Chapter 3

_Cat and Bagpipes._--In studying some letters which passed between two distinguished philosophers of the last century, I have found in one epistle a request that the writer might be remembered "to his friends at the Crown and Anchor, and the _Cat and Bagpipes_." The letter was addressed to a party in London, where doubtless, both those places of entertainment were. The Crown and Anchor was the house where the Royal Society Club held its convivial meetings. Can you inform me where the Cat and Bagpipes was situated, and what literary and scientific club met there? The name seems to have been a favourite one for taverns, and, if I mistake not, is common in Ireland. Is it a corruption of some foreign title, as so many such names are, or merely a grotesque and piquant specimen of sign-board literature?

Quasimodo.

_Andrew Becket._--A.W. Hammond will feel obliged for any information respecting Andrew Becket, Esq., who died 19th January, 1843, Êt. 95, and to whose memory there is a handsome monument in Kennington Church. According to that inscription, he was "ardently devoted to the pursuits of literature," personally acquainted in early life with the most distinguished authors of his day, long the intimate friend of David Garrick, "and a profound commentator on the dramatic works of Shakspeare." Can any of the learned readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" satisfy this Query?

_Laurence Minot._--Is any other MS. of Minot known, besides the one from which Ritson drew his text? Is there any other edition of this poet besides Ritson's, and the reprints thereof?

E.S. JACKSON.

_Modena Family._--When did Victor Amadeus, King of Sardinia, die? When did his daughter, Mary Duchess of Modena, die, (the mother of the present Duke of Modena, and through whom he is the direct heir of the House of Stuart)?

L.M.M.R.

_Bamboozle._--What is the etymology of _bamboozle_, used as a verb?

L.M.M.R.

_Butcher's Blue Dress._--What is the origin of the custom, which seems all but universal in England, for butchers to wear a blouse or frock of _blue_ colour? Though so common in this country as to form a distinctive mark of the trade, and to be almost a butcher's uniform, it is, I believe, unknown on the continent. Is it a custom which has originate in some supposed utility, or in the official dress of a guild or company, or in some accident of which a historical notice has been preserved?

L.

_Hatchment and Atchievement._--Can any one of the readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" tell me how comes the corruption _hatchment_ from _atchievement_? Ought the English word to be spelt with a _t_, or thus, _achievement_? Why are hatchments put up in churches and on houses?

W. ANDERSON.

"_Te colui Virtutem_."--Who is the author of the line--

"Te colui virtutem ut rem ast tu nomen inane es?"

It is a translation of part of a Greek tragic fragment, quoted, according to Dio Cassius, by Brutus just before his death. As much as is here translated is also to be found in Plutarch _De Superstitione_.

E.

"_Illa suavissima Vita_."--Where does "Illa suavissima vita indies sentire se fieri meliorem" come from?

E.

_Christianity, Early Influence of._--"The beneficial influence of the Christian clergy during the first thousand years of the Christian era."

What works can be recommended on the above subject?

X.Y.Z.

_Wraxen, Meaning of._--What is the origin and meaning of the word _wraxen_, which was used by a Kentish woman on being applied to by a friend of mine to send her children to the Sunday-school, in the following sentence?--"Why, you see, they go to the National School all the week, and get so _wraxen_, that I cannot send them to the Sunday School too."

G.W. Skyring.

_Saint, Legend of a._--Can any of your correspondents inform me where I can find the account of some saint who, when baptizing a heathen, inadvertently pierced the convert's foot with the point of his crozier. The man bore the pain without flinching, and when the occurrence was discovered, he remarked that he thought it was part of the ceremony?

J.Y.C.

_Land Holland--Farewell._--In searching some Court Rolls a few days since, I found some land described as "Land Holland" or "Hollandland." I have been unable to discover the meaning of this expression, and should be glad if any of your correspondents can help me.

In the same manor there is custom for the tenant to pay a sum as a _farewell_ to the lord on sale or alienation: this payment is in addition to the ordinary fine, &c. Query the origin and meaning of this?

J.B.C.

_Stepony Ale._--Chamberlayne, in his _Present State of England_ (part. i. p. 51., ed. 1677), speaking of the "Dyet" of the people, thus enumerates the prevailing beverages of the day:--

"Besides all sorts of the best wines from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Grecia, there are sold in London above twenty sorts of other drinks: as brandy, coffee, chocolate, tea, aromatick, mum, sider, perry, beer, ale; many sorts of ales very different, as cock, _stepony_, stickback, Hull, North-Down, Sambidge, Betony, scurvy-grass, sage-ale, &c. A piece of wantonness whereof none of our ancestors were ever guilty."

It will be observed that the ales are named in some instances from localities, and in others from the herbs of which they were decoctions. Can any of your readers tell me anything of Stepony ale? Was it ale brewed at Stepney?

James T. Hammack

"_Regis ad Exemplar_."--Can you inform me whence the following line is taken?

"Regis ad exemplar totus componitur orbis."

Q.Q.Q.

"_La Caconacquerie_".--Will one of your numerous correspondents be kind enough to inform me what is the true signification and derivation of the word "caconac?" D'Alembert, writing to Voltaire concerning Turgot, says:

"You will find him an excellent _caconac_, though he has reasons for not avowing it:--la caconacquerie ne mËne pas ‡ la fortune."

Ardern.

_London Dissenting Ministers: Rev. Thomas Tailer._--Not being entirely successful in my Queries with regard to "London Dissenting Ministers" (Vol. i., pp. 383. 444. 454.), I will state a circumstance which, possibly, may assist some one of your correspondents in furnishing an answer to the second of those inquiries.

In the lines immediately referred to, where certain Nonconformist ministers of the metropolis are described under images taken from the vegetable world, the late Rev. Thomas Tailer (of Carter Lane), whose voice was feeble and trembling, is thus spoken of:--

"Tailer tremulous as aspen leaves."

But in verses afterwards circulated, if not printed, the censor was rebuked as follows:--

"Nor tell of Tailer's trembling voice so weak, While from his lips such charming accents break, And every virtue, every Christian grace, Within his bosom finds a ready place."

No encomium could be more deserved, none more seasonably offered or more appropriately conveyed. I knew Mr. Tailer, and am pleased in cherishing recollections of him.

W.

_Mistletoe as a Christmas Evergreen._--Can any of your readers inform me at what period of time the mistletoe came to be recognised as a Christmas evergreen? I am aware it played a great part in those ceremonies of the ancient Druids which took place towards the end of the year, but I cannot find any allusion to it, in connexion with the Christian festival, before the time of Herrick. You are of course aware, that there are still in existence some five or six very curious old carols, of as early, or even an earlier date than the fifteenth century, in praise of the holly or the ivy, which said carols used to be sung during the Christmas festivities held by our forefathers but I can discover no allusion even to the mistletoe for two centuries later. If any of your readers should be familiar with any earlier allusion in prose, but still more particularly in verse, printed or in manuscript, I shall feel obliged by their pointing it out.

V.

_Poor Robin's Almanacks._--I am anxious to ascertain in which public or private library is to be found the most complete collection of Poor Robin's _Almanacks_: through the medium of your columns, I may, perhaps, glean the desired information.

V.

_Sirloin._--When on a visit, a day or two since, to the very interesting _ruin_ (for so it must be called) of Haughton Castle, near Blackburn, Lancashire, I heard that the origin of this word was the following freak of James I. in his visit to the castle; a visit, by the way, which is said to have ruined the host, and to have been not very profitable even to all his descendants. A magnificent loin of meat being placed on the table before his Majesty, the King was so struck with its size and excellence, that he drew his sword, and cried out, "By my troth, I'll knight thee, Sir Loin!" and then and there the title was given; a title which has been honoured, unlike other knighthoods, by a goodly succession of illustrious heirs. Can any of your correspondents vouch for the truth of this?

H.C. Bowden, Manchester.

_Thomson of Esholt._--In the reign of Henry VIII. arms were granted to Henry Thomson, of Esholt, co. York, one of that monarch's gentlemen-at-arms at Boulogne. The grant was made by Laurence Dalton, Norroy. The shield was--Per fesse embattled, ar. and sa., three falcons, belted, countercharged--a _bend_ sinister. Crest: An armed arm, embowed, holding a lance, erect. Families of the name of Thompson, bearing the same shield, have been seated at Kilham, Scarborough, Escrick, and other places in Yorkshire. My inquiries are,--

1. Will any of your readers by kind enough to inform me where any mention is made of this grant, and the circumstances under which it was made?

2. Whether any _ancient_ monuments, or heraldic bearings of the family, are still extant in any parts of Yorkshire?

3. Whether any work on Yorkshire genealogies exists, and what is the best to be consulted?

JAYTEE.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Pension_ (Vol. ii., p. 134.).--In the _Dictionnaire Universelle_, 1775, vol. ii. p. 203., I find the following explanation of the French word _Pension_:--

"Somme qu'on donne pour la nourriture et le logement de quelqu'un. _Il se dit aussi du lieu o˘ l'on donne ‡ manger._"

May not the meeting of the benchers have derived its name for their dining-room in which they assembled?

BRAYBROOKE.

_Execution of Charles I._ (Vol. ii., pp. 72. 110-140. 158.).--In Lilly's _History of his Life and Times_, I find the following interesting account in regard to the vizored execution of Charles I., being part of the evidence he gave when examined before the first parliament of King Charles II. respecting the matter. Should any of your correspondents be able to substantiate this, or produce more conclusive evidence in determining who the executioner was, I shall be extremely obliged. Lilly writes,--

"Liberty being given me to speak, I related what follows: viz., That the next Sunday but one after Charles I. was beheaded, Robert Spavin Secretary to Lieutenant-General Cromwell at that time, invited himself to dine with me, and brought Anthony Pearson and several others along with him to dinner. That their principal discourse all dinner time was only who it was that beheaded the king. One said it was the common hangman; another, Hugh Peters; others were also nominated, but none concluded. Robert Spavin, so soon as dinner was done, took me by the hand, and carried me to the south window. Saith he, 'These are all mistaken; they have not named the man that did the fact: it was Lieutenant-Colonel Joice. I was in the room when he fitted himself for the work; stood behind him when he did it; when done, went in with him again: there is no man knows this but my master, viz. Cromwell, Commissary Ireton, and myself.'--'Doth Mr. Rushworth know it?' saith I. 'No, he doth not know it,' saith Spavin. The same thing Spavin since has often related to me, when we were alone."

R.W.E. Cheltenham.

_Paper Hangings_ (Vol. ii., p. 134.).--"It was on the walls of this drawing-room (the king's at Kensington Palace) that the then new art of paper-hangings, in imitation of the old velvet flock, was displayed with an effect that soon led to the adoption of so cheap and elegant a manufacture, in preference to the original rich material from which it was copied."--W.H. Pyne's _Royal Residences_, vol. ii. p. 75.

M.W.

_Black-guard._--There are frequent entries among those of deaths of persons attached to the Palace of Whitehall, in the registers of St. Margaret's, Westminster, of "----, one of the blake garde." about the year 1566, and later. In the Churchwarden's Accompts we find--

"1532. Pd. for licence of 4 torchis for Black Garde, vj. d."

The royal Halberdiers carried black bills. (Grose, _Milit. Antiq._, vol. i. p. 124.) In 1584 they behaved with great cruelty in Ireland. (Cornp. Peck's _Des. Curios._, vol. i. p. 155.) So Stainhurst, in his _Description_, says of bad men: "They are taken for no better than rakehells, or the devil's blacke guarde."--Chap. 8. Perhaps, in distinction to the gaily dressed military guard, the menial attendants in a royal progress were called black-guards from their dull appearance.

I remember a story current in Dublin, of a wicked wag telling a highly respectable old lady, who was asking, where were the quarters of the guards, in which corps her son was a private, to inquire at the lodge of Trinity College if he was not within those learned walls, as the "black guards were lying there."

M.W.

_Pilgrims' Road_ (Vol. ii., p. 237.).--Your correspondent S.H., in noticing the old track "skirting the base of the chalk hills," and known by the name of the "Pilgrims' Road," has omitted to state that its commencement is at Oxford,--a fact of importance, inasmuch as that the Archbishops of Canterbury had there a handsome palace (the ruins of which still exist), which is said to have been the favourite residence of Thomas ‡ Becket. The tradition in the county thereupon is, that his memory was held in such sanctity in that neighbourhood as to cause a vast influx of pilgrims annually from thence to his shrine at Canterbury; and the line of road taken by them can still be traced, though only portions of it are now used as a highway. The direction, however, in which it runs makes it clear (as S.H., no doubt, is aware) that it cannot be Chaucer's road.

While on the subject of old roads, I may add that a tradition here exists that the direct road between London and Tunbridge did not pass through Sevenoaks; and a narrow lane which crosses the Pilgrims' road near Everham is pointed out as the former highway, and by which Evelyn must have been journeying (passing close, indeed, to the seat of his present descendant at St. Clere) when he met with that amusing robber-adventure at Procession Oak.

M(2).

_Pilgrims' Road to Canterbury._--In the _AthenÊum_ of Nov. 2nd, 1844, there is a notice of _Remarks upon Wayside Chapels; with Observations on the Architecture and present State of the Chantry on Wakefield Bridge_: By John Chessell and Charles Buckler--in which the reviewer says--

"In our pedestrianism we have traced the now desolate ruins of several of these chapels along the old pilgrims' road to Canterbury."

If this writer would give us the results of his pedestrianism, it would be acceptable to _all_ the lovers of Chaucer. I do not know whether PHILO-CHAUCER will find anything to his purpose in the pamphlet reviewed.

E.S. JACKSON.

_Combs buried with the Dead._--In Vol. ii., p. 230., the excellent vicar of Morwenstow asks the reason why combs are found in the graves of St. Cuthbert and others, monks, in the cathedral church of Durham. I imagine that they were the combs used at the first tonsure of the novices, to them a most interesting memorial of that solemn rite through life, and from touching affection to the brotherhood among whom they had dwelt, buried with them at their death.

M.W.

_The Comb_, concerning "the origin and intent" of which MR. HAWKER (Vol. ii., p. 230.) seeks information, was for ritual use; and its purposes are fully described in Dr. Rock's _Church of our Fathers_, t. ii. p. 122., &c.

LITURGICUS.

_AÎrostation._--C.B.M. will find in the _AthenÊum_ for August 10th, 1850, a notice of a book on this subject.

E.S. JACKSON.

_St. Thomas of Lancaster_ (Vol. i., p. 181.).--MR. R.M. MILNES desires information relative to "St. Thomas of Lancaster." This personage was Earl of Leicester as well as Earl of Lancaster; and I find in the archives of this borough numerous entries relative to him,--of payments made to him by the burgesses. Of these mention is made in a _History of Leicester_ recently published. The most curious fact I know of is, that on the dissolution of the monasteries here, several relics of St. Thomas, among others, his felt hat, was exhibited. The hat was considered a great remedy for the headache!

JAYTEE.

_Smoke Money_ (Vol. ii., p. 120.).--"Anciently, even in England, were Whitsun farthings, or smoke farthings, which were a composition for offerings made in Whitsun week, by every man who occupied a house with a chimney, to the cathedral of the diocese in which he lived."--Audley's _Companion to the Almanac_, p. 76.

Pentecostals, or Whitsun Farthings, are mentioned by Pegge as being paid in 1788 by the parishioners of the diocese of Lichfield, in aid of the repairs of the cathedral, to the dean and chapter; but he makes no allusion to the word _smoke_, adding only that in this case the payment went by the name of Chad-pennies, or Chad-farthings, the cathedral there being dedicated to St. Chad.

C.I.R.

_Robert Herrick_ (Vol. i., p. 291.).--MR. MILNER BARRY states that he found an entry of the burial of the poet Herrick in the parish books of Dean Prior. As MR. BARRY seems interested in the poet, I would inform him that a voluminous collection of family letters of early date is now in the possession of William Herrick, Esq., of Beaumanor Park, the present representative of that ancient and honourable house.

JAYTEE.

_Guildhalls._--The question in Vol. i., p. 320., relative to guildhalls, provokes an inquiry into guilds. In the erudite and instructive work of Wilda on the _Guild System of the Middle Ages (Gildenwesen im Mittel‰lter)_ will be found to be stated that guilds were associations of various kinds,--convivial, religions, and mercantile, and so on; and that places of assembly were adopted by them. A guild-house where eating and drinking took place, was to be met with in most villages in early times: and these, I fancy, were the guild-halls. On this head consult Hone's _Every-day Book_, vol. ii. p. 670., and elsewhere, in connexion with Whitsuntide holidays.

JAYTEE.

_AbbÈ Strickland_ (Vol. ii., pp. 198. 237.).--The fullest account of the AbbÈ Strickland, _Bishop of Namur_, is to be found in Lord Hervey's _Memoirs_ (Vol. i., p. 391.), and a most curious account it is of that profligate intriguer.

C.

_Long Lonkin_ (Vol. ii., pp. 168. 251.).--This ballad does not relate to Cumberland, but to Northumberland. This error was committed by Miss Landon (in the _Drawing-room Scrap-book_ for 1835), to whom a lady of this town communicated the fragment through the medium of a friend. Its real locality is a ruined tower, seated on the corner of an extensive earth-work surrounded by a moat, on the western side of Whittle Dean, near Ovingham. Since this period, I have myself taken down many additional verses from the recitation of the adjacent villagers, and will be happy to afford any further information to your inquirer, SELEUCUS.

G. BOUCHIER RICHARDSON. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sept. 7. 1850.

_Havock_ (Vol. ii., p. 215.).--The presumed object of literary men being the investigation of truth, your correspondent JARLTZBERG will, I trust, pardon me for suggesting that his illustration of the word _havock_ is incomplete, and especially with reference to the line of Shakspeare which he has quoted:

"Cry havock! and let slip the dogs of war."

Grose, in his _History of English Armour_, vol. ii. p. 62., says that _havok_ was the word given as a signal for the troops to disperse and pillage, as may be learned from the following article in the _Droits of the Marshal_, vol. ii. p. 229., wherein it is declared, that--

"In the article of plunder, all the sheep and hogs belong to such private soldiers as can take them; and that on the word havok being cried, every one might seize his part; but this probably was only a small part of the licence supposed to be given by the word."

He also refers to the ordinance of Richard II.

In agreeing with your correspondent that the use of this word was the signal for general massacre, unlimited slaughter, and giving no quarter, as well as taking plunder in the manner described above, the omission of which I have to complain is, that, in stating no one was to raise the cry, under penalty of losing his head, he did not add the words, "the king excepted." It was a royal act; and Shakspeare so understood it to be; as will appear from the passage referred to, if fully and fairly quoted:--

"And CÊsar's spirit, ranging for revenge, With AtÈ by his side, come hot from hell, Shall in these confines, _with a monarch's voice_, Cry Havock! and let slip the dogs of war." _Julius CÊsar_ Act iii.

It is not at this moment in my power to assist F.W. with the reference to the history of Bishop Berkeley's giant, though it exists somewhere in print. The subject of the experiment was a healthy boy, who died in the end, in consequence of over-growth, promoted (as far as my recollection serves me) principally by a peculiar diet.

W(1).

_Becket's Mother._--I do not pretend to explain the facts mentioned by MR. FOSS (Vol. ii., p. 106.), that the hospital founded in honour of Becket was called "The Hospital of St. Thomas the Martyr, _of Acon_;" and that he was himself styled "St. Thomas _Acrenis_, or _of Acre_;" but I believe that the true explanation must be one which would not be a hindrance to the rejection of the common story as to the Archbishop's birth. _If_ these titles were intended to connect the Saint with Acre in Syria, they may have originated after the legend had become popular. But it seems to me more likely, that, like some other city churches and chapels, that of St. Thomas got its designation from something quite unconnected with the history of the patron. In particular, I would ask what is the meaning of "St. Nicolas _Acons_?" And may not the same explanation (whatever it be) serve for "St. Thomas _of Acon_?" Or the hospital may have been built on some noted "acre" (like _Long Acre_ and _Pedlars Acre_); and if afterwards churches in other places were consecrated to St. Thomas under the designation "_of Acre_," (as to which point I have no information), the churches of "our Lady _of Loretto_," scattered over various countries, will supply a parallel. As to the inference which Mr. Nichols (_Pilgrimages_, p. 120.) draws from the name _Acrensis_, that Becket was _born at_ Acre, I must observe that it introduces a theory which is altogether new, and not only opposed to the opinion that the Archbishop was of English or Norman descent on both sides, but _essentially_ contradictory of the legend as to the fair Saracen who came from the East in search of her lover.

J.C.R.

_Watching the Sepulchre_ (Vol. i., pp. 318. 354. 403.).--In the parish books of Leicester various entries respecting the Sepulchre occur. In the year 1546, when a sale took place of the furniture of St. Martin's Church, the "Sepulchre light" was sold to Richard Rainford for 21s. 10d. In the reign of Queen Mary gatherings were made for the "Sepulchre lights;" timber for making the lights cost 5s.; the light itself, 4s.; and painting the Sepulchre, and a cloth for "our lady's altar," cost 1s. 10d. Facts like these might be multiplied.

JAYTEE.