Volume 5 — Replies.

AGE OF TREES; TILFORD OAK. (Vol. iv., p. 401., &c.)

I hope your correspondent L., in his search for ancient trees, will not overlook the Great Oak at Tilford near Farnham, which is worth a visit for its size and beauty, if not for its antiquity. Mr. Brayley, in his History of Surrey, vol. v. p. 288., thus speaks of it:—

"In the Charter granted by Henry de Blois about the year 1250, to the monks of Waverley, he gives them leave to inclose their lands wherever they please, within these bounds, 'which extend,' says the record, 'from the Oak of Tilford, which is called the Kynghoc [a quercu de Tyleford quæ vocatur Kynghoc], by the king's highway towards Farnham, &c.' ... The Tilford Oak is still standing, and is known by its ancient appellation of the King's Oak: a name which it could not have obtained unless it had been of considerable age and growth at the time of the bishop's grant; and it may therefore be reasonably supposed to be 800 or 900 years old. It is a noble tree, and still flourishing apparently without decay."

I very much doubt the identity of the present tree with the "King's Oak" of Henry de Blois. First, Because the present bounds of Waverley do not run within 300 yards of the tree; and the bounds are hardly likely to have been materially changed, inasmuch as the abbey lands are freehold and tithe-free, whereas the surrounding lands are copyhold and titheable. Secondly, because the tree itself appears still to be growing and vigorous. Cobbett describes it in his Rural Rides, p. 15., 1822, with his usual accuracy of observation:

"Our direct road was right over the heath, through Tilford, to Farnham: but we veered a little to the left after we came to Tilford, at which place, on the green, we stopped to look at an oak tree, which, when I was a little boy, was but a very little tree, comparatively, and which is now, taken altogether, by far the finest tree that I ever saw in my life. The stem or shaft is short, that is to say, it is short before you come to the first limbs; but it is full thirty feet round at about eight or ten feet from the ground. Out of the stem there come not less than fifteen or sixteen limbs, many of which are from five to six feet round, and each of which would in fact be considered a decent stick of timber. I am not judge enough of timber to say anything about the quantity in the whole tree; but my son stepped the ground, and, as nearly as we could judge, the diameter of the extent of the branches was upwards of ninety feet, which would make a circumference of about 300 feet. The tree is in full growth at the moment. There is a little hole in one of the limbs, but with that exception, not the smallest sign of decay The tree has made great shoots in all parts of it this last summer, and there are no appearances of white on the trunks such as are regarded as the symptoms of full growth. There are many sorts of oak in England: two very distinct. One with a pale leaf, and one with a dark leaf; this is of the pale leaf."

Any other references to the age or history of this tree would oblige.

TILFORDIENSIS.

P.S. As your correspondent asked for information as to the species of large oaks, I have inclosed some of the acorn-cups.

ST. PAUL'S QUOTATION OF HEATHEN WRITERS—ST. PAUL AND PLATO. (Vol. v., p. 175.)

The letter at Vol. v., p. 175. of "N. & Q.," reminds me of a passage in a Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, by the Rev. W. G. Humphry, B.D., which it may not be uninteresting to cite, in connexion with what your correspondent says of St. Paul's practice of quoting the writings of heathen authors.

It will be the ground also of an obvious query as to the source from which the quotation, if such it be, was borrowed by the Apostle.

In commenting upon v. 17. of chap. xiv., οὐρανόθεν, &c., he says:

"Both the language and the rhythm of this passage lead to the conjecture (which does not appear to have been proposed before) that it is a fragment from some lyric poem. Possibly the quotation is not exact, but even without alteration it may be broken into four lyric measures, thus:

"1. Iambic; 2. Dochmaic and Choriamb.; 3. Trochaic; 4. Choriamb. and Iambic."

Mr. Humphry has some remarks on St. Paul's quotations at v. 28. of chap. xvii.

OXONIENSIS.

Broad Street, Oxford.

Your correspondent MR. GILL (Vol. v., p. 175.) suggests an inquiry as to the probable extent to which St. Paul was acquainted with the writings of Aristotle. His letter reminds me of a similar question of still greater interest, which has often occurred to me, and to which I should like to call your readers' attention, "Whether St. Paul had read Plato?" I think no one who studies the 15th of the First Epistle to the Corinthians—that sublime chapter in which the Apostle sets forth the doctrine of the Resurrection—and who is also familiar with the Phædo, can fail to be struck with a remarkable similarity in one portion of the argument. I allude especially to the 36th verse of the chapter, and those immediately following, "That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die," &c. The reasoning, as almost every Christian knows, is based on analogy, and tends to show that, as in the vegetable world life springs from death, the seed dies, but out of it comes the perfect plant; so the dissolution of our present body is only a necessary step to the more glorified and complete development of our nature. In the Phædo, sect. 16., Socrates is represented as employing the same argument in defence of his doctrine of the immortality of the soul. In the course of his discussion with Kebes and Simmius on this subject, a consideration of the phenomena of animal and vegetable life leads him to assert the general conclusion, "ἐκ τῶν τεθνεώτων, τὰ ζῶντά τε καὶ οἱ ζῶντες γίγνονται," and he then proceeds to demonstrate the probability that in like manner the soul will not only survive the body, but reach a higher and purer condition after its death. Wetstein, whose abundant classical illustrations of the sacred text are alluded to by your correspondent, refers to little else than verbal parallelisms in his notes on this chapter, and does not quote Plato at all; nor do I remember seeing any edition of the Greek Testament in which the coincidence is pointed out. Perhaps some of your correspondents can elucidate this subject; it is one of great interest, and when pursued in the reverent and religious spirit indicated by MR. GILL, can hardly fail to prove a source of profitable investigation.

JOSHUA G. FITCH.

My edition of the Platonic Dialogues is that of N. Forster of Christchurch, Oxford, dated 1745. In it the section I refer to is numbered 16; but in Stallbaum and some other editors, the arrangement is different, and the passage occurs in section 43.

SIR ALEXANDER CUMMING. (Vol. v., p. 257.)

I have in my possession a manuscript consisting of copies of various letters, and other memorials of Sir Alexander Cumming. It is of his own period, but whether of his own handwriting I cannot say.

They are clearly the compositions of a person of an unsettled intellect; but we may collect from them the following facts:—His captain's commission was dated May 29, 1703; he was called by his mother, a few days before her death, both Jacob and Israel. This is further explained when he relates that Lady Cumming, his mother, set out from Edinburgh the first of the "Borrowing Days," towards the end of March, 1709.

"The three last days of March are called 'the Borrowing Days' in Scotland, on account of their being generally attended with very blustering weather, which inclines people to say that they would wish to borrow three days from the month of April, in exchange for those three last days of the month of March. This lady was seventeen days in her journeys upon the road, and lived ten days after her arrival in London. She died on the Monday se'nnight in the morning after she came to London. On the Thursday before her death she called her son, Captain Cumming, to her bed-side, and gave him her blessing in the terms of the prophet Isaiah, to which she referred him, and gave him her own new Bible to read over on the occasion, and to keep for her sake. But this Bible was lost, with other baggage, taken by the French towards the end of the campaign, 1709. Colonel Swinton, this lady's eldest brother, was shot at the battle of Malplaquet, and died upon the field of battle."

The lady travelled attended by her daughter Helen Cumming, and her servant Margaret Rae.

But I see we have been wrong in writing the name Cumming with two m's. He writes it invariably Cuming. This would appear of little moment, but the change a little diminishes the probability of the writer's favourite notion, that the Hebrew word Cumi is in some way obumbrated in his patronymic Cuming.

The passage of the prophet Isaiah which formed the substance of his mother's last benediction is chap. xli. verses 8 and 9, and chap. xliii. verses 2 and 3: "Thou Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend," &c. He inclines to think that "the writer of the book called Isaiah was a friend to the British nation, and that the islands of Great Britain and Ireland are those addressed to, in order to renew their strength."

It was on April 23, 1730, O.S., that "by the unanimous consent of the people he was made law-giver, commander, leader, and chief of the Cherokee nation, and witness of the power of God, at a general meeting at Nequisee, in the Cherokee Mountains." He brought with him to England six Cherokee chiefs, and on June 18, in that year, he was allowed to present them to the King in the Royal Chapel at Windsor. This was at the time of the installation of the Duke of Cumberland and the Earls of Chesterfield and Burlington. On June 22nd was the ceremony of laying his crown at the feet of the King, when the Indian chiefs laid also their four scalps and five eagles' tails.

In a few years the scene was changed, and in 1737 we find him confined within the limits of the Fleet Prison; but having a rule of court, on the 8th of November he was at Knightsbridge, where about ten in the morning he opened the Bible for an answer to his prayers, and chanced upon the fifty-first and fifty-second chapters of Isaiah. He feels a call to a mission to the Jews, and contemplates visiting Poland. With that disposition of a mind disordered as his was, to turn everything towards a particular object, he thinks there was some mysterious connexion between the fact that Queen Caroline was seized with the illness which proved fatal, in her library, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 9th of November, the day after his call.

In 1750 he was still in the Fleet Prison, from whence, on May 15, he addressed a letter to Lord Halifax, asserting his right to the Cherokee Mountains, and proposing a scheme for the discharge of eighty millions of the National Debt; the scheme being, that 300,000 families of Jews should be settled in that country for the improvement of the lands, as industrious honest subjects. This letter notices also two facts in the Cuming history: 1. That Sir Alexander's father had been the means of saving the life of King George the Second; and 2. That he, Sir Alexander, had been taken into the secret service of the crown, at Christmas, 1718, at a salary of 300l. a-year, which was discontinued at Christmas, 1721.

J. H.

Torrington Square.

GENERAL WOLFE. (Vols. iv. and v., passim.)

As everything connected with General Wolfe is entitled to notice, the following names and public positions of his direct or collateral ancestors may not be uninteresting to your readers. I lately furnished you, from Ferrar's History of Limerick, a statement of the circumstances under which his great-grandfather, Captain George Woulfe, sought refuge in Yorkshire (I believe) from the proscription of Ireton, after the capitulation, in 1651, of Limerick, when his brother Francis, the superior of the Franciscan friars, not having been equally fortunate in escaping, was executed, with several others, excepted from the general pardon.

The family, of English origin, like the Roches, the Arthurs, Stackpoles, Sextons, Creaghes, Whites, &c., settled in Limerick between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, and gradually obtained high civil positions, when their successful commercial pursuits enabled them to acquire landed property in the adjoining county of Clare, where nearly all the above-named English families equally became extensive proprietors. In

1470. Garret Woulfe was one of the city bailiffs, as those subsequently called sheriffs were then named.

1476. Thomas Woulfe filled the same office, as did in

1520. His son and namesake.

1562. Nicholas Woulfe was bailiff.

1567. John Woulfe ditto.

1578. The same became mayor.

1585. } Patrick Woulfe was bailiff these two years,

1587. } but not in the intervening 1586.

1590. Thomas Woulfe }

1591. Richard Woulfe } were successively bailiffs,

1592. David Woulfe } as in

1605. Was James Woulfe.

From this date till 1613 scarcely a year passed without the dismissal of the chosen Catholic magistrates, and substitution by royal mandate of Protestants. In 1613 George Woulfe, grandfather[7] of the proscribed Captain of the same name as above, then sheriff (the title assumed since 1609), with his colleagues, John Arthur, and the mayor, David Creagh, was deposed for refusing the oaths of supremacy, &c.

In 1647 Patrick Woulfe was sheriff; but from 1654, when the city surrendered to Ireton, until June 1656, Limerick was ruled by twelve English aldermen. In 1656 Colonel Henry Ingolsby became mayor, and the regular order of magistracy was subsequently pursued.

I cannot at present trace the genealogy in strict deduction, although I believe it all might be collected from the subsisting papers of the family in the county of Clare; at least from Garret, the first-named bailiff in the preceding list. In my boyhood I saw some pedigree of it in the hands of an antiquary named Stokes, but which it would now be difficult to discover. If the present Sir Frederick A. G. Ouseley, Bart., son of my old schoolfellow, the late Sir George, be in possession of the papers of his grandfather, Captain Ralph Ouseley, I think it likely that some documents relating to General Wolfe's family, in its ancient line, will be found, as I recollect hearing Captain Ouseley, a resident of Limerick, speak of them.

J. R.

Cork.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Song of "Miss Bailey" (Vol. v., p. 248.).

—I think I am certain that when I first heard of the song of "Miss Bailey," which was about 1805, it was as having been sung in the farce of Love laughs at Locksmiths.

C. B.

Fern Storms (Vol. v., p. 242.).

—In Colonel Reid's Law of Storms, p. 483. et seq., 2nd edition, accounts are given of the violent whirlwind produced by fires. It maybe supposed that in former times they were on a larger scale than at present, and, from the great force described, they might have affected the weather at least, when on the turn already.

C. B.

The last of the Paleologi (Vol v., p. 173.).

—All that was known respecting the descendants J. L. C. will find in an article relating to the family in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries, Archæologia, vol. xviii. pp. 84-104.

G.

"Whipping Graves" (Vol v., p. 247.).

—CYRUS REDDING will find that the "Ritus Absolvendi jam mortuum" in the modern Rituale Romanum (Mechliniæ, 1848), is performed exactly according to his description.

G. A. T.

Withyham.

Rev. John Paget (Vol. iv., p. 133.; Vol. v., p. 66.).

—CRANMORE'S inquiry has not been fully answered, nor am I able to point out the precise degree of relationship between John Paget and the editor of his works, Thomas Paget. The latter became incumbent of Blackley, near Manchester, about the year 1605, having been placed in that chapelry chiefly through the efforts of the Rev. William Bourne, B.D., a native of Staffordshire, who had married a kinswoman of Lord Burleigh, and who was for many years an influential Fellow of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. (See Hollingworth's Mancuniensis, pp. 106, 107.) In 1617 Thomas Paget was cited before Morton, Bishop of Chester, for nonconformity; and shortly afterwards he was convened before Bishop Bridgeman on the same ground. He is styled at this time "the good old man" (Brook's Lives, vol. ii. p. 293.), although he lived at least forty years afterwards. In the delightful Autobiography of Henry Newcome, M.A., the Presbyterian Minister of Manchester, edited for the Chetham Society by the Rev. Canon Parkinson, D.D. (2 vols. 4to. 1852), are several interesting notices of Mr. Thomas Paget. He is mentioned as "old Mr. Pagit, late of Blakeley," in 1658, and seems to have had the rectory of Stockport in 1659, although Richard Baxter spoke of him in 1656 as "old and sickly," and then living at Shrewsbury. He was well known, says the amiable Newcome, "as a man of much frowardness," and able to create "much unquietness;" but Baxter hoped, "not altogether so morose as some report him."

F. R. R.

Old Scots March, &c. (Vol. v., p. 235.).

—I happen to have the score of one of the tunes inquired after by E. N., namely, Port Athol, as given by the late Edward Bunting, in his collection of Irish airs, under the name of the "Hawk of Ballyshannon." It was composed by a famous Irish harper named Rory Dal O'Cahan, the Rory Dal of Sir Walter Scott's Legend of Montrose, who visited Scotland in the reign of James VI., and ultimately died there. He was the author of the Ports or tunes called Port Gordon, Port Lennox, M'Leods Supper, Port Athol, Give me your hand, The Lame Beggar, &c. &c. It has often struck me that this last tune is the origin from whence the air called Jock o' Hazledean was drawn. It is almost the same.

FRANCIS CROSSLEY.

Sir R. Howard's "Conquest of China" (Vol. v., p. 225.).

—Dryden, in his letters to his sons, writes:

"After my return to town, I intend to alter a play of Sir Robert Howard's, written long since, and lately put into my hands: 'tis called The Conquest of China by the Tartars. It will cost me six weeks' study, with the probable benefit of an hundred pounds."

The Biographia Dramatica states that this play was never acted or printed.

C. I. R.

Mary Howe (Vol. v., p. 226.).

—Mary Howe was probably one of the three daughters of Scrope, first Viscount Howe, by his second wife, Juliana, daughter of William Lord Allington. She was, in 1720, appointed a maid of honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales; and in 1725 married Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, whom she survived, as well as her second husband, John Mordaunt, a brother of Charles, Earl of Peterborough. She died in 1749 s. p.

BRAYBROOKE.

Dutch Chronicle of the World (Vol. v., p. 54.).

—"Historische Chronica. Mit Merianischen Kupfern. viii. Theile. Frankf. 1630. sqq. in 4. Hæc editio propter elegantiam figurarum rara est. Bibl. Solger. ii. p. 298."—Bauer. Bibl. Libror. Rariorum.

"Historische Chronica, &c., folio. Francf. 1657.

"—— 3 vol. fol. Francf. 1743, 45 and 59."—Bibliothecæ Regiæ Catalogus (in Mus. Brit.) s. v. Abelinus.

"Abelin John Philip, an historian, born at Strasburgh, died 1646; often known by the name of John Louis Gottfried, or Gothofredus. Historical Chronicle from the beginning of the World to the year 1619; being a number of plates by Merian, with letter-press descriptive of them."—Watt's Bibl. Brit.

The life of Merian is given by Sandrart, in his Academia Artis Pictoriæ. Strutt, in his Dictionary of Engravers, neglects to mention that Matthæus Merianus Basileensis was employed at Nancy, together with Brentel, A.D. 1608, in designing Pompæ (funebres) Caroli III. Lotharingiæ Ducis. They are etched in a slight style, but with great spirit. The procession consists of a great many plates: these, bound up together with the description, make a large folio volume. I bought a copy six years ago. Can any of your readers inform me whether there is another in England?

BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.

Thistle of Scotland (Vol. i., pp. 24. 90. 166.).

—I have just accidentally stumbled upon my promised note on this subject; and as it appears to be entirely different from any yet offered to you, I gladly send it for the information of your correspondents. I copied it from an old scrap-book:

"The Scotch Thistle.—The origin of the national badge is thus handed down by tradition:—When the Danes invaded Scotland it was deemed unwarlike to attack an enemy in the darkness of night, instead of a pitched battle by day: but, on one occasion the invaders resolved to avail themselves of stratagem; and in order to prevent their tramp from being heard, they marched barefooted. They had thus neared the Scottish force unobserved, when a Dane unluckily stepped with his foot upon a superbly prickled thistle, and uttered a cry of pain, which discovered the assailants to the Scots, who ran to their arms, and defeated the foe with great slaughter. The thistle was immediately adopted as the insignia of Scotland."

R. H.

Bull the Barrel (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—The practice of "bulling the barrel" or "cask," as mentioned by C. FORBES, is an every-day occurrence in the Navy. As soon as a rum cask is emptied, a few gallons of water are put into the cask (and it is struck down again into the spirit-room); this is done to keep the wood moist, and prevent it from shrinking, so as to keep the cask water-tight: this is called "bulling the cask;" and from the water receiving after some time a strong impregnation, which makes it really strong grog, salt water is used, though even the "salt-water bull," as it is called, when again poured out, has often proved too attractive for seamen to resist. Again, it is common to talk in the same way of "bulling a tea-pot," coffee-pot, &c.; that is, after the first "brew" has been exhausted, by adding fresh water, and boiling over again, to make a "second brew" from the old materials. This probably was derived from "bulling the cask;" but whether the "bulling" originally applied to the preserving the water-tight qualities of the cask, or to the making the "second brew," I cannot pretend to say, though I should define the present acceptation of the term "bulling" to be "the obtaining an impregnation from that which had been already used."

G. M. T. R. N.

Bishop Kidder's Autobiography (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—Mr. Bowles, in the introduction to his Life of Bishop Ken, vol. i. p. xi. (Lond. 1830), expresses his thanks to the late Bishop of Bath and Wells "for the information contained in the MS. life of Ken's successor, Bishop Kidder;" and adds:

"This work, never printed, is a very curious and valuable document, preserved in the episcopal palace of Wells."

J. C. R.

Which are the Shadows? (Vol. v., p. 196.).

—The story is told as of Wilkie at the Escurial by Southey in The Doctor, vol. iii. p. 235.; also, with a fine compliment to the "British Painter," by Wordsworth, in one of the pieces published with Yarrow Revisited (1835, pp. 305-6.). The coincidence with the note by Mr. Rogers—to whom, by the way, Wordsworth's volume is dedicated—has long perplexed me. One is unwilling to suppose that the touching words ascribed to the two monks were a stock speech common to aged monks who have such pictures to show; but what better explanation is there? I believe that the first edition of Italy appeared, not in 1830, as your correspondent supposes, but in 1822. Is the story to be found in that edition?

J. C. R.

Welsh Names "Blaen" (Vol. v., p. 128.).

—Although my acquaintance with the language of the Cymri is very limited, I think that a knowledge of the cognate Erse or Gaelic enables me to make a shrewd guess at the meaning of the word Blaen, prefixed to the names of so many farms in Wales. The Gaelic word Baile, pronounced Ballé, signifies a town—the Scotch toun—or farm, and, with the preposition an or na—Anglicè of—is written Baile'n, pronounced Ballen: this, I think, is probably the same word as Blaen, and means, being interpreted, "the farm of." In the examples given by your correspondent α, the words affixed to Blaen are descriptive; many of them scarcely differ in sound from their Gaelic synonyms e.g. Blaen-awen is the Gaelic Baile'n abhuinn, pronounced Ballen avine, Ang. "the farm on, or of the river;" Blaen-argy—Gaelic, Baile'n airgiod, "the silver farm," or perhaps 'n arguin, of strife; Blaen-angell—Gaelic, Baile'n aingeal, "angel farm"; Blaen-y-foss—Gaelic, Baile-na-fois, pronounced f[=o]sh, and synonymous with the Dutch lust, "leisure or pleasure farm;" and Blaen-nefern—Gaelic, Baile-na-fearn, "alder farm." In England these farms or towns would have been called respectively, Riverton, Silverton, Alderston, and so on. The same word, generally spelt Bally, forms part of the name of a very large proportion of the small towns and farms in Ireland.

W. A. C.

Ormsary.

The Verb "to commit" (Vol. v., p. 125.).

—The verb to commit, in the sense used by Junius, was employed by Lord Chesterfield so far back as the year 1757. In a letter to his son (Nov. 26), his lordship, after instructing Mr. Stanhope what to say to one of the foreign ministers, directs him to send to his own court an account of what he had done:

"Tell them you thought the measure of such great importance that you could not help taking this little step towards bringing it about, but that you mentioned it only from yourself, and that you have not committed them by it."

Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his Son were not published until 1774, which will account for Walker ascribing to Junius the merit of introducing into the English language the French signification of the verb to commit.

WILLIAM CRAMP.

Beócera-gent (Vol. v., p. 201.).

—As I asked a question relating to the Irish, perhaps I may be allowed the so-called Irish mode of answering it myself.

Beócherie is evidently derived from Beóceraige, the islet of bee-hives, or bee-keepers (who were regularly appointed officers in Saxon England); but as I was utterly at a loss for the word gent, I requested the opinion of Dr. Lèo, from whom I have received the following satisfactory reply:—

"The word gent seems to be the same word as our German gante, and the Scottish gauntree; i.e. a tree which forms a stand for barrels, hives, &c. In several parts of Germany, where the culture of bees has, from distant periods, been carried on extensively, the hives are transported from one place to another according to the seasons: now in the forests, when the pine-trees are in flower; now in the fields, when the rape blossoms; then again in the woods, when the heather blossoms; and at last, when winter approaches, in the barn. A tree forms the stand for the bee-hive, and thatch protects it from the rain. Such a tree seems to be the beócera-gent.

"In an old Glossary, the old high-German word, gantmari, is interpreted as tignarius (i.e. faber tignarius, a carpenter). This word presupposes another word gant, a beam or a rafter, probably equivalent to your Ang.-Sax. gent; and thus beócera-gent would be a beam upon which to stand bee-hives."

The question still remains, Why was the islet in question called Parva Hibernia?

B. WILLIAMS.

The Lodge, Hillingdon.

New Zealand Legend (Vol. v., p. 27.).

—This strange legend reminds me of the fine passage in Caractacus, of which I know not whether it is an original conception, or taken from any author:—

C. B.

Twenty-seven Children (Vol. v., p. 126.).

—To E. D.'s Query, "whether there is any well-authenticated instance of a woman having had more than twenty-five children?" something like a reply will be found in the following paragraph, which formed one of a series of "Curious Extracts," in the Edinburgh Antiquarian Magazine (1848):—

"'Extraordinary Number of Children.—The following extraordinary, yet well-attested fact, is copied from Brand's History of Newcastle, lately published. The fact is mentioned and corroborated by a quotation from an Harleian MS. No. 980-87. A weaver in Scotland had, by one wife, a Scotch woman, sixty-two children, all living till they were baptized; of whom four daughters only lived to be women, but forty-six sons attained to man's estate. In 1630, Joseph Delavel, Esq., of Northumberland, rode thirty miles beyond Edinburgh, to be satisfied of the truth of this account, when he found the man and woman both living; but at that time had no children abiding with them. Sir John Bowes and three other gentlemen having, at different periods, taken each ten in order to bring them up; the rest also being disposed of. Three or four of them were at that period (1630) at Newcastle.'—European Magazine, Dec. 1786."

But, of course, the question still arises, can this wonderful instance be recognised as "a well-attested fact?"

R. S. F.

Perth.

In Wanley's Wonders of the Little Moral World (London, 1806), vol. i. p. 76., will be found several instances of numerous families by one mother; in one case (No. 27.) fifty-seven children; and in another (No. 6.), no less than seventy-three! Your correspondent can refer to the authorities, which are also given. The authenticity of one of the cases mentioned (No. 23.) will probably be easily ascertained, as it is said to be the copy of an inscription in the churchyard of Heydon in Yorkshire, to the following effect:—

"Here lieth the body of William Strutton of Padrington, buried the 18th of May, 1734, aged ninety-seven, who had by his first wife twenty-eight children, and by a second wife seventeen; was father to forty-five, grandfather to eighty-six, great-grandfather to ninety-seven, and great-great-grandfather to twenty-three—in all 251."—Gent. Mag. Aug. 1731.

There appears to be some mistake in the reference, and I may mention that I have not been able to find the epitaph in Mr. Urban's pages with the assistance of the general index.[8]

E. N.

Reeve and Muggleton (Vol. v., pp. 80. 236.).

—One of the handsomest quartos of our day, both in typography and engravings, is, Two Systems of Astronomy: first, the Newtonian System ... second, the System in accordance with the Holy Scriptures ... by Isaac Frost, London, 4to., 1846 (Simpkin and Marshall). This work is Muggletonian, and contains some extracts from The Divine Looking-Glass of the Third Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Reeve and Muggleton. I request your readers to draw no inference from the letter with which I sign my communications.

M.

Black Book of Paisley (Vol. v., pp. 201.).

—In reply to ABERDONIENSIS, I beg to inform him that the "Maitland Club" (Glasgow) circulated as the contribution of the Earl of Glasgow in the year 1832 a very handsome volume, entitled Registrum Monasterii de Passelet, M.C.LXIII-M.D.XXIX. to which there was prefixed an highly interesting prefatory notice and illustrative notes, in which it is there stated—

"That it may be proper to correct a popular mistake regarding another record connected with the Monastery of Paisley. The Black Book of Paisley, quoted by Buchanan and our earlier historians, and which (having disappeared) was raised by later antiquaries into undue importance as a distinct and original chronicle, was nothing more than a copy of Fordun (Scotichronicon), with Bowers' Continuation. It appears to have been acquired by Thomas Lord Fairfax, but when Gale and Hearne wrote, had already been deposited in the Royal Library, where it is still preserved. (13. E. X.) Hearne particularly notices the inscription on this volume: 'Iste liber est Sancti Jacobi et Sancti Mirini de Pasleto.'—Præfatio ad Fordun, p. lxvi."

T. G. S.

Edinburgh.

Pasquinades (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—I have had these Italian lines in my MS. book for many years as an "Epigram on Bonaparte's Legion of Honor." If of earlier date, and another origin, they have been made good use of by the would-be wits of the day, as a quiz upon Napoleon's honorary badge.

HERMES.

Elegy on Coleman (Vol. v., p. 137.).

—The Elegy on Coleman I have seen paraphrased or travestied, and thus attributed to Dryden, who, not being able to pay his wine-merchant's bill, was told, on dining with this creditor, in the exhilaration of his cups, that if he (Dryden) would improvise four lines expressive of pleasure to God, to the Devil, to the World, and to the Merchant, the debt would be forgiven. Instantly, therefore, the poet extemporised the following verses, sufficiently redolent of their inspiring source:

J. R.

Cork.

Liber Conformitatum, &c. (Vol. v., p. 202.).

—On the Liber Conformitatum, I confidently assert, from accurate inquiry, that no edition preceded that of 1510, nor is there any authority for the alleged one of Venice. A long account of this most disedifying volume will be found in DeBure's Bibliographie Instructive, No. 4540. I am in possession of the second edition in 1511, perfectly identical in the text. Its absurdity is equal to its obvious, though not intended, blasphemy; for it is written in genuine simplicity of design. I have likewise the Alcorand des Cordeliers, with the second book by Conrad Badius, the son of Jodocus Badius Ascencius, a native of Belgium, but one of the early Parisian printers, and author himself of various works. The title of my edition of the Alcoran, printed at Geneva, 1575, differs from that of 1586, but necessarily of the same import, and quite as prolix.

J. R.

Cork.

Grimesdyke; Grimes Graves (Vol. v., p. 231.).

—As J. F. F. has repeated Blomefield's account of these curious pits (commonly known as Grimes Graves, in Weeting parish, Norfolk), it is right to add some more recent information respecting them. An investigation was made there last month, by digging a trench through the middle of a pit, and at the depth of about three feet an oval fire-place of flints was discovered, containing numerous bones of oxen, &c. One of the smaller pits was then similarly treated, and we found the same proofs of habitation. No stone implements were discovered, but further researches may bring some to light. Blomefield's statement that it is a Danish camp is quite without foundation, and his "form of a quincunx," in which he supposed the pits to be, could have existed only in his own imagination, stimulated by the learned labours of Sir Thomas Browne. There can be no doubt now that they were dwellings of the British, similar to the pits on the coast at Weybourne. That Grime was a Danish leader, "Præpositus," &c., is also open to doubt. When so many British earthworks are designated by this name, what is more likely than that the Saxons, not knowing whose hands had erected them, superstitiously ascribed them to the grim spirit, the Devil?—whence Grimsdyke, the Devil's ditch, &c. Neither this opinion, however, nor Mr. Guest's (a "boundary") seems applicable to a Hundred, as Grimeshoo, unless as being so full of Grime's operations.

C. R. M.

Junius and the Quarterly Review again (Vol. v., p. 225.).

—I confess that I could draw quite a different conclusion from that of CAROLUS CURSITOR respecting Junius's single misspelt mention of Lord Lyttleton's name. If, as the reviewer argues (supposing I remember the article correctly), the Hon. Thomas Lyttleton only once mentioned his father, in order to prevent public attention settling on himself as the author of Junius's Letters, it seems to me to be in unison with such artifice, that he should have purposely made a slight error in spelling the name. But is the writer, and not the printer, responsible for this blunder?

ALFRED GATTY.

Ink (Vol. v., p. 151.).

—A learned Cambridge professor, who has been a V.P.R.S., once related to me the following anecdote, in reference to the celebrated and most practical philosopher, the late Dr. Wollaston. In the rooms of the Royal Society the Doctor chanced to mention that he could not, for the life of him, discover the composition of the rich black pigment used by the ancient Egyptians in their inscriptions on the mummy cases. He had analysed it over and over again, and invariably found animal matter present. How was this? "Why," observed a member, to the grievous annoyance of the somewhat self-opinioned Doctor, "they used the ink of the (Sepia officinalis) cuttle-fish." This most remarkable excretion is of the deepest black hue; and that it retains its peculiar qualities unimpaired, even after being buried beneath the chalk formation of this earth of our's for unnumbered periods, is proved in the case of the well-known fossil ink of Dean Buckland. I know not whether or no this will answer the Query of MR. W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

COWGILL.

Maps of Africa (Vol. v., p. 236.).

—AJAX is informed that the best map of Morocco that has probably appeared is given in the volume of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie, entitled "L'Empire de Maroc par Berbrugger." An excellent map of Algeria by R. H. Dufour, is published at a moderate price by Longuet, 8. Rue de la Paix, Paris. The date on my copy is 1850; it forms one of a series of maps issued by the same parties, and forming an Atlas of Algeria. I add from the Leipzig Catalogue (1849, viertes Heft) the title of a work which may assist AJAX in his labours. Though I have not examined the work myself, I know it to be of some repute. The author now forms one of the mission for exploring Central Africa:

"Barth Dr. Heinr. Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer d. Mittelmeers, ausgeführt in den J. 1845, 1846 u. 1847. In 2 Bdn 1 Bd A.u.d. T.: Wanderungen durch das Punische u. Kyrenäische Küstenland od. Màg'reb, Afrik'ia u. Bark'a. Mit 1 (lith. u. illum.) Karte (in Imp. fol.) gr. 8. Berlin, Hertz."

The travels of Dr. Barth had especial reference to the discovery and identification of ancient localities.

NORTHMAN.

Learned Men of the Name of Bacon (Vol. iii., pp. 41. 151.; Vol. v., p. 181.).

—To this list may be added that of a learned lady, namely, of the Lady Ann Bacon (Cooke), second wife of the Lord Keeper, and mother of the Lord Chancellor. She translated, from the Italian of Bernardine Achine, Twenty-five Sermons, published about 1550.

Sir Nathaniel Bacon, the painter, was the youngest son of Nicholas, the eldest son of the Lord Keeper, and consequently the latter's grandson. This Nicholas, of Redgrave, Suffolk, was High Sheriff of Norfolk, 1597, and represented the same county in the parliament of 1603. He was the first person created a baronet; and from him are descended the Bacons of Redgrave, Suffolk, afterwards of Great Ryburgh, Garboldisham, Gillingham, and now of Raveningham, Norfolk, premier baronets of England.

There are engraved portraits of Lady Ann Bacon, and of Sir Nathaniel the painter.

COWGILL.

Paring the Nails (Vol. iii., p. 462.; Vol. v., p 142.).

—In reference to the superstitious practices in question, the readers of the Prose Edda, many of whose traditions still survive amongst us, will remember what it is therein narrated concerning the ship Naglfar. Amongst the terror-fraught prodigies preceding Ragnarök, or the Twilight of the Gods, and the Conflagration of the Universe, we are informed that "on the waters floats the ship Naglfar, which is constructed of the nails of dead men. For which reason," it is said, "great care should be taken to die with pared nails; for he who dies with his nails unpared, supplies materials for the building of this vessel, which both gods and men wish may be finished as late as possible." Of this ship, the more ancient and poetical Völn-spà also speaks in something like the following terms:—

COWGILL.

Mottoes on Dials.

—I have not seen the following motto noticed either in your pages or elsewhere. I quote it from memory, as I recollect reading it many years ago on the sun-dial in front of the Hospice on the summit of the Mont Cenis:

J. E. T.

Mispronounced Names of Places (Vol. v., p. 196.).

—Allow me to add to P. M. M.'s list:

Spelling. Pronunciation.

North-brook-end (Cambridgeshire) Nobacken.

Mountnessing (Essex) Moneyseen.

Brookhampton (Glostershire) Brockington.

Barnstaple Barum.

Crediton Kirton.

Penrith Perith.

Brougham Broome.

Birmingham Brummagem.

It is hardly worth while to mention the larger tribe of contractions, such as Alsford for Alresford, Wilsden for Willesden, Harfordwest for Haverfordwest; nor the class of derivations from the Roman Castrum, as Uxeter for Uttoxeter, Toster for Towcester, and the like.

The railroads are correcting these grosser errors wherever they fall in with them. I remember a few years ago, being at Gloster, and intending to take the train to Cisiter, as I had always called it. "Oh!" said the porter, with quite the air of a Lingo, "you mean Ci-ren-cester." But I believe the good folks of the neighbourhood still stick to Aberga'ny and Cisiter.

P. M. M.'s appeal to your Scotch and Irish correspondents will I think produce little. In Scotland, names are generally pronounced as written, with a few exceptions, such as Enbro' and Lithgow, and perhaps a few others: but in Ireland I do not remember a single instance of the corruption of a name; though certainly the Irish might be forgiven if they had contracted or mollified such names as Drumcullagher, Ballaghaddireen, Moatagreenoque, and Tamnaughtfinlaggan. The English are, I believe, the only people who habitually clip proper names of persons or places, but I think it is also the only language in which the spelling of words does not afford a general guide for their pronunciation. No other language that I know anything of can afford such anomalies as are to be found, for instance, in rough, cough, lough, plough, dough, through, &c. &c.

C.

The following are such names of places as have come within my observation:—

Spelling. Pronunciation.

Happisburgh Ha'sboro'.

Wormegay Rungay.

Sechehithe Setchey.

Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen[9] Maudlin.

Babingley Beverley.

Methwold Muell.

Northwold Nordell.

Hockwold cum Wilton Hockold-Wilts.

J. N. C.

"There's ne'er a villain," &c. (Vol. v., p. 242.).

—In support of A. E. B., with whose view I entirely concur, it may be added that villain and knave do not make the proposition such a truism as Horatio (who is not intended for a conjuror, much less a verbal critic) admits it to be. Alexander the Great has been called a villain and a robber, but never a knave or a thief. By the Rule of Three, villain: robber:: knave: thief. As a truism, intended by Hamlet before the first line was spoken, it is not good enough for Hamlet's wit. But, supposing the second line invented, pro re natâ, to cover the retreat of the disclosure which was advancing in the first line, it is just what might have suggested itself—for Hamlet's uncle was both villain and knave.

M.