Part 3

If they were grooms of horses, society was in a very different state from that in which it is at the present day; if they were not such grooms, what then were they? I believe they were unmarried persons. First, there is Samuel Weeks, of South Tawton, groom; will proved in the Archdeacon of Exeter's Court, 1639. His father was Richard Weeks, styled gentleman in the parish register; and Samuel Weeks signs his name in a peculiarly fine Italian hand, that I do not remember to have seen in any instance of that time except in that of a thorough gentleman.

Francis Kingwell, of Crediton, groom. His will was proved in the Bishop's Court in 1639; his sister married a Richard Hole, of South Tawton, yeoman of substance; her second husband was John Weeks, of South Tawton, gentleman, and his sons were gentlemen. These Weekses were, I doubt not, nearly related to the Wykes or Weeks, of North Wyke, in the same parish, a family of great antiquity.

Thirdly, here is John Hole, of South Tawton, groom, 1640. His inventory is 180_l._, of which 4_l._ was for his clothes, whereas a gentleman in one case in this neighbourhood has his clothes valued at ten shillings; Kingwell's inventory was the same.

Robert Hole, of Zeal Monachorum, groom, is the fourth instance. His will was proved at Westminster in 1654; he was the son of a wealthy yeoman, and his brother, Thomas Hole, was a gentleman.

I trouble you that I may learn, through your kindness, whether _groom_, in these instances, was used with the meaning which we attach to it; or at that time, or in the English language, or the vernacular tongue of central Devonshire, meant anything else.

E. DAVIS PROTHEROE.

Minor Queries.

_Gregentius and the Jews in Arabia Felix._--

"We have a remarkable instance to this purpose in ecclesiastical history, which is attested by many and great authors. It seems, about 400 years after our Saviour's ascension, one Gregentius, a bishop, endeavoured the conversion of those Jews which lived in Arabia Felix. After a tedious disputation of three days' continuance some of the Jews desired the bishop to show them Jesus alive, and it would convince them. Immediately upon this the earth began to tremble, and the sky to shine and echo with lightnings and thunder. After these ceased, the gates of the celestial palace opened, and a bright serene cloud appeared, darting forth beams of an extraordinary lustre. At last our blessed Saviour showed himself walking on this bright cloud, and a voice was heard from this excellent glory saying, 'I am He who was crucified by your fathers.' This glorious appearance cast all the Jews prostrate on the ground, and, beating their breasts, they cried with a loud voice, 'Lord have mercy on us!' and afterwards were baptised into the faith of Christ."--_Sermons_ by John March, B.D., late Vicar of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 2nd ed. 1699, p. 235.

Who are the "many and great authors" who have attested this extraordinary apparition?

E. H. A.

_King Street Theatre._--Among a large collection of medallic tickets of admission to theatres, I am unable to fix the precise attribution of the following:

Ob.: A group of dramatic emblems, mask, sword, mirror, scourge, and a legend:

"Spectas et tu spectabere. King Street Theatre."

Rev.:

"Admit Mr. Cooper, or bearer, to any part of the house before the curtain."

The ticket is of silver, and is evidently of the time of Garrick; it cannot therefore apply to the theatre in King Street, St. James's, which is of recent erection; nor am I aware of any other King Street in London which contained a theatre. Its situation will most probably be found in some provincial town.

If any of your obliging correspondents could furnish information as to its locality, they would confer a favour on the writer.

B. N.

_Lesteras and Emencin._--In an old MS. I meet with the following words:--

"One (a pillar) was made of _Lefteras_ (I do not know whether the third letter is an _s_ or an _f_ in the original) which would not burn."

"After they came to the land of _Emencin_, which is the country of Jerusalem."

Can any of your readers give me any information as to either of the words _Lesteras_ or _Emencin_?

O. OGLE.

Oxford.

_Epigram on Franklin and Wedderburn._--Will any of your correspondents acquaint me with the name of the author of the following lines, written shortly after Dr. Franklin's attendance at the Privy Council in January, 1774, in allusion to Wedderburn's severe remarks upon him?--

"Sarcastic Sawney, full of spite and hate, On modest Franklin poured his venal prate; The calm philosopher without reply Withdrew--and gave his country liberty."

The lines were repeated to me by the late Francis Maseres, Esq., Cursitor Baron of the Court of Exchequer.

W. S.

Richmond, Surrey.

_Plenius and his Lyrichord._--May I hope to ascertain, through the medium of your journal, where to look for information on the subject of the "lyrichord of Plenius," referred to in Rees' _Encyclopædia_, art. "Basse Fondamentale," as having been "tuned by weights instead of tension?" The point left in doubt by this, is whether a single weight was substituted for tension, or whether the different notes in the musical scale were produced by altering the weight according to the rules for that purpose.

Was Plenius an ancient, a Middle-Age man, or was he _Herr Plen_, who latinized his name, as was the fashion a century or two ago?

T.

_Epigram on Burnet._--A friend of mine across the Atlantic wishes to ask, whether any one knows where the following epigram, which he remembers in MS. in an old folio copy of Burnet's _History_, comes from:--

"If Heaven is pleas'd when sinners cease to sin, If Hell is pleas'd when sinners enter in, If men are pleas'd at parting with a knave, Then all are pleas'd--for Burnet's in his grave."

C. B.

_Dutch Chronicle of the World._--Will any of your readers oblige me with information respecting a Dutch work, professing to be an historical chronicle of the world from the creation to the time in which it was printed, which was in the days of _Merian_, the celebrated engraver, father to the naturalist Madame Merian, who was also an artist of some repute. The work I allude to was illustrated by numerous spirited engravings (supposed to have been executed on _pewter_), and of which I possess several hundred, which had been cut out of the letter-press which surrounded the prints, and bought at a stall in London many years back. I question whether there is a copy of the work to be found in England, except it be in the British Museum.

JOHN FENTON.

"_Arborei foetus alibi, atque injussa virescunt Gramina_" (_Virgil G._ I. 55.).--Amongst my school reminiscences, I retain very distinctly the remembrance of the surprise we felt in the sixth form, when we were desired by our revered and excellent master to construe the above words as follows:

"'Arborei foetus,' _flourish unbidden in one situation, grass in another_."

Or, more literally:

"'Arborei foetus,' _flourish unbidden in situations different from those in which grass (flourishes unbidden)_."

I well remember too, that some of us, while we admired the ingenuity, ventured to doubt the correctness of the translation. Will some of your learned correspondents kindly favour me with their opinions?

W. S.

_History of Brittany._--I shall feel obliged to any one who can refer me to a good history or histories of Brittany; more especially to those which relate to the genealogies and heraldry of the Breton families, or which contain pedigrees.

T. H. KERSLEY, B.A.

_Serjeants' Rings._--T. P. would be obliged to any of your antiquarian readers who could inform him, through the medium of your paper, whether the custom of serjeants-at-law presenting rings with mottoes, on taking the coif, prevailed so long back as A.D. 1670-80, and, if so, whether there are any records, or other sources, from which he could ascertain the motto used by an individual who was admitted to that degree about that period?

_The Duchess of Cleveland's Cow-pox._--In Baron's _Life of Jenner_, Vol. i. p. 123., there occurs the following note, extracted from one of Dr. Jenner's note-books of 1799:

"I know of no direct allusion to the disease in any ancient author, yet the following seems not very distantly to bear upon it. When the Duchess of Cleveland was taunted by her companions, Moll Davis (Lady Mary Davis) and others, that she might soon have to deplore the loss of that beauty which was then her boast, the small-pox at that time raging in London, she made a reply to this effect,--that she had no fear about the matter, for she had had a disorder which would prevent her from ever catching the small-pox. This was lately communicated by a gentleman in this county, but unfortunately he could not recollect from what author he gained his intelligence."

Can any reader of "N. & Q." supply this missing authority for a fact which is very important in the history of medicine--if true?

ONETWOTHREE.

_Arms of Manchester._--What are the arms of Manchester? and are they of ancient usage? or only assigned to the town since its incorporation? and if the latter, whence did the bearings originate?

H. H. H. V.

_Heraldical MSS. of Sir Henry St. George Garter._--What has become of these valuable MSS.? and if the place of their deposit is known, can access be obtained to them for literary purposes? They were, as Noble relates, originally sold into the Egmont family, and descended to John James, the third Earl; but some time after his death, about the year 1831, all the personal property of the family was disposed of; the effects at Enmore Castle were sold by auction on the spot; and the writer of this well remembers seeing the old family pictures preparing for the same fate in a sales-room in Conduit Street, he thinks of Mr. Abbots. Mr. Braithwaite, of Great Russell Street, was the auctioneer employed at Enmore, and an inquiry was made of him at the time relative to these MSS., and the answer was, that they also were destined to the hammer. A catalogue also was promised whenever it should come out. The writer was subsequently informed that the MSS. were withdrawn, and he could never learn what became of them.

M----N.

Minor Queries Answered.

_The Pelican, as a Symbol of the Saviour._--Is the pelican now, or was it formerly considered as a symbol of Our Saviour? I have seen it used in the ancient decorations of churches, but never looked on it as such; nor can I remember ever having seen it mentioned as an emblem of the Saviour, with the exception of one passage in Dante's Vision (Canto xxv.) of Paradise.

ROBERT NELSON.

[In the _Calendar of the Anglican Church Illustrated_, p. 328., will be found an engraving of "a pelican feeding her young with blood from her own breast, signifying the Saviour giving Himself up for the redemption of mankind;" and in the foot-note references to Aringhi's _Roma Subterranea_, and other works, in which other representations of the same symbol are to be found. Our correspondent may also be referred to Alt's _Heiligenbilder_, s. 56.]

_Bishop Coverdale's Bible._--When did Bishop Coverdale _commence_ his translation of the Bible? Where was the first edition printed? Is any copy in existence which possesses the _original_ title-page, i.e. _not_ the one added in England, stating that it is translated from the "Douche and Latyn?"

H. H. H. V.

[We have submitted H. H. H. V.'s Query to our obliging correspondent, GEORGE OFFOR, ESQ., whose library is particularly rich in early English versions of the Bible, and who has kindly favoured us with the following communication]:--

In reply to your correspondent H. H. H. V.'s very curious question to know when Myles Coverdale _commenced_ his translation, I beg to state that he was born in 1488, and that it has not yet been discovered when his mind was first led to contemplate the translation of the Sacred Scriptures, nor whether he _commenced_ with the New or the Old Testament. The facts known are, that he finished the translation or the printing of it on the 4th day of October, 1535,--probably at Cologne, because other books printed there about that time have the same initials, wood-cuts, and type. A copy, with the original title-page, is in the Holkham library, having, on the reverse, part of the list of books, showing that originally it was without a dedication; this has the words, "Douche and Latyn." When the dedication was printed, this title was cancelled and a new one printed, still with the words "Douche and Latyn," with the reverse blank. A fine copy of this is in the possession of Earl Jersey, and one with the title-page repaired is in the British Museum. Perfect copies have a map of Palestine. In 1537, this book was reprinted, both in folio and quarto, probably at Antwerp, and in these the words "from the Douche and Latyn" were very properly omitted, Coverdale being still living to see them through the press; these are ornamented with large initial letters with a dance of death, and are the rarest volumes in the English language. In these the dedication is altered from Queen Anne to Queen Jane, as the wife of Henry VIII. They were all dedicated to the king and to the queen; the two latter are all in Old English type. These were followed by an edition dedicated to Edward VI. in a Swiss type, 4to., printed at Zurich by Chr. Froschover, and published under three titles--1st, as the translation of Thos. Matthewe; 2nd, as the translation of Myles Coverdale, London, by Andrew Hester, 1550; and 3rd, London, by Jugge, 1553. These are books of great rarity, and may be all seen in my library by any of your readers, sanctioned by a note from you or any minister of religion. My first edition has several uncut leaves.

The introduction of the words "from the Douche (meaning Luther's German) and Latyn" has never been accounted for; they probably were inserted by the German printer to make the volume more popular, so as to interest reformers by the German of Luther, and Romanists by the Vulgate Latin. The translation is certainly from the Hebrew and Greek, compared with Luther's and the Vulgate.

GEORGE OFFOR.

Grove Street, Victoria Park.

_Age of the Oak._--The late Queries respecting the age of trees, remind me of some lines of which I have been long in search--

"The monarch oak, the patriarch of the trees, Shoots rising up, and spreads by slow degrees: Three centuries he grows, and three he stays Supreme in state; and in three more decays."

I think it probable that they are from a play of Dryden or Otway; but some of your readers may probably be able to answer this Query.

T. C.

Durham.

[In Richardson's _Dictionary_, as well as in the _Encyclopædia Metropolitana_, these lines are quoted under the word _Patriarch_, as from _The Cock and the Fox_, by Dryden; whereas Bysshe, in his _Art of English Poetry_, under the word _Oak_, refers us to Dryden's _Ovid_. In neither of these pieces do they occur; our correspondent, however, will find them in Dryden's _Palamon and Arcite, or the Knight's Tale_, line 2334.]

_Olivarius._--Can any of your readers inform me what is the title of a book written by Olivarius, a French astrologer, 1542, in which there is a prophecy relative to France, and somewhat similar to that of St. Cæsarius (p. 471.)? What was his christian name, and in what library is the work to be found?

CLERICUS D.

Dublin.

[Maittaire, in his _Annales Typograph._, tom. v. pt. ii. p. 102., notices the following work: "Olivarius (Petrus Joannes) Valentinus de Prophetiâ. Basileæ ex officinâ Joannis Oporini, 1543, mense Augusto." From the catalogues of the British Museum and the Bodleian, it does not appear to be in either of these libraries.]

_Vincent Bourne's Epilogus in Eunuchum Terentii._--Will any of your readers inform me whether an Epilogue to the _Eunuch_ of Terence, written by V. Bourne, and spoken in 1746, has ever been printed in any, and what, edition of Bourne's _Poems_? Gnatho appears on the stage, dressed as a recruiting sergeant, with several recruits, and thus begins:

"Siste--tace--Gnatho sum Miles, cum gloria cives Evocat ad Martem, quis parasitus erit? Aut quis venari coenas et prandia malit, Nobile cui stimulet pectus honoris amor?"

And the concluding lines are:

"Arma viros facient--Vosmet simul arma geratis, Seribatis, jubeo, protinus armigeros: Hâc lege, ut conclametis, Rex Vivat; idemque Tu repetas, Stentor noster, utrâque manu."

This epilogue is in my possession in MS., the handwriting of my father, who was, in 1746, a scholar of Westminster College. It should seem, from a letter written to the _Gentleman's Magazine_ by the late Archdeacon Nares, in April, 1826, and reprinted in Nichols's _Illustrations_, vol. vii. p. 656., that he was in possession of a copy, as he there tenders it to the editor of the sixth edition of _Bourne_, which had then (1826) recently issued from the Oxford press.

W. S.

Richmond, Surrey.

[The Epilogue referred to will be found in the beautiful edition of Vinny Bourne's _Poems_, published by Pickering in 1840, and in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, May, 1826, p. 450, where, however, the first line reads--

'Siste, tace; Gnatho sum Miles, cum gloria _pulchra_,' &c.]

_Burton, Bp., Founder of Schools, &c., at Loughborough, co. Leicester._--Can any of your genealogical readers give a clue to his family, and their armorial bearings?

J. K.

[Thomas Burton was a French merchant, not a prelate. A short notice of him and his gifts will be found in the _Reports of Commissioners of Inquiry into Charities_, and in Carlisle's _Endowed Charities_; but no account of his family has been given by his namesake, William Burton, in his _History of Leicestershire_, or by Nichols in his _History_.]

_Hoo._--What is the meaning of this word? In Bedfordshire there are two houses and estates called by this name, Luton Hoo and Pertenhall Hoo; and in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Kent are villages so called.

ARUN.

[Luton Hoo, in Bedfordshire, was the manor of the family of Hoo, or De Hoo, who are said by Sir Henry Chauncy to have been settled there before the Norman Conquest. Hasted, in his Kent, says, "Hoo comes from the Saxon _hou_, a hill." Ihre derives the word from _hoeg_, high. Spelman, vo. _Hoga_, observes that _ho_, _how_, signifies mons, collis. Jamieson says "_How_ is certainly no other than Isl. _haug_, Suio-Gothic _hoeg_, the name given to sepulchral mounds." See also Lemon's _English Etymology_, s. v. _Hough_, _how_.]

Replies.

MODERN NAMES OF PLACES.

(Vol. iv., p. 470.)

Your correspondent L. H. J. T. has noticed the corruption of Greek topographical names, arising from the use of the definite article, which the ear of a traveller not skilled in the language supposes to be a part of the name, and so makes _Statines_ or _Satines_ from Athens, _Stives_ from Thebes, &c.

It may be interesting to some readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" to know that exactly the same thing has happened in Ireland, and that the recognised Anglicised forms of several proper names, now stereotyped, are a combination of the definite article _an_, of the Gaelic or Irish language, with the name of the place.

For instance, _Nenagh_ in the co. Tipperary is properly _Aonach_ [pron. _eenagh_], but generally spoken of by the people with the definite article _an Aonach_, the Aonach, _i.e._ fair, place of a fair or assembly; and hence by the English made _Nenagh_.

So also the river _Ainge_ [pron. nearly as _Anny_] is usually called an Ainge, _the_ Ainge; and therefore is now _Nanny_, the Nanny, or Nanny water, in the co. Meath.

In like manner, the island _Aondruim_ in Loch Cuan, on which stood once a celebrated monastery, is in Irish always called _an Aondruim_, the Aondruim, and is now Nandrum or Nantrim Island.

The town of _Newry_ is another instance. It has its name from an ancient yew tree [in Irish _Iubhair_, pron. nearly as the word _your_] which stood near it, and was said to have been planted by St. Patrick. Hence the town is always called _an Iubhair_, the yew tree; which, by incorporating the article, has been Anglicised _Newry_.

The river _Nore_ in Ossory, is properly _an Eoir_, the Eoir [pron. _Ore_].

So also the _Navan_ fort near Armagh, is _an Eamhain_, the Eamhain [pron. nearly as _Avan_].

I might fill a page with other instances, but I shall only mention another similar corruption in proper names, where after dropping the _Mac_ the _c_ is retained, in cases where the patronymic begins with a vowel. Thus the descendants of the Danish family of _Ottar_ became _Mac Ottar_, and are now Cotter. So _Mac Etigan_ became _Gettigan_; _Mac Eeoghegan_, Geoghegan; the _c_ being further transmuted into _g_. And hundreds of similar instances could be given.

It may also be observed that the English very generally caught the genitive, or oblique case, of the Irish proper names, and from it formed the name which is now in use amongst the English speaking population. Thus they heard the Irish speak of the isles _Araun_, _i.e._ the isles _of Ara_, for _Araun_ is the genitive; and hence they are now the _Aran Isles_. So also the ford Trim or Druim, in Irish _Ath-Druim_ (the ford of the long low hill, _vadum Dorsi_), where _Druim_ [pron. nearly _Trim_] is the genitive of _Drom_ or _Drum_, a long low hill, a back.

The names given to Ireland by medieval writers, after the ancient name of Scotia had been transferred to _Alban_ (which, by the way, is itself a genitive, from _Alba_), afford instances of the same thing.

One of the native names of Ireland is _Eri_, or _Eire_, genitive _Erinn_. From this the Greeks and Romans formed the name _Ierne_, from the old word _I_, an island--_I-Erinn_, the island _of Eri_. And so we now have also the genitive _Erin_, as a poetical name of the island. The Danes, however, retained the absolute form, and called it _Eri-landt_, Ireland.

So also from the old word _Ibh_, or _Hibh_, a tribe, or country, we have _Hibh-Erinn_, the tribe, or people of Eri, and hence evidently _Hibernia_ and _Ivernia_.

T. D.

PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY.--PAROCHIAL LIBRARY AT MAIDSTONE.

(Vol. iv., p. 92.)

As some of your readers may be aware, there is an old and somewhat valuable library in the vestry of All Saints Church, Maidstone, which was partly purchased by the parishioners of the executors of Dr. Bray (who bequeathed his books to any parish which would advance fifty pounds as a consideration for the value of them), and was afterwards increased by the munificence of several benefactors.

Up to the year 1810, when the present catalogue was made, it would appear that but little, or at any rate very insufficient, care was taken of these books; for Mr. Finch, who rearranged the library and wrote the catalogue, carefully correcting the inaccuracies in the former one, declares, in a note that he has placed at the commencement, dated October 1, 1810, that he "found many valuable books missing, and a still larger number irretrievably damaged by the incursions of worms and damp."

The number of volumes missing and decayed amounted to about 100, whilst the number remaining in the library appears to have been 710, and their gross value about 165_l._

Since 1810 far greater care seems to have been bestowed on them, for but few, very few, volumes mentioned in the catalogue then made are missing, and a daily fire during the winter months tends greatly to prevent their further injury by damp.

I will not, however, trouble you with any further remarks about the library itself, but proceed at once to the subject of my note, which is to offer for your acceptance three proverbs (which I have met with in reading one of the books) as an addition to the valuable collection lately sent by your correspondent COWGILL.