Chapter C: C. B

_Queries on the Mistletoe_ (Vol. iv., p. 110.).--Will your correspondent who some Numbers back stated, in a communication on the mistletoe, that it was _not uncommon_ upon the oak in _Somersetshire_, kindly give _two or three localities_ on his own knowledge? I fear some mistake has arisen, for, as far as my experience goes, an arch-Druid might hunt long enough in the present day for the "heaven-descended plant" among a _grove of oaks_, ere he fortuitously alighted upon it. Some years ago a friend assured me that he was credibly informed by a timber merchant often in the Sussex forests, that _mistletoe_ was not uncommon upon oaks there; but on a personal inspection it turned out that _ivy_, not _mistletoe_, was intended. I suspect a similar mistake in Somersetshire, unless two or three certain localities can be named as seen by a competent observer.

I should also like to know from your Carolinian correspondent H. H. B., whether the mistletoe he mentions is our genuine "wintry mistletoe"--the _Viscum album_ of Linnæus, or _another species_. The "varieties of the oak" he speaks of as having mistletoe upon them, are, I presume, all _American_ species, and not the European _Quercus robur_.

A. F.

Worcester.

_Portrait of Mesmer._--I should be glad if you, or any of your readers in England or in France, could inform me whether there is anywhere to be found a portrait--drawing, painting, or engraving--of _Mesmer_?

SIGMA.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Saint Richard_ (Vol. iv., p. 475.).--On what authority do the particulars recorded of this personage in the _Lives of the Saints_ rest? I cannot help considering his very existence as rather apocryphal, for these reasons:--1. Bede, who must have been his contemporary, and whose _Ecclesiastical History_ was written several years after the date assigned for Richard's death, never mentions his name. 2. When did his alleged renunciation of the throne occur, and what historian of the period mentions it? At the time of his death, and for thirty-five years before, the kingdom of Wessex was under the sway of Ina, one of the greatest and best of the West Saxon kings. 3. His name is not a Saxon one, and I believe it is not to be found in English history till after the Norman Conquest.

S. S. WARDEN.

[The _Britannia Sancta_, 4to. 1745, contains the following notice
of St. Richard compiled from the collections of the
Bollandists:--"St. Richard, whose name occurs on Feb. 7 in the
Roman Martyrology, is styled there, as well as in divers other
monuments, _King of the English_, though in the catalogues of our
Saxon kings there is no one found of that name; the reason of
which is, because the catalogues of the kings, during the
Heptarchy, are very imperfect, as might be proved, if it were
necessary, by several instances of kings whose names are there
omitted. As for St. Richard, it is that he was one of those
princes who, as we learn from St. Bede, lib. iv. ch. 12., ruled
the West Saxons after the year 673, till they were forced to give
way to King Ceadwall; which is the more probable, because he
flourished about that time, and was of the province of the West
Saxons, as appears from his being a kinsman to St. Winifred, or
Boniface, born and brought up in those parts (at Crediton in
Devonshire), and from his son Willibald's being brought up in a
monastery of the same province, and from his own setting out upon
his pilgrimage from Hamble Haven, which belonged to the West
Saxons." Some account of St. Richard and his tomb at Lucca will be
found in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxix., pt. i. p. 14.]

"_Coming Events cast their Shadows before._"--Where does this couplet occur?

"'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
And coming events cast their shadows before."

E. G.

[This couplet is from Campbells "Lochiel's Warning."]

_St. Christopher._--Fosbroke says, "the Greek Christians represented this saint with a dog's head, like Anubis, to show that he was of the country of the Cynocephale; and in confirmation of this assertion he quotes "_Winckelm. Stosch._ _cl._ i. _n._ 103." I have never heard either of this fact, or of the authority from which Fosbroke derived it. Can any of your readers give me any information about either?

E. A. H. L.

[The following is the passage quoted by Mr. Fosbroke, from
Winckelmann's _Description des Pierres Graveés du feu Baron de
Stosch_. 4to. Florence, 1760, p. 25.:--

"_Jaspe rouge._ Anubis en pied. Je vais rémarquer ici en passant
que les Chretiens Grecs du moyen âge ont figuré S. Christrophle
avec tête de Chien, comme Anubis, pour signifier que ce Saint
étoit du pays des Cynocéphales. (Pin. _Commentar. Vit. S.
Christoph._, § 6. in _Act. SS. Ant. Ful._, vol. vi. p. 427.) Tel
le voiton sur un ancien Ménologe peint sur bois, dans la
Bibliothèque du Vatican; cette rare pièce y est entrée avec la
bibliothèque du Marq. Capponi."]

_Cuddy, the Ass._--Your correspondents have alluded to the words _Donkey_ and _Moke_ not appearing in any of our dictionaries. There is another word for the same animal in general use in Northumberland and the neighbouring counties, _Cuddy_, which likewise does not appear in the dictionaries I have looked at,--Johnson's amongst the number. Can any of your correspondents give the origin of this word?

J. S. A.

Old Broad Street.

[This word is most probably of Oriental origin, and may have been
imported by the gypsies, the ass being their favourite quadruped.
Persian _gudda_ signifies an ass; and _ghudda_ has the same
signification in Hindostanee.--Jamieson's _Scottish Dictionary_.]

_Toady._--Will any of your readers be kind enough to explain the origin of this word, which is constantly used in conversation when speaking of a sycophant?

F. M.

[_Toady_, or _Toad-eater_, a vulgar name for a fawning, obsequious
sycophant, was first given to a gluttonous parasite, famous for
his indiscriminate enjoyment and praise of all viands whatever set
before him. To test his powers of stomach and complaisance, one of
his patrons had a _toad_ cooked and set before him, which he both
ate and praised in his usual way.--Ogilvie's _Imperial
Dictionary_.]

_Mother Shipton._--We have all heard of Mother Shipton and her prophecies. Was she a real character? If so, where did she live, and at what period? Were her prophecies ever published? If so, I should like an account of them?

JACOBUS.

[Our correspondent is referred to the following works relating to
this renowned personage:--1. _The Prophesies of Mother Shipton in
the Raigne of King Henry VIII., foretelling the Death of Cardinal
Wolsey, the Lord Percy, and others; as also what should happen in
ensuing Times_: London, 1641, 4to. 2. _Two Strange Prophesies,
predicting Wonderfull Events to betide this Yeare of Danger in
this Climate, where some have already come to passe_, by Mother
Shipton: London, 1642, 4to. (About 1642 several other tracts were
published with the name of Shipton.) 3. _The Life and Death of
Mother Shipton_: London, 1677, 4to. 4. _Mother Shipton's Life and
Curious Prophecies_: London, 1797, 8vo. 5. _The History of Mother
Shipton_: Newcastle, 4to. Nos. 1. and 4. are in the British
Museum.]

Replies.

RALPH WINTERTON.

(Vol. v., p. 346.)

There appears to be a slight error in the Editor's reply to E. D.'s Query respecting Ralph Winterton's translation of Gerard's _Meditations and Prayers_. I have an earlier edition than that of 1631. It is dated 1627[3], printed at Cambridge by Thomas and John Bucke, and possesses no less than four dedications, which throw some little, and rather curious light on his history. The _first_, "To the Right Worsh. my most worthy Friend and Benefactour, Mr. John Bowle, Doctor of Divinitie, and Deane of Salisbury," in which he mentions "the fatherly care" he had experienced from that divine, "when he was at Kensington, in the house of that most vertuous and literate Lady, the Lady Coppen." "By your indeficient liberalitie," he says, "all defects were supplyed, all difficulties remooved, horses provided, a man appointed, and, _to conclude_, by the grace of God, after many a troublesome and wearysome step, to my rest I returned." The _second_ Dedication is, "To the Right Worshipp. vertuous and learned Lady, the Lady Coppen, Mr R. Coppen, Mr T. Coppen, her Sonnes; M'ris Elizabeth Coppen, her Daughter-in-Law, &c., Internall, Externall, Eternall Happiness." In this he records, that "scarce had he entered her doores at Kensington, but he was saluted and made welcome by a gentlewoman well deserving at his hands, whose name must not be concealed, M'ris Francis Thorowgood, who hasted to carrie news to your Ladyship. _Dixirat et dicto citius._ Hereupon your Ladyship," he adds, "was pleased, out of hand, leaving all other business, not to send to mee, but to descend yourself to mee; not so much by the degrees of staires, as by a naturall inclination to show your hospitality," &c.; and speaks of her as understanding "the scholler's Languages as well as they that do profess them;" and as being "highly honoured by Queene Elizabeth." The _third_ Dedication is "To the Right Worship. my most munificent Friend, Sir John Hanburie, of Kelmash, in Northamptonshire." The _fourth_, "To the Worsh. my very worthy Friends, M'r William Bonham (of Paternoster Rowe, in London), and M'ris Anne Bonham, his Wife, Mr. Nathaniell Henshawe, of Valence, in Essex; M'r Benjamin Henshawe, of Cheapside, in London; and M'r Thomas Henshawe, of Saffron Walden, in Essex." The _third_ Dedication is dated from _Lutterworth_, in _Leicestershire_, May 10: the others from _King's Coll._, June 12, 1627.