This custom of three tolls for a man, and two for a woman, is thus explained in an ancient Homily on Trinity Sunday:—"At the deth of a manne, three bells should be ronge as his knyll in worship of the Trinitie. And for a woman, who was the second person of the Trinitie, two bells should be ronge."
(Vol. viii., p. 57.)
Respecting the origin of this curious phenomenon in America, I am not able to give your correspondent, J. G. T. of Hagley, any information; but it may interest him and others among the readers of "N. & Q." to have some account of what appears to be the first recorded experiment, made in Europe, of table-moving. These experiments are related in the supplement (now lying before me) to the Allgemeine Zeitung of April 4, by Dr. K. Andrée, who writes from Bremen on the subject. His letter is dated March 30, and begins by stating that the whole town had been for eight days preceding in a state of most peculiar excitement, owing to a phenomenon which entirely absorbed the attention of all, and about which no one had ever thought before the arrival of the American steam-ship "Washington" from New York. Dr. Andrée proceeds to relate that the information respecting table-moving was communicated in a letter, brought through that ship, from a native of Bremen, residing in New York, to his sister, who was living in Bremen, and who, in her correspondence with her brother, had been rallying him about the American spirit-rappings, and other Yankee humbug, as she styled it, so rampant in the United States. Her brother instanced this table-moving, performed in America, as no delusion, but as a fact, which might be verified by any one; and then gave some directions for making the experiment, which was forthwith attempted at the lady's house in Bremen, and with perfect success, in the presence of a large company. In a few days the marvellous feat, the accounts of which flew like wildfire all over the country, was executed by hundreds of experimenters in Bremen. The subject was one precisely adapted to excite the attention and curiosity of the imaginative and wonder-loving Germans; and, accordingly, in a few days after, a notice of the strange phenomenon appeared in The Times, in a letter from Vienna, and, through the medium of the leading journal, the facts and experiments became rapidly diffused over the world, and have been repeated and commented upon ten thousand fold. As the experiment and its results are now brought within the domain of practical science, we may hope to see them soon freed from the obscurity and uncertainty which still envelope them, and assigned to their proper place in the wondrous system of "Him, in whom we live, and move, and have our being."
Oxford.
(Vol. vii., pp. 475. 600.)
"Religious freedom was at that time [the middle of the sixteenth century] enjoyed in Poland to a degree unknown in any other part of Europe, where generally the Protestants were persecuted by the Romanists, or the Romanists by the Protestants. This freedom, united to commercial advantages, and a wide field for the exercise of various talents, attracted to Poland crowds of foreigners, who fled their native land on account of religious persecution; and many of whom became, by their industry and talents, very useful citizens of their adopted country. There were at Cracow, Vilna, Posen, &c., Italian and French Protestant congregations. A great number of Scotch settled in different parts of Poland; and there were Scotch Protestant congregations not only in the above-mentioned towns, but also in other places, and a particularly numerous one at Kieydany, a little town of Lithuania, belonging to the Princes Radziwill. Amongst the Scotch families settled in Poland, the principal were the Bonars, who arrived in that country before the Reformation, but became its most zealous adherents. This family rose, by its wealth, and the great merit of several of its members, to the highest dignities of the state, but became extinct during the seventeenth century. There are even now in Poland many families of Scotch descent belonging to the class of nobles; as, for instance, the Haliburtons, Wilsons, Ferguses, Stuarts, Haslers, Watsons, &c. Two Protestant clergymen of Scotch origin, Forsyth and Inglis, have composed some sacred poetry. But the most conspicuous of all the Polish Scotchmen is undoubtedly Dr. John Johnstone [born in Poland 1603, died 1675], perhaps the most remarkable writer of the seventeenth century on natural history. It seems, indeed, that there is a mysterious link connecting the two distant countries; because, if many Scotsmen had in bygone days sought and found a second fatherland in Poland, a strong and active sympathy for the sufferings of the last-named country, and her exiled children, has been evinced in our own times by the natives of Scotland in general, and by some of the most distinguished amongst them in particular. Thus it was an eminent bard of Caledonia, the gifted author of The Pleasures of Hope, who, when
'Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime,'
has thrown, by his immortal strains, over the fall of her liberty, a halo of glory which will remain unfaded as long as the English language lasts. The name of Thomas Campbell is venerated throughout all Poland; but there is also another Scotch name [Lord Dudley Stuart] which is enshrined in the heart of every true Pole."—From Count Valerian Krasinski's Sketch of the Religious History of the Sclavonic Nations, p. 167.: Edinburgh, Johnstone and Hunter, 1851.
(Vol. vii., pp. 548. 629.)
I think The Writer of "Communications with the Unseen World" would have some difficulty in referring to the works on which he based the statement that "it was a tradition in Mexico that when that form (the cross) should be victorious, the old religion should disappear, and that a similar tradition attached to it at Alexandria." He doubtless made the statement from memory, and unintentionally confounded two distinct facts, viz. that the Mexicans worshipped the cross, and had prophetic intimations of the downfall of their nation and religion by the oppression of bearded strangers from the East. The quotation by Mr. Peacock at p. 549., quoted also in Purchas' Pilgrims, vol. v., proves, as do other authorities, that the cross was worshipped in Mexico prior to the Spanish invasion, and therefore it was impossible that the belief mentioned by The Writer, &c. could have prevailed.
On the first discovery of Yucatan,—
"Grijaha was astonished at the sight of large crosses, evidently objects of worship."—Prescott's Mexico, vol. i. p. 203.
Mr. Stephens, in his Central America, vol. ii., gives a representation of one of these crosses. The cross on the Temple of Serapis, mentioned in Socrates' Ecc. Hist., was undoubtedly the well-known Crux ansata, the symbol of life. It was as the latter that the heathens appealed to it, and the Christians explained it to them as fulfilled in the Death of Christ.
Mr. Peacock asks for other instances: I subjoin some.
In India.—The great pagoda at Benares is built in the form of a cross. (Maurice's Ind. Ant., vol. iii. p. 31., City, Tavernier.)
On a Buddhist temple of cyclopean structure at Mundore (Tod's Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 727.), the cross appears as a sacred figure, together with the double triangle, another emblem of very wide distribution, occurring on ancient British coins (Camden's Britannica), Central American buildings (Norman's Travels in Yucatan), among the Jews as the Shield of David (Brucker's History of Philosophy), and a well-known masonic symbol frequently introduced into Gothic ecclesiastical edifices.
In Palestine.—
"According to R. Solomon Jarchi, the Talmud, and Maimonides, when the priest sprinkled the blood of the victim on the consecrated cakes and hallowed utensils, he was always careful to do it in the form of a cross. The same symbol was used when the kings and high priests were anointed."—Faber's Horæ Mosaicæ, vol. ii. p. 188.
See farther hereon, Deane on Serpent Worship.
In Persia.—The trefoil on which the sacrifices were placed was probably held sacred from its cruciform character. The cross (+) occurs on Persian buildings among other sacred symbols. (R. K. Porter's Travels, vol. ii.)
In Britain.—The cross was formed by baring a tree to a stump, and inserting another crosswise on the top; on the three arms thus formed were inscribed the names of the three principal, or triad of gods, Hesus, Belenus, and Taranis. The stone avenues of the temple at Classerniss are arranged in the form of a cross. (Borlase's Antiquities of Cornwall.)
In Scandinavia.—The hammer of Thor was in the form of the cross; see in Herbert's Select Icelandic Poetry, p. 11., and Laing's Kings of Norway, vol. i. pp. 224. 330., a curious anecdote of King Hacon, who, having been converted to Christianity, made the sign of the cross when he drank, but persuaded his irritated Pagan followers that it was the sign of Thor's hammer.
The figure of Thor's hammer was held in the utmost reverence by his followers, who were called the children of Thor, who in the last day would save themselves by his mighty hammer. The fiery cross, so well known by Scott's vivid description, was originally the hammer of Thor, which in early Pagan, as in later Christian times, was used as a summons to convene the people either to council or to war. (Herbert's Select Icelandic Poetry, p. 11.)
Birmingham.
Glass Chambers for Photography.—I am desirous to construct a small glass chamber for taking portraits in, and shall be much obliged if you can assist me by giving me instructions how it should be constructed, or by directing me where I shall find clear and sufficient directions, as to dimensions, materials, and arrangements. Is it essential that it should be all of violet-coloured glass, ground at one side, as that would add a good deal to the expense? or will white glass, with thin blue gauze curtains or blinds, answer?
Probably a full answer to this inquiry, accompanied with such woodcut illustrations as would be necessary to render the description complete, and such as an artificer could work by, would confer a boon on many amateur photographers, as well as your obliged servant,
[In the construction of a photographic house, we beg to inform our correspondent that it is by no means needful to use entirely violet-coloured glass, but the roof thereof exposed to the rays of the sun should be so protected; for although the light is much subdued, and the glare so painful to the eyes of the sitter is taken away, yet but few of the actinic rays are obstructed. It has been proposed to coat the interior with smalt mixed with starch, and afterwards varnished; but this does not appear to have answered. Calico, both white and coloured, has also been used, but it is certainly not so effectual or pleasant. Upon the whole, we think that the main things to attend to are, firmness in its construction, so as to avoid vibration; ample size, so as to allow not only of room for the operator, but also for the arrangements of background, &c., and the sides to open so as to allow a free circulation of air; blinds to be applied at such spots only as shall be found requisite. Adjoining, or in one corner, a small closet should be provided, admitting only yellow light, which may be effectually accomplished by means of yellow calico. A free supply of water is indispensable, which may be conveyed both to and from by means of the gutta percha tubing now in such general use. We apprehend, however, that the old proverb, "You must cut your coat according to your cloth," is most especially applicable to our querist, for not only must the house be constructed according to the advantages afforded by the locality, but the amount of expense will be very differently thought of by different persons: one will be content with any moderate arrangement which will answer the purpose, where another will be scarcely satisfied unless everything is quite of an orné character.]
Dr. Diamond's Replies.—I am sorry I have not before replied to the Queries of your correspondent W. F. E., contained in Vol. viii., p. 41.; but absence from home, together with a pressure of public duties here, has prevented me from so doing.
1st. No doubt a small portion of nitrate of potash is formed when the iodized collodion is immersed in the bath of nitrate of silver, by mutual decomposition; but it is in so small a quantity as not to deteriorate the bath.
2nd. I believe collodion will keep good much longer than is generally supposed; at the beginning of last month I obtained a tolerably good portrait of Mr. Pollock from some remains in a small bottle brought to me by Mr. Archer in September 1850; and I especially notice this fact, as it is connected with the first introduction of the use of collodion in England. Generally speaking, I do not find that it deteriorates in two or three months; the addition of a few drops of the iodizing solution will generally restore it, unless it has become rotten: this, I think, is the case when the gun cotton has not been perfectly freed from the acid. The redness which collodion assumes by age, may also be discharged by the addition of a few drops of liquor ammoniæ, but I do not think it in any way accelerates its activity of action.
3rd. "Washed ether," or, as it is sometimes called, "inhaling ether," has been deprived of the alcohol which the common ether contains, and it will not dissolve the gun cotton unless the alcohol is restored to it. I would here observe that an excess of alcohol (spirits of wine) thickens the collodion, and gives it a mucilaginous appearance, rendering it much more difficult to use by its slowness in flowing over the glass plate, as well as producing a less even surface than when nearly all ether is used. A collodion, however, with thirty-five per cent. of spirits of wine, is very quick, allowing from its less tenacious quality a more rapid action of the nitrate of silver bath.
4th. Cyanide of potassium has been used to re-dissolve the iodide of silver, but the results are by no means so satisfactory; the cost of pure iodide of potassium bought at a proper market is certainly very inconsiderable compared to the disappointment resulting from a false economy.
Surrey County Asylum.
Trial of Lenses.—When you want to try a lens, first be sure that the slides of your camera are correctly constructed, which is easily done. Place at any distance you please a sheet of paper printed in small type; focus this on your ground glass with the assistance of a magnifying-glass; now take the slide which carries your plate of glass, and if you have not a piece of ground glass at hand, insert a plate which you would otherwise excite in the bath after the application of collodion, but now dull it by touching it with putty. Observe whether you get an equally clear and well-focussed picture on this; if you do, you may conclude there is no fault in the construction of your camera.
Having ascertained this, take a chess-board, and place the pieces on the row of squares which run from corner to corner; focus the middle one, whether it be king, queen, or knight, and take a picture; you will soon see whether the one best in the visual focus is the best on the picture, or whether the piece one or more squares in advance or behind it is clearer than the one you had previously in focus. The chess-board must be set square with the camera, so that each piece is farther off by one square. To vary the experiment, you may if you please stick a piece of printed paper on each piece, which a little gum or common bees'-wax will effect for you.
In taking portraits, if you are not an adept in obtaining a focus, cut a slip of newspaper about four inches long, and one and a half wide, and turn up one end so as it may be held between the lips, taking care that the rest be presented quite flat to the camera; with the help of a magnifying-glass set a correct focus to this, and afterwards draw in the tube carrying the lenses about one-sixteenth of a turn of the screw of the rackwork. This will give a medium focus to the head: observe, as the length of focus in different lenses varies, the distance the tube is moved must be learned by practice.
Is it dangerous to use the Ammonio-Nitrate of Silver?—Some time ago I made a few ounces of a solution of ammonio-nitrate of silver for printing positives; this I have kept in a yellow coloured glass bottle with a ground stopper.
I have, however, been much alarmed, and refrained from using it or taking out the stopper, lest danger should arise, in consequence of reading in Mr. Delamotte's Practice of Photography, p. 95. (vide "Ammonia Solution"):
"If any of the ammonio-nitrate dries round the stopper of the bottle in which it is kept, the least friction will cause it to explode violently; it is therefore better to keep none prepared."
As in pouring this solution out and back into the bottle, of course the solution will dry around the stopper, and, if this account is correct, may momentarily lead to danger and accident, I will feel obliged by being informed by some of your learned correspondents whether any such danger exists.
Burke's Marriage (Vol. vii., p. 382.).—Burke married, in 1756, the daughter of Dr. Nugent of Bath. (See Nat. Cycl., s.v. "Burke.")
The House of Falahill (Vol. vi., p. 533.).—As I have not observed any notice taken of the very interesting Query of Aberdoniensis, regarding this ancient baronial residence, I may state that there is a Falahill, or Falahall, in the parish of Heriot, in the county of Edinburgh. Whether it be the Falahill referred to by Nisbet as having been so profusely illuminated with armorial bearings, I cannot tell. Possibly either Messrs. Laing, Wilson, or Cosmo Innes might be able to give some information about this topographical and historical mystery.
Descendants of Judas Iscariot (Vol. viii., p. 56.).—There is a collection of traditions as to this person in extracts I have among my notes, which perhaps you may think fit to give as a reply to Mr. Creed's Query. It runs as follows:
"On dit dans l'Anjou et dans le Maine que Judas Iscariot est né à Sablé; là-dessus on a fait ce vers:
'Perfidus Judæus Sabloliensis erat.'
"Les Bretons disent de même qu'il est né au Normandie entre Caen et Rouen, et à ce propos ils recitent ces vers.
'Judas étoit Normand,
Tout le monde le dit—
Entre Caen et Rouen,
Ce malheureux naquit.
Il vendit son Seigneur pour trente mares contants.
Au diable soient tous les Normands.'
"On dit de même sans raison que Judas avoit demeuré à Corfou, et qu'il y est né. Pietro della Valle rapporte dans ses Voyages qu'étant à Corfou on lui montra par rareté un homme que ceux du pays assuroient être de la race du traître Judas—quoiqu'il le niât. C'est un bruit qui court depuis long tems en cette contrée, sans qu'on en sache la cause ni l'origine. Le peuple de la ville de Ptolemaïs (autrement de l'Acre) disoit de même sans raison que dans une tour de cette ville on avoit fabriqué les trente deniers pour lesquelles Judas avoit vendu nôtre Seigneur, et pour cela ils appelloient cette tour la Tour Maudite."
This is taken from the second volume of Menagiana, p. 232.
Manchester.
Milton's Widow (Vol. viii., p. 12.).—The information once promised by your correspondent Cranmore still seems very desirable, because the statements of your correspondent Mr. Hughes are not reconcilable with two letters given in Mr. Hunter's very interesting historical tract on Milton, pages 37-8., to which tract I beg to refer Mr. Hughes, who may not have seen it. These letters clearly show that Richard Minshull, the writer of them, had only two aunts, neither of whom could have been Mrs. Milton, as she must have been if she was the daughter of the writer's grandfather, Randall Minshull. Probably this Elizabeth died in infancy, which the Wistaston parish register may show, and which register would perhaps also show (supposing Milton took his wife from Wistaston) the wanting marriage; or if Mrs. Milton was of the Stoke-Minshull family, that parish register would most likely disclose his third marriage, which certainly did not take place sooner than 1662.
Whitaker's Ingenious Earl (Vol. viii., p. 9.).—It was a frequent saying of Lord Stanhope's, that he had taught law to the Lord Chancellor, and divinity to the Bishops; and this saying gave rise to a caricature, where his lordship is seated acting the schoolmaster with a rod in his hand.
Are White Cats deaf? (Vol. vii., p. 331.).—In looking up your Numbers for April, I observe a Minor Query signed Shirley Hibberd, in which your querist states that in all white cats stupidity seemed to accompany the deafness, and inquires whether any instance can be given of a white cat possessing the function of hearing in anything like perfection.
I am myself possessed of a white cat which, at the advanced age of upwards of seventeen years, still retains its hearing to great perfection, and is remarkably intelligent and devoted, more so than cats are usually given credit for. Its affection for persons is, indeed, more like that of a dog than of a cat. It is a half-bred Persian cat, and its eyes are perfectly blue, with round pupils, not elongated as those of cats usually are. It occasionally suffers from irritation in the ears, but this has not at all resulted in deafness.
Consecrated Roses (Vol. vii., pp. 407. 480.; Vol. viii., p. 38.).—From the communication of P. P. P. it seems that the origin of the consecration of the rose dates so far back as 1049, and was "en reconnaissance" of a singular privilege granted to the abbey of St. Croix. Can your correspondent refer to any account of the origin of the consecration or blessing of the sword, cap, or keys?
The Reformed Faith (Vol. vii., p. 359.).—I must protest against this term being applied to the system which Henry VIII. set up on his rejecting the papal supremacy, which on almost every point but that one was pure Popery, and for refusing to conform to which he burned Protestants and Roman Catholics at the same pile. It suited Cobbett (in his History of the Reformation), and those controversialists who use him as their text-book, to confound this system with the doctrine of the existing Church of England, but it is to be regretted that any inadvertence should have caused the use of similar language in your pages.
House-marks (Vol. vii., p. 594.).—It appears to me that the house-marks he alluded to may be traced in what are called merchants' marks, still employed in marking bales of wool, cotton, &c., and which are found on tombstones in our old churches, incised in the slab during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and which till lately puzzled the heralds. They were borne by merchants who had no arms.
Trash (Vol. vii., p. 566.).—The late Mr. Scatchard, of Morley, near Leeds, speaking in Hone's Table Book of the Yorkshire custom of trashing, or throwing an old shoe for luck over a wedding party, says:
"Although it is true that an old shoe is to this day called 'a trash,' yet it did not, certainly, give the name to the nuisance. To 'trash' originally signified to clog, encumber, or impede the progress of any one (see Todd's Johnson); and, agreeably to this explanation, we find the rope tied by sportsmen round the necks of fleet pointers to tire them well, and check their speed, is hereabouts universally called 'trash cord,' or 'dog trash.' A few miles distant from Morley, west of Leeds, the 'Boggart' or 'Barguest,' the Yorkshire Brownie is called by the people the Gui-trash, or Ghei-trash, the usual description of which is invariably that of a shaggy dog or other animal, encumbered with a chain round its neck, which is heard to rattle in its movements. I have heard the common people in Yorkshire say, that they 'have been trashing about all day;' using it in the sense of having had a tiring walk or day's work.
"East of Leeds the 'Boggart' is called the Padfoot."
Adamsoniana (Vol. vii., p. 500.).—Michel Adanson (not Adamson), who has left his name to the gigantic Baobab tree of Senegal (Adansonia digitata), and his memory to all who appreciate the advantages of a natural classification of plants—for which Jussieu was indebted to him—was the son of a gentleman, who after firmly attaching himself to the Stuarts, left Scotland and entered the service of the Archbishop of Aix. The Encyclopædia Britannica, and, I imagine, almost all biographical dictionaries and similar works, contain notices of him. His devoted life has deserved a more lengthened chronicle.
Your correspondent E. H. A., who inquires respecting the family of Michel Adamson, or Michael Adamson, is informed that in France, the country of his birth, the name is invariably written "Adanson;" while the author of Fanny of Caernarvon, or the War of the Roses, is described as "John Adamson." Both names are pronounced alike in French; but the difference of spelling would seem adverse to the supposition that the family of the botanist was of Scottish extraction.
St. Lucia.
Portrait of Cromwell (Vol. viii., p. 55.).—The portrait inquired after by Mr. Rix is at the British Museum. Being placed over the cases in the long gallery of natural history, it is extremely difficult to be seen.
Burke's "Mighty Boar of the Forest" (Vol. iii., p. 493.; Vol. iv., p. 391.).—It is not, I hope, too late to notice that Burke's description of Junius is an allusion neither to the Iliad, xiii. 471., nor to Psalm lxxx. 8-13., but to the Iliad, xvii. 280-284. I cannot resist quoting the lines containing the simile, at once for their applicability and their own innate beauty:
"Ἴθυσεν δὲ διὰ προμάχων, συΐ εἴκελος ἀλκὴν
Καπρίῳ, ὅστ' ἐν ὄρεσσι κύνας θαλερούς τ' ἀϊζηοὺς
Ῥηϊδίως ἐκέδασσεν, ἐλιξάμενος διὰ βήσσας.
Ως υἱὸς Τελαμῶνος."
Tor-Mohun.
"Amentium haud Amantium" (Vol. vii., p. 595.).—The following English translation may be considered a tolerably close approximation to the alliteration of the original: "Of dotards not of the doting." It is found in the Dublin edition of Terence, published by J. A. Phillips, 1845.
Mr. Phillips, in his edition, proposes as a translation of this passage, "Of dotards, not of the doting." Whatever may be its merits in other respects, it is at all events a more perfect alliteration than the other attempts which have been recorded in "N. & Q."
Warwick.
When I was at school I used to translate the phrase "Amentium haud amantium" (Ter. Andr., i. 3. 13.) "Lunatics, not lovers." Perhaps that may satisfy Fidus Interpres.
A friend of mine once rendered this "Lubbers, not lovers."
Talleyrand's Maxim (Vol. vi., p. 575.; Vol. vii., p. 487.).—Young's lines, to which Z. E. R. refers, are:
"Where Nature's end of language is declined,
And men talk only to conceal their mind."
With less piquancy, but not without the germ of the same idea, Dean Moss (ob. 1729), in his sermon Of the Nature and Properties of Christian Humility, says:
"Gesture is an artificial thing: men may stoop and cringe, and bow popularly low, and yet have ambitious designs in their heads. And speech is not always the just interpreter of the mind: men may use a condescending style, and yet swell inwardly with big thoughts of themselves."—Sermons, &c., 1737, vol. vii. p. 402.
English Bishops deprived by Queen Elizabeth (Vol. vii., pp. 260. 344. 509.).—The following particulars concerning one of the Marian Bishops are at A. S. A.'s service. Cuthbert Scot, D.D., sometime student, and, in 1553, Master of Christ's Church College, Cambridge, was made Vice-Chancellor of that University in 1554-5; and had the temporalities of the See of Chester handed to him by Queen Mary in 1556. He was one of Cardinal Pole's delegates to the University of Cambridge, and was concerned in most of the political movements of the day. He, and four other bishops, with as many divines, undertook to defend the principles and practices of the Romish Church against an equal number of Reformed divines. On the 4th of April he was confined, either in the Fleet Prison or the Tower, for abusive language towards Queen Elizabeth; but having by some means or other escaped from durance, he retired to Louvain, where he died, according to Rymer's Fœdera, about 1560.
Chester.
Gloves at Fairs (Vol. vii., passim.).—To the list of markets at which a glove was, or is, hung out, may be added Newport, in the Isle of Wight. But a Query naturally springs out of such a note, and I would ask, Why did a glove indicate that parties frequenting the market were exempt from arrest? What was the glove an emblem of?
As the following extract from Gorr's Liverpool Directory appears to bear upon the point, and as it does not seem to have yet attracted the attention of any of your correspondents, I beg to forward it:—
"Its (i.e. Liverpool's) fair-days are 25th July and 11th Nov. Ten days before and ten days after each fair-day, a hand is exhibited in front of the Town-hall, which denotes protection; during which time no person coming to or going from the town on business connected with the fair can be arrested for debt within its liberty."
I have myself frequently observed the "hand," although I could not discover any appearance of a fair being held.
St. Dominic (Vol. vii., p. 356.).—Your correspondent Bookworm will find in any chronology a very satisfactory reason why Machiavelli could not reply to the summons of Benedict XIV., unless, indeed, the Pope had made use of "the power of the keys," to call him up for a brief space to satisfy his curiosity.
Names of Plants (Vol. viii., p. 37.).—Ale-hoof means useful in, or to, ale; Ground-ivy having been used in brewing before the introduction of hops. "The women of our northern parts" (says John Gerard), "especially about Wales or Cheshire, do tunne the herbe Ale-hoof into their ale ... being tunned up in ale and drunke, it also purgeth the head from rhumaticke humours flowing from the brain." From the aforesaid tunning, it was also called Tun-hoof (World of Words); and in Gerard, Tune-hoof.
Considering what was meant by Lady in the names of plants, we should refrain from supposing that Neottia spiralis was called the Lady-traces "sensu obsc.," even if those who are more skilled in such matters than I am can detect such a sense. I cannot learn what a lady's traces are; but I suspect plaitings of her hair to be meant. "Upon the spiral sort," says Gerard, "are placed certaine small white flowers, trace fashion," while other sorts grow, he says, "spike fashion," or "not trace fashion." Whence I infer, that in his day trace conveyed the idea of spiral.
Specimens of Foreign English (Vol. iii. passim.).—I have copied the following from the label on a bottle of liqueur, manufactured at Marseilles by "L. Noilly fils et Cie." The English will be best understood by being placed in juxtaposition with the original French:
"Le Vermouth
est un vin blanc légèrement amer, parfumé avec des plantes aromatiques bienfaisantes.
"Cette boisson est tonique, stimulante, fébrifuge et astringente: prise avec de l'eau elle est apéritive et raffraichissante: elle est aussi un puissant préservatif contre les fièvres et la dyssenterie, maladies si fréquentes dans les pays chauds, pour lesquels elle a été particulièrement composée."
"The Wermouth
is a brightly bitter and perfumed with aromatical and good vegetables white wine.
"This is tonic, stimulant, febrifuge and costive drinking; mixed with water it is aperitive, refreshing, and also a powerful preservative of fivers and bloody-flux; those latters are very usual in warmth countries, and of course that liquor has just been particularly made up for that occasion."
St. Lucia.
Blanco White (Vol. vii., pp. 404. 486.).—Your correspondent H. C. K. is right in his impression that the sonnet commencing
"Mysterious Night! when our first parents knew," &c.
was written by Blanco White. See his Life (3 vols., Chapman, 1845), vol. iii. p. 48.
Pistols (Vol. viii., p. 7.).—In Strype's Life of Sir Thomas Smith, Works, Oxon. 1821, mention is made of a statute or proclamation by the Queen in the year 1575, which refers to that of 33 Hen. VIII. c. 6., alluded to by your correspondent J. F. M., and in which the words pistol and pistolet are introduced:
"The Queen calling to mind how unseemly a thing it was, in so quiet and peaceable a realm, to have men so armed; ... did charge and command all her subjects, of what estate or degree soever they were, that in no wise, in their journeying, going, or riding, they carried about them privily or openly any dag, or pistol, or any other harquebuse, gun, or such weapon for fire, under the length expressed by the statute made by the Queen's most noble father.... [Excepting however] noblemen and such known gentlemen, which were without spot or doubt of evil behaviour, if they carried dags or pistolets about them in their journeys, openly, at their saddle bows," &c.
Here the dag or pistolet seems to answer to our "revolvers," and the pistol to our larger horse-pistol.
—— Rectory, Hereford.
Passage of Thucydides on the Greek Factions (Vol. viii., p. 44.).—If L., or any of your readers, will take the trouble to compare the passage quoted, and the one referred to by him, in the following translation of Smith, with Sir A. Alison's supposititious quotation[7] (Vol. vii., p. 594.), they will find that my inquiry is still unanswered. The passage quoted by L. in Greek is, according to Smith:
"Prudent consideration, to be specious cowardice; modesty, the disguise of effeminacy; and being wise in everything, to be good for nothing."
The passage not quoted, but referred to by L., is:
"He who succeeded in a roguish scheme was wise; and he who suspected such practices in others was still a more able genius."—Vol. i. book iii. p. 281. 4to.: London, 1753.
In this "counterfeit presentment of two brothers," L. may discern a family likeness; but my inquiry was for the identical passage, "sword and poniard" included.
If L. desires to find Greek authority for the general sentiment only, I would refer him to passages, equally to Sir A. Alison's purpose, in Thucydides, iii. 83., viii. 89.; Herodotus, iii. 81.; Plato's Republic, viii. 11., and Aristotle's Politics, v. 6. 9. I beg to thank L. for his attempt, although unsuccessful.
Birmingham.
The earliest Mention of the Word "Party" (Vol. vii., p. 247.).—In a choice volume, printed by "Ihon Day, dwelling over Aldersgate, beneath St. Martines," 1568, I find the word occurring thus:
"The party must in any place see to himselfe, and seeke to wipe theyr noses by a shorte aunswere."—A Discovery and playne Declaration of the Holy Inquisition of Spayne, fol. 10.
Permit me to attach a Query to this. Am I right in considering the above-mentioned book as rare? I do so on the assumption that "Ihon Day" is the Day of black-letter rarity.
Kidderminster.
Creole (Vol. vii., p. 381.).—It is curious to observe how differently this word is applied by different nations. The English apply it to white children born in the West Indies; the French, I believe, exclusively to the mixed races; and the Spanish and Portuguese to the blacks born in their colonies, never to whites. The latter, I think, is the true and original meaning, as its primary signification is a home-bred slave (from "criar," to bring up, to nurse), as distinguished from an imported or purchased one.
We have before us a little volume by Mr. Willich, the able Actuary of the University Life Assurance Society, entitled Popular Tables arranged in a new Form, giving Information at Sight for ascertaining, according to the Carlisle Table of Mortality, the Value of Lifehold, Leasehold, and Church Property, Renewal Fines, &c., the Public Funds, Annual Average Price and Interest on Consols from 1731 to 1851; also various interesting and useful Tables, equally adapted to the Office and the Library Table. Ample as is this title-page, it really gives but an imperfect notion of the varied contents of this useful library and writing-desk companion. For instance, Table VIII. of the Miscellaneous Tables gives the average price of Consols, with the average rate of interest, from 1731 to 1851; but this not only shows when Consols were highest and when lowest, but also what Administration was then in power, and the chief events of each year. We give this as one instance of the vast amount of curious information here combined; and we would point out to historical and geographical students the notices of Chinese Chronology in the preface, and the Tables of Ancient and Modern Itinerary Measures, as parts of the work especially deserving of their attention. In short, Mr. Willich's Popular Tables form one of those useful volumes in which masses of scattered information are concentrated in such a way as to render the book indispensable to all who have once tested its utility.
Mormonism, its History, Doctrines, and Practices, by the Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson, is a small pamphlet containing the substance of two lectures on this pestilent heresy, delivered by the author before the Kennington Branch of the Church of England Young Men's Society, and is worth the attention of those who wish to know something of this now wide-spread mania.
On the Custom of Borough-English in the County of Sussex, by George R. Corner, Esq. This well-considered paper on a very curious custom owes its origin, we believe, to a Query in our columns. We wish all questions agitated in "N. & Q." were as well illustrated as this has been by the learning and ingenuity of Mr. Corner.
A Narrative of Practical Experiments proving to Demonstration the Discovery of Water, Coals, and Minerals in the Earth by means of the Dowsing Fork or Divining Rod, &c., collected, reported, and edited by Francis Phippen. A curious little pamphlet on a fact in Natural Philosophy, which we believe no philosopher can either understand or account for.
Serials Received.—Murray's Railway Reading: History as a Condition of Social Progress, by Samuel Lucas. An able lecture on an interesting subject.—The Traveller's Library, No. 46.: Twenty Years in the Philippines, by De la Gironière. One of the best numbers of this valuable series.—Cyclopædia Bibliographica, Part XI., August. This eleventh Part of Mr. Darling's useful Catalogue extends from James Ibbetson to Bernard Lamy.—Archæologia Cambrensis, New Series, No. XV.: containing, among other papers of interest to the inhabitants of the principality, one on the arms of Owen Glendwr, by the accomplished antiquary to whom our readers were indebted for a paper on the same subject in our own columns.