Book: Notes and Queries, Number 16, February 16, 1850
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Various >> Notes and Queries, Number 16, February 16, 1850
In Cruttwell's _Tour through the whole Island of Great Britain_ (Lond.
12mo. 1801), vol. v. 208., is the following:--
"Osmondeston, or Schole. The inn here was once remarkable for a
pompous sign, with ridiculous ornaments, and is said to have cost a
thousand pounds; long since decayed."
I shall be glad to be referred to any other notices of this sign, and am
desirous of knowing if any drawing or engraving of it be extant.
C.H. COOPER.
Cambridge, 21st Jan. 1850.
* * * * *
PASSAGES FROM POPE.
In addition to the query of "P.C.S.S." (No. 13. p. 201.), in which I
take great interest, I would beg leave to ask what evidence there is
that Quarles had a _pension?_ He had, indeed, a small _place_ in the
household of James the First's queen, Anne; and if he had a _pension_ on
her death, it would have been from James, not from Charles.
I would also, in reference to Pope, beg leave to propound another query.
In the "Imitation of the 2nd Sat. Book I. of Horace," only to be found
in modern editions, but attributed, I fear, too justly to Pope, there is
an allusion to "poor E----s," who suffered by "_the fatal steel_," for
an intrigue with a royal mistress. E----s is no doubt _John Ellis_, and
the royal mistress the _Duchess of Cleveland_. (See Lord Dover's
Introduction to the "Ellis Correspondence," and "Anecdotes of the Ellis
Family," _Gent. Mag_. 1769. p. 328.) But I cannot discover any trace of
the circumstances alluded to by Pope. Yet Ellis was a considerable man
in his day;--he had been Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in
the reign of Charles II., and was Under-Secretary of State under William
III.; he is said to have afterwards sunk into the humbler character
{246} of a "London magistrate," and to have "died in 1788, at 93 or 95,
immensely rich." I should be glad of any clue to Pope's allusion.
J.W.C.
Feb 12. 1850.
* * * * *
"Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow;
The rest is all but leather and prunello."
_Essay on Man_, Epistle IV. 203.
Will your correspondent "P.C.S.S." (No. 13), evidently a critical reader
of Pope, and probably rich in the possession of various editions of his
works, kindly inform me whether any commentator on the poet has traced
the well-known lines that I have quoted to the "Corcillum est, quod
homines facit, caetera quisquilia omnia" of Petronius Arbiter, cap. 75.?
Pope had certainly both read and admired the _Satyricon_, for he
says:--
"Fancy and art in gay Petronius please,
The scholar's learning with the courtier's ease."
_Essay on Criticism_, sect. 3
I find no note on the lines either in the edition of Warton, 9 vols.
8vo., London, 1797, or in Cary's royal 8vo., London, 1839; but the
similarity strikes me as curious, and deserving further examination.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
* * * * *
BELVOIR CASTLE.
In Nichol's _History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester_, vol.
ii., part i., containing the Framland Hundred, p. 45 of the folio ed.
1795, occurs the following quotation, in reference to the rebuilding of
Belvoir castle by Henry, second Earl of Rutland, in 1555:--
"That part of the more ancient building, which was left by both
unaltered, is included in the following concise description by an
ingenious writer, who visited it in 1722:--
'AEdes in culmine montis sitae, scilicet,
[Greek: aipeia kolonen
En pedio apaneuthe, peridromos entha kai entha]'
aditu difficilis circa montem; cujus latera omnia horti 50 acrarum
circumeunt, nisi versus Aquilonem, quo ascenditur ad ostium aedium
ubi etiam antiqua jauna arcuato lapide. Versus Occidentem 8
fenestrae et 3 in sacello; et ulterior pars vetusta. Versus
Aquilonem 10 fenestrae. Facies Australis et Turris de _Staunton_, in
qui archiva familiae reponuntur, extructa ante annos circa 400. Pars
restat kernellata," &c. &c. &c.
The description goes on for a few more lines; but it matters not to
continue them. I should be much obliged by any of your readers giving an
account of who this "ingenious writer" was, and on what authority he
founded the foregoing observations, as it is a subject of much interest
to me and others at the present time.
ALYTHES.
Jan. 28. 1850.
* * * * *
MINOR QUERIES.
_MSS. formerly belonging to Dr. Hugh Todd_.--I shall feel most grateful
to any of your correspondents who can afford me any information, however
imperfect, respecting the MSS. of Dr. Hugh Todd, Vicar of Penrith, and
Prebendary of Carlisle, in the beginning of the last century. In the
_Cat. MSS. Angliae_, &c., 1697, is a catalogue of nineteen MSS, then in
his possession, five of which are especially the subject of the present
inquiry. One is a Chartulary of the Abbey of Fountains, in 4to; another
is an Act Book of the Consistory Court of York, in the fifteenth
century, in folio; the third is the Chapter Book of the Collegiate
Church of Ripon, from 1452 to 1506; the fourth contains Extracts and
Manuscripts from Records relating to the Church of Ripon; and the last
is apparently a Book of the Acts of the Benefactors to that foundation.
In a letter to Humphrey Lawley, dated in 1713, Dr. Todd says he was
engaged in a work relating to the province of York, and the greater part
of the MSS. in the catalogue above mentioned appear to have been
collected as the materials.
JOHN RICHARD WALBRAN.
Falcroft, Ripon, Jan 31. 1850.
_French Leave_--In No. 5. I perceive several answers to the query
respecting _Flemish Account_, which I presume to be the same as _Dutch
Account_. Can you inform me how the very common expression _French
Leave_ originated?
W.G.B.
_Portugal_.--Can any of your geographical readers inform me if a
Gazetteer of Portugal has been published within these twenty years? If
there has been one, in what language, and where published? Information
of the title of any good modern works on Portugal, giving an account of
the minor places, would be acceptable.
NORTHMAN.
_Tureen_--How and whence is the term "tureen" derived?--and when was it
introduced?
"At the top there was tripe in a swinging tureen."
Goldsmith's _Haunch of Venison_.
G.W.
_Military Execution_.--I am very anxious to be referred to the authority
for the following anecdote, and remark made on it:--
"Some officer, or state prisoner, on being led out to be shot,
refused either to listen to a confessor, or to cover his eyes with
a handkerchief."
The remark was, that "he refused a bandage for either mind or body." It
smacks somewhat of Voltaire.
MELANION.
_Change of Name_.--If, as it appears by a recent decision, based,
perhaps, on a former one by Lord Tenterden, that a man may alter his
name {247} as he pleases _without the royal license_, I wish to know
what then, is the use of the royal license?
B.
_The Symbolism of the Fir-Cone_. What does the "fir-cone" in the
Ninevite sculptures mean? Layard does not explain it. Is it there as the
emblem of fecundity, as the pomegranate of Persia and Syria? Has it
altogether the same character as the latter fruit? Then--was it carried
into Hindostan _via_ Cashmir? When? By the first wave of population
which broke through the passes of the Parapamisus?
B.C.
_Kentish Ballad_.--When I was a boy, I can remember hearing a song sung
in Kent, in praise of that country, which I never could find in print,
and of which I am now glad to recollect the following stanza:--
"When Harold was invaded,
And falling lost his crown,
And Norman William waded
Through gore to pull him down;
When countries round
With fear profound,
To help their sad condition,
And lands to save,
Base homage gave,
Bold Kent made no submission."
Can any reader furnish the remainder, and state who is the author?
F.B.
_Curious Monumental Brass_.--I have a rubbing of a Brass, presenting
some peculiarities which have hitherto puzzled me, but which probably
some of your more experienced correspondents can clear up.
The Brass, from which the rubbing is taken (and which was formerly in
the Abbey church of St. Albans, but when I saw it was detached and lying
at the Rectory), is broken off a little below the waist; it represents
an abbot, or bishop, clad in an ornamented chasuble, tunic, stole, and
alb, with a maniple and pastoral staff. So far all is plain; but at the
back (i.e. on the surface hidden when the Brass lay upon the floor) is
engraved a dog with a collar and bells, apparently as carefully executed
as any other part. Can you tell me the meaning of this? I can find no
mention of the subject either in Boutell or any other authority. The
fragment is about 18 inches long, and the dog about 6, more or less.
RAHERE.
Jan. 26, 1850.
_Tickhill, God help me_.--Can any one tell why A Tickhill man, when
asked where he comes from, says, "Tickhill, God help me." Is it because
the people at Tickhill are famed for misery, as the neighbouring town of
Blythe seems to have been so called from its jolly citizens?
R.F. JOHNSON.
_Bishop Blaize_.--I should be much obliged by any reference to
information respecting Bishop Blaize, the Santo Biagio of Agrigentum,
and patron saint of Ragusa. Butler says little but that he was bishop of
Sebaste, in Armenia, the proximity of which place to Colchis appears to
me suspicious. Wonderful and horrible tales are told of him; but I
suspect his patronage of wool-combers is founded on much more ancient
legends. His establishment at Agrigentum must have been previous to
Christianity. I have a vague remembrance of some mention of him in
Higgins's _Anacalypsis_, but I have not now access to that work. I wish
some learned person would do for other countries what Blunt has partly
done for Italy and Sicily; that is, show the connection between heathen
and Christian customs, &c.
F.C.B.
_Vox et praeterea nihil._--Whence come these oft-quoted words? Burton, in
_The Anatomy of Melancholy_ (not having the book by me, I am unable to
give a reference), quotes them as addressed by some one to the
nightingale. Wordsworth addresses the cuckoo similarly, vol. ii. p.
81.:--
"O, cuckoo! shall I call thee bird,
Or but a wandering voice?"
C.W.G.
_Cromwell Relics_.--In Noble's _Memorials of the Protectorate House of
Cromwell_ it is stated, in the Proofs and Illustrations, Letter N, that
in 1784, there were dispersed in St. Ives a great number of swords,
bearing the initials of the Protector upon them; and, further, that a
large barn, which Oliver built there, was still standing, and went by
the name of Cromwell's Barn; and that the farmer then renting the farm
occupied by the Protector circa 1630-36, marked his sheep with the
identical marking-irons which Oliver used, and which had O.C. upon them.
Can any of your correspondents inform me if any of these relics are
still in existence, and, if so, where?
A.D.M.
_Lines on "Woman's Will_."--Many of your readers will have heard quoted
the following stanza, or something like it:--
"The man's a fool who strives by force or skill
To stem the torrent of a woman's will;
For if she will, she will you may depend on't,
And if she won't, she won't, and there's an end on't."
I have heard these lines confidently attributed to Shakspeare, Byron,
&c. by persons unable to verify the quotation, when challenged so to do.
I can point out where the first two lines may be found with some
variation. In _The Adventures of Five Hours_, a comedy translated from
the Spanish of Calderon, by Samuel Tuke, and {248} printed in the 12th
volume of Dodsley's _Old Plays_ (edit. 1827), in the 5th act (p. 113.),
the lines run thus:--
"He is a fool, who thinks by force or skill
To turn the current of a woman's will."
I should be glad if any one could inform me by whom the latter lines
were added, and where they may be found in print.
C.W.G.
_Pity is akin to Love_.--Where are the following words to be met
with?--
"For Pity is akin to Love."
I have found very similar expressions, but never the exact words as
above.
H.
* * * * *
REPLIES.
AELFRIC'S COLLOQUY, AND THE A.-S. WORD AEGYPE IN THE A.-S. PSALTER.
In reference to MR. THORPE'S note (No. 15. p. 232.), I beg leave, with
all possible respect and deference, to suggest that his joke is not
quite _ad rem_.--What would do for a _beefsteak_ does not help his
_mistake_; for it is quite evident that _sprote_ applies to
fish-_swimming_ and not to fish-_catching_; and I presume that "useful
and sagacious" auxiliary, Dr. Kitchener himself, would hardly have
ventured to deny that _fish_ may _swim quickly_?
Now let us try how MR. THORPE'S proposed _salice=wicker_, or _sallow_,
with or without the _basket_, will suit the context. The fisherman is
asked, "Quales pisces capias? = What fish do you take?" The answer is
Anguillos &c. &c. et qualescunque in amne natant salu = Eels &c. &c.,
and every sort whatever that in water swimmeth [wicker/sallow] basket!
Let it be remembered that the question here is not, "_How_ dost thou
take fish?" which had been put and _answered before_, but "_What_ fish
dost thou take?" and then let common sense decide; for the fisherman
having already mentioned that he cast _nets_ and _hooks_, and
[_spyrian_/spartas], i.e. _baskets_, now only replies as to the _fish_
he takes.
MR. THORPE calls the A.-S. dialogue a _Gloss_; is it not rather an
_interlineary version_? like those in use, in later times, of Corderius,
and used for the same purpose.
I have no doubt that upon more mature consideration MR. THORPE will see
that it could not be a substantive that was intended; and, as he admits
my conjecture to be _specious_, that he will, in the course of his very
useful labours, ultimately find it not only specious but correct.
Meanwhile, I submit to his consideration, that beside the analogy of the
Gothic _sprauto_, we have in Icelandic _spretta_, imperf. _spratt_,
"subito movere, repente salire, emicare;" and _sprettr_, "cursus
citatus," and I do think these analogies warrant my conclusion.
I embrace this opportunity of submitting another _conjecture_ respecting
a word in MR. THORPE'S edition of the _Anglo-Saxon Paraphrase of the
Psalms_. It occurs in Ps. cvi. ver. 10., "Quid exacerbaverunt eloquium
Domini," &c., which is rendered: "Forthon hidydan Drihtnes spraece aegwaes
_aegype_." In a note MR. THORPE says: "_aegype_, non intelligo," and gives
a reason for deeming the passage corrupt. To me it seems to express the
generally accepted sense of _exacerbaverunt_: and here a cognate
language will show us the way. Icelandic _geip_, futilis exaggeratio;
_atgeipa_, exaggerare, effutire: _aegype_, then, means to _mock_, to
_deride_, and is allied to _gabban_, to gibe, to jape. In the Psalter
published by Spelman it is rendered: hi _gremedon_ spraece godes. In
Notker it is _widersprachen_, and in the two old Teutonic interlinear
version of the Psalms, published by Graff, _verbitterten_ and
_gebittert_. Let us hear our own interesting old satirist, Piers
Plouhman [Whitaker's ed. p. 365.]:
And God wol nat be gyled, quoth Gobelyn, ne be _japed_.
But I cease, lest your readers should exclaim, Res non verba. When I
have more leisure for _word-catching_, should you have space, I may
furnish a few more.
S.W. SINGER.
Feb. 11. 1850.
_AElfric's Colloquy_.--I have my doubts whether MR. SINGER'S ingenious
suggestions for explaining the mysterious word _sprote_ can be
sustained. The Latin sentence appears clearly to end with the word
_natant_, as is not only the case in the St. John's MS., mentioned in
MR. THORPE'S note, but in fact, also in the Cottonian MS. There is a
point after _natant_, and then follows the word _Saliu_ (not _salu_)
with a capital _S_. Any person who examines the handwriting of this MS.
will see that the word, whatever the transcriber may have understood by
it, was intended by him to stand alone. He must, however, have written
it without knowing what it meant; and then comes the difficulty of
explaining how it got into the MS. from which he copied. It has always
appeared to me probable that the name of some fish, having been first
interlined, was afterwards inserted at random in the text, and mis-spelt
by a transcriber who did not know its meaning. A word of common
occurrence he would have been less likely to mistake. Can _saliu_ be a
mistake for _salar_, and _sprote_ the Anglo-Saxon form of the
corresponding modern word _sprod_, i.e. the salmon of the second year?
The _salar_ is mentioned by Ausonius in describing the river Moselle and
its products (_Idyll_. 10, l. 128.). {249}
"Teque inter species geminas neutrumque et utrumque,
Qui necdum salmo, nec jam salar, ambiguusque
Amborum medio fario intercepte sub aevo."
I throw out this conjecture to take its chance of refutation or
acceptance. Valeat quantum!
C.W.G.
* * * * *
ANTONY ALSOP.
"R.H." (No. 14, p. 215.) will find all, I believe, that is known
respecting Antony Alsop, in that rich storehouse of materials for the
literary history of the last century, Nichols's _Anecdotes_, or in
Chalmers (_Biog. Dict._), who has merely transcribed from it. The volume
of _Latin Odes_ your correspondent mentions, was published by Sir
Francis Bernard, and printed by Bowyer. Some notice of Sir Francis
Bernard will also be found in Nichols.
The _Odes_ were long circulated in MS.; and I have a copy that once
belonged to Thomas Warton, which seems to have been written by G.
Crochly, of Christchurch College, in 1736. It contains, however, nothing
that is not to be found in the printed volume. The Dedication to the
Duke of Newcastle was written by Bernard, who had intended to have given
a preface and copious notes, as appears by the prospectus he published:
but, to our great regret, he was dissuaded from his purpose.
Alsop was a favourite with that worthy man and elegant scholar Dean
Aldrich, at whose instance he published his pleasing little volume,
_Fabularum AEsopicarum Delectus_, Oxon. 1698. In the preface Bentley is
thus designated--"Richardum quendam Bentleium Virum in volvendis Lexicus
satis diligentem:" and there is a severe attack upon him in one of the
fables, which was not forgotten by the great scholar, who affects to
speak of Tony Alsop the fabulist with great contempt.
I have never seen the volume of _Latin and English Poems_ published in
1738; but, notwithstanding the designation, "a gentleman of Trinity
College," it may be at least partly by Alsop, though he undoubtedly was
of Christchurch. There are English poems by him, published both in
Dodsley's and Pearch's collection, and several in the early volumes of
the _Gentleman's Magazine_. I have the authority of a competent judge
for saying, that the very witty, but not quite decent verses in that
miscellany, vol. v. p. 216--"Ad Hypodidasculum quendam plagosum, alterum
orbilium, ut uxorem duceret, Epistola hortativa." Subscribed "Kent,
Lady-day, 1835"--are Alsop's. He took the degree of M.A. in 1696, and of
B.D. in 1706, and, by favour of the Bishop of Winchester, got a prebend
in his cathedral, and the rectory of Brightwell, Berks. He was
accidentally drowned in a ditch leading to his garden gate, in 1726.
There is good reason to believe that a MS. life of him is to be found
among the Rawlinson MSS., which it may be worth while to consult.
It will be remembered that Christchurch was the head-quarters of the
phalanx of wits opposed to Bentley.
"Nor wert thou, Isis, wanting to the day,
[Tho' Christchurch long kept prudishly away,"]
is Pope's ironical banter; and he has not failed to mention Alsop and
Freind in Bentley's speech:--
"Let Freind affect to speak as Terence spoke,
And Alsop never but like Horace joke,"
where the note says, "Dr. Antony Alsop, a happy imitator of the Horatian
style."
Indeed, Alsop seems to have been duly esteemed and appreciated by his
contemporaries; and every tasteful scholar will concur in the opinion
that his truly elegant Sapphics deserve a place among the few volumes of
modern Latin verse, which he would place near Cowper's more extensively
known favourite, Vinny Bourne.
S.W.S.
Antony Alsop, respecting whom a query appears in No. 14. p. 215., was of
Christchurch, under the famous Dr. Aldrich, by whom the practice of
smoking was so much enjoyed and encouraged. The celebrated Sapphic ode,
addressed by Alsop to Sir John Dolben, professes to have been written
with a pipe in his mouth:--
"Dum tubum, ut mos est meus, ore versans,
Martiis pensans quid agam calendas,
Pone stat Sappho monitisque miscet
Blanda severis."
Ant. Alsop took his degree of M.A. March 23. 1696, B.D. Dec. 1706. He
died June 10, 1726; and the following notice of his death appears in the
_Historical Register_ for that year:--
"Dy'd Mr. Antony Alsop, Prebendary of Winchester, and Rector of
Brightwell, in the county of Berks. He was killed by falling into a
ditch that led to his garden door, the path being narrow, and part of it
foundering under his feet."
I believe Alsop was not the author of a volume by a gentleman of Trinity
College, and that he never was a member of that society; but that doubt
is easily removed by reference to the entry of his matriculation at
Oxford.
W.H.C.
Temple.
"R.H." inquires, whether Antony Alsop was at Trinity College before he
became a student of Christchurch? I have considered it to be my duty to
examine the Admission Registers of Trinity College in my possession
since the foundation of the college; and I can only say, that I do not
find the name in any of them. That he was at Christchurch, and admitted
there as a student, is recorded by his biographers. It is also {250}
said, that he was elected at once from Westminster to Christchurch,
where he took the degree of M.A. March 23. 1696, and that of B.D. Dec.
12. 1706. He was soon distinguished by Dean Aldrich as worthy of his
patronage and encouragement. He was consequently appointed tutor and
censor, and in course of time left college, on his promotion to a
prebendal stall in Winchesser Cathedral by Sir Jonathan Trelawney, the
then Bishop, with the rectory of Brightwell, near Wallingford; at which
latter place he chiefly resided till the time of his death, which
happened by an accident, June 10. 1726. Sir Francis Bernard, Bart., who
had himself been a student of Christchurch, published the 4to. volume of
_Latin Odes_ mentioned by "R.H.," Lond. 1753; for which he had issued
_Proposals_, &c., so early as July, 1748. In addition to these _Odes_,
four English poems by Alsop are said to be in Dodsley's collection, one
in Pearch's, several in the early volumes of the _Gentleman's Magazine_,
and some in _The Student_. Dr. Bentley calls him, rather familiarly,
"Tony Alsop, editor of the _AEsopian Fables_;" a work published by him at
Oxford, in 1698, 8 vo., in the preface to which he took part against Dr.
Bentley, in the dispute with Mr. Boyle.
J.I.
Trinity College, Oxford.
* * * * *
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.
_Origin of the Word "Snob"_.--I think that _Snob_ is not an archaism,
and that it cannot be found in any book printed fifty years ago. I am
aware that in the north of England shoe-makers are still sometimes
called _Snobs_; but the word is not in Brockett's _Glossary of North
Country Words_, which is against its being a genuine bit of northern
dialect.
I fancy that _Snobs_ and _Nobs_, as used in vulgar parlance, are of
classic derivation; and, most probably, originated at one of the
Universities, where they still flourish. If a _Nob_ be one who is
_nobilis_, a _Snob_ must be one who is _s[ine] nob[ilitate]_. Not that I
mean to say that the _s_ is literally a contraction of _sine_; but that,
as in the word slang, the _s_, which is there prefixed to _language_, at
once destroys the better word, and degrades its meaning; and as, in
Italian, an _s_ prefixed to a primitive word has a privative
effect--e.g. _calzare_, "to put on shoes and stockings;" _scalzare_, "to
put them off:" _fornito_, "furnished;" _sfornito_, "unfurnished," &c.;
as also the _dis_, in Latin (from which, possibly, the aforesaid _s_ is
derived), has the like reversing power, as shown in _continue_ and
_discontinue_--so _nob_, which is an abbreviation of _nobilis_, at once
receives the most ignoble signification on having an _s_ put before it.
The word _Scamp_, meaning literally a fugitive from the field, one _qui
ex campo exit_, affords another example of the power of the initial _s_
to reverse the signification of a word.
All this, Mr. Editor, is only conjecture, in reply to "ALPHA's" query
(No. 12 p. 185.); but perhaps you will receive it, if no better
etymology of the word be offered.
A.G.
Ecclesfield, Jan. 21. 1850.
_Derivation(?) of "Snob" and "Cad."_--I am informed by my son, who goeth
to a Latin school, that _Snob_ (which is a word he often useth) cometh
of two Latin words; to wit, "_sine obolo_"--as who should say, "one that
hath not a cross to bless himself." He saith, that the man behind the
omnibus is called "_Cad_," "_a non cadendo_." Your humble servant,