Book: Notes and Queries, Number 16, February 16, 1850
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Various >> Notes and Queries, Number 16, February 16, 1850
THE GOVERNOR.
* * * * *
_Mr. Macaulay and Bishop Burnet_.--The passage in which Mr. Macaulay
calls Burnet "a rash and partial writer," alluded to by your
correspondent in No. 3. p. 40., occurs towards the end of his Essay on
"Sir William Temple," p. 456. of the new edition in one volume.
ETONIENSIS.
* * * * *
_Circulation of the Blood_.--"A.W." (No. 13. p. 202.) is referred to
Smith's _Dictionary of Biography_, article NEMESIUS.
J.E.B. MAYOR.
* * * * *
_Genealogy of European Sovereigns_.--I send the full title of a book
which I would recommend to your correspondent "Q.X.Z.," (No. 6. p.
92.):--
GENEALOGIE ASCENDANTE,
JUSQU'AU QUATRIEME DEGRE INCLUSIVEMENTS, De tous les Rois et
Princes de Maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans;
reduite en CXIV. Tables de XVI. Quartiers, composees selon les
Principes du Blazon; avec une Table Generale.
* * * * *
"La noblesse, Daugaux, n'est point une chimere, Quand sous
l'etroite loi d'une vertu severe, Un homme, issu d'un sang fecond
en demi-dieux, Suit, comme toi, la trace ou marchaient ses ayeux."
Boileau, S.v.
* * * * *
A BERLIN:
Au Depens de l'Autheur: se vend chez Etienne de Bourdeaux, Libraire;
imprime chez Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel.
MDCCLXVIII.
I presume that it is of some rarity, never having met with any other
copy than the one from which I transcribed this title.
Some of your correspondents may, perhaps, be able to give the name of
the Author who, as far as I have had occasion to refer, seems to have
done his work carefully.
T.W.
* * * * *
_Sir Stephen Fox._--I have seen it stated in some biographical
dictionary, that Sir Stephen Fox was a younger brother of "John Fox,
Esq.," who was a devoted Royalist at the time of the great Rebellion,
and fought at the battle of Worcester, {251} and after the Restoration
was Clerk of the Acatry, in the household of Charles the Second.
Mr. Suckling, in his _History of Suffolk_, claims for a family some time
seated at Stradbrook, in that county, a consanguinity with the
descendants of Sir Stephen.
On an altar-tomb in Stadbrook churchyard are inscribed notices of many
members of this family, but without dates. One is rather extraordinary,
making the lives of a father and son together to amount to 194 years.
Amongst them is this:--
"Here is hourly expected, Simon the next descendant, with his son
Simon, who died young, tho' still preserved to be interr'd with his
father at the earnest request of his pious mother the Lady Hart.
And also Major John Fox, with his issue, who during the late
rebellion loyally behav'd himself, undergoing with great courage
not only the danger of the field, but many severe imprisonments."
The arms on this tomb differ from those of Lords Ilchester and Holland,
being simply three foxes' heads erased.
Should this note supply a clue for your correspondent "VULPES" to
identify Major John Fox with the brother of Sir Stephen, on knowing that
he has found the scent I shall be able to assist him in unearthing the
whole litter.
VENATOR.
_French Maxim_.--The maxim inquired after by "R.V." (No. 14. p. 215.)
undoubtedly belongs to Rochefoucault. I have met with a somewhat similar
passage in Massillon:--
"Le vice rend hommage a la vertu en s'honorant de sus apparences."
J.B.M.
Feb. 5. 1850.
_Shipster_.--A _scip-steora_ among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors was a pilot
("_ship-steerer_"). The word has descended to our own times in the
surname of the family Shipster. As a common noun it was not obsolete in
the days of Wynkyn de Worde, who printed that curious production "_Cock
Lorelle's Bote_," one line of which runs thus:--
"With gogle-eyed Tomson, _shepster_ of Lyn."
It is pretty certain, however, that this masculine occupation was not
the one followed by "Marie Fraunceys de Suthwerk!"
Pray accept this "Reply" for what it is worth. Perhaps I might have done
better by meeting Mr. John R. Fox's "Query" (No. 14. p. 216.) with
another. Should not the designation of Marie F. be _Spinster_ instead of
Shipster?
MARK ANTONY LOWER.
Lewes, Feb. 2.
_Sparse_.--Permit me to refer your correspondent "C. FORBES" for a reply
to his query, p. 215. of your last Number, to the article "Americanism"
in the _Penny Cyclopaedia_, the author of which observes:--
"_Sparse_ is, for any thing we know, a new word, and well applied;
the Americans say a _sparse_ instead of a scattered population; and
we think the term has a more precise meaning than scattered, and is
the proper correlative of _dense_."
In the _Imperial Dictionary_ (avowedly based upon Webster's American
work, which I cannot at this moment refer to in its original form), the
word in question is given both as an adjective and as a verb, and the
derivatives "sparsed," "sparsedly," "sparsely," and "sparseness," are
also admitted. The reference given for the origin of "sparse" is to the
Latin "_sparsus_, scattered, from _spargo_;" and the definitions are, 1.
"Thinly scattered, set or planted here and there; as, a _sparse_
population:" and, 2., as a botanical term, "not opposite, not alternate,
nor in any regular order; applied to branches, leaves, peduncles, &c."
J.T. STANESBY.
_Cosmopolis--Complutensian Polyglot_.--Though in considerable haste, I
must send replies to the fourth and eighth queries of my friend Mr.
Jebb, No. 14. p. 213.
_Cosmopolis_ was certainly Amsterdam. That the _Interpretationes
paradoxae quatuor Evangeliorum_, by Christophorus Christophori Sandius,
were there printed, appears from this writer's _Bibliotheca
Anti-Trinitarionum_, p. 169., Freistad, 1684. I may add that "Coloniae"
signifies "Amstelaedami" in the title-page of Sandius's _Nucleus Historiae
Ecclesiasticae_, 1676, and in the _Appendix Addendorum_, 1678, 4to.
With regard to the MSS. used in the formation of the text of the
_Complutensian Polyglot_, Mr. Jebb will find an account of their
discovery in a letter addressed by Dr. James Thompson to the editor of
_The Biblical Review_. See also _The Irish Ecclesiastical Journal_ for
April 1847.
R.G.
_Complutensian Polyglot_.--The following extract from "The Prospectus of
a Critical Edition of the New Testament," by the learned Mr. S. Prideaux
Tregelles, affords a satisfactory reply to Mr. Jebb's query, No. 14. p.
212.:--
"However there is now more certainty as to the MSS. belonging to
the University of Alcala. Dr. James Thompson has published
(_Biblical Review_, March, 1847), the result of inquiries made
thirty years ago by Dr. Bowring, and more recently by himself.
Hence it appears that all the MSS. which formerly were known as
belonging to Cardinal Ximenes, and which were preserved in the
library of Alcala, are now with the rest of that library, at
Madrid....Dr. Jose Gutierrez, the present librarian at Madrid,
communicated to Dr. J. Thomson a catalogue of the Complutensian
MSS., and from this it appears that the principal MSS. used in the
Polyglott are all safely preserved."
J. MILNER BARRY.
Totnes, Feb. 6. 1850.
* * * * *{252}
_Christmas Hymn._--Your correspondent "E.V." (No. 13. p. 201.) asks for
the author of the Christmas Hymn--
"Hark! the Herald Angels sing."
I believe it to be the composition of the Rev. Charles Wesley, the
younger brother of the celebrated John Wesley: he was born in 1708, and
died in 1788. He was the author of many of the hymns in his brother's
collection, which are distinguished for their elegance and simplicity. I
am not able to find out, for certain, whether he had another name; if he
had, it was probably the occasion of the initials (J.C.W.) your
correspondent mentions.
J.K.R.W.
_Sir Jeffery Wyattville._--Sir Jeffery Wyattville, respecting whom
"J.P." inquires (No. 14. p. 215.), was knighted at Windsor Castle, Dec.
9, 1828., on the king entering into possession after the restoration.
S.G.
[To which may be added, on the information of our valued correspondent
"C.," "that it was about 1824 that Mr. Wyatt, being appointed by George
IV. to conduct the improvements at Windsor Castle, had the absurd
ambition of distinguishing himself from the other architects of his name
by changing it to _Wyattville_. This produced the following epigram in,
I think, the _Morning Chronicle_:--
"'Let GEORGE whose restlessness leaves nothing quiet,
Change, if he will, the good old name of _Wyatt_;
But let us hope that their united skill
May not make _Windsor Castle--Wyattsville!_'"]
_"Peruse."_--In reply to the question of "H.W." (No. 14. p. 215.),
although from want of minute reference I have been unable to find, in
the original edition, the quotation from Frith's works, I beg leave to
suggest that the word "Peruse" is a misprint, and that the true reading
is "Pervise." To this day the first examination at Oxford, commonly
called the "Little-Go," is "Responsiones in _Parviso_." It must not,
however, be supposed that "Pervise," or "Parvise," is derived from the
Latin "Parvus;" the origin, according to Spelman and succeeding
etymologists, is the French "Le Parvis," a church porch.
In London the Parvis was frequented by serjeants at law: see Chaucer,
_Prol. Cant. Tales_. There is a difference of opinion where it was
situated: see Tyrwhitt's _Gloss_. The student in ecclesiastical history
may compare _Leo Allatius de Templis Graecorum_, p. 44.
T.J.
_Autograph Mottoes of Richard Duke of Gloucester and Harry Duke of
Buckingham_. (No. 9. p. 138.)--There can be no doubt that "Mr. NICOLS"
is somewhat wrong in his interpretation of the Duke of Buckingham's
Motto. It is evident that both mottoes are to be read continuously, and
that "souene" is the third person singular of a verb having "loyaulte"
for its nominative case. It appears to me that the true reading of the
word is "soutienne," and that the meaning of the motto is "My feelings
of loyalty often sustain me in my duty to the King when I am tempted to
join those who bear no good feeling towards him." So that we shall have
in English,
Loyalty binds me}
Richard Gloucester.}
Often sustains me}
Harry Buckingham.}
ARUN.
_Boduc._--Your correspondent "P." (No. 12, p. 185.) seems to consider
the "prevailing opinion," that _Boduc_ or _Boduoc_ on the British coin
must be intended for our magnanimous Queen Boadicea, to be merely a
"pleasing vision," over which he is "_sorry_ to cast a cloud." Yet his
own remark, that the name Budic (a mere difference in spelling) is often
found among families of the Welsh in Brittany, and that the name was
once common in England, serves only to confirm the common opinion that
_Boduoc_ on the coins was intended as the name of the British Queen.
Dio expressly writes her name in Greek Boudouica, which approaches
nearly to Budic. In Cornwall we still find Budock, the name of a parish
and of a saint. In Oxford there was a church formerly called from St.
Budoc, long since destroyed. Leland mentions a Mr. Budok, and his manor
place, and S. Budok Church. His opinion was, that "this Budocus was an
Irisch man, and cam into Cornewalle, and ther dwellid." Whether there
was a Regulus of Britain of this name, is not material. I am not
prepared to cast a cloud over it, if it should be found. Our motto
should be, "ex fumo dare lucem," &c.
ANTINEPHELEGERETA.
Oxford.
_Annus Trabeationis_.--I am sure that you will allow me to correct an
oversight in your reply to a query of "G.P.," in No. 7. p. 105. You have
attributed to Du Cange a sentence in the Benedictine addition to his
explanation of the term _Trabeatio_. (_Glossar_. tom. vi. col. 1158.
Venet. 1740.) This word certainly signifies the Incarnation of Christ,
an not his Crucifixion. Besides the occurrence of "trabea carnis
indutus," at the commencement of a sermon on S. Stephen by S. Fulgentius
Ruspensis, I have just now met with the expressions, "trabea carnis
velatus," and "carnis trabea amicti," in a copy of the _editio princeps_
of the Latin version of Damascen's books in defence of Image-worship, by
Godefridus Tilmannus, fol. 30 b. 39 a, 4to. Paris, 1555.
R.G.
* * * * *{253}
MISCELLANIES.
_Pursuits of Literature._--The lines upon the pursuits of literature,
quoted by you at p. 212., remind me of some others, which I have heard
ascribed to Mr. Grattan, and are as follows:--
"'Tis well, Pursuits of Literature!
But who, and what is the pursuer,
A Jesuit cursing Popery:
A railer preaching charity;
A reptile, nameless and unknown,
Sprung from the slime of Warburton,
Whose mingled learning, pride, and blundering,
Make wise men stare, and set fools wondering."
X.
_Doctor Dobbs and his Horse Nobbs_.--I remember having read somewhere of
"Doctor Dobbs and his horse Nobbs," but where I cannot now recall. I
only remember one anecdote. The horse Nobbs was left, one cold night,
outside a cottage, whilst the Doctor was within officiating as
accoucheur (I believe); when he was ready to start, and came out, he
found the horse apparently dead. The Doctor was miles from home, and, as
the horse was dead, and the night dark, in place of walking home, he,
with his host, dragged the horse into the kitchen, and skinned him, by
way of passing the time profitably. But, lo! when the skinning was
finished, the horse gave signs of returning animation. What was to be
done? Doctor Dobbs, fertile in resources, got sheepskins and sewed them
on Nobbs, and completely clothed him therein; and--mirabile dictu!--the
skins became attached to the flesh, Nobbs recovered, and from
thenceforward carried a _woolly_ coat, duly shorn every summer, to the
profit of Doctor Dobbs, and to the wonder and admiration of the
neighbourhood.
I have also read somewhere that Coleridge told the story of "Doctor
Dobbs and his horse Nobbs" to Southey at Oxford.
J.M.B.
_Dr. Dobbs and his Horse Nobbs_.--Although of small moment, it is,
perhaps, worth recording, that a Doctor Daniel Dove, of Doncaster, and
his horse Nobbs, form the subjects of a paper in "The Nonpareil, or the
Quintessence of Wit and Humour," published in 1757, and which, there can
be little doubt, was the source whence Southey adopted, _without
alteration_, the names so well known to all readers of the _Doctor_.
JNO. SUDLOW.
Manchester.
Seeing the communication of "P.C.S.S." (p. 73.), reminds me of a note
taken from our Parish Register:--
"1723. Feb. 10. 'Dorothy Dove, gentlewoman, bur.'"
I have never seen the name in connection with Doncaster before or since
the above date.
J.S.
Doncaster, Jan. 15.
--SI PROPIUS STES,
TE CAPIET MINUS.
_(From the Latin of Vincent Bourne.)_
Glide down the Thames by London Bridge, what time
St. Saviour's bells strike out their evening chime;
Forth leaps the ompetuous cataract of sound,
Dash'd into noise by countless echoes round.
Pass on--it follows--all the jarring notes
Blend in celestial harmony, that floats
Above, below, around: the ravish'd ear
Finds all the fault its own--it was TOO NEAR.
RUFUS.
_St. Evona's Choice._--To your citation of Ben Jonson's exceptional case
of the Justice Randall as "a lawyer an honest man," in justice add the
name of the learned and elegant author of _Eunomus_; for Mr. Wynne
himself tells the story of St. Evona's choice (Dialogue II. p. 62. 3rd
ed. Dublin, 1791), giving his authority in the following note:--
"The story here dressed up is told in substance in a small book
published in 1691, called a _Description of the Netherlands_," p.
58.
In strict law, Sir, the profession may in courts of Momus be held bound
by the act of the respectable but unlucky St. Evona; but in equity, let
me respectfully claim release, for Evona was a _churchman_.
A TEMPLAR.
[We gladly insert our correspondent's "claim to release," but doubt
whether he can establish it; inasmuch as St. Ivo or Evona, canonized on
account of his great rectitude and profound knowledge both of civil and
canon law, was both lawyer and churchman, like the CLERICUS so recently
discussed in our columns; and clearly sought for and obtained his patron
saint in his legal character.]
_Muffins and Crumpets, &c._--Not being quite satisfied with the
etymology of "muffin," in p. 205., though brought by Urquhart from
Phoenicia and the Pillars of Hercules, I am desirous of seeking
additional illustration. Some fancy that "coffee" was known to Athenaeus,
and that he saw it _clearly_ in the "black broth" of the Lacedaemonian
youth. In the same agreeable manner we are referred to that instructive
and entertaining writer for the corresponding luxury of "muffins."
_Maphula_, we are told, was one of those kinds of bread named as such by
Athenaeus; that is to say, "a cake baked on a hearth or griddle." If we
need go so far, why not fetch our muffins from Memphis, which is _Moph_
in Hebrew? (See _Hosea_, ix. 6.) It is, perhaps, _mou-pain_, in old
French, _soft bread_, easily converted into _mouffin_. So "crumpet" may
be a corruption of _crumpate_ a paste made of fine flour, slightly
baked. The only difficulty would then be in the {254} first syllable,
concerning, which the ingenuity of your various correspondents, Mr.
Editor, may be exercised to some effect. Is it connected with the use of
the _crimping_ irons in producing these delicacies?
HYPOMAGIRUS.
Oxford.
_Dulcarnon_.--Dulcarnon is one of those words in Chaucer which Tyrwhitt
professes that he does not understand. It occurs in _Trolius and
Creseide_, book iii. 931.933. Creseide says:--
"I am, til God me better minde sende,
At _Dulcarnon_, right at my witt'is ende.
Quod Pandarus ye nece, wol ye here,
_Dulcarnon_ clepid is fleming[3] of wretches."
This passage of _Trolius and Creseide_ is quoted in the life of Sir
Thomas More, given in Wordsworth's _Ecclesiastical Biography_. More's
daughter said to him, when he was in prison, "Father, I can no further
goe; I am come, as Chaucer said of Cressid Dulcarnon, to my witt's end."
Has this passage been satisfactorily explained since Tyrwhitt's time?
The epithet "Dulcarnon" is mentioned in a note to the translation of
Richard de Bury's _Philobiblon_, London, 1832. I give the note in full.
It is in reference to the word "Ellefuga":--
"This word was a pons asinorum to some good Grecians,--but that is
probably its meaning[4]; at least making it the name of a problem
gets over all difficulty. The allusion is to the flight of Helle,
who turned giddy in taking a flying leap, mounted on a ram, and
fell into the sea;--so weak a head fails in crossing the pons. The
problem was invented by Pythagoras, 'and it hath been called by
barbarous writers of the latter time Dulcarnon,'--_Billingsley_.
This name may have been invented after our author's time. Query
[Greek: dolkarenon]."
If we take the words "Dulcarnon" in this sense, it will help to explain
the passage in the _Troilus and Creseide_.
E.M.B.
_Bishop Barnaby_.--The origin of the term "Bishop Barnaby," as applied
to the Lady-bird, is still unexplained.
I wish to observe, as having some possible connexion with the subject,
that the word "Barnaby" in the seventeenth century appears to have had a
particular political signification.
For instance, I send you a pamphlet (which you are welcome to, if you
will accept of it) called "_The Head of Nile, or the Turnings and
Windings of the Factious since Sixty, in a dialogue between Whigg and
Barnaby_," London, 1681. In this dialog, Whigg, as might be expected, is
the exponent of all manner of abominable opinions, whilst Barnaby is
represented as the supporter of orthodoxy.
Again, in the same year was published Durfey's comedy, "_Sir Barnaby
Whigg_," the union of the two names indicating that the knight's
opinions were entirely regulated by his interest.
Q.D.
P.S. The pamphlet above alluded to affords another instance of the use
of the word "Factotum," at page 41.: "before the Pope had a great house
there, and became Dominus Factotum, Dominus Deus noster Papu."
_Barnacles_.--In _Speculum Mundi, or a Glass representing the Face of
the World_, by John Swan, M.A., 4th edit., 1670, is the following
mention of the Barnacle goose (pp. 243, 244.):--
"In the north parts of _Scotland_, and in the places adjacent,
called _Orchades_, are certain trees found, whereon there groweth a
certain kind of shell-fish, of a white colour, but somewhat tending
to a russet; wherein are contained little living creatures. For in
time of maturity the shells do open, and out of them by little and
little grow those living creatures; which falling into the water
when they drop out of their shells, do become fowls, such as we
call _Barnacles_ or _Brant Geese_; but the other that fall upon the
land, perish and come to nothing."
The author then quotes the passage from Gerard where mention is made of
the Barnacle.
HENRY KERSLEY.
_Ancient Alms-Dishes_.--I have one of these dishes; diameter 1 foot
4-3/4 inches, and its height 1-1/2 inch. The centre is plain, without
any device, and separated from the circle of inscription by a bold
embossed pattern.
The inscription is _Der infrid gehwart_, in raised (not engraved)
capital letters, 1 inch long, repeated three times in the circle. Mine
is a handsome dish of mixed metal; yielding, when struck, a fine sound
like that of a gong. It has devices of leaves, &c. engraved on the broad
margin, but no date.
I have seen another such dish, in the collection of the late William
Hooper, Esq., of Ross, part of which (and I think the whole of the under
side) had been enamelled, as part of the enamel still adhered to it. In
the centre was engraved the temptation in Eden; but it was without
legend or date.
P.H.F.
_Why the American Aborigines are called Indians_.--I have often
wondered how the aborigines of America came to be called Indians; and
for a considerable time I presumed it to be a popular appellation
arising from their dark colour. Lately, however, I fell in with a copy
of _Theatrum Orbis Terrarum_. Antwerp, 1583, by Abraham Ortelius,
geographer to the king; and, in the map entitled _Typus Orbis Terrarum_.
I find America called _America, sive India Nova_. How it came to get
{255} the name of _India Nova_ is of course another question, and one
which at present I cannot answer.
NORTHMAN.
[Footnote 3: Fleming; banishing? from _fleme_, A.S. to banish.]
[Footnote 4: "Helleflight," as given in the translation, p. 178.]
* * * * *
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
The arrangements for the _Exhibition of Works of Ancient and Mediaeval
Art_ at the rooms of the Society of Arts in the Adelphi, are proceeding
most satisfactorily. Her MAJESTY and PRINCE ALBERT have manifested the
interest they feel in its success, by placing at the disposal of the
Committee for the purposes of the approaching Exhibition a selection
from the magnificent collection of such objects which is preserved at
Windsor.
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, of 191. Piccadilly, will sell on Thursday
next, and five following days, the extensive and valuable Library of a
well known and eminent Collector; comprising some very early printed
books of extreme rarity, numerous French, Spanish, and Italian early
Romances, an extensive series of ancient Italian Books quoted by the
_Academia della Crusea,_ ancient and modern Books of Travels, and
Oriental Books and MSS.; amongst which latter are the original MSS. of
the celebrated M. Jules de Klaproth.
We have received the following Catalogues:--
"A Catalogue of Scientific and Mathematical Books, comprising
Architecture, Astrology, Magic, Chess, and other Games; Fine Arts,
Heraldry, Naval and Military, Numismatics, Penmanship and Short
Hand, Typography, and Miscellaneous Books now selling at the
reduced prices affixed by William Brown, 130. and 131. Old Street,
St. Luke's, London."
"Catalogue (Part I. Feb. 1. 1850) of Choise, Useful and Curious
Books in most departments of Literature, on Sale, at the very low
prices affixed, by John Russell Smith, 4, Old Compton Street, Soho
Square."
"William Dobson Reeves' Catalogue of Books (Many Rare and Curious),
now on Sale at 98. Chancery Lane."
"Catalogue of very Cheap Books, chiefly Divinity, with a Selection
of Miscellaneous Literature, on Sale, for Ready Money, by T.
Arthur, No. 496. New Oxford street."
"A Catalogue of Fathers of the Church, and Ecclesiastical Writers
to the Fifteenth Century, arranged in Chronological Order, with
Collections, Analyses and Selections, Illustrative and Introductory
Works, and an Alphabetical Index of Authors; on Sale at the Low
Prices affixed, for Ready Money, by C.J. Stewart, 11. King William
Street, West Strand."