the conduct of affairs there [in Ireland], because you press me so
earnestly, I shall take the boldness to deliver myself as freely.
"First, though while we had the happiness and honour to have your
assistance here at the Council Board, you made many ill faces with your
pen (pardon, I beseech your Lordship, the over free censure of your
Vandyking), and worse, oftentimes, with your speeches, especially in
the business of the Lord Falconberg, Sir Thomas Gore, Vermuyden, and
others; yet I understand you make worse there in Ireland, and there
never appeared a worse face under a cork upon a bottle, than your
Lordship hath caused some to make in disgorging such church livings as
their zeal had eaten up."--_Strafford's Letters_, vol. i. p. 161.
This passage, as well as what follows, is written in a strain of banter,
and is intended to compliment the great Lord Deputy under the pretence of a
free censure of his conduct. The first part of the second paragraph
evidently alludes to Wentworth's habit of drawing faces upon paper when he
was sitting at the Council Table, and the word _Vandyking_ is used in the
sense of _portrait-painting_. Vandyck was born in 1599; he visited England
for a short time in 1620, and in 1632 he came to England permanently, was
lodged by the king, and knighted; in the following year he received a
pension of 200l. for life, and the title of painter to his Majesty. It was
therefore quite natural that Windebanke should, in November, 1633, use the
term _Vandyking_ as equivalent to _portrait-painting_.
In the latter part of the same paragraph, the allusion is to the wry faces,
which the speeches of this imperious member of council sometimes caused.
Can any of your correspondents explain the expression, "a worse face under
a cork upon a bottle?"
L.
_Monteith_ (Vol. ix., p. 452.).--The Monteith was a kind of punch-bowl
(sometimes of delf ware) with scallops or indentations in the brim, the
object of which was to convert it into a convenient tray for bringing in
the glasses. These were of wine-glass shape, and being placed with the
brims downwards, and radiating from the centre, and with the handles
protruding through the indentations in the bowl, were easily carried,
without much jingling or risk of breakage. Of course the bowl was empty of
liquor at the time.
P. P.
_A. M. and M. A._ (Vol. ix., p. 475.).--JUVERNA, M. A., is certainly wrong
in stating that "Masters of Arts of Oxford are styled 'M. A.,' in
contradistinction to the Masters of Arts in every other university." A. B.,
A. M., are the proper initials for _Baccalaureus_ and _Magister Artium_,
and should therefore only be used when the name is in Latin. B.A. and M.A.
are those for Bachelor and Master of Arts, and are the only ones to be used
where the name is expressed in English. Thus John Smith, had he taken his
first degree in Arts at any university, might indicate the fact by signing
John Smith, B.A., or Johannes S., A.B. If he put John Smith, A.B., a doubt
might exist whether he were not an _able-bodied_ seaman, for that is
implied by A.B. attached to an English name. The editor of Farindon's
_Sermons_, who is, I believe, a Dissenter, styles himself the Reverend T.
Jackson, S.T.P., _i. e._ Sacrosanctæ Theologiæ {600} Professor. He might as
well have part of his title in Sanscrit, as part in English and part in
Latin.
I believe this mistake is made more frequently by graduates of Cambridge
than by those of Oxford. Indeed, they have now created a new degree, Master
of Laws, with the initials LL.M. (Legum Magister). But they are usually
infelicitous in their nomenclature, as witness their _voluntary_
theological examination, now made _compulsory_ by all the bishops.
E. G. R., M.A.
Cambridge.
_Greek denounced by the Monks_ (Vol. ix., p. 467).--In his _History of the
Reformation_ (b. I. ch. iii.), D'Aubigné says,--
"The monks asserted that all heresies arose from those two languages
[Greek and Hebrew], and particularly from the Greek. 'The New
Testament,' said one of them, 'is a book full of serpents and thorns.
Greek,' continued he, 'is a new and recently-invented language, and we
must be upon our guard against it. As for Hebrew, my dear brethren, it
is certain that all who learn it immediately become Jews.' Heresbach, a
friend of Erasmus and a respectable author, reports these expressions."
Had there been more authority, probably D'Aubigné would have quoted it.
B. H. C.
In Lewis's _History of the English Translation of the Bible_, edit. London,
1818, pp. 54, 55., the following passage occurs:
"These proceedings for the advancement of learning and knowledge,
especially in divine matters, alarmed the ignorant and illiterate
monks, insomuch that they declaimed from the pulpits, that 'there was
now a _new language_ discovered called Greek, of which people should
beware, since it was that which produced all the heresies; that in this
language was come forth a book called the _New Testament_, which was
now in everybody's hands, and was full of thorns and briers: that there
was also another language now started up which they called Hebrew, and
that they who learnt it were termed Hebrews.'"
The authority quoted for this statement is Hody, _De Bibliorum Textibus_,
p. 465.
See also the rebuke administered by Henry VIII. to a preacher who had
"launched forth against Greek and its new interpreters," in Erasmus,
_Epp._, p. 347., quoted in D'Aubigné's _Reformation_, book XVIII. 1.
C. W. BINGHAM.
_Caldecott's Translation of the New Testament_ (Vol. viii., p. 410.).--J.
M. Caldecott, the translator of the New Testament, referred to by your
correspondent S. A. S., is the son of the late ---- Caldecott, Esq., of
Rugby Lodge, and was educated at Rugby School, where I believe he obtained
one or more prizes as a first-class Greek and Hebrew scholar. After
completing his studies at this school, his father purchased for him a
commission in the East India Company's service; but soon after his arrival
in India, conceiving a dislike to the army, he sold his commission and
returned to England. Being somewhat singular in his notions, and altogether
eccentric both in manner and appearance, he estranged himself from his
family and friends, and, as I have been informed, took up his temporary
abode in this city about the year 1828. Although his income was at that
time little short of 300l. per annum, he had neither house nor servant of
his own; but boarded in the house of a respectable tradesman, living on the
plainest fare (so as he was wont to say), to enable him to give the more to
feed the hungry and clothe the naked. In this way, and by being frequently
imposed upon by worthless characters, he gave away, in a few years, nearly
all his property, leaving himself almost destitute: and, indeed, would have
been entirely so, but for a weekly allowance made to him by his mother
(sometime since deceased), on which he is at the present time living in
great obscurity in one of our large seaport towns; but may be occasionally
seen in the streets with a long beard, and a broad-brimmed hat, addressing
a group of idlers and half-naked children. I could furnish your
correspondent S. A. S. with more information if needful.
T. J.
Chester.
_Blue Bells of Scotland_ (Vol. viii., p. 388. Vol. ix., p. 209.).--Surely
[W (black-letter)] of Philadelphia is right in supposing that the Blue Bell
of Scotland, in the ballad which goes by that name, is a bell painted blue,
and used as the sign of an inn, and not the flower so called, as asserted
by HENRY STEPHENS, unless indeed there be an older ballad than the one
commonly sung, which, as many of your readers must be aware, contains this
line,--
"He dwells in merry Scotland,
At the _sign_ of the Blue Bell."
I remember to have heard that the popularity of this song dates from the
time when it was sung on the stage by Mrs. Jordan.
Can any one inform me whether the air is ancient or modern?
HONORÉ DE MAREVILLE.
Guernsey.
"_De male quæsitis gaudet non tertius hæres_" (Vol. ii., p. 167.).--The
quotation here wanted has hitherto been neglected. The words may be found,
with a slight variation, in _Bellochii Praxis Moralis Theologiæ, de casibus
reservatis, &c._, Venetiis, 1627, 4to. As the work is not common, I send
the passage for insertion, which I know will be acceptable to other
correspondents as well as to the querist:
"Divino judicio permittitur ut tales surreptores rerum sacrarum diu
ipsis rebus furtivis non lætentur, sed imo ab aliis nequioribus furibus
præfatæ res illis {601} abripiantur, ut de se ipso fassus est ille, qui
in suis ædibus hoc distichon inscripsit, ut refert Jo. Bonif., lib. de
furt., § contrectatio, num. 134. in fin.:
'Congeries lapidum variis constructa rapinis,
Aut uret, aut ruet, aut raptor alter habebit.'
Et juxta illud:
'De rebus male acquisitis, non gaudebit tertius hæres.'
Lazar (de monitorio), sect. 4. 9. 4., num. 16., imo nec secundus, ut
ingenuè et perbellè fatetur in suo poemate, nostro idiomate Jerusalem
celeste acquistata, cant. x. num. 88. Pater Frater Augustinus Gallutius
de Mandulcho, ita canendo:
'D'un' acquisto sacrilego e immondo,
Gode di rado il successor secondo,
Pero che il primo e mal' accorto herede
Senza discretion li da di piedi.'"
BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.
_Mawkin_ (Vol. ix., pp. 303. 385.).--Is not _mawkin_ merely a corruption
for _mannikin_? I strongly suspect it to be so, though Forby, in his
_Vocabulary of East Anglia_, gives the word _maukin_ as if peculiar to
Norfolk and Suffolk, and derives it, like L., from _Mal_, for Moll or Mary.
F. C. H.
This word, in the Scottish dialect spelt _maukin_, means a hare. It occurs
in the following verse of Burns in _Tam Samson's Elegy_:
"Rejoice, ye birring paitricks a';
Ye cootie moorcocks, crousely craw;
Ye _maukins_, cock your fud fu' braw,
Withouten dread;
Your mortal fae is now awa',
Tam Samson's dead!"
KENNEDY MCNAB.
"_Putting a spoke in his wheel_" (Vol. viii., pp. 269. 351. 576.).--There
is no doubt that "putting a spoke in his wheel" is "offering an
obstruction." But I have always understood the "spoke" to be, not a radius
of the wheel, but a bar put between the spokes at right angles, so as to
prevent the turning of the wheel; a rude mode of "locking," which I have
often seen practised. The correctness of the metaphor is thus evident.
WM. HAZEL.
_Dog Latin_ (Vol. viii., p. 523.).--The return of a sheriff to a writ which
he had not been able to serve, owing to the defendant's secreting himself
in a swamp, will be new to English readers. It was "Non come-at-ibus in
swampo."
Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the motto of the United
States has been "E pluribus unum." A country sign-painter in Bucks county,
Pennsylvania, painted "E pluribur unibus," instead of it on a sign.
UNEDA.
Philadelphia.
_Swedish Words current in England_ (Vol. vii., pp. 231. 366.).--Very many
Swedish words are current in the north of England, _e. gr._ _barn_ or
_bearn_ (Scotticè _bairn_), Sw. _barn_; _bleit_ or _blate_, bashful, Sw.
_blöd_; to _cleam_, to fasten, to spread thickly over, Sw. _klemma_; _cod_,
pillow, Sw. _kudde_; to _gly_, to squint, Sw. _glo_; to _lope_, to leap,
Sw. _löpa_; to _late_ (Cumberland), to seek, Sw. _leta_; _sackless_,
without crime, Sw. _saklös_; _sark_, shirt, Sw. _särk_; to _thole_
(Derbyshire), to endure, Sw. _tala_; to _walt_, to totter, to overthrow,
Sw. _wälta_; to _warp_, to lay eggs, Sw. _wärpa_; _wogh_ (Lancashire),
wall, Sw. _wägg_, &c. It is a fact very little known, that the Swedish
language bears the closest resemblance of all modern languages to the
English as regards grammatical structure, not even the Danish excepted.
SUECAS.
_Mob_ (Vol. viii., p. 524.).--I have always understood that this word was
derived from the Latin expression _mobile vulgus_, which is, I believe, in
Virgil.
UNEDA.
Philadelphia.
"_Days of my Youth_" (Vol. viii., p. 467.).--In answer to the inquiry made
a few months since, whether Judge St. George Tucker, of Virginia, was the
author of the lines beginning--
"Days of my youth."
the undersigned states that he was a friend and relative of Judge Tucker,
and knows him to have been the author. They had a great run at the time,
and found their way not only into the newspapers, but even into the
almanacs of the day.
G. T.
Philadelphia.
_Encore_ (Vol. viii., pp. 387. 524.).--A writer in an English magazine, a
few years ago, proposed that the Latin word _repetitus_ should be used
instead of _encore_. Among other advantages he suggested that the people in
the gallery of a theatre would pronounce it _repeat-it-us_, and thus make
English of it.
UNEDA.
Philadelphia.
_Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cambridge_ (Vol. ix., p. 493.).--Your
correspondent will find his question answered by referring to the _History
of the Royal Family_, 8vo., Lond., 1741, pp. 119. 156. For an account of
this book, which is founded upon the well-known Sandford's _Genealogical
History_, see Clarke's _Bibliotheca Legum_, edit. 1819, p. 174.
T. E. T.
Islington.
_Right of redeeming Property_ (Vol. viii., p. 516.).--This right formerly
existed in Normandy, and, I believe, in other parts of France. In the
bailiwick of Guernsey, the laws of which are based on the ancient custom of
Normandy, the right is still exercised, although it has been abolished for
some years in the neighbouring island of Jersey. {602}
The law only applies to real property, which, by the Norman custom, was
divided in certain proportions among all the children; and this right of
"retrait," as it is technically termed, was doubtless intended to
counteract in some measure the too minute division of land, and to preserve
inheritances in families. It must be exercised within a year of the
purchase. For farther information on the subject, Berry's _History of
Guernsey_, p. 176., may be consulted.
HONORÉ DE MAREVILLE.
Guernsey.
_Latin Inscription on Lindsey Court-house_ (Vol. ix., pp. 492. 552.).--I
cannot but express my surprise at the learned (?) trifling of some of your
correspondents on the inscription upon Lindsey Court-house. Try it thus:
"Fiat Justitia,
1619,
Hæc domus
_O_dit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat,
_N_equitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, bonos."
which will make two lines, an hexameter and a pentameter, the first
letters, _O_ and _N_, having perhaps been effaced by time or accident.
NEGLECTUS.
[That this emendation is the right one is clear from the communication
of another correspondent, B. R. A. Y., who makes the same, and adds in
confirmation, "The following lines existed formerly (and do, perhaps,
now) on the Market-house at Much Wenlock, Shropshire, which will
explain their meaning:
'Hic locus
_O_dit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat,
_N_equitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, bonos.'
The _O_ and _N_, being at the beginning of the lines as given by your
correspondent, were doubtless obliterated by age."]
The restoration of this inscription proposed by me is erroneous, and must
be corrected from the perfect inscription as preserved at Pistoia and Much
Wenlock, cited by another correspondent in p. 552. The three inscriptions
are slightly varied. Perhaps "amat pacem" is better than "amat leges," on
account of the tautology with "conservat jura."
L.
_Myrtle Bee_ (Vol. ix., p. 205. &c.).--"I have carefully read and reread
the articles on the myrtle bee, and I can come to no other conclusion than
that it is not a bird at all, but an insect, one of the hawkmoths, and
probably the humming-bird hawkmoth. We have so many indefatigable genuine
_field naturalists_, picking up every straggler which is blown to our
coasts, that I cannot think it possible there is a bird at all common to
_any_ district of England, and yet totally unknown to science. Now, insects
are often exceedingly abundant in particular localities, yet scarcely known
beyond them. The _size_ C. BROWN describes as certainly not larger than
_half_ that of the common wren. The humming-bird (_H. M._) is scarcely so
large as this, but its vibratory motion would make it look somewhat larger
than it really is. Its breadth, from tip to tip of the wings, is twenty to
twenty-four lines. The myrtle bee's "short flight is rapid, steady, and
direct," exactly that of the hawkmoth. The tongue of the myrtle bee is
"round, sharp, and pointed at the end, appearing capable of penetration,"
not a bad _popular_ description of the suctorial trunk of the hawkmoth,
from which it gains its generic name, _Macroglossa_. Its second pair of
wings are of a rusty yellow colour, which, when closed, would give it it
the appearance of being "tinged with yellow about the vent." It has also a
tuft of scaly hairs at the extremity of the abdomen, which would suggest
the idea of a tail. In fact, on the wing, it appears very like a little
bird, as attested by its common name. In habit it generally retires from
the mid-day sun, which would account for its being "put up" by the dogs.
The furze-chat, mentioned by C. BROWN, is the _Saxicola rubetra_, commonly
also called the whinchat.
WM. HAZEL.
_Mousehunt_ (Vol. ix., p. 65. &c.).--G. TENNYSON identifies the mousehunt
with the beechmartin, the _very largest_ of our _Mustelidæ_, on the
authority of Henley "the dramatic commentator." Was he a naturalist too? I
never heard of him as such.
Now, MR. W. R. D. SALMON, who first asked the question, speaks of it as
_less_ than the common weasel, and quotes Mr. Colquhoun's opinion, that it
is only "the young of the year." I have no doubt at all that this is
correct. The young of all the _Mustelidæ_ hunt, and to a casual observer
exhibit all the actions of full-grown animals, when not more than half the
size of their parents. There seems no reason to suppose that there are more
than four species known in England, the weasel, the stoat or ermine, the
polecat, and the martin. The full-grown female of the weasel is much
smaller than the male. Go to any zealous gamekeeper's exhibition, and you
will see them of many gradations in size.
WM. HAZEL.
_Longfellow's "Hyperion"_ (Vol. ix., p. 495.).--I would offer the following
rather as a suggestion than as an answer to MORDAN GILLOTT. But it has
always appeared to me that Longfellow has himself explained, by a simple
allusion in the work, the _reason_ which dictated the name of his
_Hyperion_. As the ancients fabled Hyperion to be the offspring of the
heavens and the earth; so, in his aspirations, and his weakness and
sorrows, Flemming (the hero of the work) personifies, as it were, the
mingling of heaven and earth in the heart and {603} mind of a man of true
nobility. The passage to which I allude is the following:
"Noble examples of a high purpose, and a fixed will! Do they not move,
Hyperion-like, on high? Were they not likewise sons of heaven and
earth?"--Book iv. ch. 1.
SELEUCUS.
_Benjamin Rush_ (Vol. ix., p. 451.).--INQUIRER asks "Why the freedom of
Edinburgh was conferred upon him?" I have looked into the Records of the
Town Council, and found the following entry:
"4th March, 1767. The Council admit and receive Richard Stocktoun,
Esquire, of New Jersey, Councillour at Law, and Benjamin Rush, Esquire,
of Philadelphia, to be burgesses and gild brethren of this city, in the
most ample form."
But there is no reason assigned.
JAMES LAURIE, Conjoint Town Clerk.
_Quakers executed in North America_ (Vol. ix., p. 305.).--A fuller account
of these nefarious proceedings is detailed in an abstract of the sufferings
of the people called Quakers, in 2 vols., 1733; vol. i. (Appendix) pp.
491-514., and in vol. iii. pp. 195-232.
E. D.
* * * * *
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NOTES ON BOOKS _and_ LISTS OF BOOKS WANTED TO PURCHASE.
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