Chapter 3

Cambridge, December 9. 1850.

_Burning to Death, or Burning of the Hill_ (Vol. ii., p. 441.).--The following extract from Collinson's _Somerset_, vol. iii. p. 374., where it is quoted from the _Laws of the Miners of Mendip_, 1687, may throw some light upon the incidents referred to by J.W.H.:--

"Among certain laws by which the miners were anciently regulated is the following, viz.:

"'That if any man of that occupation do pick or steal any lead or ore to the value of thirteen pence halfpenny, the lord or his officer may arrest all his lead and ore, house and hearth, with all his goods, grooves, and works, and keep them as forfeit to his own use; and shall take the person that hath so offended, and bring him where his house and work, and all his tools and instruments belonging to the same occupation, are; and put him into his house or work, and set every thing on fire about him, and banish him from that occupation before all the miners for ever.'--_Laws of the Miners of Mendip_, 1687.

"This is called _Burning of the Hill_."

It is to be hoped that any of the readers of "Notes and Queries" resident among this mining population (who are said to retain many other ancient and remarkable customs), and possessing any information in illustration of it, will record it in your columns.

William J. Thoms.

_The Roscommon Peerage_ (Vol. ii., p. 469.).--My attention has been called to an article in No. 58. respecting the descendants of the first Earl of Roscommon.

As I am very interested in the subject, I beg An Hiberian, should this meet his eye, to allow me to correspond with him.

He is quite right as to the old tombstone. When I was a boy, some five or six and forty years ago, my father, one day as we were passing by the churchyard, mentioned that stone to me; but as I had then several cousins living whose claims were prior to mine, the matter made but little impression upon my mind.

My father was Thomas, the second son of Garrett, who was the son of Thomas, down to whom the genealogy from the first Earl was traced upon the stone.

That stone and another, as I learn, were removed and destroyed, or concealed, many years ago, doubtless through some interested motive; and, unfortunately, no copies of the inscriptions have, that I can discover, been preserved by any branch of the family.

When the late Earl became a claimant, it was not known whether the descendants of Patrick, my father's elder brother, who had all emigrated, were living or dead; which circumstance, it was considered, would be an impediment to my claim.

Besides which it was also thought, the testimony on the stone having been lost, that the traditions in the family would not be sufficient to establish a claim: under these circumstances I refrained from coming forward to oppose the claims of the late Earl. But now, as it is believed that there are none of my cousins living, I am endeavouring to collect evidence in support of my claim; and proof of what your correspondent states would be exceedingly useful.

Garrett Dillon, M.D.

8. Queen's Parade, Bath.

_The Word "after" in the Rubric_ (Vol. ii., p. 424.).--In the edition of the _Latin Common Prayer_, published in 12mo., Londini, 1574, which must be a very early edition (probably the fourth or fifth), there is a great verbal difference in the conclusion of the exhortation from the English original. It stands thus:

"Quapropter omnes vos qui praesentes hic adestis, per Dei nomen obtestor, ut interni sensus vestri, cum meo conjuncti pariter, ad caelestis clementiae thronum subvolent, ut in hunc, qui sequitur, sermonem, succedatur."

Then follows the rubric, "Generalis confessio, ab universa congregatione dicenda, genibus flexis." It would appear from this, that the confession was repented at the same time by the minister and the congregation, and not by the congregation after the minister.

Of the authenticity of this edition there can be no doubt. It bears the royal arms on the titlepage, and is printed "Cum privilegio Regiae majestatis. Excudebat Thomas Vautrollerius." I have not seen the earlier editions. A Greek version was printed with the Latin, in one volume, one year before; and the Latin was republished in 1584. The edition of 1574 was printed before the Catechism was completed by the questions on the sacraments. In the rubrics of the Lord's Prayer, in the Post Communion, and in the last prayers the Commination Service, the word _after_ is rendered by _post_.

The difference between the Latin and the English in the exhortation is very remarkable, for it does not make the priest dictate the confession, but repeat it with them; whereas the English services of Edward and Elizabeth, unaltered in any subsequent editions, distinctly make the priest dictate the confession. There can be no doubt about the sense of the word _after_, when we find it in the rubrics of the Post Communion and Commination translated _post_. Some of your readers may be able to give an account of the Latin versions, and explain by what influence the alteration {499} was made, and how it came to be sanctioned, while the English remained unchanged.

E.C.H.

_Disputed Passage in the Tempest_ (Vol. ii., pp. 259. 299. 337. 429.).--Allow me to remind Mr. George Stephens, who takes credit for adhering to the "primitive" text of a certain disputed passage in the _Tempest_, that neither he nor any one else does so; that the "primitive" text, that is, the text of the first folio, is mere nonsense, and that he simply adopts the first attempt at correction, instead of the second, or the third, or the fourth.

Enough has been written, perhaps, on the meaning of this passage; and opinion will always be divided between those who adopt the prosaical, and those who prefer the more poetical reading: but when Mr. Stephens says the construction is merely an instance of a "common ellipsis," I cannot but think it would be an advantage if he would inform us whether he uses this term in its common acceptation, and if so, if he would give the meaning stated at first. If this be a common ellipsis, I must confess myself to be so stupid as not to understand it.

I dissent, too, altogether from the opinion that the comma is of any importance in the construction of this passage. Assuming, as one correspondent says, and as Mr. Stephens (for I don't quite understand his brief judgment) seems to say, that "_most busie least_" means _least busy_, the placing a comma between "least" and the conjunction "when" can in no way affect the sense, though, as a matter of taste, I should decidedly object to it.

To show that I am not wedded to any particular interpretation, I have another suggestion to make which has struck me even while writing. Taking "lest" for _least_, can it have been used for _at least_, or as some people say, _leastwise_? The sense would still be the same as I have contended for, expressed something like this: "But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours: at least they are most busy when I forget myself in my occupation."

Samuel Hickson.

_Lady Compton's Letter_ (Vol. ii., p. 424.).--Mr. C.H. Cooper inquires whether this letter appeared before 1839? Gifford gives an extract from it in Massinger's _City Madam_, Act II., where the daughters of Sir John Frugal make somewhat similar stipulations from their suitors. When speaking of this letter as "a modest and consolatory one," Gifford adds, "it is _yet extant_." The editor of a work entitled _Relics of Literature_ (1823) gives it at length, with this reference, "Harleian MSS. 7003." The property of Lady Compton's father, Sir John Spencer, is stated variously from 300,000l. to 800,000l. In this case, riches brought with them their customary share of anxieties. Lysons, in his _Environs of London_, informs us that a plot was actually laid for carrying off the wealthy merchant from his house at Canonbury, by a pirate of Dunkirk, in the hope of obtaining a large ransom.

J.H.M.

_Midwives licensed_ (Vol. ii., p. 408.).--I have a manuscript volume which belonged to Bishop Warburton, and apparently to other Bishops of Gloucester before him; containing, amongst other Pontificalia, in writing of various ages, a number of forms of licences, among which occurs "Licentia Obstetricis," whereby the bishop

"eandem A.B. ad exercendam Artem et Officium Obstetricis in et per totam Diocesin Gloucestrensem praedietam admisit et Literas Testimoniales superiade fieri decrevit."

There is no mention of charms or incantations in the licence, but the oath "de jure in hac parte requisito," is required to have been made. The form is of the same writing as several others which bear dates from 1709 to 1719. Below is a memorandum of the fees, amounting to 17s. 6d.

Thomas Kerslake.

Bristol.

_Echo Song_ (Vol. ii., p. 441.).--Although I cannot supply Llyd Rhys Morgan with the name of the writer, I may refer him to D'Israeli's _Curiosities of Literature_, p. 257. (Moxon's edit. 1840), where he will find another Echo Song, by a certain Francis Cole, so similar to the one he quotes as to induce me to think that they either come from the same pen, or that the one is an imitation of the other.

Y.

_The Irish Brigade_ (Vol. ii., pp. 407. 452.).--It is understood John C. O'Callaghan, Esq., author of the _Green Book_, contemplated a much more copious work on the subject than that by the late Matthew O'Connor, mentioned by your correspondent (p. 452.). The _Union Quotidienne_ of 23rd April last announced a work by M. de la Ponce, _Essai sur l'Irlande Ancienne, et sur les Brigades Irlandaises au Service de France, depuis leur Organisation en 1691_; but whether published or not I am not aware. Perhaps some of your correspondents may know.

Drumlethglas.

_To save one's Bacon_ (Vol. ii., p. 424.).--May I venture to suggest that this phrase has reference to the custom at Dunmow, in Essex, of giving a flitch of bacon to any married couple residing in the parish, who live in harmony for a year and a day. A man and his wife who stopped short when on the verge of a quarrel might be said to have "just saved their bacon;" and in course of time the phrase would be applied to any one who barely escaped any loss or danger.

X.Z.

_"The Times" Newspaper and the Coptic Language_ (Vol. ii., p. 377.).--J.E. quotes a passage from _The Times_ newspaper respecting the Coptic language, and asks if any correspondent can furnish a clearer account of its structure than the writer of that article has given. A reference to the work {500} which he was reviewing (Kenrick's _Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs_) will show the origin of the apparent inconsistency on which J.E. animadverts. In that work it is said (vol. i. p. 100.):

"The roots of the Coptic language appear to have been generally monosyllabic, and the derivatives have been formed by a very simple system of prefixing, inserting, and affixing certain letters, which have usually undergone but little change, not having been incorporated with the root, nor melted down by crasis, nor softened by any euphonic rules."

Again (vol. i. p. 107.), speaking of the supposed connexion between India and Egypt:

"The Sanscrit is the most polished and copious language ever spoken by man; the Coptic, the most rude of all which were used by the civilised nations of antiquity."

The writer in _The Times, currente calamo_, has thrown the contents of these two sentences together, and somewhat strengthened the expressions of his author, who does not call the Coptic system of inflexion rude, nor assert that it is totally different from the Syro-Arabian system, but quotes the opinion of Benfey, that they differ so much that neither can have originated from the other, but both from a parent language. The distinction between a system of _inflexion_ and one of _affixes_ and _prefixes_ is not permanent. What we call the inflexions of the Greek verb were once, no doubt, affixes; but while, in the Greek, they have become incorporated with the root, in the Coptic they stand rigidly apart from it.

Herampion.

_Luther's Hymns_ (Vol. ii., p. 327.).--A writer in the _Parish Choir_ of September last (p. 140.) has traced the words "In the midst of life we are in death" to a higher source than the Salisbury Service-book. It occurs in the choir-book of the monks of St. Gall in Switzerland, and was probably composed by Notker, surnamed the Stammerer, about the end of the ninth century, or the beginning of the tenth.

C.H.

St. Catherine's Hall, Cambridge.

_Osnaburg Bishopric_ (Vol. ii., pp. 358. 484.).--The occupiers of this bishopric were princes ecclesiastical of the empire, and had not only the ordinary authority of bishops in their dioceses, but were sovereigns of their provinces and towns in the same manner as were the princes temporal.

The bishopric of Osnaburg was founded by Charlemagne, and was filled by various princes until 1625, when Cardinal Francis William, Count of Wartemburg, was elected by the chapter.

By the Treaty of Osnaburg, 1642, which was ratified at the Peace of Westphalia, 1648, the House of Brunswick resigned all claims to the archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Bremen, and to the bishoprics of Halberstadt and Ratzburg; and received the alternate nomination of the bishopric of Osnaburg, which was declared to belong jointly to the Catholic and the Protestant branch of Brunswick.

Under this arrangement, on the death of Count Wartemburg in 1662, Ernest Augustus I., the sixtieth bishop, patriarch of the present royal family of England, succeeded to the government of Osnaburg, which he held for thirty-six years.

Ernest Augustus II, sixty-second bishop, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, was made Duke of York and Albany, and Bishop of Osnaburg, in 1716, in the room of Charles Joseph of Lorraine. He died in 1748.

Frederick, second son of George III., was appointed bishop at an early age; he being called, in a work dedicated to him in 1772, "An infant bishop."

By the Treaty of Vienna, the bishopric of Osnaburg was made part of the kingdom of Hanover.

The ancient territory of the Bishop of Osnaburg consisted of Osnaburg, Iborg, Forstenau, Bostel, Quakenburg, Vorde Gronsburg, Hunteburg on the lake Dummer, Witlage, Melle, and Holte.

In Halliday's _History of the House of Guelph_, 4to., 1821, at p. 133., the conditions of the Treaty of Osnaburg relative to the bishopric are given at length.

Whilst preparing the above I have seen the reply of F.E. at p. 447., and would beg to correct the following errors:--

The Treaty of Osnaburg was 1642, not 1624.

Halliday's _House of Guelph_ was published 1821, not 1820.

Reference to the conditions of the treaty at p. 133. is omitted.

F.B. Relton.

_Scandal against Queen Elizabeth_ (Vol. ii., p. 393.).--There is a current belief in Ireland that the family of Mapother, in Roscommon, is descended from Queen Elizabeth: and there are many other traditions completely at variance with the ordinarily received opinion as to her inviolate chastity. A discussion of the matter might discover the foundation on which they rest.

R. Ts.

_Pretended Reprint of Ancient Poetry_ (Vol. ii., p. 463.).--The late Rev. Peter Hall was the person at whose expense the two copies of the work mentioned by Dr. Rimbault were reprinted. At the sale of that gentleman's library, in May last, one of these two reprints was sold for 20s.

Cato.

_Martin Family_ (Vol. ii., p. 392.).--If your correspondent Clericus will refer to Morant's _History of Essex_, vol. ii. p. 188., he will find some account of the family of Martin. There do not appear to be any families of the name of Cockerell or Hopkins in the same neighbourhood.

J.A.D.

"_Ge-ho_," _Meaning of_.--I am a little girl, only two years and five months old, and my kind aunt Noo teaches me to spell. Now I hear the men, when driving their horses, say "Ge-ho;" {501} and I think they say so because G, O, spells "Go." Is it so, can anybody say?

I am, your youngest correspondent,

Katie.

[Better etymologists than Katie have made far worse guesses than our youngest correspondent. But in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, by Ellis, vol. i. p. 294. ed. 1841 (the passage is not in the last edition), is the following curious illustration of the phrase _Ge-ho_.

"A learned friend, whose communications I have frequently had occasion to acknowledge in the course of this work, says, the exclamation '_Geho, Geho_,' which carmen use to their horses, is probably of great antiquity. It is not peculiar to this country, as I have heard it used in France. In the story of the Milkmaid, who kicked down her pail, and with it all her hopes of getting rich, as related in a very ancient collection of apologues, entitled _Dialogus Creaturarum_, printed at Gonda in 1480, is the following passage: 'Et cum sic gloriaretur, et cogitaret cum quanta gloria duceretur ad illum virum super equum dicendo _gio gio_, cepit percutere terram quasi pungeret equum calcaribus.'"

Brand's learned correspondent was, doubtless, the late Mr. Douce, from whom the writer of this Note has often heard the same illustration.]

_Lady Norton_ (Vol. ii., p. 480.).--An account of lady Norton may be seen in _Memoirs of several ladies of Great Britain, who have been celebrated for their writings or skill in the learned languages arts and sciences_. By George Ballard. Oxford, 1752. 4º. She is said to have written two books, viz.: _The applause of virtue. In four parts._ etc. London, 1705. 4º. pp. 262; and _Memento mori: or meditations on death_. London 1705. 4º. pp. 108. She was living in advanced years, about 1720.

The same biographical repertory contains an account of her daughter, lady Gethin--of whom some particulars were given by myself in a small volume of essays printed for private circulation, under the title of _Curiosities of literature illustrated_, in 1837. On that occasion I ventured to express my belief that lady Gethin did not compose one sentence of the _remains_ ascribed to her; but I hope the claims of lady Norton to _patristic learning_ may more successfully bear the test of critical examination.

Bolton Corney.

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Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

Honour to the University of Oxford, Honour to the Rev. Josiah Forshall, and though last not least, Honour to the learned Keeper of the Manuscripts in the British Museum, Sir Frederick Madden, for giving us _The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal Books, in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate, by John Wycliffe and his followers_. Never did the University Press put forth a more valuable or more important work than these four handsome quartos, (published, too, at the marvellously small price of five guineas), in which are now printed, for the first time, in an entire form, those Versions which may be regarded as the earliest in the English language which embrace any considerable proportion of the Holy Scriptures. By this publication, Oxford has done her part towards wiping away the disgrace which has so long attached to this country--which boasts, and justly and proudly boasts, of being _the_ country of Bibles--for its long-continued neglect of these early versions of the vernacular Scriptures. How great was the influence which they exercised upon the religious opinions and sentiments of the nation at large in the interval between the years 1382 and 1526, how great an amount of scriptural truth they diffused, how effectually they supplied the opponents of the Papal system with the means of exposing its abuses and errors, and how they thereby laid a deep foundation for the reform of the sixteenth century, may be clearly seen by a perusal of the Preface to this great work; on which the learned editors have employed their learning and industry for two and twenty years, to their own high credit, and to the vindication of English scholarship. But our limited space will not admit of our detailing all the claims which this _editio princeps_ of the _Wycliffite Scriptures_ has upon the attention of our readers, or of pointing out all the great services which its editors have rendered to the literary, no less than to the religious world. When we state briefly that in the work before us we have the _two_ versions, the _earlier_ and _later_ versions, printed side by side; that these are accompanied by various readings gathered from the collection of upwards of one hundred different manuscripts; introduced by a preface full of new and most interesting particulars of this first attempt to give to this country the Scriptures in a tongue "understanded of the people;" and the whole rendered complete by an extensive and most valuable glossary, we feel persuaded our readers will agree with us in giving honour to all who have had hand or heart in the production of these deeply interesting volumes.

We have received the following Catalogues:--C.J. Stewart's (11. King William Street, Strand) Catalogue of Doctrinal, Controversial, Practical, and Devotional Divinity; a well-timed catalogue containing some extraordinary Collections, as of Roman and Spanish Indexes of Books prohibited and expurgated, and of Official and Documentary Works on the Inquisition; B.R. Wheatley's (44. Bedford Street, Strand) Catalogue of Scarce and Interesting Books for 1851; Joel Rowsell's (28. Great Queen Street) Catalogue No. XL. of a Select Collection of Second-hand Books; John Miller's (43. Chandos Street) Catalogue No. 15. for 1850 of Books Old and New.

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BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE.

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Notices to Correspondents.

Our Christmas Number. _This week our able contemporary_, Household Words, _treats his readers to a Christmas Number. It is one of the many good things in which our popular friend has anticipated us. Thanks, however, to the Peace Congress, we are content to be thus anticipated without giving utterance to the time-honoured_ "Pereant qui ante nos nostra dixerunt." _Still, as we earnestly desire to close the year in peace with all the world, or, which is much the same thing, with all the readers of_ Notes and Queries, _we propose, on Saturday next, treating them to a_ Christmas Number, _rich in articles on_ Folk Lore, Popular Literature, &c., _and to use as ballast for our barque, which will at such occasion be of unwonted lightness, a number of Replies which we have by us imploring for admittance into our columns._

The Index to Volume the Second _will be ready early in January._

_All Catalogues, Bills, or Prospectuses intended for insertion in our next Monthly Part, must be sent to the Office, 186. Fleet Street, by Friday the 27th instant._

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PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY. A Book of Thoughts and Arguments, originally treated. By Martin Farquhar Tupper, Esq., D.C.L.F.R S., of Christ Church, Oxford. With a Portrait.

London: Thomas Hatchard, 187. Piccadilly.

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The concluding Volume of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Exposition of the New Testament.

Just published, 8vo., or 2 vols. 12mo., price 9s.

A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES to the THESSALONIANS, to TIMOTHY, TITUS, PHILEMON, and to the HEBREWS, in the form of Lectures, intended to assist the practice of Domestic Instruction and Devotion. By John Bird Sumner, D.D., Archbishop of Canterbury.

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