Chapter 3

"R.H." inquires, whether Antony Alsop was at Trinity College before he became a student of Christchurch? I have considered it to be my duty to examine the Admission Registers of Trinity College in my possession since the foundation of the college; and I can only say, that I do not find the name in any of them. That he was at Christchurch, and admitted there as a student, is recorded by his biographers. It is also {250} said, that he was elected at once from Westminster to Christchurch, where he took the degree of M.A. March 23. 1696, and that of B.D. Dec. 12. 1706. He was soon distinguished by Dean Aldrich as worthy of his patronage and encouragement. He was consequently appointed tutor and censor, and in course of time left college, on his promotion to a prebendal stall in Winchesser Cathedral by Sir Jonathan Trelawney, the then Bishop, with the rectory of Brightwell, near Wallingford; at which latter place he chiefly resided till the time of his death, which happened by an accident, June 10. 1726. Sir Francis Bernard, Bart., who had himself been a student of Christchurch, published the 4to. volume of _Latin Odes_ mentioned by "R.H.," Lond. 1753; for which he had issued _Proposals_, &c., so early as July, 1748. In addition to these _Odes_, four English poems by Alsop are said to be in Dodsley's collection, one in Pearch's, several in the early volumes of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and some in _The Student_. Dr. Bentley calls him, rather familiarly, "Tony Alsop, editor of the _Æsopian Fables_;" a work published by him at Oxford, in 1698, 8 vo., in the preface to which he took part against Dr. Bentley, in the dispute with Mr. Boyle.

J.I.

Trinity College, Oxford.

* * * * *

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

_Origin of the Word "Snob"_.--I think that _Snob_ is not an archaism, and that it cannot be found in any book printed fifty years ago. I am aware that in the north of England shoe-makers are still sometimes called _Snobs_; but the word is not in Brockett's _Glossary of North Country Words_, which is against its being a genuine bit of northern dialect.

I fancy that _Snobs_ and _Nobs_, as used in vulgar parlance, are of classic derivation; and, most probably, originated at one of the Universities, where they still flourish. If a _Nob_ be one who is _nobilis_, a _Snob_ must be one who is _s[ine] nob[ilitate]_. Not that I mean to say that the _s_ is literally a contraction of _sine_; but that, as in the word slang, the _s_, which is there prefixed to _language_, at once destroys the better word, and degrades its meaning; and as, in Italian, an _s_ prefixed to a primitive word has a privative effect--e.g. _calzare_, "to put on shoes and stockings;" _scalzare_, "to put them off:" _fornito_, "furnished;" _sfornito_, "unfurnished," &c.; as also the _dis_, in Latin (from which, possibly, the aforesaid _s_ is derived), has the like reversing power, as shown in _continue_ and _discontinue_--so _nob_, which is an abbreviation of _nobilis_, at once receives the most ignoble signification on having an _s_ put before it.

The word _Scamp_, meaning literally a fugitive from the field, one _qui ex campo exit_, affords another example of the power of the initial _s_ to reverse the signification of a word.

All this, Mr. Editor, is only conjecture, in reply to "ALPHA's" query (No. 12 p. 185.); but perhaps you will receive it, if no better etymology of the word be offered.

A.G.

Ecclesfield, Jan. 21. 1850.

_Derivation(?) of "Snob" and "Cad."_--I am informed by my son, who goeth to a Latin school, that _Snob_ (which is a word he often useth) cometh of two Latin words; to wit, "_sine obolo_"--as who should say, "one that hath not a cross to bless himself." He saith, that the man behind the omnibus is called "_Cad_," "_a non cadendo_." Your humble servant,

THE GOVERNOR.

* * * * *

_Mr. Macaulay and Bishop Burnet_.--The passage in which Mr. Macaulay calls Burnet "a rash and partial writer," alluded to by your correspondent in No. 3. p. 40., occurs towards the end of his Essay on "Sir William Temple," p. 456. of the new edition in one volume.

ETONIENSIS.

* * * * *

_Circulation of the Blood_.--"A.W." (No. 13. p. 202.) is referred to Smith's _Dictionary of Biography_, article NEMESIUS.

J.E.B. MAYOR.

* * * * *

_Genealogy of European Sovereigns_.--I send the full title of a book which I would recommend to your correspondent "Q.X.Z.," (No. 6. p. 92.):--

GÉNÉALOGIE ASCENDANTE,

JUSQU'AU QUATRIÈME DÉGRÉ INCLUSIVEMENTS, De tous les Rois et Princes de Maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans; réduite en CXIV. Tables de XVI. Quartiers, composées selon les Principes du Blazon; avec une Table Générale.

* * * * *

"La noblesse, Daugaux, n'est point une chimère, Quand sous l'étroite loi d'une vertu sévère, Un homme, issu d'un sang fécond en demi-dieux, Suit, comme toi, la trace où marchaient ses ayeux." Boileau, S.v.

* * * * *

A BERLIN:

Au Dépens de l'Autheur: se vend chez Etienne de Bourdeaux, Libraire; imprimé chez Frédéric Guillaume Birnstiel.

MDCCLXVIII.

I presume that it is of some rarity, never having met with any other copy than the one from which I transcribed this title.

Some of your correspondents may, perhaps, be able to give the name of the Author who, as far as I have had occasion to refer, seems to have done his work carefully.

T.W.

* * * * *

_Sir Stephen Fox._--I have seen it stated in some biographical dictionary, that Sir Stephen Fox was a younger brother of "John Fox, Esq.," who was a devoted Royalist at the time of the great Rebellion, and fought at the battle of Worcester, {251} and after the Restoration was Clerk of the Acatry, in the household of Charles the Second.

Mr. Suckling, in his _History of Suffolk_, claims for a family some time seated at Stradbrook, in that county, a consanguinity with the descendants of Sir Stephen.

On an altar-tomb in Stadbrook churchyard are inscribed notices of many members of this family, but without dates. One is rather extraordinary, making the lives of a father and son together to amount to 194 years. Amongst them is this:--

"Here is hourly expected, Simon the next descendant, with his son Simon, who died young, tho' still preserved to be interr'd with his father at the earnest request of his pious mother the Lady Hart. And also Major John Fox, with his issue, who during the late rebellion loyally behav'd himself, undergoing with great courage not only the danger of the field, but many severe imprisonments."

The arms on this tomb differ from those of Lords Ilchester and Holland, being simply three foxes' heads erased.

Should this note supply a clue for your correspondent "VULPES" to identify Major John Fox with the brother of Sir Stephen, on knowing that he has found the scent I shall be able to assist him in unearthing the whole litter.

VENATOR.

_French Maxim_.--The maxim inquired after by "R.V." (No. 14. p. 215.) undoubtedly belongs to Rochefoucault. I have met with a somewhat similar passage in Massillon:--

"Le vice rend hommage à la vertu en s'honorant de sus apparences."

J.B.M.

Feb. 5. 1850.

_Shipster_.--A _scip-steora_ among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors was a pilot ("_ship-steerer_"). The word has descended to our own times in the surname of the family Shipster. As a common noun it was not obsolete in the days of Wynkyn de Worde, who printed that curious production "_Cock Lorelle's Bote_," one line of which runs thus:--

"With gogle-eyed Tomson, _shepster_ of Lyn."

It is pretty certain, however, that this masculine occupation was not the one followed by "Marie Fraunceys de Suthwerk!"

Pray accept this "Reply" for what it is worth. Perhaps I might have done better by meeting Mr. John R. Fox's "Query" (No. 14. p. 216.) with another. Should not the designation of Marie F. be _Spinster_ instead of Shipster?

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

Lewes, Feb. 2.

_Sparse_.--Permit me to refer your correspondent "C. FORBES" for a reply to his query, p. 215. of your last Number, to the article "Americanism" in the _Penny Cyclopædia_, the author of which observes:--

"_Sparse_ is, for any thing we know, a new word, and well applied; the Americans say a _sparse_ instead of a scattered population; and we think the term has a more precise meaning than scattered, and is the proper correlative of _dense_."

In the _Imperial Dictionary_ (avowedly based upon Webster's American work, which I cannot at this moment refer to in its original form), the word in question is given both as an adjective and as a verb, and the derivatives "sparsed," "sparsedly," "sparsely," and "sparseness," are also admitted. The reference given for the origin of "sparse" is to the Latin "_sparsus_, scattered, from _spargo_;" and the definitions are, 1. "Thinly scattered, set or planted here and there; as, a _sparse_ population:" and, 2., as a botanical term, "not opposite, not alternate, nor in any regular order; applied to branches, leaves, peduncles, &c."

J.T. STANESBY.

_Cosmopolis--Complutensian Polyglot_.--Though in considerable haste, I must send replies to the fourth and eighth queries of my friend Mr. Jebb, No. 14. p. 213.

_Cosmopolis_ was certainly Amsterdam. That the _Interpretationes paradoxæ quatuor Evangeliorum_, by Christophorus Christophori Sandius, were there printed, appears from this writer's _Bibliotheca Anti-Trinitarionum_, p. 169., Freistad, 1684. I may add that "Coloniæ" signifies "Amstelædami" in the title-page of Sandius's _Nucleus Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ_, 1676, and in the _Appendix Addendorum_, 1678, 4to.

With regard to the MSS. used in the formation of the text of the _Complutensian Polyglot_, Mr. Jebb will find an account of their discovery in a letter addressed by Dr. James Thompson to the editor of _The Biblical Review_. See also _The Irish Ecclesiastical Journal_ for April 1847.

R.G.

_Complutensian Polyglot_.--The following extract from "The Prospectus of a Critical Edition of the New Testament," by the learned Mr. S. Prideaux Tregelles, affords a satisfactory reply to Mr. Jebb's query, No. 14. p. 212.:--

"However there is now more certainty as to the MSS. belonging to the University of Alcala. Dr. James Thompson has published (_Biblical Review_, March, 1847), the result of inquiries made thirty years ago by Dr. Bowring, and more recently by himself. Hence it appears that all the MSS. which formerly were known as belonging to Cardinal Ximenes, and which were preserved in the library of Alcala, are now with the rest of that library, at Madrid....Dr. José Gutierrez, the present librarian at Madrid, communicated to Dr. J. Thomson a catalogue of the Complutensian MSS., and from this it appears that the principal MSS. used in the Polyglott are all safely preserved."

J. MILNER BARRY.

Totnes, Feb. 6. 1850.

* * * * *{252}

_Christmas Hymn._--Your correspondent "E.V." (No. 13. p. 201.) asks for the author of the Christmas Hymn--

"Hark! the Herald Angels sing."

I believe it to be the composition of the Rev. Charles Wesley, the younger brother of the celebrated John Wesley: he was born in 1708, and died in 1788. He was the author of many of the hymns in his brother's collection, which are distinguished for their elegance and simplicity. I am not able to find out, for certain, whether he had another name; if he had, it was probably the occasion of the initials (J.C.W.) your correspondent mentions.

J.K.R.W.

_Sir Jeffery Wyattville._--Sir Jeffery Wyattville, respecting whom "J.P." inquires (No. 14. p. 215.), was knighted at Windsor Castle, Dec. 9, 1828., on the king entering into possession after the restoration.

S.G.

[To which may be added, on the information of our valued correspondent "C.," "that it was about 1824 that Mr. Wyatt, being appointed by George IV. to conduct the improvements at Windsor Castle, had the absurd ambition of distinguishing himself from the other architects of his name by changing it to _Wyattville_. This produced the following epigram in, I think, the _Morning Chronicle_:--

"'Let GEORGE whose restlessness leaves nothing quiet, Change, if he will, the good old name of _Wyatt_; But let us hope that their united skill May not make _Windsor Castle--Wyattsville!_'"]

_"Peruse."_--In reply to the question of "H.W." (No. 14. p. 215.), although from want of minute reference I have been unable to find, in the original edition, the quotation from Frith's works, I beg leave to suggest that the word "Peruse" is a misprint, and that the true reading is "Pervise." To this day the first examination at Oxford, commonly called the "Little-Go," is "Responsiones in _Parviso_." It must not, however, be supposed that "Pervise," or "Parvise," is derived from the Latin "Parvus;" the origin, according to Spelman and succeeding etymologists, is the French "Le Parvis," a church porch.

In London the Parvis was frequented by serjeants at law: see Chaucer, _Prol. Cant. Tales_. There is a difference of opinion where it was situated: see Tyrwhitt's _Gloss_. The student in ecclesiastical history may compare _Leo Allatius de Templis Græcorum_, p. 44.

T.J.

_Autograph Mottoes of Richard Duke of Gloucester and Harry Duke of Buckingham_. (No. 9. p. 138.)--There can be no doubt that "Mr. NICOLS" is somewhat wrong in his interpretation of the Duke of Buckingham's Motto. It is evident that both mottoes are to be read continuously, and that "souene" is the third person singular of a verb having "loyaulte" for its nominative case. It appears to me that the true reading of the word is "soutienne," and that the meaning of the motto is "My feelings of loyalty often sustain me in my duty to the King when I am tempted to join those who bear no good feeling towards him." So that we shall have in English,

Loyalty binds me} Richard Gloucester.}

Often sustains me} Harry Buckingham.}

ARUN.

_Boduc._--Your correspondent "P." (No. 12, p. 185.) seems to consider the "prevailing opinion," that _Boduc_ or _Boduoc_ on the British coin must be intended for our magnanimous Queen Boadicea, to be merely a "pleasing vision," over which he is "_sorry_ to cast a cloud." Yet his own remark, that the name Budic (a mere difference in spelling) is often found among families of the Welsh in Brittany, and that the name was once common in England, serves only to confirm the common opinion that _Boduoc_ on the coins was intended as the name of the British Queen.

Dio expressly writes her name in Greek Boudouica, which approaches nearly to Budic. In Cornwall we still find Budock, the name of a parish and of a saint. In Oxford there was a church formerly called from St. Budoc, long since destroyed. Leland mentions a Mr. Budok, and his manor place, and S. Budok Church. His opinion was, that "this Budocus was an Irisch man, and cam into Cornewalle, and ther dwellid." Whether there was a Regulus of Britain of this name, is not material. I am not prepared to cast a cloud over it, if it should be found. Our motto should be, "ex fumo dare lucem," &c.

ANTINEPHELEGERETA.

Oxford.

_Annus Trabeationis_.--I am sure that you will allow me to correct an oversight in your reply to a query of "G.P.," in No. 7. p. 105. You have attributed to Du Cange a sentence in the Benedictine addition to his explanation of the term _Trabeatio_. (_Glossar_. tom. vi. col. 1158. Venet. 1740.) This word certainly signifies the Incarnation of Christ, an not his Crucifixion. Besides the occurrence of "trabea carnis indutus," at the commencement of a sermon on S. Stephen by S. Fulgentius Ruspensis, I have just now met with the expressions, "trabea carnis velatus," and "carnis trabea amicti," in a copy of the _editio princeps_ of the Latin version of Damascen's books in defence of Image-worship, by Godefridus Tilmannus, fol. 30 b. 39 a, 4to. Paris, 1555.

R.G.

* * * * *{253}

MISCELLANIES.

_Pursuits of Literature._--The lines upon the pursuits of literature, quoted by you at p. 212., remind me of some others, which I have heard ascribed to Mr. Grattan, and are as follows:--

"'Tis well, Pursuits of Literature! But who, and what is the pursuer, A Jesuit cursing Popery: A railer preaching charity; A reptile, nameless and unknown, Sprung from the slime of Warburton, Whose mingled learning, pride, and blundering, Make wise men stare, and set fools wondering."

X.

_Doctor Dobbs and his Horse Nobbs_.--I remember having read somewhere of "Doctor Dobbs and his horse Nobbs," but where I cannot now recall. I only remember one anecdote. The horse Nobbs was left, one cold night, outside a cottage, whilst the Doctor was within officiating as accoucheur (I believe); when he was ready to start, and came out, he found the horse apparently dead. The Doctor was miles from home, and, as the horse was dead, and the night dark, in place of walking home, he, with his host, dragged the horse into the kitchen, and skinned him, by way of passing the time profitably. But, lo! when the skinning was finished, the horse gave signs of returning animation. What was to be done? Doctor Dobbs, fertile in resources, got sheepskins and sewed them on Nobbs, and completely clothed him therein; and--mirabile dictu!--the skins became attached to the flesh, Nobbs recovered, and from thenceforward carried a _woolly_ coat, duly shorn every summer, to the profit of Doctor Dobbs, and to the wonder and admiration of the neighbourhood.

I have also read somewhere that Coleridge told the story of "Doctor Dobbs and his horse Nobbs" to Southey at Oxford.

J.M.B.

_Dr. Dobbs and his Horse Nobbs_.--Although of small moment, it is, perhaps, worth recording, that a Doctor Daniel Dove, of Doncaster, and his horse Nobbs, form the subjects of a paper in "The Nonpareil, or the Quintessence of Wit and Humour," published in 1757, and which, there can be little doubt, was the source whence Southey adopted, _without alteration_, the names so well known to all readers of the _Doctor_.

JNO. SUDLOW.

Manchester.

Seeing the communication of "P.C.S.S." (p. 73.), reminds me of a note taken from our Parish Register:--

"1723. Feb. 10. 'Dorothy Dove, gentlewoman, bur.'"

I have never seen the name in connection with Doncaster before or since the above date.

J.S.

Doncaster, Jan. 15.

--SI PROPIUS STES, TE CAPIET MINUS.

_(From the Latin of Vincent Bourne.)_

Glide down the Thames by London Bridge, what time St. Saviour's bells strike out their evening chime; Forth leaps the ompetuous cataract of sound, Dash'd into noise by countless echoes round. Pass on--it follows--all the jarring notes Blend in celestial harmony, that floats Above, below, around: the ravish'd ear Finds all the fault its own--it was TOO NEAR.

RUFUS.

_St. Evona's Choice._--To your citation of Ben Jonson's exceptional case of the Justice Randall as "a lawyer an honest man," in justice add the name of the learned and elegant author of _Eunomus_; for Mr. Wynne himself tells the story of St. Evona's choice (Dialogue II. p. 62. 3rd ed. Dublin, 1791), giving his authority in the following note:--

"The story here dressed up is told in substance in a small book published in 1691, called a _Description of the Netherlands_," p. 58.

In strict law, Sir, the profession may in courts of Momus be held bound by the act of the respectable but unlucky St. Evona; but in equity, let me respectfully claim release, for Evona was a _churchman_.

A TEMPLAR.

[We gladly insert our correspondent's "claim to release," but doubt whether he can establish it; inasmuch as St. Ivo or Evona, canonized on account of his great rectitude and profound knowledge both of civil and canon law, was both lawyer and churchman, like the CLERICUS so recently discussed in our columns; and clearly sought for and obtained his patron saint in his legal character.]

_Muffins and Crumpets, &c._--Not being quite satisfied with the etymology of "muffin," in p. 205., though brought by Urquhart from Phoenicia and the Pillars of Hercules, I am desirous of seeking additional illustration. Some fancy that "coffee" was known to Athenæus, and that he saw it _clearly_ in the "black broth" of the Lacedæmonian youth. In the same agreeable manner we are referred to that instructive and entertaining writer for the corresponding luxury of "muffins." _Maphula_, we are told, was one of those kinds of bread named as such by Athenæus; that is to say, "a cake baked on a hearth or griddle." If we need go so far, why not fetch our muffins from Memphis, which is _Môph_ in Hebrew? (See _Hosea_, ix. 6.) It is, perhaps, _mou-pain_, in old French, _soft bread_, easily converted into _mouffin_. So "crumpet" may be a corruption of _crumpâte_ a paste made of fine flour, slightly baked. The only difficulty would then be in the {254} first syllable, concerning, which the ingenuity of your various correspondents, Mr. Editor, may be exercised to some effect. Is it connected with the use of the _crimping_ irons in producing these delicacies?

HYPOMAGIRUS.

Oxford.

_Dulcarnon_.--Dulcarnon is one of those words in Chaucer which Tyrwhitt professes that he does not understand. It occurs in _Trolius and Creseide_, book iii. 931.933. Creseide says:--

"I am, til God me better minde sende, At _Dulcarnon_, right at my witt'is ende. Quod Pandarus ye nece, wol ye here, _Dulcarnon_ clepid is fleming[3] of wretches."

This passage of _Trolius and Creseide_ is quoted in the life of Sir Thomas More, given in Wordsworth's _Ecclesiastical Biography_. More's daughter said to him, when he was in prison, "Father, I can no further goe; I am come, as Chaucer said of Cressid Dulcarnon, to my witt's end."

Has this passage been satisfactorily explained since Tyrwhitt's time? The epithet "Dulcarnon" is mentioned in a note to the translation of Richard de Bury's _Philobiblon_, London, 1832. I give the note in full. It is in reference to the word "Ellefuga":--

"This word was a pons asinorum to some good Grecians,--but that is probably its meaning[4]; at least making it the name of a problem gets over all difficulty. The allusion is to the flight of Helle, who turned giddy in taking a flying leap, mounted on a ram, and fell into the sea;--so weak a head fails in crossing the pons. The problem was invented by Pythagoras, 'and it hath been called by barbarous writers of the latter time Dulcarnon,'--_Billingsley_. This name may have been invented after our author's time. Query [Greek: dolkarenon]."

If we take the words "Dulcarnon" in this sense, it will help to explain the passage in the _Troilus and Creseide_.

E.M.B.

_Bishop Barnaby_.--The origin of the term "Bishop Barnaby," as applied to the Lady-bird, is still unexplained.

I wish to observe, as having some possible connexion with the subject, that the word "Barnaby" in the seventeenth century appears to have had a particular political signification.

For instance, I send you a pamphlet (which you are welcome to, if you will accept of it) called "_The Head of Nile, or the Turnings and Windings of the Factious since Sixty, in a dialogue between Whigg and Barnaby_," London, 1681. In this dialog, Whigg, as might be expected, is the exponent of all manner of abominable opinions, whilst Barnaby is represented as the supporter of orthodoxy.

Again, in the same year was published Durfey's comedy, "_Sir Barnaby Whigg_," the union of the two names indicating that the knight's opinions were entirely regulated by his interest.

Q.D.

P.S. The pamphlet above alluded to affords another instance of the use of the word "Factotum," at page 41.: "before the Pope had a great house there, and became Dominus Factotum, Dominus Deus noster Papu."