Part 3

Will some one of your correspondents (learned in such matters) refer me to a work treating of the marriage ceremony as performed in this country during the fourteenth century, in order to the explanation of the following passages, which refer to an event in English history--the marriage of Edward I.'s daughter with the Count of Holland? The king's writ to the Bishop of London speaks of the marriage as about to be celebrated on the day after the Epiphany, upon which day (as shown by the Wardrobe Account) the ring was put on; but it was on the next day (the 8th) that the princess "despon[=s] fuit," as shown by the same account.

In Rymer's _Foedera_, vol. i. p. 850., will be found a writ directed to the Bishop of London (and others) as follows:

"Quia inter Comitem Holandiæ et Elizabetham, filiam nostram carissimam, _matrimonium_ hac proxima die Lunæ, _in crastino Epiphaniæ_, apud Gyppesivicum solempnizari proponimus, Domino concedente," &c.

In the Household Book of King Edward I. for the same year (Add. MS. 7965.) will be found the following entries, p. 6.:

"_Obla[=t] p'ticipa[=t]._--Terc[=o] die Janu[=ar] in obla[=t] [p=]ticipatis ad Missam celebr[=a]tam ad magn[=u] altare eccl[=i]a priorat' [=b]i Pe[=t] in Gippewico die Nupcia[=r] Alienore de Burgo.... vij.

"_Pro Comitessa Holland._--Eodem die (vij Janu[=ar]) in dena[=r] tam positis su[p=] libr[=u] qi[=n] jactatis [=i]ter homines circumstantes ad hostium in introitu eccl[=i]e Magne Prioratus pred[=c]i _ubi comes Hollandie sub.... vit D[=n]am Elizabetham filiam Regis c[=u] anulo auri...._ lxs.

"Fratribus predicatoribus de Gippewico [p=] ... sua unius diei videl[=tz] viij _diei Janu[=ar] quo die D[=na] Elizabeth filia R. despon[=s] fuit_, [p=] M. de Cauford, xiijs. iiijd."

R. C.

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MANUSCRIPT CATENA.

About four years ago I purchased, at the sale of the museum of Mr. George Bell of Whitehaven, a folio vellum MS. in Latin, written apparently in the fourteenth century: containing a Catena, or a series of notes on the Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians, selected from the Fathers of the Church, viz. Origines, Ambrosius, Gregorius, Jeronimus, Augustinus, Cassianus, Beda, Lambertus, Lanfrancus, Anselmus, and Ivo Carnotensis. As many of those authors were English, I infer that the volume was compiled in England for some English monastery.

The beginning of each chapter is noted on the margin, but there is no division into verses. The sentences, or short paragraphs of the text, are written in vermillion, and the comments upon them in black: those comments are generally taken from one, but often from two or three authors; the names of each being stated. There are large handsome capitals at the beginning of each book, and the initials to the paragraphs are distinguished by a spot of red, but there are no illuminations. Two leaves have been cut out at the beginning of the volume; a few at two or three places throughout the volume, and at the end, by some former possessor. As the style of binding is very uncommon, I will describe it. It was bound in oak boards of half an inch thick; the sheets were sewed on thongs of white leather, similar to what cart harness is stitched with. Instead of the thongs being brought _over_ the back edges of the boards (as in modern binding), they are inserted into mortices in the edges of the boards, and then laced through holes, and secured with glue and wedges. The boards were covered first with allumed leather, and over that seal-skin _with the hair on_. The board at the beginning of the book had four feet, placed near the corners, of nearly an inch in height, half an inch in diameter at the base, and about a quarter of an inch at the point. Each was cast in one piece, with a circular base of about an inch and a quarter in diameter, and rising towards the centre; and they were each fastened on by three pins or nails. The board at the end of the book was ornamented with four circular brass plates about the size of a halfpenny, placed near the corners; having in the centre of each a stud, the head of which represented a prominent close flower of four petals. And in the centre of the board, there had been a stud or button, on which to fasten the strap from the other board to keep the book shut. Only one stud and one foot remained; but the places where the others had been were easily seen. I presume that the volume was meant to lie on a lectern or reading-desk, resting on its feet; and when opened out, the other board rested on its studs, as both were worn smooth with use.

The binding being loose, and the cover torn to shreds (part of which was held on by the stud), I got the book rebound as nearly as possible in the same manner as the first, only substituting Russia leather for the unsightly seal-skin; and the remaining stud and foot afforded patterns, from which others were cast to supply the places of those deficient.

Nothing is known of the history of this volume, except that it was purchased by Mr. Bell from Alexander Campbell, a bookseller in Carlisle. I am inclined to think, that it had belonged to some monastery in Cumberland; and the _seal-skin_ cover would seem to indicate Calder Abbey (which is near _the coast_, where seals might be caught) as its original owner.

Can any of your correspondents inform me, from the marks which I have given, whether this is a {34} copy of _some known work_ or an original compilation? And if the former, state where the original MS. is preserved; and if _printed_, the particulars of the edition?

If my MS. can be ascertained to have formerly belonged to any library or individual, I shall be glad to learn any particulars of its history.

J. M. K.

Shoreham.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Jews and Egyptians._--Has any writer ever started the idea that the early colonisers of some of the Grecian states, who are commonly stated to have been Egyptians, may have been, in fact, Jews? It seems to me that a good deal might be said in favour of this hypothesis, for the following reasons, amongst others:

1. The Egyptian tradition preserved by Hecatæus, and quoted from him by Diodorus, that Danaus and Cadmus were leaders of minor branches of the great emigration, of which the main body departed under the guidance of Moses.

2. The near coincidence in point of time, as far as can be traced, of the appearance of Danaus, Cadmus, and Cecrops, in Greece, with the Jewish exodus.

3. The letter, preserved by Josephus, of Areus, king of Sparta, to the high-priest of the Jews, claiming a common descent with the latter from Abraham, and proposing an alliance. It is difficult to explain this claim on any other supposition than that Areus had heard of the tradition mentioned by Diodorus, and, as he and his people traced their descent from Danaus through Hercules, they consequently regarded themselves as sprung from a common stock with the Hebrews.

I throw out this theory for the consideration of others, having myself neither leisure nor opportunity for pushing the subject any farther; but still I think that a distinguished statesman and novelist, who amused the world some years ago by endeavouring to trace most of the eminent men of modern times to a Jewish origin, might, with at least as much reason, claim most of the glories of ancient Greece for his favourite people.

J. S. WARDEN.

_Skin-flint._--Is the word _skin-flint_, a miserly or niggardly person, of English or foreign derivation? and where is the earliest instance of the term to be met with?

J. W.

_Garlic Sunday._--The last Sunday of summer has been heretofore a day of great importance with the Irish, as upon it they first tried the new potato, and formed an opinion as to the prospects of future harvest. The day was always called, in the west in particular, "Garlic Sunday," perhaps a corruption of Garland Sunday. Can any one give the origin of this term, and say when first it was introduced?

U. U.

Dublin.

_Custom of the Corporation of London._--In the evidence of Mr. Bennoch, given before the Royal Commissioners for inquiring into the corporation of the city of London, he stated that there is, amongst other payments, one of 133l. "for cloth to the great ministers of state," the city being bound by an old charter to give a certain amount of cloth annually to them. He subsequently states that this custom is supposed to be connected with the encouragement of the wool manufacture in its early history; and that four and a half yards of the finest black cloth that the country can produce are annually sent to the First Secretary of State, the Second Secretary of State, the Lord Chancellor, the Chamberlain of the Household, the Vice-Chancellor of the Household, the Treasurer of the Household, the Lord Steward, the Controller, the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the Master of the Rolls, the Recorder of London, the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, and the Common Sergeant.

Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." give a more particular account of this custom?

CERVUS.

_General Stokes._--Can any of your readers give me any information respecting the parentage of General Stokes? In the historical table of remarkable events in the _Jamaica Almanack_ for 1847 it says: "General Stokes, with 1600 men from Nevis, arrived and settled near Port Morant, anno Domini 1655." And in Bryan Edwards' work on _Jamaica and the West Indies_, mention is made of General Stokes in the following words:

"In the month of December, 1655, General Stokes, with 1600 men from Nevis, arrived in Jamaica, and settled near Port Morant. The family of the Morants of Vere (in Jamaica) are the lineal descendants of General Stokes, who took the name of Morant from the port at which he landed. General Stokes was governor of Nevis; and on his arrival in Jamaica was appointed one of the high commissioners for the Island."

H. H. M.

_Rev. Philip Morant._--I shall be obliged by any information respecting the lineage of the Rev. Philip Morant, who wrote a _History of the County of Essex_; and whether he was an ancestor of the Morants of Brockenhurst Park, Hants. He was born at St. Saviour's, in the Isle of Jersey, Oct. 6, 1700; entered, 1717, Pembroke College, Oxford. He was presented to {35} the following benefices in the county of Essex, viz. Shallow, Bowells, Bromfield, Chicknal, Imeley, St. Mary's, Colchester, Wickham Bishops, and to Oldham in 1745. He died Nov. 25, 1770; and his only daughter married Thomas Astle, Esq., F.R.S. and F.A.S. He was son of Stephen Morant. If any of the sons or daughters of that eminent antiquary Thomas Astle will give me any information relative to the pedigree of Philip Morant, M.A., they will greatly oblige me.

H. H. M.

Malta.

_The Position of Suffragan Bishops in Convocation._--In Chamberlayne's _Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia, or The Present State of Great Britain_, 1729, p. 73., it is said:

"All suffragan bishops and deans, archdeacons, prebendaries, rectors, and vicars, have privileges, some by themselves, others by proxy or by representatives, to sit and vote in the lower house of convocation."

Is there authority for this statement as regards suffragan bishops? There is no writ or mandate that I have seen for their appearance.

W. FRASER.

Tor-Mohun.

_Cambridge Mathematical Questions._--Can any of your readers inform me whether the University of Cambridge puts forth, by authority, a collection of all the questions proposed to candidates for the B.A. degree?

If not, how can one obtain access to the questions which have been asked during the last forty or fifty years?

IOTA.

_Crabbe MSS._--In some second-hand book catalogue the following is inserted, viz.,--

"1353. Crabbe (Rev. Geo., _Poet_), Poems, Prayers, Essays, Sermons, portions of Plays, &c., _5 vols. entirely autograph, together with a Catalogue of Plants, and Extracts from the second Volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society, 1795 (this volume only contains a few Autograph Verses in pencil at the end). An Autograph letter of 4 pages to the Dean of Lincoln, dated_ TROWBRIDGE, March 31, 1815. _A curious Anonymous letter from 'Priscian' to Mr. Murray, dated_ Dec. 8th, 1833, _on the Orthography of the name of the Birthplace of the Poet, and which the writer observed in the View of the Town of Aldeburgh in the frontispiece to the Prospectus Mr. M. has just issued, &c., interspersed with some portraits and scraps, in 6 vols. 4to. and 8vo., dated from 1779 to 1823, 8l. 8s._"

This is a note underneath:

"The following portion of a Prayer, evidently alluding to his troubles, occurs in one of the volumes bearing date Dec. 31, 1779: 'A thousand years, most adored Creator, are in thy Sight as one Day. So contract in my Sight my Calamities! The Year of Sorrow and Care, of Poverty and Disgrace, of Disappointment and wrong, is now passing on to join the Eternal. Now, O Lord! let, I beseech thee, my Afflictions and Prayers be remembered; my Faults and Follies be forgotten.' 'O! Thou who art the Fountain of Happiness, give me better Submission to thy Decrees, better Disposition to correct my flattering Hopes, better Courage to bear up under my State of Oppression,'" &c.

Can any of the reader of "N. & Q." tell me who possesses this? I should very much like to know.

H. T. BOBART.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

_Tilly, an Officer of the Courts at Westminster._--What office did one Tilly hold in one of the Courts at Westminster, circa 8 William III.? Was he Warden of the Fleet? What were his connexions by birth and by marriage? Was he dispossessed? and if so, why?

J. K.

_Mr. Gye._--Who was Mr. Guye, or Gye, who had chambers in the Temple circa 8 Wm. III.?

J. K.

_Three Fleurs-de-Lys._--Some of your heraldic contributors may perhaps be able to say whether there is any instance of an English coat of arms with three fleurs-de-lys in a line (horizontal), in the upper part of the shield? Such are said to occur in coats of arms of French origin, as in that of the celebrated Du Guesclin, and perhaps in English coats in the form of a _triangle_. But query whether, in any instance, in a horizontal line?

DEVONIENSIS.

_The Commons of Ireland previous to the Union in 1801._--I have understood there was a work which contained either the memoirs or sketches of the political characters of all the members of the last "Commons of Ireland;" and I have heard it was written by a Rev. Dr. Scott of, I believe, Trinity College, Dublin. Can any reader of "N. & Q." inform me if there be such a work? and if there be a biographical account of the author to be met with?

C. H. D.

"_All Holyday at Peckham._"--Can any of your correspondents inform me what is the origin of the phrase "All holyday at Peckham?"[3]

R. W. B.

[Footnote 3: [Probably some of our correspondents may know the _origin_ of this phrase; and as many of them, perhaps, are not acquainted with its meaning among the slang literati, we may as well enlighten them with a quotation from the _Lexicon Balatronicum et Macaronicum_ of Master Jon Bee: "_Peckham_, going to dinner. 'All holiday at _Peckham_,' no appetite. _Peckish_, hungry."--ED.]]

_Arthur de Vere._--What was the after history of Arthur (Philipson) de Vere, son of John, Earl of Oxford, and hero of Sir Walter Scott's novel {36} _Anne of Geierstein?_ Was Sir Walter Scott justified in saying, "the manners and beauty of Anne of Geierstein attracted as much admiration at the English Court as formerly in the Swiss Chalet?"

[Sigma].

_Master of the Nails._--It appears from the _Historical Register_, January, 1717, "Mr. Hill was appointed Master of all the Nails at Chatham Dock." Can any of your readers favour me by stating the nature of the above office?

W. D. H.

_Nattochiis and Calchanti._--few days since an ancient charter was laid before me containing a grant of lands in the county of Norfolk, of the date 1333 (temp. Edw. II.), in which the following words are made use of:

"Cu' omnib; g'nis t natthocouks adjacentib;" &c.

In a later portion of the grant this word is spelt _natthociis_. Probably some of your learned readers can throw some light on what is meant by the words _granis et nattochiis_ as being appurtenant to marsh lands.

In a grant I have also now before me of Queen Elizabeth--

"Decimas, calchanti, liquor, mineral, metal," &c.

are given to the grantee for a term of twenty-one years: probably your readers can also enlighten my ignorance of the term _calchanti_; the other words are obvious. If any authorities are to be met with, probably in the answers to these queries your correspondents will have the goodness to cite them.

F. S. A.

"_Ned o' the Todding._"--May I beg, through the medium of your excellent publication, to ask if any of your correspondents can inform me in which of our English authors I may find some lines headed "Ned o' the Todding?"

W. T.

* * * * *

Minor Queries with Answers.

_Bridget Cromwell and Fleetwood._--Can you inform me whether Bridget, daughter of Oliver Cromwell, who was first married in 1651 to Ireton, Lord Deputy of Ireland (and had by him a large family), and secondly, to General Fleetwood, had any family by the latter?

And, if so, what were the Christian names of the children (Fleetwood)?

A NEW SUBSCRIBER OF 1854.

[Noble, in his _Memoirs of the House of Cromwell_, vol. ii. p. 369., says, "It is most probable that Fleetwood had issue by his second wife Bridget, especially as he mentions that she was in an increasing way in several of his letters, written in 1654 and 1655. It is highly probable Mr. Charles Fleetwood, who was buried at Stoke Newington, May 14, 1676, was his son by the Protector's daughter, as perhaps was Ellen Fleetwood, buried in the same place in a velvet coffin, July 25, 1731; if so, she must have been, at the time of her death, upwards of seventy years of age."]

_Culet._--In my bills from Christ Church, Oxford, there is a charge of sixpence every term for _culet_. What is this?

B. R. I.

[In old time there was a collection made every year for the doctors, masters, and beadles, and this was called _collecta_ or _culet_: the latter word is now used for a customary fee paid to the beadles. "I suppose," says Hearne, "that when this was gathered for the doctors and masters it was only for such doctors and masters as taught and read to scholars, of Which sort there was a vast number in old time, and such a collection was therefore made, that they might proceed with the more alacrity, and that their dignity might be better supported."--Appendix to _Hist. Rob. de Avesbury_.]

* * * * *

Replies.

THE ASTEROIDS OR RECENTLY DISCOVERED LESSER PLANETS.

(Vol. vii., p. 211.; Vol. viii., p. 601.)

QUÆSTOR has asked me a question to which I will not refuse a reply. If he thinks that the breaking up of a planetary world is a mere fancy, he may consult Sir John Herschel's _Astronomy_, § 434., in Lardner's series, ed. 1833, in which the supposition was treated as doubtful, and farther discoveries were declared requisite for its confirmation; and Professor Mitchell's _Discoveries of Modern Astronomy_, Lond. 1850, pp. 163-171., where such discoveries are detailed, and the progress of the proof is narrated and explained. It may be briefly stated as follows:--In the last century, Professor Bode discovered the construction of a regular series of numbers, in coincidence with which the distances of all the known planets from the sun had been arranged by their Creator, saving one exception. Calling the earth's solar distance 10, the next numbers in the series are 16, 28, 52. The distances answering to 16 and 52, on this scale, are respectively occupied by the planets Mars and Jupiter; but the position of 28 seemed unoccupied. It was not likely that the Creator should have left the methodical order of his work incomplete. A few patient observers agreed, therefore, to divide amongst themselves that part of the heavens which a planet revolving at the vacant distance might be expected to traverse; and that each should keep up a continuous examination of the portion assigned to him. And the result was the discovery by Piazzi, in 1801, of a planet revolving at the expected solar distance, but so minute that the elder Herschel computed its diameter to be no more than 163 miles. The discovery of a second by Olbers, in the {37} following year, led him to conjecture and suggest that these were fragments of a whole, which, at its first creation, had occupied the vacant position, with a magnitude not disproportionate to that assigned to the other planets. Since then there have been, and continue to be, discoveries of more and more such fragmental planets, all moving at solar distances so close upon that numbered 28, as to pass each other almost, as has been said, within peril; but in orbits which seem capriciously elevated and depressed, when referred to the planes assigned for the course of the regular planets; so that, to most minds capable of appreciating these facts, it will seem that Olber's conjecture has been marvellously confirmed.

As to the theological conjecture appended to it in my previous communication, about which QUÆSTOR particularly questions me, I can only say, that if he deems it rash or wrong, I have no right to throw the blame of it on any other man's shoulders, as I am not aware of its having been hazarded by any one else. But I hope he will agree with me, that if there has been a disruption of a planetary world, it cannot have arisen from any mistake or deficiency in the Creator's work or foresight, but should be respectfully regarded as the result of some moral cause.

HENRY WALTER.

* * * * *

EMBLEMATIC MEANINGS OF PRECIOUS STONES (Vol. viii., p. 539).--PLANETS OF THE MONTHS SYMBOLISED BY PRECIOUS STONES (Vol. iv., pp. 23. 164.).

The Poles have a fanciful belief that each month of the year is under the influence of a precious stone, which influence has a corresponding effect on the destiny of a person born during the respective month. Consequently, it is customary, among friends and lovers, on birth-days, to make reciprocal presents of trinkets ornamented with the natal stones. The stones and their influences, corresponding with each month, are supposed to be as follows:

January Garnet. Constancy and fidelity. February Amethyst. Sincerity. March Bloodstone. Courage. Presence of mind. April Diamond. Innocence. May Emerald. Success in love. June Agate. Health and long life. July Cornelian. Contented mind. August Sardonyx. Conjugal felicity. September Chrysolite. Antidote against madness. October Opal. Hope. November Topaz. Fidelity. December Turquoise. Prosperity.

The Rabbinical writers describe a system of onomancy, according to the third branch of the Cabala, termed _Notaricon_, in conjunction with lithomancy. Twelve anagrams of the name of God were engraved on twelve precious stones, by which, with reference to their change of hue or brilliancy, the cabalist was enabled to foretel future events. Those twelve stones, thus engraved, were also supposed to have a mystical power over, and a prophetical relation to, the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and twelve angels or good spirits, in the following order: