Chapter C: Mansfield Ingleby

Birmingham.

_Lord Bacon's Advice peculiarly applicable to the Correspondents of "N. & Q."_--Lord Bacon has written that--

"A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket, and write down
the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are generally
the most valuable, and should be secured, because they seldom return."

W. W.

Malta.

_Etymology of Molasses._--The affinity between the orthography of this word in Italian (melássa), Spanish (melaza), and French (mélasse), and our pronunciation of it (m_e_lasses), would seem to suggest a common origin. How comes it, then, that we write it with an _o_ instead of an _e_? Walker says it is derived frown the Italian "mellazzo" (_sic_); and some French lexicographers trace their "mélasse" from [Greek: melas], with reference to the colour; others from [Greek: meli], in allusion to the taste. But these Greek derivations are too recondite for our early sugar manufacturers; and the likelihood {37} is, that they found the word nearer home, in some circumstance which had less to do with literary refinement than with the refining of sugar.

There is an expression in French which is identical in spelling with this word, namely, "molasse" (softish--so to speak); and which describes the liquidity of molasses, as distinguished from the granulous substance of which they are the residue. As our first sugar establishment was formed in 1643, in an island (St. Christopher) one half of which was then occupied by the French, it is possible that we may have adopted the word from them; and this conjecture is supported by the following passage in Père Labat (vol. iii. p. 93.), where he uses the word "molasse" in the sense of _soft_, to describe a species of sugar that had not received, or had lost, the proper degree of consistency.

"Je vis leur sucre qui me parut très beau et bien gréné, surtout
lorsqu'il est nouvellement fait; mais on m'assura qu'il devenait
cendreux ou _molasse_, et qu'il se décuisait quand il était gardé
quelques jours."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

_A Sounding Name._--At the church of Elmley Castle, Worcestershire, is a record of one John Chapman, whose name, it is alleged, "sounds in (or throughout) the world," but for my own part I have never been privileged to hear either the original blast or the echo. Perhaps some of the readers of "N. & Q." can inform me who and what was the owner of this high-sounding name. Was he related to Geo. Chapman, the translator of Homer? The inscription is as follows:

"Memoriæ defunctorum Sacrum

[Greek: kai tuphônia]

Siste gradum, Viator, ac leges. In spe beatæ Resurrectionis hic
requiescunt exuviæ Johannis Chapmanni et Isabellæ uxoris, filiæ
Gulielmi Allen de Wightford, in Comitat. War. ab antiquo Proavorum
stemmate deduxerunt genus. Variis miseriarum agitati procellis ab
strenue succumbentis in arrescenti juventutis æstate, piè ac peccatorum
poenitentia expirabant animas.

Maij 10 Die Anno Domini 1677.
Sistite Pierides Chapmannum plangere, cujus
Spiritus in coelis, _nomen in orbe sonat_."

J. NOAKE.

Worcester.

* * * * *

Queries.

ROMAN SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS.

In the year 1847 I brought from the Columbaria, near the tomb of Scipio Africanus at Rome, a small collection of sepulchral fictile vessels, statuettes, &c., in terra cotta. Among these was a small figure, resembling the Athenian Hermæ, consisting of a square pillar, surmounted by the bust of a female with a peculiar head-dress and close curled coiffure. The pillar bears the following inscription:

"[Greek: YST]
[Greek: RAN]
[Greek: S]
[Greek: ANI]
[Greek: KÊT]
[Greek: O.]"

--a translation of which would oblige me much.

Another, in the form of a small votive altar, bears the heads of the "Dii Majores" and their attributes, the thunderbolt, two-pronged spear, and trident, and the inscription--

"DIIS PROPI
M HERENNII
VIVNTIS" (_i.e._ vivantis).

Of the meaning of this I am by no means certain; and I have searched Montfaucon in vain, to discover anything similar.

A third was a figure of the Egyptian Osiris, exactly resembling in every point (save the material) the little mummy-shaped figures in bluish-green porcelain, which are found in such numbers in the catacombs of Ghizeh and Abousir. As the Columbaria were probably the places of sepulture of the freedmen, these various traces of national worship would seem to indicate that they were still allowed to retain the deities peculiar to the countries from which they came, through their master might be of a different faith.

E. S. TAYLOR.

Ormesby, St. Marg., Norfolk.

* * * * *

CHAPEL PLASTER.

In North Wilts, between Corsham and Bradford, and close to the meeting of five or six roads, there is a well-known public-house, contiguous to which is an ancient wayside chapel bearing this peculiar name. Some account of the place, with two views of the chapel, is given in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, February, 1835, page 143. The meaning of the word _plaster_ has always been a puzzle to local antiquaries, and no satisfactory derivation of it has yet been given. The first and natural notion is, that some allusion is made to the material with which it may have been coated. But this is improbable, the building being of good freestone, not requiring any such external addition. Some have interpreted it to be the chapel of the _plas-trew_, or "woody place." But this again is very unlikely; as the place is not only as far as possible from being woody now, but can hardly ever have been otherwise than what it is. The rock comes close to the surface, and the general situation is on a bleak exposed hill, as unfavourable as can be for the growth of trees. Leland, indeed, as he rode by, took it for a hermitage, and does also say that the country beyond it "begins to be woody." But {38} a point of meeting of five or six much frequented roads, a few miles only from Bath and other towns, would be an unsuitable spot for a hermit; besides which, the country _beyond_ a spot, is not the spot itself. Others have thought it may have been built by a person of the name of _Plaister_; one which, though uncommon, is still not entirely extinct in the county. Of this, however, there is no evidence.

A derivation has occurred to me from noticing a slight variety in the spelling and statement of the name, as it is given by one of the ancient historians of Glastonbury. He calls it "the chapell of _playsters_," and says that, like one or two houses of a similar kind, it was built for the relief and entertainment of _pilgrims_ resorting to the great shrine at that monastery. This indeed is the most reasonable and probable account of it, as it lies on the direct road between Malmesbury and Glastonbury, and the prevailing tradition has always been that such was the purpose for which it was used. It is fair to presume that the name has some connexion with the use.

Now, it is well known that pilgrimages were not in all respects very painful or self-denying exercises, but that, with the devotional feeling in which they took their origin, was combined, in course of time, a considerable admixture of joviality and recreation. They were often, in short, looked upon as parties for merry-making, by people of every class of life, who would leave their business and duties, on pretence of these pious expeditions, but really for a holiday, and, as Chaucer himself describes it, "to _play_ a pilgrimage." ("The Shipmanne's Tale.") Many also were pilgrims by regular profession, as at this day in Italy, for the pleasure of an idle gad-about life at other people's expense. May not such "play-ers" of pilgrimages have been called, in the vernacular of the times, _play-sters_? The termination _-ster_, said to be derived from a Saxon noun, seems in our language to signify a _habit_ or _constant employment_. A _malt-ster_ is one whose sole business it is to make malt; a _tap-ster_, one whose duties are confined to the tap; a _road-ster_ is a horse exclusively used as a hack; a _game-ster_, the devotee of the gaming-table. From these analogies it seems not unreasonable to suppose that the persons who made a constant habit of attending these pleasant jaunts to Glastonbury, may have been called by the now-forgotten name of _play-sters_. If so, "the chapell of _play-sters_" becomes nothing more than "the chapel of _pilgrims_," according to the best tradition that we have of it. Perhaps some of your readers may have met with the word in this sense?

J. E. JACKSON.

Leigh Delamere.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Martha Blount._--Is there any engraved portrait of this lady? and can any of your numerous correspondents give me reasonable hope of finding portraits of Mrs. Rackett and other connexions of Pope? I would suggest, that when we are favoured with a new edition of the little great man's works, each volume should contain a portrait, if procurable, of those who catch a reflected ray of greatness from association with the poet.

A. F. WESTMACOTT.

Feltham House, Middlesex.

_Degree of B.C.L._--In Vol. vi., p. 534., an Oxford B.C.L. asked the privileges to which a gentleman having taken this degree was entitled. Perhaps your correspondent will inform me what is the least time of _actual_ residence required at the university, and the kind of examination a candidate for the honour has to be subjected to, before he becomes a B.C.L.? also the way for a stranger to go about it, who wants to spend as little money and time in the matter as is possible?

J. F.

Halifax.

_The Word "anywhen."_--Why should not this adverb, which exists as a provincialism in some parts of England, be legitimatised, and made as generally useful as _anywhere_, or _anyhow_, or _anyone_? If there be no classical precedent for it, will not some of the many authors who contribute to your pages take pity upon _anywhen_, and venture to introduce him to good society, where I am sure he would be appreciated?

W. FRASER.

_Shoreditch Cross, &c._--Can any of your readers inform me where a model or picture of the Cross which formerly stood near the church of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, can be seen? Also, where a copy of any description can be seen of the painted window in the said church?

Sir Henry Ellis, in his _History of the Parish_, gives us no illustration of the above.

J. W. B.

_Winchester and Huntingdon._--I would with your permission ask, whether Winchester and Huntingdon have at any time been more populous than they are at present, and what may have been the largest number of inhabitants they are supposed to have contained?

G. H.

_La Bruyère._--What is known concerning the family of Jean de la Bruyère, author of _Les Caractères_? Did he belong to the great French house of that name? One of the biographical dictionaries states that he was grandson of a Lieutenant Civil, engaged in the Fronde; but M. Suard, in his "Notice" prefixed to _Les Caractères_, says that nothing is known of the author except his birth, death, and office. His grand-daughter, {39} Magdalen Rachel de la Bruyère, married an officer of the name of Shrom, and died in 1780, at Morden in Surrey, where there is a handsome monument to her memory. Being one of her descendants in the female line, I should feel much obliged by any information respecting her father, the son of Jean de la Bruyère; or tending to connect that writer with the family founded by Thibault de la Bruyère, the Crusader.

URSULA.

_Sir John Davys or Davies._--I am very anxious to get any information that can be procured about Sir John Davys or Davies, Knight Marshal of Connaught, temp. Elizabeth. What were his arms? Any portions of his pedigree would be _most_ desirable; also any notices of the various grants of land given by him, particularly to members of his own family. I would also give any reasonable price for John Davies' _Display of Heraldry of six Counties of North Wales_, published 1716: or, if any of the readers of "N. & Q." have the book, and would favour me with a loan of it, I would return it carefully as soon as I had made some extracts from it.

SEIVAD.

_Fleshier of Otley._--What are the arms of Fleshier of Otley, Yorkshire? They existed, not many years ago, in a window of a house built by one of the above-named family, in Otley.

B. M. A.

Bingley, Yorkshire.

_Letters U, V, W._--Could any correspondent of the "N. & Q." give us any clear idea of the manner in which we ought to judge of those letters as they are printed from old MSS. or in old books. Is there any rule known by which their pronunciation can be determined? For instance, how was the name of Wales supposed to have been pronounced four hundred years ago, or the name Walter? How could two such different sounds as _U_ and _V_ now represent, come by the old printers both to be denoted by _V_? And is it supposed that our present mode of pronouncing some words is taken from their spelling in books? We see this done in foreign names every day by persons who have no means of ascertaining the correct pronunciation. Can it have been done extensively in the ordinary words of the language? Or can it be possible, that the confusion between the printed _V_ and _W_ and _U_ has produced the confusion in pronouncing such words now beginning with _W_, which some classes of her Majesty's subjects are said to pronounce as if they commenced with _V_? I ask for information: and to know if the question has anywhere been discussed, in which case perhaps some one can refer me to it.

A. F. H.

_Heraldic Query._--I should be greatly indebted to any of your correspondents who will assist me in tracing the family to which the following arms belong. Last century they were borne by a gentleman of the name of Oakes: but I find no grant in the college, nor, in fact, can I discover any British arms like them. Argent, a pale per pale or, and gules: between two limbs of an oak fructed proper. On a chief barry of six of the second and third; a rose between two leopards faces all of the last.