not? Charles Julius Bertram, Professor of English in the Royal Marine
Academy at Copenhagen, wrote to Dr. Stukeley in 1747 that such a
manuscript was in the hands of a friend of his. It was not until some
time had elapsed, and after Dr. Stukeley was presented to St. George's
Church, Queen Square, that he "pressed Mr. Bertram to get the manuscript
into his own hands, if possible; which, at length, with some difficulty,
he accomplished;" and sent to Dr. Stukeley, in letters, a transcript of
the whole. Authors go on quoting from this work as genuine authority,
and therefore are perhaps misleading themselves and their readers; and
it would be conferring a great boon if "N. & Q." could clear up the
doubt as to its authenticity.
Mr. Worsaae, the eminent Danish author, or his English translator, are
exactly in the position to render this further service to antiquarian
literature; and, as relating to the subject of Roman Britain, the
question is of so much interest that a little trouble would not,
probably, be deemed uselessly expended in the inquiry.
G. I.
_Spanish Vessels wrecked on the Irish Coast._--Is it true that sixteen
Spanish vessels, with 5300 men on board, were wrecked on the coast of
Ireland in 1589, and all put to the sword or hanged by the executioner,
at the command of the Lord Deputy; who found that they had saved and got
on shore a good deal of their treasure which he wanted to secure for
himself. Where is any account of it to be found? How came Spanish ships
so far north?
CYRUS REDDING.
_Analysis of Newton's Principia._--In the _Journal des Savants_ for
April of this year, the celebrated mathematician Biot, in a review of
the _Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton and Cotes_ (Cambridge, 1850),
makes mention, with the highest praise, of an analysis of Sir Isaac's
_Principia_ contained in the _Acta Eruditorum_ for 1688. Mons. Biot says
that at that time there were only two men who could have written such an
analysis, Halley and Newton himself; but adds, that the style is not
Halley's, being too concise and simple for him. His admiration could not
have been contained within such bounds. M. Biot firmly believes that the
writer of this analysis was no other than Newton himself (_ex ungue
Leonem_), and earnestly calls on the learned of England and Germany to
assist in discovering the origin of the analysis; should there perhaps
be any means left for doing so in the literary depôts of the two
countries. Permit a contributor to "N. & Q." to repeat M. Biot's inquiry
through the medium of a publication far more extensively circulated in
England than the _Journal des Savants_.
J. M.
Minor Queries Answered.
_Welsh Women's Hats._--What was the origin of the peculiar hat so
universally worn by women of the lower orders in Wales; and at what
period did it come into use?
TREBOR.
[A gentleman who has resided for the last half century in the
Principality, and to whom we submitted our correspondent's Query,
has kindly forwarded the following reply:--"I have consulted
bards, Welsh scholars, &c., and am sorry that I cannot forward any
satisfactory account of the custom alluded to by TREBOR. Some say,
we remember the time when the women wore ordinary _felt_ hats
manufactured from their own wool: one or two travelling hatters
occasionally settled at Bangor, who made and sold _beaver_ hats.
We do not think that the women here intended to adopt any
particular costume; but retained the hat as agreeing with the
peculiar close cap, and _projecting_ border, which it leaves in
view, and in _possession of its own uprightness_! The fashion is
going out; all our young people adopt the English bonnet with the
English language. The flat hat, with a broad brim, is still
retained in the mountain regions."]
_Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday._--Perhaps some of your readers will kindly
inform the Pancake Eating Public as to the period "when," and the reason
"why" such a custom grew into existence?
I have frequently heard the question mooted upon this anniversary,
without ever hearing, or being able to give, a satisfactory elucidation
of it; but it is to be hoped that "N. & Q." will supply the desideratum
ere long, and confer a favour on
A LOVER OF PANCAKES AND AN UPHOLDER OF ANCIENT CUSTOMS.
Temple, Shrove Tuesday, 1852.
[Fosbrooke, in his _Encyclopædia of Antiquities_, vol. ii. p.
572., informs us that "Pancakes, the Norman _Crispellæ_, are taken
from the Fornacalia, on Feb. 18, in memory of the practice in use
before the goddess Fornax invented ovens." The Saxons called
February "Solmonath," which Dr. Frank Sayers, in his
_Disquisitions_, says is explained by Bede "Mensis placentarum,"
and rendered by Spelman, in an inedited manuscript, "Pancake
Month," because in the course of it cakes were offered by the
Pagan Saxons to the sun. So much for the "when:" now for the
reason "why" the custom was adopted by the Christian church.
Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, as it is sometimes called,
from being the vigil of Ash Wednesday, was a day when every one
was bound to confess, and be shrove or shriven. That none might
plead forgetfulness of this duty, the great bell was rung at an
early hour in every parish, called the Pancake Bell, for the
following reasons given by Taylor, the Water Poet, in his
_Jacke-a-Lent_ (_Works_, p. 115. fol. 1630). He tells us, "On
Shrove Tuesday there is a bell rung, called the Pancake Bell, the
sound whereof makes thousands of people distracted, and forgetful
either of manner or humanitie. Then there is a thinge called
wheaten floure, which the sulphory, necromanticke cookes doe
mingle with water, egges, spice, and other tragicall, magicall
inchantments, and then they put it by little and little into a
frying-pan of boyling suet, where it makes a confused dismal
hissing, like the Lernean snakes in the reeds of Acheron, Stix, or
Phlegeton, until at last by the skill of the cooke it is
transformed into the forme of a _Flap-Jack_, which in our
translation is called a _Pancake_, which ominous incantation the
ignorant people doe devoure very greedily, having for the most
part well dined before; but they have no sooner swallowed that
sweet-candied baite, but straight their wits forsake them, and
they runne starke mad, assembling in routs and throngs numberlesse
of ungovernable numbers, with uncivill civill commotions." In the
"Forme of Cury," published with other cookery in Warner's
_Antiquitates Culinariæ_, p. 33., and written in 1390, we find a
kind of fried cakes called "comadore," composed of figs, raisins,
and other fruits, steeped in wine, and folded up in paste, to be
fried in oil. This suggests another savoury Query, Whether this is
not an improvement on our apple fritters?]
_Shakspeare, Tennyson, and Claudian._--
"Lay her i' the earth,
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring!"
Hamlet_, Act V. Sc. 1.
"'Tis well; 'tis something we may stand
Where he in English earth is laid,
And from his ashes may be made
The violet of his native land."
_In Memoriam_, XVIII.
I remember having seen quoted, _à propos_ of the lines of Shakspeare, a
passage from some Latin poet (Claudian, I think) which contained the
same idea. Can you, or any of your correspondents, favour me with it; as
also where they are to be found? And can they give me the origin and
reason of the idea.
H. JOHNSTON.
Liverpool.
[The passage to which our correspondent refers is most probably
that already quoted by Steevens, from Persius, _Sat._ I.
"---- e tumulo, fortunataque favilla
Nascentur violæ?"]
Replies.
THE RING FINGER.
(Vol. v., pp. 114. 371.)
My subsequent reading has not only confirmed, but added to the
information conveyed in the reference quoted. I there surmised that the
third was the ring finger, because the thumb and first two fingers have
always been reserved as symbols of the blessed Trinity, and consequently
the third was the first vacant finger. Both the Greek and Latin church
agree in this, that the thumb and first two fingers signify the blessed
Trinity. And whilst these three fingers signify the Trinity, the third
and fourth fingers are emblematic of the two natures of Christ, the
human and divine. As then the third finger served to symbolise the human
nature, and marriage was instituted to propagate the human race, that
was made the wedding finger. The right hand is the hand of power: hence
the wife wears the ring on the ring finger of the _left hand_. The
Greeks make each of the first three fingers, _i.e._ the thumb and two
fingers, symbolise one of the divine persons. M. Didron informs us that,
during his visit to Greece in 1839, the Archbishop of Mistra--
"Whom I interrogated on the subject, informed me that the thumb,
from its strength, indicated the Creator, the Father Eternal, the
Almighty; that the middle finger was dedicated to Jesus Christ,
who redeemed us; and that the forefinger, between the thumb and
middle finger, figured the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the
Father and the Son, and in representations of the blessed Trinity
is placed between those two persons."
A bishop's ring is emblematic of the gifts of the Holy Ghost: and
formerly bishops wore their ring on the forefinger of the right hand.
CEYREP.
"And the priest, taking the ring, shall deliver it unto the man,
to put it upon _the fourth finger_ of the woman's left-hand."
_Rubric, Marriage Service._
Pray let the lady be comforted! Surely the most punctilious Rubrician
will make no impertinent inquiries about the missing finger, so long as
_a fourth_ remains. But even if all be wanting, I will engage to find
her a priest whose conscience will not be hurt at allowing the stump to
pass muster.
DIGITALIS.
THE MORAVIAN HYMNS.
(Vol. v., pp. 30. 474.)
Having followed with interest the late discussion in your pages upon the
earlier specimens of those strange productions, the Moravian Hymns, it
seems to me, that although much that is curious has been elicited, the
Query of P. H., touching the genuineness of the extraordinary sample
reproduced by him from the _Oxford Magazine_ for 1769, remains
unanswered. It is therefore with a view to supply some information
directly to this point, that I now beg to introduce to your readers _my_
earliest edition, which looks very like the _editio princeps_ of Part
III.: at all events it takes precedence of that described by H. C. B.
Its title is, _A Collection of Hymns, consisting chiefly of Translations
from the German Hymn-book of the Moravian Brethren_. Part III. Small
8vo. pp. 168. London, printed for James Hutton, 1748.
At first sight there would appear to be no difference between H. C. B.'s
volume and mine, beyond the latter being the earlier by one year; that
year, however, seems to have been the exact period when the Brethren
deemed it advisable, to avoid scandal, to revise and prune their
hymn-book.
"In this part (especially) of our hymn-book," says the Preface, "a good
deal of liberty has been taken in dispensing with what otherwise is
customary and ornamental: and that for different reasons." Then follow
these three reasons: the hymns being printed in prose, to save room; the
retention of German diminutives which, although scarcely known in the
English tongue, "have a certain elegance and effect" in the former
language; and the use of "more antique, prosaic, and less polished
diction, out of tenderness for the main point, the expressing more
faithfully the doctrines of the congregation, rather than seek better at
the expense of the sense."
"So much," continues the Preface, "seemed proper to mention to exempt
this Book (which though calculated for our own congregation, will no
doubt come into the hands of strangers) from the imputation of a
needless singularity. Now we only wish that every Reader may also feel
something of that solid and happy Bottom, from whence these free,
familiar, and perhaps abrupt Aspirations, both in the composing and
using of them, do sparkle forth: And so we commit this _Third Part_ of
our Hymn-book to the Providence and Blessing of that dear Redeemer, who
with his Ever-blessed Atonement, is everywhere the subject thereof."
As to the hymns themselves, I need say little more to describe them than
to observe that the present edition contains not only the one quoted by
P. H. from the _Oxford Magazine_, but all the others which are there to
be found, and which have raised doubt in your correspondent's mind
whether they are not rather the fabrications of Anti-Moravians than
genuine productions, and at the periods in use among the Brethren. Here,
too, is to be found the "Chicken Blessed" of Anstey: in his _Bath Guide_
he correctly quotes it as "No. 33. in Count Zinzendorf's
Hymn-book,"--that being its position in the present volume. The satirist
has, however, given only half of "the learned Moravian's ode," but that
faithfully. Besides these there are some of the hymns enumerated by
Rimius in his _Candid Narrative of the Herrnhuters_ (London, 1753), in
support of his charges against them.
Probably your readers are content with the specimens which have already
appeared in your columns. Had it been otherwise, this curious volume
would have supplied some of a singular character: as it is, I cannot
resist extracting No. 77. and a part of No. 110.; the former relating an
adventure between the Arch-Enemy and Saint Martin; the latter,
"Concerning the happy little Birds in the Cross's-air, or in the
Atmosphere of the Corpse of Jesus:"
"Once on a time a man there was,
A saint whose name was Martin,
Concerning whom, Severus says,
Satan came to him darting
As Lightning quick and bright array'd;
'I am thy Jesus dear,' he said,
'Me thou wilt surely worship.'
"Martin looks straight towards his side,
No Side-hole met his vision:
'Let me,' says he, 'in Peace abide,
Thou hast no side's Incision;
Thou art the Devil, my Good Friend!
The place where Jesus' sign does stand
Blindfold I could discover.'
"The same's the case ev'n at this Day
With Jesu's congregation:
For Larks who round his Body play,
Have of his wounds sensation;
Because our dear incarnate God,
Will with his wounds as man be view'd,
Be felt, and so believ'd on."
"How does a cross-air Bird behave,
When of the Tent it will take leave?
The Body grows a little sick,
The soul may find it long or quick
Till she the Bridegroom see;
There stands he presently.
She views the Side, Hands, Feet, each Part;
The Lamb upon her weary Heart
A kiss then gives her:
This kiss Extracts the soul quite out,
And on his dear Mouth home 'tis brought,
The Kiss's Print the Body shews,
Which to its Fining-place then goes;
When done the Soul does fetch it,
And to the wound-hole snatch it."
Parts I. and II. of these hymns I have never seen; but besides the above
described, I have the following editions: _A Collection of Hymns of the
Children of God, in all Ages from the beginning till now: in Two Parts.
Designed chiefly for the use of the Congregations in union with the
Brethren's Church._ Thick 8vo. London, printed in the year 1754: this is
the larger hymn-book alluded to by SIGMA. _A Collection of Hymns,
chiefly extracted from the larger Hymn-book of the Brethren's
Congregation_: London, printed and sold at the Brethren's chapels,
1769,--noticed by H. C. B. These are both extraordinary productions, but
yield to the edition of 1748: it having already been observed of these
hymns, that the later impression is always the _tamer_.
J. O.
CAGOTS.
(Vol. iv., p. 190.)
I arrive at the conclusion, that the Cacosi of Latin writers, Cacous, or
Cagous, represent the true name from which Cagots, the _t_ being mute,
is but a slight deviation; while some other forms have scarcely retained
more than the initial _Ca_. The etymology from the Goths (most absurd
_in substance_, and worthy of the days when Languedoc was fetched from
_Land-got_, Land of the Goths,) has reference only to one of the French
spellings.
_Cacosus_, meaning a leper, as well as a Cacous or Cagot, was from
κακὸν, κάκωσις, in Greek; and from it came
_cacosomium_, contracted for _cacoso-comium_, not a mere _noso-comium_,
but an asylum for lepers. See Ducange.
But the Cacous in question were not only lepers, but families in which
leprosy was considered hereditary. For this reason they are called
Giezites, les Gézits, les Gesitains, from Giezi, servant of Elisha and
his posterity. (See Michel, vol. i. pp. 56. 148. 238. &c.) A simple
leper was Lazarius or ladre. The latter were, like Lazarus, merely
afflicted; but the former were deemed to be under an abiding curse, like
Giezi.
But those who were Giezites by condition, as inheriting and transmitting
the disease, were by many of the vulgar imagined to be Giezites by
blood, and the real posterity of Elisha's servant, "Cagots de Chanaan."
By an equally natural result, persons actually free from disease were
shunned as Cacous; since the stigma attached to the race, not to the
individual. Indeed, the wearing out of the malady has created the whole
obscurity of the case.
Their most curious title, Crestiaas or Christians, was not given them in
direct affirmation, but in denial of a negative, "not non-christian."
Because, being considered of Giezi's lineage, not only Jews, but Jews
under a curse, many would be disposed to repell them from communion. See
Dom Lepelletier's _Dict. Bretonne_, in CACOUS.
Whether hereditary lepra was rightly thought to exist, or whether the
negligence of the more abject and squalid families in communicating it
to each other falsely raised that idea, is a separate question, which I
must leave to physicians.
A. N.
SHERIFFS AND LORDS LIEUTENANT.
(Vol. v., p. 394.)
Dalton saith:
"Vice comites have the same authority that the antient comites
had; and at this day there are some relicts of that dignity, for
he hath _album baculum_, and the grant of the office is commisimus
vobis [comitatum]. And also he takes place of every nobleman
during the time that he is in office."
The Writ of Assistance ran thus:
"To archbishops, bishops, dukes, earls, barons, knights,
freeholders, and all others of our county of C. Whereas we have
committed to our well-beloved A. B. the custody of our said
county, with the appurtenances, during our pleasure, We command
you that ye be aiding, answering, and assisting to the said A. B.
as our sheriff of our said county in all things which appertain to
the said office."
This form was abolished in 1833. The Lord Lieutenant is a military
officer, who appears to have grown into permanence under the Tudors. The
office of Custos Rotulorum, which, though quite distinct, is usually
joined with it, is much more ancient; its duties are to keep the records
of the sessions, which involve the appointment of the clerk of the
peace, and the power of recommending to the Great Seal of persons to be
inserted in the commission of the peace.
As for instances of such precedence being _claimed_, it is not easy to
recollect what is usually taken as a thing so much of course. Perhaps
the instance of a Duke, who had been Lord Lieutenant forty years,
apologising to a Sheriff for having inadvertently taken precedence, may
serve.
VICE. COM. DEPUTAT.
In answer to L. J.'s inquiry, upon what authority the precedency of the
Sheriff over the Lord Lieutenant is maintained; may it not partly be
founded on the office of Sheriff being of greater antiquity, and on this
officer having the command over, and the power of summoning all the
people of the county above the age of fifteen, and under the degree of a
peer? The office of Lord Lieutenant was first created in the third year
of King Edward VI., to suppress, as Strype tells us, "the routs and
uproars" in most of the counties. We might suppose that the Sheriff
already possessed sufficient power for this purpose: the means then
adopted to promote tranquillity were not well calculated to be popular
among the people. No drum or pipe was to be struck or sounded. Plays
were forbidden. In the churches of Devonshire and Cornwall, Lord Russell
was to take down every bell in a steeple but one, so as to prevent a
peal being rung.
The precedency in question is acted upon to the present hour; and a Lord
Lieutenant, however high his rank in the peerage, gives place to the
Sheriff as a matter of course. But do not both these officers yield
precedence to her Majesty's justices of assize, when actually engaged on
the circuit?
J. H. M.
ST. CHRISTOPHER.
(Vol. v., pp. 295. 334. 372.)
Two questions are asked by E. A. H. L. concerning St. Christopher: 1.
_Are there any known representations of St. Christopher in painted
glass?_ There is a very interesting example in a window in _St. Neot's
Church, Cornwall_. It represents St. Christopher with the child Jesus on
his back, and below has the legend: "Sante Christophere, ora pro me."
This ancient window was presented to the church by three members of the
Borlase family. Their benefaction is recorded in the inscription along
the cill of the window:
"Orate pro animabus Catherine Burlas, Nicolai Burlas, et Johannis
Vyvian, qui istam fenestram fieri fecerunt."
Another example of St. Christopher, bearing the divine infant, is in one
of the lights of the three-light window over the altar of _All Saints'
Church, North Street, York_. It is the work of the fifteenth century.
In the same city, _St. John's Church, Micklegate_, has two
representations of St. Christopher in glass. One is the window north of
the altar, but it is only a portion of the figure; the other is in the
window south of the altar, and of perpendicular character. In _St.
Martin-le-Grand, Coney Street_, in the sixth or eastern window of the
north aisle, is a figure of St. Christopher, of date about 1450. _St.
Michael-le-Belfroy_, in the same city, has two figures of the saint:
one, of perpendicular character, in the window north of the altar; the
other, a fragment, in the fourth window from the east end on the south
side, of date between 1540 and 1550. _Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate_,
possesses a very beautiful figure of the saint. It forms the fifth of a
series of five large figures in the east window of the church, and seems
to bear the date 1470.
The second question is, "What is the real meaning of the representations
of St. Christopher that are so frequently found on the north walls of
churches?" I cannot agree with MR. J. EASTWOOD in thinking that the
explanation he gives from _Sacred and Legendary Art is sufficiently
satisfactory_. It appears to me that the figures of St. Christopher were
meant to symbolise the privilege enjoyed by the faithful of receiving
the body and blood of Christ, and thus becoming _Christo-feri_. The
emblem may have had its origin in the earliest ages, when the
_disciplina arcani_ was carried out. This opinion receives strength from
the circumstance, that Christopher was a name assumed by the saint, and
not his baptismal name. The extraordinary powers of cure spoken of in
verses often inscribed below the figures of this saint, were understood
by the faithful to allude to the efficacy of the Holy Communion, that
made them _Christopher's_, i.e. persons bearing their blessed Saviour,
not on their shoulders, but within their breasts. His figures in
sculpture and painting are always represented as colossal, to signify
that this heavenly food makes each of the faithful "as a giant to run
the way" (Ps. xix. 5.) This explanation will probably satisfy E. A. H.
L. that the important position occupied by St. Christopher in the
iconography of the mediæval church is to be solved by its symbolical
signification.
In addition to the representations of this saint in painted glass
mentioned above, E. A. H. L. will find mention of another specimen in
the last number of the _Archæological Journal_. It is in private hands,
being the property of Mr. Lucas, who purchased a collection of specimens
of old glass some years since at Guildford, said to have come from an
old mansion in Surrey. The specimen in question is described as "St.
Christopher carrying our Saviour--an octagonal piece of glass."--P. 101.
He will also find, in the same place, that a mural painting of St.
Christopher has been lately discovered in the chancel of Gawsworth
Church, Cheshire, of which a description is given in p. 103.
CEYREP.