"I had long sought for a representation of Sickingen, and at length found a medal represented in the Sylloge Numismatum Elegantiorum of Luckius," &c.
I now hope that in S.W.S. I have found the man who is to solve an obstinate doubt that has long possessed my mind: Is the figure of the knight in Durer's well-known print of "The Knight, Death, and the Devil," a portrait? If it be a portrait, is it a portrait of Franz von Sickingen, as Kugler supposes? The print is said to bear the date 1513. I have it, but have failed to discover any date at all.
H.J.H.
Sheffield.
Blackguard.—When did this word Come into use, and from what?
Beaumont and Fletcher, in the Elder Brother, use it thus:—
"It is a Faith
That we will die in, since from the blackguard
To the grim sir in office, there are few
Hold other tenets."
Thomas Hobbes, in his Microcosmus, says,—
"Since my lady's decay I am degraded from a cook and I fear the devil himself will entertain me but for one of his blackguard, and he shall be sure to have his roast burnt."
JARLTZBERG.
Meaning of "Pension."—The following announcement appeared lately in the London newspapers:—
"GRAY'S INN.—At a Pension of the Hon. Society of Gray's Inn, holden this day, Henry Wm. Vincent, Esq., her Majesty's Remembrancer in the Court of Exchequer, was called to the degree of Barrister at Law."
I have inquired of one of the oldest benchers of Gray's Inn, now resident in the city from which I write, for an explanation of the origin or meaning of the phrase "pension," neither of which was he acquainted with; informing me at the same time that the Query had often been a subject discussed among the learned on the dais, but that no definite solution had been elicited.
Had the celebrated etymologist and antiquary, Mr. Ritson, formerly a member of the Society, been living, he might have solved the difficulty. But I have little doubt that there are many of the erudite, and, I am delighted to find, willing readers of your valuable publication who will be able to furnish a solution.
J.M.G.
Worcester.
Stars and Stripes of the American Arms.—What is the origin of the American arms, viz. stars and stripes?
JARLTZBERG.
Passages from Shakspeare.—May I beg for an interpretation of the two following passages from Shakspeare:—
"Isab. Else let my brother die,
If not a feodary, but only he,
Owe, and succeed thy weakness."
Measure for Measure, Act ii. Sc. 4.
"Imogen. Some jay of Italy,
Whose mother was her painting, hath betrayed him."
Cymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 4.
TREBOR.
King's College, London.
Nursery Rhyme.—What is the date of the nursery rhyme:—
"Come when you're called,
Do what you're bid,
Shut the door after you,
Never be chid?"—Ed. 1754.
In Howell's Letters (book i. sect. v. letter 18. p. 211. ed. 1754) I find—
He will come when you call him, go when you bid him, and shut the door after him.
J.E.B. MAYOR.
"George" worn by Charles I.—I should be glad if any of your correspondents could give me information as to who is the present possessor of the "George" worn by Charles I. It was, I believe, in the possession of the late Marquis Wellesley, but since his death it has been lost sight of. Such a relic must be interesting to either antiquaries or royalists.
SPERANS.
Family of Manning of Norfolk.—Can any of your readers supply me with an extract from, or the name of a work on heraldry or genealogy, containing an account of the family of Manning of Norfolk. Such a work was seen by a relative of mine about fifty years since. It related that a Count Manning, of Manning in Saxony, having been banished from thence, became king in Friesland, and that his descendants came over to England, and settled in Kent and Norfolk. Pedigrees of the Kentish branch exist: but that of Norfolk was distinct. Guillim refers to some of the name in Friesland.
T.S. LAWRENCE.
Salingen a Sword Cutler.—A sword in my possession, with inlaid basket guard, perhaps of the early part of the seventeenth century, is inscribed on the blade "Salingen me fecit." If this is the name of a sword cutler, who was he, and when and where did he live?
T.S. LAWRENCE.
Billingsgate.—May I again solicit a reference to any early drawing of Belins gate? That of 1543 kindly referred by C.S. was already in my possession. I am also obliged to Vox for his Note.
W.W.
"Speak the Tongue that Shakspeare spoke."—Can you inform me of the author's name who says,—
"They speak the tongue that Shakspeare spoke,
The faith and morals hold that Milton held," &c.?
and was it applied to the early settlers of New England?
X.
Genealogical Queries.—Can any of your genealogical readers oblige me with replies to the following Queries?
1. To what family do the following arms belong? They are given in Blomfield's Norfolk (ix. 413.) as impaled with the coat of William Donne, Esq., of Letheringsett, Norfolk, on his tomb in the church there. He died in 1684.
On a chevron engrailed, two lioncels rampant, between as many crescents.
Not having seen the stone, I cannot say whether Blomfield has blazoned it correctly; but it seems possible he may have meant to say,—
On a chevron engrailed, between two crescents, as many lioncels rampant.
2. Which Sir Philip Courtenay, of Powderham, was the father of Margaret Courtenay, who, in the fifteenth century, married Sir Robert Carey, Knt.? and who was her mother?
3. Where can I find a pedigree of the family of Robertson of Muirtown, said to be descended from John, second son of Alexander Robertson, of Strowan, by his second wife, Lady Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John, Earl of Athol, brother of King James II.? which John is omitted in the pedigree of the Strowan family, in Burke's Landed Gentry.
C.R.M.
Parson, the Staffordshire Giant.—Harwood, in a note to his edition of Erdeswick's Staffordshire, p. 289., says,—
"This place [Westbromwich] gave birth to William Parsons, [query Walter,] the gigantic porter of King James I., whose picture was at Whitehall; and a bas-relief of him, with Jeffry Hudson the dwarf, was fixed in the front of a house near the end of a bagnio court, Newgate-street, probably as a sign."
Plot, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, gives some instances of the great strength of Parsons.
I shall feel much obliged if you or your readers will inform me, 1. Whether there is any mention of Parsons in contemporary, or other works? 2. Whether the portrait is in existence? if so, where? Has it been engraved?
C.H.B.
Westbromwich.
Unicorn in the Royal Arms.—When and why was the fabulous animal called the unicorn first used as a supporter for the royal arms of England?
E.C.
The Frog and the Crow of Ennow.—I should be glad to get an answer to the following Query from some one of your readers:—I remember some few old lines of a song I used to hear sung many years ago, and wish to learn anything as regards its date, authorship,—indeed, any particulars, and where I shall be likely to find it at length. What I remember is,—
"There was a little frog, lived in the river swim-o,
And there was an old crow lived in the wood of Ennow,
Come on shore, come on shore, said the crow to the frog again-o;
Thank you, sir, thank you, sir, said the frog to the crow of Ennow,
…
But there is sweet music under yonder green willow,
And there are the dancers, the dancers, in yellow."
M.
"She ne'er with treacherous Kiss."—Can any of your readers inform me where the following lines are to be found?
"She ne'er with treacherous kiss her Saviour stung,
Nor e'er denied Him with unholy tongue;
She, when Apostles shrank, could danger brave—
Last at His cross, and earliest at His grave!"
C.A.H.
"Incidit in Scyllam" (Vol. ii., p. 85.).—
"Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim;
Sie morbum fugiens, incidit in medicos."
Has any of your readers met with, or heard of the second short line, appendant and appurtenant to the first? I think it was Lord Grenville who quoted them as found somewhere together.
FORTUNATUS DWARRIS.
Nicholas Brigham's Works.—Nicholas Brigham, who erected the costly tomb in Poets' Corner to the memory of Geoffrey Chaucer (which it is now proposed to repair by a subscription of five shillings from the admirers of the poet), is said to have written, besides certain miscellaneous poems, Memoirs by way of Diary, in twelve Books; and a treatise De Venationibus Rerum Memorabilium. Can any of the readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" state whether any of these, the titles of which are certainly calculated to excite our curiosity, are known to be in existence, and, if so, where? It is presumed that they have never been printed.
PHILO-CHAUCER.
Ciric-Sceat, or Church-scot.—Can any of your readers explain the following passage from Canute's Letter to the Archbishops, &c. of England, A.D. 1031. (Wilkins Conc. t. i. p. 298):—
"Et in festivitate Sancti Martini primitæ seminum ad ecclesiam, sub cujus parochia quisque degit, quæ Anglice Cure scet nominatur."
J.B.
[If our correspondent refers to the glossary in the second vol. of Mr. Thorpe's admirable edition of the Anglo-Saxon Laws, which he edited for the Record Commission under the title of Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, he will find s.v. "Ciric-Sceat—Primitiæ Seminum church-scot or shot, an ecclesiastical due payable on the day of St. Martin, consisting chiefly of corn;" a satisfactory answer to his Query, and a reference to this very passage from Canute.]
Welsh Language.—Perhaps some of your correspondents would favour me with a list of the best books treating on the Welsh literature and language; specifying the best grammar and dictionary.
JARLTZBERG.
Armenian Language.—This copious and widely-circulated language is known to but few in this country. If this meets the eye of one who is acquainted with it, will he kindly direct me whither I may find notices of it and its literature? Father Aucher's Grammar, Armenian and English (Venice, 1819), is rather meagre in its details. I have heard it stated, I know not on what authority, that Lord Byron composed the English part of this grammar. This grammar contains the two Apocryphal Epistles found in the Armenian Bible, of the Corinthians to St. Paul, and St. Paul to the Corinthians. Like the Greek and German, "the different modes of producing compound epithets and words are the treasure and ornament of the Armenian language; a thousand varieties of compounded words may be made in this tongue," p. 10. I believe we have no other grammar of this language in English.
JARLTZBERG