Chapter D

46. Parliament Street, Westminster, Jan. 25. 1850.

_Microscope, and Treatise upon it._--I am about to commence the study of the microscope. I want to know where I can purchase the most perfect instrument, and also the best Treatise upon it; this information will indeed be valuable to me, as it would enable me to go at once to the best sources without loss of time.

R.M. JONES.

Chelsea, Jan. 2. 1850.

_Old Auster Tenements._--"W.P.P." wishes to know the meaning of the expression "Old Auster Tenements," by which certain lands in the parish of North Curry, Somerset, are described in Deeds and Court Rolls.

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REPLIES

THE FIELD OF FORTY FOOTSTEPS.

The fields behind Montague House were, from about the year 1680, until towards the end of the last century, the scenes of robbery, murder, and every species of depravity and wickedness of which the heart can think. They appear to have been originally called the Long Fields, and afterwards (about Strype's time) the Southampton Fields. These fields remained waste and useless, with the exception of some nursery grounds near the New Road to the north, and a piece of ground enclosed for the Toxophilite Society, towards the northwest, near the back of Gower Street. The remainder was the resort of depraved wretches, whose amusements consisted chiefly in fighting pitched battles, and other disorderly sport, especially on the Sabbath day. Such was their state in 1800.

Tradition had given to the superstitious at that period a legendary story of the period of the Duke of Monmouth's Rebellion, of two brothers who fought in this field so ferociously as to destroy each other; since which, their footsteps, formed from the vengeful struggle, were said to remain, with the indentations produced by their advancing and receding; nor could any grass or vegetable ever be produced where these _forty footsteps_ were thus displayed. This extraordinary arena was said to be at the extreme termination of the northeast end of Upper Montague Street; and, profiting by the fiction, Miss Porter and her sister produced an ingenious romance thereon, entitled, _Coming Out, or the Forty Footsteps_. The Messrs. Mayhew also, some twenty years back, brought out, at the Tottenham Street Theatre, an excellent melodrama piece, founded upon the same story, entitled _The Field of Forty Footsteps_.

In 1792, an ingenious and enterprising architect, James Burton, began to erect a number of houses on the Foundling Hospital estate, partly in St. Giles's and Bloomsbury parishes, and partly in that of St. Pancras. _Baltimore House_, built, towards the northeast of _Bedford House_, by Lord Baltimore, in 1763, appears to have been the only erection since Strype's survey to this period, with the exception of a chimney-sweeper's cottage still further north, and part of which is still to be seen in Rhodes's Mews, Little Guildford Street. In 1800, Bedford House was demolished entirely; which with its offices and gardens, had been the site where the noble family of the Southamptons, and the illustrious Russells, had resided during more than 200 years, almost isolated. Hence commenced the formation of a fine uniform street, Bedford Place, consisting of forty houses, on the spot; also, the north side of Bloomsbury Square, Montague Street to the west, and one side of Southampton Row to the east. Towards the north, the extensive piece of waste ground, denominated the _Southampton Fields_, was transformed into a magnificent square, with streets diverging therefrom in various directions. Thus, as if by "touch of magic wand," those scenes, which had been "hideous" for centuries, became transformed into receptacles of civil life and polished society.

The latest account of these _footsteps_, previous to their being built over, with which I am acquainted, is the following, extracted from one of Joseph Moser's _Common-place Books_ in my possession:--

"June 16. 1800.--Went into the fields at the back of Montague
House, and there saw, for the last time, the _forty footsteps_;
the building materials are there ready to cover them from the
sight of man. I counted more than _forty_, but they might be the
foot-prints of the workmen."

This extract is valuable, as it establishes the period of the final demolition of the footsteps, and also confirms the legend that _forty_ was the original number.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

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QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 4.--"POKERSHIP", BY BOLTON CORNEY.

A query made by so experienced a writer as the noble historian of _Audley End_, cannot admit of an easy solution; and instead of professing to answer the two-fold query on _pokership_, it might more become me to style this note an attempt to answer it.

In the _Historical collections of the noble families of Cavendishe_, etc. the passage which contains the doubtful word is printed thus:--

"He [Sir Robert Harley, of Bramton, Herefordshire] was in the
next year [1604], on the 16th of July, made forester of
Boringwood, _alias_ Bringwood forest, in com. Hereford, with the
office of _pokership_, and custody of the forest or chace of
Prestwood, for life."

Are we to read _parkership_ or _pokership_? If _pokership_, what is its meaning?

Skelton, the rhymer, has _parker_ for _park-keeper_, so that _parkership_ is an admissable word; but I reject it on this occasion, as inapplicable to a forest or chace. I incline to believe that _pokership_ is the true lection. _Poke_ denoted a purse; witness Chaucer:--

"Gerveis answered; Certes, were it gold,
Or in a _poke_ nobles all untold,
Thou shuldest it have."--C.T. v. 3777.

We do not find _poker_ in Barret or Cotgrave; but if _poke_ denoted a purse, _poker_ might denote a purse-bearer or treasurer, and _pokership_, the office of purse-bearer. So we have BURSA, [Glossarivm manvale, 1772. I. 849.] _bursar_, _bursarship_, etc.

BOLTON CORNEY.

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MERTENS, MARTINS, OR MARTINI, THE PRINTER.

A correspondent, "W.," in No. 12. p. 185., wishes to learn "the real surname of Theodoric Mertens, Martins, or Martini, the printer of Louvain."

In Latin the name is written Theodoricus Martinus; in French, Thierri Martin; in Flemish, Diedrych Meertens, and occasionally, but I think incorrectly, Dierix Martens.

In a side chapel of the chancel of the church at Alost, midway between Brussels and Ghent, is the printer's tomb, and a double inscription, in Latin and in Flemish, commemorates his celebrity and the dates of his birth and death; in the Latin inscription the name is Theodoricus Martinus; in the Flemish, which is very old and nearly effaced, it is Diedrych Meertens.

The name of _Meertens_, as a surname, is as common in Brabant and Flanders as that of Martin with us.

A.B.

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I beg to say that, in Peignot's _Dictionnaire raisonné de Bibliologie_, the name of the printer Mertens is given as "Martens, Mertens, ou Martin d'Alost (Thierry), en Latin Theodoricus Martinus." The article is too long for insertion in your pages, but it contains an account of the title-page of one of his editions, in 4to., in which the name is spelt _Mertens_:--"Theo. Mertens impressore." Two other title-pages have "Apud Theod. M_a_rtinum." So it appears that the printer himself used different modes of spelling his own name. Erasmus wrote a Latin epitaph on his friend, in which a graceful allusion is made to his printer's mark, the anchor:--

"Hic Theodoricus jaceo, prognatus Alosto:
Ars erat impressis scripta referre typis.
Fratribus, uxori, soboli, notisque superstes
Octavam vegetus præterii decadem.
Anchora sacra manet, gratæ notissima pubi:
Christe! precor nunc sis anchora sacra mihi."

HERMES.

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ETYMOLOGY OF ARMAGH.

In reply to the inquiry of "D.S.Y." (p. 158. of your 10th number), I beg to say that the name of Armagh is written, in Irish, Ardmacha, and signifies the Height (or high ground) of Macha. It is supposed to have derived this name from Macha Mong-ruadh [i.e. Macha of the red hair], who was queen of Ireland, according to the Chronology of O'Flaherty, A.M. 3603.

I.H.T.

Dublin, Jan. 5. 1850.

Sir,--There are the following authorities for different derivations of the word _Armagh_.

Camden, in his _Britannia_, says:--

"_Armach_ ab Amarchâ reginâ; sic dictum fabulantur Hibernici; at
mihi eadem esse videtur quam _Dearmach_ vocat Beda: et _Roborum
Campum_ ex lingua Scotica sive Hibernica interpretatur, ubi
circa annum salutis DLX. monaterium extruxit celeberrimum
Columbanus."

Dr. Keating's _Hist. of Ireland_ has as follows:--

"_Macha_ the wife of Nemedius died before her son Ainnim ...
from her _Ardmagh_ received its name, because she was buried in
that place."

_Circles of Gomer_ (London, 1771), contains as follows:--

"Ar, and Ararat.--The Earth, country, or upon and on the earth
... _Armagh_ on the surrounding water confines."

M. Bullet, _Mémoires de la Langue Celtique_, writes thus:--

"Armagh, Une des plus anciennes villes d'Irland. _Ar_, article.
_Mag_, ville."--vol. i.

But the 2nd and 3rd vols. of these _Mémoires_, which contain the Celtic Dictionary, afford a more probable interpretation:--

"_Ar_ or _Ard_ signifies a height, mountain, hill, {219}
elevation, the highest, noble, chief, &c. &c., and _Ar_ in
Hebrew, Chaldean, and Armenian, has the same meaning. _Magh_ is
a field, a plain, ground, &c., as well as a town, dwelling, &c."

Now, the topographical description of the county of Armarh is that it is _hilly_, and the hills (not very high) are of granite rock. The town of Armagh again is described as situated on an _eminence_. I suggest, therefore, _the high field_ or ground, or _the field of the Hill_, or the dwelling or town of the Hill, as very natural derivations.

If your correspondent prefers it, _Ar_ bears also the signification of _rock_, and M. Bullet says:--

"Ce terme nous a été conservé dans la Vie de Saint Colomb."

Who knows, therefore, whether in building the monastery alluded to by Camden, he may not have given it the name of

The dwelling of the Rock?

The Celtic language affords many other possibilities, but an accurate knowledge of the locality is requisite in judging of their probablility.

HERMES.

The etymology of _Armagh_, in Ireland, is very simple. _Ard_, high, great, noble, a purely Celtic root, found in many languages. Latin, _Arduus_, high, &c. Welsh, _hardh_, fair, handsome, &c. _Magh_, a plain, a level tract of land, a field. _Ardmugh_, the great plain. Others derive it from _Eamhuin-magh_, from the regal residence of the kings of Ulster, that stood in its vicinity; but the former is considered by those best capable of judging as the most correct. The original name was _Druim-sailech_, "the hill of sallows," which was changed to _Ard-sailech_, "the height of sallows," and then again to _Ardmagh_. Although now spelt _Armagh_, it was formerly more correctly written _Ardmagh_, which is undoubtedly the proper way.

HIBERNICUS

Jan. 8. 1850.

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THE OFFICE OF THE MASTER OF THE REVELS.

Your esteemed correspondent, "J.G.N.," asks (p. 158.) for the meaning of the letters "C.K.M.R." and "T.S." appended to the passage he quotes from the _Common-place Book_ of Charles, Duke of Dorset. I think I can tell him. "C.K.M.R." stands for _Charles Killegrew_, Master of the Revells; and "T.S." means _Thomas Skipwith_, one of the patentees of Drury Lane Theatre, who died in 1710. Sir Henry Herbert died in 1673; and his successor in the office was Thomas Killegrew. This person had previously been Sir Henry's deputy; and I am in possession of a curious list of MS. instructions, "the heads of what I gave to Mr. Thos. Killegrew the 29th of March, 1664," in the hand-writing of Sir Henry Herbert. Thomas Killegrew died in 1683, and was succeeded by Charles Killegrew; the degree of the relationship between the two Killegrews I do not know; and in the _London Gazette_, Dec. 7. 1685, there is a notice commanding all "rope-dancers, prize-players, strollers and other persons showing motions and other sights, to have licenses from Charles Killegrew, Esq., Master of the Revells."

Charles Killegrew was one of the managers of Drury Lane Theatre at the time of the union of the King's and Duke of York's servants; and Drydaen calls him, in the Dedication to his translation of Juvenal's _Satires_, his "ingenious friend."

Upon the death of the latter, in 1725, Charles Henry Lee succeeded to the vacant office; who, dying in 1744, Solomon Dayrolle was appointed in his room. I do not know the date of the decease of the last-named gentleman; but with him, I believe, died the office of the Master of the Revells. The ancient jurisdiction of the Master of the Revells has been transferred, by 1737, by legal authority, to a "licenser of the stage," who, in conjunction with a deputy licenser, performed all the functions of the ancient office.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

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REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

_The Red Maids of Bristol._--The answer to the query of "MR. A. GRIFFENHOOF" (No. 12. p. 184.), why the "Red Maids" in Bristol are so called, is, because they are dressed in bright scarlet gowns. They are the incumbents of a benevolent school, founded in 1627, by one of Bristol's great benefactors, Alderman Whitson, of pious memory, for the maintenance and education of 40 girls, which number has now increased to 120. Your correspondent's curiousity respecting their name might be fully satisfied, and his interest increased, if he should happen to be in Bristol on some sunny afternoon in the later part of May, or the beginning of June, by a sight of this bright "regiment of women"--the gay colour of their gowns subdued by the quaintness of their fashion, and the clean whiteness of their aprons, collars, &c.--proceeding, in double file, towards the downs, for air and recreation. An account of their foundation may be found in Barret's _Hist. of Bristol_, p. 415. "Blue-Boys," so called for a similar reason, are a parallel case of much more general occurance. Yours, &c.

RUFA.

_Poetical Symbolism._--In answer to the question of your correspondent, "STEPHEN BEAUCHAMP" (No. 11. p. 173.), I beg leave to mention a work, which answers in some degree to the description which he gives; namely, _De Symbolica Ægyptiorum Sapientia_, and _Polyhistor Symbolicus, electarum Symbolarum et Parabolarum Historicurum Stromata XII. Libris complectens_, by Nicolas Caussin, {220} 8vo. Col. Agr. 1631. There were other editions, I believe, in the same century. The former work treats of Egyptian symbols; the titles of the twelve books of the latter are: I. Mundus et Elementa. II. Dii Gentium. III. Hominis Bona. IV. Hominis Mala. V. Ritus Gentium. VI. Aves. VII. Quadrupedes. VIII. Pisces. IX. Serpentes et Insecta. X. Plantæ. XI. Lapilli. XII. Manufacta.