Part 2
Worcester.
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Queries.
ROMAN SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS.
In the year 1847 I brought from the Columbaria, near the tomb of Scipio Africanus at Rome, a small collection of sepulchral fictile vessels, statuettes, &c., in terra cotta. Among these was a small figure, resembling the Athenian Hermæ, consisting of a square pillar, surmounted by the bust of a female with a peculiar head-dress and close curled coiffure. The pillar bears the following inscription:
"[Greek: YST] [Greek: RAN] [Greek: S] [Greek: ANI] [Greek: KÊT] [Greek: O.]"
--a translation of which would oblige me much.
Another, in the form of a small votive altar, bears the heads of the "Dii Majores" and their attributes, the thunderbolt, two-pronged spear, and trident, and the inscription--
"DIIS PROPI M HERENNII VIVNTIS" (_i.e._ vivantis).
Of the meaning of this I am by no means certain; and I have searched Montfaucon in vain, to discover anything similar.
A third was a figure of the Egyptian Osiris, exactly resembling in every point (save the material) the little mummy-shaped figures in bluish-green porcelain, which are found in such numbers in the catacombs of Ghizeh and Abousir. As the Columbaria were probably the places of sepulture of the freedmen, these various traces of national worship would seem to indicate that they were still allowed to retain the deities peculiar to the countries from which they came, through their master might be of a different faith.
E. S. TAYLOR.
Ormesby, St. Marg., Norfolk.
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CHAPEL PLASTER.
In North Wilts, between Corsham and Bradford, and close to the meeting of five or six roads, there is a well-known public-house, contiguous to which is an ancient wayside chapel bearing this peculiar name. Some account of the place, with two views of the chapel, is given in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, February, 1835, page 143. The meaning of the word _plaster_ has always been a puzzle to local antiquaries, and no satisfactory derivation of it has yet been given. The first and natural notion is, that some allusion is made to the material with which it may have been coated. But this is improbable, the building being of good freestone, not requiring any such external addition. Some have interpreted it to be the chapel of the _plas-trew_, or "woody place." But this again is very unlikely; as the place is not only as far as possible from being woody now, but can hardly ever have been otherwise than what it is. The rock comes close to the surface, and the general situation is on a bleak exposed hill, as unfavourable as can be for the growth of trees. Leland, indeed, as he rode by, took it for a hermitage, and does also say that the country beyond it "begins to be woody." But {38} a point of meeting of five or six much frequented roads, a few miles only from Bath and other towns, would be an unsuitable spot for a hermit; besides which, the country _beyond_ a spot, is not the spot itself. Others have thought it may have been built by a person of the name of _Plaister_; one which, though uncommon, is still not entirely extinct in the county. Of this, however, there is no evidence.
A derivation has occurred to me from noticing a slight variety in the spelling and statement of the name, as it is given by one of the ancient historians of Glastonbury. He calls it "the chapell of _playsters_," and says that, like one or two houses of a similar kind, it was built for the relief and entertainment of _pilgrims_ resorting to the great shrine at that monastery. This indeed is the most reasonable and probable account of it, as it lies on the direct road between Malmesbury and Glastonbury, and the prevailing tradition has always been that such was the purpose for which it was used. It is fair to presume that the name has some connexion with the use.
Now, it is well known that pilgrimages were not in all respects very painful or self-denying exercises, but that, with the devotional feeling in which they took their origin, was combined, in course of time, a considerable admixture of joviality and recreation. They were often, in short, looked upon as parties for merry-making, by people of every class of life, who would leave their business and duties, on pretence of these pious expeditions, but really for a holiday, and, as Chaucer himself describes it, "to _play_ a pilgrimage." ("The Shipmanne's Tale.") Many also were pilgrims by regular profession, as at this day in Italy, for the pleasure of an idle gad-about life at other people's expense. May not such "play-ers" of pilgrimages have been called, in the vernacular of the times, _play-sters_? The termination _-ster_, said to be derived from a Saxon noun, seems in our language to signify a _habit_ or _constant employment_. A _malt-ster_ is one whose sole business it is to make malt; a _tap-ster_, one whose duties are confined to the tap; a _road-ster_ is a horse exclusively used as a hack; a _game-ster_, the devotee of the gaming-table. From these analogies it seems not unreasonable to suppose that the persons who made a constant habit of attending these pleasant jaunts to Glastonbury, may have been called by the now-forgotten name of _play-sters_. If so, "the chapell of _play-sters_" becomes nothing more than "the chapel of _pilgrims_," according to the best tradition that we have of it. Perhaps some of your readers may have met with the word in this sense?
J. E. JACKSON.
Leigh Delamere.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
_Martha Blount._--Is there any engraved portrait of this lady? and can any of your numerous correspondents give me reasonable hope of finding portraits of Mrs. Rackett and other connexions of Pope? I would suggest, that when we are favoured with a new edition of the little great man's works, each volume should contain a portrait, if procurable, of those who catch a reflected ray of greatness from association with the poet.
A. F. WESTMACOTT.
Feltham House, Middlesex.
_Degree of B.C.L._--In Vol. vi., p. 534., an Oxford B.C.L. asked the privileges to which a gentleman having taken this degree was entitled. Perhaps your correspondent will inform me what is the least time of _actual_ residence required at the university, and the kind of examination a candidate for the honour has to be subjected to, before he becomes a B.C.L.? also the way for a stranger to go about it, who wants to spend as little money and time in the matter as is possible?
J. F.
Halifax.
_The Word "anywhen."_--Why should not this adverb, which exists as a provincialism in some parts of England, be legitimatised, and made as generally useful as _anywhere_, or _anyhow_, or _anyone_? If there be no classical precedent for it, will not some of the many authors who contribute to your pages take pity upon _anywhen_, and venture to introduce him to good society, where I am sure he would be appreciated?
W. FRASER.
_Shoreditch Cross, &c._--Can any of your readers inform me where a model or picture of the Cross which formerly stood near the church of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, can be seen? Also, where a copy of any description can be seen of the painted window in the said church?
Sir Henry Ellis, in his _History of the Parish_, gives us no illustration of the above.
J. W. B.
_Winchester and Huntingdon._--I would with your permission ask, whether Winchester and Huntingdon have at any time been more populous than they are at present, and what may have been the largest number of inhabitants they are supposed to have contained?
G. H.
_La Bruyère._--What is known concerning the family of Jean de la Bruyère, author of _Les Caractères_? Did he belong to the great French house of that name? One of the biographical dictionaries states that he was grandson of a Lieutenant Civil, engaged in the Fronde; but M. Suard, in his "Notice" prefixed to _Les Caractères_, says that nothing is known of the author except his birth, death, and office. His grand-daughter, {39} Magdalen Rachel de la Bruyère, married an officer of the name of Shrom, and died in 1780, at Morden in Surrey, where there is a handsome monument to her memory. Being one of her descendants in the female line, I should feel much obliged by any information respecting her father, the son of Jean de la Bruyère; or tending to connect that writer with the family founded by Thibault de la Bruyère, the Crusader.
URSULA.
_Sir John Davys or Davies._--I am very anxious to get any information that can be procured about Sir John Davys or Davies, Knight Marshal of Connaught, temp. Elizabeth. What were his arms? Any portions of his pedigree would be _most_ desirable; also any notices of the various grants of land given by him, particularly to members of his own family. I would also give any reasonable price for John Davies' _Display of Heraldry of six Counties of North Wales_, published 1716: or, if any of the readers of "N. & Q." have the book, and would favour me with a loan of it, I would return it carefully as soon as I had made some extracts from it.
SEIVAD.
_Fleshier of Otley._--What are the arms of Fleshier of Otley, Yorkshire? They existed, not many years ago, in a window of a house built by one of the above-named family, in Otley.
B. M. A.
Bingley, Yorkshire.
_Letters U, V, W._--Could any correspondent of the "N. & Q." give us any clear idea of the manner in which we ought to judge of those letters as they are printed from old MSS. or in old books. Is there any rule known by which their pronunciation can be determined? For instance, how was the name of Wales supposed to have been pronounced four hundred years ago, or the name Walter? How could two such different sounds as _U_ and _V_ now represent, come by the old printers both to be denoted by _V_? And is it supposed that our present mode of pronouncing some words is taken from their spelling in books? We see this done in foreign names every day by persons who have no means of ascertaining the correct pronunciation. Can it have been done extensively in the ordinary words of the language? Or can it be possible, that the confusion between the printed _V_ and _W_ and _U_ has produced the confusion in pronouncing such words now beginning with _W_, which some classes of her Majesty's subjects are said to pronounce as if they commenced with _V_? I ask for information: and to know if the question has anywhere been discussed, in which case perhaps some one can refer me to it.
A. F. H.
_Heraldic Query._--I should be greatly indebted to any of your correspondents who will assist me in tracing the family to which the following arms belong. Last century they were borne by a gentleman of the name of Oakes: but I find no grant in the college, nor, in fact, can I discover any British arms like them. Argent, a pale per pale or, and gules: between two limbs of an oak fructed proper. On a chief barry of six of the second and third; a rose between two leopards faces all of the last.
C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.
_"Drengage" and "Berewich."_--In _Domesday_ certain tenants are described as drenches or drengs, holding by drengage; and some distinction is made between the drengs and another class of tenants, who are named _berewites_; as, for instance, in Newstone,--
"Huj' [manerium abbrev.] ali[=a] t'r[=a] xv ho[=e]s quos _Drenchs_ vocabant pro xv [manerium abbrev.] tenet sed huj' [manerium abbrev.] _berewich_ erant."
I shall be glad if any information as to these tenures, and also as to the derivation of the words "drengage" and "berewich," or berewite, both of which may be traced, I believe, to a Danish origin.
JAMES CROSBY.
Streatham.
_Sidney as a Female Name._--In several families of our city the Christian name of Sidney is borne by _females_, and it is derived, directly or indirectly, from a traceable source.
The object of the present inquiry is to ascertain whether the same name, and thus spelled, is similarly applied in any families of Great Britain? If at all, it should be found in the north of Ireland. But your correspondent would be pleased to learn, from any quarter, of such use of the name, together with the tradition of the reason for its adoption.
R. D. B.
Baltimore.
"_The Brazen Head._"--Will any reader of "N. & Q." be good enough to inform the undersigned where he can obtain, by purchase or by loan, the perusal of any part or parts of the above-mentioned work? It was published as a serial in 1828 or 1829.
A. F. A. W.
Swillington.
_Portrait of Baron Lechmere._--Can any of your correspondents inform me if there is any engraved portrait in existence of the celebrated Whig, Lord Lechmere, Baron of Evesham, who died at Camden House, London, in the year 1727, and lies buried in the church of Hanley Castle, near Upton-on-Severn, co. Worcester?
While on the subject of portraits, some of your correspondents may be glad to learn that an excellent catalogue of engraved portraits is now passing through the press, by Messrs. Evans and Sons, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, of which forty-six numbers are issued.
J. B. WHITBORNE.
{40}
_"Essay for a New Translation of the Bible," and "Letters on Prejudice."_--A friend of mine has requested me to inquire through "N. & Q." who are the authors of the undermentioned books, in his possession?
_An Essay for a New Translation of the Bible_, one volume 8vo.: "printed for R. Gosling, 1727." Dedicated to the Bishops: the dedication signed "H. R."--_Letters on Prejudice_, two volumes 8vo.: "in which the nature, causes, and consequences of prejudice in religion are considered, with an application to the present times:" printed for Cadell in the Strand; and Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1822.
W. W. T.
_David Garrick._--In the sale catalogue of Isaac Reed's books is a lot described as "Letter of David Garrick against Mr. Stevens, with Observations by Mr. Reed, MS. and printed." Can any of your correspondents inform me in whose possession is this letter with Reed's observations; whether Garrick's letter was published; and, if so, what public library contains a copy?
G. D.
_Aldiborontophoskophornio._--Will you or some of your readers inform me in what play, poem, or tale this hero, with so formidable a name, is to be found?
F. R. S.
_Quotations wanted._--Will you or some of your correspondents tell _where_ this sentence occurs: "It requireth great cunning for a man to seem to know that which he knoweth not?" Miss Edgeworth gives it as from Lord Bacon. _I_ cannot find it. Also, _where_ this very superior line: "Life is like a game of tables, the chances are not in our power, but the playing is?" _This_ I have seen quoted as from Jeremy Taylor, but _where_? I have looked his works carefully through: it is so clever that it _must_ be from a superior mind. And _where_, in Campbell, is "A world without a sun?" This, I _believe_, is in _Gertrude of Wyoming_.
Excuse this trouble, Mr. Editor; but you are now become the general referee in puzzles of _this_ kind.
A. B.
_Arago on the Weather._--I saw some of Arago's meteorological observations in an English magazine some time ago, taken, I believe, from the _Annuaire_. Can any one give me a reference to them?
ELSNO.
_"Les Veus du Hairon," or "Le Voeu du Héron."_--Is any more known of this curious historical romance than Sainte Palaye tells us in the third volume of his _Mémoires sur l'Ancienne Chevalerie_? He gives the original text (I suspect not very correctly) from, he says, a MS. in the public library at Berne. It is a poem in old French verse (something like Chaucer's English), of about 500 lines, descriptive of a series of _vows_, by which Robert Comte d'Artois, then an exile in England, engaged Edward III., his queen and court, to the invasion of France:
"Dont maint bon chevalier fu jété fort souvin; Mainte dame fu vesve, et maint povre orfelin; Et maint bon maronier accourchit son termin; Et mainte preude femme mise à divers destin; Et encore sera, si Jhesus n'i met fin."
The first lines of the poem give the place and date of the transaction, "London, September, 1338," in King Edward's "palais marbrin." The versification is as strange as the matter. The author has taken great pains to collect as many words rhyming together as possible. The first twenty-six lines rhyme to "in;" the hundred next to "is;" then fifty to "ent," and so on: but the lines have all their rhythm, and some are smooth and harmonious. Has any other MS. been discovered? Has it been elsewhere printed? Has it been translated into English, or has any English author noticed it? If these questions are answered in the negative, I would suggest that the Camden, or some such society, would do well to reprint it, with a translation, and Sainte Palaye's commentary, and whatever additional information can be gathered about it; for although it evidently is a _romance_, it contains many particulars of the court of England, and of the manners of the time, which are extremely curious, and which must have a good deal of truth mixed up with the chivalrous fable.
C.
_Inscriptions on a Dagger-case._--I have in my possession a small dagger-case, very beautifully carved in box-wood, bearing the following inscriptions on two narrow sides, and carved representations of Scripture subjects on the other two broad sides.
_Inscriptions._
"DIE EEN PENINCK WINT ENDE BEHOVT DIE MACHT VERTEREN ALS HI WORT OWT HAD."
"ICK DAT BEDOCHT IN MIN IONGE DAGEN SO DORST ICK HET IN MIN OVTHEIT NIET BEGLAGEN."
On the other sides the carvings, nine in number, four on one side, one above another, represent the making of Eve, entitled "Scheppin;" the Temptation, entitled "Paradis;" the Expulsion, "Engelde;" David with the head of Goliath, "Davide." At the foot of this side the date "1599," and a head with pointed beard, &c. beneath. On the other side are five subjects: the uppermost, entitled "Hesterine," represents Queen Esther kneeling before Ahasuerus. 2. "Vannatan," a kneeling figure, another stretching his arm over him, attendants following with offerings. 3. "Solomone," the judgment of Solomon. 4. "Susannen." 5. "Samson," the jaw-bone in his hand; beneath "SLANG;" and at the foot of all, a dragon.
The case is handsomely mounted in silver. {41}
May I ask you or some of your readers to give me an interpretation of the inscriptions?
G. T. H.
_Hallett and Dr. Saxby._--In the _Literary Journal_, July, 1803, p. 257., in an article on "The Abuses of the Press," it is stated:
"Hallett, to vex Dr. Saxby, published some disgraceful verses, entitled '_An Ode to Virtue_, by Doctor Morris Saxby;' but the Doctor on the day after the publication obliged the bookseller to give up the author, on whom he inflicted severe personal chastisement, and by threats of action and indictment obliged both author and bookseller to make affidavit before the Lord Mayor that they had destroyed every copy in their possession, and would endeavour to recover and destroy the eight that were sold."
Can any of your readers throw a further light upon this summary proceeding, as to the time, the book, or the parties?
S. R.
Rugby.
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Replies.
DESCENT OF THE QUEEN FROM JOHN OF GAUNT.
(Vol. vi., p. 432.)
I have in my possession a pedigree, compiled from original sources, which will, I believe, fully support your correspondent's opinion that the year usually assigned for the death of Joan Beaufort's first husband (1410) is inaccurate. Two entries on the Patent Rolls respectively of the 21st and 22d Richard II., as cited in the pedigree, prove that event to have taken place before Lord Neville of Raby's creation as Earl of Westmoreland; and I am inclined to think that his creation was rather a consequence of his exalted alliance than, as the later and falsely assigned date would lead one to infer, that his creation preceded his marriage by twelve or thirteen years.
Robert Ferrers son and heir of Robert, first Lord Ferrers of Wemme (second son of Robert, third Baron Ferrers of Chartley), and of Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Boteler of Wemme, was born circa 1372, being eight years old at his father's death in 1380 (_Esc._, 4 Ric. II., No. 25.). He married Joan Beaufort, only daughter of John Duke of Lancaster by Catharine Swynford, who became the duke's third wife, 13th January, 1396; their issue before marriage having been made legitimate by a patent read in parliament, and dated 9th February, 1397 (_Pat._, 20 Ric. II. p. 2. m. 6.). It might almost be inferred from the description given to Joan, Lady Ferrers, in the patent of legitimation, "dilectæ _nobis nobili mulieri Johannæ Beauford, domicellæ_," that her first husband was not then living. We find, however, that she had certainly become the wife of the Lord Neville before the 16th of February following, and that Lord Ferrers was then dead (_Johanne qui fuist femme de Monsieur Robert Ferrers que Dieu assoile_): _Pat._, 21 Ric. II. p. 2. m. 22.; _Pat_., 22 Ric. II. p. 3. m. 23. The Lord Ferrers left by her only two daughters, his coheirs, viz. Elizabeth, wife of John, sixth Baron Greystock, and Mary, wife of Ralph Neville, a younger son of Ralph, Lord Neville of Raby, by his first wife Margaret Stafford. The mistake in ascribing Lord Ferrers' death to the year 1410, has probably arisen from that being the year in which his mother died, thus recorded in the pedigrees: "Robert Ferrers, s. & h. ob^t _vita matris_," who (_i.e._ the mother) died 1410 (_Esc._, 12 Hen. IV., No. 21.). His widow remarried Ralph, Lord Neville of Raby, fourth baron, who was created Earl of Westmoreland, 29th September, 1397[1], {42} and died 1425. The Countess of Westmoreland died 13th November, 1440.
As regards the Queen's descent from John, Duke of Lancaster, in the strictly legitimate line, I may wish to say a word at another time. Allow me now, with reference to the same pedigree, to append a Query to this Reply: Can any of your learned genealogical readers direct me to the authority which may have induced Miss A. Strickland, in her amusing _Memoirs of the Lives of the English Queens_, to give so strenuous a denial of Henry VIII.'s queen, Jane Seymour's claim to a royal lineage? Miss Strickland writes:
"Through Margaret Wentworth, the mother of Jane Seymour, a descent from the blood-royal of England was claimed, from an intermarriage with a Wentworth and a daughter of Hotspur and Lady Elizabeth Mortimer, grand-daughter to Lionel, duke of Clarence. This Lady Percy is stated by all ancient heralds to have died childless. Few persons, however, dared dispute a pedigree with Henry VIII.," &c.--_Lives of the Queens of England_, by Agnes Strickland, vol. iv. p. 300.
This is a question, I conceive, of sufficient historical importance to receive a fuller investigation, and fairly to be determined, if possible.