Kitabı oku: «Notes and Queries, Number 66, February 1, 1851», sayfa 2
A NOTE ON QUEEN ANN'S FARTHINGS
The idea that a Queen Anne's farthing is a coin of the greatest rarity, originated perhaps in the fact that there are several pattern pieces executed by Croker, which are much valued by collectors, and which consequently bring higher prices. One type only was in circulation, and this appears to have been very limited, for it is somewhat scarce, though a specimen may easily be procured of any dealer in coins for a few shillings. This bears the bust of the Queen, with the legend ANNA DEI GRATIA—reverse, BRITANNIA around the trite figure of Britannia with the spear and olive-branch: the date 1714 in the exergue. Those with Peace in a car, Britannia standing with olive-branch and spear, or seated under an arch, are patterns; the second has the legend BELLO ET PACE in indented letters, a mode revived in the reign of George III. It is said that many years ago a lady in the north of England lost one of the farthings of Queen Anne, which she much prized as the bequest of a deceased friend, and that having offered in the public journals a large reward for its recovery, it was ever afterwards supposed that any farthing of this monarch was of great value.
J. Y. Akerman.
FOLK LORE
Lammer Beads.—Does any one know the meaning of "Lammer beads?" They are almost always made of amber, and are considered as a charm to keep away evil of every kind; their touch is believed to cure many diseases, and they are still worn by many old people in Scotland round the neck. The name cannot have anything to do with "Lammermuir," as, although they are well known among the old people of Lammermuir, yet they are equally so all over Scotland.
L. M. M. R.
On the Lingering of the Spirit.—Perhaps you may think the following story worthy of insertion in your paper.
There is a common belief among the poor, that the spirit will linger in the body of a child a long time when the parent refuses to part with it. I said to Mrs. B., "Poor little H. lingered a long time; I thought, when I saw him, that he must have died the same day, but he lingered on!"
"Yes," said Mrs. B., "it was a great shame of his mother. He wanted to die, and she would not let him die: she couldn't part with him. There she stood, fretting over him, and couldn't give him up; and so we said to her, 'He'll never die till you give him up.' And then she gave him up; and he died quite peaceably."
Rich. B. Machell.
Vicarage, Barrow-on-Humber, Jan. 13. 1851.
May Cats (Vol. iii., p. 20.).—In Hampshire, to this day, we always kill May kittens.
Cx.
Mottos on Warming-Pans and Garters.—It seems to have been much the custom, about two centuries ago, to engrave more or less elaborately the brass lids of warming-pans with different devices, such as armorial bearings, &c., in the centre, and with an inscription or a motto surrounding the device. A friend of the writer has in his possession three such lids of warming-pans, one of which has engraven on the centre a hart passant, and above his back a shield, bearing the arms of Devereux, the whole surrounded by this inscription:—
"THE . EARLE . OF . ESSEX . HIS . ARMES."
Another bears the arms of the commonwealth, (as seen on the coins of the Protectorate,) encircled with an inscription, thus:—
"ENGLANDS . STATS . ARMES."
The third bears a talbot passant, with the date above its back, 1646, and the motto round:—
"IN . GOD . IS . ALL . MY . TRUST."
It appears to me that the first two, at least, belonged to inns, known by the respective signs indicated by the mottos, &c.; the first probably in honour of the Lord-General of the Parliament's army, who was the last Devereux bearing the title.
That last described affords a curious illustration of a passage cited in Ellis's Brand (ed. 1849, vol. i. p. 245.), from The Welsh Levite tossed in a Blanket, 1691.
"Our garters, bellows, and warming-pans wore godly mottos," &c.
In further illustration, I may mention that the owner of the warming-pans has in his possession likewise a beautifully manufactured long silk garter, of perhaps about the same date, in which are woven the following words:—
"LOVE . NOT . THE . WORLD . IN . WHICH . THOU . MUST . NOT . STAY.
BUT . LOVE . THE . TREASURE . THAT . ABIDES . ALWAY."
H. G. T.
NOTES ON JESSE'S "LONDON AND ITS CELEBRITIES."
During my perusal of Mr. Jesse's pleasant volumes, I marked two or three slips of the pen, which it may not be amiss to make a note of.
In vol. i. pp. 403, 404, 405., there is a curious treble error regarding Thomas Sutton, the munificent founder of the Charter House. He is successively styled Sir Thomas, Sir Richard, and Sir Robert. Sutton's Christian name was Thomas. He was never knighted. Of the quaint leaden case which incloses his remains, and of its simple inscription, an accurate drawing, with accompanying particulars, by your able correspondent Mr. E. B. Price, was inserted in the Gent. Mag. for January, 1843, p. 43. The inscription runs thus: "1611. Thomas Sutton, Esquiar."
Vol. ii. pp. 34, 35, 36. Mr. Jesse's ingenious suggestions relative to the tradition of the burial of Oliver Cromwell in Red Lion Square, merit the careful attention of all London antiquaries.
Ib. p. 316.:
"There is no evidence of Clement's Inn having been a Court of Law previous to 1486."
For "a court of law," read "an inn of court."
Ib. p. 339. Erratum, line 9, in reference to Mrs. Garrick's reopening of her house, for the first time after her husband's decease—for "1701" read "1781," obviously a printer's error.
Ib. p. 423.:
"Cranmer's successor in the see of Canterbury was Archbishop Whitgift."
Whitgift was Grindal's successor, and Grindal was preceded by Parker, who must be deemed Cranmer's successor. Cranmer perished in 1556. Parker was made archbishop in 1559.
Mr. Jesse will not be angry, I am sure, with the above notes, or need any apology for an attempt to add to the value of his book.
Henry Campkin.
Reform Club, Jan. 10. 1851.
Minor Notes
Verstegan.—A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence in Antiquities, concerning the most noble and renowned English Nation. By the Study and Travel of Richard Verstegan.—There is something so sonorous and stately in the very sound of the title of Master Richard Verstegan's etymological treatise, that any bibliographical notice of it, I am sure, will find a corner in "Notes and Queries." The following MS. note is on a fly-leaf of my copy, A.D. 1655:—
"The first edition was printed at Antwerp, in 1605. A full account of this work is given in Oldys's British Librarian, pp. 299 312. It concludes with suggestions for improving any future editions: namely, to add those animadversions, in their proper places, which have been since occasionally made on some mistakes in it; as those made by Mr. Sheringham on his fancy of the Vitæ being the ancient inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, &c. But more especially should be admitted the corrections of the learned Mr. Somner, he having left large marginal notes upon Verstegan's whole book, as we are informed by Bishop Kennett, the late accurate author of his Life. This advice has never been acted upon."
To this is subjoined a notice of Verstegan's Poems.
"There is a thin 12mo. volume of Poems by Richard Verstegan, of which only one perfect copy is known. Dr Farmer had it; then a Mr. Lloyd, who disposed of it, when it sold for 22l. 1s. Mr. Faber now has it. Another copy, completed by MS., had belonged to T. Park, which was sold at Sotheby's, March 11. 1821, for 1l. 19s., and bought by Triphook."
J. Yeowell.
Hoxton.
George Herbert and the Church at Leighton Bromswold.—Little Gidding.—Some of your readers may not be aware that George Herbert built the church of Leighton Bromswold, Hunts as well as that of Bemerton. The church stands about three-quarters of a mile to the right of the road from Huntingdon to Thrapston, and a view of it is given in Zouch's 4to. edition of Isaac Walton's Lives; it is stated, in a note, to be near Spalding, for which read Spaldwick. Herbert desired the pulpit and reading-desk to be placed on opposite sides of the church, and of the same height; to show that "preaching ought not to be esteemed above praying, nor praying above preaching."
Query, What is the state of the interior now, as to pews, &c.?
The nuns, if I may so call them, in the monastery at Little Gidding, Hunts, employed themselves in covering or in ornamenting the covers of books, in patterns, with silver and coloured-silk threads: a friend of mine in Surrey has a small volume so ornamented by them.
E. H.
Norwich, Jan. 20.
Etymology of Kobold.—At page 239. of Mr. Bohn's edition of Keightley's Fairy Mythology, we find that Mr. K., after heading a chapter with "Kobolds," says in a note:—
"This word is usually derived from the Greek κόβαλος, a knave, but as this is only found in lexicographers, it may in reality be a Teutonic word in a Greek form."
Surely, Mr. Keightley has forgotten the following passages—
1. Ar. Equites, 450. Dindf. [Conf. Ranæ, 1015.]
"ΚΛΕΩΝ: κόβαλος εἶ.
ΑΛΛ. πανοῦργος εἶ."
2. Ejusdem fab., 635.:
"Βερέσχεθοί τε καὶ κόβαλοι καὶ Μόθων."
3. Plutus, 279.:
"ὡς μόθων εἶ τε καὶ φύσει κόβαλος."
4. Aristotle, H. A. 8. 12. 12. [Bekker Oxon.] says of a bird,
"κόβαλος καὶ μιμητής."
In the 2nd passage Liddell and Scott call κόβαλοι "mischievous goblins," which is exactly equivalent to "kobolds."
The word is also used adjectively for "knavish tricks," "rogueries."
See Equites, 419.:
"Καὶ, νὴ Δι', ἄλλα γ' ἐστί μου κόβαλα παιδὸς ὄντος."
Ranæ, 104:—
""ἧ μὴν κόβαλα γ' ἐστὶν, ὡς καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ."
In Equites, 332. we find κοβαλικέυματα, "the tricks of a κόβαλος."
P. J. F. Gantillon.
Judas Cup (Vol. ii., p. 298.).—In the Ancient Monuments, Rites, and Customs of Durham, published by the Surtees Society, we have the following account of "Judas Cup" in the refectory, which is described as—
"A goodly great mazer, called Judas Cup, edged about with silver and double gilt, with a foot underneath it to stand on, of silver and double gilt, which was never used but on Maunday Thursday at night in the Frater House, where the prior and the whole convent did meet and keep their Maunday." (p. 68.)
I send this with reference to the mention of the "Judas Bell" and "Judas Candle" in your 2nd Volume, p. 298.
Echo.
Essheholt Priory.—Esholt Hall (now in the possession of W. R. C. Stansfield, Esq.) is the same as the ancient priory of Essheholt, which was under the abbot of Kirkstall.
This priory fell, of course, with the smaller houses, and was valued at 19l. 0s. 8d. Essheholt remained in the crown till the first year of Edward VI., nine years after the dissolution, when it was granted to Henry Thompson, Gent., one of the king's gens-d'armes at Boulogne. In this family the priory of Esholt remained somewhat more than a century, when it was transferred to the neighbouring and more distinguished house of Calverley by the marriage of Frances, daughter and heiress of H. Thompson, Esq., with Sir Walter Calverley. His son, Sir Walter Calverley, Bart., built, on the site of the old priory, the house which now stands.
Over a door of one of the out-buildings is an inscription in ancient letters, from which may be traced—"Aleisbet. Pudaci, p–," with a bird sitting on the last letter p. (Elizabeth Pudsay, prioress).
The builder of the present house died in 1749; and, in 1755, his son of the same name sold the manor-house and furniture to Robert Stansfield, Esq., of Bradford; from whom the present owner is descended.1
Chas. W. Markham.
Jan. 10. 1851.
Crossing Rivers on Skins (Vol. iii., p. 3.).—Mr. C. M. G., a near relative of mine, who lately returned from naval service on the Indus, told me, last year, that he had often seen there naked natives employed in fishing. The man, with his fishing-tackle, launches himself on the water, sustained by a large hollow earthen vessel having a round protuberant opening on one side. To this opening the fisherman applies his abdomen, so as to close the vessel against the influx of water; and clinging to this air-filled buoy, floats about quite unconcernedly, and plies his fishing-tackle with great success. The analogy between this Oriental buoy and the inflated skins mentioned by Layard and by your correspondent Janus Dousa, is sufficiently remarkable to deserve a note.
G. F. G.
Edinburgh.
