Chapter C: Mansfield Ingleby

Birmingham.

_"An" before "u" long._--I should be much obliged to any of my fellow-students of "N. & Q." who would answer the following Query: What is the reason of the increasingly prevailing custom of writing _an_ before words beginning with _u_ long, or with diphthongs having the sound of _u_ long? Surely a written language is perfect in proportion as it represents the spoken tongue; if so, this is one of the many instances in which modern fashions are making English orthography still more inconsistent than it was wont to be. It appears to me just as reasonable to say "_an youthful_ (pronounced _yoothful_) person," as "_an useful_ (pronounced _yooseful_) person."

If there is a satisfactory reason for the practice, I shall be delighted to be corrected but, if not, I would fain see the fashion "nipped in the bud."

BENJAMIN DAWSON.

London.

_Reversible Names._--Some female names spell backwards and forwards the same, as _Hannah_, _Anna_, _Eve_, _Ada_: so also does _madam_, which is feminine. Is this in the nature of things, or can any one produce a reversible _proprium quod maribus_? No arguments, but instances; no surnames, which are epicene; no obsolete names, such as _Odo_, of which it may be suspected that they have died precisely because an attempt was made to marify them: or say, rather, that Odo, to live masculine, was obliged to become Otho. Failing instances, I shall maintain that _varium et mutabile semper femina_ only means that whatever reads backwards and forwards the same, is always feminine.

M.

_Gilbert White of Selborne._--Can any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." inform me whether any portrait, painted, engraved, or sculptured, exists of this celebrated naturalist; and if so, a reference to it will greatly oblige

W. A. L.

St. John's Square.

_Hoby, Family of; their Portraits, &c._--In the parish church of Bisham, in the county of Berks, are some fine and costly monuments to the memory of several members of this family, who were long resident in the old conventual building there. Are there any engravings of these monuments? {245} And if so, in what work; or where are the inscriptions to be met with? I possess two fine engraved portraits of this family: the originals by Hans Holbein are said to be in "His Majesty's Collection;" where are the originals now? Do they still adorn the walls of Windsor Castle? The one is inscribed--

"Phillip Hobbie, Knight."

The other--

"The Lady Hobbie."

The orthography of the names is the same as engraved on the portraits. The former was Sir Philip Hoby, one of the Privy Council to King Henry VIII.; and the lady was, I believe, the wife of Sir Thomas Hoby, of Leominster, co. Hereford, who died in 1596, aged thirty-six. Was this the learned Lady Hoby, who wrote one of the epitaphs above referred to? Are there any other portraits of members of this ancient, but now extinct family, in existence? They bore for arms, "Arg. three spindles in fesse gules, threaded or." What was their crest and motto?

J. B. WHITBORNE.

_Portrait of Sir Anthony Wingfield._--Can any person inform me where the picture of Sir Anthony Wingfield is, described in Horace Walpole's _Letters_, and which he saw in an old house in Suffolk belonging to the family of Naunton, descended from Secretary Naunton, temp. James I.; he says:

"Sir Anthony Wingfield, who, having his hand tucked into his
girdle, the housekeeper told us had had his fingers cut off by
Henry VIII."

Q.

_Lofcopp, Lufcopp, or Luvcopp._--In some of the charters granted by our earlier monarchs (Henry I. for instance), there is contained a grant of a toll called _lofcopp_, _lufcopp_, or _luvcopp_. Could any of your correspondents give me any farther information respecting the meaning of the word, than is contained in the first Volume of "N. & Q.," pp. 319. 371.?

J. CTUS.

_Humming Ale._--Having lately met with the above epithet applied to ale in one of James's novels (_Forest Days_), I should be glad to know its meaning.

W. H. P.

* * * * *

Minor Queries with Answers.

_Dr. Richard Sherlock._--Dr. Richard Sherlock, afterwards Vicar of Winwick, had his first cure in Ireland. I should be glad to know where he officiated, and to receive any information respecting him beyond what is met with in his nephew, Bishop Wilson's, life of him.

WILLIAM DENTON.

[A few additional notes have been added to Bishop Wilson's _Life of Dr. Richard Sherlock_, in the seventh edition, 2 vols. 1841-44. The editor, the Rev. H. H. Sherlock, M. A., has the following note on his first cure in Ireland: "Wood (_Athen. Oxon._, vol. iv. p. 259. Bliss) leads us to suppose that Dr. Sherlock was ordained immediately after taking his Master's degree, and adds, that 'soon after he became minister of several small parishes in Ireland, united together, and yielding no more than 80_l._ a year.' The editor has not been able to obtain any particulars of his ordination, nor the names of the united parishes in Ireland where he ministered. Canonically, he could not have been ordained earlier than A. D. 1636."]

_Cardinal Fleury and Bishop Wilson._--There exists a tradition to the effect that during a war between this country and France, Cardinal Fleury gave directions to the French cruisers not to molest the Island of Man, and this out of regard to the character of its apostolic bishop, Wilson. I should be glad to know whether any and what authority can be assigned for this story.

WILLIAM DENTON.

[The story rests upon the authority of the Rev. C. Cruttwell, the bishop's biographer and editor. The following passage occurs in the _Life of Bishop Wilson_, vol. i. p. 226 of his _Works_, third edition, 8vo., 1784, and in the folio edition, p. 57.:--"Cardinal Fleury wanted much to see him [the bishop], and sent over on purpose to inquire after his health, his age, and the date of his consecration; as they were the two oldest bishops, and he believed the poorest, in Europe; at the same time inviting him to France. The Bishop sent the Cardinal an answer, which gave him so high an opinion of him, that he obtained an order that no French privateer should ravage the Isle of Man." Feltham, in his _Tour through the Isle of Man_, 1798, after quoting this story, adds, "And that the French still respect a Manksman, some recent instances confirm."]

_Dr. Dodd a Dramatist._--I have seen it somewhere stated, that after Dr. Dodd's trial, he sent for Mr. Woodfall to consult him respecting the publication of a comedy he had written in his youth, entitled _Sir Roger de Coverley_, and which he had actually revised and completed while in Newgate. Was it ever published; and if not, where is the MS.?