Volume 5 — Queries.

"HOGS NORTON, WHERE PIGS PLAY UPON THE ORGANS."

I should be much obliged by any of your correspondents favouring me with their opinions as to the origin of the above saying. Evans, in his Leicestershire Words, says:

"The true name of the town, according to Peck, is Hocks Norton, but vulgarly pronounced Hogs Norton. The organist to this parish church was named Piggs."

But in Witt's Recreations, of which I have a copy of 1640, the eighty-third epigram is "upon pigs devouring a bed of penny-royal, commonly called organs:"

Organs from "organy;" French, origan; Latin, origanum.

Now it is evident that in 1640 the proverb was in vogue, and well understood; but organs were not at that time common in churches, especially parish churches, and as I do not know which of the many Nortons in England is Mr. Peck's Hocks Norton, I cannot help considering his derivation somewhat in the light of an anachronism.

I do not know the date of Howell's English Proverbs quoted by Mr. Halliwell in his Archaic Dictionary. Should there be such a place as Hog's Norton, or Hock's Norton, is the Hock = Hok = oak tree? Acorns and pigs were common associates.

The only instance that I recollect of pigs being connected with an organ, is in that curious freak recorded of the Abbé Debaigne, maître de musique to Louis XI., when he made a hog-organ by enclosing pigs of various ages and pitches of voice in a kind of chest; the older ones on the left hand for the bass, and the younger on the right for the treble: over all these was suspended a key-board, which, when played on, pressed long needles into the pigs' backs,—the result is left to the imagination.

THOS. LAWRENCE.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Minor Queries.

The Judge alluded to by South.

—South, in a note in his first Sermon on Covetousness (vol. iv. p. 448., 4th edition, 1727), tells us of a lawyer, "a confident of the rebels," who recommended that the Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Charles I., should be bound "to some good trade, that so he might eat his bread honestly." He then expresses wonder that Charles II. made this lawyer a judge; a practice, he adds, and doubtless with a meaning, "not unusual in the courts of some princes, to encourage and prefer their mortal enemies, before their truest friends."

Can any of your correspondents tell us more on the subject, and the name of the judge?

The recommendation was probably given at the time when the Duke and the Princess Elizabeth were removed from Penshurst to Carisbrooke, where, according to instructions, they were not to be treated as royal children.

I may refer your readers to Lord Clarendon's Hist. (vii. 84.), and to a letter and interesting note in Sir H. Ellis's Collection of Letters, iii. 329. Evelyn describes the Duke as "a prince of extraordinary hopes."

Did South, in his reflection on princes, refer to himself? Wood, his bitter foe, tells us that "he could never be enough loaded with preferment; while others, who had been reduced to a bit of bread for his Majesty's cause, could get nothing." In 1660 he "tugged hard," adds Wood, to be Can of Ch. Ch., but failed: in ten years afterwards he succeeded.

J. H. M.

Bath.

English Translation of the Canons.

—In the 36th canon the record of the subscriptions is, Quod liber publicæ Liturgiæ ... nihil in se contineat quod verbo Dei sit contrarium; quodque eodem taliter uti liceat. This is copied from Bishop Sparrow's collection. The English translation, to which subscription is now made, has the following rendering of the second clause—and that the same may be lawfully used. The word taliter seems to be not rendered at all. Without wishing to provoke theological controversy, I should ask, by what authority, and at what date, was the English translation imposed upon the clergy and graduates, all of whom understand Latin? Is it affirmed that the English renders the Latin fully, or is the English translation avowedly intended to fall short? I will not ask the meaning of the word taliter in the minds of those who imposed the Latin subscription, because answers might provoke the inadmissible kind of controversy.

M.

Snuff-boxes and Tobacco-pipes.

—In which book can I find the best account of the manufacture of snuff-boxes, particularly of those manufactured in Mauchline and Laurencekirk, Scotland?

Also of the manufacture of cigars in London, the number of persons engaged in the trade, and general statistics thereof?

Also of the manufacture of tobacco-pipes, and of the "Incorporated Company of Tobacco-pipe Manufacturers," and the statistics of the trade?

D. W. L.

Cromwell.

—Is it true that Oliver Cromwell held the office of cup-bearer to King Charles I.? I ask this question, because at a recent sale of MSS. by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson occurs this lot:

"226. Committee for Public Revenue. Order for the payment of arrears of annual salary of 66l. 13s. 4d., due Christmas last, to Major Oliver Cromwell, for his attending the late King as Cup-bearer. Signed ED. HOWARD (Lord Howard of Escrick, co. York); SIR H. VANE; H. EDWARDES; JOHN TRENCHARD; and COR HOLLAND: the receipt dated July 2, signed O. CROMWELL. Thomas Fauconberge subsequently became Cromwell's son-in-law; at the corner is his autograph order, for the amount to be promptly paid. July 2, 1649."

G. W. J.

Meaning of Wallop

—In the article of Collins's Peerage which narrates the history of the "Wallops, Earls of Portsmouth," great and deserved praise is bestowed upon Sir John Wallop, a most valorous and successful military commander.

Not to trouble you with more, I make one extract, which is, for more reasons than one, likely to be interesting:

"Sir John Wallop, in 6 Henry VIII., was sent as Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the fleet, to encounter Prior John, the French Admiral, who, landing in Sussex, had burnt the town of Brighthelmstone. The French getting into their own ports, Sir John Wallop sailed to the coast of Normandy, and there landed and burnt twenty-one villages and towns with great slaughter, and also the ships and boats in the havens of Treaport, Staple, &c., wherein he acquitted himself with such conduct and valour, that all our historians have mentioned this expedition much to his honour."

The Query which I desire to ask is, whether the significant, but somewhat coarse phrase of "to wallop," have its origin in the exploits of this gallant ancestor of the Earl of Portsmouth?

E. S. S. W.

Winton.

The "Mistral."

—There is an old French proverb which says:

The first of these scourges has disappeared: the third will probably last for ever: but what of the second?

The Mistral is a kind of whirlwind (partaking of the character of the African simoon, or of the West Indian hurricane), which pays its annual visits to Provence, and causes the most frightful devastation along the banks of the Rhone. It is spoken of by Seneca, and other writers of his time; and the Emperor Augustus is said to have raised a temple to it during his residence in Gaul.

Has any attempt been made, in this age of scientific advancement, to explain the causes of the Mistral? Perhaps Sir William Reid, from his present position and opportunities, as Governor of Malta, may be induced to turn his attention to the subject. An attempt to investigate the origin of this phenomenon, coupled with an historical sketch of its progress and effects, would form a valuable chapter in any future edition of his work on the Law of Storms.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

Deaths from Fasting.

—In the church of St. Mary, Bury St. Edmund's, is a fine table-tomb, surmounted by a corpse in a winding-sheet, to the memory of John Bant, whose very curious will has been printed by the Camden Society. Tradition says that the death of this pious church decorator arose from the vain attempt to imitate Our Lord in fasting forty successive days and nights. This tradition has no foundation in fact, but owes its origin to the figure on the tomb, which would appear to have been made in the lifetime of the deceased. There are similar traditions in other parts of the kingdom. Can any of your correspondents state where, and whether accompanied by similar wasted figures?

BURIENSIS.

Ad Viscum.

—It has not been unusual among antiquaries of a certain class to cite the following Latin hexameter:—

Two or three times I have seen it accompanied by a general reference to one Ovidius. But having met with a copy of that author, to which an index of all his words is annexed, I collect therefrom that the said Ovidius never expressed himself to that effect.

I should wish to learn whether any body else ever did, and who; or whether the knave who first coined that false reference also coined the line.

A. N.

Whipping Graves.

—Excommunicated persons were formerly restored to the Church, according to the old Rituale Romanum, by the ceremony of whipping their graves. When it was resolved the dead party should be restored to the communion of saints, it was ordered that the body should not be disentombed, but that the "graves shall be whipped, and while the priest whips the grave, he shall say—'By the authority which I have received I free thee from the bond of excommunication, and restore thee to the communion of the faithful.'" I do not find this in the copy of the Ritual I possess. Have any readers of the "N. & Q." a copy with the directions for this singular service?

CYRUS REDDING.

John Rogers, Protomartyr

John Rogers, Protomartyr, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, and Rector of St. Sepulchre's, was burnt at the stake in Smithfield, rendering his testimony to the true religion of the Catholic Church of England: he left a wife and ten children. It is remarkable that no memorial of this celebrated man is to be found in the church of which he was the rector. Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." afford information as to his present descendants? John Rogers, Gentleman, of Charter House Square, was buried in the nave of the church, Nov. 19. 1775, aged fifty-four. The degree of consanguinity to the former rector is required for genealogical purposes.

KT.

Autograph Music by Handel.

—Before me lies a MS. duet in the autograph of Handel, and also an unfinished "Sonata da Cembalo" by the same composer. The former piece is thus authenticated by a note written at the bottom of the last page:

"This duett was given to G. Malchair by Philip Hayes, Mus. Dr., with a declaration that it is Mr. Handel's ohne handwriting."

On the wrapper which contains the two pieces is written:

"The two inclosed pieces of music ware given to me by my worthy friend Dr. Philip Hayes, with an ashurance that they are the handwriting of the celebrated Mr. Handel. The duett, indeed, has all the appearance of being the original conception of that greate man pen'd by himself."

I am desirous of ascertaining from some of your correspondents, better versed than myself in the soul-stirring music of this noble composer, whether the duet has been printed; and if so, where it may be found? The only means of identification which I can supply are these: it is written in two flats, and the words are—

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

The Layard Family.

—The ancestor of A. H. Layard, the youthful and everywhere celebrated "Navorscher" of Nineveh, came to England with William of Orange. He fought under this prince at the battle of the Boyne. I would ask, whether anything is known of his genealogy before 1688?

Q. Q. Q.

Zeist.

C.L.A.A.P.D.P.

—The famous Avis aux Réfugiéz, a work commonly attributed to Bayle, pretends on its title-page to have been written "Par Mons. C.L.A.A.P.D.P." Who can tell me whether these initials have any purport?

N. P. BIBLIOPHILUS.

Rotterdam.

Prianho, De Pratellis and Prideaux Family.

—What ground is there for Dr. Oliver, the author of Historic Collections relating to the Monasteries of Devon, published 1820, and the Rev. G. C. Gorham, in his History of St. Neots in Huntingdonshire and in Cornwall, published in 1824, supposing that De Pratellis is the same name as Prideaux? Dr. Oliver says (p. 123.), Adam Prianho or De Pratellis al Prydeaux appointed prior. Gorham, vol. i. p. 172., says, Robert de Preus (alias Robert de Pratell?). And again, in vol. ii. p. clxviii., Robert de Preaux alias Prideaux, was presented by the prior and convent in 1270; his quotation is from Instituted rolls and Registers, Lincoln Cathedral: the roll reads Preus and De Pratellis.

G. P. P.

Joseph Adrien Le Bailly.

—In the choir of the church of St. Sauveur at Bruges is a monument of black marble, to the memory of Joseph Adrien Le Bailly, who died the 18th Oct. 1775, aged eighty-two. After describing him as the member of a noble and warlike family, the epitaph proceeds as follows:

"Victime de l'envie il mourût, en citoyen la calomnie avait flêtri sa vertu, la vérité en a déchiré la voile.... L'honnête homme a reparu, et la justice l'a vengé."

I have searched, but in vain, for some notice of this individual, and shall feel indebted to any of your readers who will be kind enough to give me some particulars which will throw light upon these mysterious expressions.

J. H. M.

Bath.

Minor Queries Answered.

The Great Bowyer Bible.

—Can you afford me information respecting the Great Bowyer Bible, which, I believe, about twenty years ago was valued at 1000l., and disposed of by lottery?

Is it in private hands, or in a public library?

J. S.

[The Bowyer Bible was disposed of, in 1848, in Mrs. Parkes's Club Subscription.

The name of the gentleman who was so fortunate as to obtain it, for his subscription of one guinea, is Saxon; a gentleman farmer, residing near Shepton Mallett in Somersetshire. He received the Bible in an appropriate cabinet from Mrs. Parkes, who knows nothing further of its subsequent history.]

Orloff, Derivation of.

—What is the derivation of the word orloff, as applied to the deck of a ship of war? The "orloff deck" is, I believe, the first lower deck which runs flush frown stem to stern.

W. A. L.

[Falconer and others spell it Orlop, from the Dutch overloop, a running over, or overflowing. Dr. Ogilvie says, "In a ship of war it is a platform of planks laid over the beams in the hold, on which the cables are usually coiled. It contains also sail-rooms, carpenters' cabins, and other apartments. Also, a tier of beams below the lower deck for a like purpose. In three-decked ships the second and lowest decks are sometimes called orlops."]

"A Captain bold of Halifax."

—Byron says, in a note somewhere, that many of the modern Greek poems are in the metre of the English ballad:

The same may be said of a metre much used Terence and Plautus.

Where is this ballad to be found?

ED. G. JACKSON.

Saffron Walden.

[Though we cannot point where this song, written by George Colman, and known as "Unfortunate Miss Bailey," is to be met with, we can refer our correspondent to a clever Latin version of it by the Rev. G. H. Glasse, printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1805, which commences—

There is also in the same magazine a French version which runs—

Goblin, Gorgeous, Gossip.

—May I ask the derivation of the following English words,—Goblin, Gorgeous, Gossip?

J. G. T.

[Goblin is derived from the low Latin Gobelinus; see Ducange, who defines it, "Dæmon, qui vulgo Faunus, Gallis, Gobelin Folastre, German, Kobold," and quotes as his authority Ordericus Vitalis.

Gorgeous, according to Skinner, is from the French Gorgias, probably from Gorge, and transferred from the palate to the eye. No such word as Gorgias is, however, to be found in Roquefort's Glossaire.

Gossip is from the Anglo-Saxon God-sibbe, "cognatus in Deo." Nares in his Glossary furnishes the following apt illustration of it: "Our Christian ancestors, understanding a spiritual affinity to grow between the parents and such as undertooke for the child at baptism, called each other by the name of God-sib, that is, of kin together through God; and the child, in like manner, called such his godfathers and godmothers."—Verstegan, p. 223.]

Maheremium, Arc de Arbouin.

—In a survey of the castle of Launceston made in the 11 Edw. III., occurs the following passage: "Una p̱va capella quar pietes sunt de maheremio et plaustro et maheremiū inde fere disjungit."

Will any of your readers kindly inform an unskilled person the meaning of this description?

The same record contains some notable instances of jocular tenures, such as "ccc volucrs quæ vocr poffouns," from the holder of the Scilly islands; and "un arc' de arbouin," presumed to be a bow of laburnum wood, from the town of Truro.

S. R. P.

Launceston.

[The meaning of the first passage quoted by our correspondent is clearly, "una parva capella quarum parietes sunt de maheremio et plastro, et maheremium inde fere disjungitur," i.e. "one small chapel whose walls are of timber and plaster (or, as we say, built of lath and plaster), and the timbers thereof for the most part disjointed." Under the word Materia, Ducange gives Mæremium, Maheremium, and many other forms of the word, which is used for timber.

Un arc de Arbouin.—If our correspondent will refer to Ducange sub Arcus, he will find him, sub "Arcus de Aubour," citing Monast. Ang., tom. ii. p. 602., and explaining it, "arcus bellici species. Regestum Philippi Augusti, fol. 159. Habet sagittam et arcum de aubour cum corda." He next cites Le Roman de Garin (MS.):

A learned friend whom we have consulted reminds us that besides the common Laburnum, which it is obvious could not be the wood referred to, there is another sort known to our gardeners as "Cytisus Alpinus," Scotch Laburnum, which grows into an actual tree, and supplies the hard black wood used by the French as ebony, and called by them False Ebony. It is of notorious hardness, and would have done well for bows. It is a native of Dauphiné, and indigenous also in the Alps, and, even if unknown in England in the reign of Edward III., was probably used in the Alpine countries for bows, and possibly imported into England for the same purpose.]