Chapter M: W. B

"_Brallaghan, or the Deipnosophists._"--Edward Kenealey, Esq., reprinted under the above sonorous title (London: E. Churton, 1845) some amusing contributions of his to _Fraser_ and other Magazines. At pp. 94. and 97. he gives us, however, the "Uxor non est ducenda" and the "Uxor est ducenda" of the celebrated Walter Haddon; and that too without the slightest intimation that he himself was not their author. It is not, I think, fair for any man thus to shine in borrowed plumes, or at least transcribe verbatim, and without acknowledgment, from a writer so little known and old-fashioned as Haddon. Let me therefore give the reference, for the benefit of the curious: _D. Gualteri Haddoni Poemata_, pp. 70-3. Londini, 1567, 4to.

RT.

_Stilts used by the Irish._--We have all heard of the use of stilts by the shepherds of the Landes; but I have met with _only one_ passage which speaks of their use in Ireland. I have crossed rivers, both in Scotland and in Ireland, on stilts, when the water was not deep, and have seen them kept instead of a ferryboat, when there was no bridge, but do not think they are in common use at the present day. The passage in question is quoted in Ledwich's _Antiquities_, p. 300.:

"I had almost forgotten to notice a very remarkable particular recorded
by Strada (Strada, _Belg._, 1. viii. p. 404., Borlase's Reduction,
132.). He tells us that Sir Wm. Pelham, who had been Lord Justice of
Ireland, led into the Low Countries in 1586 fourteen hundred wild
Irish, clad only below the navel, and mounted on _stilts_, which they
used in passing rivers: they were armed with bows and arrows. Having
never met with this use of stilts among any other people, it seemed a
matter of curiosity to notice it here."

EIRIONNACH.

* * * * *

Queries.

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "DEVIL."

What is the etymology of the word _devil_? This may appear an unnecessary question, since we have a regular chain of etyma, [Greek: diabolos,] _diabolus_, _diavolo_, _devil_. But it is the first of this chain that puzzles me. I am aware that it is considered a translation of [Hebrew: SAT`AN], and is derived usually from [Greek: diaballein], _calumniare_. But [Hebrew: SAT`AN] means _adversarius_, consequently the rendering would not be accurate. As the word in classical writers always means a false accuser, and never a supernatural agent of evil, I doubt the correctness of the usual derivations in the case of ecclesiastical usage; and am inclined to consider it one of the oriental words, in a Hellenistic dress, with which the Septuagint and Greek Testament are replete. Mr. Borrow, in _Lavengro_, instances as a reason for believing that divine and devilish were originally the same words, the similarity of the gypsy word _Un-debel_, God, and our word _devil_. Struck with this remark, on consideration of the subject, I perceived that there were several other coincidences of the same kind, as follows:--The Greek [Greek: daimôn] means either a good or bad spirit of superhuman power. The Zend word _afrîtî_, "blessed," corresponds to the Arabic _afrît_, "a rebellious angel." The Latin _divus_, "a god," (and of course [Greek: Dios], with all its variations,) belongs to the same family as the Persian _dîv_, "a wizard or demon;" while the _jin_ or _jan_ of the _Arabian Nights_ answer to the forms _Zan_, _Zêna_, _Zeus_, _Janus_, _Djana_ or _Diana_. All words denoting deified power, and employed by the inhabitants of Greece and Umbria.

These singular resemblances may prove that fetish worship was more widely spread than is generally believed, and I think justify my doubts as to the etymology of the word in question.

RICHARD F. LITTLEDALE.

Dublin.

* * * * *

FORGED PAPAL SEAL.

An old seal was discovered some years ago by accident in the ruins of an abbey in the south of Ireland, of which the followings is a description. The workmanship is rude, the material a species of bronze. The impression consists of a circle of raised spots: on either side are two venerable human faces, both bearded; there is a rude cross between them. Above them are the letters--

"S - P - A - S - P - E."

{509} These are supposed to stand for "St. Paul" and "St. Peter." It is said that this seal was used for the purpose of affixing an impression to an instrument which pretended to be a Papal Bull: in fact, that it was used for forging Pope's Bulls. One of the objects of such forgeries (if they really occurred) would be, to grant dispensations for marriages on account of consanguinity. Some noble families in Ireland had very ancient Papal dispensations of this nature. It would often be convenient that extraordinary despatch should be used in obtaining a dispensation.

Can any of your correspondents compare the seals on those dispensations with the above, or throw any light on the practice of dispensing with the ecclesiastical law against consanguineous marriages?

H. F. H.

Wexford.

* * * * *

A PASSAGE IN "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL."

Will MR. SINGER favour me with the information where the proposed emendation, referred to by him in "N. & Q.," Vol. v., p. 436., in _All's Well that ends Well_, _infinite cunning_ for "insuite comming," of the folio 1623, is to be met with? If it be in the _Athenæum_ it has escaped my observation, although I have turned over the pages of that able periodical carefully to find it. I have a particular reason for wishing to trace the suggestion, if I can, to the source where it originated. Owing to an accident, which it is needless to explain, the number of "N. & Q." containing MR. SINGER'S communication did not meet my eye until this morning.

J. PAYNE COLLIER.

May 22. 1852.

* * * * *

SURNAMES.

I have to thank many of your readers who have favoured me with private letters on this subject since the printing of the prospectus of my _Dictionary of Surnames_ in your columns; and before troubling you with a string of Queries, I would briefly refer to two or three points in the kind communications under this head in "N. & Q." of May 1. E. H. Y. will find the question, _sur_name or _sir_name, slightly touched upon in my _English Surnames_ (3rd edit., vol. i. p. 13.), and argued at length in the _Literary Gazette_ for Nov. 1842, in a correspondence originating out of a notice of the first edition of my book. I think the balance of evidence is in favour of _sur_name; that is, a name superadded to the personal or baptismal appellation, which applies with equal propriety to the sobriquets given to monarchs and distinguished men, and to the hereditary designations of people of humble rank. Alexander _Mitchell_, your groom, is no other than Alexander the Great; and Bill _Rowse_, your errand-boy, is the namesake of the Red King who fell in the New Forest; the only difference being, that the plebeians inherit their second name from their ancestors, while the magnates enjoy theirs by exclusive right. I do not think, therefore, that the distinction contended for by E. H. Y. is either necessary or desirable: indeed I consider _sire_name as a mere play upon a mis-spelt word. In saying this, I would by no means disparage your excellent correspondent, whose communications I always read with pleasure I might add, that the distinction of "nomen patris additum proprio," _sire_name, and "nomen supra nomen additum," surname, is by no means new.

I cannot quite agree with E. S.'s suggestion as to the desirableness of omitting the names derived from Christian names, this being one of the most interesting branches of my inquiry. I have already shown that from ten to thirty family names are occasionally found to proceed from _one_ baptismal appellation; and at least half a dozen of the names to which E. S. calls my attention for explanation are so derived. To the termination _-cock_, occurring in so many names, I have already given attention, and the result may be seen in _Eng. Surn._, vol. i. pp. 160. to 165., both inclusive.

To the surnames derived from extinct or provincial words designating employments, I am paying considerable attention; but although I am tolerably well acquainted with our mediæval writers, and their glossarists, there are many names ending in _er_ (generally having in old records the prefix _le_), which have hitherto baffled my etymological skill.

W. L.'s remarks support the statements made in _Eng. Surn._, vol. i., p. 38. _et seq._, to show that family names have scarcely become hereditary, in some parts of England, even now, in the middle of the nineteenth century. Without occupying your valuable space unduly, I would now submit the following Queries:--

1. What book gives any rational account of the origin of the Scottish clans, and their distinctive or family names? I know Buchanan's work, but it gives very little information of the kind desired. _Any_ authentic particulars regarding Scottish names will be acceptable.

2. What is the real meaning of _worth_, which forms the final syllable of so many surnames? I have seen no less than six explanations of it, which cannot all be correct.

3. Are there any works (besides dictionaries) in the Dutch, German, and Scandinavian languages which would throw light upon the family names of this country?

4. What is the best compendious gazetteer or topographical dictionary of Normandy extant?

5. Is anything known of a collection of surnames made by Mr. Cole, the antiquary, in the last century? It is mentioned in Collet's _Relics of Literature_, 1823. {510}

6. Can any reader of "N. & Q." explain the following surnames, which are principally to be found so early as the reign of Edward I.?--Alfox, Colfox, Astor, Fricher, Grix, Biber, Bakepuz, Le Chalouner, Le Cayser, Le Cacherel, Trelfer, Metcalfe, Baird, Aird, Chagge, Le Carun, at Bight.

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

Lewes.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Owen, Bishop of St. Asaph._--To what family belonged John Owen, Bishop of St. Asaph, mentioned in Winkle's _Cathedrals_ with so much honour? His father Owen Owen was Archdeacon of Anglesea, rector of Burton Latymer. I cannot find either name in the printed pedigrees of the various families of Owen, nor in such of the Harl. MSS. as I had time to examine. Wanted, the bishop's arms and crest, and any reference to his pedigree. It is said by Winkle that his monument is under the episcopal throne in St. Asaph's cathedral. He died 1651, and his father 1592.

URSULA.

_St. Wilfrid's Needle in Yorkshire_,--"where they used to try maids, whether they were honest." (_Burton._) Does this stone exist? "Ancient writers do not mention," says Lingard, "Stonehenge, Abury, &c., as appendages to _places of worship_ among the Celtæ," therefore may it not be that these remains of antiquity were devoted to vain superstitions of the ignorant people, if not to gloomy rites of the officiating priests of the British Druids? The gigantic obelisks of single stones, called the "Devil's Arrows," near Boroughbridge, and the assemblage of rocks called Bramham Crags, a few miles north-west of Ripon, are considered to have been Druidical. Is St. Wilfrid's either of these? and can farther information about this rock be afforded?

B. B.

_Governor of St. Christopher in 1662._--Will any one be so kind as to inform me who was the governor of the island of St. Christopher in the year 1662? I have an original, but unsigned letter, from him to the contemporary Dutch governor of St. Martin's, demanding reparation for an outrage of most extraordinary nature. He complains that the Dutch had seized and _reduced to slavery_ the crew and passengers of an English ship during a time of peace. Is anything known of this affair, or is there any means of discovering the names of the colonial governors of that age? The letter is dated Sept. 1, 1662, and is endorsed, "A Coppie of my letter to the Gov. of St. Martin's."

URSULA.

_The Amber Witch._--I am anxious to learn whether this be a pure fiction or a genuine document dressed up. Its strongest appearance of authenticity arises from the tedious pedantry of the ancient Lutheran pastor, its supposed author, which not only renders the perusal heavy, but also lets in various things unsuited to the decorum of modern manners. If a pure forgery, my inquiry extends to _the motives_ of a fabrication, tedious to both reader and writer.

A. N.

_Coffins for General Use._--In the parish church of Easingwold, Yorkshire, there was within the last few years an old _oaken shell_ or _coffin_, asserted to have been used by the inhabitants for the interment of their dead. After the burial, the coffin was again deposited in the church. Are there any other well-authenticated instances of a similar usage? And do the words of the rubric in the Order for "the Burial of the Dead," "When they come to the grave, while the corpse is _made ready to be laid_ INTO _the earth_," render it probable that such a custom was generally prevalent in the Anglican church _since_ the Reformation?

I have met with one corroborative circumstance, in which numbers of bodies were disinterred in a piece of ground _supposed_ to have been consecrated, and not a vestige of a coffin was found.

INCOGNITUS.

_The Surname Bywater._--Can any of your correspondents furnish me with particulars relating to the surname "_Bywater_?"

The earliest period from which I can trace it _direct_ to the present day, and then only by family tradition, is about the close of the seventeenth century, or say 1680, about which time "---- Bywater" married Miss Witham, and resided at Towton Hall, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, a place celebrated as being the field of a battle fought between the York and Lancaster forces on Palm Sunday, 1461.

Stow mentions, in his _Survey_, that "_John Bywater_" was a Sheriff of London in 1424.

Perhaps some of your readers, in Yorkshire or elsewhere, can throw a light on the subject, or can refer me to a book or MS. where information may be obtained?

W. M. B.

_Robert Forbes._--I should be glad if any of your correspondents could furnish me with any particulars relative to this talented and eccentric individual. He was the author of _The Dominie Deposed_, in the Buchan dialect. On the title-page of that piece he is described as "Robert Forbes, A.M., Schoolmaster of Peterculter," near Aberdeen. On application, however, to the Session Clerk of Peterculter, that functionary states that no such person was ever schoolmaster of that parish. Be this as it may, Forbes was obliged to leave Scotland on account of an intrigue, which he has humorously described in his _Dominie Deposed_. He appears to have removed to London, where he commenced the business of a hosier, in a shop on Tower Hill, at the sign of the "Book." Here he composed that {511} celebrated travestie on the _Speech of Ajax to the Grecian Chiefs_, also in the Buchan dialect:

"The wight an' doughty captains a',
Upo' their doups sat down;
A rangel o' the commoun fouk
In bourachs a' stood roun."

I think Forbes states that his place of business on Tower Hill was "hard by the shop of Robbie Mill." (See Chalmers' _Life of Ruddiman_.) Forbes is supposed to have died about the year 1750.

HYPADIDASCULUS.

_Gold Chair found in Jersey._--I find in Lowndes' _Bibliographer's Manual_ the following:

"The most wonderfull and strange Finding of a Chayre of Gold, neare the
Isle of Iarsie, with the true Discourse of the Death of eight seuerall
Men: and other most rare Accidents thereby proceeding. London, 1595,
4to. 14 pages, including not only the title-page, but a blank leaf
before it, as was frequent about this time."

Can any one inform me where I can obtain a sight of this tract? I have searched the multivoluminous catalogue of the British Museum, that of the Bodleian, Grenville, Douce, and other collections, but in vain; and can find no trace of it anywhere.

R. P. M.

_Alteration in Oxford Edition of the Bible._--In the stereotype edition of the Bible, in 8vo., printed at Cambridge, for the British and Foreign Bible Society, I find the word _Judah_, 2 Chron. xxi. 2., substituted for _Israel_. This latter word is the reading of every copy of the authorized English version that I have been able to consult, including the 12mo. edition printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society at Oxford.

No doubt _Judah_ is the right word in this passage. The context requires it; and it is the reading of forty Hebrew MSS., and of all the ancient versions, except the Chaldee. It is also the reading of the old English version by Coverdale. But it has not been adopted by King James's translators. How has this deviation from their text crept into an edition emanating from a University press?

JEROME.

_When did Sir Gilbert Gerrard die?_--A warrant was issued on the 1st of July, 1594, to the Lord Treasurer and Sir John Fortescue (see Burghley's _Diary_) "to inquire what profits had been taken for the office of the Rolls _betwixt the time of the death of Sir Gilbert Gerrard and the entry of Sir Thomas Egerton_." Now Sir Thomas Egerton entered on the 10th of April, 1594, and I have reason to believe that the office had been vacant for about a year. But I can find no notice of Sir Gilbert's death. He was a member of Gray's Inn; admitted in 1537, barrister 1539, ancient 1547, reader 1554, serjeant 1558, attorney-general 1559, Master of the Rolls 1581; and during the interval between the death of Lord Chancellor Hatton (Nov. 22, 1591) and the appointment of Lord Keeper Puckering (May 28, 1592) one of the commissioners for hearing causes in chancery.

JAMES SPEDDING.

_Market Crosses._--Have these interesting crosses occupied the attention of any one? Is there any work exclusively upon them? When was the old Market Cross, at Bury St. Edmunds, taken down? Is there any view of it extant, and where is it to be seen? What is the meaning of the passage from Gage's valuable _History of Thingoe Hundred_, page 205.:

"Henry Gage, &c., _married at the Market Cross_, in the parish of St.
James, St. Edmund's-bury, 11th February, 1655."

Was any religious edifice standing on this spot at that period?

C. G.

Paddington.

_Spy Wednesday._--I observed the other day, under the Spanish News in _The Times_ of Wednesday, the 14th April, 1852, the following paragraph:

"It being _Spy Wednesday_, the Bourse remained closed."

Can any correspondent inform me the meaning of "Spy Wednesday," it being a term I have never yet heard so applied?

JOHN NURSE CHADWICK.

King's Lyn.

PASSEMER'S "ANTIQUITIES OF DEVONSHIRE."--In Bagford's MS. Collections on Writing, Printing, &c., in the British Museum (_Ayscough's Cat._, No. 885.), at fo. 102., among writers on Devonshire appears the following:

"Id. Ye antiquitates of ye same countey is collected out of ye antient
bookes belonging to ye Bishopprick of Exeter, by one Mr. George
Passemer, vicar of Awliscombe, in ye said countey."

Can either of your correspondents state whether Mr. Passemer's work is known to be in existence?

J. D. S.

_Will O' Wisp._--Notwithstanding the steam-engine may be said to have done almost as much towards destroying the gaseous exhalations of our bog-lands by the means of drainage, as it has done towards the amelioration of the stagnant moors and intellectual morasses of society, it can hardly have dispelled every _Ignis Fatuus_ from every quagmire, any more than it has even yet chased the ignorance from every dull head. The object of this communication is to ask for the names of a few specific localities where that noted misleader of the benighted--_Will O' Wisp_--still continues to manifest his presence?

D.

_Mother of Richard Fitzjohn._--Can any of your readers inform me who was _the mother_ of Richard {512} Fitzjohn, Lord Fitzjohn, who was summoned to parliament in 23 Edward I., and died two years after in France? He was the son of John Fitzjohn Fitzgeoffrey, who died near Guildford in 1258, and who was the son and heir of John Fitzgeoffrey, Justiciary of Ireland in 1246. His mother's name is not mentioned in any authorities I have been able to consult, and I should feel particularly obliged by any one communicating to me _his mother's name_, and also his _maternal grandmother's name_, if they have ever been ascertained.

TEWARS.

_Quotations wanted._--Can any of your numerous correspondents oblige me with the information as to where the following may be found:

"The difficult passages they shun,
And hold their farthing rushlight to the sun."

Again, this:

"And like unholy men
Quote scripture for the deed."

Again, this: The entire epigram said to have been made by Porson on a Fellow of his college, who habitually pronounced Euphr_[)a]_tes (short) instead of Euphr[=a]tes. The only words I remember--it is now near thirty years since I heard it--are

"Et corripuit fluxeum;"

and Jekyll, the celebrated wit, rendered the epigram into English, and part of it thus:

"He abridged the river."

H. M.

_Sons of the Conqueror--William Rufus and Walter Tyrell._--Sir N. W. Wraxall (_Posthumous Memoirs_, vol. i., p. 425.) says of the Duke of Dorset:

"His only son perished at twenty-one in an Irish foxchase: a mode of
dying not the most glorious or distinguished, though two sons of
William the Conqueror, one of whom was a King of England, terminated
their lives in a similar occupation."

Who are these _two_ sons? William Rufus would be one of them; but who is the other? And whilst I am on this subject, I would inquire, _on what authority_ does the commonly received story of William II.'s death by the hand of Sir Walter Tyrrell rest?

TEWARS.

_Brass of Lady Gore._--Moody, in his _Sketches of Hampshire_, states that there is a brass of an _Abbess_, 1434, Lady Gore by name, in the church of Nether Wallop. But in the _Oxford Manual_ it is stated (Introduction, p. xxxix.) that only two brasses of Abbesses are known, one at Elstow, Beds, to Elizabeth Hervey, and the other at Denham, Bucks, to Agnes Jordan, Abbess of Syon, both _c._ 1530. Which is correct of these two authorities?

UNICORN.

* * * * *

Minor Queries Answered.

_Smyth's MSS. relating to Gloucestershire._--In Rudder's _History of Gloucestershire_, title "Nibley," p. 575., is the following passage:

"John Smyth, of Nibley, ancestor to the present proprietor, was very
eminent for his great assiduity in collecting every kind of information
respecting this county and its inhabitants. He wrote the Genealogical
History of the Berkeley Family, in three folio MSS., which Sir William
Dugdale abridged and published in his _Baronage of England_. In three
other folio MSS. he has registered with great exactness _the names of
the lords of manors in the county in the year 1608_, _the number of men
in each parish able to bear arms, with their names, age, stature,
professions, armour, and weapons_. _The sums each landholder paid to
subsidies granted in a certain year_ are set down in another MS. He
likewise committed to writing a very particular account of the customs
of the several manors in the hundred of Berkeley, and _the pedigrees of
their respective lords_. These and some other MSS., which cost him
forty years in compiling, are now (1779) in the possession of Nicholas
Smyth, Esq., the fifth from him in lineal descent."

I shall feel much obliged to any of your readers who will inform me where these MSS., or any of them, may now be seen. Those that I particularly want to inspect are printed in Italics in the above quotation.

JULIUS PARTRIGE.

Birmingham.

[Atkyns, in his _Gloucestershire_, p. 579., states that Smythe's MSS.
were at the time he wrote, A.D. 1712, in the custody of his
great-grandson, Sir George Smith, who generously communicated them to
all that desired a perusal of them. Fosbrooke, however, in the preface
to his _History of Gloucestershire_, published in 1807, speaks of them
as being in the possession of the Earl of Berkeley. He says, "Of the
noblemen and gentlemen who honoured me with support and information,
the Earl of Berkeley's permission to use Mr. Smythe's MSS. in every
important extent has been of essential service." Fosbrooke subsequently
published, in 1821, a quarto volume of _Abstracts and Extracts of
Smythe's Lives of the Berkeleys_ from these manuscripts.]

_Origin of Terms in Change-ringing._--I shall be obliged by any one informing me as to the origin and derivation of the terms "plain bob," "grandsire bob," "single bob minor," "grandsire treble," "caters," "cinques," _et hoc genus omne_, so well known to campanologists.

ALFRED GATTY.

[Our correspondent may probably get some clue to the derivation of
these terms in a work entitled _Campanologia Improved; or the Art of
Ringing made Easy_, third edition, 12mo. 1733. We may also mention,
that some Notes of Dedications of Churches and Bells in the Diocese of
Gloucester will be found in the British Museum, Add. MSS. 5836. f. 189
b.]

_Keseph's Bible._--About the year 1828, there was issued a thin duodecimo pamphlet by some one who took the cognomen of Keseph, and who {513} proposed to publish an edition of the authorised version under the title of "Keseph's Bible," with the substitution of the Hebrew terms _Alehim_, _Aleh_, _Al_, _Adon_, _Adonai_, &c. &c. for our English ones _God_, _Lord_, &c. &c.

Can any of your readers inform me if this was ever published? and can they also favour me with the loan of the pamphlet for a month?

THE EDITOR OF THE "CHRONOLOGICAL NEW TESTAMENT."

36. Trinity Square, Southwark.

[This Bible was published in 1830, as far as chap. xix. of the Second
Book of Kings, with the following title: _The Holy Bible, according to
the Established Version: with the Exception of the Substitution of the
Original Hebrew Names, in place of the English Words, Lord and God, and
of a few corrections thereby rendered necessary. With Notes._ London:
Westley and Davis, 4to. It contains a Preface of four pages, and a list
of the Meaning or Signification of the Sacred Names substituted in this
edition, of nine pages. A copy of it is in the British Museum, the
press mark 1276 h.]

_Proclamations to prohibit the Use of Coal, as Fuel, in London._--Dr. Bachoffner, in the lecture which he is now delivering at the Royal Polytechnic Institution, mentions the fact that three separate proclamations were issued for this purpose, and that it was at last made a capital offence; and a man was actually accused, tried, condemned, and executed for burning coal within the metropolis. Now what I want to ascertain relative to the above facts, is: 1. The date of each; 2. Any particulars that you or any of your correspondents may be kind enough to furnish; 3. The name, and station, trade, or profession of the person so executed.

As Dr. Bachoffner has now often reiterated the above statement at the Polytechnic, and as it has always been received (at least when I have been there) with acclamations of surprise, I have no doubt that the particulars will interest many of your readers.

ARTHUR C. WILSON.

[We have not been able to find any account of the execution for burning
coal noticed by Dr. Bachoffner, which probably took place during the
reign of Edward I., when the use of coal was prohibited by proclamation
at London in the year 1306. These proclamations are noticed in Prynne's
_Animadversions on the Fourth Part of Sir Edward Coke's Institutes_, p.
182., where it is said, that "in the latter part of the reign of Edward
I., when brewers, dyers, and other artificers using great fires, began
to use sea-coals instead of dry wood and charcoal, in and near the city
of London, the prelates, nobles, commons, and other people of the
realm, resorting thither to parliaments, and upon other occasions, with
the inhabitants of the city, Southwark, Wapping, and East Smithfield,
complained thereof twice one after another to the king as a public
nuisance, corrupting the air with its stink and smoke, to the great
prejudice and detriment of their health. Whereupon the king first
prohibited the burning of sea-coal by his proclamation; which being
disobeyed by many for their private lucre, the king upon their second
complaint issued a commission of Oyer and Terminer to inquire of all
such who burned sea-coals against his proclamation within the city, or
parts adjoining to it, and to punish them for their first offence by
great fines and ransoms; and for the second offence to demolish their
furnaces, kilns wherein they burnt sea-coals, and to see his
proclamation strictly observed for times to come, as the Record of 35
Edw. I. informs us." On this subject our correspondent should consult
Edington's _Treatise on the Coal Trade_; Ralph Gardiner's _England's
Grievance discovered in Relation to the Coal Trade_; and Anderson's
_Origin of Commerce_.]

* * * * *

Replies.

ADDISON AND HIS HYMNS.

(Vol. v., p. 439.)

Any attempt to divorce Addison from his hymns in the _Spectator_, and to ascribe them to any other writer, is so great a wrench to the feelings of a sexagenarian like myself, that the question must at once be set at rest.

In reply to J. G. F.'s inquiry, these hymns, or a portion of them, were claimed for Andrew Marvell by Captain Edward Thompson, the editor of Marvell's works; but a writer in Kippis's edition of the _Biographia Britannica_ remarks:

"We shall content ourselves with observing, that any man who can
suppose that the ease, eloquence, and harmony of the ode, 'The Spacious
Firmament,' &c., could flow from Marvell's pen, must be very deficient
in taste and judgment."

This claim on Captain Thompson's part was to have been considered under the article "Marvell," but the second edition of the _Biographia_ did not, as we well know, extend beyond the letter F.

But though we cannot concede these hymns to Marvell, he must not be underrated. His downright honesty of character and purpose must ever excite respect. His biographer strangely introduces him to us as "A witty droll in the seventeenth century, the son of a facetious gentleman at Hull." In one respect he resembled our gifted essayist; his style in prose was so captivating that we are told

"From the King down to the Tradesman, his _Rehearsal Transposed_ was
read with great pleasure; he had all the men of wit on his side."

To return to the hymns and the just claims of Addison to the whole of them.

In the _Spectator_, No. 453., Addison says,

"I have _already_ communicated to the public some pieces of divine
poetry, and as they have met with a very favourable reception, _I shall
from time to time publish any work of the same nature which has not yet
appeared in print_, and may be acceptable to my readers."

Then follows the hymn "When all Thy Mercies," &c. Coming from such a man as Addison, this {514} must be considered as pretty strong evidence of authorship.

In the _Spectator_, No. 441., when introducing the hymn "The Lord my Pasture," &c., Addison observes--

"As the poetry of the original is very exquisite, I shall present my
readers with the following translation of it."

With respect to this composition Bishop Hurd remarks, that Addison's

"True judgment suggested to him that what he drew from Scripture was
best preserved in a pure and simple expression, and the fervour of his
piety made that simplicity pathetic."

No doubt seems to have crossed the Bishop's mind as to the authorship. Sometimes Addison thought fit to throw a little mystery over these hymns. In _Spectator_, No. 489., after alluding to Psalm cvii. v. 23., "They that go down to the sea," &c. (which Addison says gives a description of a ship in a storm, preferable to any other that he has met with), he subjoins his "divine Ode made by a _Gentleman_ on the conclusion of his travels," "How are Thy servants blest," &c.

The verses 4 to 8 are said to refer to the storm which Allison himself encountered on the Mediterranean, after he embarked at Marseilles in 1700.

The hymn "When rising from the bed of death," _Spectator_, No. 513, "a thought in sickness," is contained in a supposed letter from a _Clergyman_, viz. one of the club, "who assist me in my speculations."

Tickell, in his exquisite elegy, so worthy of its subject, when asking,

"What new employments please the unbody'd mind?"

adds,

"Or mixed with milder cherubim to glow,
In _hymns of love, not ill essayed below_."

Were not the very hymns which we are speaking of in Tickell's mind?

Addison's piety, we may well gather from his writings, was, as Mr. Macaulay observes, of a cheerful character. The feeling which predominates in all his devotional papers, is that of gratitude; do we not find it also strikingly developed in his hymns? We all remember the beautiful lines,

"Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ,
Nor is the least a cheerful heart,
That tastes those gifts with joy."

Let Bishop Ken and Addison retain their divine hymns--dear as they are, and let us hope ever will be, to man, woman, and child--whilst the English language is read or spoken. How greatly is their sublimity heightened, and their beauty enhanced, when we associate with them the purity of character and the assemblage of virtues which distinguished their excellent authors!

J. H. MARKLAND.

* * * * *

WITCHCRAFT--MRS. HICKES AND HER DAUGHTER.

(Vol. v., p. 394.)

The particulars your correspondent asks for have not been furnished; but on what authority, _to move the previous question_, does the alleged fact of such a trial and execution at Huntingdon in 1716 for witchcraft, stated by Mr. Wills, and adopted by the _Quarterly Rev._, rest? Mr. Wills (_Sir Roger de Coverley_, Notes, p. 126.) mentions also the execution of two women at Northampton for witchcraft just before the _Spectator_ began to be published (March 1, 1710-11), but gives no reference to any original source to support his statement. On the other hand, Hutchinson, the first edition of whose _Essay concerning Witchcraft_ was published in 1718, and the second in 1720, who gives a chronological table of facts, informs us that the last execution in England for witchcraft was that at Exeter of Susan Edwards, Mary Trembles, and Temperance Lloyd in 1682 (vid. _Essay_, p. 41., 1st edit.). He was too painstaking a writer to be in ignorance of cases which had occurred so recently; and he had the assistance, in collecting his materials, of the two chief justices Parker and King, and Chief Baron Bury, to whom the work is dedicated. Through their means he must have been informed of what had taken place on the circuits, if any cases of witchcraft on which convictions had arisen had actually come before the judges. When it is remembered what attention was directed to the trial of Jane Wenham in 1712, who, though condemned, was not executed, and on whose case a great number of pamphlets were written, it can scarcely be supposed that in four years after two persons, one only nine years old (I take the account in Mackay's _Popular Delusions_, vol. iii.), should have been tried and executed for witchcraft without public attention being called to the circumstance. I may add that in the _Historical Register_ for 1716, which notices in the domestic occurrences all trials of interest, there is no mention of such a case; and that in two London newspapers for 1716, which I have in a complete series, though enumerating other convictions on the circuit, I have equally searched without success. As it is a matter of considerable historical interest to ascertain accurately when the last execution for witchcraft took place in England, I should be glad if any of your correspondents would refer me to the authority on which the statements of the trials circ. 1710 and in 1716 are founded. Mr. Wright, I observe, does not notice them, and his words are--

"The case of Jane Wenham is the last instance of a witch being
condemned by the verdict of an English jury."--_Narratives of Sorcery
and Magic_, vol. ii. p. 326.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

{515}

* * * * *

DODO QUERIES.

(Vol. i., p. 261.)

In answer to MR. STRICKLAND'S third Query, I beg to inform him that among the original authors who speak of the Dodo as a living bird, Johan Nieuhof merits a place. His work is entitled:

"Johan Nieuhofs gedenkweerdige Brasiliaense zee en Lantreize,
behelsende alhetgeen op dezelve is voorgevallen: beneffens een bondige
beschrijving van gantsch Neerlants Brasil, zoo van lantschappen,
steden, dieren, gewassen, als draghten, zeden en godsdienst der
inwoonders; en insonderheit, een wijtloopig verhael der merkwaardigste
voorvallen en geschiedenissen, die zich, geduurende zijn negenjarigh
verblijf in Brasil, in d'oorlogen en opstant der Portugesen, tegen
d'onzen, zich sedert het jaer 1640-1649 hebben toegedragen. Doorgaens
verciert met verscheide afbeeldingen, na't leven aldaer getekent. Te
Amsterdam, voor de Weduwe van Jacob van Meurs, op de Keizersgracht,
anno 1682."

This work, although published in six languages, and several times reprinted, adorned with a hundred exquisite engravings, and portrait of the author, seems to be no longer generally known. It was dedicated to Nikolaes Witsen, burgomaster and councillor of Amsterdam; and the licence granted to Jacob van Meurs, the 14th Dec. 1671, by the states of Hollandt en Westvrieslandt, is signed "Johan de Wit."

The copy in my possession consists of two parts in folio, bound together in parchment, furnished with two indexes, which however do not mention all the volume contains, for we look in vain for the name _Dodaers_, _Dodo_, or _Dronte_ in the indexes; and yet we find in the second part, p. 282., a well-executed representation of this bird, and on the following page we read:

"_Dronte of Dodaers._

"Op het eilant Mauritius inzonderheit, houdt zeker vogel van een
wonderlijke gestalte, Dronte, en by d'onzen Dodaers genoemt. Hy is van
groote tusschen een vogel-struis en Indische Hoen; en verschilt in
gestalte, en komt ten deele daer mee over-een, ten aenzien van de
veeren, pluimen en staert. Hy heeft een groot en wanstaltigh hooft met
een vel bedekt, en verbeelt dat van een koekoek: d'oogen zijn groot en
zwart: de hals krom, vet, en steekt voor uit. De bek is boven mate
lang, sterk en blaeuwachtigh wit: behalve d'einden: waer van d'onderste
zwartachtigh, een bovenste geelachtig zijn, en beide spits en krom. Hy
spert den bek leelijk en zeer wijt open, is ront en vet van lijf, dat
met zachte en graeuwe pluimen, als die van den struisvogel, bedekt is.
De buik en aers is dik, die byna op d'aerde hangt: waerom, en van wegen
hunnen loomen gang, deez vogel Dodaers by d'onzen genoemt wort. Aen
beide zijden zitten eenige kleine pluymige pennen, in plaetse van
vleugels, uit den gelen witachtigh, en achter aen den stuit, in plaetse
van de steert, vijf gekrulde penne-veeren van een zelve kleure. De
beenen zijn geelachtigh en dik; maer zeer kort: doch met vier vaste en
lange pooten. Deze vogel is langzaem van gang en dom, en laet zich
lichtelijk vangen. Het vleesch, inzonderheit dat van den borst, is vet
en eetbaer. Hy is zoo zwaer, dat hondert menschen aen drie of vier
Dronten genoegh t'eeten hebben. Het vleesch van d'ouden is, zoo niet
gaer gekookt is, zwaer om te verteeren. Het wort ook ingezouten.
Veelijts hebben zy een grooten en herden steen in de mage, die
holachtigh en evenwel hart is."

Should MR. STRICKLAND wish further information concerning the work of Johan Nieuhof, I shall ever be happy to oblige him.

J. M. VAN MAANEN.

Amsterdam.

[From our Dutch cotemporary, _De Navorscher_, by whom similar replies
have been received from H--G and G. P. ROOS.]

* * * * *

THE HEAVY SHOVE.

(Vol. v., p. 416.)

Like your correspondent MR. CLARK, I too have kept a sharp look-out for this curious piece ascribed to Baxter; but having been unable to track it, I had long since come to the conclusion that its existence was apocryphal.

The Rev. James Graves, in his _Spiritual Quixote_, written to ridicule Moravians and Methodists, notes it "as a very good book of old Baxter's," among several others of questionable identity, forming the library of Geoffrey Wildgoose's grandmother.

When we recollect the temptation offered in the quaint and uncouth titles of the old Presbyterians, we can hardly wonder at their enemies improving upon them; and in this way, it appears to me, we are to account for the respectable name of Baxter being popularly attached to a book which everybody talks about, but which nobody has seen.

It is again mentioned by Richard Cooksey, in his _Life of Lord Somers_, Worcester, 1791, and, taking its existence for granted, the author is astonished that Baxter, whom he extols to the skies, "could so far condescend to the temper and debased humour of the times as to entitle one of his tracts _A Shove_, &c. Commenting upon this, Wilson, in his _History of Dissenting Churches_, London, 1808, is the next who alludes to the book in question, but merely to shift its authorship from "the famous Richard Baxter of Kidderminster" to a more obscure individual of the same name,--described as "an elder (in 1692) of the Particular Baptist congregation worshipping in Winchester House." Of this person he says, "I know nothing excepting that he appears to have been a Fifth Monarchy man, and to have been far gone in enthusiasm."

Although thus doubting that the author of the _Saints' Rest_ wrote such a book as that described, I {516} do not deny that there is a piece bearing the title in existence; but upon it the name of "_William_ Bunyan" figures as the author. A copy of this was in the Theological Portion of the late Mr. Rodd's books, sold by Sotheby & Co. in 1850, and bears the imprint of "London, 1768." This, I am inclined to think, is the only _Shove_ MR. CLARK is likely to meet with; and although I can give no further account of it, I am disposed to consider it the spurious catchpenny of some ignorant scoffer, who, taking his _cue_ from Graves, or rather from some earlier writer who has noticed it, thought it would be a good _spec._, and therefore launched into the world _his_ "_Effectual Shove_."

J. O.

* * * * *

GROUND ICE.

(Vol. v., p. 370.)

Your Querist J. C. E. is informed that the singular phenomenon of the formation of ice in the beds of running rivers has not escaped the notice of scientific observers. M. Arago has devoted a paper to its investigation in the _Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes_ for 1832 or 1833, in which he specifies the rivers in which it has been observed. Indeed, although from its nature it is likely to escape notice, it is probably of not infrequent occurrence. Ireland, in his _Picturesque Views of the Thames_, quoting Dr. Plot, speaks of the subaqueous ice of that river. Colonel Jackson, in the fifth volume of the _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, alludes to its formation in the Neva, in a paper on the congelation of that river; and in the following volume of the same Journal is an article by Mr. Weitz, especially devoted to the ground ice of the rivers of Siberia. More recently, Mr. Eisdale has contributed the result of his researches upon the same subject to the _Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal_, vol. xvii.; and, finally, Dr. Farquharson has made public his observations upon the ground-gru of the rivers Don and Leochal, in Lincolnshire, in the _Philosophical Transactions_ for 1835. There is also an article on the subject in one of the later volumes of the _Penny_ or _Saturday_ Magazines.

That bodies of running, water, the surface of which solidifies when exposed to a diminished temperature, should have a tendency to congelate in their sheltered depths, seems an anomaly which demands inquiry and explanation; and accordingly each of the above-mentioned writers has raised an hypothesis more or less probable, to account for the phenomenon. Dr. Farquharson would attribute it to the radiation of heat from the bottom, as dew is formed by radiation from the surface of the earth; but a consideration of the supervening obstacles to radiation--a body of moving water thickly coated with ice and even snow--destroys the plausibility of his theory. That of Mr. Eisdale, that the frozen _spiculæ_ of the atmosphere falling into the water become _nuclei_, around which the water at the bottom freezes, seems merely frivolous. The explanation of M. Arago is more satisfactory, viz. that the lower currents of water being less rapid in motion than those intermediate, or at the surface, congelation may be expected at a lower temperature (say 32° Fahr.), the process of crystallisation being favoured by the pebbles, fragments of wood, and the uneven surface of the river's bed. After all, however, the phenomenon has been but imperfectly investigated under its various manifestations, and its real cause probably remains yet to be discovered.

WILLIAM BATES.

Birmingham.

For an explanation of this occurrence, I would refer J. C. E. to Whewell's _Astronomy, Bridgewater Treatise_.

UNICORN.

* * * * *

CHARACTER OF ALGERNON SYDNEY.

(Vol. v., pp. 426. 447.)

Your two correspondents C. E. D. (p. 426.) and C. (p. 447.) appear to have read MR. HEPWORTH DIXON'S Query about Algernon Sydney either very hastily or very carelessly. Yet it seems to me plain enough. There is not one word in it about Barillon or Dalrymple; no inquiry about the home life of Sydney. As every one knows a great part of his time was spent abroad, it is probable MR. DIXON thinks that anecdotes and allusions to so conspicuous a person may occur in the cotemporary letters and memoirs of France, Germany, Italy, &c., and he asks for references to any such anecdotes or allusions as may have fallen in the way of readers of "N. & Q." Surely this is explicit. But what has Dalrymple or Mr. Croker to say in answer to a question about Sydney's way of life when abroad? That, as I take it, was the point, and a general discussion as to the character of the author of the _Discourses on Government_ is _à-propos_ of nothing. As the subject has been opened, and as I know of none more interesting in the whole range of English history, I cannot refrain from at least entering one protest against C.'s description of the "illustrious patriot" as a "corrupt traitor of the worst class."

That MR. DIXON is not single in his admiration of the character of Sydney I could quote many "instances," from our late prime minister downwards. But the title "illustrious" can scarcely be denied to a man who, besides being of the best blood in England, played a leading part in the Revolution, and was one of the closest thinkers and most masculine writers our language has to show. What makes a man illustrious? Birth, commanding position, intellect, learning, literary genius? Sydney had them all. But C. thinks {517} he ought not to be called a patriot. What, do his wisdom and moderation in the civil war; his opposition to the extreme measures of Cromwell; his long solitary exile; his glorious death, count for nothing? There is, however, the charge of taking money from the King of France. No doubt this is a very "curious case," and I too shall be anxious to see "what light MR. DIXON may be able to throw on it." The accusation rests on the sole authority of Dalrymple; and Dalrymple is _not_ a man who can be taken on his mere word. He was a violent partisan. He hated the Whigs, and is convicted of having suppressed the truth, when it suited his party or his passions to misrepresent. The Barillon Correspondence should be again examined, and, if possible, further particulars of the money payments to our party leaders obtained.

S. WALTON.

Belgrave Square.

* * * * *

MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AT ANTWERP.

(Vol. v., p. 415.)

Having visited the interesting city of Antwerp in the autumn of 1846, I can answer the Query of your correspondent C. E. D. from personal inspection. The monument to Mary Queen of Scots is still in existence; and consists of a richly ornamented slab, placed at a considerable height from the pavement, against a pillar in (I think) the southern transept of the church of St. Andrew. I was told on the spot that it was erected by two English ladies, but my informant was silent as to the tradition respecting the head. In the centre of the carvings which adorn the upper part of the monument, is inserted a medallion portrait of the beautiful but unfortunate queen; it is extremely well painted, and represents her in that peculiar costume so familiar to those acquainted with her accustomed style of dress. I inclose a copy of the inscription:--

"MARIA STUARTA,
Scot. et Gall. Reg.
Jacob. Magn. Britan. Reg. Mater.
Anno 1568, in. Angl. Refugii causâ descendens.
Cogna. Elisab. ibi regnavit.
Perfidiâ senat. et Hæret. post xix. Captivit. Annos.
Relig. ergo. cap. obtrunc.
Martyrium consumavit. Anno D. N. 1587.
Æta. Regy. 45."

The wood-carvings, with which this church abounds (especially those of the pulpit and its accessories), are marvellous efforts of Art.