Chapter 1

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Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text.

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NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

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No. 194.] SATURDAY, JULY 16. 1853.. [With Index, price 10d.. Stamped Edition 11d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page Derivation of the Word "Island" 49 Weather Rules, by Edward Peacock 50 On the modern Practice of assuming Arms 50 Morlee and Lovel, by L. B. Larking 51 Shakspeare Correspondence, by Robert Rawlinson and John Macray 51 Unpublished Letter 53

MINOR NOTES:--Lines on the Institution of the Order of the Garter--Old Ship--The Letter "h" in "humble"-- "The Angels' Whisper"--Pronunciation of Coke--The Advice supposed to have been given to Julius III. 53

QUERIES:-- Bishop Gardiner "De Vera Obedientia" 54

MINOR QUERIES:--Lord Byron--Curious Custom of ringing Bells for the Dead--Unpublished Essay by Lamb--Peculiar Ornament in Crosthwaite Church-- Cromwell's Portrait--Governor Brooks--Old Books--The Privileges of the See of Canterbury--Heraldic Colour pertaining to Ireland--Descendants of Judas Iscariot--Parish Clerks and Politics--"Virgin Wife and widowed Maid"--"Cutting off the little Heads of Light"--Medal of Sir Robert Walpole--La Fete des Chaudrons--Who first thought of Table-turning?-- College Guide 55

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:--Done Pedigree--Scotch Newspapers, &c.--Dictum de Kenilworth--Dr. Harwood 57

REPLIES:-- Names of Places, by J. J. A. Worsaae 58 Cleaning old Oak, by Henry Herbert Hele, &c. 58 Burial in an Erect Posture, by Cuthbert Bede, B.A. 59 Lawyers' Bags 59

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE:--New Photographic Process 60

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--The Ring Finger--The Order of St. John of Jerusalem--Calvin's Correspondence-- Old Booty's Case--Chatterton--House-marks, &c.-- Bibliography--Parochial Libraries--Faithful Teate-- Lack-a-daisy--Bacon--Angel-beast: Cleek: Longtriloo-- Hans Krauwinckel--Revolving Toy--Rub-a-dub--Muffs worn by Gentlemen--Detached Church Towers--Christian Names--Hogarth's Pictures--Old Fogie--Clem--Kissing Hands--Uniform of the Foot Guards--Book Inscriptions-- Humbug--Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire on Railway Travelling--Engine-a-verge--"Populus vult decipi," &c.-- Sir John Vanbrugh--Erroneous Forms of Speech-- Devonianisms 61

MISCELLANEOUS:-- Books and Odd Volumes wanted 65 Notices to Correspondents 66 Advertisements 66

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Notes.

DERIVATION OF THE WORD "ISLAND."

Lexicographers from time to time have handed down to us, and proposed for our choice, two derivations of our English word _Island_; and, that one of these two is correct, has, I believe, never yet been called in question. The first which they offer, and that most usually accepted as the true one, is the A.-S. _Ealand_, _Ealond_, _Igland_; Belg. _Eylandt_: the first syllable of which, they inform us, is _ea_, Low Germ. _aue_, water, _i.e._ water-land, or land surrounded by water. If this etymon be deemed unsatisfactory, they offer the following: from the Fr. _isle_, It. _isola_, Lat. _insula_, the word _island_, they say, is easily deflected.

At the risk of being thought presumptuous, I do not hesitate to say, that both these alternatives are manifestly erroneous; and, for the following reason, I propose a third source, which seems to carry conviction with it: first, from analogy; and secondly, from the usage of the language from which our English word is undoubtedly derived, the Anglo-Saxon.

First, from analogy. Let us only consider how frequently names are given to parts of our hills, shores, rivers, &c., from their supposed resemblance to parts of the human body. Thus, for instance, we have a _head_ land, a _neck_ of land, a _tongue_ of land, a _nose_ of land (as in Ness, in Orfordness, Dungeness, and, on the opposite coast, Grinez); also a _mouth_ of a river or harbour, a _brow_ of a hill, _back_ or _chine_ of a hill, _foot_ of a hill; an _arm_ of the sea, _sinus_ or bosom of the sea. With these examples, and many more like them, before us, why should we ignore an _eye_ of land as unlikely to be the original of our word _island_? The correspondence between the two is exact. How frequently is the term _eye_ applied to any small spot standing by itself, and peering out as it were, in fact an _insulated_ spot: thus we have the _eye_ of an apple, the _eye_ or centre of a target, the _eye_ of a stream (_i.e._ where the stream collects into a point--a point well known to salmon fishers), and very many other instances. What more natural term, then, to apply to a spot of land standing alone in the midst of an expanse of water than an _eye_ of land? {50}

In confirmation of this view, let us look to the original language; there we find the compounds of _eag_, _ea_, _aegh_, the eye, of very frequent occurrence: all of them showing that this compound _ea-land_ is not only legitimate, but extremely probable. Thus we find, _eag-aeple_, the pupil of the eye; _eag-dura_, a window-light, eye-door; _eag ece_, pain in the eye; _eah-hringas_, the orbits of the eyes. In the last instance, the _g_ is dropped; and it is certain that _eag_ was pronounced nearly as eye now is. From all this, is it too much to conclude that _ea-land_ is the same as _eye-land_? But farther, _Ig_ (A.-S.) sometimes stands by itself for an island, as also do _Igland_ and _Igoth_, and _Ii_ was the old name of Iona. Now I cannot find that there ever was the slightest connexion between the A.-S. _Ig_ and _water_; nor do I believe that such an idea would ever have been started, but to support the old derivation of the word; I have never seen a genuine instance of such connexion brought forward. Then the word _Ig_, if it be supposed to mean an _eye_, as I contend, may very well stand by itself for _island_; but, if _water_ be expressed by it, I cannot understand how it can serve to import _land_.

If any farther confirmation be wanted, we have it in the diminutive _eyot_, of which _ait_, _aight_, _eight_ are corruptions.

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

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WEATHER RULES.

Thomas Passenger, who dwelt at the Three Bibles and Star, on London Bridge, was very celebrated during the latter part of the seventeenth century for publishing popular histories and chap-books. His shop seems to have been the principal place of resort for the hawkers who then supplied the provinces with literature. Many of the works which issued from his press are now very rare: one of the most curious, and, at the same time, the rarest, is _The Shepherd's Kalendar: or, the Citizen's and Country Man's Daily Companion_, &c. The contents of this book are of a very singular nature, it being a kind of epitome of the facts it was then thought necessary for a countryman to be acquainted with. A considerable portion of the work is occupied by remarks on the weather, and on lucky and unlucky days: if I were to extract all on those subjects, this communication would extend to an unreasonable length.

We are informed, under the head "Observations on Remarkable Days, to know how the whole Year will succeed in Weather, Plenty," &c., that--

"If the sun shine clear and bright on Christmas-day, it promiseth a peaceable year from clamours and strife, and foretells much plenty to ensue; but if the wind blow stormy towards sunset, it betokeneth sickness in the spring and autumn quarters."

"If January 25 (being St. Paul's day) be fair, it promises a happy year; but if cloudy, windy, or rainy, otherwise: hear in this case what an ancient judicious astrologer writes:

'If St. Paul be fair and clear, It promises then a happy year; But if it chance to snow or rain, Then will be dear all sorts of grain: Or if the wind do blow aloft, Great stirs will vex the world full oft; And if dark clouds do muff the sky, Then foul and cattle oft will die.'"

"Mists or hoar frosts on the tenth of March betokens (_sic_) a plentiful year, but not without some diseases."

"If, in the fall of the leaf in October, many of them wither on the bows, and hang there, it betokens a frosty winter and much snow."

Under "The Signs of Rain in Creatures" we have the following:

"When the hern or bitron flies low, the air is gross, and thickening into showers."

"The froggs much croaking in ditches and pools, &c., in the evening, foretells rain in little time to follow: also, the sweating of stone pillars or tombs denotes rain."

"The often doping or diving of water fowl foreshows rain is at hand."

"The peacock's much crying denotes rain."

There is a list given of Lucky Days, which contains all the red letter saints' days of the Reformed English kalendar. We are also informed that there are other days in each month which "are successful enough." Thus--

"In January there are three, viz. 16. 18. 26. In February there are four, viz. 10. 19. 27. 28. In March there are two, viz. 14. 18. In April there are three, viz. 13. 22. 27. In May there are five, viz. 3. 5. 7. 11. 19. In June there are four, viz. 10. 17. 20. 27. In July there are six, viz. 1. 13. 19. 21. 27. 30. In August there are three, viz. 3. 7. 9. In September there are five, viz. 4. 8. 11. 15. 19. In October there are three, viz. 1. 8. 13. In November there are four, viz. 3. 9. 11. 15. In December there are three, viz. 9. 13. 17."

EDWARD PEACOCK.

Bottesford, Messingham, Kirton-in-Lindsey.

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ON THE MODERN PRACTICE OF ASSUMING ARMS.

"If any person be advanced into an office or dignity of publique administration, be it eyther ecclesiasticall, martiall, or ciuill: so that the same office comprehendeth in it _dignitatem vel dignitatis titulum_, either dignitie or (at the least) a title of dignitye: the Heralde must not refuse to devise to such a publique person, upon his instant request and willingnes to beare the same without reproche, a coate of armes: and thenceforth to matriculate him, with his {51} intermarriages, and issues descending, in the register of the Gentle and Noble."

Thus wrote Sir John Ferne in _The Blazon of Gentrie_, printed in the year 1586. So also Coates, in his additions to Gwillim, writing in 1724, says:

"For though arms, in their first acceptation, were (as is shewed) taken up at any gentleman's pleasure, yet hath that liberty for many ages been deny'd, and they, by regal authority, made the rewards and ensigns of merit, &c., the gracious favours of princes; no one being, by the law of gentility in England, allowed the bearing thereof, but those that either have them by descent, or grant, or purchase from the body or badge of any prisoner they in open and lawful war had taken."

He proceeds to adduce various authorities on this subject, for which I would refer to the Introduction to the last edition of Gwillim's _Heraldry_, p. 16. &c.

Porny defines _assumptive arms_ to be--

"Such as are taken up by the caprice or fancy of _upstarts_, who, being advanced to a degree of fortune, assume them without having deserved them by any glorious action. This, indeed (he adds), is _great abuse of heraldry_; but yet so common, and so much tolerated, almost everywhere, that little or no notice is taken of it."

This was written in 1765. Archdeacon Nares, in his very amusing _Heraldic Anomalies_, printed in 1823, says:

"At present, _similarity of name_ is quite enough to lead any man to conclude himself to be a branch of some very ancient or noble stock, and, if occasion arise, to assume the arms appropriate to such families, without any appeal to the Heralds' office; nor would any _Alderman Gathergrease_, living in affluence, be without such marks and symbols on his plate, seals, carriages, &c., with no higher authority, perhaps, than his own fancy and conceit."

It must be confessed that the middle of the nineteenth century offers the most ample facilities for the would-be aristocrats of the age, and _that_ without troubling Sir Charles Young or the College of Arms; witness the following advertisement cut from a newspaper of the day:--

"THE FAMILY LIVERY.--Arms and Crests correctly ascertained, and in any case a steel die expressly cut for the buttons, free of cost," &c.

There can, indeed, be no doubt that this foolish practice of assuming arms without right has of late years grown to an absurd height; and I fear the assumption is by no means confined to persons who have risen by trade, or by some lucky speculation in railways &c.; even those who have been "_advanced into an office or dignity of publique administration_" have but seldom made their "_instant request_" to the heralds "_to devise a coate of armes to be borne by them without reproch_."

The episcopal bench, in particular, are very generally faulty in this respect, and, for the greater part, content themselves (if not by birth entitled to bear arms) by assuming the coat of some old-established family of the same, or _nearly the same_, name. In the case of temporal peerages, which are not seldom, thanks to the ancient constitution of England, renovated from the middle and lower classes, the practice is more in accordance with the precepts of _The Blazon of Gentrie_; but I believe there is at least _one instance_, that of a lawyer of the greatest eminence, who was last year advanced to a peerage, and to the highest rank in his profession, who has assumed both arms and supporters without the fiat of the College of Arms. The "novi homines" of a former age set a better example to those of the present day, and were not ashamed to go honestly to the proper office and take out their patent of arms, thus "founding a family" who have a _right_ to the ensigns of honour which they assume.

SPES.

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MORLEE AND LOVEL.

The following document, in connexion with the trial between Morlee and Lovell, in the Court of Chivalry, will probably interest your heraldic readers.

L. B. LARKING.

Ceste indentur tesmoyne q' mos^r Joh[=n] de Cobeh[=m] s^r de Cobeh[=m] ad baille [p=] assent de les sires de Morlee et Louel dys lib' de bone moneye amest' Joh[=n] Barnet, cest assau' cent south p^r le un [p=]tye et cent south p^r lautre [p=]tye acause q' mesme le dit mestre Joh[=n] et mest' Will[=m] Dawode et mest' Will[=m] Sondeye serrount assessours sur la matire pendaunt [p=]entre les deux syngn' susdite p^r leur armes en le Court de Chiualerie. En tesmoynaunce de quel payment a ycestes endentur lez [p=]tyes susditez entrechaungeablement ount mys lours sceals.

Don a Loundres le xx iu^r de Feu'er lan du rengne le Roy Richard secounde quinzisme.

[In dorso.]

Lendentur de x li paye a mest' Joh[=n] Barnet p^r Morlee et Louel.

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SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE.

_Shakspeare Emendations._--As this is the age of Shakspeare emendations, I beg to propose the following for the consideration of the numerous readers of "N. & Q." I am the more emboldened to do so, as I find several marginal corrections made from time to time are verified by the manuscript corrections in MR. COLLIER'S folio of 1632. These proposed are not, however, there, or I would not have troubled you, though it is many months since I first altered the reading of my copy. {52}

_Taming of the Shrew,_ Act V. Sc. 2.--On the exit of Katharina to "fetch" in the disobedient wives, Lucentio remarks:

"_Luc._ Here is a wonder, if you talk of a wonder.

_Hort._ And so it is. I wonder what it bodes.

_Pet._ Marry, peace it bodes, and love, and quiet life, _An awful_ rule, and right supremacy; And, to be short, what not that's sweet and happy."

For "an awful rule" I propose to substitute _and lawful rule_, as agreeing better with the text and context; indeed, the whole passage indicates it. Petruchio means that the change in Katharina's temper and conduct bodes love, peace, law, and order, in contradistinction to awe or fear. The repetition of the conjunction _and_ also makes the harmony of the language more equal; "and love, and quiet life, and lawful rule, and right supremacy," rings evenly to the ear. Considering the number and character of the emendations in MR. COLLIER'S volume, I have the less hesitation in proposing this one. The language of Shakspeare is, as we know it, for the most part so clear, harmonious, distinct, and forcible, that I think we are justified in considering any obscure, inconsistent, or harsh passage, as having met with some mishap either in hearing, transcribing, or in printing. Some months ago, and certainly before MR. COLLIER'S volume of corrections appeared, I forwarded to "N. & Q." (it never appeared) a correction from _Antony and Cleopatra_, Act V. Sc. 2., where Cleopatra, contemplating suicide, says it is--

"To do that thing that ends all other deeds, Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change; Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung. The beggar's nurse and Caesar's."

The word "dung" ending the third line, was so evidently _dug_, or nipple, that I thought no man to whom it was pointed out could have a doubt about it. MR. COLLIER remarks in his recent volume, "This emendation may, or may not, have been conjectural, but we may be pretty sure it is right." I doubt if MR. COLLIER would have accepted any authority other than that of his own folio, although Shakspeare has frequently used the word _dug_ as a synonym for nipple, as see _Romeo and Juliet_, Act I. Sc. 3.:

"_Nurse._ And she was wean'd,--I never shall forget it,-- Of all the days of the year, upon that day: For I had then laid wormwood to my dug. . . . . . . --but, as I said, When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple Of my dug, and felt it bitter, pretty fool, To see it tetchy, and fall out with the dug!"

This quotation proves clearly, I consider, that dug was meant by Cleopatra, and not _dung_; and so I considered before the old manuscript correction of MR. COLLIER'S appeared. The words "an awful" are as clearly to my mind _and lawful_. I doubt, however, if they will be so acknowledged, as the use of the words "an awful," it may be contended, are countenanced by other passages in Shakspeare; I quote the following.

_Two Gentlemen of Verona_, Act IV. Sc. I.--

"_3rd Outlaw._ Know then, that some of us are gentlemen, Such as the fury of ungovern'd youth Thrust from the company of _awful_ men."

The word "awful" is surely, in this place, _lawful_; an outlaw would be little inclined to consider men as "awful," but the contrary. Read the last line as under--

"Thrust from the company of _lawful_ men,"

and the meaning is simple and clear. The outlaws were thrust from the company of _lawful men_, that is, men who obeyed the laws they had broken in "the fury of ungovern'd youth."

In _King Richard II._, Act III. Sc. 3., the following use of the words _lawful_ and _awful_ occurs:

"_K. Rich._ We are amazed; and thus long have we stood To watch the fearful bending of thy knee, [_To Northumberland._ Because we thought ourself thy lawful king; And if we be, how dare thy joints forget To pay their awful duty to our presence?"

The meaning in this case is no doubt clear enough, and the words "awful duty" may be the right ones; but had they stood _lawful duty_ in any old copy, he should have been a bold man who would have proposed to substitute _awful_ for _lawful_.

_Second Part of King Henry IV._, Act IV. Sc. 1.--

"_Arch._ To us, and to our purposes, confin'd: We come within our _awful_ banks again, And knit our powers to the arm of peace."

The use of the word "awful" in this passage may be right, but, as in the preceding case, I think, had _lawful banks_ stood in any old printed copy, or had it even been found in MR. COLLIER'S volume, the fitness would have been acknowledged.

Shakspeare used the word "lawful" in many instances where, no doubt, it may with reason, strong as any given here, be changed to _awful_. In the historical plays, _lawful_ king, _lawful_ progeny, _lawful_ heir, _lawful_ magistrate, _lawful_ earth, _lawful_ sword, &c., may be found. These suggestions, like the pinch of sand thrown on the old woman's cow, if they do no good, will, I trust, do no harm.

ROBERT RAWLINSON.

_Shakspeare._--A German writer, Professor Hilgers, of Aix-la-Chapelle, published in 1852 a pamphlet, in which he endeavoured to prove that many passages in Shakspeare, which were originally written in verse, have been "degraded" into prose, and quotes several passages from the plays {53} in support of his thesis. Professor Hilgers says that emendation of the text, by means of such a mode of correction as would restore the corrupted verses to their original form, has hitherto been almost entirely neglected by commentators, or else employed by them with very little ability and success. I have not seen the Professor's Treatise, and only write from a short notice which I have just perused of it in a German review; but, if what Professor H. states be correct, the subject appears to deserve more particular attention from the writers in the "N. & Q.," who have devoted their ingenuity and research to the illustration of Shakspeare. In the hope of attracting them to "fresh fields and pastures new," in which to recreate themselves, and to instruct and delight the world-wide readers of the great dramatist, I venture to solicit attention to Professor Hilger's pamphlet and its subject. In this I only echo the German reviewer's language, who most highly praises the Professor's acuteness, and the value of his strictures, and promises to return to them at greater length in a future number of the periodical in which he writes.

JOHN MACRAY.

Oxford.

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UNPUBLISHED LETTER.

I have thought that the following old letter, from a retired lawyer of the seventeenth century to his future son-in-law, might not be altogether uninteresting to your readers, as referring to the value of land and money at the period when it was written.

C. W. B.

July y^e 16^{th}, (16)95.

S^r,