Chapter X: Y. Z

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CLAY TOBACCO-PIPES.

An amusing treatise might be written on the variations in shape of the common tobacco-pipe since its first introduction into the country. Hundreds of specimens of old pipe-heads might soon be procured, and especially in the neighbourhood of London, where the same ground has been tilled for gardening purposes perhaps {373} some hundreds of years, and has received fresh supplies year after year from the ash-bin and dust-heap. I have about a dozen in my possession, which probably belong to various periods from the beginning of the seventeenth to the end of the eighteenth century. The dearness of tobacco in the early times of its use is evinced by the smallness of the bowls, for many of them would hold at most not half a thimbleful of tobacco; while the shank, where it joins the bowl, is nearly double the thickness of that in use at the present day. If I recollect aright, the pipe as represented in Hogarth seems but little larger in the bowl than that in use a century before; the shape being in both the same, very much like that of a barrel. The sides of the bowl seem formerly to have been made of double or treble the thickness of those now in use. This will account for the good preservation in which they may be found after having been in the ground one or two centuries. The clay tobacco-pipe probably attained its present size and slimness, and (very nearly) its present shape, about the beginning of this century. I am well aware that, by many, all this will be esteemed as "in tenui labor," but, for my part, I look upon no reminiscences of the past, however humble, as deserving to be slighted or consigned to oblivion. Even the humble tobacco-pipe may be made the vehicle of some interesting information. Will any of your correspondents favour your other readers with some farther information on this subject?

HENRY T. RILEY.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Cabinet: Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, Marquis of Normanby, and Duke of Buckinghamshire._--Can any reader refer me to a letter of the Duke of Buckinghamshire's which I have read (but I entirely forget where), written during the reign of William III., and complaining of his exclusion from the Cabinet? He was either Lord Normanby or Lord Mulgrave when the letter was written.

C. H.

_Bersethrigumnue._--In the _Escheats_, 23 Hen. III. No. 20., quoted by Nichols in his _History of Leicestershire_ (vol. iii. part 1., under "Cotes"), occurs this unusual word. Gilbert de Segrave held the manor of Cotes in socage of the king "by paying yearly one _bersethrigumnue_." Will any reader of "N. & Q." favour me with its etymology or meaning? I imagine it to have been a clerical error for _brachetum cum ligamine_, a service by which one of the earlier lords of Cotes held these lands.

THOMAS RUSSELL POTTER.

_Lady Jane Grey._--Neither Nichols in his _History of Leicestershire_, nor his equally eminent grandson in his interesting _Chronicle of Queen Jane_, nor, so far as I am aware, any other author, mentions the place where the Lady Jane was buried. The general belief is, I think, that her body was interred with that of her husband in the Tower. But a tradition has just been communicated to me by the Rev. Andrew Bloxam, that the body was privately brought from London by a servant of the family, and deposited in the chapel at Bradgate. What is the fact?

THOMAS RUSSELL POTTER.

_Addison and Watts._--Can any of your numerous readers inform me whether the hymn "When rising from the bed of death," so generally ascribed to Addison, and taken from the chapter on death and judgment in his _Evidences of the Christian Religion_, is his own composition, or that of the "excellent man in holy orders;" and whether this is Dr. Isaac Watts?

S. M.

_Lord Boteloust's Statue by Richard Hayware._--The statue erected to Lord Boteloust by the "Colony and Dominion of Virginia" was "made in London, 1773, by Richard Hayware." I should be obliged for information as to Mr. Hayware.

T. BALCH.

Philadelphia.

_Celtic in Devon._--When was the Celtic language obsolete in the South Hams of Devon?

G. R. L.

_Knobstick._--In these days of strikes, turn-outs, and lock-outs, we hear so much of "knobsticks," that I should like to know why this term has come to be applied to those who work for less than the wages recognised, or under other conditions deemed objectionable by trades unions.

PRESTONIENSIS.

_Aristotle._--Where does Aristotle say that a judge is a living law, as the Law itself is a dumb judge?

H. P.

_The Passion of our Lord dramatised._--Busby, in his _History of Music_, vol. i. p. 249., says:

"It has been very generally supposed, that the manner of reciting and
singing in the theatres formed the original model of the church
service; an idea sanctioned by the fact, that the Passion of our
Saviour was dramatised by the _early_ priests."

What authority is there for this statement?

H. P.

_Ludwell: Lunsford: Kemp._--Inscription on a tombstone in the graveyard of the old church at Williamsburgh:

"Under this marble lyeth the body of Thomas Ludwell, Esq., Secretary of
Virginia, who was born at Burton, in the county of Somerset, in the
kingdom of England, and departed this life in the year 1698: and near
this place lie the bodies of Richard Kemp, Esq., {374} his predecessor
in the secretary's office, and Sir Thomas Lunsford, Knt., in memory of
whom this marble is here placed by Philip Ludwell, Esq., son of the
said Thomas Ludwell, Esq., in the year 1727."

Information is respectfully asked as to the persons and families mentioned in the foregoing inscription. Sir Thomas Lunsford is said to have come from Surrey, and to have served during the civil wars.

THOMAS BALCH.

Philadelphia.

_Linnaean Medal._--Has any reader of "N. & Q." in his possession a Linnaean medal? I mean the one by the celebrated Liungberger, ordered by Gustavus III. in 1778. It is of great beauty, and now very scarce: the following is a brief description.

It is of silver, two inches diameter. Obverse, a portrait of the naturalist, very faithful and boldly executed, yet with the utmost delicacy of finish. The face is full of thought and feeling, and the whole expression so spiritual, that this medallion has a strange charm; you keep looking at it again and again. The inscription is,

"Car. Linnaeus, Arch. Reg. Equ. Auratus."

On the reverse is Cybele, surrounded by animals and plants, holding a key and weeping. Inscription,--

"Deam luctus angit amissi."

"Post Obitum Upsaliae, D. X. Jan. MDCCLXXVIII. Rege Jubente."

In the background is a bear, on whose back an ape has jumped; but the bear lies quietly, as if he disdained the annoyance.

This was probably in reference to what he said in the preface to his _Systema Naturae_: "I have borne the derision of apes in silence," &c. Adjoining this are plants, and we recognise his own favourite flower, the _Linnea borealis_.

E. F. WOODMAN.

_Lowth of Sawtrey: Robert Eden._--In the _Topographer and Genealogist_, vol. ii p. 495., I find mention made of a monument at Cretingham in Suffolk, to Margaret, wife of Richard Cornwallis, and daughter of Lowth of Sawtrey, co. Hunts, who died in 1603. The arms are stated to be--"Cornwallis and quarterings impaling Lowth and quarterings, Stearing, Dade, Bacon, Rutter," &c. Will some of your correspondents give me a fuller account of these quarterings, and of the pedigree of Lowth of Sawtrey, or especially of that branch of it from which descended Robert Lowth, Bishop successively of St. David's, Oxford, and London, who was born in 1710, and died in 1787?

I should also be much obliged if any of your readers would give me any information as to who were the parents, and what the pedigree, of the Rev. Robert Eden, Prebendary of Winchester, who married Mary, sister of Bishop Lowth: was he connected with the Auckland family, or with the Suffolk family of Eden, lately mentioned in "N. & Q.?" The arms he bore were the same as those of the former family--Gules, on a chevron between three garbs or, banded vert, as many escallops sable.

R. E. C.

_Gentile Names of the Jews._--The Query in Vol. viii., p. 563., as to the Gentile names of the Jews, leads me to inquire why it is that the Jews are so fond of names derived from the animal creation. Lyon or Lyons has probably some allusion to the lion of the tribe of Judah, Hart to the hind of Naphtali, and Wolf to Benjamin; but the German Jewish names of Adler, an eagle, and Finke, a finch, cannot be so accounted for. The German Hirsch is evidently the same name as the English Hart, and the Portuguese names Lopez and Aguilar are Lupus and Aquila, slightly disguised. Is the origin of Mark, a very common Jewish name, to be sought in the Celtic _merch_, a horse?

HONORE DE MAREVILLE.

Guernsey.

_The Black Prince._--In Sir S. R. Meyrick's _Inquiry into Ancient Armour_, vol. ii. p. 18., he quotes Froissart as observing, after his account of the battle of Poictiers, "Thus did Edward the Black Prince, now doubly dyed black by the terror of his arms." I have sought in vain for this passage, or anything resembling it, in Johnes's translation, nor can I find anywhere this appellation as applied by Froissart to his favourite hero. Can the passage be an interpolation of Lord Berners?

J. S. WARDEN.

_Maid of Orleans._--Can any one of your correspondents tell who was D'Israeli's authority for the following?--

"Of the Maid of Orleans I have somewhere read, that a bundle of faggots
was substituted for her, when she was supposed to have been burnt by
the Duke of Bedford."--_Curiosities of Literature_, vol. i. p. 312.

J. R. R.

_Fawell Arms and Crest._--Could any correspondent tell me the _correct_ arms and crest of Fawell? In Burke's _General Armory_ they are given: "Or, a cross moline gu., a chief dig." And in Berry's _Encyclopaedia Heraldica_: "Sa., a cheveron between three escallop shells argent." In neither work is a crest registered, and yet I believe there is one belonging to the family.

CID.

"_Had I met thee in thy beauty._"--Can you or any of your correspondents inform me who is the author of the poem commencing, with the above line, and where it may be found? It is generally supposed to be Lord Byron's, but cannot be found in any of his published works.

E. H.

{375}

_Portrait of D. P. Tremesin._--Has there ever been any portrait known to exist of one Dompe Peter Tremesin, who is supposed to have been the earliest equestrian who performed feats on horseback, and of whom mention is thus made in the Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII., p. 218.:

"Paied to one Dompue Peter Tremesin, that _dyd ryde two horses at
once_, by waye of rewarde, C corons, _i.e._ 23l. 6s. 8d."

J. W. G. G.

_Edition of "Othello."_--I shall feel much indebted to MESSRS. COLLIER, SINGER, &c. for information relative to an edition of _Othello_ which was shown to me in January, 1837, and had previously belonged to J. W. Cole (Calcraft), Esq., then manager of the Theatre Royal, Dublin. It consisted of the text (sometimes altered, I think) and notes connected exclusively with astrology. There was, if I remember rightly, a frontispiece representing some of the characters, their heads, arms, bodies, and legs being dotted over with stars, as seen in a celestial globe. It was published about the year 1826, and was evidently not the first play of Shakspeare published under similar circumstances; for I recollect that when Brabantio first appears at the window, a note informs the reader that "if he will refer to the diagram of Brabantio in the frontispiece, he will discover, by comparison of the stars in the two diagrams, that Brabantio corresponds with" a character in another play of Shakspeare, the name of which I forget. Mr. Cole is now in London, and connected with one of the leading theatres. I do not know his address.

M. A.

_Prospect House, Clerkenwell._--Will any of your correspondents learned in old London topography inform me when the "Prospect House, or Dobney's Bowling Green," Clerkenwell, ceased to be a place of amusement; and where any account is to be found of one Wildman, who is said to have exhibited his bees there in 1772. (Vide _Mirror_, vol. xxxiv. p. 107.) And in what consisted this exhibition? Also, if any other plate of the Three Hats public-house, Islington, exists than that in the _Gentleman's Magazine_? Also, if there exists any portrait of Mrs. Sampson, said to have been the first female equestrian performer, and Life of Sampson, who used also to perform at the gardens behind the Three Hats?

J. W. G. G.

_Ancient Family of Widderington._--In an old Prayer Book, now before me, I find this entry:--"Ralph Witherington was married to Mary Smith the 13th day of Nov. in the year of our Lord 1703, at seaven o'clock in the morning, Sunday." Then follow the dates of the births of a numerous progeny. Can any of your readers tell me who these parties were, or any particulars about them? The early hour of a winter morning seems strange. Some of the children settled in Dublin, and intermarried with good Irish families; but from the entry in another part of the volume, in an older hand, of "Ralph Witharington of Hauxley, in the parish of Warqurth, in the county of Northumberland," the family appear previously to have lived in England.

I have never been able to find the motto of the Widderingtons. Their arms are, of course, well known, viz., Quarterly, argent and gules, a bend sable; crest, a bull's head: but I have never seen their legend.

W. X.

P. S.--The marriage is not entered in the registers of Warkworth. It may be in some of the records (of the city) of Dublin. I have seen the motto "_Veritas Victrix_" appended to a coat of arms, in which the Widderington shield had a place; but it was believed to belong to the name of Mallet in one of the quarters.

_Value of Money in the Seventeenth Century._--What are the data for comparing the value of money in the seventeenth century with its present value? What may 1000l. in 1640, in 1660, in 1680, be considered equivalent to now?

C. H.

* * * * *

Minor Queries with Answers.

_Ruin near St. Asaph, North Wales._--About two miles from St. Asaph, in Flintshire, near to a beautiful trout stream, called, I think, the Elway, stands an old ruin of some ecclesiastical edifice. There is not very much of it now standing, but the form of the windows still exists. I have in vain looked in handbooks of the county for an account of it, but I have seen none that allude to it in any way. It is very secluded, being hidden by trees; and can only be approached by a footpath. In the centre of the edifice, there is a well of most beautiful water, supplied from some hidden spring; and from the bottom of which bubbles of gas are constantly ascending to the surface. The well is divided by a large stone into two parts, one evidently intended for a bath. The peasantry in the neighbourhood call it the Virgin Mary's Well, and ascribe the most astonishing cures to bathing in its waters. I could not, however, find out what it was. Some said it was a nunnery, and that the field adjoining had been a burial-ground; but all seemed remarkably ignorant about it, and seemed rather to avoid speaking about it; but, from what I could gather, there was some wild legend respecting it: but, being unacquainted with the language, I could not learn what it was. I should feed obliged if any of your correspondents could give me a description of it, and any information or legend connected with it. Near to it are the celebrated "Kaffen Rocks," which {376} show undoubted evidence, from the shells and shingle embedded in their strata, of having at some period been submerged; and the caverns which exist in them are very large, and bones of hyenas and other animals are to be found in them. They are, however, very difficult to find without a guide, and there are very few persons in the neighbourhood who seem to know anything about them. They are very well worthy of a visit, and the surrounding scenery is beautiful in the extreme. I shall be happy to put any person in the way of finding them, should a desire be expressed in your pages.

INVESTIGATOR.

Manchester.

[This is Fynnon Vair, or "the Well of Our Lady," situated in a
richly-wooded dell near the river Elwy, in the township of Wigvair.
This well, which is inclosed in a polygonal basin of hewn stone,
beautifully and elaborately sculptured, discharges about 100 gallons
per minute: the water is strongly impregnated with lime, and was
formerly much resorted to as a cold bath. Adjoining the well are the
ruins of an ancient cruciform chapel, which, prior to the Reformation,
was a chapel of ease to St. Asaph, in the later style of English
architecture: the windows, which are of handsome design, are now nearly
concealed by the ivy which has overspread the building; and the ruin,
elegant in itself, derives additional interest from the beauty of its
situation. See Lewis's _Wales_, and _Beauties of England and Wales_,
vol. xvii. p. 550.]

* * * * *

_Wafers._--When and where were wafers invented? They were no new discovery when Labat saw some at Genoa in 1706; but from a passage in his _Voyages d'Espagne et Italie_, published in 1731, it would appear that they were even then unknown in France. A writer in the _Quarterly Review_ says:

"We have in our possession letters with the wafers still adhering,
which went from Lisbon to Rome twenty years before that time; and
Stolberg observes that there are wafers and wafer-seals in the museum
at Portici."

ABHBA.

[Respecting the antiquity of wafers, Beckmann, in his _History of
Inventions_, vol. i. p. 146. (Bohn's edition), has the following
notice: "M. Spiess has made an observation which may lead to farther
researches, that the oldest seal with a red wafer he has ever yet
found, is on a letter written by D. Krapf at Spires, in the year 1624,
to the government of Bayreuth. M. Spiess has found also that some years
after, Forstenhaeusser, the Brandenburg factor at Nuremberg, sent such
wafers to a bailiff at Osternohe. It appears, however, that wafers were
not used during the whole of the seventeenth century in the chancery of
Brandenburg, but only by private persons, and by these even seldom,
because, as Speiss says, people were fonder of Spanish wax. The first
wafers with which the chancery of Bayreuth began to make seals were,
according to an expense account of the year 1705, sent from Nuremberg.
The use of wax, however, was still continued, and among the Plassenburg
archives there is a rescript of 1722, sealed with proper wax. The use
of wax must have been continued longer in the Duchy of Weimar; for in
the _Electa Juris Publici_ there is an order of the year 1716, by which
the introduction of wafers in law matters is forbidden, and the use of
wax commanded. This order, however, was abolished by Duke Ernest
Augustus in 1742, and wafers again introduced."]

* * * * *

_Asgill on Translation to Heaven._--The Irish House of Commons, in 1703, expelled a Mr. Asgill from his seat for his book asserting the possibility of translation to the other world without death. What is the title of his book? and where may I find a copy?

ABHBA.

[This work, published anonymously, is entitled, "An Argument proving
that, according to the Covenant of Eternal Life revealed in the
Scriptures, Man may be translated from hence into that Eternal Life
without passing through Death, although the Humane Nature of Christ
Himself could not be thus translated till He had passed through Death,"
A.D. 1700. No name of bookseller or printer. It may be seen at the
British Museum or Bodleian. This work raised a considerable clamour,
and Dr. Sacheverell mentioned it among other blasphemous writings which
induced him to think the Church was in danger.]

* * * * *

_Ancient Custom at Coleshill._--I have somewhere seen it stated, that there is an ancient custom at Coleshill, in Warwickshire, that if the young men of the town can catch a hare, and bring it to the parson of the parish before ten o'clock on Easter Monday, he is bound to give them a calf's head and a hundred eggs for their breakfast, and a groat in money. Can you inform me whether this be the fact? And if so, what is the origin of the custom?

ABHBA.

[The custom is noticed in Blount's _Ancient Tenures_, by Beckwith,
edit. 1684, p. 286. The origin of it seems to be unknown.]

* * * * *

Replies.

THE SONGS OF DEGREES.

(Vol. ix., p. 121.)

Too much pains cannot be expended on the elucidation of the internal structure of the Psalms. In this laudable endeavour, your correspondent T. J. BUCKTON has, as I conceive, fallen into an error. He assumes that those Psalms which are entitled "Songs of Degrees" were appropriated for the domestic use rather than the public services of the Jews. I cannot consider that the allusions to external objects which he enumerates could affect the argument; for, on the other hand, we find mention of the House of the Lord (cxxii. {377} 1. 9., cxxvii. 1., cxxxii. 3. 7., cxxxiv. 1.); the sanctuary (cxxxiv. 2.); the priests (cxxxii. 9.); and the singers (cxxxiv. 1.), who attended by night as well as by day (1 Chron. ix. 33.): allusions which would sufficiently warrant these Psalms being considered as connected with the temple worship.

The name _Shir Hammachaloth_, "Song of Ascents," prefixed to these fifteen Psalms, has given rise to much controversy. The different opinions as to the import of this title may be thus stated: 1. The ancients understood it to relate to the steps of the temple: of this supposition I shall speak hereafter. 2. Luther, whom Tholuck is inclined to follow, renders it a song in the higher choir: intimating that they should be sung from an elevated position, or, as Patrick says, "in an elevated voice." 3. Junius and Tremellius would translate it "Song of Excellences," or "Excellent Song." 4. Gesenius with De Wette, considers that this name refers to a particular rhythm, in which the sense ascends in a rhythming gradation; but as this barely appears in one Psalm (cxxi.), the facts will scarcely support the hypothesis. 5. The more modern opinion is, that (notwithstanding four of them being composed by David, and one _by_ Solomon) it signifies "Song of the Ascents" [Greek: anabasis] or "Pilgrims' Song," being composed for or sung by the people during their journeys to Jerusalem, whether on their return from the Babylonian captivity, or as they statedly repaired to their national solemnities.

The first of these hypotheses, though in least repute, I am inclined to prefer.

The title in Chaldee is "A Song sung upon the Steps of the Abyss;" the Septuagint superscription "[Greek: Ode ton anabathmon];" and the Vulgate, _carmen graduum_, "Song of the Steps." In accordance with which the Jewish writers state, that these Psalms were sung on fifteen steps leading from the Atrium Israelis to the court of the women. In the apocryphal book of the "Birth of Mary," translated by Archbishop Wake, which is to be found in the works of St. Jerome, and which is attributed to St. Matthew, there is an account of a miracle in the early history of the Virgin Mary, in which it is said (ch. iv.):

"2. And there were about the temple, according to the fifteen Psalms of
Degrees, fifteen stairs to ascend.

"3. For the temple being built in a mountain, the altar of
burnt-offering, which was without, could not be come near but by
stairs."

It goes on to state how the infant Mary miraculously walked up these stairs. In the account of the same miracle, in the _Protevangelion_, ascribed to St. James, it is related (ch. vii.) how the priest--

"5. ... placed her (the infant) upon the third _step of the altar_."

From this comparison it would appear, that the "stairs about the temple" were synonymous with the "steps of the altar."

I would therefore suggest, for the consideration of those better acquainted with the subject, that these Psalms were adapted to be sung (not _on_ the steps, as some think, but) as a kind of introit while the priests ascended the steps of the altar.

To show their adaptation for this purpose, it may be worth remarking, that they are all, except cxxxii., introits in the first Prayer Book of Edward VI.

J. R. G.

Dublin.

* * * * *

AMERICAN POEMS IMPUTED TO ENGLISH AUTHORS.

(Vol. viii., pp. 71. 183.)

The southern part of the U. S. seems to make as free with the reputations of English authors, as the northern with their copyright. The name of the South Carolina newspaper, which, with so much confirmatory evidence, ascribed _The Calm_ to Shelley, is not given. If it was the _Southern Literary Messenger_, the editor has been at it again. The following began to appear in the English papers about Christmas last, and is still "going the round:"

"THE SORROWS OF WERTHER.--The _Southern Literary Messenger_ (U. S.) for
the present month contains, in 'The Editor's Table,' the following
comic poem of Thackeray's; written, we are told, 'one morning last
spring in the _Messenger_ office,' during a call made by the author:--

'Werther had a love for Charlotte,
Such as words could never utter.
Would you know how first he met her?
She was cutting bread and butter.

'Charlotte was a married lady,
And a moral man was Werther;
And for all the wealth of Indies,
Would do nothing that might hurt her.

'So he sigh'd, and pined, and ogled,
And his passion boil'd and bubbled,
Till he blew his silly brains out,
And no more by them was troubled.

'Charlotte, having seen his body
Borne before her on a shutter,
Like a well-conducted person,
Went on cutting bread and butter.'"

I believe that Mr. Thackeray knows the value of his writings and his time too well to _whittle_ at verses in the _Messenger_ office, and leave his chips on the floor; and that he is too observant of the laws of fair wit to make a falsification and call it a burlesque. _The Sorrows of Werther_ is not so popular as when known here chiefly by a wretched version of a wretched French version, and many who read these stanzas will be satisfied that the {378} last conveys, at worst, a distorted notion of the end of Goethe's story. To prevent this misapprehension, I quote from Mr. Boylan's translation all that is told of Charlotte after Werther's suicide:

"The servant ran for a surgeon, and then went to fetch Albert.
Charlotte heard the ringing of the bell; a cold shudder seized her. She
wakened her husband, and they both rose. The servant, bathed in tears,
faltered forth the dreadful news. _Charlotte fell senseless at Albert's
feet._

. . . . . . .

"The steward and his sons followed the corpse to the grave. Albert was
unable to accompany them. _Charlotte's life was despaired of._"

Perhaps "despaired of" is too strong a word for "man _fuerchtete fuer_ Lottens Leben;" but there is no peg on which to hang the poor joke of the last stanza.

H. B. C.

U. U. Club.

* * * * *

"FEATHER IN YOUR CAP."

(Vol. ix., p. 220.)

In reply to MR. GATTY'S question, I beg to state that the Indian wears an eagle's feather for every enemy he has slain. I have seen a boy of fifteen thus decorated, and was assured that it had been lawfully won.

The feather is usually stuck into the hinder part of the turban, or head-dress, and either projects straight out, or hangs down the back. This is exactly the fashion in which the Chinese wear the peacock's feather; and it also is a mark of distinction for warriors, a military institution similar to our knighthood, or, perhaps, what knighthood once was. (See De Guignes and Barrow, &c.) I think McKenzie speaks of the eagle's feather, but cannot quote just now. According to Elphinstone, the "Caufirs of Caubul" (Siah-posh?) stick a long feather in their turbans for every Mussulman they have slain.

The similarity of style in wearing their feathers, and, above all, the coincidence of both being the reward of merit, induces a belief that in times long gone by a relationship may have existed between the Chinese and the American; a belief that is strengthened by other and more curious testimony than even this.

The head-dress, or coronet of upright feathers, to which MR. GATTY seems to allude, I have never heard of, as associated with warlike deeds. The coronet of feathers, moreover, does not appear to have been peculiar to America. In the _Athenaeum_ for 1844 is given the representation of a naval engagement, in which one party of the combatants "wear head-dresses of feathers, such as are described in ancient Hindu records, and such as the Indian Caciques wore when America was discovered by Columbus," &c. (p. 172.). Moreover, "the Lycians had caps adorned with crests, stuck round with feathers," &c. (Meyrick's _Ancient Armour_, &c., vol. i. p. xviii.) We may suppose this to have resembled the coiffure of the Mexican and other North American tribes.

Mr. Rankin says the Peruvian Incas wore, as a distinction, two plumes on the front of the head, similar to those represented in the portraits of Tamerlane. (See _Conquest by the Mogols, &c._, p. 175.) I have seen, among the Wyandots of Sandusky, heads which one might suppose had been the originals of the portraits given in his plate: turban made of gaudy-coloured silk, with two short thick feathers stuck upright in front; the one red, the other white tipped with blue, the great desideratum being to have them of different colours, as strongly contrasted as possible.

The Kalmucs, when they celebrate any great festival, always wear coloured owls' feathers in their caps, &c. (See _Strahlenburg_, 4to., p. 434.) The Dacotas also wear owls' feathers. (See Long's _Expedition to Rocky Mountains_, vol. i. p. 161.) The Usbeck Tartar chiefs wore (perhaps _do_ wear) plumes of herons' feathers in their turbans; and the herons' plume of the Ottoman sultan is only a remnant of the costume in which their ancestors descended from Central Asia.

A. C. M.

Exeter.

* * * * *

PERSPECTIVE.

(Vol. ix., p. 300.)

Your correspondent MR. G. T. HOARE is rather bold in describing the case he does as a "very common error;" and I cannot agree with him that the facade of Sennacherib's Palace (Layard's 2nd book on _Nineveh_) is an instance of the kind. The theory that horizontal lines in the plane of the picture should converge to a point on the horizontal line right and left of the visual ray, is by no means new; in truth, every line according to this view must form the segment of a circle more or less, according to circumstances. Apply this principle to the vertical lines of a tower or lofty building, and every such structure must be represented diminished at the top, the vertical lines converging to a vanishing point in the sky.

Some years since, this theory was brought forward by Mr. Parsey, and the subject fully discussed at scientific meetings. There was much ingenuity in the arguments employed, but the illustrations were so unsatisfactory that the system has never gained ground. The principles of perspective are most ably exemplified in many well-known works, as they set forth very satisfactory modes of delineation. The limits of your periodical prevent a fuller correspondence on this subject, or I think it would not be difficult to {379} satisfy MR. HOARE that there are great difficulties attending his proposition.

No recent discoveries in the art of perspective have tended to more truthful representations than those produced by the recognised systems usually adopted. The method of showing the internal courts, &c. of large groups of buildings by isometrical perspective, although very useful for developing architects' and engineers' projects, is not a system that will bear the test of close examination.

BENJ. FERREY.

G. T. HOARE is quite right in saying "that every line above or below the line of the horizon, though _really_ parallel to it, _apparently_ approaches it, as it is produced to the right or left." But he seems to forget that the same holds good in the picture as in the original landscape, the part opposite the eye being nearer to it than the margin of the paper. To produce the same effect with _converging lines_, the drawing must be made to assume the form of a segment of a circle, the eye being placed in the centre.

JOHN P. STILWELL.

Dorking.

I must beg leave to differ most decidedly with MR. G. T. HOARE on this point. If it is in accordance with the principles of perspective that, supposing the eye and the picture in their true positions in relation to each other and to the objects represented, every line drawn from the eye to any point of a real object will pass through its corresponding point in the picture, then the supposed wall will form the base of a pyramid, of which the eye will be the apex, and the representation of the wall in the picture a section parallel to the base, and consequently mathematically similar to the base itself. It is perfectly true, as MR. HOARE says, "that every line above or below the line of the horizon, though _really_ parallel to it, _apparently_ approaches it, as it is produced to the right or left." But he forgets that this fact applies to the picture as well as to the object. In fact, the picture is an object, and the parallel lines in it representing the wall must have the same apparent tendency to one another as those in the wall itself.

[Greek: Halieus]

Dublin.

I am glad MR. G. T. HOARE has called attention to the defective state of the art of perspective. His remarks, however, are too narrow. The fact is, that _any_ two parallel straight lines appear to converge at one or both ends, _and one or both lines assume a curvilinear shape_. For a notable example, the vertical section of the Duke of York's column in Waterloo Place, from all points of view, appears to bulge at the point of sight, and to taper upwards by a curvilinear convergence of the sides.