Chapter C: Forbes

Temple.

_Slick_ or _sleek stones_ are used by curriers to remove wrinkles and other irregularities in, and to smoothen the surface of hides and skins, after they have been converted into leather by the tanner. The stone which is considered to be the best for this purpose is quarried in the neighbourhood of Kendal.

The currier's _sleek stone_ is an oblong square plate, measuring six inches in length by four inches in breadth, and half an inch in thickness. One of the longer edges of the stone is fixed into a groove in a wooden handle or stock, and hence it is also commonly called a _stock stone_.

The leather being spread out upon a table, the stock is held in both hands, and the opposite edge of the stone is pressed upon and rubbed over the surface of the leather. In a subsequent part of the process of currying the workman uses, in like manner, a _slicker_ or _sleeker_ made of steel, and finishes his work with a glass _sleeker_.

J. L. C.

_Tenor Bell of Margate_ (Vol. i., p. 92.; Vol. v., p. 319.).--The weight of this "ponderous tenor bell" is not mentioned; but there does not seem to be any particular "obscurity," whatever there may be of strangeness in the alleged mode of its transit by water. By the terms "mill-cog" of the poetaster is doubtless to be understood the _cog-wheel_ of the miller, viz. that which more or less directly connects the motive agent with the shaft carrying the stones. Persons who happen to have noticed the large size and ponderous construction of the main cog-wheel in many an ancient flourmill will easily imagine that if set afloat it would carry a great weight; especially if prepared, as a missionary to the Hudson's Bay territories told me a small cart-wheel was rigged to transport him over the rivers, viz. by stretching a large skin over its area. It was, in all likelihood, to some contrivance of this kind that John de Dandelion and his dog have become so picturesquely and permanently connected with the history of Margate in "traditionary rhyme."

D.

_Rhymes connected with Places_ (Vol. v., pp. 293. 374.).--The following has been printed in the late John Dunkin's _History of Dartford_; but as topographical works have but a limited circulation, and the above-named author was fond of printing but few impressions of his works, I have taken the liberty of forwarding the lines to you:

"Sutton[8] for mutton,
Kirby[9] for beef,
South Darne[10] for gingerbread,
Dartford[11] for a thief."

All four of the parishes are situate upon the river Darent, and adjoin.

[Footnote 8: Sutton at Hone--fine pastures.]

[Footnote 9: Horton Kirby, the same.]

[Footnote 10: South Darenth, celebrated for its old church, and
(probably when the lines were composed) for its baker.]

[Footnote 11: Dartford: the bridewell of the district was formerly
in this parish, in Lowfield Street.]

Αλφρεδ.

_Burial, Law respecting_ (Vol. v., p. 320.).--Though not a lawyer, I venture to express the opinion that, if preferred, burial may take place in unconsecrated ground. The law exacts the registering of the death, and inhibits a clergyman from officiating except within the consecrated boundary. Indeed the burying-ground of dissenters is not consecrated according to law, although it may have to be licensed. But, supposing a person to have the fancy to lie "in some loved spot, far away from other graves," there seems to be no legal difficulty. In the shrubbery of Brush House, the residence of my friend and neighbour John Booth, Esq., M.D., there is a mausoleum over the remains of his uncle, from whom he inherited the property.

"Here," says Hunter, in his _History of Hallamshire_, "Mr. Booth
spent the latter part of an active life in mathematical and
philosophical studies; and, indulging a natural (?) and
patriarchal desire, prepared his own sepulchre amidst the shades
his own hand had formed, in which his remains are now reposing."

Was not Mrs. Van Butchell preserved many years after death in a glass case by her husband?

ALFRED GATTY.

_Lines on English History_ (Vol. iii., p. 168.).--The lines on English History, beginning

"William the Norman conquers England's State," &c.

were not from the pen of any Catholic gentleman of the name of Chaloner, but were composed by a Protestant. Some of the lines were subsequently altered by a Catholic lady, the late Mrs. Cholmely, of Brandsby Hall, near York, and I believe the whole verses were printed at her private expense. The line on Mary of England was, in the original, anything but complimentary to the memory of that queen. Mrs. Cholmely's daughter, the late Mrs. Charlton, of Hesleyside in Northumberland, had the verses printed again at Newcastle, about twenty-five years ago. I have no doubt that I could procure a copy for AN ENGLISH MOTHER.

EDWARD CHARLTON.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.

_Suicides buried in Cross Roads_ (Vol. iv., pp. 116. 212. 329.).--In the fifth chapter of the most remarkable Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefne, we find some curious customs to have been prevalent in Greenland relative to the burial of the dead in unconsecrated ground. Thorstein Erikson, the second husband of Gudrida, died of a sore sickness. Many of the household had previously been carried off by the same malady, and the ghost of each corpse joined its fellows in tormenting and terrifying the survivors. The night after Thorstein's death, his corpse rose up in the bed and called for Gudrid his wife. With reluctance and terror the widow approached the body of her husband.--

"Now when Gudrid arose and went to Thorstein, it seemed to her as
though he wept. And he whispered some words to her which none
could hear, but these other words he spoke in a loud voice, so
that all were aware thereof. 'They that keep the truth shall be
saved, but many here in Greenland hold badly to this command. For
it is no Christian way as here is practised, since the universal
faith was brought to Greenland, to lay a corpse in unblessed
earth, and to sing but little over it. It had been the custom in
Greenland, after Christianity was brought in, that the dead should
be buried on the lands where they died, in unhallowed earth, _and
that a stake should be set up over the breast of the dead_
(_skyldi setja staur upp af brjosti hinum dauda_); and when the
priest afterwards came, the stake was pulled up, and holy water
was poured into the hole, and they sang over the body even though
it was long after.' And Thornstein's body was carried to the
church in Eriksfiord, and there it was sung over by the priests
(_yfirsöngvar af Kennimönnum_.")

May not this custom, which prevailed in Greenland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, have been derived from the Scandinavian north, and there have been applied to the suicide buried in the cross road? Was the idea of burying these outcasts in such a place, the hopeful one of placing them at least under the shadow as it were of the cross, though they were denied a resting-place in consecrated ground. That the old Northerns regarded suicide with horror, we know from the "Eyrbiggia Saga," p. 530. of Mr. Blackwell's edition of Mallet's _Northern Antiquities_.

EDWARD CHARLTON.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.

_Th' Man i' th' Almanack_ (Vol. v., p. 320.).--In old almanacks the sun is represented by a man's face inclosed in a ring, from which externally points or rays, indicating flames, appear to proceed. An Oldham recruit, billeted at the sign of the Sun, in writing home to his friends, described the sign as "_th' mon's face set a' round we skivers_.[12]"

[Footnote 12: _Skivers_, skewers or pins.]

ROBERT RAWLINSON.

_Olaus Magnus_ (Vol. iii., p. 370.).--I have before me an English version of this most singular writer, by J. S., printed by J. Streater, London, 1658, 1 vol. folio, pp. 342. The marvellous description of the sea serpent by Olaus Magnus is well known, but during the controversy recently raised as to the reappearance of this monster to the officers of the Dædalus, the following testimony to its existence in later times was perhaps overlooked. It is extracted from the notes of Frederick Faber, the celebrated Iceland ornithologist, describing a zoological expedition to the islands in the Cattegat, and published in Oken's _Isis_ for 1829, p. 885.:

"As I was returning in a boat from Endelave to Horsens, the old
helmsman, observing that I took great interest in natural history,
asked me if I had ever seen the sea serpent. On my replying in the
negative, he told me that about two years ago, while he and his
companion were fishing near Thunoe, they observed the head of a
large creature lying quite on the surface of the water, and in
close proximity to their boat. The head was like that of a seal,
though they immediately perceived that it belonged to no animal of
that kind. A gull flew towards the monster, and made a pounce upon
him, when the huge creature raised its body at least three fathoms
high into the air, and made a snap at the bird, which flew away in
terror. They had time, before it disappeared, to notice that the
monster had a red throat, and that its body was about twice the
thickness of a boat's mast."

EDWARD CHARLTON.

_The Word "Couch"_ (Vol. v., p. 298.).--The word is French: coucher par écrit. Ménage says, _coucher_, in its common sense, is derived from _collocare_ in Latin, of which he gives instances as early as Catullus; he might have gone back to Terence. Hence, says he, "coucher bien par écrit, pour dire écrire avec ordre:" and quotes Salmasius, to show that coucher par écrit answered to _digerere_, in the sense of writing a digest.

The sense is the same as our expression "lay down," "lay down the law," &c., but we do not confine that to writing.

C. B.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

It is always a boon to historical literature when a man of learning and industry devotes himself to a monograph of any particular person or period. When we saw, therefore, in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, the able and interesting papers by Mr. Cunningham, on the history of one who, whatever might have been her life, so died, that Tennison did not hesitate to preach her funeral sermon, we felt sure that those papers could never be allowed to remain the "sole property" of the readers and admirers of our good friend Sylvanus Urban; and we have proved right in our anticipation. _The Story of Nell Gwyn, and the Sayings of Charles II., related and collected_ by Peter Cunningham, which has just been issued, consists of a reprint of those papers, greatly enlarged and increased in value by the information which has reached the author since they appeared in their original form. We know of no volume of the same extent calculated to give a more graphic or faithful picture of the heartlessness and depravity of the age of profligacy in which his heroine lived, an age which furnishes a striking proof how true it is that individuals, communities, and even whole nations, will after a time seek compensation for a state of gloomy and unchristian fanaticism in one of unbridled licentiousness.

Mr. Cunningham has, in this handsomely illustrated volume, treated a subject which required very nice handling with great tact; and his book deserves to be placed on the shelves with Pepys and Evelyn, as a necessary supplement to them. Can we give it higher praise? Its quaint and characteristic binding is a clever fac-simile of the morocco binding which Charles II. so loved.

We are indebted to the publishers of the _National Illustrated Library_ for a new memoir of the great founder of American independence. _The Life of General Washington, First President of the United States, written by himself; comprising his Memoirs and Correspondence, as prepared by him for publication, including several Original Letters now first printed_, edited by the Rev. C. W. Upham, forms two volumes, which have been written or compiled on the principle, now we believe first applied to Washington, of making the subject of the memoir, its far as possible, his own biographer. This task Mr. Upham has executed with much ability and excellent judgment; and we know of no work calculated to give the general reader a better or more correct idea of the personal character of one of whom the Americans boast, that he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

Some of our readers may be interested to know that the collection of black-letter ballads, formerly in the Heber collection, and described in the _Bibliotheca Heberiana_, vol. iv. pp. 28-33., was sold on Monday last at the auction of Mr. Utterson's library at Messrs. Sotheby's. After a rather brisk bidding, Mr. Halliwell became the purchaser at the sum of 104_l._

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE.

BROUGHAM'S MEN OF LETTERS. 2nd Series, royal 8vo., boards. Original edition.

KNIGHT'S PICTORIAL SHAKSPEARE. Royal 8vo. Parts XLII, XLIII, XLIV, L, and LI.

CONDER'S ANALYTICAL VIEW OF ALL RELIGIONS. 8vo.

NEWMAN'S (J. H.) PRESENT POSITION OF THE CATHOLICS IN ENGLAND.

HALLIWELL ON THE DIALECTS OF SOMERSETSHIRE.

SCLOPETARIA, OR REMARKS ON RIFLES, &c.

SOWERBY'S ENGLISH FUNGI. Vol. III.

SUPPLEMENT TO SOWERBY'S ENGLISH FUNGI.

EUROPEAN MAGAZINE. Vols. XXIII, XXIV, and XXV.

POETIC WREATH. Small 8vo. Newman.

GEMS FROM BRITISH POETS. 4 Vols. Tyas.

CALLIOPE, A SELECTION OF BALLADS LEGENDARY AND PATHETIC. Suttaby, 1808.

THE WORKS OF LORD BYRON. Vo's. VI, VII, and VIII. 12mo. Murray, 1823.

MALLETT'S POEMS. Bell's edition.

MALLETT'S PLAY OF ELVIRA. 1763.

JOANNIS LELANDI COLLECTANEA. Vol. V. 1774.

BISHOP PATRICK'S COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE. The Volumes containing Joshua and Judges. Small 4to.

KENT'S ANTHEMS. Vol. I. folio. Edited by Joseph Corfe.

THE MATHEMATICIAN. Vol. I. No. 1. 1844.

MACULLOCH'S HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

BACK'S VOYAGE OF THE TERROR, 8vo.

BACK'S OVERLAND JOURNEY IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 8vo.

L'HISTOIRE DE LA SAINCTE BIBLE, par ROYAUMONDE: à Paris, 1701.

JOHNSON's (DR. S.) WORKS, by MURPHY. Trade Edition of 1816, in 8vo. Vol XII. only.

SCOTT'S CONTINUATION OF MILNER'S CHURCH HISTORY, Vol. II. Part II. 8vo.

WINKELMAN'S REFLECTIONS ON THE PAINTING OF THE GREEKS, translated by Fuseli. London, 1765. 8vo.

ROYAL PROCLAMATIONS IN ENGLAND IN THE YEAR 1688, EXTENDING TO AND INCLUDING THE YEAR 1707. London, folio.

TYRWITT'S SOLID REASONS FOR PHILOSOPHIZING. Winchester, 1652.

BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY. The first two Volumes. In Numbers preferred.

MARVELL'S WORKS. 3 Vols. 4to.

MARVELL'S (ANDREW) LIFE.

KINGSTON-ON-HULL, any work upon.

EDWIN AND EMMA. Taylor, 1776. 5_s._ will be given for a perfect copy.

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. Vol. V. Part I.

---- Vols. VIII. and IX. in Numbers.

POPE'S WORKS, BY WARTON, 1797. Vol. IV.

ROSCOE'S NOVELIST'S LIBRARY.--Tristram Shandy. Vol. II.

LINGARD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 4to. edit. Vol. VII.

LEBEUF, TRAITE HISTORIQUE SUR LE CHANT ECCLESIASTIQUE.

[Star symbol] Letters, stating particulars and lowest price,
_carriage free_, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND
QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

Notices to Correspondents.

REPLIES RECEIVED.--_Arkwright--Burning Fern--Dr. Fell--Mother Damnable--Nuremberg Token--Arborei Foetus--Rhymes on Places--Death from Fasting--He that runs may read--Elvan--Plague Stones--Hooping Cough--Mrs. Greenhill--Gospel Trees--King of the Beggars--Absalom's Hair--Moke--Ground Ice--Ve dal am daro--Whiting's Watch--Paget Family--The Word "Pignon"--Movable Pulpits--Dutch Pottery--Cynthia's Dragon Yoke--St. Christopher--Surnames or Sirenames--Moravian Hymns--We three--London Street Folks--Cromwell's Skull--Wyned--Family of Bullen--Article "An"--Coleridge's Christabel--Meaning of Lode--The Ring Finger--Can a Clergyman marry himself--Death of Pitt--Pedigree of the De Clares--Exeter Controversy--and many others, which we are prevented from acknowledging until next week._

W. W. E. T. _The Queries are in type, and shall have early insertion._

C. W. V. S.

"Music has charms," &c.

_is from Congreve's_ Mourning Bride, _Act I. Sc. 1., as we stated in our_ Notices to Correspondents _this day fortnight._

TEE BEE. _We have a note waiting for this Correspondent. Where shall it be sent?_