Chapter I: J. C

_Kiss the Hare's Foot._--This locution is commonly used in some parts of the United Kingdom, to describe what is expressed by the Latin proverb: "Sero venientibus ossa." Will any of your readers be so good as to explain the origin of the English phrase?

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, May, 1851.

_Old Dog._--Can any correspondent of "NOTES AND QUERIES" inform me where "old dog" is used in the same sense as in _Hudibras_, part ii. canto 3. v. 208.:--

"He (Sidrophel) was old dog at physiology?"

P. J. F. G.

"_Heu quanto minus_," &c.--From what author is this passage taken?

"Heu quanto minus est cum aliis versari quam tui meminisse."

J. O. B.

Loughborough.

_Lady Russell and Mr. Hampden._--Extract from a letter of Rev. Alex. Chalmers, dated London, Feb. 10th, 1736-7:

"Mr. Hampden[1] has had the misfortune to lose 5000_l._ by Lady
Russell.[2] She was a Lady of good sense, and great piety in
appearance, and made many believe she had a private way of
tradeing which brought seven or eight per ct. to the adventurers,
by which means she got above 30,000_l._ put in to her hands, and
for which she only gave her Note to put it to the best advantage;
for some years the interest was well paid, but at her death no
books nor accts were found, and the principal money is all lost.
She had a jointure of 2000_l._ a year, but that goes to her
Son-in-law, Mr. Scawen, Knight of the Shire for Surry: her
dissenting friends are the chiefe sufferers."

[Footnote 1: M.P. for Buckinghamshire.]

[Footnote 2: "Sept. 2. Lady Russell, mother of the wife of Thomas
Scawen, Esq., Kt. of the Shire for Surrey, and wife to Sir Harry
Houghton, Bt. She had an excellent character."--_Gent. Mag._, vol.
vi., 1736, p. 552. She had been previously married to Lord James
Russell, 5th son of William, 1st Duke of Bedford, to whom she bore
the daughter mentioned above. What was her maiden name?]

Is anything more known of this story; and, if so, where is the account to be found?

DE CAMERA.

_Burton Family._--Roger Burton, in the reign of Charles I., purchased of the Earl of Chesterfield lands at Kilburn, in the parish of Horsley, co. Derby, which remained in the possession of his descendants for more than a century. Perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to inform me how he was connected with the Burtons of Lindley and Dronfield.

E.H.A.

_"One who dwelleth on the castled Rhine."_--Longfellow, in his exquisite little poem on "Flowers," says:

"Spake full well, in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth on the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers so blue and golden,
Stars that in earth's firmament do shine."

To whom does he allude as dwelling "on the castled Rhine?" Cowley says:

"Upon the _flowers_ of Heaven we gaze;
The _stars_ of earth no wonder in us raise."

And Washington Irving gives an Arabian inscription from one of the gardens of the Alhambra, which commences with a somewhat similar thought:

"How beauteous is this garden, where the flowers of the earth vie
with the stars of Heaven!"

SELEUCUS.

_Lady Petre's Monument._--In the church at Ingatestone, in Essex, there is a beautiful monument to Mary Lady Petre, of the date 1684, upon which there is the following curious inscription:--

"D. O. M.
Certa spe Immortalitatis
Parte sui mortali hoc tegitur marmore
Maria
Vidua Domini Roberti Petre Baronis
de Writtle Guilielmi Joannis et Thomæ
Una trium Baronum Mater
Quæ 13o Jannuarii Añ D[=m]i 1684-5 annum
Ætatis agens 82 in terris devixit, ut
Æternum in coelo viveret
Quo illam singularis in Deum pietas
Suavis in omnes benevolentia
Profusa in egenos liberalitas
Inconcussa in adversis patientia
Ceu igneus Eliæ currus totidem rotis haud dubie evixerunt--
Sicut Sol oriens Mundo in Altissimis Dei
Sic Mulieris bonæ Species in ornamentum domus suæ.
Ecclus. 26.
AEIOU."

I should be glad if any of your learned readers could elucidate the meaning of the five vowels at the foot of the inscription.

J. A. DOUGLAS.

16. Russell Square, June 7. 1851.

_Dr. Young's Narcissa_ (Vol. iii., p. 422.).--J. M. says that the Narcissa of Dr. Young was Elizabeth Lee, the poet's _daughter-in-law_. The letter quoted in the same article from the _Evan. Mag._ of Nov. 1797, calls her Dr. Young's _daughter_. Has not your correspondent been led into a mistake by calling Narcissa Dr. Young's daughter-in-law? as, if she were so, how could she have been named "Lee?" She might have been his step-daughter, though it has been generally understood that Narcissa was the poet's own and favourite daughter. Will you, or your correspondent J. M., be so good as to clear up this point?

W. F. S.

Surbiton.

_Briwingable._--What is _briwingable_, from which certain burgesses were exempted in a charter of John's? It cannot be a corruption from _borough-gable_, because all burgesses had to pay gable.

J. W.

_Thomas Kingeston, Knt., called also Lord Thomas Kingeston._--Can any of your correspondents give any clue or information touching this Lord Kingeston? He lived in the early part of the reign of Edward III.

In the extracts from Aske's Collections relating to the descendants of M. Furneaux, published in the first volume of _Coll. Top. and Gen._, at p. 248., it is stated:

"Mathew of Bitton was married unto Constantyne Kingston, daughter
to the Lord Thomas of Kingston; and of the said Mathew and
Constantyne came John of Bitton, which died in Portingale."

In a pedigree (_Harl. MSS._ 1982. p. 102.) which shows the descendants of Furneaux, the match between "Sir Math. Bitton" and C. Kingston is laid down, and her arms are marked sab. a lion ramp. or.

With regard to Mathew de Bitton, he was son and heir of John de Bitton and Havisia Furneaux. The residence of the family was at Hanham, in the parish of Bitton, Gloucestershire, at a place afterwards called "Barre's Court," from Sir John Barre, who married Joan, the great-granddaughter of the said Mathew. The house abutted on the Chace of Kingswood.

In the 48th of Edward III. a writ was issued, to inquire who were the destroyers of the deer and game in his Majesty's Chace, when it was found that Mathew de Bitton was "Communis malefactor de venasione Dom. Regis in Chacia predicta." It was proved that he had killed thirty-seven deer! After much difficulty, he was brought before the justiciaries, when he acknowledged all his transgressions, and placed himself at the mercy of the king. He was committed "prisonæ Dom. Regis, quousque Justiciarii habeant locutionem cum consilio Dom. Regis."

Any further information respecting him also would be very acceptable. A very detailed account of the inquiry is at the Chapter House, among the Forest Proceedings.

H.T. ELLACOMBE.

Clyst St. George, June 24. 1851.

_Possession nine Points of the Law._--What is the origin of the expression "Possession is _nine points_ of the law?" The explanation I wish for is, not as to possession conferring a strong title to property, which is self-evident, but as to the _number_ of _points_ involved in the proposition, which I take to mean nine points out of ten. Has the phrase any reference to the ten commandments or _points of law_ promulgated by Moses? I should add that _three_ things are said to be necessary to confer a perfect title to land, namely, possession, right of possession, and right of property.

C.N.S.

_Rev. Henry Bourne, A.M._--Could any of your numerous readers furnish me with any information respecting Bourne, whose history of Newcastle-on-Tyne was published in 1736, after the author's decease? I know, I believe, all that is to be gathered from local sources, but should be greatly obliged by any references to printed or MS. works which contain allusions to him or his writings. One of his college friends was the _Reverend_ Granville Wheler, Esq., of Otterden, Kent, who, though in holy orders, chose to be so described, being the eldest son of a knight, the amiable Sir George Wheler, Prebendary of Durham, and Rector of Houghton-le-Spring.

E.H.A.

_Prior Lachteim--Robert Douglas._--In Bishop Keith's _Affairs of Church and State of Scotland_, Vol. ii. p. 809., Prior Lachteim is mentioned: will any of your readers inform me who this person was? It is not explained in the note; but it is suggested that by _Lachteim_ Loch Tay is meant. Is this correct?

Query 2. Is there any truth in the report that Mary, queen of Scotland, had a son by George Douglas, who was the father of Robert Douglas, a celebrated Presbyterian preacher during the Covenanting reign of terror in Scotland, after the Glasgow General Assembly in 1638? If, as I suppose, there is no truth in this, what was the parentage and early history of Mr. Robert Douglas? Wodrow notices this report, and says that he was born in England. See Wodrow's _Analecta_, 4to., 1842, vol. ii. p. 166.: printed for the Bannatyne Club.

A.C.W.

Brompton.

_Jacobus de Voragine._--Can any friend give any information respecting an edition of the above author printed at Venice, A.D. 1482? The following is the colophon:--

"Reverendi Fratris Jacobi de Voragine de Sancto cum legendis opus
perutile hic finem habet; Venetiis per Andream Jacobi de Catthara
impressum: Impensis Octaviani scoti Modoetrensis sub inclyto duce
Johanne Moçenico. Anno ab incarnatione domini 1482, die 17 Mensis
Maii."

I can find no mention of it either in Panzer or Brunet or Ebert.

BNE.

Brasenose.

_Peace Illumination, 1802._--Miss Martineau, in her _Introduction to the History of the Peace_, p. 56., repeats the story told in a foot-note on p. 181. of the _Annual Register_ for 1802, of M. Otto, the French ambassador, being compelled to substitute the word "amity" for the word "concord" suspended in coloured lamps, in consequence of the irritated mob's determination to assault his house, unless the offensive word "concord" were removed, the said mob reading it as though it were spelled "conquered," and inferring thence that M. Otto intended to insinuate that John Bull was _conquered_ by France. The story, moreover, goes on to relate that the mob also insisted that the blazing initials G.R. should be surmounted by an illuminated crown. This anecdote, notwithstanding its embalmment in the _Annual Register_, has always borne in my eyes an apocryphal air. It assumes that the mob was ignorant and intellectual at the same moment; that whilst it was in a riotous mood it was yet in a temper to be reasoned with, and able to comprehend the reasons addressed to it. But one cannot help fancying that the mental calibre which understood "concord" to mean "conquered," would just as readily believe that "amity" meant "enmity," to say nought of its remarkable patience in waiting to see the changes dictated by itself carried out. This circumstance occurred, if at all, within the memory of many subscribers to "NOTES AND QUERIES." Is there one amongst them whose personal recollection will enable him to endorse the word _Truth_ upon this curious story?

HENRY CAMPKIN.

_Planets of the Months._--Can any of your numerous correspondents give me the names of the planets for the months, and the names of the precious stones which symbolize those planets?

T.B.

Wimpole Street.

_Family of Kyme._--Sir John Kyme is said to have married a daughter of Edward IV. Can any of your correspondents inform me where I can find an account of this Sir John Kyme, his descendants, &c.? I should be glad of information respecting the family of Kyme generally, their pedigree, &c. &c. I may say that I am aware that the original stock of his family had possessions in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, and that there were members of it of considerable importance during the reigns of the earlier monarchs succeeding William I. I am also acquainted with some old pedigrees found in certain visitation books. But none of the pedigrees I have seen appear to come down later than the fourteenth, or quite the beginning of the fifteenth, century. I should be glad to know of any pedigree coming down through the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, and to have any account of the later history of the family.

BOLD.

_West of England Proverb._--Can any of your correspondents explain the saying, used when a person undertakes what is beyond his ability,--"He must go to Tiverton, and ask Mr. Able?"

D.X.

_Coke and Cowper, how pronounced._--Upon what authority is Lord _Coke's_ name pronounced as though it were spelt _Cook_, and why is _Cowper_, the poet, generally called _Cooper_? Is this a modern affectation, or were these names so rendered by their respective owners and their contemporaries? Such illustrious names should certainly be preserved in their integrity, and even pedanticism might blush at corrupting such "household words." There certainly should be no uncertainty on the subject.

C.A.

_Orinoco or Orinooko._--In the _Illustrated News_ of May 26th is an account of the launch of the "Orinoco" steamer. Can any of your readers tell me if this is the correct mode of spelling the name of this river? I believe the natives spell it "Orinooko," the two _oo's_ being pronounced _u_.

E.D.C.F.

_Petty Cury._--There is a street bearing this name in Cambridge, which was always a mystery to me in my undergraduate days; perhaps some correspondent can unravel it?

E.S.T.

_Virgil._--Æneid, viii. 96.:

"Viridesque secant placido æquore silvas."

Will any of your classical correspondents favour me with their opinion as to whether _secant_ in the above passage is intended to convey, or is capable of conveying, the idea expressed in the following line of Tennyson (_Recollections of the Arabian Nights_):

---- "my shallop ... clove
The citron _shadows_ in the blue?"

This interpretation has been suggested to me as more poetical than the one usually given; but it is only supported by one commentator, Servius.

ERYX.

_Sheridan and Vanbrugh._--Could any of your readers inform me as to the following? I find printed in Sheridan's _Dramatic Works_ by Bohn, a copy of Sir John Vanbrugh's play of _The Relapse, or Virtue in Danger_. It is, with a very few omissions, an exact reprint, but bears the title of _A Trip to Scarborough, or Miss in her Teens_. No comment is made, or any mention of Vanbrugh.

O. O.

_Quotation from an old Ballad._--

"Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,
But, why did you kick me down stairs?"

In what old ballad or poetic effusion may the above forcibly expressive, though not remarkably elegant, lines be found? A short time ago they were quoted in _The Times'_ leading article, from which fact I suppose them to be of well-known origin.

NREDRA NAMB.

Replies.

PRINCESSES OF WALES.

(Vol. iii., p. 477.)

The statement of Hume, that Elizabeth and Mary were created Princesses of Wales, rests, I am disposed to think, on most insufficient authority; and I am surprised that so illustrious an author should have made an assertion on such slender grounds, which carries on the face of it a manifest absurdity, and which was afterwards retracted by the very author from whom he borrowed it.

Hume's authority is evidently Burnet's _History of the Reformation_; (indeed, in some editions your correspondent G. would have seen Burnet referred to) in which are the following passages (vol. i. p. 71., Oxford edition, 1829):

"The King, being out of hopes of more children, declared his
daughter (Mary) Princess of Wales, and sent her to Ludlow to hold
her court there, and projected divers matches for her."

Again, p. 271.:

"Elizabeth was soon after declared Princess of Wales; though
lawyers thought that against law, for she was only heir
presumptive, but not apparent, to the crown, since a son coming
after he must be preferred. Yet the king would justify what he had
done in his marriage with all possible respect; and having before
declared the Lady Mary Princess of Wales, he did now the same in
favour of the Lady Elizabeth."

Hume's statement is taken almost verbatim from this last passage of Burnet, who, however, it will be observed, does not say "created," but "declared" Princess of Wales; the distinction between which is obvious. He was evidently not aware that Burnet afterwards corrected this statement in an Appendix, entitled, "Some Mistakes in the first Portion of this History communicated to me by Mr. William Fulman, Rector of Hampton Meysey, in Gloucestershire." In this is the following note, in correction of the passages I have quoted (Burn. _Hist. Ref._, vol. iv. p. 578.):

"Here and in several other places it is supposed that the next
heir apparent of the crown was Prince of Wales. The heir apparent
of the crown is indeed prince, but not, strictly speaking, of
Wales, unless he has it given him by creation; and it is said that
there is nothing on record to prove that any of Henry's children
were ever created Prince of Wales. There are indeed some hints of
the Lady Mary's being styled Princess of Wales; for when a family
was appointed for her, 1525, Veysey, bishop of Exeter, her tutor,
was made president of Wales. She also is said to have kept her
house at Ludlow; and Leland says, that Tekenhill, a house in those
parts, built for Prince Arthur, was prepared for her. And Thomas
Linacre dedicates his _Rudiments of Grammar_ to her, by the title
of Princess of Cornwall and Wales."

This is one of the many instances of the inaccuracy, carelessness, and (where his religious or political prejudices were not concerned) credulity of Burnet. Whatever he found written in any previous historian, unless it militated against his preconceived opinions, he received as true, without considering whether the writer was entitled to credit, and had good means of gaining information. Now, neither Hall, Holinshed, Polydore Virgil, nor (I think) Cardinal Pole, contemporary writers, say anything about Mary or Elizabeth being Princesses of Wales. The only writer I am acquainted with who does say any such thing, previous to Burnet, and whose authority I am therefore compelled to suppose the latter relied on, when he made the statement which he afterwards contradicted, is Pollini, an obscure Italian Dominican, who wrote a work entitled _L'Historia Ecclesiastica della Rivoluzion d'Inghilterra; Racolta da Gravissimi Scrittori non meno di quella Nazione, che dell' altri, da F. Girolamo Pollini dell' ordine de Predicatori, della Provincio de Toscana_: Roma, Facciotti, 1594. In book i. chapter ii. page 7. of this author is the following statement, which I translate, speaking of the Princess Mary:

"As the rightful heir of the throne she was declared by Henry, her
father, Princess of Wales, which is the ordinary title borne by
the first-born of the king; since the administration and
government of this province is allowed to no other, except to that
son or daughter of the king, to whom, by hereditary right, on the
death of the king the government of the realm falls.... In the
same way that the first-born of the French king is called the
Dauphin, so the first-born of the English king is called Prince of
Britain, or of Wales, which is a province of that large island,
lying to the west, and containing four bishoprics. Which Mary,
with the dignity and title of Princess, assisted by a most
illustrious senate, and accompanied by a splendid establishment,
administered with much prudence," &c.

Pollini's history is, as may be supposed, of very little historical value; and one feels surprised that, on a point like the present, Burnet should have allowed himself to be misled by him. But still more remarkable, in my opinion, is the use Miss Strickland makes of this author. After several times giving him as her authority at the foot of the page, by the name of _Pollino_, but without giving the least information as to the name of his work, or who he was, she has the following note relating to the passage I have quoted (_Lives of the Queens of England_, vol. v. p. 156.):

"The Italian then carefully explains that the Princes of Wales
were in the same position, in regard to the English crown, as the
Dauphins were to that of France. Pollino must have had good
documentary evidence, since he describes Mary's council and court,
which he calls a senate, exactly as if the Privy Council books had
been open to him. _He says four bishops were attached to this
court._"

It seems to one a singular mode of proving that Pollini must have had good documentary evidence, by saying that he speaks exactly and positively; and I would ask what _good_ documentary evidence would a Florentine friar be likely to have, who certainly never was in England, and in all probability never far from his convent? But it is the statement about the bishops that I wish more particularly to allude to, as I can find _no statement to that effect in Pollini_, and can only suppose that Miss Strickland misunderstood the passage (quoted above) where he says the province of Wales contains four bishoprics.

I think I have now shown that Hume's statement rests on no sufficient grounds as to the authority from whence he derived it. But there is yet another reason against it, which is this: it would be necessary, before Elizabeth was created Princess of Wales, that Mary should be deprived of it; and this could only be done by a special act of parliament. But we find no act of such a nature passed in the reign of Henry VIII. There are other reasons also against it; but having, I think, said enough to show the want of any foundation for the assertion, I shall not trouble you any further.

C.C.R.

Linc. Coll., Oxon., June 26.

THE LATE MR. WILLIAM HONE.

(Vol. iii., p. 477.)

In reply to the inquiry of E.V. relative to the conversion of the late Mr. William Hone, I send a slight reminiscence of him, which may perhaps be generally interesting to the readers of the _Every Day Book_. It was soon after the period when Mr. Hone (at the time afflicted both in "body and estate") began to acknowledge the truths of Christianity, that I accidentally had an interview with him, though a perfect stranger. Our conversation was brief, but it turned upon the adaptation of the Christian religion to the wants of man, in all the varied stations in which he may be placed on earth, independent of its assurance of a better state hereafter. With child-like meekness, and earnest sincerity, the once contemner and reviler of Christianity testified to me that all his hope for the future was in the great atonement made to reconcile fallen man to his Creator.

Before we parted, I was anxious to possess his autograph, and asked him for it; as I had made some collection towards illustrating, his _Every Day Book_, to which it would have been no inconsiderable addition. After a moment of deep thought, he presented me with a slip of paper inscribed as follows, in his small and usual very neat hand:--

"'He that increaseth knowledge
increaseth sorrow.'[3]

"_Think on this._

"W. HONE.

"15 January, 1839."

[Footnote 3: Ecclesiastes, i. 18.]

Shortly after his death, the following appeared in the _Evangelical Magazine_, which I transcribed at the time:--

"The following was written by Mr. Hone on a blank leaf in his
pocket Bible. On a particular occasion he displaced the leaf, and
presented it to a gentleman whom we know, and who has correctly
copied its contents for publication.

LINES

_Written before Breakfast, 3rd June 1834,
the Anniversary of my Birthday in 1780._

'The proudest heart that ever beat,
Hath been subdued in me;
The wildest will that ever rose,
To scorn Thy cause, and aid Thy foes,
Is quell'd, my God, by Thee.

'Thy will, and not my will, be done;
My heart be ever Thine;
Confessing Thee, the mighty Word,
I hail Thee Christ, my God, my Lord,
And make Thy Name my sign.

'W. HONE.'"

At the sale of Mr. Hone's books, I purchased a bundle of religious pamphlets; among them was _Cecil's Friendly Visit to the House of Mourning_. From the pencillings in it, it appears to have afforded him much comfort in the various trials, mental and bodily, which it is well known clouded his latter days.

WILLIAM BARTON.

19. Winchester Place,
Southwark Bridge Road.

SHAKSPEARE'S "SMALL LATIN."--HIS USE OF "TRIPLE."

(Vol. iii., p. 497.)

In reference to the observations of A. E. B., I beg leave to say that, in speaking of Shakspeare as a man who had _small Latin_, I intended no irreverence to his genius. I am no worshipper of Shakspeare, or of any man; but I am willing to do full justice, and to pay all due veneration, to those powers which, with little aid from education, exalted their possessor to the heights of dramatic excellence.

As to the extent of Shakspeare's knowledge of Latin, I think that it was well estimated by Johnson, when he said that "Shakspeare had Latin enough to grammaticize his English." Had he possessed much more than was sufficient for this purpose, Ben Jonson would hardly have called his knowledge of the language _small_; for about the signification of _small_ there can be no doubt, or about Ben's ability to determine whether it was small or not. But this consideration has nothing to do with the appreciation of Shakspeare's intellect: Shakspeare might know little of Latin and less of Greek, and yet be comparable to Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; as Burns, who may be said to have known no Latin, is comparable, in many passages, even to Horace. "The great instrument of the man of genius," says Thomas Moore, "is his own language," which some knowledge of another language may assist him to wield, but to the wielding of which the knowledge of another language is by no means necessary. The great dramatists of Greece were, in all probability, entirely ignorant of any language but their own; but such ignorance did not incapacitate them from using their own with effect, nor is to be regarded as being, in any way, any detraction from their merits. Shakspeare had but a limited acquaintance with Latin, but such limited acquaintance caused no debilitation of his mental powers, nor is to be mentioned at all to his disparagement. I desire, therefore, to be acquitted, both by A. E. B. and by all your other readers, of entertaining any disrespect for Shakspeare's high intellectual powers.

As to his usage of the word _triple_, that it is "fairly traced to Shakspeare's own reading" might not unreasonably be disputed. We may, however, concede, if A. E. B. wishes, that it was derived from his own reading, _as no trace of its being borrowed is to be found_. But I am not sure that if other writers had taken pains to establish this use of the word in our tongue, its establishment would have been much of a "convenient acquisition." Had any man who has three sisters, closely conjoined in bonds of amity, the privilege of calling any one of them a _triple sister_, I do not consider that he or his language would be much benefited. Ovid, I fear, employed _triplex_ "improperly," as Warburton says that Shakspeare employed _triple_, when he spoke of the Fates spinning _triplici pollice_. I cannot find that any writer has imitated him. To call the Fates _triplices deæ_ (_Met._ viii. 481.), or _triplices sorores_ (_Met._ viii. 453.), was justifiable; but to term any one of them _triplex dea_, or to speak of her as spinning _triplici fuso_ or _triplici pollice_, was apparently to go beyond what the Latin language warranted. A. E. B. rightly observes that _triple_ must be explained as signifying "belonging to three conjoined;" but the use of it in such a sense is not to be supported either by custom or reason, whether in reference to the Latin language or to our own.

MR. SINGER, in his observations on "captious," has a very unlucky remark, which A. E. B. unluckily repeats--"We, no doubt, all know," says MR. SINGER, "by intuition as it were, what Shakspeare meant." If we all know Shakspeare's meaning by intuition, how is it that the "true worshippers of Shakspeare" dispute about his meaning?

J. S. W.

Stockwell, June 27. 1851.

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Family of Etty, the Artist_ (Vol. iii., p. 496.).--"Mr. Etty, Sen., the architect," mentioned in the passage quoted by your correspondent from Thoresby's _Diary_, was John Etty, who died Jan. 28th, 1709, at the age of seventy-five. Drake calls him "an ingenious architect," and quotes these lines from his epitaph in the church of All Saints, North Street, in York (_Eboracum_, p. 277.):--

"His art was great, his industry no less,
What one projected, t'other brought to pass."

Although Thoresby and Drake dignify him with the title of architect, he was in fact a carpenter, or what would now be styled "a builder." Mr. Etty had several sons: Marmaduke, the painter mentioned by Thoresby, was one of them. He was called in those days a painter-stainer. Two others, James and William, were brought up to the business of a carpenter--as their father and grandfather were before then. William had two sons: the eldest of whom, John, was also a carpenter. The other was the Reverend Lewis Etty, clerk; who, about a century ago, was incumbent of one of the York churches. I suspect that no work is now extant which is known to be the production of either the architect or the painter; and, but for the incidental allusion to them in the _Diary_ of the Leeds antiquary, the memory of their very names had long since perished. The fact stated in the _Diary_, of Grinlin Gibbons having wrought at York with Mr. Etty, the architect, is not mentioned in any of the biographical notices of that skilful artist, although its accuracy may be safely accepted upon Thoresby's authority.

The late William Etty, R.A., never claimed descent from the old York family. Most probably he did not know that such persons ever existed. His father, John Etty, and his grandfather, Matthew Etty, were established as millers at York during the latter part of the last century. To the occupation of a miller, John Etty added that of a ginger-bread baker; and in the house in Feasegate, York, where his distinguished son was born, he carried on an extensive business in supplying the smaller shops and itinerant dealers with gingerbread of all descriptions, when it was a more popular luxury or "folk-cate" than it is now. A characteristic anecdote is told of William Etty, which may not inappropriately be introduced here. In his latter days, when in the zenith of his fame, the large sum he was about to receive for one of his pictures was the subject of conversation at a friend's table. "Ah!" said the artist, with the quiet simplicity of manner for which he was remarkable, "it will serve to gild the gingerbread!"

It is possible that a keen genealogist might succeed in connecting the illustrious artist of our day with the Ettys of Thoresby's time, and thus establish a case of hereditary genius. "Mr. Etty, the painter," had a son called John, who attained man's estate about the year 1710. He does not appear to have settled at York, and it is by no means out of the range of probability, that he was the progenitor of Matthew Etty, the miller; who was, I believe, a native of Hull, and who, by the way, named one of his sons, John.

EBORACOMB.

_Parish Register of Petworth_ (Vol. iii., pp. 449. 485. 510.).--By the parish register abstract accompanying the population returns of 1831, it appears that in that year the earliest existing register of Petworth commenced in 1559. We are indebted to the late Mr. Rickman for this abstract of the dates of all the parish registers in the kingdom; and it would be well if, at the next census, a similar return was called for, that it may be seen what registers are then missing.

As to lost registers, I may state that I possess the bishop's transcripts of sixty registers, signed by the minister and churchwardens of parishes in the county of Kent; they comprise the baptisms, marriages, and burials for the years 1640 and 1641. The registers of sixteen of these parishes do not begin until after 1641, consequently these transcripts are the only records now existing of the baptisms, marriages, and burials in those sixteen parishes for 1640 and 1641.

J. S. B.

_Death_ (Vol. iii., p. 450.).--The ancients found in the successive transformations of the butterfly a striking and beautiful parallel to the more important career of human existence. Thus to their fancy the caterpillar, or _larva_, represented man's earthly course; the _pupa_, or chrysalis state, his death and utter inanition; while the perfect state of the insect typified man's rise to life and glory, a bright glorious being, without spot or trace of earthly stain. The Greeks from this notion named the butterfly "Psyche." A careful examination of the anatomy and physiology of the insect world will show the strict and amazing beauty of this simile.

TEE BEE.

_Lord Mayor not a Privy Councillor_ (Vol. iv., p. 9.).--Your printer has misprinted _clamour_ instead of your own expression _demur_. Let me add that there was neither _clamour_ nor even _demur_ on that occasion--all went off quietly in the usual course. There is also an omission of two words in a subsequent line, which, though easily supplied, I may as well notice.

"The proclamation is that of the _peers alone_, but assisted by the _others_," should rather be "the proclamation is that of the _peers alone_, but assisted by the _ex-Privy Councillors and others_," as this marks the distinction between the two classes of _assistants_ more strongly.

C.

_"Suum cuique tribuere," &c._ (Vol. iii., p. 518.).--Your correspondent M.D. will find the passage in _Cic. Offic._, i. 5.

Y. V. S.

Sydenham.

_Meaning of Complexion_ (Vol. i., p. 352.).--Addison says in Cato:

"'Tis not a set of features or complexion,
The tincture of a skin that I admire."

Here he uses the word _complexion_ as something distinct from "tincture of the skin." The colour of the hair and irides commonly indicates the colour of the skin. If they are dark, the skin is ordinarily dark; and if blue or light, the skin is ordinarily fair. I have seen flaxen hair and surpassing whiteness of skin with eyes as black as death.

S. H.

_Gillingham_ (Vol. iii., pp. 448. 505.).--As a means of furnishing your correspondent QUIDAM with some historical and local data that may tend to identify the place where that memorable council was convened, by which the succession to the English crown was transferred from the Danish to the Saxon line, I would refer him to Lambard's _Perambulation of Kent_, published in 1596, pp. 351, 352, 353., as adducing strong evidence in favour of the council alluded to having been held at Gillingham next Chatham.

FRANCISCUS.

_Nao, a Ship_ (Vol. iii., pp. 477. 509.).--I perfectly agree with GOMER that the early Britons must have possessed vessels more capacious than osier baskets or _cyry-glau_ before they were able to transport warlike assistance to their brethren the Armoricans of Gaul; but I can inform GOMER and A. N. in addition, that a much older term for a ship was made use of by the first inhabitants of Britain, namely _Naf_, from whence no doubt the Latin _Navis_ sprang; and from the same root the Welsh word _Nawf_, a swim (now used), was derived. This term _Naf_ is handed down to us in one of the oldest British triads, but which has been always, in my opinion, improperly interpreted. In speaking of the three master works of the island of Britain, is the ship of Nefydd Naf Neifion (or _Noah_); the translation is simply this--

Nefydd _i. e._ The ship constructor
naf of the ship
neifion. of ships.

Here you have the hero personified by his avocation, and the _noun_ from which the proper name is derived, both in the singular and plural number; in the latter sense it is made use of by D. ab Gwilym in the following couplet:

"Y nofiad a wnaeth _Neifion_
O Droia fawr draw i Fôn."

"The swimming, that the ships performed
From great Troy, afar, to Monâ."

JOHN FENTON.

Glyn y mêl, Fishguard, June 27, 1851.

_John Perrot_ (Vol. iii., p. 336.).--I possess a neatly written MS., of 88 pp. small 8vo., entitled _A Primmer for Children, written by a suffering Servant of God, John Perrot; corrected, ammended, and made more easie: London, in the Yeare 1664_. The only notice of him after this date is in p. 290. of Sewel's _History of the Quakers_:

"Perrot now walked in an erroneous path, grew worse from time to
time; even to that degree that, being come into America, he fell
into manifold sensualities and works of the flesh; for he not only
wore gawdy apparel, but also a sword; and being got into some
place in the government, he became a severe exacter of oaths."

E. D.

_Sneck up_ (Vol. i., p. 467.; Vol. ii., p. 14.).--_Sneck up_ is a stage direction for _hiccup_, which Sir Toby was likely to observe after his "pickle herring." Davis is quite right in following Theobald. A word for Theobald. Every commentator is indebted to him, and almost every one has abused him, from Warburton and Pope to Coleridge, and without Theobald's notes and most sagacious amendments, ordinary readers would be puzzled to _read_ Shakspeare. The booksellers, I am glad to see, had sense enough to see Theobald's merit, and gave him a far larger sum for his edition than has been paid to most of his successors.

S. H. (2)

_Meaning of Senage_ (Vol. iv., p. 6.).--Have the kindness to inform W. H., that in my extracts from the Parish Account Book of St. Peter's Mancroft in this city, under the years 1582 and 1588, are entered as follows:--

"1582. Pd to the Bisshopp for Senage Money ... xxjd.
1588. Pd for Senage and Proxage to the Bisshopp, ixd."

In Cowel's _Law Dictionary_, by Thomas Manley, folio, 1701, under the term "Senege," he says:

"There goes out yearly in Proxage and Senage 33_s._ 6_d._ Perhaps
senege may be money paid for Synodals, as Proxyes or
Procurations." "Proxyes are yearly payments made by parish priests
to their bishop, or archdeacon, in _lieu of victuals for the
visitor and his attendants_" (which it was formerly the custom to
provide).

"Senage. The Senes be only courts to gather Senage and Proxye. The
bishop should hold a Synod or Sene twice a year."--Becon's
_Reliques of Rome_, p. 213.

"The priests should come to the Sene as they were wont to do."

The senes, courts, or ecclesiastical councils, were held for the purpose of correcting any neglect or omissions of the Church Reeves (as they were called), and fining them for such omissions, as well as receiving the usual and accustomed payments; and sometimes they were fined for having _secreted some Catholic reliques_, which were discovered by the visitors (of course after the Reformation), as I have found entries of fines having been paid; and more frequently are entries of "Payd for the withdraft" of the charge for some neglect in not providing articles necessary for the performance of divine worship.

In Sir Thomas More's _Works_, folio, 1557, pp. 909., 991., "Senes or Indightments" (perhaps Citements or Citations) are mentioned.

No doubt (I think) the term _senege_ is derived from these courts being termed "Senes" and "Seens."

G. H. I.

Norwich, July 5. 1851.

_Early Visitations_ (Vol. iv., p. 8.).--Your remark that Mr. Noble's statements "are extremely loose" is, generally speaking, very just; although in the particular instance referred to there is some foundation for his statement, as in the 12th Henry VI. commissions were issued into the several counties, not merely to collect the names of the gentry, but to administer an oath to the gentry and others for conservation of the peace and observance of the laws. The returns containing the names of the parties sworn in all the counties (except twelve) are printed by Fuller in his _Worthies_ from records in the Tower, which are probably yet extant. See _Rotuli Parliamentorum_, iv. 455.; v. 434.; Fuller's _Worthies of England_, chap. xiv.; Grimaldi's _Origines Genealogicæ_, 68, 69. I do not understand that all the parties who were sworn were accounted gentlemen, although Dr. Fuller's and Mr. Grimaldi's impressions on this point appear to have been similar to Mr. Noble's.