Chapter C: W. B

_"A Diasii 'Salve'," &c._ (Vol. vii., p. 571.).--The deliverance desired in these words is from treachery, similar to that which was exhibited by the fratricide Alfonso Diaz toward his brother Juan. (Vid. Senarclaei _Historiam veram_, 1546; _Actiones et Monimenta Martyrum_, foll. 126-139. [Genevae], 1560: _Histoire des Martyrs_, foll. 161-168., ed. 1597; M^cCrie's _Reformation in Spain_, pp. 181-188., Edinb. 1829.)

The "A Gallorum 'Venite,'" probably refers to the singing of the "Venite, exultemus Domino," on the occasion of the massacre of St. Bartholomew.

R. G.

_Meaning of "Claret"_ (Vol. vii., pp. 237. 511.).--Old Bartholomew Glanville, the venerable Franciscan, gives a recipe for claret in his treatise _De Proprietatibus Rerum_, Argent., 1485., lib. xix. cap. 56., which proves it to be of older date than is generally supposed:

"Claretum ex vino et melle et speciebus aromaticis est confectum ...
Unde a vino contrahit fortitudinem et acumen, a speciebus autem retinet
aromaticitatem et odorem, sed a melle dulcedinem mutuat et saporem."

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

"_The Temple of Truth_" (Vol. vii., p. 549.).--The author of this work, according to Dr. Watt, was the Rev. C. E. de Coetlogon, rector of Godstone, Surrey.

[Greek: Halieus].

Dublin.

_Wellborne Family_ (Vol. vii., p. 259.).--The following is from the _Town and Country Magazine_ for 1772:

"_Deaths._--Mr. Richard Wellborne, in Aldersgate Street, descended in a
direct male line from the youngest son of Simon Montfort, Earl of
Leicester, who flourished in King Henry III.'s time, and married that
king's sister."

There is now a family of the name of Wellborne residing in Doncaster.

W. H. L.

_Devonianisms_ (Vol. vii., p. 544.).--While a resident in Devonshire, I frequently met with localisms similar in character to those quoted by J. M. B.; but what at first struck me as most peculiar in common conversation, was the use, or rather abuse, of the little preposition _to_. When inquiring the whereabouts of an individual, Devonians ask one another, "Where is he _to_?" The invariable reply is, "_To_ London," "_To_ Plymouth," &c., as the case may be. The Cheshire clowns, on the other hand, murder the word _at_, in just the same strange and inappropriate manner.

The indiscriminate use of the term _forrell_, when describing the cover of a book, is a solecism, I fancy, peculiarly Devonian. Whether a book be bound in cloth, vellum, or morocco, it is all alike _forrell_ in Devonshire parlance. I imagine, however, that the word, in its present corrupt sense, must have originated from _forrell_, a term still used by the trade to designate an inferior kind of vellum {631} or parchment, in which books are not unfrequently bound. When we consider that vellum was at one time in much greater request for bookbinding purposes than it is just now, we shall be at no great loss to reconcile this eccentricity in the vocabulary of our west country brethren.

T. HUGHES.

Chester.

_Humbug_ (Vol. vii., p. 550.).--A recent number of Miller's _Fly Leaves_ makes the following hazardous assertion as to the origin and derivation of the term _Humbug_:

"This, now common expression, is a corruption of the word Hamburgh, and
originated in the following manner:--During a period when war prevailed
on the Continent, so many false reports and lying bulletins were
fabricated at Hamburgh, that at length, when any one would signify his
disbelief of a statement, he would say, 'You had that from Hamburgh;'
and thus, 'That is Hamburgh,' or _Humbug_, became a common expression
of incredulity."

With all my credulity, I cannot help fancying that this bit of specious _humbug_ is a _leetle_ too far-fetched.

T. HUGHES.

Chester.

_George Miller, D.D._ (Vol. vii., p. 527.).--His Donnellan Lectures were never published.

[Greek: Halieus].

Dublin.

"_A Letter to a Convocation Man_" (Vol. vii., p. 502.).--Your correspondent W. FRASER may be informed that the "great preacher" for whom he inquires was Archbishop Tillotson.

[Greek: Halieus].

[Perhaps our correspondent can reply to another Query from MR. W.
FRASER, viz. "Who is the 'certain author' quoted in _A Letter to a
Convocation Man_, pp. 24, 25.?"--ED.]

_Sheriffs of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire_ (Vol. vii., p. 572.).--This is a very singular Query, inasmuch as Fuller's list of the sheriffs of these counties begins 1st Henry II., and not, as is assumed by your correspondent D., "from the time of Henry VIII."