Notes and Queries 1850.03.23 by Various
V >>
Various >> Notes and Queries 1850.03.23
I do not conceive this cap to have been made of the _skin_ of a
beaver, for the term would then most probably have been "ex _pelli_
canis Pontici."
This Chronicle contains several curious inventories of the gifts of
many of the abbots; in which we may see the splendour of the vessels
and vestments used at that period in religious services, as well as
the style of reading then prevalent amongst the monks.
Gastros.
Cambridge, March 11.
[There is a Query which arises out of this subject which none
of our correspondents have yet touched upon--What was the
original meaning of _Beaver_, as applied to a hat or cap? and
was it taken from the name of the animal, or did it give the
name to it?]
* * * * *
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.
_Anecdote of the Civil Wars_.--In looking through your "Notes and
Queries," to which I heartily wish continued success, I find, in No.
6. p. 93, a question which appears to be as yet unanswered.
The story to which your questioner alludes as an "anecdote of the
Civil Wars," is a very beautiful one, and deserves authentication.
I have a note of it from Dr. Thomas's additions to Dugdale's
_Warwickshire_, which dates the occurrence as having taken place Oct.
22, 1642, the day previous to the battle of Edgehill, and identifies
the merry sportsman as Richard Schuckburgh, of Upper Shuckburgh; who,
however, on his presentation to the king, "immediately went home,
aroused his tenants, and the next day attended the army to the field,
where he was knighted, and was present at the battle." Being out of
the reach of books, I am unable further to verify the story; but it is
to such unhappy rustics that your publication is most acceptable.
C.W.B.
[Thanks to the kindness of our correspondent "C.W.B.," we
have referred to Dugdale's _Warwickshire_ (ed. Thomas, 1730).
vol. i. p. 309., and extract from it the following proof that
Walpole had authority for his story. Who knows, after this,
but we may in the same way trace from whence he procured the
celebrated letter of the Countess of Pembroke, respecting
which there is a query from Mr. Peter Cunningham, in No. 2.
p. 28.
"As king Charles the First marched to Edgcot, near Banbury, on
22nd Oct., 1642, he saw him hunting in the fields not far from
Shuckborough, with a very good pack of hounds, upon which it
is reported, that he fetched a deep sigh and asked who that
gentleman was that hunted so merrily that morning, when he was
going to fight for his crown and dignity. And being told {339}
that it was this Richard Shuckburgh, he was ordered to be
called to him, and was by him very graciously received. Upon
which he went immediately home, armed all his tenants, and the
next day attended on him in the field, where he was knighted,
and was present at the battle of Edghill."]
_Mousetrap Dante_ (No. 10. pp. 154, 155.).--I beg to refer your
correspondent to the Visconte Colomb de Batines' _Bibliographia
Dantesea_ (Prato, 1845-48. 8vo.), tom. ii. pp. 264, 265., where he
will find a list (correct so far as it goes) of the fifteen MSS. of
the _Comedia_, purchased for the Bodleian Library about the year 1822,
from the Abbate Matteo Canonici, of Venice.
I have reason for believing, that the only MSS. which exist in that
collection, in addition to those enumerated in the list, are: 1.
Canon Ital. 100. "Compendium Cujusdam Commentarii" (4to paper); and
2. "Codices Canonici Miscellanei 449." fol., _vellum_ (it cannot
therefore be this), which contains the complete commentary of Jacopo
dalla Lana.
F.C.B.
_Cromwell's Estates_ (No. 18. p. 277.).--The seignory of Gower is the
peninsula which runs out between the bays of Swansea and Carmarthen;
and which terminates at Swansea on the S.E. side, and at Longhor on
the N.W., and comprises the district which, in common with a part of
Scotland, anciently bore the name of Rheged. It is a locality rich in
all that can attract the antiquary and the naturalist.
Mr. Dillwyn's _Contributions towards a History of Swansea_ contains
the following references to the Gower property of Cromwell:--"We are
informed by the Minute-book of the Common Hall" (at Swansea), "that
on May 19, 1648, there came to this towne the truly Honourable Oliver
Cromwell, Esq.... Lord of this towne, the Seignory of Gower, and Manor
of Killay, with the members thereof," &c. "On May 5. 1647, Parliament
settled the estates of the Marquis of Worcester, in Gloucestershire
and Monmouthshire, on Cromwell; and, by a subsequent order, the
estate in Glamorganshire was added to this grant. The conveyance from
Parliament to Cromwell is made, not only in the name of his Majesty,
but has a portrait of Charles the First at its head."
SELEUCUS.
_Genealogy of European Sovereigns_ (No. 6. p. 92.)--The best and most
comprehensive work on this subject bears the following title:--_Johann
Huebner's genealogische Tabellen_, 4 vols. folio, oblong, Leipzig,
1737 et seq. (Of the 3rd vol. a new and much improved edition, by
G.F. Krebel, appeared in 1766.) Supplement: _Tafeln zu J. Huebner's
genealogischen Tabellen_, by Sophia Queen of Denmark, 6 parts, folio,
oblong, Copenhagen, 1822-24.
A. Asher.
Berlin.
_Shipster_ (No. 14. p. 216.).--Are not _Baxter_ and _Tupster_ the
feminines of _Baker_ and _Tapper_?--and may not _Shipster_ signify a
_female ship-owner_?
F.C.B.
_Kentish Ballad_ (No. 16. p. 247.).--The song beginning "When Harold
was invaded" has long been a favourite in this county. It is entitled
"The Man of Kent," and was composed by Tom Durfey, in the time of
Charles the Second. It may be found, with the music, in Chappell's
_Collection of English Airs_. He cites it as being in _Pills to purge
Melancholy, with Music_, 1719, and states that in the _Essex Champion,
or famous History of Sir Billy of Billericay and his Squire Ricardo_,
1690, the song of "The Man of Kent" is mentioned. I have none of these
works at hand for immediate reference, but the above note contains all
that I have been able to collect on the subject of our popular ballad.
There is another song, much to the same purport, beginning--
"When as the Duke of Normandy,
With glistening spear and shield,"
in Evans's _Songs_, vol. ii. p. 33, printed by him from _The Garland
of Delight_, by Delone, in the Pepys collection at Cambridge--a
black-letter volume; and probably the song was by himself.
Your correspondent "F.B." asks for the remainder of the song. In pity
to yourself and your readers, I forbear sending you the countless
stanzas--numerous enough in the _original_ song, but now, by the
additions of successive generations, swelled to a volume. He will find
in Chappell's collection all that is worth having, with the assurance,
repeated oft enough for the most enthusiastic of our _modest_
countrymen, that
"In Britain's race if one surpass,
A man of Kent is he."
LAMBERT LARKING.
Ryarsh Vicarage.
_Bess of Hardwick_ (No. 18. p. 276.).--The armorial bearings of John
Hardwick, of Hardwick, co. Derby, father of Bess, were: Argent, a
saltier engrailed, and on a chief blue three roses of the field.
M. COMES.
Oxford, March 9. 1850.
_Trophee_ (No. 19. p. 303.).--"Trophe," in the Prologue of Lydgate's
Translation of Boccaccio's _Fall of Princes_, is a misprint:
_corrige_--
"In youth he made a translation
Of a boke, which called is Troyle,
In Lumbardes tonge, as men may rede and se,
And in our vulgar, long or that he deyde,
Gave it the name of Troylous and Cres-eyde."
The book called _Troyle_ is Boccaccio's _Troilo_, or _Filostrato_.
M.C.
Oxford, March 11. 1850.
{340}
_Emerald_ (No. 14. p. 217.).--Before we puzzle ourselves with the
meaning of a thing, it is well to consider whether the authority _may_
not be very loose and inaccurate. This _emerald cross_, even if it was
made of emeralds, might have been in several pieces. But we are told
generally, in Phillips's _Mineralogy_, that "the large emeralds spoken
of by various writers, such as that in the Abbey of Richenau, of the
weight of 28 lbs., and which formerly belonged to Charlemagne, are
believed to be either green fluor, or prase. The most magnificent
specimen of genuine emeralds was presented to the Church of Loretto
by one of the Spanish kings. It consists of a mass of white quartz,
thickly implanted with emeralds, more than an inch in diameter."
The note to the above exemplifies what I have just said. It is called
_emerald_, he says, because it is _green_, from the Greek. I might
make a query of this; but it is clearly a mistake of some half-learned
or ill-understood informant. The name has nothing to do with green.
_Emerald_, in Italian _smeraldo_, is, I dare say, from the Greek
_smaragdus_. It is derived, according to the Oxford _Lexicon_, from
[Greek: mairo], to shine, whence [Greek: marmarugae]. In looking for
this, I find another Greek word, _smirix_, which is the origin of
_emery_, having the same meaning. It is derived from [Greek: smao],
to rub, or make bright. I cannot help suspecting that the two radical
verbs are connected.
C.B.
_Ancient Motto--Barnacles_.--In reference to your querist in No. 6.,
respecting the motto which "some Pope or Emperor caused to be engraven
in the centre of his table," and the correspondent in No. 7. who
replies to him by a quotation from Horace, I beg to observe that
honest Thomas Fuller, in _The Holy State_, 275. ed. Lond. 1648, tells
us, that St. Augustine "had this distich written on his table:--
"Quisquis amat dictis absentem rodere famam,
Hanc mensam indignam noverit esse sibi.
* * * * *
He that doth love on absent friends to jeere,
May hence depart, no room is for him here."
With respect to the Barnacle fowl, it may be an addendum, not
uninteresting to your correspondent "W.B. MacCabe," to add to
his extract from Giraldus another from Hector Boece, _History of
Scotland_, "imprentit be Thomas Davidson, prenter to the Kyngis nobyll
grace [James VI.]." He observes, that the opinion of some, that the
"Claik geis growis on treis be the nebbis, is vane," and says he "maid
na lytyll lauboure and deligence to serche the treuthe and virite
yairof," having "salit throw the seis quhare thir Clakis ar bred," and
assures us, that although they were produced in "mony syndry wayis,
thay ar bred ay allanerly be nature of the seis." These fowls, he
continues, are formed from worms which are found in wood that has been
long immersed in salt water, and he avers that their transformation
was "notably provyn in the zier of God 1480 besyde the castell of
Petslego, in the sycht of mony pepyll," by a tree which was cast
ashore, in which the creatures were seen, partly formed, and some
with head, feet, and wings; "bot thay had na faderis." Some years
afterwards, a tree was thrown on the beach near Dundee, with the same
appearances, and a ship broken up at Leith exhibited the same marvel;
but he clinches the argument by a "notable example schawin afore our
eyne. Maister Alexander Galloway Person, of Kynkell, was with us in
thir Illis (the Hebridae), and be adventure liftet up ane see tangle,
hyng and full of mussil schellis," one of which he opened, "bot than
he was mair astonist than afore, for he saw na fische in it bot ane
perfit schapin foule. This clerk, knawin us richt desirous of sic
uncouth thingis, came haistely, and opinit it iwith all circumstance
afore rehersit." So far the venerable "Chanon of Aberdene." The West
Highlanders still believe in the barnacle origin of this species of
fowl.
JAMES LOGAN
_Tureen_ (No. 16. p. 246.; No. 19. p. 307.).--I have seen
old-fashioned silver tureens which turned on a pivot attached to the
handles, and always concluded that it was to this form that Goldsmith
alluded in the line quoted by "G.W."
SELEUCUS.
_Hudibrastic Couplet_ (No. 14. p. 211.).--These lines do _not_ occur
in the reprint of the _Musarum Deliciae_ (Lond. 1817, 8vo. 2 vols.).
Lowndes (_Bibliogr. Manual_) states that they are to be found in the
2nd ed. of the work (London, 1656. 12mo.).
F.C.B.
_Topography of Foreign Printing Presses_ (No. 18. p. 277.)--About
twelve years ago, Valpy published a vol. of Supplements to
_Lempriere's Dictionary_, by E.H. Barker. One of these contained
a complete list of all the foreign towns in which books had been
printed, with the Latin names given to them in alphabetical order.
W. and N.
Your correspondent "P.H.F." will find in _Cotton's Typographical
Gazetteer_ (8vo. Clarendon Press, 1831), every information he will
ordinarily require.
J.M.S.
Islington, March 7. 1850
_Dr. Hugh Todd's MSS._ (No. 18. p. 282.).--The only MS. in the library
of University College, Oxford, is that mentioned by "F.M."; and it
is described in the Catalogue, compiled by the Rev. H.O. Coxe, of
the MSS. belonging to the College, p. 47. No. clxx. There is a note
stating it was "ex dono Hugonis Todd, Socii, A.D. 1690."
C.I.R.
* * * * *{341}
MISCELLANIES.
_Burnet_.--In addition to the opinions expressed in favour of or
opposed to Burnet's "History," (No. 3. p. 40., and No. 8. p. 120.),
I may also refer to Dr. King's _Anecdotes_; he says,
"I knew Burnet; he was a furious party-man, and easily imposed
on by any lying spirit of his own faction; but he was a better
pastor than any man who is now seated on the Bishop's bench."
Dryden's chastisement of Burnet--"the noble Buzzard"--in his _Hind and
Panther_ must be familiar to your readers. It was given as "adequate
retaliation" for the Bishop's censure of the immorality of Dryden's
plays. Applied to Burnet's _Sketches of Characters_, Dryden says:
"His praise of foes is venomously nice,
So touch'd, it turns a virtue to a vice."
Scott's note on this passage well merits perusal.
J.H.M.
Bath.
* * * * *
PERVENIRI AD SUMMUM NISI EX PRINCIPIIS NON POTEST.
(_FROM THE LATIN OF VINCENT BOURNE_.)
Newton, the light of each succeeding age,
First learned his letters from a female sage.
But thus far taught--the alphabet once learn'd--
To loftier use those elements he turn'd.
Forced th' unconscious signs, by process rare,
Known quantities with unknown to compare;
And, by their aid, profound deductions drew
From depths of truth his teacher never knew.
Yet the true authoress of all was she!--
Newton's Principia were his _a_, _b_, _c_.
Rufus.
* * * * *
_Prince Madoc_ (No. 4. p. 56.; No. 18. p. 282.).--In the darkness
superinduced by the absence of historical evidence on the Welsh
settlement in America, I beg leave to offer a few remarks on some
ethnological subjects involved in this question.
In reference to the specimen of a Welsh-Indian Vocabulary in Catlin's
_N.A. Indians_, which "Gomer" opposes to Prof. Elton's proposition
on this subject (No. 15. p. 236.), were the instances of similarity
to exhibit the influence of opinion, of government, or of commerce,
on the language of the tribe, the origin of such words would be as
indisputable as that of those introduced by the English into the
various countries of the East where they have factories; e.g.
governor, council, company. But these and numerous other traces of the
Celtic language which have been found in Florida and Darien are not
indicative of such impressions; most of them, from their universality,
bespeak themselves to be primitive; and who can assure us that some
may not have reached them before the twelfth century, through "Walsh
or strangers," "a race mightier than they and wiser," by whom they
may have been instructed in the arts which have excited so much
astonishment?
The glass beads, erroneously called Druid's beads, furnish Catlin
with another proof of affiliation, which, however, is invalidated by
the well-ascertained facts of glass-manufactories having, in remotest
antiquity, existed in Egypt, and of glass beads having been dispersed
by the Phoenicians among the nations which they visited. (See Tassie's
_Gems_, introd.--Here, by the by, are mentioned celebrated emeralds,
which have turned out to be only lumps of green glass!)
Lhuyd relates that the cross was honoured in N. America before the
arrival of the Spaniards, and Sir R. Manley (_Turk. Spy_, vol.
viii.) states that they found crucifixes also. Unfortunately for this
hypothesis, it has been shown, by G. Becanus (_Hierogl._, see Index),
Olaus Wormius (_De Danicis Monumentis_, see Index), M. Ficinus (_De
Vita coelitus Propaganda_, l. iii. c. 18.), and Kircherus (_Prodromus
Coptus_, p. 163.), that in various countries the cross was, before
the Christian era, an object of veneration, and symbolled the genius
of their religion. In the event of crucifixes having been found (for
which, however, Sir R. Manley supplies no authority) we need not be
surprised that the Christian topography was so far extended, since
the Christianity of China, between the seventh and the thirteenth
century, has been invincibly proved; and simultaneously, perhaps,
the aborigines of America received the symbol, [Greek: Eros mou
hestaurotai], which is peculiar to the Christian religion.
In conclusion, permit me to cite Southey _versus_ Catlin:--"That
country," says the author of _Madoc_ "has now been fully explored;
and wherever Madoc may have settled, it is now certain that no Welsh
Indians are to be found upon any branches of the Missouri" (Preface,
note written in 1815).
Since I wrote the above, I have met with a work, by Mr. George
Jones, entitled _The History of Ancient America anterior to the Time
of Columbus_, vol. i.: "The Tyrian AEra." In the second, not yet
published, he promises to give "The Introduction of Christianity into
the Western Hemisphere by the Apostle St. Thomas."
T.I.
_Mistake in Gibbon_.--Those of your readers, who are, like myself,
occasional verifiers of references, will perhaps thank me for pointing
out a false reference, that I have just discovered in one of Gibbon's
notes:
"Capitolinus gives us the particulars of these tumultuary
votes, which were moved by one senator, and repeated, or
rather chanted, by the whole body."--_Hist. August._ p. 52.
See Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, chap. 4, note {342} under marginal
lemma, "The memory of Commodus declared infamous."
These "tumultuary votes" are recorded, _not_ by Capitolinus, but by
AElius Lampridius, in his _Life of Commodus_. Vide _Historiae Augustae
Scriptores. AElii Lampridii Commodus Antoninus_, capita 18, 19.
Capitolinus wrote the life of his _immediate_ successor, Pertinax;
hence perhaps the mistake, "Egregio in corpore naevus!" Let those who
wish to know what passion really is, read the tiger-like yells of the
Roman senate in _Lampridius_!
C. Forbes.
Temple, Feb. 27.
_Jew's Harp_.--The late Mr. Douce always maintained that the proper
name of this instrument was the _Jaw's Harp_, and that the Jews had
no special concern with either its invention or its use.
J.H.M.
_Havior_.--The word "havior" is probably of a hybrid character; partly
of Anglo-Saxo, and partly of British origin. If so, the first syllable
is obvious enough, "half" being generally pronounced as if the liquid
were considered an evanescent quantity, "ha'f, heif, hav'," &c., and
"iwrch" is the British word for a roe-buck. Dropping the guttural
termination, therefore, and writing "ior" instead of "iwrch," we
have the significant designation of the animal described by Lord
Braybrooke, whose flesh, like that of the capon, may afford a
convenient variety among the delicacies of the season, if well cooked
according to the recondite mysteries of the gastronomic art.
Hypomagirus.
Trinity College, Oxford, Feb 14.
N.B. "Heifer" has already been explained as "heif-ker, half-cre,"
A.-S., "anner," Br.
_Haviour, Haver, Hyfr_ (No. 15. p. 230, and No. 17. p. 269.).--If I
may throw out a question where I cannot give an explanation, I would
ask, are we not approaching very near to the word "heifer" (from the
Saxon) in these, but especially in the last of the above terms? They
seem to me to be identical. The introduction of the sound of _y_
between the sounds of _v_ and _ur_, is not uncommon in the vernacular
or corrupted pronunciation of many words; nay, it is sanctioned by
general usage, in "behaviour" from "behave," "Saviour" from "save,"
&c. If the words are identical, still the history of the appropriation
of the one to male animals of the class described, and of the other to
females, must be curious and worth investigating. May not the _aver_
and _averium_, like _irreplegibilia_ and other barbarous law terms, be
framed (rather than derived) from one of our English terms, as well as
from the French _avoir_?
G.W.
_America known to the Ancients_.--I have a note of the following
references, as illustrating the passage quoted by "C." (No. 7. p.
107.), and countenancing the idea that the existence of America was
at least suspected by the ancients. As I have not had an opportunity
of consulting the authorities myself, I cannot tell how far they may
affect the point in question; and I fear the references are not as
accurate as might be wished, but I shall be truly glad if they prove
at all useful:--Diodorus Siculus, _Bibl._ lib. iv. pp. 299, 300 edit.
Rhodoman; Apuleius, _De Mund. Oper._ vol. ii. p. 122.; _Avitus in
Senec. Suasor._; Horn, _De Origin. Americ._ lib. i. c. 10. p. 57.
G. William Skyring.
_Error in Meyrick's Ancient Armour_ (No. 17. p. 266.).--In the second
edition of Meyrick's _Armour_, the error pointed out by Mr. Hudson
Turner has not been corrected. The passage is, "Item a gamboised coat
with a rough surface of gold embroidered on the nap of the cloth;" and
with the note, "Like a thicket."
F.C.B.
_Nomade_.--The last Indian mails brought me the following derivation
of the word _Nomade_, in a letter from a friend, who was, when he
wrote, leading a nomade life among the Ryots of Guzerat:--
"Camp, Kulpore, Jan. 30. 1850.
"The natives use [for their tents] a sort of woollen stuff,
about half an inch thick, called 'numbda.' * * * * * * By the
bye, this word 'numbda' is said to be the origin of the word
_nomade_, because the nomade tribes used the same material for
their tents. When I was at school, I used to learn _nomde_,
from [Greek: nemo]."
Melanion.
* * * * *
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
A view of the Exhibition of the Works of Ancient and Mediaeval Art has
convinced us that fame had done no more than justice to its merits and
interest. We dare not attempt to enumerate one tithe of the gems in
Glass, Enamel, Metalwork, Carving in Wood and Ivory, Porcelain, &c.,
now gathered together in the Adelphi to justify the enthusiasm of the
antiquary, and to show, in the words of Marlowe,
"Oh! what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,
Is promis'd to the studious artizan?"
and how small, after all, is our boasted advance. We must therefore
be content with recommending our readers to visit, again and again,
this matchless collection. Mr. Hailstone, the originator of the
exhibition, must be highly gratified at the manner in which, thanks
to the liberality of the owners, and the zeal and good taste of the
committee, his idea has been carried out. If, too, at this time, when
there is so much unemployed labour among us, this exhibition should
have the {343} effect of creating a demand for articles which can be
produced by the hand and mind of a skilful workman only, and not by
machinery, however costly and elaborate, an enormous benefit, beyond
that originally contemplated, must result from the exhibition--namely,
that of supplying fresh fields for the labour and ingenuity of our
workmen.
It is with great satisfaction that we are enabled to announce that
there is at length a prospect of our seeing the monument which
Nicholas Brigham erected, in Poet's Corner, to the memory of Geoffrey
Chaucer properly restored. Arrangements are making for collecting
subscriptions for that purpose, to be limited to five shillings each,
that more may have the pleasure of assisting in the good work. We hope
to give further particulars of this right and necessary step in the
course of a week or two.
We have received John Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue of Old
and New Books, No. 109., being No. 3. for 1850;--from Thomas Cole (15.
Great Turnstile, Holborn) his Catalogue of Cheap Books, No. 25.; and
from John Russell Smith, (4. Old Compton Street, Soho) Part 2. for
1850 of his Catalogue of Choice, Useful, and Curious Books. We have
also received from Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, of 191. Piccadilly,
a Catalogue of a Six-Days' Sale of Miscellaneous Books, chiefly
Theological and Classical, but comprising also much General
Literature, which commences this day (Saturday).
* * * * *
BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE
(_IN CONTINUATION OF LISTS IN FORMER NOS._)