Loe raamatut: «Notes and Queries, Number 201, September 3, 1853», lehekülg 5
Replies to Minor Queries
Vandyke in America (Vol. viii., p. 182.).—I would take the liberty of asking Mr. Balch of Philadelphia whom he means by Col. Hill and Col. Byrd, "worthies famous in English history, and whose portraits by Vandyke are now on the James River?" I know of no Col. Hill or Byrd whom Vandyke could possibly have painted. I should also like to know what proof there is that the pictures, whomsoever they represent, are by Vandyke. Mr. Balch says that he favours us with this information "in answer to the query" (Vol. vii., p. 38.); but I beg leave to observe that it is by no means "in answer to the query," which was about an engraved portrait and not picture, and his thus bringing in the Vandykes à propos de bottes makes me a little curious about their authenticity.
C.
Title wanted—Choirochorographia (Vol. viii., p. 151.).—The full title of the book inquired after is as follows:
"Χοιροχωρογραφια: sive, Hoglandiæ Descriptio.—Plaudite Porcelli Porcorum pigra Propago (Eleg. Poet.): Londini, Anno Domini 1709. Pretium 2d," 8vo.
The printer, as appears from the advertisement at the end of the volume, was Henry Hills. The middle of the title-page is occupied by a coarsely executed woodcut, representing a boar with barbed instrument in his snout, and similar instrument on a larger scale under the head, surmounted with some rude characters, which I read
"TURX TRVYE BEVIS O HAMTVN."
The dedication is headed, "Augusto admodum & undiquaq; Spectabili Heroi Domini H– S– Maredydius Caduganus Pymlymmonensis, S.P.D." The entire work appears to be written in ridicule of Hampshire, and to be intended as a retaliation for work written by Edward Holdsworth, of Magd. Coll. Oxford, entitled Muscipula, sive καμβρο-μυο-μαχια, published by the same printer in the same year, and translated by Dr. Hoadly in the fifth volume of Dodsley's Miscellany, p. 277., edit. 1782.
Query, Who was the author? and had Holdsworth any farther connexion with Hampshire than that of having been educated at Winchester School?
J. F. M.
Second Growth of Grass (Vol. viii., p. 102.).—R. W. F. of Bath inquires for other names than "fog," &c. In Sussex we leave "rowens," or "rewens" (the latter, I believe, a corruption), used for the second growth of grass.
Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, has "Rowens, after-grass," as a Suffolk word. Bailey gives the word, with a somewhat different signification; but he has "Rowen hay, latter hay," as a country word.
William Figg.
Lewes.
In Norfolk this is called "aftermath eddish," and "rowans" or "rawins."
The first term is evidently from the A.-S. mæth, mowing or math: Bosworth's Dictionary. Eddish is likewise from the A.-S. edisc, signifying the second growth; it is used by Tusser, October's Husbandry, stanza 4.:
"Where wheat upon eddish ye mind to bestow,
Let that be the first of the wheat ye do sow."
Rawings also occurs in Tusser, and in the Promptorium Parvulorum, rawynhey is mentioned. In Bailey's Dictionary it is spelt rowen and roughings: this last form gives the etymology, for rowe, as may be seen in Halliwell, is an old form for rough.
E. G. R.
I have always heard it called in Northumberland, fog; in Norfolk, after-math; in Oxfordshire, I am told, it is latter-math. This term is pure A.-Saxon, mæth, the mowing; the former word fog, and eddish also, are to be found in dictionaries, but their derivation is not satisfactory.
C. I. R.
Snail eating (Vol. viii., p. 34).—The beautiful specimens of the large white snails were brought from Italy by Single-speech Hamilton, a gentleman of vertù and exquisite taste, and placed in the grounds at Paynes Hill, and some fine statues likewise. On the change of property, the snails were dispersed about the country; and many of them were picked up by my grandfather, who lived at the Grove under Boxhill, near Dorking. They were found in the hedges about West Humble, and in the grounds of the Grove. I had this account from my mother; and had once some of the shells, which I had found when staying in Surrey.
Julia R. Bockett.
Southcote Lodge.
The snails asked after by Mr. H. T. Riley are to be met with near Dorking. When in that neighbourhood one day in May last, I found two in the hedgerow on the London road (west side) between Dorking and Box Hill. They are much larger than the common snail, the shells of a light brown, and the flesh only slightly tinged with green. I identified them by a description and drawing given in an excellent book for children, the Parent's Cabinet, which also states that they are to be found about Box Hill.
G. Rogers Long.
The large white snail (Helix pomatia) is found in abundance about Box Hill in Surrey. It is also plentiful near Stonesfield in Oxfordshire, where have, at different periods, been discovered considerable remains of Roman villas; and it has been suggested that this snail was introduced by the former inhabitants of those villas.
W. C. Trevelyan.
Wallington.
Sotades (Vol. vii., p. 417.).—Sotades is the supposed inventor of Palindromic verses (see Mr. Sands' Specimens of Macaronic Poetry, p. 5., 1831. His enigma on "Madam" was written by Miss Ritson of Lowestoft).
S. Z. Z. S.
The Letter "h" in "humble" (Vol. viii., p. 54).—The question has been raised by one of your correspondents (and I have not observed any reply thereto), as to whether it is a peculiarity of Londoners to pronounce the h in humble. If, as a Londoner by birth and residence, I might be allowed to answer the Query, I should say that the h is never heard in humble, except when the word is pronounced from the pulpit. I believe it to be one of those, either Oxford or Cambridge, or both, peculiarities, of which no reasonable explanation can be given.
I should be glad to hear whether any satisfactory general rule has been laid down as to when the h should be sounded, and when not. The only rule which occurs to me is to pronounce it in all words coming to us from the Celtic "stock," and to pass it unsounded in those which are of Latin origin. If this rule be admitted, the pronunciation sanctioned by the pulpit and Mr. Dickens is condemned.
Benjamin Dawson.
London.
Lord North (Vol. vii., p. 317. Vol. viii., p. 184.).—Is M. E. of Philadelphia laughing at us, when he refers us to a woodcut in some American pictorial publication on the American Revolution for a true portraiture of the figure and features of King George III.; different, I presume, from that which I gave you. His woodcut, he says, is taken "from an English engraving;" he does not tell us who either painter or engraver was—but no matter. We have hundreds of portraits by the best hands which confirm my description, which moreover was the result of personal observation: for, from the twentieth to the thirtieth years of my life, I had frequent and close opportunities of approaching his Majesty. I cannot but express my surprise that "N. & Q." should have given insertion to anything so absurd—to use the gentlest term—as M. E.'s appeal to his "woodcut."
C.
Singing Psalms and Politics (Vol. viii., p. 56.).—One instance of the misapplication of psalmody must suggest itself at once to the readers of "N. & Q.," I mean the melancholy episode in the history of the Martyr King, thus related by Hume:
"Another preacher, after reproaching him to his face with his misgovernment, ordered this Psalm to be sung,—
'Why dost thou, tyrant, boast thyself,
Thy wicked deeds to praise?'
The king stood up, and called for that Psalm which begins with these words,—
'Have mercy, Lord, on me, I pray;
For men would me devour.'
The good-natured audience, in pity to fallen majesty, showed for once greater deference to the king than to the minister, and sung the psalm which the former had called for."—Hume's History of England, ch. 58.
W. Fraser.
Tor-Mohun.
Dimidiation by Impalement (Vol. vii., p. 630.).—Your correspondent D. P. concludes his notice on this subject by doubting if any instance of "Dimidiation by Impalement" can be found since the time of Henry VIII. If he turn to Anderson's Diplomata Scotiæ (p. 164. and 90.), he will find that Mary Queen of Scots bore the arms of France dimidiated with those of Scotland from A.D. 1560 to December 1565. This coat she bore as Queen Dowager of France, from the death of her first husband, the King of France, until her marriage with Darnley.
T. H. de H.
"Inter cuncta micans," &c. (Vol. vi, p. 413.; Vol. vii., p. 510.).—The following translation is by the Rev. Geo. Greig of Kennington. It preserves the acrostic and mesostic, though not the telestic, form of the original:
H. T. Griffith.
Hull.
Marriage Service (Vol. viii., p. 150.).—I have seen the Rubric carried out, in this particular, in St. Mary's Church, Kidderminster.
Cuthbert Bede, B. A.
Widowed Wife (Vol. viii., p. 56.).—Eur. Hec. 612. "Widowed wife and wedded maid," occurs in Vanda's prophecy; Sir W. Scott's The Betrothed, ch. xv.
S. Z. Z. S.
Pure (Vol. viii., p. 125.).—The use of the word pure pointed out by Oxoniensis is nothing new. It is a common provincialism now, and was formerly good English. Here are two examples from Swift (Letters, by Hawkesworth, vol. iv. 1768, p.21.):
"Ballygall will be a pure good place for air."
Ibid. p. 29.:
"Have you smoakt the Tattler yet? It is much liked, and I think it a pure one."
C. Mansfield Ingleby.
Birmingham.
"Purely, I thank you," is a common reply of the country folks in this part when accosted as to their health. I recollect once asking a market-woman about her son who had been ill, and received for an answer: "Oh he's quite fierce again, thank you, Sir." Meaning, of course, that he had quite recovered.
Norris Deck.
Cambridge.
Mrs. Tighe (Vol. viii., p. 103.).—"There is a likeness of Mrs. Henry Tighe, the authoress of 'Psyche,' in the Ladies' Monthly Museum for February, 1818. It is engraved by J. Hopwood, jun., from a drawing by Miss Emma Drummond. Underneath the engraving referred to, are the words 'Mrs. Henry Tighe;' but she is called in the memoir, 'wife of William Tighe, Esq., M.P. for Wicklow, whose residence is Woodstock, county of Kilkenny, author of The Plants, a poem, 8vo.: published in 1808 and 1811; and Statistical Observations on the County of Kilkenny, 1800. Mrs. Tighe is described as having had a pleasing person, and a countenance that indicated melancholy and deep reflection; was amiable in her domestic relations; had a mind well stored with classic literature; and, with strong feelings and affections, expressed her thoughts with the nicest discrimination, and taste the most refined and delicate. Thus endued, it is to be regretted that Mrs. Tighe should have fallen a victim to a lingering disease of six years at the premature age of thirty-seven, on March 24, 1810.'—The remainder of the short notice does not throw any additional light on Mrs. Tighe, or family; but if you, Sir, or the Editor of "N. & Q." wish, I will cheerfully transcribe it.—I am, Sir, yours in haste,
Vix.
"Belfast, Aug. 15."
[We are indebted for the above reply to the Dublin Weekly Telegraph, which not only does us the honour to quote very freely from our pages, but always most liberally acknowledges the source from which the articles so quoted are derived.]
Satirical Medal (Vol. viii., p. 57.).—I have seen the same medal of Sir R. Walpole (the latest instance of the mediæval hell-mouth with which I am acquainted) bearing on the obverse—"THE GENEROUSE (sic) DUKE OF ARGYLE;" and at the foot—"NO PENTIONS."
S. Z. Z. S.
"They shot him dead at the Nine-Stone Rig" (Vol. viii., p. 78.).—Your correspondent the Borderer will find the fragment of the ballad he is in search of commencing with the above line, in the second volume of the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, p. 114. It is entitled "Barthram's Dirge," and "was taken down," says Scott, "by Mr. Surtees, from the recitation of Anne Douglas, an old woman, who weeded his garden."
Since the death of Mr. Surtees, however, it has been ascertained that this ballad, as well as "The Death of Featherstonhaugh," and some others in the same collection, were composed by him and passed off upon Scott as genuine old Scottish ballads.
Farther particulars respecting this clever literary imposition are given in a review of the "Memoir of Robert Surtees," in the Athenæum of August 7, 1852.
J. K. R. W.
Hendericus du Booys: Helena Leonora de Sievéri (Vol. v., p. 370.).—Are two different portraits of each of these two persons to be found? By no means. There exists, however, a plate of each, engraved by C. Visscher; but the first impressions bear the address of E. du Booys, the later that of E. Cooper. As I am informed by Mr. Bodel Nijenhuis, Hendericus du Booys took part in the celebrated three-days' fight, Feb. 18, 19, and 20, 1653, between Blake and Tromp.—From the Navorscher.
M.
House-marks, &c. (Vol. vii., p. 594. Vol. viii., p. 62.).—May I be allowed to inform Mr. Collyns that the custom he refers to is by no means of modern date. Nearly all the cattle which come to Malta from Barbary to be stall-fed for consumption, or horses to be sold in the garrison, bring with them their distinguishing marks by which they may be easily known.
And it may not be out of place to remark, that being one of a party in the winter of 1830, travelling overland from Smyrna to Ephesus, we reached a place just before sunset where a roving band of Turcomans had encamped for the night. On nearing these people we observed that the women were preparing food for their supper, while the men were employed in branding with a hot iron, under the camel's upper lip, their own peculiar mark,—a very necessary precaution, it must be allowed, with people who are so well known for their pilfering propensities, not only practised on each other, but also on all those who come within their neighbourhood. Having as strangers paid our tribute to their great dexterity in their profession, the circumstance was published at the time, and to this day is not forgotten.
W. W.
Malta.
"Qui facit per alium, facit per se."—In Vol. vii., p. 488., I observe an attempt to trace the source of the expression, "Qui facit per alium, facit per se." A few months since I met with the quotation under some such form as "Qui facit per alium, per se facere videtur," in the preface to a book on Surveying, by Fitzherbert (printed by Berthelet about 1535), where it is attributed to St. Augustine. As I know of no copy of the works of that father in these parts (though I heard him quoted last Sunday in the pulpit), I cannot at present verify the reference.
J. Sleednot.
Halifax.
Engin-à-verge (Vol. vii., p. 619. Vol. viii., p. 65.).—H. C. K. is mistaken in his conjecture respecting this word, as the following definition of it will show:
"Engins-à-verge. Ils comprenaient les diverges espèces de catapultes, les pierriers, &c."—Bescherelle, Dictionnaire National.
B. H. C.
Campvere, Privileges of (Vol viii., p. 89.).—"Jus Gruis liberæ." Does not this mean the privilege of using a crane to raise their goods free of dues, municipal or fiscal? Grus, grue, krahn, kraan, all mean, in their different languages, crane the bird, and crane the machine.
J. H. L.
Humbug—Ambages (Vol. viii., p. 64.).—May I be permitted to inform your correspondent that Mr. May was certainly correct when using the word "ambages" as an English word in his translation of Lucan.
In Howell's Dictionary, published in London in May 1660, I find it thus recorded
"Ambages, or circumstances."
"Full of ambages."
W. W.
Malta.
"Going to Old Weston" (Vol. iii., p. 449.).—In turning over the pages of the third volume of "N. & Q." recently, I stumbled on Arun's notice of the above proverb. It immediately struck me that I had heard it used myself a few days before, without being conscious at the time of the similarity of the expression. I was asking an old man, who had been absent from home, where he had been to? His reply was, "To Old Weston, Sir. You know I must go there before I die." Knowing that he had relatives living there, I did not, at the time, notice anything extraordinary in the answer; but, since reading Arun's note, I have made some inquires, and find the saying is a common one on this (the Northamptonshire) side of Old Weston, as well as in Huntingdonshire. I have been unable to obtain any explanation of it, but think the one suggested by your correspondent must be right. One of my informants (an old woman upwards of seventy) told me she had often heard it used, and wondered what could be its meaning, when she was a child.
W. W.
B– Rectory, Northamptonshire.
Reynolds's Nephew (Vol. viii., p. 102.).—I think I can certify A. Z. that two distinct branches of the Palmer family, the Deans, and another claiming like kindred to Sir Joshua Reynolds, still exist; from which I conclude that Sir Joshua had at least two nephews of that name. I regret that I cannot inform your correspondent as to the authorship of the piece about which he inquires; but, in the event of A. Z. not receiving a satisfactory answer to his Query through the medium of our publication, if he will furnish me with any farther particulars he may possess on the subject, I shall be happy to try what I can do towards possessing him with the desired information.
J. Sansom.
Oxford.
The Laird of Brodie (Vol. viii., p. 103.).—I. H. B. mistakes, I think, the meaning of the lines. The idea is not that the Laird was less than a gentleman, but that he was a gentleman of mark; at least, I have never heard any other interpretation put upon it in Scotland, where the ballad of "We'll gang nae mair a-roving," is a great favourite. King James is the subject of the ballad. That merry monarch made many lively escapades, and on this occasion he personated a beggarman. The damsel, to whom he successfully paid his addresses, saw through the disguise at first; but from the king's good acting, when he pretended to be afraid that the dongs would "rive his meal pokes," she began to think she had been mistaken. Then she expressed her disgust by saying, that she had thought her lover could not be anything less than the Laird of Brodie, the highest untitled gentleman probably in the neighbourhood: implying that she suspected he might be peer or prince.
W. C.
Mulciber (Vol. viii., p. 102).—It may not be a sufficient answer to Mr. Ward's Query, but I wish to state that there was no "Mayor of Bromigham" until after the passing of the Reform Bill. I think that it may be inferred from the extract given below, that the mayor was no more a reality than the shield which he is said to have wrought:
"His shield was wrought, if we may credit Fame,
By Mulciber, the Mayor of Bromigham.
A foliage of dissembl'd senna leaves
Grav'd round its brim, the wond'ring sight deceives.
Embost upon its field, a battle stood,
Of leeches spouting hemorrhoidal blood.
The artist too expresst the solemn state,
Of grave physicians at a consult met;
About each symptom how they disagree!
But how unanimous in case of fee!
And whilst one ass-ass-in another plies
With starch'd civilities—the patient dyes."
N. W. S.
Voiding Knife (Vol. vi., pp. 150. 280.).—The following quotation from Leland will throw more light on the ancient custom of voyding:
"In the mean time the server geueth a voyder to the carver, and he doth voyde into it the trenchers that lyeth under the knyues point, and so cleanseth the tables cleane."—Collectanea, vol. vi. p. 11., "The Intronization of Nevill."
Q.
Bloomsbury.
Sir John Vanbrugh (Vol. viii., pp. 65. 160.).—Previous to sending you my Query about the birthplace of Sir John Vanbrugh, I had carefully gone through the Registers of the Holy Trinity parish, Chester, and had discovered the baptisms or burials of seven sons and six daughters of Mr. Giles Vanbrugh duly registered therein. Sir John's name is not included in the list; therefore, if he was born in Chester, his baptism must have been registered at one of the many other parish churches of this city. The registers of St. Peter's Church, a neighbouring parish, have also been examined, but contain no notice of the baptism of the future knight. I will, however, continue the chace; and should I eventually fall in with the object of my search, will give my fellow-labourers the benefit of my explorations. Mr. Vanbrugh sen. died at Chester, and was buried with several of his children at Trinity Church, July 19, 1689.
T. Hughes.
Chester.
Portrait of Charles I.—The portrait of Charles I. by Vandyke (the subject of Mr. Breen's Query, "N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 151.) is no less than the celebrated picture in which the monarch is represented standing, with his right hand resting on a walking cane, and his left (the arm being beautifully foreshortened) against his hip; and immediately behind him his horse is held by an equerry, supposed to be the Marquis of Hamilton. The picture hangs in the great square room at the Louvre, close on the left hand of the usual entrance door, and is undoubtedly one of the finest in that magnificent collection. As a portrait, it is without a rival. It is well known in this country by the admirable engraving from it, executed in 1782, by Sir Robert Strange.
The description of this picture in the Catalogue for 1852 du Musée Nationale du Louvre, is as follows:—
"Gravé par Strange; par Bonnefoy; par Duparc;—Filhol, t. 1. pl. 5.
"Collection de Louis XV.—Ce tableau, qui a été exécuté vers 1635, ne fut payé à van Dyck que 100 livres sterling. En 1754, il faisait partie, suivant Descamps, du cabinet du marquis de Lassay. On trouve cette note dans les mémoires secrets de Bachaument," &c.
Then follows the passage quoted by Mr. Breen. I can find no mention of a Dubarry among the ancestors of the monarch.
H. C. K.
Burial in an erect Posture (Vol. viii., p. 59.).—
"Pass, pass, who will yon chantry door,
And through the chink in the fractured floor
Look down, and see a grisly sight,
A vault where the bodies are buried upright;
There face to face and hand lay hand
The Claphams and Mauleverers stand."
Wordsworth, White Doe of Rylstone, Canto I.,p. 5., line 17., new edition, 1837.
See note on line 17 taken from Whitaker's Craven:
"At the east end of the north aisle of Bolton Priory Church is a chantry belonging to Bethmesley Hall, and a vault where, according to tradition, the Claphams were buried upright."
F. W. J.
Strut-Stowers and Yeathers or Yadders (Vol. viii., p. 148.).—The former of these words is, I believe, obsolete, or nearly so. It means bracing-stakes: strut, in carpentry, is to brace; and stower is a small kind of stake, as distinguished from the "ten stakes" mentioned in the legend quoted by Mr. Cooper.
The other word, Yeather or Yadder, is yet in use in Northumberland (vid. Brockett's Glossary), and is mentioned by Charlton in his History of Whitby. The legend referred to by Mr. Cooper is, I suspect, of modern origin but Dr. Young, in his History of Whitby, vol. i. p. 310., attributes it to some of the monks of the abbey; on what grounds he does not say. The records of the abbey contain no allusion to the legend; and no ancient MS. of it, either in Latin or English, has ever been produced. The penny-hedge is yearly renewed to this day but it is a service performed for a different reason than that attributed in the legend. (See Young and Charlton's histories.)
F. M.
The term strut is commonly used by carpenters for a brace or stay. Stower, in Bailey's Dictionary, is a stake; Halliwell spells it stoure, and says it is still in use. Forby connects the Norfolk word stour, stiff, inflexible, applied to standing corn, with this word, which he says is Lowland Scotch, and derives them both from Sui.-G. stoer, stipes. A yeather or yadder seems to be a rod to wattle the stakes with. In Norfolk, wattling a live fence is called ethering it, which word, evidently with yeather, may be derived from A.-S. ether or edor, a hedge. The barons, therefore, had to drive their stakes perpendicularly into the sand, to put the strut-stowers diagonally to enable them to withstand the force of the tide, and finally to wattle them together with the yeathers.
