Chapter I: Part 1

[Transcriber's note: Original spelling variations have not been standardized. Characters with macrons have been marked in brackets with an =equal= sign, as [=e] for a letter e with a macron on top. _Underscores_ have been used to mark _italic_ fonts; emphasis by =letter spacing= or =bold= text have been marked with =equal= signs. A list of volumes and pages in "Notes and Queries" has been added at the end.]

NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM FOR INTER-COMMUNICATION

FOR

LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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

VOL. IV.--No. 113. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27. 1851.

Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4_d._

CONTENTS.

Page

NOTES:--

Historical Coincidences: Barclay and Perkins 497

Remains of King James II. 498

Shetland Folk Lore:--The Wresting
Thread--Ringworm--Burn--Elfshot 500

Minor Notes:--Names of Places in Normandy and Orkney 501

QUERIES:--

Minor Queries:--Meaning of Ploydes--Green-eyed
Monster--Perpetual Lamp--Family of Butts--Greek
Names of Fishes--Drimmnitavichillichatan--Chalk-back
Day--Moravian Hymns--Rural and Urban Deans--Ducks
and Drakes--Vincent Kidder--House at Welling--Shropshire,
Price of Land--Legal Time 501

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--Thorns of Dauphine--Inscription
at Lyons--Turnpikes 502

REPLIES:--

General James Wolfe 503

"Flemish Account" 504

Pope and Flatman, by Henry H. Breen 505

Derivation of "London," by Francis Crossley, &c. 505

Replies to Minor Queries:--Legend of the Robin
Redbreast--Monk and Cromwell--Souling--Clekit House--Peter
Talbot--Races in which Children, &c.--Bacon a Poet--Story
referred to by Jeremy Taylor--Share of Presbyters in
Ordination--Weever's Funeral Monument--Dial Motto
at Karlsbad--Cabal--Rectitudines Singularum
Personarum--Stanzas in Childe Harold--The Island
and Temple of AEgina--Herschel anticipated--Wyle
Cop--Macfarlane Manuscripts 506

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 509

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 510

Notices to Correspondents 510

Advertisements 510

Notes.

HISTORICAL COINCIDENCES.

_Barclay and Perkins._

Have you ever amused yourself by tracing historical parallels? did you ever note how often one age reflects the character of another, so that the stage of real life seems to us at intervals as a theatre on which we see represented the passions of the past, its political tendencies, and monied speculations; the only change being that of costume, and a wider but more modified method of action? So true it is that men change, institutions vary, and that human nature is always the same. The church reproduces its Laud, the railway exchange its Law, the bench has its Mansfield, the Horse Guards its greater Marlborough, and Newgate its Mrs. Brownrigg. We have giants as great as King Charles's porter, and a Tom Thumb who would have frightened the very _ghosts_ of all departed Jeffery Hudsons,--a class not generally accused of fear, except at daybreak,--by his unequalled _diminutiveness_. Take the great questions which agitate the church and the senate-house, which agitated them in the sixteenth, during much of the two following centuries, and you will find the same theological, political, commercial, and sanitary questions debated with equal honesty, equal truth, and similar prospects of satisfactory solution. I confess, however, that for one historical coincidence I was unprepared; and that "Barclay and Perkins," in the case of assault upon a noted public character, should have an historical antecedent in the seventeenth century, has caused me some surprise. It is not necessary for me to recall to your attention how Barclay and Perkins were noised about on the occasion of the attack on General Haynau. The name of the firm was as familiar to our lips as their porter:

"Never came reformation in a flood
With such a _heady_ currance."

There had been no similar _emeute_, as I was told by a civic wit, since the days of "Vat Tyler." Now let me remind you of the Barclay and Perkins and the other Turnham Green men's plot, who conspired to assault and assassinate King William III. Mind, the coincidence is only in name. The historic parallel is rather of kind than event, but it is not the less remarkable when we consider the excitement twice connected with these names. The character of James II. may be described as the _villainy of weakness_. It possessed nothing of elevation, breadth, or strength. It was this weak obliquity which made him deceive his people, and led them to subvert the laws, supplant the church, and to become a tyrant in the name of religious liberty. His means to recover the throne were as mean as the manner of its desertion was despicable. He tried cajolery, it failed; the bravery of his Irish soldiers, it was unavailing. He next relied on the corruption of Russell, the avarice of Marlborough; but as these men were to be bought as well as sold, he put his trust finally in any villain who was willing to be hired for assassination. In 1692 M. de Grandval, a captain of dragoons, was shot in the allied camp, who confessed that King James at St. Germain, in the presence of the queen, had engaged him to shoot King William. Four years later James had contrived another plot. At the head of this were Sir George Barclay and Sir William Perkins, and under their guidance twenty men were engaged to assist in the assassination of King William. The plan was as follows. It was the custom of the king to hunt near the house of Mr. Latten, in the neighbourhood of Brentford, and they designed to surprise the king on his return at a hollow part of the road between Brentford and Turnham Green, one division of them being placed behind some bushes and brushwood at the western end of the Green. Some of your correspondents may perhaps fix the spot; but as the Green extended then far beyond what it now does, I suspect it was about the road leading to Gunnesbury; the road itself I recollect as a boy seeing much elevated and improved. The design failed, two of the gang betrayed the rest,--Barclay escaped, but Perkins and some others were hung. Jeremy Collier attended them on the scaffold, and publicly gave them absolution in the name of Christ, and by imposition of hands, for all their sins. I need not describe to you the excitement caused by this plot of Barclay and Perkins: the event connected with their names, as at our later period--

"Was a theme of all conversation;
Had it been a pillar of church and state,
Or a prop to support the whole dead weight,
It could not have furnished more debate
For the heads and tails of the nation."

James closed the drama becomingly; he published a defence of his conduct in a paper, the style of which has been well described as the "euphemism of assassination." The road between Turnham Green and Kew was long after associated with the names of "Barclay and Perkins."

S.H.

REMAINS OF KING JAMES II.

The enclosed copy of an authentic document, obtained through the kindness of Mr. Pickford, Her Majesty's consul in Paris, is communicated to the publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES", in the belief that it may prove acceptable to those who take an interest in the questions raised by the articles in Nos. 46. 48. and 56. of that valuable publication.

This document is an "Extract from the Register of the Deliberation of the Municipal Council of St. Germain-en-Laye," dated July 12, 1824, containing the official report, or _proces-verbal_, of the discovery made that day of three boxes, in which were deposited a portion of the remains of King James II. and of the Princess Louise-Marie, his daughter.

The "annexes" referred to, of the respective dates of September 16 and 17, A.D. 1701, leave no doubt as to the disposal of the royal corpse at that time. With respect to its fate, after its removal from the English Benedictine convent in Paris in 1793, as mentioned in the article No. 46., it is most probable that it shared the fate of other royal relics exhumed at the same disastrous period from the vaults of St. Denys, which were scattered to the winds, or cast into a common pit.

It may be presumed that the epitaph given in the same document, and mentioned as being _such as it had existed_ in the church of St. Germain-en-Laye, had disappeared before the date of the "Extract from the Register." It probably was destroyed during the first fury of the French Revolution in 1793:--

"Republique Francaise.

"Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.

"Ville de Saint Germain-en-Laye.

"Extrait du Registre des Deliberations du Conseil Municipal.

"Seance du 12 Juillet, 1824.

"Aujourd'hui lundi douze Juillet mil huit cent vingt-quatre, trois
heures de relevee, nous Pierre Danes de Montardat, ancien Colonel
de Cavalerie, chevalier de l'ordre royal et militaire de St.
Louis, Maire de la ville de St. Germain-en-Laye, ayant ete informe
par MM. les Architectes de la nouvelle eglise de cette ville, que
ce matin, vers sept heures, en faisant la fouille de l'emplacement
du nouveau clocher dans l'ancienne chapelle des fonds, on avait
decouvert successivement trois boites en plomb de differentes
formes, placees tres pres les unes des autres, et dont l'une
desquelles portait une inscription gravee sur une table d'etain,
constatant qu'elle contient partie des restes du roi Jacques
Stuart Second, Roi d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse et d'Irlande. Nous
sommes transporte sur le lieu susdesigne accompagne de M. le
Compte Bozon de Talleyrand, Lieutenant General honoraire, Grand'
Croix de l'ordre de St. Louis, Gouverneur du Chateau de St.
Germain-en-Laye, de M. Jean Jacques Collignon, cure de cette
paroisse royale, de MM. Malpiece et Moutier, architectes de la
nouvelle eglise, de M. Rigault, secretaire de la Mairie, et de MM.
Voisin, Perrin, Baudin, de Beaurepaire (le comte), Dusouchet,
Galot, Decan, Dupuis, Jeulin, Journet, Griveau, Dufour, Delaval,
Casse et Barbe, membres du Conseil Municipal, et de M. Morin,
Commissaire de Police,

"Ou etant, nous avons reconnu et constate;

"1'o. Que la premiere des trois boites susdites (figure A) etait
en plomb de 0m. 35c. carres et 0m. 18 centimetres de hauteur,
recouverte d'une plaque en meme de 0m. 22 centimetres carres,
sous laquelle plaque on a trouve une table en etain de 0m. 20
centimetres de haut, 0m. 15c. de large, portant cette
inscription:--

"'Ici est une portion de la chair et des parties
nobles du corps de tres haut, tres puissant,
tres excellent Prince Jacques Stuart, second du
nom, Roi de la Grande Bretagne; naquit le
XXIII Octobre MDCXXXIII, decede en
France, a St. Germain-en-Laye, le XVI Septembre
MDCCI.'

"Au bas de la plaque sont empreintes ses armes.

"Cette boite est en partie mutilee: elle contient plusieurs
portions d'ossements et des restes non encore consommes.

"La deuxieme boite (figure B) circulaire est aussi en plomb de
0m. 34 centimetres de diametre et 0m. 30c. de hauteur et
decouverte.

"La troisieme boite (figure C) de 0m. 30c. carres et 0m. 25
centimetres de hauteur est aussi en plomb et fermee de toutes
parts a l'exception d'un trou oxyde.

"Ces deux dernieres boites ne paraissent contenir que des restes
consommes. Ces trois boites ont ete enlevees, en presence de
toutes les personnes denommees au present, avec le plus grand soin
et transportees dans le Tresor de la Sacristie.

"Ensuite nous avons fait faire aux archives de la Mairie les
recherches necessaires, et nous avons trouve sur le registre de
l'annee 1701 a la date du 16 Septembre, les actes dont copies
seront jointes au present proces-verbal, ainsi que l'Epitaphe du
Roi Jacques, et qui constatent que partie de ses entrailles, de
son cerveau avec les poumons et un peu de sa chair, sont restes en
depot dans cette eglise pour la consolation des peuples tant
Francais qu'Anglais, et pour conserver en ce lieu la memoire d'un
si grand et si religieux prince.

"Les autres boites sont sans doute les restes de la Princesse
Louise Marie d'Angleterre et fille du Roi Jacques Second, decedee
a St. Germain le 17 Avril, 1712, ainsi que le constate le registre
de cette annee, qui indique qu'une partie des entrailles de cette
Princesse a ete deposee pres des restes de son pere.

"De tout ce que dessus le present a ete redige les sus-dits jour,
mois et an, et signe de toutes les personnes y denommees.

"(Ainsi signe a la minute du proces-verbal.)

"Suivent les annexes.

"Du seize Septembre mil sept cent un, a trois heures et vingt
minutes apres midi, est decede dans le chateau vieil de ce lieu,
tres haut, tres puissant et tres religieux Prince Jacques Stuart,
second du nom, Roi d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse et d'Irlande, age de 67
ans 11 mois, egalement regrette des peuples de France et
d'Angleterre, et surtout des habitans de ce lieu et autres qui
avaient ete temoins oculaires de ses excellentes vertus et de sa
religion, pour laquelle il avait quitte toutes ses couronnes, les
cedant a un usurpateur denature, ayant mieux aime vivre en bon
chretien eloigne de ses etats, et faire par ses infortunes et sa
patience, triompher la religion catholique, que de regner lui-meme
au milieu d'un peuple mutin et heretique. Sa derniere maladie
avait dure quinze jours, pendant lesquels il avait recu deux fois
le St. Viatique et l'extreme onction par les mains de Messire Jean
Francois de Benoist, Docteur de la Maison de Sorbonne, prieur et
cure de ce lieu, son propre pasteur, avec des sentimens d'une
humilite profonde, qu'apres avoir pardonne a tous les siens
rebelles et ses plus cruels ennemis, il demanda meme pardon a ses
officiers, s'il leur avait donne quelque sujet de chagrin. Il
avait donne aussi des marques de sa tendresse et religion au
Serenissime Prince de Galles, son fils, digne heritier de ses
couronnes aussi bien que de ses vertus, auquel il recommanda de
n'avoir jamais d'autre regle de sa conduite que les maximes de
l'Evangile, d'honorer toujours sa tres vertueuse mere, aux soins
de laquelle il le laissait, de se souvenir des bontes que Sa
Majeste tres chretienne lui avait toujours temoigne, et de plutot
renoncer a tous ses etats que d'abandonner la foi de Jesus-Christ.
Tout le peuple tant de ce lieu que des environs ont eu la
consolation de lui rendre les derniers devoirs et de la visiter
pour la derniere fois en son lit de parade, ou il demeura
vingt-quatre heures expose en vue, pendant lesquelles il fut
assiste du clerge de cette eglise, des reverends peres Recollets
et des Loges, qui ne cesseront pas de prier pour le repos de l'ame
de cet illustre heros du nom chretien que le Seigneur recompense
d'une couronne eternelle.

"Signe, P. PARMENTIER, Secretaire."

"Du dix-septieme jour (meme annee) sur les huit heures et demie du
soir, fut enleve du chateau vieil de ce lieu, le corps de tres
haut, tres puissant et religieux monarque Jacques Stuart, second
du nom, Roi d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse et d'Irlande, apres avoir ete
embaume en la maniere accoutumee, pour etre conduit aux Religieux
Benedictins Anglais de Paris, faubourg St. Jacques, accompagne
seulement de soixante gardes et trois carosses a la suite, ainsi
qu'il avait ordonne pour donner encore apres sa mort un exemple de
detachement qu'il avait eu pendant sa vie des vanites du monde,
n'etant assiste que de ses aumoniers et de Messire Jean Francois
de Benoist, pretre, Docteur de la Maison de Sorbonne, prieur et
cure de ce lieu, son propre pasteur, qui ne l'avait point
abandonne dans toute sa maladie, l'ayant console dans tous ses
maux d'une maniere edifiante et autant pleine d'onction qu'on
puisse desirer du pasteur zele pour le salut de ses ouailles. Son
coeur fut en meme tems porte dans l'Eglise des Religieuses de
Chaillot; une partie de ses entrailles, de son cerveau, avec ses
poumons et un peu de sa chair, sont restes en depot dans cette
eglise, pour la consolation des peuples tant Francais qu'Anglais
et pour conserver en ce lieu la memoire d'un si grand et si
religieux prince.

"Signe, P. PARMENTIER, Secretaire."

"Epitaphe de Jacques Second, Roi de la Grande Bretagne, telle
qu'elle existait dans l'Eglise de St. Germain-en-Laye:--

"'A. Regi Regum
felicique memoriae
Jacobi II. Majoris Britanniae Regis
Qui sua hic viscera condi voluit
Conditus ipse in visceribus Christi.
Fortitudine bellica nulli secundus,
Fide Christiana cui non par?
Per alteram quid non ausus?
Propter alteram quid non passus?
Illa plus quam heros
Ista prope martyr.

Fide fortis
Accensus periculis, erectus adversis.

Nemo Rex magis, cui regna quatuor
Anglia, Scotia, Hibernia--Ubi quartum?
Ipse sibi.
Tria eripi potuere
Quartum intactum mansit.
Priorum defensio, Exercitus qui defecerunt
Postremi tutelae, virtutes nunquam transfugae.

Quin nec illa tria erepta omnino.
Instar Regnorum est Ludovicus hospes
Sarcit amicitia talis tantae sacrilegia perfidiae,
Imperat adhuc qui sic exulat.

Moritur, ut vixit, fide plenus
Eoque advolat quo fides ducit
Ubi nihil perfidia potest.

Non fletibus hic, canticis locus est.
Aut si flendum, flenda Anglia.'

"Pour copies conformes, Le Maire de St. Germain," &c.

The authenticity of the signature attested by Her Britannic Majesty's consul in Paris, Dec. 11, 1850.

SHETLAND FOLK LORE.

_The Wresting Thread._--When a person has received a sprain, it is customary to apply to an individual practised in casting the "wrested thread." This is thread spun from black wool, on which are cast _nine_ knots, and tied round a sprained leg or arm. During the time the operator is putting the thread round the affected limb, he says, in a muttering tone, in such a manner as not to be understood by the bystanders, nor even by the person operated upon--

"The Lord rade (rode),
And the foal slade (slipped);
He lighted,
An she righted.
Set joint to joint[1],
Bone to bone,
And sinew to sinew,
Heal in the Holy Ghost's name!!!"

[Footnote 1: This charm is remarkable for its resemblance to an
early German one found by Grimm in a MS. of the tenth century,
originally published by him in 1842, and to be found, with
references to Norwegian, Swedish, Flemish, and this Scottish
version, in the second edition of his _Deutsche Mythologie_, s.
1181-2.--ED.]

_Ringworm._--The person affected with ringworm takes a little ashes between the forefinger and thumb, three successive mornings, and before taking any food, and holding the ashes to the part affected, says--

"Ringworm! ringworm red!
Never mayst thou spread or speed,
But aye grow less and less,
And die away among the ase (ashes)."

_Burn._--To cure a burn, the following words are used:--

"Here come I to cure a burnt sore;
If the dead knew what the living endure,
The burnt sore would burn no more."

The operator, after having repeated the above, blows his breath three times upon the burnt place.

_Elfshot._--A notion is prevalent, that when a cow is suddenly taken ill, she is elfshot; that is, that a kind of spirits called "trows," different in their nature from fairies, have discharged a stone arrow at her, and wounded her with it. Though no wound can be seen externally, there are different persons, both male and female, who pretend to feel it in the flesh, and to cure it by repeating certain words over the cow. They also fold a sewing needle in a leaf taken from a particular part of a psalm book, and sew it in the hair of the cow; which is considered not only as an infallible cure, but which also serves as a charm against future attacks. This is nearly allied to a practice which was at one time very prevalent, and of which some traces may perhaps still exist, in what would be considered a more civilised part of the country, of wearing a small piece of the branch of the rowan tree, wrapped round with red thread, and sewn into some part of the garments, to guard against the effects of an "evil eye," or witchcraft:

"Rowan-tree and red thread
Puts the witches to their speed."

In the neighbourhood of Peterhead, there lived, a few years ago, a famous exorcist, whose ancestors had for several generations practised the same profession. He was greatly resorted to by parties in the Buchan district, for curing elfshot cattle, cows whose milk had been surreptitiously taken away, to recover stolen property and find out thieves, and put a stop to "cloddings." This latter description of _diablerie_, is just a repetition of the Cock Lane ghost's tricks, and occasionally yet occurs. On one occasion the exorcist was bearded in his own den: for about twenty-five years ago a terrible "clodding" took place at a farm-house in the parish of Longside, a mile or two from his own; it defied the united efforts of priest and layman to lay it, and the operator was called in, and while in the middle of one of his most powerful exorcisms, was struck on the side of his head with a piece of peat. The annoyance continued a few weeks, and then ceased altogether. In the parish of Banchory Ternan, about seven years ago, a "clodding" took place, which created considerable sensation in the district.

DUNROSSNESS.

Minor Notes.

_Names of Places in Normandy and Orkney._--In reading Depping's _History of the Norman Maritime Expeditions_, my attention was directed to Appendix IX. vol. ii. p. 339., "Des Noms Topographiques de Normandie dont l'origine est etrangere." Many of the names given there resemble those in Orkney. I note a few of them.

Depedal. Deepdale, a secluded valley near Kirkwall; _Dalv_, Icelandic, a valley.

Auppegard, Eppegard in Normandy; Kongsgarth, Herdmansgarth in Orkney; Icelandic _Gardr_, a field, an enclosure.

Cape La Hogue, derived by M. Depping from _hougr_, a promontory; Hoxay in Orkney, _hougs_ and _ay_, an island. _Haugs-eid_, isthmus of the hillock, is another derivation.

Cherbourg, Dep. p. 331.; Suhm, in a note appended, finds the root in his tongue, _skiair_, _skeer_; Icelandic _Sker_, a sea-rock, the Orkney _Skerry_, an islet covered at high water.

Houlmes, near Rouen; the Orkney _Holm_, a small island generally uninhabited.

Yvetot; Toft common in Orkney.

Bye, a dwelling, is the Orkney Bu or Boo, a pure Icelandic word.

Other instances could be given; and there is nothing remarkable in this when it is considered that the invaders of Orkney and Normandy were the same people at the same period, and the better preservation of the Norse tongue in Orkney is readily to be accounted for. In Normandy the language of the invaders was lost in the French in a very short space of time, while the Norse continued the language of Orkney and Zetland during their subjection to the Norwegian earls for a period of 600 years; and only last year, 1850, it was that an old man in Unst in Zetland, who could speak Norse, died at the age of eighty-seven years; and except there be in Foula (Fougla, the fowls' island, called Thule in the Latin charters of its proprietors) a person living who can speak it, that old tongue is extinct in Britain.

W.H.F.

Queries.

Minor Queries.

_357. Meaning of Ploydes._--Perhaps the gentleman who has directed his attention to the folk lore of Lancashire (Vol. iii., p. 55.) can tell the meaning of the word _ploydes_ in the following rhythmical proverb. The three parishes of Prescot, Huyton, and Childwall adjoin each other, and lie to the east of Liverpool:--

Prescot, Huyton, and merry Childow,
Three parish churches, all in a row;
Prescot for mugs, Huyton for _ploydes_,
And Childow for ringing and singing besides."

ST. JOHNS.

_358. Green-eyed Monster._--Whence the origin of the "Green-eyed Monster"? The Italians considered a green iris beautiful, thus Dante makes Beatrice have "emerald eyes;" again, the Spaniards are loud in their praise. Whence, then, the epithet in its present sense?

[?]

_359. Perpetual Lamp._--The ancient Romans are said to have preserved lights in their sepulchres many ages by the oiliness of gold, resolved by art into a liquid substance. And it is reported that, at the dissolution of monasteries, in the time of Henry VIII., there was a lamp found that had then burnt in a tomb from about 300 years after Christ, nearly 1200 years.

Two of these subterranean lamps are to be seen in the Museum of Rarities at Leyden in Holland. One of these lamps, in the papacy of Paul III., was found in the tomb of Tullia, Cicero's daughter, which had been shut up 1550 years.

From 2nd edit. of N. Bailey, [Greek: philologos], 1731.

B.B.

_360. Family of Butts._--A very great favour would be conferred, if any of your antiquarian correspondents would give me information respecting the family of Butts of Thornage, co. Norfolk, of which were Sir William Butts, physician to Hen. VIII.; and Robert Butts, Bishop of Norwich, and afterwards of Ely. The principal object of the querist is to know whether this family sprang from that of But, Butte, or Butts, which attained great civic eminence in Norwich during the thirteenth and two following centuries.

COWGILL.

_361. Greek Names of Fishes._--Can any of your learned correspondents inform me upon what authority the Greek names of fishes occurring in the following verses from the _Vespae_, 493, are translated "sprats" and "mackerel?" I have only Donnegan's very unsatisfactory compilation here.

"[Greek: en men onetai tis orphos, membradas de me thele,
eutheos eirech' ho polon plesion tas membradas;
houtos opsonein eoich' anthropos epi tyrannidi]," &c.

NICAEENSIS.

_362. Drimmnitavichillichatan._--Some twenty or thirty years ago there used to appear regularly in the _Aberdeen_ and _Belfast Almanack's_ list of fairs, one held annually at the above place in the month of May. Could any correspondent inform me where it is situated? I think it is in Argyle or Inverness-shires; but should like to know the precise locality, as it is not mentioned in any work to which I have access at present.

X.Y.Z.

_363. Chalk-back Day._--At Diss, Norfolk, it is customary for the juvenile populace, on the Thursday before the third Friday in September (on which latter day a fair and "session" for hiring servants are held), to mark and disfigure each other's dress with white chalk, pleading a prescriptive right to be mischievous on "chalk-back day." Does such a practice exist elsewhere, and what is its origin?

S. W. RIX.

Beccles.

364. _Moravian Hymns._--Can any of your readers give me an account of the earlier editions of the Moravian hymns? In the _Oxford Magazine_ for July, 1769, some extraordinary specimens are given, which profess to be taken from "a book of private devotions, printed for the use of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravians." One of them is--

"To you, ye wounds, we pay
A thousand tears a-day,
That you have us presented
With many happy virgin rows.
Since the year forty,
Pappa! mamma!
Your hearts Flamlein,
Brother Flamlein,
Gives the creatures
Virgin hearts and features."

The others look still more like burlesque. I cannot find them in any Moravian hymn-book which I have seen; and have searched the British Museum in vain for that which is referred to in the _Oxford Magazine_. Are they genuine, or a fabrication of Anti-moravians?

P. H.

365. _Rural and Urban Deans._--The name and office of _rural dean_ is familiar to every one; but may I ask your clerical readers in London, or in any other of the large towns of England, whether the office of dean is still existing among them; or have the _urban deans_ altogether ceased to be chosen and to act?

W. FRASER.

366. _Ducks and Drakes._--When a man squanders his fortune, he is said in vulgar parlance to "make ducks and drakes of his money." Does this odd expression allude to the thoughtless school-boy practice of throwing stones as nearly as possible on a parallel with the surface of the water, whose elastic quality causes them frequently to rebound before they sink? In my younger days this amusement (so to speak) was called "ducks and drakes."

M. W. B.

Bruges.

367. _Vincent Kidder._--I shall be much obliged by any information respecting the descent of Vincent Kidder of Aghaboe in the Queen's County, Ireland, who held a commission as major in Cromwell's army. He married Ellen Loftus, the granddaughter of Sir Thos. Loftus of Killyan, one of the sons of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin; and, in 1670, had a grant of forfeited lands in the county of Kilkenny. I have reason to believe that he sprang from a family of that name in Sussex. His son, also named Vincent, was a lieutenant in Cottingham's regiment at the battle of the Boyne, Master of the Goldsmith's Company in Dublin in 1696, and High Sheriff of Dublin in 1718. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of ---- Proudfoot, and left issue. I shall be glad of any information as to the marriage of the last-named Vincent, and as to the family of Proudfoot.

C. (Streatham.)

368. _House at Welling._--Every one who has travelled on the carriage-road between London and Erith must have noticed at the end of the village of Welling an old-looking house, with high garden walls, and a _yew_ hedge about thrice the height of the walls. It is said that one of our English poets once inhabited this house; but _who_? is a Query to which no one seems able to give an answer. Perhaps some of your numerous correspondents may have a Note on the subject, and would kindly furnish it. It is said by some to have been Young, the author of the _Night Thoughts_; but this again is denied by others.

B.

369. _Shropshire, Price of Land._--What was the average number of years' purchase at which land sold in Shropshire and Montgomery between 1770 and '80? Is there any book where information on this subject can be found?

B. R. I.

370. _Legal Time._--The town clerk of Exeter, a short time since, in reply to the question "What is legal time?" said, that "one of the courts of law had decided (in reference to a young lady becoming of age in London) that St. Paul's was so." Now St. Paul's, as well as all other London clocks, keeps Greenwich time. Query, _Is_ St. Paul's time legal time? Is it so because it is the cathedral clock of London, or because it is a commonly recognised standard of time for London?

EXON.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Thorns of Dauphine._--What is the meaning of the proverb mentioned by Bishop Jeremy Taylor:

"The Thorns of Dauphine will never fetch blood, if they do not
scratch the first day?"--_Sermon XVI._ "Of Growth in Sin," p. 319.
Lond. 1678. fol.

RT.

Warmington.

[Montaigne, in his _Essays_, book i. chap. lvii., quotes this
proverb, and gives a clue to its meaning. He says: "For my part I
believe our souls are adult at twenty, as much as they are ever
like to be, and as capable then as ever. A soul that has not by
that time given evident earnest of its force and virtue will never
after come to proof. Natural parts and excellences produce what
they have of vigorous and fine within that term, or never:

'Si l'espine non picque quand nai,
A peue que picque jamai,'

as they say in Dauphiny."]

_Inscription at Lyons._--In Bishop Burnet's _Travels_ (1685), he mentions a monumental inscription which he saw at Lyons, of a certain lady, "Quae nimia pia"--"Facta est Impia," whom he conjectures, and with some probability, to have been a Christian lady, declared impious because she refused to confess the "Gods many and Lords many" of the heathen. The conclusion of the epitaph is perplexing: it states that her husband dedicated it to her and her son's memory--under "the axe"--"Sub ascia dedicavit." I have looked in vain for any explanation of this expression, in any account within my reach of Roman funerals: possibly some of your correspondents may help me to an explanation. Burnet, while he is acute in noting the contradictory expression above, wholly overlooks this. It may mean that her husband performed this act of piety in the face of danger and persecution,--as we should say, "with the axe hanging over his head;" but then the epitaph commences with the letters D. M., signifying "Diis Manibus," leading to the conclusion that the husband was not himself a Christian, though respecting Christianity in the person of his wife. I had not originally intended to copy the epitaph; but as it is not long, and may help the speculations of your readers who have not access to Burnet's _Travels_, p. 5., now a rare book, I subjoin it:--

"D. M.
Et memoriae eternae
Sutiae Anthidis
Quae vixit Annis XXV. M. XI. DV.
Quae dum nimia pia fuit
Facta est Impia
et
Attio Probatiolo
Cecalius Callistio Conjux et Pater
et sibi vivo
Ponendum Curavit
et
Sub ascia dedicavit."

A. B. R.

[Our correspondent will find a more correct reading of this
inscription, with some remarks on Bishop Burnet's account of it,
in _Reflexions on Dr. Gilbert Burnet's Travels into Switzerland,
Italy, and certain Parts of Germany and France, &c._, divided into
five letters. Written originally in Latin, by Mons. ***, and now
done into English. 1688, pp. 23-29.]

_Turnpikes._--What is the earliest instance and origin of this word, and when did the system of turnpikes commence? In the will of Walter Ildryzerd, of Bury, dated 1468, mention is made of two pastures without the town "j vocat' _Turnepyke_."

BURIENSIS.

[Turnpikes or barriers were erected as early as A.D. 1267, as we
find a grant of a penny for each waggon passing through a manor.
See _Index or Catalogue of the Patent Rolls_, Hen. III. 51., m.
21., "Quod I. de Ripariis capiat in feod. 1 denar. de qualibet
carecta transeunte per maneria sua de Thormerton et Littleton, co.
Glouc." A toll was also imposed in the reign of Edward III. for
repairing the road between St. Giles and Temple Bar.]

Replies.

GENERAL JAMES WOLFE.

(Vol. iv., p. 438.)

In answer to the Queries put to me by [Gh.] I have to state--

1st. That I am totally unable to give any information relative to the family of Mrs. Wolfe.

2d. Edward Wolfe was not, I believe, a native of Westerham, and only resided there when not on active duty. His wife lived there some years, but could only have been staying temporarily in the house where her son was born, as it always was the residence of the vicar; the room, named after him, is still pointed out where James Wolfe drew his first breath. Quebec House was only rented by Edward Wolfe: to this house James was very early removed, and, as I have always been informed, always resided in it till he entered on his military studies; if so, he must have been educated in the neighbourhood.

3rd. Sir Jeffrey Amherst is the same person as [Gh.] alludes to; I was wrong, perhaps, in using the term "patronise." Wolfe and he were, however, staunch friends through life; Amherst ever encouraged Wolfe, who was liable to fits of despondency, and always represented him at head quarters as one worthy of a high command in those trying times. Amherst was afterwards executor to Mrs. Wolfe's will.

I feel gratified that the letters mentioned corroborate my assertion as to his birth; not only is the date I gave on the tablet in Westerham church, but was informed of the various accounts by a former curate of Westerham, who assured me the date on the tablet was the correct one.

The circumstance of Barre's friendship with Wolfe is interesting, and I am now enabled to mention another friend, on whom Wolfe equally relied, viz. General Hugh Debbieg, who fought with him at Louisbourgh, and afterwards followed him to Quebec, where he directed part of the engineering operations.

The soldier who supported Wolfe after he received his death-wound, was named James; he was in the artillery; he likewise served at Louisbourgh and Quebec, and survived till 1812, when he died at Carlisle Castle, where he had been stationed for many years as a bombardier, aged ninety-two.

In no notice of him I have read, is he mentioned as having been at Carthagena. The _Penny Cyclopaedia_ mentions the chief engagements he was in, but makes no allusion to Carthagena whatever.

Southey and Gleig contemplated writing the life of Wolfe; but some unknown circumstance prevented the completion of so laudable a design.

In George's _Westerham Journal_ is a curious account of Mrs. Wolfe adopting a young man named Jacob Wolfe, and of Lord Amherst obtaining, by her representations, a place of 700_l._ a-year for him. It is extracted from Trusler's _Memoirs_; but being too lengthy for insertion in "NOTES AND QUERIES," I will copy it out, if [Gh.] wishes to have it.

In Thackery's _Life of the Earl of Chatham_ is mentioned the following anecdote, which I have often seen otherwise applied: George II. was once expressing his admiration of Wolfe, when some one observed that the General was mad. "Oh! mad is he?" said the King; "then I wish he would bite some of my other generals." Other information occurs in the same work.

I have learnt that a family named Wolfe was settled at Saffron Walden, Essex, in the last century, and the obituary of _Sylvanus Urban for 1794_, p. 770., records the death of the lady of Thomas Wolfe, Esq., of that place. Does this give a clue as to the county in which George Wolfe settled?

I had intended to have applied myself to "NOTES AND QUERIES" relative to our hero; and though I have been anticipated, I will still endeavour to follow up my enquiries, and all I can obtain shall be at the service of [Gh.], in the hope that something substantial may be done to rescue from the comparative oblivion the life of one of England's greatest sons.

H. G. D.

"FLEMISH ACCOUNT."

(Vol. i., p. 8.)

The following examples may serve as further illustrations towards determining the origin and use of the expression.

I.

"Within this hall neither rich nor yett poore
Wold do for me ought although I shold dye.
Which seeing, I gat me out of the doore,
Where _Flemynges_ began on me for to cry,
'Master, what will you copen or by?
Fyne felt hattes, or spectacles to reede?
Lay down your silver, and here you may speede'"

_Minor Poems_ of Lydgate [1420]. London,
Lackpenny. Ed. Per. Soc. 1840, p. 105.

This is curious, as indicating that the word "Fleming," in the fifteenth century, had become almost synonymous with "trader."

II.

"_Julia._ I have heard enough of England: have you nothing
to return upon the Netherlands?

"_Beamont._ Faith, very little to any purpose. He has been
beforehand with us, _as his countrymen are in
their Trade_, and taken up so many vices for the
use of England, that he has left almost none for
the Low Countries."

Dryden's _Dutch at Amboyna_, Act II. Sc. 8.

"_Towerson._ Tell 'em I seal that service with my blood;
And, dying, wish to all their factories,
And all the famous merchants of our isle,
That wealth their generous industry deserves,
But dare not hope it with _Dutch partnership_."

_Ibid._ Act V. Sc. last.

III.

"Yet, Urswick,
We'll not abate one penny, what in Parliament
Hath freely been contributed; we must not:
Money gives soul to action. Our competitor
_The Flemish counterfeit_, with James of Scotland,
Will prove what courage need and want can nourish,
Without the food of fit supplies."

Ford [1634], _Perkin Warbeck_, Act III. Sc. 1.

"_Cuddy._ Yes, I was ten days together there the last
Shrove-tide.

"_2nd Clown._ How could that be, when there are but seven days
in the week?

"_Cuddy._ Prithee, peace! I reckon _stila nova_ as a
traveller; thou understandest as a freshwater
farmer, that never saw'st a week beyond sea. _Ask
any soldier that ever received his pay but in the
Low Countries, and he'll tell thee there are Eight
days in the week there hard by._ How dost thou think
they rise in High Germany, Italy, and those remoter
places?"--Rowley, Decker, and Ford.

_Witch of Edmonton_, Act III. Sc. 1.

"This passage is explained by the following lines of Butler:

'The soldier does it every day,
_Eight to the week_, for sixpence pay.'"

Note by the Editor, Hartley Coleridge, in the
Glossary. Ed. London: Moxon, 1839.

IV. De Thou gives the following anecdote, when speaking of a defeat, more disgraceful, however, than disastrous, which befel the French on the borders of Flanders, A.D. 1555, in which many nobles and gentry were captured by the Flemings:

"Cum delectus illi ex CCCC peditibus et MCC equitibus conflati,
quorum dux erat Jallius ex primaria in Andibus nobilitatae vir, in
hosticum excurrissent, et magnas praedas abegissent, dum redirent
solutis ordinibus homines ut plurimum militiae ignari, inter
Rigiacum Atrebatum et Bapalmam, ab Alsimontio loci illius praefecto
secus viam et oppositam silvam ac subjectum rivum, insidiis
excepti sunt, et ab exiguo numero caesi, ac majorem partem, cum
effugium non esset capti, non sine verborum ludibrio, nimirum,
_Nobiles Galliae non appensos a Belgis capi_! Quod dicebatur
allusione facta ad Monetae aureae Anglicanae genus, quod vulgo
nobilium nomine indigitatur."--Thuani _Hist._ lib. XVI. ad. a.
1555, tom. i. p. 494. ed. Genev. 1626.

"When these levies, made up of 400 foot soldiers and 1200
horsemen, whose leader was La Jaille, one of the principal
nobility of Anjou, had made a foray on the enemy's border, and
driven off an immense booty; upon their retreat, which, being men
for the most part utterly ignorant of military service, they
conducted with great disorder, between Arras and Bapaume, they
were entrapped by Osmand, who commanded in those parts, into an
ambuscade set for them close to their line of march, with a wood
in their front and a river below them. A few of them were slain,
but the greater part, inasmuch as there was no way of escape, were
taken prisoners: which gave occasion to the following satirical
play upon words: '_That Flemings had taken French Nobles without
first weighing them!_' The play on the words, of course, alluding
to the English gold coins commonly known by the name of 'the
noble.'"

The last instance shows the common opinion entertained of the Flemings, as being traders far too keen to take any coin except it were of full tale and weight. And although the expression "Flemish account" may have originated from their practice as merchants, yet, from the second instance quoted from Ford and Decker, it may not unreasonably be inferred that it received greater currency from their method of paying the soldiers who also served as mercenaries in the wars of the Low Countries.

E. A. D.

POPE AND FLATMAN.

(Vol. iv., p. 132.)

MR. BARTON, in his "Note" on Pope and Flatman, inquires whether the coincidence mentioned by him has been noticed before. I believe it has, by more than one commentator, and among others by Croly in his edition of Pope, London, E. J. Valpy, 1835. Dr. Croly introduces the ode of "The Dying Christian to his Soul," with these remarks, from which it will be seen that Flatman was not the only source of Pope's inspiration:

"Pope, in a letter to Steele, at whose suggestion he had adopted
the subject, gives this brief history of his composition:--'You
have it,' he says, 'as Cowley calls it, warm from the brain; it
came to me the first moment I waked this morning; yet you'll see
it was not so absolutely inspiration but that I had in my head not
only the verses of Hadrian, but the fine fragment of Sappho.' Pope
omitted to observe the close similarity of his lines to those of
Flatman, an obscure writer of the century before. Between his
rough versification and the polished elegance of Pope there can be
no comparison; but the thoughts are the same. Prior translated
Hadrian's ode with more fidelity, but less good fortune."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

DERIVATION OF "LONDON."

(Vol. iv., p. 437.)

I beg to suggest that the word _London_ is derived from the Celtic _Luan_, "the moon," and _dun_, "a city on a hill;" thus _Luandun_ would mean "the city of the moon," _i.e._ of "the temple of the moon." I have seen it stated somewhere, that the site of St. Paul's was formerly that of a temple of Diana: if this be true, it gives weight to my definition of the word. I would also suggest that the name of _Greenwich_ is indicative of the religious worship of the ancient people of Britain; as _Grian_ is "the sun" in Celtic, and no doubt Greenwich could boast of its "Grynean grove."

"His tibi Grynaei nemoris dicatur origo:
Ne quis sit lucus, quo se plus jactet Apollo."

FRANCIS CROSSLEY.

M. C. E. is referred to the two following passages from Fuller, if he has not already met with them:--

"That it was so termed from _Lan Dian_, a temple of Diana
(standing where now St. Paul's doth) is most likely, in my
opinion."--_Worthies_, art. "London."

"This renders their conceit not unlikely who will have London so
called from _Llan Dian_, which signifieth in British, 'the temple
of Diana.'"--_Church History_, i. [paragraph] 2.

J. EASTWOOD.

The name of _London_ is certainly older than the Romans, and is probably, therefore, as your correspondent says, British. Its significance, if any, therefore, is to be sought in Welsh. Now, your correspondent is certainly quite wrong as to the meaning of _Llan_ in Welsh. It always means, here at any rate, _church_, not _plain_. Possibly your correspondent was thinking of _Llano_. The word is written in Welsh _Llyndon_, or _Llyndain_, which also speaks against its being compounded with _Llan_. The word certainly _might_ mean anything: but I know of no satisfactory explanation having been given for it as yet. The only words for _town_ in Welsh are, I believe, _tre_ "city," or _caer_ "castle,"--as parts of compound words, I mean.

SC.

Carmarthen.

I cannot think that M. C. E.'s etymology of _London_ is a correct one; nor did I know that the British _Llan_ means a "level place generally." I take it that originally _Llan_ meant no more than "an inclosure," as we see in _winllan_, "a vineyard," "an inclosure for vines;" _perllan_, "an orchard" (literally a pear-yard). As churchyards were probably for some time almost the only inclosures in their districts, this will explain why the names of churches in Wales so commonly begin with _Llan_. Llanvair, Llanilltid, Llandilo, &c. were the _inclosures_, or yards, in which churches dedicated to St. Mary, St. Iltyd, St. Teilo, &c. were built, though in the course of time these names became applied to the churches themselves. The word _don_ is nothing more than _din_, or _dinas_, "a fortress," as we see in Lugdunum, Virodunum, Londinium, Dumbarton, Dunmore, &c.

Old chroniclers say that the city of London was nearly, if not entirely, surrounded by water, which on the north, north-east, and south sides spread out into considerable lakes. Present names of localities in and about the City show traces of this. Finsbury and Moorfields take their names from the fens and moors, or meres, which were partially reclaimed from the lake which spread to the north and north-east, almost from the city wall. To the south the Thames extended far beyond its present boundary, forming an extensive lake. _Fen_church Street, _Turnmill_ Street, _Fleet_ Street, show that there were streams and fens to the east and west.

Bearing in mind that British names were generally descriptive of the locality, may not the situation of old London furnish a clue to its etymology? Was not London then truly and descriptively _Llyn-dun_, or _Llin-dun_, the fortified place or fortress in or on the _lyn_ or lake?

CUDYN GWYN.

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Legend of the Robin Redbreast_ (Vol. ii., p. 164.).--The following beautiful legend of the Robin Redbreast, which I have just met with, was quite new to me. If you think it likely to be so to T. Y. or any other of your readers, you will perhaps find a place for it.

"_Eusebia._--Like that sweet superstition current in Brittany,
which would explain the cause why the robin redbreast has always
been a favourite and _protege_ of man. While our Saviour was
bearing HIS cross, one of these birds, they say, took one thorn
from HIS crown, which dyed its breast; and ever since that time
robin redbreasts have been the friends of man."--_Communications
with the Unseen World_, p. 26.

W. FRASER.

_Monk and Cromwell_ (Vol. iv., p. 381.).--Will your correspondent state by what _intermarriage_ the estate granted to the Duke of Albemarle, vested in Oliver Cromwell, who died in 1821; and how, if he knows, it departed from Monk? If acquired by purchase from the successors of Monk, the interest ceases.

G.

_Souling_ (Vol. iv., p. 381.).--The custom of "souling", described by MR. W. FRASER, is carried on with great zeal and energy in this neighbourhood on All Souls' Day. The song which the children sing is exactly the same as MR. FRASER gives, with the exception of the second verse. In the evening, grown persons go round singing and collecting contributions from house to house. It is universally believed in this neighbourhood to be a remnant of the old custom of begging money, to be applied to the purpose of procuring masses for the souls of the dead.

LEWIS EVANS.

Sandbach, Cheshire.

_Clekit House_ (Vol. iv., p. 473.).--With reference to this Query, I beg to suggest the following explanation. In Scotland, a _cleek_ signifies a hook; and to _cleek_, is to hook or join together: thus, a lady and gentleman walking arm-in-arm are said to be _cleekit_ together. The word is in full use at present, and has been so for centuries; and I think it not improbable that at the time the will referred to was written, the word might be common to both countries. On this supposition the meaning would be, that the "two tenements" communicated with each other in some way--probably by a bridge thrown across--so as to form _one_ house, which obtained its name from their being thus joined or _cleekit_ together.

J. S. B.

_Peter Talbot_ (Vol. iv., pp. 239. 458.).--The biography of this individual, who was the titular prelate presiding over the see of Dublin from 1669 to 1680, is given very fully in D'Alton's _Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin_.

R.

_Races in which Children, &c._ (Vol. iv., p. 442.).--When consulting my Lexicon this morning, I met under "[Greek: Apo]" with the following, [Greek: kaleousi apo ton meteron heoytous], they name themselves after, or from their mothers, Herodot. i. 173. Not having the work, I am unable to pursue the search; but perhaps the reference may assist THEOPHYLACT in his inquiry.

J. V. S.

Sydenham.

For the information of THEOPHYLACT, I transcribe the following passage from Johnson's _Selections from the Mahabharat_, p. 67. The note is from the pen of Professor Wilson:--

"Among the Bhotias a family of brothers has a wife in common; and
we can scarcely question the object of the arrangement, when the
unproductive region which these people occupy is considered....
What led to its adoption by the Nair tribe in Malabar is not so
easy to conjecture. At present its object seems to be to preserve
the purity of descent, which it is thought is more secure on the
female than on the male side; and accordingly, the child claims
property, or even the Raj, not through his father, but his
mother."

RECHABITE.

_Bacon a Poet_ (Vol. iv., p. 474.).--Whether Lord Bacon was, or was not, the author of the well-known lines noted and queried by R. CS., I will leave the intended editor of Hackneyed Quotations to decide, hoping that he will soon make his appearance as public umpire in all such cases.

Whether Lord Bacon was, or was not, really _a poet_, I will leave to the decision of those who are conversant with the glorious works of his mind _and imagination_.

But I have something to say to the note with which R. CS. follows up his query:--"Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Bacon, and Bacon the Sculptor, are the only conspicuous men of the name, and none of them, that I know, wrote verses."

This must not go unchallenged in the truthful pages of "NOTES AND QUERIES." "Pray, Sir," said a lady to me once, with a very complimentary air, "though no great Latin scholar, may I not judge by your name that you are a descendant of THE GREAT FRIAR BACON?" To which I could only reply, "Madam, I have never yet discovered the bend sinister on our escutcheon." From that proud moment I have been penetrated with the profoundest respect for the name of Roger; and I cannot patiently see the biggest pig of our sty namelessly consigned to oblivion in the pages of "NOTES AND QUERIES". Pray assure R. CS. that the three Bacons of whom he makes mention are _not_ "the only conspicuous men of the name." And as to the rest, "none of them that I know wrote verses," I beg to refer him to Lord Bacon's _Metrical Version of the Psalms_, vol. iv. p. 489. of his Works, ed. 1740.

PORCULUS.

Was not the _poet_ Bacon, quoted by Boswell, the Rev. Phannel Bacon, D.D., Rector of Balden in Oxfordshire, and Vicar of Bramber in Sussex, who died January 2, 1783? He was not only an admirable poet, but was a famous punster, and is described as possessing an admirable fund of humour.

MYFANWY.

_Story referred to by Jeremy Taylor_ (Vol. iv., p. 326.).--Unless the _Legenda Aurea_ be prior in date to the twelfth century, I can refer your correspondent to a still earlier authority for the tale in question--Wace (_Life of St. Nicholas_), in whose pages it appears more at length, but substantially the same.

According to (I presume) the earlier historian, the case was brought within the jurisdiction of St. Nicholas by the "ieueu" receiving an image of the saint in pledge, and the debtor taking his expurgatory oath thereon.

The story is told of a saint who lived in the fourth century, and we may, at all events, consider it as being much older than Wace himself.

F. I.

_Share of Presbyters in Ordination_ (Vol. iv., p. 273.).--As a contribution towards answering MR. GATTY'S question, I send the following extract from Hooker: