Chapter 3

_Pamphlets respecting Ireland_ (No. 24. p. 384.)--I would refer "I." to No. 6161. in the Catalogue of Stowe Library, sold by Leigh Sotheby and Co., in January 1849. That lot consisted of two vols. of twenty-six tracts, 4to. Amongst them is "Gookin, the Author and Case of Transplanting the Irish in Connaught Vindicated, from Col. R. Lawrence, 1655." Messrs. Leigh Sotheby will probably be able to inform the Querist into whose hands these two vols. passed. The lot sold for the large sum of 4l. 18s.

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_Pimlico_ (No. 24. p. 383.).--The derivation of this word is explained from the following passage in a rare (if not unique) tract now before me, entitled _Newes from Hogsdon_, 1598:--

"Have at thee, then, my merrie boyes, and hey for old _Ben Pimlico's_ nut-browne."

Pimlico kept a place of entertainment in or near Hoxton, and was celebrated for his nut-brown ale. The place seems afterwards to have been called by his name, and is constantly mentioned by our early dramatists. In 1609 a tract was printed, entitled _Pimlyco, or Runne Red Cap, 'tis a Mad World at Hogsdon_. Isaac Reed (Dodsley's _Old Plays_, ed. Collier, vii. 51.) says,--

"A place near Chelsea is still called Pimlico, and was resorted to within these few years, on the same account as the former at Hogsdon."

Pimlico is still, I believe, celebrated for its fine ale.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

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_Pimlico_ (No. 24. p. 383.).--I see, by a passage in Lord Orrery's Letters, that there was a place called Pemlicoe in Dublin:--

"Brown is fluctuant; he once lay at a woman's house in Pemlicoe, Dublin." (_Earl of Orrery to Duke of Ormond_, Feb. 5. 1663, in _Orrery's State Letters_.)

This may be of use to "R.H.," who inquires about the origin of _Pimlico_. _Ranelaugh_, in the same parts, is doubtless also of Irish origin.

C.H.

[Pimlico in Dublin still exists, as will be seen by reference to Thom's _Irish Almanac_, where we find "Pimlico, from Coombe to Tripoli."]

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_Bive and Chute Lambs_ (No. 6. p. 93.).--I do not know whether my answer to your correspondent's inquiry about _bive_ and chute lambs will be satisfactory, inasmuch as the price he gives of "_bive_" lambs "apeece" is larger than the price of the "chute." Twin lambs are still called _bive_ lambs on the borders of Sussex and Kent; and chute lambs are fat lambs.

_Chuet_ is an old word signifying a fat greasy pudding. It is rightly applied to Falstaff:--

"Peace, _chewet_, peace."

_1st Part K. Hen. IV._

WM. DURRANT COOPER.

* * * * *

_Latin Names of Towns_.--"M." (No. 25. p. 402.) wishes for some guide with reference to the Latin names of towns. A great deal of assistance may be obtained from an octavo volume, published anonymously, and bearing the title "Dictionnaire Interprète-manuel des Noms Latins de la Géographie ancienne et moderne; pour servir à l'Intelligence des Auteurs Latins, principalement des Auteurs Classiques; avec les Désignations principales des Lieux. Ouvrage utile à ceux qui lisent les Poëtes, les Historiens, les Martyrologes, les Chartes, les vieux Actes," &c. &c. A Paris, 1777.

R.G.

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_Le Petit Albert_ (No. 24. p. 385.).--I suspect this Petit Albert, in 32mo.--a size in harmony with the cognomen--is only a catchpenny publication, to which the title of _Le Petit Albert_ has been given by way of resembling its name to that of Albertus Magnus, who wrote a work or works of a character which gave rise, in the middle ages, to the accusation that he practised magical arts; and hence, probably, any abridgement or compendium of them, or any little work on such arts, would be styled by the French compiler _Le Petit Albert_. In the _Biographie Universelle_, it is affirmed that the rhapsodies known under the name of _Secrets du Petit Albert_ are not by Albertus Magnus; a statement which favours the belief that the work mentioned by your correspondent "JARLZBERG" is one of that vulgar class (like our old Moore's Almanack, &c.) got up for sale among the superstitious and the ignorant, and palmed on the world under the mask of a celebrated name. According to Bayle, Albertus Magnus has, by some, been termed _Le Petit Albert_, owing, it is said, to the diminutiveness of his stature, which was on so small a scale, that when he, on one occasion, paid his respects to the pope, the pontiff supposed he was still kneeling at his feet after he had risen up and was standing erect.

J.M.

Oxford, April 19.

[_Of Le Petit Albert_, of which it appears by Grässe's _Bibliotheca Magica_ there were editions printed at Cologne in 1722, Lyons 1775, and even at Paris in 1837, we are told in Colin de Plancy's _Dictionnaire Infernal_, s. v. Albert le Grand, "On a quelquefois défendu ce livre, et alors il s'est vendu énormément cher."]

* * * * *

_Walter Lynne_ (No. 23. p. 367.).--"G.P." may look for Walter Lynne into Johnson's _Typographia_, i. 556., of which copies may be had very reasonably at Mr. Miller's (see end of No. 15.), 43. Chandos Street.

Your intimation of brevity is attended to; though, in truth, little more could come from

NOVUS.

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_Emancipation of the Jews_ (No. 25. p. 491.).--"H.M.A." inquires--1. If the story mentioned in the Thurloe State Papers, that the Jews sought to obtain St. Paul's Cathedral for a Synagogue, has been confirmed by other writers? In Egan's _Status of the Jews in England_, I find the following passage:--

"Monteith informs us, that during the Commonwealth, overtures were made on behalf of the Hebrews to the Parliament and Council of War, through the medium of two popular adherents of the parliamentarians; the Jews offered to pay for the privileges then sought by them, the sum of 500,000l.; several debates took place on the subject, but the _ultimatum_ of the Puritans being 800,000l., the negotiation was broken off."

The authorities cited on this point by the learned writer are, Monteith's _History of Great Britain_, p. 473.; and Thurloe's _State Papers_, vol. ii. p. 652.

On reference to Monteith, I find the following passage:--

"What is very remarkable in this is, that the Jews, who crucified the Son of God, by whom Kings reign, took then occasion of the conjuncture which seemed favourable to them. They presented a petition to the Council of War, who crucified Him again in the person of the King, His Vicegerent in the kingdoms over which God had set him. By their petition, they requested that the act of their banishment might be repealed and _that they might have St. Paul's Church for their synagogue_, for which, _and the library of Oxford_, wherewith they desired to begin their traffic again, they offered five hundred thousand pounds, but the Council of War would have eight."--Monteiths's _Hist. of the Troubles of Great Britain_, p. 473.

I conclude that the author of the _Status of the Jews_, by omitting to notice the alleged desire of the Jews to obtain St. Paul's Cathedral, considered that the acrimonious statements of Monteith were not borne out by accredited or unprejudiced authorities; for it is but justice to state, it has been admitted by some of our most eminent critics, that Mr. Egan's book on the Jews displays as dispassionate and impartial a review of their condition in this country as it evinces a profundity of historical and legal research.

"H.M.A.'s" second question I am unable to answer, not being sufficiently versed in the religious dogmas of the Jews.

B.A.

Christ Church, Oxford.

* * * * *

_Emancipation of the Jews_ (No. 25. p. 401.).--"MR. AUSTEN," who inquires (p. 401.) about the Jews during the Commonwealth will do well to refer to a chapter on the Jews in Godwin's _History of the Commonwealth_, and to Sir Henry Ellis's notes on a remarkable letter describing a Jewish synagogue in London immediately after the Restoration, in the second series of his _Letters_; and in these two places he will, I think, find references to all known passages on the subject of Cromwell's proceedings as regards the Jews.

C.H.

* * * * *

_As lazy as Ludlum's Dog_ (No. 24. p. 382.).--This proverb is repeated somewhat differently in _The Doctor, &c._, "As _lazy_ as _Ludlum's_ dog, as _leaned_ his head against a wall to bark." I venture to suggest that this is simply one of the large class of alliterative proverbs so common in every language, and often without meaning. In Devonshire they say as "Busy as Batty," but no one knows who "Batty" was. As I have mentioned _The Doctor, &c._, I may was well jot down two more odd sayings from the same old curiosity-shop:--"As proud as old COLE's dog which took the wall of a dung-CART, and got CRUSHED by the wheel." And, "As queer as Dick's hat-band, that went nine times round his hat and was fastened by a rush at last."

J.M.B.

* * * * *

_St. Winifreda_ (No. 24. p. 384.).--Your Querist will find some information in Warton's _Hist. Eng. Poetry_, vol. i. p. 14., note, 1824.

J.M.B.

Totnes, April 18. 1850.

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"_Vert Vert_" (No. 23. p. 366.)--It may be of some assistance to your Querist "ROBERT SNOW," in his endeavour to trace illustrations from Gresset's "Vert Vert," to know that the mark of RAUX, who is said to have painted these subjects, was composed of ten small ciphers; seven of which were placed in a circle: the other three formed a tail, o o o o thus, o o something like the Roman capital Q. This artist, o o o o between the years 1750 and 1800, was employed in the decoration of the Sèvres porcelain: his usual subjects were bouquets or groups of flowers; and his mark will be found underneath the double L, interlaced, inclosing some capital letter or letters denoting the year such ware was manufactured.

W.C. Jun.

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"_Esquire_" _and_ "_Gentleman_."--The amusing article in No. 27., on the title of "Esquire," recalled to my memory the resolution passed by the corporation of Stratford-on-Avon, when they presented the freedom of that town to Garrick. It runs something like this:--

"Through love and regard to the memory of the immortal _Mr._ William Shakspeare, and being fully sensible of the extraordinary merits of his most judicious representative, David Garrick, _Esquire_."

Had David a better right to the title than the great poet? Shakespeare, in the latter part of his life, was no doubt _Master Shakspeare_, a title so common as even to be bestowed upon the geometer of Alexandria. In Bayford's collection is preserved a Catalogue advertising "_Master_ Euclid's Elements of Plain Geometry."

J.O. HALLIWELL.

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_Pope Felix and Pope Gregory_.--"E.M.B." (No. 26. p. 415.) inquires who was "Pope Felix," whom Ælfric called the "fifth father" of S. Gregory the Great? This is a much disputed question, and a great deal depends upon the meaning to be attached to the unsatisfactory expression "atavus," used by Pope Gregory himself, in _Evangel. Hom._ xxxviii. § 15., and found also in the dialogues commonly attributed to him. (Lib. iv. cap. xvi.) Your correspondent may consult Beda, _Hist. Eccl. Gen. Anglor._, lib. ii. cap. 1., with the note by Mr. Stevenson, who supposes that Pope Felix _III._ was alluded to by his "venerable" author: This is the opinion of Bollandus (ad 25 Feb.), as well as of Cardinal Baronius; (_Annall._ ad an. 581; _et Martyrol. Rom._ die Feb. 25. Conf. De Aste, in _Martyrolog. Disceptat._, p. 96.; Beneventi, 1716); but Joannes Diaconus (_S. Greg. Vit._ lib. i. cap. i.) employs these decisive terms, "_quartus_ Felix, sedis Apostolicæ Pontifex." It is of course possible to translate "atavus meus" merely "my ancestor;" and this will leave the relationship sufficiently undefined.

R.G.

* * * * *

_Love's last Shift_ (No. 24. p. 383).--"The Duchess of Bolton (natural daughter of the Duke of Monmouth) used to divert George I. by affecting to make blunders. Once when she had been at the play of _Love's last Shift_, she called it '_La dernière chemise_ de l'amour.'"--_Walpoliana_, xxx.

C.

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_Quem Deus vult perdere_ (No. 22, p. 351., and No. 26, p. 421.).--"C.J.R." having pointed out a presumed imitation of this thought, it may not be impertinent to observe, that Dryden also has adopted the sentiment in the following lines:--

"For those whom God to ruin has designed, He fits for fate, and first destroys their mind."

_Hind and Panther_, part 3.

G.S. FABER.

* * * * *

_Dayrolles_ (No. 23. p. 373).--The following information is appended to a description of the _Dayrolles Correspondence_, in 21 folio vols. in the Catalogue of Mr. Upcott's Collection, sold by Messrs. Evans a few years ago:--

_Note copied from the Catalogue of Manuscripts, &c., belonging to the late Mr. Upcott._

"James Dayrolles was resident at the Hague from 1717 to his death, 2nd January, 1739.

"Solomon Dayrolles, his nephew, commenced his diplomatic career under James, first Earl of Waldegrave, when that nobleman was ambassador at Vienna. He was godson of Philip, the distinguished Earl of Chesterfield, and was sworn a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to George II., 27th Feb. 1740, in the room of Sir Philip Parker, long deceased, and on the accession of George III. was again appointed, 5th February, 1761.

"In 1745, being at that time secretary to Lord Chesterfield, in Holland, Mr. Dayrolles was nominated to be secretary to his lordship at Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

"In May, 1747, he was promoted to be President in the United Provinces; and in November, 1751, Resident at Brussels, where he continued till August, 1757. He died in March, 1786."

J.T.C.

* * * * *

_Solomon Dayrolles_.--

"24th Dec. 1786. Married Baron de Reidezel, aid-de-camp to the Duke of Wirtemberg, to Miss Dayrolles, 2d dau. of _the late Solomon Dayrolles_ of Hanover Square."--_Gent. Mag._ v. _56_, p. 1146.

Probably Mr. Dayrolles' death may be recorded in the register of St. George's.

B.

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_Emerods_ (No. 18. p. 282.) pro _hæmorrhoids_. "Golden emerods" would be an absurdity if _emerod_ meant "emerald." "The Philistines made golden emerods," i.e. golden images of hæmorrhoids (diseased veins), in commemoration of being delivered from plagues, of which such states of disease were concomitant signs.

TREBOR.

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_Military Execution_ (No. 16. p. 246.).--Your correspondent "MELANION" is informed that the anecdote refers to Murat, and the author of the sentiment is Lord Byron. See _Byron's Poems_, Murray's edit. 1 vol. 8vo. p. 561., note 4.

C.

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"_M. or N._" (No. 26. p. 415.)--I do not think that "M. or N." are used as the initials of any particular words; they are the middle letters of the alphabet, and, at the time the Prayer Book was compiled, it seems to have been the fashion to employ them in the way in which we now use the first two. There are only two offices, the Catechism and the Solemnisation of Matrimony, in which more than one letter is used. In the former, the answer to the first question has always stood "N. or M." In the office of Matrimony, however, in Edward the Sixth's Prayer Books, both the man and woman are designated by the letter N--"I, N., take thee, N., to my wedded wife;" whilst in our present book M. is applied to the man and N. to the woman. The adoption of one letter, and the subsequent substitution of another, in this service, evidently for the sake of a more clear distinction only, sufficiently shows that no particular name or word was intended by either. Possibly some future "J.C." may inquire of what words the letters "A.B.," which our legislators are so fond of using in their Acts of Parliament, are the initials.

ARUN.

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"_M. or N._" (No. 26, p. 415.).--"M." and "N.," and particularly "N.," are still in frequent use in France for _quidam_ or _quædam_; so also is X. We read every day of Monsieur N. or Madame X., where they wish to suppress the name.

C.

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_Sapcote Motto_ (No. 23. p. 366.).--This motto is known to be French, and as far as it can be decyphered is--

"sco toot X vinic [or umic] X pones,"

the first and last letters _s_ being possibly flourishes. This certainly seems unpromising enough. The name being Sapcote, _quasi_ Sub-cote, and the arms "three dove-cotes," I venture to conjecture "Sous cote unissons," as not very far from the letters given. If it be objected that the word "cote" is not in use in this sense, it may be remarked that French, "After the scole of Stratford atte bowe," might borrow such a meaning to suit the sound, from "côte," in the sense of a side or declivity. And if the objection is fatal to the conjecture, I would then propose "Sous toit unissons." If we reject the supposed flourishes at the beginning and ending of the inscription, and take it to be--

CO TOOT VNIC CONC,

the c being a well-known ancient form of s, there is a difference of only one letter between the inscription as decyphered and the proposed motto.

If either of these is adopted, the sentiment of family union and family gathering, "As doves to their windows," is well adapted for a family device.

T.C.

Durham, May 2. 1850.

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_Finkle or Finkel_ (No. 24. p. 384.).--Is not "Finkle" very probably derived from _Finc_, a finch, in the A.-S.? _Fingle_ Bridge, which spans the river Teign, amidst some most romantic scenery, has the following etymology assigned to it by a local antiquary, W.T.P. Short, Esq. (vide _Essay on Druidical Remains in Devon_, p. 26.): "_Fyn_, a terminus or boundary; and _Gelli_, hazel, the hazeltree limits or boundary." But, Query, is not the second syllable rather _Gill_, akin to the numerous tribe of "gills" or "ghylls," in the North Countrie?

J.M.B.

* * * * *

_Meaning of Finkle._--Referring to No. 24. p. 384. of your most welcome and useful publication, will you allow me to say, touching the inquiry as to the derivation and meaning of the word "Finkle" or "Finkel" as applied to a street, that the Danish word "Vincle" applied to an angle or corner, is perhaps a more satisfactory derivation than "fynkylsede, _feniculum_," the meaning suggested by your correspondent "L." in No. 26. p. 419. It is in towns where there are traces of Danish occupation that a "Finkle Street" is found; at least many of the northern towns which have a street so designated were inhabited by the Danish people, and some of those streets are winding or angular. Finchale, a place, as you know, of fame in monastic annals, is a green secluded spot, half insulated by a bend of the river Wear; and Godric's Garth, the adjacent locality of the hermitage of its famous saint, is of an angular form. But then the place is mentioned, by the name of Finchale, as the scene of occurrences that long preceded the coming of the Danes; and the second syllable may be derived from the Saxon "alh" or "healh," as the place was distinguished for a building there in Saxon times.

W.S.G.

Newcastle, May 4. 1850.

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Your correspondent "W.M." ("_Finkel._" p. 384.) may not have recollected that there is a beautiful ruin on the river Wear near Durham, of which the name is pronounced (though not spelt) _Finkel_ Abbey.

* * * * *

_Christian Captives_ (No. 27. p. 441.).--As a very small contribution towards an answer to "R.W.B.'s" inquiry, I may inform you that Lady Russell mentions in her _Letters_ (p. 338., ed. 1792) that Sir William Coventry left by his will 3000l. to redeem slaves.

C.H.

* * * * *

_Christian Captives_ (No. 27. p. 441.).--"R.W.B." may be referred to the case of "Attorney-General _v._ the Ironmongers' Company," which was a suit for the administration of a fund bequeathed for the redemption of the captives. See 2 _Mylne & Keen_, 576.; 2 _Beavan_, 313., 10 _Beavan_, 194.; and 1 _Craig & Philips_, 208.: all of which I mention to be Reports in Chancery, in case he be not a lawyer.

A.J.H.

* * * * *

_Ecclesiastical Year_ (No. 24. p. 381.).--"NATHAN" is informed, that, according to the legal supputation, until A.D. 1752, the year of Our Lord in that part of Great Britain called England, began on the 25th day of March, as he will find stated in the 24 Geo. II. c. 23., by which Act it was enacted, that the 1st day of January next following the last day of December, 1751, should be the first day of the year 1752; and that the 1st day of January in every year in time to come should be the first day of the year.

Philippe de Thaun, in his _Livre des Créatures_, which was written in the first half of the twelfth century, p. 48. of the edition published for the Historical Society of Science, has some remarks which may interest your correspondent, that are thus literally translated by Mr. Wright:--

"In March, the year ought always to begin, According to that explanation which we find in the book, That in the twelve kalends of April, as your understand, Our Creator formed the first, Where the sun always will begin his course, But at all times we make the year begin in January, Because the Romans did so first; We will not un-make what the elders did."

ARUN.

* * * * *

_Hanap._--Among the specimens of ancient and mediæval art now exhibiting in John Street, Adelphi, I was struck with the number of gilt cups, called in the catalogue _hanaps_. The word was new to me; but I have since met with it (as frequently happens after one's interest has been excited with respect to a word) in Walter Scott's _Quentin Durward_, in vol. i. chap. 3.; or rather, vol. xxxi. p. 60. of the edition in 48 vols., Cadell, 1831; in which place the context of the scene appears to connect the idea of _hanap_ with a cup containing treasure.

Now I cannot find _hanap_ in any dictionary to which I have access; but I find _hanaper_ in every one. Johnson, and others, give the word _Hanaper_ as synonymous with _treasury_ or _exchequer_. They also contract _Hanaper_ into _Hamper_. For example, in Dyche's _English Dictionary_, 17th ed. Lond. 1794, we have,--

"_Hamper_, or _Hanaper_, a wicker basket made with a cover to fasten it up with; also, an office in Chancery; the clerk or warden of the _Hanaper_ receives all monies due to the king for seals of charters, &c.... and takes into his custody all sealed charters, patents, &c.,... which he now puts into bags, but anciently, it is supposed, into _Hampers_, which gave the denomination to the office."

And perhaps it may be remarked here, since we commonly say of a man in difficulties that he is "exchequered" or in "chancery," that so we probably intend to express the same, when we say a man is _hanapered_, or _hampered_.

Thus, there is no difficulty about the meaning of _Hanaper_; and its connection with _treasure_ is plain and clear enough: and, with respect to _cups_, though chiefly used for drinking, the presentation of them with sums of money in them has ever been, and indeed is, so very customary, that it is needless to occupy space here with instances. But I cannot distinctly connect the _hanap_ of the exhibition with _hanaper_: and I perhaps ought to look in another direction for its true signification and etymology.

ROBERT SNOW.