Volume 4 — Queries.

JUDGES STYLED REVEREND, ETC.

I read a Query not long ago as to the time when the title "Very Reverend" was first given to Deans. I would also offer a Query, When did the Judges lose the title of "Reverend" and "Very Reverend," and obtain that of "Honorable?" In the second volume of The Year Books the approbation of the twelve judges to the publication of the reports is headed, "By the approbation of the Reverend Judges;" and the following is copied from the title-page: "Le Premier Part de les Reports del Cases en Ley, que furent argués en le Temps de le très Haut et Puissant Prince, Roy Edward le Tierce. Ore nouvelment Imprimés, Corrigés et Amendés, avec les Notations and References de l' très Reverend et trés Sage Juges de cest Royaulme, Brook et Fitzherbert. Printed, 1679."

In the title-page of the sixth volume we find "Avec les Notations de le très Reverend Juges, Brook et Fitzherbert."

Was this title, "Reverend," derived from the address given to judges when ecclesiastics filled judicial offices, or is it simply a title of respect applied to all persons to whom, on account of their position in society, respectful address is due; of which we have an example in Othello's address to the Venetian senators:

When did the address, "The Honorable," now given to the judges, come into use?

How comes it that in Court the Puisne Judges are addressed by the title of "Lord," whereas the Master of the Rolls, who ranks before them, receives the title of "Your Honor?"

The use of the title "Honorable" to the House of Commons, and to members within its walls, is familiar to us all.

The worthiness and antiquity of the title is proved by its being given to one of the Persons of the Eternal Trinity in the Te Deum.

F. W. J.

Minor Queries.

93. Frederick Egmont; Peter (Egmont?).

—They appear as booksellers merely and only, so far as I can make out, because the promptorius puerorum, or medulla grammaticæ, printed by Pynson, in 1499, is said, in the colophon, to be at their expense. Neither Ames nor Dibdin gives any further evidence. The following is therefore worth a Note. It is from the ad lectorem (or rather, the adolescentibus studiosis) of the Multorum Vocabulorum equivocorum interpretatio Magistri Johannes de garlandia: Paris, 1502, 4to.

"Sed nihil tam arduum tamque difficile fuit quod labor improbus non vicerit. Ut videlicet mei amicissimo Fredericho Egmont morem gererem optatissimus: qui cum in vestra excellentissima anglie patria. Et librorum sit fidelissimus mercator et amicorum suorum amantissimus, nullum unque librum ex officina sua nisi perquam castigatus emittet."

Query, was F. Egmont a printer as well as a bookseller? Granting that officina means a shop, how can a mere bookseller sell none but correctly printed works? The writer of the above was himself a bookseller (Joh. Ant. Venetus).

Of Peter above-mentioned, or rather of his name, the following is the history:—The colophon of the promptorius, of which there is a copy in the Grenville Library, runs as follows "... in expensis virtuosorum virorum Frederici Egmont et Petri post pascha, anno domini MCCCC nonagessimo nono, decima v'a die mensis Maii." Hence Hain and others have entered Peter post Pascha as an English bookseller, presuming that the words post pascha cannot belong to the date, because the more definite day, "May 15," follows. But surely, among the varieties of the time when every man did what seemed good in his own eyes as to titles, colophons, &c., it may easily have happened that a double description of a part of the date may have occurred, one description containing more than the other. Query, Can any other instance be produced of this hypertautology? [6] At any rate, such a thing is more likely than that a bookseller should have been called Peter After-Easter. At the same time such whimsical things were done in the Latinization of names, both by their owners and by others for them, that no certain conclusion can be drawn. For example, more atrocious changes have been made than would be that of Easterby into post pascha.

M.

94. Unlucky for pregnant Women to take an Oath.

—In a police case, reported in The Times of the 28th of May, a woman was called as a witness who, however, upon the book being tendered to her, positively refused to be sworn, with the remark, that it must be evident to the magistrate that she could not take an oath. The usher of the court said that the woman was pregnant, and that low women who were in that situation, entertained an absurd belief that it was unlucky to take an oath. What is the origin of this superstition? Is it common amongst the uneducated classes of society?

COWGILL.

95. Cockroach (Vol. i., p. 194.).

—Having seen in "NOTES AND QUERIES" some interesting particulars on the subject of beetle mythology, I am induced to put a Query as to the derivation of the word "cockroach." The common appellation for this insect in the French islands is ravet, but the more correct one is kakerlaque. Does the affinity in sound between this latter term and "cockroach," slight though it be, warrant the supposition that the one may be derived from the other?

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, May, 1851.

96. Felton.

—What has become of the letter said to have been found in Felton's hat when he stabbed the Duke of Buckingham? Upcott once had it, but it did not appear in the sale catalogue of his collection.

??

97. Date of a Charter.

—Having been in the habit of making frequent consultations to the MSS. in the British Museum respecting the county of Wilts, I found a charter temp. Henry III., the date of which is given as "Thursday next after the day whereon the King sent his daughter into Sicily!"

It is now three years since I last saw the original, and having mislaid my transcript, I quote from memory; but I believe I am correct in my rendering from the Latin.

Can you, through the medium of your valuable publication, fix with accuracy this date, as I have not been able to do so.

J. T. HAND.

29. Threadneedle Street, Aug. 13. 1851.

98. Thomas Tusser the "Husbandman."

—Has any new evidence been discovered to prove the correct dates of the birth and decease of this "old English worthy?" On his own authority we learn that Rivenhall, near Witham in Essex, was the place of his nativity, and his remains were interred (about 1580?) in St. Mildred's church in the Poultry. Are any particulars known of Sir Richard Southwell, one of Tusser's patrons?

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

99. Godfrey Higgins' Works.

—Have the works of Godfrey Higgins (the Celtic Druids and the Anacalypsis) ever been reviewed, and where? if not, can any of your readers inform me what is the opinion generally entertained of these productions?

OUTIS.

100. Noctes Templariæ.

—In turning over yesterday a MS. volume in the University Library, I met with a tract of 8 pp., with the title, Noctes Templariæ: a Briefe Chronicle of the darke Raigne of the bright Prince of burning Love. Stradilan is the name of the principal character in this most mad composition. As to the author, I shall be glad to receive information from those better acquainted with the fugitive literature of the seventeenth century than

W. R. C.

Cambridge.

101. Commissioners on Officers of Justice in England.

—On July 27th, 1733, commissioners were appointed to survey the officers of justice in England and Wales, and to inquire into their fees. Will any of your learned readers inform me whether these commissioners made any report of the returns of fees which they received in pursuance of their commission, and where is such report or returns deposited? This inquiry may lead to some important results.

INQUIRER.

102. Marcus Ælius Antoninus.

—Can you or any of your correspondents inform me what writer is concealed under the pseudonyme of Marcus Ælius Antoninus, in the following title?

"De scripto quodam cleri secundarii et leguleorum cololiensium planè detestabili, adversus Evangelii doctrinam et ordines Imperii nuper edito Querela Marci Ælii Antonini Imperatoris, qui Philosophus à bonis literis magna laude cognominatus est. 1543."

TYRO.

Dublin.

103. Derivation of Pic-nic.

—Can any of your subscribers inform me of the derivation of the word "Pic-nic?"

A. F. S.

Nottingham, Aug. 12.

104. Sir Thomas More's Knighthood.

—I should, be glad of the date when the honour of knighthood was conferred on this eminent man and also the date of his admission into the privy council. If I am rightly informed, the records of the privy council are preserved only since 1540.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT

105. Portrait of Mandeville, author of the Fable of "The Bees."

—Could any of your numerous readers inform me whether there is in existence any authenticated portrait of Dr. Bernard de Mandeville, author of the fable of "The Bees?" I have made a fruitless search for several years past.

B. G.

106. Dingle, early History of.

—Any references to works, MS. or printed, containing notices of the early history of Dingle and its neighbourhood, in the county of Kerry, Ireland, will much oblige.

R. H.

107. Ancient Egypt, Language of.

—What are the best standard works on the study of the language of ancient Egypt, as preserved in its monuments? What are the best works on its chronology? What translations exist of its "Ritual of the Dead?" I am acquainted with Lepsius Todtenbuch. What MSS. of it, if any, are preserved in British museums or libraries? have they been collated? I am acquainted with that in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, formerly in possession of the late Lord Kingsborough, which, I believe, has never been even lithographed; though among the members of that university are a Hincks, a Wall, and a Butcher.

S. P. H. T.

108. Dr. Matthew Sutcliffe.

—None of the biographers of the famous Dr. Matthew Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter, the controversial writer, and founder of Chelsea College, state where he was born, or where interred. Faulkner, in his History of Chelsea, observes that he was probably a native of Devonshire; but there appears to be some ground for considering that he was of a family settled at Mayroyd, in the parish of Halifax in Yorkshire. In a conveyance of the estate, dated 29th January, 1581, the grantor is Matthew Sutcliffe, "Doctor of Civil Law, dwelling in London." He was of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Doctor of Civil Law: he died in 1629. In his will he desires to be buried in Exeter Cathedral. Probably the inscription on his tombstone, if still existing, might settle this uncertainty. I shall feel obliged to any of your correspondents who can throw any light on the subject.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

109. Names first given to Parishes.

—Is there any means of ascertaining the time at which names were first given to parishes? and can any reason be given for the recurrence of one termination in a particular locality? Thus between Caistor and Brigg in Lincolnshire, a distance of about nine miles, there are, I understand, the several parishes or hamlets of Clixby, Fonaby, Grassby, Ownby, Searby, Bigby, Barnetby, Wrawby, and there are many others in the neighbourhood. Of course, I know the meaning of by, as a termination; but I wish to know why it occurs so often in one locality, when perhaps a few miles off you have as many hams or thorpes.

Can you suggest any probable derivation of Swinhop?

F. B.

Leamington.

110. German Testament.

—What is the most literal German translation of the New Testament? Is the translation published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1844 to be depended on?

A. G.

111. The Man of Law.

—Who was the author of the following lines quoted by Mr. Serjeant Byles a short time since?—

They may not be quite correct, as I write from memory.

W. W. KING.

112. The Termination "Ship."

—What is the origin of the termination ship, in such words as consulship, prætorship, lordship, and others?

A. W. H.

113. Nullus and Nemo.

—I have two old quarto tracts, of eight pages each, printed, as seems both by the type and by an allusion contained in one of them, between 1520 and 1530, or thereabouts. They are part of a satirical controversy, the subject of which is very obscure, between Nemo of Wittemberg, and Nullus of Leipsic. Though printed, we must suppose, at the two places, the opponents have evidently clubbed for a woodcut to be common to the two title-pages.

In this cut an unfortunate householder stands in an attitude of despair, surrounded by what are as much in our day as in his the doings of nobody, as broken crockery, hardware, &c. In the distance his kitchen is visible, in which two nobodies are busy with his meat and wine. A young woman is carrying an infant to the priest to be baptized; and from the way in which the worthy man holds up his finger, we may fear she has just confessed that it is nobody's child. Can any of your readers give any information?

M.

114. The noblest Object of the Work of Art.

—Can any of your readers discover the answer to the adjoining riddles which I have met with, though I neither know its author nor answer?—

A. W. H.

115. Poulster.

—Can any one inform me if I am right in supposing that this word, used in the reign of George I. as an addition expressing trade, is the same as our upholsterer?

D. X.

Minor Queries Answered.

Reverend Cæsar de Missy.

—Can you furnish me with any particulars respecting the Rev. Cæsar de Missy? Bishop Middleton, in his work on the Greek article, quotes once or twice some MS. notes of his, now in the British Museum; and a rare edition of the Septuagint (Basil, 1545), now in my possession, contains his autograph under date Londini, 1745. I have not met with his name in any biographical work, and should therefore be obliged by any information respecting his life and works.

QUIDAM.

[Cæsar de Missy, a learned Prussian divine, was born at Berlin, 1703. Having settled in England, he was appointed in 1762 to be one of the French chaplains to George III., and died 1773. His valuable library, which was sold by Baker and Leigh in 1778, consisted of many books enriched with his MS. notes, some of which were purchased for his Majesty's library, some for the British Museum, and some by Dr. Hunter, who also bought several of his manuscripts. A biographical account of De Missy will be found in Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, under De Missy and a list of his works in Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica, art. Missy.]

F. Beaumont and Jeremy Taylor (Vol. ii., p. 263.).

—"An acre sown with royal seed," &c. Would M. W. kindly say where the passage in Beaumont is to be found?

C. P. E.

[The passage occurs in the poem entitled "On the Tombs in Westminster Abbey." See Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, vol. ii. p. 709. edit. 1840.]

"Carve out Dials."—

Where is the above quotation from? It heads an advertisement of the Sam Slick Clocks.

G. CREED.

[It will be found in Shakspeare's King Henry VI., Part III. Act II. Sc. 5.]

Log Book.

—What is the origin of Log Book?

G. CREED.

[The Log board no doubt gave rise to the Log book, as being more convenient for preserving a record of the ship's course, winds, and weather. Consult Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine.]

Lord Clydesdale.

—Would you kindly inform me who was the "Lord Mar. Clydesdale," or "Clidsdale," whose name appears as a commoner of St. Mary's College, Winchester, in 1735; and in other Rolls about that date?

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

P.S. May I in your columns beg all Wykehamists to send to me, under care of my publisher, any information concerning their old school?

[James, Marquis of Clydesdale, was afterwards fifth Duke of Hamilton, and second Duke of Brandon. See Douglas' Peerage of Scotland, vol. i. pp. 473. 722.]

"Time is the Stuff of which Life is made."

—There is a phrase, "Time is the stuff that life is made of," which has been taken for a line of Shakspeare. A reference to Mrs. Clark's Concordance shows that that supposition is erroneous. Can any of your readers inform me where the phrase may be found?

H.

[It occurs in Dr. Franklin's Works, vol. iii. p. 454., edit. 1806, in the article "The Way to Wealth, as clearly shown in the Preface of an old Pennsylvania Almanack, intitled, Poor Richard Improved." He says, "But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of, as Poor Richard says." Franklin may have quoted it from some previous author.]

"Yet forty Days" (Jonah iii. 4.)

—"Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown."—Septuagint (Baxter's edition) "Ἔτι τρεῖς ἥμεραι," &c.: "Yet three days."—How is this?

NEDLAM.

[Τρεῖς is the common reading of the LXX. as ארבעים of the Hebrew. We know of no variants. J. H. Michaelis' account of the matter is, "Perperam vero LXX. hunc quadragenarium dierum numerum in triduanum commutarunt."]

The Empress Helena.

—Most readers of general history are aware that the parentage of the renowned mother of the still more renowned Constantine has been claimed for two widely different sources,—a British king on the one hand, and an innkeeper of Bithynia on the other. In favour of the former, we have Geoffrey of Monmouth, Carte the English historian, and modern Welsh authors; for the latter, Gibbon and his authorities. The object of the present Query is threefold: 1. Will some one having access to Geoffrey be kind enough to favour me (in the original or a translation) with the exact statement of the chronicler to which Gibbon refers? 2. Are writers of intelligence and credit quite agreed that the tradition which assigns to the wife of Constantius a royal British parentage was "invented in the darkness of monasteries?" 3. Where is the question—one of interest in many ways—fully and satisfactorily discussed?

H.

[The statement will be found in Geoffrey's British History, book v. ch. 6.:—"After the decease of Coel, a petty prince of Caercolvin [Colchester], Constantius himself was crowned, and married the daughter of Coel, [7] whose name was Helena. She surpassed all the ladies of the country in beauty, as she did all others of the time in her skill in music and the liberal arts. Her father had no other issue to succeed him on the throne; for which reason he was very careful about her education, that she might be better qualified to govern the kingdom. Constantius, therefore, having made her partner of his bed, had a son by her called Constantine." Thus far Geoffrey; and with him agree Baronius, Ussher, Stillingfleet, and Camden. The learned Lipsius' opinion of this tradition, in his letter to Mr. Camden, will be found in his Epistles, page 64. The traditions, however, is not mentioned by Gildas, Nennius, or Bede. Our correspondent will find a long discussion on this disputed point in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, August 18, Art. "S. Helen." See also Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, t. iv.]