Chapter II: Part 2

When a hive of bees is taken, the practice is to lay the combs upon a sieve over some vessel, in only that the honey may drain out of the combs. Whilst the combs are in the hive, they hang perpendicularly, and each cell is horizontal; and in this position the honey in the cells which are in the course of being filled does not run out; but when the combs are laid on the sieve horizontally, the cells on the lower side of the combs hang perpendicularly, and then the honey begins to run out of those that are not sealed up. The honey that so runs out is perfectly pure, and free from wax. The cells, however, that are sealed up with wax still retain their honey; and the ordinary process to extract it is to place the sieve with the combs upon it so near a fire as gradually to melt the wax, so as to let the honey escape. During this process, some portion of wax unavoidably gets mixed with the honey. Here then we have two kinds of honey: one in a perfectly pure state, and wholly _sine cera_; the other in some degree impure, and mixed _cum cera_. Can anything be more reasonable than to suppose that the former was called _sincerum mel_, just as we call it virgin honey? And this accords with Ainsworth's derivation, "ex sine et cera: ut mel purum dicitur quod cera non est permixtum." If it be said that there is nothing to show that the old Romans adopted the process I have described, I reply it is immaterial what process they followed in order to extract what would not flow out of itself; as whatever did flow out of itself would be _mel sine cera_.

If such were the origin of the term, it is easy to see how appropriately, in a secondary sense, it would denote whatever was pure, sweet, unadulterated, and ingenuous.

Now if we apply this sense to the line:

"Sincerum est nisi vas quodcunque infundis acescit,"--

it will mean, "unless the vessel be sweet and pure, it will turn whatever you pour into it sour."

This is the interpretation that has always hitherto been put upon the line; which is thus translated by Tommaso Gargallo, vol. iii. p. 19. edit. 1820:

"Se non e puro il vase, ecco gia guasto
Che che v' infondi."

And by Francis (vol. iv. p. 27., 6th edit.):--

"For tainted vessels sour what they contain."

The context shows that this is the correct translation, as _sincerum vas_ is obviously in opposition to "auriculas _collecta sorde_ dolentes," in the preceding line.

The line itself plainly refers to the well-known fact, that if wine or other liquor be poured into a foul vessel, it will be polluted by it. Nor can I avoid noticing the elegant opposition, according to this construction, between the sweetness in _sincerum_, and the acidity in _acescit_.

I also think that MR. INGLESBY'S version cannot be correct for the following reason. Cracks may exist in every part of a vessel alike; and as the part filled by the liquor is always many times greater than the remainder of the vessel, cracks would more frequently occur in the former; and, as where air can get in the liquor can get out, it {568} is plain that in the majority of instances the liquor would run away instead of turning sour. Now the line plainly contains a _general_ affirmative proposition that all liquor whatsoever will be turned sour, unless the vessel be _sincerum_; and therefore that version cannot be right which applies only to a few instances.

"Sincerum cupimus vas incrustare" is well rendered by Gargallo (vol. ii. p. 37.):

" . . . . Insudiciar bramiamo
Anco il vase piu puro;"

and by Francis (vol. iii. p. 39.):

"And joy th' untainted vessel to begrime."

The passage is well explained in the note to Baxter's _Hor._ (p. 310. edit. 1809):

"Incrustari vas dicitur cum aliquo vitioso succo illinitur atque
inquinatur."

And the passage in the 18th satire of Lucilius shows that this is an accurate explanation:

" . . . . . Regionibus illis
Incrustatu' calix ruta caulive bibetur."

A practice, I rather think, prevails in some parts of England of rubbing the inside of a vessel with sweet herbs, in order to flavour cyder or other liquor.

It appears from the same note:

"Fracta vasa et gypsare et pelliculare Veteres consuevere. Gypsantur et
pelliculantur vasa plena ad aera et sordes excludendas. Sincerum
proprie mel sine cera, vel, quod magis huc pertinet, vas non ceratum:
nam a ceratura odorem vel saporem trahit."

If these passages show the practice of sealing vessels with wax, they also show that the wax was what affected the flavour of the liquor.

MR. JEFFCOCK plainly errs in saying that _simplex_ "does not mean without a fold, but once folded." In Latin we have the series _simplex_, _duplex_, _triplex_, &c., corresponding precisely to the English _single_, _double_, _treble_, &c. And as _single_ denotes a thing without a fold, so does _simplex_. MR. JEFFCOCK'S derivation would make _simplex_ and _duplex_ mean the same thing. Now _duplex_ does not mean twice folded, but double.

Nor can I think that _singulus_ can be "semel and termination." Ainsworth derives it from the Hebrew [Hebrew: SGLH], which denotes whatever is peculiar or singular. It occurs to me to suggest whether it may not be derived from _sine angulis_. The term denotes unity--one person, one thing. Now the Roman mark for one is a straight line, and that is "that which lies evenly between its extreme points;" it is emphatically a line without bend, angle, or turning--"linea sine angulis:" _angulus_, like its Greek original, denoting any bend, whether made by a straight or curved line.

Though I cannot at this moment refer to any other Latin words compounded of _sine_, we have in Spanish _simpar_, without equal: _sinigual_, _sinjusticia_, _sinrazon_, _sinnumero_, _sinsabor_.

The delight I take in endeavouring to attain the correct meaning of the classics will, I hope, form some apology for the length of this Note.

S. G. C.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

* * * * *

POETICAL TAVERN SIGNS.

(Vol. viii., p. 242.)

In an old collection of tavern signs of the last century, among many others I find the following. On the sign of the "Arrow," at Knockholt, in Kent,--

"Charles Collins liveth here,
Sells rum, brandy, gin, and beer;
I made this board a little wider,
To let you know I sell good cyder."

On the sign of the "Shoulder of Mutton and Cat," at Hackney, in Middlesex,--

"Pray Puss don't tear,
For the mutton is so dear;
Pray Puss don't claw,
For the mutton yet is raw."

On the sign of the "Gate," at Blean Hill, in Kent,--

"Stop, brave boys, and _squench_ your thirst,
If you won't drink, the horses must."

On the sign of the "Ship in Distress," in Middle Street, Brighton, Sussex,--

"With sorrows I am compass'd round;
Pray lend a hand, my ship's aground."

On the sign of the "Waggon and Horses," in Black Lion Street, Brighthelmstone,--

"Long have I travers'd both far and near,
On purpose to find out good beer,
And at last I found it here."

RUBY.

At a small way-side beer-shop in the parish of Werrington in the county of Devon, a few years since there was the following sign:

"The Lengdon Inn, kept by M. Vuller.
Gentlemen walk in and sit at your aise,
Pay for what you call for, and call for what you plaise;
As tristing of late has been to my sorrow,
Pay me to-day and I'll tristee to-morrow."

J. D.

Launceston.

Not far from Kilpeck, Herefordshire, I have seen a wayside public-house, exhibiting the sign of the "Oak," under which is the following couplet:

"I am an oak, and not a yew,
So drink a cup with good John Pugh."

{569} As "good John Pugh" sold excellent cider, I did not repent complying with the injunction.

W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.

Temple.

This is at a roadside public-house near Maidenhead, known by the sign of the "Gate." It is thus:

"This gate hangs high,
It hinders none;
Drink hearty, boys,
And travel on."

I remember a sign near Marlborough of the "Red Cow," and the landlord, being also a milkman, had inscribed under the rude drawing of a cow these lines:

"The Red Cow
Gives good milk now."

NEWBURIENSIS.

* * * * *

HOMO UNIUS LIBRI.

(Vol. viii., p. 440.)

I have not verified in the works of St. Thomas this saying ascribed to him, but I subjoin a passage from Bishop Taylor, where it is quoted:

"A river cut into many rivulets divides also its strength, and grows
contemptible and apt to be forded by a lamb and drunk up by a summer
sun; so is the spirit of man busied in variety, and divided in itself;
it abates its fervour, cools into indifferency, and becomes trifling by
its dispersion and inadvertency. Aquinas was once asked, with what
compendium a man might best become learned? He answered, _By reading of
one book_; meaning that an understanding entertained with several
objects is intent upon neither, and profits not." --_Life of Christ_,
part ii. s. xii. 16.

He also quotes Ecclus (xi. 10.), St. Gregory, St. Bernard, Seneca, Quintillian, and Juvenal to the same purpose.

Southey quotes part of this passage from Bishop Taylor (in the _Doctor_) and adds:

"Lord Holland's poet, the prolific Lope de Vega, tells us to the same
purport. The _Homo Unius Libri_ is indeed proverbially formidable to
all conversational figurantes: like your sharpshooter, he knows his
piece, and is sure of his shot."

The truth of this dictum of St. Thomas cannot be too much insisted on in this age of many books, which affords such incentives to literary dissipation and consequent shallowness.

"An intellectual man, as the world now conceives of him, is one who is
full of 'views,' on all subjects of philosophy, on all matters of the
day. It is almost thought a disgrace not to have a view at a moment's
notice on any question from the Personal Advent to the Cholera or
Mesmerism. This is owing in a great measure to the necessities of
periodical literature, now so much in request. Every quarter of a year,
every month every day, there must be a supply for the gratification of
the public, of new and luminous theories on the subjects of religion,
foreign politics, home politics, civil economy, finance, trade,
agriculture, emigration, and the colonies. Slavery, the gold fields,
German philosophy, the French empire, Wellington, Peel, Ireland, must
all be practised on, day after day, by what are called original
thinkers."--_Dr. Newman's Disc. on Univ. Educ._, p. xxv. (preface).

This writer follows up the subject very ably, and his remarks on that spurious philosophism which shows itself in what, for want of a better word, he calls "viewiness," are worth the attention of all _homines unius libri_.

P.S.--As I think of it, I shall make a cognate Query. Some facetious opponent of the schoolmen fathered on St. Thomas Aquinas an imaginary work in sundry folio volumes entitled _De Omnibus Rebus_, adding an equally bulky and imaginary supplement--_Et Quibusdam Aliis_. This is as often used to feather a piece of unfledged wit, as the speculation concerning the number of angels that could dance on the point of a needle, and yet I have never been able to trace out the inventor of these visionary tomes.

EIRIONNACH.

* * * * *

THE FORLORN HOPE.

(Vol. viii., p. 411.)

My attention was directed to the consideration of this expression some years ago when reading in John Dymmoks' _Treatise of Ireland_, written about the year 1600, and published among the _Tracts relating to Ireland, printed for the Irish Archaeological Society_, vol. ii., the following paragraph:

"Before the vant-guard marched the _forelorn hope_, consisting of forty
shott and twenty shorte weapons, with order that they should not
discharge untill they presented theire pieces to the rebells' breasts
in their trenches, and that sooddenly the short weapons should enter
the trenches pell mell: vpon eyther syde of the vant-guarde (which was
observed in the batle and reare-guarde) marched wings of shott
enterlyned with pikes, to which were sent secondes with as much care
and diligence as occasion required. The baggage, and a parte of the
horse, marched before the battell; the rest of the horse troopes fell
in before the _rearewarde_ except thirty, which, in the head of the
_rearelorne hope_, conducted by Sir Hen. Danvers, made the retreit of
the whole army."--P.32.

The terms _rearelorne hope_ and _forlorne hope_ occur constantly in the same work, and bear the same signification as in the foregoing.

Remarking upon this circumstance to my friend the late Dr. Graves, he wrote the following notice of the word in the _Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science_, of which I was then the editor, in Feb. 1849:

"Military and civil writers of the present day seem quite ignorant of
the true meaning of the words {570} _forlorn hope_. The adjective has
nothing to do with despair, nor the substantive with the 'charmer which
lingers still behind;' there was no such poetical depth in the words as
originally used. Every corps marching in any enemy's country had a
small body of men at the head (_haupt_ or _hope_) of the advanced
guard; and which was termed the _forlorne hope_ (_lorn_ being here but
a termination similar to _ward_ in _forward_), while another small body
at the head of the rere guard was called the _rear-lorn hope_ (xx.). A
reference to Johnson's _Dictionary_ proves that civilians were misled
as early as the time of Dryden by the mere sound of a technical
military phrase; and, in process of time, even military men forgot the
true meaning of the words. It grieves me to sap the foundations of an
error to which we are indebted for Byron's beautiful line:

'The full of hope, misnamed _forlorn_.'"

W. R. WILDE.

Dublin.

* * * * *

TIECK'S "COMOEDIA DIVINA."

(Vol. viii., p. 126.)

The title-page of this work is: _Comoedia Divina, mit drei Vorreden von Peter Hammer, Jean Paul, und dem Herausgeber_, 1808. The absence of publisher's name and place of publication leaves little doubt that the name W. G. H. Gotthardt, and the date "Basel, Mai 1, 1808," are both fictitious.

But for finding the passage cited by M. M. E. at p. 38., I should have supposed that the Munich critic had referred to some other book with the same title. No one who has read this can suppose it was written by Tieck. The Catholic-romantic school, of which he was the most distinguished member, furnishes the chief objects of the author's ridicule. Novalis, Goerres, and F. Schlegel are the most prominent; but at p. 128. is an absurd sonnet "an Tieck."

The _Comoedia Divina_ is a very clever and somewhat profane satire, such as Voltaire might have written had he been a German of the nineteenth century. It opens with Jupiter complaining to Mercury of ennui (_eine langweilige Existenz_), and that he is not what he was when young. Mercury advises a trip to Leipzig fair, where he may get good medical advice for his gout, and certainly will see something new. They go, and hear various dealers sing the catalogues of their goods. The lines quoted by M. M. E. are sung by a young man with a puppet-show and barrel-organ to the burden:

"Orgelum Orgelei,
Dudeldum Dudeldei."

He exhibits things taken from the physics of Oken, the metaphysics of Schelling, and the aesthetics of Goerres. The whole of the song is good; and I quote one stanza as showing a sound appreciation of the current metaphysicians:

"Die Intelligenz construirt sich in der Zeit
Als Object, und erkennt sich, und das ist gescheidt,
Denn aus diesen und andern Constructuren
Entstehen Lehrbuecher und Professuren."

They visit the garret of Herr Novalis Octavianus Hornwunder, a maker of books to order upon every subject: they learn the mysteries of the manufacture. The scene is clever, but much of the wit is unappreciable as directed against productions which have not survived. Jupiter, in compassion to Hornwunder, changes him to a goose, immediately after which a bookseller enters, and, mistaking the gods for authors, makes them an offer of six dollars and twelve groschen the octavo volume, besides something for the kitchen. Jupiter, enraged, changes him to a fox, which forthwith eats the goose "feathers and all."

They then go to see the play of the Fall of Man (_Der Suendenfall_). The subject is treated after the manner of Hans Sachs, but with this difference, that the simple-minded old Nuremberger saw nothing incongruous in making Cain and Abel say their catechism, and Cain go away from the examination to fight with the low boys in the street; whereas the author of _Der Suendenfall_ is advisedly irreverent. Another proof, if one were wanted, that he was not Tieck.

_Die Ungoettliche Comoedie_ is not by Batornicki, but translated by him from the Polish. In the preface he apologises for inelegant German, as that is not his native language; and I presume he is a Pole, as he says the author's name is known among us (_unter uns_). As he calls it a poem (_Dichtung_) the original is probably in verse. I think the Munich critic could have seen only some extracts from the _Comoedia Divina_; for, so far from Batornicki "plundering freely," I do not find any resemblance between the works except in the sole word _comoedia_. The _Comoedia Divina_ is a mockery, not political, but literary, and as such anti-mystic and conservative. _Die Ungoettliche Comoedie_ is wild, mystical, supernatural, republican, and communistic. It contains passages of great power, eloquence, and pathos. German critics are often prosy and inefficient, but not given to wilful misrepresentation or carelessness in examining the books they review. The writer in the Munich journal must be held an exception.

H. B. C.

U. U. Club.

* * * * *

{571}

LIVERIES WORN BY GENTLEMEN.

(Vol. vi., p. 146.; Vol. viii., p. 473.)

The prevalence of the custom of the liveries of noble and other persons being worn by others than the retainers of the family, in the reigns of Henry VI. and Elizabeth, is exemplified by two documents preserved amongst the MSS. of the corporation of this borough. The first, which is also curious as a specimen of the language of the period, is an award under the seal of Margaret of Anjou; under whom, as they had previously done under Katherine, queen of Henry V., the corporation farmed the bailiwick of the town:

"Margaret, by the grace of God, Quene of England and of Ffraunce and
Lady of Irland, Doughter of the Kyng of Sicile and Jer[=l][=m]. Be it
knawen to all men to whom this p'sent writyng (endented) shall come,
that whereas a certeyn Co[=m]ission of my fuldoutfull Lord was directed
to c'teyn [p=]sones to enquere as well of yevyng of lyu'e, as of other
diu's articles ... before the Co[=m]issioners of the seyd Co[=m]ission
it was p'sented by William Neuby and other of our te[=n][=n]tz of
Leycestre ... that c'teyn [p=]sones, in Leycestre, had taken clothyng
of diu'rez p'sones, ayenst the forme of the statut; that ys to wete,
that some of hem had taken clothyng of the Viscount Beaumont, and some
of S^r Edward Grey, Lord Fferrers of Growby, and some of hem had taken
clothyng of other diu'res [p=]sones, by cause of which p'sentement
diu'res [p=]sones, some of the houshold of the seyd Lord Fferrers, and
some of the clothing of the said Lord, with other wele wilners to the
said Lord, as yet not to us knawen, by supportacon and favour, and for
pleasance to the said Lord, as we ben enfo'med ... betyn and sore
woundetyn the said William Neuby, and manesten to bete other of our
te[=n][=n]tz of Leycestre." ... She doth therefore "ordeyn, deme, and
awarde" that the said Lord Ferrers pay c. marks to William Neuby, that
he "be goode lorde to the said William Neuby; and to all other
te[=n][=n]tz in our lordship of Leycestre; and that the said lord shall
not geve any clothyng or liue'y to any [p=]sone dwellyng within our
said lordship," &c.... "Yeven the xx day of May, the yere of the reign
of my most douted Lord Kyng Henr' the Sext, xxvii."

The above extracts show one of the evils to which the practice led; another, mentioned in the deed, was that of deerstealing. William Newby was mayor of the town in 1425, 1433, and 1444-5.

The second document is a curious letter from the mayor and some members of the corporation to George Earl of Huntington, lord-lieutenant of the county, and a frequent resident in the town, where a part of his mansion, called "Lord's Place," and in which James I. was entertained, still exists. The draft of this letter forms part of an interesting series of correspondence between the corporation and the earl, respecting the nomination of the parliamentary representatives of the town in 1601.

The earl recommended that Mr. (afterwards Sir) William Herrick and Mr. Bromley should be chosen, and in strong language warned them against electing Mr. George Belgrave of Belgrave (who had greatly offended him), as he hears "that Belgrave still contineweth his great practising in labouring to be chosen;" and he adds, "Goode Mr. Mayor, be carefull of this, as you and the rest will looke to make accompt of me."

It appears that many members of the corporation were secretly favourable to Mr. Belgrave, and he was elected, as explained in the following letter:

"Right Ho^e, oure humble dewties remeberd, &c., may yt please yo^r good
Lpp. to be c'tified, that upon Tuesday morninge laste, being assembled
for the choice of o^r Burgesses, Mr. George Belgrave p'sented himselfe
amongest us, in a blewe coat w^{th} a bull head, affirminge and
protestinge he was yo^r L[=p]'s s'[=v]t, and that S^r Henrie
Harrington, verye late the night before, had obteyned that favour of
yo^r ho^r in his behalfe; and muche bemoned his former undewtifull
cariage towards yo^r L[=p], w^{th} a remorsive remembrance of many most
ho. favours receaved from yo^r L[=p] and yo^r house, towards his
auncestors, him, and his; and, recommendinge his former suite to be one
of oure Burgesses, being demanded whether he had any letter from yo^r
L[=p], answered, that this (poyntinge at his coat and cognizance) he
hoped was a sufficient testimonie of y^r L[=p]'s favour towards him,
and of his submission towards yo^r ho^r; and further, that it was so
late before S^r Henrie cold [p=]cure yo^r L[=p]'s said favour, as that
you cold not well write, and, for the truth of the [p=]mises, he
offered his corporal oathe. Whereupon we, thinkinge all this to be
true, made choyce of him, w^{th} Mr. Will[=m] Herricke, to be o^r
Burgesses. And now, this evening, wee are credibly certified that y^r
L[=p] hath geven him no suche entertaynem^t; and thus by his said lewde
and most dishonest dealinge, being much abused, we thought it o^r
dewties forthew^{th} to signifie the same unto yo^r L[=p], humbly
cravinge yo^r L[=p]'s most ho^rable favor for some reformacon of this
vile practize. And thus, w^{th} remembrance of oure dewties, wee humbly
take o^r leaves. From Leic^r, this xx^{th} day of October, 1601.

"Youre honor's most humble to co[=m]aunde,
Signed by "Will[=m] ROWES, Maior,
ROBERT HEYRICKE,"
And ten others.

An angry and characteristic reply from the earl follows, but with which, as it is printed in Thompson's _History of Leicester_ (p. 318.), I will not trespass upon your valuable space. It may be sufficient to say, that he tells the mayor that--

"Notwithstanding this treacherous devise of that cunninge practisore, I
feare it will appeare, upon due scanninge of this accydent, y^t there
remaynes a false brother amongst you.... And as for y^e p'sone hymself
whoe hathe thus shameleslye sought to dishonoure me and deceave you, I
will, by the grace of God, take suche order as in honor and lawfullye I
maye, bothe {572} for y^e better unfouldinge of this, as also for suche
punnyshm^t as the law will inflict."

In pursuance of this determination, the earl exhibited an information against Mr. Belgrave in the Star Chamber. The subsequent proceedings which took place on the subject in parliament will be found noticed in D'Ewes's _Journal_, and quoted in Thompson's _History of Leicester_, pp. 319-323.

WILLIAM KELLY.

Leicester.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Queries on Dr. Diamond's Calotype Process._--Would you kindly ask DR. DIAMOND, to whom I should imagine all of us are more or less indebted, the following questions respecting the very valuable paper on the calotype in the last _Photographic Journal_?

1. As to the white spots which make their appearance in developing, on Turner's paper especially, and which he says are owing to minute pieces of metal in the paper, what is the best way of hiding them in the negative, so that they may as little as possible injure the positive? I have suffered sadly from this cause; and have tried to stop them with ammonio-nitrate, which turns after a time to red, and stops the light effectually; but I should prefer some black colouring the strength of which one could measure by seeing its immediate effect.

2. And again, when one has black spots, what is the best means of lessening their intensity, if not of wholly removing them?

[Greek: Photographos.]

[Where light spots occur in a negative, DR. DIAMOND recommends, as the
most effectual mode of stopping them, a little gamboge neatly applied
with a camel-hair pencil. Where a great intensity is desired, Indian
ink may be applied in the same manner, taking care in both cases to
smooth off the edges with a dry brush. The cyanide of potassium applied
in the same way, but _with very great care_, will remove the black
spots. Before it appears to have quite accomplished its object, a
negative should be immersed in water, as its action is so energetic.]

_Albumenized Paper._--I have followed DR. DIAMOND'S directions for albumenizing paper (thin Canson negative) as accurately as I can, but I cannot prevent the albumen in drying, when pinned up, from forming into waves or streaks. This will be best understood from a specimen of a sheet which I inclose, and I shall be much obliged if you can tell me how this can be avoided. Some albumenized paper which I have purchased is quite free from this defect, but being at a distance from London, it is both convenient and economical to prepare my own paper.

C. E. F.

[We would recommend our correspondent to remove his paper from the
albumen still more slowly; and to take care not to draw it along, but
so to lift it that the last corner is not moved until it is raised from
the albumen. In pinning up be careful that the paper takes the inward
curl, otherwise the appearances exhibited will be almost sure to take
place. As the albumenizing liquid is of very trifling cost, we
recommend the use of two dishes, as by that means a great economy of
time is obtained.]

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Marcarnes_ (Vol. viii., p. 365.).--Can this curiously sounding name be an archaic form of Mackarness, a name, I think, still borne by living persons?

FRANCIS JOHN SCOTT.

Tewkesbury.

_X on Brewers' Casks_ (Vol. viii., p. 439.).--Your correspondent B. H. C., though ingenious, is in error. The X on brewers' casks originated in the fact, that beer above a certain strength paid 10_s_. duty; and the X became a mark to denote beer of that better quality. The doubling and tripling of the X are nothing but inventions of the brewers to humbug the public.

[Hebrew: B]. [Hebrew: D].

_No Sparrows at Lindham_ (Vol. vii., p. 233.).--Amongst the various responses in connexion with the Queries given on the page above noted, communicated direct, the only one which I have thought worthy of insertion in my MSS. is as follows:

"As for there being no sparrows at Lindham, it may be accounted for in
the following legend:--A few years ago I was in that district when I
heard some account of a person called 'Tom of Lindham;' who, by the
way, was a curious personage, and performed some very extraordinary and
out-of-the-way feats. At one time he was left at home to protect the
corn from the _sparrows_; when, _to save trouble_, he got all of them
into the barn, and put a _harrow_ into the window to keep them in; and
so _starved_ (_i. e._ hungered) them to death."

Furthermore Mr. Whittaker kindly communicated of the above Yorkshire worthy:

"At the close of Tom's life he took it into his head to make a road
across a part of Hatfield Chase to his own dwelling; when, according to
the legend, he employed supernatural aid: with this clause in the
contract, that he, Tom, should not inquire any particulars as to the
character of his assistants or helpmates. One day, however, being more
curious than prudent, he looked behind him; his workmen immediately
disappeared, and Tom of Lindham was no more heard of. His road still
remains in the state he left it."

M. AISLABIE DENHAM.

Piersebridge, near Darlington, Durham.

_Theobald le Botiller_ (Vol. viii., p. 366.).--Theobald le Botiller was an infant at his father's death, 1206. He had livery in 1222; and in 9 Hen. III., {573} 1225, married Rohesia or Rose de Verdun, not _Vernon_. She was so great an heiress that she retained her own name, and her posterity also bore it. She founded the Abbey of Grace Dieu, Leicestershire, in 1239; and died 1247-8. Her husband died in 1230, leaving two sons: John de Verdun, who inherited, and Nicholas, who died in Ireland without issue; and one daughter Maud, who married John FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel.

WALTER DEVEREUX.

Hampton Court Palace.

_Vault at Richmond, Yorkshire_ (Vol. viii., p. 388.).--Touching the "vault," or underground passage, "that goeth under the river" of Swale, from the Castle of Richmond to the priory of St. Martin, every tradition, _i. e._ as to its whereabouts, is, I believe, now wholly lost.

Your Querist, however, who seems to feel an interest in that beautiful and romantic portion of the _north countrie_, will perhaps welcome the following mythe, which is connected, it is possible, with the identical _vault_ which is depictured by Speed in his _Plan of Richmond_. It was taken down from the lips of a great-grand-dame by one of her descendants, _both of whom are still living_, for the gratification of your present correspondent, who, like Luther,

"Would not for any quantity of gold part with the wonderful tales which
he has retained from his earliest childhood, or met with in his
progress through life."

But to my legend:

Once upon a time a man, walking round Richmond Castle, was accosted by another, who took him into a _vennel_, or underground passage, below the castle; where he beheld a vast multitude of people lying as if they were sleeping. A _horn_ and a _sword_ were presented to him: the horn to blow, and the sword to draw; in order, as said his guide, to release them from their slumbers. And when he had drawn the sword half out, the sleepers began to move; which frightened him so much, that he put it back into the sheath: when instantly a voice exclaimed,

"Potter! _Potter Thompson!_
If thou had either drawn
The _sword_, or blown the _horn_,
Thou had been the luckiest man that ever was born."

So ends the Legend of the Richmond Sleepers and Potter Thompson; which, mayhap, is scarcely worth preserving, were it not that it has preserved and handed down the characteristic, or rather trade, cognomen and surname of its timorous at least, if not cowardly, hero.

M. AISLABIE DENHAM.

Piersebridge, near Darlington, Durham.

_Lord Audley's Attendants at Poictiers_ (Vol. viii., p. 494.).--A notice of the arguments in opposition to the statement, rested mainly on the grant of arms by John Touchet, Lord Audley, to the descendant of Sir James de Mackworth, in consideration of his having been one of these esquires, occurs in Blore's _Rutland_, p. 130. and p. 224. And it appears to be satisfactorily shown by the grant itself, that it was not made on account of the services of Sir James.

J. P. Jun.

_Portraits at Brickwall House_ (Vol. vii., p. 406.).--Immerzeel says, in his _Levens der Kunstschilders_ (_Lives of the Painters_), vol. iii. pp. 238, 239.:

"Thomas van der Wilt, born at Piershil in the district of Putten, was a
disciple of Verkolje at Delft, where he also settled. He painted
portraits, domestic scenes, &c., which were not free from stiffness. He
also engraved in mezzotinto after Brouwer, Schalken, and others. His
drawings were engraved by his son William, who died young."

He was living in 1701, and was probably grandson of a person of the same name who resided in 1622 at Soetermeer near Leyden, for in the register of the villages of Rhynland are found:

"Jan Thomas van der Wilt and Maritgen Pietersdr, his wife, with Thomas,
Maritgen, Pieter, Cornelis, Grietge, Jannetge, and Ingethen, their
children."

The portrait painted by Terburgh probably represents Andries de Graeff, who, in 1672, is called by Wagenaar, in his _Vaderlandsche Hist._ of that year (p. 82.), late burgomaster of Amsterdam. It is then necessary to ascertain whether this late burgomaster died in 1674. The family de Graeff also resided at Delft, where several of its members became magistrates.

ELSEVIR.

The portrait of the old gentleman is, in my opinion, doubtless that of Andries de Graeff, who was elected burgomaster of Amsterdam in 1660, and filled the office several times afterwards, although after the year 1670 his name no more appears on the list of burgomasters, which can very well agree with the date of death (1674) on the portrait.--From the _Navorscher_.

A. J. VAN DER AA.

Gorinchem.

_The Words "Mob" and "Cash"_ (Vol. viii., pp. 386. 524.).--CLERICUS RUSTICUS will find the origin and first introduction of the word _mob_ fully stated in Trench's _Lectures on the Study of Words_ (p. 124. fourth ed.). In addition to the quotations there made, CLERICUS RUSTICUS may refer to Dryden's preface to _Cleomenes_ (1692), to the 230th number of _The Tatler_, written by Swift (an. 1710), and to the Dean's _Introduction to Polite Conversation_.

_Cash._--What Lord Holland may have meant by a legitimate English word it is hard to say. Dr. Johnson derives it from the Fr. _caisse_ (or _casse_), which Cotgrave interprets "a box, a _case_, {574} or chest; also, a merchant's _cash_ or counter." Todd confirms the correctness of Johnson's etymology by a usage in Winwood's _Memorials_; where the Countess of Shrewsbury is said to have 20,000l. in her _cash_. And Richardson farther confirms it by a quotation from Sir W. Temple; and one from Sherwood, who explains _cashier_, "Qui garde le _casse_ de l'argent de merchand;" and a merchant's _cash_, "_casse_ de merchand."

Q.

Bloomsbury.

_English Clergyman in Spain_ (Vol. viii., p. 410.).--The clergyman was perhaps attached to the army of England in Spain, in the capacity of chaplain. I recommend a search for the record of his licence, which will very probably recite his appointment; and this record is most likely to be found with the proper officer of the diocese of London, in Doctors' Commons. I have seen one extraordinary discovery of information of the kind now sought by D. Y., in this quarter; and D. Y. will probably be so kind as to note his success in "N. & Q.," if he obtains his information here or elsewhere.

E.

_The Cid_ (Vol. viii., p. 367.).--I find in the catalogue of my library, the greatest part of which was destroyed by fire in 1849, amongst other books relating to _The Cid_, the following:

"Romancero, e Historia del muy valeroso Cavallero el Cid Ruy Diaz de
Bivar, en lenguaje antiguo, recopilado por Juan de Escobar. En esta
ultima impression van anadidos muchos romances, que hasta aora no han
sido impressos, ni divulgados, 12mo. con licencia. En Pamplona, por
Martin de Zavala, ano 1706."

"Romancero e Historia del mui valeroso Cabellero el Cid Rui-diaz de
Vibar, en lenguage antiguo, recopilado por Juan de Escobar, neuva
edicion, reformada sobre las antiguas, anadida e illustrada con varias
notas y composiciones del mismo tiempo y asunto para su mas facil
intelligencia, y adornada con un epitome de la Historia verdadera del
Cid. Por D. Vicente Goncales del Reguero. 12mo. con licencia, Madrid,
Imprenta de Cano, 1818."

In Thorpe's _Catalogue_, 1841, No. 1355, is an edition, 12mo., Segovia, 1629.

JOHN ADAMSON.

_Exterior Stoups_ (Vol. v., p. 560.; Vol. vi., pp. 18. 86. 160. 345. 497. 591., &c.).--Having introduced this subject to "N. & Q.," you will perhaps allow me to return to it, by adding to the list of churches where exterior stoups may be seen, the names of Leigh and Shrawley, Worcestershire. A recent visit to these places made me aware of the existence of the stoups. That at Leigh is in a shattered condition, and is on the south side of the western doorway: it is now covered in by a porch of later date. That at Shrawley is on the eastern side of the south door, and is hollowed out within the top of a short column. Shrawley Church possesses many points of interest for the antiquary: among which may be mentioned, a Norman window pierced through one of the buttresses of the chancel. Among the noticeable things at Leigh Church is a rude sculpture of the Saviour placed exteriorly over the north door of the nave, in a recess, with semicircular heading and Norman pillars. The rector is gradually restoring this fine church.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

_Green Jugs used by the Templars_ (Vol. viii., p. 171.)--In clearing out the ground for the foundation of Raymond Buildings in Gray's Inn, about thirty years since, two earthen green jugs were dug up, which are preserved by the benchers as a memento of "the olden times."

They will hold very little more than half a pint of liquor, are tall and of good proportions, but so small at the top as almost to preclude their being used to drink out of, and having a lip it is surmised that they held the portion assigned to each student, who was also supplied with a drinking horn.

I have seen a jug of the same description in the possession of a gentleman in Lincoln's Inn, which he informed me was brought to light in excavating for the new hall. It is therefore probable that all the inns of court were accustomed to provide jugs of the same description.

F. WHITMARSH.

_"Peccavi," I have Scinde_ (Vol. viii, p. 490.).--Your correspondent MR. G. LLOYD, who says he does "not know on what authority" it is stated that "the old and lamented warrior, Sir Charles Napier, wrote on the conquest of Scinde, _Peccavi_!" is informed that the sole author of the despatch was _Mr. Punch_.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

In a note touching these well-known words, MR. G. LLOYD says, "It is also stated, I do not know on what authority, that the old and lamented warrior, Sir Charles Napier, wrote on the conquest of Scinde, _Peccavi_!" The author of _Democritus in London, with the Mad Pranks and Comical Conceits of Motley and Robin Good-Fellow_, thus alludes to this saying in that work. I presume he had good authority for so doing:

_Sir P_. "What exclaim'd the gallant Napier,
Proudly flourishing his rapier!
To the army and the navy,
When he conquer'd Scinde? '_Peccavi!_'"

A SUBSCRIBER.

_Raffaelle's Sposalizio_ (Vol. vii., p. 595.; Vol. viii., p. 61.).--The reason why the ring is placed on {575} the third finger of the right hand of the Blessed Virgin in Raffaelle's "Sposalizio" at Milan, and in Ghirlandais's frescoe of the same subject in the Santa Croce at Florence, is to be found in the fact that the right hand has always been considered the hand of power or dignity, and the left hand of inferiority or subjection. A married woman always wears her ring on the third finger of the left hand to signify her subjection to her husband. But it has been customary among artists to represent the Blessed Virgin with the ring on the right hand, to signify her superiority to St. Joseph from her surpassing dignity of Mother of God. Still she is not always represented so, for in Beato Angelico's painting of the marriage of Mary and Joseph she receives the ring on her left hand. See woodcut in Mrs. Jameson's _Legends of Madonna_, p. 170. In the Marriage of the Blessed Virgin by Vanloo, in the Louvre, she also receives the ring on the left hand. Giotto, Taddeo Gaddi, Perugino, &c., have painted the "Sposalizio," but I have not copies by me to refer to.

CEYREP.

_Early Use of Tin._--_Derivation of the Name of Britain_ (Vol. viii., pp. 290. 344. 445.).--Your correspondent G. W. having been unable to inform DR. HINCKS who first suggested the derivation of _Britannia_ from _Baratanac_ or _Bratanac_, I have the pleasure to satisfy him on this point by referring him to Bochart's _Geographia Sacra_, lib. I. c. xxxix. In that great storehouse of historical information, the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, there are some profound researches by Melot and others, in which may be found answers to all the Queries proposed by G. W.

The islands, rivers, mountains, cities, and remarkable places of Phoenician colonies, had even in the time of the habitation of the Greeks and Romans Phoenician names, which, according to the spirit of the ancient languages of the East, indicated clearly the properties of the places which bore those names. See instances in Bochart, _ubi supra_; Sammes's _Britannia Antiqua Illustrata, or the Antiquities of Ancient Britain derived from the Phoenicians_; and D'Hancarville's Preface to Hamilton's _Etruscan, &c. Antiquities_.

BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.

_Unpublished Epigram by Sir Walter Scott_ (Vol. vii., pp. 498. 576.).--The following extract is from the _Gentleman's Magazine_, March, 1824, p. 194.:

"Mr. J. Lawrence of Somers Town observes: 'In the summer of the year
1770 I was on a visit at Beaumont Hall on the coast of Essex, a few
miles distant from Harwich. It was then the residence of Mr. Canham....
I was invited to ascend the attics in order to read some lines,
imprinted by a cowboy of precocious intellect. I found these in
handsome, neatly executed letters, printed and burnished with
leaf-gold, on the wall of his sleeping-room. They were really golden
verses, and may well be styled Pythagorean from their point, to wit:

'Earth goes upon the earth, glittering like gold;
Earth goes to the earth sooner than 'twould;
Earth built upon the earth castles and towers;
Earth said to the Earth, All shall be ours.'

The curiosity of these lines so forcibly impressed them on my memory,
that time has not been able to efface a tittle of them. _But from what
source did the boy obtain them?_"

Permit me to repeat this Query?

J. R. M., M.A.

_Derivation of the Word "Humbug"_ (Vol. viii. _passim_).--Not being satisfied with any of the derivations of this word hitherto proposed in your pages, I beg to suggest that perhaps it may be traced to a famous dancing master who flourished about the time when the word first came into use. The following advertisement appeared in the _Dublin Freeman's Journal_ in Jan. 1777:

"_To the Nobility._

"As Monsieur Humbog does not intend for the future teaching abroad
after 4 o'clock, he, at the request of his scholars, has opened an
academy for young ladies of fashion to practise minuets and cotillions.
He had his first assembly on Friday last, and intends continuing them
every Friday during the winter. He does not admit any gentlemen, and
his number of ladies is limited to 32; and as Mrs. Humbog is very
conversant in the business of the Toilet Table, the ladies may depend
on being properly accommodated. Mr. Humbog having been solicited by
several gentlemen, he intends likewise to open an academy for them, and
begs that those who chuse to become subscribers will be so good as to
send him their addresses, that he may have the honour of waiting upon
them to inform them of his terms and days. Mr. Humbog has an afternoon
school three times a week for little ladies and gentlemen not exceeding
14 years of age. Terms of his school are one guinea per month and one
guinea entrance. Any ladies who are desirous of knowing the terms of
his academy may be informed by appointing Mr. Humbog to wait upon them,
which he will do on the shortest notice. Capel St. 21 Jan. 1777."

OMICRON.

_Bees_ (Vol. viii., p. 440.).--In the midland counties the first migration of the season is _a swarm_, the second _a cast_, and the third _a spindle_.

ERICA.

_Topsy Turvy_ (Vol. viii., p. 385.).--I have always understood this to be a corruption of "Topside t'other way," and I still think so.

WM. HAZEL.

_Parish Clerks and Politics_ (Vol. viii., p. 56.).--In the excitement prevalent at the trial of Queen Caroline, I remember a choir, in a village not a hundred miles from Wallingford, Berks, singing {576} with great gusto the 1st, 4th, 11th, and 12th verses of 35th Psalm in Tate and Brady's New Version.

WM. HAZEL.

_Phantom Bells--"The Death Bell"_ (Vol. vii. passim).--I have never met, in any work on folk-lore and popular superstitions, any mention of that unearthly bell, whose sound is borne on the death-wind, and heralds his doom to the hearer. Mickle alludes to it in his fine ballad of "Cumnor Halle:"

"The _death-belle_ thrice was heard to ring,
An aerial voice was heard to calle,
And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing,
Arounde the towers of Cumnor Halle."

And Rogers, in his lines "To an Old Oak:"

"There once the steel-clad knight reclined,
His sable plumage tempest-tossed:
And as the _death-bell_ smote the wind,
From towers long fled by human kind,
His brow the hero crossed."

When ships go down at sea during a terrible tempest, it is said the "death-bell" is often distinctly heard amid the storm-wind. And in tales of what is called Gothic superstition, it assists in the terrors of the supernatural.

Sir W. Scott perhaps alluded to the superstition in the lines:

"And the kelpie _rang_,
And the sea-maid sang
The dirge of lovely Rosabelle."

EIRIONNACH.

_Porter Family_ (Vol. viii., p. 364.).--Full particulars of the existing branch of this ancient family can be afforded by the Rev. Malcom Macdonald of South End, Essex, chaplain to Lady Tamar Sharpe, the aunt and guardian of the representatives of Sir R. K. Porter.

M. H. J.

Thavies Inn.

_The Mitred Abbot in Wroughton Church, Wilts_ (Vol. viii., p. 411.).--The figure was painted in fresco, not on a pillar, but on the spandril-space between two arches. The vestments, as far as I can make out, are an alb, a tunicle and a cope, and mitre. The hands do not appear to hold anything, and I see nothing to show it to represent a mitred abbot rather than a bishop. The colours of the cope and tunicle were red and green, the exterior of the cope and the tunicle being of one colour, the interior of the cope of the other. The figure was the only perfect one when I visited the church, and the rain was washing it out even as I sketched; but there had been one between every two arches, and there were traces of colour throughout the aisle, and the designs appeared to me unusually elegant. I believe my slight sketch to be all that now remains; and shall be glad to send a copy of it to your correspondent if he wishes for it, and will signify how I may convey it to him.

_Passage in Virgil_ (Vol. viii., p. 270.).--Is this the passage referred to by Doctor Johnson?

"Nunc scio, quid sit Amor: duris in cotibus illum
Aut Tmarus, aut Rhodope, aut extremi Garamantes,
Nec generis nostri puerum, nec sanguinis, edunt."
Virgil: _Bucolica_, Ecl. viii. l. 43.

"The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with Love, and found him a native of the rocks." Dr. Johnson found his reward not in vain solicitations to patrons, but in the fruits of his literary labours.

The famous lines in Spenser's "Colin Clout's come home again,"[3] on the instability and hollowness of patronage, may occur to the reader:

"Full little knowest thou, that hast not tride,
What hell it is in suing long to bide:
To lose good days that might be better spent,
To waste long nights in pensive discontent.
To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow,
To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow.
To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares;
To eat thy heart through comfortless despaires," &c.

F.

[Footnote 3: In Mother Hubberd's Tale.--ED.]

_Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, Chief Justice_ (Vol. viii., pp. 158. 276.).--In "A Letter to a Convocation Man," which was recently edited by a frequent contributor to your pages, the REV. W. FRASER, B.C.L., and is favourably mentioned by you, I find the following sentence, declaring that Sir Anthony Fitzherbert _was_ Chief Justice:

"I must admit that it is said in the second part of Rolle's
_Abridgment_, that the Archbishop of Canterbury was prohibited to hold
such assemblies by Fitzherbert, Chief Justice, because he had not the
King's licence. But he adds that the Archbishop would not obey it; and
he quotes Speed for it."--P. 38. of original pamphlet, and p. 36. of
Mr. Fraser's reprint.

MR. FRASER merely refers to Sir Anthony Fitzherbert as being made judge of the Common Pleas in 1523, and does not enter into this question, which deserves investigation.

M. W. R.

"_To put a _spoke_ in his wheel_" (Vol. viii., pp. 269. 351.).--W. C.'s answer to G. K.'s inquiry is so very facetious, that I must confess I do not understand it.

As to the meaning of the expression, I think there can be no doubt. Ainsworth interpreted "Scrupulum injecisti mihi, spem meam remoratus es."

In Dutch, "Een spaak in t'wiel steeken," is "To traverse, thwart, or cross a design." See Sewel's _Woordenboek_.

The effect is similar to that of _spiking_ cannon. And it is not improbable that _spoke_, known by the {577} ignorant to form part of the wheel, has been by them corrupted from _spike_: and that the act is, driving a _spike_ into the nave, so as to prevent the wheel from turning on its axle.

Q.

Bloomsbury.

_Ballina Castle_ (Vol. viii., p. 411.).--O. L. R. G. inquires about Ballina Castle, Castlebar, and of the general history, descriptions, &c. of the co. Mayo. In the catalogue of my manuscript collections, prefixed to my _Annals of Boyle, or Early History of Ireland_ (upwards of 200 volumes), No. 37. purports to be "one volume 8vo., containing full compilations of records and events connected with the county of Mayo, with reference to the authorities," and it has special notices of Castlebar, Cong, Burrishoole, Kilgarvey, Lough Conn, &c., and notes of scenery and statistics. I offered in the year 1847 to publish a history of the county if I was indemnified, but I did not succeed in my application. I have, of course, very full notices of the records, &c. of Ballina, and the other leading localities of that interesting but too long neglected county, which I would gladly draw out and assign, as I would any other of my manuscript compilations, to any literary gentleman who would propose to prepare them for publication, or otherwise extract and report from them as may be sought.

JOHN D'ALTON.

48. Summer Hill, Dublin.

_Mardle_ (Vol. viii., p. 411.).--This is the correct spelling as fixed by Halliwell. I should propose to derive it from A.-S. _mathelian_, to speak, discourse, harangue; or A.-S. _methel_, discourse, speech, conversation. (Bosworth.) Forby gives this word only with the meaning "a large pond;" a sense confined to Suffolk. But his vocabulary of East Anglia is especially defective in East Norfolk words--an imperfection arising from his residence in the extreme west of that county.

E. G. R.

_Charles Diodati_ (Vol. viii., p. 295.).--MR. SINGER mentions that Dr. Fellowes and others have confounded Carlo Dati, Milton's Florentine friend, with Charles Diodati, a schoolfellow (St. Paul's, London) to whom he addresses an Italian sonnet and two Latin poems. Charles Diodati practised physic in Cheshire; died 1638. Was this young friend of Milton's a relative of Giovanni Diodati, who translated the Bible into Italian; born at Lucca about 1589; became a Protestant; died at Geneva, 1649?

MA. L.

_Longevity_ (Vol. viii., p. 442.).--MR. MURDOCH'S Query relative to Margaret Patten reminds me of a print exhibited in the Dublin Exhibition, which bore the following inscription:

"Mary Gore, born at Cottonwith in Yorkshire, A.D. 1582; lived upwards
of one hundred years in Ireland, and died in Dublin, aged 145 years.
This print was done from a picture _taken_ (the word is torn off) when
she was an hundred and forty-three. Vanluych _pinxit_, T. Chambers
_del._"

EIRIONNACH.

_"Now the fierce bear," &c._ (Vol. viii., p 440.).--The lines respecting which [Greek: th.] requests information are from Mr. Keble's _Christian Year_, in the poem for Monday in Whitsun Week. They are, however, misquoted, and should run thus

"Now the fierce bear and leopard keen
Are perish'd as they ne'er had been,
Oblivion is their home."

G. R. M.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.