Part 3

_Ghost--Evidence of one not received._--In Ackerman's _Repository_, Nov. 1820, is a short account of a remarkable instance of a person being tried on the pretended evidence of a ghost. A farmer on his return from the market at Southam, co. Warwick, was murdered. The next morning a man called upon the farmer's wife, and related how on the previous night, as he lay in bed, quite awake, her husband's ghost had appeared to him, and after showing him several stabs on his body, had told him that he was murdered by a certain person, and his corpse thrown into a certain marl-pit. A search was instituted, the body found in the pit, and the wounds on the body of the deceased were exactly in the parts described by the pretended dreamer; the person who was mentioned was committed for trial on violent suspicion of murder, and the trial came on at Warwick before Lord Chief Justice Raymond. The jury would have convicted the prisoner as rashly as the magistrate had committed him, but for the interposition of the judge, who told them that he did not put any credit in the pretended ghost story, since the prisoner was a man of unblemished reputation, and no ill feeling had ever existed between himself and the deceased. He said that he knew of no law which admitted of the evidence of a ghost; and if any did, the ghost had not appeared. The crier was then ordered to summon the ghost, which he did three times, and the judge then acquitted the prisoner, and caused the accuser to be detained, which was accordingly done, and his house searched, when such strong proofs of guilt were discovered, that the man confessed the crime, and was executed for murder at the following assizes.

Could any of your readers inform me when this remarkable trial took place, and where I could meet with a more detailed account?

SOUTHAMIENSIS.

_Roman and Saxon Cambridge._--Dr. W. Warren, formerly Vice-Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, wrote some papers to prove that the situation of the Grantacæster of Bede was at the Castle end of Cambridge, not at Granchester, and "demonstrated the thing as amply as a matter of that sort is capable of." Brydges states (_Restituta_, iv. 388.) that his brother, Dr. R. Warren, intended to publish this tract, which came into his hands after the death of the vice-master, which happened in, or shortly after, the year 1735. He left some MSS. to the college, but this is not amongst them; and Dr. R. Warren did not, as far as I can learn, ever carry his intention of publishing it into execution. What I want to learn is, where this tract now is, if it still exists; or, if it has been printed, where a printed copy is to be found.

C. C. B.

_Queries on the Mistletoe_ (Vol. iv., p. 110.).--Will your correspondent who some Numbers back stated, in a communication on the mistletoe, that it was _not uncommon_ upon the oak in _Somersetshire_, kindly give _two or three localities_ on his own knowledge? I fear some mistake has arisen, for, as far as my experience goes, an arch-Druid might hunt long enough in the present day for the "heaven-descended plant" among a _grove of oaks_, ere he fortuitously alighted upon it. Some years ago a friend assured me that he was credibly informed by a timber merchant often in the Sussex forests, that _mistletoe_ was not uncommon upon oaks there; but on a personal inspection it turned out that _ivy_, not _mistletoe_, was intended. I suspect a similar mistake in Somersetshire, unless two or three certain localities can be named as seen by a competent observer.

I should also like to know from your Carolinian correspondent H. H. B., whether the mistletoe he mentions is our genuine "wintry mistletoe"--the _Viscum album_ of Linnæus, or _another species_. The "varieties of the oak" he speaks of as having mistletoe upon them, are, I presume, all _American_ species, and not the European _Quercus robur_.

A. F.

Worcester.

_Portrait of Mesmer._--I should be glad if you, or any of your readers in England or in France, could inform me whether there is anywhere to be found a portrait--drawing, painting, or engraving--of _Mesmer_?

SIGMA.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Saint Richard_ (Vol. iv., p. 475.).--On what authority do the particulars recorded of this personage in the _Lives of the Saints_ rest? I cannot help considering his very existence as rather apocryphal, for these reasons:--1. Bede, who must have been his contemporary, and whose _Ecclesiastical History_ was written several years after the date assigned for Richard's death, never mentions his name. 2. When did his alleged renunciation of the throne occur, and what historian of the period mentions it? At the time of his death, and for thirty-five years before, the kingdom of Wessex was under the sway of Ina, one of the greatest and best of the West Saxon kings. 3. His name is not a Saxon one, and I believe it is not to be found in English history till after the Norman Conquest.

S. S. WARDEN.

[The _Britannia Sancta_, 4to. 1745, contains the following notice of St. Richard compiled from the collections of the Bollandists:--"St. Richard, whose name occurs on Feb. 7 in the Roman Martyrology, is styled there, as well as in divers other monuments, _King of the English_, though in the catalogues of our Saxon kings there is no one found of that name; the reason of which is, because the catalogues of the kings, during the Heptarchy, are very imperfect, as might be proved, if it were necessary, by several instances of kings whose names are there omitted. As for St. Richard, it is that he was one of those princes who, as we learn from St. Bede, lib. iv. ch. 12., ruled the West Saxons after the year 673, till they were forced to give way to King Ceadwall; which is the more probable, because he flourished about that time, and was of the province of the West Saxons, as appears from his being a kinsman to St. Winifred, or Boniface, born and brought up in those parts (at Crediton in Devonshire), and from his son Willibald's being brought up in a monastery of the same province, and from his own setting out upon his pilgrimage from Hamble Haven, which belonged to the West Saxons." Some account of St. Richard and his tomb at Lucca will be found in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxix., pt. i. p. 14.]

"_Coming Events cast their Shadows before._"--Where does this couplet occur?

"'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, And coming events cast their shadows before."

E. G.

[This couplet is from Campbells "Lochiel's Warning."]

_St. Christopher._--Fosbroke says, "the Greek Christians represented this saint with a dog's head, like Anubis, to show that he was of the country of the Cynocephale; and in confirmation of this assertion he quotes "_Winckelm. Stosch._ _cl._ i. _n._ 103." I have never heard either of this fact, or of the authority from which Fosbroke derived it. Can any of your readers give me any information about either?

E. A. H. L.

[The following is the passage quoted by Mr. Fosbroke, from Winckelmann's _Description des Pierres Graveés du feu Baron de Stosch_. 4to. Florence, 1760, p. 25.:--

"_Jaspe rouge._ Anubis en pied. Je vais rémarquer ici en passant que les Chretiens Grecs du moyen âge ont figuré S. Christrophle avec tête de Chien, comme Anubis, pour signifier que ce Saint étoit du pays des Cynocéphales. (Pin. _Commentar. Vit. S. Christoph._, § 6. in _Act. SS. Ant. Ful._, vol. vi. p. 427.) Tel le voiton sur un ancien Ménologe peint sur bois, dans la Bibliothèque du Vatican; cette rare pièce y est entrée avec la bibliothèque du Marq. Capponi."]

_Cuddy, the Ass._--Your correspondents have alluded to the words _Donkey_ and _Moke_ not appearing in any of our dictionaries. There is another word for the same animal in general use in Northumberland and the neighbouring counties, _Cuddy_, which likewise does not appear in the dictionaries I have looked at,--Johnson's amongst the number. Can any of your correspondents give the origin of this word?

J. S. A.

Old Broad Street.

[This word is most probably of Oriental origin, and may have been imported by the gypsies, the ass being their favourite quadruped. Persian _gudda_ signifies an ass; and _ghudda_ has the same signification in Hindostanee.--Jamieson's _Scottish Dictionary_.]

_Toady._--Will any of your readers be kind enough to explain the origin of this word, which is constantly used in conversation when speaking of a sycophant?

F. M.

[_Toady_, or _Toad-eater_, a vulgar name for a fawning, obsequious sycophant, was first given to a gluttonous parasite, famous for his indiscriminate enjoyment and praise of all viands whatever set before him. To test his powers of stomach and complaisance, one of his patrons had a _toad_ cooked and set before him, which he both ate and praised in his usual way.--Ogilvie's _Imperial Dictionary_.]

_Mother Shipton._--We have all heard of Mother Shipton and her prophecies. Was she a real character? If so, where did she live, and at what period? Were her prophecies ever published? If so, I should like an account of them?

JACOBUS.

[Our correspondent is referred to the following works relating to this renowned personage:--1. _The Prophesies of Mother Shipton in the Raigne of King Henry VIII., foretelling the Death of Cardinal Wolsey, the Lord Percy, and others; as also what should happen in ensuing Times_: London, 1641, 4to. 2. _Two Strange Prophesies, predicting Wonderfull Events to betide this Yeare of Danger in this Climate, where some have already come to passe_, by Mother Shipton: London, 1642, 4to. (About 1642 several other tracts were published with the name of Shipton.) 3. _The Life and Death of Mother Shipton_: London, 1677, 4to. 4. _Mother Shipton's Life and Curious Prophecies_: London, 1797, 8vo. 5. _The History of Mother Shipton_: Newcastle, 4to. Nos. 1. and 4. are in the British Museum.]

Replies.

RALPH WINTERTON.

(Vol. v., p. 346.)

There appears to be a slight error in the Editor's reply to E. D.'s Query respecting Ralph Winterton's translation of Gerard's _Meditations and Prayers_. I have an earlier edition than that of 1631. It is dated 1627[3], printed at Cambridge by Thomas and John Bucke, and possesses no less than four dedications, which throw some little, and rather curious light on his history. The _first_, "To the Right Worsh. my most worthy Friend and Benefactour, Mr. John Bowle, Doctor of Divinitie, and Deane of Salisbury," in which he mentions "the fatherly care" he had experienced from that divine, "when he was at Kensington, in the house of that most vertuous and literate Lady, the Lady Coppen." "By your indeficient liberalitie," he says, "all defects were supplyed, all difficulties remooved, horses provided, a man appointed, and, _to conclude_, by the grace of God, after many a troublesome and wearysome step, to my rest I returned." The _second_ Dedication is, "To the Right Worshipp. vertuous and learned Lady, the Lady Coppen, Mr R. Coppen, Mr T. Coppen, her Sonnes; M'ris Elizabeth Coppen, her Daughter-in-Law, &c., Internall, Externall, Eternall Happiness." In this he records, that "scarce had he entered her doores at Kensington, but he was saluted and made welcome by a gentlewoman well deserving at his hands, whose name must not be concealed, M'ris Francis Thorowgood, who hasted to carrie news to your Ladyship. _Dixirat et dicto citius._ Hereupon your Ladyship," he adds, "was pleased, out of hand, leaving all other business, not to send to mee, but to descend yourself to mee; not so much by the degrees of staires, as by a naturall inclination to show your hospitality," &c.; and speaks of her as understanding "the scholler's Languages as well as they that do profess them;" and as being "highly honoured by Queene Elizabeth." The _third_ Dedication is "To the Right Worship. my most munificent Friend, Sir John Hanburie, of Kelmash, in Northamptonshire." The _fourth_, "To the Worsh. my very worthy Friends, M'r William Bonham (of Paternoster Rowe, in London), and M'ris Anne Bonham, his Wife, Mr. Nathaniell Henshawe, of Valence, in Essex; M'r Benjamin Henshawe, of Cheapside, in London; and M'r Thomas Henshawe, of Saffron Walden, in Essex." The _third_ Dedication is dated from _Lutterworth_, in _Leicestershire_, May 10: the others from _King's Coll._, June 12, 1627.

C. W. B.

[Footnote 3: [The edition of 1627 was unknown to Watt, and is not to be found in the libraries of the British Museum or the Bodleian.--ED.]]

_MS. Account of Fellows of King's, anno 1616._

"Ralph Winterton of Lutterworth, Leicester, Bro. of Fran., who was Gent. of the Pr. Chamber to Hen. Maria, and served under D. of Hamilton in Germ., and was killed at Custrin, on the Borders of Silesia. See History of that Expedition.

"M.D., Prof. Regi Med., Sept. 13, 1636, at which time all the Reg. Prof. were of K. C.

"He was a great Physician & Scholar, insomuch that he was a Candidate to succeed Downes as Greek Prof. He translated Gerhard's _Sum of Xtian Doctri._, 1640, of which see Dedication. On his Bro. departing for Germany, he translated _Drescelius on Eternity_, and on another occasion returned to Gerhard. This was probably on some difficulty which was started to his Degree of M.D. by Provost Collins. He is said at one time to have suffered so, as for a time to have lost his senses. His Books are prefaced by recommendatory Verses from K. C. men, viz. D. Williamson, 1627; R. Newman, H. Whiston, and Thomas Page, 1627; Wym Carew, 1622; Tho. Bonham, 1621; Edm. Sheafe, 1613; R. Williams, 1623; T. Yonge, 1624.

"He published _Dionysius de Situ Orbis_, with a Dedication to Sir H. Wotton, and Hippocrates' _Aphorisms_ in Gr. Verse, 1633. Qu'e, if the Lat. Verses not written by Fryer, an eminent Physician at Camb. Qu'e, the _Poetæ Minores_."

See, too, a short account in Harwood's _Alumni Etonensis_, p. 218.

J. H. L.

MEANING AND ORIGIN OF "ERA."

(Vol. iv., pp. 383. 454.; Vol. v., p. 106.)

Your correspondents do not seem to be aware that this _questio vexata_ has given rise to a volume in folio! In 1744 Don Gregorio Mayans y Siscar published, at the expense of the Academy of Valencia, a volume containing nearly 400 pages under the following title: _Obras Chronologicas de Don Gaspar Ibañes, &c., Marquis de Mondejar, &c. &c._, which is principally occupied by a discourse entitled, "Origen de LA ERA ESPAÑOLA i su Diferencia con los años de Christo."[4] Prefixed to this is a very able and learned Preface, by the editor, of nearly 100 pages; and one would have thought that between these distinguished scholars the subject in dispute would be set at rest.

[Footnote 4: A re-impression of the Valencia edition was made at Madrid in the year 1795.]

Unfortunately, however, Spanish scholars and antiquaries have too much neglected the Gothic element in their language, and they have consequently missed the only source from whence, as it appears to me, the true origin of _Era_ could be developed. The Marquis de Mondejar indeed seems to have had a suspicion of the true source; for he has a chapter thus entitled "Si puede ser _Gothica_ la voz ERA i aver introducido los Godos su computo en España?" in which he thus expresses his incapacity to answer his own question:

"I assi contentandonos con aver expressado nuestra imaginacion con el mismo recelo que la discurrimos, _prohibendonos la ignorancia de la lengua Gothica antigua_, el que podamos justificar si pudo aver procedido de ella la voz ERA propria del computo de que hablamos."

As long since as 1664 that eminent northern philologist Thomas Marshall, in his notes on the Gothic Gospels, had thus expressed himself, confirming, if not anticipating, Spelman:

"{jER} proprie significat annum, sicque usurpatur in omnibus linguis Gothicæ cognatis; suâ scilicet cuique Dialecto asservatâ. Videant Hispani, nunquid eorum HERA vel ERA, quod _Ætatem_ et _tempus_ dicitur interdum significare, debeat originationem suam Gothico {jER}, atque num forsan hinc quoque aliquid lucis affulserit indagantibus originem vexatissimi illius _Æra_, quatenus significat Epocham Chronologicam."

In the _Glossary_ the further development of the origin of the word is ingenious, but not satisfactory:

"Prisca interim Gothorum atque Anglo-Saxonum orthographiâ inducor ut credam {ger} vel {gear} esse à γυροῦν Gyrare, in orbem circumvolvere, juxta illud poetæ principis, _Georg_. II. 402.:

'Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur annus.'

Unde et Annum idem poëta, _Æneid_. I. 273., Orbem dixit:

'Triginta magnos volvendis mensibus orbes Imperio explebit,'

ubi Servius: Annus dictus quasi Anus, id est Anulus; quod in se redeat, &c."

That the Roman word _Æra_ signified _number_ in earlier times, we learn from Nonius Marcellus:

"_Æra_ numeri nota, Lucilius lib. xxviiij. Hoc est ratio perversa, _æra_ summa, et subducta improbe."

Those who desire further confirmation will find it in that extraordinary storehouse of erudition, the _Exercitationes Pliniana_ of Salmasius, p. 483., ed. 1689.

It is equally certain that, soon after the establishment of the Gothic domination in Spain, it was applied in its present signification; but that it also signified _time_ or period will be evident from the following passage of the _Coronica General_, Zamora, 1541. fol. CCC.XXVJ. Speaking of the numbers of the extraordinary armament assembled by Don Alonzo, preparatory to the battle of Las Navas:

"E para todo esto complir avia menester el rey Don Alfonso de cada dia doze mil maravedis _de aquella_ ERA, que era buena moneda."

That is to say, money _of that time_.

From our imperfect acquaintance with the early history of the Goths, it is not easy to decide upon the reasons why they adopted their mode of reckoning from thirty-eight years before the Christian epoch; but if we accept the signification which we know it was not unusual to affix to the word _Era_, namely, that of _year_, _time_, or _period_, the solution is easy as to its origin. It was only the engrafting of their own vernacular word into the barbarous Latin of the time, from whence also it was adopted into the Romance, Castilian, or Spanish.

It may also be observed that Liutprand uses the word in this sense: in speaking of the Mosque of San Sophia at Constantinople, and how the course of the reign of its rulers was noted there, so as to be manifest to all, he concludes:

"Sic ÆRAM qui non viderunt intelligunt."

So Dudo, _De Actis Normannorum_, lib. v. p. 111.:

"Transacta denique duarum _Herarum_ intercapedine, mirabilibusque incrementis augmentata profusus Ricardo Infante, coepit Dux Willelmus de Regni commodo salubriter tractare."

It is also remarkable that we find it in use only in those places under the domination of the Goths, as in the southern provinces of France,--the Council of Arles, for instance.--_V. Mansi Collect. Concil._, t. xiv. col. 57.

The earliest inscription in which it has been found was at Lebrija, in the kingdom of Seville, and the date corresponds with that of the year 465 from the birth of Christ. It runs thus:

ALEXANDRA . CLARISSIMA . FEMINA VIXIT . ANNOS . PLVS . MINVS . XXV RECESSIT . IN . PACE. X . KAL . IANVAR ERA . DIII . PROBVS . FILIVS . VIXIT ANNOS . DVOS . MENSEM . VNVM.

It is possible there may be some error even here, for no other inscription yet recorded is so early by eighty years.

Had it been in use at an earlier period, the Spaniard, Paulus Orosius, whose _History_ ends with A.D. 417, would doubtless have used it; whereas we find that he makes use of the _Anno Mundi_, of the Olympiads, and of the _A.U.C._ of the Romans.

All circumstances, therefore, considered, we may safely conclude that in the Spanish _Era_ we have nothing more than the adoption of the _jera_ of Ulfilas, by whom it is used for ἔτος and χρόνος. The Gothic word being written with the consonant _j_ {j} will account for the form in which, to mark the aspiration, _Era_ is often found with the initial _H_. Whoever may desire to trace the etymology further will do well to consult Dieffenbach's very valuable _Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Gothischen Sprache_.

S. W. SINGER.

LADY ARABELLA STUART.

(Vol. i., pp. 10. 274.)

It may be interesting to some of the readers of "N. & Q." to peruse the following observations made by the Venetian ambassador resident in England in 1606, respecting that "child of woe" the Lady Arabella Stuart, whose romantic history forms one of the most pleasing of D'Israeli's _Curiosities of Literature_. The extract I send you is taken from a little French work, which professes to be a translation from the manuscript "Italian Relation of England" by Marc-Antonio Correr, the Venetian ambassador, and was printed at Montbéliard in 1668. The Lady Arabella is here spoken of as _Madame Isabelle_.

"La personne la plus proche de sang de sa Majesté après ses enfans, est Madame Isabelle, laquelle descend, ainsi que le Roy, de Marguerite fille de Henry VII., estant née d'un frère naturel du père de S. M., par où elle luy est Cousine. Elle est âgée de 28 ans; elle n'est pas bien belle, mais en recompense elle est ornée de mille belles vertus, car outre qu'elle est noble et dans ses actions et dans ses moeurs, elle possède plusieurs Langues en perfection, sçavoir le Latin, l'Italien, le François, et l'Espagnol; elle entend le Grec et l'Hebreu, et estudie sans cesse. Elle n'est pas beaucoup riche, car la Reyne deffunte prenant jalousie de tout le monde, et principalement de ceux qui avoient quelque pretention à la couronne, luy osta sous divers pretextes, la plus grand part de ses revenus; c'est pourquoy la pauvre Dame ne peut pas vivre dans la splendeur, et n'a pas le moyen de faire du bien à ceux qui la servent, comme elle voudroit. Le Roy témoigne avoir de l'affection et de l'estime pour elle, le laissant vivre en cour, ce que la Reyne deffunte ne luy voulut jamais permettre. Le Roy luy avoit promis de luy rendre ses biens et de luy donner un mary; elle est neantmoins encore privée et de l'un et de l'autre."

_Relation d'Angleterre_, p. 82.

_Her Flight._--Phineas Pette, the shipwright at Chatham, received orders to assist in the capture of the unfortunate lady; and it would appear, from his manuscript Diary (_Harl. MS._ 6279.), that he did his best to execute them. His statement is as follows:--

"The 4th of June (1611), being Tuesday, being prepared to have gone to London the next day, about midnight one of the King's messengers was sent down to me from the Lord Treasurer to man the light horsemen [Query, what kind of boats were these?] with 20 musquetteers, and to run out as low as the Noor Head to search all shipps, barks, and other vessells for the Lady Arabella that had then made a scape, and was bound over for France; which service I performed accordingly, and searched Queenborough, and other vessells I could meet withall; then went over to Lee, in Essex, and searched the Towne; and when we could hear no news of her went to Gravesend, and thence took post-horse to Greenwich, where his Majesty then lay, and delivered the account of my journey to the Lord Treasurer by his Maj'ties command, and soe was dismissed, and went that night to Ratcliffe," &c.

The messenger above alluded to, whose name was John Price, received 6_l._ for his pains in making "haste, post-haste," to Gravesend, Rochester, and Queenborough. (See Devon's _Pell Records_.)

_And Capture._--This honour--or misfortune, rather, as it proved to be--was reserved for Admiral Sir William Monson, who, in his _Naval Memoirs_, p. 210., makes this self-satisfied remark:

"Sir W. Monson had orders to pursue her, which he did with that celerity, that she was taken within four miles of Calais, shipped in a French bark of that town, whither she was bound."

A. GRAYAN.

NEWTON, CICERO, AND GRAVITATION.