Chapter C: P. G

_Oasis._--Can any correspondent inform me of the correct quantity of the second syllable of this word? In Smith's _Geographical Dictionary_ it is marked long, while Andrews' _Lexicon_ gives it {411} short, neither of them giving any reason for their respective quantities.

T.

_Book Reviews, their Origin._--Dodsley published in 1741 _The Public Register, or the Weekly Magazine_. Under the head of "Records of Literature," he undertook to give a compendious account of "whatever works are published either at home or abroad worthy the attention of the public." Was this _small_ beginning the origin of our innumerable reviews?

W. CRAMP

_Martyr of Collet Well._--One James Martyr, in 1790, bought of George Lake the seat called Collet Well, in the parish of Otford. Can any reader of "N. & Q." tell from what family this Martyr sprang, and what their armorial bearings are?

Q. M. S.

_Black as a Mourning Colour._--Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me when black was first known in England, as the colour of mourning robes? We read in _Hamlet_:

"'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
That can denote me truly."

W. W.

Malta.

_The Word "Mardel," or "Mardle," whence derived?_--It is in common use in the east of Norfolk in the sense of _to gossip_, thus "He would _mardel_ there all day long," meaning, waste his time in gossiping.

J. L. SISSON.

_Analogy between the Genitive and Plural._--In a note by Rev. J. Bandinel, in Mr. Christmas' edition of Pegge's _Anecdotes of the English Language_, 1844, the question is asked at p. 167.:

"Why is there such an analogy, in many languages, between the
genitive and the plural? In Greek, in Latin, in English, and
German, it is so. What is the cause of this?"

Can you point me to any work where this hint has been carried out?

H. T. G.

Hull.

_Ballina Castle._--Where can I see a view of Ballina Castle, in the county of Mayo? and what is the best historical and descriptive account of that county, or of the town of Castlebar, or other places in the county?

O. L. R. G.

_Henry I.'s Tomb._--Lyttleton, in his _History of England_, quoting from an author whose name I forget, states that no monument was ever erected to the memory of this king in Reading Abbey. Man, on the contrary, in his _History of Reading_, without quoting his authority, states that a splendid monument was erected with recumbent figures of Henry and Adelais, his second wife; which was destroyed by the mistaken zeal of the populace during the Reformation.

Which of these statements is the true one? And if Man's be, on what authority is it probably founded?

PEMBROKIENSIS.

_"For man proposes, but God disposes."_--This celebrated saying is in book i. ch. xix. of the English translation of _De Imitatione Christi_, of which Hallam says more editions have been published than of any other book except the Bible.--Can any of your correspondents tell me whether the saying originated with the author, Thomas A. Kempis?

A. B. C.

_Garrick Street, May Fair._--In Hertford Street, May Fair, there is fixed in the wall of a house (No. 15.) a square stone on which is inscribed:

"Garrick Street, January 15, 1764."

I shall be glad to know the circumstances connected with this inscription, which is not in any way alluded to in the works descriptive of London to which I have referred.