QUERIES.

WHITE HART INN, SCOLE.

In Songs and other Poems, by Alex. Brome, Gent. Lond. 12mo. 1661, there is (at p. 123.) a ballad upon a sign-post set up by one Mr. Pecke, at Skoale in Norfolk. It appears from this ballad, that the sign in question had figures of Bacchus, Diana, Justice, and Prudence, "a fellow that's small, with a quadrant discerning the wind," Temperance, Fortitude, Time, Charon and Cerberus. This sign is noticed in the Journal of Mr. E. Browne (Sir Thomas Browne's Works, ed. Wilkin, i. 53.). Under date of 4th March, 1663-64, he says:—"About three mile further I came to Scoale, where is very handsome inne, and the noblest sighne post in England, about and upon which are carved a great many stories, as of Charon and Cerberus, of Actæon and Diana, and many other; the sighne it self is the white harte, which hangs downe carved in a stately wreath." Blomefield, in his History of Norfolk (8vo. edit. i. 130.), speaking of Osmundestone or Scole, has the following passage:—

"Here are two very good inns for the entertainment of travellers; the White Hart is much noted in these parts, being called, by way of distinction, Scole Inn; the house is a large brick building, adorned with imagery and carved work in several places, as big as the life. It was built in 1655, by John Peck, Esq., whose arms impaling his wife's, are over the porch door. The sign is very large, beautified all over with a great number of images of large stature carved in wood, and was the work of one Fairchild; the arms about it are those of the chief towns and gentlemen in the county, viz. Norwich, Yarmouth, Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Yarmouth, Bacon of Garboldisham, Hobart, Conwaleis, impaling Bukton, Teye, Thurston, Castleton, and many others; Peck's arms are arg. on a chevron ingrailed, gul. three croslets pattee of the field; his wife's are arg., a fess between two crescents in chief, a lion rampant in base gul., which coat I think is borne by the name of Jetheston. Here was lately a very round large bed, big enough to hold fifteen or twenty couple, in imitation (I suppose) of the remarkable great bed at Ware. The house was in all things accommodated, at first, for large business; but the road not supporting it, it is in much decay at present; though there is a good bowling-green and a pretty large garden, with land sufficient for passengers' horses. The business of these two inns is much supported by the annual cock-matches that are here fought."

In Cruttwell's Tour through the whole Island of Great Britain (Lond. 12mo. 1801), vol. v. 208., is the following:—

"Osmondeston, or Schole. The inn here was once remarkable for a pompous sign, with ridiculous ornaments, and is said to have cost a thousand pounds; long since decayed."

I shall be glad to be referred to any other notices of this sign, and am desirous of knowing if any drawing or engraving of it be extant.

C.H. COOPER.

Cambridge, 21st Jan. 1850.

PASSAGES FROM POPE.

In addition to the query of "P.C.S.S." (No. 13. p. 201.), in which I take great interest, I would beg leave to ask what evidence there is that Quarles had a pension? He had, indeed, a small place in the household of James the First's queen, Anne; and if he had a pension on her death, it would have been from James, not from Charles.

I would also, in reference to Pope, beg leave to propound another query.

In the "Imitation of the 2nd Sat. Book I. of Horace," only to be found in modern editions, but attributed, I fear, too justly to Pope, there is an allusion to "poor E——s," who suffered by "the fatal steel," for an intrigue with a royal mistress. E——s is no doubt John Ellis, and the royal mistress the Duchess of Cleveland. (See Lord Dover's Introduction to the "Ellis Correspondence," and "Anecdotes of the Ellis Family," Gent. Mag. 1769. p. 328.) But I cannot discover any trace of the circumstances alluded to by Pope. Yet Ellis was a considerable man in his day;—he had been Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in the reign of Charles II., and was Under-Secretary of State under William III.; he is said to have afterwards sunk into the humbler character of a "London magistrate," and to have "died in 1788, at 93 or 95, immensely rich." I should be glad of any clue to Pope's allusion.

J.W.C.

Feb 12. 1850.

Will your correspondent "P.C.S.S." (No. 13), evidently a critical reader of Pope, and probably rich in the possession of various editions of his works, kindly inform me whether any commentator on the poet has traced the well-known lines that I have quoted to the "Corcillum est, quod homines facit, cætera quisquilia omnia" of Petronius Arbiter, cap. 75.? Pope had certainly both read and admired the Satyricon, for he says:—

I find no note on the lines either in the edition of Warton, 9 vols. 8vo., London, 1797, or in Cary's royal 8vo., London, 1839; but the similarity strikes me as curious, and deserving further examination.

C. FORBES.

Temple.

BELVOIR CASTLE.

In Nichol's History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, vol. ii., part i., containing the Framland Hundred, p. 45 of the folio ed. 1795, occurs the following quotation, in reference to the rebuilding of Belvoir castle by Henry, second Earl of Rutland, in 1555:—

"That part of the more ancient building, which was left by both unaltered, is included in the following concise description by an ingenious writer, who visited it in 1722:—

aditu difficilis circa montem; cujus latera omnia horti 50 acrarum circumeunt, nisi versus Aquilonem, quò ascenditur ad ostium ædium ubi etiam antiqua jauna arcuato lapide. Versus Occidentem 8 fenestræ et 3 in sacello; et ulterior pars vetusta. Versus Aquilonem 10 fenestræ. Facies Australis et Turris de Staunton, in qui archiva familiæ reponuntur, extructa ante annos circa 400. Pars restat kernellata," &c. &c. &c.

The description goes on for a few more lines; but it matters not to continue them. I should be much obliged by any of your readers giving an account of who this "ingenious writer" was, and on what authority he founded the foregoing observations, as it is a subject of much interest to me and others at the present time.

ALYTHES.

Jan. 28. 1850.

MINOR QUERIES.

MSS. formerly belonging to Dr. Hugh Todd.—I shall feel most grateful to any of your correspondents who can afford me any information, however imperfect, respecting the MSS. of Dr. Hugh Todd, Vicar of Penrith, and Prebendary of Carlisle, in the beginning of the last century. In the Cat. MSS. Angliæ, &c., 1697, is a catalogue of nineteen MSS, then in his possession, five of which are especially the subject of the present inquiry. One is a Chartulary of the Abbey of Fountains, in 4to; another is an Act Book of the Consistory Court of York, in the fifteenth century, in folio; the third is the Chapter Book of the Collegiate Church of Ripon, from 1452 to 1506; the fourth contains Extracts and Manuscripts from Records relating to the Church of Ripon; and the last is apparently a Book of the Acts of the Benefactors to that foundation. In a letter to Humphrey Lawley, dated in 1713, Dr. Todd says he was engaged in a work relating to the province of York, and the greater part of the MSS. in the catalogue above mentioned appear to have been collected as the materials.

JOHN RICHARD WALBRAN.

Falcroft, Ripon, Jan 31. 1850.

French Leave—In No. 5. I perceive several answers to the query respecting Flemish Account, which I presume to be the same as Dutch Account. Can you inform me how the very common expression French Leave originated?

W.G.B.

Portugal.—Can any of your geographical readers inform me if a Gazetteer of Portugal has been published within these twenty years? If there has been one, in what language, and where published? Information of the title of any good modern works on Portugal, giving an account of the minor places, would be acceptable.

NORTHMAN.

Tureen—How and whence is the term "tureen" derived?—and when was it introduced?

G.W.

Military Execution.—I am very anxious to be referred to the authority for the following anecdote, and remark made on it:—

"Some officer, or state prisoner, on being led out to be shot, refused either to listen to a confessor, or to cover his eyes with a handkerchief."

The remark was, that "he refused a bandage for either mind or body." It smacks somewhat of Voltaire.

MELANION.

Change of Name.—If, as it appears by a recent decision, based, perhaps, on a former one by Lord Tenterden, that a man may alter his name as he pleases without the royal license, I wish to know what then, is the use of the royal license?

B.

The Symbolism of the Fir-Cone. What does the "fir-cone" in the Ninevite sculptures mean? Layard does not explain it. Is it there as the emblem of fecundity, as the pomegranate of Persia and Syria? Has it altogether the same character as the latter fruit? Then—was it carried into Hindostan viâ Cashmir? When? By the first wave of population which broke through the passes of the Parapamisus?

B.C.

Kentish Ballad.—When I was a boy, I can remember hearing a song sung in Kent, in praise of that country, which I never could find in print, and of which I am now glad to recollect the following stanza:—

Can any reader furnish the remainder, and state who is the author?

F.B.

Curious Monumental Brass.—I have a rubbing of a Brass, presenting some peculiarities which have hitherto puzzled me, but which probably some of your more experienced correspondents can clear up.

The Brass, from which the rubbing is taken (and which was formerly in the Abbey church of St. Albans, but when I saw it was detached and lying at the Rectory), is broken off a little below the waist; it represents an abbot, or bishop, clad in an ornamented chasuble, tunic, stole, and alb, with a maniple and pastoral staff. So far all is plain; but at the back (i.e. on the surface hidden when the Brass lay upon the floor) is engraved a dog with a collar and bells, apparently as carefully executed as any other part. Can you tell me the meaning of this? I can find no mention of the subject either in Boutell or any other authority. The fragment is about 18 inches long, and the dog about 6, more or less.

RAHERE.

Jan. 26, 1850.

Tickhill, God help me.—Can any one tell why A Tickhill man, when asked where he comes from, says, "Tickhill, God help me." Is it because the people at Tickhill are famed for misery, as the neighbouring town of Blythe seems to have been so called from its jolly citizens?

R.F. JOHNSON.

Bishop Blaize.—I should be much obliged by any reference to information respecting Bishop Blaize, the Santo Biagio of Agrigentum, and patron saint of Ragusa. Butler says little but that he was bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, the proximity of which place to Colchis appears to me suspicious. Wonderful and horrible tales are told of him; but I suspect his patronage of wool-combers is founded on much more ancient legends. His establishment at Agrigentum must have been previous to Christianity. I have a vague remembrance of some mention of him in Higgins's Anacalypsis, but I have not now access to that work. I wish some learned person would do for other countries what Blunt has partly done for Italy and Sicily; that is, show the connection between heathen and Christian customs, &c.

F.C.B.

Vox et præterea nihil.—Whence come these oft-quoted words? Burton, in The Anatomy of Melancholy (not having the book by me, I am unable to give a reference), quotes them as addressed by some one to the nightingale. Wordsworth addresses the cuckoo similarly, vol. ii. p. 81.:—

C.W.G.

Cromwell Relics.—In Noble's Memorials of the Protectorate House of Cromwell it is stated, in the Proofs and Illustrations, Letter N, that in 1784, there were dispersed in St. Ives a great number of swords, bearing the initials of the Protector upon them; and, further, that a large barn, which Oliver built there, was still standing, and went by the name of Cromwell's Barn; and that the farmer then renting the farm occupied by the Protector circa 1630-36, marked his sheep with the identical marking-irons which Oliver used, and which had O.C. upon them.

Can any of your correspondents inform me if any of these relics are still in existence, and, if so, where?

A.D.M.

Lines on "Woman's Will."—Many of your readers will have heard quoted the following stanza, or something like it:—

I have heard these lines confidently attributed to Shakspeare, Byron, &c. by persons unable to verify the quotation, when challenged so to do. I can point out where the first two lines may be found with some variation. In The Adventures of Five Hours, a comedy translated from the Spanish of Calderon, by Samuel Tuke, and printed in the 12th volume of Dodsley's Old Plays (edit. 1827), in the 5th act (p. 113.), the lines run thus:—

I should be glad if any one could inform me by whom the latter lines were added, and where they may be found in print.

C.W.G.

Pity is akin to Love.—Where are the following words to be met with?—

I have found very similar expressions, but never the exact words as above.

H.