Loe raamatut: «Notes and Queries, Number 197, August 6, 1853», lehekülg 3

Queries

DELFT MANUFACTURE

I am extremely desirous of obtaining some information respecting the Dutch manufactories of enamelled pottery, or Delft ware, as we call it.

On a former occasion, by your connexion with the Navorscher, you were able to obtain for me some very valuable and interesting information in reply to some question put respecting the Dutch porcelain manufactories. I am therefore in hopes that some kind correspondent in Holland will be so obliging as to impart to me similar information on this subject also. I should wish to know—

When, by whom, at what places, and under what circumstances, the manufacture of enamelled pottery was first introduced into Holland?

Whether there were manufactories at other towns besides Delft?

Whether they had any distinctive marks; and, if so, what were they?

Whether there was more than one manufactory at Delft; and, if so, what were their marks, and what was the meaning of them?

Whether any particular manufactories were confined to the making of any particular sort or quality of articles; and, if so, what were they?

Whether any of the manufactories have ceased; and, if so, at what period?

Also, any other particulars respecting the manufactories and their products that it may be possible to communicate through the medium of a paper like "N. & Q."

Octavius Morgan.

Minor Queries

The Withered Hand and Motto "Utinam."—At Compton Park, near Salisbury, the seat of the Penruddocke family, there is a three-quarter length picture, in the Velasquez style, of a gentleman in a rich dress of black velvet, with broad lace frill and cuffs, and ear-rings, probably of the latter part of Queen Elizabeth's reign. His right hand, which he displays somewhat prominently, is withered. The left one is a-kimbo, and less seen. In the upper part of the painting is the single Latin word "UTINAM" (O that!). There is no tradition as to who this person was. Any suggestion on the subject would gratify

J.

History of York.—Who is the author of a History of York, in 2 vols., published at that city in 1788 by T. Wilson and R. Spence, High Ousegate? I have seen it in several shops, and heard it attributed to Drake; and obtained it the other day from an extensive library in Bristol, in the Catalogue of which it is styled Drake's Eboracum. Several allusions in the first volume to his work, however, render it impossible to be ascribed to him. It is dedicated to the Right Honourable Sir William Mordaunt Milner, of Nunappleton, Bart., who was mayor at the time.

R. W. Elliot.

Clifton.

"Hauling over the coals."—What is the origin and meaning of the phrase, "Hauling one over the coals;" and where does it first appear?

Faber.

Dr. Butler and St. Edmund's Bury.—Can any of your readers give me any information respecting the Mr. or Dr. Butler, of St. Edmund's Bury, referred to in the extracts from the Post Boy and Gough's Topography, quoted by Mr. Ballard in Vol. vii., p. 617.?

Buriensis.

Washington.—Anecdotes relative to General Washington, President of the United States, intended for a forthcoming work on the "Homes of American Statesmen," will be gratefully received for the author by

Joseph Stansbury.

26. Parliament Street.

Norman of Winster.—Can any of your correspondents afford information bearing on the family of Norman of Winster, county of Derby?

"John Norman of Winster, county of Derby, married, in 1715 or 1716, to Jane (maiden name particularly wanted). The said J. Norman married again in 1723, to Mary" (maiden name wanted also).

I shall be particularly obliged to any one affording such information.

W.

Sir Arthur Aston.—I shall be much obliged, should any of your very numerous correspondents be able to inform me in which part or parish, of the county of Berkshire, the celebrated cavalier Sir Arthur Aston resided upon his return from the foreign wars in which he had been for so many years engaged; and previously to the rupture between Charles I. and the Houses of Parliament.

I believe one of his daughters, about the same period, married a gentleman residing in the same county: also that George Tattersall, Esq., of Finchampstead, a family of consideration in the same county of Berkshire, was a near relative.

Chartham.

"Jamieson the Piper."—I am anxious to ascertain who was the author of the above ditty; it was very popular in Aberdeenshire about the beginning of this century. The scene, if I remember rightly, is laid in the parish of Forgue, in Aberdeenshire. Possibly some of the members of the Spalding Club may be able to enlighten me on the subject.

Bathensis.

"Keiser Glomer."—I have a Danish play entitled Keiser Glomer, Frit oversatte af det Kyhlamske vech C. Bredahl: Kiobenhavn, 1834. It is a mixture of tragedy and farce: the former occasionally good, the latter poor buffoonery. In the notes, readings of the old MS. are referred to with apparent seriousness; but Gammel Gumba's Saga is quoted in a manner that seems burlesque. I cannot find the word "Kyhlam" in any dictionary. Can any of your readers tell me whether it signifies a real country, or is a mere fiction? The work does not read like a translation; and, if one, the number of modern allusions show that it is not, as it professes to be, from an ancient manuscript.

M. M. E.

Tieck's Comœdia Divina.—I copied the following lines six years ago from a review in a Munich newspaper of Batornicki's Ungöttliche Comödie. They were cited as from Tieck's suppressed (zurückgezogen) satire, La Comödie Divina, from which Batornicki was accused of plundering freely, thinking that, from its variety, he would not be detected:

 
"Spitzt so hoch ihr könnt euer Ohr,
Gar wunderbare Dinge kommen hier vor.
Gott Vater identifieirt sich mit der Kreatur,
Denn er will anschauen die absolute Natur;
Aber zum Bewustseyn kann er nicht gedeihen,
Drum muss er sich mit sich selbst entzweien."
 

I omitted to note the paper, but preserved the lines as remarkable. I have since tried to find some account of La Divina Comedia, but in vain. It is not noticed in any biography of Tieck. Can any of your readers tell me what it is, or who wrote it?

M. M. E.

Fossil Trees between Cairo and Suez—Stream like that in Bay of Argastoli.—Can any of your readers oblige me by stating where the best information may be met with concerning the very remarkable fossil trees on the way from Cairo to Suez? And, if there has yet been discovered any other stream or rivulet running from the ocean into the land similar to that in the Bay of Argastoli in the Island of Cephalonia?

H. M.

Presbyterian Titles (Vol. v., p. 516.).—Where may be found a list of "the quaint and uncouth titles of the old Presbyterians?"

P. J. F. Gantillon, B.A.

Mayors and Sheriffs.—Can you or any of your readers inform me which ought to be considered the principal officer, or which is the most important, and which ought to have precedence of the other, the mayor of a town or borough, or the sheriff of a town or borough? and is the mayor merely the representative of the town, and the sheriff of the Queen; and if so, ought not the representative of majesty to be considered more honourable than the representative of merely a borough; and can a sheriff of a borough claim to have a grant of arms, if he has not any previous?

A Subscriber.

Nottingham.

The Beauty of Buttermere.—In an article contributed by Coleridge to the Morning Post (vid. Essays on his own Times, vol. ii. p. 591.), he says:

"It seems that there are some circumstances attending her birth and true parentage, which would account for her striking superiority in mind and manners, in a way extremely flattering to the prejudices of rank and birth."

What are the circumstances alluded to?

R. W. Elliot.

Clifton.

Sheer Hulk.—Living in a maritime town, and hearing nautical terms frequently used, I had always supposed this term to mean an old vessel, with sheers, or spars, erected upon it, for the purpose of masting and unmasting ships, and was led to attribute the use of it, by Sir W. Scott and other writers, for a vessel totally dismasted, to their ignorance of the technical terms. But of late it has been used in the latter sense by a writer in the United Service Magazine professing to be a nautical man. I still suspect that this use of the word is wrong, and should be glad to hear on the subject from any of your naval readers.

I believe that the word "buckle" is still used in the dockyards, and among seamen, to signify to "bend" (see "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 375.), though rarely.

J. S. Warden.

The Lapwing or Peewitt (Vanellus cristatus).—Can any of your correspondents, learned in natural history, throw any light upon the meaning in the following line relative to this bird?—

 
"The blackbird far its hues shall know,
As lapwing knows the vine."
 

In the first line the allusion is to the berries of the hawthorn; but what the lapwing has to do with the vine, I am at a loss to know. Having forgotten whence I copied the above lines, perhaps some one will favor me with the author's name.

J. B. Whitborne.

"Could we with ink," &c.—Could you, or any of your numerous and able correspondents, inform me who is the bonâ fide author of the following lines?—

 
"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the heavens of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky."
 

Naphtali.

Launching Query.—With reference to the accident to H.M.S. Cæsar at Pembroke, I would ask, Is there any other instance of a ship, on being launched, stopping on the ways, and refusing to move in spite of all efforts to start her?

A. B.

Manliness.—Query, What is the meaning of the word as used in "N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 94., col. 2. l. 12.

Anonymous.

Minor Queries with Answers

Pues or Pews.—Which is the correct way of spelling this word? What is its derivation? Why has the form pue been lately so much adopted?

Omega.

[The abuses connected with the introduction of pues into churches have led to an investigation of their history, as well as to the etymology of the word. Hence the modern adoption of its original and more correct orthography, that of pue; the Dutch puye, puyd, and the English pue, being derived from the Latin podium. In Vol. iii., p. 56., we quoted the following as the earliest notice of the word from the Vision of Piers Plouman:

 
"Among wyves and wodewes ich am ywoned sute
Yparroked in pues. The person hit knoweth."
 

Again, in Richard III., Act IV. Sc. 4.: "And makes her pue-fellow with others moan."—In Decker's Westward Hoe: "Being one day in church, she made mone to her pue-fellow."—And in the Northern Hoe of the same author: "He would make him a pue-fellow with lords."—See a paper on The History of Pews, read before the Cambridge Camden Society, Nov. 22, 1841.]

"Jerningham" and "Doveton."—Who was the author of Jerningham and Doveton, two admirable works of fiction published some twelve or fifteen years ago? They are equal to anything written by Bulwer Lytton or by James.

J. Mt.

[The author of these works was Mr. Anstruther.]

Replies

BATTLE OF VILLERS EN COUCHÉ

(Vol. viii., p. 8.)

I possess a singular work, consisting of a series of Poetical Sketches of the campaigns of 1793 and 1794, written, as the title-page asserts, by an "officer of the Guards;" who appears to have been, from what he subsequently states, on the personal staff of His Royal Highness the late Duke of York. This work, I have been given to understand, was suppressed shortly after its publication; the ludicrous light thrown by its pages on the conduct of many of the chief parties engaged in the transactions it records, being no doubt unpalatable to those high in authority. From the notes, which are valuable as appearing to emanate from an eye-witness, and sometimes an actor in the scenes he describes, I send the following extracts for the information of your correspondent; premising that the letter to which they are appended is dated from the "Camp at Inchin, April 26, 1794."

"As the enemy were known to have assembled in great force at the Camp de Cæsar, near Cambray, Prince Cobourg requested the Duke of York would make a reconnoissance in that direction: accordingly, on the evening of the 23rd, Major-General Mansel's brigade of heavy cavalry was ordered about a league in front of their camp, where they lay that night at a farm-house, forming part of a detachment under General Otto. Early the next morning, an attack was made on the French drawn up in front of the village of Villers en Couchée (between Le Cateau and Bouchain) by the 15th regiment of Light Dragoons, and two squadrons of Austrian Hussars: they charged the enemy with such velocity and force, that, darting through their cavalry, they dispersed a line of infantry formed in their rear, forcing them also to retreat precipitately and in great confusion, under cover of the ramparts of Cambray; with a loss of 1200 men, and three pieces of cannon. The only British officer wounded was Captain Aylett: sixty privates fell, and about twenty were wounded.

"Though the heavy brigade was formed at a distance under a brisk cannonade, while the light dragoons had so glorious an opportunity of distinguishing themselves, there are none who can attach with propriety any blame on account of their unfortunate delay; for which General Otto was surely, as having the command, alone accountable, and not General Mansel, who acted at all times, there is no doubt, according to the best of his judgment for the good of the service.

"The Duke of York had, on the morning of the 26th, observed the left flank of the enemy to be unprotected; and, by ordering the cavalry to wheel round and attack on that side, afforded them an opportunity of gaining the highest credit by defeating the French army so much superior to them in point of numbers.

"General Mansel rushing into the thickest of the enemy, devoted himself to death; and animated by his example, that very brigade performed such prodigies of valour, as must have convinced the world that Britons, once informed how to act, justify the highest opinion that can possibly be entertained of their native courage. Could such men have ever been willingly backward? Certainly not.

"General Mansel's son, a captain in the 3rd Dragoon Guards, anxious to save his father's life, had darted forwards, and was taken prisoner, and carried into Cambray. Since his exchange, he has declared that there was not, on the 26th, a single French soldier left in the town, as Chapuy had drawn out the whole garrison to augment the army destined to attack the camp of Inchi. Had that circumstance been fortunately known at the time, a detachment of the British army might easily have marched along the Chaussée, and taken possession of the place ere the Republicans could possibly have returned, as they had in their retreat described a circuitous detour of some miles."

Mr. Simpson will perceive, from the above extracts, that the brilliant skirmish of Villers en Couché took place on April 24th; whereas the defeat of the French army under Chapuy did not occur until two days later. A large quantity of ammunition and thirty-five pieces of cannon were then captured; and although the writer does not mention the number who were killed on the part of the enemy, yet, as he states that Chapuy and near 400 of his men were made prisoners, their loss by death was no doubt proportionately large.

The 15th Hussars have long borne on their colours the memorable words "Villers en Couché" to commemorate the daring valour they displayed on that occasion.

T. C. Smith.

In Cruttwell's Universal Gazetteer (1808), this village, which is five miles north-east of Cambray, is described as being "remarkable for an action between the French and the Allies on the 24th of April, 1794." The following officers of the 15th regiment of light dragoons are there named as having afterwards received crosses of the Order of Maria Theresa for their gallant behaviour, from the Emperor of Germany, viz.:

"Major W. Aylett, Capt. Robert Pocklington, Capt. Edw. Michael Ryan, Lieut. Thos. Granby Calcraft, Lieut. Wm. Keir, Lieut. Chas. Burrel Blount, Cornet Edward Gerald Butler, and Cornet Robert Thos. Wilson."

D. S.