Chapter M: H. R

_Non-jurors' Motto_ (Vol. viii., p. 621.).--"Cetera quis nescit" is from Ovid, _Amorum_, lib. i., Elegia v. v. 25.

W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.

Temple.

_"The Red Cow" Sign, near Marlborough_ (Vol. viii., p. 569.).--Being informed that Cromwell's old carriages, with the "Red Cow" on them, were some years ago to be seen as curiosities at Manton near Marlborough; Cromwell being a descendant of a Williams from Glamorgan, and the cow being the coat of arms of Cowbridge; and the signs of inns in that county being frequently {88} named "The Red Cow;"--will any of your readers oblige with some account of the origin of "The Red Cow" as a sign; and what family has now a claim to such as the family arms?

GLYWYSYDD.

_Emblematic Meanings of Precious Stones_ (Vol. viii., p. 539.; Vol. ix. p. 37.).--To the list of works on the mystical and occult properties of precious stones given by MR. W. PINKERTON, allow me to add the following, in which the means of judging of their commercial value, and their medicinal properties, are chiefly treated of:

"Le Parfaict Ioaillier, ov Histoire des Pierreries: ov sont amplement
descrites, leur naissance, juste prix, moyen de les cognoistre, et se
garder des contrefaites, Facultez medicinales, et proprietez curieuses.
Composé par Anselme Bocce de Boot, &c.: Lyon, 1644, 12mo., pp. 788."

WILLIAM BATES.

Birmingham.

_Calves'-head Club_ (Vol. viii., p. 480.; Vol. ix., p. 15.).--A correspondent of the _Cambridge Chronicle_ of Dec. 31 says, that in the churchyard of Soham, Cambridgeshire, there is "a monster-tomb surrounded by a lofty iron railing," with the following inscription in letters of a large size:

"ROBERT D'AYE, Esquire, died April, 1770. Also MARY, Wife of Robert
D'Aye, Esquire, Daughter of William Russell, Esquire, of Fordham Abbey,
and Elizabeth his Wife, who was the only surviving Daughter of

HENRY CROMWELL,
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Son of
OLIVER CROMWELL,
Protector; died November 5, 1765, aged 73 years."

After stating that in the same tomb lie the bodies of the daughter of D'Aye, and his wife (ob. 1779), their grandson (1803), and great-grandson (1792), the writer adds that there is a _tradition_ in Soham that, during the lifetime of Mrs. D'Aye, out of respect to the doings of Oliver Cromwell, on the anniversary of King Charles's martyrdom, _a calf's head besmeared with blood_ was hoisted on a pole in front of the cot of the husband.

P. J. F. GANTILLON.

_Burial in an erect Posture_ (Vol. viii., pp. 5. 59. 233. 630.); _Eulenspiegel_ (Vol. vii., p. 357., &c.).--The German rogue Eulenspiegel (or Howleglass, as Coplande renders it), of whose adventures "N. & Q." has had several notices, is another example of upright burial, as the following passage, translated by Roscoe, shows:

"Howleglass was buried in the year 1350, and his latter end was almost
as odd and as eccentric as his life. For, as they were lowering him
again into the grave, one of the ropes supporting the feet gave way,
and left the coffin in an upright position, so that Howleglass was
still upon his legs. Those who were present then said: 'Come, let us
leave him as he is, for as he was like nobody else when he was alive,
he is resolved to be as queer now he is dead.'"

Accordingly, they left Howleglass bolt upright, as he had fallen; and placing a stone over his head, on which was cut the figure of an owl with a looking-glass under his claws, the device of his name, they inscribed round it the following lines:

HOWLEGLASS'S EPITAPH.

"Here lies HOWLEGLASS, buried low,
His body is in the ground;
We warn the passenger that so
He move not this stone's bound.
In the year of Our Lord MCCCL."

His tomb, which was remaining thirty years ago, and may be now, is under a large lime-tree at Möllen, near Lubeck.

In Roscoe's _German Novelists_, vol. i. p. 141. et seq., there are references to several editions in various languages of the adventures of Thyll Eulenspiegel.

J. R. M., A.M.

_Biting the Thumb_ (Vol. vi. pp. 149. 281. 616.).--The lower orders in Normandy and Britanny, and probably in other parts of France, when wishing to express the utmost contempt for a person, place the front teeth of the upper jaw between the nail and flesh of the thumb, the nail being turned inwards: and then, disengaging the thumb with a sudden jerk, exclaim, "I don't care that for you," or words of similar import. Is not this the action alluded to by Shakspeare and other writers, as "biting the thumb?"

HONORÉ DE MAREVILLE.

Guernsey.

_Table-turning and Table-talking in Ancient Times_ (Vol. ix., p. 39.).--I have received from a correspondent in Berlin the subjoined translation of an article which was published in the _Neue Preussische Zeitung_ of January 10:

"We have been informed that Professor Ranke has found out a passage in
Ammianus Marcellinus by which it is unquestionably proved that
table-turning was known in the east of the Roman Empire.

"The table-turners of those days were summoned as sorcerers before the
Council, and the passage referred to appears to have been transcribed
from the Protocol. The whole ceremony (_modus movendi hic fuit_) is
very precisely described, and is similar to what we have so often
witnessed within the last month; only that the table-turners, instead
of sitting round the table, danced round it. The table-oracle likewise
answered in verse, and showed a decided preference for hexameters.
Being asked 'Who should be the next emperor?' the table answered
'Theod.' In consequence of this reply, the government caused a certain
Theodorus to be put to death. Theodosius, however, became emperor.

"The table oracle, in common with other oracles, had a dangerous
equivocal tendency."

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I learn from my correspondent, that the passage in Ammianus Marcellinus, though brought into notice by Professor Ranke, was discovered by Professor August at this place (Cheltenham). I am unable to verify the following reference: see Ammianus Marcellinus, _Rerum Gestarum_, lib. xxix. (p. 177., Bipont. edit.), and _Ib._ lib. xxxi. (p. 285.)

JOHN T. GRAVES.

Cheltenham.

_The Bell Savage_ (Vol. vii., p. 523.).--MR. JAMES EDMESTON is correct in rejecting the modern acceptation of the sign of the well-known inn on Ludgate Hill, as being _La Belle Sauvage_. Its proper name is "The Bell Savage," the bell being its sign, and Savage the name of its proprietor. But he is wrong in supposing that "Bell" in this case was the abbreviation of the name Isabella, and that the inn "was originally kept by one Isabella Savage." In a deed enrolled on the Close Roll of 1453, it is described as "Savage's Ynne, _alias_ Le Belle on the Hope." The bell, as in many other ancient signs, was placed within a hoop. (See the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for November last, p. 487.)

N.

_Door-head Inscriptions_ (Vol. viii., p. 652.).--About the year 1825, I remember an old house known by the whimsical name of "Wise-in-Time," at Stoke-Bishop, near Bristol; over the front door of which there was the following inscription, carved on a stone tablet:

"Ut corpus animo,
Sic Domus corpori."

The house had the reputation of being haunted. I cannot say whether it is still in existence.