Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's note: Original spelling variations have not been standardized. Underscores have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts. A list of volumes and pages in "Notes and Queries" has been added at the end.]

NOTES and QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION

FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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

VOL. V.--NO. 119. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7. 1852.

Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5_d._

CONTENTS.

Page

NOTES:--

Stone-Pillar Worship still existing in Ireland, by Sir
J. Emerson Tennent 121

The Invasion of Britain 123

Hermits, Ornamental and Experimental 123

David Mallet, his Character and Biography, by Dr. E.
F. Rimbault 124

Minor Notes:--The Hyphen--Old Books and New
Titles--Eugene Aram--Inscription at Hardwicke
Hall 124

QUERIES:--

Junius Queries 125

What is the Derivation of "Garsecg?" 126

Minor Queries:--Commemoration of Benefactors--Pedigree
of Richard, Earl of Chepstow--Twenty-seven
Children--Esquires of the Martyred King--Braem's
"Mémoires touchant le Commerce"--Newspapers--Serjeant
Trumpeter--Lunhunter--Family of Bullen--Burnomania--Rent
of Assize--White Livers--Welsh Names Blaen--Jesuits--"The
right divine of Kings to govern wrong"--Valentines, when
first introduced 126

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--The Bed of Ware--Merry
Andrew--A Baron's Hearse--Saint Bartholomew--Moravian
Hymns; Tabitha's Dream--Story of Ginevra--Play
of "Pompey the Great" 128

REPLIES:--

The Three Estates of the Realm 129

Legend of St. Kenelm; in Clent cou Bache, by S. W.
Singer, &c. 131

Isabel, Queen of the Isle of Man, by W. Sidney Gibson 132

Long Meg of Westminster, by Dr. E. F. Rimbault 133

The Introduction of Stops, &c. 133

Papers of Perjury 134

Replies to Minor Queries:--Rev. Thomas Adams, D.D.--John
Wiggan--"Poets beware!"--Traditions of Remote Periods,
&c.--Heraldical MSS. of Sir Henry St. George Garter--Dr.
John Ash--Inveni Portum--Goldsmith--Lords Marchers--Foreign
Ambassadors--Church, whence derived--Cross-legged
Effigies--Sir Walter Raleigh's Snuffbox--Epigram on
Erasmus--General Wolfe--Ghost Stories--Epigram on
Burnet--"Son of the Morning," &c. 134

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, &c. 142

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 142

Notices to Correspondents 142

Advertisements 143

Notes.

STONE-PILLAR WORSHIP STILL EXISTING IN IRELAND.

In a work recently published by the Earl of Roden, entitled _Progress of the Reformation in Ireland_, there occurs a curious account of a remnant of this ancient form of fetichism still existing in Inniskea, an island off the coast of Mayo, with about 380 inhabitants amongst whom, he says,

"_A stone_ carefully wrapped up in flannel is brought out at
certain periods to be adored; and when a storm arises, this god is
supplicated to send a wreck on their coast."--P. 51.

A correspondent in the same volume writes to Lord Roden that--

"They all speak the Irish language, and among them is a trace of
that government by chiefs, which in former times prevailed in
Ireland: the present chief or king of Inniskea is an intelligent
peasant called CAIN, whose authority is acknowledged, and the
settlement of all disputes is referred to his decision. Though
nominally Roman Catholics, these islanders have no priest resident
among them; they know nothing of the tenets of that church, and
their worship consists in occasional meetings at their chief's
house, with visits to a holy well called _Derivla_. The absence of
religion is supplied by the open practice of pagan idolatry. In
the south island a stone idol called in the Irish _Neevougi_, has
been from time immemorial religiously preserved and worshipped.
This god resembles in appearance a thick roll of homespun flannel,
which arises from the custom of dedicating to it a dress of that
material whenever its aid is sought; this is sewed on by an old
woman, its priestess. Of the early history of this idol no
authentic information can be procured, but its power is believed
to be immense; they pray to it in time of sickness, it is invoked
when a storm is desired to dash some hapless ship upon their
coast, and again it is solicited to calm the waves to admit of the
islanders fishing or visiting the main land."--_Ib._ pp. 53, 54.

This statement, irrespective of graver reflections, is suggestive of curious inquiry, whether this point of Ireland, on the utmost western verge of Europe, be not the last spot in Christendom in which a trace can now be found of stone-pillar worship?--the most ancient of all forms of idolatry known to the records of the human race; and the most widely extended, since at one time or another it has prevailed in every nation of the old world, from the shores of Lapland to the confines of India; and, I apprehend, vestiges of its former existence are to be traced on the continent of America.

Before men discovered the use of metals, or the method of cutting rocks, they worshipped unhewn stones; and if the authenticity of Sanchoniathon is to be accepted, they consecrated pillars to the _fire_ and the _wind_ before they had learned to hunt, to fish, or to harden bricks in the sun. (Sanchon. in Cory's _Ancient Fragments_, pp. 7, 8.) From _Chna_, "the first Phoenician" as he is called by the same remote authority, the Canaanites acquired the practice of stone-pillar worship, which prevailed amongst them long before:

"Jacob took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it
up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it and called the
name of the place Bethel, saying, this stone which I have set up
for a pillar shall be _God's house_."--Gen. xxviii. 18. 22.

The Israelites were repeatedly ordered to destroy these stone idols of the Canaanites, to overthrow their altars, and "break their pillars" (Deut. vii. 5.; xii. 3.). And when the Jews themselves, in their aberrations, were tempted to imitate their customs, Moses points a sarcasm at their delusion:--

"Where are their gods; their _rock_ in whom they trusted! How
should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight,
except their _rock_ had sold them?"--_Ib._ xxxii. 30. 37.

From Jacob's consecration of his stone pillar, and the name _Bethel_ which he conferred upon it (which, in Phoenician, signified _the house of God_), were derived the Bætylia, Βαιτύλια or Βαιτύλοι, the black stones worshipped in Syria and Asia Minor, in Egypt, and in Greece before the time of Cecrops, under the names of Cybele and of Saturn, who is fabled to have swallowed one of them when he intended to have devoured his son Jupiter. Even in the refined period of Grecian philosophy, the common people could not divest themselves of the influence of the ancient belief; and Theophrastus gives it as the characteristic of the "superstitious man," that he could not resist the impulse to bow to these mysterious stones, which served to mark the confluence of the highways. From Asia Minor pillar worship was carried to Italy and Gaul, and eventually extended to Germany, where the trunks of trees occasionally became the substitute for stone. From the same original the Arabs borrowed the Kaaba, the black stone, which is still revered at Mecca; and the Brahmans a more repulsive form, under which the worship now exists in Hindostan. Even in early times the reverence of these stones took a variety of forms as they were applied to mark the burial-place of saints and persons of distinction, to define contested boundaries, and to commemorate great events (vide Joshua iv. 5.; xxiv. 26.); and perhaps many of the stones which have now a traditional, and even historical celebrity in Great Britain, such as the "Lia Fail" of Tara, the great "Stone of Scoon," on which the Scottish kings were crowned; the "King's Stone" in Surrey, which served a similar office to the Saxons; the "Charter Stone" of Inverness; the "Leper's Stone" of Ayr; the "Blue Stone" of Carrick; the "Black Stone" of Iona, and others, may have acquired their later respect from their earlier sanctity.

There appear to be few countries in the old world which do not possess some monuments of this most remote idolatry; but there is none in which they would seem to be so abundant as on the western extremity of Europe, in Cornwall, and especially in the islands and promontories from the Land's End to Caithness and the Orkneys. In the latter the worship of stone pillars continued to so recent a period, that one is curious to know when it actually disappeared, and whether there still exist traces of it in any other locality, similar to that pointed out by the Earl of Roden at Inniskea.

My own acquaintance with the subject is very imperfect; but, so far as my recollection serves, the following references may direct attention to interesting quarters.

Scheffer, who published his _Description of Lapland_ in 1673, states that the practice of stone-pillar worship then existed there, and that _Storjunkar_, one of the deities of Scandinavian mythology, was--

"Represented by a stone. Neither do they use any art in polishing
it; but take it as they find it upon the banks of lakes and
rivers. In this shape they worship it as his image, and call it
_Kied kie jubmal_, that is, _the stone god_."--Scheffer,
_Lapponia_. Engl. London, 1751.

He adds that they select the unhewn stone, because it is in the form in which it was shaped by the hand of the Creator himself. The incident suggests a curious coincidence with the expressions of Isaiah (ch. lvii. v. 6.):

"Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they
are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering; thou
hast offered a meat-offering. Should I receive comfort in these?"

Joshua, too, selected the twelve stones with which he commemorated the passage of the Jordan from the midst of the river, where the priests' feet stood when they bore the ark across.

Martin, in his account of the Western Islands of Scotland in 1703 A.D., describes repeatedly the numerous pillar-stones which were then objects of respect in the several localities. And in one instance he states that an image which was held in veneration in one of the islands was _swathed in flannel_,--a practice which would thus seem to have served as a precedent for the priestess of Inniskea, as detailed by Lord Roden. In speaking of the island of Eriska, to the north of Barra, Martin says--

"There is a stone set up, near a mile to the south of St.
Columbus's church, about eight foot high and two broad. It is
called by the natives the _bowing stone_; for when the inhabitants
had the first sight of the church, they set up this stone, and
then bowed, and said the Lord's Prayer."--_A Description of the
Western Islands_, p. 88.

But Borlase, who notices this passage in his _Antiquities of Cornwall_, gives a much more learned derivation of the name. He says:

"They call them _bowing stones_, as it seems to me, from the
reverence shown them; for the _Even Maschith_, which the Jews were
forbade to worship--(Leviticus xxvi. 1. '_neither shall ye set up
any image of stone_')--signifies really a _bowing stone_, and was
doubtless so called because worshipped by the
Canaanites."--Borlase, _Antiquities of Cornwall_, book iii. c. 2.

I fancy the word which Martin rendered a _bowing stone_, is _cromlech_, or _crom liagh_.

As regards the ancient monuments of stone worship in Cornwall, the most learned and the most ample information is contained in Borlase's _Antiquities_ of that county; but there their worship ceased, though not till several centuries after the introduction of Christianity. Borlase says:

"After Christianity took place, many continued to worship these
stones; coming thither with lighted torches, and praying for
safety and success: and this custom we can trace through the fifth
and sixth centuries; and even into the seventh, as will appear
from the prohibitions of several Councils."--Borlase, _Antiq.
Corn._, b. iii. c. ii. p. 162.

In all parts of Ireland these stone pillars are to be found in comparative frequency. Accounts of them will be found in _The Ancient and Present State of the County Down_, A.D. 1744; in Wakeman's _Handbook of Irish Antiquities_, and in various similar authorities. A writer in the _Archæologia_ for A.D. 1800 says that many of the stone crosses which form so interesting and beautiful a feature in Irish antiquities were originally pagan pillar-stones, on which the cross was sculptured subsequent to the introduction of Christianity, in order that--

"The common people, who were not easily to be diverted from their
superstitious reverence for these stones, might pay a kind of
justifiable adoration to them when thus appropriated to the use of
Christian memorials by the sign of the cross."--_Archæol._ vol.
xiii. p. 208.

The tenacity of the Irish people to this ancient superstition is established by the fact of its continuance to the present day in the sequestered island of Inniskea. And it seems to me that it would be an object of curious inquiry, if your correspondents could ascertain whether this be the last remnant of pillar worship now remaining in Europe; and especially whether any further trace of it is to be found in any other portion of the British dominions.

J. EMERSON TENNENT.

London.

THE INVASION OF BRITAIN.

(_Not by Julius Cæsar._)

A great many correspondents of the daily press are directing the attention, I suppose, of the Government to what they call the "defenceless state of Great Britain." Will you allow me, on account, as I think, of its rarity, to submit to you the following extract from the _Macaronéa_, par Octave Delepierre (_Gancia_, Brighton, 1852), attributed to Porson. The lines were composed on occasion of the projected French invasion under Napoleon.

"LINGO DRAWN FOR THE MILITIA.

"_Ego nunquam audivi_ such terrible news,
At this present _tempus_ my _sensus_ confuse;
I'm drawn for a _miles_,--I must go _cum marte_,
And, _concinus ense_,--engage Bonaparte.

"Such _tempora nunquam videbant majores_,
For then their opponents had different _mores_;
But we will soon prove to the Corsican vaunter,
Though Times may be changed,--Britons never _mutantur_.

"_Mehercle!_ this Consul _non potest_ be quiet,
His word must be _lex_, and where he says _Fiat_,
_Quasi Deus_, he thinks we must run at his nod,
But Britons were ne'er good at running, by ----!

"_Per mare_, I rather am led to _opine_,
To meet British _naves_ he would not incline;
Lest he should _in mare profundum_ be drown'd,
_Et cum algâ, non laurâ_, his _caput_ be crown'd.

"But allow that this boaster in Britain could land,
_Multis cum aliis_ at his command:
Here are lads who will meet, aye, and properly work 'em,
And speedily send 'em, _ni fallor, in orcum_.

"_Nunc_, let us, _amici_, join _corda et manus_,
And use well the _vires Dî Boni_ afford us;
Then let nations combine, Britain never can fall,
She's, _multum in parvo_, a match for them all."

These verses are quoted by M. Delepierre, from Stephen Collet's _Relics of Literature_, 8vo. 1823.

S. H.

HERMITS, ORNAMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL.

Keeping a poet is a luxury enjoyed by many, from the Queen down to Messrs. Moses, Hyam and Co.; but the refinement of keeping an hermit would appear to be a more _recherché_ and less ordinary appendage of wealth and taste.

I send you an advertisement _for_, and two actual instances of _going a hermiting_, from my scrapbook:

"A young man, who wishes to retire from the world and live as an
hermit in some convenient spot in England, is willing to engage
with any nobleman or gentleman who may be desirous of having one.
Any letter directed to S. Lawrence (post paid) to be left at Mr.
Otton's, No. 6. Colman's Lane, Plymouth, mentioning what gratuity
will be given, and all other particulars, will be duly attended
to."--_Courier_, Jan. 11th, 1810.

Can any one tell me whether this retiring young man was engaged in the above capacity? I do not think so: for soon after an advertisement appeared in the papers which I have reasons for thinking was by the same hand.

"Wants a situation in a pious regular family, in a place where the
Gospel is preached, a young man of serious mind, who can wait at
table and milk a cow."

The immortal Dr. Busby asks--

"When energising objects men pursue,
What are the prodigies they cannot do?"

Whether it is because _going a hermiting_ does not come under the Doctor's "energising objects" I know not; but this is clear, that the two following instances proved unsuccessful:

"M. Hamilton, once the proprietor of Payne's Hill, near Cobham,
Surrey, advertised for a person who was willing to become a hermit
in that beautiful retreat of his. The conditions were, that he was
to continue in the hermitage seven years, where he should be
provided with a Bible, optical glasses, a mat for his bed, a
hassock for his pillow, an hour-glass for his timepiece, water for
his beverage, food from the house, but never to exchange a
syllable with the servant. He was to wear a camlet robe, never to
cut his beard or nails, nor ever to stray beyond the limits of the
grounds. If he lived there, under all these restrictions, till the
end of the term, he was to receive seven hundred guineas. But on
breach of any of them, or if he quitted the place any time
previous to that term, the whole was to be forfeited. One person
attempted it, but a three weeks' trial cured him.

"Mr. Powyss, of Marcham, near Preston, Lancashire, was more
successful in this singularity: he advertised a reward of 50_l._
a-year for life, to any man who would undertake to live seven
years under ground, without seeing anything human: and to let his
toe and finger nails grow, with his hair and beard, during the
whole time. Apartments were prepared under ground, very
commodious, with a cold bath, a chamber organ, as many books as
the occupier pleased, and provisions served from his own table.
Whenever the recluse wanted any convenience, he was to ring a
bell, and it was provided for him. Singular as this residence may
appear, an occupier offered himself, and actually staid in it,
observing the required conditions for four years."

FLORENCE.

Dublin.

DAVID MALLET, HIS CHARACTER AND BIOGRAPHY.

When an editor selects a favourite ballad for notes and illustrations, he may be supposed, naturally, to have a sort of respect, not to say veneration, for its author. Such is the case with the recent editor of _Edwin and Emma_ (Dr. Dinsdale), when, in his brief biography of David Mallet, he glosses over the vices of this man's character in the quietest and most inoffensive manner possible. If he was a "heartless villain" I do not see that we ought to screen him; and I think those who may choose to look into his doings will find him full as "black" as he is painted.

Southey, in his _Specimens of the Later English Poets_, vol. ii. p. 342., does not mince the matter. His words are these:--

"A man of more talents than honesty, who was always ready to
perform any dirty work for interest; to blast the character either
of the dead or the living, and to destroy life as well as
reputation. Mallet was 'first assassin' in the tragedy of Admiral
Byng's murder."

In a copy of Gascoigne's _Works_, sold in Heber's sale, was the following MS. note by George Steevens:--

"This volume was bought for 1_l._ 13_s._ at Mr. Mallet's _alias_
Malloch's, sale, March 14, 1776. He was the only Scotchman who
died in my memory unlamented by an individual of his own nation."

David Malloch, or Mallet, is said to have been born about the year 1700, at Crieff, in Perthshire, at which place his father was an innkeeper. A search has been made in the parochial registers of Crieff, from 1692 to 1730, but his baptism is not registered.

The names of various children of Charles and Donald Malloch's in the neighbourhood of Crieff occur, including a David, in 1712. This obviously was not the poet; but it appears that his father "James Malloch, and Beatrix Clark his wife," were brought before the Kirk Session of Crieff in October and November, 1704, for profanation of the Lord's day, "by some strangers drinking and fighting in their house on the Sabbath immediately following Michaelmas." On the 12th of November, "they being both rebuked for giving entertainment to such folks on the sabbath-day, and promising never to do the like, were dismissed."

Some of Mallet's letters are printed in the _Edinburgh Magazine_, a literary miscellany, for 1793. They contain a number of curious literary notices, including some particulars of the writer's life not generally known.

Much interesting matter concerning the literary career and character of David Mallet may also be found in the recent _Life of David Hume_ by John Hill Burton, Esq., Advocate.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Minor Notes.

_The Hyphen._--Dr. Dobbin, lecturing some time back on physical education in Hull, condemned the practice of tight lacing as extremely injurious to the symmetry and health of the female sex, and jocularly proposed the formation of an "Anti-killing-young-women-by-a-lingering-death-Society." This was gravely reproduced in other parts of this country and on the continent as sober matter of fact, the Germans giving the hyphenated title thus: _Jungefrauenzimmerdurchschwindsuchttoedtungs-gegenverein_.

I. C.

_Old Books New Titles._--Permit me to say that it is in the power of your London correspondents to do a real service to your country readers, and at the same time serve the cause of _honest_ bibliopoly, by pointing out in the pages of "N. & Q." current instances of what I beg leave to call _the fraudulent advertisement_ of published books under a _new title_, or one so altered as to produce the impression of _novelty_ in the mind of a reader like myself. For example, being an admirer of _Sam Slick's_ works--and who is not?--I purchased, on its first appearance, his _English in America_; and seeing lately advertised, as a new work, _Rule and Misrule of the English in America_, by the same author, I obtained it, and found it the identical work before named, the _title-page_ alone being altered! I mention another instance. I perceive an advertisement of the _Letters of Gray the Poet_, published from the original MSS. in two volumes, by the Rev. J. Mitford. Now, I should like to know whether this is, as it is called, really a "new work," or merely a part, or at most a revival, of Mitford's _Letters, &c. of Gray_, published in 4 vols., 1836.

J. H.

_Eugene Aram._--Until the year 1834, when considerable reforms took place in the Court of Exchequer with respect to sheriffs' accounts, a process called "the Summons of the Pipe" issued into each county, charging the sheriff with the levy of divers old rents. In that of Yorkshire I noticed the following entry, which I communicated to Mr. Scatcherd. I am not aware that it has ever been published. By inserting it you will relieve me from the necessity of preserving my "note."

"Of the same Sheriff for the issues of waste building in
Knaresbrough, in the said county, in the tenure of Daniel Clarke,
of the yearly value of IIII£i and one undivided moiety or fifth
part of the whole, to be divided into five equal parts of and in a
certain farm called Moat House farm, situate at Wickersley in the
said County, which consists [_here followed particulars_], in the
occupation of Samuel Chipchase, of the yearly value of XXI£i of
the lands and tenements of _Daniel Clarke_ aforesaid, shoemaker,
_outlawed_ at the suit of _Philip Coates_, gentleman, in a plea of
trespass on the case VIII£i III's and VI'cXXXVIII£i V's arrears."

"Philip Coates," says Mr. Scatcherd (_Gleanings_, p. 26.), "attorney-at-law, a very respectable man, married Clarke's wife's sister." It is singular that a murdered man should be outlawed after death and that he should continue to haunt the Exchequer for near a century afterwards. It is a complete confirmation of the statement that Clarke was supposed to have absconded, and that no suspicion of foul play arose at the time of his disappearance.

W. G.

_Inscription at Hardwicke Hall._--The following inscription, from a banqueting-room in Hardwicke Hall, Derbyshire, may be worthy of a place by the side of those quoted by PROCURATOR (Vol. v., p. 8.):

"Sanguine, cornu, corde, oculo, pede, cervus et aure
Nobilis, at claro sanguine nobilior."

H. T.

Queries.

JUNIUS QUERIES.

_Junius Rumours._--Some months since there was a story whispered in certain circles, or rather two stories, which, when taken together, went to show that this great mystery of modern times was on the eve of solution. The first stated that the _Grenville Papers_, about to be published by Murray, would prove the identity of Junius with the correspondent of Woodfall under one of the signatures Atticus or Brutus, whose letters had been already, and, as it would thereby appear, very properly, attributed to Junius himself. The second rumour was to the effect that an eminent bookseller, whose attention had been drawn to the Junius question by the circumstance of his having recently published an edition of the letters, &c., on being called in to estimate the value of certain historical papers for some legal purposes, was startled by discovering, in the course of his examination of them, who this Atticus or Brutus was--and, consequently, who Junius himself was. On the announcement of an article on Junius in the _Quarterly Review_, those who had heard these stories expected to find in the article in question the solution of what has been called the "great political enigma of the eighteenth century." As this hope has not been realised, may I ask, through the medium of "N. & Q.," whether there is any foundation for the rumours I have referred to; and, if so, how much of truth there is in both or either of them. Such information will be acceptable to every one of your readers who is not satisfied with any of the THIRTY-NINE theories on the subject which have been already propounded, and who is therefore like myself still a

JUNIUS QUERIST.

_"To Commit" in the Sense used by Junius._--On looking into Walker's _Dictionary_, a short time since, I found the following remark, which seems to have escaped every inquirer into the authorship of the letters of Junius:--

"_To_ COMMIT.--This word was _first_ used in Junius's letters in a
sense unknown to our former English writers, namely, _to expose_,
_to venture_, _to hazard_; this sense is borrowed from the French,
and has been generally adopted by subsequent writers."

Can any of your readers produce an instance of the use of this word in the sense here applied to it, _prior_ to the appearance of Junius? Such a parallel would carry more weight with it than the countless examples of verbal singularities with which almost every _discoverer_ of Junius has encumbered his essay.

D. J.

_Junius' letters to Wilkes._--Would MR. HALLAM kindly inform your readers whether the _Junius Letters_, to which he refers in "N. & Q." Vol. iii., p. 241., were inserted in books or not? And in the former case, whether they were in a separate collection, or mixed with the other correspondence of Mr. Wilkes?