Notes And Queries, Issue 81.

Unless Chaucer had intended to mark with particular exactness the day of the journey to Canterbury, he would not have taken such unusual precautions to protect his text from ignorant or careless transcribers. We find him not only recording the altitudes of the sun, at different hours, in words; but also corroborating those words by associating them with physical facts incapable of being perverted or misunderstood.

Had Chaucer done this in one instance only, we might imagine that it was but another of those occasions, so frequently seized upon by him, for the display of a little scientific knowledge; but when he repeats the very same precautionary expedient again, in the afternoon of the same day, we begin to perceive that he must have had some fixed purpose; because, as I shall presently show, it is the repetition alone that renders the record imperishable.

But whether Chaucer really devised this method for the express purpose of preserving his text, or not, it has at least had that effect,—for while there are scarcely two MSS. extant which agree in the verbal record of the day and hours, the physical circumstances remain, and afford at all times independent data for the recovery or correction of the true reading.

The day of the month may be deduced from the declination of the sun; and, to obtain the latter, all the data required are,

It is not absolutely necessary to have any previous knowledge of the hours at which these altitudes were respectively obtained, because these may be discovered by the trial method of seeking two such hours as shall most nearly agree in requiring a declination common to both at the known altitudes. Of course it will greatly simplify the process if we furthermore know that the observations must have been obtained at some determinate intervals of time, such, for example, as complete hours.

Now, in the Prologue to the "Canterbury Tales" we know that the observations could not have been recorded except at complete hours, because the construction of the metre will not admit the supposition of any parts of hours having been expressed.

We are also satisfied that there can be no mistake in the altitudes, because nothing can alter the facts, that an equality between the length of the shadow and the height of the substance can only subsist at an altitude of 45 degrees; or that an altitude of 29 degrees (more or less) is the nearest that will give the ratio of 11 to 6 between the shadow and its gnomon.

Here we immediately select "X A.M." and "IV P.M." as the only two items at all approaching to similarity; while, in these the approach is so near that they differ by only a single minute of a degree!

More conclusive evidence therefore could scarcely exist that these were the hours intended to be recorded by Chaucer, and that the sun's declination, designed by him, was somewhere about thirteen degrees and a half North.

Strictly speaking, this declination would more properly apply to the 17th of April, in Chaucer's time, than to the 18th; but since he does not profess to critical exactness, and since it is always better to adhere to written authority, when it is not grossly and obviously corrupt, such MSS. as name the 18th of April ought to be respected; but Tyrwhitt's "28th," which he states not only as the result of his own conjecture but as authorised by the "the best MSS.," ought to be scouted at once.

In the latest edition of the "Canterbury Tales" (a literal reprint from one of the Harl. MSS., for the Percy Society, under the supervision of Mr. Wright), the opening of the Prologue to "The Man of Lawes Tale" does not materially differ from Tyrwhitt's text, excepting in properly assigning the day of the journey to "the eightetene day of April;" and the confirmation of the forenoon altitude is as follows:

"By that the Manciple had his tale endid,

The sonne fro the southe line is descendid

So lowe that it nas nought to my sight,

Degrees nyne and twenty as in hight.

Ten on the clokke it was as I gesse,

For eleven foote, or litil more or lesse,

My schadow was at thilk time of the yere,

Of which feet as my lengthe parted were,

In sixe feet equal of proporcioun."

If the sole object were to present an exact counterpart of the MS., of course even its errors were to be respected: but upon no other grounds can I understand why a reading should be preserved by which broad sunshine is attributed to ten o'clock at night! Nor can I believe that the copyist of the MS. with whom the error must have originated would have set down anything so glaringly absurd, unless he had in his own mind some means of reconciling it with probability. It may, I believe, be explained in the circumstance that "ten" and "four," in horary reckoning, were convertible terms. The old Roman method of naming the hours, wherein noon was the sixth, was long preserved, especially in conventual establishments: and I have no doubt that the English idiomatic phrase "o'clock" originated in the necessity for some distinguishing mark between hours "of the clock" reckoned from midnight, and hours of the day reckoned from sunrise, or more frequently from six A.M. With such an understanding, it is clear that ten might be called four, and four ten, and yet the same identical hour to be referred to; nor is it in the least difficult to imagine that some monkish transcriber, ignorant perhaps of the meaning of "o'clock," might fancy he was correcting, rather that corrupting, Chaucer's text, by changing "foure" into "ten."

I have, I trust, now shown that all these circumstances related by Chaucer, so far from being hopelessly incongruous, are, on the contrary, harmoniously consistent;—that they all tend to prove that the day of the journey to Canterbury could not have been later than the 18th of April;—that the times of observation were certainly 10 A.M. and 4 P.M.;—that the "arke of his artificial day" is to be understood as the horizontal or azimuthal arch;—and that the "halfe cours in the Ram" alludes to the completion of the last twelve degrees of that sign, about the end of the second week in April.

There yet remains to be examined the signification of those three very obscure lines which immediately follow the description, already quoted, of the afternoon observation:

It is the more unfortunate that we should not be certain what it was that Chaucer really did write, inasmuch as he probably intended to present, in these lines, some means of identifying the year, similar to those he had previously given with respect to the day.

When Tyrwhitt, therefore, remarks, "In what year this happened Chaucer does not inform us"—he was not astronomer enough to know that if Chaucer had meant to leave, in these lines, a record of the moon's place on the day of the journey, he could not have chosen a more certain method of informing us in what year it occurred.

But as the present illustration has already extended far enough for the limits of a single number of "Notes and Queries," I shall defer the {387}investigation of this last and greatest difficulty to my next communication.

DUTCH FOLK-LORE.

2. Rocking the cradle when the babe is not in it, is considered injurious to the infant, and a prognostic of its speedy death.

4. A stork settling on a house is a harbinger of happiness. To kill such a bird would be sacrilege.

5. If you see a shooting star, the wish you form before its disappearance will be fulfilled.

8. An overturned salt-cellar is a ship wrecked. If a person take salt and spill it on the table, it betokens a strife between him and the person next to whom it fell. To avert the omen, he must lift up the shed grains with a knife, and throw them behind his back.

9. After eating eggs in Holland, you must break the shells, or the witches would sail over in them to England. The English don't know under what obligations they are to the Dutch for this custom. Please to tell them.

10. If you make a present of a knife or scissors, the person receiving must pay something for it; otherwise the friendship between you would be cut off.

11. A tingling ear denotes there is somebody speaking of you behind your back. If you hear the noise in the right one, he praises you; if on the left side, he is calling you a scoundrel, or something like that. But, never mind! for if, in the latter case, you bite your little finger, the evil speaker's tongue will be in the same predicament. By all means, don't spare your little finger!

12. If, at a dinner, a person yet unmarried be placed inadvertently between a married couple, be sure he or she will get a partner within the year. It's a pity it must be inadvertently.

13. If a person when rising throw down his chair, he is considered guilty of untruth.

14. A potato begged or stolen is a preservative against rheumatism. Chestnuts have the same efficacy.

15. The Nymphæa, or water-lily, whose broad leaves, and clear white or yellow cups, float upon the water, was esteemed by the old Frisians to have a magical power. "I remember, when a boy," says Dr. Halbertsma, "that we were extremely careful in plucking and handling them; for if any one fell with such a flower in his possession, he became immediately subject to fits."

16. One of my friends cut himself. A manservant being present secured the knife hastily, anointed it with oil, and putting it into the drawer, besought the patient not to touch it for some days. Whether the cure was effected by this sympathetic means, I can't affirm; but cured it was: so, don't be alarmed.

17. If you feel on a sudden a shivering sensation in your back, there is somebody walking over your future grave.

Minor Notes.

Verses in Pope—"Bug" or "Bee."—Pope, in the Dunciad, speaking of the purloining propensities of Bays, has the lines:

In reading these lines, some time ago, I was forcibly struck with the incongruity of the terms "sipp'd" and "industrious" as applied to "bug;" and it occurred to me that Pope may have originally written the passage with the words "free" and "bee," as the rhymes of the two last lines. My reasons for this conjecture are these: 1st. Because Pope is known to have been very fastidious on the score of coarse or vulgar expressions; and his better judgment would have recoiled from the use of so offensive a word as "bug." 2ndly. Because, as already stated, the terms "sipp'd" and "industrious" are inapplicable to a bug. Of the bug it may be said, that it "sucks" and "plunders;" but it cannot, with any propriety, be predicated of it, as of the bee, that it "sips" and is "industrious." My impression is, that when Pope found he was doing too much honour to Tibbald by comparing him to a bee, he substituted the word "bug" and its corresponding rhyme, without reflecting that some of the epithets, already applied to the one, are wholly inapplicable to the other.

Rub-a-dub.—This word is put forward as an instance of how new words are still formed with a view to similarity of sound with the sound of what they are intended to express, by Dr. Francis Lieber, in a "Paper on the Vocal Sounds of Laura Bridgeman compared with the Elements of Phonetic Language," and its authorship is assigned {388}to Daniel Webster, who said in a speech of July 17, 1850:

My note is, that though this word be not recognised by the dictionaries, yet it is by no means so new as Dr. L. supposes; for I distinctly remember that, some four-and-twenty years ago, one of those gay-coloured books so common on the shelves of nursery libraries had, amongst other equally recherché couplets, the following attached to a gaudy print of a military drum:

—no great authority certainly, but sufficient to give the word a greater antiquity than Dr. L. claims for it; and no doubt some of your readers will be able to furnish more dignified instances of its use.

Mr. Knight (Library Edition, ii. 379.) says this line is from Hieronymo, but gives no reference, and I have not found it. In a sonnet by Thomas Watson (A.D. 1560-91) occurs the line (see Ellis's Specimens)—

2. "Nature's mother-wit." This phrase is found in Dryden's "Ode to St. Cecilia," and also in Spenser, Faerie Queene, book iv. canto x. verse 21. Where does it first occur?

3. "The divine chit-chat of Cowper." Query, Who first designated the "Task" thus? Charles Lamb uses the phrase as a quotation. (See Final Memorials of Charles Lamb, i. 72.)

Minnis.—There are (or there were) in East Kent seven Commons known by the local term "Minnis," viz., 1. Ewell Minnis; 2. River do.; 3. Cocclescombe do.; 4. Swingfield do.; 5. Worth do.; 6. Stelling do.; 7. Rhode do. Hasted (History of Kent) says he is at a loss for the origin of the word, unless it be in the Latin "Mina," a certain quantity of land, among different nations of different sizes; and he refers to Spelman's Glossary, verbum "Mina."

Now the only three with which I am acquainted, River, Ewell, and Swingfield Minnis, near Dover, are all on high ground; the two former considerably elevated above their respective villages.

One would rather look for a Saxon than a Celtic derivation in East Kent; but many localities, &c. there still retain British or Celtic names, and eminently so the stream that runs through River and Ewell, the Dour or Dwr, unde, no doubt, Dover, where it disembogues into the sea. May we not therefore likewise seek in the same language an interpretation of this (at least as far as I know) hitherto unexplained term?

In Armorican we find "Menez" and "Mene," a mount. In the kindred dialect, Cornish, "Menhars" means a boundary-stone; "Maenan" (Brit.), stoney moor; "Mynydh" (Brit.), a mountain, &c.

As my means of research are very limited, I can only hazard a conjecture, which it will give me much pleasure to see either refuted or confirmed by those better informed.

Brighton.—It is stated in Lyell's Principles of Geology, that in the reign of Elizabeth the town of Brighton was situated on that tract where the Chain Pier now extends into the sea; that in 1665 twenty-two tenements still remained under the cliffs; that no traces of the town are perceptible; that the sea has resumed its ancient position, the site of the old town having been merely a beach abandoned by the ocean for ages. On referring to the "Attack of the French on Brighton in 1545," as represented in the engraving in the Archæologia, April 14, 1831, I find the town standing apparently just where it is now, with "a felde in the middle," but with some houses on the beach opposite what is not Pool Valley, on the east side of which houses the French are landing; the beach end of the road from Lewes.

Voltaire's "Henriade."—I have somewhere seen an admirable translation of this poem into English verse. Perhaps you can inform me of the author's name. The work seems to be scarce, as I recollect having seen it but once: it was published, I think, about thirty years ago. (See antè, p. 330.)

The house in which Voltaire was born, at Chatnaye, about ten miles from Paris, is now the property of the Comtesse de Boigne, widow of the General de Boigne, and daughter of the Marquis d'Osmond, who was ambassador here during the reign of Louis XVIII. The mother of the poet being on a visit with the then proprietor (whose name I cannot recollect), was unexpectedly confined. There is a street in the village called the Rue Voltaire. The Comtesse de Boigne is my {389}authority for the fact of the poet's birth having taken place in her house.

Queries.

THE BLAKE FAMILY.

The renowned Admiral Blake, a native of Bridgewater, and possessed of property in the neighbourhood, left behind him a numerous family of brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces, settled in the county of Somerset; to wit, his brothers Humphrey, William, George, Nicholas, Benjamin, and Alexander all survived him, as did also his sisters, Mrs. Bowdich, of Chard, and Mrs. Smith, of Cheapside, in London. His brother Samuel, killed in an early part of the Civil War, left two sons, Robert and Samuel, both of them honourably remembered in the will of their great uncle. Can any of your readers, acquainted with Somerset genealogies, give me any information which may enable me to make out the descent of the present families of Blake, in that county, from this stock?

There are at least two Blake houses now in existence, who are probably of the blood of the illustrious admiral; the Blakes of Bishop's Hall, near Taunton, of which William Blake, Esq., a magistrate for the county, is the head; and the Blakes of Venue House, Upton, near Wiveliscombe, the representative of which is Silas Wood Blake, son of Dr. William Blake, a bencher of the Inner Temple. These families possess many relics of the admiral—family papers, cabinets, portrait, and even estates; and that they are of his blood there are other reasons for believing; but, so far as I know, the line is not clearly traced back. In a funeral sermon spoken on the death of the grandfather of the present William Blake, Esq., of Bishop's Hall, I find it stated that—

This minister had three sons, John, Malachi, and William; and it is from the last named that the Blakes of Bishop's Hall are descended. But who was the father of Malachi Blake himself? He was probably a son or grandson of one of the admiral's brothers—but of which?

Permit me to add to this Query another remark. I am engaged in writing a Life of Admiral Blake, and shall be extremely grateful to any of your correspondents who can and will direct me, either through the medium of your columns or by private communication, to any new sources of information respecting his character and career. A meagre pamphlet being the utmost that has yet been given to the memory of this great man, the entire story of his life has to be built up from the beginning. Fragments of papers, scraps of information, however slight, may therefore be of material value. A date or a name may contain an important clue, and will be thankfully acknowledged. Of course I do not wish to be referred to information contained in well-known collections, such as Thurloe, Rushworth, Whitelock, and the Parliamentary Histories, nor to the Deptford MSS. in the Tower, the Admiralty papers in the State Paper Office, or the Ashmole MSS. at Oxford. I am also acquainted, of course, with several papers in the national collection of MSS. at the British Museum throwing light on the subject; but while these MSS. remain in their present state, it would be very rash in any man to say what is not to be found in them. Should any one, in reading for his own purposes, stumble on a fact of importance for me in these MSS., I shall be grateful for a communication; but my appeal is rather made to the possessors of old family papers. There must, I think, be many letters—though he was a brief and abrupt correspondent—of the admiral's still existing in the archives of old Puritan families. These are the materials of history of which I am most in need.

Minor Queries.

John Holywood the Mathematician.—Is the birthplace of this distinguished scholar known? Leland, Bale, and Pits assert him to have been born at Halifax, in Yorkshire; Stanyhurst says, at Holywood, near Dublin; and according to Dempster and Mackenzie, at Nithsdale, in Scotland.

Essay on the Irony of Sophocles, &c.—Who is the author of the Essay on the Irony of Sophocles, which has been termed the most exquisite piece of criticism in the English language?

Meaning of Mosaic.—What is the exact meaning and derivation of the word Mosaic as a term in art?

Stanedge Pole.—Can any one inform me in what part of Yorkshire the antiquarian remains of Stanedge Pole are situated; and where the description of them is to be found?

Names of the Ferret.—I should be much obliged by any one of your readers informing me what peculiar names are given to the male and female ferret? Do they occur any where in any author? as by knowing how the words are spelt, we may arrive at their etymology.

Colfabias.—Can any of your learned correspondents furnish the origin and meaning of this word? It was the name of the privy attached to the Priory of Holy Trinity in Dublin; and still is to be seen in old leases of that religious house (now Christ Church Cathedral), spelled sometimes as above, and other times coolfabioos.

The present dean and chapter are quite in the dark upon the subject. I hope you will be able to give us a little light from your general stock.

School of the Heart.—This work consists of short poems similar in character and merit to Quarles's Emblems, and adorned with cuts of the same class. I have at hand none but modern editions, and in these the production is ascribed to Quarles. But Montgomery, in his Christian Poet, quotes the School of the Heart, without explanation, as the work of Thomas Harvey, 1647. Can any of your readers throw light on this matter?

Milton and the Calves-head Club.—I quote the following from The Secret History of the Calves-head Club: or the Republican Unmasqu'd, 4to., 1703. The author is relating what was told him by "a certain active Whigg, who, in all other respects, was a man of probity enough."

Do any of Milton's biographers mention his connexion with this club? Does the form of prayer compiled by Juxon, Sanderson, and Hammond exist?

David Rizzio's Signature.—Can any reader of "Notes and Queries" furnish the applicant with either a fac-simile or a minute description of the signature and handwriting of David Rizzio? The application is made in order to the verification of a most remarkable alleged instance of clairvoyance, recorded at large in a volume on that and its kindred subjects just published by Dr. Gregory of Edinburgh.

Lambert Simnel—Was this his real Name?—It occurs to me that we are not in possession of the real name of Lambert Simnel, the famous claimant of the crown of England. We are told that he was the son of a baker; and we learn from Johnson's Dictionary that the word "simnel" signified a kind of sweet-bread or cake. Now, considering the uncertainty and mutability of surnames in former times, I am led to suspect that "Simnel" may have been a nickname first applied to his father, in allusion to his trade; and I am strengthened in my suspicion by not finding any such name as "Simnel" in any index of ancient names. Could any of your correspondents throw light on this question, or tell whether Lambert left any posterity?

Honor of Clare, Norfolk.—I have seen a letter, dated about 1702, in the possession of a gentleman of this town, which alludes "To His Majesty's Honor of Clare;" and I shall feel obliged if any of your correspondents can render me any information as to whether there are any documents relative to this "Honor" in existence: and if so, where they are to be met with? for I much wish to be informed what fragments were made from South Green (a part of this town), which was held of the above mentioned "Honor," and by whom made; and further, who is the collector of them at this period?

Babington's Conspiracy.—Miss Strickland, in her life of Queen Elizabeth (Lives of the Queens of England, vol. vii. p. 33.), after describing the particulars of this plot, adds in a Note,—

A copy of a letter to which the description given by Miss Strickland would apply, has been lately found among some papers originally belonging to Lord Burleigh; and it would be very desirable to compare it with the letter said to be in the Rawlinson collection. I have, however, authority for saying that the reference above quoted is incorrect. I should be very glad indeed to find whether the letter referred to by Miss Strickland is printed in any collection, or to trace the authority for the reference given in the Lives of the Queens. The MS. copies in the British Museum are known.

Family of Sir John Banks.—R. H. wishes to be informed how many children were left by {391}Sir John Banks, Lord Chief Justice in Charles I.'s reign: also, whether any one of these settled at Keswick: and also, whether Mr. John Banks of that place, the philosopher, as he was called, was really a lineal descendant of Sir John B., as he is stated to have been by the author of an old work on the Lakes?

Sewell, Meaning of.—It is usual in some deer-parks in different parts of England, but more especially, as far as my own knowledge goes, in Kent, for the keepers, when they wish to drive and collect the deer to one spot, to lay down for this purpose what they call sewells (I may be wrong as to the orthography), which are simply long lines with feathers attached at intervals, somewhat after the fashion of the tails of kites. These "sewells," when stretched at length on the ground, the herd of deer will very rarely pass; but on coming up will check themselves suddenly when in full career, and wheel about. The same contrivance was in use in Virgil's time for the same purpose, under the name of formido (Geor. iii. 372.):—"Puniceæve agitant pavidos formidine pennæ." Can any of your readers help me to the origin of the modern term sewell?

Abel represented with Horns.—In one of the windows of King's College Chapel, the subject of which is the Death of Abel, the artist has given him a pair of horns. Can any of your readers explain this?

Minor Queries Answered.

The Fifteen O's.—In the third part of the "Sermon of Good Works" is this passage:

I cite the above from the Parker Society's edition of Archbishop Cranmer's Miscellaneous Writings and Letters, p. 148. It occurs also in Professor Corrie's edition of the Homilies, p. 58. I shall be glad to be informed what is meant by the "fifteen Oo's," or "fifteen O's" (for so they are spelt in the above edition of the Homilies).

Meaning of Pightle.—As I dare say you number some Suffolk men among your readers, would any of them kindly inform me the meaning and derivation of the word "pightle," which is always applied to a field adjoining the farm-houses in Suffolk?

Inscription on a Guinea of George III.—Round the reverse of a guinea of George III., 1793, are the following initials:—"M. B. F. ET H. REX—F. D. B. ET L. D. S. R. I. A. T. ET E." The earlier letters are sufficiently intelligible; but I should be glad to learn the meaning of the whole inscription.

Meaning of Crambo.—Sir Thomas Browne (Religio Medici, part ii. § 15. ed. 1678) says:

Query, What is the meaning of crambo here, and is it to be met with elsewhere with a similar meaning?

Replies.

JOHN TRADESCANT PROBABLY AN ENGLISHMAN, AND HIS VOYAGE TO RUSSIA IN 1618.

Dr. Rimbault justly observes that "the history of the Tradescants is involved in considerable obscurity." He does not, however, seem to have been aware that some light has been thrown on that of the elder John Tradescant by the researches of Dr. Hamel, in his interesting Memoir published in the Transactions of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg in 1847, with the following title:—"Tradescant der Æltere 1618 in Russland. Der {392}Handelsverkehr zwischen England und Russland in seiner Entstehung," &c.

Dr. Rimbault's note contains a good epitome of the most obvious English notices respecting the Tradescants; but while correcting the errors of others, he has himself fallen into one important mistake, in stating that "Old John Tradescant died in 1652;" for that is the date of the death of his grandson, John, who died young. Old John died in 1638, leaving a son, also named John, who was born in 1608, and died in 1662, having survived his only son ten years; and, having no heir to his treasures, he had previously conveyed them, by deed of gift, to Elias Ashmole, who seems to have contrived to make himself agreeable to him by his pursuits as a virtuoso, and by his alchemical and astrological fancies. When Dr. Hamel was in England, I had the pleasure of indicating to him the site of "Tradescant's Ark" in South Lambeth. It was situate on the east side of the road leading from Vauxhall to Stockwell, nearly opposite to what was formerly called Spring Lane. Ashmole built a large brick house near that which had been Tradescant's, out of the back of part of which he made offices. The front part of it became the habitation of the well-known antiquary, Dr. Ducarel. It still remains as two dwellings; the one, known as "Turret House," is occupied by John Miles Thorn, Esq., and the other, called "Stamford House," is the dwelling of J. A. Fulton, Esq.

In his indefatigable researches to elucidate the early intercourse between England and Russia, Dr. Hamel's attention was accidentally called to the Tradescants and their Museum; and the following passage in Parkinson's Paradisus Terrestris, p. 345. (Art. "Neesewort," then called Elleborus albus), led to the discovery of a relation of Old John's voyage to Russia:—

In searching among the MSS. in the Ashmolean Museum, Dr. Hamel bore this passage in memory, and one MS., thus described in Mr. Black's excellent catalogue, No. 824., xvi., contained confirmatory matter:

From documents in the archives at Moscow, Dr. Hamel recovered the Christian names, and a list of Sir Dudley Digges' attendants in this voyage, which corresponds with that in the MS., thus:—Arthur Nowell, Thomas Woodward, Adam Cooke, Joseph Fante, Thomas Leake, Richard James, George Brigges, Jessy De Quester, Adam Jones, Thomas Wakefield, John Adams, Thomas Crisp, Leonard Hugh, and John Coplie. This last must therefore have designated John Tradescant himself, who was certainly there.

Sir Dudley Digges, to whom Tradescant seems to have attached himself in order to obtain knowledge of the plants and other natural curiosities of Russia, was sent by King James I. to the Czar Michael Fedorowitsch, who had in the previous year despatched an embassy to the king, principally to negotiate for a loan. This ambassador, Wolünsky, returned at the same time, in another vessel accompanying that of Sir Dudley.

Dr. Hamel in his memoir has given considerable extracts from the MS. narrative of the voyage, which show that Tradescant was an accurate observer not only of objects connected with his studies of phytology and natural history, but of other matters. Parkinson has justly styled him "a painful industrious searcher and lover of all natural varieties;" and elsewhere says: "My very {393}good friend, John Tradescantes, has wonderfully laboured to obtain all the rarest fruits hee can heare of in any place of Christendome, Turky, yea, or the whole world." The passages in the journal of his voyage, which prove it to be indubitably his, are numerous, but the one which first struck Dr. Hamel was sufficient; for in following the narrator on the Dwina, and the islands there, and, among others, to Rose Island, he found this note, "Helebros albus, enoug to load a ship." There are, however, others confirmatory beyond a doubt. Parkinson, in his Paradisus Terrestris, p. 528., has the following passage:—

Tradescant mentions that he also saw strawberries to be sold in Russia, but could never get of the plants, though he saw the berries three times at Sir D. Digges's table; but as they were in nothing differing from ours, but only less, he did not much seek after them. It is most probable that he brought seed, as he did of another berry, of which he sent part, he tells us, to his correspondent Vespasian Robin at Paris.

Of a man to whom the merit is due of having founded the earliest Museum of Natural History and Rarities of Art in England, and who possessed one of the first, and at the same the best, Botanic Garden, every little particular must be interesting, and it would be pleasing to find that he was an Englishman, and not a foreigner. The only ground for the latter supposition is, I believe, the assertion of Anthony à Wood, that he was a Fleming or a Dutchman. The name Tradescant is, however, neither Flemish nor Dutch, and seems to me much more like an assumed English pseudonyme. That he was neither a Dutchman nor a Fleming will, I think, be obvious from the following passage in the narration of his travels:

Now, had Tradescant himself been a Fleming or a Dutchman, he would at least have been able to speak decisively on this occasion; to say nothing of the vice of intemperance which he attributes to the natives of those countries. Again, it is quite clear that this journal of travels was written by Tradescant; yet that name does not appear either in the MS. or in the Russian archives: but we have John Coplie in both, with the indication in the MS. that he was a Worcestershire man. Let us therefore, on these grounds, place him in the list of English worthies to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. But supposing Tradescant to have been his real name, it is quite evident that he travelled under the name of John Coplie; and it is perhaps vain to speculate upon the reasons for the assumption of a pseudonyme either way.

Dr. Richard James, who accompanied Sir Dudley Digges as chaplain, appears, from Turner's account of his MSS., which are deposited in the Bodleian, to have left behind him a MS. account of his travels in Russia, in five sheets; but his MS. seems to have been lost or mislaid in that vast emporium, or we might have some confirmation from it respecting Tradescant.

South Lambeth was in former times one of the most agreeable and salubrious spots in the vicinity of London, and at the time when Tradescant first planted his garden he must have had another worthy and distinguished man for a neighbour, Sir Noel Caron, who was resident ambassador here from the States of Holland for twenty-eight years. His estate contained 122 acres; he was a benefactor to the poor of his vicinity by charitable actions, some of which remain as permanent monuments of his benevolence, in the shape of almshouses, situate in the Wandsworth Road. The site of Caron House is now possessed by Henry Beaufoy, Esq., who has worthily emulated the deeds of his predecessor by acts of munificent benevolence, which must be fraught with incalculable good for ages yet to come. Mr. Beaufoy has, among his literary treasures, a very interesting collection of letters in MS., written in French, by Sir Noel Caron to Constantine Huyghens, I think, which contain many curious illustrations of the events of that period.

Let us hope that time may bring to light further and more complete materials for the biography of these Lambethan worthies, who have deserved to live in our memories as benefactors to mankind.

THE FAMILY OF THE TRADESCANTS.

In Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 359., New Series, may be found an account of this family, written by myself; I hope to be excused when I say that it is the most accurate hitherto published. It gave me great pleasure to find that so distinguished an antiquary as Dr. Rimbault mainly corroborates the article alluded to; but I regret that I feel bound to notice a serious error into which that gentleman has fallen. Dr. R. states that "Old John Tradescant died in the year 1652;" and in another place he states that— {394}

The conflicting accounts and confusion in the history of the Tradescants, have no doubt arisen from the three, "grandsire, father, and son," having been all named John; consequently, for the sake of perspicuity, I shall adopt the plan of our worthy editor, and designate the Tradescant who first settled in England, No. 1.; his son, who published the Musæum Tradescantianum, No. 2.; and the son of the latter, who "died in his spring," No. 3. Now, to prove that it was the youngest of the Tradescants, No. 3., who died in 1652, we have only to refer to the preface of the Musæum Tradescantianum, which was published in 1656. There we find that Tradescant No. 2. says that—

He then proceeds to account for the delay in the publication of the work in these words:

The word by, in the quotation, meaning, by the side of, close by his grandfather. The burial register of Lambeth parish gives the date of the interment, Sept. 16, 1652. Ashmole's Diary, as quoted by Dr. Rimbault, and the burial register also, give the date of the death of Tradescant No. 2., who survived his son ten years: the family then became extinct.

Ashmole, who became acquainted with the Tradescants in 1650, never mentions the grandfather (No. 1.), nor is his name to be found in the burial registry; and consequently the date of his death, as far as I have read, has always been set down as uncertain. There are other parish records, however, than burial registers; and I was well repaid for my search by finding, in the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Mary's, Lambeth, the following entries:

This last entry, in all probability, marks the date of the death of the first Tradescant. Assuming that it does, and as the engraving by Hollar represents him as far advanced in years, his age did not exclude him from having been in the service of Queen Elizabeth, so much so as it would if he had died in 1652. I read the line on the tombstone,—

as signifying that one of the Tradescants had been gardener to Elizabeth, the Rose Queen, and the other to Henrietta, the Lily Queen. However, as that is little more than a matter of opinion, not of historical fact, it need not be further alluded to at present.

I am happy to say, that I have every reason to believe that I am on the trace of new, curious, and indisputably authentic information respecting the Tradescants. If successful, and if the editor will spare me a corner, I shall be proud to communicate it to the readers of "Notes and Queries."

Tradescant's house, and the house adjoining, where Ashmole lived, previous to his taking possession of Tradescant's house, after Mrs. Tradescant's death (see Ashmole's Diary), are still standing, though they have undergone many alterations. Even there, the name of Tradescant seems forgotten: the venerable building is only known by a nick-name, derived most probably from its antique chimneys. I had many weary pilgrimages before I discovered the identical edifice. I have not seen the interior, but am aware that there are some traces of Ashmole in the house, but none whatever of Tradescant in either house or garden. I had a conversation with the gardener of the gentleman who now occupies it: he appeared to have an indistinct idea that an adept in his own profession had once lived there, for he observed that, "If old What's-his-name were alive now, the potato disease could soon be cured." Oh! what we antiquaries meet with! He further gave me to understand that "furriners sometimes came there wishing to see the place, but that I was the only Englishman, that he recollected, who expressed any curiosity about it."

The restorers of the tomb of the Tradescants merely took away the old leger stone, on which were cut the words quoted by A. W. H. (Vol. iii., p. 207.), and replaced it by a new stone bearing the lines quoted by Dr. Rimbault, which were not on the original stone (see Aubrey's Surrey), and the words—

But although the name of the childless, persecuted widow, Hester Tradescant, is not now on the tomb which she piously erected to the memories of her husband and son; still, on the west end of it, can be traced the form of a hydra tearing a human skull—fit emblem of the foul and vulture-like rapacity of Elias Ashmole.

POPE JOAN.

In reply to your correspondent Nemo's Query, whether any such personage as Pope Joan ever held the keys of St. Peter, and wore the tiara? and if so, at what period, and for what time, and what is known of her personal history? I would remark that the story runs thus: that between the pontificates of Leo IV., who died in the year 855, and of Benedict III., who died in 858, a female of the name of Joan found means to cause herself to be elected Pope, which post she held for a term of upwards of two years, under the title of Joannes VII., according to Sabellicus, or, according to Platina, of Joannes VIII. She is generally said to have been an Englishwoman, the daughter of a priest, who in her youth became acquainted with an English monk belonging to the Abbey of Fulda, with whom she travelled, habited as a man, to many universities, but finally settled at Athens, where she remained until the death of her companion, and attained to a great proficiency in the learning common to the time. After this she proceeded to Rome, and having by the talent she displayed in several disputes obtained the reputation of a learned divine, was, on the death of Leo IV., elected to fill the pontifical chair. This position she held for upwards of two years, but soon after the expiration of that time was delivered of a child (but died during parturition), while proceeding in a procession between the Coliseum and the Church of St. Clemente.

The first mention of this story appears to have been made by Marianus Scotus, who compiled a chronicle at Mayence, about two hundred years after the event is said to have occurred, viz. about 1083. He was followed by Sigebert de Gemblours, who wrote about 1112; and also by Martino di Cistello, or Polonus, who wrote about 1277; since when the story has been repeated by numberless authors, all of whom have, more or less, made some absurd additions.

After the satisfactory proofs of the fictitious character of the story, which have been produced by the most eminent writers, both Catholic and Protestant, it may appear a work of supererogation to add anything on the point; yet it may perhaps be permitted to observe, that in the most ancient and esteemed manuscripts of the works of the authors above quoted, no mention whatever is made of the Papissa Giovanna, and its introduction must therefore have been the work of some later copyist.

The contemporary writers, moreover, some of whom were ocular witnesses of the elections both of Leo IV. and Benedict III., make no mention whatever of the circumstance; and it is well known that at Athens, where she is stated to have studied, no such school as the one alluded to existed in the ninth century.

The fact will not, I think, be denied that it was the practice of the chroniclers of the early ages to note down the greater portion of what they heard, without examining critically as to the credibility of the report; and the mention of a fact once made, was amply sufficient for all succeeding authors to copy the statement, and make such additions thereto as best suited their respective fancies, without making any examination as to the truth or probability of the original statement. And this appears to have been the case with the point in question: Marianus Scotus first stated, or rather some later copyist stated for him, the fact of a female Pope; and subsequent writers added, at a later period, the additional facts which now render the tale so evidently an invention.

Pope Joan (Vol. iii., p. 265.).—You have referred to Sir Thomas Browne, and might have added the opinion of his able editor (Works, iii. 360.), who says, "Her very existence itself seems now to be universally rejected by the best authorities as a fabrication from beginning to end." On the other hand, old Coryat, in his Crudities (vol. ii. p. 443.), has the boldness to speak with "certainty of her birth at a particular place,—viz. at Mentz." Mosheim tells us (vol. ii. p. 300.) that during the five centuries succeeding 855, "the event was generally believed." He quotes some distinguished names, as well among those who maintained the truth of the story as amongst those who rejected it as a fable. Bayle may be included amongst the latter, who, in the third volume of his Dictionary (Article Papesse), has gone deeply into the question. Mosheim himself seems to leave it where Sir Roger de Coverley would have done,—"much may be said on both sides."

Replies to Minor Queries

Robert Burton, his Birth-place (Vol. iii., pp. 106. 157.).—A friend who has just been reading the Anatomy of Melancholy, has referred me to the following passage, which seems to give conclusive testimony respecting the birth-place of Burton:—

I knew of the following, but as it merely mentions Lindley as the residence of the family, it would not have answered Dr. Rimbault's Query.

Barlaam and Josaphat (Vol. iii., pp. 135. 278.).—I do not know of any English translation of this work. If any Middle Age version exists, it should be published immediately. A new and excellent German one (by Felix Liebrecht, Münster, 1847) has lately appeared, written, however, for Romish purposes, as much as from admiration of the work itself. It would be well if some member of our own pure branch of the Church Catholic would turn his attention to this noble work, and give us a faithful but fresh and easy translation, with a literary introduction descriptive of all the known versions, &c.; and a chapter on the meaning and limits of the asceticism preached in the original. In this case, and if published cheap, as it ought to be, it would be a golden present for our youth, and would soon become once more a folk-book. The beautiful free Old Norwegian version (written by King Hákon Sverresson, about A.D. 1200) mentioned in my last has now been published in Christiania, edited by the well-known scholars R. Keyser and C. R. Unger, and illustrated by an introduction, notes, glossary, fac-simile, &c. (Barlaams ok Josaphats Saga. 8vo. Christiania, 1851.) The editors re-adopt the formerly received opinion, that the Greek original (now printed in Boissonade's Anecdota Græca, vol. iv.) is not older than the eighth century, and was composed by Johannes Damascenus. But this must be decided by future criticism.

Witte van Haemstede (Vol. iii., p. 209).—It may be of use to the editors of the "Navorscher" to know that Adrianus Hamstedius became pastor of the Dutch church in Austin Friars, London, in the year 1559. He succeeded Walterus Delaenus, and resigned his office, one year after his appointment, in favour of Petrus Delaenus, probably a son of the before-named Walterus.

I cannot answer the question as to whether there still exist any descendants of Witte van Haemstede; but as late as 1740, Hendrik van Haemstede was appointed pastor to the Dutch congregation in London. He held the office until the year 1751, when Henricus Putman succeeded him.

The Dutch Church in Norwich (Vol. iii., p. 209.).—The editors of the "Navorscher" will find the early history of this church in Strype's Annals of the Reformation; Blomefield's History of Norwich; and in Burn's History of the Foreign Refugees. Dr. Hendrik Gehle, the pastor of the Dutch church in Austin Friars, who is also the occasional minister of the Dutch church at Norwich, would be the most likely person to furnish information as to its present state.

Fest Sittings (Vol. iii., p. 328.).—Festing is, I presume, without doubt, a Saxon word. A "Festing-man," among the Saxons, was a person who stood as a surety or pledge for another. "Festing-penny" was the money given as an earnest or token to servants when hired.

In the word sittings there might be some reference to the statute-sessions, which were courts or tribunals designed for the settlement of disputes between masters and servants.

Quakers' Attempt to convert the Pope (Vol. iii., p. 302.).—I beg to refer B. S. S. to the Correspondance inédite de Mabíllon et de Montfaucon avec l'Italie ... edited by M. Valéry, Paris, 1846, vol. ii. p. 112. In a letter from the Benedictine Claude Estiennot to Dom. Bulteau, dated Rome, September 30, 1687, he will read:

The Anti-Jacobin (Vol. iii., p. 348.).—As you have so many articles in the Anti-Jacobin owned, I may mention that No. 14, was written by Mr. Bragge, afterwards Bathurst.

When I was at Oxford, 1807 or 1808, it was supposed that the simile in New Morality, "So thine own Oak," was written by Mr. Pitt.

Verbum Græcum.—The lines in Vol. i., p. 415., where this word occurs, are in a doggrel journal of his American travels, written by Moore, and published in his Epistles, Odes, and other Poems. They are introduced apropos to the cacophony of the names of the places which he visited.

"Après moi le Déluge" (Vol. iii, p. 299.).—This sentiment is to be found in verse of a Greek tragedian, cited in Sueton. Nero, c. 38.:

Suetonius says that some one, at a convivial party, having quoted this line, Nero outdid him by adding, Immo ἐμοῦ ζῶντος. Nero was not contented that the conflagration of the world should occur after his death; he wished that it should take place during his lifetime.

Dio Cassius (lviii. 23.) attributes this verse, not to Nero, but to Tiberius, who, he says, used frequently to repeat it. See Prov. (app. ii. 56.), where other allusions to this verse are cited in the note of Leutsch.

"Après moi," or "après nous le Déluge" sounds like a modernisation of the ancient verse,—

the use of which has been imputed to the emperor Nero. The spirit of Madame de Pompadour's saying breathes the same selfish levity; and it amounts to the same thing. But it merits remark that the words of Metternich were of an entirely distinct signification. They did not imply that he cared only for himself and the affairs of his own life; but that he anticipated the inability of future ministers to avert revolution, and foreboded the worst. Two persons may use the same words, and yet their sayings be as different as the first line of Homer from the first of Virgil. The omission of the French verb disguises the fact, that the one was said in the optative, and the other in the future indicative.

Eisell, the meaning of which has been much discussed in the pages of "Notes and Queries," is a word which seems to have been once the common term for vinegar. The Festival in the sermon for St. Michael's day employs this term thus:

"To-day we purpose" (Vol. iii., p. 302).—The verse for which your correspondent G. N. inquires, is taken from Isabella, or the Pot of Basil, an exquisitely beautiful poem by Keats, founded on one of Boccaccio's tales.

Modern Paper (Vol. iii., p. 181.).—Cordially do I agree with every word of your correspondent Laudator Temporis Acti, and especially as to the prayer-books for churches and chapels, printed by the Universities. Experto crede, no solicitude can preserve their "flimsy, brittle, and cottony" leaves, as he justly entitles them, from rapid destruction. Might not the delegates of the University presses be persuaded to give us an edition with the morning and evening services printed on vellum, instead of the miserable fabric they now afford us?

St. Pancras (Vol. iii., p. 285.).—In Breviar. Rom. sub die XII Maii, is the following brief notice of this youthful saint, whose martyrdom was also commemorated (Sir H. Nicolas' Chron. of Hist.) on April 3 and July 21:

Amongst the reliques in the church of St. John of Laterane, in the "the glorious mother-city of Rome," Onuphrius (de VII. Urbis Ecclesiis) and Serranus (de Ecclesiis Urbis Rom.), as quoted by Wm. Crashaw (temp. James I.), enumerate:

Joseph Nicolson's Family (Vol. iii., p. 243.).—A. N. C. is justly corrected as to the insertion of the letter h in Dr. Wm. Nicolson's name, though it has been adopted by some of his family since. The mother of Dr. Wm. and Joseph Nicolson was Mary Brisco, of Crofton; not Mary Miser.

I find from Nichols' Correspondence of Dr. Wm. Nicolson, that his brother Joseph was master of the Apothecaries' Company in London. He died in May, 1724. He lived in Salisbury Court, where it would appear the Bishop resided at least on one occasion that he was in London.

Demosthenes and New Testament (Vol. iii., p. 350.).—The quotations from Demosthenes, and many others more or less pointed, are to be found, as might be expected, in the well-known, very learned, and standard edition of the new Testament by Wetstein.

Crossing Rivers on Skins (Vol. iii., p. 3.).—To the Latin authors cited by Janus Dousa illustrating this practice, allow me to add the following from the Greek. Xenophon, in his Anabasis, lib. iii. cap. v., so clearly exhibits the modus operandi, that I shall give a translation of the passage:

Skins, or tent coverings, stuffed with hay, appear also to have been very generally used for this purpose (Vid. Id., lib. i. cap. v.). Arrian relates (lib. v. Exped. cap. 12.) that Alexander used this contrivance for crossing the Hydaspes:

Curious Facts in Natural History (Vol. iii., p. 166.).—There is a parallel to the curious fact contributed by your Brazilian correspondent in the "vegetable caterpillar" of New Zealand. This natural rarity is described in Angas's Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, vol. i. p. 291.:—

I recently had several specimens of the insect, with its remarkable appendage, which had been brought from the colony by a relative.

Prideaux (Vol. iii., p. 268.).—The Prideaux, who took part in the Monmouth rebellion, was a son of Sir Edmund Prideaux, the purchaser of Ford Abbey. (See Birch's Life of Tillotson.) Tillotson appears to have been a chaplain to Sir E. Prideaux at Ford Abbey, and a tutor to the young Prideaux.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

Our readers will probably remember that the result of several communications which appeared in our columns on the subject of the celebrated Treatise of Equivocation, found in the chambers of Tresham, and produced at the trial of the persons engaged in the Gunpowder Plot, was a letter from a correspondent (J. B., Vol. ii., p. 168.) announcing that the identical MS. copy of the work referred to by Sir Edward Coke on the occasion in question, was safely preserved in the Bodleian Library. It was not to be supposed that a document of such great historical interest, which had been long sought after, should, when discovered, be suffered to remain unprinted; and Mr. Jardine, the accomplished editor of the Criminal Trials (the second volume of which, it will be remembered, is entirely devoted to a very masterly narrative of the Gunpowder Plot), has accordingly produced a very carefully prepared edition of the Tract in question; introduced by a preface, in which its historical importance is alone discussed, the object of the publication being not controversial but historical. "To obviate," says Mr. Jardine, "any misapprehension of the design in publishing it at a time when events of a peculiar character have drawn much animadversion upon the principles of the Roman Catholics, it should be stated that the Treatise would have been published ten years ago, had the inquiries then made led to its discovery; and that it is now published within a few weeks after the manuscript has been brought to light in the Bodleian Library." The work is one of the most important contributions to English history which has recently been put forth, and Mr. Jardine deserves the highest credit for the manner in which he was discharged his editorial duties.

Horæ Egyptiacæ, or the Chronology of Ancient Egypt discovered from Astronomical and Hieroglyphical Records, including many dates found in coeval inscriptions from the period of the building of the great Pyramid to the times of the Persians, and illustrative of the History of the first Nineteen Dynasties, &c., by Reginald Stuart Poole, is the ample title of a work dedicated to the Duke of Northumberland, under whose auspices it has been produced. The work, which is intended to explain the Chronology and History of Ancient Egypt from its monuments, originally appeared in a series of {399}papers in the Literary Gazette. These have been improved, the calculations contained in them subjected to the most rigid scrutiny; and when we say that in the preparation of this volume Mr. Poole has had assistance from Mr. Lane, Mr. and Mrs. Lieber of Cairo, Dr. Abbot of Cairo, Mr. Birch of the British Museum, Professor Airy, and, lastly, of Sir Gardener Wilkinson, who, in his Architecture of Ancient Egypt, avows that "he fully agrees with Mr. Poole in the contemporaneousness of certain kings, and in the order of succession he gives to the early Pharaohs," we do quite enough to recommend it to the attention of all students of the History and Monuments of Ancient Egypt.

Books Received.—Plato Translated by G. Burges, vol. 4. The new volume of Bohn's Classical Library is in the fourth volume of the Translation of Plato, which, strange as it may sound to those of our readers who know anything of what is essential to a popular book in these days, has, we believe, been one of the most popular of the many cheap books issued by Mr. Bohn. How much the impression made on the public mind by the well-worn quotation, "Plato, thou reasonest well," may have contributed to this result, we leave others to decide.—What is the working of the Church of Spain? What is implied in submitting to Rome? What is it that presses hardest upon the Church of England? A Tract by the Rev. F. Meyrick, M.A. London: J. H. Parker. These are three very important Queries, but obviously not of a nature for discussion in Notes and Queries.—The Penny Post, I. to IV., February to May. The words "thirtieth thousand" on the title-page, show the success which has already attended this Church Penny Magazine.

Catalogues Received.—T. Kerslake's (3. Park Street, Bristol) Catalogue of Books lately bought; Cole's (15. Great Turnstile) List No. XXXV. of very Cheap Books; C. Hamilton's (22. Anderson's Buildings, City Road) Catalogue No. XLII. of a remarkably Cheap Miscellaneous Collection of Old Books, Tracts, &c.; G. Johnston's (11. Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road) Book Circular.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE.

L'Abbé de Saint Pierre, Projet de Paix Perpetuelle. 3 Vols. 12mo. Utrecht, 1713.

Chevalier Ramsay, Essai de Politique, où l'on traite de la Nécessité, de l'Origine, des Droits, des Bornes et des différentes Formes de la Souveraineté, selon les Principes de l'Auteur de Télémaque. 2 Vols. 12mo. La Haye, without date, but printed in 1719.

The same. Second Edition, under the title "Essai Philosophique sur le Gouvernement Civil, selon les Principes de Fénélon," 12mo. Londres, 1721.

*** 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.

G. E. F. Will this correspondent oblige us with another copy of his Query respecting the Knapp Family? The Query to which he alludes came from a gentleman who has shown by his published works that he is both able and willing to search out information for himself. It is the more surprising, therefore, that he should have overlooked the very obvious source from which the information was eventually supplied.

We are unavoidably compelled to omit from the present Number our usual list of Replies Received.

Foreign Churches. W. A. thinks we should be doing a kindness to our foreign visitors by reminding them of the existence of the Dutch Church in Austin Friars, and of the Swedish Church, Prince's Square, Ratcliffe Highway, around which are yet flourishing some of the trees imported and planted by Dr. Solander.

Mercurii is thanked for his last packet. We shall make use of some parts of it when we return, as we purpose doing very shortly, to the proposed Record of Existing Monuments. We cannot trace the Queries to which he refers. Will he oblige us with copies of them?

E. H. Y. Will our correspondent say where we may address a communication to him?

Vols. I. and II., each with very copious Index, may still be had, price 9s. 6d. each.

Notes and Queries may be procured, by order, of all Booksellers and Newsvenders. It is published at noon on Friday, so that our country Subscribers ought not to experience any difficulty in procuring it regularly. Many of the country Booksellers, &c., are, probably, not yet aware of this arrangement, which will enable them to receive Notes and Queries in their Saturday parcels.

All communications for the Editor of Notes and Queries should be addressed to the care of Mr. Bell, No. 186. Fleet Street.

THE THEORY OF ELLIPTIC INTEGRALS, and the PROPERTIES of SURFACES of the Second Order, applied to the Investigation of the Motion of a Body round a Fixed Point. By James Booth, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., Chaplain to the Most Honourable the Marquess of Lansdowne, and formerly Principal of Bristol College.

THE JUDGES OF ENGLAND. By Edward Foss, F.S.A. Comprehending the period from Edward I. to Richard III., 1272 to 1485.

VOLUMES I. and II. of the same Work; from the Conquest to the end of Henry III., 1066 to 1272.

PROVIDENT LIFE OFFICE,

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Prospectuses and full particulars may be obtained upon application to the Agents of the Office, in all the principal towns of the United Kingdom, at the City Branch, and at the Head Office, No. 50. Regent Street.

ORIGINAL VIEWS OF PASSAGES IN THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THE POET-PHILOSOPHER OF VENUSIA: with which is combined an Illustration of the Suitability of the Ancient Epic and Lyric Styles to Modern Subjects of National and General Interest. By John Murray, M.A., Royal Gold Medalist in "Science and Arts," by award of His Majesty the King of Prussia; First Junior Moderator in Ethics and Logic: Ex-Scholar and Lay Resident Master of Trinity College, Dublin.

AN EXCURSION TO CALIFORNIA OVER the PRAIRIE, ROCKY MOUNTAINS, and GREAT SIERRA NEVADA, with a Stroll through the Diggings and Ranches of that Country. By William Kelly, J.P.

M. LATEUR will Sell at his House, 125. Fleet Street, on Thursday, May 22, an interesting collection of Autographs of distinguished Literary and Scientific persons, including Poets, Historian, Clergy, Royal and other personages, containing many scarce specimens. The whole in excellent condition. May be viewed the day previous and morning of Sale, and Catalogues had.

PUTTICK AND SIMPSON, Auctioneers of Literary Property, will SELL by AUCTION, at their Great Room, 191. Piccadilly, on MONDAY, May 26, and five following Days, a most curious Collection of BOOKS, the property of a Gentleman, including Works on Animal Magnetism, Mesmerism, and Mesmeric Sleep; Angels and their Ministrations; Apparitions, Ghosts, Hobgoblins, Presentiments, Second Sight, and Supernatural Appearances; Magical Practices and Conjuration; Dæmonology, Spectres, and Vampires; Popular Superstitions, Popish Credulity, Delusions, Ecstacies, Fanaticisms, and Impostures; Astrology, Divination, Revelations, and Prophecies; Necromancy, Sorcery, and Witchcraft; Infatuation, Diabolical Possession, and Enthusiasm; Proverbs, Old Sayings, and Vulgar Errors; the Household Book of Sir Ed. Coke, Original MS.; Early English Poetry, MS. temp. James I.; Grammatical Treatises printed by W. de Worde; Facetiæ; Works on Marriage Ceremonies, the Intercourse of the Sexes, and the Philosophy of Marriage; the Plague; Polygamy, Prostitution and its Consequences; Meteors and Celestial Influences; Miracles, Monkish Frauds and Criminal Excesses; Phrenology and Physiognomy, &c. Catalogues will be sent on application.

A TREATISE OF EQUIVOCATION. Wherein is largely discussed the question whether a Catholicke or any other person before a magistrate, being demanded upon his Oath whether a Prieste were in such a place, may (notwithstanding his perfect knowledge to the contrary) without Perjury, and securely in conscience, answer No; with this secret meaning reserved in his mynde. That he was not there so that any man is bounde to detect it. Edited from the Original Manuscript in the Bodleian Library, by David Jardine, of the Middle Temple, Esq., Barrister at Law.

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, May 17. 1851.

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Notes:—	Page
Illustrations of Chaucer, No. VI.	385
Dutch Folk-lore	387
Minor Notes:—Verses in Pope: "Bug" or "Bee"—Rub-a-dub—Quotations—Minnis—Brighton—Voltaire's Henriade	387
Queries:—
The Blake Family, by Hepworth Dixon	389
Minor Queries:—John Holywood the Mathematician—Essay on the Irony of Sophocles—Meaning of Mosaic —Stanedge Pole—Names of the Ferret—Colfabias—School of the Heart—Milton and the Calves-head Club—David Rizzio's Signature—Lambert Simnel: Was this his real Name?—Honor of Clare, Norfolk—Sponge—Babington's Conspiracy—Family of Sir John Banks—Meaning of Sewell—Abel represented with Horns	389
Minor Queries Answered:—The Fifteen O's—Meaning of Pightle—Inscription on a Guinea of George III. —Meaning of Crambo	391
Replies:—
John Tradescant probably an Englishman, and his Voyage to Russia in 1618, by S. W. Singer	391
The Family of the Tradescants, by W. Pinkerton	393
Pope Joan	395
Replies to Minor Queries:—Robert Burton's Birthplace—Barlaam and Josaphat—Witte van Haemstede—The Dutch Church in Norwich—Fest Sittings—Quaker's Attempt to convert the Pope—The Anti-Jacobin—Mistletoe—Verbum Græcum—"Après moi le Déluge"—Eisell—"To-day we purpose"—Modern Paper—St. Pancras—Joseph Nicolson's Family—Demosthenes and New Testament—Crossing Rivers on Skins—Curious Facts in Natural History—Prideaux	395
Miscellaneous:—
Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c.	398
Books and Odd Volumes wanted	399
Notices to Correspondents	399
Advertisements	399

Forenoon altitude 45°.			Afternoon altitude 29°.
Hour.		Declin.	Hour.		Declin.
XI	A.M.	8° 9′ N.	II	P.M.	3° 57′ S.
X	"	13° 27′ "	III	"	3° 16′ N.
IX	"	22° 34′ "	IV	"	13° 26′ "
VIII	"	Impossible.	V	"	Impossible.

Date of Policy.	Sum Insured.	Original Premium.		Bonuses added subsequently, to be further increased annually.
1806	£2500	£79 10 10	Extinguished	£1222 2 0
1811	1000	33 19 2	Ditto	231 17 8
1818	1000	34 16 10	Ditto	114 18 10

Policy No.	Date.	Sum Insured.	Bonuses added.	Total with Additions, to be further increased.
521	1807	£900	£982 12 1	£1882 12 1
1174	1810	1200	1160 5 6	2360 5 6
3392	1820	5000	3558 17 8	8558 17 8

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Notes and Queries, Number 81, May 17, 1851

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.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHAUCER, NO. VI.