At p. 120., June 31st, is "A New Song, entitled and called, Britain's Remembrancer for the Years 1758 and 1759." The fourth verse runs as follows:

May 10th, p. 449.: "Capt. Bell, late Aide-de-Camp to the great Gen. Wolfe, is appointed captain in the fifth regiment," &c. Under the date of June 28th is Gen. Murray's despatch.

Among the advertisements are, "A Discourse delivered at Quebec," &c., by the Rev. Eli Dawson (dedicated to Mrs. Wolfe); "Two Discourses by Jonathan Mayhew, D.D. of Boston;" and "Quebec, a Poetical Essay, in imitation of the Miltonic Style, composed by a Volunteer in the service; with Notes entertaining and explanatory."

A notice of the death of Sir Harry Smith, Bart., aide-de-camp to Wolfe, appears in the Examiner for October 22nd, 1811.

Among other instances of the name is a notice of Major J. Wolfe in Gentleman's Magazine for 1836, p. 334.

H. G. D.

"THE MILLER'S MELODY," AN OLD BALLAD.

(Vol. v., p. 316.)

The original ballad of "The Miller's Melody" is the production of no less a person than a "Doctor in Divinity," of whom the following are a few brief particulars.

James Smith was born about 1604, educated at Christ Church and Lincoln Colleges, in Oxford; afterwards naval and military chaplain to the Earl of Holland, and domestic chaplain to Thomas Earl of Cleveland. On the Restoration of Charles II. he held several Church preferments, and ultimately became canon and "chauntor" in Exeter Cathedral. He was created D.D. in 1661, and quitted this life in 1667. Wood informs us he was much in esteem "with the poetical wits of that time, particularly with Philip Massinger, who call'd him his son."

I have an old "broadside" copy of the ballad in question, "Printed for Francis Grove, 1656," which is here transcribed, verbatim et literatim, for the especial benefit of your numerous readers. It may also be found in a rare poetical volume, entitled Wit Restored, 1658, and in Dryden's Miscellany Poems (second edition, which differs materially from the first).

As this old ditty turns upon the making "a viol," it may be as well to add that this instrument was the precursor of the violin: but while the viol was the instrument of the higher classes of society, the "fiddle" served only for the amusement of the lower. The viol was entirely out of use at the beginning of the last century.

Moll (or Mall) Symms (mentioned in the thirteenth stanza) was a celebrated dance tune of the sixteenth century. The musical notes may be found in Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book, in the Fitzwillian Museum, Cambridge; and in the curious Dutch collection, Neder Lantsche Gedenck clank, Haerlem, 1626.

Edward F. Rimbault.

SURNAMES.

(Vol. v., p. 509.)

I shall endeavour to answer some of Mr. Lower's Queries.

1. Names having the prefix Le and ending in er or re. They are undoubtedly Norman or French, and generally relate to personal trade or employment, as Le Mesurier, Le Tellier, Le Tanneur, Le Fevre. Another class with the prefix Le, but of various terminations, are obviously of French origin, as Leblanc, Lenoir, Lebreton, Lechaplin, Lemarchant. All these came to us by the French Protestant refugees, or from Jersey and Guernsey.

2. The meaning of worth. This word generally implies a military work, and, I think, an earth-work; and I doubt whether worth and earth are not from the same root; I personally have been able to trace works in many places whose names end in worth. I am satisfied all such surnames were local, that is, derived from places so named from military mounds or earth-works.

3. The meaning of Le Chaloneur. It is evidently the same as our English name Challoner, which Cole admits into his dictionary as "the name of an ancient family." It means in old French either the boatman, from "chalun," a boat; or a fisherman, from "chalon," a kind of net. As we have in English Fisher, in modern French Lepécheur, in Italian Piscatory.

4. Le Cayser. The same as Cæsar, a name now, we believe, extinct amongst us, but preserved in our literature by Lord Clarendon and Pope. I suspect that it was of a class of fancy names which I shall mention presently.

5. Baird and Aird are Scotch names, and probably local. Jameson (whose authority is very low with me) derives Baird from bard, and Aird he does not mention. Aird or ard is Celtic for high, and is a common local denomination in Scotland and Ireland.

6. For the rest of the out-of-the-way names Mr. Lower mentions I can give no more explanation than of many thousands others which have been probably produced by some peculiarity or incidents in the first nominee, or some corruption of a better known name. As to this class of fancy names, I can give Mr. Lower a hint that may be of use to him. It used to be the custom at the old Foundling Hospital and in all parish workhouses, to give the children what I venture to call fancy names. I remember being shocked at the heterogeneous nomenclature that was outpoured on fifty or a hundred poor babes at the Foundling. I happened once to accompany a noble lady—the daughter of a great sea officer—to one of these Foundling christenings, when the names of Howe, Duncan, Jervis, and Nelson, were in fashion, and they were each given to half-a-dozen children; and while this was going on, my fair and noble friend whispered me, "What a shame! all these poor little creatures will grow up to be our cousins." Sometimes the names given were grotesque, such as ought not to have been permitted; and sometimes the children brought into the hospital, pinned to their clothes, names in which I suppose the poor mother may have had a meaning, but which seemed to us fantastical and extravagant.

Illegitimacy is a considerable source of strange names. I could give some droll instances. Corruption is another; there are half-a-dozen names of labourers in my village which are mere corruptions by vulgar pronunciation of some of the noblest names of the peerage.

Mr. Lower cannot have failed to observe the great tendency in the United States to vary the orthography, and of course, I suppose, the pronunciation of some of their old English patronymics; not from any dislike to them, for the contrary sentiment, I believe, is very prevalent, but the emigrants who carried out the names were ignorant or indifferent as to the true orthography or pronunciation, and in time the departure grows more wide. Instances of this may be also found in the small towns of England, where Mr. Lower will find on the signs frequent deviations from the usual spelling of the commonest as well as of the rarer names.

C.

In glancing through Cole's MSS. in the British Museum, my eye rested on two paragraphs, which perhaps may be unknown to Mr. Lower. In Additional MSS. No. 5805. p. iv., Cole says:

"Before surnames were in use they were forced to distinguish one another by the addition of Fitz or Son, as John Fitz-John, or John the son of John, or John Johnson, as now in use. This was in the first Edward's time: nay, so late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in some places in France they had no surnames, but only Christian names, as the learned Monsieur Menage informs us: 'Il y a environ cent ans, à ce que dit M. Baluze, qu'à Tulle on n'avait que des noms propres, et point de surnoms.'—Menagiana, tom. i. p. 116. edit. 1729."

Again, in Cole's MSS., vol. xliii. p. 176., relating to a deed of the Priory of Spalding, Cole says:

"One observes in this deed several particulars: first that the Priory used a seal with an image of the Blessed Virgin, together with one of their arms; if possibly they used one of the latter sort so early as this John the Spaniard's time, in the reign, as I conceive, of King Richard I., when arms for the chief gentry were hardly introduced. Among the witnesses are two Simons, one distinguished by his complexion, and called Simon Blondus, or the Fair; the other had no name as yet to distinguish him by, and therefore only called here 'another Simon.' This occasioned the introduction of sirnames, and shows the necessity of them."

J. Y.

Hoxton.

SIR JOHN TRENCHARD.

(Vol. v., p. 496.)

Your Querist E. S. Taylor will find an interesting account of the manner in which a pardon was obtained for John Trenchard, afterwards secretary of state under William III., in Mr. Hepworth Dixon's work on William Penn. Mr. Taylor is evidently wrong in supposing that the pardon, of which he furnishes a copy, was issued in 1688, and at the very critical period to which he refers it. It was issued in 1686, that being the third year, reckoning by the old style, of King James's reign; so that his quotation from Pepys, and his suggestion of a reason for the pardon, are beside the purpose. It appears from Mr. Dixon's account, that William Penn was the mediator between Trenchard and the king; but the circumstances which led to it were so curious, that I transcribe part of the statement from page 276 of the new edition.

"Lawton, a young man of parts and spirit, had attracted Penn's notice; in politics he was a state whig, and it was at his instance that he had braved the king's frown by asking a pardon for Aaron Smith. One day over their wine at Popples, where Penn had carried Lawton to dine, he said to his host, 'I have brought you such a man as you never saw before; for I have just now asked him how I might do something for himself, and he has desired me to obtain a pardon for another man! I will do that if I can; but,' he added, turning to Lawton, 'I should be glad if thou wilt think of some kindness for thyself.' 'Ah,' said Lawton, after a moment's thought, 'I can tell you how you might indeed prolong my life.' 'How so?' returned the mediator, I am no physician.' Lawton answered, 'There is Jack Trenchard in exile; if you could get leave for him to come home with safety and honour, the drinking of a bottle now and then with Jack would make me so cheerful that it would prolong my life.' They laughed at the pleasantry, and Penn promised to do what he could. He went away to the Lord Chancellor, got him to join in the solicitation, and in a few days the future secretary was pardoned and allowed to return to England."

It appears also frown Mr. Dixon's narrative, that Trenchard was employed by Penn to dissuade James from his bigoted and violent course, and that he had interviews with the king for this purpose. Mr. Taylor will find in the same place curious particulars, given on the authority of Lawton himself, concerning the intrigues which preceded the fall of James.

Sydney Walton.

PAPAL SEAL.

(Vol. v., p. 508.)

I have in my possession a leaden seal, which has on the one side a precisely similar impression to that described by H. F. H. in p. 508. of "N. & Q.:" viz. two heads, with a cross between them, and the letters "S P A   S P E" over them. The head under "S P A" has straight hair and a long pointed beard. The other head, under "S P E," has curled hair and a short curled beard, the whole surrounded with a circle of raised spots. On the other side of the seal is the following inscription, also surrounded by a circle of raised spots:

Cross
· E V G E N
I V S . P.P
· I I I I ·

It was attached by a strong cord that runs through the substance of the seal to a parchment document that, some thirty years since, I found being cut into strips for labels for a gardener. The few fragments I was enabled to preserve showed that the document related to some conventual matter, from the repetition of the words "Abbati, Conventii, et Monasterii." One of the lines commences with an illuminated capital of about half an inch in height, as follows:

"Militanti ecdie licet immeriti disponente domino presidente"....

Another line commences—

"Persone tam religiose qua seculares necnon duces Marchione"....

On one of the fragments, apparently an endorsement on the back of the document, are the names "Anselmus," and beneath it "Bonanmy" or "Bouanmy." There are unfortunately no traces of the name of any place, or of a date. The writing is very clear and in good condition. Is the document a papal bull? I shall be obliged by any reply to my inquiries.

R. H.

Kensington.

MARKET CROSSES.

(Vol. v., p. 511.)

It is stated in Gillingwater's History of Bury St. Edmunds, edition 1804, that "The theatre, an elegant structure, originally the Old Market Cross, was erected in the year 1780, from a design by Mr. Adams."

In Alexander Downing's Plan of the ancient Borough of Bury St. Edmunds, published in 1740, there is a very good view of the old Cross. It appears from this print to have been a fine old building; the lower part open. It is possible that there might have been a chapel in the upper part of the cross, as it appears in the print on Downing's map to have been three stories high, with a bell turret or tower.

Downing's Plan is not scarce: it is one large sheet, and is engraved by W. C. Toms, sculpt.

In Thomas Warren's Plan of Bury, subsequently published, there is a view of the New Cross, with the theatre above it, as built in 1780.

J. B.

Since I sent you a hasty Note respecting the Old Market Cross at Bury St. Edmunds, with reference to your correspondent's Query, I bethought me of the old market cross which formerly stood in the Great Market Place at Norwich. Blomefield, in his History of Norfolk, vol. ii. p. 652., gives an account of that ancient cross, which is too long to quote but he states that "it was a neat octagonal building, with steps round it, and an oratory or chapel in it, with a chamber over it."

Now possibly there might have been such a "chapel" in the old cross at Bury, wherein "Henry Gage was married in 1655;" for I put faith in all that Mr. Rookwood Gage said or wrote.

There is still standing, at Wymondham in Norfolk, an old wooden market cross, with a chamber over it, supported by wooden columns: it is an octagon building. Blomefield makes no mention of it. An etching was published of this cross, by — Dixon, of Norwich, some few years back.

J. B.

Replies to Minor Queries.

The two Gilberts de Clare (Vol. v., p. 439.).—In reference to No. 2. of "Irish Queries", as to the relationship which existed between the two Gilberts de Clare, Earls of Gloucester, I beg to send you the information required by your correspondent Mac an Bhaird.

See also Miller's Catalogue of Honor, pp. 369-373.; Vincent's Errours of Brooke, pp. 122, 123.; Yorke's Union of Honour, pp. 109, 110.

Farnham.

Farnham, Cavan.

Baxter's Shove, &c. (Vol. v., p. 416.).—I fear it may savour somewhat of presumption in me to offer the following remarks to one who confesses himself to be a collector of Baxter's works; but if they afford no information to your correspondent Mr. Clark, they may probably prove acceptable to other less sedulous inquirers after the writings of this truly pious man.

Baxter, in his enthusiastic zeal in the cause of religion, did not hesitate to append to some of his popular tracts, titles more calculated to excite the curiosity of the vulgar than engage the attention of the refined reader; as the age became more enlightened, this breach of propriety was discontinued, and these records of genius and piety have been since reprinted under more appropriate appellations. If I am not misinformed, the title of Baxter's Shove has undergone this transformation, and now appears under that of The Call to the Unconverted.

The two following works are doubtless familiar to your correspondent, viz.: Crumbs of Grace for &c., and Hooks and Eyes to &c. I think the former is the original title to The Saint's Rest; but as to the latter, I am not able to say whether it has been issued under any new name or not.

M. W. B.

Frebord (Vol. v., pp. 440. 548.).—In some, if not in all, of the manors in this vicinity in which this right exists, the quantity of ground claimed as frebord is thirty feet in width from the set of the hedge.

Leicestriensis.

Devil (Vol. v., p. 508.).—If Διάβολος was used as an equivalent for Adversarius, I should say that "the rendering would be accurate" in no slight degree; especially when understood in the juridical sense. But the "adversarius in judicio" is the character of the Hebrew Satan in Job, c. i. and ii., and Zechariah, c. iii.; and the same appears clearly in Revelations, c. 12:

"The accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

The term διάβολος adds, to that of κατήγορος, the idea of falsehood and injustice, essential to the accuser of the Saints, but not expressed in the latter word. Why the word should mean "a supernatural agent of evil," I cannot form the slightest idea. The name of a thing does not express all which that thing is! Physician does not mean a natural agent of good. As little can I understand how the correctness of a derivation can form "a case of ecclesiastical usage."

With what words, manifestly and analogically Greek, but yet clearly derived in reality from the vague sources termed Oriental, nay even from Hebrew, are "the Septuagint and Greek Testament replete?" I say "clearly," because one paradoxical conjecture cannot obtain support from others.

I am surprised that Mr. Littledale should be struck by the "similarity" of the gipsy word Debel, "God," "and our word devil," after himself admitting that our word is diabolos, and confining his attack to that "first link in the chain."

I will add a very few words on the other point, though not relevant. What is holy at one time, becomes the direct contrary in subsequent times and circumstances. Homer's Minerva ascended to heaven μετὰ δαίμονας ἄλλους, among the other dæmons. But that word in modern Europe means a devil of hell. Deva and Devi are (I believe) god and goddess in Sanskrit. Div, in Persian (Mr. L. says), is a wizard or dæmon. I have no Zend Avesta at hand: but we require to know whether Div had a decidedly evil and Ahrimanian sense, in the language of the dualistic Pagan ages; or only in Ferdoosi and the like. If afriti is "blessed" in Zend, and "a devil" in Arabic, I again ask whether the allusion be to the literary remains of Arabic polytheism, or to Islam? I suspect the latter; and so, it would come to nothing.

A. N.

I think Mr. Littledale's difficulty about the same Hebrew word's representing both Διάβολος and Adversarius is, on the contrary, rather a confirmation of the old derivation. Had he forgotten that "the Adversary" is often technically used for the Devil? Surely there can be no more doubt that Devil comes from Diavolo, and that from Διάβολος, than that journal comes from giorno, and that from diurnus.

C.

Mummy Wheat (Vol. v., p. 538.).—Having a few grains of mummy wheat in my possession, I send you the following information concerning it, with a portion thereof as sample. About three years ago, when in New York, I purchased, at a sale of the Hon. Judge Furman's effects, a small parcel which was stated in his own writing to be "Egyptian wheat such as is mentioned in Scripture, and taken out of a mummy case."

I planted a few of the grains in a flower-pot, and they came up in an apparently very healthy and flourishing manner, with an appearance similar to that represented in Scriptural illustrations as Egyptian corn. But after attaining a height of about two inches, I noticed that it began to grow sickly, and in a short time afterwards died away. Upon examining the mould I found some of the grains still there; but they looked as though some very minute insect had eaten away the entire heart, leaving the shell only. It seemed to me that such insect must have been within, and not entered the grain from without.

Lately I have again tried in my garden a few of the grains I had reserved from the original stock. These, however, have not come up at all; and I find, on uprooting them, that the same sort of decay had taken place as occurred in New York. I am not able to forward you any of the husks, for they are now rotted: but I thought that some of your readers and your last correspondent might feel interested in knowing other attempts had also been made to rear mummy wheat.

S.

Meadow Cottage, Ealing.

Nacar (Vol. v., p. 536.).—This word is not, I believe, a name appropriated to any one particular shell, but is the term used for the pearl-like substance which, in greater or smaller quantities, forms the lining of many shells. This substance, frequently called mother-of-pearl, exhibits in some species a beautiful play of colours, said to be due to a particular arrangement of the particles. The words naker and nacreous—with nacar Spanish, nacchera Italian, and nacre French—are given in Webster's Dictionary, 2 vols. 4to., London 1832. The beard, or byssus, found in a few genera only, as Avicula, Mytilus, Pinna, and some others, is strong and silky, formed of numerous fibres produced from a gland near the foot of the soft animal, and employed by it to form an attachment to rocks or other objects. In Sicily this is sometimes made into gloves or stockings, more for curiosity than use. A byssus now before me measures six inches in length, is delicately soft and glossy, varying in colour from a rich dark brown to golden yellow, and is nearly as fine as the production of the silk-worm. Byssine is an old name for fine silk.

Wm. Yarrell.

Mistletoe (Vol. v., p. 534.).—Mr. Jesse, in his agreeable and instructive Scenes and Tales of Country Life, has devoted a chapter of eight pages to the mistletoe, giving a list of more than forty different species of trees and shrubs upon which this parasitic plant has been found, with many localities. In this list the white, gray, black, and Lombardy poplars are included. The mistletoe is there stated to have been found growing on the oak near Godalming, Surrey; at Penporthleuny, parish of Goitre, Monmouthshire; also on one near Usk, and another at St. Dials near Monmouth.

Wm. Yarrell.

The Number Seven (Vol. v., p. 532.).—The reply to the Query of Mr. Edwards is, that sheva, "seven," is used indefinitely for much or frequently in Ruth iv. 15., 1 Sam. ii. 5., Is. iv. 1., Jer. xv. 9., and Ezech. xxxix. 9. 12.; also in Prov. xxiv. 16., where, however, it may refer to seven witnesses or pledges, as in Gen. xxi. 28-30. Compare Herodotus, l. 3. c. 8. on the seven stones of the Arabs, with Homer's Iliad, l. 19. v. 243. on the seven tripods of Agamemnon. In Arabic and Hebrew the word seva means finished, completed, satiated, as in Ezech. xvi. 28, 29. and Hos. iv. 10. Seven, as an astronomical period, is known to most nations, and has been from times prior to history. Clemens Alex. (Stromat. lib. vi. p. 685., Paris, 1629) says the moon's phases are changed every seven days. Seleucus, the mathematician, he also says distinguished seven phases of that luminary. He notices the seven planets, seven angels, seven stars in the Pleiades and in the Great Bear, seven tones in music, seventh days in diseases, and gives an elegant elegy of Solon on the changes of every seven years in man's life. Clemens (lib. v. p. 600., Paris, 1629) has accumulated a variety of passages from ancient poets on the sacredness of the seventh day. Cicero, in the Somnium Scipionis, speaks of seven as "numerus rerum fere omnium nodus est." The following have treated on this mystic number: Fabii Paulini Hebdomades, sive septem de septenario libri; Omeisius de Numero septenario; Philo, de Mundi opificio; Macrobius, in Somnio Scipionis, l. 50. c. 6.; Gellius, Noct. Attic. l. 3. 10.; Censorinus de die Natali, c. 7.; and Eusebius, de Praep. Evang. l. 13. c. 12. The Hebrews commemorated their seventh day, a seventh week (Pentecost), the seventh month (commencing their civil year), the seventh year (for fallowing the land), and the seven times seventh year, or jubilee.

T. J. Buckton.

Bristol Road, Birmingham.

Gabriel Hounds (Vol. v., p. 534.).—The term occurs in Mr. Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, &c., vol. i. p. 388., with the following, explanation:—

"At Wednesbury, in Staffordshire, the colliers going to their pits early in the morning hear the noise of a pack of hounds in the air, to which they give the name of Gabriel's Hounds, though the more sober and judicious take them only to be wild geese making this noise in their flight.—Kennett, MS. Lansd. 1033."

The species here alluded to is the Bean Goose Anser segetum, of authors. A few of them breed in Scotland and its islands, but by far the larger portion breed still farther north, in Scandinavia. Of the various birds which resort to this country to pass the winter season the Bean Goose is one of the first. I have seen very large flocks in Norfolk early in September, where they feed on the stubbles. I have good authority for their appearance in Gloucestershire, in the vicinity of the Severn, by the last week in August. This is in accordance with the habits of this goose in some parts of the Continent; Sonnerat and M. de Selis Longchamps calling it L'oie des moissons, or Harvest Goose. They are frequently very noisy when on the wing during the night, and the sound has been compared to that of a pack of hounds in full cry.

Wm. Yarrell.

Burial (Vol. v., p. 509.).—To the names already given of those interred in ground not consecrated, may be added that of the eccentric Samuel Johnson, formerly a dancing-master, but through his talent, wit, and gentlemanly manners, became the guest and table companion of the principal families of Cheshire.

He is not mentioned in Chalmers's Biog. Dict., and but very meagrely in that of Rose. The best notice of him is in the Biographia Dram., ed. 1812, as the author of Hurlothrumbo: or the Supernatural, and five other dramatic pieces, the first of which took an amazing run, owing to the whimsical madness and extravagance which pervade through the whole piece. Besides these, he is the writer of another strange mystical work, which, as I do not find it anywhere mentioned, I will give the title of, from my copy now before me:

"A Vision of Heaven, which is introduc'd with Essays upon Happiness, a Description of the Court, the Characters of the Quality: Politics, Manners, Satyr, Wit, Humour, Pastoral, Sublimity, Extasy, Love, Fire, Fancy and Taste Universal. Written by Mr. Samuel Johnson. Lond., for E. Withers, &c., where may be had Hurlothrumbo, 1738." 8vo., two neat engravings, and six pages of music.

The compilers of the Biog. Dram. state that they had not discovered the date of his death; but we learn from Hanshall's Hist. of the County Palatine of Chester: 1817, 4to. p. 515., that he died in 1773, aged eighty-two, and was buried in the plantation forming part of the pleasure-grounds of the Old Hall at Gawsworth, near Macclesfield, in Cheshire. Over his remains is a stone (now there) with an inscription, stating that he was so buried at his own desire.

F. R. A.

Marvell's Life and Works (Vol. v., pp. 439. 513.).—I thought the question proposed by J. G. F. had been answered to the satisfaction of all unprejudiced minds by the remarks on this subject published long ago. (See Gentleman's Magazine, vols. xlvi. & xlvii.; Retrospective Review, vol. xi., &c.) I say all unprejudiced minds; for I confess that, although I am strongly prejudiced in favour of Marvell, yet the internal evidence of the poems in question is so strongly against Marvell, that I am compelled to resign them to their rightful owner. Any careful reader of poetry must acknowledge that every feature in the style is Addison's. Captain Thompson's having found them in MSS. in Marvell's own hand, is no proof of parentage, as in the same MSS. is one which undoubtedly belongs to Mallet, and another which has been proved to be from the pen of Dr. Watts.

My chief reason, however, for intruding on your space is for the purpose of correcting a mistake into which all the biographers of Marvell have fallen, as to the time and place of his birth. It is again and again stated, without any correction, that he was born at Hull, on the 15th November, 1620. That he was not born at Hull I am at length reluctantly compelled to believe; and that the date of his birth is "March 2, 1621," I can prove from authorised documents in my own possession, copied from MS. in his father's hand-writing.

With reference to Mr. Crossley's hope that a new edition of his works might soon be published, I may say that a new biography of Marvell, with a selection from his works by a townsman, is already in the press.

Jos. A. Kidd.

Hull.

The Death-Watch (Vol. v., p. 537.).—A good account of this small insect will be found in the second volume of the Introduction to Entomology by Messrs. Kirby and Spence. A chapter is devoted to the "Noises produced by Insects."

"In old houses, where these insects abound, they may be heard in warm weather during the whole day. The noise is produced by raising the head, and striking the hard mandibles against wood.

"Thus sings the muse of the witty Dean of St. Patrick on the subject:

——————————'a wood worm^[3]

That lies in the old wood, like a hare in her form:

With teeth or with claws it will bite or will scratch,

And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch:

Because like a watch it always cries click;

Then woe be to those in the house who are sick!

For, sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost,

If the maggot cries click, when it scratches the post;

But a kettle of scalding hot water injected,

Infallibly cures the timber affected:

The omen thus broken, the danger is over,

The maggot will die, and the sick will recover.'"

The kettle of scalding hot water is also very useful in houses infested with ants or black-beetles.

Wm. Yarrell.

The Query of M. W. B. reminds me of a family bereavement that followed the visit of this insect to my father's homestead. The ticking was heard in a closet, which opened out of the drawing-room. I first discovered it; and was struck with the fact that it occasionally altered the interval which formed the standard of the beats, though with one standard the beats remained punctually uniform. On examination, I found a very tiny insect, in shape like an elongated spider, whose "hind leg" kept beat with the sound; so I suppose that member to have been the instrument by which the ticking was effected. The family bereavement that ensued was the total extinction of the last dying embers of our faith in this world-famed omen; for unhappily, in this instance, no death ensued in our domestic circle.

C. Mansfield Ingleby.

Birmingham.

The Rabbit as a Symbol (Vol. v., p. 487.).—It will be remembered that Richard of the Lion Heart, on his way to the Holy Land, proceeded to Sicily, where he played all manner of rough fantastic tricks, to the infinite disgust of the king and people of the island. On pretence of certain assumed claims, but the rather pour passer le temps, our Achilles and his myrmidons fixed a quarrel upon the reigning sovereign, Tancred the Bastard, whose immediate predecessor, William the Good, had married Joanna^[4], Richard's sister; took forcible possession of an important fortress; turned the monks out of a monastery whose situation was convenient for the purposes of his commissariat; and at last, by an act of most unjustifiable aggression, laid siege to the city and castle of Messina, on whose walls was soon triumphantly planted the royal banner of the Plantagenets. Now the hare and rabbit frequently occur upon the coins of Spain and Sicily, of which countries they were, indeed, the particular and well-recognised symbols. (Fosb. Ency. Antiq., pp. 722. 728.); and I would suggest that the device in question has reference to Richard's proceedings in the latter kingdom, which, in an age whose acknowledged principle was that "Might makes Right," would be looked upon as redounding vastly to his credit and renown, and most worthy, therefore, of commemoration amongst the other emblematic representations which give so remarkable a character to the monumental effigies at Rouen. Regarding it in this point of view, there appears to be much inventive significancy in this device, and the exercise of a little ingenuity would soon, I think, render manifest the peculiar applicability of its "singular details" to the circumstances of Richard's transactions with Tancred, as they are presented to us by our own chroniclers.

The appearance of this symbol or device of a rabbit, upon old examples of playing cards, as referred to by Symbol, is easily accounted for. These "devil's books" came to us originally from Spain; and in ancient cards of that country, columbines were Spades, rabbits^[5] Clubs, pinks Diamonds, and roses Hearts.—Fosb. ut sup., p. 602.

Cowgill.

Spanish Vessels wrecked on the Irish Coast (Vol. v., p. 491.).—A fair account of this eventful visitation may be expected from the Annals of the Four Masters, a work compiled within forty years of the occurrence, and not near so many miles removed from the waters over which most of its fatalities were felt:

"A large fleet (says this work) consisting of eight sure ships, came on the sea from the King of Spain this year (1588), and some say it was their intention to take harbour and land on the coasts of England should they obtain an opportunity; but in that they did not succeed, for the Queen's fleet encountered them at sea, and took four of their ships, and the rest of the fleet was scattered and dispersed along the coasts of the neighbouring countries, viz., on the eastern side of England, on the north-eastern shores of Scotland, and on the north-western coast of Ireland. A great number of the Spaniards were drowned in those quarters, their ships having been completely wrecked; and the smaller proportion of them returned to Spain, and some assert that 9,000 of them were lost on that occasion."

This narrative is utterly innocent of the wholesale, or of any execution of the unfortunate invaders; and, in truth, our Lord Deputies have too much to answer for, without throwing the barbarism of such a massacre upon one of them. Some colouring is, however, given to the charge by the writings of Smith, History of Kerry; Cox, Hibernia Anglicana; and even Leland, History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 322. The deviation of these Spaniards northwards can be, I think, accounted for by the discomfitures they sustained from the English and Dutch fleets, who so kept the seas east and south of England, as to make a circuit round the Orkney Islands, with a descent to the westward of Ireland, the most advisable, though as it proved, not the less dangerous line of return.

John D'Alton.

48. Summer Hill, Dublin.

Second Exhumation of King Arthur's Remains (Vol. v., p. 490.).—The details of the circumstances attending the first (I am not aware of any second) exhumation of these remains at Glastonbury in 1189, have been transmitted to us by Giraldus Cambrensis, who saw both the bones and the inscription, by the Monk of Glastonbury, and, briefly, by William of Malmesbury, all cotemporaries with the event. Sharon Turner, in his History of the Anglo-Saxons, 8vo. edit., 1823, vol. i. pp. 279-282., gives a full account, from these and other authorities, of this remarkable discovery.

Cowgill.

Etymology of Mushroom (Vol. iii., p. 166.).—Dr. Rimbault states that the earliest example with which he is acquainted of this word, being spelt mushrump, occurs in the following passage in Robert Southwell's Spirituall Poems, 1595: