Chapter M: W. B

_Spelling of Britannia, &c._ (Vol. iii., pp. 275. 463.).--I believe that there is no mistake as supposed in the inscription on the Geo. III. shilling. The double "T" is expressive of the plural "Britt." for "Britanniarum". Have we not many similar instances, _e. g._ "codd." for "codices," "libb." for "libri;" or, one of every-day occurrence, "pp." for "pages?"

W. M. N.

_Fossil Elk of Ireland_ (Vol. ii., p. 494.; Vol. iii., pp. 26. 121. 212.).--W. R. C. (a Subscriber) will find some very interesting accounts of this creature in Boate and Molyneux's _Natural History of Ireland_, p. 137.; and in an excellent paper by Dr. Cane, in the _Transactions of the Kilkenny Archæological Society for the Year 1850_, where several works containing accounts of the animal are referred to. An interesting memoir by Dr. Hibbert on the discovery of the _Megaceros Hibernicus_, or fossil elk, in the Isle of Man, will be found in the fifth number of the _Edinburgh Journal of Science_, published in 1826.[1]

[Footnote 1: _Errata._--Query, should not the word "Rochenon," in
Vol. i., p. 380. col. 1., be "Rosbercon?" and should not "D. H.
MCarthy," in Vol. ii., p. 348. col. 1., be "D. F. MCarthy"
(Denis Florence MCarthy)? Such errors, however trifling they may
now appear, may hereafter confuse.]

R. H.

_"In Time the Bull," &c._ (Vol. iii., p. 388.).--The quotation--

"In time the bull is brought to bear the yoke,"

seems to be from Ovid, _Tristia_, iv. 6. 1.:

"Tempore ruricolæ patiens fit taurus aratri;"

or _Ar. Am._ i. 471.:

"Tempore difficiles veniunt ad aratra juvenci."

P. J. F. G.

Cambridge, May 22. 1851.

[N. B., E. C. H., and several other correspondents, have furnished
similar references to Ovid.]

_Baldrock_ (Vol. iii., pp. 328. 435.).--MR. CHADWICK'S quotations on this word are very opportune, and useful by way of illustration, and for elucidating the meaning of the word.

I will endeavour to explain this part of bell gear, and the purpose for which it was used.

_Baldrock_ (_sic_) is probably the patois of a locality for _bawdrick_, which means a belt, or the leather strap and other appurtenances of the upper part of the clapper, by which it was suspended from the crown staple. In old _black-letter_ bells (if one may use the term) the upper part of the clapper was shaped like a stirrup, through which a strap of stout leather, often doubled, was passed; but between this and the staple a piece of hard wood of like width was inserted, and fitted to work on the round part of the crown staple. Through this leather and wood an iron pin was passed; and all was fastened together, and kept stiff in place, by a curiously cut piece of tough wood, called a _busk-board_, one end of which was tied round the stem of the clapper. I have seen many such. There was one at Swanswich next Bath: but without a sketch it is difficult to explain. I will enclose a sketch, to be used at the Editor's discretion.

A few years ago, I made the following extracts from the very interesting accounts of the churchwardens (guardians) of St. Edmund's, Sarum. I have no doubt that similar entries may be found in all such old accounts, and I hope these may induce other gentlemen to inquire for them. Unfortunately I did not copy the _sums_ paid.

"1591. Layd out for a Bawdrope for the Great Bell, 5_s._

For grafting of Bawdropes & finding Leather.

Making of a '_pinn_' for the fourth Bell Bawdrope.

1588. Paide for Lether to mend the Bawdricke.

1572. Payd for a Bald Rybbe for the fourth Bell. (It occurs again
for other bells.)

1552. Mendinge off the Bawdrycke off the greatt Bell.

1541. Payd for mendynge the wheles of the 3 Bells, and for
Bawdrykes.

1524. Bawdderyke to the v. Bell.

1495. [Pro] emendacione rote ejusdem Campane et [pro] Bawdryke
ejusdem Campane.

1482. [Pro] tribus Bawdrykys.

1473. Bawdryke bought for the iiij Belle.

1469. Bawderyke.

Whyt Lethyr for the Bawdryke in the years of Ed. VI."

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

In a decree of the Court of Chancery of the year 1583 is the following passage:

"It is alleged that a certain close ... in the parish of Smarden,
in the County of Kent, now called and known by the name of
Ropefield, was, long time sithence, given by one John of Hampden,
to and for the maintenance and finding of ropes, _bawdricks_, oil,
and leather, for the use of ringing of the bells in the steeple of
the said parish church of Smarden, &c., &c." James _v._ Woolton, 6
May, 1583. (_Reg. Lib._ B. 1582. fo. 502.)

Not understanding the word "bawdrick," I applied to Messrs. Mears, bell-founders, Whitechapel, who kindly gave me the following information:

"The bawdrick is the head of the clapper, or the coupling by which
it hangs on the staple inserted in the crown of the bell. It is
fitted on to the head of the clapper, and a lining of leather is
inserted to prevent the creaking of the iron, when the end of the
clapper is oscillating. Hence, no doubt, the introduction of
'leather' in the document referred to. The word is still in use."

CECIL MONRO.

Registrar's Office, Court of Chancery, June 14. 1851.

The baldrick was a leather thong, or strap, fastened with a buckle, for the purpose of suspending the clapper inside the bell, both of which had loops or eyes to receive it; from its continual wear, new baldricks were often required. I subjoin a few extracts from the parish accounts of St. Antlins, or St. Anthony, Budge Row, relating thereto.

1590. "Paide the smythe for making a new clapper for the great
bell, x_s._

"Paide for a _bawdrick_ for the great bell, ii_s._ vi_d._

"Paide for a _buckell_ for the same, vi_d._

"Paide for a _baldrick_ for the fift bell, i_s._ viii_d._

1594. "Paide for a new _bawdricke_ for one of the bells the
Crownacion daie, ii_s._

1578. "Paide for an _eie_ for the great bell clapper, vi_s._

"Item for a rope for the morning bell, ij_s._ vi_d._"

I could adduce several other instances if required, but these may suffice.

W. CHAFFERS, Jun.

_Catalogue of Norman Nobility_ (Vol. iii., p. 266.).--Your correspondent Q. G. asked some weeks ago where the catalogue of Norman nobility before the Conquest was to be found? In the _Historiæ Normannorum_, published in Paris in 1619, at p. 1127., he will find the

"Catalogus nobilium qui immediate prædia a Rege conquæstore
tenuerunt."

In this list occurs the name of Geri (Rogerius) de Loges, whose lordship was in the district of Coutances. At p. 1039. of the same work, we find that Guarinus de Logis was feudal lord of certain domains in the bailiwick of Falaise. In a roll of all the Norman nobles, knights, and esquires who went to the conquest of Jerusalem with Robert Duke of Normandy in the first crusade, and copied from an ancient MS. written on vellum, found in the library of the cathedral of Bayeux, entitled "Les anciennes histoires d'outremer," we also find the name of John de Logis, who bore az. a cinque foile ar.

I think, therefore, that M. J. T. (p. 189.) is in error in confounding the family of Ordardus de Logis with that of the Baron of Hugh Lupus. The names of the Norman nobles were territorial; and it is probable that these worthies were not related, as the names were spelt differently. According to the Doomsday Survey, Gunuld, the widow of Geri de Loges, held the manor of Guiting Power in Gloucestershire.

The elder line of Ordardus de Logis, Baron of Wigton, terminated in an heiress, who carried the estate into the family of Lucy (I think in the reign of Edward III.), Adam, the seventh and last baron, having died without male issue; and it afterwards became the property, by marriage, of the ancestor of the present Earl of Carlisle. The descendants of Ordardus are still to be found in the remote valleys of the north of Yorkshire, and in parts of Durham: and I have been told that the Rev. John Lodge, late Fellow of Magdalen College, Cambridge, claimed to be of this family.

S.

Oxford, June 13. 1851.

_Epitaph_ (Vol. iii., pp. 242. 339.).--I have before me a 24mo. tract of forty-seven pages:

"Nicolai Barnaudi a Crista Arnaudi Delphinatis, Philosophi et
Medici, Commentariolum in Ænigmaticum quoddam epitaphium Bononiæ
studiorum, ante multa secula marmoreo lapidi insculptum. Huic
additi sunt Processus Chæmici non pauci. Nihil sine Numine,
Lugduni, Batavorum, [CI*C.I*C.III*C.]"

The first thirty pages are devoted to the epitaph on Ælia Lælia Crispus. We are told:--

"Nec defuerunt alii, qui, ut audio, Animam hominis, alii nubium
Aquam, alii, ut hic intellexi a viro de litteris bene merito,
Eunuchum quemdam, alii alia varia, hoc epitaphio tractari
phantasmata suis scriptis contenderunt. Hæc ego cum intellexissem,
eorum misertus, qui abditioris philosophiæ in castris militant,
operæ pretium facturum me existimavi, si trismegisticum hoc
epitaphium eis aperire conarer."

This he proceeds to do very satisfactorily, as the following specimen will show:--

"ÆLIA. Solaris, dubio procul, ut nomen indicat, sive solis filia,
immo substantia, essentia, radius, virtus, et illa quidem
invisibilis solis nostri, ne quis eam a sole vulgi natam, perperam
cogitet; neque tamen desunt, qui eam ex Urani et Vestæ filio,
Saturno, et Ope ejus sorore, a qua cum plures Saturnus suscepisset
liberos, eosque vorasset, et e vestigio evomuisset, Jupiter
servatus, ejusque loco lapis Saturno presentatus fuit, ac si cum
peperisset Opis, ab ipsis inquam, eam natam esse cogitent; at
quidquid sit, ÆLIA, seu solaris est, neque tamen (tanta est ejus
amplitudo), astro illo, mundi oculo amicta incedit; sed et altero,
minore luminari, Luna, quæ sub pedibus ejus est comitata, ideo
etiam dicitur LÆLIA, quasi solis amica, etc., etc."

On a fly-leaf I find the following written by an unknown hand:

"Commentarios in hoc epitaphium scripserunt Joannes Trevius
Brugensis, et Richardus vitus Basinstochius, jurisconsultus Anglus
cujus liber editus Durdrecti apud J. van Leonem Berawoul, Anno
1618. Vid. et de hoc enigmate Boxhorn."

If MR. CROSSLEY does not make this note wholly superfluous, make use of it as you please.

J. S.

Woudenberg, May 12. 1851.

_Prayer of Mary Queen of Scots_ (Vol. iii., p. 369.).--The following version of this prayer, differing from that given by MR. FALCONER, may be interesting.

In Archdeacon Bonney's _Historic Notices in reference to Fotheringay_, p. 109., this note occurs:

"Seward asserts that the following lines were repeated by the
Queen of Scots immediately before her execution. They are set to
music by the late Dr. Harrington, of Bath, and other musicians.

"'O Domine Deus, speravi in Te!
O chare mi Jesus, nunc libera me!
In dura catena, in misera poena, desidero Te;
Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo,
Adoro, imploro, ut liberes me.'

TRANSLATION.

'O Lord my God, I have relied in Thee!
Now, O dear Jesu, set me, set me free!
In chains, in pains, long have I wished for Thee;
Faint, and with groans, I, bowing on my knee,
Adore, implore Thee, Lord, to set me free.'"

I may add, that the Latin lines have recently been very beautifully set to music by that eminent composer, Mrs. Kingston.

W. G. M.

Your correspondent on the subject of the lines said to have been repeated by Mary Queen of Scots on the scaffold, furnishes a translation of them in lieu of others, which he condemns; and his version has provoked me to try my hand at one, in which I have studied rhythm more than rhyme: the rhythm and the intensity of the ordinal.

"Great God, I have trusted
In peril on Thee!
Dear Jesus, Redeemer,
Deliver thou me!
In my prison-house groaning,
I long but for Thee;
Languishing, moaning,
Bow'd down on bent knee,
I adore Thee, implore Thee,
From my sins set me free."

ALAN.

_Aristophanes on the Modern Stage_ (Vol. iii., pp. 105. 250.).--Finding that no correspondent of yours, in answer to a Query which appeared some time back, viz.: "Whether any play of Aristophanes had ever been adapted to the modern stage," has yet mentioned the only two instances of which I am aware, I beg to refer the Querist to the _Plaideurs_ of Racine (an adaptation of the _Wasps_), and to a very ingenious modernisation of the _Birds_ by Mr. Planché, produced about four years since at the Haymarket as an Easter piece, under its original title.

I cannot refrain from taking this opportunity of protesting, under your justly powerful auspices, against the use of the word "Exposition" in its French sense of _Exhibition_, now creeping into places where it could scarcely have been expected.

AVENA.

_The White Rose_ (Vol. iii., p. 407.).--The version which I have of the beautiful lines quoted by your correspondent is (I quote from memory):

"If this fair rose offend thy sight
It on thy bosom wear,
'Twill blush to find itself less white,
And turn Lancastrian there."

The succeeding couplet has equal merit:

"But if thy ruby lip it spy
As kiss it thou mayst deign,
With envy pale 'twill lose its dye,
And Yorkist turn again."