henry VII. by his chaplain George Strangeways, Archdeacon of Coventry (now in the British Museum, MS. Eg. 1070.);—nor, lastly, is it the book of Hours in the collection of George III. (No. 9.), which contains the autograph writing of Henry VIII.

F.M. B.M., Feb. 19. 1850.

Bess of Hardwick.—Elizabeth, or Bess of Hardwick, celebrated for her distaste for celibacy, makes a considerable figure in the histories of the Cavendish family, who in some degree owed their greatness to her judicious purchases and careful management of their Derbyshire estates.

It appears, from the Derbyshire Visitations, that she was one of the daughters of John Hardwick, of Hardwick co. Derby, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Leake, of Hasland co. Derby, and that John Hardwick died 19 Hen. VIII.

Can any of your readers inform me of the pedigree of this John Hardwick?—what arms, crest, motto and quarterings he made use of?—what persons now living are descended from him?—and what became of his estates?

I presume that your typographical arrangements {277} do not admit of the insertion of a regular pedigree; but the descents may be stated as in Burke and similar Books.

GULES

Cæsar's Wife..—"NASO" wishes to know where the proverbial saying, "Cæsar's wife must not even be suspected," first occurs.

Minar's Books of Antiquities.—Can any one conversant with the works of Cardinal Nicolas de Cusa inform me what author he quotes as "Minar in his Books of Antiquities," in what language, and where existing? De Doctâ Ignorantiâ, I. i. cap. 7.

A.N.

Proverb against Physicians.—"M.D." wishes to be informed of the earliest writer who mentions the proverb "Ubi tres Medici, duo Athei."

Compendyous Olde Treatyse.—In Ames's Typographical Antiquities, vol. i. p. 405. (ed. Herbert), is described a work, printed by Rycharde Banckes, some time between 1525 and 1545, entitled, "A compendyous olde treatyse shewynge howe that we ought to have the Scripture in Englyshe, with the Auctours." 12mo. 18 leaves. This copy belonged to Herbert himself, and was probably obtained at the sale of Thomas Granger, in 1732. Any information as to its wherabout at present, or the existence of any other copy of the above tract, would confer a fabour on the inquirer.

F.M.

The Topography of Foreign Printing Presses.—I have often been at a loss to discover the locality of names which designate the places where books have been printed at Foreign presses; and "when found" to "make a note of it." I was therefore pleased to find in No. 16. p. 251., by the reply of "R.G." to Mr. Jebb, that "Cosmopolis was certainly Amsterdam," and that "Coloniæ" signifies "Amstelædami." And I will take the liberty of suggesting that it would be an acceptable service rendered to young students, if your learned correspondents would occasionally communicate in the pages of your work, the modern names, &c. of such places as are not easily gathered from the books themselves.

P.H.F.

Cromwell's Estates.—In Carlyle's edition of Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, there is a note (p. 75. vol. iv. of the 3rd ed. 1850) containing a list of the estates which the Protector owned at the time of his death, as follows; there being, besides Newhall, specified as "in Essex," five, viz.—

of which the editor has ascertained the localities; and six, viz.—

of which, he say, "he knows nothing."

It would surely be a proper, and, one might hope, an attainable object of inquiry, to search out these unplaced estates of the great Protector, and give them a local habitation in modern knowledge. This is precisely one of the kind of queries which your publication seems best fitted to aid; and I therefore submit it, in the hope of some discoveries, to your correspondents.

V. Belgravia, Feb. 18, 1850.

What are Depinges?—In the orders made in 1574 for regulating the fishery at Yarmouth, the Dutch settlers there are "To provide themselves with twine and depinges in foreign places." What are Depinges?

J.S.B.

REPLIES

ORIGIN OF THE JEWS-HARP.

The "Jews-harp," or "Jews-trump," is said by several authors to derive its name from the nation of the Jews, and is vulgarly believed to be one of their instruments of music. Dr. Littleton renders Jews-trump by Sistrum Judaicum. But no such musical intrument is spoken of by any of the old authors that treat of the Jewish music. In fact, the Jews-harp is a mere boy's plaything, and incapable of in itself of being joined either with a voice or any other instrument; and its present orthography is nothing more than a corruption of the French Jeu-trompe, literally, a toy trumpet. It is called jeu-trompe by Bacon, Jew-trump by Beaumont and Fletcher, and Jews-harp by Hackluyt. In a rare black-letter volume, entitled Newes from Scotland, 1591, there is a curious story of one Geilles Duncan, a noted performer on the "Jews-harp," whose performance seems not only to have met with the approval of a numerous audience of witches, but to have been repeated in the presence of royalty, and by command of no less a personage than the "Scottish Solomon," king James VI. Agnes Sampson being brought before the king's majesty and his council, confessed that

"Upon the night of All-hallow-even last, shee was accompanied as well with the persons aforesaid, as also with a great many other witches, to the number of two-hundredth; and that all they together went to sea, each one in a riddle or sive, and went into the same very substantially, with flaggons of wine, making merrie, and drinking by the way, in the same riddle or sives, to the Kirk of North Barrick in Lowthian; and that after {278} they had landed, tooke handes on the lande and daunced this reill or short daunce, singing all with one voice,

"At which time, she confessed that this Geilles Duncan (a servant girl) did goe before them, playing this reill or daunce uppon a small trumpe called a Jews-trumpe, until they entred into the Kirk of North Barrick. These confessions made the King in a wonderfull admiration, and sent for the said Geilles Duncan, who upon the like trumpe did play the saide daunce before the Kinge's Majestie; who in respect of the strangenes of these matters tooke great delight to be present at their examinations."

It may be as well to mention that in the Belgic or Low Dutch, from whence come many of our toys, a tromp is a rattle for children. Another etymon for Jews-harp is Jaws-harp, because the place where it is played upon is between the jaws. To those who wish to learn more upon the subject, I beg to refer them to Pegge's Anonymiana; Dauncy's Ancient Scottish Melodies; and to my edition of Chettle's Kind-Harts Dream printed by the Percy Society.

Edward F. Rimbault.

[We are indebted also to Trebor, E.W.D., J.F.M., and F.P. for replies to this Query. They will perceive that Dr. Rimbault had anticipated the substance of their several communications.]

ÆLFRIC'S COLLOQUY.

I must trouble you and some of your readers with a few words, in reply to the doubt of "C.W.G." (No. 16. p. 248.) respecting the word sprote. I do not think the point, and the Capital letter to saliu in the Latin text, conclusive, as nothing of the kind occurs in the A.-S. version, where the reading is clearly, "swa hwylce swa, on watere swymmath sprote." I have seen the Cottonian MS., which, as Mr. Hampson observes, is very distinctly written, both in the Saxon and Latin portions; so much so in the latter, as to make it a matter of surprise that the doubtful word saliu should ever have been taken for salu, or casidilia for calidilia. The omission of the words sprote and saliu, in the St. John's MS., would only be evidence of a more cautious scribe, who would not copy what he did not understand.

Your correspondent's notion, "that the name of some fish, having been first interlined, was afterwards inserted at random in the text, and mis-spelt by a transcriber who did know its meaning," appears to me very improbable; and the very form of the words (sprote, saliu, supposing them substantives), which have not plural terminations, would, in my mind, render his supposition untenable. For, be it recollected, that throughout the answers of the Fiscere, the fish are always named in the plural; and it is not to be supposed that there would be an exception in favour of sprote, whether intended for sprat or salmon. Indeed, had the former been a river fish, Hulvet and Palsgrave would have countenanced the supposition; but then we must have had it in the plural form, sprottas. As for the suggestion of sprod and salar, I cannot think it a happy one; salmon (leaxus) had been already mentioned; and sprods will be found to be a very confined local name for what, in other places, are called scurfes or scurves, and which we, in our ignorance, designate as salmon trout. In the very scanty A.-S. ichthyologic nomenclature we possess, there is nothing to lead us to imagine that our Anglo-Saxon ancestors had any corresponding word for a salmon trout. I must be excused, therefore, for still clinging to my own explanation of sprote, until something more specious and ingenious shall be advanced, but in full confidence, at the same time, that some future discovery will elucidate its truth.

S.W. Singer.

Feb. 19. 1850.

REHETING AND REHETOURS.

As Dr. Todd's query (no. 10. p. 155.) respecting the meaning of the words "Reheting" and "Rehetour," used by our early English writers, has not hitherto been answered, I beg to send him a conjectural explanation, which, if not conclusive, is certainly probable.

In the royal household of France, there was formerly an officer whose duty it was to superintend the roasting of the King's meat; he was called the Hâteur, apparently in the sense of his "hastening" or "expediting" that all-important operation. The Fr. Hâter, "to hasten or urge forward," would produce the noun-substantive Hâteur; and also the similar word Hâtier, the French name for the roast-jack. If we consider Rehâteur to be the reduplicate of Hâteur, we have only to make an allowable permutation of vowels, and the result will be the expressive old English word "Rehetour," an appropriate name for the royal turnspit. Wycliffe uses it, I think, in the sense of a superfluous servant, one whose duties, like the Hâteur's, were very light indeed. He compares the founding of new Orders in an overburthened Church-establishment to the making of new offices in a household already crowded with useless (and consequently idle and vicious) servants. The multitude of fat friars and burly monks charged upon the community were "the newe rehetours that ete mennes mete," &c.

The term, thus implying an useless "do-nothing," would soon become one of the myriad of choice epithets in the vulgar vocabulary, as in the instances from Dunbar and Kennedy.

In a better sense, a verb would be derived, easily; "to rehâte," or "rehete," i.e. "to provide, {279} entertain, or refresh with meat," and thence, "to feast with words," as used by Chaucer and the old Romancists.

Mr. Halliwell's authorities for rendering the participle "Rehating" by "Burning, or smarting," are not given; but if such a meaning existed, it may have a ready explanation by reference to the Hâuteur's fireside labour, though suggestive of unskilfulness or carelessness on his part.

John Westby Gibson.

5. Queen Square, Aldersgate Street, Feb. 8. 1850.

In answer to Dr. Todd's inquiries, I would say, first of all, the "rehatours" of Douglas and the other Scots are beside his question, and a totally different word. Feelings cherished in the mind will recur from time to time; and those malevolent persons, who thus retain them, were said to re-hate, as they are now said to re-sent.

But the verb really in question is, per se, a perfectly plain one, to re-heat. The difficulty is as to its use. The primary use, of course, is to heat again. The nearest secondary use is "to cherish, cheer, or comfort, to refocillate;" which is too plain to require more words. Another secondary meaning is "to re-vive or to re-kindle" in its metaphoric sense. This may be said well, as of life, health, or hope; or ill, as of war, hatred, grief; or indifferently, as of love. What difficulty Mr. Tyrwhitt could find in "the revival of Troilus's bitter grief" being called "the reheating of his sore sighs," I cannot imagine. Even literal heat is not wanting to sighs, and is often ascribed to them by poets: and lovers' sighs are warm in every sense. I think Tyrwhitt has thrown upon this passage the only darkness that involves it.

Now comes the more difficult point, which alone concerns Dr. Todd in his highly interesting labours upon Wycliffe. And the method which, until better advised, I should be inclined to follow with those passages, is to take the word nearly, though not exactly, in what seems to have been its most usual sense; not indeed for comforters or cherishers, but for those who promote comfort and convenience, viz., ministers or servants. It does not at all follow, because he is blaming the introduction of these persons as expensive, superfluous, and otherwise evil, that he describes them by a word expressive of evil. As a ministering angel would be a reheting angel, so I take a rehetor here to be simply a minister, one who waits upon your occasions and serves you.

A.N.

ARABIC NUMERALS.

The history of the Arabic numerals, as they are generally called, is so mixed up with that of the use of the decimal scale, that they form, in fact, but a single inquiry. The mere history of the bare forms of symbols has, doubtless, its use: but then it is only in the character of matériel for a philosophical discussion of the question—a discussion into which the natural progress of the human mind and the urgency of social wants must enter largely.

It might at first sight appear, from the cognate character of the Hebrew and Arabic languages, that the idea of using a single symbol for each number, might originate with either—with one as likely as with the other. But on reflection it will readily appear that the question rather resolves itself into one respecting the "hand-cursive" of the Jews and Saracens, than into one respecting the constitution of the languages. Of the Jewish we know nothing, or next to nothing, at the period in question; whilst the Arabic is as well known as even our own present style of calligraphy. It deserves to be more carefully inquired into than has yet been done, whether the invention of contracting the written compound symbols of the digital numbers into single symbols did not really originate amongst the Jews rather than the Saracens; and even whether the Arabs themselves did not obtain them from the "Jew merchants" of the earlier ages of our era. One thing is tolerably certain:—that the Jew merchant would, as a matter of precaution, keep all his accounts in some secret notation, or in cipher. Whether this should be a modified form of the Hebrew notation, or of the Latin, must in a great degree depend upon the amount of literary acquirement common amongst that people at the time.

Assuming that the Jews, as a literate people, were upon a par with their Christian contemporaries, and that their knowledge was mainly confined to mere commercial notation, an anonymous writer has shown how the modifications of form could be naturally made, in vol. ii. of the Bath and Bristol Magazine, pp. 393-412.; the motto being valent quanti valet, as well as the title professing it to be wholly "conjectural." Some of the speculations in it may, however, deserve further considerations than they have yet received.¹

The contraction of the compound symbols for the first nine digits into single "figures," enabled the computer to dispense with the manual labour of the abacus, whilst in his graphic notation he retained its essential principle of place. It seems to be almost invariably forgotten by writers on {280} the subject, what, without this principle, no improvement in mere notation would have been of material use in arithmetic; and on the other hand that the main difference between the arithmetic of the abacus and the arithmetic of the slate, consists in the inevitable consequences of the denotation of the single digits by single symbols.

The abacus, however, in its ordinary form, is essentially a decimal instrument: but its form was also varied for commercial purposes, perhaps in different ways. I never heard of the existence of one in any collection: but there is preserved in the British Museum a picture of one. This was printed by Mr. Halliwell in his Rara Mathematica—not a fac-simile, but a rule and type representation of it, ciphers being used by him for the circles in the original. Mr. Halliwell gives it without note or remark; and evidently had not divined its meaning. This was done, however, soon after in a review of Mr. Halliwell's book in the Philosophical Magazine. I am not able at this moment to refer to either, so as to give exact dates: but is was somewhere from 1838 to 1840.

Perhaps, however, I am giving "E.V." information that may be irrelevant to his purpose; though it may of some use to another class of inquirers. I proceed, therefore, to one or two notices that seem to have a more direct bearing on his object:

1. Chasles' Aperçu Historique sur l'Origine et le Développement de Méthodes en Géométrie; passim, but especially in note xii.: 4to., Bruxelles, 1837.

2. Chasles' several notices in Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Acad. des Sciences. All subsequent to the "Aperçu."

His Catalogue des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque de Ville de Chartres should also be consulted, if accessible to "E.V." Copies of it, however, are very rare in the country, as it was privately printed and never published. If, however, your correspondent have any serious inquiry in view which should render his consultation of it desirable, I can put it in his power to do so personally through you.

3. Libri, several notices in the same series of papers.

4. Libri, Histoire des Sciences Mathématiques en Italie. Several places. Bactulica. Paris, 1838-1841. 4 tomes. 8vo.

5. Peacock (Dean of Ely), "Arithmetic," in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana. This is now, I believe to be had either separately, or in the volume devoted to pure "Mathematics."

6. De Morgan, Penny Cyclopædia in loc., and occasionally elsewhere in the work.

7. Leslie's Philosophy of Arithmetic.

8. Humboldt, in a paper which is translated in the Journal of the Royal Institution, vol. xxix.

I believe a good many other references might be made, with little trouble, to foreign Mémoires; and (perhaps still more to your correspondent's apparent purpose) to some amongst the Mémoires that relate to inscriptions and topography, rather that amongst those relating directly to science or literature. However, the two parts of the subject cannot be effectively studied separately from each other; and I am not without a hope that these straggling notes may be of some use to "E.V."

Under the view of inscriptions it occurs to my memory that in two or three places on the church of St. Brelade in Jersey, there are marked four vertical straight lines, which are interpreted by the natives to signify the Arabic numerals 1111; as the date MCXI of the building of the church. The church is evidently a very ancient one, and it is agreed to be the oldest in the island, and the island historians assign it to the early part of the 12th century. For these symbols being coeval with the building I do not vouch: as (though it is difficult to say what may constitute antiquity in the look of four parallel lines) I confess that to my eye they had "as modern a look" as four such lines could well have. The sudden illness of one of my party during our visit (1847), however, precluded my examining that beautiful spot and its interesting little church with the care I should have wished.

I may be allowed to suggest the necessity of some degree of caution in discussing this question: especially not to assume that any Arabic numerals which appear in ecclesiastical inscriptions are coeval with the dates they express; but rather inquire whether, from the condition of the stone bearing the inscription, these numbers may not have been put there at a later period, during repairs and alterations of the building itself. It is for many reasons improbable, rather than otherwise, that the Arabic numerals should have been freely used (if used at all) on ecclesiastical structures till long after the Reformation: indeed they are not so even yet.

But more. Even where there is authentic evidence of such symbols being used in ecclesiastical inscriptions, the forms of them will tell nothing. For generally in such cases an antique form of symbol would be assumed, if it were the alteration of a "learned clerk;" or the arabesque taste of the carver of the inscription would be displayed in grotesque forms. We would rather look for genuine than coeval symbols of this kind upon tombs and monuments, and the altar, than upon the building itself; and these will furnish collateral proofs of the genuineness of the entire inscriptions rather than any other class of architectural remains. The evidence of the inscriptions on "Balks and beams" in old manorial dwellings is especially to be suspected.

T.S.D.

Shooter's Hill, Feb 11, 1850.

Footnote 1:(return)

In vol. iii. of the same work is another paper by the same author, entitled, "Conjectures respecting the Origin of Alphabetic writing," pp. 365-384. Reference to these papers is principally made, not on the ground of any assumed merit, but because all that has been written on any given subject ought, if possible, to be brought before the minds of those engaged in the prosecution of the inquiry./p>

Arabic Numerals.—If you think the following {281} title will do for your correspondent "E.V." (No. 15. p. 230.), please to communicate it to him:

"Mannert, K., de Numerorum, quos arabicos voc., vera origine pythagorico; e. Fig. aen. 8vo. Nürnberg, 1801."

Oscar Heun.

Cambridge, Feb. 11. 1850.

Arabic Numerals (No. 15. p. 230.).—Your correspondent should consult Peacock's "History of Arithmetic" in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana; and, if he can get them, the notes to Chasles' Aperçu Historique des Méthodes en Géométric, and various papers of Mr. Chasles, published in the Comptes Rendus of the French Institute. He may perhaps find some information in De Morgan's Arithmetical Books, particularly at p. 14.

M.

THE FRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE—CHAUCER'S NIGHT CHARM.

In a little work by Costanzi, entitled Le Istituzioni di Pieta che si esercitano in Roma, &c., and published A.D. 1825, in Rome, where the schools under the management of that brotherhood are in great favour, "C.F.S." will find much to interest him on the subject, though not exactly in the order in which he has put his queries (No. 14. p. 214.), nor to their full extent.

Mr. Thoms, to whom English mediæval literature is so much beholden, asks very earnestly for some information about "the white Paternoster" and "seynte Petres soster," (No. 15. p. 229.). Perhaps the following guesses may not be without use. First, then, about the "white Paternoster:"

Henry Parker, a Carmelite friar of Doncaster, who wrote his admirable Compendiouse Treatyse, or Dialogue of Dives and Pauper, during the reign of Edward IV., speaking against superstitions, and especially "craftes and conjurations with holy prayers," says:

"They that use holy wordes of the gospel, Pater noster, Ave, or Crede, or holy prayers in theyr wytchecraftes, for charmes or conjurations—they make a full hye sacrifice to the fende. It hath oft ben knowen, that wytches, with sayenge of their Pater noster and droppynge of the holy candell in a man's steppes that they hated, hath done his fete rotton of. Dr. What should the Pater noster, and the holy candell do therto? Pau. Ryght nought. But for the wytche worshyppeth the fende so highly with the holy prayers, and with the holy candell, and used suche holy thinges in despyte of God therefore is the fende redy to do the wytche's wylle and to fulfyll thinges that they done it for. 'The Fyrst Command,' cap. XXXV. Fol. 52. Imprynted by T. Berthelet, 1536. 12mo."

That the Pater noster used sometimes to be said with the wicked design of working ill to individuals, and by those who were deemed witches, is clear form the above extract: may not, then, this "wytche's" Pater noster be the "white" Pater noster, against which the night-spell in Chaucer was employed? "Wyche" may easily be imagined to have glided into "white."

"Seynte Petres soster," I suspect has a reference to St. Petronilla's legend. St. Petronilla, among our forefathers, was called St. Pernell, and The Golden Lengend imprinted 1527, by Wynkyn de Word, tells us, fol. cxxxi. b., that she "was doughter of saynt peter thappostle, whiche was ryght fayre and bewteous, and by the wyll of her fader she was vexed with fevers and akes." For a long while she lay bed-ridden. From the name of this saint, who went through so many years of her life in sickness, perhaps was borrowed the word "pernell," to mean a person in a sickly weak state of health, in which sense, Sir Thomas More (Works, London, 1557, p. 893) employs it, while bantering Tindal. St. Peter's daughter (St. Pernell) came to be looked upon, in this country, as the symbol of bad health under all its forms. Now, if we suppose that the poet mistook, and wrote "soster" instead of "doughter," we immediately understand the drift of the latter part of the spell, which was, not only to drive away witchcraft, but guard all the folks in that house from sickness of every kind.

Daniel Rock.

Buckland, Faringdon.

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

By Hook or by Crook—Pokership—Gib Cat—Emerod.—I regret that very pressing business has hitherto prevented me from supplying an omission in my communication relating to the probable derivation of "By Hook or by Crook;" namely, my authority for saying there was evidence of the usage I referred to in forest customs. I now beg to supply that omission, by referring to the numerous claims for fuel wood made by divers persons at the justice seats held in the reigns of Charles I. and Charles II. for the New Forest, and which will be found at the Tower and Chapter House. Among others of these claims, I would mention that made by the tenant of land in Barnford, No. 112., who claims to have had the privilege, from time immemorial, of going into the king's wood to take the dead branches off the trees therein, "with a cart, a horse, a Hook and a Crook, and a sail cloth." Verily this necessity for a sail cloth seems to point very distinctly to his being obliged to collect his fire-wood "by Hook or by Crook." May I add, that I do not think that any of the notes I have seen hitherto, with reference to this subject, invalidate the supposition of the origin being forestal; all that they {282} appear to me to prove is, that the saying is of long standing.

With reference to the query regarding the word Pokership (No. 12. p. 185.), I would observe, that the word is correctly copied from the grant, and that it was so spelt in all the previous grants that I have been able to refer to. As to the meaning of the word, I am of the opinion that it is intended to express the office of keeping the hogs in the forest, i.e. Porcarius. Pokership was probably spelt in early times Pawkership, from Pawn, I apprehend; subsequently it was either spelt or pronounced Paukership or Pokership. In corroboration of this view, I would mention, that on referring to the Pipe Roll, 6 John, county of Hereford, the following will be found:—"Hubert de Burgo, Et i libæ const. Parcario de heford, xxxs. vd." If, however, Parkership be deemed the more correct reading, still it does not of necessity apply to the custody of a park; it might have denoted the pound-keeper, for, in matters relating to manors, parcus means a pound.

With respect to the query about Gib Cat, you will find the subject treated on largely in the Etymologicon—I may say, exhausted.

By the bye, there can be no doubt that Emerod means Emerald; formerly Emerald would be spelt Emeraud, and the transition is natural to Emerode—Emerod. With regard to the supposed size being an objection to this reading, it will be found that anciently the matrix of the Emerald, which is tinged green, went by the name of the more valuable jewel.

T.R.F.

Spring Gardens, Feb. 1850.

Golden Frog (No. 14. p. 214.).—Sir John Poley's frog may have been a device alluding to his name; I imagine that Poley is an appelative of frogs. I find in Halliwell's Dict. of Archaic Words, "Pollywig," and in Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary, "Powlick," both meaning tadpole, and both diminutive forms; and Rowley Poley is closely (though not very logically) connected with the frog who would a-wooing go. The word has probably the same root as poole, puddle, &c.

R.R.

Madoc.—In addition to what is stated (No. 4. p. 56.) on this subject, may be noted, that in the MS. Add. 14,957. British Museum, fol. 149., is a letter from Dr. David Samwell to the Gwyneddigion Society, dated 23rd March, 1791, in which he states, that the result of an interview, held by himself and William Owen with General Bowles, "places the existence of a race of Welsh Indians beyond all matter of doubt." This race is identified with Padongas on the Missouri, who are said to be of a different complexion from the other Indian races, and to have books, which they were not able to read. Is this information to be depended on or not?

F.M.

MSS. of Sir Roger Twysden (No. 5. p. 76.).—Twysden's MSS. were purchased by Sir Thomas Sebright, in or before the year 1715, and in the Sebright sale at Leigh and Sotheby's, in 1807, appear to be two of the MSS. inquired after by the Rev. L.B. Larking, namely, Lot 1224., "Vita et Epistolæ Sancti Thomæ, Archiepiscopi Cant." (purchased by Heber, and, at his sale in 1836, resold [Lot 323.] to Sir Thomas Phillipps), and Lot 1225., "Epistolæ Beati Anselmi, Archieposcopi Cant.", purchased by Dardis; but what became of it afterwards I know not.

F.M.

Royal Genealogies (No. 6. p. 92.).—The inquirer will find, probably, what he requires, in a work by J.F. Dambergen, entitled, "Sechzig genaealogische auch chronologische und statistische Tabellen, zu Fürstentafel und Fürstenbuch der Europäischen Staatengeschichte," fol. Regensburg, 1831, in which the descents are brought down to a recent period.

F.M.

Astle's MSS. (No. 15. p. 230.).—After the death of Astle, in 1803, his collection of MSS. was purchased, pursuant to his will, for the sum of 500l., by the Marquess of Buckingham, and they remained at Stowe till the spring of last year, when they passed, with the rest of that noble collection, into the hands of the Earl of Ashburnham, for the sum of 8000l.;—a loss to the public much to be regretted.

F.M.

Dr. Hugh Todd's MSS. (No. 16. p. 246.).—The first of the five MSS. mentioned by Mr. Walbran, namely, the Chartulary of Fountains Abbey, is at present in University College, Oxford, and perhaps some of the other MSS. may be there also. A catalogue of the MSS. of this College has been printed, compiled by the Rev. H.O. Coxe, of the Bodleian Library; but I have not been able to consult a copy of it in London.

F.M.

Sir William Ryder (No. 12. p. 186.),—"H.F." is informed that Sir William Ryder, Lord Mayor of London in 1660, lived at Bethnal Green, received the honour of knighthood, 12th March, 1660 or 1661; died 30th August, 1669; and was buried 9th September following at St. Andrew Undershaft, London. He had two sons, one of whom was Thomas Ryder, who was an equerry to King James II., and lord of the manor of Bilsington, in Kent. He performed some service at the coronation of Queen Anne; and his son, Sir Barnham Ryder, was knighted at the coronation of her successor. The other son of Sir William Ryder was William Ryder, gentleman. Sir William Ryder had five daughters:—1. Elizabeth, who married Richard, son of Sir Thomas Midleton, of Chirk Castle in Denbighshire, knight. 2. Priscilla, the wife of Richard Baylie, son of Dr. Baylie, Dean of {283} Sarum. 3. Mary. 4. Anne. 5. Martha.—Harl. MSS. 5801, 5802.

F.E.

Scole Inn.—In answer to the query (No. 16. p. 245.) respecting the Sign and House at Scole Inn, I beg to refer to vol. ii. p. 142., of the History of Norfolk, published by Crouse and Booth of Norwich, in 1781, in 10 vols. 8vo.

I beg to state that I have impressions of two large prints, one of the "House," and the other of the "Sign." They were published in 1740.—"Joshua Kirby," del., "John Fossey," sculpt.

I have also a smaller print of the "Sign" taken from the opposite side—from the larger one—apparently by the same parties, but the names of the drawer and engraver are cut off.

I think the Sign was not take down till after 1795, as I have a recollection of having passed under it when a boy, in going from Norwich to Ipswich.

The sign was large and handsome, and extended across the road.

In Kirby's Print, it is stated to have cost Mr. James Peck, who was a merchant at Norwich, 1057l.

The prints are not very scarce, and may be got at many of the printsellers in London.

J.B.

About twenty years ago I have seen hanging up on the wall of the principal entry of this inn, a print of its original front, comprising the various figure, coats of arms, &c. which adorned it: in this account the founder Peck was called a citizen of Norwich, and the traveller was puzzled by this piece of information. "It is called Scole Inn, because it is at about the same distance from Norwich, Ipswich, and Bury."

M. Prendergast.

7. Serjeant's Inn. Fleet Street, Feb. 19. 1850.

Killigrew Family and Scole Inn Sign (No. 15. p. 231.).—Doubtless there are pedigrees of the Killigrew family in the Visitations of Cornwall, which would answer Mr. Lower's questions. Many notices of them also occur in Gilbert's History of Cornwall, and Wood's Athenæ Oxon., Bliss. ed., and both those works have good indexes.

There is a folded engraving of Scole Inn Sign (No. 16. p. 245.) in Armstrong's History of Norfolk, vol. ii. p. 144., but I never could learn when or why the sign was removed. The couchant stag in the centre was the Cornwallis crest.

Braybrooke.

Audley End.

Pavoise of the Black Prince (No. 12. p. 183).—It is very probably that the Pavoise which "Bolton" mentions as hanging in his time at the tomb of Edward the Black Prince, was no part of the original collection.

"A quilted coat-armour, with half-sleeves tabard fashion," reads oddly as part of this prince's costume; but we know that sometimes "Coming events cast their shadows before."

T.W.

Welsh Ambassador.—The following use of the word "Welsh" in metaphor, may perhaps serve as a clue to, or illustration of, G.'s query (No. 15. p. 230.):

Andrew. "In tough Welsh parsley, which in our vulgar tongue, is Strong hempen altars."—Beaumont and Fletcher, Elder Brother, Act. 1. ad fin.

Petit André

Pleissis-les-Tours, Fevrier, 1850.

Phoenix—by Lactantius.—"Seleucus" is informed, in answer to his query in No. 13. p. 203., that he will find the Latin poem of the Phoenix, in hexameters and pentameters, in that scarce little volume, edited by Pithaeus, and published at Paris in 1590 (see Brunet), Epigrammata et Poematia Vetera, &c. (of which I am happy to say I possess a most beautiful copy), where it is headed "Phoenix, Incerti Auctoris;" and again at the end of the edition of Claudian by P. Burmann Secundus Amsterdam, 1760), with the following title,—Lactantia Elegia, de Phoenice; vulgo Claudiano ad scripta, &c., where also another correspondent, "R.G." (in No. 15. p. 235.), will find much information as to who was the author of the poem.

C.J.C.

Feb. 9. 1850.

Catsup (no. 8. p. 125.).—"Catsup" is to be found thus spelt in Todd's Johnson's Dictionary (London, 1818). He describes it as a kind of Indian pickles imitated by pickled mushrooms; and quotes these two lines of Swift:

An eminnet Sanscrit scholar informs me that "kuck-hup" is the Hindostanee word for Turtle; it is to be met in the Vocabulary attached to Gilchrist's East Indian Guide (8vo. London, 1820). May not the name of the sauce take its origin from the use of it in preparing the turtle for the table? In the Cuisinier Royal, par Viart, p. 75., it is mentioned among the "petites sauces," as ket-chop, "ou Soyac;" and the receipt for making it ends with "servez le avec le poisson." (Published at Paris, 1840.)

C.I.R.

The Buckingham Motto (No. 9. p. 138., and No. 16. p. 252.).—On examining the original manuscript the true reading of this motto appears to me to be,

I should translate it, "souvent me souvenez;" an Anglo-French paraphrase of "sis memor mei;" or, "Ne m'oubliez pas." I have great doubt {284} whether the original MS. can be safely assumed to be an autograph.

S.

[Our correspondent "P." writes, "It surprises me your OEdipi should be so wide of the mark in this motto. It is simply, 'Oft remember me.'"]

Devices of the Standards of the Anglo-Saxons (No. 14. p. 216.).—The arms, i.e. the standards of the successive rulers of Britain, may be found in Sir Winston Churchill's curious work, Divi Britannici, which gives (as your correspondent supposes) the White Horse for Kent, the White Dragon for Wessex, and the Raven for the Danes.

C.

Prutenicæ (No. 14. p. 215.).—The work to which your correspondent alludes is, I presume, Prutenicæ Tabulæ Cælestium Motuum, autore Erasmo Reinholdo: Tubingæ, 1562. This work is dedicated to Albert, Duke of Prussia. In the dedication is the following passage:

"Ego has tubulas Prutenicas dici volui, ut sciret posteritas tuâ liberalitate, Princeps Alberte, nos adjutos esse, et tibi gratiam ab iis, quibus profuturæ sunt deberi."

Reinhold therefore called them Prutenie, i.e. Prussian tables, in compliment to the reigning duke. Pruteni is an ancient name of the Prussians. Albert (grandson of Albert the Achilles, Margrave of Brandenburg) was in 1511 elected Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, who then held Prussia. He continued the war which his order had for some time carried on with his uncle, Sigismund I., King of Poland. But he subsequently embraced the doctrines of Luther, deserted his order, became reconciled to Sigismund, and for his reward East Prussia was now first raised into a duchy as a fief of Poland, and made hereditary in his family. This Albert was the founder of the University of Konigsberg. (See Puffendorff, Frederick the Great, and Robertson.)

Pandoxare (No. 13. p. 202., No. 15. p. 234.).—There is, or till very lately was, an officer of Trinity College, Cambridge, called the Pandoxator. He had the oversight of the college brewhouse, and formerly of the college bakehouse also. See Monk's Life of Bentley, 2nd ed. i. 210. In Dr. Bentley's time the office seems to have been held by a senior fellow. Of late years junior fellows have held the situation.

C.H. Cooper.

Cambridge, Feb. 11. 1850.

Gazetteer of Portugal.—In answer to the inquiry of "Northman" (No. 16. p. 246.), P.C.S.S. has to state, that he believes that the most recent, as it is unquestionably the most copious, work on the topography of Portugal is the Diccionario Geografico de Portugal, published at Lisbon in 1817, in seventeen volumes, 8vo.

P.C.S.S.

Dog Latin (No. 15, p. 230.).—Many things low and vulgar are marked with the prefix "dog"; as dog-rose, dog-trick, dog-hole, as also dog-gerel. When the great mortar was set up in St. James's Park, some one asked "Why the carriage was ornamented with dog's heads?" "To justify the Latin inscription," said Jekyl.

C.

Epigram (No. 15. p. 233.).—Surely not by Kenrick, if written, as it seems, about 1721. Kenrick was not heard of for near thirty years later.

C.

Pallace, Meaning of (No. 15. p. 233.).—Put out of all doubt by the following article in Phillips's World of Words. "Pallacia, in old records, 'Pales or paled fences.'"

C.

Meaning of Pallace (No. 13. p. 202., and No. 15. p. 233.).—Bishop Horsley seems to throw some light on this point by his note on the 9th verse of the 45th Psalm. The learned prelate says

"'Out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad,'—rather, from 'cabinets of Armenian ivory they have pleasured thee.' From cabinets or wardrobes, in which the perfumes, or the garments were kept."

This meaning of the word, derived from the Hebrew, corroborates the sense given to it in Mr. Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic, &c. Words, viz, a storehouse.

Alfred Gatty.

Ecclesfield, Feb. 9.

Ælian.—The querist (No. 15. p. 232.) is informed that Ælian's Treatise De Animalium Naturâ has been translated into Latin as well as his other works, by Conrad Gessner, fol. Zurich, 1556; but, it does not appear that an English translation of it has hitherto been published.

A.W.

Brighton.

Why Dr. Dee quitted Manchester.—A correspondent (No. 14. p. 216.) of yours wishes to know the reason why Dr. Dee resigned his wardenship and left Manchester. I would refer him to the interesting "Life of Dee," by Dr. Cooke Taylor, in his Romantic Biography of the Age of Elizabeth, who writes:

"But in his days mathematics were identified with magic, and Dee's learned labours only served to strengthen the imputations cast upon his character by the Fellows of his College in Manchester. He was so annoyed by these reports that he presented a petition to King James, requesting to have his conduct judicially investigated; but the monarch, on the mere report that Dee was a conjuror, refused to show him the slightest favor. Indignant at the injurious treatment he continued to receive, he quitted Manchester with his family in the month of November, 1604: it is uncertain whether he renounced his wardenship at the same time, but he seems to have received no more of its revenues; for, during the remainder of his life, {285} which was passed at Mortlake, he suffered severely from the pressure of poverty."

He died in 1608. Dr. Taylor, I suppose, writes on the authority of Dee's MSS. and Journal, edited by Dr. Isaac Casaubon.

W.M.K.

Viridis Vallis (no. 14. p. 213.).—This is the monastery of Groenendael, situated in the forest of Soignies, near Brussels. In the Bibliothèque des Ducs de Bourgoyne are preserved several manuscript volumes relative to its history. (See Marchal's Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 84.) Sir Thomas Phillipps has also a Chartulary of this monastery among his manuscripts.

F.M.

Recent Novel.—I beg to inform "Adolphus" that the Novel of which he is in search (No. 15. p. 231.) is Le Morne au Diable, by Eugène Sue; the hero of which is the Duke of Monmouth, who is supposed to have escaped to Martinique.

J.S.

MISCELLANIES.

Use of Monosyllables.—In Beaumont and Fletcher's Boadicea, Act 3. Sc. 1. (Edinbugh, 1812), I meet with the following lines in Caratach's Apostrophe to "Divine Andate," and which seem to corroborate Mr. C. FORBES'S theory (No. 16. p. 228.) on the employment of monosyllables by Shakspeare, when he wished to express violent and overwhelming emotion: at least they appear to be used much in the same way by the celebrated dramatists whom I quote:

C.I.R.

Feb. 16.

To endeavour oneself (No. 8. p. 125.).—"G.P." thinks that the verb "endeavour" takes a middle voice form in the collect for the second Sunday after Easter, in the preface to the Confirmation Service, and in the Form of Ordering of Priests: but in these instances is it any thing more than the verb neuter, implying that we should endeavour ourselves to follow, &c.?

In Shepherd's Elucidation of the Book of Common Prayer (2 vols. 8vo. Lord. 1817), under the head of the Confirmation Office, it is stated relative to the persons to be confirmed (vol. ii. p. 312.), "that they solemnly engage evermore to endeavour faithfully to perform their part of that covenant."

C.I.R.

Evelyn's Sculptura.—In a copy of Evelyn's Sculptura, 3rd edit., with Memoir of the Author's Life, 8vo. London, 1759, I find the following memorandum, in pencil, prefixed to the Memoirs:

"By Dr. Warton of Winchester, as he himself informed me in 1785."

An autograph resembling "J. Chelmar" is on the fly-leaf. As I do not see this Memoir ascribed to Dr. Warton in any list, to which I have access, of his writings, perhaps the Memoir is not generally, or at all, known to be by him, and I therefore send the memorandum to you to be winnowed in your literary threshing-floor, by those who have better means and more leisure to ascertain its value.

J.M.

Oxford, Feb. 5.

William Baxter.—I do not know whether William Baxter is authority for anything. When you see a word quoted from one of the languages or dialects which the moderns call Celtic, that word will very commonly be found not to exist. When at a loss, quote Celtic. If W. Baxter says (see No. 13. p. 195.) that buarth papan means the sun's ox-stall, or, in other words, that papan means the sun, I should wish to know where else such a name for that luminary, for or any thing else, may be met with? I have not found any such thing.

A.N.

Derivation of the word "Avon."—Among the many proofs of the prevalence of the Gaelic roots in existing names at both ends of the island, it may be mentioned that there are ten rivers named Avon in Britain, and Avon is simply the Gaelic word for a river.

J.U.G. Gutch.

Warton and Heinsius.—A late critic thinks he has discovered that Mr. Thomas Warton, a contemporary of Mr. Wise, and fellow of the same college, an antiquary and scholar of whom England may be proud, knew little of Latin, and less of Greek, because, forsooth, he did not notice Milton's false quantities, which Heinsius did! As well might it be argued, that the critic is an immoral man, because he did not notice the delinquencies of Heinsius in a moral point of view; the said Heinsius being obliged to resign his secretaryship to the city of Amsterdam in consequence of a prosecution by a young woman for breach of promise of marriage, under the faith of which she had lived with him, and borne him two children. The sentence of misdaadigheyd was pronounced against him, and confirmed, on appeal, by the supreme court of Holland, in 1662. So much for the unpatriotic puff of the learned foreigner, to {286} the disparagement of one of the greatest ornaments of English literature. As one "note" naturally produces another, I hope your sense of justice, Mr. Editor, will admit this, in order to counter-balance the effect of the former one; appearing, as it did, in a periodical of considerable circulation, which, I am glad to hear, is soon to be very much improved.

J.I.

Queen's Bagnio (No. 13. p. 196.).—The Queen's Bagnio in Long Acre was on the south side, nearly opposite to the door of Long Acre Chapel. The Duke's bath I have always heard was in Old Belton Street, now Endell Street; the fourth house from Castle Street on the west side. It has been new fronted not long since; but at the time that I frequented the baths there—the exterior had pilasters, and a handsome cornice in the style of Inigo Jones,—all being built in dark red brick. Within there was a large plunging bath, paved and lined with marble, the walls being covered by small tiles of blue and white, in the Dutch fashion. The supply of water was from a well on the premises.

There were several apartments for warm-bathing, having the baths and pavements of marble, and to several of these were attached dressing-rooms.

The house is now, I believe, occupied by a carpenter; but the baths remained, though in a dilapidated condition, a short-time since, and probably are there still.

T.W.

A Flemish Account.—In illustration of a query in your first number on the origin of the expression "a Flemish Account," unless you think it too late for insertion, I send the following extract from an old volume in the Cathedral Library at Salisbury. It is entitled, "The Accurate Accomptant or London Merchant, &c.; by Thomas Brown, Accomptant: composed for the Use and Benefit of the poor Blew-Coat children educated in Christ's Hospital, &c. London, printed by William Godbid, sen. 1669. fol."

The book consists almost entirely of examples of the best methods of keeping accounts, from which I select the following instance:

"London, August 10th, 1668.

"To Roger Pace, Factor, &c., for 10 Pieces cont. 746 Ells Fl. at 10 S. Flem. per Ell. is 373 l. Flem. Exchange at 35 S makes Sterling Money 213 l. 2s. 10 d."

The above extract strongly confirms the explanations of the expressions given by your correspondents "Q.Q." and "Mr. Bolton Corney," in No. 5. p. 74., as it proves both the necessity and early practice of accurately distinguishing in commercial dealings between English and Flemish methods of reckoning.

E.A.D.

[The following is a curious illustration of the use of the phrase.

"A person resident in London is said to have had most of Caxton's publications. He sent them to Amsterdam for inspection, and, on writing for them, was informed that they had been destroyed by accident. 'I am very much afraid,' says Herbert, 'my kind friend received but a Flemish account of his Caxtons.'"—Typ. Antiq., p. 1773.]

La Mer des Histoires.—I find I have a note on that handsome old French work, La Mer des Histoires, which is commonly attributed to Johannes de Columna, Archbishop of Messina; but upon which Francis Douce, while taking notice of its being a translation of the Rudimentum Noviciorum ascribed to Mochartus, observes that it is a different work from the Mare Historiarum of Johannes de Columna. Douce also informs us, that there were several works passing under this title. Columna is mentioned by Genebrard as the author of a book, Cujus titulus est Mater Historiarum. Query? What is known of the work, which is really Columna's?

John Sansom.

On Passages in Milton

I used to suppose the tale told was a love tale. Now I take it to mean that each shepherd tells the tale, that is, counts the number of his sheep. Is there any doubt on this point?

Milton (Paradise Lost, b. v.), speaks of "silent night with this her solemn bird;" that is, the nightingale. Most readers take "solemn" to mean "pensive;" but I cannot doubt that Milton (who carries Latinism to excess) used it to express habitual, customary, familiar, as in its Latin form sollemnis.

B.H.K.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

The lovers of accurate and painstaking topography, the students of genealogical history, and, though last not least, those who like to see the writings of Shakspeare, illustrated in a congenial spirit, will read with pleasure the announcement, in our advertising columns, that the fellow-townsmen of Joseph Hunter, the Historian of "Hallamshire" and "The Deanery of Doncaster," and the Illustrator of the Life and Writings of Shakspeare, have opened a Subscription for the purpose of placing a full-length portrait of that gentleman in the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield.

When we announced Mr. Archer's projected work, entitled Vestiges of Old London, a Series of finished Etchings from Original Drawings, with Descriptions, Historical Associations, and other References, we spoke of it as one likely, we thought, to prove of especial interest. The appearance of the first Number justifies to the fullest our anticipation. The pictorial representations are replete {287} with variety, and the literary illustrations full of a pleasant gossipping anecdotical character. The first plate shows us The Old Bulk Shop at Temple Bar, occupied by successive generations of fishmongers, and doubtless well remembered by most of our readers; although no trace of it any longer exists. The House of John Dryden, in Fetter Lane, so designated on the authority of the late Mr. Upcott, forms the second plate; and is followed by The Altar of Diana, discovered in Foster Lane, Cheapside, in December, 1830. The Drapers' Almshouses, Crutched Friars, is the next illustration, which again is contrasted by a plate of Roman Vestiges, full of interest to those who like to investigate the Roman occupation of our metropolis; and this first part concludes with a view of The Old Chapel of St. Bartholomew, Kingsland. The work is executed in a style to delight London antiquaries, and charm those who delight to illustrate Pennant.

The approaching Exhibition of Works of Ancient and Mediæval Art at the rooms of the Society of Arts in the Adelphi, promises to be one of the most interesting displays of the kind ever exhibited in this or any other city. The possessors of objects of beauty and rarity have vied with each other in placing at the disposal of the Committee their choicest specimens; and the inhabitants and visitors of the metropolis will shortly have an opportunity of judging how numerous are the relics of "barbaric pomp and gold" which are still left to us, and how much of beauty of design, and "skill in workmanship" were displayed by the "hard-handed" men of the good old times, to justify the enthusiasm of the antiquary, and gratify the man of taste.

We have received, but at a moment too late to notice as it deserves, the Catalogue of very choice Books, and Books printed on vellum, the property of the late Mr. Rodd, which are to be sold by Messrs. Sotheby, at their rooms in Wellington Street, on Monday next. As a specimen, perhaps the most remarkable of this collection, we may point out the set of the Works of Thomas Aquinas, in 17 folio volumes, bound in 21, and which is well described as

"A magnificent set of Books, presenting one of the finest specimens, and at the same time the most extensive work, ever printed upon vellum. This copy was presented by Pope Pius V. to Philip II., king of Spain, and was deposited in the library of the Escurial, whence it was taken during the occupation of Spain by Bonaparte. The only other copy known is in the National Library, Paris. It is the best edition of this author's works."

We have received the following Catalogues:

"John Petheram's Catalogue of Old and New Books on Sale for Cash only at 94. High Holborn. Part CVIII. No. 2. for 1850."

a Catalogue containing some excellent books, which reached us last week, and was omitted from our last list by accident.

"Catalogue of Miscellaneous English and Foreign Books in all Classes of Literature, selected from the Stock of Nattali and Bond, 23. Bedford Street, Covent Garden."

"Bibliotheca Salisburiensis. A Catalogue of Old and New Books on sale by J. Hearn, corner of the Poultry Cross, Salisbury."

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE

(In continuation of Lists in former Nos.)

Life of Colonel Birch.

Odd Volumes.

Goldsmith's Miscellaneous Works. (Cairn's Edition.) 12mo. Edinburgh. 1804. Vol. III.

British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Family Library. 1830. Vol. IV.

Orbis Phaeton, sive de Universis Vitus Linguæ. Pars prima, A to K. Mons. 1629.

Political Magazine for 1780. Vol. IX. for 1785. Vol. XII. for 1787.

Hudibras. 18mo. 1716. Vol. I.

Valpy's Delphin Classics. 63 and 64. In the original Boards.

Inchbald's British Theater. 12mo. 1808. Vol. IX.

Chevallier's Epistles of the Apostolic Fathers.

Historical Romances. 7 Vols., or Vol. I. Constable, 1822.

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.

We have again had to indulge in the expensive luxury of a further reprint; and we have therefore the pleasure of announcing that our Second Monthly Part, which has been out of print, may now be had by such of our friends as want to complete their sets.

We are again under the necessity of omitting many communications, including Notes, Queries, and Replies, which are in type; but we hope, by enlarging next week's paper to 24 pages, instead of 16, to find room for inserting many interesting papers which we have been hitherto compelled to omit for want of room.

To correspondents inquiring as to the mode of procuring "Notes and Queries," we have once more to explain, that every bookseller and newsman will supply it regularly, if ordered; and that gentlemen residing in the country, who may find a difficulty in getting it through any bookseller in their neighbourhood, may be supplied regularly with the stamped edition, by giving their orders direct to the publisher, Mr. George Bell, 186. Fleet Street, accompanied by a Post Office order, for a quarter, 4s. 4d.; a half year, 8s. 8d.; or one year, 17s. 4d.

A.J.V. will find an answer to his query respecting Angels' Visits, &c. in No. 7. p. 102.; and respecting the Hudibrastic couplet, in No. 12. p. 179.

M.X. (Bridport). The work well bound will only fetch about seven or eight pounds in a sale room, and may be purchased for about ten.

Errata. No. 9. p. 133. col. 1. l. 51., for "Silent" read "Select;" l. 54., for "imposing" read "composing;" and col. 2. l. 43. after "that" insert "Simpson's." No. 17. p. 263. col. 1. l. 49., for "Respublicæ" read "Respublica."

Exceedingly Choice and Rare Books, and Books printed upon Vellum, the property of the late eminent bookseller, Mr. Thos. Rodd.

MESSRS. S. LEIGH SOTHEBY and Co., (auctioneers of literary property and works illustrative of the fine arts,) will SELL by AUCTION in pursuance of the will of the deceased, at their House, 3. Wellington Street, Strand, on Monday, March 4. at 1 precisely, a very choice selection of fine and RARE BOOKS, and Books printed upon Vellum, the property of the late eminent bookseller, Mr. Thomas Rodd, of Great Newport Street, London; including among the more valuable books, Aquinatis Opera Omnia, 21 vols., Romæ, 1570, a magnificent set of books, printed on vellum, presented by Pope Pius V. to Philip II, King of Spain; Homer Opera Græce, editio princeps, fine copy, Florentiæ, 1488; Valerius Maximus, printed on vellum, Moguntiæ, 1471; Vivaldus de Veritate Contritionis, printed on vellum, unique, 1503; Lancelot du Lac, Chevalier de la Table Ronde, beautiful copy; Ciceronis Epistolæ ad Familiares, Venetiis, Johannes de Spira, 1409; Sancti Hieronymi Epistolæ, printed on vellum, Moguntiæ, 1470; a magnificent volume; Pentateuchus Hebraicus et Chaldaicus, printed on vellum, a beautiful copy, Sabionnettæ, 1557; many beautiful Horae, printed on vellum; Enchiridion Ecclesiæ Sarum, printed on vellum, extremely rare and interesting, Paris. T. Kerver, 1528; La Collection des Ouvrages, imprimées par Ordre de M. Le Compte d'Artois, 64 vols., printed on vellum, Paris Didot. To be viewed three days prior, and catalogues had at the place of sale.

Preparing for immediate Publication, in 2 vols. small 8vo.

THE FOLK-LORE of ENGLAND. By William J. Thoms, F.S.A., Secretary of the Camden Society, Editor of "Early Prose Romances," "Lays and Legends of all Nations." &c. One object of the present work is to furnish new contributions to the History of our National Folk-Lore; and especially some of the more striking Illustrations of the subject to be found in the Writings of Jacob Grimm and other Continental Antiquaries.

Communications of inedited Legends, Notices of remarkable Customs and Popular Observances, Rhyming Charms &c. are earnestly solicited, and will be thankfully acknowledged by the Editor. They may be addressed to the care of Mr. Bell, Office of "Notes and Queries," 186. Fleet Street.

TOPOGRAPHY, COUNTY AND FAMILY HISTORY, ETC.—John Gray Bell, Bookseller, Dealer in Topographical Prints, Portraits, Autographs, and Literary Curiosities, 10. and 11. Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London, invites Collectors to examine his Assortment of PRINTS on the above interesting subjects. Having gathered them with the greatest care and research, at a vast expenditure of Time and Capital, he flatters himself that his Collection is the most extensive and best selected extant, and will be found well worthy of attention.

John Gray Bell's Catalogues are published monthly, and forwarded, free, by post. Parties desirous of possessing the recent numbers can have them sent by enclosing their address.

Royal 32mo., cloth, 2s.; morocco (Hayday), 7s.

SELDEN'S TABLE TALK.

Royal 32mo., price 2s. 6d. cloth, 7s. 6d. morocco (Hayday).

THE TEMPLE, SACRED POEMS, and PRIVATE EJACULATIONS. BY George Herbert.

Also, by the same Author,

Price 2s. cloth, 7s. morocco (Hayday),

A PRIEST TO THE TEMPLE; or, THE COUNTRY PARSON: his character, and Rule of Holy Life, &c.

London: George Bell, Fleet Street. Leicester: J.S. Crossley.

THE PHILOLOGICAL MUSEUM. Edited by Hare and Thirlwall. 2 thick vols. 8vo. cloth, 14s. E. STIBBS, having purchased the remaining copies of this esteemed Work, now offers it at the above reduced price, and respectfully suggests the necessity of early application, as it is entirely out of print, and but few copies remain for sale.

331. Strand, opposite Somerset House.

REV. JOSEPH HUNTER, F.S.A. Public Portrait. The Friends and Admirers of the learned and respected Historian of "Hallamshire" and the "Deanery of Doncaster" having resolved to place a full-length Portrait of him in the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield, his native town (vide "Gentleman's Magazine," Feb. 1850), the Committee beg respectfully to announce that Subscriptions of One Guinea, in furtherance of their object, will be received by Thomas Berks, Esq., Mayor, Treasurer; and Mr. Henry Jackson, Secretary of the Committee, Sheffield.

Just published, and may be had postage free, on a remittance of two stamps.

A CATALOGUE OF ENGLISH and FOREIGN BOOKS, in all Classes of Literature. Selected from the STOCK of NATTALI and BOND (successors to the late M.A. Nattali), 23. Bedford Street, Covent Garden.

Now ready.

STIBB'S CATALOGUE OF MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS, Part III., containing a very extensive collection of Books relating to America, also a few choice and rare old books beautifully bound in morocco; it may be had gratis, and post free, on application. Also, nearly ready, STIBB'S GENERAL CATALOGUE, which will be forwarded gratis on receipt of Eight stamps for the Postage.

331. Strand, opposite Somerset House,

Just published, price 3s. 6d. 12mo. cloth, 7s. calf or morocco.

THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN: his Principles, his Feelings, his Manners, his Pursuits.

"We like him so well as to wish heartily we might meet many such."—Theologian.

"The object of the first of the four essays is to form the principles of a gentleman on a Christian standard. In the other three subjects, of feelings, manners, and pursuits, the views, though strict, are of a more worldly kind."—Spectator.

George Bell, 186. Fleet Street.

8vo. cloth. 7s. 6d.

ORIGINAL LETTERS OF JOHN LOCKE, ALGERNON SIDNEY, AND LORD SHAFTESBURY. With an Analytical Sketch of the Writings and Opinions of Locke and other Metaphysicains. By T. Forster, M.B. F.L.S., M.A.S., Corresponding Member of the Acad. of Natural Science at Philadelphia, &c.

London: George Bell, Fleet Street.

In 8vo. price 7s. 6d. cloth.

HISTORY OF THE PARISH AND TOWN OF BAMPTON, with the District and Hamlets belonging to it. By the Rev. J.A. Giles, D.C.L., late Fellow of Christ's Ch. Coll. Oxford, Author of "History of the Ancient Britons," &c.

London: George Bell, Fleet Street.

Printed by Thomas Clark Shaw, 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 George Bell, 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, March 2. 1850.