Part 2

_Covey._--When the witches in this country were very numerous, Satan for convenience divided them into companies of thirteen (one reason why thirteen has always been considered an unlucky number), and called each company a _covine_. Is that the etymology of the word _covey_, as applied to birds?

L. M. M. R.

_Book wanted to purchase._--Can any one help me to find a little book on "Speculative Difficulties in the Christian Religion?" I read such a book about four years ago, and have quite forgotten its title and its author. The last chapter in the book was on the "Origin of Evil." There is a little book called _Speculative Difficulties_, but that is not the one I mean.

L. M. M. R.

_The Devil's Bit._--In the Barnane Mountains, near Templemore, Ireland, there is a large dent or hollow, visible at the distance of twenty miles, and known by the name of the "Devil's Bit."

Can any of your readers assist me in discovering the origins of this singular name? There is a foolish tradition that the Devil was obliged, by one of the saints, to make a road for his Reverence across an extensive bog in the neighbourhood, and so taking a piece of the mountain in his mouth, he strode over the bog and deposited a road behind him!

SING.

_Corpse passing makes a Right of Way._--What is the origin of the supposed custom of land becoming public property, after a funeral has passed over it? An instance of this occurred (I am told) a short time since at Battersea.

R. W. E.

_Nao, a Ship._--Seeing it twice stated in Mr. G. F. Angas's _Australia and New Zealand_, that "in the Celtic dialect of the Welsh, Nao (is) a ship," I am desirous to learn in what author of that language, or in what dictionary or glossary thereof, any such word is to be met with. (See vol. ii., pp. 274. 278.) I doubt, or even disbelieve, the Britons having had _any_ name for a ship, though they had a name for an osier floating basket, covered with raw hides. And when they became familiar with the _navis longa_ of the Romans, they and their Gaelic neighbours adopted the adjective, and not the substantive. But the question of _nao_ is one of fact; and having got the assertion, I want the authority.

A. N.

_William Hone._--I wish to meet with the interesting and touching account of the conversion of William Hone, the compiler of the _Every Day Book_, and should be obliged to any one who would tell me where it is to be found.

E. V.

_Hand giving the Blessing._--What is the origin of holding up the two forefingers and thumb, and pressing down the third and little fingers of the right hand in giving "the blessing," as we see in figures of bishops, &c.? Is it a mystic allusion to the Trinity?

A. A. D.

4. Moray Place, Birkenhead.

_Tinsell, a Meaning of._--I wish to know if this word is still used by the country-people in the midland counties, and on the borders of North Wales, to denote _fire-wood_. In a Report dated in 1620, from a surveyor to the owner of an estate in Wales, near the borders of Shropshire, the following mention of it occurs:

"There is neither wood nor underwood on the said lands, but a few underwoods in the park of hasell, alders, withie, and thornes, and such like, which the tenants doe take and use for _Tinsel_ as need requires."

The working people in Shropshire and Staffordshire still speak of _tining_ a fire (pronounced _teening_). This is but a slight change in the Anglo-Saxon word _tynan_, to light a fire.

S. S. S.

_Arches of Pelaga._--A young sailor, in his passage from Alexandria to Trinadas, mentions a place under this designation. Query, Is there a place correctly so called, or is this one of the misnomers not unfrequent among seamen?

M. A. LOWER.

_Emiott Arms._--What are the arms of the family of Emiott of Kent?

E. H. Y.

_Well Chapels._--Will any of your learned readers be kind enough to direct me to the best sources of information on this subject?

H. G. T.

_Davy Jones's Locker._--If a sailor is killed in a sea-skirmish, or falls overboard and is drowned, or any other fatality occurs which necessitates the consignment of his remains to the "great deep," his surviving messmates speak of him as one who has been sent to "Davy Jones's Locker." Who was the important individual whose name has become so powerful a myth? And what occasioned the identification of the ocean itself with the locker of this mysterious Davy Jones?

HENRY CAMPKIN.

_Æsopus Epulans._--I shall be much obliged by information respecting the authorship and history of this work, printed at Vienna, 1749, 4to.

N. B.

_Written Sermons._--Information is requested as to when the custom of preaching from written sermons was first introduced, and the circumstances which gave rise to it.

M. C. L.

_Pallavicino and the Conte d'Olivares._--I have in my possession an old Italian MS., 27 pages of large foolscap paper. It is headed "Caduta del Conte d'Olivares," and at the end is signed "Scritta da Ferrante Pallavicino," and dated "28 Genaro, 1643." Of course this Count d'Olivares was the great favourite of Philip IV. of Spain; but who was Pallavicino? Could it have been the Paravicino who was court chaplain to Philip III. and IV.? or was he of the Genoese family of Pallavicini mentioned by Leigh Hunt (_Autobiography_, vol. ii. p. 177.) as having been connected with the Cromwell family? What favours the latter presumption is, that a gentleman to whom I showed the MS. said at once, "That is Genoa paper, just the same I got there for rough copies;" and he also told me that the water-mark was a well-known Genoa mark: it consists of a bird standing on an eight pointed starlike flower.

If any one can give me any likely account of this Pallavicino, or tell me whether the MS. is at all valuable in any way, I shall owe him many thanks.

CHARLES O. SOULEY.

Broadway, New York, May 10. 1851.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Athelney Castle, Somersetshire._--Can any of your readers inform me, whether Athelney Castle, built by King Alfred, as a monastery, in token of his gratitude to God for his preservation, when compelled to fly from his throne, is in existence; or if any remains of it can be traced, as I do not find it mentioned either in several maps, gazetteers, or topographical dictionaries? It was situate about four miles from Bridgewater, near the conflux of the rivers Parrot and Tone?

J. S.

Islington, May 15. 1851.

_Athelney._--In a visit which I recently paid to the field of _Sedgemoor_ and the Isle of _Athelney_ in Somersetshire, I found on the latter a stone pillar, inclosed by an iron railing, designed to point the traveller's eye to the spot, so closely associated with his earliest historical studies, with the burnt cakes, the angry housewife, and the castigated king. The pillar bears the following inscription, which you may think perhaps worthy of preservation in your useful pages:--

"King Alfred the Great, in the year of our Lord 879, having been defeated by the Danes, fled for refuge to the forest of Athelney, where he lay concealed from his enemies for the space of a whole year. He soon after regained possession of his throne, and in grateful remembrance of the protection he had received, under the favour of Heaven, he erected a monastery on this spot and endowed it with all the lands contained in the Isle of Athelney. To perpetuate the memorial of so remarkable an incident in the life of that illustrious prince, this edifice was founded by John Slade, Esq., of Mansell, the proprietor of Athelney and Lord of the Manor of North Petherton, A. D. 1801."

J. R. W.

Bristol.

_Legend of St. Molaisse_ (Vol. ii., p. 79.).--Can you tell me anything more about this MS., and in whose possession it now is?

R. H.

["The Legend of St. Molaisse" was sold in a sale at Puttick and Simpson's, July 3, 1850, for the sum of £8. 15_s._]

_Bogatzky._--Who was Bogatzky, the author of the well-known _Golden Treasury_? Any particulars of his life will be acceptable.

E. V.

[Bogatzky was a Polish nobleman, the pupil of the great Professor Francke, and of a kindred spirit. He died at an advanced age in 1768. It is not generally known that Bogatzky published a Second Volume of his _Golden Treasury_, which Dr. Steinkopff revised and edited in 1812, to which he prefixed a short but interesting account of the author. See also _Allgemeine Enyclopädie von Ersch und Gruber_, s.v.]

Replies.

GREENE'S "GROATSWORTH OF WITTE."

(Vol. iii., p. 140.)

In answer to MR. HALLIWELL's Query, "whether the remarkable passage respecting Shakspeare in this work has descended to us in its genuine state," I beg to inform him that I possess a copy of the edition of 1596, as well as of those of 1617 and 1621, from the latter of which the reprint by Sir Egerton Brydges was taken, and that the passage in question is exactly the same in all the three editions. For the general information of your readers interested in Greene's works, I beg to state, that the variations in the edition of 1596 from the other two, consist of the words "written before his death, and published at his dying request," on the title; and instead of the introductory address "To Wittie Poets, or Poeticall Wittes," signed I. H., there are a few lines on A 2, "The Printer to the Gentle Readers:"

"I haue published heere, Gentlemen, for your mirth and benefit, Greene's Groateswoorth of Wit. With sundry of his pleasant discourses ye haue beene before delighted: But now hath death giuen a period to his pen, onely this happened into my hands which I haue published for your pleasures: Accept it fauourably because it was his last birth, and not least worth, in my poore opinion. But I will cease to praise that which is aboue my conceit, and leaue it selfe to speake for it selfe: and so abide your learned censuring.

"Yours, W. W."

Then follows another short address, "To the Gentlemen Readers," by Greene himself; and as this edition is so rare, only two copies being known, and the address is short, I transcribe it entire for your insertion:

"Gentlemen, The Swan sings melodiously before death, that in all his life time vseth but a iarring sound. _Greene_, though able inough to write, yet deeplyer searched with sicknesse than euer heretofore, sendes you his swanne-like song, for that he feares he shall neuer againe carroll to you woonted loue layes, neuer againe discouer to you youth's pleasures. Howeuer yet sicknesse, riot, incontinence, haue at once shown their extremitie, yet if I recouer, you shall all see more fresh springs then euer sprang from me, directing you how to liue, yet not diswading you from loue. This is the last I haue writ, and I feare me the last I shall write. And how euer I haue beene censured for some of my former bookes, yet, Gentlemen, I protest, they were as I had special information. But passing them, I commend this to your fauourable censures, and like an Embrion without shape, I feare me will bee thrust into the world. If I liue to ende it, it shall be otherwise: if not, yet will I commend it to your courtesies, that you may as wel be acquainted with my repentant death, as you haue lamented my carelesse course of life. But as _Nemo ante obitum felix_, so _Acta exitus probat_: Beseeching therefore to bee deemed hereof as I deserue, I leaue the worke to your liking, and leaue you to your delights."

Greene died in September, 1592; and this is curious, as being probably the last thing that ever came from his pen.

The work commences on sig. A 4, the other three leaves being occupied with the title and the two addresses. It concludes with Greene's "letter written to his wife," and has not "Greene's Epitaph: Discoursed Dialogue-wise betweene Life and Death," which is in the two later editions.

I may here mention that I possess a copy of an extremely rare work relating to Robert Greene, which has only lately become known, viz.:

"Greene's Newes both from Heaven and Hell. Prohibited the first for writing of Bookes, and banished out of the last for displaying of Connycatchers. Commended to the Presse by B. R." (Barnabee Rich) 4to. bl. lett. Lond. 1593.

Concerning the great rarity of this interesting tract, which was unknown to the Rev. A. Dyce when publishing his edition of Greene's works, your readers may see a notice by Mr. Collier in his _Extracts from the Registry of the Stat. Comp._, vol. ii. p. 233., apparently from the present copy, no other being known.

THOS. CORSER.

Stand Rectory.

THE DUTCH MARTYROLOGY.

(Vol. iii., p. 443.)

Besides the copy of the above work mentioned by your correspondent J. H. T., several others are known to exist in this country. Among them I may mention one in the library of the Baptist College, Bristol. My own copy was supplied by a London bookseller, who has likewise imported several other copies from Holland, where it is by no means a scarce work.

The second illustrated edition was published twenty years after the decease of Van Braght. The first edition, without engravings, now before me, appeared in 1660, which was the edition used by Danvers. But Danvers does not appear to have known its existence, when the first edition of his treatise came out in 1673. The "large additions" of his second edition in 1674, are chiefly made from the work of Van Braght.

The original portion of Van Braght's work is, however, confined to the first part. The second part, _The Martyrology_, strictly so called, is of much earlier date. Many single narratives appeared at the time, and collections of these were early made. The earliest collection of martyrdoms bears the date of 1542. This was enlarged in 1562, 1578, 1580, and 1595. This fact I give on the authority of Professor Müller of Amsterdam, from the _Jaarboekje voor de Doopsgezinde Gemeenten in de Nederlanden, 1838 en 1839_, pp. 102, 103.

An edition, dated 1599, of these very rare books is now before me. It has the following curious and affecting title:

"Dit Boeck wort genaemt: Het Offer des Heeren, Om het inhout van sommige opgeofferde Kinderen Gods, de welcke voort gebrocht hebben, wt den goeden schat haers herten, Belijdinghen, Sentbrieuen ende Testamenten, de welcke sy met den monde beleden, ende met den bloede bezeghelt hebben, &c. &c. Tot Harlinghen. By my Peter Sebastiaenzoon, Int jaer ons Heeren MDXCIX."

It is a thick 12mo. of 229 folios, and contains the martyrdoms of thirty-three persons (the first of which is Stephen), which were subsequently embodied in the larger martyrologies. Each narrative is followed by a versified version of it. A small book of hymns is added, some of them composed by the martyrs; and the letters and confession of one Joos de Tollenaer, who was put to death at Ghent in 1589.

In 1615, a large collection of these narratives appeared at Haarlem in a thick 4to. volume. The compilers were Hans de Ries, Jaques Outerman, and Joost Govertsoon, all eminent Mennonite ministers. Two editions followed from the press of Zacharias Cornelis at Hoorn in 1617 and 1626, both in 4to., but under different editorship. The last edition was offensive to the Haarlem editors, who therefore published a fourth at Haarlem in 1631. As its title is brief, I will give it from the copy in my library:

"Martelaers Spiegel der Werelose Christenen t' zedert A. D. 1524. Joan, xv. 20. Matt. x. 28. Esai, li. 7. Joan xvi. 2. 1 Pet. iv. 19. [All quoted at length.] Gedrukt tot Haarlem Bij Hans Passchiers van Wesbusch. In't Jaer onses Heeren, 1631."

This edition is in small folio. The title-page is from a copperplate, and is adorned with eight small engravings, representing scenes of suffering and persecution from scripture. The narratives of martyrs extends from 1524 to 1624. It is this work which forms the basis of Van Braght's. He added to it the whole of his first part, and also some additional narratives in the second. To the best of his ability he verified the whole.

These works are frequently referred to by Ottius in his _Annales Anabaptistici_ under the titles "Martyrologium Harlemense" and "Martyrologium Hornanum."

From a paper in the _Archivs für Kunde österreichischer Geschichtsquellen_, I learn that a MS. exists in the City library of Hamburgh, with the following title:

"Chronickel oder Denkbüechel darinnen mit kurtzen Begriffen, Was sich vom 1524 Jar, Bis auff gegenwärtige Zeit, in der gemain zuegetragen, vnd wie viel trewer Zeugen Jesu Christij die warheit Gottes so riterlich mit irem bluet bezeugt. 1637."

The work appears chiefly confined to a history of the Moravian Anabaptists: but from passages given by the writer, Herr Gregor Wolny, it is evident that it contains many of the narratives given by Van Braght. The earlier portion of the MS. was written previous to 1592, when its writer or compiler died. Three continuators carried on the narrations to 1654. The last date in it is June 7, 1654; when Daniel Zwicker, in his own handwriting, records his settlement as pastor over a Baptist church. Mention is made of this MS. by Ottius, and by Fischer in his _Tauben-kobel_, p. 33., &c. For any additional particulars respecting it, I should feel greatly obliged.

It does not appear to be known to your correspondent that a translation of the second part of Van Braght's work has been commenced in this country, of which the first volume was issued by the Hanserd Knollys Society last year. A translation of the entire work appeared in 1837, in Pennsylvania, U. S., for the use of the Mennonite churches, emigrants from Holland and Germany to whom the language of their native land had become a strange tongue.

E. B. U.

33. Moorgate Street, London.

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Spick and Span New_ (Vol. iii., p. 330.).--The corresponding _German_ word is _Spann-nagel-neu_, which may be translated as "New from the stretching needle;" and corroborates the meaning given by you. I may remark the French have no equivalent phrase. It is evidently a familiar allusion of the clothmakers of England and Germany.

BENBOW.

Birmingham.

_Under the Rose_ (Vol. iii., pp. 300.).--There is an old Club in this town (Birmingham) called the "Bear Club," and established (ut dic.) circa 1738, formerly of some repute. Among other legends of the Club, is one, that in the centre of the ceiling of their dining-room was once a carved rose, and that the members always drank as a first toast, to "The health of the King," [under the rose], meaning the Pretender.

BENBOW.

_Handel's Occasional Oratorio_ (Vol. iii., p. 426.).--The "Occasional Oratorio" is a separate composition, containing an overture, 10 recitatives, 21 airs, 1 duet, and 15 choruses. It was produced in the year 1745. It is reported, I know not on what authority, that the King having ordered Handel to produce a new oratorio on a given day, and the artist having answered that it was impossible to do it in the time (which must have been unreasonably short, to extort such a reply from the intellect that produced _The Messiah_ in three weeks, and _Israel in Egypt_ in four), his Majesty deigned no other answer than that done it must and should be, whether possible or not, and that the result was the putting forward of the "Occasional Oratorio."

The structure of the oratorio, which was evidently a very hurried composition, gives a strong air of probability to the anecdote. Evidently no libretto was written for it; the words tell no tale, are totally unconnected, and not even always tolerable English, a fine chorus (p. 39. Arnold) going to the words "Him or his God we no fear." It is rather a collection of sacred pieces, strung together literally without rhyme or reason in the oratorio form, than one oratorio. The examination of it leads one to the conclusion, that the composer took from his portfolio such pieces as he happened to have at hand, strung them together as he best could, and made up the necessary quantity by selections from his other works. Accordingly we find in it the pieces "The Horse and his Rider," "Thou shalt bring them in," "Who is like unto Thee?" "The Hailstone Chorus," "The Enemy said I will pursue," from _Israel in Egypt_, written in 1738; the chorus "May God from whom all Mercies spring," from _Athaliah_ (1733); and the chorus "God save the King, long live the King," from the _Coronation Anthem_ of 1727. There is also the air "O! Liberty," which he afterwards (in 1746) employed in _Judas Maccabæus_. Possibly some other pieces of this oratorio may be found also in some of Handel's other works, not sufficiently stamped on my memory for me to recognise them; but I may remark that the quantity of _Israel in Egypt_ found in it may perhaps have so connected it in some minds with that glorious composition as to have led to the practice referred to of prefixing in performance the overture to the latter work, to which, although the introductory movement, the fine adagio, and grand march are fit enough, the light character of the fugue is, it must be confessed, singularly inappropriate.

I am not aware of any other "occasion" than that of the King's will, which led to the composition of this oratorio.

D. X.

_Stone Chalice_ (Vol. ii., p. 120.).--They are found in the ancient churches in Ireland, and some are preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and in private collections. A beautiful specimen is engraved in Wakeman's _Handbook of Irish Antiquities_, p. 161.

R. H.

_Thanksgiving Book_ (Vol. iii., p. 328.).--The charge for a "Thanksgiving Book," mentioned by A CHURCHWARDEN, was no doubt for a Book of Prayers, &c., on some general thanksgiving day, probably after the battle of Blenheim and the taking of Gibraltar, which would be about the month of November. A similar charge appears in the Churchwardens' accounts for the parish of _Eye, Suffolk_, at a much earlier period, viz. 1684, which you may probably deem worthy of insertion in your pages:

"_Payments._ _l._ _s._ _d._

"It. To Flegg for sweepinge and dressinge upp the church the nynth of September beeinge A day of _Thanks-givinge_ for his Ma'ties deliv'ance from the Newkett Plot 00 03 00

"It. For twoe _Bookes_ for the 9th of September aforesaid 00 01 00"

J. B. COLMAN.

Eye, April 29, 1851.

_Carved Ceiling in Dorsetshire_ (Vol. iii., p. 424.).--Philip, King of Castile (father to Charles V.), was forced by foul weather into Weymouth Harbour. He was hospitably entertained by Sir Thomas Trenchard, who invited Mr. Russell of Kingston Russell to meet him. King Philip took such delight in his company that at his departure he recommended him to King Henry VII. as a person of spirit "fit to stand before princes, and not before mean men." He died in 1554, and was the ancestor of the Bedford family. Sir Thomas Trenchard probably had the ceiling. See Fuller's _Worthies_ (_Dorsetshire_), vol. i. p. 313.

A. HOLT WHITE.

The house of which your correspondent has heard his tradition is certainly _Woolverton House_, in the parish of Charminster, near this town.

It was built by Sir Thomas Trenchard, who died 20 Hen. VIII.; and tradition holds, as history tells us, that Phillip, Archduke of Austria, and King of Castile, with his queen _Juana_, or _Joanna_, were driven by weather into the port of Weymouth: and that Sir Thomas Trenchard, then the High Sheriff of the county, invited their majesties to his house, and afforded them entertainment that was no less gratifying than timely.