Chapter I: Part 1

[Transcriber's note: Original spelling variations have not been standardized. Underscores have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts. Tentative expansions of Latin scribal abbreviations include dimi[d=] for dimidio, ann' for anno, [Dns] for Dominus, [Dni] for Domini, [Dno] for Domino, [p=] for pro, [=p] for pre, and [q=] for que. The spelling of nomesthai, as taken over from Stolbergius, seems to be a typographical error for nemesthai.]

NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION

FOR

LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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

Vol. IV.--No. 105. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1. 1851.

Price Threepence. Stamped Edition, 4_d._

CONTENTS.

Page

The Claims of Literature 337

NOTES:--

Daniel Defoe and the "Mercator," by James Crossley 388

Punishment of Edward Prince of Wales, by King
Edward I., for Disrespect to a Judge, by William
Sidney Gibson 338

Notes on the Word: "[Greek: Adelphos]," by
T. R. Brown 339

Lambert, the "Arch-Rebell," by
Richard John King 339

The Caxton Coffer, by Bolton Corney 340

Minor Notes:--A Hint to Catalogue Makers--Virgil
and Goldsmith--Mental Almanac--Merlin and the
Electric Telegraph 340

QUERIES:--

Bishop Bramhall and Milton 341

The Sempills of Beltrus: Robert Sempill 343

Descendants of John of Gaunt 343

Minor Queries:--Rocky Chasm near Gaeta: Earthquake
at the Crucifixion--Cavalcade--A Sept of
Hibernians--Yankee Doodle--Seventeenth of November:
Custom--Chatter-box--Printing in 1449, and
Shakspeare--Texts before Sermons--Paradyse, Hell,
Purgatory--Dead Letter--Dominus Bathurst, &c.--Grammar
Schools--Fermilodum--Lord Hungerford--Consecration
of Bishops in Sweden 343

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--Effigy of a Pilgrim--"Modern
Universal History"--Origin of Evil--Nolo
Episcopari--Authors of the Homilies--Family of Hotham
of Yorkshire--Vogelweide--Meaning of Skeatta 345

REPLIES:--

Marriage of Ecclesiastics, by Henry Walter, &c. 346

Lord Strafford and Archbishop Ussher 349

Sculptured Stones in the North of Scotland 350

Anagrams 350

The Locusts of the New Testament 351

The Soul's Errand, by Dr. Edward F. Rimbault 353

The Two Drs. Abercrombie 353

Replies to Minor Queries:--Dacre Monument at
Hurstmonceux--Book-plates--Sermon of Bishop Jeremy
Taylor--Moonlight--Flatman and Pope--Berlin Time--Ruined
Churches--Italian Writer on Political Economy--Death
of Carli, &c. 354

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 357

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 357

Notices to Correspondents 358

Advertisements 359

THE CLAIMS OF LITERATURE.

This day two years, on presenting to the public, and to the Literary Men of England the first number of NOTES AND QUERIES, as "a medium by which much valuable information might become a sort of common property among those who can appreciate and use it," we ventured to say, "We do not anticipate any holding back by those whose 'Notes' are most worth having, or any want of 'Queries' from those best able to answer them. Whatever may be the case in other things, it is certain that those who are best informed are generally the most ready to communicate knowledge and to confess ignorance, to feel the value of such a work as we are attempting, and to understand that, if it is to be well done, they might help to do it. Some cheap and frequent means for the interchange of thought is certainly wanted by those who are engaged in Literature, Art, and Science; and we only hope to persuade the best men in all, that we offer them the best medium of communication with each other."

How fully these anticipations have been realised, how all the "best men" _have_ come forward, we acknowledge with feelings of gratitude and pride. May we now hope that, in thus forming one fresh bond of union among the lovers and professors of Literature in this country, we have contributed towards a recognition of Literature as an honorable profession, and hastened the time when the claims of Literature, Science, and Art to some of those honorary distinctions hitherto exclusively conferred upon the Naval, Military, or Civil Servants of the Crown, will be admitted and acted upon. For as we hold with Chaucer:

"That he is gentil who doth gentil dedes;"

so we would have those men especially honoured, whose "gentil dedes" in Literature, Science, and Art tend to elevate the minds, and thereby promote the happiness of their fellow-men.

That gallant gentleman, Captain Sword, whose good services we readily acknowledge, has hitherto monopolized all the honours which the sovereign has thought proper to distribute. We would fain see good Master Pen now take his fair share of them;[1] and the present moment, when Peace has just celebrated her Jubilee in the presence of admiring millions, is surely the fittest moment that could be selected for the establishment of some Order (call it of Victoria, or Civil Merit, or what you will) to honour those followers of the Arts of Peace to whose genius, learning, and skill the great event of the year 1851 owes its brilliant conception, its happy execution, its triumphant success.

[Footnote 1: We are glad to find that the views we have here
advocated, have the support of the leading journal of Europe. Vide
_The Times_ of Wednesday last.]

The reign of the Illustrious Lady who now fills with so much dignity the Throne of these Realms, has happily been pre-eminently distinguished (and long may it be so!) by all unexampled progress made in all the Arts of Peace. Her Majesty has been pre-eminently a Patron of all such Arts. How graceful then, on the part of Her Majesty, would be the immediate institution of an Order of Civil Merit! How gratifying to those accomplished and worthy men on whom Her Majesty might be pleased to confer it!

Notes.

DANIEL DEFOE AND THE "MERCATOR."

Wilson, in his _Life of Defoe_, vol. iii. p. 334., gives an account from Tindal, Oldmixon, Boyer, and Chalmers, of the _Mercator_ and its antagonist, the _British Merchant_. He commences by observing that Defoe "had but little to do with this work" (the _Mercator_), and quotes Chalmers, who seems totally to mistake the passage in Defoe's _Appeal to Honour and Justice_, pp. 47-50., in which the _Mercator_ is mentioned, and to consider it as a denial on his part of having had any share in the work. Defoe's words are--

"What part I had in the _Mercator_ is well known, and would men
answer with argument and not with personal abuse, I would at any
time defend any part of the _Mercator_ which was of my writing.
But to say the _Mercator_ is mine is false. I never was the author
of it, nor had the property, printing, or profit of it. I had
never any payment or reward for writing any part of it, nor had I
the power of putting what I would into it, yet the whole clamour
fell upon me."

Defoe evidently means only to deny that he was the originator and proprietor of the _Mercator_, not that he was not the principal writer in it. The _Mercator_ was a government paper set on foot by Harley to support the proposed measure of the Treaty of Commerce with France; and the _Review_, which Defoe had so long and so ably conducted, being brought to a close in the beginning of May, 1713, he was retained to follow up the opinions he had maintained in the _Review_ as to the treaty in this new periodical. He had not the control of the work undoubtedly, otherwise, cautiously abstaining as he does himself from all personal attacks upon his opponents, the remarks on Henry Martin would not have appeared, which led to a severe and very unjust retaliation in the _British Merchant_, in which Defoe's misfortunes are unfeelingly introduced. There cannot, however, be the slightest doubt to any one at all acquainted with Defoe's style, or who compares the _Mercator_ with the commercial articles in the Review, that the whole of the _Mercator_, except such portion as appears in the shape of letters, and which constitutes only a small part of the work, was written by Defoe. The principal of these letters were probably written by William Brown.

The excessive rarity of the _Mercator_, which Wilson could never obtain, and of which probably very few copies exist, has rendered it the least known of Defoe's publications. Even Mr. M'Culloch, from the mode in which he speaks of it (_Literature of Political Economy_, p. 142.), would appear not to have seen it. And therefore, whilst the _British Merchant_, "the shallow sophisms and misstatements" of which we now treat with contempt, is one of the most common of commercial books, having gone through at least three editions, besides the original folio, the _Mercator_, replete as it is with the vigour, the life and animation, the various and felicitous power of illustration, which this great and truly English author could impart to any subject, still exists only in probably four or five copies of the original folio numbers. How many of the advocates for free trade are acquainted with a production in which one of the most gifted minds that the country ever produced, exerts his delightful powers and most effectual "unadorned eloquence" in the support of their favourite doctrine?

I do not see any copy of the _Mercator_ noticed in the printed catalogue of the British Museum. I owe my own to the kindness of MR. BOLTON CORNEY, who allowed me to possess it, having purchased it, I believe, at Mr. Heber's sale.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

PUNISHMENT OF EDWARD PRINCE OF WALES, BY KING EDWARD I., FOR DISRESPECT TO A JUDGE.

MR. FOSS has lately shown, in his valuable lives of _The Judges of England_, that historical accuracy has been sacrificed in representing Henry V., on his accession, to have re-invested Sir William Gascoigne with "the balance and the sword." Lord Campbell, warned that chroniclers, historians, moralists, and poets had, without historical warrant, taken for true the story which Shakspeare has made so familiar to us, has, in his _Lives of the Chief Justices_, examined the evidence for attributing to the young king the act of magnanimity, and has affirmed (vol. i. p. 131.) not only that Sir William committed the prince, but that he actually filled the office of Chief Justice under him when he became Henry V. The noble and learned lord has been at some pains to authenticate the story of the commital of the prince, and has shown that there is no sufficient reason for disbelieving that the dauntless judge did make "princely power submit" to justice; and he has brought forward also the probable sources of Shakspeare's information. But these are silent as to the reinstatement of the illustrious judge; and MR. FOSS has established that the young king lost no time in dispensing with the "well-practised wise directions" of Sir William Gascoigne. One is really sorry to be obliged to relinquish belief in the historical foundation of the scene to which Shakspeare has given such fine dramatic effect in his noble lines. My object, however, in now writing is to point out a circumstance in some respects parallel, which occurred in the reign of Edward I. In looking thorough the _Abbreviatio Placitorum_ to-day, I find the record of a judgment in Michaelmas Term, 33 Edw. I. (1305), in which a curious illustration is given of the character of that sovereign; for it appears that Edward Prince of Wales having spoken words insulting to one of the king's ministers (when and to whom I wish I could ascertain), the monarch himself firmly vindicated the respect due to the royal dignity in the person of its servants, by banishing the prince from his house and presence for a considerable time. This anecdote occurs in the record of a complaint made to the king in council, by Roger de Hecham (in Madox the name occurs as Hegham or Heigham), a Baron of the Exchequer, of gross and upbraiding language having been contemptuously addressed to him by William de Brewes, because of his judgment in favour of the delinquent's adversary. The record recites that such contempt and disrespect towards as well the king's ministers as himself or his courts are very odious to the king, and proceeds---- but I will give the original:

"Que quidem (videlicet) contemptus et inobediencia tam ministris
ipsius Domini Regi quam sibi ipsi aut cur' suae facta ipsi Regi
valde sunt odiosa, et hoc expresse nuper apparuit idem [Dns] Rex
filium suum primogenitum et carissimum Edwardum Principem Walliae
[p=] eo quod quedam verba grossa et acerba cuidam ministro suo
dixerat ab hospicio suo fere [p=] dimi[d=] ann' amovit, nec ipsum
filium suum in conspectu suo venire [p=]misit quous[q=] dicto
ministro de [=p]dicta transgress' satisfecerat. Et quia sicut
honor et reverencia qui ministris ipsius [Dni] Regi ratione officii
sui fiunt ipsi Regi attribuuntur sic dedecus et contemptus
ministris suis facta eidem [Dno] Regi inferuntur."

And accordingly the said Edward was adjudged to go in full court in Westminster Hall, and ask pardon of the judge whom he had insulted; and for the contempt done to the king and his court was then to stand committed to the Tower, there to remain during the king's pleasure. (_Abb. Plac._ lib. impres. p. 257.)

Roger de Hegham occurs as a Baron of the Exchequer in 26 Edw. I., and died 2 Edw. II. (Madox, ii. 58.)

WILLIAM SIDNEY GIBSON.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

NOTE ON THE WORD "[Greek: Adelphos]."

I have attempted to ascertain the _primary_ signification of the word "[Greek: adelphos]," for the purpose of laying down a rule for its right interpretation in the sacred scriptures. If I have succeeded, we may be enabled to understand rightly one or two disputed passages in the New Testament, of which I hope to treat in a subsequent number.

Thus says Scapula on the word:

"[Greek: Adelphos], frater proprie, frater uterinus; fit enim a
dictione [Greek: delphys], uterus; et [Greek: a] significante
[Greek: homou], pro [Greek: homodelphos]."

His etymology, as far as it goes, is quite correct: but still, we must trace its different parts up to the fountain-head, in order to understand the word aright. Let us then first take away its prefix [Greek: a], and its constructive affix [Greek: os], and the remaining [Greek: delph] will be found to be a compound word, derived from the Sanscrit language, proving its identity therewith by means of the intermediate Semitic dialects.

Chaldee _dul_, situla, urna, _a vessel_ for holding liquor. Arabic _dal_, a fat _woman_. These primary steps lead us to a passage in Isaiah li. 1., "the _hole_ of the _pit_:" where the _idea_ (not the word) is contained, and forms a connecting link between the Chaldee and Sanscrit; where, by taking _t_ for _d_ (a letter of the same organ), we have Sanscrit _tal_, a _hole_, _pit_, cause, origin, &c.; _talla_, a young woman, _reservoir_, _pit_, &c.; Greek (from the Syriac) [Greek: talitha], a damsel, Mark v. 41.; and by affixing the Sanscrit _pha_, or _pa_, _fruitfulness_, nourishment, drink, &c., we get _talpa_, a wife, bed, &c. Hebrew _dalaph_, stillavit. Syriac _dalpha_, conjunctio venerea. Delilah, a proper name, Judges xvi. 4. We thus ascertain that [Greek: del-ph] relates to the fruit or fruitfulness, &c. of the womb: and by putting the constructive affix [Greek: ys] = the Sanscrit _as_ or _us_, we have [Greek: delphys], uterus, &c.

We now come to the most important part of the compound [Greek: adelphos], viz. the Sanscrit [=a] = [Greek: homou], simul, at the same time; and we find that this [=a] refers us to "a limit conclusive" (to _that_ place, to that time), and also to a "limit inceptive" (_from_ THAT _place_, from that time); consequently, the _primary_ meaning of [Greek: a-del-ph-os], is what Scapula has defined it to be, "frater uterinus," a brother _to_, or _from the_ SAME _womb_.

My deduction from hence is, that where the context, or history, does _not_ point us to a more general sense of the word, _i.e._ to relatives such as cousins, or to the whole _human_ race adopting the same term; _correct_ criticism seems to demand the signification of the word in its _primary_ meaning.

T. R. BROWN.

Vicarage, Southwick, near Oundle.

LAMBERT, THE "ARCH-REBELL."

Mr. Hallam (_Const. Hist._, vol. ii. p. 26. ed. 1850), after some remarks on the execution of Vane, who was brought to trial together with Lambert in 1661, asserts that the latter, "whose submissive behaviour had furnished a contrast with that of Vane, was sent to Guernsey, and remained a prisoner for thirty years." Mr. Hallam does not quote his authority for this statement, which I also find in the older biographical dictionaries. There exists, however, in the library of the Plymouth Athenaeum, a MS. record which apparently contradicts it. This is a volume called _Plimmouth Memoirs, collected by James Yonge_, 1684. It contains "a Catalogue of all the Mayors, together with the memorable occurrences in their respective years," beginning in 1440. Yonge himself lived in Plymouth, and the later entries are therefore made from his own knowledge. There are two concerning Lambert:

"1667. _Lambert, the arch-rebell, brought prisoner to this
Iland."_

[The Island of St. Nicholas at the entrance of the harbour, fortified from a very early period.]

"1683, Easter day. My Lord Dartmouth arrived in Plimmo. from
Tangier. In March, Sir G. Jeffry, the famously [Query,
_infamously_] loyal Lord Chief Justice, came hither from
Launceston assize: lay at the Mayor's: viewed ye citadells, Mt.
Edgecumbe, &c.

"The winter of this yeare proved very seveare. East wind, frost,
and snow, continued three moneths: so that ships were starved in
the mouth of the channell, and almost all the cattel famisht. Ye
fish left ye coast almost 5 moneths. All provisions excessive
deare; and had we not had a frequent supply from ye East, corne
would have been at 30s. per bushell,--above 130,000 bushells being
imported hither, besides what went to Dartmo., Fowy, &c.

"The Thames was frozen up some moneths, so that it became a small
citty, with boothes, coffee houses, taverns, glasse houses,
printing, bull-baiting, shops of all sorts, and whole streetes
made on it. The birdes of the aire died numerously. _Lambert, that
olde rebell, dyed this winter on Plimmo. Island, where he had been
prisoner 15 years and mo._"

The trial of Lambert took place in 1661. He may have been sent at first to Guernsey, but could only have remained there until removed in 1667 to Plymouth. His imprisonment altogether lasted twenty-one years.

Lambert's removal to Plymouth has, I believe, been hitherto unnoticed. Probably it was thought a safer (and certainly, if he were confined in the little island of St. Nicholas, it was a severer) prison than Guernsey.

RICHARD JOHN KING.

THE CAXTON COFFER.

An opinion prevails that biographers who lived nearest the times of the individuals whom they commemorate are most entitled to belief, as having at command the best sources of information. To this rule, however, there are numerous exceptions; for time, which casts some facts into oblivion, also produces fresh materials for historians and biographers.

It is certainly advisable to _consult_ the earliest memoir of an individual in whose fate we take an interest, and even each successive memoir, in order that we may trace the more important historical particulars, and such critical opinions as seem to require discussion, to their true source. The result of some comparisons of this description, on former occasions, has almost led me to consider biographers as mere copyists--or, at the best, artists in patch-work. I shall now compare, on one point, the earlier biographers of Caxton:--

"Gvilhelmus Caxton, Anglus--habitavit interim in Flandria 30 annis
cum domina Margareta Burgundiae ducissa regis Edwardi
sorore."--Joannes BALE, 1559.

"Gvilhelmvs Caxtonus, natione Anglus. Vir pius, doctus, etc. In
Flandria quidem triginta annis vixit cum Margareta Burgundiae duce,
regis Edwardi quarti sorore."--Joannes PITSEUS, 1619.

"William Caxton, born in that town [sc. Caxton!]. He had most of
his _education_ beyond the seas, living 30 years in the court of
Margaret dutchesse of Burgundy, sister to king Edward the Fourth,
whence I conclude him an Anti-Lancastrian in his
affection."--Thomas FULLER, 1662.

"William Caxton--was a menial servant, for thirty years together,
to Margaret dutchess of Burgundy, sister to our king Edward IV.,
in Flanders."--William NICOLSON, 1714.

"Gulielmus Caxton natus in sylvestri regione Cantiae; in Flandria,
Brabantia, Hollandia, Zelandia xxx annis cum domina Margareta,
Burgundiae ducissa, regis Edwardi IV. sorore vixit."--Thomas
TANNERUS, 1748.

Now, according to Fabian, Stow, and others, Margaret of York was married to Charles duke of Burgundy in 1468; and if Caxton did not return to England about the year 1471, as Stow asserts, he was certainly established at Westminster in 1477. The _thirty_ years of the learned writers must therefore be reduced to less than _ten_ years!

The discrepancy between these writers, on another important point, is not less remarkable than their agreement in error, as above-described. Pits says Caxton flourished in 1483; Fuller, that he died in 1486; and Tanner, that he _flourished_ about 1483, and _died_ in 1491. Shakspere died in 1616: in what year did he flourish?

BOLTON CORNEY.

Minor Notes.

_A Hint to Catalogue Makers._--Among the many excellent schemes proposed for the arrangement and diffusion of common means of information, one simple one appears to have been passed over by your many and excellent correspondents. I will briefly illustrate an existing deficiency by an example.

While collecting materials for a projected critical commentary on the _Timaeus_ of Plato, I was surprised to find the commentary of _Chalcidius_ wholly wanting in our library at Christ Church. Subsequently (when I did not want it, having secured a better edition at the end of Fabricius' _Hippolytus_) I discovered a fine copy of Badius Ascensius' editio princeps, bound up with Aulus Gellius and Macrobius, but utterly ignored in the Christ Church catalogue.

This instance shows the necessity of carefully examining the _insides_ of books, as well as the backs and title-pages, during the operation of cataloguing. Our public libraries are rich in instances of a similar oversight, and many an important and _recherche_ work is unknown, or acquires a conventional rarity, through its concealment at the end of a less valuable, but more bulky, treatise.

I have been aroused to the propriety of publishing this suggestion, by purchasing, "dog cheap", a volume labelled _Petrus Crinitus_, but containing _Hegesippus_ (_i.e._ the pseudo-Ambrosian translation from Josephus) and the Latin grammarians at the end, all by the afore-mentioned printer.

THEODORE ALOIS BUCKLEY.

_Virgil and Goldsmith._--The same beautiful thought is traceable in both Virgil and Goldsmith. In book iii. of the _AEneid_, lines 495-6. we read:

"Vobis parta quies; nullum maris aequor arandum;
Arva neque Ausoniae, _semper cedentia retro_,
_Quaerenda_."

In the _Traveller_ these lines occur:

"But me, not destined such delights to share,
My prime of life in wandering spent and care;
Impell'd, with steps unceasing, to pursue
Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view;
That, like the circle bounding earth and skies,
Allures from far, yet, as I follow, flies ----"

ALFRED GATTY.

_Mental Almanac_ (Vol. iv., p. 203.).--MEM. The additive number for this present November is 1. Hence next Wednesday is 4 + 1, that is, the 5th. The Sunday following, is 1 + 1 + 7, that is, the 9th. And similarly for any other day or week in this month.

A. E. B

Leeds, Nov. 1. 1851.

_Merlin and the Electric Telegraph._--The following extract from the prophecy of Merlin in Geoffrey of Monmouth's _British History_, book vii. ch. 4., reads rather curiously in these days of railways and of electric telegraph communication between France and England:--

"Eric shall hide his apples within it, and _shall make
subterraneous passages_. At that time _shall the stones speak_,
and the sea towards the Gallic Coast be contracted into a narrow
space. _On each bank shall one man hear another_, and the soil of
the isle shall be enlarged. The secrets of the deep shall be
revealed, and Gaul shall tremble for fear."

I should like to be informed if there have ever been any detailed and systematic attempts made at interpreting the whole of this curious prophecy of Merlin's.

W. FRASER.

Queries.

BISHOP BRAMHALL AND MILTON.

Perhaps I am convicting myself of the most benighted ignorance by asking some of your learned correspondents to elucidate for me a letter of Bramhall's, which I extract from his works. It was written to his son from Antwerp, and relates to the early years of our great Milton at Cambridge, dated:

"Antwerpe, May 9/19, 1654.

"That lying abusive book [viz., the _Def. Pop. Ang._] was written
by Milton himself, one who was sometime Bishopp Chappell's pupil
in Christ Church in Cambridge, but turned away by him, as he well
deserved to have been, out of the University, and out of the
society of men. If Salmasius his friends knew as much of him as I,
they would make him go near to hang himself. But I desire not to
wound the nation through his sides, yet I have written to him long
since about it roundly. It seems he desires not to touch upon this
subject."--_Works_, vol. i. p. 94, Oxford, 1842.

That Milton was _rusticated_ from Cambridge, and besides flogged by Dr. Chappell, there seems little reason to doubt, but it is equally clear that the punishment was only a temporary one, as he again went into residence, and took the degrees of bachelor and master of arts in due course. Whence, then, this sweeping accusation of the great and good Bramhall's, whose character is a sufficient safeguard that he at all events _believed_ what he said? Aubrey relates the story of Milton's being whipped by Dr. Chappell, and afterwards being "transferred to the tuition of one Dr. Tovell, who dyed parson of Lutterworth."[2] Milton himself (_Elegiarum Liber, Eleg. I. ad Carolum Deodatum_) speaks of his residence in London, and alludes, rather gratefully, to his "exilium" from Cambridge, which he heartily disliked. He also alludes to his being flogged, as there seems a whole world of meaning in _Caeteraque_:

"Nec duri libet usque minas perferre magistri,
_Caeteraque ingenio non subeunda meo_.
Si sit hoc _exilium_ patrios adiisse penates,
Et vacuum curis otia grata sequi,
Non ego vel _profugi_ nomen, sortemve recuso,
Laetus et _exilii_ conditione fruor."--Ver. 15. &c.

[Footnote 2: Dr. Warton has given a long note on the word
_Caeteraque_ in his edition of Milton's _Poems_, 1791, p. 421. He
suggests that probably "Dr. Tovell" should read "Dr. _Tovey_,
parson of _Kegworth_, in Leicestershire."]

We then get a short sketch of his employments and amusements in London; and his return to Cambridge is mentioned in the palinode to the last of his elegies:

"Donec Socraticos umbrosa academia rivos
Praebuit, admissum dedocuitque jugum.
Protinus extinctis ex illo tempore flammis,
Cincta rigent multo pectora nostra gelu."

Having now cleared my way in as brief a manner as possible, I must profess my utter disbelief in the enormities of Milton's life at Cambridge. He was certainly flogged, but then he was only eighteen years old at the time, and we know that flogging was permitted by the statutes of many colleges, and was a favorite recreation amongst the deans, tutors, and censors of the day. Bramhall's letter has indeed been a marvellous stumbling-block in my way, ever since the appearance of the last edition of his works; but I do hope that some of your learned correspondents will dispel the clouds and shadows that surround me, and prove that, at all events, Milton was not worse than his neighbours.

Dr. South and Cowley were never flogged at college, but certainly they were often flogged at school, or they could not speak so feelingly on the subject:

"Those 'plagosi Orbilii' (writes South), those executioners,
rather than instructors of youth; persons fitted to lay about them
in a coach or cart, or to discipline boys before a Spartan altar,
or rather upon it, than to have anything to do in a Christian
school. I would give these pedagogical _Jehus_, those furious
school-drivers, the same advice which the poet says Phoebus gave
his son Phaeton (just such another driver as themselves), that he
should _parcere stimulis_ (the stimulus in driving being of the
same use formerly that the lash is now). Stripes and blows are the
last and basest remedy, and scarce ever fit to be used but upon
such as carry their brains in their backs, and have souls so dull
and stupid as to serve for little else but to keep their bodies
from putrefaction."--_Sermon upon Proverbs, xxii. 6._

And Cowley, in describing the _Betula_ (Angl. birch-tree), how he does paint from nature!

"Mollis et alba cutim, formosam vertice fundens
Caesariem, sed mens tetrica est, sed nulla nec arbor
Nec fera sylvarum crudelior incolit umbras:
Nam simul atque urbes concessum intrare domosque
Plagosum _Orbilium_ saevumque imitata _Draconem_
Illa furit, non ulla viris delicta, nec ullum
Indulgens ludum pueris; inscribere membra
Discentum, teneroque rubescere sanguine gaudet."

_Plantarum_, lib. vi. pag. 323. Londini, 1668.

That Milton's character was notorious or infamous at Cambridge has never, to my knowledge, been proved; and there is in his favour this most overwhelming testimony, that he never forfeited the esteem and friendship of the great and good. Was Sir Henry Wotton writing to a man of blighted and blasted reputation when he sent the kind and complimentary letter prefixed to _Comus_? In that he not merely eulogises the "Dorique delicacy" of Milton's songs and odes, but gives him much kind and considerate advice upon the course he was to pursue in his travels, as well as some introductions to his own friends, and promises to keep up a regular correspondence with him during his absence. Milton was very proud of this letter, and speaks of it in his _Defensio Secunda_. Again, Milton's associates at Cambridge must have known all about the misdemeanour (whatever it was) that caused his rustication, and yet they permitted him to take a part in, and perhaps to write the preface of, the ever memorable volume which contained the first edition of _Lycidas_.

The person commemorated was Edward King, a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge (Milton's own college); and I need not adduce Milton's affecting allusions to their close and intimate friendship. It was for another of the _Fellows_ of Christ's College that Milton at the age of nineteen (the very year after his rustication) wrote the academic exercise _Naturam non pati Senium_, found amongst his Latin poems. But I will omit a great many arguments of a similar kind, and ask this question, Why has Milton's college career escaped the lash of three of the most sarcastic of writers, Cleveland, Butler, and South, who were his contemporaries? Cleveland must have known him well, as he, as well as Milton, had contributed some memorial verses to King, and party feeling would perhaps have overcome collegiate associations. Nor could their mutual connexion with _Golden Grove_ have saved him from the aspersions of Butler. After the Restoration, Richard Lord Vaughan, Earl of Carbery, appointed the author of _Hudibras_ to the stewardship of Ludlow Castle; and his second wife was the Lady Alice Egerton, who, at the age of thirteen, had acted the Lady in Milton's _Comus_. It was to her likewise that Bishop Jeremy Taylor dedicated the third edition of the third part of the _Life of Christ_, as he had dedicated the first edition to Lord Carbery's former wife, whose funeral sermon he preached. I do not remember that Cleveland or Butler have on any occasion satirised Milton; but I do remember that Dr. South has done so, and I cannot understand his silence on the matter if Milton's private character had been notorious. Of course I do not believe the anonymous invective ascribed to a son of Bishop Hall's. Dr. South was not the man to "mince matters," and yet Milton's college life has escaped his sarcasms. What his opinion of Milton was we may learn from his sermon preached before King Charles II. upon Judges xix. 30.

"The Latin advocate (Mr. Milton) who, like a blind adder, has spit
so much poison upon the king's person and cause," &c.

"In praefat. ad defensionem pro populo Anglicano (as his Latin
is)."--Vol. ii. pp. 201-2. Dublin, 1720. fol.

Any one who can help me out of my difficulty will much oblige me, as Bramhall's letter is a painful mystery, and truth of any kind is always less distressing than vague and shadowy surmises.

RT.

Warmington, Oct. 16, 1851.

THE SEMPILLS OF BELTRUS: ROBERT SEMPILL.

Some few months ago there was published in Edinburgh the first collected and only complete edition of the _Poems_ by the three brothers "Sir James, Robert, and Francis Sempill of Beltrus," better known as the authors of "The Pack-Man's Paternoster; or, a Picktooth for the Pope," "The Life and Death of Habbie Simson, Piper of Kilbarchum," "The Blythsome Wedding," "Maggie Lauder," &c., with biographical notices of their lives. I am now anxious to know if any of your numerous correspondents can inform me if copies of the original editions of the _Poems_ by "Robert Sempill" can be procured, or if they are in any of the public or private libraries in England? The following are what I am in quest of, viz.:

1. _The Regentis Tragedie_, 1570.

2. _The Bischoppis Lyfe and Testament_, 1571.

3. _My Lorde Methwenis Tragedie_, 1572.

4. _The Sege of the Castel of Edinburgh_, 1573.

Also where any notice as to his family, life, and character can be found.

A collection of Sempill's _Poems_, with some authentic account of the author, is certainly a desideratum in Scottish literature.

T. G. S.

Edinburgh, Oct. 18. 1851.

DESCENDANTS OF JOHN OF GAUNT.

John of Gaunt, by his third wife Katharine Swynford, left four children, born before his marriage with her, but legitimated by act of parliament. Of these the eldest is thus mentioned in Burke's "Introduction" to the _Peerage_, p. xxi.:--

"John de Beaufort, _Marquess_ of Somerset and Dorset, who married
Margaret, daughter of Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, and had a son
John, _Duke_ of Somerset, whose _only daughter and heir_,
Margaret, married Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and was mother
of Henry VII."

Query, Was Margaret "only child," as well as only daughter of John Duke of Somerset? or was she not sister to Henry, Edmund, and John, successively Dukes of Somerset? (See Burke's _Peerage_, "Duke of Beaufort.")

In that case, after the death of this last-named Duke John issueless, she would become "sole heir," as she had always been "sole daughter," of Duke John the First.

Or was she in fact _the daughter of this second and last Duke John_? At his death the male line of Lancaster became extinct; the royal branch having already failed at the death of Henry VI.

There appears some little confusion in Burke's excellent work, as may be seen by comparing p. xxi. of the Introduction, &c., with the genealogy of the Beaufort family.

A. B.

Clifton.

Minor Queries.

246. _Rocky Chasm near Gaeta: Earthquake at the Crucifixion._--Dr. Basire (who was archdeacon of Northumberland, prebendary of Durham, and chaplain to King Charles the Martyr and King Charles II.), in his account of a tour made by himself and companions in 1649, says:

"Wee landed to see Gaeta, a pleasant, strong, and very antient
citty. In it we saw some wonders, especially the thorow rupture of
a rocky mountain by an earthquake, which tradition sayes, and
Cardinal Baronius publishes to have happened at our Savior's
passion: a stupendous sight it is however, and well worth our
digression."--_Correspondence, &c., of Basire_, edited by the Rev.
W. N. Darnell, p. 90.

I cannot here consult Baronius, to see whether he gives any references, and should be very glad to be referred to any ancient historian who has noticed the event to which this remarkable chasm is attributed, and to know whether the tradition is preserved by any classical writer. I do not find the chasm in question described by any naturalist, or other traveller, whose writings I have been able to refer to. It is in a locality which abounds with indications of volcanic action. It is said that the Monte Somma was probably not distinct from the present cone of Vesuvius prior to the great eruption in A.D. 79. In Dr. Daubeny's _Description of Active and Extinct Volcanos_, mention is made of an ancient town beneath the town of Sessa, where a chamber with antique frescoes and the remains of an amphitheatre were disinterred, of the overwhelming of which there is no record, nor is there even a tradition of any eruption having occurred near it in the memory of man.

W. S. G.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

247. _Cavalcade._--Your correspondent MR. W. H. HESLEDEN, in his description of "A Funeral in Hamburgh" (Vol. iv., p. 269.), has twice made use of the word _cavalcade_ in reference to that which would otherwise appear to be a walking procession. He will oblige me (and I dare say others of your readers) by explaining whether the procession was really equestrian, or whether he has any authority for the application of the term to pedestrians. The use of the word cannot have been a mere oversight, since it is repeated. The relation in which it stands makes it very doubtful whether it can, by any possibility, be intended to describe a riding party. If, by any latitude, the word may be otherwise applied, an authority would be interesting. If it is an error, it certainly should not go uncorrected in "NOTES AND QUERIES."

NOCAB.

Harley Street.

248. _A Sept of Hibernians._--Is _sept_ a word of Erse etymology; and, if not, of what other? Has it a specific sense; or is it a general equivalent to _clann_ or _treubh_?

A. N.

249. _Yankee Doodle._--Can any of your correspondents explain the origin of this song, or state in what book a correct version of it can be found? Likewise, whether the tune is of older date than the song. To some these may appear trite questions; but I can assure you that I have been unable to obtain the information I require elsewhere, and my applications for the song at several music shops, when I was last in London, were unsuccessful.

SAMPSON WALKER.

Cambridge.

250. _Seventeenth of November: Custom._--When at school at Christ's Hospital, many years ago, a curious custom prevailed on the 17th November respecting which I had not then sufficient curiosity to inquire.

Two or more boys would take one against whom they had any spite or grudge, and having lifted him by the arms and legs would bump him on the hard stones of the cloisters.

I have often, since I left the school, wondered what could be the origin of this practice, and more especially as the day was recognised as having some connexion with Queen Elizabeth.

In reading, "Sir Roger de Coverley" with notes by Willis, published in the _Traveller's Library_, I find at p. 134. what I consider a fair explanation. A full account is there given of the manner in which the citizens of London intended to celebrate, in 1711, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession on 17th November; some parts of which would almost seem to have been copied during the excitement against the papal bull in November 1850.

I have little doubt that originally the unfortunate boy who had to endure the rude bumping by his schoolfellows was intended to represent the pope or one of his emissaries, and that those who inflicted the punishment were looked upon as good Protestants.

Is there any other school where this day is celebrated; and if so, what particular custom prevails there?

The boys always attended morning service at Christ Church on this day.

F. B. RELTON.

251. _Chatter-box._--The derivation of this word would seem very plain, and yet I have some doubts about it. I used to think that we called a person a "chatter-box" because he or she was, metaphorically speaking, a box full of chatter, as we should call another person a _bag-of-bones_. And this seemed confirmed by the German _plaudertasche_, or a _chatter-bag_, till I learnt from Wackernagel, _Glossar_, that in the Middle High German _Tasche_ = _a woman_. (See under "Flattertasche.") I believe we meet with the word again in the epithet _Maultasche_ applied to the celebrated Margaret Maultasche, the wife of Louis the Elder; _i.e._ Margaret, the woman with the large mouth. The word also occurs in the Danish _Taske_ = _a girl_, _a wench_. Hence, I conclude that there is no doubt but that the German _plaudertasche_ means a chattering woman. Has our _chatter-box_ the same meaning--_i.e._ is there a word for _woman_ or _female_ in any of our ancient languages from which _box_ might arise? The only word which occurs to me just now as confirming such a supposition is _buxom_ ("to be bonere and buxom, in bedde and at borde." Ancient Matrimony Service), which is thus = _womanly_.

J. M. (4)

St. Mary Tavy, Tavistock.

252. _Printing in 1449, and Shakspeare._--As the _Esil_ controversy seems now, if not settled, to be at least lulled, at the risk of stirring up another Shakspearean discussion, I venture to set down a passage in the _Second Part of Henry VI._, which I have never yet seen satisfactorily explained. It is--

"Act IV. Scene 7.--_Cade._ ... Thou has most traitorously
corrupted the youth of the realm, in erecting a grammar-school;
and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the
score and the tally, _thou hast caused printing to be used_; and
contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, _thou hast built a
paper-mill_."

Is this a mere wilful anachronism on Shakspeare's part; or had "that misunderstood politician" Mr. John Cade any ground for this particular accusation against the Lord Treasurer Say? Perhaps some of your correspondents who have contributed the very interesting Notes on Caxton and Printing will elucidate the matter.

W. FRASER.

253. _Texts before Sermons._--What is the origin of, and the authority for our present use of texts of Holy Scripture before sermons? In the Roman Catholic church the custom, I believe, is not the same. The homilies used in the Church of England have no texts. In the ancient Postils, was the gospel for the day again read from the pulpit, or were the hearers supposed to carry it in their minds? It is quite clear that texts are now in most cases merely the pegs whereon the sermon is hung, so to speak, and are not read as passages of Holy Scripture to be expounded to an audience ignorant of the meaning of the sacred volume. Perhaps this Query may draw forth some remarks on the subject.

G. R. M.

254. _Paradyse, Hell, Purgatory._--Can any of your correspondents favour me with the history and uses of three Chambers or Houses in Westminster Hall, which in the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. bore these portentous names? The custody of them was evidently a source of profit; as there are several grants of it to "squires of the king's body" and others. (See _Rymer_, xii. 275., xiii. 34.; _Rot. Parl._ vi. 372.)

[Greek: Ph.]

255. _Dead Letter._--"If the editor of 'NOTES AND QUERIES' will accept an indirect suggestion, we should be glad if he, or some of his learned correspondents, would inform the public of the origin or antiquity of the popular saying by which a thing, under certain circumstances, is designated as a 'dead letter.'"

[Being unwilling that the foregoing Query, which we have taken
from an admirable article on the Dead Letters of the Post Office,
which appeared in _The Times_ of Tuesday last, should itself
become a _dead letter_, we have transferred it to our columns in
hopes that some of our learned correspondents will explain the
origin, and show the antiquity of the phrase by instances of its
earliest use. We do not believe that it is a Post Office
technicality transferred to the vocabulary of every-day life, but
that it is in some way connected with "the letter" that
"killeth."]

256. _Dominus Bathurst, &c._--Who was "Dominus Bathurst," a Commoner of Winchester in 1688? "Dominus Anvers" and "Dominus Modyford" occur in 1694; who were they?

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

257. _Grammar Schools._--The Editor of the _Family Almanack_ would be glad if any of the readers of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" could inform him whether the Grammar Schools founded in the following places are still open to scholars:--

Neale's School, March, Cambridgeshire; Dilborne, Staffordshire; Kirton in Lindsay, Lincolnshire; Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire; Nuneaton, Warwickshire; Pilkington School, Prestwich, Lancashire; Royston, Yorkshire; Bolton School, Scorton, Yorkshire; Lovel's School, Stickney, Lincolnshire; Stourbridge, Worcestershire; Tottenham, Middlesex.

Any letter on the subject can be forwarded to the publisher, 377. Strand.

258. _Fermilodum._--I have an antique metal seal in my possession, which is about two inches and a quarter in diameter, having on its exterior circle in small capitals SIGILLVM + CIVITATIS + FERMILODVM. I wish to know if a place with such a seal could be called a _City_, and want a literal translation of it. My native town was originated by a monastic establishment, and several of the names of the streets have long puzzled the learned, such as _May-gate_, _Colorow_ (Collicrow), _Pill_ or Peel Muir: a place called the Rhodes is also in the vicinity. Would any of your antiquarian correspondents give derivations of those streets?

H. E.

259. _Lord Hungerford._--Who was the Lord Hungerford who was hanged and degraded (and for what crime?), and who is said in Defoe's _Tour_ (cited in Southey's _Commonplace Book_, 4th series, p. 429.) to have had a toad put into his coat of arms? Where can such coat of arms be seen?

J. R. RELTON.

260. _Consecration of Bishops in Sweden._--As I see "NOTES AND QUERIES" attracts notice in Sweden, may I ask whether any record exists of the consecration of Bothvidus Sermonis, who was appointed to the see of Strengness by King Gustavus Vasa in 1536?

E. H. A.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Effigy of a Pilgrim._--There is in the parish church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch an effigy, which is very interesting from its extreme rarity; it is placed under a depressed arch in the north wall of the interior of the edifice, and consists of a recumbent figure of a pilgrim habited in a cloak and short boots, which lace in front with six holes just above the instep: his legs are bare, and so is his head, but his cockle hat lies under his right shoulder; his scrip, hanging from his right shoulder to his left side, is tolerably perfect; but his row of beads, suspended from his left shoulder to his right side, is mutilated, as is also his staff; the hands, which were probably raised in prayer, are gone; a collar of SS. hangs from his neck (will this be of any use to MR. E. FOSS, Vol. iv., p. 147.?); the feet of the pilgrim rest against a curious looking animal, which is said to be a dog.

Nothing is known as to whom the effigy represents, and I have not Nichols's _Leicestershire_ by me, to see if he hazards an opinion on the subject. I shall feel much obliged by any of your numerous readers kindly informing me where other effigies of pilgrims are to be found, because if anything is known of them it may possibly help to elucidate this present case of obscurity.

THOS. LAURENCE.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

[Nichols, in his _Leicestershire_, vol. iii. p 623., has given
some account of this effigy from Carter and Burton, together with
two sketches of the monument. Carter says, "There is no tradition
to determine whom this figure represents; but Mr. Gough thinks
that it was some person of authority, perhaps a keeper of the
castle, or a bailiff of the town." This monument had been noticed
by Mr. Burton, subsequent to the publication of his _History_; for
in the margin of his volume is this MS. note, and a slight sketch
of the tomb, when the scrip and staff were more perfect than they
are at present:--"On the north side of the church, near to the
great north door, lieth in the wall an ancient monument of a
Palmer in alabaster, which I guess to be of some of the family of
Zouch; which, for the expressing of the manner of the habit, I
caused to be cut and inserted." This sketch is also engraved in
plate lxxvi. of Nichols's _Leicestershire_.]

"_Modern Universal History._"--At the conclusion of the preface of this History, in vol. xvi. of the first edition, it is stated, "this work is illustrated by the most complete set of maps that modern geography furnishes." My copy is a very fine one, but I do not find any maps whatever in it. Can any of your readers inform me whether such maps exist; and if so, in what volumes, and at what pages, they ought to be? Are they to be obtained separately?

S. QUARTO.

[The maps and charts, thirty-seven in number, to the _Modern_ part
of the _Universal History_, were published separately, in folio,
1766: the volume and page where they are to be inserted are given
on each plate.]

_Origin of Evil._--Where shall I find this problem fully discussed?

A. A. D.

[In Abp. King's _Essay on the Origin of Evil_, translated by
Bishop Law, which has passed through several editions.]

_Nolo Episcopari._--Why is this phrase applied to a _feigned reluctance_ in accepting an offer?

A. A. D.

[From a note in Blackstone's _Commentaries_, vol. i. p. 380.,
edit. Christian, we learn that "it is a prevailing vulgar error,
that every bishop, before he accepts the bishoprick which is
offered him, affects a maiden coyness, and answers _Nolo
episcopari_. The origin of these words and the notion I have not
been able to discover; the bishops certainly give no such refusal
at present, and I am inclined to think they never did at any time
in this country."]

_Authors of the Homilies._--Presuming that the authors of the Church Homilies are well known, their writings having been adopted by our church, and set forth and enjoined by authority to be read in all churches, I fear I am only showing great ignorance by asking where I can meet with a list of the writers of those discourses, distinguishing which of the Homilies were written by each author; and if the writers of some of them be unknown, then I should be glad to have the names of such as are known, and the particular Homilies which were written by them.

G. R. C.

[Carwithen, in his _History of the Church of England_, vol. i. p.
221. note _g_, speaking of the first book of Homilies, says,
"These Homilies were the work of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer,
Hopkins, and Becon, one of Cranmer's chaplains. There is little
but internal evidence by which the author of any particular Homily
can be ascertained. The Homily 'Of the Salvation of Mankind,'
being the third as they are now placed, was ascribed by Gardiner
to Cranmer; and Cranmer never denied that it was his. The
eleventh, in three parts, is by Becon; and it is printed among his
works published by himself in three volumes folio. It is in the
second volume." Consult also Le Bas' _Life of Cranmer_, vol. i. p.
284., and Soames' _Hist. of the Reformation_, vol. iii. p. 56.]

_Family of Hotham of Yorkshire._--The family of Hotham, or Hothum, of Boudeby in Yorkshire, acquired large possessions in Kilkenny at an early period, apparently in consequence of an intermarriage with the Le Despencers, lords of a third of the liberty of Kilkenny. Can any reader of "NOTES AND QUERIES" supply me with a pedigree of that family, especially as connecting therewith Sir John Hotham, Bishop of Ossory, 1779-1782? Any particulars respecting the life of that prelate will also be thankfully acknowledged: he is said to have been a member of an old Yorkshire family. (Cotton's _Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae_, vol. ii. p. 288.)

JAMES GRAVES.

Kilkenny, Oct. 11. 1851.

[There are several references to the Hotham family in Sims' _Index
to all the Pedigrees and Arms in the Heralds' Visitations and
other Genealogical MSS. in the British Museum_, under Yorkshire.
Granger (_Biographical Hist._, vol. ii. p. 217.) has given a short
account of Sir John Hotham, Governor of Hull _temp._ Charles I.
See also _Gentleman's Mag._, vol. lxiv. p. 182., for a notice of
Sir Charles; and vol. lxviii. p. 633. for an account of the death
of Lady Dorothy Hotham.]

_Vogelweide._--What authority has Longfellow for his legend of _Walter of the Bird Meadow_? I find this epitaph given as his in Hone:

"Pascua qui volucrum vivus, Walthere, fuisti,
Qui flos eloquii, qui Palladis os, obiisti!
Ergo quod aureolam probitas tua possit habere,
Qui legit, hic dicat--'Deus istius miserere!'"

Has Julius Mosen's _Legend of the Crossbill_, translated by Longfellow, any more ancient foundation?

MORTIMER COLLINS.

[The epitaph, and a very interesting sketch of the life of _Walter
Vogelweide_, with some ably translated specimens of his poetical
compositions, will be found in the late Edgar Taylor's _Lays of
the Minnisingers_, 8vo. London, 1825.]

_Meaning of Skeatta._--What is a silver Skeatta? See _Gent. Mag._, May, 1851, p. 537.

J. R. RELTON.

[Mr. Akerman, in his very useful _Numismatic Manual_, p. 227.,
says, "The word _sceatta_ is by some derived from _sceat_, a
_part_ or _portion_. Professor White, in a paper read to the
Ashmolean Society, remarks, that it is of Moeso-Gothic origin,
_scatt_ signifying in the Gospels of Uphilas a _pound_, a _penny_,
and, indeed, money in general." Ruding observes that, "Whatever
might have been the precise value of the _sceatta_, it was
undoubtedly the smallest coin known among the Saxons at the latter
end of the seventh century, as appears from its forming part of a
proverb: Ne sceat ne scilling, _From the least to the greatest_."]

Replies.

MARRIAGE OF ECCLESIASTICS.

(Vol. iv. pp. 57. 125. 193. 196. 298.)

Your general readers have reason to be as much obliged as myself to your correspondents CEPHAS and K. S. for the information contained in the former's criticisms, and the latter's addition to what you had inserted in my name on the subject of clerical marriages.