Volume 5 — Replies.

PRESBYTERIAN OATH. (Vol. v., p. 274.)

No such oath as that given in page 274. of "N. & Q." is taken by Presbyterian ministers. Immediately previous to the ordination of a minister of the church of Scotland, the Moderator—that is, the member of Presbytery who presides upon the occasion—calls upon him to answer certain questions, acknowledging the Scriptures to be the word of God, the doctrines of the Confession of Faith to be the truth of God; disowning certain doctrinal errors; declaring his belief that the Presbyterian government and discipline of this church are founded on the word of God, and agreeable thereto; expressing the views with which he enters the ministry, and his resolution faithfully to discharge its duties. Having answered these questions satisfactorily, he is set aside to the work of the ministry by prayer and imposition of the hands of the Presbytery (the local Ecclesiastical Court).

At the conclusion of the service he is called on to sign what is called the Formula, an abstract of the first portion of the questions put to him. It is as follows:—

"I, A. B., do hereby declare, that I do sincerely own and believe the whole doctrine contained in the Confession of Faith, approven by the General Assemblies of this national church, and ratified by law in the year 1690, and frequently confirmed by divers acts of parliament since that time, to be the truths of God; and I do own the same as the confession of my faith: as likewise, I do own the purity of worship presently authorised and practised in this church, and also the Presbyterian government and discipline now so happily established therein; which doctrine, worship, and church government, I am persuaded, are founded upon the word of God, and agreeable thereto: and I promise that, through the grace of God, I shall firmly and constantly adhere to the same; and to the utmost of my power, shall, in my station, assert, maintain, and defend the said doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of this church by Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, Provincial Synods, and General Assemblies; and that I shall in my practice conform myself to the said worship, and submit to the said discipline and government, and never endeavour directly or indirectly the prejudice or subversion of the same: and I promise that I shall follow no divisive course from the present establishment in this church: renouncing all doctrines, tenets, and opinions whatsoever, contrary to or inconsistent with the said doctrine, worship, discipline, or government of this church.

"Signed, A. B."

No oath is taken, and no obligation come under but the above. In the Confession of Faith, under the head Church, the supremacy of the Pope is denied; but neither in that, the Questions, or the Formula, is there any other reference to any other form of church government.

H.

THE OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND. (Vol. v., p. 145.)

As there has been, from time to time, much written in your very interesting publication on the subject of the "Old Countess of Desmond," it may, perhaps, not be unacceptable that I should give you a description of an old family picture in my possession, said to be of that person, to which allusion has been made by some of your correspondents, especially by A. B. R., in your paper of Saturday, 14th February. The painting in question has been for a great number of years in the possession of my family, and from my earliest childhood I have heard it designated as that of the old "Countess of Desmond," although there is no mention of her name thereon. My father for a long time thought it was a work of Rembrandt; but on a close examination there was discovered the name of "G. Douw," low at the left-hand side; and since the picture has been cleaned, the signature has become more distinct. It is painted on board of dark-coloured oak, of eleven inches by eight and a half. The portrait, which reaches to below the bust, and represents a person sitting, is eight and a half inches in length; the face about two and three quarter inches. It is admitted by the best judges to be a painting of great merit. It represents, as well as it is possible, extreme old age, with an extraordinary degree of still remaining vigour, and in this respect certainly fits exactly the character of its subject. The dress is correctly described by your correspondent A. B. R. The forehead is not very high, but square and intellectual—deeply wrinkled; the nose is rather long, and very well formed; the eyes dark; the mouth compressed, and denoting quiet firmness; the expression altogether pleasing and placid, and the face one that must have been handsome in youth. Should any of your correspondents wish to see this picture, I shall leave it for a short time in the hands of my bookseller, Mr. Newman, 3. Bruton Street, Bond Street, who has kindly consented to take charge of it, and to show it to those who feel an interest in such matters.

It must, at first sight, appear strange that such men as G. Douw, the painter of the picture in question, or Rembrandt to whom are attributed other portraits of this old lady, should have condescended to copy from other artists, (for the respective dates render it quite impossible they could have painted from life in this instance): however, it is natural to suppose that this extraordinary instance of longevity made great noise at the time of, and for some time after, her death, and that a correct representation of such a physical phenomenon, although the work of an inferior artist, may well have afforded a fitting study for even such eminent painters as Rembrandt and G. Douw.

As I am on this subject, I shall further trouble you with a circumstance in connexion therewith, which has recently come to my knowledge. My friend, Mr. Herbert, M.P., of Muckross Abbey, Killarney, has also an old family picture of the same lady, with a very curious inscription, which, while it would appear to go far towards establishing several of her characteristic attributes, has also its peculiar difficulties, which I shall presently point out, in the hope that some of your correspondents who are learned in such matters may explain them. The inscription, which is on the canvass itself, is as follows:

"Catharine, Countesse of Desmonde, as she appeared at ye court of our Sovraigne Lord King James, in thys preasant A.D. 1614, and in ye 140th yeare of her age. Thither she came from Bristol to seek relief, ye house of Desmonde having been ruined by Attainder. She was married in ye Reigne of King Edward IV., and in ye course of her long Pilgrimage renewed her teeth twice: her Principal residence is at Inchiquin, in Munster, whither she undoubtedlye proposeth (her Purpose accomplished) incontinentlie to return. LAUS DEO."

Now, as to the authenticity of this picture, there can, I should think, be no question. It has not been got up for the present antiquarian controversy; for it is known to have been in existence in the family of Mr. Herbert for a great many years. It could not well be a mystification of the intervening "middle age," for in that case it would doubtless have been brought forward at the time, to establish a particular theory as to this lady. I think, therefore, it is only reasonable to suppose that it was painted at the time it professes. It may also be mentioned, in corroboration, that a connoisseur who examined this picture for Mr. Herbert attributed it to the hand of Jamieson, the Scotch painter, who lived at a time that would render it quite possible for him to have painted it from life. So far so good. The main difficulty is that of the dates given in the inscription. If the Countess was 140 in 1614, and therefore born in 1474, she could have been but eight or nine years old at the death of Edward IV., and therefore could not have been married in his reign. It is difficult to account for this discrepancy, except by supposing that the old lady sank ten years of her age (and there are statements in existence of 1464 being the year of her birth); or else by supposing that the story of her marriage in the reign of Edward IV. was not her own, but communicated, at second-hand and erroneously, to the artist.

On this point I hope some of your more learned correspondents will favour us with their opinion. There has also been recently sent me by a friend an extract from the "Birch Collection," British Museum (Add. MSS. 4161.), being transcripts of a Table Book of Robert Sidney, second Earl of Leicester, which contradicts the inscription in some particulars: but Lord Leicester writes in a loose and apparently not very authentic style. He states, on the authority of a "Mr. Harnet," that the Countess of Desmond came to petition "the Queen" (Elizabeth), and not King James; and quotes Sir W. Raleigh (on memory) as saying that he (Sir W. R.) saw her in England in 1589. He also talks of her death as occurring at the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and as being caused by a fall from a "nutt-tree." I do not think, indeed, that much weight should attach to these notes of Lord Leicester; but it is fair to give all that comes to light, whether it makes against or for the authenticity of what one wishes to establish.

P. FITZGERALD, KNIGHT OF KERRY.

Union Club, London.

SHAKSPEARE'S SICKLE OR SHEKEL. (Value of Solidus Gallicus?) (Vol. v., p. 277.)

I undertake to answer C. W. B.'s Query with the greater readiness, because it affords me an opportunity of upholding that which has ever been the leading object in every amendment of Shakspeare's text advocated by me, viz., the unravelling and explaining, rather than the alteration, of the original. Perhaps it is with a similar aim that C. W. B. wishes to investigate the value of "siclus;" if so, he must pardon me if I forestall him.

I see no difficulty in the passage which he asks to have construed; its meaning is this:

"The sacred sickle (or shekel) was equivalent to an Attic tetradrachma, which Budæus estimated at 14 Gallic solidi, or thereabouts; for the didrachma was seven solidi, since the single drachma made three and a half solidi, less a denier Tournois."

Which is as much as to say, that the sickle equalled fourteen solidi, less four deniers; or 13-2/3 solidi.

But owing to the rapid declension in the value of French coin after the tenth century, it is manifestly impossible to assign a value to these solidi unless the precise date of their coinage were known. A writer may, of course, allude to coin indefinitely precedent to his own time. In the present case, however, we may, as a matter of curiosity, analytically approximate to a result in this way:—

The drachma is now known to have contained about 65 grains of pure silver, consequently the tetradrachma contained 260 grains. The present franc contains about 70 grains of pure silver, and consequently the sol, or 20th part, is 3-1/2 grains.

This last, multiplied by 13-2/3, produces about 48 grains. But the weight of the tetradrachma is 260 grains; therefore the sol with which the comparison was made must have contained upwards of fivefold its present value in pure silver.

Now, according to the depreciation tables of M. Dennis, this condition obtained in 1483, under Charles VIII., at which time Budæus was actually living, having been born in 1467; but from other circumstances I am induced to believe that the solidus gallicus mentioned by him was coined by Louis XII. in 1498, at which time the quantity of pure silver was fourfold and a half that of the present day.

So much in answer to C. W. B.'s Query; now for its relation to Shakspeare's text, with which however the "siclus" in question has nothing in common except the name; since the "sickles," so beautifully alluded to by Isabella, in Measure for Measure (Act II. Sc. 2.), were sicli aurei, "of the tested gold."

But I have designedly used the word sickle as the English representative of the Latin siclus (Gallicè cicle), because it is the original word of Shakspeare, which was subsequently, most unwarrantably and unwisely, altered by the commentators to shekels in conformity with the Hebraicised word of our scriptural translation.[2] Hence it is that "sickles" has come to be looked upon as a corruption of the text; and "shekels" as a very clever conjectural emendation!

We retain sickle, Anglicè for sicula, a scythe; but we refuse it to Shakspeare for a word almost identical in sound—siculus, or siclus!

The real corruption has been that of Shakspeare's commentators, not his printers'; and I hope that some future editor of his plays will have the courage to permit him to spell this, and other proper names, in his own way. For how can his text continue to be an example of his language, if his words may be altered to suit the précieuse fashion of subsequent times?

A. E. B.

Leeds.

A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT "DULCARNON." (Vol. i., p. 254.; Vol. v., pp. 252-3.)

By the aid of Dr. Adam Littleton and your correspondent A. N., all future editors of Chaucer and glossarists are helped over this pons asinorum: the word being evidently nothing more than the adoption of the Arabic DHU 'LKARNEIN, i.e. two-horned; and hence, as the reputed son of Jupiter Ammon, Alexander's oriental name, Iscander Dhu 'lkarnein, i.e. Bicornis.

The legend of the building of the wall, in the fabulous Eastern lives of Alexander, is to be found in the 18th chapter of the Koran; and it is related with variations and amplification by Sir John Mandeville. The metrical as well as prose romances on the subject of Alexander also contain it; and those who wish for more information will find it in the third volume of Weber's Metrical Romances, p. 331.

I cannot say that I am quite convinced of the truth of the ingenious supposition of your correspondent, that "Sending to Dulcarnein is merely an ellipsis of the person for his place, i.e. for the rampart of Dulcarnein." It appears to me more probable, that as, according to St. Jerome and other writers of the Middle Ages, the Dilemma was also called Syllogismum Cornutum, its Arabic name was Dhu 'lkarnein; and we know how much in science and literature the darker ages were indebted to the Arabian writers. Wyttenbach, in his Logic, says "Dilemma etiam Cornutus est; quod utrimque veluti Cornibus pugnat." At any rate it is clear that the enclosure had another name:

It does not appear to me that to be at Dalcarnon is equivalent to being sent to Coventry, or to Jericho, as your correspondent A. N. supposes; or that the word flemyng, in this passage, means banishing, but rather defeating, daunting, dismaying, in which sense it occurs more than once in Layamon; thus, vol. ii. p. 410.:—

The general sense of the word is, however, to expel, to drive out, and not to enclose, as Alexander is said to have done the Gog and Magog people, by his iron, or rather bituminous, wall. Now those who were at Dulcarnon, or in a Dilemma, might well be said to be defeated or dismayed.

Let us hope that some oriental scholar among your correspondents may be able to indicate where the word is to be found in some Arabian expositor of logic or dialectic, &c., and thus set the question entirely at rest.

Are we never to have an edition of Chaucer worthy of him, and creditable to us? Had our northern neighbours possessed such a treasure, every MS. in existence would have been examined and collated, and the text settled. His language would have been thoroughly investigated and explained,[3] and every possible source of elucidation made available. May we not hope that the able editor of Layamon and Wickliffe will yet add to the obligation every lover of our early literature owes to him, an edition of our first great poet, such as his previous labours have shown that he is so well qualified to give?

S. W. SINGER.

ENGLISH SURNAMES. (Vol. v., p. 290.)

I have, as most of the readers of "N. & Q." are aware, for a considerable time past turned my attention to the subject of English Surnames, and the sale of three editions of my work under that title shows that such a book was a desideratum. Chapters on the origin of surnames exist in Camden's Remaines, Verstegan's Restitution, and elsewhere, and there are detached notices in the Gentleman's Magazine and other periodicals; but my work is the first, and as yet the only independent treatise on the subject. Any one who will be at the trouble to compare my first and third editions will at once see how this inquiry has grown under my hands; but although I have collected and classified 6000 names, much still remains to be accomplished. Under this conviction, I am now engaged in the compilation of a Dictionary of English Family Names, which I hope to complete within the present year. My plan will include:

I. The name.

II. The class to which it belongs. The classes will be about twenty in number.

III. The etymology of each name when necessary.

IV. Definitions and remarks.

V. Illustrative quotations from old English authors.

VI. The century in which the name first occurs.

VII. The corruptions and most remarkable variations which the name has undergone.

VIII. Proverbs associated with family names, e.g.:—

in allusion to the judgment of heaven which is said to have befallen the posterity of Wm. de Traci, one of the assassins of Thos. à Becket.

IX. Anecdotes and traditions.

My object in making this statement, is to solicit from the numerous and learned correspondents of "N. & Q." contributions of surnames and suggestions in furtherance of my undertaking; and from the Editor, permission to query from time to time upon the origin, date, and history of such surnames as I am unable satisfactorily to elucidate without assistance. A field so large requires the co-operation of many labourers. I have already secured the friendly aid of some of the most competent antiquaries in England; and I confidently anticipate for the forthcoming collection a degree of success proportioned to the amount of labour and research bestowed upon it.

Of local surnames few will be introduced; for, as nearly every landed property has given a name to the family of its early proprietor, it would be impossible to include all the names so derived. Only the more remarkable ones of this class, which would appear at first sight to come from a totally different source, will be admitted. Blennerhasset, Polkinghom, Woodhead, Wisdom, Bodycoat, and Crawl, for example, are names of places, and surnames have been derived from them, although few except the persons resident in the particular localities are aware that any such places exist. Most of the names that baffle all historical and etymological acumen are probably of this class.

I wish it to be understood that my dictionary will only include family, that is, hereditary surnames. Merely personal sobriquets which died with their first possessors (and which are found in large numbers in ancient records) will be passed by, unless they should illustrate some appellative which has descended to our times.

In conclusion, this work is by no means intended to supersede my English Surnames, which contains much matter unsuited to dictionary arrangement, and is intended to convey information on a neglected subject in a popular form. The illustrations in the Dictionary will for the most part be new, with references to the English Surnames for others.

The foregoing announcement was intended to be sent to "N. & Q." some weeks since. I am now induced to forward it without further delay, because I see the subject of surnames introduced in to-day's number by two different correspondents. COWGILL, the first of these, could, if so disposed, render me efficient help. As to the remarks of J. H. on the works of "Lower and others" (what others?), they clearly show that he has never read what he so summarily condemns, or he would not now have to ask for the supposed number of surnames in England, which is given in my third edition, vol. i., preface, p. xiii. Though I am, perhaps, more fully aware than any other person of the defects and demerits of my English Surnames, I think the literary public will hardly deny me the credit of "some study and research," praise which has been awarded me by better critics than J. H. It is not my practice to notice the censures of anonymous writers, but I cannot forbear adverting to two points in J. H.'s short communication. In the first place his desire for a work giving all the names used in England, and "showing when they were first adopted or brought into this country," shows his entire want of acquaintance with the existing state of the nomenclature of English families. A glance at a few pages of so common a book as the London Directory, will convince any competent observer that there are hundreds upon hundreds of surnames that would baffle the most imaginative etymologist. Secondly, J. H. proposes that an author treating on the subject of family names, should begin "with the Britons." Does he really suppose that the Celtic possessors of our island bore family names according to the modern practice? If so, "Lower and (many) others" can assure him that his antiquarian and historical knowledge must be of a somewhat limited kind.

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

Lewes.

REV. JOHN PAGET. (Vol. iv., p. 133.; Vol. v., pp. 66. 280.)

Since the Notes, kindly transmitted from Holland in answer to my Query respecting the family of the Rev. John Paget, appeared in "N. & Q.," I have discovered that the Pagets to whom my Query related, as well as the others alluded to by your correspondents, were all of the family of Paget of Rothley, Leicestershire, of whom a (partially incomplete) pedigree is given in Nichols's Leicestershire, vol. iv. p. 481. I was led to this conclusion by finding that Robert Paget (the writer of a preface before alluded to "from Dort, 1641") mentions in his will Roadley (Rothley) in Leicestershire as his birthplace, and speaks of his brother George as residing in his "patrimoniall house" there: he is probably the Robert, son of Michael Paget, and great-grandson of the Rev. Harold Paget, vicar of Rothley in 1564, who is mentioned in the pedigree as born at Rothley in 1611: he died at Dordt in 1684. The pedigree gives him an uncle named Thomas, born in 1589 (two indeed of that name, and both born the same year!); this will do very well for the Rev. Thomas Paget, incumbent of Blackley, and rector of Stockport; and another named John, who died, aged seven, in 1582: still I cannot help believing that John Paget, the writer, was this Robert's uncle, and feel mightily disposed to metamorphose one of the two Thomases into John. The Rev. Thomas Paget died in October, 1660, leaving his property to his two sons, Nathan M.D., and Thomas a clergyman. What relation was he to that Mr. Paget to whom Dee, the astrologer (see his Diary, p. 55. Camden Society, 1842), sold a house in Manchester in 1595? His son, Dr. Nathan, in a Thesis on the Plague, printed at Leyden in 1639, describes himself on the title-page as Mancestr-Anglus. According to Mr. Paget's will, dated May 23, 1660, he was then minister at Stockport, Cheshire; and I am inclined to think him identical with Thomas Paget, rector of St. Chads, Shrewsbury, from 1646 to 1659, although Owen and Blakeway (History of Shrewsbury, 2 vols. 4to. 1825) consider the latter to be son of John (James?) Paget, Baron of the Exchequer, temp. Car. I.: this descent is, I am confident, erroneous. Thomas Paget appears to have gone to Amsterdam in 1639 on the death of the Rev. John Paget, and to have returned to England in 1646, in which year his son John (who must have been much younger than his two other sons, and is, moreover, not mentioned in his will dated 1660) was baptized at Shrewsbury. Dr. Nathan Paget was an intimate friend of Milton, and cousin to the poet's fourth wife, Elizabeth Minshull, of whose family descent (which appears to be rather obscure) I may, at another time, communicate some particulars.

Whilst the subject of the Pagets (a very interesting one to me), I cannot refrain from noticing, even at the risk of encroaching on your space, a singular mistake of Anthony à Wood respecting another writer (though of an entirely different family) of the name of Paget. Speaking of the Rev. Ephraim Paget (Athen. Oxon., vol. ii. p. 51.) he says:

"One of both his names (his uncle I think) translated into English Sermons upon Ruth, Lond. 1586, in oct., written originally by Lod. Lavater; but whether the said Ephraim Paget was educated at Oxon, I cannot justly say, though two or more of his sirname and time occur in our registers."

Had Anthony ever seen the book in question, he would have been aware that the title-page informs him that it was translated by Ephraim Pagitt, a child of eleven years of age; and as, according to the said Anthony's account, Ephraim was born in 1575, he would also at once have seen that Ephraim himself—not that ideal personage, his "uncle of the same name"—was the translator.

CRANMORE.

LETTER TO A BRIGADIER-GENERAL. (Vol. v., p 296.)

Your correspondent W. C. begins his letter modestly. "If," he says, Thomas Lord Lyttleton wrote The Letters of Junius, and "if" Junius wrote the "Letter to the Brigadier-General," then he sees a difficulty. Why, of course he does: but as nobody but the writer in the Quarterly believes that the said Thomas did write the Letters of Junius, and as it has never been proved that Junius did write the "Letter to a Brigadier," I must believe that something remains to be done before we proceed a step farther either in the way of argument or inference. Unless some such resolution be come to by inquirers, we shall never get out of the mazes in which this question has been involved, by like conditional statements, and the conditional arguments founded thereon.

As to the Lyttleton story, I shall dismiss it at once: it is not entitled to the sort of respectability which attaches to a case put hypothetically, nor to the honour of an "if;" and I must remind your correspondent that in a Junius question "general belief" is no evidence. Every story, however absurd, once asserted, is "generally believed," until some one (a rare and exceptional case) proves that it is not true—probably that it could not be true. The general belief, for example, that the "Letter to a Brigadier" was written by Junius, is not, so far as I know, supported by a tittle of evidence. It is all assertion and assumption, founded on the opinion of A., B., and C., as to "style," &c. Now, as some two dozen different persons have been proved, by like confident opinions, on like evidence, to be the writer of Junius's Letters, I may be excused when I acknowledge that the test is not with me quite conclusive. In respect, however, to this "Letter to a Brigadier," Mr. Britton and Sir David Brewster have proceeded somewhat further. Having, with others, come to the conclusion that Junius was the writer, Mr. Britton proceeds to show that Barré served in Canada under Wolfe, and was the very man, from circumstances, position, and feelings, who could, would, and did write that letter. Sir David endeavours to show that Macleane was in like circumstance, stimulated by like feelings, and was the veritable Simon; founding his argument mainly on the belief that Macleane was also serving there as surgeon of Otway's regiment. It has been shown in the Athenæum that Macleane never was surgeon of Otway's regiment, and that in all probability he never was in Canada: in brief, that the memoir is a mistake from beginning to end. As all, however, that is urged by Sir David in favour of Macleane, as one who had served under Wolfe, may be thought to strengthen, to that extent, the claim of Barré, who certainly did so serve, and was severely wounded, let us look at the facts.

Barré was wounded at the capture of Quebec; and, under date of Oct. 1759, Knox, in his Historical Journal, says, "Colonel Carlton and Major Barré retired to the southward for the recovery of their wounds." From his letter to Mr. Pitt (Chath. Corr.), we find that Barré was at New York, April 28, 1760. He appears subsequently to have joined Amherst before Montreal; and on the capture of Montreal, on Sept. 8, 1760, he was appointed to convey the despatches to England, and arrived in London on the 5th October. These are facts public and unquestioned—admitted by Mr. Britton.

Now for a fact out of the "Letter to a Brigadier." I could give you half a dozen of like character, but space is precious, and one, I think, will be sufficient. The writer quotes in extenso a letter written by Townshend, published in The Daily Advertiser, and dated "South Audley Square, 20th June, 1760." Mr. Britton admits that the pamphlet must have been published "some time before the 5th October, as on that day a Refutation appeared;" it was, in fact, reviewed, or rather abused, in the Critical Review for September. We have proof, therefore, that the "Letter to a Brigadier" was written after 20th June, and founded, in part, on facts known in London only on the 21st of June at the earliest: the probabilities are that it was published in August or September, certainly before the 5th October. How then could it have been written by a man in America, serving before Montreal?

L. B. G.

MAPS OF AFRICA. (Vol. v., p. 261.)

I do not know why, because a man publishes maps of Africa at Gotha, they should not be "fancy portraits," any more than why a man's book should be a good one, because it is printed on a composition which nobody but a German would have the effrontery to call paper.

I had seen Spruner's Map a few weeks after it came out, and the conclusion I came to about it at the time was, that it was certainly a fancy portrait. I shall be glad to be shown that I am in error; and, as I am more sure of the fact that I did come to this conclusion after some examination, than I am of the argument whereby I arrived at it—for my memory is singularly gifted in this way—I should be obliged by E. C. H., or any of your correspondents, informing me what grounds there are for believing Spruner, or any one else, to have produced a map or maps of the north coast of Africa between long. 5° west, and 25° east of Greenwich, or any portion of the said coast,—said map or maps being the result of actual survey. Moreover, if I further inquire when any survey whatever took place of this coast at any time, and profess my utter ignorance of the history of our present North African maps, and my great doubts of their credibility, let not your correspondents imagine that this is one of a few things that I ought to be acquainted with, and really know nothing whatever about.

AJAX.

Replies to Minor Queries.

James Wilson, M.D. (Vol. v., p. 276.).

—To the numerous list of men whose services to literature our English biographers have injudiciously omitted to record may be added James Wilson, M.D. As editor of the Mathematical tracts of Mr. Benjamin Robins in 1761, he has often been noticed with commendation. Beyond that circumstance, all is obscurity.

He wrote, however, a valuable Dissertation on the rise and progress of the modern art of navigation, which was first published by Mr. John Robertson in his Elements of navigation in 1764, and republished by him in 1772. The authors shall now speak for themselves:—

"This edition [of the Elements of navigation] is also enriched with the history of the art of navigation; for with the author's leave, I have published the following dissertation on that subject, written by Dr. Wilson, believing it would afford the most ample satisfaction on that subject."—John ROBERTSON, 1764.

"My enquiries into these matters [navigation] induced the late learned Dr. James Wilson to review and complete his observations on the subject, and produced his Dissertation on the history of the art of navigation, which he was pleased to give me leave to publish with the second edition of this work.... The second edition of these Elements having also been well received by the public, Dr. Wilson took the pains to revise his Dissertation, which he improved in many particulars."—John ROBERTSON, Nov. 1, 1772.

"This Dissertation, written at first by desire, is now reprinted with alterations. Though I may be thought to have dwelt too long on some particulars, not directly relating to the subject; yet I hope that what is so delivered, will not be altogether unentertaining to the candid reader. As to any apology for having handled a matter quite foreign to my way of life, I shall only plead, that very young, living in a sea-port town, I was eager to be acquainted with an art that could enable the mariner to arrive across the wide and pathless ocean at his desired harbour."

London. James WILSON, 1771?

The united libraries of Henry Pemberton, M.D., F.R.S., and James Wilson, M.D., were sold in 1772. The sale occupied eighteen evenings, and produced 701l. 17s. 6d. The learned writers, who were intimate friends, died within seven months of each other in 1771.

BOLTON CORNEY.

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

—As a learned and lucid account of the early commercial intercourse between Europe and the eastern countries, I believe there is no work comparable to that entitled Histoire du commerce entre le Levant et l'Europe depuis les croisades jusqu'à la fondation des colonies d'Amérique, par G. B. Depping. Paris, 1830. 8vo. 2 vols. This subject was proposed in 1826, as a prize essay, by the Académie royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres, and M. Depping was the successful competitor. The prize, a gold medal of the value of 1500 francs, was awarded in 1828. M. le baron Silvestre de Sacy, whose profound acquaintance with oriental history and literature enabled him to detect some slight errors in the work, thus concludes his review of it in the Journal des savants: "Mais ces légères critiques ne m'empêchent pas de rendre toute justice à un travail véritablement estimable, et digne de l'honneur qu'il a obtenu de l'Académie des belles-lettres."

BOLTON CORNEY.

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

—There is a work on this subject by I. E. T. Wiltsch, Handbuch der Kirchlichen Geographie and Statistik, Berlin, 1846, 2 vols. 8vo., which, in so far as I have looked at it, appears to be carefully done.

J. C. R.

Butts Family (Vol. iv., p. 501.).

—I read yesterday an article signed COWGILL, asking information concerning the family of Butts, anciently of Thornage, Norfolk. Sir William Butts, physician to Henry VIII., and Dr. Robert Butts, my great-grandfather, formerly Bishop of Norwich, were of that family, and if your correspondent will communicate privately with me, I shall be happy to receive from him, and communicate to him, any particulars of a public character concerning a family of which I am nearly the only representative. My address is "Rev. Edward Drury Butts, Camesworth, Bridport."

E. D. B.

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

—The story to which your correspondent? refers may be found in a note to one of Fennimore Cooper's sea novels; I do not remember which, and am unable at present to ascertain by reference to the book itself. If my recollection be accurate, the novelist speaks of it as an event of which he had personal knowledge, and does not quote any earlier authority.

K. E.

It is a most curious circumstance connected with the superstition sailors have regarding putting to sea on a Friday, which will now have greater weight attached to it than ever, that I can inform your correspondent, W. FRASER, that the ill-fated Amazon, Captain Symons, did really sail on a Friday, as he suggested she might have done.

The day was January 2, 1852, by Lloyd's Lists, which is the day of the month the West India mail always leaves this country.

J. S. O.

Old Broad Street.

A Pinch of Snuff from Dean Swift's Box (Vol. v., p. 274.).

—The printed leaves inquired for by A SUBSCRIBER, are from the Irish Union Magazine, No. 2., April, 1845, and are quoted at p. 182. of Wilde's Closing Scenes of Dean Swift's Life, where may be found several particulars of the snuff-box inquired about. The inscription within the lid is curious, and is copied by Wilde.

E. D.

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

—M. tells us that in the second clause of the 36th canon of 1603, the words quodque eodem taliter uti liceat are translated "and that the same may be lawfully used," the word taliter being altogether omitted in the English. What authority is there for this statement? In all the copies of the English Canons that I have examined, the translation is exact, viz., "and that it may lawfully so be used;" and that the form now presented for subscription at ordination agrees with this, may be inferred from the fact that the words are so printed in Mr. Hodgson's Instructions for the Clergy (6th edition, p. 8.).

It would seem that M. has confounded with the Canons of 1603 an older form, which was prescribed by Archbishop Whitgift in 1584 (Cardwell, Docum. Annals, i. 414.). The words of that form agree with your correspondent's quotation; and it has also a bearing on his assumption that the 36th canon was originally presented for subscription in Latin, and that the English version has been wrongfully substituted. Not only is there (as I believe) no proof of this assumption; but we have the fact that a set of English articles, substantially the same with those of the 36th canon of 1603 (or rather 1604), was subscribed for twenty years before the body of the canons existed.

J. C. R.

Few Descents through a long Period.

—The pedigree of the noble family of Dartmouth, given by Edmondson in his Baronagium Genealogicum, No. 197., contains an extraordinary instance of few descents through a long period of time.

The stock of descent is Thomas Legge, Sheriff of London in 1343, and Lord Mayor in 1346. He had a son, Simon, whose son, Thomas, had issue, William, who had issue an only son, Edward. This Edward had thirteen children, one of whom, John, is stated to have died in 1702, aged 109. Supposing Thomas Legge to have been 46 years old at his Mayoralty (i.e. born in 1300) these six lives would extend over more than 400 years. This is so extraordinary that I append a Query. Is Edmondson's Genealogy correct, or are there any intermediate descents omitted?

The ages at death of four only of Edward's children are given, and they, too, are remarkable: the before-mentioned John, aged 109 years; Elizabeth (unmarried), 105 years; Margaret (married —— Fitzgerald, Esq.), 105 years; and Anne (married —— Anthony, Esq.), 112 years. Can any of your correspondents inform me the years when any of these died, or where they are buried? to enable me to verify these facts by certificates.

C. H. B.

30. Clarence Street, Islington.

Tandem D. O. M. (Vol. iii, p. 62.).

—Looking over some of the back numbers, I see under this heading a very tantalising announcement of a rich store of venerable literature in an ancient mansion in a distant part of Cornwall. It would be very desirable to know the habitat of such an unique collection of books. Will FABER MARINUS gratify the readers of "N. & Q." by allowing it to be known?

S. S.

Land Holland (Vol. ii., p. 267.).

—Has not your querist J. B. C. mistaken the initial letter here,—read H for M? I have often met in Court Rolls with Land Molland, viz., held by mill service.

G. A. C.

Arc de Arbouin (Vol. v., p. 249.).

—In East Anglia the Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is called Harber or Arber wood.

G. A. C.

Derivation of "Martinique" (Vol. v., p. 11.).

—M. de Magnard, in the opening chapter of his novel of Outre-mer, says the name of "Martinique" is derived from that which the island had received from the Caribs:

"Ce nom de 'Martinique' dérive par corruption de l'ancien nom sauvage et indigène, Matinina."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

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

—I beg to direct attention to the subjoined extract from Mr. Trench's Lectures on the Study of Words, a most able and interesting little work:

"'Bigot' is another word widely spread over Europe, of which I am inclined to think that we should look for the derivation where it is not generally sought, and here too we must turn to Spain for the explanation. It has much perplexed inquirers, and two explanations of it are current; one of which traces it up to the early Normans, while they yet retained their northern tongue, and to their often adjuration by the name of God, with sometimes reference to a famous scene in French history, in which Rollo, Duke of Normandy, played a conspicuous part; the other puts it in connexion with 'Beguines,' often called in Latin 'Beguttæ,' a name by which certain communities of pietest women were known in the Middle Ages. Yet I cannot but think it probable, that rather than to either of these sources, we owe the word to that mighty impression which the Spaniards began to make upon all Europe in the fifteenth century, and made for a long time after. Now the word 'bigote' means in Spanish 'mustachio;' and, as contrasted with the smooth or nearly smooth upper lip of most other people, at that time the Spaniards were the 'men of the mustachio.' That it was their characteristic feature comes out in Shakspeare's Love's Labour's Lost, where Armado, the 'fantastical Spaniard,' describes the king, 'his familiar, as sometimes being pleased to lean on his poor shoulder, and dally with his mustachio.' [Act V. Sc. 1.] That they themselves connected firmness and resolution with the mustachio, that it was esteemed the outward symbol of these, is plain from such phrases as 'hombre de bigote,' a man of resolution; 'tener bigotes,' to stand firm. But that in which they eminently displayed their firmness and resolution in those days, was their adherence to whatever the Roman See required and taught. What then more natural, or more entirely according to the law of the generation of names, than that this striking and distinguishing outward feature of the Spaniard should have been laid hold of to express that character and condition which eminently were his, and then transferred to all others who shared the same? The mustachio is, in like manner, in France a symbol of military courage; and thus 'un vieux moustache,' is an old soldier of courage and military bearing. And strengthening this view, the earliest use of the word which Richardson gives, is a passage from Bishop Hall, where 'bigot' is used to signify a pervert to Romanism: 'he was turned both bigot and physician.' In further proof that the Spaniard was in those times the standing representative of the bigot and the persecutor, we need but turn to the older editions of Fox's Book of Martyrs, where the Pagan persecutors of the early Christians are usually arrayed in the armour of Spanish soldiers, and sometimes graced with tremendous 'bigotes.'"—2nd edit. 80-82.

Mr. Trench's derivation of bigot is, I think, very preferable to those you cite.

C. H. COOPER.

Davies Queries (Vol. iv., p. 256.).

—LLAW GYFFES asks for a correct description of the monument erected to Sir John Davys, Davis, or Davies, in St. Martin's church. Perhaps the following will answer his purpose: it is extracted from one of a series of MS. volumes in my possession, in the autograph of John Le Neve:—

"On the 3rd pillar, on the south range, a plain white marble monument, in memory of Sir John Davis, Knight. Inscrip.:

"D. O. M. S. Johannes Davys, Equestris Ordinis, quondam attornati Regii Generalis amplissima Provincia regno Hib. functus. Inde in patriam revocatus inter Servientes Domini Regis ad Regem primum locum sustinuit, ob. 1626.

"Accubat Dignissimo Marito incomparabilis Uxorque illustre genus et generi pares animos, Christiana Mansuetudine temperavit, Erudita supra sexum mitis infra sortem, plurimis major, quia humilior, in eximia forma sublime ingenium, in venusta Comitate, singularem modestiam, in Fœmineo Corpore virales spiritus, in Rebus adversissimis serenam mentem, in Impio seculo Pietatem et Rectitudinem inconcussa possedit.

"Non illi Robustam animam ad res lauta laxavit, aut Angusta contraxit, sed utramq; sortem pari animoq; non excepit modo sed rexit. Quippe Dei plena cui plenitudini mundus, nec benig. addere nec malignus detrahere potuisset.

"Talis Deum jamdudum spirans et sursum aspirans, sui ante et Reip. fata præsaga, salutisq; Æterna certissima, ingenti lætoq; ardore in Servatoris dilectissimi sinum ipsius sanguine totam animam efflavit, rebus humanis exempta, immortalitate induit 3 nonas Quintilis, An. Kal. 1652.

"Arms; on a Lozenge; Argent a Heart Gules, on a Chief Sable 3 Mullets.

"Also at the bottom of the Monument, Sable a Fess Ermin between 3 Cinquefoils Argent."

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Fawsley, Heraldic Atchievement (Vol. v., p. 297.).

—See Baker's Northamptonshire, vol. i. p. 385-6., where the shield of the knightly quarterings is noticed in describing the Manor house.

r.

Old Scots March (Vol. v., pp. 104. 235.).

—Your correspondent E. N., after quoting a passage from Mr. Tytler's Dissertation on Scottish Music, says he has "never yet been able to meet with any of the ports here referred to." I have the pleasure to inform him that several curious ancient ports have been preserved, and may be found in the Skene MS., and in Gordon of Straloch's Lute Book.

Port, in Gaelic, signifies an air, either sung or played upon an instrument. Mr. Tytler correctly describes this species of composition as of the plaintive strain, and modulated for the harp. All the existing specimens answer to this character.

The Ports which are contained in the above-named MSS., are named as follows: "Rory Dall's Port," "Port Ballangowne," "Jean Lindsay's Port," &c.

It may be necessary to say, that these tunes are written in an obsolete notation called tablature. Translations, however, are in my possession, and if E. N. wishes for copies, he is quite welcome to have them if he will favour me with a communication.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

29. St. Mark's Crescent, Regent's Park.

Periwinkle (Vol. i., p. 77.).

—The following note, from Withering's Arrangement of British Plants, vol. ii. p. 341. ed. 1830, will perhaps be acceptable to MELANION:—

"VINCA. PERIWINKLE. (From vincio, to bind; its runners trailing round other plants. Or to those who prefer a more interesting association, we would intimate that of such was formed in ancient times the bridal zone, which none but the bridegroom was privileged to untie. In modern Italy it is said to be appropriated to a far different usage, that of enwreathing deceased infants; and is hence called Fior di Morto.—E.)"

W. R. DEERE SALMON.

Erasmus' Paraphrase (Vol. i., p. 172.).

—If it be allowable to answer one's own Query, and not too late to go back to Vol. i., I should like to notice that the fragment therein referred to corresponds, as far as it goes, with an edition "Empriented in Flete Strete the last daie of Januarie, Anno Domini, 1548," by Edward Whitchurch, and is no doubt part of that edition. In the Churchwardens' Accounts for this parish it is thus mentioned:

"1589. Itm̅, pd. to Mr Vicar wchhe layde downe for ye Englyshe Paraphrase of Erasmus

ijs.

"Itm̅, chaynes for two bookes

xijd.

"Itm̅, spent at chayninge ye same

ijd."

J. EASTWOOD.

Ecclesfield Hall.

"Black Gowns and Red Coats" (Vol. v., p. 297.).

—I am not aware that it was ever any secret, or, at any rate, that there is any occasion to make it so now, that the satire Black Gowns and Red Coats was the production of George Cox, M.A., and Fellow of New College, Oxford; neither did I ever hear of its suppression. The satire is certainly somewhat severe; but even those who fell under its lash could scarcely deny its great ability, or the high poetical talent which it evinced. Such as knew the marvellous promise of his youth can never cease to lament that it pleased God to bring the author's life to a premature and unhappy close.

I have a copy of the little book, which I would gladly lend to any one making a proper application through the publisher.

C. W. B.

Arms of Manchester (Vol. v., p. 59.).

—The arms of Manchester (gules 3 hindlets enhanced or) are those attributed to the family of Grelle, De Greslet, or Grelly, feudal Barons of Manchester under the Normans. The town has used them for years; long before the charter of incorporation.

P. P.

Sir Thomas Frowyk (Vol. v., p. 295.).

—Thomas Frowyk was, in all likelihood, of a family long connected with the government of London. According to Fuller, he was born at Ealing in Middlesex, and was son of Thomas Frowyk, Esq. [if I do not greatly err he was knighted in or before the reign of Richard III.] of Gunnersbury, by the daughter and heiress of Sir John Sturgeon, knight. He was "bred in the study of our municipal law," and read on the statute Prerogative Regis (17 Edw. II. stat. 1.), but in what inn of court, or in what year, I have not seen stated. He was (with others) made serjeant-at-law, by writ tested 10th September, 1496. The feast was kept on the 16th of November following, at Ely House in Holborn, "where dined the King, Queen, and all the chief lords of England." He was afterwards one of the King's serjeants. On the 11th July, 1502, he (with Mr. Justice Fisher and Humphrey Conyngsbye, one of the King's serjeants) made an award between the University and town of Cambridge adjusting disputes between the two bodies, and defining in minute detail their respective jurisdictions. On the 30th September, 1502, he was constituted Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and was, at or about the same time, knighted. In 19 Hen. VIII. he was, by Act of Parliament, appointed one of the feoffees to the use of the King's will. He died 17th October, 1505, being, as it is said, under forty years old. He was buried, with Joan his wife, in the church of Finchley. He left a large estate to his two daughters, of whom Elah, the eldest, was married to Sir John Spelman, Justice of the King's Bench, "grandfather to Sir Henry, that renowned knight." Sir Thomas Frowyk's arms (azure a cheveron between 3 leopards' faces or) were in a window of the hall of Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street; and the same coat (quartering Sturgeon and another) was in a window at St. Dunstan's in the West. (Fuller's Worthies in Middlesex; Dugdale's Origines Juridiciales, 47. 128. 328.; Chronica Series, 74. 76.; Bibliotheca Legum Angliæ, ii. 192.; Excerpta Historica, 119. 121. 123.; Plumpton Correspondence, 152, 153. 161. 165.; Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, 258. 260.; Rotuli Parliamentorum, vi. 522.; Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, iv. 107.)

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

John Goldesborough (Vol. v., p. 294.).

—John Goldesborough, or Goldesburgh, was born 18th October, 1568, studied at Oxford, and went thence to the Middle Temple, where he was called to the Bar. In or about 1613 he was constituted Second Prothonotary of the Common Pleas, which office he held till his death, 9th October, 1618. He was buried in the Temple Church, where there is, or was, a monumental brass to his memory, having thereon his and his wife's effigies, with an inscription in English. His Reports were printed several years after his death. (Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, i. 293. 369.; Dugdale's Origines Juridiciales, 63. 178.; Bibliotheca Legum Angliæ, i. 236. 242., ii. 213.; Reports of Deputy Keeper of Public Records, Second Report, Appendix, ii. p. 73.; Fourth Report, Appendix, ii. p. 37.)

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

Corrupted Names of Places (Vol. v., p. 285.).

—I beg to offer a few additions to mispronounced names of places:

RampishamDorsetRansom

BeaminsterDo.Bemmister

PortishamDo.Possum

PortisheadSomersetPosset.

In Sussex the names of places ending in ly are pronounced with the accent on the last syllable; e.g. West Hoathly, Hellingly, &c. In Gloucestershire, a place written Newland is unexpectedly called Newlànd.

C. W. B.

My memory enables me to make the following small additions to the list of "Popular Dialects" requested by your correspondent P. M. M. The names of the towns are derived exclusively from my native county, Essex:

Spelling.Pronunciation.

BradwellBradell

BrentwoodBurnt'ood

BrightlingseaBricklesea

ChelmsfordChensford

CoggeshallCockshall

ColchesterCou'chester

DavenhamDagnum

KelvedonKelldon

MargarettingMargretten

Mersy IslandMasy Island

Mount NissingMoney's End

Toulleshunt DarcyToussent Darcy.

M. W. B.

Story of Ginevra (Vol. v., pp. 129. 209.).

—Bramshall, Hants (of which there are some views in Nash's Mansions), claims to be connected with a Ginevra tradition, so that Rogers seems to be justified in stating that "many" old houses in this country do so.

P. P.

Ornamental Hermits (Vol. v., pp. 123. 207.).

—FLORENCE must be in error as to the locality of one of her hermits. There is no place called Marcham in Lancashire, nor any resident family of Powyss. The late Lord Lilford certainly married a Lancashire heiress in 1797, and became possessed of property near Warrington. Whether he had a hermit, I cannot say but I never heard of a hermit in the Preston neighbourhood.

P. P.

Dr. Fell (Vol. v., p. 296.).

—Mr. Tom Sheridan, the only child of Richard Brinsley Sheridan by his wife (Miss Elizabeth Linley), is author of the lines on Dr. Fell. They were written on the celebrated Dr. Parr, under whose tuition he was. Why he gave to Dr. Parr the nomen "Dr. Fell," I do not know. I have often heard my dear mother repeat the lines:

The metre of the third line would be more perfect by the addition of the dissyllable; but the lines I have so often heard want this.

My mother was very intimate with the Sheridan family, and many years agone she informed me that Miss Jane Linley (afterwards Mrs. Ward) told her that young Tom Sheridan composed the foregoing lines on Dr. Parr.

E. F.

List of Prothonotaries (Vol. v., p. 294.).

—Lists of the prothonotaries of the Court of Common Pleas, from Henry VIII. to George IV., may be collected from the Reports of the Deputy Keeper of Public Records, Second Report, Appendix, ii. 67-88.; Fourth Report, Appendix, ii. 30-52.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

The Vellum-bound Junius (Vol. iii., p. 262.; Vol. v., p. 303.).

—Since I wrote to you I have seen my informant, and am now enabled to state, that what your correspondent calls "the vellum-bound Junius," at Stowe, was, as I said, printed on vellum, but was not bound in vellum.

V. B. J.

Plague Stones (Vol. v., p. 308.).

—The three following places, where these stones of exchange were erected, have just occurred to me, and I forward them to add to the desired list:—

At Derby the stone was known by the name of the Headless Cross; and it has within the last few years been removed for preservation to the Arboretum in that town.

A stone of a similar name existed at Shrewsbury.

At East Retford, in Nottinghamshire, was also one, called the Broad Stone.

L. JEWITT.

George Trehern (Vol. v., p. 295.).

—George Trehern, or Treheryon, was Autumn Reader of Lincoln's Inn, 12 Hen. VIII.; Lent Reader there 16 Hen. VIII.; and one of the Governors of that society 12 & 17 Hen. VIII. His reading on Carta Forestæ appears to have been printed in 4to., but in what year is not stated. (Dugdale's Origines Juridiciales, 251. 259.; Bibliotheca Legum Angliæ, i. 24., ii. 191.)

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

St. Christopher (Vol. v., p. 265.).

—I know not whether Mr. Drake's explanation (referred to by E. A. H. L.) be the same as that given in Sacred and Legendary Art, but the latter seems sufficiently satisfactory.

"It was believed that in consequence of his prayer, those who beheld the figure of St. Christopher were exempt during that day from all perils of earthquake, fire, and flood. The mere sight of his image, that type of strength, was deemed sufficient to inspire with courage those who had to struggle with the evils and casualties of life, and to reinvigorate those who were exhausted by the labours of husbandry.... Hence it became a custom to place his image in conspicuous places, to paint it of colossal size on the walls of churches and houses, where it is sometimes seen occupying the whole height of the building, and is visible from a great distance, being considered as a good omen for all those who look upon it. A mountain in Granada, which is first seen by ships arriving from the African coast, is called San Cristobal, in allusion to this poetical superstition."—S. and L. Art, p. 262.

J. EASTWOOD.

White Livers (Vol. v., p. 127.).

—The superstition, that a man or woman who survives several wives or husbands has a white liver, is common among the lower orders in Lancashire.

P. P.

Torshel's Design to harmonise the Bible (Vol. v., p. 199.).

—This rare and valuable tract is reprinted in The Phenix, 1707, vol. i. pp. 96-113.

JOHN I. DREDGE.