Part 2

"In the _Turnament of Tottenham_, ver. 75. (_Anc. Poet._, vol. ii. p. 18.), Tibbe is introduced with 'a garland on her head full of _ruell_ bones.' The derivation in Gloss. Urr. of this word from the French _riolé_, diversely coloured, has not the least probability. The other, which deduces it from the French _rouelle_, _rotula_, the whirl-bone or knee-pan, is more plausible; though, as the glossarist observes, that sense will hardly suit here."--Chaucer, by Thomas Tyrwhitt, Esq. Pickering: London, 1830.

"His saddle was of _ruel_ bone."

Chaucer, by Thomas Speght. London, 1687.

And its Glossary says:

"RUELL BONE, _f._ of the French word _riolé_, that is, diversely colored: an Antistæcon in many words derived from another language; as, in _Law_ from _Loy_, and _Roy_ from _Rex_."

So far the printed attempts at explaining this term _ruell_. May I submit for the consideration of your readers, that it is related to the French adjective _rouillé_, rusty; used by Molière in the form _enrouillé_. Evidently this has affinity to _ruber_, _rouge_, and _red_. So that Tibbe's garland would be of tortoise-shell combs: and the saddle would be of a similar nature.

_La Ryole_ is found as the name of the tenement occupied by Thomas le Bat (temp. Ed. III.?) Was this the sign of "The Comb," which is so often seen in the windows of our present shops?

J. W. P.

_Curious Facts in Natural History_ (Vol. iii., pp. 166, 398.).--In St. Lucia a coleopterous insect is found with a small plant growing directly from the back. I have myself seen it; but the plant consisted merely of the first two leaflets.

E. H. B.

Demerary.

Queries.

PAPAL BULLS, ETC.

A correspondent (S. P. H. T.) inquires, 1. Has there been any authorised collection of Papal Bulls, Breves, Encyclical Letters, &c., published since the beginning of the present century?

2. If not, has there been any authorised list of those addressed to the Roman Catholic Church in England or Ireland?

3. What bulls have, during the last century, been published against Bible Societies, &c., and where will I find _authorised_ copies of them, more particularly those of Pope Pius VII., bearing date 29th June, 1816, and directed to the Primate of Poland; that of 18th September, 1819, against the circulation of the Scriptures in the Irish Schools; that of Leo XII., dated 3rd May, 1824, directed to the Irish clergy, which last is the latest I am acquainted with?

4. What authority is there for using the "Form of receiving Converts from the Church of Rome," as published by the British Reformation Society? Does it occur in _any_ edition of the Book of Common Prayer?

5. What authority is there for the occasional services of 5th November, 30th January, 29th May, and 20th June? Some of these are, I am aware, specially directed by act of parliament; but the point upon which I wish to obtain information is, what the precise amount of obligation is that exists on the officiating minister to use or neglect the services in the absence of any specific directions on the matter from his Ordinary?

6. What authority is there for the use of the Gloria immediately after the minister's announcing the Gospel. No rubric _now_ appears to recognise it?

7. At what period did the practice of playing "a voluntary" upon the organ during the collection of the alms originate? And what is the earliest record of the alms being collected after the communion service and before the sermon, and not after the prayer for the Church Militant?

S. P. H. T.

[The Editor will be happy to insert a reply pointing out sources of information. It is obvious that this is all which the limits of the work and the claims of other correspondents and readers will allow, when questions are proposed which contain many, and some of them difficult and disputed, points.]

SIR WALTER RALEIGH IN VIRGINIA.

I remember having read, some time ago, a statement in the public prints, to the effect that the popular belief, as to Sir Walter Raleigh having visited Virginia, was unfounded: the fact being, that he had projected such a voyage, and that the vessels equipped by him for that purpose had actually reached that country; but that the illustrious voyager himself was prevented by some circumstance from conducting the expedition. This statement seemed to have been elicited by one of the subjects proposed for the decorations of the new Houses of Parliament, namely, "Sir Walter Raleigh landing in Virginia," and the idea was exploded with so much assurance that I had ceased to give it any credence. I find, however, in Hallam's _Literature of Europe_, 2nd edition, vol. iii. p. 179., that the fact of Sir Walter's having been in Virginia is relied upon by that historian, in the following passage:

"Harriott, the companion of Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia, and the friend of the Earl of Northumberland, in whose house he spent the latter part of his life, was destined to make the last great discovery in the pure science of algebra."

Are there any data to support Mr. Hallam's opinion? Such is his general accuracy, that few would be disposed to question any statement deliberately put forward by him. In this instance, however, he may have adopted, without inquiry, the tradition which has been current for the last two hundred and fifty years.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, July, 1851.

Minor Queries.

134. _Wife of St. Patrick._--Will some one of your Irish contributors inform me when the 18th of March began to be celebrated in honour of S. Sheelagh, and the ground on which it is asserted that she was the wife of St. Patrick? I cannot find that St. Patrick was married; I am aware, however, that the silence of the usual authorities goes but a little way to disprove the popular tradition, as in days when women were but beginning to assume their present equable station, the mention of a wife at any time would be only casual.

W. DN.

135. _Meaning of Mop._--In the midland counties, servants are hired by the year in the following manner. On the several Tuesdays about Michaelmas, all who wish for engagements collect together at the different towns and villages, whither the masters resort for the purpose of hiring them. Those meetings which occur previous to Michaelmas day are called _statute-fairs_, while those which take place after that day are termed _mops_. Query, What is the derivation of this word? I have been told that the later assemblies are so called because they consist of the inferior servants who were not engaged before,--such as use a _mop_ instead of sweeping clean and scouring. A friend conjectures that the name implies "an indiscriminate _mopping-up_ of all sorts, the greater number of servants having gone before, and there being only a few left." I have no book to which I can refer for information on this subject.

J. H. C.

Adelaide, South Australia.

136. _William Lovel of Tarent Rawson._--In Hutchins's _Dorset_, vol. i. p. 91., is a pedigree of _Lovel_ of Tarrant Rawson carried back to the later years of Hen. VII. In that genealogy the first person is described as _William Lovel_ of Tarent Rawson, alias "_Antiocheston_." Under what circumstances did he come by this cognomen? Was he connected with any branch of the house of Yvery, and in what manner?

The arms are Barry nebulé of six O. and G., quartering 2. Arg. a cheveron G. between three ermines; 3. Erm. a cheveron sab.; 4. Erm. on a chief indented G. three ducks A.

Crest: a fox az. bezanté collared with a coronet O.

AMANUENSIS.

137. _Cagots._--Can any of your readers give me any information about the Cagots in the south of France, whose history has been written by Mons. Michel, in a work entitled _Sur les Races Maudits_? There seems to be great doubt about their origin; are they remnants either of the Saracens or the Paulicians? They still, I am told, exist in the deep Pyrenean vallies, and are a most degraded race. Is there any analogy between them and the Cretins of the Alps, with the difference, that in the Alps Cretinism is regarded with kindness, in the Pyrenees with scorn? If so, does this point to the existence of a Celtic and non-Celtic element in the races inhabiting the respective mountain chains? idiotcy being reverenced especially among the Celtic races. Then, as before the first French revolution, the Cagots had a particular place and door set apart for them in the churches. Does not this look like their being Paulicians forced into orthodoxy, or equally, perhaps, Saracen Christians, similar to the Jew Christians of Spain?

RUSTICUS.

138. _Execution under singular Circumstances._--I have read somewhere, but failed to "make a note of it" at the time, an anecdote of a singular occurrence at Winchester, to the following effect.

Some years ago a man was apprehended near ----, in Hampshire, charged with a capital offence (sheep-stealing I believe). After being examined before a justice of the peace, he was committed to the county gaol at Winchester for trial at the ensuing assizes. The evidence against the man was too strong to admit of any doubt of his guilt; he was consequently convicted, and sentence of death (rigidly enforced for this crime at the period alluded to) pronounced. Months and years passed away, but no warrant for his execution arrived. In the interval a marked improvement in the man's conduct and bearing became apparent. His natural abilities were good, his temper mild, and his general desire to please attracted the attention and engaged the confidence of the governor of the prison, who at length employed him as a domestic servant; and such was his reliance on his integrity, that he even employed him in executing commissions not only in the city, but to places at a great distance from it. After a considerable lapse of time, however, the awful instrument, which had been inadvertently concealed among other papers, was discovered, and at once forwarded to the high sheriff, and by the proper authority to the unfortunate delinquent himself. My purpose is brief relation only; suffice it to say the unhappy man is stated under these affecting circumstances to have suffered the last penalty of the law.

Query, Can any of your readers inform me if this extraordinary story is founded on fact?

M. W. B.

139. _Rhynsault and Sapphira._--Whence did Steele derive the story of these personages in the _Spectator_ (No. 491.)? A similar story is told by Jeremy Taylor, from John Chokier (_Duct. Dubit._, book iii. chap. ii. rule 5. quæst. 3.); and that of Colonel Kyrke furnishes another parallel.

A TR.

140. _Mallet's Second Wife._--I should be glad to know in what year the second wife of Mallet died. It is stated that he returned from abroad shortly before his death, without his wife.

F.

141. _Proverb, what constitutes one?_--What distinguishes a proverb, and is essential to its being such, as distinct from a short familiar sentence?

QUERE.

142. _Presant Family._--Any information respecting the ancient family of Presant, which is now nearly extinct, will oblige

SYLLA.

143. _The Serpent represented with a human Head._--Is Raphael the only painter who depicts the serpent with a _human_ head tempting Eve? and what is the origin of the legend?

G. CREED.

144. _Dr. Wotton._--Is there any genealogical connexion between Sir Henry Wotton, the Venetian ambassador, and the Rev. Henry Wotton of Suffolk, father of the eminent Dr. William Wotton? And where is the pedigree to be found?

S. W. RIX.

Beccles.

145. _[Greek: Kolobodaktylos.]_--In the seventh book of Origen's _Philosophumena_, chap. xxx., speaking of Marcion, the writer says:

"When therefore Marcion, or any of his currish followers, barks at the Demiurgus, bringing forward these arguments about the opposition of good and evil, they must be told that neither the Apostle Paul, nor Mark [Greek: ho kolobodaktylos] (_i.e._ the stump-fingered), promulgated any such doctrines; for nothing of the kind is found written in the Gospel according to Mark."

Is this epithet of Mark the Evangelist mentioned by any other of the fathers, or is it known how it originated? It is also to be remarked that Luke, not Mark, according to the received opinion, was the evangelist whose authority Marcion admitted, and whose text he tampered with to suit his own views. Is Origen supported in his account of the matter by any other writer?

C. W. G.

146. _Essex's Expedition to Ireland._--It is a matter of history that the celebrated Earl of Essex in Queen Elizabeth's time left London in March 1599, in command of a great expedition against Ireland, accompanied by a numerous train of nobility and gentry and other retainers.

At what office and to what quarter is one to apply for the purpose of discovering the _Muster Roll_ made upon that occasion? There must be some documents, bills, letters, &c., relating to that expedition, the object of the querist being to ascertain whether his own name, "Jackson," can be found in any of these documents, as he has reason to think that any ancestor of his was one of the battle-axe guards in Dublin at that period.

J.

147. _Decretorum Doctor._--Is this title given at either of our universities? And what is its precise meaning? It not uncommonly occurs in the documents of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and that it is not the same as Doctor of Laws may be concluded from the following examples:--The publication of a Pope's Bull by the Bishop of London, in the chapel of his palace in London on May 16, 1503, is stated to have been made "Præsentibus tunc ibidem, Venerabilibus viris, Willielmo Mors, et Johanne Younge, _Legum_, et Thoma Wodyngton, _Decretorum_, Doctoribus, Testibus," &c. (_Rymer_, xiii. 61.) And in Wood's _Athen._, 1845 (ii. 728.), we find the same "Tho. Wodynton, decr. doctor," collated to the church of St Mary le Bow, on the resignation of the same "Joh'is Yonge, LL.D." on May 3, 1514.

[Greek: Ph.]

148. _Grimsdyke or Grimesditch._--If you do not deem the following Query too trifling for your most invaluable publication, I should be much obliged if you would insert it, in hopes some of your antiquarian correspondents may find something to say on the point.

From near Great Berkhampstead, Hants, to Bradenham, Bucks, about fifteen miles (I write from memory), runs a vallum or ditch, called Grimsdyke, Grimesditch, or the Devil's Dyke: it is of considerable boldness of profile, being in some places twelve or fourteen feet from the crest of the parapet to the bottom of the ditch; it keeps within two miles of the crest of the Chiltern Hills, and is passingly mentioned in Lipscombe's _History of Bucks_, and in the commencement of Clutterbuck's _History of Hertfordshire_. Are there other earthworks of the same name (Grimsdyke) in England; and what was their former use? This one in question, from its total want of flank defence, could hardly hold an enemy in check for long; nor does it seem to have been a military way connecting detached forts, as, though there are earthworks (camps) on either side, it seems to hold a tolerably straight course independent of them. And, lastly, about the etymology of the word:--I find, in Bosworth's _Anglo-Saxon Dictionary_, among a host of other meanings:

"GRIMA, ghost, phantom, witch, hag."

I may mention that there is the tradition about the dyke, common to most works of the sort, that it was "done by the Devil in a night."

NAUTICUS.

H.M.S. Phaiton, Lisbon, Aug 25.

149. _Passage in Luther._--In Luther's _Responsio ad librum Ambrosii Catharini_, where he attacks the confessional, he says:

"Cogit etiam papa peccata suarum legum confiteri--ad hæc tot peccatorum differentiis, speciebus, generibus, _filiabus_, _nepotibus_, _ramis_, circumstantiis," &c.

Were these expressions merely jocular, or have any papal canonists or casuists given the title of _filiæ_, _nepotes_ or _rami_ to offences deducible from the same root?

H. W.

150. _Linteamina and Surplices._--What is the meaning of _linteamina_ to be met with in the writings of ecclesiologists of a past age, and in the canonists?

At what date did the surplice first become an ecclesiastical vestment, and what are the differences discernible in the surplices of the Greek, Latin, and English churches?

J. Y.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Ellrake or Hellrake._--Can you kindly give me any information respecting the word _ell-rake_ or _hell-rake_ (for I know not which it is), an agricultural implement in frequent use? It is not alluded to in Todd's _Johnson's Dictionary_, 1818.

VASHTI.

[In Shropshire an _ell-rake_ means a large rake: an _ellock-rake_, a small rake used for breaking up ant-hills.]

_Francis Clerke._--I have now before me a MS. in small folio on paper, pp. 225., besides index, entitled--

"Pro Curatorium ac Modus postulandi in Curijs et Causis ecclesiasticis Auct'at'e reverendissimi in Christi patris ac D[=m]i D[=m]i Johannis providentia Divina Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi, totius Anglie Prima'ts et Metropolitani Londoni celebr[=a] que communiter Curie de Arcubus appellantur. Per Franciscum Clerke, Alme Curie de Arcubus procuren' collecta et edita."

Who was Francis Clerke; and was this collection ever published, and when?

S. P. H. T.

[Francis Clerke for about forty years practised the civil law in the Court of Arches, Admiralty, Audience, Prerogative, and Consistorial of the Bishop of London. In 1594, the Oxford University conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law. His principal work, entitled _Praxis curiæ Admiralitatis Angliæ_, passed through several editions. A short notice of the author will be found in Wood's _Athenæ_, i. 657. (Bliss), and a list of his other works in Watt's _Bibliotheca Britannica_.]

_Nine Days' Wonder._--Did any particular circumstance give rise to the saying, "A nine days' wonder?"

W. R. M.

[Most probably Kemp's _Nine Daies Wonder_, performed in a Morrice Daunce from London to Norwich, wherein euery dayes iourney is pleasantly set downe, to satisfie his friends the truth against all lying ballad-makers; what he did, how he was welcome, and by whome entertained.--This very curious tract has been reprinted by the Camden Society.]

_Streso._--In a book by Cradock on the Lives of the Apostles, published in 1641, I find many extracts and quotations in Latin from Streso in _Pref. de Vit. Apostolorum_. As I cannot find out or hear of such an author or book of Streso, could you inform one who he was?

LINCOLNIENSIS.

[The work is in the Bodleian Library: "Streso (Casp.), Anhaltinus, _Commentarius practicus in Actorum Apostolicorum per Lucam Evangelistam descriptorum capita priora sedecim_. 4to. Amst. 1650." The same library contains five other works by this author.]

_The Willow Garland._--In the Third Part of _King Henry VI._ (Act III. Sc. 3.), the Lady Bona sends this message to King Edward, uttered, as the messenger afterwards reports to him, "with mild disdain:"

"Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower shortly, I'll wear the willow garland for his sake."

As I find no note upon the willow garland in any edition of Shakspeare to which I have access, I should be obliged by having its meaning explained in your columns.

ARUN.

[The willow is considered as the emblem of despairing love, and is often associated with the yew and the cypress in the churchyard: hence, a garland made of the boughs of the willow was said to be worn by forlorn lovers. In _Much Ado about Nothing_, Act II. Sc. 1., Benedick says,--"I offered him my company to a willow-tree, either to make him a garland, as being forsaken, or to bind him up a rod, as being worthy to be whipped."]

_Name of Nun._--Can any of your readers inform me on what principle it is that the name of Nun ([Hebrew]), the father of Joshua, is expressed in the Septuagint by [Greek: nauê]? I cannot help regarding the substitution of [Greek: auê] for [Hebrew] as a very singular circumstance, more especially as it seems impossible to account for it by the conjecture that [Hebrew] had been mistaken by the LXX for any letter that would be likely to be represented in Greek by [Greek: ê]. There are but few proper names in the Hebrew Scriptures that terminate in [Hebrew] and the way in which these are expressed in the Septuagint affords, I believe, no analogy to the above case.

QUIDAM.

Gillingham.

[The explanation usually given, after Gesenius, is that early copyists mistook [Greek: NAUN] for [Greek: NAUÊ]; and as some MSS. have [Greek: Nabi] and [Greek: Nabê], it is supposed that later copyists thought that it was the Hebrew [Hebrew].]

"_M. Lominus, Theologus._"--Is there any printed account of this divine, or of a work on the Pelagian and Manichæan heresies which he published at Ghent in 1675?

S. W. RIX.

Beccles.

[The Bodleian Library contains a work by M. Lominus, entitled, _Blakloanæ Hæresis Historia et Confutatio_. 4to. Gandavi, 1675.]

Replies.

REMARKS UPON SOME RECENT QUERIES.

1. Without wishing to protract the discussion about _eisell_, let me tell the correspondent who questioned whether wormwood could be an ingredient in any palatable drink, that _crême d'absinthe_ ordinarily appears with noyau, &c. in a Parisian restaurateur's list of luxurious cordials. Whilst that _eisell_ was equivalent to wormwood is confirmed by its being joined with gall, in a page of Queen Elizabeth's book of prayers, which caught my eye in one of those presses in the library of the British Museum, where various literary curiosities are now so judiciously arranged, and laid open for public inspection.

2. As a decisive affirmation of what _rack_ meant, where the word was the derivative of the Saxon pecan, your correspondents may accept the following from our martyr, Frith's, _Revelation of Antichrist_. He renders the second clause of 2 Peter ii. 17., "And racks carried about of a tempest;" and he immediately adds, "Racks are like clouds, but they give no rain."

3. In answer to MR. BREEN'S inquiry where there is any evidence from the writings of Gregory I., that he could be so shameless as to panegyrise that female monster Queen Brunéhaut, he may read some of that Pope's flattering language in his letter addressed to her on behalf of that Augustine whom he sent to England, as contained in Spelman's _Concilia_. Epist. xvii. (_Brunichildæ, Reginæ Francorum_) begins as follows:

"Gratias omnipotenti Deo referimus, qui inter cætera pietatis suæ dona, quæ excellentiæ vestræ largitus est, _ita vos amore Christianæ religionis implevit, ut quicquid ad animarum lucrum_, quicquid ad propagationem fidei pertinere cognoscitis, _devota mente et pio operari studio_ non cessetis.... Et quidem hæc de Christianitate vestra mirentur alii, quibus adhuc beneficia vestra minus sunt cognita; nam nobis, quibus experimentis jam nota sunt, non mirandum est, sed gaudendum."--Spelm. _Concil._ p. 82.

And in Epist. xi.:

"Excellentia ergo vestra, _quæ prona in bonis consuevit esse operibus_."--Id. p. 77.

4. The etymology of Fontainebleau (Vol. iv., p. 38.). I can only speak from memory of what was read long ago. But I think that in one of Montfaucon's works, probably _Les Monumens de la Monarchie Française_, he ascribed the origin of that name to the discovery of a spring amongst the sandy rocks of that forest by a hound called _Bleau_, to the great satisfaction of a thirsty French monarch who was then hunting there, and was thereby induced to erect a hunting-seat near the spring.