Notes and Queries, Number 196, July 30, 1853

Chapter I: Front Matter

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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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No. 196.] SATURDAY, JULY 30. 1853.. [Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page
Books chained to Desks in Churches: Font Inscription:
Parochial Libraries, by W. Sparrow Simpson, B.A. 93
Real Signatures _versus_ Pseudo-names, by the Rev.
James Graves 94
Popular Stories of the English Peasantry, by Vincent
T. Sternberg 94
Shakspeare Correspondence, by Cecil Harbottle, &c. 95
Epitaph and Monuments in Wingfield Church, Suffolk 98
Original Royal Letters to the Grand Masters of Malta 99

MINOR NOTES:--Meaning of "Clipper"--Anathema,
Maran-atha--Convocation and the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts--Pigs said
to see the Wind--Anecdote of the Duke of Gloucester 100

QUERIES:--
Lord William Russell 100
Ancient Furniture--Prie-Dieu 101

MINOR QUERIES:--Reynolds' Nephew--Sir Isaac
Newton--Limerick, Dublin, and Cork--Praying to the
West--Mulciber--Captain Booth of Stockport--"A saint
in crape"--French Abbes--What Day is it at our
Antipodes?--"Spendthrift"--Second Growth of Grass--
The Laird of Brodie--Mrs. Tighe, Author of "Psyche"--
Bishop Ferrar--Sir Thomas de Longueville--Quotations
wanted--Symon Patrick, Bishop of Ely: Durham: Weston:
Jephson--The Heveninghams of Suffolk and Norfolk--
Lady Percy, Wife of Hotspur (Daughter of Edmund
Mortimer, Earl of March)--Shape of Coffins--St. George
Family Pictures--Caley (John), "Ecclesiastical Survey
of the Possessions, &c. of the Bishop of St. David's,"
&c.--Adamson's "Lusitania Illustrata"--Blotting-paper--
Poetical Versions of the Fragments in Athenaeus 102

REPLIES:--
Robert Drury 104
The Termination -by 105
The Rosicrucians, by William Bates 106
Inscriptions on Bells, by W. Sparrow Simpson, B.A. 108
Was Cook the Discoverer of the Sandwich Islands? by
C. E. Bagot 108
Megatherium Americanum, by W. Pinkerton 109

Photographic Correspondence:--Stereoscopic
Angles--Yellow Bottles for Photographic Chemicals 109

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--Earth upon Earth,
&c.--Picalyly--Mr. Justice Newton--Manners of the
Irish--Arms of the See of York--"Up, Guards, and at
'em!"--Coleridge's Christabel: the 3rd Part--Mitigation
of Capital Punishment--The Man with the Iron Mask--
Gentleman executed for Murder of a Slave--Jahn's
Jahrbuch--Character of the Song of the Nightingale,
&c. 110

MISCELLANEOUS:--
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 114
Notices to Correspondents 114
Advertisements 115

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Notes.

BOOKS CHAINED TO DESKS IN CHURCHES: FONT INSCRIPTION: PAROCHIAL LIBRARIES.

It would be interesting to have a complete list of the various books still to be found chained to desks in our ancient churches. The "Bible of the largest volume," the "Books of Homilies allowed by authority," and the Book of Common Prayer, are ordered by Canon 80. to be provided for every church. In some places this regulation is still complied with: at Oakington, Cambridgeshire, a copy of a recent (1825) edition of the Homilies lies on a small desk in the nave. But besides these authoritative works, other books are found _chained_ to their ancient desks: at Impington, Cambridgeshire are, or were, "three black-letter volumes of Fox's _Martyrs_ chained to a stall in the chancel." (Paley's _Ecclesiologist's Guide, &c._) At St. Nicholas, Rochester, chained to a small bracket desk at the south side of the west door, is a copy of _A Collection of Cases and other Discourses to recover Dissenters to the Church of England_, small 8vo., 1718. The _Paraphrase_ of Erasmus may probably be added to the list (see Professor Blunt's _Sketch of the History of the Reformation_, 10th edit., p. 130.), though I cannot call to mind any church in which a copy of this work may now be found. In the noble minster church at Wimborne, Dorsetshire, is a rather large collection of books, comprising some old and valuable editions: all these books were, and many still are, chained to their shelves; an iron rod runs along the front of each shelf, on which rings attached to the chains fastened to the covers of the works have free play; these volumes are preserved in an upper chamber on the south side of the chancel. The parochial library at St. Margaret's, Lynn, Norfolk, is one of considerable interest and importance; amongst other treasures are a curious little manuscript of the New Testament very neatly written, a (mutilated) black-letter copy of the _Sarum Missal_, and many fine copies of the works of the Fathers, and also of the Reformers; these are preserved in the south aisle of the chancel, which is fitted up as a library, and are in very good order. At Margate Church are a few volumes, of what kind my note-book does {94} not inform me. I may also mention, in connexion with St. Nicholas, Rochester, that the font is octagonal, and inscribed with the following capital letters, the first surmounted by a crown:

C . R . I . * . * . * . A . N.

The large panel on each side contains one of the letters; the font is placed close to the wall, so that the remaining letters, indicated by asterisks, cannot now be read: the sexton said that the whole word was supposed to be "Christian," or rather "Cristian." Beside the font is a very quaint iron bracket-stand, painted blue and gold, "constructed to carry" two candles.

W. SPARROW SIMPSON.

P. S.--Permit me to correct an error of the press in my communication at p. 8. of your present volume, col. 1. l. 10. from bottom; for "worn," read "won."

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REAL SIGNATURES VERSUS PSEUDO-NAMES.

It is pleasant to see so many of the correspondents of "N. & Q." joining in the remonstrance against the anonymous system. Were one to set about accumulating the reasons for the abandonment of pseudo-names and initials, many of the valuable columns of this periodical might be easily filled; such an essay it is not, however, my intention to inflict on its readers, who by a little thought can easily do for themselves more than a large effusion of ink on the part of any correspondent could effect. I shall content myself with recounting the good which, in one instance, has resulted from a knowledge of the real name and address of a contributor.

The REV. H. T. ELLACOMBE (one of the first to raise his voice against the use of pseudo-names) having observed in "N. & Q." many communications evincing no ordinary acquaintance with the national Records of Ireland, and wishing to enter into direct communication with the writer (who merely signed himself J. F. F.), put a Query in the "Notices to Correspondents," begging J. F. F. to communicate his real name and address. There in all probability the matter would have ended, as J. F. F. did not happen to take "N. & Q.," but that the writer of these lines chanced to be aware, that under the above given initials lurked the name of the worthy, the courteous, the erudite, and, yet more strange still, the _unpaid_ guardian of the Irish Exchequer Records--James Frederick Ferguson,--a name which many a student of Irish history will recognise with warm gratitude and unfeigned respect. Now it had so happened that by a strange fortune MR. ELLACOMBE was the repository of information as to the whereabouts of certain of the ancient Records of Ireland (see MR. ELLACOMBE'S notice of the matter, Vol. viii., p. 5.), abstracted at some former period from the "legal custody" of some heedless keeper, and sold by a Jew to a German gentleman, and the result of his communicating this knowledge to Mr. Ferguson, has been the latter gentleman's "chivalrous" and successful expedition for their recovery. The _English Quarterly Review_ (not _Magazine_, as MR. ELLACOMBE inadvertently writes), in a forthcoming article on the Records of Ireland, will, it is to be hoped, give the full details of this exciting record hunt, and thus exemplify the _great utility_, not to speak of the _manliness_, of real names and addresses, _versus_ false names and equally Will-o'-the-Wisp initials.

JAMES GRAVES.

Kilkenny.

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POPULAR STORIES OF THE ENGLISH PEASANTRY.

(Vol. v., p. 363. &c.)

Will you allow me, through the medium of "N. & Q.," to say how much obliged I should be for any communications on this subject. Since I last addressed you (about a year ago) I have received many interesting contributions towards my proposed collection; but not, I regret to say, quite to the extent I had anticipated. My own researches have been principally confined to the midland counties, and I have very little from the north or east. Such a large field requires many gleaners, and I hope your correspondents learned in Folklore will not be backward in lending their aid to complete a work which Scott, Southey, and a host of illustrious names, have considered a desideratum in our national antiquities.

I propose to divide the tales into three classes--Mythological, Humorous, and Nurse-tales. Of the mythological I have already given several specimens in your journal, but I will give the following, as it illustrates another link in the transmission of MR. KEIGHTLEY'S Hindustani legend, which appeared in a recent Number. It is from Northamptonshire.

_The Bogie and the Farmer._

Once upon a time a Bogie asserted a claim to a field which had been hitherto in the possession of a farmer; and after a great deal of disputing, they came to an arrangement by agreeing to divide its produce between them. At seed time, the farmer asks the Bogie what part of the crop he will have, "tops or bottoms." "Bottoms," said the spirit: upon which the crafty farmer sows the field with wheat, so that when harvest arrives the corn falls to his share, while the poor Bogie is obliged to content himself with the stubble. Next year the spirit, finding he had made such an unfortunate selection in the bottoms, chose the tops; whereupon cunning Hodge set the field with turnips, thus again outwitting the simple {95} claimant. Tired of this unprofitable farming, the Bogie agrees to hazard his claims on a mowing-match, thinking that his supernatural strength would give him an easy victory; but before the day of meeting, the cunning earth-tiller procures a number of iron bars which he stows among the grass to be mown by his opponent; and when the trial commences, the unsuspecting goblin finds his progress retarded by his scythe coming into contact with these obstacles, which he takes to be some very hard--very hard--species of dock. "Mortal hard docks, these," said he; "Nation hard docks!" His blunted scythe soon brings him to a stand still, and as, in such cases, it is not allowed for one to sharpen without the other, he turns to his antagonist, now far ahead, and inquires, in a tone of despair, "When d'ye wiffle-waffle (whet), mate?" "Waffle!" said the farmer, with a well-feigned stare of amazement, "O, about noon mebby." "Then," said the despairing spirit, "That thief of a Christian has done me;" and so saying, he disappeared and was never heard of more.

Under _Nurse-tales_, I include the extremely puerile stories of the nursery, often (as in the German ones) interlaced with rhymes. The following, from the banks of the Avon, sounds like an echo from a German story-book.

_Little Elly._

In the old time, a certain good king laid all the ghosts, and hanged all the witches and wizards save one, who fell into a bad way, and kept a school in a small village. One day Little Elly looked through a chink-hole, and saw him eating man's flesh and drinking man's blood; but Little Elly kept it all to herself, and went to school as before. And when school was over the Ogee fixed his eyes upon her, and said--

"All go home but Elly,
And Elly come to me."

And when they were gone he said, "What did you see me eat, Elly?"

"O something did I see,
But nothing will I tell,
Unto my dying day."

And so he pulled off her shoes, and whipped her till she bled (this repeated three days); and the third day he took her up, and put her into a rose-bush, where the rain rained, and the snow snowed, and the hail hailed, and the wind blew upon her all night. Quickly her tiny spirit crept out of her tiny body and hovered round the bed of her parents, where it sung in mournful voice for evermore--

"Dark, weary, and cold am I,
Little knoweth Gammie where am I."

Of the Humorous stories I have already given a specimen in Vol. v., p. 363.

Any notes of legends, or suggestions of any kind, forwarded to my address as below, will be thankfully received and acknowledged.

VINCENT T. STERNBERG.

15. Store Street, Bedford Square.

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SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE.

_The old Corrector on "The Winter's Tale."_--I am glad to find that you have another correspondent, and a very able one too, under the signature of A. E. B., who takes the same view of "Aristotle's checks" as I have done; though I think he might have paid me the compliment of _just_ noticing my prior remonstrance on this subject. It is to be lamented, that MR. COLLIER should have hurried out his new edition of Shakspeare, adopting all the sweeping _emendations_ of his newly-found commentator, without paying the slightest heed to any of the suggestions which have been offered to him in a friendly spirit, or affording time for the farther objections which are continually pouring in. At the risk of probably wearying some of your readers, I cannot forbear submitting to you a few more remarks; but I shall confine them on this occasion to one play, _The Winter's Tale_: which contains, perhaps, as many poetical beauties as any single work of our great dramatic bard. With reference to the passage quoted in p. 437., I can hardly believe that Shakspeare ever wrote such a poor unmeaning line as--

" . . . they are false as _dead blacks_."

nor can I perceive any possible objection to the original words "o'er dyed blacks." They may either mean false mourners, putting an _over_ dark semblance of grief; or they may allude figuratively to the material of mourning, the colours of which if _over-dyed_ will not stand. In either of these senses, the passage is poetical; but there is nothing like poetry in "_our dead blacks_."

In p. 450. the alteration of the word "and" to "heaven" may be right, though it is difficult to conceive how the one can have been mistaken for the other. At all events, the sense is improved by the change; but I do not see that anything is gained by the substitution in the next line of "dream" for "theme." Whatever the king said in his ravings about Hermione, might as aptly be called part of his "theme" as part of his "dream." The subject of his _dream_ was in fact his _theme_!

Neither can I discover any good reason for changing, in p. 452.,

" . . . and one may drink, depart,
And yet partake no venom,"

into "drink a part." The context clearly shows the author's meaning to have been, that if any one _departed_ at once after tasting of the beverage, he would have no knowledge of what he had drunk; {96} but if he remained, some one present might point out to him the spider in the cup, and _then_ "he cracks his gorge," &c.

In p. 460. MR. COLLIER says that the passage, "dangerous, unsafe lunes i' the king," is mere tautology, and _therefore_ he follows the old corrector in substituting "_unsane lunes_." Now it strikes me that there is quite as much _tautology_ in "_unsane lunes_" as in the double epithet, "dangerous, unsafe." It is, in fact, equivalent to "insane madness;" and, moreover, drags in quite needlessly a very unusual and uncouth word.

In p. 481. we have the last word of the following passage--

"I never saw a vessel of like sorrow,
So fill'd and so becoming,"--

converted into "_o'er-running_." This may possibly be the correct reading; but, seeing that it is immediately followed by the words--

" . . . in pure white robes,
Like very sanctity,"

I question whether "becoming" is not the more natural expression.

"There weep--and leave it crying,"

is made--

"There _wend_--and leave it crying,"

which I submit is decidedly wrong. I will not be hypercritical, or I might suggest that in that case the words would have been "_thither_ wend;" but I maintain that the change is contrary to the _sense_. The spirit of Hermione never could have been intended to say that the _child_ should be left _crying_. She would rather wish that it might _not cry_! The meaning, as it seems to me, is, that Antigonus should _weep_ over the babe, and leave it while so _weeping_.

In p. 487. the words "missingly noted" are altered to "_musingly_ noted," which is a very questionable improvement. Camillo, _missing_ Florigel from court, would naturally _note_ his absence; and he may have _mused_ over the causes of it, but there could be no necessity for _musing_ to note the fact of his absence: and I cannot help thinking that the word _missingly_ is more in Shakspeare's style.

I cannot subscribe at all to the alteration in p. 492. of the word "unrolled" to "enrolled." To be enrolled _and placed_ in the book of virtue is very like tautology; but I conceive Shakspeare meant Autolycus to wish that his name might be _unrolled_ from the company of thieves and gypsies with whom he was associated, and transferred to the book of virtue.

I am entirely at issue with the old corrector upon his _emendation_ in p. 498.:

" . . . Nothing she does or _seems_,
But smacks of something greater than herself;"

he says, ought to be: "Nothing she does or _says_." And how does MR. COLLIER explain this misprint? Why, by stating that formerly "says" was often written "saies." Now, I cannot for the life of me discover why the word "saies" should have been mistaken for "seems," any more than the word "says." But surely the phrase, "nothing she does or seems," is far more poetical and elegant than the other. It says in effect: there is nothing either in her acts or her carriage, "but smacks of something greater than herself." We have positive evidence, however, that the passage could not have been "nothing she does or says," viz. that this speech of Polixenes immediately follows a long dialogue between Florizel and Perdita, which could not have been overheard, because Camillo directly afterwards says to the king:

" . . . He tells her something,
That makes her blood look out."

Thereby clearly proving, that the king could not have been remarking on what _she said_.

The transformation of the last-mentioned line into--

"That _wakes_ her blood--look out!"

cannot, I think, be justified on any ground. He tells her something which "makes her blood look out." That is, something which makes her blush rush to the surface to look out upon it! What can be more natural? The proposed alteration is not only unnecessary, but awkward!

In p. 499., if the words "unbraided wares" must be altered, I see no reason for the change to "_embroided_" wares. It seems to me that _embraided_ would be the most proper word.

What possible reason can there be for converting "force and knowledge," in p. 506., to "sense and knowledge?" If I may be excused a play upon the words, I should say the _sense_ of the passage is not at all improved, and the _force_ is entirely lost.

I must protest most decidedly against the correction of the following lines, p. 507.:

" . . . Can he speak? hear?
Know man from man? dispute his own estate?"

Dispute his own estate means, _defend_ his property, dispute with any one who questions his rights. The original passage expresses the sense quite perfectly, while "dispose his own estate" appears to me poor and insipid in comparison.

MR. COLLIER'S objection to the speech of Camillo, in p. 514.,

" . . . it shall be so my care
To have you royally appointed, as if
The scene you play were mine;"

is, that to make the scene appear as if it were Camillo's, could be of no service to the young prince. Now Camillo says nothing about the scene _appearing_ as his. He says he will have the prince royally appointed, as if the scene he played _were_ really his own: that is, as if _he_ were the party interested in it, instead of the prince. {97}

The reading of the old corrector--

" . . . . As if
The scene you play were true,"

would be nonsense; because, so far as the prince appearing to be Bohemia's son (which was what he was most anxious about), the scene to be played was _really true_!

The last correction I have now to notice is in the soliloquy of Autolycus in p. 522.: where MR. COLLIER proposes to read, "who knows how that may turn _luck_ to my advantage," instead of "may turn _back_ to my advantage." I see no advantage in the change, but the very reverse. "Who knows but my availing myself of the means to do the prince my master a service, may come back to me in the shape of some advancement?" This seems to me to be the author's meaning, and it is legitimately expressed. How frequently it has been said that an evil deed recoils upon the head of the perpetrator! Then why not a good deed _turn back_ to reward the doer?

CECIL HARBOTTLE.

P. S.--It is rather singular that A. E. B., who, as I have already shown, has so completely _shelved_ me in his remarks upon "Aristotle's checks," should now complain of the very same thing himself, and say that his "humble auxilia have been coolly appropriated, without the slightest acknowledgment." However, as our opinions coincide upon the passage in question, I am not disposed to pick a quarrel with him. I cannot, however, at all concur in his alteration of the passage in _King Lear_: "Our means secure us," to "Our means _recuse_ us." I will certainly leave him "in the quiet possession of whatever merit is due to this _restoration_," or rather this invention! Can A. E. B. show any other instance in which Shakspeare has used the verb _recuse_; or will he point out any other author who has adopted it in the sense referred to? Johnson calls it a "juridical word:" and I certainly have no recollection of having met with it, except in judicial proceedings.

I can neither subscribe to the emendation of A. E. B., nor to that of the old commentator, but infinitely prefer the original words, which appear to me perfectly intelligible. The sense, as it strikes me, is, that however we may desire things which we have not, the _means_ we already possess are sufficient for our security; and even our _defects_ prove serviceable. Blindness, for instance, will make a man more careful of himself; and then the other faculties he enjoys will secure him from harm.

_"King Lear," Act IV. Sc. 1._--

"Our means secure us, and our mere defects
Prove our commodities."

I should not object to your correspondent A. E. B.'s conjectural emendation, "recuse" for "secure," but that, unless my memory and Ayscough are both deceptive, the word "recuse" is nowhere to be found in Shakspeare; nor, as far as I know, in any dramatist of the age. If it be used by any of the latter, it is probably only in the strict legal meaning, which is quite different from that which A. E. B. would attach to it. This is conclusive with me; for I hold that there is no sounder canon in Shakspearian criticism than never to introduce by conjecture a word of which the poet does not himself elsewhere make use, or which is not at least strongly sanctioned by contemporary employment.

I therefore, as the passage is flat nonsense, return to the well-abused "corrector's" much modester emendation, "wants" for "means."

And now permit one word in defence of this deceased and untoward personage.

I think much of the unpopularity into which he has fallen with a certain class of critics, is owing to their not allowing him fair play.

Suppose a MS. placed in our hands, containing, beyond all doubt, what MR. COLLIER'S corrected second folio is alleged to contain, authoritative emendations of the text: what should we, _a priori_, expect to find in it?

That text is abominably corrupt beyond a doubt; it contains many impossible readings, which must be misprints or otherwise erroneous; it contains also many improbable readings, harsh, strained, mean, inadequate, and the like.

Now it is excessively unlikely that a truly corrected copy, could we find one, would remove all the impossible readings, and leave all the improbable ones.

It is still more unlikely that, in correcting the improbable passages, it would leave those to which Mr. A., or Mr. B., or Mr. C., ay, or all of us together, have formed an attachment from habit, predilection, or prejudice of some kind. Such phrases as "the blanket of the dark," "a man that hath had losses," "unthread the rude eye of rebellion," and many more, have become consecrated in our eyes by habit; they have assumed, as it were, the character of additions to our ordinary vocabulary; and yet I think sound reason itself, and that kind of secondary reason or instinct which long familiarity with critical pursuits gives us, combine to suggest that, _occurring in a corrupt text_, they are probably corruptions; and corruptions in lieu of some very common and even prosaic phrases, such as the corrector substitutes for them, and such as no conjectural critic would venture on.

In short, the kind of disappointment which many of these corrections unavoidably give to the reader, is with me an argument in favour of their genuineness, not against it.

And, lastly, in so very corrupt a text, it is _a priori_ probable that many phrases which appear to need no correction at all, are misprints or {98} mistakes nevertheless. It is probably that the true text of the poet contained many variations utterly unimportant, as well as others of importance, from the printed one. Now here it is precisely, that we find in the corrector what we should anticipate, and what it is difficult to account for on any theory disparaging his authority. What could have induced him to make such substitutions as _swift_ for "sweet," _then_ for "there," _all arose_ for "are arose," _solemn_ for "sorry," _fortune_ for "nature," to quote from a single play, the _Comedy of Errors_, which happens to lie before me,--none of them necessary emendations, most of them trivial, unless he had under his eye some original containing those variations, to which he wished his own copy to conform? It is surely wild guessing to attribute corrections like these to a mere wanton itch for altering the text; and yet no other alternative is suggested by the corrector's enemies.

I am myself as yet a sceptic in the matter, being very little disposed to hasty credulity on such occasions, especially where there is a possibility of deceit. But I must say that the doctrine of probabilities seems to me to furnish strong arguments in the corrector's favour; and that the attacks of professed Shakspearian critics on him, both in and out of "N. & Q.," have hitherto rather tended to raise him in my estimation.

H. M.

_Aristotle's Checks v. Aristotle's Ethics._--

"Only, good master, while we do admire
This virtue, and this moral discipline,
Let's be no stoicks, nor no stocks, I pray;
Or so devote to Aristotle's _checks_,
As Ovid be an outcast quite abjur'd."
_Taming of the Shrew_, Act I. Sc. 1.

The following are instances of the use of the substantive _check_ by Shakspeare:

"_Orlando._ A man that had a wife with such a wit, might say,--'Wit
whither wilt?'
"_Rosalind._ Nay, you might keep that _check_ for it, till you met your
wife's wit going to your neighbour's bed."

"_Falstaff._ I never knew yet, but rebuke and _check_ was the reward of
valour."

"_Antony._ This is a soldier's kiss; rebukable,
And worthy shameful _check_ it were to stand
On more mechanic compliment."

"_Belarius._ . . . O, this life
Is nobler, than attending for a _check_."

"_Iago._ However, this may gall him with some _check_.

"_Desdemona._ And yet his trespass, in our common reason
. . . . is not almost a fault
To incur a private _check_."

These instances may show that the word in question was a favourite expression of the poet. It is true there was a translation of the Ethics of Aristotle in his time, _The _Ethiques_ of Aristotle_. If he spelt it _ethiques_, no printer would have blundered and substituted _checks_.

Judge Blackstone suggested _ethicks_, but Johnson and Steevens kept to _checks_. And Johnson, in his _Dictionary_, _sub voce_ Devote, quotes the passage, but which, by a strange printer's misreading, is referred to "_Tim._ of Ath." instead of _Tam. of Sh._ in Todd's edit. of _Johnson's Dictionary_ (1818).

W. N.

Pall Mall.

* * * * *

EPITAPH AND MONUMENTS IN WINGFIELD CHURCH, SUFFOLK.

I am not aware if the following epitaph has yet appeared in print; but I can safely assert that it really has a sepulchral origin; unlike those whose doubtful character causes them to be placed by your correspondent MR. SHIRLEY HIBBERD among the "gigantic gooseberries" ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 190.). I copied it myself from a gravestone in the churchyard of the village of Wingfield, Suffolk. After the name, &c. of the deceased is the following verse:

"Pope boldly says (some think the maxim odd),
'An honest man's the noblest work of God;'
If Pope's assertion be from error clear,
The noblest work of God lies buried here."

Wingfield Church itself is an interesting old place, but has been a good deal mauled in times past; and the brasses, of which there were once several, are all gone. It is, I believe, a good deal noted for a parvise, or room over the porch, from which, by an opening in the wall, a view of the altar is obtained. There are two or three piscinas in different parts of the church, and a sedilla near the altar. The most interesting objects are, however, three altar tombs, with recumbent figures of the Earls of Suffolk; the earliest, which is of wood, representing either the first or second peer of the family, with his spouse. The next in date is that of the celebrated noble who figures in Shakspeare's _Henry VI._ The monument is, if I recollect right, of alabaster. The figure is attired in complete armour, and was originally painted; a good deal of the colour still remaining. This and the following monument are partly let into the wall, and are surmounted by beautiful Gothic canopies. The third is, I believe, also of alabaster, and is the effigy of (I think) the nephew of Margaret of Anjou's earl, and who lies by the side of his wife, one of Edward IV.'s family.

It is very likely that all I have been writing is no news to any one. In that case I have but to ask your pardon for troubling you with such a worthless Note.

PICTOR.

* * * * *

{99}

ORIGINAL ROYAL LETTERS TO THE GRAND MASTERS OF MALTA.

In searching through the manuscripts now filed away in the Record Office of this island with Dr. Villa, who has charge of them, and for whose assistance in my search I am greatly indebted, I have been gratified by seeing several original letters, addressed by different monarchs of England to the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Each of the royal letters in the following list bears the signature of the writer:

* The letter of George I. is countersigned "Carteret;" those of George
II. by "Harrington," "H. Fox," and "Bedford." None of the other letters
in the above list bear any signature but that of the king or queen who
wrote them. Among the letters of Henry VIII., addressed to Villiers de
L'Isle Adam, there is one of much interest. I refer to that of the
earliest date, in which his majesty strongly recommended the Grand
Master to accept of Tripoli, on the coast of Barbary, and the islands
of Malta and Gozo, as a residence for the convent, which Charles V. had
offered him. The importance of Malta as a military station was known in
England three hundred years ago. L'Isle Adam (with the exception of La
Valetta), the most distinguished of all the Maltese Grand Masters, died
on the 21st of August, 1534. The last letter of Henry VIII., addressed
to him, came to his successor, Nicholas Cotoner. On the mantle which
covered the remains of this great man these few words were
inscribed,--"Here lies Virtue triumphant over Misfortune."]

Intending in a short time to examine these royal letters more closely, and hoping to refer to them again in "N.& Q.," I refrain from writing more at length on the present occasion.

W. W.

La Valetta, Malta.

P.S.--Perhaps the following chronological table, referring to the Maltese Grand Masters who are mentioned in the above Note, may not be uninteresting to the readers of "N. & Q.":

* * * * *

{100}

Minor Notes.

_Meaning of "Clipper."_--I have more than once been asked the meaning and derivation of the term _clipper_, which has been so much in vogue for some years past. It is now quite a nautical term, at least among the fresh-water sailors: and we find it most frequently applied to yachts, steamers, fast-sailing merchant vessels, &c. And in addition to the colloquial use of the word, so common in praising the appearance or qualities of a vessel, it has become one quite recognised in the official description given of their ships by merchants, &c. Thus we often see an advertisement headed "the well-known clipper ship," "the noted clipper bark," and so forth. This use of the word, however, and its application to _vessels_, is somewhat wide of the original.

The word in former times meant merely a hackney, or horse adapted for the road. The owners of such animals naturally valued them in proportion to their capabilities for such service, among which great speed in trotting was considered one of the chief: fast trotting horses were eagerly sought after, and trials of speed became the fashion. A horse then, which was pre-eminent in this particular, was termed a _clipper_, _i.e._ a _hackney, par excellence_.

The original of the term is perhaps the following: _Klepper-lehn_ was a feudal tenure, so termed among the old Germans, where the yearly due from the vassal to the lord was a _klepper_, or, in its stead, so many bushels of oats: and the word _klepper_, or _kleopper_, is explained by Haltaus. _Glos. Germ. Med. Aevi_, 1758:

"Equus qui corripit gradum, et gressus duplicat. Nomen habet a celeri
correptorum passuum sonitu."

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

_Anathema, Maran-atha._--Perhaps the following observation on these words may be as instructive to some of the readers of "N. & Q." as it was to me. Maran-atha means "The Lord cometh," and is used apparently by St. Paul as a kind of motto: compare [Greek: ho kurios engus], Phil. iv. 5. The Greek word has become blended with the Hebrew phrase, and the compound used as a formula of execration. (See Conybeare and Howson's _Life and Epistles of St. Paul_, p. 64., note 4.)

F. W. J.

_Convocation and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts._--

"When the committee I have mentioned was appointed, March 13, 1700, to
consider what might be done towards _propagating the Christian Religion
as professed in the Church of England in our Foreign Plantations_; and
the committee, composed of very venerable and experienced men, well
suited for such an inquiry, had sat several times at St. Paul's, and
made some progress in the business referred to them, a charter was
presently procured to place the consideration of that matter in other
hands, where it now remains, and will, we hope, produce excellent
fruits. But whatever they are, they must be acknowledged to have sprung
from the overtures to that purpose first made by the lower house of
Convocation."--_Some Proceedings in the Convocation of 1705 faithfully
represented_, p. 10. of Preface.

W. FRASER.

Tor-Mohun.

_Pigs said to see the Wind._--In _Hudibras_, Independant says to Presbyter:

"You stole from the beggars all your tones,
And gifted mortifying groans;
Had lights when better eyes were blind,
_As pigs are said to see the wind_."--Pt. 3. c. ii. l. 1105.

That most delightful of editors, Dr. Zachary Grey, with all his multifarious learning, leaves us here in the lurch for once with a simple reference to "Hudibras at Court," _Posthumous Works_, p. 213.

Is this phrase merely an hyperbolic way of saying that pigs are very sharp-sighted, or is it an actual piece of folk-lore expressing a belief that pies have the privilege of seeing "the viewless wind?" I am inclined to take the latter view. Under the head of "Superstitions," in Hone's _Year-Book_ for Feb. 29, 1831, we find:

"Among common sayings at present are these, _that pigs can see the
wind_," &c.

The version I have always heard of it is--

"Pigs can see the wind 'tis said,
And it seemeth to them _red_."

EIRIONNACH.

_Anecdote of the Duke of Gloucester._--Looking through some of the Commonwealth journals, I met with a capital _mot_ of this spirited little Stuart.

"It is reported that the titular Duke of Gloucester, being informed
that the Dutch fleet was about the Isle of Wight, he was asked to which
side he stood most addicted. The young man, apprehending that his
livelihood depended on the parliament, and that it might be an art to
circumvent him, turning to the governor, demanded of him how he did
construe 'Quamdiu se bene gesserit.'"--_Weekly Intelligencer._

SPERIEND.

* * * * *

Queries.

LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL.

Can any of your correspondents inform me where the virtuous and patriotic William Lord Russell was buried? It is singular that neither Burnet, who attended him to the scaffold, nor his descendant Lord John Russell in writing his life, nor Collins's _Peerage_, nor the accounts and letters of his admirable widow, make any allusion to his {101} remains. At last I found, in the _State Trials_, vol. ix. p. 684., that after the executioner had held up the head to the people, "Mr. Sheriff ordered his Lordship's friends or servants to take the body and dispose of it as they pleased, being given them by His Majesty's favour." Probably, therefore, it was buried at Cheneys; but it is worth a Query to ascertain the fact.

My attention was drawn to this omission by the discovery of the decapitated man found at Nuneham Regis ("N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 386.), and from observing that the then proprietor of the place appears to have been half-sister to Lady Russell, viz. daughter of the fourth Lord Southampton, by his second wife Frances, heiress of the Leighs, Lords Dunsmore, and the last of whom was created Earl of Chichester. But a little inquiry satisfied me this could not have been Lord Russell's body; among other reasons, because it was very improbable he should be interred at Nuneham, and because the incognito body had a peaked beard, whereas the prints from the picture at Woburn represent Lord Russell, according to the fashion of the time, without a beard.

But who then was the decapitated man? He was evidently an offender of consequence, from his having been beheaded, and from the careful embalming and the three coffins in which his remains were inclosed. The only conjecture I see hazarded in your pages is that of MR. HESLEDEN (Vol. vi., p. 488.), who suggests Monmouth; but he has overlooked the fact stated in the original communication of L. M. M. R., that Nuneham only came into the possession of the Buccleuch family through the Montagues, _i.e._ by the marriage of Henry, third Duke of Buccleuch, to Lady Elizabeth Montagu; the present proprietor, Lord John Scott, being their grandson. This marriage took place in 1767, or eighty-two years after Monmouth's execution, and thirty-three years after the death of his widow, the Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth, who is supposed to have caused the body to be removed from Tower Hill.

Notwithstanding the failure of heirs male in three noble families within the century, viz. the Leighs, the Wriothesleys, and the Montagus, the present proprietor is their direct descendant, and there are indications in the letter referred to, that the place of interment of his ancestors, as well as of this singular unknown, will no longer be abandoned to be a depository of farm rubbish.

W. L. M.

* * * * *

ANCIENT FURNITURE--PRIE-DIEU.

Perhaps some of the readers of "N. & Q." will be able to give me some information as to the use of an ancient piece of furniture which I have met with. At Codrington, a small village in Gloucestershire, in the old house once the residence of the family of that name, now a farm-house, they show you in the hall a piece of furniture which was brought there from the chapel when that part of the building was turned into a dairy. It is a cupboard, forming the upper part of a five-sided structure, which has a base projecting equally with the top, which itself hangs over a hollow between the cupboard and the base, and is finished off with pendants below the cupboard. The panel which forms the door of the cupboard is wider than the sides. All the panels are carved with sacred emblems; the vine, the instruments of the Passion, the five wounds, the crucifix, the Virgin and child, and a shield, with an oak tree with acorns, surmounted by the papal tiara and the keys. The dimensions are as follows:

Depth from front to back, 2 feet 4-1/2 inches.

Height, 4 feet 8 inches.

Height of cupboard from slab to pendants, 2 feet 6 inches.

Height of base, 9-1/2 inches.

Width of side panels, 1 foot 8 inches; of centre panel, 1 foot 10-1/2 inches.

Width of the door of the cupboard, 1 foot 5 inches.

The door has carved upon it a scene representing two men, one an old man sitting upon a chair, the other a young one falling back from a stool; a table separates them and in the next compartment (for an arcade runs through the group) a female figure clasps her hands, as if in astonishment. This I can hardly understand. But the panel with the papal ensigns I think may throw some light on the use of the whole. In the year 1429, John Codrington of Codrington obtained a bull from Pope Martin V. to have a portable altar in his house, to have mass celebrated when and where he pleased. I find that such a portable altar ought to have "a suitable frame of wood whereon to set it." Such altars are frequently mentioned, though I believe very few remain; but I never could hear of the existence of anything to show what the frame would be. It occurs to me as possible that this piece of furniture may have been used for the purpose. The whole question of portable altars is an interesting one, and if this account should by the means of "N. & Q." fall into the hands of any one who is acquainted with the subject, I hope he would consider it worth a communication.

For some time I was at a loss for another instance; however, I have just received from a friend, who took interest in the subject, a sketch of something almost identical from the disused chapel at Chillon in the Canton Vaud. Of this I have not the measurements, but it stands about breast-high. It is there called a "prie-dieu," and is said to have belonged to the Dukes of Savoy, but the size is very unusual for such a use. I send sketches of each of the subjects of my Query, {102} and hope that, if this should be thought worthy of a place in "N. & Q.," some one will be able and willing to afford some information about them. I would add as a farther Query, the question of the meaning of the battle-axe and pansy, which appear on the "prie-dieu" at Chillon. Is it a known badge of the Savoy family?

R. H. C.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Reynolds' Nephew._--In the Correspondence of David Garrick, vol. i. pp. 664. 658., 4to., 1831, there are letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds regarding a play written by his nephew. Can you tell me whether this was the Rev. Mr. Palmer, minister of the Temple Church, and who was afterwards Dean of Gashel; or had Sir Joshua any other nephew? The letters are dated 1774, and the author appears to have been resident in London about that time.

A. Z.

_Sir Isaac Newton._--Which is the passage in Newton's _Optics_ to which Flamsteed refers, in his account of the altercation between them, as having given occasion to some of the enemies of the former to tax him with Atheism? and is there any evidence, besides what this passage may afford, in favour of Dr. Johnson's assertion, that Newton _set out_ as an infidel? (Boswell, July 28, 1763.) The _Optics_ were not published till 1704, but had been composed many years previously.

J. S. WARDEN.

_Limerick, Dublin, and Cork._--Can any of your Irish or other correspondents inform me to whom we are indebted for the lines--

"Limerick was, Dublin is, and Cork shall be,
The finest city of the three"?

Also, in what respect Limerick was formerly superior to Dublin?

Dublin.

_Praying to the West._--A friend of mine told me that a Highland woman in Strathconan, wishing to say that her mother-in-law prayed for my friend daily, said: "She holds up her hands to the _West_ for you every day." If to the _East_ it would have been more intelligible; but why to the West?

Comments

Notes and Queries, Number 196, July 30, 1853Chapter I: Front Matter

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