REPLIES.

CURFEW.

We have received the following Replies to NABOC'S inquiry (Vol. ii., p. 103.) as to where the custom of ringing the curfew still remains.

Bingley in Yorkshire.—In the town of Bingley, in Yorkshire, the custom of ringing the curfew existed in the year 1824. It may have been discontinued since that year, but I do not know that it has.

It is also the custom at Blackburn, in Lancashire; and it was, if it is not now, at Bakewell in Derbyshire.

H.J.

Bromyard, Herefordshire.—The curfew is still rung at Bromyard, Herefordshire, at nine P.M., from the 5th of November, until Christmas Day; and the bell is afterwards tolled the number of the day of the month. Why it is merely confined to within the above days, I could never ascertain.

G.F.C.

Waltham-on-the-Wolds.—The curfew is still rung at Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Leicestershire, at five A.M., eight P.M. in summer, and at six A.M., seven P.M. in winter; the bell also tolling the day of the month.

R.J.S.

Oxfordshire.—I see that NABOC's inquiry about the curfew is answered at p. 175. by a reference to the Journal of the British Archæological Association. The list there is probably complete: but lest it should omit any, I may as well mention, from my own knowledge, Woodstock, Oxon, where it rings from eight to half-past eight in the evening, from October to March; Bampton and Witney, Oxon, and Stow, in Gloucester; at some of which places it is also rung at four in the morning.

C.

Chertsey, Surrey.—In the town of Chertsey in Surrey, the curfew is regularly tolled for a certain time at eight every evening, but only through the winter months. There is also a curious, if not an uncommon, custom kept up with regard to it. After the conclusion of the curfew, and a pause of half a minute, the day of the month is tolled out: one stroke for the 1st, two for the 2nd, and so on.

H.C. DE ST. CROIX.

Penrith.—The curfew bell continues to be rung at Penrith, in Cumberland, at eight o'clock in the evening, and is the signal for closing shops, &c.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.—The curfew is still rung by all the churches of Newcastle-upon-Tyne at eight in the evening; and its original use may be said to be preserved to a considerable extent, for the greater bulk of the shops make it a signal for closing.

G. BOUCHIER RICHARDSON.

Morpeth.—The curfew bell is still rung at eight P.M. at Morpeth in Northumberland.

E.H.A.

Exeter.—The curfew is rung in Exeter Cathedral at eight P.M.

The present practice is to toll the bell thirty strokes, and after a short interval to toll eight more; the latter, I presume, denoting the hour.

G.T.

Winchester.—Curfew is still rung at Winchester.

AN OLD COMMONER PREFECT.

Over, near Winsford, Cheshire.—The custom of ringing the curfew is still kept up at Over, near Winsford, Cheshire; and the parish church, St. Chads, is nightly visited for that purpose at eight o'clock. This bell is the signal amongst the farmers in the neighbourhood for "looking up" their cattle in the winter evenings; and was, before the establishment of a public clock in the tower of the Weaver Church at Winsford, considered the standard time by which to regulate their movements.

A READER.

[We are indebted to the courtesy of the Editor of the Liverpool Albion for this Reply, which was originally communicated to that paper.]

The Curfew, of which some inquiries have appeared in the "NOTES AND QUERIES," is generally rung in the north of England. But then it is also common in the south of Scotland. I have heard it in Kelso, and other towns in Roxburghshire. The latter circumstance would appear to prove that it cannot have originated with the Norman conqueror, to whom it is attributed.

W.

ENGELMANNS BIBLIOTHECA SCRIPTORUM CLASSICORUM.

(Vol. ii., p. 296.)

The shortest reply to MR. DE MORGAN'S complaint against a foreign bookseller would be, that Engelmann himself printed for any of the purchasers of a large number of his Catalogues the titles to which MR. DE MORGAN objects so much.

Will you allow me to add one or two remarks occasioned by MR. DE MORGAN'S strictures?

1. Engelmann is not, strictly speaking, a bookseller, and his catalogues are not booksellers' catalogues in the sense in which that term is generally received here. He is a publisher and compiler (and an admirable one) of general classified catalogues for the use of the trade and of students, without any reference to his stock, or, in many instances, to the possibility of easily acquiring copies of the books enumerated: and although he might execute an order from his catalogues, getting orders is not the end for which he publishes them.

2. Some foreign houses in London, as well as in other countries, bought a large number of his Catalogues, not as a book but as a catalogue, to be supplied to their customers at the bare cost, or, where it appears advisable, to be delivered gratis to purchasers of a certain amount.

3. It appears to me pardonable if, under these circumstances, a notice is inserted on the title, that orders may be directed to the house which has purchased a number, and supplies them without any immediate profit; and I may add that I do not believe any of the houses concerned would object to a notice being taken of such a proceeding in your paper.

4. The error in omitting the words "from 1700" on the title-page, is one to which MR. DE MORGAN'S notice first directed my attention, classics printed before that date not being commonly in demand among foreign booksellers.

5. The practice of compiling catalogues for general use, with the names of the purchasers of any number of copies of the catalogue inserted on the title or wrapper, is very common in Germany.

Hinrichs of Leipsic issues—

1. A Six-monthly Alphabetical Catalogue, with a systematic index;

2. A Quarterly Catalogue, systematically arranged, with an alphabetical index;

Vandenhoeck of Gottigen issues half-yearly—

1. A Bibliotheca Medico-Chirurgica et Pharmaceuto-Chemica;

2. A Bibliotheca Theologica, for Protestant theology;

3. A Bibliotheca Classica et Philologica;

4. A Bibliotheca Juridica;

and Engelmann, from time to time, numerous general catalogues;—

all of which are not only supplied to London houses, with English titles, but may be had all over Germany, with the firms of different booksellers inserted as publishers of the catalogue.

Will you make use of the above in any way in which you may think it of advantage to your readers?

ANOTHER FOREIGN BOOKSELLER.

CROZIER AND PASTORAL STAFF.

(Vol. ii., p. 248.)

A correspondent inquires what was the difference between a crozier and a pastoral staff. The crozier (Crocia, Mediæval Latin), Fr. Crosse, Ital. Rocco Pastorale, German. Bischofstab, is the ornamental staff used by archbishops and legates, and derives its name from the cross which surmounts it. A crozier behind a pall is borne on the primatial arms of Canterbury. The use of the crozier can only be traced back to the 12th century. Cavendish mentions "two great crosses of silver, whereof one of them was for his archbishoprick and the other for his legatry, always before" Cardinal Wolsey. The fact did not escape Master Roy, who sings thus:—

Hall says that he removed from Whitehall "with one cross." In the Eastern Church patriarchs only have a crozier; a patriarch has two transverse bars upon his crozier, the Pope carries three.

The pastoral staff was the ensign of bishops. Honorius describes it as in the form of a shepherd's crook, made of wood or bone, united by a ball of gold or crystal, the lower part of the staff being pointed.

"In Evangelio Dominus Apostolis præcepit, ut in prædcatione nihil præter virgam tollerent. Et quià Episcopi pastores gregis Dominici sunt, ideò baculum in custodiâ præferunt: per baculum, quo infirmi sustentatur, auctoritas doctrinæ designatur; per virgam, quà improbi emendantur, potestas regiminis figuratur. Baculum ergò Pontifices portant, ut infirmos in Fide per doctrinam erigant. Virgam bajulant, ut per potestatem inquietos corrigant: quæ virga vel baculus est recurvus, ut aberrantes à grege docendo ad poenitetiam trabat; in extremo est acutus, ut rebelles excommunicando retrudat; hæreticos, velut lupos, ab ovili Christi potestativè exterreat."—In Gemmâ Animæ, lib. i. cap. 218, 219., apud Hitterpium.

In its primitive form it appears to have been a staff shaped like a T, and used to lean upon. It was gradually lengthened, and in some cases was finished at the top like a mace. The pastoral staff is mentioned in the Life of S. Cæsarius of Arles. Gough says that the pastoral staff found in the coffin of Grostete, Bp. of Lincoln, who died in 1254, was made of red wood ending in a rudely shaped ram's horn. It was inscribed:

In the first prayer-book of the Reformed English Church, 2 Edward VI., at the time of the holy communion the bishop is directed to have "his pastoral staff in his hand, or else borne by his chaplain." It was used in solemn benedictions; and so lately as at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. The second book of King Edward VI., published A.D. 1552, being revived in that reign, the use of the staff was discontinued, as we find by the consecration service of Archbishop Parker.

"Postq' hæc dixissent, ad reliqua Communionis solemnia permit Cicestren. nullu. Archie'po tradens Pastorale baculum."—Bramhall, vol. iii. p. 205., Part i. Disc. 5. App., Oxon. 1844.

A crozier was borne at the funerals of Brian Duppa, of Winton, A.D. 1662; Juxon of London, 1663; Frewen of York, 1664; Wren of Ely, 1667; Cosin of Dunelm, 1671; Trelawney of Winton, 1721; Lindsay of Armagh, 1724. It is engraven on the monuments of Goodrich of Ely, 1552; Magrath of Cashel, 1622; Hacket of Lichfield, 1670; Creggleton of Wells, Lamplugh of York, 1691; Sheldon, 1677; Hoadley of Winton, and Porteus of London. Their croziers (made of gilt metal) were suspended over the tombs of Morley, 1684, and Mews, 1706. The bishop's staff had its crook bent outwards to signify that his jurisdiction extended over his diocese; that of the abbot inwards, as his authority was limited to his house. The crozier of Matthew Wren was of silver with the head gilt. When Bp. Fox's tomb was opened at Winchester some few years since, his staff of oak was found in perfect preservation. A staff of wood painted in azure and gilt, hangs over Trelawney's tomb in Pelynt Church, Cornwall. The superb staff of the pious and munificent founder of the two St. Marie Winton Colleges is still preserved at Oxford, as is also that of the illustrious Wykehamist, Bp. Fox, to whose devotion we owe Corpus Christi College in that university. One of the earliest tombs bearing a staff incised, is that of Abbot Vitalis, who died in 1082, and may be seen in the south cloister of St. Peter's Abbey in Westminster. There were croziered as well as mitred abbots: for instance, the superior of the Benedictine abbey at Bourges had a right to the crozier, but not to the mitre. The Abbot of Westminster was croziered and mitred. I intended to write a reply, but have enabled with a note.

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

7. College Street, Westminster

J.Z.P. will find a fully satisfactory answer to his Query, in regard to the real difference between the crozier and the pastoral staff, on referring to the article headed "Crozier," in the Glossary of Architecture. It is there stated, that "the crozier of an archbishop is surmounted by a cross; but it was only at a comparatively late time, about the 12th century, that the archbishop laid aside the pastoral staff, to assume the cross as an appropriate portion of his personal insignia." From which it may be inferred, that the only existent real difference between the crozier and the pastoral staff is, that the former is surmounted by a cross, and the latter is as it was before the 12th century, viz., surmounted by "a head curled round something in the manner of a shepherd's crook;" and the difference in regard to their use, that the crozier pertains to the archbishops, and the pastoral staff to the bishops.

R.W. ELLIOT

Cheltenham, Sept. 16. 1850.

PARSONS, THE STAFFORDSHIRE GIANT.

(Vol. ii., p. 135.)

Harwood's note in Erdeswick's Staffordshire, quoted by your correspondent C.H.B., is incorrect, inasmuch as the writer has confused the biographies of two distinct "giants"—WALTER PARSONS, porter to King James I., and WILLIAM EVANS, who filled the same office in the succeeding reign.

The best account of these two "worthies" is that found in Fuller, and which I extract from the original edition now before me:—

WALTER PARSONS, born in this county [Staffordshire], was first apprenticed to a smith, when he grew so tall in stature, that a hole was made for him in the ground to stand therein up to the knees, so to make him adequate with his fellow-workmen. He afterwards was porter to King James; seeing as gates generally are higher than the rest of the building, so it was sightly that the porter should be taller than other persons. He was proportionable in all parts, and had strength equal to height, valour to his strength, temper to his valour, so that he disdained to do an injury to any single person. He would make nothing to take two of the tallest yeomen of the guard (like the Gizard and Liver) under his arms at once, and order them as he pleased.

"Yet were his parents (for aught I do understand to the contrary) but of an ordinary stature, whereat none will wonder who have read what St. Augustine (De Civitate Dei, lib. xv. cap. 23.) reports of a woman which came to Rome (a little before the sacking thereof by the Goths), of so giant-like a height, that she was far above all who saw her, though infinite troopes came to behold the spectacle. And yet he addeth, Et hoc erat maximæ admirationis, quod ambo parentes ejus, &c. This made men most admire, that both her parents were but of ordinary stature. This Parsons is produced for proof, that all ages afford some of extraordinary height, and that there is no general decay of mankind in their dimensions, which, if there were, we had ere this time shrunk to be lower than Pigmyes, not to instance in a lesse proportion. This Parsons died Anno Dom. 1620."—Fuller's History of the Worthies of England, 1662 (Staffordshire), p. 48.

"WILLIAM EVANS was born in this county [Monmouthshire], and may justly be accounted the Giant of our age for his stature, being, full two yards and a half in height. He was porter to King Charles I., succeeding, Walter Persons [sic] in his place, and exceeding him two inches in height, but far beneath him in an equal proportion of body; for he was not onely what the Latines call compernis, knocking his knees together, and going out squalling with his feet, but also haulted a little; yet made a shift to dance in an antimask at court, where he drew little Jeffrey, the dwarf, out of his pocket, first to the wonder, then to the laughter, of the beholders. He dyed Anno Dom. 1630." Ibid. (Monmouthshire), p. 54.

From these extracts it will be seen that the Christian name of Parsons was Walter, not William, as stated by Harwood. William was the Christian name of Evans, Parsons' successor. The bas-relief mentioned by the same writer represents William Evans and Jeffrey Hudson, his diminutive fellow-servant. It is over the entrance of Bull-head Court, Newgate Street; not "a bagnio-court," which is nonsense. On the stone these words are cut: "The King's Porter, and the Dwarf," with the date 1660. This bas-relief is engraved in Pennant.

There is a picture of Queen Elizabeth's giant porter at Hampton Court but I am not aware that any portrait of Parsons is preserved in the Royal Collections.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

EISELL AND WORMWOOD WINE.

(Vol. ii., p. 249.)

If Pepys' friends actually did drink up the two quarts of wormwood wine which he gave them, it must, as LORD BRAYBROOKE suggests, have been rendered more palatable than the propoma which was in use in Shakspeare's time. I have been furnished by a distinguished friend with the following, among other Notes, corroborative of my explanation of eisell:

"I have found no better recipe for making wormwood wine than that given by old Langham in his Garden of Health; and as he directs its use to be confined to 'Streine out a little spoonful, and drinke it with a draught of ale or wine,' I think it must have been so atrociously unpalatable, that to drink it up, as Hamlet challenged Laertes to do, would have been as strong an argumentum ad stomachum as to digest a crocodile, even when appetised by a slice of the loaf."

It is evident, therefore, that but small doses of this nauseously bitter medicament were taken at once, and to take a large draught, to drink up a quantity, "would be an extreme pass of amorous demonstration sufficient, one would think, to have satisfied even Hamlet." Our ancestors seem to have been partial to medicated wines; and it is most probable that the wormwood wine Pepys gave his friends had only a slight infusion of the bitter principle; for we can hardly conceive that such "pottle draughts" as two quarts could be taken as a treat, of such a nostrum as the Absinthites, or wormwood wine, mentioned by Stuckius, or that prescribed by the worthy Langham.

S.W. SINGER.

Mickleham, Sept. 30. 1850.

Eisell (Vol. ii., p. 242.).—The attempt of your very learned correspondent, MR. SINGER, to show that "eisell" was wormwood, is, I fear, more ingenious than satisfactory. It is quite true that wormwood wine and beer were ordinary beverages, as wormwood bitters are now; but Hamlet would have done little in challenging Laertes to a draught of wormwood. As to "eisell," we have the following account of it in the "Via Recta ad Vitam longam, or a Plaine Philosophical Discourse of the Nature, Faculties, and Effects of all such Things as by way of Nourishments, and Dieteticale Observations make for the Preservation of Health, &c. &c. By Jo. Venner, Doctor of Physicke at Bathe in the Spring and Fall, and at other Times in the Burrough of North-Petherton, neere to the Ancient Haven Towne of Bridgewater in Somersetshire. London, 1620."

"Eisell, or the vinegar which is made of cyder, is also a good sauce, it is of a very penetrating nature and is like to verjuice in operation, but it is not so astringent, nor altogether so cold," p. 97.

J.R.N.

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

Feltham's Works (Vol. ii., p. 133.).—In addition to the works enumerated by E.N.W., Feltham wrote A Discourse upon Ecclesiastes ii. 11.; A Discourse upon St. Luke xiv. 20.; and A Form of Prayer composed for the Family of the Right Honourable the Countess of Thomond. These two lists, I believe, comprise the whole of his writings. The meaning of the passage in his Remarks on the Low Countries, appears to be this, that a person "courtly or gentle" would receive as little kindness from the inhabitants, and show as great a contrast to their boorishness, as the handsome and docile merlin (which is the smallest of the falcon tribe, anciently denominated "noble"), among a crowd of noisy, cunning, thievish crows; neither remarkable for their beauty nor their politeness. The words "after Michaelmas" are used because "the merlin does not breed here, but visits us in October." Bewick's British Birds, vol. i. p. 43.

T.H. KERSLEY.

King William's College, Isle of Man.

Harefinder (Vol. ii., p. 216.).—The following lines from Drayton's Polyolbion, Song 23., sufficiently illustrates this term:—

In the margin, at the second line, are the words, The Harefinder. What other instances are there of Wat, as a name of the hare? It does not occur in the very curious list in the Reliquiæ Antiquæ, i. 133.

K.

Fool or a Physician—Rising and Setting Sun (Vol. i., p. 157.).—The inquiry of your correspondent C. FORBES, respecting the authorship of the two well-known sayings on these subjects, seems to have received no reply. He thinks that we owe them both to that "imperial Macchiavel, Tiberius." He is right with respect to the one, and wrong with regard to the other. The saying, "that a man after thirty must be either a fool or a physician," had, as it appears, its origin from Tiberius; but the observation that "more worship the rising than the setting sun," is to be attributed to Pompey.

Tacitus says of Tiberius, that he was "solitus eludere medicorum artes, atque eos qui post tricesimum ætatis annum ad internoscenda corpori suo utilia vel noxia alieni consilia indigerent." Annal. vi. 46. Suetonius says: "Valetudine prosperrimâ usus est,—quamvis a tricesimo ætatis anno arbitratu eam suo rexerit, sine adjumento consiliove medicorum." Tib. c. 68. And Plutarch, in his precepts de Valetudine tuendâ, c. 49., says—

[Greek: "Aekousa Tiberion pote Kaisara eipein, hos anaer huper hexaekonta [sic vulgò, sed bene corrigit Lipsius ad Tac. loc. cit. triakonta] gegonos etae, kai proteinon iatro cheira, katagelastos estin."]

These passages sufficiently indicate the origin of the saying; but who first gave it the pointed form in which we now have it, by coupling fool with physician, I am not able to tell.

The authority for giving the other saying to Pompey, is Plutarch, who says that when Pompey, after his return from Africa, applied to the senate for the honour of a triumph, he was opposed by Sylla, to whom he observed, [Greek: "Oti ton aelion anatellonta pleiones ae duomenon proskunousin,"] that more worship the rising than the setting sun—intimating that his own power was increasing, and that of Sylla verging to its fall. (Vit. Pomp. c. 22.)

J.S.W.

Stockwell, Sept. 7.

Papers of Perjury (Vol. ii., p. 182.).—In the absence of a "graphic account," it may interest your correspondent S.R. to be referred to the two following instances of "perjurers wearing papers denoting their crime." In Machyn's Diary, edited by the accomplished antiquary, John Gough Nichols, Esq., and published by the Camden Society, at p. 104. occurs the following:—

"A.D. 1556, April 28th.... The sam day was sett on the pelere in Chepe iij. [men; two] was for the preuerment of wyllfull perjure, the iij. was for wyllfull perjure, with paper sett over their hedes."

In the same works at p. 250., we have also this additional illustration:

"A.D. 1560—I. The xij. day of Feybruary xj. men of the North was of a quest; because they gayff a wrong evyde [nee, and] thay ware paper a-pon their hedes for perjure."

J. GOODWIN.

Birmingham.

Pilgrims' Road to Canterbury.—Being acquainted with the road to which your correspondent S.H. (Vol. ii., p. 237.) alludes, he will, perhaps, allow me to say, that in the neighbourhood of Kemsing a tradition is current, that a certain line of road, which may be traced from Otford to Wrotham, was the pilgrims' road from Winchester to Canterbury. How far this may be correct I know not.

I have not been able to discover any road in the neighbourhood of this city which goes by the name of the pilgrims' road.

If any of your correspondents would furnish any particulars respecting this road, I shall feel much obliged.

R.V.

Winchester.

Capture of Henry VI. (Vol. ii., p. 228.).—In his correction of your correspondent, CLERICUS CRAVENSIS, MR. NICHOLS states:—

"Both Sir John Tempest and Sir James Harrington of Brierley, near Barnesley, were concerned in the king's capture, and each received 100 marks reward; but the fact of Sir Thomas Talbot being the chief actor, is shown by his having received the larger reward of 100l."

In this statement appears entirely to have been overlooked the grant of lands made by King Edward IV. to Sir James Harrington—

"For his services in taking prisoner, and withholding as such in diligence and valour, his enemy Henry, lately called King Henry VI."

This grant, which was confirmed in Parliament, embraced the castle, manor, and domain of Thurland; a park, called Fayzet Whayte Park, with lands, &c. in six townships in the county of Lancaster; lands at Burton in Lonsdale, co. York; and Holme, in Kendal, co. Westmoreland, the forfeited lands of Sir Richard Tunstell, and other "rebels." So considerable a recognition of the services of Sir James Harrington would seem to demand something more than the second-rate position given to them by your correspondent. The order to give Sir James Harrington possession of the lands under his grant will be found in Rymer. The grant itself is printed in the Nugæ Antiquæ, by Henry Harrington, 1775 (vol. ii. p. 121.), and will, I believe, be found in Baines' Lancashire. Mr. Henry Harrington observes that the lands were afterwards lost to his family by the misfortune of Sir James and his brother being on the wrong side at Bosworth Field; after which they were both attainted for serving Richard III. and Edward IV., "and commanding the party which seized Henry VI. and conducted him to the Tower."

H.K.S.C.

Brixton.

Andrew Becket (Vol. ii., p. 266.), about whom A.W. HAMMOND inquires, when I knew him, about twelve years ago, was a strange whimsical old gentleman, full of "odd crotchets," and abounding in theatrical anecdote and the "gossip of the green-room." But as to his ever having been "a profound commentator on the dramatic works of Shakspeare," I must beg leave to express my doubts. At one period he filled the post of sublibrarian to the Prince Regent; and that he was "ardently devoted to the pursuits of literature" cannot be a question.

His published works, as far as I can learn, are as follows:—

1. A Trip to Holland, 1801.

2. Socrates, a dramatic poem, 8vo. 1806.

3. Lucianus Redivivus, or Dialogues concerning Men, Manners, and Opinions, 8vo. 1812.

4. Shakspeare's Himself, or the Language of the Poet asserted; being a full but dispassionate Examin of the Readings and Interpretations of the several Editors, 2 vols. 8vo. 1815.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Passage in Vida (Vol. i., p. 384.).—Your correspondent A.W. asks for some light on the lines of Vida, Christiad, i. 67.:

He cannot construe "te incolumi." No wonder. Will not all be set right by reading, "Quin age, et incolumi," &c.?

J.S.W.

Stockwell, Sept. 7.

"Quem Deus vult perdere" (Vol. i., p. 347., &c.).—To the illustrations of the saying "Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat," which have been given, may be added the following from the Fragments of Constantinus Manasses (edited with Nicet. Eugen., by Boissonade. Paris, 1819), book viii. line 40.:—

J.E.B. MAYOR.

Marlborough College.

Countess of Desmond (Vol. ii., pp. 153. 186.).—R. is referred to Smith's History of Cork, and European Magazine, vol. viii., for particulars respecting the Countess of Desmond. They show her picture at Knowle House, Kent, or Penshurst (I forget which); and tell the story of the fall from the cherry (or plum) tree, adding that she cut three sets of teeth!

WEDSECNARF.

Confession (Vol. ii., p. 296.).—The name asked for by U.J.B. of the Catholic priest, who, sooner than break the seal of confession, suffered death, is John of Nepomuc, Canon of Prague. By order of the Emperor Wenceslas, he was thrown off a bridge into the Muldaw, because he would not tell that profligate prince the confession of his religious empress. This holy man is honoured as St. John Nepomucen on the 16th of May, in the kalendar of Saints.

D. ROCK.

[U.J.B., if desirous of further particulars respecting St. John Nepomuc, may consult Mrs. Jameson's interesting Legends of the Monastic Orders, pp. 214. 217.—ED.]

Cavell, meaning of (Vol. i., p. 473.).—I concur entirely with the etymology of the word cavell given at p. 473. A lake having been drained in my country, the land is still divided into Kavelingen; as lots of land were formerly measured by strings of cord, kavel, kabel, cable. Vide Tuinman Trakkel, d. n. t. p. 165. Kavelloten is to receive a cavell by lot. cf. Idem, Verrolg, p. 97.

JANUS DOUSA.

Lord Kingsborough's Antiquities of Mexico.—Has Lord Kingsborough's splendid work on Mexican hieroglyphics ever been completed or not?

J.A. GILES.

[This magnificent work has been recently completed by the publication of the eighth volume, which may, we believe, be procured from Mr. Henry Bohn.—ED.]

Aërostation (Vol. ii., p. 199.).—The article BALLOON, in the Penny Cyclopædia, would give C.B.M. a good many references. The early works there mentioned are those of Faujas de St. Fond, Bourgeois, and Cavallo; to which I add the following: Thomas Baldwin, Airopaidia, containing the Narrative of a Balloon Excursion from Chester, Sept. 8. 1785. Chester, 1786, 8vo. (pp. 360.).

Vincent Lunardi published the account of his voyage (the first made in England) in a series of letters to a friend. The title is torn out in my copy. The first page begins, "An Account of the First Aërial Voyage in England. Letter I. London, July 15. 1784." (8vo. pp. 66 + ii. with a plate.) It ends with a poetical epistle to Lunardi by "a gentleman well known in the literary world" (query, the same who is thus cited in our day?) from which the following extracts are taken as a specimen of the original balloon jokes:—

Mr. Baldwin ascended in Lunardi's balloon, the latter being present at the start, though not taking part in the voyage.

M.

Concolinel (Vol. ii., p. 217.).—I have been many years engaged in researches connected with the original music of Shakspeare's Plays, but it has not been my good fortune to meet with the air of Concolinel. The communication of your correspondent R. is of the greatest interest, and I should be for ever grateful if he would allow me to see the manuscript in question, in order that I might test the genuineness of the air "stated, in a recent hand, to be the tune of Concolinel mentioned by Shakspeare."

This air has double claims on our attention, as its existence, in any shape, is placed amongst the "doubtful" points by the following note extracted from the Rev. J. Hunter's New Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 268.:—

"Concolinel. In the absence of any thing like sufficient explanation or justification of this word, if word it is, I will venture to suggest the possibility that it is a corruption of a stage direction, Cantat Ital., for Cantat Italicé; meaning that here Moth sings an Italian song. It is quite evident, from what Armado says, when the song was ended, 'Sweet air!' that a song of some sort was sung, and one which Shakespeare was pleased with, and meant to praise. If Moth's song had been an English song, it would have been found in its place as the other songs are."

I, for one, cannot subscribe to Mr. Hunter's suggestion that our great poet intended an Italian song to be sung in his play and for this reason, that Italian music for a single voice was almost unknown in this country in 1597, at which date we know Love's Labour's Lost was in existence. Surely Concolinel is just as likely to be the burden of a song as Calen o Custure me, mentioned in Henry the Fifth (Act iv. sc. 4.), of which there is now no doubt.

I may just mention, in passing, that I have discovered the air of Calen o Custure me in a manuscript that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth, and have ample proof that it was an especial favourite with her maiden majesty. The commentators were at fault when they pointed out the more modern tune of the same name in Playford's Musical Companion, 1667.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

S. Augustus Square, Regent's Park.

Andrewes's Tortura Torti (Vol. ii., p. 295.).—On what forms Mr. Bliss's third quotation, which does appear in some shape in Bernard, De Consid. ad Eugen., iii. 4. 18., the Bibliotheca Juridica, &c., of Ferraris observes, under the head of Dispensatio: "Hinc dispensatio sine justa causa non dispensatio sed dissipatio dicitur communiter a doctoribus, ut observant et tenent Sperell;" then referring to several Romish canonists, &c., the last being Reiffenstuel, lib. i., Decretal, tit. 2., n. 450., of which I give the full reference, his volumes being accessible in the British Museum, if not elsewhere.

NOVUS.

Swords worn in Public (Vol. ii., p. 218.)—A very respected and old friend of mine, now deceased, used to relate that he had often seen the celebrated Wilkes, of political notoriety, walking in the public streets, dressed in what is usually termed court dress, wearing his sword. Wilkes died in 1797. In connexion with this subject it may be interesting to your readers to know that in 1701 it was found necessary to prohibit footmen wearing swords. An order was issued by the Earl Marshal in that year, declaring that—

"Whereas many mischiefs and dangerous accidents, tending not onely to the highest breach of the peace, but also to the destruction of the lives of his Ma'ties subjects, have happend and been occasioned by Footmen wearing of Swords, for the prevention of the like evill accidents and disturbance for the future, I doe hereby order that no Foot-man attending any of the Nobilitye or Gentry of his Ma'ties Realms, during such time as they or any of them shall reside or bee within the Cities of London or Westm'r, and the Liberties and Precincts of the same, shall wear any Sword, Hanger, Bagonet, or other such like offensive weapon, as they will answer the Contempt hereof." Dated 30th Dec. 1701.

F.E.

Speech given to Man to conceal his Thoughts (Vol. i., p. 83.).—The maxim quoted by your correspondent F.R.A. was invented, if I may rely upon the notebook of memory, by the Florentine Machiavelli. The German writer Ludwig Börne says:—

"Macchiavelli, der die Freiheit liebte, schrieb seinem Prinzen so, dass er alle rechtschaffenen Psychologen in Verlegenheit und in solche Verwirrung gebracht, dass sie gar nicht mehr wussten, was sie sprachen und sie behaupteten, Macchiavelli habe eine politische Satyre geschrieben."

Le style c'est l'homme!

JANUS DOUSA.

The Character "&,", and Meaning of "Parse" (Vol. ii., pp. 230. 284.).—This character, being different from any of the twenty-four letters, was placed at the end of the alphabet, and children, after repeating their letters, were taught to indicate this symbol as and-per-se-and. Instead of spelling the word and, as composed of three letters, it was denoted by a special symbol, which was "and by itself, and." Hence the corruption, an ampussy and.

The word parse is also derived from the Latin per se. To parse a sentence is to take the words per se, and to explain their grammatical form and etymology.

L.

Wife of Edward the Outlaw (Vol. ii., p. 279.).—With reference to the Query of E.H.Y. (Vol. ii., p. 279.), there seems to be much confusion in all the accounts of Edward's marriage. I think it is evident, from an attentive consideration of the various authorities, that the Lady Agatha was either sister to Giselle, wife of Stephen, King of Hungary (to whom the young princes must have been sent, as he reigned from A.D. 1000 till A.D. 1038), and sister also to the Emperor Henry II., or, as some writers seem to think, she was the daughter of Bruno, that emperor's brother. (See a note in Dr. Lingard's History, vol. i. p. 349.)

That she was not the daughter of either Henry II., Henry III., or Henry IV., is very certain; in the first case, for the reason stated by your correspondent; and in the second, because Henry III. was only twelve years old when he succeeded his father Conrad II. (in the year 1039), which of course puts his son Henry IV. quite out of the question, who was born A.D. 1049. It strikes me (and perhaps some of your correspondents will correct me if I am wrong) that the two English princes may have respectively married the two ladies to whom I have referred, and that hence may have arisen the discrepancies in the different histories: but that the wife of Edward the Outlaw was one of these two I have no doubt.

O.P.Q.

Translations of the Scriptures (Vol. ii., p. 229.).—C.F.S. may perhaps find The Bible of every Land, now publishing by Messrs. Bagster, serviceable in his inquiries respecting Roman Catholic translations of the Scriptures. The saying of the Duke of Lancaster is found in the first edition of Foxe's Acts and Monuments, and in the modern reprint, iv. 674.; the original of the treatise from which it is taken being in C.C. College, Cambridge. (See Nasmith's Catalogue, p. 333.)

NOVUS.

Scalping (Vol. ii., p. 220.).—W.B.D. confounds beheading with scalping. In the American war many British soldiers, it was said, walked about without their scalps, but not without their heads.

SANDVICENSIS.