Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text.

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{297} 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. 77.] SATURDAY, APRIL 19. 1851. [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page
Latin Drinking Song by Richard Braithwait, by S. W.
Singer 297
Strange Appearances in the Sky, by Rev. A. Gatty 298
"After me the Deluge," by Douglas Jerrold 299
Bishop Thornborough's Monument 299

Minor Notes:--King Richard III.--Shakspeare a
thorough Sailor--"A fellow-feeling." &c.--Early
Instances of the Word "News"--Under the Rose 300

QUERIES:--
Portraits of Spenser 301
The Vendace 301

Minor Queries:--Ex Pede Herculem--"To-day we
purpose"--"God takes those soonest whom He loves
the best"--Quakers' Attempt to convert the Pope
--Whychcote of St. John's--Meaning of Rechibus--
Family of Queen Katherine Parr--Skort--Religious
Teaching in the German Universities--Epigram by
Dunbar--Endymion Porter--Sathaniel--The Scoute
Generall--Anthony Pomeroy, Dean of Cork 302

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--Civil War Tract--Trisection
of the Circle--Wolsey's Son--Cardinals and
Abbots in the English Church 303

REPLIES:--
Sir Balthazar Gerbier, by J. Crossley 304
The Travels of Baron Munchausen 305

Replies to Minor Queries:--Tobacco in the East--
Captain John Stevens--MS. Catalogue of Norman
Nobility--Illustrations of Chaucer, No. III.--
Comets--Pope Joan--Abbot Euctacius--The
Vellum-bound Junius--Meaning of Waste-book--
Cowdray--Solemnisation of Matrimony--Epitaph
on the Countess of Pembroke--Scandal against
Queen Elizabeth--The Tanthony--The Hippopotamus
--Tu autem--Places called purgatory--Swearing
by Swans, &c.--Edmund Prideaux and the Post-office
--Small Words and "Low" Words--Lord
Howard of Effingham--Obeahism, &c. 306

MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 310
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 311
Notices to Correspondents 311
Advertisements 311

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Notes.

LATIN DRINKING SONG BY RICHARD BRAITHWAIT.

I have been surprised, from the facility with which the author of "Drunken Barnaby" seems to pour out his Leonine verse, that no other productions of a similar character are known to have issued from his pen. I am not aware that the following drinking song, which may fairly be attributed to him, has ever appeared in print. It was evidently unknown to the worthy Haslewood, the crowning glory of whose literary career was the happy discovery of the author, Richard Braithwait. I transcribe it from the MS. volume from which James Boswell first gave to the world Shakspeare's verses "On the King." Southey has somewhere said that "the best serious piece of Latin in modern metre is Sir Francis Kinaston's _Amores Troili et Cressidæ_, a translation of the two first books of Chaucer's Poem[1]; but it was reserved for _famous_ BARNABY to employ the barbarous ornament of rhyme, so as to give thereby point and character to good Latinity."

Southey does not seem to have known those remarkable productions of the middle ages, which have been made accessible to us by the researches of Docen, of Grimm, of Schmeller, and of Mr. Wright; and, above all, of that exquisite gem, "De Phyllide et Flora," first printed by Docen[2], and since given by Mr. Wright in his collection of _Poems attributed to Walter de Mapes_. We have, however, a much better text from the hand of Jacob Grimm, in the _Memoirs of the Academy of Berlin for 1843_, p. 239. Of this poem it is perhaps not exaggeration to say, that it is an Idyll which would have done honour to the literature of any age or country; and if it is the production of Walter de Mapes, we have reason to be proud of it. It is a dispute between two maidens on the qualities of their lovers, the one being a soldier, the other a priest. It breathes of the spring, of nature, and of love:

"Erant ambæ virgines et ambæ reginæ
Phyllis coma libera Flora comto crine,
Non sunt formæ virginum sed formæ divinæ,
Et respondent facies luci matutinæ.

Nec stirpe, nec facie, nec ornatu viles,
Et annos et animos habent juveniles
Sed sunt parum inpares, et parum hostiles
Nam hinc placet clericus illi vero miles."

{298} Love is called in to decide the dispute, and it causes no surprise to find, after due ventilation of the cause, the judgment of the court to be:

"Secundum scientiam et secundum morem,
AD AMOREM CLERICUM DICUNT APTIOREM."

Your readers who are not already acquainted with this interesting picture of ancient manners will, I think, be pleased with having it pointed out to their notice.

Should the following song not be already in print, I can also furnish from the same source a version of the ballad on "Robin Goodfellow" by the same hand, should it be acceptable.[3]

S. W. SINGER.

"CANTIO.

"O Pampine! quo venisti?
Cur me spectas fronte tristi?
Tolle caput, sis jucundus,
Tolle poculum exue fundus,
Et salutem jam bibamus,
Ad sodales quos amamus;
O Pampine! tibi primum
Haustum summus hunc ad imum.

Ecce de christallo factum
Purum vas, et hoc intactum,
Lympha nunc et succo plenum,
Nec includit hoc venenum;
Medicamen quod repellit
Omnes malos, nec fefellit,
O Pampine! invito Momo,
Tibi, tu es meus homo.

Hic est sacer fons et flumen,
Quod qui potant vocant numen,
Iras pellit, demit lites,
Et superbos facit mites;
Et post flumen hoc te amoenum
Annos reparare senum:
O Pampine! tibi habe,
Bibe si sis dignus tabe.

Hoc si tu gustabit nectar,
Si sis Paris fies Hector,
Iras demit inquietas,
In memento facit lætas;
Pro doloribus est solamen,
Pro pulicibus medicamen;
O Pampine! habe tibi,
Bibe tu cum ego bibi.

Hic est aqua vera fortis,
Vincula quæ solvet mortis,
Aut, si placet, aqua vitæ,
Roborans ab atra Dite:
Hinc sunt uti qui potestis
Omnia, cibus, potis, vestis;
O Pampine! tibi cito
Bibe, aut ab hinc abito.

Si frigistis, sine joco,
Solo hoc utare foco,
Si esuries hic sunt oves,
Pulli, vituli, et boves;
Quod si sitis ecce montem,
Quem si scandes habet fontem;
O Pampine! bibe rursus,
Bibe, tu nam venit cursus.

Si ægrotas sume potum,
Vis ut valeas tolle totum,
Cape potum hunc paratum,
Sanus eris,--est probatum;
Si in corpore aut in mente
Dolebant in quavis dente;
O Pampine! tibi statim
Sume potum hinc gradatim.

Bacche jam et jam Silene,
Pocula impleatis plene,
Ope jam adiutus vestra
Domum, feram e fenestra.
Ædes vertunt jam rotundæ,
Et succedant res secundæ:
O Pampine! tibi bibo,
Bibe, vale! ego abibo."

[Footnote 1: Southey was not aware that the whole of Chaucer's Poem, and the "Testament of Cressid," by Henryson, was translated by Kinaston and accompanied by a copious commentary in English, but only exists in one sole MS. The press of the Camden Society would be well employed on it.]

[Footnote 2: In Baron von Aretin's _Beytrage zur Geschichte und Literatur_, vol. vii. p. 301.; but the copy, though a good text, was defective at the end.]

[Footnote 3: [We are sure we are only expressing the opinion of the majority of our readers when we say it will be _most acceptable_.--ED.]]

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STRANGE APPEARANCES IN THE SKY.

Strange appearances in the sky have not been without their ominous signification from the time that the greater and lesser lights were placed there at the creation, to the rainbow after the Deluge; and onward to the "star in the east" which announced our Saviour's birth, and the "light from heaven" which accompanied St. Paul's conversion. But the question is, whether there has since been any meaning in other like celestial illuminations? Some historical credit is claimed for the fiery sword, and armies fighting in the air, which preceded the siege of Jerusalem: for the cross of the Emperor Constantine: for the bow about the sun seen by Augustus Cæsar, when he took possession of the Roman empire: and for stars, or other heavenly lights, which have seemed to herald the births or deaths of illustrious personages. But are these stories to be believed? and, if they are, where is the line of credibility to be drawn? People cannot come together, and talk either on this subject, or on that of ghosts, but every one "hath a revelation, hath an interpretation." The poet, walking on the mountains, looked into the sky, and

"The appearance, instantaneously disclosed,
Was of a mighty city--boldly say
A wilderness of building, sinking far,
And self-withdrawn, into a wondrous depth,
Far sinking into splendour--without end?"

The two following extracts are from private letters now before me. The first account was written in 1825 by a physician, still alive, and {299} who at the time read an account of what he had seen at a meeting of the Plinian Society. He says,

"I last evening read a paper upon an extraordinary appearance of
letters, formed by the clouds, seen by a Mr. T. and myself. We had also
with us two little boys, one nine, the other eleven years of age, who
were able to make out each letter equally with ourselves. These
children were at the time walking some distance behind us: but, upon
their coming up, and being shown the letters, they read them without
having heard any observation of ours respecting them. We saw them for
about two minutes, when they gradually changed their form--each letter
changing its perpendicular for a horizontal position, and at length the
whole becoming converted into that form of cloud denominated
cirro-stratus. I will endeavour to give you a faint idea of the
appearance, by forming the letters as well as my memory will enable me.
I make no comment upon the words themselves, as they are too
extraordinary for observation of any kind. It was upon the 12th of last
month: several showers had fallen in the course of the day, but the
afternoon was fine. The time seven in the evening. The letters were
formed upon a fine blue surface, having no other clouds near them,
except very small ones, which tended much to heighten the effect of the
whole.

"You will observe several deficiencies in the letters of the first
word, viz. in the first 'E;' also in the 'N,' the second part being
short; and a slight defect in the letter 'A.' With respect to the
second word, the first six letters were very perfect: the others, with
the exception of the 'M,' mere strokes; but in number sufficient to
make up the word: and they had the appearance of having been perfect. I
can assure you they were anything but obscure, and required very little
stretch of the imagination. In the first word the letters were
equidistant and beautifully uniform. The second word was not quite
straight, being curved towards its termination. This appeared to me to
arise from the change of position which the letters were undergoing, as
before stated."

My other extract is from a letter written in 1851. The scene to which it refers is a sick chamber occupied by an octogenarian grandmother, who is _in extremis_. Her daughter, who writes the account, is present, together with a grandchild, who is nearly eleven years old. The nurse has left the room.

"We afterwards stood by poor grandmamma's fire, and then we sat at her
window to see the moon rise. There were many clouds about it, and
directly under it was the most marked figure of our Saviour on the
cross. The head was concealed in light, but the arms were outstretched,
and the body quite distinct. M. saw it too, and said, 'How appropriate,
aunt, for the beginning of Lent!' She has never alluded to it since,
nor, of course, have I; nor do I think any more of it, than that _there
it was_: and there is something happy in the fancy, at all events, for
it shone on her dying bed."

As you admit folk lore into "NOTES AND QUERIES," also well-attested anecdotes, although these may not absolutely conduce to the advancement of learning or art, perhaps you will receive this paper for the amusement of those who, like myself, feel an interest in anything which takes us a little out of the _hardware facts_ of "the age we live in."

ALFRED GATTY.

Ecclesfield.

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"AFTER ME THE DELUGE."

If stolen wisdom could be returned to its rightful authors, great, indeed, would be the transfer of property. Prince Metternich is said to be the sayer of "After me the Deluge." And yet the Prince took the saying from the mouth of Madame Pompadour; and she took it--from whom? It may be reasonably doubted that her brain originated it; for it was not an order of brain that packs wisdom in few syllables.

"'After me the Deluge,' said Prince Metternich; a fine saying, but a
false prophecy we trust."

I quote this from an admirable paper in _The Times_ of to-day (April 10.) on the Crystal Palace, and quote the subscribed from an _Essai sur la Marquise de Pompadour_, prefixed to the _Mémoires de Madame du Hausset, Femme de Chambre de Madame Pompadour_, in Barrière's _Bibliothèque des Mémoires_.

"Madame de Pompadour, dans l'ivresse de la prospérité, répondit à
toutes les menaces de l'avenir par ces trois [_quatre_] mots, "APRÈS
NOUS, LE DÉLUGE," qu'elle répétait souvent."

In this case, "Pompadour _v._ Metternich," surely a verdict must be returned for the lady, unless Voltaire puts in a future claim.

DOUGLAS JERROLD.

West Lodge, Putney Common.

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BISHOP THORNBOROUGH'S MONUMENT.

[The writer of the following interesting communication does not appear
to be aware that he is obliging us and a correspondent D. Y., who had
asked (Vol. iii., p. 168.) for an explanation of the phrase _Denarius
Philosophorum_, in the Bishop's Monument.]

Our local antiquaries have long been puzzled by an inscription in the Lady chapel of our cathedral. It stands on the monument of Bishop Thornborough, and was prepared by himself fourteen years before his decease in 1641, at the age of ninety-four. He was addicted to alchymy, and published a book in 1621, entitled [Greek: Lithotheôrikos], _sive_, _Nihil aliquid_, _omnia_, _&c._ In the course of some recent studies in the Pythagorean philosophy, my attention was accidentally engaged by this {300} inscription; and it at once struck me that it was _thence_ that the explanation was to be derived. The epitaph is as follows: on one side,

"Denarius Philosophorum, Dum Spiro, Spero."

on the other,

"In Uno, 2^o. 3^o. 4^{or} 10. non Spirans Spera_bo_."

The latter letters are now effaced.

It is well known that the Pythagoreans found all the modes of space in the relations of numbers.

The monad, or unit, was not only the _point_ whence all extension proceeds, but it further symbolised the First Principle, the origin of all. The duad represented the line, as being bounded by two points or monads. The triad stood for surface as length and width. The tetrad for the perfect figure, the cube, length, depth, and width. The decad, or denarius, indicated comprehensively all being, material and immaterial, in the utmost perfection: hence the term _decas_, or _denarius_, was used summarily for the whole science of numbers, as in the title of Meursius's tract _De Denario Pythagorico_, which was published four years after the date of the inscription, and when the philosophy was attracting much attention among European scholars. To be as concise as possible then, I presume that the old bishop intended that the tomb on which his effigy lies was his access to that perfection of existence which philosophers had designated by the _decas_, or _denarius_. During the present life he was hoping for it, "Dum Spiro, Spero."--On the other side: "In Him, who is the source, the beginning, the middle, and the end of all existence and perfection (in Uno, 2^o. 3^o. 4^{or} 10. non Spirans Sperabo), though I breathe no more, yet shall I hope."

Such is probably the meaning of his pious conceit, and I offer it as a solution of what has long served for a riddle to the visitors of our cathedral. Beyond this, your readers and myself may be equally indifferent to such cabalistical quaintness. But let us treat it with charity, as the devout consummation of an aged alchymist.

O. F.

College Green, Worcester, March, 1851.

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Minor Notes.

_King Richard III._ (Vol. iii., p. 221.).--On the 14th May, 1491 (6 Henry VII.), one Master William Burton, the schoolmaster of St. Leonard's Hospital, in the city of York, was accused before the magistrates of having said that "King Richard was an hypocrite, a _crocheback_, and buried in a dike like a dog." This circumstance is recorded in a contemporary document of unquestionable authenticity (vide extracts from _York Records in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 220.); and must remove all doubt as to the fact of Richard's bodily deformity. The conjecture of Dr. Wallis, quoted by G. F. G., can have no weight when opposed by clear evidence that the word "crouchback," as a term of reproach or contempt, was applied to King Richard within a few years after his death, by one to whom his person must have been familiarly known.

[Delta].

_Shakespeare a thorough Sailor._--Let me point attention to a _genuine_ nautical expression, in the use of which Shakespeare shows himself _a thorough sailor_:

"The wind sits in the _shoulder_ of your sail."--_Hamlet_, Act I. Sc. 3.

In a "fore and aft sail" of the present day, the "shoulder" is the _foremost upper_ corner, and the _last part of the canvass_ on which the wind fixes its influence when a vessel is "sailing by the wind," or even "off the wind." The "veriest lout" in the "after-guard" will appreciate the truthfulness and beauty of the metaphor.

A. L.

_"A fellow-feeling," &c._--

"A fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind."

This oft-quoted line is from Garrick's Epilogue on quitting the stage.

[Gamma].

_Early Instances of the World "News."_--Without the slightest intention of re-opening the discussion as to whether the word "newes" be of native growth or imported, I would beg leave to suggest as a means of completing _its history_, that should any of the readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES," whose researches may lead amongst the authorities of the _fifteenth_ century, meet with instances of the word in familiar use between A.D. 1400 and A.D. 1500, they would notify the same.

The earliest date of its colloquial use as yet recorded in "NOTES AND QUERIES," is A.D. 1513: on the other hand, the word, so far as I am aware, is nowhere used by Chaucer, although his near approach to it in the following lines is very remarkable:

"There is right now come into the toune a gest,
A Greek espie, and telleth _newe things_,
For which I come to tell you newe tidings."--_Troilus and Creseide_, b.
ii. 1113.

After this, the transition to the word itself is so extremely easy, that it could not be far distant.

A. E. B.

_Under the Rose._--It may interest the inquirers into the origin of this expression to know, that at Lullingston Castle in Kent, the residence of Sir Percival Dyke, there is in the hall an old picture, or painted carving (I forget which, as it is many years since I saw it), of a rose, some two feet in diameter, surrounded by an inscription, which, if I remember right, runs as follows, or nearly so:--

"Kentish true blue;
Take this as a token,
That what is said here
Under the rose is spoken."

It is now, or was when I saw it, in the hall of that {301} ancient mansion, but I believe had been brought from an old house in the neighbourhood.

E. H. Y.

* * * * *

Queries.

PORTRAITS OF SPENSER.

The engraved portraits of Spenser differ so much from each other as to throw doubts on their resemblance to the poet.

I have now before me the following:

1. That prefixed to Bell's edition, 1777, engraved by Cook from "an original in Lord Chesterfield's collection."

2. Prefixed to an edition in one volume published by Spiers, 1840.

3. Prefixed to Moxon's edition, 1845.

We are not told from what paintings Nos. 2. and 3. are engraved, but they resemble each other, and are somewhat like that in Bell's edition; so I shall set these three down as forming one class of portraits. No. 2. has, however, a curious inscription, _Edmund Spenser_, _obiit 1559_, which would lead us to reject it altogether, and look on it as an imaginary likeness.

4. The portrait in Pickering's Aldine edition, 1839: this bears no resemblance, either in costume or features, to those already mentioned; but, if I mistake not, is like that in Todd's edition, published in 1805,--we may call these a second class.

An original portrait of Spenser is said to be in Lord Chesterfield's collection; another in Duplin Castle, the seat of Lord Kinnoul (of this there is a copy at Althorpe by Sir Henry Raeburn). Mr. Wright, in his _Memorials of Cambridge_, mentions a portrait at Pembroke College, "a copy by Wilson," but he does not say from what original: Mr. Craik, in _Spenser and his Writings_, speaks of _two_ as being in this college.

The writer thinks he recollects a law-suit relative to a portrait of the poet, which had been sold to the late Sir Robert Peel, and which was stated to have come from Ireland. Perhaps some of your readers could give information respecting this picture.

It is clear, if the first three are all from the Chesterfield original, that this painting, and the one from which Mr. Pickering's is taken, cannot both be portraits of Spenser. The object of this Query is to ascertain, if possible, which engraving, or class of engravings, resembles the poet.

E. M. B.

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THE VENDACE.

The very remarkable fish called the _Vendace_ is to be found but in one place in the three kingdoms,--the Castle Loch of Lochmaben, a parish to the south of Dumfriesshire in Scotland. The Vendace, it is said, derives its name from _Vendois_ in France, and was brought to this country by one of the James's. This, however, is mere conjecture, and, from its habits, highly improbable--because _they die the moment they are either touched or exposed to the air_.

According to Mr. Stewart (_Elements of Natural Hist._), the Vendace belongs to a species which he calls _Salmo albula_, or the "Juvangis."

"This species," he adds, "is found in Lochmaben in Scotland, and
_nowhere else_: it is said to have been carried thither from England in
the time of Robert the Bruce."

Mr. Stewart describes the fish, but from his description it is evident he has never seen it. The following one is exact:--

"This beautiful fish measures from four to six inches in length, and
tapers gradually to the tail. When taken out of the water, it has a
bright silvery white appearance, with a slight tendency to a light blue
along the back and part of the sides. In size it resembles a small
herring or par, but particularly the former, not only in the mouth and
external appearance, but also in the anatomical structure. _Upon the
top of the head_ there is a very distinct _shape of a heart_, covered
with a transparent substance of a brownish colour, resembling a thin
lamina of mica slate, _through which the brain is visible_. This
peculiar mark proves it to be as yet a distinct and undescribed
species. Nothing is ever found visible to the naked eye in the stomach
of the Vendace. They are extremely delicate, and are allowed to be the
most pleasing to the taste of all fish. The general mode of catching
them is with a net, as there is no instance known of their having been
caught either with bait or the artificial fly. The pike, with which
this lake abounds, is their greatest enemy. It has been frequently
stated that no fewer than fifteen distinct species of fish, fit for the
table, have been found in the Castle Loch."

Dr. Knox, sometime Lecturer upon Anatomy in Edinburgh, states:

"That he has not only discovered the food of the Vendace, but actually
exhibited it before the Members of the Royal Society, and offers
suggestions for the stocking of the various lakes in Britain with this
exquisite fish; pointing out first the necessity of locating its
natural food, without which it cannot live."

Allowing, however, that some neighbouring lake could be covered with some of these invisible and "incredibly minute entomostraceous animals," which the learned lecturer says constitute their food, we should still find a difficulty in transferring the fish; as every attempt to do so, though conducted with the greatest possible care and nicety, _has failed_.

In the preceding account, I have followed the Rev. John Gardiner of Lochmaben, who, in 1835, drew up an admirable account of his parish, which is inserted in the statistical survey of the county.

The gentlemen of the county have formed a {302} _Vendace Club_, which meets at Lochmaben annually on the 25th and 26th of July, when they dine off the fish. I asked one of the members how long it had been in existence, and he said about thirty years.

JARLTZBERG.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Ex Pede Herculem._--I shall feel much obliged if any of your correspondents or readers can inform me of the origin of the proverb "Ex pede Herculem." In what classical author is it to be found? I have looked in vain through _Erasmi Adagia_ for it.

H. H.

"_To-day we purpose._"--Will any one be good enough to say where these lines (quoted by Mr. Ruskin, _Modern Painters_, vol. ii. p. 188.) are to be found:--

"To-day we purpose, ay, this hour we mount
To spur three leagues towards the Apennine;
Come down, we pray thee, ere the hot sun count
His dewy rosary on the eglantine"

G. N.

"_God takes those soonest whom He loves the best._"--Where shall we find the origin of this expression, so frequently occurring on tombstones in almost all parts of the country? Or how far back can it be traced? The following, in Rainham church, Kent, is of the year 1626:

"Here slepes my babe in silence, heauen's his rest,
For God takes soonest those he loueth best."

T. H. K.

Malew, Man.

_Quakers' Attempt to convert the Pope._--At what period, and in what author besides Veryard's _Tour in the Low Countries_, is the story of two Quakers being imprisoned in the Lazzaretto in Rome, for attempting to convert the Pope, to be found? Were they persons of any standing in the Society?

B. S. S.

_Whychcote of St. John's._--In one of the volumes published under the foregoing title, in 1833, there is a striking story, evidently fictitious in the main, but assuming, as an element of fact, the remembered existence of a head-stone over a grave in the little burial-ground, under the shadow of the venerable ruins of Tynemouth Priory in Northumberland, containing the single word "Fanny." Does any one of the Tyneside readers of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" personally recollect the actual existence of such a memorial? Is the _real name_ of the author of the entertaining work disclosed in any subsequent publication, or is it generally known?

J. D.

_Meaning of Rechibus, &c._--Among the rights claimed by the Esturmys in Savernak forest, 8 Edw. III., occurs--

"Et omnia placita de leporibus, rechibus, heymectis, tessonibus,
vulpibus, murilegis, et perdricibus:"

which I translate--

"And all pleas concerning hares, traps, hedgehogs, badgers, foxes,
wild-cats, and partridges:"

but I confess I have no confidence in some of these words, as the glossaries in the British Museum Library fail to explain them. I therefore solicit your courteous assistance.

JAMES WAYLEN.

_Family of Queen Katherine Parr._--The pedigree of the once eminent family of Parr, as recorded in various printed works--Dugdale, Nicholls, Burke, &c., is far from being complete or satisfactory. Could any one versed in the genealogy of the northern counties supply any information on the following points?--

I. The early descent.--Dugdale in his _Baronage_, commences with Sir William Parr, who married Elizabeth De Ros, 1383; but he states the family to have been previously "of knightly degree." A MS. pedigree in the Herald's College also mentions Sir William as "descended from a race of knights." Where is an account of this race to be found?

II. The separation between the two lines of Parr and Kendal.--Sir Thomas Parr, father of Queen Katherine, died 1518, and his _Inq. p. m._ states him to have held manors, messuages, lands, woods, and rents, in Parr, Wigan, and Sutton. Ten years afterwards, 1528, Bryan Parr was found by _Inq. p. m._ to have held the manor, messauges, woods, lands, &c. of Parr. How was Bryan related to Sir Thomas?

III. The descendant in the fourth degree of Bryan was Henry Parr, of Parr, who was, according to a MS. in the college, aged twenty in 1621. Had he any descendants?

If no positive information can be afforded, yet a clue to where it might be sought for would oblige.

GENEALOGICUS LANCASTRIENSIS.

_Skort._--

"Or wily Cyppus that can wink and snort,
While his wife dallies on Mæcenas' skort."--Hall, _Satires_, Book iv.
Sat. 1. (Whittingham's edition, 1824.)

Of course the general meaning of these two verses is obvious enough. But how is the latter to be read? Are we to read "dallies on," as one word, _i.e._ keeps dallying, and "skort" (as a mere abbreviation of the Latin "scortum") as nominative in apposition with "wife?" If so, the verse is intelligible, though harsh enough even for Hall.

If not, the word "skort" must have some other meaning which I am unacquainted with. I cannot find it at all in Halliwell, the only authority I have at hand to refer to.

K. I. P. B. T.

{303}

_Religious Teaching in the German Universities._--Will any of your numerous readers direct me to any book or books containing information on the _present state_ of religion and religious teaching in the German Universities?

ROVERT.

_Epigram by Dunbar--Endymion Porter._--Can any of your correspondents supply the deficient verses in the following epigram, addressed by Thomas Dunbar, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum from 1815 to 1822, to Miss Charlotte Ness, who required him to explain what was meant by the terms _abstract_ and _concrete?_

"Say what is _abstract_, what _concrete_,
Their difference define?
They both in one fair person meet,
And that fair form is thine.
* * * *
* * * *
For when I lovely Charlotte view,
I then view loveli_ness_."

Can any one substantiate the local tradition the Endymion Porter was born at the manor-house of Aston Subedge, in Gloucestershire; or furnish any particulars of his life before he became gentleman of the bedchamber to Prince Charles?

BALLIOLENSIS.

_Sathaniel._--Can any of your correspondents inform me in what book, play, poem, or novel, a character named Sathaniel appears? There is a rather common picture bearing that title; it represents a dark young lady, in Eastern dishabille, with a turban on her head, reclining on a many-cushioned divan, and holding up a jewel in one hand. I have seen the picture so often, that my curiosity as to the origin of the subject has been completely aroused; and I have never yet found any one able to satisfy it.

F. T. C.

_The Scoute Generall._--I have in my possession a small 4to. MS. of 32 pages, entitled _The Scoute Generall_, "communicating (impartially) the martiall affaires and great occurrences of the grand councell (assembled in the lowest House of Parliament) unto all kingdomes, by rebellion united in a covenant," &c., which is throughout written in verse, and particularly satirical against the Roundheads of the period (1646), and remarkable for the following prognostication of the death of the unfortunate monarch Charles I.:

"Roundheads bragge not, since 'tis an old decree,
In time to come from chaines wee should be free:
Traytors shall rule, Injustice then shall sway,
Subjects and nephewes shall their king betray;
And he himselfe, O most unhappy fate!
For kings' examples, kingdomes imitate:
What he maintain'd, I know it was not good,
Brought in by force, and out shall goe by blood," &c.

It occupies about thirty lines more. At the bottom of the title, and at the conclusion of the postscript, it has merely the initials S. D. Could any of your worthy correspondents inform me who S. D. was?

The MS. is evidently cotemporary, and, according to the introduction, was "ordered to be forthwith published, [MDCXLVI in apostrophus form].;" and as I cannot trace that such a production was ever issued, the answer would confer a favour on

C. HAMILTON.

City Road, April 1. 1851.

_Arthur Pomeroy, Dean of Cork._--Can any one of your genealogical readers assist me in ascertaining the parentage of Arthur Pomeroy, who was made Dean of Cork in 1672? He was fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in which university he graduated as A.B. in 1660, M.A. in 1664, and S.T.P. in 1676. He is stated in Archdale's edition of Lodge's _Peerage of Ireland_ (article "Harberton") to have sprung from the Pomeroys of Ingsdon in Devonshire, and is stated to have gone to Ireland as chaplain to the Earl of Essex, Lord Lieutenant.

J. B.

* * * * *

Minor Queries Answered.

_Civil War Tract._--

"A Letter sent from a worthy Divine, to the Right Honourable the Lord
Mayor of the City of London. Being a true relation of the battaile
fought betweene His Majesty and his Excellence the Earle of Essex. From
Warwicke Castle, the 24. of October, 1642, at two a clock in the
morning. Together with a Prayer for the happy uniting of the King and
parliament, fit to be used by all good Christians, daily in their
houses. London, Octob. 27. Printed for Robert Wood. 1642."

The above is the title of a tract now in my possession. Is it known to any collector of tracts relating to the Battle of Edgehill? Who was the "worthy divine," the writer?

P. Q.

[On the title-page of this tract among the King's pamphlets in the
British Museum, the name of Mr. Bifield has been written. No doubt it
is the production of the Rev. Adoniram Byfield, chaplain to Col.
Cholmondeley's regiment, in the army of the Earl of Essex in 1642, and
who was subsequently one of the scribes to the Assembly of Divines, and
a most zealous Covenanter. See Wood's _Athenæ_, by Bliss, vol. iii. p.
670.]

_Trisection of the Circle._--Has the problem of the trisection of the angle been solved? or, if not, is there any reward for its solution; and what steps should be taken to obtain it?

JOHN VINCENT LYSTER.

[The problem of the trisection of the angle by aid of the straight line
and circle, used as in Euclid, has never been solved--no reward was
ever offered for its solution.]

_Wolsey's Son._--Can any of your readers give an account of a son of Cardinal Wolsey, whose existence is recorded in a letter from Eustace {304} Chapuys to the Emperor Charles V., October 25, 1529, in the following words:--

"The cardinal has now retired with a very small train to a place about
ten miles hence. A son of his has been sent for from Paris, who was
there following his studies, and of whom I have formerly made some
mention to your Majesty"--_Correspondence of Charles V._, p. 291.

Cardinal Beaton had lots of bastards, but I never remember to have seen in any account of Wolsey mention made of natural children.

J. M.

[The existence of a natural son of Cardinal Wolsey is a _fact_ as well
ascertained as any other _fact_ of the Cardinal's history, and referred
to in the various biographies of him that have appeared. His name was
Thomas Winter. In Chalmers's _Biographical Dictionary_, vol. xxxii. pp.
255. and 256. _note_, reference is made to a Bull of Pope Julius II.,
dated August, 1508, to be found in Kennet's MSS. in the British Museum,
in which he is styled, "dilecti filio Thomæ Wulcy," Rector of Lymington
diocese of Bath and Wells, Master of Arts, "_pro dispensatione ad
tertium incompatibile_." This is explained by the passage in Wood's
_Athenæ Oxon. Fasti_, part i. p. 73. (Bliss ed.), relating to him.
"This Tho. Winter, who was nephew (or rather nat. son) to Cardinal Tho.
Wolsey, had several dignities confer'd upon him before he was of age,
by the means of the said Cardinal," viz. the archedeaconry of York,
1523; chancellorship of the church of Sarum; the deanery of Wells,
1525; the provostship of Beverly; and the archdeaconry of Richmond,
&c.: on which there is a note by Baker, that "this Tho. Winter is said
to have held of the church's goods clearly more than 2000 pds. per an."
Wood adds, that about the time of the Cardinal's fall, he gave up all
or most of his dignities, keeping only the archdeaconry of York, which
he resigned also in 1540. In Grove's _Life and Times of Cardinal
Wolsey_, vol. iv. p. 315., among the "Articles" against the Cardinal,
Article XXVII. expressly charges him, "that he took from his son Winter
his income of 2,700l. a-year, applied it to his own use, and gave him
only 200l. yearly to live on." A reference is made in Sir H. Ellis's
_Letters Illustrative of English History_, 2nd Series, vol. ii. p. 70.,
to a letter of Edmund Harvel to Dr. Starkey, dated from Venice, April
1535, in which the writer expresses his obligations to Mr. Winter, for
his "friendly mynde toward him," and begs him to return his thanks.

In Mr. Galt's _Life of Wolsey_ (Appendix IV. p. 424. of Bogue's
edition) will be found a copy of a letter from John Clusy to Cromwell,
in relation to a natural daughter of Wolsey's in the nunnery of
Shaftesbury.]

_Cardinals and Abbots in the English Church._--It may not be generally known, but the fact is so, that the English church numbers two CARDINALS and a LORD ABBOT amongst her members. In Whitaker's _Clerical Diary_, under the head of London Diocese, there is attached to St. Paul's a senior and a junior cardinal; and in Ireland exists the exempt jurisdiction of Newry and Mourne, under the government of the Lord Abbot, who is the Earl of Kilmorey. Can any of your readers give me any information respecting these officials?

W. J.

[_Cardinal._--The title of cardinal (_cardinalis_) in early times was
frequently applied to any bishop, priest, or deacon holding an official
post. In France there were many cardinal priests: thus, the curate of
the parish of St. John de Vignes is called, in old charters, the
cardinal priest of that parish. There were also cardinal deacons, who
had the charge of hospitals for the poor, and who ranked above the
other deacons. Thus, two of the minor canons of St. Paul's are called
_cardinals of the choir_, whose duties are to preserve order in Divine
service, administer the Eucharist, and officiate at funerals. In former
times, they heard confessions and enjoined penances. (Newcourt's
_Repertorium_, vol. i. p. 233.) It was not till the twelfth century
that the Sacred College of Cardinals was organised; nor was it till
1567 that clergymen were forbidden by Pius V. to assume the title of
cardinal unless appointed by the Pope.

_Lay Abbots._--In early times we frequently find secular persons
denominated "field abbots" and "abbot counts," upon whom the sovereign
had bestowed certain abbeys, for which they were obliged to render
military service, as for common fiefs. In the time of Charles the Bald
many of the nobility in France were abbots, having a dean to officiate
for them. Thus, too, in Scotland, James Stuart, the natural son of
James V., was, at the time of the Reformation, Prior of St. Andrew's,
although a secular person. The Earl of Kilmorey, who is impropriator of
the tithes of St. Mary, Newry, is a lay abbot, or representative of the
preceding abbots of a Cistertian Abbey which formerly existed in that
town. His abbatial functions, however, are confined to convening
ecclesiastical courts, and granting probates of wills, and licenses for
marriages, subject only to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the
Archbishop of Armagh. A remnant of the secularisation of ecclesiastical
dignities has already been noticed in our pages (Vol. ii., pp. 447.
500.), in the case of the late Duke of York, who was at the same time
Commander-in-chief and Bishop of Osnaburg.]

* * * * *

Replies.

SIR BALTHAZAR GERBIER.

(Vol. ii., p. 375.)

Your correspondent J. MT. has great reason to congratulate himself on the possession of the singularly curious tract which he describes, and which gives an autobiography of this extraordinary adventurer. I am not aware of any other copy in any public or private collection. I have a 4to. tract in nineteen pages, evidently printed abroad, the title of which is--

"Balthazar Gerbier, Knight, to All Men that love Truth."

{305}

This gives a very interesting life of him by himself, perfectly distinct from, and containing many particulars not given in the tract possessed by your correspondent, which also contains matter not in the above. I have likewise another tract, privately printed in Holland in English, French, and Dutch, in fifteen pages 12mo., the English title to which is--

"A true Manifest, By S^r B. Gerbier. Anno 1653."

In this, which gives some curious particulars as to "Mr. Hughe Peeters," and the book entitled _The Nonsuch Charles_, he refers to another "little manifest" published on the 2nd day of October, 1652, "that the world might take notice that he was not at all invested with any foreigne engagement." Of the tract so referred to, I regret to say no copy is known. None of the other three tracts appear to have been seen by Horace Walpole, who had collected a great number of Gerbier's pamphlets, and also the MS. next mentioned, which, at the Strawberry Hill sale, came together into my possession. The MS. contains the original appointments of Sir Balthazar to the offices he held while in England, a pedigree of his family beautifully emblazoned, and a large quantity of MS., prose and poetry, in his autograph; including a most extensive collection of projects and proposals, which seem to have been equally at the service of England or France. The best account we have of Gerbier is that which Horace Walpole has supplied in the _Anecdotes of Painting_ (see _Works_, vol. iii. p. 189.); but his diplomatic negotiations, and his career as an artist and adventurer, never forgetting his academy at Whitefriars and Bethnal Green, would furnish matter for a very amusing volume. The general biography, however, to which he would be most appropriately remitted, and which is still a desideratum in literature, is that which is proposed by Dr. Johnson, in Chalmers's admirable parody:

"I think a good book might be made of scoundrels. I would have a
_Biographia Flagitiosa_, the Lives of Eminent Scoundrels from the
earliest accounts to the present day."

JAS. CROSSLEY.

* * * * *

THE TRAVELS OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN.

(Vol. ii., p. 519.; Vol. iii., p. 117.)

Is not your correspondent J. ME. in error when he says the original travels of the Baron were written to ridicule Bruce? I think this will only apply to the second volume, or "Sequel," seeing that there exists an edition of _Gulliver Revived_, printed at Oxford, 1786, four years before Bruce published. J. ME. further remarks, that there was at one time reason to believe that James Graham was the author of the well-known book in question, but that circumstances have come to his knowledge altogether precluding the possibility that the author of _The Sabbath_ and _The Travels of Baron Munchausen_ are identical.

To me it appears there were _two_ of these James Grahams, and that from their being contemporaries, they are usually rolled into one. I have in my library a volume containing _Wallace, a Tragedy_, Edinburgh, 1799; and _Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, an Historical Drama_, Edinburgh, 1801, which appears to have belonged to Mr. George Chalmers, upon the titles of which that gentleman has written, "by James Graham, Advocate, Edinburgh, son of T. Graham, a writer of reputation in Glasgow."

From this one would think Mr. Chalmers had the author of _The Sabbath_ in his eye: a conclusion, however, difficult to come to in the face of a critique which thus characterises the tragedy of _Wallace_:

"The play is not uninteresting, and the author has exhibited occasional
proofs of poetical genius; but there are some passages in the piece
that fall little short of blasphemy:"

--a charge which, of course, could never apply to this "lovable" and subsequently _reverend_ author of _The Sabbath_, a poem breathing the humblest piety, and published only five years after _Wallace_; consequently here is, in the author of the tragedy of _Wallace_, another James Graham at the service of J. ME., to whom, if his other proofs are strong, the Baron may be assigned with more probability.

I may add, taking it for granted that Chalmers was right in claiming these two plays for a James Graham, that there is the strongest corroborative proof of there being two of the name in the existence of _Mary Stewart, a Dramatic Poem_, the acknowledged performance of the author of _The Sabbath_ (see his _Poems_, 2 vols. 1809), a production differing in title, and bearing no resemblance, I should think, to the first named.

While upon the subject, and presuming that the tragedy of _Wallace_ is known to J. ME., I may take the opportunity to ask him, as he is _ayont the Tweed_, whether there is really any authority for the assertion contained in the Abbotsford Library Catalogue, and also in that of Constable's Library, sold in 1817, that of this anonymous tragedy of _Wallace_ there were _only six copies printed_? Upon the face of mine there is nothing to indicate its rarity, it being an octavo, printed for A. Constable; but the remarkable book may be some other: your correspondents will, however, I dare say, be able to enlighten me.

A COLLECTOR.

_Baron Munchausen_ (Vol. ii., p. 519.).--As it was nearly thirty years since I had seen the _Percy Anecdotes_, I was obliged to speak doubtfully of {306} having derived from that work the statements that the author of _Munchausen_ was a Mr. "M----," and that he was a prisoner in France. Accident has within the last few days thrown in my way the very volume of the _Anecdotes_ in which this is stated (vol. v., _Anecdotes of Captivity_, p. 103.); and I find that I was mistaken only in supposing "M----'s" place of confinement to have been the Bastile, whereas the time is said to have been the Reign of Terror, and therefore of course the Bastile cannot have been the place.

J. C. R.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Tobacco in the East_ (vol. ii., pp. 155. 231.).--M. D. asks for "chapter and verse" of A. C. M.'s reference to Sale's _Koran_ respecting tobacco.

Had A. C. M. recollected that tobacco (_Nicotiana_) is an American plant, he would hardly have asked whether "_tobacco_ is the word in the original" of the tradition mentioned by Sale in his _Preliminary Discourse_, § 5. p. 123. (4to. ed. 1734.) Happily Reland, whom Sale quotes (_Dissert. Miscell._, vol. ii. p. 280.), gives his authority, the learned orientalist, Dr. Sike, who received the Hadéth at Leghorn from Ibn Sáleh, a young Muselman. It says, in good Arabic, that in the latter days Moslims, undeserving of the name, shall drink hashish (hemp), and call it tabák; the last words, "_yukál lehn tabáku_," are no doubt a modern addition by those who had heard of _tambákó_ (the Romaic [Greek: tanpakon]). As the use of hashish or _hashishah_ (the herb), more completely _hashishata fukara_, i.e. Monk's Wort, a technical term for _hemp_, chewed as a narcotic by fakirs (monks), was not known till A.H. 608 (A.D. 1211), it could not be mentioned in the Koran unless Mohammed were, as Sale observes, "a prophet indeed." _Tabakak_, a plate, dish, or shelf, is now sometimes used by ignorant persons in the East for _tambákó_, of which a complete account is given in the _Karábádén_, or great treatise of Materia Medica in Persian. Of that work, there is a beautifully written copy, made, probably, for the late Mr. Colebrooke, by whom it was presented to the library of the Royal Asiatic Society. I shall conclude by another Query: What is the Greek word transformed by Asiatic scribes into _Karábádén_?

ANATOLICUS.

_Captain John Stevens_ (Vol. ii., p. 359.).--This ingenious man, as to whom your correspondent inquires, was one of the hard-working translators in the early part of the last century. The materials for his biography are very scanty. He was a Roman Catholic, and at the Revolution followed the fortunes of his abdicating master, in whose service he accepted a commission, and accompanied him in the wars in Ireland. He was also employed in several other services, and died October 27, 1726. See _Biographia Dramatica_, vol. i. p. 691., edit. 1812. He is not noticed in Chalmers's _Biographical Dictionary_, though as the continuator of Dugdale's _Monasticon_ he unquestionably ought to have been. Watt gives a list (_Bib. Brit._, vol. i. p. 880.) of his books and translations; but it is, as usual, very defective and erroneous. It does not include his translation of _Don Quixote_, of _Dupin_, of _An Evening's Intrigue_ (1707, 8vo.), and a great number of other works; and it ascribes to him the _History of the Wars of Charles XII., King of Sweden_, London, 1715, which was written, as it needs no great sagacity to discover, by Daniel Defoe, though Chalmers and Wilson have not noticed it.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

_MS. Catalogue of Norman Nobility_ (Vol. iii., p. 266.).--The MS. Catalogue of Norman Nobility referred to in No. 75., a document of great value, is or was in the possession of Sir William Betham, having been purchased by him about six years ago, from Mr. Boone, of New Bond Street.

Your correspondent will find that Odardus de Loges was infeoffed by Earl Ranulph the 1st in the barony of Wigton in Cumberland, in which he was confirmed by Henry I. Bigod, whose name was attached to the charter of foundation of St. Werburg's Abbey, is elsewhere, according to Ormerod, called Robert.

M. J. T.

_Illustrations of Chaucer, No. III._ (Vol. iii., p. 258.).--

"_Fro Venus_ VALANUS _might this palais see._"
(or) volant
? Might Venus, _volans_ fro this palais, see.
(flying)

[Greek: Phôs].

_Comets_ (Vol. iii., pp. 223. 253.).--If your correspondent S. P. O. R. wish to go fully into the history of comets, and be not alarmed at the prospect of three thick folios, through which I have gone, I can assure him, with considerable interest, let me recommend to him _Theatrum Cometicum, Auctore Stanislao Lubienietz Lubieniecio Rolitsio_, Amst., in 2 vols. (but generally bound in three) folio. The first contains an immense correspondence, not merely with astronomers, but with poets, critics, physicians, and philosophers, to whom the indefatigable editor wrote for their opinions on the subject of comets. The second vol. gives a history of comets from the Deluge to 1665, and is a repository of everything bearing upon the subject. From this work Bayle derived his learning, when he wrote his most amusing work on comets.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

_Pope Joan_ (Vol. iii., p. 265.).--NEMO will find much information on the question, "Whether Pope Joan ever held the keys of St. Peter?" in Alexander Cooke's _Dialogue between a Protestant and a Papist; manifestly proving that a Woman_ {307} _called Joane was Pope of Rome: against the surmises and objections made to the contrary by Robert Bellarmini and Cæsar Baronius, Cardinals, Florimondus Ræmondus, and other Popish Writers, impudently denying the same_, 4to, pp. 128, 1610. The work was dedicated to the Archbishop of York, and was reprinted in 1625 in 4to., and in French, 1633, 8vo. The author, in his address _To the Popish Reader_, says:

"_I offer unto thee here a discourse touching_ POPE JOANE _(if thou
darest read it, for fear of falling into thy Pope's curse), whose
Popedome I will make good unto thee, not by the testimonies of_
Pantaleon, _and_ Functius, _and_ Sleidan, _and_ Illyricus, _and_
Constantinus Phrygio, _and_ John Bale, _and_ Robert Barnes, _because
thou hast condemned their persons, and their books too, to hell; but by
the testimonies of thy brethren, the sonnes of thine own mother;
because, as one saith_, 'Amici contra amicum, et inimici pro inimico,
invincibile testimonium est.'"

E. C. HARINGTON.

The Close, Exeter.

_Abbot Eustacius_ (Vol. iii., p. 141.).--As J. L.'s inquiry after an abbot of that name has hitherto been unsuccessful, perhaps he would like to know that Eustacia was abbess of the monastery at Shaftesbury (founded by King Alfred), tempore incerto, but probably in the time of Stephen. See Willis's _History of Abbeys_, and a _History of the Ancient Town of Shaftesbury_, p. 21.

BLOWEN.

_The Vellum-bound Junius_ (Vol. iii., p. 262.).--In the Minor Queries of your Number 75., you have kindly inserted my notice on the vellum-bound _Junius_. I beg to state further, that the reason of my being so desirous to procure this copy at the Stowe sale was, that it was not only bound in vellum, but was also _printed_ on that article. If any of your correspondents can inform me of another copy _printed_ on vellum, I should be glad.

W. D. HAGGARD.

Bank of England, April 5, 1851.