Chapter I: Front Matter

{529}

NOTES AND QUERIES:

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

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

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Vol. V.--No. 136.] SATURDAY, JUNE 5. 1852 [Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page

Autobiography of William Oldys, by Charles Bridger 529

On Cosin's "History of Popish Transubstantiation," edited
by the Rev. J. S. Brewer 531

Ancient Guildhalls in England 532

The Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, by Henry Edwards 532

Robert Drury 533

Folk Lore:--Gabriel Hounds--Weather Prophecy--Origin of
Moles--Mistletoe 534

Minor Notes:--Byron's "Siege of Corinth"--Goldsmith's
"Poetical Dictionary"--Corrupted Names 534

QUERIES:--

Mr. Halliwell's Annotated Shakspeare Folio 535

Restive 535

Reason and Understanding according to Coleridge, by
C. Mansfield Ingleby 535

Minor Queries:--Banning or Bayning Family--Ladies styled
Baronets--St. Christopher and the Doree--Custom of
Women wearing Masks in the Theatre--Brass of Abbot
Kirton; Matrices--Lines on Chaucer--The Nacar--Cilgerran
Castle--Use of Slings by the Early Britons--"Squire
Vernon's Fox Chase"--The Death Watch--Genealogical
Queries--Ben Jonson's adopted Sons--Kyrle's Tankard at
Balliol--Irish Language in the West Indies--"Battle of
Neville's Cross"--Sir Walter Raleigh's Ring--"Narne; or,
Pearle of Prayer"--Sir George Howard--"Love me, love my
Dog"--Mummy Wheat--A Photographic Query--"Stunt with
false Care"--Winchester College--Old Royal Irish Academy
House, Grafton Street--Quotations wanted--Shakspeare's
Seal--The long-lived Countess of Desmond 536

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--Temple Church and Lincoln's Inn
Chapel--Edmund Bohun--"Nimrod" 539

REPLIES:--

The Three Estates of the Realm, by William Fraser 539

Burials in Woollen, by John Booker and J. B. Colman 542

Braem's MS. "Memoires touchant le Commerce" 543

General Pardons, by John Gough Nichols 544

The Dodo, by A. D. Bartlett 544

Whipping of Princes by Proxy 545

Replies to Minor Queries:--Penkenol--Johnny Crapaud--Sir
John Darnall--Bastides--Compositions under the
Protectorate--Hoax on Sir Walter Scott--Statute of
Limitations abroad--Lines on Crawfurd of Kilbirnie--
Swearing on a Skull--Rhymes on Places--The Silent
Woman--Serpent with a human Head--Poem on the Burning
of the Houses of Parliament--Large Families--Frebord--
Milton's (?) Epitaph--Can Bishops vacate their Sees?--
Sleekstone, Meaning of--Poems in the Spectator--Line on
Franklin--St. Christopher--Lines on Woman--Burial--
Portrait of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland 545

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, &c. 549

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 550

Notices to Correspondents 550

Advertisements 551

* * * * *

Notes.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM OLDYS.

Previous to receiving the appointment of Norroy King at Arms, Oldys wrote a short account of his own life, which is now in my possession; and as it contains some interesting particulars of his connexion with the Earl of Oxford, in the formation of the magnificent collection of manuscripts now in the British Museum, I have forwarded a copy of it, which you are at liberty to make use of, if suited to the pages of "N. & Q."

"After my unfortunate adventures in the South Sea, my long and
expensive law-suits for the recovery of my right, and five years'
retirement to a nobleman's in the country, with whom I had been
intimate in my youth, I became, in less than two years after my return
to London, first known to the Earl of Oxford in the year 1731; when he
invited me to show him my collections of MSS. Historical and Political,
which had been the Earl of Clarendon's; my collections of Royal
Letters, and other Papers of State; together with a very large
collection of English heads in sculpture, which alone had taken me up
some years to collect, at the expense of at least threescore pounds.
All these, with the catalogues I drew up of them, at his lordship's
request, I parted with to him for forty pounds, and the frequent
intimations he gave me of a more substantial recompense hereafter,
which intimations induced me to continue my historical researches, as
what would render me most acceptable to him. Therefore I left off
writing in the _Universal Spectator_, in which I had then published
about twenty papers, and was proffered the sole supply thereof; which
would have returned me fifty-two guineas per annum.

"Further, when his lordship understood that my printed books consisted
chiefly of personal history, he desired catalogues of them also: which
I drew out, and he had several large parcels of the most scarce and
curious amongst them, in the two years following; for which, though I
never received more than five guineas, not the fourth part of their
value, yet his friendly deportment towards me increased my attachment
and zeal to oblige him. This friendship he further exerted, in the
{530} assistance he afforded me out of his own library, and procured of
his friends, towards completing my _Life of Sir Walter Raleigh_; and
his opinion of the further encouragement I therein deserved may appear
in the letters he honoured me with upon that occasion. But as to money,
the five guineas more he gave me upon my presenting him with the
_Life_, and the _History of the World_ annexed to it, in 1736, was all
that I ever received from him in five years. In the latter end of the
year 1737 I published my _British Librarian_; and when his lordship
understood how unproportionate the advantages it produced were to the
time and labour bestowed upon it, he said he would find me employment
better worth my while. Also, when he heard that I was making interest
with Sir Robert Walpole, through the means of Commissioner Hill, to
present him with an abstract of some ancient deeds I had relating to
his ancestors, and which I have still, his lordship induced me to
decline that application, saying, though he could not do as grand
things as Sir Robert, he would do that which might be as agreeable to
me, if I would disengage myself from all other persons and pursuits. I
had then also had, for several years, some dependence upon a nobleman,
who might have served me in the government, and had, upon certain
motives, settled an annuity upon me of twenty pounds a year. This I
resigned to the said nobleman for an incompetent consideration, and
signed a general release to him, in May, 1738, that I might be wholly
independent, and absolutely at my Lord Oxford's command. I was likewise
then under an engagement with the undertakers of the _Supplement to
Bayle's Dictionary_. I refused to digest the materials I then had for
this work under an hundred pounds a year, till it was finished; but
complied to take forty shillings a sheet for what I should write, at
such intervals as my business would permit: for this clause I was
obliged to insert, in the articles then executed between them and
myself, in March the year aforesaid whereby I reserved myself free for
his lordship's service. And though I proposed, their said offer would
be more profitable to me than my own, yet my lord's employment of me,
from that time, grew so constant, that I never finished above three or
four lives for that work, to the time of his death. All these
advantages did I thus relinquish, and all other dependence, to serve
his lordship. And now was I employed at auctions, sales, and in writing
at home, in transcribing my own collections or others for his lordship,
till the latter part of the year 1739; for which services I received of
him about 150 pounds. In November the same year I first entered his
library of manuscripts, whereunto I came daily, sorted and methodised
his vast collection of letters, to be bound in many volumes; made
abstracts of them, and tables to each volume; besides working at home,
mornings and evenings, for the said library. Then, indeed, his
lordship, considering what beneficial prospects and possessions I had
given up, to serve him, and what communications I voluntarily made to
his library almost every day, by purchases which I never charged, and
presents out of whatever was most worthy of publication among my own
collections, of which he also chose what he pleased, whenever he came
to my chambers, which I have since greatly wanted, I did thenceforward
receive of him two hundred pounds a-year, for the short remainder of
his life. Notwithstanding this allowance, he would often declare in
company before me, and in the hearing of those now alive, that he
wished I had been some years sooner known to him than I was; because I
should have saved him many hundred pounds.

"The sum of this case is, that for the profit of about 500l. I devoted
the best part of ten years' service to, and in his lordship's library;
impoverished my own stores to enrich the same; disabled myself in my
studies, and the advantages they might have produced from the publick;
deserted the pursuits which might have obtained me a permanent
accommodation and procured the prejudice and misconceit of his
lordship's surviving relations. But the profits I received were
certainly too inconsiderable to raise any envy or ill will; tho' they
might probably be conceived much greater than they were. No, it was
what his lordship made me more happy in, than his money, which has been
the cause of my greatest unhappiness with them; his favour, his
friendly reception and treatment of me; his many visits at my chambers;
his many invitations by letters, and otherwise, to dine with him, and
pass whole evenings with him; for no other end, but such intelligence
and communications, as might answer the inquiries wherein he wanted to
be satisfied, in relation to matters of literature, all for the benefit
of his library. Had I declined those invitations, I must, with great
ingratitude, have created his displeasure; and my acceptance of them
has displeased others. Some survivors would surely, in respect to the
memory of such a noble and honourable person, not totally disregard
what he had so distinguished; but think a man worthy of being
recommended to some provision, whom he, after a very deliberate
experience, had seen reason so decently to provide for. I look upon
most places of attendance at Court to be an idle, loytering, empty
course of life; in which a man is obliged to dress expensively, keep
frothy, vain, or vicious company, and to have the salary more
backwardly paid than in other places. Therefore I should prefer some
office in the Revenue, rather than to be upon the Civil List.

"Any clerkship, that must double a man down to a desk for a set of
hours, morning and afternoon, he should be inured to from his youth, to
be {531} anything dextrous or easy in; but one, who has been the
greatest part of his life master of his own time and thoughts, has his
head pre-occupied; at least is commonly fitter for the direction than
the execution of business; unless it be such in which his head will
concur with his hand. Besides, not to mention other incongruities, how
would it fit a man, growing in years, to be company for a pack of young
clerks? or, how could he hope to be continued, of such honourable
persons, as should recommend him even to that situation, but might with
the same trouble to something more convenient for him?

"I have been assured by persons of experience, that an handsome post is
not only sooner procured as having less candidates, but a man's
pretension is more regarded. Whereas, in business of ordinary or mean
account, his merits and abilities are thought proportionable, and
therefore his pretension or request is less regarded. Besides, places
that are something considerable, are generally less slavish and
engrossing of a man's time; which, God knows, I desire not to be better
employed than mine is, and may be by myself; only, a part of it more
profitably: and yet, the convenience of such leisure, with the credit
attending such a place, I should more value than the profit.

"There is a common advice, that a man should not put in for everything,
because it implys too high thoughts of his own sufficiency, as if he
thought himself fit for everything: which is the character of an
arrogant and conceited coxcomb. This offering of one's self, without
latitude or limitation, is indeed one extreme; but the other is, to
nail one's self down to some one individual place, like a dainty guest,
that can taste but of one dish, and so wait for the vacancy; wherein he
is led, by his own election, first to go barefoot (perhaps to his
grave) in waiting for a dead man's shoes; and when he is dead, then he
shall probably see another wear them. So that any vacancy which will
accommodate the candidate with a competency suitable to his condition
and qualifications; or, at least, equal to what he has appeared in, and
decently enjoyed, cannot, 'tis presumed, be thought unreasonable.

"Two or three hundred a year may be thought a very liberal allowance
from a single person; in places of the government 'tis thought no
burden, because the publick contributions are settled for the payment:
there is no new charge or salary created, and they have stood the test
of various changes or revolutions in the administrations. If I were to
be restored to a place of two hundred a year now, it would not be by
one fourth part of the advantage to me that it might have been five
years since: for I should look upon myself in conscience obliged to
sequester so much, even though I should live long enough to enjoy such
a place ten years, to re-imburse such friends as have assisted me in
all that time, but can no longer now. So that this one act of
accommodation would indeed save more persons than one from ruin."

If it is not already known that Oldys obtained the appointment of Norroy through the intercession of Sir Peter Thompson, to whom the above autobiographic sketch was addressed, I think I can confidently assert such was the fact. I am collecting materials for biographical notices of the King's Heralds and Pursuivants-at-Arms. Will you permit me, through the medium of "N. & Q.," to make known to your correspondents that I have such a work in hand; and that I should be obliged for any unpublished particulars, either relative to Oldys, or any other members of the College of Arms.

CHARLES BRIDGER.

* * * * *

ON COSIN'S "HISTORY OF POPISH TRANSUBSTANTIATION," EDITED BY THE REV. J. S. BREWER.

As every work of value, and likely to live, should be made as correct as possible, I beg insertion in "N. & Q." of some remarks on a note in Mr. Brewer's very satisfactory edition of so important a volume as that of Cosin on the papal doctrine of transubstantiation. The note occurs in p. 130., and is as follows:--

"++ _Index Expurg. Hispan. D. Gasp. Quirogæ Card. et Inquisit.
generalis in fine._

"There is a copy of one edition of this Index in the British Museum,
but I cannot find the passage to which Bp. Cosin refers. The other
Index to which he refers is not to be found in the British Museum,
Bishop Tenison's library, or Sion College."

The disappointment of Mr. Brewer may not improbably be ascribed to the unfortunate fact, that in the _English_ translation of Cosin's book, which is given by Mr. Brewer in the forecited extract, after the word _fine_ are omitted the words _Lit. O._, which are found in the _Latin_ original. This additional direction would have led to the passage which the editor was desirous of verifying. For, in the first edition of the _Index_ referred to, that of 1584, the particular index at the end, under O, gives the fol. 182, 183 (_falso 171_), where the passage is found exactly as extant in the Latin of Cosin. The particular _Expurgatory Index_ under view was printed in 1601 and 1611. In the first of the two, _that_ printed at Saumur, the passage is found fol. 149. _verso_. I dare say it is so in the other entitled _Duo Testes, &c._, but that is of no moment. Bp. Cosin does not, as the note expresses, refer to any "other index." The British Museum is comparatively scanty in this class of books, but they are all to be found in the Bodleian Library. {532}

At p. 163. the _Discurs [us] Modest [us] de Jesuit._ referred to, and occupying several pages of discussion in the "N. & Q." in the early volumes, is certainly the Latin version of _A Sparing Discoverie of our English Jesuits_, 4to., Franc. 1601, pp. 70, and to be found in the _Catalogue of the British Museum_, under "JESU _Societas_."

EUPATOR.

* * * * *

ANCIENT GUILDHALLS IN ENGLAND.

If a history of the ancient Guildhalls of England could be compiled, it would form an interesting volume; as the ancient fabrics wherein our forefathers met to transact their civic affairs may almost be said to have symbolised the _status_ of the municipalities in which they stood at various epochs of their history. Our old English boroughs cannot boast the possession of halls equal to the _Hotels de Ville_ of Belgium or France, or the _Rath-häusen_ of Germany. We cannot show in this country edifices equal to the Hotel de Ville of Brussels, or Aix-la-Chapelle, or Rouen, in point of architectural extent or beauty; or of Ratisbon, or other German towns, in point of venerable and antique interest. But we have buildings yet standing among us which, if less imposing in their exteriors, are nevertheless associated with historic memories of no common order, and secondary in this respect to none of the grander town-halls of ancient Flanders.

The guildhall of Leicester cannot boast of any outside show. It is plain to meanness in this respect; it is on one side a mere barn in appearance; yet it has its claim on the attention of the antiquary.

The first distinct mention of a guildhall in Leicester is in a small charter, executed in the mayoralty of Peter Rogerson. From this it appears that in 1250 William Ordriz, the son of Stephen, conveyed to the mayor and burgesses a building which became the guildhall. The deed is endorsed _Charta de la Gild Salle_. It contained three bays of buildings, was twenty yards in length, and about eight yards from front to back. It had solars, cellars, and dungeons. There was _then_ an older fabric, known as the guildhall, which was conveyed to a private townsman in the year 1275. The hall, of which the corporation became the possessors in 1250, remained in use until the reign of Elizabeth, and even at intervals until the date of the Commonwealth, being sometimes called the old Moot Hall, and at others the "Old Shop."

Anterior to the Reformation two religious guilds had halls, known as St. George's and Corpus Christi Halls. When these fraternities were dissolved, the buildings remained; one near the east of St. Martin's church, the other near its western extremity. The first of these fell into entire disuse and decay; while the latter, Corpus Christi Hall, gradually superseded as a civic edifice the old Moot Hall. I have found in the hall books of the borough of Leicester entries as early as the 10th of Henry VIII., in which the hall of Corpus Christi Guild is referred to as the occasional place of meeting of the municipal body. A deed, bearing date the 5th of Elizabeth, states that the queen had conveyed the hall to Cecily Pickerell of Norwich, widow, who reconveyed it to the recorder of Leicester, Braham, evidently as the representative of the mayor and burgesses, not then formally incorporated.

Meanwhile, the old hall seems to have served as a lock-up or gaol, and was finally sold in 1653 to a maltster, who would undoubtedly convert the roomy old structure into a malt-house.

The Corpus Christi Hall would appear to have been enlarged when it was fairly in the hands of the civic authorities, not only in the reign of Elizabeth (about the year 1586), but in that of Charles I. Many particulars about the building will be found in the _Handbook of Leicester_.

The guildhall of Leicester is _within_ one of the most picturesque old structures of the country, and is well described by your correspondent KT. As you enter, its rude rafters rise directly from the ground on either hand, and embrace over the head of the visitor, forming pointed arches. As you advance along the floor the beams widen, and the Tudor timbering and architectural detail are clearly discernible; two staples still remaining on one of the braces, which tradition says sustained the scenery of the players in the time when theatrical performers were allowed to act there, and when even Shakspeare figured in the histrionic group. Having reached the western end you find yourself in front of the bench on which the mayor and magistrates sit to dispense justice, the ancient gilded frame for the mace (now tenantless) surmounting the chief magistrate's chair. The rich old mantelpiece of the mayor's parlour, and the fragments of painted glass in its windows, enhance and complete the antiquarian attractions of this relic of Edwardian and Elizabethan architecture.

JAYTEE.

* * * * *

THE SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON.

Amongst the oddities which cross our path, I recollect one which, at the time it occurred, caused no small surprise to the young, of which I then was one. I think it must be about forty-six years ago, a man travelled about Hampshire professing to cure the blind, sick, and lame; and although he did not belong to the medical order, yet numerous cures were attributed to him, and he had quite a collection of crutches and walking-sticks, left by his patients, who, it was said, no longer required his {533} or their aid. I well know that he was looked upon by the common sort of people with wonder, and almost awe. The notion prevalent amongst them was, that, being the seventh son of a seventh son, he was endowed by nature with extraordinary healing powers. After a few months his fame, such as it was, evaporated, and I have not heard of him since, nor have I read of any pretender acting like him since then. Can any of your readers enlighten my darkness on the above, or on any other seventh of a seventh? and is there any account or tradition of a similar impostor in any other county of England? Also, if ancient or modern history records any such wonderful attributes in reference to a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter?

The above was written before I saw MR. COOPER's allusion to the subject, in Vol. iii., p. 148. I hope to be favoured with that gentleman's further notice of the seventh son of a seventh son.

I should esteem it a favour if some one of your numerous and learned readers would inform me if that word denoting seven, which is in such frequent use in the Old and New Testaments, is susceptible of being rendered "several," "many," or some other indefinite quantity?

Seven appears also to be a favourite number in modern days. I subjoin a few of the many instances of its popular adoption:--

Seven ages.
Seven Champions.
Seven Churches.
Seven days in a week.
Seven days' notice.
Seven Dials.
Sevenfold.
Seven Hills.
Seven months' child.
Seven penitential psalms.
Seven senses.
Seven-shilling piece.
Seven Sisters.
Seven Sleepers.
Seven Sons.
Seventh son of the seventh son.
Seven stars.
Seven stages of life.
Seven times.
Seven times seven years a jubilee.
Seven wise men.
A jury of seven matrons.
Seven wonders of the world.
Seven years' apprenticeship.
Seven years, a change.
Seven years' transportation.
Seven years' Income-tax,
Sevenpence in the pound yearly; and these last are two of the
Seven abominations.

HENRY EDWARDS.

35. Gifford Street, Kingsland Road.

[The number _seven_ has been a subject of particular speculation with
some old writers, and every department of nature, science, literature,
and art has been ransacked for the purpose of discovering septenary
combinations. In the Year 1502 there was printed at Leipsic a work
entitled _Heptalogium Virgilii Salzburgensis_, in honour of the number
seven. It consists of seven parts, each consisting of seven divisions.
But the most curious work on the subject of numbers is the following,
the contents of which, as might be expected, are quite worthy of the
title: _The Secrets of Numbers according to Theological, Arithmetical,
Geometrical, and Harmonical Computation; drawn, for the better part,
out of those Ancients, as well as Neoteriques. Pleasing to read,
profitable to understande, opening themselves to the capacities of both
learned and unlearned; being no other than a key to lead men to any
doctrinal knowledge whatsoever._ By William Ingpen, Gent. London, 1624.
In chap. ix. the author has given many notable opinions from learned
men, to prove the excellency of the number _seven_:--"First, it neither
begets nor is begotten, according to the saying of Philo. Some numbers,
indeed, within the compass of ten, beget, but are not begotten; and
that is the unarie. Others are begotten, but beget not; as the
octonarie. Only the septenarie, having a prerogative above them all,
neither begetteth, nor is begotten. This is its first divinity or
perfection. Secondly, this is an harmonical number, and the well and
fountain of that fair and lovely _Digramma_, because it includeth
within itself all manner of harmony. Thirdly, it is a theological
number, consisting of perfection. (See _Cruden_.) Fourthly, because of
its compositure: for it is compounded of one and six; two and five;
three and four. Now, every one of these being excellent of themselves
(as hath been remonstrated), how can this number be but far more
excellent, consisting of them all, and participating, as it were, of
all their excellent virtues."--ED.]

* * * * *

ROBERT DRURY.

The credit attachable to _Madagascar: or Robert Drury's Journal during fifteen Years' Captivity on that Island_, has always appeared to me a subject worth a Note in your pages; but more particularly since the recent publication of Burton's _Narratives from the Criminal Trials of Scotland_.

In this latter work the author gives us an interesting account of the trial of Captain Green and his associates, in Edinburgh, for the murder of one Captain Drummond (a very memorable case, as it bore upon the Union of the kingdoms, at the time under discussion); and in course of his inquiries Mr. Burton has brought forth Drury's _Journal_ to prove the existence of the said Captain Drury for many years subsequent to Green's execution for his murder!

It becomes, therefore, a serious question to ascertain whether Drury was a real or a fictitious character, and his book what it pretends to be, or the speculation of some clever writer, envious of the fame and profit derived by Defoe from the publication of a similar work. I would not take the subject out of such good hands as those of MR. CROSSLEY, who has evidently something to offer us thereon; but would merely observe, by way of interesting your readers generally in the matter, that Drury, by the old octavo of 1729, now before me, did not flinch from inquiry, as he announces the book for sale "by the Author, at Old Tom's Coffee House in Birchin Lane," where, he says, "I am every day to be spoken with, and where I shall be ready to gratify any Gentleman with a further Account of any Thing herein contained; {534} to stand the strictest Examination, or to confirm those Things which to some may seem doubtful."

"Old Tom's" is still a right good chop-house in the locality named; and it would be interesting to know if there is any contemporaneous note existing of an evening with Robert Drury there. But for the misfortune of living a century and a quarter too late, I should doubtless often have found myself in the same box with the mysterious man, with his piles of books, and his maps of Madagascar, invitingly displayed for the examination of the curious, and the satisfaction of the sceptical.

J. O.

* * * * *

FOLK LORE.

_Gabriel Hounds._--Seeing that MR. YARRELL, the distinguished ornithologist, is a contributor to "N. & Q.," may I ask that gentleman, or any other correspondent, what is the species of bird whose peculiar yelping cry during its nocturnal migrations, has given rise to the superstition of the "Gabriel Hounds," so common in some rural districts?

D.

_Weather Prophecy._--Can any of your correspondents inform me as to the truth or falsehood of a proverb I have heard, namely, that the dryness or wetness of a summer may be prognosticated by observing whether the oak or the ash tree comes first into leaf? I cannot recollect which denoted which; but I should much like to know whether there is such a proverb, and whether there is any truth in it.

G. E. G.

Oxford.

_Origin of Moles._--Meeting with an octogenarian molecatcher a few weeks since, in the neighbourhood of Bridgwater, the old man volunteered the following account of the origin of moles, or _wants_ as they are sometimes called in Somerset. "It was a proud woman, sir, too proud to live on the face of the earth, and so God turned her into a mole, and made her live _under_ the earth; and that was the _first mole_." My informant was evidently much confirmed in his belief, by the fact of "moles having (as he said) hands and feet like Christians."

W. A. J.

_Mistletoe._--The mistletoe grows upon the _poplar tree_, near the railway station at Taunton, and likewise at White-Lackington near Ilminster. I have not seen any upon the oak.

W. A. J.

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

_Byron's "Siege of Corinth."_--In the late Dr. Moir's _Lectures on the Poetical Literature of the last Half Century_, in commenting on Byron's _Siege of Corinth_ he mentions "the glorious moonlight scene in which Francesca and Alp part for the last time, _the one to die of a broken heart_, the other to perish in his apostasy." From this he evidently considers that in this celebrated scene it is the still living form of Francesca that visits her lover; but though Lord Byron has, according to his frequent practice, left this unexplained, the whole passage seems to me to show that his intention was, that the visit should be considered as a supernatural one. Space will not allow of my bringing forward the proofs of this, but it can be easily verified by any one who reads the passage in question attentively. A singular mistake occurs in p. 8. of the work above quoted. Could any one have supposed that a poet, and a writer on poetical literature, should be ignorant of the best known poetical name of the last century? Yet Mr. Moir talks of "_William_" Pope. He might as well have talked of "_Alexander_" Shakspeare.

J. S. WARDEN.

_Goldsmith's "Poetical Dictionary."_--It has not been noticed by any of Goldsmith's biographers that, in addition to _The Art of Poetry_, in 2 vols. 12mo., 1762, published by Newbery, and _The Beauties of the English Poets_, in 2 vols. 12mo., 1767, published by Griffin, he also edited for Newbery an useful work entitled _A Poetical Dictionary, or the Beauties of the English Poets alphabetically displayed_, in 4 vols., 1761, 12mo. The Preface is evidently written by Goldsmith, and with his usual elegance and spirit, and the selection which follows is one of the best which has ever yet been made. It certainly deserves more notice than it seems hitherto to have received; and were it only that it contains Goldsmith's favourite passages, and may possibly have been a preparation and incentive to the composition of the _Traveller_ and the _Deserted Village_, it ought not to be forgotten in the list of his compilations. In examining it I have frequently been struck by the appearance of lines and passages, and sometimes epithets, which were evidently in Goldsmith's mind when he wrote his two beautiful poems. Some, but not all, have been quoted as parallel passages by his editors.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

_Corrupted Names._--In Vol. i., pp. 215. and 299., are some notes on the ordinary corruptions of Christian names. One came once in my way which, as the name corrupted is not by any means an ordinary one, may not have occurred to many of your readers. I was called on to baptize a child by the name _Nucky_: fortunately it is my practice to ascertain the sponsor's intention in the vestry, before proceeding to the font; and I was able, with much difficulty, to make out that the name meant was _Ursula_, of which _Nucky_ was their ordinary corruption. Passing from names of _persons_ to those of _places_, I would add two corruptions to those named in your current volume: Wiveliscombe, pronounced Willscombe; {535} Minehead, Minyard--both in Somerset; and Kenilworth, sometimes called Killingworth, in Warwickshire.

BALLIOLENSIS.

* * * * *

Queries.

MR. HALLIWELL'S ANNOTATED SHAKSPEARE FOLIO.

"This volume contains several hundred very curious and important
corrections, amongst which I may mention an entirely new reading of the
difficult passage at the commencement of _Measure for Measure_, which
carries conviction with it; and shows, what might have been reasonably
expected, that _that to_ is a misprint for _a verb_."--MR. HALLIWELL in
_Notes & Queries_, p. 485.

In common, doubtless, with many other of your readers, I am curious to know what this _verb_ can be, which, while _carrying conviction with it_, is yet so mysteriously withheld from publication.

In a small pamphlet, published a month or two since by MR. HALLIWELL, in opposition to _Mr. Collier's_ folio, he lays down at p. 7. "a canon in philology;" from which he deduces the following as one of the "_circumstances under which no manuscript emendation of so late a date as 1632 will be admissible_."

"It will not be admissible in any case where good sense can be
satisfactorily made of the passage as it stands in the original, even
although the correction may appear to give greater force or harmony to
the passage."

Now, in the case referred to from _Measure for Measure_, I had previously ("N. & Q." Vol. v., p. 410.) shown to MR. HALLIWELL that "_good sense can be satisfactorily made of the passage as it stands in the original_;" and therefore I feel the greater curiosity to know what _this verb_ can be which carries conviction to him _even in the face of his own canon_?

A. E. B.

Leeds.

* * * * *

RESTIVE.

Can the editor, or any of the readers of "N. & Q." account for the very prevalent misuse of the word _restive_ or _restiff_? Of course, everybody knows that the affix _ive_ or _iff_ does not imply "privation," but the opposite; and that therefore _restive_ means--as we find it defined in our dictionaries--"unwilling to stir," "inclined or determined to rest," &c.; but yet the most common use of the word now would require it to mean "unwilling to rest," "rest_less_," "unquiet," &c. As the word is most frequently employed in newspaper paragraphs, in describing accidents arising from the _restiveness_, or much more frequently _restlessness_, of horses, we can easily account for the misuse of the word in such cases: as the free use of the whip, which is sure to follow the restiveness of a horse or ass, is almost as surely followed by a sudden restlessness, at least when the nobler animal is under chastisement; what ends in restlessness and running away has thus got confounded with what it only has become, in some cases; while in others nothing is more common than to find the sudden shying and starting off of a horse, which has been anything but _restive_, described as such by some forgetfulness of the meaning of the word. Were the misuse of the word confined to such cases, however, it might not be worthy of notice in "N. & Q.", but I think it will be found to extend further: for instance, in _The Eclipse of Faith_ (recently published), although evidently written by a scholar, and one who weighs the meaning of words, I find the following passage:

"'But,' said Fellowes, rather warmly, for he felt rather _restive_ at
this part of Harrington's discourse," &c.

Here the word is evidently employed (instead of _restless_[1]) figuratively for _impatient_; although I am not aware that a "bumptious" person might defend the word actually used, in the sense that the listener _refused to go along further_ with the speaker. Still I think _restlessness_ was the idea intended to be conveyed in the above passage, and that "impatient" would have been the better word, considering that it follows "he _felt_."

J. R.

Brompton.

[Footnote 1: Or instead of "fidgetty," as one would likely have expressed it in familiar conversation.]

* * * * *

REASON AND UNDERSTANDING ACCORDING TO COLERIDGE.

There is a remarkable discrepancy in the statements of Coleridge respecting reason and understanding.

(1.) _Friend_, vol. i. pp. 207-8. (Pickering.)--

"That many animals possess a share of understanding perfectly
distinguishable from mere instinct we all allow. Few persons have a
favourite dog, without making instances of its intelligence an
occasional topic of conversation. They call for our admiration of the
individual animal, and not with exclusive reference to the wisdom in
nature, as in the case of [Greek: storgê], or maternal instinct: or of
the hexangular cells of the bees.... We hear little or nothing of the
instincts of the 'half-reasoning elephant,' and as little of the
understanding of caterpillars and butterflies."

_Aids to Reflection_, vol. i. pp 171-3. (Pickering.) Here, after quoting two instances from Hüber about bees and ants, he says,--

"Now I assert that the faculty in the acts here narrated does not
differ _in kind_ from understanding."

Does Coleridge mean to tell us that bees and ants have the same faculty (understanding) as dogs and elephants?

{536}

(2.) _Friend_, vol. i. pp. 216-7.--

"For a moment's steady self-reflection will show us that, in the simple
determination 'black is not white,' or 'that two straight lines cannot
include a space,' all the powers are implied that distinguish man from
animals; first, the power of reflection; second, of comparison; third,
and therefore suspension of the mind; fourth, therefore of a
controlling will, and the power of acting from notions, instead of mere
images exciting appetites; from motives, and not from mere dark
instinct."

And after relating a story about a dog who appeared to have employed the disjunctive syllogism (in relation to which see Cottle's _Reminiscences_, vol. i. pp. 48-9.), Coleridge remarks,--

"So awful and almost miraculous does the simple act of concluding 'take
three from four, and there remains one,' appear to us, when attributed
to one of the most sagacious of all brute animals."

_Aids to Reflection_, vol. i. p. 175.--

"Understanding is the faculty of reflection, reason of contemplation."
And p. 176.--"The understanding, then, considered exclusively as an
organ of human intelligence, is the faculty by which we reflect and
generalise.... The whole process [of the understanding] may be reduced
to three acts, all depending on, and supposing a previous impression
on, the senses: first, the appropriation of our attention; second (and
in order to the continuance of the first), abstraction, or the
voluntary withholding of the attention; and, third, generalisation; and
these are the proper functions of the understanding."

_Aids to Reflection_, vol. i. p. 182. _note_.--

"So far, and no further, could the understanding carry us; and so far
as this, 'the faculty judging according to sense' conducts many of the
inferior animals, if not in the same, yet in instances analogous and
fully equivalent."

Does Coleridge, then, mean us to understand him as saying, that many of the brutes can reflect, abstract, and generalise?

(3.) _Friend_, vol. i. p. 259.--

"Reason! best and holiest gift of God, and bond of union with the
Giver; the high title by which the majesty of man claims precedence
above all other living creatures--mysterious faculty, the mother of
conscience, of language...."

_Aids to Reflection_, vol. i. pp. 176-182.--Coleridge here gives his reasons for considering language a property of the understanding; and, in p. 195., adds,--

"It is, however, by no means equally clear to me that the dog may not
possess an _analogon_ of words which I have elsewhere shown to be the
proper objects of the 'faculty judging according to sense.'"

Does Coleridge mean that the inferior animals may have language?

Who, of your many able correspondents, will assist me in unravelling this complicated tissue?