Chapter II: Part 2

Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, as it is sometimes called,
from being the vigil of Ash Wednesday, was a day when every one
was bound to confess, and be shrove or shriven. That none might
plead forgetfulness of this duty, the great bell was rung at an
early hour in every parish, called the Pancake Bell, for the
following reasons given by Taylor, the Water Poet, in his
_Jacke-a-Lent_ (_Works_, p. 115. fol. 1630). He tells us, "On
Shrove Tuesday there is a bell rung, called the Pancake Bell, the
sound whereof makes thousands of people distracted, and forgetful
either of manner or humanitie. Then there is a thinge called
wheaten floure, which the sulphory, necromanticke cookes doe
mingle with water, egges, spice, and other tragicall, magicall
inchantments, and then they put it by little and little into a
frying-pan of boyling suet, where it makes a confused dismal
hissing, like the Lernean snakes in the reeds of Acheron, Stix, or
Phlegeton, until at last by the skill of the cooke it is
transformed into the forme of a _Flap-Jack_, which in our
translation is called a _Pancake_, which ominous incantation the
ignorant people doe devoure very greedily, having for the most
part well dined before; but they have no sooner swallowed that
sweet-candied baite, but straight their wits forsake them, and
they runne starke mad, assembling in routs and throngs numberlesse
of ungovernable numbers, with uncivill civill commotions." In the
"Forme of Cury," published with other cookery in Warner's
_Antiquitates Culinariæ_, p. 33., and written in 1390, we find a
kind of fried cakes called "comadore," composed of figs, raisins,
and other fruits, steeped in wine, and folded up in paste, to be
fried in oil. This suggests another savoury Query, Whether this is
not an improvement on our apple fritters?]

_Shakspeare, Tennyson, and Claudian._--

"Lay her i' the earth,
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring!"

Hamlet_, Act V. Sc. 1.

"'Tis well; 'tis something we may stand
Where he in English earth is laid,
And from his ashes may be made
The violet of his native land."

_In Memoriam_, XVIII.

I remember having seen quoted, _à propos_ of the lines of Shakspeare, a passage from some Latin poet (Claudian, I think) which contained the same idea. Can you, or any of your correspondents, favour me with it; as also where they are to be found? And can they give me the origin and reason of the idea.

H. JOHNSTON.

Liverpool.

[The passage to which our correspondent refers is most probably
that already quoted by Steevens, from Persius, _Sat._ I.

"---- e tumulo, fortunataque favilla
Nascentur violæ?"]

Replies.

THE RING FINGER.

(Vol. v., pp. 114. 371.)

My subsequent reading has not only confirmed, but added to the information conveyed in the reference quoted. I there surmised that the third was the ring finger, because the thumb and first two fingers have always been reserved as symbols of the blessed Trinity, and consequently the third was the first vacant finger. Both the Greek and Latin church agree in this, that the thumb and first two fingers signify the blessed Trinity. And whilst these three fingers signify the Trinity, the third and fourth fingers are emblematic of the two natures of Christ, the human and divine. As then the third finger served to symbolise the human nature, and marriage was instituted to propagate the human race, that was made the wedding finger. The right hand is the hand of power: hence the wife wears the ring on the ring finger of the _left hand_. The Greeks make each of the first three fingers, _i.e._ the thumb and two fingers, symbolise one of the divine persons. M. Didron informs us that, during his visit to Greece in 1839, the Archbishop of Mistra--

"Whom I interrogated on the subject, informed me that the thumb,
from its strength, indicated the Creator, the Father Eternal, the
Almighty; that the middle finger was dedicated to Jesus Christ,
who redeemed us; and that the forefinger, between the thumb and
middle finger, figured the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the
Father and the Son, and in representations of the blessed Trinity
is placed between those two persons."

A bishop's ring is emblematic of the gifts of the Holy Ghost: and formerly bishops wore their ring on the forefinger of the right hand.

CEYREP.

"And the priest, taking the ring, shall deliver it unto the man,
to put it upon _the fourth finger_ of the woman's left-hand."

_Rubric, Marriage Service._

Pray let the lady be comforted! Surely the most punctilious Rubrician will make no impertinent inquiries about the missing finger, so long as _a fourth_ remains. But even if all be wanting, I will engage to find her a priest whose conscience will not be hurt at allowing the stump to pass muster.

DIGITALIS.

THE MORAVIAN HYMNS.

(Vol. v., pp. 30. 474.)

Having followed with interest the late discussion in your pages upon the earlier specimens of those strange productions, the Moravian Hymns, it seems to me, that although much that is curious has been elicited, the Query of P. H., touching the genuineness of the extraordinary sample reproduced by him from the _Oxford Magazine_ for 1769, remains unanswered. It is therefore with a view to supply some information directly to this point, that I now beg to introduce to your readers _my_ earliest edition, which looks very like the _editio princeps_ of Part III.: at all events it takes precedence of that described by H. C. B. Its title is, _A Collection of Hymns, consisting chiefly of Translations from the German Hymn-book of the Moravian Brethren_. Part III. Small 8vo. pp. 168. London, printed for James Hutton, 1748.

At first sight there would appear to be no difference between H. C. B.'s volume and mine, beyond the latter being the earlier by one year; that year, however, seems to have been the exact period when the Brethren deemed it advisable, to avoid scandal, to revise and prune their hymn-book.

"In this part (especially) of our hymn-book," says the Preface, "a good deal of liberty has been taken in dispensing with what otherwise is customary and ornamental: and that for different reasons." Then follow these three reasons: the hymns being printed in prose, to save room; the retention of German diminutives which, although scarcely known in the English tongue, "have a certain elegance and effect" in the former language; and the use of "more antique, prosaic, and less polished diction, out of tenderness for the main point, the expressing more faithfully the doctrines of the congregation, rather than seek better at the expense of the sense."

"So much," continues the Preface, "seemed proper to mention to exempt this Book (which though calculated for our own congregation, will no doubt come into the hands of strangers) from the imputation of a needless singularity. Now we only wish that every Reader may also feel something of that solid and happy Bottom, from whence these free, familiar, and perhaps abrupt Aspirations, both in the composing and using of them, do sparkle forth: And so we commit this _Third Part_ of our Hymn-book to the Providence and Blessing of that dear Redeemer, who with his Ever-blessed Atonement, is everywhere the subject thereof."

As to the hymns themselves, I need say little more to describe them than to observe that the present edition contains not only the one quoted by P. H. from the _Oxford Magazine_, but all the others which are there to be found, and which have raised doubt in your correspondent's mind whether they are not rather the fabrications of Anti-Moravians than genuine productions, and at the periods in use among the Brethren. Here, too, is to be found the "Chicken Blessed" of Anstey: in his _Bath Guide_ he correctly quotes it as "No. 33. in Count Zinzendorf's Hymn-book,"--that being its position in the present volume. The satirist has, however, given only half of "the learned Moravian's ode," but that faithfully. Besides these there are some of the hymns enumerated by Rimius in his _Candid Narrative of the Herrnhuters_ (London, 1753), in support of his charges against them.

Probably your readers are content with the specimens which have already appeared in your columns. Had it been otherwise, this curious volume would have supplied some of a singular character: as it is, I cannot resist extracting No. 77. and a part of No. 110.; the former relating an adventure between the Arch-Enemy and Saint Martin; the latter, "Concerning the happy little Birds in the Cross's-air, or in the Atmosphere of the Corpse of Jesus:"

"Once on a time a man there was,
A saint whose name was Martin,
Concerning whom, Severus says,
Satan came to him darting
As Lightning quick and bright array'd;
'I am thy Jesus dear,' he said,
'Me thou wilt surely worship.'

"Martin looks straight towards his side,
No Side-hole met his vision:
'Let me,' says he, 'in Peace abide,
Thou hast no side's Incision;
Thou art the Devil, my Good Friend!
The place where Jesus' sign does stand
Blindfold I could discover.'

"The same's the case ev'n at this Day
With Jesu's congregation:
For Larks who round his Body play,
Have of his wounds sensation;
Because our dear incarnate God,
Will with his wounds as man be view'd,
Be felt, and so believ'd on."

"How does a cross-air Bird behave,
When of the Tent it will take leave?
The Body grows a little sick,
The soul may find it long or quick
Till she the Bridegroom see;
There stands he presently.
She views the Side, Hands, Feet, each Part;
The Lamb upon her weary Heart
A kiss then gives her:
This kiss Extracts the soul quite out,
And on his dear Mouth home 'tis brought,
The Kiss's Print the Body shews,
Which to its Fining-place then goes;
When done the Soul does fetch it,
And to the wound-hole snatch it."

Parts I. and II. of these hymns I have never seen; but besides the above described, I have the following editions: _A Collection of Hymns of the Children of God, in all Ages from the beginning till now: in Two Parts. Designed chiefly for the use of the Congregations in union with the Brethren's Church._ Thick 8vo. London, printed in the year 1754: this is the larger hymn-book alluded to by SIGMA. _A Collection of Hymns, chiefly extracted from the larger Hymn-book of the Brethren's Congregation_: London, printed and sold at the Brethren's chapels, 1769,--noticed by H. C. B. These are both extraordinary productions, but yield to the edition of 1748: it having already been observed of these hymns, that the later impression is always the _tamer_.

J. O.

CAGOTS.

(Vol. iv., p. 190.)

I arrive at the conclusion, that the Cacosi of Latin writers, Cacous, or Cagous, represent the true name from which Cagots, the _t_ being mute, is but a slight deviation; while some other forms have scarcely retained more than the initial _Ca_. The etymology from the Goths (most absurd _in substance_, and worthy of the days when Languedoc was fetched from _Land-got_, Land of the Goths,) has reference only to one of the French spellings.

_Cacosus_, meaning a leper, as well as a Cacous or Cagot, was from κακὸν, κάκωσις, in Greek; and from it came _cacosomium_, contracted for _cacoso-comium_, not a mere _noso-comium_, but an asylum for lepers. See Ducange.

But the Cacous in question were not only lepers, but families in which leprosy was considered hereditary. For this reason they are called Giezites, les Gézits, les Gesitains, from Giezi, servant of Elisha and his posterity. (See Michel, vol. i. pp. 56. 148. 238. &c.) A simple leper was Lazarius or ladre. The latter were, like Lazarus, merely afflicted; but the former were deemed to be under an abiding curse, like Giezi.

But those who were Giezites by condition, as inheriting and transmitting the disease, were by many of the vulgar imagined to be Giezites by blood, and the real posterity of Elisha's servant, "Cagots de Chanaan." By an equally natural result, persons actually free from disease were shunned as Cacous; since the stigma attached to the race, not to the individual. Indeed, the wearing out of the malady has created the whole obscurity of the case.

Their most curious title, Crestiaas or Christians, was not given them in direct affirmation, but in denial of a negative, "not non-christian." Because, being considered of Giezi's lineage, not only Jews, but Jews under a curse, many would be disposed to repell them from communion. See Dom Lepelletier's _Dict. Bretonne_, in CACOUS.

Whether hereditary lepra was rightly thought to exist, or whether the negligence of the more abject and squalid families in communicating it to each other falsely raised that idea, is a separate question, which I must leave to physicians.

A. N.

SHERIFFS AND LORDS LIEUTENANT.

(Vol. v., p. 394.)

Dalton saith:

"Vice comites have the same authority that the antient comites
had; and at this day there are some relicts of that dignity, for
he hath _album baculum_, and the grant of the office is commisimus
vobis [comitatum]. And also he takes place of every nobleman
during the time that he is in office."

The Writ of Assistance ran thus:

"To archbishops, bishops, dukes, earls, barons, knights,
freeholders, and all others of our county of C. Whereas we have
committed to our well-beloved A. B. the custody of our said
county, with the appurtenances, during our pleasure, We command
you that ye be aiding, answering, and assisting to the said A. B.
as our sheriff of our said county in all things which appertain to
the said office."

This form was abolished in 1833. The Lord Lieutenant is a military officer, who appears to have grown into permanence under the Tudors. The office of Custos Rotulorum, which, though quite distinct, is usually joined with it, is much more ancient; its duties are to keep the records of the sessions, which involve the appointment of the clerk of the peace, and the power of recommending to the Great Seal of persons to be inserted in the commission of the peace.

As for instances of such precedence being _claimed_, it is not easy to recollect what is usually taken as a thing so much of course. Perhaps the instance of a Duke, who had been Lord Lieutenant forty years, apologising to a Sheriff for having inadvertently taken precedence, may serve.

VICE. COM. DEPUTAT.

In answer to L. J.'s inquiry, upon what authority the precedency of the Sheriff over the Lord Lieutenant is maintained; may it not partly be founded on the office of Sheriff being of greater antiquity, and on this officer having the command over, and the power of summoning all the people of the county above the age of fifteen, and under the degree of a peer? The office of Lord Lieutenant was first created in the third year of King Edward VI., to suppress, as Strype tells us, "the routs and uproars" in most of the counties. We might suppose that the Sheriff already possessed sufficient power for this purpose: the means then adopted to promote tranquillity were not well calculated to be popular among the people. No drum or pipe was to be struck or sounded. Plays were forbidden. In the churches of Devonshire and Cornwall, Lord Russell was to take down every bell in a steeple but one, so as to prevent a peal being rung.

The precedency in question is acted upon to the present hour; and a Lord Lieutenant, however high his rank in the peerage, gives place to the Sheriff as a matter of course. But do not both these officers yield precedence to her Majesty's justices of assize, when actually engaged on the circuit?

J. H. M.

ST. CHRISTOPHER.

(Vol. v., pp. 295. 334. 372.)

Two questions are asked by E. A. H. L. concerning St. Christopher: 1. _Are there any known representations of St. Christopher in painted glass?_ There is a very interesting example in a window in _St. Neot's Church, Cornwall_. It represents St. Christopher with the child Jesus on his back, and below has the legend: "Sante Christophere, ora pro me." This ancient window was presented to the church by three members of the Borlase family. Their benefaction is recorded in the inscription along the cill of the window:

"Orate pro animabus Catherine Burlas, Nicolai Burlas, et Johannis
Vyvian, qui istam fenestram fieri fecerunt."

Another example of St. Christopher, bearing the divine infant, is in one of the lights of the three-light window over the altar of _All Saints' Church, North Street, York_. It is the work of the fifteenth century.

In the same city, _St. John's Church, Micklegate_, has two representations of St. Christopher in glass. One is the window north of the altar, but it is only a portion of the figure; the other is in the window south of the altar, and of perpendicular character. In _St. Martin-le-Grand, Coney Street_, in the sixth or eastern window of the north aisle, is a figure of St. Christopher, of date about 1450. _St. Michael-le-Belfroy_, in the same city, has two figures of the saint: one, of perpendicular character, in the window north of the altar; the other, a fragment, in the fourth window from the east end on the south side, of date between 1540 and 1550. _Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate_, possesses a very beautiful figure of the saint. It forms the fifth of a series of five large figures in the east window of the church, and seems to bear the date 1470.

The second question is, "What is the real meaning of the representations of St. Christopher that are so frequently found on the north walls of churches?" I cannot agree with MR. J. EASTWOOD in thinking that the explanation he gives from _Sacred and Legendary Art is sufficiently satisfactory_. It appears to me that the figures of St. Christopher were meant to symbolise the privilege enjoyed by the faithful of receiving the body and blood of Christ, and thus becoming _Christo-feri_. The emblem may have had its origin in the earliest ages, when the _disciplina arcani_ was carried out. This opinion receives strength from the circumstance, that Christopher was a name assumed by the saint, and not his baptismal name. The extraordinary powers of cure spoken of in verses often inscribed below the figures of this saint, were understood by the faithful to allude to the efficacy of the Holy Communion, that made them _Christopher's_, i.e. persons bearing their blessed Saviour, not on their shoulders, but within their breasts. His figures in sculpture and painting are always represented as colossal, to signify that this heavenly food makes each of the faithful "as a giant to run the way" (Ps. xix. 5.) This explanation will probably satisfy E. A. H. L. that the important position occupied by St. Christopher in the iconography of the mediæval church is to be solved by its symbolical signification.

In addition to the representations of this saint in painted glass mentioned above, E. A. H. L. will find mention of another specimen in the last number of the _Archæological Journal_. It is in private hands, being the property of Mr. Lucas, who purchased a collection of specimens of old glass some years since at Guildford, said to have come from an old mansion in Surrey. The specimen in question is described as "St. Christopher carrying our Saviour--an octagonal piece of glass."--P. 101.

He will also find, in the same place, that a mural painting of St. Christopher has been lately discovered in the chancel of Gawsworth Church, Cheshire, of which a description is given in p. 103.

CEYREP.

E. A. H. L. asks if there is any known representation of St. Christopher in painted glass. There is one in All Saints, York, engraved in Weale's _Papers_; and there is a small one on a brass in Tattershall Church.

C. T.

For information on this subject, I would refer E. A. H. L. to Warton, _Poetry_, vol. i. p. 451.; Coryatt's _Crudities_, vol. i. p. 29.; Rudder's _Gloucestershire_, p. 286.; Gage's _Hengrave_, p. 64.; _Winckelm. Stosch_, ch. i. n. 103.

On a loose print of "Painted Glass at Leicester," Throsby del. 1788, now before me, is a representation of him who was once Psychicus the savage, but now the holy Saint Christopher, figured, as usual, under the likeness of a man of gigantic stature, carrying on his shoulder the little child Jesus, through the broad and deep waters of a turbulent river, and steadying his steps with an uprooted palm-tree laden with fruit, which he bears in his hands by way of staff. He is here exhibited in more seemly habiliments, and as a personage of much more dignified and venerable appearance, than in the well-known picture on the walls of Wotton Church. The latter, however, is a portraiture of superior antiquarian interest, on account of its accessories, wherein St. Christopher's especial office, as patron of field sports, is, with much rudeness it is true, but most efficiently and fully illustrated.

In the extract given by J. EASTWOOD from _Sacred and Legendary Art_, we have merely the supposititious conclusions of an ingenious imagination, introduced to supply a void which the accomplished writer was unable otherwise to fill up. There is a pretty little work published by Burns, and entitled _St. Christopher; a Painting in Fordholme Church_, which contains, much too much, however, in the suspicious form of a modern religious allegory, what professes to be the authentic "Legend" of this saint.

COWGILL.

E. A. H. L. makes the inquiry whether "there are any known representations of St. Christopher in _painted glass_; if so, where?" This I am unable to answer; but your learned correspondent JARLTZBERG having sent you one version of the legend attached to this saint, may I venture to remind you of another? This is the one attached to the celebrated picture, "The Descent from the Cross," by Rubens, in the cathedral of Antwerp, in which the painter, adopting the Greek derivation of the name as given by JARLTZBERG, represents the saint supporting Christ on his removal from the crucifix. The picture was painted for the Arquebusiers of Antwerp, whose patron was St. Christopher; but they were dissatisfied with it, and refused Rubens his promised reward, a piece of land in their possession contiguous to his own, for which he had accomplished this, certainly one of his most beautiful paintings.

T. W. P.

GENERAL PARDONS--SIR JOHN TRENCHARD.

(Vol. iii., p. 279.)

I am not aware of any general pardon under the great seal having been printed; but the following transcript of one (the original with the seal attached is in the collection of my friend, R. Rising, Esq., of Horsey) is very much at J. G. N.'s service, and is especially interesting, as being one of the last acts of James II. before he quitted England for ever.

"{Jacobus Secundus Dei grati:} Anglie, Scocie, ffrancie &
hib[=n]ie Rex, fidei defensor, &c. {Omnibus} ad quos p'sentes he
n're [p=]veniu't sa[=lt]em. Sciatis q[=d] Nos pietate moti, ac
gr'a n'ra sp'iali ac ex certa scientia & mero motu n'ris
{Pardonabimus} relaxavims et remisims ac [p=] p'sentes [p=] Nobis
heredibus, & successoribus n'ris, Pardonams relaxams et remittims
Jo[=h]i Trenchard nu[p=] de medio Templo Londin' armigero seu
quocunque alio nomine vel cognomine artis, misterii, loci vel
locor' idem Jo[=h]es Trenchard sciatr censeatr vocetr vel
nuncupetr aut nup' sciebatr, censebatr, vocabatr seu nuncupa batr
omn' et omni'od' Prodic'ones crimina lese maiestatis, mispris'ones
Prodic'onis, Conspirac'ones, Sedic'ones, Insurrecc'ones,
Concelament' Bellor', gestiones Bellor', machinac'ones,
Imaginac'ones, et attempt' Illicit', convinc'ones verbor',
p'palac'ones ac om'ia & singula ffelon', et al' malefi'a crimina
Transgressiones, contempt' et offens' quecunq: [p=] ip'um Jo[=h]em
Trenchard [p=] se solum sive cum aliqua alia p'sona, seu aliquib'
aliis [p=]'sonis qualicunq:, quandocunq:, seu ubicunq: antehac
contra [p=]sonam n'ram Regal' vel Gub'nac'onem n'ram, vel contra
Person' D[=n]i Caroli s[=e]di nu[p=] Regis Anglie preclarissimi
ffratris n'ri vel Regimen suu' vel leges & statut' regni n'ri
Anglie fact' co[=m]iss' sive [p=]petrat'.--Necnon fugam & fugas
su[p=]inde fact'. Et licet p'fat' Jo[=h]es Trenchard [p=]inde
arrestat', ind'cat', impetit', utlagat', rectat' appellat'
condemnat' convict' attinct' seu adiudicat' existit vel non
existit aut inde arrestari, adiudicari, impetiri, utlagari
rectari, appellari, condemnari, convinci, attingi seu adiudicari
contigerit in futuro. Ac om'ia & singula Jud'camenta,
convic'cones, judicia, condempnac'onas attinctur', execuc'ones
imprisonamenta, Penas mortis, Penas corporales, fforisfutur',
punic'ones & om'es al' Penas ac penalitates quascunq: de, [p=],
sive concernen' [p=]'missa, vel aliqua [p=]'missor' insu[p=] vel
versus [p=]'fat Jo[=h]em Trenchard habit' fact' reddit' sive
adiudicat' vel imposter' h'end' f'iend' reddend', sive adiudicand'
aut que nos versus ip'um Jo[=h]em Trenchard [p=] p'missis vel
aliquo p'missor' h'uimus h'emus seu imposter' h'ere poterimus, ac
heredes seu successores n'ri ullo modo he're poterint in futuro.
Necnon omnes et singul' utlagar' versus p'fat' Jo[=h]em Trenchard
rac'one seu occac'one [p=]missor' seu eor' alicuius [p=]mulgat'
seu imposter' [p=]'mulgand' At om'es & om'iod' sect', Querel',
fforisfutur' impetic'ones & Demand' quecunq: que nos versus
[p=]'fat' Jo[=h]em Trenchard [p=] p'missis vel aliquo [p=]'missor'
h'uim' h'emus seu infuturo h'ere poterimus. Sectamq: pacis n're
que ad nos versus [p=]'fat Jo[=h]em Trenchard [p=]tinet seu
[p=]tinere poterit, rac'one seu occac'one [p=]'missor' seu eor'
alicui. Et firmam pacem n'ram ei inde dam' et concedim' [p=]
p'sentes. {Nolentes} q'd ip'e idem Jo[=h]es Trenchard [p=]
Justitiar' Vice Comites Mariscallos Escaetor', Coronator',
Ballivos seu aliquos al' ministros n're heredum vel successor'
n'ror' quoscunq: rac'onib' seu occac'onib' p'd'tis seu eor' aliqu'
molestetr [p=]'turbetr seu in aliquo gravetr {Volentes} q'd he
l're n're patentes quoad om'ia singul' p'missa su[p=]ind
menc'onat' bene, firme, valide, sufficien' et effectual' in lege
erunt et existent licet Prodic'ones, crimina lese maiestatis,
misprisiones Prodic'onis, conspirac'ones, sedic'ones,
Insurecc'ones, concelament' Bellor', Gestion' Bellor',
machinac'ones, Imaginac'ones, vel attempt' Illicit', convinc'ones
verbor', Propalac'ones & ffelon' crimina, & offens' p'dict', minus
certe specificat' existim't. Q'dq: hec Pardonaco' n'ra in om'ib'
curiis n'ris et alibi interpretetr et adiudicetr in
beneficentissimo sensu [p=] firmiore exonerac'one relaxac'one &
Pardonac'one [p=]'fat' Jo[=h]is Trenchard ac etiam p'litetr
allocetr in om'ib: Curiis n'ris absq: aliquo Brevi de Allocac'one
mea parte pr'm's obtent' sive obtinend'. Et non obstante aliqua
def'tu vel aliquib' def'tibus in his l'ris n'ris patentib'
content' aut aliquo statuto, acto, ordinac'one provisione seu
Restricc'one aut aliqua al' re, causa, vel materia quacunq: in
contrar' inde ullo modo non obstante.

In Cuius rei testimoniu' has l'ras n'ras fier' fecimus Patentes.

Teste me ip'o apud West' decimo sept'o die Decembris anno regni
n'ri tertio.

Per Breve de p'rato Sigillo
BARKER."

This was in the year 1688, just seven days after, according to Macaulay, that he had fled secretly from the kingdom, having previously thrown the great seal into the Thames, whence it was dredged up some months after by a fisherman. Being driven back by stress of weather, he returned to London, and on the 17th Pepys states,

"That night was a council; his Ma'ty refuses to assent to all the
proposals, goes away again to Rochester."

and _on that very night_ was this pardon granted, James probably endeavouring to prop up his tottering cause by attaching as many as possible to his own party. There were several documents in the collection of the late Josiah Trench, Esq., of Windsor (1648-1652) signed by John Trenchard, among the other regicides. Ewing, in his _Norfolk Lists_, states that a portrait of him is in existence, and that he was a serjeant-at-law, and at this date (1688) M. P. for Thetford, being at that date merely an esquire. In 1692, according to the same authority, Sir John Trenchard was Secretary of State; and his death took place in 1694. I should be glad to add to these scanty notices, especially as regards the reason which rendered a pardon necessary at this time.

E. S. TAYLOR.

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Dayesman_ (Vol. i., p. 189.).--Bishop Jewell writes:

"M. Harding would have had us put God's word to _daying_ (i.e. to
_trial_), and none otherwise to be obedient to Christ's
commandment, than if a few bishops gathered at Trident shall allow
it."

_Replie to Harding_, _Works_, vol. ii. p. 424. (Dr. Jelf's edit.)

"The _Ger._ TAGEN, to appoint a day.
The _D._ DAGHEN, to cite or summon on a day appointed."

(Wachter and Kilian.)

And _Dayesman_ is he, the man, "who fixes the _day_, who is present, or sits as judge, arbiter, or umpire on the _day_ fixed or appointed."

It is evident that Richardson made much use of Jewell; but this word "daying" has escaped him: his explanation of _dayesman_ accords well with it.

Q.

_Bull_; _Dun_ (Vol. ii., p. 143.).--We certainly do not want the aid of Obadiah Bull and Joe Dun to account for these words. Milton writes, "I affirm it to be a _bull_, taking away the essence of that, which it calls itself." And a _bull_ is, "that which expresses something in opposition to what is intended, wished, or felt;" and so named "from the contrast of humble profession with despotic commands of Papal bulls."

"A _dun_ is one who has _dinned_ another for money or anything."--See Tooke, vol. ii. p. 305.

Q.

_Algernon Sidney_ (Vol. v., p. 447.).--I do not intend to enter the lists in defence of this "illustrious patriot." The pages of "N. & Q." are not a fit battle ground. But I request you to insert the whole quotation, that your readers may judge with what amount of fairness C. has made his note from Macaulay's _History_.

"Communications were opened between Barillon, the ambassador of
Lewis, and those English politicians who had always professed, and
who indeed sincerely felt, the greatest dread and dislike of the
French ascendancy. The most upright member of the country party,
William Lord Russell, son of the Earl of Bedford, did not scruple
to concert with a foreign mission schemes for embarrassing his own
sovereign. This was the whole extent of Russell's offence. His
principles and his fortune alike raised him above all temptations
of a sordid kind: but there is too much reason to believe that
some of his associates were less scrupulous. It would be unjust to
impute to them the extreme wickedness of taking bribes to injure
their country. On the contrary, they meant to serve her: but it is
impossible to deny that they were mean and indelicate enough to
let a foreign prince pay them for serving her. Among those who
cannot be acquitted of this degrading charge was one man who is
popularly considered as the personification of public spirit, and
who, in spite of some great moral and intellectual faults, has a
just claim to be called a hero, a philosopher, and a patriot. It
is impossible to see without pain such a name in the list of the
pensioners of France. Yet it is some consolation to reflect that
in our own time a public man would be thought lost to all sense of
duty and shame who should not spurn from him a temptation which
conquered the virtue and the pride of Algernon Sidney."

_History of England_, vol. i. p. 228.

ALGERNON HOLT WHITE.

Brighton.

_Age of Trees_ (Vol. iv., pp. 401. 488.).--At Neustadt, in Wirtemberg, there is a prodigious lime-tree, which gives its name to the town, which is called _Neustadt an der Linden_. The age of this tree is said to be 1000 years. According to a German writer, it required the support of sixty pillars in the year 1392, and attained its present size in 1541. It now rests, says the same authority, on above one hundred props, and spreads out so far that a market can be held under its shade. It is of this tree that Evelyn says it was--

"Set about with divers columns and monuments of stone (eighty-two
in number, and formerly above one hundred more), which several
princes and nobles have adorned, and which as so many pillars
serve likewise to support the umbrageous and venerable boughs; and
that even the tree had been much ampler the ruins and distances of
the columns declare, which the rude soldiers have greatly
impaired."

There is another colossal specimen of the same species in the churchyard of the village of Cadiz, near Dresden. The circumference of the trunk is forty feet. Singularly, though it is completely hollow through age, its inner surface is coated with a fresh and healthy bark.

UNICORN.

_Emaciated Monumental Effigies_ (Vol. v., p. 427.).--In reference to your correspondents' observations on skeleton monuments, I may mention that there is one inserted in the wall of the yard of St. Peter's Church, Drogheda. It is in high relief, cut in a dark stone and the skeleton figure half shrouded by grave clothes is a sufficiently appalling object. Beside it stands another figure still "in the flesh." It is many years since I saw the monument, and whether there be any inscription legible upon it, or whether it be generally known to whom it belongs, I cannot inform you.

URSULA.

There is a very good instance of an "altar tomb," bearing on it an ordinary effigy, and containing within it a skeleton figure, visible through pierced panel work, in Fyfield Church, Berks. It is the monument of Sir John Golafre, temp. Hen. V. Another fine instance I remember to have seen (I believe) in the parish church of Ewelme, Oxon.

HENRY G. TOMKINS.

Weston-super-Mare.

_Bee Park_ (Vol. v., p. 322.).--In this neighbourhood is an ancient farm-house called Bee Hall, where I doubt not that bees were kept in great quantities in bygone ages; and am the more led to believe this because they always flourish best upon thyme, which grows here as freely and luxuriantly as I ever elsewhere observed it. About four miles from said Bee Hall, the other day, I was looking over a genteel residence, and noticing a shady enclosure, asked the gardener what it was for. He told me, to protect the bees from the sun: it was upon a much larger scale than we generally now see, indicating that the soil, &c. suit apiaries. Looking to the frequent mention of _honey_, and its vast consumption formerly, as you instance in royal inventories, to which may be added documents in cathedral archives, &c., is it not remarkable that we should witness so few memorials of the ancient management of this interesting insect? I certainly remember one well-built "bee-house," at the edge of Lord Portsmouth's park, Hurstbourne, Hants, large enough for a good cottage, now deserted. While on the subject I will solicit information on a custom well known to those resident in the country, viz. of making a great noise with a house key, or other small knocker, against a metal dish or kettle while bees are swarming? Of course farmers' wives, peasants, &c., who do not reason, adopt this because their fathers before them did so. It is urged by intelligent naturalists that it is utterly useless, as bees have no sense of hearing. What does the clamour mean,--whence derived?

B. B.

Pembroke.

_Sally Lunn_ (Vol. v., p. 371.).--In reply to the Query, "Is anything known of Sally Lunn? is she a personage or a myth?" I refer your inquirer to Hone's _Every-day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1561.:

"The bun so fashionable, called the _Sally Lunn_, originated with
a young woman of that name at Bath, about thirty years ago." [This
was written in 1826.] "She first cried them in a basket, with a
white cloth over it, morning and evening. Dalmer, a respectable
baker and musician, noticed her, bought her business, and made a
song and set it to music in behalf of Sally Lunn. This composition
became the street favourite, barrows were made to distribute the
nice cakes, Dalmer profited thereby and retired, and to this day
the _Sally Lunn Cake_ claims pre-eminence in all the cities of
England."

J. R. W.

Bristol.

_Baxter's Pulpit_ (Vol. v., p. 363.).--An engraving of Baxter's pulpit will be found in a work entitled _Footsteps of our Forefathers: what they suffered and what they sought_. By James G. Miall, 1851, p. 232.

J. R. W.

Bristol.

_Lothian's Scottish Historical Maps_ (Vol. v., p. 371.).--Although this work is now out of print, and thereby scarce, your correspondent ELGINENSIS will, I have no doubt, on application to Stevenson, the "well-known" antiquarian and historical bookseller in Edinburgh, be put in possession of a copy for 12_s._

T. G. P.

Edinburgh.

_British Ambassadors_ (Vol. iv., pp. 442. 477.).--Some time ago a correspondent asked where he could obtain a list or lists of the ambassadors sent from this court. I do not recollect that an answer has appeared in your columns, nor do I know how far the following may suit his purpose:

"12. An Alphabetical Index of the Names and Dates of Employment of
English Ambassadors and Diplomatic Agents resident in Foreign
Courts, from the Reign of King Henry VIII. to that of Queen Anne
inclusive. One volume, folio."

This is extracted from the letter of the Right Hon. H. Hobhouse, keeper of His Majesty's State Papers, in reply to the Secretary of the Commissioners of Public Records, dated "State Paper Office, Sept. 19, 1832." (See the Appendix to the _Commissioners' Report_, 1837, p. 78.)

TEE BEE.

_Knollys Family_ (Vol. v., p. 397.).--Lt.-General William Knollys, eighth Earl of Banbury, married Charlotte Martha, second daughter of the Ebenezer Blackwell, Esq., banker, of Lombard Street, and Lewisham, Kent.

The present Col. Knollys, of the Fusileer Guards, is his representative.

A. Blackwell, sister or daughter of John Blackwell, the father of Ebenezer, married an Etheridge.

W. BLACKWELL, Curate of Mells.

_'Prentice Pillars--'Prentice Windows_ (Vol. v., p. 395.).--I am reminded of a similar story connected with the two rose windows in the transept of the beautiful cathedral of Rouen. They were described to me by the old Swiss in charge, as the work of two artists, master and pupil; and he also pointed out the spot where the master killed the pupil, from jealousy of the splendid production of the _north_ window by the latter: and, as the _Guide Book_ truly says, "La rose du nord est plus belle que celle du midi"--the master's work.

BENBOW.

Birmingham.

_St. Bartholomew_ (Vol. v., p. 129.).--Thanking you for the information given, may I further inquire if any of your correspondents are aware of the existence of any copy or print from the picture in the Church of Notre Dame, at Paris, of St. Bartholomew healing the Princess of Armenia (see Jameson's _Sacred and Legendary Art_); and where such may be seen?

REGEDONUM.

_Sun-dial Inscription_ (Vol. v., p. 79.).--The following inscription is painted in huge letters over the sun-dial in front of an old farm-house near Farnworth in Lancashire:

"Horas non numero nisi serenas."

Where are these words to be found?

Y.

_History of Faction_ (Vol. v., p. 225.).--In my copy of this work, published in 1705, 8vo., formerly Isaac Reed's, he attributes it to Colonel Sackville Tufton. I observe also that Wilson (_Life of De Foe_, vol. ii. p. 335.) states, that in his copy it is ascribed, in an old handwriting, to the same author.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

_Barnacles_ (Vol. v., p. 13.).--May not the use of this word in the sense of _spectacles_ be a corruption of _binoculis_; and has not _binnacle_ (part of a ship) a similar origin?

J. S. WARDEN.

_Family Likenesses_ (Vol. v., p. 7.).--Any one who mixed in the society of the Scottish metropolis a few years ago must have met with two very handsome and accomplished brothers, who generally wore the Highland dress, and were known by the name of "The Princes." I do not mean to enter into the question as to whether or not they were the true representatives of "Bonnie Prince Charlie," which most persons consider to have been conclusively settled in the negative by an article which appeared in the _Quarterly Review_: but most assuredly a very strong point of evidence in favour of their having the royal blood of Scotland in their veins, was the remarkable resemblance which they bore--especially the younger brother--to various portraits of the Stuart family, and, among the rest, to those of the "Merry Monarch," as well as of his father Charles I.

E. N.

_Merchant Adventurers to Spain_ (Vol. v., p. 276.).--C.J.P. may possibly be assisted in his inquiries by referring to De Castros' _Jews in Spain_, translated by Kirwan, pp. 190-196. This interesting work was published by G. Bell, 186. Fleet Street, London, 1851.

W. W.

La Valetta, Malta.

_Exeter Controversy_ (Vol. v., p. 126.).--This controversy was one of the many discussions relating to the Trinity which have engaged the theological activity of England during the last two hundred years. It arose in consequence of the imputed Arianism of some Presbyterian ministers of Exeter, the most conspicuous of whom were James Peirce and Joseph Hallet. It began in 1717, and terminated in 1719, when these two ministers were ejected from their pulpits. Your correspondent who put the question will find some account of this controversy in Murch's _History of the Presbyterian Churches in the West of England_,--a work well worth the attention of those who take interest in the antiquities of Non-conformity.

T. H. GILL.

_Corrupted Names of Places_ (Vol. v., p. 375.).--When my father was at one time engaged in collecting the numbers drawn for the Sussex militia, he began by calling out for those men who belonged to the hundred of _Mayfield_; and though he three times repeated his call, not a single man came forward. A person standing by suggested that he should say "the hundred of _Mearvel_," and give it as broad a twang as possible. He did so; when _nineteen_ out of _twenty-three_ present answered to the summons. _Hurstmonceaux_ is commonly pronounced _Harsmouncy_; and I have heard _Sompting_ called _Summut_.

G. BLINK.

_Poison_ (Vol. v., p. 394.).--Junius, Bailey, and Johnson seem all to agree that our word _poison_ comes from the French _poison_. I am inclined to think, with the two first-mentioned lexicographers, that the etymon is πόσις, or _potio_. Junius adds, that "Ita Belgis venenum dicitur _gift_, donum;" and it is curious that in Icelandic _eitr_ means both poison and gift. In the _Antiquitates Celto-Scandicæ_ (p. 13.), I find the following expressions:--"Sva er sagt, at Froda væri gefinn banadryckr." "Mixta portioni veneno sublatum e vivis tradunt Frotonem." Should it not be _potioni_, inasmuch as "bana," in Icelandic, signifies to kill, if I do not err, and "dryckr" is drink? Certainly, in Anglo-Saxon, "bana" (whence our _bane_) and "drycian" have similar significations.

C. I. R.

Is there any possible doubt that _poison_ is _potion_? Menage quotes Suetonius, that Caligula was _potionatus_ by his wife. It is a French word undoubtedly.

C. B.

_Vikingr Skotar_ (Vol. v., p. 394.).--In the _Antiquitates Celto-Scandicæ_ it is stated (p. 5.), that after the death of Guthormr, and subsequently to the departure of Harald (Harfagr) from the Hebrides, "Sidan settug i löndin vikingar margir Danir oc Nordmenn. Posthac sedes ibi occupant piratæ plurimi, Dani æqua ac Normanni." The word _vikingar_, the true Icelandic word for pirate, often occurs in the same saga, but not combined with _skotar_, though this latter term is repeated, signifying "the Scotch," and also in composition with _konungr_, &c.

C. I. R.

_Rhymes on Places_ (Vol. v., pp. 293. 374.).--A complete collection of local rhymes would certainly be both curious and interesting. Those cited by Chambers in his amusing work are exclusively Scotch; for a collection relating to English towns, I would refer your Querist MR. FRASER to Grose's _Provincial Glossary_, where, interspersed among the "Local Proverbs," he will find an extensive gathering of characteristic rhymes. I conclude with appending a few not to be found in either of these works:

"RICHMOND.

"Nomen habes _mundi_, nec erit sine jure, secundi,
Namque situs titulum comprobat ipse tuum.
From thy rich mound thy appellation came,
And thy rich seat proves it a proper name."

_Drunken Barnaby's Journal._

"Anglia, mons, fons, pons, ecclesia, foemina, lana.
England amongst all nations is most full,
Of hills, wells, bridges, churches, women, wool."

_Ibid._

"Cornwall swab-pie, and Devon white-pot brings,
And Leicester beans, and bacon fit for kings."

Dr. King's _Art of Cookery_. See _Spectator_.

In Belgium I am perhaps beyond bounds, but may cite in conclusion:

"Nobilibus Bruxella viris, Antverpia nummis,
Gandavum laqueis, formosis Burga puellis,
Lovanium doctis, gaudet Mechlinia stultis."

WILLIAM BATES.

You may perhaps think the accompanying, "Rhymes on Places" worthy of insertion, on the districts of the county of Ayr, viz.:

"Carrick for a man,
Kyle for a cou,
Cunninghame for butter and cheese,
And Galloway for woo."

F. J. H.

_"We three"_ (Vol. v., p. 338.).--It may interest your correspondent to learn that a public-house exists in London with the sign he mentions. It is situate in Virginia Row, Bethnal Green, is styled "The Three Loggerheads," and has a signboard ornamented with a couple of busts: one of somewhat Cæsarian aspect, laureated; the other a formidable-looking personage with something on his head, probably intended for the dog-skin helmet of the ancient Greeks,--but as the style of art strongly reminds one of that adopted for the figure-heads of ships, I confess my doubts on the subject. Under each bust appears the distich:

"WE THREE
LOGGERHEADS BE."

The sign appears a "notability" in the neighbourhood, as I have more than once in passing seen some apparent new comer set to guess its meaning; and when he confessed his inability, informed, in language more forcible than elegant, that he made the third Loggerhead.

W. E. F.

_Burning Fern brings Rain_ (Vol. v., p. 242.).--In some parts of America, but more particularly in the New England States, there was a popular belief, in former times, that immediately after a large fire in a town, or of wood in a forest, there would be a "fall of rain." Whether this opinion exists among the people at present, or whether it was entertained by John Winthrop, the first governor of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and the Pilgrim Fathers, on their landing at Plymouth, as they most unfortunately did, their superstitious belief in witchcraft, and some other "strange notions," may be a subject of future inquiry.

W. W.

La Valetta, Malta.

_Plague Stones_ (Vol. v., pp. 226. 374.).--I have often seen the stone which G. J. R. G. mentions as "to be seen close to Gresford, in Denbighshire, about a quarter of a mile from the town, on the road to Wrexham, under a wide-spreading tree, on an open space, where three roads meet." It is, I conjecture, the base of a cross. This stone may be the remnant of the last of a succession of crosses, the first of which may have given its Welsh name, _Croes ffordd_, the way of the cross, to the village. There is no tradition of any visitation of the plague at Gresford; but there is reason to suppose that it once prevailed at Wrexham, which is about three miles distant. Near that town, and on the side of a hill near the footpath leading from Wrexham vechan to Marchwiel Hall, there is a field called _Bryn y cabanau_, the brow of the cabins; the tradition respecting which is, that, during the prevalence of the plague in Wrexham, the inhabitants constructed wooden huts in this place for their temporary residences.

A QUONDAM GRESFORDITE.

I do not think the "Plague Stone" a mile or two out of Hereford has been mentioned in the Notes on that subject. If my memory is correct, there is a good deal of ornament, and it is surrounded by a short flight of stone steps.

F. J. H.

_Sneezing_ (Vol. v., p. 364.).--Having occasion to look at the first edition of the _Golden Legend_, printed by Caxton, I met with the following passage, which may perhaps prove interesting to your correspondent, as showing that the custom of blessing persons when they sneeze "endured" in the fifteenth century. The institution of the "Litany the more and the lasse," we are told, was justified,--

"For a right grete and grevous maladye: for as the Romayns had in
the lenton lyued sobrely and in contynence, and after at Ester had
receyud theyr Sauyour; after they disordered them in etyng, in
drynkyng, in playes, and in lecherye. And therfore our Lord was
meuyed ayenst them and sente them a grete pestelence, which was
called the Botche of impedymye, and that was cruell and sodayne,
and caused peple to dye in goyng by the waye, in pleying, in
leeyng atte table, and in spekyng one with another sodeynly they
deyed. In this manere somtyme snesyng they deyed; so that whan any
persone was herd snesyng, anone they that were by said to hym, God
helpe you, or Cryst helpe, _and yet endureth the custome_. And
also when he sneseth or gapeth he maketh to fore his face the
signe of the crosse and blessith hym. And yet endureth this
custome."

_Golden Legende_, edit. 1483, fo. xxi. b.

F. SOMNER MERRYWEATHER.

Kentish Town.

_Abbot of Croyland's Motto_ (Vol. v., p. 395.).--MR. FORBES is quite correct with regard to the motto of Abbot Wells, which should be "Benedicite Fontes Domin_o_." The sentence, "Bless the Wells, O Lord!" which is placed in so awkward a juxtaposition with it, is really a distinct motto for the name of Wells, and, so far from being a translation of the abbot's, is almost an inversion of it; and this should, as MR. FORBES justly remarks, have had "some editorial notice" from me.

M. A. LOWER.

_Derivation of the Word "Azores"_ (Vol. v., p. 439.).--The group of islands called the _Azores_, first discovered in 1439, by Joshua Vanderburg, a merchant of Bruges, and taken possession of by the Portuguese in 1448, were so named by Martin Behem, from the Portuguese word _Açor_, a hawk; Behem observing a great number of hawks there. The three species most frequently seen now are the Kestril, called _Francelho_; the Sparrowhawk, _Furobardo_; and the Buzzard, _Manta_; but whether very numerous or not, I am unable to state. From the geographical position of these islands, correct lists of the birds and fishes would be of great interest, and, as far as I am aware, are yet wanting.

Martin Behem found one of these islands covered with beech-trees, and called it therefore _Fayal_, from the Portuguese word _Faya_, a beech-tree. Another island, abounding in sweet flowers, he called _Flores_, from the Portuguese, _Flor_, a flower. _Terceira_, one of the nine islands forming the group, is said to have been so called, because, in the order of succession, it was the third island discovered (from _Ter_ and _ceira_, a bank). _Graciosa_, as a name, was conferred upon one of peculiar beauty, a sort of paradise. _Pico_ derived its name from its sugar-loaf form. The raven found at Madeira and the Canary Islands is probably also a native of the Azores, and might have suggested the Portuguese name of _Corvo_ for one of the nine. St. Mary, St. Michael, and St. George complete the names of the group, of which St. Michael is the largest and Corvo the smallest.

WM. YARRELL.

Rider Street.

_Scologlandis and Scologi_ (Vol. v., p. 416.).--As these names occur in a Celtic country, we are justified in seeking their explanation in the Celtic language. I therefore write to inform G. J. R. G. that the word _scolog_ is a living word in the Irish language, and that it signifies a _farmer_ or _husbandman_. It is the word used in the Irish Bible at Matt. xxi. 33., "he let it out to _husbandmen_"--tug se do _scologaibh_ ar chios i.

I may also mention that the name _Mac Scoloige_ is very common in the co. Fermanagh in Ireland, where it is very generally anglicised _Farmer_, according to a usual practice of the Irish. Thus it is not uncommon even now to find a man known by the name of John or Thomas _Farmer_, whose father or grandfather is John or Thomas Mac Scoloige, the name Mac Scoloige signifying "son of a farmer."

The _Scologlandis_, in the documents quoted by G. J. R. G., must therefore have taken their name from the _scologs_ or farmers, by whom they were cultivated, unless we suppose that they were anciently the patrimony of some branch of the family of Mac Scoloige, whose remains are now settled in Fermanagh.

In Scotland the word is now usually written _sgalag_, and is explained by Armstrong in his _Gaelic Dictionary_ "a farm servant." And the word does certainly seem to have been used in ancient Irish to denote a _servant_ or menial attendant, although the notion of a _farm_ servant seems to have grown out of its other significations. Thus in a very ancient historical romance (probably as old as the ninth or tenth century), which is preserved in the curious volume called _Leabhar breac_, or _Speckled Book_, in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, the word _scolog_ is used to designate _the servant_ of the Abbot of St. Finbar's, Cork.

J. H. T.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.