Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851 by Various
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Various >> Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851
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A querist in your last number (J.C.R.) points out that D'Aubigne, or his
translator, spells the word _Fallicus_, and refers it to the deceitful
character of Farel.
_Phallicus_ is a Greek word, and has a meaning--[Greek: phallikos], of or
belonging to the [Greek: phallos]. _Fallicus_, to the best of my knowledge,
is neither Greek nor Latin, and has no meaning. Erasmus, in his epistles,
constantly spells the word _Phallicus_. (See _Epp._ 698. 707. &c. Leyden,
ed. 1706.) And that I was justified in drawing from it an inference which
is in analogy with its meaning, the following passages, in the last of the
epistles just cited, will establish:--
"Hunc stomachum in me concepit (Phallicus) quod in _spongia_ dubitem de
Lutheri spiritu: praeterea quod scripserim, quosdam sordidos, et _impurae
vitae_ se jactitare nomine Evangelii."
And a little farther on--
"At tamen quicquid hactenus in me blateravit Phallicus, non minus vane
quam virulente, facite condonabitur hominis morbo, modo posthac sumat
_mores Evangelii praecone dignos_."
THOS. H. DYER.
London, Jan. 20. 1851.
_Early Culture of the Imagination_, (Vol. iii., p. 38.).--The interesting
article to which MR. GATTY refers will be found in the _Quarterly Review_,
No. XLI. Sir Walter Scott, in a letter addressed to Edgar Taylor, Esq. (the
translator of _German Fairy Tales and Popular Stories by M.M. Grimm_),
dated Edinburgh, 16th Jan. 1823, says--
"There is also a sort of wild fairy interest in them [the _Tales_]
which makes me think them fully better adapted to awaken the
imagination and soften the heart of childhood, than the good-boy
stories which have been in later years composed for them. In the latter
case, their minds are, as it were, put into the stocks, like their feet
at the dancing-school, and the moral always consists in good moral
conduct being crowned with temporal success. Truth is, I would not give
one tear shed over _Little Red Riding-Hood_ for all the benefit to be
derived from a hundred Histories of Jemmy Goodchild.... In a word, I
think the selfish tendencies will be soon enough acquired in this
arithmetical age; and that, to make the higher class of character, our
wild fictions--like our own simple music--will have more effect in
awakening the fancy and elevating the disposition, than the colder and
more elaborate compositions of modern authors and composers."
F.R.R.
Milnrow Parsonage.
_Early Culture of the Imagination_ (Vol. iii., p. 38.).--MR. ALFRED GATTY
will find what he inquires for in the 74th volume of the _Quarterly
Review_, "Children's Books." With the prefatory remarks of that article may
be compared No. 151. of the _Rambler_, "The Climacterics of the Mind."
T.J.
_William Chilcot_ (Vol. iii., p. 38.).--MR. HOOPER is referred to the
History of Tiverton, by Lieut. Col. Harding, ed. Boyce, Tiverton;
Whittaker, London, 1847, vol. ii., B. III., p. 167., for an account of the
family of Chilcot _alias_ Comyn; to which most likely the author belonged,
and was probably a native of Tiverton. As MR. HOOPER many not have ready
access to the book, I send the substance of an extract. Robert Chilcott
_alias_ Comyn, born at Tiverton, com. Devon, merchant, and who died, it is
supposed, at Isleworth, com. Middlesex, about A.D. 1609, "married Ann, d.
of Walter Cade of London, Haberdasher, by whom he had one son, _William_,
who married Catherine, d. of Thomas Billingsly of London, Merchant, and had
issue." Certain lands also in Tiverton, A.D. 1680-90, are described as "now
or late of William Comyns _alias_ Chilcott."--_Ibid._ p. 61.
If the first edition of the work were in 1698, most likely the author was a
grandson of the above-named William Chilcot and Catherine his wife, which
the Tiverton registers might show. If the search prove unsuccessful there,
try that of Watford, Herts, where a branch of the same family was settled,
and to which there are monuments in Watford churchyard.
E.A.D.
_By and Bye_ (Vol. ii., p. 424.).--Surely this means "by the way." _Good
by_ may mean "Bon voyage."
S.S.
_Mocker_ (Vol. ii., p. 519.).--In some of the provincial dialects of
England, and in the Scotch of the lowlands of Scotland, there are a good
many Dutch words. _Moker_, in Dutch, means _a large hammer_. This is
probably the word used by the old cottager of Pembridge, and spelt _Mocker_
by W.M.
G.F.G.
Edinburgh.
_Was Colonel Hewson a Cobbler?_ (Vol. iii., p. 11.).--Hume's History
relates that "Colonel Hewson suppressed the tumult of London apprentices,
November, 1659:" and that "he was a man who rose from the _profession_ of a
cobbler to a high rank in the army."
Colonel John Hewson was member for Guildford from September 17, 1656, to
January 27, 1658-59. (Bray and Manning.)
GILBERT.
{74}
_Mole_ (Vol. ii., p. 225.).--This story is of course much older than the
form which it now appears. Sir Bevil Grenville is the great hero of the
N.W. coast of Cornwall most of the floating legend has been gathered about
him.
Legends referring to the origin of different animals are common. Mrs.
Jamieson (Canada) has a very beautiful Chippewa story of the first robin.
It is believed in Devonshire that moles begin to work with the flow, and
leave off with the ebb of the tide. The same thing is asserted of the
beaver.
_Pillgarlick_ (Vol. ii., p. 393.; Vol. iii., p. 42.).--The word is given by
Todd, in his edition of Johnson, under the forms _Pilgarlick_ and
_Pilled-garlick_. The same orthography is adopted by other lexicographers.
The spelling, concerning which your querist desires information, is,
however, the least important point. I trust that the question will elicit
information of a valuable kind as to the origin of the term, by which I
have I myself been sorely puzzled, and which, I think, has not been
satisfactorily cleared up by any of those who have attempted it. Following
the authority of Skinner, our philologists are satisfied with assuring us,
that _pilled_ means bald (French, pele) and about this there can be no
dispute. Thus Chaucer (Reve's Tale) says:--
Round was his face, and camuse was his nose,
And _pilled_ as an ape was his skull."
Shakspeare also has:--
"Pieled priest! doost thou command me to be shut out?"
for "shaven priest." But _pilled_, in other cases as might be shown by
quotations, which for the sake of brevity I omit, means _pillaged_,
_robbed_, and also _peeled_, of which last sense the quotations above given
seem only to be a figurative application. The difficulties which arise from
these explanations are, first, if _bald_ be the true meaning, why must we,
with Todd, limit it to baldness, resulting from disease, or more especially
(as Grose will have it) from a disgraceful disease?
Secondly, if _peeled_ be taken as the equivalent to _pilled_, why is peeled
garlick a more perfect type of misery than any other peeled root or fruit?
Thirdly, if _pillage_ is an essential ingredient in the true meaning of the
term "pilled garlick," what has the stolen garlick to do with wretchedness?
And,
Lastly, how will any one, or all of these explanations together, tally with
the following passage from Skelton:--
"Wyll, Wyll, Wyll, Wyll, Wyll
He ruleth always styll.
Good reason and good skyll,
_They may garlyck pyll_,
Cary sackes to the myll,
Or pescoddes they may shyll,
Or elles go rost a stone?"
_Why come ye not to Courte?_ 103-109.
Without further elucidation of this pilling, the existing definitions are
pills which defy deglutition of
F.S.Q.
_A Recent Novel_ (Vol. i., pp. 231, 285.).--May I be permitted to correct
an error in a communication from one of your correspondents? ADOLPHUS (p.
231.) puts a Query respecting the title of a recent novel; and J.S. (p.
285) informs him that the title is _Le Morne au Diable_, by Eugene Sue. The
fact is, that "La Morne au Diable" is the principal scene of the events
described, and nothing more. The title is _L'Aventurier, ou la
Barbe-bleue_; and an English translation, styled the _Female Blue Beard, or
the Adventurer_, was published in 1845 by W. Strange, 21. Paternoster Row.
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, W.I., Nov. 1850
_Tablet to Napoleon_ (Vol. i., p. 461.).--The form and punctuation given to
this inscription by C. suggest its true meaning. Napoleon is called the
Egyptian, the Italian, for reasons similar to those for which Publius
Cornelius Scipio obtained the name of "Africanus." There is, however,
another sense in which the epithet "bis Italicus" is applicable to
Napoleon: he was an Italian by birth as well as by conquest. It is in this
sense that Voltaire has applied to Henri Quatre the second line of the
following couplet:--
"Je chante ce heros qui regna sur la France
Et par droit de _conquete_, et par droit de _naissance_."
As to the "lingual purity" of the inscription, there is not much to be said
about it, one way or the other. It is on a level with most modern
inscriptions and epitaphs in the Latin language; neither so elegant as the
Latinity of Dr. Johnson, or Walter Savage Landor, nor yet so hackneyed as
our "Latin de cuisine."
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, W.I., Nov. 1850.
_North Sides of Churchyards_ (Vol. ii., pp. 55. &c.)--In a chapter on the
custom of burying on the south side of churches, in Thompson's _History of
Swine_, published 1824, I find the following mention of the north side
being appropriated to felons:
"The writer hereof remembers, that between fifty and sixty years ago, a
man who was executed at Lincoln, was brought to Swine, and buried on
the north side of the church, as the proper place in which to bury a
felon."
I have heard it stated by several inhabitants of the parish, that it is
only within a few years that burials began to be made irrespectively on the
north side. Whilst speaking of things in connection with this church, I may
mention for the {75} interest of antiquaries, that only a short time ago,
the sexton discovered a very curious fresco of the Virgin on one of the
pillars in the north aisle. There is an inscription beneath the figure, but
so very indistinct, as not to admit of being deciphered.
R.W.E.
Hull.
_Wisby_ (Vol. ii., p. 444.).--
"Wisby was fortified about 1200 against its country neighbours; and
King Magnus, 1288, quieted another civil war, and allowed the citizens
to restore their fallen walls."--_Olaus Magnus_, ii. 24.
"It was destroyed in 1361 (Koch) by Walderna, King of Denmark, who,
taking advantage of the discords in Sweden, and having flattered the
King Magnus till he made him a mere tool of his own, conquered or
destroyed some valuable parts of the Swedish dominions, and among the
rest Gothland."--_Johannes Magnus, Rex Suev._, xxi. 6.
and in 7.:
"... ob direptum insigne emporium Vis becense."
"As, therefore, it was not an individual event, probably it had not any
individual cause, and that the pane of glass story is not
true."--_Olaus Magnus_, x. 16
The same Olaus (ii. 24.) says, that pride and discord were its ruin; that
its inhabitants scattered into the continental cities; and that in his
time, 1545, there were splendid ruins, iron doors, brass or copper windows,
once gilt or silvered.
C.B.
_Singing of Swans_ (Vol. ii., p. 475.).--If your correspondent T.J. will
turn to Erman's _Travels in Siberia_ translated by Cooley, vol. ii. p. 43.,
he will find that the singing of swans is by no means so groundless a
notion as Bp. Percy supposed. _Erman_ says the notes of the Cygnus Olor are
most beautifully clear and loud--"and that this bird, when wounded, pours
forth its last breath in such notes, is now known for certain." There is
more also to the same purpose.
A.C.M.
_Dacre Monument at Herstmonceux_ (Vol. ii., p. 478.).--In answer to part of
the third Query of your correspondent E.V., I beg to inform him that sable,
a cross _potent_ or, is the coat of Alleyn. Sable, a cross _patonce_ or,
belongs to Lascelles. Argent a fesse gules belongs to the Solers family.
And barry of six argent and gules, _with a canton ermine_, is the coat of
Apseley of Sussex.
H.C.K.
_Herstmonceux Castle_ (Vol. ii., p. 477.).--The elucidation of your
correspondent's _second_ Query suggests several further questions; for
instance--Was _Juliana_ wife of _William_, the _owner_ of the estate? If
so, did she die in the lifetime of her husband? If so, did she leave issue?
semble not, and assuming her to have no direct heirs, the estate would
escheat. Was the King lord of the fee? Were William de Warburton and
Ingelram de Monceaux relatives of the _half_ blood of Juliana? If so, a
re-grant to them, if claimants, would not, I imagine, have been unusual
upon payment of a fine to the crown. It would almost seems as if a doubt
existed as to the heirship, from the expression "_whose next of kin they
_SAY_ they are_." This note is conjectural only, and is therefore offered
with much diffidence.
I.B.C.
_Suem._--_Ferling._--_Grasson_ (Vol. iii., p. 7.).--It is obvious that your
correspondent's extract from the Rotherfield court-roll is not accurately
transcribed. The original most probably contains no such words as _suem_.
_Ferling_ is a well-known word in old legal phraseology. As a term of
superficial measure it denotes a quarter of an acre; of lineal measure, an
eighth of a mile, or furlong.
_Grassum_ is the term commonly used in the northern parts of the kingdom to
signify the fine, or foregift in money, paid by a lessee for the renewal of
his lease from a lay or ecclesiastical corporation. It is derived from the
A.-S. _Gaersum_ or _Gaersame_, a treasure; the root of which is still
retained in the northern word _Gear_, goods or stuff.
[Delta].
Jan. 10. 1851.
_Portrait of Archbishop Williams_ (Vol. iii., p. 8.).--Your correspondent
Y.Y. desires to be informed of the "locus" of the portraits of several
bishops, among them of _John Williams_, Archbishop of York. There is a
full-length in the hall of this college, which I shall have great pleasure
in showing to him should he ever find it convenient to pay Cambridge a
visit.
P.J.F. GANTILLON.
St. John's College.
_Swans hatched during Thunder_ (Vol. ii., p. 510.).--Some years ago I
purchased a pair of swans, and, during the first breeding season after I
procured them, they made a nest in which they deposited seven eggs. After
they had been sitting about six weeks, I observed to my servant, who had
charge of them and the other water-fowl, that it was about the time for the
swans to hatch. He immediately said, that it was no use expecting it till
there had been a rattling peal of thunder to crack the egg-shells, as they
were so hard and thick that it was impossible for the cygnets to break them
without some such assistance. Perhaps this is the reason why swans are said
to be hatched during a thunder-storm. I need only say, that this is a
popular fallacy, as swans regularly hatch after sitting six weeks, whether
there happens to be a thunder-storm or not.
HENRY E.
_Etymology of Apricot_ (Vol. ii., p. 420.).--I cannot agree in the opinion
expressed by your correspondent E.C.H., that this word is derived from the
Latin _praecox_, signifying "early-ripening,"--that the words [Greek:
prokokkia] and [Greek: prekokkia] are {76} Graecised Latin,--and that the
Arabs themselves, adopting the word with a slight variation, made it
_al-bercoy_.
The fact of the fruit itself being of Asiatic origin, renders it in the
highest degree improbable that the Orientals would borrow a name for it
from the Latin.
My own opinion is, that the reverse is the case--that the Latin is merely a
corruption of the Arabic; and that the Latins, in adopting the word,
naturally gave it the slight alteration which rendered the Arabic word, to
them unmeaning, appropriately significant of the nature of the fruit.
I find that in various languages the word strolls thus in the Latin of the
middle age, _avercoccius_--in the modern Greek, [Greek: berykokkion]--in
the Italian, _albercocco_, _albicocca_--in the Spanish, _albaricoque_--and
all these various words, undeducible from the Latin _praecox_, are readily
derivable from the Arabic word, the prefix _al_, which is merely the
article, being in some cases dropped, and in others retained.
I may add, as a curious fact, that, in the south of Italy, of which I am a
native, the common people call the apricot _verricocca_, and _the peach_
_precucco_, although the former ripen _earlier_ than the latter.
A.P. DI PIO, Italo-Graecos.
Carlisle.
_"Plurima gemma latet caeca tellure sepulta"_ (Vol. ii., p.133.).--In the
course of my reading, some time back, I met with a passage which was given
as quotation from Bishop Hall. I transcribe it, as it appears to me to
approach nearer to the above hexameter than even Gray's lines:
"There is many a rich stone laid up, in the bowels of the earth; many a
fair pearl in the bosom of the sea, that never was seen, nor ever shall
be."
_Time when Herodotus wrote_ (Vol. ii., p. 405.).--The passage in Herodotus
which shows that he was still employed on his history when he was
seventy-five, is in his first book. But A.W.H. thinks, that, as it is a
general introduction, showing why he mentioned all places, small or great,
it must have been written at the beginning. I should infer the contrary;
that he would give an account why he had done so after he had done it, and
not while it rested merely in intention.
But perhaps it may be said, that [Greek: en] is in the former part of the
sentence, and therefore might have been repeated in the latter part, which
is the converse of it, though it might not be exactly the proper tense.
However, F. Clinton puts down his birth B.C. 484; 452 or 456 as the years
in which he read his history at the Olympic Games; and 408 as a year in
which he was still adding to it.
However, if he wrote the passage when he was thirty, that would justify the
past tense, which perhaps, too, we have a right to construe _have been_,
for that verb has no perfect preterite.
C.B.
_Lucy and Colin_ (Vol. iii., p. 7.).--The ballad adverted to, which is the
one translated by Vincent Bourne, is by Tickel, and will be found in any
collection of his works. Notwithstanding Southeys epithet "wretched!" it
will always be admired, both in the original and the translation.
JAMES CROSSLEY.
Manchester, Jan. 18. 1851.
_Translations of Apuleius_, &c. (Vol. ii., p. 464.).--In answer to your
correspondent, G.P.I., concerning a translation of the _Golden Ass of
Apuleius_, I beg you will insert the following particulars.
There is a copy in the British Museum (Press Mark, case 21. b.) of a
translation by Adlington. The title is as follows--_"The XI. Bookes of the
Golden Asse, conteining the Metamorphosie of Lucius Apuleius, enterlaced
with an excellent Narration of the Marriage of Cupido and Psiches, set out
in the iiii. v. and vi. Bookes. Translated out of Latine into Englishe by
William Adlington. Imprinted at London, in Fleet streate, and the sign of
the Oliphante, by Henry Wykes. Anno 1566."_ This work is of extreme rarity.
At the end of the Dedicatory Epistle there is a MS. note, which I
transcribe:--"_This translation and its author has escaped ye notice of the
Industrious Oxford Antiquary[14], for I find not his name in the Athen.
Oxon., nor is the book menconed _(mentioned)_ in Mr. Ames's Typographical
Antiquities, both which omissions add a singular rareness to this scarce
book. R.E.W."_ The pagination of the book is only on one side, and contains
127 folios, including the table of contents. Ritson (_vide_ note on
fly-leaf) does not notice this edition (1566), nor the second in 1571, but
quotes that of 1596.
KENNETH MACKENZIE.
[Footnote 11: Wood.]
Taylor's translation of Apuleius's _Golden Ass_, Lond. 1822, 2 vols., is
said by Lowndes to be an esteemed version.
The French translations of the same work, according to De Bure (see _Manuel
du Libraire_) are very inferior.
C.I.R.
_Etymology of "Grasson"_ (Vol. iii., p. 8.).--Grasson appears to be derived
front "grassor," "to assail." Livy somewhere has the following--"Grassor in
possessionem agri"--which would be rendered, "To enter upon it by force;"
it being only by the payment of the fine (Grasson) that the entry,
"Grassor," or alienation of copyhold lands, could be warded off: hence the
act of the lord of the manor (Grassor) became the name for the fine paid by
this tenant, "Grasson."
BLOWER.
_Lynch Law_ (Vol. iii., p. 24.).--Webster's {77} _American Dictionary_
(1848) explains this phrase thus--
"The practice of punishing men for crimes and offences by private
unauthorized persons, without a legal trial. The term is said to be
derived from a Virginian farmer, named Lynch, who thus took the law
into his own hands." (U.S.)
Webster is considered the highest authority in America, or I should not
offer the above.
G.H.B.
"_Talk not of Love_" (Vol. iii., p. 7.).--The song quoted by your Querist,
A. M., was written by Mrs. MacLehose, the "Clarinda" of Burns, and is to be
found in most of the lives of the Scottish poet.
[J.H., JR., says it is printed in Chambers's _Journal_, No. 1. New
Series. DANIEL FERGUSON points them out at p. 212. of a _Collection of
Songs of England and Scotland_, published by Cochrane, of Waterloo
Place; and in vol. ii. of Johnson's _Scots Musical Museum_; and G.T.
also refers to the last-named collection.]
_The Butcher Duke_ (Vol. iii., p. 8.).--The song referred to by MEZZOTINTO
is to be found in most of the collections of Scotch songs, under the name
of "Bonnie Laddie, Highland Laddie," for which old air it was written; or,
when only partially printed, by the commencing line of one of its
stanzas:--
"Geordie sits in Charlie's chair."
It is one of the numerous Jacobite songs composed either about 1715, by
some one "out in the Fifteen," or later by a poet of "the Forty-five." The
author's name is unknown. In the collection of Scottish songs, published by
Robert Chambers in 1829, the song, consisting of no less than twenty-two
stanzas, will be found at p. 367.
[L.M.M.R. has also kindly transcribed the song from the _Scots Musical
Museum;_ and DR. C., of Newcastle, who says "it is well known in the
remoter districts of Northumberland," obligingly offers to furnish
MEZZOTINTO with a copy, if he should desire it.]
_Curfew_ (Vol. ii., p. 103.).--_The Curfew_ is rung at Handsworth, near
Sheffield.
H.J.
_Robertson Struan_ (Vol. iii., p. 40.).--As one of those who quarter the
coat of Robertson Struan, I may perhaps be able to afford C.R.M. some
slight information. My maternal grandfather was a son of William Robertson,
of Richmond, one of whose daughters married Sir David Dundas, Bart. The
arms borne by him were, Gules, three wolves' heads erased, langued, azure.
A selvage man in chains hanging beneath the shield. Crest, a bare cubit,
supporting a regal Crown. Motto, "Virtutis Gloriae Merces."
W.J. BERNHARD SMITH.
Temple.
* * * * *
MISCELLANEOUS.
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
The landing of Charles Edward Stuart, and the "Seven Men of Moidart," on
the memorable 25th July, 1745, was the opening of the last, and, in many
respects, the most brilliant and stirring chapter in the Romance of English
History. That Mr. Murray has therefore done wisely in the publication, in a
separate form, of _The Forty-Five: by Lord Mahon, being the Narrative of
the Insurrection of 1745, extracted from Lord Mahon's History of England_,
there can be little doubt. The memory of that eventful period is so kept
alive among us, by snatches of Jacobite ballads, and recitals of the
strange incidents in which it was so rich, that this separate publication
of so much of Lord Mahon's _History of England from the Peace of Utrecht
(1713) to the Peace of Paris (1763)_ as relates to its "moving accidents by
flood and field," will be a great boon to those numerous readers who have
neither means, time, nor opportunity to peruse Lord Mahon's interesting
narrative in that valuable contribution to our national history for which
it was originally written.
Some time since the British Museum purchased for about 120l. a volume
containing no less than sixty-four early French Farces and Moralities,
printed between the year 1542 and 1548, of which a very large proportion
was entirely unknown. How important a collection of materials for the early
history of the Drama, especially in France, is contained in this precious
volume, we learn from a work which has reached us, "_pas destine au
commerce_," under the title of _Description Bibliographique et Analyse d'un
Livre unique qui se trouve au Musee Britannique_, which contains a short
but able analysis of the various pieces which formed the volume thus
fortunately secured for our national library. Though the name of the editor
is stated, on the title-page, to be _Tridace-Nafe-Theobrome, Gentilhomme
Breton_, we strongly suspect that no such gentleman is to be found; and
that we are really indebted for this highly curious and interesting book to
a gentleman who has already laid the world of letters under great
obligation, M. Delpierre, the accomplished Secretary of Legation of the
Belgian Embassy.
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