Chapter I: Front Matter (1)

NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

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No. 46.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1850 [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:--Page The Meaning of "Risell" in Hamlet, by S.W. Singer. 241 Authors of the Rolliad. 242 Notes and Queries. 242 The Body of James II., by Pitman Jones. 243 Folk Lore:--Legend of Sir Richard Baker--Prophetic Spring at Langley, Kent. 244 Minor Notes:--Poem by Malherbe--Travels of Two English Pilgrims. 245

QUERIES:--
Quotations in Bishop Andrewes, by Rev. James Bliss. 245
Minor Queries:--Spider and Fly--Lexicon of Types--Montaigue's
Select Essays--Custom of wearing the Breast uncovered--Milton's
Lycidas--Sitting during the Lessons--Blew-Beer--Carpatio--Value of
Money--Bishop Berkeley, and Adventures of Gaudeatio
di Lucca--Cupid and Psyche--Zund-nadel Guns--Bacon
Family--Armorials--Artephius--Sir Robert Howard--Crozier
and Pastoral Staff--Marks of Cadency--Miniature Gibbet. 245

REPLIES:--
Collar of S.S. by Rev. H.T. Ellacombe and J. Gough
Nichols. 248
Sir Gregory Norton. 250
Shakspeare's Word "Delighted," by Rev. Dr. Kennedy. 250
Aerostation, by Henry Wilkinson. 251
Replies to Minor Queries:--Long Lonkin--Rowley
Powley--Guy's Armour--Alarm--Prelates of
France--Haberdasher--"Rapido contrarius orbi"--Robertson
of Muirtown--"Noli me tangere"--Clergy sold
for Slaves--North Side of Churchyards--Sir John
Perrot--Coins of Constantius II.--She ne'er with
treacherous Kiss--California--Bishops and their
Precedence--Elizabeth and Isabel--Bever's Legal
Polity--Rikon Basilike, &c. 251

MISCELLANEOUS:-- Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 255 Notices to Correspondents. 255 Advertisements. 256

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NOTES.

THE MEANING OF "DRINK UP EISELL" IN HAMLET.

Few passages have been more discussed than this wild challenge of Hamlet to Laertes at the grave of Ophelia:

"Ham. I lov'd Ophelia! forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?

--Zounds! show me what thou'lt do?
Woo't weep? Woo't fight? Woo't fast? Woo't tear
thyself?

_Woo't drink up Eisell?_ eat a crocodile?

I'll do't".

The sum of what has been said may be given in the words of Archdeacon Nares:

"There is no doubt that eisell meant vinegar, nor even that
Shakspeare has used it in that sense; but in this passage it
seems that it must be put for the name of a Danish river.... The
question was much disputed between Messrs. Steevens and Malone:
the former being for the river, the latter for the vinegar; and
he endeavored even to get over the drink up, which stood much in
his way. But after all, the challenge to drink vinegar, in such
a rant, is so inconsistent, and even ridiculous, that we must
decide for the river, whether its name be exactly found or not.
To drink up a river, and eat a crocodile with his impenetrable
scales, are two things equally impossible. There is no kind of
comparison between the others."

I must confess that I was formerly led to adopt this view of the passage, but on more mature investigation I find that it is wrong. I see no necessary connection between eating a crocodile and drinking up eysell; and to drink up was commonly used for simply to drink. Eisell or Eysell certainly signified vinegar, but it was certainly not used in that sense by Shakspeare, who may in this instance be his own expositor; the word occurring again in his CXIth sonnet.

"Whilst, like a willing patient, I will drink
Potions of eysell, 'gainst my strong infection;
No bitterness that I will bitter think,
Nor double penance, to correct correction."

Here we see that it was a bitter potion which it was a penance to drink. Thus also in the Troy Book of Lydgate:

"Of bitter eysell, and of eager wine."

Now numerous passages in our old dramatic writers show that it was a fashion with the gallants of the time to do some extravagant feat, as a proof of their love, in honour of their mistresses; and among others the swallowing some nauseous potion was one of the most frequent; but vinegar would hardly have been considered in this light; wormwood might.

In Thomas's Italian Dictionary, 1562, we have "Assentio, Eysell" and Florio renders that word by vinegar. What is meant, however, is Absinthites or Wormwood wine, a nauseously bitter medicament then much in use; and this being evidently {242} the _bitter potion of Eysell_ in the poet's sonnet, was certainly the nauseous draught proposed to be taken by Hamlet among the other extravagant feats as tokens of love. The following extracts will show that in the poet's age this nauseous bitter potion was in frequent use medicinally.

"ABSINTHIUM, [Greek: apsinthion, aspinthion], Comicis, ab
insigni amarore quo bibeates illud aversantur."-_Junius,
Nomenclator ap. Nicot_.

"ABSINTHITES, _wormwood wine_.--_Hutton's Dict_.

"Hujus modi autem propomatum _hodie_ apud Christianos quoque
_maximus est et frequentissimus usus_, quibus potatores maximi
ceu proemiis quibusdam atque prÊludiis utuntur, ad dirum illud
suum propinandi certamen. _Ae maxime quidem commune est proponia
absynthites_, quod vim habet stomachum corroborandi et
extenuandi, expellendique excrementa quÊ in eo continentur. Hoc
fere propomate potatores hodie maxime ab initio coenÊ utuntur
ceu pharmaco cum hesternÊ, atque prÊteritÊ, tum futurÊ
ebrietatis, atque crapulÊ.... _amarissimÊ sunt potiones
medicatÊ_, quibus tandem stomachi cruditates immoderato cibo
potuque collectas expurgundi cause uti coguntur."--Stuckius,
_AntiquitatÊ Corviralium. Tiguri_, 1582, fol. 327.

Of the two latest editors, Mr. Knight decides for the _river_, and Mr. Collier does not decide at all. Our northern neighbours think us almost as much deficient in philological illustration as in enlarged philosophical criticism on the poet, in which they claim to have shown us the way.

S.W. SINGER.

Mickleham, Aug. 1850.

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AUTHORS OF THE ROLLIAD.

To the list of subjects and authors in this unrivalled volume, communicated by LORD BRAYBROOKE (Vol. ii., p. 194.), I would add that No. XXI. _Probationary Odes_ (which is unmarked in the Sunning-hill Park copy) was written by Dr. Laurence: so also were Nos. XIII. and XIV., of which LORD BRAYBROOKE speaks doubtfully. My authority is the note in the correspondence of Burke and Laurence published in 1827, page 21. The other names all agree with my own copy, marked by the late Mr. A. Chalmers.

In order to render the account of the work complete, I would add the following list of writers of the _Political Miscellanies_. Those marked with an asterisk are said "not to be from the club:"--

"* Probationary Ode Extraordinary, by Mason.

The Statesmen, an Eclogue. Read.

Rondeau to the Right Honourable W. Eden. Dr. Laurence.

Epigrams from the Club. Miscellaneous.

The Delavaliad. Dr. Laurence.

This is the House that George built. Richardson.

Epigrams by Sir Cecil Wray. Tickell and Richardson.

Lord Graham's Diary, not marked.

* Extracts from 2nd Vol. of Lord Mulgrave's Essays.

* Anecdotes of Mr. Pitt.

Letter from a New Member.

* Political Receipt Book, &c.

* Hints from Dr. Pretyman.

A tale 'at Brookes's once,' &c. Richardson.

Dialogue 'Donec Gratus eram Tibi.' Lord J. Townshend.

Pretymaniana, principally by Tickell and Richardson.

Foreign Epigrams, the same and Dr. Laurence.

* Advertisement Extraordinary.

Vive le Scrutiny. Bate Dudley.

* Paragraph Office, Ivy Lane.

* Pitt and Pinetti.

* New Abstract of the Budget for 1784.

Theatrical Intelligence Extraordinary. Richardson.

The Westminster Guide (unknown). Part II. (unknown).

Inscription for the Duke of Richmond's Bust (unknown).

Epigram, 'Who shall expect,' &c. Richardson.

A New Ballad, 'Billy Eden.' Tickell and Richardson.

Epigrams on Sir Elijah Impey, and by Mr. Wilberforce (unknown).

A Proclamation, by Richardson.

* Original Letter to Corbett.

* Congratulatory Ode to Right Hon. C. Jenkinson.

* Ode to Sir Elijah Impey.

* Song.

* A New Song, 'Billy's Budget.'

* Epigrams.

* Ministerial Undoubted Facts (unknown).

Journal of the Right Hon. Hen. Dundas. From the Club.
Miscellaneous.

Incantation. Fitzpatrick.

Translations of Lord Belgrave's Quotations. From the Club.
Miscellaneous."

Some of these minor contributions were from the pen of O'Beirne, afterwards Bishop of Meath.

Tickell should be joined with Lord John Townshend in "Jekyll." The former contributed the lines parodied from Pope.

In reply to LORD BRAYBROOKE'S Query, Moore, in his _Life of Sheridan_, speaks of Lord John Townshend as the only survivor of "this confederacy of wits:" so that, if he is correct, the author of "Margaret Nicholson" (Adair) cannot be now living.

J.H.M.

Bath.

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

"There is nothing new under the sun," quoth the Preacher; and such must be said of "NOTES AND QUERIES." Your contributor M. (Vol. ii, p. 194.) has drawn attention to the _Weekly Oracle_, which in 1736 gave forth its responses to the inquiring public; but, as he intimates, many similar periodicals might be instanced. Thus, we have _Memoirs for the Ingenious_, 1693, 4to., edited by I. de la Crose; _Memoirs for the Curious_, 1701, 4to.; _The Athenian Oracle_, 1704, 8vo.; _The Delphick Oracle_, {243} 1720, 8vo.; _The British Apollo_, 1740, 12mo.; with several others of less note. The three last quoted answer many singular questions in theology, law, medicine, physics, natural history, popular superstitions, &c., not always very satisfactorily or very intelligently, but still, often amusingly and ingeniously. _The British Apollo: containing two thousand Answers to curious Questions in most Arts and Sciences, serious, comical, and humourous_, the fourth edition of which I have now before me, indulges in answering such questions as these: "How old was Adam when Eve was created?--Is it lawful to eat black pudding?--Whether the moon in Ireland is like the moon in England? Where is hell situated? Do cocks lay eggs?" &c. In answer to the question, "Why is gaping catching?" the Querists of 1740 are gravely told,--

"Gaping or yawning is infectious, because the steams of the
blood being ejected out of the mouth, doth infect the ambient
air, which being received by the nostrils into another man's
mouth, doth irritate the fibres of the hypogastric muscle to
open the mouth to discharge by expiration the unfortunate gust
of air infected with the steams of blood, as aforesaid."

The feminine gender, we are further told, is attributed to a ship, "because a ship carries burdens, and therefore resembles a pregnant woman."

But as the faith of 1850 in _The British Apollo_, with its two thousand answers, may not be equal to the faith of 1740, what dependence are we to place in the origin it attributes to two very common words, a _bull_, and a _dun_?--

"Why, when people speak improperly, is it termed a bull?--It
became a proverb from the repeated blunders of one _Obadiah
Bull_, a lawyer of London, who lived in the reign of King Henry
VII."

Now for the second,--

"Pray tell me whence you can derive the original of the word
_dun_? Some falsely think it comes from the French, where
_donnez_ signifies _give me_, implying a demand of something
due; but the true original of this expression owes its birth to
one _Joe Dun_, a famous bailiff of the town of Lincoln, so
extremely active, and so dexterous at the management of his
rough business, that it became a proverb, when a man refused to
pay his debts, 'Why don't you _Dun_ him?' that is, why don't you
send Dun to arrest him? Hence it grew a custom, and is now as
old as since the days of Henry VII."

Were these twin worthies, Obadiah Bull the lawyer, and Joe Dun the bailiff, men of straw for the nonce, or veritable flesh and blood? They both flourished, it appears, in the reign of Henry VII.; and to me it is doubtful whether one reign could have produced two worthies capable of cutting so deep a notch in the English tongue.

"To dine with Duke Humphrey," we are told, arose from the practice of those who had shared his dainties when alive being in the habit of perambulating St. Paul's, where he was buried, at the dining time of day; what dinner they then had, they had with Duke Humphrey the defunct.

Your contributor MR. CUNNINGHAM will be able to decide as to the value of the origin of Tyburn here given to us:

"As to the antiquity of Tyburn, it is no older than the year
1529; before that time, the place of execution was in _Rotten
Row_ in _Old Street_. As for the etymology of the word _Tyburn_,
some will have it proceed from the words _tye_ and _burn_,
alluding to the manner of executing traitors at that place;
others believe it took its name from a small river or brook once
running near it, and called by the Romans Tyburnia. Whether the
first or second is the truest, the querist may judge as he
thinks fit."

And so say I.

A readable volume might be compiled from these "NOTES AND QUERIES," which amused our grandfathers; and the works I have indicated will afford much curious matter in etymology, folk-lore, topography, &c., to the modern antiquary.

CORKSCREW.

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JAMES THE SECOND, HIS REMAINS.

The following curious account was given to me by Mr. Fitz-Simons, an Irish gentleman, upwards of eighty years of age, with whom I became acquainted when resident with my family at Toulouse, in September, 1840; he having resided in that city for many years as a teacher of the French and English languages, and had attended the late Sir William Follett in the former capacity there in 1817. He said,--

"I was a prisoner in Paris, in the convent of the English
Benedictines in the Rue St. Jaques, during part of the
revolution. In the year 1793 or 1794, the body of King James II.
of England was in one of the chapels there, where it had been
deposited some time, under the expectation that it would one day
be sent to England for interment in Westminster Abbey. It had
never been buried. The body was in a wooden coffin, inclosed in
a leaden one; and that again inclosed in a second wooden one,
covered with black velvet. That while I was so a prisoner, the
sans-culottes broke open the coffins to get at the lead to cast
into bullets. The body lay exposed nearly a whole day. It was
swaddled like a mummy, bound tight with garters. The
sans-culottes took out the body, which had been embalmed. There
was a strong smell of vinegar and camphor. The corpse was
beautiful and perfect. The hands and nails were very fine, I
moved and bent every finger. I never saw so fine a set of teeth
in my life. A young lady, a fellow prisoner, wished much to have
a tooth; I tried to get one out for her, but could not, they
were so firmly fixed. The feet also were very beautiful. The
face and cheeks were just as if he were alive. I rolled his
eyes: the eye-balls were perfectly firm under my finger. The
French and English prisoners {244} gave money to the
sans-culottes for showing the body. They said he was a good
sans-culotte, and they were going to put him into a hole in the
public churchyard like other sans-culottes; and he was carried
away, but where the body was thrown I never heard. King George
IV. tried all in his power to get tidings of the body, but could
not. Around the chapel were several wax moulds of the face hung
up, made probably at the time of the king's death, and the
corpse was very like them. The body had been originally kept at
the palace of St. Germain, from whence it was brought to the
convent of the Benedictines. Mr. Porter, the prior, was a
prisoner at the time in his own convent."

The above I took down from Mr. Fitz-Simons' own mouth, and read it to him, and he said it was perfectly correct. Sir W. Follett told me he thought Mr. Fitz-Simons was a runaway Vinegar Hill boy. He told me that he was a monk.

PITMAN JONES.

Exeter, Aug. 1850.

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FOLK LORE.

_The Legend of Sir Richard Baker_ (vol. ii., p. 67.).--Will F.L. copy the inscription on the monument in Cranbrook Church? The dates on it will test the veracity of the legend. In the reign of Queen Mary, the representative of the family was Sir John Baker, who in that, and the previous reigns of Edward VI. and Henry VIII., had held some of the highest offices in the kingdom. He had been Recorder of London, Speaker of the House of Commons, Attorney-General and Chancellor of the Exchequer, and died in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. His son, Sir Richard Baker, was twice high-sheriff of the county of Kent, and had the honour of entertaining Queen Elizabeth in her progress through the county. This was, most likely, the person whose monument F.L. saw in Cranbrook Church. The family had been settled there from the time of Edward III., and seem to have been adding continually to their possessions; and at the time mentioned by F.L. as that of their decline, namely, in the reign of Edward VI., they were in reality increasing in wealth and dignities. If the Sir Richard Baker whose monument is referred to by F.L. was the son of the Sir John above mentioned, the circumstances of his life disprove the legend. He was not the sole representative of the family remaining at the accession of Queen Mary. His father was then living, and at the death of his father his brother John divided with him the representation of the family, and had many descendants. The family estates were not dissipated; on the contrary, they were handed down through successive generations, to one of whom, a grandson of Sir Richard, the dignity of a baronet was given; and Sivinghurst, which was the family seat, was in the possession of the third and last baronet's grandson, E.S. Beagham, in the year 1730. Add to this that the Sir Richard Baker in question was twice married, and that a monumental erection of the costly and honourable description mentioned by F.L. was allowed to be placed to his memory in the chancel of the church of the parish in which such Bluebeard atrocities are said to have been committed, and abundant grounds will thence appear for rejecting the truth of the legend in the absence of all evidence. The unfortunately red colour of the gloves most likely gave rise to the story. Nor is this a solitary instance of such a legend having such an origin. In the beautiful parish church of Aston, in Warwickshire, are many memorials of the Baronet family of Holt, who owned the adjoining domain and hall, the latter of which still remains, a magnificent specimen of Elizabethan architecture. Either in one of the compartments of a painted window of the church, or upon a monumental marble to one of the Holts, is the Ulster badge, as showing the rank of the deceased, and painted red. From the colour of the badge, a legend of the bloody hand has been created as marvellous as that of the Bloody Baker, so fully detailed by F.L.

ST. JOHNS.

[Will our correspondent favour us by communicating the Aston Legend of the Holt Family to which he refers?]

_Langley, Kent, Prophetic Spring at._--The following "note" upon a passage in _Warkworth's Chronicle_ (pp. 23, 24.) may perhaps possess sufficient interest to warrant its insertion in your valuable little publication. The passage is curious, not only as showing the superstitious dread with which a simple natural phenomenon was regarded by educated and intelligent men four centuries ago, but also as affording evidence of the accurate observation of a writer, whose labours have shed considerable light upon "one of the darkest periods in our annals." The chronicler is recording the occurrence, in the thirteenth year of Edward the Fourth, of a "gret hote somere," which caused much mortality, and "unyversalle fevers, axes, and the blody flyx in dyverse places of Englonde," and also occasioned great dearth and famine "in the southe partyes of the worlde."

He then remarks that "dyverse tokenes have be schewede in Englonde this year for amendynge of mannys lyvynge," and proceeds to enumerate several springs or waters in various places, which only ran at intervals, and by their running always portended "derthe, pestylence, or grete batayle." After mentioning several of these, he adds--

"Also ther is a pytte in Kent in Langley Parke: ayens any
batayle he wille be drye, and it rayne neveyre so myche; and if
ther be no batayle toward, he wille be fulle of watere, be it
neveyre so drye a wethyre; and this yere he is drye."

Langley Park, situated in a parish of the same {245} name, about four miles to the south-east of Maidstone, and once the residence of the Leybournes and other families, well-known in Kentish history, has long existed only in name, having been disparked prior to 1570; but the "pytte," or stream, whose wondrous qualities are so quaintly described by Warkworth, still flows at intervals. It is scarcely necessary to add, that it belongs to the class known as _intermitting springs_, the phenomena displayed by which are easily explained by the syphon-like construction of the natural reservoirs whence they are supplied.

I have never heard that any remnant of this curious superstition can now be traced in the neighbourhood, but persons long acquainted with the spot have told me that the state of the stream was formerly looked upon as a good index of the probable future price of corn. The same causes, which regulated the supply or deficiency of water, would doubtless also affect the fertility of the soil.

EDWARD R.J. HOWE.

Chancery Lane, Aug. 1850.

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MINOR NOTES.

_Poem by Malherbe_ (Vol. ii., p. 104.).--Possibly your correspondent MR. SINGER may not be aware of the fact that the beauty of the fourth stanza of Malherbe's Ode on the Death of Rosette Duperrier is owing to a typographical error. The poet had written in his MS.--

"Et Rosette a vÈcu ce que vivent les roses," &c.,

omitting to cross his _t_'s, which the compositor took for _l_'s, and set up _Roselle_. On receiving the proof-sheet, at the passage in question a sudden light burst upon Malherbe; of _Roselle_ he made two words, and put in two beautiful lines--

"Et Rose, elle a vÈcu ce que vivent les roses,
L'espace d'un matin."

(See _FranÁais peints par eux-mÈmes_, vol. ii. p. 270.)

P.S. KING.

Kennington.

_Travels of Two English Pilgrims._--

"A True and Strange Discourse of the Travailes of Two English
Pilgrimes: what admirable Accidents befell them in their Journey
to Jerusalem, Gaza, Grand Cayro, Alexandria, and other places.
Also, what rare Antiquities, Monuments, and notable Memories
(concording with the Ancient Remembrances in the Holy
Scriptures), they sawe in the Terra Sancta; with a perfect
Description of the Old and New Jerusalem, and Situation of the
Countries about them. A Discourse of no lesse Admiration, then
well worth the regarding: written by one of them on the behalfe
of himselfe and his fellowe Pilgrime. Imprinted at London for
Thomas Archer, and are to be solde at his Shoppe, by the Royall
Exchange. 1603."

A copy of this 4to. tract, formerly in the hands of Francis Meres, the author of _Wit's Commonwealth_, has the following MS. note:--

"Timberley, dwellinge on Tower Hill, a maister of a ship, made
this booke, as Mr. Anthony Mundye tould me. Thomas, at Mrs.
Gosson's, sent my wyfe this booke for a token, February 15. A.D.
1602."

P.B.

* * * * *

QUERIES.

QUOTATIONS IN BISHOP ANDREWES' TORTURA TORTI.

Can any of your contributors help me to ascertain the following quotations which occur in Bishop Andrewes' _Tortura Torti_?

P. 49.:

"Si clavem potestatis non prÊcedat clavis discretionis."

P. 58.:

"Dispensationes nihil aliud esse quam legum vulnera."

P. 58.:

"Non dispensatio est, sed dissipatio."

This, though not marked as a quotation, is, I believe, in _S. Bernard_.

P. 183.:

"Et quÊ de septem totum circumspicit orbem Montibus, imperii
Roma De˚mque locus."

P. 225.:

"Nemo pius, qui pietatem cavet."

P. 185.:

"Minutuli et patellares Dei."

I should also be glad to ascertain whence the following passages are derived, which he quotes in his _Responsio ad Apologiam_?

P. 48.:

"[Greek: to gar trephon me tout ego kalo theon.]"

P. 145.:

"VanÊ sine viribus irÊ."

P. 119. occurs the "versiculus,"

"Perdere quos vult hos dementat;"

the source of which some of your contributors have endeavoured to ascertain.

JAMES BLISS.

Ogbourne St. Andrew.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

_The Spider and the Fly._--Can any of your readers, gentle or simple, senile or juvenile, inform me, through the medium of your useful and agreeable periodical, in what collection of nursery rhymes a poem called, I think, "The Spider and Fly," occurs, and if procurable, where? The lines I allude to consisted, to the best of my recollection, of a dialogue between a fly and a spider, and began thus:-- {246}

_Fly_. Spider, spider, what do you spin?
_Spider_. Mainsails for a man-of war.
_Fly_. Spider, spider, 'tis too thin.
Tell me truly, what 'tis for.
_Spider_. 'Tis for curtains for the king,
When he lies in his state bed.
_Fly_. Spider, 'tis too mean a thing,
Tell me why your toils you spread.
&c. &c. &c.

There were other stanzas, I believe, but these are all I can remember. My notion is, that the verses in question form part of a collection of nursery songs and rhymes by Charles Lamb, published many years ago, but now quite out of print. This, however, is a mere surmise on my part, and has no better foundation than the vein of humour, sprightliness, and originality, obvious enough in the above extract, which we find running through and adorning all he wrote. "Nihil quod tetigit non ornavit."

S.J.

_A Lexicon of Types._--Can any of your readers inform me of the existence of a collection of emblems or types? I do not mean allegorical pictures, but isolated symbols, alphabetically arranged or otherwise.

Types are constantly to be met with upon monuments, coins, and ancient title-pages, but so mixed with other matters as to render the finding a desired symbol, unless very familiar, a work of great difficulty. Could there be a systematic arrangement of all those known, with their definitions, it would be a very valuable work of reference,--a work in which one might pounce upon all the sacred symbols, classic types, signs, heraldic zoology, conventional botany, monograms, and the like abstract art.

LUKE LIMNER.

_Montaigne, Select Essays of._--

"Essays selected from Montaigne, with a Sketch of the Life of
the Author. London. For P. Cadell, &c. 1800."

This volume is dedicated to the Rev. William Coxe, rector of Bemerton.

The life of Montaigne is dated the 28th of March, 1800, and signed _Honoria_. At the end of the book is this advertisement:--

"Lately published by the same Author 'The Female Mentor.' 2d
edit., in 2 vols. 12mo."

Who was _Honoria_? and are these _essays_ a scarce book in England? In France it is entirely unknown to the numerous commentators on Montaigne's works.

O.D.

_Custom of wearing the Breast uncovered in Elizabeth's Reign._--Fynes Moryson, in a well-known passage of his _Itinerary_, (which I suppose I need not transcribe), tells us that unmarried females and young married women wore the breasts uncovered in Queen Elizabeth's reign. This is the custom in many parts of the East. Lamartine mentions it in his pretty description of Mademoiselle Malagambe: he adds, "it is the custom of the Arab females." When did this curious custom commence in England, and when did it go out of fashion?

JARLTZBERG.

_Milton's Lycidas._--In a Dublin edition of Milton's _Paradise Lost_ (1765), in a memoir prefixed I find the following explanation of than rather obscure passage in _Lycidas_:--

"Besides what the grim wolf, with privy paw,
Daily devours apace, and nothing said;
But that two-handed engine at the door
Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more."

"This poem is not all made up of sorrow and tenderness, there is
a mixture of satire and indignation: for in part of it, the poet
taketh occasion to inveigh against the corruptions of the
clergy, and seemeth to have first discovered his acrimony
against Arb. Laud, and to have threatened him with the loss of
his head, which afterwards happened to him thorough the fury of
his enemies. At least I can think of no sense so proper to be
given to these verses in Lycidas." (p. vii.)

Perhaps some of your numerous correspondents will kindly inform me of the meaning or meanings usually assigned to this passage.

JARLTZBERG.

_Sitting during the Lessons._--What is the origin of the congregation remaining seated, while the first and second lessons are read, in the church service? The rubric is silent on the subject; it merely directs that the person who reads them shall stand:--

"He that readeth so standing and turning himself, as he may best
be heard of all such as are present."

With respect to the practice of sitting while the epistle is read, and of standing while the gospel is read, in the communion service; there is in the rubric a distinct direction that "all the people are to stand up" during the latter, while it is silent as to the former. From the silence of the rubric as to standing during the two lessons of the morning service, and the epistle in the communion service, it seems to have been inferred that the people were to sit. But why are they directed to stand during the gospel in the communion service, while they sit during the second lesson in the morning service?

L.

_Blew-Beer._--Sir, having taken a Note according to your very sound advice, I addressed a letter to the _John Bull_ newspaper, which was published on Saturday, Feb. 16. It contained an extract from a political tract, entitled,--

"The true History of Betty Ireland, with some Account of her
Sister Blanche of Brittain. Printed for J. Robinson, at the
Golden Lion in Ludgate Street, MDCCLIII. (1753)." {247}

In allusion to the English the following passage occurs,--

"But they forget, they are all so idle and debauched, such
gobbling and drinking rascals, and expensive in _blew-beer_,"
&c.

Query the unde derivatur of _blew-beer_, and if it is to be taken in the same sense as the modern phrase of "blue ruin," and if so, the cause of the change or history of both expressions?

H.

_Carpatio._--I have lately met with a large aquatinted engraving, bearing the following descriptive title: "AngliÊ Regis Legati inspiciuntur Sponsam petentes Filiam Dionati CornubiÊ Regis pro Anglo Principe." The costume of the figures is of the latter half of the fifteenth century. The painter's name appears on a scroll, OP. VICTOR CARPATIO VENETI. The copy of the picture for engraving was drawn by Giovanni de Pian, and engraved by the same person and Francesco Gallimberti, at Venice. I do not find the name of Carpatio in the ordinary dictionaries of painters, and shall be glad to learn whether he has here represented an historical event, or an incident of some mediÊval romance. I suspect the latter must be the case, as _Cornubia_ is the Latin word used for Cornwall, and I am not aware of its having any other application. Is this print the only one of the kind, or is it one of a set?

J.G.N.

_Value of Money in Reign of Charles II._--Will any of your correspondents inform me of the value of 1000l. circa Charles II. in present money, and the mode in which the difference is estimated?

DION X.

_Bishop Berkeley--Adventures of Gaudentio di Lucca._--I have a volume containing the adventures of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca, with his examination before the Inquisition of Bologna. In a bookseller's catalogue I have seen it ascribed to Bishop Berkeley. Can any of your readers inform me who was the author, or give me any particulars as to the book?

IOTA.

_Cupid and Psyche._--Can any of your learned correspondents inform me whether the fable of Cupid and Psyche was invented by Apuleius; or whether he made use of a superstition then current, turning it, as it suited his purpose, into the beautiful fable which has been handed down to us as his composition?

W.M.

_Z¸nd-nadel Guns._--In paper of September or October last, I saw a letter dated Berlin, Sept. 11, which commenced--

"We have had this morning a splendid military spectacle, and
being the first of the kind since the revolution, attracted
immense crowds to the scene of action."

"The Fusileer battalions (light infantry) were all armed with
the new z¸nd-nadel guns, the advantages and superiority of which
over the common percussion musket now admits of no
contradiction, with the sole exception of the facility of
loading being an inducement to fire somewhat too quick, when
firing independently, as in battle, or when acting en
tirailleur. The invincible pedantry and amour-propre of our
armourers and inspectors of arms in England, their
disinclination to adopt inventions not of English growth, and
their slowness to avail themselves of new models until they are
no longer new, will, undoubtedly, exercise the usual influence
over giving this powerful weapon even a chance in England. It is
scarcely necessary to point out the great advantages that these
weapons, carrying, let us say, 800 yards with perfect accuracy,
have over our muskets, of which the range does not exceed 150,
and that very uncertain. Another great advantage of the
z¸nd-nadel is, that rifles or light infantry can load with ease
without effort when lying flat on the ground. The opponents of
the z¸nd-nadel talk of over-rapid firing and the impossibility
of carrying sufficient ammunition to supply the demands. This is
certainly a drawback, but it is compensated by the immense
advantage of being able to pour in a deadly fire when you
yourself are out of range, or of continuing this fire so
speedily as to destroy half your opponents before they can
return a shot with a chance of taking effect."

This was the first intimation I ever had of the z¸nd-nadel guns. I should like to know when and by whom they were invented, and their mechanism.

JARLTZBERG.

_Bacon Family, Origin of the Name._--Among the able notes, or the _not_-able Queries of a recent Number, (I regret that I have it not at hand, for an exact quotation), a learned correspondent mentioned, _en passant_, that the word _bacon_ had the obsolete signification of "_dried wood_." As a patronymic, BACON has been not a little illustrious, in literature, science, and art; and it would be interesting to know whether the name has its origin in the crackling fagot or in the cured flitch. Can any of your genealogical correspondents help me to authority on the subject?

A modern motto of the Somersetshire Bacons has an ingenious rebus:

ProBa-conSCIENTIA;

the capitals, thus placed, giving it the double reading, Proba coniscientia, and Pro Bacon Scientia.

NOCAB.

_Armorials._--Sable, a fesse or, in chief two fleurs de lis or, in base a hind courant argent. E.D.B. will feel grateful to any gentlemen who will kindly inform him of the name of the family to which the above coat belonged. They were quartered by Richard or Roger Barow, of Wynthorpe, in Lincolnshire (_Harl. MS._ 1552. 42 _b_), who died in 1505.

E.D.B.

_Artephius, the Chemical Philosopher._--What is known of the chemical philosopher Artephius? He is mentioned in Jocker's _Dictionary_, and by Roger Bacon (in the _Opus Majus_ and elsewhere), {248} and a tract ascribed to him is printed in the _Theatrum Chemicum_.

E.

_Sir Robert Howard._--Can any reader assist me in finding out the author of

"A Discourse of the Nationall Excellencies of England. By R.H.,
London. Printed by Thomas Newcomb for Henry Fletcher, at the
Three Gilt Cups in the New Buildings, near the west end of St.
Paul's, 1658. 12 mo., pp. 248."

This is a very remarkable work, written in an admirable style, and wholly free from the coarse party spirit which then generally prevailed. The writer declares, p. 235., he had not subscribed the engagement, and there are internal evidences of his being a churchman and a monarchist. Is there any proof of its having been written by Sir Robert Howard? A former possessor of the copy now before me, has written his name on the title-page as its conjectured author. My copy of Sir Robert's _Poems_, published two years after, was published not by _Fletcher_, but by "Henry Herringman, at the sign of the Anchor, in the lower walk of the New Exchange." John Dryden, Sir Robert's brother-in-law, in the complimentary stanzas on Howard's poems, says,

"To write worthy things of worthy men,
Is the peculiar talent of your pen."

I would further inquire if a reason can be assigned for the omission from Sir Robert Howard's collected plays of _The Blind Lady_, the only dramatic piece given in the volume of poems of 1660. My copy is the third edition, published by Tonson, 1722.

A.B.R.

_Crozier and Pastoral Staff._--What is the real difference between a crozier and a pastoral staff?

I.Z.P.

_Marks of Cadency._--The copious manner in which your correspondent E.K. (Vol. ii., p. 221.) has answered the question as to the "when and why" of the unicorn being introduced as one of the supporters of the royal arms, induces me to think that he will readily and satisfactorily respond to an heraldic inquiry of a somewhat more intricate nature.

What were the peculiar marks of cadency used by the heirs to the crown, apparent and presumptive, after the accession of the Stuarts? For example, what were the changes, if any, upon the label or file of difference used in the coat-armour of Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I., and of his brother Charles, when Prince of Wales, and so on, to the present time?

_Miniature Gibbet, &c._--A correspondent of the _Times_ newspaper has recently given the following account of an occurrence which took place about twenty-five years ago, and the concluding ceremony of which he personally witnessed:--

"A man had been condemned to be hung for murder. On the Sunday
morning previous to the sentence being carried into execution,
he contrived to commit suicide in the prison by cutting his
throat with a razor. On Monday morning, according to the then
custom, his body was brought out from Newgate in a cart; and
after Jack Ketch had exhibited to the people a small model
gallows, with a razor hanging therefrom, in the presence of the
sheriffs and city authorities, he was thrown into a hole dug for
that purpose. A stake was driven through his body, and a
quantity of lime thrown in over it."

Will any correspondent of "NOTES AND QUERIES" give a solution of this extraordinary exhibition? Had the sheriffs and city authorities any legal sanction for Jack Ketch's disgusting part in the performances? What are the meaning and origin of driving a stake through the body of a suicide?

A.G.

Ecclesfield

* * * * *

REPLIES

COLLAR OF SS.

If you desire proof of the great utility of your publication, methinks there is a goodly quantum of it in the very interesting and valuable information on the Collar of SS., which the short simple question of B. (Vol. ii., p. 89.) has drawn forth; all tending to illustrate a mooted historical question:--first, in the reply of [Greek: Phi.] (Vol. ii., p. 110.), giving reference to the _Gentleman's Magazine_, with two _rider_-Queries; then MR. NICHOLS'S announcement (Vol. ii., p. 140.) of a forthcoming volume on the subject, and a reply in part to the Query of [Greek: Phi.]; then (Vol. ii, p. 171.) MR. E. FOSS, as to the _rank_ of the legal worthies allowed to wear this badge of honour; and next (Vol. ii., p. 194.) an ARMIGER, who, though he rides rather high on the subject, over all the Querists and Replyists, deserves many thanks for his very instructive and scholarlike dissertation.

What the S. signifies has evidently been a puzzle. That a chain is a badge of honour, there can be no doubt; but may not the _Esses_, after all, mean nothing at all? originating in the simple S. link, a form often used in chain-work, and under the name of S. A series of such, linked together, would produce an elegant design, which in the course of years would be wrought more like the letter, and be embellished and varied according to the skill and taste of the workman, and so, that which at first had no particular meaning, and was merely accidental, would, after a time, be _supposed_ to be the _initial letters_ of what is now only guessed at, or be involved in heraldic mystery. As for [Greek: Phi.]'s rider-Query (Vol ii., p. 110.), repeated by MR. FOSS (Vol. ii., p. 171.), as to dates,--it may be one step towards a reply if I here mention, that in Yatton Church, Somerset, there {249} is a beautifully wrought alabaster monument, without inscription, but traditionally ascribed to judge Newton, alias Cradock, and his wife Emma de Wyke. There can be no doubt, from the costume, that the effigy is that of a judge, and under his robes is visible the Collar of Esses. The monument is in what is called the Wyke aisle or chapel. That it is Cradock's, is confirmed by a garb or wheat-sheaf, on which his head is laid. (The arms of Cradock are, Arg. on a chevron az. 3 _garbs_ or.) Besides, in the very interesting accounts of the churchwardens of the parish, annis 1450-1, among the receipts there is this entry:

"It.: Recipim. de Dn‡ de Wyke p. man. T. Newton filii sui de
legato Dni. Riei. Newton ad ---- p. campana ... xx."

Richard Cradock was the first of his family who took the name of Newton, and I have been informed that the last fine levied before him was, Oct. Mart. 27 Hen. VI. (Nov. 1448), proving that the canopied altar tomb in Bristol Cathedral, assigned to him, and recording that he died 1444, must be an error. It is stated, that the latter monument was defaced during the civil wars, and repaired in 1747, which is, probably, all that is true of it. But this would carry me into another subject, to which, perhaps, I may be allowed to return some other day. However, we have got a date for the use of the collar by the _chief_ judges, _earlier_ than that assigned by MR. FOSS, and it is somewhat confirmatory of what he tells us, that it was not worn by any of the _puisne_ order.

H.T. ELLACOMBE.

Bitton, Aug. 1850.

* * * * *

_The Livery Collar of SS._--Though ARMIGER (Vol. ii., p. 194.) has not adduced any facts on this subject that were previously unknown to me, he has advanced some misstatements and advocated some erroneous notions, which it may be desirable at once to oppose and contradict; inasmuch as they are calculated to envelope in fresh obscurity certain particulars, which it was the object of my former researches to set forth in their true light. And first, I beg to say that with respect to the "four inaccuracies" with which he charges me, I do not plead guilty to any of them. 1st. When B. asked the question, "Is there any list of persons who were honoured with that badge?" it was evident that he meant, Is there any list of the names of such persons, as of the Knights of the Garter or the Bath? and I correctly answered, No: for there still is no such list. The description of the classes of persons who might use the collar in the 2 Hen. IV. is not such a list as B. asked for. 2dly. Where I said "That persons were not honoured with the badge, in the sense that persons are now decorated with stars, crosses, or medals," I am again unrefuted by the statute of 2 Hen. IV., and fully supported by many historical facts. I repeat that the livery collar was not worn as a badge of honour, but as a badge of feudal allegiance. It seems to have been regarded as giving certain weight and authority to the wearer, and, therefore, was only to be worn in the king's presence, or in coming to and from the king's hostel, except by the higher ranks; and this entirely confirms my view. Had it been a mere personal decoration, like the collar of an order of knighthood, there would have been no reason for such prohibition; but as it conveyed the impression that the wearer was especially one of the king's immediate military or household servants, and invested with certain power or influence on that ground, therefore its assumption away from the neighbourhood of the court was prohibited, except to individuals otherwise well known from their personal rank and station. 3dly. When ARMIGER declares I am wrong in saying "That the collar was _assumed_," I have every reason to believe I am still right. I may admit that, if it was literally a livery, it would be worn only by those to whom the king gave it; but my present impression is, that it was termed the king's livery, as being of the pattern which was originally distributed by the king, or by the Duke of Lancaster his father, to his immediate adherents, but which was afterwards _assumed_ by all who were anxious to assert their loyalty, or distinguish their partizanship as true Lancastrians; so that the statute of 2 Hen. IV. was rendered necessary to restrain its undue and extravagant _assumption_, for sundry good political reasons, some notion of which may be gathered by perusing the poem on the deposition of Richard II. published by the Camden Society. And 4thly, Where ARMIGER disputes my conclusion, that the assumers were, so far as can be ascertained, those who were attached to the royal household or service, it will be perceived, by what I have already stated, that I still adhere to that conclusion. I do not, therefore, admit that the statute of 2 Henry IV. shows me to be incorrect in any one of those four particulars. ARMIGER next proceeds to allude to Manlius Torquatus, who won and wore the golden torc of a vanquished Gaul: but this story only goes to prove that the collar of the Roman _torquati_ originated in a totally different way from the Lancastrian collar of livery. ARMIGER goes on to enumerate the several derivations of the Collar of Esses--from the initial letter of _Soverayne_, from _St. Simplicius_, from _St. Crispin_ and _St. Crispinian_, the martyrs of Soissons, from the _Countess of Salisbury_, from the word _Souvenez_, and lastly, from the office of _Seneschalus_, or Steward of England, held by John of Ghent,--which is, as he says, "Mr. Nichols's notion," but the whole of which he stigmatises alike "as mere monkish or heraldic gossip;" and, finally, he proceeds to unfold his own recondite discovery, "viz. that it comes from the S-shaped lever upon the bit {250} of the bridle of the war steed,"--a conjecture which will assuredly have fewer adherents than any one of its predecessors. But now comes forth the disclosure of what school of heraldry this ARMIGER is the champion. He is one who can tell us of "many more rights and privileges than are dreamt of in the philosophy either of the court of St. James's or the college of St. Bennet's Hill!" In short, he is the mouthpiece of "the Baronets' Committee for Privileges." And this is the law which he lays down:--

"The persons now privileged to wear the ancient golden collar of
SS. are the _equites aurati_, or knights (chevaliers) in the
British monarchy, a body which includes all the hereditary order
of baronets in England, Scotland, and Ireland, with such of
their eldest sons, being of age, as choose to claim inauguration
as knights."

Here we have a full confession of a large part of the faith of the Baronets' Committee,--a committee of which the greater number of those who lent their names to it are probably by this time heartily ashamed. It is the doctrine held forth in several works on the Baronetage compiled by a person calling himself "Sir Richard Broun," of whom we read in Dodd's _Baronetage_, that "previous to succeeding his father, he demanded inauguration as a knight, in the capacity of a baronet's eldest son; but the Lord Chamberlain having refused to present him to the Queen for that purpose, he assumed the title of 'Sir,' and the addition of 'Eques Auratus,' in June, 1842." So we see that ARMIGER and the Lord Chamberlain are at variance as to part of the law above cited; and so, it might be added, have been other legal authorities, to the privileges asserted by the mouthpiece of the said committee. But that is a long story, on which I do not intend here to enter. I had not forgotten that in one of the publications of Sir Richard Broun the armorial coat of the premier baronet of each division is represented encircled with a Collar of Esses; but I should never have thought of alluding to this freak, except as an amusing instance of fantastic assumption. I will now confine myself to what has appeared in the pages of "NOTES AND QUERIES;" and, more particularly, to the unfounded assertion of ARMIGER in p. 194., "that the golden Collar of SS. was the undoubted badge or mark of a knight, _eques auratus_;" which he follows up by the dictum already quoted, that "the persons now privileged to wear the ancient golden Collar of SS. are the _equites aurati_." I believe it is generally admitted that knights were _equites aurati_ because they wore golden or gilt spurs; certainly it was not because they wore golden collars, as ARMIGER seems to wish us to believe; and the best proof that the Collar of Esses was not the badge of a knight, as such, at the time when such collars were most worn, in the fifteenth century, is this--that the monumental effigies and sepulchral brasses of many knights at that time are still extant which have no Collar of Esses; whilst the Collar of Esses appears only on the figures of a limited number, who were undoubtedly such as wished to profess their especial adherence to the royal House of Lancaster.

JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS.

* * * * *

SIR GREGORY NORTON, BART.

(Vol. ii., p. 216.)

The creation of the baronetcy of _Norton_, of Rotherfield, in East Tysted, co. Hants, took place in the person of Sir Richard Norton, of Rotherfield, Kt., 23d May, 1622, and _expired_ with him on his death without male issue in 1652.

The style of Baronet, in the case of _Sir Gregory Norton_, the _regicide_, was an assumption not uncommon in those days; as in the case of _Prettyman_ of Lodington, and others.

The regicide in his will styles himself "Sir Richard Norton, of Paul's, Covent Garden, in the county of Middlesex, Bart." It bears date 12th March, 1651, and was proved by his relict, Dame Martha Norton, 24th Sept., 1652. He states that his land at Penn, in the county of Bucks, was _mortgaged_, and mentions his "disobedient son, Henrie Norton;" and desires his burial-place may be at Richmond, co. Surrey.

The descent of Gregory Norton is not known. There is no evidence of his connexion with the Rotherfield or Southwick Nortons. His assumption of the title was not under any claim he could have had, real or imaginary, connected with the Rotherfield patent; for he uses the title at the same time with Sir Richard of Rotherfield, whose will is dated 26th July, 1652, and not proved till 5th Oct, 1652, when Sir Gregory was dead; and, what is singular, the will of Sir Richard was proved by his brother, John Norton, by the style of _Baronet_, to which he could have had no pretension, as Sir Richard died without male issue, and there was no limitation of the patent of 1622 on failure of heirs male of the body of the grantee.

G.

* * * * *

SHAKSPEARE'S WORD "DELIGHTED."

That the Shakspearian word _delighted_ might, as far as its form goes, mean "endowed with delight," "full of delight," I should readily concede; but this meaning would suit neither the passage in _Measure for Measure_,--"the delighted spirit,"--nor (satisfactorily) that in _Othello_,--"delighted beauty." Whether, therefore, _delighted_ be derived from the Latin _delectus_ or not, I still believe that it means "refined," "dainty," "delicate;" a sense which is curiously adapted to each of the three places. This will not be questioned with respect to the second and third passages cited by {251} MR. HICKSON: and the following citations will, I think, prove the point as effectually for the passage of _Measure for Measure_:

1. "_Fine_ apparition".--_Tempest_, Act i. sc. 2.

2. "Spirit, _fine_ spirit."--Ditto.

3. "_Delicate_ Ariel."--Ditto.

4. "And, for thou wast a spirit too _delicate_,
To act her _earthy_ and abhorred commands."
Ditto.

5. "_Fine_ Ariel."--Ditto.

6. "My _delicate_ Ariel."--Ditto. Act iv. sc. 1.

7. "Why that's my _dainty_ Ariel."--Ditto. Act v.
sc. 1.

I do not know the precise nature of the "old authorities" which MR. SINGER opposes to my conjecture: but may we not demur to the conclusiveness of any "old authorities" on such a point? Etymology seems to be one of the developing sciences, in which we know more, and better, than our forefathers, as our descendants will know more, and better, than we do.

To end with a brace of queries. Are not _delicioe_, _delicatus_, more probably from _deligere_ than from _delicere_? And whence comes the word _dainty_? I cannot believe in the derivation from _dens_, "a tooth."

B.H. KENNEDY.

* * * * *

AÀROSTATION.