Volume 5 — Replies.

ORIGINAL LETTER OF GENERAL JAMES WOLFE. (Vol. v., pp. 34. 136. 185.)

I beg to renew my acknowledgments to the various gentlemen who have afforded additional information respecting this brave man. So little has been recorded of his personal history, that every item which can be gleaned is valuable. It is certainly strange that no proper memoir of one so distinguished in arms as Wolfe has yet been written. His career, though short, was brilliant and embraces a period of time, as well as events, which would render a sketch of his life, by a competent writer, singularly interesting. Materials do not seem wanting; the detached pieces of information, and references to sources where more may be obtained, which have already appeared in "N. & Q." since I ventured to start the subject in October last, indicate, that with a little industry and research in proper quarters, Wolfe's history can yet be written to advantage. England's young hero has, in this respect, been too much neglected. Surely this national reproach will not be allowed to continue.

In the Gentleman's Magazine for January last, there is a very interesting letter from Wolfe to a young officer on the subject of military studies, supplied from the rich MS. stores of Mr. Robert Cole. I am enabled to contribute the fragment of another letter from Wolfe, also to a very young officer, pointing out how he ought to conduct himself on entering the army. This fragment was discovered within these few weeks, in the same old military chest where the twelve letters in my possession were found, to which I formerly alluded. This fragment, though neither dated, signed, nor addressed, is in Wolfe's handwriting beyond all doubt. I have compared it with his other letters, and not only do I find the resemblance perfect, but the paper on which the fragment is written is identically the same with several of these letters, the water-mark being the very appropriate one for a soldier, "pro patria." This newly discovered portion of Wolfe's letter is written closely on two pages of a sheet of post paper; and from circumstances I am inclined to think the date must have been in the end of 1757, when he was at Blackheath, soon after his return from the descent on Rochefort, in which he held a command. I am unable, however, to point out the name of the young officer for whose advantage the fragmentary epistle was written; but he was evidently one in whose welfare Wolfe took much interest, and intimate in Wolfe's family. The introductory words, "Dear Huty," seem to be an affectionate abbreviation of the young gentleman's surname; but how the fragment came amongst the papers of Wolfe's other friend, Lieut.-Col. Rickson, to whom the whole of the twelve letters in my possession are addressed, I cannot at present say. Here is an exact copy, viz.:

"Dear Huty,

"By a Letter from my Mother I find you are now an officer in Lord Chs. Hay's Regiment, which I heartily give you Joy of, and as I sincerely wish you success in Life, you will give me Leave to give you a few Hints which may be of use to you in it. The Field you are going into is quite new to you, but may be trod very safely, and soon made known to you, if you only get into it by the proper Entrance. I make no doubt but you have entirely laid aside the Boy and all Boyish amusements, and have considered yourself as a young man going into a manly profession, where you must be answerable for your own conduct. Your character in life must be that of a Soldier, and a Gentleman: the first is to be acquired by application and attendance on your duty; the second, by adhering most strictly to the Dictates of Honour, and the Rules of Good Breeding. To be more particular in each of these points; when you join your Regiment, if there are any Officer's Guard mounted, be sure constantly to attend the Parade, observe carefully the manner of the officers taking their Posts, the exercise of their Espontoon, &c.; when the Guard is marched off from the Parade, attend it to the Place of Relief, and observe the manner and form of Relieving, and when you return to your chamber (which should be as soon as you cou'd, lest what you saw slip out of your Memory), consult Bland's Military Discipline on that Head; this will be the readiest method of learning this part of your Duty, which is what you will be the soonest call'd on to perform.

"When off Duty get a Sergt or a Corporal, whom the Adjutant will recommend to you, to teach you the Exercise of the Firelock, which I beg of you to make yourself as much master of as if you were a simple soldier; the exact and nice knowledge of this will readily bring you to understand all other parts of your Duty, make you a proper judge of the performance of the Men, and qualify you for the post of an Adjutant, and in time many other employments of Credit. When you are posted to your Company, take care that the Sergeants or Corporals constantly bring you the orders; treat those officers with kindness, but keep them at a Distance, so will you be beloved and respected by them; read your orders with attention, and if anything in particular concerns yourself, put it down in your Memorandum Book, which I wou'd have you constantly in your Pocket ready for any Remarks; be sure to attend constantly morning and evening the Roll Calling of the Company, watch carefully the Absentees, and enquire into reasons for their being so, and particularly be watchfull they do not endeavour to impose on you sham Excuses, which they are apt to do with young officers, but will be deterr'd from it by a proper severity in detecting them;——"

Here, unfortunately, the remainder of the sheet has been torn off, and the continuation of the excellent precepts it no doubt contained, is irretrievably lost. Enough has luckily been preserved to show what an admirably disciplined soldier mind Wolfe possessed, taken in conjunction with the outline of military reading, pointed out in the letter contributed by Mr. Cole, already alluded to, and written with the same kindly object (the instruction of youthful officers), probably only a few months prior to the date of the mutilated one.

As it may be thought desirable to say something more than I have done, regarding the packet of Wolfe's letters in my custody, I beg to state that the officer to whom they are all addressed, was William Rickson, a native of Pembroke. He was eight years older than Wolfe. They appear to have served together in Flanders. Both were at the battle of Dettigen, and their names appear in the list of promotions consequent on that victory. Rickson and young Wolfe were also in the same regiment, commanded by Wolfe's father, in Flanders. I think it was then known as "Onslows." Both father and son appear to have felt a strong attachment to Rickson: this appears from the letters. On the part of James Wolfe in particular, this attachment was of the most ardent description. In one letter, dated Banff (Scotland), 9th June, 1751, he thus writes to Rickson:

"I believe that no man can have a sincerer regard for you than myself, nor can any man wish to serve and assist you with more ardour;" and "Attachments between men of certain characters do generally arise from something alike in their natures, and should never fall from a certain degree of firmness, that makes them the same all the world over, and incapable of any diminution. I have (as you justly acknowledge) a perseverance in friendship, that time, nor distance, nor circumstance, can defeat,—nay, even neglect can hardly conquer it; and you are just as warm and as near me in North America as you would be upon the spot."

Rickson survived Wolfe eleven years, and I possess the key of the tomb in which his remains repose in Restalrig churchyard, near Edinburgh. A fine miniature of him in his antique regimentals also exists; and it is interesting to contemplate the lineaments of a countenance so familiar to Wolfe, and of a man to whom the latter seems to have communicated his inmost thoughts. There are passages in the letters indicative of this to a degree, that I felt bound in honour not to disclose. Rickson died a lieutenant-colonel in 1770. His antique military chest remained in possession of relatives in Scotland almost forgotten, till about three years ago curiosity prompted the examination of a mass of old papers, covered with dust, lying at the bottom of it. A number of curious documents have thus been brought to light, including a file of letters to Rickson from the Duke of Queensbury (under whose auspices he constructed the military roads in Gallowayshire) and other distinguished personages of the last century, but best of all twelve invaluable letters from the lamented Wolfe, tied up by themselves, probably by Rickson, as memorials of his bosom friend who fell in the arms of victory. It was, as already said, among these old papers that the fragment of the letter above quoted was also found lately, on a more careful inspection of the antique chest in which they lay. I was so much struck with the noble sentiments expressed by Wolfe in the letters, that I ventured to write a short sketch of him from very imperfect materials, which appeared, along with the letters themselves, ad longam, in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine for December, 1849. Had I been aware of some of the facts which have since been contributed to the "N. & Q.," I would have modified certain passages in the narrative. All I aimed at, however, was merely to elucidate the letters which accident placed in my custody. But I now earnestly invite some competent writer to rescue Wolfe's history from the undeserved neglect and obscurity in which it is at present shrouded. I shall cheerfully allow any such party access to the whole letters, under proper guards for their safety, and my address has been left with the Editor accordingly.

Ȝ.

Glasgow.

EARL OF CHEPSTOW. (Vol. v., pp. 126. 204. 261.)

The seeming difficulty regarded in these communications arises from Hooker's unauthorised translation of "Comes Strigulensis" into "Earl of Chepstone," and in a phrase of ancient parlance appearing a Title of Dignity. The error does not exist in the original work, as Giraldus wrote "Dermutius Morchardi filius, Lagenensium Princeps, Ricardo Comiti Strigulensi, Gilleberti Comitis filio, S."—Camden's Anglica, &c., p. 767.

The town, called in later times Chepstow by the English, and sometimes Cas Gwent, or Castell Gwent, by the Welsh, is clearly Strigul (as shown in Lhwyd's Commentariolum, p. 102. edit. 1731, and Archæologia, vol. xxix. p. 31.); but these names are not precisely equivalent. In early documents the Town, Vill, or Burgh is thus variously named, and the style of the present Court Baron is, "the Honour of Chepstow, alias Striguil;" but in old charters and chronicles the Lordship Marcher, the castle, and the honorary description of its lords, are usually designated by the word "Strigul" (variously written) only; and of this "Hooker alias Vowell" was perhaps ignorant. Giraldus himself is correct, as shown above.

As to the style of "Earl of Strigul," Dugdale admits the use of it by Richard Fitz-Gilbert, who occurs as "Comes Strigulensis" above, and as "Ricardus Comes de Striguil Dermuciigener," in Ralph de Diceto (p. 590.). His descendant Gilbert Marescall is also termed "Counte de Strogoile" in the petition of Margaret, daughter of Thomas de Brotherton, at the coronation of Richard II. (Vincent's Corrections, p. 345.) There is a stronger instance in Selden's Titles of Honour (p. 617. edit. 1631), correctly cited from Hoveden, and mentioning the fact of William Marshall and Geoffrey Fitz-Peter being severally girded "gladio Comitatus de Striguil et gladio Comitatus de Essex," at the coronation of King John, with remarks on their previous rank as earls, their administration of earldoms, but their non-investiture, and their sitting at the royal table in consequence of this investiture.

Nevertheless, it is laid down in the third Report on the Dignity of a Peer, p. 146., that such expressions are to be considered vague. It refers, for instance, any description of Roger de Montegomeri, as Earl of Arundel (if such exists), to residence; adding, "that is, he was an earl, and from his residence was denominated Earl of Arundel, as the Earls of Pembroke were denominated Earls of Strigul, a castle which appears to have been built by William Fitz-Osborn, Earl of Hereford, and which had no connexion with the county of Pembroke."

As to the immediate parentage of Earl Richard Fitz-Gilbert, proof will be readily found in the Foundation Charters of St. Neot's Priory and Tintern Abbey, in Gorham's St. Neot's, p. cv.; Monasticon, vol. v. p. 267.

GEO. O.

S. P. near Chepstow.

DEATHS FROM FASTING. (Vol. v., p. 247.)

In the parish church of Tenby there is an emaciated figure, lightly wrapped in a winding-sheet, which is supposed to represent Tully, Bishop of St. David's, of whose death a tradition, similar to that related by BURIENSIS, is current. I should mention that there is also in the same church another monument of a bishop (as is shown by the still distinguishable mitre and crozier), which is also stated to be his. I have been informed that where a monument was surmounted by a representation of an emaciated corpse (emblematic of the poverty of spirit in which the original was supposed to live and die), it was usual to erect a second effigy, representing the departed as he actually appeared to his fellow men. This last sentence I must however put in the form of a Query, in the hope that some of your correspondents may answer it with special reference to the supposed tomb, or tombs, of Bishop Tully?

SELEUCUS.

There are two monuments of the description respecting which BURIENSIS desires information in the county of Devon. One against the south wall of the chancel of Feniton Church, is an elegant altar tomb ornamented with quatrefoils, on which lies the effigy in a shroud, tied at the head and feet. This may be assigned to the thirteenth century, but nothing appears to indicate whether it is the monument of a priest or of one of the Malherbe family, who were the lords of the soil. The other similar monument is in the north aisle of the choir of Exeter Cathedral, and is of later date. The skeleton figure lies on a slab in a recess under an obtuse arch, all highly decorated with tracery, panels, and foliage. This is said to be to the memory of Canon Parkhouse, buried in 1540. See Gough. Sepulch. Mon. Introd. p. 111.; and Britton's Exeter Cathedral, p. 139., and plate xxii.

J. D. S.

In the north aisle of Exeter Cathedral there is an instance similar to that mentioned by your correspondent, BURIENSIS, of a monument with the figure of a human skeleton lying at full length on a winding sheet. The following inscription is over the arch:

Tradition ascribes it to Bishop Lacy's tomb, and the vergers even at the present day inform visitors that it was erected to commemorate his attempt to fast during Lent. It is an exquisite piece of work. An engraving of it may be found in Britton's Exeter Cathedral. I have heard that there is a similar monument in Salisbury Cathedral, and it appears probable, from there being more than one, that it was a favourite device to represent the instability of human grandeur.

EXONIENSIS.

There is a tradition similar to that related by BURIENSIS, and alike unfounded, concerning Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, who is buried on the north side of the choir of Lincoln cathedral in a chapel of his own foundation. On the floor is an image of a decayed skeleton-like body; on the tomb above, his effigy arrayed in his episcopal robes.

K. P. D. E.

I would remind your correspondent BURIENSIS of the splendid monument in Winchester cathedral, beneath which are deposited the remains of Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, and founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who died here on the 14th of September, 1528. In an oblong niche, under the third arch, lies the figure of Bishop Fox, represented as an emaciated corpse in a winding-sheet, with his feet resting on a skull. It is a tradition of the vergers that he died whilst endeavouring to imitate the example of Our Lord by a fast of forty days.

The figure of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, is also represented, like that of Fox, as a skeleton; and the same tale of a forty days' fast traditionally delivered by the same authorities.

E. S. S. W.

Winton.

BURNING FERN BRINGS RAIN. (Vol. v., p. 242.)

Your correspondent μ asks whether any traces of such a popular belief exist at present.

In the Highlands of Scotland, where at this season the heather is burned by the shepherds, the belief is general among the people; I may add that it is a belief founded on observation. In Australia a hot wind blowing from the north caused (in part at least) by bush fires in the interior, is invariably succeeded by rain from the opposite part.

It would not be difficult, perhaps, to assign a satisfactory reason for a meteorological fact, which by a misnomer is dubbed "Folk Lore."

W. C.

It is believed in the neighbourhood of Melrose that burning the heather brings rain.

It must be remarked that Tweeddale runs mainly west and east; that the heather-covered hills are all to the west of this place. West wind brings rain.

†

In the north of England, and in Scotland, and probably in all moorland districts of the country, it is the practice of shepherds in spring, when the heather is dry enough, to set fire to it and burn large tracts of it, in order to get rid of the old woody plants. The young heather which springs up from the roots produces much better and more palatable food for the sheep. In this process, which takes place at the same time in a whole district (viz. when there has been no rain for some time), the whole air becomes loaded with smoke, and a very misty state of the atmosphere is produced. It is the general belief throughout the south of Scotland and in the Cheviot range, that this burning "doth draw downe rain."

Luckily this season, though there has been much moor burning, the general expectation has been agreeably disappointed, and the weather has now continued perfectly dry for several weeks, and appears likely to do so for some time to come, to the great delight of the farmers, as most propitious for sowing their grain of all kinds.

J. SS.

Lammermuir.

THE FISH CALLED "VENDACE." (Vol. iii., p. 301.)

A short time since, an eminent naturalist directed my attention to Yarrell's History of British Fishes (2 vols. 8vo. 1836, and Supplement, 1839), with reference to this curious fish.

Mr. Yarrell does not attempt to identify the vendace with any foreign species, nor to answer the question, who introduced them in Lochmaben? However, his account of the other species of the genus Coregonus in Great Britain is well worth giving.

The species of the genus Coregonus are numerous in Europe, and several of them are so similar to each other that they are often confounded.

"Some writers have even considered the Vendisse of Lochmaben as the same with the Powan of [Loch Lomond] Perthshire, the Schelly of Cumberland, the Gwyniad of Wales, and the Pollan of Ireland. This is not the case, for the Pollan of Ireland is distinct from the two species of Coregonus found in Great Britain."

"The Gwyniad is very numerous in Ulswater and other large lakes of Cumberland, where on account of its large scales it is called the Schelly. The fish is not unlike a herring in appearance; the Welsh term Gwyniad has reference to their silvery white colour."

Izaak Walton notices it at the end of chap. xiii.:

"Nor would I have you ignorant of a rare fish called a Guiniad," &c.

The Pollan is principally found in Loch Neagh, also in Loch Derg and Loch Erne. Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, says:

"The habits of this fish do not, with the exception of having been in some instances taken with the artificial fly, differ in any marked respect from those of the Vendace of Scotland, or the Gwyniad of Wales, and are in accordance with such species of Continental Europe as are confined to inland waters, and of whose history we have been so fully informed by Bloch."

In 1835, Mr. Thompson published some observations on this species. The earliest notice of it that he has seen, occurs, he says, in Harris's History of County Down, 1744.

"The Vendace or Vendis (Coregonus Willughbii); Vendace, Jardine; Vangis and Juvangis, Penn, Brit. Zool., vol. iii. p. 420.; Vendace, Knox, Trans. R.S.E., vol. xii. p. 503.

"But little is known of this delicate fish," says Mr. Yarrell, "beyond what has been published by Sir William Jardine, Bart., in the 3rd volume of the Edinb. Journal of Nat. and Geog. Science, and by Dr. Knox. The Vendace is only known in the lochs in the neighbourhood of Lochmaben, in Dumfriesshire. Sir W. Jardine says, 'The story that it was introduced into these lochs by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, is mentioned by Pennant in his description of the Gwyniad, (and it is likely that his information was derived from this vicinity,) and is still in circulation. That the fish was introduced from some continental lake, I have little doubt, but would rather attribute the circumstance to some of the religious establishments which at one time prevailed in the neighbourhood, and which were well known to pay considerable attention both to the table and cellar. The introduction must have taken place by means of spawn: the fish themselves could not be transported alive even a few miles. They are not confined to the castle loch, but are found in several others, some of which have no communication with that where they are thought peculiar. In general habits, the Vendace nearly resemble the Gwyniad, and indeed most of the allied species of the genus."

Mr. Yarrell gives representations of two magnified specimens of their food.

JARLTZBERG.

MACARONIC POETRY. (Vol. v., p. 166.)

Perhaps some of the correspondents of "N. & Q." who take an interest in this style of composition are not acquainted with the two following productions, which appeared at Oxford several years ago, the author of the first being an accomplished first-class man, and, I think, a member of Worcester College:

1. "Viæ per Angliam ferro stratæ." (The Railroads);

2. "Poema Canino-Anglico-Latinum, super adventu recenti serenissimarum Principum." (The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria.)

The perusal of MR. CORNISH'S curious communication (Vol. v., p. 251.) also reminds me of the subjoined clever and amusing verses which were written by a talented friend and schoolfellow, whose premature decease occurred about two years ago, and which appear to be well worthy of publication. It will be seen that the words, which are all Latin, are quite unconnected and unmeaning, but when separated or united they become converted into our own language, or rather into a mixture of English and Irish. I have thought it absolutely necessary to annex a key.

E. N.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Cooper's Miniatures of Cromwell (Vol. iv., p. 368.; Vol. v., pp. 17. 92. 189. 234. 255.).

—Eight years ago I saw, at the house of my friend, A. Macdonald, Esq., since deceased, but then living in Hyde Park Square, three miniatures, which were said to be by Cooper, of Cromwell and his two daughters. The miniatures of the women were, I thought, stiff and harsh; but that of their father (of which only the head was finished) appeared to me to be the finest painting of the kind that I ever saw. I examined it through a strong magnifying glass, when the face exhibited all the truth and force of a portrait. A high value was set upon it; but I do not know whether it was sold, or where it is.

ALFRED GATTY.

[We take this opportunity of stating that we have availed ourself of General Fox's invitation, and examined the beautiful miniature of Cromwell, described by him in our Number for the 6th instant, and so considerately left by him at Colnaghi's, for the inspection of all who are interested in the subject. The General having placed beside it the volume of Carlyle's Cromwell, containing the engraving from Cooper's miniature in the possession of Archdeacon Berners, we are bound to agree with him that the Archdeacon's may be "better painted;" but General Fox may certainly congratulate himself upon being the possessor of a work of very high art, as well as of great historical interest; and one which we are extremely pleased to have had the opportunity of examining. It will, we believe, remain on view until the 31st.]

The Vellum-bound Junius (Vol. iii., p. 262.).

—Your correspondent MR. HAGGARD tells us, that from the time he read the private correspondence between Junius and Woodfall he has examined all book catalogues that came in his way, in the hope of finding a copy, or the copy, "bound in vellum"—so bound by Woodfall, for and at the express desire of Junius. Of course the edition so bound was "the author's edition," as Junius calls it, the edition of 1772, printed by H. J. Woodfall. At last, says MR. HAGGARD, "the long-wished-for object appeared at the Stowe sale;" but though, he bid eight pounds, he was not so fortunate as to obtain it. Thus far all is simple and clear enough. But then MR. HAGGARD subsequently informs us (Vol. iii., p. 307.) that the reason of his "being so desirous to procure this copy" was, because it was "not only bound in vellum, but was printed on that article"—that is, as I understand it, because it was not the copy bound by Woodfall for Junius. I am at a loss to reconcile these statements. However, as I observe by the periodicals that MR. HAGGARD'S first statement is getting into circulation, and that it now assumes this form—that the vellum-bound copy of Junius presented by Woodfall to Junius was sold at the Stowe sale, I think it right to state, that the Stowe copy, printed on and bound in vellum, was, as I am informed on good authority, not the edition of 1772—not a Woodfall edition at all—but the common illustrated edition, printed more than thirty years after, by Bensley, for Vernor and Hood.

V. B. J.

Sept (Vol. v., p. 277.).

—Dr. Ogilvie's derivation is absurdly far-fetched. Sept is notoriously from the Latin septus or septum, inclosed, an inclosure, and it is applied to one kindred or family living in or round the inclosure in which they herded their cattle. See Spenser's Ireland; see also Cole's Dictionary:

"SEPT, an inclosure; the multitude of the same name in Ireland."

In ancient Rome certain classes of voters were called Septs, from the septa or inclosures in which they were arranged.

C.

Many Children (Vol. v., p. 204.).

—I am indebted to the Rev. J. Sanford, orderly preacher at the Rolls chapel, for the subjoined curious statement, which you may add, if you please, to the instances of female fecundity already recorded in your pages.

The Marchese Frescobaldi, the representative of one of the most ancient Florentine families, is still possessed of a portrait of his ancestress, Dionora Salviati, wife of Bartolomeo Frescobaldi of the same house. She gave birth to fifty-two children, never less than three at a time; and there is a tradition in the family that she once had six, and that twelve were reared. The portrait was painted by the celebrated Bronzino, who died in 1570, and has recorded the remarkable circumstance in the following inscription placed under the picture, and in some degree has thus made himself responsible for the authenticity of the story:—

"Dionora Salviati moglie di Bartolomeo dei Frascobaldi, fece 52 figli, e mai meno di tre per parto, come riferesce Gio. Schenzio nei libri delle osservazioni amirabili, cioe nel libro quarto de Parto a carta 144."

BRAYBROOKE.

Relative to extraordinary births, I may mention that within half a dozen miles of this city, and not more than six weeks since, a poor woman gave birth to four children, two of each sex, and all, with the mother, doing well. Some millions are born without such, as I may term it, a phenomenon.

In a very late Brussells paper I find it stated, that in nine years the wife of a tradesman had twenty-four children, three on each delivery,—"chose désespérante (it is added) pour le mari, qui désirait transmettre son nom, car c'étaient toutes des filles." Mercier, in his Tableau de Paris (1786) quotes L'Histoire de l'Académie des Sciences of the preceding century for a similar fact, where it is asserted that a baker's wife had twenty-one children in seven years, three at each birth, and that he had again three children at a birth by a servant maid.

J. R. (Cork)

Hog's Norton (Vol. v., p. 245.).

—Your correspondent who writes from Ashby-de-la-Zouch will, it is probable, be surprised to find that Hog's Norton is almost in his own immediate neighbourhood. In Curtis' Topographical History of Leicestershire (printed, by-the-bye, at Ashby), he subjoins to the modern names of places the ancient names as found in Domesday Book, Inquisitiones post mortem, &c. It appears that Norton juxta Twycross was in other days "Nortone, Hoggenortone, Hog's Norton." There is, then, no doubt as to which of the many Nortons in England is Hog's Norton: but whether there is now, or ever was, an organ in the church; or whether a Mr. Pigge, or any number of pigs, played on one there, I know not.

S. S. S.

Cromwell's Skull (Vol. v., p. 275.).

—Your correspondent J. P., who inquires in your last respecting the identity of a certain skull with that of Oliver Cromwell, will find valuable information on the subject in an article in the fifth volume of the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science (1848), entitled—

This article is very ably written, and throws much light on a vexed question.

ANTIQUARIUS.

Athenæum.

Eliza Fenning (Vol. v., pp. 105. 161.).

—It is long after the "N. & Q." are published that I get sight of a number, or I should have urged (what may probably have been already done) the very great importance of obtaining from the workhouse, or wherever else in Suffolk or Essex it can be obtained, an authentication of the report by Turner, that he was the poisoner of the family in Chancery Lane, for which crime Eliza Fenning was executed. One would hope that a question of so much and such serious monument would not be permitted to remain undetermined, if by any possibility it can be cleared up.

I well knew the medical man who attended the case, and gave evidence at the trial,—he was cruelly assailed afterwards by some who had taken a prejudice against him, and no doubt suffered in his practice in consequence.

T. D. P.

Hexameter on English Counties (Vol. v., p. 227.).

—The lines referred to by M. are to be found in Grey's Memoria Technica and Lowe's Memories, p. 172., and runs thus:

C. S. P.

Fairest Attendant of the Scottish Queen (Vol. v., p. 152.).

—Your correspondent who inquires about an attendant of the Scottish queen who disappeared when she was in England, will find a notice of the same person in the appendix to Tytler's History of Scotland, reign of Queen Mary. There is a letter there from the English ambassador at Paris to his Court, with an account of the Queen Dowager's visit to France: he mentions that King Henry had been captivated by one of the ladies in Mary's train, who, it was reported, was with child to him. The frail fair one left with her mistress, but returned shortly thereafter. I think she must be the person referred to in the Grey Friars' Chronicle.

J. F.

Belfast.

Ecclesiastical Geography (Vol. iv., p. 276.).

—AJAX, who asks the name of some work on this subject, may perhaps find his wants supplied in Geographia Ecclesiastica, &c., "Auberto Miraeo auctore."

D. ROCK.

Llandudno, on the Great Orme's Head (Vol. v., pp. 175. 235.).

—MR. WM. DURRANT COOPER, in "N. & Q.," has quite mistaken the subject of my inquiry. I am well aware of the cavern, or old copper mine, supposed to have been worked by the Romans; but the place I inquire about is of a different description, in every respect, and is only six feet across, and eight or ten feet high, and fitted up as a place of worship, with a font, altar, seats, &c. I hope some one who has seen it will be able yet to throw some light on the subject.

L. G. T.

Lichfield.

"Wise above that which is written" (Vol. v., pp. 228. 260.).

—Professor Scholefield, in his valuable Hints for an improved Translation of the New Testament (p. 64. 3rd edit.), renders the words τὸ μὴ ὑπὲρ ὃ γέγραπται φρονεῖν (1 Cor. iv. 6.), "not to be wise above that which is written," and supports this rendering by clear and (to my mind) satisfactory argument.

C. P. PH***.

Nightingale and Thorn (Vol. iv., pp. 175. 242.; Vol. v., p. 39.).

—The origin of this fancy has not yet been reached. The earliest mention of it that I have met with is by Gascoigne:

Again, in The Spanish Tragedy:

And in The Two Noble Kinsmen:

C. P. PH***.

Friday at Sea (Vol. v., p. 200.).

—H. M. S. "Wellesley," bearing the flag of the Earl of Dundonald, on leaving Plymouth for the West Indies, got under way on Friday the 24th of March, 1848; and, after she had got outside the breakwater, she was recalled by the Port-admiral, and did not leave again until the next day: it was to take in the mail-bags, but the firm belief of the men was, that the gallant admiral purposely left something behind to avoid going to sea on such an unlucky day as Friday.

W. B. M.

Dee Side.

I heard it stated the other day, in conversation, that the ill-fated Amazon commenced her voyage on a Friday. Can any of your readers say with certainty if this was the fact?

W. FRASER.

Latin Names of Towns (Vol. v., p. 235.).

—I transcribe, for the benefit of your readers, the full title of the largest Geographical Dictionary which I know to contain the information M. asks for. Dr. William Smith's New Dictionary of Classical Geography may be expected to supply the desideratum, in regard to places known to the Greeks and Romans, but will not, I presume, take up all the names in Baudrand's Dictionary. Its title-page reads as follows:

"Novum Lexicon Geographicum, in quo universi orbis oppida, urbes, regiones, provinciæ, regna, emporia, academiæ, metropoles, flumina et maria, antiquis et recentibus nominibus appellata, suisque distantiis descripta, recensentur. Illud primum in lucem edidit Philippus Ferrarius Alexandrinus, totius servorum cœtus supremus Præsul, S. T. D. atque in Ticinensi Academia publicus Metaphysices et Mathematices Professor.

"Nunc Vero Michael Antonius Baudrand, Parisinus, prior commendatarius de roboribus, de novo mercato, et de Gessenis, hanc ultimam editionem, ita emendavit, illustravit, dimidiàque parte auctiorem fecit, ut Novum Lexicon jure optimo dicatur.

"Accesserunt sub finem Dominici Magri, Melitensis, Theologi, Cathedr. Viterb., &c., appendices et correctiones: atque in has M. A. Baudrand notæ."

The work is very useful, but of course no longer new. It is in two thin folios, and was printed at Eisenach in MDCLXXVII., by John Peter Schmidt.

O. T. D.

Gospel Trees (Vol. ii., p. 407.; Vol. v., p. 157.).

—BURIENSIS, in a recent Number, says that he has somewhere read of a tree called the "Gospel Elm." May, in his Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon, published about twenty years since, gives the following description of an elm, which is probably the one referred to by your correspondent. After describing the hamlet of Bishopton, he writes:

"In varying our return to Stratford, pursuing thus the path along the Henley road, we pass at the town's entrance the now decaying 'Gospel Tree,' that still indicates the boundary of the borough in this direction, towards the 'Dove house close.' In a perambulation of the boundaries, made here on the 7th of April, 1591,[3] this elm—judging from its now decayed and weather-beaten aspect—is the one there noted as seated on the boundary in this direction, whence the line is therein stated as continuing, to 'the two elms in Evesham highway.' Such a perambulation was anciently made yearly, during Rogation week, by the clergy, magistrates, and burgesses; not omitting, for evidence' sake, the boys of the grammar school, who then doubtless received, as still is customary, some sensitive reminiscences of local limitation."—May's Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon, p. 92.

The author gives a very plausible reason for the tree's peculiar name, in the ensuing remark:

"When the bound mark was a tree, as in the present instance, a passage of Scripture was read beneath its branches, a collect was recited, and a psalm was sung. Hence its sacred designation, long retained, but now well nigh forgotten."—Ibid. p. 93.

SOUTHAMIENSIS.

Gospel Oaks (Vol. v., p. 209.).

—Near the hamlet of Cressage, co. Salop, is a very old oak tree, under which tradition says the first missionaries of the Gospel to this land preached. The name of the hamlet, Cressage, is, I have been told, a contraction of Christ's Oak.

There is also, near Dudley, a place called Round Oak; and on the road between Walsall and Lichfield, near the latter, may still be seen the old Shire Oak.

At Stanford's Bridge, co. Worcester, is a place called the Apostles' Oak; and in the parish of Hartlebury, in the same county, is a tree bearing the name of the Mitre Oak. Both these places, and also a Rock, have contended for the honour of being the scene of the conference of St. Augustine and the British bishops, A.D. 603. (Nash, vol. ii. p. 399.)

J. N. B.

West Bromwich.

"He that runs may read" (Vol. v., p. 260.).

—In Cowper's Tirocinium, v. 80., are these lines:

LOUISA JULIA NORMAN.

Wild Oats (Vol. v., p. 227.).

—I think I can give a clue to the Query of BEAU NASH respecting the origin of this phrase. In Kent, if a person has been talking at random, it is not uncommon to hear it said, "you are talking havers," or folly. Now I find in an old dictionary that the word havers means oats; and therefore I conclude, that the phrase "to sow your wild oats" means nothing more than "to sow folly."

RUBY.

Portrait of Mrs. Percy (Vol. v., p. 227.).

—The picture of Mrs. Percy holding in her hand the scroll, mentioned by W. S. G., is still in the house of Ecton. I have made the inquiry from the present Mr. Isted of Ecton's sister-in-law, who lives within three miles of the place.

L. M. M. R.

Traditions of a Remote Period—The Chamberlaine Family (Vol. v., p. 77.).

—As an instance of the "few links" required to connect the present time with a remote period, I may mention that a grand-aunt of mine who lived far into the year 1843, remembered perfectly her "uncle Chamberlaine,"[4] who was an officer in King James II.'s army, and who fought at Aughrim and at Limerick, thus connecting in her own person the days of the "Monster Meetings" with those of the Revolution of 1688. She remembered many of the old soldier's anecdotes of the stirring times in which he lived, and I now regret having been so careless as not to have taken any Note of them. He was, I believe, the last of his race. I hold his commission, signed by the celebrated Tyrconnell, and also many old deeds, some of which are prior to the reign of Richard II., and of which he was said to be very careful, though on examination they have proved to be of no value, except as antiques.

As a descendant I should be much gratified if some of your correspondents could give me any information as to the family of Chamberlaine, when they came into Ireland, and who is now the chief representative of that name?

T. O'G.

Dublin.

St. Bartholomew (Vol. v., p. 129.).

—The parish church of Wednesbury, co. Staffordshire, is dedicated to that saint; where, in the east window, is a full-length figure: it is however of modern date.

J. N. B.

West Bromwich.

John Rogers, Protomartyr; Descendants inquired for (Vol. v., p. 247.).

—The pedigree in my private collection ends thus:

"[5]Rev. John Rogers of Beminster, Dorsetshire, from 1796 to 1810, when he removed to Tisbury, Wiltshire, where he died in 1815, aged 57, leaving two daughters, viz.

E. D.

English Translation of the Canons (Vol. v., p. 246.).

—The Queries of M. on this subject have arisen out of an error, which I fancy must be his own. After quoting the clause of the 36th Canon, quodque eodem taliter uti liceat, he says:

"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."

Of course I cannot tell on what authority he says this; but he is certainly wrong: for in the Oxford edition (1844) of the Homilies and Canons this clause stands thus: "and that it may lawfully so be used." And so it is printed in Hodgson's Instructions, p. 8., and in the Instructions to be observed by Candidates for Holy Orders in the Diocese of London: and I myself not long ago subscribed to it in this form. There is then no difference here at all; the Latin being rendered by the English, not only fully, but literally. I will only add, that the grammatical meaning of taliter, or so, appears to me in this place to be plain enough, without requiring a "theological controversy" to determine it.

F. A.

"Arborei fœtus alibi," &c. (Vol. v., pp. 58. 189.).

—I am afraid I did not make myself intelligible in my former communication. Certainly W. A. C. does not understand me. The question is, are we justified in translating alibi atque "otherwhere than," in like manner as we translate aliter atque "otherwise than?" W. A. C. takes for granted that the line in question refers to only one district. But that is the very point in doubt. The "head master's" translation makes it refer to two.

W. S.

Horn-blowing (Vol. v., p. 148.).

—In reference to this practice, I may state that a similar custom prevails here (Gainsborough, Lincolnshire), but on the 29th May, or "Royal Oak Day." For some days previously the boys collect all the birds' eggs they can find or purchase, and early in the morning of the 29th, they may be seen returning from the woods in crowds, with an ample supply of oak. They next procure a large quantity of flowers, with which they construct a garland in the form of a crown, the apples of the oak being all gilded, surrounded by flowers and festoons of birds' eggs. The garland is then suspended across the street, and every little urchin being provided with a horn, some the natural horn of the cow, others of tin, similar to those formerly used by the guard of the mail coaches, they keep up throughout the day a most terrible blowing of horns; the doleful noise being ill in accordance with the festivity and rejoicing which the garlands are presumed to indicate. I have been unable to learn the origin or import of this singular custom.

T. DYSON.

Gainsborough.

"God's Love" (Vol. v., p. 272.).

—If T. S. will refer to Wood's Athenæ Oxon., vol. iii. col. 698. edit. 4to., he will find all account of the author of God's Love. Wood records an edition of 1659. In the Bibliotheca Anglo-Poetica, No. 594., was one dated 1679; but I have now before me the first, which neither Wood nor his editor appear to have heard of. The title:

"God's Love and Man's Vnworthiness: whereunto is annexed a Discourse between the Soul and Satan. With several Divine Ejaculations. Written by John Quarles. London: Printed for John Stafford, and are to be sold at his house in S. Bride's Church-yard; and by Humphrey Moseley, at the Prince's Armes, in St. Paul's Church-yard; and John Holder, at the Blue Anchor, in the New Exchange. 1651."

Collation: the minde of the frontispiece: 8 lines verse. The frontispiece, or engraved title: God's Loue, Man's Vnworthiness, by Io. Qu. "Lord, what is man," &c. Ps. viii. 4. An engraved portrait of the author, kneeling and saying, "O giue salvation vnto Israell out of Sion!" (this unknown to Granger or Bromley: the latter records three other portraits of the author.) Then the title, as given before. The dedication: "To my much honoured and esteemed Friend, Edward Benlowes, Esq." To the Reader. To my Muse: "Tel me, presumptuous Muse, how dar'st thou treat." God's Love, &c., pp. 1. to 66. A Dialogue, &c., pp. 67. to 108. Pp. 109, 110. wanting in my copy, but probably blank, as the catch-word "Divine" agrees with "Divine Ejaculations," which commence on p. 111. and end at p. 160., thus concluding the volume.

P. B.

Plague Stones (Vol. v., p. 226.).

—One of these stones is (I believe) still standing at Bury Saint Edmunds. In a paper read to the Bury and West Suffolk Arch. Inst. (vide vol. i. p. 42. of the Society's Proceedings) Mr. S. Tymms says:

"The small-pox has been a frequent visitor of Bury in its most terrible forms. In 1677, says Gillingwater (Hist. Bury, 226.), it was so prevalent that the people resorting to the market by the Rislygate Road, were accustomed to dip their money in water (tradition says vinegar) which had been placed in the cavity of the ruined base of the boundary cross situate at the bottom of Chalk Lane, with the view of preventing any infection being conveyed to the neighbouring towns and villages."

My attention has been frequently called to a stone of similar description standing in the parish of Stuston in this county, by the side of the Ipswich and Norwich turnpike; it is called in Kirby's Suffolk Traveller, 1st ed. pp. 52-3., a "Stuston Stone" and "The White Stone," and is nearly equidistant from Diss and Eye, between two and three miles.

J. B. COLMAN.

Melody of the Dying Swan (Vol. ii., p. 476., footnote; Vol. v., p. 187.).—

"Sed neque Cygni canunt," says Leland, in his Cygnea Cantio, "nisi flante zephyro vento geniali quidem illo, si quicquam Æliani judicio tribuendum."

In the work itself, which is a poetical panegyric on King Henry VIII., the following lines occur:

The last line, however, seems only to apply to the applauding sound of the wings, and not to intimate that any music was produced by them.

C. I. R.

Cimmerii (Vol. v., p. 188.).

—The belief that the Cymry are descended from Gomer can prove very little as to the restlessness of those who hold it; and if it is making progress, the opinion must be supported by probability: consequently a mere denial will not dispel the illusion. Authors quite as remarkable for their matter-of-fact opinions as A. N. may be, have not rejected the connexion of the Cymry with Gomer. For instance, Volney, in his attacks on Scripture history, when examining Gen. x. on Gomer, adopts an argument in support of this paternity, though not in its Biblical sense, viewing Gomer as a chief. As it is not an unusual circumstance for a nation to adopt the name of its patriarch or founder (and on this point I would refer to a note to Gibbon's Decline, chap. lxiv.), I trust I shall be excused for believing myself descended from Gomer, until decided evidence is adduced that I am not.

Pompeius Festus I am unacquainted with; but on consulting Plutarch, in Mario, the following contradictory statements may be seen: "The Germans called banditti Cimbri;" and, "Hence, therefore, these barbarians who came into Italy first issued; being anciently called Cimmerii, and afterwards Cimbri, and the appellation was not at all from their manners."

That the old Germans may have called robbers Cimbri, does not prove that word implies robbers, or anything of the kind; but it indicates that the intrusion of the old Germans on the lands of the Cimbri caused the invaded to make reprisals on the invaders; and then the injured Germans connected or identified the Cimbrian name with that of enemy or robber.

GOMER.

Stoke (Vol. v., pp. 106. 161. 213.).

—I think that the towns and parishes of Tawstock, Culmstock, Tavistock, Plymstock, Stockton on Tees, Severn Stoke, Stoke in Teignhead, Stoke on Tern, Stoke on Trent, must have received their names from a stockade of some kind in the rivers near which they are situated. There is at a ford across the river Severn, about half a mile from Welsh Pool, a weir made of stakes and brushwood erected a few yards above the ford, for the sole purpose of diminishing the force of the current, and spreading the water into a stream of an uniform depth. I conjecture that in ancient times the fords of our larger rivers were kept in a passable state during the winter season by weirs of this description, and that there were fords in the rivers at the places above mentioned. There is near Nuneaton the chapelry of Stock in Ford, but I am not sufficiently acquainted with that place to be able to conjecture from what circumstance it may have derived its name. I infer that one meaning of the word stoke is wood of any kind, from the fact that the opening through which coals are introduced under the larger boilers in our houses is called a stoke-hole, from the wood formerly used for fuel.

S. S. S. (2).

King's College Chapel Windows (Vol. v., p 276.).

—See Blomefield's History of Norfolk, vol. i. p. 406., and vol. ii. p. 388. At the latter reference, under the head of Richard Nykke or Nix, Bishop of Norwich, 1500, occurs this passage: "This bishop incurred a premunire for extending his jurisdiction over the Mayor of Thetford, and was fined for it. With part of the fine, it is said, the beautiful windows in King's College Chapel, Cambridge, were purchased." The statement is given at greater length at the first of the above-quoted references. I never heard of the story before I met with it in Blomefield.

T. H. L.

Mr. Blomefield, referring to Richard Nykke, Bishop of Norwich (1500-1535), says he incurred a premunire for extending his jurisdiction over the Mayor of Thetford, "and was fined for it, with part of which fine 'tis said the beautiful painted glass windows in King's College Chapel at Cambridge were purchased."—Hist. of Norfolk, 8vo. edit., ii. 52.; iii. 546.

There is good foundation for the statement that this bishop "was condemned in the premunire" (Coke's Reports, xii. 40, 41.); but I question if there be authentic evidence that he "redeemed the punishment of that offence by the glasing of the King's College Chappell windows in Cambridge." Bishop Nykke is no doubt the prelate to whom Ferne alludes.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

Quotation Wanted (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—"Cujus vita despicitur," &c., is from S. Gregor. Magn. Homil. xii. in Evangelia, § 1.

J. C. R.

The Great Bowyer Bible (Vol. v., p. 248.).

—J. S. is informed that this illustrated Bible is now in the hands of Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, and may be seen at their sale-rooms in Piccadilly.

F. S. Q.

Showing the White Feather (Vol. v., p. 274.).

—The white feather is the sign of the cross-bred bird; you will never see one in my tail.

GAMECOCK.

John Lord Berkeley (Vol. v., p. 275.)

never was Bishop of Ely. John Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the second son of John Berkeley, was a British admiral; he died on the 27th of July, 1696-7, not more than thirty-four years of age, during eight of which he had filled the office of admiral. See Rose's Biographical Dictionary.

TYRO.

Dublin.

History of Commerce (Vol. v., p. 276.).

—C. I. P. will, I think, find much of the information required in David Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, London, 1805, 4 vols. 4to. particularly in vols. iii. and iv.; also in The History of European Commerce with India, by the same author, London 1812, 4to. Neither of them is entered in the Bodleian Catalogue.

C. I. R.

Game of Curling (Vol. v., p. 13.).

—The third volume of Tytler's Lives of Scottish Worthies (No. 37. of the Family Library) contains a series of antiquarian illustrations, of which the last is devoted to "Ancient Scottish Games and Amusements." The author refers particularly to the MS. accounts of the Lord High Treasurer during the reign of King James IV. (1488-1513), in which, however, there appears to be no notice of the "roaring game." The origin of this favourite amusement is certainly involved in mystery, and I have repeatedly failed in my endeavours to ascertain the meaning of the name by which the game is known. On consulting the abridgment of Jamieson's Dictionary for the derivation, I find the following:—

"Perhaps from Teut. krollen, krull-en, sinuare, flectere, whence E. curl; as the great art of the game is to make the stones bend or curve in towards the mark, when it is so blocked up that they cannot be directed in a straight line."

E. N.

Ancient Trees (Vol. iv., pp. 401. &c.).

—Notwithstanding the assertion of Dr. Johnson, many fine specimens of timber have long existed to the north of the Tweed. At p. 20. of the Edinburgh Antiquarian Magazine (Edin. 1848) will be found a "List of Scottish Trees, of remarkable magnitude, as they existed in 1812," including numerous examples of the oak, larch, ash, elm, beech, silver fir, Scots fir, sycamore, chesnut, black poplar, and yew. One of the largest in the catalogue is the great yew at Fortingal, in Perthshire, measured by the Hon. Judge Barrington in 1768, when its circumference was no less than fifty-two feet.

E. N.

Paring the Nails, &c. (Vol. v., pp. 142. &c.).—

"Now no superfluity of our food, or in general no excrementitious substance, is looked upon by them (the Egyptian priests) as pure and clean; such, however, are all kinds of wool and down, our hair and our nails. It would be the highest absurdity therefore for those who, whilst they are in a course of purification, are at so much pains to take off the hair from every part of their own bodies, at the same time to cloath themselves with that of other animals. So when we are told by Hesiod 'not to pare our nails, whilst we are present at the festivals of the Gods,' we ought so to understand him as if he designed hereby to inculcate that purity with which we ought to come prepared, before we enter upon any religious duty, that we have not to make ourselves clean, whilst we ought to be occupied in attending to the solemnity itself."—Plutarch's Treatise of Isis and Osiris, translated by Squire, p. 5. 1744.

This note will show the great antiquity of these nail-paring and hair-cutting superstitions. What is there does not come from Egypt?

A. HOLT WHITE.