Chapter 3

_Fossil Deer (not Elk) of Ireland, C. Megaceros_ (Vol. ii., p. 494.).--Your correspondent W.R.C. will find in Mr. Hart's description of a skeleton of this animal (Dublin, 1825), in a pamphlet, published by W. Richardson (Dublin, 1846, M'Glashan), in Professor Owen's _British Fossil Mammalia_, and in the _Zoologist_ (Van Voorst) for 1847 and for 1848, p. 2064., all that is known and much that has been imagined on the subject of his inquiry. The rib which he mentions is well known, and is in fact one of the principal bones of contention between the opposing theorists. I never before heard the story of the specimen shot in 1533, although several years ago I devoted some time to the subject. I am inclined to suspect that it must have been found in some Irish manuscript which has been discovered, since (in the year 1847) some bones of the fossil deer were found in a certain {27} lake in the west of Ireland in company with those of a turkey. (See _Zoologist_, ub. sup.)

W.R.F.

Lincoln's Inn, Dec. 21. 1850.

"_Away, let nought to Love displeasing_" (Vol. ii., p. 519.).--This song, usually entitled "_Winifreda_," has been attributed to Sir John Suckling, but with what justice I am unable to say.

It has also acquired additional interest from having been set to music by the first Earl of Mornington, the father of the Duke of Wellington.

The author should certainly be known; and perhaps some of your correspondents can furnish a clue by which he may be discovered.

BRAYBROOKE.

_Red Sindon_ (Vol. ii., pp. 393. 495.).--I have only just seen your correspondent, B.W.'s Query respecting the "red sindon," and refer him to Du Cange, where he will find--

"Sindon pro specie panni [Byssus tenuis], etc."

It was a manufacture that was used for dresses as well as hangings, and is constantly mentioned in inventories and descriptions of the middle ages.

J.R. PLANCHÉ.

Jan. 1. 1851.

_Coleridge and the Penny Post_ (Vol. iii., p. 6.).--Mr. Venables asks a question in a way that may lead the reader to infer an answer, and an ungenerous answer; and he calls on Mr. Hill to give him satisfaction, as if Mr. Hill had nothing better to do than to inform Mr. Venables, and correct Miss Martineau's blunders. If Mr. Venables had taken an active part in bringing about the greatest moral movement of our age, he would have known that, amongst the hundred other illustrations adduced by Mr. Hill, was the very anecdote to which he refers; and that Mr. Hill quoted it, not once or twice, but dozens of times, and circulated it, with Coleridge's name, over the whole length and breadth of the three kingdoms, by tens of thousands of printed papers. Mr. Hill has not had a tithe of the honour he deserves--and never will have--and I cannot remain silent, and see his character questioned, though in matters too trifling, I think, even to have occupied a corner in "NOTES AND QUERIES."

C.W.D.

_The Autograph of Titus Oates_ (Vol. ii., p. 464.).--It may be seen in the Library of St. John's College, Cambridge. It is written at the end of every chapter in "_A Confession of Faith, put forth by the Elders and Brethren of many Congregations of Christians (baptized upon profession of Faith) in London and the Country_." 12mo. Lond. 1688.

J.R.

Cambridge.

_Circulation of the Blood_ (Vol. ii., p. 475.).--The passage in Venerable Bede referred to by J.MN. may have been in a tract _De Minutione Sanguinis sive de Phlebotomia_; (which occurs in the folio editions, Basle, vol. i. p. 472.; Colon., vol. i. p. 898.). In the enumeration of the veins from which blood may be taken, he says,--

"De brachio tres, _qui per totum corpus reddunt sanguinem_, capitanea linea, matricia, capsale."

The subject of bleeding is again referred to in _Eccl. Hist._, vol. iii, but not to the purpose.

J. EASTWOOD.

Ecclesfield.

_True Blue_ (Vol. ii., p. 494.).--From documents relative to the wars of the Scottish Covenanters, in the seventeenth century, it appears that they assumed _blue ribbons_ as their colours, and wore them as scarfs, or in bunches fastened to their _blue bonnets_ and that the border English nicknamed them "_blue caps_" and "jockies." Hence the phrase, "True blue Presbyterian."

G.F.G.

_Cherubim and Seraphim._--Why are the cherubim represented as a human head, with the wings of a bird? And why have the seraphim no bodily representation? What, in fact, is the supposed distinction between them?

OMEGA.

[Our correspondent will find much curious information on this subject, accompanied by some exquisite woodcuts, in Mrs. Jameson's _Poetry of Sacred and Legendary Art_.]

_Darcy Lever Church_ (Vol. ii., p. 494.), which is referred to by your correspondent, is the first instance, I believe, of the application of a new material to the construction of an ecclesiastical edifice. It is built throughout, walls, tower, and spire, benches and fittings, of terra cotta from the Ladyshore works. The architect is that accomplished antiquary, Mr. Sharpe of Lancaster, who furnished the designs of every part, from which moulds were made, and in these the composition forming the terra cotta was prepared, and hardened by the application of fire. The style is the purest and richest Second Pointed, and the effect of the pierced work of the spire is, as your correspondent observes, very fine when seen from a distance. There is a rich colour, too, in the material, which has a remarkably pleasing result upon the eye. But a nearer approach destroys the charm. It is found to be a "sham." The lines of the mouldings, mullions, etc., are warped by the heat attendant upon the process of the manufacture. The exquisite sharpness of outline produced by the chisel is wanting, and there is (in consequence of the impossibility of undercutting) an absence of that effect of light and shade which is the characteristic of the mediæval carvings. The greatest shock is, however, experienced on an examination of the interior. What at first sight appear to be highly elaborated oaken bench-ends and seats are only painted earthenware. In point of fact, it is a POT CHURCH. A similar and larger {28} structure by the same architect, and in the same material, has been erected near Platt Hall, in the parish of Manchester.

J.H.P. LERESCHE.

The church at Lever Bridge, near Darcy Lever Hall, on the line of railway between Normanton and Bolton, was built about seven years since. The architect is Edward Sharpe, Esq., of Lancaster. The material of the entire structure, including the internal fittings, is terra cotta, from the Ladyshore works in the neighbourhood, where a model of the church, in the same material, is in preparation for the Exhibition of 1851.

G.I.F.

_Lines attributed to Henry Viscount Palmerston_ (Vol. i., p. 382.).--Having been absent for some time, I have not been able to see whether any one has answered a Query I put, viz:--

"Who was the author of those lines beginning with--

'Stranger! whoe'er thou art that views this tomb,' etc.

which Porson translated into Greek Iambics, beginning with--

[Greek: Ô xeine, touton hostis eisoras taphon] etc."

A friend, who was senior medallist in his time at Cambridge, tells me that tradition said that the lines were set by the Rev. R. Collier, Hebrew Professor and Examiner at Trinity College; and that it is supposed that Collier found them in some magazine of the day.

With reference to the imposition supposed to be set Porson (Vol. ii., p. 71.), and shown by C. at p. 106. to be by Joshua Barnes, I question whether any imposition were ever set him: for I have heard Mr. Summers (Porson's first instructor) observe, that he was a well-conducted man during the whole of his undergraduateship; others have reported the same of him.

A.B.

_Defender of the Faith_ (Vol. ii., pp. 442. 481.).--In _Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica_, vol. vi. p. 321., is an indenture of lease

"maide the xxijth daye of Januarye, in the second yeare of the reagne of King Henry the seaventhe, by the graice of God Kinge of England, _defendoure of the faithe_," etc.

The lessor, Christopher Ratlife, of Hewick, died before 10 Henry VII., and the editor of the above work says, "It is impossible to account for the peculiarity in the date of this deed."

Bishop Burnet cites Spelman as asserting that several of the kings of England before Henry VIII. had borne the title of "Defender of the Faith." A correspondent of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (N.S. xvi. 357.) conjectures that the name of Spelman had been inadvertently substituted for the name of Selden; though he justly remarks, that Selden by no means countenances the assertion of the bishop.

C.H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

_Farquharson on Auroræ_ (Vol. ii., p. 441.).--Your correspondant L. inquires about Mr. Farquharson, _shepherd_ or _minister_ of Alford. Whether the word translated _shepherd_ be _pasteur_ or not, I cannot say, as I have not either of the works he alludes to; but certain it is that the Rev. Mr. Farquharson, _minister_ of Alford, only recently deceased, was well known as a meteorological observer; and it is to him, doubtless, that Professor Koenitz refers.

The "other Protestant minister, Mr. James Paull, at Tullynessle," now Dr. Paull, is still in life.

S.P.

"_Old Rowley_" (Vol. ii., pp. 27. 74.).--Charles II. was called "Old Rowley," after Rowley, a famous horse at Newmarket; who, like the king, was the sire of stock much better looking than himself.

A. HOLT WHITE.

_Tale of a Tub_ (Vol. i., p.326.).--Your correspondant J.O.W.H. may find some curious remarks on this subject in Sir James Mackintosh's _Life of Sir Thomas More_. I cannot give a precise reference; but as the book is small, the passages may be easily found.

H.G.T.

_Painting by C. Bega_ (Vol. ii., p. 494.).--The translation of the lines is, I believe,

"We Sing certainly what is new, and have still a prize." "A Cracknel is our gain, but the ditty must first (come) out."

In modern Dutch most probably,

"Wÿ singen vast wat nienw, en hebben nog een buit. Een Krakeling is onze winst maar het Liedker moet eerst uit."

I should think there is a lake somewhere in the picture, and the lines are probably part of an old Dutch song. As to the painter C. Bega, I have at hand a Catalogue of the Munich Gallery, and find there "Cornelius Bega, geb. 1620, gest. 1664." His picture is described as "Eine Rauch- und Trinkgesellschaft belustiget sich mit Tanz in einer Schenke." In a Catalogue of the Louvre, I have the following description:

"Bega, Corneille ou Cornille, né à Harlem en 1620, mort de la peste dans la même ville en 1664; élève d'Adrien Van Ostade."

His picture is

"Intérieur d'un ménage rustique. Un homme et une femme sont assis près d'une table."

His subjects appear to be generally of the character of the painting possessed by your correspondent.

J.H.L.

_Herstmonceux_ (Vol. ii., p. 478.).--Question 4. In the Privy Seal writs of Henry V. frequent mention is made of "nostre maison de Bethleem," a Monastery at Shene, so called because it was dedicated to "Jesus of Bethlehem." It was for forty monks of the Cistercian order.

{29} Question 5. In the _Battle of Agincourt_, by Sir H. Nicolas, Sir Rover Fyene's name is given amongst the retinue of Henry V. He was accompanied by eight men-at-arms and twenty-four archers. Sir Roger "Ffynys," accompanied by ten of his men-at-arms and forty archers, also followed Henry (in the suite of Lord Willoughby d'Eresby) in his second continental expedition. (_Gesta Henrici Quinti._)

B.W.

_Leicester's Commonwealth_ (Vol. ii., p. 92).--See _Gentleman's Magazine_, December, 1845, for many remarks upon this work.

J.R.

_Midwives Licensed_ (Vol. ii., p. 408.).--I find the following question among the articles of inquiry issued by Fleetwood, Bp. of St. Asaph, in the year 1710.

"Do any in your parish practise physic chyrurgery, or _undertake the office of a midwife without license_?"

E.H.A.

_Volusenus_ (Vol. ii, p. 311).--Boswell, writing to Johnson from Edinburgh, Jan. 8. 1778, asks:

"Did you ever look at a book written by Wilson, a Scotchman, under the Latin name of Volusenus, according to the custom of literary men at a certain period? It is entitled _De Animi Tranquillitate_."

E.H.A.

[Mr. Croker, in a note on this passage, tells us that the author, Florence Wilson, born at Elgin, died near Lyons, in 1547, and wrote two or three other works of no note.--ED.]

_Martin Family_ (Vol. ii., p. 392.).--CLERICUS asks for information touching the family of Martin, "in or near Wivenhoe, Essex." There is a large house in the village, said to have been the seat of Matthew Martin, Esq., member for Colchester in the second parliaments of George I. and II. He died in 1749. He had been a commander in the service of the East India Company. Only one party of the name now lives in the neighbourhood, but whether he is of the family or not I cannot say. He is described as "Edward Martin, Master, Royal Navy."

A.A.

_Swords used in Dress_ (Vol. i. 415.; vol. ii. 110. 213. 388.).--Might it not have happened that swords went out of fashion after the middle of the last century, and were revived towards its close? In old prints from 1700 to 1720, they appear to have been universally worn; later they are not so general. In 1776-90, they appear again. My grandmother (born in 1760) well remembers her brother, of nearly her own age, wearing a sword, say about 1780. Some of Fielding's heroes wore "hangers."

A.A.

_Clerical Costume_ (Vol. ii., pp. 22. 189.).--The use of scarlet cloth is popularly recommended in Berks and in Devon as a cure for the rheumatism. It should be wrapped round the "ailing" limb.

H.G.T.

_Tristan d'Acunha_ (Vol. ii., p. 358.).--The latest and best description of this isle is to be found in _A Narrative of a Nine Months' Residence in New Zealand, together with a Journal of a Residence in Tristan d'Acunha_. By A. Earle. Longmans, 1832.

GOMER.

_Swearing by Swans_ (Vol. ii., pp. 392. 451.).--Though I can give no reason why the birds of Juno should have been invoked as witnesses to an oath, the Query about them has suggested to me what may perhaps appear rather an irrelevant little note.

Cooper, in his _Raven's Nest_, makes Mr. Aristobulus Brag use the provincialism "_I swanny_;" "by which," observes the author, "I suppose he meant--_I swear!_" Of course, this has nothing to do with swearing by swans, more than sounding like it; argument of sound being very different from sound argument. Mr. Cooper does not seem to have given a thought to the analysis of the phrase, which is no oath, merely an innocent asseveration. "I's-a-warrant-ye" (perhaps when resolved to its ungrammatical elements, "I is a warranty to ye") proceeds through "I's-a-warnd-ye," "I's-warn-ye" (all English provincialisms,) to its remote transatlantic ultimatum of debasement in "_I swanny_."

G.J. CAYLEY.

_Mildew in Books_ (Vol. ii., p. 103).--In reply to B., who inquires for a prevention for _mildew in books_, I send the following receipt, which I have copied from a book containing many others:--"Take a feather dipt in spirits of wine, and lightly wash over the backs and covers. To prevent mould, put a little into writing ink."

Another to take _mildew out of linen_.--"Mix powdered starch and soft soap with half the quantity of bay salt; mix it with vinegar, and lay it on both sides with a painter's brush. Then let it lie in the open air till the spots are out."

J.R.

"_Swinging Tureen_," (Vol. i., pp. 246. 307. 406.).--

"Next crowne the bowle full With gentle lamb's-wooll Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, With store of ale too; And thus must ye doe To make the wassaile a _swinger_."

Herrick, cited in Ellis' _Brand_, ed. 1849, vol. i. p. 26.

By the way, is not the "lanycoll" (so called, I presume, from the froth like wool (_lana_) at the neck (_collum_) of the vessel), mentioned in the old ballad of "King Edward and the Shepherd" (Hartshorne's _Met. Tales_, p. 54.), the same beverage as "lamb's-wool?"

H.G.T.

_Totness Church_ (Vol. ii., pp. 376. 452.).--My thanks are due to your correspondent S.S.S. for kindly furnishing information as to the singular arched passage mentioned in a former note, which drew my attention as a casual visitor, and which {30} certainly appears to be the "iter processionale" referred to in the will of William Ryder. Any information as to the subject of the good woman's tradition would be very acceptable. Perhaps S.S.S. will allow me, in return for his satisfactory explanation of the "dark passage" in question, to over a very luminous passage in confirmation of his view of Goldsmith's.

H.G.T.

_Lights on the Altar_ (Vol. ii., p. 495.).--In the 42nd canon of those enacted under King Edgar (Thorpe's _Ancient Laws and Institutes of England_, vol. ii. pp. 252-3.) we find:--

"Let there be always burning lights in the church when mass is singing."

And in the 14th of the canons of Ælfric (pp. 348-9. of the same volume):--

"Acoluthus he is called, who bears the candle or taper in God's ministries when the Gospel is read, or when the housel is hallowed at the altar: not to dispel, as it were, the dim darkness, but, with that light, to announce bliss, in honour of Christ who is our light."

C.W.G.

_Time when Herodotus wrote_ (Vol. ii., p. 405.).--The passage quoted by your correspondent A.W.H. affords, I think, a reasonable argument to prove that Herodotus did not commence his work until an advanced age; most probably between the ages of seventy and seventy-seven years. Moreover, there are various other reasons to justify the same conclusion; all which A.W.H. will find stated in Dr. Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology_, vol. ii. I believe A.W.H. is correct in his supposition that the passage has not been noticed before.

T.H. KERSLEY, A.B.

King William's College.

_Adur_ (Vol. ii., p. 108.).--The connexion of the Welsh _ydwr_ with the Greek [Greek: hydor] is remarkable. Can any of your readers tell me whether there be not an older Welsh word for _water_? There are, I know, two sets of Welsh numerals, of which the later contains many Greek words, but the older are entirely different. Is not _cader_ akin to [Greek: kathedra], and _glas_ to [Greek: glaukos]?

J.W.H.

_The Word "Alarm"_ (Vol. ii., pp. 151. 183.).--I send you an instance of the accurate use of the word "alarm" which may be interesting. In an account of the attempt made on the 29th of Oct. 1795, to assassinate Geo. III., the Earl of Onslow (as cited in Maunder's _Universal Biog._ p. 321.) uses the following expression:--

"His Majesty showed, and, I am persuaded, felt, no alarm; much less did he fear."

Is not this a good instance of the true difference of meaning in these two words, which are now loosely used as if strictly synonymous?

H.G.T.

_The Conquest_ (Vol. ii., p 440).--W.L. is informed that I have before me several old parchment documents or title-deeds, in which the words "post conquestum" are used merely to express (as part of their dates) the year after the accession of those kings respectively in whose reigns those documents were made.

P.H.F.

_Land Holland_ (Vol. ii., p. 267. 345.).--J.B.C. does not say in what part of England he finds this term used. Holland, in Lincolnshire, is by Ingulph called _Hoiland_, a name which has been thought to mean _hedgeland_, in allusion to the sea-walls or hedges by which it was preserved from inundation. Other etymologies have also been proposed. (See Gough's _Camden_, "Lincolnshire.") In Norfolk, however, the term _olland_ is used, Forby tells us, for "arable land which has been laid down in grass more than two years, q.d. _old-land_." In a Norfolk paper of few months since, in an advertisement of a ploughing match, I observe a prize is offered "To the ploughman, with good character, who shall plough a certain quantity of _olland_ within the least time, in the best manner."

C.W.G.

* * * * *

MISCELLANEOUS.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

The Camden Society have just issued to the members a highly important volume, Walter Mapes _De Nugis Curialium_. The best idea of the interesting character of this work may be formed from the manner in which it is described by its editor, Mr. Thomas Wright, who speaks of it as "the book in which this remarkable man seems to have amused himself with putting down his own sentiments on the passing events of the day, along with the popular gossip of the courtiers with whom he mixed;" and as being "one mass of contemporary anecdote, romance, and popular legend, interesting equally by its curiosity and by its novelty." There can be little doubt that the work will be welcomed, not only by the members of the Camden Society, but by all students of our early history and all lovers of our Folk Lore.

Though we do not generally notice the publication of works of fiction, the handsome manner in which, in the third volume of his _Bertha, a Romance of the Dark Ages_, Mr. MacCabe has thought right to speak of the information which he obtained, during the progress of his work, through the medium of NOTES AND QUERIES, induces us to make an exception in favour of his highly interesting story. At the same time, that very acknowledgment almost forbids our speaking in such high terms as we otherwise should of the power with which Mr. MacCabe has worked up this striking narrative, which take its name from Bertha, the wife of the profligate Henry IV. of Germany; and of which the main incidents turn on Henry's deposition of the Pope, and his consequent excommunication by the inflexible Gregory the Seventh. But we the less regret this necessity of speaking thus moderately, since it must be obvious that when an accomplished scholar like the {31} author of the _Catholic History of England_, to whom old chronicles are as household words, chooses to weave their most striking passages into a romance, his work will be of a very different stamp from that of the ordinary novelist, who has hunted over the same chronicles for the mere purpose of finding startling incidents. The one will present his readers, as Mr. MacCabe has done, with a picture uniform in style and consistent in colouring, while the other will at best only exhibit a few brilliant scenes, which, like the views in a magic lanthorn, will owe as much of their brilliancy to the darkness with which they are contrasted as to the skill of the artist.

Messrs. Sotheby and Co. will sell, on Wednesday next and three following days, the valuable Collection of Coins and Medals of the Rev. Dr. Neligan, of Cork; and on the following Monday that gentleman's highly interesting Antiquities, Illuminated MSS., Ancient Glass, Bronzes, Etruscan and Roman Pottery, Silver Ring Money, &c.

To those who have never studied what Voltaire maliciously designated "the science of fools with long memories," but yet occasionally wish to know the families which have borne certain mottoes, the new edition of _The Book of Mottoes_ will be a very acceptable source of information.

* * * * *

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE.

ANDRAN'S PROPORTIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY. Folio. 1683.

SANDCART'S ACADEMIA HOMOGRAPHIA.

SHAKSPEARE. 10 Vols. By JOHNSON. 1768. Vol. VII.

HUME'S ENGLAND. 1786. Vol. III.

FOXES AND FIREBRANDS. 12mo.

*** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, _carriage free_, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

* * * * *

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.