Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

It will be necessary to give a brief description of the clock, so as to enable parties on the other side of the water to recognise and identify it. The clock, which is of copper richly gilt, and elaborately engraved, stands about four feet high, independent of the pedestal. It is of architectural design, and is divided into three stories, having detached columns at each corner. The two lower stories contain the dials in the front. The upper story exhibits the groups of moving silver figures, which strike the quarters, hours, and move in procession whilst a tune is played by a chime of bells. The whole is surmounted by a dome, on which is placed a silver cock, which flaps his wings and crows when the clock strikes. It was made by Isaac Hahrecht (the artist who made the great clock in the cathedral at Strasburg), according to the inscription on it, in the year 1589: and is evidently a model of that celebrated work condensed into a single tower, since it performs all the feats of that clock. Its reputed history, as given in a printed account of it, is, that it was made for Pope Sixtus V., and was for more than two hundred years in the possession of the Court of Rome. It afterwards came into the possession of William I., King of the Netherlands, who authorised Odevaere the antiquary, now deceased, to investigate everything concerning it, and to give a description of it. What I should wish to know is, who was this Odevaere, and where is his description of it to be found? With regard to the history of the clock, I should wish to know the authority for the statement of its having been made for the Pope, when and how it came to leave the Vatican; how it became the property of the King of Holland; when and why it ceased to belong to the crown of Holland; and under what circumstances it came over to this country, where it was exhibited in 1850?

If any of the readers of "N. & Q.," or the _Navorscher_, can give me any information respecting it, I shall feel greatly obliged.

OCTAVIUS MORGAN.

9. Pall Mall.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Spielberg, when built?_--When and by whom was the prison of Spielberg, in Moravia, built? Has it been used exclusively as a state prison?

M. J. S.

_"Ded. Pavli."_--Can you give me any information respecting a tract entitled--

"Ded. Pavli Antiquarius, Theologia, et contra Perciocas Thologo
Rvmætatis nostræ scholas Philippi Melanchthonis declamativncvla. Et
quædam alia lectv dignissima."

F. COLEMAN.

16. Great St. Helens.

_Mantelpiece: Mantelshelf: Mantelboard: Mantell and Brace._--What is the origin of this word, and whence came the thing? It must originally have had a use and a meaning, before it became a haven of rest for hyacinth-glasses, china monsters, Bohemian glass vases, and a thousand nick-nacks and odds and ends of drawing-room {303} furniture, as it _now_ is with us. It had, no doubt, some real work to do before it became what we are pleased to term _ornamental_.

C. D. LAMONT.

Greenock.

_Passage in Job._--The REV. MOSES MARGOLIOUTH will much oblige the writer, and some of his friends, by giving in "N. & Q." a literal translation of Job xix. 26. The authorised version is:

"And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I
shall see God."

The marginal reference gives:

"After I shall awake, though this body be destroyed, yet out of my
flesh shall I see God."

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

_Provincial Glossaries._--In an article in the 79th volume of the _Edinburgh Review_, on the provincialisms of the European languages, the writer says:

"There are some very copious early English vocabularies lying in
manuscript in the Cathedral libraries of Durham, Winchester, and
Canterbury; in the British Museum, King's College, and other
depositories, deserving collection."

Will any of your learned readers inform me of the dates of the MSS. referred to, and by whom the collections were made? I would recommend them to the notice of the Camden Society.

FRA. MEWBURN.

_Chadderton of Nuthurst, co. Lancaster._--What crest did this family bear, and when did the family become extinct?

J. B.

_A marvellous Combat of Birds._--In the _Phoenix Britannicus_, by J. Morgan, London, 4to., p. 250.[2], there is an account of--

"The wonderful battle of stares (or starlings), fought at Cork on
Saturday 12th, and Monday 14th, October, 1621."

And this narration relates, that on the Sunday, October 13, the intervening day, the starlings absented themselves to fight at Woolwich, in Kent!!

Without vouching for the fact, or calling in question the prowess of this "Irish Brigade," I leave it to be confirmed or refuted by any reader of the "N. & Q."--_comme bon lui semblera_.

[Greek: S].

P. S.--I would, _à propos_ to the above subject, thank any reader of your miscellany to point out to me a work by a M. Hanhart (I believe is the name), which I think is upon _Les Moeurs des Fourmis indigènes_, in which are given some particulars of regular conflicts between ants. I am not aware of the exact title of the book, but I have seen an account of it in some Edinburgh periodical, if I am not mistaken.

[Footnote 2: At p. 252. of the same article is an account of the battle of the gnats, noticed by MR. E. W. JACOB.--ED.]

_Battle of the Gnats._--In reading Stowe's _Chronicles of England_, I hit upon the following passage recorded in the reign of King Richard II., p. 509.:

"A fighting among gnats at the King's Maner of _Shine_, where they were
so thicke gathered, that the ayre was darkned with them: they fought
and made a great battaile. Two partes of them being slayne, fel downe
to the grounde; the thirde parte hauing got the victorie, flew away, no
man knew whither. The number of the deade was such that might be swepte
uppe with besomes, and bushels filled weyth them."

This is a curious incident, and I have never heard of anything of the sort taking place in modern times. Would some of your readers who study natural history be good enough to give me another instance? I am at present inclined to think that the account is one of the many myths which Stow doubtless believed.

EUSTACE W. JACOB.

_Sandford of Thorpe Salvine, Co. York._--Wanted, the arms and crest of the Sandfords of Thorpe Salvine. Also any particulars of the family, from the commencement of their residence at High Ashes, in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, co. Lancashire, until the termination of that residence. Were they of the same family with Sandford, Baron Mount Sandford?

J. B.

"_Outlines of the History of Theology_," 8vo., London, 1844, said to be privately printed. Any information as to the author, &c. will oblige

JOHN MARTIN.

Woburn Abbey.

_"Mawkin."_--Is this word, which signifies here "a scarecrow," merely a Norfolk pronunciation of _mocking_? i. e. an imitation of a man--composed of coat, hat, &c. hung upon a cross bar of wood?

J. L. S.

_"Plain Dealer."_--Can any one of your readers inform me where I can see a copy of Aaron Hill's _Plain Dealer_, as originally published, and before it was collected and printed in two volumes?

D.

_Hymn attributed to Handel._--Can any of your readers give information concerning a hymn which commences thus:

"We'll proclaim the wond'rous story
Of the mercies we receive,
From the day-spring's dawn in glory,
To the fading hour of eve."

It has been attributed to Handel. On what authority?

W. P. STORER.

Olney, Bucks.

{304}

_Degrees in Arts._--In the diploma of Master of Arts which I obtained from the University of Edinburgh, occur the words:

"Cunctaque consecutum esse Privilegia, Immunitates, Jura, quæ hic aut
usquam alibi Bonarum Artium Magistris concedi solent."

What are (or rather _were_, for I suppose they do not now exist) these _privilegia_, _immunitates_, and _jura_?

ANNANDALE.

_"Goloshes"--"Kutchin-kutchu."_--What is the origin of _goloshes_, as the name of water-proof shoes? It is, of course, of American derivation. But has it any connexion with the tribe of North American Indians, the Goloshes? They are the immediate neighbours of those tribes of Esquimaux who form water-proof boats and dresses from the entrails of the seal; and a confusion of names may easily have occurred.

The expedition of Sir John Richardson to the Arctic shores, which suggests the above Query, also gives rise to another. Did any of your readers ever amuse themselves, as children, by performing the dance known as _kutchin kutchu_-ing; which consists in jumping about with the legs bent in a sitting posture? If so, have they not been struck with a philological mania, on seeing his picture of the Kutchin-Kutcha Indians dancing; in which the principal performer is actually figuring in the midst of the wild circle in the way described. Is not the nursery term something more than a mere coincidence?

SELEUCUS.

_Cornwalls of London._--Perhaps some reader of "N. & Q." may be able to inform me what were the arms, crest, and motto of the Cornwalls of London? One of the family, John Cornwall, was a Director of the Bank of England in 1769.

F. C.

Beverley.

_Flasks for Wine-bottles._--When, and under what circumstances, did the common use of flasks in this country, for holding wine, go out? Hogarth died in 1764, and in none of his pictures, I believe, is the wine-bottle, in its present shape, to be seen. On the other hand, I have never found any person able to remember the use of flasks, or indeed any other than the wine-bottle in its present shape. The change must have been rapidly effected between 1760 and 1790. Of course I am aware that certain wines, Greek, I believe, are still imported in flasks.

HENRY T. RILEY.

_Froxhalmi, Prolectricus, Phytacus, Tuleus, Candos, Gracianus, and Tounu or Tonnu._--Can any of your correspondents suggest the meaning of these words, or either them? They are not in the recent Paris edition of Ducange.

HENRY T. RILEY.

* * * * *

Minor Queries with Answers.

_Postmaster at Merton College._--Can you tell me whether there is any known derivation for the term "Postmaster," as applied to part of the members on the Foundation of Merton College, Oxford? Also, What connexion there is between this word and the Latin for it, which is seen on the college plate, in the words "In usum Portionistarum?"

J. G. T.

Ch. Ch.

[It seems probable that these postmasters formerly occupied one of the
postern gates of the college. Hence we find Anthony à Wood, in his
Life, August 1, 1635, says, "A fine of 30_li._ was set by the warden
and fellowes of Merton College. When his father renewed his lease of
the old stone-house, wherein his son A. Wood was borne (called
antiently Portionists' or Postmasters' Hall), for forty yeares," &c.
Again, April 13, 1664: "A meeting of the warden and fellowes of Merton
College, where the renewing of the leases belonging to the family,
concerning the housing (Portionists' Hall and its appurtenances)
against Merton College, was by them proposed." Fuller, in his _Church
Hist._, book III. cent. xiii. sect. 8., has given the origin of
postmasters. "There is," says he, "a by-foundation in Merton College, a
kind of college in the college, and this tradition goeth of their
original:--Anciently there was, over against Merton College, a small
unendowed hall, whose scholars had so run in arrears, that their
opposite neighbours, out of charity, took them into their college (then
but nine in number) to wait on the fellows. But since, they are freed
from any attendance, and endowed with plentiful maintenance.... Bishop
Jewel was a postmaster, before removed hence to be fellow of Corpus
Christi." Consult also Oxoniana, vol. ii. pp. 15-22. The _Portionistæ_,
or Postmasters, did not reside in the college till the latter end of
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but in a hall opposite to it, which had
been provided for the use of the college by Peter de Habinton, or
Habendon, the first warden. It afterwards became the property of the
father of Anthony à Wood, and beneath its roof that distinguished
antiquary was born, December 17, 1632. The second brother of Anthony
became one of the postmasters of Merton College.]

_"Lyra Apostolica."_--Can you inform me who were the writers in the _Lyra Apostolica_ who assumed the letters [alpha], [beta], [gamma], [delta], [epsilon], [zeta]?

TYRO.

[We have heard the initials attributed to the following
writers:--[alpha], Bowden; [beta], R. H. Froude; [gamma], John Keble;
[delta], J. H. Newman; [epsilon], Isaac Williams; [zeta], Wilberforce.]

_East Dereham Manor._--Is it true that "the manor of East Dereham of the Queen" was wrested from the See of Ely by Queen Elizabeth's celebrated threat of "unfrocking?"

S. Z. Z. S.

[The memorable unique epistle from the maiden Majesty of England only
deprived Dr. Cox, at that time, of his town-house and fair gardens,
called Ely {305} Place, on Holborn Hill, reserving to himself and his
successors free access, through the gate-house, of walking in the
garden, and leave to gather twenty bushels of roses yearly therein!
During the life of Dr. Cox an attempt was made by Elizabeth on some of
the best manors belonging to the See of Ely; but it was not till that
of his successor, Dr. Martin Heton, that Dereham Grange, with other
manors, were alienated to the Crown. See Dugdale's _Monasticon_, vol.
i. p. 466.]

_Quakers executed in North America._--Were there not several Quakers hanged in North America on account of their religious opinions? And can you inform me where an account of the circumstances attending this persecution (if there ever was such an one) can be found?

ALFRED CONDER.

[Three Quakers were executed at Boston in 1659, viz. William Robinson,
merchant of London; Marmaduke Stevenson of Yorkshire; and Mary Dyar. An
account of the cruelties inflicted upon them is given in Sewell's
_History of the Quakers_, edit. 1725, pp. 219-227.; also in a pamphlet
entitled _A Declaration of the sad and great Persecution and Martyrdom
of the People of God, called Quakers, in New England, for the
Worshipping of God_: London, printed for Robert Wilson, in
Martin's-le-Grand, 1661. It will be found among the King's Pamphlets in
the British Museum.]

_Inscription in Fulham Church._--I should esteem it a favour if any one of your numerous correspondents would furnish me with a correct copy of the inscription to the memory of the son of Colonel Wm. Carlos, who so nobly defended Charles II. at the battle of Worcester.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

["Here lieth William Carlos of Stafford, who departed this life, in the
twenty-fifth yeare of his age, the 19th day of May, 1668.

'Tis not bare names that noble fathers give
To worthy sonnes: though dead, in them they live;
For in his progeny, 'tis Heaven's decree,
Man only can on earth immortall bee;
But Heaven gives soules w^h grace doth sometymes bend
Early to God their rice and Soveraigne end.
Thus, whilst that earth, concern'd, did hope to see
Thy noble father living still in thee,
Careless of earth, to heaven thou didst aspire,
And we on earth, Carlos in thee desire."

Arms: an oak on a fesse, three regal crowns.]

_Hero of the "Spanish Lady's Love."_--Was Sir John Bolle, of Thorpe Hall, near Louth, the hero of the _Spanish Lady's Love_? The Bolle pedigree is in Illingworth's _History of Scampton_.

S. Z. Z. S.

[According to Ormerod's _Cheshire_, vol. iii. p. 333., Sir Urian Legh,
of Adlington, disputes the fact of being the hero of that romantic
affair. "Sir Urian Legh was knighted by the Earl of Essex at the siege
of Cadiz, and during that expedition is traditionally said to have been
engaged in an adventure which gave rise to the well-known ballad of
'The Spanish Lady's Love.' A fine original portrait of Sir Urian, in a
Spanish dress, is preserved at Bramall, which has been copied for the
family at Adlington." So that between these two chivalrous knights it
is difficult to decide which is the famed gallant. From the care
exercised by Mr. Illingworth in collecting all the anecdotes and
notices of the Bolle family, the presumptive evidence seems to favour
his hero.]

_"Bothy."_--In the March Number of _Blackwood's Magazine_, 1854, the word "bothy" is frequently used in an article called "News from the Farm." Will some one of your numerous correspondents give me a little account of "the bothy system?"

F. M. MIDDLETON.

[A bothy is a cottage or hut where labouring servants are lodged, and
is sometimes built of wood, as we read in the _Jacobite Relics_, ii.
189.:

"Fare thee well, my native cot,
_Bothy_ of the birken tree!
Sair the heart, and hard the lot,
O' the lad that parts wi' thee."

Bothies, or detached houses, in which the unmarried farm-servants sleep
and prepare their victuals, and of which there is a considerable number
in Perthshire, though convenient and beneficial in some respects, have
not, certainly, contributed to the formation of virtuous habits. These
servants are often migratory, removing frequently at the expiration of
the year, according as humour or caprice may dictate, and, like birds
of passage, taking their departure to other lands.]

_"Children in the Wood."_--Was Weyland Wood in Norfolk the scene of the "Children in the Wood?"

S. Z. Z. S.

[The following account of this tradition is given in _Beauties of
England and Wales_, vol. xi. p. 269., Norfolk:--"Near the town of
Watton is Weyland Wood, vulgarly called _Wailing_ Wood, from a
tradition that two infants were basely murdered in it by their uncle;
and which furnished the story of a beautifully pathetic and well-known
ancient ballad, entitled "The Children in the Wood, or the Norfolk
Gentleman's Last Will and Testament," preserved in Percy's _Reliques_.]

* * * * *

Replies.

BRYDONE THE TOURIST.

(Vol. ix., pp. 138. 255.)

In reply to H. R. NÉE F., I beg to state that the writer of the remarks alluded to, on Brydone's _Tour in Sicily and Malta_, was the Rev. Robert Finch, M.A., formerly of Balliol College in this University, and who died about the year 1830. When I met with Mr. Finch's honest and somewhat blunt expression of opinion, recorded in a {306} copy which once belonged to him, of Brydone's _Tour_, I was quite ignorant of the hostile criticisms that had appeared at different times on that once popular work; but knowing Mr. Finch's high character for scholarship, and a knowledge of Italy, I thought his remark worth sending to a publication intended, like "N. & Q.," as "A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, Antiquaries," &c., who are well able to examine a Note of the kind; and either to accept it as valid, or to reject it as untenable. On referring now to some standard works, in order to discover the opinions of learned men respecting Mr. Brydone's _Tour_, the first work I looked into was the _Biographie Universelle_ (in eighty-three volumes, and not yet completed, Paris, 1811-1853), in vol. lix. of which the following observations occur, under the name of BRYDONE (Patrice):

"On lui a reproché d'avoir sacrifié la vérité au plaisir de raconter
des choses piquantes. On l'avait accusé aussi d'avoir, par son
indiscretion, suscité à l'Abbé Recupero, Chanoine de Catane, une
persécution de la part de son évêque. Cette indiscretion n'eut pas
heureusement un résultat aussi facheux; mais ses erreurs sur plusieurs
points sont évidentes; il donne 4000 toises de hauteur à l'Etna qui
n'en a que 1662; il commet d'autres fautes qui ont été relevées par les
voyageurs venus après lui. Bartels (_Briefe über Kalabrien und
Sicilien_, 2te Auflage, 3 Bd., 8vo., Götting. 1791-92) est même
persuadé que le voyage au sommet de l'Etna, chef-d'oeuvre de narration,
n'est qu'un roman, et cet avis est partagé par d'autres."

Göthe says (_Werke_, Band xxviii. pp. 189, 190.: Stuttgart, 1830) that when he inquired at Catania respecting the best method of ascending Mount Etna, Chevalier Gioeni, the professor of natural history there, gave him the following advice and information:

"Als wir den Ritter um die Mittel befragten wie man sich benehmen müsse
um den Aetna zu besteigen, wollte er von einer Wagniss nach dem Gipfel,
besonders in der gegenwärtigen Jahreszeit gar nichts hören. Ueberhaupt,
sagte er, nachdem er uns um Verzeihung gebeten, die hier ankommenden
Fremden sehen die Sache für allzuleicht an; wir andern Nachbarn des
Berges sind schon zufrieden, wenn wir ein paarmal in unserm Leben die
beste Gelegenheit abgepasst und den Gipfel erreicht haben. Brydone, der
zuerst durch seine Beschreibung die Lust nach diesem Feuergipfel
entzündet, ist gar nicht hinauf gekommen."

From these quotations it is evident, that Mr. Finch was not singular in the belief he entertained; and certainly the scepticism of men so eminent as Professor Gioeni, Dr. Barthels, and Messrs. Eyriès and Parisot (the French writers whose names are attached to the Memoir in the _Biog. Univ._), must be grounded on reasons deserving of attention. An ordinary reader of Brydone would accept the account of his ascent with implicit confidence; but when veteran professors, scientific men, and experienced travellers and scholars refuse to believe that he reached the summit of Etna, the most probable mode of accounting for their incredulity is, perhaps to suppose, that in their opinion he had mistaken some other part of the mountain for the real summit. Not having met with any detail of their reasons for disbelief, I am only able to state their bare assertion. In my opinion, the beautifully glowing and poetical description of the magic scene beheld by Brydone from the mountain--a description, the perusal of which, in youth, remains for ever after imprinted on the memory, like a passage from Addison or Gibbon, could only have been written by an actual spectator.

JOHN MACRAY.

Oxford.

* * * * *

"THE RED COW"--CROMWELL'S CARRIAGES, ETC.

(Vol. ix., p. 87.)

I have known "The Red Cow," at the top of Granham Hill, near Marlborough, for fifty years, but do not recollect ever to have heard of any particular origin for the sign.

The old carriages at Manton were built about a century and a half ago, perhaps not so much, for one of the Baskerville family, on the occasion of his being sheriff of the county to which he belonged, probably Wilts or Hereford. There are two of them: one a square coach, and the other a very high phaeton. The Baskerville arms--Ar. a chevron gu. between three hurts, impaling, quarterly, one and four, or, a cross moline az, two and three, gu. a chevron ar. between three mallets or--are painted on the panels. As I have no ordinary of arms at hand, I cannot ascribe this impalement; but will trust to some more learned herald among your correspondents to determine who the lady was? When her name, perhaps Moleyns or Molyneaux, is ascertained, reference to a Baskerville pedigree would probably determine the husband, and the precise date of the carriages, which could not have belonged to the Protector.

O. Cromwell's arms were, Sable, a lion rampant ar. There were also two families styled Williams _alias_ Cromwell: one of which bore, Gu. three cheverons ar. between as many lions rampant or; the other, Sa. a lion rampant ar., the same as Oliver's coat, and probably derived by him from the Williams family.

I have wandered from "The Red Cow," but I will not omit to hazard an idea for the consideration of GLYWYSYDD. Marlborough has changed its armorial bearings several times; but the present coat, containing a white bull, was granted by Harvey, Clarenceux in A.D. 1565. Cromwell was attached to Cowbridge and its cow by family {307} descent; so he was to Marlborough by congeniality of sentiment with the burghers. Query, Whether, in affection to the latter, he granted to the town a new coat, some such as the following: Gules, a bull passant argent, armed or, impaling a cow passant regardant gules: and so might originate "The Red Cow" upon Granham Hill. History is entirely silent upon this point; but if such a combination were ever given to Marlborough, it is quite certain that Harvey's grant was resumed at the Restoration. I have quite forgotten to remark, that there is a suburb at Marlborough called Cowbridge--a fact which seems to strengthen my hypothesis.

A cow may be borne by some name, but at present I only recollect that of Vach: to which is accorded, Ar. three cows' heads erased sable. Bulls and oxen occur frequently; as in Fitz-Geffrey, Cowley, Bull, Oxley, Oxcliffe, Oxendon, &c. Bulls' heads belong to the families of Bullock, Hillesdon, Fleming, Barbor, Frend, Gornay, Bullman, and Williams, a baronet, &c.

PATONCE.

* * * * *

FOX-HUNTING.

(Vol. viii., p. 172.)

As no answer to the Query on "Fox-hunting" has yet appeared in "N. & Q.," I venture to send the following extracts from an article in the _Quarterly Review_, March 1832, on "The Management of Hounds and Horses," by Nimrod. It appears that "the first public notice of fox-hunting" occurs in the reign of Richard II., who gave permission to the Abbot of Peterborough to hunt the fox:

"In Twice's _Treatise on the Craft of Hunting_, Reynard is thus
classed:

'And for to sette young hunterys in the way
To venery, I cast me fyrst to go;
Of which four bestes be, that is to say,
The Hare, the Herte, the Wulf, and the wild Boar:
But there ben other bestes, five of the chase,
The Buck the first, the seconde is the Do;
The _Fox_ the third, which hath hard grace,
The ferthe the Martyn, and the last the Roe.'

"It is indeed quite apparent, that until at most a hundred and fifty
years ago, the fox was considered as an inferior animal of the chase;
the stag, buck, and even hare, ranking before him. Previously to that
period, he was generally taken in nets or hays, set on the outside of
his earth: when he _was_ hunted, it was among rocks and crags, or woods
inaccessible to horseman: such a scene in short, or nearly so, as we
have drawn to the life in Dandie Dinmont's primitive _chasse_ in _Guy
Mannering_. It is difficult to determine when the first regularly
appointed pack of hounds appeared among us. Dan Chaucer gives the thing
in _embryo_:

'Aha, the fox! and after him they ran;
And eke with staves many another man.
Ran Coll our dogge, and Talbot, and Gerlond,
And Malkin with her distaff in her hond.
Ran cow and calf, and eke the very hogges,
So fered were for the barking of the dogges,
And shouting of the men and women eke,
They ronnen so, hem thought her hertes brake.'

"At the next stage, no doubt, neighbouring farmers kept one or two
hounds each; and, on stated days, met for the purpose of destroying a
fox that had been doing damage to their poultry yards. By and bye, a
few couple of strong hounds seem to have been kept by the small country
esquires or yeomen who could afford the expense, and they joined packs.
Such were called _trencher_ hounds, implying that they ran loose about
the house, and were not confined in kennel."

These are but short extracts, but they comprise the whole of what is said on the first origin of fox-hunting. The rest of the article treats of the quality and breed of horses and hounds.

FREDERICK M. MIDDLETON.

* * * * *

WEATHER RULES.

(Vol. viii., pp. 50. 535.)

_St. Vincent's Day, Jan. 22._--In Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, Bohn's edition, vol. i. p. 38., is to be found the following notice of this day:

"Mr. Douce's manuscript notes say: 'Vincenti festo si Sol radiet, memor
esto;' thus Englished by Abraham Fleming:

'Remember on St Vincent's Day,
If that the Sun his beams display.'

"[Dr. Foster is at a loss to account for the origin of this command,
&c.]"

It is probable that the concluding part of the precept has been lost; but a curious old manuscript, which fell into my hands some years since, seems to supply the deficiency. The manuscript in question is a sort of household book, kept by a family of small landed proprietors in the island of Guernsey between the years 1505 and 1569. It contains memoranda, copies of wills, settlements of accounts, recipes, scraps of songs and parts of hymns and prayers; some Romanist, some Anglican, some of the Reformed Church in France. Among the scraps of poetry I find the following rhymes on St. Vincent's Day; the first three lines of which are evidently a translation of the Latin verse above quoted, the last containing the to be remembered:

"Prens garde au jour St. Vincent,
Car sy ce jour tu vois et sent
Que le soleil soiet cler et biau,
Nous érons du vin plus que d'eau."

These lines follow immediately after the rhymed prognostications to be drawn from the state of the weather on St. Paul's Day, Jan. 28. As these {308} verses differ from those quoted in Brand, from an _Almanack_ printed at Basle in 1672, I here give the Guernsey copy:

"Je te donneray ugne doctryne
Qui te vauldra d'or ugne myne;
Et sordement sur moy te fonde,
Car je dure autant que ce monde:
Et sy te veulx byen advertir
Et que je ne veulx point mentir.
De mortaylle guerre ou chertey,
[A line appears to be lost here]
Si le jour St. Paul le convers
Se trouve byaucob descouvert,
L'on aura pour celle sayson
Du bled et du foyn à foyson;
Et sy se jour fait vant sur terre,
Ce nous synyfye guerre;
S'yl pleut ou nège sans fallir
Le chier tans nous doet asalir;
Si de nyelle faict, brunes ou brouillars,
Selon le dyt de nos vyellars,
Mortalitey nous est ouverte."

Another line appears to be omitted here; then follow immediately the lines on St. Vincent's Day.

EDGAR MACCULLOCH.

Guernsey.

The following is copied from an old manuscript collection of curiosities in my possession. I should be glad to know the author's name, and that of the book[3] from which it is taken:--

"_Observations on Remarkable Days, to know how the whole Year will
succeed in Weather, Plenty, &c._

"If it be lowering or wet on Childermas or Innocence Day, it threatens
scarcity and mortality among the weaker sort of young people; but if
the day be very fair, it promiseth plenty.

"If New Year's Day, in the morning, open with dusky red clouds, it
denotes strifes and debates among great ones, and many robberies to
happen that year.

"It is remarkable on Shrove Tuesday, that as the sun shine little or
much on that day, or as other weather happens, so shall every day
participate more or less of such weather till the end of Lent.

"If the sun shines clear on Palm Sunday, or Easter Day, or either of
them, there will be great store of fair weather, plenty of corn, and
other fruits of the earth.

"If it rains on Ascension Day, though never so little, it foretells a
scarcity to ensue that year, and sickness particularly among cattle;
but if it be fair and pleasant, then to the contrary, and pleasant
weather mostly till Michaelmas.

"If it happen to rain on Whitsunday, much thunder and lightning will
follow, blasts, mildews, &c. But if it be fair, great plenty of corn.

"If Midsummer Day be never so little rainy, the hazel and walnut will
be scarce, corn smitten in many places; but apples, pear and plums will
not be hurt.

"If on St. Swithin's Day it proves fair, a temperate winter will
follow; but if rainy, stormy, or windy, then the contrary.

"If St. Bartholomew Day be misty, the morning beginning with a hoar
frost, then cold weather will soon ensue, and a sharp winter attended
with many biting frosts.

"If Michaelmas Day be fair, the sun will shine much in the winter;
though the wind at north-east will frequently reign long, and be very
sharp, and nipping."

RUBY.

[Footnote 3: _The Shepherd's Kalendar_, by Thomas Passenger. See "N. & Q." Vol. viii., p. 50., where many of his observations are quoted.--ED.]

* * * * *

BINGHAM'S ANTIQUITIES.

(Vol. ix., p. 197.)

I beg to send to your correspondent MR. RICHARD BINGHAM the following replies to his seven Queries.

1. If there be any use in verifying so slight a verbal reference to Panormitan, one of whose huge folios, Venet. 1473, I have examined in vain, perhaps the object might be attained by the assistance of such a book as Thomassin's _Vetus et Nova Ecclesiæ Disciplina_, in the chapter "De Episcopis Titularibus," tom. i.

2. Bishop Bale's description of the monks of Bangor is to be found in his _Scriptor. Britann. Catal._ Compare Richard Broughton's _True Memorial of the ancient State of Great Britain_, pp. 39. 40, ed. an. 1650.

3. I should think in his _Colloquies_, and most probably in the _Peregrinatio Religionis ergo_. Erasmus, in his _Modus orandi Deum_, also observes that "quidam in concionibus implorant opem Virginis," and condemns the "vestigia veteris Paganismi." (sigg. _u_ and _s_ 2, Basil, 1551.)

4. Respecting the existence of what is called the Epistle of St. Athanasius to Eustathius, Cardinal Bona was right and Bingham in error. Vide St. Athan., _Opp._ ii. 560, ed. Bened.

5. Bingham was seriously astray in consequence of his misunderstanding Bona, who does not by any means refer to Pamelius, but to the anonymous author of the _Antiquitatum Liturgicarum Syntagma_, who is believed to have been Florentius Vanderhaer. If Pamelius is to be introduced at all, the reference in Bingham should be, not to "tom. iii. p. 307.," but to i. 328-30. I would remark too that, in the heading of one of the extracts subjoined, "ex Vita Ambrosiana," should be "ex Ritu Ambrosiano."

6. Joannes Semeca did not flourish A.D. 1250, but died in 1243. Suicer wrongly refers to "Dist. IV. cap. iv.," and Harding, more inaccurately, to "Dist. IV. _can._ iv." (Bp. Jewel's _Works_, {309} ed. Jelf, i. 419.) Cap. xxviii. is the one intended, and there is no corruption whatsoever.

7. Joseph Bingham was only closely following Barrow. The first edition of De la Bigne's _Bibliotheca Patrum_, tom. i., also has the evidently senseless reading, "ista quidam _ego_," instead of "_nego_," about which see Comber's _Roman Forgeries_, ii. 187. For MSS. of the Epistles of Pope Symmachus, your correspondent may consult the Carmelite Lud. Jacob à S. Carolo's _Bibliotheca Pontifica_, p. 216.; or, much more successfully, De Montfaucon's _Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum Manuscriptorum_, Paris, 1739.

R. G.

Should MR. RICHARD BINGHAM not yet have verified the reference to Erasmus, I beg to furnish him with the means of doing so but I am tolerably certain that I recollect having met with another place in which this admirable writer more fully censures those preachers of his Church who, at the commencement of their sermons, called upon the Virgin Mary for assistance, in a manner somewhat similar to that in which heathen poets used to invoke the Muses. The following passage, however, may be quite sufficient for your correspondent's purpose:

"Sed si est fons gratiæ, quid opus est illi dicere Ora pro nobis? Non
est probabile eam consuetudinem à gravibus viris inductam, sed ab
inepto quopiam, qui, quòd didicerat apud Poëtas propositioni succedere
invocationem, pro Musa supposuit Mariam."--Des. Erasmi Roterod.
_Apologia adversus Rhapsodias calumniosarum querimoniarum Alberti Pii,
quondam Carporum Principis_, p. 168. Basil. in off. Froben. 1531.

R. G.

* * * * *

ANCIENT TENURE OF LANDS.

(Vol. ix., p. 173.)

About the close of the tenth century (and perhaps much earlier) there began to arise two distinct modes of holding or possessing land: the one a _feud_, _i.e._ a stipendiary estate; the other _allodium_, the phrase applied to that species of property which had become vested by allotment in the conquerors of the country. The stipendiary held of a superior; the allodialist of no one, but enjoyed his land as free and independent property. The interest of the stipendiary did not originally extend beyond his own life, but in course of time it acquired an hereditary character which led to the practice of subinfeudation; for the stipendiary or feudatory, considering himself as substantially the owner, began to imitate the example of his lord by carving out portions of the feud to be held of himself by some other person, on the terms and conditions similar to those of the original grant. Here B. must be looked upon as only vassal to A., his superior or lord; and although feuds did not originally extend beyond the life of the first vassal, yet in process of time they were extended to his heirs, so that when the feudatory died, his male descendants were admitted to the succession, and in default of them, then such of his male collateral kindred as were of the blood of the first feudatory, but no others; therefore, in default of these, it would consequently revert to A., who had a reversionary interest in the feud capable of taking effect as soon as B.'s interest should determine. If the subinfeudatory lord alienated, it would operate as a forfeiture to the person in immediate reversion.

W. T. T.

As a very brief reply to the queries of J. B., permit me to make the following observations.

The Queen is lady paramount of all the lands in England; every estate in land being holden, immediately or mediately, of the crown. This doctrine was settled shortly after the Norman Conquest, and is still an axiom of law.

Until the statute _Quia Emptores_, 18 Edw. I., a tenant in fee simple might grant lands to be holden by the grantee and his heirs _of the grantor and his heirs_, subject to feudal services and to escheat; and by such subinfeudation manors were created.

The above-named statute forbade the future subinfeudation of lands, and consequently hindered the further creation of manors. Since the statute a seller of the fee can but transfer his tenure. There are instances in which one manor is holden of another, both having been created before the statute.

In the instance mentioned by J. B. it is presumed that the hamlet escheated to the heirs of A. on failure of the heirs of B. (See the statute _De Donis Conditionalibus_, 13 Edw. I.)

It is not, and never was, necessary, or even possible, that the lord of a manor should be the owner of all the lands therein; on the contrary, if he were, there would be no manor; for a manor cannot subsist without a court baron, and there can be no such court unless there are _freehold_ tenants (at least two in number) holding of the lord. The land retained by the lord consists of his own demesne and the wastes, which last comprise the highways and commons. If the lord should alienate all the lands, but retain his lordship, the latter becomes a _seignory in gross_.

Such was and is the tenure of lands in England, so far as concerns the queries of J. B. He will find the subject lucidly explained at great length in the second volume of Blackstone's _Commentaries_.

I. CTUS.

Lincoln's Inn.

I think that J. B. will find in Blackstone, or any elementary book on the law of real property, all the information which he requires. The case which he puts was, I suppose, the common case {310} of subinfeudation before the statute of _Quia Emptores_, 18 Edw. I. A., the feoffor, reserved to himself no estate or reversion in the land, but the seignory only, with the rent and services, by virtue of which he might again become entitled to the land by escheat, as for want of heirs of the feoffee, or by forfeiture, as for felony. If the feoffment were in tail, the land would then, as now, revert on failure of issue, unless the entail had been previously barred. The right of alienation was gradually acquired; the above statute of _Quia Emptores_ was the most important enactment in that behalf. With this exception, and the right to devise and to bar entails, the lords of manors have the same interest in the land held by freeholders of the manor that they had in times of subinfeudation. (Blackstone's _Comm._, vol. ii. ch. 287., may be carefully consulted.)

H. P.

Lincoln's Inn.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Spots on Collodion Pictures, &c._--The principal difficulty I experience in the collodion process is occasioned by the appearance of numberless very minute spots or points over the whole extent of the picture. These occurring on the whites of my pictures (positives) give them a rough, rubbed, appearance and want of _density_, which I should feel obliged if any of your correspondents can teach me how to overcome.

One of your photographic querists inquires the remedy for his calotype negatives darkening all over before the minor details are brought out. I had for a long time been troubled in the same way, but by diminishing the aperture of my three-inch lens to half an inch, and reducing the strength of my sensitising solution to that given by DR. DIAMOND, and, in addition, by developing with gallic acid alone until the picture became tolerably distinct in all its parts, and then applying the gallo-nitrate, I have quite succeeded in obtaining first-rate negatives. It is well to prepare only a small quantity of aceto-nitrate at once, as the acetic acid is of a sufficiently volatile nature to escape from the solution, which is a not unfrequent cause of the general darkening of the picture. It would be well to substitute a more fixed acid for the acetic if this be practicable, as it is in the collodion process, where tartaric is recommended.

H. C. COWLEY.

Devizes, Wilts.

_The Double Iodide Solution._--The great difference in the quantity of iodide of potassium ordered by different persons, to dissolve a given weight of iodide of silver in a given volume of water, has induced me to make some experiments on the subject. I find that using pure nitrate of silver, and perfectly pure iodide of potassium (part of a parcel for which Mr. Arnold, who manufactures iodine on a large scale in this island, got a medal at the Exhibition of 1851), the quantity of iodide of potassium required varies, _cæteris paribus_, to the extent of 15 per cent., with the quantity of water added to the iodide of silver before adding the iodide of potassium; the minimum required being when the two salts act on each other in as dry a form as possible. Take the precipitate of iodide of silver, got by decomposing 100 grains of nitrate of silver with 97.66 grains of iodide of potassium; drain off the last water completely, so that the precipitate occupies not more than five or six drachms by measure; throw on it 640 grains of iodide of potassium; rapid solution ensues; when perfectly clear, add water up to four ounces: the solution remains unclouded. But if two or three ounces of water had been first poured on the iodide of silver, 680 grains, as I stated in my former paper, would have been required, and perhaps 734. The _rationale_ is, I suppose, that in a concentrated form the salts act on each other with greater energy, and a smaller quantity of the solvent is required than if it is diluted. Many analogous cases occur in chemistry. I hope this little experiment will be useful to others, as a saving of 15 per cent. on the iodide of potassium is gained. As a large body of precipitated iodide of silver can be more completely drained than a smaller quantity, in practice it will be found that small precipitates require a few grains more than I have stated: thus, throw on the precipitate of iodide of silver (got from 150 grains of nitrate), drained dry, 960 grains of iodide of potassium; solution rapidly ensues, which, being made up to six ounces, the whole remains perfectly clear; whereas the iodide of silver thrown down from 50 grains of nitrate, similarly treated with 320 grains of iodide of potassium, and made up to two ounces (the proportional quantities), will probably require 10 or 15 grains more of iodide to effect perfect solution, the reason being that it contained a greater quantity of water _pro ratâ_ than the first.

The following table, showing the exact quantities of iodide of potassium required to decompose 50, 100, and 150 grains of nitrate of silver, the resulting weight of iodide of silver, and the weight of iodide of potassium to make a clear solution up to 2, 4, and 6 ounces, will often be found useful:

_Grs._ _Grs._ _Grs._
Nitrate of silver 50 100 150
Iodide of potassium 48.83 97.66 146.49
Iodide of silver 68.82 137.64 206.46
Iodide of potassium 320 640 960
Water up to 2 oz. 4 oz. 6 oz.

T. L. MANSELL, A.B., M.D.

Guernsey.

_Mounting Photographs_ (Vol. ix., p. 282.).--J. L. S. will find the "Indian-rubber glue," which is sold in tin cases, the simplest and cleanest substance for mounting positives; it also possesses the advantage of being free from the attacks of insects.

SELEUCUS.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Books on Bells_ (Vol. ix., p. 240.).--Add to MR. ELLACOMBE'S curious list of books on bells the following:

"Duo Vota consultiva, unum de Campanis, alterum de Coemeteriis. In
quibus de utriusque antiquitate, {311} consecratione, usu et effectibus
plenè agitur, pluraque scitu dignissima ad propositi casus, aliorumque
in praxi, hac de re occurrentium decisionem, non injucunde adducuntur.
Auctore D. Augustino Barbosa, Protonotario Apostolico, Eminentissimorum
DD. Cardinalium Sacræ Congregationis Indicis Consultore, Abbate de
Mentrestido, ac insignis Ecclesiæ Vimarensis Thesaurario majore."
[4to., no place nor date.]

I have here given the full title of a pamphlet of 112 pages, exclusive of title, which I purchased about twenty years since of Rodd, the honourable and intelligent bookseller of Great Newport Street. It came from the library of Professor J. F. Vandevelde of Louvaine. Some former possessor has written before the title, "Quamvis tantum libellus tamen rarissimus," and it is, perhaps, the only copy in this country. It is not in the Bodleian catalogue, nor was it in Mr. Douce's library.

P. B.

_Medal in Honour of Chevalier St. George_ (Vol. ix., p. 105).--A. S. inquires about a medal supposed to have been struck in honour of Prince James (Chevalier St. George); but his account of it is so vague, that I am unable to answer his question. If he will describe the medal, or state the grounds upon which he supposes such a medal to have existed, I will endeavour to solve his doubts.

H.

_Dean Swift's Suspension_ (Vol. ix., p. 244).--I am surprised that ABHBA should express a belief that the circumstances of Swift's college punishment have not been noticed by _any of his biographers_, when every syllable of his communication is detailed (with original documentary proofs) in Dr. Barrett's _Early Life of Swift_, and is in substance repeated in Sir Walter Scott's _Life_, prefixed to Swift's works.

C.

"_Vanitatem observare_" (Vol. ix., p. 247).--I am sorry to have given your correspondent F. C. H. a wrong reference, and I am not _quite_ sure about the right one; but I think it is to a Latin translation of the Council of Laodicea, A.D. 366, c. 36.

R. H. G.

_Ballina Castle, Mayo_ (Vol. viii., p. 411.).--I have no idea to what place O. L. R. G. can allude as Ballina Castle; there is no place, ancient or modern, about that town, that has that name; and the only place with the title of castle in the neighborhood, is a gentleman's modern residence of no great pretensions either as to size or beauty. He perhaps alludes to Belleck Abbey, which is a fine building; but, notwithstanding its title, is of still more modern date than the so-called castle. I am not aware of any recent historical or descriptive work on the county generally. Cæsar Otway, Maxwell, and the _Saxon in Ireland_, have confined their descriptions to the "Wild West;" and the crowd of tourists appear to follow in their track, leaving the far finer central and eastern districts untouched. The first-named tourist appears to have projected another work on the county, but never published it.

J. S. WARDEN.

_Dorset_ (Vol. ix., p. 247.).--NARES gives various spellings, as _douset_, _dowset_, _doulcet_, but in all equally derived from _dulcet_, "sweet;" and Halliwell has "doucet drinkes;" so that the great Manchester philosopher had probably been indulging in a too copious libation of some sweet wine, which he styles "foolish Dorset."

F. R. R.

Dorchester beer had acquired a very great name, and was sent about England. Out of the shire it was called "Dorset Beer," or "Dorset." That town has lost its fame for brewing beer.

G. R. L.

_Judicial Rank hereditary_ (Vol. viii., p. 384.).--Such a list as your correspondent gives is not easily paralleled, it is true, in the judicial annals of England or Ireland; but in Scotland he might have found cases in considerable number to equal or surpass those which he mentions: for instance, in the family of Dundas of Arniston, respecting which I find the following note in the _Quarterly Review_, vol. lvii. p. 462.:

"The series is so remarkable, that we subjoin the details:--Sir James
Dundas, judge of the Court of Session, 1662; Robert Dundas, son of Sir
James, judge of the Court of Session from 1689 to 1727; Robert Dundas,
son of the last, successively Solicitor-General and Lord Advocate, M.P.
for the county of Edinburgh, judge of the Court of Session 1737, Lord
President 1748, died in 1753 (father of Henry, Viscount Melville);
Robert Dundas, son of the last, successively Solicitor-General and Lord
Advocate, and member for the county, Lord President from 1760 to 1787;
Robert Dundas, son of the last, successively Solicitor-General and Lord
Advocate, Lord Chief Baron from 1801 to 1819; all these judges, except
the Chief Baron, had been known in Scotland by the title of Lord
Arniston. They were, we need hardly add, all men of talents, but the
two Lords President Arniston were of superior eminence in legal and
constitutional learning."

The Hope family, and some other Scottish ones, present as numerous a display of legal dignitaries as the above; but the hereditary succession from father to son is perhaps not equalled, certainly not excelled, in any age or country. In fact, let the opponents of hereditary honours say what they will, there is no description of talent except the poetical that has not frequently remained in the same family for several generations unabated.

J. S. WARDEN.

_Tolling the Bell on leaving Church_ (Vol. ix., p. 125.).--In reply to J. H. M.'s Query, I beg to state that the chief reason for tolling the bell while the congregation is leaving church, is to {312} inform the parishioners who have not been able to attend in the morning, divine service will be celebrated in the afternoon. In scattered villages, or where a single clergyman had to perform the duties of more than one church, this was formerly quite requisite. At a neighbouring village of Tytherly, the custom is still observed, though no longer necessary.

W. S.

There is little doubt that priests in olden times were fond of hot dinners, and the bell at the conclusion of the service must have been intended as a warning to their cooks (and many others) to make ready the repast. This is merely a supposition; but I shall cherish the idea in the want of a better explanation. The custom has been, until very lately, observed in our little country church. There are other customs which are still kept up, namely, that of tolling the church bell at eight o'clock on Sunday morning, and again at nine, as well as that of ringing a small bell when the clergyman enters the reading-desk.

E. W. J.

Crawley, Winchester.

I believe that the custom of tolling the bell when the congregation is leaving the church, is to notify that there will be another service in the day. This is certainly the reason in this parish (in Leicestershire); for after the second service the bell is not tolled, nor if, on any account, there is no afternoon service.

S. S. S.

When I was Lecturer of St. Andrew's, Enfield, the bells rang out a short peculiar peal immediately after Sunday Morning Prayer. I always thought it was probably designed to give notice to approaching funeral processions that the church service was over, as in the country burials--usually there always on Sundays--immediately follow the celebration of morning service.

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

I beg to inform your correspondent J. H. M. that this is often done at Bray, near Maidenhead.

NEWBURIENSIS.

The custom observed at Olney Church after the morning service, I have heard, is to apprize the congregation of a vesper service to follow.

W. P. STORER.

Olney, Bucks.

_Archpriest in the Diocese of Exeter_ (Vol. ix., p. 185.).--Besides the archpriest of Haccombe, there were others in the same diocese; but, to quote the words of Dr. Oliver, in his _Monasticon, Dioc. Exon._, p. 287.,

"He would claim no peculiar exemption from the jurisdiction of his
ordinary, nor of his archdeacon; he was precisely on the same footing
as the superiors of the archpresbyteries at Penkivell, Beerferris, and
Whitchurch, which were instituted in this diocese in the early part of
the fourteenth century. The foundation deed of the last was the model
in founding that of Haccombe."

In the same work copies of the foundation deeds of the archipresbytery of Haccombe and Beer are printed.

One would suppose that wherever there was a collegiate body of clergymen established for the purposes of the daily and nightly offices of the church, as chantry priests, that one of them would be considered the superior, or archipresbyter.