Chapter 3

"_Wrusum or Wursum._"--The latter is the correct reading. Trotter Brockett includes the word amongst Northern Provincialisms.--"_Wursum_, pus, particularly when foul." Jamieson is inclined to derive the word _woursom_ or _worsum_, used in the same sense by Douglas, in his translation of Virgil, and by other North Country writers, from Ang.-S. _Wyr_, pus, and _sum_, as denoting quality.

"_Sabraz._"--This term has perplexed me much in preparing notes on the portion of the _Promptorium_ I have now in hand. In the Harl. MS. 221. is found "Sabrace, _sabracia_, Comm." The authority cited, the _Commentarius Curialium_, is still unknown to me; and I have failed in searching for the word _sabracia_, which is not found in Ducange, or other glossaries of debased Latinity. Mr. Halliwell gives "_Sabras_, salve, plaster;" but he cites no authority. It appears, however, rather to signify a tonic or astringent solution than a salve. I have hitherto found it only in the following passage (_Sloane MS_. 73., f. 211., late xv. sec.) in a recipe for making "cheuerel lether of perchemyne." The directions are, that it be "basked to and fro" in a hot solution of "alome roche;--aftir take xelkis of eyren and breke hem smale in a disch, as thou woldist make therof a caudel, and put these to thyn alome water, and chaufe it; thanne take it doun fro the fier, and put it in the cornetrey; thanne tak thi lether and basche it wel in this _sabras_, to it be wel drunken up into the lether." A little flour is then to be added, the mixture heated, and the "perchemyn well basked therein, and th't that saberas be wel drunken up into the lether;" and if it enters not well into the leather, "lay it abroad in a good long vessel that be scheld, the fleschside upward, and poure thi _sabrace_ al abouen the lether, and rubbe it wel yn." It is further recommended to "late the lether ligge so still al a nyzt in his owen _sabras_."

"_I-menbred_, a girdle i-menbred." (Thus, in old French, "menbrer, _membrer_," &c., Roquefort). Charpentier gives similar use of the Latin word,--"Membrare, instruere, ornare, Gall. garnir;" citing a French document, dated 1352: "Item, unam zonam de serico _Membratam_ de argento et esmandis;" and another of 1366: "Duas zonas de serico, argento stofatas et _Membratas_." The term was thus used also in England, as in the inventory of valuables belonging to Edward I. in 1300 (_Liber Garderobæ_, p. 347.):--"Una zona, cum cathenis argenti annell' cum targ' et membris argenti." It might be supposed from this expression, that the _membra_ were, strictly speaking, the transverse bars of metals, or _cloux_, Fr., by which the girdle was divided into several compartments, the intervening spaces being filled by chased ornaments of goldsmiths' work, and occasionally by armorial scutcheons, "_targie_."

But enough for the present. I should esteem it a favour if your correspondent would inform me where these curious terms are found, as the context would greatly facilitate their elucidation.

ALBERT WAY.

Wonham, Reigate, August 3.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Solingen_ (Vol. ii., p. 135.).--Will you allow me to state, for the information of T.S. LAWRENCE, who inquires who S_a_lingen, the sword cutler, was,--that S_o_lingen is the name of a small town near Elberfeld, in Westphalia; a sort of Sheffield for the whole of that part of Germany. Immense quantities of cutlery of all sorts are made there, and many knives are, I was told, made there, stamped with English names, and imported into England as true British ware,--being equally good with ours, and, of course, cheaper. Solingen is still, and has been for centuries, renowned for its sword blades. You cannot ride through the town without meeting a troop or two of girls with a load of sword blades on their heads.

May I suggest to your inquirer JARLTZBERG that the derivation of _blackguard_ is as likely to be _blagarode_, the Russian for _nobleman_, as many words are to be descended from their reputed parents.

C.B.M.

P.C.S.S. believes that a little research would have enabled MR. LAWRENCE (Vol. ii., p. 135.) to ascertain that _Solingen_ (not S_a_lingen) was not the name of a sword cutler, but of a place in Prussian Westphalia, long celebrated for the fabrication of that weapon, as well as of fencing-foils. Of the latter instrument P.C.S.S. has several pairs in his possession, all marked with the inscription "In Solingen." That the Solingen manufactory still flourishes there, is stated in Murray's _Handbook for Northern Germany_, p. 373.

P.C.S.S.

_Blackguard_ (Vol. ii., p. 134.).--In the second vol. of B. Jonson's works by Gifford, page 169., there is the following note on this word:--

"In all great houses, but particularly in the royal residences, there were a number of mean, dirty dependants, whose office it was to attend the wool-yard, sculleries, &c.; of these the most forlorn wretches seem to have been selected to carry coals to the kitchens, halls, &c. To this smutty regiment, who attended the {171} progresses, and rode in the carts with the pots and kettles, the people in derision gave the name of _black_-guards"

I find also the following in Butlerts _Hudibras_, part 3.:--

"Thou art some paltry, _blackguard_ sprite, Condemn'd to drudgery in the night; Thou hast no work to do in the house, Nor halfpenny to drop in shoes."

AREDJID KOOEZ.

_The Three Dukes_ (Vol. ii., p. 9.).--Perhaps a note which I have just stumbled upon, in a MS. account of the Griffin family, may furnish some clue as to "the Dukes who killed the Beadell."

"Edward Griffin was probably the same person, to whom a pardon was granted, April 11. 1671, for the death of Peter Werriel; in the like manner as _was granted to the Duke of Albemarle and the_ Duke of Monmouth."

At all events, both casualties occurred in the same spring, and a reference to the gazettes of the day would perhaps set the question at rest.

BRAYBROOKE.

Audley End.

_Bonny Dundee_ (Vol. ii., p. 134.) is the name attached to one of the most beautiful of the Scotch melodies. The song is said to be very old. The words, which I recollect to have heard sung to it more than half a century ago, began:

"'O, whar gat ye that hauers-meal bannock, My bonny young lassie, now tell it to me?' 'I got it frae a sodger laddie, Between Saint Johnstone and bonnie Dundee."

It is clear that it is to the town, not the man (though from the portraits of him he was very handsome), that the epithet applies. My version of the song differs from that given in Cromek's Burns, and also from Allan Cuningham's; and I am disposed to think my memory at fault from the so near recurrence of the word "bonnie" in the stanza.

Neither the date of the birth of Viscount Dundee, nor his age at the time of his death, is mentioned by the Scottish Peerage writers, Crawford, Douglas, or Wood.

F.R.S.L. and E.

_Was Quarles pensioned?_ (Vol. i., p. 201.).--I believe that no reply has been made to this Query. The following passage, transcribed from the "Epistle Dedicatory" to the surreptitious edition of Quarles's _Judgment and Mercy_, affords a slight negative proof to the contrary:

"And being so usefull, I dare not doubt your patronage of this _child_, which survives a _father_ whose utmost abilities were (till death darkened that great light in his soule) sacrificed to your service."

Now if Charles had conferred a pension on Quarles, is it not exceedingly probable that the publisher and dedicator, Richard Royston, would have recalled so honourable a circumstance to the memory of his "most gratious sovereign King Charles" in this "Epistle Dedicatory," when he had so excellent an opportunity of doing so?

T.M.B.

_Collar of Esses_ (Vol. ii., p. 140.).--MR. J.G. NICHOLS, in his reply to the Query of [Greek: phi]., says, that "the judges" are among those who are _now_ privileged to wear these collars. Allow me to suggest to him that the privilege among them is limited to the _chiefs_ of the three courts. The other judges certainly now never wear them, and I am unaware that they ever did so. I have a large, though by no means a perfect collection of legal portraits, and there is not one puisne judge or baron so distinguished. The earliest legal worthy who is represented with this collar is in the reign of Henry VIII., and it adorns not a chief justice, but a chancellor, viz. Sir Thomas More; and he is the only chancellor upon whose shoulders it appears. This collar is formed by continuous Esses, without any ornament between them. It is united in the front by two portcullises, with a rose pendant. The print is from Holbein's picture, and presents him as chancellor, with the purse. The first chief justice wearing the collar is Sir James Dyer, Ch.C.P. in the reign of Elizabeth. The only difference between it and Sir Thomas More's is, that the rose is placed between the portcullises. I have another, in a later period of the same reign, of Sir Christopher Wray, Ch.K.B., in which the Esses are alternated with ornamental knots. I am not aware of any portrait of a chief baron before Sir Thomas Bury, in the first year of George I.; so that I am uncertain whether the collar was previously worn by that functionary.

It is curious that during the Commonwealth the Collar of Esses was worn by John Glynne, the Chief Justice of the Upper Bench, with a difference; that difference being a quatrefoil, instead of the knot, between each S; and a large jewel, surrounded by smaller ones, being substituted for the portcullises and rose.

These facts may, I hope, be of some use to MR. J.G. NICHOLS in the volume I am glad to see that he contemplates. I hope he will not forget to answer the other Query of [Greek: phi]., "Under what circumstances, and at what dates, was the privilege of wearing these collars reduced to its present limitation?"

EDWARD FOSS.

_The Story of the three Men and their Bag of Money_ (Vol. ii., p. 132.).--In _Tales, and quicke Answers, very mery, and pleasant to rede_, is the following, with the title "Howe Demosthenes defended a Mayde:"--

"There were two men on a time, the whiche lefte a great somme of money in kepyng with a maiden, on this condition, that she shulde nat delyuer hit agayne, except they came bothe to gether for hit. Nat lang {172} after one of them cam to hir mornyngly arrayde, and sayde that his felowe was deed, and so required the money, and she delyuered it to hem. Shortly came the tother man, and required to have the moneye that was lefte with her in kepyng. The maiden was than so sorrowfull, both for lacke of the money, and for one to defend her cause, that she thought to hange her selfe. But Demosthenes, that excellent oratour, spake for her and sayd: 'Sir, this mayden is redy to quite her fidelitie, and to deliuer agayne the money that was lefte with her in kepyng, so that thou wylt brynge thy felowe with thee to receyue it.' But that he coude not do."

This is the 69th tale in the collection. I cite from the reprint which appeared in 1831, under the title of _The Hundred Merry Tales: or Shakspeare's Jest Book_.

C.H. COOPER

Cambridge, July 29. 1850.

The story of _the three men and their bag of money_ (Vol. ii., p. 132.) is here stated to be "in the Notes to _Rogers's Italy_": but it is in the _body_ of the work, as a distinct story, headed, "The Bag of Gold."

ROBERT SNOW.

_Will. Robertson of Murton_ (Vol. ii., p. 155.) is stated by Douglas in his _Baronage_, p. 413., to be descended in the fourth decree from Alexander Robertson, fifth baron of Strowan. The pedigree of Robertson of Strowan is given in the same vol.

F.R.S.L. and E.

_Long Meg of Westminster._--I am not quite of DR. RIMBAULT'S opinion, that Long Meg of Westminster is a fictitious personage. I believe her to have been as much a real wonton as Moll Cutpurse was a century later.

If the large stone shown as Long Meg's grave had been anywhere else within the walls of Westminster Abbey than where it is, I should have had great dockets about the Westminster tradition. But Long Meg, there is reason to believe from the numerous allusions to her in the Elizabethan dramatists, was a heroine after the Reformation, and her burial, therefore, in the cloisters, where few people of wealth or good reputation were buried between 1538 and 1638, seems to me a common occurrence. Had Islip or Esteney buried her among the abbots in the cloister, I could then have joined in DR. RIMBAULT'S surprise. I have altered the passage, however, to "marking, the grave, _it is said_." This will meet, I trust, DR. RIMBAULT'S objection, though I have Gifford to support me in the passage as it at present stands:

"There is a penny story-book of this tremendous virago [Westminster Meg], who performed many wonderful exploits about the time that Jack the Giant Killer flourished. She was buried, as all the world knows, in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, where a huge stone is still pointed out to the Whitsuntide visitors as her gravestone."

--Gifford's _Ben Jonson_, viii. 78.

Let me add, that I am much obliged to DR. RIMBAULT, as well as to other correspondents, for corrections and still more valuable additions to my book, printed in "NOTES AND QUERIES."

PETER CUNNINGHAM

_The Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Antholin's_ (Vol. i., pp. 180, 260.).--In my additions to Mr. Cunningham's _Handbook for London_, I noticed two folio volumes of churchwardens' accounts, belonging to the parish of St. Antholin's, that had _accidentally_ got away from the custody of their proper guardians. This notice roused from his slunbers one of the said guardians, the present overseer of the parish, W.C., Junior, who stated in your journal of February 23. that

"The churchwardens' accounts are in good preservation, and present (in an unbroken series) the parish expenditure for nearly three centuries."

The worthy overseer also wishes to impress your readers with a belief that I had been misled by Thorpe's _Catalogue_, and that the books to which I referred were merely _extracts_. In justice to myself, I therefore give the entries in Thorpe's _Catalogue verbatim as they occur_. Your readers will then be better able to judge which is the "true" Dromio:--

"The Churchwardens' Accounts from 1615 to 1752 of the Parish of St. Antholin's, London. Folio, 3l. 3s.

"This curious and interesting volume appears to have been kept purposely for the various clergymen to write their receipts for preaching the morning lectures at the above church for nearly a century and a half. It contains the autographs of many eminent divines; among others, John Goodwin, R. Pearson, J. Berriman, J. Withers, J. Cooksey, R. Vann, T. Shepperd. W. Scott, R. Chambre, J. Todd, Lilly Butler, J. Botham, C. Evans, T. Clarke, J. Williams, J. Povey, J. Hotchkis, W. Stringfellow, W. Pott, C. Bancroft, R. Clarke, W. Gearing, and many others."

"The Chuchwarden and Overseers of the Parish of St. Antholin's in London, Accounts from 1638 to 1700 inclusive. Folio, 3l. 3s.

"An interesting record of the expenses of this parish for sixty-four years. It commences with the gifts of various sacks of coals, faggots, &c., to the poor, receipts for flesh licences, collections, interest money, the Lady Martaine's gifts, Sir W. Craven's gifts, the Merchant Tailors' Company's gifts, Mercers' ditto, the Company of Ironmongers _forty fagots_, the Company of Mercers a load of charcoal, the gift of the late King James seven loads of Newcastle coals,--_this royal bequest appears to have been annual gift for ever. Query, if now in payment?_ ANNUAL gifts of Lady Coventry for putting out two poor children born in this parish. Lady Martin's, and many others, are annual gifts, which ought to be forthcoming to the parish at this time."

This last note contains some Queries which I should be glad to see answered.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT. {173}

_The Plant "Haemony"_ (Vol. ii. p. 88. and p. 141.).--The mystical meaning of "Haemony" is evolved by Coleridge in a passage which occurs in his _Statesman's Manual_, appendix B., and which cannot fail to interest the readers of _Comus_.

"It is found in the study of the Old and New Testament, if only it be combined with a spiritual partaking of the Redeemer's blood, of which, mysterious as the symbol may be, the sacramental wine is no mere or arbitrary _memento_. This is the only certain, and this is the universal, preventive of all debasing superstitions; this is the true haemony ([Greek: haima], blood, [Greek: oinos], wine), which our Milton has beautifully allegorised in a passage strangely overlooked by all his commentators. Bear in mind, reader! the character of a militant Christian, and the results (in this life and in the next) of the redemption by the blood of Christ, and so peruse the passage."

T.M.B.

_Mildew in Books_ (Vol. ii., p. 103.).--Your correspondent B. suggests that "any hints as to the cause or remedy of _mildew in books_ will be most acceptable". I venture therefore an opinion that the cause is to be found in the defective bleaching and manufacture of the rags from which the paper is made and the careless or intentional admixture of linen with cotton rags. The comparatively modern method of bleaching with oxymuriate of lime, or chlorine in substance, with the ad-libitum and unacknowledged admixture of gypsum (to give weight and firmness to the paper) are, I believe, the true causes of the defects in question, which are to be found more in modern books and prints than in those of an earlier date, and do not arise from damp, as the term "_mildew_" might seem to imply, although the same appearance no doubt arises from that cause alone in the older paper. But paper made and bleached by the processes I have mentioned will become covered with brown spots, however dry it may be kept.

I have a folio edition of _La Armeria Real de Madrid_, printed at Paris, without date, but subsequently to 1838 by the preface. The paper is very stout and fine, and was free from blemish when I purchased it three years ago, but at present it is covered with brown patches, and the beauty of the work destroyed, although it has been kept in a very dry room.

For such defects I should be equally delighted with B. to discover a remedy; but I fear that so long as our paper manufacturers study expedition and economy in preference to quality, the case is hopeless. The ashes left after the combustion of a sheet of paper clearly indicate the amount of modern sophistication, and greatly exceed those of more ancient paper. In fact, some paper may now be classed, with more propriety, among mineral than vegetable productions. Mildew, arising from damp in old books, may be arrested, if not removed, by exposure to light, air, and a dry atmosphere.

HENRY WILKINSON.

_The Carpenter's Maggot_ (Vol. ii., p. 104.).--The ancient tune known as the _Carpenter's Maggot_, and until lately played at the annual dinner of the Livery of the Carpenters' Company, may be found at p. 258. of the first volume of a rare work entitled _The Dancing Master_, sm. obl. 1721. The same volume contains a choice assemblage of "Maggots", i.e. Barker's Maggot, Cary's Maggot, Draper's Maggot, Hill's Maggot, Huntington's Maggot, M. Coppinger's Maggot, &c.

The word Maggot, from the French _Magot_, means a whim, or a fancy. The bird "magpie", originally "maggoty-pie," was so called on account of its whimsical drollery. "A maggoty-pated fellow" is often used to imply a _whimsical_ man.

I do not trace the word, as applied to a tune, earlier than the end of the seventeenth century. Before that time, tunes of a similar description were termed _Fancies_.

If your correspondent F.T.P. wishes to have a copy of the tune from my volume, he is quite welcome. I append my London address to this Reply, in order that he may favour me with a communication.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

3. Augustus Square, Park Village East.

_Martello Towers_ (Vol. ii., p. 9. and p. 110.).--The interesting account of Le Tellier's defence in Corsica, shows clearly what first drew the attention of our government to these forts but E.V.'s queries do not yet seem satisfactorily answered. The late Duke of Richmond, it is said, gave the plan of the first erected along the British Channel. But as to their name and origin I apprehend that (as in the case of Charles Martel, whose blows also fell so numberless and effectual on the heads of enemies, Vol. i., p. 86.) the old Frank word _martel_ is much more likely to have originated the name than any _locality_, town, or tower, in either Spain or Corsica and the following extract from Dr. Robertson's _Life of Charles V._ (bk. c. p. 452., 8vo. ed.) should not be passed over in their history:--

"The commerce of the Mediterranean was greatly interrupted by his cruisers (viz. Haseen Aga's, about 1541), and such frequent alarms given to the coast of Spain, that there was a necessity of erecting watch towers at proper distances, and of keeping guards constantly on foot, in order to descry the approach of his squadrons, and to protect the inhabitants from his descents."

The doctor then gives marginal reference to _Jovii Hist_. L. 40. p. 266. for authority. I have not Jovius, nor access to him here but I would be obliged by learning whether he gives any and what more specific account of these towers, or how they were called.

LAMBDA. {174}

_Highland Kilts._--I have waited a "reasonable time" to learn a little about _kilts_ from your correspondents; but seeing that no one has yet entered the arena, I forward an additional glove to cast before any member of the Scottish societies luxuriating in London. It is from a work written by one of themselves, hight Dr. Macculloch, who, in his _Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland_ (vol. i. p. 176.), gives a whole chapter on northern attire, which is well worth attention. To be sure, he is rather merciless on some of Sandy's present likings, showing them to be of no standing as to time; and he declares that the kilt resembles the loricated skirts of the Roman tunica, only just as much as Macedon does Monmouth. I will not mention how he laughs at the groups of masquerading Highlanders; but will proceed to lay an extract before you, which may incite inquiry and reply:

"A few enthusiasts have amused themselves with deriving the Highland kilt from one of the dresses of the Romans, to which the resemblance is sufficiently vague. These worthy antiquaries forget the anger they feel at the bare notion that the Romans ever interfered with the Highlanders...."

"The Roman theory of the kilt is, indeed, demolished at one blow, by the fact, that this article of dress in an independent form, or the philibeg, (feala beg), is of very modern introduction, and, what is still worse, that it was the invention of an Englishman. It was first introduced at Tyndrum about a century past, (_this was published in_ 1824), by Rawlinson, the superintendent or agent for the lead mines; who, finding his labourers encumbered with their belted plaids, taught them to separate the two into the present form."

[Greek: S]

_Derivation of Penny._--Not from the Celtic _Pen_, but from the German _Pfennig_, _pf_ being softened into _p_, as in _pfau, peacock_, and _ig_ into _y_, as in _hereig, hearty_.

B.H.K.