Chapter 3

Now, a comparison of the definitions of the Spanish and Portuguese _gromete_, and the English _younker_, leads me to infer that the latter term had been substituted for _grummett_ or _gromet_, and that the duties of both classes were nearly the same.

If the above information should seem less precise than might be expected, I must make my apology in the words which Edward Jorden addressed to captain Smith on the publication of his _Sea grammar_:

"Who can Deriue thy words, is more grammarian Than Camden, Clenard, Ramus, Lilly were: Here's language would haue non-plust Scaliger!"

Bolton Corney.

* * * * *

BEAVER HATS.

Permit me to suggest that, in asking a question, it is often desirable that the querist should state briefly the amount of information he already possesses on the subject. For instance, had Mr. "T.H. Turner," when inquiring after _beaver hats_ (No. 7. p. 100.), stated, that he had met with the mention of them as early as the time of Hen. III., I, of course, should not have troubled you with a notice of them in the reign of Elizabeth. Indeed, I owe Mr. Turner an apology; for if I had reflected a moment upon the extensive antiquarian information of the querist, I should certainly have concluded that he must be well acquainted with the authorities I cited, which happened to be at my elbow at the time I read the query. Mr. B. Corney (No. 19. p. 307.) has supplied a beaver hat from Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_; we meet with another in his _Testament of Creseide_, v. 386., "in a mantill and a beaver hat." We may therefore conclude that they were not unusual in Chaucer's time. I now think it very probable that beaver hats were introduced into this country as early as the Norman Conquest; for we find mention of them in Normandy at a still earlier period. In the "Chronicle of the Abbey of St. Wandrille" (edited by Acheri, in his _Spicilegium_), we find, amongst the gifts of the Abbot Ansegisus, who died A.D. 833,

"Cappas Romanas duas, unam videlicet ex rubeo cindato, et fimbriis viridibus in circuitu ornatam; alteram _ex cane Pontico_, quero vulgus _Bevurum_ nuncupat, similiter fimbriis sui coloris decoratam in orbe."

I do not conceive this cap to have been made of the _skin_ of a beaver, for the term would then most probably have been "ex _pelli_ canis Pontici."

This Chronicle contains several curious inventories of the gifts of many of the abbots; in which we may see the splendour of the vessels and vestments used at that period in religious services, as well as the style of reading then prevalent amongst the monks.

Gastros.

Cambridge, March 11.

[There is a Query which arises out of this subject which none of our correspondents have yet touched upon--What was the original meaning of _Beaver_, as applied to a hat or cap? and was it taken from the name of the animal, or did it give the name to it?]

* * * * *

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

_Anecdote of the Civil Wars_.--In looking through your "Notes and Queries," to which I heartily wish continued success, I find, in No. 6. p. 93, a question which appears to be as yet unanswered.

The story to which your questioner alludes as an "anecdote of the Civil Wars," is a very beautiful one, and deserves authentication.

I have a note of it from Dr. Thomas's additions to Dugdale's _Warwickshire_, which dates the occurrence as having taken place Oct. 22, 1642, the day previous to the battle of Edgehill, and identifies the merry sportsman as Richard Schuckburgh, of Upper Shuckburgh; who, however, on his presentation to the king, "immediately went home, aroused his tenants, and the next day attended the army to the field, where he was knighted, and was present at the battle." Being out of the reach of books, I am unable further to verify the story; but it is to such unhappy rustics that your publication is most acceptable.

C.W.B.

[Thanks to the kindness of our correspondent "C.W.B.," we have referred to Dugdale's _Warwickshire_ (ed. Thomas, 1730). vol. i. p. 309., and extract from it the following proof that Walpole had authority for his story. Who knows, after this, but we may in the same way trace from whence he procured the celebrated letter of the Countess of Pembroke, respecting which there is a query from Mr. Peter Cunningham, in No. 2. p. 28.

"As king Charles the First marched to Edgcot, near Banbury, on 22nd Oct., 1642, he saw him hunting in the fields not far from Shuckborough, with a very good pack of hounds, upon which it is reported, that he fetched a deep sigh and asked who that gentleman was that hunted so merrily that morning, when he was going to fight for his crown and dignity. And being told {339} that it was this Richard Shuckburgh, he was ordered to be called to him, and was by him very graciously received. Upon which he went immediately home, armed all his tenants, and the next day attended on him in the field, where he was knighted, and was present at the battle of Edghill."]

_Mousetrap Dante_ (No. 10. pp. 154, 155.).--I beg to refer your correspondent to the Visconte Colomb de Batines' _Bibliographia Dantesea_ (Prato, 1845-48. 8vo.), tom. ii. pp. 264, 265., where he will find a list (correct so far as it goes) of the fifteen MSS. of the _Comedia_, purchased for the Bodleian Library about the year 1822, from the Abbate Matteo Canonici, of Venice.

I have reason for believing, that the only MSS. which exist in that collection, in addition to those enumerated in the list, are: 1. Canon Ital. 100. "Compendium Cujusdam Commentarii" (4to paper); and 2. "Codices Canonici Miscellanei 449." fol., _vellum_ (it cannot therefore be this), which contains the complete commentary of Jacopo dalla Lana.

F.C.B.

_Cromwell's Estates_ (No. 18. p. 277.).--The seignory of Gower is the peninsula which runs out between the bays of Swansea and Carmarthen; and which terminates at Swansea on the S.E. side, and at Longhor on the N.W., and comprises the district which, in common with a part of Scotland, anciently bore the name of Rheged. It is a locality rich in all that can attract the antiquary and the naturalist.

Mr. Dillwyn's _Contributions towards a History of Swansea_ contains the following references to the Gower property of Cromwell:--"We are informed by the Minute-book of the Common Hall" (at Swansea), "that on May 19, 1648, there came to this towne the truly Honourable Oliver Cromwell, Esq.... Lord of this towne, the Seignory of Gower, and Manor of Killay, with the members thereof," &c. "On May 5. 1647, Parliament settled the estates of the Marquis of Worcester, in Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, on Cromwell; and, by a subsequent order, the estate in Glamorganshire was added to this grant. The conveyance from Parliament to Cromwell is made, not only in the name of his Majesty, but has a portrait of Charles the First at its head."

SELEUCUS.

_Genealogy of European Sovereigns_ (No. 6. p. 92.)--The best and most comprehensive work on this subject bears the following title:--_Johann Hübner's genealogische Tabellen_, 4 vols. folio, oblong, Leipzig, 1737 et seq. (Of the 3rd vol. a new and much improved edition, by G.F. Krebel, appeared in 1766.) Supplement: _Tafeln zu J. Hübner's genealogischen Tabellen_, by Sophia Queen of Denmark, 6 parts, folio, oblong, Copenhagen, 1822-24.

A. Asher.

Berlin.

_Shipster_ (No. 14. p. 216.).--Are not _Baxter_ and _Tupster_ the feminines of _Baker_ and _Tapper_?--and may not _Shipster_ signify a _female ship-owner_?

F.C.B.

_Kentish Ballad_ (No. 16. p. 247.).--The song beginning "When Harold was invaded" has long been a favourite in this county. It is entitled "The Man of Kent," and was composed by Tom Durfey, in the time of Charles the Second. It may be found, with the music, in Chappell's _Collection of English Airs_. He cites it as being in _Pills to purge Melancholy, with Music_, 1719, and states that in the _Essex Champion, or famous History of Sir Billy of Billericay and his Squire Ricardo_, 1690, the song of "The Man of Kent" is mentioned. I have none of these works at hand for immediate reference, but the above note contains all that I have been able to collect on the subject of our popular ballad.

There is another song, much to the same purport, beginning--

"When as the Duke of Normandy, With glistening spear and shield,"

in Evans's _Songs_, vol. ii. p. 33, printed by him from _The Garland of Delight_, by Delone, in the Pepys collection at Cambridge--a black-letter volume; and probably the song was by himself.

Your correspondent "F.B." asks for the remainder of the song. In pity to yourself and your readers, I forbear sending you the countless stanzas--numerous enough in the _original_ song, but now, by the additions of successive generations, swelled to a volume. He will find in Chappell's collection all that is worth having, with the assurance, repeated oft enough for the most enthusiastic of our _modest_ countrymen, that

"In Britain's race if one surpass, A man of Kent is he."

LAMBERT LARKING.

Ryarsh Vicarage.

_Bess of Hardwick_ (No. 18. p. 276.).--The armorial bearings of John Hardwick, of Hardwick, co. Derby, father of Bess, were: Argent, a saltier engrailed, and on a chief blue three roses of the field.

M. COMES.

Oxford, March 9. 1850.

_Trophee_ (No. 19. p. 303.).--"Trophe," in the Prologue of Lydgate's Translation of Boccaccio's _Fall of Princes_, is a misprint: _corrige_--

"In youth he made a translation Of a boke, which called is Troyle, In Lumbardes tonge, as men may rede and se, And in our vulgar, long or that he deyde, Gave it the name of Troylous and Cres-eyde."

The book called _Troyle_ is Boccaccio's _Troilo_, or _Filostrato_.

M.C.

Oxford, March 11. 1850.

{340}

_Emerald_ (No. 14. p. 217.).--Before we puzzle ourselves with the meaning of a thing, it is well to consider whether the authority _may_ not be very loose and inaccurate. This _emerald cross_, even if it was made of emeralds, might have been in several pieces. But we are told generally, in Phillips's _Mineralogy_, that "the large emeralds spoken of by various writers, such as that in the Abbey of Richenau, of the weight of 28 lbs., and which formerly belonged to Charlemagne, are believed to be either green fluor, or prase. The most magnificent specimen of genuine emeralds was presented to the Church of Loretto by one of the Spanish kings. It consists of a mass of white quartz, thickly implanted with emeralds, more than an inch in diameter."

The note to the above exemplifies what I have just said. It is called _emerald_, he says, because it is _green_, from the Greek. I might make a query of this; but it is clearly a mistake of some half-learned or ill-understood informant. The name has nothing to do with green. _Emerald_, in Italian _smeraldo_, is, I dare say, from the Greek _smaragdus_. It is derived, according to the Oxford _Lexicon_, from [Greek: mairo], to shine, whence [Greek: marmarugae]. In looking for this, I find another Greek word, _smirix_, which is the origin of _emery_, having the same meaning. It is derived from [Greek: smao], to rub, or make bright. I cannot help suspecting that the two radical verbs are connected.

C.B.

_Ancient Motto--Barnacles_.--In reference to your querist in No. 6., respecting the motto which "some Pope or Emperor caused to be engraven in the centre of his table," and the correspondent in No. 7. who replies to him by a quotation from Horace, I beg to observe that honest Thomas Fuller, in _The Holy State_, 275. ed. Lond. 1648, tells us, that St. Augustine "had this distich written on his table:--

"Quisquis amat dictis absentem rodere famam, Hanc mensam indignam noverit esse sibi. * * * * * He that doth love on absent friends to jeere, May hence depart, no room is for him here."

With respect to the Barnacle fowl, it may be an addendum, not uninteresting to your correspondent "W.B. MacCabe," to add to his extract from Giraldus another from Hector Boece, _History of Scotland_, "imprentit be Thomas Davidson, prenter to the Kyngis nobyll grace [James VI.]." He observes, that the opinion of some, that the "Claik geis growis on treis be the nebbis, is vane," and says he "maid na lytyll lauboure and deligence to serche the treuthe and virite yairof," having "salit throw the seis quhare thir Clakis ar bred," and assures us, that although they were produced in "mony syndry wayis, thay ar bred ay allanerly be nature of the seis." These fowls, he continues, are formed from worms which are found in wood that has been long immersed in salt water, and he avers that their transformation was "notably provyn in the zier of God 1480 besyde the castell of Petslego, in the sycht of mony pepyll," by a tree which was cast ashore, in which the creatures were seen, partly formed, and some with head, feet, and wings; "bot thay had na faderis." Some years afterwards, a tree was thrown on the beach near Dundee, with the same appearances, and a ship broken up at Leith exhibited the same marvel; but he clinches the argument by a "notable example schawin afore our eyne. Maister Alexander Galloway Person, of Kynkèll, was with us in thir Illis (the Hebridæ), and be adventure liftet up ane see tangle, hyng and full of mussil schellis," one of which he opened, "bot than he was mair astonist than afore, for he saw na fische in it bot ane perfit schapin foule. This clerk, knawin us richt desirous of sic uncouth thingis, came haistely, and opinit it iwith all circumstance afore rehersit." So far the venerable "Chanon of Aberdene." The West Highlanders still believe in the barnacle origin of this species of fowl.

JAMES LOGAN

_Tureen_ (No. 16. p. 246.; No. 19. p. 307.).--I have seen old-fashioned silver tureens which turned on a pivot attached to the handles, and always concluded that it was to this form that Goldsmith alluded in the line quoted by "G.W."

SELEUCUS.

_Hudibrastic Couplet_ (No. 14. p. 211.).--These lines do _not_ occur in the reprint of the _Musarum Deliciæ_ (Lond. 1817, 8vo. 2 vols.). Lowndes (_Bibliogr. Manual_) states that they are to be found in the 2nd ed. of the work (London, 1656. 12mo.).

F.C.B.

_Topography of Foreign Printing Presses_ (No. 18. p. 277.)--About twelve years ago, Valpy published a vol. of Supplements to _Lemprière's Dictionary_, by E.H. Barker. One of these contained a complete list of all the foreign towns in which books had been printed, with the Latin names given to them in alphabetical order.

W. and N.

Your correspondent "P.H.F." will find in _Cotton's Typographical Gazetteer_ (8vo. Clarendon Press, 1831), every information he will ordinarily require.

J.M.S.

Islington, March 7. 1850

_Dr. Hugh Todd's MSS._ (No. 18. p. 282.).--The only MS. in the library of University College, Oxford, is that mentioned by "F.M."; and it is described in the Catalogue, compiled by the Rev. H.O. Coxe, of the MSS. belonging to the College, p. 47. No. clxx. There is a note stating it was "ex dono Hugonis Todd, Socii, A.D. 1690."

C.I.R.

* * * * *{341}

MISCELLANIES.

_Burnet_.--In addition to the opinions expressed in favour of or opposed to Burnet's "History," (No. 3. p. 40., and No. 8. p. 120.), I may also refer to Dr. King's _Anecdotes_; he says,

"I knew Burnet; he was a furious party-man, and easily imposed on by any lying spirit of his own faction; but he was a better pastor than any man who is now seated on the Bishop's bench."

Dryden's chastisement of Burnet--"the noble Buzzard"--in his _Hind and Panther_ must be familiar to your readers. It was given as "adequate retaliation" for the Bishop's censure of the immorality of Dryden's plays. Applied to Burnet's _Sketches of Characters_, Dryden says:

"His praise of foes is venomously nice, So touch'd, it turns a virtue to a vice."

Scott's note on this passage well merits perusal.

J.H.M.

Bath.

* * * * *

PERVENIRI AD SUMMUM NISI EX PRINCIPIIS NON POTEST.

(_FROM THE LATIN OF VINCENT BOURNE_.)

Newton, the light of each succeeding age, First learned his letters from a female sage. But thus far taught--the alphabet once learn'd-- To loftier use those elements he turn'd. Forced th' unconscious signs, by process rare, Known quantities with unknown to compare; And, by their aid, profound deductions drew From depths of truth his teacher never knew. Yet the true authoress of all was she!-- Newton's Principia were his _a_, _b_, _c_.

Rufus.

* * * * *

_Prince Madoc_ (No. 4. p. 56.; No. 18. p. 282.).--In the darkness superinduced by the absence of historical evidence on the Welsh settlement in America, I beg leave to offer a few remarks on some ethnological subjects involved in this question.

In reference to the specimen of a Welsh-Indian Vocabulary in Catlin's _N.A. Indians_, which "Gomer" opposes to Prof. Elton's proposition on this subject (No. 15. p. 236.), were the instances of similarity to exhibit the influence of opinion, of government, or of commerce, on the language of the tribe, the origin of such words would be as indisputable as that of those introduced by the English into the various countries of the East where they have factories; e.g. governor, council, company. But these and numerous other traces of the Celtic language which have been found in Florida and Darien are not indicative of such impressions; most of them, from their universality, bespeak themselves to be primitive; and who can assure us that some may not have reached them before the twelfth century, through "Walsh or strangers," "a race mightier than they and wiser," by whom they may have been instructed in the arts which have excited so much astonishment?

The glass beads, erroneously called Druid's beads, furnish Catlin with another proof of affiliation, which, however, is invalidated by the well-ascertained facts of glass-manufactories having, in remotest antiquity, existed in Egypt, and of glass beads having been dispersed by the Phoenicians among the nations which they visited. (See Tassie's _Gems_, introd.--Here, by the by, are mentioned celebrated emeralds, which have turned out to be only lumps of green glass!)

Lhuyd relates that the cross was honoured in N. America before the arrival of the Spaniards, and Sir R. Manley (_Turk. Spy_, vol. viii.) states that they found crucifixes also. Unfortunately for this hypothesis, it has been shown, by G. Becanus (_Hierogl._, see Index), Olaus Wormius (_De Danicis Monumentis_, see Index), M. Ficinus (_De Vita coelitus Propaganda_, l. iii. c. 18.), and Kircherus (_Prodromus Coptus_, p. 163.), that in various countries the cross was, before the Christian era, an object of veneration, and symbolled the genius of their religion. In the event of crucifixes having been found (for which, however, Sir R. Manley supplies no authority) we need not be surprised that the Christian topography was so far extended, since the Christianity of China, between the seventh and the thirteenth century, has been invincibly proved; and simultaneously, perhaps, the aborigines of America received the symbol, [Greek: Eros mou hestaurotai], which is peculiar to the Christian religion.

In conclusion, permit me to cite Southey _versus_ Catlin:--"That country," says the author of _Madoc_ "has now been fully explored; and wherever Madoc may have settled, it is now certain that no Welsh Indians are to be found upon any branches of the Missouri" (Preface, note written in 1815).

Since I wrote the above, I have met with a work, by Mr. George Jones, entitled _The History of Ancient America anterior to the Time of Columbus_, vol. i.: "The Tyrian Æra." In the second, not yet published, he promises to give "The Introduction of Christianity into the Western Hemisphere by the Apostle St. Thomas."

T.I.

_Mistake in Gibbon_.--Those of your readers, who are, like myself, occasional verifiers of references, will perhaps thank me for pointing out a false reference, that I have just discovered in one of Gibbon's notes:

"Capitolinus gives us the particulars of these tumultuary votes, which were moved by one senator, and repeated, or rather chanted, by the whole body."--_Hist. August._ p. 52.

See Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, chap. 4, note {342} under marginal lemma, "The memory of Commodus declared infamous."

These "tumultuary votes" are recorded, _not_ by Capitolinus, but by Ælius Lampridius, in his _Life of Commodus_. Vide _Historiæ Augustæ Scriptores. Ælii Lampridii Commodus Antoninus_, capita 18, 19.

Capitolinus wrote the life of his _immediate_ successor, Pertinax; hence perhaps the mistake, "Egregio in corpore nævus!" Let those who wish to know what passion really is, read the tiger-like yells of the Roman senate in _Lampridius_!

C. Forbes.

Temple, Feb. 27.

_Jew's Harp_.--The late Mr. Douce always maintained that the proper name of this instrument was the _Jaw's Harp_, and that the Jews had no special concern with either its invention or its use.

J.H.M.

_Havior_.--The word "havior" is probably of a hybrid character; partly of Anglo-Saxo, and partly of British origin. If so, the first syllable is obvious enough, "half" being generally pronounced as if the liquid were considered an evanescent quantity, "ha'f, heif, hav'," &c., and "iwrch" is the British word for a roe-buck. Dropping the guttural termination, therefore, and writing "ior" instead of "iwrch," we have the significant designation of the animal described by Lord Braybrooke, whose flesh, like that of the capon, may afford a convenient variety among the delicacies of the season, if well cooked according to the recondite mysteries of the gastronomic art.

Hypomagirus.

Trinity College, Oxford, Feb 14.

N.B. "Heifer" has already been explained as "heif-ker, half-cre," A.-S., "anner," Br.

_Haviour, Haver, Hyfr_ (No. 15. p. 230, and No. 17. p. 269.).--If I may throw out a question where I cannot give an explanation, I would ask, are we not approaching very near to the word "heifer" (from the Saxon) in these, but especially in the last of the above terms? They seem to me to be identical. The introduction of the sound of _y_ between the sounds of _v_ and _ur_, is not uncommon in the vernacular or corrupted pronunciation of many words; nay, it is sanctioned by general usage, in "behaviour" from "behave," "Saviour" from "save," &c. If the words are identical, still the history of the appropriation of the one to male animals of the class described, and of the other to females, must be curious and worth investigating. May not the _aver_ and _averium_, like _irreplegibilia_ and other barbarous law terms, be framed (rather than derived) from one of our English terms, as well as from the French _avoir_?

G.W.

_America known to the Ancients_.--I have a note of the following references, as illustrating the passage quoted by "C." (No. 7. p. 107.), and countenancing the idea that the existence of America was at least suspected by the ancients. As I have not had an opportunity of consulting the authorities myself, I cannot tell how far they may affect the point in question; and I fear the references are not as accurate as might be wished, but I shall be truly glad if they prove at all useful:--Diodorus Siculus, _Bibl._ lib. iv. pp. 299, 300 edit. Rhodoman; Apuleius, _De Mund. Oper._ vol. ii. p. 122.; _Avitus in Senec. Suasor._; Horn, _De Origin. Americ._ lib. i. c. 10. p. 57.

G. William Skyring.

_Error in Meyrick's Ancient Armour_ (No. 17. p. 266.).--In the second edition of Meyrick's _Armour_, the error pointed out by Mr. Hudson Turner has not been corrected. The passage is, "Item a gamboised coat with a rough surface of gold embroidered on the nap of the cloth;" and with the note, "Like a thicket."

F.C.B.