Kitabı oku: «Notes and Queries, Number 16, February 16, 1850», sayfa 3

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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:—

'Ædes in culmine montis sitæ, scilicet,
αιπεια κολωνεν
'Εν πεδιω απανευθε περιδρομος ενθα και ενθα'

aditu difficilis circa montem; cujus latera omnia horti 50 acrarum circumeunt, nisi versus Aquilonem, quò ascenditur ad ostium ædium ubi etiam antiqua jauna arcuato lapide. Versus Occidentem 8 fenestræ et 3 in sacello; et ulterior pars vetusta. Versus Aquilonem 10 fenestræ. Facies Australis et Turris de Staunton, in qui archiva familiæ 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. Angliæ, &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 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 viâ 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 præterea 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 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 ÆGYPE 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 spræce ægwaes ægype." In a note MR. THORPE says: "ægype, 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: ægype, 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 spræce 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.

Ælfric'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.).