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AMERICAN 


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MEDIUM  OF  TNTERfiOMMITNinATmN 


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SEE  THE  FRONT  OF  VOL.6. 


VOL.  VI. 

NOVEMBER,  1890— APRIL,  1891, 


THE  WESTMINSTER  PUBLISHING  CO.,  • 

619  Walnut  Street,  * 

ft 
PHILADELPHIA. 


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Literary  Men,  General  Readers,  Etc 


VOL.   VI. 

NOVEMBER,  1890— APRIL,  1891 


THE  WESTMINSTER  PUBLISHING  CO., 
619  Walnut  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


INDEX   OK  VOLUNIK  VI. 


Abora,  Mount,  245 

Accident,  discoveries  by,  59,  204 

Acrophobia,  23 

Adams,  61 

Adobe,  187,  216 

JEsop,  Hungarian,  64 

Ainhum,  33 

A  lady's  sleeve,  etc.,  78 

Albinism,  hereditary,  157 

Alexander  the  Great,  3 

Alison,  174,  216,  262 

Allison,  109 

Almanacs,  201 

Alroy,  100 

Amadis  of  Gaul,  1 1 1 

Ambergris,  131 

American  romance,  first,  309 

Amulree,  bard  of,  196 

Anagrams  in  science,  68,  190 

And  Helmsley  once  Proud  Buckingham's  delight, 

etc.,  77 

And  when  once  more  my  gladdened  eyes,  etc.,  77 
Anniversaries,  wedding,  13 
Ant,  the  honey,  267 
Ant-lion,  101,  152 
Apes  in  Oregon,  260 
Apostle  of  unknown  tongues,  30,  1 78 
Apple  in  love,  123,  164 
Apples,  swamp,  56,  83,  95,  118,  178 
A  purpose,  74 
Arabia  Felix,  227 
Arcadia,  37,  238 
Architecture,  devil  in,  277,  295 
Arthvrr,  62 

Artists,  longevity  of,  248 
Astor,  75 
Asturias,  106 
AUTHORSHIP  WANTED  : 

A  lady's  sleeve,  etc.,  78 

Almighty  Dollar,  246,  268,  288 

And  Helmsley,  etc.,  77 

And  when  once  more,  etc.,  77 

Balder,  the  White  Sun-god,  174 

Bis  duo  sunt,  etc.,  246 

Books  and  Books,  186 

Come,  push  the  bowl  about,  75 

Dat  Galenus,  etc.,  140 

Deschecho  mi  cadaver,  etc.,  126 

For  in  the  silent  grave.,  etc.,  150 

Gottes  Briille,  150 


AUTHORSHIP  WANTED  : 

Hell  hound,  by  thee,  etc.,  29,  39,  57 

I  was  born  an  American,  etc.,  269,  293 

Life  is  short,  etc.,  13 

Lose  this  day  loitering,  294 

Me  and  Jim,  29 

Man  of  extensive  misinformation,  77 

My  friend,  judge  not  me,  etc.,  78 

Pale  comes  the  moonlight,  etc.,  103 

See  where  the  startled  wild  fowl,  etc.,  281 

The  grandeur  that  was  Rome,  211,  245,  285 

The  mantle  that  Statius,  etc.,  91,  256 

'Twas  in  the  Constellation,  etc.,  78,  102 

Two  shall  be  born,  etc.,  125 

When  Bishop  Berkeley,  etc.,  307 

Azan,  he  who  died  at,  29,  45,  69 

Bad  Lands,  20 

Bagpipe,  4,  34 

Bald  Eagle,  33 

Balder,  the  White  Sun-god,  etc.,  174 

Baltimore,  Lord,  282 

Barber  of  Agen,  100 

Barber-surgeon,  66,  76 

Bard  of  Amulree,  196 

Baronets  of  Nova  Scotia,  140,  159 

Bath,  soldiers,  64 

Baths,  mud,  II,  59 

Battle  of  the  ice,  195 

Bayard  of  American  Revolution,  75 

Beads,  Aggry,  6,  51 

Beams  sing,  even  his,  175,  200 

Beards,  women  with,  2 

Bed  of  justice,  32 

Beeswax,  mine  of,  20 

Belfry,  292,  311 

Bergamot,  195 

Beron,  Pierre,  99 

Bills,  Christmas,  126 

Biqgham,  no 

Bis  duo  sunt  nomina,  etc.,  246 

Blackburn,  109 

Elaine,  74 

Blind  people,  famous,  46,  114 

Blood-rite,  222 

Blount,  no 

Blouse,  94 

Boleyn,  Anne,  309 

Bonanza,  188 

Bone,  Inca's,  13 


IV 


INDEX. 


Bonny  Boots,  274 

Books  and  Books,  186 

Books  and  Periodicals,  12,  24,  35,  48,  60,  72,  84,  96, 

108,  120,  132,  156,  180,  192,  204,  228,  252,  264, 

276,  288,  300,  312 
Book,  valuable,  wanted,  311 
Bootle,  63,  122 
Botany  Bay,  282,  293 
Bottles  in  drug  store  windows,  1 86,  208 
Bounds,  beating  the,  146 
Boycott,  279,  307 
Brazil,  164,  191,  227,  311 
Breckinridge,  88 
Bred  in  the  bone,  73 
Brethren,  rather,  118 
Bridge,  shaking,  38 
Bridges,  Devil's,  277 
natural,  47,  162 

Brigade,  the  Irish,  211,  222,  249 
Britain,  Great,  74 

Little,  73 
Bronco,  199 
Bronze,  162,  174 
Bubb,  27 
Buchanan,  62 

Buddhists  in  Mexico,  47,  66 
Buffaloes,  trained,  203 
Buildings,  evergreen  on  new,  77 
Bulls,  212,  238,  251 
Burgundie,  the  flower  of,  197,  210,  239 
Burials,  eccentric,  239 
Burr,  Aaron,  88 
Butler,  109 
By  and  large,  95,  117 
By  and  by,  street  called,  211,  235 
Bye-bye,  32 

Cabbage,  Heard's  Island,  126 

Cacoethes  scribendi,  32,  312 

Cacus  and  Evander,  103 

Caduceus,  223 

Calf,  20,  80 

Calf  of  Man,  12 

Calhoun,  88 

California,  144 

Calipash,  281 

Calipee,  281 

Calls,  animal,  68,  96,  116,  156,  177 

Cama,  27 

Cambuscan,  68 

Cameron,  74 

Camoens,  103 

Camorra,  279 

Campveer,  53,  76 

Canada,  5,  29,  273 

Candleberry,  210 

Candlewood,  71 

Canon,  187,  216 

Cap,  wearing  a,  21 1,  236,  259 

Caramuru,  146 

Cattle  calls,  3,  19,  32,  46,  81,  96,  126,  163 

Cause  why,  74 


Cavalry,  fleet  captured  by,  282,  293 
Cave,  blowing,  53,  75,  76 
Corycian,  18 
Sibyl's,  113 
Snake,  127,  215 
Cave-in-Rock,  114,  148 
Caverns,  Australian,  140 
Caves  of  classical  lands,  224 
Centenarians,  44 
Chalcelet,  66 
Chank,  7 1 

Charles  XI,  vision  of,  259 
Charley-Horse,  77,  196,  216 
Check,  largest,  36 
Chestnuts,  195 
Chewing-gum,  82 
China,  Solomon  of,  64 
Chinook,  78 

Chowder,  origin  of  clam,  52 
Church,  pillars  of  the,  95,  129,  151 

smallest,  200 
Cicero,  33 
Cinq  Mars,  173 

Cities,  nicknames  of,  27,  34,  104 
sunken,  19 

City  built  by  gentlemen,  5 
of  Is,  83,  258 
largest,  160,  173 
name  wanted  for,  9 
Rock,  39,  215 

Cleveland,  62 

Clinton,  88 

Clipper-ship,  first,  309 

Clover,  four-leaf,  139,  185 

Coccobolo,  148 

Cockney,  103 

Colen,  62 

Coleridge's  escapade,  30,  40,  68 

Colfax,  88 

Colleges,  232 

Colonies,  Greek,  in  France  and  Spain,  168 

Columbus  and  egg,  151 

Combustion,  spontaneous,  12,  140,  188,  299,  310 

Come,  push  the  bowl  about,  75 

Commanders,  one-eyed,  58 

Condog,  298 

Copper,  Bungtown,  53,  76,  103 

Corea,  seven  wonders  of,  153 

Corncob,  16 

Corp,  60 

Corral,  198 

Corrievreckan,  35,  248 

Corrigenda,  35,  216 

Corse  family,  307 

Cotnar,  236,  281 

Couvera,  50 

Cowan,  68 

Cozza,  50 

Crane  and  stone,  6,  104,  143,  215 

Culch,  279 

Cul  de  sac,  180 

Culprit  Fay,  62,  122 


INDEX. 


Curan  and  Argentile,  105 
Curfew,  origin  of,  160,  209,  259,  312 
Curious  punishment,  305 
Customs,  curious,  34 

Scandinavian,  182,  267,  279,  292,  305 

Daddy- Long- Legs,  163 

Dago,  68,  80,  280 

Dalburg  family,  250,  282 

Dallas,  88,  215 

Dalzel,  no 

Danites,  183 

Dare,  Jeanne,  100 

Dat  Galenus  Opes,  etc.,  140 

Day,  dark,  113,  125,  161,  180,  189,  226 

Day-day,  32 

Dead  beat,  41 

Death-watch,  150,  173 

Delamater,  74 

Delaware,  circular  boundary  of,  255 

Delia  in  literature,  294 

Derivations,  curious,  35 

Derne,  186,  210 

Desert,  painted,  14 

Deschecho  mi  Cadaver,  126 

Devil  in  architecture,  277,  295 

literature,  223,  234,  263,  298,  308 

plants,  162 
Devil's  strain,  41 
Dialect,  Maestri  cht,  6 

New  Jersey,  10 
Dillon,  74 

Divinity,  lay  doctors  of,  30 
D'O,  173 

Doctor,  Indian,  223 
Doctors,  scholastic,  1 1 
Dogs,  Isle  of,  83 

of  war,  14,  95,  117 
Dollar,  almighty,  246,  268,  288 
Dorimant,  14 
Dosh,  45 

Dreams,  captain  of  my,  33 
Dude,  95 

Duels,  Bladensburg,  112 
Dust,  94 

Dwarfs,  nations  of,  115,  127 
Dwellings,  cliff,  172 

Eagle  renewing  its  youth,  140,  185 
Earthquake,  continuous,  32,  202 
East,  Italian  of  the,  27 
Edmunds,  no 
Eggs,  bird's,  1 1 
Egypt,  183,  261,  294 

river  of,  195 

Emigrants,  Scotch-Irish,  114,  149 
Emodin,  101 
Emperor  of  Austria,  287 
Ems,  punctation  of,  40 
Engine,  marine  compound,  197,  222,  240 
England's  rulers,  how  they  died,  302 
Epistle,  heroic,  281 


E  Pluribus  Unum,  140,  160,  211,  226 
Epitaph,  Franklin's,  197 
Errors  contradicted,  289 
Estotiland,  232,  258 
Etymologies,  strange,  107,  144 
Eustis,  no 
Evectics,  175 
Everglades,  256 
Ewe,  117 
Eye,  evil,  79,  287 
Ireland's,  202 
Eyes  of  insects,  252 
Exempla,  218 

Fairies,  66 

Fall  for  autumn,  103 

Fandango,  188 

Farm,  brook,  75 

Farquhar,  no 

Fashion,  vagaries  of,  229 

Faun,  Marble,  39 

Felix  in  place  names,  26 

Ff  as  an  initial,  19 

Fiefes,  153 

Fillmore,  62 

Fire,  Mirimichi,  113,  149 

to  eject,  60,  76 

Flag,  Mohammed  IPs,  27,  102 
Flame-wood,  63 

Fleet  captured  by  cavalry,  282,  293 
Flowers  and  saints,  193,  225 
Footwear,  names  of,  30 
For  in  the  silent  grave,  etc.,  150 
For  when  all  heads,  etc.,  307 
Fosse,  war  of  the,  139,  160 
Four  persons  sat  down,  etc.,  18 
French  language,  English  words  in,  94 
Frenchtown,  6,  76 
Fruits,  forgotten  wild,  4,  15,  47 

Gall,  overflow  of  the,  236 

Gan,  names  ending  in,  269 

Garfield,  62 

Gascoigne,  94 

Gazebo,  292 

Generation,  remarkable,  250,  269,  300 

Geography,  156 

Geographic  names,  135 

Geometer,  great,  101 

Gerry,  88 

Ginseng,  119 

Glass,  59 

Gleams,  dreary,  180 

Glenullin,  21 1 

Goose,  the,  9 

Gorman,  no,  166 

Gottes  Briille,  150 

Grace,  shortest,  1 1 

Grant,  62 

Grave  by  the  lake,  186 

Great  Scott,  40 

Greek  authors,  29,  46,  57 


VI 


INDEX. 


Grimaces,  207 
Grimes,  old,  34 
Ground  hog  case,  256,  297 
Gum  Arabic,  29 
Gun,  McSwiney's,  90 
Gunpowder  plot,  57 

Hackmatack,  30 

Hair-worm,  25 1 

Halcyon's  bill,  124 

Hamlin,  88 

Hampton,  no 

Han,  names  ending  in,  269 

Hand  of  justice,  66,  76,  153 

Hands,  shaking,  64 

Happiness,  dread  of,  47 

Hardy,  Albert  H.,  139 

Harrison,  62 

Hat,  carries  his  office  in  his,  156 

Hatteras,  150,  190 

Hayes,  62,  82 

Hay  is  king,  131, 163 

Held,  82 

Hell-hound,  by  thee,  etc.,  29,  39,  57 

Helmet  of  the  Percies,  307 

Hen  and  chickens,  21 

Hep,  77 

Herbert,  no 

Herbs,  insane,  199,  216,  225 

Herd-grass,  1 6 

Hermit  of  Lampedusa,  75 

Heron,  Bastard,  211,  235 

Hieronymites,  113,  149 

Hild,  82 

Hill,  Hipcut,  1 86 

History,  making,  77 

Hoax,  bottle  imp,  189 

Hodge,  3 

Hole,  Symmes',  140,  160,  184,  215,  240 

Holl,  Woods,  1 60,  244 

Homer  of  Brabant,  100 

Honey-sweet,  27 

Hook,  lucky,  216 

Hotel  de  Sens,  112 

How  England's  rulers  died,  302 

How  names  grow,  304 

Hulder,  125,  227,  260 

Humble  origin,  men  of,  34,  70,  141,  164 

Huon,  91,  159 

of  Bordeaux,  89 
Hungaria,  5,  14 
Hypnagogic,  160,  173 
Hypnagogue,  200 

Icaria,  75 

Ice,  battle  of  the,  195 
Iceland,  snakes  in,  14,  33 
Ichaboe,  90 

Hie  hie  est  Raphael,  etc.,  174,  235,  258,  275 
Illusions  of  great  men,  8 
Imp,  bottle,  138,  179,  189,  239 
hoax,  1 88 


Inburning,  246 

Infare,  140,  149,  159,  177 

In  God  we  Trust,  163 

Inviteful,  246 

I  shall  be  satisfied,  8,  23 

Ising  Star,  63 

Island,  Cat,  IO 

of  women,  57 
Islands,  floating,  48 

sunken,  48,  95 

womanless,  1 08 

Isle,  St.  Brendan's,  146,  164,  249,  257,  271 
Ivy-bush,  68 
I  was  born  an  American,  etc.,  269,  293 

Jackson,  62 
Jackstones,  246,  275 
Janeway,  94 
Jefferson,  62 
Jersey,  east  and  west,  89 
Jerusalem,  king  of,  207 
Jiboose,  65,  1 20 
Johnny-cake,  150,  190,  259 
Johnson,  President,  8 1,  88 

Jonson,  Ben,  proverbial  phrases  from,  85,  97,  133 
Joshua  tree,  195 
Judith,  Point,  119 
Jumpers,  Madawaska,  75 
Juries  in  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  100,  131 
Justice,  Jedwood,  58 
vicarious,  155 

Kack,  114 
Kerr,  no 
Kill,  Arthur,  59 
King,  88 

of  Jerusalem,  207,  237 

seven  days',  63 
King's  Cross,  197 

Kinickinick,  83,  130,  153,  188,  225 
Knights  of  St.  John,  66 

Labrador,  19,  185 

Lady-bird,  1 68,  181 

Lady  in  the  case,  72 

Lake  of  blood,  91,  113 

Lakes  drained,  32,  47,  8l,  214,  296 

with  two  outlets,  29,  57,  83,  117,  310 
Lamb  tree,  211,  233,  245,  264 
Lamb,  yoked  with  a,  40 
Lamps,  ever-burning,  77,  101,  192,  290 
Langoon,  194 
Laspring,  194 
Latania,  177 
Law,  lash  of  the,  1 86 
Leaving  his  country,  etc.,  96,  114,  177 
Lepers,  royal,  287,  296 
Life  is  short,  etc.,  16,  39,  51,  82 
Liman,  158,  203 
Linaloa,  194 
Lincoln,  62 
Lion,  Gulf  of  the,  162,  176,  203,  205 


INDEX. 


VII 


Lions,  land  of,  183 

Liqueurs,  119 

Liriodendron,  127 

Lives  for  lief,  93 

LI,  the  initial,  72,  168 

L.  L.  A.,  173 

Llano  Estacado,  84,  94,  I2O 

Loco,  199 

Lose  this  day  loitering,  etc.,  294,  307 

Louis  XVIII,  Memoirs  of,  151,  223 

Lucidor,  the  Unfortunate,  63 

Lycium,  194 

Madison,  62 

Maestricht  dialect,  6 

Mafia,  279 

Maguelone,  206,  294,  306 

Mahbe  Bosor,  223 

Malafiges,  30 

Malays  in  Mexico,  30,  116 

Malungeons,  250,  264,  273 

M  and  Napoleon,  152 

Man  of  fire,  146 

Man  on  horseback,  269,  306 

Mars,  moons  of,  197,  207 

Marshals,  Napoleon's,  169 

Marshy  tracts,  names  for,  70 

Maryland  in  Africa,  307 

Marys,  the  four,  197,  209 

Matzoon,  6 

McCarthy,  74 

Meadows,  high,  180 

Me  and  Jim,  29,  75 

Medrick,  30 

Melleray,  5,  14,  33 

Melon-shrub,  158,  225 

Memory,  feats  of,  224 

Mercury,  183 

Metran,  194 

Mianas,  186,  222 

Miaouli,  194 

Mile,  two,  74 

Mills,  no 

Minorcans,  107,  130 

Mirbane,  30 

Miryachit,  194 

Misinforhiation,  man  of  extensive,  77 

Mission,  X.  Y.  Z.,  140,  158 

Mississippi,  228 

Moles  as  beauty  spots,  25 

Money,  fish-hook,  53,  120,  162 

spur,  27,  58 
Monroe,  62 
Mooley-cow,  273 
MOonachie,  45 
Morte  Darthur,  73 
Morton,  88,  202,  215 
Moss,  reindeer,  72 
Mother's  son,  73 
Motus  est  causa  caloris,  57 
Mountains,  organ,  160,  210 
Moustache,  269,  293 


Move  eastward,  etc.,  197 

M.  R.,  64 

Muse,  The  Tenth,  154,  295 

Musha,  103,  138,  163,  202,  215,  227,  299 

My  friend,  judge  not  me,  etc.,  78,  90,  113 

Nabalus,  233 
Naijack,  53,  82,  307 
Names,  corruption  of,  32 

East  Indian  place,  253 

geographic,  134 

how  they  grow,  304 

identified,  117 

Jewish,  239 

origin  of,  74,  81,  88,  109,  120,  143,  166,  178 

of  Presidents,  61,  88 

singular  place,  107,  130,  151,  164,  175,  250 
Name  wanted,  223 
Napoleon  and  M,  152 

marshals  of,  169 
Negative,  double,  74 

triple,  73 
Nicknames,  297 
Nidaros,  41 

No,  pronunciation  of,  160 
Norumbega,  175 
Not  built  that  way,  62 
Nutria,  i 

Oberman,  158 

Odd  numbers,  luck  in,  32 

Offering,  a  birthday,  186 

Ogontz,  1 6 

Oils,  essential,  16 

Old  man  Plain,  100 

Old  Scandinavian  customs,  305 

Orelie  I  (see  Orllie) 

Orllie  I,  41,  51,  72 

Owl-shield,  300 

Oyster  Bay,  140 

Paddock,  no 
Painters,  king  of,  38 

prince  of,  38,  203 

Pale  comes  the  moonlight,  etc.,  103 
Palladio,  English,  100 
Palmerin  romances,  123 
Parasites,  tiger,  91 
Parnell,  74 
Partridge  berry,  312 
Passages,  parallel,  238 
Patience,  207 
Patonee,  294 

Patriarchs,  15,  46,  56,  203,  251,  287 
Peace,  Charles,  197,  244 
People,  Father  of  the,  100 
Petroleum,  3 
Pattison,  74 

Pets  of  famous  people,  83,  92,  106,  150,  197,  216 
Phonograph  anticipated,  72 
Pick-me-up,  71 
Pierce,  62 


vin 


INDEX. 


Pig,  swimming,  305 

Pine  figure,  66 

Place  names,  felix  in,  26,  60 

singular,  n,  21,  58 
Plain,  staked,  66,  84 
Plantation,  264 
Plant,  compass,  64,  83,  93 
Plaquemine,  1 8,  45 
Play,  longest  English,  75 
Plow,  anchor  and  shuttle,  41 
Poet-laureate,  Cromwell's,  150,  210,  261 
Poet,  woman-hating,  195 
Poets-laureate,  Masonic,  236,  256 
Poets,  suicidal,  146,  294,  310 

titles  of  English,  74 

Wupperthal,  66,  113 
Poland,  Manchester  of,  27 
Polk,  62 

Pomegranate,  140,  159,  190,  214,  263,  265 
Pond,  Pomp's,  19 
Pope's  neck,  break  the,  53 
Ports,  Greek,- 1 62,  191,  225 
Possum,  playing,  68,  94 
Pot-herbs,  220 

Predictions,  remarkable,  55,  215,  260,  288,  299 
President  who  did  not  vote,  166 
Presidents,  origin  of  their  names,  61 
Princess,  letters  to  a  German,  89 
Prince  Consort's  family  name,  271 
Prince  of  Wales,  210,  233,  262,  282,  310 
Prison,  subterranean,  5,  21 
Prong,  63,  80 
Prophecy,  Montcalm's,  31 
Props,  269 
Protomartyr,  1 06 

Proverbial  phrases  from  Ben  Jonson,  85,  97,  133 
Puccoon,  300 
Pullen  family,  225 
Punishment,  curious,  305 
Puss,  68,  95 
Pygmies,  Tennessee,  223,  256 

Quarl,  63 

Queen,  six-fingered,  150,  159,  185,  309 

Queer,  103,  139,  155,  175 

Quirt,  103 

Rachel,  233 

Ragman's  roll,  10 

Rahel,  233 

Rah,  rah,  2 

Raised,  129 

Rajahs,  twice-born,  71 

Ranch,  199 

Raphael,  Spanish,  101 

Rattled,  199,  216 

Rawrenoke,  257,  269 

Razor-strop  man,  113,  125,  150,  161,  176,  200,  238, 

258 

Regio  Baccalos,  186,  196 
Remedies,  curious,  130 
Remember,  boy,  etc.,  45 


Review,  London  Quarterly,  83 
Rhetoric,  chambers  of,  240 
Riddles,  some  famous,  41 
Riflemen  on  skates,  71,  82 
Rings,  fairy,  150,  184,  204 
Rippowams,  186,  222 
Rise,  II 
Rivers  flowing  inland,  237,  309 

underground,  69 
Robert,  14 
Robes,  saffron,  5 
Rock-oil,  3 

Rock,  vibrating,  1 68,  192 
Rodeo,  199 
Romance,  first  published  in  United  States,  236,  256, 

293,  3°9 

Romans  of  America,  29 
Rosicrucians,  112,  155,  165,  176 
Rouchi,  77,  102 
Royle,  223,  244,  295 
Ruins,  love  among  the,  180 
Rulers,  antonomasias  of,  91,  119,  140 

Sahara,  flooding  the,  159 

Saint  Elias,  Mount,  9 

Saint  Patrick,  legend  of,  295 

Saints  and  their  flowers,  193,  225 

Salad,  Sydney  Smith's,  38 

Sambo,  156 

Samuel,  140 

Sancta  Simplicitas,  179 

Sand-drift,  a  notable,  24 

Sands,  singing,  202 

Sassasera,  77 

Say  nothing  and  saw  wood,  197 

Scandinavian  customs,  old,  305 

Scholar,  breeching,  1 1 

Sculsh,  279 

Sea-cat,  168 

Seal,  keeper  of  the  great,  26 

Seals,  243,  285 

See  where  the  startled  wild  fowl,  etc.,  281 

Seiches,  191 

Seminets,  144 

September,  thirty  days  hath,  112,  151 

Sermon  books,  mediaeval,  217 

Serpent  as  a  standard,  70,  82,  95 

Serpent  worship,  relics  of,  9 

Serpents'  flesh  as  food,  30 

Serpents,  Isle  of,  4,  179 

in  mineral  spring,  127 
Shamrock,  82 
Sheep,  Ancon,  41 

Pontic,  103,  139,  167 
Shelta,  247 
Sherman,  no 
Shirt,  bloody,  73 
Shoe,  casting  out  the,  167 
Sibyl,  50 

Sierra  Leone,  34,  249 
Sind  and  Sindhia,  142, 167 
Sister-world,  silver,  197,  210,  240,  263,  296 


INDEX. 


IX 


Six -fingered  queen,  309 
Skate  runners,  10,  23 
Skates,  1 18 
Skunk  cabbage,  2.56 
Slang,  189 
Slapper,  129,  179 
Smith,  Sydney,  38 
Snake  stone,  160,  174 
Snakes,  glass,  145 

hissing  of,  130,  178,  204 

two-headed,  233,  284 
Sneezing,  53,  81 
Snowdon,  62,  80 
Solomon  of  China,  64 
Sovereigns,  ages  of  European,  20 
Spectacles,  103,  174 
Speech,  Chinese  flowers  of,  211 
Springs,  burning,  120 
Sprog5e,  71 
Squab,  63,  122 
Square  man,  63 
Staracle,  45 

Stars  in  daytime,  seeing,  21 1,  233 
Steamship,  largest,  280 
Stilton,  hero,  196 
Stilt  walkers,  151 
Stones,  rocking,  168 
Straif,  223,  255 

Streams,  underground.  93,  127 
Suicide  among  the  poets,  116,  294,  310 
Sunflowers,  Cromwell's,  30 
Sunset  on  U.  S.,  10 
Superstitions  of  actors,  117 

folk-lore,  271,  282 

Siamese,  98,  no,  121 
Swamp,  70,  93 
Swimming  pig,  305 

Table,  head  and  foot  of,  6 

Tacamahack,  30 

Tacoma,  156 

Taking  in,  96 

Tammany,  Saint,  80 

Tanning  plant,  294 

Tantrum  bogus,  116 

Tea,  Cambric,  174 

Teeth,  artificial,  56 

Temples,  Brahma's,  186 

Tempora  Mutantur,  etc.,  207,  244 

The  grandeur  that  was  Rome,  etc.,  211,  245,  285 

"  The"  in  place  names,  23 

Theocritus,  Roman,  64 

The  mantle  that  Statius,  etc.,  91,  256 

Thimbles,  45,  55 

Thumb,  Tom,  223 

Tilman,  74 

Timothy,  16 

Tinker's  talk,  247 

Tiny,  243 

Titles  of  books,  curious,  176 

Toads  and  bloody  milk,  1 66 

Tobacco  smoking,  307 


To  be  shut  of,  32 

Tokens,  communion,  153 

Tonite,  64 

Tonson,  Monsieur,  41,  125 

Tote,  129,  156,  177,  190 

Tower,  Devil's,  46,  106 

Town,  241 

Towns,  abandoned,  118 

rhymes  about,  96 
Tractors,  metallic,  31 
Tree,  Joshua,  195 

Judas,  183,  201 

lamb,  211,  233,  245 

planting,  307 
Trees,  men  as,  80 

Tripoli,  come  as  high  from,  66,  102 
Troqueurs,  les,  5 1 
Truxton,  Thomas,  78,  102 
Tu  quoque  argument,  307 
Tube,  I  love  thee,  etc.,  76 
Tules,  1 88 
Turf  and  twig,  possession  by,  77,  90,  101,  129,  166, 

202 

Turnspit  dog,  113,  124,  139,  154,  164 
'Twas  in  the  Constellation,  etc.,  78,  102 
Two  shall  be  born,  etc.,  125 
Tyler,  62,  178,  203,  299 
Tyrwhit,  77 , 

Umailik,  307 
Under  way,  291 
weigh,  291 
Utica,  pent-up,  195 

Vacquero,  199 

Valley,  Death,  143,  161 

Van  Buren,  62 

Vanderbilt,  74 

Van  Shaik,  no 

Veddahs,  38 

Vespucci,  Amerigo,  67 

Visions,  196,  208,  236,  259,  274,  299 

Von  Moltke,  301 

Voodoo  worship,  278 

Vulgarisms,  origin  in  literature  of,  6,  16 

Wales,  Prince  of,  210,  246 

West,  35 
Walker,  94 

Wanted,  a  valuable  book,  311 
Warriors,  antonomasias  of,  91,  119,  140 
Washington,  61 
Waterfalls,  lofty,  19 
Waters,  father  of,  57 
Wawa,  119,  144 
We  learn  so  little,  etc.,  139 
Wells,  207,  246,  275 

magnetic,  30 
Wenona,  211 
What,  never !   1 24 
What  the  devil,  74 
Wheeler,  88 


x  INDEX. 

Whimple,  63,  123  Wood-tick,  63 

Whirlpool,  35,  96  Words,  depravation  of,  104 

Whom  Biserta  sent,  etc.,  236  Dutch,  190 

Wide-awake  fair,  3  notes  on,  49,  71 

Wilson,  88  Spanish-American,  186,  198 

Captain,  197  vowel,  267,  288 

Window,  bay,  57,  74  Worship,  relics  of  serpent,  9 

Wind  howling,  222  Wrens  of  Donegal,  6,  280 
Witch  of  the  Pyrenees,  140 

Witches  of  Carnmoney,  1 13  Youl  £dward 
Witticism,  53 
Women,  Isle  of,  57 

Wonders  of  Wales,  seven,  236  Zodiacal  sign,  38 

Woodruff,  105,  151,  175,  203  Zohrab,  80 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES: — Announcement — Olden-time  Amusements, i — Super- 
stitions of  Shoes,  2 — Goody  Two-shoes,  3. 

QUERIES  :— Joint— "  Caviare  to  the  General  "—Battle  of  the 
Herrings — Aurora  Borealis,  3 — Authorship  Wanted — Jambee 
— Adverb  and  Adjective — Only  English  Pope — Depth  of  the 
Ocean,  4 — Oysters  and  R — Coela,  etc. — Baedeker,  5. 

REPLIES :— Rattle  Rand  of  Beef— Man  of  the  World— 
Holtselster,  5— Black  Box— New  Word  Wanted,  6. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS:— Lowey— Author 
ship  Wanted — Goose-bone— Slang —  Blue-Nosed  —  Covering 
Locking-Glasses — Nectar  and  Ambrosia,  6. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :-Local  Words ,  6-Osgpd  Clapa— The 
Hare  and  Easter — Blue  Sea-cat — Juffer — Liriodendron,  7— 
Heathen  Hymn  in  Christian  Churches — Hum — The  White 
Lady — Alliterative  Poems — Gentoo — Amongst  for  All,  8 — 
Ignis  Fatuus — Pinder — Damnable — To  Fire,  To  Eject — Lot,  9 
— Egg  Superstitions,  10— Brygge-a-Bragge — The  Number 
Seven  in  the  Bible — Latania,  n — Dornick — The  Humming- 
bird—Shortest Sentence  Containing  Alphabet— Little  Britain 
— Tree  Lists,  12. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS.  12. 


ROTES. 

ANNOUNCEMENT. 

With  the  beginning  of  Vol.  v,  we  regret 
to  announce  the  resignation  from  the  edi- 
torial management  of.  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Garrison,  who  has 
contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  periodical.  In  the  future  this  de- 
partment will  be  in  charge  of  Mr.  Samuel 
R.  Harris. 


OLDEN-TIME  AMUSEMENTS. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
the  domestic  games  were  a  necessity,  as  but 
few  people  could  read  or  write.  They  were 
exceedingly  fond  of  games  of  chance.  "  At 
dice  they  play,"  says  Dr.  Henry  in  his  "  His- 
toryof  England,"  "  with  wonderful  skill,  and 
in  perfect  coolness  after  they  have  lost  all 
their  money  and  goods,  they  venture  their 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  3,  1890. 


very  persons  and  liberties  on  one  desperate 
throw.  He  who  loseth  tamely  submits  to 
servitude,  and  thpugh  both  younger  and 
stronger  than  his  antagonist  patiently  per- 
mits himself  to  be  bound  and  sold  in  the 
market.  This  madness  they  dignified  with 
the  name  of  honor." 

Although  the  church  discouraged  games 
of  chance,  and  the  clergy  were  prohibited, 
the  restriction  was  not  observed.  On  one 
occasion,  the  Bishop  of  yEtheric  had  occa- 
sion on  pressing  business  to  see  Canute  the 
Great,  at  midnight,  and  upon  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  presence  of  the  king  found 
him  and  his  nobles  playing  dice  and  chess. 
Backgammon  (Vol.  ii,  p.  6i)was  a  favorite 
Welsh  game  and  is  said  to  have  derived  its 
name  from  two  Welsh  words,  "bach" 
(little)  and  "  cammon  "  (battle). 

It  was  incumbent  upon  the  Anglo-Normans 
to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  several  games  of 
dice  and  chess,  especially  if  he  aspired  to 
knighthood,  and  it  consequently  became  a 
part  of  his  education.  Peter  of  Blois,  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend,  who  had  a  wild  young 
man  under  his  care,  says:  "I  ascribe  the1 
profligacy  of  the  youth  to  the  education  he 
had  received  from  his  father,  who,  being  a 
great  gamester,  had  taught  his  son  to  play 
at  dice.  I  do  not  wonder  that  he  is  a 
vicious  young  man,  as  dice  is  the  mother  of 
perjury,  theft  and  sacrilege."  A  writer  of 
the  twefth  century,  John  of  Salisbury,  says  : 
"  In  our  times  expertness  in  the  art  of 
hunting,  dexterity  in  the  damnable  art  of 
dice  playing,  a  mincing  effeminate  way  of 
speaking,  and  great  skill  in  dancing  and 
music,  are  the  most  admired  accomplish- 
ments of  our  nobility."  The  Abbot 
Brompton,in  his  "Chronocon,"  gives  the  law 
which  was  promulgated  by  Richard  I  of 
England,  and  Philip  of  France, -in  1190, 
when  on  the  crusade.  "  Besides  none  in  the 
array  shall  play  at  any  kind  of  game  for 
money  except  knights  and  clerks ;  who 
shall  not  lose  above  twenty  shillings  in  one 
day  and  one  night,  but  if  any  knight  or 
clerk  shall  lose  more  than  twenty  shillings 
in  one  day  he  shall  pay  one  hundred 
shillings,  for  every  such  offense,  into  the 
haids  of  commissioners  appointed  to  hold 
in  custody  that  money.  But  the  two  kings 
shall  be  under  no  restrictions,  but  may  play 


for  as  much  money  as  they  please.  The 
servants  who  attend  upon  the  two  kings  at 
their  headquarters  may  play  to  the  extent 
of  twenty  shillings.  But  if  any  other  sol- 
diers, servants  or  sailors  shall  be  found  play- 
ing for  money  among  themselves  they  shall 
be  punished  in  the  following  manner,  unless 
they  can  purchase  a  pardon  from  the  com- 
missioners, by  paying  what  they  shall  think 
proper  to  demand  :  '  Soldiers  and  servants 
shall  be  stripped  naked,  and  whipt  through 
the  army  three  days ;  sailors  shall  be  as 
often  plunged  from  their  ships  into  the  sea, 
according  to  the  custom  of  mariners.'  ' 

Cards,  so  report  says,  were  introduced  into 
England  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury by  one  Jacquamin  Gringonneau,  a 
painter  from  Paris,  though  it  was  not  until 
the  middle  of  the  next  century  that  they 
were  played  to  any  extent.  The  cards  were 
very  expensive  and  were  handsomely  em- 
bellished in  gilt,  and  cost  from  eighteen  to 
fifty  shillings.  In  1463  an  application  was 
made  to  Parliament  by  the  London  card 
makers  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  cards. 

In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII,  the  domestic 
amusements  are  thus  given  in  Dr.  Henry's 
history,  who  quotes  from  Thomas  Rymer's 
"  Fcedera:"  "The  ordinary  recreation  which 
we  have  in  winter  are  cards,  tables  and 
dice,  shovel  board,  chesse-play,  the  philo- 
sopher's game,  small  trunkes,  billiards, 
musicks,  maskes,  singying,  dancing,  ule- 
games,  catches,  purposes,  questions,  merry 
tales  of  errant  knights,  kings,  queens, 
lovers,  lords,  ladies,  giants,  dwarfs,  thieves, 
fayries,  goblens,  friars  and  witches." 

Many  of  these  games  are  still  familiar  to 
our  readers  of  the  present  day,  while  others 
are  entirely  obsolete. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


SUPERSTITIONS  OF  SHOES. 

It  is  said  that  if  old  shoes  are  burned, 
snakes  will  squirm  away  from  the  place, 
while  to  keep  old  shoes,  that  are  past  wear- 
ing, about  the  place  will  surely  bring  good 
luck.  Among  negroes  in  the  South,  the 
"old  aunties"  say  that  burned  shoe  soles  and 
feathers  are  good  to  cure  a  cold  in  the  head, 


May  .3,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


and  parched  shoes  and  hog  hoofs  is  a  good 
mixture  for  coughs. 

It  is  said  that  old  maids  believe  that 
when  their  shoes  come  untied,  and  keep 
coming  untied,  it  is  true  their  sweethearts 
are  talking  and  thinking  about  them.  The 
sweetheart,  when  on  the  way  to  see  his  lady 
love,  should  he  stub  his  right  toe,  he  will 
surely  be  welcome,  but  if  he  stubs  his  left,  he 
may  know  that  he  is  not  wanted. 

When  a  pair  of  new  shoes  are  brought 
home,  never  place  them  on  a  shelf  higher 
than  your  head  if  you  would  have  good  luck 
while  wearing  them,  and  never  blacken 
them  before  you  have  had  both  shoes  on  else 
you  may  meet  with  an  accident  and  perhaps 
sudden  death.  So  say  the  old  Irish  women 
who  have  made  a  study  of  these  matters. 
The  Scotch  lassie  believes  that  should  she 
by  accident  drop  her  new  shoes  before  they 
have  been  worn,  they  will  surely  lead  her 
into  trouble.  The  German  mother  says 
that  should  she  lose  the  heel  of  her  shoe,  one 
of  her  children  will  die  defore  the  year  is 
out ;  while  should  a  French  lady  meet  with 
such  an  accident  to  her  high-heeled  slippers, 
disappointment  in  love  is  sure  to  follow. 

Taste  in  the  selection  of  foot  gear  is  said 
to  indicate  the  character.  Should  a  young 
man  be  careless  of  his  shoe  laces,  'tis  said 
that  he  will  be  as  neglectful  of  his  wife,  but 
in  case  he  laces  his  shoes  very  tight  he  will 
be  attentive  but  very  stingy  toward  her. 
Many  sayings  about  shoes  have  been  put 
into  rhyme,  as 


Or, 


Worn  on  the  heel, 
Thinks  a  good  deal. 

Worn  on  the  ball, 
He'll  spend  it  all. 


It  is  said  of  the  unfortunate  who  has  his 
shoes 

Worn  on  the  vamp, 
Look  out !  he's  a  scamp. 

Should  you  meet  a  person  whose  shoes  are 
"  worn  on  the  toes  "  you  may  put  it  down 
as  a  certainty  that  he  "  spends  as  he  goes," 
and  on  the  same  authority  it  is  said  that  the 
girl  that  has  her  shoes  "  worn  on  the  side  " 
is  surely  fated  to  be  a  "  rich  man's  bride." 

OLIVER  THOMPSON. 
EDGEHILL,  MASS. 


GOODY  TWO-SHOES. 

The  little  story  of  Goody  Two-shoes  is 
often  ascribed  to  Goldsmith.  But  in  Cot- 
ton's burlesque,  "Voyageto  Ireland"  (1670), 
when  the  poet  was  dining  with  the  mayor  of 
Chester  : 

"  Mistress  mayoress  complained  that  the  pottage  was 

cold  ; 

'And  all  'long  of  your  fiddle-faddle,'  quoth  she. 
'  Why,  then,  Goody  Two-shoes,  what  if  it  be? 
Hold  you,  if  you  can,  your  tittle-tattle,'  "  quoth  he. 

Here  "Goody  Two-shoes"  is  a  nick- 
name, and  apparently  one  of  contempt,  be- 
stowed by  the  husband  upon  his  wife.  The 
quotation  shows,  at  least,  that  Goldsmith 
did  not  invent  the  name  or  title  of  the  little 
story.  IPSICO. 


U  B 


B  S. 


Joint.  —  What  is  the  origin  of  this  term,  as 
used  in  the  expression  "  opium-joint?" 

E.  N.  B.  . 
PARIS,  K.Y. 

It  seems  to  be  the  Portuguese  junta,  an 
assembly;  hence,  a  place  of  low  resort. 
The  Portuguese  establishment  at  Macao  ap- 
pears to  have  had  a  very  considerable  in- 
fluence upon  the  Pigeon-  English  vocabulary. 

"Caviare  to  the  General."  —  What  is  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  this  expression  ? 

B.  M.  C. 

WADSWORTH,  NEV. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
ii,  p.  199. 

Battle  of  the  Herrings.  —  What  was  the 
Battle  of  the  Herrings  ? 

A.  L.  N. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

This  was  a  naval  engagement  which  took 
place  between  England  and  France,  Febru- 
ary 12,  1429.  It  was  so  called  because  the 
convoy  was  bringing  herrings  to  the  English 
army. 

Aurora  Borealis.  —  I  see  in  the  April  issueof 
Queries  Magazine  the  following  questions  .: 

62.  "  What  are  the  Aurora  Borealis 
called  in  the  Shetland  Isles  ? 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  3,  1896. 


63.  "  Who  gave  the  Aurora  Borealis 
their  name  ? ' 

Is  then  Aurora  Botealis  plural  ? 

C.  R.  EDWARDS. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

No ;  Aurora  Borealis  is  singular.  The 
plural  form  would  be  Aurora  Boreales. 

Authorship  Wanted. — Please  inform  me 
who  is  the  author  of  the  following  lines: 

"  The  strongest  weapon  one  can  see 
In  mortal  hands  is  constancy." 

I  know  that  they  are  quoted  by  "  Noorna  " 
in  the  "  Shaving  of  Shagpat,"  by  George 
Meredith,  but  I  should  like  to  know  the 
author.  C.  C.  E. 

FREEDOM,  MD. 

The  couplet  is  evidently  by  the  author  of 
the  book,  Meredith,  who  has  written  a 
volume  of  poetry  and  who,  in  the  use  of 
these  and  similar  verses  throughout  "  The 
Shaving  of  Shagpat,"  seeks  to  heighten  the 
resemblance  of  the  tales  to  those  of  the 
"Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments,"  after 
which  "Shagpat"  is  modeled.  It  is  pos- 
sible, of  course,  that  these  and  other  poetical 
sentiments  in  "Shagpat"  maybe  transla- 
tions from  some  Persian  or  Arabian  poet, 
but  it  is  much  more  probable  that  they,  like 
the  stories  themselves  of  which  they  are  a 
part,  are  original  with  the  author. 

EDITOR  OF  THE  BOOK  BUYER. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Jambee. — What  is  the  origin  of  this  word  ? 
It  means  some  kind  of  a  walking-cane  {Tat- 
tler, No.  142).  According  to  Dobson's 
notes  it  is  a  pale  brown  and  knotty  bamboo 
(see  "Cent.  Diet.").  But  it  seems  like 
jambu,  a  well-known  East  Indian  tree  of  a 
genus  {Eugenia}  which  furnishes  many  walk- 
ing-sticks to  commerce.  E.  R.  G. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Jambee  is  unquestionably  derived  from 
Jambi,  in  Sumatra,  which  has  long  been 
noted  for  its  trade  in  bamboos.  But  the 
dictionaries  accent  the  last  syllable  in 
jambee  ;  the  town,  country  and  river  Jambi 
take  the  accent  or  stress  on  the  penult. 
Mr.  Dobson's  definition  is  correct. 


Adverb  and  Adjective. — When  is  it  ab- 
solutely correct  to  add  ly  to  an  adverb? 
When  shall  I  say,  "  He  feels  badly,"  and 
when  "  He  feels  bad  ?"  Please  answer,  giv- 
ing the  best  authority,  and  oblige, 

A  SUBSCRIBER. 
PHILADELPHIA. 

The  fullest  discussion  of  this  question  is 
probably  that  in  Goold-Brown's  "  Grammar 
of  Grammars."  "He  feels  bad"  is  good 
idiomatic  English.  But  bad  is  here  not  ex- 
actly an  adverb.  It  is  a  predicate  adjective, 
the  verb  feels  replacing  or  standing  in  the 
place  of  the  copula.  You  might  say,  "  He 
feels  badly  shaken  by  the  accident."  Here 
shaken  stands  for  the  predicate  adjective. 
You  would  not  use  an  adverb  after  seems — 
"  She  seems  pleasant,"  not  pleasantly.  In 
every  case  where  a  verb  stands  in  the  copula- 
tive relation,  use  a  predicate  adjective,  and 
not  the  adverb  in  -ly. 

Only  English  Pope. — Can  you  tell  me  if 
there  ever  was  an  Englishman  chosen  as 
Pope?  J.  R.  M. 

POINT  PLEASANT,  N.  J. 

Only  one,  Nicholas  Breakspeare ;  he  took 
the  title  of  Adrian  IV.  His  death  was 
rather  a  curious  one;  it  was  caused  by  being 
choked  by  a  fly. 

Depth  of  the  Ocean. — What  is  the  great- 
est known  depth  of  the  ocean  ? 

GEORGE  S.  REYNOLDS. 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

The  greatest  known  depth  of  the  ocean  is 
midway  between  the  Island  of  Tristan  d' 
Acunha  and  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la 
Plata.  The  bottom  was  there  reached  at  a 
depth  of  40,236  feet,  or  eight  and  three- 
fourth  miles,  exceeding  by  more  than  17,000 
feet  the  height  of  Mount  Everest,  the  loftiest 
mountain  in  the  world.  In  North  Atlantic 
ocean,  south  of  Newfoundland,  soundings 
have  been  made  to  a  depth  of  4580  fathoms, 
or  27,480  feet,  while  depths  equaling  34,000 
feet,  or  six  and  one-half  miles,  are  reported 
south  of  the  Bermuda  islands.  The  average 
depth  of  the  Pacific  ocean  between  Japan 
and  California  is  a  little  over  2000  fathoms  ; 
between  Chili  and  the  Sandwich  islands 


May  3,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


2500  fathoms  and  Chili  and  New  Zealand 
1500  fathoms.  The  average  depth  of  all  the 
oceans  is  from  2000  to  2500  fathoms. 

Oysters  and  R.  —  Whence  originated  the 
belief  that  oysters  were  only  wholesome  dur- 
ing the  months  whose  names  contain  the 
letter  R  ?  J.  S.  H. 

RICHMOND,  VA. 

"  It  is  unseasonable  and  unwholesome  in 
all  months  that  have  not  an  R  in  their  name 
to  eat  an  oyster"  (Butler's  "  Dyet's  Dry 
Dinner,"  1599). 

Coela,  etc.  —  Can  you  give  the  location  of 
Coela,  Mount  Hymettus,  Araxes  and  the 
Cory  dan  Cave  ?  R.  C.  C. 

WOODBURY,  N.  J. 

Coela  was  an  ancient  town  of  Thrace  on 
the  Hellespont.  Mount  Hymettus  was  seven 
miles  south-east  of  Athens  in  Attica.  Araxes, 
a  river  of  ancient  Persia,  flowing  near  the 
Persepolis  into  the  Meduse,  which  empties 
into  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  Corycian  Gate 
was  situated  near  Coryce,  a  city  of  ancient 
Asia  Minor. 

Baedeker.  —  Who  was  the  originator  of 
the  Baedeker  guide  books?  When  and 
where  did  he  live  ? 

CYRUS  P.  WELD. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Charles  Baedeker,  a  German  writer,  born 
in  Essen,  Prussia,  in  1801,  and  died  in 
Coblentz,  in  1859.  The  following  are  his 
earliest  works:  "The  Rhine,  from  Bale 
to  Dusseldorf,"  "Belgium  and  Holland," 
"The  Traveler's  Practical  Guide,"  "Eas- 
tern Italy,"  "  Paris  and  Vicinity,"  "  Lon- 
don and  Vicinity." 


It  E  P  L  I  E  S  . 

* 

Ratt/e  Rand  of  Beef  (Vol.  iv,  p.  293).  — 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher  used  the  word  rand, 
meaning  a  long,  fleshy  piece,  as  of  beef  cut 
from  the  flank  or  leg,  a  sort  of  steak. 

E.  R.  THOMAS. 
SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 


Man  of  the  World  (Vol.  iii,  p.  7).— 
Horace  Binney  Wallace  is  the  author  of  a 
book  entitled  "  Stanley;  or,  The  Recollec- 
tions of  a  Man  of  the  World." 


E.  R.  BOOTH. 


DENVER,  COLO. 


Ho/tse/ster  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  269,  293). — Re- 
mond  would  find  in  modern  Dutch  not  a 
little  evidence  in  support  of  his  derivation 
of  Holtselster ;  the  word  itself  is  not  to  be 
found  (a  forester  is  now  a  houtvester,  hence 
houtvesterij,  the  Forest  Board),  but  if  it  does 
not  exist,  the  correspondents  of  its  three 
component  parts  abound. 

1.  If  out,   the  modern  form  of  holt,*  has 
derivatives  by  the  score. 

2.  Sel  is  a  common  affix  signifying  either 
the  means  of  doing  what  is  represented  by 
the  noun-root,  or  the  result  of  the  action  of 
the  verb-root.     Thus  mengen,\   aaumengen 
•=.  to  mix ;  mengsel,  aanmengsel= a  mixture ; 
gietew\  •=.  to  melt,  gietsel,  a  cast ;  brandtn, 
aanbranden,  aanzetten  =  to  burn  ;  brandsel, 
aanbrandsel,  aanzetsel=  something  burnt,  a 
crust,  etc. ;  while  binden  ,|  aanbinden  =  to 
bind,    and    bindsel,  aanbindsel  =  a  band; 
vu/Jen  =  to     fill,     and     v  ulsel  =  stuffing ; 
schutten  =  to  enclose,  and  schutsel^  a  fence. 

3.  Ster  is  the  well-known  old  suffix  of  the 
personal   agent,    still   surviving   with  us  in 
gamester,  punster,   etc.,   and  in  Dutch  (to 
name  but  a  few  from  among  the  above)  in 
gietster,  mengster,  bindster,  etc. 

Assuming  that,  like  the  German  Holz, 
holt  meant  timber,  rather  a  forest,  holtsel 
might  seem  to  point  to  what  goes  to  the  mak- 
ing of  timber  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Dutch 
proverb,  Alle  hout  is  geen  timmerhout  (all 
wood  is  not  timber  wood),  may  lead  some  to 
construe  holtselster  into  some  such  would-be 
German  compound  as  Einforstungstcr,  the 
afforesting  man. 

Either  hypothesis  would  equally  support 
the  suggested  meaning. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


*  Compare  Eng.  hold,,  gold,  cold,  with  Dutch  houden, 
go.ud,  koud. 

f  Compare  German  mengen  and  Meng$tl,  giesstn  and 
Giessel,  binden  and  Bindsel. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  3,  1890! 


Black  Box  (Vol.  iv,  p.  222).  —  If  your  cor- 
respondent will  examine  the  index  to  the 
first  volume  of  Macaulay's  "  History  of 
England  "  (I  cannot  refer  to  the  page,  the 
editions  are  so  various),  he  will  find  an  ac- 
count of  the  Black  Box  fable.  When 
Charles  II  was  king,  and  the  Duke  of  York 
was  heir  presumptive,  a  large  party  of  the 
common  people  desired  to  have  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth,  the  king's  putative  son,  recog- 
nized as  heir  to  the  crown.  The  story  was 
long  current  that  there  existed  somewhere  a 
black  box  containing  a  written  marriage 
contract  between  the  king  and  Monmouth's 
mother,  the  "  bold,  brown  and  beautiful, 
but  insipid  "  Lucy  Waters. 

J.  MALLOY. 
BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Hew  Word  Wanted  (Vol.  iv,  p.  293).— 
Of  course  the  already  existing  derivatives  of 
akq,  aA/iy  and  di-pupis,  with  the  sense  of 
salty  incrustation,  are  known  to  your  cor- 
respondent. 

Should  these  not  suit  his  purpose,  what 
would  he  think  of  compounding  the  former 
of  these  with  the  adverb  %uiJ.ai,  after  the  pat- 
tern of  •(a.fj.atKiffffos,  ^afj.ai/j.rt).o}>  (our  old 
familiar  chamomile),  etc. 

Chamosalm  would  express  the  idea  of 
salt  deposit  on  the  ground,  and,  if  needed  and 
not  too  long,  chamosalmose  (indirectly 
through  dlfjtdto),  the  depositing  of  the  salt. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


©OP^ESPONDENTS. 


Lowey.  —  What  does  this  word  mean? 
It  occurs  in  the  "  Encyc.  Britannica," 
article  "  Kent,"  in  which  reference  is  made 
to  the  lowey  of  Tunbridge.  I  desire  to  find 
out  the  meaning  and  the  origin  of  this  word  ; 
it  is  not  in  the  "  Century  Dictionary." 

F.  A.  M.  LEVY. 

CAMDRN,  N.  J. 

Authorship  Wanted.  —  Who  wrote 
the  poem  "  Not  Answered  Yet,"  and 
where  can  it  be  found  ? 

G.  ELLIOTT. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Goose-bone.  —  What  is  the  story  or 
superstition  of  the  "goose-bone?" 

JOHN  MC-DEVITT. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Slang. — I  remember  in  the  Adirondacks, 
a  boatable  channel  or  stream  connecting  a 
small  lake  with  the  Raquette  river.  Our 
boatman  called  it  "the  Slang."  He  could 
not  tell  me  whether  slang  was  a  proper 
name,  or  a  common  noun.  Can  any  of 
your  correspondents  explain  the  origin  and 
meaning  of  the  word  ? 

A.  FORRESTER. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Blue  Nosed. — Can  you  tell  me  why 
Presbyterians  are  sometimes  called  "blue 
nosed?"  MRS.  J.  C.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Covering  Looking-glasses.  —  The 

Germans  here  have  a  custom  like  this  5 
When  a  death  occurs  they  cover  the  faces 
of  the  looking-glasses  in  the  house  of  the 
deceased.  Why  is  this,  and  what  is  the 
origin?  ED.  GLIFF. 

RICHMOND. 

Nectar  and  Ambrosia. — What  was 
the  composition  of  the  mythological  nectar 
and  ambrosia?  According  to  "Webster's 
Dictionary,"  ambrosia  was  the  food  of  the 
gods,  but  according  to  Sappho  and  one  or 
two  other  Greek  writers  it  certainly  was  a 
drink.  IGNORANTISSIMUS. 

©OMMUNIGAIPIONS. 

Local  Words. — I  heard  a  man  in  New 
Jersey  speak  of  his  grandfolks,  meaning 
grandparents. 

In  Eastern  Kentucky  plum  means  very ; 
plum  quire  means  very  queer.  In  the  same 
region  to  mount  a  horse  is  to  bounce  a  nag. 

Chetlins  (that  is,  chitterlings)  are  a  favor- 
ite article  of  food  in  that  district  of  the 
country. 

In  some  of  the  South-western  States  a 
young  man's  sweetheart  is  his  jimpsecute. 
The  above  are  words  of  my  own  gathering. 

K.  A.  SMITH. 
MASSACHUSETTS. 


May  3,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


.  Osgod  Clapa  (Vol.  iv,  p.  248). — From 
the  important  positions  filled  by  Osgod 
Clapa  under  the  kings  of  the  Danish 
dynasty,  his  close  personal  relations  with 
Harthacnut  (or  Hardicanute),  and  his  sub- 
sequent fate,  I  should  conclude  that  he  was 
a  Dane,  or  at  least  of  Danish  descent.  It  is 
conjectured  by  some  antiquarians  that  the 
old  English  Hoke-tide  festivities  commemo- 
rated the  death  of  Harthacnut,  which  oc- 
curred at  the  marriage  of  Osgod  Clapa's 
daughter. 

Reference  may  be  had  to  the  "  Anglo- 
Saxon  Chronicle,"  A.  1046-47-50-54; 
Lappenberg's  "Anglo-Saxon  Kings,"  Part 
iv,  Chap,  xv,  and  Prof.  Church's  "  Story  of 
Early  Britain,"  p.  319. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

The  Hare  and  Easter  (Vol.  iii,  p. 
64).  —  Katharine  Hillard  in  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  says : 

"The  Egyptian  word  un  not  only  meant 
hare  and  open,  but  also  period,  and  for  this 
reason  (as  well  as  for  -the  one  already  given 
as  to  its  time  of  gestation)  the  hare  became 
the  type  of  periodicity,-  both  human  and 
lunar,  and  in  its  character  of  '  opener ' 
was  associated  with  the  opening  of  the  new 
year  at  Easter,  as  well  as  with  the  beginning 
of  a  new  life  in  the  youth  and  maiden. 
Hence  the  hare  became  connected  in  the 
popular  mind  with  the  paschal  eggs,  broken 
to  signify  the  opening  of  the  year.  So  close 
has  this  association  become  with  some  peo- 
ples, that  in  Swabia,  for  instance,  the  little 
children  are  sent  out  to  look  for  hares'  eggs 
at  Easter.  In  Saxony,  they  say  that  the 
Easter  hare  brings  the  Easter  egg,  and  even 
in  America  we  may  see  in  the  confectioners' 
windows  the  hare  wheeling  his  barrowful  of 
eggs,  or  drawing  one  large  one  as  a  sort  of 
triumphal  chariot.  In  some  parts  of 
Europe,  the  Easter  eggs  are  made  up  into 
cakes  in  the  shape  of  hares,  and  the  little 
children  are  told  that  babies  are  found  in 
the  hare's  "form."  The  moon,  in  her 
character  of  the  goddess  Lucina,  presided 
over  child-birth,  and  the  hare  is  constantly 
identified  with  her  in  this  connection  in  the 
folk-lore  of  many  peoples,  both  ancient  and 
modern.  Pausanias  describes  .the  moon- 


goddess  as  instructing  the  exiles  who  would 
found  a  new  nation  to  build  their  city  in 
that  myrtle-grove  wherein  they  should  see  a 
hare  take  refuge.  In  Russia,  if  a  hare  meet 
the  bridal  car  (as  an  omen  thus  opposing  it), 
it  bodes  evil  to  the  wedding,  and  to  the 
bride  and  groom.  If  the  hare  be  run  over 
by  the  car,  it  is  a  bad  presage,  not  only  for 
the  bridal  couple,  but  for  all  mankind; 
being  held  as  equivalent  to  an  eclipse,  al- 
ways a  sinister  omen  in  popular  supersti- 
tion. In  Swabia,  the  children  are  forbidden 
to  indulge  in  the  favorite  childish  amuse- 
ment of  making  shadow-pictures  of  rabbits 
on  the  wall,  because  it  is  considered  a  sin 
against  the  moon. 

"  Among  English  popular  customs  cele- 
brating Easter,  the  only  trace  of  the  hare 
seems  to  be  found  in  Warwickshire,  where 
at  Coleshill,  if  the  young  men  of  the  parish 
can  catch  a  hare  and  bring  it  to  the  parson 
before  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Easter 
Monday  (the  moon-day},  he  is  bound  to  give 
them  a  calf's  head,  one  hundred  eggs,  and  a 
groat ;  the  calf's  head  being  probably  a  sur- 
vival of  the  worship  of  Baal,  or  the  sun,  as 
the  golden  calf." 

Blue  Sea-cat  (Vol.  iv,  p.  1 66).— The 
Sanskrit  name  markata,  for  monkey,  still 
exists  in  India.  At  least,  Dr.  Hunter,  in-his 
"  Bengal  Gazetteer,"  Vol.  vii,  p.  198,  speaks 
of  a  short-tailed  monkey  called  markut  as 
being  found  in  the  woods  of  the  Rangpur 
district.  E.  OTIS. 

BANGOR,  ME. 

Juffer. — This  old  carpenter's  name  for  a 
block  or  square  stick  of  timber  has  no  ety- 
mology in  the  "  Century  Diet."  It  seems 
identical  with  the  Dutch  juffer,  "a 
damsel,"  also  a  ship's  block,  a  spar,  a  piece 
of  timber.  *  *  * 

DAYTON,  O. 

Liriodendron.  —  The  "Century  Dic- 
tionary "  tells  us  that  this  genus  of  trees  has 
only  one  living  species.  Several  years 
since  the  discovery  of  a  second  species  in 
China  was  announced.  I  think  the  an- 
nouncement was  made  in  the  Garden  and 
Forest.  •  ...  PANAX. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  3,  1890. 


Heathen  Hymn  in  Christian 
Churches  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  141,  165,  190,  211, 
283). — Pope's  "Vital  Spark  of  Heavenly 
Flame,"  though  containing  suggestions 
both  of  Hadrian's  "Animula"  and  of 
Sappho's  ode  to  Lesbia,  is  still  more  closely 
based  upon  the  little  sextette  "  Dying," 
written  by  Thomas  Flatman  (1635-1688). 

IPSICO. 

Hum. — This  is  an  old  name  for  a  kind  of 
drink.  The  "  Century  Diet."  tells  us  that 
it  is  not  known  what  its  composition  was, 
whether  it  was  ale,  or  ale  and  spirits.  But 
in  Cotton's  "  Voyage  to  Ireland  "  (1670) 
the  poet  asks  a  taverner  for  some  ale  ;  the 
taverner  inquires  whether  he  will  have  it 
pure  or  "purled;"  the  poet  prefers 
"plain"  ale;  whereupon  there  is  handed 
to  him  a  bottle  of  "  the  best  Cheshire  hum 
he  e'er  drank  in  his  life."  This  seems  to 
make  it  evident  that  in  Cotton's  time  hum 
was  plain  ale,  for  nobody  knew  more  about 
the  meaning  of  such  words  than  the  jolly  old 
dun-hating  toss-pot,  Charles  Cotton. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

The  White  Lady  (Vol.  i,  pp.  61,  120). 
—In  T.  Adolphus  Trollope's  "  What  I  Re- 
member," I  find  the  following  allusion 
to  The  White  Lady : 

"  But  I  confess  to  have  been  more  inter- 
ested in  a  portrait  of  the  celebrated  White 
Lady  who,  as  is  well  known,  haunts  the 
families  of  Brunswick  and  Hohenzollern, 
and  whose  appearance,  as  usual,  portends 
the  near-at-hand  death  of  one  of  the  family. 
The  picture  represents  a  lady  of  some  forty 
years  old,  with  a  bad  face  of  "Some  beauty 
and  very  bright  black  eyes.  She  is  dressed 
in  white  silk,  with  a  long  mantle  hanging 
down  her  back.  *  *  *  She  was  the  mis- 
tress  of  a  Duke  of  Brunswick  who  had 
promised  to  mary  her,  but  told  her  that 
four  eyes  stood  in  the  way  of  his  keeping  his 
promise.  She  understood  this  to  mean  that 
her  two  children  contributed  the  impedi- 
ment ;  so  she  strangled  them,  was  pronounced 
mad,  and — made  abbess  of  a  convent !" 


GEORGE  G.  SIMPSON. 


BALTIMORE,  MD. 


Alliterative  Poems  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  276, 
286). — I  herewith  send  a  poem,  which  I 
think  is  worthy  of  notice  : 

BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT  CELEBRATION. 

Americans  arrayed  and  armed  attend  ; 

Beside  battalions  bold,  bright  beauties  blend. 

Chiefs,  clergy,  citizens  conglomerate — 

Detesting  despots — daring  deeds  debate  ; 

Each  eye  emblazoned  ensigns  entertain — 

Flourishing  from  far — fan  freedom's  flame. 

Guards  greeting  guards  grown  gray — guest   greeting 

guest. 

High-minded  heroes,  hither  homeward  haste. 
Ingenuous  juniors  join  in  jubilee, 
Kith  kenning  kin — kind  knowing  kindred  key. 
L6,  lengthened  lines  lend  Liberty  liege  love, 
Mixed  masses,  marshaled,  monumentward  move. 
Note  noble  navies  near — no  novel  notion — 
Oft  our  oppressors  overawed  old  ocean  ; 
Presumptuous  princes,  pristine  patriots  paled, 
Queens'  quarrel  questing  quotas,  quondam  quailed. 
Rebellion  roused,  revolting  ramparts  rose. 
Stout  spirits,  smiting  servile  soldiers,  strove. 
These  thrilling  themes,  to  thousands  truly  told, 
Usurper's  unjust  usages  unfold. 
Victorious  vassals,  vauntings  vainly  veiled. 
Where,  while  since,  Webster,  war-like  Warren  wailed. 
'Xcuse,  'Xpletives  'Xtra-queer  'Xpressed, 
Yielding  Yankee  yeomen  zest. 

SARAH  G.  HAMMERSLEIGH^ 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Gentoo. — -The  "Century  Dictionary" 
gives  this  word  as  equivalent  to  Hindoo. 
Quite  as  often  as  otherwise,  however,  the 
term  is  (or  was,  for  it  is  now  archaic,  if  not 
obsolete)  exactly  identical  in  meaning  with 
Telugu  or  Kling.  "This  language"  [the 
Telugu]  "  was  sometimes  called  by  Euro- 
peans of  the  last  generation  the  Gentoo, 
from  the  Portuguese  "  (gentio)  "  for  heathens 
or  '  gentiles,'  a  term  which  was  used  at 
first  to  denote  all  Hindus  or  natives,  but 
which  came  in  time  to  mean  the  Telugus 
alone."  (Bp.  Caldwell's  "  Comparative 
Dravidian  Grammar,"  Introduction,  p.  29, 
second  edition).  GEROULD. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Amongst  for  All. — I  am  told  that  in 
some  parts  of  Maryland  amongst  is  used  for 
all,  as  in  this  example :  "  Amongst  you 
going  to  town  ?"  meaning,  "  Are  all  of  you 
going  to  town  ?"  Can  this  be  a  survival  of 
an  obsolete  use?  Among  originally  meant  a 
mingling,  a  crowd. 

UDOLPHO. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


May  3,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Ignis  Fatuus  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  147,  200). — 
A  few  years  ago  it  was  a  common  belief,  and 
the  notion  is  now  by  no  means  rare  among 
mining  people,  that  deposits  of  iron  ore  are 
often  indicated  by  flickering  lights  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground  over  them.  There  is 
a  tradition,  which  is  probably  a  century  old, 
that  one  of  the  largest  bodies  of  iron  ore  in 
this  section  was  discovered  in  this  way. 
The  story  goes  that  a  man  was  riding  at 
night  past  the  place  where  the  mines  were 
afterwards  opened  and  observed  these  danc- 
ing lights;  being  familiar  with  the  current 
belief,  he  dismounted  and  marked  the  spot. 

Soon  after,  operations  were  begun  which 
resulted  in  bringing  to  the  surface  thousands 
of  tons  of  good  ore,  and  these  mines  are 
still  worked.  I  cannot,  of  course,  vouch 
for  the  truth  of  this  story,  but  I  have  it  from 
eye-witnesses  that,  forty  or  fifty  years  ago, 
similar  lights  were  seen  in  the  vicinity,  and 
since  then  deposits  o'f  ore  have  been  found 
under  where  they  were  seen.  These  appear- 
ances cannot  be  ascribed  to  fire-damp, 
which  is  unknown  in  this  mine ;  nor  from 
the  nature  of  the  ground  to  the  ordinary 
causes  which  produce  the  ignis  fatuus.  The 
ignis  fatuus  caused  by  the  exhalations  rising 
from  low-lying,  marshy  ground,  is  of  very 
frequent  occurrence  in  this  section. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Finder  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  94,  129). — The 
Benguella  name  mpindi  (not  inpindi}  seems 
to  become  mpandi  in  the  Unyoro  country 
(see  Emin  Pasha's  "  Letters,"  p.  80,  of  Mrs. 
Felkin's  translation)  ;  but  the  name  is  there 
given  to  the  Voandzeia  subterranea,  a  ground- 
nut not  at  all  unlike  the  common  ground- 
nut or  pea-nut,  and  sharing  with  it  the 
names  gooba  and  gobbe. 

LYNN  E.  LYNTON. 

Damnable. — One  of  the  most  remark- 
able instances  I  know  of  where  this  word  is 
used  is  in  the  older  editions  of  the  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress"  of  Bunyan.  Christian 
and  Hopeful,  on  their  way  out  of  Doubting 
Castle,  find  it  "damnable  hard"  to  unlock 
the  gate.  P.  S.  B. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


To  Fire,  To  Eject  (Vol.  iv,  p.  287).— 
A  week  after  I  sent  my  reference  to  Shake- 
speare's 1 44th  sonnet,  Prof.  Quackenbos  of 
Columbia  College,  in  a  lecture,  said  defin- 
itely that  our  slang  phrase  "to  fire"  came 
from  that  sonnet.  Now  "  B,"  from  New 
Brunswick,  sends  the  enclosed  to  the  New 
York  Sun,  demolishing  Mr.  Quackenbos, 
and  incidentally  answering  my  query. 

"  SLANG   IN   SHAKESPEARE. 

"  To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  SUN  : 

"Sir: — In  your  Sunday  issue  for  March  16,  Prof. 
Quackenbos  quotes  as  containing  an  example  of  modern 
slang  the  last  two  lines  of  Shakespeare's  144111  sonnet: 

"  '  Yet  this  shall  I  ne'er  know  but  live  in  doubt, 
Till  my  bad  a.nge\fire  my  good  one  out.' 

"  Perhaps  in  citing  this  passage  the  professor  was  in  a 
jocose  vein.  Shakespeare's  '  firing  out '  was  certainly 
not  the  same  as  the  '  firing  out '  of  the  present  dayi 
A  person  nowadays  is  said  to  be  fired  out  of  any  place 
when  he  is  hurled  therefrom  with  a  force  and  speed  re- 
sembling those  of  a  bullet  fired  from  a  gun. 
Shakespeare  used  the  phrase  in  an  entirely  different 
sense,  as  can  be  plainly  seen  by  this  passage  from 
'  King  Lear,'  v,  3,  33  : 

"  '  He  that  parts  us  shall  bring  a  brand  from  heaven. 
And  fire  us  hence  like  foxes.' 

Compare,  too,  the  phrase  '  fire  drives  out  fire,'  in  '  Cori- 
olanus,'  iv,  7,  54,  and  '  Julius  Caesar,'  iii,  i,  171." 

Whether  "  B  "  has  any  claim  to  con- 
sideration beyond  being  anonymous,  I  do 
not  know.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Lot  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  164,  187,  275). — I  do 
not  remember  to  have  seen  any  mention  of 
the  remarkable  parallelism  between  the 
American  colloquial  use  of  the  word  lot 
(meaning  a  crowd,  a  large  number,  or  large 
quantity),  and  the  archaic  English  use  of 
the  word  sort  in  the  same  sense.  Of  course, 
the  lot  that  is  cast  and  sort  (Latin  sors, 
sortis}  have  the  same  meaning.  But  Spen- 
ser speaks  of  a  sort  of  grooms,  a  sort  of 
steers,  meaning  a  group  or  company.  Mas- 
singer  tells  of  a  sort  of  rogues  ;  and  Chapman 
uses  the  word  in  the  same  sense.  It  occurs 
at  least  three  times  in  Waller's  poems ;  once 
in  Etherege's  "Sir  Fopling  Flutter,"  and 
once  in  the  English  Prayer  Book,  Ps.  Ixii,  3: 
"  Ye  shall  be  slain,  all  the  sort  of  you." 

JOHN  L.  SMYTHE. 
BOSTON,  MASS. 


10 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  3,  1890. 


Egg  Superstitions. — "  To  hang  an 
egg  laid  on  Ascension  day  in  the  roof  of 
a  house,"  says  Reginald  Scot,  in  1584, 
"  preserveth  the  same  from  all  hurts."  Prob- 
ably this  was  written  with  an  eye  to  the 
"hurts"  arising  from  witchcraft,  in  con- 
nection with  which  eggs  were  supposed  to 
possess  certain  mysterious  powers.  In  North 
Germany,  if  you  have  a  desire  to  see  the 
ladies  of  the  broomstick  on  May  day,  their 
festival,  you  must  take  an  egg  laid  on 
Maundy-Thursday  and  stand  where  four 
roads  meet ;  or  else  you  must  go  into  church 
on  Good  Friday,  but  come  out  before  the 
blessing.  It  was  formerly  quite  an  article 
of  domestic  belief  that  the  shells  must  be 
broken  after  eating  eggs,  lest  the  witches 
should  sail  out  to  sea  in  them  ;  or,  as  Sir 
Thomas  Browne  declared,  lest  they  "should 
draw  or  prick  their  names  therein,  and 
venificiously  mischief"  the  person  who  had 
partaken  of  the  egg.  North  Germans, 
ignoring  this  side  of  the  question,  say, 
"  Break  the  shells  or  you  will  get  the  ague," 
and  Netherlanders  advise  you  to  secure 
yourself  against  the  attacks  of  this  disagree- 
able visitor  by  eating  on  Easter  day  a  couple 
of  eggs  which  were  laid  on  Good  Friday. 

Scotch  fishers,  who  may  be  reckoned 
among  the  most  superstitious  of  folks,  be- 
lieve that  contrary  winds  and  much  vexation 
of  spirit  will  result  of  having  eggs  on  board 
with  them,  while  in  the  west  of  England  it 
is  considered  very  unlucky  to  bring  birds' 
eggs  into  the  house,  although  they  may  be 
hung  up  with  impunity  outside.  Mr. 
Gregor,  in  his  "  Folk-lore  of  the  Northeast 
of  Scotland,"  gives  us  some  curious  parti- 
culars concerning  chickens  and  the  best 
methods  of  securing  a  satisfactory  brood. 
The  hen,  it  seems,  should  be  set  on  an  odd 
number  of  eggs,  or  the  chances  are  that 
most,  if  not  all,  will  be  addled — a  mournful 
prospect  for  the  hen  wife ;  also,  they  must 
be  placed  under  the  mother  bird  after  sun- 
set, or  the  chickens  will  be  blind.  If  the 
woman  who  performs  this  office  carries  the 
eggs  wrapped  up  in  her  chemise,  the  result 
will  be  hen  birds  ;  if  she  wears  a  man's  hat, 
cocks.  Furthermore,  it  is  as  well  for  her  to 
repeat  a  sort  of  charm,  "  A'  in  thegeethir. 
A'  oot  thegeethir." 

There  are  many  farmers'  wives,  even  in  the 


present  day,  who  would  never  dream  of  al- 
lowing eggs  to  be  brought  into  the  house  or 
taken  out  after  dark,  this  being  deemed  ex- 
tremely unlucky.  Cuthbert  Bede  mentions 
the  case  of  a  farmer's  wife  in  Rutland  who 
received  a  setting  of  ducks'  eggs  from  a 
neighbor  at  9  o'clock  at  night.  "  I  cannot 
imagine  how  she  could  have  been  so  fool- 
ish," said  the  good  woman,  much  distressed ; 
and  her  visitor  upon  inquiry  was  told  that 
ducks'  eggs  brought  into  a  house  after  sun- 
set would  never  be  hatched.  A  Lincoln- 
shire superstition  declares  that  if  eggs  are 
carried  over  running  water  they  will  be  use- 
less for  setting  purposes  ;  while  in  Aberdeen 
there  is  an  idea  prevalent  among  the  coun- 
try folks  that  should  it  thunder  a  short  time 
before  chickens  are  hatched  they  will  die  in 
the  shell.  The  same  wiseacres  may  be 
credited  with  the  notion  that  the  year  the 
farmer's  gudewife  presents  him  with  an  ad- 
dition to  his  family  is'a  bad  season  for  the 
poultry  yard.  "  Bairns  and  chuckens," 
say  they,  "  dinna  thrive  in  ae  year."  The 
probable  explanation  being  that  the  gude- 
wife, taken  up  with  the  care  of  her  bairn, 
has  less  time  to  attend  to  the  rearing  of  the 
"  chuckens." 

Beside  the  divination  practiced  with  the 
white  of  an  egg,  which  certainly  appears  of 
a  vague  and  unsatisfactory  character,  another 
species  of  fortune  telling  with  eggs  is  in 
vogue  in  Northumberland  on  the  eve  of  St. 
Agnes.  A  maiden  desirous  of  knowing 
what  her  future  lord  is  like  is  enjoined  to 
boil  an  egg,  after  having  spent  the  whole 
day  fasting  and  in  silence  ;  then  to  extract 
the  yolk,  fill  the  cavity  with  salt,  and  eat 
the  whole,  including  the  shell.  This  highly 
unpalatable  supper  finished,  the  heroic  maid 
must  walk  backward,  uttering  this  invocation 
to  the  saint : 

Sweet  St.  Agnes,  work  thy  fast, 
If  ever  I  be  to  marry  man, 
Or  man  to  marry  me, 
I  hope  him  this  night  to  see. 

If  all  necessary  rites  and  ceremonies  have 
been  duly  performed,  the  girl  may  confi- 
dently count  upon  seeing  her  future  hus- 
band in  her  dreams — dreams  which,  we 
should  presume,  as  our  Yankee  friends  say, 
would  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  night- 
mare. 


May  3,  1890.] 


AMERICAN'NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Brygge-a-Bragge  (Vol.  iv,  p.  283). — 
According  to  Dr.  Murray,  this  phrase  can 
have  no  connection  whatever  with  "  bric-a- 
brac,"  as  he  accepts  Littre's  derivation  of 
the  latter  phrase  from  "debric  et  debroc" — 
"  by  hook  and  by  crook."  Dr.  Murray  also 
shows  that  the  words  composing  the  phrase 
in  question  were  not  derived  from  the 
French,\x&  more  likely  from  the  old  Norse 
tongues,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Hawes' 
poetic  diction  evidences  much  intimacy 
with  the  former  language.  The  Percy 
Society  prints  the  opening  stanza  of  the  2Qth 
chapter  of  Hawes'  '•  Pastime  of  Pleasure  "  as 
follows,  \^ phrase  being  without  hyphens  : 

"  And  so  forth  we  rode,  tyll  we  sawe  aferre 

To  us  come  rydyng  on  a  lytell  nagge 
A  folysshe  dwarfe,  nothynge  for  the  warre, 

With  a  hood,  a  bell,  a  foxtayle  and  a  bagge  ; 
In  a  pyed  cote  he  rode  brygge  a  bragge, 
And  when  that  he  unto  us  drewe  nye, 
I  beheld  his  body  and  his  visamy." 

(Ed.  1845.) 

The  phrase  seems  to  refer  to  the  haughty, 
vain  and  boastful  manner  in  which  the  fool- 
ish dwarf,  Evil  Report,  rode  his  "  little  nag." 
One  authority,  Earle,  would  class  the  entire 
phrase  with  "  Phrasal  Adverbs."  Refer  to 
his  "  Philology  of  the  Eng.  Lang."  p.  426. 

Although  I  have  not  found  the  phrase  re- 
ferred to  by  any  of  the  leading  authorities 
consulted,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  is  made  of 
•obsolete  material.  £rygge  is  one  of  the 
many  old  ways  of  spelling  bridge  (Chaucer 
spelled  it  brigge,  M.  E.),  and  it  might  refer 
to  a  portion  of  the  harness  so  called,  but  it 
seems  more  likely  to  carry  the  idea  of 
Astride. 

A  and  bragge,  taken  together,  may  be 
considered  equivalent  to  the  obsolete  adverb 
bragly,  signifying  "  ostentatiously,  nimbly, 
briskly."  The  adjective  brag  (braeg),  some- 
times spelled  bragge,  was  used  as  a  quasi 
.adverb,  in  the  sense  of  haughtily  or  boast- 
fully. 

An  analysis  of  the  "  Pastime  of  Pleasure  " 
may  be  found  in  VVarton's  "  Hist.  Eng. 
Poetry,"  Vol.  iii,  though  it  offers  no  help 
as  to  the  phrases. 

Please  accept  the  paper  as  a  clue  or  sug- 
gestion. 

W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


The  Number  Seven  in  the  Bible.— 

On  the  seventh  day  God  ended  His  work. 

On  the  seventh  month  Noah's  ark  touched 
the  ground. 

In  seven  days  a  dove  was  sent. 

Abraham  pleaded  seven  times  for  Sodom. 

Jacob  mourned  seven  days  for  Joseph. 

Jacob  served  seven  years  for  Rachel. 

And  yet  another  seven  years  more. 

Jacob  pursued  a  seven  days'  journey  by 
Laban. 

A  plenty  of  seven  years  and  a  famine  of 
seven  years  were  foretold  in  Pharaoh's 
dream  by  seven  fat  and  seven  lean  beasts, 
and  seven  ears  of  full  and  seven  ears  of 
blasted  corn. 

On  the  seventh  day  of  the  seventh  month 
the  children  of  Israel  fasted  seven  days  and 
remained  seven  days  in  their  tent. 

Every  seven  days  the  land  rested. 

Every  seventh  day  the  law  was  read  to  the 
people. 

In  the  destruction  of  Jericho  seven  per- 
sons bore  seven  trumpets  seven  days.  On 
the  seventh  day  they  surrounded  the  wall 
seven  times,  and  at  the  end  of  the  seventh 
round,  the  walls  fell. 

Solomon  was  seven  years  building  the 
temple,  and  fasted  seven  days  at  its  dedica- 
tion. 

In  the  tabernacle  were  seven  lamps. 

The  golden  candlestick  had  seven 
branches. 

Naaman  washed  seven  times  in  the  river 
Jordan. 

Job's  friends  sat  with  him  seven  days  and 
seven  nights,  and  offered  bullocks  and  seven 
rams  for  an  atonement. 

Our  Saviour  spoke  seven  times  from  the 
Cross  on  which  he  hung  seven  hours,  and 
after  his  resurrection  appeared  seven  times. 

In  the  Apocalypse  we  read  of  seven 
churches,  seven  candlesticks,  seven  stars, 
seven  trumpets,  seven  plagues,  seven  thun- 
ders, seven  virgins,  seven  angles  and  a 
seven-headed  monster. 

H.  W.  HARRISON. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Latania. — This  word,  the  name  of  a 
genus  of  palms,  is  said  in  the  "  Century 
Dictionary  "  to  be  from  "  latanier,  the  Gal- 
licized native  name  of  the  plants  in  the  Isle 


12 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  3,  1890. 


of  Bourbon."  But  as  the  island  of  Bourbon 
(now  Reunion)  had  no  inhabitants  when  first 
discovered  by  white  men,  and  as  the  genus 
is  a  local  one,  there  must  be  some  more  re- 
mote origin  for  the  name. 

*     *     * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Dornick  (Vol.  iii,  p.  177;  Vol.  iv,  pp. 
227,  272). — Relative  to  the  discussion  of 
the  meaning  of  this  word,  permit  me  to 
quote  a  verse  from  the  ancient  song  of  "Old 
Rosin-the-Bow,"  in  which  it  is  used  for  a 
"  head  or  foot  stone  :" 

"  Then  get  me  a  couple  of  dornicks — 

Place  one  at  the  head  and  the  toe — 

And  do  not  forget  to  scratch  on  them, 

The  name  of  Old  Rosin-the-Bow." 


M.  R.  H. 


TRENTON,  N.  J. 


The  Humming-bird  (Vol.  iv,  p.  206). 
— Another  Mexican  name  for  this  bird  men- 
tioned in  Mr.  Lang's  article,  "  Mythology  " 
(in  the  "  Encyc.  Brit."),  is  Nuitzon.  This 
article  gives  a  good  account  of  the  humming- 
bird myths  of  Mexico.  In  Prof.  Newton's 
article,  "Humming-bird,"  in  the  same  work, 
are  still  other  names,  as  the  Spanish  paxaro 
mosquito  (Gesner's  Passer  muscatus). 
Another  South  American  name  is  ourissia. 
Sabre-wings,  Hermits,  Racquet-tails,  etc., 
are  names  given  in  books  to  certain  groups 
of  humming-birds.  Hummer  and  hum- bird 
are  English-American  names  of  the  hum- 
ming-bird. HEINRICH. 

VIRGINIA. 

Shortest  Sentence  Containing  Al- 
phabet (Vol.  iv,  p.  291). — The  following 
contains  thirty-seven  letters  against  forty- 
seven  in  the  "  Brady  "  sentence  :  '•'  Quiz 
Judge  P.  L.  Wycoff  about  his  vexing  re- 
mark." G.  G.  M. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

The  following  sentence,  which  has  been 
received  from  another  correspondent,  is 
still  shorter,  as  it  contains  but  thirty-two 
letters : 

"  Pack  my  box  with  five  dozen  liquor  jugs." 

McC. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Little  Britain  (Vol.  iv,  p.  141).— The 
following  are  examples  of  the  use  of  "  Little 
Britain  "  in  the  sense  of  Brittany,  or 
Bretagne  : 

1.  From  the  "Polyolbion  "   of  Dr.ayton, 
24th  song  : 

"  St.  Macklove  [Malo]  from  North   Wales    to  Little 

Britain  sent, 
That  people  to  convert,"  etc. 

2.  From    "The     Triple    Combat"      of 
Waller : 

"  Legions  of  cupids  to  the  battel  come ; 
For  Little  Britain  these,  and  these  for  Rome." 

Little  Britain  was  represented  by  Mme. 
Queronaille  and  her  train,  and  Rome  by 
"  the  fair  Mazarine  "  and  her  attendants. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN. 

Tree  Lists  (Vol.  iii,  p.  190;  Vol.  iv, 
pp'.  71,  167,  249). — There  is  an  excellent 
tree  list  in  Spenser's  "  Faery  Queen,"  Book 
i,  Canto  i,  Stanzas  viii  and  ix,  in  which 
twenty  trees  are  named  and  characterized. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK.  Pa. 


BODIES  AND   E>EF$IODIGAliS. 


The  Atlantic  Monthly  for  May  contains  an  article  on 
Henry  Ibsen,  by  E.  P.  Evans,  which  should  be  enter- 
taining to  admirers  of  that  poet  and  playwright. 

The  number  is  especially  interesting  and  contains, 
besides  a  large  number  of  entertaining  articles,  a 
valuable  one  on  the  "  Hare  at  Easter,"  by  Katharine 
Hillard  (see  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
iii,  p.  64),  from  which  we  quote  in  another  column. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  continues  his  talks  "  Over 
the  Teacups." 

Current  Literature  for  May  is,  as  usual,  entertaining. 
It  matters  not  what  one's  taste  in  literature  may  be,  the 
reader  is  always  sure  to  find  something  to  read  in  this 
magazine. 

Short  Stories  is  also  eclectic  in  its  character  like 
Current  Literature  and  is  published  by  the  same 
company.  A  good  feature  of  this  periodical  is  the 
classification  of  stories  under  different  heads— "Ghostly," 
"  Humorous,"  "  Pathetic,"  etc.,  thus  enabling  readers 
to  at  once  select  the  story  best  suited  to  their  mood. 

A  catalogue  of  Americana  has  just  been  received 
from  Mr.  Francis  Edwards,  London,  Eng.  It  contains 
the  names  of  a  large  number  of  works  pertaining  to 
America. 


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TIHIIE 

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Queries  on  all  matters  of  general  literary  and 
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CONTENTS. 

NOTES: — Ancient  Laws  Concerning  Shoes,  13 — Thimbles — 
Notes  on  Words,  14. 

QUERIES:— Rescue  Grass— Weeping  Trees— Arthur  Kill,  16. 
REPLIES  :— Akond  of  Swat,  16— Sea  Blue  Bird,  17. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— No— Ahlcoond 
of  Swat— Plafery,  17— The  Guernere— Push— Chald,  18. 

COMiMUNICATIONS  :— The  Battle  Bell-Creek,  18— Corp— 
Kelp — Program— Divides  and  River  Basins— Sunken  Islands, 
19— The  City  of  Ys— Runcible — Goliards,  20 — Altitudes — 
Ambrosia. — Land-pike — Larrigan,  21 — Deaths  of  English 
Sovereigns — The  Criminal  Eye — Bulldoze — Yop,  22— Throw- 
ing the  Cups — Llanthony  Abbey — Names  of  Odd  Pronun- 
ciation, 23 — Holtselster,  24. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— The  Century— The  Arena, 
24- 


HOTES. 


ANCIENT  LAWS  CONCERNING  SHOES. 

The  Jew  who  failed  to  keep  a  compact  of 
honor  was  summoned  before  the  authorities, 
and  if  he  then  refused  to  fulfill  his  compact, 
the  offended  party  would  loosen  his  shoe, 
spit  in  his  face,  "and,"  as  Holy  Writ  says, 
"  his  name  shall  be  called  in  Israel,  the 
house  of  him  that  hath  his  shoe  loosed." 

To  say  a  man's  "in  his  boots"  implies 
that'  he  is  very  drunk.  It  comes  from  an 
old  Welsh  word,  "boozi,"  meaning  to  be 
saturated  with  liquor.  But  to  stand  in 
another's  shoes  is  to  claim  the  honors  of 
another.  It  has  its  origin  from  a  custom 
common  among  the  ancient  Northmen, 
among  whom  if  a  man  adopted  a  son  in  order 
that  the  youth  might  lawfully  inherit,  he 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  10,  1890. 


must  for  a  certain  length  of  time  wear  the 
shoes  of  his  adopter. 

An  old  Roman,  much  to  the  surprise  of 
his  friends,  sought  to  divorce  his  wife,  with 
whom  it  was  always  supposed  that  he  lived 
very  happily.  He  was  blamed  for  taking 
this  step,  and  in  reply  put  out  his  foot  and 
asked  if  his  shoes  were  not  new  and  well 
made.  "Yet,"  said  he,  "  none  of  you  can 
tell  where  it  pinches."  From  this  incident 
is  said  to  have  come  the  say  ing,  "  where  the 
shoe  pinches." 

As  a  sign  of  respect  the  Japanese,  when 
they  meet  in  the  street,  take  off  their  slip- 
pers. This  custom  almost  universally  pre- 
vails in  the  East.  An  inferior,  when  he 
enters  the  presence  of  his  superior,  removes 
his  shoes  or  slippers  and  leaves  them  at  the 
door  until  his  departure.  This  is  done  as  a 
mark  of  humility,  as  a  shoeless  foot  denotes 
servitude.  The  shoe  is  always  left  at  the 
door  of  the  Mohammedan  mosque,  for  the 
reason  that  leather  is  regarded  as  an  unclean 
thing  and  must  not  be  brought  into  the 
presence  of  the  holy. 

The  custom  of  throwing  an  old  shoe  after 
a  newly  married  couple  is  almost  universal. 
Some  think  that  it  is  a  relic  of  the  days 
when  the  gallant  lover  carried  off  his  sweet- 
heart bv  force.  Others  ascribe  good  luck 
to  an  old  shoe,  and  throw  it  after  the  newly 
married  couple  with  the  best  intent.  This 
certainly  is  the  most  popular  view,  and  few 
parents  dream  that  when  they  throw  her  old 
shoe  after  her  they  thereby  give  up  for  good 
all  their  control  and  right  over  their 
daughter.  Yet  this  is  the  significance  it  had 
in  the  days  when  the  Anglo-Saxon  father 
handed  to  the  bridegroom  an  old  shoe  of  the 
bride.  The  husband  touched  the  bride  on 
the  head  with  it  as  an  assertion  of  his  au- 
thority, while  the  father,  by  the  giving  of 
the  shoe,  signified  his  willingness  to  relin- 
quish all  claim  or  authority.  In  Turkey, 
however,  it  is  the  bridegroom  himself  that 
is  touched,  and  sometimes  quite  severely, 
for  the  moment  he  is  married  his  friends  and 
relatives  set  upon  him  and  pelt  him  with 
their  slippers  as  a  sort  of  affectionate  fare- 
well. 

OLIVER  THOMPSON. 

EDGEHILL,  M  ASS. 


THIMBLES. 

(VOL.  iv,  p.  233.) 

Some  months  ago  there  was  a  brief  discus- 
sion in  Notes  and  Queries  (English)  about 
the  invention  of  the  thimble,  based  upon  an 
item  similar  to  that  printed  in  these 
columns.  Mr.  Skeat  objected  to  the  popu- 
lar derivation  from  ihumb-M/,  because  it  is 
not  consistent  with  the  early  spelling  of  the 
word.  There  was,  he  said,  an  Anglo-Saxon 
thymel,  a  Middle  English  thimbil,  and  the 
spelling  thymbyl  occurs  in  1440.  By  other 
contributors  the  fact  that  thimbles  were 
made  at  Islington  by  the  Loftings,  in  1695, 
was  confirmed,  and,  on  the  whole,  there 
seemed  to  be  little  dissent  to  the  received 
opinion  that  this  was  the  date  of  the  intro- 
duction of  thimbles  into  general  use  in  Eng- 
land, though  not  of  their  invention. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  can  be  disproved. 
It  chanced,  not  long  ago,  that  I  looked 
through  some  plays  dated  before  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  with  the  special 
purpose  of  learning  what  light  they  threw 
upon  the  customs  of  that  time,  and  among 
my  notes,  I  find  allusions  to  thimbles  im- 
plying a  common  use  of  this  implement  in 
England  long  before  1695.  Other  readers 
may  perhaps  be  able  to  adduce  other  and 
earlier  instances  in  point. 

Before  giving  these,  it  may  be  said  that 
Prof.  Skeat's  reference  to  the  year  1440 
probably  pertains  to  the  "  Promptorium 
Parvulorum,"  the  English  and  Latin  dic- 
tionary compiled  at  that  date  by  a  Domini- 
can of  Lynne,  where  the  word  is  found  with 
the  synonym,  theca  ;  but  it  also  occurs  in  a 
bit  of  ancient  popular  poetry  of  unknown 
authorship,  thought  by  some  to  be  of  still 
earlier  date,  "  The  Debate  of  the  Car- 
penter's Tools,"  to  be  found  in  Hazlitt's 
"  Early  Popular  Poetry,"  Vol.  i : 

"  Seyd  the  wymbylle  [/'.  e.,  gimlet] 
I  ame  als  round  as  a  thytnbyll  "  (p.  8oJ. 

The  comparison  implies  a' familiar  thing, 
but  the  "  thymbyll  "  may  not  have  been 
like  those  of  our  inquiry. 

Shakespeare's  references  to  thimbles  are 
familiar.  Although  in  "The  Taming  of 
the  Shrew,"  when  Petruchio  calls  the  tailor, 
"  Thou  Thimble  !"  and  Grumio  would  face 


May  10,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


him  down  "  though  [his]  little  finger  be 
armed  in  a  thimble,"  it  is  a  man's  imple- 
ment that  is  in  question,  and  apparently  not 
worn  like  our  own,  yet  in  "  King  John," 
v,  2,  it  is  ladies  who,  in  the  war-like  time, 

"  Their  thimbles  into  gaun.lets  change, 
Their  needles  to  lances." 

Sir  William  D'Avenant's  "The  Wits" 
was  first  played  in  1634,  and  printed  two 
years  later.  I  quote  from  an  edition  with 
modernized  spelling.  Pert,  a  soldier  em- 
ployed in  the  Low  Countries,  but  now  in 
England,  says  (Act  i,  Sc.  i)  in  reply  to  the 
question  of  a  companion,  that  it  is 

"  Not  a  brass  thimble  to  me,  but  honour !" 

whether  a  Spanish  Don  or  a  Dutch  "  fritter- 
seller  of  Bombell  "  conquers  in  that  contest. 

Brass  thimbles,  then,  were  sufficiently 
common  to  be  of  small  value  in  Pert's 
estimation,  much  like  a  "brass  farthing," 
or  a  "  Sou  Marque  "  (see  Vol.  iv,  p.  247) 
nowadays.  If  any  one  argues  that  this  is 
the  speech  of  a  soldier  who  had  been  much 
out  of  England  and  had  caught  up  the  say- 
ing elsewhere,  there  is  not  lacking  better 
proof  for  our  case. 

In  the  same  play,  Mrs.  Snore  is  a  con- 
stable's wife,  a  coarse  woman  who  distinctly 
belongs  to  "the  million,"  and  in  railing 
against  her  neighbor,  an  equally  unrefined 
woman  eager  after  gain,  she  declares: 

"  She  took  rny  silver  thimble 
To  pawn  when  I  was  a  maid ;  I  paid  her 
A  penny  a  month  xise." 


(Act  iii,  Sc.  i.) 


"Good  News  from  Plymouth,"  by  the 
same  author,  was  licensed  foractingin  1635, 
although  not  printed  until  1673. 

In  this  play,  a  spendthrift's  silver  seal, 
engraved  with  "the  lover's  scutcheon,  a 
bleeding  heart,"  is  missing  from  his  wrist, 
where  the  fashion  of  the  day  kept  seals 
dangling,  and  a  bantering  companion  avers 
that  it  has 

"  Gone  long  since  to  adorn 
His  mistress'  court  cupboard  ;  [and]  on  a  cloth 
Of  network,  edged  with  a  ten-penny  lace, 
Stands  now  between  her  thimble  and  her  bodkin, 
Objects  of  state,  believ't,  and  ornament." 

(Act.  i,  Sc.  i.) 

These    thimbles    must   have  been    to   all 


intents  like  those  of  to-day  ;  they  were  made 
of  brass  and  of  silver,  were  for  women's  use, 
and  while  they  had  a  considerable  money 
value,  judging  from  the  pawn-broker's  rate, 
and  were  set  forth  for  display  as  we  should 
place  a  cherished  piece  of  china,  yet  they 
were  owned  by  the  common  classes,  and 
could  certainly  not  have  been  very  rare. 
This  was  sixty  years  before  Lofting  made 
thimbles  at  Islington. 

Several  silver  bodkins,  like  the  one  with 
which  the  thimble  shared  the  honors  of  the 
"  court  cupboard,"  are  in  existence;  some 
have  even  recently  been  found,  and  whether 
any  early  thimbles  of  known  date  are  still 
preserved  would  be  an  interesting  inquiry. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW.  YORK  CITY. 

NOTE. — Your  correspondent  calls  the  thimble  '  a 
"somewhat  neglected  article;"  but  judging  from  the 
immense  trayful  of  silver  thimbles  set  forth  at  Tiffany's, 
lately,  for  a  lady's  inspection,  the  jewelers  do  not  fear 
that  the  implement  will  fall  into  immediate  disuse. 


NOTES  ON  WORDS. 

Budge. — Dr.  Murray's  "  New  English 
Dictionary,"  after  discussing  the  origin  of 
the  word  Budge,  in  the  sense  of  a  kind  of 
lambskin  fur,  very  discreetly  leaves  the  ques- 
tion of  its  origin  unsettled.  .  The  oldest 
known  forms  of  the  word  are  buggy,  buggie, 
and  the  like.  It  seems  to  the  present  writer 
not  improbable  that  the  town  of  Bttgia  (Fr. 
Bougie),  now  in  Algeria,  gave  name  to  the 
fur.  I  cannot  recall  the  place,  but  I  have 
certainly  seen  some  account  of  the  ancient 
export  of  lambskins  from  the  Barbary  ports. 

Davenport. — The  "Century  Dictionary" 
makes  the  erroneous  statement  (under 
Davenport,  a  desk)  that  the  family  name 
Davenport  comes  from  the  town  of  Devon- 
port  in  England.  But  the  name  Davenport 
is  very  ancient,  while  the  town  of  Devon  port 
was  called  Dock,  or  Plymouth  Dock,  until 
1824,  when  it  received  its  present  name. 

Labrus. — This  word,  the  name  of  genus 
of  fishes,  is  said  in  the  "Cent.  Diet."  to  be 
Neo-Latin,  from  L.  labium,  a  lip.  But  it 
is  old  Plinian  Latin,  and  seems  to  be  from 
Gr.  M{3ptK;f  swift,  or  greedy. 

Lin,  Linn. — This  word  is  very  common 
throughout  a  large  part  of  the  United  States, 


i6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  10,  1890. 


as  the  name  of  the  common  linden,  or  bass- 
wood.  Yet  so  complete  a  work  as  the 
"  Century  Diet."  does  not  record  it. 

Lambick. — The  dictionaries  give  no  ety- 
mology for  this  word ;  it  is  a  kind  of  strong 
Flemish  beer.  It  was  probably  named 
from  the  town  of  Lembecq  in  Belgium. 

Lampadite. — This  word,  the  name  of  a 
mineral,  is  derived  by  the  "  Century  Diet." 
from  the  Gr.  lampas,  lampados,  a  lamp. 
But  "Bristow's  Glossary,"  with  probable  cor- 
rectness, says  that  it  was  named  in  honor  of 
Lampadius,  the  celebrated  German  metal- 
lurgist. *  *  * 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

£UE  1^1  ES. 

Rescue  Grass. — There  is  a  species  of 
grass,  Bromus  unioloides,  called  Rescue  grass 
in  the  books.  It  seemed  to  me  at  first  like  a 
misprint  for  the  well-known  fescue  grass ; 
but  it  is  not  a  fescue.  Why  was  it  so  called? 

YOUNG  LINNAEUS. 
TALLAPOOSA,  GA. 

This  question  is  one  not  easily  answered. 
Vasey's  "  Grasses  and  Agricultural  Forage 
Plants,"  p.  73,  states  that  it  was  called 
Rescue  grass  by  Gen.  Iverson,  of  Columbus, 
who  introduced  it  into  Georgia.  Fescue  may 
have  suggested  the  name  ;  probably  with  the 
further  idea  of  a  plant  that  comes  to  the 
rescue  at  a  time  when  other  forage-crops 
fail ;  for  it  is  a  late  winter  grass. 

Weeping  Trees. — Can  you  inform  me 
regarding  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the  stories 
published  from  time  to  time  in  newspapers 
about  trees  which  continually  drop  dew  or 
rain  ?  J.  H.  P. 

CHESTER,  PA. 

By  reference  to  Insect  Life  for  November, 
1889,  p.  1 60,  our  correspondent  will  find  an 
account  taken  from  the  Dallas  (Texas) 
Morning  News  of  October  9,  1889,  regard- 
ing certain  "  weeping  trees  "  in  which  the 
phenomenon  of  "falling  dew"  was  caused 
by  the  presence  of  innumerable  insects 
(leaf- hoppers).  The  dew  was  a  kind  of 
honey-dew,  ejected  by  the  insects  which  ex- 
tract the  juices  of  the  leaves. 


Arthur  Kill. — Why,  or  from  whom,  is  the 
Kill-van-Kull,  or  a  part  of  it,  the  channel 
between  Staten  Island  and  the  mainland, 
sometimes  called  the  Arthur  Kill  ? 

R.  S.  P. 

NEWARK. 

That  part  of  what  is  now  New  Jersey 
lying  near  the  city  of  New  York  was  once 
called  Achlyr  Kill  by  the  Dutch  colonists. 
Some  say  this  means  "  the  eight  streams." 
We  have  seen  the  statement  that  it  meant 
"  twenty-eight  gun-ship  channel,"  achter 
being  an  old  Dutch  term  for  a  vessel  of  that 
rating.  We  know  of  no  historical  basis  for 
the  name. 


REPLIES. 

The  Akond  of  Swat  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  67, 
270). — Absence  from  home  has  prevented 
my  replying  sooner  to  the  request  of  your 
correspondent  for  Mr.  Lear's  verses  with  this 
title. 

They  are  rather  long,  perhaps,  for  publi- 
cation, but  I  willingly  send  a  copy  of  them. 

Mr.  Lear  at  one  time  visited  India,  and 
besides  this  burlesque  of  the  inquiries  and 
comments  made  about  the  potentate  of 
Swat,  who  had  just  then  come  into  notice  in 
Anglo-Indian  affair,  he  wrote  "  The  Cum- 
merbund," an  intentional  travesty  of 
various  Hindustani  words  in  every-day  use, 
that  was  first  printed  in  1874  in  a  Bombay 
newspaper.  Will  some  one  tell  me  what  a 
"cummerbund"  is?  Within  a  few  days  I 
found  the  word  used  in  a  description  of  some 
young  Englishman's  foolhardy  examination 
of  the  crocodile  pits  of  Maabdeh,  Egypt, 
which  could  be  entered  only  by  a  downward 
leap  of  several  feet,  and  whence  the  explorers 
must  needs  "clamber  up  again  with  the 
help  of  a  donkey-boy's  cummerbund." 


Who,  or  why,  or  which, 


or  WHAT 
Is  the  Akond  of  Swat  ? 


Is  he  tall  or  short,  or  dark  or  fair  ? 
Does  he  sit  on  a  stool  or  a  sofa  or  chair,         or  SQUAT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Is  he  wise  or  foolish,  young  or  old  ? 
Does  he  drink  his  soup  and  his  coffee  cold,        or  HOT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 


May  10,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Does  he  sing  or  whistle,  jabber  or  talk, 

And  when  riding  abroad  does  he  gallop  or  walk, 

or  TROT, 
The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Does  he  wear  a  turban,  a  fez  or  a  hat  ? 
Does  he  sleep  on  a  mattress,  a  bed,  or  a  mat,  or  a  COT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

When  he  writes  a  copy  in  round-hand  size, 
Does  he  cross  his  T's  and  finish  his  I's          with  a  DOT, 

The  Akond  oi  Swat  ? 

Can  he  write  a  letter  concisely  clear 
Without  a  speck  or  a  smudge  or  smear,  or  BLOT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat? 

Do  his  people  like  him  extremely  well  ? 
Or  do  they,  whenever  they  can,  rebel,  or  PLOT, 

At  the  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

If  he  catches  them  then,  either  old  or  young, 
Does  he  have  them  chopped  in  pieces,  or  hung,  or  SHOT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Do  his  people  prig  in  the  lanes  or  park? 
Or  even  at  times,  when  days  are  dark,  GAROTTE, 

O,  the  Akond  of  Swat ! 

Does  he  study  the  wants  of  his  own  dominion  ? 
Or  doesn't  he  care  for  public  opinion  a  JOT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat? 

To  amuse  his  mind,  do  his  people  show  him 
Pictures  or  any  one's  last  new  poem,  or  WHAT, 

For  the  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

At  night  if  he  suddenly  screams  and  wakes, 
Do  they  bring  him  only  a  few  small  cakes,      or  a  LOT, 
For  the  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Does  he  live  on  turnips,  tea,  or  tripe  ? 

Does  he  like  his  shawl  to  be  marked  with  a  stripe, 

or  a  DOT, 
The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Does  he  like  to  lie  on  his  back  in  a  boat 
Like  the  lady  who  lived  in  that  isle  remote,  SHALLOTT. 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Is  he  quiet,  or  always  making  a  fuss  ? 
Is  his  steward  a  Swiss  or  a  Swede  or  a  Russ,  or  a  SCOT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Does  he  like  to  sit  by  the  calm  blue  wave  ? 
Or  to  sleep  and  snore  in  a  dark  green  cave,  or  a  GROT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Does  he  drink  small  beer  from  a  silver  jug? 
Or  a  bowl  ?  or  a  glass  ?  or  a  cup  ?  or  a  mug  ?  or  a  POT 

The  Akond  of  Swat? 

Does  he  beat  his  wife  with  a  gold-topped  pipe, 
When  she  lets  the  gooseberries  grow  too  ripe,  or  ROT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Does  he  wear  a  white  tie  when  he  dines  with  friends, 
And  tie  it  neat  in  a  bow  with  ends,  or  a  KNOT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 


Does  he  like  new  cream,  and  hate  mince-pies  ? 
When  he  looks  at  the  sun  does  he  wink  his  eyes, 

or  NOT. 
The  Akond  of  Swat  ? 

Does  he  teach  his  subjects  to  roast  and  bake  ? 
Does  he  sail  about  on  an  inland  lake,          in  a  YACHT, 

The  Akond  of  Swat? 

Some  one,  or  nobody,  knows,  I  wot, 
Who,  or  why,  or  which,  or  WHAT 

Is  the  Akond  of  Swat  ! 

[The  monosyllables  rhyming  with  "  Swat"  are  in- 
tended to  have  great  emphasis,  or,  if  possible,  to  be 
shouted  by  a  chorus.'] 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Sea  Blue  Bird  (Vol.  iv,  p.  103,  etc.).  — 
The  passage  from  Alcman,  referred  to  by 
M.  C.  L.,  and  by  Mr.  Lang,  reads  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Oh,  that  I  were  a  sea-mew,  which 
wings  its  flight  among  the  halcyons,  and 
runs  on  the  surface  of  the  sea-waves.  Bird 
of  spring,  with  radiant  plumage,  and  heart 
that  knows  no  sigh." 

ILDERIM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


©OF^ESPONDENJBS. 


No.  —  What  can  possibly  be  the  origin  of 
the  almost  unspellable  couple  of  sounds  so 
often  used  in  the  West,  particularly  by 
women,  for  "  No?'1  As  near  as  I  can  repre- 
sent it,  it  is  "  mp-m,"  with  the  rising  in- 
flection on  the  first  and  the  falling  on  the 
second  sound,  the  whole  being  made  with 
closed  lips.  C.  H.  A. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 

Ahkoond  of  Swat  (Vol.  iv,  p.  168). 
—  Which  was  the  first  to  appear,  Lanigan's 
"Ahkoond  of  Swat,"  or  that  of  Lear? 

W.  H.  G. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Plafery.  —  Momus  says  to  Mercury,  in 
Carew's  "Ccelum  Britannicum  "  (1633): 
"The  hosts  upon  the  highway  cry  out  with 
open  mouth  upon  you  for  supporting  plaj  'cry 
in  your  train." 

What  is  meant  by  plafery  ?  It  must  have 
been  something  offensive  to  the  inn-keepers. 

J.  B.  ROBBINS. 
BALTIMORE. 


i8 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  10,  1890. 


The  Guerriere. — Please  inform  me 
where  I  can  find  the  old  song,  beginning 
thus  : 

"  The  Guerriere,  a  frigate  hold, 
On  the  foaming  ocean  rolled, 
Commanded  by  proud  Dacres  the  dandy  O !" 


ROXBURY,  MASS. 


A  SUBSCRIBER. 


Fush. — What  is  the  origin  of  the  word 
fush  ?  To  fush  out  means  to  come  to  noth- 
ing, to  fail.  //  is  all  fush  is  much  like  // 
is  all  fudge.  A  fushy  affair  is  a  common  ex- 
pression is  Central  New  Hampshire,  and 
after  the  foregoing  explains  itself. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS.  C.  H.  A. 

Chald. — In  an  unnamed  piece  by  H.  K. 
White  occur  the  following  lines  : 

"  And  while  with  Plato's  ravished  ears 
I  list  the  music  of  the  spheres, 
Or  on  the  mystic  cymbals  pore 
That  hide  the  Chald's  sublimer  lore." 

Who  was  the  Chald  ?  Does  While  mean 
"the  Chaldean,"  the  astronomer?  If  so, 
did  he  invent  the  word  Chald  ? 

J.  P.  A. 

WEST  PHILADELPHIA. 

©OMMUNIGAJFIONS. 
The  Battle  Bell  (Vol.  iv,  p.  19).— 

"  Thy  plains,  Arezzo,  often  have  I  seen 

Hastily  swept  by  light-armed  horsemen  fleet ; 
At  tilts  and  tournaments  have  I  often  been ; 

Now  tells,  now  trumped ,  sending  forth  alarms, 
With  drums  and  signals  loud  from  castle  towers, 
Native-or  foreign  summoning  to  arms." 

(Wright's  "  Dante's  Inferno,"  Canto  22.) 

These  graphic  lines  refer  to  the  battle  of 
Campaldino,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  in 
the  history  of  Florence.  It  was  fought  on 
St.  Barnabas'  day,  June  n,  1289,  when 
Dante  was  twenty-four  years  old.  The  poet 
was  not  only  an  eye-witness  of  the  affray, 
but  fought  valiantly  in  the  front  ranks  on 
horseback,  sword  in  hand. 

In  the  Longfellow  translation,  the  line  al- 
luding to  battle  bells  is  the  seventh  from 
the  opening  of  the  canto  : 

"  Sometimes  with  trumpets — sometimes  with  bells." 

The  note  which  accompanies  this  reference, 


is  an  extended  extract  from  Napier's  "  Flor- 
entine History,"  in  which  the  author  says  : 
"The  Martinella  or  Campana  degli  Asini 
was  tolled  continually  day  and  night  from 
the  arch  of  the  Porta  Santa  Maria,  for  thirty 
days  before  the  beginning  of  hostilities,  as  a 
declaration  of  war,  and  according  to  the  old 
chroniclers,  ' for  greatness  of  mind,  that  the 
enemy  might  have  time  to  look  to  their  de- 
fenses.' " 

Trollope  also  says  :  "  A  second  car  went  to 
the  field  in  company  with  the  Carroccio, 
bearing  on  a  lofty  belfry  the  Martinella,  as 
the  great  war-bell  was  called.  One  month 
before  the  army  took  the  field,  this  bell  was 
hoisted  in  the  tower  of  a  small  church  close 
by  the  station  of  the  Carroccio,  in  the 
Mercato  Anovo,  where  it  was  rung  day  nnd 
night  during  that  time.  It  was  then  taken 
down  and  hung  in  the  portable  belfry  of  the 
car  which  accompanied  the  other  bearing 
the  standard  or  gonfalon.  'And  with 
these  two  "pomps"  of  the  Carroccio  and 
the  Campana  de  Marto,'  says  Malespini, 
'  the  pride  of  the  old  citizens,  our  ancestors, 
was  ruled.'  ' 

After  the  battle  of  Monte  Aperto,  fought 
September  4,  1260,  five  years  before  Dante's 
birth,  and  which  is  referred  to  in  the  poet's 
reply  to  Farinata : 

"  The  rout  and  carnage  made 

When  Arbia's  stream  was  stained  with  crimson  dye 
Tell  why  such  vows  are  in  our  temples  paid." 

("  Inferno,"  Canto  x,  p.  86.) 

"The  standard  of  the  banished  Floren- 
tines with  their  battle-bell,  the  Martinella, 
were  tied  to  the  tail  of  a  jackass  and  dragged 
in  the  dirt"  (Ampere's  "Voyage  Dan- 
teuse"). 

T.  Adolphus  Trollope's  "  History  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Florence  "  and  Napier's 
"  Florentine  History  "  are  two  most  inter- 
esting sources  of  information  on  this  subject. 

The  "  Century  Dictionary  "  informs  us 
that  the  Carroccio  was  invented  in  the 
eleventh  century,  by  Eriberto,  Archbishop  of 
Milan.  W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Creek  (Vol.  iv,  p.  307). — Creek  is  not 
so  very  uncommon  in  the  East,  as  the  fol- 
lowing additional  examples  will  show. 


May  10,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Thus,  in  Pennsylvania,  there  are  not  far 
from  one  hundred.  On  a  two-page  map  in 
a  school-book  I  count  eighty.  There  are 
several  Sugar  creeks,  Buffalo  creeks,  Sandy 
creeks  and  Mill  creeks.  One  stream  bears 
the  romantic  name  of  Loyal-Hanna ; 
another,  the  expressive  title  of  Yellow- 
Breeches.  In  New  York,  the  word  seems  to 
be  about  as  frequently  used  as  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  the  New  England  States,  I  find 
the  word  only  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake 
Champlain.  The  word  brook  is  sparingly, 
and  branch  unsparingly  used.  From  the 
foregoing,  it  would  seem  that  creeks  cannot 
thrive  in  "  pie- for- breakfast  "  localities. 

In  the  West,  the  word  is  very  commonly 
used,  and  is  not  infrequently  pronounced 
crik.  This  pronunciation  is  decidedly 
closer  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  crecca  and  the 
Keltic  krig,  than  the  present  authorized 
form  with  its  sesquipedalian  e. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Corp. — The  only  example  I  remember  in 
sober  literature  where  corp  is  used  for  corpse 
is  in  Waller's  poems,  and  even  there  it  is 
used  in  the  plural,  corps  for  corpses.  It  is 
in  Acti,  Scene  i,  of  the  unfinished  transla- 
tion of  Corneille's  '  'Pompey  :" 

"  Heaps  of  the  slain,  deny'd  a  funeral, 
Just  nature  to  their  own  revenge  does  call ; 
From  putrid  corps  exhaling  poisonous  airs, 
Enough  to  plague  the  guilty  conquerors." 


[What  a  rhyme  !] 
CHILMARK,  MASS. 


OBED. 


Kelp. — This  word,  meaning  a  blow,  a 
stroke,  is  very  common  in  some  parts  of  New 
England.  Compare  with  it  the  provincial 
English  kelk,  a  blow.  The  latter  word  is 
found  in  the  dictionaries,  and,  as  is  suggested 
in  the  "Century  Diet.,"  it  may  be  the 
same  as  the  local  kelk,  a  large  stone.  Can 
kelk,  a  stone,  be  from  the  Latin  calx,  a 
stone  ?  I  imagine,  however,  that  kelp  and 
kelk,  in  the  sense  of  "  a  blow,"  are  both  of 
them  imitative  or  echoic.  Cf.  Scottish  and 
Anglo-Irish  skelp,  a  blow. 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


Program  (Vol.  iv,  p.  281). — Some  edi- 
tions, at  least,  of  "Bailey's  Dictionary" 
(1722?)  have  the  spelling  program.  Wor- 
cester gives  it -as  one  of  the  spellings  ;  Web- 
ster marks  it  rare,  and  refers  to  PROGRAMME. 
Etymologically,  it  is  perfectly  defensible; 
the  spelling  programme  (except  as  coming 
from,  or  rather  through,  the  French)  is  no 
more  justifiable  than  telegramme  would  be. 
The  modern  spelling  reformers,  some  of  our 
best  scholars  among  them,  write  program. 

J.  P.  DEHART. 

ANDOVER,  MASS. 

Divides  and     River   Basins.  —  The 

notion  that  mountain  crests  form  the  divides 
between  adjacent  drainage  slopes  is  one  of 
the  traditions  that  still  obtains.  The  ab- 
surdity of  such  an  idea  becomes  apparent 
when  one  examines  any  good  map.  The 
Delaware  and  Susquehanna  both  have  their 
sources  west  of  the  Appalachian  mountains. 
Green  river  traverses  the  Uinta  mountains, 
having  cut  its  canon  directly  across  the 
range.  The  Brahmaputra  and  Ganges  both 
pierce  the  Himalaya  mountains,  and  the 
Huahuum,  rising  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Andes,  cuts  the  cordillera  sharply  in  twain. 
The  explanation  usually  given  is  that  the 
river  in  each  case  is  older  than  the  range,  al- 
ways having  had  the  right  of  way,  and  when 
the  uplift  of  the  range  began,  it  progressed 
so  slowly  that  the  river  deepened  its  channel 
as  fast  as  the  range  was  uplifted. 

OROG. 
PORTLAND,  ME. 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  198).— 
"The  Hydrographic  Offices  give  notice  that 
Morrell  and  Rica-de-Oro  islands  in  the  North 
Pacific  ocean  have  disappeared,  the  informa- 
tion being  furnished  by  Lieutenant  James 
Miller,  of  the  United  States  flagship  Omaha. 
A  small  chart  of  a  portion  of  several  tracks 
of  the  Pacific  mail  steamship  City  of  Peking 
shows  that  this  vessel  has  twice  passed  over 
the  position  of  Morrell  island  and  once  over 
the  position  of  the  Rica-de-Oro.  Captain 
Cavarly,  of  the  steamship  City  of  Peking, 
kept  a  special  lookout  for  Morrell  island  on 
February  6,  1890,  but  not  even  a  sight  of 
discolored  water  was  visible  "  (Philadelphia 
Record  of  May  5,  1890). 


20 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  10,  1890. 


The  City  of  Ys  (Vol.  i,  pp.  89,  119, 
124). — A  pleasant  poetical  version  of  the 
traditionary  legend  of  Ys,  by  Gildart 
Riadore,  M.A.,  may  be  found  in  the  Gen- 
tleman's -Magazine  of  November,  1860. 
The  ballad  is  entitled  "The  Legend  of 
King  Gradlon,"  and  it  adheres  closely  to 
the  story  as  told  by  Emile  Souvestre  in  "  Le 
Foyer  Breton."  It  is  divided  into  three 
JFytes,  and  has  eleven  stanzas  of  unequal 
length,  containing  altogether  eighty-eight 
lines.  As  this  version  has  not  already  been 
referred  to  in  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  I  beg  to 
quote  a.  portion  of  it : 

FYTE  I. 

The  sunlight  gilds  the  towers  of  Ys, 
The  towers  of  Ys  fling  o'er  the  sea 
The  lengthen'd  shades  of  mystery 

That  bid  farewell  to  day ; 
The  breezes  waft  the  distant  sigh 
Of  ever-varying  minstrelsy 

Attun'd  to  am'rous  lay ! 

SECOND  STANZA. 

But  was  to  the  minstrels  of  Douarnenez, 
Douarnenet  laved  by  the  restless  sea, 
The  cry  of  its  wickedness  mounts  on  high, 
The  curse  of  its  wickedness  comes  full  nigh, 

Can  be  no  longer  stayed, 
Douarnenez's  Princess  is  fair  to  behold, 
Douarnenez's  Princess  has  treasures  untold 

To  do  whate'er  he  bade. 

FYTE  II. 

"  Go  !  Seek,  Dahut,  the  golden  key, 
The  key  that  opes  the  floodgates  wide, 
That  key  no  mortal  saw  beside 

King  Gradlon,  you,  and  me." 
The  fiend  hath  said,  "  Away  !  Away  ! 
Let  flow  the  tide  on  Douarnenez 
That  never  ebb  shall  see." 

FYTE   III. 

Onward  speed  o'er  the  heavy  ground, 
The  dark  waves  follow  with  hungry  wail, 
The  wearied  steed  begins  to  tail, 

A  lighter  burden  craves, 
When  a  voice  was  heard  above  the  storm, 
•"  'Tis  the  fiend  that  takes  thy  daughter's  form, 
Cast  her  to  the  waves." 

THIRD  STANZA. 

But  a  shriek  was  heard  that  pierced  the  air, 
A  shriek  like  that  when  mortal  dread 
Has  lost  all  hope  in  deep  despair. 

Yet  the  king  rides  on,  and  his  courser  sped, 
Like  an  arrow  from  bow,  with  lightning  stride, 
Dahut  is  not  there,  but  silently  ride 
Gradlon  and  Gwenolin  side  by  side. 

The  waves  have  claim'd  their  prey 
Thro'  the  livelong  night  till  beaming  faint 

Ye  spy  the  break  of  day. 


LAST  STANZA. 

But  never  again  shall  sunlight  beam 
On  the  towers  of  Ys,  as  erst  of  yore, 
For  the  tide  now  rolls  in  endless  stream 

Where  tide  ne'er  roll'd  before, 
And  oft  when  the  storm-fiend  spreads  his  wing, 
And  the  winds  have  burst  their  chain, 
On  the  foaming  wave  lost  spirits  cling 

To  seek  in  vain,  'mid  tempest  strife, 
The  spirit  they  had  known  in  life, 
In  the  City  of  the  King. 

W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Runcible  (Vol.  iii,  p.  311 ;  Vol.  iv,  pp. 
200,  237,  251,  275). — Permit  me  one  more 
remark.  "  Gerould  "  says  truly,  that  it  is 
useless  to  call  nonsense  words  too  closely  to 
account,  but  instead  of  using  "runcible" 
in  what  he  might  himself  have  styled  "a 
vacant  and  voluble  manner,"  Mr.  Lear 
seems  to  have  kept  it  to  the  sense  of  "very 
large."  At  least,  that  meaning  is  never 
inapt,  and  there  is  some  incidental  proof  of 
it.  In  the  "  Nonsense  Pictures,"  of  his 
own  drawing — pictures  and  rhymes  mutually 
illustrating — the  "runcible  spoon  "  used  by 
the  "  dolumphious  duck"  is  quite  Brob- 
dingnagian.  In  the  description  of  himself 
beginning  with  the  quoted  phrase,  "  How 
pleasant  to  know  Mr.  Lear!"  where  he 
says  : 

"  He  has  many  friends,  laymen  and  clerical, 

Old  Foss  is  the  name  of  his  cat ; 
His  body  is  perfectly  spherical, 
He  weareth  a  runcible  hat." 

the  word's  obvious  meaning  is  "  immense," 
and  the  rotund  form  and  great  head  in  the 
man's  portrait  show  that  the  whimsical 
word-picture  was  only  magnified  truth. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Goliards  (Vol.  iv,  p.  221). — Those  of 
your  readers  who  have  access  to  good 
libraries  can  find  such  of  the  Gol.iard 
poems  as  are  ascribed  (rightly  or  wrongly) 
to  Walter  Map,  in  one  of  the  vol- 
umes of  the  Camden  Society's  publications. 
The  volume  is  entitled  "  Poems  of  Walter 
Mapes."  It  also  contains,  besides  the 
original  Latin  poems,  several  delightful  old 
English  translations  from  the  same. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


May  10,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


21 


Altitudes  (Vol.  iv,  p.  251).— Perhaps 
the  highest  voting  precinct  in  the  United 
States  is  at  the  North  Star  Mine  on  King 
Solomon  mountain,  in  San  Juan  county, 
Colorado;  it  is  13,100  feet  above  sea  level, 
and  polls  generally  seventy-five  votes.  The 
mine  is  a  noted  silver  producer  in  this  sec- 
tion, and  employs  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  For  six  months  in  the  year 
(the  winter  months),  the  mine  is  almost 
inaccessible  from  the  deep  snow  and  snow 
slides,  and  it  is  hard  to  get  miners  to  work 
there  in  the  winter  months,  as  they  are  shut 
up  in  the  mine  and  boarding  house  attached 
for  that  period.  Mail  is  brought  from  Sil- 
verton  on  snow  shoes  by  a  carrier  hired  by 
the  mining  company  in  winter  semi-weekly; 
and  in  the  winter  of  1887-1888,  a  mail 
carrier  was  in  sight  of  the  mine  and  of  the 
miners  with  his  precious  burden  of  letters 
from  their  loved  ones,  when  a  snow  slide 
came  suddenly  down  the  mountain  side  and 
hurled  the  carrier  one  thousand  feet  back- 
wards. 

When  the  slide  had  spent  its  force,  the 
miners  hastened  with  picks  and  shovels  to 
rescue  the  carrier,  and  after  three  days'  in- 
cessant labor  they  found  his  dead  body  and 
his  mail  pouch.  This  mine  is  said  to  be  the 
highest  in  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the 
world. 

Mount  Wilson,  in  Dolores  county,  Colo- 
rado, is  14,240  feet  high,  and  it  has  several 
mining  prospects  not  yet  developed  into 
mines  near  its  summit ;  one  named  the 
Silver  Picklode  is  said  to  be  13,200  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  four  men  have  been  em- 
ployed on  it  this  spring. 

The  miners  say  there  are  but  two  seasons 
in  this  high  altitude,  "  winter  and  d — d  late 
fall." 

There  is  a  mail  route  from  Silverton  to 
Ophir,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles,  that  one 
winter,  in  1883-1884,  killed  three  mail  car- 
riers by  snow  slides,  and  the  bodies  of  two 
of  them  with  their  mail  lay  beneath  the  snow 
for  six  months  before  being  found,  until  the 
summer  suns  melted  and  exposed  the  victims 
of  beautiful  snow.  On  one  point  of  this 
route,  known  as  the  summit  of  Lookout 
mountain,  it  snows  nearly  every  day  in  the 
year,  and  at  this  point  there  is  a  toll  house 
and  gate,  but  kept  only  in  summer 


months.  A  sharp  Bostonian  widened  the 
burro  trail,  called  it  a  road,  got  a  charter 
from  the  county  commissioners  and  then 
levied  toll  upon  the  burro  trains  loaded  with 
ore  from  the  Ophir  mines,  and  with  pro- 
visions to  the  mines.  R.  McC. 
DURANGO,  COLO. 

Ambrosia  (Vol.  v,  p.  6). — A  contributor 
to  the  January  number  of  Poet-Lore,  in  com- 
menting on  this  word,  criticises  a  writer 
for  having  used  it  in  the  sense  of  an  unguent 
or  dressing  for  the  hair,  saying  that  it  was 
used  properly  to  designate  the  food  of  the 
gods.  In  this  late  day  it  seems  almost  in- 
credible that  an  educated  person  should 
make  such  a  statement.  The  word  is  used 
indiscriminately  by  Greek  writers  to  designate 
a  food,  a  drink,  or  an  unguent.  The 
primary  concept  of  the  word,  however,  is 
immortality.  The  etymology  is  clear  and 
to  the  point.  It  has  come  to  us  through  the 
Sanskrit  mrita,  death  ;  Gr.,  ftporos  (from  the 
allied  form  /Z/>«TO?),  whence  a,  pfipoToq,  im- 
mortal. English  classical  writers  have  fre- 
quently used  it  in  the  sense  criticised  by  the 
critic  in  Poet-Lore. 

J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Land-pike  (Vol.  iii,  p.  107).  —  The 
"Century  Diet;"  defines  this  term  as  a 
.popular  name  for  certain  tailed  batrachians. 
This  is  probably  the  true  explanation  of  the 
meaning  of  the  definitions  in  the  older  dic- 
tionaries. But  I  think  the  term  land-pike 
more  frequently  designates  a  thin,  lank, 
half-wild  swine,  as  your  correspondent  has 
suggested.  S.  T.  ANDREWS. 

NEW  HAVEN. 

Larrigan  (Vol.  iii,  p.  308). — Is  it  not 
possible  that  this  word,  a  name  for  a  lum- 
berman's long-legged  moccasin,  may  be  con- 
nected with  the  English  (and  Australian) 
slang  word  larrikin,  which  means  rough, 
rowdyish,  unrespectable  ?  There  is  nothing 
very  refined  and  respectable  about  the  be- 
longings of  a  Down-East  logger.  Compare 
rough-and-ready,  a  kind  of  hat ;  wrap-rascal, 
a  coarse  cloak. 

N.  P.  BARTLETT. 

PROVIDENCE. 


22 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  10,  1890. 


Deaths    of   English     Sovereigns.— 

There  has  been  some  dispute  concerning  the 
deaths  of  the  kings  and  queens  of  England. 
The  following  list  is,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  find  out,  correct : 

William  the  Conqueror.  At  the  siege  of 
Mantes  his  horse  reared  so  violently  from 
placing  his  feet  on  some  hot  ashes  that 
William  was  bruised  by  the  pommel  of  his 
saddle,  causing  injuries  from  which  he  died. 

William  Rufus  died  the  death  of  the  poor 
stags  which  he  hunted. 

Henry  I  died  of  gluttony. 

Henry  II  died  of  a  broken  heart,  occa- 
sioned by  the  bad  conduct  of  his  children. 

Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,  like  the  animal 
from  which  his  heart  was  named,  died  by  an 
arrow  from  an  archer. 

John  died  from  the  fatigue  of  a  tiresome 
march  across  the  Wash  of  Lincolnshire. 

Henry  III  died  a  natural  death. 

Edward  I  died  of  dysentery. 

Edward  II  was  barbarously  and  indecently 
murdered  by  ruffians  employed  by  his  own 
wife  and  her  paramour. 

Edward  III  died  of  grief  caused  by  the 
death  of  his  son. 

Richard  II  died  either  from  being  starved 
or  murdered.  Neither  of  which  can  be 
called  pleasant  deaths. 

Henry  IV  is  said  to  have  died  of  "  fits 
caused  by  uneasiness,"  and  uneasiness  in 
palaces  in  those  times  was  a  very  common 
complaint. 

Henry  V  is  said  to  have  died  of  a  "  pain- 
ful affliction,  prematurely. ' '  This  is  a  courtly 
term  for  getting  rid  of  a  king. 

Henry  VI  died  in  prison  by  means  known 
then  only  to  his  jailer,  and  now  only  known 
in  heaven. 

Edward  V  was  strangled  in  the  Tower  by 
his  uncle,  Richard  III. 

Richard  III  was  killed  in  battle. 

Henry  VII  wasted  away  as  a  miser 
ought. 

Henry  VIII  died  of  carbuncles,  fat  and 
fury. 

Edward  VI  died  of  consumption. 

Queen  Mary  is  said  to  have  died  of  a 
broken  heart. 

Old  Queen  Bess  is  said  to  have  died  of 
melancholy,  from  having  sacrificed  Essex  to 
his  enemies. 


James  I  died  of  drinking  and  the  effects  of 
vice. 

Charles  I  died  on  the  scaffold. 

Charles  II  died  suddenly,  it  is  said  of 
apoplexy. 

William  III  died  of  consumptive  habits 
of  body  and  from  the  stumbling  of  his 
horse. 

Queen  Anne  died  of  dropsy. 

George  I  died  from  drunkenness,  which  his 
physicians  politely  called  an  apoplectic  fit. 

George  II  died  of  a  rupture  of  the  heart, 
which  the  periodicals  of  that  day  termed  a 
visitation  of  God. 

George  III  died  after  nine  years'  affliction 
of  partial  insanity. 

William  IV  died  of  old  age,  accelerated 
by  asthma. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  Criminal  Eye  (Vol.  Hi,  p.  107).— 
The  observation  of  J.  H.  that  thieves  and 
liars  cannot  look  you  squarely  in  the  eye  is 
important,  if  true.  But  I  know  some  ex- 
cellent people  (at  least,  I  so  regard  them) 
who  do  not  like  to  look  any  one  in  the  eye. 
King  Henry  VIII,  according  to  Puttenham, 
took  great  offense  if  a  subject  looked  him  in 
the  eye,  regarding  it  as  an  act  of  impudence. 
I  have  heard,  and  read,  that  the  North 
American  Indians  have  often,  if  not  usually, 
a  slight  strabismus,  and  I  think  my  own  ob- 
servations tend  to  confirm  the  correctness  of 
that  statement.  O.  S.  FISHER. 

BARRE,  MASS. 

Bulldoze. — To  illustrate  the  formation 
of  this  low  political  slang  word,  permit  me 
to  call  attention  to  the  use  of  "hopper- 
dozers"  in  the  grass-hopper  region  of  Min- 
nesota; a  hopper- dozer  is  a  coal-oil  pan  used 
in  the  destruction  of  the  "hateful  grass- 
hopper "  of  that  part  of  the  country. 

N.  F.  R. 
WISCONSIN. 

Yop. — In  some  places  in  Pennsylvania  a 
clownish  fellow  is  called  a  yop  (as  in  Centre 
county).  Compare  the  Dutch  Jaap,  a  nick- 
name for  Jacob  or  James,  and  the  English 
Jake.  PHILO. 

BELLEFONTE,  FA. 


May  10,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Throwing  the  Cups. — If  the  enclosed 
communication  is  not  too  lengthy  for  pub- 
lication it  may  be  of  interest  to  some  of 
your  readers  ;  I  have  forgotten  when  I  ran 
across  it,  but  it  has  been  some  time  in  my 
possession : 

"  The  reign  of  superstition  is  almost  at  a 
close.  The  majority  of  people  now,  upon 
hearing  some  old  legend  of  ancient  belief 
related,  at  once  say  that  it  is  nothing  but 
an  old  wife's  tale,  and  thus  think  no  more 
about  it.  There  is  not  so  much  faith  nowa- 
days placed  in  fortune  tellers,  nor  is  fortune 
telling  so  prevalent  as  it  was  some  years  ago ; 
yet  we  still  keep  hearing  of  some  poor  servant 
girl  being  misled  by  these  sorcerers,  who 
prefer  doing  anything  for  a  livelihood  rather 
than  try  to  procure  one  in  an  honest  and  up- 
right manner.  The  following  story,  how- 
ever, is  correct  in  every  detail :  It  must  be 
fully  half  a  century  since  that  terrible 
disease,  the  smallpox,  made  a  raid  upon  the 
town  of  Wetherby,  when  I  was  com- 
missioned by  the  vicar's  wife  (a  lady  whose 
charity  was  unbounded)  to  deliver  to  twenty- 
seven  families  some  nourishing  food  which 
she  was  going  to  give  to  them.  When  I  had 
finished  my  mission,  the  kind  old  lady 
wished  to  give  me  some  remuneration  for 
my  trouble,  but  as  I  declined  to  accept  any 
she  insisted  upon  my  taking  tea  with  the 
servants.  After  tea,  the  housemaid  said  to 
the  cook  :  '  Now,  Jenny,  let  us  throw  the 
cups,'  and  as  I  was  the  only  boy  and  nat- 
urally curious  to  know  what  they  were  about 
to  do,  I  was  very  attentive.  She  threw  her 
own  cup  first,  and  declared,  '  No  luck  in 
it.'  She  then  threw  mine,  and  said, 
*  Thoo's  luck,  mi  lad.'  She  next  threw 
Jenny's,  and  exclaimed,  '  Put  thi'  hat  and 
shawl  on,  lass,  an'  mak'  haste,  or  Johnny 
will  be  at'  door  afore  thoo  gits  there.' 
Now,  Johnny  was  Jenny's  lover,  and,  as  I 
had  to  go  home  the  same  way  as  Jenny,  I 
went  with  her.  Just  as  we  turned  the  corner 
close  to  the  house  where  she  was  going  sure 
enough  there  was  Johnny  knocking  at  the 
door.  I  then  went  home,  and  you  may  be 
sure  after  what  I  had  witnessed  became 
thoroughly  converted  to  the  belief  of  the 
cup  business.  Some  time  after  Jenny,  the 
cook,  having  left  her  place,  came  to  stay  at 
our  house  for  a  fortnight.  Being  a  lively 


sort  of  a  girl  and  full  of  necromancy,  we 
often  had  a  bit  of  fun  at  the  breakfast  and 
tea  table  by  her  throwing  the  cups.  On  the 
morning  of  her.  departure  she  said  to  me, 
'  As  this  is  the  last  morning  I  shall  be  with 
you  for  some  time  we  will  throw  the  cups.' 
She  then  threw  mine,  with  the  same  result; 
it  had  always  been  'good  luck.'  She 
then  threw  her  own  cup,  as  she  had  done  for 
three  mornings  previously  with  the  same  re- 
sult, and  exclaimed,  '  There's  death  in  the 
cup.  Something  will  happen.'  I  then 
took  her  luggage  to  the  wagon  (she  was  go- 
ing on  to  Bradford),  and  bid  her  good-by. 
About  three  weeks  later,  as  we  were  having 
tea  at  home,  who  should  walk  in  but  the 
brother  Jenny  had  gone  to  stay  with,  and, 
upon  inquiring  his  business,  he  replied,  '  I 
have  got  bad  news.  Poor  Jenny's  dead  and 
I've  come  to  bid  you  to  attend  her  funeral 
at  Kirby  Overblow.'  I  was  the  only  one, 
however,  in  our  family  who  went  to  see  the 
poor  girl  laid  in  her  last  resting  place,  and  I 
never  go  now  to  Kirby  but  I  stay  to  look  at 
her  tomb,  each  time  recalling  to  mind  her 
words  of  prophecy." 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Llanthony  Abbey  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  269, 
307). — "  Serro  "  is  right  in  saying  that  it 
was  the  Austin  Canons,  not  the  Cistercians, 
that  occupied  both  the  old  Llanthonies. 
(By  the  way,  Prof.  Freeman  has  shown  that 
the  name  Llanthony  commemorates  not  St. 
Anthony,  but  St.  David  of  Wales.)  But  the 
present,  or  recent,  Anglican  occupants  of 
the  "  restored  "  Llanthony  are,  I  think,  of 
an  alleged  Benedictine  congregation.  But 
the  "  Llanthony  monastery  "  of  "  Father 
Ignatius  "  is  four  miles  away  from  the  abbey 
ruins. 

O.  S.  FARNHAM. 

BROOKLYN. 

Names  of  Odd  Pronunciation. — 

Rotherhithe  =  red  riff. 

Seixas  —  seeshus. 

Olney  (in  Rhode  Island)  =  o'ny. 

Schaghticoke  (N.  Y.)  =  skattycook. 

Horry  (S.  C.)  =orree'. 

M.  EATON. 
SAUGUS,  MASS. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  10,  1890. 


Holtselster  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  269,  293  ;  Vol. 
v>  P-  5)-  —  After  reading  Prof.  Estoclet's 
scholarly  opinion  of  the  origin  of  the  above 
word,  I  am  little  inclined  to  defend  my  hasty 
guess  as  to  its  meaning  "  the  wood  -sealer." 
Yet  the  practice  of  marking  or  sealing  timber 
is  very  wide-spread.  In  Germany  (and,  I 
think,  in  England)  there  is  a  sworn  in- 
spector called  the  bracker  (timber-inspector 
in  some  of  our  States)  who  separates  the 
boards  and  planks  into  bracks,  or  grades 
(this  subject,  the  word  brack,  is  very  unsatis- 
factorily disposed  of  in  Dr.  Murray's  "  Ox- 
ford Dictionary").  At  Danzig,  the  best 
oak  is  marked  with  a  W,  the  second  quality 
with  VV  W  (see  Laslett's  "  Timber  and  Tim- 
ber Trees  ").  In  this  country  the  timber- 
marks  are  private  property,  serving  merely 
to  indicate  the  ownership  of  logs  and  sawn 
material.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


AND 


The  Century  for  May,  the  month  of  Memorial  Day, 
is  made  notable  by  the  number  and  variety  of  articles  it 
contains  which  concern  our  national  life  and  history. 

Mrs.  Edith  Robertson  Cleveland  writes  of  "  Archibald 
Robertson,  and  his  Portraits  of  the  Washingtons;" 
William  Armstrong  and  Edmund  Law  Rogers  contri- 
bute two  articles  on  "Some  New  Washington  Relics," 
and  these  papers  are  supplemented  by  a  short  one  on 
"  Original  Portraits  of  Washington,"  by  Charles  Henry 
Hart.  All  of  these  articles  in  the  Washington  series  are 
profusely  illustrated. 

A  series  of  articles,  varied  in  style  and  subject,  but  all 
having  reference  to  Memorial  Day,  are  a  short  sketch, 
"A  Decoration  Day  Revery,"  by  Brander  Matthews; 
"  Theodore  O'Hara,"  by  Robert  Burns  Wilson,  with 
which  is  given  in  full  O'Hara's  stirring  battle-song, 
"The  Bivouac  of  the  Dead;"  a  poem,  "Twilight 
Song.  For  Unknown  Buried  Soldiers  North  and 
South,"  by  Walt  Whitman  ;  and  a  Memorial  Day  ode, 
"The  Fallen,"  by  John  Vance  Cheney;  besides  ap- 
propriate articles  in  Topics  and  Open  Letters. 

The  first  installment  of  Mrs.  Amelia  Gere  Mason's 
valuable  series  on  "  The  Women  of  the  French  Salons" 
opens  in  a  delightful  way,  and  is  finely  illustrated.  Mr. 
Stillman,  in  his  Italian  Old  Masters,  writes  of  Andrea 
del  Verrocchio,  to  which  Mr.  Cole  has  added  a  mag- 
nificent engraving  of  a  detail  from  Verrocchio's  "  The 
Baptism  of  Christ  " 

Mr.  Jefferson's  Autobiography  continues  its  charming 
course,  this  month  relating  his  experiences  in  Australia, 
and  Mrs.  Barr's  "  Friend  Olivia"  grows  in  interest. 

Articles  which  will  have  a  wide  reading  are  George 
Kennan's  striking  paper  on  the  methods  of  the  Russian 
censors,  entitled  "  Blacked  Out,"  with  which  is  given 
a  fac  simile  of  two  pages  of  one  of  Mr.  Kennan's  Cen- 
tury articles  on  Siberia  erased  by  the  Government 
censors;  "Chickens  for  Use  and  Beauty,"  by  H.  S. 
Babcock,  profusely  illustrated  ;  "  Two  Views  of  Marie 


Bashkirtseff,"  with  portraits,  and  pictures  by  Marie 
BashkirtsefF;  Prof.  H.  C.  Wood's  striking  paper  on 
"A  Study  of  Consciousness;"  and  Major  J.  W. 
Powell's  valuable  contribution  on  "  Institutions  for  the 
Arid  Lands." 

Richard  Malcolm  Johnston  writes  one  of  his  charac- 
teristic pictures  of  Georgian  life,  "  Travis  and  Major 
Jonathan  Wilby,"  which  is  illustrated  with  pictures  by 
A.  B.  Frost,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  W.  Champney  con- 
tributes a  short  story,  "  The  Romance  of  Two 
Cameras.1' 

Other  articles  of  interest  are:  "  George  Washington 
and  Memorial  Day,"  "The  New  Movement  in  Educa- 
tion," " The  Lingering  Duello,"  "The  Churches  and 
the  Poor,"  in  Topics  of  the  Time. 

In  Open  Letters  George  L.  Kilmer  writes  of  "The 
G.  A.  R.  from  the  Inside,"  Rossiter  Johnson  writes  of 
"  Martial  Epitaphs,"  and  Harry  Stillwell  Edwards  and 
Charlotte  Mulligan  contribute  papers. 

Besides  the  poems  already  mentioned  there  are 
others  by  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  Andrew  B.  Saxton, 
Henry  Ames  Blood,  Harrison  S.  Morris,  James  Herbert 
Morse,  Henry  Tyrrell,  John  L.  Heaton  and  Cora 
Stuart  Wheeler. 

The  Arena  for  May  has  as  its  frontispiece  a  finely 
executed  photogravure  of  the  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks,  the 
distinguished  Episcopal  divine  of  Boston.  An  enter- 
taining sketch  of  Dr.  Brooks'  life  and  work  also  appears 
in  this  issue,  written  by  Rev.  Thomas  Alexander  Hyde. 
The  opening  paper  on  "  Rock  or  Natural  Gases  "  is  of 
more  than  ordinary  interest,  prepared  by  N.  S.  Shaler, 
of  Harvard  University.  It  is  not  only  authoritative  and 
instructive,  but  exceedingly  entertaining.  Prof.  Shaler 
is  followed  by  the  Rev.  R.  Heber  Newton,  the  well- 
known  New  York  divine,  who  contributes  a  paper  on 
"  The  Dogmatism  of  Science,"  in  which  he  shows  how 
through  successive  ages  science,  instead  of  being  the 
open-eyed  child  Bacon  would  have  it,  has  too  frequently 
assumed  the  airs  of  a  pope.  Canon  W.  H.  Fremantle, 
of  Oxford,  Eng.,  appears  in  a  paper  on  "  God  in  the 
Government,"  which  reviews  Col.  Ingersoll's  paper  on 
this  theme  from  the  standpoint  of  orthodox  Protestant- 
ism. Prof.  Joseph  Rodes  Buchanan  contributes  a  paper 
of  great  merit,  entitled,  "The  Cosmic  Sphere  of 
Woman,"  a  question  for  statesmen.  Rabbi  Solomon 
Schindler  continues  The  Arenas  series  of  "Divorce" 
papers  from  liberal  thinkers.  Godin's  Social  Palace  at 
Guise,  in  France,  is  described  in  a  thoughtful  paper  by 
Laurence  Gronlund,  who  spent  many  weeks  at  Guise 
studying  Godin's  unique  experiment.  Prof.  Alfred 
Hennequin,  of  the  Michigan  University,  contributes  a 
paper  of  marked  ability  on  "  The  Characteristics  of  the 
American  Drama."  "  In  Heaven  and  on  Earth  "  is  the 
striking  title  of  the  third  "  No-Name  "  series.  Who- 
ever the  author  is  he  is  a  vigorous  and  entertaining 
writer.  Hon.  J.  H.  Keatley,  late  U.  S.  Judge  of 
Alaska,  contributes  a  paper  of  great  interest  on  "  The 
Gold  Fields  of  Alaska."  Judge  Keatley  spent  much 
time  personally  investigating  the  mineral  resources  of 
Alaska,  and  the  facts  related  are  important.  Dr.  Henry 
A.  Hartt,  of  New  York,  contributes  a  brief  paper  to  the 
"  Rum  "  series,  in  which  he  maintains  that  drunken- 
ness should  be  treated  as  a  serious  crime.  Mr.  W.  H. 
H.  Murray's  beautiful  prose-poem,  "  Ungava,"  is  con- 
tinued in  this  number.  From  the  above  table  of  con- 
tents it  will  be  readily  seen  that  this  number  of  The 
Arena  is  peculiarly  rich  in  the  talent  represented.  The 
contributions  also  show  that  the  authors  have  given 
their  best  thought. 


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tions, etc.,  the  authorship  of  books,  pamphlets, 
poems,  essays,  or  stories,  the  meaning  of  re- 
condite allusions,  etc.,  etc. — are  invited  from 
all  quarters,  and  will  be  answered  by  editors  or 
contributors.  Room  is  allowed  for  the  discus- 
sion of  moot  questions,  and  the  periodical  is  thus 
a  valuable  medium  for  intercommunication  be- 
tween literary  men  and  specialists. 

Communications  for  the  literary  department 
should  be  addressed  : 

EDITOR  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES, 

All  checks  and  money  orders  to  be  made 
payable  to  the  order  of  The  Westminster  Pub- 
lishing Company,  619  Walnut  Street,  Philadel- 
phia. 


CONTENTS. 

NOTES  : — Superstitions  About  Playing  Cards,  25— English 
Words  in  French  Language,  26 — Norumbega — Latinized 
Proper  Names,  27. 

QUERIES:— Authorship  Wanted— Question  in  Grammar,27. 

REPLIES  :— Slang— Ccela— To  Fire,  To  Eject  — Authorship 
Wanted— The  Guerriere,  28. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Camelot— Cre- 
mating Crows — Cambrial  Colchos,  28 — Name  Wanted  for 
City— Peter  Out— Banjula,  29. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Gem  Lore— Parallel  Passages,  29— 
Creek— Holtselster — Floating  Islands — Mysfrious  Music,  30 
— Depth  of  Ocean — Shortest  Sentence— Blue  Sea-cat — Bonny 
Boots— Underground  Streams— Weeping  Trees— Whispering 
Galleries,  31— Hard  Words  for  Rhymsters  —Altitudes— Osgod 
Clapa — Kin?  Sennacherib — Liard — Basques — Anagrams,  32 
— Level  Headed — Punishment  by  Water,  33 — Cummerbund, 
34 — Sunken  Islands — Men  as  Things — Nicker— Turn  for 
Pour — Madstones,  35— Discoveries  by  Accident — Helgramite 
Fly — Buddhism  in  Lapland — Brygge-a-Bragge,  36. 


SUPERSTITIONS  ABOUT  PLAYING  CARDS. 

While  I  am  aware  that  the  number  of 
superstitions  is  legion  I  send  you  a  few  curious 
ones  pertaining  to  playing  cards  which  may 
be  interesting  to  some  of  your  readers. 

Most  of  these  superstitions  I  have  gathered 
from  persons  I  have  met,  and  while  some  of 
them  "  did  not  believe  in  foolish  supersti- 
tions," they  would,  nevertheless,  at  times 
when  fortune  was  against  them,  try  some 
little  superstitious  act  "just  to  see  if  it 
would  make  any  difference  in  their  luck." 

One  of  the  most  common  superstitions  is 
that  where  a  card  player  who  is  not  having 
good  luck  gets  up  and  solemnly  walks 
around  his  chair  three  times  in  order  to 
propitiate  fortune;  or  the  player  will  call 
for  a  new  pack  of  cards. 

The  partners  in  a  game  of  cards  who  have 


26 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  17,  1890. 


the  grain  of  the  table  running  between  them 
are  also  supposed  to  be  helped  thereby.  This, 
I  am  told,  is  an  Irish  superstition. 

If  you  are  a  card-player,  and  not  having  a 
table  in  your  room,  start  to  play  cards  on  the 
bed,  then  beware,  for  this  is  an  act  sure  to 
bring  misfortunes  innumerable. 

Never  throw  a  pack  of  cards  at  any  one, 
as  the  act  will  bring  all  kinds  of  bad  luck  to 
the  person  struck. 

When  you  have  a  pack  of  cards  which 
have  seen  their  best  days  do  not  commit  the 
imprudence  of  giving  them  away.  It  is  also 
bad  luck.  The  proper  plan  is  to  burn  them 
and  preferably  with  pepper  and  salt. 

The  belief  that  a  large  number  of  people 
have  in  the  efficacy  of  fortune  telling  by 
cards  is  too  well  known  to  dwell  upon. 
These  people,  when  a  fortune-teller  is  not 
convenient,  will  often  pick  out  their  own 
fortune  by  means  of  divers  kinds  of  Solitaire. 

Then  there  is  the  old  proverb,  "  Lucky  at 
cards,  unlucky  at  love." 

In  a  game  of  cards  it  is  considered  unlucky 
to  a  player  to  rest  your  foot  on  the  back 
rung  of  his  chair  while  looking  at  the  game. 
Rest  your  foot  on  one  of  the  side  rungs  or 
on  the  seat  of  the  chair,  but  the  back  rung, 
never. 

One  of  the  most  curious  superstitions  I 
have  met  with  is  one  which  was  told  me  of 
an  old  Irishman  who  could  never  be  per- 
suaded to  play  cards  unless  he  wore  his  hat. 
When  pressed  for  a  reason  he  finally  gave 
this  one.  The  devil  is  always  around  when 
card  playing  is  in  progress  and  not  to  wear 
a  hat  would  be  a  sign  of  respect  to  his 
majesty  and  that  would  bring  bad  luck. 
Can  any  correspondents  of  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES  furnish  some  more? 

W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


ENGLISH  WORDS  IN  THE  FRENCH  LANGUAGE. 

BIFTECK,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  beef  and 
steak}.  "Si  le  chat  n'a  pas  mang6  le  bif- 
teck  sois  sur  que  le  drole  6tait  deja  bourre 
d'aloyau."  (Guillermin.) 

"  Son  intelligence  culinaire  n'a  jamais 
pu  s'elever  jusqu'  aux  sommets  ardus  du 
bifteck  raisonnablement  cuit."  (Ch.  Ex- 
pilly.) 


"  Quel  economiste  nous  dargira  1'estomac 
de  maniere  a  contenir  autant  de  biftecks  que 
feu  Milon  le  Crotoniate,  qui  mangeait  un 
bceuf?"  (Theophile  Gautier.) 

BOXE,  n.  f.  (from  the  English  box). 
"  Dans  les  ^curies  de  luxe,  les  chevaux  sont 
isoles,  soil  un  a  un,  soil  par  attelage,  au 
moyen  de  cloisons  a  demeure  formant  des 
stalles  ou  boxes."  (B6leze.) 

"  Je  ne  parle  pas  des  animaux  enfermes 
dans  leur  boxes  et  etouffant  sous  tine  vitrine 
oil  1'air  penetre  difficilement."  (E.  Texier.) 

BOXE,  n.  f.  (from  the  English  to  box). 
"La  severe  Albion  a  renonce  a  sa  boxe." 
(Proudhomme.) 

"  La  boxe  a  etc  de  tout  temps  en  hon- 
neur  en  Angleterre."  (Bachelet.) 

BOXER,  v.  intr. 

"  Crabb  de  Ramsgate  vous  a  appris  &  boxer." 

(E.  Sue.) 

"  L'art  de  boxer  s'apprend  en  Angleterre, 
Comme  chez  nous  1'art  de  1'escrime." 

(E.  Texier.) 

"  Toujours  pret  h  boxer  qui  veut  te  contredire 
II  a  1'air  d'avoir  dit  ce  que  tu  vient  de  dire." 

(C.  Delavigne.) 

BOXEUR,  n.  m. 

"  Voila  des  boxeurs  \  Paris 
Courons  vite  ouvrir  des  paris." 

(Beranger.) 

"  Le  boxeur,  furieux,  tout  bouillant  de  colere, 
*  *  *  S'e'lance  sur  son  adversaire." 

(Delille.) 

BRICK,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  brig). 
"  En  France,  on  ne  gree  en  bricks  que  les 
navires  d'un  mediocre  tonnage."  (A.  Jal.) 

"  Le  brick  1'Aventure  est  en  rade ;  on  1'a 
signale  ce  matin."  (Scribe.) 

"Adieu  le  dogre  aile" 
Le  brick  dont  les  amures 
Rendent  de  sourds  murmures." 

(V.  Hugo.) 

CLUB,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  club]. 
"  Ce  n'est  pas  un  des  moindres  traits  de  ce 
temps-ci  que  cette  vie  de  club,  ou  Ton  joue 
avec  des  gens  qu'on  ne  recoit  point  chez 
soi."  (Balzac.) 

"Les  clubs  sont  des  instruments  de  de- 
sordre  entre  les  mains  de  quelques  ambi- 
tieux."  (A.  Gamier.) 

"Les  clubs,  cette  singerie  anglaise,  ont 
acheve  la  ruine  de  nos  salons."  (Mme.  E. 
de  Girardin.) 


May  17,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


DANDY,  n.  m.,  pi.  dandys  or  dandies  (from 
the  English  dandy}.  "  C'est  un  dandy, 
un  muguet,  un  mirliflore,  un  beau,  suivants 
les  epoques  et  les  regimes."  (E.  Chapus.) 

"Collinet  et  la  musique  D'Almack  en- 
chantait  la  melancolie  fashionable  des  dan- 
dies." (Chateaubriand.) 

"  Un  vrai  dandy  doit  etre  froid :  1'armure 
de  la  froideur  le  rend  invulnerable."  (Ri- 
gault.) 

EXPRESS,  n.  m,  "  L1  express  en  France 
est  le  train  qui  va  le  moins  lentement." 
(Pierre  Larousse.) 

EXPRESS,  adj.  (from  the  English  express, 
which  came  from  the  French  expres).  "  Le 
dernier  des  convois  announcera  un  de  ces 
jours  qu'il  mene  lesvoyageurs  a  Saint-Denis 
par  un  train  express."  (L.  Jourdan.) 
\_To  be  continued^ 

C.  F.  H. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


NORUMBEGA. 

I  have  a  few  notes  regarding  this  mythical 
or  half-mythical  city  of  the  aboriginal 
Americans,  which  some  would  identify  with 
a  site  near  Bangor,  Me.,  and  which  others 
think  to  have  stood  not  far  from  Waltham, 
Mass.  Milton,  John  Dee,  Robert  Burton 
and  others  speak  of  it.  An  obscure  writer, 
whose  tract  is  reprinted  in  Arber's  "  Eng- 
lish Garner,"  professes  to  have  visited  it. 
For  my  own  part,  I  incline  to  the  belief  that 
no  such  place  ever  existed,  or  that  if  it  did 
exist,  it  was  a  wretched  collection  of  wig- 
wams. Will  your  correspondents  kindly 
send  notes  regarding  it  ? 

CORYDON. 

SALEM,  MASS. 


LATINIZED  PROPER  NAMES. 

Bucer  stood  for  Kuhhorn,  a  family  name 
which  means  Cow-horn. 

Scapula,  the  lexicographer,  was  originally 
named  Schulterblatt  =  shoulder-blade. 

Andrew  Boorde,  said  to  be  the  original 
Merry  Andrew,  Latinized  his  name  into 
Andreas  Perforates. 

Parkinson  wrote  books  under  the  name  of 
Paradisus-in-Sole  =  Park-in-Sun. 

The  bird  called  Godwit  is  described  by 


Latin    (late  mediaeval)  writers,   under    the 
name  of  Dei  ingenium. 

Melancthori s  true  name  was  Schwarzerd 
=  black  earth.  This  little  list  is  capable  of 
immense  extension.  Will  your  corre- 
spondents kindly  add  to  it  ? 

B.  S.  T. 

CORRY,  PA. 


Authorship  Wanted. - 

of  the  following  lines  : 


-Who  is  the  author 


"  Shed  no  tear,  oh  shed  no  tear, 
The  flower  will  bloom  another  year." 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Q.  UERJE. 


The  above  are  the  first  two  lines  of  a 
"Fairy  Song,"  by  John  Keats. 

A  Question  in  Grammar. — In  a  little 
poem  said  to  be  by  Mary  Howitt,  are  these 
words : 

"  Morning  and  night  with  cleanly  pails 

Comes  Mary  to  the  spring, 
And  to  the  cottage  never  fails 
The  cooling  draught  to  bring. 

"  With  some  she  scours  the  dresser  smart, 

Or  mops  the  kitchen  bricks, 

And  in  the  kettle  sings  a  fart 

Above  the  crackling  sticks." 

How  do  you  parse  sings  ?  Our  school-teacher 
says  it  is  the  predicate  agreeing  with  the  noun 
part,  which  is  its  subject.  I  contend  that 
Mary  sings,  that  is,  causes  to  sing,  a  part  of 
the  water.  Which  is  right  ? 

M.  A.  A. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Your  teacher's  interpretation  is  logical 
and  sound.  Yours  is  bold  and  original. 
Sing  is  seldom  or  never  used  as  a  causative 
verb,  yet  your  idea  is  not  an  unpoetical 
one.  Indeed,  the  use  of  words  in  a  manner 
slightly  out  of  their  ordinary  prosaic  hand- 
ling lends  a  certain  charm  to  verse.  Don't 
contend  with  the  school-teacher,  but  stick 
to  your  opinion  all  the  same. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  17,  1890. 


B  P  L  I  B  S  . 


Slang  (Vol.  v,  p.  6).  —  Captain  Joyner, 
for  many  years  an  Adirondack  guide,  in- 
forms me  that  "slang  "  is  a  French  Cana- 
dian word  for  a  slough.  It  is  a  common 
noun,  and  not  a  proper  name. 

H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 


C(B/a  (Vol.  v,  p.  5).  —  Ccela  (rd 
literally,  the  hollows)  is  a  name  given  to  a 
narrow  and  sinuous  passage  south-west  of 
Eubcea,  an  island  now  generally  known  as 
Negroponte,  east  of  Greece. 

J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

To  Fire,  To  Eject  (Vol.  iv,  p.  287).  — 
Any  interpretation  of  Shakespeare's  words 
found  over  the  signature  W.  J.  R.  needs  no 
confirmation,  but  I  can  direct  R.  G.  B.  to 
another  seventeenth  century  master  of  Eng- 
lish, whose  use  of  "fire  out"  and  "fired"  does 
confirm  it.  It  oddly  chanced  that  when  read- 
ing R.  G.  B.'s  last  communication  (Vol.  v, 
p.  9),  I  had  still  in  my  hand  Mr.  J.  A. 
Symonds'  edition  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne's 
"  Religio  Medici  and  Urn  Burial  "  (Game- 
lot  classics),  where  occur  the  following  in- 
stances. In  the  latter  essay,  1658,  referring 
to  what  he  calls  "  pyral  combustion,"  the 
author  says  :  "  Some  apprehended  a  purify- 
ing virtue  in  fire,  refining  the  grosser  com- 
mixture and  firing  out  the  aetherial  particles 
so  deeply  immersed  in  it"  (Chap.  i).  And 
again  :  "  Even  bones  themselves  *  *  * 
consisting  much  of  a  volatile  salt,  when  that 
is  fired  out,  make  a  light  kind  of  cinders  " 
(Chap.  iii). 

Of  the  "  crumbling  relicks  and  long  fired 
particles"  contained  in  the  ossuary  urns 
that  had  "  quietly  rested  under  the  drums 
and  tramplings  of  three  conquests"  to  be 
just  then  discovered  at  Great  Walsingham, 
he  says  :  "  We  apprehend  they  were  not  of 
the  meanest  carcases,  perfunctorily  fired,  as 
sometimes  in  military,  and  commonly  in 
pestilence,  burnings." 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Authorship  Wanted  (Vol.  iv,  p.  175).— 

" Traveler  what  lies  over  the  hill?"  etc. 

The  above  lines  are  the  opening  ones  in  a 
poem  written  by  George  MacDonald. 

W.  R.  W. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

The  Guerr/ere  (Vol.  v,  p.  18). — These 
verses  were  written  in  the  war  of  1812,  and 
will  be  found  in  McCarthy's  "  Collection  of 
American  Songs."  They  were  to  be  sung 
to  the  tune  of  "  Drops  of  Brandy."  The 
song  begins : 

"  It  ofttimes  has  been  told 

How  the  British  seamen  bold 
Could  whip  the  tars  of  France  so  neat  and  handy,  oh  ! 

"  And  they  never  found  their  match 

Till  Bold  Dacres  did  them  catch, 

For  the  Yankee  boys  for  fighting  are  the  dandy,  oh  !" 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


H.  PHILLIPS,  JR. 


NO  ©OF^ESPONDENJPS. 


Camelot.  —  I  have  notes  recording 
several  opinions  as  to  the  supposed  site  of 
the  fabled  (?)  city  of  Camelot.  What  is  the 
best  identification  thus  far  proposed  ? 

J.  C.  D. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

Cremating  Crows.  —  In  his  essay  upon 
"  Urn  Burial,"  Sir  Thomas  Browne  says 
that  when  burning  the  dead  became  the  pre- 
valent piactice  at  Rome,  it  was  "  not  totally 
pursued  in  the  highest  run  of  cremation,  for 
when  even  crows  were  funerally  burnt, 
Poppaea,  the  wife  of  Nero,  found  a  peculiar 
grave  interment  "  (Chap.  i).  Why  should  - 
crows  have  been  "funerally  burnt,"  or  have 
been  given  any  kind  of  funeral  ceremonies? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Cambrial  Colchos.—  At  what  place  in 
Newfoundland  was  the  settlement  or  colony 
of  Cambrial  Colchos,  where  Sir  William 
Vaughan  wrote  "The  Golden  Fleece?" 

KlLMAIN. 
NEWTON  CENTRE,  MASS. 


May  17,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


29 


Name  Wanted  for  a  City. — 

"  The  smallest  vermin  makes  the  greatest  waste, 
And  a  poor  warren  once  a  city  rased." 

Marvell's  poem  "  To  the  King  "  contains 
the  above  lines.  To  what  city  does  the 
poet  refer? 

E.  S.  BRADFORD. 

CHELSEA,  MASS. 

Peter  Out. — Can  any  one  tell  me  the 
origin  of  the  expression  to  peter  out?  Per- 
haps the  word  should  be  written  fleeter. 

C.  H.  A. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 

Banjula. — What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
word  ?  It  occurs  in  Sir  Edwin  Arnold's 
poem,  "The  Indian  Song  of  Songs,"  as 
follows : 


"  Let  us  bring  thee  where  the  banjulas 
Have  spread  a  roof  of  crimson." 


NEW  YORK. 


SAPPHO. 


(90MMUNIGATIONS. 

Gem  Lore  (Vol.  ii,  p.  55). — There  ap- 
peared in  the  Portland  Transcript  a  versified 
form  of  the  Gem  Lore  of  Vol.  ii,  p.  55, 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  which  runs 
as  follows : 

JANUARY. 

By  her  who  in  this  month  is  born 
No  gem  save  Garnet  should  be  worn  ; 
It  will  insure  her  constancy, 
True  friendship  and  fidelity. 

FEBRUARY. 

The  February  born  will  find 
Sincerity  and  peace  of  mind, 
Freedom  from  passion  and  from  care 
If  they  the  Amethyst  will  wear. 


Who  on  this  world  of  ours  their  eyes 
In  March  first  open,  shall  be  wise  ; 
In  days  of  peril  firm  and  brave, 
And  wear  a  Bloodstone  to  the  grave. 

APRIL. 

She  who  from  April  dates  her  years 
Diamonds  should  wear  lest  bitter  tears 
For  vain  repentance  flow  ;  this  stone 
Emblem  of  innocence  is  known. 


MAY. 

Who  first  beholds  the  light  of  day 
In  spring's  sweet  flowery  month  of  May, 
And  wears  an  Emerald  all  her  life, 
Shall  be  "a  loved  and  happy  wife. 

JUNE. 

Who  comes  with  summer  to  this  earth, 
And  owes  to  June  her  days  of  birth, 
With  ring  of  Agate  on  her  hand 
Can  health,  wealth  and  long  life  command. 

JULY. 

The  glowing  Ruby  should  adorn 
Those  who  in  warm  July  are  born  ; 
Then  will  they  be  exempt  and  free 
From  love's  doubts  and  anxiety. 

AUGUST. 

Wear  a  Sardonyx  or  for  thee 

No  conjugal  felicity ; 

The  August  born  without  this  stone, 

'Tis  said,  must  live  unloved  and  lone. 

SEPTEMBER. 

A  maiden  born  when  autumn  leaves 
Are  rustling  in  September's  breeze 
A  Sapphire  on  her  brow  should  bind — 
'Twill  cure  diseases  of  the  mind. 

OCTOBER. 

October's  child  is  born  for  woe, 
And  life's  vicissitudes  must  know  ; 
But  lay  an  Opal  on  her  breast 
And  hope  will  lull  those  woes  to  rest. 

NOVEMBER. 

Who  first  comes  to  this  world  below 
With  drear  November's  fog  and  snow 
Shall  prize  the  Topaz's  amber  hue — 
Emblem  of  friends  and  lovers  true. 

DECEMBER. 

If  cold  December  gave  you  birth — 
The  month  of  snow  and  ice  and  mirth — 
Place  on  your  hand  a  Turquoise  blue  ; 
Success  will  bless  whate'er  you  do. 

H.  A.  P. 

PORTLAND,  ME. 

Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  .302, 
etc.). — 

"  With  how  sad  steps,  O  Moon,  thou  clim'st  the  skies  ! 
How  silently,  and  with  how  wan  a  face !" 

(Sir  Philip  Sidney.) 

"  With  what  a  silent  and  dejected  pace 
Dost  thou,  wan  Moon,  upon  thy  way  advance." 
(Henry  Kirke  White's  "Angelina.") 

J.  P.  A, 

WEST  PHILADELPHIA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  17,  1890. 


Creek  (Vol.  v,  p.  18). — In  parts  of  Ver- 
mont, and  in  Connecticut  as  well,  a  back- 
water or  currentless  backset  from  a  stream 
is  called  a  creek.  This  agrees  very  well  with 
the  Old  English  sense  of  the  word.  At 
Queechy,  Vt.,  there  is  a  backset  of  this 
kind  called  Gilson's  creek.  In  parts  of  Con- 
necticut even  the  low  swale,  or  wet  land 
about  the  backset,  is  sometimes  called  a 
creek  ;  near  Philadelphia  it  would  be  called 
a  cripple  (Ger.  Kruppel^).  Whittier  says  in 
"The  Swan  Song  of  Parson  Avery:" 
"  Broad  meadows  stretched  out  seaward,  the 
tided  creeks  between."  This  is  said  of  the 
salt-water  channels  in  the  marshes  near  New- 
bury,  Mass.  Near  Jonesboro',  Me.,  is  Tide- 
Mill  creek,  a  salt-water  channel.  Tenney's 
creek  makes  into  the  salt  waters  of  Look's 
bay,  near  Jonesboro',  in  Massachusetts. 
Beverly  creek  is  one  of  the  arms  of  Beverly 
harbor.  Black's  creek  makes  into  or  out 
of  Quincy  bay.  On  the  Maine  coast  we  find 
Bobby's,  Buchanan's,  Cole's,  Ellison's,  Tur- 
burn's  creeks,  two  Goose  Fair  creeks.  Hay 
creek,  Hayward's,  Hicks',  Indian,  Miner's, 
Miller's,  Mud,  Otter,  Potter's  Ruggles', 
Sawyer's,  Sharkeyville,  Smith's,  Snare, 
Spruce,  Strawberry,  Tenny'sand  Winnegance 
creeks,  and  I  know  not  how  many  hundred 
more.  Chelsea  creek  is  very  near  Boston. 
An  arm  of  Portsmouth  and  Kittery  harbor 
is  called  Chauncey's  creek.  Green  creek  is 
in  a  salt  marsh  near  Ipswich,  Mass. 

I  think  we  shall  have  to  concede  to  New 
England  her  fair  share  of  creeks,  but  they  are 
mostly  creeks  in  the  English,  rather  than  the 
American  sense.  In  some  cases,  however, 
they  seem  to  partake  of  both  characters. 

JABEZ  S.  ABBOTT. 
PORTLAND,  ME. 

If  J.  W.  R.  will  reread  my  note  on  p.  307, 
Vol.  iv,  he  will  find  that  I  said  nothing  about 
creeks  in  Pennsylvania,  or  New  York,  but 
only  New  England.  He  says  he  finds  New 
England  creeks  only  in  the  Lake  Champlain 
region.  Yet  I  have  already,  on  p.  307,  noted 
one  in  Connecticut.  He  states  that  "  the 
word  brook  is  sparingly,  and  branch  unspar- 
ingly used."  Not  in  New  England,  for  in 
every  part  of  New  England  brooks  are  ex- 
ceedingly common  ;  while  branch,  as  a  com- 
mon noun,  the  equivalent  of  brook,  is  almost 


unheard  of,  except  in  such  expressions  as 
"  North  Branch  "  of  such-and-such  a  stream, 
and  even  this  use  of  branch  is  rather  uncom- 
mon save  in  some  parts  of  Maine.  Can  he 
name  any  New  England  creeks  except  the 
two  I  have  named  ?  And  both  of  these  are 
quite  as  often  called  rivers  as  creeks,  I  be- 
lieve. Qui  TAM. 
GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 

Holtselster  (Vol.  v,  pp.  24,  etc.). — 
Would  not  Houtzegelster  be  good  Dutch  for 
Wood-sealer  ?  It  may  be  remembered  that 
Marvell,  from  whom  this  word  was  quoted, 
lived  for  a  time  (1661-63)  in  the  Low 
countries.  *  *  * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Floating  Islands  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  270, 
etc.). — Sadawga  lake,  in  the  township  of 
Whittingham,  Vt.,  has  a  remarkable  island 
within  its  borders.  The  island  is  larger 
than  any  farm  in  the  neighborhood,  con- 
taining over  150  acres.  Its  peculiarities  lie 
in  the  fact  that  it  daily  shifts  its  position, 
being  first  on  the  north,  then  on  the  south 
and  then  on  the  east  or  west  borders  of  the 
lake.  It  is  known  as  "  the  Floating  Island," 
and  has  kept  up  its  aberrant  voyage  time 
out  of  memory.  It  has  many  trees  upon  its 
surface,  some  of  which  are  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  in  height,  besides  an  immense 
thicket  of  cranberry  bushes.  It  is  a  favorite 
resort  for  picnickers.  Holes  have  been  cut 
through  the  crust  and  fish  caught,  much  after 
the  fashion  of  catching  them  through  the  ice 
in  winter  time  (Philadelphia  Ledger,  May 
8,  1890). 

The  Mysterious  Music  of  Pascagoula 

(Vol.  iv,  p.  312). — I  have  recently  read,  I 
think  in  Forest  and  Stream,  though  I 
cannot  be  positive,  a  detailed  account  of  a 
recent  investigation  of  this  phenomenon, 
the  suggestion  of  the  writer  being  that  the 
sound  was  produced  by  a  species  of  fish,  but 
in  some  way  yet  unknown.  A  disturbance 
of  the  water  caused  the  sound  to  cease.  Af- 
ter a  short  interval  of  quiet  it  would  begin 
again.  C.  H.  A. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 


May  17,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Depth  of  the  Ocean  (Vol.  v,  p.  4). — 
The  deepest  sounding  ever  obtained  in  the 
Pacific  ocean  was  made  by  Com.  Bartlett, 
U.  S.  Steamer  Tuscarora.  The  sounding  in 
question,  4655  fathoms  or  27,930  feet,  was 
made  off  the  coast  of  Kamchatka. 

J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Shortest  Sentence  Containing  Al- 
phabet (Vol.  iv,  p.  291). — I  have  found 
the  following  short  sentences:  "A  quick 
brown  fox  jumps  over  the  lazy  dog,"  and 
"  J.  F.  Grave,  pack  with  my  box  six  dozen 
quills,"  and  the  following  which  contains 
only  thirty  letters,  "  What  vexing  quips  jab 
my  crazed  folk."  H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Blue  Sea-cat  (Vol.  v,  pp.  7,  etc.).— As 
evidence  in  favor  of  Mr.  Chamberlain's  sug- 
gestion in  his  last  paragraph,  as  to  the  prob- 
able origin  of  this  word,  it  may  be  well  to 
add  that  markatta  is  commonly  used  in 
Sweden  at  the  present  day  to  designate  a 
small  monkey,  with  no  suggestion  of  the 
syllable  mar  (pronounced  long  like  mdhr) 
having  anything  to  do  with  the  sea,  which 
in  Swedish  is  half,  even  though  I  have  no 
doubt  the  folk-etymology  connects  the  last 
part  of  the  word  with  "cat,"  the  feminine 
form  of  which,  often  used  generically,  is 
katta.  K.  A.  LINDERFELT. 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis. 

Bonny  Boots  (Vol.  i,  p.  8).— In  the 
very  last  stanza  (written  by  Edward  John- 
son) of  T.  Morley's  collection  called  "  The 
Triumphs  of  Oriana  "  (1601),  Bonny  Boots 
is  spoken  of  as  recently  dead,  and  as  sing- 
ing better  than  any  other.  But,  in  an 
earlier  piece  of  the  same  collection,  written 
by  John  Holmes,  beginning,  "  Thus  Bonny 
Bootes  the  birthday  celebrates,"  it  further 
appears  that  he  occupied  a  very  near  rela- 
tion to  the  queen;  "For  she  is  Bonny 
Bootses  sweet  mistress."  Can  this  be  the 
poet  John  Holmes  himself?  My  own  idea 
would  be  that  Bonny  Boots  was  some  young 
page  at  court,  a  favorite  with  the  queen, 
and  possibly  Holmes,  of  whom  I  know 
nothing  but  his  name.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Underground  Streams  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
307). — There  is  an  interesting  account  of 
the  underground  streams  of  Barbados,  in 
Moxly'sbook,  "A  West  Indian  Sanatorium." 

The  innumerable  sinkholes  near  Benton 
and  Ellendale,  in  Missouri,  "  which  for  a 
time  kept  land  there  at  a  low  figure,"  are 
now  regarded  (according  to  the  St.  Louis 
Post-DispatcJi)  ' '  as  great  blessings,  as  into 
them  all  the  surplus  rainfall  is  drained,  and 
many  houses  have  pipe  connections  to  them 
for  the  conveyance  of  sewage.  Everything 
that  goes  into  them  is  carried  away,  and  ex- 
periments made  lead  to  the  supposition  that 
the  holes  are  connected  by  passages  through 
the  limestone  to  underground  streams  and 
the  river  des  Peres.  A  resident  of  Ellendale 
has  had  in  mind  for  some  time  a  plan  for 
thoroughly  exploring  the  supposed  passages. 
Near  his  home  is  a  hole  in  which  the  mur-  • 
mur  of  flowing  water  can  be  heard  at  nearly 
all  times." 

There  are  in  Ireland  many  rivers  having 
partly  subterraneous  courses  for  which 
see  article  "Ireland  "  in  "  Encyc.  Brit." 
in  the  paragraph  on  rivers  and  lakes; 
connected  with  them  there  are  many  fur- 
loughs, or  lakes  disappearing  at  intervals, 
much  like  the  more  famous  lake  of  Czirknitz 
(Vol.  iv,  pp.  165,  etc.). 

LUCIUS  O'DONNELL. 
VEVAY,  IND. 

Weeping  Trees  (Vol.  v,  p.  16). — 
In  Hakluyt's  "Voyages"  there  is  an  ac- 
count of  Hawkins'  second  voyage  to  Africa 
and  America,  written  by  a  gentleman  who 
sailed  with  Hawkins,  in  which  we  are  told 
that  in  the  island  of  Ferro  there  isa  weeping 
tree  which  supplies  all  the  men  and  beasts  of 
the  island  with  drink,  there  being  no  other 
available  water  supply  !  Further,  he  states 
that  in  Guinea  he  saw  many  weeping  trees, 
but  of  a  species  different  from  that  at  Ferro. 

EVANDER. 
BRISTOL,  PA. 

Whispering  Galleries  (Vol.  i,  pp.  238, 
etc). — "  He  [a  carrier]  is  the  vault  in  Gloster 
church,  that  conveys  whispers  at  a  distance  ' ' 
(Bp.  Earle's  "  Microcosmographie,"  15, 
1628).  R.  S.  V. 

GLOUCESTER,  N.  J. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  17,  1890. 


Hard  Words  for  Rhymsters  (Vol.  iv, 
pp.  276,  294). — The  lacking  rhyme  for 
"silver"  may  be  "  chilver,"  which  the 
'•'New  Eng.  Diet."  defines  as  "an  ewe- 
lamb,"  but  shows  its  tendency  towards  ap- 
plication to  the  young  of  any  animal.  Ex- 
amples are  given  of  its  very  early  use,  but 
after  noo  a  hiatus  occurs  until  1815  and 
thenceforward. 

The  rhyme  for  "babe"  inevitably  sug- 
gests to  those  who  have  read  it,  Swinburne's 
exquisite  poem  on  that  theme.  I  will  not 
venture  to  quote  it  entire — would  that  I 
might,  for  every  omitted  word  is  a  loss — but 
as  the  verses  are  not  included  in  any  volume 
of  "Selections"  within  my  knowledge, 
and  may  be  unknown  to  many  readers,  can 
you  find  space  for  half-a-dozen  stanzas  ? 

A    RHYME. 

Babe,  if  rhyme  be  none 

For  that  sweet,  small  word 
Babe,  the  sweetest  one 

Ever  heard. 

Right  it  is  and  meet 

Rhyme  should  not  keep  true 

Time  with  such  a  sweet 
Thing  as  you. 


None  can  tell  in  metre 

Fit  for  ears  on  earth 
What  sweet  star  grew  sweeter 

At  your  birth. 

Wisdom  knows  what  may  be  ; 

Hope,  with  smile  sublime, 
Trusts,  but  neither,  baby, 

Knows  the  rhyme. 

Wisdom  lies  down  lonely  ; 

•  Hope  keeps  watch  from  far ; 
None  but  one  seer  only 
Sees  the  star. 

Love  alone,  with  yearning 

Heart  for  astrolabe, 
Takes  the  star's  height,  burning 

O'er  the  babe. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Altitudes  (Vol.  v,  pp.  21,  etc.). — Argen- 
tine Pass,  a  traveled  route  between  George- 
town and  Leadville,  Colo.,  is  said  to  be  the 
highest  wagon-road 'in  the  world.  There  are 
several  pack-trails,  however,  having  a  greater 
height.  J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Osgod  Clapa  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  248,  etc.). — 
There  was  once  a  king  of  Northumbria 
named  Clapas,  or  Clapus.  He  is  mentioned 
in  Polydore  Vergil's  "  History  of  England," 
and  if  I  mistake  not  he  lived  long  before 
Osgod  Clapa's  time.  I  hope  your  corre- 
spondent, Mr.  Clapp,  will  be  able  to  trace 
for  himself  a  line  of  descent  from  this  royal 
stock.  J.  P.  KERR. 

BEVERLY,  MASS. 

King  Sennacherib  (Vol.  iv,  p.  287). — 
The  "King  Sennacherib"  rhyme  calls  to 
mind  the  following  which  was  addressed  to 
Stanley  the  last  time  he  was  in  America : 

"  In  Afric's  wilds  how  sad  thy  lot, 

Where  suns  wax  hot  and  hotter, 
Where  e'en  the  very  Hottentot 
One  sees  grows  hot  and  totter  ! 

"  Better  the  sword  thy  life  cut  short, 

Or  cannon  shot  cut  shorter  ; 
Better  to  fall  by  one  report 
Than  by  each  fell  reporter!" 


C.  H.  A. 


NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 


Liard.— The  "Cent.  Diet."  gives  this 
word  as  a  Canadian  name  for  the  balsam 
poplar,  with  no  explanation  of  its  origin.  It 
is  the  French  Hard,  or  Hard,  a  black  poplar. 
Its  remoter  origin  I  do  not  know.  Cf.  Ital. 

leardo,  O.  Fr.  Hart,  gray. 

*     *     * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Basques  (Vol.  iv,  p.  304). — For  a  short 
article  on  the  Basques,  that  in  the  new  edi- 
tion of  "  Chambers'  Encyclopaedia"  is  by 
far  the  best  yet  written.  That  article  also 
gives  the  names  of  some  very  late  books  on 
the  Basques.  E.  S.  H. 

CANTON,  N.  Y. 

Anagrams  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  252,  etc.). — 
Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  son  of  James  I  of 
Great  Britain,  used  "in  the  challenges  of 
his  martial  sports  and  masquerades,"  to  call 
himself  Mcsliades,  which  word  the  poet 
Drummond  of  Hawthornden  turned  into  an 
anagram,  "  Miles  a  Deo,"  soldier  from  God. 
Near  the  end  of  the  third  book  of  Browne's 
"  Britannia's  Pastorals,"  there  is  a  little 
anagram — "  Mayden,  ayd  men."  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


May  17,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


33 


Level-headed. — A  good  many  years 
before  this  expression,  and  other  cognate 
ones,  became  at  all  current  in  the  North,  I 
used  to  hear  them  often  among  the  negroes 
of  the  South-western  States.  "He's  got  a 
level  head,"  "  your  head  is  level,"  and  the 
like,  were  exceedingly  common,  as  were 
also  many  other  slang  expressions  now 
everywhere  known.  Slang  seems  to  be  the 
natural  language  of  the  untrained  and  un- 
schooled negro,  and  I  credit  him  with  the 
invention  of  much  of  what  is  called  Amer- 
ican humor. 

F.  S.  CARSLAKE. 

MEDIA,  Pa. 

Punishment  by  Water  (Vol.  iii,  pp. 
191,  etc.). — It  is  not  given  to  every  man  to 
possess  the  philosophical  phlegm  of  Socrates, 
who,  when  Xantippe  wound  up  one  of  her 
"little  speeches"  with  a  bucket  of  water 
over  the  poor,  patient,  hen-pecked  man, 
would  calmly  observe  that  "after  thunder 
rain  generally  fell;"  and  consequently  poor 
puny  man,  who  actually  at  one  time  con- 
sidered himself  the  lord  of  creation,  essayed 
to  battle  with  the  evil,  instead  of  sitting 
down  quietly  and  accepting  scolding  as 
inevitable,  and  a  misfortune  for  which  there 
was  no  remedy. 

"  A  common  scold,  '  communisrixatrix  ' 
(for  our  Law  Latin  confines  it  to  the  femi- 
nine gender),"  says  Blackstone,  "  is  a  pub- 
lic nuisance  to  her  neighborhood."  In  full 
accordance  with  the  view  of  this  great  legal 
luminary,  our  English  forefathers,  who  were 
men  of  mettle,  grappled  with  this  social  evil, 
and  they  found  a  possible  remedy  handy  in 
the  cucking-stool,  which  certainly  had  come 
to  them  from  Saxon  times,  as  it  is  men- 
tioned in  Domesday  Book,  although  it  then 
seems  to  have  been  used  to  punish  offenders 
of  a  different  description,  such  as  giving 
false  measures,  or  selling  bad  beer.  But  it 
was  a  convenient  and  harmless  punishment. 
It  involved  no  physical  hardship,  and  was 
applied  to  a  scold  in  a  very  simple  manner. 
She  was  only  placed  in  it  (being  of  course 
duly  fastened  in),  and  exposed  outside  her 
house,  or  in  some  other  place,  for  a  given 
time,  and  so  left  to  the  gibes  and  insolent 
remarks  of  the  crowd.  This  was  the  first 
and  gentlest  treatment  of  the  disease.  It 


gave  no  physical  pain,  as  did  the  stocks, 
and  rather  shows  the  wish  of  our  ancestors 
to  begin  with  moral  suasion  ;  but  finding 
still  that  her  "  clam'rous  tongue  strikes  pity 
deaf,"  they  invented  the  tumbrel,  on  which 
she  was  drawn  round  the  town,  seated  on 
the  chair.  For  instance,  in  the  Common 
Hall  accounts  of  the  Borough  of  Leicester, 
1467,  it  was  ordered  "that  scolds  be  pun- 
ished by  the  mayor  on  a  cuck-stool  before 
their  own  door,  and  then  carried  to  the  four 
gates  of  the  town."  And  this  failing,  the 
tumbrel  was  turned  into  the  trebucket,  or 
movable  ducking-stool,  and  this,  in  its  turn, 
yielded  to  the  permanent  ducking-stool, 
which,  according  to  Gay,  seems  at  all  events 
to  have  had  terrors  for  some. 

"  I'll  speed  me  to  the  pond  where  the  high  stool 
On  the  long  plank  hangs  o'er  the  muddy  pool ; 
That  stool  the  dread  of  every  scolding  quean,"  etc. 

The  ducking-stools  proper  were  perma- 
nent affairs,  and  were  erected  by  the  side  of 
some  river  or  pond.  They  were  numerous, 
but  not  so  numerous  as  the  stocks,  which 
were  in  almost  every  village,  and  indeed  the 
cause  for  their  use  seems  to  have  been  only 
too  prevalent.  As  Poor  Robin  said  : 

"  Now,  if  one  cucking-stool  was  for  each  scold, 
Some  towns,  I  fear,  would  not  their  numbers  hold  ; 
But  should  all  women  patient  Grisels  be, 
Small  use  for  cucking-stools  they'd  have,  I  see." 

But  the  ducking-stool  was  not  the  only 
remedy  used  to  tame  a  scold's  tongue.  At 
Carrickfergus  they  tried  another  plan,  as  this 
extract  from  the  town  records  will  show  : 

"  October  1574 — Ordered  and  agreede  by 
the  hole  Court,  that  all  manners  of  Skoldes 
which  shall  be  openly  detected  of  Skolding, 
or  Eville  wordes  in  manner  of  skolding,  and 
for  the  same  shal  be  condemned  before  Mr. 
Maior  and  his  brethren,  shall  be  drawn  at 
the  sterne  of  a  boate  in  the  water  from  the 
ende  of  the  Pearle  round  about  the  Queene's 
Majestie's  Castell  in  manner  of  ducking,  and 
after  when  a  cage  shall  be  made,  the  party 
so  condemned  for  a  skold  Shal  be  therein 
punished  at  the  discretion  of  the  maior." 

And  a  cage  was  made,  and  women  were  so 
punished,  and  a  regular  list  kept  of  scolds. 

A  very  curious  punishment  obtained  at 
Sandwich,  and  in  the  mayoralty  of  Robert 
Mitchell,  1637:  "A  woman  carries  the 


34 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  17,  1890. 


wooden  mortar  throughout  the  town  hang- 
ing on  the  handle  of  an  old  broom  upon  her 
shoulder,  one  going  before  her  tinkling  a 
small  bell,  for  abusing  Mrs.  Mayoress,  and 

saying  she  cared  not  a for  her. ' '  Boyd, 

in  his  "  History  of  Sandwich,  1792,"  says: 
"  In  the  second  story  [of  the  Guildhall], 
the  armour,  offensive  and  defensive,  of  the 
trained-bands,  and  likewise  the  cucking-stool 
and  wooden  mortar  for  punishment  of  scolds, 
were  preserved  till  lately,  but  they  are  now 
dispers'd;"  but  he  gives  engravings  of 
both,  and  the  wooden  mortar  certainly  is  a 
curiosity. 

In  the  "  Historical  Description  of  the 
Tower  of  London,  1774,"  is  the  following: 
"  Among  the  curiosities  of  the  Tower  is  a 
collar  of  torment,  which,  say  your  con- 
ductors, used  formerly  to  be  put  about  the 
women's  necks  that  scolded  their  husbands 
when  they  came  home  late  ;  but  that  custom 
is  left  off  nowadays,  to  prevent  quarreling 
for  collars,  there  not  being  smiths  enough  to 
make  them,  as  most  married  men  are  sure 
to  want  them  at  one  time  or  other." 

But  our  ancestors  were  beginning  to  find 
out  that 

"  A  smoky  house  and  a  scolding  wife 
Are  two  of  the  greatest  plagues  in  life ; 
The  first  may  be  cured  ;  t'  other  ne'er  can, 
For  't  is  past  the  power  of  mortal  man." 

And  yet  they  did  not  despair.  Men's 
wits  were  set  to  work,  and  a  triumph  of 
ingenuity  was  produced — the  brank,  the 
scold's  or  gossip's  bridle,  which  had  the  im- 
mense advantage  over  the  cucking  or  duck- 
ing stools,  of  compelling  the  victim  to  be 
silent — a  punishment  almost  fiendish  in  its 
conception.  Its  inventor  is  unknown  ;  but 
he  probably  hailed  from  the  "  North  Coun- 
tree,"  as  "  branks  "  is  a  northern  name  for 
a  kind  of  bridle.  It  never  seems  to  have 
been  a  legal  punishment,  as  the  ducking- 
stool  was ;  but  nevertheless  it  obtained,  and 
there  are  many  examples  in  existence.  It 
was,  in  its  simplest  form,  described  by  Wal- 
dron,  in  his  "  Description  of  the  Isle  of 
Man:"  "I  know  nothing  in  the  many 
statutes  or  punishments  in  particular  but 
this,  which  is,  that  if  any  person  be  con- 
victed of  uttering  a  scandalous  report,  and 
cannot  make  good  the  assertion,  instead  of 


being  fined  or  imprisoned,  they  are  sen- 
tenced to  stand  in  the  market-place  on  a 
sort  of  scaffold  erected  for  that  purpose,  with 
their  tongue  in  a  noose  of  leather,  and  hav- 
ing been  exposed  to  the  view  of  the  people 
for  some  time,  on  the  taking  off  this  machine, 
they  are  obliged  to  say  three  times, '  Tongue, 
thou  hast  lyed.'  '  It  was  commonly  made 
as  a  sort  of  cage  of  hoop-iron  going  over  and 
fitting  fairly  to  the  head,  with  a  flat  piece 
projecting  inwards  which  was  put  in  the 
mouth,  thus  preventing  the  tongue  from 
moving.  It  was  then  padlocked,  and  the 
scold  was  either  chained  up  or  led  through 
the  town. 

The  earliest-dated  brank  is  preserved  at 
Walton-on-Thames,  and  bears  the  date  1633, 
with  the  inscription : 

"  Chester  presents  Walton  with  a  bridle 
To  curb  women's  tongues  that  talk  to  idle." 

There  is  a  very  grotesque  one  at  Dodding- 
ton  Park,  in  Lincolnshire,  which  is  a  mask 
having  eye- holes  and  a  long  funnel-shaped 
peak  projecting  from  the  mouth ;  and  there 
were  some  terribly  cruel  ones,  with  fearful 
gags  ;  but  these  can  scarcely  come  under 
scolds'  or  gossips'  bridles.  There  was  one 
at  Forfar  with  a  spiked  gag  which  pierced 
the  tongue,  and  an  even  more  severe  one  is 
at  Stockport ;  whilst  those  at  Ludlow  and 
Worcester  are  also  instruments  of  torture. 

We  have  seen  men  strive  and  fail  to  cure 
scolds,  and  we  know  the  race  is  not  extinct. 
Might  not  the  old  style  of  punishment  be 
revived  with  a  beneficial  effect  ?  No  one 
can  tell  the  amount  of  domestic  unhappiness 
that  might  be  avoided  by  a  gentle  pointing 
to  the  brank,  kept  hanging  in  a  convenient 
place  ;  or  if  the  ducking-stool  were  again 
introduced,  by  a  quiet  remark  as  to  the  prob- 
able temperature  of  the  water  and  the 
inconvenience  of  getting  wet.  —  English 
Magazine. 

Cummerbund  (Vol.  v,  p.  16). — Cum- 
merbund (the  Hindustani  kamarband — 
kamar,  loins,  and  band,  a  band  or  tie)  is  de- 
fined in  the  "Century  Dictionary"  as  a 
shawl,  or  large  sash,  worn  as  a  belt,  or  girdle, 
or  waist-band.  It  is  a  common  part  of  cer- 
tain East  Indian  costumes.  O.  P.  R. 

WOODBURY,  N.  J. 


May  17,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


35 


Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  19,  etc.). 
— The  dangerous  Goodwin  Sands  are  said 
to  have  once  been  a  low  fertile  island  called 
Lomea  {Infera  Insula  of  the  Romans),  be- 
longing to  Earl  Godwin,   where  he   lived 
and  kept  his  fleets;  but  in  1014,  and  again 
in  1099,  it  was  overwhelmed  by  a  sudden 
inundation  of  the  sea,  which  also  did  great 
damage  in  other  parts  of  Europe.     The  tale 
is  that  at  the  period  of  the  Conquest  by 
William   of  Normandy  these   estates   were 
taken  from  Earl  Godwin's  son,  and  bestowed 
upon  the  abbey  of  St.  Augustine  at  Canter- 
bury.     The    abbot,    having    diverted    the 
funds  with  which  it  should  have  been  main- 
tained to  the  building  of  Tenterden  steeple, 
allowed  the  sea-wall  to  fall  into  a  dilapidated 
condition;  and  so,  in  the  year  1099,  the 
waves  rushed  in  and  overwhelmed  the  whole. 
Tenterden,  it  should  be  noted,  is  an  inland 
place  near  the  south-west  frontier  of  Kent, 
15  miles  NNE.  of  Hastings.     Thus  "  Ten- 
terden steeple  was  the  cause  of  the  Good- 
win Sands;"    so,  at  least,  says  one  of  the 
many  legends  connected  with  these  remark- 
able shoals.     But  geology  indicates  a  date 
for  the  destruction  of  the  island  long  ante- 
rior  to   the    catastrophe    recorded    in   the 
legend.  P.  L.  O. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Men  as  Things  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  264,  298). 
— In  this  list  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  only 
instances  in  which  the  names  of  men  become 
the  names  of  things,  excluding  words  de- 
rived from  personal  names.  Watt,  joule, 
ohm,  ampere,  franklin  and  a  host  of  other 
names  of  the  units  recognized  by  physicists, 
are  names  of  illustrious  experimenters  and 
discoverers  in  science.  A  Matthew  Walker 
is  a  kind  of  knot  used  by  mariners.  A 
chassepot  is,  or  was,  a  kind  of  rifled  musket. 
Shrapnel  is  a  kind  of  case-shot.  P.  S.  P. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

Nicker  (Vol.  iv,  p.  307). — The  discussion 
of  the  word  "  Nicker  "  and  its  manifest  re- 
lation to  some  kind  of  nut  or  nut-bearing 
trees  interests  me. 

I  have  seen  in  the  Bahama  islands  several 
species  of  very  hard,  sometimes  brightly- 
colored  beans  which  were  called  "Nicker 
beans."  They  were  very  common  and, 


Deing  nearly  spherical,  were  often  used  by 
children  in  games  in  which  American 
children  use  marbles.  C.  H.  A. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 

Turn  for  Pour. — During  a  sojourn  in 
New  England,  I  often  heard  the  word  turn 
used  for  pour,  especially  at  table.  "Will 
your  turn  me  a  cup  of  coffee  ?"  "  Mr.  Smith, 
will  you  please  turn  the  water?"  So  far  as  I 
know,  this  is  a  strictly  local  use  of  the  word. 

S.  S.  M. 
MOUNT  HOLLY,  N.  J. 

Madstone  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  311,  etc-). — 
Madstones,  as  the  following  clipping  from 
the  Philadelphia  Record  shows,  are  still  used 
in  good  faith : 

"James  Beyard,  a  well-known  citizen  of 
Smithfield,  near  Lewiston,  111.,  when  bitten 
some  years  ago  by  a  supposed  rabid  dog,  im- 
mediately went  to  Denver,  in  Hancock 
county,  and  applied  a  madstone  to  the 
wound,  and  experienced  no  further  fear  of 
trouble.  This  stone,  owned  by  T.  M. 
Orton,  came  from  Louisiana,  where  it  was 
in  the  possession  of  a  negress,  who  had 
cured  bites  from  snakes  and  mad  dogs  with 
it.  She  was  pronounced  a  witch,  and  fear- 
ing that  her  life  would  be  taken,  she  gave  the 
stone  to  her  master,  a  relative  of  the  Ortons. 
It  has  remained  with  the  Orton  family 
since. 

"T.  M.  Orton,  a  reputable  citizen  of  Den- 
ver, 111.,  has  retained  the  stone  for  many 
years.  A  score  or  more  of  cases  of  hydro- 
phobia were  cured  by  it. 

"  Some  days  ago  a  huge  hound  went  mad 
near  Cuba,  111.,  and  ran  through  the  coun- 
try biting  cattle  and  horses.  Before  its 
career  was  ended  it  had  bitten  this  same 
James  Beyard  and  two  other  persons  near 
Smithfield.  The  dog  rushed  on  and  ap- 
peared at  Bushnell,  111.,  in  MacDonough 
county,  where  it  caused  much  terror. 
Beyard  and  the  other  two  victims  went  im- 
mediately to  Denver,  in  Hancock  county, 
and  applied  the  madstone.  It  adhered 
tenaciously  in  each  case,  and  stuck  firmly  to 
Beyard 's  bite  on  each  of  several  applications. 
The  man  returned  home  satisfied  that  the 
danger  was  past."  E.  R.  JAMES. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  17,  1890. 


Discoveries  by  Accident  (Vol.  iv, 
P-  3°5)- — Kaolin. — The  date  of  Mine. 
Damet's  curious  discovery  of  the  Limoges 
kaolin  beds  is  given  in  your  quotation  as 
"  about  "1760."  Wheatley's  "Pottery," 
following  the  great  authority,  Jacquemart's 
"History  of  the  Ceramic  Art,"  says  that 
the  chemist  at  Sevres,  after  receiving  speci- 
mens of  the  new  clay,  went  to  St.  Yrieix  in 
August,  1765,  to  experiment  with  it.  Ap- 
parently, this  was  immediately  after  the  dis- 
covery. This  is  a  detail,  only  noticed  in 
order  to  remark  another  accidental  dis- 
covery of  the  precious  clay,  less  picturesque 
except  in  its  consequences,  but  probably 
earlier.  It  is  told  in  Arthur  Young's 
"Travels  in  France,"  ofwhicha  centennial 
edition  by  M.  Betham  Edwards  (Bohn 
Library,  1889)  has  now  been  issued.  Arthur 
Young,  journeying  in  the  interests  of  agri- 
culture, was  eager  to  visit  a  certain  Marquis 
de  Tourbilly  (Turbilly,  Maine-et- Loire), 
whose  "  Memoire  sur  les  Defrichements  " 
he  valued.  Finding  the  place  after  much 
trouble,  he  learned  that  the  man  he  sought 
had  died  insolvent  twenty  years  before, 
though,  to  Mr.  Young's  relief,  not  ruined 
by  agriculture,  but  from  another  cause. 

"  One  day,  as  he  was  boring  to  find  white 
marl,  his  ill  stars  discovered  a  vein  of  earth, 
perfectly  white,  which  on  trial  did  not 
effervesce  with  acids.  It  struck  him  as  an 
acquisition  for  porcelain.  He  showed  it  to  a 
manufacturer;  it  was  pronounced  excellent ; 
the  marquis'  imagination  took  fire,  and  he 
thought  of  converting  the  poor  village  of 
Tourbilly  into  a  town,  by  a  fabric  of  china 
— he  went  to  work  on  his  own  account — 
raised  buildings — and  got  together  all  that 
was  necessary,  except  skill  and  capital. 

"In "fine,  he  made  good  porcelain,  was 
cheated  by  his  agents  and  people,  and  at  last 
ruined"  (p.  139). 

This  account  is  dated  September  29,  1 788. 
The  unfortunate  marquis  must  therefore  have 
died  in  1768,  and  the  necessary  allowance 
of  time  lor  the  elaborate  experiment  de- 
scribed would  place  the  discovery  of  the  clay 
early  in  the  decade. 

The  finding  of  kaolin  in  Saxony  in  1710, 
if  less  accidental,  was  scarcely  less  curious 
than  Mme.  Darnet's,  at  Limoges.  A 
chemist,  one  Bottner,  was  employed  by  the 


Elector  of  Saxony  to  search  for  the 
philosopher's  stone,  and  hit  upon  a  paste 
converted  by  heat  into  something  like  porce- 
lain. This  gave  direction  to  his  thoughts, 
and  one  day  he  noticed  that  a  bottle  of  hair- 
powder  just  purchased  by  his  valet  was  un- 
duly heavy.  He  examined  the  contents, 
sought  out  their  source,  and  found  the 
kaolin  deposit  at  Aue.  M.  C.  L 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Helgramite  Fly. — Prof.  Baily,  of  Brown 
University,  in  Insect  Life,  for  October, 
1889,  furnishes  the  following  list  of  Rhode 
Island  names  for  the  Corydalus  cornutus,  an 
insect  whose  larva  is  well  known  to  anglers 
as  the  Helgramite  or  Dobson : 

Dobson,  Crawler,  Amly,  Conniption 
Bug,  Clipper,  Water  Grampus,  Goggle  Goy, 
Bogart,  Crock,  Hell-devil,  Flip-flap,  Alli- 
gator, Ho-jack  (locally  in  Scituate,  R.  I.), 
Snake-doctor,  Dragon  and  Hell-diver. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Buddhism  in  Lapland. — In  the  pref- 
ace to  Arnold's  "Light  of  Asia,"  the  poet 
says  that  at  present  Buddhism's  spiritual 
dominions  extend  from  Nepal  and  Ceylon 
to  Swedish  Lapland.  Was  there  ever,  or  is 
there  now,  any  foundation  for  this  state- 
ment, so  far  as  Lapland  is  concerned?  To 
the  eastward,  as  he  might  with  truth  have 
said,  Japan,  China,  Indo-China  and  some 
of  the  south-eastern  Asiatic  islands  are 
Buddhistic,  so  that  he  has  not  claimed  too 
much  area  for  Buddhism ;  but  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  Lapland  was  ever  reached  by  the 
influence  of  Gautama's  teachings. 

OHIO.  P-  R.  E. 

Brygge-a-Bragge  (Vol.  iv,  p.  283; 
Vol.  v,  p.  n). — I  do  not  think  that  Dr. 
Murray  accepts  or  endorses  Littre's  deriva- 
tion of  bric-a-brac,  but  he  refers  to  it  as  the 
most  probable  one  yet  proposed.  "  Mur- 
ray's Dictionary  "  gives  an  example  of  the 
adjectival  use  of  bric-a-brac,  meaning  some- 
thing like  higgledy-piggledy,  which  seems  to 
me  to  correspond  fairly  well  with  the  brygge- 
a-braggc  of  Hawes.  I  put  no  faith  in 
Littre's  derivation.  R.  R.  N. 

PORTLAND,  ME. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— English  Words  in  the  French  Language,  37— Cu- 
rious Habits  in  Animals — Egyptological  Notations,  38 — 
Brack — Somnific  Devices,  39 — Reprints,  40. 

QUERIES  :— Poet-Laureate  of  Australia— Snickersnee— Tri- 
vium  and  Quadrivium — Nainsook,  40. 

REPLIES  :— Name  Wanted  for  City— Peter— Rise— Autum— 
Push,  41. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS :— Vicarious  Jus- 
tice— Name  Wanted  for  a  City — Harmonious  Blacksmith- 
Popocatepetl,  41. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Superstitions  of  India,  4*— Men  as 
Things,  43 — Nicker — Hard  Words  for  Rhymsters — Discover- 
ies by  Accident — Anona,  44  —  Hackney- Barney  —  Creek, 
Brook,  Branch — Horn  Mad  and  Bedlamites— No — Billing- 
ton  Sea,  45 — Ambrosia — Parallel  Passages — Localisms  in 
Speech,  46— Cummerbund— Blue-nose — Blue-nose  Presbyte- 
rians— On  the  Score — Weeping  Trees— Aspenquid — Slang — • 
Buckram — Kangaroo,  47— Peculiar  Names — Ancient  Laws 
Concerning  Shoes — Brook  vs.  Branch — Rhymed  History  of 
England— Runcible — Xanadu,  48. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 48. 


ENGLISH  WORDS  IN  THE  FRENCH  LANGUAGE. 

(CONTINUED.) 

FASHION,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  fashion, 
which  came  from  the  Old  French  fachion). 
— "  La  fashion  anglaise  "  (Pierre  Larousse). 

FASHIONABLE,  adj. — "  L'homme  impoli 
est  le  \t^\tvcyi  fashionable  "  (Balzac). 

"Pour  gtre  fashionable  il  faut  jouir  du 
repos  sans  avoir  passe  par  ie  travail  "  (Bal- 
zac). 

HIGH  LIFE,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  high 
and  life). — "  Le  high  life  parisien  "  (Pierre 
Larousse). 

JOCKEY,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  jockey, 
which  came  from  the  French  Jaquet,  proper 
name,  diminutive  of  Jacques). — "  Sous  des 
pesants  jockeys  nos  chevaux  haleterent " 
(Delille). 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  24,  1890. 


JURY  OR  JURI,  n.  m.  (from  the  English 
jury  and  Old  French  j'uree). — "  Si  nous 
n'obtenons  pas  une  composition  du  jury  in- 
dependante,  nous  n'  aurons  point  un  jury 
veritable"  (B.  Const.). 

"  Quelquefois  repousse  par  le/#rycomme 
un  rapin  a  ses  premiers  essais,  Delacroix 
s'est  toujours  presente  aux  expositions" 
(Th.  Gautier). 

PALE  ALE,  n.  m.  (from  English  pale  ale}. 
— "  Ale  blanche,  espece  de  biere  "  (Pierre 
Larousse). 

RAIL,  n.  m.  (from  English  rail). — "  Les 
rails  ne  durent  pas  plus  de  dix  ou  douze 
ans"  (Proudhomme). 

"  Une  fois  la  conversation  dans  ce  rail,  il 
faudrait  etre  bien  maladroit  pour  n'en  pas 
profiler  "  (Balzac). 

"  L'  instinct  est  une  sorte  de  rail  oh.  la 
nature  fatale  entraine  la  brute"  (Victor 
Hugo). 

REDINGOTE,  n.  f.  (from  the  English 
riding  coat). — "  Les  pans  de  sa  redingote 
pendaient  comme  des  drapeaux  autour  de 
ses  jambes  "  (H.  Taine). 

"Si  vous  me  faisiez  une  rcdingote" 
(Bonaparte). 

SKIFF,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  skiff,  which 
came  from  the  French  esquif). — "Le  skiff 
est  pointu  des  deux  bouts ;  il  a  des  fonds 
arrondis  et  des  facons  tres-fines "  (E. 
Chapus). 

SPEECH,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  speech). 
— "  Prononcer  un  speech,  un  \ov\gspeech,  un 
speech  bien  senti  "  (Pierre  Larousse). 
[To  be  continued, .] 

C.  F.  H. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


CURIOUS  HABITS  IN  ANIMALS. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Green,  a  celebrated  moun- 
tain climber,  and  author  of  a  recent  book  on 
the  glaciers  of  the  Selkirk  range  in  British 
Columbia,  observes  that  the  animal  called 
Sewellel,  Showtl,  or  Mountain  Beaver 
(Aplodontia  leporind)  has  the  remarkable 
habit  of  collecting  nosegays  of  wild-flowers. 

Male  cranes  and  some  other  birds  have  the 
habit  of  dancing,  apparently  for  the  sake  of 
winning  the  attention  of  the  females,  and  the 
Bower-birds  of  Australia  build  and  decorate 
elaborate  bowers  or  playing-grounds.  The 


squirrel-tailed  wood-rat  of  Colorado  collects 
and  stows  away  towels,  soap,  sponges, 
knives,  combs  and  all  portable  objects  not 
too  large  for  it  to  handle.  These  it  stores 
away  in  its  huge  nest  or  house  of  sticks  and 
twigs.  In  this  house,  willy  nilly,  the  wood- 
rat  often  entertains  a  considerable  company 
of  guests,  mostly  of  the  mouse  kind,  who 
visit  their  cousin,  the  rat,  evidently  with  an 
eye  to  his  stores  of  good  things.  The  rat 
commonly  treats  his  visitors  well.  Latterly, 
the  miners  have  learned  that  the  flesh  of  the 
wood-rat  is  delicious  meat ;  and  this  fact, 
together  with  his  thieving  propensities,  may 
yet  bring  him  to  grief,  and  limit  the  range 
of  the  species.  The  common  otter  is  fond 
of  sliding  down  hill,  either  on  the  snow,  or 
down  a  steep  bank. 

E.  B.  E. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


EGYPTOLOGICAL  NOTATIONS. 

Prehistoric  archeology  may  be  divided 
into  four  epochs:  Paleolithic,  rude  stone 
implements ;  Neolithic,  polished  stone 
material ;  .Bronze  (a  mixture  of  copper  and 
tin)  used ;  Iron,  when  iron  was  discovered 
and  used.  The  first  really  civilized  societies 
had  their  seats  in  the  valleys  of  the  great 
rivers — Nile,  Tigris  and  Euphrates. 

The  Great  Pyramid  was  the  loftiest  build- 
ing in  the  world.  If  it  were  formed  of  hol- 
low tin  or  sheet-iron,  it  could  be  placed  over 
St.  Peter's  Church  at  Rome,  and  that  struc- 
ture would  disappear  "  like  a  nutmeg  under 
a  juggler's  cap." 

In  theory,  at  least,  the  ancient  Egyptian 
priesthood  seems  to  have  had  a  high  concep- 
tion of  deity.  They  believed  in  one  God, 
eternal  and  immutable.  "  He  that  lives  in 
spirit,  sole  generating  force  in  heaven  and 
on  earth,  that  was  not  begotten  "  (Nuk~ 
Pu-Nuk — I  am  that  I  am). 

This  idea  of  God  subsequently  became  de- 
based and  complicated,  by  the  distinctions 
made  in  the  divine  attributes,  which  ulti- 
mately were  converted  into  personal  gods, 
as  Ra,  Ammon,  Imhotep,  Ptah  and  Osiris. 
The  outward  manifestation,  however,  of 
God,  in  the  abstract,  seems  to  have  been  the 
sun. 

An  Egyptian  Prayer:  "  We  adore   thee, 


May  24,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


39 


O  God  Ra !  Atoum,  Kheper,  Horks  of 
the  two  zones.  Homage  to  thee,  Sahon, 
divine  child,  who  by  thine  own  power, 
daily  reneweth  thy  birth.  Homage  to 
thee  who  shinest  from  the  waters  of  heaven 
to  give  us  life.  Through  his  divine  power 
he  has  created  all  that  exists.  Homage  to 
thee,  Ra  !  When  he  awakens  his  rays  bring 
life  to  the  pure  in  heart.  Homage  to  thee, 
who  hast  created  the  heavens  of  the  spheres. 
When  he  disappears  his  path  is  unknown. 
Homage  to  thee !  When  thou  passest 
through  the  heavens  the  gods  who  approach 
thee  thrill  with  joy." 

The  ancient  Egyptians  believed  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  notwithstanding 
their  great  anxiety  to  embalm  and  preserve 
the  bodies  of  their  dead  seems  to  imply  that 
they  also  had  a  strong  faith  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  material  body.  They,  however, 
weighed  the  actions  of  the  dead,  and  the 
proven  or  confessedly  wicked  were  not 
embalmed.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


BRACK. 

For  the  noun  brack,  in  the  sense  which 
we  are  about  to  discuss,  the  "  Oxford  Dic- 
tionary" of  Dr.  Murray  gives  but  one  defi- 
nition, namely,  the  system  of  assorting  wares 
which  prevails  in  the  Baltic  ports.  It  cer- 
tainly has  other  meanings,  a  second  mean  ing 
being  "  a  grade,  or  sort,"  and  a  /////-//being 
"alow  grade."  There  is  a  corresponding 
verb  to  brack,  meaning  to  assort,  to  cull. 
Just  as  the  verb  to  cull  gives  culls  (low-grade 
goods),  so  to  brack,  gives  brack,  meaning  a 
poor  sort  of  goods.  (Compare  sorts,  mean- 
ing inferior  drugs,  as  manna,  etc.)  In  Mr. 
James  Paton's  article  on  "Flax,"  in  the 
"Encyc.  Britannica,"  the  verb/0  brack  oc- 
curs twice,  and  the  noun  brack  (low  grade) 
is  spelled  wrack.  In  Laslett's  work  on 
"Timber  and  Timber  Trees,"  examples  are 
found  of  the  noun  brack  in  the  senses  of  a 
grade,  and  a  low  grade.  Brack  (adj.)  for  in- 
ferior is  found  in  that  work,  p.  96.  Brack 
(noun),  in  the  sense  of  a  grade,  occurs  on  p. 
92.  In  German  the  nouns  brack  and  wrack 
signify  refuse,  trash.  The  words  are  evidently 
connected  with  break,  in  the  sense  of  to 
divide,  to  assort.  *  *  * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


SOMNIFIC  DEVICES. 

In  our  boyhood  these  were  resorted  to 
with  confidence  in  their  efficacy,  when  peo- 
ple were  afflicted  with  insomnia  or  sleep- 
lessness, and  it  is,  or  was,  remarkable  how 
often  they  were  alleged  to  be  effectual. 
They  were  adapted  to  different  cases,  and 
when  one  failed,  another  was  tried,  until 
success  followed.  In  a  mild  case  the  patient 
shut  his  eye  and  repeated  the  following : 

"  One,  two,  buckle  my  shoe, 
Three,  four,  open  the  door, 
Five,  six,  pick  up  sticks, 
Seven,  eight,  lay  them  straight, 
Nine,  ten,  a  good  fat  hen, 
Eleven,  twelve,  roast  her  well, 
Thirteen,  fourteen,  go  a  courting, 
Fifteen,  sixteen,  go  a  kissing, 
Seventeen,  eighteen,  the  bread  is  baking, 
Nineteen,  twenty,  the  oven's  empty." 

This  had  to  be  repeated  once,  twice,  or 
three  times,  or  oftener,  especially  when  the 
patient  knew  no  other  formula,  until  he  or 
she  fell  into  a  slumber. 

If,  however,  it  was  a  stubborn  case,  and 
the  following  was  known,  this  was  then  re- 
sorted to : 

"  A  man  of  words  and  not  of  deeds 
Is  like  a  garden  full  of  weeds; 
When  the  weeds  begin  to  grow 
Like  a  garden  full  of  snow, 
When  the  snow  begins  to  melt 
Like  a  garden  full  of  spelt, 
When  the  spelt  begins  to  peel 
Like  a  garden  full  of  steel,    • 
When  the  steel  begins  to  rust 
Like  a  garaen  full  of  dust, 
When  the  dust  begins  to  fly 
Like  an  eagle  in  the  sky, 
When  the  sky  begins  to  roar 
Like  a  lion  at  the  door, 
When  the  door  begins  to  crack 
Like  a  switch  upon  your  back, 
When  your  back  begins  to  smart 
Like  a  dagger  in  your  heart, 
When  your  heart  begins  to  fail 
Like  a  ship  without  a  sail, 
When  the  ship  begins  to  sink 
Like  a  bottle  full  of  ink, 
When  the  ink  begins  to  spill 
Like  a  rabbit  on  a  hill, 
When  the  rabbit  begins  to  jump 
Like  a  ram  against  a  stump." 

It  is  true,  that  many  of  these  "  likes"  are 
amongst  the  most  unlikely  things  that  could 
possibly  occur,  but  then  like  all  systems  of 
pow-wowtry,  it  will  not  do  to  criticise  them 
too  closely.  A  juvenile  wit  once  remarked, 
in  effect,  that  the  interposition  of  that 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  24,  1890. 


"stump"  was  a  most  fortunate  contin- 
gency, or  there  would  have  been  no  knowing 
when  or  where  those  rhymes  might  have 
ended ;  possibly  those  rhythmic  incongruities 
constituted  the  chief  merit  of  the  lines  as  a 
cure  for  sleeplessness.  When  this  formula 
failed,  then  it  was  recommended  to  slowly 
count  one,  two,  three,  or  even  five  hundred 
or  more,  when  the  patient  was  sure  to  fall 
asleep  from  sheer  fatigue. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


REPRINTS. 

Why  have  no  American  publishers  taken 
up  the  enterprise  of  reprinting  rare  Old  Eng- 
lish books  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  college  and 
school  libraries  and  private  students  would 
subscribe  in  advance  for  copies  enough  to 
insure  a  good  pecuniary  return.  It  would 
be  a  great  mistake  to  make  the  prices  too 
high,  and  thus  reduce  the  number  of  buyers. 
The  practice  of  some  of  the  British  societies 
of  printing  a  limited  number  of  copies  and 
selling  them  at  a  great  price  seems  to  me  a 
reprehensible  one. 

E.  R.  S. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

^UE  1^1  E  S. 

Poet-Laureate  of  Australia. — Who  is  the 

poet-laureate  of  Australia  ?   The  name  occurs 
in  a  late  review,  but  I  have  forgotten  it. 

MARIE. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Prof.  Douglas  B.  W.  Sladen,  of  Sydney, 
is  spoken  of  in  late  periodicals  as  "  the  poet- 
laureate  of  Australia."  He  is  an  English- 
man, and  a  graduate  of  Oxford.  We 
imagine  that  the  title  is  an  unofficial  one. 

Snickersnee.  --  In  the  opera  "The 
Mikado"  occur  the  words,  "I  drew  my 
snickersnee"  apparently  "a  sword." 
Whence  does  this  word  come  ? 

R.  T.  B. 

HAVERHILL,  MASS. 

A  snick  is  the  same  as  a  nick,  or  cut,  and 
the  word  is  found  in  most  large  dictionaries. 
Asnet  is  a  knife.  A  snick-and-snee  is  a  fight 


with  knives.  Sneeh  in  "  Worcester's  Dic- 
tionary;" snick  is  in  Webster  also. 

An  old  comic  Litany  of  the  seventeenth 
century  says : 

"  From  a  Dutchman's 
Snick-and-.r«Ar/>f, 
Libera  nos,  Domine." 

In  Marvell's  "  Character  of  Holland," 
in  describing  a  quarrel  of  the  Dutch  sailors, 
the  poet  uses  the  words  "snick  and  sneer," 
in  an  adverbial  way,  like  cut  and  slash. 

Trivium   and  Quadrivium. — Can  any  of 

your  correspondents  furnish  me  with  the  old 
Latin  hexameters  which  set  forth  the  trivium 
and  quadrivium,  the  two  courses  of  study  in 
the  mediaeval  universities? 

A.  S.  A. 
AMHERST,  PA. 

They  are  as  follows : 

Gram  loquitur:   Dia  verba  docet;  Rhet  verba  colorat; 
Afus  canit:    Ar  numeral;    Geo  ponderat;    Ast  colit 
astra. 

Grammar,  dialectic  and  rhetoric  made  up 
the  tritium ;  music,  arithmetic,  geometry 
and  astronomy  formed  the  quadrivium. 

Nainsook. — What  is  the  origin  of  this 
word,  the  name  of  a  kind  of  muslin  ? 

A.  B.  M. 
TRENTON,  N.  J. 

The  following  suggestions  as  to  the  origin 
of  this  word  are  here  offered  as  mere  hints. 
There  is  a  mountain  valley  in  the  district  of 
Hazara,  British  India,  called  Khaghan,  or 
Nainsukh,  which  is  separated,  in  part,  from 
the  independent  valley  of  Swat  by  a  moun- 
tain ridge.  But  it  is  not  probable  that  this 
wild  and  remote  mountain  region  gave  com- 
mercial name  to  a  fabric.  Some  have 
thought,  not  without  probability,  that  Nain- 
sook may  have  been  named  from  the  holy 
city  of  the  Marhattas,  Nasik,  or  Nassuck. 
In  the  Pushtu  language,  nasak  means  thin, 
or  delicate,  which  are  terms  fairly  descriptive 
of  the  muslin  in  question.  Possibly  the 
Nainsukh  valley  may  have  been  so  named 
for  its  thin,  wedge-like  shape,  or  from  its 
narrowness.  This  explanation  is  a  specula- 
tive one,  and  is  offered  for  what  it  may  be 
worth.  It  should  be  added  that  the  name  of 


May  24,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


the  city  of  Nasik,  or  Nassuck,  is  of  Sanskrit 
origin,  from  Nasika,  the  nose,  and  has 
reference  to  an  episode  in  that  great  epic, 
the  "Ramayana." 

I    B  P  L  I  E  S  . 


Name  Wanted  for  a  City  (Vol.  v,  p.  29). 
— If  your  correspondent  will  consult  the 
fragments  remaining  of  M.  Varro's  works, 
which  I  have  not  at  hand,  he  may  possibly 
find  a  name  for  the  city  referred  to  by  Mar- 
vell. 

Pliny  states  (Bk.  viii,  Chap,  xliii)  that,  ac- 
cording to  M.  Varro,  a  town  in  Spain  was 
undermined  by  rabbits,  and  one  in  Thessaly 
by  mice  ;  but  he  does  not  name  the  towns, 
nor  give  any  more  exact  reference,  and 
Varro  is  credited  with  seventy-four  distinct 
works.  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Peter  (Vol.  v,  p.  29). — This  word,  as  an 
intransitive  verb,  is  in  very  common  use 
among  miners,  to  indicate  the  disappearance 
of  a  vein  of  ore  by  gradual  contraction  in 
width.  The  ledge  under  such  circumstances 
is  said  to  "  peter ' '  out.  Until  within  a  year  or 
two  I  never  heard  the  word  used  otherwise 
than  in  this  sense,  and  imagined  it  might 
have  been  derived  from  xl-cpa,  but  from  the 
promiscuous  manner  in  which  it  is  used  in 
the  Eastern  States,  I  take  it  there  is  no  au- 
thority for  this  derivation.  It  is  here  fre- 
quently used  as  a  synonym  for  "  tired." 

TROIS  ETOILES. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Rise  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  306,  etc.). — May  I  say 
a  final  word  on  the  subject  of  the  pronun- 
ciation of  this  noun  ? 

I  heartily  applaud  the  opinion  of  the  late 
Mr.  George  P.  Marsh,  that  no  dictionary  or 
encyclopaedia  is  to  be  received  as  a  final 
authority  on  any  subject,  but  only  as  a 
record,  more  or  less  trustworthy,  of  the  facts 
which  come  within  its  province.  The  true 
criterion  in  matters  of  pronunciation  is  the 
best  ysage.  I  think  it  is  a  matter  of  ex- 
perience with  all  of  us,  that  nearly  every- 
body, lettered  or  unlettered,  pronounces 
this  word  Hze.  When  the  pronunciation 


rice  is  heard  it  seems  like  a  piece  of 
affectation  or  oddity.  Many  of  the  dic- 
tionaries which  endorse  it  are  antiquated. 

C.  F.  M. 
ATLANTA,  GA. 

Autum  (Vol.  ii,  p.  107).  —  With  the  anti- 
quated slang  word  autum,  or  atttem,  for  "  a 
church,"  compare  the  French  argot  autem, 
"high"  (Latin,  altus).  I  offer  this  as  a 
conjecture.  B.  B.  C. 

ALTON,  ILL. 

Push  (Vol.  v,  p.  1  8).  —  Push  probably 
bears  the  same  relation  to  fudge  that  slush 
bears  to  sludge. 

*     #     # 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


TO   ©OF^ESPONDEHItS. 


Vicarious  Justice.  —  Is  there  any 
foundation  in  history  for  the  story  told  in 
Hudibras  about  the  New  Englanders  who 
hanged  a  bed-ridden  but  innocent  weaver  in 
the  place  of  a  murderer  who  could  exhort  as 
well  as  mend  shoes?  The  cobbler  had  killed 
an  Indian  because  he  was  an  unbeliever.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  Indian  chief 
who  demanded  the  execution  of  the  guilty 
man  was  "  the  mighty  Tottipottymoy." 
Totapotamoy  is  the  name  of  a  river  in  Vir- 
ginia. Is  there  any  other  similar  story  re- 
corded of  the  early  Puritan  colonists  ? 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Name  Wanted   for  a  City.—  Does 

Browning's  beautiful  lyric,  "Love  Among 
the  Ruins,"  have  reference  to  any  real  site 
of  a  former  city  ?  If  so,  what  city  was  it  and 
where  ?  F.  R.  S. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Harmonious  Blacksmith.—  Can  you 

tell  me  who  the  harmonious  blacksmith  was  ? 

M.  A.  RESAG. 
WILMINGTON,  DEL. 

Popocatepetl.  —  Will  some  reader  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  inform  me 
of  the  altitude  of  the  volcano  Popocatepetl  ? 

S.  D.  D. 

BROOKLINE,  MASS. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  24,  1890. 


d>OMMUNIGA1tIONS. 

Superstitions  of  India. — The  natives 
of  India,  according  to  the  Temple  Bar,  have 
many  curious  beliefs  and  superstitions,  some 
of  which  are  essentially  Oriental  in  their 
nature,  others  common  to  many  nations  and 
shared  by  ourselves  only  a  few  centuries  ago. 
One  day  an  English  magistrate  was  paying 
a  visit  to  a  Hindu  gentleman  who  was  an  old 
friend  of  his,  in  the  course  of  which  he  hap- 
pened to  yawn.  To  his  astonishment,  up 
jumped  the  Rajah  as  if  galvanized  and  began 
furiously  snapping  his  fingers  in  startling 
proximity  to  his  face.  Observing  his  visitor's 
look  of  unfeigned  surprise,  he  explained  that 
this  was  done  to  scare  away  the  devils  who 
might  have  otherwise  seized  the  opportunity 
to  jump  down  his  throat.  How  strange  it 
seems  to  us,  this  practical  belief  in  devils, 
and  fear  of  them,  combined  with  so  insult- 
ingly low  an  idea  of  their  intelligence  and 
power  !  I  once  heard,  however,  an  odd  in- 
stance of  the  same  fear  and  yet  contempt  for 
unseen  powers  shown  by  an  English  lady 
in  the  beginning  of  this  century — a  bishop's 
wife,  too  ! — who  was  afraid  of  ghosts,  and  if 
left  alone  in  the  house  would  whistle  as  she 
walked  through  the  passages  at  night  in 
order  that  the  ghosts  might  take  her  for  a 
man.  The  Scriptural  belief  in  possession  by 
a  devil  is  held  to  this  day  by  the  natives  of 
India,  and  very  recently  a  case  came  before 
an  English  magistrate  in  Bengal  in  which  a 
Brahmin  was  charged  with  having  caused  the 
death  of  a  lad  by  his  attempts  to  exorcise  an 
evil  spirit.  The  boy  had  been  made  to  lie 
on  his  back,  in  the  presence  of  his  parents 
and  other  sympathizing  relatives,  while  the 
priest  danced  on  his  chest,  calling  on  the 
name  of  his  god,  "O  Baal,  hear."  But 
whether  the  god  was  sleeping,  or  whether  the 
devil  in  departing  took  with  him  the  boy's 
own  spirit,  cannot  be  known.  The  boy 
died,  and  the  civil  surgeon,  knowing  noth- 
ing of  the  nature  of  exorcism,  reported  that 
he  had  died  from  injuries  caused  by  the 
priest.  Like  the  Russians  of  the  present 
day,  the  Hindus  think  it  brings  a  person  ill 
luck  to  be  openly  admired  or  praised,  and  if 
you  should  praise,  or  even  look  too  admir- 
ingly at,  a  child,  the  mother  will  hastily 
withdraw  it  from  notice,  and  either  beat  it 


or  say  something  disparaging  of  it  in  order 
to  counteract  your  ill-omened  admiration 
and  avert  the  jealousy  of  the  gods. 

The  belief  in  some  form  of  ordeal  for 
proving  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  an  accused 
person  is  another  of  the  traditions  of  the 
past  which  we  Westerners  have  outgrown  and 
cast  aside,  but  which  still  forms  part  of  the 
practical  belief  of  the  people  in  India.  Of 
this  I  remember  an  instance  occurring  with- 
in my  own  experience,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
robbery  having  been  committed  in  my 
house,  when  the  police  summoned  the  whole 
of  my  servants  to  the  police  station  in  order 
that  each  one  might  separately  and  solemnly 
be  put  to  the  test.  It  was  a  droll  sight  to 
see  the  procession  setting  forth  on  this  mis- 
sion, headed  by  the  magnificent  Khansama 
and  the  imperious  bearer,  and  tailing  off 
through  minor  dignitaries  down  to  the  in- 
differently clothed  coolies  who  brought  up 
the  rear.  The  ordeal  is  conducted  by  a 
Mohammedan  priest,  who  mutters  certain 
mysterious  invocations  over  the  Koran, 
which  is  then  pronounced  to  have  the  power 
of  pointing  out  the  guilty  person  by  open- 
ing miraculously  at  a  condemnatory  passage 
when  touched  by  him.  A  factor  in  this  ex- 
periment, doubtless  much,  even  if  uncon- 
sciously, relied  upon  for  bringing  it  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue,  is  the  power  of  superstitious 
fear  over  the  conscience  of  the  guilty  person. 
To  most  natures  the  idea  of  being  discovered 
in  this  supernatural  and  awful  manner  is  so 
terrible  that  the  culprit  rather  than  risk  it 
will  make  voluntary  confession,  and  so  depre- 
cate the  heavier  anger  of  the  gods  reserved 
for  those  who  defy  them.  On  this  occasion 
the  Koran  unhesitatingly  pointed  out  one  of 
the  servants  as  the  thief.  Whether  he  was 
innocent,  as  he  maintained,  or  merely  un- 
impressionable and  hard  of  heart  as  we  had 
much  reason  for  believing,  I  cannot  say — 
but  confess  he  would  not,  and  living  as  we 
do  in  the  nineteenth  century,  he  could  not 
be  imprisoned  on  the  sole  testimony,  how- 
ever conclusive,  of  the  Koran,  nor,  owing  to 
the  modern  prejudice  there  exists  against  ap- 
plying torture,  could  he  be  made  to  confess. 
The  conditions  which  made  trial  by  ordeal 
so  generally  successful  in  the  ages  of  faith 
are  altogether  wanting  in  the  present  skepti- 
cal and  scrupulous  generation. 


May  24,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


The  reproach  of  skepticism  cannot,  how- 
ever, be  applied  to  the  Hindustanis.  Their 
powers  of  belief  are  child-like.  I  was  once 
taken  to  see  a  miraculous  spring  that  had 
suddenly  appeared  in  a  dry  and  barren  spot, 
and  was  bringing  in  much  wealth  to  the  fakir 
who  had  appointed  himself  its  guardian.  It 
was  very  small — scarcely  to  be  discerned 
until  pointed  out — and  I  of  little  faith  even 
thought  in  secret  that  it  could  be  produced 
by  the  holy  man's  pouring  in  water  every 
night.  But  small  as  the  hole,  he  sucked 
thereout  no  small  advantage,  for  the  people's 
faith  is  large,  and  crowds  of  pious  persons 
made  pilgrimages  to  the  divinely  favored 
spot. 

Curious  instances  might  be  collected  from 
the  records  of  Indian  law  courts  illustrative 
of  the  Old  World  beliefs  of  the  people,  which 
are  brought  at  times  into  such  strange  col- 
lision with  the  legal  forms  of  procedure  es- 
tablished by  our  modern  lawyers.  A  man 
was  once  being  tried  for  murder  when  he 
put  forward  a  plea  such  as  could  only  have 
occurred  to  an  Oriental  and  to  a  believer  in 
the  transmigration  of  souls.  He  did  not 
deny  having  killed  the  man — on  the  con- 
trary he  described  in  detail  the  particulars 
of  the  murder — but  he  stated  in  justification 
that  his  victim  and  he  had  been  acquainted 
in  a  previous  state  of  existence,  when  the 
now  murdered  man  had  murdered  him,  in 
proof  of  which  he  showed  a  great  seam 
across  his  side  which  had  been  the  sword- 
cut  that  had  ended  his  previous  existence. 
He  further  said  that  when  he  heard  he  was 
again  to  be  sent  into  this  world  he  entreated 
his  master  to  excuse  him  from  coming,  as  he 
had  a  presentiment  that  he  should  meet  his 
murderer  and  that  harm  would  come  of  it. 
All  this  he  stated  in  perfect  earnestness  and 
simplicity,  and  with  evident  conviction  of 
its  truth  and  force — a  conviction  shared  by 
a  large  number  of  those  in  court. 

Trial  by  jury  is  attended  with  peculiar 
difficulties  in  India,  an  instance  of  which  I 
remember  as  having  occurred.  In  that  case 
also  a  man  was  on  his  trial  for  the  murder  of 
another.  He  had  been  caught  red-handed 
and  there  was  no  possible  room  for  doubt  in 
the  matter.  The  murdered  man  had  suc- 
cumbed almost  immediately  to  his  wound, 
living  only  long  enough,  after  being  discov- 


ered, to  ask  for  some  water  to  drink.  Some 
surprise  was  felt  at  the  time  taken  by  the  jury 
in  considering  their  verdict,  but  when  at 
length  they  returned  and  recorded  it  the 
astonishment  of  all  in  court  was  unbounded 
when  it  proved  to  be  one  of  not  guilty.  So 
extraordinary  a  verdict  could  not  pass  un- 
challenged, and  the  judge  inquired  by  what 
process  of  reasoning  they  had  arrived  at 
their  decision  ;  if  the  accused  had  not  mur- 
dered the  man,  who  had  ?  "Your  Lordship,, 
we  are  of  opinion  that  the  injuries  were  not 
the  cause  of  the  man's  death.  It  has  been 
proved  that  he  drank  water  shortly  before 
his  death,  and  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  it 
was  drinking  the  water  that  killed  him."' 
The  explanation  of  this  remarkable  verdict 
— the  more  remarkable  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  the  men  who  brought  it  in  never 
drank  anything  but  water  themselves — was 
that  on  the  jury  was  a  high-caste  Brahman, 
to  whom  the  very  idea  of  being  a  party  to 
taking  away  a  man's  life  was  so  abhorrent 
that  no  earthly  persuasion  could  have  in- 
duced him  to  agree  to  a  verdict  that  would 
have  hanged  the  prisoner — and  the  earnest- 
ness of  his  horror  had  exercised  an  influence 
over  the  rest  of  the  jury  so  powerful  as  to 
make  them  return  the  verdict  which  so  stag- 
gered the  Court. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Men  as  Things  (Vol.  iv,  p.  264). — It 
is  interesting  to  notice  that  this  kind  of 
transformation  went  on  centuries  ago. 
When  the  Venetian  general  and  soldier  of 
fortune,  known  then  and  now  as  Carmagnola, 
from  his  birthplace,  was  brought  out  to  suf- 
fer execution  between  the  pillars  of  St. 
Mark's,  it  was  surely  a  curious  circumstance, 
as  well  as  a  bitter  satire  upon  his  hour  of 
popularity,  that  he  wore  upon  his  head  a 
earmagn&fa,  a  velvet  cap  to  which  his  own 
name  had  been  transferred. 

In  Dr.  Murray's  list  for  "Quotations 
Wanted,"  is  the  word  "  Colbertine  (lace)." 
The  suffix  ine  prevents  this  being  a  true  case 
in  point,  but  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
material  was  so  named  in  honor  of  Colbert, 
the  minister  of  finance  who  established  the 
French  lace  factories  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. 


44 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  24,  1890. 


Angelots  of  Brie,  /.  e.,  Brie  cheese, 
enumerated  among  the  dainties  of  the  same 
century,  are  thought  by  some  to  have  been 
so  called  from  some  one  named  Angelot  or 
Angelo,  who  first  made  the  cheese  or 
stamped  it,  but  Littre's  explanation  seems 
better,  that  the  cheese  was  so  called  because 
it  bore  the  figure  of  the  gold  coin  called 
angelot.  Of  these  coins  there  were  two,  one 
with  the  image  of  St.  Michael  and  the 
dragon,  the  other  having  the  figure  of  an 
angel  supporting  the  scutcheon  of  the  arms. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Nicker  (Vol.  iv,  p.  228).— The  Dutch 
knikker  means  a  child's  playing  marble,  and 
appears  to  be  related  to  knikken,  to  snap ; 
but  it  may  nevertheless  have  some  relation 
to  L.  nux,  or  its  derivatives  ;  for  confusion 
between  distinctly  separate  verbal  roots 
often  takes  place.  The  spelling  knicker 
("Century"  and  Bartlett)  seems  to  come 
from  the  Dutch  ;  nicker  (Halliwell-Phillips) 
is  an  English  spelling  of  what  seems  to  be 
the  same  word.  ILDERIM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Hard  "Words  for  Rhymsters  (Vol. 
iv,  p.  294). — As  a  good  rhyme  for  scalp  I 
suggest  alp,  e.g.,  the  Bel  alp,  the  Wengern 
alp,  etc.  I  cannot  understand  the  sugges- 
tion of  Jongleur  that  vaults  and  halts  may 
be  made  to  rhyme  with  false  and  halse. 
Surely  in  the  former  words  the  /  is  sounded 
and  faults  would  give  the  perfect  rhyme. 
For  rhymes  to  carve  and  stan>e  I  suggest 
salve  and  arve,  and  for  babe  and  astrolabe 
the  manufactured  word  from  the  line  "And 
the  mome  rathes  outgrabe ' '  in  the  now 
famous  "  Jabberwocky  "  poem  in  "Alice 
in  Wonderland."  C.  H.  A. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 

Tarve  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  276,  294). — If  your 
correspondent  Jongleur  will  consult  Bart- 
lett's  "  Dictionary  of  Americanisms,' '  he  will 
find  tarve  with  a  good  quotation  from  one 
of  Cooper's  novels.  It  is  defined  "  a  turn, 
bend,  or  curve."  "The  dishing  of  a 
wheel,"  of  course,  involves  one  kind  of  a 
curve.  ELBRIDGE  HAMILTON. 

CUBA,  N.  Y. 


Discoveries  by  Accident  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
305,  etc.). — Aventurine. — 

"  From  out  the  silken  curtain  folds 
Bare-footed  and  bare-headed  three  fair  girls 
In  gilt  and  rosy  raiment  came,  and  the  hair 
All  over  glanced  with  dew-drop  or  with  gem 
Like  sparkles  in  the  stone  Aventurine." 

(Tennyson's  "  Gareth  and  Lynette.") 

The  mineral  aventunne  is  a  variety  of 
quartz  or  feldspar  spangled  with  red,  brown 
or  golden  scales  of  mica.  The  mass  of  the 
stone  is  dull  in  color  and  translucent,  but 
the  contrast  thus  formed  with  the  interior 
bright  and  sparkling  points  rendered  it  very 
effective  when  used  for  ornaments.  The 
mineral,  however,  is  much  less  beautiful 
than  the  glass,  aventurine,  from  which  its 
name  is  borrowed. 

The  glass  is  opaque  and  the  general  mass 
is  of  a  golden-brown  color.  The  minute 
crystals,  specks  and  drops  of  gold,  as  it  were, 
with  which  the  substance  is  filled,  are  of 
such  extraordinary  brilliancy  that  the 
jewelers  called  it  gold  stone,  and  used  it  ex- 
tensively for  ornaments. 

The  preparation  of  aventurine  was  dis- 
covered in  1600  by  a  workman  in  the  glass- 
works at  Murano  near  Venice.  He  acci- 
dentally let  fall  a  quantity  of  brass  filings 
into  a  pot  of  molten  glass.  The  substance 
produced  at  once  received  the  Italian  name 
Avventurino  from  Avventura,  signifying 
chance  or  accident. 

The  recipe  for  the  preparation  of  the 
glass  is  as  follows :  300  parts  powdered 
glass,  40  parts  copper  filings,  and  50  parts 
iron  filings ;  the  mixture  to  cool  rather 
slowly.  W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Anona. — This  word,  the  botanical  and 
generic  name  of  the  tropical  custard-apple, 
according  to  the  "  Century  Diet.,"  is  "said 
to  be  from  its  Malay  name  menona"  Dr. 
Murray's  dictionary  very  strangely  tells  us 
to  '-'see  Ananas,"  which  is  the  Peruvian 
name  for  the  pine-apple.  But  in  Shake- 
speare's "Hindustani  Dictionary"  I  find 
nona  defined  as  "  the  custard-apple."  This 
certainly  seems  to  be  nearer  to  anona  than 
either  ananas  or  menona. 

*»*         *P         *t* 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


May  24,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


45 


Hackney-Barney.  —  Another  place 
name  from  the  Old  World  which  we  used  to 
hear  in  the  old  days  in  this  country  is  Hack- 
ney-Barney. It  was  used  just  like  Ballyhack, 
or  Bungay,  just  as  if  it  were  the  last  place  in  the 
world  to  which  one  would  wish  to  go,  thus  : 
"  I  wished  I  could  send  her  to  Hackney- 
Barney,"  or  the  like. 

C.  M.  R. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

Creek,  Brook,  Branch  (Vol.  v,  pp.  30, 
etc.). — Though  acknowledging  J.  W.  Red- 
way  as  very  high  authority  on  subjects 
geographical,  I  must  dissent  from  his  remark 
that  in  the  New  England  States  "  the  word 
brook  is  sparingly  and  branch  unsparingly 
used."  In  New  England  the  word  brook  is 
almost  everywhere  the  name  of  a  small 
stream,  while  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  in- 
stance of  branch  being  so  used.  The  latter 
word  is  common  in  the  South,  and  creek  and 
fork  in  the  West.  In  Maine — in  the  lumber 
region — stream  is  very  frequently  used,  e.g., 
Wilson's  stream,  Long  Pond  stream,  etc., 
though  brook  is  also  very  common. 

C.  H.  A. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 

Horn  Mad  and  Bedlamites  (Vol.  iv,  pp. 
57,  100). — "  Where  hast  thou  been,  in  the 
name  of  madness,  thus  accoutred  with  thy 
horn?"  (Ben  Jonson's  "Silent  Woman," 
Act  ii,  Sc.  2 ;  Morley's  Universal  Lib. 
Ed.,  p.  209). 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

No  (Vol.  v,  p.  17). — "The  almost  un- 
spellable  couple  of  sounds"  used  in  the 
West  for  ' '  No, ' '  are  used  in  the  East  for 
"  Yes."  It  is  also  common  as  an  affirmative 
in  Scotland,  as  the  following  poem  by  James 
Nicholson  shows : 

"  IMPH-M. 

"  Ye've  heard  hoo  the  deil,  as  he  wauchel'd  through 

Beith, 

Wi'  a  wife  in  ilk  oxter,  an'  ane  in  his  teeth, 
When   some   ane  cried  out,    'Will  ye  tak'  mine  the 

morn?' 

He  wagged  his  auld  tail  while  he  cockit  his  horn, 
But  only  said  '  Imph-m,' 
That  usefu'  word  '  Imph-m,' 
Wi'  sic  a  big  mouthfu',  he  couldna  say  '  A-y-e  !' 


"  When  I  was  a  laddie  langsyne  at  the  schule, 
The  maister  aye  called  me  a  dunce  an'  a  fule  ; 
For  a'  that  he  said,  I  could  ne'er  un'erstan', 
Unless  when  he  bawled,  '  Jamie  !  haud  out  yer  han' !' 
Therul  gloomed,  and  said  '  Imph-m,' 
I  glunched,  and  said  '  Imph-m  ;' 
I  wasna  owre  proud,  but  owre  dour  to  say,  '  A-y-e  !' 

"  Aye  day  a  queer  word,  as  lang-nebbit's  himsel', 
He  vowed  he  wad  thrash  me  if  I  wadna  spell. 
Quo'  I,  '  Maister  Quill,'  wi'  a  kind  o'  a  swither, 
'  I'll  spell  ye  the  word  gif  ye'll  spell  me  anither. 
Let's  hear  ye  spell  "  Imph-m," 
That  common  word  "  Imph-m," 

That  auld  Scotch  word  "  Imph-m,"   ye  ken  it  means 
"  A-y-e !" ' 

"  Had  ye  seen  hoo  he  glowered,  hoo  he  scratched  his  big 

pate, 

An'  shouted,  '  Ye  villain,  get  oot  o'  my  gate  ! 
Get  aff  tae  yer  seat !  yer  the  plague  o'  the  schule  ! 
The  deil  o'  me  kens  if  yer  maist  rogue  or  fule  !' 
But  I  only  said  '  Imph-m,' 
Thaat  common  word  '  Imph-m,' 

That  auld-farrand  word  '  Imph-m,'  that  Stan's  for  an— 
'  A-y-e !' 

"An1  when  a  brisk  wooer,  I  courted  my  Jean — 
O'  Avon's  braw  lasses  the  pride  an'  the  queen — 
When  'neath  my  grey  plaidie,  wi'  heart  beatin'  fain, 
I  spiered  in  a  whisper,  if  she'd  be  my  ain. 
She  blushed,  an'  said  '  Imph-m,' 
That  charming  word,  '  Imph-m,' 
A  thoosan'  times  better  an'  sweeter  than  '  A-y-e!' 

"An1  noo  I'm  a  dad  wi'  a  hoose  o'  my  ain — 
A  daintie  bit  wine,  an'  mair  than  ae  wean — 
But  the  warst  o't  is  this — when  a  question  I  spier, 
They  pit  on  a  luik  sae  auld  farran'  an'  queer, 
But  only  say  '  Imph-m,' 
That  daft-like  word,  '  Imph-m,1 
That  vulgar  word,  '  Imph-m,'  they  winna  say,  '  A-y-e  !' 

"  Sae  I've  gi'en  owre  the  Imph-m — it's  no  a  nice  word ; 

When  printed  on  paper  it's  perfect  absurd  ; 

An'  gif  ye're  ow're  lazy  to  open  yer  jaw, 

Jist  haud  ye  yer  tongue,  an'  say  naething  ava  ; 
But  never  say  '  Imph-m,' 
That  daft-like  word  '  Imph-m,' 

It's  ten  times  mair  vulgar  than  even  braid  '  A-y-e  !'  " 
(Carpenter's  "  Popular  Readings,"  Vol.  v.) 

C.  M.  H. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


Billington  Sea.— There  is  a  consider- 
able lake  near  Plymouth,  Mass.,  called 
Billington  Sea.  Can  this  exam  pie  of  the  use  of 
the  word  sea  for  lake  be  an  instance  of  word- 
loaning?  The  Pilgrims  of  1620  had  been 
living  for  some  years  in  the  Netherlands,  and 
they  may  have  adopted  this  use  of  the  word 
sea  from  their  Dutch  acquaintances. 

RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE.  PA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  24,  1890. 


Ambrosia  (Vol.  v,  pp.  21,  etc.).— My 
critic  has  entirely  misapprehended  my 
strictures  on  the  use  oftheword  "Ambrosia." 
It  would  be  rather  presumptuous  in  me  to 
find  fault  with  a  word  used  by  Virgil.  But 
Virgil  wrote  Ambrosiaque — Odorem — and 
my  critic  must  be  very  obtuse  if  he  sees  no 
difference  between  "shaking  ambrosia" 
and  "shaking  ambrosial  odors"  from  the 
hair.  Perhaps  he  would  consider  "  Breath- 
ing onions  "  a  proper  figure  of  speech  for 
"  Breathing  the  odor  of  onions." 

H.  A.  CLARKE. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


This  matter  is  treated 
fullness  in  Dr.  Murray's  ' 
tionary." 


with  considerable 
New  English  Die- 

[ED.] 


Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  v,  pp.  29, 
etc.). — So  much  has  been  said  in  your  col- 
umns about  a  "  Heathen  Hymn  in  Chris- 
tian Churches  "  that  I  venture  to  offer  three 
"  parallel  passages  "  illustrating  the  subject. 
The  original  question,  "  What  hymn  now 
sung  in  Christian  churches  was  composed  by 
a  heathen?"  (Vol.  iii,  p.  141)  was  taken  from 
one  of  Miss  Killikelly's  books  of  "  Curious 
Questions,"  and  it  is  answered  in  her  latest 
volume  in  the  same  way  that  your  corre- 
spondent "  Charex"  answered  it  (Vol.  iii, 
p.  165).  But  the  question  and  answer  are 
open  to  some  criticism.  In  the  first  place, 
Hadrian's  "  Animula "  is  in  no  proper 
sense  a  hymn,  though  very  heathenish  ;  in 
the  next  place,  neither  it  nor  Pope's  imita- 
tion is  actually  used  in  Christian  churches. 
Hadrian's  lines  are  as  follows  : 

Animula  vagula,  blandula, 
Hospes  comesque  corporis, 
Qua;  nunc  abibis  in  loca 
Pallidula,  rigida,  nudula; 
Nee,  ut  soles,  dabisjocos? 

To  these  lines  I  append  a  rhyming  trans- 
lation : 

AN    ADDRESS   TO   MY   DEPARTING   SOUL. 

My  spirit,  flickering,  wandering  shade, 
The  body's  guest  and  fellow  made — 
Pray,  now  upon  what  distant  strand, 
Pale,  naked,  chill,  are  you  to  land. 
Vague  shadow  mine?  My  bones  at  rest, 
Will  you,  thin  ghost,  still  smile  and  jest? 

This   cold  and   poor  version   gives    the 


sense,  but  does  not  reproduce  the  lightness 
of  touch,  nor  the  delicate  shade  of  regret  that 
pervades  the  original.  Pope's  "  Dying 
Christian,"  imitating  at  once  Sappho,  Had- 
rian, St.  Paul  and  Thomas  Flatman,  is  as 
follows  : 

THE   DYING   CHRISTIAN   TO   HIS   SOUL. 

Vital  spark  of  heavenly  flame, 
Quit,  oh  quit  this  mortal  frame  ! 
Trembling,  hoping,  lingering,  flying — 
Oh  the  pain,  the  bliss  of  dying  ! 
Cease,  fond  nature,  cease  thy  strife, 
And  let  me  languish  into  life ! 

Hark  !  they  whisper ;  angels  say, 
Sister  spirit,  come  away  ! 
What  is  this  absorbs  me  quite, 
Steals  my  senses,  shuts  my  sight, 
Drowns  my  spirit ;  draws  my  breath  ? 
Tell  me,  my  soul !  can  this  be  death  ? 

The  world  recedes — it  disappears ; 
Heaven  opens  on  my  eyes ;  my  ears 

With  sounds  seraphic  ring  ; 
Lend,  lend  your  wings  !  I  mount,  I  fly  ! 
O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ? 

O  death,  where  is  thy  sting? 

These  are  Thomas  Flatman's  lines : 
DYING. 

When  on  my  sick  bed  I  languish, 
Full  of  sorrow,  full  of  anguish, 
Fainting,  gasping,  trembling,  crying, 
Panting,  groaning,  speechless,  dying — 
Methinks  I  hear  some  gentle  spirit  say — 
"  Be  not  fearful,  come  away  !" 

The  extract  which  your  correspondent, 
M.  N.  R.,  gave  from  the  "  AdLesbiam"  of 
Sappho  (Vol.  iii,  p.  211)  was  taken  from  the 
translation  of  Ambrose  Philips. 

The  closing  lines  of  Pope's  piece  (bhall 
we  call  it  a  cento?)  are  plainly  borrowed 
from  St.  Paul. 

SAMUEL  G.  MARTIN. 

NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. 

Localisms  in  Speech.  —  Squozc  for 
squeezed  (New  England,  for  the  most  part 
used  humorously,  sometimes  seriously). 

A  few  cheese,  a  few  of  them  cheese,  a  few 
molasses  (Kentucky). 

A  few  porridge,  for  a  small  quantity  of 
porridge  (Western  Massachusetts). 

Wore  for  waved  (Canada). 

Sont  for  sent  (Eastern  Kentucky). 

JAMES  REYNOLDS. 
CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 


May  24,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


47 


Cummerbund  (Vol.  v,  pp.  34,  etc.). — 
It  is  a  girdle,  from  the  Arabic,  and,  I  think, 
a  Hindustani  form.  It  is  not  employed 
except  by  East  Indians  west  of  India. 

TALCOTT  WILLIAMS. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Blue-nose  (Vol.  v,  p.  6). — This  nick- 
name for  a  Nova  Scotian  is  well  known  in 
the  United  States,  and  seems  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  purple  tinge  not  rarely  seen 
on  the  noses  of  Nova  Scotiamen,  and  pre- 
sumably due  to  the  coldness  of  the  winters. 
Some  writers  derive  the  name  from  the  Blue- 
nose  potato,  formerly  a  great  favorite  from 
its  delicacy,  but  I  believe  that  the  Blue-nose 
potato  was  simply  a  Nova  Scotia  potato. 
The  nickname  Blue-nose  is  also  extended  to 
people  from  New  Brunswick,  Prince  Edward 
Island,  and  even  Newfoundland.  Thus,  in 
Holmes'  "All  Right,  De  Sauty,"  he  calls 
the  Newfoundlander  a  Cyano-Rhinal  and  a 
Ceruleo-Nasal ;  and  the  latter  retorts,  call- 
ing his  Yankee  interlocutor  a  "  jack-knife- 
bearing  stranger,  much-conjecturing  mortal, 
pork-and-treacle  waster." 

ILDERIM. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Blue-nosed  Presbyterians  (Vol.  v, 
p.  6).— This  is  simply  a  variant  of  that 
popular  figure  of  speech  which  calls  sobriety 
and  gravity  of  thought  and  feeling  by  the 
name  of  blueness.  Hudibras  speaks  of 
"  Presbyterian  true  blue."  The  severe  laws 
of  the  early  New  England  Puritans  were 
caricatured  and  called  "  Blue  Laws." 
'Abundance  of  other  illustrations  might  no 
doubt  be  adduced  to  show  the  wide  pre- 
valence of  this  idea  in  its  various  shapes. 

J.  N.  D. 

MADISON,  N.  J. 

On  the  Score  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  311,  etc.). — 
"  Hee  [the  Pot-Poet]  ends  at  last  in  some  ob- 
scure Painted  Cloth  to  which  himselfe  made 
the  Verses,  and  his  life  like  a  Canne  too  full 
spils  upon  the  bench.  He  leaves  twenty 
shillings  on  the  score,  which  my  Hostesse 
looses"  (Earle's  "Microcosmographie,"  24, 
1628).  R.  S.  V 

GLOUCESTER,  N.  J. 


Weeping  Trees  (Vol.  v,  pp.  31,  etc.). 
— In  the  fir  forests  of  Washington  and  British 
Columbia,  I  have  frequently  seen  the  trees 
dripping  copiously  during  clear,  bright  days, 
when  no  dew  was  visible  elsewhere.  The 
dripping  was  so  profuse  that  the  ground  un- 
derneath the  trees  was  almost  saturated. 
The  phenomenon,  in  this  case,  was  caused 
by  the  remarkable  condensing  power  of  the 
leaves  of  the  fir,  and  it  occurred  only  when 
the  relative  humidity  was  near  the  dew 
point.  The  dripping  ceased  after  ten  or 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  resumed 
at  or  near  sunset. 

J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Aspenquid  (Vol.  ii,  pp.  249,  etc.). — I 
have  a  recollection  of  reading  in  the  Spring- 
field Republican,  many  years  ago,  an  account 
of  the  burial  of  St.  Aspenquid.  If  my 
memory  serves  me,  that  account  stated  that 
though  Aspenquid  was  never  canonized,  he 
was  recognized  as  a  saint  by  the  Franciscans. 

C.  D.  L. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Slang  (Vol.  T,  pp.  6,  28). — Is  not  this 
word,  in  the  sense  of  a  water-course,  the 
same  as  the  Dutch  and  Swedish  slang,  Ger. 
schlange,  a  water-pipe,  or  hose  ? 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Buckram  (Vol.  iv,  p.  201). — Do  not  the 
French  forms  bougran  and  bougeran  point  to 
"Bulgarian"  as  the  original  of  buckram 
when  it  is  the  name  of  a  kind  of  cloth? 


WILMINGTON,  DEL. 


J.  NELSON. 


Kangaroo  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  130,  etc.). — The 
"  Century  Diet."  tells  us  that  the  great 
Kangaroo  (Macropus  giganfeus)  was  the  first 
species  of  this  family  of  animals  "  to  become 
known  to  Europeans,"  having  been  dis- 
covered by  Cook  in  1770.  But  another 
species  (M.  brunii}  was  described  and 
figured  by  Bruyn  in  1711,  in  his  "  Travels  " 
(^Reizen  over  Moskovie,  etc.)  as  noted  by 
Prof.  Flower  in  the  article  "  Kangaroo  "  in 
"Encyc.  Brit."  S.  S.  T. 

DENVER,  COLO. 


48 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  24,  1890. 


Peculiar  Names. — A  recent  issue  of 
the  St.  Louis  Republic  gives  some  peculiar 
names  entered  on  the  old  record  books  at 
Oxford,  England,  among  which  may  be  found 
the  following :  John  Bellewhether,  Alan  Sweet- 
in-bedde,  Alicia  Thorndodger,  Hugh  Hali- 
waterclerk,  John  de  Halfnaked,  Isaac  Wake, 
Dr.  Sleep,  William  Blakinthemouth,  Osbert 
Diabolus  (Devil),  Thomas  Onehand,  Agnes 
Blackmantle,  Thomas  Crakeshield,  C.  Well- 
beloved,  Richard  Drinkwater  (spelled  as 
Drynkewattere),  Christopher  Pigg,  John 
Klenewater,  Galfridus  Drinkdreggs,  Thomas 
Sourale,  Fulco  Twelvepence,  Arnold  Schut- 
tlemouth,  John  Rattlebaggage,  Ivory  Malet, 
Pine  Coffin,  Johannes  Go-to-bedde,  River 
Jordon,  Peter  Le  Goose,  George  Crook- 
shanks,  Savage  Beare,  Robert  Shilling,  Cop- 
per Penny,  Ralph  Fulljames,  John  Little- 
john,  Buck  Staggs,  Duckie  Drake  and  True 
Hawk.  E.  S.  M. 

ST.  Louis,  Mo. 

Ancient    Laws   Concerning    Shoes 

(Vol.  v,  p.  14). — Will  you  let  me  correct, 
without  the  slightest  hope  of  removing,  the 
error  that  the  bare-foot  is  a  sign  of  servitude 
in  the  East.  It  is  a  sign  of  respect  as  nearly 
as  possible  like  our  uncovering  the  head. 

TALCOTT  WILLIAMS. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Brook  vs.  Branch  (Vol.  v,  p.  18). — 
With  regard  to  the  prevalence  of  these  words 
I  can  only  give  the  evidence  of  tke  map 
from  which  I  obtained  my  information.  By 
actual  count,  in  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  and 
New  Hampshire  I  find  brook  used  eleven  times 
and  branch  sixty-seven  times.  If  there  be  any 
virtue  in  numbers,  I  do  not  think  it  im- 
proper to  say  the  one  is  sparingly  and  the 
other  unsparingly  used.  In  the  three  States 
named,  the  term  river  is  used  about  400 
times,  at  an  estimate.  J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Rhymed  History  of  England  (Vol. 
iv,  pp.  179,  etc.). — There  is  a  very  com- 
plete rhymed  history  of  England,  from  the 
Roman  period  to  the  present  day,  in  Ince  & 
Gilbert's  "  Outlines  of  English  History." 

R.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Runcible  (Vol.  v,  pp.  20,  etc.).— 
"There  is  a  good  rounceval  voice  to  cry 
lantern  and  candle  light"  ("Old  Play," 
quoted  by  Nares). 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Xanadu  (Vol.  iv,  p.  223). — That  most 
admirable  writer,  the  late  Sir  Henry  Yule, 
has  shown  that  the  Xanadu  of  Coleridge  was 
the  beautiful  summer  palace  of  the  Chinese 
emperors  at  Shangtu  in  the  country  north 
of  the  Great  Wall.  B.  R.  P. 

AMHERST,  N.  H. 


BODIES  AND   E>EI^IODIGAUS. 


The  Chautauquan  for  June  opens  with  the  second  of 
a  two-part  article  on  "  The  Making  of  Italy,"  by  Edward 
A.  Freeman,  the  eminent  English  historian  ;  James  A. 
Harrison,  LL.D.,  of  Washington  and  Lee  University, 
takes  "The  Archaeological  Club  in  Italy"  to  the  end  of 
its  journey;  Bella  H.  Stillman  continues  her  charming 
studies  of  "  Life  in  Modern  Italy,"  this  time  giving  a 
glimpse  of  the  customs  of  the  upper  classes  ;  Principal 
James  Donaldson,  LL.D.,  of  the  University  of  St.  An- 
drew's, Scotland,  closes  his  series  of  scholarly  articles  on 
"Roman  Morals;"  Prof.  Adolfo  Bartoli  writes  of 
"  Italian  Literature,"  bringing  his  study  to  the  works 
of  the  present  day ;  Mrs.  Browning's  "  Casa  Guidi 
Windows  "  is  paraphrased  by  President  D.  H.  Wheeler, 
LL.D.,  of  Allegheny  College ;  a  characteristic  article 
on  "  How  to  Travel  in  Italy,"  is  contributed  by  J.  P. 
Mahaffy,  M.  A.,  of  Dublin  University ;  the  "  Map 
Quiz"  this  month  is  on  New  Rome;  Bishop  Vincent 
has  selected  for  the  "  Sunday  Readings  "  the  subject  of 
"The  Imperfect  Angel;"  Arabella  B.  Buckley  con- 
siders the  "Moral  Teachings  of  Science;"  "How 
Electricity  is  Measured"  is  the  subject  of  an  enter- 
taining article  by  Prof.  Edward  L.  Nichols,  of 
Cornell  University ;  that  the  new  Greece  is  worth 
studying  as  well  as  the  old  is  shown  in  "  The  Greeks  of 
To-day,"  by  Albert  Shaw,  Ph.D.;  some  interesting 
personals  about  "The  United  States  Senate  "  are  told 
by  Eugene  Didier ;  John  Burroughs  explains  what  to 
him  is  "  The  Secret  of  Happiness;"  Elizabeth  Robins 
Pennell  conducts  her  readers  "  From  Cathedral  to 
Cathedral,"  to  take  the  tour  of  which,  she  affirms,  "  is 
to  see  the  better  and  greater  part  of  England ;"  Major- 
General  O.  O.  Howard  writes  of  his  friend,  the  late 
Major-General  George  Crook ;  "  An  Excursion  to  a 
Famous  Convent "  is  a  translation  from  the  French  de- 
scribing a  visit  to  La  Grande-Chartreuse,  that  curious 
monument  of  the  past ;  some  thoroughly  practical  ideas 
will  be  found  in  "  How  to  Make  and  Retain  Friends," 
by  Charles  H.  Thomas ;  a  strong  article  on  "  Mind- 
Reading,  or  Thought  Transference,"  is  contributed 
by  Prof.  R.  E.  Thompson,  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  a  member  of  the  Seybert  Commission.  The 
usual  space  is  devoted  to  editorials  and  matters  of 
interest  to  the  C.  L.  S.  C. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— He  Drinks  Like  a  Fish,  49— Canting  Heraldry- 
Spanish  Main  —  Notes  on  Words  —  Bourbon,  50  —  English 
Words  in  French  Language,  51. 

QUERIES  :— Silures,  51— Sabbatical  River— Holly  Ruffets— 

Father  Ignatius — Dice  Probabilities,  52. 
REPLIES  :— Arthur  Kill,  52— Popocatepetl,  53. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS :— Primuiste  — 
Woodmas — Authorship  Wanted — Swatch — Stick,  53. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Nicobar,  53  —  Branch  —  Camwood 
and  Barwood — Nomenclature  of  Rivers — Malmsey,  54 — No 
—Creek— Little  End  of  the  Horn,  55— And  When  We're 
There — Peter  Out — The  Great  Mosquito — Bric-a-Brac,  56 — 
Unknown  Land — Latinized  Proper  Names — Camelot,  57 — 
Robert  Merry — Horn-mad — Talboy — Men  as  Things — Ques- 
tion in  Grammar — Reprints,  58 — Shortest  Sentence  Contain- 
ing the  Alphabet — Spiders  and  Bees — Ambrosia — Rhymeless 
Words — Bonny  Boots — Banjula  Trees,  59 — Nainsook,  60. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 60. 

ROTES. 

HE  DRINKS  LIKE  A  FISH. 

Whence  comes  this  "old  saw?"  From 
the  manner  in  which  dissipated  persons 
drank  rum  in  my  early  days,  and  from  the 
manner  in  which  fishes  drew  in  water  through 
their  mouths,  we  thought  the  simile  a  most 
appropriate  one.  But  tested  physiologically 
it  is  sheer  nonsense.  The  water  that  passes 
through  the  mouth  of  a  fish  and  out  through 
its  gills  is  analogous  to  the  air  passing  in  and 
out  of  the  lungs  of  a  mammal,  through  the 
nose  and  mouth.  If  you  wish  to  drown  a 
man,  you  immerse  him  in  the  water,  and  if 
you  wish  to  drown  a  fish  you  lift  him  into 
the  air.  It  is  doubtful  whether  ever  a  fish 
drinks  anything  ;  if  it  does,  it  is  probably  a 
very  small  quantity,  hardly  enough  to  "point 
amoral  or  adorn  a  tale." 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  31,  1890. 


In  our  early  angling  days  we  frequently 
caught  on  "outlines"  fishes  that  were 
found  to  be  dead  when  one  "searched" 
the  line,  and  these  fishes  were  said  to  be 
drowned.  They  had  grasped  the  bait,  and 
were  hooked  in  such  a  manner,  that  their 
throats  were  held  open  ;  hence  the  water 
rushed  in,  and  they  were  choked  or 
drowned,  especially  when  the  line  was 
"set"  in  swift  water.  If  a  man  only 
"  drinks  like  a  fish,"  he  is  not  likely  to  ever 
become  a  drunkard,  therefore  the  simile  has 
no  meaning,  except  so  far  as  the  appearance 
is  concerned.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


CANTING  HERALDRY. 

The  castle  and  lion  are  borne  on  the 
arms  of  Castile  and  Leon  ;  the  lion  on  those 
of  Louvaine  ;  /raises,  or  strawberry-leaves, 
were  a  badge  of  the  Erasers  ;  luces,  or  pikes 
(fish),  were  borne  by  the  Lucy  family  ;  Cor- 
bet bore  a  corby,  or  raven ;  Falkner,  a 
falcon ;  Arundel,  a  swallow  (hirondelle)  ; 
Hamerton,  a  hammer;  Oxenden,  oxen; 
Hakluyt,  axes ;  Shelley,  a  shell ;  De  Vere, 
a  pig  (yerres)  ;  Law,  a  cock  (cock-a-leary- 
law) ;  Colonna,  a  column  ;  Frangipanni,  a 
piece  of  bread  ;  Ursini,  a  bear ;  Bern,  bears ; 
Dauphiny,  dolphins ;  Trefusis,  three  spindles 
(Jusils) ;  Beresford  and  Fitzurse,  bears ; 
Keate,  cats,  or  musions;  Elphinston,  an 
elephant ;  Veale,  a  calf;  Calverley,  a  calf; 
Horsey,  a  horse ;  Ramsey,  a  ram ;  Lamb- 
ton,  lambs.  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


SPANISH  MAIN. 

Several  leading  dictionaries  inform  us 
that  the  Spanish  Main  "is  the  Caribbean  sea 
and  other  near  waters.  Is  not  this  an  error  ? 
In  one  of  Marzials'  songs,  "  The  Fairy 
Jane,"  he  says: 

"  I've  rode  the  typhoon's  deadly  track, 
And  scoured  the  Spanish  Main." 

And  Longfellow  says  ("The  Wreck  of  the 
Hesperus"): 

"  Then  up  and  spoke  a  bold  sailor 
Had  sailed  the  Spanish  Main,"  etc. 

In    every    other  instance  where  I   find 


the  Spanish  Main  spoken  of  it  means 
the  mainland  of  Spanish  America.  I  once 
thought  I  had  found  the  Caribbean  sea  so 
called  in  one  of  Lord  Nelson's  letters  in 
which  he  speaks  of  his  service  on  the  Spanish 
Main.  But  investigation  satisfied  me  that 
he  referred  to  his  services  on  a  land  campaign 
in  the  Mosquito  country,  in  which  he  took 
an  active  part.  I  would  be  much  pleased  to 
have  your  correspondents  send  examples  of 
either  use  of  the  expression.  The  cases 
where  it  evidently  refers  to  the  mainland  are 
very  numerous;  the  others,  I  think,  are 
very  few,  and  comparatively  recent. 

G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 


NOTES  ON  WORDS. 

Miss. — This  word,  meaning  mistress,  in  a 
good  sense,  occurs  in  "The  Love  of  Dom 
Diego  and  Gyneura "  (1596),  written  by 
R.  L.  (Linche?).  This  example  is  seventy 
years  earlier  than  Skeat's  earliest  instance 
of  this  word.  The  following  are  rare  words 
from  the  same  poem  : 

Glitterous  =  glittering. 

Stone — astonied  =  struck  with  astonish- 
ment. 

Womenkind  =  womankind. 

Flintful  =  flinty. 

Suspense  (as  a  verb  ?). 

Adamantic. — This  is  an  older  example 
than  the  one  given  in  "  Murray's  Diet." 

Hyperboreal  =  hyperborean. 

Overpeised  =:  overpoised. 

Enjourney  =  hasten. 

Endip  =  for  dip. 

Counterfix  =  fix  mutually. 

Loveful  =  lovely. 

Gyneurize  =  act  like  Gyneura. 

*    *    * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


BOURBON. 

The  Chautauquan  for  June,  1890  (p.  282, 
note)  tells  its  readers  that  the  name  of  the 
Bourbon  family  was  derived  from  the  island 
of  that  name  in  the  Indian  ocean !  But  in 
point  of  fact  the  island  (which  was  not 
known  to  the  world  at  large  till  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  had  no  human  inhabitants  till 


May  31,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


the  middle  of  the  seventeenth)  was  named 
in  1649  from  the  family,  which,  at  that  time 
royal,  had  already  been  famous  in  French 
history  for  nearly  800  years.  The  Chautau- 
quan  teaching  is  praiseworthy  in  its  main 
purpose,  but  not  a  few  crudities  are  put  be- 
fore its  patrons  for  their  mental  food. 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 


ENGLISH  WORDS  IN  THE  FRENCH  LANGUAGE. 

(CONCLUDED.) 

SPORT,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  sport,  which 
came  from  the  old  French  desport}. — 
"  La  chasse,  la  peche,  les  courses,  la 
natation,  la  navigation  de  plaisance  sont  du 
domaine  du  sport "  (A.  Desvaulx). 

"Le  sport  implique  trois  choses,  soit 
simultanees,  soit  separees,  le  plein  air,  le 
pari  et  1'application  d'une  ou  de  plusieurs 
aptitudes  du  corps  "  (Eug.  Chapus). 

STEAMBOAT,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  steam 
and  boat}. — "  II  comptait  devenir  proprie- 
taire  et  capitaine  d'un  des  steamboats  du 
Mississippi"  (Ph.  Chasles). 

"  Les  Americains  semblent  avoir  etc 
predestines  a  ne  se  servir  que  de  steamboats 
et  de  chemins  de  fer  "  (X.  Eyma). 

STEAMER,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  steamer], 
— "  Les  compagnies  Anglaise,  par  le  nombre 
de  leur  steamers,  laisse  loin  derriere  elles  tout 
ce  qui  a  etc  tente  en  France"  (Proud- 
homme). 

STEEPLE-CHASE,  n.  m.  (from  the  Eng- 
lish steeple  and  chase}. — "  Le  premier 
steeple-chase  qu'on  ait  vue  en  France  est 
celui  qui  eut  lieu,  le  ier  Avril  1834,  a  la 
Croix-de-Berny,  sur  la  route  de  Versailles  a 
Choisy-le-Roi  "  (Pierre  Larousse). 

"  Cette  comedie  fait  defiler  devant  nous 
les  ecloppes  du  steeple-chase  &e  la  vie"  (P.  de 
St.  Victor). 

STEPPEURj,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  to  step}. 
— ' '  Cheval  qui  a  de  1'  action,  de  la  vivacit6  ' ' 
(Pierre  Larousse). 

STOP,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  stop}. — 
"  Cri  qu'on  pousse  pour  ordonner  au 
mecanicien  d'un  bateau  a  vapeur  d'arrSter 
la  machine,  ou  pour  prevenir  celui  qui  jette 
le  loch  que  le  sable  est  passe  ' '  (Pierre  La- 
rousse). 


STOPPER,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  stop  and 
her). — "  Arreter,  dans  le  langage  des  marins, 
des  m£caniciens  et  des  habitues  des  courses 
des  chevaux  "- (Pierre  Larousse). 

TOAST,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  toast}. — 
"  L' aristocratic  sait  aussi  a  propos  porter 
avec  vivacite  le  toast  de  la  republique  ;  et  la 
republique  n'en  est  pas  moins  trahie " 
(Bare  re). 

"  Depuis  1' invention  des  toasts,  on  ne  boit 
plus  a  sa  soif,  mais  a  celle  des  autres ' ' 
(D'Houdetot). 

"  A  la  gloire  civile  !  Au  peuple  !  Au  ministere ! 
Au  pays!  Dans  son  toast,  chacun  son  charactere." 

(C.  Delavigne.) 

TRAMWAY,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  tram 
and  way}. — "  Chemin  de  fer  etabli  sur  une 
route  ordinaire,  au  moyens  de  rails  pos6s  a 
plat,  sans  saillie"  ( Dictionnaire  Univer- 
selle  du  xix6rae  Siecle). 

WAGON,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  wagon}. 
— "  Les  wagons  anglais  ont  parcouru  en  une 
seule  annee  plus  que  la  distance  qui  nous 
separe  du  soleil"  (A.  Esquiros). 

"  Aujourd  'hui  les  wagons,  dans  ces  steppes  fleuries, 
Devancent  1'hirondelle    *    *    *." 

(Th.  de  Banville.) 

YACHT,  n.  m.  (from  the  English  yacht}. — 
"Le  yacht  de  la  reine  d'Angleterre " 
(Pierre  Larousse). 

"  Yachts  au  mille  couleurs,  caiques  et  tartanes, 
Qui  portent  au  Sultan  des  tetes  et  des  fleurs." 

(V.  Hugo.) 

C.  F.  H. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


B  S. 


Silures. — In  the  "  Encyc.  Britannica," 
Art.  "Pembroke,"  the  ancient  tribe  of  Silures 
in  South  Wales  are  spoken  of  as  "  non- 
Aryan,"  and  "dolichocephalic."  Are  we 
to  understand  that  anything  positive  is 
known  as  to  the  race  of  this  tribe  ? 

L.  P.  M. 

ST.  PAUL. 

We  understand  that  the  non-Aryan  origin 
of  the  Silures  is  purely  conjectural.  The 
dolichocephalic  skulls  found  in  South 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  31,  1890. 


Wales,  and  elsewhere  in  Western  Europe, 
seem  to  be  unlike  Aryan  skulls  ;  but  it  is  not 
certainly  known  (as  we  believe)  whether 
they  are  remains  of  the  people  whom  the 
Romans  called  Silures,  or  whether  they  be- 
longed to  a  people  of  some  other  stock. 

Sabbatical  River. — Are  the  old  accounts 
true  of  a  stream  in  the  Holy  Land  which 
flows  for  six  days  and  rests  on  the  seventh  ? 

D.  R.  D. 

ALLENTOWN. 

Pliny  and  other  old  writers  are  in  error 
who  state  that  the  Sabbatical  river  rests  on  the 
seventh  day.  Josephus  says  it  flows  one  day 
and  then  rests  six  days.  The  Palestine  ex- 
ploring expeditions  report  that  the  account 
of  Josephus  is  substantially  correct.  More 
extended  examination  is  required  before  the 
causes  of  this  curious  phenomenon  can  be 
fully  declared. 

Holly  Ruffets.— In  William  Warner's  ac- 
count (1586)  of  the  loves  of  Argentile  and 
Prince  Curan,  there  is  a  pretty  episode  of 
his  life  as  a  shepherd,  when  he  falls  in  love 
for  the  second  time  with  the  princess  in  the 
guise  of  "a  country  wench."  "He  bor- 
rowed on  the  working  days  his  holly  ruffets 
oft."  What  are  holly  ntffets  ?  I  find  no  ac- 
count of  them  in  the  dictionaries  within  my 
reach  ?  E.  J.  B. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

"Holly  ruffets"  we  take  to  be  holiday 
ruffs.  Ruffs  were  much  worn  in  Warner's 
day.  The  disguised  prince  was  in  that  stage 
of  love  when  he  was  exceedingly  attentive  to 
his  personal  appearance.  Holly  for  holiday 
is  not,  however,  to  be  found  in  any  dic- 
tionary that  we  have  seen. 

Father  Ignatius. — What  is  the  real  name 
of  the  clergyman  mentioned  (Vol.  v,  p.  23) 
as  Father  Ignatius  ? 

F.  A.  ALBERT. 
BROOKLYN. 

Father  Ignatius  is  the  name  "  in  religion  " 
of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Leycester  Lyne,  an 
Anglican  priest,  and  the  founder  of  the 
"restored"  order  of  Benedictines  in  Eng- 
land. 


Dice  Probabilities.  —  Can  you  give  me  the 
probabilities  of  throwing  3  aces  with  3  dice 
in  3  throws,  with  the  proviso  that  any  die 
turning  up  an  ace  is  not  to  be  thrown  again? 
And  also  for  throwing  5  aces  with  5  dice  in 
3  throws  with  the  same  proviso  ? 

Or,  better  still,  if  you  have  room  for  it, 
give  the  reasoning  by  which  the  probabilities 
are  calculated.  S.  D.  L. 

SYRACUSE.  N.Y. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  best  way  to 
analyze  the  problem  is  to  consider  that  the 
first  throw  must  result  in  having  turned  up 
(i)  3,  (2)  2,  (3)  i,  or  (4)  no  aces,  and  that 
the  desired  probability  is  made  up  of  the  sum 
of  the  probability  of  (i)  and  of  the  products 
of  (2),  (3)  and  (4),  by  the  probabilities  of 
throwing  i,  2  and  3  aces,  respectively,  in 
the  remaining  two  throws,  the  probabilities 
of  (i),  (2),  (3)  and  (4)  are  ?{*,  to»  J&  and 
if«»  and  those  of  throwing  i,  2  or  3  aces  in 
2  throws  are  j$,  ^Vj,  and  jf*js,  respectively, 
therefore  the  desired  probability  is  ^H  +  to 

x  H  +  to  x  tfh  +  m  x  MW  =T$WHT 

=  yj1:*—  •  That  is  the  3  aces  should  come  up 
once  in  between  13  and  14  trials.  A 
similar  analysis  of  the  5  ace  question  results 


These  probabilities  are,  as  they  should  be, 
the  cube  and  fifth  power,  respectively,  of 
the  probability  of  throwing  i  ace  with  i  die 
in  3  throws  (/&)  with  the  same  proviso. 

OTIS  H.  KENDALL. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


B  P  L  I  B  S  . 


Arthur  Kill  (Vol.  v,  p.  1 6).— Might  I  be 
permitted  to  revert  to  the  above,  with  a  view 
to  elicit,  if  possible,  further  information  ? 

The  several  notes  I  had  previously 
gathered  concerning  it  had  led  me  to  con- 
clude that  Achter  Cull  meant  (in  plain  old 
Dutch)  the  Cull  after,  next  to,  behind  the 
"  Great  Cull  of  New  Netherland,"  Newark 
Bay,  even  as  Dutch  canals  are  at  present 
designated  achtergracht  or  voorgracht,  ac- 
cording to  their  position.* 


*  Achter  enters  largely  in  the  composition  of  local 
names  in  modern  Holland :  Achterenk,  Achterbosch, 
Achtereind  (dist.  from  Qvereind),  Achterste  Distelberg 
(dist.  from  Voorstc  Distelberg),  etc. 


May  31,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


53 


The  earliest  authority  I  had  found  was 
Denton,  who,  writing  in  1671,  speaks  in  two 
different  passages  of  the  After  Kull  river  in 
Staten  Island.  Now  here  we  had  (I  thought) 
not  an  English  corruption,  but  a  literal 
translation  of  the  original  Achter  Cull. 
Would  your  correspondents  kindly  oblige 
with  any  other  documentary  evidence? 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Popocatepetl  (Vol.  v,  p.  41). — Mr.  Persi- 
for  Frazer  has  noted  the  altitudes  of  this 
volcano  determined  by  a  number  of  au- 
thorities as  follows : 

FEET. 

Von  Humboldt 17,777 

Offman 17,816 

French  Commission 17,886 

Birkek 17,955 

Ponce  De  Leon 17, 790 

Professor  Heilprin's  determination  is  re- 
ported about  3000  feet  less  than  this,  but 
until  his  full  observations  are  made  known, 
it  is  hardly  fair  to  compare  it  with  the  fore- 
going, inasmuch  as  there  has  possibly  been 
some  error  in  the  transmission  of  his  first  re- 
port. J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


JPO   ©OP^ESPON  DENTS. 


Primuiste.—  In  Earle's  "  Microcosmo- 
graphie,"  Character  13  (1628),  occur  these 
words:  "His  words  are  like  the  cards  at 
Primuiste,  where  6  is  18,  and  7  21,  for 
they  never  signify  what  they  sound."  Is 
there  any  other  notice  of  a  game  called 
Primuiste,  and  if  so,  where  ?  What  is  the 
origin  of  the  word  ? 

E.  DORSET  RODMAN. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 

Woodmas.  —  At  the  end  of  Tindale's 
account  (1530)  of  the  Testament  (1460)  of 
William  Thorpe,  the  word  woodmas  oc- 
curs, and  from  the  context  it  appears  that 
September  19  is  the  time  meant.  Can 
roodmas  be  intended?  Or  did  woodmas  take 
its  name  from  the  wood  of  the  Holy  Cross  ? 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Authorship  Wanted. — "Time  was 
made  for  slaves,  but  we  are  free  men."  Can 
you  tell  me  who  wrote  this  quotation  ? 

C.  H.  T. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Swatch. — In  the  first  volume  of  Hun- 
ter's "  Gazetteer  of  Bengal,"  he  describes 
the  "Swatch  of  No-Ground,"  an  area  in 
the  bay  of  Bengal  in  which  navigators  find 
no  soundings.  Is  there  any  other  instance 
of  the  use  of  this  word  "  Swatch  ?"  Can  it 
be  akin  to  the  word  swash,  meaning  a  side- 
channel  subsidiary  to  the  main  entrance  to 
a  harbor  ?  And  is  the  word  swash,  in  this 
sense,  an  Americanism  ?  It  is  so  regarded  in 
"Bartlett's  Dictionary." 

H.  A.  STEVENS. 
NORFOLK,  VA. 

Stick. — I  have  the  impression  that  I  have 
seen  the  word  sticks  used  for  certain  officers 
of  the  English  court,  a  kind  of  collective 
name  for  the  goldsticks  and  silversticks  in 
waiting.  Can  any  of  your  correspondents 
give  me  instances  of  this  use  of  the  word 
sticks  ?  The  examples  should  be  from  writers 
of  good  standing.  P.  F. 

CUBA,  ILL. 


<9OMMUNIGAJHIONS. 

Nicobar  (Vol.  iv,  p.  285). — Another 
possible  meaning  for  Nicobar  has  been 
hinted  at  by  some  authors.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Garos,  a  hill-tribe  of  India, 
nicuba,  or  nicoba,  means  "a  freeman." 
The  Garos  belong  to  the  set  of  tribes 
termed  Kolarian,  being  neither  Dravidian 
nor  Aryan.  Now  there  are  tribes  said  to  be 
Kolarian  on  the  east  side  of  the  bay  of 
Bengal,  whose  range  approaches  near  the 
Nicobar  Islands.  Among  the  non-Malayan 
part  of  the  Nicobarians  it  is  said  that  many 
Kolarian  words  are  employed,  and  it  has 
been  suggested  that  Nicobar  may  mean 
Freemen's  Islands.  This  seems  to  me  like 
a  piece  of  wild  guessing,  but  there  may  be 
a  basis  of  truth  for  it. 

*     *     * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


54 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  31,  1890. 


Branch  (Vol.  v,  p.  30).— If  Mr.  Red- 
way  were  on  an  angling  tour  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  should  ask  any  farmer  the  way  to 
the  nearest  branch,  he  would  be  shown  to  a 
tree.  An  unnamed  stream  of  small  or  mod- 
erate size  is  always  a  brook,  never  a  branch. 
I  am  a  New  Englander  of  the  ninth 
generation,  and  know  and  love  almost  every 
section  of  Yankeeland.  I  do  not  think  I 
ever  heard  the  word  branch  used  there  inde- 
pendently of  some  specifically  named  river 
branch.  But  I  have  often  heard  the  west 
branch  of  the  North  river  (Franklin  county, 
Mass.)  called  The  Branch  "for  short." 
But  that  stream  is  too  large  to  be  called  a 
brook.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Camwood  and  Barwood. — All,  or 
nearly  all,  the  books  of  reference  make 
these  two  dyewoods  identical.  The  "  New 
English  Dictionary"  says  (under  "Cam- 
wood," at  the  end  of  the  notice),  "  called 
also  Barwood."  But  the  two  woods  differ 
widely  in  appearance  and  in  their  effects  in 
the  dye-tub,  camwood  being  worth  more 
than  ten  times  as  much  as  barwood.  The  best 
account  of  their  differences  which  I  have 
seen  is  in  Moloney's  "  Sketch  of  West 
African  Forestry,"  p.  137,  where  we  are  in- 
1  ~ied  that  the  probabilities  seem  to  be  that 
coun  VQ  dyewoods  are  tne  product  of  differ- 
"•ecies  of  trees.  Indeed,  the  author 
iovii«*.  the  French  botanists  say  that 

"Holly  reproduced  by  a  tree  called 
ruffs.  Ruffs  vi°oltnsi$t  while  they  name  the 
day.  The  disgi'/*/M0  laurifolia.  The  Eng- 
of  love  when  he  \\gn  them  both  to  Baphia 
his  personal  appeals  so  called  because  it 
is  not,  however,  to  'ogwood  conies  in  logs). 
tionary  that  we  have  <&uood  is  less  positively 
7e  that  a  well-known 

Father  Ignatius. — WKJican  coast  should 
of  the  clergyman  mentiomstaple  articles  of 
as  Father  Ignatius  ?  '  is  not  yet  well 

F?LTON  TODD. 

BROOKLYN. 

Father  Ignatius  is  the  name  " >j.,     wor(j 

of  the   Rev.    Joseph   LeycesterQ  designate 
Anglican  priest,    and   the   foun     x  wa° 
"restored"   order  of  Benedictin  _.{  fl.B 
land  ?  .nowin5 

irrigation. 


Hence  the  word  rival  (rivales,  those  who 
used  the  same  stream).  In  Italy  it  (riviera) 
also  means  a  shore,  and  in  Portugal,  it 
(reiberd)  is  applied  to  a  swampy  place.  In 
the  Latin  of  Caesar's  time  flumen  was 
generally  applied  to  the  larger  rivers,  as 
Aar  est  flumen,  etc. 

Creek,  which  has  already  been  discussed, 
is  almost  universally  used  in  the  United 
States  to  designate  a  small  river.  It  is  less 
common  on  the  Pacific  coast  than  in  the 
Mississippi  valley. 

Run  is  much  used  in  Illinois,  Indiana  and 
other  parts  of  the  Central  States  to  designate 
small  creeks,  especially  those  that  partly  or 
wholly  become  dry  in  summer.  In  Cali- 
fornia, Nevada  and  Arizona,  these  are  called 
washes. 

Swale,  which  commonly  means  a  low, 
wet  tract  of  land,  in  Oregon  and  Washing- 
ton, is  applied  to  any  part  of  a  river  which 
debouches  from  and  again  enters  the  main 
stream.  It  is  not  materially  different  from 
a  bayou. 

Bayou  (Fr.,  boyau,  a  gut),  however,  is 
used  along  the  gulf  coast  to  designate  almost 
any  creek,  kill,  swale,  or  abandoned  chan- 
nel. 

A  chute,  in  river-men's  parlance,  is  a  half- 
silted,  abandoned  channel — especially  one 
that  affords  passage  at  higher  stages  of 
water. 

Kill  has  already  been  defined  as  a  Dutch 
word  denoting  any  tidal  channel  or  backset 
water.  Haarlem  river  is  a  kill. 

Coulee  is  used  in  Louisiana  to  denote  a 
stream  bed.  In  Canada  it  is  frequently  ap- 
plied to  the  valley  or  depression  between 
hills.  J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Malmsey. — According  to  a  writer  in 
The  Nation  (May  22,  1890,  p.  417),  the 
name  Malmsey  (for  a  kind  of  wine)  is  de- 
rived from  Malevisia  in  Crete,  and  not  from 
Monembasia  in  the  Peloponnesus.  If  this 
be  true,  Mr.  Skeat  and  all  the  dictionaries 
are  in  the  wrong.  The  writer  states  that 
the  first  English  consul  in  Crete  was  estab- 
lished there  in  Henry  VIII's  time,  and  that 
his  special  business  was  to  supply  the  king 
with  wine  of  this  sort.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


May  31,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


55 


No  (Vol.  v,  pp.  17,  45). — From  my  ear- 
liest boyhood  down,  perhaps,  to  the  present 
period,  there  have  been  very  common  in 
Lancaster  county,  if  not  the  entire  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  sort  of  utterances,  between 
a  gutteral  and  a  nasal,  made  with  closed  lips, 
that  were  representatives  of  both  no  andj^-r. 
They  were  entirely  "  unspellable  "  sounds, 
and,  in  our  early  days,  school  urchins  were 
in  the  habit  of  challenging  each  other  to 
spell  them,  but  they  were  as  unspellable  as 
the  stridulations  of  a  grasshopper.  The  af- 
firmative grunt  was  accompanied  by  a  slight 
vertical  motion  of  the  head,  and  the  negative 
by  a  transverse  or  horizontal  motion. 
When  a  bevy  of  ancient  village  or  country 
dames  were  holding  an  old-fashioned  tete-a- 
tete,  and  vocal  utterances  became  fatiguing, 
the  conversation  could  be  conducted  by 
these  and  sundry  other  grunts  and  motions. 
In  the  same  category  belongs  a  sound  some- 
thing like  an  Indian's  honk,  made  in  answer 
to  a  question  involving  wonder  or  surprise — 
a  hey  !  or  a  nasal  hone  !  (The  least  possible 
portion  of  the  letter  c  was  sounded,  and  the 
o  and  the  n  seemed  to  run  together  through 
the  nose  and  the  throat.) 

These  sounds  can,  perhaps,  only  be  pro- 
duced by  the  employment  of  the  characters 
used  in  music.  Bird  songs  and  insect 
stridulation  are  frequently  so  written,  but  it 
requires  the  keenest  ear  and  long  observa- 
tion and  practice  to  repeat  them. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Is  not  "  imph-m  "  or  "nip-n"  a  mere 
nasal  grunt — inarticulate  and  therefore  un- 
spellable— the  significance  of  which  is  wholly 
due  to  the  inflection,  rising  or  falling,  and 
of  which  "humph"  is  the  recognized  form 
expressing  disgust,  surprise  or  contempt? 
Upon  trial,  it  will  be  found  that  "  imph-m  " 
will  unconsciously  take  an  inflection  appro- 
priate to  the  affirmative  nod  or  the  negative 
shake  of  the  head.  H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  Pa. 

Creek  (Vol.  v,  p.  30). — I  fear  I  am  open 
to  the  charge  of  careless  reading  in  quoting 
Qui  Tarn  in  his  note  (Vol.  iv,  p.  307).  My 
intent,  however,  was  to  confirm  rather  than 
dispute  his  observation  on  the  infrequency 


of  the  word  in  New  England  and  the  sharply 
drawn  line  which  separates  its  abundant  dis- 
tribution in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 
On  looking  over  the  maps  at  my  command 
more  closely,  I  find  four — Otter,  Gilson's, 
Lewis  and  Dead  creeks — tributary  to  Lake 
Champlain,  and  two  others,  whose  names  are 
a  conglomerate  of  consonants,  tributary  to 
Androscoggin  river.  There  are  doubtless 
others  that  would  be  found  on  a  good 
drainage  map.  Concerning  the  use  of  this 
word  to  denote  an  inland  stream,  I  am 
strongly  of  the  belief  that  Qui  Tarn  is  right 
in  his  opinion  that  it  is  mainly  an  Ameri- 
canism and  that  its  present  application  is 
quite  modern.  The  very  instructive  note  of 
Mr.  Abbott  (Vol.  v,  p.  30)  shows  that  when 
this  word  was  transplanted  to  the  New 
World  it  was  applied,  not  to  a  stream,  but  to 
a  tidal  estuary  or  backset.  The  Dutch  set- 
tlers of  New  Netherlands  recognized  this 
peculiar  coast  feature,  designating  it  a.  kill, 
and  to  this  day  the  word  survives  in  a  score 
of  names.  This,  too,  was  the  most  common 
application  of  the  word  in  the  British  isles, 
as  is  seen  in  the  names  Crigyll,  Cnccaethand 
a  host  of  others  scattered  along  the  west 
coast.  Rather  singularly,  however,  crick- 
lade,  which  the  "Century  Dictionary"  in- 
stances as  an  example,  is  not  on  a  tidal 
inlet,  but  some  miles  inland.  But  while 
different  forms  of  the  roots,  uisg,  door,  don 
and  avon,  are  unsparingly  used  to  designate 
inland  streams,  the  most  comprehensive 
maps  of  the  British  islands  show  derivations 
of  crecca  and  krig  applied  in  scarcely  half-a- 
dozen  instances.  In  fact  the  only  ones  I  find 
are  O/Vvfcadarn,  Cmv£howel,  Creccantord.  and 
<r/V/fclade.  ].  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Little  End  of  the  Horn.—"  The  old 

emblem  of  suretyship.  I  would  have  in  the 
fairest  room  of  one  of  these  houses,  an  em- 
blem of  a  gallant  young  heir  creeping  in  at 
the  great  end  of  a  hunter's  horn  with  ease  ; 
but  cruelly  pinched  at  the  coming  forth  at 
the  small  end  ;  a  fool  standing  not  far  off 
laughing  at  him.  And  these  be  those  fools 
who  will  be  so  easily  bound  !  And  pass  their 
words  in  their  drink"  (H.  Peacham,  "The 
Worth  of  a  Penny,"  1641).  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  31,  1890. 


And  When  We're  There  (Vol.  iii, 
pp.  239,  etc.).— 

"  And  when  we're  there,  ten  thousand  years, 
Amongst  that  ransomed  van, 
We've  no  less  days  to  sing  His  praise 
Than  when  we  first  began." 

Whence  these  lines  ?  They  seem  to  relate 
to  something  that  has  preceded  them,  in- 
volving also  some  condition  that  may  follow. 
As  a  future  promise,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  contingency  involved  can  be  regarded  in 
any  special  sense  desirable.  Used  as  a  point 
of  comparison,  they  seem  to  illustrate  the 
total  insignificance  of  a  thousand  years, 
when  compared  with  eternity.  Now,  even  a 
thousand  years  of  continuous  praise  suggests 
the  idea  of  monotonous  weariness,  both  to  him 
who  praises  and  Him  who  is  praised,  and  it 
seems  difficult  to  believe  that  such  service  so 
imposed  could  possibly  be  a  state  of  beati- 
tude. Is  it  not  merely  a  perverted  human 
notion  of  divine  government,  in  reference 
to  fancied  future  occupations  and  rewards? 
Small  wonder  that  precocious  children  should 
manifest  so  little  desire  to  go  to  heaven. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Peter  Out  (Vol.  v,  p.  29). — As  to  the 
origin  of  "  to  peter  out,"  I  have  always  un- 
derstood that  the  phrase  originated  in  the 
story  of  Peter's  denial  of  the  Saviour.  I 
have  often  heard  the  phrase,  "  His  courage 
petered  out,"  and  a  general  application  of 
the  word  to  failures  in  other  things  seems 
not  unlikely. 

S.  M.  Fox. 

MANHATTAN,  KANS. 

The  Great  Mosquito. — One  of  the  old 

legends  of  the  Iroquois  related  to  a  monster 
whose  diminutive  descendants  are  a  torment 
yet — the  Great  Mosquito.  The  story  is  very 
simply  told  in  David  Cusick's  "History  of 
the  Six  Nations,"  and  is  here  quoted  ver- 
batim : 

"About  this  time  a  great  mosquito  in- 
vaded the  Fort  Onondaga  ;  the  mosquito 
•was  mischievous  to  the  people,  it  flew  about 
the  fort  with  a  long  stinger,  and  sucked  the 
blood  a  number  of  lives ;  the  warriors  made 
several  oppositions  to  expel  the  monster, 
but  failed  ;  the  country  was  invaded  until 


the  Holder  of  the  Heavens  was  pleased  to 
visit  the  people ;  while  he  was  visiting  the 
king  at  the  Fort  Onondaga,  the  mosquito 
made  appearance  as  usual  and  flew  about 
the  fort,  the  Holder  of  the  Heavens  attacked 
the  monster,  it  flew  so  rapidly  that  he  could 
hardly  keep  in  sight  of  it,  but  after  a  few 
days'  chase  the  monster  began  to  fail ;  he 
chased  on  the  borders  of  the  great  lakes  to- 
wards the  sun-setting,  and  round  the  great 
country;  at  last  he  overtook  the  monster 
and  killed  it  near  the  salt  lake  Onondaga, 
and  the  blood  became  small  mosquitoes." 

In  Clark's  "Onondaga,"  two  monsters 
stood  on  opposite  banks  of  the  Seneca  river, 
destroying  the  passing  Indians.  Hiawatha 
soon  killed  one,  but  the  other  was  pursued 
until  slain  by  Onondaga  lake.  He  threw  up 
sand-hills  in  his  dying  struggles,  and  the 
small  mosquitoes  rose  in  clouds  from  his 
decaying  body.  Another  version  differs 
from  this  only  in  bringing  all  the  Cayugas 
and  Onondagas  against  the  monsters,  and 
destroying  them  after  heavy  loss. 

As  Mr.  Horatio  Hale  has  well  observed, 
there  has  been  a  confusion  of  Hi-a-wa-tha 
with  Ta-oun-ya-wat-ha,  the  Holder  of  the 
Heavens,  and  the  Onondagas  certainly  now 
identify  their  deliverer  with  the  latter. 
Places  connected  with  the  story  are  still 
pointed  out.  On  the  Tuscarora  reservation 
is  a  large  stone  where  the  Holder  of  the 
Heavens  rested  during  the  long  pursuit. 
Two  depressions  appear ;  one  where  his 
body  reclined,  and  another  where  he  leaned 
upon  his  elbow.  Chief  Abram  Hill  told 
me  he  had  seen  the  tracks  of  the  pursuer  and 
pursued,  a  little  south  of  Syracuse,  where 
the  Onondagas  kept  them  fresh  not  long 
since.  He  said  those  of  the  monster  were 
twenty  inches  long,  bird-like,  and  could  be 
traced  for  twenty  rods. —  W.  M.  Beauchamp, 
in  "A  merican  Folk- Lore. ' ' 

Bric-a-Brac  (Vol.  v,  p.  36). — I  find  the 
following  explanation  of  the  term  quoted  in 
an  old  number  of  Society:  "The  word 
probably  comes  from  an  old  French 
expression,  De  brie  et  de  brogue,  which, 
literally  translated,  means  from  right  and 
from  left — from  hither  and  thither.  The  word 
brie  in  old  French  is  used  to  describe  an  in- 
strument to  shoot  arrows  at  birds  with,  and  the 


May  31,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


57 


word  brae,  according  to  some  etymologists,  is 
derived  from  the  verb  brocanter,  to  exchange 
or  sell,  the  root  of  which  is  Saxon,  and 
the  origin  also  of  the  word  broker. 

In  pure  English,  bric-a-brac  signifies 
second-hand  goods,  but  of  late  years  it  has 
been  used  to  indicate  objects  of  artistic 
value,  made  in  olden  times  and  esteemed 
by  modern  collectors." 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Unknown  Land. — Washington  has  her 
great  unknown  land  like  the  interior  of 
Africa.  According  to  the  Seattle  Press  the 
country  shut  in  by  the  Olympic  mountains, 
which  includes  an  area  of  about  2500  square 
miles,  has  never,  to  the  positive  knowledge 
of  old  residents  of  the  territory,  been  trod- 
den by  the  foot  of  man,  white  or  Indian. 
These  mountains  rise  from  the  level  country 
within  ten  to  fifteen  miles  of  the  straits  of 
San  Juan  de  Fuca  in  the  north,  the  Pacific 
ocean  in  the  west,  Hood's  canal  in  the  east, 
and  the  basin  of  Quinault  lake  in  the  south, 
and  rising  to  the  height  of  6000  to  8000 
feet,  shut  in  a  vast,  unexplored  area.  The 
Indians  have  never  penetrated  it,  for  their 
traditions  say  that  it  is  inhabited  by  a  very 
fierce  tribe,  which  no  coast  tribe  dared 
molest.  White  men,  too,  have  only  vague 
accounts  of  any  white  man  having  ever 
passed  through  this  country,  for  investiga- 
tion of  all  the  claims  of  travelers  has  in- 
variably proved  that  they  have  only  traversed 
its  outer  edges.  The  most  generally  accepted 
theory  in  regard  to  this  country  is  that  it 
consists  of  great  valleys  stretching  from  the 
inward  slopes  of  the  mountains  to  a  great 
central  basin.  This  theory  is  supported  by 
the  fact  that,  although  the  country  around 
has  abundant  rain,  and  clouds  constantly 
hang  over  the  mountain  tops,  all  the  streams 
flowing  towards  the  four  points  of  the  com- 
pass are  insignificant,  and  rise  only  on  the 
outward  slope  of  the  range,  none  appearing 
to  drain  the  great  area  shut  in  by  the  moun- 
tains. This  fact  appears  to  support  the 
theory  that  the  streams  flowing  from  the 
inner  slopes  of  the  mountains  feed  a  great 
interior  lake.  But  what  drains  this  lake  ?  It 
must  have  an  outlet  somewhere,  and  as  all  of 
the  streams  pouring  from  the  mountains 


rise  on  their  outward  slope,  it  must  have  a 
subterranean  outlet  into  the  ocean,  the 
straits,  or  the  sound.  There  are  great  dis- 
coveries in  store  for  some  of  Washington's 
explorers.  Numerous  attempts  have  been 
made  to  organize  exploring  parties,  but  they 
have  invariably  fallen  through,  the  courage 
of  the  projectors  oozing  out  at  the  very  last 
moment. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Latinized  Proper  Names  (Vol.  v,  p. 
27). — De  Charpentier  took  the  name  of 
Fabricius ;  De  Valet  that  of  Servilius, 
and  Du  bout  d' JHomme  that  of  Virulus. 
Desiderius  Erasmus  changed  his  family 
name  from  Gerhard.  These  and  other 
curious  instances  of  changed  names  in  dif- 
ferent languages  may  be  found  in  D' Israeli's 
"Curiosities  of  Literature."  By  the  way, 
what  was  the  original  name  of  the  D' Israeli 
family  ?  The  Earl  of  Beaconsfield  says  the 
original  Gothic  surname  was  dropped,  and 
the  name  of  D' Israeli  adopted  out  of  grate- 
fulness to  the  God  of  Jacob.  Their  present 
name,  he  says,  has  never  been  borne  before 
or  since  by  any  other  family. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Robert  Fludd  wrote  under  the  name  of 
Robertus  de  Fluctibus. 

Regiomontanus  stands  for  Konigsberger. 
His  German  name  was  Miiller,  but  he  was 
born  at  Konigsberg  in  Franconia. 

Hylacomylus,  who  is  credited  with  having 
invented  the  name  of  America,  was  origin- 
ally named  Waldseemiiller,  forest- lake-mil- 
ler, of  which  his  pen-name  is  a  Latinized 
Greek  translation. 

A  similar  name  is  that  of  (Ecolampadius 
for  Hiissgen,  which  was  altered  to  Haus- 
schein  and  then  translated. 

A.  B.  LYNTON. 
SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 

Camelot  (Vol.  v,  p.  28). — Caxton,  in 
the  Prologue  to  the  Morte  D' Arthur,  locates 
the  town  of  Camelot  in  Wales,  where,  he 
says,  "  remaineth  in  witness  of  him,  the 
great  stones,  and  the  marvellous  works  of 
iron  lying  under  the  ground,  and  royal 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  31,  1890. 


vaults."  Malory  places  it  at  Winchester. 
Ernest  Rhys,  in  a  note  to  his  edition  of 
Malory's  "  King  Arthur,"  says,  "  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  Queen  Camel,  near 
South  Cadbury  (Somersetshire),  must  be  the 
shrine  of  the  latter-day  pilgrim  who  wishes 
to  materially  approach  old-time  Camelot." 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

There  are  two  places  so  called.  The 
place  referred  to  in" King  Lear"  is  in  Corn- 
wall, but  that  of  Arthurian  renown  was  in 
Winchester. 

In  regard  to  the  first,  Kent  says  to  Corn- 
wall: "Goose,  if  I  had  you  upon  Sarum 
Plain  I'd  drive  ye  cackling  home  to  Came- 
lot," /.  f.,  to  Tintag'il  or  Camelford,  the 
"home"  of  the  duke  of  Cornwall.  But  the 
Camelot  of  Arthur  was  in  Winchester, 
where  visitors  are  still  shown  certain  large 
entrenchments  once  pertaining  to  "  King 
Arthur's  palace." 

MRS.  L.  T.  GEORGE. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Robert  Merry  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  31 2,  etc.). — 
Charles  Lamb  tells  a  good  story  ("  Last 
Essays  of  Elia")  of  Merry's  flight  to  America 
on  the  day  appointed  for  his  marriage  with 
an  opera  dancer.  The  wedding  guests  ar- 
rived— in  six  coaches — the  whole  corps-du- 
ballet,  and  the  bride's  father,  Signer 
Delpini.  The  thought  of  what  he  was  about 
to  do  now  first  struck  Merry  seriously,  and 
quite  overcame  him.  Slipping  out  on  some 
pretense,  he  fled  to  the  nearest  sea-port  and 
shipped  himself  to  America.  Soon  after  he 
made  a  more  congenial  match  in  the  person 
of  Miss  Brunton. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Horn-mad  (Vol.  v,  pp.  45,  etc.). — 
"  Horn-mad,  vide  fcenum  in  cornu  gerere. 
Erasm.  Adagiis."  Note  to  a  translation  of 
"  The  Revelation  of  Golias  the  Bishoppe," 
circa  1623,  reprinted  by  the  Camden 
Society,  1841.  This  note  is  of  importance 
as  showing  that  even  in  1623  the  true  and 
original  meaning  of  "horn-mad"  was  a 
matter  of  doubt.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Talboy  (Vol.  ii,  p.  116;  Vol.  iii,  p. 
_J7). — This  half- legendary  personage  is  re- 
ferred to  thus  in  Pope's  address  "To  a 
Lady:" 

"  What  has  not  fired  her  bosom  or  her  brain, 
Caesar  and  Tall-boy,  Charles  and  Charlemagne  ?" 


GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 


Qui  TAM. 


Men  as  Things  (Vol.  v,  pp.  43,  etc.). 
— Fiacre  is  properly  the  name  of  a  saint, 
the  patron  of  gardeners. 

The  orrery  was  so  named  from  an  Earl  of 
Orrery. 

A  stanhope  is  a  kind  of  chaise. 

The  vernier  was  named  from  its  inventor. 

A  vandyke  is  a  kind  of  neckruff. 

The  catlin,  a  surgeon's  knife,  also  bears 
a  man's  name. 

R.  E.  SMITH. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  p. 
27). — It  strikes  me  that  the  explanations 
given  of  the  last  two  lines  of  the  verses  of 
Mary  Howitt  are  all  wrong.  The  poem  is 
all  about  Mary  and  her  domestic  work,  and 
it  would  be  contrary  to  all  principles  of 
rhetoric  to  change  the  subject  from  the  girl 
to  the  kettle.  It  is  Mary  who  "  in  the 
kettle  sings  a  part,"  that  is,  a  musical  part, 
in  the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  applied  to 
soprano,  contralto,  etc.  She  does  this  in- 
directly, but  none  the  less  truly,  by  putting 
the  kettle  on  the  fire  and  attending  to  it. 
Any  other  interpretation  of  the  passage  is,  to 
my  thinking,  inadmissible. 

W.  J.  R. 

CAMBRIDGE.  MASS. 

Reprints  (Vol.  v,  p.  40).— It  is  well 
known  to  most  of  your  readers  that  certain 
piratical  American  publishers,  taking  advan- 
tage of  new  photo-engraving  processes,  have 
been  able  to  put  upon  the  market,  for  one 
dollar  and  a  half  per  volume,  an  edition  of 
the  "  Encyc.  Brit.,"  which  at  first  cost  ten 
dollars  per  volume.  What  large  possibilities 
in  the  way  of  cheap  reprints  of  rare  old 
books  this  suggests. 

J.  L.  SMITH. 

CINCINNATI,  O. 


May  31,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


59 


Shortest  Sentence  Containing  the 
Alphabet  (Vol.  v,  pp.  31,  etc.). — Here  are 
some  more  sentences  containing  the  alpha- 
bet :  "  John  quickly  extemporized  five  tow 
bags."  "My  Jabez  quickly  vexed  the 
wrong  fops."  "  J.  Gray,  pack  with  my  box 
five  dozen  quails."  "  Z.  Badger:  Thy 
vixen  jumps  quick  at  fowl."  "  Quick,  glad 
zephyr,  waft  my  javelin  box." 

MRS.  L.  T.  GEORGE. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Spiders  and  Bees  (Vol.  iii,  p.  284). — 
There  is  a  Hemipterous  insect  and  also  a 
species  of  Arachnida  (spider)  that  conceal 
themselves  in  the  composite  flowers  of  some 
plants,  and  lie  in  wait  for  other  insects  that 
visit  those  flowers,  for  the  purpose  of  feeding 
upon  or  extracting  the  honey  therein,  and 
these  the  hidden  ones  seize,  penetrate  with 
their  proboscides  or  fangs,  and  immediately 
proceed  to  suck  the  juices  out  of  their 
bodies,  through  which  they  perish.  The 
honey  visitors  are  small  species  of  moths  or 
bees  and  other  Hymenoptera.  This  is  more 
particularly  the  case  in  late  summer  and 
autumn  flowers,  and  to  facilitate  the  decep- 
tion, these  pirates  are  similar  in  color  to 
the  flowers,  and  less  liable  to  be  noticed. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Ambrosia  (Vol.  v,  p.  46). — Mr.  H.  A. 
Clarke  evades  the  only  point  of  criticism  I 
made  against  him,  namely,  his  assertion, 
"Ambrosia  was  \k&food  of  the  gods."  Let 
us  now  examine  his  criticism  against  Mr. 
Hamilton's  translation : 

"  And  her  purpureal   hair   breathed  forth  ambrosia 
sweet." 

Of  this  Mr.  Clarke  says:  "It  is  as  if  one 
should  write  of  the  cook,  '  she  shook  beef- 
steaks from  her  horrent  hair/  when  he  sim- 
ply meant  the  odor  of  beef."  Hardly,  my 
friend,  ambrosia  was  a  perfume  as  well  as  a 
food  or  a  drink.  In  "  Paradise  Lost " 
(v.  57),  Milton  has  written  : 

"  His  dewy  locks  distilled  ambrosia," 

a  construction  identical  with  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton's, and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  both  writers 
comprehended  the  true  meaning  of  the 


word.  That  Mr.  Hamilton's  " 
has  not  been  so  literal  as  one  would  expect 
in  a  pony,  goes  without  saying,  but  the 
variation  is  no  greater  than  is  common  and 
permissible  in  classical  translations. 

J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Rhymeless  Words  (Vol.  v,  pp.  32, 
etc.). — I  do  not  claim  that  false  and  halts 
make  a  perfect  rhyme,  but  only  an  admissi- 
ble one,  at  a  pinch.  Starve  does  not  rhyme 
with  salve,  except  in  New  England  ;  else- 
where the  r  in  starve  has  its  proper  sound, 
which  is,  however,  very  slight. 

JONGLEUR. 

NEWARK. 

Two  more  words  (both  book-words,  how- 
ever) will  rhyme  with  scalp,  namely  salp  and 
longipalp,  which  are  natural-history  terms, 
to  be  found  in  most  of  the  large  dictionaries. 

E.  N.  A. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Bonny  Boots  (Vol.  v,  pp.  31,  etc.). — 
With  this  name  compare  Slyboots,  Slow- 
boots,  Clumsyboots,  Lazyboots,  and  the 
like.  As  "  Dr.  Murray's  Dictionary  "  points 
out  (under  the  word  Boots)  the  idea  of  fellow 
or  rogue  seems  to  be  involved,  and  such 
terms  are  chiefly  applicable  to  young  or 
small  persons.  This  favors  the  idea  that 
Bonny  Boots  was  a  page  at  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's court.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Banjula  Trees  (Vol.  v,  p.  29). — In  the 
"  Gita  Govinda,"  of  Jayadeva,  from  which 
Arnold  derived  "The  Indian  Song  of 
Songs,"  I  find  the  following  allusions  to 
banjulas  or  vanjulas,  b  and  v  being  inter- 
changeable : 

"  One  of  the  damsels  seizes  the  mantle  of 
Heri  (Krishna)  and  draws  him  toward  her, 
pointing  to  the  bower  on  the  banks  of  the 
Gamuna,  where  elegant  Vanjulas  interweave 
their  branches  "  (p.  239). 

"Why  comes  he  not  to  the  bower  of 
bloomy  Vanjulas  assigned  for  our  meeting?" 
(p.  252). 

"  Follow  gentle  Radhica,  follow  the  foe 


6o 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[May  31,  1890. 


of  Madhu,  his  discourse  was  elegantly  com- 
posed of  sweet  phrases  ;  he  prostrated  himself 
at  thy  feet,  and  he  now  hastens  to  his  de- 
lightful couch  of  branching  Vanjulas  "  (Sir 
William  Jones'  Works,  Vol.  iv,  p.  261). 

Referring  now  to  "  Botanical  Observa- 
tions on  Select  Indian  Plants,"  by  Sir  W. 
Jones,  we  find  Vanjula  to  be  only  another 
name  for  the  Asoca,  of  which  flowering  tree 
he  gives  the  following  description  : 

"  The  flowers  are  fragrant  just  after  sunset 
and  before  sunrise  when  they  are  fresh  with 
evening  and  morning  dew,  beautifully 
diversified  with  tints  of  orange  scarlet  or  pale 
yellow,  or  of  bright  orange,  which  grows 
deeper  every  day  and  forms  a  variety 
of  shades  according  to  the  age  of  each 
blossom."  This  explains  why  so  many 
colors  are  attributed  to  the  same  plant,  as 
later  in  Arnold's  poem  these  lines  occur: 

"  Oh,  follow  where  the  Asokai  wave 
Their  sprays  of  gold  and  purple." 

Sir  William  continues:  "  The  vegetable 
world  scarce  exhibits  a  richer  sight  than  an 
Asoca  tree  in  full  bloom  ;  it  is  about  as  high 
as  an  ordinary  cherry  tree.  A  Brahmin  in- 
forms me  that  one  species  of  the  Asoca  is  a 
creeper. ' ' 

In  "  The  Toy  Cart  "  occurs  a  very  poeti- 
cal description  of  the  same  plant:  "And 
here  the  Asoka  tree  with  its  rich  crimson 
blossom  shines  like  a  young  warrior  bathed 
in  the  sanguine  shower  of  the  furious  fight." 

The  Asoca  is  sacred  to  the  god  Siva,  the 
third  person  of  the  Hindu  triad,  and  is  found 
planted  near  his  temple. 

Of  this  favorite  of  Sanskrit  poetry,  Ten- 
nent  remarks :  "  Its  loveliness  vindicates  all 
the  praises  bestowed  on  it  by  the  poets  of 
the  East."  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Nainsook  (Vol.  v,  p.  40). — May  not 
this  word  and  the  French  nansouk  be 
arbitrarily  formed  after  the  Nainsuckh  valley? 
Twenty-five  or  more  years  ago  that  valley 
was  somewhat  famous  as  the  scene  of  the 
valorous  exploits  of  Lieutenant  Abbot,  its 
heroic  English  conqueror.  Cf.  Rhadames, 
Vol.  iv,  p.  209,  for  an  arbitrarily  named 
fabric,  taking  a  town  name.  Compare  also 
paramatta,  an  English  worsted  fabric  named 


for  an  Australian  town.  But  in  this  case 
the  use  of  Australian  wool  probably  sug- 
gested the  name.  Thibet  (near  which  Nain- 
suckh lies)  gives  name  to  a  fabric  which  is 
not  now  brought  from  it ;  Thibetan  wool 
probably  suggested  that  name.  Compare 
also  Magenta  and  Solferino,  colors  and  dyes 
named  in  honor  of  victories. 

G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 


AND 


The  Discovery  of  the  Ancient  City  of  Norumbega. 
By  Eben  Norton  Horsford.  Boston :  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co.,  1890. 

This  beautiful  volume  sets  forth  Prof.  Hereford's 
reasons  for  identifying  a  site  at  Watertown,  Mass., 
with  the  ancient  town  of  Norumbega.  The  book 
is  the  first  installment  of  a  long-promised  publication  on 
the  subject,  and  the  author  believes  that  he  has  in  his 
possession  facts  as  yet  unpublished  which  will  fully 
establish  the  truth  of  his  position.  Prof.  Horsford  be- 
lieves that  Norumbega  was  a  Norse  settlement,  and  that 
its  name  comes  from  an  Algonkin  mispronunciation  of 
the  name  Norbega,  an  ancient  form  of  Norway.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  really  found  ancient  remains  of  much 
interest,  and  his  publication  will  certainly  lead  to 
further  study  and  discussion  of  the  question  already  al- 
luded to  in  our  columns  (Vol.  v,  p.  27). 

The  Atlantic  for  June  has  a  discussion  of  hours  of 
labor,  by  General  Walker.  The  author  of  the  article 
will  be  remembered  as  the  writer  of  a  criticism  of  Mr. 
Bellamy's  "  Looking  Backward,"  which  appeared  in 
the  Atlantic,  and  to  which  Mr.  Bellamy  replied  at  some 
length.  General  Walker  has  made  social  questions  a 
study,  and  his  criticisms  and  suggestions  on  the  present 
"  Eight-Hour  Law  Agitation  "  come  from  a  man  more 
fully  fitted  to  speak  with  authority  than  almost  any  one 
in  the  United  States.  Charles  Dudley  Warner's  article 
on  "The  Novel  and  the  Common  School,"  is  a  keen 
analysis  of  the  duty  of  the  public  schools  in  the  supply 
of  reading  for  our  young  citizens.  This  and  Hannis 
Taylor's  consideration  of  "The  National  House  of 
Representatives:  Its  Growing  Inefficiency  as  a  Legisla- 
tive Body,"  are  the  two  articles  which  make  up  the 
solid  reading  of  the  number.  Miss  Repplier  has  a 
whimsical  paper  called  "  A  Short  Defense  of  Villains  ;" 
and  Dr.  Holmes  discusses  "  Book-hunger,"  the  uses  of 
cranks,  and  tells  a  curious  story,  entitled  "  The  Terri- 
ble Clock."  Speaking  of  cranks,  he  makes  one  of  the 
Teacups  say,  "  Do  you  want  to  know  why  that  name  is 
given  to  the  men  who  do  most  for  the  world's  progress  ? 
It  is  because  the  cranks  make  all  the  wheels  and  all  the 
machinery  of  the  world  go  round.  I  suppose  the  first 
fool  that  looked  on  the  first  crank  that  was  ever  made 
asked  what  that  crooked,  queer-looking  thing  was  good 
for."  Mrs.  Deland's  "  Sidney  "  and  the  second  part 
of  "  Rod's  Salvation,"  furnish  the  fiction  of  this  issue, 
and  there  are  two  poems,  an  account  of  a  pilgrimage  to 
the  localities  immortalized  in  the  legends  of  King 
Arthur,  and  several  short  papers  of  interest. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES:— Ranpike,  61  —  No  Man's  Land  —  Weathercocks 
Musical,  62. 

QUERIES  :— Shamrock— Mad  as  March  Hare— Mayflower — 
Scot  Free— Schoolmaster  Abroad — Cockney,  63. 

REPLIES: — Sabbatical  Rivers,  63 — Harmonious  Blacksmith 
— Primroses  by  the  River  Brim,  64. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Name  Wanted,. 
64 — Walled  Lakes — Jansonus  —  Lockram —  Rush  Carpets — 
Macellarius — Kill  van  Kull — Usuter — Authorship  Wanted — 
Manege  and  Menage  —  Tom  Green — Tatting  —  Whiffletree, 
65— Pluck-buffet— Dalles— Icta— War  of  the  Axe— State  of 
Franklin — Norman's  Woe,  66. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Grass-Poly—  Deaf  Smith  —  China 
and  Babylonia — Altitudes,  66  —  Holtselster  —  Joe  Daveiss — 
Oldest  Christian  Hymn— Arthur  Kill— Names  of  the  Days  of 
the  Week  —Worm's  Tongue  —  Moslem — Brack — Avery's 
Fall,  67 — Thimble  Lore — Cheesecake  Brook — Weeping  Trees 
—Men  as  Things — William  Percy — Barnabe  Barnes — Porcu- 
pig,  68 — Parallel  Passages— Osgod  Clapa— Jingo — Spoon  of 
Ilford  —  Rocking  btones — Cambrial  Colchos  —  Mahot,  69— 
Norurubega  — Gulf  of  the  Lion — Losh  —  "The"  in  Place 
Names — Swift  and  Slow — American  and  English  Names  for 
Marshy  Tracts — Triumphs  of  Oriana,  70— Creek— Nomencla- 
ture of  Streams— Good  Old  Etymologies — Hindu  and  Bengali 
Words,  71 — Question  in  Grammar — Camelot,  72. 
BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 72. 

ROUTES. 

RANPIKE. 

This  word  (which  in  "Worcester's  Diction- 
ary" is  marked  "obsolete,"  and  which  is 
defined  as  a  tree  which  has  begun  to  die  at 
the  top)  is  not  yet  quite  extinct.  In  the 
Canadian  province  of  New  Brunswick  it  is 
still  employed,  in  the  form  rampike,  to  de- 
signate a  dead  tree,  still  standing.  Some 
connect  the  word  with  ran,  or  royne — old 
or  Scottish  names  for  the  rowan  tree.  (Can 
"aroynt  thee,  witch,"  be  connected  with 
this  word  royne,  a  name  for  a  magic  tree?) 
Scandinavian  names  for  the  rowan  are  ronu, 
runn,  and  the  like.  In  Maine,  they  call  it 
the  Round-wood.  Some  think  its  name  is 
related  to  rune,  a  charm  ;  others  name  it 
from  its  roan- colored  bark.  Another  round- 
about but  very  ingenious  derivation  of  ran- 
pike,  is  from  the  ranny,  or  shrew.  Ranny 


62 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  7,  1890. 


is  an  aphetic  form  from  the  Latin  araneus 
mus,  spider-mouse.  Now  the  shrew  is  a 
harmless  and  indeed  very  useful  little  animal, 
but  our  mediaeval  English  ancestors  looked 
upon  it  with  the  utmost  dread  and  horror. 
Dogs  and  cats  will  not  eat  the  shrew,  be- 
cause it  is  protected  by  a  disagreeable  odor 
and  taste  ;  and  when  the  country-folk  saw 
a  dog  frothing  at  the  mouth  after  taking  up 
a  live  shrew,  they  supposed  that  the  little 
creature  was  dreadfully  venomous.  They 
even  gave  the  name  of  shrew  to  any  woman 
who  had  a  biting  fashion  of  talking  to  her 
neighbors.  Now  the  proper  way  to  punish 
the  little  four-footed  shrew  for  his  malevo- 
lence, and  to  avert  the  calamities  which 
were  in  his  power  to  inflict,  was  to  bore  a 
hole  in  the  stem  of  the  magic  rowan  tree, 
place  the  living  animal  in  the  hole,  and  then 
plug  up,  and  let  the  creature  die  there. 
Soon,  it  was  thought,  the  tree  itself  would 
feel  the  effects  of  the  creature's  venom 
and  spite,  and  would  begin  to  die  at  the 
top.  The  ranny  had  turned  the  tree  into  a 
ranpike.  Another  point  in  the  story  is  this : 
A  person  under  the  evil  influence  of  the  shrew 
was  said  to  be  bcshrewtd,  and  (since  be- 
shrewment  affected  the  character,  and  made 
its  victims  artful  and  cunning)  a  cool,  cal- 
culating man  was  said  to  be  shrewd.  To 
return  to  our  rowan  tree.  It  was  a  good 
tree,  and  materially  aided  the  god  Thor 
when  he  was  on  his  way  to  vanquish  the 
Frost-giants.  In  England,  Germany, 
Sweden,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  Denmark, 
the  peasantry  still  revere  it.  It  is  the  best 
of  charms  against  the  evil  eye.  The  churn- 
staff  is  made  of  it.  The  old  Danes  inserted 
a  piece  of  it  in  every  ship,  for  the  Rowan 
had  the  power  of  averting  the  malice  of  Ran, 
the  sea-jotun's  wife.  No  witch,  nor  devil, 
would  dare  touch  the  rowan.  The  good 
elves  loved  it.  The  best  of  magic  wands 
were  made  of  rowan  twigs.  There  was  once 
a  large  rowan  in  the  north  of  Ireland  that 
on  Christmas  eve  was  stuck  full  of  blazing 
torches,  which  no  wind  could  extinguish. 
A  single  rowan  tree  in  Orkney  was  looked 
upon  as  the  very  palladium  of  Orkneyan 
liberty,  if  not  the  pledge  of  the  very  exist- 
ence of  the  islands. 

HENRY  M.  KNOX. 
CLEVELAND,  O. 


NO   MAN'S  LAND. 

Besides  the  region  called  by  this  name 
adjoining  Kansas  and  Texas,  there  is  a  little 
uninhabited  island  called  Neman's  Land 
near  Martha's  Vineyard,  off  the  coast  of 
Massachusetts.  Another  region  sometimes 
called  by  this  name  lies  in  British  South 
Africa.  Being  dispeopled,  it  was  in  1852  in 
part  occupied  by  Adam  Kok's  band  of  the 
Griquas,  and  hence  it  is  often  called  Griqua- 
land  East,  which  is  at  a  long  distance  from 
Griqualand  West,  the  original  home  of  the 
tribe.  These  Griquas  (in  their  own  speech 
this  name  is  the  plural  form  of  Grip)  are  of 
mixed  Dutch  and  Hottentot  stock,  and 
speak  a  dialect  compounded  of  very  mixed 
elements.  The  Basutos  (of  Bechuana-Kaffre 
stock)  and  the  Ama-baca  (Kaffres)  also 
dwell  in  what  was  once  called  No  Man's 
Land  ;  but  the  country  now  contains  many 
settlers  of  European  race.  N.  R.  T. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


WEATHERCOCKS  MUSICAL-POETICAL  ALLU- 
SIONS. 

In  the  poem  entitled  "  Chaucere's  Dreme," 
the  poet  falls  asleep  and  dreams  as  follows  : 

"  Within  an  vie  methought  I  was 
Where  wal  and  yate  was  al  of  glasse, 


"  For  every  yate,  of  fin  gold 
A  thousand  fanes,  ay  turning, 
Entune'd  had,  and  birddes  singing 
Diverse,  and  on  each  fane  a  paire 
With  open  mouths  again  Ahaire, 
And  of  a  sute  were  alle  the  toures." 

Which  lines  are  to  this  effect  in  the  edi- 
tor's version  :  "Every  gate  had  upon  it  a 
thousand  golden  fanes  or  vans,  otherwise 
weathercocks,  which  as  they  turned  in  the 
wind  produced  a  sound  like  the  singing  of 
birds,  with  their  mouths  opened  against  the 
air,  or  towards  that  quarter  whence  the  wind 
blew." 

The  editor  also  remarks :  "  The  poet  appa- 
rently imagines  that  those  vans  or  weather- 
cocks were  constructed  on  a  self-playing 
principle  like  an  ^olian  harp.  Their  heads 
being  always  kept  to  the  winds,  it  blew  down 
their  throats  in  which  was  some  instrument 
for  producing  the  sound"  (Bohn  Ed. 
Chaucer). 


June  7,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


"  Chaucere's  Dreme  "  is  not  included  in  the 
W.  Skeat  Ed.,  as  it  has  been  definitely  as- 
certained that  it  cannot  be  the  work  of 
Chaucer,  the  date  (1550)  of  the  MS.,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  internal  evidence  of  the  poem, 
being  enough  to  refute  that  idea. 

The  isle  of  the  poet's  dream  was  by  no 
means  a  womanless  island,  but  on  the  con- 
trary was  inhabited  only  by  ladies. 

"  No  creatures  save  ladies  pleye 
Which  were  swiche  of  here  arreye." 

For  this  reason  Skeat  thinks  the  poem  im- 
properly named,  and  would  call  it  rather 
"The  Isle  of  Ladies." 

Refer.  Chaucer's  Minor  Poems  and  Skeat. 

In  Stephen  Hawes'  "  Pastime  of  Pleas- 
ure" (1506)  occurs  another  reference  to 
musical  weathercocks  m  the  description  of 
La  Bel  Pucelle's  magnificent  castle  : 

"  Alofte  the  basse  toure  foure  ymages  stode 
Which  blew  the  clarions  wel  and  wonderly. 
Alofte  the  toures  ti\&  golden  fanes  goode 
Dyde  with  the  wynde  makeful  swefe  armony. 
Them  for  to  hear,  it  was  great  melody." 

(Chap,  xxxviii,  St.  iii.) 


F.  T.  C. 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


B 


B  S. 


Shamrock. — What  is  the  true  and  original 
shamrock?  Some  say  it  is  the  white  clover; 
some  the  wood-sorrel  or  oxalis ;  some  the 
Dutch  clover ;  and  some  the  Black  None- 
such, or  Medick.  N.  E.  MORRIS. 

MILTON,  MASS. 

Our  correspondent  will  find  a  full  and 
very  pleasant  discussion  of  this  vexed  ques- 
tion on  p.  385  of  Friend's  "  Flowers  and 
Flower-Lore, "London,  1886.  Alltheplants 
named  above  have  their  advocates,  even  in 
Ireland.  It  appears  further  the  water-cress, 
though  not  trifoliate,  was  once  termed  sham- 
rock ;  and  that  the  Arabic  name  for  the  tre- 
foil is  shamrakh. 

Mad  as  a  March  Hare. — What  is  the 
origin  of  this  expression?  ? 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
ii,  p.  104. 


Mayflower. — This  highly  appropriate  name 
is  often  given  to  the  trailing  Arbutus ;  and  it 
has  been  said  that  it  was  one  of  the  first 
spring  flowers  to  greet  the  pilgrims  at  New 
Plymouth  in  1621.  Is  the  latter  statement 
historical,  or  is  it  a  later  invention?  What 
was  the  original  mayflower  whence  the  his- 
toric ship  took  her  name  ? 

E.  O.  L.  A. 

NEWARK. 

The  English  hawthorn  was  probably  the 
original  mayflower.  It  is  often  called  may 
in  English  books. 

Scot  Free. — What  is  the  origin  of  this 
phrase?  ? 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
ii,  p.  214. 

The  Schoolmaster  is  Abroad. — How  did 

this  phrase  originate  ?  MRS.  E.  F. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

This  expression  was  used  by  Lord 
Brougham  in  hisspeech  of  January  29,  1828, 
as  follows : 

"  Let  the  soldier  be  abroad  if  he  will,  he 
can  do  nothing  in  this  age.  There  is  another 
personage,  a  personage  less  imposing  in  the 
eyes  of  some,  perhaps  insignificant.  The 
schoolmaster  is  abroad,  and  I  trust  to  him, 
armed  with  his  primer,  against  the  soldier 
in  full  military  array." 

Cockney. — How  did  this  word  originate? 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
iv,  p.  i. 

1*£  B  P  L  I  B  S  . 

Sabbatical  Rivers  (Vol.  v,  p.  52). — Dr. 
Thomson,  in  "  The  Land  and  the  Book,"  is 
of  the  opinion  that  the  Sabbatic  River  is 
identical  with  the  Neba  el  Fuarr,  a  periodi- 
cal spring  hard  by  the  convent  of  Mar  Jirius 
near  Palestine.  Concerning  it  he  says :  "At 
stated  intervals  it  throws  out  an  immense 


64 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  7,  1890. 


volume  of  water  quite  sufficient  to  entitle  it 
in  this  country  to  the  dignified  name  of 
river.  It  is  now  quiescent  for  two  days  and 
active  during  a  part  of  the  third.  The  cave 
out  of  which  the  river  flows  is  at  the  base  of 
a  hill  of  limestone  entangled  in  a  vast  forma- 
tion of  trap  rock.  It  was  a  day  of  rest  when 
I  examined  the  fountain  ;  but  evidently  a 
large  volume  of  water  had  rushed  along  the 
bed  of  the  river  only  a  few  days  before." 

The  difference  between  the  present  and 
the  former  climatic  conditions  of  the  region 
is,  in  Dr.  Thomson's 'opinion,  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  difference  in  the  periodicity 
of  the  spring.  J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

The  Sabbatical  River  may  be  found  on 
large  maps  of  Syria,  in  latitude  34°  40'  N., 
longitude  36°  20'  E.  It  is  described  in 
Conder's  "Palestine,"  pp.  192,  193.  It  flows 
at  intervals  of  from  four  days  to  a  week. 
There  are  other  periodic  rivers  in  Syria. 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN. 

The  Harmonious  Blacksmith  (Vol.  v,  p. 
41). — "The  Harmonious  Blacksmith"  is 
the  title  of  a  theme  and  variations  formerly 
called  "  Handel's  Fifth  Favorite  Lesson," 
being  No.  5  of  his  first  "  Suite  de  Pieces 
pour  le  Clavecin." 

Of  the  origin  of  this  title,  William  Chappell, 
author  of  "  Popular  Music  in  the  Olden 
Time,"  gives  the  following  satisfactory  and 
interesting  account : 

"The  story  that  Handel  having  heard  the 
air  sung  by  a  blacksmith  at  Edgeware  while 
beating  time  to  it  upon  his  anvil,  and  that 
Handel  therefore  entitled  it  the  '  Harmonious 
Blacksmith,'  is  refuted  by  the  fact  that  it 
never  was  so  named  during  Handel's  life. 
The  late  Richard  Clark  was  the  propagator, 
if  not  the  inventor,  of  this  fable.  In  Clark's 
edition  of  '  The  Lesson,1  he  has  gone  so 
far  as  to  print  an  accompaniment  for  the 
anvil,  as  he  imagined  Handel  to  have  heard 
the  beats.  He  states  also  that  the  black- 
smith was  the  parish  clerk  of  Whitechurch. 
A  few  months  after  Clark's  publication,  the 
writer  saw  the  late  J.  W.  Winsor,  Esq.,  of 
Bath,  a  great  ad mirer  of  Handel,  and  one  who 
knew  all  his  published  works.  Mr.  Winsor 


told  the  writer  that  the  story  of  the  black- 
smith of  Edgeware  was  pure  imagination, 
and  that  the  original  publisher  of  Handel's 
'Lesson'  under  the  present  title  was  a  music 
seller  at  Bath,  by  name  of  Lintern,  whom  he 
knew  personally.  He  said  that  he  had  asked 
Lintern  the  reason  for  this  »<?7#name  and  he 
had  told  him  that  it  was  a  nickname  given 
to  himself  because  he  had  been  brought  up 
as  a  blacksmith,  although  he  had  afterwards 
turned  to  music,  and  this  was  the  piece  he 
was  constantly  asked  to  play.  He  printed 
this  particular  number  of  the  '  Suite'  in  a  de- 
tached form,  because  he  could  not  sell  a 
sufficient  number  of  copies  of  the  full  set  to 
make  it  profitable. 

"There  is,  too,  much  reason  to  believe  that 
the  'Theme'  was  not  original  with  Handel. 
The  same  air  appears  in  the  Clavecin  (piano) 
Suites  of  Wegenseil,  an  eminent  Viennese 
performer,  and  a  contemporary  of  Handel. 
Only  the  date  of  Wegenseil's  '  Suites'  is 
needed  to  determine  which  was  the  borrow- 
er"  (Supplement  "  Grove's  Mus.  Diet."). 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Primroses  by  the  River  Brim,  etc.  (Vol. 
iv,  p.  90). — These  lines  are  from  "Edu- 
cation's Martyr, "  in  a  volume  of  poems  enti- 
tled "  Dreams  to  Sell,"  by  May  Kendall. 
They  are  quoted  by  H.  C.  Beeching,  in  his 
review  of  the  book,  in  the  Academy  for  No- 
vember 12,  1887.  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 


<S>OF?F?ESPON  DENTS. 


Name  WantecL  —  During  one  of  the 
European  wars,  it  is  related  that  a  com- 
manding general,  making  the  rounds  after 
taps,  discovered  a  lighted  taper  in  the  quar- 
ters of  one  of  his  generals.  Asking  the  latter 
why  he  disobeyed  orders  at  such  a  critical 
time,  the  officer  said  in  excuse  that  he  was 
writing  to  his  wife.  The  commander  there- 
upon ordered  the  offender  to  add,  "to- 
morrow, by  this  time,  I  shall  have  been  shot 
for  disobedience."  Who  was  the  com- 
manding general,  and  who  the  offender? 

QU^RENS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY.  . 


June  7,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Walled.  Lakes. — What  was  the  proba- 
ble cause  of  the  walling  with  stone  of  the 
celebrated  Walled  Lakes  of  Iowa?  Walled 
lakes  are  not  unknown  elsewhere.  The 
noted  VValden  Pond,  near  Concord,  Mass., 
has  something  of  this  character ;  and  accord- 
ing to  Thoreau,  its  name  may  possibly  be 
derived  from  this  fact — it  being  a  walled-in 
pond.  The  walling  may  have  been  caused 
(as  some  have  supposed)  by  the  action  of 
the  ice. 

In  Prof.  Horsford's  late  monograph  on 
Norumbega,  the  author  contends  that  the 
walled  streams  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston  de- 
rived their  peculiarity  from  human  labor ; 
that,  in  fact,  they  were  walled  by  the  Norse 
adventurers  who  came  to  Vinland  in  mediae- 
val times.  J.  F.  ROUTH. 

NEW  YORK. 

Jansonus. — "A  book  in  Latin  called 
Mundus  furiosus,  printed  at  Cullen 
(Cologne),  written  by  one  of  the  vilest  and 
arrantest  cullians  that  ever  wrote  book  ;  his 
nzmejansonus.  *  *  *  He  is  now  dead" 
("Kemp's  Nine  Days'  Wonder,"  1600). 
By  the  context  it  appears,  I  think,  that  Jan- 
sonus was  an  Englishman.  Is  there  any- 
thing further  known  of  him  or  his  book? 

A.  R.  O. 

LIMA,  O. 

Lockram. — Is  there  any  connection  be- 
tween this  word  and  lockron,  the  name  of  a 
plant  ?  The  mason's  term  lockrand,  a  bind- 
ing course  of  stones  or  bricks,  is  of  course 
another  word,  being  from  the  verb  lock  and 
rand,  a  strip.  E.  E.  SIMONDS. 

CARLISLE,  PA. 

Rush  Carpets. — Will  some  reader  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  inform  the 
writer  when  and  by  whom  carpets  made  of 
rushes  were  invented  ?  A.  U.  R. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Macellarius. — Many  years  ago  there 
used  to  be  one  or  more  butchers'  carts,  in 
our  part  of  the  country,  with  the  word 
macellarius  (the  Latin  for  butcher)  on  their 
sides.  Was  this  a  local  practice,  or  only  a 
freak  of  some  learned  butcher  ? 

CURIOSUS. 

NORTH  ANDOVER,  MASS. 


Kill  van  Kull.— Will  A.  Estoclet  kindly 
explain  the  origin  of  this  name  ?  And  also 
tell  us  what  the  connection  is,  if  any,  between 
the  words  kill  and  kull,  in  names  of  streams 
derived  from  the  Dutch  language  ?  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Usuter. — Bishop  Earle's  "  Microcosmog- 
raphie,"  Character  13  (1628),  says  of  "An 
Vpstart  Countrey  Knight:"  "His  father 
was  a  man  of  good  stocke,  though  but  a 
Tanner  or  Vsuter."  Can  usuter  represent 
the  Latin  sutor,  a  shoemaker  or  cobbler  ?  The 
connection  with  tanner,  and  the  reference 
to  his  "  good  stocke,"  seem  to  suggest  this. 
I  would  like  the  opinion  of  some  of  your 
correspondents  on  this  word,  its  origin,  and 
its  meaning.  E.  DORSET  RODMAN. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 

Authorship  Wanted.— Whence  comes 
the  following  quotation,  which  seems  to  be 
applied  to  Hermes  : 
"  Earth-born,  but  sky-engendered,  son  of  mysteries." 

P.  J.  L. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

Manege  and  Menage. — I  was  in- 
structed in  early  life  that  the  manege  was 
horsemanship  or  the  management  of  the 
horse  under  the  saddle ;  and  that  the  menage 
was  grooming,  or  the  care  and  feeding  of 
the  horse  in  the  stable.  Is  this  distinction 
a  correct  one  ?  JULIUS  HINES. 

TOLEDO. 

Tom  Green  (Vol.  iv,  p.  225). — Will  you 
please  inform  me  where  I  can  find  some  ac- 
count of  the  person  in  honor  of  whom  Tom 
Green  county,  in  Texas,  was  named? 

E.  F.  S. 

DANBURY,  CONN. 

Tatting. — What  is  the  origin  of  the  word 
tatting,  the  name  of  a  certain  kind  of  trim- 
ming for  garments  that  is  made  by  hand  ? 

L.  M.  N. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Whiffletree. — Can  any  of  your  readers 
tell  me  the  etymology  of  this  word  ? 

E.  F. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


66 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  7,  1890. 


Pluck-buffet.— In  the  Robin  Hood 
ballads  (8th  fytte),  we  read  : 

"  Our  King  and  Robin  rode  together, 
Forsooth  as  I  you  say  ; 
And  they  shot'Pluck-buffet, 
As  they  went  by  the  way." 

What  is  the  meaning  of  Pluck-buffet  ? 

B.  P.  E. 

PEORIA,  ILL. 

Dalles.— Besides  the  Dalles  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, and  those  oi  the  St.  Louis,  in  Min- 
nesota, we  have  the  Dalles,  or  Dells,  of  the 
Wisconsin.  Are  there  any  other  Dalles 
than  these  ?  RALPH  W.  TRUMAN. 

CONNEAUT,  O. 

Icta. — Will  Mr.  Redway  kindly  explain 
the  word,  giving  us  the  meaning  and  origin? 
He  has  used  it  in  Vol.  iii,  p.  299. 

DIANA. 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

War  of  the  Axe. — What  contest  is 
sometimes  called  the  War  of  the  Axe  ? 

O.  F.  CRANE. 

HUDSON,  N.  Y. 

State  of  Franklin. — Where  was  the 
State  of  Franklin  ?  H.  G.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Norman's  Woe. — Every  reader  of 
Longfellow  remembers  "  The  Wreck  of  the 
Hesperus,"  "  On  the  Reef  of  Norman's 
Woe."  Is  the  story  of  this  wreck  true? 
Was  Norman  the  skipper  of  the  ill-fated 
schooner.  On  page  13  of  Horsford's 
"  Norumbega  "  monograph  he  asserts  that 
Norman's  Woe  means  Northmen's  O,  or 
island.  But  what  is  generally  called  Nor- 
man's Woe  is  a  bluff  or  rocky  headland, 
over  a  hundred  feet  high,  with  a  wooded 
face  to  the  eastward.  Norman's  Woe  Cove 
lies  at  its  foot,  and  in  the  entrance  to  the 
Cove  is  Norman's  Woe  Rock,  on  which,  as 
I  suppose,  the  Hesperus  was  lost.  No  doubt 
this  rock  is  what  Prof.  Horsford  would  name 
Norman's  O.  Can  we  not  hear  from  some 
correspondent  familiar  with  the  local  history 
and  traditions  of  the  place  ? 

J.  F.  ROUTH. 

NEW  YCRK.' 


©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 


Grass-Poly  —  For  this  plant  name  the 
"Century  Dictionary"  ventures  upon  no- 
etymology.  Poly  stands  for  the  Greek 
nohov,  the  name  of  a  plant  nearly  identical, 
apparently,  with  our  Grass-poly.  Its  name, 
,  probably  comes  from  TTO^W?,  gray. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Deaf  Smith  (Vol.  iv,  p.  225).—  This 
county  in  Texas  was  named  from  a  very 
brave  and  efficient  scout  once  in  the  Texan 
service  named  Smith,  who  was  stone  deaf. 
He  lived  in  the  days  of  Texan  nationality, 
and  was  said  to  be  a  terrible  foe  and  a 
staunch  and  constant  friend,  but  was  spe- 
cially hostile  to  the  Mexicans. 

E.  F.  S. 
DANBURY,  CONN. 

China  and  Babylonia.  —  A  very  able 
and  entertaining  article  by  R.  K.  Douglas, 
in  Lippincotfs  Magazine  for  June,  sets  forth 
a  strong  array  of  facts  which  tend  to  prove 
that  Chinese  civilization  had  its  origin  in 
Babylonia,  and  which,  further,  make  it 
almost  certain  that  the  Chinese  language  is- 
closely  akin  to  the  ancient  Accad  language. 
This  is  not  a  new  theory,  but  it  is  one  which 
is  strongly  sustained  by  facts  that  have  been 
recently  brought  to  light. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Altitudes  (Vol.  v,  pp.  32,  etc.).  —  Among 
the  high  altitudes  of  points  within  the  United 
States  are  Mount  St.  Elias,  19,500  feet,  the 
highest  peak  of  North  America;  Aconcagua, 
23,800  feet,  the  highest  point  of  the  West- 
ern Continent  ;  Argentine  Pass,  13,200  feet, 
the  highest  wagon  road  in  the  world  ;  Las 
Animas  Forks,  11,200  feet,  the  highest  town 
in  North  America;  Marshall  Pass,  10,870 
feet,  the  highest  railway  pass  in  North 
America;  Mount  Whitney,  14,898  feet,  the 
highest  peak  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains; 
Mitchell's  High  Peak,  6711  feet,  the  high- 
est summit  of  the  Appalachian  mountains. 
E.  E.  ROBINSON. 

DENVER,  COLO. 


June  7,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Holtselster  (Vol.  v,  p.  30,  etc.). — On 
referring  to  "  The  Works  of  Andreas  Mar- 
veil,  Esq.,  Poetical,  Controversial  and  Po- 
litical. With  a  New  Life  of  the  Author.  By 
Captain  Edward  Thompson.  London,  1776, 
3  vols.,  4°,"  I  find  that  at  page  216  of  Vol. 
iii,  the  word  printed  is  HOLTFELSTER,  not 

HOLTSELSTER.  A.   BELJAME. 

29  RUE  DE  CONDE,  PARIS,  FRANCE. 

Has  not  our  correspondent  mistaken  a 
long  s  for  an  f?  On  page  25  of  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.'s  edition  of  "  Marvell's 
Poems  "  the  spelling  holtselster  appears. 

[ED.] 

Joe  Daveiss  (Vol.  iv,  p.  225) From 

an  article  in  the  Nation  of  May  29  it  appears 
that  two  counties  in  the  United  States  are 
incorrectly  named  Daviess  (and  one  Joe 
Daviess)  in  honor  of  a  once  famous  lawyer 
who  fell  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  His 
name,  according  to  autograph  letters  still 
existing,  was  spelled  Daveiss,  all  or  nearly 
all  the  books  of  reference  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  E.  F.  S. 

DANBURY,  CONN. 

Oldest  Christian  Hymn  (Vol.  iv,  pp. 
234,  etc.). — A  more  familiar  translation 
than  that  given  of  the  "  Phos  Hilaron"  is  that 
of  Canon  Bright,  beginning  "  Light  of 
Gladness,  Beam  Divine."  It  is  still  sung, 
in  the  original,  at  the  evening  lamp-lighting 
in  the  Greek  churches. 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Arthur  Kill  (Vol.  v,  pp.  52,  etc.). — A. 
Estoclet's  explanation  of  this  word  is  very 
satisfactory  indeed.  To  me  the  transforma- 
tion of  Achter  into  Arthur  seems  easy. 
Rustic  people,  as  is  well  known,  often  change 
after  into  arter,  and  the  change  of  Achter 
into  Arthur  is  quite  as  easy  as  the  other. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Names  of  the  Days  of  the   Week 

(Vol.  iii,  p.  176). — Will  your  correspondent, 
R.  G.  B.,  kindly  add  to  his  interesting  and 
valuable  communication  on  this  matter,  the 
names  of  such  authors  and  books  as  will 


enable  me  further  to  investigate  the 
subject  ?  Is  it  correct  to  regard  the  week  of 
seven  days  as  of  strictly  Jewish  origin? 

N.  S.  S. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Worm's  Tongue. — It  is  well  known 
that  one  or  more  old  Norse  bards  or  saga- 
men  bore  the  name  of  Ormstunga,  which  is 
explained  as  meaning  worm' s  tongue,  or 
snake1  s  tongue.  Does  this  name  imply  any 
venomous  or  biting  quality  in  their  verses? 
J.  CADWALLADER. 

MEDIA,  Pa. 

Moslem. — This  word  is  properly  singu- 
lar, but  we  occasionally  see  it  used  as  if  it 
were  a  plural  noun.  Halleck  says,  "  They 
piled  that  ground  with  Moslem  slain."  But 
in  this  instance  we  may  regard  Moslem  as  an  . 
adjective,  in  which  case  slain  must  be  treated 
as  a  noun — a  good  construction.  Cf.  Shake- 
speare's "  pile  the  ground  up  with  our  Eng- 
lish dead."  J.  MORSE  CALLAHAN. 

JERSEY  CITY. 

Brack  (Vol.  v,  p.  39,  etc.). — "  Not  a 
crack  nor  a  brack  is  a  common  collo- 
quialism. Is  it  Pennsylvania!!  or  is  it  South- 
ern ?  I  have  heard  it  from  Southerners. 

H.  P.,  JR. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

It  is  common  in  New  England. — [Eo.] 

Avery's  Fall. — This  rock,  the  scene  of 
the  wreck  described  in  Whittier's  "  Swan 
Song  of  Parson  Avery,"  lies  off  Cape  Ann, 
650  yards  from  the  lighthouse  on  Straits- 
mouth  island.  Whittier  tells  us  that  the 
good  parson  was  sailing  "  with  his  wife  and 
children  eight."  But  if  my  memory  serves 
me,  the  account  in  Mather's  "  Magnalia  " 
puts  the  number  of  his  children  at  six.  I 
have  not  seen  the  "Magnalia,"  however, 
for  several  years,  and  I  am  not  quite  sure  of 
the  facts.  The  Coast  Pilot  calls  this  rock 
Avery's  Ledge.  It  is  four  feet  under  water 
at  mean  low  tide,  but  tourists  and  yachting 
parties  can  recognize  the  historic  rock  by 
means  of  the  buoy  which  marks  its  place. 

F.  C.  B. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  7,  1890. 


Thimble-Lore  (Vol.  iv,  p.  194).— The 
following  is  an  extract  from  a  report  of  the 
British  Archaeological  Association:  "To 
statements  made  that  thimbles  were  of  re- 
cent date,  evidence  was  adduced  to  show 
that  they  were  well  known  to  the  Romans. 
The  earliest  examples,  however,  in  England 
and  North  Europe  appear  to  have  been  of 
leather,  one  of  that  material  being  shown. 
It  was  in  use  in  County  Cork  so  late  as  1820. 
Many  brass  thimbles  dating  from  1500  were 
exhibited,  most  of  which  were  found  in 
London.  Some  specimens  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  have  inscriptions."  There- 
port  appeared  in  the  Athenczum. 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD.  CONN. 

Cheesecake  Brook. — A  stream  of  this 
name  flows  into  Charles  river  from  the  south 
in  Newton,  Mass.  This  name  recalls  that 
of  the  somewhat  celebrated  Cheesequake 
creek  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  improvement  of 
whose  navigation  attempts  have  been  made 
to  obtain  appropriations  from  the  Federal 
Congress.  The  latter  stream  is  called 
Chesnaquack  creek  on  some  of  the  coast  sur- 
vey charts.  It  is,  therefore,  probable  that  the 
name  is  of  Indian  origin,  and  I  think  it  not 
unlikely  that  the  name  of  the  little  Cheese- 
cake brook  in  Massachusetts  may  also  be  an 
altered  form  of  some  Indian  name. 


NEW  LONDON. 


J.  CHESTER  PARKER. 


Weepings  Trees  (Vol.  v,  pp.  47,  etc.). 
— Peter  Martyr  ("Sommario  dell'  Indie 
Occidentale")  and  Ramusio  ("Hist,  delle 
Indie  ")  and  many  others  describe  the  Rain 
tree  on  the  Isle  of  Ferro.  John  Cockburn 
("A  Jpurney  Overland  from  the  Gulf  of 
Honduras,"  1735)  describes  an  enormous 
weeping  tree  near  the  mountains  of  Vera 
Paz,  in  Central  America.  The  leaves 
are  young,  and  in  summer  the  tree  weeps  all 
day  from  the  end  of  every  leaf,  even  after  a 
six  months'  drought,  converting  the  ground 
near  it  into  a  swamp.  Spence  describes  the 
Tamia-caspi,  a  weeping  tree  of  Peru  ;  but  he 
declares  that  a  species  of  cicada  causes  the 
rain,  and  that  almost  any  tree  may  be  con- 
verted into  a  weeping  tree  by  insects  feed- 
ing on  its  leaves.  The  literature  of  weeping 


trees  is  enormous,  and  much  of  it  is  plainly 
mythical ;  but  there  is  a  large  basis  of  fact 
on  which  it  rests.  R.  O.  SYKES. 

BANGOR,  ME. 

Men  as  Things  (Vol.  v,  pp.  58,  etc.). 
— Faro,  a  gambling  game,  is  a  variant  of 
Pharaoh,  the  name  of  a  noted  line  of  Egyp- 
tian kings.  A  certain  quantity  of  bottled 
ale  used  to  be  called  a  Jeroboam,  and  a 
punch-bowl  was  called  a  jorum,  possibly 
from  Joram,  a  noted  king  of  Israel.  The 
Itiois,  a  device  for  lifting  heavy  stone  blocks, 
is  said  to  have  been  invented  by  and  named 
for  Louis  XIV.  The  george,  the  splendid 
heraldic  decoration  of  certain  English 
knights,  is  named  from  St.  George.  Many 
coins  have  kings'  names.  Many  birds  have 
personal  names,  as  martin,  robin. 

William  Percy. — The  William  Percy  to 
whom  Barnabe  Barnes  dedicated  his  "  Par- 
thenophil  and  Parthenophe  "  (Vol.  iv,  pp. 
304,  etc.)  was  himself  a  poet,  and  published 
"  Sonnets  to  the  Fairest  Coelia  "  (1594)  and 
other  works.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Barnabe  Barnes  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  304, 
etc.). — The  article  on  John  Florio,  in  the 
"  National  Dictionary  of  Biography,"  shows 
that  Florio  was  at  one  time  tutor  to  Emanuel 
Barnes,  a  (elder?)  brother  of  Barnabe,  at 
Oxford.  It  does  not  seem  likely  that  Florio, 
after  being  a  tutor  to  one  brother  at  Oxford, 
would  be  called  to  act  as  servitor  to  a 
younger  brother  at  Cambridge.  Malone's 
statement  seems  to  be  open  to  some  sus- 
picion. G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Porcupig. — This  old  name  for  a  porcu- 
pine (Fr.,  pore-epic)  is  familiar  to  many  from 
the  old  comic  ballad  of  "More  of  More 
Hall."  It  is  pleasant  to  find  in  one  of  John 
Burroughs'  books,  that  the  mountaineers 
about  the  head-waters  of  the  Delaware  still 
call  the  porcupine  by  this  old  name.  This 
is  much  better  than  the  New  England 
fashion  of  calling  the  porcupine  by  the  most 
inappropriate  name  of  hedgehog.  There  is 
no  species  of  true  hedgehog  on  our  con- 
tinent. F.  L.  P. 

HUDSON,  N.  Y. 


June  7,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


69 


Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  v,  pp.  29, 
etc.). — The  following  passage  is  offered  as  a 

parallel  to  the  celebrated   description  of  a 

horse     in     Shakespeare's       "  Venus  and 

Adonis."      It   is   from    the    "  Phillis  and 

Flora,"   1598,    of  "  R.    S.    Esquire,"  and 
runs  as  follows : 

"  His  mayne  thin  haird,  his  neck  high  crested, 
Small  eare,  short  head,  and  burly  brested, 

*        •        *        4        *        *        * 
Strait  legd,  large  thighd,  and  hollow  hoovd." 

The  "  Phillis  and  Flora  "  imitates  a  Latin 
poem  in  the  Golias  series,  and  its  author- 
ship is  unknown ;  some  have  been  inclined 
to  assign  it  to  Stanyhurst ;  but  it  would  ap- 
pear to  have  been  to  some  considerable  ex- 
tent a  plagiarism  from  a  poem  of  Chapman's 
(1595).  The  "large  thighd  and  hollow 
hoovd"  recalls  the  "  Zebra-footed,  Ostrich 
thighed "  of  Browning's  "Through  the 
Metidja."  The  "  Phillis  and  Flora  "  bears 
on  its  title  page  the  motto  "  Aut  Marti  vel 
Mercurio,"  which  resembles  the  well- 
known  "  Tarn  Marti  quam  Mercurio,"  the 
motto  of  Churchyard,  Gascoigne,  and  other 
soldier-poets  of  that  time.  But  we  are  not 
to  infer  that  "  R.  S.  Esquire  "  was  a  soldier- 
poet.  His  motto  notes  the  fact  that  his  poem 
celebrates  the  glories  of  soldiership  as  well 
as  of  scholarship  ;  one  of  the  ladies  being  in 
love  with  a  knight  and  the  other  with  a 
clerk.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Osgod  Clapa  (Vol.  iv,  p.  248). — If  Mr. 
Clapp  will  examine  Matthew  of  Westminster's 
chronicles  and  Florence  of  Worcester's 
chronicles,  he  will  find  reference  to  Osgod 
Clappa  or  Clapa. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Jingo. — In  Eachard's  "  Grounds  and  Oc- 
casions of  the  Contempt  of  the  Clergy  " 
(1670),  the  author,  in  discussing  "whether 
or  not  Punning,  Quibbling,  and  that  which 
they  call  Joquing  and  such  delicacies  of 
\Vit  *  *  *  might  not  be  very  con- 
veniently omitted?"  makes  use  of  the  words 
"  tanutus  .'  high  jingo!  come  again  !"  ap- 
parently some  juggler's  formula. 

R.  N.  L. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 


Spoon  of  Ilford. — In  Kemp's  "  Nine 
Days'  Wonder,  performed  in  a  Morrice  from 
London  to  Norwich"  (1600),  mention  is 
made  of  the  Great  Spoon  of  Ilford,  which 
held  above  a -  quart.  Is  there  anything 
further  known  about  this  spoon  ? 

A.  R.  O. 

LIMA,  O. 

Rocking  Stones  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  233,  etc.). 
— The  famous  Logan  stone  was  wantonly 
overthrown  by  a  Lieutenant  Goldsmith,  a 
nephew,  I  believe,  of  Oliver  Goldsmith  j 
but  the  government  compelled  him  to  re- 
place it  at  his  own  expense.  A  remarkable 
poised  rock,  famous  throughout  South 
America  as  '•  the  moving  stone,"  may  be 
seen  on  Tandil  mountain,  in  Argentinia ; 
it  is  twenty-four  feet  high,  thirty  feet  long 
and  eighteen  feet  wide,  containing  over  five 
thousand  cubic  feet  and  weighing  twenty-five 
tons;  it  is  irregularly  conical  in  shape,  and 
rests  upon  a  conical  support  with  a  bearing 
surface  some  ten  inches  in  diameter  ;  the 
power  of  a  single  man  is  sufficient  to  oscil- 
late the  enormous  mass,  which  indeed,  is 
often  swayed  by  the  wind. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Cambrial  Colchos  (Vol.  v,  p.  28). — In 
response  to  the  query  of  Kilmain  as  to  the 
above,  I  find  in  Sir  Richard  Bonnycastle's 
"History  of  Newfoundland  "  the  following 
reference  :  "  In  1618,  Captain  Whitborne,  to 
whom  Newfoundland  is  so  deeply  indebted, 
again  visited  it,  to  increase  a  small  colony 
of  which  he  was  made  Governor,  which  had 
been  sent  out  by  Dr.  Vaughn,  a  Welsh  gen- 
tleman in  1616,  who  had  purchased  part  of 
Lord  Northampton's  patent.  Mhis  settle- 
ment was  called  Cambroil,  and  was  on  that 
part  of  the  south  coast  now  named  Little 
Britain."  THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Mahot. — This  word  is  given  in  some  of 
the  dictionaries  as  the  name  of  an  American 
tree.  Will  such  correspondents  as  are 
interested  in  these  matters  please  send  any 
information  they  may  possess  about  either 
the  tree  or  the  word  ?  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  7,  1890. 


Norumbega  (Vol.  v,  pp.  27,  etc.). — If 
Prof.  Horsford's  opinion  be  correct  that 
Norumbega  means  Norway,  and  that  the 
Norwegians  had  settlements  at  various  points 
in  Eastern  New  England,  why  may  there 
not  have  been  two  towns  called  Norumbega? 
By  this  hypothesis  we  could  harmonize  the 
facts  which  seem  to  point  to  a  Norumbega 
in  Massachusetts  with  those  which  would 
tend  to  confirm  the  view  that  there  was  a 
Norumbega  on  the  Penobscot.  Prof.  Hors- 
ford  cites  (p.  16)  from  Vetromile  the  fact 
that  the  name  of  Nolambeghe  is  known  or 
preserved  among  the  Maine  Indians  of  the 
present  time.  J.  F.  ROUTH. 

NEW  YORK. 

Gulf  of  the  Lion. — This  important  and 
large  bight  on  the  South  coast  of  France  is 
called  the  Gulf  of  Lyons  on  the  older  maps, 
and  Gulf  of  the  Lion  in  most  of  the  more 
recent  publications.  What  is  the  reason  for 
this  change  of  name  ?  I  have  not  as  yet  seen 
an  explanation  which  seemed  to  me  to  be 
adequate.  F.  C.  R. 

PEORIA,  ILL. 

Losh. — In  "fencing  the  tables"  (that 
is,  reptlling  unworthy  persons  from  the 
sacrament),  a  minister  of  Dumfries  is  re- 
corded to  have  forbidden  the  approach  of 
all  who  used  minced  oaths,  such  as  "  heth, 
teth,  feth,  losh,  gosh  and  lovenenty." 
Most  of  these  "strange  oaths"  are  inex- 
plicable to  me,  but  I  heard  a  gentleman  not 
long  since  say  that  he  witnessed  a  game  of 
ball  played  by  a  parcel  of  young  seminarians 
of  a  Roman  Catholic  school,  and  when  a 
bad  play  was  made  they  would  cry  out 
"Losh!"  This  he  thought  was  the  French 
Idche,  which  means  slack,  loose,  and  comes 
near  the  word  muff'm  its  significance. 

A.  L.  R. 

CHESTER,  PA. 

"The"  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  iv,  pp. 
168,  etc.). — I  find  the  expression  "The 
Greenland  in  "  The  Interpreter,  wherein 
the  principal  Terms  of  State,  much  mis- 
taken by  the  vulgar,  are  clearly  unfolded" 
(a  poem,  1622). 

R.  A.  D. 

HARRISBURG. 


Swift  and  Slow. — Sivijt,  as  a  name  for 
an  eft,  newt,  or  salamander,  is  a  word  very 
well  known  in  country  places.  I  have  heard 
country-folk  comparing  the  swift  and  the 
slow,  and  setting  forth  their  points  of  differ- 
ence.  The  slow  is,  I  suppose,  the  slow- 
worm,  which  is  not,  however,  a  native  of 
America.  My  recollection  is  that  country- 
folk generally  have  a  great  dread  of  both 
these  creatures,  and  ascribe  to  them  great 
malevolence  and  power  to  work  mischief. 
SALEM,  N.  J.  S.  A.  E. 

American  and  English  Names  for 
Marshy  Tracts. — Marsh  is  the  standard 
English  name ;  moss  is  used  in  North 
Britain  ;  bog  mainly  in  Ireland.  Meadow, 
in  New  England,  is  a  semi-swampy  tract. 
In  the  South  there  are  pocosons  and  dismals, 
low  hammocks  and  swammocks  ;  to  say  noth- 
ing of  such  great  expanses  as  the  Okefenokee 
swamp,  the  everglades  of  Florida  (called 
glades\r\  the  "  U.  S.  Coast-Survey  Report"), 
and  the  prairies  tremblantes  of  Louisiana. 
Swales,  sloughs,  cripples  and  galls,  are  much 
smaller  than  swamps  or  marshes.  A  ridge 
of  dry  land  (running  through  a  swamp)  is 
called  a  brulee  in  the  Southwest.  Marish, 
for  marsh,  is  now  a  purely  poetic  form.  A 
savanna  is  not  always  wet  land.  The  Dutch 
vley,  for  a  semi-lacustrine  swamp,  becomes  a 
fly  in  New  York.  Even  the  North  Asiatic 
name  tundra  (for  a  vast  sphagnous  swamp, 
underlain  even  in  summer  by  ice),  has  been 
imported  into  the  geographical  literature  of 
Alaska  and  Northern  Canada. 

R.  STOCKHAM  CAPEN. 
PORTSMOUTH,  O. 

Triumphs  of  Oriana. — The  following 
are  the  authors  of  the  poetical  pieces  in- 
cluded in  Thomas  Morley's  collection,  "  The 
Triumphs  of  Oriana"  (1601) :  Michael 
Este,  Daniel  Norcome,  John  Mundy,  Ellis 
Gibbons,  John  Benet,  John  Hilton,  George 
Marson,  Richard  Carlton,  John  Holmes, 
Richard  Nicolson,  Thomas  Tomkins, 
Michael  Cavendish,  William  Cobbold, 
Thomas  Morley,  John  Farmer,  John  Wilby, 
Thomas  Weelkes,  John  Milton  (senior), 
George  Kirbye,  Robert  Jones,  John  Lisley, 
Thomas  Morley  and  Edward  Johnson. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL.  C.  T.  ORMELL. 


June  7,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Creek  (Vol.  v,  pp.  55,  etc.).— "To  the 
southward  of  this  poulder  (polder)  bulwark 
the  country  is  broken  by  many  creeks  not 
passable  nor  habitable  for  an  army,  but  by 
forced  means ;  and  in  spring  tides  for  the 
most  part  overflown  "  (Sir  F.  Vere's  "  Com- 
mentaries" [1606?]:  "The  Siege  of  Os- 
tend  ").  Here  creek  would  seem  to  signify  a 
marshy  ground.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Nomenclature  of  Streams  (Vol.  v,  p. 
54). — Run  is  considerably  used  in  New  Eng- 
land for  a  small  runnel,  rill,  or  rivulet. 
Rillet  is  another  old  English  name  for  a 
little  stream ;  and  so  are  drill  and  riveref. 
Runlet  occurs  in  the  "  In  Memoriam."  A 
slough,  in  the  West,  is  much  the  same  as  a 
swale  in  the  East ;  and  I  think  it  is  not  un- 
like what  is  called  a  gall  in  the  Gulf  States. 
Kill  designates  not  only  a  tidal  channel, 
but,  as  in  the  cases  of  Wallkill  and  Fishkill, 
it  may  be  a  part  of  the  name  of  a  small  river. 
A  cripple,  I  think,  is  a  bushy  swale.  Cooley 
(for  coulee)  is  used  in  Dakota  for  a  dried- 
up  river-bed— almost  precisely  like  an 
Arabian  wady  ;  but  a  wady  may  be  a  river 
as  well.  Slang,  a  watercourse,  I  believe, 
is  purely  local.  In  the  east  of  England  we 
find  learns  also  ;  are  they  artificial  ? 

RALPH  W.  TRUMAN. 

CONNEAUT,  O. 

Good  Old  Etymologies. — There  are 
some  choice  old  derivations  which  the 
modern  scientific  school  of  etymologists 
hold  in  contempt,  but  which  are  so  ingen- 
ious, so  pat,  or  so  pleasing  as  to  be  worthy 
of  being  held  in  remembrance,  and  if  we 
must  lay  them  aside,  let  it  be  with  regrets. 
Among  them  is  that  of  the  word  antelope. 
This  comes  from  the  Greek  antholops,  which 
ought  to  mean,  and  might  well  mean, 
"flower-eyed,"  and  thus  be  descriptive  of 
the  eyes  of  the  gazelle ;  but  according  to 
the  latest  authority,  Prof.  Land,  it  is  an 
Egyptian  name  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  animal's  eyes.  Next,  to  take  a  less 
picturesque  example,  let  us  look  at  the  word 
swill,  meaning  swine's  food.  In  my  boy- 
hood I  was  told  that  it  was  from  the  Latin 
suillus,  pertaining  to  swine.  That  would 
make  an  easy  and  complete  explanation,  but 


hardly  one  of  the  recent  etymologists 
will  so  much  as  notice  it.  Very  ludicrous  is 
the  old  derivation  of  the  Dutch-English 
eland,  an  elk-like  antelope,  and  of  the  Ger- 
man elenn,  an^elk,  from  the  German  elend, 
miserable,  because  of  the  wretchedly  un- 
happy life  which  the  elk  leads  ;  but  there  are 
respectable  English  and  German  authors 
who  keep  on  repeating  the  absurd  explana- 
tion. A  very  delightful,  but  quite  errone- 
ous, derivation  is  that  of  flute  from  the 
Latin  fluta,  a  lamprey,  so  called,  according 
to  an  old  fancy,  because  the  lamprey  has 
flute-like  holes  along  its  neck.  The  old 
books  say  that  the  eyry  of  a  bird  of  prey  is- 
simply  the  fggery ;  but  there  is  no  founda- 
tion-for  this  opinion.  A  coward  was  for- 
merly regarded  as  a  man  who  had  been 
cowed,  or  frightened ;  but  the  word  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  verb  to  cow.  The 
old  derivation  of  poltroon  from  the  Latin 
pollice  truncus,  deprived  of  a  thumb,  is  en- 
tirely unhistorical.  Miniature  has  no  con- 
nection with  minus,  smaller,  nor  with 
diminish;  it  comes  from  minium,  red  lead. 
Nor  has  jubilee  anything  to  do  with  the 
*Lati.\\jubilare,  to  rejoice. 

B.  T.  THOMAS. 
BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

Hindu  and  Bengali  "Words  Akin  to 
Those  in  English  Use. —  Chuddah,  a 
kind  of  cloth,  stands  for  the  Hindu  chadar, 
a  scarf,  sheet,  or  shawl,  worn  by  Orientals. 

The  Bengali  sitar  (cf.  cithara,  zither)  is  a 
kind  of  guitar. 

The  tampura  seems  to  be  related  to  our 
tambour. 

The  Eastern  behala  is  our  viol.  With  the 
Oriental  mandira  compare  our  mandolin. 

The  tasar,  or  wild  silk,  becomes  tussore 
in  our  shops. 

The  New  York  and  New  Jersey  boys' 
game  hunkadee  suggests  the  nun-kuti  of  the 
Calcutta  boys.  Pachisi  is  our  parchesi  (see 
Vol.  iv,  pp.  131,  200).  Kati  and  c him  are 
not  unlike  our  boys'  games  cat  and  shinny. 

At  cards,  our  king  is  the  Hindu's  raja,  or 
shah;  our  queen,  his  wazir  or  vizier;  our 
ace  is  his  eka  ;  deuce,  dua ;  tray,  tiya  ;  four, 
chawa;  five,  pan/a;  six,  chhaka ;  seven, 
sata  ;  eight,  atha;  nine,  nahla  ;  ten,  dahla. 
He  has  no  knave,  but  he  has  eight  suits  of 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  7,  1890. 


cards.  Of  foods,  his  sakar  is  our  sugar  ;  our 
orange  is  his  narangi ;  we  use  his  chutney 
(chatni),  and  our  candy  is  the  khandava  of 
his  ancestors.  Our  rice  is  indirectly  the 
arisi  of  the  South  Indians.  Our  children 
wear  the  Hindu's  paijamas ;  our  cow  is  his 
ghau  ;  our  lilacs  are  named  from  his  nilak, 
or  purple.  The  true  Hindu  is  of  our  Aryan 
race,  and  the  Dards  of  the  Northwest  speak 
not  so  very  far  amiss  when  they  call  the 
English  their  brothers. 

ILDERIM. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  p. 
58,  etc.). — If  W.  J.  R.  means  to  say  that  in 
the  Mary  Howitt  quotation  the  construction 
"  a  part  (of  the  water)  sings  in  the  kettle  " 
is  ungrammatical  or  inconsistent  with  the 
grammar  of  the  rest  of  the  stanza  I  cannot 
agree  with  him.  If  he  means  to  say  that  it 
fails  to  express  exactly  the  facts  in  the  sup 
posed  case  I  cannot  agree  with  him,  but  if 
he  means  to  say  that  it  is  a  heavy  and 
wooden  construction  I  fully  agree  with  him. 
As  for  rhetorical  rules,  they  are  constantly 
set  aside  by  all  the  poets.  \V.  J.  R.'s  idea 
that  Mary  sings  a  musical  part  in  a  kettle 
seems  singularly  grotesque.  Far  better,  I 
venture  to  think,  would  it  be  to  say  that 
Mary  sings  the  water — that  is,  makes  it  sing. 
We  say,  "Captain  Nelson  fought  his  ship 
splendidly."  That  is  a  very  similar  figure 
of  speech,  and  one  of  which  many  examples 
could  be  found.  The  editorial  caution  to 
the  inquiring  pupil  to  be  of  the  same  opin- 
ion still,  but  not  to  contend  for  that  opinion, 
seems  to  me  a  wise  one.  Real  or  seeming 
bumptiousness  on  the  part  of  a  pupil  is  not 
only  unseemly,  but  unwise,  for  many  school- 
teachers are  quite  capable  of  punishing  an 
apparently  opinionated  child  by  low  marks, 
or  by  other  retaliatory  acts  for  which  there 
is  no  redress.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Camelot  (Vol.  v,  pp.  28,  etc.). — The 
June  number  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  1890, 
contains  a  delightful  article  called  "  An  Ar- 
thurian Journey,"  in  which  the  author  dis- 
cusses several  identifications  of  Camelot. 
The  account  of  the  visit  to  Queen's  Camel, 
in  Somerset,  is  very  interesting,  but  is  too 


long  to  quote  entire,  and  to  mutilate  it 
would  be  to  spoil  it.  Reluctantly,  the 
writer  seems  compelled  to  give  up  Queen's 
Camel  as  not  suiting  the  conditions  of  the 
Arthurian  legends.  He  more  hastily  dis- 
misses Winchester.  Camelford,  in  Cornwall, 
another  proposed  site,  was  also  visited. 
Westminster,  or  London  itself,  is  also 
claimed  as  the  true  Camelot.  The  article 
makes  no  reference  to  Camelodunum,  or 
Colchester,  in  Essex  ;  but  that  place  very 
early  became  Saxon,  and  there  is  really 
nothing  but  the  name  and  the  situation  on 
a  navigable  river  to  favor  the  identification. 
The  writer  of  the  article  evidently  looks 
upon  Arthur  and  Camelot  as  realities,  and  I 
cannot  help  sympathizing  with  his  views  in 
this  respect. 

ILDERIM. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Century  for  June  contains  among  other  interest- 
ing articles  another  paper  by  Charles  de  Kay  of  his 
series  on  Ireland,  from  which  we  quote  as  follows: 
"  War-cries,  meant  originally  to  keep  the  fighting  men 
aware  of  the  place  of  their  own  clan  in  battle,  or  when 
scattered  in  woods  and  hills,  came  down  to  the  baronial 
period,  and  were  used  by  the  Anglo-Norman  nobles  out 
of  consideration  tor  their  Gaelic  retainers.  The  com- 
monest shout  was  some  name  of  famous  place  or  famous 
man  with  the  addition  aboo,  a  word  well  fitted  for  the 
clamor  of  a  band  of  fighters,  being  at  once  more  musi- 
cal and  less  wearying  to  the  voice  than  our  '  hurrah.' 
The  Kildare  retainers  cried  '  Crotn  aboo  t '  in  honor  of 
Crom  Castle,  a  citadel  in  Limerick  county,  originally  a 
stronghold  of  the  O' Donovans,  which  one  of  the  intru- 
sive Geraldine  families,  named  after  the  town  of  Kil- 
dare, occupied  while  turning  Irish.  The  O'Neills  cried 
out,  '  Lawv  dareg  aboo  !  '  because  the  Lawv  dareg  or 
Red  Hand  was  the  badge  of  the  family  and  clan.  The 
O'Briens  cried,  '  Lawv  Lalder  /  '  or  '  Laudir  aboo  I'  or 
1  Strong  Hand  Aboo !  '  The  translator  of  Geoffrey 
Keating's  '  History  of  Ireland  '  suggests  as  the  mean- 
ing of  aboo  the  Irish  word  booa,  victory  ;  but  analogy 
would  point  rather  to  boa  (beotha),  lively,  awake,  spir- 
ited ;  when  aboo  would  be  an  exclamation  like  the 
French  alerte !  and  vlve  I  A  parallel  in  Irish  is  the 
well-known  Erin  go  bra!  'Erin  till  judgment  day !' 
where  go  bra,  forever,  implies  the  same  idea  of  living 
which  the  word  beotha  actually  contains,  since  the  lat- 
ter is  the  Keltic  equivalent  of  Greek  bios.  '  Yabul'  is 
the  exclamation  of  Tatar  horsemen  when  urging  their 
steeds  forward.  While  on  this  topic  it  may  be  in- 
teresting to  note  that  this  Irish  word,  or  its  Welsh 
equivalent  yu  byw,  corrupted  to  boo  and  boh,  is  found 
in  our  colloquial  expression,  '  He  doesn't  dare  say  boo 
too  a  goose ;'  in  other  words,  he  is  too  cowardly  to 
sound  his  war-cry  in,  the  presence  of  the  most  peaceful 
of  creatures." " 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  : — Whipping  as  a  Punishment,  73 — Proverbs  of  the 
Sea — Rappacini's  Daughter,  75. 

QUERIES:— Name  Wanted— First  Pope  to  Wear  a  Beard- 
Blind  as  a  Beetle,  76— Luck  of  Edenhall,  77. 

REPLIES:— Whiffle-tree— Name  Wanted— State  of  Franklin 
— Primuiste— Bath  of  Blood,  77— Kill  van  Kull,  78. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Town  Bank,  78 
—The  Empire  State — Schamir— Bilsted — Decoration  Day — 
Dropping- Wells,  79. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— John  Dory— Resolute,  79— Charac- 
teristics of  Nations — Cockney,  80 — Legends  of  the  Rose,  81 
—Palace  of  Forty  Pillars— Abaca — Icta — Angelas —Names 
of  Cities,  82 — Question  in  Grammar,  83 — Shamrock — Vica- 
rious Justice— Leading  Apes  in  Hell— Manatee— Maize,  84. 


WHIPPING  ASA  PUNISHMENT. 

The  first  mention  of  whipping  as  a  pun- 
ishment occurs  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  Exo- 
dus, where  we  find  that  Pharaoh  whipped 
the  officers  of  the  Israelites  when  they  did 
not  furnish  the  required  number  of  bricks 
which  they  were  compelled  to  make  every 
day. 

In  ancient  times  the  Romans  carried 
whipping  as  a  punishment  farther  than  any 
other  nation,  and  their  judges  were  sur- 
rounded with  an  array  of  divers  kinds  of 
whips  well  calculated  to  affright  the  offender 
who  might  be  brought  before  them.  The 
mildest  form  of  whip  was  a  flat  leather  strap 
called  the  ferula,  and  one  of  the  most  se- 
vere was  the  flagellum,  which  was  made  of 
plaited  ox-hide  and  almost  as  hard  as  iron. 


74 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  14,  1890. 


Not  only  was  flagellation  in  various  forms 
used  as  a  judicial  punishment,  but  it  was 
also  a  common  practice  to  punish  slaves  by 
the  same  means.  The  Roman  ladies  were 
greater  offenders  and  even  more  given  to  the 
practice  of  whipping  their  slaves  than  the 
men,  for  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Adrian 
a  Roman  lady  was  banished  for  five  years  for 
undue  cruelty  to  her  slaves.  The  practice  of 
whipping  was  in  fact  so  prevalent  that  it 
furnished  Plautus,  in  several  cases,  with  inci- 
dents for  his  plots.  Thus,  in  his  "  Epicidus, ' ' 
a  slave,  who  is  the  principal  character  in 
the  play,  concludes  that  his  master  has  dis- 
covered'all  his  schemes  since  he  saw  him  in 
the  morning  purchasing  a  new  scourge  at 
the  shop  where  they  were  sold. 

From  ancient  times  the  use  of  whipping 
can  be  traced  through  the  middle  ages  down 
to,  comparatively  speaking,  more  modern 
times,  when  it  is  easier  to  find  records  of  the 
use  of  the  rod. 

In  Queen  Elizabeth's  time  the  whipping- 
post was  an  established  institution  in  almost 
every  village  in  England,  the  municipal 
records  of  the  time  informing  us  that  the 
usual  fee  to  the  executioner  for  administer- 
ing the  punishment  was  "  four-pence  a  head." 
In  addition  to  whipping  being  thought  an 
excellent  corrective  for  crime,  the  authori- 
ties of  a  certain  town  in  Huntingdonshire 
must  have  considered  the  use  of  the  lash  as 
a  sort  of  universal  specific  as  well,  for  the 
corporation  records  of  this  town  mention 
that  they  paid  eight-pence  "  to  Thomas 
Hawkins  for  whipping  two  people  y'  had 
the  small-pox." 

In  France  and  Holland  whipping  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  so  generally  practiced. 
The  last  woman  who  was  publicly  whipped 
in  France  by  judicial  decree  was  Jeanne  St. 
Remi  de  Valois,  Comtesse  de  la  Motte,  for 
her  share  in  the  abstraction  of  that  diamond 
necklace  which  has  given  point  to  so  many 
stories. 

In  connection  with  the  history  of  flagella- 
tion in  France  may  be  mentioned  the  cus- 
tom which  prevailed  there  (and  also  in  Italy) 
in  olden  times  of  ladies  visiting  their  ac- 
quaintances while  still  in  bed  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  "  Festival  of  the  Innocents,"  and 
whipping  them  for  any  injuries,  either  real 
or  fancied,  which  the  victims  may  have  done 


to  the  fair  flagellants  during  the  past  year. 
One  of  the  explanations  given  for  the  rise  of 
this  practice  is  as  follows:  On  that  day  it 
was  the  custom  to  whip  up  children  in  the 
morning,  "that  the  memory  of  Herod's 
murder  of  the  innocents  might  stick  the 
closer,  and  in  a  moderate  proportion  to  act 
the  crueltie  again  in  kinde."  There  is  a 
story  based  upon  this  practice  in  the  tales  of 
the  Queen  of  Navarre. 

Among  the  Eastern  nations  the  rod  in 
various  forms  plays  a  prominent  part,  and 
from  what  we  read  China  might  be  said  to 
be  almost  governed  by  it.  Japan  is  singu- 
larly free  from  the  practice  of  whipping,  but 
makes  up  for  it  by  having  a  remarkably  san- 
guinary criminal  code. 

Russia  is,  however,  par  excellence  a  home 
of  the  whip  and  the  rod,  the  Russians  hav- 
ing been  governed  from  time  immemorial 
by  the  use  of  the  lash. 

Many  of  the  Russian  monarchs  were 
adepts  in  the  use  of  the  whip,  and  were  also 
particularly  ingenious  in  making  things  un- 
pleasant for  those  around  them.  Catherine 
II  was  so  particularly  fond  of  this  variety  of 
punishment  (which  she  often  administered 
in  person),  that  it  amounted  almost  to  a  pas- 
sion with  her.  It  is  related  that  she  carried 
this  craze  so  far  that  one  time  the  ladies  of 
the  court  had  to  come  to  the  Winter  Palace 
with  their  dresses  so  adjusted  that  the  Em- 
press could  whip  them  at  once  if  she  should 
feel  so  inclined. 

While  the  instruments  of  torture  used  in 
Russia  were  of  great  variety,  the  most  for- 
midable "  punisher"  was  the  knout,  an  in- 
strument of  Tartar  origin  and  of  which  de- 
scriptions differ.  In  its  ordinary  form  it 
appears  to  be  a  heavy  leather  thong,  about 
eight  feet  in  length,  attached  to  a  handle 
two  feet  long,  the  lash  being  concave,  thus 
making  two  sharp  edges  along  its  entire 
length,  and  when  it  fell  on  the  criminal's 
back  it  would  cut  him  like  a  flexible  double- 
edged  sword.  "Running  the  gauntlet" 
was  also  employed  but  principally  in  the 
army.  In  this  the  offender  had  to  pass 
through  a  long  lane  of  soldiers,  each  of  whom 
gave  the  offender  a  stroke  with  a  pliant 
switch.  Peter  the  Great  limited  the  number 
of  blows  to  be  given  to  twelve  thousand,  but 
unless  it  were  intended  to  kill  the  victim, 


June  14,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


75 


they  seldom  gave  more  than  two  thousand 
at  a  time.  When  the  offender  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  greater  number  of  strokes  than 
this,  the  punishment  was  extended  over  sev- 
eral days  for  the  reason  above  stated. 

Whipping,  after  dropping  out  of  sight  for 
a  time  in  England,  was  reintroduced  in 
England  in  1867,  in  order  to  put  a  check 
on  crimes  of  violence.  The  law  was  so 
framed  that  the  judges  might  add  flogging 
at  discretion  to  the  imprisonment  to  which 
the  offenders  were  also  sentenced.  The 
first  instance  of  this  punishment  being  used 
was  at  Leeds,  where  two  men  received 
twenty-five  lashes  each  before  entering  their 
five  and  ten  years'  penal  servitude  for  garot- 
ting.  The  whip  used  in  this  instance  was 
the  cat-o'-nine-tails. 

The  whipping-post  is  also  still  used  in 
some  parts  of  this  country,  notably  at  New 
Castle,  Delaware,  where  the  "cat"  is  still 
administered  for  minor  offenses.  Judging 
from  a  whipping  that  the  writer  once  wit- 
nessed it  appears  to  be  a  very  mild  form  of 
punishment.  W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


PROVERBS  OF  THE  SEA. 

The  sea  refuses  no  river. 

The  ocean  is  made  up  of  small  drops. 

It  is  a  great  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

It  is  but  a  stone's  throw  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea. 

He  that  would  sail  without  danger  must 
never  come  on  the  main  sea. 

He  sets  his  sail  to  every  wind. 

Hoist  your  sail  when  the  wind  is  fair. 

Being  at  sea,  sail ;  being  on  land,  settle. 

He  who  goes  to  sea  must  sail  or  sink. 

It  is  easy  to  sail  with  wind  and  tide. 

A  big  ship  needs  deep  water. 

A  mariner  must   have  his  eyes  on  rocks 
and  sand  as  well  as  the  North  Star. 

He  that  will  not  sail  till'  all  dangers  are 
over,  will  never  put  to  sea. 

He  that  will  not  sail  till  he  have  fair  wind, 
will  lose  many  a  voyage. 

Many  grains  of  sand  will  sink  a  ship. 

Better  lose  an  anchor  than  a  ship. 

With  broken  rudder  the  vessel  is  soon  lost. 

He  who  can  steer  need  not  row. 

The  first  in  the  boat  can  choose  his  oar. 


Ill  goes  the  boat  without  oars. 

To  have  an  oar  in  every  man's  barge. 

Good  riding  at  two  anchors  men  have  told, 

For  if  one  fail,  the  other  will  hold. 

Do  not  trust  all  in  the  same  boat. 

Too  many  sailors  will  sink  a  ship. 

Ships  fear  fire  more  than  water. 

To  cast  water  in  the  sea. 

He  cannot  find  water  in  the  sea. 

He  seeks  water  in  the  sea. 

Helping  the  unworthy  is  throwing  water 
in  the  sea. 

As  true  as  the  sea  burns. 

As  welcome  as  water  in  a  leaky  ship. 

The  water  that  supports  the  ship  is  the 
same  that  sinks  it. 

Large  fish  live  in  deep  waters. 

By  the  small  boat  one  reaches  the  ship. 

Who  embarks  with  the  devil,  must  sail 
with  him. 

The  soul  is  the  ship,  the  mind  is  the  rud- 
der, the  thoughts  are  the  oars,  and  truth  is 
the  port. 

Women  are  ships  and  must  be  manned. 

A  ship  and  a  woman  always  want  trim- 
ming. 

A  ship  and  a  woman  are  always  repairing. 

Give  a  woman  luck  and  cast  her  into  the 
sea. 

Who  won't  be  ruled  by  rudder  must  be 
ruled  by  rock. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


RAPPACCINI'S  DAUGHTER. 

THE  POISON-MAID,  OR  BISHA-KANYA,  OF  INDIA. 
(VOL.  ii,  P.  169.) 

In  the  famous  Hindu  story  of  the  two 
kings,  Nanda  and  Chandragupta,  the 
Poison-maid  is  referred  to  as  the  means  by 
which  Chanakya,  a  sort  of  Hindu  Macchi- 
avel,  being  prime  minister,  rids  the  country 
of  Nanda,  and  elevates  Chandragupta  to 
the  throne  of  the  Punjaub. 

The  personages  and  events  of  this  story 
are  a  part  of  history,  and  relate  to  a  period 
either  contemporary  with  Alexander's  con- 
quests in  India,  or  immediately  subsequent 
to  them. 

The  Hindu  historical  drama,  "  Mudra- 
Rakshasa;  or,  The  Signet  of  the  Minister," 
is  based  upon  this  story,  and  (although  the 


76 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  14,  1890. 


Poison-maid  is  neither  seen  nor  heard  in  the 
play)  contains  several  references  to  this  ven- 
omous creature. 

One  of  Rakshasa's  agents  says  to  him : 

"  You  then 

Departed  to  maintain  the  realm  of  Xanda 
In  other  provinces,  devising  means 
Intended  Chandragupta  to  remove; 
Which  failing  him,  the  mountain  king  destroyed." 

(Act  ii,  p.  180.) 

The  "  means"  spoken  of  in  the  foregoing 
lines  prove,  later  in  the  drama,  to  be  the 
Poison-maid,  as  is  shown  by  the  words  of 
Jivasiddhi,  the  religious  mendicant,  who 
tells  Rakshasa  that  he  is  threatened  with 
banishment,  and  gives  as  a  reason  : 

"  That  he  supplied, 

Employed  by  you  the  poisoned  emissary 
That  killed  Parvataka." 

(Actii,  p.  185.) 

Jiva.  makes  this  statement : 

"  Dwelling  at  Patatiputra,  I  concluded, 
Though  poor,  an  intimacy  with  Rakshasa, 
At  the  same  season  when  his  craft  employed 
The  Poison-maid,  his  secret  instrument, 
To  work  the  murder  of  the  mountain  king." 

(Act  v,  p.  221.) 

Jiva.  in  same  conversation  : 

"To  this  hour  Chanakya 

Knows  not  the  venomed  maid  even  by  name." 
(H.W.Wilson's  "  Theatre  of  the  Hindus,"  Vol.ii.) 

The  introduction  to  the  drama  contains 
the  following  direct  statement:  "Rakshasa 
(the  friend  of  Nanda)  prepared  by  magic  art 
a  poisoned  maid  for  the  destruction  of  Chan- 
dragupta, but,  by  mistake  of  the  emissary, 
Parvatesa  perished  instead." 

The  story  appears  in  the  "  Vishnu-Pura- 
rias"  and  in  the  "  Bhagavadgita;"  it  is  told, 
too,  in  both  ancient  and  modern  collections 
of  Indian  tales,  perhaps  with  a  change  of 
names.  The  murder  of  Nanda,  through 
Chanakya's  contrivance,  is  instanced  as  a 
warning  to  the  king  in  the  "Hitopadesa  :" 
"Let  the  parrot  see  this  and  depart,  since 
Chanakya  by  employing  a  sagacious  messen- 
ger destroyed  Nanda"  (Book  "On  War"). 

The  words  translated  by  Sir  Wm.  Jones, 
"  sagacious  messenger"  are  elsewhere  "  fatal 
emissary."  May  he  not  have  found  in  an- 
cient Hindu  literature  the  source  whence 
the  compilers  of  "The  Gesla  Romanorum" 
drew  their  most  powerful  illustration  of  the 
destructive  force  of  sin  ?  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


B  S. 


Name  Wanted. — When  asked  what  he 
thought  of  the  next  world,  who  answered  : 
"  Wait ;  I  will  tell  you  later  when  I  see  you 
there?"  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Demonax,  an  Athenian  philosopher,  who 
lived  in  the  second  century  of  our  era. 

First  Pope  to  Wear  a  Beard. — Can  you 

tell  me  if  any  of  the  Popes  ever  wore  beards, 
and  who  was  the  first  one  to  do  so? 

W.  E.  S. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Julius  II  was  the  first  Pope  who  ever  wore 
a  beard.  He  did  so  in  order  to  inspire 
greater  respect  among  the  faithful.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  famous  of  all  the  Popes, 
and  the  founder  of  the  Church  of  St.  Peter 
at  Rome. 

"  Blind  as  a  Beetle."— What  is  the  origin 
of  this  phrase  ?  MRS.  E.  F. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

This  simile  was  no  doubt  suggested  by  the 
behavior  of  the  cockchafer  {Melolontha  vul- 
garis),  sometimes  called  the  "blind  bee- 
tle," which  has  a  disagreeable  way  of  bump- 
ing against  persons  and  things  as  if  it  could 
not  see  its  way.  There  is  another  so-called 
"blind  beetle,"  which  is  actually  destitute 
of  eyes.  It  is  described  as  "a  small  chest- 
nut-colored beetle,  found  in  rice." 

It  may  be  noted,  however,  that  many  of 
these  vulgar  similes  will  hardly  bear  critical 
analysis.  They  are  often  contradictory; 
like  "  working  like  a  dog"  and  "  lazy  as  a 
dog,"  to  quote  a  single  pair.  They  were 
ridiculed  more  than  three  hundred  years 
ago  by  Taylor,  the  Water-poet,  in  his  "  Dogge 
of  Warre."  He  says:  "Many  ridiculous 
aspersions  are  cast  upon  Dogges,  so  that  it 
would  make  a  Dogge  laugh  to  heare  and  un- 
derstand them.  As  I  have  heard  a  Man 
say,  I  am  as  hot  as  a  Dogge,  or  as  cold  as  a 
Dogge,  I  sweate  like  a  Dogge  (when  a  Dogge 
never  sweates),  as  drunke  as  a  Dogge,  hee 
swore  like  a  Dogge,  and  one  told  a  man 
nnce,  That  his  Wife  was  not  to  be  believ'd, 


June  14,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


for  she  would  lye  like  a  Dogge."  In  "The 
Tempest"  (iii,  2,  22),  Trinculo  says,  "but 
you'll  lie  like  dogs;"  and  in  "i  Henry 
IV"  (ii,  i,  8),  the  Carrier  declares  that 
"peas  and  beans  are  as  dank  [damp]  here 
as  a  dog"  (W.  J.  R.,  in  New  Eng.  Jour. 
of  Education]. 

Luck  of  Edenhall.  —  What  circumstance 
gave  rise  to  the  expression,  or  what  legend 
is  wrapped  up  in  "The  Luck  of  Edenhall  ?" 

M.  ARMEJO. 
SILVER  CITY,  N.  M. 

See  AM.  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol.  ii,  p. 
257- 


It  B  P  Li  I  B  S  . 

Whiffle-tree,  or  Whipple-tree.  —  Is  it  possi- 
ble that  this  name  is  derived  from  the  wipul, 
a  name  formerly  used  in  England  of  the 
tree  now  called  the  dogwood  ? 

TROIS  ETOILES. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Name  Wanted  (Vol.  v,  p.  64).  —  The  story 
related  by  "Quaerens"  is  told,  in  substance, 
of  Frederick  the  Great.  I  do  not  remember 
who  the  offender  was.  The  offender,  I 
think,  was  not  a  general  but  a  staff-officer, 
whose  duties  throughout  the  day  gave  him 
no  leisure  for  letter-writing;  and  he  had 
only  delayed  the  extinguishment  of  his  light 
for  a  minute  or  so  in  order  to  finish  a  short 
letter.  E.  H.  E. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 

Frederick  the  Great.  H.  P.,  JR. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

The  incident  related  by  "  Quserens"  is 
told  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  but  I  cannot 
recollect  the  battle  —  Jena  or  Austerlitz.  It 
is  authentic,  if  adoption  by  a  host  of  Napo- 
leonic chroniqueurs  makes  it  so. 

J.  O.  G.  D. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

T  In  the  first  Silesian  war  Frederick  the 
Great,  being  desirous  of  making  some 
changes  in  his  camp  during  the  night,  or- 
dered that  no  light  should  be  burning  after 


a  certain  hour,  under  penalty  of  death. 
Passing  round  the  camp  himself,  to  see  that 
his  order  was  obeyed,  he  discovered  a  can- 
dle burning  in  the  tent  of  Captain  Zietern, 
who  excused  himself  by  saying  that  he  was 
writing  a  letter  to  his  wife.  Frederick  re- 
minded him  of  the  order,  and  Zietern  begged 
for  mercy,  but  could  not  deny  his  fault. 
The  stern  commander  ordered  him  to  sit 
down,  and  write  from  his  dictation  the  sen- 
tence :  "To-morrow  I  shall  perish  on  a 
scaffold."  The  captain  wrote  it,  and  was 
executed  the  next  day.  E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  Pa. 

State  of  Frank/in  (Vol.  v,  p.  66).— The 
State  of  Franklin  was  the  secession  of  the 
northwest  part  of  North  Carolina  (about 
1787).  H.  P.,  JR. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Part,  if  not  all,  of  the  Colony  of  Transyl- 
vania (see  my  "  Ohio  Valley  in  Colonial 
Days")  was  named  State  of  Franklin  after 
the  Revolution,  but  never  recognized  as  such, 
and  became  the  "  Southwest  Territory." 

B.  F. 
ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

Primuiste  (Vol.  v,  p.  53). — This  is  one  of 
the  oldest  games  at  cards,  better  known, 
perhaps,  as  primero.  In  this  game  the 
seven  was  the  highest  card  available,  in 
point  of  number,  which  counte.d  for  twenty ; 
the  six  for  eighteen  ;  the  five  for  fifteen,  and 
the  ace  for  the  same.  The  two,  three,  and 
four  counted  for  their  respective  points  only. 
A  citation  is  given  from  the  "  Rival  Friends" 
(1632):  "When  it  maybe  some  of  our  but- 
terfly judgments  expected  a  set  at  maw  or 
primavista  from  them."  Minshew,  speak- 
ing of  the  origin  of  the  name,  says :  "  That 
is,  first,  and  first  scene,  because  he  that  can 
shew  such  an  order  of  cardes  first  winnes  the 
game"  (Halliwell  &  Wrights'  ed.  "  Nares' 
Gloss.").  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Bath  of  Blood  (Vol.  iv,  p.  43). — Another 
"Bath  of  Blood"  was  the  massacre  of  the 
Huguenots  at  Vassy,  in  France,  in  1562,  at 
'the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Guise. 

IPSICO. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  14,  1890. 


Kill  van  Kull,  or,  better,  Kit  van  Kul  or  Cut 

(Vol.  v,  p.  65). — It  is  probably  needless  to 
say  that  Kit  is,  at  present,  the  current  word 
in  Dutch  for  a  channel.  The  original  mean- 
ing of  the  root  I  take  (subject  to  correction) 
to  have  been  slitting,  slicing  (akin,  perhaps, 
to  Lat.  coel  and  Greek  KoU ;  see  Ccela,  Vol. 
v,  p.  28).  Nor  have  I  far  to  look  for  sug- 
gestive cases  in  point :  N.  W.  of  the  Firth 
of  Clyde  the  Kyles  of  Bute  speak  for  them- 
selves, and  so  do  the  Gz0/-Isla,  the  Caol- 
Muileach,  and  others;  in  Swedish,  kil 
means  a  slice;  in  Germany  the  root  kehl 
denotes  a  narrow  pass,  and  it  seems  almost 
impossible  to  look  at  Kehl,  BergKehle,  Lang 
Kehle,  etc.,  without  thinking  of  some  possi- 
ble American  Kill,  Berg  Kil,  Long  Kil,  etc. 
That  such  a  root  should  gradually  be  applied 
to  a  channel,  to  the  water  running  through 
it,  and  to  small  rivers,  appears  but  natural 
(as  Mr.  R.  W.  Truman  remarks  in  this  morn- 
ing's AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  p.  71). 
An  old  "  Hollandisch-Deutsches  Worter- 
buch,"  which  I  have  accidentally  under  my 
eyes,  distinctly  defines  Kil:  die  Titfe  zwisch- 
tn  zwci  Sandbanken;  das  Flussbett,  das 
Wasser  desselben ;  and,  better  still,  Peter 
Stuyvesant,  reporting  his  own  trip  to  Esopus 
in  May,  1658,  tells  us  that  he  "arrived 
safely  at  the  kil  or  river  of  the  Esopus  on  the 
29th,"  and  afterwards  repeatedly  speaks  of 
"the  said  kil"  *  *  *  "entering  the 
kil».  *  *  *  "the  bank  of  the  kil,"  etc.* 

As  to  Kul  or  Cul,  it  can  hardly  be  aught 
else  but  the  well-nigh  cosmopolitan  root  cut, 
best  known  to  us  perhaps  through  the  Celtic 
Cul,  Cuil  (the  back,  a  recess,  a  bay),  and 
the  Latin  CWus  (the  back). 

Tourists  may  be  acquainted  with  Coolmore 
and  Coolbeg  (the  big  bay  and  the  little  one) 
in  Donegal  Bay,  and  Coolebawn  and  Cool- 
main,  not  far  west  of  the  Old  Head  of  Kin- 
sale  (God  bless  it !),  and  I  know  not  how 
many  Irish  readers  I  may  slight  if  I  omit  to 
mention  Culdaff,  Culmullen,  Cool,  Cul- 
Jcightrin,  Coolrainey,  Coolattin,  Cooleen 
(what  a  whiff  of  the  Tipperary  mountain  air 


*  As  I  spoke  of  the  Scotch  kyle,  I  may  seem  to  have 
forgotten  the  Irish  kill  (this  one  I  advisedly  spell  with 
//;  none  but  a  Sassenach  could  have  murdered  Cill- 
dara  into  AWdare!);  let  me  mention  that  all  the  Kills 
in  Ireland  are  by  competent  authorities  derived  either 
from  coill,  a  wood,  or  till,  a  church. 


about  this  one  !),  etc.  In  Scotland  every- 
body kncws  King  Charley's  Culloden;  and 
Culross,  Coolt,  and  Cult  are  as  common  as 
the  mist. 

From  the  Latin  Culus  we  have  the  unsa- 
vory French  word  to  which  we  owe  our  own 
verb  "  to  recoil"  (through  rzculer)  and  the 
plant  name  <rtf/<?rage.*  Thence,  also,  cul  de 
sac,  a  striking  use  of  which,  in  the  sense  of 
a  kul,  is  given  us  by  the  bay  actually  named 
Cul  de  Sac,  in  the  island  of  Martinique. 

The  Italian,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese  Culo 
I  need  no  more  than  mention. 

On  these  hypotheses,  Kil  van  Kul,  or,  in 
full,  Net  Kil  van  het  Kul,  would  simply 
mean  the  narrow  passage  of  or  from  the  bay. 
Si  quid  novistis  melius  istis,  etc. 


A.  ESTOCLET. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Kull  is  a  Dutchification  of  the  French 
word  cul,  as  found  in  cul  de  sac,  and  has  the 
same  meaning.  The  discoverers  of  the  Kill 
van  Kull  thought  the  strait  was  a  bay  with 
an  outlet  into  New  York  Bay.  Kull  is  not 
found  in  connection  with  any  other  stream 
here.  B.  F. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 


TO  <S>OF$  RESPONDENTS. 


Town  Bank  (Vol.  iv,  p.  35,  under 
"Sunken  Cities").— What  was  the  name 
and  date  of  the  town  of  New  Jersey  which 
stood  near  the  site  indicated  as  above  ?  I 
lately  asked  a  man  ninety-two  years  of  age, 
who  has  always  lived  near  that  place,  about 
the  former  town.  He  told  me  that  he  had 
never  heard  of  it ;  but  afterwards  said  he 
thought  he  had  heard  of  it,  but  knew  noth- 
ing as  to  the  truth  of  the  story.  M.  J.  D. 

CAPE  MAY,  N.  J. 

*  And  likewise  cu/prit,  according  to  the  "  Good  Old 
Etymologists"  (Mr.  B.  T.  Thomas,  in  to-day's  AMERI- 
CAN NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  reminds  me  of  it),  because 
a  criminal  naturally  runs  away  when  his  pursuers  are  at 
his  back,  and  when  he  is  caught  he  becomes  a  ctil-pnt, 
caught  from  behind,  don't  you  see  ?  There  remained  to 
explain  the  change  of  the  s  in  the  French  pris  (Lat. 
prensus)  into  the  /  in  prit ;  but  that  was  a  mere  detail ! 


June  14,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


79 


The  Empire  State  (Vol.  i,  p.  190). — 

(a)  I  find  in  Ellis  H.  Roberts' "New  York:" 
"  The  title  of  the  Empire  State  is  a  modern 
invention.  Yet  at  the  time  the  white  men 
came  to  New  York,  a  confederacy,  which 
boasted  that  it  had  already  existed  six  gen- 
erations, occupied  the  chief  part  of  this  ter- 
ritory and  wielded  a  power  imperial  in  its 
extent  and  exercise." 

(£)  Twenty-seven  years  ago,  Anthony 
Trollope  wrote:  "New  York  is  the  most 
populous  State  of  the  Union,  having  the 
largest  representation  in  Congress — on  which 
account,  it  has  been  called  the  Empire  State. ' ' 

(c}  Washington  terminates  as  follows  his 
reply  to  The  respectful  Address  of  the  Mayor 
(then,  James  Duane),  Recorder,  Aldermen, 
and  Commonalty  of  the  City  of  Neiu  York  in 
Common  Council  assembled,  Dec.  2,  1784: 

"  I  pray  that  Heaven  may  bestow  its 
choicest  blessings  on  your  city ;  That  the 
devastation  of  war  in  which  you  found  it 
may  soon  be  without  a  trace ;  That  a  well- 
regulated  and  beneficial  commerce  may  en- 
rich your  citizens  ;  and  that  your  State  (at 
present  the  seat  of  the  Empire)  may  set  such 
examples  of  wisdom  and  liberality  as  shall 
have  a  tendency  to  strengthen  and  give  a 
permanency  to  the  Union  at  home,  and  credit 
and  respectability  to  it  abroad.  The  ac- 
complishment whereof  is  a  remaining  wish 
and  the  primary  object  of  all  my  desires." 

Now  the  first  two  quotations  above  have 
been  taken  at  random :  E.  H.  Roberts  needs 
no  commendation  at  my  hands ;  Trollope  I 
take  for  what  he  is  worth  (truth  does  take 
up  temporary  lodgings  in  strange  quarters 
at  times).  As  to  Washington's  saying,  it  is 
a  simple  fact.* 

What  I  am  desirous  to  know  is,  whether 
I  may  safely  see,  in  No.  i,  the  primary 
idea;  in  No.  2,  the  proximate  cause,  and, 
in  No.  3,  the  first  public  bestowal,  of  the 
above  title.  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Schamir. — What   is   the   myth   of  the 
schamir,  or  lightning-stone  ?         R.  P.  L. 
ATHENS,  N.  Y. 

*  See  the  New  York  Packet,  for  May  2,  1785,  or,  bet- 
ter still,  •a.fnc  simile  of  Washington's  reply,  in  the  beau- 
tiful reprint  of  the  "  Addresses  of  the  City  of  New  York 
to  G.  Washington,  with  his  Replies,"  a  copy  of  which 
was  secured  by  the  N.  Y.  Hist.  Society. 


Bilsted. — In  some  parts  of  this  country 
the  sweet-gum  tree  (otherwise  called  copalm, 
Vol.  iv,  p.  34;  bilster,  bilsterd,  or  liquid- 
amber)  is  known  as  the  bilsted.  Prof.  Mee- 
han  derives  this  word  from  the  Dutch  bijl- 
steel,  bill-handle,  or  axe-handle.  But  I  do 
not  see  how  bijlsteel  could  become  bilsted 
except  through  a  misprint.  A  still  more  for- 
midable objection  is  this  :  there  is  probably 
no  kind  of  wood  less  fitted  for  axe-handle 
material  than  this  same  bilsted.  Can  any 
of  your  correspondents  explain  the  origin  ot 
the  word  ?  H.  R.  STOY. 

ATLANTA,  GA. 

Decoration  Day. — Will  you  inform  me 
when  Decoration  Day  became  a  holiday? 
Is  it  a  national  holiday,  or  one  set  aside  by 
the  several  States?  In  the  latter  case,  in 
how  many  States  has  it  become  a  legal  holi- 
day? E.  M.  R. 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

Dropping- wells. — Tennyson  calls  the 
laburnums  "  dropping-wells  of  fire."  I  have 
often  read  of  various  dropping-wells  in  Eng- 
land, but  I  do  not  exactly  understand  what 
a  dropping-well  is.  Can  any  of  your  readers 
explain  the  term?  ILDERIM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

©OMMUNIGAUMONS. 

John  Dory  (Vol.  iii,  p.  129). — The 
older  dictionaries  derive  this  name  of  a  fish 
from  the  ¥rer\chjaune  doree,  gilded  yellow. 
Bishop  Corbet,  in  describing  his  "  Journey 
Into  France"  (1647),  says: 

"  But  I  to  Paris  rode  along, 
Much  like  John  Dory  in  the  song," 

and  Bishop  Earle,  in  his  characters  ("  Micro- 
cosmographie,"  1628)  says  of  the  fiddler: 
"  Hunger  is  the  greatest  paine  he  takes,  ex- 
cept a  broken  head  sometimes,  and  the 
labouring  John  Dorry." 

What  is  the  legend,  or  story,  or  allusion 
to  which  these  two  good  bishops  refer  ? 

E.  D.  R. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Resolute. — In  the  case  of  the  expression 
"  Resolute  Doctor  "  (applied  as  a  title  to 
Durandus  and  Baconthorpe)  Wheeler  (in 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  14,  1890. 


the  "  Diet,  of  Noted  Names  ")  gives  as  the 
meaning  of  Resolute,  "explaining,"  "inter- 
preting," and  notes  that  it  was  given  out  of 
regard  to  skill  and  readiness  in  deciding 
questions.  Resolute  once  signified  "  con- 
vinced, satisfied  ;"  also  "convincing."  I 
think  that  "  Doctor  Resolutus"  means  the 
teacher  in  whose  writings  all  difficulties  are 
cleared  up  (resoluta). 

There  is  no  difficulty,  however,  in  sup- 
posing that  Baconthorpe  was  called  "  the 
resolute  "  from  his  determined  and  forceful 
character.  "The  Resolute  John  Florio" 
was  so  named  for  a  similar  reason. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Characteristics  of  Nations  (Vol.  iii, 
p.  191,  under  "  A  Nation  of  Shopkeepers"). 
— In  "  The  True-born  Englishman  "  (1701) 
of  Defoe,  we  are  informed  that  the  devil 

"  Binds  the  World  in  his  infernal  chains, — 
By  zeal  the  Irish ;  and  the  Rush  by  folly ; 
Fury,  the  Dane,  the  Swede  by  melancholy ; 
By  stupid  ignorance  the  Muscovite, 
The  Chinese  by  a  child  of  Hell  called  Wit. 
Wealth  makes  the  Persian  too  effeminate, 
And  Poverty,  the  Tartars  desperate. 
The  Turks  and  Moors  by  Mahomet  he  subdues, 
And  God  has  given  him  leave  to  rule  the  Jews. 
Rage  rules  the  Portuguese,  and  fraud  the  Scotch ; 
Revenge,  the  Pole,  and  avarice  the  Dutch." 


P.  R.  E. 


OHIO. 


Cockney  (Vol.  iv,  p.  i). — From  the 
part  of  the  English  Philological  Society's 
Dictionary  next  to  appear  we  shall  be  able 
to  learn  all  about  the  term  cockney,  the  origin 
of  which  has  exercised  the  wits  of  so  many 
speculators.  Meantime,  Dr.  Murray,  the 
principal  editor  of  the  Dictionary,  has  dis- 
cussed the  term  very  fully  in  the  pages  of 
the  Academy.  It  is  there  pointed  out  that, 
as  applied  to  a  person,  it  had,  primarily,  the 
sense  of  "  cockered  or  pet  child,"  and  was 
used,  later,  to  denote  the  sort  of  man  into 
which  such  a  child  ordinarily  develops.  As 
the  next  step,  cockneys,  in  the  language  of 
rustics,  were  the  inhabitants  of  large  towns, 
whom  old-time  Hodges  and  Gileses  regarded 
as  being,  in  comparison  with  themselves, 
squeamish  or  effeminate,  cockered  children 
of  a  larger  growth,  "milksops,"  "molly- 
coddles." Gradually,  the  epithet  came,  at 


last,  to  be  restricted  to  Londoners,  on  the 
assumption  that,  in  a  preeminent  degree, 
they  were  lacking  in  what  uplandish  folks 
accounted  proper  manliness.  But,  long  be- 
fore the  emergence  of  persons  designated  as 
cockneys,  there  was  a  word  cokeney,  resolva- 
ble into  coken  ey,  "cock's  egg,"  and  signi- 
fying "  fowl's  egg."  This  is  established  by 
evidence  which  is  beyond  all  gainsaying. 
"  And,  now  that  we  know  the  original 
meaning,"  writes  Dr.  Murray,  "  there  is  no 
difficulty;  the  petted  and  cockered  child 
was  his  mother's  nest-egg,  or,  as  Fuller,  little 
suspecting  how  near  he  was  to  the  truth, 
said,  her  '  nestle-cock.' ' 

Prof.  Skeat,  in  the  first  edition  of  his 
"Etymological  Dictionary,"  prudently  con- 
sidered the  origin  of  cockney  to  be  "un- 
known." In  his  supplement,  however,  after 
he  had  taken  counsel  with  the  eccentric  Mr. 
Hensleigh  Wedgwood,  he  fancied  that  light 
was  dawning  on  him.  Still  unaware  of 
cokeney  as  meaning  "  cock's  egg,"  he  there 
boldly  lays  it  down  that  cokeney,  "  cockney," 
"  answers  precisely  to"  the  fictitious  French 
coquine  and  the  fictitious  Low  Latin  coquin- 
atus,  evolved  from  the  Latin  coquina, 
"kitchen."  And  he  adds:  "I  think  we 
are  now  certainly  on  the  right  track."  We 
are  somewhat  reminded,  by  this,  for  its  as- 
tounding irrationality,  of  Menage's  cele- 
brated genealogy  of  rat :  mus,  mu-ris,  mu- 
rafus,  rat-us,  rat.  Adopting  Prof.  Skeat's 
notion,  the  "  Century  Dictionary"  unhesi- 
tatingly declares  for  the  original  of  cockney 
in  the  Utopian  coquine  and  coquinatus,  "  a 
vagabond  who  hangs  around  \Anglice  about] 
the  kitchen,"  or  "  a  child  brought  up  in  the 
kitchen,"  and  pronounces  that  this  is  "  the 
only  solution  of  cockney  phonetically  satis- 
factory." On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Murray 
contends,  on  irrefragible  grounds,  that  such 
a  "solution"  is  demonstrably  impossible. 
The  implicit  followers  of  Prof.  Skeat  have 
now  had  a  lesson,  and  by  no  means  the  first, 
as  to  the  danger  of  taking  it  for  granted  that 
his  adjudications  may  safely  be  accepted 
without  independent  research  and  due  ac- 
quaintance with  scientific  philology.  A 
whole  host  of  his  confident  whimsies  has  al- 
ready been  exploded  by  the  redoubtable  Dr. 
Murray  ;  and  doubtless  a  whole  host  more 
is  destined  to  share  their  fate. — The  Nation. 


June  14,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


81 


Legends  of  the  Rose. — There  are  several 
legends  to  account  for  the  origin  of  the  rose. 
Here  is  a  very  beautiful  one  :  A  certain 
Jewish  maiden,  Zillah,  rejected  the  advances 
of  a  lover,  Hammal,  a  degraded  and  cruel 
man.  In  revenge  he  accused  her  of  offenses 
for  which  she  was  condemned  to  be  burned 
at  the  stake.  When  brought  to  the  spot,  the 
flames  did  no  harm  to  the  maiden,  but  con- 
sumed the  false  lover.  "  And  the  fyre  be- 
gan to  burne  about  hire,  she  made  her 
prayers  to  oure  Lord  and  anon  was  the  fayer 
quenched  an  oute  and  brandes  that  were 
brennynge  becomen  white  roses,  and  theise 
were  in  the  first  roseres  that  ever  any  man 
saughe  !  "  The  burning  brands  thus  became 
red  roses — the  other  ones  white. 

According  to  a  Greek  myth,  red  roses 
were  white  ones,  tinged  with  the  blood  of 
Venus,  who  wounded  her  foot  on  a  thorn 
while  hastening  to  the  aid  of  the  dying 
Narcissus.  According  to  another  legend, 
they  sprang  from  the  bath  of  Aphrodite.  A 
later  Christian  tradition  asserted  that  the 
crown  of  thorns  was  one  of  the  rose  thorn, 
and  that  the  red  roses  sprang  from  the  blood 
of  Christ : 

Men  saw  the  thorns  on  Jesus'  brow, 
But  angels  saw  the  roses. 

A  still  different  origin  is  given  to  the 
"queen  of  flowers"  by  Mussulman  tradition. 
According  to  it,  white  roses  sprang  from  the 
sweat  of  the  prophet  Mohammed  during  his 
journey  to  heaven,  and  yellow  ones  from 
perspiration  dripping  from  the  mane  of  Al 
Borak,  his  steed.  It  is  further  reported  that 
the  red  flower  is  colored  with  drops  of  his 
blood,  and  the  faithful  will  never  suffer  one 
to  lie  on  the  ground.  There  is  an  Arab  tra- 
dition that  a  certain  King  Shaddad  planted 
a  field  of  roses  in  the  desert,  which  are  still 
flourishing,  but  no  man  can  find  them. 

The  rose  of  Jericho,  also  called  the  rose  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  became  the  symbol  of  re- 
surrection. It  is  not  really  a  rose,  however. 
A  tradition  reported  that  it  marked  every 
spot  where  the  holy  family  rested  during  the 
journey  to  Egypt. 

The  Syrians  regarded  the  rose  as  an  em- 
blem of  immortality.  Chinese  plant  it  over 
graves,  and  in  the  Tyrol  it  is  said  to  pro- 
duce sleep.  Germans  call  the  rose  of 


Jericho  the  Christmas  rose,  and  it  is  sup- 
posed to  divine  the  events  of  the  year,  if 
steeped  in  water  on  Christmas  Eve. 

There  are  many  other  superstitions  about 
the  rose.  It  is  said  in  Persia  that  there  is  a 
certain  charmed  day  in  which  the  rose  has  a 
heart  of  gold.  Another  tradition  relates  that 
there  is  a  silver  table  on  a  certain  Mount 
Calassy,  in  India,  and  on  this  table  lies  a 
silver  rose  that  contains  two  beautiful  women 
who  praise  God  without  ceasing.  In  the 
centre  of  the  rose  is  the  triangle — the  resi- 
dence of  God. 

And  when  the  bell  hath  sounded, 
The  rose,  with  all  the  mysteries  surrounded, 
The  bell,  the  table  and  Mount  Calassy, 
The  holy  hill  itself,  with  all  thereon, 
Dissolves  away. 

One  of  Vishnu's  wives  is  said  to  have 
sprung  from  a  rose.  In  Germany,  the  rose 
has  been  a  favorite  flower.  It  is  one  of  those 
mysterious  blossoms,  like  the  "forget-me- 
not,"  that  unlocks  treasures  concealed  in 
caves  or  castles.  The  rose  was  a  favorite 
flower  of  Holda,  the  Northern  Venus,  and,  in 
Christian  hands,  became  the  "  Marien- 
roschen"  of  the  Virgin.  The  white  rose  is 
usually  Mary's  emblem.  She  dries  her  veil 
on  a  rosebush,  which  bears  no  more  flowers 
thereafter. 

It  is  probable  that  rosebuds  were  the 
larger  beads  in  the  Catholic  rosary,  the  Ger- 
man Rosenkrantz,  or  rose  wreath. 

It  is  said  that  if  a  white  rose  blooms  in 
autumn,  an  early  death  is  prognosticated, 
while  an  autumn-blooming  red  rose  signi- 
fies marriage.  The  red  rose,  it  is  also  said, 
will  not  bloom  over  a  grave.  Rose  leaves 
are  sometimes  thrown  on  the  fire  for  good 
luck,  and  a  rosebush  may  be  made  to  bloom 
in  autumn  by  pruning  it  on  St.  John's  Day. 
Here,  as  well  as  in  France  and  Italy,  it  is 
believed  that  rosy  cheeks  will  come  to  the 
lass  who  buries  a  drop  of  her  blood  under  a 
rose  bush.  In  Posen,  young  women  assure 
the  fidelity  of  their  lovers  by  carrying  a 
rosebud  in  the  breast.  Rose  leaves  are 
chosen  for  divination  in  Thuringia,  the 
maiden  having  several  lovers  scattering  a  leaf 
named  after  each  one  on  the  water  ;  the  leaf 
that  sinks  last  is  the  true  lover. 

Charms  for  stopping  hemorrhage  are  con- 
nected with  the  rose.  One  of  these,  used  in 


82 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  14,  1890. 


Germany,  runs  thus :  "  In  God's  garden 
bloom  three  roses — blood-drop,  blood-stop 
and  blood-still ;  blood,  I  pray  you,  cease  to 
flow." 

The  rose  was  a  potent  ingredient  in  love 
philters  in  England  and  Scotland  a  century 
ago. 

In  the  Saemunder  Edda,  Brynhild  is  thrown 
into  a  trance  from  which  Sigurd  arouses  her 
by  a  blow  from  the  "  sleepy  thorn  "  in  the 
hands  of  Odin.  In  the  German  tale  of 
Dornroschen,  or  the  sleeping  beauty,  the 
thorn  hedge  that  surrounds  the  slumbering 
heroine  bears  only  roses  to  the  true  Prince. 
— All  the  Year  Round. 

Palace  of  Forty  Pillars  (Vol.  iv, 
p.  156). — The  great  Jain  temple  of  Ajmir 
(now  in  part  ruined,  and  part  turned  into 
a  mosque)  has  forty  pillars,  no  two  of  them 
alike.  The  whole  takes  rank  as  one  of  the 
finest,  if  not  the  very  finest,  of  all  existing 
Hindu  buildings.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN. 

Abaca  (Vol.  iv,  p.  9). — All  the  diction- 
aries, with  no  exception  that  I  can  find,  ac- 
cent this  word  on  the  antepenult.  But  I 
am  credibly  informed  that  in  the  true  Span- 
ish and  Philippine  pronunciation  the  accent, 
or  stress,  comes  on  the  final  syllable. 

A.  L.  OSMAN. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Icta  (Vol.  v,  pp.  66,  etc.). — Icta,  or  icter, 
is  a  word  adapted  from  the  Chinese  jargon, 
and  is  quite  freely  used  in  Oregon  and 
Washington,  in  the  sense  of  miscellaneous. 
Thus  a  room  used  for  the  storage  of  odds 
and  ends  is  an  icta  room.  The  wagon  which 
follows  the  threshing  machine  and  carries 
tools  and  materials  for  repair,  etc.,  is  the 
icta  wagon.  The  wagon-box  of  a  freight 
wagon,  or  "prairie  schooner,"  is  an  icta 
box.  The  word  used  in  this  sense  is  cer- 
tainly a  very  handy  one.  So  far  as  I  could 
learn,  a  Chinook  Indian  would  apply  it  to 
anything  of  which  he  did  not  know  the 
name.  I  once  heard  the  reply  to  a  ques- 
tion concerning  the  proprietorship  of  about 
a  dozen  dirty-faced  tow-heads:  "Them 
kids?  Why  them's  Joe  Brumley's  u/as." 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA.  J-  W.  R. 


Angelus  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  308,  etc). — Pope  Ur- 
ban II,  in  the  year  1095,  set  forth  among 
the  faithful  the  practice  of  reciting  a  number 
of  "  Hail  Maries"  daily,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  suffrages  of  the  Holy  Virgin  in  behalf  of 
the  absent  crusaders.  The  devotion  fell 
later  into  some  degree  of  abeyance,  until  in 
the  fourteenth  century  John  XXIII  decreed  an 
indulgence  for  the  due  recital  of  the  Angelus 
morning,  noon,  and  night.  There  was,  and 
still  is  in  some  churches,  a  special  bell — the 
Angelus-bell,  called  also  lady-bell,  Gabriel- 
bell,  or  ave-bell — which  is  set  apart  for  call- 
ing the  people  to  this  special  devotion.  An 
article  published  by  Monsignor  R.  Seton  is 
my  authority  for  these  facts.  R.  M.  L. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Names  of  Cities — (Vol.  iv,  pp.  287, 
etc.). — Auld  Reekie — Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

Birmingham  of  the  Continent — Li6ge, 
Belgium. 

Birmingham  of  the  West — Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Bride  of  Saladin — Cairo,  Egypt. 

Brighton  of  Scotland — Portobello,  Scot- 
land. 

Cities  of  the  plain— Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah. 

City  of  a  thousand  lights— Moscow, 
Russia. 

City  of  Alders — Shrewsbury,  England. 

City  of  Baltic  trade — Hull,  England. 

City  of  bankers — Florence,  Italy. 

City  of  cells — Lismore,  Ireland. 

City  of  colleges — Bokhara,  Tartary. 

City  of  cutlery — Sheffield,  England. 

City  of  David — Jerusalem,  Palestine. 

City  of  earthquakes — Caracas,  Venezuela. 

City  of  Jupiter — Thebes,  Egypt. 

City  of  lilies — Susa,  Persia. 

City  of  minarets — Constantinople,  Tur- 
key. 

City  of  mosques — Delhi,  India. 

City  of  nuts — Barcelona,  Spain. 

City  of  oaks— Raleigh,  N.  C. 

City  of  palaces — Calcutta,  Bengal. 

City  of  temples — Benares,  India. 

City  of  the  lagoon — Chester,  England. 

City  of  the  little  monk — Munich,  Bavaria. 

City  of  the  prophet — Medina,  Arabia. 

City  of  the  red  staff — Baton  Rouge,   La. 

City  of  the  saints — Rome,  Italy. 

City  of  the  sea — Venice,  Italy. 


June  14,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


City  of  the  sun — Cuzco,  Peru. 

City  of  the  tribes — Galway,  Ireland. 

City  of  the  West — Glasgow,  Scotland. 

City  of  the  winds — Siena,  Tuscany. 

City  of  Ulysses — Lisbon,  Portugal. 

City  of  virgins — Magdeburg,  Germany. 

City  of  watches — Geneva,  Switzerland. 

Cockade  city — Petersburg,  Va. 

Crown  of  Ionia — Smyrna,  Asia  Minor. 

Daughter  of  Tyre — Sidon,  Syria. 

Diospolis — Thebes,  Egypt. 

Edinburgh  of  America — Boston,  Mass. 

Emporium  of  the  West — Chicago,  111. 

Fair  city — Perth,  Scotland. 

Fairy  city — Venice,  Italy. 

Flour  city — Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Forest  city  of  the  South — Savannah,  Ga. 

Garden  of  Spain — Valentia,  Spain. 

Gate  City — Atlanta,  Ga. 

Gibralter  of  Greece — Nauplia,  Greece. 

Gibralter  of  the  East — Aden,  Arabia. 

Gibralter  of  the  North — Cronstadt,  Rus- 
sia. 

Gift  of  God — Dundee,  Scotland. 

Grave  of  Europeans — Portobello,  S.  A. 

Half  of  the  universe — Ispahan,  Persia. 

Harbor  of  safety — Cromarty,  Scotland. 

Holy  city — Allahabad,  India  ;  Benares, 
India;  Cuzco,  Peru;  Jerusalem,  Palestine; 
Mecca,  and  Medina,  Arabia. 

Home  of  plenty — Singapore. 

Huge  barrack — Potsdam,  Germany. 

Key  of  Christendom — Buda,  Hungary. 

Key  of  Hindustan — Agra,  India. 

Key  of  Northern  Hindustan — Lahore, 
India. 

Key  of  Russia — Smolensk,  Russia. 

Key  of  Scinde — Kurrachee. 

Key  of  Adriatic — Corfu,  Greece. 

Lion  of  Circassia — Guzbeg. 

Lord  of  the  world — Juggernaut,  India. 

Lucifer  of  cities — Paris,  France. 

Luxurious  Goddess — Paris,  France. 

Manchester  of  France — Rouen,  France. 

Mariepolis— Montreal,  Canada. 

Mart  of  the  world — London,  England. 

Mistress  of  the  sea — Carthage,  Africa. 

Mohammedan  Athens — Bagdad,  Turkey. 

Morning  star  of  nations — Paris,  France. 

Mother  of  cities — Balkh,  Persia  ;  Mecca, 
Arabia. 

Mother  of  German  cities — Treves,  Ger- 
many. 


Mother  of  harlots — Babylon,   Chaldea. 

Mother  Moscow — Moscow,  Russia. 

Mother  of  Russian  cities — Kiev,  Russia. 

Northern  courj:,  The — Pekin,  China. 

Ornament  of  Asia — Smyrna,  Asia  Minor. 

Ottoman  Porte — Constantinople,  Turkey. 

Paradise  of  India — Singapore,  India. 

Parthenopolis — Magdeburg,  Germany. 

Petrified  city — Ishmonie,  Upper  Egypt. 

Protestant  Rome — Geneva,  Switzerland. 

Queen  city  of  the  Merrimack — Manches- 
ter, N.  H. 

Queen  of  the  Adriatic — Venice,  Italy. 

Queen  of  the  East — Antioch,  Syria  ;  Ba- 
tavia,  Java. 

Queen  of  the  Highlands — Inverness, 
Scotland. 

Queen  of  the  North — Edinburgh,  Scot- 
land. 

Queen  of  the  sea — Athens,  Greece. 

Regal  city — Calcutta,  Bengal. 

Regno — Naples,  Italy. 

Rocky  city — Quebec,  Canada. 

Sister  of  Sidon — Tyre,  Phoenicia. 

Southern  court,  The — Nankin,  China. 

Sublime  Porte — Constantinople,  Turkey. 

Swan  of  the  Adriatic — Venice,  Italy. 

Tadmor  of  the  desert — Palmyra,  Syria. 

Tower  of  saints — Bagdad,  Turkey. 

Two  eyes  of  Greece — Athens  and  Sparta. 

Venice  of  the  North — Stockholm,  Sweden. 

Venice  of  the  West — Glasgow,  Scotland. 

White  city — Belgrade,  Turkey. 

White  man's  grave  —  Freetown,  Sierra 
Leone. 

Woolwich  of  France — Metz,  Germany. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
72,  etc.). — Allow  me  to  say  in  reply  to 
"G  "  that,  as  he  will  see  if  he  refers  to  my 
note,  I  do  not  say  that  "  the  construction, 
'  a  part  (of  the  water)  sings  in  the  kettle,'  is 
ungrammatical  or  inconsistent  with  the 
grammar  of  the  rest  of  the  stanza,"  but  base 
my  objection  to  that  interpretation  upon 
purely  "  rhetorical  "  grounds.  The  follow- 
ing sentence  is  ''grammatical,"  but  it  is  in- 
conceivable that  Mary  Howitt  or  any  other 
good  writer  would  pen  it:  "Washington 
was  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  ;  and  a  kettle 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  14,  1890. 


sings  before  it  boils."  Certain  "  rhetorical 
rules  "  may  be  "  constantly  set  aside  by  the 
poets  ;"  but  the  rule  violated  in  this  sentence 
(and  in  the  one  under  discussion,  if  the  sub- 
ject is  changed  from  Mary  to  the  kettle  or 
the  water  in  it)  is  one  that  cannot  be  thus 
ignored. 

Whether  the  idea  that  "  Mary  sings  a 
musical  part  in  the  kettle  "  (that  is,  by 
making  it  sing  in  the  discharge  of  her  do- 
mestic duties),  is  more  "  grotesque  "  than 
that  "  Mary  sings  the  water,  that  is,  makes 
it  sing,"  I  will  leave  the  readers  of  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES  to  judge.  It  strikes 
me  that  the  idea  in  the  two  cases  is  the 
same  (namely,  that  Mary  makes  it  sing), 
and  that  "  G "  simply  substitutes  "gro- 
tesque" grammar  for  that  which  is  regular 
and  familiar.  I  must  adhere  to  the  opinion 
already  expressed  that  any  other  inter- 
pretation of  the  passage  than  that  which 
I  have  given  is  inadmissible,  if  not  ridicu- 
lous. 

W.  J.  R. 

Shamrock  (Vol.  v,  p.  63). — In  Ireland 
only  one  shamrock  is  known.  It  is  an  in- 
digenous species  of  clover,  which  trails 
along  the  ground  among  the  grass  in 
meadows.  The  trefoil  leaves  are  not  more 
than  one-fourth  ths  size  of  the  smallest 
clover  I  have  seen  in  America,  and  are  pure 
green  in  color  without  any  of  the  brown 
shading  of  white  and  pink  clovers.  The 
creeping  stem  is  hard  and  fibrous,  and  is 
difficult  to  dislodge  from  the  earth.  On  St. 
Patrick's  day,  the  true  shamrock  has  to  be 
searched  out  from  among  the  grass,  for, 
though  comparatively  plentiful  at  that  sea- 
son, it  grows  close  to  the  ground.  Later 
it  bears  a  tiny  "  whitey-brown  "  blossom. 
The  information  that  shamrakh  is  the  Arabic 
word  for  trefoil  is  new  to  me,  and  may  be  of 
service  to  those  interested  in  the  origin  of 
the  Irish  race.  The  word  could  have  been 
introduced  by  the  Milesians,  or  it  may  fur- 
nish an  argument  in  support  of  the  conten- 
tion that  one  of  the  lost  ten  tribes  of  Israel 
settled  in  Ireland,  which  has  been  revived  by 
the  publication  of  a  recent  book. 


JAMES  O.  G.  DUFFY. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Vicarious  Justice  (Vol.  v,  p.  41). — It 
may  interest  your  correspondent  to  know 
that  there  is  a  tradition,  recorded  by  John 
Lederer  (1669),  a  Virginian  explorer,  that 
the  Totapotamoy  river  received  its  name 
from  an  Indian  king,  Totapottama,  who  was 
killed  in  battle,  fighting  for  the  Christians, 
against  the  Indian  tribes. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Leading  Apes  in  Hell  (Vol.  iv,  pp. 
201,  etc.). — In  the  play,  Massinger's  "  City 
Madam,"  the  daughters  of  Sir  John  Frugal 
make  conditions  that  are  to  be  observed  by 
their  suitors  (at  the  instance  of  their 
mother),  which  the  lovers  refuse  to  comply 
with.  The  daughters  appeal  to  their  mother, 
saying,  "  We  may  lead  apes  in  hell  for  hus- 
bands if  you  bind  us  'to  articulate  thus  to 
our  suitors."  Also  "The London  Prodigal," 
one  of  the  doubtful  plays  of  Shakespeare's, 
page  227: 

Sir  Launcelot  Spurcock :  "What,  is  it 
folly  to  love  chastity?" 

Weathercock:  "No,  no.  Mistake  me 
not,  Sir  Launcelot.  But  'tis  an  old  proverb, 
you  know  it  well,  that  women  dying  maids, 
lead  apes  in  hell." 

THOMAS  CLEPHANE. 
CINCINNATI,  O. 

Manatee. — The  "  Century  Dictionary  " 
states  that  the  manatee,  Manatus  senegalensis, 
is  found  on  the  "eastern  coast"  of  Africa. 
This  is  doubtless  a  misprint  for  "  western 
coast."  The  African  manatee  is  found 
along  the  west  coast,  and  in  the  interior  at 
least  as  far  east  as  Lake  Tchad  ;  but  we  have 
never  before  seen  the  statement  that  it  has 
been  seen  on  the  eastern  coast.  *  *  * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Maize. — This  name  for  Indian  corn 
seems  unquestionably  Haytian,  yet  maizum 
was  heard  as  its  equivalent  among  the  In- 
dians  about  New  Plymouth.  May  not  the 
name,  as  well  as  the  thing,  have  been  trans- 
mitted northward  from  tribe  to  tribe  ?  Many 
writers  have  noted  a  similarity  between  this 
word  and  the  Gr.  //afa,  barley  bread. 

P.  R.  E. 

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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Reason  for  Castes,  85;  Derivation  of  the  Name  of 
God,  86. 

QUERIES  :— Thumb  to  Butter  Bread— President  who  did  not 
Vote — Honest  Statesman,  86  ;  Eygre  or  Bore — Rivers  Flow- 
ing Inland — Luic-land — Pig's  Eye — Pearmain  —  Fly-shoot- 
ing Fishes,  87. 

REPLIES:  —  Schamir— Decoration  Day,  88  ;  State  of  Frank- 
lin— Whiffle-tree,  89. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Ruskin  — 
Easter— Marteno,  89 ;  Lady  Compton's  Letter  to  her  Hus- 
band —  Fanacle  —  Mother  Earth  —  Robert  Merry  —  Rafe's 
Chasm — British  Ministers  to  the  U.  S. — Priscian's  Head — 
Crutches  in  Church — Hundred-Harbored  Maine— Ff  in  Pro- 
per Names — Palm  Leaf — Liberty  Pole — Literate,  90;  Jeru- 
salem the  Golden — Upsala,  91. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Saunter— Like  for  As— Pixie  or 
Pyxie — William  Percy — Significance  of  Precious  Stones, 
91;  Cockney — Parallel  Passages —The  in  Place  Names,  92  ; 
Gulf  of  Lion — Foxglove  Spire — Phantomnation — Only  Eng- 
lish Pope,  93  ;  Canting  Heraldry — Mainland — Clarenceux — 
Shamrock — Asoka  and  Banjula,  94  ;  Market  Jew — Weather- 
cocks Musical — Lender — The  Word  "  The  "  in  Place  Names 
— Kitchen  Cabinet — Cold  as  Charity— Men  asTnings — Jenk- 
ins' Ear — Eating  Cake,  95  ;  Question  in  Grammar — Basket 
—Key  of  Death — Humming-Bird,  96. 


THE  REASON  FOR  CASTES. 

How  comes  it  that  the  Aryan  race,  which 
in  South  Europe,  as  Herr  Penka  has  shown, 
has  modified  its  physical  type  by  free  inter- 
mixture with  Turanian  elements,  displayed 
in  India  a  marked  antipathy  to  marriage 
with  persons  of  alien  race,  and  devised  an 
elaborate  system  of  taboo  for  the  prevention 
of  such  unions?  An  explanation  may  (ac- 
cording to  the  Contemporary  Review}  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  in  India  alone  were 
the  Aryans  brought  into  close  contact  with 
an  unequivocal  black  race.  The  sense  of 
differences  of  color  which,  for  all  our  talk 
of  common  humanity,  still  plays  a  great 
and,  politically,  often  an  inconvenient  part 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  finds  forcible 
expression  in  the  Vedic  descriptions  of  the 


86 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  21,  1890. 


people  whom  the  Aryans  found  in  posses- 
sion of  the  plains  of  India.  In  a  well-known 
passage  the  god  Indra  is  praised  for  having 
protected  the  Aryan  color,  and  the  word 
meaning  color  (varna)  is  used  down  to  the 
present  day  as  the  equivalent  of  caste,  more 
especially  with  reference  to  the  castes  be- 
lieved to  be  of  Aryan  descent.  Another 
text  depicts  the  Dasyus  or  Dravidians  as 
noseless;  others  dwell  on  their  low  stat- 
ure, their  coarse  features,  and  their  vora- 
cious appetite.  It  is  hardly  an  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  from  these  sources  there 
might  be  compiled  a  fairly  accurate  an- 
thropological definition  of  the  Dravidian 
tribes  of  to-day.  When  it  is  added  that  the 
aggregates  which  would  be  included  in  the 
definition  represent  the  lower  end  of  a  long 
series  of  social  gradations  which  in  their 
turn  correspond  not  only  to  varieties  of 
physical  type,  but  also  to  peculiarities  of 
custom  and  tribal  structure,  it  is  obviously 
but  a  short  step  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
motive  principle  of  Indian  caste  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  antipathy  of  the  higher  race 
for  the  lower,  of  the  fair-skinned  Aryan  for 
the  black  Dravidian.  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YCRK  CITY. 


DERIVATION  OF  THE  NAME  OF  GOO. 

Mr.  Calvin  Thomas,  in  The  Open  Court  'for 
June  9,  1890,  discusses  the  origin  of  the 
word  God.  He  points  out  that  there  is  a 
Gothic  gudh,  a  god  ;  in  old  Icelandic, 
gudh  or  godh  (originally  and  often  a  neu- 
tre).  This  corresponds  to  an  ideal  Indo- 
European  ghu-tb-m  ;  Greek,  /wrwv;  Sanskrit, 
hutdm.  If  we  suppose  the  short  vowel  in 
the  Germanic  gudh  to  have  been  originally 
long,  and  to  have  suffered  a  shortening, 
such  as  has  happened  in  other  cases,  then 
the  corresponding  Sanskrit  would  be  hutdm, 
which  is  a  word  actually  found  in  Sanskrit, 
in  which  language  hutdm  means  "  a  thing 
invoked,"  or  "an  object  prayed  to." 
"  Thus  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  highly  proba- 
ble," says  Mr.  Thomas,  "that  the  word 
God,  notwithstanding  all  the  exalted  asso- 
ciations that  have  gathered  about  it  in  the 
process  of  the  ages,  goes  back  to  a  period 
when  our  Germanic  ancestors  worshiped 
stocks  and  stones."  L.  D.  BRYANT. 

FRANKFORT,  KY. 


Thumb  to  Butter  Bread. — What  general 
who  figured  in.  the  Revolutionary  War  used 
his  thumb  to  butter  his  bread? 

STANTON. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

While  the  British  were  in  Philadelphia,  in 
171 7,  General  Knyphausen  was  in  command 
of  the  Hessians. 

Watson,  in  his  "Annals  of  Philadelphia," 
Vol.  ii,  p.  288,  says  of  him :  "  Exalted  as 
he  was  in  rank  he  used  to  spread  his  butter 
on  his  bread  with  his  thumb.  What  a  fancy ! 
This  was  told  by  one  of  the  family  where 
he  quartered.  In  his  deportment  he  was 
gentle  and  esteemed." 

RAWE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

President  Who  Did  Not  Vote.— What 
President  had  not  voted  for  forty  years,  and 
under  what  circumstances?  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

It  was  said  of  General  Grant,  when  he 
was  first  nominated  for  President,  that  he 
had  never  voted  but  once,  and  then  he 
voted  for  James  Buchanan  for  President  in 
1856.  The  saying  was  attributed  to  Grant 
himself.  His  only  reason  was  an  indiffer- 
ence to  political  matters.  For  the  same 
reason,  General  Taylor  rarely,  if  ever,  voted. 
The  indifference  of  some  public  men  on 
these  matters  is  a  mystery  to  the  average 
American,  who  finds  half  the  interest  in  life 
in  political  controversy.  It  will  be  readily 
remembered  that  Mr.  Cleveland  never  saw 
Washington  until  he  went  there  to  be  in- 
augurated. 

Honest  Statesman. — Of  whom  was  it  said 
that  he  was  in  the  public  service  fifty  (?) 
years  and  never  attempted  to  deceive  his 
countrymen  ?  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Thomas  H.  Benton;  born  1782,  died 
1858.  He  served  thirty  years  in  the  U.  S. 
Senate,  and  was  the  father-in-law  of  General 
Fremont. 


June  21,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Eygre  or  Bore. — Is  the  phenomenon  of 
the  bore  or  eygre  so  common  in  certain  Eng- 
lish and  French  rivers  ever  seen  in  the 
United  States?  The  Hugli,  the  Amazon, 
and  some  of  the  rivers  of  Indo-China  ex- 
hibit this  phenomenon  in  a  very  decided 
form.  L.  F.  R. 

PITTSBURGH,  PA. 

At  certain  times  of  the  year  the  Colorado 
river  of  Arizona  and  California  is  visited  by 
a  high  tide  which  takes  the  form  of  a  bore. 
It  is  described  in  some  of  the  government 
reports. 

Rivers  Flowing  Inland  (Vol.  iii,  p.  209). 
— Somewhere  I  have  seen  mention  of  a  river 
flowing  from  the  ocean  inland.  Will  some 
reader  inform  me  if  this  is  true,  and  if  so 
where  does  it  occur?  DR.  L.  W. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

In  the  sense  which  the  querist  means, 
there  is  probably  no  such  river.  There  are, 
however,  a  few  instances  of  a  flow  of  ocean 
water  inland.  Along  the  coast  of  Alaska 
and  British  Columbia  there  are  a  number  of 
fjords  and  estuaries  of  considerable  area, 
whose  mouths  or  inlets  are  constricted 
to  very  narrow  channels.  On  the  North 
Pacific  coast,  especially  above  Dixon  En- 
trance, the  tide  has  a  rise  and  fall  of  about 
20  to  30  feet.  The  flow  of  the  tide  is  at  times 
almost  a  bore ;  the  ebb  takes  place  slowly. 
With  the  ebbing  of  the  tide,  the  fjord  is 
gradually  emptied  of  its  water,  but  the  in- 
coming tide  is  so  rapid  that  the  water  can- 
not flow  through  the  narrow  strait  as  fast  as 
it  rises.  The  result  is  a  cascade — and  often 
a  very  beautiful  one — the  water  flowing 
from  the  ocean  into  the  fjord  in  tumultuous 
dalles. 

Another  example  of  the  inland  flow  of 
ocean  water  occurs  along  low  sandy  coasts 
in  arid  regions.  The  action  of  wind  and 
waves,  by  throwing  up  sand-spits,  occa- 
sionally forms  lagoons  many  square  miles  in 
area.  Within  the  lagoon  the  water  is  shal- 
low and,  under  a  hot  sun,  the  evaporation 
is  enormous,  perhaps  at  the  rate  of  two 
inches  a  day.  To  icplace  this  there  is  a 
current  flowing  from  the  ocean  into  the 
lagoon,  interrupted  only  when  the  tide  falls 


below  the  level  of  the  water  in  the  lagoon. 
In  the  case  of  the  Karaboghaz — the  black 
gulf  of  the  Caspian  lake — there  being  no 
great  change  of  tide  levels,  the  current  flows 
steadily  from  .the  lake  into  the  gulf  at  a  rate 
of  four  or  five  knots  per  hour. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  the  depression  in- 
cluding Death  valley  and  the  sink  of  the 
San  Felipe,  was  at  one  time  an  instance  of 
this  kind.  The  inlet  having  been  subse- 
quently choked,  the  lake  disappeared  by 
evaporation.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Luic-land. — Where  was  the  region  called 
Luic-land  mentioned  in  Sir  William  Petty's 
"Political  Arithmetick"  (1677),  as  being 
famous  for  its  iron-wares?  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Lute  is  the  Flemish  name  for  Liege. 

Pig's  Eye. — Was  there  ever  a  city  of  the 
United  States  called  Pig's  Eye? 

W.  P.  RODEN. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 

The  city  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  was  so 
called  as  late  as  1847.  See  Cathcart's 
"Baptist  Cyclopedia,"  p.  102. 

Pearmain. — What  is  the  origin  of  this 
word  ?  It  is  a  popular  name  for  several 
varieties  of  the  apple.  JULIA  E.  CALL. 

CAZENOVIA,  N.  Y. 

The  French  equivalent  of  this  word  is 
parmain,  which  is  also  the  name  of  a  town 
in  France.  Some  old  lexicographers  derive 
it  from  the  Latin  peramcenus,  "  very  pleas- 
ant," a  rather  taking  derivation  for  either 
town  or  fruit  name ;  but  like  all  etymolo- 
gies, it  should  be  verified  by  documentary 
evidence. 

Fly-shooting  Fishes. — What  kind  of  fishes 
shoot  insects  with  water  balls?  ??? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

The  fish  referred  to  is  the  fly  shooter, 
Chelmon  rostratus,  inhabiting  the  fresh 
waters  of  India  and  the  Asiatic  islands. 
For  fuller  particulars  consult  almost  any 
natural  history. 


*«* 


«k 

& 


88 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  21,  1890. 


B  P  L  I  B  S  . 


Schamir  (Vol.  v,  p.  79). — Schamir  was  a 
mythical  stone  about  which  there  are  many 
legends,  nearly  if  not  all  of  which  describe 
it  as  a  stone  possessing  the  power  of  cutting 
any  substance,  and  which  was  therefore  used 
by  King  Solomon  in  cutting  and  shaping, 
without  noise,  the  metals  and  stones  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  Temple  at  Jeru- 
salem.    One  tradition   states  that  all  of  a 
race  of  supernatural,  called  "  Jinns,"  were 
subjected  to  the  authority  of  Solomon  ex- 
cept the  mighty  Sachr  and  Iblis,  and  that 
Solomon  employed  the  Jinns  in  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple,  but  they  made  so  much . 
noise   with   their  hammers,  saws  and  axes 
that  the  people  of  Jerusalem  could  not  hear 
each  other  speak.     Therefore   he   directed 
the  Jinns  to  cease  their  work,  and  inquired 
whether  the  metals  and  stones  could  not  be 
shaped  and  cut  without  making  noise.    The 
reply  was  that  this  could  only  be  done  by 
obtaining   the   stone   Schamir,   the   where- 
abouts of  which  was  known  only  to  Sachr. 
It  being  the  custom  of  Sachr  to  go  every 
month  to  the  land  of  Hidjr,  and  drink  a 
certain   fountain    empty,    Solomon   sent   a 
winged  Jinn  who  drew  the  water  from  the 
fountain,   and   filled    it   with   wine,   which 
Sachr  drank,  became  drunk,  was  bound  in 
chains,  and  made  Solomon's  slave.     Solo- 
mon promised  the  mighty  captive  his  liberty 
on  condition  that  he  would  reveal  the  place 
where  the  stone  that  would  cut  and  shape 
the   hardest   metals   could   be  found ;  and 
Sachr  told   him  to  take  the  eggs  out  of  a 
raven's   nest,    place  a  crystal   cover  upon 
them,  and  •  see  how  the  raven  would  break 
it.     Solomon  did  so,  and  the  raven  finding 
its  eggs  covered   flew  away,  and  returned 
with  a  stone  in  its  beak,  which,  dropped  on 
the  crystal,  cut  it  asunder.     The  raven  was 
asked  by  Solomon   where  the  stone   came 
from,    and-  was   told  that  it  came   from  a 
mountain  in  the  far  west.     The  mountain 
was  found,  a  number  of  similar  stones  ob- 
tained, and  with  them  the  Jinns  hewed  the 
stones  for  the  Temple  in  the  distant  quar- 
ries, and  brought  them  to  Jerusalem  where 
they  were   laid  noiselessly  in  their  proper 
places. 


Another  legend  is  that  the  nest  of  the 
moor-hen  was  covered  with  glass,  and  when 
the  moor-hen  came  and  could  not  reach  her 
young,  she  flew  away  and  fetched  Schamir, 
which  was  a  worm  of  the  size  of  a  barley- 
corn, and  the  property  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Sea,  when  Solomon  obtained  it  from  that 
bird. 

The  story  of  the  stone  is  told  in  many 
languages,  in  various  ways,  there,  however, 
always  being  ascribed  to  it  the  property  of 
being  able  to  divide  asunder  the  strongest 
substances.  One  account  states  that  Solo- 
mon obtained  the  stone  by  placing  the  chick 
of  an  ostrich  in  a  glass  bottle,  the  neck  of 
which  was  contracted  and  had  to  be  cut  by 
the  mother  bird  with  this  stone  in  order  to 
liberate  her  offspring.  In  Normandy  it 
was  said  that  such  a  stone  could  be  obtained 
by  putting  out  the  eyes  of  a  swallow's  young, 
whereupon  the  mother  bird  would  go  in 
quest  of  the  stone,  which  had  the  power  of 
restoring  sight,  but  if  a  scarlet  cloth  was 
spread  below  the  swallow's  nest,  the  swallow, 
mistaking  it  for  fire,  would  drop  the  stone 
upon  it,  when  it  was  secured  by  watchers. 
In  Ireland  the  stone  was  believed  to  render 
its  possessor  invisible,  and  to  confer  upon 
him  the  power  to  burst  bolts  and  bars,  cure 
the  sick,  and  raise  the  head. 

The  term  "Lightning"  was  applied  to 
the  stone  Schamir  because,  in  the  Greek 
mythology,  the  storm  cloud  out  of  which 
flashed  the  lightning  which  broke  rocks 
asunder,  was  supposed  to  be  a  mighty  bird 
which  bore  the  Schamir  in  its  beak.  A  very 
full  and  elaborate  article  on  this  stone  will 
be  found  in  Baring-Gould's  "  Myths  of  the 
Middle  Ages."  Reference  to  it  is  also 
made  in  his  "  Legends  of  the  Patriarchs 
and  Prophets."  RAWE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Decoration  Day  (Vol.  v,  p.  79). — Accord- 
ing to  the  "Encyclopaedia  Americana," 
Vol.  iii  (1886),  Art.  "Legal  Holiday,"  the 
day  known  as  Decoration  Day,  or  Memorial 
Day,  was,  at  that  date,  a  legal  holiday  in  Col- 
orado, Connecticut,  California,  Georgia,  Il- 
linois, Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Michigan,  Nebraska,  Nevada,  New  Hamp- 
shire, New  Jersey,  New  York,  North  Caro- 
lina, Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island, 


June  21,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


89 


Vermont,  Virginia,  and  Wisconsin.  It  is 
not  a  national  holiday.  Memorial  Day  is 
observed  on  May  30,  except  in  some  of  the 
southernmost  States,  in  which  it  occurs  at 
various  earlier  dates,  a  time  of  the  profuse 
blooming  of  flowers  being  chosen. 

E.  D.  R. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Stafe  of  Franklin  (Vol.  v,  pp.  77,  etc.). 
— The  State  of  Franklin,  or  Frankland  (for 
both  spellings  are  found),  was  organized  in 
1785  by  the  settlers  of  what  is  now  East 
Tennessee.  John  Sevier  was  unanimously 
chosen  Governor.  The  Legislature  sat  at 
Jonesborough  in  1785.  But  North  Carolina 
claimed  jurisdiction,  and  discord  arose,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  new  State  gov- 
ernment was  tacitly  abandoned  in  1788. 
In  1789,  North  Carolina  ceded  the  region 
to  the  United  States,  and  in  1790  the  Terri- 
tory of  Tennessee  was  organized.  Ten- 
nessee became  a  State  in  1 796.  N.  S.  S. 

Whiffle-free  (Vol.  v,  pp.  77,  etc.).— This 
word  has  several  variant  forms.  We  find 
whipple-tree  (cf.  whippet  and  whiffet,  Vol. 
iv,  p.  177)  ',  swingle-tree,  which  last  is  often 
converted  into  single-tree,  in  which  case  it 
means  a  single  whiffle-tree,  or  double-tree, 
when  it  designates  a  double  whiffle-tree. 
A  whiffle-tree,  I  suppose,  is  a  tree  or  stick 
which  can  whiffle,  or  turn  about ;  a  swingle- 
tree  is  a  tree  which  can  swingle,  or  swing. 
Whiffle  and  swingle  are  both  good  old 
words.  Single-tree  was  probably  at  first  a 
corrupt  form  ;  double-tree  is  a  farther  elab- 
oration from  single-tree. 

P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

The  name  whiffle,  or  whipple-tree,  does 
not  appear  to  have  had  a  place  in  the  dic- 
tionaries prior  to  1830. 

Worcester,  in  1831,  "Whiffle-tree,  a  bar 
to  which  traces  are  fastened,  used  in 
America." 

Walker,  in  1846,  has  not  the  word. 

Clarke,  in  1869,  has  the  word. 

Webster,  in  1841,  gave  both  whipple  and 
whiffle-tree. 

Dyche  and  Pardon,  1742,  does  not  give 
the  name,  but  has  whiffle,  with  this  defini- 


tion :  "To  pipe  or  play  upon  a  musical 
wind  instrument  ;  also,  to  idle  or  trifle 
away  time." 

Johnson,  1787,  gives  whiffle  definition: 
"To  move  inconstantly  as  if  driven  by  a 
puff  of  wind.  A  person  of  a  whiffling  and 
unsteady  turn  of  mind." 

Bailey,  1802,  defines  whiffle,  "  to  trick 
out  of  a  thing,  to  ramble,  to  fluctuate." 

Richardson's  "English  Dictionary"  re- 
print in  America,  1847,  gives  whiffle  more 
elaborately,  to  wit  :  "Whiffle  —  A.-S.  Waefl- 
an,  to  speak  foolishly;  waefl-ere,  an  idle- 
headed  fellow  ;  perhaps  a  form  from  the  verb 
to  waff  or  wave.  '  Do  we  not  laugh  at  the 
groome  that  is  proud  of  his  master's  horse, 
or  some  vaine  whiffler  that  is  proud  of  a 
borrowed  chaine?'  (Bish.  Hall,  <  The  Right- 
eous Mammon')." 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  word  whiffle  is 
the  origin  and  that  tree  is  an  affix.  John- 
son (1787)  appears  to  lead  up  to  the  mean- 
ing by  the  word  "unsteady." 

Bailey  (1802)  does  the  same  in  the  word 
"fluctuate,"  and  Richardson  (1847)  brings 
us  nearer  the  association  in  his  quotation 
from  Bishop  Hall. 

The  above  authorities  were  the  only  ones 
at  my  hand  ;  probably  some  other  readers  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  may  be  able 
to  give  more  information. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


Ruskin.  —  I  see  it  stated  in  the  New 
York  Sun  that  Ruskin  was  never  married.  Is 
this  true?  TROIS  II/TOILES. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Easter  (Vol.  i,  p.  186).  —  Does  any  an- 
cient writer,  except  Bede,  mention  the 
Saxon  goddess  Eostra?  I.  F.  N. 

VERMONT. 

Marteno.  —  When  I  was  a  child,  forty 
years  ago,  we  used  to  give  the  name  marteno 
to  the  pickled  pods  of  the  martynia,  and  to 
the  plant  itself.  Is  there  any  literary  use 
of  the  word  marteno  in  this  sense? 

M.  L.  GOLD. 

DOVER,  DEL. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  21,  1890. 


Lady  Compton's  Letter  to  Her 
Husband. — Can  any  of  your  readers  fur- 
nish me  with  Lady  Compton's  letter  to 
her  husband,  Earl  of  Northampton,  which 
is  similar  to  the  conditions  made  by  the 
daughter  of  Sir  John  Frugall  ?  It  is  in 
Bishop  Goodman's  "  Court  of  King  James," 
Vol.  ii,  p.  127;  also,  "Relics  of  Litera- 
ture;" Knight's  "  London,"  Vol.  i,  p.  324. 
The  last  has  some  very  important  variations, 
however.  THOS.  CLEPHANE. 

CINCINNATI.  O. 

Fanacle. — This  word  occurs  in  W. 
Percy's  "  Ccelia"  (1594),  in  Sonnet  xiii  : 

"  One  day  I  went  to  Venus's  Fanacle." 

Fanacle  is  not  in  the  "  Century  Dictionary." 
Would  not  fanicle  be  a  better  spelling? 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Mother  Earth. — What  is  the  origin  of 
<< Mother  Earth"?  T.  C. 

CINCINNATI.  O. 

Robert  Merry  (Vol.  v,  p.  58,  etc.).— 
Is  Charles  Lamb's  story  about  Merry's 
flight  a  truthful  one  ?  In  point  of  fact  (see 
Vol.  iv,  p.  312),  Merry  seems  to  have  mar- 
ried before  he  came  to  America. 

O.  N.  F. 

DOVER,  N.  H. 

Rafe's  Chasm.— There  is  a  noted  cleft 
in  the  coast  rocks  of  Cape  Ann,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, called  Rafe's  Chasm,  often  visited 
by  summer  tourists.  From  whom  did  this 
chasm  take  its  name  ?  F.  R.  D. 

PORTSMOUTH,  N.  H. 

British  Ministers  to  the  U.  S. — 
Where  can  I  find  a  list  of  all  the  diplomatic 
(not  consular)  representatives  that  have 
been  sent  to  the  United  States  from  the 
British  government  ? 

CHARLES  F.  PENNANT. 

RAHWAY,  N.  J. 

Priscian's  Head.— Why  is  the  user  of 
ungrammatical  language  said  to  "  break  the 
head  of  Priscian?"  M.  H.  P. 

AURORA,  N.  Y. 


Crutches  in  Church.  —  It  is  well 
known  that  in  certain  Coptic  churches  the 
worshipers  stand  during  the  service,  sup- 
porting themselves  by  a  staff  or  a  crutch. 
A  friend,  in  calling  my  attention  to  this 
manner  of  worship,  compares  the  custom 
with  the  fact  recorded  of  the  Patriarch 
Jacob,  who  "worshiped  leaning  upon  the 
top  of  his  staff."  Is  this  the  real  origin  of 
the  Coptic  custom  here  spoken  of? 

RUDOLPH. 

BOSTON. 

Hundred-Harbored  Maine.— Which 
one  of  the  poets  speaks  of  "hundred-har- 
bored Maine?"  and  where  does  the  expres- 
sion occur?  M.  H.  P. 

AURORA,  N.  Y. 

Ff  in  Proper  Names. — Whence  came 
the  practice,  almost  but  not  quite  unknown 
in  this  country,  of  spelling  certain  proper 
names  with  an  initial  Ff  ?  I  have  seen  the 
spelling  Ffrench  (there  is  a  Lord  Ffrench 
in  Ireland),  also  Ffoord,  Ffoliot,  Ffarring- 
ton,  and  some  others.  I  suppose  these  are 
simply  aristocratic  spellings  of  otherwise 
plebeian  names.  J.  K.  BARBOUR. 

KNOXVILLE,  TENN. 

Palm  Leaf. — Whence  comes  the  kind 
of  palm  leaf  from  which  the  hats  are  made 
that  farmers  wear  in  summer?  What  spe- 
cies of  palm  produces  the  leaf  in  question  ? 

R.  B.  F. 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

Liberty  Pole. — What  is  the  origin  of 
the  "  liberty  pole  ?"  By  this  name  we  used 
to  designate  a  flag-staff  standing  in  a  public 
square.  S.  T.  A. 

NEW  HAVEN. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
i,  p.  81. 

Literate. — Why  are  clergymen  in  Eng- 
land who  are  not  university  graduates  some- 
times designated  as  literates  ?  One  would 
think  the  title  more  appropriate  to  grad- 
uates than  to  any  others. 

B.  S.  T. 

CORRY,  PA. 


June  21,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Jerusalem  the  Golden.— Can  any  one 
tell  me  where  can  be  found  an  old  hymn 
which  begins : 

"  Jerusalem  the  Golden, 

I  see  thy  bulwarks  stand." 

It  was  familiar  to  me,  and  I  have  interested 
persons  not  only  here  but  also  in  England 
on  the  subject  without  satisfaction. 

I  know  there  is  a  hymn  which  begins, 
"Jerusalem  the  Golden,"  but  the  second 
line  is  not  the  same. 

J.  WATTS  DE  PEYSTER. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Upsala.-  -What  is  the  proper  spelling  of 
Upsala?  In  Josephson's  "  Antikvariat"  it 
is  spelled  both  Upsala  and  Uppsala. 

JOSEPH  C.  STONE. 

NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

(90MMUNIGATIONS. 

Saunter  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  53,  etc.). — Far  bet- 
ter than  any  other  proposed  explanation  of 
this  word  seems  the  derivation  from  s'aven- 
turer,  to  adventure  one's  self.  Anter  and 
aunter  are  very  frequent  forms  of  the  word 
adventure  in  Middle  English.  ^  „.  ^ 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Like  for  As. — The  incorrect  use  of  like 
for  as  is  very  common  about  Philadelphia. 
In  Percy's  "Ccelia"  (1597),  Sonnet  xii,  we 
read : 

"  They  surge,  like  frothy  water  mounts  above  all." 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Pixie  or  Pyxie. — In  parts  of  England, 
as  in  Devonshire,  the  peasants  call  the  stitch- 
wort  by  the  name  of  pixie,  associating  the 
plant  with  the  pixies  or  fairies.  But  in  New 
Jersey  we  give  the  nameflyxie  to  a  very  dif- 
ferent plant,  the  curious  little  Pyxidanthe- 
ra  barbulata,  of  which  botanical  name  the 
word  pyxie  is  obviously  in  this  instance  an 
abbreviated  form.  The  latter  plant  is  often 
called  heron's  moss,  a  pretty  enough  sort  of 
name,  only  the  plant  is  not  a  moss,  and 
therefore  should  not  be  called  a  moss. 

A.  F.  L. 

BEACH  HAVEN,  N.  J. 


William  Percy  (Vol.  v,  p.  68).— I  do 
not  think  your  correspondent,  "  G,"  is  en- 
tirely safe  in  classing  William  Percy  as  a 
poet.  Judging  by  the  specimens  of  his 
work  which  I  have  fallen  in  with,  he  was 
a  sorry  poetaster,  and  if  he  had  not  been 
the  son  of  one  of  the  greatest  noblemen  of 
his  time,  he  would  have  had  no  recognition. 
He  was  a  clumsy  amorettist,  without  one 
spark  of  the  fire  of  genius.  How  different  are 
his  tame  "  loves"  and  those  of  Thomas  Wat- 
son (who  was  infinitely  his  superior,  though 
poor  enough),  from  the  manly  and  real, 
though  unsuccessful,  wooings  of  Michael 
Dray  ton  in  his  "  Sonnets  to  Idaea,"  which 
betray  at  almost  every  line  some  feeling  of 
true  poetic  genius. 

J.  WATSON  SPURR. 

BROOKLYN. 

Significance     of     Precious     Stones 

(Vol.  iv,  p.  161). — The  meaning  of  the  va- 
rious stones  is  not  uniform  nor  constant  in 
the  writings  of  Swedenborg,  as  he  himself 
declares  ("  Apoc.  Rev.,"  349,  915).  Stone 
signifies  truth  in  ultimates.  Precious  stone 
signifies  truth  transparent  from  good  ;  also 
such  things  as  are  either  of  the  truth  of  wis- 
dom or  of  the  good  of  love.  Jasper  signifies 
the  things  that  are  of  the  truths  of  wisdom. 
Sardius,  the  things  which  are  of  the  truth 
of  love.  Pearl,  of  great  price,  the  acknowl- 
edgment and  knowledge  of  the  Lord. 
Pearls,  knowledges  of  truth  and  good. 
Jasper,  sometimes  means  heavenly  love ; 
also  the  church.  Sapphire,  our  wisdom ; 
chalcedony,  the  uses  of  life ;  emerald,  the 
love  of  doing  heavenly  uses  ;  sardonyx,  the 
perception  of  use,  and  of  what  use  is ;  sar- 
dius,  the  will  of  serving  and  of  doing  ;  chrys- 
olite, love  towards  the  neighbor,  or  charity; 
beryl,  love  of  truth,  the  affection  of  truth 
from  good,  and  the  intelligence ;  topaz,  the 
good  of  life ;  chrysoprasus,  the  conjugal 
love  of  good  and  truth  ;  jacinth,  the  doctrine 
of  good  and  truth  ;  amethyst,  the  life  of 
truth  from  good  according  to  doctrine. 

Hereafter  I  hope  to  send  your  readers 
some  further  notes  on  the  symbolism  of 
precious  stones,  especially  as  set  forth  by 
Swedenborg. 

RUFUS  G.  NILES. 

BRIDGETON,  N.  J. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         »       [June  21,  1890. 


Cockney  (Vol.  v,  p.  80,  etc.). — Dr. 
Scott,  the  etymological  editor  of  the  "  Cen- 
tury Dictionary,"  writes  to  the  editor  of 
The  Nation,  of  June  12,  as  follows: 

"In  the  discussion  of  the  etymology  of 
tockney,  noticed  in  your  issue  of  May  29, 
the  position  of  the  '  Century  Dictionary  ' 
in  regard  to  that  word  has  been  misrepre- 
sented. Dr.  Murray,  in  his  first  letter  to  the 
Academy,  affirms  that  the  '  Century  Diction- 
ary '  advances  the  derivation  of  cockney 
from  an  O.  F.  coquine,  M.  L.  coquinatus, 
as  certain,  and  insinuates  that  this  view  is  a 
new  one,  peculiar  to  that  work.  This  is 
false.  Among  several  other  suggested  ety- 
mologies of  the  word,  the  one  in  question  is 
mentioned,  with  the  remark  that,  though 
*  phonetically  satisfactory,'  it  is  '  historically 
unsupported*  The  italicized  words  Dr. 
Murray  omits  to  quote,  but  they  are  essen- 
tial to  a  correct  statement  of  the  position  of 
the  American  book.  The  '  Century  Dic- 
tionary' does  not  advance  this  etymology  as 
its  own,  does  not  assert  it  to  be  true,  and, 
in  what  it  does  affirm  about  it,  is  entirely 
within  the  limits  of  fact. 

"  In,  apparently,  ascribing  this  etymology 
to  the  '  Century  Dictionary,'  Dr.  Murray 
cannot  be  so  ignorant  as  he  allows  himself 
to  appear.  In  the  glossarial  Index  of  *  Piers 
the  Plowman,'  edited  1886,  by  Prof.  W.  W. 
Skeat,  is  the  following  statement :  '  Coke- 
neyes,  pi.  scullions,  a.  7272.  I  have  now  no 
doubt  at  all  that  this  difficult  word  ^whence 
mod.  E.  cockney}  answers  to  an  O.  F. 
coquine  =  Low  Lat.  coquinatus,  from  coquin- 
fire,  to  cook,  serve  as  scullion,  a  derivative 
of  Lat.  coquinaj  etc.  The  suggestion  of 
this  etymology  did  not  originate  with  Prof. 
Skeat ;  but  as  it  is  positively  asserted  by  him 
(after  having  been  tentatively  advanced  in 
the  supplement  to  his  '  Etymological  Dic- 
tionary'), and  as  it  is  not  asserted  at  all  by 
the  '  Century  Dictionary,'  it  is  a  natural  in- 
ference that  Dr.  Murray's  criticisms  have 
been  intentionally  misdirected. 

"CHARLES  P.  G.  SCOTT." 

The  following  clipping  from  the  Academy 
will  probably  be  of  some  interest  to  the 
readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  : 

"  The  French  word  coco,  which,  according 
to  Littre,  is  (i)  terme  de  caresse  qu'on  ad- 


dresse  aux  enfants  et  aux  jeunes  gens;  (2) 
terme  familier  de  moquerie  applique  aux 
hommes,  et  presque  toujours  ironiquement ; 
(3)  terme  enfantin ;  un  coco  =  un  ceuf. 
Coco  is,  in  short,  like  cockney,  a  child's 
name  for  an  egg,  a  pet  name  for  a  child,  a 
contemptuous  name  for  a  man.  I  do  not 
for  a  moment  connect  coco  etymologically 
with  cockney  (except  that  it  is  probably, 
as  Littre  says,  a  diminutive  of  cog,  cock) ; 
but  it  is  worth  while  to  point  out  that  it  has 
originated  a  verb  cogue  liner,  '  to  dandle, 
cocker,  fedle,  pamper,  make  a  wanton  or 
cockney  of  (a  child),'  just  as  cocker  and 
cockle  in  Tudor-English  were  to  make  a 
cockney  or  nestle-cock  of;  and  that  it  gave 
a  mediaeval  Latin  diminutive  coconellus, 
which  the  Promptorium  Parvulorum  has  as 
the  monastic  equivalent  of  kokenay,  and 
moreover  tells  us  was  one  of  certain  words, 
'  derisorie  ficta  et  inventa,'  '  ficta  et  de- 
risorie  dicta."  Moreover,  coconellus  came 
into  sixteenth  century  English  in  the  form 
cocknel,  which  Peter  Levins  of  Magdalen 
College  rendered  in  Latin  acersa  delicatus, 
the  very  words  by  which  Huloet  rendered 
cockney.  And  rustics  knew  cocknell,  as  well 
as  cockney.  Quoth  the  country  fellow  to 
the  London  Prodigal  (1605):  'A!  and 
well  said,  cocknell,  and  Boebell  too!'  an 
association  with  Bowbell,  afterwards  familiar 
in  the  use  of  cockney" 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  i,  p.  74). — 
The  truly  remarkable  parallelism  between 
the  passages  cited  from  Chaucer  and  Goethe 
is  to  some  degree  explained  by  the  fact  that 
Boethius  ("De  re  Musica,"  i,  14),  and 
Vincent  of  Beauvais  ("  Speculum  Naturale," 
iv,  14),  both  cited  by  Skeat  in  the  notes  to 
Chaucer's  "  House  of  Fame,"  have  passages 
which  contain  the  germ  of  Chaucer's  idea. 
The  ancients  seem  to  have  had  a  fairly  cor- 
rect idea  of  the  nature  of  sound.  B.  R.  P. 

AM H ERST,  N.  H. 

The  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  p.  70). 
— I  have  often  heard  "  The  Labrador  "  spo- 
ken of  among  New  England  fishermen. 

F.  R.  D. 

PORTSMOUTH. 


June  21,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


93 


Gulf  of  Lion  (Vol.  v,  p.  71).— The 
final  "s"  to  the  name  Lyon  is  an  error,  and 
is  the  probable  result  of  the  English  pro- 
nunciation, and  also  of  geographers  and  his- 
torians. No  French  geography  or  history, 
i.e.,  those  printed  in  France,  spells  the 
name  Lyons.  But  why  it  has  been  trans- 
lated into  Gulf  of  the  Lion  may  be  difficult 
to  say,  unless  it  is  the  result  of  the  attempt 
to  Anglicize  the  French.  The  name  is  pro- 
nounced in  French  as  if  spelled  lee-ong,  and 
there  is  no  sound  of  " s"  in  the  word. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

It  was  all  very  fine  for  Strabo  and  other 
learned  folks  to  call  this  bight  A'sfctKos  K6\- 
xos,  MaaaahioTtKoq  Ku).-os,  and  Sinus  Galli- 
cus,  but  the  old  sea-farers  (so  local  tradition 
says)  in  their  own  plain  fashion  called  it  the 
lion's  gulf,  owing  to  the  roaring  of  the 
waters.  Reforming  map  makers  thought  it 
more  "  stylith"  to  change  this  into  the 
Gulf  of  Lyon,  but  as  the  city  of  that  name 
happens  to  have  grown  up  some  200  miles 
inland  from  the  gulf,  the  hit  proved  a 
failure.  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

According  to  various  legends  and  tradi- 
tions, this  gulf  received  its  name  from  the 
roar  of  the  surf  against  the  shores  in  stormy 
weather.  It  is  barely  possible,  however,  that 
it  may  have  arisen  from  some  poetic  fancy, 
or  perhaps  from  some  corruption  of  a  name 
similar  to  that  which  has  converted  Mande- 
ville  into  mann  teufel  (man  devil).  Re- 
cently some  unmitigated  ass  charted  this 
name  as  Gulf  of  Lyon  or  Lyons,  and  the 
blunder  was  repeated  on  quite  a  number  of 
school  atlases.  There  is  absolutely  no  au- 
thority for  such  an  interpretation. 

J.  W.  R. 

Foxglove  Spire. — I  never  half  appre- 
ciated till  this  season  the  beauty  of  thisTen- 
nysonian  expression.  In  my  garden  the 
foxglove-stalks,  laden  with  quaint,  down- 
hanging  blossoms,  have  exactly  the  general 
outline  of  a  well-proportioned  church-spire. 

ILDERIM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


Phantomnation. — An  amusing  illustra- 
tion of  the  mechanical  way  in  which  dic- 
tionaries have  been  made  is  furnished  by  the 
word  phantomnation  which  appears  in  Web- 
ster, Worcester,  the  Imperial,  and  "Cassell's 
Encyclopedic  Dictionary."  Webster  sol- 
emnly defines  it  thus  :  "  Phantomnation,  n. 
Appearance  as  of  a  phantom  ;  illusion.  \_Obs. 
and  rare.~\  Pope."  Worcester  says  simply  : 
"Illusion.  Pope."  The  Imperial  and  Cas- 
sell's  repeat  this  bit  of  lexicographic  wis- 
dom ;  but  the  latter  omits  the  reference  to 
Pope,  apparently  suspecting  that  something 
is  the  matter  somewhere.  Now  the  source 
of  this  word  is  a  book  entitled  "  Philology 
on  the  English  Language,"  published  in 
1820  by  Richard  Paul  Jodrell,  as  a  sort  of 
supplement  to  "Johnson's Dictionary."  Jod- 
rell had  a  curious  way  of  writing  phrases  as 
single  words,  without  even  a  hyphen  to  in- 
dicate their  composite  character ;  thus, 
under  his  wonder-working  pen,  city  solicitor 
became  "  citysolicitor,"  home  acquaintance 
"  homeacquaintance  " — and  so  on  indef- 
initely. He  remarks  in  his  preface  that  it 
"was  necessary  to  enact  laws  for  myself," 
and  he  appears  to  have  done  so  with  great 
vigor.  Of  course  he  followed  his  "law" 
when  he  transcribed  the  following  passage 
from  Pope  : 

"  These  solemn  vows  and  holy  offerings  paid 
To   all  the  phantom  nations  of  the  dead." 

("Odyssey,"  x,  627.) 

Phantom  nations  became  "  phantomna- 
tions,"  and  the  "  great  standards  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  "  were  enriched  with  a  "  new 
word!"  There  is  a  difference,  however, 
between  Jodrell  and  his  followers  :  he  knew 
what  Pope  meant.  Webster's  definition  is 
entirely  original.  This  appears  to  have  been 
the  best  instance  of  a  "ghost-word"  on 
record. — The  Critic,  May  29,  1890. 

Only  English  Pope  (Vol.  v,  p.  4). — 
It  surely  ought  not  to  be  overlooked  or  for- 
gotten that  it  was  an  English  Pope  who  first 
assumed  the  right  to  give  the  sovereignty  of 
Ireland  to  an  English  king.  Henry  II's 
claim  to  the  lordship  of  Ireland  rested  upon 
a  grant  of  the  same  from  Pope  Adrian  IV. 

G.  P.  O'HlGGIN. 
COLUMBUS,  O. 


94 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  21,  1890. 


Canting  Heraldry  (Vol.  v,  p.  50).— 
Luttrel,  otters  (T  outre) ;  Herries,  a  hedge- 
hog (ericius);  Pawns,  a  peacock  (/taw/); 
Starkey,  a  stork ;  Rooke,  a  rook ;  Swift,  a 
dolphin  or  swift ;  Malbisse,  a  snake  (bisse}  \ 
Bottreaux,  toads  (batrachus,  botrace) ; 
Drake,  a  drake  or  dragon  (wyvern) ;  Bowes, 
three  bows ;  Cranston,  a  crane  carrying  a 
stone;  Set  on  was  a.  battle-cry  of  the  Seton 
family ;  Farefac,  the  motto  of  the  Fairfaxes. 
There  are  very  many  other  examples  to  be 
collected.  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Mainland.  —  The  "Century  Diction- 
ary" does  not  notice  the  use  of  mainland 
for  the  principal  island  of  a  group.  Yet  we 
read  of  the  mainland  of  Orkney  and  of 
Shetland.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Clarenceux  (Vol.  iv,  p.  137). — Accord- 
ing to  a  paragraph  in  the  Saturday  Review, 
of  May  31,  the  "  New  English  Dictionary" 
must  be  right  in  deriving  (with  most  other 
authorities),  the  title  of  the  Duke  of  Clar- 
ence from  Clare  in  Suffolk.  The  writer 
cites  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Stubbs,  who  bases 
his  views  on  the  declarations  of  Mr.  Finlay, 
the  historian  of  Greece,  that  Klarenza  did 
did  not  give  name  to  the  dukedom  of  Clar- 
ence. But  did  not  the  Villehardouins  hold 
the  duchy  of  Klarenza?  And  was  not 
Clarence's  mother  a  descendant  of  the  Ville- 
hardouins ?  I  do  not  deny  that  Clare  in 
England  was  chosen  as  a  local  habitation 
for  the  name  of  Clarence,  and  that  it  was 
afterwards  called  Clarentia,  to  correspond 
with  the  title.  But  it  does  seem  strange  that 
in  Edward  Ill's  time  a  little  English  town 
should  give  title  to  a  duchy  held  by  a  prince 
of  the  blood,  when  most,  if  not  all,  other 
duchies  were  named  from  large  territories.  It 
also  seems  strange  that  the  name  Clare  should 
be  altered,  for  this  special  use  only,  into  Clar- 
ence, unless  there  were  some  antecedent 
reason  for  the  change.  But  in  this  country 
we  are  so  far  removed  from  the  sources  from 
which  we  must  seek  the  needed  information, 
that  I  feel  compelled  for  the  present  to  ac- 
cept the  authority  of  two  such  eminent  his- 
torians as  Bishop  Stubbs  and  Mr.  Finlay.  I 


am,  however,  inclined   to  think  there  is  a 
mistake  somewhere    in  their  testimony    on 
this  point. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Shamrock  (Vol.  v,  p.  84,  etc.).— 
Friend's  "Flowers  and  Flower-Lore,"  p. 
171,  states  that  shamrock  or  seamrog  seems 
to  be  a  generic  word,  and  is  applied  as  a  name 
to  white  clover,  purple  clover,  speedwell, 
pimpernell  and  wood-sorrel.  The  speedwell 
or  veronica  in  particular  was  thought  to  bear 
in  its  bright  and  "darling  blue"  flowers 
some  likeness  of  our  Lord's  face,  like  the 
kerchief  of  St.  Veronica.  Dr.  Prior  says  (op. 
cit.,  p.,  385),  that  the  Black  Nonsuch  or 
medic,  and  the  Dutch  clover,  are  both  worn 
as  the  true  shamrock  in  Ireland.  Dr.  Moore, 
of  Dublin,  says  it  is  the  Black  Nonsuch.  The 
author  of  "  Plant-lore  of  Shakespeare  "  says : 
"At  the  present  day  the  wood-sorrel  is  sup- 
posed to  have  the  better  claim  to  the  honor  " 
of  being  considered  the  true  shamrock.  See 
also  Britten  and  Holland's  "  Dictionary," 
Art.  "Shamrock."  I  have  acquaintances 
from  all  the  quarters  and  provinces  of  Ire- 
land, and  I  find  that  there  is  a  difference  of 
opinion  among  them  as  to  the  true  and 
original  shamrock.  From  Mr.  Duffy's  de- 
scription I  think  his  shamrock  is  the  Medica- 
go  lupulina,  or  nonsuch,  which  you  will  find 
growing  abundantly  near  Boston.  I  have 
found  it  at  North  Andover,  Mass.,  many  and 
many  a  time.  If  he  desires,  and  will  so 
signify  to  the  editor  of  the  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES,  I  can  no  doubt  procure  sam- 
ples of  the  plant  for  him.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Asoka  and  Banjula  (Vol.  v,  pp.  59, 
etc.). — It  is  remarkable  that  neither  the 
"  Century"  nor  the  "New  English  Diction- 
ary" have  either  of  these  tree  names,  both 
of  which  have  considerable  literary  interest. 
The  tree  itself  (Jonesia  asoca)  to  which 
the^e  names  belong  figures  prominently  in 
Hindu  legends  and  literature.  As  to  whether 
the  name  asoka  is  in  any  way  connected 
with  the  name  of  the  benevolent  and  able 
Buddhist  peasant-descended  King  Asoka 
(264-223  B.  C.),  I  cannot  say  anything  at 
present.  J.  E.  ESTABROOK. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


June  21,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


95 


Market  Jew. — This  is  one  of  the  names 
of  the  Cornish  chough,  a  European  species 
of  crow.  The  "Century  Dictionary"  does 
not  explain  the  origin  of  the  name.  Mar- 
ket Jew  is  properly  a  place  name.  It  is  a 
designation  of  the  town  of  Marazion  in 
Cornwall,  called  Marghashiewe  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  bird  is  also  called 
Market-Jew  Crow.  Compare  Royston  Crow, 
Aylesbitry  Duck.  *  *  * 

PHILADELPHIA. 

Weathercocks  Musical  (Vol.  v,  p. 
62). — Hawes  has  another  allusion  to  what 
appear  to  be  musical  weathercocks,  in  the 
description  of  the  "Tower  of  Doctrine:" 

"  The  little  turretts  with  ymages  of  golde. 
About  was  set,  whiche  with  the  wynde  aye  moved, 
With  proper  vices  that  I  did  well  beholde, 
About  the  towers  in  sundry  wyse  they  hoved, 
With  goodly  pypes  in  their  mouthes  ituned, 
That  with  the  wynde  they  pyped  a  daunce, 
Iclipped,  Amour  de  la  hault  plesaunce." 

("  Percy's  Reliques.") 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  Pa. 

Lender  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  312,  etc.). — I  con- 
fess I  do  not  quite  see  how  Irish  lenn,  pi. 
lenna,  a  shirt,  can  become  lender,  an  under- 
shirt, in  English.  Could  not  the  German 
lende,  the  loin,  give  us  lender,  a  loin-cloth  ? 
I  do  not,  however,  for  a  moment  share  Dr. 
Murray's  extreme  (and,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
unreasonable)  suspicion  of  all  Celtic  deriva- 
tions. If  we  can  find  early  examples  of  lender 
in  this  use,  we  may  be  able  to  trace  its  origin. 

R.  S.  S. 

DAYTON,  O. 

The  Word  "The"  in  Place  Names 

(Vol.  v,  pp.  70,  etc.).— "The  California" 
occurs  in  J.  Chilton's  account  of  his  travels 
(1569)  in  Mexico,  published  in  "  Hakluyt's 
Voyages."  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Kitchen  Cabinet  (Vol.  i,  p.  44). — In 
Sumner's  "  Life  of  Jackson,"  there  is  a  list 
)f  the  members  of  the  kitchen  cabinet  which 
differs  considerably  from  the  one  you  have 
given.  W.  P.  RODEN. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 


Cold   as   Charity   (Vol.   iv,   pp.    179, 
etc.).— 

"Well,   well,  my  friends!    when   beggars   grow   thus 

bold, 
No  marvel,  then,  tho'  charity  grow  cold." 


(Drayton's  "  Idea"  (1624)  Sonnet.) 

P.  R.  E. 


OHIO. 


Men  as  Things  (Vol.  v,  pp.  68,  etc.). — 
A  Dahlgren  (gun) ;  a  Coehorn  (mortar) ;  a 
Berdan  (rifle) ;  a  Galling  (gun)  ;  a  Paixhan 
(gun).  H.  P.,  JR. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Jenkins'  Ear  (Vol.  iii,  p.  88).— It  would 
seem  that  the  blind  goddess  of  justice  has 
dealt  with  the  reputation  of  this  much-ma- 
ligned individual.  Mr.  J.  K.  Laughton,  in 
the  English  Historical  Review  (October, 
1889),  states  that  amongst  other  old  docu- 
ments which  he  has  unearthed  is  one  which 
"  confirms  the  story  of  Jenkins'  ear,  which, 
for  certainly  more  than  a  hundred  years,  has 
been  generally  believed  to  be  a  fable"  (p. 
741).  In  a  list  of  British  merchant  ships 
taken  or  plundered  by  the  Spanish,  is  this 
entry:  "Rebecca,  Robert  Jenkins,  Jamaica 
to  London,  boarded  and  plundered  near  the 
Havana,  gth  April,  1731." 

Mr.  Laughton  comments  as  follows : 
"The  gth  April  was  the  2oth  (new  style), 
which  definitely,  besides  the  other  allusions, 
identifies  the  Rebecca  as  the  ship  whose 
master  had  one  ear  cut  off.  It  is  satisfac- 
tory to  know  that  Jenkins  really  had  his 
ear  cut  off,  and  not  in  the  pillory"  (p.  747). 
A.  F.  CHAMBERLAIN. 

TORONTO,  CAN. 

Eating  Cake  (Vol.  iv,  p.  102). — Some 
authorities  ascribe  the  saying  that  "  the 
people  should  eat  cake  when  they  have 
no  bread"  to  the  Princess  de  Lamballe. 
Whether  it  was  the  queen  or  her  thoughtless 
favorite,  it  was  a  heartless  and  stupid  thing 
to  say.  (But  very  likely  it  never  was  said 
at  all.)  For  if  they  could  not  get  bread,  it 
is  not  likely  that  they  could  get  meat ;  and 
if  they  could  get  no  meat,  they  would  surely 
have  no  occasion  to  prepare  croutons  of  any 
sort  for  encrusting  their  meat. 

O.  M.  M. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  21,  1890. 


A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  p. 
83,  etc.). — If  "Mary  sings  a  musical  part," 
in  the  case  considered  by  W.  J.  R.,  there 
must  be  others  singing  with  her.  Part-sing- 
ing implies  more  than  one  singer.  There- 
fore W.  J.  R.,  I  conceive,  cannot  be  right 
in  his  parsing  of  the  sentence.  For  if  we 
conceive  that  there  were  other  singers,  as 
the  fire,  or  the  water,  or  the  birds,  bearing 
other  part  or  parts  in  the  singing,  we  violate 
the  Law  of  Parcimony,  which  forbids  an  ex- 
planation by  the  introduction  of  any  fresh 
actors  when  those  whose  names  are  expressed 
are  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 

The  word  part,  occurring  in  the  seventh 
line  of  the  quotation  on  p.  27,  is,  in  my 
view,  correlated  with  the  word  some  in  the 
fifth  line.  Indeed,  the  word  some,  I  think, 
calls  for  a  correlative  word,  which  we  have 
in  the  word  part ;  but  W.  J.  R.'s  explana- 
tion leaves  sdme  without  any  expressed  cor- 
relative. 

We  fly  pigeons,  when,  in  reality,  it  is  the 
pigeons  who  do  the  flying ;  and,  in  like 
manner,  Mary  sings  the  water,  when,  in 
reality,  it  is  the  water  that  does  the  singing. 
Indeed,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the 
words  simmer  and  sing  are  cognate  ;  and  we 
use  simmer  both  as  a  transitive  (or  causative) 
and  an  intransitive  verb;  we  simmer  prunes, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  prunes  simmer. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Basket. — If  I  read  the  "Oxford  Dic- 
tionary" aright,  Dr.  Murray  rejects  all,  or, 
rather,  does  not  accept  any  of  the  deriva- 
tions thus  far  proposed  for  the  word  basket. 
I  notice  in  Hunter's  "Bengal  Gazetteer," 
(Vol.  xi,  p.  253),  that  the  Doms,  or  Hindu 
gypsies,  make  reed  baskets,  called  bashkar. 
I  do  not  offer  this  as  the  source  of  the  word 
basket.  It  is  doubtless  a  mere  coincidence. 
E.  J.  NEEDHAM. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

Key  of  Death  (Vol.  i,  p.  71,  etc.).— 
The  iron  key  that  "shuts  amain,"  in  Mil- 
ton's "  Lycidas,"  is  also  the  key  of  death. 
See  the  Apocalypse,  i,  18,  where  the  keys 
of  death  and  hell  are  spoken  of. 

R.  P.  L. 
ATHENS,  N.  Y. 


Humming-Bird  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  206-208). 
— Addenda  and  Corrigenda. — IntheTonika 
language  of  Eastern  Louisiana  the  hum- 
ming-bird is  called  Kua-tu  (i.  e.,  little  bird ; 
see  "Trans,  of  Am.  Philol.  Soc.,"xx,  168). 
In  Wallace's  "  Tropical  Nature,"  there  is  a 
chapter  on  humming-birds  and  their  names. 
On  p.  206  read  Pluvianus ;  p.  207,  col.  2, 
1.  n,  ciseau-mouche ;  p.  208,  for  "Peru" 
read  "Spanish  Peru.1'  The  latter  part  of 
second  line  from  bottom,  on  p.  208,  col.  i, 
should  read:  "  (Lubeck,  1754),  Tesdorpf 
celebrates."  On  page  214,  under  Plaque- 
mine,  read  "prune  de  Damas,"  and  on  p. 
2  ic,  "  Bayoz*." 

A.  F.  C. 

TORONTO,  CAN. 


BODIES  AND   E>EF$IODIGAUS. 


The  Chautauquan,  for  July,  contains  a  novelette  of 
nine  chapters,  "  The  Golden  Calf,"  by  Hjalmar  Hjorth 
Boyesen.  It  is  a  forcible  study  of  human  nature  and 
an  admirable  piece  of  literary  work.  The  August  and 
September  numbers  also  will  contain  novelettes  by 
brilliant  and  well-known  writers. 

The  July  number  presents  the  following  table  of 
contents:  "The  Golden  Calf"  (a  novelette  complete 
in  one  number),  by  Hjalmar  Hjorth  Boyesen  ;  "  Sum- 
mer Health:  How  to  Keep  It,"  by  Felix  Oswald, 
M.D. ;  Sunday  Readings,  selected  by  Bishop  Vincent ; 
"  The  Newer  Parts  of  Canada,"  by  Cyrus  C.  Adams  ; 
"  The  House  of  Representatives,"  by  Eugene  L.  Didier ; 
"  The  Follies  of  Social  Life,"  by  Charles  Ledyard 
Norton;  "  Picturesque  Dalmatia  ;"  "  Altruism  and  the 
Leprosy,"  by  Frances  Albert  Doughty;  "  Mr.  Bryce 
as  a  Mountaineer,"  by  Elizabeth  Robins  Pennell ; 
"  Original  Packages  and  Prohibition,"  by  Joseph  Ship- 
pen,  Esq.;  "How  to  Conduct  a  Round  Table,"  by 
Edward  E.  Hale;  "  What  Women  should  Wear,"  by 
Mary  S.  Torrey;  "  Homesteads  for  Women,"  by  Kate 
Carnes;  "  Madam  Blavatsky,"  by  Frances  E.  Willard; 

'  New  Birds  for  the  House,"  by  Olive  Thome  Miller; 

'  Summer  Resort  Acquaintances,"  by  Felicia  Hillel  ; 

'  The  Growth  of  a  Home,"  by  Mrs.  Hester  M.  Poole; 

'  Dinners  and  Dinner  Giving,"  by  Mrs.  Emma  P.  Ew- 

ng.  The  Summer  Assemblies  of  1890  are  liberally 
noticed,  and  the  usual  space  is  devoted  to  editorials. 
The  poetry  of  the  number  is  by  Cora  B.  Bickford, 
Jessie  F.  O'Donnell,  and  Lucy  C.  Bull. 

Ancient  Norombega  ;  or,  The  Voyage  of  Simon  Ferdi- 
nando  and  John  Walker  to  the  Penobscot  River, 
1579-1580.  By  B.  F.  De  Costa.  Albany :  Joel 
Munsell's  Sons,  1890. 

This  pamphlet  of  twelve  pages  favors  the  view  that 
the  "  city"  of  Norombega  stood  on  the  banks  of  the 
Penobscot ;  but  the  author  conceives  that  it  "  perhaps 
was  never  anything  more  than  an  Indian  village  carry- 
ing on  a  trade  with  the  French  and  English  in  peltry." 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— The  Evil  Eye,  97— The  Goose  in  History,  99. 

QUERIES:— America,  100— Fool  Hay— Woodhouselee  Ghost 
— Mother  Carey's  Chickens— Stilts — Gilsonite,  101. 

REPLIES  :— Plucke-Buffet,  101 — Rusldn — Goose-bone — Adam 
of  St.  Victor,  102— Ff  in  Proper  Names — War  of  the  Axe — 
Marteno,  103. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS :— Yoked  with  a 
Lamb — Cacoethes  Scribendi— Qui  Vive— The  Captain  of  My 
Dreams— The  Dragon  Fly  in  Tennyson's  "Two  Voices" — 
Greek  Boy — General  Arose  from  Sick-bed,  103. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Pillars  of  the  Church,  103— A  Ques- 
tion in  Grammar — Camelot — Whipping  as  a  Punishment — 
Oregon — T.  D.  Pipes,  104 — The  State  of  Franklin— Branch, 
River,  Creek,  Run,  etc. — Gulf  of  the  Lion — Losh,  105 — Par- 
allel Passages— Names  of  Boats  and  Ships — Lyons  and  Lyon — 
Washwoods— Charivari,  106— Highbelia  for  Lowpo— "The 
Ampulla  " — Sunset  on  the  United  States,  107 — Nix's  Mate — 
Alleluia  Victory— Inland-Flowing  Streams — Corycian  Cave — 
Rushlights— Oxford,  108. 


ROTES. 


THE  EVIL  EYE. 

(VOL.  iv,  PP.  296,  ETC.) 

The  belief  that  death  could  be  caused,  or 
mischief  wrought,  by  the  power  of  the  eye, 
has  prevailed  almost  universally  from  the 
earliest  times.  In  ancient  Egypt  we  find 
this  power  attributed  to  the  gods,  as  in  the 
Fourth  Sallier  papyrus  :  "  On  the  23d  of 
the  month  Choiak,  a  man  is  blinded  if  the 
eyes  of  certain  deities  fall  upon  him." 
Similar  allusions  occur  in  the  papyri  in  all 
periods.  The  natural  result  of  such  pre- 
scriptions would  be  that  this  power  would 
soon  cease  to  be  the  exclusive  possession  of 
divinity;  Prof.  Renouf  says  ("  Rel.  Anc. 
Egypt,"  Lect.  iv)  :  "The  Egyptian  proper 
names  bear  distinct  witness  to  the  existence- 
of  the  superstition  of  the  evil  eye." 


98 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  28,  1890. 


In  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  where  supersti- 
tions of  all  kinds  were  rife,  and  the  uni- 
verse was  thought  to  be  peopled  with  evil 
spirits,  whose  mission  seems  to  have  been  to 
afflict  mankind  in  every  conceivable  way, 
this  idea  was  still  more  prevalent.  Refer- 
ence is  made  to  it  in  exorcisms  of  the  primi- 
tive Accadians,  and  in  an  incantation  tablet 
of  the  later  Babylonish  period.  Among  other 
petitions  to  the  good  spirits,  is  an  entreaty 
for  protection  against  the  evil  eye. 

Among  the  Parsis,  witchcraft  could  be 
exercised  as  well  by  the  eye  as  by  the  voice. 
The  wicked  Angra-Mainyu  exerts  this  power 
in  the  creation  of  diseases.  The  Zend-Avesta 
(Veudidad,  Fargard  xxii,  i)  has:  "Then 
the  ruffian  looked  at  me ;  the  ruffian  Angra- 
Mainyu,  the  deadly,  wrought  by  his  witch- 
craft nine  diseases,  and  ninety  and  nine 
hundred  and  nine  thousand,  and  nine  times 
ten  thousand  diseases."  A  note  to  this 
passage  explains  that  it  was  by  casting  the 
evil  eye  on  the  good  creatures  of  Ormazd, 
that  Ahriman  corrupted  them.  A  method 
of  averting  this  maleficent  influence,  by  cer- 
tain positions  of  the  hands,  differing  from 
the  Italian  mode  described  in  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES  (Vol.  iv,  p.  272),  was 
in  use  among  the  Jews.  The  Talmudic 
prescription  is  as  follows :  "  If  one  enters  a 
town  and  is  afraid  of  the  effects  of  an  evil 
eye  (from  the  townpeople  looking  at  him), 
let  him  put  his  right  thumb  into  his  left 
hand,  and  his  left  thumb  into  his  right 
hand,  and  say :  '  I,  so  and  so,  the  son  of  so 
and  so,  am  a  descendant  of  Joseph,  who  is 
not  affected  by  an  evil  eye,  for  it  is  said, 
"Joseph  is  a  fruitful  bough  rising  above  the 
eye"  (said  to  be  a  variant  of  Gen.  xlix,  22). 
Rabbi  Yosi  ben  Chanena  said:  "Joseph's 
insusceptibility  to  the  effects  of  an  evil  eye 
is  proved  from  Gen.  xlviii,  16;"  as  the 
fishes  are  sheltered  by  the  sea  from  the 
effects  of  an  evil  eye,  so  is  the  seed  of  Joseph 
sheltered  from  its  effects'  '  (Hershon's 
"Gen.  Talm.  Comm.").  According  to 
another  passage  from  the  Talmud,  whenever 
the  wise  men  fixed  their  eyes  in  displeasure 
on  any  man,  the  consequence  to  him  was 
either  death  or  destitution.  An  instance  is 
given  in  which  a  sneering  disciple  is  reduced 
to  ashes  by  Rabbi  Yochanan  fixing  his  eyes 
upon  him.  Much  of  this  superstition  among 


the  Hebrews  was  undoubtedly  imbibed  dur- 
ing the  captivity,  from  the  extremely  credu- 
lous inhabitants  of  Babylonia.  Mr.  Layard 
found  on  the  site  of  ancient  Babylon,  a 
number  of  bowls  inscribed  in  the  Chaldean 
language,  with  characters  thought  to  be 
the  most  ancient  Hebrew.  These  vessels 
were  inscribed  with  "bills  of  divorce  to  the 
devil,"  and  other  talismanic  devices  against 
"evil  spirits  both  male  and  female,  and  the 
evil  eye"  ("  Nineveh  and  Babylon/'  p.  442). 

The  fox's  tail  fixed  between  the  eyes  of  a 
horse  counteracted  the  power  of  the  evil 
eye  also,  but  the  Talmud  forbids  the  ani- 
mal going  into  the  public  thoroughfare  so 
equipped  on  the  Sabbath.  The  passage  in 
Matt,  vi,  23,  "If  thine  eye  be  evil,  etc.," 
is  scarcely  admissible  in  this  connection,  as 
no  power  of  harm  is  implied,  and  was  ex- 
plained by  Gregory  Thaumaturgus  as  "the 
pretended  love;"  the  passage,  Matt,  xx,  15, 
is,  of  course,  of  much  the  same  import,  as 
noted  (AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES, 
Vol.  iv,  p.  272).  That  the  Romans  were 
familiar  with  the  power  of  the  eye  for  evil 
is  shown  by  Virgil's  shepherd  attributing 
the  diseased  appearance  of  his  flock  to  the 
malicious  glance  of  an  enemy  (Eccl.  iii). 
Douce  (Illust.  Shakesp.)  has  several  illustra- 
tions of  Roman  amulets  against  fascination 
in  general,  but  in  particular  against  the  evil 
eye  (quoted  by  Brand). 

According  to  Pliny,  some  persons  among 
the  Triballi,  in  Moesia,  possessed  two  pupils 
in  each  eye ;  these  persons  could  cause 
death  by  gazing  fixedly  at  any  one,  but 
young  children  were  particularly  susceptible 
to  their  influence.  The  same  thing  is  noted 
of  the  Illyrii,  and  in  Scythia  are  certain 
females  called  Bythiae,  who  have  the  same 
appearance  and  power.  On  the  authority 
of  Phylarchus,  Pliny  tells  us  that  a  tribe  of 
the  Thibii,  in  Pontus,  and  many  other  per- 
sons, have  a  double  pupil  in  one  eye,  and 
the  figure  of  a  horse  in  the  other.  These 
persons  have  the  characteristics  of  witches, 
as  one  of  the  tests  applied  in  later  times 
would  show,  inasmuch  as  their  bodies  will 
not  sink  in  water.  Pliny  also  credits  Cicero 
with  the  expression  that  "the  glances  of  all 
women  who  have  a  double  pupil  are  noxious, ' ' 
but  this  saying  is  not  found  in  any  of  Cice- 
ro's extant  works.  Every  one  remembers 


June  28,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


99 


the  terrible  eye  of  the  Caliph  Vathek,  in 
Beckford's  tale,  and  his  account  is  sup- 
ported by  the  Arabian  authors  quoted  by 
D'Herbelot  ("  Bibl.  Orientale,"  Tome  iii), 
who  relates  an  incident  of  its  fatal  effect 
when  the  caliph  was  in  his  death  agony. 
Through  the  middle  ages  this  superstition 
continued  rather  to  increase  than  diminish 
until  it  reached  its  culmination  in  the  fif- 
teenth century.  The  bull  of  Pope  Innocent 
VIII,  in  1484,  formally  instituted  the  perse- 
cution of  witchcraft  in  Germany,  and  spe- 
cial inquisitors  were  appointed.  Five  years 
later  the  publication  of  Sprenger's  celebrated 
"Witch  Hammer"  followed.  From  this 
work  we  learn  that  witches  are  necessary  to 
the  corporeal  actions  of  the  devil ;  "  many 
of  them  have  greenish  eyes,  the  glance  of 
which  injures."  Again  :  "The  witches  be- 
witch and  sometimes  by  their  bleared  eyes. 
These  bleared  eyes  are  inflamed  eyes ;  these 
inflame  the  air,  and  even  sound  eyes,  but 
especially  when  these  bleared  eyes  fix  them- 
selves in  a  direct  line  with  the  healthy  ones." 
Rydberg,  quoting  the  same  volume,  says  the 
children  needed  for  the  witches'  kettles  and 
Sabbath  banquets  are  killed  while  in  their 
cradle  by  looks  (or  by  a  certain  powder), 
and  the  simple  people  believe  their  death 
was  from  natural  causes. 

(To  be  concluded.*} 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 


THE  GOOSE  IN  HISTORY. 

The  goose  figures  largely  in  the  history, 
the  legends,  and  the  proverbial  lore  of  our 
own  and  other  lands.  In  ancient  Egypt  it 
was  an  object  of  adoration  in  the  temple 
and  an  article  of  diet  on  the  table.  The 
Egyptians  mainly  took  beef  and  goose  flesh 
as  their  animal  food,  and  it  has  been  sug- 
gested that  they  expected  to  obtain  physical 
power  from  the  beef  and  mental  vigor  from 
the  goose.  To  support  this  theory  it  has 
been  shown  that  other  nations  have  eaten 
the  flesh  of  wolves  and  drank  the  blcod  of 
lions,  hoping  thereby  to  become  fierce  and 
courageous.  Some  other  nations  have  re- 
fused to  partake  of  the  hare  and  the  deer  on 
account  of  the  timidity  of  these  animals, 
fearing  lest  by  eating  their  flesh  they  should 


also  partake  of  their  characteristic  fearful- 
ness  and  timidity. 

Pliny  thought  very  highly  of  the  goose, 
saying  "  that  one  might  almost  be  tempted 
to  think  these  creatures  have  an  apprecia- 
tion of  wisdom,  for  it  is  said  one  of  them 
was  a  constant  companion  of  the  peripatetic 
philosopher  Lacydes,  and  would  never  leave 
him,  either  in  public  or  when  at  the  bath, 
by  night  or  by  day." 

We  gather  from  the  quaint  words  of  an 
old  chronicler  a  probable  solution  of  the 
familiar  phrase,  "To  cook  one's  goose." 
"The  kyng  of  Swedland,"  so  runs  the  an- 
cient record,  "  coming  to  a  towne  of  his 
enemyes  with  very  little  company,  his  ene- 
myes,  to  slyghte  his  forces,  did  hang  out  a 
goose  for  him  to  shoote ;  but  perceiving  be- 
fore nyghte  that  these  few  soldiers  had  in- 
vaded and  sette  their  chiefe  houlds  on  fire, 
they  demanded  of  him  what  his  intent  was, 
to  whom  he  replyed :  '  To  cook  your 
goose.'  " 

In  the  days  when  the  bow  and  arrow  were 
the  chief  weapons  of  warfare,  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  the  sheriffs  of  the  counties  where 
geese  were  reared  to  gather  sufficient  quan- 
tities of  feathers  to  wing  the  arrows  of  the 
English  army.  Some  of  the  old  ballads 
contain  references  to  winging  the  arrow 
with  goose  feathers.  A  familiar  instance  is 
the  following : 

"  Bend  all  your  bows,"  said  Robin  Hood; 
"  And  with  the  gray  goose  wing, 
Such  sport  now  show  as  you  would  do 
In  the  presence  of  the  king." 

To  check  the  exportation  of  feathers  a 
heavy  export  duty  was  put  upon  them. 

The  goose  frequently  figures  in  English 
tenures.  In  a  poem  by  Gascoigne,  pub- 
lished in  1575,  there  is  an  allusion  to  rent- 
day  gifts,  which  appear  to  have  been  general 
in  the  olden  time: 

"And  when  the  tenants  come  to  pay  their  quarter's 

rent, 
They  bring  some  fowle  at  Midsummer,  a  dish  of  fish 

in  Lent, 
At   Christmasse   a   capon,    and  at    Michaelmasse   a 

goose." 

A  strange  memorial  custom  was  kept  up 
at  Hilton  in  the  days  of  Charles  II.  An 
image  of  brass,  known  as  Jack  of  Hilton, 
was  kept  there.  "In  the  mouth,"  we  are 


IOO 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  28,  1890. 


told,  "  was  a  little  hole  just  large  enough  to 
admit  the  head  of  a  pin  ;  water  was  poured 
in  by  a  hole  in  the  back  which  was  after- 
wards stopped  up."  The  figure  was  then 
set  on  the  fire ;  and  during  the  time  it  was 
blowing  off  steam,  the  lord  of  the  manor  of 
Essington  was  obliged  to  bring  a  goose  to 
Hilton  and  drive  it  three  times  round  the 
hall  fire.  He  next  delivered  the  goose  to 
the  cook,  and  when  dressed  he  carried  it  to 
the  table,  and  received  in  return  a  dish  of 
meat  for  his  own  mess. 

In  bygone  times  Lincolnshire  was  a  great 
place  for  breeding  geese,  and  its  extensive 
bogs,  marshes,  and  swamps  were  well  adapted 
for  the  purpose.  The  drainage  and  cultiva- 
tion of  the  land  have  done  away  with  the 
haunts  suitable  for  the  goose  ;  but  in  a  large 
measure  Lincolnshire  has  lost  its  reputation 
for  its  geese.  Frequently  in  the  time  when 
geese  were  largely  bred,  one  farmer  would 
have  a  thousand  breeding  geese,  and  they 
would  multiply  some  sevenfold  every  year, 
so  that  he  would  have  under  his  care  an- 
nually some  eight  thousand  geese.  He  had 
to  be  careful  that  they  did  not  wander  from 
the  particular  district  where  he  had  a  right 
to  allow  them  to  feed,  for  they  were  regarded 
as  trespassers,  and  the  owner  could  not  get 
stray  geese  back  unless  he  paid  a  fine  of  two- 
pence for  each  offender. 

Within  the  last  fifty  years  it  was  a  com- 
mon occurrence  to  see  on  sale  in  the  market 
place  at  Nottingham,  at  the  Goose  Fair, 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  geese,  which 
had  been  brought  from  the  fens  of  Lincoln- 
shire. A  street  on  the  Lincolnshire  side  of 
the  town  is  called  Goose-gate. 

The  origin  of  the  custom  of  eating  a  goose 
at  Michaelmas  is  lost  in  the  shadows  of  the 
dim  historic  past.  According  to  Chambers' 
Journal,  Saint  Martin  was  tormented  with 
a  goose,  which  he  killed  and  ate.  He  died 
after  eating  it;  and  ever  since  Christians 
have,  as  a  matter  of  duty,  on  the  saint's  day 
sacrificed  the  goose.  We  have  seen  from 
the  preceding  quotation  from  Gascoigne, 
that  the  goose  formed  a  popular  Michael- 
mas dish  from  an  early  period. 

It  is  a  common  saying,  "  The  older  the 
goose  the  harder  to  pluck,"  when  old  men 
are  unwilling  to  part  with  their  money.  The 
barbarous  practice  of  plucking  live  geese 


for  the  sake  of  their  quills  gave  rise  to  the 
saying.  It  was  usual  to  pluck  live  geese 
about  five  times  a  year.  Quills  for  pens 
were  much  in  request  before  the  introduc- 
tion of  steel  pens.  One  London  house,  it 
is  stated,  sold  annually  six  million  quill  pens. 
A  professional  pen-cutter  could  turn  out 
about  twelve  hundred  daily. 

Considerable  economy  was  exercised  in 
the  use  of  quill  pens.  Leo  Atticus,  after 
writing  forty  years  with  one  pen,  lost  it,  and 
it  is  said  he  mourned  for  it  as  for  a  friend. 
William  Hutton  wrote  the  history  of  his 
family  with  one  pen,  which  he  wore  down 
to  the  stump.  He  put  it  aside,  accom- 
panied by  these  lines  : 

"  THIS  PEN. 

"  As  a  choice  relic  I'll  keep  thee, 
Who  saved  my  ancestors  and  me. 
For  seven  long  weeks  you  daily  wrought, 
Till  into  light  our  lives  you  brought, 
And'  every  falsehood  you  avoided, 
While  by  the  hand  of  Hutton  guided." 
JUNE  3,  1779. 

In  conclusion,  it  maybe  stated  that  Phile- 
mon Holland,  the  celebrated  translator, 
wrote  one  of  his  books  with  a  single  pen, 
and  recorded  in  rhyme  the  feat  as  follows  : 

"  With  one  sole  pen  I  wrote  this  book, 

Made  of  a  gray  goose  quill  ; 
A  pen  it  was  when  I  it  took, 
A  pen  I  leave  it  still." 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER.  PA. 

UE  FI  B  S. 


America.  —  Are  there  any  good  reasons 
for  accepting  Marcou's  theory  that  the 
name  America  is  of  native  (Central)  Amer- 
ican origin  ?  The  approach  of  the  4ooth 
anniversary  of  the  first  landing  of  Columbus 
in  the  Western  Hemisphere  gives  fresh 
interest  to  the  subject  of  the  origin  of  ti:e 
name  America.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

There  are  very  few  persons  indeed,  we 
believe,  who  reject  the  opinion  that  the 
name  America  was  derived  from  that  of 
Amerigo  Vespucci.  We  know  of  no  valid 
reasons  for  accepting  the  other  view. 


June  28,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


lor 


"*"  Fool  Hay. — I  see  in  a  far  Western  news- 
paper some  notice  of  the  gathering  of  "  fool 
hay"  by  ranchmen.  What  kind  of  hay  is 
meant?  S.  L.  A. 

PROVIDENCE. 

Certain  kinds  of  grass  (as  Panicum  vul- 
gare)  in  the  far  West  produce  such  light 
hay  (in  proportion  to  its  great  bulk)  that 
their  product  is  called  fool  hay  by  the 
ranchmen,  because  they  are  fooled  or  de- 
ceived in  estimating  its  weight. 

Woodhouselee  Ghost. — What  was  the 
Woodhouselee  ghost?  Where  and  at  what 
time  was  it  supposed  to  have  existed  ? 

WILLIAM  S.  WARNER. 

COLUMBUS,  O. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
i,  p.  139. 

Mother  Carey's  Chickens. — Can  you  tell 
me  whence  came  the  name  "  Mother  Carey's 
chickens?"  MARY  OSBORN. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
iii,  p.  51. 

Stilts. — I  remember  reading  somewhere 
of  the  habitual  use  of  stilts  in  walking.  In 
what  part  of  the  world  is  stilt-walking  regu- 
larly practiced  ?  A.  O. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 

The  shepherds  of  the  Landes,  or  sandy 
plains  of  the  south-west  of  France,  use  lofty 
stilts  in  watching  their  flocks.  This  custom 
gives  them  a  better  outlook  over  their 
flocks,  and  increases  their  speed  in  cases  of 
necessity.  A  long  resting  pole  enables 
them  to  stand  without  losing  their  balance ; 
and  the  shepherds  often  stand  on  their  stilts 
and  knit  while  there  is  no  occasion  for  ac- 
tively following  their  sheep.  In  Samoa  and 
some  other  Polynesian  groups  the  natives  have 
handsomely-carved  stilts,  on  which  they  can 
run  with  great  speed.  This  is  one  of  their 
amusements;  indeed  the  old-time  native 
life  of  many  Polynesian  groups  seems  to 
have  been  principally  a  long  series  of  amuse- 
ments. 


Gilsonite. — What  are  Gilsonites?  A  re- 
ligious sect  or  a  sort  of  mineral — or  ? 

Q.  UERIE. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Gilsonite  is  a  mineral  wax  found  in  Utah, 
and  mined  to  some  extent.  It  was  named 
from  its  discoverer,  a  Mr.  Gilson.  There 
is  a  Gilsonite  Company  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
which  handles  the  commercial  product. 


It  B  P  Li  I  B  S  . 

P/ucke-Buffet  (Vol.  v,  p.  66).— A  pre- 
cise definition  of  this  strong  compound  is 
hard  to  find.  The  term  goes  without  ex- 
planation in  Halliwell  and  in  Nares,  al- 
though both  quote  the  stanza  in  question 
as  an  illustration  of  a  peculiar  use  of  the 
word  pluck.  Wright,  the  only  lexicographer 
I  have  found  to  attempt  a  definition,  says  : 
"  Plucke-buffet  is  a  term  in  archery." 

Shult,  in  "Sports  and  Pastimes  of  the 
English  People,"  makes  no  reference  to 
plucke-buffet  in  connection  with  archery  or 
any  other  sport. 

Prof.  Child  gives  the  following  note  on 
Stanza  424  of  "A  Geste  of  Robyn  Hode :" 
"The  sport  of  '  Plucke-buffet'  is  a  feature  in 
the  '  Romance  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion' 
(762-798).  Richard  is  betrayed  to  the 
king  of  Almayne  by  a  minstrel,  to  whom  he 
had  given  a  cold  reception,  and  put  into 
prison.  The  king's  son  Ardour  held  the 
strongest  man  in  the  land,  visits  the  prisoner, 
and  proposes  to  give  an  exchange  of  this 
sort : 

"  '  Art  thou  Richard,  that  strong  man, 
As  man  sayn  in  every  lond  ? 
Wilt  thou  stand  a  befet  of  my  hond, 
Anon  I  gyfe  the  leve, 
Another  buffet  thou  me  geve  ?' 

"The  prince  gives  Richard  a  clout  which 
makes  fire  spring  from  the  eyes,  and  goes 
off  laughing,  ordering  Richard  to  be  well 
fed,  so  that  he  may  have  no  excuse  for  deal- 
ing a  feeble  blow  when  he  takes  his  turn. 

"The  next  morning  the  prince  comes  for 
his  payment,  and  Richard,  who  has  passed 
the  previous  evening  in  waxing  his  hand, 

"  '  And  took  wax  fayr  and  bright ; 
Be  the  fer  he  waxed  his  hond,' 


102 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  28,  1890. 


delivers  a  blow  upon  the  cheek  bone  of  his 
princely  antagonist,  who,  falling,  expires  in- 
stantly. Similarly  in  the  '  Robin  Hood 
Romance,'  Stanza  408: 

"  '  And  sych  a  buffet  he  gave  Robyn, 
To  ground  he  yede  ful  sure.' 

"  For  this  popular  romance  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  refer  to  Vol.  xi,  3,  Ellis' 
«  Met.  Rom.'  or  Weber's  ditto." 

Prof.  Child  points  to  another  instance  of 
the  exercise  of  this  thirteenth  century  pas- 
time in  the  romance  of  "  The  Turke  and 
Gowin,"  in  the  Percy  Folio  MS.,  Vol.  i, 
Hales  &  Farnival  ed. : 

"  He  was  not  hye,  but  he  was  broade, 
And  like  a  turke  he  was  made, 

both  legg  &  thye, 

And  said,  '  is  there  any  will,  as  a  brother 
to  give  a  buffett  &  take  another, 

giff  any  soe  hardy  bee  ?' 

"  Then  spake  Sir  Kay,  that  crabbed  knight, 
And  said,  '  man  seemest  not  soe  wight 

if  thou  be  not  adread, 
for  there  been  knights  within  this  hall 
with  a  buffett  will  gave  thee  fall 

And  grope  thee  to  the  ground.' 

"In  this  romance  the  proposed  exchange 
of  '  buffetts'  is  apparently  forgotten  as  the 
story  proceeds"  (Childs1  "  Eng.-Scot.  Pop. 
Ball.,"  Part  v,  p.  55).  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Raskin  (VoK  v,  p.  89).— The  wife  of  Sir 
John  Millais  is  the  divorced  wife  of  Ruskin. 
Millais  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Ruskin's 
house,  and  indeed  the  critic  made  him 
famous.  Ruskin  noticed  the  flame  between 
his  wife  and  the  young  painter,  and,  with 
rare  self-abnegation,  smoothed  the  way  by 
allowing  her  to  have  a  divorce.  He  has 
continued  to  be  Millais'  best  friend,  and  is 
on  the  best  of  terms  with  Lady  Millais. 

J.  O.  G.  D. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Ruskin  was  married  and  divorced.  His 
divorced  wife  afterwards  marrying,  I  think, 
an  artist  named  Whistler.  H.  P.,  Jr. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Goose-bone  (Vol.  v,  p.  6). — A  mode  of 
foretelling  the  weather  by  the  bones,  espe- 
cially the  breast-bone,  of  a  goose,  is  in  use 


in  Europe.  If  the  bone  is  red  it  betokens 
continuous  cold  for  the  coming  winter ;  if 
clear  and  transparent  the  weather  will  be 
milder.  The  Martinmas  goose,  which  re- 
places on  the  continent  the  Michaelmas 
goose  of  England,  was  particularly  in  repute. 
Ennemoser  ("Hist.  Magic")  quotes  a  pas- 
sage :  "Ye  good  old  mothers,  I  consecrate 
the  breast-bone  to  you,  that  you  may  from 
it  become  weather-prophets.  The  foremost 
part  by  the  throat  betokens  the  early  part 
of  winter;  the  hindermost  part,  the  end  of 
winter;  the  white  indicates  snow  and  mild 
weather,  the  other  great  cold."  From  what 
I  can  learn,  I  think  this  is  about  the  same 
as  the  popular  belief  in  this  country. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  Pa. 

Adam  of  St.  Victor  (Vol.  iii,  p.  259). — 
Adam  de  St.  Victor,  who  died  in  or  near 
the  year  1180,  was  the  most  fertile  and  one 
of  the  greatest  of  all  the  Latin  hymn-writers 
of  the  middle  ages.  Dr.  J.  M.  Neale  and 
Archbishop  Trench  each  greatly  admired 
his  poetry;  and  Trench's  collection  of 
hymns  contains  some  excellent  examples  of 
Adam's  work.  He  was  one  of  the  Victor- 
ines,  or  monks  of  the  Augustinian  monas- 
tery of  St.  Victor,  near  Paris.  This  monas- 
tery was,  in  the  twelfth  century,  the  headquar- 
ters of  that  pietistic  mysticism  which  arose 
as  a  protest  against  the  dialectical  and  dry 
scholastic  divinity  of  the  time.  It  had  a 
wide  influence  in  promoting  popular  devotion 
throughout  Western  Europe.  The  other 
principal  Victorine  writers  were  the  eminent 
Hugh  de  St.  Victor  (1096-1141 — whose 
writings  greatly  influenced  St.  Bonaventura 
— 1221-74 — Pierre  d'Ailly  and  John  Ger- 
son),  Richard  of  St.  Victor,  and  Walter  de 
St.  Victor.  Hugh  was  a  Fleming  or  Wai-  ^ 
loon,  and  was  the  founder  of  the  "Sum-' 
mists,"  a  set  of  theologians  so  named  from 
his  "  Summa  Sententiarum."  Richard  (d. 
1173)  was  the  prior  of  his  abbey,  and  a 
Scotchman  by  birth.  Walter  was  distin- 
guished by  the  hatred  and  contempt  he  ex- 
hibited for  the  dialecticians  and  "Sum- 
mists"  alike,  the  principal  of  the  Summists 
of  his  time  being  the  celebrated  Peter  Lom- 
bard, called  "the  master  of  sentences." 

ERIE,  PA.  RYLAND  JONES. 


June  28,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


103 


Ff  in  Proper  Names  (Vol.  v,  p.  90).  — 
The  spelling  of  such  names  as  Ffrench, 
Ffolliott,  and  Lloyd  with  double  letters  is  a 
survival  of  the  early  days  of  printing  from 
Roman-faced  type.  There  were  no  capitals 
used  and  for  proper  names  two  lower-case 
letters  were  employed  where  a  capital  was 
required.  In  a  few  cases,  families  have  re- 
tained that  spelling,  especially  in  Ireland. 

J.  O.  G.  D. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

War  of  the  Axe  (Vol.  v,  p.  66).—  In  1846, 
a  Kaffer  thief  in  South  Africa  stole  an  axe, 
and  was  being  conveyed  to  Grahamstown 
for  trial.  His  friends  killed  the  Hottentot 
to  whom  the  Kaffer  was  chained,  and  rescued 
the  thief.  The  English  then  made  war 
upon  the  Gaika  and  Tambuki  tribes  of 
Kaffers,  who  had  refused  to  surrender  either 
the  thief  or  the  murderer  of  the  Hottentot. 
The  war  lasted  twenty-one  months  and  was 
very  severe;  indeed,  warfare  was  kept  up 
pretty  steadily  until  1853,  by  which  time 
the  brave  Africans  were  pretty  thoroughly 
subdued.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Marteno  (Vol.  v,  p.  89).  —  My  recollection 
is  that  Mrs.  L.  M.  Child's  good  old-fash- 
ioned cookbook,  "The  Frugal  Housewife," 
contains  an  account  of  pickled  martenoes. 
The  word  occurs  in  no  dictionary. 

M.  C.  B. 

LIMA,  O. 


TO   ©OF^ESPONDENTS. 


Yoked  with  a  Lamb.  —  What  is  meant 
by  the  lamb  in  the  familiar  passage  in  "  Ju- 
lius Caesar,"  "  O  Cassius,  you  are  yoked 
with  a  lamb,"  etc.  ?  Does  it  refer  to  the 
temperament  or  disposition  of  Cassius,  or 
does  Brutus  mean  himself?  *  *  * 

Caccethes  Scribendi.  —  Who  will  sug- 
gest a  good  American  substitute  for  this  use- 
ful but  pretentious-looking   hybrid  ?     Cor- 
respondents of  Notes  and  Queries  (London) 
re  busy  coining  an  English  rendering. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK. 


Qui  Vive. —  "Webster's  Dictionary" 
says  that  this  expression  means,  "  For  whom 
do  you  cry  vive  ?"  corresponding  to  our 
"  Who  goes  there  ?"  but  conveying  the  idea 
of  the  question,  "To  which  party  do  you 
belong  ?"  Is  this  a  correct  explanation  ? 

F.  W.  P. 

PORTSMOUTH. 

The  Captain  of  My  Dreams. — To 

what  does  this  expression  refer  in  Tenny- 
son's "Dream  of  Fair  Women?"  The 
stanza  reads : 

"  With   that  sharp  sound  the  white  dawn's  creeping 

beams, 

Stolen  to  my  brain,  dissolved  the  mystery 
Of  folded  sleep.     The  captain  of  my  dreams 
Ruled  in  the  eastern  sky." 

Q- 

The  Dragon  Fly  in  Tennyson's 
"Two  Voices." — Will  some  reader  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  explain  the 
third,  fourth,  and  fifth  stanzas  of  "  The  Two 
Voices"  (describing  the  emergence  of  the 
dragon  fly  from  the  chrysalis)  in  their  rela- 
tion to  the  argument  of  the  poem  ? 

X. 

Greek  Boy.  —  What  Greek  boy  ex- 
claimed on  receiving  news  from  his  father : 
"  My  father  will  leave  nothing  for  me  to 
do?"  ??? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

General   arose    from  Sick-bed. — 

What  general  arose  from  a  sick-bed  to  lead 
his  troops  in  a  battle  in  which  he  was  killed  ? 

??? 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


(9OMMUNIGATCIONS. 

Pillars  of  the  Church  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  120, 
etc.). — Compare  Rev.  iii,  12:  "Him  that 
overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  tem- 
ple of  my  God,"  etc.  According  to  Swe- 
denborg,  by  a  pillar  is  signified  the  Divine 
Truth  of  the  Word,  which  is  that  which 
sustains  the  church  and  makes  it  firm. 

R.  M.  V. 

SALEM,  MASS. 


104 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  28,  1890. 


A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  p.  96, 
etc.). — A  person  may  be  said  to  "sing  a  mu- 
sical part " — to  sing  soprano  or  tenor,  for  in- 
stance— when  singing  a  solo.  In  the  passage 
in  question,  however,  the  meaning  is,  as  I 
have  said  in  substance  before,  that  Mary  helps 
in  the  singing  of  the  kettle  by  attending  to  it, 
and  this  is  prettily  compared  to  singing  a 
part  in  its  music.  "With  some"  in  the 
preceding  lines  may  be  explained  in  more 
than  one  way — let  the  reader  choose — but 
for  myself  I  cannot  conceive  of  an  explana- 
tion that  will  make  it  correlative  to  part. 
Will  "G"  be  so  good  as  to  give  a  para- 
phrase of  the  passage  showing  this  relation 
between  some  and  part  ?  It  will  be  amusing 
at  least,  and  I  will  promise  to  find  no  fault 
with  it.  Indeed,  my  part  in  the  dispute 
must  cease  with  this  present  writing. 

W.  J.  R. 

Camelot  (Vol.  v,  pp.  72,  etc.). — I  am 
informed  by  a  gentleman  who  has  made  a 
special  study  of  Celtic  history,  and  who  is 
becoming  recognized  as  one  of  the  most 
promising  of  the  younger  scholars  of  this 
country,  that  almost  all  experts  concede 
Camelot  to  have  stood  at  Queen  Camel, 
near  South  Cadbury,  in  Somerset ;  and  that 
the  best  critical  opinion  at  present  regards 
the  earlier  Arthurian  stories  as  having  a  large 
basis  of  fact.  RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

"Whipping  as  a  Punishment  (Vol.  v, 
p.  73). — This  article  recalls  my  school 
days — between  1819  and  1822.  My  last 
teacher  was  deeply  impressed  with  the 
maxim  involving,  "if  spare  the  rod  you  are 
sure  to  spoil  the  child,"  and  he  seemed  de- 
termined not  to  sin  in  that  direction.  He 
had  three  implements  (or  instruments)  of 
"torture"  according  to  the  weight  of  the 
crime,  besides  a  few  for  ordinary  cases. 
The  most  "potent,  powerful,  and  painful," 
was  Toby  Scratchem,  although  that  term  is 
tame,  compared  with  the  pain  it  inflicted. 
It  had  a  smooth,  round  handle,  about  two 
feet  in  length,  and  about  an  inch  in  diame- 
ter at  the  thickest  end,  tapering  down  to 
about  half  an  inch  ;  to  this  end  was  firmly 
attached  three  leather  thongs,  rolled  round 
as  a  cord,  or  rope,  ending  with  three  silken 


lashes,  or  "  crackers,"  with,  it  was  said,  three 
"duck-shot"  concealed  in  them.  This  was 
the  testimony  of  those  who  felt  them,  but 
others  said  they  were  merely  ordinary  knots. 
The  second  in  potency  was  Doctor  Blue. 
This  was  merely  about  seven  inches  of  the 
small  twisted  end  of  a  blue  raw-hide,  or 
"cowskin,"  as  it  is  usually  called,  attached 
to  a  handle  about  six  inches  in  length.  I 
felt  it  once,  and  I  can  bear  testimony  to  its 
prolonged  agonizing  effects.  The  third  was 
the  common  "cat  o'  nine  tails."  He  never 
inflicted  punishment  without  real  or  pre- 
sumed cause,  but  the  certainty  with  which 
punishment  followed  the  slightest  "infrac- 
tion of  the  rules,"  lead  many  to  believe 
that  he,  in  a  measure,  enjoyed  it.  But  he 
was  absolutely  humane,  when  compared 
with  a  contemporary,  who  punished  some  of 
his  pupils  where  a  doubt  existed ;  on  the 
ground  that  if  not  guilty  then  and  there,  he 
certainly  would  need  it  before  the  setting  of 
another  sun.  His  "  invitation  "  invariably 
was,"  Stand  up,  Bill,  I'll  score  you  anyhow." 
How  deeply  the  world  has  been,  and  still  is, 
infused  with  that  sort  of  leaven  is  almost 
daily  reflected  through  the  columns  of  the 
secular  press.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Oregon  (Vol.  ii,  p.  58). — I  wish  to  call 
your  attention  to  two  other  proposed  deri- 
vations for  the  name  Oregon.  One  is  from 
the  Spanish  oregano,  origanum,  or  thyme; 
some  say  that  the  region  was  named  from  a 
thyme-like  plant  abundant  there.  Another 
guess  (old  but  not  likely  to  be  true)  makes 
it  equivalent  to  Horicon,  a  lake  name,  said 
to  signify  "hollow"  in  some  Algonquin 
language;  but,  except  the  Cheyennes  and 
Blackfeet,  there  were  no  Algonquins  within 
a  thousand  miles  of  Oregon. 

B.  E.  VAN  BUSKIRK. 

TROY,  N.  Y. 

T.  D.  Pipes  (Vol.  ii,  p.  114). — I  have 
often  been  told  that  T.  D.  pipes  were  of 
Scottish  manufacture.  If  this  be  true,  it 
does  not  seem  probable  that  they  took  their 
name  from  that  crazy  and  semi-idiotic  Yan- 
kee, Lord  Timothy  Dexter. 

L.  V.  SHAW. 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 


June  28,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


The  State  of  Franklin  (Vol.  v,  p.  77). 
— "The  State  of  Tennessee  originally  be- 
longed to  North  Carolina,  whose  boundaries 
extended  indefinitely  westward.  The  terri- 
tory had  been  opened  to  settlement  through 
the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  1768.  The 
settlers  on  the  Watauga  framing  a  code  of 
laws  signed  by  each  person,  became  a  body 
politic,  the  Watauga  Association.  Their  num- 
bers and  their  spirit  of  independence  were 
both  increased  by  immigrants  driven  from 
North  Carolina  by  the  tyranny  of  the  royal 
governor  Tryon,  and  conventions  of  Jones- 
boro,  August  23,  and  December  14,  1784, 
formed  a  separate  State  government,  variously 
called  Frankland  and  Franklin  in  its  official 
documents.  The  Constitution  was  ratified  by 
popular  vote  ;  a  legislature  and  a  governor, 
John  Sevier,  were  elected,  and  a  civil  war  be- 
tween two  State  governments  seemed  im- 
minent. The  North  Carolina  party  in  Ten- 
nessee overthrew  the  Franklin  party,  May, 
1788.  North  Carolina  legislature  passed 
an  act  of  oblivion,  and  admitted  John  Sevier 
as  Senator"  (Lalor's  "  Cyclo.  Pol.  Sci.," 
Vol.  iii). 

Refer.,  "Encyc.  Brit.,"  "Tennessee;" 
"  John  Sevier," '"Appleton's  Cyc." 

AMER.  BIOG. 
WATKINSON  LIBRARY,  HFD.,  Cx. 

Branch,  River,  Creek,  Run,  et    al. 

(Vol.  v,  pp.  54,  etc.). — The  great  river  that 
cuts  Eastern  Pennsylvania  through  from 
north  to  south-east,  is  the  Susquehanna  with 
its  North  and  West  branches.  We  never  hear 
the  North  or  West  branches  of  the  Susque- 
hanna mentioned  in  connection  with  either 
of  these  streams,  when  spoken  of  by  those 
who  reside  on  them  ;  it  is  simply  the  North 
branch,  or  the  West  branch ;  of  course 
Susquehanna  is  always  understood.  In  Lan- 
caster, the  Conestoga  cuts  the  county 
through  from  north  to  south,  but  the  term 
branch  is  never  applied  to  that  stream, 
although  it  has  two  branches — it  is  al- 
ways mentioned  as  the  "Big"  and  "Little 
Conestoga."  Perhaps  at  one  period  of 
its  history,  it  was  known  as  a  creek,  or 
"krick,"  but  since  the  building  of  the 
"Conestoga  Navigation"  an  effort  has 
constantly  been  made  to  dignify  it  into  a 
river,  and  had  not  that  enterprise  been 


superseded  by  railroad  improvements,  it 
might  have  been  crowned  with  success. 
But  still  its  dams,  and  water  stretches,  and 
pleasure  crafts,  which  every  season  ply  its 
placid  bosom,  retain  the  name  of  river 
half  the  time,  and  with  about  half  the 
people. 

It  is  nearly  the  same  in  regard  to  the 
Chiquesalunga  creek,  about  twelve  miles 
west  of  the  city  of  Lancaster,  which  has 
also  two  branches,  but  we  never  hear  the 
term  branch  applied  to  either  of  them — it 
is  always  either  the  "Big"  or  "Little 
Chiques,"  which  now,  through  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  late  Prof.  Haldeman,  is  gener- 
ally rendered  "Chickies."  On  the  ex- 
treme west  of  Lancaster  county  we  have  the 
Conewago,  and  on  the  extreme  east  the 
Octorara  creek,  as  boundary  lines ;  but 
Donegal  and  many  others  have  never  gotten 
beyond  the  dignity  of  Runs,  although  many 
of  them  are  amply  worthy  of  a  more  pro- 
nounced cognomen. 

Many  of  the  runs,  rivulets,  and  rills  of 
my  boyhood  have  become  entirely  obliter- 
ated— as  much  so  as  if  they  never  had  been. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Gulf  of  the  Lion  (Vol.  v,  pp.  93,  etc.). 
— So  this  gulf  was  named  in  this  fashion  be- 
cause its  waves  roar.  But  is  there  any  gulf 
(except  it  may  be  some  little  land-locked 
basin)  whose  waters  do  not  roar  ?  Some  say 
that  the  north  wind,  here  called  the  mistral, 
or  master  wind,  is  the  lion  in  the  case.  But 
the  same  wind  blows  in  the  near-by  parts  of 
the  Mediterranean.  The  city  of  Lyons  is 
170  miles  away.  I  think  the  only  way  to 
determine  the  true  origin  of  this  name  is  to 
trace  it  back  by  the  historical  method. 
Keith  Johnston's  "Atlas"  puts  it  Gulf  of 
Lyons.  Surely  he  was  not  an  ass.  The 
map  in  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica"  also 
calls  it  Gulf  of  Lyons.  F.  H.  S. 

SALEM,  MASS. 

Losh  (Vol.  v,  p.  70). — Heth  and  feth  I 
should  think  were  minced  forms  of  faith; 
losh  may  stand  for  lord ;  teth  for  'sdeafh. 
For  lovenenty  I  can  think  of  no  probable 
meaning.  A.  L.  R. 

CHESTER,  PA. 


io6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  28,  1890. 


Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  v,  p.  69). — 
The  passage  quoted  as  above  from  the 
"  Phillis  and  Flora,"  of  1598,  imitates  the 
following  passage  in  the  "  De  Phillide  et 
Flora,"  printed  with  the  Golias  series, 
Verses  297-210,  etc.,  as  follows  : 

"  Equus  fuit  domitus  Pegaseis  loris, 
Multum  pulcritudinis  habet,  et  valoris ; 
Pictus  artificio  varii  coloris ; 
Nam  mixtus  nigredini  candor  est  oloris, 
Pulcre  fuit  habilis,  as  tat  is  primaevae, 
Et  respexit  paululum  munde  non  saeve ; 
Cervix  fuit  ardua,  sparsa  coma  leve, 
Auris  parva,  prominens  pectus,  caput  breve. 
Dorso  pando  jacuit  virgini  cessurae 
Spina  quae  non  senserat  aliquid  pressurae, 
Pede  cavo,  tibia  recta,  largo  crure, 
Totus  fuit  sonipes  studium  naturae,  etc." 


G. 


NEW  JERSEY. 


"  A  moment  while  the  bugles  blow, 

He  sees  his  brood  around  thy  knee  ; 
The  next,  like  fire  he  meets  the  loe, 

And  strikes  him  dead  for  thine  and  thee." 
(Tennyson's  "The  Princess.") 

"  And  when  on  foote  he  fight  doth  try, 
While  his  fayre  squire  his  horse  holds  by, 
Mine  thinks  on  me,  and  then  they  dy." 

("  Phillis  and  Flora,"  by  R.  S.,  1598.) 


NEW  JERSEY. 

Names  of  Boats  and  Ships. —  Caique 
and  kayak,  pitpan  and  sampan,  lugger  and 
nuggur,  prow  and  snow,  flute,  float  zxi&fluve, 
cog,  barge,  lymphad,  hulk  and  holcad,  bal- 
inger,  ballahoo,  carack,  crayer,  dogger,  hoy, 
lodeship,  snake,  sneak,  galley,  galleas,  gal- 
liot, galleon,  hock-boat,  bumboat,  pursuer, 
pickard,  pinnace,  bark  and  barkentine,  brig 
and  brigantine,  sloop  and  shallop,  punt, 
pinnace,  gig,  launch,  jolly-boat,  long-boat, 
cutter,  yacht,  schooner,  junk,  flyboat,  prahu, 
proa,  drogher,  fire-ship,  frigate,  frigatoon, 
gondola  and  gundelow,  corvette,  settee, 
felucca,  polacre,  canoe,  woodskin,  ketch, 
monitor,  pink,  chebacco-boat,  chebec,  din- 
ghy, bugeye,  cat-boat,  coracle,  scow,  shell, 
sharpie,  skiff,  bateau,  piroque,  yawl,  pungy, 
dory,  wherry,  broadhorn,  budgerow,  schoon- 
er, dahabeyah,  ark,  tartan,  catamaran,  balsa, 
raft. 

MARY  OSBORN. 

CINCINNATI,  O. 


Lyons  and  Lyon  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  93,  etc.). 
— Let  me  right  here  enter  my  demurrer 
against  the  statement  that  Lyons  is  an  erro- 
neous spelling  for  Lyon.  Is  Munich  an 
erroneous  form  of  Miinchen  ?  Is  either  of 
the  spellings  Geneva,  Geneve,  or  Genf,  er- 
roneous? Cf.  Ratisbon  for  Rfgensburg ; 
Prague,  Praha,  and  Prag ;  Vienna  and 
Wien;  Roma  and  Rome ;  Marseilles  and 
Marseille ;  Orleans  and  Orleana,  etc. ; 
CoruTia,  Corunna,  La  Coroyne,  and  Old 
English  The  Groyne;  Aix  and  Aachen; 
Anvers  and  Antwerp;  Mechlin,  Mecheln, 
and  M aline s ;  Livorno,  Livourne,  Liorna, 
and  Leghorn;  London,  Londres,  Londra, 
etc.  ;  Cantorbery  for  Canterbury ;  Genova, 
Genes,  Genua,  Genoa;  Mediolanum,  Mai- 
land,  Milano,  Milan;  Douvres  for  Dover; 
Edimbourg  for  Edinburgh ;  Copenhagen  for 
Kjobenhavn;  The  Hague,  Haag,  La  Haye, 
and  Aja,  for  'S  Gravenhage,  etc.  One  could 
easily  find  fifty  analogous  examples. 

JAMES  THOMPSON. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Washwoods. — This  is  the  name  of  a 
place  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  near 
the  Virginia  line.  I  am  informed  by  a  gen- 
tleman who  is  familiar  with  the  place,  that 
a  year  or  two  since  the  sea  made  some  en- 
croachment upon  the  land  at  this  point,  lay- 
ing bare  a  great  forest  of  fallen  trees  which 
was  not  known  to  exist  there  before.  But 
it  occurred  to  me  that  the  people  who  named 
the  place  must  have  known  of  the  existence 
of  the  fallen  forest,  for  that  must  have  sug- 
gested the  name  "  Washwoods." 

E.  N.  C.  T. 

NORFOLK,  VA. 

Charivari  (Vol.  i,  p.  8). — There  have 
been  many  derivations  suggested  for  this 
French  word ;  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
is  from  the  Gr.  -/alufidpta,  kettles ;  but  this 
is,  also,  most  unlikely.  The  French  have 
many  similar  words  with  similar  meanings ; 
as  taribari,  chanavari,  queriboiry,  chalivali, 
caribari.  d.^ng.,tilly-vally.  These  words, 
as  a  rule,  seem  meaningless  of  themselves. 
But  the  French  tohu-bohu  (for  chaos,  rout, 
confusion),  is  borrowed  directly  from  the 
Hebrew.  This  was  originally  a  book  word. 

NEW  YORK.  REMOND. 


June  28,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


107 


Highbelia  for  Lowpo. — The  use  of  the 
term  hypo,  as  an  abbreviated  form  of  the 
word  hypochondriasis ,  has  actually  led  many 
people,  by  no  means  all  of  them  rustics,  to 
call  extreme  depression  of  spirits  by  the 
remarkable  name  lowpo.  Country  folk 
have  great  faith  in  the  medicinal  virtues  of 
the  plant  lobelia,  and  for  a  larger  species  of 
the  same  genus  of  herbs,  the  name  highbelia 
has  been  invented.  I  have  even  heard  it 
said  that  just  as  lobelia  is  a  sovereign  remedy 
for  hypo,  so  highbelia  is  equally  good  for 
lowpo.  The  Lobelia  inflata  is  the  plant  ordi- 
narily called  lobelia,  and  L.  syphilitica  is,  I 
fancy,  the  highbelia  of  the  rustic  pharmaco- 
poeia. 

FAIRFAX. 
NEW  JERSEY. 

"The  Ampulla." — The  legend  of  the 
ampulla  brought  from  heaven  by  a  white  dove, 
and  containing  the  oil  with  which  the  Frank 
king  Clovis  was  anointed  by  St.  R6my  at 
his  baptism,  in  496,  is,  as  every  respectable 
legend  ought  to  be,  considerably  younger 
than  the  fact  it  relates  to.  It  is  mentioned 
for  the  first  time  by  Hincmar,  Archbishop 
of  Rheims,  who  was  born  in  806  and  died 
in  882.  The  ampulla  was  always  used  there- 
after at  the  coronation  of  the  kings  of  France 
down  to  Charles  X.  It  was  kept  at  Rheims 
in  the  tomb  of  St.  Remy.  It  was  a  glass 
vial,  forty-one  millimetres  high,  with  an 
aperture  sixteen  millimetres  in  circumfer- 
ence. It  was  filled  with  a  kind  of  'gruel 
thick  and  slab,'  which,  in  the  long  run, 
had  become  solidified  and  of  a  reddish 
brown  color.  When  it  was  time  to  use  it 
at  the  ceremony  of  coronation,  the  High 
Prior  of  St.  Remy,  from  whose  neck  the 
rich  shrine  which  contained  it  hung  by  a 
silver  chain,  scooped  from  it  a  particle  by 
means  of  a  golden  needle,  and  this  was 
mingled  with  'the  chrism  (a  compound  of 
oil  and  balm),  preparatory  to  the  anointing 
of  the  king. 

"  The  legend  says  that  there  was  such  rela- 
tion between  the  holy  phial  and  the  life  of 
the  reigning  king  as  for  the  bulk  of  the 
balm  it  contained  to  diminish  if  his  health 
happened  to  be  impaired.  The  ampulla 
was  destroyed  in  1793  by  Ruhl,  a  member 
of  the  convention,  then  appointed  com- 


missioner in  the  department  of  the  Marne. 
But  before  delivering  the  phial  to  that  offi- 
cer, Abbe  Seraine,  the  cur6  of  St.  Remy, 
took  out  of  it  a  part,  which  was  reverently 
kept  in  a  crystal -vessel  enclosed  in  a  silver- 
gilt  shrine,  and  was  used  for  the  last  time 
at  the  coronation  of  Charles  X,  in  1825. 
I  think  it  may  be  admitted  that,  in  the 
phrase  of  the  very  old  French  writer  here 
quoted,  the  word  '  milk'  refers  to  the  oil, 
and  the  word  'honey'  to  the  balm,  which 
composed  the  chrism.  Milk,  indeed,  can 
be  an  allowable  substitute  for  oil,  referring 
to  the  sweetness  of  the  savor,  and  ho,ney  for 
the  balm,  referring  to  the  sweetness  of  the 
odor"  (English  Notes  and  Queries}. 

Sunset  on  the  United  States  (Vol.  iii, 
p.  58). — Try  the  experiment  with  a  globe, 
and  I  think  you  will  find  that  even  at  mid- 
summer there  is  a  time  in  every  twenty-four 
hours  during  which  night  (excluding  twi- 
light) prevails  on  every  part  of  the  United 
States  and  its  possessions.  Eastport,  Me., 
is  in  Ion.  66°  57'  W. ;  Attoo  island,  Alaska, 
is  187°  34'  W. ;  the  difference  is  much  less 
than  half  a  circle.  The  westernmost  Amer- 
ican guano  island  in  the  South  Pacific  lies 
farther  east  than  does  Attoo.  At  the  latter 
island  the  longest  actual  daylight  (June  21) 
is  about  eighteen  hours  long;  at  Eastport 
about  fifteen  hours.  At  the  winter  solstice, 
when  the  nights  are  longest  in  the  North, 
darkness  prevails  at  night,  beyond  any  ques- 
tion, over  all  the  United  States  and  its  pos- 
sessions ;  and  unless  I  have  made  an  error 
in  my  simple  but  rough  computation,  there 
is  a  short  time  during  every  period  of  twenty- 
four  hours  at  which  there  is  no  part  of  the 
United  States  or  its  possessions  upon  which 
the  sun,  even  at  the  summer  solstice,  is  not 
actually  invisible.  In  other  words,  the  sun 
actually  is  set  to  every  place  belonging  to 
the  United  States  during  a  longer  or  shorter 
part  of  each  of  the  earth's  diurnal  revolu- 
tions. Of  course,  exception  must  be  made 
with  regard  to  the  part  of  Alaska  which  lies 
north  of  the  Arctic  circle.  There,  during 
the  time  near  the  summer  solstice,  the  sun 
does  not  set  at  all,  but  throughout  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  the  sun  sets  there. 

EDWARD  BROWN. 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


loS 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[June  28,  1890. 


Nix's  Mate  (Vol.  ii,  p.  1 60). —Nix's 
Mate  is  not  yet  entirely  submerged — at 
least  not  in  ordinary  tides.  Like  all  the 
islands  in  Boston  barber,  it  has  for  many 
years  been  subject  to  rapid  erosion  from  the 
sea.  Nearly  all  these  islands  are  now  pro- 
tected by  sea  walls,  which,  with  proper  care, 
will  probably  serve  their  purpose,  and  keep 
the  islands  from  being  washed  away  alto- 
gether. R.  A.  STARBIRD. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Alleluia  Victory  (Vol.  ii,  p.  137;  Vol. 
iv,  p.  126). — There  is  a  curious  misprint  in 
the  first  notice  given  of  this  battle  in  your 
columns.  The  Christian  victors  were  the 
British,  and  the  vanquished  heathens  were 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  ROBERT  P.  BROWNE. 

MACHIAS,  ME. 

Inland-Flowing  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
87,  etc.). — With  regard  to  inland-flowing 
streams  of  Argostoli  (mentioned  Vol.  iii,  p. 
209),  I  would  remark  that  so  eminent  a 
geographer  as  Elisee  Reclus  calls  one  of  them 
a  river.  Mr.  W.  J.  Stillman,  in  the  Century 
magazine,  two  or  three  years  ago.  gives  an 
account  of  his  visit  to  Argostoli.  His  guide, 
much  to  his  disgust,  took  him  to  see  this 
river.  Mr.  Stillman  saw  nothing  remark- 
able about  the  river,  and  he  seems  to  have 
looked  upon  it  as  an  ordinary  stream.  At 
the  time  his  article  was  written  he  evidently 
did  not  know  that  he  had  witnessed  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  phenomena  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  The  only  explanation  I  have 
ever  read  of  this  curious  anomaly  is  this : 
The  water  is  absorbed  by  porous  or  fissured 
rocks,  and  given  out  again  in  salt  springs, 
much  as  a  towel  left  with  one  end  in  a  basin 
of  water,  and  one  end  hanging  out,  will  in 
time  empty  the  basin  of  its  contents.  This 
does  not  seem  a  satisfactory  explanation. 
The  inflow  is  probably  not  tidal,  for,  except- 
ing at  a  few  points,  the  Mediterranean  has 
only  a  very  slight  tidal  vibration.  The 
island  of  Kephalenia,  where  these  inland- 
flowing  streams  occur,  is  said  to  have  no 
permanent  streams  of  fresh  water,  and  in- 
deed its  water  supply  for  ordinary  needs  is 
but  scanty.  I  suppose  that  a  deposition  of 
rock  salt  is  going  on  in  the  cavernous  rocks 
of  the  island,  sufficient  to  cause  an  inflow  of 


salt  water,  much  like  that  which  takes  place 
across  the  bar  of  the  Kara-Boghaz.  What 
becomes  of  the  desalinated  water  I  cannot 
tell,  unless  it  be  exhaled  through  the  porous 
stony  soil.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  evaporated 
by  volcanic  heat.  RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Corycian  Cave  (Vol.  v,  p.  5). — This 
noted  grotto  or  basin,  which  is  celebrated 
in  the  mythology  and  poetry  of  antiquity, 
is  described  by  a  writer  in  a  very  recent 
number  of  the  Athenceum.  The  neighbor- 
ing parts  of  Cilicia  abound  in  caves,  often 
of  much  historical  and  scientific  interest. 
But  this  particular  cave  is  merely  a  sheltered 
hole  in  the  rocks,  having  a  fertile  floor  on 
which  the  ancients  cultivated  saffron,  and 
at  present  various  crops  are  grown  there. 
Nearly  all  parts  of  the  Anatolian  peninsula 
are  now  being  minutely  explored,  and  the 
results  are  of  singular  interest  to  the  archa;- 
ologist  and  to  the  philologist  as  well,  for 
many  rich  finds  are  made  of  Greek  and 
semi-Greek  inscriptions,  often  of  considera- 
ble promise  to  the  student  of  word  develop- 
ment. ANAX. 

Rushlights. — We  often  read  of  rush- 
lights, but  seldom  see  them,  if  ever.  An 
ingenious  lady  of  my  acquaintance  made 
some  rushlights  on  the  following  plan  :  Large 
rushes  were  peeled  to  their  pith,  leaving 
a  slender  strip  of  the  bark  or  cortical  layer 
running -up  one  side,  to  give  some  tensile 
strength  to  the  pith.  This  pith  was  treated 
as  a  candle-wick,  being  dipped  into  melted 
tallow  a  few  times.  The  light  given  by  this 
primitive  candle  was  a  mere  glimmer  at  the 
best.  Probably  a  better  rushlight  might  be 
made  than  these  v/ere ;  but  the  absence  of 
capillarity  in  the  wick  would,  no  doubt,  in 
any  case  make  the  resulting  light  a  dim  one. 
RODNEY  WILLIAMS. 

NEWARK,  DEL. 

Oxford  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  201,  etc.). — Permit 
me  to  call  the  attention  of  your  correspond- 
ent N.  S.  S.  to  the  undoubted  fact  thaty£>;Y/ 
in  place  names  very  often  indeed,  signifies 
fjord,  and  not  a  fording-place.  Thus  in 
Waterford,  Wexford,  Haverford,  and  I  know 
not  how  many  more.  G. 

NEW  TF.RSF.Y. 


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historical  interest — folk-lore,  the  origin  of  prov- 
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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— The  Evil  Eye,  109— Castes— Popular  Superstitions, 
in. 

QUERIES  :— Author  of  Catechism— State  of  Maine— Flying 
Spider — St.  John's  Day,  112. 

REPLIES  :— Mother  Earth— Captain  of  my  Dreams,  its— 
The  Dragon  Fly— Lowey  of  Tunbridgc — Cacoethes  Scribendi 
— Mother  Earth — Fanacle,  113— Days  of  the  Week — Eygre 
or  Bore,  114. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  — Colen  and 
Bootle — Lake  Drained — Palace  of  Forty  Pillars — Garments 
following  drowned  Corpse — Tantrum  Bogus — Allyballycar- 
rick  O'Shaughlin,  114— Putrid  Sea— Verses  Wanted— Jo-Jo 
— Swimming  Pig,  115. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Dialect  Forms— Pretzel  or  Bretzel 
— Buddhism  in  Lapland — The  Ampulla,  115  —  Gilsonite — 
Survivals  of  Stone  Age — Superstitions  of  Gamblers — Blind 
as  a  Beetle,  n6 — Horicon — Pets  of  Distinguished  People,  117 
— Whiffle-tree — Gulf  of  the  Lion — Question  in  Grammar— . 
Foxglove  Spire,  118 — Good  Old  Etymologies — John  Dory — 
The  Goose,  119 — Tree  Lists — Blind  as  a  Bat,  120. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :~iao. 

ROTES. 
THE  EVIL  EYE. 

(CONCLUDED.) 

Coming  down  to  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries,  we  find  this  belief  still 
held  by  the  more  ignorant  classes  of  nearly 
all  nations,  and,  in  not  a  few  instances,  by 
those  making  pretension  to  enlightenment. 
In  Egypt  mothers  ascribed  the  ill  health  of 
their  children  to  some  evil  eye,  and  we  read 
of  one  preventative  which  consisted  in  fre- 
quently spitting  in  the  child's  face;  the 
same  mode  of  preventing  harm  from  a  per- 
son who  squinted  was  practiced  in  London, 
in  1839  (Brand,  "Pop.  Antiq.,"  Vol.  iii, 
p.  50).  A  vulgar  saying,  common  in  the 
north  of  England,  "No  one  can  say  black 
is  your  eye,"  originated,  in  Brand's  opin- 
ion, from  the  popular  superstition  of  the 
evil  eye.  A  curious  form  of  this  supersti- 
tion is  shown  in  the  belief  that  persons  pos- 
sessed of  this  power  must  go  through  certain 


no 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  5,  1890. 


forms  before  their  object  can  be  effected, 
and  during  this  time  the  evil  they  wish 
is  seen  by  them  in  some  mysterious  way. 
An  individual  suspected  of  having  cast  an 
///  j  e  can  be  frustrated  by  turning  a  coal  on 
the  fire  ;  this  will  cause  the  evil-disposed 
person  to  feel  as  though  the  coal  was  placed 
upon  his  heart,  and  they  have  often  been 
seen  to  put  their  hand  to  their  breast,  ex- 
claiming, "Oh!"  While  the  coal  is  held 
by  the  tongs  this  person  is  unable  to  move. 
Throughout  Scotland  and  the  neighboring 
islands  the  evil  eye  was  firmly  believed  in. 
A  charm  against  it  was  the  Virgin  Mary's 
Nut,  called,  also,  Molluka  Beans;  we  hear 
of  its  use  when  cows,  being  bewitched,  gave 
bloody  milk.  Another  charm  to  be  used  in 
this  case  was  to  bind  into  the  cow's  tail  a 
small  piece  of  the  wood  of  the  mountain 
ash.  A  remedy  for  a  person  under  the  evil 
influence  was  to  borrow  an  old  six-pence 
from  a  neighbor ;  as  much  salt  as  can  be 
taken  on  the  coin  is  put  into  a  tablespoon  - 
ful  of  water,  and  melted ;  the  six-pence  is 
then  put  into  the  solution,  and  the  soles  of 
the  feet  and  palms  of  the  hands  of  the  pa- 
tient moistened  three  times ;  it  is  then  tasted 
three  times,  and  afterwards  the  patient  is 
"scored  aboon  the  breath,"  that  is  by  the 
operator  dipping  his  forefinger  into  the  salt 
water  and  drawing  it  along  the  brow.  The 
contents  of  the  spoon  are  then  thrown  be- 
hind and  over  the  fire,  the  thrower  saying, 
"  Lord  preserve  us  frae  a'  scathe."  This 
ceremony  completed,  the  patient  will  re- 
cover, provided  he  has  been  under  the 
influence  of  an  evil  eye;  if  he  does  not 
recover,  something  else  must  be  the  trouble. 
If  you  can  "  draw  blud  aboon  the  breath," 
the  fascinating  power  of  a  witch's  eye  will 
cease  (Brand's  "  Pop.  Antiq."). 

A  talisman  against  this  baneful  influence 
was  lately  in  use  in  Yorkshire,  consisting  of 
a  necklace  of  "lucky  stones,"  i.e.,  small 
stones  with  a  hole  through  them.  From  the 
same  district  comes  a  description  of  the 
method  of  attaining  the  power  of  fascina- 
tion :  Nine  toads  are  to  be  collected  at  night, 
then  hang  them  up  on  a  string,  afterwards 
bury  them  in  the  ground,  and  as  the  toads 
pine  away,  so  will  the  person  pine  on  whom 
the  evil  glance  has  been  cast. 

In  Aubrey's   "Miscellanies,"   we  find: 


"The  glances  of  envy  and  malice  do  shoot 
also  subtilly ;  the  eye  of  the  malicious  per- 
son does  really  infect  and  make  sick  the 
spirit  of  the  other."  He  adds  that  these 
glances  are  "more  subtile  than  the  spirits 
drawn  by  the  chymist."  In  Ireland,  this 
fascination  was  known,  also,  as  eye-biting. 
In  Spain  and  France  nurses  are  very  shy  to 
let  people  look  upon  their  children,  for  fear 
of  fascination,  as  "  infants  are  very  sensible 
of  these  irradiations  of  the  eyes."  In  Spain 
they  take  it  ill  if  one  looks  on  a  child  and 
make  one  say,  "God  bless  it"  (Aubrey, 
"Misc.").  A  traveler  in  Turkey,  in  the 
last  century,  found  the  country  filled  with 
devices  to  divert  this  sinister  influence.  Pas- 
sages from  the  Koran,  globes  of  glass,  and  a 
part  of  the  superfluous  caparison  of  their 
horses  were  in  use.  A  quotation  from  Sor- 
row's "Zincali,"  says:  "IntheGitano  lan- 
guage, casting  the  evil  eye  is  called  Querelar 
nasula,  which  simply  means  making  sick. 
After  receiving  the  evil  glance,  they  fall 
sick,  and  die  in  a  few  hours."  In  Spain,  an 
amulet  in  the  shape  of  a  stag's  horn  tipped 
with  silver,  was  suspended  from  a  child's 
neck  by  means  of  a  cord  braided  from  the 
hair  of  a  black  mare's  tale.  Among  uncivil- 
ized races  the  belief  in  the  evil  eye  is  every- 
where found.  In  the  oasis  of  the  north  of 
Africa,  a  method  of  averting  its  influence 
from  the  gardens,  was  to  hang  up  the  skull, 
or  some  of  the  bones,  of  an  ass.  Not  alone 
to  humans  was  this  power  confined.  The 
catoblepas  of  Pliny,  which  would  soon  de- 
stroy the  entire  human  race  but  for  a  fortu- 
nate circumstance,  killed  with  its  eyes  the 
wolf,  deprived  men  of  speech,  and  with  the 
fabled  power  of  the  basilisk  and  cockatrice 
every  one  is  familiar.  With  a  later  instance 
from  the  personal  observation  of  a  writer  in 
the  London  Spectator,  I  will  close  this  note, 
already  far  too  long.  Speaking  of  an  agent 
of  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  he  says :  "  This 
man  had  eyes  absolutely  different  from  any 
I  ever  saw,  and  probably  one-third  of  the 
Italians  who  passed  before  him,  threw  out 
their  fingers  to  counteract  their  malefic 
effect."  He  adds,  "I  will  remember  them 
at  the  Judgment  Day ;  one  of  my  compan- 
ions said,  '  My  God,  that  is  Mephistopheles 
alive!'"  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 


July  5,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


in 


CASTES. 

(VOL.  V,  P.  85.) 

I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  caste  dis- 
tinction in  India  was  at  first  in  part  a  race 
distinction.  But  at  present  there  are  many 
castes,  some  of  them  merely  hereditary 
trades  unions,  whose  members  are  delimited 
from  the  rest  of  society. 

There  are  many  errors  in  the  literature  of 
the  castes.  For  instance,  it  is  commonly 
said  that  the  Chandalas,  or  Chandals,  of 
Bengal,  are  an  out-caste  group,  descended 
from  the  union  of  Brahman  fathers  with  Su- 
dra  mothers.  But  Dr.  Hunter  unhesitat- 
ingly declares  that  the  Chandalas  are  the 
descendants  of  some  Hinduized  and  non- 
Aryan  subjugated  race.  Neither  are  they 
an  out-caste  nor  a  set  of  people  without 
caste.  In  many  parts  of  India  they  are  far 
more  numerous  than  any  other  caste.  Nor 
are  they  (though  despised)  by  any  means 
the  lowest  of  the  castes.  In  Daccag,  they 
rank  as  the  forty-fifth  of  the  ninety-five 
castes  enumerated  by  Hunter.  Locally,  the 
Chandalas  are  divided  into  various  sub- 
castes.  Often  they  acquire  considerable 
wealth  and  some  share  of  respectability. 
Once  upon  a  time,  the  Chandalas  of  a  cer- 
tain district  struck  for  recognition  and  for 
a  higher  place  in  the  social  scale ;  and  the 
high-caste  people  felt  constrained  to  grant 
them,  locally,  all  they  demanded.  It  is 
often  said  that  persons  who  are  expelled 
from  a  high  caste  sink  to  the  level  of  the 
Chandalas;  but  this  is  not  correct;  out- 
castes,  at  least  in  Bengal,  are  usually  re- 
garded or  received  as  members  of  the  de- 
graded Vaishnav  sect,  which  does  not  recog- 
nize caste. 

Another  error  is  that  of  regarding  the 
Pariahs  as  the  lowest  of  Hindu  outcasts. 
This  is  not  quite  true.  The  true  Pariahs 
are  the  drummer  caste  of  Southern  India, 
who  rank  very  low  in  the  scale,  but  there 
are  other  castes  still  lower ;  and  there  are 
various  subcastes  among  the  Pariahs  them- 
selves. Several  of  the  leading  Tamil  poets, 
like  Tiruvalluvar,  and  his  sister,  Auveiyar, 
have  been  of  Pariah  stock. 

Another  error  of  Europeans  is  that  of 
regarding  the  Sudras  as  low-caste  people. 
True,  the  Sudras  are  the  lowest  of  the  four 
original,  or  pure,  castes,  but  they  are  rela- 


tively high  in  the  social  scale.  In  South- 
ern India,  to  call  a  man  a  Sudra  is  to  con- 
fer a  compliment  upon  him.  Even  in 
Northern  India,  a  pure  Sudra  is  a  man  of 
thoroughly  respectable  rank. 

A  fourth  error  is  the  belief  that  all  Brah- 
mans  are  priests.  They  are  of  the  priestly 
caste,  but  not  all  are  priests.  They  may  be 
of  any  respectable  profession.  There  are, 
locally,  even  plough  Brahmans,  who  till  the 
soil  with  their  own  hands.  But  these  are 
"off  color"  with  their  fellows.  There  also 
are  actually  low-caste  Brahmans,  those  who 
act  as  priests  for  the  low  castes.  These  are 
treated  with  much  scorn  by  the  lordly  Kulin 
Brahmans.  Indeed,  there  are  everywhere 
many,  or  at  least  several,  grades  of  Brah- 
mans. 

A  fifth  error  is  the  supposition  that  the 
Brahmans  are  all  of  Aryan  descent.  The 
true  Aryans,  or  twice-born  Brahmans,  have 
deemed  it  politic  to  accept  as  true  Brah- 
mans many  who  are  assuredly  of  Dravidian 
descent.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  Tra- 
vancore,  a  country  which  is  regarded  as  the 
peculiar  and  special  seat  of  the  Brahman 
caste. 

A  sixth  error  is  to  regard  Indian  caste  as 
inflexible.  Low-caste  kings  were  reigning 
in  India  in  Alexander  the  Great's  time. 
Even  now,  the  Maharajahs  of  Travancore 
are  of  a  low  caste ;  and  because  they  are 
not  of  "  twice-born"  stock,  they  have  to  be 
born  the  second  time,  of  an  artificial  cow, 
before  they  can  reign.  RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA.  

POPULAR   SUPERSTITIONS. 

Your  readers  probably  have  no  idea  how 
much  attention  is  paid  to  what  are  called 
"signs,"  in  reference  to  planting,  etc.,  by 
the  old  "set"  of  farmers  hereabouts. 
Onion  sets,  I  have  been  solemnly  assured, 
must  be  planted  when  the  moon's  horn 
points  up,  or  they  will  come  out  of  the 
ground  instead  of  taking  root,  as  they 
should.  The  same  person  declared  that  po- 
tatoes must  be  planted  in  the  sign  of  the 
"  foot,"  whatever  that  is,  to  insure  a  good 
crop.  Another  neighbor,  if  ready  to  plant 
a  crop,  always  waits  for  the  full  of  thejnoon 
to  put  in  the  seed. 

It  is  remarkable  how  tenacious  are  these 


112 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  5,  1890. 


and  kindred  superstitions  in  this  particular 
locality.  Sometimes  when  I  have  argued 
such  points  with  believers  and  tried  to  show 
their  absurdity,  as  I  imagined,  with  some 
success,  the  discussion  has  been  closed  with 
the  sage  remark,  "  Well,  it  is  possible  that 
there  is  nothing  in  it,  but  I  shall  continue 
as  I  have  been  doing  and  get  the  benefit,  if 
there  is  any.  '  '  ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,   PA. 


Author  of  Catechism.  —  Who  was  the  au- 
thor of  the  good  old  English  Catechism  ?  I 
mean  the  one  in  the  Prayer  Book. 

B.  N.  E. 

NEW  YORK. 

Tradition  ascribes  its  authorship,  in  part, 
to  Dean  Nowell;  but  Canon  Luckock,  in 
his  "  Studies  in  the  History  of  the  Prayer 
Book"  (1882),  rejects  this  opinion,  as  ex- 
ceedingly improbable.  He  believes  that 
Goodrich,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Ely,  wrote 
•the  first  part,  as  far  as  the  paraphrase  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  Bishop  Goodrich  built,  in 
1552,  the  Long  Gallery  attached  to  his 
episcopal  palace  ;  and  in  it  he  placed  two 
tablets,  one  inscribed  with  the  "  Duty  to 
God,"  and  the  other  with  the  "  Duty  to  our 
Neighbor;"  and  beside  them  he  placed  the 
armorial  bearings  of  the  see,  with  his  own 
initials.  He  was  one  of  the  translators  of 
King  James'  Bible.  In  1604,  the  remain- 
ing part  of  the  Catechism  (by  Bishop  Over- 
all) was  added  ;  this  part  is  explanatory  of 
the  Sacraments  (op.  cit.,  pp.  185,  224).  In 
the  American  Prayer  Book  a  few  verbal 
changes  have  been  made  in  the  Catechism. 

State  of  Maine.  —  Why  is  Maine  so  often 
spoken  of  as  "  the  State  of  Maine?"  It  is 
not  usual  to  speak  of  the  other  States  in 
this  way.  P.  O.  D. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Because  it  was  formerly  "  the  Province  of 
Maine"  and  part  of  Massachusetts.  Some 
write  on  letters,  "  State  of  Washington,"  to 
avoid  any  possible  error  in  the  sending  of  a 
letter. 


Flying  Spider.— Are  there  any  flying 
spiders  ?  This  question  is  the  outcome  of  a 
dispute  after  dinner.  E.  P.  D. 

MAURICETOWN,  N.  J. 

A  handsome  Australian  spider,  Attus  vo- 
lans,  has  a  parachute  arrangement  like  that 
of  the  flying  squirrel,  by  means  of  which  it 
can  take  long  leaps  through  the  air.  Many 
kinds  of  spider  are  wont  to  float  in  the  air 
upon  filaments  of  gossamer  of  their  own 
spinning ,  but  their  gossamer  floats  are  not 
steerable. 

St.  John's  Day. — Why  is  the  summer 
solstice  taken  as  a  time  for  honoring  St. 
John  Baptist  ?  L.  F.  N. 

VERMONT. 

St.  John  said,  "He  must  increase,  but  I 
must  decrease."  At  St.  John's  day,  the 
length  of  the  days  begins  to  decrease.  This 
explanation  is,  at  least,  as  old  as  St.  August- 
ine's time ;  but  it  is  probably  fanciful. 


REPLIES. 


Mother  Earth  (Vol.  v,  p.  90). — I  once 
heard  a  Chinese  cook  say,  "The  sky  is  my 
fader,  the  earth  is  my  mudder."  Gaia,  Tel- 
lus,  and  Demeter  all  represent  Mother  Earth. 
Some  say  that  Demeter  literally  means  Ge 
meter,  Mother  Earth.  The  giant  Antseos, 
when  wounded,  was  healed  by  contact  with 
the  earth,  his  mother.  The  origin  of  the 
expression  is  far  too  remote  to  be  traced. 

E.  D.  R. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Captain  of  My  Dreams  (Vol.  v,  p.  103). — 
Tennyson  refers  to  the  morning  star,  which 
is  mentioned  four  times  in  this  poem,  "  The 
Dream  of  Fair  Women."  Chaucer,  the 
"  morning  star  of  song,"  sets  him  to  dream- 
ing after  having  read  the  "  Legend  of  Good 
Women."  Before  his  first  interview,  that 
with  Helen  of  Greece,  is  recorded,  "  The 
maiden  splendours  of  the  morning  star 
shook  in  the  stedfast  blue;"  and  when  he 
woke,  "the  captain  of  his  dreams  [still] 
ruled  in  the  eastern  sky."  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


July  5,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


The  Oregon  Fly  in  Tennyson's  "  The  Two 
Voices"  (Vol.  v,  p.  103). — The  first  voice 
is  urging  the  poet  to  take  a  pessimistic  view 
of  life.  "  Thou  art  so  full  of  misery.  Were 
it  not  better  not  to  be?"  The  voice  goes 
on  to  cite  the  example  of  the  dragon-fly. 
While  in  "his  old  husk"  within  the  "wells 
where  he  did  lie,"  the  dragon-fly  by  "an 
inner  impulse  rent  the  veil"  and  came  forth 
a  far  more  glorious  creature  than  he  had 
been.  Why  not  imitate  his  example,  and 
put  an  end  to  this  life,  "so  full  of  misery," 
in  the  hope  of  thereby  ridding  the  soul  of 
its  material  burdens,  and  attaining  a  happier 
mode  of  existence  ?  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Lowey  of  Tunbridge  (Vol.  v,  p.  6). — The 

word  lowey  or  lowy  does  not  appear  in  any 
of  the  ten  or  twelve  dictionaries,  either  of 
archaic  or  modern  words  which  I've  exam- 
ined ;  it  is  nevertheless  employed,  in  his- 
tories of  the  county  of  Kent,  and  in  topo- 
graphical works  relating  to  the  same.  John 
Harris'  "History  of  Kent"  gives  the  fol- 
lowing explanation  of  the  term,  which  is  the 
only  one  met  with : 

"  Round  about  this  Town  of  Tunbridge, 
for  about  a  League,  as  some  say,  Two  Miles, 
or  rather,  One  Mile  and  a  half  Distance,  is 
a  compass  of  Land,  which  anciently  was 
called  Districtus  Leucae  de  Tonbridge  ;  now 
the  Lowy  of  Tunbridge,  Leuga,  Leuca,  and 
Leucata,  was  the  ancient  French  League,  by 
'which  the  old  Gauls  journeyed  ;  as  the  Ro- 
mans did  by  the  Mille  Passus.  This  League 
of  theirs  was  MD  Paces  or  a  Mile  and  a  half; 
and  Spelman  in  his  Glossary,  under  the 
word  Leuca  or  Leuga,  shows  that  such  a  dis- 
tance as  this  round  a  Monastery  or  Religious 
House  was  frequently  called  by  this  name 
of  the  Leucata,  Leugate,  or  Lowy. ' ' 

The  author  relates  much  that's  interesting 
about  the  Town  of  Bridges,  on  the  Med- 
way,  beginning  with  the  occasion  and  Rise 
of  this  Lowy  of  Tunbridge,  as  follows :  "  In 
Normandy  there  was  a  Town  and  Lands  about 
it  called  Briony,  which  anciently  was  under 
the  Dukes  of  Normandy."  This  had  been 
seized  by  Robert,  eldest  son  of  the  Con- 
queror ;  but  Richard  de  Clare,  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  put  in  a  claim  for  it,  believing 
he  had  a  better  right.  At  last,  William 


Rufus  promised  Richard,  as  a  recompense 
for  the  loss  of  Briony — the  Town  of  Tun- 
bridge, and  just  as  much  Land  as  was  about 
Briony.  "And  this  was  actually  done  by 
measuring  the  Land  about  Briony  Castle  and 
laying  out  just  as  much  about  Tunbridge ; 
and  some  say  that  he  brought  over  with  him 
from  Normandy  the  very  same  Rope  with 
which  he  measured  the  Land  of  Briony; 
and  this  being  what  they  called  the  Distance 
of  a  Leuca  every  way  gave  the  District  the 
name  of  the  Leucata  or  Lowy  of  Tunbridge. ' ' 
(Refer,  Harris'  "Hist.  Kent,"  London, 
1719,  Vol.  i,  p.  319;  Spelman's  "Gloss- 
ary," pp.  356-7;  Hasted's  "Kent,"  Map, 
"  Lowey  of  Tunbridge."  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Cacoethes  Scribendi  (Vol.  v,  p.  103). — I 
submit  the  following  as  proposed  substitutes 
for  thess  words :  pen-fad  and  graphomania. 

S.  L.  A. 

PROVIDENCE. 

Mother  Earth  (Vol.  v,  p.  90).— The  idea 
at  all  events  is  in  Livy's  account  of  the  Tar- 
quins  and  Brutus — how  the  oracle  told  the 
Tarquins  that  he  who  first  kissed  his  mother 
should  rule  Rome,  and  how,  while  the 
brothers  were  quarreling  about  kissing  their 
own  mother,  the  clever  Brutus  pretended  to 
fall  and  kissed  the  earth,  the  "common 
mother  of  us  all."  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Fanacle  (Vol.  v,  p.  90). — If  I  mistake 
not,  all  our  words  in  tele  and  acle  are  spelt 
with  /  or  with  a  in  strict  accordance  with 
their  Latin  prototypes.  Thus  we  say  obsta- 
cle, tabernacle,  spectacle,  oracle,  pinnacle, 
receptacle,  miracle,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
article,  curricle,  funicle,  cuticle,  vehicle,  reti- 
cle, radicle,  etc.,  on  the  other,  after  our 
Latin  models. 

{Manacle  is  a  corruption  of  what  our 
forefathers  correctly  spelt  manic le  ;  treacle  is 
an  anomaly ;  and  icicle  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  case.) 

If  so,  fanacle  should  follow  the  example 
of  its  brother  fanatic,  and  adhere  to  the  a 
of  their  common  mother-root  fanari. 

A  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK. 


114 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  5,  1890. 


Days  of  the  Week  (Vol.  v,  p.  67).—  The 
week  of  seven  days  is  not  of  strict  Jewish 
origin;  in  Exod.  xx,  n,  its  origin  is  re- 
ferred back  to  the  creation  ;  in  Deut.  v,  15, 
to  the  exodus  from  Egypt.  Like  so  many 
of  the  rites  and  customs  of  the  Jews  (nota- 
bly, circumcision),  the  seven-day  week  was 
adopted  by  the  Jews  from  the  races  by  which 
they  were  surrounded.  N.  S.  S.  will  find  a 
short  but  explicit  account  of  the  week  in 
the  "American  Cyclopasdia,"  xvi,  535, 
with  references  to  other  books.  R.  G.  B. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Eygre  or  Bore  (Vol.  v,  p.  87).  —  A  late 
number  of  the  Portland  (Me.)  Advertiser 
described  a  remarkable  "  bore"  on  St.  John 
River,  Bay  of  Fundy. 

I  am  not  unaware  that  this  river  is  outside 
the  United  States,  but  it  is  nearer  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  than  the  Colorado  or  the  Hugli. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK. 


no 


Oolen  and  Bootle.  —  A  writer  in  the 
Nation,  of  June  26,  calls  the  attention  of 
readers  to  two  plant  names,  not  found  in 
any  of  the  dictionaries  as  yet.  Both  occur 
in  "The  Culprit  Fay,"  of  J.  R.  Drake. 
Colen-bell  occurs  twice,  colen-goblet  once, 
and  bootle-blade  twice  in  this  poem.  It  ap- 
pears from  the  tenth  stanza  that  the  colen 
has  a  crimson  flower.  Do  these  words  de- 
signate any  real  plants  ?  F.  R.  D. 

PORTSMOUTH. 

Lake  Drained.—  What  large  lake  in  the 
United  States  has  lately  disappeared,  from 
the  use  of  the  water  of  its  afferent  streams 
in  irrigation  ?  J.  K.  W. 

WHEELING,  W.  VA. 

Palace  of  Forty  Pillars  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
82,  etc.).  —  There  is  a  fifth  building  of  this 
name.  It  stands  on  the  caravan  road  from 
Bokhara  to  China,  and  is  described  in  some 
of  the  old  books  of  travel.  I  am  sorry  not 
to  be  able  to  name  any  authorities  for  this 
statement  ;  but  probably  some  of  your 
readers  may  be  able  to  make  good  the  defect 
of  my  memory.  J.  K.  M. 

CLEVELAND. 


Garments  Following  Drowned 
Corpse. — The  following  is  a  clipping  from 
a  daily : 

"The  mystery  attending  the  disappear- 
ance of  Sallie  Wilkins  was  dispelled  by  the 
finding  of  the  body  floating  in  the  Rancocas 
creek,  about  three  miles  from  Mt.  Holly,  N.  J. 
Miss  Wilkins  was  last  seen  standing  on  the 
Bispham  street  bridge,  about  dusk  on  Wed- 
nesday evening,  and  the  supposition  is  that 
she  fell  or  jumped  overboard  there.  In  ac- 
cordance with  an  old  superstitious  belief,  an 
old  dress  worn  by  the  missing  woman  was 
procured  and  thrown  in  the  water  at  the 
spot  where  the  woman  was  supposed  to  have 
jumped  overboard. 

"  The  theory  is  that  the  garment  will  fol- 
low the  same  course  taken  by  the  body,  and 
will  stop  as  soon  as  it  reaches  the  corpse. 
Two  men  followed  the  floating  dress  in  a 
boat,  while  crowds  watched  them  from  the 
shore.  Just  below  Washington  street  the 
dress  stopped,  and  it  was  confidently  be- 
lieved the  body  had  been  found,  but  it 
proved  to  be  a  mistake,  as  the  most  persist- 
ent dragging  failed  to  discover  any  trace  of 
the  woman.  This  morning,  however,  the 
body  was  discovered  as  related  above." 

Can  any  correspondent  of  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES  tell  me  the  origin  of  this  be- 
lief? MARY  OSBORN. 
CINCINNATI,  O. 

Tantrum  Bogus. — Who  or  what  is 
meant  by  this  expression  ?  I  have  frequently 
heard  from  my  mother  and  grandmother 
when  the  conversation  turned  upon  wishing 
for  death,  "  I'll  live  till  I  die,  like  Tantrum 
Bogus,"  or  what  sounded  like  the  words  I 
have  quoted.  They  had  it,  I  am  told,  from 
my  great-grandmother,  who  was  Irish  or 
Welsh,  it  may  be.  Was  " Tantrum  Bogus" 
a  character  in  some  play,  and  what  is  the 
origin  of  the  apparently  unmeaning  phrase  ? 
NORRISTOWN,  PA.  ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

Allyballycarrick  O'Shaughlin.  — 
This  is  the  name  of  an  Irish  bog  in  one  of 
Miss  Edgeworth's  stories.  Is  it  the  real 
name  of  a  real  bog?  A  friend  insists  that 
it  is.  I  have  always  believed  it  a  name  in^ 
vented  by  the  novelist.  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 


July  5,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Putrid  Sea. — In  what  book  of  travels 
can  I  find  a  description  of  the  Sivash,  or 
Putrid  Sea,  of  Southern  Russia?  I  do  not 
care  for  a  description  in  any  book  of  refer- 
ence. I  desire  an  account  of  personal  ob- 
servations and  impressions.  IPSICO. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Verses  Wanted. — Can  any  of  your 
correspondents  complete  for  me  the  follow- 
ing rhymes  ?  I  heard  them  many  years  ago 
from  an  Irishman;  I  have  forgotten  the 
greater  part  of  the  story  with  which  they 
were  associated : 

"  I  saw  a  jackdaw  at  Dundalk, 

And  he  mending  old  shoes  ; 
I  saw  a  skylark  at  Dunkirk 

With  spectacles  reading  the  news  ; 
I  saw  a  buck  flea  saving  hay — 

For  the  Earl  of  Tyrone, 
And  Kilkenny  town  going  down 

To  visit  Athlone. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Jo-jo  (Vol.  i,  p.  31). — Apart  from  the 
origin  claimed  for  this  name,  as  above  indi- 
cated, I  have  been  informed  that  some  small 
animal,  probably  of  the  monkey  tribe,  has 
long  been  called,  at  least  locally,  by  this 
name.  Can  any  of  your  readers  indicate 
the  species  of  animal  known  by  this  name  ? 
RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Swimming  Pig. — It  is  commonly  said 
that  a  pig  while  swimming  cuts  its  own  throat 
by  the  strokes  of  its  fore-feet.  Is  this  belief 
in  accordance  with  the  facts  ?  Coleridge,  in 
his  poem,  "The  Devil's  Thoughts,"  alludes 
to  this  supposed  fact.  (The  poem  is  in  part 
by  Southey.)  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 


©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Dialect  Forms  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  249,  etc.). — 
Among  other  expressions  I  have  noted  down 
since  sending  you  a  former  list,  are  the  fol- 
lowing :  "  Coppy  woods,"  for  a  small 
grove;  "Quait,"  for  quoit;  "outen,"  in 
the  sense  of  to  extinguish,  as  a  fire. 

ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 


Pretzel,  or  Bretzel — Which  ?— It  has 
been  a  very  long  time  since  I  first  saw  a 
"pretzel,"  and  almost  as  long  since  I  first 
saw  the  word  in  print — not  much  less  than 
seventy-five  years  ago.  At  that  period,  and 
for  many  years  afterwards,  that  popular  con- 
fection, cake,  or  "  New  Jersey  handcuff," 
as  it  was  facetiously  named,  was  universally 
called  and  printed,  or  written,  Pretzel ;  at 
least  in  hamlets,  villages,  and  inland  towns, 
where  it  was  manufactured,  or  kept  for  sale. 
But,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  or  more,  I 
have  noticed  the  gradual  innovation  of  the 
term  Bretzel,  both  among  the  intelligent 
and  the  illiterate,  as  well  as  the  ignorant ; 
and,  perhaps,  on  a  fair  average,  both  names 
are  about  equally  used.  Now,  although  not 
of  a  life-and- death  importance,  yet,  from  the 
popularity  of  this  article  of  human  con- 
sumption, it  has  occurred  to  some  persons 
that  this  is  one  of  the  questions  that  might 
be  ventilated  or  determined  by  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  as  within  its  legitimate 
domain. 

Some  have  imagined  the  pronunciation 
hinges  merely  upon  a  Pennsylvania  German- 
ism, especially  that  peculiar  class  who 
habitually  indulge  in  consonantal  transposi- 
tions ;  but  others  entertain  a  different  view. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Buddhism  in  Lapland  (Vol.  v,  p.  36). 
— Max  Muller,  in  a  note  to  his  review  of 
Julien's  "Buddhist  Pilgrims"  ("Chips  from 
a  German  Workshop,"  Vol.  i,  p.  233,  N.  Y., 
1881),  says  :  "  The  only  trace  of  the  influ- 
ence of  Buddhism  among  Kudic  races,  the 
Fins,  Laps,  etc.,  is  found  in  the  names  of 
their  priests  and  sorcerers,  the  Shamans. 
'  Shaman'  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption 
of  ( Sra.ma.na.,'  a  name  applied  to  Buddha, 
and  to  Buddhist  priests  in  general." 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

The  Ampulla  (Vol.  v,  p.  107).— There 
is  also  an  ampulla,  or  sacred  phial,  for  the 
oil  used  in  the  coronation  of  the  British  sov- 
ereigns. It  is  preserved  among  the  crown 
jewels  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

ILDERIM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


n6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  5,  1890. 


Gilsonite  (Vol.  v,  p.  101).— Mr.  S.  H. 
Gilson  was  the  discoverer,  it  is  said,  of  Gil- 
sonite, which  is  an  asphalt,  rather  than  a 
mineral  wax.  It  appears  to  be  the  same  as 
Uintahite.  In  the  United  States  report  on 
"  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States," 
for  1887,  p.  795,  its  name  is  misprinted 
"Gibsonite."  It  finds  no  place  in  the 
"Century  Dictionary"  under  either  name. 
The  Gilsonite  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
Salt  Lake  City,  is  said  to  control  it  in  some 
degree ;  but  the  deposits  are  very  large.  It 
is  used  to  some  txtent  in  preparing  varnishes 
and  lacquers.  RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

"  Survivals  of  the  Stone  Age. — Uni- 
versal as  was  the  use  of  arrowheads  in  primi- 
tive times,  their  real  purpose  is  now  so  gen- 
erally unknown  that  they  are  popularly  be- 
lieved to  be  '  elf-darts'  or  ' elf-bolts'  hurled 
by  the  fairies  in  their  efforts  to  injure  man 
and  beast.  This  singular  belief  is  still  more 
or  less  widely  prevalent  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  in  Scandinavia,  Italy,  and  France. 
Other  peoples,  such  as  the  Japanese,  account 
for  their  origin  by  imagining  that  they  are 
showered  from  heaven  by  an  army  of  spirits 
that  fly  once  a  year  through  the  air  in  the 
rain  and  the  tempest.  This  idea  may  pos- 
sibly have  arisen  from  the  fact,  which  I 
have  more  than  once  verified,  that  arrow- 
heads are  often  found  after  a  storm  in  places 
where  the  day  before  there  was  no  trace  of 
them,  the  rain  having  in  the  meantime 
washed  away  the  mold  and  laid  them  bare. 

"  But  if  the  arrows  of  the  elfin  spirits 
could  do  harm,  they  were  also  supposed  to 
possess  the  virtue  of  removing  or  averting 
evil.  In  the  remoter  parts  of  Ireland,  Scot- 
land, and  England  the  peasantry  still  believe 
that  water  in  which  'elf-darts'  and  coins 
have  been  placed  is  an  infallible  remedy  for 
cattle  that  have  been  shot  at  by  the  fairies. 
Arrowheads,  when  used  as  amulets,  were 
further  accredited  with  the  power  of  pre- 
serving the  wearers  from  danger  and  from 
the  influence  of  malignant  spirits.  It  is 
almost  certain  that  it  was  for  this  purpose 
they  found  a  place  in  the  necklaces  worn 
by  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Egypt  and  of 
Etruria.  In  Italy  they  are  still  in  common 
use  as  preservatives  against  evil ;  and  in  our 


own  land  it  is  only  within  the  present  cen- 
tury that  they  have  ceased  to  be  carried  as 
charms. 

"As  might  be  expected,  the  deluded  crea- 
tures, who  professed  to  practice  witchcraft, 
set  a  high  value  on  arrowheads.  They 
averred  that  they  were  manufactured  for 
their  special  use  by  the  arch  fiend  and  his 
imps,  and  that  so  fatal  was  their  power  that 
whoever  was  struck  by  them  must  die,  even 
though  he  were  protected  by  a  coat  of  mail. 
In  '  The  Ancient  Criminal  Trials'  of  Scot- 
land there  are  many  references  to  this  ab- 
surd idea.  There  it  is  stated  that  the 
witches  sometimes  made  (  a  picture  of  clay' 
representing  the  person  whose  death  they 
wished  to  bring  about,  and  that  they  threw 
'elf-darts'  at  this  clay  image  until  it  was 
broken"  (Good  Words). 

Superstitions  of  Gamblers  (Vol.  v,  p. 
25). — I  find  that  in  the  National  Zcitung, 
an  article  upon  the  "  Superstition  of  Gam- 
blers," says  that  "  the  gambler  has  a  tradi- 
tional reverence  for  hump-backed  persons. 
The  French  Deputy,  M.  Nacquet,  the  inti- 
mate of  Boulanger,  is  notably  a  hump-back, 
and  during  his  stay  at  Monte  Carlo  the  little 
gentleman  was  in  great  request  with  the 
players  on  account  of  this  valuable  physical 
endowment.  Any  person  gifted  with  a  re- 
spectable outgrowth  upon  his  back,  but 
down  on  his  own  luck,  might  possibly  earn 
his  bread  by  going  to  Monte  Carlo,  and 
charging  a  fee  to  the  superstitious  luck- 
hunters  at  the  green  table. ' ' 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Blind  as  a  Beetle  (Vol.  v,  p.  76). — 
The  American  "Dor-beetle"  (Copris  Caro- 
lina) has  the  same  habit.  But  there  are 
beetles  which  are  actually  blind.  The 
Erythrophthalma  telkemphii,  a  carabidinous 
beetle,  found  in  the  Mammoth  cave,  Ken- 
tucky, like  the  fishes  and  crustaceans  found 
in  that  cave,  are  all  blind,  of  which  there  are 
various  species.  The  small  chestnut-colored 
beetle,  which  we  have  always  found  in  rice, 
is  the  Sitophilus  oryzea,  or  "Rice  weevil," 
but  we  know  nothing  about  a  blind  species, 
if  one  is  found  there.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


July  5,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


117 


Horicon  (cf.  Oregon,  Vol.  v,  p.  104). — 
According  to  Hough's  "  Gazetteer  of  New 
York,"  the  name  Horicon,  as  applied  to 
Lake  George,  is  said  to  have  been  an  inven- 
tion of  the  novelist  Cooper,  and  not  a  true 
Indian  name  at  all.  The  assertion  of  some 
is  that  it  means  "  the  smile  of  the  Great 
Spirit. ' '  The  same  meaning  is  assigned  by 
some  guide-books  to  Winnepiseogec,  the 
name  of  a  lake  in  New  Hampshire.  Hori- 
con Lake  is  also  the  name  given  on  some 
maps  of  Wisconsin  to  what  is  called,  on 
other  maps,  Winnebago  Marsh.  Where 
can  I  find  a  good  description  of  this  lake, 
or  marsh,  as  it  exists  at  present  ? 

N.  S.  S. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Pets  of  Distinguished  People  (Vol. 
iv,  pp.  274,  etc.). — Matthew  Arnold's  dogs, 
cat  and  canary  bird.  It  would  be  hard  to 
find  another  company  of  pets  for  whom  the 
need  of  poetic  verse  has  been  dispensed  so 
bountifully.  Although  "Goss"  and  "Rover" 
•died  unsung,  the  poetical  tributes  addressed 
to  the  favorite  dogs  "Geist"  and  "Kaiser," 
and  to  the  canary  "Matthias,"  count  up  375 
verses. 

"  They  had  no  poet,  and  they  died," 

mot  be  said  of  Matthew  Arnold's  pets ; 
their  poet-master  insured  for  all  of  them 
that  fame  which  he  so  fondly  desired  for  the 
little  friend,  Geist  of 

"  That  liquid  melancholy  eye, 

From  whose  pathetic  soul-fed  springs 
Seem'd  surging  the  Virgilian  cry, 
The  sense  of  tears  in  mortal  things." 

The  special  tributes  already  alluded  to 
"belong  to  the  later  years  of  the  poet's  life, 
when  poetical  production  had  almost  en- 
tirely ceased  : 

"  And  so  there  rise  these  lines  of  verse 
On  lips  that  rarely  form  them  now." 

Geist  lived  but  four  years,  and  the  lines 
"Geist's  Grave"  (January,  1881),  was 
the  first  of  the  tributes  the  poet  addressed  to 
his  pets.  The  little  dachs-hound  was  named 
un  memory  of  a  remarkable  conversation 
between  his  master  and  a  Berliner  visiting 
England  in  the  summer  of  '66,  while  Prus- 
sia was  at  war  with  Austria;  the  Prussian's 


parting  words  to  Arnold  were  "  Get  Geist" 
(see  Every  Saturday,  Aug.,  1866). 

In  December,  1882,  appeared  the  second 
of  the  group  of  tributes,  "Poor  Matthias." 

"  Sigh  for  daily  song  of  yore 
Silent  now  for  evermore." 

Poor  Matthias,  "songster  of  many  a 
year,"  the  golden-liveried  pet  like  the  Car- 
dinal in  Shakespeare,  "  dies  and  makes  no 
sign,"  or  rather  his  human  keepers  hard 
were 

"  Unable  to  divine 
Our  companion's  dying  sign." 

In  this  connection  occur,  perhaps,  the 
most  significant  lines  in  the  poem  : 

"  What  you  feel  escapes  our  ken — 
Know  we  more  our  fellow-men  ? 
Human  suffering  at  our  side, 
Ah,  like  yours  is  undescried ! 
Human  suffering,  human  fears, 
Miss  our  eyes  and  miss  our  ears, 
Little  helping,  wounding  much, 
Dull  of  heart  and  hard  of  touch, 
Brother  man's  despairing  sign 
Who  may  trust  us  to  divine?" 

Although  "Rover  with  the  good  brown 
head"  and  "Great  Atossa"  "had  been 
dismissed  without  a  word,"  or  rather  "had 
died  and  died  unsung,"  some  time  before 
the  other  pets,  they  come  in  for  beautiful 
words  of  remembrance  in  connection  with 
the  canary,  as 

"  Nearer  human  were  their  powers, 
Closer  knit  their  life  with  ours." 

Of  sage  Atossa  sitting  for  hours  beside  the 
bird-cage  the  poet  says  : 

"  Down  she  sank  amid  her  fur — 
Eyed  thee  with  a  soul  resigned, 

Cruel,  but  composed  and  bland, 
So  Tiberius  might  have  sat, 
Had  Tiberius  been  a  cat." 

Of  Max  and  Kaiser  the  poet  had  said  in 
"Poor  Matthias:" 

"  Much  I  doubt  if  they  shall  have 
Dirge  of  mine  to  crown  their  grave." 

But: 

"  Kaiser  with  his  collie  face, 
Penitent  for  want  of  race," 

died  of  a  fit,  April  6,  1887,  a  ^ew  days  more 
than  one  year  before  his  master.  The  fol- 
lowing July,  in  the  last  summer  of  Arnold's 


n8 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  5,  1890. 


life,   "Kaiser  Dead,"  was  published  in  the 
Fortnightly. 

Of  the  several  pets  referred  to,  the  only 
one  left  is — 

"  Max  a  dachs-hound  without  blot, 
Max  with  shining  yellow  coat, 
Prinking  ears  and  dew-lap  throat." 

Regarding  the  outstretched  form  of  his 
lifeless  companion — 

"  Full  well  Max  knows  the  friend  is  dead, 

Whose  cordial  talk, 
And  jokes  in  doggish  language  said, 
Beguiled  his  walk." 

(See  MacMillan,  Dec.,  1882;  Fortnightly, 
Jan.,  1881,  July,  1887.)  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Whiffle-tree  (Vol.  v,  p.  77).— When 
we  were  a  boy  and  worked  on  a  farm,  the 
large  bar  with  a  hook  at  each  end,  and  an 
iron-bound  hole  in  the  middle,  through 
which  an  iron  pin  was  run  to  attach  it  to 
base  of  the  tongue,  was  called  a  double-tree. 
To  each  of  these  hooks  was  attached  a 
smaller  bar,  called  a  single-tree,  or  ivhifflc- 
tree,  and  this,  without  regard  to  the  kind  of 
tree  they  were  made  of;  but  white  oak  or 
ash  was  generally  used  for  that  purpose. 
Now,  if  uipul  was  a  name  formerly  used  in 
England  for  the  dogwood,  then  it  may  be 
possible  that  whipple-tree  has  had  the  origin 
suggested,  but  it  don't  seem  likely. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Gulf  of  the  Lion  (Vol.  v,  pp.  93,  etc.). 
— If  Mr.  Keith  Johnson,  or  any  other  geog- 
rapher, should  deliberately  attempt  to 
change  an  established  name  in  order  to  foist 
one  of  his  own  coining,  I  should  conclude, 
in  my  own  opinion  at  least,  that  he  had 
written  himself  down  an  ass  of  the  most 
hopeless  kind.  But  I  fail  to  find  that  either 
he  or  the  author  of  the  article  in  the  "  En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica"  has  laid  himself 
open  to  any  shadow  of  criticism.  In  Keith 
Johnson's  "  Imperial  Atlas,"  recently  pub- 
lished, and  also  in  his  "  London  Geogra- 
phy," I  am  able  to  find  but  one  form, 
namely,  "  '  GULFE  DU  LION'  (<  Gulf  of  the 
Lion1)"  just  as  it  is  here  printed.  So  far  as 
the  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica"  is  con- 


cerned, I  can  vouch  for  but  one  edition — 
that  issued  by  Messrs.  Black  &  Co.,  of  Edin- 
burgh. That  is  the  only  genuine  edition, 
and  there  the  name  appears,  GULF  OF  LIONS 
— no  Lyon  or  Lyons  about  it.  This  is  a 
solemn  warning  to  "  F.  H.  S."  to  hereafter 
abjure  all  pirated  editions.  J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
104,  etc.). — What  are  called  practical  men, 
or  "  Philistines,"  look  upon  all  minute  ver- 
bal criticism  as  mere  waste  of  time.  I  be- 
lieve that  W.  J.  R.  belongs  to  a  class  of 
persons  who  take  a  wiser -view  of  such  ques- 
tions. 

I  take  much  pleasure  in  answering  W.  J. 
R.'s  request  for  a  paraphrase  which  shall 
exhibit  the  correlative  quality  of  the  words 
some  and  part  in  the  case  before  us.  I  trust 
it  will  prove  instructive,  if  not  amusing. 

Some  is  here  used  partitively,  or  distribu- 
tively ;  and  in  such  a  case  it  is  often  followed 
by  another  partitive  or  distributive  word. 
Some  may  be  correlated  with  other,  another, 
some,  some  other,  or  the  archaic  other  some. 
Almost  any  partitive  will  serve,  as  for  ex- 
ample : 

"  With  some  of  the  water  she  scours  the 
dressers ;  some  she  puts  into  the  kettle  and 
boils."  Or  this:  "  A  part  of  the  water  she 
uses  in  house-cleaning;  another  part  she 
boils  in  the  kettle  for  tea."  Some,  in  the 
verses  quoted,  means  a  part ;  and  a  part 
means  some. 

Every  distributive  expression  has  at  least 
two  members,  like  the  one  before  us. 

I  am  sorry  that  W.  J.  R.  declines  to  ex- 
tend this  discussion.  I  hope  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  discussing  larger  questions 
with  him  in  future. 

Many  persons  can  explain  correctly  easy 
passages  of  English  verse ;  but  no  wise  man 
will  engage  to  make  everybody  understand 
them  alike.  Quidquid  recipitur,  says  Boe- 
thius  ("  De  Cons.,"  v,  pr.  4),  redpitur  ad 
modum  recipientis.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Foxglove  Spire  (Vol.  v,  p.  93). — An- 
other little  point  in  the  simile  is  this :  The 
foxglove  stalk  is  laden  with  what  Tennyson 
elsewhere  calls  "dappled  bells."  There 


July  5,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


119 


may  be  a  hint  of  a  likeness  between  these 
and  the  church  bells.  I  do  not,  however, 
think  it  best  to  push  the  parellelism  too  far, 
and  thus  read  into  the  poet's  lines  a  mean- 
ing which  he  never  thought  of.  P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Good  Old  Etymologies  (Vol.  v,  p. 
71). — One  of  the  most  luminous  of  these 
blessed  old-time  derivations  is  that  of  Africa 
from  the  Greek  a,  not,  and  ppi*?],  cold. 
This  is  so  realistic  that  our  grandfathers  are 
not  to  be  blamed  for  having  accepted  it 
without  a  question  or  a  quibble.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

John  Dory  (Vol.  v,  p.  79). — The  legend 
of  this  person  is  that,  being  a  sea  captain, 
or,  rather  more  likely,  a  pirate,  he  made  an 
agreement  with  the  king  of  France  to  bring 
to  Paris  the  crew  of  an  English  ship  bound 
as  captives;  and  that,  accordingly,  he  at- 
tempted to  make  prize  of  an  English  vessel, 
but  was  himself  taken  prisoner. 

This  hero  of  the  fourteenth  century  (?)  is 
celebrated  in  the  famous  old  song,  "John 
Dory,"  in  which  the  king  of  France  in- 
tended, is  John,  who  died  in  England 
(1364),  and  the  captor  Nicholas,  the  Cornish 
man,  son  to  a  widow  near  Fag,  Cornwall. 
N  The  song  is  classed  with  the  "  Freemen's 
Songs  for  Three  Voices,"  and  has  nine 
stanzas,  beginning : 

"  As  it  fell  upon  a  holy  day, 

And  upon  an  holy  tide-a, 
John  Dory  bought  him  an  ambling  nag 
To  Paris  for  to  ride-a." 

Both  music  and  words  may  be  found  in 
several  collections  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, the  earliest  being  "  The  Deuteromelia" 
(1609);  but  the  song  is  older  than  any  of 
these  works.  In  "  Gammer  Gurton's  Nee- 
dle," printed  in  1575,  the  second  act  opens 
with  the  song,  "  I  cannot  eat  but  little 
meat,"  to  be  sung  to  the  tune  of  "John 
Dory." 

Richard  Carew,  the  poet-antiquarian,  re- 
fers to  the  same  "Three  Men's  Song,"  in 
his  "  Survey  of  Cornwall,"  published  1602, 
but  written  sometime  in  the  preceding  cen- 
tury, during  Elizabeth's  reign. 

In  seventeenth-century  literature  there  are 
numerous  references  both  to  the  legend  and 


song,  particularly  in  dramatic  works,  of  which 
none  is  more  interesting  than  that  one  in 
the  "Chances"  (Beaumont  and  Fletcher), 
where  Antonio  insists  that  "John  Dory"  be 
sung  while  his  wound  is  being  dressed  : 

"  I'll  have  John  Dory ; 
For  to  that  war-like  tune  I  will  be  opened." 

The  song  was  parodied,  and  satires  were 
written  to  the  tune  of  it  until,  at  last,  through 
excess  of  popularity,  John  Dory  became  at 
once  a  by-word  with  the  poets,  and  to  future 
generations  the  name  of  a  fish.  Chappell 
says:  "  The  name  of  the  fish  called  'John 
Dory,'  corrupted  from  doree  or  doure,  is 
another  proof  of  the  popularity  of  the  song" 
("  Pop.  Mus.  Old.  Time"). 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

This  is  the  name  of  the  hero,  as  well  as 
the  title,  of  a  popular  old  song,  from  a  book 
entitled  "Deuteromelia"  (1609).  He  was 
a  French  piratical  captain  who  was  con- 
quered by  Nicholl,  a  Cornish  man,  his 
downfall  being  related  in  the  song.  It 
begins  thus : 

"  As  it  fell  on  a  holiday, 

And  upon  a  holy  tide-a, 
John  Dory  bought  him  an  ambling  nag, 
To  Paris  for  to  ride-a." 

Bishop  Corbet's  allusion  is  obvious.  The 
tune  was  also  in  favor  for  dancing,  to  which, 
doubtless,  Earle  refers. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

The  Goose  (Vol.  v,  pp.  99,  etc.). — The 
following  passage  in  praise  of  the  goose 
comes  from  Ascham's"Toxophilus"  (1545): 
"  Yet  welfare  the  gentle  gouse  which  bring- 
eth  to  a  man  euen  to  hys  doore  so  manye 
excedynge  commodities.  For  the  gouse  is 
man's  comforte  in  war  and  in  peace,  slep- 
ynge  and  wakynge.  What  prayse  so  euer  is 
gyuen  to  shootynge  the  gouse  may  chalenge 
the  best  parte  in  it.  How  well  dothe  she  make 
a  man  fare  at  hys  table?  Howe  easelye  dothe 
she  make  a  man  lye  in  hys  bed  ?  How  fit 
euen  as  her  fethers  be  onelye  for  shootynge, 
so  be  her  quylles  fitte  onelye  for  wrytyng," 
etc.  P.  R.  E. 


I2O 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  5,  1890. 


Tree  Lists  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  249,  etc.). — 
"  The  earliest  Silva  of  New  England  is  con- 
tained in  the  following  lines,  which  may 
interest  some  of  your  readers,"  writes  a  cor- 
respondent of  Garden  and  forest.  "  They 
were  printed  in  1670,  in  London,  in  'A 
True  and  Faithful  Account  of  the  Chiefest 
Plantations  of  the  English  in  America,  to 
wit,  of  Virginia,  New  England,  Bermudas, 
Barbadoes.'  The  name  of  the  author  does 
not  appear,  but  the  remarks  which  he  adds 
upon  the  value  and  use  of  some  of  the  New 
England  trees,  and  their  fruits  are  copied, 
with  a  few  verbal  changes,  from  Wood's 
well-known  '  New  England  Prospect,'  pub- 
lished in  1634: 

"  Trees  both  on  Hills  and  Plains  in  plenty  be, 
The  long-liv'  Oake,  and  mournful  Cyprefs  Tree, 
Sky-towering  Pines,  and  Chefnuts  coated  rough, 
The  lafting  Cedar,  with  the  Walnut  tough ; 
The  Rofin-dropping  Fir  for  Masts  in  use, 
The  Boatmen  feek  for  Oars,  light,  neat-grown  Sprufe ; 
The  brittle  Afh,  the  ever-trembling  Afpes, 
The  broad  spread   Elme,  whose  concave  harbours 

Wafps ; 

The  watry,  fpongy  Alder  good  for  nought, 
Small  Elder  by  th'  Indian  Fletchers  fought, 
The  knotty  Maple,  pallid  Birch,  Hawthorns, 
The  Horn-bound  Tree  that  to  be  cloven  fcorns; 
Which  from  the  tender  vine  oft  takes  his  Spoufe, 
Who  twines  imbracing  arms  abut  his  Boughs ; 
Within  this  Indian  Orchard  Fruits  be  fome, 
The  ruddy  Cherry  and  the  jetty  Plumb, 
Snake  murthering  Hafel  with  fweet  Saxafrage, 
Whofe  fprouts  in  Beer  allayes  hot  Feavers  rage, 
The  Diars  Shumack,  with  more  trees  there  be, 
That  are  both  good  for  ufe,  and  rare  to  fee." 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Part  of  the  above  has  already  appeared 
in  Vol.  iv,  p.  249. — [ED.] 

Blind  as  a  Bat. — Although  this  is  a 
very  common  phrase,  yet  it  is  still  farther 
fetched  than  "  Blind  as  a  beetle  ;"  because 
bats  have  eyes,  and  some  of  them  quite  con- 
spicuous ones.  When  a  bat  enters  an  illu- 
minated chamber  through  an  open  window, 
he  is  not  impelled  thither  by  the  same  im- 
pulse that  influences  the  beetle.  The  former 
is  in  pursuit  of  his  insect  prey,  and  if  he 
comes  blunderingly  in  contact  with  any 
object,  it  is  because  his  sight  is  dazed  by 
the  excess  of  light,  which  he  is  trying  to 
avoid ;  but  the  latter  is  attracted  by,  and 
drawn  into,  the  light  itself,  by  an  instinct 
which  seems  to  be  common  to  the  insect 


world,  without  regard  to  its  alimentary 
wants.  A  bat  will  pass  through  a  maze  of 
stretched  strings  or  threads,  in  an  inclosure 
where  no  blinding  light  is  present,  without 
disturbing  or  touching  one  of  them.  Still, 
"Blind  as  a  bat"  must  have  had  its  origin 
in  some  semblance  which  was  misinterpreted 
by  the  uninformed  in  the  "  long,  long  ago." 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


AND   l^BI^IODIGAUS. 


The  Century  for  July  has  a  striking  feature  in  the 
long-expected  debate  on  "  The  Single  Tax,"  by  Ed- 
ward Atkinson  and  Henry  George.  Mr.  Atkinson 
opens  the  discussion  in  a  paper  on  "  A  Single  Tax  upon 
Land  ;"  Mr.  George  replies  in  "  A  Single  Tax  on  Land 
Values,"  and  there  is  a  rejoinder  by  Mr.  Atkinson. 

Another  article  that  marks  this  number  of  The  Cen- 
tury is  the  beginning  of  The  Century's  "  Prison  Series," 
the  first  paper  being  a  thrilling  account  of  the  life  of 
"  A  Yankee  in  Andersonville,"  by  Dr.  T.  H.  Mann, 
accompanied  by  a  plan,  and  pictures  made  from  rare 
photographs. 

The  first  of  two  papers  on  "  Provence"  describes 
and  brilliantly  illustrates  an  unhackneyed  region  of  the 
Old  World;  that  part  of  France  which  is  like  Italy  — 
with  its  splendid  Roman  remains,  its  palace  of  the 
Popes,  and  its  associations  with  Petrarch  and  Laura. 
Miss  Preston,  who  wrote  the  article,  is  the  well-known 
translator  of  "  Mireio,"  by  the  great  Provencal  poet 
Mistral. 

Dr.  Edward  Eggleston  in  an  illustrated  article  tells 
the  story  of  "Nathaniel  Bacon,  the  Patriot  of  1676"  — 
and  prints  for  the  first  time  certain  details  obtained  from 
manuscripts  recently  acquired  by  the  British  Museum 
and  the  Congressional  Library. 

John  Burroughs,  who  has  not  lately  appeared  as  often 
as  usual  in  the  magazine,  prints  a  characteristic  out-of- 
door  paper  entitled  "  A  Taste  of  Kentucky  Blue-grass." 
The  pictures  are  by  a  Kentucky  artist,  W.  L.  Maclean. 

Joseph  Jefferson,  in  his  charming  Autobiography,  de- 
scribes his  early  experiences  in  Peru  and  Panama  ;  he 
also  tells  how  he  revived  the  play  of  "  Rip  Van  Win- 
kle," in  London,  with  the  literary  assistance  of  Dion 
Boucicault.  He  also  has  an  amusing  chapter  on  some 
English  relatives. 

Mrs.  Amelia  Gere  Mason  describes  the  "  Women  of 
the  French  Salons  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  ;"  and 
the  engraver  Cole  presents  us  with  one  of  his  most  ex- 
quisitely engraved  blocks  —  the  frontispiece  of  the  num- 
ber —  after  a  painting  by  Filippino  Lippi. 

The  fiction  of  the  number  consists  of  the  second  part 
of  the  anonymous  "  Anglomaniacs  ;"  the  ninth  part  of 
Mrs.  Barr's  "Olivia;"  a  story,  "The  Reign  of  Rea- 
son," by  Viola  Roseboro'  (a  young  Southern  writer 
with  a  rapidly  growing  reputation)  ;  and  a  complete 
novelette,  "  Little  Venice,"  by  Grace  Denio  Litchfield, 
with  a  full-page  illustration  by  Mary  Hallock  Foote. 

The  Editorial  Topics  are:  "  On  Lack  of  Conscience 
as  a  Means  of  Success,"  "  New  York's  Reformed  Elec- 
toral System,"  "  A  Recent  Sermon,"  and  "  Tom-Toms 
in  Politics."  There  is  an  Open  Letter  on  "  The  Inside 
Facts  of  Lincoln's  Nomination." 


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SATURDAY,  JULY  12,  1890. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  : — Snob,  121 — Lake  Names — Cat  Island — Buck  Beer, 
122. 

QUERIES  :— Stift,  122— Super  Grammaticam— The  Red  Sea 
— Old  Bald  Mountain,  123 — Armenian  Wall,  124. 

REPLIES  : — Lady  Compton's  Letter,  124 — Horicon  Lake — 
Priscian's  Head — Tantrum  Bogus — Lake  Drained  —  Greek 
Boy,  125. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  — Archdeacon, 
125 — Translation  Wanted — Camels  in  United  States — Play- 
ing 'Possum — Skate  Runners — Wives  of  Presidents — Land- 
marker —  Marks  of  Accidents  Inherited  —  Indigo  — Greek 
Cities  in  France  and  Spain — Stone  Rivers,  126 — Rockall,  127. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Holtselster— Duke  of  York— Under- 
ground Streams — Blind  as  a  Bat — Marshy  Tracts,  127 — 
Gyaros  —  Deserted  Village  —  Bottomless  Ponds  —  Fanacle — 
Once— "The"  in  Place  Names — Isle  of  Glass — Ruskin — 
Whiffle-tree,  128 — Fjord  or  Ford — Ff  in  Proper  Names— A 
Question  in  Grammar,  129 — Gulf  of  the  Lion — Popular  Su- 
perstitions, 130  —  Horicon  Marsh  —  The  Captain  of  my 
Dreams — Sunken  Islands,  131 — Evil  Eye — Good  Old  Ety- 
mologies— Floating  Islands — Inland  Flowing  Streams,  138. 


SNOB. 

The  word  snob  originally  meant  a  shoe- 
maker. Exactly  when  it  assumed  the  mod- 
ern meaning,  made  familiar  to  all  of  us  by 
Thackeray,  is  still  a  matter  of  philological 
dispute.  But  one  of  our  correspondents  in 
"The  Keepsake"  for  the  year  1831  ("The 
Keepsake"  was  one  of  those  annuals  which 
were  popular  with  our  grandfathers,  but  are 
now  entirely  superseded  by  the  Christmas 
books)  lit  upon  the  following  verse : 

"  Sir  Samuel  Snob — that  was  his  name — 

Three  times  to  Mrs.  Brown 
Had  ventured  just  to  hint  his  flame, 
And  twice  received — a  frown." 

Here  the  word  is  used  as  a  surname,  but 
it  is  evidently  a  name  that  is  meant  to  ex- 
press a  characteristic,  the  presumption  being 
that  the  word  had  even  at  that  date  acquired 
its  present  significance.  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


122 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  12,  1890. 


LAKE  NAMES. 

In  New  England  nearly  all  small  lakes 
and  some  large  ones  are  called  ponds.  A 
mill-pond  is  called  a  dam  in  Pennsylvania ; 
the  "Century  Dictionary,"  however,  says 
that  this  use  of  the  word  dam  is  obsolete.  I 
think  it  is  not  unknown  in  Scotland.  Loch 
is  Scottish  for  lake,  as  also  for  a  lake-like 
arm  of  the  sea ;  lochan  is  a  small  loch. 
Lough  is  the  Anglo-Irish  form  of  lake.  Tarn 
and  /#*>;/ are  small  mountain  lakelets.  Mere 
is  now  mostly  poetical.  Two  lakes  of  Pales- 
tine (Tiberias  and  Dead  Sea)  and  two  on 
the  Asiatic  steppes  (Caspian  and  Aral)  are 
called  seas.  There  is  a  Billington  Sea  in 
Massachusetts.  Two  of  the  above  seas  are 
of  fresh  water.  A  lagoon  is  usually  near  a 
sea  beach  or  in  a  marsh,  and  is  generally 
shallow.  A  broad  is  an  East-Anglian  lagoon. 
A  haff  is  a  German  coast  lagoon.  In  Scot- 
land, the  Pow  of  Errol  is  said  by  some  to 
mean  the  pool  of  Errol.  R.  S.  C. 

PORTSMOUTH,  O. 


CAT  ISLAND. 

It  is  well  known  that  California,  Brazil, 
the  Antilles,  Seven  Cities  (in  the  Azores), 
and  the  Avalon  peninsula  (in  Newfoundland) 
were  named  from  fabulous  places,  their 
names  being  taken  from  old  romances. 
May  it  not  be  possible  that  Cat  Island,  in 
the  Bahamas,  was  named  from  the  Isle  of 
Cats  described  in  the  stories  of  St.  Bren- 
dan's voyages?  During  one  of  those  voy- 
ages a  visit  was  made  to  the  Isle  of  Cats — 
an  island  which  is  mentioned  in  other  Irish 
legends.  A  great  sea-cat  also  figures  in 
some  of  these  stories — can  he  be  the  Sans- 
krit markata  of  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  has 
told  us? 

Cat  Island  (by  some  called  San  Salvador 
and  Guanahani,  names  which  seem  to  be- 
long properly  to  Watling's  Island)  can 
hardly  have  been  named  from  any  native 
American  cats.  There  are  no  native  species 
of  cat  on  any  West  Indian  island,  except, 
possibly,  Trinidad.  Cat  Island  is  forty-two 
miles  long  in  its  leg  portion ;  the  foot  part 
extending  fifteen  miles  more.  It  is  the 
highest  and  one  of  the  most  fertile  of  the 
Bahama  islands,  its  highest  point  being  four 
hundred  feet.  Port  Howe  is  the  chiet  har- 


bor. Not  far  away  is  the  island  of  Little 
Cat,  only  five  miles  long.  In  another  part 
of  the  Bahamas  are  the  Cat  Cays,  two  nar- 
row, woody  islands,  about  forty  feet  high, 
and  each,  perhaps,  four  miles  long.  North 
Cat  affords  well  water  to  mariners,  besides 
some  timber.  Dollar  harbor,  on  the  South 
Cat,  is  the  best  anchorage  in  that  part  of 
the  Bahamas. 

I  have  a  fancy,  however,  that  the  Celtic 
Isle  of  Cats  was  no  myth.  There  is  in  the 
Atlantic  a  group  of  unpeopled  islets  that 
actually  swarm  with  cats.  They  are  called 
Las  Desertas,  and  are  in  lat.  32°  31'  N., 
Ion.  16°  30'  W.,  about  thirty  miles  S.E.  of 
Madeira.  The  islands  are  sharp,  steep, 
high,  and  narrow ;  and  they  and  their  nat- 
ural history  deserve  careful  expert  study. 
Why  may  not  these  isles  of  cats  have  been 
known  dimly  to  the  ancient  Irish  bards? 

B.  S.  B. 
BURLINGTON,  N.  J. 


BUCK  BEER,  OR  BOCK  BEER. 

The  "  Century  Dictionary"  states  that  the 
name  Bock  beer  is  a  contraction  of  Eimbeck 
beer.  But  what  is  sold  in  this  country  as  Eim- 
beck beer  is  a  very  light-colored  and  mild 
table-beer,  while  Bock  beer  is  dark,  strong, 
and  heady.  Of  course,  it  is  possible  that 
some  old-fashioned  brand  of  Eimbeck  beer 
may  have  been  strong,  or  that  old-fashioned 
Bock  beer  may  have  been  mild.  The  his- 
torical method  of  word  study  alone  can  settle 
such  points  as  these.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN. 


E  S. 


Stift.—  Whatisastift? 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


A.  S.  K. 


A  stift  is  an  institution  peculiar  to  North 
Germany,  for  the  maintenance  of  destitute 
ladies  of  high  birth.  For  females  of  an 
exalted  class  honest  labor,  of  course,  is  a 
degradation,  and  as  the  number  of  noble 
paupers  is  very  large,  benevolent  men  have 
built  and  endowed  many  a  stift  in  Silesia  and 
Saxony  for  their  reception.  The  beneficiaries 
are  appointed  by  a  committee,  the  condi- 
tions of  candidature  being  that  they  must 


July  12,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


123 


have  a  certain  number  of  armorial  quarter- 
ings.  They  need  not  be  orphans,  and  if 
their  parents  are  alive,  they  spend  so  many 
months  in  the  year  with  them ;  if  they 
marry  a  suitable  dowery  is  provided  for 
them.  At  their  head  is  a  stifthofmeisterin, 
who  is  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  in  vir- 
tue of  her  office,  takes  high  rank  in  courtly 
precedence.  She  has  absolute  control  over 
the  others,  and  probably  often  finds  it  very 
difficult  to  maintain  order  among  a  dozen 
idle  women.  The  most  palatial  of  all  the 
stifts  is  just  within  the  Saxon  border,  its 
inmates  being  half  Saxon  and  half  Prussian. 
It  was  built  more  than  two  centuries  ago  in 
the  Italian  style,  with  a  grand  approach  of 
steps  and  terraces ;  within  is  a  great  marble 
hall,  with  magnificent  staircases  on  either 
side.  The  ladies  furnish  their  rooms  them- 
selves; they  have  their  private  laundry, 
their  maids,  and  their  carriages;  everything, 
in  short,  to  which  their  birth  entitles  them, 
but  there  seems  to  be  a  sad  lack  of  interest 
and  occupation.  It  must  be  a  dreary  life  to 
enter  on  at  eighteen  ;  the  chances  of  mar- 
riage are  not  many,  and  no  other  career  is 
open  to  them. 

Super  Grammaticam. — In  General  Dick 
Taylor's  "Destruction  and  Reconstruc- 
tion," there  occurs  this  paragraph:  "On 
a  celebrated  occasion  a  certain  emperor  of 
Germany  proclaimed  himself  above  gram- 
mar." Who  was  this  emperor  ? 

W.  M.  G. 

BANGOR,  ME. 

Sigismund,  King  of  Hungary  and  Bohe- 
mia and  Emperor  of  Germany,  who  was 
familiarly  known  as  Super  Grammaticam. 
The  story  is  well  told  by  Carlyle  in  his 
"  History  of  Frederick  the  Great,"  Vol.  i, 
Book  2  :  "At  the  opening  of  the  council 
he  officiated  as  deacon,  '  actually  doing 
some  kind  of  litanying  with  a  surplice  over 
him,'  though  kaiser  and  king  of  the  Romans. 
But  this  passage  of  his  opening  speech  is 
what  I  recollect  best  of  him  there :  '  Right 
Reverend  Father,  date  operam  ut  ilia  ne- 
fanda  schisma  eradicetur,'  exclaims  Sigis- 
mund, intent  on  having  the  Bohemian 
schism  well  dealt  with,  which  he  reckons  to 
be  of  the  feminine  gender.  To  which  a 


cardinal  mildly  remarking,  <  Domine, 
schisma  est  generis  neutrius  (schism  is  neu- 
tral, your  majesty),'  Sigismund  loftily  re- 
plies, '  Ego  sum  Rex  Romanus,  et  super 
graminaticam  V(I  am  King  of  the  Romans, 
and  above  grammar  !),'  for  which  reason  I 
call  him  in  my  note-books  Sigismund  Super 
Grammaticam,  to  distinguish  him  in  the 
imbroglio  of  kaisers."  It  was  this  Sigis- 
mund who  held  the  Council  of  Constance, 
and  was  instrumental  in  the  martyrdom  of 
John  Huss,  the  forerunner  of  Luther. 


TheRedSea.- 

ATLANTA,  GA. 


-Why  is  this  sea  so  called  ? 
JOHN  S.  SIMPSON. 


Smith's  "Bible  Dictionary"  expends  a 
great  deal  of  learning  on  this  question,  sur- 
mising that  the  name  was  derived  from  the 
red  western  mountains,  red  coral  zoophites, 
etc.,  but  gives  little  weight  to  what  is  the 
most  probable  solution,  viz.,  that  under 
certain  conditions  the  waters  of  the  sea 
assume  a  distinct  ruddy  tinge.  An  Ameri- 
can submarine  diver  not  long  ago  described 
how,  on  one  occasion  as  he  looked  upwards, 
the  sea  assumed  the  light,  tawny,  or  yellow- 
ish hue  of  sherry  wine.  Anon,  this  wine 
color  grew  indistinct  with  richer  radiance; 
and,  flashing  in  the  crystalline  splendor  of  the 
Arabian  sun,  was  glorious  as  a  sea  of  rose. 
The  surface,  on  examination,  proved  to  be 
covered  with  a  thin  brickdust  layer  of  infu- 
soria slightly  tinged  with  orange.  Placed  in  a 
white  glass  bottle,  this  changed  into  a  deep 
violet.  They  were  diatomaceae,  minute  algae, 
which,  under  the  microscope,  revealed  deli- 
cate threads  gathered  in  tiny  bundles,  and 
containing  rings,  blood  disks,  of  the  curious 
coloring  matter  in  tiny  tubes. 

Old  Bald  Mountain. — Some  years  since 
the  newspapers  were  full  of  the  accounts  of 
smoke  seen  ascending  from  the  top  of  the 
Old  Bald  mountain  of  North  Carolina,  and 
many  expected  a  great  eruption.  Was  the 
subject  ever  investigated  ?  P.  M.  EDEN. 

RAHWAY,  N.  J. 

The  common  belief  is  that  the  smoke  seen 
ascending  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  in 
question  was  produced  by  illicit  distillers  of 


124 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  12,  1890. 


"  mountain  dew,"  who  were  so  hard  pressed 
by  Government  inspectors  that  they  fled  to 
the  more  inaccessible  mountain  peaks,  where 
they  could  prosecute  their  peculiar  line  of 
industry  with  some  degree  of  safety. 

Armenean  Wall.— What  is  the  meaning  of 
this  expression  ?  W.  J.  LACK. 

The  inhabitants  of  Armene,  or  Harmene, 
a  town  of  ancient  Paphlagonia,  built  a  wall 
to  shut  out  the  cold  from  their  city.  Hence 
an  Armenean  wall  is  a  costly  and  stupid  ex- 
periment. Expressions  of  the  above  sort 
are  not  so  common  as  they  were  a  century 
or  two  since,  when  schoolmasters  larded 
their  speech  and  their  letters  with  allusions 
to  Lacratidian  cold,  and  to  Melean  or  Cala- 
gurritan  hunger,  and  called  their  bald-headed 
friends  Myconians. 

REPLIES. 

Lady  Compton's  Letter  (Vol.  v,  p.  90). — 

MY  SWEET  LIFE  : 

Now  I  have  declared  to  you  my  mind  for  the  settling 
of  your  state,  I  suppose  that  that  were  best  for  me  to 
bethink  or  consider  with  myself  what  allowance  were 
meetest  for  me.  [For  considering  what  care  I  ever 
had  of  your  estate,  and  how  respectfully  I  dealt  with 
those  which,  both  by  the  laws  of  God,  of  nature,  and 
civil  polity,  wit,  religion,  government,  honesty,  you,  my 
dear,  are  bound  to.]  I  pray  and  beseech  you  to  grant 
me,  your  most  kind  and  loving  wife,  the  sum  of  ^"1600 
per  annum,  quarterly  to  be  paid. 

Also,  I  would,  beside  that  allowance  for  my  apparel, 
have  j£6oo  added  yearly  (quarterly  to  be  paid),  for 
the  performance  of  charitable  works,  and  these  things  I 
would  not  neither  will  be  accountable  for. 

Also,  I  will  have  three  horses  for  my  own  saddle, 
that  none  will  dare  to  lend  or  borrow ;  none  lend  but  I ; 
none  borrow  but  you.  Also,  I  would  have  two  gentle- 
women, lest  one  should  be  sick,  or  have  some  other  let. 
Also,  I  believe  that  it  is  an  undecent  thing  for  a  gentle- 
woman to  stand  mumping  alone,  when  God  hath  blessed 
their  lord  and  lady  with  a  great  estate.  Also.when  I  ride, 
a  hunting  or  a  hawking,  or  travel  from  one  house  to 
another,  I  will  have  them  attending;  so  for  either  of 
those  said  women,  I  must  and  will  have  for  either  of 
them  a  horse. 

Also,  I  will  have  six  or  eight  gentlemen ;  and  I  will 
have  two  coaches,  one  lined  with  velvet  for  myself, 
with  four  very  fair  horses  ;  and  a  coach  for  my  women, 
lined  with  sweet  cloth ;  one  laced  with  gold,  the  other 
with  scarlet  and  lined  with  watched  lace  and  silver, 
with  four  good  horses. 

Also,  I  will  have  two  coachmen,  one  for  my  own 
coach,  the  other  for  my  women.  Also,  at  any  time 
when  I  travel,  I  will  be  allowed  not  only  carroches  and 
spare  horses  for  me  and  my  women,  but  I  will  have 
such  carriages  as  shall  be  fitting  for  all,  orderly ;  not 


posturing  my  things  with  my  women's,  nor  theirs  with 
chambermaids',  nor  theirs  with  washmaids'.  Also,  for 
laundresses,  when  I  travel,  I  will  have  them  sent  away 
before,  with  the  carriages,  to  see  all  safe;  and  the 
chambermaids  I  will  have  go  before  with  the  grooms, 
that  the  chambers  may  be  ready,  sweet,  and  clean. 
Also,  for  that  it  is  undecent  for  me  to  crowd  up  myself 
with  my  gentleman  usher  in  my  coach,  I  will  have  him 
to  have  a  convenient  horse  to  attend  me  either  in  city 
or  in  country.  And  I  must  have  two  footmen. 

And  my  desire  is  that  you  defray  all  the  charges  for 
me.  And,  for  myself,  beside  my  yearly  allowance,  I 
would  have  twenty  gowns  of  apparel,  six  of  them  ex- 
cellent good  ones,  eight  of  them  for  the  country,  and 
six  of  them  very  excellent  good  ones. 

Also,  I  would  have  to  put  in  my  purse  ^2000  and 
j£200 ;  and  so  you  to  pay  my  debts.  Also,  I  would 
have  j£6ooo  to  buy  me  jewels,  and  ^4000  to  buy  me  a 
pearl  chain. 

Now,  seeing  I  have  been  and  am  so  reasonable  unto 
you,  I  pray  you  to  find  my  children  apparel  and  their 
schooling,  and  all  my  servants,  men  and  women,  their 
wages. 

Also,  I  will  have  all  my  houses  furnished,  and  all  my 
lodging  chambers  to  be  suited  with  all  such  furniture  as 
is  fit ;  as  beds,  stools,  chairs,  suitable  cushions,  carpets, 
silver  warming-pans,  cupboards  of  plate,  fair  hangings, 
and  such  like.  So  for  my  drawing  chamber  in  all 
houses,  I  will  have  them  delicately  furnished  with  hang- 
ings, couch,  canopy,  glass,  carpets,  chairs,  cushions,  and 
all  things  thereunto  belonging. 

Also,  my  desire  is  that  you  would  pay  your  debts, 
build  Ashby  House,  and  purchase  lands,  and  lend  no 
money,  as  you  love  God,  to  the  Lord  Chamberlain, 
which  would  have  all,  perhaps  your  life  from  you. 
[Remember  his  son,  my  Lord  Walden,  what  enter- 
tainment he  gave  me  when  you  were  at  the  Tilt-yard. 
If  you  were  dead  he  said  he  would  be  a  husband,  a 
father,  a  brother,  and  said  he  would  marry  me.  I  pro- 
test, I  grieve  to  see  the  poor  man  have  so  little  wit  and 
honesty,  to  use  his  fiiends  so  vilely.  Also,  he  fed  one 
with  untruths  concerning  the  Charter-house ;  but  that 
to  the  last,  he  wished  me  much  harm ;  and  you  know 
him,  God  keep  you  and  me  from  him,  or  any  such  as 
he  is.] 

So  that,  now  that  I  have  declared  to  you  what  I 
would  have,  and  what  that  is  that  I  would  not  have,  I 
pray,  when  you  be  an  Earl,  to  allow  me  ^1000  more 
than  now  desired,  and  double  attendance. 
Your  loving  wife, 

ELIZA  COMPTON. 

In  Knight's  "London,"  the  portion 
within  brackets  is  omitted  from  the  letter. 
The  directions  as  to  the  coach  trimmings 
differ,  while  the  yearly  allowance  is  ^2600, 
and  the  extra  final  demand  is  ^2000. 

Lady  Compton  was  daughter  and  heiress 
of  Sir  John  Spencer,  called  "  rich  Spencer," 
Lord  Mayor  of  London,  1594.  He  died 
in  1609-10,  leaving  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds  sterling  or,  as  some  say,  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds.  This  vast  accession 
of  property  threw  Lady  Compton's  husband 
at  first  into  a  state  of  distraction  (refer, 


July  12,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


125 


Bishop  Goodman's    "Court  of  James  I," 
Vol.  ii).  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Horicon  Lake  (Vol.  v,  p.  117). — Horicon 
marsh  or  lake  was  formerly  in  Wisconsin, 
but  I  believe  it  has  no  existence  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  having  been  reclaimed  by  drain- 
age several  years  ago.  It  is  entirely  distinct 
from  Winnebago  lake,  several  miles  to  the 
northward,  and  from  Winnebago  swamp  (of 
which  there  are  two  or  more)  in  Illinois, 
about  two  hundred  miles  to  the  south-west. 
Horicon  marsh,  like  Calumet  lake — now 
also  drained,  wholly  or  in  part — is  one  of  a 
series  of  shallow  basins  lying  near  the  shores 
of  Lake  Michigan.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
during  the  Champlain  period  these  lakes 
were  included  in  the  area  covered  by  the  then 
Great  lake,  of  which  the  five  great  lakes  are 
now  remnants.  At  that  time  there  was  a 
discharge  of  water  from  what  is  now  Lake 
Michigan,  through  Des  Plaines  river  south- 
ward into  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi.  At 
the  close  of  the  Champlain  period  there  was 
a  diminution  of  the  volume  of  water  in  the 
Great  lake,  and  a  consequent  recession  of 
lacustrine  shores.  These  old  basins,  among 
them  Horicon  marsh,  were  left  partly  drained 
on  slightly  higher  land,  and  since  that  time 
they  have  been  but  little  else  than  playa 
lakes  or  swamps.  None  of  these  lakes  bear 
any  evidence  of  glaciation,  but  old  gravel- 
choked  channels  are  numerous. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Priscian's  Head  (Vol.  v,  p.  90). — "  Hie 
Priscianus  est,  dans  palmis  verbera"  ("The 
Apocalypse  of  Golias,"  v,  37).  "Then 
sawe  I  Priscian  first,  beatinge  his  scoler's 
hand"  (ibid.,  i6th  Cent.  Trans.,  MSS. 
Harl.).  G. 

NEW  JERSEY.  ' 

The  expression  to  "  break  the  head  of 
Priscian"  is  an  expression  used  against  un- 
grammatical  persons  on  account  of  Prisci- 
anus, who  was  a  celebrated  grammarian  of 
antiquity,  having  lived  in  the  fifth  century. 
The  expression  simply  means  to  violate  the 
rules  of  grammar.  THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  FA. 


Tantrum  Bogus  (Vol.  v,  p.  114).  —  If  Mr. 
Roberts  will  consult  the  "New  English  Dic- 
tionary," edited  by  Dr.  Murray,  under  the 
entry  "Bogus,  "he  will  find  something  about 
Tantribogus  which  may  interest  him. 

ILDERIM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Lake  Drained  (Vol.  v,  p.  114).  —  During 
the  summer  of  1889,  the  waters  of  Sevier 
lake,  Utah,  nearly  or  quite  disappeared. 
This  was  mainly  from  the  diversion  of  the 
feeders  for  irrigation,  but  not  wholly  from 
that  cause,  inasmuch  as  the  lake  in  question 
has  had  several  periods  of  desiccation  in 
recent  times.  Great  Salt  lake  is  diminish- 
ing in  size,  and  Tulare  lake,  California,  in 
1884,  was  less  than  one-third  its  normal 
size.  During  very  recent  times,  Humboldt 
and  Carson  sinks,  Pyramid  lake,  and  Win- 
nemucca  lake  have  undergone  desiccation, 
but  are  now  filling  its  basin.  From  the  old 
shore  lines  visible  in  many  parts  of  the  Basin 
region,  I  believe,  most  if  not  all  of  the  lakes 
in  this  region  are  subject  to  periods  of  de- 
siccation, and  the  existence  of  several  large 
lakes  without  outlets,  whose  waters  are 
comparatively  fresh,  strongly  confirms  this 
opinion,  inasmuch  as  a  salt  lake  cannot  well 
become  fresh  except  by  desiccation. 

J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Greek  Boy  (Vol.  v,  p.  193).  —  Alexander 
the  Great  is  said  to  have  made  the  expres- 
sion, "  My  father  will  leave  nothing  for  me 
to  do."  It  was  a  lament  over  the  triumphs 
of  his  father,  Philip  of  Macedon. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


ODOI^ESPONDENJPS. 


Archdeacon.  —  Can  any  of  your  readers 
state  exactly  what  an  archdeacon's  duties 
are  ?  I  have  read  that  once  upon  a  time 
the  question  was  asked  derisively  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  "  What  is  an  archdea- 
con ?'  '  To  which  Bishop  Blomfield  replied  : 
"  He  is  oculus  episcopi"  —  the  bishop's  eye. 
In  what  sense  is  this  true  ? 

Lucius. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 


126 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  12,  1890. 


Translation  Wanted.— At  the  end  of 

the  "De  Mundi  Vanitate,"  ascribed  vari- 
ously to  Walter  Map,  to  St.  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux,  and  to  Jacobus  de  Benedictis, 
occur  these  words  (omitted  from  most  of 
the  MSS.).  Will  some  of  your  correspond- 
ents translate  the  last  line  ? 

"  Sabbata  nostra  colo,  de  stercore  surgere  nolo, 
Sabbata  nostra  quidem,  Salomon,  Celebris  ibidem. 
Hii  sunt  qui  psalmos  corrumpunt  nequiter  almos, 
Momler,forscypper,  stumler,  scaterer,  over  kipper." 


NEW  JERSEY. 


G. 


Camels  in  the  United  States.— Who 
first  recommended  the  use  of  camels  on  the 
deserts  of  America  ?  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Playing  'Possum. — The  common  be- 
lief is  that  the  opossum  feigns  death  in  time 
of  danger.  But  Dr.  C.  C.  Abbot,  in  "  A 
Naturalist's  Rambles  about  Home,"  declares 
his  belief  that  the  animal  really  faints  with 
terror.  Can  any  of  your  contributors  throw 
fresh  light  upon  this  subject  ?  C.  S.  P. 

VIRGINIA. 

Skate  Runners.— In  our  old  "  Peter 
Parley's  Geography,"  there  used  to  be  a 
picture  of  the  skate  runners,  a  corps  of  Nor- 
wegian troops,  which  in  winter  performed 
military  evolutions  on  skates.  Does  this 
corps  or  this  practice  still  subsist  ?  and,  if 
so,  where  can  I  find  a  good  recent  account 
of  it?  A.  O. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 

Wives  of  Presidents. — Can  any  one 
give  me  the  names  and  residences  of  all  liv- 
ing wives  of  Ex- Presidents  and  Vice-Presi- 
dents of  the  United  States  ?  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Land-marker. — What  is  the  meaning 
of  this  term  in  the  following  quotation  : 
"  He  is  a  Land  marker t  deeming  their  prac- 
tice as  most  consistent  and  most  agreeable 
to  the  teachings  of  God's  Word"  (Cat fa- 
cart's  ''Baptist  Cyclopedia" — article  on 
J.  H.  Borum,  D.D.,  a  minister  residing  in 
Tennessee).  P.  F.  B. 

CONNECTICUT. 


Marks  of  Accidents  Inherited.— 

Having  noticed  some  time  since  in  the  Lon- 
don Spectator  an  article  stating  that  marks 
caused  by  accidents  were  not  inherited,  I 
wish  to  communicate  the  following  : 

My  grandfather,  when  a  boy,  spilled  some 
melted  lead  on  his  little  finger,  causing  a 
slight  but  permanent  curvature  of  it.  On 
another  occasion,  while  playing  with  a 
squirrel,  he  was  bitten  on  the  little  finger 
of  his  other  hand,  causing  a  slight  curvature 
of  that  finger,  and  also  leaving  the  mark  of 
the  squirrel's  tooth. 

The  youngest  of  his  eight  children  in- 
herited one  bent  little  finger  and  the  mark 
of  the  squirrel's  tooth.  This  child,  a  daugh- 
ter, had  also  eight  children,  none  of  them 
inheriting  these  marks.  But  a  granddaugh- 
ter by  her  second  son  inherits  the  curvature 
of  the  little  finger. 

I  would  like  to  have  the  opinion  of  the 
readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES 
on  the  above,  in  regard  to  the  statement  in 
the  Spectator.  W.  S. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Indigo. — The  United  States  Government 
Reports,  up  to  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  of  1861-65,  contain  yearly  state- 
ments of  the  manufacture  of  indigo  in 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  an  industry 
which  still  subsisted,  although  very  small  in 
comparison  with  what  it  was  a  hundred 
years  ago.  Several  indigo-bearing  plants 
are  natives  of  the  United  States.  I  wish  to 
inquire  whether  there  is  now  any  domestic 
manufacture  of  indigo  in  any  part  of  the 
country?  If  so,  it  is  no  doubt  very  unim- 
portant. M.  B.  F. 

CANTON,  MASS. 

Greek  Cities  in  France  and  Spain. 

— What  cities  did  the  ancient  Greeks  lound 
(in  ante-Roman  times)  in  what  is  now 
France?  What  cities  did  they  found  in 
Spain  ?  O.  A.  B. 

DOVER,  DEL. 

Stone  Rivers. — What  is  the  true  ex- 
planation of  the  "stone  rivers"  of  Pata- 
gonia and  Falkland  ? 

ARTHUR  OSWALD. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 


July  12,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


127 


Rockall. — Where  can  I  find  a  good  de- 
scription of  the  uninhabited  island  of  Rock- 
all,  in  the  North  Atlantic  ?  B.  S.  B. 

BURLINGTON,  N.  J. 

©OMMUNIGATIONS. 

Holtselster  (Vol.  v,  p.  67).— At  the 
above  reference  the  question  is  asked  whe- 
ther, in  reading  holfelster  in  Captain  Edward 
Thompson's  edition  of  Andrew  (not  An- 
dreas] Marvell's  works,  I  have  not  mistaken 
a  long  s  for  an  f.  My  answer  is :  "  No  ;  I 
have  not." 

I  am  not  ready  to  propose  any  etymology 
for  the  word,  whether  it  be  holselster  or  hol- 
felster ;  but  before  we  try  to  find  one,  it  is 
perhaps  as  well  to  ascertain  what  the  word 
really  is. 

Now  in  publishing  the  first,  and,  I  be- 
lieve, the  only  complete  edition  of  Marvell's 
works  in  1776,  Captain  Thompson  had  be- 
fore him  "  a  volume  of  Mr.  Marvell's  poems, 
some  written  with  his  own  hand,  and  the 
rest  copied  by  his  order"  (p.  vi  of  Preface, 
Vol.  i).  This,  it  seems,  obliges  us  to  give 
some  attention  to  his  reading. 

Had  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  whose  edition 
is  objected  to  Captain  Thompson's,  the 
same  documents  at  their  disposal  in  pub- 
lishing "Marvell's  Poems?" 

And  may  not  Little,  Brown  &  Co.  have 
mistaken  an/"  for  a  long  s  ? 

A.  BELJAME. 

PARIS,  29  Rue  de  Conde. 

Duke  of  York  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  310,  etc.). 
— R.  G.  B.  states  that  the  dukedom  of  York 
has  never  been  conferred  upon  any  prince 
not  "in  line  of  succession  to  the  throne." 
Let  us  examine  this  statement  briefly.  The 
first  Duke  of  York  was  Edmund  Langley, 
fifth  son  of  Edward  III,  created  Duke  of 
York  in  1585,  by  his  nephew,  Richard  II. 
He  had  several  older  brothers,  with  their 
sons,  between  him  and  the  crown.  His 
son,  the  second  Duke  of  York,  had  no  bet- 
ter claim  to  the  crown,  and  was  never  a 
claimant.  The  third  Duke,  a  grandson  of 
the  first,  laid  claim  to  the  throne,  not  as  a 
descendant  of  the  first  Duke,  but  through 
Anne  Mortimer,  his  mother,  who  was  heiress- 
of-line  to  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  third 


son  of  Edward  III.  George  I  created  his 
brother,  Ernest  Augustus,  Duke  of  York  in 
1716;  but  at  that  time,  the  future  George 
II  was  Prince  of  Wales ;  and  he,  too,  had  a 
son  Frederick,  afterwards  Prince  of  Wales ; 
so  that  there  were  two  princes  nearer  the 
throne  than  the  Duke  of  York.  I  find 
record  of  seven  Dukes  of  York  (eight  if  we 
include  the  future  Edward  IV) — three  of 
whom  were  never  thought  of  as  heirs  pre- 
sumptive of  the  crown,  being  clearly  out  of 
the  line  of  succession.  In  the  time  of  Henry 
IV,  V,  VI,  the  third  Duke  was  fully  recog- 
nized as  Duke  of  York,  but  never  (except 
by  his  own  following)  was  he  considered  to 
be  heir  presumptive. 

The  only  Duke  of  York  who  was  heir  pre- 
sumptive (standing  next  to  the  throne)  was 
afterwards  James  II.  Other  Dukes  of  York,. 
once  removed  from  the  throne,  were  the  one 
who  became  Henry  VIII,  and  the  brother 
of  George  IV. 

Of  course  any  member  of  a  royal  family 
is  in  the  line  of  succession,  provided  all 
those  nearer  the  throne  die  before  him. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
31,  etc.). — Reports  from  Yucatan  represent 
that  peninsula  as  having  a  very  great  num- 
ber of  underground  streams.  M.  B.  F. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Blind  as  a  Bat  (Vol.  v,  p.  120). — S. 
S.  R.  does  not  seem  to  recognize  how  well 
he  shows  the  propriety  of  this  simile  in  say- 
ing :  "  When  a  bat  enters  an  illuminated 
chamber  *  *  *  and  comes  blunder- 
ingly in  contact  with  any  object,  it  is  be- 
cause his  sight  is  dazed  by  the  excess  of 
light,  which  he  is  trying  to  avoid."  The 
animal  is  blinded  by  the  very  light  which  is 
necessary  for  us  to  see  and  in  which  we 
usually  observe  him.  H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

Marshy  Tracts  (Vol.  v,  p.  70). — Ma$- 
keag  or  Muskeg  is  a  rather  common  Cana- 
dian name  for  a  swamp ;  it  is  of  Algonkin 
origin.  K.  W.  C. 

CHELSEA. 


128 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  12,  1890. 


Gyaros. — Every  school-boy  knows  "  the 
lofty  Gyaros"  by  name;  even  the  ancient 
Greeks  probably  knew  but  little  more  about 
it,  although  it  was  only  a  short  sail  from 
Athens.  The  Romans  used  it  for  a  prison. 
It  is  only  a  very  few  years  since  some  nat- 
uralist found  upon  it  a  new  species  of  wild 
goat  or  ibex — of  course,  not  really  new,  but 
only  new  to  science.  BALBUS. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Deserted  Village  (see  "Allaire,"  Vol. 
iii,  p.  247). — Besides  the  "  deserted  vil- 
lage," described  as  above,  New  Jersey  once 
had  at  least  one  more  place  thus  designated. 
Glenside,  near  Fan  wood,  N.  J.,  was  once 
called  Feltville,  and  had  some  manufactures; 
but  these  declined,  and  the  village  for  a  con- 
siderable time  was  dispeopled.  It  is  now  a 
pleasant  and  thriving  place  of  residence. 

M.  W.  O. 
PLAINFIELD,  N.  J. 

Bottomless  Ponds. — In  New  England 
there  are  a  great  number  of  little  lakes,  vul- 
garly held  to  be  bottomless.  For  examples, 
see  Thoreau's  "  Walden."  Near  my  native 
place  there  was  a  little  lake  of  this  kind, 
called  Bottomless  pond  by  many ;  but  some 
of  the  old  people  held  that  its  true  name 
was  Bottomly's  pond,  and  that  its  name  was 
derived  from  one  Bottomly,  who  once  lived 
near  it.  But  I  always  suspected  that  this 
particular  Mr.  Bottomly  was  a  myth. 

K.  W.  C. 

CHELSEA,  MASS. 

Fanacle  (Vol.  v,  p.  90). — As  fanacle  is 
neither  in  the  "  Century"  nor  in  any  other 
of  the  twelve  dictionaries  within  reach,  it 
seems  safe  and  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
context,  to  consider  the  word  a  diminutive 
of  fane  =  temple.  The  Latin  of  fane= 
fanum,  has  fanulum  for  a  diminutive  =  lit- 
tle temple.  The  derivation  of  fanacle  from 
fanum  seems  analogous  with  that  of  mana- 
cle from  Latin  manus,  through  manica. 
Prof.  Skeat  says  manacle  should  be  man-tele; 
if  so,  then,  perhaps,  fan-tele  would  be  better 
than  fan-acle  (Earle's  "  Philology,  Eng. 
Tongue,"  p.  362).  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


Once  (Vol.  iv,  p.  46). — A  late  writer  in 
the  Saturday  Review  condemns  the  use  of 
the  word  once  in  the  sense  of  if  once,  if  only, 
or  as  soon  as,  as  being  a  solecism.  With  this 
view  I,  for  one,  wholly  concur.  Quite  as 
objectionable,  or  more  so,  is  the  cockney- 
ism  of  using  directly,  or  immediately,  in  the 
sense  of  as  soon  as.  Once,  in  this  objection- 
able sense,  finds  a  place  in  a  few  of  the  later 
dictionaries.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

"The"  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
70,  etc.). — Seamen  usually  call  Cape  Horn 
"The  Horn."  Perhaps,  however,  it  is 
partly  a  metaphor  suggested  by  the  horn- 
like contour  of  the  extremity  of  the  conti- 
nent. H.  L.  B. 
MEDIA,  PA. 

Isle  of  Glass. — The  Irish  legends  tell 
about  an  island  of  glass,  full  of  every  en- 
joyment, and  the  abode  of  perpetual  youth. 
Writers  have  identified  it  with  the  Germanic 
"  Glasberg,"  a  kind  of  heavenly  abode  de- 
scribed in  old  legends — likewise  with  Glas- 
tonbury,  in  England,  where  King  Arthur 
sleeps.  F.  E.  P. 

SYRACUSE,  N.Y. 

Ruskin  (Vol.  v,  p.  89). — Since  Trois 
Etoiles  wrote  his  query,  the  Sun  corrected 
its  answer.  Mr.  Ruskin  married,  some 
thirty-eight  or  forty  years  ago,  Euphemia 
Chalmers  Gray ;  but  the  marriage  was  never 
consummated,  and  was  declared  null  and 
void.  Miss  Gray  then  married,  in  1855, 
Mr.  John  Everett  Millais. 

R.  G.  B. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Whiffle-tree  (Vol.  v,  pp.  118,  etc.).— In 
nautical  language,  "to  whip  a  rope"  is  to 
wind  yarn  around  it  at  or  near  the  end  to 
prevent  fraying;  a  "whip"  is  a  light  tackle 
for  hoisting,  and  "whip-staff"  was  an  old 
name  for  the  tiller.  In  the  first,  the  move- 
ment is  rotatory ;  in  the  second,  up  and 
down,  and  in  the  third,  oscillatory.  May 
not  this  term  represent  the  word  of  which 
"whiffle"  or  "whipple"  is  the  frequentative? 

H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 


July  12,  1890.], 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


129 


Fjord  or  Ford. — In  old  Saxon  chroni- 
cles the  word  Ford  is  attached  to  many 
places.  The  following  is  a  list  of  a  few, 
with  their  Saxon  names,  meaning,  and  Eng- 
lish name : 


Saxon  Name. 
^Egeles  ford 
Bedan  ford 
Beorg  ford 
Brent  ford 
Cerdices  ford 
Cynemaeresford 
Heort  ford 
Here  ford 
Hlida  ford 
Ottan  ford 
Oxan  ford 
Sliowa  ford 
Stan  ford 
Stret  ford 
Temes  ford 
Theod  ford 
Wealing  ford 
Welmes  ford 


Meaning.     ' 
Egel's  ford 
Beden's  ford 
Hill  ford 
Brent  ford 
Cedric's  ford 
Kings-famous  ford 
Hart's  ford 
Army's  ford 
Lid's  ford 
Ottan's  ford 
Oxen's  ford 
Sliow's  ford 
Stone  ford 
Street  ford 
Thames  ford 
People's  ford 
Wall  ford 
Sole-foot  ford 


English  Name. 
Arlesford 
Bedford 
Burford 
Brentford 
Charford 
Kempsford 
Hertford 
Hereford 
Lidford 
Orford 
Oxford 
Sleaford 
Stamford 
Stratford 
Temsford 
Thetford 
Wallingford 
Walmsford 


There  might  be  other  interesting  and 
quaint  names  added,  as  Ace-man's  Ceaster, 
which,  being  translated,  means  Sick-man's 
City,  but  now  called  Bath  ;  this  city,  also, 
was  called  Bathan  Cester,  the  meaning  being 
Bath  City,  the  association  between  sick 
man  and  bathing,  looks  as  if  the  doctors  of 
those  old  days  sent  their  patients  to  some 
watering  places.  Buckingham  of  to-day 
was  called  by  the  Saxons  Buccingaham,  the 
meaning  being  Beech-tree  town.  Glassen- 
bury  was  Glasting  byri,  meaning  glass  town. 
Montgomery  was  Muntgumni,  meaning  Co- 
rner's mount.  Waeltingstraet,  in  Saxon, 
meant  Beggars'  street,  it  is  now  called  Wat- 
ling  street.  The  Saxon  words,  "  byri"  and 
"byric"  is  the  "bury"  of  to-day,  but  then 
meant  town,  and  the  word  "  scire,"  after 
such  words  as  Bedan-ford,  meant ' '  division, ' ' 
answering  to  the  present  "  shire." 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Ff  in  Proper  Names  (Vol.  v,  p.  193). 
— I  have  seen  before  the  explanation  given 
by  J.  O.  G.  D.,  but  have  always  had  my 
doubts  about  its  being  entirely  correct.  Is 
not  Ff  and  LI  rather  the  result  of  a  misun- 
derstanding of  the  nature  of  the  Gothic 
capitals  Jf  and  2L,  which  are  practically 
made  by  a  repetition  of  the  lower-case  let- 
ters, as  a  glance  in  any  old  black-letter 


book  will  show  ?  Or  can  anybody  cite  an 
example  of  a  book  in  Roman  type,  in  which 
capital  F  or  L  is  printed  ff  or  11  ? 

K.  A.  LlNDERFELT. 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis. 

J.  O.  G.  D.'s  explanation  with  regard  to 
the  initial  Ff  may  be  correct,  but  I  cannot 
see  why  the  survival  of  the  old  practice  oc- 
curs with  no  other  consonant  except  F. 
The  case  of  the  initial  LI  (as  in  Lloyd, 
Llewellen,  Llanthony)  is  very  different.  LI 
represents  a  peculiar  Welsh  consonantal 
sound  which  most  English-speaking  people 
find  it  difficult  to  utter,  though  it  is  as  easy 
a  sound  to  produce  as  any,  when  once  you 
understand  the  mechanism  of  it. 

FRANK  LLOYD  PORTER. 

MADISON,  Wis. 

Brewer  says  that  Ff  is  "a  corrupt  way  of 
making  F  in  Old  English  (Jf ).  Mr.  Bar- 
bour's  conjecture,  that  it  is  "  simply  an  ar- 
istocratic spelling,"  seems  to  be  correct; 
the  names  he  mentions  are  spelled  with  a 
single  initial  quite  as  properly,  though  not 
so  fashionably,  as  with  the  double  initial. 

R.  G.  B: 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
118,  etc.). — I  did  not  intend  to  refer  to  this 
matter  again,  but  I  do  not  like  that  "G." 
should  think  I  drop  it  because  I  "  look  upon 
all  minute  verbal  criticism  as  a  mere  waste 
of  time."  I  have  sometimes  been  accused 
of  giving  too  much  attention  to  such  criti- 
cism. 1  was  disinclined  to  continue  the  dis- 
cussion, simply  because  it  seemed  to  be  of 
interest  only  to  "  G."  and  myself;  and 
neither  of  us  seemed  likely  to  convert  the 
other.  The  explanations  given  by  "  G." 
appear  to  me  such  "  tricks  of  desperation  " 
that  I  am  only  the  more  convinced  that  my 
own  exegesis  is  correct. 

I  doubt  whether  "G."  himself  would  ever 
use  some  and  part  with  reference  to  some- 
thing only  obscurely  implied  in  the  second 
clatise.  He  writes  too  well  to  be  guilty  of  a 
lapse  which  no  teacher  would  tolerate  in  a 
school-boy's  composition, 

W.  J.  R. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 


I30 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  12,  1890. 


Gulf  of  the  Lion  (Vol.  v,  pp.  71,  etc.). 
— The  leading  French  "  Dictionnaire  Uni- 
versel"  of  the  day,  Larousse,  says : 

"  Golfe  du  Lion,  le  Gallicus  sinus  des 
anciens,  improprement  appele  quelquefois 
Golfe  de  Lyon." 

Elisee  Reclus,  in  his  magnificent  standard 
work  on  "Geographic  Universelle,"  calls 
this  the  Golfe  du  Lion,  and  does  not  even 
hint  at  any  other  name.  He  speaks  of  "la 
furieuse  houle  poussee  par  les  vents  du  sud- 
est  qui  sont  les  plusviolentsde  cesparages;" 
describes  how  this  "furieuse  houle"  grad- 
ually beats  its  way  into  the  mainland,  and  in- 
stances, among  others,  the  case  of  the  Fara- 
man  lighthouse  which  was  erected  fifty  years 
ago  at  a  distance  of  seven  hundred  yards 
from  the  sea,  and  the  site  of  which  is  now 
under  water.  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

J.  W.  R.  (p.  93)  thinks  the  name  "  Gulf 
of  Lyons  "  a  recent  innovation.  But  I  have 
been  studying  geography  forty- five  years, 
and  in  my  early  days  it  was  almost  always 
"  Gulf  of  Lyons,"  no  doubt  by  error.  My 
Black's  "General  Atlas"  puts  it  "Gulf  of 
Lyons."  E.  B. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

As  to  your  controversy  concerning  "  Gulf 
of  Lyons,"  or  "of  the  Lion,"  that  inter- 
ests me.  In  Spruner's  "  Historical  Atlas,"  it 
is  inscribed  "  Golfe  du  Lion." 

On  the  grand  "  Special  Railroad  Map  of 
France,"  1870,  it  is  "Golfe  du  Lion." 

In  Richard's  "  Guide  du  Voyageur  "  on 
France,  1866,  it  is  "  Golfe  du  Lion." 

I  have  seen  it  "  Golfe  du  Lion  "  on  other 
maps,  and  I  have  heard  it  so  styled,  and  if 
memory  serves,  this  name  was  explained, 
•while  on  or  by  it,  in  the  winter  of  1852,  as 
conferred  from  its  sudden  and  violent  tem- 
pestuousness,  to  which  I  can  testify  feel- 
ingly. 

On  the  other  hand,  Bouillet,  in  his  "  Dic- 
tionnaire d'  Histoire  et  de  Geographic,"  says 
"  Lion  (Golfe  de)  nom  doune  scuvent  mais 
a  tort,  au  Golfe  de  Lyon." 

I  say  Bouillet  is  wrong  himself.  It  was 
"Golfe  du  Lion,"  and  only  latterly  was 
known  as  "  Gulf  of  Lyons,"  since  Lyons 
has  grown  so  greatly.  What  had  the  name  of 


an  inland  city  to  do  with  a  portion  of  the 
Mediterranean  hundreds  of  miles  distant, 
with  which  it  reasonably  had  nothing  to  do, 
especially  as  to  nomenclature. 

On  some  of  my  maps,  and  I  have  a  num- 
ber, no  name  at  all  is  affixed  to  the  inden- 
tation of  the  coast  affected  by  the  disputed 
title,  "Gulf  of  the  Lion  or  of  Lyons." 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Popular  Superstitions  (Vol.  v,  p. 
no). — In  the  Popular  Science  Monthly  there 
is  an  article  on  popular  superstitions,  which 
will  no  doubt  be  of  interest  to  readers  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  :  , 

' '  There  is  a  supposition  of  wide  range,  based 
upon  I  know  not  what,  that  it  is  very  health- 
ful for  children  to  play  with  dogs.  A  weak 
child,  it  is  thought,  may  gain  strength  by 
being  with  a  dog,  or,  if  diseased,  the  child 
may  be  cured  by  having  the  animal  '  take 
the  disease' — for  example,  inflamed  eyes  or 
any  disorder  of  the  skin.  Within  a  year  a 
college  graduate  told  me,  in  perfect  good 
faith,  of  acquaintances,  a  Boston  doctor  and 
his  wife,  whose  little  girl  had  been  greatly 
afflicted  with  some  form  of  eczema  which 
they  all  hoped  would  disappear,  as  the  pa- 
rents had  purchased  a  fine  dog  to  play  with 
the  child. 

"  When  a  dog  is  teething,  the  upper  inci- 
sors, according  to  a  New  England  superstition, 
must  be  removed  as  soon  as  they  become 
loose,  or  he  may  '  swallow  them  and  have 
fits.'  Perhaps  even  more  generally  received 
is  the  fancied  danger  of  allowing  a  child's 
milk-tooth  after  extraction  to  fall  into  the 
possession  of  a  dog  or  cat,  lest  the  animal 
swallow  it,  and  the  child  have  a  dog's  or  cat's 
tooth  grow  in  the  place  of  the  lost  one.  The 
Mexicans  and  Indians  in  Texas  say  that 
every  animal  has  brains  enough  to  tan  its 
own  skin ;  and  so  the  latter,  in  the  case  of 
the  wolf,  panther,  wild  cat,  and  some  other 
animals,  is  mainly  prepared  by  rubbing  into 
the  flesh  side  of  it  the  brains  of  its  former 
wearer.  A  somewhat  common  fancy  among 
children,  perhaps  too  adults  as  well,  is  that 
'  every  part  strengthens  a  part ' — that  is, 
that  the  liver,  heart,  brains,  and  so  on  of 
animals,  when  eaten,  go  directly  towards 
nourishing  the  corresponding  organs  in  the 


July  12,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


eater.  A  similar  doctrine  was  worked  out 
in  great  detail  by  the  American  Indians,  and 
is,  I  believe,  held  by  many  other  savage 
tribes.  It  seems  altogether  probable,  that 
such  beliefs,  wherever  found  among  civilized 
people,  old  or  young,  are  survivals  from  some 
remote  antiquity,  and  that  they  are  closely 
akin  in  their  nature  and  origin  to  the  well- 
known  doctrine  of  signatures  which  has 
played  so  great  a  part  in  the  systems  of  medi- 
cines of  primitive  peoples." 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Horicon  Marsh  (Vol.  v,  p.  117). — 
"  Horicon  Marsh,"  formerly  designated  the 
"Winnebago  Marsh,"  though  that  name 
disappeared  years  ago,  extending  from  the 
south  line  of  Fond  du  Lac  county  to  the 
village  of  Horicon,  in  Dodge  county,  Wis- 
consin, a  distance  of  about  sixteen  miles,  by 
five  or  six  miles  in  width,  is  a  basin  formed 
by  a  slight  dip  or  inclination  from  the  ordi- 
nary surface  level,  towards  the  north  branch 
of  Rock  river,  and  has  now  the  usual  ap- 
pearance of  a  large  marsh,  with  open  water 
in  pools  and  creeks  here  and  there.  Some 
years  ago,  however,  a  dam  at  Horicon  flowed 
the  water  back  over  most  of  the  area  occu- 
pied by  the  marsh,  forming  what  was  known 
as  "  Horicon  lake."  It  has  lately  been 
proposed  to  restore  this  lake  on  a  larger 
scale,  as  a  storage  reservoir  for  the  Rock 
river,  which  drains  it. 

The  name  "  Horicon  "  is  not  indigenous 
to  this  region,  having  been  transplanted 
there  by  Judge  Hiram  Barber  and  other 
early  settlers,  who  were  all  from  the  Lake 
George  country  about  Fort  Henry. 

K.  A.  LlNDERFELT. 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis. 

The  Captain  of  My  Dreams,  etc. 
(Vol.  v,  p.  112). — It  is  true,  as  "G."  re- 
marks, that  the  morning  star  is  mentioned 
several  times  in  "  The  Dream  of  Fair  Wo- 
men;" but  there  appears  to  be  no  connec- 
tion between  the  references.  The  first  (to 
Chaucer)  is  purely  figurative.  The  second 
is  in  the  dream,  when  he  fancies  that  he  sees 
Helen  early  in  the  morning.  The  third 
(which  "G."  does  not  quote)  is  where  Jeph- 
tha's  daughter  departs  "  toward  the  morn- 


ing star,"  that  is,  eastward.  The  fourth,  if 
"G."  is  right  as  to  the  allusion  in  "the 
captain  of  my  dreams,"  is  after  the  poet 
awakes  from  his  dream  in  the  morning.  I 
see  no  propriety,  therefore,  in  assuming  that 
"still"  is  to  be  understood  with  "ruled  in 
the  eastern  sky." 

Prof.  Corson,  in  his  edition  of  the  poem, 
explains  the  "captain"  as  "the  sun,"  but 
adds  no  comment.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  in 
what  sense  the  sun  can  be  the  captain  of  his 
dreams.  On  the  other  hand,  captain  seems 
a  strange  term  for  the  planet  Venus;  and, 
even  if  the  word  can  be  feminine,  in  what 
sense  is  Venus  the  captain  of  his  dreams  ? 
If  it  be  said  that  Lucifer  is  meant,  the  same 
question  recurs. 

Will  "  G."  or  somebody  else  give  us  fur- 
ther light  on  the  passage  ? 

I  am  incidentally  interested  in  the  ex- 
planation of  the  other  passage  from  Tenny- 
son (in  "  The  Two  Voices"),  which  "  G." 
also  comments  upon.  If  he  is  right,  what 
is  the  point  of  the  next  speech,  which  says, 
in  substance,  "  Man  is  the  masterpiece  of 
Nature,  being  endowed  with  reason  and 
moral  sense?"  This  would  appear  to  ap- 
prove the  hope  of  a  happier  existence  beyond 
the  present  life,  instead  of  being  in  any 
sense  an  objection  to  what  the  Voice  had 
said;  but  the  Voice  replies,  "Self-blinded 
are  you  by  your  pride,"  etc. 

Mr.  Tainsh,  in  his  "Study  of  Tennyson," 
paraphrases  the  first  part  of  the  dialogue 
thus: 

"  Voice :  You  are  so  miserable,  why  not 
die? 

"Man:  This  being  of  mine  is  too  won- 
derful to  be  wantonly  destroyed. 

"  Voice  :  A  dragon-fly  is  more  wonderful 
than  you. 

"  Man  :  Not  so.  The  preeminence  of 
man  lies  in  his  intellectual  and  moral  na- 
ture." 

This  is  at  least  consistent  and  logical.  Is 
it  not  to  be  preferred  to  the  explanation 
that  "G."  gives?  Q. 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  35,  etc.). 
— "  It  is  to  East  (or  German)  Friesland  that 
the  island  of  Heligoland  belongs  by  every 
right.  Within  historic  times  it  was  con- 
nected with  that  province  by  dry  land.  For 


132 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  12,  1890. 


the  coast  of  Northwestern  Europe,  which 
in  prehistoric  times  was  a  prolongation  of 
the  coast-line  of  Scotland  to  Norway,  was 
in  Roman  times  a  prolongation  of  the  coast- 
line of  Belgium  to  a  point  in  Danish  Jut- 
land. The  Zuider  Zee  was  an  inland  lake, 
and  the  whole  province  of  North  Friesland 
lay  where  now  roll  the  shallow  and  sluggish 
waters  of  the  German  ocean,  and  Heligo- 
land was  a  hill  within  that  province.  It  was 
about  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century 
that  the  province  was  submerged,  leaving 
Heligoland  and  a  few  other  island  fragments, 
but  carrying  down  a  considerable  population 
of  seafarers  and  cattle  tenders  with  their 
villages.  The  other  islands  lay  nearer  the 
Holstein  coast,  and  several  of  them  were 
swept  away  in  later  times' '  (  The  American, 
June  28). 

The  North  Frisian  tradition  is  that 
Hengst  and  Horsa  set  sail  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury from  the  island  of  Sylt  to  the  conquest 
of  Britain.  There  is  (so  far  as  appears)  no 
local  tradition,  and,  I  feel  sure,  there  is  no 
extant  history  of  any  moment  that  turns  all 
the  south-eastern  parts  of  the  German  ocean 
into  dry  land  until  the  ninth  century.  If 
the  shallow  waters  of  that  ocean  were  "slug- 
gish" (which  they  are  not — witness  the 
fierce  storms  that  sometimes  sweep  their 
spray  over  the  "  Halligs"  of  North  Frisia), 
is  it  likely  that  the  sea  would  engulf  the  land 
so  suddenly?  Many  traditions  testify  to 
the  encroachments  of  the  sea  along  all  the 
Frisian  coasts ;  and  it  is  generally  conced- 
ed that  the  range  of  islands  running  east- 
ward from  Texel  marks  an  ancient  coast-line. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  Elbe  and  Weser 
may  have  once  reached  the  sea  through 
many  bayous  and  spill-channels.  More  than 
this  our  present  knowledge  will  not  enable 
us  to  affirm.  R.  J. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Evil  Eye  (Vol.  v,  pp.  109,  etc.).— In  the 
poem  called  "  Golias  in  Raptorem  suse 
Bursae,"  vs.  17,  18,  we  read  : 

"  Excommunicatus  sit  in  agro  et  tecto  ! 
Nullus  eum  videat  lumine  directo!" 

The  evil  eye  is  mentioned  in  the  early 
Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Beowulf.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Good  Old  Etymologies  (Vol.  v,  p. 
119). — Among  the  good  old  etymologies 
thumped  into  me  with  the  aid  of  a  crab-stick, 
I  recall  none  more  blood-cruddling  than 
that  by  which  crypt  was  shortened  from  cry- 
pit,  the  latter  deriving  itsawfulness  from  the 
groans  of  wicked  children  who  were  unfor- 
tunate enough  to  have  been  tumbled  into- 
the  Gehenna.  I  had  long  supposed  this  de- 
rivation to  have  been  the  invention  of  my 
teacher,  but  a  few  months  ago  I  saw  an  allu- 
sion to  it  by  the  late  Dean  French.  Another 
highly  moral  derivation  was  that  which 
evolved  sincere  from  sine  cera.  Another 
one  which  was  regularly  made  the  subject  of 
a  sermon  to  all  unbelievers,  was  the  extrac- 
tion of  idiot  from  a  deo.  I  have  forgotten 
just  how  the  derivation  was  fetched  about, 
but  there  were  no  missing  links — and  the 
moral  was  that  the  Almighty  made  idiots 
for  his  own  glorification  ! 

J.  W.  R. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Floating  Islands  (Vol.  v,  p.  30). — 
Map's  "  Cambriae  Epitome,"  vs.  317-324, 
speaking  of  certain  mountains  in  Wales 
called  Eryri,  reads  as  follows  (translated)  : 
"  On  the  very  top  of  these  mountains  there 
are  two  lakes,  one  of  which  contains  a  wan- 
dering island,  moving  to  and  fro  by  the 
winds,  *  *  *  the  other  lake  affords  perch 
and  trout,  all  one-eyed.  According  to 
'Nicholson's  Guide,'  one  of  these  lakes  is 
called  'the  Lake  of  the  Sod;'  the  moving 
isle  being  composed  of  '  a  piece  of  the  tur- 
bery  undermined  by  the  water,  and  detached 
from  the  shore.' '  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Inland  Flowing  Streams  (Vol.  v,  p. 
1 08,  etc.). — This  discussion  recalls  the  ac- 
counts, published  a  few  years  since  in  the 
newspapers,  of  a  vast  chasm  in  or  near  the 
Pentland  Firth,  Scotland,  into  which  the 
sea  water  was  said  to  be  pouring  at  an  enor- 
mous rate.  But  such  a  turbulent  sea  as 
generally  prevails  in  that  region  must  render 
it  difficult  to  make  trustworthy  observations. 
I  have  not  much  faith  in  the  existence  of 
chasms  which  engulf  vast  quantities  of  sea 
water.  W.  P.  RODEN. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Grevillea,  133— Money  in  All  Ages,  134— English 
Village  Names — Bogus  Volcanic  Eruptions — Color  Names 
for  Seas,  135 — Autograph  Hunting,  136. 

QUERIES  :— Browning's  Descent— Perpetual  Earthquake— 
Half-English  Pope— Chair  of  Idris — Columbus — Green  Isle — 
Serpents  in  a  Mineral  Spring,  136 — Grain  Coast — Pyramid 
of  Skulls,  137. 

REPLIES  : — Poet-Laureate  of  the  Nursery — Garments  follow- 
ing Drowned  Corpse — Camels  in  the  United  States,  137— 
Adverb  and  Adjective — General  Shot  for  Disobedience- 
Killed  by  a  Servant,  138 — Fase — Skate  Runners,  130. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Mount  Abora— 
Last  Words  of  Lord  Breadelbane — Cup  of  Agathocles — Fla- 
gellants— Shalott — Isle  of  Serpents — Forms  of  Oaths,  139. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Pretzel  or  Bretzel— Stift-Priscian's 
Head,  130 — Precocious  Children — Popular  Superstitions,  140 
— Lake  Drained — Island  of  Buss  —  Super  Grammaticam — 
Trivium  and  Quadrivium— Bottomless  Ponds,  141 — More 
Grammar — Cat  Island — Gulf  of  the  Lion — Dropping  Wells — 
Slobbery  Ponds — Inland  Flowing  Streams — Evil  Eye,  142 — 
Discoveries  by  Accident — A  Question  in  Grammar — Brack — 
Buddhist  Priests  in  Mexico — Creeks — Captain  of  my  Dreams, 
143 — Floating  Islands — Tennyson's  "  Dragon-fly,  etc..  144 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  =—144. 


GREVILLEA. 

This  word,  the  name  of  a  genus  of  plants, 
is  said  in  the  "Century  Dictionary"  to  be 
formed  from  the  name  of  the  late  R.  K. 
Greville.  I  once  made  the  same  mistake 
myself  in  an  article  that  I  wrote  about 
Greville ;  but  I  soon  got  a  note  from  the 
late  Dr.  Asa  Gray  containing  these  words : 
"  Grevillea  was  named  fifteen  years  before 
R.  K.  Greville  was  born."  Dr.  Gray  did 
not  tell  me  for  whom  the  genus  was  named, 
but  he  was  exceedingly  well  informed  on 
such  points.  Mrs.  Ketchum's  "Botany"  says 
the  genus  was  named  from  one  Greville,  a 
patron  of  botanical  science;  R.  K.  Greville 
was  an  enthusiastic  worker  in  science,  but 
was  no  "patron."  The  scientific  journal 
called  Grevillea  was  named  from  R.  K. 
Greville.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


134 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  19,  1890. 


MONEY  IN  ALL  AGES. 

Period. 

Country. 

Substatice  used  as  Money. 

Authority. 

Period. 

Country. 

Substance  used  as  Money. 

Authority. 

A.  D. 

Uncer'n 

India  .   .    . 
China..  .  . 
Africa..  .   . 
Not  stated.. 

Paper  bills  

Patterson,  13. 
Ibid. 
Ibid. 
Ibid. 

B.C. 

1900 

1200 
1184 
862 

700-500 
578 

Uncer  n 

B.C.  491 
480 
478 

407 

4°° 
360 

266 

54 
So 
Uncer'n 

Palestine.  . 

Arabia.  .   . 
Phoenicia   . 
Phoenician 
colony    in 
Spain  .   . 
Phrygia  .  . 
Greece.  .   . 
Argos  .  .   . 

Rome  .  .  . 
Rome  .  .   . 
Carthage.  . 

Sicily  .  .  . 
Persia  .  .  . 
Sicily  .  .   . 

Athens   .  . 
Sparta  .  .   . 
Macedonia  . 

Rome  .  .  . 

Britain   .  . 
Rome  .  .   . 
Arabia.  .  . 

Cattle,  gold    and    silver,  by 

The  Scriptures 
Jacob. 
Anonymous. 

Carter. 
Julius  Pollux 
Homer. 
Dictionary  of 
dates. 
Jacob. 
Ibid. 

Socrates,   Dial 
on      Riches, 
Journal     des 
Economistes, 
i874,  P-  354- 

Jacob. 
Ibid. 

Ibid. 
MacLeod1,  476. 
Boeckh. 

Jacob. 

Ibid. 
Ibid. 
Die.  of  Dates. 
N.Y.  7V»*«**. 
July  2,  1873. 

Strips  of  cotton  cloth  
Wooden  tallies  or  checks.  .   . 

Sold  and  silver  coins  .... 
Gold,  silver,  and  copper  coins 

Same  (some  still  extant)  .  .  . 
^oins,  by  Queen  of  Pelops.  . 
Brass  coins  
Gold  &  silver  coins  by  Phidon 

Brass,  by  weight  
Copper  coins      
Leather  or  parchment  money, 
first  "  paper  bills"  known  . 

Gold  coins,  by  Gelo  (some  still 

PERIOD  FOLLOWING  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  MINES. 

A.D. 

1631 

1635 
1690 
1694 
1700 

1702 
1716 

1723 
1732 

1732 
1776 
1785 

i8io-*4o 

1826 

1847 

Vfassach'tts 

Vlassach'tts 
Vlassach'tts 
England  .  . 
Sweden  .  . 

5.  Carolina. 
France.  .   . 

Pennsylv'ia 
Maryland  . 

Maryland  . 
Scotland  .  . 

Franklin, 
State  of 
(now  part 
of  N.Car- 
olina) .  . 

All  commer- 
cial coun- 
tries .  .   . 
Russia.  .   . 

Mexico,  pts 
of.   .   .   . 

Corn  a  legal  tender  at  market 

Macgregor. 
Anonymous. 
Macgregor. 
Ibid. 
Voltaire's 
Charles  XII. 
Macgregor. 

Murray. 
Macgregor.] 

Anonymous. 
Anonymous. 
Adam  Smith. 

Wheeler's  His- 
tory   of  N. 
Carolina,  94. 

App.  Encyc. 
Anonymous. 

Musket  balls  
Paper  bills,  colonial  notes  .  . 

Copper  and  iron  coins  .... 

Inconvertible    paper    bills    a 

Paper  bills,  colonial  notes  .   . 
Indian  corn  a  legal  tender  at 
22d.  per  bushel  
Tobacco  a  legal  tender  at  id. 

Gold  coins,  by  Darius   (two 

Tenpenny    nails      for    small 

Gold  coins,  by  Hiero    (some 
still  extant)  

Linen  at    38.   6d.   per   yard, 
whisky  at  as.  6d.  per   gal- 
lon, and  peltry  as  legal  ten- 

Debased  gold  coins,  foreign  . 
Iron,  overvalued  
First   gold    coins    coined    in 
Greece,  by  Philip  

First    silver    coins    coined  in 

Tin  and  brass  coins  
Glass  coins  

Great  era  of  bank  paper  bills. 
Platinum  coins  (discontinued 

PERIOD  FOLLOWING  THE  FAILURE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  MINES. 

A.  D. 

2X2 

1066 

1160 

1240 
"75 

1470 

»574 
Uncer'n 

Rome    (Ca- 
racalla)  . 

Britain.  .  . 

Italy.  .  .   . 

Milan,  It.  . 
China.   . 
Africa,  pt.  ol 

Granada, 
Spain 
Holland..  . 
Iceland  .   . 
Norway  and 
Greenland 
Hindustan 
and  pts.  ol 
Africa  .  . 
N.  America 
And  Indian 
tribes.  .  . 

Orient"  1  pas- 
toral tnbes 
Abyssinia  . 
China     anc 
India   .   . 

Lead  coins  silvered  and  cop- 
per coins  gilded  
Living  money,  or  human  be- 
ings made  a  legal  tender  for 
debts  at  about  £2  i6s.  3d. 

Anonymous. 

Henry's   Hist, 
of  Great  Brit- 
ain, Vol.  iv, 
p.  243. 

Anderson. 
Arthur  Young. 
Marco  Polo. 

Montesquieu. 

Irving. 
Die.  of  Dates. 
Anonymous. 

Anonymous. 
Jacob,  372. 

Anonymous. 

Anonymous. 
Anonymous. 

Anonymous. 

Cocoa  beans  ;   and  Castle  ol 
Perote,  soap  

PERIOD  FOLLOWING  THE  OPENINGS  OF  CALIFORNIA  AND  AUSTRALIA. 

Paper  invented;   bills  of  ex- 
change introduced    by  the 

A.D. 

1849 

1855 
185- 

1862 
1863 

1863 

1863 
1865 
1865 

California  . 

Australia.  . 
Communist 
settlem'nt 
in  Ohio, 
called 
"Utopia" 

Uni'd  States 
N.Carolina. 

Camp   at 
Florence, 
S.  C.   .   . 

Uni'd  States 
Phila.,  Pa.. 
Uni'  dStates 

Gold    dust    by    weight,    also 
minute  gold  coins  for  small 
change,    coined  in  private 

Private     infor- 
mation. 
Act  of  Feb.  25. 

Anonymous. 

Yorkville    En- 
quirer. 

Philadelphia 
Ledger,  Apr. 

Act  of  Mar.  3. 

Paper  bills  a  legal  tender.  .   . 
Paper  bills  a  legal  tender.  .   . 
"  Machutes"     (ideal   money; 
this  view  doubted)  

Paper  bills  a  legal  tender.  .   . 
Pasteboard  bills,  represent'  ve 
Dried  fish  

Seal  skins  and  blubber  .... 
Cowry  shells  

Paper  bills,  each  representing 
"  one  hour's  labor"  .   .   .   . 

Paper  bills  a  legal  tender.  .  . 
Tenpenny  nails  at  5  cts.  each 
for  small  change.  ..... 

Potatoes  for  small  change  .  . 

Postage     stamps     for    small 
change,  temporary  

Turnips    for    small     change, 
temporary  and  local  

Nickel  coins  for  small  change, 

Agate,  carnelian,  jasper,  lead, 
copper,  gold,    silver,  terra 
cotta,  mica,   pearl,   lignite, 
coal,  bone,  shells,   chalce- 
dony, wampunpeag,  etc  .  . 

Salt   
Rice  

"AMERICA." 

July  19,  1890.]! 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


135 


ENGLISH  VILLAGE  NAMES. 

English  people  often  laugh  at  the  odd 
names  of  American  towns.  Matthew  Ar- 
nold even  went  so  far  as  to  assert  that  no  na- 
tion could  be  quite  civilized  that  yielded 
itself  to  such  cacophony  of  urban  nomencla- 
ture. But  he  might  have  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  similar  barbarisms  in  his  own  country. 
Without  going  very  far  from  London,  he 
might  have  found  himself  at  the  villages  of 
Great  Snoring  and  Little  Snoring  in  Nor- 
folk. He  would  hardly  have  considered 
Fighting  Cocks  in  Durham  an  evidence  of 
high  civilization,  nor  Frog's  Gutter  in  Salop, 
nor  Dirt-Car  in  Yorks,  nor  Fool's  Nook  in 
Chester,  nor  Little  Fryup  in  Yorks,  nor 
Blubberhouses  in  Suffolk,  nor  Chittlesham- 
bolt,  nor  Knoctopper.  Quaint  names  that 
are  less  offensive  to  the  ear,  but  still  bulky  and 
unwieldy,  are  Styrrup  with  Old  Coates,  Talk 
o'  the  Hill,  Who'd  a  thought  it,  Addlewith 
Eccup,  Labor  in  Vain,  Carry  Coats,  and 
Hard  to  Come  by.  Baring  Gould  was  cen- 
sured for  choosing  such  an  affected  patrony- 
mic as  Pennycomequicks  for  the  leading  char- 
acters in  his  novel  of  that  name ;  yet  Penny- 
comequick  is  the  actual  name  of  a  town  in 
Devon.  Soberton  might  seem  a  sorry  jest  if 
the  inhabitants  are  only  as  sober  as  the  aver- 
age Englishman.  Hungery  Hill,  Mount  Mis- 
ery, London  Smoke  and  Noisy  Town  do  not 
hold  out  alluring  possibilities.  Plum  Pud- 
ding Island  and  Strong  Beer  Centre  are  ap- 
petizing, however.  World's  Wonder  is  near 
Canterbury,  but  the  world  seems  unconscious 
of  the  surprises  it  has  missed.  Scampton 
appears  to  cast  a  doubt  on  the  honesty  of 
the  Lincolnshire  people  who  live  there ; 
Rotherfuld  Peppard  suggests  a  vinegar 
cruet ;  Poorton  can  of  course  have  no 
wealthy  residents ;  Shaver's  End  and  Laeher- 
brush  should  suit  barbers ;  Cullercoats,  dy- 
ers ;  Charing,  charwomen  ;  Bow,  lovers  of 
archery;  Blisland,  honeymoon  couples; 
Angle,  fishermen  ;  and  Pick  well,  careful 
choosers.  Porington  might  be  full  of  boys 
who  love  their  books  ;  Gnosall  would  express 
the  result  of  their  researches,  and  Dunse 
would  be  the  town  for  such  as  shirked  their 
studies.  Cock  crow  might  be  recommended 
to  the  sluggard,  Bat  and  Ball  to  the  lover  of 
cricket,  Tongue  End  to  the  henpecked  hus- 


band, Traveler's  End  and  Welcome  Stran- 
ger to  the  tramp.  Starve-all  and  No  Man's 
Land  should  be  shunned  by  every  one. 
When  you  come  to  Wales  the  names  become 
absolutely  appalling.  Who  would  care  to  stop 
at  Llanfihangel-yng-Nghlwufa?  Who  would 
not  be  alarmed  at  finding  himself  in  Llantairp- 
wllgyngyllgogerpwllllandypilwgogo  ?  And 
Scotland  is  not  so  far  behind  with  its  Drim- 
taidhvrickhillichatan,  in  the  Island  of  Mull. 

M.  L.  R. 
CINCINNATI,  O. 


BOGUS  VOLCANIC  ERUPTIONS. 

The  alleged  eruption  of  Old  Bald  moun- 
tain (Vol.  v,  p.  123)  is  not  the  only  in- 
stance in  which  eruptions  have  been  asserted 
of  extinct  volcanoes.  Time  and  time  again 
the  same  assertion  has  been  made  of  Mt. 
Hood,  but  in  every  instance  the  cloud  ban- 
ner formed  by  the  condensation  of  moisture 
by  a  west  wind  has  led  to  the  supposition. 
The  alleged  volcano  of  the  Colorado  desert 
proved  to  be  merely  a  sudden  copious  flow 
from  a  hot  spring.  The  reputed  eruption 
near  Babispe,  Mexico,  was  nothing  more 
than  an  earthquake.  The  town  was  injured 
by  fire,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  first  shaken  to 
pieces,  and  afterwards  partly  consumed. 
There  was  no  flow  of  lava ;  the  '  *  lurid  glare' ' 
came  from  burning  timber.  The  rumored 
eruptions  of  Tacoma  were  also  due  to  forest 
fires  in  the  mountains.  J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


COLOR  NAMES  FOR  SEAS. 

Besides  the  Red  sea  (Vol.  v,  p.  123)  we 
have  a  Vermilion  sea,  Black  sea,  White  sea, 
Yellow  sea — all  probably  named  for  some 
peculiarity  in  the  appearance  of  their  waters. 
Tennyson  speaks  of  "  dark  purple  spheres 
of  sea;"  Homer  tells  of  the  wine-faced 
deep  ;  Moore  sings  of  "  Oman's  green  sea." 
The  Japanese  Kuro-siwo  signifies  ' '  the  black 
stream."  The  color  of  the  sea,  as  is  well 
known,  changes  often  in  the  course  of  a 
voyage.  I  myself,  years  ago,  witnessed  a 
surprising  appearance  which  I  have  never 
read  of.  I  was  crossing  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
on  a  steamer.  The  sea  was  as  smooth  as 
a  mirror,  but  presented  a  singularly  dull 
appearance.  It  occurred  to  me  that  the 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  19,  1890. 


surface  of  the  water  appeared  to  be  covered 
with  particles  of  floating  dust.  The  ship's 
captain  informed  me  that  my  observation 
was  correct — the  sea  was  actually  covered 
with  dust,  probably  blown  seaward  from 
Western  Texas  or  some  other  dry  region. 

N.  S.  S. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


AUTOGRAPH  HUNTING. 

It  may  cool  the  ardor  of  certain  persistent 
autograph  hunters  to  know  that  one  distin- 
guished American  writer  turns  over  all  auto- 
graph-begging letters  to  an  obscure  second 
cousin  of  his  who  happens  to  have  the  same 
name.  The  second  cousin  answers  the  let- 
ters of  the  autograph  fiends,  and  signs  his 
own  name.  Thus  all  parties  in  the  transac- 
tion are  satisfied.  D.  A.  A. 

BROOKLYN. 


£UE  F$I  B  S. 

Browning's  Descent. — Some  of  the  news- 
papers have  published  the  statement  that  the 
poet  Browning  had  a  dash  of  African  blood 
in  his  veins.  Is  this  statement  correct? 

P.   CONARD. 

CAIRO,  ILL. 

Mr.  Browning  came  of  a  family  which 
had  been  for  a  time  West  Indian,  and  a  re- 
mote cross  of  African  blood  has  been  more 
than  hinted  at.  If  it  existed  at  all  it  must 
have  been  remote,  indeed — if  we  may  judge 
from  the  published  likenesses  of  the  poet. 

Perpetual  Earthquake. — At  what  place 
is  the  earth  continually  agitated  by  an  earth- 
quake tremor?  E.  B. 

BOSTON. 

This  has  been  affirmed  of  Caldera,  a  sea- 
port in  Chili.  We  are  not  prepared  to 
affirm  the  absolute  truth  of  the  statement. 
Earthquake  shocks  are  exceedingly  frequent 
in  Chili,  in  Japan,  and  in  various  other 
volcanic  regions.  The  seismometer  often 
records  earth-vibrations  which  are  not  per- 
ceptible by  the  unaided  senses. 


Half- English  Pope. — What  pope  was  the 
son  of  an  Englishman?  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN. 

It  is  said  that  Pope  Urban  V  (d.  1370),  a 
native  of  Grisac,  in  Languedoc,  was  the  son 
of  William  Grisaunt,  an  English  physician ; 
but  there  are  grave  reasons  for  doubt  as  to 
the  truth  of  the  statement. 

Chair  of  Idris. — What  is  the  Chair  of  Idris, 
mentioned  by  Tennyson  in  his  u^Enid?" 

J.  L.  T. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
i,  p.  21. 

Columbus. — Where  do  the  bones  of 
Christopher  Columbus  now  repose  ?  I  know 
that  the  old  belief  was  that  the  remains  of 
the  great  admiral  were  translated  from  San- 
ta Domingo  to  Havana  ;  but  that  has  been 
disputed.  S.  E.  S. 

LONG  BRANCH. 

It  seems  to  us  that  the  arguments  used  to 
prove  that  the  remains  of  Columbus  are 
still  at  Santa  Domingo  are  entitled  to  great 
consideration,  but  from  lack  of  full  knowl- 
edge we  are  not  prepared  to  discuss  so 
vexed  a  question. 

Green  Isle. — What  is  meant  by  the  Green 
Isle  of  the  Hebrides  ? 

WALTER  J.  LACK. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

The  people  of  the  Hebrides  believe  that 
there  is  a  Green  Island  in  the  West,  which 
can  sometimes  be  seen  beneath  the  setting 
sun.  As  late  as  1853,  some  maps  have  an 
(imaginary)  Isle  Verte,  or  Green  Rock,  in 
the  Atlantic,  44°  48'  N.,  26°  10'  W. 

Serpents  in  a  Mineral  Spring. — In  what 
mineral  spring  are  living  serpents  found  ? 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

In  the  thermal  springs  of  Schlangenbad, 
in  Germany,  there  are  found  (perhaps  they 
are  placed  there)  living  serpents.  Ancient- 
ly the  serpent  was  a  symbol  of  health.  It 


July  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


137 


is  probable  that  popular  fancy  connects 
these  snakes  in  some  way  with  the  healing 
qualities  of  the  springs. 

The  serpents  are  of  a  harmless  kind — the 
Coluber  flav escens  of  Europe,  called  also  Co- 
luber (zsculapii,  which  is  very  easily  tamed. 
Ladies  greatly  frequent  these  springs, 
which  are  thought  to  beautify  the  complexion 
in  a  marked  degree. 

Grain  Coast. — Why  was  Liberia  formerly 
called  the  Grain  Coast  ? 

J.  R.  B. 

JERSEY  CITY. 

Probably  from  the  former  trade  in  Grains 
of  Paradise,  or  Melaguetta  pepper.  Near  it 
are  the  Gold  coast,  Slave  coast,  and  Ivory 
coast  (all  named  from  former  commodities)  ; 
also  the  Calabar  coast  and  the  Wind  coast. 

Pyramid  of  Skulls. — Where  was  there 
once  a  pyramid  of  human  skulls  ? 

J.  R.  B. 
JERSEY  CITY. 

On  the  island  of  Jerba,  near  Tunis,  the 
Turks,  in  1558,  built  a  pyramid  of  the  heads 
of  the  Spanish  soldiers  who  fell  in  a  battle 
there. 


E  P  L  I  E  S  . 


Poet-Laureate  of  the  Nursery  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
126). — If  I  am  not  mistaken,  Matthias  Barr 
has  also  been  called  "  the  laureate  of  the 
nursery."  All  three  of  these  names  are 
those  of  Scotch  writers.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Garments  Following  Drowned  Corpse  (Vol. 
v,  p.  114). — The  example  cited  by  your  cor- 
respondent is  one  form  of  a  belief  which  prob- 
ably was  not  originally  a  superstition  at  all, 
but  later  became  tinctured  with  the  super- 
natural, as  in  the  case  of  clothing  worn  by 
the  person  being  used  to  find  their  dead 
body.  In  this  instance,  some  subtile  sym- 
pathy was  no  doubt  thought  to  exist  between 
the  dead  and  their  apparel.  In  fact,  how- 
ever, the  successful  cases  may  generally  be 
accounted  for  by  natural  causes.  As  a 
drowned  body  would  likely  be  drawn  into 


the  deep  pools  formed  by  eddies,  so  a  light 
substance  floating  on  the  current  would  be 
drawn  to  that  part  of  the  surface  over  the 
centre  of  the  eddy  hole. 

In  the  last  -  century,  in  England,  a  mode 
of  discovering  drowned  bodies  was  practiced 
which  consisted  in  putting  a  small  quantity 
of  quicksilver  into  a  loaf  of  bread  and  set- 
ting it  afloat  on  the  stream ;  this  would  float 
about  on  the  surface  until  it  was  over  the 
body,  when  it  would  sink.  There  is  an  ac- 
count, vouched  for  by  credible  witnesses,  of 
the  recovery  of  the  body  of  a  boy  drowned 
in  the  Thames,  at  Eton,  by  one  of  the  mas- 
ters throwing  a  cricket  bat  into  the  river, 
which  indicated  the  location  of  the  body  to 
the  searchers.  In  Ireland,  a  wisp  of  straw 
to  which  was  attached  a  strip  of  parchment 
inscribed  with  cabalistic  characters,  an- 
swered the  same  purpose.  Among  the  North 
American  Indians,  drowned  bodies  were  oc- 
casionally recovered  by  throwing  a  cedar 
chip  into  the  water,  which  would  stop  and 
turn  round  over  the  exact  spot.  Sir  James 
Alexander,  who  is  the  authority  for  this 
statement,  mentions  an  instance  of  its  suc- 
cessful use  from  his  personal  knowledge, 
when  all  other  means  failed. 


E.  G.  KEEN. 


WARWICK,  PA. 


Camels  in  the  United  States  (Vol.  v,  p. 
126). — It  is  my  impression  that  camels  were 
recommended  for  use  in  the  West  by  one  of 
the  Secretaries  of  War  sometime  between 
1850  and  1855.  There  was  a  camel  train 
carrying  freight  between  Virginia  City  and 
Pioche,  Nevada,  in  1871,  and  I  think  the 
camels  were  imported  a  year  or  two  before 
that  time.  In  1857,  a  train  of  camels  was 
employed  by  Lieut.  Beale  in  the  exploration 
to  locate  a  wagon  road  between  Santa  F6 
and  California.  The  experiment  was  highly 
successful,  and  the  utility  of  the  animals  far 
exceeded  the  most  sanguine  expectations. 
Subsequently  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
animals  were  imported  for  use  in  Western 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  As  late 
as  1876,  a  train  was  employed  to  pack 
freight  between  Yuma  and  Tucson,  Arizona. 
The  animals  thrived  and  grew  fat  on  the 
mezquit  and  gamma  grass,  and  while  each 


'38 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  19,  1890. 


animal  did  about  four  times  the  work  of  a 
horse,  it  was  maintained  at  about  one-half 
the  cost.  There  was  but  one  reason  why 
the  camel  should  not  entirely  supplant  all 
other  pack-animals,  namely,  the  "mule- 
whacker"  or  teamster.  From  the  first,  the 
teamster  was  the  relentless  enemy  to  the 
camel.  His  rifle  was  ever  ready,  and  the 
deadly  bullet  soon  thinned  the  number  of 
animals  until  their  use  was  abandoned. 
This  hatred  did  not  arise  from  fear  of  com- 
petition, but  from  the  mortal  terror  all 
other  carrying-animals  exhibited  in  the 
presence  of  the  camel.  A  pack  train  would 
instantly  stampede  at  the  sight  of  one,  and 
a  wagon  train  would  commonly  be  left  in  a 
demoralized  condition.  As  late  as  1878,  I 
saw  a  cow  with  her  calf  in  the  Gila  desert, 
but  I  could  not  gel  near  her.  There  may 
be  a  few  animals  still  alive  in  this  region, 
but  I  doubt  it.  The  advent  of  the  railway 
has  rendered  their  services  unnecessary. 

J.  W.  RED  WAY. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

I  believe  that  the  late  Jefferson  Davis, 
while  Secretary  of  War  under  the  United 
States  Government,  recommended  the  intro- 
duction of  camels  for  use  on  the  great  plains. 
The  suggestion  was  carried  out,  and  there 
are  still  some  half-wild  camels  in  Nevada. 

MASSACHUSETTS.  OBED. 

Adverb  and  Adjective  (Vol.  v,  p.  4). — The 

answer  given  to  "A  Subscriber's"  query  is 
no  doubt  correct,  but  it  might  have  been  a 
little  fuller.  Goold  Brown,  in  at  least  four 
places  refers  to  this  subject,  which  he  dis- 
cusses with  some  fullness,  but  with  less,  I 
think,  than  his  usual  clearness  and  decisive- 
ness. The  outcome  of  his  reasoning  ap- 
pears to  be  this:  We  may  say  either  "He 
feels  bad,"  or  "He  feels  badly,"  and  vio- 
late no  principle  of  grammar.  I  do  not  go 
into  his  reasoning,  lest  I  give  brain-fag  to 
such  of  your  readers  as  try  to  follow  out  this 
little  refinement  of  discussion.  Only  thus 
far  I  think  I  may  safely  venture.  Brown 
thinks  that  feels  in  the  above  examples  stands 
for  a  subjective  experience ;  and  therefore 
with  bad  or  badly  does  not  exactly  replace 
the  copula  and  predicate-adjective.  But  in 
the  case  of  "She  seems  pleasant,"  seems 


pleasant  expresses  an  objective  fact,  and 
therefore  the  adverb  pleasantly  could  not  be 
correctly  used,  the  verb  seems  standing  in  a 
relation  grammatically  equivalent  to  that  of 
the  copulative  verb  is.  In  like  manner,  we 
say,  "The  country  looks  inviting;"  and 
Scottish  writers  say,  "  The  ship  bulks  /arge," 
that  is,  seems  large,  or  larger  than  we  might 
expect  from  her  measurements — these  being 
expressions  of  an  objective  fact.  Brown, 
after  all,  does  not  condemn  the  idiomatic 
expression,  "  He  feels  bad,"  but  he  does  de- 
fend the  equivalent  expression,  "He  feels 
badly. "  Yet  we  always  say ,"  I  feel  weary, ' ' 
"  I  feel  strong."  The  real  difficulty,  I  im- 
agine, is  in  the  word  bad,  which  has  various 
meanings.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

General  Shot  for  Disobedience  (Vol.  v,  p. 
77,  etc.). — It  was  Frederick  the  Great,  and 
the  order  was  fatal  to  a  young  officer  found 
writing  to  his  wife  when  lights  were  forbid- 
den under  pain  of  death,  and  is  related  in 
detail  in  a  history  either  English,  French  or 
German  that  I  have  read. 

This  incident  forms  the  basis  of  a  play 
called  "  St.  Patrick's  Eve ;  or,  The  Order  of 
the  Day,"  in  which  the  famous  and  lamented 
Irish  comedian,  Power,  made  a  hit  as  Ma- 
jor Phelim  O'Dogherty. 

In  the  drama,  the  result  is  not  mournful 
but  happy,  as  the  letter  writer  is  pardoned 
inasmuch  as  the  king  finds  he  had  no  right 
to  issue  "  The  Order  of  the  Day." 

It  may  be  a  mistake,  but  it  is  most  likely 
the  real  order  was  issued  the  evening  before 
Liegnitz,  when  Frederick,  expecting  Lau- 
don's  attempt  to  surprise  him,  allowed  no 
lights,  fires  nor  smoking  in  his  bivouac,  and 
Laudon  is  himself  surprised  and  disastrously 
defeated  (Carlyle  ["  Harpers  "],  vi,  49  ; 
Archenholtz,  1760,  p.  349).  The  discovery 
of  the  officer  writing  a  letter  by  forbidden 
light  and  shot  next  morning  is  related  in 
one  of  the  histories  of  the  great  king,  "Al- 
les  in  Allem."  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Killed  by  a  Servant  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  105,  etc.). 
—The  name  of  the  servant  that  murdered 
Lord  Brooke  (Fulke  Greville)  was  Ralph 
Haywood.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 


July  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


139 


Fase  (Vol.  i,  p.  296). — This  word  ap- 
pears in  the  "  New  Century  Dictionary," 
in  the  form  faze  or  phase.  It  asserts  the 
word  to  be  an  Americanism,  but  gives  it 
as  a  variant  of  feeze,  a  good  old  Shake- 
spearean word.  TROIS  ETOILES. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Skate  Runners  (Vol.  v,  p.  126). — An  or- 
ganization of  Skate  Runners,  Skielobere, 
rifle  men  on  skates,  was  still  maintained  in 
Norway,  in  1851,  but  is  said  now  to  be  ex- 
tinct. I  doubt  if  the  idea  is  dormant  or 
abandoned  among  the  local,  not  regular, 
troops. 

Laing's  "  Journal  of  a  Residence  in  Nor- 
way," 1834-6,  may  give  some  particulars 
of  this  corps.  I  have  never  heard  they 
were  abolished,  and  have  seen  allusions  to 
them  in  more  recent  books.  These  skate 
runners  may  belong  to  the  Militia  or  Land- 
wehr,  although  that  is  not  the  technical 
term.  The  French,  under  Luxembourg,  also 
put  skates  on  their  troops  in  the  Netherlands 
winter  campaign  under  Louis  XIV. 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


©OP^ESPONDENTS. 


Mount  Abora.  —  Where  is  Mount  Abo- 
ra,  of  which  the  Abyssinian  maid  sings  in 
Coleridge's  poem  of  "  Kubla  Khan?" 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Last  Words  of  Lord  Breadel- 
bane.  —  What  were  the  last  words  of  Lord 
Breadelbane  ("Old  Rags")  ?  When  dying, 
one  of  the  servants  dropped  a  lighted  candle 
on  his  breast.  He  revived  sufficiently  to 
give  her  a  scolding  for  her  carelessness.  Can 
any  correspondent  give  me  his  remarks  ? 

THOMAS  CLEPHANE. 
CINCINNATI,  O. 

Cup  of  Agathocles.  —  What  was  the 
Cup  of  Agathocles  ?  I  find  it  mentioned  in 
one  of  Lamb's  essays,  wherein  the  author 
compares  a  poor  relation  to  the  pot  of 
Agathocles.  J.  T.  L. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Flagellants. — I  have  read  somewhere 
that  self-flagellation,  by  way  of  penance,  is 
still  common  in  New  Mexico.  Is  this  true  ? 

A.  L.  R. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Shalott. — We  have  had  some  interesting 
communications  about  Camelot ;  can  any 
one  locate  the  Island  of  Shalott  ? 

W.  P.  R. 

LITTLE  ROCK. 

Isle  of  Serpents. — On  the  map  of  the 
Black  Sea  there  is  marked  an  Isle  of  Ser- 
pents. Is  this  island  really  infested  by  ser- 
pents? And  if  so,  of  what  kind? 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Forms  of  Oaths  (Vol.  iv,  p.  189).— 
In  the  various  States  of  the  Union  there  are. 
remarkable  differences  in  the  words  used  in 
administering  and  taking  oaths.  Could  not 
some  of  your  correspondents  who  are  learned 
in  the  law  give  your  readers  a  collection  of 
these  verbal  formulas  ?  BALBUS. 

PHILADELPHIA. 


(9OMMUNIGAiniONS. 

Pretzel  or  Bretzel  (Vol.  v,  p.  115). — 
In  Hilpert's  "Pocket  Dictionary"  (what 
huge  pockets  they  must  have  in  Germany  !) 
I  find  both  brezel  and  prezel,  so  you  can 
take  your  choice.  But  the  definition  is 
given  under  brezel,  to  which  there  is  a  refer- 
ence from  prezel.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Stift  (Vol.  v,  p.  122). — In  Norway  we 
find  stiffs  in  quite  another  sense.  The  great 
dioceses  of  the  country,  each  with  a  Lu- 
theran bishop,  are  there  called  stifts. 

P.  M.  E. 

RAHWAY,  N.  J. 

Priscian's  Head  (Vol.  v,  pp.  125, 
etc.). — Mr.  Ogier's  statement  is  certainly 
correct,  but  it  does  not  touch  my  question : 
Why  is  a  violator  of  the  rules  of  grammar 
said  to  break  the  head  of  Priscian  ? 

M.  H.  P. 

AURORA,  N.  Y. 


140 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  19,  1890. 


Precocious  Children  (Vol.  iv,  pp. 
285,  etc.). — Aldo  Manuzio,  the  younger 
(1547-97),  son  of  Paulo,  and  grandson  of 
Aldo,  founder  of  the  Aldine  press  and  the 
greatest  printer  of  his  time,  at  the  age  of 
eleven  published  a  collection  of  choice 
specimens  from  Latin  and  Italian  authors. 
Three  years  later  he  also  produced  a  trea- 
tise on  Latin  orthography,  founded  on  in- 
scriptions, medals  and  manuscripts. 

Noth  withstanding  his  precocity,  he  did  not 
prove  the  equal  of  his  father,  much  less  of 
his  grandfather,  either  in  mental  capacity 
or  in  attainments. 

Jeremiah  Horrox,  or  Horrocks,  was  born 
1619,  in  Taxteth,  a  small  village  near  Liv- 
erpool, England.  He  is  said  to  have  pre- 
dicted as  a  boy  the  first  transit  of  Venus 
ever  viewed  by  human  eye,  and  to  have  ob- 
served the  same  himself,  when  just  on  the 
verge  of  manhood  (twenty). 

At  seventeen  years  of  age,  Horrox  under- 
took the  revision  of  the  Rudolphine  Tables 
(Kepler,  1627),  and  in  the  course  of  his 
work  became  convinced  that  a  transit  of 
Venus  must  occur  in  1639,  an  astronomical 
event  which  Kepler  had  failed  to  predict. 
It  was  then  1636,  and  three  years  must  elapse 
before  his  prediction  could  be  fulfilled.  The 
young  astronomer  confided  his  secret  to  his 
most  intimate  friend,  and  purchased  a  tele- 
scope for  2S.  6d.  This  was  a  rude  appara- 
tus, but  it  enabled  him,  when  the  time  came, 
to  make  the  first  observation  ever  made  of 
the  transit  of  Venus  over  the  sun's  disk, 
November  24,  1639  (O.  S.).  This  transit 
was  witnessed  only  by  himself  and  William 
Crabtree,  the  draper,  at  whose  suggestion 
Horrox  had  undertaken  the  study  of  Kepler. 
His  own  account  of  the  event,  "Venus  in  Sole 
Visa,"  was  published  (1662)  by  Helvetius, 
•with  his  own  observations  on  a  transit  of 
Mercury. 

Horrox  entered  Emmanuel  College,  Cam- 
bridge, as  a  sizar,  at  thirteen  years,  and  took 
orders  in  the  Church  of  England  before 
reaching  the  canonical  age.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two. 

George  Parker  Bidder,  the  most  wonder- 
ful of  calculating  boys,  was  born  (1806) 
near  Dartmoor,  England,  and  was  the  son  of 
a  stonemason.  Asa  child,  he  showed  a  power 
of  mental  calculation  which,  if  it  was  ever 


equaled,  has  never  been  surpassed.  At  six 
years  of  age,  he  learned  to  count  up  to  ten, 
and  when  he  was  able  to  count  one  hundred, 
his  teacher,  an  elder  brother,  thought  it  un- 
necessary to  give  him  further  instruction. 

When  Bidder  was  ten  years  old,  he  an- 
swered in  two  minutes  the  following  ques- 
tion: "  What  is  the  interest  of  ^4444  for 
4444  days  at  4^  percent  per  annum?"  The 
answer  is  ^2434  i6s.  5^d.  A  few  months 
later,  when  he  was  not  yet  eleven  years  old, 
he  was  asked,  "  How  long  would  a  cistern 
one  mile  cube  be  filling  if  receiving  from  a 
river  120  gallons  per  minute  without  inter- 
mission?" In  two  minutes,  he  gave  the 
correct  answer — 14,300  years,  285  days,  12 
hours  and  46  minutes.  A  year  later,  he  di- 
vided correctly,  in  less  than  a  minute,  468,- 
592,413,563  by  9076.  No  date  is  given  to 
the  following  case  :  The  question  was  put 
by  Sir  William  Herschel,  at  Slough,  near 
Windsor,  to  Master  Bidder  and  answered  in 
one  minute :  "  Light  travels  from  the  sun  to 
the  earth  in  8  minutes,  and  the  sun  being 
98,000,000  of  miles  off  (of  course  this  is 
quite  wrong  ;  it  was  near  enough  to  be  ac- 
cepted value),  if  light  would  take  6  years 
and  4  months  traveling  at  the  same  rate 
from  the  nearest  fixed  star,  how  far  is  that 
star  from  the  earth,  reckoning  365  days  and 
6  hours  to  each  year  and  28  days  to  each 
month?"  The  correct  answer  was  quickly 
given  to  this  pleasing  question,  viz.,  "  40,- 
633,740,000,000  miles."  The  lad's  pecu- 
liar gift  of  answering  arithmetical  questions 
demanding  intricate  calculation,  with  light- 
ning rapidity,  drew  public  attention  to  him, 
and  his  father  found  it  more  profitable  to 
exhibit  him  about  the  country  as  the  "  cal- 
culating phenomenon  "  than  to  give  him  a 
schooling.  At  the  suggestion  of  some  emi- 
nent men,  he  was  sent  to  school  at  Camber- 
well,  and  finished  his  studies  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh  (see  "  Diet.  Nat.  Biog."). 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD.  CONN. 

Popular  Superstitions  (Vol.  v,  p. 
in). — I  have  known  farmers  who  believed 
that  all  root  crops  should  be  "  planted  in 
(during)  the  dark  of  the  moon,"  and  all 
crops  fruiting  above  ground  should  be  plant- 
ed during  the  "  light  of  the  moon,"  that 


July  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


141 


the  lower  rails  of  a  zig-zag  fence  built  dur- 
ing the  dark  of  the  moon  would  sink  into 
the  ground  much  sooner  than  if  built  dur- 
ing the  light  of  the  moon. 

Very  many  farmers  believe  in  a  much 
more  intimate  connection  between  the  moon 
and  the  weather  than  scientific  men  are  wil- 
ling to  recognize.  It  is  not  unusual  to  hear 
them  say,  "  We  will  not  have  rain  until  the 
moon  changes."  "We  will  have  no  settled 
weather  until  the  moon  changes."  "This 
will  be  a  dry  moon,"  etc. 

Many  persons  put  great  reliance  in  the 
signs  of  the  zodiac.  The  man  who  declared 
that  potatoes  must  be  "  planted  in  the  sign 
of  the  foot  "  meant  that  they  should  be 
planted  during  those  days  indicated  in  the 
almanac  by  the  pisces.  I  have  heard  the 
statement  by  farmers  that  the  right  time 
for  speying  pigs  is  "  when  the  sign  is  in  the 
arm."  Other  farm  operations  should  be 
performed  when  the  sign  is  in  the  head,  the 
back,  or  the  knees.  On  what  principle,  if 
any,  it  was  determined  where  the  sign 
should  be  when  any  given  duty  or  act  is 
performed,  I  have  not  learned. 

There  are  women  who  will  not  permit 
edged  tools  or  implements  to  be  carried 
through  the  house,  such  an  act  presaging 
death  in  the  family.  So,  if  a  crowing  hen 
is  permitted  to  live  about  the  homestead 
there  will,  "inside  of  a  year,"  be  a  death 
in  the  family.  An  itching  of  the  nose  is  a 
sign  of  a  visit,  the  right,  or  left  side  of  the 
nose  indicating  whether  from  a  man  or  wo- 
man. For  a  woman  to  drop  a  dish  cloth 
while  washing  dishes  formerly  indicated 
more  than  carelessness — I  think  it  was  that 
a  visitor  was  coming.  At  table  to  absent- 
mindedly  take  a  supply  of  food  which  the 
plate  already  contains  is  a  sign  that  "  some 
one  is  coming  hungry." 

S.  A.  FRAZIER. 

CENTRALIA,  ILL. 

Lake  Drained  (Vol.  v,  p.  125,  etc.). — 
Lake  Taguataga,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
is  not  on  the  maps,  nor  is  it  mentioned  in 
the  "Gazetteer."  Some  years  subsequent  to 
Darwin's  visit  it  was  drained  for  the  benefit 
of  8000  acres  of  land  in  its  neighborhood 
(Austed's  "Phys.  Geog.").  F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


Island  of  Buss  (Vol.  iv,  p.  8). — Why 
do  not  deep-sea  dredgers,  like  the  men  of 
the  Challenger  and  the  Blake  expeditions, 
dredge  the  sea  bottom,  or  at  least  take 
soundings  at  the. alleged  place  of  this  island? 
If  the  island  was  dest  royed  by  the  action  of 
the  waves  alone,  the  sea  at  that  place  must 
doubtless  be  a  very  shallow  one,  even  now. 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Super  Grammaticam  (Vol.  v,  p.  123). 
— Somewhere  or  other  I  have  read  that  the 
famous  assertion  of  Sigismund  was  deliv- 
ered at  the  Council  of  Constance,  and  that 
the  injunction  was  against  the  Hussites.  As 
I  recall  the  quotation,  it  read:  "Videte, 
Psatres,  date  operam  ut  ilia  nefanda  schisma 
Hussitarum  eradicetur. "  It  is  also  interest- 
ing to  note  that  the  cardinal  in  criticising 
the  emperor  used  the  unusual  genitive  form 
nutrius.  TROIS  ETOILES. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

See  also  S.  I.  Capper's  "The  Shores  and 
Cities  of  the  Boden."  See  ("Lake  of  Con- 
stance ")  Chaps,  xiv,  xv  and  xvi. 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Trivium  and  Quadrivium  (Vol.  v,  p. 
40). — "According  to  Middle  Age  notions, 
Pythagoras  first  made  known  to  the  Greeks 
the  seven  arts  of  the  schools,  which,  in  two 
divisions,  called  Trivium  and  Quadrivium, 
were  Rhetoric,  Logic,  and  Grammar;  Arith- 
metic, Astronomy,  Music,  and  Geometry. 
According  to  the  legend,  Tubal  Cain  was 
the  inventor  of  these  arts,  and  apprehensive 
they  might  be  lost  in  the  destruction  with 
which  mankind  was  threatened  by  the  flood, 
he  caused  them  to  be  engraved  on  two  pil- 
lars of  stone.  One  of  these  pillars,  we  are 
told,  was  found  by  the  philosopher  of  Samos; 
Hermes  found  the  other"  (see  Halliwell, 
"Early  Hist,  of  Freemasonry  in  England"). 
E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Bottomless  Ponds  (Vol.  v,  p.  128). — 
There  is  said  to  be  a  bottomless  pond  in 
Madison  county,  N.  Y. 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  19,  1890. 


More  Grammar. — Tennyson,  in  "The 
Miller's  Daughter,"  speaks  of  "  the  mill-dam 
rushing  down  with  noise."  Does  the  mill- 
dam  rush  down  ?  Is  it  not  the  water  that 
rushes  down  ?  Is  not  this  a  catachresis  ?  or, 
is  it  a  hypallage  ?  Somehow  the  poets  will 
not  be  tied  and  hobbled  by  the  red  tape  of 
the  grammarians.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Cat  Island  (Vol.  v,  p.  122). — Cat  island, 
or  San  Salvador,  is  mainly  famous  for  being 
the  supposed  first  landing  place  of  Colum- 
bus. The  researches  of  Capt.  Fox  and 
Prof.  Schotte,  U.  S.  Coast  Survey,  demon- 
strate that  neither  Cat  nor  Watling's  island 
could  have  been  the  place  of  his  first  land- 
ing. OROG. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Gulf  of  the  Lion  (Vol.  v,  pp.  130,  etc.). 
— I  lately  asked  a  gentleman  from  Paris,  a 
graduate  of  the  College  Bonaparte,  about 
this  name.  He  says  he  strongly  suspects 
that  Golfe  de  Lyon  was  the  original  form ; 
for  the  commerce  of  Lyon,  or  Lyons,  used 
to  go  down  the  Rhone  to  the  gulf,  and 
found  sea-shipment  at  various  places  along 
its  coast.  But,  after  all,  this  is  only  one 
man's  guess. 

There  is  a  work  by  Charles  Pierre  Marie 
Lenth6ric,  entitled  "  Les  Villes  Mortes  du 
Golfe  de  Lyon,"  1875,  with  fifteen  charts 
and  plans.  This  work  was  crowned  by  the 
French  Academy.  It  ought  to  contain  his- 
torical data  as  to  the  name. 

RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Dropping  Wells  (Vol.  v,  p.  79). — A 
dropping  well  in  Yorkshire  is  thus  described 
by  Drayton  : 

••*    *    *     Men  "  Dropping  Well  "  it  call, 
Because  out  of  a  rock  it  still  in  drops  doth  fall : 
Near  to  the  foot  whereof  it  makes  a  little  pond, 
Which  in  as  little  space  converteth  wood  to  stone." 


E.  G.  KEEN. 


WARWICK,  Pa. 


Slobbery  Ponds. — Not  very  far  from 
Chicopee  Falls,  Mass.,  there  are  certain 
swampy  or  shallow  ponds,  called  vulgarly 
the  Slobbery  ponds — a  sufficiently  expres- 


sive name.  But  some  of  the  old  folk  there- 
away will  tell  you  that  the  true  name  is 
Slaw-berry  ponds,  and  that  they  are  named 
from  the  cranberries  that  grow  there.  But 
I  never  have  heard  or  read  of  j/(2ze/-berries  in 
any  other  connection.  But  compare  sloe,  a 
kind  of  wild  plum.  K.  W.  C. 

CHELSEA,  MASS. 

Inland-Flowing  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
1 08,  etc.). — Suppose  the  case  of  an  island 
lying  athwart  an  ocean  current,  the  rocks 
of  the  island  being  fissured  and  traversed  by 
cavernous  passages.  We  may  conceive  that 
there  would  be  currents  flowing  directly 
through  the  mass  of  such  an  island;  and 
the  uncovered  entrance  of  such  a  current 
would  be  just  such  an  inland-flowing  stream 
as  those  of  Argostoli.  This  is  my  guess,  and 
nothing  more. 

There  is  an  interesting  notice  of  one 
of  the  Argostoli  streams  in  Baedeker's 
"  Greece."  It  appears  that  at  least  one  of 
these  streams  is  in  part  artificial. 

G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Evil  Eye  (Vol.  v,  pp.  132,  etc.). — Per- 
haps the  following  may  interest  some  of  the 
readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES, 
as  showing  the  necessary  times  of  birth  of 
persons  possessing  "virtue  "  to  dispell  the 
baleful  influence  of  the  Evil  Eye.  In  the 
"  Novias  y  Novios,"  by  Torcato  Tarrago,  a 
romance  of  Andalusia,  as  fascinating  as  an 
idyl  of  Moorish  Spain,  the  author  says,  p. 
72,  on  the  indicated  theme :  "  Persons  born 
exactly  at  the  stroke  of  12  o'clock,  mid- 
night, of  the  24-251!!  day,  or  rather  night, 
of  Christ's  nativity,  or  precisely  on  the  di- 
vide between  the  hours  of  2  and  3  in  the 
afternoon  of  Holy  Friday  (  Viernes  Santo], 
claim  to  cure  Evil  eye."  These  individuals, 
usually  known  as  "El  Zahori" — (double) 
seer — Tarrago  states  are  usually  recognized 
in  the  rural  districts  of  Spain  as  endowed 
with  infallible  skill  to  detect  hidden  springs 
or  subterraneous  water  courses.  He  asserts 
the  "Zahori"  in  such  researches  has  been 
uniformly  successful,  but  does  not  mention 
their  using  the  divining  rod  for  this  pur- 
pose. G.  F.  FORT. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


July  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Discoveries  by  Accident  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
44,  etc.).—  Steel  Pens. — "Mr.  Joseph  Gil- 
lott  was  a  Birmingham  working  jeweler  in 
1830.  One  day  he  accidentally  split  one  of 
his  fine  steel  tools,  and  being  suddenly  re- 
quired to  sign  a  receipt,  not  finding  his 
quill  pen  at  hand,  he  used  the  split  tool  as 
a  ready  substitute.  This  happy  accident 
led  to  the  idea  of  making  pens  of  metal.  It 
was  carried  out  with  secrecy  and  prompti- 
tude, and  the  pens  of  Gillott  became  famous. 
The  manufacture  of  metal  pens  has  been  as 
important  as  any  invention  connected  with 
business  and  education  since  that  of  print- 
ing. There  are  now  numerous  firms  which 
produce  as  many  pens  every  day  as  all  the 
geese  in  England  could  have  supplied  in  a 
year.  There  is  still,  however,  a  large  de- 
mand for  quills  and  quill-pens;  but  for 
common  use,  in  these  days  of  universal 
education,  the  importance  of  Gillott's  first 
invention  is  incalculable." 

— The  Argonaut. 

A  Question  in  Grammar  (Vol.  v,  p. 
129). — I  wish  to  assure  W.  J.  R.  that  the 
feeling  of  desperation  which  he  ascribes  to 
me  is  something  of  which  I  am  not  at  all 
conscious.  If  he  can  find  any  one  scholar 
of  repute  who  will  sustain  his  view,  I  shall 
be  satisfied  to  leave  poor  Mary  where  he 
puts  her — in  the  kettle,  above  the  crackling 
sticks,  singing  a  solo  part. 

The  use  of  sing  as  a  causative  verb  may 
be  catachrestic ;  if  so,  it  is  the  poet's  fault, 
not  mine.  But  the  grammarians  cannot 
draw  hard  and  fast  lines  by  which  the  poet 
must  walk.  C.  W.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Brack  (Vol.  v,  p.  39). — When  I  was  a 
child,  living  in  New  England,  the  word 
"  brack  "  was  used  to  describe  a  small  thin 
place  in  wearing  apparel,  especially  in  mus- 
lin or  cotton  goods.  Many  a  time  I  have 
been  told  "  there  is  a  '  brack  '  which  must 
be  darned  or  mended  immediately  or  it  will 
become  a  hole. ' '  This  use  of  the  word  agrees, 
I  think,  with  the  German,  signifying  to  ''di- 
vide or  assort,"  as  per  three  stars,  *  *  *, 
of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  R.  W.  L. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 


Buddhist  Priests  in  Mexico  (Vol.  iv, 
p.  34). — In  the  Buddhist  Ray  for  July, 
1890  (a  periodical  published  at  Santa  Cruz, 
Cal.),  there  is  a  cut  of  what  is  supposed  to 
be  a  figure  of  Buddha,  found  at  Palenque, 
in  Central  America.  It  appears  to  be,  in 
reality,  a  somewhat  Mexican ized  figure  of 
Gautama  Buddha.  The  paper,  accompanied 
by  this  cut,  is  full  of  interest,  but  many  of 
its  statements  seem  crude  and  unscientific. 
For  an  illustration  of  this  fault,  I  would 
refer  to  the  discovery  (quoted)  of  Gautama's 
name  in  Guatemala  and  in  Guatemozin.  A 
really  scientific  (and  not  ex  parte)  discus- 
sion of  the  various  seeming  finds  of  Bud- 
dhistic material  in  Mexico  is  something 
much  to  be  desired. 

RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Creeks  (Vol.  v,  pp.  105,  etc.). — A 
small  map  of  New  Hampshire  shows,  in  Coos 
county,  in  the  northern  part  of  that  State, 
the  following :  Nash's  creek,  Chickwolnepy 
creek,  and  Molnichwock  creek,  all  appa- 
rently mountain  streams.  There  is  also  a 
Pond  creek  in  Grafton  county.  I  wish  to 
thank  J.  W.  R.  for  calling  the  attention  of 
us  New  Englanders  to  these  creeks.  We 
Yankees  are  in  the  habit  of  looking  upon 
this  use  of  the  word  creek  as  a  Western  vul- 
garism ;  and  I,  for  one,  have  taken  some 
pride  in  our  New  England  exemption  from 
this  faulty  practice.  M.  R.  B. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Captain  of  My  Dreams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
131,  etc.). — I  accept  Q.'s  amendment 
thankfully  as  to  the  use  of  the  word  still, 
which  is  not  necessary  and  may  mislead 
such  as  do  not  exactly  apprehend  my  mean- 
ing, which  is  as  follows:  "Chaucer,  the 
morning  star  of  song,"  sets  the  poet  a- 
dreaming;  all  through  his  dreams  the 
morning  star  rules  (just  as  we  say  the  dog- 
star  rules,  when  it  is  astrologically  in  the 
ascendant)  ;  and  when  he  awakes  he  finds 
that  the  morning  star  is  really  in  the  ascend- 
ant, or  ruling.  The  real  captain  of  his 
dreams  may  possibly  be  Chaucer ;  in  which 
case,  by  an  extension  of  that  figure  which 
makes  Chaucer  a  morning  star,  the  morning 
star  itself  is  said  to  be  the  captain  of  the 


144 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  19,  1890. 


poet's  dreams.    But  this  would  be  a  concetto, 
rather  than  a  legitimate  figure  of  poetry. 
NEW  JERSEY.  G. 

Floating  Islands  (Vol.  v,  p.  132,  etc.). 
— September  13,  1834,  when  Darwin  was 
traversing  Central  Chili,  he  made  a  visit  to 
the  gold  mines  of  Yaquil,  which  are  situ- 
ated near  the  top  of  a  lofty  hill.  He  says  : 
"On  the  way  we  had  a  glimpse  of  Lake 
Tagua-tagua,  celebrated  for  its  floating 
islands,  which  have  been  described  by  M. 
Gay  (see  "  Annales  des  Sciences  Naturel- 
les,"  March,  1833).  They  are  composed 
of  the  stalks  of  various  dead  plants  inter- 
twined together  and  on  the  surface  of  which 
living  ones  take  root.  Their  form  is  gener- 
ally circular  and  their  thickness  from  four  to 
six  feet,  of  which  the  greater  part  is  im- 
mersed in  the  water.  As  the  wind  blows, 
they  pass  from  one  side  to  the  other,  and 
often  carry  horses  and  cattle  as  passengers  " 
("  Voyage  of  the  Beagle,"  p.  265). 
HARTFORD,  CONN.  F.  T.  C. 

Tennyson's  "Dragon-fly,"  etc.  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  1 3 1,  etc.). — I  think  I  can  so  paraphrase 
the  first  part  of  "The  Two  Voices"  that  "Q" 
will  understand  and  approve  my  interpreta- 
tion. As  far  as  possible,  I  will  use  "Q's" 
words : 

"  Voice :  '  You  are  so  miserable,  why  not 
die?' 

" Man :  'This  being  of  mine  is  too  won- 
derful to  be  destroyed.' 

"Voice:  'Perhaps  it  would  not  be  de- 
stroyed even  if  you  were  to  die.  I  saw  a 
larval  dragon-fly  burst  its  shell,  and  it  came 
forth  a  creature  of  far  higher  rank  than  it 
was  before.' 

"  Man  :  *  But  that  would  not  be  the  case 
with  me,  if  my  body  were  to  perish,  for  na- 
ture has  given  man  the  highest  place  in  the 
scale  of  creation.  There  is  no  higher  rank 
known  to  which  I  could  aspire.' 

"  Voice  :  '  Your  pride  blinds  you.  Is  it 
likely  that  there  are  no  beings  of  statelier 
rank  than  yours  in  all  the  hundred  million 
spheres  that  surround  this  earth  ?' 

"  '  Moreover '  (the  voice  went  on), '  if  you 
should  perish  utterly  there  would  be  plenty 
of  men  left  as  good  as  you,'  "  etc. 

This  interpretation  is,  I  venture  to  think, 


as  consistent  and  as  logical  as  any  ;  it  also 
avoids  one  weak  point  in  the  other  para- 
phrase, that  in  which  the  Voice  is  made  to 
say  :  "A  dragon-fly  is  more  wonderful  than 
you.'"  This  particular  poem  of  Tennyson's 
is  one  of  that  interesting  class  of  which 
much  or  little  can  be  made,  according  to 
the  receptivity  of  the  reader.  It  is  like 
wheat  that  is  crushed  and  injured  by  over- 
threshing;  or  like  grapes,  which,  if  pressed 
too  hard,  will  run  lees  instead  of  wine. 
The  mind  struggling  with  itself  does  not 
follow  out  logical  lines  of  thought ;  sugges- 
tion follows  tumultuously  upon  suggestion  ; 
a  cloud  of  despair  is  for  a  moment  lighted 
up  by  a  gleam  of  hope  and  light.  The  poet 
is  true  to  nature  throughout ;  but  he  does 
not  reason  according  to  scholastic  rules. 
NEW  JERSEY.  G. 

BODIES  AND   E>EF$IODIGALS. 

Book  News,  for  July,  contains  a  carefully  compiled 
"  Suggestive  List  of  Books  to  Read  Before  Going  to 
Europe,"  prepared  by  Sarah  W.  Cattell,  which  is  a 
summer-time  feature  of  this  number.  The  important 
books  of  the  month  have  reviews,  some  with  illustra- 
tions, and  the  descriptive  price  list  of  new  books  con- 
tains nearly  two  hundred  titles.  "  With  the  New 
Books;"  the  sketch  of  Jules  Verne  (with  the  author's 
portrait);  "A  New  Anglo-Indian  Writer,"  Rudyard 
Kipling ;  the  announcements,  notes,  and  other  miscel- 
lany are  most  attractive  reading,  and  maintain,  in  this 
number,  the  Book  News'  reputation  as  a  necessary 
guide  book  in  the  world  of  letters. 

The  Cosmopolitan  Magazine,  for  August,  will  contain 
perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  article  ever  published 
upon  "  Hypnotism."  It  was  secured  from  one  of  the 
two  most  celebrated  professors  of  the  weird  art,  the 
Frenchman  Donate,  and  the  illustrations  were  secured 
by  having  a  number  of  the  subjects  taken  to  the  photo- 
graph gallery  of  Mr.  Kurtz,  in  New  York,  and  there 
hypnotized  under  the  camera  by  Donate  himself.  The 
illustrations  show  very  fairly  the  frightful  powers  which 
the  hypnotizer  exerts;  and  the  whole  article  makes 
plain  asubject  which  is  exciting  much  attention  all  over 
the  world  at  this  time.  One  who  has  not  seen  the  facile 
movements  of  the  hypnotizer  and  the  change  which 
takes  place  in  the  victim  under  his  apparently  simple 
action,  cannot  for  a  moment  comprehend  the  wonderful 
powers  exercised.  One  moment  the  subject  looks  you 
in  the  eyes,  talks  to  you  as  any  other  person,  is  in  his 
right  mind  in  every  particular;  the  next,  under  a  mo- 
tion of  the  professor,  his  mind  is  as  completely  lost  to 
his  body  as  if  his  head  had  been  cut  off,  and  in  this 
condition,  subject  to  suggestions  of  the  operator,  sug- 
gestions which  may  be  carried  to  the  most  farcical  or 
the  most  terrible  results,  he  remains  until  recalled  to 
life  by  the  hypnotizer.  Never  before  has  a  number  of 
subjects  been  placed  under  the  camera  and  operated 
upon  in'this  way,  and  the  article  will  doubtless  be  re- 
ceived with  general  interest  throughout  the  country. 


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Queries  on  all  matters  of  general  literary  and 
historical  interest — folk-lore,  the  origin  of  prov- 
erbs, familiar  sayings,  popular  customs,  quota- 
tions, etc.,  the  authorship  of  books,  pamphlets, 
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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Coenties'  Slip,  New  York,  145— Maroon— Travel- 
ing Plant,  146 — Cruel  Plant — Moha — Greek  Island  Names, 
M7- 

QUERIES: — American  Cardinals — Countries  without  Snakes 
— Robbing  Peter  to  Pay  Paul — Breeching  Scholar,  147 — 
Tomohrit — Line  Islands— Oriana,  148. 

REPLIES  :— Cup  of  Agathocles— Jansonus— Flagellants  in 
Mexico,  148 — Stone  Rivers,  149. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  — The  Dreary 
Gleams  in  Locksley  Hall— Gamut— The  Long  S— Patience — 
Sunken  Islands — St.  Michael — Mai  Poena,  etc.,  150 — Ma- 
rimba— Area  of  Cities,  151 . 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— The  Captain  of  my  Dreams,  151— 
Earliest  Christian  Hymn — Plaquemine — Discoveries  by  Acci- 
dent— Musical  Sands,  152 — Buddhism  in  Lapland — Avalon, 
153 — Sub  Rosa — Pets  of  Distinguished  People — The  Dragon- 
fly in  "  The  Two  Voices  "— Clarenceux,  154 — Flying  Spiders 
— Chebacco-boat— Orthography  of  Alaskan  Names — Land- 
fall of  Columbus — Adam  de  St.  Victor,  155 — Ff  in  Proper 
Names — Translation  Wanted — Anagrams  in  Science — Ca- 
coethes  Scribendi,  156. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 156. 


COENTIES'  SLIP,  NEW  YORK. 

To  the  modern  New  Yorker  this  is  a  sin- 
gular-looking  word.  The  only  two  would-be 
explanations  of  it  that  I  have  yet  found  are 
equally  peculiar. 

One  is,  that  Coenties  is  a  compound  (!)  of 
Coen  and  Antey,  Coen  standing  for  Coenrad, 
the  land-owner,  and  Antey,  for  his  wife. 
Nothing  short  of  an  affidavit  signed  by  all 
the  Sellouts  and  Schepens  of  New  Amster- 
dam could  make  this  combination  be  ac- 
cepted by  any  serious  student  of  etymology, 
of  course. 

The  second  is,  that  Coenties  is  a  corrup- 
tion of  Countess,  the  slip  having  been  so 
named  in  honor  of  the  Earl  of  Bellomont's 
wife. 

That  the  locality  was  thus  officially 
named  at  the  time,  and  for  the  reason  just 


146 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  26,  1890. 


mentioned,  cannot  be  denied  ;  that  Coen- 
ties  was  afterwards  derived  from  Countess 
is  quite  another  thing. 

One  might  perhaps  get  over  the  wonder- 
ful etymological  transformation  of  Countess 
into  Coenties  (and  its  variants  Coenjes,  Coen- 
jies~)  ;  after  all,  it  could  not  "  hold  a  candle  " 
to  the  distorting  of  Verlettenberg  into  Flat- 
ten Barrack,  Tuyn  Paatje  into  Tin  Pot, 
Kolk  into  Collect,  Krom  Messje  into  Gram- 
ercy,  Burgher  Jorisen  into  Boyer  Jori'  s,  etc., 
etc.  But  there  is  a  more  serious  difficulty 
in  the  way,  for  this  suggested  derivation 
would  imply  an  anachronism  worthy  of  the 
golden  days  of  Topsyturvydom! 

Now  what  does  history  say  on  this  point  ? 

1.  That  the  land  did  belong  to  a  worthy 
tanner,  Coenrad  ten  Eyck,  who  died  long 
before  Governor  Bellomont  came  to  this  city, 
and  that  the  slip  was  known  as  Coenrad' s  as 
well  as  Coentjes,  etc. 

2.  That   the    practice,    not    uncommon 
among  us,  of  curtailing  personal  names  in 
familiar  language   was  carried-  out  by  the 
Dutch  to  an  extraordinary  extent. 

Thus,  among  them,  a  noted  skipper,  Bart- 
\iQ\ometts  van  Hoogeboom,  was  called  indif- 
ferently Bator  Mees,  and  left  after  him  a  relic 
of  the  head  and  of  the  tail  of  his  name  in  Bat- 
ten Kill  and  Meesen  Kill.  Rut  did  duty  for 
Rutgert;  hence  Rutten  Kill,  the  property  of 
Rutgert  Bleecker,  etc.,  etc.  And  to  these 
abbreviations  they  were  fond  of  adding  a 
friendly  little  suffix,  je,  tje,  just  like  our  own 
if  or  y  in  Kate,  Katie  ;  Bob,  Bobby,  etc. 
Hence  we  find  Nicolas,  Claas  (dear  old  San 
Claus!),  Claasje;  Sara,  Saartje;  Jacobus, 
Koos,  Koosje,  etc.* 

In  the  face  of  these  two  facts,  is  it  neces- 
sary to  write  out  the  equation  of  Mr.  Coen- 
rad ten  Eyck's  shorter  name,  Coen  -f  suffix 
tje  +  s  of  the  possessive  case  =  Coenties? 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


MAROON. 

According  to  most  of  the  dictionaries, 
this  word,  in  the  sense  of  an  escaped  negro 
slave,  or  a  mountaineer-negro,  comes  from 
the  Spanish  cimarron,  wild ;  but  Brockhaus' 

*  A  column  could  be  filled  with  abbreviations  of  this 
kind  in  daily  use  in  modern  Dutch. 


"  Conversations-Lexikon"  derives  it  from 
the  river  Maroni,  in  Guiana.  It  would  seem 
to  be  easier  to  name  the  river  from  the 
maroons  than  the  maroons  from  the  river. 
There  is  an  interesting  paper  on  the  maroons 
(runaway  negroes)  of  Jamaica  and  Nova 
Scotia  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Canadian 
Institute  for  April,  1890.  These  people  sub- 
mitted in  1798,  not  to  the  terrors  of  British 
arms,  but  to  their  fear  of  Cuban  blood- 
hounds, which  had  been  taken  in  considerable 
numbers  to  Jamaica  to  aid  in  the  struggle. 
After  two  years  of  un thrift  in  Nova  Scotia, 
the  maroons  were  sent,  in  1800,  to  Sierra 
Leone,  where  it  appears  that  some  of  their 
descendants  now  occupy  honorable  posi- 
tions. This  exportation  of  the  maroons 
should  not  be  confused  with  the  deportation 
of  the  colored  Nova  Scotia  loyalists,  whose 
departure  for  Sierra  Leone  occurred  in  1792, 
eight  years  before  that  of  the  maroons. 
Quite  a  number  of  years  later,  Paul  Cuffee, 
a  half-negro,  half-Indian  shipmaster  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, began  a  series  of  voyages  to  Sierra 
Leone,  to  which  country  he  deported  many 
negroes,  chiefly  from  New  England. 

P.  R.  E. 
OHIO.  

A  TRAVELING  PLANT. 

This  is  the  ''Adam  and  Eve,"  or  "  Putty- 
root,"  of  the  common  people;  but  the 
Aplectrum  hymedle  of  botanists;  and  is 
said  to  have  the  singular  habit  of  shifting 
its  locality  to  a  degree,  amounting  to  an 
inch  annually ;  so  that  if  a  corm  or  tuber 
were  planted  in  front  of  a  person's  house, 
in  one  hundred  years  thereafter,  other  things 
being  equal,  he  would  find  that  it  had 
moved  one  hundred  inches,  in  a  westward 
direction.  After  the  first  year  it  gets  a  new 
corm  annually,  and  one  becomes  dissipated 
annually.  As  the  new  corm  makes  its  ap- 
pearance, attached  to  a  thick  fibre,  and 
about  one  inch  from  the  old,  that  is  about 
the  meed  of  its  annual  progress — not  very 
conspicuous,  it  is  true,  but  still  sufficient 
to  demonstrate  the  fact.  Nor  must  this  fact 
be  criticised  too  closely,  because  sometimes 
the  old  corm  continues  for  more  than  a 
year.  The  locale  of  this  plant  is  from  Can- 
ada to  Florida,  but  it  is  rare  everywhere ; 
in  a  life-time  of  eight-and-seventy  years,  I 


July  26, -1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


only  saw  and  handled  a  single  plant,  and 
that  was  forty  years  ago,  in  Donegal  town- 
ship, Lancaster  county,  Pa.  S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


CRUEL  PLANT. 

The  Proceedings  of  the  Canadian  Institute 
for  April,  1890,  contain  two  papers  upon 
the  Cruel  Plant  (Physianthus  albens},  a  na- 
tive of  tropical  America.  The  flowers  are 
provided  with  five  pairs  of  jaws  (leaflets) 
that  close  upon  the  proboscis  of  any  moth 
which  attempts  to  extract  honey  from  the 
blossom  ;  and  the  insect  is  held  a  prisoner 
until  it  dies.  This  plant  belongs  to  the 
tribe  of  asclepiads  (milk-weed  family).  The 
plant  is  highly  ornamental  in  culture,  hav- 
ing pure  white,  fragrant  flowers,  much  like 
the  tuberose  in  appearance.  An  instructive 
notice  of  this  plant  is  to  be  found  in  Hen- 
derson's "Hand-book  of  Plants,"  Art. 
"Physianthus."  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

MOHA. 

Webster  and  Worcester  both  define  moha 
as  German  millet;  the  "Century  Diction- 
ary" and  the  "Imperial,"  as  Italian  millet; 
the  distinction  being  varietal  according  to 
the  "  Century,"  but  specific  according  to 
many  botanists.  Mohar  would  seem  to  be 
a  better  spelling,  and,  according  to  the 
Brockhaus  "  Lexikon,"  mohar  is  a  popular 
(German)  name  for  the  German  millet. 
Moha  occurs  in  some  French  books.  None 
of  the  dictionaries  explain  the  origin  of  the 
name.  Some  say  that  the  grain  originally 
came  from  Thibet.  *  *  * 


GREEK  ISLAND  NAMES. 

According  to  Rev.  Mr.  Tozer's  late  book 
on  the  Greek  islands,  the  names  Stanco  (or 
Stanchio)  for  the  island  of  Kos,  Scarpanto 
for  Karpathos,  and  Stalimene  for  Lemnos, 
are  now  totally  forgotten  in  the  islands,  the 
old  Greek  names  being  completely  restored. 
Yet  many  of  our  modern  dictionaries  and 
geographies  go  on  repeating  the  Italianized 
lingua  franca  names  as  the  present  colloquial 
names  of  the  islands.  ILDERIM. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


B  S. 


American  Cardinals.  —  It  is  commonly 
said  that  the  late  Cardinal  McCloskey  was 
the  first  American-born  clergyman  ever  cre- 
ated a  cardinal.  Is  this  correct  ? 

S.  E.  STEPHENS. 

LONG  BRANCH. 

Cardinal  McCloskey  was  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  cardinal-priest  in  1875.  Cardinal 
Juan  Ignacio  Moreno,  Bishop  of  Toledo,  in 
Spain,  who  was  born  at  Guatemala,  in  Cen- 
tral America,  was  created  a  cardinal-priest 
in  1868.  We  do  not  know  of  any  earlier 
elevation  of  an  American-born  clergyman  to 
the  cardinalate. 

Countries  without  Snakes. — What  other 
country,  besides  Ireland,  has  no  snakes  ? 

ISLANDER. 
MAINE. 

New  Zealand,  Iceland,  the  Arctic  and 
Antarctic  regions,  Newfoundland,  and  many 
sea-islands. 

Robbing  Peter  to  Pay  Paul.— What  is  the 

origin  of  this  phrase  ?  F.  L.  P. 

HUDSON,  N.  Y. 

See  the  Magazine  of  American  History, 
Feb.,  1890,  p.  170,  where  it  is  stated  that 
in  1540  the  abbey  church  of  St.  Peter's, 
Westminster,  was  advanced  to  the  dignity 
of  a  cathedral  church;  but  in  1550  it  lost 
its  cathedral  rank,  and  some  part  of  its  rev- 
enues was  appropriated  to  make  up  a  deficit 
in  the  income  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Lon- 
don. 

Breeching  Scholar. — What  does  Bianca 
mean  in  "The  Taming  of  the  Shrew,"  when 
she  says,  "  I  am  no  breeching  scholar  in  the 
schools?"  F.  O. 

NEW  ORLEANS. 

A  breeching  scholar,  in  a  narrow  sense, 
is  understood  to  have  been  a  boy  whose 
lot  it  was  to  receive  the  punishments  due 
to  a  fellow-pupil  of  higher  rank.  Thus 
Barnaby  Fitzpatrick  is  reported  to  have 
been  the  recipient  of  chastisements  due 


T48 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  26,  1890. 


to  Edward  VI  during  their  pupilage.  In 
Samuel  Rowley's  play,  "When  You  See 
Me  You  Know  Me"  (1613),  this  practice  is 
described  at  length.  When  Charles  I  was 
a  school-boy,  one  Murray  used  to  take  his 
floggings.  When  Louis  XV  was  a  child, 
being  also  king,  he  had,  says  Mme.  du  Def- 
fand,  "un  petit  hussar"  who  was  beaten 
when  the  king  failed  to  say  his  lesson  well. 
In  Nichols'  "Memoir  of  Henry  Fitzroy, 
Duke  of  Richmond"  (1855),  tn^s  ^s  record- 
ed:  "It  appears  that  the  duke  was  not 
educated  alone,  but  several  young  noble- 
men were  brought  together  to  be  his  school- 
fellows *  *  *  to  excite  him  to  emula- 
tion, and  further  by  the  punishments  they 
received,  to  let  him  see  what  he  deserved, 
that  he  might  in  some  measure  dread  the 
like  discipline,  even  if  he  did  not  sustain  it 
in  his  own  person."  In  a  wider  sense,  it  is 
probable  that  any  pupil  not  of  too  high  a 
rank  to  be  flogged  in  school  would  be  called 
a  breeching  scholar ;  probably  Bianca  uses 
the  term  in  this  sense.  See  note,  "  The 
Breeching  Boy,"  in  the  work  just  cited,  p. 
xcii. 

Tomohrit. — What  and  where  is  Tomohrit, 
mentioned  by  Tennyson,  in  his  lines  "To 
E.  L.,  on  his  Travels  in  Greece?" 

OBED. 

Tomohrit,  called  "vast  Tomorit,"  by 
Byron,  is  a  mountain  in  the  Epirus ;  it  may 
be  the  Mount  Tomarus  of  the  ancients,  near 
which  Dodona  stood. 

Line  Islands. — Where  are  the  Line  islands? 

T.  L.  T. 

BAYONNE,  N.  J. 

We  understand  that  in  Pacific-ocean  com- 
merce the  islands  near  the  equator  are  often 
called  the  Line  islands. 

Oriana. — Who  was  the  Oriana  that  gives 
name  to  Tennyson's  well-known  ballad  ? 

F.  L.  P. 

HUDSON,  N.  Y. 

Oriana  was  a  favorite  name  in  olden  times. 
The  literary  courtiers  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
called  her  "the  fair"  or  "the  matchless 


Oriana."  Anne,  queen  of  James  I,  was 
also  called  Oriana.  The  renowned  Amadis 
of  Gaul,  the  hero  of  a  whole  cycle  of  ro- 
mances, was  the  lover,  and  later  the  hus- 
band, of  Oriana,  daughter  of  Lisuarte,  King 
of  England.  This  Oriana  was  the  fairest 
and  most  faithful  of  women,  but  not  in 
every  way  the  wisest.  Another  Oriana 
figures  in  the  romance  of  "  Florisel  de 
Niquea"  (1532),  and  marries  Anaxartes  the 
Strong.  But  we  know  of  no  connection  be- 
tween any  of  these  Orianas  and  the  one  in 
Tennyson.  Some  of  our  correspondents 
may  be  able  to  help  you  further. 

REPLIES. 

Cup  of  Agathocles  (Vol.  v,  p.  139).— 
Agathocles,  the  son  of  a  potter,  became 
tyrant  of  Sicily,  and  of  course  the  pot  re- 
minded him  continually  of  his  own  humble 
origin.  Hence,  like  a  poor  relation,  Agatho- 
cles' pot  was  a  thorn  in  the  flesh. 

L.  F.  L. 

CINCINNATI,  O. 

The  allusion  is  to  the  famous  or  infamous 
tyrant  of  Syracuse,  who  was  the  son  of  a 
potter,  and  is  believed  to  have  himself 
worked  at  the  same  trade.  According  to 
Justin,  "  he  attained  greatness  equal  to  that 
of  the  elder  Dionysius,  and  rose  to  royal 
dignity  from  the  lowest  and  meanest  origin." 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Jansonus  (Vol.  v,  p.  65). — The  "Mun- 
dus  Furiosus,"  concerning  which  inquiry  is 
made,  was  printed  at  Cologne  in  1596.  Its 
author  is  called  Jansenius  Gallobelgicus. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Flagellants  in  Mexico  (Vol.  v,  p.  139). — 
Flagellation,  self-inflicted,  is  practiced  to 
a  considerable  extent  in  Mexico  by  a  class 
of  religious  enthusiasts  called  Penitences. 
Whether  these  belong  to  any  established 
order  or  not,  I  cannot  say.  It  is  my  impres- 
sion, however,  that  it  is  simply  a  custom 
that  has  become  traditional.  On  one  occa- 
sion I  saw  about  a  dozen  ugly-looking  vil- 
lains going  along  the  streets  chanting  and 


July  26,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


149 


striking  their  nearly  naked  bodies  with 
switches  made  of  twigs  of  oquitilla,  a  growth 
remarkable  for  its  long  sharp  thorns.  Al- 
most every  inch  of  their  bodies  was  lacer- 
ated by  the  sharp  spines  of  the  oquitilla, 
and  blood  was  streaming  copiously  from 
scores  of  wounds.  I  was  informed  that  not 
infrequently  death  from  loss  of  blood  and 
exhaustion  followed  the  observance  of  the 
custom.  A  suggestive  feature  of  the  proces- 
sion was  that  each  flagellant  wore  a  crown 
of  thorns.  I  was  also  told  that  the  custom 
was  not  sanctioned  by  the  Catholic  Church. 

J.  W.  R. 
PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

Self-flagellation  is  still  practiced  in  New 
Mexico.  A  very  interesting  ten-page  article 
on  the  subject,  by  Charles  F.  Lummis,  ap- 
peared in  the  Cosmopolitan  for  May,  1889. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Stone  Rivers  (Vol.  v,  p.  126). — Of  the 
geological  phenomenon  on  the  east  coast  of 
Patagonia,  alluded  to,  Prof.  Ansted  re- 
marks :  "The  Patagonian  steppes  are  only  of 
moderate  elevation.  They  are  at  a  dead 
level  and  covered  with  shingles  to  a  consid- 
erable thickness.  These  stones  have  all 
been  brought  down  from  the  Andes  and  are 
water-worn.  Over  them  are  innumerable 
boulders  or  stones  of  a  larger  size,  which 
have  probably  been  transported  by  ice' '  (see 
D.  T.  Ansted's  "Physical  Geography,"  p. 
no). 

Darwin  makes  three  references  in  his 
"Journal"  to  the  same  phenomenon,  as 
follows : 

"From  the  Strait  of  Magellan  to  the 
Colorado,  a  distance  of  about  eight  hundred 
miles,  the  face  of  the  country  everywhere  is 
composed  of  shingle ;  the  pebbles  are  chiefly 
of  porphyry,  and  probably  owe  their  origin 
to  the  rocks  of  the  Cordillera.  North  of 
the  Cordillera,  this  bed  thins  out  and  the 
pebbles  become  exceedingly  small"  (1883, 
Chap,  iv,  p.  75). 

"These  beds  of  soft  white  stone,  includ- 
ing much  gypsum  and  resembling  chalk, 
but  really  of  a  pumiceous  nature,  are  every- 
where capped  by  a  mass  of  gravel,  forming 
one  of  the  largest  beds  of  shingle  in  the 


world.  When  we  consider  that  all  these 
pebbles  have  been  derived  from  the  slow 
falling  of  masses  of  rock  on  the  old  coast 
line  and  banks  of  rivers,  that  these  frag- 
ments have  been  shaped  into  smaller  pieces, 
and  that  each  of  them  has  since  been  slowly 
rolled,  rounded,  and  far  transported,  the 
mind  is  stupefied  in  thinking  over  the  long 
lapse  of  years  necessary  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  work.  Yet  all  this  gravel  has 
been  transported,  and  probably  rounded 
subsequently  to  the  deposition  of  the  white 
beds,  and  long  subsequently  to  the  under- 
lying beds  of  gigantic  oyster  shells"  (1833, 
Chap,  viii,  p.  171). 

A  third  reference  occurs  in  the  chapter 
on  Buenos  Ayres,  p.  329,  "  Voyage  of  the 
Beagle." 

Darwin  also  describes  the  "streams  of 
stones"  in  the  Falklands,  but  does  not  ac- 
count for  their  origin.  He  concludes  his 
remarks  by  predicting  that  the  progress  of 
knowledge  will  soon  give  a  simple  explana- 
tion of  this  phenomenon,  the  counterpart  of 
which  it  would  be  vain  to  seek  in  any  his- 
torical record. 

Darwin's  prediction  found  its  fulfillment 
about  forty  years  afterwards  in  the  observa- 
tions of  Sir  C.  Wyville  Thomson  (d.  1882), 
who  says :  "  The  origin  of  these  '  stone 
rivers'  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  larger  hard 
beds  of  quartzite  are  denuded  by  the  disin- 
tegration of  the  softer  layers.  Their  sup- 
port being  removed,  they  break  away  in  the 
direction  of  natural  joints,  and  the  frag- 
ments fall  down  the  slope  upon  the  vegeta- 
ble soil.  This  soil  is  spongy,  and  under- 
going alternate  contraction  and  expansion, 
from  being  alternately  comparatively  dry 
and  saturated  with  moisture,  allows  the 
heavy  blocks  to  slip  down  by  weight  into 
the  valley  where  they  become  piled  up ;  the 
valley  stream  afterwards  removing  the  soil 
from  among  and  over  them"  (extract,  "Falk- 
land Islands,"  "Encycl.  Brit."). 

See,  also,  for  more  extended  remarks  on 
the  phenomenon,  "The  Voyage  of  the  Chal- 
lenger" Sir  Wyville  Thomson,  Vol.  ii,  pp. 
245-8. 

In  this  connection  I  am  reminded  of  the 
Valley  of  Stones,  Lynmouth,  North  Devon- 
shire, England,  of  which  Southey  says: 
"  Ascending  from  Lynmouth  up  a  road  ser- 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  26,  1890. 


pentining  perpendicularly,  you  reach  a  lane 
which,  by  a  slight  descent,  leads  to  the  Val- 
ley of  Stones.  This  spot  is  one  of  the  great- 
est wonders  in  the  west  of  England,  and 
would  attract  many  visitors  if  the  road  were 
passable  for  carriages.  Imagine  a  narrow 
vale  between  two  ridges  of  hills  somewhat 
steep  ;  the  southern  hill  turfed  and  the  vale 
which  runs  from  east  to  west  covered  with 
large  stones  and  fragments  of  stones  among 
the  ferns  that  fill  it;  the  northern  ridge  com- 
pletely bare,  excoriated  of  all  turf  and  of  all 
soil,  the  very  bone  and  skeleton  of  the 
earth  ;  rock  reclining  upon  rock,  stone 
piled  upon  stone,  a  huge  and  terrific  mass. 
A  palace  of  the  Preadamite  kings,  a  city  of 
the  Anakim,  must  have  appeared  so  shape- 
less and  yet  so  like  the  ruins  of  what 
had  been  shaped  ere  the  waters  of  the  flood 
had  subsided."  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


110  ©OF^ESPONDENTS. 


The  Dreary  Gleams  in  "Locksley 
Hall."  —  There  has  been  much  dispute  in 
books  and  magazines  (Shepard's  Tennysoni- 
ana,  the  English  Notes  and  Queries,  etc.)  as 
to  the  construction  and  meaning  of  the  sec- 
ond line  of  the  second  stanza  of  "  Locksley 
Hall: 

"  'Tis  the  place,  and  all  around  it,  as  of  old,  the  curlews 

call, 

Dreary  gleams  about  the  moorland  flying  over  Locks- 
ley  Hall." 

Has  the  question  ever  been  settled,  and,  if 
so,  how?  M.  N. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Gamut.  —  Everybody  has  heard  of  the 
lines  written  by  Paulus  Diaconus,  whence 
Guido  of  Arezzo  is  said  to  have  taken  the 
ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  etc.,  of  the  gamut.  I  refer 
to  the  well-known 

"  Ut  queant  laxis  resonare  fibris,"  etc. 

In  the  year  1866  or  1867  (I  think  it  was  in 
one  of  those  years),  I  read  in  a  stray  copy  of 
The  Congregationalist  newspaper  another 
Latin  stanza,  or  set  of  lines,  whence  it  is  pos- 
sible to  construct  the  words  of  the  gamut. 
Can  any  one  tell  me  where  I  can  find  this 


last  stanza?  My  impression  is  that  the 
stanza  from  Paulus  Diaconus  must  be  its 
genuine  original ;  the  hymn  itself  finds  a 
place  in  the  Breviary.  The  other  verses 
must  have  been  written  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  introducing  the  names  of  the  mu- 
sical notes  in  their  order.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  Long  S  (Vol.  iv,  p.  45).— What  is 
the  date  of  the  latest  book  in  which  the 
long  s  is  used — reprints,  of  course,  excepted? 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Patience. — There  is  a  good  old-fash- 
ioned English  herb,  Rumex  patientia,  called 
in  popular  speech,  patience,  or  patience  dock. 
The  botanists  do  not  usually  recognize  it  as 
a  naturalized  American  plant ;  but  on  our 
old  homestead,  in  New  England,  it  grew 
abundantly.  What  gave  the  plant  its  sin- 
gular name?  It  is  called  by  similar  names 
in  various  European  languages. 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  198,  etc.). 
— According  to  an  article  in  "Appleton's 
Cyclopaedia,"  the  very  considerable  island 
of  Aurora,  in  Melanesia,  disappeared  several 
years  ago.  But  I  believe  the  statement  to 
be  incorrect ;  for  several  late  geographical 
notices  contain  allusions  to  the  island.  Can 
any  of  your  correspondents  give  me  infor- 
mation about  the  point  in  question  ? 

RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

St.  Michael. — Information  wanted  re- 
garding the  legend  of  "  St.  Michael  and  All 
Angels."  Why  is  that  saint's  name  par- 
ticularly appropriate  for  a  Home  for  "  Col- 
ored Crippled  Children  ?"  ?  ?  ? 

So.  BOAR'S  HEAD,  N.  H. 

Mai  Poena,  etc. — Can  any  of  your 
readers  translate  the  following  phrase,  tell- 
ing me  what  language  or  dialect  it  is  ? 

"  Mai  poena  ve  iau." 

J.  C. 

GARRISONS-ON-HUDSON,  N.  Y. 


July  26,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Marimba. — To  what  African  language 
does  this  word  belong?  It  is  the  name  of 
some  kind  of  a  musical  instrument. 

J.  E.  C. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Area  of  Cities. — What  is  the  present 
area  of  Chicago?  What  is  that  of  New 
Orleans?  J.  R  R. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

d>OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

The  Captain  of  My  Dreams  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  131,  etc.). — The  morning  star 
very  appropriately  dominated  Tennyson's 
"  Dream,"  since  the  vision  was  suggested 
by  •'  the  morning  star  of  song."  It  is  given 
the  first  place  in  the  description  of  the  scene 
where  the  visionary  figures  made  their  ap- 
pearance ;  and  it  was  towards  it,  as  if  re- 
turning to  the  source  of  her  inspiration, 
that  Jephtha's  daughter  "past  afar." 

But  this  morning  star  could  hardly  have 
been  Venus.  Far  more  probably  it  was 
Mars  or  Saturn,  for  it  was  not  upon  love 
that  the  poet  had  been  pondering  before  his 
"down-lapsing  thought"  sank  "  into  the 
gulfs  of  sleep,"  but  upon  "beauty  and  an- 
guish walking  hand  in  hand,"  upon  wrong, 
confusion,  and  wars.  To  my  apprehension, 
however,  "  G.'s"  choice  of  a  word  for  in- 
terpolation in  the  phrase,  "  the  captain  of 
my  dreams  [still]  ruled  in  the  eastern  sky," 
is  not  quite  satisfactory. 

If  we  must  understand  that  the  dream  was 
completely  ended  when  Cleopatra's  sharp 
words  loosened  the  spell,  and  that  the  three 
heroines  mentioned  afterwards  were  merely 
remembered  as  those  who  might  have  made 
part  of  the  vision  had  it  continued,  then 
"really"  or  "actually"  would  seem  the 
better  word  to  supply.  On  waking,  the 
poet  found  the  same  planet  really  in  the  as- 
cendant that  had  commanded  in  his  dream. 

But  if  we  may  suppose  that  a  little  space 
intervened  between  folded  sleep  and  clear 
awakening,  where  dream  and  remembrances 
were  intermingled,  and  wherein  were  seen 
Margaret  Roper  and  the  two  named  with  her, 
then  the  word  "still"  is  even  less  needed, 
because  an  advance  is  indicated  which  that 


word  would  obscure.  When  the  scene  was 
first  set,  the  morning  star  gleamed  in  its 
"maiden  splendor" — just  risen — but  at  the 
close  it  had  mounted  so  far  that  it  "  ruled 
in  the  eastern*  sky;"  a  description  surely 
inapplicable  to  a  star  whose  earliest  beams 
were  still  trembling  above  the  horizon. 

M.  C.  L. 
GREEN  MOUNTAINS,  VT. 

Hermes,  whom  the  Romans  perhaps  in- 
correctly identified  with  their  god  Mercury, 
was,  in  an  especial  manner,  the  captain  or 
director  of  dreams.  But  it  appears  that  not 
any  one  of  the  old  Greek  deities  was  without 
the  power  of  despatching  dreams  to  men. 
These  points  may  possibly  assist  your  cor- 
respondent Q.  in  his  attempt  to  find  the 
true  meaning  of  the  passage  referred  to  as 
above.  But  the  Sun  is  hardly  the  sender  of 
dreams.  Hermes  was  a  night-god,  as  well 
as  the  dawn-god,  and  his  caduceus  lulled 
men  and  animals  to  sleep.  F.  M. 

NEW  YORK. 

It  happens  that  I  can  settle  the  dispute 
about  these  passages.  The  "  captain  of  my 
dreams"  is  the  morning  star,  or  the  planet 
Venus  ;  but  "  G."  is  wrong  in  his  explana- 
tion of  the  poet's  meaning.  Venus  is  the 
captain  of  his  dreams  of  fair  women  for  the 
simple  reason  that  she  is  the  fairest  of  fair 
women,  human  or  divine. 

As  to  the  dragon-fly,  Mr.  Tainsh  is  right, 
as  I  always  thought,  and  Peter  Bayne,  Prof. 
Corson,  "G.,"  and  others  are  wrong. 
"G.'s"  attempt  to  make  the  context  con- 
sistent with  his  interpretation  is  ingenious 
but  unsatisfactory.  It  is  a  good  example  of 
what  can  be  done  in  twisting  a  passage  to  fit 
a  mistaken  view  of  it — better  than  any  other 
I  have  seen  given  in  this  particular  case ; 
much  better,  I  may  add,  than  the  prepos- 
terous exegesis  of  the  Mary  Howitt  passage 
concerning  Mary  and  the  singing  kettle. 
By  the  way,  "G.'s"  little  joke  about  my 
putting  Mary  into  the  kettle  is  pointless,  for 
I  merely  say  that  she  sings  there  by  making 
the  water  sing,  which  is  precisely  what  he 
says  in  making  sing  a  causative  verb. 

I  regret  that  Mary  Howitt  is  not  alive 
that  we  might  appeal  to  her  for  a  decision 
of  the  question.  I  am  confident  that  she 


152 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  26,  1890. 


would  say  I  am  right,  as  Tennyson  did  when 
I  asked  him  whether  I  was  right  or  not  in 
my  explanation  of  the  two  passages  men- 
tioned above.  Prof.  Corson  and  others 
who  took  ground  against  me  would  not  give 
up  until  the  poet  had  approved  my  explana- 
tion. 

The  "  mill-dam  rushing  down  with  noise" 
is  an  obvious  metonymy  of  a  very  familiar 
type — "the  cause  for  the  effect,"  the  dam 
which  raises  the  water  and  makes  it  rush 
down  being  put  for  the  water  itself. 

W.  J.  R. 

Earliest  Christian  Hymn  (Vol.  v,  p. 
67). — "When  our  Lord  and  His  disciples 
'had  sung  an  hymn,'  they  left  the  place 
where  they  had  observed  the  passover,  and 
went  out  to  the  Mount  of  Olives.  This 
hymn  was  the  Great  Hallel,  consisting  of 
Psalms  113  to  118  inclusive.  *  *  *  We 
thus  know,  with  singular  accuracy,  what 
was  the  first  hymn  of  praise  in  the  Christian 
Church"  (Duffield's  "Latin  Hymns,"  p.  i). 

The  "PhosHilaron"  (see  Vol.  iv,  p.  234; 
Vol.  v,  p.  67)  was  not  the  work  of  Athenage- 
nes,  and  is  probably  of  a  later  date  than  his. 
Longfellow's  translation  of  it,  "  O  Glad- 
some Light,"  appears  in  his  "Golden 
Legend. ' '  A  fourth  version  is  by  Dr.  Keble. 

ILDERIM. 

Plaquemine  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  214,  etc.). — It 
is  said,  I  know  not  how  correctly,  that  Pluck- 
amin  (or  Pluckemin),  the  name  of  a  town  in 
New  Jersey,  is  the  same  as  Plaquemine,  a 
persimmon-tree.  Persimmon-trees  are  very 
common  in  New  Jersey,  and  so  are  opos- 
sums; although  "Appleton's  Cyclopaedia" 
tells  us  that  opossums  are  not  found  in  this 
State.  M.  W.  O. 

PLAINFIELD,  N.  J. 

Discoveries  by  Accident  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
143,  etc.). — Guano  was  discovered  on  Baker 
island,  then  called  New  Nantucket  (in  the 
Pacific,  lat.  o°  13'  30"  N.,  Ion.  176°  29'  30" 
W.),  by  an  accident.  A  sailor  had  died  on 
a  sperm-whaleship,  and  was  buried  upon 
the  island.  In  digging  his  grave  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  soil  was  composed  of  guano. 

E.  J.  W.  ROE. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 


Musical  Sands  (Vol.  iv,  p.  152). — The 
so-called  "barking  sands"  of  Kauai  are 
mentioned  in  the  works  of  several  travelers 
in  the  Hawaiian  islands,  and  have  a  world- 
wide fame  as  a  natural  curiosity ;  as  a  rule, 
however,  the  printed  accounts  are  meagre 
in  details  and  show  the  authors  to  have  been 
unacquainted  with  similar  phenomena  else- 
where. 

"  Jointly  with  Dr.  Alexis  A.  Julien,  of  Col- 
umbia College,  New  York,"  writes  Professor 
Bolton  in  the  Honolulu  A  dvertiser,  "I  have 
been  studying  the  properties  of  sonorous 
sand  for  a  long  time,  and  have  visited  many 
localities  in  America,  Europe,  and  Asia; 
hence  I  was  able  during  a  recent  visit  to 
Kauai  to  make  some  notes  and  comparisons 
that  may  interest  the  residents  of  this  king- 
dom. 

"Notwithstanding  recent  rains,  I  found 
the  sand  on  the  dune  at  Mana  dry  to  the 
depth  of  four  or  five  inches,  and  when  pushed 
down  the  steep  incline,  it  gave  out  a  deep 
base  note  having  a  tremulous  character. 
This  hardly  resembles  the  '  barking'  of  a 
dog ;  but  a  sound  somewhat  like  it  is  pro- 
duced by  plunging  the  hands  into  the  sand 
and  bringing  them  vigorously  together.  An- 
other way  is  to  fill  a  long  bag  three-quarters 
full  of  sand,  and  then,  dividing  its  contents 
into  two  parts,  holding  one  in  each  hand, 
to  clap  the  two  portions  together.  This  I 
found  to  be  a  good  method  for  testing  the 
sonorousness  of  sand  on  sea  beaches.  A 
bag  of  the  sand  will  preserve  its  acoustic 
qualities  a  long  time  if  kept  dry,  and  not 
too  frequently  manipulated.  The  angle  at 
which  the  sand  lies  where  it  falls  over  the 
dune  is  thirty-one  degrees;  the  sonorous- 
ness extends  several  hundred  feet  along  the 
dune,  being  interrupted  by  a  creeping  vine 
that  thrives  marvelously  in  such  a  soil. 

"  A  similar  dune  of  sonorous  sand  occurs 
in  Nilhau,  and  has  long  been  known  to  resi- 
dents of  the  island ;  and  it  has  been  also  re- 
ported to  occur  near  Koloa. 

"  Sonorous  sand  is  of  more  common  oc- 
currence than  is  generally  supposed.  It  is 
found  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United 
States  from  Maine  to  Florida,  on  the  Pacific 
coast  in  Europe,  Japan,  Africa,  Tasmania, 
etc.,  as  well  as  on  the  shores  of  many  fresh- 
water lakes.  In  these  localities  it  forms 


July  26,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


153 


areas  between  low  tide  and  the  base  of  ad- 
joining dunes,  and  emits  sounds  only  when 
subjected  to  friction  by  the  feet  and  hands 
or  in  a  bag  as  described. 

"  At  Jebel  Nagous,  in  Arabia,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  sand  rests  in  a  ravine  and  pro- 
duces sound  only  when  it  rolls  down  the  in- 
cline (which  it  often  does  spontaneously) 
and  fails  to  respond  to  kicks  and  cuffs.  The 
sand  at  Mana,  as  shown,  unites  in  itself 
both  these  acoustic  properties.  The  angle 
at  which  the  sand  lies  at  Jebel  Nagous  is  the 
same  as  at  Mana,  thirty-one  degrees  being 
the  'angle  of  rest'  for  fine  dry  sand.  The 
musical  notes  obtained  at  these  far-separated 
localities  are  also  the  same,  but  in  Arabia 
the  incline  is  three  hundred  feet  high,  and 
consequently  the  sounds  are  far  louder, 
especially  as  they  are  further  magnified  by 
being  echoed  from  adjoining  cliffs. 

"  The  sand  at  Kauai  and  Nilhau  is  made  up 
of  fragments  of  shell  and  coral,  while  that 
of  all  other  localities  known  to  us  (over  one 
hundred  in  number)  is  siliceous.  This 
shows  that  the  sonorousness  is  independent 
of  material.  Examination  under  the  micro- 
scope further  shows  that  the  sonorous  quality 
is  not  connected  with  the  shape  of  the  grains. 
Sonorous  sand  is  distinguished  by  being  re- 
markably free  from  fine  dust  or  silt ;  the  indi- 
vidual grains  are  very  uniform  in  size.  It 
is  very  easy  to  deprive  sand  of  its  acoustic 
power,  by  mixing  a  little  earth  with  it,  or 
by  wetting  it.  It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossi- 
ble, to  restore  to  sand  its  sonorous  quality 
when  once  'killed.' 

' '  A  number  of  hypotheses  have  been  pro- 
posed to  explain  the  cause  of  this  curious 
property  of  certain  sands.  The  prevalent 
idea  in  these  islands  that  the  sound  is  due 
to  the  cellular  structure  of  the  sand  must  be 
abandoned,  since  most  sonorous  sand  is  not 
so  constituted,  that  of  Kauai  forming  an  ex- 
ception. Some  have  attributed  the  sonorous 
quality  to  saline  crusts,  others  to  electricity, 
effervescence  of  air  between  the  particles, 
reverberations  within  subterranean  cavities, 
and  to  solarization ;  and  one  author  attempts 
to  explain  the  phenomenon  by  writing  of 
1  a  reduplication  of  impulses  setting  air  in 
vibration  in  a  focus  of  echo.' 

"  These  theories  Dr.  Julien  and  I  reject  for 
reasons  I  cannot  here  detail,  and  we  believe 


the  true  cause  of  sonorousness  to  be  con- 
nected with  thin  pellicles  or  films  of  air  or 
of  gases  thence  derived,  deposited  and  con- 
densed upon  the  surface  of  the  sand  grains 
during  gradual -evaporation  after  wetting  by 
seas,  lakes,  or  rains.  By  virtue  of  these 
films  the  sand  grains  become  separated  by 
elastic  cushions  of  condensed  gases,  capable 
of  considerable  vibration,  and  whose  thick- 
ness we  have  approximately  determined. 
The  extent  of  the  vibration  and  the  volume 
and  pitch  of  the  sound  thereby  produced  we 
also  find  to  be  largely  dependent  upon  the 
forms,  structures,  and  surfaces  of  the  sand 
grains,  and  especially  upon  their  purity  or 
freedom  from  fine  silt  or  dust." 

Buddhism  in  Lapland  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
115,  etc.). — As  affording  a  curious  (but 
probably  not  important)  comment  on  this 
subject,  I  would  refer  to  the  alleged  recent 
discovery  of  Buddhistic  teaching  in  the 
writings  of  Swedenborg  (see  the  Buddhist 
Ray  for  July,  1890).  Also,  reference  may 
be  made  to  the  claims  set  up  by  Hargrave 
Jennings  and  others,  that  Buddhistic  sym- 
bols have  been  discovered  throughout  Eu- 
rope, and  especially  in  Ireland  and  the 
Hebrides.  For  my  own  part,  while  I  do 
not  for  a  moment  accept  these  claims,  I 
think  they  should  receive  due  attention. 
We  may  respect  the  industry,  and  wonder 
at  the  ingenuity  of  those  writers  who  make 
these  marvelous  finds ;  but  the  finds  them- 
selves we  should  study  carefully  and  inde- 
pendently. There  may  be  important  sug- 
gestions concealed  in  the  rubbish  collected 
by  the  labors  of  some  of  these  overzealous 
enthusiasts,  although  many  of  their  asser- 
tions seem  palpably  absurd.  R.  J. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Avalon  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  256,  etc.). —  Ynys yr 
Avallon  is  the  Welsh  for  Island  of  Apples. 
In  the  old  Welsh  mythology,  it  is  the  abode 
of  blessed  souls.  The  old  Irish  myths, 
pagan  and  Christian,  state  that  the  Islands 
of  the  Dead  abound  in  every  luxury — a 
plenty  of  apples  being  the  leading  feature. 
This  points  us  back  to  a  time  when,  in  Ire- 
land and  Britain  alike,  the  apple  was  a  rare 
and  costly  fruit.  D.  R.  S. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  26,  1890. 


Sub  Rosa  (Vol.  ii,  p.  282).— The  an- 
tiquity of  this  expression  is  illustrated  by 
the  following  from  the  "  Consultatio  Sacer- 
dotum"  of  Walter  Map:  "  Nonus  ait  deci- 
mus,  '  dicam  hie  sub  rosa,'  "  etc. 

G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 

Friend,  in  his  "  Flowers  and  Flower- 
Lore,"  p.  177,  relates  that  "in  Waldeck  it 
is  the  Rose  under  whose  silence  treasures  are 
safely  concealed."  P.  W.  R. 

BERLIN.  CONN. 

Pets  of  Distinguished  People  (Vol. 
v,  p.  117). — Robert  Southey's  Dogs,  Cupid, 
Dapper,  and  Miss. — Cupid  belonged  to  one 
of  Southey's  best  friends,  Mr.  Danvers,  of 
Bristol;  nevertheless  he  bestowed  a  large 
share  of  his  affection  on  the  poet,  who  was 
not  indifferent  to  it,  as  appears  from  the 
following  remembrance  in  a  letter  to  Lieut. 
Sou they : 

"  Poor  Cupid  has  been  hung  for  robbing 
a  hen-roost.  Your  three  half-crown  sticks, 
you  see,  were  bestowed  on  him  in  vain.  He 
is  the  first  of  all  my  friends  who  ever  came 
to  the  gallows,  and  I  am  very  sorry  for  him. 
Poor  fellow,  I  was  his  godfather." 

Cupid's  place  in  Southey's  heart  must 
have  been  fairly  filled  by  Dapper — of  whom 
he  says  in  another  letter :  "  My  dog  Dapper 
is  as  fond  of  me  as  ever  Cupid  was ;  this  is 
a  well-bred  hound  of  my  landlord's,  who 
never  fails  to  leap  on  my  back  when  I  put 
my  nose  out  of  doors,  and  who  never  hav- 
ing ventured  beyond  his  own  field  until  I 
tempted  him,  is  the  most  prodigious  coward 
you  ever  beheld.  He  almost  knocked 
Edith  down  in  running  away  from  a  pig  the 
other  day ;  but  I  like  him,  for  he  is  a  wor- 
thy dog,  and  frightens  the  sauntering  Lakers 
as  much  as  they  frighten  him." 

In  a  letter  to  Hartley  Coleridge,  whose 
goddog  he  was,  Southey  speaks  of  Dapper's 
good  health  and  of  his  increasing  gravity, 
and  encloses  "  three  wags  of  his  tail." 

A  letter  from  Lisbon,  Feb.  19,  1796,  has 
the  following  account  of  Miss"  good  appe- 
tite— this  dog  was  an  especial  favorite  with 
Southey : 

"  Miss  remains  in  Lord  Bute's  stables,  in 
Madrid.  She  amused  me  on  the  road  by 


devouring  one  pair  of  horse-hair  socks,  one 
tooth-brush,  one  comb,  a  pound  of  raisins, 
a  pound  of  English  beef,  and  one  pair  of 
shoes.  Maber  has  much  reason  to  remem- 
ber her.  So,  you  see,  Miss  lived  well  on 
the  road"  ("Life  and  Correspondence, 
Robert  Southey").  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

The  Dragon-fly  in  "The  Two 
Voices"  (Vol.  v,  pp.  131,  etc.).— That  I 
read  the  dragon-fly  argument  in  Tennyson's 
"The  Two  Voices"  differently  from  both 
of  your  correspondents  who  have  given 
interpretations  of  it,  is  my  only  excuse  for 
offering  still  another  paraphrase  of  the 
poem's  first  few  triplets  : 

"Voice:  'Because  of  your  misery,  were 
it  not  better  to  end  your  life  ?' 

"Answer:  'Nay;  I  may  not  blight  the 
development  of  what  is  so  wonderfully 
made.' 

"Voice:  'To-day  I  saw  the  dragon-fly 
attain  his  wonderful  consummation,  yet  what 
was  he?  A  mere  insect  still !' 

"  Answer :  '  But  man  is  the  crown  of  crea- 
tion, and  will  advance  to  the  highest  attain- 
ment.' 

"Voice:  'You  cannot  be  sure;  there  is 
boundless  worse  as  well  as  better,  and  he 
may  lapse  to  that.  There  may  be  a  higher 
order  of  beings  for  whom  the  honors  are 
destined ;  or,  granting  what  you  believe, 
the  promise  can  be  realized  by  others  of 
your  kind,  though  you  pass  into  nothing- 
ness.' '  M.  C.  L. 
GREEN  MOUNTAINS,  VT. 

Clarenceux  (Vol.  iv,  p.  137;  Vol.  v,  p. 
94). — Any  one  who  will  consult  Finlay's 
"  History  of  Greece,"  will  find  that  he  does 
not,  in  that  work,  expressly  deny  that  the 
title  of  Duke  of  Clarence  was  derived  from 
Klarenza,  in  Greece.  He  only  quotes,  in  a 
foot-note,  the  denial  made  by  Col.  Leake. 
It  seems  to  me  that  neither  Mr.  Finlay  nor 
Dr.  Stubbs  ever  tried  to  sift  this  matter 
thoroughly.  Leake  was,  for  his  time,  an 
excellent  antiquarian  topographer ;  but  on 
a  question  of  genealogy  I  would  not  deem 
him  an  authority  of  first  rank. 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN. 


July  26,  1890.]! 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


'55 


Flying  Spiders  (Vol.  v,  p.  112). — There 
are  really  no  "flying  spiders,"  "flying 
fishes,"  nor  "flying  squirrels,"  in  the  sense 
we  mean  when  we  apply  these  terms  to  bats, 
to  birds,  or  to  the  feathered  tribes  in  gen- 
eral. 

So  far  as  the  matter  relates  to  the  former 
three,  it  is  rather  a  leap  than  anything  ap- 
proximating a  fly,  assisted  by  an  impetus 
they  have  gained  from  a  starting  point  aloft, 
beneath  the  water,  or  a  parachute  of  some 
kind.  Without  this  impetus,  neither  of  these 
animals  can  rise  up  from  a  plain  surface,  whe- 
ther of  land  or  water,  and  fly — indeed  many 
of  the  feathered  tribes  cannot  do  so,  even 
when  their  organs  of  flight  are  highly  organ- 
ized. There  are,  however,  some  spiders 
that  are  extraordinarily  endowed  with  leap- 
ing powers  from  a  plain  surface,  and  that, 
too,  so  quickly,  as  to  get  entirely  beyond 
the  focus  of  vision  in  a  moment. 

There  are  also  species  of  Autumnal  Spi- 
ders, that  select  an  elevated  position,  from 
whence  they  spin  and  throw  off  a  quantity 
of  webbing  which  they  leap  upon,  cut  loose 
from,  and  sail  away  in  seeming  joyfulness. 
These  sometimes  sail  to  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, even  crossing  streams  of  half  a  mile 
wide  or  more.  Of  course  their  progress  is 
never  contre  courant,  because,  after  their 
bark  is  launched,  they  have  no  control  over 
it,  but  must  let  it  go  wherever  it  lists.  These 
arachnids  are  occasionally  very  numerous, 
covering  many  acres,  and  seem  to  be  provi- 
dentially designed  as  a  favored  repast  for 
other  animals,  and  probably  for  some  of 
their  own  species.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Chebacco-boat  (Vol.  iv,  p.  106). — 
After  all,  may  not  Dr.  Murray  be  right? 
May  not  the  Chebacco  river  have  been 
named  for  the  boats  ?  Curiously,  there  is 
a  Mystic  river  in  Massachusetts  and  another 
in  Connecticut,  both,  I  think,  formerly 
noted  for  boat-building.  Now,  Mystick 
(Span,  mistico)  is  an  old  name  for  a  kind  of 
coasting  vessel.  Can  there  be  any  connec- 
tion between  these  river  names  and  the 
handsome  mysticks  which  are  still,  I  believe, 
to  be  seen  in  the  Levantine  seas  ? 

L.  M.  N. 
VERGENNES,  VT. 


Orthography  of  Alaskan  Names. — 

The  following  forms  are  now  officially 
adopted  in  the  maps  and  charts  of  Alaska 
by  the  United  States  Coast  Survey : 

Alaska  (territory). 

Aliaska  (peninsula). 

Unalashka  (island)  —  commonly  Ouna- 
lashka. 

Kadiak  (pronounced  kdd-jafc) — formerly 
Kodiak. 

Bering — formerly  Behring. 

Pribiloff — formerly  Pribylov  and  Priby- 
loff. 

Shumagin — formerly  Chumagin. 

Yukon — formerly  the  Quichpak. 

OROG. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Landfall  of  Columbus  (Vol.  v,  p.  142, 
under  "Cat  Island"). — Among  the  various 
islands  asserted  to  have  been  the  landfall  of 
the  first  voyage  of  Columbus,  are  Watling's 
island,  Cat,  Mariguana,  Grand  Turk,  and 
Samana,  or  Atvvood's  Cay.  The  late  Capt. 
G.  V.  Fox  (following  the  log-book  of  Col- 
umbus as  published  by  Navarrete  in  1790, 
after  an  alleged  MS.  copy  made  by  Las 
Casas)  fixed  upon  Samana  or  Atwood's  Cay 
as  the  true  landfall.  But  the  authenticity  of 
the  published  log  has  been  called  in  ques- 
tion. Commander  F.  M.  Green,  U.  S.  N., 
the  able  author  of  "  The  Navigation  of  the 
Caribbean  Sea"  (1877),  calls  Watling's 
island  "the  established  landfall  of  Colum- 
bus." The  present  is  an  excellent  and  most 
appropriate  time  for  the  careful  review  of  all 
the  reasons  pro  and  contra. 

G.  H.  G. 
BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Adam  de  St.  Victor  (Vol.  v,  p.  102). 
— The  "CEuvres  Poetiques"  (Paris,  1858) 
of  this  writer,  edited  by  Gautier,  contain 
106  hymns.  Admired  greatly  by  the  Eng- 
lish theologians  and  hymnologists,  they  are 
put  aside  with  scant  praise  by  March  and  by 
Duffield — though  the  latter  once  calls  him 
"brilliant,  epigrammatic,  and  altogether  ad- 
mirable." Adam  was  probably  a  Breton  by 
birth.  Duffield  gives  us  his  "  Salve,  Crux, 
Arbor,"  with  a  translation  of  the  same. 

Among  his  pieces  are  the  "  Heri  Mundus 
Exultavit,"  the  "  Veni,  Creator  Spiritus," 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[July  26,  1890. 


"  Spiritus  Recreator,"  the  "  Verbum  Dei," 
"  Deo  Natum,"  the  "Simplex  in  Essentia," 
the  "Zyma  Vetus  Expurgetur,"  and  the 
"  Plausu  Chorus  Laetebundae."  Digby  S. 
Wrangham  published  (1881)  his  poems  en- 
tire, with  an  English  version.  The  appen- 
dix to  Duffield's  "  Latin  Hymns"  gives  the 
names  of  many  more  of  Adam's  pieces,  with 
notes  on  some  translations. 

One  of  this  old  worthy's  hymns  is  the 
"  Come,  Pure  Hearts,  in  Sweetest  Measures," 
translated  into  English  by  R.  Campbell. 
This  can  be  found  in  the  "  Hymnal"  of  the 
American  Episcopal  Church.  P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Ff  in  Proper  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp.  90, 
etc.). — The  manuscript  capital  F  of  the 
seventeenth  century  was  usually  made  by 
doubling  the  lower-case  f,  as  in  the  following 
extract  from  the  records  of  the  Church  of 
Cambridge  of  1658 : 

"  Thomas  ffoxe  &  Ellen  his  wife,  both  in 
full  Comm." 

I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any  aristo- 
cratic idea  connected  with  the  custom  at  all. 
This  form  of  the  letter  gave  away  before 
the  demand  for  a  letter  more  rapidly  made. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  "  ff"  was  an 
attempt  to  imitate  the  Old  English  charac- 
ter. S.  M.  F. 

MANHATTAN,  KANS. 

Translation  Wanted  (Vol.  v,  p.  126). 
— I  should  have  remarked  that  the  lines  I 
quoted  as  above  seem  to  form  part  of  a  cento. 
At  all  events,  "  Sabbata  nostra  colo,  de 
stercore  surgere  nolo"  ("  I  am  keeping  our 
Sabbath  ;  I  am  not  willing  to  be  taken  out 
of  the  mire"),  was  the  reply  of  Solomon  of 
Tewkesbury  to  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  when 
he  offered  to  extract  the  Jew  from  the  pit 
on  Saturday ;  to  whom  the  Earl  replied : 
"  Sabbata  nostra  quidem,  Salomon,  cele- 
brebis  ibidem"  ("Very well, Solomon;  then 
you  shall  keep  our  Sabbath  in  the  same 
place").  And  so,  before  Monday  came, 
the  Jew  died.  The  story  is  told  in  quite  a 
number  of  mediaeval  books.  The  four  lines 
quoted  are  no  proper  part  of  the  De  Mundi 
Vanitate.  They  were  doubtless  added  by 
some  scribbler  to  the  MS.  in  which  they 
occur. 


The  following  is  what  I  would  propose 
as  the  probably  correct  meaning  of  the  last 
two  lines : 

"  These  are  they  who  wickedly  corrupt 
our  holy  psalms  :  The  mumbler,  the  forward- 
skipper,  the  stumbler,  the  scatterer,  the  over- 
leaper;"  that  is,  those  priests  who  read  the 
Psalter  in  a  slovenly  way  are  guilty  of  in- 
iquitously  corrupting  the  holy  text. 

G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 

Anagrams  in  Science  (Vol.  iv,pp.  118, 
etc.). — Mho,  a  unit  of  electrical  conduc- 
tivity, is  an  anagram  of  ohm,  the  name  of 
another  electrical  unit.  T.  L.  S. 

BAYONNE,  N.  J. 

Cacoethes  Scribendi  (Vol.  v,  pp.  113, 
etc.). — Would  not  the  meaning  be  conveyed 
with  equal  accuracy  in  plain  language  by 
scribbling  itch  or  scribbling  fever  ? 

G.  S. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


AND   ^EI^IODIGAUS. 


The  Chautauqvan  for  August  presents  the  following 
attractive  table  of  contents:  "  A  Lucky  Accident,"  a 
novelette,  by  J.  Ranken  Towse  ;  "St.  Martin,"  by 
Annie  Bronson  King  ;  "  The  Condition  of  American 
Agriculture,"  by  Manly  Miles,  M.D.,  F.R.M.S.  ;  "  Sun- 
day Readings,"  selected  by  Bishop  Vincent  ;  "  Virginia 
Sports,1'  by  Ripley  Hitchcock;  "  On  Shore,"  by  Virna 
Woods;  "Two  Years  in  New  Zealand,"  J.  N.  Ingram  ; 
"A  Sixteenth  Century  Garden,"  by  Ferdinand  Cohn  ; 
"  Country  Life  in  Ireland,"  by  J.  P.  Mahaffy,  M.A.  ; 
"  Keeping  Well  in  Summer,"  by  Felix  L.  Oswald, 
M.D.  ;  "  Going  to  the  Assembly,"  by  Chancellor  Vin- 
cent ;  "  To  Alfred  Tennyson,  Poet-Laureate,"  by  Hugh 
T.  Sudduth;  "The  Salons  of  Paris,"  by  George  La- 
fenstre  ;  "  A  Summer  Outing  in  New  York,"  by  Charles 
Barnard;  "The  Minor  Lakes  of  the  Northwest,"  by 
Horace  B.  Hudson;  "The  Central  Office  of  the  C.  L. 
S.  C.,"  by  Kate  F.  Kimball.  The  Woman's  Council 
Table  has  the  following  articles:  "Summer  Furnish- 
ing," by  Susan  Hayes  Ward;  "Gloves,  Neck  Wear, 
Perfumes,  and  Handkerchiefs,"  by  Mary  S.  Torrey  ; 
"  Why  Some  Women  Cannot  Obtain  Employment." 
by  Kate  Tannatt  Woods  ;  "  A  Vacation  on  Horse- 
back," by  Anna  C.  Bracket!  ;  "  Some  Women  I  Have 
Met,"  by  Frances  E.  Willard;  "Women  Physicians 
in  Germany,"  by  A.  Von  Strande  ;  ''  The  Fine  Art  of 
Helping  Others,"  by  Felecia  Hillel  ;  "  Economical 
Grocery  Buying,"  by  Christine  Terhune  Herrick  : 
"  Brain  Workers'  Recreation  in  Flowers,"  by  Sarah  K. 
Bolton;  "Out-door  Life  at  Wellesley,"  by  Louise 
Palmer  Vincent  ;  "  Children's  Wit,"  by  Margaret  J. 
Preston.  The  editorials  discuss  matters  of  current  in- 
terest. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES: — Leuca,  157 — Curious  Coptic  Customs— Myatt,  158. 

QUERIES  :  —  Wind-propulsion  of  Wheelbarrows  —  Bishop 
Liberated  from  Prison — Claude's  Wife,  158— Lazarillo  de 
Tormes — River  Turned  Back,  159 — Lobster  Changing  Color 
— Mephistopheles — Land  East  of  the  Sun  and  West  of  the 
Moon,  160. 

REPLIES :— The  Liwash,  or  Putrid  Sea,  160— St.  Michael- 
Tom  Green — I  Shall  be  Satisfied — Sambo — Seal  of  the  Con- 
federacy— Rush  Carpets,  161. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :-Leper  Kings- 
Busy  as  a  Nailer,  161— Barkstone—  Brazen  Fly  of  Virgil — 
Inquisition,  162. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Crowned  A  —  I  Acknowledge  the 
Corn — Lord  Timothy  Dexter — Colen — Greek  Cities  in  France 
and  Spain,  162 — Curious  Burial  Customs — Curiosities  of  Ani- 
mal Punishment,  163 — Raymond  Lully — The  Guinea — Un- 
derground Rivers — Sunken  Cities,  164 — Bottomless  Ponds — 
The  Captain  of  My  Dreams — Arthur  Kill — Palseologus — 
Maroons  —  Oddities  of  Noted  People,  165  —  Trivium  and 
Quadrivium — Famous  Spinsters — Duke  of  York,  166 — The 
Landfall  of  Columbus— "  Now  I  Lay  Me  Down  to  Sleep  ;" 
or,  "  Four  Comers  to  My  Bed,"  167. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 168. 


LEUCA. 

(LOWBY  OF  TUNBRIDGK,  VOL.  V,  P.  113.) 

The  word  leuca,  mentioned  in  the  interest- 
ing note  at  the  above  reference,  supplies  an 
instance  of  early  topographical  trope,  the 
word  being  made  to  denote  a  certain  linear 
distance,  whereas  it  really  meant  the  boun- 
dary of  that  distance,  just  as  though  along 
our  railroads  miles  were  called  posts. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  leuca  means  a  flat 
stone ;  stones  were  ever  convenient  distance- 
markers  by  the  roadside,  and  thereby  hangs 
the  tale. 

The  Roman  soldiers  heard  the  word  leac 
on  the  lips  of  the  Celto- Gauls ;  they  gave  it 
(as  they  did  in  so  many  other  cases)  a  Latin 
termination,  and  from  leuca  came  not  only 
Lowey  and  league,  but  also  the  word  which 


i58 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  2,  1890. 


to  this  day  represents  that  distance  in 
France,  viz.,  lieue. 

At  the  present  moment,  leac  is  very  good 
Gaelic  for  a  flagstone  ;  llech  is  Welsh  for  the 
same.  Leek,  Belleek,  Leckpatrick,  Tal- 
laght,  and  other  place  names  in  Ireland  pro- 
claim how  Irish  the  root  is  also,  and  by  a 
remarkable  coincidence,  old  Sliabh-liag  (the 
flat-stone  mountain)  in  Donegal  has  lived 
to  see  its  name  Anglicized  to  Slieve  League. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK. 


CURIOUS  COPTIC  CUSTOMS. 

The  Coptic  Patriarch  of  Alexandria  is  never 
allowed  to  sleep  more  than  fifteen  minutes 
at  a  time.  At  the  end  of  every  quarter  hour 
he  is  duly  awakened  by  an  attendant.  The 
abuna,  or  Primate  of  Abyssinia,  carries  the 
principle  of  nolo  episcopari  so  far  that,  when 
appointed,  he  refuses  to  be  elevated  to  his 
new  dignity,  and  has  to  be  chained  and 
taken  to  Egypt  in  order  to  receive  consecra- 
tion at  the  hands  of  the  Coptic  Patriarch. 


MYATT. 

I  have  heard  the  common  rhubard,  the 
leaf-stalks  of  which  are  used  for  making  pies, 
called  myatt,  both  in  New  England  and 
Pennsylvania.  The  origin  of  this  name  is 
as  follows  :  Some  thirty  years  ago  or  more, 
there  was  introduced  what  was  alleged  to  be 
a  new  variety  of  this  plant,  called  "  Myatt's 
Victoria"  by  the  seedsmen.  From  this  fact 
some  people  evolved  the  name  myatt  for  the 
plant.  There  is  even  a  myatt  wine,  a  kind 
of  drink  made  from  the  juice  of  the  stalks. 

L.  P.  J. 

CANTON,  MASS. 


Wind-propulsion  of  Wheelbarrows.  — 
Some  of  the  old  geographies  used  to  have  a 
picture  of  a  Chinaman  pushing  a  wheelbar- 
row, which  was  fitted  with  a  sail.  Is  this 
practice  really  in  existence  ? 

O.  W.  E. 

CAMDF.N,  N.  J. 

There  is  plenty  of  testimony  from  actual 


observers  that  the  above  custom  prevails  in 
Central  China,  where  wheelbarrows  are  ex- 
tensively employed,  even  in  the  conveyance 
of  travelers.  Somewhat  similar  is  the  prac- 
tice of  loading  ships  with  lime-phosphate  at 
Starbuck  island,  in  the  South  Pacific.  The 
material  in  bags  is  loaded  upon  tram-cars 
which  are  driven  by  sails ;  for  the  trade- 
wind  is  very  steady  and  uniform.  The  cars 
are  thus  propelled  to  the  extremity  of  a 
wharf  or  jetty,  and  there  the  bags  are  trans- 
ferred to  a  lighter. 

Bishop  Liberated  from  Prison. — What 
bishop  is  said  to  have  been  set  free  from 
prison  by  reason  of  his  singing? 

R.  M.  JACKSON. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

It  is  related  that  on  Palm  Sunday,  in  the 
year  82 1,  the  Emperor-king  Louis  the  De- 
bonnair,  while  passing  by  the  prison,  or 
monastery-dungeon,  at  Angers,  heard  the 
voice  of  a  prisoner  singing  the  "  Gloria, 
laus,  et  honor,"  in  clear  and  joyful  tones. 
On  inquiry,  the  good  king  was  told  it  was 
the  voice  of  Theodulf,  the  imprisoned 
Bishop  of  Orleans,  who  was  singing  a  hymn 
of  his  own  composing.  Thereupon  the 
monarch  ordered  the  release  of  the  holy 
man.  This  story  does  not  rest  upon  any 
very  good  evidence,  but  it  is  quite  in  keep- 
ing with  the  fashion  of  the  times  in  which 
the  event  is  said  to  have  happened. 

Claude's  Wife. — Can  you  tell  me  any- 
thing about  a  famous  play  called  "  La  Fem- 
rne  de  Claude  ?"  J.  R.  OXFORD. 

MARSHALL,  TEX. 

"Claude's  Wife"  (Fr.,  "LaFemmede 
Claude")  is  a  three-act  drama,  in  prose,  by 
Alexander  Dumas  the  younger,  produced 
at  the  Gymnase  in  Paris,  January  16,  1873. 
It  was  very  successful,  owing  in  great  part  to 
the  magnificent  acting  of  M'lle  Aimee  Des- 
clee.  The  history  of  the  play  is  rather  curi- 
ous. Some  months  before  it  was  written,  a 
M.  Dubourghad  been  sentenced  to  five  years' 
imprisonment  for  murdering  his  wife  whom 
he  had  caught  in  adultery — her  paramour 
making  good  his  escape  to  the  roof.  There- 
upon M.  Dumas  had  brought  out  a  pam. 


August  2,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


phlet,  "Man-Woman"  ("  L'homme-fem- 
me"),  in  which  he  had  laid  it  down  that 
when  a  wife  was  peculiarly  vicious,  it  was 
not  only  proper  but  necessary  for  the  hus- 
band to  kill  her.  "Tue-la"  was  the  short 
and  pithy  formula  in  which  the  advice  was 
given.  Subsequently  (finding,  perhaps,  that 
wife-murder  had  not  notably  increased  in 
Paris),  he  brought  out  this  play  in  which 
the  same  moral  was  enforced.  It  may  be 
mentioned,  in  passing,  that  this  moral  had 
been  an  incidental  part  of  the  teachings 
of  his  novel,  "The  Clemenceau  Affair," 
written  long  before  the  Dubourg  murder. 
Claude  Ripert  is  an  inventor,  living  in  Paris. 
His  wife,  C6sarine,  is  a  modern  Messalina, 
who  gives  herself  to  lover  after  lover,  some- 
times for  gain,  oftener  to  gratify  her  lusts. 
She  has  had  two  illegitimate  children,  one 
being  the  fruit  of  a  prematrimonial  episode, 
has  been  forgiven  by  her  husband,  but  the 
other  is  of  subsequent  birth,  and  as  for  cer- 
tain reasons  it  is  impossible  to  father  it  on 
Claude,  she  has  murdered  it.  Now  it  hap- 
pens that  a  certain  mysterious  society  wishes 
to  possess  itself  of  a  wonderful  invention  by 
M.  Claude,  a  cannon  of  irresistible  destruc- 
tive powers.  As  the  society  is  absolutely 
omniscient,  one  of  its  agents,  Montagnac, 
threatens  Madame  Claude  with  a  revelation 
of  her  infamies  unless  she  gets  possession  of 
the  secret  of  this  invention.  In  great  trepi- 
dation she  sees  only  one  thing  to  do.  She 
gratifies  the  passion  of  Antonin,  her  hus- 
band's disciple,  and  obtains  from  him  the 
necessary  papers.  But  Claude  has  been 
warned ;  he  comes  upon  the  scene  just  as 
she  flings  the  papers  out  of  the  window  to 
Montagnac,  catches  up  a  musket  and  blows 
out  her  brains.  Then  coolly  turning  to 
Antonin,  he  says,  "  Now  let's  go  to  work." 

Lazarillo  de  Tormes. — Can  you  tell  me 
who  he  was? 

FRANK  E.  MYERS. 
DAYTON,  O. 

The  hero  of  Mendoza's  novel  of  that 
name,  the  earliest  of  the  picturesque  ro- 
mances. It  was  written  in  1524,  while  the 
author  was  a  college  student,  but  not  pub- 
lished (possibly  for  fear  of  the  Inquisition) 
till  1553.  The  hero,  who  tells  his  own 


story,  is  the  son  of  a  miller  in  Tormes. 
When  eight  years  of  age  his  mother  makes 
him  over  to  a  blind  beggar  to  act  as  his 
guide.  The  beggar  maltreats  the  boy, 
and  nearly  starves  him,  but  Lazarillo  soon 
learns  to  cheat  him  out  of  the  money  and 
provisions  given  by  the  charitable.  Finally, 
he  rids  himself  of  his  master  by  making  him 
jump  against  a  stone  pillar,  under  the  idea 
that  he  is  leaping  over  a  stream,  and  while 
the  old  man  is  lying  insensible  from  the 
shock,  the  boy  runs  away.  His  next  patron 
is  a  priest  who  proves  even  meaner  than  the 
beggar  had  been,  and  he  then  attaches  him- 
self to  a  third  master,  a  grandee  of  Toledo, 
who  had  an  air  about  him  of  such  magnifi- 
cence and  ease,  that  Lazarillo  flatters  him- 
self his  position  will  be  an  enviable  one. 
But  appearances  are  deceptive.  The  hi- 
dalgo is  really  at  the  point  of  starvation,  . 
and  Lazarillo,  who  seems  to  cherish  a  warm 
affection  for  him,  is  driven  to  begging  to 
support  the  pair,  while  the  hidalgo  hears 
mass  and  stalks  about  the  promenades  with 
all  the  dignity  that  befits  his  birth.  But  a 
law  is  passed  against  vagrancy,  and  this 
avenue  of  industry  is  closed.  Lazarillo 
then  enters  the  service  successively  of  a  friar, 
a  chaplain  and  a  dealer  in  indulgences,  and 
the  novel  winds  up  abruptly  with  his  mar- 
riage to  an  ignoble  woman.  Several  con- 
tinuations were  published,  the  best  known 
being  that  by  H.  de  Luna,  in  which  the 
hero  is  saved  from  shipwreck,  dressed  so  as 
to  represent  a  hermit,  and  exhibited  in  sev- 
eral Spanish  towns.  He  escapes  from  his 
owners,  and  arrives  at  a  hermitage,  and  the 
hermit  dying  soon  after,  he  assumes  his 
habit,  and  lives  on  the  contributions  of  the 
faithful. 

River  Turned  Back. — What  river  in  the 
United  States  has  been  made  to  flow  back- 
ward by  artificial  means  ? 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Our  correspondent  probably  refers  to  the 
Allequash  river  in  Maine,  a  part  of  which, 
by  means  of  dams  and  a  canal,  has  been 
made  tributary  to  the  Penobscot  instead  of 
the  river  St.  John.  See  the  description  in 
Thoreau's  "  Maine  Woods." 


i  Co 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  2,  1890. 


Lobster  Changing  Color. — Why  do  crabs 
and  lobsters  become  a  red  color  when 
boiled?  H.  R.  DARLINGTON. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

It  is  said  that  the  reason  why  lobsters  and 
crabs  become  red  when  boiled  is  because 
the  shell  owes  its  color  to  the  superposition 
of  two  pigments,  one  red  and  one  blue,  and 
that  the  process  of  cooking  causes  the  blue 
to  be  destroyed  while  the  red  remains. 

Mephistopheles. — Whence  is  this  name 
derived  ?  R.  W. 

NEWARK,  DEL. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
i,  p.  208. 

Land  East  of  the  Sun  and  West  of  the 
Moon. — Where  is  the  Land  East  of  the  Sun 
and  West  of  the  Moon  ? 

E.  L.  DELANE. 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 

The  "Land  East  of  the  Sun  and  West  of 
the  Moon,"  in  Scandinavian  folk-lore,  is  a 
story  which  is  told  in  various  forms  in  dif- 
ferent localities.  It  is  one  of  the  many  va- 
riants of  the  Cupid  and  Psyche  myth. 
William  Morris  has  versified  it  in  the 
"Earthly  Paradise."  The  outlines  of  the 
story  are  as  follows :  A  maiden  sacrificed 
herself  for  the  sake  of  her  family  and  mar- 
ried the  White  Bear.  He  brought  her  to  a 
magnificent  palace,  and  every  night  in  the 
dark  he  came  to  her  in  a  man's  shape.  In 
spite  of  the  most  solemn  warnings  curiosity 
impelled  her  to  light  a  candle  one  night, 
and  three  drops  of  tallow  fell  upon  the 
sleeping  prince.  He  awoke  and  told  her 
sorrowfully  that  if  she  had  only  waited  a 
twelve-month  the  enchantment  under  which 
he  labored  would  have  been  broken,  but 
that  now  he  must  go  to  a  dreary  castle  East 
of  the  Sun  and  West  of  the  Moon  and  marry 
a  witch  princess  with  a  nose  three  ells  long. 
Then  he  disappeared.  But  the  wife  set  off 
bravely  in  search  of  him,  and  after  a  long 
and  weary  journey  the  North  Wind,  whose 
assistance  she  had  secured  after  all  the  other 
winds  had  failed,  set  her  down  in  front  of 


the  witch's  castle.  She  let  the  prince  know 
of  her  arrival,  whereupon  he  told  the  witch 
princess  that  he  would  only  marry  the  wo- 
man who  could  wash  out  the  three  tallow 
drops  on  his  shirt.  Of  course  the  witch 
princess  could  not  do  it,  and  when  the 
strange  maiden  accomplished  the  task,  the 
princess  and  her  mother  and  all  their  atten- 
dant trolls  burst  into  pieces  with  vexation 
and  the  enchantment  was  at  an  end. 


REPLIES. 

The  Liwash,  or  Putrid  Sea  (Vol.  v,  p. 
115). — The  German  naturalist,  Peter  Simon 
Pallas  (i  741-181 1),  lived  fifteen  years  ( 1 795- 
1810)  in  the  Crimea,  where  he  had  built  a 
residence;  he  published  "Travels  in  the 
Southern  Provinces  of  Russia,  1793-' 94." 
Eng.  Trans.,  Blaghorn,  1803.  For  his  re- 
marks on  "Putrid  Sea,"  refer,  Vols.  iii  and 
iv. 

Ed.  Daniel  Clarke  (1769-1822),  who  also 
traveled  extensively,  sometimes  in  company 
with  Pallas,  published  "Travels  in  Russia, 
Tartary,  and  Turkey."  His  narrative 
abounds  in  descriptions  of  the  country  about 
the  Sea  of  Azof,  and  contains  quotations 
from  other  "Travels"  in  the  same  region, 
going  back  to  Rubrignis,  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

Baron  von  Haxthausen  (1792-1866),  in 
his  account  of  his  journey  to  Kertch,  says : 
"  The  slip  or  tongue  of  land  which  sepa- 
rates the  Putrid  Sea  from  the  Sea  of  Azof 
is  fifty  miles  long.  In  the  direction  of  the 
Sea  of  Azof,  it  forms  a  sandy  down  from 
twenty  to  sixty  feet  high.  On  the  side  of 
the  Putrid  Sea,  it  extends  in  a  flat,  for  the 
most  part,  marshy  tract  of  land,  terminat- 
ing in  the  unsightly  shores  of  this,  in  part, 
stinking  sea.  The  isthmus  is  in  many  places 
not  more  than  a  mile,  in  others  scarcely 
four  hundred  paces  wide,  and  the  view  from 
the  high  bank  between  the  two  seas,  whence 
the  traveler  descries  at  a  great  distance  be- 
yond the  Putrid  Sea,  the  peaks  of  the  moun- 
tains in  the  Crimea,  is  very  remarkable" 
("  Russian  Empire,"  Vol.  i,  p.  430). 

The  account  of  the  military  movements 
around  the  Sea  of  Azof,  along  with  the 


August  2,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


161 


maps,  in  Kinglake's  "  Invasion  of  the 
Crimea,"  help  one  to  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  the  geography  of  this  region  (see 
Vols.  v  and  vi). 

Also,  compare  Pallas  and  Prof.  Ansted 
on  "Mud  Volcanoes,"  in  "  Phys.  Geog.," 
PP-  337-9-  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

St.  Michael  (Vol.  v,  p.  150).— St.  Michael 
is  the  first  of  the  archangels  ;  and  the  angels 
are  specially  interested  in  the  care  of  little 
children  (see  St.  Matthew  xviii,  10). 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMAN-TOWN. 

Tom  Green  (Vol.  v,  p.  65). — Thomas 
Green  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  born  1816, 
died  1864.  He  was  a  noted  Texan  ranger  in 
the  Texan  war  of  independence,  and  was  dis- 
tinguished in  other  military  exploits.  For  a 
full  account,  see  Appleton's  "American  Biog- 
raphies." He  should  not  be  confused  with 
Thomas  Jefferson  Green,  of  North  Carolina, 
who  also  fought  in  the  Texan  wars. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

I  Shall  be  Satisfied  (Vol.  ii,  p.  22). — The 
beautiful  little  poem  with  the  above  title 
was  written  by  Mrs.  Sylvia  A.  Eberhardt, 
of  Knoxville,  Iowa,  just  after  the  death  of 
her  mother,  in  1881  or  1882.  The  last 
verse  of  this  exquisite  little  ballad  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  But  not  for  long  will  the  parting  be ; 
Life's  story  will  soon  be  fold  for  me ; 
My  fancies  oft  linger  around  that  shore 
Where  partings  will  never  trouble  more, 
And  there  I  know  by  my  mother's  side 
I  shall  be  perfectly  satisfied." 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Sambo  (Vol.  iv,  p.  222). — Major  Serpa 
Pinto  describes  a  tribe  and  a  territory  of  this 
name  in  the  east  of  Benguella.  It  does  not 
seem  likely  that  the  Samboses  of  the  earlier 
English  slave-traders  were  of  this  latter  tribe, 
but  it  may  be  that  they  were.  That  the 
Spanish  sambo  or  zambo,  for  a  negro  of 
mixed  blood,  is  the  same  word,  I  do  not 
venture  to  affirm.  Zambo  means  also  bandy- 


legged ;  and  I  suspect  that  confusion  has 
taken  place  between  the  words.  Sambo,  as 
a  nickname  for  a  negro,  may  well  have  come 
from  the  tribal  name.  Few  late  works  on 
Africa  mention-  the  tribe.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Sea/  of  the  Confederacy  (Vol.  iii,  p.  202). 
— The  Great  Seal  of  the  Southern  Confed- 
eracy is  now  in  the  State  House  at  Colum- 
bia, S.  C.  It  is  made  of  polished  bronze, 
and  is  about  three  inches  in  diameter.  On 
one  side  of  it  is  an  equestrian  statue  of 
Washington,  and  on  the  other  the  inscrip- 
tion :  "  Confederate  States  of  America,  22d 
February,  1862.  Deo  Vindirece."  It  was 
made  in  England,  and  reached  Richmond 
only  a  few  days  before  the  evacuation.  In 
the  general  tear  up  which  followed,  it  was 
overlooked,  and  afterwards  fell  into  the 
hands  of  William  E.  Earle,  of  Washington, 
D.  C.,  by  whom  it  was  presented  to  the 
State  above  mentioned,  in  1888. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Rush  Carpets  (Vol.  v,  p.  65). — The  cus- 
tom of  strewing  floors  with  loose  rushes  is 
very  ancient,  and  is  probably  not  yet  ex- 
tinct. In  the  "De  Visitatione  Abbatis"  of 
Walter  Map,  the  abbot  visiting  the  daugh- 
ter-cell, 


In  domum  introducitur 
Stratam  juncis  et  floribus." 


G. 


NEW  JERSEY. 


IPO   @OF?F>ESPONDEN1tS. 


Leper  Kings.  —  It  has  been  said  that 
Henry  III  and  Henry  IV  of  England,  Mar- 
garet of  Anjou,  and  Robert  Bruce  of  Scot- 
land were  lepers.  Is  there  any  foundation 
for  such  a  statement  ?  R.  M.  STEEL. 

YONKERS,  N.  Y. 

Busy  as  a  Nailer.  —  We  sometimes 
hear  this  expression.  What  is  its  origin? 
Is  a  nailer  any  busier  than  other  working 
people?  G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


162 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  2,  1890. 


Barkstone. — What  is  the  origin  of  the 
term  barkstone,  a  hunter's  name  for  the  cas- 
toreum  of  a  beaver  ?  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Brazen  Ply  of  Virgil. — Please  inform 
me  about  the  Brazen  Fly  of  Virgil. 

A.  W.  WESTCOTT. 

NEWBURG,  N.  Y. 

Inquisition. — Was  the  State  Inquisition 
of  Venice  distinct  from  the  Ecclesiastical 
Inquisition  of  the  same  city  ? 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 


©OMMUNIGATIONS. 

Crowned  A  (Vol.  ii,  p.  144). — In  the 
inventory  of  the  effects  of  Queen  Catharine 
of  Aragon,  the  embroideries  are  described 
with  considerable  fullness.  We  read  there  of 
crowned  roses,  crowned  trees,  crowned  coat- 
armor,  etc.  We  read  in  it  also  of  "  a  bedde  of 
blewe  velvette,  embrowdered  with  Rooses,  as 
also  with  letters  crowned."  Among  King 
Henry's  New  Year's  gifts,  "anno  xxvij0," 
to  his  natural  son  Henry  Fitzroy,  Duke  of 
Richmond,  was  "  a  standing  Bolle  with  a 
cover  gilt,  having  upon  the  toppe  of  the 
same  a  litill  boy  with  a  spere  and  a  shilde," 
etc.  Also,  "  a  grete  Jugg  with  a  cover  gilt, 
the  letters  H  and  A  crowned,  and  ij  eares  of 
serpentes"  (Inventory,  p.  13,  at  end  of  Vol. 
iii,  of  "The  Camden  Miscellany,"  Camd. 
Soc.,  1854).  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

"  I  Acknowledge  the  Corn"  (Vol.  i, 
pp.  285,  etc.). — I  object  to  L.  B.  W.'s  ex- 
planation of  the  trite  saying  above  quoted. 
There  are  several  reasons  for  not  believing 
it  to  be  the  proper  explanation  of  the  origin 
of  the  phrase ;  the  best  being,  there  was  no 
member  of  either  House  of  Congress  be- 
tween 1825  and  1830  by  the  name  of  Wyc- 
liff.  If  Mr.  Wycliff  ever  "acknowledged 
the  corn,"  it  was  not  during  the  year  (1828) 
mentioned  by  L.  B.  W. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 


Lord  Timothy  Dexter  (Vol.  v,  p. 
104). — A  paper  by  William  C.  Todd,  in  the 
New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register,  for  July,  1890,  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  Knapp's  "Life  of  Dexter"  is 
full  of  errors,  some  of  them  lies  or  jokes, 
apparently  of  Dexter's  own  invention  ;  be- 
sides anecdotes  which  lacked  authority. 
Dexter's  vanity,  ignorance,  and  drunken- 
ness are  conceded ;  but  the  stories  of  his 
fool-luck  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  are 
discredited.  It  is  affirmed  that  he  possessed 
business  sagacity,  industry,  and  a  certain 
kind  of  prudence.  Whatever  may  have 
been  his  wealth  in  his  most  flourishing  days, 
it  is  certain  that  his  fortune  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  in  1806,  was  by  no  means  large, 
even  for  those  times.  It  is  said  traditionally 
that  Lord  Timothy  Dexter  once  shipped  a 
cargo  of  warming-pans  to  the  West  Indies, 
where  they  were  sold  at  a  good  profit,  the 
planters  buying  them  for  scoops  to  dip  mo- 
lasses with.  It  was  a  better  venture  than 
that  of»  the  French  Government  which,  in 
1763,  established  a  skate  factory  in  the 
colony  of  Guiana. 

W.  J.  LACK. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Colen  (Vol.  v,  p.  114).  —  Colen-bell, 
colen-goblet,  seem  to  be  names  for  the  col- 
umbine, the  bell  of  which  is  scarlet.  The 
columbine  agrees  in  appearance  with  what 
Drake  says  of  the  colen-bell. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Greek  Cities  in  France  and  Spain 
(Vol.  iv,  p.  126). — Dr.  Cocchi,  of  Florence, 
I732~>33»  as  quoted  in  Spence's  "Anec- 
dotes," London,  1820,  says:  "The  first 
four  hundred  years  of  the  Roman  history 
are  supposed  to  have  been  fabulous  by  Sena- 
tor Buonarotti  (as  Niebulir  and  others  more 
recently  have  undertaken  to  prove  and 
pretty  well  shown),  and  he  gives  several 
good  reasons  for  his  opinion.  He  suspects 
that  Rome,  in  particular,  was  built  by  the 
Greeks ;  as  Tarentum,  Naples,  and  several 
other  cities  of  Italy  were.1' 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


August  2,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


'63 


Curious  Burial  Customs. — The  fol- 
lowing clipping  from  Collier's  Once  a  Week 
may  prove  of  interest  to  some  of  your  read- 
ers. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

"  The  Thibetians  cut  in  pieces  the  bodies 
of  their  dead  and  threw  them  into  the  lakes 
to  feed  the  fish.  The  ancient  Bactrians 
suffered  the  bodies  of  their  departed  rela- 
tives to  be  eaten  by  dogs  specially  kept  for 
the  purpose.  The  early  Norsemen  used  to 
place  the  Viking  in  his  ship  and  "  send  him 
flaming  out  to  sea  "  with  all  his  belongings. 
The  Ethiopians  disposed  of  the  dead  either 
by  throwing  them  into  the  river  or  by  pre- 
serving them  in  their  houses  in  statues  of 
gold  or  baked  clay.  The  Babylonians  em- 
balmed their  dead  in  honey,  and  discounte- 
nanced cremation,  which  they  believed  to  be 
nothing  but  a  sacrilege  to  the  sun.  The 
Guanches  rudely  embalmed  their  corpses, 
drying  the  bodies  in  the  air  and  covering 
them  with  varnish.  The  palaeolithic  cave- 
dwellers  of  France  and  Belgium  buried  their 
dead  in  natural  grottoes  and  crevices  of  the 
rocks,  similar  to  those  in  which  they  lived. 
The  Peruvians  appear  to  have  preserved  the 
bodies  of  their  incas  after  the  Egyptian 
fashion,  and  in  early  times  mummies  seem 
to  have  had  an  abiding  place  in  Mexico. 
The  Greeks  of  old  were  enjoined  by  law  to 
burn  the  dead,  and  the  Romans,  who  in  the 
time  of  the  republic  had  interred  their  dead, 
adopted  the  Grecian  usage  in  the  days  of 
Sulla.  The  Parsees  lay  their  dead  on  da 
khamas,  or  "  towers  of  silence,"  where  the 
vultures  clean  the  bones,  which  in  a  month 
are  removed  and  deposited  in  deep  wells 
containing  the  dust  of  many  generations. 
On  the  Himalayan  slopes  the  Sikkim  burn 
the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  scatter  the  ashes 
to  the  four  winds,  while  the  tribes  oftOona- 
laska  and  Nootka  Sound  bury  them  on  the 
hill-tops,  and  expect  every  wayfarer  to  throw 
a  stone  on  the  grave.  Herodotus  tells  us  of 
favorite  horses  and  slaves  being  sacrificed  at 
the  holocaust  of  the  dead  chief,  and  in 
many  countries  the  wives  had  the  privilege 
of  dying  with  their  husbands,  a  custom 
which  has  continued  in  the  Hindu  Suttee 
down  to  the  present  generation.  The  Bur- 


mese, before  burying  the  body  of  a  gentle- 
man, enclose  it  in  a  varnished  coffin  and, 
after  divers  hymns  and  processions,  place  it 
on  a  pyre  of  precious  woods,  which  is  igni- 
ted and  allowed  to  burn  until  nearly  con- 
sumed, when  the  body  is  taken  from  the 
flames  and  buried.  The  Cheyenne  Indian 
hangs  the  dead  body  of  his  friend  among  the 
foliage  of  his  native  forests,  a  prey  to  the 
vulture  and  the  sport  of  every  storm  ;  or 
else,  swathing  it  with  willow  branches, 
places  it  with  the  feet  southward  in  some 
cottonwood  tree,  together  with  a  plentiful 
supply  of  food,  arms,  and  tobacco,  to  be 
consumed  on  its  voyage  to  the  happy  hunt- 
ing grounds.  The  Chinese  bury  their  dead 
in  the  fairest  spots  in  the  land.  They  are 
extraordinarily  devoted  to  the  dead,  and  the 
labor  contract  of  every  coolie  emigrant  spe- 
cially stipulates  that  in  case  of  death  his 
body  shall  be  carried  back  to  China,  that 
his  dust  may  mingle  with  that  of  his  fore- 
fathers and  join  their  spirits  in  the  flowery 
kingdom.  Otherwise,  he  believes  that  his 
soul  will  wander  amid  strangers  unknown 
and  astray." 

Curiosities  of  Animal  Punishment. 

— '  'In  the  middle  ages  the  lower  animals  were 
frequently  tried,  convicted,  and  punished 
for  various  offenses.  Mr.  Baring-Gould  has 
collected  some  curious  cases  of  this  kind. 
In  1266,  a  pig  was  burnt  at  Fontaney-aux- 
Roses,  near  Paris,  for  having  eaten  a  child. 
In  1386,  a  judge  at  Falaise  condemned  a 
sow  to  be  mutilated  and  hanged  for  a  simi- 
lar offense.  Three  years  later,  a  horse  was 
solemnly  tried  before  the  magistrate  and  con- 
demned to  death  for  having  killed  a  man. 
During  the  fourteenth  century  oxen  and  cows 
might  be  legally  killed  whenever  taken  in 
the  act  of  marauding,  and  asses,  for  a  first 
offense,  had  one  ear  cropped  ;  for  a  second 
offense,  the  other  ear,  and  if  after  this  they 
were  asses  enough  to  commit  a  third  offense 
their  lives  became  forfeit  to  the  crown. 
"Criminal"  animals  frequently  expiated 
their  offenses,  like  other  malefactors,  on  the 
gallows,-  but  subsequently  they  were  summa- 
rily killed  without  trial,  and  their  owners 
mulcted  in  heavy  damages.  In  the  fifteenth 
century  it  was  popularly  believed  that  cocks 
were  intimately  associated  with  witches ; 


164 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  2,  1890. 


and  they  were  somewhat  credited  with  the 
power  of  laying  accursed  eggs,  from  which 
sprang  winged  serpents.  In  1474,  at  Bale, 
a  cock  was  publicly  accused  of  having  laid 
one  of  these  dreadful  eggs.  He  was  tried, 
sentenced  to  death,  and,  together  with  the 
egg,  was  burned  by  the  executioner  in  the 
market-place,  amid  a  great  concourse  of 
people.  In  1694,  during  the  witch  persecu- 
tions in  New  England,  a  dog  exhibited  such 
strange  symptoms  of  affliction  that  he  was 
believed  to  have  been  ridden  by  a  warlock, 
and  he  was  accordingly  hanged.  Snails, 
flies,  mice,  ants,  caterpillars,  and  other  ob- 
noxious creatures,  have  been  similarly  pro- 
ceeded against  and  condemned  to  various 
punishments — mostly  in  ecclesiastical  courts. 
And,  stranger  still,  inanimate  objects  have 
suffered  the  same  fate.  In  1685,  when  the 
Protestant  chapel  at  Rochelle  was  condemned 
to  be  demolished,  the  bell  thereof  was  pub- 
licly whipped  for  having  assisted  heretics 
with  its  tongue.  After  being  whipped  it  was 
catechised,  compelled  to  recant,  and  then 
baptized  and  hung  up  in  a  Roman  Catholic 
place  of  worship.  Probably  similar  absurd- 
ities may  have  been  perpetrated  in  our  own 
country ;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that 
only  in  the  present  reign  was  the  law  re- 
pealed which  made  a  cart-wheel,  a  tree,  or 
a  beast  which  had  killed  a  man  forfeit  to  the 
State  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  It  had 
been  said  that  punishment  is  not  likely  to 
be  efficacious  unless  it  swiftly  follows  the  of- 
fense. This  was  improved  on  by  a  Barbary 
Turk  who,  whenever  he  bought  a  fresh 
Christian  slave,  had  him  hung  up  by  the 
heels  and  bastinadoed,  on  the  principle,  it 
is  supposed — though  the  application  is  deci- 
dedly singular — that  prevention  is  better 
than  cure"  (All  the  I ear  Round.} 

Raymond  Lully. — Outside  of  Nicolas 
de  Hauteville's  tremendous  list  of  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty-nine  treatises  by  Lully, 
the  compiler  states  that  there  are  forty  or 
more  omitted  alchemistic  treatises  ascribed 
to  him  which  are  believed  to  be  spurious. 
(He  has  admitted,  with  a  caveat,  some 
twenty-five  alchemistic  discourses.)  Haute- 
ville,  however,  disclaims  completeness.  I 
do  not  find  the  "  Clericus"  in  his  list,  and  I 
do  not  think  it  is  entered  under  another 


name,  because  the  compiler  has  generally 
given  the  first  and  last  line  of  each  treatise 
— many  of  the  "  treatises"  being,  however, 
mere  papers,  or  discourses.  A  few  are  in 
Catalan — the  most  are  in  Latin.  I  have 
not  examined  Salzinger's  edition  of  Lully. 
This  splendid  man  undoubtedly  had  his 
faults  and  his  limitations ;  but  he  lived  two 
hundred  years  too  soon  for  his  fame,  He 
was  beatified  by  one  pope,  and  condemned 
as  a  heretic  by  another.  In  some  of  the 
Mallorquin  churches  they  still  honor  his 
memory  on  the  day  of  his  martyrdom — a 
hymn  at  vespers  containing  these  words : 


"  Remundus, 
Pretiosae  laudis  abundus 

Doctor  profundus, 
Regnat  sine  fine  jucundus,"  etc. 


GERMANTOWN. 


Qui  TAM. 


The  Guinea  (Vol.  iv,  p.  191). — Pepys, 
in  his  diary,  says  of  the  "  Guinea"  and  its 
origin  :  "  September  21,  1668.  This  day 
also  came  out  first,  the  new  five-pieces  in 
gold,  coined  by  the  Guiny  Company,  and 
I  did  get  two  pieces  of  Mr.  Holder."  In  a 
foot-note  I  find  further:  "  Guineas  took 
their  names  from  the  gold  brought  from 
Guinea  by  the  African  Company,  who,  as 
an  encouragement  to  bring  over  gold  to  be 
coined,  were  permitted  by  their  charter 
from  Charles  II  to  have  their  stamp  of  an 
elephant  upon  the  coin." 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Underground  Rivers  (Vol.  v,  pp.  127, 
etc.). — Among  fictitious  or  imaginary  ex- 
amples of  this  sort  are  the  streams  which 
the  Armenians  believe  to  flow  from  Lake 
Van  to  the  river  Tigris. 

O.  L.  WALTON. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Sunken  Cities  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  154,  etc.). 
— The  ancient  Greeks  alleged  that  the  cities 
of  Buro  and  Helica  were  sunk  in  the  sea, 
in  which  the  houses  were  visible.  The  sea 
flows  over  the  old  site  of  the  city  of  Cali- 
cut, in  India.  E.  B. 

BOSTON. 


August  2,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


165 


Bottomless  Ponds  (Vol.  v,  pp.  141, 
etc.). — A  small  corner,  please,  for  our  late 
bottomless  pond  here  on  Manhattan,  were 
it  but  through  regard  for  its  antiquity.  It 
was  an  article  of  faith  with  the  old  Dutch 
that  it  had  no  bottom,  and  they  seemed  to 
have  recorded  their  belief  in  the  name  Kolk 
that  they  gave  it  (although  some  people 
said  Kalk  was  the  right  word).  In  the 
course  of  years  this  question  was  settled  by 
the  adoption  of  the  ludicrous  Anglicism 
Collect ;  it  was  then  time  the  pond  should 
disappear,  and  it  did  so. 

It  was  filled  up  in  the  early  years  of  this 
century,  and  the  Tombs  were  erected  on  the 
spot  in  1840. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  Captain  of  My  Dreams  (Vol.  v, 
pp.  1 5 1,  etc.). — Tennyson  long  ago  published 
a  piece  beginning  "  Vex  not  thou  the  poet's 
mind,"  which  appears  to  me  to  contain  a 
general  caveat  against  all  questioners  as  to 
his  meaning.  Be  that  as  it  may.  I  make 
bold  to  appeal  from  the  poet  exploited  for 
an  explanation  to  the  poet  inspired  by  his 
subject.  I  would  give  more  for  M.  C.  L.'s 
graceful  and  thoroughly  poetical  interpreta- 
tion, than  for  the  one  furnished  in  this  case 
by  Tennyson  himself.  The  naming  of  Venus 
as  the  captain  of  the  poet's  dreams  of  fair 
women,  because  she  herself  is  the  fairest  of 
the  fair,  is  excellent ;  but  it  is  only  an  ad- 
ditional, although  a  principal,  reason  for 
saying  that  the  morning  star  is  the  captain 
of  the  poet's  dreams.  The  reasons  already 
assigned  still  hold  good,  and  would  of  them- 
selves be  sufficient. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Arthur  Kill  (Vol.  v,  pp.  67,  etc.).— I  re- 
member reading,,  a  dozen  years  ago,  in  a 
foot-note  in  Hough's  "  Gazetteer  of  New 
York,"  something  to  the  effect  that  North- 
ern New  Jersey  was  formerly  known  to  the 
Knickerbockers  of  New  York  as  Achtyr  Kill. 
I  cannot  be  sure  of  the  spelling,  nor  do  I 
remember  whether  or  not  the  origin  of  the 
term  was  given. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 


Palseologus. — In  a  very  recent  number 
of  the  English  Notes  and  Queries  inquiry 
is  made  concerning  a  branch  (which  at  one 
time  was  settled  in  England)  of  the  imperial 
family  of  Pala^ologus.  I  remember  reading 
that  there  once  was  a  family  of  the  name  of 
Palaeologus  in  Barbadoes  ;  and  in  one  of  the 
churches  of  that  island  they  show  the  tomb- 
stone of  the  last  of  the  Palseologi.  But  I 
have  also  read  that  there  was  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  a  gentleman  of  the  same  name  had 
left  Barbadoes,  and  had  probably  settled  in 
some  other  colony.  Is  there,  then,  by  any 
possibility,  an  American  family  descended 
from  this  line  of  Roman  emperors  ?  I  have 
the  impression  that  the  Courtenay  family, 
of  which  the  Earl  of  Devon  is  the  head, 
trace  a  descent  from  the  Latin  emperors  of 
the  East.  G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Maroons  (Vol.  v,  p.  146). — Another  ex- 
planation says  that  the  word  maroon  means 
' '  hog-hunter. ' '  Still  another  derivation  pro- 
posed is  from  the  Spanish  simaron,  an  ape. 
There  is  still  a  body  of  so-called  maroons  of 
African  descent  in  the  wilds  of  Guiana. 
These  bosch-neger  are  described  in  the  "  En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica,"  Art.  "Guiana." 
They  speak  a  curious  composite  language.  I 
have  seen  extracts  from  the  New  Testament 
in  their  tongue,  issued,  I  think,  by  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  They  are 
mostly  pagans,  with  some  singularly  per- 
verted ideas  derived  from  Christianity. 

ILDERIM. 

Oddities  of  Noted  People  (Vol.  iv, 
pp.  273,  etc.). — "Lochiel's  Warning"  and 
a  Cup  of  Tea — Servants  and  Poetical  Inspi- 
ration in  the  Small  Hours — Origin  of  the 
familiar  couplet : 

"  'Tis  the  sunset  of  life  gives  me  mystical  lore, 
And  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before." 

"  The  happy  thought  first  presented  itself 
to  Campbell's  mind  during  a  visit  to  Minto. 
He  had  gone  early  to  bed,  and  still  medita- 
ting on  '  Lochiel's  Warning '  fell  fast  asleep. 
During  the  night  he  suddenly  woke  up,  re- 
peating, '  Events  to  come  cast  their  sha- 
dows before.'  This  was  the  very  thought 
for  which  he  had  been  hunting  all  the  week. 


i66 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  2,  1890. 


He  rang  the  bell  more  than  once  with  in- 
creasing force.  At  last,  surprised  and  an- 
noyed by  so  unseasonable  a  peal,  the  servant 
appeared.  The  poet  was  sitting  with  one 
foot  in  the  bed  and  the  other  on  the  floor, 
with  an  air  of  mixed  impatience  and  inspir- 
ation. '  Sir,  are  you  ill  ?'  inquired  the  ser- 
vant. '  111 !  Never  better  in  my  life.  Leave 
me  the  candle  and  oblige  me  with  a  cup  of 
tea  as  soon  as  possible. '  He  then  started  to 
his  feet,  seized  hold  of  his  pen,  and  wrote 
down  the  happy  thought,  but,  as  he  wrote, 
changed  the  words  '  events  to  come  '  into 
'coming  events,'  as  it  now  stands  in  the 
text.  Looking  at  his  watch,  he  observed 
that  it  was  two  o'clock,  the  right  hour  for  a 
poet's  dream  ;  and  over  his  '  cup  of  tea '  he 
completed  his  first  sketch  of  '  Lochiel  '  " 
(Dr.  Beattie's  "Biog.,"  Vol.  i,  p.  322). 

Not  long  after  Campbell  became  known 
in  Edinburgh,  Scott's  MS.  of  "  Cadyow 
Castle  "  began  to  be  shown  about  among1  the 
writer's  friends.  The  author  of  the  "  Pleas- 
ures of  Hope  "  at  once  conceived  such  an  in- 
tense admiration  for  this  new  ballad  that  some 
of  its  more  thrilling  portions  were  continually 
ringing  in  his  brain  ;  and  he  found  himself 
stamping  his  feet  and  shaking  his  head  to 
the  rhythm,  as  he  went  through  the  streets 
repeating  favorite  verses  like 

"  Mightiest  of  all  the  beasts  of  chase 

That  roam  in  wooded  Caledon, 
Crashing  the  forest  in  his  race, 
The  mountain  bull  comes  thundering  on." 

He  says :  "I  have  repeated  these  lines  so 
often  on  the  North  Bridge  that  the  whole 
fraternity  of  coachmen  know  me  by  tongue 
as  I  pass. ' ' 

We  are  led  to  compare  Lord  Byron 
("Mazeppa,"  xvii): 

"  A  thousand  horses,  the  wild,  the  free, 

Like  waves  that  follow  o'er  the  sea, 

Came  thickly  thundering  on." 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


F.  T.  C. 


Trivium  and  Quadrivium  (Vol.  v,  p. 
40). — There  is  another  mediaeval  Latin 
couplet  much  like  the  one  you  have  already 
given.  Can  any  of  your  correspondents  re- 
call them  for  me  ?  A.  B.  M. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 


Famous  Spinsters  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  igo.etc.) 
— To  the  list  printed  on  pages  mentioned, 
I  would  add  :  The  great  Diana  of  the  Ephe- 
sians;  the  younger  Vesta,  who  asked  her 
brother,  Jupiter,  the  privilege  of  remaining 
an  old  maid  ;  Elizabeth  Carter,  of  England, 
the  great  linguist ;  Lady  Hester  Stanhope, 
niece  of  William  Pitt;  Susan  B.  Anthony, 
Anna  Dickinson,,  Karoline  Winderstrom, 
the  first  woman  doctor  of  Sweden ;  Clara 
Barton ;  the  late  Mary  A.  Brigham,  Presi- 
dent of  Mt.  -Holyoke  Seminary;  Louise 
Michel,  Emily  Faithful,  and  Mary  Murfree 
(Charles  Egbert  Craddock). 

Besides  these,  Marian  Evans  (George 
Eliot),  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  Sarah  Bern- 
hardt,  and  scores  of  other  famous  women 
were  "old  maids"  long  enough  before  they 
became  wives. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Duke  of  York  (Vol.  v,  p.  127). — Let 
us  examine  G.'s  answer  a  little.  The  ques- 
tion which  I  answered  was :  "  Why  do  none 
of  Queen  Victoria's  sons  bear  the  title  of 
Duke  of  York?"  I  answered  that  the  title 
was  reserved  for  princes  "  in  line  of  succes- 
sion to  the  throne;"  and  G.  undertakes  to 
show  that  it  was  not.  I  admit  that  Edmund 
of  Langley  was  created  Duke  of  York  when 
he  was  not  in  such  line  of  succession  ;  but 
his  descendants  cannot  be  counted  in  a  ques- 
tion of  creations,  as  they  succeeded  to  a 
title  already  created.  Edward  IV  created 
his  second  son  Duke  of  York ;  this  duke  was 
murdered  by  Richard  of  Gloucester  in  1483. 
Henry  VII  created  his  second  son  duke ;  he 
later  became  Prince  of  Wales  and  king. 
James  I  created  his  second  son  duke ;  he, 
too,  became  Prince  of  Wales  and  king. 
Charles  II  made  his  brother  Duke  of  York ; 
he  became  king.  George  I  broke  the  cus- 
tom by  creating  his  youngest  brother  duke, 
between  whom  and  the  crown  were  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  the  son  of  the  prince,  and 
an  elder  brother  of  the  duke,  Maximilian 
William,  field  marshal  in  the  imperial  army. 
George  III  honored  the  custom  by  creating 
his  next  younger  brother  Edward  Duke  of 
York;  this  duke  died  in  1767,  and  in  1784 
the  king  created  his  second  son  duke.  I 
said  nothing  about  succeeding  to  the  throne. 


August  2,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


167 


In  the  cases  of  all  these  princes,  except  Ed- 
mund of  Langley  and  Ernest  Augustus  of 
Hanover,  the  title  was  conferred  when  they 
stood  next  to  the  heir  apparents  to  the 
throne.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  Landfall  of  Columbus  (Vol.  v, 
p.  155). — I  am  unable  to  decide  what  G.  H. 
G.  means  in  alleging  the  log  of  Columbus 
to  be  of  questionable  authenticity.  If  we 
are  to  infer  that  it  is  fictitious,  I  fear  the 
truth  cannot  be  established  one  way  or  the 
other,  inasmuch  as  the  chart,  the  journal  of 
his  stay  in  the  Bahamas;  and  the  original 
log-book  have  disappeared.  The  only  au- 
thentic document  extant  is  the  narrative  of 
Las  Casas,  a  contemporary  and  intimate 
friend  of  Columbus.  Las  Casas  wrote  a 
narrative  of  the  voyages  and  discoveries  of 
Columbus,  and  had  before  him,  among  other 
things  in  its  preparation,  the  original  jour- 
nals, the  log-book,  and  the  map  of  the  Ba- 
hamas made  by  Columbus — all  of  which 
have  been  lost.  The  log  of  the  voyage  has 
been  abridged  in  places,  but  from  the  time 
the  vessels  reached  Guanahani,  the  docu- 
ment is  given  in  full.  No  attempt,  I  be- 
lieve, has  ever  been  made  to  gainsay  the 
authenticity  of  this  document,  and,  until 
the  original  log-book  is  produced,  no  track 
or  landfall  can  be  established  that  does  not 
conform  to  it.  That  the  original  log  had 
a  spice  of  deceptiveness  about  it  is  true,  as 
the  following  extract  will  show.  Is  it  this  to 
which  G.  H.  G.  refers,  or  is  it  Columbus' 
journal  in  the  Bahamas? 

"  MlERCOLES,  ib  de  Octubre. 

"  Navego  al  Ouesudueste,  anduvieron  a  diez  millas 
por  hora  y  &  ratos  doce  a  algun  rato  &.  siete,  y  entre  dia 
y  noche  cincuenta  y  nueve  legnas;  conto  d  la  gente 
cuarenta  y  cuartro  legnas  no  mas.  Aqui  la  gente  ya  no 
lo  podia  sufrir:  quejabase  del  largo  viage ;  pero  el 
Almirante  los  esforzo  lo  mejor  que  pudo  dandoles 
buena  esperanza  de  los  provechos  que  podrian  haber. 
Y  anadia  que  por  demas  era  quejarse,  pues  que  el  habia 
venido  a  las  Indias,  y  que  asi  lo  habia  de  prosequir 
hasta  hallarlas  con  el  ayuda  de  nuestro  Senor." 

In  his  official  log,  Columbus  is  admitted 
to  have  constantly  underestimated  the  daily 
distances.  This  he  did,  as  he  claims  in  his 
private  journal,  in  order  that  the  men  might 
not  discover  the  fact  that  they  were  reaching 


a  longitude  beyond  the  alleged  position  of 
Cipango  (Japan).  In  his  private  journal  he 
kept  record  of  the  real  distances,  and  this  was 
used  in  Las  Casas'  narrative.  That  Guana- 
hani was  the  place  of  the  first  landfall  all 
are  agreed  ;  but  to  what  one  it  shall  be  ap- 
plied remains  to  be  decided.  Captain  Fox's 
investigation  has  included  a  discussion  of 
the  change  in  magnetic  variation,  and  for 
this  purpose  Prof.  Shotte,  of  the  United 
States  Coast  Survey,  has  calculated  the 
probable  position  of  the  agonic  for  1492. 
If  this  has  been  correctly  done,  neither  Cat 
nor  Watling  can  be  the  original  Guanahani. 


J.  W.  REDWAY. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


"  Now  I  Lay  Me  Down  to  Sleep  ;'' 
or,  "Four  Corners  to  My  Bed"  (Vol. 
iii,  p.  209). — Wordsworth,  in  a  prefatory 
note  to  his  poem,  "The  Redbreast,"  says: 
"Now  that' the  cats  had  been  driven  away 
from  our  cottage,  the  redbreasts  became 
familiar  visitors,  and  always  felt  confident  of 
a  welcome.  One  of  them  took  up  his  abode 
without  being  caged  with  Miss  Dorothy  W., 
and  at  night  used  to  perch  upon  a  nail,  from 
which  a  picture  had  been  hung,  and  fan  her 
face  with  his  wing  in  a  manner  that  was 
most  touching."  The  poet  connects  this 
incident  with  the  "White  Paternoster/' 
best  known  to  us  as  "  Now  I  lay  me,  etc.," 
in  the  following  characteristic  lines : 

"  Now  cooling  with  his  passing  wing 
Her  forehead,  like  a  breeze  of  spring, 
Recalling  how  with  descant  soft, 
Shed  round  her  pillow  from  aloft, 
Sweet  thoughts  of  angels  hovering  nigh, 
And  the  invisible  sympathy 
Of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John, 
Blessing  the  bed  she  lies  upon." 

The  poet  also  remarks  that  the  child's  prayer 
alluded  to  is  still  (1835)  in  use  in  the  north- 
ern counties. 

Ed.  Daniel  Clarke  (b.  1769),  the  English 
traveler,  when  among  the  Cossacks,  ob- 
served that  this  people  were  accustomed  be- 
fore they  consigned  themselves  to  sleep,  to 
make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  facing  respec- 
tively the  four  quarters  of  the  globe.  "A 
similar  superstition,"  he  remarks,  "re- 
specting four  cardinal  points  .  of  worship 


1 68 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  2,  1890. 


exists  among  ignorant  people  even  in  our 
own  country.  I  remember  when  a  child 
being  taught  by  an  old  woman  to  offer  the 
following  singular  prayer : 

"  '  Four  corners  to  my  bed, 
Four  angels  overhead, 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John, 
Bless  the  bed  which  I  lie  on.'  " 

Another  version,  recently  printed,  says  five 
angels : 

"  Two  to  watch  and  two  to  pray, 
And  one  to  drive  all  dreams  away." 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


F.  T.  C. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Atlantic  Monthly,  for  August,  contains  an  arti- 
cle by  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  on  "  International  Copy- 
right," which  is  worth  studying.  The  balance  of  the 
number  is  made  up  as  follows  :  "  The  Use  and  Limits 
of  Academic  Culture,"  a  paper  by  Prof.  N.  S.  Shaler, 
which  shows  the  manner  in  which  Prof.  Shaler  believes 
the  college  could  be  brought  into  closer  touch  with  the 
aims  of  the  ordinary  student,  namely,  the  gaining  of  a 
living,  is  a  noticeable  paper  of  the  number.  It  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  sketch  of  Madame  Cornuel  and  Madame 
de  Coulanges.  Both  of  these  clever  French  women 
were  given  to  epigram  and  don-mots,  many  of  which 
are  given  in  this  sketch,  which  is  written  by  Ellen  Terry 
Johnson.  Miss  Murfree's  "  Felicia"  and  Mrs.  De- 
land's  "  Sidney"  are  still  continued. 

The  poetry  of  the  number  is  particularly  good.  Mrs. 
Fields  has  a  sonnet ;  Mr.  Whittier  a  three-page  poem 
on  the  town  of  Haverhill ;  and  Dr.  Holmes  ends  his 
installment  of  "Over  the  Teacups"  with  some  verses 
entitled  "  The  Broomstick  Train ;  or,  The  Return  of 
the  Witches."  The  Salem  witches,  he  tells  us,  impa- 
tient at  their  long  imprisonment,  petitioned  to  be  re- 
leased, but  when  the  Evil  One  allowed  their  liberty, 
they  played  such  mad  pranks  that  he  called  them  to- 
gether and,  for  punishment,  made  them  pull  the  electric 


"  Since  then  on  many  a  car  you'll  see 
A  broomstick  plain  as  plain  can  be ; 
****** 
As  for  the  hag,  you  can't  see  her, 
But,  hark !  you  can  hear  her  black  cat's  purr, 
And  now  and  then,  as  a  train  goes  by, 
You  may  catch  a  gleam  from  her  wicked  eye." 

But  to  appreciate  the  verses,  not  six  but  the  twice  sixty 
lines  should  be  all  read. 

The  Century  Magazine,  for  August,  con  tains  the  third 
part  of  "  The  Anglomaniacs,"  of  which  the  concluding 


installment  will  be  published  in  the  September  number. 
In  the  new  chapter  of  Mrs.  Barr's  striking  novel, 
"  Friend  Olivia,"  the  heroine  sets  sail  for  America  with 
her  father,  who  goes  in  search  of  religious  freedom  and 
converts.  The  short  story  of  the  number,  "  The  Eman- 
cipation of  Joseph  Peloubet,"  by  John  Elliott  Curran, 
introduces  a  Frenchman  who  turns  his  back  in  disgust 
on  the  Second  Emp  re,  starts  a  newspaper  in  New  York 
which  advocates  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  and  col- 
lapses, and  who  then  returns  to  his  trade  of  baking 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  when  he  enlists,  and 
his  ideals  are  realized  and  his  life  is  sacrificed. 

Few  readers  will  reach  the  end  of  the  second  paper 
by  Dr.  T.  H.  Mann,  on  his  experiences  as  "A  Yankee 
in  Andersonvile,"  without  being  profoundly  touched 
by  the  pathos  of  his  helpless  journey  to  his  home  in 
Boston.  The  realistic  pictures,  made  from  photographs, 
add  to  the  interest  of  the  narrative  of  life  in  the  prison- 
pens  at  Andersonville  and  Florence.  Another  article 
bearing  briefly  on  the  history  of  the  war,  is  Miss  S.  E. 
Blackwell's  statement  in  "Open  Letters"  of  "The 
Case  of  Miss  Carroll,"  whose  claims  for  services  to  the 
Union  are  still  unconsidered  by  Congress. 

In  the  tenth  part  of  "  The  Autobiography  of  Joseph 
Jefferson,"  the  comedian  writes  most  entertainingly  of 
John  Brougham,  Edwin  Adams,  Charles  Fechter, 
George  Holland,  and  of  other  favorites  who  have  not 
long  been  absent  from  the  stage.  Another  illustrated 
feature  of  the  number  that  is  pervaded  by  an  artistic 
personality,  is  the  fifth  installment  of  John  La  Farge's 
"  Letters  from  Japan."  There  is  also  a  decided  lit- 
erary quality  in  Mrs.  Amelia  Gere  Mason's  fourth  paper 
on  "The  Women  of  the  French  Salons,"  which  treats 
more  particularly  of  the  salons  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

John  Muir  contributes  an  important  paper  on  "  The 
Treasures  of  the  Yosemite."  The  article  is  richly  illus- 
trated, and  there  are  maps  to  indicate  the  boundaries 
of  the  proposed  enlargement  of  the  Yosemite  Park  by 
the  creation  of  a  new  national  park  to  preserve  the 
sources  of  the  waters  that  are  such  an  indispensable  fea- 
ture of  the  old  park.  Mr.  Muir,  who  is  recognized  as 
qualified  to  give  a  weighty  opinion  in  the  matter,  urges 
the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  preservation  of  the 
Yosemite. 

Other  illustrated  features  of  the  number  are  W.  J. 
Stillman's  paper  on  the  "  Italian  Old  Masters,"  Sandro 
Botticelli,  with  three  full-page  engravings  by  Cole;  an 
entertaining  account  by  Gustave  Kobbe  of  "  The  Perils 
and  Romance  of  Whaling;"  and  the  second  part  of 
Harriet  W.  Preston's  "  Proven9al  Pilgrimage,"  illus- 
trated by  Pennell. 

President  Eliot  of  Harvard  contributes  "The  For- 
gotten Millions,"  a  study  of  the  common  American 
mode  of  life,  as  typified  by  the  permanent  native  popu- 
lation of  Mt.  Desert.  In  "  Topics  of  the  Time"  there 
is  a  discussion  of  the  "  Distaste  for  Solitude ;"  of  "  The 
New  School  of  Explorers,"  as  exemplified  by  Stanley  ; 
and  a  brief  comment  on  Mistral  and  his  poetic  country 
of  "  Provence."  In  "Open  Letters,"  the  Rev.  Alfred 
J.  P.  McClure  describes  the  work  of  the  "  Siberian 
Exile  Petition  Movement  of  Philadelphia,"  and  Abbot 
Kinney  replies  to  Major  Powell's  article  in  the  April 
Century  on  the  arid  regions  of  the  West. 

Besides  the  poems  in  "  Bric-a-Brac,"  the  number 
contains  a  charming  poem  on  Shakespeare  by  Thomas 
Bailey  Aldrich,  entitled  "  Guilielmus  Rex,"  and  poems 
by  Harriet  Prescott  Spofford,  Frank  Dempster  Sher- 
man, Edith  Thomas,  Bliss  Carman,  and  Charles  G.  D. 
Roberts. 


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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  :— Tinker's  Dam,  169— Notes  on  Words— Meditate— 

Rail,  170. 
QUERIES  :  — Colored    Starch,   170  — Frogs  of  Windham— 

Meum  Nil  Non  Pert,  171. 

REPLIES  :  —  Brazen  Fly  of  Virgil— Herod  and  Mariamne, 
171 — Stone  Worn  Away— Qui  Vive — Greek  Cities,  173. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :-Lake  Baikal- 
Remember  Boy,  etc. — Shrewsbury — Kubla  Khan— Seiche — 
Authorship  Wanted,  174. 

COMMUNICATIONS -.—What  Year  is  This?  174— Sunken 
Cities  and  City  of  Is — Popocatepetl,  175 — Thackeray's 
Nose— Kansas — Leper  Kings — Red  Sea — Cool  as  a  Cucum- 
ber, 176 — Wise  Men  of  Gotham — Parallel  Passages — Colors 
of  Lakes  and  Rivers,  177 — Duke  of  York — Telegraphic 
Blunders — Devil's  Lake — Arthur  Kill,  178 — Musical  Sands- 
Charivari — Rivers  Flowing  Inland — Lake  Drained — Rhym- 
ing History  of  England — Discoveries  by  Accident,  179 — 
Hardships  of  Genius — Ford  in  Place  Names — Presbyterian 
True  Blue — Sunken  Islands — Corrigendum,  180. 

ROTES. 
TINKER'S  DAM. 

(VOL.  i,  P.  261.) 

A  great  many  people  believe  that  this 
expression  comes  from  the  dam  of  putty  or 
clay  that  a  tinker  uses  to  restrain  his  molten, 
metal  from  overflowing,  and  which  is  thrown 
away  when  his  work  is  completed. 

This  is  altogether  an  error.  "  A  Tinker's 
Dam"  is  equivalent  to  the  expression,  ''A 
Continental  Damn."  The  latter  expression 
arose  when  Continental  money  had  become 
so  utterly  worthless  towards  the  end  of  the 
Revolution,  as  the  Confederate  notes  did  at 
end  of  the  Civil  War.  In  a  "  Classical  Dic- 
tionary of  the  Vulgar  Tongue,"  London, 
1 796,  a  ' '  dam' '  is  defined  as  ' '  a  small  Indian 
coin,  mentioned  in  the  Gentoo  code  of 
laws;  hence  the  etymologists  may,  if  they 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  9,  1890. 


please,  derive  the  common  expression,  'I 
do  not  care  a  dam  !'  /'.  e.,  I  do  not  care  a 
farthing  for  it."  And  a  dam  is  the  smallest 
Hindu  coin  in  circulation,  like  a  Turkish 
paper  piastre  or  a  Portuguese  milreis,  the 
one- thousandth  part  of  a  dollar,  or  a  French 
centime,  one-fifth  of  a  sou,  used  in 
making  up  accounts,  but  a  coin  rarely  if 
ever  seen  in  circulation.  A  Hindu  Tinker 
is  a  Pariah,  the  lowest  caste,  an  outcast. 
For  a  higher  class  to  touch  what  a  Pariah 
has  touched  is  pollution ;  consequently,  a 
"Tinker's  Dam"  is  a  monetary  token  al- 
most valueless  in  itself,  and  utterly  worthless 
by  being  polluted  in  passing  through  a 
Tinker's  or  Pariah's  hands.  Sometimes 
this  expression  is  spelled  "Tinker's Damn," 
and  it  has  been  stated  that  the  French  say 
"Damn."  But  both  are  errors.  The 
French  oath  sounding  like  Dam  is  Dame, 
very  common.  That  is  said  to  be  the  mis- 
use of  Dame,  abbreviation  of  Notre  Dame, 
although  respectable  dictionaries  interpret 
it  as  an  exclamation  to  denote  surprise,  as 
"  Bless  me  !  Forsooth  !  Many  !" 

ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y.     

NOTES  ON  WORDS. 

Matte. — This  is  a  fisherman's  name  for  a 
fat  herring,  with  the  spawn  not  largely  de- 
veloped. The  "  Century  Dictionary"  says 
that  its  origin  is  uncertain.  The  Dutch 
name  for  small  herring  is  maatjes ;  maatjc 
also  means  a  small  measure,  as  explained  by 
Mr.  Holdsworth  in  "  Encycl.  Brit.,"  Art. 
"  Fisheries;"  herring  full  of  spawn  are  called 
voll,  or  full.  The  subject  certainly  requires 
further  examination.  Brockhaus  ("The 
Conv.  Lexikon,"  under  "Herring")  defines 
matjeshering  as  virgin-herring. 

Metaxite. — The  "Century  Dictionary" 
derives  this  word  (which  has  been  employed 
as  the  name  of  at  least  three  minerals,  of 
which  this  dictionary  gives  us  only  one) 
from  the  Greek  /^erafy,  between.  Why  not 
derive  it  from  fiira^a,  silk  ?  It  has  always 
been  applied  to  fibrous  or  silky  minerals. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  the  derivation  here 
offered  is  correct. 

Meristem. — The  "Century  Dictionary" 
states  that  this  word,  a  botanical  term,  is 
irregularly  formed  from  the  Greek 


to  divide,  nspiffTos,  divided.  Is  not  the 
formation  perfectly  regular?  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  Greek  nouns  denoting  a  material 
acted  upon,  are  formed  from  verbal  stems 
with  -cma. 

Mot,  or  Motte. — This  well-known  Texan 
word  for  a  clump  of  trees,  a  small  grove,  is 
not  in  the  "Century  Dictionary."  Com- 
pare Fr.  motte,  a  lump,  a  patch,  a  mound ; 
Sp.  nwta,  a  mound.  P.  F.  P. 

AUSTIN,  TEX. 

MEDITATE. 

This  word,  in  Milton's  phrase,  to  "strictly 
meditate  the  thankless  muse,"  is  defined  by 
the  Century,  and  other  dictionaries,  as 
meaning  "  to  think  upon ;  to  resolve  in  the 
mind;  to  consider."  It  strikes  me  that  in 
this  case  we  have  to  do  with  a  strict  Latin- 
ism,  and  that  the  meaning  is  "to  exercise 
one's  self  in  ;  to  devote  one's  attention  to; 
to  occupy  one's  time  with."  It  is  the  "  sil- 
vestrem  tenui  musam  meditaris  avena"  of 
Virgil,  in  which  case  it  plainly  means  more 
than  to  think  upon.  G. 

MERCHANTVILLE,  N.  J. 


RAIL. 

This  word,  meaning  a  tunic  (extant  in  the 
term  night-rail}  is  generally  referred,  and 
no  doubt  correctly,  to  Anglo-Saxon  hregil. 
(But  is  not  the  Latin  rallus,  a  tunic,  of  the 
same  origin  ?)  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
a  tunicle,  scarf,  or  stole,  comes  near  to  what 
the  English  people  at  one  time  meant  by  a 
rail.  N.  S.  S. 


Colored  Starch.  —  Has  colored  starch  ever 
been  used  ?  C.  R.  REYNOLDS. 

DAYTON,  O. 

Yes.  There  was  once  a  yellow  starch  in- 
vented by  a  Mrs.  Turner,  who  made  herself 
famous  in  the  fashionable  world  of  London 
on  its  account.  Mrs.  Turner  was  executed 
at  Tyburn,  on  November  15,  1615,  for  her 
connection  with  the  mysterious  poisoning 
of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  in  the  Tower  of 
London. 

When    Lord    Chief   Justice    Coke   pro- 


August  9,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


171 


nounced  sentence  of  death  upon  Mrs. 
Turner,  he  told  her  "  that  as  she  had  been 
the  inventor  of  yellow  starched  ruffs  and 
cuffs,  he  hoped  she  would  be  the  last  by 
whom  they  would  be  worn."  He  accord- 
ingly gave  strict  orders  for  her  to  be  hanged 
in  the  attire  which  she  had  made  fashionable. 
This  addition  to  her  sentence  was  fully  car- 
ried out,  and  the  prisoner  came  to  the  gal- 
lows with  her  face  rouged  and  a  ruff  stiffened 
with  yellow  starch  around  her  neck. 

The  object  contemplated  by  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice  was  fully  attained,  as  the  yel- 
low ruff  was  never  more  worn  from  that 
day. 

Frogs  of  Windham. — Where  can  I  find 
the  best  account  of  the  visitation  of  the  frogs 
at  Windham,  Conn.,  in  the  olden  times? 
I  know  that  there  are  various  versions  of  the 
affair,  and  I  would  like  to  see  and  compare 
them.  RUDOLPH. 

BRYN  MAWR,  PA. 

Is  it  not  probable  that  the  terrific  noise 
made  by  the  alleged  "  Frogs  of  Windham" 
were  in  reality  produced  by  the  "  Spade- 
foot  Toad,"  Scaphiopus  solitarius?  It  is 
stated  that  when  these  creatures  (rarely  seen, 
and  not  very  well  known  to  naturalists)  as- 
semble themselves  together  they  sometimes 
make  a  very  hideous  din,  which  is  almost 
always  ascribed  incorrectly  to  the  bull-frogs. 

Meum  Nil  Non  Pert. — What  does  this  sen- 
tence mean  ?  JAMES  R.  KEMBLE. 
ST.  Louis,  Mo. 

This  is  an  old  puzzle ;  it  is  said  to  mean 
"Bearwort  produces  no  indigo." 

It  E  P  L  I  E  S  . 

Brazen  Fly  of  Virgil  (Vol.  v,  p.  162). — 
Gervase  of  Tilbury  states  that  the  poet 
Virgil  made  a  fly  of  brass,  which,  being 
mounted  upon  one  of  the  gates  of  Naples 
for  many  years,  hindered  that  city  from 
being  troubled  with  flies.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

In  mediaeval  legend  the  poet  Virgil  figures 


as  a  mighty  magician — in  fact,  as  a  type  of 
that  class.  His  poetical  eminence  and  the 
consequent  familiarity  of  his  name  to  the 
people,  caused  the  ascription  to  him  of 
many  of  the  marvelous  necromantic  exploits 
originally  told  of  others,  notably  of  Hip- 
pocrates, besides  new  stories  that  were  in- 
vented and  placed  to  his  credit.  One  of 
the  wonderful  examples  of  Virgil's  magical 
power,  which  is  related  by  Gervase  of  Til- 
bury, was  the  creation  of  a  brazen  fly,  which 
was  placed  on  one  of  the  gates  of  the  city 
of  Naples,  and  had  the  effect  of  keeping 
the  city  free  from  real  flies.  But  this  is 
only  one  of  the  many  marvelous  construc- 
tions of  his  hands.  We  read  of  a  chamber 
built  by  him  which  would  keep  meat  fresh 
any  length  of  time ;  of  a  certain  brazen 
statue  which  kept  the  city  free  from  the 
smoke  and  fire  issuing  from  "Vulcan's 
forges;"  his  baths  which  cured  every  dis- 
order, and  the  wonderful  brazen  archer 
which  guarded  the  public  fire,  besides  many 
more  not  less  astonishing. 

A  curious  story,  which  may  not  be  out  of 
place,  is  told  of  the  manner  in  which  Virgil 
attained  his  power  in  the  "  scyence  of  ny- 
gromancy."  While  at  school,  at  Toledo, 
he  wandered  into  a  cave  in  which  a  "  devyll 
conjured  out  of  the  body  of  a  certeyne  man" 
was  imprisoned.  This  devil  promised  Vir- 
gil full  knowledge  of  all  the  magical  arts  if 
he  would  liberate  him  ;  he  was  accordingly 
released,  and  faithfully  complied  with  his 
agreement;  but  afterwards  Virgil  made  abet 
with  him  that  he  could  not  crawl  back  into 
the  same  hole  ;  the  devil  reentered  his  for- 
mer prison,  and  Virgil  closed  the  opening 
and  left  him  there. 

An  unfortunate  accident  which  happened 
while  Virgil  was  undergoing  the  process  of 
rejuvenation,  many  years  later,  cut  short  his 
extraordinary  career,  which  might  other- 
wise have  been  prolonged  for  centuries. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Herod  and  Mariamne  (Vol.  ii,  p.  223.) — 
"  The  old  story  of  Herod  and  Mariamne  is 
so  simple  and  natural,  that  it  appeals  to 
every  heart  in  every  age." 

Including  three  in  French  already  named, 
I  find  the  following  dramatic  versions  of  the 


172 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  9,  1890. 


story  as  told  in  the  Spectator,  by  Addison, 
"who  collected  it  out  of  Josephus:" 

Marianna Ludovico  Dolce    .    .  1565 

Mariamne Alex.  Hardy  ....  1623 

Mariamne Tristan  L'Eremite    .  1637 

No  Monster  Like  Jealousy  .  Calderon 

Herod  and  Mariamne  .   .   .  Pordage 1674 

Herod  the  Great Roger  Boyle  ....  1676 

Mariamne Elijah  Fenton    .    .    .  1723 

Mariamne Voltaire 1724 

Herod  and  Mariamne  .    .    .  Friedrich  Hebbel  .   .  1850 

The  Italian  version,  "Marianna,"  was 
printed  (1565)  next  year  after  the  birth  of 
Shakespeare.  The  play  bears  some  little 
resemblance  to  "Othello,"  on  account  of 
which  Klein  has  chosen  to  consider  Shake- 
speare much  indebted  to  Dolce;  most  critics 
think  the  German's  theory  rests  on  too 
slight  a  basis  to  be  tenable.  Alex.  Hardy 
was  the  author  of  six  hundred  dramas; 
Hazlitt  says,  "  Mariamne  is  the  most  tolera- 
ble of  his  tragedies." 

Tristan's  "  Mariamne"  met  with  immense 
success,  due  chiefly  to  the  genius  of  Mon- 
dory,  the  greatest  actor  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Mondory  created  the  role  of  Herod, 
and  his  interpretation  was  never  approached, 
much  less  surpassed.  "He  surrendered 
himself  entirely  to  the  part,  and  died  of  his 
efforts."  "  Herod,"  continues  Doran, 
"  was  indeed  the  malady  to  which  he  suc- 
cumbed," for  it  was  while  uttering  the 
king's  words  that  he  was  stricken  with  the 
paralysis  (d.  1646). 

The  Spanish  version,  "No  Monster  like 
Jealousy,"  is  doubtless  the  most  important. 
Of  the  two  hundred  works  of  Calderon 
which  have  been  preserved,  this  drama  is 
thought  the  most  interesting.  It  exceeds 
even  "  Othello"  in  tragical  horrors  ;  as  Mr. 
Ticknor  remarks,  "  It  does  not  seem  as  if 
the  fierce  and  relentless  passion  could  be 
carried  on  the  stage  to  a  more  terrible  ex- 
tremity." Mr.  T.  detects  a  refinement  in 
the  quality  of  Herod's  jealousy  which  does 
not  belong  to  Othello's.  While  the  Moor's 
passion  is  of  a  lower  sort,  appealing  to  gross 
fears,  Herod  the  king's  is  wholly  transcen- 
dental, having  for  its  object  a  being  purely 
imaginary. 

The  coincidences  which  occur  are,  though 
wholly  accidental,  very  interesting.  In  both, 
near  the  close  of  the  drama,  the  heroine  ap- 
pears in  a  night  scene  accompanied  with 


music.  In  Calderon 's,  it  is  the  women  in 
attendance  on  her  who  sing  to  Mariamne, 
already  sinking  from  fateful  forebodings, 
Escriva's  familiar  lines : 

"  Come,  Death,  but  gently  come  and  still ; 
All  signs  of  thine  approach  restraining, 
Lest  joy  of  these  mine  heart  should  fill 
And  turn  it  back  to  life  again.*' 

Nor  can  we  forget  Desdemona's  final  de- 
fense of  Othello,  when  we  listen  to  Mari- 
amne's  reply  to  Octavius,  who  urges  her 
flight  that  she  may  escape  Herod's  violence: 

"  For,  Sire,  my  husband 
Is  my  husband,  an'  if  he  slay  me, 
I  am  guiltless,  which,  in  the  flight 
You  urge,  I  could  not  be." 

"  I  die  not  through  my  fault, 
But  through  my  star's  malignant  potency, 
Preferring  in  my  heart  a  guiltless  death 
Before  a  life  held  up  to  vulgar  scorn." 

In  May,  or  rather  June,  1881,  Madrid 
celebrated  the  two  hundredth  anniversary 
of  Calderon's  death.  Throughout  the  festi- 
val week  his  plays  were  revived  with  the 
utmost  splendor,  and  were  listened  to  by 
his  countrymen  with  an  enthusiasm  which 
time  could  neither  lessen  nor  chill. 

"  Herod  the  Great"  is  pronounced  the 
"  most  striking  of  several  dramas  by  Roger 
Boyle,  Earl  of  Orrery ;  still  Lord  Broghill's 
play  must  rank  with  the  least  successful  on 
the  list,  which  reminds  one  of  Walpole's  re- 
mark, "  that  he  never  made  a  bad  figure, 
but  as  a  poet." 

While  little  better  than  absolute  failure  is 
recorded  of  Voltaire's  "  MariamneV'  1724, 
it  was  to  Elijah  Fenton,  the  tutor  of  Charles 
Boyle,  the  dramatist  and  grandson  of  Lord 
Broghill,  that  "Mariamne"  brought  for- 
tune and  fame. 

It  was  during  a  period  of  great  financial 
depression  at  Lincoln's  Inn  Theatre,  that 
this  modest  gentleman  of  a  good  old  family 
handed  a  tragedy  to  Colley  Gibber,  of 
Drury  Lane.  The  manager  read  the  play, 
and,  after  retaining  it  unnecessarily  long, 
returned  it  to  Fenton  with  the  advice  to 
leave  the  Muses  and  stick  to  some  honest 
calling.  Through  the  influence  of  friends, 
Fenton  then  offered  his  play  to  the  manager 
of  Lincoln's  Inn,  Rich,  who  immediately 
brought  it  out.  Whatever  difference  of 


August  9,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


173 


opinion  may  exist  as  to  its  literary  merit, 
the  tragedy  won  a  triumph,  both  for  author 
and  manager.  The  house  in  the  Fields  was 
rescued  from  bankruptcy,  and  the  poet,  to 
whom  Pope  had  paid  ^250  for  translating 
four  books  of  the  "  Odyssey"  for  him, 
netted  four  times  that  sum  by  this  drama. 
Fenton  was  now  famous  and  happy,  too. 
Being  content  with  this  one  great  dramatic 
success,  he  lived  calmly  the  brief  seven  years 
of  life  which  followed.  He  died  at  East- 
hampstead,  the  guest  of  Sir  William  Trum- 
bull.  "  He  was  never  named  but  with 
praise  and  fondness,  as  a  man  in  the  highest 
degree  excellent  and  amiable." 

Pope  paid  a  beautiful  tribute  to  Fenton's 
character  in  his  famous  epitaph  : 

"  This  modest  stone,  what  few  vain  marbles  can 

More  truly  say,  '  Here  lies  an  honest  man,' 

A  poet  bless'd  beyond  the  poet's  fate, 

Whom  Heaven  kept  sacred  from  the  proud  and  great. 

Foe  to  loud  praise  and  friend  to  learned  ease, 

Content  with  science  in  the  vale  of  peace, 

Calmly  he  looked  on  either  life,  and  here 

Saw  nothing  to  regret  or  there  to  fear ; 

From  Nature's  temperate  feast  rose  satisfied, 

Thanked  Heaven  that  he  had  lived,  and  that  he  died." 


F.  T.  C. 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


Stone  Worn  Away  (Vol.  ii,  p.  191). — It 
is  possible  that  the  querist  refers  to  the  steps 
of  a  public  building  in  Pompeii.  These  are 
described  in  a  popular  book,  whose  name  I 
cannot  now  recall,  as  having  been  nearly 
worn  in  pieces  by  the  feet,  probably  of  chil- 
dren. At  least  three  inches  in  depth  have 
been  worn  from  the  steps  in  front  of  the 
Cathedral  of  St.  Mark,  in  Venice,  while  the 
broad  step  in  front  of  the  Campanile  has 
been  equally  worn.  In  the  stone  steps  lead- 
ing to  the  recently  discovered  crypt  of 
Beauchamp  Chapel,  one  of  the  upper  stones 
has  been  worn  quite  in  two.  The  foot  of 
the  bronze  statue  of  St.  Peter,  in  St.  Peter's, 
at  Rome,  has  been  kissed  by  worshipping 
pilgrims  until  the  semblance  of  the  shape  of 
a  foot  is  almost  lost. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Qui  Vive  (Vol.  v,  p.  103). — Not  a  few 
so-called  French  idioms  are  found,  on  ex- 
amination, to  be  Latin  pure  and  simple,  and 


among  them  I  look  upon  gut  vive  as  a  very 
plain  example  of  conjunctious  dubitativus. 

In  my  mind,  Qui  vive  ?  (who  is  there  that 
may  be  alive?)  is  absolutely  analogous  to 
Ovid's  Quidfaciat  ?  (what  is  there  that  he  may 
do?),  to  Cicero's  Qiiidagerem?  Quidfaceret 
aliud?  etc.,  etc. 

Instances  of  the  Latin  subjunctive  in  idio- 
matic French  are  too  numerous  to  need  being 
recorded  here.  Que  je  finterpelle,  mot  ! 
could  not  be  turned  into  English,  mood  for 
mood ;  what  is  it  but  Cicero's  Egone  ut  te 
interpellen  !  We  translate  que  je  sache  by 
as  far  as  I  know  ;  Cicero  said,  quod  s dam. 
Sauve  qui  peut !  Advienne  que  pourra  ! 
Vienne  le  jour  oil .'  etc.,  are  all  so  many 
other  cases  in  point. 

What  wonderful  discoveries  "  good  old 
etymologists"  would  have  made,  had  they 
spent,  in  studying  history,  one-half  the  time 
they  wasted  in  straining  the  powers  of  their 
ingenuity !  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Greek  Cities  (Vol.  v,  pp.  162,  etc.). — 
There  are  a  number  of  cities  in  Spain  ac- 
credited to  the  Greeks  and  Phoenicians  as 
the  founders.  Much  is,  however,  traditional. 
Pliny,  in  his  "Natural  History,"  under 
"Account  of  Countries,"  mentions  quite  a 
number.  The  most  authenticated  are  the 
following : 

Gades,  now  Cadiz,  founded  by  Phoeni- 
cians, about  i 100  B.  C. 

Hispal,  now  Seville,  founded  by  same, 
date  unknown. 

Malaca,  now  Malaga,  founded  by  same, 
about  noo  B.  C. 

Abdera,  now  Adra,  founded  by  Greeks, 
date  unknown. 

Saguntum,  now  Murviedro,  founded  by 
Greeks  from  Zacynthus,  i.e.,  Zante,  about 
1384  B.  C. 

Emporice,  now  Castellon  de  Ampurias, 
founded  by  a  Greek  colony  from  Marseilles, 
about  550  B.  C. 

I  have  cited  the  above  few,  but  a  refer- 
ence to  Strabo  and  Pliny,  with  an  ancient 
geography,  will  be  interesting  to  O.  A.  B. 

In  France  there  were  not  so  many  cities 
founded  by  the  Greeks.  The  principal  are : 

Massalia,  now  Marseilles,  founded  by 
Phoenicians,  about  600  B.  C. 


174 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  9,  1890. 


Agatha,  now  Agde,  founded  by  a  colony 
from  Massalia. 

Antipolts,  now  Antibes,  colonized  by  Mas- 
salians,  about  340  B.  C. 

Further  upon  Greek  settlements  in  France 
may  be  found  in  both  Strabo  and  Pliny. 
THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


JflO 


Lake  Baikal. — Can  any  of  your  corre- 
spondents explain  the  wonderful  ground- 
swell  which  is  said  at  times  to  prevail  in  the 
waters  of  Lake  Baikal  in  Siberia  ? 

GEORGE  R.  CAMPBELL. 

PEKIN,  ILL. 

Remember,  Boy,  etc. — Who  wrote 
the  verses  given  with  a  Bible,  beginning : 

"  Remember,  boy,  who  gave  thee  this?" 

Q.  UERIE. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Shrewsbury. — What  is  the  proper  pro- 
nunciation of  this  name  ?  In  New  Jersey  it 
is  often  called  Shroz'b<rr-e  (o  as  in  coal} ; 
in  Trevisa's  translation  of  the  Cambriae 
Epitome  (Caxton's  Press,  1480),  we  find 
Shrousbury.  M.  A.  BROWN. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Kubla  Khan. — Is  the  "  farm  house  be- 
tween Porlock  and  Linton"  still  standing 
where  Coleridge  dreamed  his  fragment  of  a 
poem  about  Kubla  Khan  ?  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Seiche. — Is  there  any  good  hypothesis 
yet  offered  to  account  for  the  strange  seiches, 
or  changes  of  level,  which  are  observed  in 
the  Swiss  lakes  ?  Are  there  similar  seiches 
in  any  of  the  American  lakes  ? 

GEORGE  R.  CAMPBELL. 
PEKIN,  ILL. 

Authorship  Wanted.— I  remember 
these  lines : 

"  Taught  by  that  Power  that  pities  me, 
I  learn  to  pity  them." 

Who  was  the  author  of  this  quotation  ? 

L.  F.  L. 

CINCINNATI,  O. 


©OMMUNIGACTIONS. 

What  Year  is  This  ?— "  '  A  German 
professor  says  our  calculation  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  is  erroneous.'  I  find  the  above 
item  going  the  rounds,  with  an  added  line 
which  meekly  informs  the  reader  that  we 
are  off  four  or  five  years  in  our  mode  of 
reckoning  time.  For  centuries  there  has 
been  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  ac- 
cepted calculation  of  the  Christian  era. 
Learned  historians  cannot  agree  whether 
Christ  was  born  in  the  year  747,  749,  or 
754,  counting  from  the  foundation  of  Rome. 
"Prof.  Sattler,  of  Munich,  has  published 
an  essay  in  which  he  tried  to  reconcile  the 
testimony  of  the  evangelists  with  other 
historical  data  on  this  point.  He  has  ex- 
amined four  copper  coins  which  were  struck 
in  the  reign  of  Herod  Antipas,  one  of  the 
sons  of  Herod  the  Great,  from  which  he  de- 
duces the  conclusion  that  Christ  was  not 
born  in  754,  but  in  749,  after  the  foundation 
of  Rome,  and  therefore  that  1890  is  1895. 
This  opinion  the  professor  substantiates  by 
what  he  takes  to  be  corroborative  testimony 
of  the  evangelists. 

"  According  to  Matthew,  Jesus  was  born 
towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Herod  the 
Great,  and  that  when  Herod  died  Jesus 
was  yet  a  little  child.  Luke  says  that  James 
was  born  in  the  year  in  which  the  Governor 
of  Syria  made  the  first  census  in  Judea.  In 
another  place  he  says  that  John  began  to 
baptize  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  Caesar,  and  in  that  year  baptized 
Jesus,  who  was  then  thirty  years  of  age. 
St.  Luke  says  that  in  Judea  the  first  census 
was  made  during  the  reign  of  Herod ;  this 
census  must  have  been  ordered  in  the  year 
746  of  Rome. 

"  Probably  it  was  begun  in  Judea  in  747. 
Prof.  Sattler  thinks  it  was  not  made  in  Jeru- 
salem earlier  than  749.  He  finds  that  the 
four  coins  enabled  him  to  make  clear  the 
testimony  of  the  evangelist  as  to  the  fifteenth 
year  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius.  Though 
Augustus  died  August  19,  767,  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  must  be  counted  from  a  year  and 
a  half  earlier,  from  February,  766,  when  he 
was  appointed  coregent;  therefore  the  fif- 
teenth year  of  Tiberius  falls  in  780,  when 


August  9,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


175 


John  baptized  Jesus,  who  was  then  about 
thirty  years  of  age. 

"  One  of  the  evangelists  says  that  Jesus 
began  to  preach  forty-six  years  after  the 
building  of  the  Temple  by  Herod  at  Jeru- 
salem. Now  it  is  known  that  the  Temple 
was  begun  eighteen  years  after  Herod  was 
appointed  regent  by  the  Roman  senate,  or 
in  the  year  734  from  the  foundation  of 
Rome.  Adding  forty-six  to  that  year  it 
gives  780  as  the  year  in  which  Christ  began 
to  preach.  If  all  these  calculations  of  Prof. 
Sattler  are  correct,  then  the  Christian  era 
began  five  years  earlier  than  is  usually  sup- 
posed" (6V.  Louis  Republic). 

Sunken  Cities— City  of  Is,  etc.  (Vol. 
i,  pp.  124,  etc. ;  iii,  107,  etc. ;  iv,  154,  etc. ; 
v,  131,  etc.). — In  Macmillan's  Magazine, 
for  January,  1890,  is  an  article  by  C.  H. 
Herford  on  "  The  Father  of  Low  German 
Poetry,"  Klaus  Groth,  b.  1819,  in  Western 
Holstein.  Many  of  the  poems  in  the  vol- 
ume entitled  "  Quickborn"  (or  "  Running 
Spring")  are  founded  on  legends  of  the 
North  Sea,  its  marshes,  swift  tides,  and  shal- 
low sands.  One  of  them  on  the  buried  city 
of  Biisum  is  translated  from  the  Platt- 
Deutsch  by  Mr.  Herford,  as  follows : 

"Old  Biisum  lies  below  the  wave, 
The  waters  came  and  scooped  its  grave. 

"  They  scooped  and  scoured,  they  crawled  and 

crept, 
The  island  to  the  deep  they  swept. 

"  Never  a  stick  nor  straw  was  found ; 
All  buried  in  the  gulf  profound. 

"  Nor  any  kine,  nor  dog,  nor  sheep  ; 
All  swallowed  in  the  deepest  deep. 

"  Whatever  lived  and  loved  the  light, 
The  sea  locks  in  eternal  night. 

"  Sometimes  at  lowest  ebb  you  see 
The  tops  of  houses  in  the  sea. 

"  Then  peers  the  steeple  from  the  sand 
Like  to  the  finger  of  a  hand. 

"  Then  are  the  bells  heard  softly  ringing, 
And  the  choristers  softly  singing  ; 

"  And  it  is  whispered  o'er  the  deep, 
Suffer  the  buried  dead  to  sleep  !  " 

LOUISA  TRUMBULL  COGSWELL. 

Palseologus  (Vol.  v,  p.  165). — In  the 
parish  church  of  Landulph,  in  the  eastern 


extremity  of  Cornwall,  is  a  small  brass  tab- 
let fixed  against  the  wall,  with  the  following 
inscription : 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Theodore  Paleo- 
logus,  of  Pesaro,  in  Italye,  descended  from 
the  Imperial  lyne  of  the  last  Christian  Em- 
perors of  Greece,  being  the  sonne  of  Ca- 
milio,  the  sonne  of  Prosper,  the  sonne  of 
Theodore,  the  sonne  of  John,  the  sonne  of 
Thomas,  second  brother  of  Constantine 
Paleologus,  the  8th  of  the  name,  and  last  of 
that  lyne  that  rayned  in  Constantinople, 
until  subdued  by  the  Turks  ;  who  married 
with  Mary,  the  daughter  of  William  Balls, 
of  Hadlye,  in  Suffolke,  gent.,  and  had  issue 
5  children,  Theodore,  John,  Ferdinando, 
Maria,  and  Dorothy  j  and  departed  this  life 
at  Clyfton,  the  2ist  of  Jan.,  1636." 

Above  the  inscription  are  the  imperial 
arms :  an  eagle  displayed  with  two  heads, 
the  two  legs  resting  upon  two  gates ;  the 
imperial  crown  over  the  whole,  and  between 
the  gates  a  crescent  for  difference  as  second 
son.  Clyfton  was  an  ancient  mansion  of 
the  Arundel  family  in  the  parish  of  Lan- 
dulph.  H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Popocatepetl  (Vol.  v,  pp.  53,  etc.). — 
In  the  New  York  Daily  Herald  of  April  21, 
1890,  p.  7,  it  is  stated  that  the  expedition 
of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  has  succeeded  in  exploding  some 
very  erroneous  ideas  in  regard  to  the  height 
of  Mexican  volcanoes.  Profs.  Anjelo  Heil- 
prin  and  Frank  C.  Baker,  of  the  expedition, 
have  just  returned  from  an  ascent  of  Popo- 
catepetl, which  they  found  to  be  nearly 
three  thousand  feet  lower  than  the  measure- 
ments of  Humboldt. 

The  total  height  of  the  mountain,  making 
allowance  for  minor   barometrical   correc- 
tions, is  14,700  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
J.  W.  MERRIAM. 

IQUIQUE,  CHILE. 

A  number  of  determinations  collected  by 
Prof.  Persifor  Frazer  are  given  on  p.  53  of 
this  volume.  Later  investigations  do  not  in 
any  way  confirm  Prof.  Heilprin's  measure- 
ments. On  the  contrary,  it  seems  certain 
that  they  are  unworthy  of  consideration. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 


76 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  9,  1890. 


Thackeray's  Nose  —  Conflicting 
Statements  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  179,  etc.). — 
A  third  claimant  to  the  honor  of  breaking 
Thackeray's  nose  is  mentioned  in  an  article 
("Some  Few  Thackerayana,"  by  D.  D.) 
in  the  National  Review,  August,  1889,  viz. : 

"  Apropos  of  school  fights,  Thackeray  re- 
ceived his  mark  there,  if  he  made  it  in  cari- 
catures. He  met  some  '  Grey  Friars'  cro- 
nies one  day  and  the  needle  of  reminiscence 
pointed  to  a  well-known  frere,  Venables, 
then  talked  of  as  a  writer  in  the  Saturday 
Review.  '  He  did  this,'  said  Thackeray, 
laying  an  emphatic  finger  on  his  own  nose, 
the  bridge  of  which  had  suffered  some  dis- 
figurement from  a  school  encounter  with  that 
worthy  in  those  early  days.  One  cannot 
but  smile  at  the  omen  conveyed  in  the  future 
critic  thus  putting  out  of  joint  the  school- 
boy nose  of  the  future  author." 

The  writer  adds  in  a  note :  "  Possibly  an 
allusion  to  this  occurs  in  the  'Letters,'  p. 
170,  where,  referring  apparently  to  some  ad- 
verse critique  in  that  periodical  (the  Satur- 
day Review},  Mr.  Thackeray  says :  '  I  never 
for  one  minute  should  think  that  my  brave 
old  Venables  would  hit  me,  or,  if  he  did, 
that  he  hadn't  good  cause  for  it.'  See, 
also,  p.  731  :  '  Venables  was  there,  very  shy 
and  grand-looking ;  how  kind  that  man  has 
always  been  to  me.'  ' 

I  copy,  also,  a  "  personal"  from  Harper* s 
Weekly,  July  5,  1890  : 

"  Thackeray  had  a  broken  nose,  the  re- 
sult, as  has  generally  been  supposed,  of  a 
school-boy  fight  with  the  late  G.  S.  Vena- 
bles, Q.C.  This  fact  has  recently  been 
established  in  a  letter  from  a  brother  of  the 
nose-breaker,  who  also  says  that  Thackeray 
adopted  the  name  of  '  Michael  Angelo  Tit- 
marsh'  because  the  great  artist's  face  had 
been  disfigured  in  the  same  way." 

LOUISA  TRUMBULL  COGSWELL. 

Kansas. — "In  1722-23,"  says  the  Kan- 
sas City  Star,  "  the  commander  of  the  ter- 
ritory, in  which  was  included  what  is  now 
Kansas,  claimed  by  France,  erected  a  fort 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Osage,  in  the  hope 
of  preventing  any  further  incursions  by  the 
Spaniards  into  the  region  beyond  the  Mis- 
souri. It  was  called  Fort  Orleans,  and  was 
built  after  the  annihilation  of  a  colony  of 


Spaniards  from  Santa  Fe  (by  the  Kansas 
Indians),  who  had  attempted  a  settlement 
in  some  portion  of  what  is  now  the  State  of 
Missouri,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Osage, 
probably.  Of  the  three  hundred  that  left 
Santa  F6  with  hopeful  hearts,  not  one  was 
left  to  tell  the  story  of  the  massacre. 

"The  territory  now  called  Kansas,  or  at 
least  that  portion  of  it  that  borders  on  Kaw, 
was  occupied  by  the  Kauzas  Indians,  and 
'  Kansas'  is  a  corruption  of  that  primitive 
name;  happily,  too,  for  the  original  is  harsh 
and  lacks  the  euphony  of  the  modern  form. 
It  is  alleged  that  the  name  was  diverted 
from  the  original  through  the  mistake  of  a 
proof-reader,  who,  revising  the  very  early 
work  of  some  missionary,  mistook  the  'u* 
for  an  inverted  '  n'  and  so  corrected  it,  and 
to  that  blunder  we  are  indebted  for  the 
name  of  Kansas.  The  Kansas  Indians  are 
called  the  Kaws,  a  diminutive  of  Kausas  or 
Kauzas.  I  have  seen  the  word  spelled  in 
old  books  Kauza  and  Kausa,  but  the  z  is 
probably  the  correct  letter." 

Leper  Kings  (Vol.  v,  p.  161). — Sir 
Walter  Scott  is  authority  for  the  following 
statement :  "  Filth,  poorness  of  living,  and 
the  want  of  linen,  made  this  horrible  dis- 
ease (leprosy)  formerly  very  common  in 
Scotland.  Robert  Bruce  died  of  the  leprosy ; 
and  through  all  Scotland  there  were  hospi- 
tals erected  for  the  reception  of  lepers,  to 
prevent  their  mingling  with  the  rest  of  the 
community"  (see  "Sir  Hugh  Le  Blond," 
"Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border,"  Vol. 
iii,  p.  61,  note).  H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Red  Sea  (Vol.  v,  p.  123,  ).— Red  Sea 
is  not  a  correct  translation  of  the  Hebrew 
name  for  this  gulf,  but  should  be  Reed  Sea. 
Yam  Suph  (or  Sooph  in  pronunciation) 
means  Sea  of  a  peculiar  marine  vegetation. 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Cool  as  a  Cucumber  (Vol.  i,  p.  272). 
— Drayton,  in  the  "  Polyolbion,"  Song  20, 
speaks  of  "  the  radish,  somewhat  hot  *  *  * 
the  cucumber  as  cold,  the  heating  arti- 
choke." Qui  TAM. 

GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 


August  9,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


177 


Wise  Men  of  Gotham  (Vol.  iv,  p.  109). 
— The  origin  of  the  expression,  "They 
don't  know  enough  to  go  in  when  it  rains," 
was  explained  by  William  Cranston  Lawton 
in  a  lecture  on  "The  Excavation  of  Delphi," 
given  at  Harvard  College,  October  22, 1889. 
Apropos  of  the  stoa,  or  public  portico,  of 
Delphi,  he  told  the  following  story  : 

"  In  old  Greek  times,  Abdera  was  a  city 
which  was  somewhat  behindhand  in  its  ways, 
and  so  was  the  butt  of  the  wags  of  the  day. 
Abdera  got  into  financial  difficulties  and 
the  stoa  was  sold  to  a  wealthy  citizen  who 
closed  it  up.  Greeks  never  go  to  their 
houses  for  other  purposes  than  to  eat  or 
sleep  except  when  it  rains,  and  in  old  times 
the  stoa  was  largely  resorted  to  for  the  latter 
purpose.  When  the  rain  came  the  heart  of 
the  rich  Abderan  smote  him  because  the 
people  had  no  place  to  go,  so  he  sent  out 
the  town  heralds  to  invite  them  to  their  old 
resort,  and  the  wags  of  Greece  said  that  the 
inhabitants  were  so  thick  headed  that  they 
did  not  know  enough  to  go  in  when  it 
rained,  and  had  to  be  told  to  do  so  by 
heralds' '  (from  a  report  in  Boston  Traveler, 
October  23,  1889). 

LOUISA  TRUMBULL  COGSWELL. 

Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  v,  p.  106). — 

"  Aery  tongues  that  syllable  men's  names 
On  sands,  and  shores,  and  desart  wildernesses." 
(Milton's  "  Comus,"  208,  209.) 

'•'  In  the  deserts  of  Lop,  in  Asia,  *  *  *  if 
one  lose  his  company  by  chance,  these  devils 
will  call  him  by  his  name,  and  counterfeit 
voices  of  his  companions  to  seduce  him" 
(Burton,  "The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy," 
p.  i,  Sec.  2,  Mem.  i,  Subs.  2). 

G.  C.  PARKE. 

SANDUSKV,  O. 

The  Colors  of  Lakes  and  Rivers. — 

"  What  is  the  color  of  pure  water  ?  Almost 
any  person  who  has  no  special  knowledge 
of  the  subject  will  reply  at  once :  '  It  has 
no  color.'  Yet  everybody  knows,  either 
through  hearsay,  or  by  the  evidence  of  his 
own  eyes,  that  the  ocean  is  blue.  Why  the 
ocean  looks  blue  is  a  question  that  few  who 
have  crossed  it  have  ever  sought  to  solve; 
and  there  are  probably  many  travelers  who, 
though  they  have  seen  most  of  the  famous 


rivers  and  lakes  in  the  world,  have  failed  to 
notice  the  remarkable   differences  in  color 
which  their  waters  present.     Even  the  ocean 
is  not  uniform  in  color;  in  some  places  its 
waters  are  green  or  even  yellowish.     Some 
lakes  are  distinctly  blue  ;  others  present  va- 
rious shades  of  green,  so  that  in  some  cases 
they  are  hardly  distinguishable  from  their 
level,  grass-covered  banks;  a  few  are  almost 
black.     The  Lake  of  Geneva  is  azure-hued  ; 
the  Lake  of  Constance  and  the  Lake  of  Lu- 
cerne are  green  ;  the  color  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean has  been  called  indigo.     The  Lake  of 
Brienz  is  greenish  yellow  and  its  neighbor, 
Lake  Thun,  is  blue.     New  York  has  both 
green  and  blue  lakes.     The  colors  of  rivers 
differ  yet  more  widely.     The  Rhone  is  blue, 
and  so  is  the  Danube,  while  the  Rhine  is 
green.     The  St.  Lawrence  is  blue.     These 
various  hues  are  not  caused  by  mud  or  any 
opaque  sediment  such  as  that  which  makes 
the  Mississippi  coffee-colored,  but  belong 
to  the  waters,  like  the  golden  color  of  tea, 
without  greatly  impairing  their  transparency. 
The  cause  of  the  difference  in  the  color  of 
lakes  and  rivers  has  engaged  the  attention 
of  many  celebrated  investigators  of  nature, 
such  as  Tyndall,    Bunsen,    Arago,    Sainte- 
Claire,  Deville,  and  others.    Recently,  Prof. 
Spring,  of  the  University  of  Liege,  has  care- 
fully investigated  the  question  of  the  color 
of  water,  and  has  reached  some  interesting 
conclusions.     According  to  him,  absolutely 
pure  water,  when  seen  in  masses  of  sufficient 
thickness,  is  blue,  and  all  the  varieties  of 
color  exhibited  in  lakes  and  streams  arise 
from  the  presence  in  the  water  of  mineral 
salts  of  different  degrees  of  solubility  and  in 
varying  quantities.     Water  containing  car- 
bonate of  lime  in  a  state  of  almost  complete 
solution  remains  blue,  but  if  the  solution  is 
less  complete  the  water  will  have  a  tinge  of 
green,  which  will  grow  stronger  as  the  point 
of  precipitation  is  approached.    Prof.  Spring 
concludes  that,  if  lime   is   added   to   blue 
water  in  which  so  much  carbonate  of  lime 
is  already  dissolved  that  the  point  of  satura- 
tion is  approached,  the  water  will  become 
green.     In  proof  of  this  he  cites  the  fact 
that  the  water  near  the  shores  of  lakes  and 
seas,  where  it  comes  in  contact  with  lime- 
stone, is  generally  of  a  greener  hue   than 
elsewhere"  (London  Nature}. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  9,  1890. 


Duke  of  York  (Vol.  v,  p.  166). — Is  it 
not  plain  to  your  correspondent,  that  the 
fact  that  this  title  has  more  than  once  passed 
to  an  heir,  shows  conclusively  that  it  is  not 
reserved  for  princes  "  in  line  of  succession," 
whatever  that  may  mean?  It  is  obvious, 
for  example,  that  if  Arthur,  elder  son  of 
Henry  VII,  had  lived  and  proved  the  pro- 
genitor of  a  large  and  prolific  line  of  princes, 
and  if  Henry,  his  younger  brother,  had 
headed  a  line  of  Dukes  of  York,  there  would 
have  been  a  large  number  of  princes  of  the 
blood  nearer  the  throne  than  any  of  those 
Dukes  of  York.  I  am  under  obligations  to 
R.  G.  B.  for  calling  attention  to  some  Dukes 
of  York  whom  I  had  forgotten.  The  real 
reason  why  Victoria's  second  and  third  sons 
bear  respectively  a  Scottish  and  an  Irish 
title  is  said  to  be  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
Queen  to  win  or  strengthen  the  favor  and 
good-will  of  the  people  of  those  realms  to- 
wards her  family.  At  any  rate,  that  reason 
was  assigned  by  the  newspapers  at  the  time 
of  the  creations  in  question. 

Since  the  time  of  Henry  IV,  the  Duchy 
of  Lancaster  with  its  great  revenues  has 
been  attached  to  the  crown  itself.  The 
dukedom  of  Cornwall,  by  special  creation, 
is  always  given  to  the  Prince  of  Wales.  But 
the  oft-repeated  bestowal  of  the  dukedom 
of  York  upon  princes  of  the  blood  by  crea- 
tion is,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  in  each  case 
an  attempt  to  found  a  new  and  hereditable 
honor. 

One  excellent  reason  for  not  bestowing 
the  title  of  Duke  of  York  is  the  fact  that  the 
later  associations  connected  with  the  name 
are  not  such  as  to  arouse  any  popular  enthu- 
siasm. James  II  was  exceedingly  unpopular 
alike  as  duke  and  as  king ;  and  the  ineffi- 
cient generalship  of  the  last  of  the  Dukes  of 
York  won  for  him  very  general  contempt. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Telegraphic  Blunders  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
1 28). — My  uncle  having  made  inquiries  con- 
cerning the  price  of  board  in  a  country 
town,  received  this  telegram  in  reply: 
"  Board  twenty  dollars  a  week  including 
washing  up  the  carriage  and  piano  agent. 
Robinson." 

He  wrote,  in  answer,  that  though  both 


piano  agent  and  carriage  required  cleansing, 
he  was  not  accustomed  to  such  charges  in  a 
board  bill ;  and  soon  after  learned  that  the 
original  copy  had  run  thus:  "  Board  twenty 
dollars  a  week  including  washing,  use  of 
carriage  and  piano.  Agnes  Robinson." 
LOUISA  TRUMBULL  COGSWELL. 

Devil's  Lake.— This  lake,  in  North  Da- 
kota, is  moderately  saline,  but  it  is  said  to 
be  stocked  with  pike  and  other  fresh- water 
fishes.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know 
whether  the  fishes  in  it  have  been  modified 
in  their  appearance,  habits,  food,  or  in  any 
other  respect,  by  this  change  of  habitat. 
Lake  Van,  in  Armenia,  though  rather 
strongly  saline,  has  one  or  two  species  of 
fish,  probably  visitants  from  fresh  -  water 
streams.  (It  is  curious  that  the  Armenians 
believe  this  lake  to  be  peopled  with  six- 
legged  horses,  which  occasionally  visit  the 
dry  land.)  A  gentleman  from  North  Da- 
kota once  told  me  that  he  had  found  lizards 
in  a  brackish  lake.  I  suppose  what  he  called 
lizards  were  tailed  batrachians  of  some  sort. 


G.  H.  G. 


BROOKLYN. 


Arthur  Kill  (Vol.  v,  pp.  165,  etc.).— 
"  Islander's"  memory  does  not  mislead  him ; 
F.  B.  Hough  does  speak  of  the  bay  in  ques- 
tion ;  he  calls  it  Achtur  Kull  in  the  body  of 
his  book,  p.  565,  and  Achter  Kull  in  the 
index,  p.  725,  but  he  says  nothing  of  the 
origin  of  the  term. 

I  take  this  opportunity  to  say  that  since 
writing  my  note  (Vol.  v,  p.  52),  I  have 
found,  in  the  topographical  nomenclature  of 
New  Amsterdam,  one  instance  of  the  use  of 
Achter  in  the  sense  I  suggested  for  Achter 
Kull, 

Pearl  street  is  believed  to  be  the  first 
street  ever  occupied  by  the  Dutch  settlers  on 
this  island  ;  now  I  find  that  a  line  of  seven 
houses  at  the  back  of  this  street  is  designated 
in  the  records  of  the  Dutch  magistrates  as 
Aghter  de  Perel  straat. 

This  being  contemporaneous  with  the 
naming  of  Achter  Kull,  cannot  but  have 
some  little  weight  in  the  question,  I  think. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


August  9,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


179 


Musical  Sands  (Vol.  v,  p.  152). — On 
Pescadero  beach,  California,  there  is  a  fine 
example  of  musical,  or  rather  screeching, 
sand.  At  times  every  footstep  makes  a 
sharp,  crunching  sound,  while  dragging  the 
heel  along  the  sand  produces  a  sharp  screech 
— the  quicker  the  motion  the  higher  the 
pitch.  It  is  only  after  an  unusually  high 
tide  that  this  phenomenon  is  observed.  At 
the  base  of  the  sea  cliff  there  is  a  layer  of 
highly  ferruginous,  gravelly  drift,  contain- 
ing salts  of  iron  that  are  slightly  soluble  in 
sea  water.  Whenever  the  waves  are  high 
enough  to  beat  against  this  stratum,  enough 
of  the  iron  salts  are  leached  out  upon  the 
beach  sand  to  give  the  latter  that  peculiar 
anti-lubricity — pardon  the  word — which  is 
peculiar  to  the  chlorides  and  chlorides 
of  iron.  The  screeching  property  soon  dis- 
appears. J.  W.  REDWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Musical,  or,  as  they  might  be  more  prop- 
erly called  in  this  case,  barking  sands  are 
also  found  on  parts  of  the  New  Jersey  coast. 

At  Point  Pleasant,  the  sand,  when  scraped 
by  the  feet,  gives  forth  a  barking  noise  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  fifty  feet  away.  The 
sounds  can  also  be  produced  by  scraping  it 
with  the  hands.  The  sand  will  do  this  only 
when  dry,  but  can  have  its  barking  quality, 
of  which  it  has  been  deprived  by  wetting, 
restored  by,  redrying  it.  I  noticed  this 
where  a  fire  had  been  built  on  that  part  of 
the  beach  which  had  been  thoroughly  wet 
by  the  sea.  Where  the  fire  had  dried  the 
sand"  it  gave  forth  sounds  when  rubbed, 
while  outside  the  circle,  which  had  been 
dried  by  the  heat  of  the  fire,  the  sand  was 
silent  when  scraped. 

One  curious  thing  in  the  mile  stretch  of 
beach  I  examined,  was  that  the  "barking" 
sands  existed  only  in  patches.  While  one 
spot  was  sonorous,  another  one,  but  a  few 
feet  away,  was  mute  to  all  disturbances  by 
either  feet  or  hands.  The  sand  in  both 
cases  seemed  to  be  of  the  same  coarse 
character  and  equally  dry. 

W.  W.  R. 

POINT  PLEASANT,  N.  J. 

Charivari  (Vol.  i,  pp.  312,  etc.;  ii, 
12,  etc.;  iv,  81  ;  v,  106). — In  Thomas 


Hardy's  novel,  "The  Mayor  of  Caster- 
bridge,"  will  be  found  a  dramatic  descrip- 
tion of  a  Skimmington  or  Charivari. 

LOUISA  TRUMBULL  COGSWELL. 

Rivers  Flowing  Inland  (Vol.  v,  pp. 

142,  etc.). — The  place  where  Mr.  Stillman 
so  ingeniously   misdescribes  the  wonderful 
inflow  of  sea  water  at   Argostoli  is  in  the 
Century  Magazine  for  October,  1884,  p.  885. 
The  water  shown  in  the  foreground  of  the 
cut,  on  p.  887,  is  apparently  whatE.  Reclus 
calls  the  river,  but  Mr.  Stillman  calls  the 
lake,  of  Argostoli,  with  its  inward-flowing 
current,  one  mile  in  breadth.     On  the  same 
page  (887),    Mr.  Stillman  describes  a  fine 
brook  which  he  ran  upon  in  his  wanderings. 
But  Smith's  "Classical  Dictionary"  states 
that  there  are  no  (fresh  water  ?)  streams  in 
the  island  of  Kephallenia.     Mr.  Stillman 's 
babbling  brook  can  hardly  have  been  one  of 
the  inward-flowing  rivers  of  Argostoli,  since 
he  followed  it  to  the  sea ;  and  it  would  seem 
impossible  for  him,  in  such  circumstances, 
to  have  mistaken  an  inward-flowing  stream 
for  an  ordinary  brook.  G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Lake  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  141,  etc.). — 
The  Lake  of  Harantoreen,  county  of  Kerry, 
Ireland,  one  mile  in  circuit,  disappeared, 
"with  all  its  fishes,"  on  the  25th  of  March, 

1792.  G.  P.  O'HlGGIN. 

COLUMBUS,  O. 

Rhyming  History  of  England  (Vol. 
v,  p.  48).  —  There  is  a  "Metrical 
Epitome  of  the  History  of  England  prior 
to  George  the  First,"  by  T.  C.  Burt,  Lon- 
don, 1852.  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Discoveries  by  Accident  (Vol.  v,  pp. 

143,  etc.). — Byron  may  be  worth  quoting 
as  a  curiosity : 

"  When  Newton  saw  an  apple  fall,  he  found 
In  that  slight  startle  from  his  contemplation — • 
'Tis  said  (for,  I'll  not  answer  above  ground 
For  any  sage's  creed  or  calculation) — 
A  mode  of  proving  that  the  earth  turn'd  round 
In  a  most  natural  whirl,  call'd  '  gravitation.'  " 


A.  ESTOCLET. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


i8o 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  9,  1890. 


Hardships  of  Genius. — Homer  was  a 
beggar. 

Spencer  died  in  want. 

Cervantes  died  of  hunger. 

Dryden  lived  in  poverty  and  distress. 

Terrance,  the  dramatist,  was  a  slave. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  died  on  the  scaffold. 

Bacon  lived  a  life  of  meanness  and  dis- 
tress. 

Plautus,  the  Roman  comic  poet,  turned  a 
mill. 

Butler  lived  a  life  of  penury,  and  died 
poor. 

Paul  Borghese  had  fourteen  trades,  yet 
starved  with  all. 

Tasso,  the  Italian  poet,  was  often  dis- 
tressed for  five  shillings. 

Steele,  the  humorist,  lived  a  life  of  per- 
fect warfare  with  bailiffs. 

Otway,  the  English  dramatist,  died  pre- 
maturely, and  through  hunger. 

Bentivoglio  was  refused  admittance  into  a 
hospital  he  had  erected  himself. 

The  death  of  Collins  was  through  neglect, 
first  causing  mental  derangement. 

Chatterton,  the  child  of  genius  and  mis- 
fortune, destroyed  himself  at  eighteen. 

Savage  died  in  a  prison  at  Bristol,  where 
he  was  confined  for  a  debt  of  forty  dollars. 

Goldsmith's  "Vicar  of  Wakefield"  was 
sold  for  a  trifle  to  save  him  from  the  grip  of 
the  law. 

Fielding  lies  in  the  burying-ground  of 
the  English  factory  at  Lisbon,  without  a 
stone  to  mark  the  spot. 

Milton  sold  his  copyright  of  "  Paradise 
Lost"  for  seventy-two  dollars,  at  three  pay- 
ments, and  finished  his  life  in  obscurity. 

Camoens,  the  celebrated  writer  of  the 
"  Lusiad,"  the.  great  Portuguese  epic,  ended 
his  life,  it  is  said,  in  an  almshouse ;  and,  at 
any  rate,  was  supported  by  a  faithful  black 
servant,  who  begged  in  the  streets  of  Lisbon 
for  him  (F.  C.  F.,  in  Queries  Magazine'). 

Ford  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  201, 
etc.). — The  naming  of  places  from  animal 
names,  with  ford  attached,  does  not  always 
prove  much.  There  is  a  Catford  in  Kent; 
a  Foxford  in  Ireland ;  a  Huntingford  in  Dor- 
set ;  four  or  five  Gosfords ;  two  Bulfords, 
etc.  In  many  cases,  the  first  element  is  a 
river  name ;  thus,  Stortford  is  on  the  river 


Stort.  Before  the  origin  of  any  of*  these 
names  ending  in  ford  can  be  asserted,  the 
questions  which  should  be  settled  first  are 
these :  Is  there,  or  was  there  ever,  a  ford  at 
the  placed  so  called  ?  If  not,  is  it  on  a 
fjord?  W.  B.  C. 

CAMDRN,  N.  J. 

Presbyterian  True  Blue  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
47,  etc.).— 

"  Her  habyte  was  of  manyfolde  colours, 
Watchet-blewe  of  fayned  steadfastness, 
*»***# 
Meynt  with  grene,  foi  chaunge  and  doublenesse." 
(Lydgate's  "  Fall  of  Princes,"  Bk.  vi,  C.i,  81.7.) 

"  Before  me  slant  clad  in  asure 
To  swere  yet  eft  a  newe  assure 
For  to  be  trewe." 
(Chaucer's  "  Anelida  and  Arcite,"  Vs.  330,  332.) 

Machault,  in  the  poem  Le  Remede  de 
Fortune,  states  that  blue  means  loyalty; 
red,  ardent  love;  black,  grief;  white,  joy; 
green,  fickleness;  yellow,  falsehood. 

Chaucer  says,  in  his  Balade  against 
Women  Unconstant,  Vs.  5  and  7 : 

"  Ye  can  not  love  ful  half  yeer  in  a  place. 
•  •*•*• 

In  stede  ofblewe,  thus  may  ye  were  al  grene." 

In  this  case  Chaucer  follows  Machault,  who 
writes : 

"  En  lieu  de  bleu,  Dame,  vous  vestez  vert." 

(Skeat,  Chaucer's  "  Minor  Poems.") 

Hence,  "the  tender,  blue  Forget-me- 
not"  is  the  emblem  of  fidelity. 

A.  L.  O. 
NEW  YORK. 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  p.  150). — It 
is  recorded  that,  in  950  A.D.,  the  islands  of 
Ammiano  and  Costenziaco,  in  the  Adriatic, 
were  swept  away  by  the  sea.  In  1634,  the 
North  Sea  engulfed  the  island  of  North- 
strand,  "  destroying  1338  houses,  towers, 
and  churches,  and  swallowing  up  50,000 
head  of  cattle  and  6400  human  beings" 
(Durivage's  "  Cyclo.  of  History,"  p.  662). 

G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Corrigendum. — Liwash. — On  page  1 60, 
Vol.  v,  for  "Liwash"  read  " Sivask," 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES:—  Who  Struck  Billy  Patterson?  181—  Antiquity  of 
the  Telephonic  Tube  —  Notes  on  Words,  183  —  Felix  in  Gec»- 
graphical  Names,  184. 

QUERIES  :—  Natural  Tunnel—  Mormon  Sects—  Wild  Rice- 
Pipe  Lore,  184  —  Davis  or  Easter  Island  —  Indian  Summer  — 
Earthquake  of  181  1  —  Longest  Siege,  185  —  Pyramid  Lake,  186. 

REPLIES:  —  Taught  by  that  Power,  etc.  —  Seiches—  Author- 
ship Wanted—  Lake  Baikal,  186. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :—  Birds  of  Kil- 
lingworth—  Nootka  Sound  Dogs  —  Ten  Pound  Court  —  Hulder 
—  Tube  I  Love  Thee,  etc.  —  Mathematical  Error,  186. 

COMMUNICATIONS  -.—Curiosities  of  Animal  Punishment, 
187  —  When  We've  Been  There,  etc.  —  Landfall  of  Columbus  — 
Scholastic  Doctors  —  Money  Makes  the  Mare  Go,  188  —  Odd 
Names  of  Newspapers,  189—  Santa  Anna's  Wooden  Leg  — 
Nickajack  —  All  Passes,  etc.  —  Greek  Cities  in  France  —  Drop- 
ping Wells,  190—  Suicides  in  China  —  Stone  Rivers  —  Rocking 
Stones  —  Lakes  Drained  —  No-man's  Land,  191  —  Underground 
Streams  —  Sunken  Islands  —  Ff  in  Proper  Names  —  Pets  of  Fa- 
mous People  —  Bottomless  Ponds  —  Corrigenda,  192. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS:—  192. 


WHO  STRUCK  BILLY  PATTERSON? 

(VOL.  n,  P.  234.) 

The  half-dozen  published  answers  to  this 
prize  question  gave  as  many  explanations  of 
the  origin  of  this  phrase.  We  are  led  to 
believe  that  Billy  Patterson  outdid  Cerberus 
in  being  six  gentlemen  at  once.  Since  the 
claims  of  the  various  candidates  have  never 
been  settled,  perhaps  I  may  be  allowed  to 
strengthen  my  version  of  the  incident  with 
a  few  more  details  recently  learned. 

Alban  Smith  Payne  was  born  in  Gran- 
ville,  Fauquier  county,  Va.,  1822.  He  was, 
and  is,  over  six  feet  tall,  finely  built,  and 
possessed  of  great  strength.  In  his  youth 
he  distinguished  himself  in  athletic  sports, 
particularly  in  the  foot-race  and  the  stand- 
ing high  jump,  while  as  a  bowler  he  ranked 


182 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  1 6,  1890. 


second  to  Clugen.  He  studied  medicine 
and  graduated  at  the  Crosby  Street  College, 
New  York  ;  was  professor  of  surgery  in  Cas- 
tleton  Medical  College,  Vt. ;  practiced  in 
the  New  York  hospitals,  and  afterwards  for 
twenty  years  in  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains, 
Va. ;  finally,  held  the  chair  of  theory  and 
practice  of  medicine  at  the  Southern  Medi- 
cal College,  Atlanta,  Ga.  He  discovered 
that  carbonate  of  ammonia  was  a  specific 
for  rattlesnake  poison,  and  made  important 
investigations  in  regard  to  inoculation  and 
therapeutical  electricity.  He  contributed 
frequently  to  the  press  under  the  name  of 
"  Nicholas  Spicer,"  besides,  writing  for  va- 
rious medical  journals ;  he  was  a  social  favor- 
ite and  a  ready  after-dinner  speaker.  His 
present  address  is  Markham,  Fauquier  county, 
Va. 

In  May,  1852,  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  was  held  at 
Richmond,  Va.  One  evening  about  twenty- 
five  of  the  fraternity  were  returning  to  the 
city  hotel  from  an  entertainment.  As  they 
reached  a  well-known  restaurant,  the  door 
flew  open  and  out  came  Billy  Patterson,  a 
notorious  bully,  full  of  liquor  and  "spoil- 
ing for  a  fight."  He  charged  into  the  col- 
umn of  physicians,  struck  out  right  and  left, 
and  knocked  down  several  into  the  street, 
muddy  from  recent  heavy  rains.  One  of 
the  men  thus  laid  low  was  Dr.  Usher  Par- 
sons, surgeon  to  Commodore  Perry,  at  the 
battle  of  Lake  Erie,  a  genial,  white-haired 
old  gentleman  and  a  friend  of  Dr.  Payne, 
who  was  at  the  rear  of  the  procession.  This 
sight  so  roused  "  Nick  Spicer 's"  wrath  that 
he  put  himself  into  fighting  position  and 
gave  Billy  a  couple  of  blows  that  felled  him 
as  he  had  felled  others.  Patterson  was  car- 
ried into  the  restaurant  more  dead  than 
alive,  and  early  the  next  morning  two  police- 
men came  to  the  hotel  to  find  his  assailant. 
Thereupon  the  hotel-keeper,  "  Buck"  Wil- 
liamson, called  two  street  gamins,  and  giving 
each  a  dollar,  instructed  them  to  ask  every 
person  they  met,  "  Who  struck  Billy  Patter- 
son ?"  In  a  few  hours  the  query  was  in 
everybody's  mouth,  and  the  disgusted  po- 
licemen gave  up  the  search.  The  local 
papers  took  it  up,  and  by  degrees  the  phrase 
spread  through  the  country. 

The  above  is  condensed  from  an  article  by 


Will  Wildwood,  in  Turf,  Field,  and  Farm, 
January  3,  1890.  See,  also,  the  same  paper 
for  December  30,  1880,  "Washington's 
Lodge,"  by  F.  L.  Brocket,  and  "  Directory 
of  Alexandria,  Va.,"  by  G.  W.  Rock. 

But  the  end  is  not  yet  ! 

The  Boston  Transcript  has  been  publish- 
ing in  its  "Notes  and  Queries"  department 
a  series  of  reminiscences  by  the  oldest  in- 
habitants, and  one  of  the  subjects  discussed 
was  the  Broad  street  riot  of  1836  or  1837, 
in  connection  with  which  another  Patterson 
story  is  told.  One  of  the  volunteer  fire 
companies  of  those  days  was  called  out  by 
an  alarm  one  Sunday  afternoon,  and  turn- 
ing a  corner  into  Broad  street  ran  into  a 
funeral  train  just  as  the  coffin  was  taken  to 
the  hearse.  (This  was  a  centre  for  the  Irish, 
between  whom  and  the  native  population 
much  bad  feeling  existed.)  A  fireman 
pushed  through  the  crowd  so  roughly  that 
an  Irishman  struck  him ;  the  blow  was  re- 
turned and  a  general  scrimmage  followed. 
Both  parties  armed  themselves  with  sticks, 
stones,  and  brickbats ;  the  Irishmen  tried  to 
smash  the  engine,  but  another  alarm  brought 
all  the  other  fire  companies  to  the  spot,  and, 
the  engine  being  rescued,  the  firemen  re- 
tired. But  in  the  meantime  a  motley  crowd 
had  gathered,  scenting  an  opportunity  for 
plunder  under  cover  of  the  uproar,  and 
these  roughs  entered  the  houses,  broke  up 
furniture,  ripped  open  feather  beds  and 
threw  them  out  of  the  window,  thereby  ex- 
citing the  fury  of  the  women,  and  carried 
off  all  portable  valuables.  Finally,  the  city 
authorities  appeared,  and  the  street  was 
cleared  by  cavalry. 

In  the  midst  of  the  fray,  a  small  but  lively 
son  of  Erin  shouted,  "  Who  struck  Billy 
Patterson  ?  Where  is  the  spalpeen  who 
struck  him?"  Larkin  Snow,  a  wood  dealer 
and  first  lieutenant  of  the  Berry  Street  Ran- 
gers (a  militia  company),  replied,  "I  struck 
Billy  Patterson.  What  are  you  going  to  do 
about  it?"  The  little  fellow  scanned  Snow's 
tall,  stalwart  frame,  exclaimed,  "Bejabers, 
ye  did  it  well,  ye  did,"  and  made  off 
speedily. 

All  the  Transcript  writers  agree  as  to  the 
main  facts,  and  evidently  believe  that  the 
real  original  Billy  Patterson  hailed  from 
Boston,  though  it  is  noteworthy  that  not  one 


August  1 6,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


183 


describes  him  or  seems  to  have  known  him, 
confident  as  they  are  of  the  identity  of  his 
assailant.  This  incident  antedates  the  Rich- 
mond story.  The  saying  is  probably  much 
older  than  either,  "  an  ancient  bluff  quoted 
by  the  Irishman,"  suggests  one  correspond- 
ent of  the  Transcript,  who  goes  on  to  say 
that  he  has  heard  two  variants  of  the  tale, 
one  from  Georgia,  the  other  from  Missouri ; 
the  latter  was  told  his  informant  by  Billy 
Patterson  himself,  a  retired  sea  captain  of 
St.  Charles,  Mo. ,  who  said  that  in  his  youth 
he  was  assaulted  in  a  street  melee  in  that 
town,  but  being — like  all  his  namesakes — 
"tall  and  powerful,"  he  could  never  dis- 
cover who  gave  the  blow.  This  writer 
closes  with  the  apt  quotation  : 

"  Seven  wealthy  towns  contend  for  Homer  dead, 
Through  which  the  living  Homer  begged  his  bread." 

There  is  a  fine  opportunity  for  some 
clever  fellow  to  trace  the  legend  back  to  an 
Aryan  sun-myth. 

LOUISA  TRUMBULL  COGSWELL. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  TELEPHONIC  TUBE. 

Louis  Pauliat,  the  French  senator,  has 
lately  told  the  world  how  the  phonograph 
must  have  been  known  to  C.  de  Bergerac  in 
1650. 

It  would  seem  from  the  following  that  the 
telephonic  tube  had  been  thought  of  one 
hundred  years  earlier  still.  It  is  an  extract 
from  a  chronicle  of  1580,  which  I  find  in 
Williams'  "Lays  and  Legends  of  Glouces- 
tershire : ' ' 

"  About  the  yeare  of  our  Lord  1554,  a 
wenche  who  came  from  Glocester,  named 
Elizabeth  Croft,  about  the  age  of  eighteene 
yeares,  stoode  upon  a  Scaffolde,  at  Poule's 
Crosse,  all  the  Sermon  tyme,  where  shee  con- 
fessed that  she,  being  moved  by  dyvers 
lewde  persons  thereunto,  hadde  upon  the 
fourteenth  of  Marche  laste,  before  passed, 
counterfaited  certayne  speaches  in  an  house 
without  Aldersgate  of  London,  thoroughe 
the  whych  the  people  of  the  whole  city  were 
wonderfully  molested,  for  that  all  men 
mighte  heare  the  voice  but  not  see  hir  per- 
son. Some  saide  it  was  an  Angell,  some 
saide  a  voyce  from  heaven,  and  some  the 
Holie  Ghost.  Thys  was  called  the  Spirite 


in  the  Wall :  she  hadde  laine  whistling  in  a 
straunge  whistle  made  for  that  purpose, 
whiche  was  given  hir  by  one  Drakes,  hir 
paramoure  :  then  were  ther  dyvers  compan- 
ions confederate  with  hir,  whiche  putting 
themselves  among  the  preass,  tooke  uppon 
them  to  interprete  what  the  Spirite  saide 
*  *  *  The  penance  being  ended  and 
the  people  satisfied,  the  officers  of  the  Courte 
tooke  the  woman  and  shut  hir  for  a  tyme  in 
the  prison,  but  after  did  shee  returne  to  her 
owne  countrie,  and  was  noe  more  hearde 
of."  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


NOTES  ON  WORDS. 

Flamen. — This  Latin  word,  meaning  a 
priest,  is  generally  thought  to  be  from  the 
root  of  flagrare,  to  burn,  and  the  explana- 
tion is  that  it  means  a  burner  of  sacrifices. 
But  some  recent  theorist  identifies  it  with 
the  Sanskrit  brahman,  a  priest.  This  is  in- 
genious, but,  so  far  as  yet  appears,  it  lacks 
confirmation.  In  fact,  historical  data  are 
lacking  for  many  early  Latin  words,  and  the 
temptation  to  theorize  becomes  very  strong. 

Loquot. — According  to  Hunter's  Bengal 
Gazetteer,  Vol.  xv,  p.  102,  the  loquot, 
Pierardia  sapida,  is  called  lukatu  in  the 
Monghyr  district.  But  this  is  not  the  com- 
mon loquat,  Mespilus  japonica.  According 
to  the  "Century  Dictionary,"  the  word 
loquat  is  Canton-Chinese  for  "  rush  orange. " 
The  Hindu  lukatu  may  be  a  corrupted  form 
of  this  Chinese  name. 

Meerkat. — The  "Century  Dictionary" 
defines  this  word  as  (i)  the  African  pen- 
ciled ichneumon,  and  (2)  the  African  suri- 
cate.  It  does  not  attempt  an  explanation 
of  the  origin  of  the  name.  Meerkat  is  the 
Dutch  for  "sea-cat,"  and  means,  in  Dutch, 
a  marmoset,  or  small  monkey.  Cf.,  Ger. 
meerkatze  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  204,  etc.) ;  Skr. 
markata,  and  Hind,  markut,  a  monkey. 

Musion. — This  word,  the  heraldic  name 
of  the  cat,  or  wild  cat,  the  "  Century  Dic- 
tionary" refers  doubtfully  to  musimon,  a 
wild  sheep.  But  in  Italian,  we  find,  for  the 
cat,  mud,  muda,  musda,  and  mudna,  be- 
sides several  other  similar  names.  Musda, 
with  the  augmentative  termination  -on, 
comes  tolerably  near  to  musion.  But  must- 


184 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [August  16,  1890. 


monis  plainly  another  word  altogether.  Cf., 
Ital.  mz'ao,  to  mew. 

Since. — This  preposition  is  oftenest  used 
after  a  verb  in  the  perfect  tense.  Thus, 
"  New  Orleans  has  been  the  capital  of  Lou- 
isiana since  1864."  We  latterly  often  see : 
"  New  Orleans  is  the  capital  of  Louisiana 
since  1864."  The  German  journalists  (I 
suppose)  introduced  this  vicious  use,  which 
is  now  rather  common,  but  very  objection- 
able. 

TellecL — Telled  for  told  is  not  uncommon 
in  the  rustic  portions  of  the  Connecticut 
valley.  It  is  very  old,  and  occurs  in  a 
rhyming  "  Debate  between  the  Body  and 
the  Soul,"  assigned  to  the  times  of  Edward 


FELIX  IN  GEOGRAPHICAL  NAMES. 

In  the  well-known  examples  of  Arabia 
Felix  and  Campania  Felix,  the  adjective 
felix  means,  of  course,  the  fortunate,  though 
in  respect  of  Arabia  the  term  was,  to  some 
extent,  misapplied ;  since  in  no  respect  is 
Arabia  Felix  very  much  blessed — its  climate 
being  very  hot,  and  its  soil  not  specially 
fertile,  except  that  it  seems  so  when  com- 
pared with  the  less  favored  parts  of  the  pen- 
insula. A  still  more  remarkable  misnomer 
is  seen  in  the  case  of  Boothia  Felix,  an  utterly 
waste  and  frozen  peninsula  in  the  Arctic 
portion  of  Canada.  This  name  was  given 
by  Sir  John  Ross,  in  honor  of  his  friend  and 
patron,  Sir  Felix  Booth.  But  most  of  the 
recent  geographies  and  maps  very  appropri- 
ately omit  the  Felix  from  this  name. 

ISLANDER. 

^UB  F£I  E  S. 

Natural  Tunnel. — Will  you  kindly  locate 
for  me  the  Natural  Tunnel  of  Virginia? 

ISLANDER. 
VERONA,  ME. 

There  is  a  natural  tunnel  in  Scott  county, 
Virginia,  near  the  Tennessee  line.  It  is 
some  one  hundred  feet  in  average  breadth, 
and  the  length  of  its  S-shaped  course  is 
given  as  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  In 
some  parts  the  roof  is  seventy  or  eighty  feet 
high.  A  stream  runs  through  it.  Either 


this  tunnel,  or  another  in  the  vicinity,  is  to 
be  utilized  (if  it  has  not  been  so  already) 
as  part  of  the  bed  of  a  railroad — the  South 
Atlantic  and  Ohio. 

Mormon  Sects. — Please  name  for  me 
such  of  the  Mormon  sects  as  are  now  in 
existence.  P.  B.  GRAYER. 

BEL  AIR,  MD. 

The  main  body  of  Mormons  are  some- 
times called  Twelveites,  probably  as  being 
followers  of  the  Twelve  Apostles.  The  sect 
which  once  lived  on  Beaver  island,  in  Lake 
Michigan,  were  called^  Strangites.  Sidney 
Rigdon's  followers  were  or  are  called  Rig- 
donites.  The  Josephites  acknowledge  the 
leadership  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  younger. 
There  also  is,  or  was,  a  sect  of  Godbeites. 

Wild  Rice. — Please  give  me  some  account 
of  that  interesting  native  cereal,  the  wild 
rice,  formerly  so  important  an  article  of 
food  to  the  Ojibway  Indians. 

S.  E.  H. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 

The  Zizania  aquatica,  or  wild  rice,  is  a 
tall  species  of  grass.  In  the  Chippeway 
country  it  often  grows  in  water  from  four 
to  eight  feet  deep,  and  stands  at  about  the 
same  height  above  the  water.  The  Indians 
tie  the  unripe  grain,  while  on  the  stalk,  into 
great  clusters  or  bunches,  to  save  it  from 
the  birds.  When  ripe,  the  squaws  beat  or 
thresh  the  grain  directly  from  the  standing 
stalk  into  a  canoe. 

Pipe  Lore. — Can  you  give  me  the  titles 

of  any  works  devoted  to  tobacco  and  pipe 

lore?  E.  M. 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

"The  Smokers'  Guide,"  London,  1878, 
published  by  Hardwicke  &  Bogue,  and  the 
Athenaum  for  August,  1857,  which  contains 
an  article  by  Andrew  Steinmetz,  on  "  The 
History  and  Mystery  of  Tobacco."  The 
"Smokers'  Guide"  contains  a  full  history 
of  tobacco  in  different  parts  of  the  globe, 
curious  customs  pertaining  to  the  weed,  as 
well  as  a  number  of  poems  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. 


August  1 6,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


185 


Davis  OP  Easter  Island. —  Vai-hou,  Teapy, 
Easter  or  Davis  island,  in  the  Pacific,  two 
thousand  miles  west  of  Chili,  was  discovered 
in  1686,  by  English  Davis,  and  rediscovered 
in  1722  by  the  Hollandish  Admiral  Rogger- 
dein,  on  Easter  day,  whence  its  best  known 
appellation. 

It  is  suggested  that  this  curious  volcanic 
island,  with  extinct  craters,  some  twelve 
hundred  feet  high,  is  the  remnant  of  a 
sunken  continent  which  disappeared  like 
the  fabled  or  real  Atlantis,  in  the  Atlantic, 
and  that  it  was  the  centre  of  a  peculiar  idol- 
atrous worship.  Although  only  about  eleven 
miles  long  and  six  miles  wide,  and  inhabited 
by  some  two  thousand  primitive  savages, 
stone  images  have  been  found  in  it  that  no 
such  race  could  have  executed,  which  are 
worthy  to  rank  with  Egyptian  colossi.  One 
is  forty  feet  high  by  nine  feet  across  the 
shoulders,  a  very  Pacific  Memnon.  Some 
of  the  heads  are  rather  artistic.  Are  these 
the  relics  of  antediluvians  and  of  a  drowned 
world  ?  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

No  conclusive  answer  can  be  given  to  the 
above  query.  The  island  exists  and  the  an- 
tiquities as  stated  have  been  found,  but  the 
account  of  them  has  grown  in  a  manner 
somewhat  after  the  style  of  the  "  three 
black  crows."  Pottery,  carvings,  and  other 
decorative  work  have  been  found  in  abun- 
dance, not  only  on  Easter  island  but  along 
the  entire  extent  of  the  Pacific  coast.  In 
general,  they  belong  not  so  much  to  the 
present  "  Indian"  races  or  tribes  as  to  the 
people  who  preceded  them,  but  who  have 
since  disappeared,  either  by  extinction  or 
by  absorption  into  the  more  recent  Indian 
races.  It  is  true  that  in  the  decorative  de- 
signs not  only  Greek  but  also  earlier  Egyp- 
tian forms  are  observed.  It  does  not  follow, 
however,  that  they  are  either  of  Greek  or  of 
Egyptian  origin.  On  the  contrary,  they  are 
somewhat  elementary  designs  that  would  oc- 
cur to  almost  any  decorator  who  studiously 
followed  the  profession  or  business  of  orna- 
mentation. Of  course  it  is  possible  that  the 
antiquities  may  be  the  relics  of  an  antedilu- 
vian people,  but  of  this  there  is-  not  a  whit 
of  direct  evidence,  and  the  strongest  cir- 
cumstantial evidence  will  not  stand  any 


critical  examination.  Isolation  in  this  in- 
stance, as  also  in  the  case  of  the  Zuni  and 
Moquis  pueblos,  has  tended'  to  preserve  not 
only  the  old  customs  and  traditions,  but 
also  the  antiquities  themselves. 

J.  W.  RED  WAY. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Indian  Summer. — Why  are  the  warm  and 
smoky  days  which  so  often  occur  in  the  late 
autumn  so  called?  D.  M.  O. 

PLYMOUTH,  MASS. 

We  have  read  the  statement  that  the  In- 
dians carried  on  their  most  active  campaigns 
against  the  white  pioneers  in  the  late  au- 
tumn, probably  because  at  this  time  the 
garners  and  stalls  were  fullest.  Has  any 
correspondent  any  better  theory  than  this? 
Another  time  when  Indian  raids  were  ex- 
pected was  in  early  spring,  when  the  Indians 
had  exhausted  their  stores.  Warm  days  in 
the  latter  part  of  winter  were  called  powow 
days,  because  the  Indians  assembled  and 
held  war  councils  about  that  time  of  the 
year,  with  a  view  of  warding  off  starvation 
by  means  of  the  ample  stores  which  they  ex- 
pected to  find  in  the  settlements  of  the 
whites. 

Earthquake  of  1811. — Where  can  I  find  a 
good  account  of  the  great  earthquakes  in  the 
Mississippi  valley  which  occurred  in  1811  ? 

T.  F.  M. 

TOPSHAM,  ME. 

There  is  a  good  popular  account  of  the 
great  North  American  earthquakes  of  1811- 
1812  in  Henry  Howe's  "The  Great  West," 
p.  219.  At  the  same  time  great  earth- 
quakes occurred  in  Venezuela.  It  is  not  a 
little  remarkable  that  the  steamboat  New 
Orleans,  the  first  to  navigate  the  waters  of 
the  Mississippi,  was  making  her  first  trip  at 
the  time  of  these  earthquakes.  She  reached 
New  Orleans  in  January,  1812. 

Longest  Siege. — Which  was  the  longest 
siege  that  has  ever  been  ?  MARTIN. 

MCCONNELLSTOWN,  PA. 

The  siege  of  Troy,  1270  B.  C.,  lasted  ten 
years. 


i86 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [August  16,  1890. 


Pyramid  Lake. — Why  was  Pyramid  lake, 
in  Nevada,  thus  named  ?  T.  F.  M. 

TOPSHAM,  ME. 

Fremont  discovered  this  lake  in  1844, 
and  named  it  from  a  huge  rock  six  hundred 
feet  in  height,  and  resembling  in  its  propor- 
tions the  Pyramid  of  Cheops.  This  rock 
at  that  time  rose  directly  from  the  surface 
of  the  lake. 

1^  B  P  L  I  B  S  . 

Taught  by  that  Power,  etc.  (Vol.  v,  p. 
174). — These  lines  can  be  found  in  Gold- 
smith's "  Hermit."  The  two  lines  prece- 
ding these  show  what  is  meant  by  them  : 

"  No  flocks  that  range  the  hills, 
To  slaughter  I  condemn." 

Some  wag  turned  the  lines  in  question 
into : 

"  The  butcher  kills  the  sheep  for  me ; 
I  buy  the  meat  of  them." 

J.  T.  L. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Seiches  (Vol.  v,  p.  174). — Phenomena 
similar  to  or  identical  with  seiches  are  ob- 
servable in  Lake  Tahoe,  California. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Authorship  Wanted.  —  "He  spake"  etc. 
(Vol.  iv,  p.  283). — The  passage  desired  by 
your  correspondent  occurs  in  Watts'  "Lyr- 
ics," p.  9,  of  the  undated  copy  now  in  my 
possession.  It  is  as  follows : 

"  He  spake ;  the  sun  obedient  stood 

And  held  the  falling  day ; 
Old  Jordan  backward  drives  his  flood, 
And  disappoints  the  sea." 

This  is  what  I  deem  the  weakest  stanza  of 
that  very  noble  hymn,  "Keep  Silence,  all 
Created  Things."  RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Lake  Baikal  (Vol.  v,  p.  174). — Concern- 
ing this  wonderful  body  of  water,  of  which 
so  much  has  been  said  and  so  little  is  known, 
I  take  the  following  from  an  old  physical 
geography  :  "  Connected  with  this  lake  is  a 


singular  phenomenon :  when  its  surface  is 
most  tranquil  a  vessel  sailing  on  its  waters 
is  subjected  to  such  severe  shocks  that  it  is 
difficult  for  sailors  to  stand  on  their  feet  (sic'). 
The  lake  is  situated  near  the  centre  of  an 
earthquake  region ;  and  this  effect  is  attrib- 
uted to  the  action  of  volcanic  forces. ' ' 

I  give  this  for  what  it  is  worth,  and,  can- 
didly, I  don't  think  it  worth  much. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


TO   ©OF^ESPONDENIIS. 


Birds  of  Killingworth.— Is  Longfel- 
low's story  of  "  The  Birds  of  Killingworth" 
based  on  any  historical  fact,  or  upon  any 
old  tradition  ?  I  have  read  somewhere  that 
the  poet  invented  the  whole  story. 

R.  W.  LEA. 

BRYN  MAWR,  PA. 

Nootka  Sound  DogS.  — Early  voy- 
agers to  our  Northwest  coast  describe  a 
woolly  breed  of  dogs  which  used  to  abound 
on  Vancouver's  island.  The  natives  fed 
them  on  fish,  and  made  garments  of  their 
wool.  Does  this  interesting  breed  of  ani- 
mals still  exist?  W.  P.  RODEN. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 

Ten  Pound  Court. — What  was  the 
"Ten  Pound  Court,"  in  the  early  history 
of  New  York  ?  MARTIN. 

MCCONNELLSTOWN,  PA. 

Hulder.  —  What  kind  of  wood  does 
Ascham  mean  by  hulder?  He  includes 
hulder  among  the  woods  suitable  for  making 
arrows.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

"Tube  I  Love  Thee,"  etc.— Can  any 
one  tell  me  where  I  can  find  the  rest  of  the 
following  invocation  to  a  pipe? 

"  Tube  I  love  thee  as  my  life ; 
By  thee  I  mean  to  choose  a  wife,"  etc. 


E.  M. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


Mathematical  Error.— What  is  meant 
by  the  ' '  mathematical  error1 '  in  national 
conventions  ?  MARTIN. 

MCCONNELLSTOWN,  PA. 


August  1 6,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


187 


©OMMUNIGAHMONS. 

Curiosities  of  Animal  Punishment 
(Vol.  v,  p.  163). — The  trial  of  the  rats  of 
Autun,  reign  of  Francis  I,  is  famous  in 
the  annals  of  French  law,  for  it  was  at  it  that 
Chasseneux,  the  celebrated  jurisconsult — the 
Coke  of  France — won  his  first  laurels,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  future  fame.  For 
Chasseneux  (1480-1541),  President  of  Par- 
liament of  Provence,  see  Michaud's  "Biog. 
Univ."  The  story  of  the  "trial"  is  in 
Chambers'  "Book  of  Days." 

Etymologists  tell  us  that  the  origin  and 
history  of  the  word  katze,  a  cat,  are  un- 
known, but  not  so  that  of  kdtzer,  which  is 
derived  from  it,  and  signifies  heretic.  Dur- 
ing the  fiery  persecutions  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  black  cats',  witches,  and  heretics 
came  to  be  regarded  as  practically  one  and 
the  same  thing;  and  sometimes  Catholic 
detestation  of  the  Reformers  was  well  satis- 
fied when  permitted  to  witness,  on  St.  John's 
Day,  a  holocaust  of  twenty-four  cats  im- 
prisoned in  a  wicker  basket. 

At  that  time  when  England  was  filled 
with  alarm  over  Queen  Mary's  approaching 
marriage  with  Philip  of  Spain,  and  when  the 
bodies  of  three  hundred  of  Wyatt's  insur- 
gents were  gibbeted  about  the  streets  of 
London,  some  zealous  Protestant  sought  to 
express  the  national  abhorrence  of  all  things 
popish,  by  the  hanging  of  a  solitary  puss, 
after  this  wise  : 

"  On  the  eighth  of  Aprill,  then  being  Sun- 
daie,  a  cat  with  hir  head  shorne  and  the 
likenesse  of  a  vestment  cast  over  hir,  with 
hir  fore-feet  tied  togither,  and  a  round 
peece  of  paper  like  a  singing-cake  betwixt 
them,  was  hanged  on  a  gallows  in  Cheape, 
neere  to  the  Crosse,  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Matthew ;  which  cat,  being  taken  downe, 
was  carried  to  the  bp.  of  London,  and  he 
caused  the  same  to  be  shewed  at  Paul's 
Crosse  by  the  preacher,  Dr.  Pendleton." 
Holinshed  quotes  the  account  from  Stow. 
See  "  Chronicles,"  Vol.  iv,  p.  28. 

Froude  repeats  this  story,  and  says  the 
incident  occurred  shortly  after  "the  Voice 
in  the  Wall  at  Aldgate  had  collected  1 7,000 
persons  to  hear  a  message  from  Heaven 
pronounced  by  an  Angel"  (Froude' s  "Hist. 


Eng.,"  Vol.  vi,  p.  194).  (See  "Antiquity 
of  the  Telephonic  Tube,"  page  183.) 

Throughout  the  seventeenth  century  the 
story  of  the  "  Cat  that  was  hanged  on  Mon- 
day for  killing  a  mouse  on  Sunday"  was 
very  popular  with  the  Royalists,  and  latterly 
with  the  Jacobites.  The  story  made  its 
first  appearance  in  literature  in  Brath wait's 
"Strappado,"  published  in  1615.  B.  re- 
peats it  in  "Barnabee's  Journal!,"  1638, 
when  his  hero,  journeying  northward,  wants 
to  make  a  hard  thrust  at  the  renowned  Puri- 
tans of  Banbury : 

"  To  Banbury  came  I,  O  prophane  one  ! 
Where  I  saw  a  Puritane — one 
Hanging  of  his  Cat  on  Monday 
For  killing  of  a  Mouse  on  Sonday." 

The  story  once  heard  was  seized  upon  by 
poets  and  dramatists  to  hit  off  Puritan  prac- 
tices, as  John  Taylor,  in  "  Praise  of  Hemp- 
seed,"  says: 

"  Suppose  his  cat  on  Sunday  kill  a  rat, 
She  on  the  Monday  must  be  hanged  for  that." 

One  version  of  the  story,  as  the  "  Song  of 
the  Presbyterian  Cat,"  is  in  the  "  Aviary" 
(1740),  and  another,  as  "The  Cameronian 
Cat,"  is  in  Hogg's  "Jacobite Relics"  (1819). 
Hogg  calls  it  "  a  popular  country  song,  sung 
by  wags  in  mockery  of  the  great  pretended 
strictness  of  the  Covenanters. ' '  See  Hasle- 
wood's  ed.  "Barnabee's  Journal,"  1876. 
From  all  this  it  seems  that  hanging  was  the 
proper  punishment  for  wicked  cats  in  the 
seventeenth  century  in  England. 

Ed.  Long,  Esq.  (1734-1813),  an  English 
judge  and  the  author  of  a  "  History  of  Ja- 
maica," having  abandoned  the  law  at  thirty- 
five  years  of  age,  devoted  himself  to  literary 
pursuits  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
first  production  was  "The  Trial  of  Farmer 
Carter's  Dog,  Porter,  for  Murder."  The 
dog,  accused  of  killing  a  Mr.  Hare,  says 
Long's  account,  "  being  moved  and  seduced 
by  the  instigation  of  a  devilish  fit  of  hunger, 
he,  the  said  prisoner,  did  him,  the  said  de- 
ceased, feloniously,  wickedly,  wantonly,  and 
of  malice  aforethought,  tear,  wound,  pull, 
haul,  touzle,  masticate,  macerate,  lacerate, 
and  dislocate,  and  otherwise  evilly  entreat." 
On  account  of  which  treatment,  "Mr. 
Hare  did  languish,  and  languishing  did  die," 
etc. 


i88 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [August  16,  1890. 


The  sentence  or  doom  is  as  follows  : 

"Thou  must  be  led  from  the  bar  to  the 
end  of  a  room,  where  thou  art  to  be  hanged 
by  the  neck  to  yonder  beam,  coram  nobis, 
till  you  are  dead,  dead,  dead !  Hangman, 
do  your  duty. "  Porter's  fictitious  epitaph 
says :  ' '  He  was  found  guilty  without  evi- 
dence, and  hanged  without  mercy. ' ' 

This  humorous  production  was  suggested 
by  a  real  event  which  actually  took  place,  in 
1771,  near  Chichester.  None  but  fictitious 
names  are  employed  in  the  report  of  the 
case,  but  the  affair  was  so  well  understood 
thereabouts,  that  the  chief  actors  in  it  went 
by  Long's  nicknames.  The  "Trial"  is  in 
Hone's  "  Every  Day  Book,"  with  the  real 
names  appended. 

As  far  as  we  know,  the  dog  Cupid,  who 
was  a  great  pet  with  the  poet  Southey,  was 
not  allowed  the  privilege  of  a  trial ;  but,  in 
spite  of  his  high  acquaintance,  perished 
ignominiously  on  the  gallows  for  robbing  a 
hen-roost,  not  longer  ago  than  the  year 
1805. 

The  progress  of  enlightened  ideas  in  mat- 
ters of  justice  to  dogs  is  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  Towser,  on  trial  for  his  life,  a  few 
months  since,  in  the  Boston  Municipal 
Court.  The  Utica  Herald  has  the  follow- 
ing: "The  defendant  was  a  handsome  set- 
ter named  Towser.  His  master  had  re- 
tained able  counsel.  The  dog  was  placed 
in  the  prisoner's  box,  and,  amid  the  titters 
of  the  spectators  and  the  smiles  of  the  judge 
(Curtis),  the  trial  began.  A  man  swore 
that  the  prisoner  had  bitten  him,  and  he 
therefore  wanted  him  killed  according  to 
law.  On  cross-examination,  witness  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  provoked  the  prisoner  by 
teasing  him.  Several  witnesses  for  the  de- 
fense testified  as  to  the  good  character  of 
the  accused.  The  latter  was  then  brought 
forward  in  his  own  behalf  and  furnished  tes- 
timony as  novel  as  it  was  effective.  At  va- 
rious commands,  he  played  dead,  walked  on 
his  hind  legs  about  the  room,  stood  on  his 
head,  shouldered  arms,  whined  dismally  in 
imitation  of  a  song,  and  wound  up  by  march- 
ing up  the  steps  to  the  judge's  desk  on  his 
hind  legs,  and  shaking  paws  with  his  honor. 
The  judge  without  a  moment's  hesitation 
said,  amid  cheers :  '  Towser,  you  are  a 
peaceable  and  orderly  canine.  I  give  judg- 


ment in  your  behalf  and  dismiss  you,  the 
plaintiff  paying  the  costs.'  Leaving  the 
room,  the  dog  received  an  ovation"  (copied 
in  N.  Y.  Observer,  May  15,  1890). 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

When  We've  been  there  Ten  Thou- 
sand Years  (Vol.  v,  p.  56). — The  above 
words,  with  the  whole  stanza  inquired  for, 
may  be  found  in  Vol.  i  of  "  The  Christian 
Lyre"  (1830),  compiled  by  Joshua  Leavitt, 
p.  77.  The  stanza  is  as  follows  : 

"  When  we've  been  there  ten  thousand  years, 

Bright  shining  as  the  sun, 
We've  no  less  days  to  sing  God's  praise 
Than  when  we  first  begun." 

ELIM. 

ST.  JOHNSBURY. 

Landfall  of  Columbus  (Vol.  v,  p.  167). 
— My  suspicions  as  to  the  trustworthiness  of 
the  received  accounts  of  the  first  voyage  of 
Columbus  were  aroused  by  a  private  and  as 
yet  unprinted  letter,  not  now  in  my  hands, 
written  by  the  late  Hon.  George  P.  Marsh, 
in  which  he  alluded  to  this  question  as  one 
regarding  which  there  was  much  room  for 
doubt.  My  reference  to  the  matter  in  your 
columns  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  eliciting 
further  information.  G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Scholastic  Doctors  (Vol.  iv,  p.  226). 
— Add  to  this  list,  Ivo,  Bishop  of  Chartres 
(d.  1117),  called  Doctor  Carnotensis  (of 
Chartres) : 

"  Ibi  doctor  cernitur  ille  Carnotensis, 
Cujus  lingua  vehemens — truncate  velut  ensis." 


FAIRFAX. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Money  Makes  the  Mare  Go  (Vol.  iv, 
p.  80). — From  a  poem  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  Cotton  MSS. : 

"  Sir  Peni  gers  in  riche  wede 
Ful  mani  go  and  ride  on  stede 
In  this  worles  wide." 

("  Sir  Penny  causes  full  many  to  go  in  rich 
clothes  and  ride  on  horseback,  in  this  wide 
world.")  R.  B.  D. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 


August  16,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


189 


Odd    Names   of    Newspapers. — A 

glance  through  the  pages  of  the  "  Newspaper 
Directory"  reveals  many  peculiar  and  curi- 
ous ideas  in  the  way  of  names  or  titles  for  a 
number  of  the  papers  published  in  the 
United  States.  Some  of  the  names  are  very 
appropriate,  while  many  will  cause  wonder 
and  merriment. 

In  Alabama  there  is  a  Hot  Blast  in  An- 
niston,  a  Standard  Gauge  in  Brewton,  a 
Cyclone  at  Selma,  and  a  Ventilator  in  Greens- 
boro. Arkansas  has  many  odd  names  for 
newspapers,  some  of  the  most  striking 
being  Swifts  Flying  Needle,  Serpent,  Immi- 
grant, Log  Cabin,  Linch  Pin,  Horseshoe, 
Hummer,  Tocsin,  New  Departure. 

In  many  cities  of  California  may  be  found 
papers  with  such  queer  titles  as  Porcupine, 
Social  Calls,  Citrograph,  Carrier  Dove, 
Wasp,  and  Elevator.  Colorado  comes  up 
smiling  with  Boomerang,  Rustler,  New  Eden, 
Solid  Muldoon,  and  Rattler,  while  Georgia 
has  a  Solid  South,  a  Gold  Leaf,  a  Breeze, 
and  a  Gossip.  Illinois  keeps  her  people  ad- 
vised of  the  news  through  papers  with  such 
names  as  Sitcker  State,  Torpedo,  Light  of 
Egypt,  Sunday  Optics,  Old  Flag,  and  Parti- 
san. Indiana  readers  keep  abreast  of  the 
times  through  a  Nutshell,  an  Air  Line  News, 
a  Gas  Light,  a  Hornet,  an  Indiana  Pocket, 
and  a  Hoosier  Slate. 

Journalistic  eccentricity  in  Iowa  is  marked 
by  papers  bearing  the  name  of  Merry  War, 
Hawk  Eye,  Postal  Card,  Walnut  Bureau, 
Phonograph,  and  Time  Table..  Among  the 
numerous  dailies  and  weeklies  in  Kansas 
are  the  following  with  suggestive  titles : 
Broad  Axe,  Boomer,  Cap  Sheaf,  Razzoop, 
Scimitar ,  Lucifer  the  Light  Bearer,  Coyote, 
Chronoscope,  Soap  Box,  Sunday  Growler, 
Morning  Quid  Nunc,  Bazoo,  Thomas  County 
Cat,  Border  Rover,  Prairie  Owl,  and  Mallet. 
Maryland  people  read  The  Moral  Reformer 
at  Vienna,  and  a  Free  Quill  at  Laurel. 

Natural  Gas,  Drummer,  Roundabout, 
Walker' s  Boomerang,  Climax,  Favorite,  and 
Blue  Grass  Clipper,  is  Kentucky's  quota  to 
the  list  of  funny-titled  newspapers.  Massa- 
chusetts contributes  a  Mimtte  Man,  a  Yankee 
Blade,  Ozone,  Pilgrim,  and  Crimson.  In 
Michigan  are  found  the  following :  Light- 
ning Express,  Pick  and  Axe,  Eccentric, 


Yankee  Dutch,  Charlie' s  Wide  Awake,  Bill 
Poster,  Business,  and  Hydrant. 

Missouri's  contribution  to  the  list  of  queer 
titles  in  newspaperdom  is  as  follows  :  Cash 
Box,  WJiirlwind,  Uncle  Sam,  Grindstone, 
Buzz  Saw,  Unterrified  Democrat,  and  Bro- 
ther's  Optic. 

Gene  Heath's  Grip,  Pen  and  Plow,  and 
Nebraska  Blizzard  assist  in  posting  some  of 
the  Nebraska  people. 

The  Cracker  supplies  the  Lakeland,  Fla., 
people  with  news  food.  The  Cashier  is  the 
appropriate  name  of  a  weekly  issued  at  Cash 
City,  la.,  and  Tombstone,  Ari.,  has  a 
weekly  fittingly  called  the  Epitaph.  It  is 
natural  to  suppose  that  the  Brass  Buzz  Saw 
makes  things  hum  at  Brockton,  la.,  and 
that  the  Olive  Branch  chronicles  naught 
but  words  of  peace  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Hancock,  Minn.  The  Busy  Bee  at  Green- 
ville, Miss.,  evidently  gets  all  the  news. 

Texas  has  an  unusually  large  number  of 
odd  and  unique-titled  dailies  and  weeklies, 
some  of  the  most  striking  being :  Local 
Freight,  Old  Capitol,  Texas  Nutshells,  Iron 
Clad,  Gimlet,  Yoakumri  s  Yesterday,  Round 
Up,  News  Boy,  Jimplecute,  Stake  Plain, 
fary,  Cross  Timbers,  Labor  Sunbeams, 
Colonel,  Sharp  Shooter,  and  Thermometer. 
The  Boomerang  at  Palouse,  Washington, 
hits  the  people  just  about  right,  and  the  in- 
habitants of  Douglas,  Wyo.,  swear  by  Bill 
Barlow1  s  Budget.  The  Pee  Dee  Index 
is  a  South  Carolina  paper. 

Some  of  the  North  Carolina  editors  were 
evidently  at  a  loss  for  names,  as  witness  the 
following:  Tobacco  Plant,  Gold  Leaf ,  Rail- 
road Ticket,  Sign  Board,  Central  Express, 
Pine  Knot,  Caucasian,  French  Broad  Voice, 
and  Eastern  Reflector.  Ohio  publishers  call 
their  papers  Grit,  Rip  Saw,  Pointer,  Tax- 
payer's  Guardian,  and  Quiver.  Pennsyl- 
vania is  modest,  furnishing  only  the  follow- 
ing :  Smith' s  Broad  Axe,  Watch  Fire,  Plain 
Speaker,  Blizzard,  and  Derrick. 

There  are  a  number  of  political  paradoxes 
in  the  way  of  names  for  many  of  the  dailies 
and  weeklies  published  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  a  few  instances  only  being 
cited  as  follows :  The  True  Republican,  at 
Hudson,  Wis.,  is  a  Democratic  weekly, 
while  the  Chautauqua  Democrat,  at  James- 
town, N.  Y.,  is  a  strong  Republican  paper. 


190 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [August  16,  1890. 


At  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  the  Democrat  espouses 
the  cause  of  President  Harrison's  party, 
while  the  Independent  Republican  upholds 
the  standard  of  Democracy.  The  Maryland 
Republican,  at  Annapolis;  the  Republican 
Citizen,  at  Frederick,  Md.,  and  the  Republi- 
can Watchman,  at  Greenport,  N.  Y.,  are 
all  misnomers  in  so  far  as  name  goes,  as  all 
three  are  strong  Democratic  papers,  while 
the  Democratic  Volunteer,  at  Hamilton,  N. 
Y.,  is  equally  misleading  in  name,  as  the 
paper  advocates  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  Perhaps  the  best  known 
examples  of  this  paradoxical  naming,  how- 
ever, are  found  in  the  St.  Louis  Repub- 
lican, an  out-and-out  Democratic  news- 
paper, and  the  St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat, 
an  equally  partisan  Republican  sheet. 

E.  B.  S. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Santa  Anna's  Wooden  Leg  (Vol.  iv, 
p.  6). — There  are  two  or  three  mistakes  in 
the  answer  to  the  "wooden-leg"  query, 
cited  above.  General  Santa  Anna  was  still 
the  owner  of  both  his  natural  legs  at  the 
time  of  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  (April  21, 
1836),  mentioned  in  your  reply  to  "X.," 
of  Baltimore.  The  wound  which  caused 
the  general  to  lose  his  leg  was  received  in 
1837,  at  a  time  when  France  was  trying  to 
land  a  body  of  troops  at  Vera  Cruz.  The 
following  are  the  facts  in  this  famous 
"  wooden-leg  case :"  At  the  battle  of  Cerro 
Gordo,  April  18,  1847, tne  Mexican  General 
Santa  Anna  was  present,  his  conveyance 
being  an  old-fashioned  carriage,  drawn  by 
a  span  of  large  mules.  The  battle  becom- 
ing too  warm  for  him,  everything  being  in 
favor  of  the  United  States  troops,  Santa 
Anna  cut  the  traces  of  one  of  the  mules, 
mounted,  and  rode  away,  leaving  his  wooden 
leg  in  the  carriage.  Companies  A  and  G, 
of  the  Fourth  Illinois  regiment,  were  the 
first  to  reach  the  abandoned  vehicle.  A  man 
by  the  name  of  Waldren,  a  private  in  Com- 
pany G,  was  the  first  to  lay  hands  on  the 
famous  relic ;  in  other  words,  Waldren 
"captured"  the  cork  leg.  Sam  and  Frank 
Rhodes  and  Sergeant  J.  M.  Gill  purchased 
the  relic  from  Waldren,  and  upon  their  re- 
turn took  it  home  to  Pekin,  111.  In  1862 
or  1863,  some  time  during  the  rebellion,  at 


any  rate,  the  leg  was  sent  as  a  present  to 
General  McCook,  then  living  at  Washington, 
D.  C.  General  McCook  placed  it  among 
the  other  relics  in  the  Patent  Office,  where 
it  was  at  last  accounts. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Nickajack  (Vol.  i,  pp.  60,  etc.).— The 
Chickamauga  Indians  were  a  band  of  the 
Cherokees  which,  in  1791,  separated  itself 
from  the  main  tribe  owing  to  dissatisfaction 
with  the  Holston,  or  Knoxville,  treaty  with 
the  whites.  They  had  three  towns,  called 
the  Nickajack  towns,  situated  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Tennessee  river,  fifty  miles 
above  Huntsville,  and  not  far  from  what  is 
now  Chattanooga.  Of  these  towns  the  mid- 
dle or  central  one  was  Nickajack  proper. 
The  Nickajack  war  of  1 794  was  a  short  and 
bloody  one,  but  nearly  all  the  blood  spilt 
was  that  of  the  Chickamaugas,  who  suffered 
severely  in  proportion  to  their  numbers. 

G.  P.  O'H. 
COLUMBUS,  O. 

All  Passes,  etc.  (Vol.  iii,  p.  142 ;  iv, 
199,  etc.).— 

"  All  passes.     Art  alone 

Enduring  stays  to  us  ; 
The  bust  outlasts  the  throne ; 
The  coin — Tiberius." 

This  is  one  verse  of  a  poem  by  Austin 
Dobson,  entitled  "Ars  Victrix;  Imitation 
from  Theophile  Gautier." 

LOUISA  TRUMBULL  COGSWELL. 

Greek  Cities  in  France  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
173,  etc.). — The  Greek  colony  of  Massalia 
was  Phocaean  in  its  origin ;  there  was  proba- 
bly a  Phoenician  or  Punic  colony,  also,  at 
or  near  the  place.  Lugdunum,  or  Lyons, 
was  the  site  of  an  early  Greek  commercial 
establishment.  N.  S.  S. 

Dropping  Wells  (Vol.  v,  pp.  142,  etc.). 
—Probably,  "the  spring  that  gathered, 
trickling  dropwise  from  the  cleft,"  in  the 
woods  of  Broceliande  (Tennyson,  in  "Mer- 
lin and  Vivien"),  was  a  dropping  well. 
There  is,  if  I  remember  aright,  a  noted 
dropping  well  near  Matlock,  in  England. 

GERMAN-TOWN.  Qui  TAM. 


August  1 6,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


191 


Suicides  in  China.  —  Advices  from 
China  give  an  account  of  a  curious  suicide 
on  a  large  scale.  A  number  of  young  girls 
in  Hong  Kong  had  taken  vows  of  celibacy 
and  banded  themselves  into  an  organization 
called  the  Society  of  Purity.  But  one  of 
the  number  was  betrothed  by  her  parents  to 
a  young  man  of  the  town.  Then  the  whole 
band  went  off  together  and  drowned  them- 
selves in  the  river — an  example  of  female 
consistency  and  solidarity  which  is  dreadful 
to  think  of.  Yet  the  story  is  undoubtedly 
true.  Suicide  is  very  frequent  in  China, 
and  an  intending  felo  de  se  finds  it  easy  to 
obtain  companions.  Thus  some  years  ago  an 
accomplished  young  lady  of  Canton,  who 
had  been  unfortunately  married  to  a  coarse 
and  stupid  husband,  was  bewailing  her  fate 
to  a  party  of  sisters  and  female  cousins,  and 
declared  her  intention  of  committing  suicide. 
On  this  the  young  ladies  declared  that,  since 
such  was  married  life,  they  would  die,  too ; 
and  so  the  whole  bevy  of  them  joined  hands 
together,  and  walking  into  a  fish  pond  de- 
liberately drowned  themselves.  Again,  three 
men,  imprisoned  in  Hong  Kong  jail  on  a 
charge  of  piracy,  determined  to  make  away 
with  themselves  rather  than  have  the  bother 
of  a  trial.  At  some  height  in  the  cell  where 
they  were  imprisoned  was  a  small  window, 
guarded  by  two  iron  bars.  From  the  posi- 
tions in  which  they  were  found  in  the  morn- 
ing, it  would  seem  that  the  third  man  had 
assisted  the  two  others  in  hanging  them- 
selves from  the  bars  by  their  queues ;  that 
then  he  had  cut  down  one  of  them  by  gnaw- 
ing through  the  queue  with  his  teeth,  and 
using  the  dead  body  as  a  stool  to  be  after- 
wards kicked  over,  he  had  contrived  to  sus- 
pend himself.  And  all  this  had  been  done 
so  quietly  as  not  to  attract  the  notice  of  a 
sentinel  who  was  pacing  outside  the  window. 
A  very  curious  series  of  suicides  took  place 
in  Shanghai  in  1869.  The  parents  of  a 
young  lady,  lately  married,  fell  into  difficul- 
ties and  applied  to  her  for  assistance.  Her 
husband  allowed  her  to  give  them  a  coat 
to  pawn.  The  daughter,  however,  being 
anxious  to  render  further  aid,  without  the 
knowledge  of  her  husband,  secreted  sixteen 
dollars  in  the  pocket  of  the  coat.  The  old 
man  did  not  discover  this,  but  took  the  coat 
to  a  pawnbroker,  who,  noticing  the  money 


on  unfolding  the  garment,  kept  his  own 
counsel,  and  quietly  advanced  two  dollars. 
Soon  after  the  husband  discovered  ihat  the 
daughter  had  given  sixteen  dollars  to  her 
parents,  and  made  so  much  noise  about  it 
that  the  lady  disposed  of  herself  by  hang- 
ing. In  this  way  the  news  of  the  r6bbery 
committed  by  the  pawnbroker  became 
known  to  the  parents,  and  the  old  mother 
took  the  matter  so  much  to  heart  that  she 
poisoned  herself  with  opium.  Lastly,  the 
pawnbroker,  getting  alarmed  on  hearing 
that  his  dishonesty  had  caused  two  deaths, 
drowned  himself  in  a  well. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Stone  Rivers  (Vol.  v,  p.  149,  etc.). — 
The  late  Porter  C.  Bliss,  a  man  of  singu- 
larly bright  and  active  mind,  informed  me 
that  he  had  traveled  to  some  extent  in  what 
is  called  Patagonia.  By  his  account,  much 
of  the  country  is  very  fertile,  with  a  good, 
though  probably  not  perfect,  climate.  Wri- 
ters of  books  of  science,  however,  generally 
speak  of  the  country  as  for  the  most  part 
stone-covered  and  almost  worthless,  except 
for  its  possible  mineral  stores.  M.  P.  D. 

EASTON,  PA. 

Rocking  Stones  (Vol.  v,  p.  69). — At 
Brimham  Rocks,  in  Yorkshire,  there  are 
several  rocking  stones  of  great  size. 

N.  C.  T. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  179,  etc.). 
— Do  not  omit  from  this  list  the  Fucine 
lake,  in  Italy,  the  drainage  of  which,  by  the 
Prince  Torlonia,  was  a  work  of  great  magni- 
tude and  interest.  P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

No-man's  Land  (Vol.  v,  p.  62).— 
Please  don't  forget  our  No-man's  Land  in 
Maine.  It  is  a  small  wooded  island  of  the 
Atlantic,  some  fifty  feet  high,  and  five  hun- 
dred yards  in  length.  It  is  situated  seven 
furlongs  (if  there  is  any  sea  furlong)  east  by 
north  of  the  north-east  point  of  the  well- 
known  island  of  Matinicus,  and  about  five 
miles  from  the  lighthouses  on  Matinicus 
rock.  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 


192 


AMERICAN  NOTES   AND  QUERIES.          [August  16,  1890. 


Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
164,  etc.). — In  the  French  Jura  there  are 
many  streams  partly,  or  entirely,  subterra- 
neous. Besides  the  Doubs,  already  referred 
to,  the  Orbe  and  the  Creuse  are  both  con- 
siderable streams,  flowing  underground  for 
a  good  part  of  their  respective  courses. 

The  river  Glore,  a  tributary  of  the  Inny, 
in  the  county  of  Westmeath,  Ireland,  flows 
underground  throughout  a  good  part  of  its 
course.  G.  P.  O'HiGGiN. 

COLUMBUS,  O. 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  180,  etc.). 
— In  1691,  Egg  island,  in  Delaware  bay,  was 
surveyed  and  found  to  measure  fully  three 
hundred  acres.  One  hundred  years  later  its 
area  was  sixty  acres.  It  still  existed  in  1830, 
but  has  since  then  disappeared  entirely. 

A  late  newspaper  account  states  that  Sable 
island,  some  ninety  miles  to  seaward  of  the 
Nova  Scotia  coast,  is  now  being  rapidly 
swallowed  up  by  the  sea. 

Nauset,  an  island  near  Orleans,  Mass., 
disappeared  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago. 
Webb's  island,  of  twenty  acres,  near  Chat- 
ham, Mass.,  disappeared  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  ago.  *  *  * 

Ff  in  Proper  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp.  156, 
etc.). — Correspondents  may  be  interested 
to  know  that  this  question  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  their  English  Notes  and  Queries 
brethren  as  early  as  1855,  and  as  late  as 
1885.' 

The  general  result  of  their  discussion  may 
be  thus  summed  up  :  In  ancient  legal  manu- 
scripts, the  capital  F  was  always  represented 
by  two  small  f 's  (as  it  still  is  in  the  engross- 
ing hand  used  in  English  solicitors'  offices). 

This  gave  rise,  in  time,  to  the  printer's 
capital  F  being  made  in  imitation  of  the 
two  small  letters;  and  it  also  led  to  the  re- 
tention of  the  ff  by  the  ffrenchs,  the  ffolliots, 
etc.,  who,  finding  their  names  thus  spelt  in 
their  family  papers,  thought  it  wise,  from  a 
legal  point  of  view,  not  to  alter  them  in  any 
way.  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Pets  of  Famous  People  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
154,  etc.). — Lady  Hesketh,  in  one  of  her 
letters,  says  of  the  poet  Cowper :  "He  had, 


at  one  time,  five  rabbits,  three  hares,  two 
guinea  pigs,  a  magpie,  a  jay,  and  a  starling, 
besides  two  canary  birds,  and  two  dogs. 
*  *  *  I  forgot  to  enumerate  a  squirrel." 
She  also  seems  to  have  forgotten  to  mention 
his  "retired  cat"  of  1791.  For  later,  in 
the  same  letter,  she  tells  how  soundly  the 
cat  was  once  thumped  by  one  of  the  hares. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Bottomless  Ponds  (Vol.  v,  pp.  165, 
etc.). — There  is  a  little  mere,  called  Never- 
touch  pond,  near  Middleboro',  Mass.  Its 
name  indicates  the  popular  belief  that  it  is 
not  soundable.  I  used  to  know  of  an  "  En- 
chanted Hole,"  said  to  be  bottomless,  in 
the  Shawsheen  river,  a  small  stream  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. In  this  river  the  devil  used  to 
baptize  witches.  Walden  pond,  or  lake,  at 
Concord,  Mass.,  is  another  so-called  bot- 
tomless pond.  By  inspection,  any  one  can 
see  that  it  is  in  fact  only  one  of  a  chain  of 
glacial  lakelets,  each  held  in  place  by  an 
old  moraine,  or  natural  darn.  It  has  no  in- 
flow nor  outlet.  An  inflow  would  have 
made  a  breech  in  the  dam,  or  moraine,  and 
would  thus  have  destroyed  the  lake. 

G.  H.  G. 
BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Corrigenda. —  Qui  Vive  (Vol.  v,  p.  173). 
— For  conjunctions  dubitativus  read  conjunc- 
tivus  dubitativus ;  and,  on  line  13,  for  inter- 
pellen  read  interpellem. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Chautauquan,  for  September,  shows  the  follow- 
ing subjects  :  "  On  Pleasure  Bent,''  by  John  Habber- 
ton  (author  of  "  Helen's  Babies"  and  "  All  He  Knew") ; 
"  On  the  Nature  and  Value  of  Folk- Lore,"  by  L.  J. 
Vance  ;  "  On  Mount  Mansfield,"  by  Bradford  Torrey ; 
"  Two  Chiefs  of  the  Great  League,"  by  Francis  New- 
ton Thorpe,  Ph.D. ;  "  Margaret  Fuller  Ossoli,"  by  L.  H. 
Boutell;  "  Sacred  Trees,"  by  Dr.  Ferd.  Adalb.  Junker 
von  Langegg;  "Moral  Recovery,"  by  Hezekiah  But- 
terworth  ;  "A  Spruce  Bark  Camp  in  the  Adirondacks," 
by  John  R.  Spears ;  "  The  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,"  by  Eugene  L.  Didier;  "Experiment 
Stations:  What  is  an  Investigation?"  by  Byron  D. 
Halsted,  Sc.D. ;  "  The  Passion  Play  in  1890,"  by  Fannie 
C.  W.  Barbour ;  "  Modern  Magic  and  its  Explana- 
tion," by  Marcus  Benjamin,  Ph.D. ;  "  Japanese  Art," 
by  T.  de  Wyzewa.  The  editorials  and  the  special  de- 
partments occupy  the  usual  space. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  : — The  Asoka  in  Hindu  Literature,  193 — Race-track 
Slang,  196. 

QUERIES:— King  of  Two  Worlds— Eritrea— Chelsea  Sol- 
diers' Home,  197 — Emu  in  New  Zealand— Mantuan— Libra- 
ries, 198. 

REPLIES  :— Birds  of  Killingworth,  198. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— One-eyed  Days 
— Devil's  Land — Romans  of  America — Casting  out  the  Shoe 
— Democritus  Minor — Robespierre,  199. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :  —  Underground  Streams  —  Sacred 
Trees,  199 — Miners'  Superstition — Rivers  Flowing  Inland, 
202 — Chewing  Gum — Phenomenal  Rainfalls  —  Superstitions 
about  the  Robin,  203  —  Easter  Island  —  Thumb  to  Butter 
Bread— Non-Christian  Use  of  the  Cross— Dropping  Wells — 
Cariacou,  204. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 204. 


THE  ASOKA  IN  HINDU  LITERATURE. 

(UNDER  "  BANJULA  TREES,"  VOL.  v,  PP.  94,  ETC.) 

"  What's  in  a  name?     That  which  we  call  a  rose, 
By  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet." 

Sir  William  Jones  has  told  us  that  banjula, 
or  vanjula,  is  only  another  name  for  the 
Asoka  jonesia,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
"Observations"  on  the  plant  says:  "The 
name,  I  hope,  will  be  retained  by  botanists, 
as  it  perpetually  recurs  in  the  old  Indian 
poems  and  treatises  on  religious  rites.  If 
the  imagination  was  at  first  stirred  by  the 
mention  of  '  banjula  trees  that  spread  their 
roof  of  crimson,'  the  impression  need  not 
be  dispelled,  but  rather  sustained  and  inten- 
sified by  the  frequency  and  beauty  of  pas- 
sages relating  to  the  same  trees  under  their 


194 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  23,  1890. 


more  familiar  name  Asoka.  This  term  is 
variously  rendered,  as  griefless,  deprived  of 
grief,  or  grief -destroyer,  from  a=n0f,  and 
soka  =  sorroiv. ' ' 

Although  several  other  beautiful  crimson 
flowers  native  to  India  are  often  alluded  to 
by  her  poets,  the  Asoka  is  the  most  poetical 
of  all,  and  fills  a  high  place  in  the  ancient 
literature  of  the  Hindus,  not  only  on  ac- 
count of  its  surpassing  beauty — whose  real 
or  fancied  influence  may  have  suggested  its 
name — but  also  by  reason  of  its  mythologi- 
cal associations  and  ;he  strange  superstitions 
which  attach  to  it. 

The  "  Ramayan"  of  Valoniki,  written 
anywhere  between  2030  and  950  B.  C., 
abounds  in  references  to  the  Asoka,  in  which 
these  trees  appear  either  as  a  striking  feature 
or  as  a  full  setting  of  some  beautiful  scene ; 
aside  from  the  minor  allusions,  we  may 
choose  several  such  beautiful  pictures.  First, 
there  is  the  palace  garden  of  the  wily, 
wicked  Queen  Kaikeyi,  "  where  parrots 
flew  from  tree  to  tree,  and  gorgeous  peacocks 
wandered  free." 

"  There  lute  and  lyre  sweet  music  play'd, 
Here  rich  in  blossoms  creepers  twined 
O'er  grot  with  wondrous  art  designed ; 
There  Champac  and  Asoka  flowers 
Hung  glorious  o'er  the  summer  bowers, 
And  'mid  the  waving  verdure  rose 
vGold,  silver,  ivory  porticoes" 

(Vol.  i,  p.  368). 

Next  follows  the  picture  of  "  Rama  and 
Sita  in  the  Forest."  Rama  dispossessed  of 
his  patrimony  through  the  selfish  designs  of 
Kaikeyi,  has  fled  to  the  woods  with  his  wife, 
Sita,  and  his  brother  Laeshman.  Leading 
the  life  of  a  devotee,  he  has  chosen  for  their 
hermitage  a  spot  near  the  mountain  Chitra- 
kuta.  Rama  and  Sita  are  seen  roaming  in 
the  depths  of  the  Indian  forest,  which,  in  the 
language  of  the  poet,  is  fired  with  a  clump 
of  bright  Asokas,  and,  attired  in  their  bloom, 
Sita,  eying  their  restless  blossoms,  cries : 

"  *  *  *  Now  let  us  go 
Where  those  Asoka  blossoms  grow." 

Rama,  obedient  to  Sita's  pleasure,  thither 
went, 

"  And  roamed  delighted  through  the  wood 
Where  blossoming  Asokas  stood. 
****** 


And  each  upon  the  other  set 

A  flower-enwoven  coronet. 
There  many  a  crown  and  chain  they  wove 
Of  blooms  from  that  Asoka  grove." 

And  not  far  beyond  the  poet  shows  us  an- 
other scene,  hardly  less  beautiful,  where 
"Sita  of  the  glorious  eye"  is  returning 
from  her  task  at  evening : 

"  For  she  had  sought  the  wood  to  bring 
Each  loveliest  flovver  of  early  spring ; 
Now  would  the  bright-eyed  lady  choose 
Some  gorgeous  bud  with  blending  hues  ; 
Now  plucked  the  Mango  spray,  and  now 
The  bloom  from  an  Asoka  bough." 

Rama  having  received  a  visit  from  his 
brother  Bharat,  the  son  of  his  father's  young- 
est queen,  Kaikeyi,  resolves  to  seek  a  more 
secluded  hiding  place,  and  so  pursues  his 
way  to  the  pathless  forest  of  Dandaka, 
through  which  flowed  the  brook  or  river 
Pampea : 

"  On  whose  fair  banks  Asokas  glowed 
And  all  bright  trees  their  blossoms  showed  ; 
The  crystal  waters  in  their  flow 
Showed  level  sands  that  gleam'd  below; 
There  glittering  fish  and  tortoise  played, 
And  bending  trees  gave  pleasant  shade." 

It  is  here  we  find  Rama,  after  Sita  has 
been  snatched  away  by  the  giant  Ravan, 
and  borne  off 

"  In  his  magic  car 
Aglow  with  gold,  which  blaz'd  afar." 

Rama,  in  his  "Lament"  for  Sita,  at  first 
calls  on  the  flowers,  as  the  Hindus  were 
wont  to  do,  and  vehemently  bids  the  Asoka 
act  his  part;  but  soon  overborne  by  the 
reality  of  his  loss,  and  sensible  that  trees 
and  flowers  are  powerless  to  help,  he  ex- 
claims : 

"  Those  flowers  have  power  to  banish  care, 
But  now  they  drive  me  to  despair." 

The  scene  around  him  is  a  wilderness  of 
beauty,  which  has  the  effect  only  to  intensify 
the  hero's  suffering,  and  he  again  addresses 
the  Asoka : 

"  Asoka,  brightest  tree  that  grows, 
Hangs  out  his  gorgeous  bloom  in  scorn, 
And  mocks  me  as  I  weep  forlorn." 

Alas !  the  grief-dispelling  power  of  our  fa- 
vorite is  only  etymological,  and  a  poetic 
fiction. 

Nor  does  Sita,  who  meantime  is  far  away 


August  23,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


195 


in  Lanka's  isle  (Ceylon),  find  more  consola- 
tion than  Rama  in  their  favorite  flower. 
Ravan,  unable  to  overcome  the  aversion  of 
Sita  for  him,  bids  his  attendants  bear  her  to 
the  Asoka  garden,  where  she  is  to  be  watched 
and  guarded.  Later  the  giant  king  seeks  to 
pay  his  addresses  to  his  royal  captive  there, 
and  we  are  shown  another  picture.  Arrayed 
in  his  brightest  garb,  and  accompanied  by 
a  retinue  of  one  hundred  dames,  bearing 
"  chowries,  fans,  and  lamps  of  gold,"  and 
making  music  as  they  went, 

"  With  zone  and  tinkling  ornament." 
Ravan  hastens  to  that 

"  Lovely  shade 

Where  glowed  each  choicest  flower  and  fruit, 
And  the  sweet  birds  were  never  mute, 
And  tall  deer  bent  their  heads  to  drink 
On  the  fair  streamlet's  grassy  brink." 

But  Sita  yields  neither  to  threat  nor  to 
blandishment,  and  makes  answer, 

"  I  am  my  lord's  and  he  is  mine." 

Meantime  Hannonan,  the  monkey-general 
and  faithful  ally  of  Rama,  has  discovered 
Sita's  place  of  captivity,  and  his  search  for 
her  in  the  grove  forms  the  last  of  the  series 
of  beautiful  Asoka  pictures  in  the  "  Rama- 
yan:" 

"  He  strayed  through  alleys  soft  and  green, 
And  when  a  spray  he  bent  or  broke, 
Some  little  bird  that  slept  awoke  ; 
Whene'er  the  breeze  of  morning  blew, 
Where'er  a  startled  peacock  flew, 
The  gayly  colored  branches  shed 
Their  flowery  rain  upon  his  head, 
That  clung  around  the  Vanar  till 
He  seemed  a  blossom-covered  hill. 
The  earth,  on  whose  fair  bosom  lay 
The  flowers  that  fell  from  every  spray 
Was  glorious  as  a  lovely  maid 
In  her  brightest  robes  array "d." 

The  Hindu  drama  is  a  mixture  of  prose 
and  verse, but  "The  Hero  and  the  Nymph," 
of  Kalidasa,  who  flourished  about  56  B.  C., 
consists  chiefly  of  poetry,  most  of  which  is 
exceedingly  pleasing.  Here,  too,  we  have 
the  inevitable  palace  garden  with  its  Asoka 
tree — this  time  just  bursting  into  flower. 
When  the  hero,  Purusavas,  discovers  the 
talismanic  ruby  lying  on  the  rock,  he  ex- 
claims, earnestly  : 

"  *  *  *  'T'.s  a  gem  more  roseate  than  the  blush 
Of  the  Asoka  blossom." 


And  when,  afterwards,  he  sees  a  hawk  bear- 
ing away  in  his  beak  the  celestial  gem,  "the 
ruby  of  reunion,"  he  cries  : 

"  Red  as  Afoka  flowers  the  precious  gem  * 
Graces  the  sky." 

"  Ratnavali ;  or,  The  Necklace,"  a  drama 
of  the  twelfth  century,  must  always  interest 
because  of  the  lively  description  in  the  first 
act  of  the  festival  of  Kama-deva,  the  Hindu 
Cupid,  and  in  which  the  leading  characters 
take  part.  The  Asoka  here  appears  in  a 
mythological  relation,  the  presence  of  one 
of  these  trees,  at  least,  being  essential  to  the 
ceremony ;  for  it  was  in  a  grove  of  Asokas 
that  Kama  incurred  the  wrath  of  Siva,  who, 
in  return,  burned  him  to  ashes,  and  after- 
wards instituted  in  his  honor  this  festival, 
celebrated  in  the  last  days  of  May.  At  the 
opening  of  the  play,  the  queen  is  preparing 
to  offer  homage  to  the  flower-armed  deity, 
Kama,  which  stands  at  the  foot  of  the  red 
Asoka  tree,  in  the  garden  of  the  palace. 
King  Vatsa,  who  is  present  at  the  queen's 
request,  among  other  nice  things,  says : 
"  The  bees  give  back  in  harmony  the  music 
of  the  anklets,  as  the  delicate  feet  are  raised 
against  the  stem  of  the  Asoka  tree."  While 
Ratnavali  is  engaged  in  the  ceremony  of 
offering  to  the  god  whose  statue  is  near  the 
Asoka  tree,  gifts  of  sandal,  saffron,  and 
flowers,  King  Vatsa  remarks :  lf  As  rests  your 
hand  upon  the  stem  of  the  Asoka,  it  seems 
to  put  forth  a  livelier  shoot" — a  second  al- 
lusion on  the  part  of  his  majesty  to  the 
strange  Hindu  superstition  "  that  this  tree, 
by  the  contact  of  the  foot  of  a  beautiful 
woman,  will  put  forth  blossoms."  It  was 
most  common  for  this  ceremony  to  take 
place  in  a  grove,  where  the  portrait  or  the 
image  of  Kama  was  placed  in  the  shade  of 
an  Asoka,  and  for  the  worshiper,  after  hav- 
ing bathed,  to  proceed  thence,  accompanied 
by  a  train  of  nymphs  and  choristers  bearing 
gifts  of  fruits,  flowers,  and  perfumes. 

In  "  Malavika  and  Agnimitra,"  another 
drama  by  Kalidasa,  we  have  the  superstition 
referred  to  in  Ratnavali,  illustrated  in  the 
action.  The  scene  of  the  third  act  is  laid 
in  a  palace  garden  where  stands  an  Asoka 
tree.  This  tree  does  not  blossom,  and  being 
the  favorite  of  Queen  Dharini,  she  has  pro- 


196 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  23,  1890. 


posed  to  try  the  effect  of  her  own  foot ;  but 
while  her  attendant  was  putting  the  swing  in 
motion,  the  queen  fell  out  of  it  and  sprained 
her  ankle.  Being  thus  prevented  from  per- 
forming the  ceremony  herself,  she  deputes 
Malavika  to  take  her  place.  Malavika  hav- 
ing attired  herself  in  royal  habiliments,  ap- 
proaches the  tree  and  is  entirely  successful. 
The  scene  of  the  fifth  act  of  the  same  play 
is  similarly  laid — the  royal  personages  hav- 
ing assembled  in  the  shade  of  the  Asoka  to 
receive  the  gifts  and  the  submission  of  a 
newly-conquered  king. 

Kalidasa's  celebrated  poem,  "The  Cloud 
Messenger"  ("Megha  Duta"),  has  the  fol- 
lowing allusion  to  the  same  famous  supersti- 
tion: 

"  Profuse  Asoka  sheds  its  radiant  flowers, 
And  budding  Kesara  adorns  the  bowers  ; 
These  are  my  rivals;  for  the  one  would  greet,  ' 
As  I  would  willingly,  my  charmer's  feet." 

The  following  description  in  plain  prose, 
by  some  modern  observer,  is  not  lacking  in 
pictorial  effect : 

"  The  first  time  I  saw  the  Asoc  in  bloom 
was  on  the  hill  where  the  famous  rock-cut 
temple  of  Karli  is  situated,  and  a  large  con- 
course of  natives  had  assembled  for  the  cele- 
bration of  some  Hindu  festival.  Before 
proceeding  to  the  temple,  the  Mahratta 
women  gathered  from  the  two  trees,  which 
were  flowering  somewhat  below,  each  a  fine 
truss  of  blossoms  and  inserted  it  in  the  hair 
at  the  back  of  the  head.  As  they  moved 
about  in  groups  it  is  impossible  to  describe 
a  more  delightful  effect  than  the  rich  scarlet 
branches  of  flowers  presented  in  their  glossy 
jet  black  hair." 

We  know  that  the  same  Sanskrit  name 
was  borne  by  the  most  famous  of  ancient 
Hindu  monarchs,  and  this  Asoka  was  grand- 
son of  Cbandragupta,  the  king  with  whom 
is  connected  the  story  of  the  "Poison 
Maid."  For  an  account  of  the  circum- 
stances of  Emperor  Asoka's  birth  and  the 
reason  why  he  received  this  name,  refer  to 
"  The  Indo- Aryans,"  byRajendralala  Mitra, 
an  author  possessed  of  superior  sources  of 
information. 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


RACE-TRACK  SLANG. 

Race-track  talk  is  not  always  plain  talk. 
It  is  related  that  a  wild  and  woolly  West- 
erner was  once  taken  to  an  Eastern  race- 
course, where  the  proceedings  resemble  a 
Kilkenny  fight.  On  entering  the  betting 
ring,  the  Western  man  saw  men  and  boys 
pushing  and  struggling  with  all  their  might 
around  a  stall,  and  heard  excited  men  shout- 
ing at  the  top  of  their  lungs :  "  Four  to  one 
on  Proctor  Knot !  Four  to  one  on  Proctor 
Knot!"  Whereupon  he  whips  out  his  re- 
volver, and  howls:  "Where  is  the  fight? 
I'm  not  going  to  stand  by  and  see  four  to 
one  on  to  Proctor !  He  must  have  fair 
play  !" 

Perhaps  the  word  in  most  common  use  on 
the  race-track  is  "  tip."  If  a  friend  or  ac- 
quaintance gives  you  some  quiet  and  posi- 
tive information  about  this  or  that  horse, 
this  or  that  stable,  the  information  conveyed 
is  called  a  "tip."  A  "straight  tip"  is 
knowledge  from  an  authoritative  source. 
Synonymous  with  "tip"  is  the  word 
"pointer."  Should  you  conclude  to  try 
the  advice  given  by  a  "tip,"  and  take  a 
chance  in  the  game,  you  take  what  is  called 
a  "flyer."  Again,  if  the  odds  offered  by 
the  "bookies"  or  bookmakers  should  hap- 
pen to  be  twenty  to  one,  or  so,  you  would 
also  take  what  is  termed  a  "  long  shot."  In 
other  words,  you  would  be  taking  "long 
odds"  or  big  chances.  Once  more,  on 
every  race-track  there  are  persons  who  for  a 
small  pecuniary  consideration  will  sell  you 
"tips."  Ordinarily,  these  sellers  of  "  tips" 
are  called  "tipsters."  When  they  are  in 
the  employ  of  the  "bookies,"  they  are 
known  as  "  touters."  So,  too,  a  "  capper" 
is  a  tipster  who  leads  the  betting  public 
astray. 

A  very  peculiar  but  emphatic  bit  of  turf 
slang  is  the  word  "cinch."  When  a  per- 
son has  a  cock-sure  thing,  when  he  can 
pick  out  without  fail  the  winning  horse,  he 
is  said  to  have  a  "cinch."  This  word, 
taken  from  the  Spanish,  is  used  by  cowboys 
to  denote  the  way  in  which  their  saddles 
are  tightened  on  their  ponies.  There  are  no 
buckles  on  the  belly-band,  but  in  their  place 
there  is  a  "cinch-strap,"  which  passes 
through  two  rings  and  is  tied  by  the  "  cinch- 


August  23,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


197 


knot."  The  Western  phrase,  "cinching 
up,"  means  simply  tightening  the  girth. 
And,  it  is  significant  that,  on  the  race-track, 
you  hear  the  expression  "an  air-tight." 
The  most  emphatic  form  is  a  "lead-pipe 
cinch,"  but  how  that  intensifies  the  cer- 
tainty I  am  unable  to  say. 

The  turfman  has  quite  a  number  of  words 
descriptive  of  the  horses.  An  animal  that 
has  been  "fixed"  or  "  doctored,"  or  one 
that  runs  as  if  something  was  the  matter,  is 
called  a  ' « stiff. ' '  Then  there  are  ' « skates. ' ' 
A  second-rate  track  in  New  Jersey  used  to 
have  running  races  during  the  winter 
months,  when  the  track  was  covered  with 
snow  and  ice.  The  poor  animals,  with 
smooth  iron  shoes,  would  often  slide  over 
the  course  in  a  curious  kind  of  fashion. 
Some  turfmen  declared  that  they  skated. 
Since  then,  second-rate  horses  that  run  in 
the  mud  or  snow  are  called  "skates." 

The  expression  "mud  horse"  is  often 
used  in  a  sarcastic  way.  Thus,  turfmen 
notice  that  certain  steeds  only  win  on  a 
muddy  track  when  the  "  right  odds" — say 
forty  or  fifty  to  one— can  be  obtained 
against  them.  However,  the  popular  term 
for  an  animal  quoted  at  big  odds  is  a  "  long 
horse;"  a  "short  horse"  is  one  that  is 
quoted  at  small  odds.  A  common  phrase 
for  horses  that  are  not  run  to  win  is  that 
"  they  are  not  out  for  the  stuff" — meaning 
that  they  are  not  out  for  the  money  or  the 
purse.  A  horse  is  said  to  "go  wrong" 
when  he  fails  to  respond;  or,  he  "goes 
lame"  when  he  gets  in  the  home-stretch  or 
"in  the  ruck." 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  the  turfman 
ask,  "Who  is  in  the  pigskin?"  That  is  to 
say,  who  is  the  "jock"  or  rider?  A  jockey 
who  makes  a  mistake  of  one  kind  or  another 
is  said  to  "  make  a  break. "  If  the  "  break' ' 
is  particularly  bad  or  glaring,  the  jockey  is 
a  "chump" — a  word  not  peculiar  to  turf 
talk. 

The  wooden  stalls,  from  which  the 
"bookies"  shout  forth  their  alluring  odds, 
forms  what  is  known  as  the  "  betting  ring." 
A  spectator  who  has  made  a  wager,  and  re- 
fuses to  pay  up  after  he  has  lost  it,  is  every- 
where known  as  a  "  welcher."  The  "  plun- 
ger" is  one  who  stakes  his  all  upon  a  single 
race,  or  one  who  makes  big  wagers  out  of 


proportion  to  his  capital.  "Great  draft" 
is  winning  a  number  of  bets  in  succession. 
A  turfman  betting  with  money  won  from 
the  "bookies"  is  said  to  be  "playing  on 
velvet."  When  he  goes  "  broke, "  «.  and 
loses  all  his  money,  he  is  said  to  be  "walk- 
ing on  his  uppers." 

Thus  the  turfman  has  invented  new  words 
as  he  went  along,  to  express  new  wants  or 
new  phases  of  sporting  life.  He  has  turned 
nouns  into  verbs  and  vice  versa;  has  made 
new  adjectives,  and  has  adopted  into  vocab- 
ulary the  every-day  speech  of  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men — cowboys,  pioneers,  dig- 
gers, gamblers,  stock  speculators,  and  cor- 
ner-boys. His  slang  thus  smacks  of  the 
mining  camp,  the  stock  exchange,  and  the 
backwoods.  Consequently,  turf  talk  is  often 
rich  in  sound  and  meaning,  and,  at  times, 
strikingly  graphic  and  picturesque  in  appro- 
priateness. L.J.VANCE. 


King  of  Two  Worlds. — Who  was  known 
as  "  the  king  of  two  worlds?" 

A.  P.  BELCHER. 
CALAIS,  ME. 

The  title  "king  of  two  worlds"  was  as- 
sumed by  one  Dundia,  or  Doondiah,  a 
Hindu  chieftain  who  was  conquered  by 
Wellington  in  1798  or  1799. 

Eritrea. — What  and  where  is  Eritrea? 
O.  A.  ADAMS. 

DELAWARE. 

Eritrea  is  a  newly  constituted  Italian 
colony  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa,  including, 
besides  other  tracts,  some  part  of  Abyssinia. 
We  are  not  able  to  say  exactly  what  its 
limits  are. 

Chelsea  Soldiers'  Home. — Where  is  the 
Chelsea  Soldiers'  Home  ? 

M.  O.  WARRINER. 

TROY,  N.  Y. 

There  is  (i)  a  noted  Chelsea  Hospital  for 
Invalid  Soldiers,  at  Chelsea,  in  England ; 


198 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [August  23,  1890. 


(2)  the  United   States  Soldiers'   Home,  at 
Chelsea  (or  Togus  Springs),  in  Maine  ;  and 

(3)  the  State  Home  for  Soldiers,  at  Chelsea, 
in  Massachusetts.    This  coincidence  in  place 
names  is  rather  remarkable,  and  somewhat 
important ;  for  mistakes  might  arise  from  it 
in  the  transmission  of  letters  or  goods. 

Emu  in  New  Zealand. — We  are  told  in 
the  Chautauquan,  August,  1890,  p.  575, 
that  the  "  emu,  a  wingless  bird,  once  roved 
the  songless  woods"  of  New  Zealand.  Is 
this  true  ?  ALICE  HENDERSON. 

CAMDF.N,  N.  J. 

For  emu,  read  either  moa  or  apteryx.  The 
latter  still  exists  in  New  Zealand,  and  is 
wingless.  The  emu  is  not  absolutely  wing- 
less, and  is  an  Australian,  not  a  Neo  Zela- 
nian,  bird.  Dumont  d'Urville  speaks  of 
seeing  an  emu  in  New  Zealand,  but  he  cer- 
tainly meant  an  apteryx.  The  huge  extinct 
moa  probably  had  small  wings. 

Mantuan. — What  poet  is  called  the  Man- 
tuan  ?  •  M.  O.  W. 

TROY,  N.  Y. 

Virgil,  who  was  born  near  Mantua,  is 
often  called  the  Mantuan;  but  Mantuan, 
without  any  the,  means  Battista  Mantuano 
(or  Spagnuoli),  1448-1516,  a  monk  and 
Latin  poet,  who  long  enjoyed  the  highest 
repute,  but  is  now  much  neglected. 

Libraries. — Can  you  inform  me  (i)  which 
is  the  largest  library  in  the  world  ?  (2) 
Which  is  the  largest  library  in  the  United 
States?  H.  F.  PETERSON. 

OAKLAND,  CAL. 

(i)  The  largest  library  in  the  world  is 
said  to  be  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  in 
Paris.  The  number  of  volumes  is  2, 290,000. 
The  last  count  was  made  in  1791,  and  as  the 
foregoing  figures  enumerate  pieces  of  which 
many  are  contained  in  one  volume,  perhaps 
something  like  1,827,000  is  nearer  the  proper 
number.  The  next  largest  library  in  the 
world  is  that  of  the  British  Museum.  It 
contains  1,550,000  volumes,  and  50,000 
MSS. 


(2)  The  largest  collection  of  books  in  the 
United  States  (according  to  the  "Report  of 
the  Commissioner  of  Public  Education")  is 
the  Congressional  Library,  which  contains 
596,000  volumes.  The  Boston  Public 
Library  follows  closely  with  its  489,000 
volumes. 

REPLIES. 

Birds  of  Killingutorth  (Vol.  v,  p.  186). 
—  The  New  York  Evening  Post,  a  few 
years  ago,  gave  a  short  account  of  Killing- 
worth,  a  town  in  Connecticut,  founded 
1663.  It  was  originally  "  Kenilworth," 
named  for  the  English  town  from  which  it 
is  said  the  early  settlers  came.  The  writer 
had  applied  to  the  town  clerk,  Mr.  Henry 
Hull,  for  information  as  to  whether  this  was 
the  scene  of  Longfellow's  poem,  and  received 
the  following  reply : 

"I  looked  in  the  record  of  town  votes, 
supposing  the  town  gave  a  bounty  for  killing 
certain  birds  and  animals,  but  I  did  not  find 
any  vote.  One  thing  I  know  by  actual 
knowledge.  When  I  was  young,  say  four- 
teen years,  the  men  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  town  did  yearly,  in  the  spring,  choose 
two  leaders,  and  then  the  two  sides  formed. 
Their  rules  were :  The  side  that  got  beaten 
should  pay  the  bills.  Their  special  game 
was  the  hawk,  the  owl,  the  crow,  the  black- 
bird, and  any  other  bird  considered  to  be 
mischievous  in  pulling  up  corn  and  the  like. 
Also  the  squirrels,  except  the  gray  squirrels, 
and  all  other  animals  that  were  considered 
mischievous.  Some  years  each  side  would 
bring  them  in  by  the  bushel ;  it  was  followed 
up  only  a  few  years,  for  the  birds  began  to 
grow  scarce.  This  was  probably  the  basis 
for  Mr.  Longfellow's  poem." 

This  letter  being  sent  to  Mr.  Samuel 
Longfellow,  brother  of  the  poet,  he  wrote : 

"  I  cannot  say  whether  the  writer  of  the 
poem  had  ever  heard  the  story  of  the  crusade 
against  the  birds  which  Mr.  Hull  relates.  I 
found  among  his  papers  a  newspaper  cutting 
— a  report  of  a  debate,  in  the  Connecticut 
Legislature,  upon  a  bill  offering  a  bounty 
upon  the  heads  of  birds  believed  to  be  in- 
jurious to  the  farmers;  in  which  debate,  a 
member  from  Killingworth  took  part.  The 


August  23,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


199 


name  may  have  taken  his  fancy,  and  upon 
this  slight  hint  he  may  have  built  up  his 
story.  You  will  observe  that  in  the  poem 
he  throws  back  the  time  to  a  hundred  years 
ago.  But  I  cannot  speak  with  certainty 
upon  this  matter."  M.  A.  N. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


IPO 


One-eyed  Days.  —  What  is  meant  by 
the  term,  "One-ejed  days  ?"  MARTIN. 

McCONNELLSTOWN,  PA. 

Devil's  Land.  —  What  islands  are  known 
as  the  Devil's  Land,  and  why  so  called? 

MARTIN. 

MCCONNELLSTOWN,  PA. 

Romans  of  America.—  What  tribe  or 
tribes  of  Indians  were  called  the  "  Romans 
of  America  ?'  '  MARTIN. 

MCCONNELLSTOWN,   PA. 

Casting  out  the  Shoe.—  The  Psalmist 
says,  "Moab  is  my  wash-pot  ;  over  Edom 
have  I  cast  out  my  shoe."  What  does  this 
expression  mean  ?  P.  P.  C. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL. 

Dempcritus  Minor.  —  Who  was  the 
Democritus  Minor  who  annotated  "  The 
Anatomy  of  Melancholy"  of  Burton?  The 
latter  calls  himself  Democratus  Junior. 
Some  of  the  notes  to  this  work  are  rela- 
tively very  modern.  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Robespierre.  —  Can  any  of  yotir  corre- 
spondents tell  me  what  Carlyle  means  when 
he  says  that  Robespierre  was  as  barren  as 
the  Harmattan  wind  ?  J.  L.  T. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

©OMMUNIGAJTIONS. 

Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
164,  etc.).  —  That  valley  in  Arcadia,  wherein 
stood  the  city  of  Mantineia,  has  no  drain- 
age to  the  sea  except  through  underground 
channels.  R.  H.  D. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


Sacred  Trees. — To  what  degree  the 
religious  systems  and  mythologies  of  the 
cultured  people  of  antiquity  were  influenced 
by  the  story  of  the  Creation  and  the  Fall, 
can  hardly  be  ascertained ;  yet  in  a\\,  cer- 
tain analogies  are  surprising. 

Representations  of  the  tree  of  life  and 
knowledge  are  found  in  the  oldest  art  works 
and  paintings  of  the  Egyptians  and  Africans 
as  well  as  in  those  of  the  people  of  the  far 
East.  The  sacred  tree  appears  as  an  emblem 
of  the  universe  and  of  the  system  of  crea- 
tion, but  most  frequently  as  the  tree  of  life, 
whose  fruit  fills  believers  with  divine 
strength  and  prepares  them  for  the  joys  of 
immortality.  Its  oldest  representatives  are 
the  date-tree,  the  fig,  and  the  fir  or  cedar. 

The  earliest  representative  of  the  palm  is 
the  genuine  date-tree  of  the  Nile  valley  and 
of  the  great  alluvial  plain  of  Babylon.  The 
palm  is  represented  as  the  tree  of  life  on  aa 
Egyptian  obelisk,  which  probably  belonged 
to  the  time  of  the  eighth  dynasty  (1701- 
1447,  according  to  Lepsius)  and  which  is 
now  set  up  in  the  royal  museum  at  Berlin. 
Two  arms  reach  from  the  top  of  the  tree, 
one  of  which  offers  to  a  dead  body  a  dish 
of  dates,  the  other  the  water  of  life.  They 
are  the  arms  of  the  Egyptian  household  god- 
dess, Neb-hat,  goddess  of  the  nether  world. 
In  other  and  later  representations,  her  entire 
figure  appears. 

In  another  column,  copied  by  Rossellino, 
is  a  similar  picture,  in  which  the  Egyptian 
fig-tree,  the  fig-tree  of  sacred  writings,  fig- 
ures. There  is  also  the  fig-tree  of  India, 
under  which  Vishnu  was  born  and  which 
Brahma  made  king  of  all  trees  when  he  ap- 
pointed the  kings  of  animals,  birds  and 
plants.  This  fig-tree  is  also  sacred  to  Buddha. 
The  tree  which  is  represented  by  Assyrian 
painters  as  sacred,  resembles  the  date-palm. 
It  were  scarcely  possible  to  select  more  ap- 
propriate representatives  of  the  mythic  tree 
of  life,  whose  fruit  gives  strength  and  wis- 
dom, than  the  date  and  fig-trees,  both  of 
which  are  the  most  important  producers  of 
food  in  the  East.  "  Honor  your  paternal 
nurse,  the  date-tree,"  said  Mohammed,  "  for 
it  was  created  from  the  same  dust  in  Para- 
dise as  Adam." 

A  later  Mohammedan  legend  relates  that 
Adam  was  allowed  to  choose  three  things 


2OO 


AMERICAN  NOTES   AND  QUERIES.           [August  23,  1890. 


from  Paradise:  myrtle,  the  sweetest-scented 
flower;  corn,  the  best  food  ;  and  dates,  the 
most  agreeable  fruit  in  the  world.  These 
dates  were  brought  in  a  wonderful  manner 
to  Hejaz,  and  thence  sprang  all  date-trees  in 
the  world  ;  and  Allah  assigned  them  for  the 
food  of  all  true  believers  who  should  con- 
quer all  lands  where  they  grow. 

The  tree  of  life  in  several  old  mosaics  in 
the  apses  of  the  Roman  basilicas  was  repre- 
sented by  the  palm.  In  the  hands  of  mar- 
tyrs it  signified  not  only  victory  according 
to  the  heathen  type,  but  more  directly  "  the 
wood  of  life,"  whose  leaves  "  serve  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations." 

Palm  branches  were  brought  home  by  the 
crusaders,  and,  later,  great  masses  were 
fetched  from  the  coast  plains  of  Palestine 
by  travelers  to  the  sacred  tomb.  From  this 
custom  they  were  commonly  called  "  Pal- 
mers" and  were  thus  distinguished  from 
pilgrims  to  other  places,  as  Rome,  Compos- 
tela,  etc.  About  that  time  palm-leaves  were 
first  used  as  ornaments  on  the  carved  capi- 
tals of  churches  in  Northern  Europe.  It  is 
surprising,  therefore,  to  find  the  date-palm 
in  its  oldest  forms  introduced  into  several 
French  churches  at  an  earlier  period.  This 
may  have  been  effected  by  the  extended 
commerce  which  during  the  Merovingian 
period  existed  between  Gaul  and  the  eastern 
sea-board  of  the  Mediterranean.  These 
unique  and  beautiful  designs  were  imitated 
by  Romish  and  native  artists  of  Gaul  in  the 
decoration  of  their  churches.  Thus  the 
African  tree  of  life  is  seen  between  two  lions 
standing  guard,  on  the  pediments  of  many 
church  portals.  The  shape  of  the  tree  is 
curiously  diversified  and  sometimes  in  place 
of  lions  are  dragons  and  other  winged  mon- 
sters. But  the  original  African  form  can  be 
recognized  in  spite  of  all  modifications. 

Since  the  middle  ages,  palm  leaves  have 
been  employed  in  Catholic  lands  in  church 
decoration  at  Easter-time  and  on  Palm-Sun- 
days in  memory  of  the  entrance  of  Christ 
into  Jerusalem,  and  carried  in  the  procession 
which  in  former  times  was  formed  in  the 
church-yard.  Catkins  of  willow  are  used 
mostly,  especially  of  round-leaved  willow 
which,  according  to  old  monastery  verses, 
also  were  called  palms. 

The  third  of  the  oldest  sacred  trees  of  life, 


the  fir  or  cedar,  represents  entirely  different 
ideas.  These  firs  unite  elegance  and  flexi- 
bility with  strength  and  durableness,  and 
those  of  upper  Africa  and  Persia,  although 
they  nowhere  attain  the  gigantic  height  of 
the  deodar  of  the  Himalayas,  offer  a  strik- 
ing contrast  to  the  date-trees  and  tamarinds 
which  the  prevailing  tree-flora  of  the  allu- 
vial countries  exhibit.  All  their  varieties 
possess  that  grave,  lofty  character,  which 
reaches  its  highest  development  in  the  ven- 
erable cedar  of  Lebanon. 

It  is  probable  that  the  cedar  of  the  East 
in  very  early  times  was  represented  in  the 
West  by  a  different  variety.  Its  peculiari- 
ties, height  and  durability,  were  found 
among  European  trees,  most  pronouncedly 
in  the  oak,  and  upon  it  were  conferred  the 
attributes  which  at  first  were  connected  with 
the  firs.  Like  the  cedar  of  the  East,  it  be- 
came a  symbol  of  supernatural  might  and 
power.  Quercus  Jovi  placuit,  the  oak  was 
sacred  to  Zeus,  because  he  first  taught  man 
to  approach  him  from  the  oak.  Oaks  over- 
shadowed his  oracle  in  Dodona ;  from  its 
smoke  priestesses  expounded  the  will  of 
God.  The  Northern  oak  like  the  cedar  at- 
tracted the  flash  of  lightning,  and  was  the 
tree  sacred  to  Donar  or  Thor.  In  the  land 
of  the  Hessians  there  stood  a  giant  oak  of 
Thor,  which  was  greatly  venerated  by  the 
people.  St.  Boniface,  on  the  advice  of  a  few 
new  converts,  began  to  fell  this  tree.  The 
people,  amazed  at  such  mischief,  broke  forth 
in  loud  curses  but  dared  not  hinder  the 
deed.  When  Boniface  had  hewn  half 
through  the  trunk,  a  supernatural  storm 
arose,  caught  the  top  with  all  its  branches 
and  hurled  it  broken  into  four  pieces  to  the 
ground.  The  heathen  recognized  the  mira- 
cle, and  the  majority  were  immediately 
converted.  From  the  wood  of  this  tree  St. 
Boniface  built  a  chapel,  which  he  dedicated 
to  St.  Petrus. 

The  destruction  of  the  oak  sacred  to  Thor 
was  necessary  in  order  to  break  the  way  to 
the  new  doctrine;  and  numerous  decrees 
and  resolutions  made  by  the  papacy  up  to 
the  thirteenth  century  against  the  practice 
of  heathen  ceremonies  and  rites  under  trees 
and  in  groves,  show  how  stubbornly  the  peo- 
ple clung  to  the  old  traditions. 

Holy  treesoften  were  afterwards  dedicated 


August  23,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


2OI 


to  great  saints,  by  the  Celts,  especially  in 
the  northwest  of  France  and  in  Ireland.  In 
Ireland  a  celebrated  oak  was  dedicated  to 
St.  Columbus  (550-61 5),  a  splinter  of  which, 
carried  in  the  mouth,  pardoned  a  suicide. 
•  Many  of  these  old  heathen  trees  were  con- 
secrated by  means  of  a  hewn-out  cross,  and 
in  this  way  were  rescued  from  the  ax.  Such 
trees  are  found  in  England  where  formerly 
they  served  as  landmarks  ;  for  example,  the 
gigantic  "  Shire  Oak,"  which  stands  on  the 
place  where  the  three  counties,  York,  Not- 
tingham and  Derby,  join.  Its  top  surpasses 
that  of  the  celebrated  chestnut-tree,  called 
Cento  cavalli,  at  ^Etna,  under  whose  branches 
two  hundred  and  thirty  riders  can  find  shel- 
ter. A  noted  tree  is  the  "Crouch-oak,"  at 
Addlestone  in  Surrey  Shire,  a  landmark  of 
the  royal  forest  of  Windsor,  which  owes  its 
name  to  a  cross  formerly  hewn  out  in  the 
bark.  By  the  cross  such  oaks  were  de- 
prived not  only  of  the  might  of  Woden  and 
Thor,  but  also  of  elves  and  other  goblins, 
and  they  guaranteed  protection  against  every 
evil  spirit,  a  superstition  which  was  broad- 
cast over  all  Germany. 

In  former  times  and  even  until  lately  all 
manner  of  omens  were  connected  with  the 
changing  color  of  the  oak-leaves.  The  en- 
sign of  the  royal  house  of  Stuart  was  con- 
sidered unfortunate  by  the  Highlanders,  be- 
cause it  was  a  sprig  of  oak,  not  evergreen, 
an  omen  which  the  fate  of  this  family  veri- 
fied only  to  well.  The  earlier  or  later  de- 
velopment of  the  leaves,  in  many  places 
even  now,  is  a  weather  sign,  and  in  England 
an  old  maxim  is  current  among  the  country- 
folk, in  which  the  oak  shares  this  peculiarity 
with  the  ash : 

If  the  oak's  before  the  ash 
Then  you  may  expect  a  splash  ; 
But  if  the  ash  is  'fore  the  oak, 
Then  you  must  beware  of  soak. 

From  the  little  we  know  of  the  old  Druids, 
their  high  veneration  for  the  oak  and  the 
mistletoe  growing  thereon,  is  firmly  estab- 
lished. The  white  mistletoe  was  valued  as 
a  mighty  talisman  and  was  gathered  by  them 
with  mystic  rites  and  great  solemnity  in  the 
forests  of  Gaul  and  Britain.  It  was  con- 
sidered sacred,  for  it  was  dropped  from 
heaven  upon  the  branches  of  high  trees. 


Yet  long  before  the  Druid  times,  we  en- 
counter the  mistletoe  in  Scandinavian  myths. 
Baldur,  the  earliest  of  the  gods,  was  killed 
by  a  branch  of  it,  after  Freya  had  obtained 
an  oath  of  all  the  creations  of  the  .earth 
never  to  harm  the  Light-god. 

The  mistletoe  possesses  a  hidden  magic 
power,  and  banishes  evil  spirits ;  therefore, 
in  Wales  at  Christmas  time  it  is  hung  over 
the  doors.  In  England,  it,  with  the  holly 
and  the  evergreens,  serves  for  Christmas 
decorations  in  the  home,  and  gives  to  him 
who  catches  a  maiden  under  the  white  spray 
of  berries,  the  right  to  kiss  her — a  custom 
which  is  descended  from  a  Northern  myth. 
When,  at  the  request  of  the  gods  and  god- 
desses, Baldur  was  called  back  to  life,  Freya, 
the  goddess  of  love,  took  in  charge  the 
plants  of  omen,  and  every  one  who  came 
under  this  branch  received  a  kiss  as  a  token 
that  in  the  future  the  mistletoe  was  to  be  a 
symbol  of  love  and  not  of  death.  Yet, 
singularly,  mistletoe,  the  customary  orna- 
mentation for  Christmas  festivals,  is  debarred 
from  the  churches,  and  is  wanting,  too,  in 
the  sculpturing  of  old  ecclesiastic  build- 
ings, for  which  its  symmetrical  form  would 
be  especially  suitable.  Even  yet  in  the 
North  lurks  the  old  superstition  of  its  magic 
powers. 

Like  the  oak,  the  ash  was  an  object  of 
high  veneration  with  the  Celts  and  Germans, 
but  especially  with  the  Scandinavian  races, 
in  whose  religious  myths  this  tree  took  a 
prominent  part.  The  Northern  people 
valued  the  sacred  ash  as  the  symbol  of  the 
universe. 

The  ash  which  the  scalds  chose  as  a  tree 
symbolic  of  the  universe,  is  found  farther 
north  than  the  oak.  It  is  the  most  abund- 
ant tree  beyond  the  Baltic,  and  its  wood 
served  for  many  purposes  for  which  the  pine 
trees  of  the  North  were  not  suitable.  The 
saga  heroes  fashioned  their  long  spear  han- 
dles and  ax-hafts  from  ash-wood,  from  which 
also  they  usually  built  their  boats.  This 
may  have  been  the  reason  why  the  learned 
Bishop  Adam  of  Bremen,  who  lived  in  the 
eleventh  century,  calls  the  Danish  and  Nor- 
wegian vikings,  Aschman  (ash-man),  or,  be- 
cause, as  the  Edda  narrates,  the  first  man 
was  fashioned  from  a  block  of  ash. 

The  Edda  relates  that  the  universe  tree  was 


202 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [August  23,  1890. 


the  sacred  ash.  Though  an  ash,  yet  it  was 
an  evergreen  tree,  and  there  were  many  sa- 
cred trees  scattered  over  all  Northern  Europe 
which  remained  green  summer  and  winter, 
and  were  highly  esteemed.  According  to 
the  account  of  Adam  von  Bremen,  such  a 
tree  stood  before  a  great  temple  in  Upsala  ; 
and  in  Ditmarsh,  carefully  hedged  in,  was  a 
similarly  honored  tree,  which  was  bound 
with  the  destiny  of  the  land  in  a  mystic 
manner.  When  Ditmarsh  lost  her  freedom, 
the  tree  withered.  But  a  magpie,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  birds  of  omen  of  the 
North,  came  and  nested  on  it  and  brooded 
five  all  white  young  ones,  a  sign  that  the 
land  would  one  day  win  back  its  free- 
dom. 

In  contradiction  to  the  old  adage,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  roots  of  the  sacred  ash 
were  half  destroyed  by  snakes,  the  leaves 
and  the  wood  of  the  ash  in  Northern  Europe 
were  considered  a  mighty  protection  against 
snakes  and  other  vermin.  If  one  draws  a 
circle  around  a  viper  with  an  ash  stick,  the 
viper  is  doomed  to  remain  in  it,  and  no  more 
to  leave  it. — Deutsche  Rundschau. 

Miners'  Superstition. — "  Reaching  the 
largest  coal  mine  in  the  United  States  at 
Pottsville,  after  an  explosion  that  had 
robbed  many  families  of  their  heads,  I  tried 
to  obtain  permission  to  enter  the  mine. 
The  owner  said  that  it  was  certain  death  to 
go  into  it,  and  I  would  not  be  permitted  to 
do  so.  I  paid  a  poor  Welshman  $5  to  take 
me  secretly  down  the  shaft,  and  he  and  I 
spent  an  afternoon  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth, ' ' 
writes  Julian  Ralph  in  Chatter.  "  There 
would  not  have  been  anything  very  desper- 
ate about  that  but  for  the  ignorance  and 
recklessness  of  my  Welshman — the  same 
sort  of  ignorance  and  recklessness  that  had 
blown  up  that  mine  and  has  blown  a  hun- 
dred others. 

"  He  got  to  telling  me  about  the  '  brown- 
ies '  that  live  in  the  mine.  Queer  little 
pigmies  he  said  they  were,  not  much  bigger 
than  your  hand ;  clothed  all  in  brown, 
wearing  feathers  in  their  hats  and  always  ap- 
pearing to  a  miner  when  something  dreadful 
is  about  to  happen  to  the  mine  or  to  the  in- 
dividual. He  said  that  as  he  was  at  work 
in  a  blind  shaft  on  the  day  of  the  explosion 


he  heard  a  lilliputian  chattering,  and  look- 
ing up  saw  a  brownie,  four  inches  high, 
standing  in  a  crevice  on  a  coal  vein,  and 
holding  up  a  warning  finger. 

"  My  Welshman  had  a  naked  lamp  in  his 
hand,  and  suddenly  he  raised  it  in  a  cranny 
over  my  head  with  the  remark :  '  The 
brownies  do  live  in  all  such  cracks  as  that.' 
When  you  know  that  I  had  been  warned 
that  if  the  flame  of  a  lamp  touched  any 
crevices  of  the  rocks  wherein  gas  was  still 
certain  to  be  lurking,  another  frightful  ex- 
plosion would  occur,  you  can  imagine  my 
feelings  as  I  seized  that  man's  arm  and 
pulled  it  down,  half  a  minute  after  the  flame 
had  penetrated  that  hiding  place  of  the  fatal 
fluid." 

Rivers  Flowing  Inland  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
179,  etc.). — According  to  a  French  work 
entitled  "  Curiosites  Gdographiques,"  which 
I  translate,  a  stream  in  Cephalonia,  largest 
of  the  Ionian  islands,  presents  a  phenome- 
non which  is  even  more  extraordinary  (than 
others  already  mentioned)  since  it  is  a  case 
the  contrary  of  all  other  water-courses  in 
that  it  runs  out  of  the  sea,  inland,  instead 
of  emptying  into  it.  After  flowing  a  short 
distance  in  a  sort  of  canal,  it  disappears 
under  a  rubbish  of  rocks.  It  is  situated  at 
the  northern  extremity  of  the  tongue  of  land 
which  forms  the  western  shore  of  the  harbor 
of  Argostoli.  It  has  never  diminished  in 
volume  nor  ceased  to  flow,  nor  succeeded  in 
filling  the  subterranean  cavity  into  which  it 
pours.  One  of  the  landed  proprietors  of 
Cephalonia  has  vainly  quarried  a  large  open- 
ing into  these  rocks  in  order  to  follow  out 
this  mysterious  course.  After  having  reached 
a  depth  of  about  ten  feet,  he  discovered  that 
the  waters  disappeared  in  natural  fissures 
ten  to  fourteen  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  from  which  the  waters  of  the  sea  and 
those  of  this  stream  were  only  separated  by 
a  thin  partition  of  stone.  The  existence  of 
this  phenomenon  (first  made  known  to  the 
scientific  world  in  1838)  led  to  the  con- 
struction of  a  mill,  located  on  the  border  of 
the  sea,  of  which  the  waters  flowing  inland, 
after  serving  to  turn  the  wheel,  plunged  into 
the  gulf  or  aperture  among  the  rocks  and 
disappeared.  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y 


August  23,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


203 


Chewing  Gum. — Physicians  are  begin- 
ning to  look  upon  chewing  gum  with  favor- 
able eyes,  in  spite  of  the  prejudices  of  pa- 
rents and  school-ma'arms.  It  opens  the 
salivary  glands,  and  gives  material  aid  to 
the  digestion  of  green  and  starchy  foods. 
Hasty  eating  prevents  a  due  quantity  of 
saliva  from  assimilating  with  the  food. 
Those  who  eat  in  haste  may  repent  at  leisure 
by  chewing  gum. 

The  output  of  chewing  gum  in  this  coun- 
try alone  is  about  3,500,000  pounds  per  an- 
num, representing  a  total  value  of  $3,000,000. 
It  is  not  only  children  or  young  girls  who  use 
it,  but  the  habit  is  growing  in  favor  among 
adults,  and  especially  among  athletes.  Base- 
ball players,  sprinters,  most  of  the  crack 
men  of  muscle  and  agility  are  inveterate 
chewers. 

The  best  gum  is  that  made  from  the  chi- 
clezapote  tree  in  Mexico.  The  gum  of  this 
tree  in  its  crude  state  was  long  used  by  the 
Mexican  Indians  for  a  similar  purpose. 
When  they  went  out  on  the  plains  they 
found  that  it  kept  their  throats  from  becom- 
ing parched  if  they  could  get  no  water.  But 
it  was  not  until  recently  known  to  Ameri- 
cans. A  lump  of  the  gum  fell  into  the 
hands  of  a  Yankee  named  Adams  some 
twenty  years  ago.  It  struck  him  that  the 
substance  might  be  made  to  take  the  place 
of  gutta-percha,  or  soft  rubber,  but  after  ex- 
periments extending  over  a  period  of  two 
years,  he  was  forced  to  give  up  the  idea  as 
impracticable.  A  lot  of  the  useless  stock 
was  left  on  his  hands.  One  day  he  hap- 
pened to  break  off  a  bit  and  chewed  it.  He 
found  it  was  pleasant  to  the  taste.  That 
hint  was  sufficient ;  he  would  manufacture 
the  article  into  chewing-gum.  A  prominent 
manufacturer  assured  him  that  the  substance 
was  no  good  for  the  purpose  ;  but,  nothing 
daunted,  Adams  set  to  work  on  his  own  ac- 
count, and  sold  his  article  on  a  small  scale 
to  dealers.  Orders  began  to  pour  in — the 
thing  was  a  success.  To-day  Mr.  Adams 
employs  two  hundred  and  fifty  hands  in  a 
factory  six  stories  high. 

Chewing  gum  of  an  inferior  grade  is  still 
made  from  the  gum  of  the  New  England 
spruce  tree,  and  from  paraffine,  which  is  the 
residue  of  crude  petroleum  in  process  of  re- 
fining. But  the  Mexican  gum  has  nearly 


succeeded  in  driving  all  its  competitors  out 
of  the  field. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

V 

Phenomenal  Rainfalls. — In  studying 
the  precipitation  of  the  United  States,  I  find 
the  following  excessive  rainfalls  within  the 
past  five  years,  concerning  which  I  do  not 
recollect  having  seen  any  figures  given  in 
the  usual  news  columns.  During  the  disas- 
trous storm  that  culminated  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  Johnstown,  a  depth  of  rain  aggregat- 
ing 6. 2  inches  fell  upon  the  drainage  basin 
of  Conemaugh  river  in  thirty-two  hours ;  at 
Grampian  Hills  station,  8.4  inches  fell  in 
the  same  length  of  time.  During  the  storm 
of  February  n,  1886,  a  depth  of  5  inches 
fell  in  one  day  upon  the  southern  New  Eng- 
land States,  and  a  depth  of  7  inches  in  an 
area  of  more  than  fifteen  hundred  square 
miles.  In  May,  1890,  3.9  inches  fell  at 
McCauseland,  la.,  in  one  hour;  at  Gal- 
veston,  Tex.,  June  14,  1871,  3.95  inches 
fell  in  fourteen  minutes;  at  St.  Louis,  5.05 
inches  fell  in  one  hour  ;  and  at  Triadelphia, 
W.  Va.,  July  9,  1888,  6.9  inches  were  pre- 
cipitated in  fifty-five  minutes.  At  Mayport, 
Fla.,  13.7  inches  fell  in  twenty-four  hours  ; 
at  Upper  Mattole,  Colo.,  31.7  inches  fell  in 
five  days,  and  at  Alexandria,  La.,  21.4 
inches  fell  in  one  day.  This,  the  most  co- 
pious downpour  that  has  ever  been  recorded 
in  the  United  States,  has  been  surpassed, 
however,  in  India,  where,  in  Purneah,  35 
inches  was  recorded  in  an  equal  interval  of 
time.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Superstitions    about    the    Robin. — 

"A  good  many  superstitious  ideas  are  preva- 
lent in  different  localities  with  reference  to 
the  robin.  In  some  parts  of  Scotland  the 
song  of  this  interesting  little  bird  is  held  to 
augur  no  good  for  the  sick  person  who  hears 
it,  and  to  those  superstitiously  inclined  much 
anxiety  is  sometimes  caused  when  its  notes 
are  heard  near  a  house  where  any  one  hap- 
pens to  be  ill.  There  is  a  legend  connected 
with  the  robin  which  I  have  somewhere 
seen.  It  is  said  that  far,  far  away  there  is  a 
land  of  woe,  darkness,  spirits  of  evil,  and 
fire.  Day  by  day  does  this  little  bird  bear 


204 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [August  23,  1890. 


in  his  bill  a  drop  of  water  to  quench  the 
flame.  So  near  the  burning  stream  does  he 
fly  that  his  feathers  are  scorched,  and  hence 
he  is  named  bronphuddu  (burnt  breast). 
There  is  also  a  legend  which  attributes  his 
red  breast  to  his  having  tried  to  pluck  a 
spike  from  the  crown  of  thorns  with  which 
our  Lord' s  head  was  encircled"  (  Good  News. ) 

Easter  Island  (Vol.  v,  p.  185). — Con- 
cerning the  truly  wonderful  prehistoric  re- 
mains in  Easter  island,  see  Art.  "  Polyne- 
sia," in  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  near 
the  end.  Some  years  since  a  squad  of 
French  sailors  landed  and  destroyed  many 
huge  clay  images.  They  are  supposed  to 
have  been  actuated  by  pious  zeal  against 
idolatry.  Easter  island  is  now  utilized  as  a 
sheep-pasture  by  an  American  capitalist. 
The  island  is  noteworthy  as  being  by  very 
far  the  easternmost  inhabited  island  in  Poly- 
nesia. The  images  on  this  island  are  not 
of  the  American  type,  neither  are  they 
matched  by  anything  else  found  in  Polynesia 
or  Micronesia.  The  Easter  islanders  say 
their  ancestors  came  from  Uparu,  nineteen 
hundred  miles  distant ;  and  they  are  no 
doubt  correct  in  this  statement. 
MAINE.  ISLANDER. 

Thumb  to  Butter  Bread  (Vol.  v,  p. 
86). — This  custom  has  the  sanction  of  roy- 
alty, though,  it  must  be  confessed,  of  a 
"  mighty  dirty  monarch,"  if  we  may  trust 
the  description  Lord  Raby  gives  of  Charles 
XII  of  Sweden.  Describing  the  king  at 
his  meals,  he  says  :  "  Between  every  bit  of 
meat  he  eats  a  piece  of  bread  and  butter, 
which  he  spreads  with  his  thumb"  (1707). 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Non-Christian  Use  of  the  Cross. — 

Among  the  old  temples  of  Pegu,  in  Burmah, 
some  of  which  are  described  in  the  writings 
of  Francis  Mason,  a  missionary,  are  cruci- 
form temples,  said  to  have  been  constructed 
by  the  old  Peguans  (otherwise  called  Tala- 
ing,  or  Mon),  a  people  apparently  not  re- 
lated to  any  of  the  dominant  tribes  of  the 
country,  their  language  seeming  to  belong 
to  what  is  called  the  Kolarian  stem  of  India. 

*  *  * 


Dropping  Wells  (Vol.  v,  pp.  190,  etc.). 
—  A  dropping  well  in  Chinese  Tartary  is 
thus  described  by  Mr.  Atkinson  :  "  Re- 
turning towards  the  plain  by  another  route, 
we  visited  the  Tamchi-Bouiac,  or  dropping 
spring,  and  a  magnificent  one  it  is.  It  lies 
at  the  foot  of  Ala  mountains  ;  the  water 
comes  trickling  out  of  the  rocks  in  thou- 
sands of  little  streams  that  shine  like  show- 
ers of  diamonds  ;  while  the  rocks,  which  are 
greatly  varied  in  color,  from  a  bright  yel- 
low to  a  deep  red,  give  to  some  parts  the 
appearance  of  innumerable  drops  of  liquid 
fire.  The  water  drops  into  a  large  basin, 
and  runs  over  fallen  masses  of  stone  in  a 
considerable  stream."  J.  W.  REDWAY. 
PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

Cariacou  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  228,  etc.).  —  This 
word  signifies  not  only  a  certain  island,  and 
a  species  of  deer,  but  in  French  Guiana  it  is 
the  name  of  a  kind  of  liqueur  or  cordial 
drink  (see  "  Dunglison's  Dictionary"). 
Your  correspondents  have  not  yet  got  hold 
of  the  ultimate  facts  about  this  word. 

BALBUS. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Illustrated  American  for  the  current  week  gives 
an  interesting  account  of  the  Passion  Play  at  Ober- 
Ammergau,  with  illustrations  from  sketches  made  on 
the  spot  by  its  special  artist.  As  the  only  relic  of  the 
Mysteries  of  the  Middle  Ages  that  has  survived,  this 
specimen  of  the  religious  drama  of  old  times  is  of  deep 
interest,  independent  of  the  vivid  presentation  it  affords 
of  the  Passion  of  Christ,  and  this  year  the  peiformance 
is  the  more  noteworthy  as  it  may  never  be  repeated. 
The  sketches  in  the  Illustrated  American  give  an  ad- 
mirable idea  of  the  mishaps  one  meets  with  going  to 
Ober-Ammergau  ;  of  the  scenes  in  the  village  ;  of  the 
simple  peasants  who  take  part  in  the  performance,  and 
of  the  extraordinary  play  itself.  The  text  gives  a  lively 
account  of  the  scenes  and  incidents  of  a  trip  to  the 
village,  and  there  is  also  a  careful  compilation  of  the 
tableaux  and  scenes  which  constitute  the  Passion  Play. 

Book  News,  with  its  August  issue,  completes  the 
eighth  year  of  its  publication,  and  contains  an  index  of 
the  reviews,  literary  miscellany,  the  portraits  of  authors 
and  writers,  with  biographical  sketches  published  since 
last  September.  The  portrait  of  Edward  Bellamy,  au- 
thor of  "  Looking  Backward,"  is  of  timely  interest,  and 
is  fitly  accompanied  by  a  short  commentary  on  his 
writings,  and  an  article  by  Rev.  Washington  Gladden 
on  "  The  New  Socialism  in  Literature."  "  With  the 
New  Books"  and  "  The  Descriptive  Price  List"  offer 
opinions  and  titles  to  help  choose  from  the  month's 
books,  and  the  pictures  from  some  of  the  illustrated 
books  are  an  additional  assistance. 


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Queries  on  all  matters  of  general  literary  and 
historical  interest — folk-lore,  the  origin  of  prov- 
erbs, familiar  sayings,  popular  customs,  quota- 
tions, etc.,  the  authorship  of  books,  pamphlets, 
poems,  essays,  or  stories,  the  meaning  of  re- 
condite allusions,  etc.,  etc. — are  invited  from 
all  quarters,  and  will  be  answered  by  editors  or 
contributors.  Room  is  allowed  for  the  discus- 
sion of  moot  questions,  and  the  periodical  is  thus 
a  valuable  medium  for  intercommunication  be- 
tween literary  men  and  specialists. 

Communications  for  the  literary  department 
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EDITOR  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES, 

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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  : — Lawn  Tennis  and  its  Ancestry,  205 — The  Satyr- 
Beetle  and  the  Ash,  206 — How  Names  Grow — Intelligence  of 
Apes — Karen  Traditions — North  America  Called  India,  207. 

QUERIES  :— Tenterden  Steeple— Insolent  Doctor  —  Birds' 
Eggs,  208. 

REPLIES  : — Alexander  and  Apelles— Casting  Out  the  Shoe 
— Shrewsbury,  208. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Russian  Byron 
— One-eyed  Commanders  —  Blood  Thicker  Than  Water — 
Last  Island,  209. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— The  Frogs  of  Windham,  209— Old 
Almanacs,  212 — Crutch  in  Churches — Mascarene  Family — 
Lowey  of  Tunbridge — Rocking  Stones — Lakes  Drained,  213, 
— Musical  Sands — "  The  "  in  Place  Names — English  Village 
Names — Odd  Names  of  Newspapers,  214  —  Underground 
Streams — When  We've  Been  There,  etc. — Longest  Siege,  215 
— Leper  Kings — River  Turned  Back — Maroons— No  Man's- 
Land — Curiosities  of  Animal  Punishment — Cariacou,  216. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 216. 

ROTES. 

LAWN  TENNIS  AND  ITS  ANCESTRY. 

The  ball  and  consequently  the  ball  game 
is  fully  4000  years  old.  At  all  events,  small 
balls  of  leather  and  wood,  used  obviously  in 
some  out-door  sport,  have  been  brought  to 
light  in  recent  excavations  near  Cairo,  and 
are  held  to  belong  to  a  period  2000  years 
before  Christ.  That  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  played  ball  is  well  known,  though 
we  have  no  definite  knowledge  as  to  the 
nature  of  their  games.  Hand-ball,  such  as 
we  still  play,  seems  to  be  the  earliest  ball 
game  that  emerges  out  of  the  mists  of  his- 
tory in  the  very  early  portion  of  the 
middle  ages — in  Italy  under  the  name  of 
pallons,  and  in  France  under  that  of  jeu  de 
paume.  Hand-ball,  therefore,  may  be  con- 
sidered the  parent  of  all  our  modern  games 


206 


AMERICAN  NOTES   AND  QUERIES.  [August  30,  1890. 


of  ball,  the  ancestor  of  lawn  tennis,  base- 
ball and  cricket.  The  evolution  from  a 
game  in  which  something  besides  the  hands 
was  used  wherewith  to  strike  the  ball  was 
slow  and  gradual.  First  the  hands  were 
covered  with  gloves  to  protect  them,  then 
came  the  first  rude  form  of  racquet — a  spoon- 
shaped  basket  strapped  to  the  arm,  much 
like  that  still  used  in  the  basque  game  of 
pelote.  Early  in  the  fifteenth  century  a 
battoir  or  battledore  covered  with  parch- 
ment and  with  a  wooden  handle.  So  popu- 
lar were  these  battoirs  that  every  available 
bit  of  parchment  was  used  up  in  their  manu- 
facture, even  to  manuscripts  of  the  classics. 
You  will  remember  the  story  of  the  French 
tutor  in  the  sixteenth  century,  who  while 
playing  ball  noticed  that  there  were  faint 
Latin  characters  on  his  racquet,  and  taking 
it  home  with  him  to  decipher  found  that  the 
parchment  was  evidently  a  portion  of  the 
missing  books  of  Livy  which  scholars  had 
mourned  for  ages.  He  at  once  obtained  the 
address  of  the  maker,  but  arrived  there  only 
to  find  that  he  was  too  late.  The  MS.  had 
all  been  used  up. 

The  battoir  was  soon  succeeded  by  a  rac- 
quet something  like  that  now  in  use  in  lawn 
tennis.  In  France,  the  jeu  de  paume  re- 
tained that  name,  though  it  was  no  longer 
truly  descriptive ;  in  Italy,  it  came  to  be 
called  simply  la  palla,  the  ball.  In  Eng- 
land it  was  known  as  tennis,  and  there,  as 
elsewhere,  was  the  favorite  game  of  the  royal 
courts.  In  1555,  one  Messer  Antonio 
Scaino,  a  learned  doctor  of  the  church,  pub- 
lished a  valuable  treatise,  "  Traltato  della 
Palla,"  which  did  much  to  assimilate  and 
coordinate  the  rules  of  the  game  in  the 
different  countries  where  it  was  played. 
Some  of  the  terms  which  he  makes  use  of 
have  survived  to  our  day  in  the  more  modern 
lawn  tennis,  as  due  (deuce)  and  vantaggis 
(vantage).  With  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  game  of  tennis  languished  and 
indeed  had  become  well-nigh  extinct  until 
within  our  own  days  when  the  interest  ex- 
cited by  lawn  tennis  recalled  attention  to 
the  more  venerable  game  of  which  it  was  the 
offspring.  At  present  tennis  is  played  con- 
siderably in  England  and  in  America, 
especially  in  Boston,  which  boasts  of  the 
tennis  champion  of  the  world  in  the  person 


of  its  townsman,  Mr.  Pettit,  who  has  only 
just  reasserted  his  claim  by  a  signal  victory 
over  the  English  champion,  Mr.  Sanders. 

The  game  of  "  fives,"  which  is  still  popu- 
lar in  England,  is  a  survival  of  the  original 
jeu  de  paume.  It  is  so  called  because  the 
ball  is  struck  with  the  hand  or  "bunch  of 
fives."  In  Ireland  substantially  the  same 
game  is  known  as  hand-ball,  and  under  this 
name  it  has  established  some  foothold  in  the 
United  States,  especially  in  Roman  Catholic 
colleges. 

Rackets  or  racquets  seems  to  have  origi- 
nated in  the  Fleet  prison  about  the  be- 
ginning of  this  century.  It  soon  spread  over 
England,  but  until  recently  was  played  in 
courts  with  one  wall.  The  four-walled 
court  dates  from  about  1850. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


THE  "SATYR-BEETLE"  AND  THE  ASH. 

The  coincidence  has  long  been  noticed, 
that  the  "  Satyr- Beetle  "  (Hyloryctes  saty- 
rus),  when  found  in  the  soil,  is  always  found 
beneath  an  ash  tree.  Ash  trees  are  com- 
paratively free  from  insect,  infestations, 
especially  their  foliage.  Practical  collectors 
of  insects  have  frequently  noticed  the  coin- 
cidence here  alluded  to,  and  have  taken  the 
insects  to  the  number  of  from  ten  to  twenty 
or  thirty  under  a  single  tree  ;  and  have  yet 
seen  or  taken  no  larva  in  connection  with 
them — indeed  we  have  heard  one  instance  in 
which  the  mature  insects  were  fairly  swarm- 
ing around  the  trees,  and  yet  the  foliage  re- 
mained intact,  and  the  trees  were  in  a 
healthy  condition.  A  superstition  prevailed 
during  my  boyhood,  to  the  effect  that  the 
"  hoop-snake  "  or  "  horn-snake  "  (a  fabled 
snake  then  said  to  exist  in  Pennsylvania  and 
elsewhere)  could  not  injuriously  affect  an  ash 
tree,  although  any  other  tree,  if  struck  by  said 
snake,  would  immediately  die.  This  is 
about  on  a  parallel  with  the  case  on  p.  202, 
first  column,  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES, 
except  that  there  only  a  line  is  to  be  drawn 
in  a  circle  with  an  ash  stick  around  a  viper 
to  "doom  it  to  remain  in  it,  and  no  more 
leave  it." 

According  to  the  Pennsylvania  supersti- 
tion, the  horn- snake  forms  itself  in  a  circle 


August  30,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


207 


by  taking  the  end  of  its  tail  in  its  mouth, 
and  then  revolves,  by  which  it  acquires  suf- 
ficient momentum  to  strike  its  horn  into  any 
tree  in  its  path,  and  is  fatal  to  all  except  the 
ash.  May  not  the  snakes  so  destructive  to 
the  sacred  ash  have  been  the  larvce  of  some 
insect  ?  In  the  olden  time,  snakes  and  eels 
were  said  to  be  propagated  merely  by  turn- 
ing over  a  sod  with  the  grass  downward, 
"and  behold  on  the  morrow,  the  young 
snakes  and  eels  would  be  found  among  the 
grass."  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


HOW  NAMES  GROW. 

The  Boston  Transcript  lately  remarked 
how  white  people  were  known  in  the  upper 
Congo  districts  as  Batendele,  tendele  being 
the  nearest  approach  the  natives  can  make 
to  the  pronunciation  of  Stanley. 

This  reminds  me  of  the  peculiar  way  in 
which  a  name  grew  for  a  cannon  among  the 
tribes  on  the  east  coast  of  that  same  con- 
tinent. 

The  first  cannon  ever  seen  in  Natal  was 
conveyed  on  board  a  British  ship ;  blacks 
were  employed,  as  usual,  to  unload  the 
cargo,  and  naturally  made  repeated  inquiries 
as  to  what  that  thing  was.  In  angry  tones 
the  officer  in  charge  told  them  "  to  get  on 
with  their  work  and  they  would  know  all 
about  the  machine  by  and  by"  The  last 
word  of  the  blustering  sailor  was  somehow 
looked  upon  by  the  poor  bewildered  fellows 
as  the  answer  to  their  questions ;  the  news 
at  once  went  around,  that  this  strange  thing 
was  a  mbaimba'i,  and  the  native  vocabulary 
was,  there  and  then,  enriched  with  a  new 
term,  mbaimbai.  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


INTELLIGENCE  OF  APES. 

Emm  Pasha,  as  quoted  in  Stanley's  recent 
book,  "  In  Darkest  Africa,"  professes  that  he 
has  seen  troops  of  chimpanzees  making 
their  way  by  night  through  forests  by  the 
aid  of  torches  which  they  carried.  Mr.  Ro- 
manes rejects  Emm's  testimony  on  this 
point  as  incredible.  In  Natal  an  ape  acts 
as  a  signal-man  (under  supervision)  on  a 
railway.  Near  Bencoolen,  in  Sumatra, 


monkeys  are  regularly  employed  in  gather- 
ing cocoanuts.  In  India  the  monkeys  often 
imitate  soldiers,  marching  by  thousands  in 
regular  array.  Strabo  relates  that  Alexan- 
der, while  in  India,  fell  in  with  an  army  of 
apes,  and  would  have  done  battle  with  them, 
but  was  dissuaded  by  the  natives.  This  is 
probably  true,  for  the  Hindu  reveres  all 
monkeys,  and  does  them  no  violence.  India 
has  its  regular  monkey  pilgrimages,  some 
kinds  of  apes  visiting  yearly  the  holy  places 
in  great  droves,  quite  in  the  fashion  of  man- 
kind in  the  same  regions.  A  species  of 
galago,  in  Africa,  chews  gum  while  in  its 
untamed  state.  The  orangs  in  the  mena- 
gerie at  Batavia  pitch  pennies  and  smoke 
cigars.  *  *  * 


KAREN  TRADITIONS. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  writings 
of  Dr.  Francis  Mason,  the  missionary,  are 
aware  of  the  very  marked  similarity  of  many 
of  the  Karen  traditions  to  certain  parts  of 
the  Old  Testament  narrative.  This  strange 
fact  may  be  accounted  for  as  follows  :  It  is 
generally  conceded  that  the  Karens  are  an 
aberrant  branch  of  the  Chinese  race ;  and 
the  strongest  reasons  exist  for  identifying 
the  Chinese,  as  a  race,  with  the  ancient 
Accadians  of  Mesopotamia.  Now  it  was 
from  Mesopotamia  that  the  early  Hebrew 
traditions  took  their  start.  In  view  of  these 
facts,  we  may  safely  assume  that  many 
Jewish  and  Karen  traditions  had  a  common 
origin.  N.  S.  S. 


NORTH  AMERICA  CALLED  INDIA. 

In  Dr.  Isaac  Watts'  address,  "To  His  Ex- 
cellency Governour  Belcher"  (1730),  occur 
the  following  lines: 

"  Go,  Belcher,  go  ;  assume  thy  glorious  sway  ; 
Faction  expires,  and  Boston  longs  t'  obey. 

*  Let  India  hear 

That  Jesus  reigns,  and  her  wild  tribes  prepare 
For  heavenly  joys." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Belcher  was 
Governor  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Jersey 
together.  R.  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 


208 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [August  30,  1890. 


B  S. 


Tenterden  Steeple.— Why  was  the  Ten- 
terden  steeple  the  cause  of  Goodwin  Sands? 

L.  A. 

KNAP  OF  REEDS,  N.  C. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
v>  P-  35»  under  "Sunken  Islands." 

Insolent  Doctor.— Who  was  called  "The 
Insolent  Doctor?"  M.  G.  G. 

CALAIS,  ME. 

The  title  "  Doctor  Insolent  "  means  for- 
ward doctor  rather  than  insolent  doctor. 
It  was  given  to  Vincent  Clement,  a  graduate 
of  Oxford,  probably  of  Italian  birth,  who  as 
nuncio  English  agent  at  Rome  procured  with 
difficulty  from  Pope  Eugenius  IV  a  bull 
giving  special  privileges  to  the  newly- 
founded  Eton  college.  Clement  by  royal 
mandate  received  the  doctor's  degree  in  the- 
ology when  only  a  subdeacon,  or  possibly 
a  deacon.  He  held  several  rich  benefices, 
and  when  he  died,  in  1474,  was  Archdeacon 
of  Winchester. 

Birds'  Eggs. — What  kind  of  wild  birds' 
eggs  are  sold  in  the  markets  ? 

J.  L.  N. 
ONAWA,  IA. 

i.  In  California,  the  eggs  of  gulls  and 
murres  are  collected  at  the  Farallon  islands 
and  regularly  marketed.  2.  In  England, 
the  eggs  of  lapwings,  plovers,  terns  and 
gulls  are  sold  in  great  numbers  as  food,  and 
bring  high  prices.  3.  New  London 
schooners  in  the  Antarctic  seal  and  oil 
trade  salt  down  great  numbers  of  penguin's 
eggs  for  the  crews'  use.  Sometimes  a  few 
barrels  are  left  over  at  the  end  of  the  voyage, 
and  some  of  the  people  along  the  Sound 
make  use  of  these  huge  eggs  for  culinary 
purposes. 

1^  B  P  L  I  B  S  . 

Alexander  and  Apelles  (Vol.  iv,  p.  305). 
— John  Lyly  gives  the  subjoined  version  of 
this  story  in  the  "Epistle  Dedicatorie," 
addressed  to  Sir  William  West,  Knight, 


Lord  De  la  Warre,  and  prefixed  to  his 
"Euphues,  the  Anatomy  of  Wit"  (1581): 
"  Alexander  having  a  skarre  in  his  cheeke, 
held  his  finger  uppon  it,  that  Appelles 
might  not  paint  it,  Apelles  painted  him, 
with  his  finger  cleaving  to  his  face,  why 
quod  Alexander,  I  laid  my  finger  on  my 
skarre,  because  I  would  not  have  thee  see  it, 
(yea  said  Apelles)  and  I  drew  it  there,  be- 
cause none  els  should  perceive  it,  for  if  thy 
finger  had  been  awaie,  either  thy  skarre 
wold  have  been  scene  or  my  arte  misliked." 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Casting  Out  the  Shoe  (Vol.  v,  p.  199). — 
"  Moab  is  my  wash-pot."  Scott's  "Commen- 
taries" defines  this  expression  thus:  "  Moab 
would  soon  be  reduced  to  bondage  and  em- 
ployed in  the  lowest  menial  services."  The 
Doway  translation  reads  thus:  "Moab  is 
the  pot  of  my  hope,"  and  the  foot-note  ex- 
plains the  expression  thus:  "  The  pot  of  my 
hope  or  my  watering  pot,  /.  e.,  a  vessel  for 
meaner  uses,  by  being  reduced  to  serve  me, 
even  in  the  meanest  employments."  The 
second  part  of  the  query,  "  Over  Edom 
have  I  cast  out  my  shoe,"  Scott  explains 
this  expression  of  David  to  the  effect  that 
he  "  fully  expected  in  a  short  time  to  van- 
quish Edom  and  take  possession  of  it  by 
casting  his  shoe  over  it,  or  treading  it  under 
his  feet  and  crushing  its  strength."  The 
Doway  translation  reads,  "Into  Edom  will 
I  stretch  out  my  shoe." 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Shrewsbury  (Vol.  v,  p.  174). — In  England 
the  first  syllable  of  this  word  is  unmistakably 
pronounced  Shroo  ;  as  to  its  "  proper  "  pro- 
nunciation, how  shall  it  be  determined?  By 
its  first  spelling  or  its  modern  orthography? 

The  original  Celts  had  named  the  place 
Pengwerne  (the  head  by  the  alder  trees). 
The  Saxons  translated  the  name  approxima- 
tively  into  Scrobbesbyrig,  and  called  the 
shire  Scrobscir.  The  Normans,  who  took  a 
veritable  delight  in  distorting  Saxon  words 
in  general,  and  hated  all  K-sounds  in  par- 
ticular, altered  Scrobbesbyrig  to  Sloppesbury, 
whence  came  Salop.  In  spite  of  this,  how- 
ever, the  Saxon  form  seems  to  have  reas- 


August  30,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


209 


serted   itself  to  a  certain  extent  and  sur- 
vived in  Shrewsbury. 

(Compare  Shropham  in  Norfolk,  Wonn- 
wood-scrubbs  near  London,  etc.) 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Strew  is  often  pronounced  strow  ;  shew\s 
the  same  as  show;  Shakespeare  rhymes 
shrew  with  show,  and  with  so.  Lady 
Berkeley  (isth  cent.,  Berkeley  MSS.  ,  p.  153) 
writes  to  her  husband  concerning  "  the  Earl 
of  Shroesbury.  "  I  think,  therefore,  that  of 
old  Shrewsbury  would  have  rhymed  with 
Rosebery,  not  with  gooseberry  ;  and  that  our 
old-time  New  Jersey  pronunciation  of  it  was 
imported  from  England.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


IPO 


Russian  Byron.  —  Who  was  called  the 
Russian  Byron,  and  why?  D. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

One-eyed  Commanders.—  Who  were 
the  notable  one-eyed  commanders  other 
than  Lord  Nelson  ?  D. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Blood  Thicker  Than  Water.—  Can 
any  of  the  readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES  give  information  upon  this  ex- 
pression? I  think  it  was  a  remark  made  by 
Lord  Howe  or  Lord  Cornwallis  in  regard 
to  General  Washington,  when  at  Valley 
Forge.  AMERICUS. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Last  Island.  —  A  short  time  before  the 
rebellion  of  1861,  there  was  yet  standing  an 
island  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  near  one 
of  the  outlets,  or  mouths  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  which,  according  to  the  best  of  my 
recollection,  was  called  Last  Island.  It  was 
occupied  by  some  of  the  wealthy  citizens  of 
New  Orleans  as  a  place  of  summer  retire- 
ment, and  a  number  of  cottages  were  built 
upon  it.  An  old  gentleman  and  his  wife, 
who  resided  in  Lancaster  city  at  the  same 
time,  and  with  whom  I  became  intimately 
acquainted,  informed  me  that  he  and  his 


wife  spent  some  winters  upon  it,  as  stewards 
to  take  care  of  the  cottages.  Either  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  war,  or  a  short  time  after 
it,  the  gentleman  aforesaid  approached  me  in 
some  slight  agitation  and  informed  me  that 
Last  island  na  longer  existed — that  it  and 
all  its  movable  property  had  been  swept 
away,  save  a  steamboat  or  two.  As  I  have 
never  heard  anything  of  the  occurrence 
since  then,  may  I  ask  some  contributor  to 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  just  when  the 
event  occurred,  and  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  occurred — how  it  occurred,  or 
whether  it  occurred  at  all  or  not  ? 

I  remember  the  theory  which  then  pre- 
vailed on  the  subject  of  such  disasters — a 
loose  friable  foundation,  a  strong  continuous 
wind  from  seaward,  and  an  extraordinary 
flow  or  flood  of  the  Mississippi  river,  all  oc- 
curring at  the  same  time,  continued  to  heap 
up  the  destructive  waters  and  cause  the  over- 
flow. S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


©OMMUNIGATIOKS. 

The  Frogs  of  Windham  (Vol.  v,  p. 
171).  —  A  Legend  of  the  French- Indian 
War.— 

"  Not  more  bold  Elderken  with  terror  shook, 
Not  more  dismay  was  pictured  in  his  look, 
When  Windham's  sons  at  midnight's  awful  hour 
Heard  from  afar  the  hoarse  discordant  roar, 
Of  Bull-frog  sorrow  groaning  on  the  wind, 
Denouncing  death  and  ruin  to  mankind." 

(Richard  Alsop.) 

The  following  version,  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Peters,  a  student  in  Yale  college  at  the  time 
of  the  occurrence,  will  explain  the  above 
allusion  :  "  Strangers  are  very  much  terri- 
fied at  the  hideous  noise  made  in  summer 
evenings,  by  the  vast  number  of  frogs  in 
the  brooks  and  ponds  of  Windham.  There 
are  about  thirty  different  voices  among  them ; 
some  of  which  resemble  the  bellowing  of  a 
bull ;  the  owls  and  whippoorwills  complete 
the  rough  concert  which  may  be  heard  sev- 
eral miles.  Persons  accustomed  to  such 
serenades  are  not  disturbed  by  them  at  their 
proper  stations ;  but  one  night  in  July,  1758, 
the  frogs  of  an  artificial  pond  three  miles 


210 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [August  30,  1890. 


square  and  about  five  miles  from  Windham, 
finding  the  water  dried  up,  left  the  place  in 
a  body  and  marched  or  rather  hopped  to- 
wards Willimantic  river.  They  were  under 
the  necessity  of  taking  the  road  and  going 
through  the  town  which  they  entered  about 
midnight.  The  bull-frogs  were  the  leaders 
and  the  pipers  followed  without  number. 
They  filled  a  road  forty  yards  wide  for  four 
miles  in  length,  and  were  several  hours  in 
passing  through  the  town,  unusually  clamor- 
ous. The  inhabitants  were  equally  perplexed 
and  frightened  ;  some  expected  to  find  an 
army  of  French  and  Indians ;  others  feared  an 
earthquake  and  dissolution  of  nature.  The 
consternation  was  universal.  Old  and 
young,  male  and  female,  fled  naked  from 
their  beds  with  worse  shrieking  than  that 
of  the  frogs%  The  event  proved  fatal  to 
many  women.  The  men,  after  a  flight  of 
half  a  mile,  in  which  they  met  with  many 
broken  shins,  finding  no  enemies  in  pursuit 
of  them,  made  a  halt  and  summoned  reso- 
lution enough  to  venture  back  to  their  wives 
and  children,  when  they  distinctly  heard 
from  the  enemy's  camp  these  words  :  Wight, 
Hilderken,  Dier,  Tete.  This  last  they 
thought  meant  treaty ;  and  plucking  up 
courage,  they  sent  a  triumvirate  to  capitulate 
with  the  supposed  French  and  Indians. 
These  three  men  approached  in  their  shirts, 
and  begged  to  speak  with  the  General ;  but 
it  being  dark  and  no  answer  given,  they 
were  sorely  agitated  for  some  time  betwixt 
hope  and  fear ;  at  length,  however,  they  dis- 
covered that  the  dreaded  inimical  army  was 
an  army  of  thirsty  frogs  going  to  the  river, 
for  a  little  water  "  ("  History  of  Connecti- 
cut," London,  1787). 

Although  Sam  Peters,  LL.  D. ,  was  a 
Puritan  by  birth  and  in  charge  of  the 
churches  at  Hartford  and  Hilson,  he  was 
compelled  to  flee  the  country  in  1774,  on 
account  of  his  Tory  sympathies,  which  had 
led  him  to  connive  at  the  dismemberment 
of  Connecticut. 

Windham,  in  1758,  had  been  settled 
sixty  years,  and  had  a  population  of  1000. 
The  frog  pond  was  of  ordinary  size,  having 
an  area  of  little  less  than  one-fourth  of  a 
mile,  and  was  only  one  mile  distant  from  the 
town.  In  case  of  a  migration  the  frogs 
would  have  sought  the  Shetucket  as  the 


nearest  water  supply  rather  than  the  Willi- 
mantic river,  which  was  twice  as  far  off. 

The  next  version  of  importance  is  entitled 
"  The  Frogs  of  Windham.  An  Old  Colony 
Tale — founded  on  Fact."  It  first  appeared 
in  the  Providence  Gazette,  in  the  early  part 
of  this  century.  Barber  quotes  it  as  "an 
amusing  relic,"  in  "Historical  Collec- 
tions of  Connecticut"  (1836),  and  says  it 
was  printed  recently.  The  description  of 
the  "Fright"  is  very  graphic,  and  the 
writer  says  the  citizens  "  loaded  their  guns 
and  sallied  forth  to  meet  the  invading  foes." 
He  omits  the  midnight  procession  of  frogs 
through  the  town,  and  substitutes  "  apitched 
battle  fought  by  the  same  amphibious  quad- 
rupeds, for  the  possession  of  what  water  re- 
mained— on  the  site  of  the  pond  itself." 

This  same  version  serves  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  a  ballad  of  the  same  title  in  M'Car- 
thy's  "  National  Songs,"  Third  or  Military 
Series  (1842) : 

"  When  these  free  States  were  Colonies 

Under  the  mother  nation ; 
And  in  Connecticut  the  good 
Old  Blue  Laws  were  in  fashion." 

The  traditions  of  the  famous  occurrence 
were  carefully  preserved  in  the  family  of  the 
owners  of  the  mill  privilege — the  Folletts — 
and  we  could  hardly  hope  for  a  more  relia- 
ble account  than  that  of  one  of  their 
descendants,  Abner  C.  Follett,  Esq.,  of 
whom  it  has  been  said,  "  nothing  exagge- 
rated or  savoring  of  romance  would  be  stated 
or  believed  by  him."  It  is  evidently  on 
his  testimony  that  Miss  Lamed  rests  her  ver- 
sion, which  is  as  follows : 

"The  family  of  Mr.  Follett,  who  owned 
the  mill  privilege  and  lived  adjacent,  were 
awakened  by  a  most  extraordinary  clamor 
among  the  frogs.  They  filled  the  air  with 
cries  of  distress,  described  by  the  hearers  as 
continuous  and  thunder-like,  making  their 
beds  shake  under  them.  Those  who  went 
to  the  pond  found  the  frogs  in  great  ap- 
parent agitation  and  commotion,  but  from 
the  darkness  of  the  night  could  see  nothing 
of  what  was  passing.  In  the  morning  many 
dead  frogs  were  found  about  the  pond,  yet 
without  any  wounds  or  visible  marks  of  vio- 
lence. There  was  no  evidence  that  they  had 
been  engaged  in  battle.  Some  mysterious 


August  30,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


211 


malarial  malady,  some  deadly  epizootic  had 
probably  broken  out  among  them  and 
caused  the  outcries  and  havoc.  The  report  of 
their  attempted  migration  in  search  of  water 
is  positively  denied  by  trustworthy  wit- 
nesses. There  had  been  no  draught  and  the 
pond  was  abundantly  supplied  with  water, 
being  fed  by  a  never-failing  stream' '  (  "  Hist. 
Windham  Co.,  Conn.,"  Vol.  i). 

Miss  Larned's  account  of  the  fright  in 
the  town  itself  does  not  differ  greatly 
from  the  earlier  versions  already  noticed, 
although  she  says  the  alarm  was  first  sounded 
by  a  negro  man,  a  servant  of  some  promi- 
nent citizen,  returning  home  late  at. night. 

The  date  assigned  for  the  event,  in  all 
other  versions,  is  July,  1758  :  but  Miss  Lar- 
ned  says  June,  1754,  and  quotes  a  facetious 
letter  about  this,  the  most  widely  known 
event  in  Windham's  history,  from  Rev. 
Mr.  Stiles,  of  Woodstock,  to  his  nephew, 
dated  July  9,  1754.  The  sober  page  of 
history  which  introduces  Miss  Larned's  ver- 
sion connects  the  "  panic  "  with  the  "  Sus- 
quehanna  Purchase,"  and  lends  a  dignity  to 
hers  which  does  not  belong  to  the  more 
legendary  accounts.  For  Col.  Dyer's  con- 
nection with  the  Susquehanna  business,  see 
Appleton's  "  Cycl.  Amer.  Biog." 

The  literature  of  the  frog-fright  includes 
three  ballads.  The  earliest,  "  The  Lawyers 
and  Bull-Frogs,"  is  by  Master  Ebenezer 
Tilden,  father  of  Col.  Tilden,  of  Lebanon, 
being  "a  true  relation  of  a  strange  battle 
between  some  Lawyers  and  Bull-Frogs,  set 
forth  in  a  new  song  written  by  a  jolly  farmer 
of  New  England." 

"  Good  people  all  both  great  and  small, 

Of  every  occupation, 
I  pray  draw  near  and  lend  an  ear, 
To  this  our  true  relation." 

Closing  stanza : 

"  Lawyers,  I  say,  now  from  this  day, 

Be  honest  in  your  dealing, 
And  never  more  increase  your  store, 
While  you  the  poor  are  killing." 

See  Barber's  "  Hist.  Colls.  Conn." 
(1836).  Tilden  was  presumably  the  poet 
(1686-1766)  who  wrote  "Miscellaneous 
Poems  to  Animate  and  Arouse  the  Soldiers  in 
the  French  War"  (1756). 


The  authorship  of  the  ballad,  "The 
Frogs  of  , Windham,"  which  accompanies 
the  version  from  the  Providence  Gazette  in 
M'Carthy's  "  National  Songs,"  is  unknown. 

The  Putnam  Patriot  has  very  recently 
printed  the  following  note  from  a  gentleman 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  a  native  of  the  eastern 
part  of  Connecticut : 

MR.  EDITOR: — Please  learn  from  the  above  that  I 
am  summering  in  sight  of  the  noted  frog  pond  of  1758  ; 
this  frog  pond  was  believed  to  be  the  capital  city  of  a 
colony  of  the  largest  bull-frogs,  whose  stentorian  voices 
made  hills  and  valleys  ring. 

The  writer  quotes  freely  from  this  ballad, 
and  proposes  in  closing  to  send  a  copy  to  the 
editor  for  republication.  The  evacuation 
of  the  town  is  thus  described  : 

"  Away  they  went  across  the  lots, 

Hats,  caps  and  wigs  were  scattered ; 
And  heads  were  broke,  and  shoes  were  lost, 
Shins  bruised,  and  noses  battered." 

The  latest  ballad,  also  the  longest,  having 
forty- four  stanzas,  appeared  in  the  Boston 
Museum,  1851.  It  is  thought  to  have  been 
written  by  a  native  of  Windham,  and  is  en- 
titled "  The  Bull-Frog  Fright.  A  Ballad  of 
the  Olden  Time."  It  begins  : 

"  A  direful  story  must  I  tell, 
Should  I  at  length  relate, 
What  once  a  luckless  town  befell, 
In  '  wooden  nutmeg  '  State." 

The  closing  stanza  : 

"  This  tale  is  true,  and  years  far  hence, 

It  must  be  current  still, 
For  bull-frogs  two  are  pictured  on 
Each  current  Windham  bill," 

intimates  that  the  "  legend  "  is  perpetuated 
in  art  as  well  as  in  literature,  being  the  sub- 
ject of  an  ornamental  design  on  Windham 
bank-notes  —  current  in  1865 — when  the 
banks  generally  became  "  National." 

Finally  the  famous  tale  has  found  a  musi- 
cal setting  in  Mr.  Leavitt's  operetta,  "  The 
Fr&gs  of  Old  Windham,"  produced  in  Wil- 
limantic  for  the  first  time  during  the  winter 
of  1888-89.  It  Ras  since  been  sung  in  many 
of  the  Connecticut  towns.  It  was  reviewed 
by  two  Willimantic  papers,  the  Journal and 
the  Chronicle. 

The  various  versions  of  Windham's  most 


212 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  30,  1890. 


notable  event,  both  in  prose  and  rhyme, 
with  much  additional  matter,  are  collected 
in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "The  Windham 
Frog  Fight,"  carefully  compiled  by  the  late 
William  L.  Weaver,  Antiquarian  and  Gene- 
alogist. Published  by  James  Walden,  Wil- 
limantic,  1857.  New  ed.,  1883  (?). 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Old  Almanacs. — "  The  invention  of 
the  almanac  was  the  beginning  of  history, 
in  the  sense  that  history  is  philosophy, 
teaching  by  example.  Previous  to  that  im- 
portant and  convenient  revelation,  there  was 
practically  no  basis  of  comparison,  no  pro- 
cess of  marking  the  course  of  time,  no 
means  of  connecting  the  past  with  the  pres- 
ent and  the  present  with  the  future. 

"  The  art  of  calculation,  the  whole  great 
system  of  mathematics,  had  its  origin  in  the 
pebble  device,  used  to  count  sheep  by  drop- 
ping a  pebble  in  a  basket  for  each  one  as  it 
passed,  until  an  entire  flock  got  by,  then 
enumerating  another  flock  in  the  same  way, 
and  finally  determining  the  relative  numbers 
of  the  two  by  alternately  taking  a  pebble 
from  each  basket  until  one  was  exhausted. 
Next  came  the  chalk  marks,  or  straight  lines 
in  blocks  of  five,  the  last  being  drawn  across 
the  other  four  at  an  angle,  which  plan  is 
still  largely  employed  ;  then  the  plan  of 
two  notched  sticks — the  first  double  entry 
idea — was  evolved  ;  then  came  the  digit  sys- 
tem, or  counting  in  fives  and  tens  with  the 
fingers ;  and  finally  the  Arabic  notation, 
with  its  ten  symbols  or  figures,  superseded  all 
other  methods. 

"It  is  easy  to  understand  that,  while  the 
world  was  thus  slowly  learning  how  to  count, 
it  could  have  no  history.  There  was  no 
way  to  record  events  or  to  adjust  and  com- 
bine facts.  The  pebbles  and  chalk  marks 
and  notched  sticks  only  answered  the  crude 
purposes  of  a  life  that  took  no  account  of 
yesterday  or  to-morrow.  It  was  not  pos- 
sible for  the  average  mind  to  have  any  con- 
ception of  dates  or  periods,  distances  or 
localities.  The  relation  of  what  was  to  what 
had  been  and  what  might  be,  did  not  enter 
•into  the  prevailing  order  of  thought  and 
feeling.  One  day  was  as  a  thousand  years, 
nd  a  thousand  years  as  one  day. 


"There  was  no  intellectual  growth,  no 
permanent  escape  from  the  right  of  savagery, 
so  long  as  the  gift  of  measuring  space  and 
time  was  absent ;  men  began  to  be  men  only 
when  they  acquired  that  advantage,  and 
were  able  to  connect  the  experiences  of  one 
generation  with  the  necessities  of  the  next, 
or,  in  other  words,  to  grasp  the  doctrine  of 
accumulation,  which  is  the  source  of  all  de- 
velopment. When  they  came  to  see  that 
the  whole  was  greater  than  any  part  and  that 
a  part  was  nothing  unless  rooted  to  the 
whole,  they  were  placed  in  the  way  of  har- 
monizing themselves  with  their  environment 
and  accomplishing  sane  and  useful  results. 
Time  was  invested  with  appreciable  value, 
and  the  procession  of  the  days  took  on  a 
practical  purport.  Wings  were  provided 
for  intelligence.  The  caged  reason  of  the 
race  secured  the  soaring  privilege,  and  its 
horizon  widened  with  every  effort.  First 
the  pebbles  were  cast  away,  then  the  notched 
sticks,  then  the  digital  device  ;  and  thus  the 
dawn  of  history  slowly  but  surely  approached. 
•"The  first  almanacs — that  is  to  say,  the 
first  histories — were  of  Arabian  origin,  and 
reflected  the  local  genius  of  the  people  in  a 
very  striking  way.  They  served  as  models 
in  other  countries  for  hundreds  of  years. 
The  oldest  known  copy  of  such  a  work  is 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  and  dates 
back  to  the  time  of  Rameses  the  Great,  of 
Egypt,  who  lived  1 200  years  before  the  birth 
of  Christ.  It  is  written  on  papyrus,  in  red 
ink,  and  covers  a  period  of  six  years.  The 
entries  relate  to  religious  ceremonies,  to  the 
fates  of  children  born  on  given  days,  and 
to  the  regulation  of  business  enterprises  in 
accordance  with  planetary  influences.  "  Do 
nothing  at  all  this  day,"  is  one  of  the  warn- 
ings. "  If  thou  seest  anything  at  all  this 
day  it  will  be  fortune,"  is  another  entry. 
"  Look  not  at  a  rat  this  day,"  "  Wash  not 
with  water  this  day,"  and  "  Go  not  out  be- 
fore daylight  this  day  "  are  some  of  the  ad- 
ditional cautions.  This  almanac  was  found 
in  an  old  tomb,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
been  buried  with  its  Egyptian  owner,  when 
he  was  converted  into  a  mummy  for  future 
explorers  to  dig  up  and  dissect  in  the  interest 
of  science  and  literature. 

Next  after  this  in  point  of  age,  among  the 
existing  specimens  of  ancient  almanacs,  are 


August  30,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


213 


some  composed  in  the  fourth  century.  They 
are  Roman  church  calendars,  giving  the 
names  of  the  saints  and  other  rtligious  infor- 
mation. The  Baltic  nations,  who  were  not 
versed  in  papyrus  making,  had  calendars 
engraved  on  ax  helves,  walking  sticks  and 
other  articles  of  personal  use.  The  days 
were  notched,  with  abroad  mark  for  Sunday, 
and  the  saints'  days  were  symbolized  in  vari- 
ous devices,  such  as  a  harp  for  St.  David's, 
a  gridiron  for  St.  Lawrence's,  a  lover's  knot 
for  St.  Valentine's,  and  so  on.  The  Saxon 
almanacs  are  numerous  and  contain  histori- 
cal as  well  as  ecclesiastical  entries.  It  is 
possible  to  trace  in  these  curious  records  all 
the  changes  of  popular  belief  and  taste. 
They  were  prepared  to  meet  the  current  de- 
mand and  to  constitute  a  systematic  story 
of  what  took  place  in  successive  periods  and 
how  knowledge  increased  with  the  revolving 
years.  We  owe  to  them  most  that  we  know 
of  the  people,  for  whom  they  were  made 
and  by  whom  they  were  endorsed. 

Crutch  in  Churches  (Vol.  v,  p.  90). 
— I  lately  conversed  with  an  educated  Chris- 
tianized Arab  from  Beirut,  who  tells  me  that 
the  use  of  crutches  in  church  is  not  peculiar 
to  the  Copts,  but  that  in  rural  Syria  elderly, 
and  feeble  people  (but  no  others)  are  al- 
lowed each  two  crutches,  by  means  of  which 
to  stand  in  church,  seats  being  unknown  ex- 
cept in  town  churches. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Mascarene  Family  (Vol.  iv,  p.  59, 
etc. ). — The  Mascarencs  of  New  England  and 
Nova  Scotia  were  of  high  descent,  their 
founder  being  a  French  nobleman  of  Hu- 
guenot faith.  The  branch  of  the  family 
which  settled  in  Western  Massachusetts  has 
long  been  extinct.  They  were  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  and  export  of  potash.  It 
is  said  that  their  property  was  lost  in  litiga- 
tion. Some  European  purchaser  found  stones 
in  a  cargo  of  potash  cakes,  and  accused  the 
Mascarenes  of  having  fraudulently  put  the 
stones  into  the  ash.  This  accusation  was 
strenuously  denied  ;  and  the  family  lost  all 
their  fortune  in  the  attempt  to  defend  their 
reputation.  In  my  boyhood  I  often  heard 
old  people  tell  the  story.  I  believe  that  the 


Mascarenes  enjoyed  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  their  neighbors,  and  that  they 
were  generally  considered  innocent  of  any 
intentional  wrong.  The  stones  were  proba- 
bly placed  in  the  potash  by  some  malicious 
person.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  ola 
records  of  the  courts  might  throw  more  light 
upon  this  old  story.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Lowey  of  Tunbridge  (Vol.  v,  p.  113, 
etc.). — The  following  information  is  quoted 
or  epitomized  from  Hasted's  "  History  of 
Kent,"  published  in  1782. 

The  Lowy  {sic}  of  Tunbridge  consists  of 
the  four  following  boroughs  :  "  Hadlow, 
Tunbridge  Town,  Hilden  and  South."  It 
was  anciently  the  custom  in  Normandy  to 
term  the  district  round  an  abbey,  castle  or 
chief  mansion  Leuca  or  Leucdta,  in  Eng- 
lish The  Lowy,  in  which  the  possessor  had 
generally  a  grant  of  several  peculiar  liber- 
ties, privileges  and  exemptions.  When 
Richard  Fitz-Gislebert,  who  came  into  Eng- 
land with  the  Conqueror,  had  possessed  him- 
self of  the  Manor  and  Castle  of  Tunbridge, 
which  he  obtained  from  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  in  exchange  for  the  Castle  of 
Brion,  in  Normandy,  he  procured  a  grant  of 
divers  liberties  and  exemptions  for  the  in- 
habitants, as  well  as  for  the  Manor  of  Had- 
low adjoining,  and  the  whole  district  which 
he  acquired  has  ever  since  been  called  "The 
Lowy  of  Tunbridge."  In  all  probability 
the  liberties  which  he  obtained  for  his  Eng- 
lish possessions  were  the  same  that  he  had 
enjoyed  for  his  property  in  Normandy  which 
had  been  exchanged  for  them,  and  thus  a 
name  of  French  origin  and  significance  came 
to  be  applied  to  them.  J.  G. 

LONDON,  ENG. 

Rocking  Stones  (Vol.  v,  p.  165). — 
There  are  rocking  stones  on  Langsett  Moor, 
near  the  river  Derwent,  in  Yorkshire. 

S.  E.  M. 

DELAWARE,  O. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  191,  etc.). 
— The  famous  Runaway  pond,  of  Glover, 
Vt.,  affords  a  remarkable  example  of  a  lake 
which  suddenly  disappeared.  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 


214 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [August  30,  1890. 


Musical  Sands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  179,  etc.). — 
Hugh  Miller  discovered  the  sonorous  sand 
of  Eigg  at  the  outset  of  his  summer  ramble 
among  the  Hebrides.  As  far  as  the  Scotch 
geologist  then  knew,  the  region  around  the 
bay  of  Laig  was  only  the  third  locality 
which  had,  as  yet,  attracted  the  attention 
of  any  scientific  observer  by  the  presence  of 
this  acoustic  phenomenon.  A  succession  of 
wonders  had  already  revealed  themselves  in 
the  majestic  and  picturesque  scenery — the 
ancient  oyster-bed,  the  columnar  rock- 
tower  or  gigantic  scuir  " resting  on  the  re- 
mains of  a  prostrate  forest,"  and  the  fields 
of  gigantic  sandstone  mushrooms,  as  they 
seemed,  but  the  greatest  marvel  of  all  was 
the  music  of  the  clear,  pure  white,  oolitic 
sand  of  Eigg. 

Hugh  Miller  says  of  it :  "I  struck  it  ob- 
liquely with  my  foot,  where  the  surface  lay 
dry  and  incoherent  in  the  sun,  and  the 
sound  elicited  was  a  shrill  sonorous  note  re- 
sembling that  of  a  waxed  thread  tightened 
between  the  teeth  and  the  hand,  and  tipped 
by  the  nail  of  the  finger.  I  walked  over  it, 
striking  it  obliquely  at  each  step,  and  with 
every  blow  the  shrill  note  was  repeated. 
My  companions  joined  me,  and  we  per- 
formed a  concert,  in  which,  if  we  could 
boast  of  but  little  variety  in  the  tones  pro- 
duced, we  might  at  least  challenge  all ' 
Europe  for  an  instrument  of  the  kind  which 
produced  them.  As  we  marched  over  the 
drier  traces,  an  incessant  woo,  woo,  woo, 
rose  from  the  surface,  that  might  be  heard 
in  the  calm  some  twenty  or  thirty  yards 
away,  and  we  found  that  when  a  damp  semi- 
coherent  stratum  lay  at  the  depth  of  three  or 
four  inches  beneath,  and  all  was  dry  and  in- 
coherent above,  the  tones  were  loudest  and 
sharpest,  and  most  easily  evoked  by  the 
feet." 

In  connection  with  his  own  observations 
on  the  sands  of  Eigg,  the  discoverer  brings 
together  much  interesting  matter  about 
those  far-off  places  renowned  for  similar 
phenomena,  the  Jabel  Nakous,  or  the 
"  Mountain  of  the  Bal,"  in  Arabia  Petraea 
referred  to  by  Prof.  Bolton,  and  also  the 
"Hill  of  the  Reg-Rawan,"  or  "Moving; 
Sand"  in  Afghanistan,  among  the  Hindu- 
kush.  Altogether  with  its  comparisons 
and  observations,  and  with  the  theories 


offered  by  various  distinguished  scientists, 
concerning  this  latent,  but  "  most  cele- 
brated of  all  the  acoustic  wonders  which 
the  natural  world  presents  to  us,"  Chap,  iv 
of  "  The  Cruise  of  the  Betsy  "  is  a  pleasant 
and  useful  contribution  on  the  subject  of 
musicals  sands.  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

"The"  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  p. 
128,  etc.). — The  following  inscription  may 
be  read  on  the  wall  of  the  church  therein 
mentioned : 

Collegiate 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church, 

Of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Organized  under  Peter  Minuit, 

Director- General  of   The  New  Netherland. 

A.  D. 1628. 

The  italics  are  mine  of  course. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

English  Village  Names  (Vol.  v,  p. 
135). — There  is  a  place  called  Mousehole  in 
Cornwall ;  Manhole,  or  manmoel,  is  in 
Monmouthshire ;  Household  is  in  Norfolk ; 
Liphook  is  in  Hants  ;  Blind  End  is  in  the 
same  shire;  Scratchbury,  in  Wilts;  Fuggle- 
stone  is  near  Salisbury ;  Stratford  Toney  is 
not  far  off;  Diggle  is  in  Yorkshire ;  Fox- 
holes is  in  the  East  Riding ;  Wighill  in  the 
North  Riding  ;  Rotton  Park  is  in  Birming- 
ham ;  Sow  is  a  village  in  Warwickshire; 
Dirty  Gap  is  also  in  Shakespeare's  county  ; 
Titeskin  is  in  the  county  Cork  ;  Petty  cur  is 
in  Fifeshire  ;  Wrynose  Gap  is  in  the  Lake 
district ;  Winfarthing  is  in  Norfolk.  Shades 
of  Matthew  Arnold  ! 

S.  E.  MORE. 

DELAWARE,  O. 

Odd  Names  of  Newspapers  (Vol.  v, 
p.  189). — There  is,  or  lately  was,  a  news- 
paper published  at  Riverside,  N.  J.,  called 
The  New  Jersey  Sand-Burr.  That  most 
exasperating  weed,  or  grass,  the  Cenchrus 
tribuloides,  affords  the  notorious  sand-burrs 
of  New  Jersey.  I  have  found  them,  how- 
ever, growing  at  Northampton,  Mass.,  and 
in  Pennsylvania.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


August  30,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


215 


Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp.  192, 
etc.). — The  little  English  river  Mole  is 
partly  subterraneous.  It  flows  right  under  a 
well-known  hill,  "  Box  Hill"  (so  called 
from  the  number  of  unusually  tall  box  trees 
with  which  its  summit  is  covered)  in  the 
most  picturesque  part  of  County  Surrey. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

When  We've  Been  There,  etc.  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  1 88,  etc.). — I  have  been  watching  with 
much  interest  the  progress  made  by  your 
correspondents  in  tracing  the  verse  "  When 
we've  been  there  ten  thousand  years." 

So  far  they  seem  to  have  only  gotten  the 
dates  of  publication  in  various  hymn  books, 
the  earliest  being  "The  Christian  Lyre" 
(1830).  The  conclusion  was  also  reached 
that  it  was  not  by  Dr.  Watts. 

In  another  hymn  book  (that  of  the  Afri- 
can M.  E.  Church),  I  find  it  to  be  the  final 
stanza  of  the  old  hymn:  "Jerusalem,  My 
Happy  Home."  I  am  unable  to  get  hold 
of  the  versions  of  this  hymn  as  I  would  like. 
The  original  of  them  all  is  a  mediasval  Latin 
hymn  : 

"Jerusalem  luminosa 

Vera  pacis  visio 
Felix  nimio  ac  formosa 
Summi  regis  mansio." 

The  best  version  and  the  oldest  was  by  the 
Rev.  Francis  Augustus  Baker  in  1565 
(about).  It  begins: 

"  Jerusalem  !  My  happy  home  ! 
When  shall  I  come  to  thee  ? 
When  shall  my  sorrows  have  an  end — 
Thy  joys  when  shall  I  see  ?" 

My  version  is  not  complete,  but  in  it  I 
find  this: 

"There  David  stands  with  harp  in  hand 

As  Master  of  the  choir, 
Ten  thousand  times  that  man  were  blest 
That  might  this  music  hear." 

There  is  here  the  use  of  that  same  phrase 
'  ten  thousand  times. ' '  Perhaps  some  corre- 
spondent who  has  access  to  a  larger  collec- 
tion of  hymnology  can  follow  up  this  clue. 

There  is  another  version  by  David  Dick- 
son  (about  1620). 

In  Roundell  Palmer's  "  Book  of  Praise  " 


(1864),    I   find    still   another    version    as- 
signed Anon.  1 80 1.     It  begins: 


"Jerusalem,  my  happy  home, 

Name  ever  dear  to  me  ! 
When  shall  my  labors  have  an  end, 
In  joy  and  peace  and  thee  ?" 


It  is  aggravating  to  stop  short  in  this  in- 
vestigation, but  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
fault  is  in  the  limited  facilities  for  examina- 
tion, and  I  hope  that  some  one  will  be  able 
to  do  better  than  I  have  done. 

MARCUS  LANE. 

FREEPORT,  ILL. 

Longest  Siege  (Vol.  v,  p.  185). — 
Siege  of  Troy,  apocryphal,  ten  years.  Siege 
of  Tyre,  actual,  thirteen  years.  Authorities, 
Bohn's  and  other  dictionaries  of  the  Bible. 
"  Worterbuch  der  Schlachten,  Belagerun- 
gen  und  Treffen  aller  Volker,  von  St.  Gen. 
F.  Von  Kausler  (B.  C.  572-585,  i,  101). 
"  Sieges  et  Capitulations  Celebres,"  63,  64. 
Eze,kiel  xxvi,  xxvii,  xxviii.  The  longest 
modern  sieges  since  artillery  has  assumed  its 
proper  functions  were  :  i.  SiegeofOstendby 
the  Spaniards,  1601-1604  —  three  years. 
Like  Tyre,  Ostend  could  be  succored  from 
the  sea.  The  garrison  only  capitulated  when 
the  town  and  works  were  literally  mere  masses 
of  ruins.  2.  Siege  of  Gibraltar,  attacked  by 
land  and  sea  by  French  and  Spaniards, 
1 7  79-1 783,  for  four  years.  This  defense  by 
the  English  stands  without  a  parallel  in  the 
annals  of  war.  3.  During  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  Olmutz,  taken  by  Torstensen 
in  1642,  was  besieged  or  blockaded  for  six 
years,  from  1642  to  1648,  and  was  still  held 
by  the  Swedes  in  1 65  o,  when  they  gave  it  up  in 
accordance  with  agreement,  not  compulsion. 
Other  examples  of  astonishingly  long 
sieges  might  be  added.  Constantinople 
might  be  said  to  have  been  besieged  by 
either  Persians  or  Turks  from  A.D.  626  to 
675.  From  668  to  675,  the  Turks  repeated 
their  attacks  yearly.  From  675  to  i453> 
when  taken  by  assault  by  Mahoned  II,  it 
was  as  much  besieged  as  Troy  actually  was, 
if  at  ail,  for  the  poor  Byzantine  Greeks 
had  to  be  on  -their  guard  continually  and 
they  were  liable  to  attack  any  month  or 
year.  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


2l6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[August  30,  1890. 


Leper  Kings  (Vol.  v,  pp.  177,  etc.).— 
In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  recall 
the  fact  that  the  name  of  Liberton,  a  place 
not  far  from  Edinburgh,  is  said  to  signify 
Leper-town.  N.  L.  M. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

River  Turned  Back  (Vol.  v,  p.  159). — 
Another  river  which,  like  "old  Jordan," 
has  been  forced  to  flow  backward,  is  the 
Chicago  river.  Its  natural  outflow  is  to- 
wards Lake  Michigan,  but  since  the  cutting 
and  deepening  of  the  canal  to  the  Illinois 
river,  the  current  has  been  reversed,  and  the 
Chicago  river  has  become  an  outlet  of  Lake 
Michigan.  It  is  believed  that  in  pre- 
historic times  Lake  Michigan  had  a  natural 
outlet  to  the  Mississippi  by  way  of  the 
Illinois  river.  ILDERIM. 

Maroons  (Vol.  v,  pp.  165,  etc.). — There 
are  still  black  people  called  Maroons  in 
Jamaica,  the  descendants  of  those  old  fight- 
ing Maroons  whose  banishment  to  Nova 
Scotia  was  not  fully  carried  out,  some  fami- 
lies being  left  behind.  There  is  a  place 
called  Maroon  Town  not  very  far  from 
Falmouth,  in  Jamaica.  R.  J. 

ERIE,  PA. 

No  Man's  Land  (Vol.  v,  pp.  191,  etc.). 
— Another  No  Man's  Land  is  a  village  near 
Hamptworth  Common,  and  not  far  from 
the  south-east  angle  of  Wiltshire,  in  England. 

W.  P.  R. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 

Curiosities  of  Animal  Punishment 
(Vol.  v,  pp.  187,  etc.). — Some  strange,  but 
very  unpleasant  stories  about  animal  punish- 
ment in  colonial  New  England  are  on  re- 
cord in  Mather's  "  Magnalia."  The  law  of 
Moses  enjoins  the  punishment  of  animals  for 
certain  offenses,  such  as  the  killing  of  a 
man.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Cariacou  (Vol.  v,  p.  204). — It  may  be 
that  the  liqueur  in  question  was  named  from 
the  island.  The  well-known  cordial  called 
Curacoa  was  so  called  from  an  island  of  the 
same  name — Curacoa  in  the  Dutch  West 
Indies.  S.  T.  B. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

...  '    /.£**:-;._••.. 

r.:>  £.y -•«••  A 

•     '    '        V  i  *  f   ' 

$  2 


BODIES   AND 


The  Atlantic  for  September.  Mr.  Lowell's  "In- 
scription for  a  Memorial  Bust  of  Fielding,"  though 
brief;  is  the  most  remarkable  piece  of  writing  in  the 
Atlantic  for  September.  Dr.  Holmes,  in  his  install- 
ment of  "  Over  the  Teacups,"  discourses  on  the  fond- 
ness of  Americans  for  titles,  and  gives  a  lay  sermon  on 
future  punishment,  and  ends  it,  as  do  many  preachers, 
with  some  verses.  Mr.  Justin  Winsor  considers  the 
"  Perils  of  Historical  Narrative,"  and  Mr.  J.  Franklin 
Jameson  contributes  a  scholarly  paper  on  "Modern 
European  Historiography  ;"  Mr.  Fiske  adds  an  article 
on  the  "  Disasters  of  1780,"  and  these  three  papers  fur- 
nish the  solid  reading  of  the  number.  Hope  Notnor 
continues  her  amusing  studies  in  French  history,  this 
time  writing  about  Madame  de  Montespan,  her  sisters, 
and  her  daughters.  "  A  Son  of  Spain,"  the  chronicle 
of  a  famous  horse,  Mr.  Quincy's  bright  paper  on 
"  Cranks  as  Social  Motors,"  and  "  Mr.  Brisbane's 
Journal,"  the  diary  of  a  South  Carolinian,  written  about 
1801,  are  among  the  other  more  notable  papers.  Mrs. 
Deland's  and  Miss  Fanny  Murfree's  serials,  a  considera- 
tion of  American  and  German  schools,  and  reviews  of 
the  "  Tragic  Muse  "  and  other  volumes,  complete  the 
number. 

The  Arena  for  September  is  noticeable  for  the 
strength  and  variety  of  its  contributions.  The  opening 
paper  is  by  Senator  John  T.  Morgan,  of  Alabama,  on  the 
"  Race  Question, "a  striking  presentation  of  the  problem 
from  the  standpoint  of  a  Southern  statesman.  Rev. 
Samuel  W.  Dike,  LL.D.,  contributes  a  paper  of  great 
ability  on  "  Marriage  and  Divorce  Laws."  "  Psychical 
Research,"  by  Richard  Hodgson,  LL.D.,  is  a  notable 
paper  treating  the  subject  of  apparitions  of  the  living 
and  the  dead,  and  haunted  houses,  in  a  critical  and 
scientific,  but  very  entertaining  manner.  One  of  the 
strongest  features  of  this  issue,  however,  is  found  in 
Prof.  Charles  Creighton's  paper  on  "Vaccination."  Dr. 
Creighton  wrote  the  papers  on  pathology  and  vaccina- 
tion for  the  ninth  edition  of  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica." 
"Robert  Owen  at  New  Lanark"  isa  most  delightful  paper 
contributed  by  Walter  Lewin, another  well-known  Eng- 
lish essayist,  and  forms  another  of  The  Arena's  valuable 
papers  on  the  Labor  Question.  "  The  Dominion's 
Original  Sin  "  is  a  bold  and  brilliant  attack  on  the 
methods  resorted  to  in  order  to  bring  about  the  present 
Canadian  confederation.  Sir  John  McDonald  will  not 
thank  the  editor  of  the  Daily  Free  Press  of  Ottawa,  who 
contributes  the  paper,  for  this  arraignment.  "  Divine 
Progress,"  the  No-Name  poem  this  month,  is  a  reply  to 
"  Progress  and  Pain."  It  is  said  to  be  the  work  of  a  lead- 
ing liberal  writer.  "  The  Greatest  Living  Englishman  "  is 
a  brilliant  and  entertaining  sketch  of  the  life  of  Glad- 
stone, by  James  Realf,  Jr., .almost  as  entertaining  as  fic- 
tion. A  splendid  photogravure  of  Gladstone  forms  the 
frontispiece  of  this  issue.  The  "  Notes  on  Living 
Problems  of  the  Hour  "  are  very  valuable.  Allen  B. 
Lincoln,  editor  of  the  Connecticut  Home,  writes  on 
"  High  License  and  High  Tariff;"  Sylvester  Baxter  on 
"  The  Legislative  Degeneracy  in  Massachusetts,"  and  J. 
De  Perry  Davis  on  "  Municipal  Government."  These, 
with  Editorial  Notes,  make  one  of  the  most  able  issues 
of  this  review  that  has  yet  appeared. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Looking  Glass  Fancies,  217— The  Highest  Water- 
fall in  the  World,  218— Flowers  of  Speech  from  the  Celestial 
Empire — State  Line  Towns,  219. 

QUERIES:— Prince  of  Priests,  219— Land  of  Charity— Lon- 
don Plague — Authorship  Wanted — Christian  Cicero,  220. 

REPLIES  :— Last  Island— Devil's  Land,  220— Russian  Byron 
— Blood  Thicker  than  Water — One-eyed  Commanders,  221. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :—  Ireland's  Eye 
— Calf  of  Man — The  Marble  Faun — City  Poets,  221 — Fiefes, 
222, 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Easter,  Oster  or  Pausch,  Island  or 
Davis  Land,  222 — Lake  Drained — Leper  Kings,  223 — Nick- 
names of  States — Natural  Bridges,  224  —  Majesty — Mot— 
Underground  Streams — Good  Old  Etymologies — Victorines 
— Grevillea — Yankee  Doodle— Arthur  Kill— Rotten  Row  225 
— Ville  in  Place-names — Latinized  Names — Ff  as  an  Initial- 
Casting  Out  the  Shoe — Indian  Summer— When  We've  Been 
There,  etc. — Hoop-snake,  226  —  Colored  Starch  —  On  the 
Score  —  Sunken  Islands  —  No  Man's  Land  —  Fountain  of 
Youth — Priscian's  Head,  227 — Parallel  Passages,  228. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  1—328. 


LOOKING-GLASS  FANCIES. 

The  queer  fancies,  which  in  one  form  or 
another  have  clustered  round  the  looking- 
glass,  hold  a  prominent  place  in  domestic 
folk-lore.  People  in  a  certain  stage  of  men- 
tal development  believe  that  there  is  a 
mysterious,  though  definite,  connection  be- 
tween an  object  and  an  image  of  it.  One  of 
the  commonest  arts  of  magic  is  based  on  this 
ancient  belief.  We  refer  to  the  mediseval 
art  of  making  an  image  and  melting  it 
away,  drying  it  up,  sticking  pins  or  thorns 
in  it,  in  order  to  hurt  the  person  repre- 
sented. The  reflection  of  man's  face  and 
form  in  the  glass  has  given  rise  to  strange 
thoughts  and  superstitious  fancies.  Perhaps 
the  oddest  notion  of  all  is  that  entertained 
by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  declared 
that  ladies  broke  the  second  commanding 


2l8 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [September  6,  1890. 


by  using  looking-glasses,  as  they  thereby 
made  images  of  themselves. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  looking-glasses 
were  used  by  professors  of  the  "  Black  Art." 
Brand,  in  his  "Popular  Antiquities,"  says 
that  "some  magicians,  being  curious  to  find 
out  by  the  help  of  a  looking-glass,  or  a  glass 
full  of  water,  a  thing  that  lies  hidden,  make 
choice  of  young  maids  to  discern  therein 
those  images  or  sights  which  a  person  defiled 
cannot  see.  It  is  a  tradition  that  the 
famous  Dr.  Dee  discovered  the  gunpowder 
plot  by  the  aid  of  his  magic  mirror. 

Now,  the  folk-lore  of  the  looking-glass  is 
associated  with  childhood,  love  and  court- 
ship, marriage  and  death. 

In  England,  the  folk-belief  is  that,  if  a 
baby  looks  into  a  glass  before  it  is  a  year 
old,  it  will  die.  Again,  you  should  not 
hold  a  baby  to  a  looking-glass  ;  if  you  do, 
it  will  'not  live  the  year  out.  These  two 
folk-fancies  hold  among  mothers  and  nurses 
in  this  country,  and  have  been  noted  in  the 
"American  Folk-Lore  Journal"  (Vol.  ii, 
p.  17).  Oddly  enough,  in  Germany,  the 
fancy  is  that  to  hold  a  baby  before  the  glass 
will  make  the  child  proud. 

The  old  Swedish  fancy  is  that  young 
ladies  must  not  look  in  the  glass  after  dark, 
or  by  candle  light,  for  by  so  doing  they  for- 
feit the  esteem  of  the  other  sex.  This  folk- 
notion  has  been  carried  to  the  United 
States,  and  it  is  found  in  Minnesota  and  in 
Wisconsin,  where  the  Swedes  have  thickly 
settled.  Mr.  Mooney  has  noted  a  peculiar 
bit  of  looking-glass  fancy  current  .in  the 
mountain  region  of  North  Carolina.  He 
says  that  if  a  young  girl  will  take  a  looking- 
glass  to  the  spring  on  a  May  morning,  and, 
turning  her  back  to  the  spring,  look  into  the 
mirror,  she  will  see  the  figure  of  her  lover 
rise  out  of  the  water  behind  her. 

The  looking-glass  is  also  associated  with 
marriage.  In  the  South  of  England  it  is 
regarded  as  a  bad  omen  for  a  bride  to  take 
a  last  peep  in  the  glass,  when  she  is  fully 
dressed  in  her  wedding  attire,  before  goinjg 
to  the  church.  The  point  of  the  fancy  is 
that  young  ladies  fond  of  surveying  them- 
selves in  the  glass  will  be  unhappy  when 
married.  But  our  quick-witted  and  ingenious 
of  the  nineteenth  century  get  around  the 
fancy,  by  putting  on  a  glove  or  bit  of  lace 


after  a  parting  and  reluctant  look  in  the 
flattering  mirror.  The  old  south  of  England 
fancy  has  not  yet  died  out  in  this  country 
by  any  means,  as  I  have  heard  of  the  odd 
notion  within  the  past  year. 

Looking-glass  fancies  are  mostly  associated 
with  ill-luck  or  with  death.  Thus,  the 
notion  that  it  is  the  height  of  ill-luck  to 
break  a  looking-glass  is  held  the  world  over. 
In  Cornwall,  the  supposed  punishment  for 
such  an  offence  is  "  seven  years  of  sorrow," 
to  which,  in  a  Yorkshire  proverb,  is  added, 
"but  no  want."  In  Scotland,  the  popular 
notion  is  that,  to  break  a  looking-glass  is  a 
sign  of  death  of  some  member  of  the 
family  within  a  year.  In  Shropshire,  it 
adds  to  the  ill-luck  to  keep  the  broken 
pieces.  Miss  Burne  quotes  the  English  folk 
as  saying,  "When  I  have  broken  three  I 
have  finished,"  meaning  that  any  one  who 
has  broken  a  looking-glass  will  never  have 
good  luck  till  he  or  she  has  broken  two 
more. 

In  the  United  States,  the  general  super- 
stition among  servants  and  housekeepers  is 
that  to  break  a  looking-glass  is  a  sign  of 
death,  or  of  bad  luck  for  seven  years. 
Several  American  instances  of  this  same  fancy 
could  be  given.  We  also  cite  the  curious 
notion  found  in  parts  of  Massachusetts,  and 
of  New  Hampshire  that,  if  three  persons 
look  at  the  same  time  in  a  mirror,  one  will 
die  within  the  year.  There  is  not  much 
danger  of  this  dreadful  offence  happening 
with  three  young  ladies,  for  women,  as  a 
rule,  want  the  glass  all  to  themselves. 
Finally,  we  note  the  English  folk  practice  of 
covering  the  looking-glass  after  a  person 
dies,  or  removing  the  glass  from  the  cham- 
ber of  death.  And  here  we  come  around  to 
the  primitive  belief  that  there  is  a  connec- 
tion between  a  person  and  his  image,  in  this 
last-named  case,  between  a  person  and  his 
ghost  or  spirit.  L.  J.  V. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


THE  HIGHEST  WATERFALL  IN  THE  WORLD. 

An  item  in  the  Churchman  of  August  23, 
giving  the  comparative  heights  of  famous 
waterfalls,  says :  "  According  to  a  recent 
calculation,  the  highest  waterfalls  in  the 
world  are  the  three  Krimbs  falls  in  the 


September  6,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


219 


Upper  Prinzgau ;  these  have  a  total  height 
of  1148  feet." 

Elsewhere  I  read,  the  waterfall  to  be 
known  hereafter  as  the  highest  in  the  world 
is  the  Sutherland  Fall  in  New  Zealand, 
which  is  1904  feet  in  height.  It  takes  its 
name  from  its  discoverer,  who  is  called  "  The 
Hermit  of  the  Sounds,"  on  account  of  his 
having  lived  many  years  amid  these  sur- 
roundings of  solitary  grandeur  in  a  part  of 
the  island  which  is  inaccessible  except  from 
the  coast. 

The  Otago  Daily  Times  has  the  following 
description  of  the  Fall :  "  The  water  issues 
from  a  narrow  defile  in  the  rock  at  the  top 
of  the  precipice ;  it  makes  then  a  grand  leap 
of  815  feet  into  a  rocky  basin  on  the  face  of 
the  cliff ;  issuing  forth  once  more,  it  makes 
another  fine  leap  of  75 1  feet,  and  then  goes 
tumbling  headlong  in  one  wild  dash  of  338 
feet  into  the  pool  right  at  the  foot  of  the 
precipice.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  total 
height  of  the  Fall  is  1904  feet,  making  it  the 
highest  in  the  world.  When  the  sun  is  shin- 
ing the  effect  of  this  splendid  view  is  en- 
hanced by  a  beautiful  rainbow  of  colors  of 
the  most  brilliant  kind  conceivable.  This 
bow  is  nearly  a  full  circle,  and  the  closer 
you  get  to  it  the  smaller  it  grows,  till  it  is 
right  in  front  of  the  face — a  brilliant-hued 
ring,  one  yard  in  diameter."  This  Fall  is 
situated  in  a  region  which  will  probably 
rival  in  beauty  and  splendor  any  other 
known  part  of  the  globe"  (see  "Chambers' 
Journal,"  May,  1889).  F.  T,  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

FLOWERS  OF  SPEECH  FROM  THE  CELESTIAL 
EMPIRE. 

Out  of  a  Chinese  Children's  Primer  I 
have  culled  the  following : 

This  child  has  been  caterpillared  by  I?  eh- 
yung. 

"The  caterpillar,"  says  the  primer,  "is 
a  small  green  insect  on  the  mulberry.  The 
Sphex  is  an  earth-wasp.  The  wasp  carries 
the  caterpillar  on  its  back  into  the  hole  of  a 
tree  and  prays  to  it,  saying  :  '  Be  like  me, 
be  like  me  !'  And  after  seven  days  it  is 
changed  into  the  wasp's  own  young. 
Hence  the  term  for  an  adopted  child  is 
'caterpillar-child.'  " 

His    Cedrela  odorata    and  Hemerocallis 


graminea  are  still  flourishing  conveys  the 
idea  that  "  his  father  and  mother  are  still 
alive,"  and  in  the  same  way,  His  Orchid 
and  Olea  are  leaping  odorously  means  that 
"  his  son  and  grandson  are  getting  on  in  the 
world." 

Ts'un-huh  is  their  nose-ancestor  should  be 
no  puzzle  to  the  student  of  physiology. 
What  can  your  nose-ancestor  be  but  the 
original  founder  of  your  family,  seeing  that 
the  nose  is  the  first  feature  of  the  face  which 
is  formed  in  the  human  embryo  ? 

Saying  that  you  are  the  ear-grandson  of 
Sun-Kien  is  tantamount  to  stating  that  you 
are  his  descendant  in  the  ninth  generation, 
because  your  ear  alone  has  told  you  of  his 
existence  (though  you  are  not  informed  why 
this  might  not  apply  to  any  other  ancestor 
as  well). 

Is  not  all  this  like  Columbus' s  egg  trick, 
simplicity  itself,  when  you  know  it  ? 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


STATE  LINE  TOWNS. 

There  are  quite  a  number  of  towns  or  vil- 
lages in  the  United  States  situated  on  State 
boundary  lines,  and  therefore  named  from 
the  two  States  in  which  they  are  situated. 
Delmar  and  Marydell  are  on  the  line  be- 
tween Maryland  and  Delaware.  Penmar  is 
on  the  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  line. 
Moark  is  named  from  Missouri  (Mo.},  and 
Arkansas  (Ark.}  Texarkana  is  partly  in 
Texas  and  partly  in  Arkansas.  Illiana  is  on 
or  near  the  Illinois  and  Indiana  line. 

Other  State-line  towns  (but  not  named 
from  the  two  States)  are  Bristol,  Tenn.  (and 
Goodson,  Va.);  Blackstone  (Mass,  and 
R.  I.)  ;  Westerly  (R.  I.  and  Conn.)  ;  Port- 
chester  (N.  Y.  and  Conn.) ;  Kansas  City 
(Mo.  and  Kan.)  ;  Guthrie,  Ky.  and  Fulton, 
Ky.  (each  partly  in  Tenn.);  Union  City, 
Ind.  (and  Ohio);  Great  Falls  (N.  H.  and 
Maine).  Besides  these  quite  a  number  of 
smaller  towns  might  be  added  to  the  list. 

gUB  1^1  E  S. 

Prince  of  Priests. — Who  was  called  the 
Prince  of  Priests  ?  S.  P. 

BADEN,  ILL. 

King  Henry  V  of  England  was  so  called 


22O 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [September  6,  1890. 


on  account  of  the  great  favor  he  showed  the 
clergy. 

Land  of  Charity. — What  country  is  thus 
denominated  ?  S.  P. 

BADEN,  ILL. 

Travancore,  in  India,  is  so  named  by  the 
Brahmans,  because  they  enjoy  special  privi- 
leges and  distinctions  there. 

London  Plague. — Who  wrote  the  best  ac- 
count of  the  London  Plague  ? 

N.  A.  ANDREWS. 
TAMPA,  FLA. 

"The  Journal  of  the  Plague  in  London," 
is  the  title  usually  given  to  an  imaginary  nar- 
rative by  Daniel  DeFoe  (1722).  The  full  title 
of  the  original  edition  ran  as  follows :  "A 
Journal  of  the  Plague  year,  being  Observa- 
tions or  Memorials  of  the  most  remarkable 
Occurrences,  as  well  public  as  private,  which 
happened  in  London  during  the  last  great 
Visitation  in  1665.  Written  by  a  Citizen, 
who  continued  all  the  while  in  London. 
Never  made  public  before. ' '  In  subsequent 
editions  the  title  is  slightly  altered ;  the 
second  (i  754)  is  called  "  The  History  of  the 
Great  Plague  in  London  in  the  year  1665." 
Containing  observations,  etc.  To  this  edi- 
tion was  added  A  Journal  of  the  Plague  at 
Marseilles  in  the  year  1720. 

The  pretended  citizen  of  London  is  a 
respectable  tradesman,  a  plain  honest  devout 
man,  well  informed  for  his  rank,  who  is 
anxious  to  transmit  to  posterity,  an  account 
of  a  calamity  that  few  appeared  likely  to 
survive.  In  some  of  his  characteristic  he 
may  have  been  drawn  from  DeFoe's  father, 
who  was  in  London  during  the  plague. 
DeFoe  himself  was  only  a  year  old  when  it 
broke  out,  but  during  his  childhood  he 
must  have  heard  many  reminiscences  of  these 
awful  scenes,  from  his  parents  and  others, 
which  he  doubtless  wove  into  the  substance 
of  this  book.  At  all  events  the  journal  is 
so  vivid  and  lifelike  in  its  descriptions  and 
anecdotes  that  it  has  been  frequently  ac- 
cepted as  authentic  history.  "It  leaves  all 
the  impressions  of  a  genuine  narrative," 
says  Leslie  Stephen,  "  told  by  one  who  has,  as 
it  were,  just  escaped  from  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  with  the  awe  still  upon 


him,  and  every  terrible  sight  and  sound  fresh 
in  his  memory."  The  recent  plague  in  Mar- 
seilles had  led  to  a  public  revival  of  the  various 
authentic  records  of  the  London  distemper, 
and  which  no  doubt  suggested  to  DeFoe  the 
idea  of  his  own  work.  John  Wilson's  "City 
of  the  Plague  ' '  has  avowedly  borrowed  much 
from  DeFoe. 

Authorship  Wanted—"  Who  Shall  De- 
cide," etc. — What  is  the  origin  of  the  phrase 
"  Who  shall  decide  when  doctors  disagree?" 

W.  G.  G. 

CALAIS,  ME. 

It  is  the  first  line  of  Pope's  Third  Epistle 
in  the  "  Moral  Essays." 

Christian  Cicero. — Who  was  known  by 
this  title  ?  R.  M. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Paulinus  (353-431),  Bishop  of  Nola  is  so 
called  by  Erasmus.  Some  writers  call 
Lactantius  by  the  same  designation. 

It  B  P  L  I  B  S  . 

Last  Island  (Vol.  v,  p.  209). — On  the  map 
of  Louisiana,  in  the  American  (pirated)  re- 
print (1883)  of  the  "Encyc.  Brit.,"  Last 
Island  still  appears.  It  is  called  Dernier 
Island  on  many  maps,  as  on  that  in  the 
"Travelers'  Official  Guide"  to  railways, 
for  June,  1890.  But  I  have  certainly  read 
of  the  destruction  of  the  island.  There  was 
a  story  written  about  it.  Wasitby  Lafcadio 
Hearne  ? 

Derniere  island,  on  the  loth,  nth  and  i2th 
of  August,  1856,  was  visited  by  a  violent 
storm  which  destroyed  the  town  and  all  the 
buildings  on  the  island,  several  lives  being 
also  lost.  From  Raccoon  Point,  its  western 
end,  the  island  runs  (or  ran)  twenty  miles  to 
the  eastward,  in  some  places  being  less  than 
a  mile  wide.  It  is  (or  was)  very  level  and 
low,  with  a  ridge  of  sand  heaped  up  along 
the  beach.  L.  F.  A. 

Devil's  Land  (Vol.  v,  p.  199). — The 
island  of  Lampedusa  in  the  Mediterranean 
was  anciently,  or  mediaevally,  believed  to  be 
haunted  by  evil  spirits.  It  was  a  veritable 


September  6,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


221 


enchanted  isle,  and  seems  undoubtedly  to 
be  the  scene  of  Shakespeare's  great  play, 
"  The  Tempest."  But  I  do  not  remember 
to  have  heard  it  called  the  "  Devil's  Land." 
Devils  also  resided  in  Iceland  (asinHecla), 
in  Sicily  (as  in  Etna),  in  the  Lipari  islands 
(as  in  Stromboli  and  Vulcano).  In  Iceland 
almost  every  family  used  to  have  a  familiar 
spirit.  Tierra  del  Fuego  was  also  supposed 
to  be  a  haunted  region  (read  Burton's 
"Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  p.  i,  Sec.  i, 
Mem.  i,  Subsec.  2).  The  water-poet  Tay- 
lor speaks  of  news  sent  from  hell  to  the 
Bermudas.  FESTUS. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Russian  Byron  (Vol.  v,  No.  18,  p.  209). — 
Alexander  Poushkin  was  called  the  Russian 
Byron.  The  reasons  why  appear  in  W.  R. 
Merrill's  article,  "Poushkin,"  in  the 
"  Encyc.  Brit."  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Matthew  Arnold  in  his  essay  on  Tolstoi, 
says:  "The  crown  of  literature  is  poetry, 
and  the  Russians  have  not  yet  had  a  great 
poet"  The  Russians  would  probably  dis- 
sent from  this  verdict  of  our  great  master  of 
criticism,  and  instance  their  greatest  poet — 
Alexander  Sergeivitch  Pushkin — called  the 
"Russian  Byron."  He  was  born  at  St. 
Petersburg  in  1799,  and  killed  in  a  duel  in 
1837.  During  his  banishment,  on  account  of 
the  publication  of  some  poems  of  free  political 
tendency,  he  studied  the  works  of  Byron, 
and  formed  himself  upon  his  model.  It  is 
said  his  writings  have  become  a  part  of  the 
very  household  language  of  his  native  land 
and  his  expressions  are  as  often  quoted  as 
those  of  Shakespeare,  Moliereand  Cervantes. 

M.  R.  SILSBY. 

SENECA  FALLS. 

Blood  Thicker  than  Water  (Vol.  v,  p. 
209). — If  it  is  to  the  origin  of  this  expres- 
sion that  "Americus"  refers,  it  will  be  found 
in  use  at  a  much  earlier  date  than  1777,  be- 
ing included  among  the  Scottish  proverbs 
in  "Ray's  Collection." 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Is  not  this  an  old  English  proverb  ?  Wal- 
ter Scott  makes  Dandie  Dinmont  say : 


"Weel,  blud's  thicker  than  water!  She's 
welcome  to  the  cheese  and  the  ham  just  the 
same."  When  Commodore  Tatnall,  U.  S. 
N.,  assisted  the  English  in  Chinese  waters, 
he  quoted  this  proverb,  in  his  despatch  to 
the  Government,  as  a  justification  of  his  in- 
terference. 

As  this  was  one  of  the  Lippincott  series 
of  "One  Hundred  Questions"  two  years 
ago,  possibly  further  data  might  be  had  by 
reference  to  that  magazine,  1888-89." 

M.  A.  N. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

One-eyed  Commanders  (Vol.  v,  p.  209).  — 
Hannibal,  Kutusoff,  Niepperg  (an  Austrian 
General  who  married  Empress  Marie  Lou- 
ise). Veiled  Prophet  of  Khorassan  (a  fa- 
mous Asiatic  leader).  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


©OF^ESPOHDEHCTS. 


Ireland's   Eye.  —  Why  was  the   little 
island  of  this  name  so  called  ? 


S.  PORTMAN. 


BADEN,  ILL. 


Calf  of  Man.— Why  was  the  little 
island  of  this  name  so  called  ? 

S.  PORTMAN. 
BADEN,  ILL. 

The  Marble  Faun. — I  have  been  read- 
ing "  The  Marble  Faun  "  again,  and  again 
have  been  perplexed  and  angered  by  its 
ending.  Who  is  Miriam?  What  is  her 
name,  the  mention  of  which  makes  Ken- 
yon  turn  pale  ?  Miriam's  mother  was  Eng- 
lish ;  she  was  of  Jewish  descent,  but  con- 
nected through  her  father  to  one  of  the 
princely  families  of  Southern  Italy.  Her 
name  recalled  to  Kenyon  a  terrible  tragedy 
of  some  sort.  Kenyon  is  said  to  be  Wil- 
liam W.  Story,  and  Hilda  is  said  to  be  a 
niece  of  Hawthorne,  who  finally  jumped 
overboard  from  a  Hudson  river  steamboat 
and  was  drowned ;  but  who  was  Miriam? 

R.  N.  T. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

City  Poets. — Will  your  correspondents 
be  so  kind  as  to  furnish  me  the  names  of 


222 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [September  6,  1890. 


such  of  the  "city  poets"  of  London  as 
they  may  find  records  of  in  their  reading  ? 
Further,  will  they  please  to  furnish  such 
other  notes  regarding  the  office  and  duties 
of  "city  poet "  as  may  come  to  their  no- 
tice ?  P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Fiefes. — In  an  extant  letter  of  Bishop 
Beckington's,  anno  1450,  written  from 
Exeter,  he  says,  "  I  have  ben  this  ij  dayes 
here  in  the  lande  of  wildernesse,  whereas  be 
feme  andjfiefes  Inowe,  and  good  ale  non  or 
litell."  And  in  another  letter  to  the  Earl  of 
Suffolk,  apparently  written  on  the  same  day, 
he  says,  "I  ...  have  be  this  two  days 
here  in  the  lande  of  weldernes,  wher  as 
been  feme  and  fiefes  I  now  (enow)  and  good 
ale  non  or  litell."  What  is  the  meaning  of 
fiefes  ?  It  would  seem  possibly  to  be  a  plant- 
name  ?  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Easter,  Oster  or  Pausch,  Island  or 
Davis*  Land. — It  is  curious  how  spas- 
modically or  sporadically  questions  arise 
which  have  been  put  in  former  days, 
answered,  perhaps  in  some  way  or  another, 
unsatisfactorily  perhaps,  and  been  forgotten. 
Such  is  the  case  with  the  puzzling  evi- 
dences of  a  former  civilization — or  a  phase 
of  it — at  Easter  island  and  other  islands  in 
the  Pacific.  The  subject  has  been  treated  at 
length  in  the  last  edition  of  the  "British 
Encyclopaedia,"  under  the  head  of  "Poly- 
nesia," and  the  Chicago  News  recently  pre- 
sented quite  an  elaborate  article  on  the  sub- 
ject. Meanwhile,  I  was  going  through  my 
wonderfully  copious  library  and  found  a 
Vol.  iv  of  "Mavor's  Voyages,"  containing 
a  synopsis  (pp.  133-135)  of  the  discoveries 
(127-145)  of  Roggewein — who,  by  the  way, 
turns  out  to  have  been  «<?/the  Dutch  Admiral 
of  that  name,  with  whom  he  is  often  con- 
founded and  who  explored  the  Arctic  ocean, 
stating  he  sailed  far  to  the  north  of  Spitzbergen 

*It  is  more  than  doubtful  if  Davis  ever  saw  the 
island.  What  he  discovered,  he  thought  was  part  of  a 
great  continent,  which  Roggewein  sailed  to  investigate, 
and  could  not  find,  nor  could  any  subsequent  search. 


on  open,  rolling  seas,  where  almost  every 
mariner  of  other  nations  encountered  noth- 
ing but  ice.  Our  Roggewein  was  an  official 
of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  and  ac- 
quired his  title  of  "Commodore"  from 
having  two  armed  vessels  entrusted  to  him 
for  maritime  discovery.  He  is,  however, 
also  styled  "Admiral"  (Vol.  ii,  pp.  153, 
154,  "  Maritime  Discovery,"  London, 
1881).  The  Easter  islanders,  who,  in  a 
recent  account,  are  said  to  be  rapidly  de- 
stroying the  vestiges  of  former  civilization, 
flew  in  1721  for  protection  to  their  idols, 
now  objects  of  contempt,  when  the  Dutch 
landed  and  fired  upon  them,  incited  by  sus- 
picion of  enmity  and  treachery. 

"  It  is  remarkable  that  these  islanders  did 
not  seem  to  have  any  arms  among  them." 
*  *  *  "When  attacked,  they  fled  for  shel- 
ter to  the  assistance  of  their  idols,  which 
were  all  of  stone,  bearing  the  figure  of  a  man 
with  large  ears,  and  a  crown  on  their  heads. 
These  were  so  ingeniously  sculptured,  that 
the  Europeans  stood  amazed  at  the  sight." 

The  reader's  attention  is  particularly  in- 
vited to  the  language  describing  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  these  statues  in  "  the  form 
of  a  man  with  large  ears  and  a  crown  on  the 
head. ' '  This  is  exactly  the  manner  in  which 
Buddha  is  represented  throughout  the  re- 
gions subject  more  or  less  strictly  to  his  re- 
ligion. This  connection  moreover  with 
Buddha  may  solve  the  whole  series  of  rid- 
dles connected  with  Easter  or  Vai-hou 
(Strong),  or  Kusaie  (Ascension),  or  Panape, 
Opara  or  Rapacte  and  other  Pacific  islands. 
It  is  claimed  and  many  proofs  produced 
that  Japanese  and  Chinese  driven  eastwards 
in  their  comparatively  unmanageable  vessels 
discovered  America,  nearly  1000  years  ago, 
if  not  much,  much  earlier,  colonized  its 
western  coast,  and  are  the  originators — 
especially  visible  in  the  remains  of  the  civili- 
zation of  British  America — which  had  been 
already  overwhelmed  farther  north  by 
another  form  of  cultivation  or  progress  in ' 
North  America  when  the  Spaniards  invaded 
the  Aztec  empire,  and  which  they  (the  other 
Spaniards)  found  still  in  perfection  with  all 
its  magnificent  development  under  the  Incas. 
In  the  work  styled  "  A  (or  The)  New  Colum- 
bus," or  with  some  such  title,  this  is  all 
fully  and  logically  set  forth,  going  to  show 


September  6,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


223 


that  long  before  the  advent  of  the  actual 
Northmen,  the  fabulous  Welshmen,  the 
visible  Spaniards  (our  Columbus)  or  any 
other,  Buddhist  civilization  had  used  the 
Pacific  islands  as  stepping  stones  to  a  vaster 
colonization  and  amelioration  of  Western 
America,  both  North  and  South.  It  is  mar- 
velous how  the  Chinese  swarm  like  ants  to 
any  land  where  they  are  allowed  to  live 
peaceably,  or  hardly  tolerated,  if  they  can 
make  money.  In  answer  to  this  claim  for 
Buddhism,  it  may  be  asked,  if  true,  what  had 
become  of  the  original  settlers  or  any  evi- 
dence of  their  descendants,  in  1687  or  1721. 
The  answer  is  plain .  Cen  turies,  perhaps  seven 
or  ten,  had  elapsed  since  the  Buddhist  voyages 
had  first  occurred.  When  they  ceased,  no 
one  ventures  to  state.  Sufficient  time,  how- 
ever, had  elapsed  to  overturn  an  exotic 
civilization  on  a  small  scale.  Before  the  in- 
vention of  gunpowder  and  its  general 
scientific  application  to  war,  there  was  not  so 
much  difference  between  bold  savages  with 
great  staying  power  and  organized  troops 
less  brave,  although  better  armed  and  dis- 
ciplined. The  Buddhist  architects  on 
Easter  island  and  others  similarly  appro- 
priated by  Japanese  or  Chinese,  Buddhism 
may  have  been  swarmed  out  by  fleets  of 
more  savage  peoples  from  the  nearest  groups, 
some  of  whom  are  excellent  sailors,  incited 
by  jealousy  or  any  passion  so  easy  to  arouse  in 
barbarians.  A  perfect  example  of  this  is  the 
history  of  the  Norsemen  settlement  of  Green- 
land. No  braver  race  than  these  Norsemen 
ever  ventured  upon  the  ocean,  yet  disease 
and  a  despised  people,  the  Skrcellings  (a 
branch  of  the  Esquimaux),  ended  the  settle- 
ment, apparently  firmly  established  with 
the  extermination  of  the  European  settlers  and 
their  descendants,  within  five  centuries. 
If  that  space  of  time  sufficed  to  "wipe 
out"  all  traces  of  the  bravest  and  hardiest 
colonists  who  ever  lived  on  earth,  why  may 
not  pestilence — engendered  by  want  of  good 
water,  which  is  one  of  the  demerits  of  Easter 
island — assisted  by  invasions  of  savage  war- 
riors, giants  in  comparison  to  the  insignifi- 
cant Skrcellings,  have  sufficed  to  clear  Easter 
island  of  its  civilized  artistic  population  and 
leave  it  open  to  a  new  settlement  of  Poly- 
nesian colonists  from  the  nearest  Pacific 
archipelagos  ? 


"  Wrens  make  prey  where  eagle  dare  not  perch." 

ANCHOR. 

TlVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Lake  Drained  (Vol.  v,  p.  179).— A 
great  work  began  in  the  reign  of  Claudm? 
in  the  first  century,  and  completed  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  "The 
lake  of  Fucino,  situated  fifty  miles  east  of 
Rome,  near  the  towns  of  Avezzano  and 
Celano,  occupies  the  centre  of  a  circular  range 
of  hills  in  the  Apennines,  formed  like  a  crater, 
the  slopes  of  which  are  covered  with  dwell- 
ings and  cultivated  hills.  Sometimes  floods 
inundated  all  the  country  round  and  de- 
stroyed the  crops ;  afterwards  when  the 
waters  ran  off  the  air  was  filled  with 
poisonous  miasmas,  the  difference  between 
the  levels  being  not  less  than  thirty-nine 
feet.  In  the  reign  of  Claudius  30,000  slaves 
worked  eleven  years  in  digging  out  a  chan- 
nel 6151  feet  long,  across  Monte  Salviano, 
in  order  to  draw  off  the  largest  portion  of 
the.  water  into  the  Liris,  and  thence  into  the 
sea.  It  was  thought  that  the  work  once 
done,  would  last  for  centuries.  All  that  now 
remained  to  be  done  was  to  open  the  flood- 
gates. A  grand  fete  was  arranged,  in  which 
19,000  gladiators  appeared  upon  the  lake  ; 
the  slaughter  took  place,  but  the  water, 
mixed  as  it  was  with  blood,  refused  to  flow 
out.  Narcissus  had  withholden  the  money 
which  should  have  been  appropriated  to  the 
completion  of  the  work.  Later,  at  different 
periods,  the  canal  was  drained  out,  but  the 
great  labor  was  only  a  partial  success. 

"  In  1 854  the  work  was  resumed,  the  outlet 
was  enlarged,  and  a  mass  of  water  amount- 
ing to  more  than  two  millions  of  cubic 
yards,  which  the  lake  contained  above  the 
level  of  the  tunnel,  was  emptied  out — the 
marsh  fevers  ceased  their  ravages,  and  culti- 
vation gradually  advanced  toward  the  cen- 
tre of  the  former  lake  basin  "  (see  "The 
Ocean,"  Elisee  Reclus).  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Leper  Kings  (Vol.  v,  p.  216,  etc.).— • 
Uzziah  or  Azariah,  king  of  Judah  ;  Baldwin 
IV,  son  of  Amaury,  king  of  Jerusalem, 
Gibbon  vi,  24;  Michaud's  Crusades  i, 
399, 402.  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


224 


AMERICAN  NOTES   AND  QUERIES.      [September  6,  1890. 


Nicknames  of  States.  — There  ap- 
peared in  the  St.  Louis  Globe  Democrat  a 
versified  arrangement  of  the  nicknames  of 
the  States  which  may  be  of  interest  to  the 
readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Dear  Uncle  Sam  has  many  girls, 

All  precious  in  his  eyes, 
Tho'  varying  much  in  many  things, 

As  age  and  wealth  and  size. 

As  sentiment  they  vary,  too, 

In  beauty,  spirit,  grace  ; 
The  wealth  of  some  is  in  the  breast, 

Of  others  on  the  face. 

He  early  gave  them  single  names, 

Tho'  double  just  a  few ; 
Then  father-like  he  nicknamed  them, 

As  older  girls  they  grew. 

Miss  Arkansas  he  called  his  "  Bear," 

New  York  the  "  Empire  State ;" 
"Excelsior,"  he  sometimes  says 

When  he  would  her  elate. 

Rhode  Island  is  his  "  Rhody  "  pet, 

Or  "Little  Rhoda,"  dear, 
When  Texas,  the  "  Lone  Star,"  looks  down 

Upon  her  midget  peer. 

North  Carolina,  "  Old  North  State," 

She  is  his  "  Turpentine ;" 
"  Mother  of  Presidents,"  V — a, 

Doth  "  Old  Dominion  "  shine. 

Ohio  is  his  "Buckeye"  lass 

His  "Sweet  Queen"  Maryland; 
His  "  Keystone,"  Pennsylvania, 

To  "Penny  mites"  is  grand. 

Miss  Maine  he  calls  his  "  Lumber  "  yard, 
Then  "  Pine  Tree  "   sweetly  sings  ; 

That  Oregon  is  "  Spirit  Land," 
To  all  he  gaily  flings. 

Missouri  beams  the  "  Central  Star," 

"  Blue  Hen  "  is  Delaware, 
Or  when  he  would  her  pride  expand, 

He  "  Diamond  "  lets  her  flare. 

Miss  California  we  shall  find 

Is  "  Golden  "  on  his  knee  ; 
His  "  Silver  Sheen  "  Nevada  holds, 

"  Big  Bend  "  is  Tennessee. 

South  Carolina  hears  his  call, 

"  Palmetto,"  in  her  hand ; 
New  Jersey's  grit  he  honors  much, 

She  is  his  "  Child  of  Sand." 

"  Green  mountain  "  lass  he  hails  Vermont, 

Nebraska,  "  Blizzard  Home ;" 
"  Pan  Handle,"  clipped  from  "  Old  Domain," 

Is  West  Virginia  tome. 


His  "Bayou"  Mississippi  is, 
New  Hampshire  "  Granite  "  pride  ; 

Louisiana,  "  Sugar  State," 
His  "  Creole"  doth  abide. 

"Jayhawker"  Kansas  most  he  calls 

His  "  Garden  of  the  West ;" 
On  Massachusetts,  old  "  Bay  State," 

He  lets  his  blessing  rest. 

Miss  Minnesota,  "  Gopher  "  State, 

His  "  North  Star  "  ever  shines ; 
O'er  Michigan,  his  "  Wolverine," 

He  spreads  his  waving  pines. 

Kentucky  is  his  "Blue  Grass"  field, 

His  "  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground;" 
But  Florida,  "  Peninsula," 

His  "  Flower-land"  will  be  found. 

As  "  Empire  of  the  South  "  he  greets 

Miss  Georgia  in  his  joy  ; 
But  "Sucker"  or  my  "Prairie"  bird 

He  hails  fair  Illinois. 

Sweet  "  Hoosier  "  is  the  name  inscribed 

On  Indiana's  breast, 
Whilst  Iowa  rejoices  much 

With  "  Hawkeye"   on  her  crest. 

"  Centennial  "  Colorado  shines, 

Wisconsin's  "  Badger  "  child ; 
That  "  Nutmeg,"  Miss  Connecticut, 

Is  "  Free  Stone  "  on  the  guild. 

At  Alabama,  "  Here  We  Rest," 

Our  dear  old  uncle  calls, 
Until  into  the  sisterhood 

Some  new-born  sister  falls. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Natural  Bridges. — Will  your  corre- 
spondents send  notes  respecting  such  natural 
bridges  as  they  may  come  across  in  their 
reading  ?  I  will  start  the  movement  by  nam- 
ing a  few:  i.  The  world-famous  one  in 
Rockbridge  county,  Va.  2.  One  in  North- 
ern New  York,  on  the  Indian  river,  in  Jef- 
ferson county  (I  do  not  know  whether  this 
is  at  the  station  called  Natural  Bridge,  or 
not,  on  the  Carthage  and  Adirondack  Rail- 
way). 3,  4.  There  are  two  natural  bridges 
in  Walker  county,  Ala.  5.  There  is  one 
near  Williamstown,  Mass.,  of  some  interest 
to  tourists.  6,  7.  There  are  two  in  Tuo- 
lumne  county,  Cal.  8.  One  in  Trinity 
county.  9,  10.  Two  in  Siskiyou  county. 

11.  There  is  one  in  Christian  county,  Ky. 

12.  And  one  in  Walton  county,  Fla. 

S.  E.  A. 
ATHENS,  N.  Y. 


September  6,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


225 


Majesty. — It  is  commonly  said  that 
Henry  VIII  was  the  first  English  king  to  as- 
sume the  address  or  title  of  "  His  Majesty." 
But  in  a  letter  of  Thomas  Beckington,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  written  to 
King  Henry  VI,  probably  in  1442,  the  king 
is  spoken  to  as  "  youre  Roial  Mageste  " 
{Camden  Soc.  Pub.,  1886,  p.  81).  Further, 
in  a  letter  addressed  by  "certain  officers  of 
Calais  "  to  Henry  V  (no  date  known)  the 
king  is  addressed  as  "your  high undmightie 
rioll  maiestie."  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Mot  (Vol.  v,  p.  170). — With  this  word, 
in  the  sense  of  a  small  grove,  compare  the 
Spanish  mats,  a  coppice,  a  thicket ;  Portu- 
guese mato,  matto,  or  mata,  a  brushwood, 
scrub,  or  wild  heath.  I  do  not  mean  to  as- 
sert that  this  is  the  true  origin  of  the  Texan 
word  mot.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMAN-TOWN. 

Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  p.  215, 
€tc.). — The  Taurus  mountains  of  Asia 
Minor  abound  in  yailahs,  or  wall-enclosed 
mountain-valleys,  whose  waters  escape 
through  underground  channels  in  the  lime- 
stone rocks.  The  two  large  lakes  called  re- 
spectively Egerdir  Gol  and  Kereli  G61  in 
Asia  Minor,  are  believed  to  have  subter- 
raneous outlets.  L.  M.  R. 

NEWARK,  N.  J. 

Good  Old  Etymologies  (Vol.  v,  p.  71). 
— The  popular  derivation  of  carnival  from 
vale,  farewell,  and  carni,  to  flesh,  is  errone- 
ous, though  the  popular  derivation  has  helped 
to  shape  the  modern  word.  Centaur  the 
ancients  derived  from  Gr.  Ksvrhtv,  to  goad, 
and  raupos,  a  bull  (compare  the  cow-punchers 
of  Texas)  ;  but  there  is  now  a  strong  suspi- 
scion  that  the  name  centaur  may  be  cognate 
with  Sanskrit  gandharva.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  centaurs  and  gandharvas  have  much  in 
-common.  The  slow-worm  is  slow  enough ; 
but  that  fact  does  not  give  him  a  name  ;  the 
old  English  name  was  sla-wyrm,  which 
means  striking  or  biting-worm ;  yet  the  ani- 
mal never  bites.  Our  ancestors,  however, 
from  its  snake-like  form,  supposed  that  the 
oreature  was  venomous.  Qui  TAM. 


Victorines  (Vol.  v,  pp.  102,  etc.  ; 
under  Adam  of  St.  Victor). — Another  of  the 
Victorine  monks,  or  canons,  and  one  much 
better  known  than  the  ones  mentioned  at  the 
above  entry,  was  the  celebrated  Jean 
Santeul  (1630-1697),  a  Latin  poet,  known 
also  as  Santolius  Victorinus.  There  is  a 
good  and  appreciative  notice  of  him  in  Duf- 
field's  "  Latin  Hymns,"  p.  329,  sqq.  By 
the  way,  it  seems  to  be  a  slight  error  to 
speak  of  the  Victorines  as  monks.  They 
were,  I  think,  canons  regular  of  St.  Augus- 
tine and  not  technically  monks,  although 
practically  they  were  so.  But  Santeul  was  a 
lively  fellow,  and  got  excused  from  cloister- 
life  for  the  most  part.  F.  R.  S. 

CHESTER,  PA. 

Grevillea  (Vol.  v,  p.  133). — Your  cor- 
respondent is  correct  in  stating  that  that  in- 
teresting genus  of  trees,  Grevillea  was  not 
named  from  R.  K.  Greville.  In  Hender- 
son's "Handbook  of  Plants,"  p.  97,  it  is 
said  to  have  been  named  in  honor  of  C.  F. 
Greville.  ILDERIM. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Yankee  Doodle  (Vol.  iii,  p.  161). — It 
is  stated  that  the  popular  name  in  the 
modern  Persian  tongue  for  an  American  is 
Yenghi  Dunia.  I  do  not  know  the  origin 
of  this  name.  J.  P.  T.  CARTER. 

COVINGTON,  KY. 

Arthur  Kill  (Vol.  v,  pp.  178,  etc.).— 
Prof.  Estoclet's  explanation  is  fully  sus- 
tained by  early  quotations  to  be  found  in 
Hatfield's  "History  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J.," 
in  which  the  name  "After  Cul ' '  occurs  several 
times.  The  name  "AchterKol"  (variously 
spelled)  in  this  work  also  apparently  desig- 
nates that  part  of  New  Jersey  in  which  the 
town  of  Elizabeth  stands.  There  was  once 
a  "  bowery  "  on  Long  Island  called  the 
"  Achtervelt. "  Its  name  occurs  many 
times  in  the  published  collections  of  colonial 
documents.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Rotten  Row  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  157,  300). — 
With  this  name  compare  that  of  Rotton 
Park,  in  the  outskirts  of  Birmingham. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 


226 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [September  6,  1890. 


Ville  in  Place-names. — This  termina- 
tion of  place-names  seems  almost  peculiarly 
American,  and  to  me,  for  one,  it  appears  to 
be  associated  with  shoddyism  and  vulgarity. 
But  it  is  not  quite  peculiar  to  America.  In 
France  we  find  Albertville,  Vielleville,  Neu- 
ville,  Bonneville,  Blainville,  Abbeville, 
Damville,  Neville,  Villedieu,  Villefranche, 
Philippeville,  and  many  more ;  also  Libre- 
ville in  Gaboon,  Hellville  in  Nossi-Be,  etc. 
In  England  are  Pentonville,  Coalville,  Sea- 
ville,  Tankerville,  and  others.  (I  suppose 
Neville,  Savile  and  Umfreville,  old  family 
names,  will  not  count). 

THOMAS  ORCUTT. 
ALLENTOWN,  PA. 

Latinized  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp.  57,  etc.). 
—  Osiander  stood  for  Hosemann  ;  Chelidonius 
was  originally  named  Schwalber;  Goldschmidt 
became  Aurifaber;  Dubois  was  changed 
to  Sylvius ;  Kochhaff  to  Chytraus ;  Hagen- 
butt  to  Cornarus ;  Kaufman,  or  Kramer,  to 
Mercator ;  Kreuziger  was  made  Cruciger ; 
Fischer  was,  of  course,  Piscator ;  Tedeschi 
of  Palermo  became  Panormitanus ;  Kiirch- 
ner  was  changed  to  Pellicanus.  Consider- 
ing the  times  and  circumstances  in  which 
the  humanists  lived  these  changes  seem  to 
me  to  have  been  natural  and  appropriate. 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 

Ff  as  an  Initial  (Vol.  v,  p.  192,  etc.) 

In  Vol.  Ixxxvi  of  the  Camden  Society's  pub- 
lication, p.  23,  may  be  found  a  letter,  temp, 
Hen.  V,  from  certain  officers  at  Calais  to 
the  Duke  of  Bedford.  In  it  February  is 
called  Ffeverer,  &&&  fellows  \sspt\\.  ffelawes. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Casting  out  the  Shoe  (Vol.  v,  p.  208, 
etc). — I  read  lately  in  one  of  Rev.  Dr.  F. 
Mason's  books,  that  when  he  was  crossing 
in  a  steamer  from  London  to  some  Dutch 
port,  his  fellow-passengers  were  mostly  Jew- 
ish cattle-merchants.  When  he  got  into  his 
berth  the  Jews  began  to  cast  their  shoes  upon 
him.  He  bore  it  quietly  for  a  time  but  was 
at  last  compelled  to  go  on  deck  and  claim 
protection.  The  captain  went  below  and 
threatened  to  put  all  the  cattle-men  into 


confinement,  and   soon  made   things   very 
quiet.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Indian  Summer  (Vol.  v,  p.  185). — 
The  Boston  Transcript  (Nov.  8,  1889),  re- 
fers a  querist  to  "Webster's  Diet."  under 
"  summer,"  and  quotes  from  "Hiawatha," 
canto  ii,  line  225  : 

"  Shawondasee,  fat  and  lazy, 

Had  his  dwelling  far  to  southward, 
In  the  drowsy,  dreamy  sunshine, 
In  the  never-ending  summer." 

It  adds,  "  Shawondasee,  according  to 
Schoolcraft,  was  an  affluent,  plethoric  red 
man,  who  lived  in  the  South,  kept  his  eyes 
steadfastly  on  the  North,  and  whose  sighs  in 
autumn  produced  the  delightful  Indian 
summer."  M.  A.  N. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

When  We've  Been  There,  etc.  (Vol. 
v,  p.  215,  etc.). — There  is  a  Latin  hymn 
beginning  "Jerusalem  gloriosa,"  which  is 
ascribed  by  Spitzen,  with  a  good  degree  of 
probability,  to  Thomas  a  Kempis  (fifteenth 
century).  The  hymn  "O  mother  dear,  Je- 
rusalem" was  written  by  David  Dickson, 
(seventeenth  century).  The  "  Urbs  beata 
vera  pacis  "  (1735),  was  by  the  Abbe  Bes- 
nault.  The  original  of  them  all  is  probably 
an  anonymous  hymn  of  the  ninth  century, 
or  perhaps  of  the  seventh.  It  is  of  proba- 
ble Spanish  origin.  B. 

Hoop-snake  (Vol.  v,  p.  206 ;  under 
"Satyr-Beetle  and  Ash  ").  In  the  Southern 
and  Western  states  a  large  but  harmless  and 
even  useful  snake  is  called  the  Hoop- snake. 
It  is  the  Abastor  erythrogrammus.  There  is 
a  prevalent  belief  that  it  can  take  the  end 
of  its  tail  in  its  mouth  and  roll  along  the 
ground  like  a  hoop  ;  but  this  belief  is  entire- 
ly unfounded.  The  horn-snake,  Farancia 
abacura,  much  resembles  the  hcop-snake, 
and  is  probably  quite  as  much  and  quite  as 
groundlessly  an  object  of  dread.  Similar 
superstitions  are  associated  with  the  coach- 
whip  snake,  Bascanion  flagelliformis,  a  very 
common  species  in  some  sections  of  the 
South.  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 


September  6,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


227 


Colored  Starch  (Vol.  v,  p.  170). — 
Yellow  starch  was  that  most  used  in  England, 
and  it  greatly  excited  the  wrath  of  the 
Satirists.  Philip Stubbs,  in  "His  Anatomy 
of  Abuses,"  1588,  is  particularly  indignant 
at  the  liquor  which  they  call  starch,  and 
wherein  the  devil  hath  wished  them  to  dye 
their  ruffs,  and  this  starch  they  make  of 
divers  colors  and  hues,  white,  red,  blue, 
purple,  and  the  like.  In  the  satirical  cos- 
tume poem  "  Pride's  Fall,"  occurs  a  refer- 
ence to  the  flaunting  ruff  starched 

" with  white  and  blew 

Seemly  to  the  eye." 

Ben  Jonson's  "Squire  of  Norfolk"  ex- 
claims : 

"  Yellow,  yellow,  yellow,  yellow." 

and  the  suggestion  is  being  readily  seized 
upon  by  Sir  Paul  Eitherside,  who  responds : 
"  That's  starch !  The  devil's  idol  of  that 
color."  Ben  Jonson  in  another  connection 
has  " goose-green  starch"  "Bartholomew's 
Fair."  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "hateful 
as  yellow  bands,"  in  "The  Widow,"  is 
another  allusion  to  the  general  popular  dis- 
like to  yellow  starch.  The  comedy,  "  The 
Widow,"  first  appeared  in  1621,  six  years 
subsequent  to  Mrs.  Turner's  execution,  and 
some  authorities  insist  that  yellow  bands 
were  worn  at  this  time,  not  only,  but  that 
they  were  more  fashionable  immediately 
after  Mrs.  Turner's  death  than  ever  before, 
Armellina  in  the  old  play  "Albumazar:" 
"Trincalo,  what  price  bears  wheat  and  saf- 
fron, that  your  band's  so  stiff  and  yellow," 
Act  ii,  Sc.i.  In  Sir  Simon  D' Ewes'  ac- 
count of  King  James  going  from  Whitehall 
to  Westminster,  occurs  the  following  : 

"And  looking  upp  to  one  window,  as  he 
passed,  full  of  gentlewomen  or  ladies,  all  in 
yellow  bands,  he  cried  out  aloud,  '  A  pox 
take  yoe,  auguther  ?'  At  which  being  much 
ashamed,  they  all  withdraw  themselves  sud- 
denlie  from  the  window."  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

From  a  book  entitled  "  Youth's  Be- 
haviour," translated  from  the  French  (1663) 
is  taken  the  following  extract :  "  When  yel- 
low starched  bands  and  cuffs  were  in  fashion, 


Lord  Chief  Justice  Coke  commanded  the 
common  Hangman  to  do  his  office  in  that 
dress,  and  thus  put  a  stop  to  the  idle  fashion 
("Gent.  Mag.  Lib.,"  i,  7). 

E.  G.  KEEN". 
WARWICK,  PA. 

On  the  Score  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  47,  etc.). — 
In  Taylor,  the  water-poet's  satire  "  A 
Kicksey  Winsey,  or  a  Lerry  Come-Twang," 
we  read  as  follows : 

"I'm  sure  it  cost  me  seven-score  pounds  and  more, 
With  some  suspicion  that  I  went  on  score." 


P.  R.  E. 


OHIO. 


Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  p.  192,  etc.). 
— It  is  rather  remarkable  that  none  of  your 
correspondents  have  noticed  Graham's 
Island,  which  arose  as  a  very  active  volcanic 
crater  in  1831.  It  was  situated  between  Si- 
cily and  Pantellaria,  in  the  Mediterranean. 
It  was  only  a  few  feet  above  the  waves  on 
July  19,  but  by  the  end  of  August  it  was  107 
feet  high,  and  3240  feet  in  circumferance. 
In  the  following  December  it  had  entirely 
vanished  ;  but  Graham's  Shoal  still  remains 
to  mark  its  place.  In  some  books  this  tem- 
porary island  is  called  Fernandinea. 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

No  Man's  Land  (Vol.  v,  p.  216,  etc.). 
— I  believe  that  the  English  No  Man's 
Land  was  once  a  part  of  the  New  Forest 
which  was  not  provided  for  a  long  time  with 
magistrates,  for  which  cause  the  people 
were,  in  a  manner,  a  law  unto  themselves. 

S.  T.  B. 

Fountain  of  Youth  (Vol.  ii,  p.  100). — 
Sir  John  Mandeville  relares  that  at  Polombe 
(probably  Quilon,  in  Travancore),  he  found 
the  Well  of  Youth,  whereof  he  drank,  and 
thought  he  felt  the  better  for  it.  Neverthe- 
less, in  1357,  he  took  the  gout,  and  had  to 
go  back  to  Europe.  F.  A.  N. 

•Priscian's  Head  (Vol.  v,  pp.  139,  etc.). 
— "  Latin  is  none  of  my  own,  I  swear  by 
Priscian's  Pericranium,  an  oath  which  I  have 
ignorantly  broken  many  times."  J.  Taylor 


228 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [September  6,  1890. 


(the  water-poet),  "The  Penniless  Pilgrim- 
age," also  in  the  same  writer's  "  Navy  of 
Land-Ships  "  we  read  of  "  humorous  poets 
who  with  their  continual  cudgelling  one  an- 
other with  broken  verses  had  almost  beaten 
Priscianus'  brains  out."  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  v,  pp.  176, 

etc.) A    reviewer    of    books    in    Public 

Opinion  of  August  30,  in  speaking  of  Mr. 
T.  B.  Peacock's  "Poems  of  the  Plains" 
cites  a  line  therefrom  as  an  instance  of  power 
and  sublimity.  Here  it  is  : 

"  Battle  stamps  his  bloody  feet." 

I  certainly  do  not  wish  to  detract  from 
the  reputation  of  this  Western  author,  and 
yet  it  seems  due  to  Lord  Byron  to  call  atten- 
tion to  this  famous  utterance  : 

"  Red  battle  stamps  his  foot,   and  nations  feel  the 
shock." 

("  Childe  Harold,"  ist  Canto,  verse  38.) 

Is  the  line  commended  a  repetition  or  a 
coincidence?  J.  W.  MONSER. 

COLUMBIA,  Mo. 

BOOI^S  AND   E>EF$IODIGAUS. 

The  Century  for  September  is  made  up  largely  by 
articles  treating  on  California.  The  paper  by  John 
Muir  on  "  The  Treasures  of  the  Yosemite  Valley,"  in 
the  August  number,  is  followed  by  another  on 
"  Features  of  the  Proposed  Yosemite  National  Park," 
which  is  illustrated  by  William  Keith  and  Charles  D. 
Robinson,  the  California  artists,  and  by  Fraser,  Moran, 
and  Davies,  the  sketches  being  made  in  several  instances 
from  sketches  by  Mr.  Muir  himself.  The  writer  de- 
scribes the  wonderful  scenery  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Yosemite — the  Lyell  Glacier,  the  Cathedral  Peak 
region,  the  Tuolumne  Meadows  and  Canon,  and  the 
Hetch-Hetchy  Valley,  all  of  which  are  included  in  the 
limits  of  the  proposed  park  as  denned  by  General 
Vandever's  bill  in  the  present  Congress.  In  conclu- 
sion, Mr.  Muir  records  his  protest  against  the  injuries 
done  to  the  Yosemite  Valley  under  the  control  of  the 
present  and  proceeding  Commissions.  In  "  Topics  of 
the  Time,"  is  an  editorial  in  the  same  strain  on 
"  Amateur  Management  of  Yosemite  Scenery."  The 
number  also  contains,  apropos  of  the  celebration  on 
September  8th  of  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the 
admission  of  the  State,  a  paper  by  George  Hamlin 
Fitch,  entitled,  "  How  California  Came  into  the 
Union,"  illustrated  by  a  large  portrait  of  General  Fr6- 


mont  from  a  daguerreotype  of  1850,  and  by  others  of 
Commodores  Sloat  and  Stockton,  Governor  Burnett, 
Senator  Gwin  and  J.  Ross  Browne,  together  with  pic- 
tures of  Colton  Hall,  Monterey — the  scene  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention — and  the  famous  Bear  Flag, 
hoisted  at  Sonoma  in  1846.  This  paper  is  a  forerunner 
of  the  series  on  the  Gold  Hunters,  and  in  the  present 
number  The  Century  begins  a  temporary  department  of 
"  Californiana,"  similar  to  the  "  Memoranda  on  the 
Civil  War,"  and  to  be  devoted  to  short  articles  on 
topics  of  special  interest  relating  to  the  '49ers.  This 
month  these  articles  are  "  Light  on  the  Seizure  of  Cali- 
fornia," by  Prof.  Royce  of  Harvard,  "The  California 
Boundary  Question,"  by  Francis  J.  Lippitt,  Esq.,  and 
"  The  Date  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Yosemite,"  by  Dr.. 
Bunnell,  of  the  Party  of  Discovery. 

The  frontispiece  is  an  engraving  by  T.  A.  Butler,  of 
Nattier's  picturesque  portrait  of  the  beautiful  Princesse 
de  Conti,  an  attractive  prelude  to  Mrs.  Amelia  Gere 
Mason's  fifth  paper  on  "  The  Women  of  the  French 
Salons,"  which  is  further  illustrated  by  striking  por- 
traits of  the  Duchesse  de  Luxembourg,  Catherine  II. 
in  Russian  costume,  Madame  Geoffrin  and  Madame 
d'Epinay.  These  portraits  are  accompanied  by  dainty 
decorative  pieces  by  George  Wharton  Edwards.  Mrs. 
Mason's  text  deals  with  the  Salons  of  the  eighteenth 
centuiy. 

A  paper  of  timely  interest,  practically  illustrated,  is 
Commander  C.  F.  Goodrich's  description  of"  Our  New 
Naval  Guns,"  detailing  the  process  of  manufacture  and 
recounting  their  remarkable  efficiency. 

"  The  Anglomaniacs,"  which  has  awaked  much 
curiosity  and  has  attracted  more  remark,  perhaps,  than 
any  other  recent  fiction  in  The  Century,  reaches  its 
fourth  and  concluding  part,  with  illustrations  by  Mr. 
Gibson,  in  this  number.  It  is  understood  that  the  au- 
thorship of  this  story  will  not  be  given  upon  its  appear- 
ance in  book  form. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  Autobiography  deals  with  incidents 
of  his  life  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and 
includes  material  relating  to  Charles  Mathews,  John  B. 
Rice,  and  William  Warren,  together  with  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's apology  for  the  liberty  taken  with  "  The  Rivals." 
The  autobiography,  which  will  be  concluded  in  the 
October  number,  continues  to  be  notable  for  its  humor 
and  humanity. 

An  important  paper  by  Prof.  Charles  W.  Shields  of 
Princeton,  on  "  The  Social  Problem  of  Church  Unity,'' 
is  another  of  the  "  Present- Day  Papers,"  contributed  to 
The  Century  by  the  "  Sociological  Group"  of  writers, 
which  now  includes  fifteen  prominent  students  of  social 
problems. 

Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer  contributes  an  article  on  "  Wells 
Cathedral,"  illustrated  by  Pennell,  whose  pictures  com- 
bine the  accuracy  of  an  architectural  drawing  with  the 
charm  of  etching. 

Mr.  La  Farge's  "An  Artist's  Letters  from  Japan," 
are  accompanied  by  an  engraving  after  his  drawing; 
and  a  paper  is  contributed  by  Rowland  E.  Robinson  on 
the  Marble  Hills  of  Vermont,  which  is  illustrated  by  J. 
A.  S.  Monks. 

"Friend  Olivia"  (Mrs.  Barr's  novel)  is  continued, 
the  scene  being  changed  to  America ;  and  there  is  a 
short  story  by  Miss  Anne  Page,  entitled  "  Lois  Benson's 
Love  Story." 

Two  sonnets,  one  by  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  entitled 
"  September,"  and  one  by  Col.  John  Hay  ("  Love's 
Dream  ") ;  an  editorial  on  the  "  Misgovernment  of 
Cities,"  and  a  variety  of  light  verse  in  "  Bric-a-brac," 
complete  the  number. 


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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  :—  Calls  and  Recalls,  229—  The  Title  of  "  Reverend," 

230  —  Highbinder  —  Ancient  Imprint-bearing  Stones,  23:. 
QUERIES  :—  Itasca,  232. 
REPLIES  :—  Ireland's  Eye—  Highest  Waterfall  in  the  World, 

232. 
REFERRED    TO    CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Monkey- 

wrench,  232—  Lingua  Franca—  Cambuscan  —  Jutes—  Runaway 

Pond,  233. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :—  No  Man's  Land,  233—  Pets  of  Dis- 
tinguished People  —  Goober  —  Devil's  Land—  Nickajack,  234— 
The  Russian  Byron  —  Norumbega,  235  —  Rakestale  —  Easter 
Island  —  Rivers  Flowing  Inland,  236  —  Singular  Place  Names 

—  Height  of  Popocatepetl,  237  —  Lakes  Drained  —  Anagrams, 
238  —  "  The  "  in  Place  Names  —  Last  Island  —  Junker  —  I  Shall 
be  Satisfied  —  John  Company  —  Prince  Consort's   Family 
Name  —  Samson  Occom—  State  Line  Towns,  239  —  City  Poets 

—  The  Point  of  View  —  Neck,  240. 
BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :—  240. 


CALLS  AND  RECALLS. 

Of  the  origin  of  the  English  practice  of 
calling  on  the  principal  actor,  Macready,  in 
his  "  Memoirs,"  has  left  us  an  account.  It 
first  occurred,  he  says,  at  Covent  Garden  on 
the  occasion  of  his  initial  performance  of  the 
character  of  Richard  III,  October  19,  1819. 
It  had  been  usual  at  the  fall  of  the  curtain  for 
a  subordinate  actor  to  appear  and  announce 
the  play  to  be  given  on  the  succeeding  night. 
But  on  this  occasion  Macready,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  stage  manager,  undertook  the 
duty,  and  his  appearance  had  the  effect  of 
what  is  now  known  as  a  call  before  the  cur- 
tain. "  I  announced  the  tragedy  for  repe- 
tition," he  says,  "  amidst  the  gratulatory 
shouts  that  carried  the  assurance  of  complete 
success  to  my  agitated  and  grateful  heart.'* 


23° 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  13,  1890. 


Notwithstanding,  hegrew  tohave  littlelik- 
ing  for  such  idle  compliments  as  calls  and  re- 
calls. "Acted  very  fairly,"  he  writes  of  one 
of  his  performances  (1845).  "  Called  for— 
trash  !"  and  again,  "Acted  Virginius  (in 
Paris,  December,  1844)  with  much  energy 
and  power  to  a  very  excited  audience.  I  was 
loudly  called  for  at  the  end  of  the  first  act, 
but  could  not  or  would  not  make  so  absurd 
and  empirical  a  sacrifice  of  the  dignity  of 
my  poor  part." 

He  would  probably  have  had  still  less  pa- 
tience with  the  modern  system  of  recalls,  which 
not  only  interrupt  but  render  ridiculous 
many  pathetic  scenes ;  which  summon  the 
insane  Ophelia  back  from  a  watery  grave  to 
acknowledge,  sanely  enough,  by  smiles  and 
courtesies,  the  applause  of  the  spectators,  to 
the  perplexity  of  Claudius,  Gertrude  and 
Laertes. 

But  long  before  the  time  of  Macready, 
French  audiences  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
calling  for  the  author  of  a  successful  drama. 

The  first  dramatist  who  was  ever  called 
before  the  curtain  was  Voltaire,  after  the 
production  of  "  Merope."  The  second 
was  Marmontel,  after  the  performance  of 
"Dionysius."  For  some  time  the  English 
playwrights  were  content  to  acknowledge 
from  their  private  boxes  the  applause  of 
their  audience. 

On  the  first  presentation  of  Talfourd's 
"Ion,"  Macready  says:  "Was  called  for 
very  enthusiastically  by  the  audience,  and 
cheered  on  my  appearance  most  heartily. 
Miss  Ellen  Tree  was  afterwards  called  for- 
ward. Talfourd  came  into  my  room  and 
heartily  shook  hands  with  me  and  thanked 
me.  He  said  something  about  Mr.  Wai- 
lack,  the  stage  manager,  wishing  him  to  go 
on  the  stage,  as  they  were  calling  for  him, 
but  it  would  not  be  right.  I  said  on  no  ac- 
count in  the  world.  He  shortly  left  me  and 
as  I  heard  was  made  to  go  forward  to  the 
front  of  his  box  and  receive  the  enthusiastic 
tribute  of  the  house's  grateful  delight.  How 
happy  he  must  have  been." 

But,  in  1838,  Macready  writes  thus  of  the 
first  night  of  Sheridan  Knowles'  play, 
"  Woman's  Wit :"  "  Acted  Walsingham  in 
a  very  crude,  nervous  and  unsatisfactory 
way;  avoided  a  call  by  going  before  the 
curtain  to  give  out  a  play.  There  was  very 


great  enthusiasm.  Led  on  Knowles  in  obedi- 
ence to  a  call  of  the  audience."  Knowles, 
however,  had  been  an  actor,  although  he 
was  not  included  in  the  cast  of  "  Woman's 
Wit,"  and  in  Macready's  sight  this  may 
have  rendered  his  case  very  different  from 
that  of  Talfourd's.  It  was  not  long  after- 
wards that  the  practice  of  calling  out  an  au- 
thor after  the  first  performance  of  his 
play  became  firmly  established  in  every 
theatre  of  Great  Britain. 

Some  years  ago,  when  Sophocles'  tragedy 
of  "Antigone  "  was  produced  with  Men- 
delssohn's music  at  the  Theatre  Royal,  in 
Dublin,  the  gallery  gods  were  so  greatly 
pleased  that  they  shouted  out  for  "  Sapha- 
cles."  The  manager  explained  that  Sopho- 
cles had  been  dead  for  over  two  thousand 
years,  whereupon  a  small  voice  shouted 
from  the  gallery :  "  Then  chuck  us  out  his 
mummy." 

CURTIS  CAMPBELL. 

ATLANTA,  GA. 

THE  TITLE  OF  "REVEREND." 

The  title  of  "Reverend  "  was  a  few  years 
ago  made  the  subject  of  a  curious  discussion, 
the  point  being  raised  in  England  as  to  the 
right  of  a  dissenting  Wesleyan  minister  to 
assume  the  title.  The  gentleman  concerned 
was  Rev.  Henry  Keet,  who  died  not  very 
long  ago,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight.  It  may  be 
profitable  briefly  to  recall  the  history  of  the 
matter.  A  daughter  of  Mr.  Keet  died  in  May, 
1874,  and  was  buried  in  the  grounds  of  the 
parish  church  at  Owston  Ferry,  England. 
A  stone  was  erected  over  the  grave,  and  an 
inscription  was  about  to  be  placed  upon  it 
wherein  the  deceased  was  described  as  the 
daughter  of  "  Reverend  H.  Keet,  Wesleyan 
minister."  But  the  rector  of  the  parish 
interfered.  His  permission,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, was  necessary,  and  he  gave  it 
except  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  word 
Reverend.  This  he  would  not  allow.  An 
appeal  was  then  made  to  the  Consistory 
Court  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  in  the 
form  of  an  application  for  a  faculty  for  the 
completion  of  the  tombstone  and  the  desired 
inscription.  But  the  application  was  re- 
fused. Thence  the  case  was  taken  to  the 
Arches  Court,  in  London,  and  the  Dean, 
Sir  Robert  Phillimore,  rendered  a  judgment, 


September  13,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


231 


also   adverse  to   the  appellant.     Rev.    Mr. 
Keet,  not  satisfied  with  this  judgment,  car- 
ried  the   case   on   appeal    to   the   Judicial 
Committee  of  the  Privy  Council.     On  the 
2ist  of  January,    1876,    Lord   Cairns,  the 
Lord  Chancellor,  delivered  his  famous  opin- 
ion. His  Lordship  said  that  in  the  judgment 
of  the  Council,  "  Reverend  "    is  not  a  title 
of  honor  or  courtesy  ;  it  is  a  laudatory  epi- 
thet.    It  has  been    used,  not    for   a  great 
length  of  time,  but  for  some  considerable 
time,  by  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land.    It  was  used  in  ancient  times  by  per- 
sons who  were  not  clergy  at  all.     It  has  been 
used,  and  is  used  in  common  parlance  of  so- 
cial intercourse,  by  ministers  of  denomina- 
tions separate  from  the  Church  of  England. 
It  is,  therefore,    impossible  to  treat   it   as 
an  exclusive  possession  of   the  Church  of 
England.     Lord  Cairns  went  on  to  say,  "If 
ever  there  was  a  case  in  which  no  possible 
misunderstanding  could  arise,  it  would  be 
here,  where  on  the  face  of  the  inscription 
it  appears  exactly  what  was  meant.     There 
are  appended  to  the  name  of  Henry  Keet 
the  words  '  Wesleyan  Minister.'     There  is 
no  pretense  to  the  position  of  ordained  min- 
ister in  the  Church  of  England.     The  state- 
ment  is   one  which   claims  nothing   more 
than  what  is  actually  the  fact.    Their  Lord- 
ships are  therefore  of  opinion  that  a  faculty 
should  issue  for  the  erection   of  the  tomb- 
stone in  question."    In  consequence  of  this 
judgment  the  vicar  of  Little  Petherick,  St. 
Issey,   Cornwall,  in  an  advertisement  in  a 
Plymouth     newspaper,     requested      corre- 
spondents to  address  him  in  future  as  G.  W. 
Manning.     He    added,     "  Correspondents 
who  prefix  to  his  name  the  now  desecrated 
epithet  of  '  Reverend '  will  please  not  to  be 
offended   if  he  rejects  their  letters."     The 
Guardian  also  stated  that  its  publisher  has 
received  several   applications  from  clerical 
subscribers  that  they  might  be  no  longer  ad- 
dressed as  "  Reverend."     They  desired  to 
be  styled  Rector  or  Vicar,  as  the  case  might 
be,  without  the  ordinary  prefix.     The  case 
raised  no  little  excitement  among  the  clergy 
of  the  Establishment,   but  at  the  latest  ad- 
vices the  breeze  had  blown  over,  and  they 
were  content  to  be  known  as  Reverends,  as 
of  old.  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


HIGHBINDER. 

The  highbinder  is  to  a  court  of  the  six 
companies,  what  a  Danite  was  to  the  Mor- 
mon Church.  Practically,  every  Chintman 
brought  to  the  United  States  is  a  peon  of 
some  one  of  the  six  companies  who  import 
Chinese  under  contract.  The  fortunate  or 
unfortunate  celestial  who  emigrates  from 
China  is,  in  the  majority  of  instances,  a 
prisoner  from  the  moment  he  falls  into  the 
clutches  of  the  companies.  In  consideration 
for  his  passage  he  agrees  to  pay  the  company 
exporting  him  a  sum  many  times  the  actual 
cost  of  the  passage  money.  When  he 
reaches  San  Francisco,  he  is  placed  in  charge 
of  a  "boss,"  to  whom  he  is  responsible. 
Until  the  stipulated  amount  is  repaid,  every 
dollar  he  earns  must  be  given  up,  and  when- 
ever he  is  idle  he  is  supported  by  the  com- 
pany, which  charges  him  no  small  sum 
therefor.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  system 
of  peonage,  and  properly  discipline  any  re- 
calcitrant peon,  the  Hoey  or  Chinese  court 
was  established  by  the  six  companies.  This 
court  exercised  the  power  of  life  or  death 
over  its  victims,  and  the  officer  appointed  to 
execute  the  sentence  of  the  Hoey  is  the  high- 
binder. The  word  has  been  in  use  for 
many  years,  but  was  applied  to  the  Chinese 
assassins,  I  think,  in  1868,  by  a  San  Fran- 
cisco journal.  A  highbinder  knows  no  au- 
thority save  that  of  the  Hoey,  and  in  more 
than  one  instance  he  has  followed  his  victim 
across  the  continent  in  order  to  carry  out 
its  fiat.  W.  WARDLAW. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


ANCIENT   IMPRINT-BEARING  STONES. 

The  Philadelphia  Times  lately  related  the 
discovery,  at  the  Mardingham  quarry,  near 
Fort  Dodge,  of  a  shelf  of  rock  bearing 
seven  prints  of  a  gigantic  foot,  apparently 
a  human  foot,  although  the  nails  are  unusu- 
ally long  and  the  toes  rather  short  and  wide 
apart. 

By  the  side  of  these,  there  are  marks  sim- 
ilar to  those  that  might  have  been  made  by 
the  dragging  of  a  club  over  the  rock. 

This  beats  Mohammed's  and  Adam's  re 
spective  footprints,   with  six  to  spare  ;  and 
St.  Patrick  himself  will  have  to  look  to  his 
laurels  wherever  he  left  but  one  mark  of  his 


232 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  13,  1890. 


passage,  as  on  Lullymore  island  (County 
Kildare),  at  Skerries  (County  Dublin),  in 
County  Antrim  and  several  others. 

Some  of  these  are  simply  natural  depres- 
sions representing  by  a  mere  coincidence 
something  like  a  human  foot;  others  are 
probably  a  token  of  the  ardor  and  zeal  of 
the  new  converts,  who  wished  to  have  a  last- 
ing memorial  of  the  place  where  the  new 
religion  was  preached  to  them,  and  carved 
the  image  of  their  ap6stle's  foot  on  the  ac- 
tual spot  where  he  stood  when  he  addressed 
them. 

Why,  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  royalty 
did  as  much,  even  for  King  George  IV,  to 
perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  the  very 
stone  on  which  he  stepped  ashore  at  Howth 
harbor  when  he  visited  Ireland  some  seventy 
years  ago ! 

But  the  saint  has  better  than  that  on  his 
record.  American  tourists,  rambling  on  the 
Kells  road,  a  couple  of  miles  from  Kilken- 
ny, have  only  to  ask  for  "  Glun  Padraig," 
or  "  Patrick's  Knees."  These  impresses 
are  worn  out  by  the  water  on  the  limestone 
rock  common  to  this  locality,  and  bear  (or 
bore)  a  wonderful  resemblance  to  the  marks 
left  by  a  man  who  would  have  knelt,  with 
his  two  knees,  on  soft  yielding  material. 

Regarding  our  own  Mardingham  quarry 
find,  the  opinion  of  some  competent  au- 
thority would  be  interesting. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


IS  E 


B  S. 


Itasca. — Can  you  tell  me  if  the  derivation 
of  Itasca  (lake)  from  the  Latin  veritas  caput 
has  the  sanction  of  good  authority? 

M.  S. 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

I  do  not  think  there  is  the  slightest  founda- 
tion for  such  clumsy  derivation.  VeriTAS 
CAput  does  not  mean  "  true  source" — it  does 
not  mean  anything,  for  that  matter.  Forty 
years  ago  Itaska  was  the  more  common 
form  in  which  the  word  appeared,  and  many 
good  authorities  still  adhere  to  this  form. 
Indian  words  having  a  similar  termination 
are  very  common  in  Canada,  and  on  an 
ordinary  school  atlas  I  find  Kamouaska, 


Athabaska,  Capimiscaw,  Nepiscaw,  Cami- 
puscaw,  Agoomska  and  Madawasca.  My 
impression  is  that  Itaska  belongs  in  the  same 
list.  Wi,H  Prof.  Chamberlain  kindly  en- 
lighten ds  ?  J.  W.  REDWAY. 


REPLIES. 


Ireland's  Eye  (Vol.  v,  p.  221).  —  In  Ire- 
land this  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  place 
names  implanted  by  the  Danes  along  the 
coast,  though  (I  must  say)  it  is  much  nearer 
to  the  Icelandic  ey  or  the  Anglo-Saxon  ig, 
ey  than  to  the  Danish  o.  In  any  case  the 
root  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  languages  of 
Northern  Europe  and  means  an  island. 

In  England,  Eyam  (for  Ey-hara),  Ey- 
worth,  Eywick,  Ely  (in  all  of  which,  by  the 
way,  the  syllable  in  question  is  pronounced 
"  eye  ")  tell  the  same  tale  ;  so  do  Battersea 
(Peter's  island),  Jersey  (Caesar's),  Swansea 
(Sweyn's),  Sheppey,  etc. 

The  very  word  island  (for  inland  with  an 
absurd  s  thrown  in  the  bargain)  and  its  di- 
minutive eyot  contain  the  same  root  ;  and 
need  I  add  that,  once  upon  a  time,  our  own 
Rhode,  Barn,  Coney  and  other  islands,  were 
known  as  Roode  Eylandt,  Beeren  Eylandt, 
Conynen  Eylandt,  etc.?  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Highest  Waterfall  in  the  World  (Vol.  v,  p. 
218).  —  What  is  the  matter  with  Yosemite 
Falls?  Merced  river,  in  three  plunges,  falls 
2600  feet.  Bridal  Veil  Fall,  the  chief  of 
the  three,  falls  1600  feet  in  one  leap.  In 
autumn,  when  the  volume  of  the  river  is 
greatly  reduced,  the  water  reaches  the  pool 
of  this  cascade  in  the  form  of  a  fine  spray. 
F.  T.  C.  should  give  home  industries  a 
chance.  J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


TO 


Monkey-wrench.  —  What  is  the  origin 
of  this  name  for  an  adjustable  wrench  ? 
Some  of  the  newspapers  state  that  the  name 
is  derived  from  the  inventor,  Mr.  Monkey, 
or  Muncke,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  The  "Cen- 
tury Dictionary  "  does  not  explain  the  ori- 
gin of  the  term.  *  *  * 


September  13,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


233 


Lingua  Franca. — Are  there  dictiona- 
ries or  grammars  of  the  lingua  franca  of  the 
crusading  days,  or  of  the  centuries  of  the 
early  Levantine  commerce?  One  would 
think  that  a  knowledge  of  that  form  of 
speech  would  explain  many  anomalies  of 
West  European  word  development. 

B.  D.  P. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Cambuscan. — Is  not  this  name,  re- 
cently queried  by  a  correspondent,  another 
form  of  Genghis  Kahn  ?  OROG. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Jutes. — Are  there  at  present  any  people 
called  Jutes,  living  in  Jutland,  or  in  its  vi- 
cinity? S.  P.  Q.  R. 

CINCINNATI,  O. 

Runaway  Pond. — Where  can  I  find 
an  account  of  the  Runaway  Pond  of  Glover, 
Vermont  ?  It  seems  to  have  been  a  lakelet 
of  glacial  origin,  kept  in  place  by  a  moraine- 
dam  of  gravel.  Some  one  made  a  cut  in 
the  moraine,  and  the  whole  lake  left  its  bed 
at  once,  spreading  destruction  for  many 
mjjes.  I  have  not  read  an  account  of  it  for 
many  years,  and  would  like  to  verify  my 
recollection  of  what  seemed  in  my  early 
days  like  the  story  of  a  very  marvelous 
event.  W.  J.  LACK. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

©OMMUNIGAJfllONS. 


No  Man's  Land  (Vol.  v,  pp.  226,  etc.). 
— Areas  to  which  this  name  is  applied  are 
not  uncommon  in  the  United  States.  Be- 
sides the  strip  north  of  Texas,  there  is 
another  similar  area  in  the  south-western  part 
of  Indian  Territory  between  North  and  Prai- 
riedog  forks  of  Red  river,  claimed  both  by 
Texas  and  the  United  States.  This  area  is 
called  Greer  county,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  inhabitants  enjoy  the  same  political 
rights  as  those  of  any  recognized  portion  of 
the  State  of  Texas.  Greer  county  is  a  part 
of  the  Louisiana  purchase,  and,  at  the  time 
of  the  purchase,  it  is  highly  probable  that 
neither  Uncle  Sam  nor  the  King  of  Spain 
possessed  any  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
topography  and  drainage  of  the  country. 


According  to  the  treaty  of  1819,  it  was 
agreed  that  "  the  boundary  between  the 
two  countries  west  of  the  Mississippi  shall 
begin  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Sabine  river  in  the  sea,  continuing 
north  along  the  western  bank  of  that  river 
to  the  thirty-second  degree  of  latitude, 
thence  by  a  line  due  north  to  the  latitude 
where  it  strikes  the  Rio  Roxo  of  Natchitoches 
(Red  river),  then  following  the  course  of  the 
Rio  Roxo  westward  to  the  looth  degree  of 
west  longitude  *  *  *  the  whole  as  laid 
down  in  Melish's  map  of  the  United  States, 
published  at  Philadelphia,  improved  to  Jan- 
uary i,  1818."  Now  Melish's  map  not  only 
locates  the  looth  meridian  eighty-two  miles 
too  far  eastward,  but  it  also  places  Red 
river  too  far  south  by  fifty  miles.  When 
the  looth  meridian  was  properly  located 
matters  were  left  in  a  state  of  confusion. 
Nearly  fifty  miles  east  of  the  meridian  the 
river  forks,  and  which  of  the  forks  is  the 
main  stream  it  is  impossible  to  tell. 
Melish's  map  shows  that  the  treaty  could 
not  have  contemplated  either  fork,  and  this 
is  the  only  thing  the  map  shows  with  cer- 
tainty. Melish  innocently  admits  having 
never  surveyed  or  even  seen  the  region,  say- 
ing that  it  had  been  delineated  from  Pike's 
explorations.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
Pike  never  visited  the  region  in  dispute. 
J.  W.  RED  WAY. 

There  are  no  fewer  than  four  other  small 
places  of  that  name  in  England,  respectively 
in  Devon,  Essex,  Chester  and  Hants. 

A  remarkable  "no  man's  land  "  is  Island 
No.  74  on  the  Mississippi  (mentioned  in 
Prof.  Redway's  paper  before  the  Engineers' 
Club  of  Philadelphia*),  probably  the  only 
territory  within  the  United  States  and  not 
of  it.  True,  it  has  an  owner,  but  it  belongs 
to  no  State,  county  or  township.  It  appears 
that  "According  to  the  enactment,  whereby 
the  States  of  Arkansas  and  Mississippi  were 
created,  the  river  boundary  of  the  former 
extends  to  midstream ;  that  of  the  latter,  to 
midchanneL  Herein  is  the  difficulty.  A 
dissipated  freshet  turned  the  current  against 
the  Mississippi  bank,  and  shifted  the  former 
position  of  midchannel  many  rods  to  the 

*  May  17,  1890. 


234 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.     [September  13,  1890. 


eastward,  so  that  the  fortunate  or  unfortu- 
nate owner  found  his  possessions  lying  be- 
yond both  the  midriver  point  of  Arkansas 
and  the  midchannel  line  of  Mississippi." 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

There  is  an  account  of  another  "  No  Man's 
Land"  in  Stow's  "Survey  of  London." 
In  1348,  when  a  great  pestilence  was  raging 
in  England,  and  the  church-yards  were  not 
sufficient  to  receive  the  dead,  Ralph  Strat- 
ford, Bishop  of  London,  purchased  a  piece 
of  ground  called  "  No  Man's  Land,"  which 
he  enclosed  with  a  wall  of  brick,  and  dedi- 
cated for  the  burial  of  the  dead.  In  Stow's 
time  (1598),  this  was  in  the  suburbs  of  Lon- 
don, and  was  known  as  "Pardon  Church- 
yard." E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Pets  of  Distinguished  People  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  154,  etc.).— -James  Hogg's  Collie, 
Hector. — Honest  Hector,  the  peerless  col- 
lie of  the  Ettrick  Shepherd,  was  accidentally 
shot  by  his  own  master.  He  is  immortalized 
in  that  earlier  series  of  papers,  entitled 
"Christopher  in  the  Tent,"  which  is  in- 
troduced as  prefatory  to  the  "  Noctes  Am- 
brosianae."  The  closing  number  contains 
the  account  of  Hector's  death  and  burial, 
also  the  two  epitaphs  ;  the  one  in  Latin  by 
Bachelor  Buller  of  Brazennose  (John 
Hughes),  and  the  other  in  Greek  with  full 
Latin  notes,  by  Dr.  Parr,  who  was  not  more 
famous  for  his  pedantry  and  egotism,  than 
for  his  buzzwig.  Hogg  himself  declined  to 
write  an  epitaph,  saying,  "  I  can  make  nae 
epitaphs  the  noo.  I'se  leave  that  to  them 
that  has  met  wi  nae  loss — puir  Hector." 
Hogg  himself  was  buried  in  the  ancient 
kirkyard  of  Ettrick,  and  the  plain  stone 
which  marks  his  grave  bears  only  a  simple 
inscription,  indicating  the  date  and  place  of 
his  birth  and  death.  But  Prof.  Wilson,  as 
Christopher  North,  in  1824,  had  thus  pre- 
dicted concerning  the  future  fame  of  Hogg : 
"  My  beloved  Shepherd,  some  half  century 
hence,  your  effigy  will  be  seen  on  some 
bonny  green  knowl  in  the  forest,  with  its 
honest  face  looking  across  St.  Mary's  Loch 
and  up  towards  the  Gray  Mare's  Tail,  while 
by  moonlight  all  your  own  fairies  will  dance 


round  its  pedestal."  This  prophecy  was 
fulfilled  not  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
from  the  time  of  the  poet's  death.  In  1860 
"  Auld  Scotland"  erected  a  statue  to  the 
Ettrick  Shepherd,  right  between  those 
famous  lakes,  St.  Mary's  Loch  and  Lowes 
Loch — in  Ettrick  Dale — in  the  midst  of 
that  renowned  and  picturesque  region,  which 
had  been  so  often  the  inspiration  of  the 
poet's  song.  Nor  was  puir,  honest  Hector 
forgotten  in  the  artist's  conception.  "The 
bard  of  Ettrick  is  seated  on  an  oak  root  an 
appropriate  relic  of  the  forest,  and  Hector, 
the  poet's  favorite  dog,  rests  lovingly  at  his 
feet,  with  head  erect,  surveying  the  hills  be- 
hind, as  if  conscious  of  his  duties  in  tend- 
ing the  flocks  during  the  poetic  reverie  of 
his  master."  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Goober  (Vol.  iii,  p.  94). — This  word  is 
almost  exclusively  used  in  Texas  and  the 
Southwest  for  the  nut  commonly  known  in 
the  East  as  the  pea-nut.  Ground-pea  is  also  a 
very  common  and  certainly  a  much  better 
name  than  the  meaningless  one  now  used. 

TROIS  ETOILES. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA.  . 

Devil's  Land  (Vol.  v,  pp.  220,  etc.). — 
Among  the  very  numerous  rocky  islets  in 
the  eastern  part  of  Penobscot  bay,  off  the 
Maine  coast,  there  is  a  high  and  rocky  one 
known  as  Devil's  island. 

The  Orkney  islands,  called  Orcades  by 
the  ancients,  were  once  fancied  to  have  some 
etymological  relationship  to  the  Latin  orcus 
or  hell.  But  most  late  authorities  connect 
the  Latin  name  (and  the  English  also),  with 
the  Latin  orca,  a  whale. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Nickajack  (Vol.  v,  pp.  190,  etc.). — I 
put  no  faith  whatever  in  the  derivation  of 
this  name  from  "Nigger  Jack."  I  believe 
it  to  be  a  Cherokee  word.  The  name 
"Nickajack"  is  given  in  the  Southern 
States  to  a  well-known  and  favorite  variety 
of  the  apple.  The  "Nigger  Jack"  ex- 
planation was  probably  invented  to  fit  the 
word. 

F.  L.  T. 


September  13,  1890.]    AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


235 


The  Russian  Byron  (Vol.  v,  pp.  221, 
etc.). — Alexander  Sorgovitch  Poushkin,  the 
most  celebrated  of  Russian  poets,  has  some- 
times been  called  the  Russian  Byron,  also 
the  Byron  of  the  North,  though,  as  one 
critic  has  remarked,  "  No  epithet  could  be 
less  happily  chosen,  or  more  inadequately 
contribute  to  a  true  estimate  of  his  genius." 

At  the  time  Poushkin  first  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Lord  Byron's  works,  he  was 
living  an  exile  in  Southern  Russia,  having 
narrowly  escaped  a  sentence  to  Siberia,  be- 
cause those  live  poems  of  his,  "  The  Ode  to 
Liberty"  and  "The  Christmas  Tale,"  had 
caught  the  attention  of  the  censors  of  the 
press.  The  exile  poet,  though  only  just  on 
the  threshold  of  manhood,  was  already  a 
person  of  the  most  strongly  marked  indi- 
viduality ;  he  was,  too,  smarting  under  a 
keen  sense  of  injustice  ;  besides,  his  genius 
bore  some  striking  points  of  resemblance  to 
that  of  the  noble  English  poet.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  a  matter  of  wonder,  that  Byron's 
brilliant  effusions  should  have  awakened  a 
response  in  a  mind  so  congenial,  or  that 
they  should  have  been  a  source  of  consola- 
tion to  the  wanderer,  through  their  spirit  of 
resistance  to  arbitrary  exercise  of  power. 

"  The  Day-Star  hath  Sunk,"  "The  Ode 
to  the  Sea ' '  which  was  written  on  the  eve 
of  his  departure  from  Odessa,  and  "The 
Fountain  of  Bakhchisarai,"  were  among  the 
productions  of  the  period  of  exile  and  wan- 
dering (1820-1824),  and  reflect  most 
strongly,  it  is  said,  the  Byronic  influence ; 
the  last  of  the  three  poems  named  is  thought 
to  resemble  "The  Corsair." 

But   this   influence   was  suddenly   swept 
,way  by  the   study   of  Shakespeare,    whose 
genius,  when  compared  with  Lord  Byron's, 
offers  the  strongest  contrast  in  literature,  by 
reason  of  its  many  sidedness. 

Nevertheless,  some  critics  saw  another 
"  Don  Juan  "  in  the  "Eugene  Onyegin," 
the  first  canto  of  which  appeared  in  1825. 
There  may  be  some  slight  resemblance  in 
the  outline  and  plan  of  the  two  poems,  and 
both  are  pervaded  by  a  satirical  tone  of 
thought ;  but  Poushkin's  satire  is  directed 
only  at  the  fashionable  society  of  Russia. 
As,  however,  other  critics  liken  it  to  "  Childe 
Harold,"  and  the  poet  himself  to  "  Beppo," 
the  resemblance  cannot  be  strongly  defined. 


The  "  Poltava,"  published  in  1828,  should 
have  been  called  ' '  Mazepa ; "  it  was  not,  how- 
ever, lest  it  should  be  confounded  with  the 
"  Mazeppa  "  of  Lord  Byron.  The  two  works 
are  as  unlike  as  possible,  except  that  the  hero 
of  both  is  one  and  the  same  personage. 
The  "Poltava,"  which isa  narrative  poem,  is 
a  most  faithful  version  of  the  real  history  of 
the  romantic  life  of  the  hero,  Mr.  Tritman 
Mazeppa.  Poushkin  reminds  one  of  Byron 
in  his  numberless  allusions  to  the  happiness 
and  the  friendships  of  his  school  days  at 
the  Trarskoe  Selo.  A  distinguished  English 
critic  and  Russian  scholar  has  disposed  of 
the  comparison  between  Byron  and  Poush- 
kin as  follows :  "  We  give  the  strongest  possi- 
ble denial  to  a  fallacious  opinion,  useless  to 
the  glory  of  one  great  man,  and  injurious 
to  the  just  fame  of  the  other,  viz.,  that 
Poushkin  can  be  called  in  any  sense  an  im- 
itator ot  Lord  Byron." 

Poushkin  was  born  in  1799,  eleven  years 
after  Lord  Byron,  and  was  in  his  thirty- 
eighth  year  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

"  Whom  the  gods  love  die  young." 

Like  all  men  of  the  higher  order  of  intel- 
lect, as  "  Scott,  Cervantes  and  Michel  An- 
gelo,  Poushkin  was  endowed  with  a  vigor- 
ous and  mighty  organization,  bodily  as  well 
as  mentally,"  and  should  have  lived  as  long 
as  they,  but  he  fell  a  victim  to  what  in  his 
soul  was  the  ungovernable  passion  of  jealousy. 

Poushkin  was  the  author  of  several  prose 
tales,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  writ- 
ing the  "  History  of  Peter  the  Great." 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CT. 

Norumbega  (Vol.  v,  pp.  70,  etc.). — In 
the  September  number  of  The  Dial,  of  Chi- 
cago, Mr.  Julius  E.  Olson  calls  the  attention 
of  scholars  to  Weise's opinion,  first  published 
in  1884,  that  Norumbega  stood  on  the  Hud- 
son river.  He  thinks  the  name  a  form  of 
the  obsolete  French  anorme  berge,  "  the 
enormous  scarp,"  and  that  it  has  reference 
to  the  Palisades  along  the  west  bank  of  the 
lower  Hudson.  The  authorities  and  pas- 
sages cited  in  The  Dial  appear  to  me  to  de- 
serve the  special  attention  of  students  of 
our  early  history.  ILDERIM. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


236 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  13,  1890. 


Rakestale.  —  Country  people  call  the 
handle  of  a  haymaker's  rake,  the  rakestale. 
Stale  is  here,  I  doubt  not,  the  Dutch  steel, 
a  handle.  But  popular  etymology  has 
changed  rakestale  into  rake's  tail ;  and  you 
•will  find  some  intelligent  farmers  speaking  of 
the  /a/'/of  a  rake ;  but  others,  more  correctly, 
but  probably  with  no  more  intelligence,  call 
the  rake's  handle  the  stale. 

Plough-tail,  I  suspect,  is  in  like  manner 
the  representative  of  plough-stale. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Easter  Island  (Vol.  v,  p.  222). — In 
regard  to  Easter  Island  idols,  I  have  to  add 
that  after  I  had  written  the  article  which  is 
in  press,  a  friend  of  mine  sent  tracings  of 
one  or  two  of  these  effigies,  which  appeared 
with  a  description  in  frank  Leslie's  Sunday 
Magazine,  Vol.  vi,  July-December,  1879. 
Illustrations,  p.  673  ;  text  or  description, 
p.  680.  As  doubtless  these  reproductions  are 
correct,  the  heads  and  faces  and  facial  an- 
gles are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the 
goddess  Centeotl,  the  Aztec  deity  presiding 
over  agriculture  or  abundance,  which  "were 
dug  out  of  a  teoculli  or  house  of  the  gods  " 
near  Toluca,  in  Mexico.  Major-General — 
then  Major — John  WalcottPhelps,  U.  S.  A., 
of  Vermont,  who  served  in  Mexico  during 
the  War  of  1646-48,  obtained  it  there,  sent 
it  to  me,  and  I  placed  it  in  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  It  is  of  basalt,  or  some 
other  dark  volcanic  stone.  Originally  .it 
had  jewels  in  the  ears  and  elsewhere  which 
had  been  broken  out.  It  is  seated  in  exactly 
the  position  that  the  Mexican  Indian  women 
assume  even  at  this  day.  Such  authentic 
idols  are  rare  because  the  Roman  Catholic 
priests  cause  them  to  be  broken  up  as  soon  as 
discovered,  since  they  distract  the  worship  of 
their  Indian  flocks  from  modern  images  in 
the  churches,  and  the  natives  continue  to 
worship  the  old  gods  secretly  in  preference. 
This  resemblance  between  the  pictures  of 
the  Easter  Island  idols,  and  the  Aztec 
Centeotl  gives  rise  to  the  question  whether 
-or  not  I  was  perfectly  correct  in  taking  the 
ground  that  the  former  were  the  work  of 
emigrants  or  fugitives  from  the  Asiatic 
islands  and  Southeastern  Asia,  who  stopped 
at  Easter  Island — sojourned  there  long 


enough  to  carve  and  set  up  their  deities,  and 
construct  sacred  buildings ;  then  continued 
on  to  plant  their  religion,  develop  it  and 
communicate  their  ideas  to  the  natives  of 
Mexico  —  particularly  Youcatan — Central 
America  and  the  nations  along  the  western 
coast  of  South  America.  This  is  theory, 
but  is  it  not  a  theory  based  on  strong 
probability,  borne  out  by  the  doctrine  of 
resemblances  ?  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Rivers  Flowing  Inland  (Vol.v,  pp.  202, 
etc.). — In  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  for 
August  9,  1890,  there  is  an  allusion  by 
"  G.  H.  G."  to  my  description  of  the  re- 
markable inflow  of  sea  water  at  Argostoli, 
which  is  there  spoken  of  as  an  ingenious 
misdescription.  I  do  not  know  what  E. 
Reclus  makes  of  it,  but  I  have  been  twice 
to  see  it  and  the  second  time  was  a.  visit 
made  for  the  purpose  of  describing  it, 
which  I  did  with  the  greatest  exactitude. 
The  "  inward  flowing  current  one  mile  in 
width "  has  no  existence  except  in  the 
imagination  of  some  one  who  described  it 
from  the  account  of  some  one  else.  It  is  in 
no  part,  I  am  confident,  ten  feet  wide,  and  if 
I  were  not  afraid  to  understate  the  fact,  I 
should  say  that  a  man  could  jump  over  it  at 
any  point.  It  is  in  fact  no  stream  at  all,  but 
a  cleft  in  the  rocky  shore  of  the  bay  of 
Argostoli,  below  where  the  lake  discharges 
into  it,  I  should  say  not  a  hundred  yards 
long  from  the  shore  to  the  end  of  the 
crevice,  and  the  inflow  current  is  barely 
able  to  drive  an  undershot-wheel  mill.  The 
bay  of  Argostoli  is  a  remarkable  natural 
port,  one  of  the  best  in  the  Mediterranean 
and  has  an  entrance  from  the  west,  while 
the  long  bay  lies  north  and  south.  At  the 
southern  end  of  the  basin  in  which  it  lies 
there  is  a  remarkable  assemblage  of  springs 
which  gush  from  under  the  mountain,  and 
after  collecting  in  a  body  flow  into  the  bay 
through  a  somewhat  narrow  passage  over 
which  is  thrown  the  bridge  that  carries  the 
road  to  the  interior.  To  the  south  of  this 
bridge  the  water  is  fresh,  but  it  gradually 
mingles  with  the  sea  water  of  the  bay.  It  is 
therefore  barely  correct  to  call  it  a  lake,  but 
river  it  is  not,  and  there  is  nothing  like  a 
river  in  the  island.  The  brook  I  describe 


September  13,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


237 


may  be  seen  by  any  one  on  the  east  coast  of 
the  island  between  Same  and  the  south- 
eastern cape.  The  author  of  the  article  in 
Smith's  classical  dictionary  evidently  knew 
less  of  the  island  than  I  do,  as  I  have 
coasted  round  it  and  nearly  been  ship- 
wrecked on  it  and  have  crossed  and  re- 
crossed  it.  When  E.  Reclus  talks  of  a  river 
it  is  evident  that  he  wrote  from  hearsay. 
What  may  be  mistaken  in  the  cut  or  by  the 
artist  for  the  "inward-flowing  river"  is 
evidently  the  bay  itself.  To  the  south  of 
the  main  cleft  in  the  shore,  which  is  that 
generally  spoken  of,  there  is  a  minor  one  on 
which  it  was  attempted  to  build  a  mill  be- 
tween my  two  visits,  I  judge,  for  I  heard 
nothing  of  it  at  the  first,  but  the  inflow  was 
not  enough  to  work  it.  I  should  judge  that 
the  shore  at  that  part  was  irregularly  cleft 
for  a  considerable  distance  and  that  the 
water  which  finds  its  way  down  into  the 
crevices  goes  to  feed  some  of  the  motors  of 
the  earthquakes  so  common  in  that  part  of 
the  world,  but  the  quantity  is  not  great,  and 
to  call  it  a  river  is  a  ridiculous  exaggeration 
— it  is  hardly  a  respectable  brook. 

W.  J.  STILLMAN. 
NOCERA  DI  UMBRIA. 

Singular  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  p.  48). 
—  Catnip  is  a  station  in  tha  Blue-grass  coun- 
try of  Kentucky.  In  this  State  are  Tiptop, 
Cat  Creek,  Pine  Knot,  Mud  Lick. 

Maine  has  Wytopitiock,  Me.ddybcmps, 
Saccarappa. 

Georgia  has  a  Cooler's  Hill. 

Pennsylvania  has  a  June  Bug,  Shacka- 
maxon,  Lackawaxen,  Nockamixon,  Lacka- 
wack,  Wysox,  Gum  Stiimp,  Wapwallopen. 

Mississippi  has  Guntown,  Bobo,  Mud 
Creek. 

North  Carolina,  Goose  Nest,  Knap  of 
Reeds,  Helton,  Toe  River,  Troublesome. 

New  York,  Nobody' s,  Horseheads,  Cat- 
fish. 

Washington  (State),  has  Muck,  Jump-off- 
Joe  (lake),  Kumtax. 

Iowa  has  Correctionville ,  Nodaway,  Sny 
Magill.  • 

Florida,  Pinhook. 

Texas  has  Gall. 

West  Virginia,  Mouth  of  Buffalo,  Mouth 
of  Pigeon. 


Wyoming  has  a  Miser,  Chugwater. 

Ohio  has  Gambrinus,  Gore. 

Wisconsin  has  a  Kick  Busch,  Left  Foot 
Lake. 

Tennessee  has  Mouth  of  Doe,  Mouth  of 
Wolf. 

Idaho,  Gimlet. 

Ontario  has  a.  Jelly,  Middlemiss. 

Newfoundland  has  Heart's  Content, 
Heart's  Desire,  Heart's  Delight  and 
Hearf  s  Ease. 

Height  of  Popocatepetl  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
175,  etc.). — "The  height  of  Popocatepetl 
was  recorded  by  Alexander  von  Humboldt, 
in  1804,  as  17,720  feet.  Several  measure- 
ments have  been  made  since  the  date  of  the 
trigonometrical  observations  of  the  distin- 
guished German  traveler,  and  with  re- 
sults varying  from  17,200  feet  to  somewhat 
over  18,000  feet.  Prof.  Heilprin's  meas- 
urements give  17,523  feet,  or  200  feet 
less  than  the  estimate  of  Humboldt,  as  cor- 
rected by  his  astronomical  associate,  Olt- 
manns.  The  significant  fact,  however, 
pointed  out,  that  while  geographers  have  al- 
most universally  accepted  Humboldt's  de- 
terminations and  figures,  they  have  neglect- 
ed to  take  account  of  the  newer  data  which 
have  been  made  available  through  the  level- 
ing of  the  Mexican  Railway,  which  was 
constructed  a  few  years  since.  These  show 
that  the  estimate  of  the  elevation  of  the 
City  of  Mexico  (7470  feet)  and  of  the  ad- 
joining plateaus,  which  have  served  as  a  basis 
for  most  of  the  angle  measurements  of  the 
mountains,  have  been  placed  1 23  feet  too 
high.  Allowing  for  this  excess,  a  striking 
correspondence  is  established  between  the 
early  measurements  and  those  obtained  in 
the  spring  of  the  year  by  the  Philadelphia 
expedition. 

"The  ascent  of  the  peak  was  made  on 
the  1 6th  and  i7th  of  April  by  Prof.  Heil- 
prin  and  Mr.  F.  C.  Baker,  the  rim  of  the 
crater  being  reached  at  11.30  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  i7th,  and  the  culminat- 
ing point  early  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day.  Little  difficulty  was  encountered  in 
the  ascent  beyond  that  which  is  due  to  the 
inconvenience  arising  from  the  highly  rari- 
fied  atmosphere.  The  snow  field  was  found 
to  be  of  limited  extent,  and  not  more  than 


23S 


AMERICAN  NOTES   AND  QUERIES.     [September  13,  1890. 


from  five  to  ten  feet  in  depth,  and  was  vir- 
tually absent  from  the  apex  of  the  mountain. 
The  surprisingly  mild  temperature  of  the 
summit,  forty-five  degrees  Fahrenheit,  ren- 
dered a  stay  of  several  hours  in  cloudland 
very  delightful. 

"  All  the  observations  were  made  by  means 
of  a  carefully  tested  aneroid  barometer,  and 
the  data  computed  from  almost  simultaneous 
observations  made  at  the  Mexican  Central 
Observatory  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  and 
from  barometric  readings  made  at  the  sea 
level  at  Vera  Cruz.  The  equable  condition 
of  the  atmosphere  at  the  time  these  observa- 
tions were  made  rendered  the  possibility  of 
the  occurrence  of  possible  errors  of  magni- 
tude almost  nil." — Philadelphia  Ledger. 

It  appears  to  the  present  writer  to  be 
no  more  than  just  to  Prof.  Heilprin,  that 
attention  should  be  specially  called  to  the 
correction  of  all  previous  measurements  now 
rendered  possible  for  the  first  time  by  the 
railway  levels  from  the  sea  to  the  valley  of 
Mexico.  Taking  Humboldt's  figures  as 
corrected  by  his  friend  Oltmanns,  and  then 
applying  this  second  correction,  his  meas- 
urement exceeds  that  of  Prof.  Heilprin 
by  only  seventy-four  feet.  Of  course  baro- 
metrical readings  are  not  absolutely  final, 
nor  are  railway  levels  ever  ideally  perfect, 
but  it  seems  in  view  of  the  facts  as  published, 
that  it  is  not  quite  fair  nor  wise  to  put 
aside  Prof.  Heilprin's  figures  as  "unworthy" 
of  consideration.  P.  J.  L. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  2  23,  etc.). — 
Many  years  since  there  was  much  discussion 
in  the  newspapers  about  the  drainage  of 
Beaver  lake,  in  Newton  county,  Indiana. 
I  see  that  the  lake  is  still  represented  on  the 
maps,  and  I  suppose,  therefore,  that  the  in- 
tended drainage  was  never  carried  into  effect. 

Lake  Copais,  in  Bceotia,  has  a  natural 
drainage  through  Katavothra,  or  under- 
ground channels,  which  are  liable  to  become 
choked.  The  ancients  supplemented  the 
natural  drainage  by  attempts  at  clearing  and 
multiplying  the  natural  outlets ;  and  quite 
recently  engineering  works  have  been  under- 
taken which  promise  to  render  cultivable  at 
least  50,000  acres  of  marsh  and  mere;  and 


no  doubt  the  benefit  to  public  health  will 
fully  justify  the  proposed  outlay  of  money. 
Reference  may  be  made  to  the  recent  drain- 
age operations  in  Florida.  The  ancient 
Romans,  at  a  very  early  day,  cut  a  wonder- 
fully fine  and  costly  emissarium  or  tunnel, 
for  the  waters  of  the  Alban  lake ;  and 
though  they  did  not  succeed  in  draining  the 
lake,  they  gave  it  an  outlet  and  thus  pre- 
vented the  flooding  of  its  valley.  But  by 
far  the  most  wonderful  piece  of  successful 
lake  drainage  on  record  is  afforded  by  the 
reclamation  of  the  great  Haarlemermeer  in 
the  Netherlands,  concerning  which  the  guide 
books  and  cyclopaedias  will  give  your  read- 
ers ample  information.  It  has  since  been 
proposed  to  drain  the  Zuyder  Zee  itself.  In 
the  New  World,  there  are  many  naturally 
drained  lake  basins.  Geographers  have 
named  one  of  these  Lake  Lahontan.  Its 
relics  are  mostly  in  Nevada — the  Pyramid, 
Carson,  Walker,  Humboldtand  Winnemuc- 
ca  lakes,  with  Honey  lake  in  California. 
It  was  over  260  miles  long.  Another  greater 
lake  was  that  which  has  been  called  Lake  Bon- 
neville,  which  was  over  300  miles  long  and 
perhaps  150  miles  broad,  covering  nearly 
20,000  square  miles.  Great  Salt  Lake  is 
only  a  comparatively  small  remnant  of  this 
great  inland  sea,  whose  waters  found  an  out- 
let by  way  of  the  Snake  river  and  the 
Columbia.  In  this  it  was  unlike  its  fellow, 
Lake  Lahontan,  which  had  no  outlet.  The 
little  Lake  Alvord,  fn  the  south-east  of  Ore- 
gon (which  is  shallow,  and  occasionally 
dries  up),  represents  a  large,  long  and  very 
deep  prehistoric  lake  of  not  very  remote 
antiquity,  which  had  no  outlet.  In  the 
Mexican  valley  of  Coahuila  there  was  once 
a  large  fresh-water  lake.  Death  Valley,  in 
California,  was  no  doubt  once  a  large  lake. 

SENECA  SNOW. 
HONEOYE  FALLS,  N.  Y. 

Anagrams  (Vol.  v,  pp.  156,  etc.). — 
Adrian  Gilbert  was  temp.  Jacobi  /,  a  cele- 
brated gardener  and  topiarian  in  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke.  On  his 
name,  Taylor,  the  water  poet,  composed  a 
double  anagram,  "  Art  redily  began  a  breed- 
ing tryal."  This  contains  the  gardener's 
name  twice  over.  R.  T.  SMITH. 

UTICA,  N.  Y. 


September  13,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


239 


"The  "  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
214,  etc.).— We  find  The  B 'ague,  Miss.  ;  The 
Gap,  in  Alberta  Territory,  Canada;  The 
Glen,  N.  Y. ;  The  Hill,  New  Brunswick ;  The 
Number  (station),  Ontario  ;  The  Narrows, 
Ark. ;  The  Palms,  Cal.  ;  The  Rock,  Ga., 
W.  Va.  and  Mass.  ;  The  Bay,  La.  ;  The 
Bend,  O. ;  The  Cape,  N.  C.  ;  The  Caves, 
Md. ;  The  Corner,  N.  Y.  ;  The  Forks, 
Me.  and  Neb.  ;  The  Forts,  La. ;  The 
Grove,  111.  and  Tex.  ;  The  Gums,  Miss.  ; 
The  Hollow,  Va.  ;  The  Hook,  N.  Y.  ;  The 
Oaks,  Miss.  ;  The  Plains,  Va.  ;  The  Ridge, 
Ky.  ;  The  Square,  N.  Y.,  and  others.  Most 
of  the  above  are  post-offices;  several  are 
railway  stations.  Besides  the  above,  several 
others  in  the  United  States  have  been  al- 
ready mentioned  in  your  columns. 

SELIM. 

LOUISVILLE. 

Last  Island  (Vol.  v,  p.  220). — Isle  (sic) 
Derniere  is  still  in  existence.  It  is  a  low 
mudspit  subject  to  overflow  during  unusually 
high  tides.  A  severe  storm,  accompanied  by 
a  south-easterly  wind,  such  as  that  which 
wrought  such  havoc  upon  Sabine  Pass  a  few 
years  since,  would  more  than  likely  alter  the 
outlines  of  the  island  to  a  considerable 
extent.  Mr.  Lafcadio  Hearn  lived  upon  the 
island  for  some  time,  and  his  story  does  not 
deviate  materially  from  the  facts  of  the  case. 
As  a  singular  coincidence  it  was  written  in 
the  same  room  in  which  this  note  is  pre- 
pared. J.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Junker. — "A  man  is  in  almost  as  high 
proportion  to  be  a  knave  in  England,  as  a 
knight  in  Germany,  for  there  a  gentleman 
is  called  a  youngciir,  and  a  knight  is  but 
a  youngcur's  man  "  (John  Taylor's"  Three 
Weeks,  Three  Days  and  Three  Hours  Ob- 
servations," 1616).  P.  R.  E. 

I  Shall  be  Satisfied  (Vol.  v,  p.  161).— 
There  is  another  poem  of  this  title,  and  a 
very  excellent  one  it  is  too.  It  occurs  in 
Lucy  Larcom's  compilation,  "Breathings 
of  the  Better  Life,"  p.  265.  Its  author- 
ship is  not  given  there,  and  I  do  not  remem- 
ber to  have  read  the  author's  name  anywhere. 

M.  F.  PARK. 


John  Company  (Vol.  iv,  p.  48). — "  In 
the  interest  of  the  perplexing  '  John  Com- 
pany '  question,  I  contribute  a  recent  letter 
from   Mr.  Rudyard   Kipling,  kindly  loaned- 
me  by  a  friend.    "Mr.  Kipling  writes : 

"  I  reply  to  your  letter  of  24th  ultimo,  I  can  only  sug- 
gest that  the  term  '  John  Company '  arose  in  much  the 
same  manner  as  'Uncle  Sam.'  Both  were  formed 
from  the  initial  letters  of  the  firm  monogram  H.E.I, 
(or  J.)  C. — The  Hon'ble  John  Company  in  the  old 
days,  just  as  U.  S.  was  raised  to  Uncle  Sam.  Colonel 
Yule  in  his  '  Hobson  Jobson '  may  give  you  further 
hints.  I  give  what  I  was  told  for  what  it  is  worth.  It 
is  curious  to  think  that  very  many  natives  in  India  still 
believe  that  the  land  is  governed  by  one  Jan  Kumpani, 
Bahadur,  or  '  Big  Chief  John  Company,"  who  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  husband  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen 
Empress.  Sincerely, 

RUDYARD  KIPLING. 

"In  distinction  to  Mr.  Kipling's  specula- 
tion, is  the  very  clever  argument  supplied  by 
Mr.  Barnwell  of  the  Philadelphia  Library. 
Mr.  Barnwell  suggests  that  the  expression 
came  about  much  after  the  Fashion  of  the 
genesis  of  'John  Chinaman.'  That  John 
being  a  common  and  marvelously  frequent 
English  name  may  have  been  applied  to 
Englishman  after  Englishman,  until  every 
Englishman  was  a  John,  and  naturally  the 
great  company  would  be  spoken  of  as  John 
Company"  (W.  Appleton  Ferree,  in  The 
American,  September  6). 

Prince  Consort's  Family  Name  (Vol. 
iii,  p.  153). — I  find  it  stated  in  a  note- 
book, not  my  own,  that  the  family  name  of  the 
late  Prince  Albert  was  Wetter,  or  Busici- 
Wetter.  But  the  note-book  gives  no  au- 
thority for  the  statement.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Samson  Occom  (alluded  to,  Vol.  iii,  p. 
190). — My  brother  has  a  printed  "  execu- 
tion sermon,"  by  the  Rev.  Samson  Occom, 
delivered  at  the  hanging  of  an  Indian  male- 
factor many  years  ago  in  New  England. 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

State  Line  Towns  (Vol.  v,  p.  219). — 
The  collector  of  the  examples  given  at  the 
above  reference,  seems  to  have  overlooked 
Texline,  which  is,  as  its  name  indicates,  sit- 
uated on  or  near  the  Texas  line. 
VERONA,  ME.  P.  R-  B-  P. 


240 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.     [September  13,  1890. 


City  Poets  (Vol.  v,  p.  221) — The  office 
of  the  City  Poet  of  London  was  to  compose 
the  yearly  "Triumph,"  as  it  is  generally 
styled,  spoken  in  the  pageant  on  Lord 
Mayor's  day.  The  list  includes  some  em- 
inent names  :  George  Peele,  Anthony  Mun- 
day,  Thomas  Dekker,  Thomas  Middleton, 
John  Squire,  John  Webster,  Thomas  Hey- 
wood,  John  Taylor,  Edward  Gayton,  T.  B. 
(name  unknown),  John  Tatham,  Thomas 
Jordan,  Matthew  Taubman  and  Elkanah 
Settle.  To  Settle,  in  this  capacity,  Pope 
alludes  in  the  "Dunciad"  (Book  i,  v.  85- 
90).  With  the  death  of  Settle  the  office 
was  abolished.  Your  correspondent  will 
find  a  very  complete  bibliography  of  these 
"Triumphs,"  with  much  other  interesting 
matter  on  the  Lord  Mayor's  Pageants,  ex- 
tending to  fifty  octavo  pages,  in  the  Gentle- 
men's Magazine  Library,  Vol.  i. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

The  Point  of  View. — How  much  de- 
pends upon  the  angle  at  which,  and  the  dis- 
tance from  which  we  view  things  ?  James 
VI  of  Scotland  was  bred  a  Presbyterian  ; 
and  when  he  was  of  that  faith  he  called  the 
Anglican  Liturgy  "a  mass  ill  said."  But 
when  he  became  James  I,  and  the  head  of 
the  English  Church,  he  declared  that  his  old 
form  of  religion  was  "  no  religion  for  a 
gentleman."  But  James,  though  of  the 
proudest  descent,  did  not  have  the  manners, 
nor  the  character  of  a  true  gentleman  ;  and 
he  was,  therefore,  no  fit  judge  of  the  matter 
he  was  trying  to  decide. 

GAMMA. 

OBERLIN.O. 

Neck.— The  "Century  Diet."  notes  the 
use  of  the  word  neck  as  meaning  a  triangu- 
lar piece  (as  of  land),  a  use  which  it  makes 
local  to  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  South 
Africa.  Along  the  New  England  coast, 
neck  sometimes  means  an  isthmus,  as  in  the 
case  of  Boston  neck.  Much  more  often  it 
signifies  a  peninsula,  or  a  piece  of  land 
joined  to  a  larger  one.  Dozens  of  exam- 
ples of  this  use  of  the  term  could  be  cited. 
I  think  the  New  York  and  New  Jersey  use 
could  be  identified  with  this  of  New  Eng- 
land. 


AND 


In  the  Cosmopolitan  for  September,  "A  Successful 
Man  "  is  the  title  of  what  is  probably  the  brightest 
American  story  —  typically  American  —  which  has  ap- 
peared for  many  years.  It  is  a  story  of  life  prominent 
in  fashion  and  in  politics,  written  by  a  member  of  New 
York's  highest  society  who  displays  a  genius  as  a  writer 
destined  to  make  her  name  famous  —  although  she  sub- 
stitutes a  nom  de  plume  for  her  own  well-known  one. 

"A  Successful  Man"  will  appear  in  two  parts  in  the 
Cosmopolitan  Magazine  —  the  first  in  the  September  issue 

—  and  is  illustrated  by  Harry  McVickar,  the  drawings 
being  made  from   life  from  acting  models  who  were 
guests  and  servants  at  a  Long  Island  country  house. 

A  high  type  of  American  politician  —  a  man  having 
something  of  the  characteristics  of  a  Elaine,  with  a  lit- 
tle of  the  Daniel  Dougherty  perhaps  —  is  brought  by 
chance  into  the  close  society  of  a  Newport  married  belle 

—  one  of  those  women  mated  to  wealth  and  manly 
beauty,  with  keen  sympathies  unsatisfied  by  the  intel- 
lectual calibre  of  her  husband.     Then  comes  a  careful 
study  of  the  self  made  successful   American  —  of   the 
society  girl  of  Newport  drawn  by  one  who  knows  her 
perfectly  at  her  best  and  at  her  worst  —  of  society  not  as 
it  is  imagined,  but  as  it  exists  —  of  the  human  heart  by 
one  who  has  evidently  taken  it  in  her  hand  and  watched 
its  every  pulsation. 

At  every  page  the  story  is  bright  and  clever,  and  we 
are  much  mistaken  if  it  does  not  attract  the  widest  at- 
tention. 

Book  News  (Phila.)  for  September  is  somewhat  lighter 
than  usual,  but  carries  with  it  a  foretaste  of  the  coming 
holidays  in  the  publisher's  list  of  announcements.  Two 
of  the  new  juvenile  books  have  reviews  with  repre- 
sentative pictures  to  set  them  off.  Other  interesting 
illustrations  from  more  of  the  month's  books  lighten 
the  pages.  The  "Notes  from  Boston  "  is  a  new  feature, 
which,  if  continued,  would  soon  enlist  a  circle  of  read- 
ers of  its  own,  such  as  watch  for  and  discuss  "  With 
the  New  Books,"  done  so  well  each  month  by  Mr.  Tal- 
cott  Williams.  Brief  but  comprehensive  biographical 
sketches  are  given  of  the  late  Cardinal  Newman  and 
John  Boyle  O'Reilly,  each  in'  his  life-time  having  added 
a  share  to  the  world  of  letters.  The  portrait  is  of  C. 
M.  Yonge,  the  well-known  writer  of  English  fiction  and 
history. 

The  Illustrated  American  is  now  running  Edgar  Faw- 
cett's  novel,  "  A  New  York  Family,"  which  is  attract- 
ing great  attention  in  the  metropolis,  not  only  from  the 
fact  that  it  deals  with  the  interesting  period  of  Tweed's 
regime,  and  is  a  keen  satire  on  the  present  condition  of 
New  York  politics  under  the  rule  of  Tammany,  but 
also  because  it  is  illustrated  by  the  virile  hand  of  Thomas 
Nast,  whose  cartoons  in  Harper's  led  to  the  downfall 
of  the  unscrupulous  Boss.  The  pictures  given  by  The 
Illustrated  American  may  lead  to  another  uprising  of 
the  citizens  this  fall  and  the  downfall  of  the  present 
bosses.  This  story  of  Fawcett's  has  been  a  resurrection 
of  Nast,  and  we  again  see  his  cartoons  in  the  Herald 
and  other  leading  journals. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES:— Spectacles   and    Eyeglasses,     241— Devil-Plants— 

.  Cartes  Among  Animals— Funeral  Plants,  243— Lepers  in 
England,  244. 

QUERIES:— African  Alphabet — Leaving  His  Country  for  His 
Country's  Good — Cina,  244. 

REPLIES  :— Calf  of  Man— Runaway  Pond,  244— "If  You 
Your  Lips,"  etc.,  245. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Tree  on  Build, 
ings — Zohrab— Stovepipe  Hat — By  the  Same  Token — Lan-i. 
guage  of  Palestine— Askol — Drum-heads,  245. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Sunken  Islands,  24s— Easter  Island 
— I  Shall  he  Satisfied — Cupid  Playing,  246 — No  Man's  Land 
— Itasca— Chian  Hath  Bought  Himself  a  Master— Longest 
Siege — India  Rubber  for  Erasing — Arkansas— Toad-Stone, 
247 — Majesty — Cheesequake,  or  Chesnaquack,  Creek — GOOT 
her — Natural  Bridge?,  248 — Ireland's  Eye — Lakes  Formed — > 
Devil's  Land — Lakes  Drained — Shrewsbury,  249 — Birds  of 
Killingworth— Creek— Cockles  of  the  Heart— Last  Island — 
Chewing  Gum — Sense  of  Preexistence — Plum  for  Berry,  250 
— Crowned  A — Parallel  Passages — Camels  in  the  United 
States — Wind  Propulsion  of  Wheelbarrows — Maroons — God 
Save  the  King — Oxen  in  Battle,  251 — Deserted  Village — 
Pipe  in  Literature— Felibre — Anagrams — Blood-Corpuscles— « 
Lofty  Towns,  252. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 252. 


SPECTACLES  AND  EYEGLASSES. 

When  Alessandro  di  Spina  of  Florence 
invented  spectacles  he  could  never  have 
anticipated  that  they  would  be  used  as  marks 
of  social  position  and  intellectual  superiority 
by  some  of  the  most  civilized  nations  of  the 
earth.  Yet,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  they 
have  been  put  to  this  extravagant  use. 

In  Spain,  during  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  wearing  of  spectacles  by  both  sexes  was 
a  mark  of  social  eminence.  Although  they 
were  not  necessary,  many  kept  them  on 
while  eating  or  attending  public  functions, 
such  as  theatres,  concerts,  and  bull  fights, 
so  that  the  wearers  might  command  respect 
from  those  of  the  lower  orders  with  whom 
they  might  be  compelled  to  come  in  con- 
tact. A  story  is  told  of  a  young  monk 


242 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  20,  1890. 


who,  having  accomplished  some  difficult 
task,  was  promised  by  the  prior  any  favor 
which  it  was  in  his  power  to  grant.  He 
gravely  replied  that  he  had  long  yearned  to 
be  permitted  to  wear  spectacles.  This  re- 
quest evidently  gratified  his  superior,  who, 
with  an  air  of  satisfied  pride,  said  to  the 
young  monk,  ' '  Hermano,  ponga  las  cjalas  ' ' 
("Brother  put  on  spectacles  ").  The  con- 
cession filled  the  recipient  with  such  joy 
that  he  forthwith  fell  on  his  kneest  and, 
"kissing  the  hand  of  the  prior,  earnestly 
expressed  his  gratitude  for  so  great  an  honor. 
There  is  another  story  which  shows  how 
highly  the  right  to  wear  these  ornaments 
•was  esteemed.  It  is  said  that  when  the 
Viceroy  of  Naples,  the  Marquis  d'Astorgas, 
was  having  his  bust  sculptured  in  marble, 
he  was  most  careful  to  have  his  best  and 
largest  spectacles  put  in,  as  he  thought  it 
could  not  be  a  good  likeness  if  these  neces- 
sary appendages  of  nobility  were  omitted. 

In  this  century,  the  size  of  the  spectacles 
was  also  a  matter  of  important  consideration 
just  as  carriages  and  men-servants  are  nowa- 
days. As  a  man's  fortune  increased,  so  did 
the  size  of  his  spectacles.  And  the  Countess 
d'Aulnoy  assures  us  that  as  men  rose  in 
political  and  social  rank,  the  spectacles,  too, 
rose  higher  and  higher  on  their  noses.  She 
also  states  from  personal  observation  that 
some  of  those  worn  by  the  grandees  were  as 
large  as  her  head,  and  that  for  this  reason 
these  great  personages  obtained  the  sobri- 
quet of  ocales.  These  glasses  were  for  the 
most  part  made  in  Venice  until  the  Vene- 
tians, out  of  revenge,  played  a  trick  on  the 
Spaniards.  The  Marqais  de  Cueva  with 
two  other  nobles  had  undertaken  to  set  the 
arsenal  of  Venice  on  fire  by  means  of  burn- 
ing glasses,  and  thus  render  up  the  city  to 
the  King  of  Spain.  To  be  revenged  for  this 
attempt  on  their  city,  the  Venetians  caused 
a  large  number  of  these  huge  spectacles  or 
ocales  to  be  made  of  burning  glass,  and  had 
them  set  in  frames  of  an  explosive  material, 
so  that  when  the  sun's  rays  beat  upon  them, 
they  would  heat  to  explosion,  and  thus  blind 
their  wearers.  It  is  said  that  the  explosion 
actually  occurred,  but  with  no  more 
disastrous  consequence  than  the  burning  of 
the  eyebrows,  eyelashes  and  hair  of  the 
wearers,  a  circumstance  which  made  the 


Spaniards  very  irate  with  the  Venetians, 
causing  them  to  withdraw  their  custom  for 
ocales  from  them  forever. 

It  would  seem  that  the  English  caught 
this  quaint  and  ridiculous  custom  from 
Spain,  but,  not  to  appear  slavishly  imita- 
tive, they  adopted  the  eyeglass,  that  vain 
decoration  of  a  man's  face  which  Coleridge 
described  as  "a  piece  of  glass  stuck  in  a 
fop's  eye  to  show  that  he  was  a  coxcomb." 
How  many  men  wear  this  curious  ornament 
for  affectation,  it  were  useless  to  speculate  ; 
but  it  is  known  that  in  the  greatest  majority 
of  cases  it  is  worn  to  give  the  wearer  a 
supercilious  air  which  he  in  his  inordinate 
vanity  mistakes  for  a  dignified  one,  and 
without  which  he  would  be  unnoticeable 
among  the  thousands  of  commonplace  be- 
ings with  whom  we  daily  come  in  contact. 
For  a  time  this  single  piece  of  glass  was 
much  in  vogue,  but  it  has  by  degrees  given 
place  to  the  more  refined  and  less  dangerous 
to  the  eye-sight  ornament — the  pince-nez. 
This  is  the  eye  gear  which  is  most  affected 
by  actors,  or  men  who  wish  to  attract  atten- 
tion to  their  puny  individuality. 

In  Germany,  the  habit  of  wearing  specta: 
cles  first  began  in  affectation,  consequent,  it 
may  reasonably  be  presumed,  on  the  inter- 
course which  existed  between  that  country  and 
Spain  under  Charles  V.  By  degrees  this  af- 
fectation, following  the  theory  of  natural 
evolution,  became  a  necessity,  and  now  it  is 
almost  an  obligatory  badge  of  scholarship 
among  all  those  who  aspire  to  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  considered  a  savant  in  Ger- 
many. Mark  Twain  wittily  observes  that 
if  he  had  the  monopoly  of  the  sale  of  spec- 
tacles in  that  country  he  would  be  mone- 
tarily rendered  happy,  inasmuch  as  the 
revenue  he  would  derive  from  it  would  sup- 
ply all  his  wants. 

In  former  days  the  rims  of  spectacles  were 
made  of  bone  and  tortoise-shell,  but  this 
clumsy  framework  has  given  place  to  gold, 
nickel  and  steel,  so  that  a  pair  of  spectacles 
can  now  be  had  which  weighs  less  than  half 
an  ounce.  Still,  the  tortoise-shell  frame, 
with  long  handles  of  the  same  substance,  is 
most  in  fashion  for  "ladies'  glasses,"  for 
with  them  insolent  gazers  may  be  the  more 
easily  "snubbed,"  and  unpleasant  acquaint- 
ances, by  an  ostentatious  appearance  of 


September  20,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


near-sightedness,  be  conveniently  "cut."  It 
is  a  strange  fact  that  those  who  have  real 
need  of  spectacles  are  slowest  to  wear  them, 
though  by  their  timely  use  a  waning  eye- 
sight may  be  preserved  or  restored,  and  a 
pleasant  old  age  secured  to  him  who  other- 
wise would  have  a  gloomy  one. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


DEVIL-PLANTS. 

St.  John's  wort  is  locally  called  Devilfuge. 
Devil- in- a  bush  is  the  common  name  of 
several  species  of  Nigella,  and  for  other 
plants.  A  kind  of  butter-cup  is  called 
Devil-on-boih-sides.  Various  ferns  are 
named  Devil's  brush.  Yarrow  is  the  Devil's 
nettle.  Devil's  horn  and  Devil's  stinkpot 
are  names  of  that  disagreeable  European 
plant,  the  Phallor  impudicus.  Spurge  is 
called  Devil's  milk,  and  Devil's  churn-staff. 
Clematis  is  the  Devif  s  band;  also  the 
Devil's  cut  and  Devil's  thread.  Horn- 
poppy  is  the  Devil's  fig.  The  Datura 
bears  the  names  of  Devil's  apple  and  Devil's 
eye.  Devifs  riband  is  the  small  toad-flax. 
Mandrake  is  the  Devil's  food.  Scabious  is 
called  Devil" 's  bit — snapdragon  is  known  as 
Devil's  beard.  A  variety  of  fig-tree  is  a 
Devil's  tree;  deadly  nightshade  is  Devil's 
berry.  Indigo  is  DeviF  s  dye ;  a  soft  fungus, 
Exidia  glandulosa,  is  the  Devil's  butler ;  an 
envenomed  tropical  nettle  is  called  Devil's 
leaf;  ground-ivy  in  England  is  known  as 
Devil's  candlesticks  ;  Devil's  claw  is  a  kind 
of  moss.  Parsley  is  locally  yclept  Devil's 
oatmeal,  or  Devil's  coach-wheel.  One 
species  of  butter-cup  is  the  Devil's  curry- 
comb. Stitch-wort  is  Devil's  corn ;  the 
red  campion  is  known  as  Devil's  flower. 
Birdweed  is  Devil's  garters.  One  kind  of 
orchis  is  Satan's  hand.  Lotus  cornicu- 
latus  is  Devil's  fingers  and  Devil's  claws. 
An  English  arum  is  Devil's  men-and-women, 
also  known  as  Devil's  lords-and-ladies. 
The  common  ox-eye  is  the  Devil's  daisy; 
wild  garlic,  the  Devil's  posy.  Devil's 
darning  needle  and  Devil's  guts  are  names 
given  to  several  plants,  such  as  the  dodder 
and  the  birdweed.  Devil's  needle  and 
Devil's  play-thing  are  names  of  nettles. 
Assafoetida  is  Devil's  dung.  Aconite  is 


sometimes  called  Devil's  wort.  The  com- 
mon plantain  is  Devil's  head.  Devil's 
cherry,  Devil's  meal,  Devil's  night-cap  and 
Devil's  mustard  are  also  on  record  as  plant 
names.  In  Germany  there  are  Devil's  oaks. 
The  Tritoma  or  poker-plant  is  called  Devil's 
poker.  In  America  the  common  marteno 
is  called  Devil's  claw;  Chamalirium  luteum 
is  called  Devil's  bit ;  and  the  Aralia  spinosa 
is  known  as  the  Devil's  walking  stick;  the 
southern  wild-olive  is  Devil  wood.  Devil's 
cotton  is  an  East  Indian  tree,  and  its  fibre. 
Devil's  apron  is  a  kind  of  sea-weed,  Devil's 
club,  in  the  far  West,  is  a  prickly  plant, 
Fatsia  horrida.  The  plant  wake-robin  is 
called  Devil's  ear.  The  Alstonia  scolaris 
is  called  Devil-tree  in  many  places. 

S.  S. 
NEW  YORK. 


CASTES  AMONG  ANIMALS. 

The  Hindus  reckon  at  least  four  castes 
among  Asiatic  elephants,  which  differ  much 
in  appearance,  temper  and  intelligence. 
These  would  seem  to  be  wild  or  natural 
breeds,  rather  than  real  castes.  Apart  from 
these  breeds,  the  elephants  of  Ceylon  and 
Sumatra  are  grouped  by  some  as  a  separate 
subspecies.  Indo-China  has  some  hairy 
dwarf  elephants.  The  Bornean  elephant  is 
said  to  be  of  the  same  stock,  or  race,  with 
the  Hindu  elephant  proper.  Quite  distinct 
from  all  these  are  the  African  elephants, 
which  have  very  important  structural  differ- 
ences from  all  the  Asiatic  breeds. 

E.  B.  S. 


FUNERAL  PLANTS. 

The  ancients  strewed  lilies,  violets,  parsley, 
roses  and  purple  flowers  on  graves.  In  later 
times  mallows,  rosemary,  yew,  laurel  and 
ivy  were  either  carried  in  funeral  pro- 
cessions, or  cast  upon  graves.  Wormwood 
and  tansy  were  put  in  coffins,  either  from 
some  fancied  preservative  effect,  or  as  sym- 
bols of  immortality.  Daisies,  endives  and 
hyacinths  were  carried  to  funerals;  anciently 
myrtle  and  amaranth,  and,  in  later  days,  im- 
mortelles were  used  at  funerals.  The  yew 
tree  and  cypress  were  planted  in  church- 
yards. The  asphodel  was  sacred  to  the 
dead.  In  our  times  the  calla  or  richardia 


*44 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  20,  1890. 


the  smilax  (wrongly  so  called)  and  the 
tuberose  are  favorite  funeral  plants.  For- 
merly, the  pink,  polyanthus,  sweet-william, 
gilliflower,  sage,  carnation,  mignonette, 
Hysop,  rosemary,  camomile,  and  other 
fragrant  flowers  were  planted  on  graves; 
later  the  periwinkle  was  a  favorite,  as  at 
present.  This  list  is  by  no  means  an  ex- 
haustive one.  W.  J.  LACK. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

LEPERS  IN  ENGLAND. 

Queen  Matilda,  wife  of  Henry  I,  founded 
in  *ii  1  7  the  hospital  of  St.  Giles  in  the 
Fields,  for  the  reception  of  forty  lepers,  giv- 
ing sixty  shillings  a  year  for  each  leper. 
The  hospital  was  dedicated  to  St.  yEgidius, 
alias  St.  Giles  of  the  Lepers.  This  hospital 
was  kept  up  till  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII, 
and  appears  to  have  been  well  patronized  ; 
but  at  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  it 
seems  to  have  been  confiscated.  Some 
leper-houses  were  dedicated  to  St.  George, 
others  to  St.  Lazarus  (probably  with  a 
reference  to  his  sores,  which  the  dogs 
licked).  At  one  time  there  were  at  least 
ninety-five  leper-houses  in  England.  Lep- 
rosy is  known  at  present  in  nearly  all 
Asiatic,  African,  and  South  American  coun- 
tries, in  Polynesia,  Crete,  West  Indies,  Ice- 
land, Norway  and  Portugal.  There  is  a 
small  leper  community  at  Tracadie  in 
New  Brunswick.  Cases  are  rather  common 
along  the  Bayou  des  Lepreux  in  Louisiana, 
and  the  disease  is  said  to  exist  en- 
demically  in  some  districts  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  Florida.  It  appears  certain  that 
leprosy,  which  at  one  timeseemedalmost  a  for- 
gotten disease,  is  now  far  more  widely  preva- 
lent than  was  lately  supposed. 

Qui  TAM. 


u  a 


s  . 


African  Alpha  bet.—  Please  help  me  recall 
the  name  of  the  wild  African  tribe  which  in- 
vented for  itself  an  alphabet  ? 

S.  K.  HARVEY. 

PEN  VAN,  N.  Y. 

You  probably  refer  to  the  Veys,  or  Vei,  a 
tribe  of  Liberia.  According  to  Prof. 


Keane,  in  Johnston's  "Africa,"  p.  522, 
this  alphabet  (which,  however,  is  only  a 
syllabary)  is  no  longer  in  use,  having  been 
superseded  by  the  Roman  letters.  The  lan- 
guage itself  is  said  to  be  a  beautiful  one,  but 
with  no  known  affinities  to  any  other 
African  tongue.  On  the  contrary,  it  has  a 
polysynthetic  tendency,  such  as  is  common 
among  the  native  languages  of  America. 
We  may  add  that  one  recent  account  affirms 
that  the  Vei  syllabary  is  not  yet  extinct,  and 
further,  that  while  Keane,  at  the  above 
reference,  states  that  the  language  has  not 
any  apparent  African  affinities,  he  assigns 
the  Veys,  later  in  the  same  work,  to  the 
Mandi,  or  Mende  stock. 

Leaving  His  Country  for  His  Country's 
Good. — Who  originated  this  expression  ? 

LARKIN  GREY. 
MEDIA,  PA. 

In  the  lines  on  Sir  Francis  Drake,  written 
by  Charles  Fitzgeffrey,  circa  1596,  we  find 
the  words,  "  Leaving  his  country  for  his 
country's  sake." 

•'.«     iMr  e-;       • 

Cina. — This  is  a  very  common  word,  the 
name  of  a  homoeopathic  medicine.  What 
does  it  mean  ?  It  is  not  in  any  of  the  new 
dictionaries  that  I  have  access  to. 

M.  E.  L. 

CALAIS,  ME. 

Cina  is  the  Artemisia  santonica,  or 
European  wormseed  plant,  or  the  seed  itself. 
The  word  is  found  in  German  and  Italian 
books  on  medical  subjects.  The  origin  of 
the  name  we  are  not  able  to. state. 

FjBPLIBS. 

Calf  of  Man  (Vol.  v,  p.  221).— Calf  is 
said,  in  Cassell's  "  Cyclopedic  Dictionary," 
to  be  a  common  name  for  the  smaller  of  two 
islands,  thus  compared  to  the  larger  one  as 
a  calf  is  to  the  cow.  Taylor,  in  his  "  Words 
and  Places,"  refers  to  the  "calf  of  man," 
but  abstains  from  explaining  the  name. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Runaway  Pond  (Vol.  v,  p.  233). — W.  J. 
Lack  is  referred,  for  account  of  "  Runaway 


September  *o,  1890.]    AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


245 


Pond,"  in  Glover,  Vt.,  to  Hemenway's 
"Vermont  Historical  Gazetteer,"  Vol.  iii, 
p.  203,  where  a  full  and  authoritative  ac- 
count is  given. 

CHARLES  R.  BALLARD. 
NORTH  EASTON,  MASS. 

"  If  You  Your  Lips,"  etc.  (Vol.  i,  p.  23).— 

"  If  you  your  lips  would  keep  from  slips, 

These  things  observe  with  care, 
Of  whom  you  speak,  to  whom  you  speak, 
And  bow,  and  when,  and  where." 

"  Omnibus  tenemini  viris  prsedicare, 

Sed  quibus,  quid,  qualiter,  ubi,  quando,  quare 
Debetis  solicite  praeconsiderare, 
Ne  quis  in  officio  dicat  vos  errare." 

("  Golias  ad  Christi  Sacerdotes,"  v.  37-40.) 

Si  sapiens  fore  vis,  sex  serve  quae  tibi  mando  : 
Quid  loqueris,  et  ubi,  de  quo,  cui.quomodo,  quando. 
("  Reliquiae  Antiquae,"  p.  288.) 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


TO   <90f?^ESPONDEK1lS. 


Tree  on  Buildings.  —  What  is  the 
meaning  of  the  custom  among  mechanics  of 
fastening  a  tree  to  the  roof  of  buildings 
when  they  have  just  finished  them.  Did  it 
originally  imply  wine  or  liquor  is  there  to  be 
had  ?  Does  it  arise  from  old-time  customs  of 
a  festival  offered  to  the  workmen  for  the 
completion  of  the  house  ?  W.  S. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Zohrab  (Vol.  ii,  p.  143).  —  I  would  like 
to  inquire  whether  the  personage  discussed 
at  the  above  entry  is  identical  with  the 
Sohrab  who  figures  in  the  "  Sohrab  and 
Rustum  "  of  Matthew  Arnold  ? 

A.  M. 

BRADFORD,  PA. 

Stovepipe  Hat.  —  Can  any  of  your 
readers  who  may  be  interested  in  the  ques- 
tion tell  me  if  there  is  any  truth  in  the  fol- 
lowing newspaper  clipping  which  I  have 
lately  noticed  going  the  rounds  of  the  papers  : 
"  How  few  of  us  know  that  the  stovepipe 
hat,  which  has  come  to  be  regarded  as 
'  quite  foreign,  y'know,'  originated  in  the 
United  States  and  was  introduced  into 
Europe  by  Benjamin  Franklin.  The  old 


gentleman  came  to  Paris  in  the  spring  of 
1790,  wearing  the  simple  attire  of  the 
Quakers.  A  distinguishing  feature  of  this 
was  the  hat,  which  has  narrowed  and 
heightened  into  the  fashionable  '  plug '  of 
to-day.  It  was  low-crowned  and  broad- 
brimmed,  and  presented  so  quaint  an  aspect 
that  the  Parisian  dandies  were  disposed  to 
make  it  the  butt  of  their  wit.  Not  so,  how- 
ever, the  rest.  The  leaders  of  the  French 
Revolution  fancied  that  hat  and  they  forth- 
with adopted  it  to  be  their  own.  In  three 
days'  time  the  Franklin  hat  was  the  rage." 

E.  S.  HALL. 
ATLANTA,  GA. 

By  the  Same  Token. — What  is  the 
exact  significance  of  this  Anglo-Irish  ex- 
pression ?  H.  R.  ANDREWS. 

CAIRO,  ILL. 

Language  of  Palestine.  —  Is  it 
known  with  certainty  what  language  was 
spoken  popularly  in  Palestine  in  New  Testa? 
ment  times?  R.  E.  F. 

RALEIGH,  N.  C. 

>>') 

Askol. — Can  any  of  your  readers  tell  me 
who  this  personage  is  intended  for  in  Carl 
Vosmaer's  "Amazon?" 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


JOHN  RUSKIN. 


Drum-heads.  —  Of    what    different 

materials  have  drum-heads  been  made  ?  I 
will  mention  a  few  kinds:  human  skin 
(Ziska),  serpent-skin  (the  Aztecs),  wolf-skin 
(North  American  colonies),  vellum  or  parch- 
ment (kettle-drums,  side-drums,  etc.),  ass- 
hides  (in  Europe  and  the  East). 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 


©OMMUNIGAIPIONS. 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  227,  etc.). 
— In  1783,  an  island  which  received  the 
name  of  Nyoe  arose  from  the  sea  near  Ice- 
land ;  but  the  ocean  so  shattered  and  bat- 
tered it  that  it  disappeared  many  years  ago. 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 


246 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.     [September  20,  1890. 


Easter  Island  (Vol.  v,  pp.  236,  etc.). — 
If  your  correspondent,  Anchor,  will  con- 
sult Le  Tour  du  Monde  for  1878,  second 
setnestre,  p.  225,  he  will  find  a  graphic  ac- 
count of  Easter  Island  written  by  a  gentle- 
man who  spent  some  time  there.  The  illus- 
trations are  excellent,  and  there  is  a  map, 
with  an  interesting  description  of  the  people 
and  their  ways.  There  is  also  a  wood-cut, 
showing  a  wooden  tablet  which  is  covered 
with  what  appear  to  be  hieroglyphics.  Some 
Americanist  ought  to  compare  these  with  the 
Central  American  ideographs.  The  Micro- 
nesians  are  said  by  some  writers  to  use 
wampum,  or  its  equivalent,  for  money.  Per- 
haps the  Mexicans  once  lived  on  Easter 
Island. 

-  On  Plate  20,  in  Vol.  i  (1886),  of  the  "Icono- 
graphic  Encyclopaedia,"  there  is  a  cut  show- 
ing some  of  the  huge  stone  images  of  the 
island  of  Waihu  (Easter  Island),  as  also  one 
of  the  modern  round  houses  of  the  same 
island,  as  well  as  a  long  house  (310  feet  in 
length)  and  a  subterranean  chamber.  On 
Plate  15  is  a  ground-plan  of  the  wonderful 
ruins  on  Ponapi.  Prof.  Gerland,  of  Strasburg, 
declares  that  the  images  are  statues  of  the 
guardian  spirits,  such  as  were  once  every- 
where seen  in  Micronesia  and  Polynesia.  I 
can  see  nothing  Buddhistic  about  them  (at 
least,  in  such  illustrations  as  I  have  by  me). 
Their  great  "  ears"  seem  to  represent  thick 
plaits  of  hair.  The  clumsy  figures  are  not 
altogether  unlike  the  wooden  images  made 
by  the  Indians  of  British  Columbia. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 

A  learned  friend  of  mine,  Gen.  W.  P.  W., 
who  first  called  my  attention  to  the  subject, 
holds  an  entirely  different  view  in  regard  to 
this  island — so  different  that  I  lay  it  before 
you. 

He  considers  that  the  idols  and  construc- 
tions found  on  Easter  Island,  and  one  or 
two  other  isles  in  the  Pacific,  are  traces  of 
the  antediluvian  world,  and  if  there  are  any 
vestiges  still  existing  of  that  period  these 
are  assuredly  among  them  ;  and  that  the 
mountain  top  represented  by  Easter  Island 
was  one  of  the  centres  of  idol  worship  prior 
to  the  deluge.  In  the  same  way  the  Peak  of 
Teneriffe  is  held  by  some  ideologists — if  such 


a  term  is  applicable — is  the  principal  exist- 
ing peak  of  the  submerged  continent  of  At- 
lantis in  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

It  is  well  known  that  Davis,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  first  European  who 
saw  Easter  island,  thought  whatever  he  did 
see  was  a  portion  of  a  traditional  continent 
situated  somewhere  between  Southern  South 
America  and  the  Indies.  Not  only  Davis, 
but  Spanish  navigators,  and  those  of  other 
countries,  steered  hither  and  thither,  seek- 
ing this  imaginary  continent  in  the  Southern 
Pacific,  which  it  has  been  suggested  must 
have  been  Australia,  which  was  first  dis- 
covered by  the  Dutch  Farman,  in  1695, and 
other  Hollanders  between  1695  and  1700, 
and  gave  it  the  name  it  bears.  My  corres- 
pondent wonders  that  soundings  have  not 
been  made  all  around  Easter  Island,  which 
would  reveal  facts,  perhaps  going  to  prove 
whether  or  not  there  are  any  vestiges  of  a 
submerged  continent  thereabouts.  Still 
this  is  almost  visionary,  because  since  the 
Peak  of  Teneriffe  shoots  up  to  the  height  of 
12,182  feet  above  the  sea,  and  the  ocean 
is  enormously  deep  all  around  the  island, 
the  very  same  may  be  the  case  in  regard  to 
Easter  island.  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

I  Shall  Be  Satisfied  (Vol.  v,  pp.  239, 
etc.). — In  Mary  Cecil  Hay's  novel,  "  The; 
Arundel  Motto,"  is  a  stanza,  two  or  three 
times  repeated,  which  runs  thus : 

"  Far  out  of  sight,  though  sorrows  still  enfold  us. 

Lies  that  fair  country  where  our  hearts  abide  ; 

And  of  its  bliss  is  naught  more  wondrous  told  us, 

Than  these  few  words,   '  I  shall  be  satisfied.'  " 

Is  this  original  with  Miss  Hay  ?  It  is  cer- 
tainly older  than  the  poem,  "  I  shall  be 
satisfied,"  written  by  Mrs.  Eberhardt,  of 
Knoxville,  la.,  in  1881  or  1882. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Cupid  Playing  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  166,  etc.). 
— The  stanzas,  epigram  and  emblem,  No. 
3,  in  Quarles'  "  Emblems,"  Bk.  i,  were 
elaborated  and  spiritualized  from  the 
Anacreontic  ode  about  Cupid  and  the  Bee. 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 


September  20,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


247 


No  Man's  Land  (Vol.  v,  p.  233,  etc.). 
— When  one  speaks  of  "  No  Man's  Land  " 
we  generally  presume  that  he  refers  to  that 
little  neck  of  land  in  the  Indian  Territory, 
lying  between  Colorado  and  Kansas  on  the 
north  and  Texas  on  the  south.  But  such  is 
not  always  the  case.  The  original  "  No  Man's 
Land  "  is  a  little  tongue  of  land  extending 
a  few  miles  south  of  the  Mason  and  Dixon 
line,  between  the  States  of  Maryland  and 
Delaware.  Every  now  and  then-  somebody 
starts  the  story  that  this  tract  is,  properly 
speaking,  part  of  no  State,  literally  out  of 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States ;  that  it 
is  one  of  the  left-over  pieces  of  the  whole 
country,  wherein  no  one  owns  the  ground 
upon  which  he  lives.  On  the  maps  the 
ground  is  credited  to  Pennsylvania,  but,  ac- 
cording to  these  same  authorities,  the  claim 
is  a  shadowy  one. 

This  triangular  bit  of  territory  was  marked 
off  in  a  curious  way.  The  eastern  boundary 
of  Maryland  was  early  determined,  but  the 
southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania  was  long 
a  matter  cf  dispute.  Finally  Mason  and 
Dixon  began  their  work  at  the  eastern 
boundary  of  Maryland,  and  proceeded  west- 
ward,, while  the  northern  boundary  of  Dela- 
ware was  declared  to  be  a  semi-circle,  whose 
centre  was  New  Castle.  In  surveying  the 
semi-circle  it  was  found  that  the  circumfer- 
ence did  not  touch  the  boundary  of  Mary- 
land at  its  junction  with  the  Pennsylvania 
line,  thus  giving  rise  to  this  triangular  bit  of 
land,  which  has  been  discarded  by  the  three 
States  and  only  allowed  to  attach  itself  to 
Pennsylvania  for  judicial  purposes. — St. 
Louis  Republic. 

Itasca  (Vol.  v,  p.  232). — Is  it  not  a  rea- 
sonable supposition  that  this  termination 
"asca"  is  only  another  form  of  the  termi- 
nation "hatchee,"  or  "  hassee,"  which  is 
applied  to  so  many  rivers,  as  in  Tallahassee, 
Withlawhatchee,  and  which  reappears  in 
others,  as  "  oosa  "  or ' '  ooga, "  as  in  Tallapoosa 
and  Chattanooga.  It  seems  to  mean  water, 
or  river,  and  a  reference  to  the  map  will 
show  its  universality.  Sometimes  it  appears 
in  the  middle  of  the  word,  as  in  Appalachi- 
cola.  We  also  have  the  form  "  ogue  "  or 
"oekee."  JOHN  E.  NORCROSS. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


In  the  Appendix  to  *'  Webster's  Diction- 
ary "  it  is  stated  that  Schoolcraft  formed 
this  name  from  ta,  to  be,  and  totosh,  the  fe- 
male breast,  with  a  locative  inflection.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Chian  Hath  Bought  Himself  a  Mas- 
ter (Vol.  iii,  pp.  115,  etc.). — Chios,  now 
Scio,  is  an  island  in  the  ^Egean  sea,  between 
Lesbos  and  Samos,  on  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor.  The  Chians  were  reputed  in 
Greece  to  have  first  known  the  art  of  culti- 
vating the  vine,  and  it  was  on  this  island 
that  red  wine  was  first  made.  The  phrase 
given  in  the  question  alludes  to  the  intoxi- 
cating power  of  wine,  and  means  that  the 
man  who  has  bought  the  wine  is  its  servant 
and  is  no  longer  master  of  himself.— Free- 
port  Weekly  Journal. 

Longest  Siege  (Vol.  v,  p.  215). — The 
siege  of  Veii  on  the  Alban  lake,  in  Tuscany, 
according  to  Livy,  occupied  ten  years  ; 
this  was  the  first  siege  carried  on  by  the 
Romans  during  the  winters. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

India  Rubber  for  Erasing. — Accord- 
ing to  some  one  who  has  been  looking  over 
the  records  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
Paris,  the  use  of  India  rubber  for  erasing 
pencil  marks  was  first  suggested  in  or  just 
prior  to  1752  by  an  academician  named 
Magellan,  a  descendant  of  the  great  naviga- 
tor. It  was  added  in  the  report  that  this 
substance  was  more  satisfactory  than  bread 
crumbs,  which  had  been  the  usual  means  up 
to  that  time.  *  *  * 

Arkansas  (Vol.  i,  p.  226) — A  third,  but 
very  local,  pronunciation  of  this  name  is  on 
record.  It  is  said  that  in  some  places  in 
that  State  the  popular  pronunciation  is 
Rackensack.  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Toad-stone  (Vol.  i,  p.  280). — It  has 
been  suggested  that  the  interorbital  gland, 
which  in  the  toad's  head  is  large,  was  the 
original  jewel  found  in  the  head  of  this 
creature.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 


248 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  20,  1890. 


Majesty  (Vol.  v,  p.  225). — -This  title, 
as  "  G  "  says,  appears  to  have  been  used  oc- 
casionally in  reference  to  the  King  of  Eng- 
land before  the  time  of  Henry  VIII,  but  no- 
where can  I  find  that  the  king  himself  as- 
sumed the  title  "  Majesty  "  prior  to  Henry 
VIII.  Lord  Campbell,  in  his  "  Lives  of  the 
Chancellors  of  England, ' '  uses  the  title  several 
times  prior  to  1500.  The  expression  may 
be  his  own,  excepting  in  one  instance.  In 
the  reign  of  Edward  II,  1326,  Lord  Camp- 
bell has  this  expression :  "It  is  related  that 
the  court  being  at  Windsor  and  field  sports 
going  on  in  which  the  new  chancellor  did 
not  take  much  delight,  he  obtained  leave 
from  the  king  to  return  home  for  more  suit- 
able recreation.  Impatient  to  escape  he  de- 
liverered  the  great  seal  to  the  king,  while 
his  Majesty  was  engaged  in  hunting." 

In  Edward  Ill's  reign,  1376,  the  same  au- 
thority says:  "John  Kynvet,  Lord  Chancellor, 
in  thanking  the  Lords,  expressly  told  them 
what  the  king  had  hitherto  done  was  always 
with  their  advice  and  assistance  for  which 
his  Majesty  entirely  thanked  them  and  de- 
sired that  they  would  diligently  consult 
about  these  matters." 

In  1409,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV,  Camp- 
bell writes:  "The  Chancellor"  (Thomas 
Beaufort)  "  now  remained  in  high  favor 
with  the  king  for  three  years.  On  one  oc- 
casion during  the  period  his  Majesty  be- 
stowed his  bounty  upon  him." 

Again,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  V,  1414: 
"The  new  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
strongly  advised  the  king  to  claim  the 
crown  of  France,  and  lead  an  army  across 
the  seas  in  support  of  his  rights  *  *  * 
and  assert  that  whatever  title  the  sovereign 
had  was  now  vested  in  his  present  Majesty." 

In  the  following  from  Lord  Campbell 
there  appears  to  be  direct  evidence  of  the 
use  of  the  word  Majesty,  for  he  quotes  him- 
self, the  date  and  time  being  February  18, 
1426,  reign  of  Henry  VI :  "  The  young  king, 
now  in  his  fifth  year,  was  placed  upon  the 
throne.  '  His  Majesty  from  a  little  previous 
drilling  having  graciously  returned  the 
salute  of  the  Lords  and  Commons  was  de- 
corously quiet  and  the  Lord  Chancellor  de- 
clared the  cause  of  the  summons  in  a  very 
short  manner.'  " 

In  1432,  the  following  is  quoted  by  Lord 


Campbell  from  the  Close  Roll :  "  That  the 
Lord  Cardinal,  Archbishop  Kempe,  on  the 
25th  day  of  February,  1432,  delivered  up  to 
the  king  the  gold  and  silver  seals  and  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester  immediately  took  them 
and  kept  them  until  the  4th  day  of  March,  on 
which  day  he  gave  them  back  to  the  king  and 
they  were  delivered  by  his  Majesty  to  John 
Stafford,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  who  took 
the  oath  of  office." 

In  the  "  Paston  Letters, ' '  written  during  the 
reigns  of  Henry  VI,  Edward  IV  and  Richard 
III,  there  is  one  letter  addressed  by  the 
Duke  of  York,  a  duplicate  of  which  was  sent 
to  the  king ;  the  letter  is  not  entire,  but  it 
commences,  "  MosteCristen  Kyng,"  and  in 
the  body  of  the  same  are  the  words,  "  Youre 
Magestee  Royall."  Paston  says  that  this  is 
the  first  time  he  ever  noticed  the  expression 
"Magestee  Royall," 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Cheesequake,  orChesnaquack, 
Creek  (Vol.  v,  p.  68,  under  "  Cheesecake 
Brook  "). — One  of  the  former  bands  of  the 
New  Jersey  Indians  (Lenape,  or  Delawares), 
was  called  the  Chichcquaa,  or  Cheesequake 
Indians,  in  the  old  colonial  days. 

N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN. 

Goober,  or  Gooba  (Vol.  v,  pp.  234, 
etc.). — Besides  the  ordinary  goober,  or 
pinder  (Arachis  hypogaa),  there  is  a  wild 
plant,  not  uncommon  in  the  North  as  well 
as  the  South,  the  Amphicarp&a  monoica, 
which  is  locally  known  as  the  goober  in 
some  districts  of  the  Southern  States. 


ILDERIM. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


Natural  Bridges  (Vol.  v,  p.  224). — 
Arched  Rock,  Mackinac  island,  Lake 
Superior,  on  the  eastern  shore,  cliff  attains 
nearly  100  feet.  Span  is  about  ninety  feet 
above  lake  level,  surmounted  by  about  ten 
feet  of  rock.  For  description  of  geographi- 
cal formation,  etc.,  see  "  U.  S.  Rept., 
Geology  of  Lake  Superior,  Second  District," 
Foster  and  Whitney,  Washington,  1851, 
pp.  164,  165.  A.  L.  W. 

WATERBURY,  CONN. 


September  20,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


?49 


Ireland's  Eye  (Vol.  v,  p.  232,  etc.). — 
"Eye"  is  the  Norse  word  for  an  island. 
Ireland's  Eye  should  be  therefore  a  small 
island  off  the  coast  of  Ireland,  which  is  just 
what  it  really  is.  R.  G.  B. 

NKW  YORK  CITY. 

What  eminence  does  this  islet  possess  that 
should  entitle  it  to  the  designation  of  Ire- 
land's island,  when  there  are  a  thousand 
others  (more  or  less)  equally  entitled  to  such 
a  distinction  ?  If  Ireland  had  only  one  at- 
tendant islet  the  explanation  would  be  satis- 
factory. S.  PORTMAN. 

This  is  a  small  island,  some  two 
acres  in  area,  about  400  yards  from  shore,  in 
County  Lowth.  It  is  off  Drogheda.  Itisa 
rock  about  forty-five  or  fifty  feet  high,  the 
surface  of  which  is  earth  and  it  can  be 
climbed.  It  commands  a  full  view  of  the 
harbor  of  Howth  bay,  in  which  it  is  situated, 
and  formerly,  perhaps  a  century  ago,  was 
used  as  a  watch  tower,  on  the  top  of  which 
was  posted  a  sentinel,  who  could  give  in- 
formation to  troops  on  shore  of  the  approach 
of  any  vessel  presumably  unfriendly.  Those 
were  troublous  times  in  Ireland,  and  raids 
were  frequent.  Probably  that  is  why  it  was 
called  "The  Eye  of  Ireland,"  or  "Ire- 
land's Eye."  At  present  it  is  a  pleasure 
resort.  RAWE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Lakes  Formed. — We  have  read  much 
in  these  columns  about  "  Lakes  Drained," 
and  much  of  it  has  been  interesting  and  even 
novel.  But  there  are  even  now  some  lakes 
in  the  process  of  formation.  Some  years 
since  a  writer  in  Lippincotf  s  Magazine  gave 
an  interesting  account  of  the  formation  of 
new  lakes  in  some  places  in  Central  Florida. 
It  appears  that  occasionally  a  "  sink-hole," 
or  deep  well-like  pool,  is  formed,  the  edges 
of  which  rapidly  give  way  and  disappear,  I 
suppose  by  the  wash  of  inflowing  waters. 
The  hole  is  enlarged  year  by  year  until  it 
becomes  a  lake  of  considerable  size. 
Whether  the  subterranean  outlet  becomes 
choked,  and  so  ceases  to  drain  off  the  waters, 
I  do  not  know.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN.  PA. 


Devil's  Land  (Vol.  v,  pp.  234,  etc.). — 
By  a  most  extravagant  pun  upon  the  naiie 
Van  Diemen's  land,  that  island  may  be 
taken  as  the  land  of  demons.  One  of  its 
most  characteristic  animals  is  known  as  the 
Tasmanian  devil.  Norfolk  island,  while  it 
was  a  convict  colony,  was  called  "  a  hell 
upon  earth."  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  223,  etc.). — 
According  to  Livy,  the  Alban  lake  whereon 
the  city  of  the  Veientines  stood  was  drained 
by  the  Romans,  who  entered  the  city  through 
what  had  been  a  subterranean  passage,  and 
emerging  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter  during  a 
high  festival,  took  the  Veientines  by  sur- 
prise, and  easily  captured  the  city. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Geologists  have  given  the  name  Lake 
Agassiz  to  a  drained  lake-basin  which  once 
occupied  a  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Red 
river,  in  North  Dakota  and  Minnesota. 

F.  R.  S. 

Shrewsbury  (Vol.  v,  pp.  208,  etc.). — 
I  was  rummaging  through  The  Historical 
Magazine  for  February,  1867,  when  I  came 
across  a  tract  of  the  year  1683  containing 
the  following : 

"  The  Patent  from  the  King  to  James  Duke 
of  York,  etc. 

"  The  conveniencyof  scituation,  tempera- 
ture of  the  Aire,  and  fertilitie  of  thesoyle  is 
such  that  there  is  no  less  than  seven  towns 
considerable  already  (viz.)  Shreutsburry, 
Midletown,  Berghen,  New-wark,  Elizabeth- 
town,"  etc. 

Is  this  of  any  use  in  the  question  under 
consideration  ?  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note 
the  vowel  change  from  the  long  o  to  the  long 
oo  and  long  u  sounds  in  certain  verb  inflec- 
tions, as  grow,  grew;  flow,  flew  ;  throw, 
threw  ;  crow,  crew.  Also,  but  not  likewise, 
draw  gives  us  drew.  In  the  colloquial  Bos- 
tonese  speech,  I  showed  becomes  /  shew. 

N.  S.-S. 


25° 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.     [September  20,  1890. 


Birds  of  Killing-worth  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
198,  etc.).— It  has  been  said  that  the  severe 
and  ruthless  parson  in  this  poem,  "whose 
nature  was  to  kill, ' '  was  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Todd 
(1800-1873),  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.  By  a  re- 
markable anachronism  the  poet  sends  this 
parson  every  summer  to  the  Adirondacks  to 
slay  the  deer;  but  a  "hundred  years  ago," 
at  the  time  when  the  killing  of  the  birds  is 
supposed  to  have  taken  place,  the  parsons 
had  no  summer  outing,  and  it  is  probable 
that  nobody  in  Killingworth  in  those  days 
had  ever  heard  of  the  Adirondacks.  I  had 
some  slight  personal  knowledge  of  Dr.  Todd, 
who  seemed  to  me  a  very  genial  and  kindly 
gentleman.  ILDERIM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Creek  (Vol.  v,  pp.  143,  etc.). — British 
place  names  which  may  contain  the  element 
"Creek:"  Cricceith,  Criccin,  Crich, 
Crichie,  Crichope,  Crichton,  Crick  (Hants, 
etc.),  Crickadarn,  Crickenly,  Cricket  (3), 
Crickham,  Crickheath,  Crickhowell,  Crick- 
lade,  Cricklas,  Cricklewood,  Crickstown, 
Criech,  Criggion,  Creacombe,  Creake, 
Creca,  Crecora,  Crecrin,  Creech,  Creegh, 
Creeksmouth,  Creeksea,  Creich,  Creggan, 
Crix.  ISLANDER. 

Cockles  of  the  Heart  (Vol.  iii,  pp. 
260,  etc.). — Note  in  this  connection  that 
Kardia  is  Greek  for  heart,  and  Cardium  is 
late  Latin  for  cockle-shell.  I  do  not  know 
how  late  this  Latin  is,  but  it  is  used  by 
naturalists  at  present.  Coclea  is  a  snail-shell, 
or  anything  spiral.  Note  also  that  the 
ordinary  cockle-shell  is  somewhat  heart- 
shaped.  A  genus  of  semi-marine  snails  is 
called  Auricula.  I  think,  therefore,  that  the 
auricles  are  the  cockles  of  the  heart. 


Last  Island  (Vol.  v,  pp.  239,  etc.). — 
Lafcadio  Hearn  has  written  "Chita,  a 
Memory  of  Last  Island  "  (Harper  &  Bros., 
1889)  ;  and  some  fifteen  years  ago,  as  I  re- 
collect, there  appeared  in  one  of  the  monthlies 
another  story  based  on  the  destruction  of  the 
island,  the  name  of  which  I  do  not  recall. 


R.  G.  B. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Chewing  Gum  (Vol.  v,  pp.  203,  etc.). 
— It  is  stated  that  an  oleo-resin  derived  from 
the  Rosin-weed,  or  Compass-plant,  Silphium 
laciniatum,  is  used  in  making  chewing-gum. 
This  plant  is  celebrated  as  one  of  those 
whose  ground-leaves  are  said  to  point  north 
and  south,  and  thus  to  enable  travelers  on 
the  prairies  to  find  their  way.  Longfellow 
speaks  of  this  "  delicate  flower  "  v&  Evange- 
line  ;  but  the  plant  is  a  coarse  one. 

W.  J.  L. 

Sense  of  Preexistence  (Vol.  i,  pp. 
287,  etc. ;  Vol.  ii,  p.  226). — This  interesting 
subject  has  been  treated  at  great  length,  and 
with  no  small  degree  of  interest  by  various 
contributors  in  your  earlier  volumes.  In 
the  first  volume  of  Hartley  Coleridge's 
Poetical  Works  (2d  ed.,  London,  1851),  on 
p.  1 06,  there  is  a  very  beautiful  poetical 
"  fragment  "  of  twenty-eight  lines  devoted 
to  this  topic.  I  wish  to  record  it  here  as 
containing  one  of  the  most  suggestive  and 
pregnant  analyses  of  the  feeling  in  question 
that  I  have  yet  fallen  in  with.  Still  it  15 
only  a  fragment,  and  we  feel  that  this,  like 
much  of  that  gifted  and  lovable  poet's  work, 
comes  just  a  little  short  of  what  it  should 
have  been,  and  what  he  could  have  made  it. 
But  probably  that  disappointing  quality  is 
inherent  in  all  discussions  of  this  subtle 
question.  Some  have  conceived  that  the 
"sense  of  preexistence"  arises  from  a 
temporary  lack  of  perfect  coordination 
between  the  two  hemispheres  of  the  brain  ; 
so  that  what  one  part  of  the  brain  thinks  of, 
the  other  half  takes  up  a  little  later,  thus 
producing  much  the  same  effect  as  when  we 
recall  to  memory  something  which  has  hap- 
pened long  ago.  G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 

Plum  for  Berry. — Among  the  farming 
people  of  some  dictricts  in  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts many  kinds  of  berries  are  called 
plums.  To  go  berrying  is  termed  plumming. 
A  huckleberry  is  sometimes  called  a  huckle- 
berry-plum ;  a  blueberry,  a  blueberry-plum. 
But  I  do  not  feel  sure  that  a  raspberry,  or 
any  kind  of  berry  not  of  a  round  or 
spheroidal  shape,  would  be  called  a  plum. 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 


September  20,  1890,]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Crowned  A  (Vol.  y,  pp.  162,  etc.)- — If 
3P  opinion  on  the  meaning  of  "  crowned 
A  "  is  in  order  I  would  suggest  that  the 
"crowned  A  "  of  "  The  Canterbury  Tales  " 
signifies  that  Love,  or  Amor,  is  king  of  all  the 
world,  for  the  very  next  line  says  that 
•"  Amor  vincit  omnia."  The  "  H  and  A 
crowned  "  in  the  inventory  cited  in  Vol.  v, 
p.,  162,  no  doubt  mean  Henricus  Anglice,  or 
Henry,  King  of.  England.  This  interpreta- 
tion is  confirmed  by  the  quotation  from  Don 
Quixote,  in  Vol.  ii,  p.  144.  By  the  way, 
X,  Y.  Z.  made  a  slight  error  in  saying  that 
the  "  crowned  A  "  is  alluded  to  in  the  de- 
scription of . "  the  Wife  of  Bath. "  The  al- 
lusion, occurs  in  the  account  of  the  Nun,  or 
Prioress.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  v, pp.  228,  etc.). 
— Macready,  in  his  "  Reminiscences  and 
Diary,"  p.  294,  says  : 

"  Nature  has  given  us  two  ears,  but  only 
one  mouth;  why  do  we  not  take  the  hint?" 

And  the  author  of  the  play,  "The  London 
Prodigal,"  by  some  critics  ascribed  to 
Shakespeare,  says,  Act  iii,  Sc.  2 : 

Sir  Lancelot:  Master  Flowerdale,  every 
man  hath  one  tongue  and  two  ears.  Nature,. 
,iri  her  building,  is  a  most  curious  work- 
master. 

Flowerdale :  That  is  as  much  as  to  say, 
a  man  should  hear  more  than  he  should 
speak.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.      ;"•" 

"  Without  thee  I  cannot  live." 

(Keble.) 


"  With  thee  I  cannot  live, 
I  cannot  live  without  thee." 


(Quarles.) 

P.  R.  E. 


Omo. 


Camels  in  the  United  States  (Vol.  v, 
p.  137,  etc.). — On  May  14,  1856,  the  United 
States  storeship  Supply,  Lieut.  Porter  com- 
manding, landed  thirty-four  camels  at  In- 
dianola,  Tex.  The  reports  of  Lieut.  Porter  and 
Major  Wayne  on  these  camels  (which  came 
mostly  from  Egypt  and  from  Smyrna)  is  very 
interesting  and  valuable.  A  year  later  the 
Supply  brought  another  cargo  of  camels.  One 


hundred  camels  were  landed  at  New  Orleans 
in  1858,  by  private  enterprise.  Lieut. 
Beale  in  1857  went  from  Texas  to  California 
with  a  train  of  camels,  dromedaries  and 
mules.  The  camels  swam  across  the  Rio 
Colorado.  Beale's  report  of  this  journey  is 
of  great  interest.  G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Wind  Propulsion  of  Wheelbarrows 

(Vol.  v,  p.  158). — Macready,  in  his  "  Re- 
miniscences "  (p.  227),  relates  that  while 
visiting  Stonehenge,  a  rude  carriage  came 
"  down  the  road  with  extreme  velocity.  As 
we  stood  gazing  on  its  rapid  course,  we 
could  not  divine  by  what  means  it  was  pro- 
pelled, till,  looking  up  into  the  sky,  we  saw 
three  large  kites,  one  above  another  at  equal 
distances,  to  which  strong  light  cords  at- 
tached the  vehicle."  Five  years  later,  he 
says,  he  saw  the  same  kite-carriage  between 
Colchester  and  London.  Macready  quotes 
Milton's  lines : 

"  The  barren  plains, 
Of  Sericana,  where  Chineses  drive 
With  sail  and  wind  their  cany  waggons  light.'' 


R.  G.  B. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Maroons  (Vol.  v,  pp.  216,  etc.). — In 
the  West  Indies,  a  picnic  used  to  be  called 
a  Maroon  party.  A  sailor  left  on  a  desert 
island  is  said  to  be  marooned. 

W.  P.  R. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 

God  Save  the  King  (Vol.  iii,  p.  70).— 
These  words  occur  in  the  Bible,  as  in  2d 
Samuel  xvi,  17,  and  from  this  source  the 
formula,  no  doubt,  came  into  use  in  royal 
proclamations.  R.  S.  J. 

Oxen  in  Battle. — Reference  has  several 
times  been  made  in  these  columns  to  the 
mediaeval  battle-cars  of  Italy,  drawn  by 
oxen.  The  old-time  Hottentots  (who  were 
by  no  means  the  idiots  some  writers  would 
have  us  believe)  kept  great  herds  of  trained 
battle  oxen,  called  bake-leys,  or  backelayers, 
which  fought  men  and  beasts  with  the  great- 
est fury.  ISLANDER. 
I  MAINE. 


252 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.     [September  20,  1890. 


Deserted  Village  (Vol.  v,  p.  128). — 
New  York  possesses  a  deserted  village  in 
Adirondack  Village,  Essex  county,  between 
Lakes  Sanford  and  Henderson,  about  thirty- 
six  miles  from  North  creek.  Half  a  century 
ago  this  was  a  thriving  mining  village ;  it 
was  near  the  head  waters  of  the  Hudson,  and 
iron,  almost  in  a  pure  state,  was  abundant. 
There  were  two  furnaces,  one  mining  shaft, 
and  a  number  of  open  cuttings,  and  three 
charcoal  kilns.  In  1853,  the  principal 
owner,  Mr.  Henderson,  was  accidentally 
killed,  and  soon  afterwards  the  works  were 
closed,  the  expense  of  transporting  the  ore 
to  marker  being  more  than  the  executors 
and  other  owners  cared  to  stand.  I  was 
there  in  1875  >  only  one  house  out  of,  per- 
haps, fifty  houses  was  occupied.  The  place 
is  now  the  headquarters  of  an  Adirondack 
hunting  club.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Pipe  in  Literature.  —  In  the  large 
literature  of  Tobacco  I  do  not  remember  to 
have  seen  it  noted  that  No.  iv  of  Quarles' 
"  Emblems,"  Bk.  ii,  is  a  satire  on  the 
"new-found  vanity"  of  smoking.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  "Emblems"  were  in 
part  translated,  or  closely  imitated  from  the 
"  Pia  Desideria"  of  the  Jesuit  Herman 
Hugo.  Can  any  of  your  correspondents 
tell  me  whether  this  particular  anti-tobacco 
"emblem"  was  original  with  Quarles,  or 
not  ?  P.  R.  E. 

Onto. 

Felibre  (Vol.  iv,  p.  164). — The  account 
of  the  origin  of  this  word  given  at  the  above 
reference,  though  taken  from  a  book  pub- 
lished by  an  early  associate  of  the  fetibrigc, 
appears  to  be  incorrect.  In  a  paper  in 
Poet- Lore,  September  15,  1890,  p. 
450,  it  is  stated  that  the  expression  Li  set 
felibre  de  la  lei  occurs  in  a  mediaeval  poetic 
legend.  It  is  explained  to  mean  "  The 
seven  doctors  of  the  law."  Quite  recently 
I  found  a  derivation  for  the  word  which 
seemed  a  very  happy  one ;  but  I  have  lost 
or  mislaid  my  memorandum  of  it.  I  have 
seen  it  stated  that  felibre  meant  "book- 
maker," but  I  believe  that  explanation  is 
rejected  with  scorn  by  experts. 

ILDERIM. 


Anagrams  (Vol.  v,  pp.  238,  etc.).— 
Thomas  Car  wrote  a  poem  on  his  friend  R. 
Crashawe,  beginning  with  the  anagram  "He 
was  Car,"  which  is  a  play  on  the  name 
Crashawe.  E.  B.  S. 

Blood-Corpuscles.  —  "  The  Century 
Dictionary"  states  that  human  red  blood- 
corpuscles  are  each  about  7.5  millimetres  in 
diameter.  For  millimetres,  read  micro-mil- 
limetres. *  *  * 

Lofty  Towns  (Vol.  iv,  p.  288).—  Ac- 
cording to  Lippincott's  "  Gazetteer,"  Flo- 
rence, in  the  pocket-  State  of  Idaho,  is 
11,100  feet  high.  S.  F.  N. 

EASTPORT,  ME. 


AND 


The  Chatitavquan  for  October  offers  the  following 
table  of  contents  :  "  The  Intellectual  Development  of 
the  English,"  by  Edward  A.  Freeman;  "  The  English 
Constitution,"  by  Woodrow  Wilson.  Ph.D.,  LL.D.; 
"  The  Religious  History  of  England,"  by  Prof.  George 
P.  Fisher,  D.D.,  LL.D.;  "How  the  Saxons  Lived," 
by  R.  S.  Dix;  "  The  Tenure  of  Land  in  England,"  by 
D.  McG.  Means;  "An  Early  Briton,"  by  J.  Franklin 
Jameson,  Ph.D.  ;  "  Sunday  Readings,"  selected  by 
Bishop  Vincent;  "What  shall  we  do  with  our 
Children,"  by  Harriet  Prescott  Spofford  ;  "  Studies  in 
Astronomy,"  by  Garrett  P.  Serviss  ;  "  The  Touch  of 
the  Frost,"  by  Lucy  E.  Tilley  ;  "  Short  Sea  Trips,"  by 
Cyrus  C.  Adams  ;  "  Tremont  Temple  :  A  Church  in 
Boston,"  by  Emory  J.  Haynes,  D.D.  ;  "Scientific  Ex- 
peditions from  American  Colleges,"  by  N.  S.  Shaler, 
S.  D.  ;  "A  Trip  to  a  Japanese  Watering  Place,"  by 
Louis  Bastide  ;  "  General  John  Charles  Fremont,"  by 
Arthur  Edwards,  D.D.  ;  "  Education  is  Life,"  by  Alice 
Freeman  Palmer  ;  "  Class  Poem  of  '  The  Pierians,'  "  by 
Mary  A.  Lathbury.  The  Woman's  Council  Table  con- 
tains the  following  articles  :  "  A  Russian  Tea,"  by  Anna 
Churchell  Carey  ;  "  What  is  Taught  and  Done  in  a 
Cooking  School,"  by  Mrs.  C.  A.  Sherwood  ;  "  Re- 
claiming an  Abandoned  Farm,"  by  Kate  Sanborn  ; 
"  The  Incoming  Fashions,"  by  Mary  S.  Torrey  ; 
"  Putting  Up  Fruits,"  by  Christine  Terhune  Herrick  ; 
"  Lagniappe,"  by  Grace  King;  "Trained  Nurses  for 
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Curtains  and  Portieres,"  by  Ella  Rodman  Church  ; 
"  How  the  Old  May  Help  the  Young,"  by  Mary  A. 
Livermore;  "  Kitchen  Experiment  Stations,"  by  Mary 
Hinman  Abel  ;  "  The  Work  of  the  New  York  Flower 
Mi  sion,"  by  Eugenia  Harper;  "  Non-professional 
Reading,"  by  Josephine  Henderson;  "The  Poet's 
Muse,"  by  Bettie  Garland  ;  "  The  Tricycle  for 
Women,"  by  Lucy  M.  Hall,  M.D.  ;  "Visiting  Cards," 
by  Helen  A.  Cornwell;  "The  Emancipation  of  Ger- 
man Women,"  by  Ernst  Stirner. 


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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  : — Lynch  Law,  253. 

QUERIES  :— Arethusa — Basque  Motto— Language  of  Flow- 
ers, 254. 

REPLIES  : — The  Marimba— Robespierre  and  the  Harmattan 
255 — Monkey-wrench — Flying  Mountain  of  Russia,  256. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :-Cattle  Calls- 
Authorship  Wanted — Labrador,  256 — Pilgrim  Island — Quan- 
trell,  257. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :  —  City  Poets,  257— Singular  Place 
Names — Perpetual  Earthquake,  258 — Lakes  Formed— Men 
of  Humble  Origin — Chian  Hath  Bought  Himself  a  Master — 
Walter  Besant — Landfall  of  Columbus — Rye-Coffee,  259— 
Island  of  Buss — Longest  Siege — Brottus — Carriacou — Popo- 
catepetl— Slaw-berry,  260  —  Italian  Nicknames  —  Under- 
ground Streams,  261 — Bimini — Easter  Island — Pipe  Lore — 
Cambuscan — Stilt- Walkers — Lakes  Drained,  262  —  Fabrics 
Named  From  Places — Calf  of  Man — Hebrew,  Israelite,  Jew 
—A  Little  Bird  Told  Me— Fallen  Jerusalem— Jersey— Small- 
est Church  in  England,  263. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— af*. 


LYNCH  LAW. 

(VOL.  i,  P.  194.) 

"  The  Irish  Sketch-Book,"  by  Mr.  M.  A. 
Titmarsh,  London,  1843,  Vo1-  ">  PP-  3  ancl  4 
(Galway)  : 

"  Then  there  is  Lombard  street,  otherwise 
called  Deadman's  lane,  with  a  raw-head  and 
cross-bones,  and  a  '  memento  mori '  over 
the  door  where  the  dreadful  tragedy  of  the 
Lynchs  was  acted  in  1493.  ^  Galway  is 
the  Rome  of  Connaught,  James  Lynch  Fitz- 
stephen,  the  Mayor,  may  be  considered  as 
the  Lucius  Junius  Brutus  thereof.  Lynch 
had  a  son  who  went  to  Spain  as  master  of 


254 


AMERICAN  NOTES   AND  QUERIES.     [September  27,  1890. 


one  of  his  father's  ships,  and  being  of  an  ex- 
travagant wild  turn,  there  contracted  debts, 
and  drew  bills,  and  alarmed  his  father's  cor- 
respondent, who  sent  a  clerk  and  nephew  of 
his  own  back  in  young  Lynch's  ship  to  Gal- 
way,  to  settle  accounts.  On  the  fifteenth 
day,  young  Lynch  threw  the  Spaniard  over- 
board ;  coming  back  to  his  own  country,  re- 
formed his  life  a  little,  and  was  on  the  point 
of  marrying  one  of  the  Blakes,  Burkes,  Bod- 
kins, or  others;  when  a  seaman  who  had 
sailed  with  him,  being  on  the  point  of 
death,  confessed  the  murder  in  which  he  had 
been  a  participator. 

"  Hereon  the  father,  who  was  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  town,  tried  his  son,  and  sen- 
tenced him  to  death  ;  and  when  the  clan 
Lynch  rose  in  a  body  to  rescue  the 
young  man,  and  avert  such  a  disgrace  from 
their  family,  it  is  said  that  Fitzstephen 
Lynch  hung  the  culprit  with  his  own  hand. 
A  tragedy  called  "  The  Warden  of  Galway  " 
has  been  written  on  the  subject,  and  was 
acted  a  few  nights  before  my  arrival." 

F.  E.  M. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Inter- 
Ocean  in  a  recent  issue  of  that  paper  writes 
as  follows  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  term 
"Lynch  Law:"  "In  1493  James  Lynch 
was  warden  or  mayor  of  Galway.  His  only 
son  had  murdered  a  young  Spaniard  named 
Gomez,  his  friend  and  guest,  in  a  fit  of 
jealousy  concerning  a  beautiful  young  lady. 
The  youth  confessed  his  crime  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  death  by  his  father.  The  young 
man  was  very  popular  and  the  people  of 
Galway  drew  up  petitions  for  his  pardon, 
but  the  garden  was  inexorable.  The  day 
fixed  for  the  execution  came.  It  was  reported 
that  the  people  would  resist  the  sentence 
by  force,  the  soldiers  could  not  be  trusted, 
and  the  executioner  refused  to  act.  The 
father,  therefore,  in  the  spirit  of  stern  jus- 
tice, with  his  own  hand  hanged  his  son.  A 
monument,  a  skull  and  cross-bones  carved 
on  a  slab  of  black  marble,  was  erected  in 
1524011  Lombard  street,  Galway,  to  com- 
memorate this  awful  incident.  Subsequently 
this  was  placed  on  the  wall  of  St.  Nicholas 
church-yard,  where  it  may  still  be  seen." — 
ED. 


B  S. 


Arethusa. — Who  was  the  author  of  a  short 
poem,  or  lyric,  called  "Arethusa?"  It  has 
reference  to  a  flowering  plant  of  that  name. 

F.  H.  ROBERTS. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

The  poem  in  question  was  written  by 
Prof.  W.  W.  Bailey,  of  Providence,  R.  I. 

Basque  Motto. — What  is  the  national 
motto  of  the  Basques  ? 

R.  W.  HENRY. 
IOWA  CENTRE. 

The  three  Basque  Provinces  of  Spain  have 
a  common  seal,  representing  three  interlaced 
hands;  with  the  motto,  Intracbat,  "The 
three  are  one." 

Language  of  Flowers. — What  was  the 
origin  of  the  Language  of  Flowers  ? 

C.  E.  M. 

ODESSA,  DEL. 

The  literature  of  this  subject  is  rather 
large,  but  exceedingly  unimportant ;  for,  ac- 
cording to  Gubernatis,  every  compiler  alters 
and  modifies  the  code  to  suit  his,  or  mostly 
her,  own  fancies.  Aim6  Martin,  a  French 
author,  is  credited  with  the  perfecting,  if  not 
the  invention  of  the  modern  West  European 
system;  but  La  Mottraie,  an  associate  of 
Charles  XII,  in  the  first  place,  and  afterwards 
the  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  brought 
into  Western  Europe  some  knowledge  of  the 
Oriental  language  of  flowers.  It  is  affirmed 
that  in  Persia  and  Turkey  this  "  language  " 
has  been  brought  to  a  great  pitch  of  perfec- 
tion; and  that  all  over  Southern  and  East- 
ern Asia  something  of  the  kind  is  known. 
It  is  also  said  that  the  Dream-book  of 
Artemidorus,  a  Greek  of  Ephesus,  of  the 
times  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  contains  various 
notes  and  hints  asto  this  matter  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  plants.  Viewed  as  a  matter  of  folk- 
lore, the  flower-language  has  some  interest ; 
but  this  flower-language  of  the  book-makers, 
being  founded  largely  upon  individual  fan- 
cies, has  not  the  slightest  consequence  out- 
side the  minds  of  a  certain  number  of  young, 
very  young,  persons  of  either^sex,  and  of 


September  27,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


255 


feelings  tenderer  than  their  years.  A  book 
on  the  flower-language  giving  the  history  of 
each  idea  or  sentiment,  and  the  literary  or 
other  reason  for  accepting  it,  fortified  with 
authorities  and  quotations,  might  have,  we 
believe,  a  certain  value. 


REPLIES. 

The  Marimba  (Vol.  v,  p.  151). — This 
favorite  musical  instrument  among  the  Con- 
goese  is  described  in  Merolla's  "  Voyage  to 
Congo"  (1682)  as  follows: 

"  The  instrument  most  in  request  used  by 
the  Abundi,  being  the  people  of  the  king- 
-dom  of  Angola,  Matamba  and  others,  is 
the  Marimba ;  it  consists  of  sixteen  cala- 
bashes orderly  placed  along  the  middle  be- 
tween two  side  boards  joined  together,  or  a 
long  frame  hanging  about  a  man's  neck 
with  a  thong.  Over  the  mouths  of  the  cala- 
bashes, there  are  thin  sounding  slips  of  red 
wood  called  Tanilla,  a  little  above  a  span 
long,  which  being  beaten  with  two  little 
sticks,  returns  a  sound  from  the  calabashes 
of  several  sizes  not  unlike  an  organ.  To 
make  a  concert  four  other  instruments  are 
played  upon  by  as  many  musicians,  and  if 
they  have  six  they  add  the  Cassuto,  which  is 
a  hollaw  piece  of  wood  of  a  lofty  tone, 
about  a  yard  long,  covered  with  a  board  cut 
like  a  ladder,  or  with  cross  slits  at  small 
distances,  and  running  a  stick  along,  it 
makes  a  sound  within  which  passes  for  a 
tenor;  the  bass  of  the  concert  is  the  Qui- 
lando,  made  of  a  very  large  calabash  two 
spans  and  a  half  or  three  in  length,  very 
large  at  one  end,  and  ending  sharp  off  at  the 
other  like  a  taper  bottle  ;  it  has  cuts  all 
along  it,  and  is  beaten  to  answer  the  Cas- 
suto. The  harmony  is  grateful  at  a  distance, 
but  harsh  and  ungrateful  near  at  hand,  the 
beating  of  the  sticks  causing  a  great  con- 
fusion "  ("  Pinkerton's  Voyages,"  Vol.  xvi, 

p.  245). 

Marimbas,  plur.  (among  the  Kafirs),  a  sort 
of  musical  instrument,  is  in  "  Lacerda's 
Portuguese  and  English  Diet."  The  Kafir 
language  belongs  to  the  same  class  as  the 
Congo,  and  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  it. 
The  various  dialects  spoken  in  the  different 
provinces  of  Congo  are  closely  allied  to  each 


other.  "  The  language  of  the  whole  of 
Congo  is  extremely  musical  and  flexible,  not 
particulaily  sonorous,  but  very  agreeable; 
with  a  perfect  syntax,  and  bearing  in  some 
points  a  resemblance  to  the  Latin."  The 
soft  and  harmonious  quality  of  the  language 
is  due  to  the  presence  of  numerous  vowels 
and  liquids,  and  the  entire  absence  of  gut- 
turals (see  "Journal  Amer.  Oriental  Soc."). 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Robespierre  and  the  Harmattan  (Vol.  v, 
p.  199). — Of  the  long-winded,  incorruptible 
man,  chief  and  speaker  of  the  Jacobin  am- 
phitheatre, Carlyle  remarks:  "A  more  in- 
supportable individual,  one  would  say, 
seldom  opened  his  mouth  in  any  tribune. 
Acrid,  implacable,  impotent,  dull,  drawling, 
barren  as  the  Harmattan- wind "  ("French 
Rev.,"  Vol.  ii,  p.  207. 

Compare  this  passage  with  the  following 
extract  from  the  "Paris  Revolutions"  of 
April,  1792:  "  Incorruptible  Robespierre, 
you  are  sometimes  eloquent,  but  you  can 
not  dissemble  from  yourself  the  fact  that  you 
have  not  received  from  nature  those  external 
advantages  which  give  eloquence  to  words 
most  devoid  of  meaning.  You  will  know 
that  you  do  not  possess  that  surpass- 
ing genius  which  sways  men  at  its  will  " 
("  Martin's  Hist.  France,"  Vol.  i,  p.  247). 

Had  the  professor  told  his  story  in  plain 
language,  the  reader  might  have  missed  that 
bolder  figure  describing  his  struggle  just  be- 
fore the  "  Centre  of  Indifference "  is 
reached  :  ' '  The  hot  Harmattan-wind  had 
faged  itself  out,  its  howl  went  silent  within 
me,  and  the  long  deafened  soul  could  now 
hear"  ("  Sartor  Resartus,"  p.  187). 

"  On  the  western  coast  of  the  Sahara,  the 
burning  wind  called  the  Harmattan  is  noth- 
ing else  than  the  north-east  trade  wind  more 
or  less  turned  from  its  course  because  of  the 
neighborhood  of  the  sea"  (Elisee  Reclus). 

The  Harmat'an  is  most  severely  felt  in 
Senegambia  and  Guinea,  and  along  the  coast 
from  the  Cape  Verde  islands  to  Cape  Lopez. 
It  sets  in  at  the  close  of  the  rainy  season,  and 
rages  at  intervals  of  many  days  throughout 
the  winter  months.  In  passing  over  the 
sandy  plains  of  the  Sahara,  it  acquires  an  ex- 
traordinary degree  of  dryness  and  parches 


256 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND   QUERIES.      [September  27,  1890. 


up  everything  exposed  to  it.  The  grass 
soon  becomes  dry  and  withered,  and  many 
of  the  trees  shed  their  leaves.  It  causes 
chaps  of  the  lips  and  sore  eyes,  while  the 
skin  is  found  to  peel  off.  It  is  accompanied 
with  a  thick  smoky  haze,  through  which  the 
sun  appears  of  a  dull-red  color  and  may  be 
viewed  with  the  naked  eye.  Darwin  re- 
marks extreme  haziness  of  the  atmosphere  at 
St.  Jago,  one  of  the  Cape  Verde  group,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  visit,  January,  1832.  He 
attributes  the  phenomenon  to  the  falling  of 
the  impalpably  fine  dust  of  a  reddish-brown 
color,  and  mentions  its  unpleasant  effects 
upon  the  eyes,  and  some  injury  it  caused  to 
their  astronomical  instruments.  As  to  its 
source,  he  says :  "  From  the  direction  of  the 
wind  whenever  it  has  fallen,  and  from  its 
always  having  fallen  during  those  months 
when  the  Harmattan  is  known  to  raise 
clouds  of  dust  high  up  in  the  atmosphere, 
we  may  feel  sure  it  all  comes  from  Africa." 
There  are  many  accounts  of  the  dust  fall- 
ing on  ships  on  the  Atlantic,  hundreds  of 
miles  away  and  even  more  than  a  thousand 
from  the  African  coast.  The  following  is 
from  ' 'Dam pier's  Voyages  :"  '-The  ships 
being  to  the  southward  of  Cape  Blanco, 
latitude  21°,  are  sometimes  so  troubled  with 
the  sand  which  the  wind  brings  off  shore, 
that  they  are  scarce  able  to  see  one  another. 
Their  decks  are  all  strewed  with  it,  and  their 
sails  all  red,  as  if  they  were  tanned  with  the 
sand  that  sticks  to  them,  it  being  of  a  dull 
reddish  color"  (Vol.  ii,  p.  3). 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Monkey-wrench  (Vol.  v,  p.  232). — With- 
out some  definite  information  about  Mr. 
Monkey  or  Muncke,  of  Brooklyn,  I  should 
be  inclined  to  think  him  an  invention  sub- 
sequent to  the  instrument.  Doubtless  mon- 
key-wrench is  an  instance  of  that  mode  of 
naming  handy  implements,  from  some  fan- 
cied analogy  in  shape,  activity  or  strength, 
by  which  we  have  donkey-pump,  crane,  crab, 
hydraulic  ram,  wood-horse,  clothes-hone,  and 
the  nautical  monkey-block,  camel,  horse, 
lizard,  monkey,  spider  and  cable  (through 
various  mediaeval  forms  from  Latin  caprto- 
lus,  derivative  of  caper,  goat).  H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 


Flying  Mountain  of  Russia  (Vol.  i,  p. 
273).  —  A  "  flying  mountain  "  in  Russia  is  a 
kind  of  toboggan  slide,  or  switch-back  ar- 
rangement built  of  ice.  SILEX. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


JFO 


Cattle  Calls.  —  Many  years  ago  I  lived 
for  some  years  on  a  Massachusetts  farm.  I 
remember  well  the  old  calls  for  cattle  and 
other  animals.  They  were  as  follows:  For 
neat  cattle,  "Co,  co,  co,"  or  "bos,  bos, 
bos,"  sometimes  "  Co-bos,"  etc.;  for  horses, 
"Jock,  jock,  jock,"  or  "Co-jock,"  etc.; 
for  sheep,  "  Nan,  nan,  nan,"  or  "Co-nan," 
etc.;  sometimes  "co-day,"  etc.  Will 
country-bred  correspondents  who  have 
similar  recollections  put  them  on  record  ? 

N.  L.  N. 
NEWARK,  N.  J. 

Authorship  Wanted.  —  A  Bold 
Trooper.  — 

"  Then  like  a  hold  trooper 

Pretty  Polly  did  ride, 
With  pistols  and  holsters 

And  sword  by  her  side,' 
Her  hair  upon  her  shoulders 

Like  gold  it  did  hang, 
And  in  every  degree  . 

She  appeared  like  a  man." 

It  is  just  sixty-three  years  since  we  first 
heard  the  above  lines  sung  to  a  spirited  air, 
by  one  who  was  then  a  fair  representative  of 
the  pretty  Follies  of  the  period,  and  we  don't 
think  we  ever  heard  any  more  of  it,  any- 
where, or  at  any  time.  Is  there  any  ancient 
reader  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUEPIES 
that  knows  anything  about  it  ?  The  senti- 
ment is  very  romantic  and  very  masculine. 
Nevertheless  there  may  have  been  among 
those  who  sung  it  at  that  day  some  who 
would  no  more  have  touched  a  sword  or 
pistol  than  they  would  a  copperhead,  unless 
it  might  have  been  some  Molly  Pitcher  of 
revolutionary  fame.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Labrador.  —  Can  you  tell  me  the  origin 
of  the  word  "  Labrador?" 

EAST  COAST. 


September  27,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


25? 


Pilgrim  Island. — I  have  by  me  a  very 
brief  account  of  a  sect  of  fanatics  called 
"Pilgrims,"  who  about  1817  settled  at  Pil- 
grim island  in  the  Mississippi  river,  thirty 
miles  below  New  Madrid,  Mo.  The  sect  is 
said  to  have  originated  in  Canada,  Vermont 
and  New  York  State.  They  were  finally 
robbed  of  their  money  and  broken  up,  their 
prophet  with  a  few  followers  settling  at  or 
near  Arkansas  Post.  It  is  said  that  they 
left  their  dead  unburied.  Was  this  the  sect 
founded  by  the  impostor  Matthias  ?  It  is 
said  that  he  went  to  Arkansas,  and  died 
there,  at  some  unknown  date.  Can  any  one 
help  me  fix  the  date  of  his  death  ? 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Quantrell.  —  The  statement  has  been 
made  that  the  notorious  Quantrell  (leader  of 
a  guerrilla  squadron  in  the  war  of  1861-65) 
assumed  that  name  as  a  disguise,  a  literal 
nom  de  guerre,  and  that  his  true  name  was 
carefully  concealed.  .Is  this  a  fact?  And 
what  became  of  Quantrell  after  the  war  ? 

Z.  S.  T. 

,@OMMUNIGA!FIONS. 

City  Poets  (Vol.  v,  p.  222). — The  fol- 
lowing is  a  list  of  the  City  Poets  or  Chro- 
nologers  of  London,  obtained  from  various 
sources :  Thomas  Dekker,  Thomas  Hey- 
wood,  Ben  Jonson,  Thomas  Lodge,  Thomas 
Middleton,  Anthony  Munday,  George 
Peele,  Elkanah  Settle  and  John  Webster, 
dramatists ;  T.  B.  (Thomas  Brewer)  Ed- 
mund Gayton,  Thomas  Jordan,  Francis 
Quarles,  John  Squire,  John  Tatham,  John 
Taylor,  the  water  poet,  and  Matthew  Laub- 
mann,  poets  and  miscellaneous  writers. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  author  of  the 
"Mayoralty  Pageant"  for  1656  was 
Thomas  Brewer,  who  generally  signed  his 
works  with  his  initials  on  the  title-page, 
and  his  full  name  on  the  last  leaf  as  in  case 
of  the  prose  tract,  "  Life  and  Death  of  the 
Merry  Devil  of  Edmonton  "  (see  Notes  and 
Appendix,  Fairholt's  "  Hist.  Lord  Mayor's 
Pageants,"  p.  282).  "London's  Triumph," 
1656,  by  T.  B.,  a  descriptive  pamphlet  of 
the  Lord  Mayor's  show  for  that  year  is 


probably  by  Brewer  "  ("Diet.  Nat.  Biog.)." 
Of  John  Squire,  who  wrote  the  pageant  for 
1620,  nothing  else  is  recorded.  Edmund 
Gayton  (1609-1666)  was  the  author 
of  "Charity  Triumphant;  or,  The 
Virgin  Hero."  This  pageant  was  com- 
posed for  Lord  Mayor  Dethicke,  and  was 
exhibited  October  29,  1655;  as  there  had 
been  no  pageants  since  1639,  this  was  the  first 
allowed  during  Cromwell's  supremacy.  At 
the  time  of  its  performance,  Gayton  was  in 
the  debtor's  prison.  The  City  Poet  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  citizens  of  London  at  a  regu- 
lar salary,  in  order  to  be  sure  of  his  services 
at  any  time  when  occasion  might  demand. 
Although  London  sought  entertainment  from 
the  Muses  on  numerous  other  days  of  fes- 
tivity, it  was  the  especial  office  of  the  City 
Laureate  to  prepare  the  pageants  for  Lord 
Mayor's  day,  and  sometimes  to  superintend 
their  presentation.  Ben  Jonson  seems  to 
have  done  no  literary  work  for  the  city 
while  he  was  Chronologer.  He  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  office  in  1628,  on  the  death 
of  Middleton;  but  in  1631  or  1632  his 
salary  of  100  nobles  was  suspended  until  "he 
should  present  some  fruits  of  his  labors" — 
the  pageant  of  1629  had  been  prepared  by 
Dekker,  and  that  of  1631  by  Hey  wood.  Of 
the  other  years  of  his  term  no  pageant  is  re- 
corded. The  office  of  City  Poet  should  not 
be  confounded  with  that  of  Court  Poet, 
which  Ben  Jonson  had  filled  since  the  year 
1616.  King  James  I  having  in  consideration 
of  his  services  conferred  on  him  by  letters 
patent  a  pension  for  life  of  100  marks,  this 
act  has  been  termed  creating  him  Poet  Lau- 
reate, as  Lord  Falkland  says : 

"*  *  *  learned  James 
Declared  great  Jonson  worthiest  to  receive 
The  garlands  which  the  Muses'  hands  did  weave." 

Sometimes  the  city  applied  to  several 
poets,  as  in  the  year  1617,  when  Middleton 
obtained  the  appointment  over  Thomas 
Dekker  and  Anthony  Munday,  two  poets  of 
very  original  merit.  Of  the  list — including 
the  name  of  Heywood,  the  English  Lopez  de 
Vega,  and  that  of  John  Webster,  the  great- 
est of  Shakespeare's  contemporaries  and  suc- 
cessors— Nichols  pronounces  Dekker,  author 
of  the  pageants  of  1612  and  1629,  the  most 
eminent.  As  to  Munday,  nearly  twenty 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  27,  1890. 


years  had  gone  by  since  Ben  Jonson  had 
ridiculed  him  as  Antonio  Balladino,  of  Milan, 
in  "  The  Case  is  Altered. "  In  the  opening 
scene,  Peter  Onion,  a  groom,  having  re- 
quested Balladino's  name,  inquires,  "  You  are 
not  pageant  poet  to  the  city  of  Milan,  sir,  are 
you?"  And  Antonio  replies,  " I  supply  the 
place,  sir,  when  a  worse  cannot  be  had,  sir." 
From  the  dialogue  which  ensues  between 
Onion  and  Antonio,  we  may  draw  our  own 
inferences  of  the  pageant  poet's  gifts  and 
methods. 

More  recently  Munday  had  been  the  ob- 
ject of  a  violent,  but  by  no  means  covert  at- 
tack from  Middleton  in  his  pageant  of  1613, 
who  insinuated  that  the  art  and  knowledge 
displayed  by  the  inventors  of  the  pageants 
were  by  no  means  commensurate  with  the 
city  liberality.  In  spite  of  this  onslaught, 
Munday  was  reinstated  in  public  favor  in 
1614,  and  furnished  the  pageants  of  the  three 
following  years.  In  1619,  Middleton  re- 
newed his  attack,  declaring  that  in  Munday 
and  other  city  poets 

"  Art  hath  been  most  weakly  imitated,  and  most  beg- 
garly worded." 

Beginning  with  George  Peele's  pageant 
of  1585,  the  earliest  of  which  there  is  any 
printed  description,  the  series  closes  with 
that  of  1702,  by  Elkanah  Settle,  who  suc- 
ceeded Matthew  Taubmann  in  1691.  In 
1682,  John  Dryden  had  published  the 
second  part  of  "Absalom  and  Architophel," 
in  which  Settle,  his  literary  rival  of  many 
years,  was  satirized  as  Doeg.  The  extended 
rehearsal  of  Doeg,  beginning  : 

"  Doeg,  though  without  knowing  how,  or  why, 
Made  still  a  blundering  kind  of  melody." 

closes  with  the  lines : 

"  The  height  of  his  ambition  is,  we  know, 
But  to  be  master  of  a  puppet  show, 
On  that  one  stage  his  works  may  yet  appear, 
And  a  month's  harvest  keeps  him  all  the  year." 

These  particular  lines  must  have  come 
from  Tate,  who  was  joint  collaborates  of  the 
satire  with  Dryden. 

The  pageant  which  Settle  prepared  for  the 
year  1708  was  not  exhibited,  on  account  of 
the  death  of  Prince  George  of  Denmark, 
husband  of  Queen  Anne ;  but  what  became 
of  his  mayoralty  effusions  for  the  interval, 


1702-8,   is  a  mystery,    though   Pope   had 
said, 

"  Codrus  writes  on,  and  will  forever  write." 
(See  Fairholt's  "  Hist.  Lord  Mayor's  Pageants.") 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Singular  Place-Names  (Vol.  v,  p. 
237). — Muck,  a  locality  in  Washington,  I 
think  should  read  Muckamuck ;  Kunetux 
was  formerly  Wake  Kunetux,  but  has  been 
contracted.  Both  are  Chinook  words,  the 
former  meaning  "food;"  the  latter,  "I do 
not  understand."  The  following  words  are 
or  have  been  legitimate  names  in  California. 
Boot-jack  Ranch,  Jackass  Flat,  Dead  Mule 
Gulch,  Devil's  Kitchen,  Shoe  Fly,  Shanty- 
tmun,  Slabtown,  Hangtown  (now  Placer- 
ville),  You  Bet,  Whisky  Flat,  Poker  Flat 
and  Yuba  Dam.  The  last-named  offers  an 
apparent  apology  in  its  orthography,  though 
unfortunately  for  the  apology  the  name  ex- 
isted before  a  dam  was  constructed  across 
Yuba  river.  Hell  Roaring  Forks  and  Dirty 
Devil  River  are  names  for  which  we  may 
thank  the  Geological  Survey. 

OROG. 

Perpetual  Earthquake  (Vol.  v,  p.  136). 
— I  can  safely  say  that  a  constant  earthquake 
tremor  does  not  occur  at  Caldera,  Chile.  I 
have  made  inquiries  of  many  persons  well  ac- 
quainted with  that  port,  and  the  opinion  ex- 
pressed by  them  is  unanimous  that  there  is  no 
foundation  whatever  for  such  a  statement. 

I  have  just  talked  with  a  gentleman,  a 
foreigner,  a  resident  of  Caldera  for  forty 
years  until  last  year,  who  assures  me  that  earth- 
quake tremors  there  are  no  more  frequent 
than  in  this  city,  or  in  many  other  points  of 
the  coast,  and  that  frequently  three  or  four 
months  pass  without  the  slightest  observa- 
ble oscillation.  The  tidal  waves  of  August 
13,  1868,  and  of  May  9,  1877,  which  were 
attended  with  so  much  disaster  in  the  ports 
of  Iquique,  Pisagua  and  Arica  were  almost 
harmless  in  Caldera.  The  last  serious  earth- 
quake experienced  at  Caldera  was  on  the 
5th  of  October,  1859,  and  then  the  town 
was  completely  destroyed. 

J.  W.  MERRIAM. 

IQUIQUE,  CHILE. 


September  27,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


259 


Lakes  Formed  (Vol.  v,  p.  249). — The 
great  Reelfoot  lake,  near  the  north-west  angle 
of  Tennessee,  was  formed  by  the  submer- 
gence of  land  and  the  closure  of  streams 
during  the  great  earthquake  of  1811,  and 
near  it  are  other  lakes  of  similar  character 
and  origin.  Across  the  Mississippi,  in  what 
are  now  the  States  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas, 
we  find  an  extensive  series  of  lakes  and 
marshes  which  unquestionably  date  from  the 
same  series  of  earthquakes,  at  least  in  their 
present  shape.  Many  of  the  small  crescentic 
lakes  which  occur  along  the  lower  course  of 
the  Mississippi  have  been  formed  by  the 
river  cutting  across  the  necks  of  curves; 
quite  a  number  of  them  have  been  so  formed 
during  the  memory  of  living  men.  Some  of 
these  cut-off  lakes  have  been  formed  in  a 
single  day ;  but  in  some  cases  it  is  the  arti- 
ficial levee  which  finally  determines  the 
lacustrine  character  of  the  loop  in  which  the 
current  has  ceased  to  flow.  S.  SNOW. 


Men  of  Humble  Origin. — Christopher 
Columbus  was  the  son  of  a  weaver  and  also 
a  weaver  himself.  Claude  Lorraine  was 
bred  a  pastry  cook.  Cervantes  was  a  com- 
mon soldier.  Homer  was  the  son  of  a 
farmer.  Demosthenes  was  the  son  of  a 
cutler.  Oliver  Cromwell  was  the  son  of  a 
brewer.  Howard  was  an  apprentice  to  a 
grocer.  Franklin  was  a  journeyman  printer 
and  son  of  a  tallow-chandler  and  soap- 
boiler. Daniel  Defoe  was  a  hosier  and  son 
of  a  butcher.  Cardinal  Wolsey  was  the  son 
of  a  butcher.  Lucian  was  the  son  of  a  maker 
of  statuary.  Virgil  was  the  son  of  a  porter. 
Horace  was  the  son  of  a  shopkeeper. 
Shakespeare  was  t-he  son  of  a  wool-stapler. 
Milton  was  the  son  of  a  money-scrivener. 
Pope  was  the  son  of  a  merchant.  Robert 
Burns  was  the  son  of  a  plowman  in  Ayrshire. 

Ex. 

Chian  Hath  Bought  Himself  a 
Master  (Vol.  v,  p.  247). — The  explanation 
of  this  phrase  given  in  Vol.  iii,  p.  115,  is  un- 
doubtedly the  correct  one.  Whittier's 
poem,  "  Mithridates  at  Chios,"  is  based  on 
the  old  story.  In  a  note  at  the  end  of  the 
volume  of  Whittier's  works,  the  poet  ex- 
plains the  origin  of  the  proverb.  *  *  * 


Walter  Besant.— 

"  To  THE  EDITOR  OF  The  Tribune  : 

"Sir: — The  question  has  come  up  hereabout  the 
pronunciation  of  the  name  Walter  Besant.  How  is  the 
latter  divided,  Bes-ant  or  Be-sant  ?  E.  M.  C. 

"  Chautauqua,  N.  Y.,  August  20,  1890. 

"  Lippincott  pronounces  it  Be-sant,  to 
rhyme  with  decant,  the  '  s  '  as  in  '  say ;'  but 
we  think  most  Englishmen,  if  not  the  dis- 
tinguished author  himself,  call  it  Bes-ant,  to 
rhyme  with  'crescent,'  while  some  rhyme  it 
with  'pleasant.'  " — ED. — Tribune. 

I  am  able  to  state,  on  the  authority  of  a 
personal  friend  of  Mr.  Besant' s,  that  his 
own  fashion  of  pronouncing  the  name  is 
be-zant,  with  the  accent  on  the  last  syllable. 
The  pronunciation  bes-ant  he  specially  dis- 
likes. Z.  X.  Q. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Landfall  of  Columbus  (Vol.  v,  p. 
167).— Lieut.  Murdock,  U.  S.  N.,  in  1884, 
published  a  review  of  the  arguments  which 
Fox  and  others  have  used  in  trying  to  fix 
upon  Samana,  or  Atwood's  Cay,  as  the  true 
landfall  of  Columbus.  His  conclusion  is 
thatofCapt.  Becher,  R.  N.,  namely  that 
the  true  San  Salvador  of  Columbus  must 
have  been  Watling's  island.  He  shows, 
however,  that  the  published  record  of  the 
first  voyage  of  Columbus  contains  several 
statements  which  are  not  reconcilable  with 
the  known  facts  of  the  geography  of  the 
islands  he  visited.  ILDERIM. 

Rye-Coffee. — We  have  still  a  tolerably 
vivid  impression  of  the  "  hard  times  "  which 
followed  the  financial  crisis  of  1817,  and 
continued,  at  least,  until  1820,  and  most 
especially  the  advent  of  rye- coffee. 
Roasted  rye  was  brought  by  the  merchants 
from  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  by  the 
barrel,  and  more  or  less  of  it  was  consumed 
by  almost  everybody.  It  became,  in  a 
measure,  a  standard  of  financial  ability,  if 
not  of  respectability.  There  were  probably 
a  few  in  the  community  who  did  not  use  it  at 
all ;  but  many  used  one-quarter,  one-half, 
or  three-quarters  rye  ;  but  the  larger  num- 
ber, the  pure  unmixed  rye.  It  was 
"wretched  stuff,"  and  many  persons  could 
not  or  would  not  become  accustomed  to  it; 
others  preferred  water.  Of  course,  roasted 


260 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  27,  1890. 


chestnuts,  in  some  instances  acorns  even, 
and  chickory,  were  used  as  substitutes. 

Finally  a  species  of  Sorghum  was  intro- 
duced, commonly  called  "  chocolate-corn," 
and  soon  many  poor  families  had  their 
"patch"  of  chocolate  corn.  It  had  a 
short  compact  head  and  produced  round 
seeds,  something  like  millet-seeds,  only 
much  larger.  These  seeds,  when  roasted  and 
ground,  produced  a  beverage,  that  in  looks, 
taste  and  smell,  approximated  the  common 
chocolate  of  commerce.  It  soon  became 
popular,  and  displaced  the  obnoxious  rye, 
At  that  time  no  one  thought  of  making 
sugar  out  of  the  juice  which  the  canes 
yielded,  and  hence  when  "  good  times  "  re- 
turned, this  sorghum  was  brushed  aside,  and 
was  only  reintroduced  many  years  thereafter 
for  its  saccharine  qualities.  This  has  been 
so  long  ago  that  we  cannot  say  positively 
that  the  chocolate  corn  of  that  period  was 
the  same  species  as  that  now  cultivated  for 
sugar.  There  are  many  varieties  of  sorghum, 
under  various  names,  all  of  which  yield 
more  or  less  saccharine  matter ;  and  there- 
fore, the  people  of  the  early  days  alluded  to 
missed  the  opportunity  of  making  provision 
for  foreign  sugar,  at  the  same  time  they  were 
supplying  the  place  of  foreign  coffee. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Island  of  Buss  (Vol.  iii,  p.  283). — Ac- 
cording to  Justin  Winsor's  "  History  of 
America,"  Vol.  i,  p.  47,  the  island  of  Buss 
(or  Bus)  is  a  myth.  But  no  authority  is 
given  for  this  dictum,  nor  is  the  matter  dis- 
cussed in  any  way.  Weighing  duly  the  tes- 
timony in  favor  of  the  former  existence  of 
the  island,  and  adding  the  fact  that  numer- 
ous islands  have  been  washed  away,  even  in 
much  quieter  seas  than  the  North  Atlantic, 
I  really  think  that  we  have  a  right  to  ac- 
cept the  belief  that  the  island  of  Buss  was 
not  a  fiction.  There  may,  however,  be  rea- 
sons for  rejecting  this  opinion  which  I  have 
not  fallen  in  with.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Longest  Siege  (Vol.  v,  pp.  247,  etc.). 
— Your  correspondent,  on  p.  247,  mentions 
Siege  of  Veii,  ten  years.  That  belongs  to 
the  mythical  ages,  but  A.D.  1402,  after  the 


battle  of  Angora,  Tamerlane  took  Smyrna 
by  assault  which  had  held  out  against  the 
besieging  operations  and  blockade  of  the 
Turks  under  the  war-like  Bajazet  for  seven 
years.  It  is  noteworthy  of  observation  that 
all  the  strongholds  which  have  defended 
themselves  for  years  against  enormous 
armies  have  been  fortified  seaports  the  access 
to  which  by  sea  for  supplies  and  reinforce- 
ments could  not  be  prevented  by  the  attack- 
ing forces.  History  is  constantly  repeating 
itself,  but  strategy  is  unchangeable.  The 
laws  which  governed  it  in  the  days  of  Sesos- 
tris  rule  to-day  with  the  same  inevitable,  ir- 
resistible force.  ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Brottus  (Vol.  iii,  p.  59) — It  would 
appear,  from  the  account  given  in  the  "Cen- 
tury Diet.,"  that  this  word  (meaning  a 
small  tip,  or  gratuity  to  a  child  or  servant) 
is  not  of  African,  but  of  good  Old  English 
origin.  S.  T.  D. 

Carriacou   (Vol.   iv,   pp.  228,  etc.) 

About  200  miles  south-west  from  this  island 
we  find  the  town  and  port  of  Cariaco,  in 
Venezuela.  May  there  not  be  a  common 
Carib  origin  for  the  two  names?  It  would 
be  interesting  to  know  whether  cariacu,  as 
the  name  for  a  species  of  deer,  was  ever 
known  in  any  of  the  Carib  regions. 

MARTEXT. 

Popocatepetl  (Vol.  v,  p.  237). — In  all 
prior  reports  of  the  altitude  of  this  volcano 
as  determined  by  Prof.  Heilprin,  that  I  have 
seen,  14,000  feet  and  not  17,500  feet  was 
given  as  the  result  of  his  Determination.  As 
this  result  accords  closely  with  other  surveys 
I  wish  to  withdraw  the  expression  "un- 
worthy of  consideration  "  so  far  as  it  ap- 
plies to  this.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

Slaw-berry  (Vol.  v,  p.  142). — Would 
not  K.  W.  C.  find  it  easier  to  derive  slaw- 
berry,  in  the  sense  of  cranberry,  from  slough 
and  berry,  rather  than  from  sloe  and  berry  ? 
Sloughberry  would  be  a  perfectly  natural  and 
very  expressive  substitute  for  the  word  cran- 
berry. But  I  must  confess  I  never  saw  the 
word,  nor  heard  it  either.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 


September  27,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


261 


Italian  Nicknames. — "  It  is  puzzling  to 
a  novice  in  the  study  of  the  history  of  art  to 
find  that  the  names  by  which  he  knows  most 
of  the  Italian  masters  are  not  their  family 
names.  He  reads  of  Pietro  Vannucci,  and 
is  surprised  to  discover  after  a  time  that  he 
has  known  that  artist  before  under  the  name 
ofPerugino;  or  he  sees  an  engraving  from 
a  picture  by  Antonio  Allegri,  and  after- 
wards hears  a  photograph  of  the  same  picture 
spoken  of  as  a  Correggio.  To  one  who 
lives  in  Italy  this  nomenclature  seems  most 
natural,  as  few  are  called  by  their  proper 
names. 

"The  Italian  masters  are  known  to  us 
either  by  their  Christian  names,  as  Giotto, 
Raphael,  or  Michael  Angelo,  or  by  corrup- 
tions of  the  baptismal  name,  as  Masaccio — 
'great  hulking  Tom,'  Ruskin  calls  him — 
Giorgione  and  Domenichino.  Others  we 
know  by  names  derived  from  the  father's 
trade  or  occupation,  as  Andrea  del  Sarto, 
Ghirlandajo  and  Tintoretto.  Some  are 
called  from  their  birthplaces  or  the  cities  of 
their  adoption,  as  Luini,  Veronese,  Caravag- 
gio,  Romano  and  Sassoferrato.  Lastly,  a 
large  number  are  known  to  posterity  by 
nicknames — soprannomi,  the  Italians  say — 
received  on  account  of  some  characteristic 
or  physical  peculiarity,  such  as  Verocchio, 
the  true-eyed ;  Moretto,  the  dark  com- 
plexioned ;  Riccio,  the  curly-haired,  and 
Pinturicchio,  the  little  painter,  or,  as  he 
was  also  called,  Sordicchio,  the  little  deaf 
man. 

"  Among  Italians  of  to-day  we  find  names 
used  in  the  same  way.  Gentlemen  and 
ladies  are  known  to  their  neighbors  and  re- 
tainers, as  well  as  to  their  friends,  by  their 
Christian  names.  The  first  question  put  to 
a  new-comer  is  the  familiar  one  from  the 
catechism,  'What  is  your  name?'  and  by 
that  name  he  or  she  will  hereafter  be  called. 
'  La  Signora  Nini '  may  be  a  grandmother, 
but  she  still  bears  her  baby  name.  '  II  Sig- 
nor  Franceschino  '  may  be  old,  and  bowed, 
and  gray-haired,  but  his  nursery  name  will 
cling  to  him  as  long  as  he  lives.  Often  the 
surname  is  so  seldom  used  that  it  is  almost 
forgotten. 

"The  corruption  of  the  Christian  name  is 
also  frequent.  Our  contaitino  is  known  far 
and  wide  as  Pello,  a  contraction  for  Pietro, 


and  our  carpenter  is  called  Tita,  from  Bat- 
tista.  We  often  hear  young  people  called 
from  their  fathers'  trades,  as  in  Germany : 
'  Lorenzo  del  Sarto,'  the  tailor's  Law- 
rence, or  '  Giulia  del  Pollajuolo,'  the 
poulterer's  Julia.  Sometimes  the  occupation 
suggests  the  soprannome,  which  is  not, 
strictly  speaking,  derived  from  it,  as  that  of 
our  wood  merchant,  who  is  called  '  II  Stec- 
chitin,1  the  little  stick. 

"  Names  from  the  place  of  residence  or 
birth  are  very  common,  and  sometimes  the 
adjectival  form  is  used.  One  often  hears  of 
II  Genovese,  II  Tnestino,  II  Novarese.  A 
man  who  worked  for  us  was  always  called 
Sesto,  and  it  was  only  after  some  months' 
acquaintance  that  we  learned  that  that  was 
his  place  of  abode,  and  not  his  real  name. 

"A  great  many  soprannomi  are  personal, 
given  on  account  of  some  peculiarity,  but 
these  are  inherited  by  the  children,  nephews 
and  nieces.  I  had  a  cook  once  who  de- 
lighted in  nicknames.  She  never  called  her 
husband  by  his  classical  name  Oreste,  but  al- 
ways '  II  Secco,'  the  dried-up  one,  a  name 
singularly  appropriate,  as  his  face  was  yellow 
and  wrinkled,  like  a  dried  apple.  The 
butcher  she  called  'II  Guercio,'  because 
he  was  cross-eyed,  or,  as  she  would  have 
said  in  the  polite  Tuscan  phrase,  because  he 
looked  in  the  cabbages.  His  rival  across 
the  street  was  '  II  Zucco,'  the  squash, 
and  I  even  saw  a  letter  addressed  to  him 
by  this  name.  If  she  did  not  know  the 
soprannome  of  any  one  she  saw,  she  in- 
vented one  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  A 
dapper  little  gentleman  who  called  often  she 
dubbed  '  II  Frustino,'  the  little  whip;  and 
a  young  lady  who  walked  rather  gingerly  on 
her  toes  received  the  sobriquet  of  '  Signorina 
Tippi-Tappi ;'  but  the  climax  was  reached 
when,  one  day,  a  neighbor's  daughter  com- 
ing to  call,  whose  red  hair  did  not  suit  the 
cook's  taste,  she  announced  her  quite 
audibly  as  '  La  Brutta,'  the  ugly  woman  " 
(Atlantic  Monthly). 

Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
225,  etc.). — The  celebrated  Nickajack  cave 
(described  in  Vol.  i,  p.  60)  is  nothing  but 
the  outlet  of  a  very  considerable  under- 
ground stream.  R-  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 


262 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  27,  1890. 


Bimini  (Vol.  iii,  p.  83).— It  seems 
probable  that  the  present  island  of  Bernini, 
or  Bimini,  in  the  Bahamas,  has  nothing  in 
common  with  the  Bimini  of  myth  and  lable 
except  the  name.  In  this  view,  the  case  is 
a  parallel  one  with  those  of  Brazil,  Cali- 
fornia and  the  Antilles,  a  fabulous  region 
giving  name  to  a  real  one.  I  do  not  know, 
however,  whether  there  is  any  official  or 
other  record  of  the  -naming  of  the  present 
island  of  Bimini.  When  did  it  receive  that 
name?  N.  S.  S. 

GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 

Easter  Island  (Vol.  v,  p.  246,  etc.). — 
Inquiry  having  been  made  regarding  my 
reference  to  the  "  Iconographic  Encyclopae- 
dia," I  would  say  that  my  reference  is  to 
the  new  edition  of  that  work,  now  being  is- 
sued by  the  Iconographic  Publishing  Com- 
pany of  Philadelphia.  The  illustration  I 
refer  to  is  on  Plate  20,  which  in  my  copy  is 
in  a  fascicle  of  plates  following  page  208  in 
the  first  volume.  I  may  add  that  the  present 
issue  of  this  work  is  much  superior  in  every 
respect  to  the  first  edition,  and  is  also  a 
great  improvement  over  the  latest  German 
edition  upon  which  it  is  based. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Pipe  Lore  (Vol.  v,  p.  184). — See  also 
"  Bibliotheca  Nicotiana,"  Birmingham, 
1880,  quarto,  by  William  Bragge ;  and 
Fairholt's  "  Tobacco  and  its  Associations," 
2d  ed.,  1876.  A  bibliography  of  early  writ- 
ings on  tobacco  (chiefly  English)  appears  in 
Arber's  reprint  of  King  James'  "  Counter- 
blaste,"  a  part  preceding,  and  another  part 
following  that  royal  tract.  W.  J.  L. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Cambuscan  (Vol.  v,  p.  233). — It  is 
generally  held  that  Cambuscan  means  Cam- 
bald 's  Khan,  Cambalu  meaning  Pekin  in 
China.  But  since  Cambalu  (Kaan-baligh) 
signifies  "the  city  of  the  Khan,"  Cambus- 
can would  mean  "  the  Khan  of  the  city  of 
the  Khan."  The  half-told  story  seems  to 
have  been  based  upon  one  of  the  Arabian 
Nights'  tales,  and  I  see  nothing  to  connect 
it  with  Genghis  Khan.  F.  L.  F. 

MICHIGAN. 


Stilt- Walkers  (Vol.  v,  p.  101).— There 
was  formerly  a  notorious  race  of  stilt  walkers 
who  inhabited  the  fens  of  Lincolnshire. 
The  gradual  drainage  of  the  fens  broke  up 
their  way  of  living,  and  they  at  last  took  to 
more  civilized  ways.  The  last  of  the  stilt- 
walkers  of  Lincolnshire  seem  to  have 
abandoned  their  amphibious  fashion  of  exist- 
ence about  a  hundred  years  ago.  "Another 
over  dykes  upon  his  stilts  doth  walk,"  sings 
Dray  ton.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  p.  238). — To 
Mr.  Snow's  interesting  article  on  Lakes 
Lahontan  and  Bonneville,  it  might  be  added 
that  the  lakes  in  question  were  drained  by 
desiccation  and  not  from  the  lowering  of 
their  outlets  by  corrasion.  The  old  mar- 
gins of  Lake  Bonneville,  the  highest  being 
960  feet  above  the  present  level  of  the  lake, 
are  a  remarkable  feature  of  the  scenery  along 
the  Uinta  mountains.  When  the  surtace  of 
the  lake  was  flush  with  either  of  the  two 
highest  margins,  it  overflowed  into  a  tribu- 
tary of  Snake  river  near  Red  Rock,  Idaho. 
The  gap  through  which  the  lake  poured  its 
surplus  is  not  a  very  wide  one,  and  I  should 
take  it  to  be  less  than  two  hundred  feet,  in 
its  deepest  place,  below  that  of  the  lower  of  the 
two  highest  shore  lines.  Besides  Gieat  Salt 
lake,  Utah,  Sevier,  Rush,  Clear,  Parowan, 
and  a  number  of  smaller  lakes  are  remnants 
of  Lake  Bonneville.  The  Great  American 
Desert  and  Escalante  Basin  are  also  rem- 
nants. Prof.  Israel  Russell,  of  the  U.  S. 
Geol.  Survey,  who  is  undoubtedly  oneofthe 
best  authorities  on  these  lakes,  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  region  in  which  they  are 
situated  has  been  subject  to  periodical  varia- 
tions in  rainfall,  and  the  basins  have  been 
alternately  desiccated  and  filled.  I  looked 
carefully  along  the  old  margin  of  Lake 
Lahontan  for  an  outlet,  but  failed  to  find 
one.  Prof.  Joseph  Le  Conte,  who  has  also 
spent  some  time  in  this  region,  is  of  the 
opinion  that  Klamath  and  Pit  rivers  may  have 
been  outlets,  which  is  not  improbable.  Prof. 
Russell  has  called  attention  to  the  remark- 
able fact  that  certain  of  the  island  margins 
in  Lake  Lahontan  are  one  hundred  feet  or 
more  higher  than  the  contemporaneous 
shore  margin.  J.  W.  R. 


September  27,  1890.]    AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


263 


Fabrics  Named  From  Places  (Vol. 
iv,  p.  213). — In  the  list  given  at  the  above 
reference  there  are  some  very  questionable 
derivations,  to  say  the  least.  I  question,  for 
example,  the  alleged  derivation  of  satin  from 
Zeytown  ;  also  that  given  of  taffeta,  duck, 
baize,  dimity,  drugget.  The  later  etymologi- 
cal dictionaries  will  scarcely  sustain  them. 
Even  the  derivation  of  gauze  from  Gaza  is 
traditional,  and  not  strictly'  historical,  if  I 
am  not  much  mistaken.  Jean  may  be  from 
Genes  (Genoa)  rather  than  from  Jacu. 
There  are  many  more  fabric  names  which 
were  probably  taken  from  place  names. 
Such  are  lawn  from  Laon  ;  pulicate  (an  old 
name  of  a  handkerchief)  from  Pulicat  in 
India ;  gambroons  from  Gombroon,  or  Ben- 
der-Abbas ;  strouds  from  Stroud,  in  Essex  ; 
Carpmeal  from  Cartmel ;  lockram  from 
Locronan  ;  dowlas,  apparently  from  Dowlais 
in  Wales.  Some  say  that  rep,  or  reps,  is 
named  from  Reps  in  Transylvania.  Nankin 
is  a  well-known  instance  of  the  kind,  Osna- 
burg  is  another.  We  have  had  some  exam- 
ples, of  place  names  arbitrarily  given  to 
cloths,  as  Paramatta,  Rhadames  {Nainsook 
is  probably  not  a  place  name).  Thibet,  Cash- 
mere, and  the  like,  may  be  added.  I  sup- 
pose that  by  a  little  diligence  this  list  might 
be  lengthened  even  to  tediousness. 

BARBARA  CRAFTS. 
BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Calf  of  Man  (Vol.  v,  p.  244). — Note  in 
this  connection  that  a  small  iceberg  attend- 
ing a  larger  one  is  called  a  calf;  and  that 
the  process  of  throwing  off  new  icebergs 
from  an  older  and  larger  one  is  known  to 
seamen  as  calving.  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Hebrew,  Israelite,  Jew  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
197). — "Our  broad  national  distinction  gave 
us  the  name  Israelite  in  the  time  of  our  an- 
cient greatness,  a  greatness  to  which  all  peo- 
ple may  at  some  time  in  the  long  future 
rise,  and  then  we  may  again,  together  with 
all  God-fearing  people,  adopt  the  name  of 
Israelite.  Before  our  ancestors  were,  in  a 
national  sense,  Israelites,  they  were  Hebrews, 
a  name  which  was  and  is  to-day  a  race  dis- 
tinction. The  word  Jew  is  a  narrow  name 
in  use  for  our  separate  religious,  distinction. 


Nothing  could  be  plainer  to  us.  Hebrew 
refers  to  the  face,  Israelite  refers  to  the 
nation,  Jew  to  the  religion"  {Hebrew 
Journal}. 

A  Little  Bird  Told  Me  (Vol.  i,  p. 
205).— In  the  old  ballad  of  "The  Lord  of 
Oxford  "  it  is  a  bird  that  reveals  the  fact  of 
the  murder. 

"  Up  spake  the  pretty  prattling  bird 

That  sits  on  yonder  tree, 
'  Go  look  you  in  yon  new-drawn  well, 
Lord  Robert  you  will  see.'  " 

E.  HOLT. 
OXFORD,  PA. 

Fallen  Jerusalem  (Vol.  iv,  p.  161). — 
This  noted  and  remarkable  heap  of  rocks  in 
the  sea  is  also  called  the  "Fallen  City," 
"  Broken  Jerusalem,"  and  the  like.  At  the 
west  end  of  the  neighboring  island  of  Virgin 
Gorda,  or  Penniston,  the  formation  appears 
to  be  much  the  same.  The  same  curious 
cave-like  bathing-pools,  shut  in  by  rocks, 
are  found  there.  One  of  these  bathing- 
pools  has  a  "ladies'  dressing-room,"  and  a 
"  gentleman's  dressing-room ' '  close  at  hand, 
and  the  sea  sweeps  in  and  keeps  the  pool  al- 
ways clear  and  fresh. 

GEROULD. 
PENNSYLVANIA. 

Jersey  (Vol.  iv,  p.  197). — Another  very 
cogent  reason  for  believing  that  Jersey  was 
once  (and  not  remotely  in  point  of  time)  a 
part  of  the  mainland  of  France,  is  this : 
The  reptiles,  batrachians  and  small  mammals 
(mice,  moles,  etc.)  of  the  mainland  are  also 
found  in  Jersey.  But  the  isle  of  Guernsey 
is  almost  entirely  without  these  small  ground- 
animals,  and  the  same  thing  is  true  of  one 
or  more  of  the  outer  islets  of  the  same  group. 


Smallest  Church  in  England.— "While 
in  England,  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbot  visited 
the  smallest  church  in  England,  at  Nast 
Dale  Head  ;  and  the  parson's  wife  gave  him 
some  facts  about  the  church  which  Dr. 
Abbot  labels  '  important  if  true,'  such  as 
that  the  age  of  the  church  is  unknown  ; 
that  its  endowment  fund  is  two  shillings  and 
a  bottle  of  wine  and  loaf  of  biead  for  the 


264 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [September  27,  1890. 


communion,  which  carries  back  the  age  of 
the  church,  she  opines,  to  the  year  1000,  at 
least"  (New  York  Tribune}. 


AND 


The  Atlantic  for  October.  The  conclusion  of  Mrs. 
Deland's  "  Sidney "  occupies  the  first  place  in  the 
Atlantic  for  October,  and  the  final  chapters  have  that 
intensity  of  feeling  which  is  called  forth  by  the  state- 
ment of  the  theory  of  her  story  ;  namely,  that  love  and 
self-sacrifice  are  the  things  which  alone  make  life  worth 
living.  "Felicia"  comes  to  a  climax  In  the  marriage 
of  the  heroine  with  a  man,  to  whose  occupation  in  life 
both  she  and  all  her  friends  strenuously  object.  Dr. 
Holmes'  "  Over  the  Teacups"  also  relates  to  marrying 
and  giving  in  marriage ;  and,  moreover,  describes  a 
visit  to  a  certain  college  for  women,  not  a  thousand 
miles  from  Boston.  The  first  chapters  of  a  forthcoming 
serial  story  by  Frank  Stockton  are  announced  for  next 
month. 

The  other  striking  papers  of  the  number  are  a  con- 
sideration of  Henrik  Ibsen's  life  abroad  and  his  later 
dramas,  Mr.  Fiske's  "  Benedict  Arnold's  Treason,"  Mr. 
J.  K.  Paulding's  "  A  Wondering  Scholar  of  the  Six- 
teenth Century" — Johannes  Butzbach  —  Mr.  Mc- 
Crackan's  account  of  Altdorf  and  the  open-air  legisla- 
tive assemblies  which  take  place  there,  and  Prof.  Royce's 
paper  on  General  Frdmont.  Miss  Jewell's  Maine 
sketch,  "  By  the  Morning  Boat,"  and  a  poem  by  Miss 
Thomas  on  "  Sleep,"  should  be  especially  remem- 
bered. The  usual  Contribulors'  Club,  and  several 
critical  articles,  one  of  which  is  a  review  of  Jules 
Breton's  "  La  Vie  d'un  Artiste,"  complete  the  issue. 

The  Arena  for  October,  in  ils  lable  of  contents,  em- 
braces the  names  of  many  leading  thinkers,  among 
whom  are  Dr.  George  F.  Shrady,  of  New  York,  who 
writes  entertainingly  and  forcibly  against  the  death 
penalty;  Prof.  James  T.  Bixby,  who  discusses  Cardinal 
Newman  and  the  Catholic  Reaction  in  his  interesting 
and  scholarly  way.  The  No-Name  paper  is  on  the 
"  Postmaster- General  and  the  Censorship  of  Morals," 
and  deals  with  the  recent  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
postal  department  to  suppress  Count  Tolstoi's  latest 
work,  in  a  manner  well  calculaled  lo  arresl  ihe  alten- 
lion  of  liberly-loving  Americans.  "  The  Notes  on 
Living  Problems  "  are  as  timely  as  they  are  able. 
Cyrus  Field  Willard,  of  the  edilorial  slaff  of  ihe  Boslon 
Globe,  calls  atlention  to  the  evils  of  trusts ;  Edward  A. 
Oldham,  the  well-known  Southern  author,  contributes  a 
timely  paper  on  the  "Great  Political  Upheaval  in  the 
South;"  C.  A.  Seiders  criticises  Senator  Hampton  on 
the  "  Race  Problem."  The  Editorial  Noles  deal  with 
the  death  penalty  and  the  alarming  symptons  loo  mani- 
fest to  even  casual  observers  of  the  growing  contempt 
for  law. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  October  Arena  surpasses  in  ex- 
cellence any  issue  of  Ihis  able  review  lhat  has  yet  ap- 
peared. 

The  October  Century  opens  wilh  a  frontispiece  por- 
trail  of  Joseph  Jefferson.  The  lasl  inslallmenl  of  the 
autobiography  accompanies  the  familiar  face,  an  install- 
ment which  the  author  considers  the  most  important  of 


all,  perhaps  because  il  contains,  at  considerable  delail, 
his  own  final  reflcclions  upon  ihe  arl  of  which  he  is  an 
acknowledged  master.  It  is  doubiful  whelher  such 
subtle  and  at  ihe  same  time  practical  suggesiions  can  be 
found  elsewhere  from  a  source  so  authoritative. 

Prof.  Darwin,  of  Cambridge,  England,  a  worthy  son 
of  a  great  father,  contributes  a  paper  of  high  and 
original  value  on  "  Meteoriles  and  ihe  Hisiory  of 
Stellar  Syslems."  A  striking  photograph  of  a  nebula, 
in  which  a  system  like  our  own  solar  system  seems  lo 
be  in  actual  formation,  accompanies  this  remarkable 
paper.  ' 

"A  Hard  Road  to  Travel  Out  of  Dixie,"  is  the  ac- 
curate tille  of  a  paper  in  The  Century's  new  war-prison 
series.  The  presenl  contribution  is  by  the  well  known 
arlisl  and  illustrator,  Lieut.  W.  H.  Shellon,  of  New 
York.  Mr.  Shellon  nalurally  furnishes  his  own  illus- 
trations for  his  own  story  of  hardship  and  advenlure. 

"  Prehisioric  Cave- Dwellings  "  is  a  profusely  and 
slrikingly  illuslraled  paper  by  F.  T.  Bickford,  on  Ihe 
prehisloric  and  ruined  pueblo  slructures  in  Chaco 
Canon,  New  Mexico,  the  Cafton  de  Chelly,  Arizona — 
the  ancient  home  of  ihe  mosl  flourishing  communily  of 
cave-dwellers — and  olher  extraordinary  cave  villages 
not  now  inhabited. 

The  first  article  in  the  number  is  a  pleasant  travel 
sketch,  "  Out-of-the-Ways  in  High  Savoy,"  by  Dr. 
Edward  Eggleston,  fully  illustraled  by  Joseph  Pennell. 

Mr.  La  Farge's  "  Letlers  from  Japan"  have  for 
iheir  mosl  sinking  feature  this  monlh  ihe  description, 
in  word  and  piclure,  of  fishing  by  means  of  cormorants 
in  a  Japanese  river. 

Mrs.  Amelia  Gere  Mason  closes  in  this  number' her 
first  series  of  articles  on  "The  Women  of  the  French 
Salons."  These  articles  having  been  so  successful, 
Mrs.  Mason  has  been  asked  to  furnish  a  supplemenlary 
paper  or  two  on  Mesdames  Recamier,  De  Stael,  and 
Roland. 

Miss  Helen  Gray  Cone  contribules  a  paper  on 
"Women  in  American  Literature,"  in  which  she  re- 
views the  whole  field  of  American  female  auihorship — 
Miss  Cone  apologizing  at  the  beginning  for  thus  sepa- 
rating ihe  women  wrilers  from  Ihose  of  ihe  opposile 
sex. 

In  ficlion  Ihe  October  number  closes  Mrs.  Barr's 
story  of  "  Olivia  ;"  and  gives  a  skelch  by  a  new  Soulh- 
ern  wriler  (Mrs.  Virginia  Frazer  Boyle),  and  a  slory 
by  Miss  Sarah  Orne  Jewell — both  illustrated  by 
Kemble. 

The  "  Bric-a-Brac  "  contributors  are  the  late  John 
Eliol  Bowen  and  Edward  A.  Oldham. 

Several  arlicles  have  a  general  or  special  bearing  on 
Ihe  fall  eleclions — in  Ihe  direclion  of  reform  and  a 
wholesome  independence.  Mr.  Henry  Cabol  Lodge,  Ihe 
Republican  Congressman,  slrongly  advocates  the  exlen- 
sion  of  the  merit  system  in  his  paper  on  "  Why 
Patronage  in  Office  is  Un-American ;"  and  Judge 
Thompson,  Ihe  Democratic  member  of  the  National 
Civil  Service  Commission,  in  an  "  Open  Letter  "  shows 
the  reasonableness  of  the  reform.  The  leading  "  Topic 
of  the  Time  "  shows  by  a  review  of  the  political  history 
of  the  country  that  there  has  always  been  "  Partisan 
Recognition  of  the  Independent  Voler,"  and  lhat 
Stale  "  calls  "  and  convenlions,  and  nalional  "calls" 
and  plaiforms  have  all  along  appealed  lo  good  cilizens 
to  take  fresh  and  independent  action  in  every  eleclion. 
The  edilor,  in  separate  editorials,  sustains  Ihe  present 
Civil  Service  Commission,  and  Ihe  cilizens'  movement 
in  New  York  city. 


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Vol.  V.  No.  23. 


SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  4,  1890. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Devil  in  Geography,  265— The  Telephone  Antici- 
pated, 266. 

QUERIES:— Raphael  of  Cats— Accursed  River— Bayonet 
General — Eyes  of  the  Sea,  266 — Sailor  King — Mirabilis — 
Bull's  Blood  as  a  Poison — Moors  in  New  Zealand — Battle  of 
the  Three  Kings,  267. 

REPLIES  :— Tree  on  Buildings  —  Language  of  Palestine- 
Labrador,  267 — Jutes — Quantrell,  268. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Jiboose— High- 
est Mountain  in  the  United  States — Bacchus  cher  Gregoire — 
Mount  Saint  Elias,  268 — Suicidal  Poets — Greek  Slaves — 
North  Pacific  Islands — Land  of  Lakes — Holland — Dogs  of 
War — Locust  Trees  and  Witches — Little  Meeting — Buridan's 
Ass,  269. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :  —Go  West,  Young  Man,  269— Shav- 
ing— Gram's  Whisky,  270 — "  The"  in  Place  Names — Muck- 
amuck — Snickersnee— Fanacle — Sunflower  —  Cummerbund — 
Highbinder — Seaky,  271  —  Skate  Runners  —  Fox  —  Sunken 
Islands — Anagrams — Latinized  Proper  Names — Spontaneous 
Combustion — Sir  Patrick  Spens,  272 — Precious  Stones  in 
Medicine — Names  of  Odd  Pronunciation — Earthquake  of  1811 
—Prince  Consort's  Family  Name — Nicknames  of  Peoples — 
Largest  Rainfall  —  Underground  Streams  —  Rare  Words — 
Lakes  Restored,  273 — Lakes  Drained — Mudsills  of  Society — 
A  Glorious  Time,  274  —  Sunken  Cities — Mississippi — One- 
eyed  Commanders,  275 — Palaeologus — Pets  of  Famous  Peo- 
ple— Greek  Words  in  Chinese — Canting  Heraldry — Highest 
Waterfall,  276. 


DEVIL  IN  GEOGRAPHY. 

At  Boroughbridge,  in  Yorkshire,  is  a 
group  of  remarkable  prehistoric  monoliths 
called  the  Devil's  Arrows.  The  Devil's  Bit 
mountains  are  in  the  county  of  Tipperary, 
near  Templemore.  A  remarkable  ancient 
earthwork,  near  Newmarket,  in  England,  is 
called  the  Devil's  Ditch.  An  ancient  wall 
across  the  Stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright  is 
the  Devil's  Dyke.  Another  Devil's  Dyke  is 
a  hill  in  the  South  Downs  of  Sussex,  with 
remains  of  a  prehistoric  and  probably 
Celtic  hill-fort.  The  Devil's  Glen  is  a 
deep  valley  of  the  County  Wicklow ;  Devil's 
Lake  is  a  saline  lake  (and  modern  city")  of 
North  Dakota.  Another  Devil's  Lake  is 
near  Baraboo,  Wis.  The  Devil's  Inkstand 


266 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [October  4,  1890. 


is  a  deep  and  wonderfully  fine  crater-lake  of 
South  Australia.  The  Devil  lends  his  name 
to  form  a  part  of  the  title  of  a  celebrated 
cavern  of  Derbyshire,  England.  The 
Devil's  Punchbowl  is  an  interesting  moun- 
tain tarn  of  the  county  of  Kerry.  In  the 
Black  Hill  country  of  South  Dakota  is  the 
Devil's  Tower,  an  enormous  natural  obelisk 
of  trachyte,  625  feet  high.  One  of  the 
Fuegian  islands  is  called  the  Devil's  Island 
(54°  58'  S.,  69°  5'  W.).  In  the  same  group 
is  a  Devil's  Harbor,  on  another  island. 
There  is  another  Devil's  Island  off  the  coast 
of  Maine;  another  belongs  to  French  Gui- 
ana. The  Devil's  Peak  is  a  high  mountain 
of  Hayti ;  there  is  another  in  South  Africa, 
and  a  third  (Mount  Diablo)  is  in  California. 
The  Devil's  Bridge  is  in  the  canton  of  Uri, 
Switzerland.  The  Devil's  Bridge  in  Cardi- 
ganshire is  also  well  known.  The  Devil's 
Nose  is  a  Canadian  Rocky  Mountain  peak. 
The  Devil's  Tower  is  at  the  north-east  angle 
of  the  works  at  Gibraltar.  Another  Devil's 
Lake  is  in  the  coast  region  of  Tillamook 
county,  Oregon.  A  Mt.  Diablo  rises  near 
Samana,  in  Santa  Domingo.  Devil's  Bosch 
is  a  mountain  region  of  South  Africa. 
Devil's  Point  is  very  near  Cape  Town. 
Devil's  River  is  in  Victoria,  Australia.  The 
Devil's  Thumb  is  on  the  west  coast  of  Green- 
land. There  is  a  Devil's  Den  (ominous 
fact)  in  a  cemetery  at  Lawrence,  Mass. 
The  Devil's  Back  (or  Limb)  is  a  rock  off 
Boston,  Mass.  Another  rock,  with  the 
same  name,  is  in  Muscongus  Bay,  Maine. 
The  Maine  coast  has  also  a  Devil's  Elbow, 
and  three  Devil's  Heads.  Time  fails  me  to 
eount  up  the  many  Punchbowls,  Snuff- 
Iboxes,  Chairs,  Kitchens,  Fireplaces,  etc., 
which  the  Devil  has  in  this  country,  to  say 
nothing  of  Britain,  Ireland  and  the  colonies. 

MARY  OSBORN. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


THE  TELEPHONE  ANTICIPATED. 

(VOL.  v,  p.  183.) 

Neill  Arnott's  "Physics"  (edition  is- 
sued 1876)  has  the  following:  "The  late 
Sir  Charles  Wheatstone  showed  as  far  back 
as  1831,  that  musical  sounds  might  be  trans- 
mitted through  solid  linear  conductors.  An 
experiment  on  a  large  scale  was  performed  at 


the  Polytechnic  Institute  under  an  arrange- 
ment called  a  telephone.  Performers  on 
various  instruments  were  placed  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  building,  and  the  sounds  which 
they  produced  were  conducted  by  solid 
rods  through  the  principal  hall,  in  which  they 
were  inaudible,  to  sounding  boards  in  aeon- 
cert  room  on  an  upper  floor,  where  the  music 
was  heard  by  the  audience  precisely  as  if 
performed  there." 

Wheatsone  (1802-1875),  who  was  the 
"  practical  founder  of  modern  telegraphy," 
was  the  son  of  a  dealer  in  music  and  musi- 
cal instruments.  He  was  therefore  rather 
naturally  led  to  make  experiments  in  acous- 
tics which  resulted  in  several  inventions, 
among  the  best  the  concertina  and  the 
symphonium.  The  "Magic  Lyre,"  a  sort  of 
short-distance  telephone,  is  described  in 
"Encycl.  Brit."  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD.  CONN. 


Raphael  of  Cats.  —  Who  was  called  by 
this  name  ? 

Gottfried  Mind,  an  imbecile  and  a  cretin, 
was  such  a  skillful  delineator  of  cats  that  he 
was  called  the  Katzen-Raphael,  or  Raphael  of 
cats. 

Accursed  River.  —  What  river  is  deemed 
accursed  by  the  people  who  live  near  it  ? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

The  river  Karamnasa  in  India  is  looked 
upon  with  abhorrence  by  all  pious  Hindu 
people. 

Bayonet  General.  —  Who  was  called  by 
this  title?  H. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Gen.  Chasse. 

Eyes  of  the  Sea.  —  What  and  where  are 
the  eyes  of  the  sea  ?  MCPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

They  are  a  numerous  series  of  mountain 
lakelets  in  the  Carpathian  region  of  Hun- 
gary. 


October  4,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


267 


Sailor  King. — Who  was  called  the  sailor- 
king?  M.  M.  W. 
BEVERLY,  N.  J. 

William  IV  of  Great  Britain,  but  in  Gen. 
de  Peyster's  "  History  of  Carausius  "  that 
monarch  is  styled  "  the  first  sailor-king  of 
England." 

Mirabilis. — Is  the  Mirabilis  a  plant  of 
Peru,  the  same  as  our  Tropaolum  ?  The 
Chautauquan  of  August,  1890,  p.  579,  says 
that  it  is  so.  ALICE  R.  HENDERSON. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

The  writer  in  the  Chautauquan  is  in  error 
on  this  point. 

Bull's  Blood  as  a  Poison. — What  king  is 
said  to  have  committed  suicide  by  drinking 
bull's  blood  ?  McPnAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Midas,  the  last  King  of  Phrygia. 

Moors  in  New  Zealand. — In  the  Chautau- 
quan for  August,  1890,  p.  573,  we  read  : 
"  The  fleets  played  havoc  with  the  whales 
(off  New  Zealand)  and  the  seamen  created 
havoc  with  the  Moors."  Are  there,  or  were 
there  ever,  any  Moors  in  New  Zealand  ? 

ALICE  R.  HENDERSON. 
CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

It  is  probable  that  Moors  in  the  above 
quotation  is  a  misprint  for  Maori. 

Battle  of  the  Three  Kings. — What  con- 
flict was  called  by  this  name  ? 

McPHAIL. 
IOWA  CITY. 

Morocco,  1579,  defeat  of  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese. 

1^  E  P  L  I  B  S  . 

Tree  on  Buildings  (Vol.  v,  p.  245). — As 
favoring  the  idea  that  the  custom  of  fasten- 
ing a  tree  or  bush  to  the  ridge  of  a  new 
building  originally  implied  that  wine  or 
other  strong  drink  was  to  be  dispensed,  I 
would  say  that  I  have  seen  a  nail-keg  set  up 


after  the  manner  of  such  a  tree  or  bush, 
when  the  carpenters  had  reached  the  crest 
of  the  roof.  The  keg  seems  even  more  sug- 
gestive of  drinking  than  the  bush. 

J.  D.  F. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Language  of  Palestine  (Vol.  v,  p.  245). — 
It  is  commonly  said  that  some  form  of  the 
Syriac  was  spoken  during  the  life-time  of 
Jesus  in  Palestine.  This  seems  probable 
from  the  untranslated  words  quoted  in  the 
English  New  Testament.  Rabbi  Yehudah 
Hannasi  (born  about  135  A.D. )  said: 
"  Why  should  any  one  speak  Syriac  in  Pales- 
tine ?  Let  him  speak  either  Hebrew  or. 
Greek."  R.  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Labrador  (Vol.  v,  p.  256). — Under  the 
heading  "  Fiord,"  Lippincott's  "  New  Dic- 
tionary of  Quotations  "  (1867),  p.  167,  has 
the  following  : 

"  Norwegian,  '  An  arm  of  the  sea,'  the 
same  as  the  Scottish  term  '  firth.' 

"  N.  B.  In  the  island  of  Cape  Breton  is 
a  large  arm  of  the  sea,  called  by  the  French 
le  bras  (for,  whence  probably  the  name 
Labrador. ' '  RAWE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

In  Spanish,  Labrador  is  called  Tierra  del 
Labrador — the  land  of  the  peasant,  hus- 
bandman or  laborer — probably  in  contrast 
with  Greenland's  greater  barrenness.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  this 
coast  was  much  frequented  by  Basque  fisher- 
men, and,  with  the  usual  tenacity  of  geo- 
graphical names,  the  distinctive  part  of  that 
which  was  given  it  then  has  clung  to  it 
through  the  succeeding  French  and  English 
occupations  of  the  country.  As  late  as 
1757,  in  Salmon's  "  Geographical  Gram- 
mar," an  account  of  "  New  Britain  and 
Eskimaux  "  says  in  closing:  "The  North 
Part  of  Eskimaux  is  usually  called  Terra  de 
Laborador."  H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

The  Portuguese  word  labrador  means 
laborer,  and  terra  laborador  means  arable 
land,  which  in  this  case  is  a  sad  misnomer, 
for  the  whole  peninsula  contains  little,  if 
any,  truly  arable  land.  The  tradition,  how- 


268 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[October  4,  1890. 


ever,  is  that  a  Basque  whaleship  called  the 
Labrador gave  name  to  the  country.  There 
is  a  bay  on  this  coast  called  Bradore  bay. 
A  good  Basque  dictionary  ought  to  show  the 
meaning  of  the  word  labrador  in  the  Basque 
language,  if  it  really  is  a  Basque  word. 

F.  R.  S. 
CHESTER,  PA. 

Jutes  (Vol.  v,  p.  233). — A  North  Ger- 
man of  unusual  intelligence  tells  me  that  the 
common  people  of  Jutland  are  still  called  Jutes 
by  their  neighbors.  Their  present  language  is 
Danish.  Among  the  peasants  of  the  North 
Frisian  islands  there  are  some  Jutes  (see  an 
article  on  the  island  of  Sylt,  published 
several  years  since  in  Lippincctfs  Magazine}. 
But  they  are  greatly  despised  by  their  neigh- 
bors, another  instance  of  that  unreasoning 
race  prejudice  which  everywhere  exists 
among  peoples  of  differing  origin. 

RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Quanfrell  (Vol.  v,  p.  257). — "A  man 
known  as  T.  J.  Henderson,  a  despatch  from 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  says,  died  Wednesday 
afternoon  at  the  house  of  a  Mrs.  Pannell, 
who  owns  a  little  farm  near  the  city.  Be- 
fore he  died  he  confessed  to  her  that  he  was 
Charles  William  Quantrell,  the  famous  Mis- 
souri outlaw,  who  was  supposed  to  have  been 
killed  in  a  fight  with  Federal  soldiers  in 
Kentucky  near  the  close  of  the  war.  He 
begged  Mrs.  Pannell  not  to  make  his  iden- 
tity known  until  he  was  buried,  and  she  kept 
her  promise. 

"After  the  funeral  yesterday  afternoon 
she  recited  the  facts,  and  says  the  dead  man 
told  her  how  to  prove  his  identity  beyond 
question.  What  proofs  he  left  or  what  in 
structions  he  gave  she  refuses  to  divulge  un- 
til she  has  investigated  the  matter  herself. 
She  says  Quantrell  told  her  he  did  not  want 
a  curious  throng  to  gaze  on  his  dead  face, 
but  when  he  was  buried  he  wanted  the  world 
to  know  that  he  had  lived  to  the  age  of  fifty- 
two  years  and  died  a  natural  death. 

"  Mrs.  Pannell  had  known  the  dead  man 
for  twenty  years,  and  she  was  his  only  friend. 
She  knew  him  only  as  Henderson,  but  he 
had  often  told  her  he  was  a  noted  criminal 
with  a  price  on  his  head,  but  she  kept  his 


secret.  Time  and  again  he  had  described 
to  her  exciting  incidents  of  border  warfare. 
As  she  related  these  yesterday  they  were  at 
once  recognized  as  accurate  descriptions  of 
some  of  the  bloody  battles  of  Quantrell  and 
his  band. 

"The  dead  man's  career  in  Alabama 
under  the  name  of  Henderson  was  a  checkered 
one,  and  he  married  a  widow,  who  deserted 
him,  and  for  years  he  had  boarded  with 
Mrs.  Pannell.  If  he  was  not  the  guerilla 
chief,  he  was  a  man  who  must  have  known 
Quantrell  most  intimately,  and  served  under 
him  in  his  bloody  border  warfare"  {Philadel- 
phia Telegraph). 


TO 


Jiboose.  —  What  is  the  meaning  and 
what  the  origin  of  this  word  ? 

M.  SIGOURNEY  LEA. 
DANBURY,  CONN. 

Highest  Mountain  in  the  United 
States.  —  The  Albany  Evening  Journal  of 
September  26,  1890,  informs  its  readers 
that  Mount  Whitney,  in  California,  14,887 
feet  high,  is  the  highest  mountain  in  the 
Union.  Is  not  Mount  Saint  Elias  in  Alaska 
higher?  Are  there  not  other  Alaskan  peaks 
higher  than  Mount  Whitney? 

R.  M.  T. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

Bacchus,  cher  Gregoire.  —  Can  you  or 

so  me  of  your  contributors  give  me  a  macaronic 
poem,  commencing,  "  Bacchus,  cher  Gie- 
goire,"  supposed  to  be  one  of  Beranger's 
Chansons  a  Boire?  It  is  not  in  any  of  the 
later  editions.  M.  M. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Mount  Saint  Elias.  —  We  are  accus- 
tomed to  speak  of  this  mountain  as  the  high- 
est in  Alaska,  and  some  make  it  the  highest 
in  North  America.  But  is  it  really  in 
Alaska?  Some  Canadian  authorities,  if  I  am 
not  mistaken,  have  put  forth  the  claim  that 
the  great  peak  is  Canadian.  Is  this  point 
settled?  And  if  not,  can  anything  short  of 
a  boundary  survey  settle  it  ?  R.  M.  T. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 


October  4,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


269 


Suicidal  Poets.  —  Will  your  corre- 
spondents send  in  the  names  of  such  poets  as 
have  died  by  suicide?  I  think  we  shall  find 
the  number  surprisingly  large. 

ROBERT  ELLISON. 
BAYONNE,  N.  J. 

Greek  Slaves.  —  What  Greek  authors 
were,  in  one  part  of  their  lives,  slaves?  I 
have  three  names,  y£sop,  Epictetus  and 
Phlegon.  I  wish  to  enlarge  the  list.  All  three 
of  my  slaves  were  Asiatics,  and  probably  not 
true  Greeks.  A.  M.  W. 

BAYONNE,  N.  J. 

North  Pacific  Islands.—  The  larger 
maps  of  the  Pacific  ocean  show  the  presence 
of  many  small  uninhabited  islands  in  the 
North  Pacific,  mostly  too  far  to  the  North 
to  be  considered  as  Polynesian.  In  what 
work,  or  works,  can  I  find  trustworthy  ac- 
counts of  these  island  ?  ROBERT  MARTIN. 

NEWBOLD,  N.  J. 

Land  Of  Lakes.  —  Where  is  the  Land  of 
Lakes  ?  McPHAiL. 

IOWA. 

Holland.  —  A  part  of  Lincolnshire,  in 
England,  is  known  as  Holland.  Was  it  so 
called  from  its  likeness  to  the  Continental 
Holland  ?  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 


DogS  of  W^ar.  —  What  examples  are 
there  in  history  of  the  use  of  dogs  for  mili- 
tary purposes  ?  W.  P.  RODEN. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 

Locust  Trees  and  Witches.—  It  is 

stated  that  the  people  of  Salem  hanged  their 
witches,  not  on  a  gallows,  but  on  locust 
trees.  Was  there  any  special  reason  for 
selecting  locust  trees  for  this  purpose? 

S.  E.  HARDY. 
TRENTON,  N.  J. 

Little  Meeting.  —  I  sometimes  hear 
some  of  my  Quaker  neighbors  speak  of  "  The 
Little  Meeting,"  which  is  apparently  a  sect, 
or  subsect,  of  the  orthodox  friends.  Is 
"The  Little  Meeting"  the  same  as  the 
Wilburite  organization  ?  F.  T.  M. 

CAMDRN,  N.  J. 


Buridan'&  ASS. — This  celebrated  com 
parison  (in  which  the  human  will,  unable  to 
act  when  placed  between  two  equally- 
balanced  motives,  is  likened  to  a  hungry  ass 
unable  to  eat  because  she  is  placed  between 
two  equal  and  equidistant  bundles  of  hay) 
is  generally  ascribed  to  John  Buridan  (four- 
teenth century).  But  readers  of  his  works 
say  that  no  such  passage  is  to  be  found  in 
them.  Who,  then,  was  the  real  inventor  of 
this  ludicrous  proposition  ? 

A.  HARRIS  CHAPMAN. 
WHEELING,  W.  VA. 

(sOMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Go  West,  Young  Man. — "Who  was  it 
said,  '  Go  West,  young  man  ?'  Horace 
Greeley,  of  course,  you  will  hasten  to 
answer.  Wrong  again.  John  L.  B.  Soule 
was  the  real  author  of  the  saying,  and  here 
is  how  it  came  about  that  Greeley  was 
credited  with  it.  In  1851,  Soule  was  editor 
of  the  Terre  Haute  Express.  One  day  he 
and  Richard  Thompson,  afterwards  Secre- 
tary of  War,  were  conversing  in  the  former's 
sanctum.  Thompson  had  just  finished  ad- 
vising Soule  to  go  West  and  grow  up  with 
the  country,  and  was  praising  his  talents  as 
a  writer. 

"'Why,  John,'  he  said,  'you  could 
write  an  article  that  would  be  attributed  to 
Horace  Greeley  if  you  tried.' 

"  '  No,  I  couldn't,"  responded  Mr.  Soule, 
modestly.  '  I'll  bet  I  couldn't.' 

"  'I'll  bet  a  barrel  of  flour  you  can,  if 
you'll  promise  to  try  your  best,  the  flour  to 
go  to  some  deserving  poor  person.' 

"  '  All  right;  I'll  try,'  responded  Soule. 

"  He  did  try,  writinga  column  editorial  on 
the  subject  of  discussion — the  opportunities 
offered  to  young  men  by  the  West.  He 
started  in  by  saying  Horace  Greeley  could 
never  have  given  a  young  man  better  advice 
than  that  contained  in  the  words,  '  Go, 
West,  young  man.' 

"Of  course,  theadvice  was  not  quoted  from 
Greeley  ;  it  was  merely  compared  to  what 
he  might  have  said.  But  in  a  few  weeks 
the  exchanges  began  coming  into  the  Ex- 
press office  with  the  epigram  accredited  to 
Greeley.  So  wide  a  circulation  did  it  ob- 


270 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [October  4,  1890. 


tain  that  at  last  the  New  York  Tribune  came 
out  with  an  editorial  reprint  of  the  Express 
article,  and  the  following  foot-note  : 

"  '  The  expression  of  this  sentiment  has 
been  attributed  to  the  editor  of  the  Tribune 
erroneously.  But  so  fully  does  he  concur  in 
the  advice  it  gives  that  he  indorses  most 
heartily  the  epigrammatic  advice  of  the 
Terre  Haute  Express,  and  joins  in  saying, 
"Go  West,  young  man,  go  West"  "  (Jllust. 
American). 

Shaving. — "The  first  reference  to  shaving 
is  probably  that  in  Genesis  xli,  14,  where  it 
is  set  forth  that  Joseph,  on  being  summoned 
before  the  king,  shaved  himself.  There  are 
several  directions  as  to  shaving  in  Leviticus, 
and  the  practice  is  alluded  to  in  many  other 
parts  of  Scripture.  Egypt  is  the  only  coun- 
try mentioned  in  the  Bible  where  shaving 
was  practiced.  In  all  other  countries  such 
an  act  would  have  been  ignominious. 
Herodotus  mentions  that  the  Egyptians  al- 
lowed their  beards  to  grow  when  in  mourn- 
ing. So  particular  were  they  as  to  shaving 
at  other  times  that  to  have  neglected  it  was 
a  subject  of  reproach  and  ridicule,  and  when- 
ever they  intended  to  convey  the  idea  of  a 
man  of  low  condition  or  slovenly  habits  the 
artists  represented  him  with  a  beard.  Un- 
like the  Romans  of  a  later  age,  the  Egyp- 
tians did  not  confine  the  privilege  of  shav- 
ing to  free-born  citizens,  but  obliged  their 
slaves  to  shave  both  beard  and  head.  The 
priests  also  shaved  the  head.  Shaving  the 
beard  became  customary  among  the  Romans 
about  300  B.  C.  According  to  Pliny, 
Scipio  Africanus  was  the  first  Roman  who 
shaved  daily.  In  France  the  custom  of 
shaving  arose  when  Louis  XIII  came  to  the 
throne,  young  and  beardless.  The  Anglo- 
Saxons  wore  their  beards  until,  at  the  Con- 
quest, they  were  compelled  to  follow  the 
example  of  the  Normans,  who  shaved. 
From  the  time  of  Edward  III  to  that  of 
Charles  I  beards  were  universally  worn.  In 
Charles  IPs  reign  the  mustache  and  whiskers 
only  were  worn,  and  soon  after  this  the 
practice  of  shaving  became  general  through- 
out Europe.  Since  those  old  times  wearing 
the  beard  or  shaving  has  been  adopted  by 
many  persons  from  artistic  motives  rather 
than  in  obedience  to  custom.  To  some 


faces  the  beard  has  been  deemed  a  necessary 
appendage  for  the  production  of  a  pleasant 
countenance,  while  to  others  shaving  has 
brought  out  the  features  to  advantage.  The 
Spectator  (Addison's),  in  one  of  his  com- 
munications, presents  us  with  the  following 
piquant  observation  : 

"  When  I  was  last  with  my  friend  Sir  Roger 
(De  Coverley)  in  Westminster  Abbey  I  ob- 
served that  he  stood  longer  than  ordinarily 
before  the  bust  of  a  venerable  old  man.  I 
was  at  a  loss  to  guess  the  reason  of  it,  when, 
after  some  time,  he  pointed  to  the  figure 
and  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  that  our 
forefathers  looked  much  wiser  in  their  beards 
than  we  do  without  them?  '  For  my  part,' 
says  he,  '  when  I  am  walking  in  my  gallery 
in  the  country  and  see  my  ancestors,  who, 
many  of  them,  died  before  they  were  of  my 
age,  I  cannot  forbear  regarding  them  as  so 
many  old  patriarchs,  and  at  the  same  time 
looking  upon  myself  as  an  idle,  smock-faced 
young  fellow.  I  love  to  see  your  Abrahams, 
your  Isaacs  and  your  Jacobs  as  we  have 
them  in  old  pieces  of  tapestry,  with  beards 
below  their  girdles,  that  cover  half  the  hang- 
ings.' The  knight  added:  'If  I  would 
recommend  beards  in  one  of  my  papers  and 
endeavor  to  restore  human  faces  to  their 
ancient  dignity,  that  upon  a  month's  warn- 
ing he  would  undertake  to  lead  up  the 
fashion  himself  in  a  pair  of  whiskers'  " 
(Brooklyn  Eagle). 

Grant's  Whisky. — "  It  was  not  Lin- 
coln who,  when  informed  that  Grant  drank 
too  much  whisky,  retorted,  '  Tell  me  what 
brand  it  is  and  I'll  send  a  barrel  to  the  other 
generals.'  In  a  burlesque  report  by  Miles 
O'Reilly  (Charles  G.  Halpine)  of  an  imag- 
inary banquet  supposed  to  have  been  held 
at  Delmonico's  in  the  year  1864,  these  words 
were  put  into  Lincoln's  mouth.  They  ran 
through  the  press  as  Lincoln's  ipsissima 
verba,  and  to  this  day  it  is  hard  to  make 
people  father  them  on  the  real  author" 
(I/lust.  American). 

All  the  same  the  story  was  current  as 
early  as  1862  that  Mr.  Lincoln  made  that 
remark,  and  I  for  one  fully  believe  that  he 
originated  it.  F.  R.  S. 

CHESTER,  PA. 


October  4,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


27* 


"The"  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
239,  etc.}. — In  England  and  Ireland  I  find 
The  Abbey,  The  Ballagh,  The  Birches,  The 
Braes,  The  Broad,  The  Bush,  The  Com- 
mons, The  Craigs,  The  Den,  The  Dicker, 
The  Green,  The  Lizard,  The  Lodge,  The 
Maze,  The  Moss,  The  Nursery,  The  Pigeons, 
The  Poles,  The  Rhos,  The  Rower,  The  Un- 
dercliff,  The  Valley,  The  Ward,  The  Wergs, 
and  The  Wry  the.  I  think  these  are  all  post- 
office  names.  Gorbals,  near  Glasgow,  is 
called  "  The  Gorbals  o'  Glasgow  "  in  Scott's 
"  Rob  Roy."  ISLANDER. 

Muckamuck  (Vol.  v,  p.  258). — Your 
correspondent,  "  Orog,"  tells  us  that  muck- 
amuck  is  the  Chinook  for  food,  but  all 
through  the  Western  country,  High  Mucka- 
muck means  "a  great  man,"  "  a  big  chief ;" 
at  least,  I  have  often  heard  it  so  used.  I 
have  even  heard  a  local  great  man  called  a 
"  high  duke,"  which  is,  I  suppose,  the  Ger- 
man haiduck,  a  retainer  ;  and  the  Hungarian 
hajduk,  which  at  first  meant  a  shepherd, 
and,  later,  a  peasant  with  many  of  the  privi- 
leges of  a  nobleman.  This  identification 
is,  however,  only  conjectural. 

W.  P.  R. 
LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 

Snickersnee  (Vol.  v,  p.  40) — On  p. 
xv  of  the  introductory  part  of  De  Peyster's 
"History  of  Carausius "  (1858)  occur 
these  words:  "In  the  Norfolk  dialect  a 
large  clasp-knife  was,  and  may  still  be, 
known  as  a  snickersnee."  On  p.  112  of  the 
same  work  is  mentioned  "  a  sword  or  dag- 
ger, which  to  this  day  is  a  favorite  weapon 
with  the  manners  of  Holland,  but  particu- 
larly the  people  of  Friesland  and  the  north- 
ern districts  of  the  Netherlands,  under  the 
name  of  snickasnee  [Snick- an-snee,  Dutch, 
*  *  *],  a  peculiar  (often  two  feet)  long 
knife,  with  which  they  did  terrible  execu- 
tion upon  the  insurgent  Belgians  in  1831." 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Fanacle  (Vol.  v,  pp.  113,  etc.). — Fanum 
gives  usfanatitus,  and  also  the  rare  fanf fa/is  ; 
fanulum  occurs  once,  at  least ;  but  neither 
fanaculum  nor  faniculum  is  in  Lewis  and 
Short's  Dictionary.  Does  not  fanaticus 


have  a  more  direct  relationship  to  the  rare 
verbfanare  than  tofanum  itself?  What  de- 
termines the  choice  between  a  and  tin  these 
cases  ?  Pendere  gives  pendiculum,  spectare 
gives  spectaculum  ;  but  how  can  fanum  give 
fanaculum?  I  ask  this  for  information,  and 
not  for  the  sake  of  an  argument. 

H.  J.  F. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Sunflower. — It  is  said  by  some  late 
writer  that  the  sunflower  is  so  called  from  its- 
sun-like  appearance,  and  that  it  does  not 
turn  towards  the  sun.  It  is  true  that  when 
the  sunflower  stalk  is  old  and  woody  it 
ceases  to  turn.  But  at  an  earlier  stage  it 
does  turn.  One  morning,  some  time  ago, 
every  sunflower  stalk  in  my  garden  was  lean- 
ing towards  the  east ;  and  that  night  every 
one  was  bending  westward.  But  they  were 
not  yet  in  blossom,  nor  had  they  attained 
more  than  half  their  normal  stature. 

ILDERIM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Cummerbund  (Vol.  v,  pp.  34,  etc.). — 
In  Persia  the  cummerbund,  or  camarband, 
is  a  very  important  article  of  wear,  being 
made  a  badge  of  the  wearer's  rank.  If  the 
wearer  is  a  sayid,  or  one  of  the  descendants 
of  the  prophet,  the  cummerbund  is  of  a 
green  color.  In  it  merchants  and  scholars 
carry  pens  and  paper,  and  all  classes  make 
it  serve  as  a  pocket.  A  sheath-knife,  or 
even  a  huge,  ivory-handled  dagger,  is  often 
seen  thrust  into  it. 

L.  R.  TRAVERS. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Highbinder  (Vol.  v,  pp.  231,  etc.). — 
Are  we  to  understand  from  Mr.  Wardlaw's 
excellent  communication,  that  a  AgAbinder 
is  etymologically  a  foeybmder  ?  I  do  not  so 
understand  the  case,  yet  I  do  not  feel  sure 
of  the  writer's  meaning.  IPSICO. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Seaky. — I  desire  to  collect  examples  of 
the  use  of  the  word  seaky  in  the  sense  of 
seapy,  or  permeable  to  water,  as  seaky  land. 
I  have  already  a  few  quotations. 

*     *     * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


272 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[October  4,  1890. 


Skate  Runners  (Vol.  v,  pp.  139,  etc.). — 
In  Boisgelin's  "  Travels  through  Den- 
mark," etc.,  published  in  London,  1810, 
among  the  Danish  infantry  in  Norway  were 
two  battalions,  each  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty  men,  attached  to  the  Opland  and  First 
Drontheim  of  Skielxulers  or  "  Couriers  on 
the  ice."  In  a  second  subsequent  army  list 
the  author  mentions  six  companies  of 
"  couriers  on  the  ice  "  (Skieloeulers)  aggre- 
gating six  hundred  men.  It  would  seem 
that  they  did  not  belong  to  the  regular 
army  proper,  but  were  "  National  Troops  " 
who  were  only  on  duty  twenty-eight  days 
during  the  year  and  received  no  pay  at  other 
times.  It  would  also  appear  that  five  hun- 
dred "National  Troops"  or  militia  were 
attached  to  a  regiment  of  infantry  consisting 
of  one  thousand  "enlisted  men,"  or  regu- 
lars. These  skaters  or  "  Couriers  on  the 
ice"  were  rifle  men.  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Fox. — The  "Encyc.  Britannica  "  ap- 
pears to  state  that  there  are  no  foxes  in  South 
America.  But  there  is,  or  lately  was,  a 
species  in  the  Falkland  islands  ;  and  Azara's 
fox  abounds  in  parts  of  Patagonia,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  Magellan  fox,  and  the  corsac. 

M.  P.  D. 

EASTON,  PA. 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  245,  etc.). 
—In  June,  1811,  an  island  rose  from  the  sea 
about  half  a  league  westward  from  the  island 
of  Saint  Michael,  in  the  Azores.  This 
island  was  volcanic,  and  has  since  disap- 
peared. It  was  named  Sabrina  by  the  com- 
mander of  a  British  war-vessel  of  that  name, 
who  witnessed  the  emergence  of  the  island 
from  the  sea.  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Anagrams  (Vol.  v,  pp.  252,  etc.). — The 
name  of  Sacy,  the  well-known  French  Jan- 
senite  author,  is  a  kind  of  anagram  of  his 
baptismal  name,  Isaac.  ILDERIM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Latinized  Proper  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
27,  etc.). — Orffyreus,  the  inventor  of  a  per- 
petual motion,  was  originally  named 
Bessler. 


Spontaneous  Combustion  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
303). — To  the  communication  above  re- 
ferred to  it  may  be  of  interest  to  the  readers 
of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  to  add 
the  following  clipping  from  Good  News, 
July  17,  1890  : 

"There  is  undoubted  evidence  that  hay 
and  cotton,  when  damp,  will  occasionally 
take  fire  without  any  external  source  of  igni- 
tion. Cotton  impregnated  with  oil,  when 
collected  in  large  quantities,  is  especially 
liable  to  take  fire  spontaneously.  Numerous 
cases  are  recorded  where  an  accumulation  of 
cotton  waste,  used  in  wiping  oily  machinery, 
lamps,  etc.,  has  more  than  once  caused  fires 
and  led  to  unfounded  charges  of  incendiarism. 
Whether  or  not  such  organic  substances  as 
damp  grain  or  seeds  ever  undergo  sponta- 
neous combustion  is  a  question  that  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  proven,  although 
three  French  scientists — Chevallier,  Ollivier 
and  Devergie — are  authority  for  the  sup- 
position that  the  burning  of  a  barn  investi- 
gated by  them  was  caused  by  the  spontaneous 
combustion  of  damp  oats  stored  in  it.  There 
have  been  many  instances  of  the  spontaneous 
ignition  of  coal  containing  iron  pyrites 
when  moistened  with  water.  This  is  par- 
ticularly noticeable  in  coal  mined  in  York- 
shire and  some  varieties  found  in  South 
Wales.  Phosphorus  in  a  dry  state  is  proba- 
bly the  most  quickly  ignited  substance 
known.  It  has  been  seen  to  take  fire,  when 
touched,  in  a  room  in  which  the  temperature 
was  under  70°  Fahrenheit.  Dr.  Taylor,  a 
writer  on  the  principles  and  practice  of 
medical  jurisprudence,  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  ordinary  phosphorus  (blue- 
head)  matches  have  taken  fire  spontaneously, 
as  a  result  of  exposure  to  the  sun's  ray  for 
the  purpose  of  drying." 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Sir  Patrick  Spens. — By  a  curious  slip 
of  the  pen  a  writer  in  your  columns  (Vol.  ii, 
p.  35),  ascribes  the  expression  "  the  grand 
old  ballad  of  Sir  Patrick  Spens"  (or 
Spence)  to  Milton.  It  certainly  does  not 
sound  Miltonic.  The  words  in  question 
form  the  second  line  in  S.  T.  Coleridge's 
"Dejection:  an  Ode."  N.  S.  S. 

GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 


October  4,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


273 


Precious    Stones    in    Medicine. — In 

Burton's  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy  "  (p.  2, 
Sec.  2,  Mem.  i,  Subsec.  2)  there  is  a  very 
curious  record  of  the  then  supposed  medi- 
cinal effects  of  precious  stones  in  disease. 
Sometimes  a  gem  was  prescribed  to  be  worn ; 
sometimes  it  was  taken  in  a  potion,  dissolved 
or  powdered.  The  passage  is  too  long  to  be 
quoted  ;  but  the  book  is  almost  everywhere 
accessible  to  those  who  are  curious  in  such 
matters.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Names  of  Odd  Pronunciation  (Vol. 
v,  p.  23). —  Wymondham  is  pronounced 
•windum  ;  Household,  in  Norfolk,  is  vulgarly 
called  Mussle ;  Southwell,  now  a  city  and 
bishop's  see,  is  locally  called  Suthl. 

CENTAUR. 

TOLEDO,  O. 

Earthquake  of  1811  (Vol.  v,  p.  185). — 
John  Hay  wood,  in  his  "  History  of  Ten- 
nessee/' gives  some  interesting  information 
on  this  subject.  The  book  was  published 
about  1823,  and  is  now  out  of  print.  The 
second-hand  dealer  of  this  city  asks  #150  for 
the  copy  which  he  has  at  present.  Some 
matter  on  this  subject  may  be  found  also  in 
Dr.  SafTord's  "Geology  of  Tennessee," 
published  about  1869.  This  book  is  also 
out  of  print,  a  fact  which  is  to  be  greatly 
lamented,  since  it  is  the  best  authority  on 
the  geology  of  this  section. 

C.  S.  BROWN,  JR. 
NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

Prince  Consort's  Family  Name 
(Vol.  v,  p.  239,  etc.). — In  a  late  number  of 
the  Maine  Farmer,  it  is  stated  that  Queen 
Victoria's  surname  by  marriage  is  Wettin, 
which  comes  rather  near  to  the  Wetter 
which  N.  S.  S.  has  found.  Two  or  three 
newspapers  have  given  Busichi,  or  Buzici, 
as  the  late  prince-consort's  family  name. 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Nicknames  of  Peoples  (Vol.  iv,  pp. 
214,  etc.). — In  England  the  people  of  Liver- 
pool are  sometimes  called  Liverpudlians ; 
the  people  of  Galway  are  often  spoken  of  as 
Galwegians.  E.  R.  SANFORD. 

LEXINGTON,  KY. 


Largest  Rainfall. — It  is  stated  tKat  at 
Cherrapunji,  among  the  Khasia  Hills,  in 
Eastern  Bengal,  the  mean  annual  rainfall  for 
twenty-four  years  has  been  493.19  inches, 
which  is  (it  is  believed)  the  largest  on  record 
at  any  point.  I.  SELDEN  BREWER. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp.  261, 
etc.). — Besides  the  various  "lost  rivers"  and 
"underground  streams"  which  you  have 
recorded  there  is  a  lost  branch  in  Lincoln 
county,  Mo.,  besides  lost  creeks  in  Walker 
county,  Ala.,  one  in  Grant  county,  Ark.,  one 
in  Orange  county,  Ind.,  one  in  Clinton 
county,  111.,  one  in  Vigo  county,  Ind.,  one 
in  Breathitt  county,  Ky.,  one  in  Newton 
county,  Mo.,  one  in  Wayne  county,  Mo., 
one  in  Miami  county,  O.,  one  in  Schuylkill 
county,  Pa.,  one  in  Union  county,  Tenn., 
one  in  Harrison  county,  W.  Va.,  one  in 
Pierce  county,  Wis.,  and  a  lost  river  in 
Hardy  county,  W.  Va.  R.  M.  T. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

Rare  Words. — Dy-dopper,  a  cut  purse. 
"Every  garment  fitting  corremsquandam 
[for  corresponding?],  to  use  his  own 
word;"  a  boy  armed  with  a poating stick ; 
"  It  did  him  good  to  have  ill  words  of  a 
hoddy-doddy  !  a  habberdehoy  !  a  chicken  ! 
a  squit  !  a  squall !  one  that  hath  not  wit 
enough  to  make  a  ballet!"  (from  Kemp's 
"Nine  Days'  Wonder,"  1600). 

T.  THRUTTER. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Lakes  Restored. — An  article  in  the 
Albany  Evening  Journal  of  September  26, 
1890,  states  that  Lakes  Benton  and  Hend- 
ricks  in  Minnesota,  and  Lakes  Albert,  Pres- 
ton, Whitewood  and  others  in  Dakota,  after 
having  been  entirely  dried  up  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years,  became  "  filled  up  tank- 
full  "  in  1881,  and  have  remained  so  ever 
since.  This  is  very  interesting,  and  may  be 
worth  considering  in  the  settlement  of  the 
question  as  to  whether  cultivation  and  tree 
planting  are  having  a  favorable  effect  upon 
the  climate  of  the  great  plains. 

R.  M.  T. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 


274 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [October  4,  1890. 


Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  249,  etc.). 
— Whittlesea  Mere,  a  considerable  lake  in 
Cambridgeshire,  Eng.,  has  been  drained 
within  the  memory  of  living  men,  and  its 
bed  is  covered  with  excellent  farms ;  but 
Whittlesea  West  is  still  semi-lacustrine. 
Geologists  in  England  have  given  the  name 
of  Lake  Cheviot  to  a  prehistoric  lake  basin 
in  Northumberland.  That  region,  long  be- 
fore the  advent  of  man,  was  the  site  of 
several  rather  large  lakes.  But  its  existing 
lakes  are  small  and  not  very  many. 

Not  far  from  the  Cimaron  river  there  are 
certain  salt  plains  which  are  said  to  mark  the 
site  of  a  former  lake.  The  celebrated  Lake 
Regillus,  where  the  gods  fought  for  the 
Romans  against  the  Latins,  no  longer  exists. 
It  is  conjectured  that  it  was  artificially 
drained.  A  marshy  lake  once  stood  near 
Camarina  in  Sicily.  The  people  of  the 
town  consulted  the  oracle  as  to  the  propriety 
of  draining  the  lake,  and  got  for  a  reply, 
"  Do  not  disturb  Camarina."  The  meaning 
of  this  Delphic  deliverance  being  doubtful, 
they  went  to  work  and  drained  the  lake. 
Not  long  after  the  town's  enemies  captured 
the  city,  and  so  "  Don't  disturb  Camarina" 
became  a  proverb,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Let 
well  enough  alone." 

Three  years  ago  a  lake  in  the  Moosejaw 
district  near  Ottawa,  Can.,  which  was  more 
than  a  mile  in  circumference,  disappeared  en- 
tirely from  some  cause.  A  farmer  pur- 
chased the  lake  bottom  and  has  this  year 
raised  a  magnificent  crop  of  wheat  upon  it. 

W.  J.  LACK. 

Owing  to  the  diversion  of  their  feeders  for 
irrigation,  Kern,  Buena  Vista  and  Tulare 
lakes  are  probably  destined  to  disappear  at 
no  greatly  distant  time  in  the  future.  Be- 
tween 1880  and  1882,  all  owing  to  the  diver- 
sion of  Kern  river,  the  fish  and  turtles  in  the 
first-named  lake  died,  on  account  of  the 
concentration  of  the  alkaline  salts  in  solu- 
tion, and  the  depth  of  water  in  the  lake  de- 
creased four  feet.  The  exposed  bottom  of 
the  lake,  left  by  the  recession  of  the  water, 
is  covered  with  a  thin  crust  of  alkali,  and 
the  tules  promptly  followed  the  example  set 
by  the  fish  and  turtles.  Buena  Vista  lake  is 
fast  approaching  the  condition  of  Kern  lake, 
but  as  it  has  lost  all  connection  with  its 


largest  feeders,  its  fate  is  settled.  In  1888, 
the  percentage  of  alkaline  salts  in  Tulare 
lake  had  more  than  doubled,  compared  with 
the  proportion  in  1880.  Formerly  this  lake 
was  known  for  its  bountiful  supply  of  fish, 
but  in  1888  the  catfish  and  greasers  began 
dying  in  great  numbers,  and  in  a  few  months 
thereafter  the  trout  also  chose  the  less  of  two 
evils.  A  few  years  ago  mussels  and  clams 
were  so  plentiful  that  an  immense  number 
of  hogs  were  yearly  fattened  on  them.  Now 
there  is  not  a  single  live  mollusk  to  be  found 
in  the  lake.  The  margin  of  the  former  lake 
bottom,  exposed  by  desiccation,  is  now 
several  miles  wide.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Mudsills  of  Society. — Not  so  very  many 
years  ago  a  senator  from  South  Carolina 
(the  Hon.  J.  H.  Hammond),  in  a  public 
speech,  referred  to  the  laboring  classes  as 
the  "  mudsills  of  society."  The  words  be- 
came a  veritable  war-cry  all  through  the 
northern  country,  and  for  a  dozen  years  or 
more  were  quoted  as  evidence  of  the  con- 
tempt in  which  men  of  his  class  held  the  free 
laboring  man.  But  it  was  only  a  day  or  two 
since  that  I  met  a  gentleman  who  was  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  Governor  Ham- 
mond, and  the  section  of  country  where  he 
belonged.  He  said  the  remark  was  meant 
for  a  compliment,  rather  than  the  reverse. 
A  mudsill,  he  said,  is  the  solid  foundation 
which  in  a  sandy  and  wet  soil,  like  that  of 
some  parts  of  South  Carolina,  has  to  be  put 
under  heavy  buildings.  He  said  that  Ham- 
mond meant  to  offer  a  homely  but  expressive 
compliment  to  the  plain  and  hardy  toilers 
of  the  North,  the  class  to  which  his  own 
father's  family  belonged.  I  do  not  record 
this  as  desiring  to  recall  any  of  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  political  struggles  of  a  day  that 
has  forever  past,  but  if  the  explanation  is 
true  it  is  worth  making  a  note  of. 

RYLAND  JONES. 
ERIE,  PA. 

A  Glorious  Time. — In  order  to  illus- 
trate the  comparative  antiquity  of  such 
phrases  as  this,  I  would  refer  to  Dryden's 
"  Absalom  and  Architophel,"  Part  i,  Verse 
598:  "The  sons  of  Belial  had  a  glorious 
time."  N.  S.  S. 


October  4,  1890.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


275 


Sunken  Cities  (Vol.  v,  pp.  175,  etc.). 
— The  town  and  port  of  Scarphont,  which 
stood  on  the  shore  of  Flanders,  not  far  from 
Blankenberghe,  was  swallowed  up  by  the  sea  in 
1334  (see  De  Peyster's  "Hist. of  Carausius," 
p.  171,  note).  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Mississippi  (Vol.  i, pp.  299, etc.). — "The 
original  spelling  of  the  name  of  the  greatest 
river  of  the  United  States,  the  one  which 
rendered  it  nearest  to  the  old  Algonquin 
tongue,  is  Meche-sebe,  signifying  '  Father 
of  Waters.'  This  was  changed  by  Laval  to 
Michispe ;  by  Labatte,  to  Misispi ;  by  Mar- 
quette  to  Mississippi,  as  it  is  to-day.  Henry 
Seile,  the  geographer,  whose  map  was  made 
in  1652,  an  original  copy  of  which  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  editor  of  '  Notes  for  the 
Curious/  calls  the  Mississippi,  '  River 
Canaveral!,'  and  locates  the  head  at  about 
the  present  site  of  Memphis,  Tenn.  The 
early  Spanish  explorers  called  it  Les  Pali- 
sades. The  Indians  along  the  river  banks 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  the  Gulf 
called  it  Malbouchia.  La  Salle  named  it 
River  Colbert,  in  honor  of  the  famous 
French  Minister  of  Finance. 

"From  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  the  source 
it  was  known  to  the  Indians  as  Pe-he-ton-at, 
which  in  the  Algonquin  tongue  signified 
abode  or  habitation  of  furies;  several  of  the 
branches  were  designated  by  names  which 
in  our  language  would  mean  'little  fury,' 
'big  fury,'  'old  fury,'  etc.,  the  '  sippi  '  or 
'  sepe  '  being  afterwards  added  to  Pe-he-ton- 
at,  simply  meaning  river.  The  following 
table  shows  the  different  spelling  of  the  word 
according  to  the  different  authors  at  the 
dates  named  : 

"  Seile,  1652 Canaverall 

Merineu,  1666 Messipi 

Dablon,  1671 Mississippy 

Marquette,  1673 Mississippi 

Hennepm,  1680 Meschouipi 

Allong, Messipi 

Coxe,  1698 Micissipi 

Charlevoix, Mechasebe 

"  As  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  word,  L. 
M.  Gould  says  :  An  analysis  of  the  word 
Mississippi  will  show  that  it  does  not  mean 
*  Father  of  Waters  '  at  all,  thus  : 

"  Mis-sisk — grass.  Mis-sisk-ke-on — weeds. 


Mis-sisk-ke— rmedical  herbs,  and  Mis-ku-tuk. 
The  broad  bottom  lands  of  the  river  were 
called  Mis-ku-tuk;  the  tribes  along  the 
river  were  called  Mis-shu-tan,  signifying 
'meadow  people,'  thus  the  literal  meaning  of 
the  word  is  'the  river  of  meadows  of 
grass'  "  (St.  Louis  Republic}. 

One-eyed  Commanders  (Vol.  v,  p. 
221). — John  Ziska  (1360-1424)  ofTrceznow, 
Bohemia,  the  famous  Hussite  leader,  lost  the 
sight  of  his  right  eye  in  boyhood.  The  ac- 
cident occurred  to  the  youthful  hero  at  the 
battle  of  Tannenburg,  during  the  war  against 
the  Teutonic  knights,  carried  on  by  King 
Ladislas  of  Poland,  in  whose  service  he  had 
enlisted  as  volunteer.  Ziska  became  totally 
blind  during  his  contest  with  Emperor 
Sigismund  of  Germany;  his  remaining  eye 
was  pierced  by  an  arrow  at  the  siege  of 
Raby  in  1421 — three  years  before  his  death. 
This  terrible  disadvantage  was  overcome  by 
Ziska's  force  of  will,  and  his  wonderful 
power  of  mental  vision.  Henceforward  he 
was  borne  in  a  car  at  the  head  of  his  troops, 
and  was  enabled  to  order  their  movements 
from  descriptions  of  the  ground,  and  from 
his  own  previous  knowledge  of  the  country. 
Ziska  was  victor  in  100  engagements,  and 
won  thirteen  pitched  battles.  The  facts  of  his 
career  enable  us  to  appreciate  George  Sands' 
sketch  of  him,  from  the  lips  of  Count  Albert 
of  Rudolstadt :  "  The  most  grand,  the  most 
terrible,  the  most  persevering,  him  whom  they 
call  the  redoubtable  blind  man,  the  invincible 
John  Ziska  of  the  Chalice."  The  Hussite  con- 
federates had  formed  a  league  to  resist  any 
sovereign  who  did  not  admit  the  claims  of 
the  laity  to  the  participation  of  the  cup  of 
the  sacrament. 

"That  Ziska  ordered  his  body  to  be  left 
to  the  dogs  and  kites,  and  that  his  skin 
should  be  used  as  a  drum,  and  that  it  was 
so  used  by  the  Hussites  in  their  subsequent 
wars  is  a  fable."  Lord  Byron  has  treated 
the  fable  as  a  fact  in  the  following  : 

«#    *    *    the  time  may  come 
His  name  shall  beat  the  alarm  like  Ziska's  drum." 
("  The  Age  of  Bronze,"  St.  iv.) 

"  Like  Ziska's  skin  to  beat  alarm  to  all 
Refractory  vassals." 

("  Werner,"  Act  i,  Sq.  i.) 


276 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[October  4,  1890. 


Ziska  had  been  the  hero's  family  name  for 
several  generations,  and  does  not  signify 
"one-eyed,"  either  in  Polisher  Bohemian. 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Palaeologus  (Vol.  v,  pp.  165,  175). — 
The  Palaeologus  whose  epitaph  your  cor- 
respondent "  H.  R."  has  given  was  the 
grandfather  of  the  last  Barbadian  Palaeologus 
of  whom  I  have  been  able  to  find  any  ac- 
count. Of  the  grandsons,  there  are  several 
names  on  record  ;  one  of  them  died  and  left 
an  estate  which  went  to  the  widow  of  one 
of  his  brothers.  From  this  fact  it  looks  as 
if  the  family  of  the  Palaeologi  of  the  Cornish- 
Barbadian  line  was  long  since  extinct.  I  have 
not  as  yet  found  any  notice  of  a  Palaeologus 
who  left  Barbadoes  for  some  other  colony. 

L.  M.  R. 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

Pets  of  Famous  People  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
234,  etc.). — Mather  Byles  had  a  famous  cat, 
which  he  called  his  Muse  (cf.  Musion,  Vol. 
v).  Green,  a  contemporary  wit,  says  of 
him  : 

"  He  sat  a  while,  and  stroked  his  Muse, 

Then  taking  up  his  tuneful  pen, 
Wrote  a  few  stanzas  for  the  use 
Of  his  sea-faring  brethren." 

Dr.  Johnson's  cat,  Hodge,  must  not  be 
overlooked.  S.  P.  Q.  R. 

Greek  Words  in  Chinese. — It  is  held 
that  po-tao,  a  Chinese  name  for  grapes,  is 
the  Greek  pdrpix; ;  and  there  is  some  histori- 
cal reason  for  this  identification.  Per  contra 
— the  Chinese  seem  to  have  given  one  word, 
at  least,  to  the  Greek.  Our  word  galangal, 
Arab.  Khalanjdn,  is  the  Chinese  Kau-liang= 
Kiang,  "ginger  of  Kau-liang."  This  is, 
by  some,  conjectured  to  be  the  origin  of 
the  Greek  ttlvtov,  elecampane,  of  which  the 
Latin  form  is  inula,  also  inula  campana.  Cf. 
our  elecampane,  and  the  German  alant, 
which  last  seems  nearer  to  the  Greek  than  to 
the  Latin.  Qui  TAM. 

Canting  Heraldry  (Vol.  v,  pp.  94, 
etc.). — The  arms  of  the  Scottish  Order  of  the 


Thistle  bear  thistles  and  rue.  The  popular 
fancy  is  that  and  rue  represents  Andrew. 
St.  Andrew  is  the  patron  of  Scotland  and  of 
the  Order  of  the  Thistle. 

N.  S.  S. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Highest  Waterfall  (Vol.  v,  p.  232).— 
"  What  is  the  matter  with  Yosemite  Falls?" 
In  response  to  this,  it  may  not  seem  unsuit- 
able to  say,  the  Yosemite  is  the  incomparable 
and  to  relate  a  very  good  anecdote  told  of 
Franz  Liszt :  This  Paganini  of  the  piano- 
forte had  already  electrified  all  Europe  with 
his  unequaled  performances,  when  a  lady  on 
one  occasion  asked  him  whom  he  thought 
the  greatest  living  pianist.  Liszt  replied  to 
this  quest  ion  without  hesitation,  "Thalberg." 
But  the  lady,  with  a  manner  expressive  of 
the  greatest  astonishment,  asked:  "Do 
you  consider  him  superior  to  yourself?"  To 
this  second  interrogation  Liszt  answered, 
with  the  most  charming  frankness  :  "  Mad- 
ame, I  had  no  idea  you  made  reference  to 
me.  I  stand  too  high  to  be  compared  to 
ordinary^ pianists."  It  has  been  observed 
already  that  the  "articles"  on  waterfalls 
from  the  Churchman  and  from  Chambers' 
Journal  entirely  ignore  the  Yosemite.  The 
omission  might  be  excused  in  still  another 
fanciful  way.  In  the  late  summer,  it  is 
said,  the  highest  falls  of  the  Yosemite  re- 
gion entirely  disappear,  and  tourists  who 
"seek"  them  in  the  months  of  July  and 
August  are  apt  to  find  themselves  in  a  mood 
to  feel  the  truth  and  beauty  of  Whittier's 
lines : 

"  To  seek  is  better  than  to  gain, 
The  fond  hope  dies  as  we  attain  ; 
Life's  fairest  things  are  those  which  seem, 
The  best  is  that  of  which  we  dream. 

"  Then  let  us  trust  our  waterfall 
Still  flashes  down  its  rocky  wall, 
With  rainbow  crescent  curved  across 
Itssunlit  spray  from  moss  to  moss." 

The  Hetchy-vetchy  and  the  Tu-ee-u-la-la 
Falls,  having  a  respectable  altitude  of  1800 
feet  each,  are  more  reliable,  and  may  be 
depended  on  the  year  round  (see  "  Cent. 
Mag.,"  Sept.,  1890,  pp.  665). 

F.  T.   C. 

HARTFORD,  Cr. 


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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  : — Picnics,  277 — Superstitions  of  Auvergne,  278. 

QUERIES:— Magic  Mirrors,  278— Pine  Figure— Roland  for 
an  Oliver,  279. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS :— Flooding  the 
Sahara— Katahdin— He  Hears  It  Not— Compass-Plant— We 
Know  so  Little,  etc. — Arrow  Traveler —  Punctation  —  Bu- 
hach — Lake  of  the  Christians — Steam  Gun — Martin  Vaz — 
Koromantyn — Shaking  Bald  Mountain,  280  —  St.  Mary's 
Church — Bug  and  Dorimant — Prose  Shakespeare,  281. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :  —  Missouri,  281  —  Pets  of  Famous 
People— Red-haired  Girl — Picayune — Dogs  as  Beasts  of  Bur- 
den—" The "  in  Place  Names,  182— Eccentric  Wills,  283— 
Zohrab  and  Sohrab,  285 — Norwegian  and  Lapp  Snow-shoes 
—A  Little  Bird  Told  Me— Italian  Cities,  286— A  Slip  of  Co- 
leridge's—Eccentric Burials— Oriana,  287— Infinitesimals- 
Lakes  Drained— Man-of-War— The  Last  Crusade— Dialect 
Forms— Tree-Lists,  288. 


Queries  on  all  matters  of  general  literary  and 
historical  interest — folk-lore,  the  origin  of  prov- 
erbs, familiar  sayings,  popular  customs,  quota- 
tions, etc.,  the  authorship  of  books,  pamphlets, 
poems,  essays,  or  stories,  the  meaning  of  re- 
condite allusions,  etc.,  etc. — are  invited  from 
all  quarters,  and  will  be  answered  by  editors  or 
contributors.  Room  is  allowed  for  the  discus- 
sion of  moot  questions,  and  the  periodical  is  thus 
a  valuable  medium  for  intercommunication  be- 
tween literary  men  and  specialists. 

Communications  for  the  literary  department 
should  be  addressed  : 

EDITOR  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

All  checks  and  money  orders  to  be  made 
payable  to  the  order  of  The  Westminster  Pub- 
lishing Company,  619  Walnut  Street,  Philadel- 
phia. 


PICNICS. 

Almost  any  boy  or  girl  can  tell  you  what 
a  picnic  is  like,  but  I  wonder  how  many 
know  why  it  is  so  called,  or  that  the  custom 
is  said  to  date  only  from  1802,  not  a  hundred 
years  ago. 

Then,  as  now,  when  such  an  entertain- 
ment was  being  arranged  for,  it  was  cus- 
tomary that  those  who  intended  to  be  present 
should  supply  the  eatables  and  drinkables. 
Originally  the  plan  was  to  draw  up  a  list  of 
what  was  necessary,  which  is  an  excellent 
one  to  follow,  for  often,  when  there  has  been 
no  previous  agreement,  it  is  discovered, 
when  too  late,  that  there  is  too  much  of  OP- 
kind  of  food  and  not  enough  of  another. 


278 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [October  n,  1890. 


The  list  was  passed  round,  and  each  per- 
son picked  out  the  article  of  food  or  drink 
he  or  she  was  willing  to  furnish,  and  the 
name  of  the  article  was  then  nicked  off  the 
list.  So  it  was  from  these  two  words, picked 
and  nicked,  that  this  form  of  out-of-door  en- 
tertainment first  became  known  as  a 
"pick-and-nick,"  and  then  as  a  picnic,  the 
old-fashioned  name  for  the  basket  parties  of 
to-day. 

"  WHEN  WE  WERE  TWENTY-ONE." 

"  When  we  were  twenty-one,  Bill, 

Picnics  were  not  '  the  go;' 
Good  people  were  not  shun'd,  Bill, 

At  least  with  us  'twas  so. 
Apple  parings — butter  stinings — 

We  had,  where  all  might  come, 
Nor  were  some  pick'd,  and  others  nick'd, 

When  we  were  twenty-one." 

Along  in  the  latter  half  of  the  twenties, 
and  the  first  half  of  the  thirties,  in  villages 
and  rural  districts,  basket  parties  were 
nearly  as  indiscriminate  as  they  could  well 
be  made,  in  the  selection  of  their  numbers. 
Of  course,  respect  was  had  to  decency  and 
honesty,  in  their  external  manifestation. 
But  after  the  advent  of  the  forties,  in  mak- 
ing such  parties,  people  began  to  make  class 
discriminations. 

Several  of  the  male  and  female  members 
of  the  community  would  meet  together,  and 
exhibit  lists  of  names  from  which  to  select 
such  as  would  make  the  most  congenial  and 
harmonious  party.  Those  who  were  selected 
were  said  to  be  pick'd  and  those  who  were 
objected  to  were  said  to  be  nick '//. 

The  above  stanza,  in  reference  to  the  pro- 
cess, was  published  in  1844,  although  it  may 
have  been  written  some  years  before.  The 
coincidence  is  striking,  because  it  would  be 
safe  to  say,  that  the  persons  participating  in 
those  old  assemblages  had,  probably,  no 
knowledge  whatever  of  the  origin  of  the  pic- 
nic parties  alluded  to  in  the  slip  at  the  head 
of  this  article.  When  they  were  purely 
"apple-butter  parties,"  the  good  dame  of 
the  house,  assisted  by  her  grown  sons  and 
daughters,  constituted  the  tribunal  which 
passed  judgment  upon  the  quality  of  the 
material  to  be  invited. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


THE  SUPERSTITIONS  OF  AUVERGNE. 

A  child  born  between  midnight  and  one 
o'clock  will  turn  out  badly. 

Wood  crackling  on  the  hearth  is  the  sign 
that  good  news  or  money  will  be  received. 

He  who  does  not  cry  while  being  baptized 
will  be  good. 

A  child  born  with  open  eyes  will  become 
celebrated. 

If  one  steps  across  a  young  child  it  hinders 
its  growth.  If  it  is  weighed  it  will  not  grow 
and  is  likely  to  become  an  idiot. 

A  wedding  that  has  taken  place  on  the 
same  day  as  a  burial  and  a  baptism  will  be 
unhappy. 

When  the  wind  blows  and  snow  falls  at 
the  same  time,  it  is  said  the  devil  combs  his 
wife's  tresses ;  if  it  rains  and  the  sun  shines, 
he  amuses  himself;  when  it  thunders,  he  has 
gathered  in  the  wheat  and  is  threshing. 

The  rainbow  is  called  God's  garter. 

Before  putting  the  bread  in  the  oven  to 
bake,  a  cross  should  be  traced  en  it  with  the 
finger. 

If  a  person  has  a  lighted  candle  and 
another  begs  a  light  from  it,  should  the  lat- 
ter's  candle  not  light  immediately,  the  former 
should  beware. 

If  one  on  his  way  to  ask  a  favor  meets  a 
dog  looking  at  him  with  wagging  tail,  he 
may  be  sure  his  favor  will  be  granted ;  if  on 
the  contrary  the  dog  barks,  he  will  be  disap- 
pointed. 

If  one  dreams  of  eggs,  snakes  or  lice, 
death  will  come  in  one's  family  before  long. 

If  one  would  make  sure  to  awaken  very 
early,  one  must  say  five  De  Profundis  in 
honor  of  the  souls  in  purgatory. 

To  sneeze  three  times  before  noon  omens 
well. 

The  young  girl  who  loses  her  garter  or  her 
apron  will  be  forsaken  by  her  lover  (translated 
from  the  French  of  Antoinette  Bon). 

MARY  OSBORN. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


gUB  F$I  B  S. 

Magic   Mirrors. — Where  can  I    find    a 
good  account  of  Magic  Mirrors  ? 

MARY  A.  BENNET. 
To  WAN  DA. 


October  n,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


279 


Curiously  enough,  The  Monist,  for  Oc- 
tober, 1890,  published  in  Chicago,  contains 
an  admirable  resume,  by  Max  Dessoir,  of  the 
historical,  literary,  and  traditional  lore  of 
Magic  Mirrors.  The  author  presents  some 
marvelous,  yet  apparently  well-authenti- 
cated, accounts  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
magic  mirror  in  the  hands  of  Miss  A.  Good- 
rich, of  London,  an  active  and  highly  intel- 
ligent member  of  the  English  Society  for 
Psychical  Research.  We  know  of  no  recent 
paper  on  the  subject  which  at  all  approaches 
Dessoir's  in  ability,  interest,  or  completeness. 

Pine  Figure. — Where  can  I  find  an  account 
of  the  pine  figure  "  or  "  palm  figure,"  so 
common  in  the  patterns  of  India  shawls  ? 

MARIE  M.  GREEK. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

The  only  good  account  of  this  figure  that 
we  know  of  is  in  "  Johnson's  Cyclopaedia," 
article  "  Valei. ' '  Valei\?>  a  South  Indian  name 
for  the  plantain  or  banana,  and  also  for  the 
figure  in  question,  which  seems  to  be  a  rep- 
resentation of  the  flower,  fruit,  bud  or  leaf, 
of  some  East  Indian  species  of  plantain. 
The  plantain  in  India  is  a  symbol  of  fertility. 

Roland  for  an  Oliver. — Will  you  please 
tell  me  the  origin  of  this  expression  ? 

R.  I.  LlNDENHURST. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Bullfinch  in  his  "Mythology"  gives  the 
origin  of  this  phrase  as  follows  : 

"Guerin  de  Montglave  held  the  lordship 
of  Vienne,  subject  to  Charlemagne.  He 
had  quarreled  with  his  sovereign,  and 
Charles  laid  siege  to  his  city,  having  ravaged 
the  neighboring  country.  Guerin  was  an 
aged  warrior,  but  relied  for  his  defense  upon 
his  four  sons  and  two  grandsons,  who  were 
among  the  bravest  knights  of  the  age.  After 
the  siege  had  continued  two  months,  Char- 
lemagne received  tidings  that  Marsilius,  King 
of  Spain,  had  invaded  France,  and,  finding 
himself  unopposed,  was  advancing  rapidly  in 
the  Southern  provinces.  At  this  intelli- 
gence, Charles  listened  to  the  counsel  of  his 
peers,  and  consented  to  put  the  quarrel  with 
Guerin  to  the  decision  of  heaven,  by  single 
combat  between  two  knights,  one  of  each 
party,  selected  by  lot.  The  proposal  was 


acceptable  to  Guerin  and  his  sons.  The 
names  of  the  four,  together  with  Guerin's 
own,  who  would  not  be  excused,  and  of  the 
two  grandsons,  who  claimed  their  lot,  being 
put  into  a  helmet,  Oliver's  was  drawn  forth, 
and  to  him,  the  youngest  of  the  grandsons, 
was  assigned  the  honor  and  the  peril  of  the 
combat.  He  accepted  the  award  with  de- 
light, exulting  in  being  thought  worthy  to 
maintain  the  cause  of  his  family.  On 
Charlemagne's  side  Roland  was  the  desig- 
nated champion,  and  neither  he  nor  Oliver 
knew  who  his  antagonist  was  to  be. 

"  They  met  on  an  island  in  the  Rhone,  and 
the  warriors  of  both  camps  were  ranged  on 
either  shore,  spectators  of  the  battle.  At 
the  first  encounter  both  lances  were  shiv- 
ered, but  both  riders  kept  their  seats,  im- 
movable. They  dismounted,  and  drew  their 
swords.  Then  ensued  a  combat  which 
seemed  so  equal,  that  the  spectators  could 
not  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  probable  issue. 
Two  hours  and  more  the  knights  continued 
to  strike  and  parry,  to  thrust  and  ward, 
neither  showing  any  sign  of  weariness,  nor 
ever  being  taken  at  unawares.  At  length 
Orlando  struck  furiously  upon  Oliver's 
shield,  burying  Durindana  in  its  edge  so 
deeply  that  he  could  not  draw  it  back,  and 
Oliver,  almost  at  the  same  moment,  thrust 
so  vigorously  upon  Orlando's  breastplate 
that  his  sword  snapped  off  at  the  handle. 
Thus  were  the  two  warriors  left  weaponless. 
Scarcely  pausing  a  moment,  they  rushed 
upon  one  another,  each  striving  to  throw 
his  adversary  to  the  ground,  and  failing  in 
that,  each  snatched  at  the  other's  hemlet  to 
tear  it  away.  Both  succeeded,  and  at  the 
same  moment  they  stood  bareheaded  face  to 
face,  and  Roland  recognized  Oliver,  and 
Oliver  Roland.  For  a  moment  they  stood 
still ;  and  the  next,  with  open  arms,  rushed 
into  one  another's  embrace.  '  I  am  con- 
quered,' said  Orlando.  '  I  yield  me,'  said 
Oliver. 

"  The  people  on  the  shore  knew  not  what  to 
make  of  all  this.  Presently  they  saw  the 
two  late  antagonists  standing  hand  in  hand, 
and  it  was  evident  the  battle  was  at  an  end. 
The  knights  crowded  round  them,  and  with 
one  voice  hailed  them  as  equals  in  glory. 
If  there  were  any  who  felt  disposed  to  mur- 
mur that  the  battle  was  left  undecided,  they 


280 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [October  u,  1890. 


were  silenced  by  the  voice  of  Ogier  the 
Dane,  who  proclaimed  aloud  that  all  had 
been  done  that  honor  required,  and  declared 
that  he  would  maintain  that  award  against 
all  gainsayers. 

"  The  quarrel  with  Guerin  and  his  sons 
being  left  undecided,  a  truce  was  made  for 
four  days,  and  in  that  time,  by  the  efforts  of 
Duke  Namo  on  the  one  side,  and  of  Oliver 
on  the  other,  a  reconciliation  was  effected. 
Charlemagne,  accompanied  by  Guerin  and 
his  valiant  family,  marched  to  meet  Mar- 
silius,  who  hastened  to  retreat  across  the 
frontier." 


IPO   @O^F?ESPONDEN1>S. 


Flooding  the  Sahara.  —  What  has  be- 
come of  the  projects  of  which  we  heard  so 
much  a  few  years  since,  for  flooding  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  Sahara  ? 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Katahdin.  —  It  is  said  that  the  great 
mountain  of  Maine,  called  Katahdin,  or 
Ktaadn,  appears  to  be  the  remnant  of  a  vast 
crater-peak.  Is  it  the  opinion  of  the  geo- 
logists that  this  mountain  was  ever  truly 
volcanic  ?  F.  F.  W. 

PASADENA,  CAL. 

He  Hears  it  Not.—  Where  is  the  region 
known  by  this  name,  and  why  is  it  so  called  ? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Compass-plant.  —  Is  it  true  that  the 
radical  leaves  of  the  compass-plant,  Sif- 
phium  laciniatum,  always,  or  usually,  point 
to  the  north  or  south  ? 

W.  J.  LACK. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Authorship  Wanted.—  We  know  so 
little  and  forget  so  much.  —  Where  does  this 
line  occur  ?  LARKIN  GREY. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

Arrow  Traveler.—  What  ancient  sage 
was  said  to  ride  through  the  air  on  an  arrow  ? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 


Punctation. — Will  some  one  of  your 
correspondents  explain  for  my  enlighten- 
ment the  meaning  of  the  expression,  "  The 
Punctations  of  Ems?" 

RUBY  E.  C. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 

Buhach. — Buhach  is  the  trade  name  of 
a  kind  of  insect  powder,  or  of  the  plant  pro- 
ducing it.  I  think  the  California  plant  is 
the  kind  more  commonly  called  Buhach. 
Whence  comes  this  name  ?  Few  dictionaries 
have  it.  ILDERIM. 

Lake  of  the  Christians.— Where  is 
the  lake  once  called  by  this  name  ? 

McPHAIL. 
IOWA  CITY. 

Steam  Gun. — Who  wrote  a  little  poem 
called  "  The  Steam  Gun  ?"  I  read  it  years 
and  years  ago.  It  began  something  like 
this  : 

"  Now  hiss,  fiss  and  bang,  how  the  glasses  all  rang 
At  the  sound  of  my  sixpenny  gun." 

I  think  the  piece  (which  was  childish  and 
poor)  was  written  in  England,  and  has  refer- 
ence to  the  steam  gun  exhibited  in  London 
in  1824,  by  Jacob  Perkins  (1766-1849),  an 
American  inventor.  F.  M. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Martin  Vaz. — Has  any  navigator  ever 
landed  upon  the  rocky  island  of  Martin  (or 
Martim)  Vaz,  in  the  South  Atlantic  ?  If  so, 
where  can  I  find  an  account  of  it  ? 

ROBERT  MARTIN. 
NEWBOLD,  N.  J. 

Koromantyii. — In  his  poem,  "The 
Destiny  of  Nations,"  Coleridge  speaks  of 
"  Koromantyn's  plain  of  palms."  Where  is 
Koromantyn  ?  It  would  seem  to  be  some- 
where in  Africa.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Shaking  Bald  Mountain. — There  is 
a  mountain  in  North  Carolina  known  as  the 
Shaking  Bald,  which  is  said  to  be  subject  to 
frequent  convulsions.  Have  these  ever  been 
explained  ?  W.  L.  CASE. 

PATERSON,  N.  J. 


October  n,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


281 


St.  Mary's  Church,  Oolestown, 
N.  J. — Many  persons,  even  among  the  older 
inhabitants  of  Philadelphia,  are  probably 
unaware  of  the  existence  of  the  quaint  old 
church  of  St.  Mary's,  Colestown,  N.  J., 
which  is  situated  at  only  a  short  distance 
from  the  city  limits.  Exteriorly,  the  old 
wooden  church  is  homely  and  barn-like ; 
within,  there  is  such  an  air  of  antiquity  that 
the  whole  structure  seems  venerable,  in 
spite  of  a  certain  oddity  in  its  appearance. 
Can  any  one  inform  me  as  to  the  date  of 
the  founding  of 'this  church  ? 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Bug  and  Dorimant. — In  Pope's  imi- 
tation of  the  first  epistle  of  the  first  book  of 
Horace,  the  following  words  occur  : 

*    *    #    «  Such  harness  for  a  slave 
As  Bug  now  has,  and  Dorimant  would  have." 


Who  were  Bug  and  Dorimant  ? 


OBED. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


Prose  Shakespeare.— Who  was  called 
"  The  Prose  Shakespeare  of  Puritan 
Divines?"  McPHAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 


©OMMUNIGATIONS. 

Missouri  (Vol.  i,  p.  248). — The  com- 
monly and  almost  universally  accepted  defi- 
nition of  the  word  "Missouri  "  is  "muddy," 
or  turbid.  Everybody,  of  course,  knows 
that  the  State  was  named  from  its  principal 
river,  and  as  the  water  of  the  river  is  and 
has  always  been  muddy  in  appearance  and 
reality — especially  in  that  portion  on  the 
border  and  within  the  State — it  has  passed 
into  general  belief,  and  even  into  recorded 
history,  that  this  inelegant  characteristic  is 
responsible  for  the  signification  of  the  name. 
This  is  a  mistake  which  ought  not  to  stand 
or  go  uncorrected.  The  word  does  not  and 
never  did  mean  "muddy  or  turbid"  any 
more  than  it  means  or  ever  meant  clear  or 
crystalline.  It  is  of  no  consequence  that 
innumerable  publications  contain  a  contrary 
statement ;  it  is  a  mistake  all  the  same. 


The  word  "Missouri"  properly  means 
"  Wooden  Canoe."  It  belongs  to  the  Illi- 
nois dialect  of  the  Algonquin  Indian  lan- 
guage, the  language  which  was  generally 
spoken  by  the  various  aboriginal  tribes  that 
dwelt  between  the  Mississippi  river  and  the 
Delaware  bay,  and  which  contained  many 
words  used  by  the  Indians  of  New  England. 
It  is  not  very  difficult  to  gather  support  for 
the  definition  or  derivation  of  the  name. 
Indian  dictionaries  are  common  enough, 
and  representatives  of  the  Algonquins  yet 
remain,  although  neither  are  readily  acces- 
sible to  everybody.  Among  the  Abenakis, 
or  Indians  of  Maine,  a  boat  or  canoe  was 
called  "A-ma-sui."  With  the  Narragan- 
setts  it  was  "Me-shu-e;"  with  the  Dela- 
wares  it  was  "  Ma-shola;"  with  theMiamis 
about  Lake  Michigan  it  was  "Mis-sola;" 
with  the  Illinois  tribe  it  was  "  Wicwes-Mis- 
suri,"  for  a  birch-bark  canoe,  and  "  We- 
Mis-su-re,"  or  "  We-Mes-su-re,"  for  a 
wooden  canoe  or  canoe  fashioned  from  a  log 
of  wood. 

The  name  Missouri  was  originally  applied 
by  the  Illinois  and  other  Indians  of  the  Lake 
Michigan  region  to  the  tribe  of  Indians  liv- 
ing west  of  the  Mississippi  and  along  the 
"great  muddy  river."  The  term,  liberally 
interpreted,  meant  "  The  Wooden-canoe 
People,"  or  "  The  People  Who  Use  Wood- 
en Canoes."  The  Lake  Michigan  Indians 
uniformly  used  birch-bark  canoes,  while 
the  Indians  on  the  muddy  river  used  canoes 
dug  out  of  logs.  The  turbulent  stream  (the 
Missouri)  was  not  adapted  to  frail  bark  ves- 
sels, and  the  use  of  log  canoes  was  to  the 
lake  Indians  such  a  peculiarity  that  they 
named  the  tribe  or  people  using  them  from 
this  characteristic.  But  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  Missouri  tribe  of  Indians  did 
not  call  themselves  "Missouris."  They 
had  no  such  word  in  their  language.  Their 
tribal  name,  or  the  name  which  they  gave 
their  tribe,  was  "  Nu-dar-cha,"  a  Dakota 
word,  whose  real  signification  is  not  known 
to  the  writer,  although  he  has  consulted 
every  available  authority — even  the  Sioux, 
or  Dakotas,  themselves.  It  may  mean 
fishermen  or  fish-eaters. 

The  first  reference  to  the  Missouri  tribe  of 
Indians  made  by  a  European  was  by  the  im- 
mortal Father  Marquette.  In  a  letter  or  re- 


282 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [October  n,  1890. 


port  written  in  1670,  while  stationed  at  La 
Pointe,  on  Lake  Superior,  and  addressed  to 
La  Mercier,  his  Father  Superior,  he  men- 
tions having  heard  from  the  Illinois  na- 
tions west  of  the  Mississippi  and  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois  river,  "  who  use  canoes 
of  wood."  On  Marquette's  map,  in  the 
region  referred  to,  appear  the  name  and  the 
location  of  the  "  Ou-Messoure"  Indians. 
Father  Marquette  must  have  obtained  this 
name  from  Algonquins,  for  he  was  only  in 
the  company  of  and  in  communication 
with  representatives  of  that  great  family. 
On  the  earliest  maps  the  name  is  given 
either  "  Ou-Messoure,"  "  Oui-Messouret," 
or  "  We-Messouret,"  the  final  "t"  being 
silent. 

But  the  Illinois  Indians  did  not  call  the 
river  on  which  dwelt  the  Missouri  Indians 
by  that  name.  They  called  it  "  Pek-a-tan- 
oui,"  and  it  is  so  designated  on  Mar- 
quette's map.  Now,  this  word  "  Pek-a-tan- 
oui  "  does  mean  "muddy"  or  turbid.  In 
the  Sac  and  Fox  dialect,  another  variety  of 
the  Algonquin  language,  the  name  of  the 
Missouri  river  was  "  Pek-a-ton-o-ke-Sepo," 
meaning  "The  River  of  the  Whirlpools," 
from  "Pekatonoke,"  a  whirlpool,  and 
"  Sepo,"  a  river.  It  may  be  repeated, 
therefore,  that  the  cis-Mississippi  Indians 
designated  this  particular  tribe  by  one  name 
and  the  river  whereon  they  lived  by  another. 
The  French  gave  the  river  the  name  which, 
practically,  it  now  bears.  They  call  it  "La 
Riviere  des  Messoures  " — the  river  of  the 
Missouries;  that  is  to  say,  "the  river 
whereon  live  the  Missouri  Indians." 

The  French  named  other  rivers  in  the 
same  manner,  as  the  "  River  of  the  Illinois," 
from  the  tribe  that  dwelt  thereon ;  the 
"  River  of  the  Osages,"  from  the  Osage,  or 
Ouchage  tribe  ;  the  "  Riviere  des  Moines," 
from  the  Moingonan  tribe,  etc.  It  may  be 
remarked  that  the  word  "  Illinois"  signifies 
"the  perfect  men,"  and  the  word  Ou- 
chage means  "  the  strong-armed,"  although 
the  Osages  called  themselves  by  another 
name. 

Daniel  Coxe,  the  first  Englishman  to  de- 
scribe thoroughly  the  trans-Mississippi  region, 
called  the  Missouri  "  the  Great  Yellow 
River,"  but  of  course  some  one  before  him 
had  so  designated  it,  presumably  from  the 


color  of  its  waters.     Coxe   also   terms  the 
Missouri  tribe  "  the  Massourites." 

MARY  OSBORN. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Pets  of  Famous  People  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
234,  etc.). — Besides  her  pet  birds,  already 
noticed,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  had  a  lap- 
dog  which  followed  her  to  the  scaffold,  and 
soon  after  died  of  grief.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Red-haired  Girl  (Vol.  i,  pp.  156,  etc.). 
—In  "The  Witch  "  ofMiddleton,  when  Hec- 
cat  and  her  son  Firestone  are  preparing  the 
hell-broth,  the  beldam  commands  Firestone 
to  "  fetch  three  ounces  of  the  red-hair' d  girl 
I  kill'd  last  midnight."  Later,  in  the 
"Charm-song,"  Firestone  says,  "Here's 
ounces  three  of  the  red-hair' d  wench." 


LANCASTER,  PA. 


W.  J.  LACK. 


Picayune  (Vol.  iii,  p.  129). — The  "Cen- 
tury Dictionary  "  very  sensibly  adopts  the 
identification  of  picayune  with  the  French 
picaillon;  but  the  new  "Webster's  Inter- 
national" sticks  to  the  old,  and  (I  think) 
indefensible  assignment  of  a  Carib  origin  to 
this  word.  A  neighbor  of  mine,  by  birth  a 
New  Orleans  Creole,  tells  me  that  in  his 
native  city  picaillon  and  picayune  are 
looked  upon  as  identical.  And  I  believe 
there  is  not  the  slightest  reason  for  regard- 
ing either  one  as  of  Carib  origin. 

P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Dogs  as  Beasts  of  Burden. — In  Thibet 
both  dogs  and  sheep  are  used  as  beasts  of 
burden.  Mr.  A.  F.  Bandelier  is  quoted  as 
an  authority  for  the  statement  that  the  buf- 
falo-hunting tribes  of  North  America,  before 
the  advent  of  horses,  used  to  employ  dogs  as 
beasts  of  burden  while  migrating  with  the 
bison  herds.  W.  P.  R. 

ARKANSAS. 

The  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp.  271, 
etc.). — The  Dobrudja,  now  a  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Roumania,  is  another  example. 

T.  S.  FORTINER. 
WARRENTON,  VA. 


October  n,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


283 


Eccentric  Wills. — The  making  of  wills 
by  most  people  may  be  said  to  be  a  thing 
that  is  unpleasant  to  do  at  best — indeed, 
so  unpleasant  is  the  idea  associated  with 
will-making  that  many  neglect  to  make  wills 
altogether  and  die  intestate.  Whimsical 
people,  when  they  do  make  wills,  usually 
produce  characteristic  documents.  They 
rarely  consult  a  lawyer,  fearing,  no  doubt, 
that  he  might  counsel  them  against  doing 
what  they  intend.  But  whimsical  bequests 
have  sometimes  served  a  useful  purpose,  and 
instances  are  not  unknown  of  such  bequests 
having  been  made  by  lawyers  themselves. 

Here  is  a  case  in  point.  William  J. 
Haskett,  a  lawyer,  who  died  in  New  York 
some  years  ago,  left  a  will  containing  this 
curiously  worded  clause :  "I  am  informed 
that  there  is  a  society  composed  of  young 
men  connected  with  the  public  press,  and, 
as  in  early  life  I  was  connected  with  the 
papers,  I  have  a  keen  recollection  of  the 
toils  and  troubles  that  bubbled  then  and 
ever  will  bubble  for  the  toilers  of  the  world 
in  their  pottage  cauldron,  and,  as  I  desire  to 
thicken  with  a  little  savory  herb  their  thin 
broth  in  the  shape  of  a  legacy,  I  do  hereby 
bequeath  to  the  New  York  Press  Club  of  the 
city  of  New  York  $1000,  payable  on  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Haskett." 

There  is  probably  no  more  profitable 
class  of  business  to  a  lawyer  than  that  arising 
out  of  disputes  about  wills,  and  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  French  advocate's  will 
pithily  expresses  his  opinion  of  his  clients  : 
"  I  give  100,000  francs  to  the  local  mad- 
house. I  got  this  money  out  of  those  who 
pass  their  lives  in  litigation  ;  in  bequeathing 
it  for  the  use  of  lunatics  I  only  make  restitu- 
tion." 

It  is  recorded  of  a  rich  old  English 
farmer  that,  in  giving  instructions  for  his 
will,  he  directed  that  a  legacy  of  ^100  be 
given  to  his  wife.  Being  informed  that 
some  distinction  was  usually  made  in  case 
the  widow  married  again,  he  doubled  the 
sum ;  and,  when  told  that  this  was  quite 
contrary  to  custom,  he  said,  with  heartfelt 
sympathy  for  his  possible  successor  :  "  Aye, 
but  him  as  gets  her'll  deserve  it." 

A  testator  has  considerable  latitude  given 
him  in  the  expression  of  his  wishes  in  his 
will,  and  as  he  is  not  afraid  of  libel  suits  in 


what  he  writes  or  dictates  in  such  an  instru- 
ment he  can  be  very  caustic  as  well  as  very 
just.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  will  of  John  Hylett 
Stow,  an  Englishman,  which  was  proved  in 
1781 :  "I  hereby  direct  my  executors  to  lay 
out  five  guineas  in  the  purchase  of  a  picture 
of  the  viper  biting  the  benevolent  hand  of 
the  person  who  saved  him  from  perishing  in 
the  snow,  if  the  same  can  be  bought  for  the 
money ;  and  that  they  do,  in  memory  of 
me,  present  it  to ,  a  king's  coun- 
sel, whereby  he  may  have  frequent  oppor- 
tunities of  contemplating  on  it,  and  by  a 
comparison  between  that  and  his  own  virtue 
be  able  to  form  a  certain  judgment  which  is 
best  and  most  profitable — a  grateful  remem- 
brance of  past  friendship  and  almost  parental 
regard,  or  ingratitude  and  insolence.  This 
I  direct  to  be  presented  to  him  in  lieu  of  a 
legacy  of  ^3000,  I  had  by  a  former  will, 
now  revoked  and  burned,  left  him."  If  the 
lawyer  named  was  present  at  the  reading 
of  that  will  his  feeling  may  well  be 
imagined. 

M.  Colombies,  a  merchant  of  Paris,  had 
his  revenge  on  a  former  sweetheart,  a  lady 
of  Rouen,  when  he  left  her  by  his  will  a 
legacy  of  £1200  for  having,  some  twenty 
years  before,  refused  to  marry  him, 
"through  which,"  states  the  will,  "I  was 
enabled  to  live  independently  and  happily 
as  a  bachelor." 

An  uncommon  case  of  eccentricity  on  the 
part  of  an  Englishman  occurred  something 
over  fifty  years  ago.  His  will  contained  the  fol- 
io wing  unique  paragraph  :  "I  bequeath  to 
my  monkey,  my  dear  and  amusing  Jacko, 
the  sum  of  ^10  sterling  per  annum,  to  be 
employed  for  his  sole  and  exclusive  use  and 
benefit ;  to  my  faithful  dog,  Shock,  and  my 
well-beloved  cat,  Tib,  each  a  pension  of  ^5 
sterling,  and  I  desire  that  in  the  case  of  the 
death  of  either  of  the  three  the  lapsed  pen- 
sion shall  pass  to  the  other  two,  between 
whom  it  is  to  be  equally  divided.  On  the 
death  of  all  three  the  sum  appropriated  to 
this  purpose  shall  become  the  property  of  my 
daughter  Gertrude,  to  whom  I  give  this 
preference  among  my  children,  because  of 
the  large  family  she  has,  and  the  difficulty 
she  finds  in  bringing  them  up." 

Another  instance  of  a  bequest  for  the  sup- 


284 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [October  n,  1890. 


port  of  domestic  pets  is  thus  related :  In 
1875,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Balls,  of  Streatham, 
Surrey,  Eng.,  after  liberal  legacies  to  hos- 
pitals and  other  charitable  institutions,  set 
apart  the  sum  of  ^65  per  annum  for  the 
support  of  her  late  husband's  cob  mare,  and 
^5  per  annum  for  the  keep  and  care  of  a 
greyhound  ;  the  mare  to  be  kept  in  a  com- 
fortable, warm,  loose  box,  and  not  to  be  put 
to  work  either  in  or  out  of  harness,  and  that 
her  back  should  not  be  crossed  by  any  mem- 
ber of  her  late  husband's  family,  but  that  she 
should  be  ridden  by  a  person  of  light 
weight,  not  above  four  days  a  week,  and  not 
more  than  one  hour  each  day,  at  a  walking 
pace. 

A  curious  and  peculiarly  hard  case  came 
before  a  Vice-Chancellor  in  London  in  1880. 
The  facts  are  as  follows :  A  Miss  Turner  de- 
vised large  real  estates  to  her  father  for  life, 
and  then  to  her  brother  on  these  conditions: 
"But  if  my  brother  shall  marry  during  my 
life  without  my  consent  in  writing,  or  if  he 
shall  already  have  married,  or  hereafter  s>hall 
marry  a  domestic  servant,"  then  such  be- 
quest to  her  brother  to  be  void.  The 
brother,  it  appears,  came  into  possession  of 
the  said  estates,  and  died  in  1878,  leaving  a 
widow  and  two  children.  The  suit  was  in- 
stituted against  the  widow  and  children,  on 
the  ground  that  testatrix's  brother  had  for- 
feited his  title  to  the  legacy  by  marrying  a 
•domestic  servant.  It  was  contended  on  be- 
half of  the  widow  that  she  had  been  a  house- 
keeper, and  not  a  domestic  servant.  The 
Vice- Chancellor,  however,  was  of  the  opinion 
that  a  housekeeper  was  a  domestic  servant, 
and  thus  the  legacy  was  forfeited. 

A  bequest,  made  by  a  Frenchman,  may  be 
styled  "a  new  way  to  pay  old  debts  " — that 
is,  if  it  was  availed  of.  Vaugelas,  the 
famous  French  grammarian,  was  in  receipt 
of  several  pensions,  but  so  prodigal  was  he 
in  his  charities  that  he  not  only  always  re- 
mained poor,  but  was  rarely  out  of  debt,  and 
finally  acquired  among  his  intimates  the 
soubriquet  of  "  Le  Hibou,"  from  his  com- 
pulsory assumption  of  the  habits  of  the  owl, 
and  only  venturing  into  the  streets  at  night. 
After  disposing  of  the  little  he  possessed  to 
meet  the  claims  of  his  creditors,  he  adds : 
"  Still,  as  it  may  be  found  that  even  after 
this  sale  of  my  library  and  effects,  these 


funds  will  not  suffice  to  pay  my  debts,  the 
only  means  I  can  think  of  to  meet  them  is 
that  my  body  should  be  sold  to  the  surgeons 
on  the  best  terms  that  can  be  obtained,  and 
the  product  applied,  as  far  as  it  will  go,  to- 
wards the  liquidation  of  any  sums  it  may  be 
found  I  still  owe.  I  have  been  of  very  little 
service  to  society  while  I  lived.  I  shall  be 
glad  if  I  can  thus  become  of  any  use  after  I 
am  dead." 

Dr.  Dunlop,  of  Scotch  origin,  but  at  one 
time  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  left  a 
very  singular  will.  The  doctor  is  described 
as  having  been  a  jovial  and  kindly  man,  and 
his  will  certainly  bears  witness  to  these  char- 
acteristics. Here  are  some  of  its  peculiar 
features:  "  I  leave  the  property  at  Gair- 
bread,  and  all  the  property  I  may  be  pos- 
sessed of,  to  my  sisters and ;  the 

former  because  she  is  married  to  a  minister 
whom — may  God  help  him — she  henpecks  ; 
the  latter  because  she  is  married  to  nobody, 
nor  is  she  likely  to  be,  for  she  is  an  old  maid 
and  not  market  ripe.  *  *  *  I  leave  my 
silver  tankard  to  the  eldest  son  of  old  John, 
as  the  representative  of  the  family.  I  would 
have  left  it  to  old  John  himself,  but  he 
would  have  melted  it  down  to  make  temper- 
ance medals,  and  that  would  have  been  a  sac- 
rilege. 

"  However,  I  leave  him  my  big  horn 
snuff-box;  he  can  only  make  temperance 
horn  spoons  out  of  that.  *  *  *  I  leave 
to  Parson  Chevassie  my  big  silver  snuff-box 
as  a  small  token  of  gratitude  to  him  for  tak- 
ing my  sister  Maggie,  whom  no  man  of  taste 
would  have  taken.  *  *  *  I  leave  to 
John  Caddell  a  silver  teapot,  to  the  end  that 
he  may  drink  tea  therefrom  to  comfort  him 
under  the  affliction  of  a  slatternly  wife. 
*  *  *  I  leave  my  silver  cup,  with  the 
sovereign  in  the  bottom  of  it,  to  my  sister 

,  because  she  is  an  old  maid,  and  pious, 

and,  therefore,  necessarily  given  to  hoard- 
ing; and  also  my  grandmother's  snuff-box, 
as  it  looks  decent  to  see  an  old  maid  take 
snuff."  It  was,  no  doubt,  fortunate  for  this 
affectionate  brother  that  he  had  left  the 
scene  of  life  before  his  sisters  were  made 
aware  of  the  way  in  which  he  had  remem- 
bered and  characterized  them,  or  there 
might  have  been  some  family  hair-pulling. 

The  following  very  whimsical  bequest  is 


October  ti,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


285 


taken  from  a  Scotch  newspaper  :  Some  years 
ago  an  English  gentleman  bequeathed  to  his 
two  daughters  their  weight  in  £i  bank 
notes.  A  finer  pair  of  paper  weights  was 
never  heard  of,  for  the  oldest  got  ^51,200, 
and  the  younger  .£5  7,344- 

Peculiarly  worded  wills  have  led  to  the 
waste  of  many  a  goodly  patrimony.  Heirs, 
executors,  and  beneficiaries  seem  to  take  a 
peculiar  delight  in  squabbling  over  a  testa- 
tor's intentions.  Montaigne,  the  celebrated 
philosopher,  is  stated  to  have  got  over  any 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  carrying  out  his  tes- 
tamentary intentions  by  the  happy  expedient 
of  calling  all  the  persons  named  in  his  will 
around  his  death-bed  and  counting  out  to 
them  severally  the  bequest  he  had  made 
them.  Many  a  whimsical  testator  might  use- 
fully follow  Montaigne's  example,  but  there 
is  always  a  risk  of  the  donor  getting  better, 
and  finding  himself  penniless.  I  once  heard 
of  a  case  of  this  sort.  A  small  farmer  in 
Suffolk,  England,  being  very  ill,  was  advised 
by  his  affectionate  relatives  to  distribute  his 
money,  and  thus  save  legacy  duty.  He  did 
so,  but  got  well  again. 

The  relatives  declined  to  return  these  sup- 
posed death-bed  gifts,  and  left  the  poor  old 
farmer  to  seek  parish  relief. 

In  1772, Edmunds,  Esq.,  of  Mon- 

mouth,  Eng.,  bequeathed  a  fortune  of  up- 
wards of  ^20,000  to  one  Mills,  a  day 
laborer,  residing  near  Monmouth.  Mr.  Ed- 
munds, who  had  so  handsomely  provided  for 
this  man,  would  not  speak  to  or  see  him 
while  he  lived.  Again,  in  1775,  a  Mr. 
Henry  Furstone,  of  Alton,  Hampshire, 
Eng.,  died  worth  about  ^7000  in  funds, 
and,  having  no  relations,  he  left  this  amount 
to  "  the  first  man  of  his  name  who  shall 
produce  a  woman  of  the  same  name,  to  be 
paid  them  on  the  day  of  their  marriage." 
Mr.  John  Innes,  a  well-to-do  Lincolnshire 
(England)  farmer,  was  evidently  of  the 
opinion  that  a  son  having  "expectations" 
is  far  less  energetic  than  one  having  none, 
for  it  is  recorded  that  he  for  many  years  suf- 
fered his  son  to  go  to  another  farmer  as  a 
laborer,  but  by  his  will  left  his  hard- 
working son  the  handsome  sum  of  ^15,000. 

A  French  lady,  who  died  in  1882,  de- 
sired by  her  will  that  her  heart  might  be 
placed  in  the  tomb  of  her  second  husband, 


but  her  body  in  her  first  husband's  tomb,  in 
America. 

In  England  it  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  of 
unmanageable  sons  and  scapegrace  nephews 
being  cut  off  with  a  shilling,  but  the  follow- 
ing case  of  a  wife  being  so  treated  is  unique, 
to  say  the  least :  In  1772  a  gentleman  of 
Surrey,  Eng.,  died,  and  his  will,  when 
opened^  was  found  to  contain  this  peculiar 
clause:  '"  Whereas,  it  was  my  misfortune  to 

be  made  very  uneasy  by ,  my  wife,  for 

many  years  from  our  marriage,  by  her  tur- 
bulent behavior,  for  she  was  not  content 
with  despising  my  admonitions,  but  she  con- 
trived every  method  to  make  me  unhappy  ; 
she  was  so  perverse  to  her  nature  that  she 
would  not  be  reclaimed,  but  seemed  only  to 
be  born  to  be  a  plague  to  me  ;  the  strength 
of  Samson,  the  knowledge  of  Homer,  the 
prudence  of  Augustus,  the  cunning  of  Pyr- 
rhus,  the  patience  of  Job,  the  subtlety  of 
Hannibal,  and  the  watchfulness  of  Hermo- 
genes  could  not  have  been  sufficient  to  sub- 
due her  ;  for  no  skill  or  force  in  the  world 
would  make  her  good;  and,  as,  we  have 
lived  separate  and  apart  from  each  other 
eight  years,  and,  she  having  perverted  her 
son  to  leave  and  totally  abandon  me,  there- 
fore, I  give  her  a  shilling." 

Zohrab  and  Sohrab  (Vol.  v,  p.  245). 
— The  former  personage  seems  not  identical 
with  "Sohrab"  of  Matthew  Arnold's 
poem,  "Sohrab  and  Rustum."  Sohrab  is 
the  son  of  Rustum,  the  Hercules  of  the  Per- 
sians, and  is  slain  by  him. 

"  So  in  the  bloody  sand,  Sohrab  lay  dead  ; 
And  the  great  Rustum  drew  his  horseman's  cloak 
Down  o'er  his  face,  and  sat  by  his  dead  son." 

The  story  on  which  the  "poem"  is  based 
isnarrated  in  Malcolm's  "  History  of  Persia," 
and  is  also  given  as  a  note  in  the  1886  edi- 
tion of  Arnold's  "Poems."  Rustum's  ex- 
ploits are  frequently  mentioned  in  works  on 
comparative  mythology. 

Among  Omar  Khayyam's  Quatrains  oc- 
curs the  following  allusion  to  him  : 

"  Whilst  thou  dost  wear  this  earthly  living 
Step  not  beyond  the  bounds  of  destiny  ; 
Bear  up  though  puissant  Rustum  be  thy  foe, 
And  crave  no  guerdon  e'en  from  Hatim  Sai." 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


286 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [October  n,  1890. 


Norwegian  and  Lapp  Snow-shoes. 
— "  In  the  summer  the  Lapp  generally 
moves  about  on  foot.  He  is  a  good  walker, 
covering  with  ease  some  thirty  to  forty  miles 
in  a  day.  On  his  wanderings,  he  always  car- 
ries a  birch  pole,  six  to  eight  feet  long, 
which  he  uses  for  jumping  in  the  mountains, 
or  for  crossing  streams.  This  he  generally 
cuts  from  the  underwood,  as  he  starts  off. 
His  outfit  is  of  the  simplest.  His  every-day 
garb,  a  reindeer  cheese  and  a  bit  of  dried 
meat  in  his  pocket,  pipe,  tobacco  and 
matches,  and  his  shoe-laces  tied  firmly — a 
most  important  matter  for  walking  with  ease 
and  keeping  dry — and  he  is  ready  to  proceed 
to  the  world's  end.  He  carries  no  sleeping 
requisites  with  him,  as  on  this  score  he  is 
not  very  particular ;  if  he  cannot  reach  one 
of  the  dwellings  of  his  race  he  creeps  in  the 
shelter  of  a  stone  or  a  tree,  and,  if  the 
weather  is  cold,  lights  a  bonfire  by  his  side, 
and  goes  to  sleep. 

"In  winter,  on  the  other  hand,  when  the 
snow  lies  high  over  every  object,  he  runs  on 
"  Ski."  These  are  two  ribs  of  birch  or  fir, 
six  feet  long,  four  to  five  inches  broad,  and 
about  half  an  inch  thick. 

"  In  the  middle,  on  the  upper  side,  isahol- 
lowed,  smooth  spot  for  the  foot,  above  which 
there  is  a  strap,  the  space  allowing  the  inser- 
tion of  the  point  of  the  shoe.  On  the  other 
side,  a  groove  runs  along  the  entire  centre. 
The  Ski  are  pointed  and  are  slightly  curved 
at  one  end  and  the  edges  rounded.  On 
these  the  Lapp  either  runs  or  shoots  himself 
along  by  means  of  one  or  two  birch  staves. 
Sometimes  a  small  cylinder  made  of  wood 
and  sinews  is  fixed  at  the  lower  end,  to 
prevent  the  staff  sinking  deep  into  the  snow. 
Down  hill  the  Lapp  generally  rides  on  one 
of  them,  which  acts  as  a  drag  and  enables 
him  to  steer.  The  Ski  are  to  the  Lapps  of 
the  greatest  importance  during  the  winter, 
as  without  them  it  would  be  impossible  to 
get  over  the  deep  snow.  From  the  above 
description  it  will  be  understood  that  the 
Ski  are  very  different  to  the  snow-shoes  used 
by  the  Indians,  which  consist  of  an  oval 
wooden  ring  with  a  kind  of  net  above  it,  in 
the  centre  of  which  the  foot  is  placed ;  the 
latter  must  be  very  uncomfortable  compared 
with  the  Ski.  Indian  snow-shoes  are,  however, 
also  in  use  in  certain  parts  of  Finmarken, 


not  among  the  Lapps,  but  among  the  Nor- 
wegians and  Finns. 

' '  The  Lapp  begins  to  run  on  Ski  when  a  mere 
child  and  attains  great  skill  in  this  sport. 
He  runs  with  the  greatest  ease  up  or  down- 
hill, jumps  the  steepest  inclines  and  speeds 
across  lakes  and  marshes,  through  forest  and 
field  ;  hunts  the  wolf  and  the  bear,  or  follows 
the  runaway  deer  and  undertakes  extremely 
long  journeys,  following  his  herd  or  visiting 
distant  parts."  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI.  N.  Y. 

A  Little  Bird  Told  Me  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
263,  etc.).— 

"  Come  down,  come  down,  my  pretty  little  bird. 

Come  down  upon  my  knee, 
At  home  I  have  a  silver  cage 
And  there  I  will  put  thee. 

"  You  may  keep  your  silver  cage 
And  I'll  keep  my  hollow  tree, 
So  false  you  served  your  own  true  love, 
So  false  you  would  serve  me." 

The  foregoing  stanzas  are  part  of  a  tragic 
nursery  song  of  the  second  decade  of  the 
present  century — if  not  much  earlier.  A 
false  swain  had  led  "his  own  true  love" 
into  a  lonely  forest  dell,  and  there  had  mur- 
dered her.  After  having  covered  the  body, 
he  turned  to  leave  the  forest,  and  encountered 
the  bird,  when  the  above  colloquy  occurred 
between  them.  What  the  final  consequence 
was — whether  retribution  or  otherwise — has 
entirely  escaped  our  memory.  Perhaps 
some  adept  in  ancient  nursery  song  lore 
may  throw  some  light  upon  the  subject. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Italian  Cities  (Vol.  iv,  p.  119). — 
Another  Italian  city  with  an  epithet  is  Ales- 
sandria delta  Paglia,  "  Alessandria  of 
Straw."  Why  is  it  so  designated  ?  Lippin- 
cotf  s  Gazetteer  says  it  is  because  its  houses 
were  once  roofed  with  straw.  J.  A. 
Symonds  states  that  it  was  so  called  in  con- 
tempt for  its  mud  walls,  which  were  suffi- 
cient, however,  to  check  the  advance  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa  in  1174.  In  the 
"  Encyc.  Britannica,"  Frederick  is  said  to 
have  given  it  the  nickname. 

R.  M.  M. 

PAOLI,  PA. 


October  n,  1890.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


287 


A  Slip  of  Coleridge's. — "  Has  any  one 

ever  called  attention  to  the  extraordinary 
blunder,  in  describing  natural  phenomena, 
which  occurs  in  the  '  Ancient  Mariner  '  of 
Coleridge  ?  At  the  moment  of  the  terrific 
apparition  of  the  phantom  ship,  we  read 
how 

"  '  The  western  wave  was  all  aflame, 

The  day  was  well-nigh  done ; 

Almost  upon  the  western  wave 

Rested  the  broad  bright  sun.' 

Then  comes  the  awful  game  of  dice,  then  the 
sunset,  and  then  the  instantaneous  tropical 
night  and  the  miserable  efforts  of  the  steers- 
man, when 

"  '  Clomb  above  the  eastern  bar 

The  horned  moon,  with  one  bright  star 
Within  the  nether  tip.' 

But  if  the  moon  rose  in  the  east  and  gradually 
climbed  the  sky,  she  was  at  or  near  her  full 
opposite  the  sun.  Hence  she  could  not  be 
horned,  or  have  a  star  within  either  tip. 
The  crescent  moon,  with  her  horns,  is  of 
course  seen  in  the  west,  at  or  near  sunset, 
and  the  crescent  moon  is  steadily  setting  and 
getting  lower  in  the  sky  from  the  instant  of 
its  appearance.  It  may  also  be  crescent  in 
the  east  at  sunrise,  but  this  has  no  applica- 
tion here. 

"  The  significance  of  this  error  is  twofold. 
First,  Coleridge  is  one  of  those  authors  whom 
his  admirers  generally  will  not  allow  to  be 
criticised  ;  he  is  supposed  to  be  justified  by 
a  kind  of  inspiration  in  anything  he  ever 
wrote.  In  such  circumstances,  there  is  some 
satisfaction  for  those  whose  taste  is  for  a 
wholly  different  style  of  composition,  and 
who  consider  Coleridge  a  peculiarly  proper 
subject. for  criticism,  to  find  the  sort  of  mis- 
take in  him  which,  if  made  by  Scott,  Byron, 
or  Moore,  would  have  instantly  brought 
down  on  the  offender  a  swarm  of  harpies. 

"  But  there  is  a  much  deeper  significance 
in  this  mistake.  It  shows  that  a  poet,  of  un- 
doubted genius  and  skill  in  composition, 
who  has  planned  and  composed  a  poem  with 
profound  thought  and  care,  may  in  the 
course  of  forty  lines  admit  an  impossible  in- 
congruity, unnoticed  by  himself,  and,  as 
time  has  shown,  unnoticed  by  three  genera- 
tions  of  readers.  Yet  it  is  precisely  such  in- 
congruities that  cause  the  various  German 


critics  to  cut  .up  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  into 
separate  poems,  and  declare  that  no  one 
man  could  have  composed  either  of  them. 
Coleridge  tells  us  himself  that  he  is  indebted 
to  Wordsworth  for  two  lines  of  the  poem. 
Lachmann  would  undoubtedly  argue  that 
one  of  these  two  poets  must  have  stopped  his 
hand  soon  after  describing  the  sunset,  and 
then  the  other  have  inserted  the  description 
of  the  moon  "  (Atlantic  Monthly). 

Eccentric  Burials  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  143, 
etc.). — I  find  in  the  "  Book  of  Days  "  the 
following  account  of  an  eccentric  burial  in 
the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  : 

"  Dugdale  has  preserved  for  us  an  account 
of  the  funeral  of  the  wife  of  a  gentleman,  of 
good  means,  but  cynical  temper.  The  gen- 
tleman was  Mr.  Fisher  Dilke,  Registrar  of 
Shustoke  ;  his  wife  was  a  sister  of  Sir  Peter 
Wentworth,  one  of  the  regicide  judges. 
(  She  was  a  frequenter  of  conventicles  ;  and 
dying  before  her  husband,  he  first  stripped 
his  barn-wall  to  make  her  a  coffin  ;  then  bar- 
gained with  the  clerk  for  a  groat  to  make  a 
grave  in  the  church-yard,  to  save  eight-pence 
by  one  in  the  church.  This  done,  hespeak- 
eth  about  eight  of  his  neighbors  to  meet  at 
his  house,  for  bearers ;  for  whom  he  pro- 
vided three  two-penny  cakes  and  a  bottle  of 
claret  [this  treat  would  cost  25.  at  the  ut- 
most]. And  some  being  come,  he  read  a 
chapter  in  Job  to  them  till  all  were  then 
ready  ;  when,  having  distributed  the  cake  and 
wine  among  them,  they  took  up  the  corpse, 
he  following  them  to  the  grave.  Then,  put- 
ting himself  in  the  parson's  place  (none 
being  there),  the  corpse  being  laid  in  the 
grave,  and  a  spade  of  mould  cast  thereon, 
he  said,  "Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust;" 
adding,  "  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  ser- 
vant depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have 
seen  thy  salvation ; ' '  and  so  returned  home. ' ' 

T.  C.  RATTER. 
BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

Oriana  (Vol.  v,  pp.  148,  etc.). — May  not 
the  name  of  Oriana,  wife  of  Amadis  of  Gaul 
(Wales)  and  daughter  of  Lisuarte,  King  of 
England,  be  an  echo  of  the  name  of  Oriuna, 
wife  of  Carausius,  Emperor  or  King  of 
Britain  ?  G. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


288 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [October  n,  1890. 


Infinitesimals. — There  are  some  very 
minute  insects — as  the  Cynipida  for  instance 
— which  have  other,  still  minuter  species  that 
are  parasitic  upon  them,  the  Chalcididce, 
for  instance.  The  typical  genera  are 
Cynips  and  Chalets.  But  more  wonderful 
still,  the  very  eggs  of  some  of  these  minute 
species  are  infested  by  still  smaller 
species.  These  eggs  furnish  sufficient 
aliment  for  the  perfect  development  of 
the  very  minute  species  that  infest  them. 
There  are  many  of  these  smaller  species  that 
are  never  seen  except  by  a  microscopic 
specialist ;  but  they  exist  all  the  same,  and 
are  every  day,  in  season,  doing  more  to- 
wards the  destruction  or  extermination  of 
the  more  noxious  species,  perhaps,  than  all 
the  human  remedies  ever  discovered. 


S.  S.  R. 


LANCASTER,  PA. 


Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  274,  etc.). 
— The  Dowaltown  Loch,  a  lake  in  the 
county  of  Wigtown,  Scotland,  was  artificially 
drained  in  1862.  This  lake  was  remarkable 
for  its  crannogs,  or  prehistoric  lake  dwellings ; 
and  from  its  bed  valuable  remains  of  pre- 
historic household  implements  were  taken. 
It  is  stated  by  Bertius  that  a  large  brackish 
or  saline  lake  called  Moer  once  occupied  a 
large  part  of  Flanders,  stretching  from 
Furnes  to  Bergues  (see  De  Peyster's  "Hist, 
of  Carausius,"  p.  169,  note).  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Man-of-War  (Vol.  Hi,  p.  308). — I  do 
not  see  any  special  difficulty  about  this 
word.  A  ship,  though  of  the  feminine 
gender,  is  often  called  a  man  in  composi- 
tion. Thus  we  read  of  a  merchant  man,  an 
East  India  man,  or  a  Guinea  man.  At  sea, 
an  American  shipmaster  will  always  speak  of 
an  English  ship  as  "an  English  man."  I 
suppose  that  in  reality  it  is  the  master  of  the 
vessel  who  is  the  merchant  man,  or  the  Eng- 
lish man,  and  not  his  ship.  The  idea  in 
"  man-of-war  "  is  no  doubt  precisely  similar. 
So  "  a  rover  "  is  either  the  pirate,  or  his 
ship,  more  than  that,  the  ship  itself  may  be 
called  "  a  pirate." 

CONRAD  M.  CRESSON. 
PITTSBURGH. 


The  Last  Crusade. — It  is  known  and 
only  known  to  an  extremely  small  minority, 
the  "last  dying  spark  of  the  crusades" 
cast  a  glimmer  of  glory  on  the  fourteenth 
century.  In  October  of  the  year  1365, 
Peter  de  Lusignan,  King  of  Cyprus,  besieged 
Alexandria  in  Egypt.  It  is  entitled  to  claim 
as  a  crusade  since  adventurers  of  several 
Christian  nations  participated.  Considerable 
obscurity  envelops  the  operation,  which 
seems  to  have  failed,  as  usual,  from  want  of 
provisions.  Fordun,  "  Scotishe,"  Vol.  ii, 
p.  488,  mentions  Norman  Lesley,  his  coun- 
tryman, as  a  prime  actor.  There  was  an  old 
Scottish  poem  on  the  feats  of  Sir  Walter, 
brother  to  this  worthy,  Duke  of  Seygaroch  in 
France.  Fordun  and  also  Martland's  poems, 
Michaud's  "Crusades,"  Vol.  iii,  Bk.  xvi,  pp. 
1 1 6-1 20,  give  further  particulars.  The  latter 
says  Alexandria  was  captured  and  burned, 
but  abandoned  after  four  days'  occupation,  so 
that  "  without  subduing  the  Mussulmans, 
they  irritated  them."  Browne  may  be  more 
correct ;  he  furnishes  the  Moslem  side  of  the 
story.  Shaban  Ascraf,  who  was  then  Sultan 
of  Egypt,  was  the  first  who  ordered  the 
sheufs,  or  descendants  of  the  prophet, 
Mohammed,  to  wear  a  green  turban,  by  which 
they  are  still  to  be  distinguished.  And 
while  on  this  subject  note  this  correction  : 
"  Old  Kahira  [or  Cairo]  is  not  Fastut^  as 
almost  always  asserted,  but  Misr-el-attlke, 
further  south  "  ("Travels  in  Africa,  Egypt 
and  Syria,  from  the  year  1 792  to  1 798,"  Lon- 
don, 1799,  by  William  G.  Browne). 

ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Dialect  Forms  (Vol.  v,  pp.  115,  etc.). 
— Coppy-wood  for  a  coppice,  or  copse,  is  not 
unknown  to  English  literature ;  quait  for 
quoit,  is  much  used  in  New  England. 

P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Tree-lists  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  249,  etc.). — In 
an  anonymous  Latin  Goliard  poem,  "  De 
Clarevallensibus  et  Cluniacensibus  "  ("The 
Monks  of  Clairvaux  and  of  Cluny  "),  printed 
with  the  poems  of  Walter  Map,  but  probably 
not  his,  verses  9-30,  there  is  a  beautiful  list 
of  trees  and  herbs,  too  long  to  quote  here. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :—  New  English  Dictionary  Quotations,  289. 

QUERIES  :—  Hurtel—  Josephus—  Oxmanstown—  Shortest  Al- 
phabet Sentence,  291. 

REPLIES  :—  All  For  Love,  etc.,  291—  Rice  at  Weddings- 
Mary  Jones,  292  —  Jonson's  Extempore  Grace  —  Holtselster— 
Ben  Adham,  293. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :—  Rattle  of  Beef 
—  Quotations  Wanted—  New  Word  Wanted  —  Disillusion,  293. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :—  Hard  Words  for  Rhymsters—  Mon- 
key Spoons  —  Our  Very  Hopes,  etc.,  294  —  Book-Buyer  Prize 
Questions  —  Apostles  and  Wine,  295  —  Odd  Names  —  The  Evil 
Eye,  296—  Friday  for  Luck,  297—  Town  Names—  Men  as 
Things,  298  —  Lodge's  "  Rosalynde  "  —  On  the  Score,  299  — 
Lost  Rivers  —  Gobban  Saer  —  Correction,  300. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS.  303. 


NEW  ENGLISH  DICTIONARY  QUOTATIONS. 

(SUPPLEMENTAL   INSTALLMENT.) 

Prof.  F.  A.  March  has  kindly  forwarded 
the  latest  (VII  list)  of  special  quotations 
wanted  by  the  "  New  English  Dictionary." 
In  cases  where  quotations  are  found,  please 
address  them  to  editor  of  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES. 

When  the  date  stands  before  a  word,  an 
earlier  quotation  is  wanted  ;  where  the  date 
follows,  a  later  instance  is  wanted  ;  for 
words  without  a  date  all  quotations  will  be 
welcome.  The  list  contains  many  modern 
words  and  senses  for  which  earlier  quota- 
tions than  those  of  the  dates  here  given  ought 
to  be,  and  no  doubt  will  be,  found.  Be- 
sides these,  good  quotations  for  words 
noted'  in  ordinary  reading  are  still  welcome, 
and  we  often  want  instances  of  very  common 


290 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  19,  1890. 


idiomatic  phrases,  verbal  constructions,  col- 
loquial uses,  and  the  like.  Every  quotation 
should  be  furnished  with  as  full  a  refer- 
ence as  possible  to  date,  author,  work,  edi- 
tion, volume,  chapter,  page,  etc.,  and  sent 
to  W.  H.  Garrison,  editor  of  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  619  Walnut  street, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  addressed,  "  Dr.  Murray, 
Oxford." 

J.  A.  H.  MURRAY. 
OXFORD.  ENG. 

1674  Commons,  House  of 
1580  commons  (rations) 

1879  commons  (oysters) 
1586  commons  (at  college) 
1594  commons,  short  1697 
1708  common-room 

1561  common-sense  (sound,  natural  judgment) 
1543  common-sense  (sensorium  commune)  1650 

common-sense  (in  Philos.) 
1837  common-serjeant  1862 
1623  commonstrate  1657 
1540  commonly  (right  of  pasturage,  Sc.)  1540 
1600  commonty  (common  land) 

commonalty  1623 

1550  common-weal  (general  welfare)  1604 
1513  commonwealth  (the  State) 
1615  commonwealth  (a  republic) 
1801  Commonwealth  (time  of  Cromwell)  1801 
1594  commorance  (residence)  1634 
1583  commorant  (resident) 
1623  commoration  1654 
1646  commorient  (dying  together)  1646 
1597  commorse  (remorse)  1602 
1852  commote,  v.  1852 

1646  commoter  1670 
1500  commotion 

1642  commotion  (common  motion)  1642 
1790  commotion  (of  material  things) 
1660  commotion  (mental  disturbance) 

commotion,  v. 
1605  commotive  1607 
1811  communal 

1880  communalize,  -ization 
1876  communard 

communance  1449 
1631  communative  1631 
1850  commune 

commune  (converse)  (i6th  and  I7th  c.  quots.) 

commune,  v.  (administer  the  Communion  to)  1500 
1850  commune  (receive  the  Communion) 

communer  1550 

1647  communiality  1664 
1850  communicably 

1515  communicant,  si.  (partaker  of  the  Communion) 
1840  communicant  (communicater) 
1610  communicant,  a. 
1603  communicate  (share  in  common) 
1647  communicate  (administer  the  Communion  to) 
1550  communicate  (receive  the  Communion) 
1602  communication  (of  Communion)  1673 
1790  communication  (unlawful  intercourse)  1790 
1669  communication  (connection,  passage) 
1700  communicator 
1872  communicator  (of  railway  train) 
communicatory  1700 


1550  communion  (Sacrament) 
1860  communionable 
1846  communional  1846 
1850  communionist  1850 
1848  communism,  -ist 
1848  communistic 
1850  communitarian 
1656  communition  1656 
1880  communization 
1794  commutability  1794 
1794  commutable 
1658  commutate  1658 

1640  commutation  (of  penance) 
1834  commutation,  angle  of(AstroH.) 

1641  commutatively  1680 
1830  commutator  (Electr.) 
1633  commute,  v.  trans. 
1807  commute  (tithes,  etc.) 

1645  commute,  v.  intr.  (make  up  for,  atone)  1686 

commute  ( U.  S.,  make  season-ticket  arrangement) 
1874  commuter  (in  U.  S.)  1874 
1600  commutual 

commutuality 

comographic,  sb.  (Fuller) 
1830  comose  (Botany) 

comous  1657 
1725  compass,  take  a 
1535  compass,  fetch  a 
1550  compass  (mariner's) 
1583  compass,  point  of  the 

compass  (for  describing  circles)  1700 

compasses,  pair  of 

1611  compass  (belt,  girdle)  1611 

1690  compass,  v.  (manage,  bring  about) 

1576  compass,  to  shoot,  stand,  etc.  1580 

1856  compass-box 

1830  compass-needle 

1870  compass-plant 

1706  compass-saw 

1793  compass-timber 

compass-window 
1556  compassedly  1556 
1649  compassedness  1649 

compasser  1603 
1578  compassingly  1578 
1599  compassionable  (compassionate)  1601 
1700  compassionable  (deserving  of  pity) 
1708  compassionate  (pitiable)  1703 
1645  compassionate  (sympathetic) 
1598  compassionate,  v. 

1836  compassionater 

1612  compassive  1620 
1667  compassivity  1667 

compassment  1593 
1612  compaternity  1612 
1674  compatibility 
1589  compatible 
1692  compatible  with 
1623  compatible  to 
1610  compatibleness  1641 
1829  compatibly 

1655  compatricial  1655 

1837  compatriotism 

1639  compearance  (for  trial  Sc.  Law) 
1644  compectination  1644 

compellant 

1618  compellate  (to  address)  1618 
1621  compellation 

1656  compellative,  sb.  1656 
1529  compellatory  1529 


April  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


291 


1590  compelledly  1603 

compeller 

1647  compellible  1660 
1606  compend 
1770  compendage  1773 
1658  compendance  1658 

compendiarious 
1679  compendiarist  1679 
1590  compendiary,  sb.  1622 
1609  compendiary,  a.  1677 
1593  compendiate,  a.  1593 
1614  compendiate,  v.  1614 
1679  compendiator  1679 
1693  compendize  1722 
1581  compendium 
1685  compenetrate 
1802  compenetration 
1627  compensable  1627 
1624  compensant  1624 
1646  compensate 
1605  compensation 

1873  compensation-balance,  -pendulum 
1865  compensational  1865 
1776  compensative 
1602  compensatory 
1622  compense,  v.  1676 
1757  compenser  1757 


B  5. 


the   meaning    of    the 
ANTHONY  KING. 


Hurtel. — What  is 
word? 
TRENTON,  N.  J. 

According  to  "  Wright's  Dictionary," 
quoted  or  followed  by  Worcester,  the  word 
hurtel  signifies  a  horse,  in  Scotland. 

Josephus. — (1}  To  what  extent  does 
Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  make  men- 
tion of  Jesus?  (2)  Have  any  reliable 
Christian  writers  expressed  the  belief  that 
the  passages  in  Josephus'  writings  referring 
to  Jesus  are  interpolations  ? 

D.  SHIRLEY. 

HUTCHINSON,  KANS. 

(i)  Very  briefly.  (2)  The  reference  has 
been  the  subject  of  endless  controversy  and 
has  never  been  definitely  settled. 

Oxmanstown. — What  is  the  meaning  of 
this  town  name  ? 

P.  O' CARROLL. 
PHILADELPHIA,  FA. 

This  name,  belonging  to  a  town  now 
forming  a  part  of  Dublin,  means  Eastmeri 's~ 
town,  or  Danes'  town,  its  present  form  being 
a  corrupt  one. 


Shortest  Alphabet  Sentence. — What  i* 
the  shortest  sentence  that  contains  all  the 
letters  of  the  alphabet  ? 

S.  LAWRENCE  BONN. 
ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 

"  John  P.  Brady  gave  me  a  black  walnut 
box  of  quite  small  size,"  is  said  to  be  the 
shortest  sentence  in  the  English  language 
containing  all  the  letters  in  the  alphabet. 
The  N.  Y.  Dramatic  Mirror  says :  "  Mr. 
Brady  was  not  a  theatrical  man  or  he  would 
never  give  away  boxes  in  this  reckless 
fashion." 


It  B  P  L  I  B  S  . 

All  For  Love,  etc.  (Vol.  iv,  p.  261).—"  All 
for  Love;  or,  The  World  Well  Lost,"  is  the 
title  of  a  drama  founded  upon  the  story  of 
Antony  and  Cleopatra,  by  John  Dryden 
(1678).  Neither  phrase  appears  in  the  text  of 
the  play,  but  the  fitness  of  either  one  as  the 
title  is  shown  by  Antony's  words : 

"  Give,  you  gods  ! 
Give  to  your  boy,  your  Caesar, 
The  rattle  of  a  globe  to  play  withal 
Thisgew-gaw  world,  and  put  him  cheaply  off; 
I'll  not  be  pleased  with  less  than  Cleopatra." 

(Act  ii,  near  close.) 

"  Now  she  is  dead 
Let  Caesar  take  the  world, 
An  empty  circle  since  the  jewel's  gone, 
Which  made  it  worth  my  strife." 

(Actv.) 

"  All  for  Love ;  or,  A  Sinner  Well  Saved," 
is  the  title  of  a  ballad,  by  Robert  Southey 
(1829).  To  the  youth  Eleemon,  the  Sor- 
cerer Abibas : 

"  And  when  my  own  Mark  Antony 

Against  young  Caesar  strove, 
And  Rome's  whole  world  was  set  in  arms, 
The  cause  was — all  for  love. 

"  Some  for  ambition  sell  themselves  ; 

By  avarice  some  are  driven, 
Pride,  envy,  hatred,  best  will  move 
Some  souls ;  and  some  for  only  love 
Renounce  their  hopes  of  heaven." 

(Div.  ii,  26th,  27th  sts.) 

The  phrase  is  also  preserved,  but  in  a  less 
dignified  connection,  by  Charles  Dibdin 


292 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  19,  1890. 


(1745-1814),    musician,    actor,     dramatist 
and  ballad  writer. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  of  Captain  Wattle  ? 
He  was  all  for  love,  and  a  little  for  the  bottle." 
("  Captain  Wattle  and  Miss  Roe.") 

W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Rice  at  Weddings  (Vol.  iv,  p.  260). — 
Mrs.  Browning's  poem,  "A  Romance  of 
the  Ganges,"  which  is  founded  on  the  same 
superstition  as  L.  E.  L.'s  "Hindu  Girl's 
Songs,"  has  this  direct  allusion  to  the  custom 
of  casting  rice  upon  the  head  in  the  Hindu 
marriage  ceremonial : 

"An  earthly  look  had  Luti 
Though  her  voice  was  deep  as  prayer, 

The  rice  is  gathered  from  the  plains 
To  cast  upon  thine  hair, 

But  when  he  comes,  his  marriage  band 
Around  thy  neck  to  throw." 

(i8th  stanza.) 

Another  poetical  reference  to  the  same 
custom  occurs  in  Edwin  Arnold's  descrip- 
tion of  the  nuptial  ceremony  of  Prince  Sid- 
dhartha  and  the  Maid  Yodoshara  : 

"  Therefore  the  Maid  was  given  unto  the  Prince 
A  willing  spoil ;  and  when  the  stars  were  good — 
Mesha,  the  Red-Ram  being  Lord  of  Heaven — 
The  marriage  feast  was  kept  as  Sakyas  use, 
The  golden  gadi  set,  the  carpet  spread, 
The  wedding  garlands  hung,  the  arm  thread  tied, 
The  sweet  cake  broke,  the  rice  and  attar  thrown, 
The  two  straws  floated  on  the  reddened  milk, 
Which  coming  close  betokened  '  Love  till  death  ;' 
The  seven  steps  taken  thrice  around  the  fire, 
The  gifts  bestowed  on  Holy  men,  the  alms 
And  temple  offerings  made,  the  Mantras  sung, 
The  garments  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom  tied, 
Then  the  gray  father  spake,  '  Worshipful  Prince, 
She  that  was  ours,  henceforth  is  only  thine  ; 
Be  good  to  her,  who  have  her  life  in  thee,' 
Wherewith  they  brought  home  sweet  Yasodhara, 
With  songs  and  trumpets,  to  the  Prince's  arms, 
And  Love  was  all  in  all." 

("  The  Light  of  Asia,"  Bk.  ii.) 

Turning  to  Miss  Frere's  "Old  Deccan 
Days,"  a  collection  cf  Hindu  legends  from 
the  lips  of  Anna  Liberata  de  Souza,  in  the 
story  of"  Chundum  Rajah ;  or,  King  Sandal- 
wood,"  where  he  weds  the  princess  with  the 
saffron-stained  face,  we  read :  "So  the 
Brahmin  brought  his  Shastra  (sacred  books) 
and  married  them,  and  scattered  Rice  and 
flowers  on  their  heads  in  the  presence  of  the 
family." 


In  the  plain  prose  accounts  of  various 
authorities,  rice  is  used  during  the  cere- 
monial in  several  other  ways.  With  the 
Hindus  it  is  the  symbol  of  fertility ;  and 
saffron,  being  regarded  as  auspicious,  is  as 
indispensable  with  them  on  wedding  occa- 
sions as  orange  blossoms  are  with  the 
Europeans. 

A  preliminary  rite  is  to  place  an  earthen 
vessel  filled  with  water  on  a  heap  of  rice  ; 
the  Brahmins  then  repeat  over  the  vessel 
several  invocations,  calling  on  Varuna,  the 
god  of  the  waters,  to  sanctify  the  contents, 
which  are  then  poured  over  the  head  of  the 
bridegroom. 

In  the  next  stage  of  the  ceremony,  three 
female  relatives  wash  the  feet  of  the  young 
couple  three  times  over  in  milk,  while  they  are 
seated  within  the  Pandal,  in  a  swing.  They 
are  then  swung,  while  the  women  chant  the 
praises  of  Krishna,  the  lover  of  shep- 
herdesses. Balls  of  saffron  mixed  with  rice 
are  then  thrown  towards  the  four  points  of 
the  compass.  This  is  an  offering  to  the 
gods  and  the  manes,  all  of  whom  are  sup- 
posed to  be  present  as  invited  guests. 

Thirdly.  As  her  father  gives  the  bride 
away,  he  presents  to  the  bridegroom  grains 
of  rice  tinged  with  red,  along  with  betel 
leaves. 

At  this  point  intervenes  the  other  part  of 
the  ceremonial  referred  to  in  Mrs.  B.'s 
stanza : 

"  But  when  he  comes  his  marriage  band 
Around  thy  neck  to  throw." 

The  bridegroom  approaches  and  binds 
upon  the  bride's  neck  a  golden  ornament 
called  the  tali. 

Fourthly.  Then  followed  the  eating  of  the 
Madhu  Parkham,  in  ancient  times,  but 
nowadays  grains  of  parched  rice  are  substi- 
tuted for  the  fermented  preparation. 

And  last  of  all,  somewhat  as  Europeans 
send  out  wedding  cake  and  cards  to  friends 
on  hymeneal  occasions,  the  Hindus  dis- 
tribute betel  leaves,  with  the  nut  of  the 
Areca  palm  and  grains  of  RICE  colored  red. 

W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Mary  Jones  (Vol.  iv,  p.  281). — In  Letter 
53,  addressed  to  Rev.  Thomas  Warton, 


April  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


293 


Prof.  Poetry,  Trinity  College,  Oxford,  Dr. 
Johnson  says,  in  closing  :  "  Professors  forget 
their  friends ;  I  shall  certainly  complain  to 
Mary  Jones." 

Miss  Mary  J.,  who  was  in  the  eyes  of  the 
scholarly  Warton  a  "  thoroughly  sensible, 
agreeable  and  amiable  person,"  resided  at 
Oxford,  with  her  brother,  Rev.  River  Jones, 
then  chanter  of  Christ  Church  Cathedral. 

Her  volume,  "  Miscellanies,  Prose  and 
Verse,"  appeared  in  London,  1752.  Of 
Mary's  literary  merits,  Warton  remarks: 
"  She  was  a  very  ingenious  poetess." 

Perhaps  this  is  high  praise  from  one  who 
wrote  "The  Pleasures  of  Melancholy,"  at 
seventeen  years,  and  was  also  author  of  "  The 
History  of  English  Poetry."  Refer.  :  Bos- 
well's  "Life  of  Johnson,"  Croker'sed.,  Vol. 
i,  page  260.  W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Jonson's  Extempore  Grace  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
90). — The  Swan  at  Charing  Cross  was  a 
famous  hostelry  as  far  back  as  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  There  are  records 
extant,  showing  that  it  was  patronized  by 
the  Duke  of  Norfork,  afterwards  slain  at 
Bosworth  Field,  in  1466-7.  In  Jonson's 
time  it  was  in  good  repute  for  the  excellence 
of  its  wine.  At  some  court  conviviality 
following  the  marriage  of  Frederick,  Pals- 
grave of  Bohemia,  and  King  James'  daughter 
Elizabeth,  Ben  Jonson  was  required  extem- 
poraneously to  say  grace,  which  he  did  in 
the  following  manner : 

"Our  king  and  queen,  the  Lord  God  bless ! 
The  Palsgrave  and  the  Lady  Bess ; 
And  God  bless  every  living  thing 
That  lives  and  breathes,  and  loves  the  king. 
God  bless  the  council  of  estate, 
And  Buckingham  the  fortunate, 
God  bless  them  all,  and  keep  them  safe ; 
And  God  bless  me,  and  good  Rafe." 

Aubrey  records  that  "  the  king  was 
mighty  inquisitive  to  know  who  Rafe  was. 
Ben  told  him  'twas  the  drawer  at  the 
Swanne  Taverne,  by  Charing  Cross,  who 
drew  him  some  good  canarie.  For  this 
drollery  his  Matie  gave  him  an  hundred 
pounds."  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA.* 

Holtselster  (Vol.  iv,  p.  269).— The  root 
is  certainly  holt,  a  wood,  woody  hill. 


Remond  seems  to  be  correct  in  suggesting 
that  holtselster  means  "  forester  or  warden  of 
trees."  R.  G.  B. 

Ben  Adham  (Vol.  iv,  p.  21). — "  Ben  Ad- 
ham  had  a  golden  coin  one  day,"  was 
written  by  Mrs.  Metta  Victoria  Fuller,  and 
can  be  found  in  Coggeshall's  "  Poets  and 
Poetry  of  the  West,"  p.  526. 

MARCUS  LANE. 

FREEPORT,  ILL. 


TO   (sOI^ESPON  DENTS. 


Rattle  of  Beef. — What  is  the  meaning 
of  this  term  ?  You  will  see  the  price  of 
"rattles"  quoted  in  the  Boston  papers. 
In  Mrs.  Child's  cook  book  ("  The  Frugal 
House-wife")  she  speaks  of  the  rattle-rand 
of  beef.  It  is  in  none  of  the  dictionaries. 

PUTIS. 

Quotations  Wanted. — Can  you  in- 
form me  who  is  the  author  of  each  of  the 
following  quotations  and  where  are  they 
(quotations)  to  be  found  : 

"  Cooper  ante  Diabolo  (with  the  assistance 
of  the  devil)." 

"  La  crainte  du  Diable  et  les  superstitions 
ne  sont  point  eteintes." 

"  Omne  bonum  et perfectum  a  Deo,  imper- 
fectum  Diabolo.'1 

"  Omnes  Dczmonis  divitias  cum  abjeds- 
stnf." 

"  Qui  non  dat  quod  habet,  Damon  infra 
ridet." 

MRS.  L.  T.  GEORGE. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

New  Word  Wanted.— Will  some 
reader  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES 
suggest  a  word — preferably  compounded 
with  aA? — which  shall  signify  a  gradual  ac- 
cumulation of  salt  (in  an  undrainable  lake 
basin).  A  compound  with  rtfy/n  or  with 
Y£wda>  will  not  answer. 

IGNORANS. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Disillusion.— Will  some  correspond- 
ent inform  a  reader  if  the  word  disillusion  in 
a  verbal  sense  is  sanctioned  by  good  usage  ? 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA.  IGNORANTIOR. 


294 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  19,  1890. 


©OMMUNIGAHMONS. 
Hard  Words  for   Rhymsters 

(Vol.  iv,  p.  276). — A  few  of  the  words 
R.  H.  M.  has  presented  are  not  quite  rhyme- 
less.  Gamboge,  if  pronounced  with  a  long 
<o,  as  by  Webster,  Stormonth,  The  Century 
and  Haldeman,  may  be  rhymed  with  doge,  or 
horologe,  which  last  is  pronounced  with  a  long 
4  by  Jameson,  Sheridan  and  The  Century, 
Enfield  and  Jones.  Babe&n&  astrolabe  may 
be  rhymed  with  £•#&?,  an  old  term  meaning 
"  a  vaunting  boast,"  "a  frolicsome  brag." 
Step  rhymes  with  skep,  which  means  a  bee 
hive  of  straw ;  and  also  with  other  words, 
such  as  rep,  a  kind  of  cloth,  and  demirep  ; 
also  with  nep,  a  plant.  Scalp  rhymes  with 
palp  and  pedipalp,  both  of  which  are  ento- 
mologists' terms.  You  might  rhyme  vaults, 
halts,  etc.,  with  false,  which  also  rhymes 
with  halse. 

Carve  and  starve  may  rhyme  with  tarve, 
the  dishing  of  a  wheel — a  blacksmith's  term 
which  I  never  saw  in  print,  but  which  I  ex- 
pect to  find  in  some  old  book  if  I  live  long 
enough.  In  the  "Imperial  Dictionary" 
you  will  find  larve,  which  rhymes  with 
carve.  Doth  and  azimuth  might  jingle 
with  luth,  a  name  for  the  largest  of  known 
sea  turtles ;  only  I  am  not  sure  about  the 
pronunciation  of  luth.  If  your  correspon- 
dent will  give  his  nights  and  days  to  the  re- 
cent large  dictionaries,  he  without  doubt 
will  find  plenty  of  curious  words  he  never 
heard  of;  some  of  them  may  fit  his  other- 
wise rhymeless  words.  If  need  be,  I  can 
give  your  readers  chapter  and  verse  for  all 
the  above-named  out-of-the-way  words  (ex- 
cepting only  tarve);  but  it  is  hardly  worth 
the  space.  JONGLEUR. 

NEWARK,  N.  J. 

"  Monkey    Spoons."  —  Spoons 

seem  to  have  been  formerly  much  used  as 
memorials  of  various  occurrences.  I  was 
once  shown  one  kept  as  an  heir-loom,  be- 
cause it  had  been  given  to  the  possessor's 
grandmother  on  the  occasion  of  the  death 
of  a  friend.  These  spoons,  of  dessert  size, 
specially  made  for  the  purpose  and  suitably 
inscribed,  were  distributed  as  souvenirs 
among  the  deceased  lady's  intimate  com- 
panions, in  pursuance  of  what  was  once  a 


general  custom  in  Albany,  but,  so  I  was 
told,  this  particular  distribution  was  the  last 
time  the  usage  was  followed.  I  have  forgot- 
ten the  date  of  the  occasion. 

Most  of  us  have  seen  specimens  of  those 
quaint  old  "apostle  spoons"  that  used  to 
be  given  as  christening  presents  by  the 
sponsors  in  baptism,  spoons  with  round, 
shallow  bowls  and  slender  stems,  each  ending 
in  the  carved  figure  of  an  apostle.  Some- 
times the  gift  was  one  spoon  only,  having 
the  figure  of  the  apostle  or  any  saint  for 
whom  the  child  was  named,  sometimes 
four,  with  the  figures  of  the  four  evangelists, 
and  fortunate  babies  occasionally  were 
given  all  the  twelve  apostles  on  their  spoons. 
There  seems  a  certain  fitness  in  such  a  gift, 
for  the  odd  garniture  was  consonant  with 
the  religious  belief  of  the  day. 

In  "The  Story  of  an  Old  Farm,"  it  is 
said  that  in  1749,  at  the  death  of  Philip 
Livingston,  the  father  of  the  first  governor 
of  New  Jersey,  funeral  services  were  held 
both  at  the  family  mansion  on  the  Hudson 
and  at  the  city  residence  in  New  York,  and 
at  both  places  the  eight  bearers  were  given 
not  only  the  customary  gloves,  scarfs,  hand- 
kerchiefs and  mourning  rings,  but  also 
"  monkey  spoons,"  that  is,  spoons  similar 
to  the  "  apostle  spoons,"  in  general  style, 
but  with  a  carved  figure  of  an  ape  replacing 
the  form  of  the  saint  at  the  end  of  the 
handle. 

Can  any  one  tell  whether  this  was  a  cus- 
tom, or  a  solitary  instance,  and,  in  either 
case,  can  there  be  suggested  a  reason  for 
this  selection  of  what  would  seem  a  most  in- 
appropriate figure  for  a  memento  of  such  an 
occasion  ? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Our  Very  Hopes,  etc.  (Vol.  iv, 

p.  268). — The  stanza  is  the  third  of  Hood's 
"The  Death-bed,"  as  some  of  your  corre- 
spondents will  doubtless  be  ahead  of  me  in 
telling  you,  so  I  will  not  transcribe  it  here. 
I  may,  however,  remind  you  of  the  other 
poem  with  the  same  title  by  our  American 
singer,  James  Aldrich,  which  certain  critics 
years  ago  suspected  to  have  been  suggested 
by  Hood's,  but  I  believe  it  was  proved  that 
this  could  not  have  been  the  case.  It  is  as 


April  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


295 


exquisite  as  Hood's,  though  only  half  as 
long: 

THE  DEATH-BED. 

Her  suffering  ended  with  the  day  ; 

Yet  lived  she  at  its  close, 
And  breathed  the  long,  long  night  away 

In  statue-like  _repose. 

But  when  the  sun,  in  all  his  state, 

Illumed  the  eastern  skies, 
She  passed  through  glory's  morning-gate, 

And  walked  in  Paradise. 

W.  ].  R. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

Hood's  poem  refers  to  the  poet's  sister 
Anne,  who  died  of  consumption  at  an  early 
age,  and  not  long  after  his  mother. 

W.  L. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Book-Buyer  Prize  Questions 

(Vol.  iv,  pp.  156,  1 80). — The  following 
answers  to  the  above  questions  may  prove 
interesting  to  readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES. 

1.  Frederick  Greenwood,    whose    initial 
"G"  is  signed  to  the  preface  to  the  first 
edition  brought  out  by  Henry  Vizetelly. 

2.  A  cousin  of  Pepys  who  refers  to  her  a 
number  of  times  in  his  diary. 

3.  In  George   Meredith's     "  Shaving  of 
Shagpat,"  quoted  by  Noorna. 

4.  Of  Walt  Whitman,  by  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson    (in    "  Familiar   Studies  of  Men 
and  Books"). 

5.  James  Russell  Lowell   (in   his  essay, 
"Shakespeare   Once   More,"    in  "Among 
My  Books"),  Heminge  and  Condell. 

6.  Emerson. 

7.  Colonel  Newcome. 

8.  Irving's  Knickerbocker's  "  History  of 
New  York." 

9.  Benjamin  Franklin. 

10.  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield. 

11.  Emerson  (in  lecture  on  "  Some  Good 
Books"). 

12.  Scott     (see     Lockhart's     "Life     of 
.Scott,"  Vol.  i,  p.  36,  Black's  edition). 

13.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson. 

14.  Tommy  Luck  in  Bret  Harte's  "  The 
Luck  of  Roaring  Camp." 

15.  Matthew  Arnold  (in  his  essay,  "A 
Guide  to  English  Literature"). 


1 6.  Jane  Eyre. 

17.  Tennyson's  "  Kate." 

1 8.  "  The  Scarlet  Letter." 

19.  Donald  G.  Mitchell  (in  "Reveries of 
a  Bachelor"). 

20.  General  Grant  (in  his  "  Memoirs  "). 

21.  "The  Lady,  or  the  Tiger?"  by  Frank 
R.  Stockton. 

22.  "  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans." 

23.  Whittier's  Legend,  "Mabel  Martin." 

24.  De  Quincey  (in  his  essay  on  Pope). 

25.  Longfellow. 

26.  Dr.  Holmes  in  "  The  Autocrat. " 

27.  Of  Fielding,  by  Thackeray. 

28.  Goethe's  "  Carlyle." 

29.  Prof.  James  Bryce in  "The  American 
Commonwealth." 

30.  Robinson  Crusoe. 

Apostles  and  Wine  (Vol.  ii,  p. 

54). — The  famous  Glastonbury  Cup  or  Peg 
Tankard  is  supposed  to  be  as  old  as  the  time 
of  King  Edgar,  who  reigned  from  959  to 
975;  but  the  carving  on  the  lid,  and  the 
characters  employed  in  the  inscriptions, 
point  to  a  much  more  recent  date.  This 
cup  has  been  for  centuries  in  the  possession 
of  the  Lords  Arundel,  of  Wardour  Castle 
(an  ancient  Catholic  noble  family).  It  is 
made  of  heart  of  oak,  and  holds  four  quarts, 
wine  measure.  In  the  description  given  by 
Bishop  Milner  of  this  cup  in  the  "  Archaeo- 
logical Journal,"  Vol.  xi,  it  is  stated  er- 
roneously to  hold  only  two  quarts ;  he  has 
also  given  the  number  of  pegs  incorrectly, 
making  them  eight ;  but  there  were  origin- 
ally only  six,  four  of  which  remain  perfect, 
the  other  two  being  broken  off.  There  is 
carved  on  the  outside  of  the  cover  the 
crucifixion,  with  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St. 
John.  The  apostles  are  carved  round  the 
cup ;  but  as  St.  Paul  and  Judas  are  intro- 
duced, St.  Matthias  is  omitted.  Only  three 
bear  emblems  :  St.  Peter  has  a  large  key, 
St.  John  a  cup,  and  Judas  a  money-bag. 
Each  of  the  others  holds  an  open  book.  A 
bunch  of  grapes  projects  above  the  handle. 
The  name  of  each  apostle  appears  beneath 
his  figure,  and  the  names  are  mostly  given 
in  Latin  ;  but  St.  Peter  is  called  Peder. 
Round  the  foot  are  curious  representations 
of  birds  and  quadrupeds;  a  goose,  eagle, 
horse,  stag,  swan  and  pelican.  Below  these 


296 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  19,  1890. 


are  serpents  or  dolphins,  in  pairs,  facing 
each  other.  .The  cup  rests  upon  three 
lions.  "  These  peg  tankards,"  says  Dr. 
Milner,  "were  introduced  in  the  reign  of 
Edgar,  the  Saxon  king,  who,  to  restrain  the 
prevailing  habit  of  drunkenness,  made  a  law 
that  each  person  should  empty  the  space  be- 
tween peg  and  peg,  but  that  he  who  drank 
below  the  proper  mark  should  be  punished." 

G.  P.  SlMES. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

Odd  Names  (Vol.  iv,  p.  192).— The 

Salem  (Va.)  Times  says  :  "A  gentleman  in 
Craig  county  named  Brickey  kas  three  chil- 
dren whose  names  are,  respectively,  '  Jailey 
Green  Bird  Mayflower  Brickey,'  'Oregon 
Texas  Georgiana  Brickey,'  and  '  Molina 
Truxilla  Eutaw  Sebilla  Tootater  Brickey.' 
Our  informant,  Mr.  P.  B.  Abbott,  assures 
us  that  these  are  the  names  of  the  children 
as  recorded  in  the  family  Bible,  and  that 
there  is  no  joke  about  it.  But  the  longest 
name  yet  announced  is  also  borne  by  a  Craig 
man,  Mr.  John  William  Benjamin  Lcander 
Sinclair  Calvin  Philip  Virgil  Cicero  Lee. 
On  this  we  challenge  competition." 

A  correspondent  also  writes  :  "  It  takes  a 
good  many  names  to  go  round,  especially  in 
a  country  of  mixed  nationalities  like  the 
United  States.  It  is  not  surprising  there- 
fore many  queer  cognomens  come  into  use, 
but  none  queerer  are  to  be  found  than  some 
of  those  on  the  pension  rolls  at  Washington. 
A  Pennsylvania  ex-soldier,  for  instance, 
goes  through  life  as  Mr.  Pilgrim  Crazylousc. 
Another  signs  his  monthly  receipts  Christy 
Crow,  a  colored  preacher  and  a  pensioner. 
A.  Christ  andy.  Christ  live  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Missouri  respectively.  Christian  Bible 
is  a  Tennesseean — a  German  who  '  fought 
mit  Siegel.'  J.  S.  Timberleg  stands  on  one 
wooden  pin,  and  is,  therefore,  properly 
named.  He  lost  his  leg  at  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  in  1864.  The  name  of  Torment 
Twist  is  also  rightly  located,  since  that  gen- 
tleman is  a  sufferer  from  rheumatism,  con- 
tracted during  the  war.  Whether  John 
Drinklager1  s  name  is  likewise  suggestive  of 
his  habits  does  not  appear  on  record,  but 
very  likely  he  got  his  inspiration  from  a 
bung  hole,  and  some  chronic  disease  (and  a 
pension)  besides." 


The  Evil  Eye  (Vol.  iv,  p.  272).— 

Shortly  after  his  election,  Pius  IX,  who  was 
then  adored  by  the  Romans  and  perhaps  the 
best  loved  man  in  Italy,  was  driving  through 
the  streets  when  he  happened  to  glance  up- 
wards at  an  open  window  at  which  a  nurse 
was  standing  with  a  child.  A  few  minutes 
afterwards  the  nurse  let  the  child  drop  and 
it  was  killed.  No  one  thought  the  Pope  had 
wished  this,  but  the  fancy  that  he  had  the 
evil  eye  became  universal  and  lasted  till  his 
death.  In  Carniola,  if  you  tell  a  mother 
that  her  baby  is  strong  and  large  for  its  age, 
a  farmer  that  his  crops  are  looking  well  or 
a  coachman  that  his  team  is  good,  all  three 
will  spit  at  your  feet  to  avert  the  omen  and, 
if  you  understand  the  custom,  you  will  do 
the  same  as  an  act  of  politeness.  A  person 
who  wandered  through  Upper  Carniola  and 
praised  everything  he  saw  would  soon  come 
to  be  considered  the  most  malevolent  of 
men.  In  Naples  exactly  the  same  feeling 
exists.  The  terms  of  endearment  which 
mothers  of  the  lower  class  use  to  their  chil- 
dren and  the  pet  names  they  call  them  by  are 
often  so  indecent  that  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  reproduce  them  in  English  and  al- 
ways so  contemptuous  that  they  would  be 
offensive  in  any  other  relation. 

The  well-known  habit  of  Neapolitans  to 
offer  a  guest  anything  that  he  may  praise  has 
probably  the  same  origin.  It  is,  of  course, 
now  to  a  very  large  extent  only  a  form  of 
courtesy;  but  even  now  another  feeling 
lurks  behind,  at  least  in  a  good  many  cases. 
Your  host  has  been  delighted  by  your  ad- 
miration of  his  possessions ;  he  would  have 
been  disappointed  if  it  had  not  been  so 
warmly  expressed  as  it  was  ;  but  still  he  is  a 
little  afraid  of  the  ill  luck  the  kind  things 
you  have  said  may  bring.  By  offering  the 
objects  you  have  liked  best  to  you,  and  re- 
ceiving your  certain  refusal  to  accept  them, 
he  puts  them  in  a  bad  light,  and  thus  coun- 
teracts the  evil  effects  of  your  praise.  He 
says  to  fate,  "  You  see  their  value  is  not  great 
after  all." 

This  superstition,  however,  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  Naples  or  Italy  ;  it  is  said 
to  be  common  in  China  and  Japan,  and 
among  negroes  and  red  Indians.  Even  in 
England  it  is  not  unknown.  In  fact,  in  all 
countries,  when  visiting  a  sick  acquaintance, 


April  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


297 


it  is  better  to  say  :  "I  am  glad  to  hear  you 
are  a  little  better  to  day,"  than  "  I  am  glad 
to  see  you  looking  so  much  better."  Nor  is 
the  belief  by  any  means  confined  to  the 
lower  classes.  A  person  who  is  highly  edu- 
cated, very  intelligent  and  by  no  means 
prejudiced  in  rel-igious  matters,  was  once 
asked  whether  the  words  acted  as  an  evil 
charm  or  whether  they  merely  foretold  evil. 
The  reply  was :  "  I  don't  know;  but  I  do 
know  from  experience  that  whenever  any- 
body tells  me  I  am  looking  well  I  fall  ill 
within  three  days ;  and  the  more  intimate  I 
am  with  the  person  that  says  it  the  worse  the 
illness  is."  There  may  be  a  connection  be- 
tween this  superstition  and  that  of  the  evil 
eye — we  are  inclined  to  think  there  is — but 
they  must  not  be  confounded,  as  one  is  often 
found  in  districts  where  the  other  is  un- 
known. 

Friday    for    Luck.  —  For   some 

months, the  following  table,  under  the  heading 
"  Friday  for  Luck,"  has  been  going  the 
rounds  of  the  press  of  the  United  States: 

Friday,  February  22,  1732,  George  Wash- 
ington was  born. 

Friday,  December  2,  1791,  the  Albany 
library  was  founded. 

Bismarck,  Gladstone  and  Disraeli  were 
born  on  Friday. 

Friday,  March  25,  1609,  the  Hudson 
river  was  discovered. 

Friday,  June  30,  1461,  Louis  XI  humbled 
the  French  nobles. 

Friday,  March  18,  1776,  the  Stamp  Act 
was  repealed  in  England. 

Friday,  June  13,  1492,  Columbus  dis- 
covered the  continent  of  America. 

Friday,  June  10,  1834,  Spurgeon,  the 
celebrated  English  preacher,  was  born. 

Friday,  December  22,  1620,  the  Pilgrims 
made  the  final  landing  at  Plymouth  Rock. 

Friday,  November  20,  1721,  the  first  Ma- 
sonic lodge  was  organized  in  North  America. 

Friday,  June  13,  1785,  General  Winfield 
Scott  was  born  in  Dinwiddie  county,  Vir- 
ginia. 

Friday,  September  22,  1780,  Arnold's 
treason  was  laid  bare,  which  saved  the  United 
States. 

Thomas  Sutton,  who  saved  England  from 
the  Spanish  Armada,  was  born  on  Friday. 


Friday,  January  12,  1433,  Charles  the 
Bold  of  Burgundy  was  born,  the  richest 
sovereign  of  Europe. 

Friday,  November  28,  1814,  the  first 
newspaper  ever  printed  by  steam  (the  Lon- 
don Times)  was  printed. 

Friday,  November  19,  1781,  the  surrender 
of  Yorktown,  the  crowning  glory  of  the 
American  army,  occurred. . 

Friday,  June  12,  1802,  Alexander  von 
Humboldt,  in  climbing  Chimborazo,  reach- 
ed an  altitude  of  nineteen  thousand  two 
hundred  feet. 

Friday,  September  7,  1465,  Melendez 
founded  St.  Augustine,  the  oldest  town  in 
the  United  States  by  more  than  forty  years. 

Friday,  April  8,  1646,  the  first  known 
newspaper  advertisement  was  published  in 
the  Imperial  Intelligencer,  in  England. 

Friday,  May  14,  1586,  Gabriel  Fahren- 
heit, usually  regarded  as  the  inventor  of 
the  common  mercurial  thermometer,  was 
born. 

Friday,  October  7,  1777,  the  surrender 
of  Saratoga  was  made,  which  had  such  power 
and  influence  in  inducing  France  to  declare 
for  our  cause. 

Friday,  March  5,  1496,  Henry  VIII 
of  England  gave  to  John  Cabot  his  commis- 
sion which  led  to  the  discovery  of  North 
America.  This  is  the  first  American  State 
paper  in  England. 

Friday,  November  10,  1640,  the  May- 
flower, with  the  Pilgrims,  made  the  harbor 
of  Provincetown,  and  on  the  same  day 
they  signed  that  august  compact,  the  fore- 
runner of  our  present  Constitution. 

Friday,  July  7,  1776,  the  motion  was 
made  in  Congress  by  John  Adams,  and  sec- 
onded by  Richard  Henry  Lee,  that  the 
United  States  colonies  were,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent. 

Friday,  March  20,  1738,  Pope  Clement 
XII  promulgated  his  bull  of  excom- 
munication against  the  Freemasons.  Ever 
since  the  allocution  excommunicating  indis- 
criminately all  Freemasons,  the  order  has 
received  an  immense  forward  impetus  in 
Italy,  France  and  Spain. 

Friday,  July  i,  1825,  General  Lafayette 
was  welcomed  to  Boston  and  feasted  by  the 
Freemasons  and  citizens,  and  attended  at 
the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  Bunker 


298 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  19,  1890. 


Hill  monument  erected  to  perpetuate  the  re- 
membrance of  the  defenders  of  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  America. 

But  an  examination  shows  that  out  of 
nineteen  of  these  events,  one  fell  on  Sunday, 
three  on  Monday,  four  on  Tuesday,  two  on 
Wednesday,  one  on  Thursday,  and  only  six 
on  Friday.  In  reference  to  the  main  state- 
ment, that  the  events  fell  on  Friday,  there 
is  less  than  thirty-two  per  cent  of  accuracy, 
while,  as  two  of  these  events  are  assigned  to 
the  wrong  month  and  day  of  the  month, 
the  percentage  of  accuracy  should  really  be 
put  down  to  very  nearly  twenty-one  per 
cent. 

STATISTICIAN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Town  Names  (Pennsylvania}.— 
Sodom. — A  small  group  of  houses  bearing 
this  name  is  located  in  Chillisquaque  town- 
ship, Northumberland  county,  Pa.,  less  than 
a  mile  east  of  the  village  of  Montandon,  on 
the  Philadelphia  and  Erie  Railroad.  Many 
years  ago  there  was  an  old-fashioned  inn  at 
the  cross-roads,  which  was  a  stopping  place 
for  stages  before  the  era  of  canals  and  rail- 
roads. One  of  the  first  proprietors  of  this 
inn  was  Lot  Carson,  from  whom  came  the 
name  Sodom,  where  Lot  lived.  Poor  Car- 
son  came  to  a  sad  end  by  being  drowned  in 
a  well  on  his  premises,  into  which  he  fell 
while  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  of  which 
he  was  inordinately  fond. 

This  township,  which  embraces  historic 
territory,  was  taken  from  Turbutt  township 
as  early  as  1786.  The  former  was  named 
after  the  celebrated  Col.  Turbutt  Francis, 
who  received  a  large  grant  of  land  here  in 
1 769,  on  account  of  military  services  in  the 
Indian  wars.  He  was  a  son  of  Tench 
Francis,  who  was  Attorney-General  of  the 
Province  of  Pennsylvania  from  1741  to  1755, 
and  died  in  Philadelphia  in  1797. 

About  fifty  years  ago  there  were  several 
distilleries  and  thirteen  taverns  in  Chillis- 
quaque township,  besides  several  smaller 
places  where  whisky  was  sold.  To-day 
there  is  not  a  distillery,  tavern  or  saloon 
where  spirits  or  beer  is  dispensed  in  the 
township.  Truly,  in  respect  to  sobriety, 
Chillisquaque  is  a  banner  township,  and  a 
marvelous  change  has  taken  place  since  the 


day  when  Lot  Carson  tumbled  in  the  well 
and  gave  the  name  of  Sodom  to  the  place 
where  he  ended  his  days. 

Seven  and  Nine  Points. — In  Rockefeller 
township,  Northumberland  county,  Pa.,  is 
a  post  hamlet  called  Seven  Points.  It  takes 
its  name  from  several  roads  crossing  each 
other.  The  post-office  bears  the  same  title 
and  the  settlement  is  without  a  hotel  or 
saloon. 

Nine  Points  is  in  Bart  township,  Lancas- 
ter county,  Pa.,  six  or  seven  miles  south- 
west of  Christiana.  It  also  derives  its  name 
from  public  highways  crossing  each  other. 
Unlike  the  place  mentioned  above,  it  is  dig- 
nified with  a  "hotel,  store  and  blacksmith 
shop,"  in  addition  to  several  dwelling 
houses.  The  "Newport"  and  "Noble 
road,"  two  famous  highways,  pass  through 
it.  A  post-office  was  established  there  more 
than  thirty  years  ago. 

JOHN  OF  LANCASTER. 

WlLLIAMSPORT,   PA. 

Men  as  Things  (Vol.  iv,  p.  264).— 

To  the  list  might  be  added  : 

Fuchsia,   named  after  the  German  botanist, 

Leonard  Fuchs  (about  1542). 
Magnolia,  in  honor  of  Prof.  Pierra  Magnol, 

of  Montpellier,  in  France  (1638-1715). 
Camellia,  so  called  by  Linnaeus,  in  honor ot 

the     Moravian     Jesuit     and     botanist 

Kamel. 
Quassia,  so   christened,   by  Linnaeus  also, 

after    a   negro     sorcerer  of    Surinam, 

called,  like  many  of  his  race,  Quassior 

Quassy. 
Samphire  =  sampier  =  Saint  Pierre.      St. 

Peter's  grass. 
Filbert  (Vol.   iv,   p.   232)  (formerly    Phil- 

bert)    is  said    to   be   named  after    St. 

Philibert,  whose  day  falls  in  the  nutting 

season.     Compare    the  German    Lam- 

bertsnuss. 

(If  Skinner  had  paid  the  least  attention 

to  the   old  spelling,   he   would   never 

have  derived  the  word  from  full  beard.) 
Nicotine  comes  from  Jean   Nicot  of  Nismes 

(1530-1600),  a  French  ambassador  at 

the  court  of  Portugal,  who  introduced 

tobacco  into  France  (1560). 
Galvanism   (Vol.    iv,  p.   226)  comes  from 

Galvani,  of  Bologna  (1791). 


April  19,  1890.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


299 


Macadam  (Vol.  iv,  p.  192)  was  first  pro- 
posed by  Mr.  J.  MacAdam  in  1819. 

Cravat  (=  crovat  =  Croat)  is  a  name  given 
originally  by  the  French  to  a  neckcloth 
similar  to  those  worn  by  their  enemies 
from  Croatia  at  the  time  of  the  thirty 
years'  war. 

Mausoleum  recalls  Mausolus,  king  of  Caria, 
to  whose  memory  his  widow  Artemisia 
erected  a  renowned  monument  («•? 
B.  C.). 

Mesmerism,  a  doctrine  first  propounded  at 
Vienna,  1766,  by  A.  Mesmer  of  Mers- 
burg  (Germany). 

Pinchbeck,  inveoted  by  Christopher  Pinch- 
beck in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Merry-andreiv  is  a  nickname  given  to  a 
doctor  and  a  wit,  Andrew  Boorde,  of 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

Petrel,  a  French  word  once  spelled  peterel, 
comes  from  Peter,  in  allusion  to  the 
apostle's  walking  on  the  sea.  Compare 
the  German  Petersvogel. 

Simony  is  derived  from  Simon  Magus  (see 
Acts  viii,  18). 

Silhouette  (Vol.  iv,  p.  226)  is  duetoEtienne 
de  Silhouette,  an  unpopular  French 
minister  of  finances  (1759)  whose  over- 
parsimonious  measures  suggested  the 
reduction  of  men  and  things  to  a  mere 
outline. 

Tawdry  =  St.  Awdry  =  St.  Etheldrida,  the 
founder  of  Canterbury  Cathedral.  St. 
Awdry 's  fair  was  famous  for  the  sale  of 
cheap  finery. 

(For  examples  of  the  peculiar  carrying  of 
the  final  /  in  saint  on  to  Awdry,  see 
Tooley  for  St.  Olave,  Tanton  for  St. 
Anton,  etc.) 

Tontine,  L.  Tonti,  1653  (Vol.  iv,  p.  226). 


A.  ESTOCLET. 


NEW  YORK. 


Lodge's  "  Rpsalynde  "  (Vol.  iv, 

p.  198). — This  beautiful  pastoral  tale  (1590), 
the  direct  source  whence  Shakespeare  took 
much  of  the  material  for  his  "  As  You  Like 
It,"  is  said  to  have  been  written  in  the 
Straits  of  Magellan.  A  little  find  of  my 
own  (for  I  never  read  or  heard  of  it)  ap- 
pears at  first  sight  to  confirm  this  view. 
The  shepherdess  Phoebe,  in  Lodge's  story, 


sings  "a  sonnetto"  beginning  with  these 
words  : 

"  My  boate  doth  passe  the  straights 
Of  seas  incenst  with  fire." 

This  must  be  regarded  as  an  allusion  to 
the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  the  land  of  fire 
(Tierra  del  Fuego). 

For  incenst,  in  the  second  line,  I  would 
suggest  the  reading  incinct,  but  the  Latin 
incendo  sometimes  means  to  tight  up.  It  may 
be  remembered,  in  this  connection,  that 
Lodge  himself  states  that  he  composed  the 
'  'Rosalynde' '  during  a  voyage  to  Terceira  and 
the  Canaries  ;  I  do  not  know  the  authority 
for  the  Magellan-straits  tradition. 

I  believe  that  some  critics  and  historians 
make  Lodge's  piece,  "  A  Margarite  of 
America  "  (1596),  the  one  which  he  wrote  on 
the  Cavendish  voyage  through  Magellan's 
straits.  It  seems  to  me  almost  certain  that 
the  "  Rosalynde"  must  have  been  written, 
though  not  printed,  before  1590  ;  for  the 
whole  atmosphere  of  the  above-quoted 
sonnetto  is  that  of  the  Fuegian  latitudes.  He 
must  have  visited  the  straits  before  it  was 
written.  But  I  think  we  ought  to  accept 
Lodge's  own  statement,  and  assign  the 
"Rosalynde  "  to  the  trip  with  Clarke  to  the 
Canaries.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

On  (Upon)  the  Score  (Vol.  iv,  p. 

286). — The  original  quotation  on  which  all 
this  long  (over- long  ?)  discussion  is  based  is 
from  George  Herbert's  poem  "Man,"  and 
was  suggested  by  myself  under  different 
initials : 

"  Parrots  may  thank  us  if  they  are  not  mute, 
They  go  upon  the  score." 

That  is  (if  my  understanding  of  it  is  right), 
they  go  to  man's  credit. 

Following  the  counsel  of  the  wise  man,  I 
do  not  "answer"  P.  R.  E.'s  note  to  me 
(Vol.  iv,  p.  286)  further.  J.  H. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

In  the  "  Antidote  Against  Melancholy" 
(1661)  occur  these  words  : 

"  A  man  of  Wales,  a  little  before  Easter, 
Ran  on  his  Hostes'  score  for  Cheese  a  teaster ; 
His  Hostes  chalkt  it  up  behind  the  doore, 
And  said,  For  Cheese  (good  sir),  Come  pay  the  score." 


300 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  19,  1890. 


There  is  no  doubt  that  I  exposed  myself 
unnecessarily  to  a  churlish  reply  from  J.  H. 
by  not  stating  more  fully  my  case  against 
him.  My  case  is  that  of  every  subscriber  to 
the  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  Ex- 
cept in  matters  of  personal  experience  or 
observation  (in  which  case  any  man's  testi- 
mony is  worth  what  value  it  will  command), 
no  contributor  to  your  paper  ought  to  set 
himself  up  as  an  authority  on  any  subject. 
No  reasonable  person  will  object  to  a  hint 
or  suggestion,  and  at  times  it  may  seem 
necessary  to  make  citations  from  memory, 
but  as  a  rule  we  should  all  state  our  authori- 
ties for  what  we  have  to  say.  A  magisterial  or 
oracular  reply  will  satisfy  no  intelligent  in- 
quirer. Not  that  J.  H.  is  the  only  offender 
among  your  contributors.  I  do  not  say 
that  he  has  been  the  worst  offender.  Many 
of  his  contributions  have  been  exceedingly 
good.  I  think  his  testimony  about  pro- 
nunciation in  Britain  would  have  a  greater 
value  if  he  were  to  speak  more  exclusively  of 
that  of  North  Britain.  With  regard  to  his 
citation  from  George  Herbert,  if  the  poet 
had  said  : 

"  Parrots  may  thank  us  if  they  are  not  mute; 
We  go  upon  the  score," 

then  J.  H.  would  have  had  an  instance  in 
which  to  gc  upon  the  score  meant  to  go  upon 
the  credit  side  of  the  account.  I  hope  we 
shall  be  able  to  find  a  great  many  more  in- 
stances of  this  expression,  so  that  at  last  we 
can  decide  exactly  its  meaning. 

P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Lost  Rivers  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  198,  222). 

— In  one  of  Dr.  J.  Donne's  "  Funeral 
Elegies,"  he  says : 

"  As  the  Afric  Niger  stream  enwombs 
Itself  into  the  earth,  and  after  comes — 
Having  first  made  a  natural  bridge,  to  pass 
For  many  leagues — far  greater  than  it  was,"  etc. 

Drayton  says  ("  Polyolbion,"  Song  i)  of 
the  river  Lid  : 

"  Then  Lid  creeps  on  along,  and    taking    Thrushel, 

throws 

Herself  among  the  rocks,  and  so  incaverned  goes, 
That  of  the  blessed  light    (from  other   floods)  de- 

barr'd, 
To  bellow  underneath  she  only  can  be  heard." 


Drayton,  in  his  third  song,  says  of  the 
river  Diver,  in  Wilts : 

"  Which,  when  the  envious  soil  would  from  her  course 

restrain, 
A  mile  creeps  under  earth,"  etc. 

The  Indian  river,  in  Jefferson  county,N.Y., 
flows  for  some  distance  underground,  pass- 
ing through  crevices  in  a  coarse  white  rock. 

Lost  river,  in  Indiana,  flows  for  several 
miles  underground.  Its  waters  finally  reach 
the  White  river. 

Cobban  Saer  (Vol.  i,  p.  243).— 

There  is  a  good  notice  of  this  personage  in 
the  "  Nat.  Diet,  of  Biog.,"  Art.  "Cobban 
Saer."  G. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Correction. — Hexameters (Vol.  iv,  p. 
18*). — It  was  Stanyhurst,  not  Phaer  (as  I 
carelessly  put  it),  that  wrote  "  Thus  did  he 
make  heaven's  vault  to*  rebounde,"  etc. 
Nash  quotes  these  lines  in  his  preface  to 
Greene's  "Arcadia,"  calling  their  author 
"some  thrasonicall  huffe-snuffe. "  Nash 
elsewhere  speaks  of  Stanyhurst's  "  foule, 
lumbring,  boystrous,  wallowing  measure." 
Stanyhurst's  translation  of  ^Eneid  i,  134, 
runs  thus : 

"  Dare  ye,  lo,  curst  baretours,  in  my  seignorie  regal 
Too  raise  such  racks  jacks  on  seas,  and  danger  un- 

order'd?" 
ST.  Louis,  Mo.  C.  J.  T. 

BOOI^S  AND   ^B^IODIGALS. 

The  Chautauquan  for  May  contains  among  other 
articles  one  of  especial  interest  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Hamilton 
on  "  The  Literature  of  the  Irish,"  from  which  we  extract 
the  following : 

"  One  will  not  be  required  to  go  abroad  to  find  super- 
stitious preventives  of  disease  and  remedies  for  it.  The 
writer  has  simply  called  to  his  aid  the  women  who  hap- 
pened to  be  in  his  home,  as  he  writes  this  paper,  for  in- 
stances of  such  antidotes,  with  which  they  are  familiar. 
One  avers  that  if  an  onion  be  stolen  from  a  grocery 
store,  rubbed  on  a  wart,  and  then  buried  where  no  one 
can  find  it,  the  wart  will  go  away.  Another,  an  elderly 
lady  of  intelligence,  declares  that  she  was  once  induced 
to  kill  a  striped  snake  and  then  bite  through  its  skin  in 
the  hope  that  thus  her  teeth  would  be  preserved  from 
decay.  The  same  lady  says  she  knew  a  man  who  lived 
on  Cape  Cod,  that  was  persuaded  by  a  colored  physician 
to  bind  a  live  toad  on  his  eyes,  and  so  long  as  the  toad 
lived,  wear  it  to  cure  blindness.  The  girl  in  the  kitchen 
solemnly  affirms  that  she  knew  a  girl  near  her  home, 
away  down  East,  who  '  caught  tree-toads  and  allowed 
them  to  hop  from  a  tumbler  down  her  throat  to  cure  a 
comsumption  ;  when  the  cold  weather  came  on  and  the 
girl  could  not  find  the  toads,  she  died.'  " 


American  Hotes  and  Queries : 

A  MEDIUM  OF  INTERCOMMUNICATION 

FOR 

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Copyrighted  i8<)O,  by  The  Westminster  Publishing  Co.    Entered  at  the  Post- Office,  Philadelphia,  as  Second-class  Matter. 

Yol.  Y.    No.  26.  SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  25,  1890.          H&'K^WSSlSSaAw. 


THIS 

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PUBLISHED  WEEKLY  BY 

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Queries  on  all  matters  of  general  literary  and 
historical  interest— folk-lore,  the  origin  of  prov- 
erbs, familiar  sayings,  popular  customs,  quota- 
tions, etc.,  the  authorship  of  books,  pamphlets, 
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condite allusions,  etc.,  etc. — are  invited  from 
all  quarters,  and  will  be  answered  by  editors  or 
contributors.  Room  is  allowed  for  the  discus- 
sion of  moot  questions,  and  the  periodical  is  thus 
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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  : — Webster's  International  Dictionary,  301. 

REPLIES  :— He  Hears  it  Not— Tenth  Muse,  302— Poet  Squab 
— Recoupment  by  Magic — Highest  Mountain  in  the  United 
States— Koromantyn — Buhach,  303 — Shaking  Bald  Mountain 
— Arrow  Traveler — Lake  of  the  Christians — Prose  Shakes- 
peare of  Puritan  Theologians— Raystown  Branch,  304 — No 
Snakes  in  Iceland— Metla,  305. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Authorship 
Wanted— Rock  City  —  Forgotten  Wild  Fruits  —  Bag-pipe — 
Patriarchs — City  Built  By  Gentlemen,  305 — Landgraves  and 
Caciques — Gorgeana — Chowder — Subterraneous  Prison,  306. 

1     V 

COMMUNICATIONS:— Yosemite  Falls  — The  Origin  in 
Literature  of  Vulgarisms,  306 — Waterford — Man-of-War — 
First  English  Poet-Laureate — Scottish  Cities — Leading  Apes 
in  Hell,  309 — Fossil  Beeswax — Pets  of  Distinguished  People 
— Muckamuck — Highbinder,  310 — Skate  Runners  —  Chinese 
in  America— A  Slip  ofColeridge's— Dread  of  Happiness,  311 — 
Singular  Place  Names— Calf  of  Man — Parallel  Passages — 
Devil  in  Geography — Owl-shield,  312. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  =-312. 


WEBSTER'S  INTERNATIONAL  DICTIONARY. 

I  have  spent  an  hour  looking  over  the 
Gazetteer  part  of  this  noble  work.  May  I 
be  permitted  to  call  your  attention  to  a  few 
errors  which  are  to  be  found  in  that  list  ? 

Antivari  is  not  the  only  seaport  in  Monte- 
negro, nor  was  it  when  this  Gazetteer  was 
first  published.  Dulcigno  is  another  Monte- 
negrin port. 

Arta  is  in  Greece,  not  in  Turkey. 

Ascension  Bay. — Yucatan  is  not  in  South 
America. 

Atlas  Mountains. — Mount  Miltsin  is  by  no 
means  the  highest  peak. 

Atacama  is  not  now  a  province  of  Bolivia ; 
its  whole  seaboard  has  been  ceded  to  Chili. 

Cannock  in  England  in  1881  had  a  popu- 
lation of  1 7, oop  not  (7000). 


302 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [October  25,  1890. 


Cape  Sable  is  said  to  be  "  the  south-eastern 
point  of  Nova  Scotia,"  while  Cape  Sable 
Island  is  made  "  the  south-western  end  "  of 
Nova  Scotia,  but  the  two  are  identical. 

Gulf. — There  is  no  place  of  this  name  in 
Chatham  county,  N.  Y.  New  York  has  no 
such  county.  For  N.  Y.  read  N.  C. 

Dulcigno  is  not  in  Turkey,  but  in  Monte- 
negro. 

The  Venezuelan  States  are  given  with  the 
names  they  had  fifteen  years  ago. 

Horitz,  in  Bohemia,  is  mispronounced. 
Horzitz  comes  nearer  to  its  pronunciation. 

Jabary  river  is  1300  miles  long  (not  450 
miles). 

Jahalu  and  Jhaloo  are  duplicate  articles. 

Kinross  is  not  the  smallest  county  in  Scot- 
land. 

Klamath  river  flows  into  the  Pacific,  not 
into,  but  rather  from,  or  through,  Klamath 
lake. 

Larissa  is  not  in  Turkey,  but  in  Greece. 

Loa  river  is  now  in  Chili,  not  in  Peru. 

Loch  Etive  is  not  an  arm  of  "  the  North 
Sea,"  nor  is  Argyllshire  on  that  sea. 

Magaguadaric  is  mispronounced. 

Mareotis  is  not  a  lake  "  in  the  north-east 
of 'Lower  Egypt,"  but  in  the  north-west. 

Maldive  islands  are  not  south-east  of 
India,  nor  are  they  300  miles  distant. 

Margam  is  not  an  island,  but  a  parish  in 
Wales. 

Middleburg,  Vt. ,  should  read  Middlebury. 

Montredon  is  not  in  the  department  of 
Jaen,  France,  for  there  is  no  such  depart- 
ment;  for  Jaen  read  Tarn. 

Mysore  is  no  longer  a  province  of  British 
India.  It  is  now  a  "  native  State." 

Northumberland  Inlet  is  not  in  British 
Columbia. 

Niigata  does  not  exist.  For  it  read 
Niigata,  which  is  thus  out  of  its  proper  place 
in  the  list. 

Plevna.  —  Its  native  pronunciation  is 
plevn. 

Purus. — This  river  is  1900  miles  long ; 
not  400  miles. 

Roanoke,  a  thriving  city  of  Virginia,  is 
omitted. 

Pocahontas,  a  large  town  of  Virginia,  is 
omitted. 

Salama  should  be  accented  on  the  last 
syllable,  and  so  should  Solola, 


Salangore.  —  Its  capital  is  no  longer  Salan- 
gore. 

Salembria.  —  This  river  is  in  Greece,  not 
in  Turkey.  Peneus  is  the  better  name. 

Sarawak  is  mispronounced.  The  accent 
is  on  the  penult. 

Savage  Island  is  in  longitude  170°  W., 
not  169°  W. 

Sevier  Lake  is  now  dry. 

Skopelo  is  not  in  Eubcea.  It  is  an  island 
in  the  ^Egean  sea.  Its  name  is  accented  on 
the  antepenult,  not  on  the  penult. 

Subtiaba  is  not  "near  the  Pacific;"  it  is 
a  close  suburb  of  Leon,  the  capital. 

Tacna  is  in  Chili,  not  in  Peru  ;  the  same 
is  true  of  Tarapacd. 

Thessaly  is  in  Greece,  not  in  Turkey  ;  so 
is  Trikeri. 

Wheeling  is  not  the  capital  of  West  Vir- 
ginia. 

West  Virginia.  —  Its  capital  is  not  Wheel- 
ing, but  Charlestown. 

Zerafshan  is  250  miles  long,  not  400 
miles.  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


I^BPLI  BS. 

He  Hears  H  Not  (Vol.  v,  p.  280).—  There 
is  a  tract  of  country  between  Timbuktu  and 
its  port  on  the  river  Niger,  which  bears  the 
dismal  name  of  Ur-immandess,  "He  hears 
it  not,"  meaning  that  the  region  is  so  re- 
mote and  desolate  that  Allah  himself  is  deaf 
to  the  cry  of  anguish  uttered  by  the  solitary 
wayfarer  when  here  fallen  upon  by  robbers. 

W.  J.  L. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Tenth  Muse  (Vol.  v,  p.  295).  —  This  title 
has  been  bestowed  upon  several  poetesses, 
mostly  of  no  great  distinction.  Among 
them  was  Anne  Bradstreet  (1613-1672), 
New  England's  earliest  poet.  T.  P.  B. 

According  to  Brewer  ("  Reader's  Hand- 
book") there  have  been  several  persons  so 
called  :  Marie  Lejars  de  Gournay  (1566- 
1645),  Mdlle.  Scuderi  (1607-1701),  An- 
toinette Deshoulieres  (1633-1694),  and  Del- 
phine  Gay  (1804-1855).  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 


October  25,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Poet  Squab  (Vol.  v,  p.  296). — This  was 
one  of  the  various  nicknames  which 
Dryden's  enemies  bestowed  upon  him. 

T.  P.  B. 

John  Dryden  was  so  called  by  the  Earl  of 
Rochester,  on  account  of  his  corpulence 
("  Reader's  Hand-book  "). 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Recoupment  by  Magic  (Vol.  v,  p.  296). — 
Pietro  de  Abano^  who  died  in  1316,  was  the 
philosopher  who  used  to  recover  by  magical 
arts  all  the  money  he  had  paid  away.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Highest  Mountain  in   the    United  States 

(Vol.  v,  p.  268). — Mount  St.  Elias  is  proba- 
bly the  highest  peak  in  the  United  States. 
Determinations  of  its  altitude  have  been 
made  perhaps  a  dozen  or  more  times,  and 
they  are  given  in  one  of  the  annual  reports 
of  the  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic 
Survey.  There  are  three  sets  of  values,  one 
of  which  averages  about  14,800  feet,  and 
another  17,500.  The  third,  the  determina- 
tion by  Prof.  Marcus  Baker,  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  is  19,500  feet,  with  a  pos- 
sible error  of  466  feet  arising  from  an  unde- 
termined correction  for  atmospheric  refrac- 
tion. The  altitudes  of  14,000  +  feet  were 
probably  determinations,  not  of  St.  Elias, 
but  of  Mount  Cooke.  The  two  summits  are 
quite  nearly  in  line  when  observed  from  Yu- 
katat  bay,  from  which  point  the  surveys  have 
been  made,  and  as  neither  peak  is  visible  more 
than  a  few  hours  at  a  time,  one  may  be  very 
readily  mistaken  for  the  other.  Prof.  Baker 
made  this  mistake  and  discovered  it  only 
when  about  to  leave  the  bay.  Fortunately 
the  fog  lifted  and  disclosed  both  summits, 
and  thereby  enabled  him  to  take  a  set  of 
altitudes  of  Mount  St.  Elias.  The  determina- 
tions were  made  trigonometrically.  A  set 
of  altitudes  has  recently  been  taken,  on  the 
strength  of  which  it  has  been  asserted  that  this 
peak  is  6000  feet  lower  than  according  to 
Baker's  determinations.  So  far,  this  is 
merely  a  newspaper  report,  and  the  assertion 
has  not  been  confirmed.  Mount  Wrangell,  un- 
surveyed,  is  estimated  to  have  an  altitude  of 
nearly  20,000  feet.  Mounts  Crillon  and  Cooke 


are  each  about  16,000  feet,  and  Mount  Fair- 
weather  is  15,500  feet  above  sea-level. 
With  the  possible  exception  of  Mount  Cooke, 
all  these  peaks  are  wholly  in  the  United 
States.  The  question  as  to  the  location  of 
Mount  St.  Elias  was  recently  settled  by  a 
survey  made  for  that  purpose,  and  the 
boundary  line  was  shown  to  enclose  within 
the  United  States  all  but  a  small  part  of  the 
base  of  the  mountain.  It  is  not  definitely 
known  that  this  peak  is  a  volcano,  the  only 
evidence  of  its  volcanic  origin  being  a  cra- 
teriform  depression  in  the  side.  Traditional 
accounts  of  eruptions  have  appeared  from 
time  to  time,  but  they  are  without  founda- 
tion. The  summit  of  the  mountain  has 
never  been  reached  and  the  only  trustworthy 
determinations  have  been  made  trigonometri- 
cally. Among  geographers,  that  of  Baker  is 
usually  accorded  the  preference. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Koromantyn  (Vol.  v,  p.  280). — In  Harris' 
"  Collection  of  Voyages"  (London,  1705) 
the  town  of  Cormentin  appears  on  the  map 
of  Africa,  near  the  mouth  of  what  is  now  the 
river  Niger.  Is  this  Coleridge's  "Koroman- 
tyn?" E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Buhach  (Vol.  v,  p.  280). — A  late  news- 
paper account,  corroborated  by  the  one  in 
the  "United  States  Dispensatory"  (latest 
edition)  states  that  the  seed  and  the  culture 
of  buhach  were  introduced  into  California  by 
Dalmatian  immigrants.  This  being  the 
case,  it  is  probable  that  the  name  of  the 
plant  is  Dalmatian  also ;  and  if  Dalmatian, 
then  either  South  Slavic  or  Vlachic  ;  for  the 
Morlaks  of  Dalmatia  are  Vlachs,  or  rather 
belonging  to  an  aberrant  branch  of  the  Rou- 
manian or  Macedo-Wallachian  stem.  But 
the  majority  of  the  true  Dalmatians  are 
Slavic.  RYLAND  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

This  name  is  applied  to  the  powdered 
leaves  of  several  species  of  Pyrethrum^  In 
California,  P.  cinerce  folium,  a  plant  asserted 
to  be  of  Persian  origin,  is  extensively  culti- 
vated for  commercial  purposes. 

TROIS  ETOILES. 


3°4 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [October  25,  1890. 


Shaking  Bald  Mountain  (Vol.  v,  p.  280). 
— There  is  a  noted  "shivering  mountain," 
called  also  Mam  Tor,  in  the  Peak  of  Derby, 
Eng.  It  is  said  that  the  surface  of  the 
mountain  is  composed  of  loose  shale ;  and 
it  is  the  slipping  of  this  shale  under  the  foot 
which  imparts  the  sense  of  shivering  to  the 
visitor. 

Arrow  Traveler  (Vol.  v,  p.  281). — Abaris, 
the  celebrated  Hyperborean  sage  of  an- 
tiquity, had  an  arrow  which  Apollo  gave 
him,  and  upon  which  he  could  ride  through 
the  air  whitherscever  he  might  desire. 

M.  B.  M. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Abaris,  the  Hyperborean,  who  lived  proba- 
bly about  the  fifth  century  B.  C.,  is  said  to 
have  made  the  circuit  of  the  earth  without 
food,  on  a  golden  arrow  given  him  by 
Apollo.  He  foretold  earthquakes  and 
plagues.  A  fragment  preserved  in  the 
"  Anecdota  Graeca,"  quoted  by  Beloe,  ex- 
plains the  story  thus  :  A  famine  having 
made  its  appearance  amongst  the  Hyper- 
boreans, Abaris  went  to  Greece,  and  entered 
the  service  of  Apollo.  The  deity  taught 
him  to  declare  oracles.  In  consequence  of 
this  he  traveled  through  Greece,  declaring 
oracles,  having  in  his  hand  an  arrow,  the 
symbol  of  Apollo.  Brewer  ("  Diet.  Phrase 
and  Fable")  says  he  gave  the  arrow  tc 
Pythagoras.  Herodotus  notices  the  story 
(Book  iv,  xxxvi).  E..  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Lake  of  the  Christians  (Vol.  v,  p.  280). — 
A  part  of  the  Apamean  lake  in  Syria  was 
once  occupied  by  Christian  lake-dwellers. 
Hence  in  early  Mohammedan  days  it  was 
known  to  the  Moslems  as  the  lake  of  the 
Christians.  D.  B.  C. 

HARRISBURG. 

Prose  Shakespeare  of  Puritan  Theologians 

(Vol.  v,  p.  281). — This  was  Southey's  title 
for  Thomas  Adams,  a  noted  Puritan  (but 
not  dissenting)  preacher  of  the  first  half  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  Emerson  calls 
Jeremy  Taylor  "the  Shakespeareof  divines. ' ' 

ILDERIM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


Raystown  Branch  (Vol.  v,  p.  295). — The 
name  Raystown  is  an  old  colonial  name  for 
the  present  town  of  Bedford.  In  the  "  Colo- 
nial Records,"  Vol.  vii,  p.  504,  Colonel 
John  Armstrong,  writing  to  Governor  Denny 
from  Carlisle,  May  5,  1757,  says  among 
other  matters:  "  The  coming  of  the  Chero- 
kees  and  Catawbas  appears  to  be  a  very 
favorable  Providence,  which  should  in  my 
opinion  be  speedily  and  properly  improved, 
as  well  for  the  benefit  of  this  as  of  others  his 
Majesty's  colonies,  and  prompts  me  to  pro- 
pose to  your  Honor  what  I  have  long  ago 
suggested  to  the  late  governor  and  gentle- 
men commissioners,  that  is  the  building  a 
fort  at  Ray's  Town,  without  which  the 
king's  business  and  the  country's  safety  can 
never  be  effected  to  the  westward." 

In  the  "  Pennsylvania  Archives,"  Vol.  iii, 
p.  510,  Joseph  Shippen  writes  to  Richard 
Peters,  upon  military  matters.  His  letter  is 
dated,  "  Camp  at  Roy's  Town,  1 6th  August, 
1758,"  in  which  among  other  things  he 
says,  "  We  have  a  good  Stockade  Fort 
built  here  with  several  convenient  and 
large  store  houses.  Our  camps  are  all  se- 
cured with  a  good  breastwork  and  a  small 
ditch  on  the  outside,  and  everything  goes  on 
well." 

In  the  "Archives,"  Vol.  xii,  p.  339,  is 
the  following  brief,  but  yet  defective  account 
of  Raystown,  the  subject  is  double  headed, 
to  wit,  "Fort  Bedford-Raystown,"  and 
says,  "  When  this  fort  was  erected  is  not 
certainly  known,  but  it  was  probably  not 
before  1757,  as  on  February  22,  Col.  John 
Armstrong  writes  to  Major  Burd  (after  stat- 
ing some  of  his  plans  of  operation),  '  this  is 
all  that  can  possibly  be  done  before  grass 
grows  and  proper  numbers  unite  except  it 
is  agreed  to  fortify  Roystown,  of  which  I  yet 
know  nothing.'  This  fort  was  situated  on 
the  Raystown  branch  of  Juniata  at  or  near 
the  town  called  Raystown,  now  Bedford, 
celebrated  for  its  springs." 

I  have  gone  more  extensively  into  the  quo- 
tations from  the  "  Colonial  Records  "  and 
"  Archives  "  on  account  of  Mr.  Roden,  the 
querist  residing  so  far  away  and  probably 
not  having  access  to  those  books. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


October  25,  1890.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


305 


No  Snakes  in  Iceland  (Vol.  v,  p.  296).  — 
The  chapter  alluded  to  is  said  to  be  found 
in  Von  Troil's  "Iceland,"  but  in  the 
books  accessible  to  me  I  can  find  no  account 
of  Von  Troil.  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Metla  (Vol..  v,  p.  295).  —  Chambaud's 
"•French  and  English  Dictionary,"  1805, 
gives  the  French  word  metle,  which  is  de- 
fined as  "arbrisseau  naturel  du  Mexique, 
que  1'  on  plants  et  cultive  de  la  mSme 
maniere  que  la  vigne,  et  dont  les  feuilles, 
quand  elles  sont  tendres,  servent  a  faire  des 
confitures,  des  etoffes  et  de  1'eaude-vie,  et 
quand  elles  sont  vieilles,  a  faire  desscies; 
les  epines  servent  d'  aigu'illes,"  and  which 
is  rendered  English  metl.  The  latter  is  de- 
scribed elsewhere  in  the  dictionary  as  "a 
shrub  of  Mexico,  a  species  of  Aloes." 

H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 


Authorship  Wanted.  — 

"  Lo,  what  a  motley  and  incongruous  throng 
In  undistinguished  fellowship  are  here  ! 
Fame,  beauty,  learning,  strength  Herculean, 
Rank,  honors,  fortune,  valor,  or  renown 
What  is  there  left  of  ye  ?"  etc. 


Can  you  tell  me  the  author  of  the  above 
lines  ?  They  are  found  at  the  entrance  of  a 
village  cemetery  in  this  State  and  were 
placed  there  by  a  former  Trustee,  but  none 
of  the  present  Trustees  can  give  any  informa- 
tion. The  entire  inscription  has  thirteen  (?) 
lines.  It  is  on  a  block  of  marble  uncon- 
nected with  any  grave  or  tomb,  and  seems 
designed  for  the  attention  of  any  who  may 
visit  the  spot.  F.  G.  S. 

SALEM,  WASHINGTON  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Rock  City. — There  is  a  remarkable 
natural  city  of  rocks,  with  tolerably  regular 
streets  in  Cattaraugus  county,  N.  Y.  There 
are,  I  think,  several  other  similar  "  rock 
cities"  of  which  I  would  like  your  corre- 
spondents to  send  memoranda. 

GEROULD. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


Forgotten  Wild  Fruits. — Can  any  of 
your  readers  add  any  information  to  the  fol- 
lowing communication  ?  I  remember  when 
a  boy,  sixty  years  ago,  to  have  eaten  fruit, 
like  the  wild  tomato,  in  the  woods  of  central 
New  York  State  :  "In  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion corroborating  the  recollections  of  one 
of  your  correspondents  (Anchor),  I  perfectly 
remember  two  wild  fruits,  which  grew  in  the 
meadows  and  the  woods,  which  I  have 
picked  when  I  was  a  boy,  near  Rhinebeck 
(Duchess  county,  N.  Y.),  forty-five  years 
ago.  One  was  the  wild  tomato,  resembling 
the  garden  fruit  of  the  same  name,  which 
grew  on  the  top  of  a  single  stem.  It  was 
like  one  of  those  small  tomatoes  which  are 
simply  round  like  a  lady-apple,  with  a 
smooth  skin.  It  was  found  in  woods  on  a 
hill  west  of  the  village  near  a  school-house, 
between  Rhinebeck  and  Rhinecliff. 

"The  other,  the  wild  lemon,  resembled  the 
ordinary  lemon,  except  it  was  lighter  in 
color,  more  elongated,  not  so  large  and 
round  in  proportion.  In  taste  I  can  find  none 
similar  to  it.  It  was  most  agreeable  to  eat, 
pulpy  rather  than  juicy,  and  of  a  very  pleas- 
ant odor,  perceptible  at  quite  a  distance, 
and  unlike  any  scent  I  can  recall.  Neither 
was  common.  The  wild  lemon  grew  in 
low,  but  not  swampy  meadows.  Does  any 
of  your  readers  remember  these  wild  fruits 
or  their  proper  names  ?  Information  is  de- 
sired —  G.  E.  B." 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Bag-pipe. — In  what  countries  is  the 
bag- pipe  known  apart  from  importations  ? 

J.  F.  O. 

NEW  YORK. 

Patriarchs.  —  Will  some  one  of  your 
correspondents  enumerate  for  me  the  various 
ecclesiastical  patriarchates,  (i)  in  the  Latin 
and  Greek  churches,  and  (2)  in  the  various 
minor  Oriental  communions  ? 


CONRAD  M.  CLAY. 


WHEELING,  W.  VA. 


City  Built  By  Gentlemen.— What 
city  "was  built  by  gentlemen  for  gentle- 
men?" L.  M.  RAY. 

CLINTON,  MASS. 


306 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [October  25,  1890. 


Landgraves  and  Caciques.— VVere 
the  landgraves  and  caciques  of  the  united 
Carolina  colonies  intended,  as  the  germ  of 
an  hereditary  aristocracy  ?  Is  there  any  list 
of  the  gentlemen  upon  whom  these  titles 
were  conferred  ?  F.  L.  P. 

HUDSON,  N.  Y. 

Gorgeana. — It  is  commonly  said,  that 
Gorgeana,  now  York,  Me.,  chartered  in 
1641,  was  the  earliest  chartered  city  in 
English-speaking  America.  Is  this  true  ? 

M.  R.  B. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Chowder. — This  word  occurs  in  Bos- 
well's  "  Letters  to  W.  J.  Temple,"  at  a  date 
earlier  (I  think)  than  any  given  in  "  Mur- 
ray's Dictionary."  This  example  is  also 
important  as  being  a  non-American  one; 
it  may  possibly  be  of  service  in  showing  that 
this  American  word  had  an  old-world,  or 
British  origin.  May  it  not  once  have  been 
Scottish  ?  Qui  TAM. 

GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 

Subterraneous  Prison.— Will  your 
Hartford  correspondent,  or  some  other  New 
Englander,  kindly  give  me  some  account  (if 
it  be  not  asking  too  much)  of  the  former 
subterraneous  State  Prison  of  Connecticut, 
with  such  bibliography  of  the  subject  as  may 
be  accessible  ?  P.  S.  C. 

SALEM,  N.  J. 


©OMMUNIGATIONS. 

Yosemite  Falls  (Vol.  v,  p.  276).—  The 
idea  that  these  cataracts  disappear  owing  to 
the  drying  up  of  Merced  river  is  wide-spread 
but  nevertheless  erroneous.  The  volume  of 
the  river  sometimes  becomes  so  reduced  that 
Bridal  Veil  fall  is  sprayed  into  a  fine  mist 
before  it  reaches  the  foot  of  the  precipice, 
but  I  cannot  recall  a  single  instance  where 
either  of  the  cascades  have  been  reported  to 
have  disappeared  during  the  dry  season. 
The  river  occasionally  becomes  nearly  or 
quite  dry  below  the  falls  in  very  hot  summer. 

J.  W.  R. 


The  Origin  in  Literature  of  Vul- 
garisms.— Many  surprises  lie  in  wait  for 
the  reader  of  our  earlier  literature — none 
more  startling,  perhaps,  than  the  discovery 
that  most  of  our  so-called  vulgarisms  are  of 
ancient  origin  and  of  common  occurrence 
in  what,  in  the  history  of  English  literature, 
may  be  designated  the  classics  of  the  period. 
The  dialect  of  the  Tennessee  mountains, 
as  set  forth  in  Miss  Murfree's  books,  the 
dialect  of  the  illiterate  people  of  Georgia, 
as  shown  in  the  stories  of  R.  M.  Johnston 
and  J.  C.  Harris,  the  dialect  of  the"  Biglovv 
Papers,"  spoken  ofby  Mr.  Lowell  in  his  intro- 
duction as  "the  Yankee  dialect" — all  of 
common  origin  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  some  provincialisms  to  be  noted,  ex- 
hibiting essentially  the  same  characteristics 
— illustrate  not  only  the  common  talk  of  the 
uneducated,  North  and  South,  but  also  the 
speech  of  England's  noblemen  and  scholars 
centuries  ago.  The  kind-hearted  people 
who  use  these  old  forms  of  speech  are  sim- 
ply out  of  fashion.  Their  language,  brought 
from  the  old  country  in  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  even  then  the  un- 
changed, or  but  slightly  changed,  speech  of 
hundreds  of  years  earlier,  has  been  handed 
down  from  father  to  son  through  a  long 
line  of  ancestry  unaccustomed  to  the  use 
and  enjoyment  of  books,  and  hence  igno- 
rant of  the  literary  changes  of  fashion. 

"Vulgarisms,"  says  Mr.  Sweet,  of  Lon- 
don, in  his  "History  of  English  Sounds" 
(1888),  "are  of  various  kinds.  Some  of 
them  are  due  to  the  influence  of  neighboring 
dialects ;  others  are  archaisms,  which  once 
formed  part  of  the  standard  language  ;  and 
others,  again,  are  anticipations  of  changes 
that  are  imminent  in  the  standard  language. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  the  study  of  vulgar 
English,  both  as  preserving  the  fossilized 
standard  pronunciations  of  an  earlier  period, 
and  as  pointing  the  direction  of  future 
changes."  Whether  or  not  Mr.  Lowell  is 
correct  in  his  opinion  that  "  Jonathan  is 
more  like  the  Englishman  of  two  centuries 
ago  than  John  Bull  himself  is,"  Jonathan's 
speech  certainly  is,  if  any  account  be  taken 
of  the  so-called  Americanisms  charged  to  us 
by  English  writers  who  seem  to  have 
forgotten  the  rock  out  of  which  they  were 
hewn. 


October  25,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


-  3°7 


A  collection  of  passages  that  I  have 
marked  in  my  reading  of  the  literature  of 
different  periods  furnishes  the  basis  of  this 
paper.  To  match  these  older  forms  with 
examples  illustrating  the  survival  of  them  in 
the  colloquial  speech  of  to-day,  I  have  read 
Miss  Murfree's  "  Prophet  of  the  Great 
Smoky  Mountain,"  R.  M.  Johnston's 
"Mediations  of  Mr.  Archie  Kittrell,"  and 
"The  Brief  Embarrassment  of  Mr.  Iverson 
Blount,"  and  J.  C.  Harris'  "Trouble  on 
Lost  Mountain,"" and  "The  Old  Bascom 
Place,"  and  "  Biglow  Papers."  Other 
dialect  stories  have  supplied  occasional  ex- 
amples not  found  in  those  already  men- 
tioned. I  have  read  with  fresh  interest  Mr- 
Lowell's  essay  on  "  The  Yankee  Dialect," 
in  the  "Biglow  Papers,"  and  have  fre- 
quently referred  to  it.  The  facilities  for 
the  study  of  English  have  so  greatly  in- 
creased since  that  essay  was  written,  that  no 
superior  scholarship  is  required  to  point  out 
certain  etymological  errors  into  which  the 
author  has  fallen.  In  fact,  etymology  had 
not  then  become  a  science. 

To  make  a  beginning,  the  tother,  for  the 
other,  is  of  general  use  in  the  literature  of 
the  past.  The  evolution  of  this  expression 
may  be  exhibited  thus :  thaet  other,  that 
other,  thet  other,  the  tother,  the  other.  In  the 
tother,  the  initial  /  got  misplaced,  just  as  it 
happened  to  n  in  a  newt  for  an  ewt,  a  nick- 
name for  an  eke-name,  my  nuncle  for  mine 
uncle.  This  agglutination  of  the  article  is 
not  uncommon  in  French  :  as,  lierre  for 
rierre  (Lat.  (h)  ederd),  loriot  for  r  oriot. 
Skakespeare  has  a  limbeck  for  alembic  (Ara- 
bic al  ambik  where  al  is  the  definite  article). 
The  reader  of  our  earlier  literature  therefore 
recognizes  a  familiar  acquaintance  in  the 
speech  of  the  Tennessee  mountaineer : 

"  I  reckon  it  rankles  you  for  to  see  old 
Tuck  Peevy  a  hangin'  roun'  when  the  tother 
feller's  in  sight." 

He  is  reminded  of  passages  in  Wiclif's 
translation  of  the  Scripture,  such  as  : 

"  And  it  was  restorid  to  helthe  as  the 
tother ;"  "  and  the  tother  day  he  entrid  in  to 
cesarie. ' ' 

Even  so  late  as  the  sixteenth  century,  Sir 
Thomas  More,  whose  works  Mr.  Hallam 
finds  so  "  free  from  vulgarisms  and 


pedantry,"  writes  in  his  "  Confutation  "  of 
Tyndale : 

"  He  whych  in  two  so  plain  englishe 
words,  and  so  common  as  is  naye  and  no, 
cannot  tell  when  he  should  take  the  tone,  and 
when  the  tother,  is  not,  for  translating  into 
englishe,  a  man  very  mete." 

Nother  (ne-other),  rhyming  with  tother — 
usually  spelled  phonetically,  as  "  Hecouldn't 
ha'  told  ye  nuther" — is  an  older  and  more 
regularly  developed  form  than  neither,  in 
common  use  in  the  literature  of  the  four- 
teenth century. 

"  And  ful  atempre,  forsoothe,  hyt  was, 
For  nother  to  (too)  cold  norhoote  yt  nas  "  'ne  waS)^ 

(Chaucer.) 

Nor — nor  is  a  contraction  of  nother — 
nother,  as  or  is  of  other  (Ger.  oder).  This 
older  or  still  survives  in  the  South,  as  I 
gather  from  Col.  Johnston's  stories  : 

"I'm  a  young  man,  a  reasonable  speakin', 
and  can  out-run,  out-jump  and  fling  down 
other  Cullen  or  Williamson." 

Here  is  a  line  from  "  Piers  Plowman  " 
(1362) — which,  whenever  quoted  in  this  ar- 
ticle, is  short  for  the  long  title  William 
Langland,  the  author,  gave  to  this  once 
popular  poem : 

"  Axe  other  hachet  or  eny  wepne  ellis." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  this  archaism  now 
survives  elsewhere  than  in  the  South.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  was  surprised  to  find  sur- 
viving in  New  England,  as  I  infer  from  the 
"  Biglow  Papers,"  a  very  common  middle 
English  verb  that  I  had  supposed  long  ago 
obsolete,  tote,  meaning  to  look,  to  peep. 

"  An  Gin'ral  when  you've  mixed  the  drinks  an'  chalked 

'em  up,  tote  roun' 

An' see  ef  ther's  a  feather-bed   (thet's  borryable)  in 
town." 

And  John  Skelton  : 

"  How  often  dyd  I  tote 
Upon  her  pretty  fote." 

This  is  altogether  a  different  word  from 
the  tote,  to  carry  as  a  burden — the  origin  of 
— in  the  following  line  from  the  "  Biglow 
Papers :" 

"  Ez  Yankee  skippers  would  keep  on 
A.-iotin  on  'em  over." 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [October  25,  1890. 


As  to  them  days,  the  great  and  good  King 
Alfred  himself  writes : 

"On  tham  othrum  thrim  dagum," 
literally,  on  them  other  three  days. 

The  'em,  for  an  older  hem,  is  a  form  long 
in  use  before  the  demonstrative  them  was 
ever  employed  as  a  personal  pronoun. 

The  middle  English  agen,  variously  spelt 
agein,  ageyn,  agien,  that  used  to  do  service 
for  our  modern  against,  still  survives  in  the 
colloquial  agin;  as, 

"  The  Bible's  agin  it  and  I'm  agin  it." 

Against  is,  of  course,  not  a  superlative. 
Mr.  Lowell  was  deceived  by  what  he  himself 
so  aptly  styles  "the  logic  of  the  eye." 
Against  is  the  genitive  (adverbial)  of  again, 
with  an  excrescent  //  as,  again-es-t,  whil-es-t, 
mid-es-t.  Compare  German  ein-(*i)s-t,  which 
is  classical,  with  our  once-t  (on-es-t),  which 
is  vulgar. 

Nary  is  for  ne'r  a,  contraction  of  never  a. 

"And  I  did  not  supposinged  she  owed 
nary  dollar  ner  nary  cent  to  nobody." 

Its  literary  ancestor  may  be  seen  in  John 
Selden's  "Table  Talk:" 

"  For  if  I  have  1000  /.  per  annum  and 
give  it  to  you  and  leave  myself  ne'er  a 
penny." 

Ourn,  for  our,  is  a  dialectic  form  quite 
common  in  literature. 

"  We  kin  see  a  power  o'  kentry  from  this 
spot  o'  ourn,  sure  enough." 

"This  is  the  eire  ;  come  ye,  sle  we  hym, 
and  the  eritage  schal  be  ouren"  (Wiclif). 

Hankercher  for  handkerchief  is  found  in 
Shakespeare's  vocabulary — I  have  lost  the 
reference — as  well  as  in  Mr.  Kittrell's. 

"  I  tuck  out  my  hankercher  and  blovved 
my  nose  tremenjuous." 

"Lord  Ossory,"  says  Mr.  Lowell,  "as- 
sures us  that  Voltaire  saw  the  best  society  in 
England,  and  Voltaire  tells  his  countrymen 
that  handkerchief  was  pronounced  handker- 
fher.  I  find  it  so  spelt  in  Hakluyt  and  else- 
where. This  enormity  the  Yankee  still  per- 
sists in,  and  as  there  is  always  a  reason  for 
such  deviations  from  the  sound  as  rep- 
resented by  the  spelling,  may  we  not  sus- 
pect two  sources  of  derivation,  and  find  an 
ancestor  for  kercher  in  couverture?  And 
what  greater  phonetic  vagary  in  our  lingua 
rustica  than  this  ker  for  couvre  9"  The  old 
French  word  was  covrir  (Lat.  co-operire), 


from  which  come  the  middle  English  forms, 
coveren,  keveren  and  kiveren  ;  ker  is  a  con- 
traction of  kever.  Kerchief  appears  in 
literature  in  a  great  variety  of  forms  :  couer- 
chief,  keverchitf,  kerchef,  kyrchefe,  courchef, 
courche,  kerche,  from  the  last  of  which  hand- 
kercher  would  naturally  come.  The  cur  in 
curfew  {couvrefeu)  comes  of  course  from  the 
form  couer. 

Fur,  for  far,  and  furder  to*  farther,  are 
easily  matched  in  literature. 

"  God  makes  sech  nights,  all  white  an'  still, 
Fur  'z  you  can  look  or  listen." 


he  is  from  such  vaunted  titles 
and  glorious  showes  "  (Edmund  Spenser's 
Epistles). 

"  I  sometimes  think  the  furder  on  I  go, 
Thet  it  gits  harder  to  feel  sure  I  know." 

This  use  of  furder  as  an  adjective  I  find  in 
William  Dunbar's  poems  : 

"  But  (without)  furder  process,  cum  on 
thairfore  anone." 

A  century  earlier  the  author  of  "  Pierce 
the  Ploughman's  Crede  "  wrote  : 

"  Thanne  walked  y  ferrer  and  went  all 
abouten  "  (Then  walked  I  farther  and 
went  all  about). 

Ferrer  is  more  regular  than  farther,  which 
is  an  etymological  hunchback. 

Sech,  for  such,  I  have  not  been  able  to 
find,  but  sick  was  quite  classical. 

"  Shepheards  sich,  God  mought  us  many 
send  "  ("  The  Shepheard's  Calender"). 

"And  in  many  siche  parables  he  spac  to 
hem  a  word  "  (Wiclif). 

Yallow  for  yellow  is  not  uncommon. 

"'Right  here,'  a  favorite  phrase,"  says 
Mr.  Lowell,  "  with  our  orators  and  with  a 
certain  class  of  our  editors,  turns  up  passim 
in  the  Chester  and  Coventry  Plays.  Mr. 
Dickens  found  something  very  ludicrous  in 
what  he  considered  our  neologism  right 
away.  But  I  find  a  phrase  very  like  it,  and 
which  I  half  suspect  to  be  a  misprint  for  it 
in  '  Grammer  Gurton  :  '  " 

"  Light  it  and  bring  it  tite  away." 

After  all,  what  is  it  but  another  form  of 
straightway  ? 

Right  now  in  Robert  Manning's  "  Hand- 
lyng  Synne  "  will  match  right  away,  and 


October  25,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


3°9 


so  will  riht  anon  in  the  "  Geste  of  King 
Horn:" 

"  Athulf,  he  sede,  riht  anon 
Thu  schalt  with  me  to  bure  gon." 

But  tite  away  is  quite  another  thing.  Tite 
is  from  an  older  tid  (Ger.  Zeif),  time  and 
means  quickly.  From  this  same  tid,  plus 
the  adjective  suffix  ig,  we  get  tidy,  which 
means  first,  seasonable,  appropriate,  then 
neat.  In  like  manner  comes  silly  (sael-ig) 
from  sael,  another  English  word  for  time, 
meaning  first  timlly,  then  lucky,  blessed, 
innocent,  and  lastly,  foolish.  Tite,  meaning 
quickly,  is  seen  in  the  following  line  from 
Hampole's  "  Pricke  of  Conscience  :" 

"  If  that  tre  was  tite  pulled  oute." 

The  dissyllabic  pastes  (posts),  nestes 
(nests),  beastes  (beasts),  still  heard  in  rural 
districts,  were  regular  at  the  beginning  of 
the  modern  English  period. 

"An'  he's  been  a  hangin'  'roun'  me," 
says  Major  Jimmy  Bass,  "  off  an'  on,  gittin' 
his  vittles,  his  clozes,  an'  his  lodgin'." 

"  What  d'  ye  bring  the  savage  beastis 
home  fur,  out'n  the  woods  whar  they 
b'long?" 

With  these  compare  a  line  from  Chaucer : 

"  I  wol  not  tell  of  textes  never  a  del ;" 

and  a   passage  from    "  Renard  the  Fox," 
printed  by  Caxton  in  1481  : 

"  Alle  the  beestis  grete  and  smale  cam  to 
the  courte  sauf  reynard  the  fox,  for  he 
knew  hymself  fawty  and  gylty  in  many 
thinges. ' ' 

Wiclif  has  "  foure  fotid  beestis."  An 
older  form  of  the  children's  goodies  may  be 
seen  in  this  passage  from  Wiclif  s  transla- 
tion : 

"  But  c rist  beynge  a  bischop  of  gcodes  to 
comynge"  (Prof.  Edward  A.  Allen  in 
Chautauquan) . 

\_To  be  continued. .] 

Waterford  (Vol.  ii,  p.  179). — Did  not 
your  correspondent  "  Rawe  "  make  a  slip 
of  the  pen  when  he  wrote  that  "  Waterford 
is  a  point  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Ire- 
land ?"  And  a  second  when  he  stated  that 
"  it  does  not  reach  the  dignity  of  a  town  ?" 

P.  R.  E. 


Man-of-War  (Vol.  v,  p.  288).— I  thirk 
that  the  apparent  inconsistency  of  gender  in 
man-of-war,  merchantman,  fisherman  and 
the  like,  can  be  explained  satisfactorily  by 
the  fact  that  all  such  names  refer  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  actions  or  business  of  the 
ship's  crew  than  to  the  usual,  graceful — and 
therefore  feminine — movements  of  the  vessel 
herself.  This  also  accounts  for  the  use  of 
we  and  he  for  our  own  and  the  enemy's  vessel 
in  conflict,  where  the  hostile  animus  is  so 
strong  that  the  vessels'  personalities  are  com- 
pletely overborne  by  those  of  the  com- 
batants. But  in  describing  the  "behavior" 
of  a  vessel,  her  action  under  sail  and  so  on, 
no  matter  what  her  professional  name  may 
be,  the  pronouns  applied  to  her  are  always 
feminine ;  and  the  gender  is  changed  only 
in  these  compounds  where  the  unsophisti- 
cated mind  is  confronted  with  the  absurdity 
of  considering  a  vessel  in  the  act  of  war, 
piracy  or  business — pursuits  pretty  much 
alike  at  bottom — as  other  than  masculine. 

H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

First      English      Poet-Laureate.— 

Many  discussions  have  appeared  as  to  who 
was  the  first  English  poet-laureate  and  at 
what  date.  The  office  dates  back  to  the 
reign  of  Edward  IV,  1461-1483,  and  its 
first  incumbent  was  John  Kay.  Strange  to 
say,  this  poet-laureate  "  left  no  pieces  of 
poetry  to  prove  his  pretensions  in  some  de- 
gree to  this  office."  All  that  is  known  from 
his  pen  is  a  prose  English  translation  of  a 
Latin  history  of  the  Siege  of  Rhodes. 

ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Scottish  Cities. — There  are  a  number  of 
proverbial  expressions  attached  to  various 
Scottish  towns.  At  this  moment  I  can  re- 
call but  two,  "  Linlithgow  for  wells,"  and 
"  Peebles  for  pleasure."  I  am  sure  some  of 
your  correspondents  can  supply  other  exam- 
ples. J.  G.  M. 

Leading  Apes  in  Hell  (Vol.  v,  pp.  84, 
etc.). — "  Then  this  sufficeth  me,  that  my 
seconde  daughter  shall  not  lead  apes  in  hell, 
though  she  have  not  a  penny  for  the  Priest " 
("Euphues  and  his  England,"  p.  282  ) 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [October  25,  1890. 


Fossil  Beeswax  (Vol.  v,  p.  299). — The 
known  deposits  of  "  mineral  wax"  (ozo- 
kerite, etc.)  are  of  the  nature  of  paraffin, 
and  are  doubtless  related  to  petroleum.  But 
I  see  no  reason  why  beeswax  should  not  be 
found  fossil,  as  well  as  fossil  copal,  kauri 
gum,  and  the  like.  But  it  does  not  seem 
probable  that  it  should  be  found  in  North 
America,  where  there  are  no  native  species 
of  wax-producing  bees.  But  there  may  have 
been  some  such  species  in  prehistoric,  or 
geologically  remote,  ages.  The  "  bog-but- 
ter" found  in  Ireland  would  appear  in  some 
instances,  but  not  in  all  to  be  really  a  fossil 
butter.  I  imagine  that  the  lake-dwellers  in 
the  old  Irish  crannogs  kept  their  butter  in 
subaqueous  places  for  safety  and  coolness, 
and  when  the  lakes  became  transformed  into 
bogs,  the  butter  became  fossilized.  But  some 
samples  of  bog-butter  would  appear  to  be  of 
resinous  origin.  G.  X.  F. 

CANANDAIGUA,  N.  Y. 

Pets  of  Distinguished  People  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  276,  etc.).  —  William  the  Silent s 
Spaniel. — Those  who  have  visited  the  New 
Church  at  Delft  (Holland),  and  seen  there 
the  statue  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  must  have 
recognized  a  fitting  accessory  in  the  sculp- 
tured dog  at  its  feet — especially  after  read- 
ing Mr.  Motley's  thrilling  account  of  Don 
Frederic's  encamisada  on  the  camp  before 
Mons,  September  1 1  and  12,  1572.  The  story 
as  given  by  the  historian  is  as  follows  :  "A 
chosen  band  of  arquebusiers,  attired,  as  was 
customary  in  those  nocturnal  expeditions, 
with  their  shirts  outside  their  armor,  that 
they  might  recognize  each  other  in  the  dark- 
ness, were  led  by  Julian  Romero  within  the 
lines  of  the  enemy.  The  sentinels  were  cut 
down,  the  whole  army  surprised,  and  for  a 
moment  powerless,  while  for  two  hours  long, 
from  one  till  three  in  the  morning,  Spaniards 
butchered  their  foes,  hardly  aroused  from 
their  sleep,  and  ignorant  by  how  small  a 
force  they  had  been  thus  suddenly  surprised, 
and  unable,  in  the  confusion,  to  distinguish 
between  friend  and  foe.  The  boldest,  led 
by  Julian  in  person,  made  at  once  for  the 
Prince's  tent.  His  guards  and  himself  were 
in  profound  sleep,  but  a  small  spaniel,  who 
always  passed  the  night  upon  his  bed,  was  a 
more  faithful  sentinel.  The  creature  sprang 


forward,  barking  furiously  at  the  sound  of 
hostile  footsteps,  and  scratching  his  master's 
face  with  his  paws.  There  was  but  just  time 
for  the  Prince  to  mount  a  horse  which  was 
ready  saddled,  and  to  effect  his  escape 
through  the  darkness  before  his  enemies 
sprang  into  the  tent.  His  servants  were  cut 
down,  his  master  of  the  horse,  and  two  of 
his  secretaries,  who  gained  their  saddles  a 
moment  later,  all  lost  their  lives ;  and  but 
for  the  little  dog's  watchfulness,  William  of 
Orange,  upon  whose  shoulders  the  whole 
weight  of  the  country's  fortunes  depended, 
would  have  been  led  within  a  week  to  an 
ignominious  death.  The  Prince  ever  after 
kept  a  spaniel  of  the  same  race  in  his  bed- 
chamber" (Rise,  "  Dutch  Republic,"  Vol. 

».  P-  397)- 

Although  the  distinguished  service  of  this 

little  canine  sentinel,  who  might  justly  be 
considered  the  savior  of  his  country,  is  not 
destined  to  oblivion,  both  his  name  and  his 
fate  are  unrecorded.  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Muckamuck  (Vol.  v,  p.  271). — W.  R. 
P.  should  cultivate  classical  Chinook,  instead 
of  Chinook  slang.  High  Muckamuck  is  the 
slangiest  kind  of  slang,  that  means  nothing. 
Hiu  muckamuck  means  literally  "big  feed," 
or  "  plenty  of  food."  The  expression  High 
Muckamuck  is  certainly  in  use  in  the  west, 
as  W.  R.  P.  says,  but  it  is  in  very  bad  style, 
as  Chinook  style  goes.  The  proper  ex- 
pression for  "chief"  is  tyee — for  great 
chief,  hyas  tyee.  If  W.  R.  P.  wishes  to  ac- 
quaint himself  with  the  kind  of  literature 
that  is  representative  of  the  Chinook  "  400," 
he  might  study  the  style  and  diction  of  the 
following  classical  selection  : 

"  Oh  Lilly,  klose  Lilly,  hyas  klose  Lilly  Dale ! 

Alto  tipso  mitlite  kopa 
Tenas  memaloos  house 
Nika  kli-hium  stik  illahee." 

OROG. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Highbinder  (Vol.  v,  p.  271). — It  was 
not  the  writer's  intention  to  make  highbinder 
a  derivative  of  "  ^«ry-binder ;"  on  the  con- 
trary, such  a  derivation  is  highly  improbable. 

WARDLAW. 
NEW  YORK'CITY. 


October  25,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Skate  Runners  (Vol.  v,  pp.  286,  etc.). 
— "The  Skielobere,  or  skating  soldiers 
{[riflemen  on  skates,  which  had  performed 
such  efficient  service  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  and  were  maintained  as 
long  as  Norway  was  under  the  Danish 
Crown]  are  said  (18.39)  to  exist  no  longer; 
though  no  reason  is  assigned  for  the  extinc- 
tion of  a  force  so  admirably  adapted  for 
such  a  country  as  Norway  ;  the  ease  and 
rapidity  of  their  movements  over  snow  and 
ice,  the  facility  with  which  they  could 
ascend  and  desceitd  declivities,  rendered 
such  a  body  of  riflemen  invaluable  for  the 
defense  of  the  country  in  case  of  any  inva- 
sion during  the  winter  months." 

Laing,  in  his  "  Journal  of  a  Residence  in 
Norway"  during  the  years  1834,  1835, 
1836,  has  notices  more  or  less  at  length  in 
regard  to  the  military  organization.  He 
remarks:  "Although  the  patriotic  inhabi- 
tants of  this  romantic  land  (Norway)  are 
better  fitted  for  riflemen  than  any  other 
nation  of  Europe,  except  the  Swiss,  they  take 
but  comparative  little  pride  in  that  arm 
which  has  achieved  their  greatest  and  really 
startling  successes.  Cavalry  is  the  passion 
of  the  people,  although,  for  a  hundred  miles 
back  from  the  coast,  the  country  is  of  the 
same  wild  mountainous  description,  there 
not  being  ten  acres  together  which  is  not 
commanded." 

When  the  French  armies  of  Louis  XIV, 
under  the  famous  Luxemburg,  invaded  Hol- 
land, in  1672,  the  Dutch,  to  preserve  their 
liberty,  cut  their  dykes  and  laid  the  whole 
country  under  water.  During  the  winter  of 
1672-1673  everything  was  ice,  and  Luxem- 
burg had  the  idea  of  putting  his  infantry  on 
skates,  and  so  making  sure  conquest  of  Am- 
sterdam and  in  fact  all  Holland.  What  would 
have  been  the  eventual  success  of  this  idea 
remains  an  unsolved  problem,  because  the 
ice  weakened,  and  beginning  to  melt,  put 
an  end  to  all  military  operations,  and  Hol- 
land was  saved. 

At  one  time,  to  what  extent  cannot  now 
be  ascertained,  the  Dutch  had  troops  accus- 
tomed to  manouvre  on  skates,  and  as  they  are  a 
skating  people,  it  is  very  probable  that  such 
is  the  case  down  to  the  present  date. 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


Chinese  in  America. — "By  latest  a^- 
counts  the  claims  that  the  Norsemen  who 
touched  on  the  coast  of  Rhode  Island  in  1001 
were  the  first  discoverers  of  America  must  be 
remitted  to  the  lumber  room  of  history. 
An  American  missionary  in  China  named 
Shaw,  aided  by  the  great  Chinese  antiqua- 
rian scholar  Ta-Ku,  has  deciphered  a  manu- 
script which  apparently  puts  at  rest  the 
question  of  the  discovery  of  this  hemisphere. 
According  to  this  manuscript,  which  was 
found  in  the  city  of  Si-Apau-Hu,  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Hoang-Ho,  America  was 
discovered  in  the  year  217  B.  C.  by  a 
Chinese  sea  captain  named  Hi-Li. 

"  It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  upon  all  the 
romantic  details  of  this  narrative,  which 
reads  more  like  a  chapter  of  the  '  Arabian 
Nights  '  than  a  sober  excerpt  of  history. 
The  account  relates  that  after  a  weary  voy- 
age of  three  months  and  some  days  a  Chinese 
sailor  on  the  lookout  cried,  '  Land  !  Land  !' 
and  that  on  June  10,  in  the  year  217  B.C., 
Captain  Hi-Li  and  his  crew  landed  on  the 
shores  of  California.  For  three  months  the 
bold  navigator  explored  the  coast,  and  on 
his  return  gave  a  glowing  account  of  the 
country  and  predicted  future  greatness.  He 
discovered  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  and 
entered  into  intimate  trade  relations  with  the 
natives ' '  {Philadelphia  Record). 

A  Slip  of  Coleridge's  (Vol.  v,  p.  287). 
— The  writer  of  the  note  at  the  above  refer- 
ence might  have  added  another  slip  in  the 
same  passage.  The  space  within  the  tips  of 
the  moon's  crescent,  or  decrescent,  horns 
never  contains  a  star.  That  space  is  occu- 
pied by  a  part  of  the  moon's  disk  which  is 
invisible  at  the  time,  and  any  star  that  may 
lie  in  that  direction  is  of  course  occultated 
by  the  moon.  ROMLEY. 

LITTLE  SILVER,  N.  J. 

Dread  of  Happiness  (Vol.  v,  p.  297). 
— The  ancients  believed  that  prosperity  was 
very  apt  to  be  followed  by  calamity.  The 
ancient  saying,  Sperate  miseri ;  cavete  felices, 
"Hope  on,  ye  unhappy;  be  cautious,  ye 
happy  ones,"  is  an  illustration  of  this  feel- 
ing. See  further  Vol.  iii,  p.  135,  for  the 
legend  of  the  "  Ring  of  Polycrates,"  which 
further  illustrates  the  same  feeling. 


3I2 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [October  25,  1890. 


Singular  Place  Names  (Vol  .v,  p.  237, 
etc). — I  find  the  following  list  of  American 
place  names  in  an  English  publication : 
Alkaliburg,  Bleeder's  Gulch,  Bloody  Bend, 
Boanerges  Ferry,  Breeches  Fork,  Bludgeons- 
ville,  Bugville,  Butter's  Sell,  Buried  Pipe, 
Cairoville,  Clean  Deck,  Daughter's  Loss, 
Euchreville,  Eurekapolis,  Eurekaville, 
Fighting  Cocks,  Hell  and  Nails  Crossing, 
Hezekiahville,  Hide  and  Seek,  Jack  Pot, 
Joker,  Murderville,  Nettle  Carrier,  Numa- 
ville,  Peddlecake,  Poker  Flat,  Poawottomie- 
ville,  Plumpville,  Roaring  Fox,  Sharper's 
Creek,  Skeletonville  Agency,  Soaker's 
Ranche,  Spottedville,  Starvation,  Stuck-up- 
Canon,  Thief  s  End,  Tombstone,  Villa  Real- 
ville,  Yellow  Medicine,  etc. 

MARY  OSBORNE. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Calf  of  Man  (Vol.  v,  p.  244). — Our  own 
Delaware  affords  two  examples  of  the  same 
idea  of  naming  groups  of  islands  or  shoals 
from  the  image  of  the  animal  and  her  young. 
The  Hen  and  Chickens  is  the  name  of  a 
shoal  just  below  Cape  Henlopen  and  of 
another  above  Philadelphia  nearly  opposite 
Rancocas  creek.  The  application  in  these 
cases  of  the  hen  and  her  brood  is  peculiarly 
pertinent  to  the  irregular,  straying  form  of 
the  ridges  of  rock  or  sand. 

H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

Parallel  Passages. — The  parallelism 
noted  in  Vol.  v,  p.  251,  between  Keble's 
line,  "  Without  thee  I  cannot  live,"  and  a 
passage  from  Quarles'  "  Emblems,"  brings 
to  mind  a  third  passage  from  Drayton'spoem 
(1613),  "To  his  Coy  Love,"  which  ends, 
"I  cannot  live  without  thee."  But  I  do 
not  think  the  parallelism  in  either  case  is 
very  close,  or  very  remarkable. 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Devil  in  Geography  (Vol.  v,  p.  265). 
— Devil's  river  is  a  considerable  stream  in  Val- 
verde  county,  Tex.  Canon  Diablo  is  a  re- 
markable chasm  of  Arizona.  Devil's  Gate  and 
Devil's  Slide  are  well-known  localities  on 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad. 

P.  R.  E. 


Owl-shield  (Vol.  iii,  p.  20).—"  The 
Athenians'  ensign  was  an  owl  on  the  top  of  a 
pole,  in  honor  of  Athene,  their  protector  " 
(E.  Cobham  Brewer). 


E.  S.  COHEN. 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Atlantic  Monthly  for  November  is  opened  by  the 
new  serial,  by  Frank  R.  Stockton,  author  of  "  Rudder 
Grange,"  entitled  "  The  House  of  Martha."  It 
abounds  in  that  dry,  whimsical  humor,  which  is  so  dif- 
ficult to  analyze,  and  yet  so  easy  to  enjoy.  The  short 
parts  which  make  up  this  installment  are  called  "  My 
Grandmother  and  I,"  "  Relating  to  my  Year  in. 
Europe,"  "  The  Modern  Use  of  the  Human  Ear,"  "  I 
obtain  a  Listener,"  "  My  Under-study,"  "  My  Book," 
"  The  Malarial  Adjunct "  (the  latter  being  the  invalid 
husband  of  an  amanuensis).  The  romantic  title, 
"  Along  the  Frontier  of  Proteus'  Realm,"  comes  rather 
strangely  after  Mr.  Stockton's  delightfully  matter-of- 
fact  humor.  The  paper  with  this  title  is  by  Edith 
Thomas,  and  is  a  charming  description  of  the  sea  in  its 
various  moods,  enlivened  by  verses  of  which  Miss 
Thomas  is  apparently  the  author.  "  The  Legend  of 
William  Tell"  is  traced  to  its  early  beginning  by  Mr. 
W.  B.  McCrackan  ;  and  Mr.  Frank  Gaylord  Cook  has 
an  instructive  paper  on  "  Robert  Morris."  "  Felicia" 
has  some  interesting  descriptions  of  life  on  the  stage, 
and  the  mutual  relations  of  the  singer  and  his  wife  be- 
come more  complicated.  "  A  Successful  Highwayman 
in  the  Middle  Ages,"  the  story  of  a  Castilian  bandit,  is 
told  by  Francis  C.  Lowell,  and  is  followed  by  "An 
American  Highwayman,"  by  Robert  H.  Fuller,  the 
mysterious  tale  of  "  the  only  American  highwayman 
who  has  ever  shown  himself  in  any  degree  worthy  of 
the  name."  "  The  Fourth  Canto  of  the  Inferno,"  by 
John  Jay  Chapman,  and  the  "  Relief  of  Suitors  in 
Federal  Courts,"  by  Walter  B.  Hill,  furnish  the  more  solid 
reading  of  the  number,  while  Percival  Lowell  contri- 
butes a  brilliant  and  interesting  paper  on  Mori  Arinori, 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Fate  of  a  Japanese  Reformer." 
Dr.  Holmes  bids  the  Atlantic  readers  farewell  all  too 
soon  in  the  closing  paper  of  "  Over  the  Teacups,"  in 
which,  for  a  few  moments,  he  steps  before  the  curtain, 
and  speaks  in  his  own  person.  Kate  Mason  Rowland's 
bright  paper  on  "  Maryland  Women  and  French  Offi- 
cers "  must  not  be  forgotten  by  any  lover  of  amusing 
sketches  of  society  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution. 


ERICAN  PES  AND  QUERIES: 


—A— 


MEDIUM  OF  INTERCOMMUNICATION 


Literary   Men,  General  Readers,  Etc. 


VOL.    V. 

MAY— OCTOBER,    1890 


THE  WESTMINSTER  PUBLISHING  CO., 

619   \Valntat  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


INDEXX  OK  VOIvUMTB  V. 


Abaca,  82 

Abbey,  Llanthony,  23 

A  Bold  Trooper,  256 

Accident,  discoveries  by,  36,  44,  143,  152,  179 

Accidents,  marks  of  inherited,  126 

Accursed  river,  266 

Adam  of  St.  Victor,  102,  155 

Adam's  peak,  300 

Adverb  and  adjective,  4,  138 

African  alphabet,  244 

Agathocles,  cup  of,  139*,  148 

Agony  of  prayer,  295 

Alaskan  names,  orthography  of,  155 

Alco,  295 

Alexander  and  Apelles,  208 

All  passes,  etc.,  190 

Alleluia  Victory,  108 

Allyballycarrick  O'Shaughlin,  114 

Almanacs,  old,  212 

Alphabet,  African,  244 

Alphabet,  shortest  sentence  containing  the,  12,  31,  59 

Altitudes,  21,  32,  66    • 

Ambrosia  and  nectar,  6,  21,  46,  59 

America,  100 

Amongst  for  all,  8 

Ampulla,  the,  107,  115 

Amusements,  olden  time,  I 

Anagrams,  32,  156,  238,  252,  272 

Angelots  of  Brie,  44 

Angelus,  82 

Animal  punishment,  curiosities  of,  163,  187,  216 

Animals,  curious  habits  in,  38 

Anon  a,  44 

Apes  in  hell,  leading,  84,  309 

intelligence  of,  207 
Araxes,  5 
Archdeacon,  125 
Arethusa,  254 
Arkansas,  247 
Armenean  wall,  124 
Arrow  traveller,  280,  304 
As  (see  Like), 

Ash  tree,  legends  of  the,  201,  206 
Askol,  245 

Ascka,  29,  59,  94,  193     • 
Aspenquid,  47 
Aurora  Borealis,  3 
Australia,  poet-laureate  of,  40 
Author  of  Catechism,  1 12 
AUTHORSHIP  WANTED: 

A  Bold  Trooper,  256 

All  passes,  etc.,  190 

Arethusa,  254 

Bacchus,  cher  Gregoire,  268 

Earth  born,  etc.,  65 

He  spake,  etc.,  186 

I  saw  a  jackdaw,  etc.,  115 

I  shall  be  satisfied,  161,  239,  246 


Jerusalem  the  Golden,  91 

Lo,  what  a  motley,  etc.,  305 

Not  answered  yet,  6 

Primroses  by  River  Brim,  64 

Remember  boy,  etc.,  174 

Shed  no  tear,  27 

Steam  gun,  280 

Strongest  weapon,  etc.,  4 

Taught  by  that  power,  etc.,  174,  186 

Time  was  made  for  slaves,  53 

Traveler  what  lies,  etc.,  28 

Tube,  I  love  thee,  etc.,  186 

We  know  so  little,  280 

When  we've  been  there,  etc.,  56,  188,  215,  226 

Who  shall  decide,  etc.,  220 
Autograph  hunting,  136 
Autum,  41 

Auvergne,  superstitions  of,  278 
Avalon,  153 
Aventurine,  44 
Avery's  Fall,  67 
Axe,  war  of  the,  66,  103 


Babylonia,  66 

Bacchus,  cher  Gregoire,  268 

Baedeker,  5 

Bagpipe,  305 

Baikal,  Lake,  174,  186 

Banjula,  29,  59,  94 

Barkstone,  162 

Barnabe  Barnes,  68 

Barwood,  54 

Basket,  96 

Basque  Motto,  254 

Basques,  32 

Bat,  blind  as  a,  120,  127 

Bath  of  blood,  77 

Battle  bell,  18 

of  the  herrings,  3 
of  three  kings,  267 

Bayonet  general,  266 

Bayou,  54 

Beard,  first  Pope  to  wear  a,  76 

Bedlamites,  45 

Beef,  rattle-rand  of,  5 

Beeswax,  mine  of,  299,  310 

Beetle,  blind  as  a,  76,  116 

Bell,  battle,  18 

Bengali  words  (see  Hindu} 

Benton,  Thos.  H.,  86 

Berdan,  95 

Besant,  Walter,  259 

Bible,  number  seven  in  the,  II 

Bibles,  curious,  289 

Bifteck,  26 

Billington  Sea,  45 
Bilsted,  79 
Bimini,  262 


IV 


INDEX. 


Bird,  sea  blue,  17 

Birds  of  Killingworth,  186,  198,  250 
Bird  told  me,  a  little,  263,  286 
Bishop  liberated  from  prison,  158 
Black  box,  6 

Blacksmith,  harmonious,  41,  64 
Blood,  bath  of,  77 
Blood-corpuscles,  252 
Blood  thicker  than  water,  209,  221 
Blue  nose,  47 

Blue-nosed  Presbyterians,  6,  47,  1 80 
Blue  sea  cat,  7,  31 
Boanerges,  295 

Boats  and  ships,  names  of,  106 

Books  and  Periodicals,  12,  24,48,60,72,96,120, 
144,  156,  168,  192,  204,  216,  228,  240,  252,  264, 
300,  312 

Boorde,  Andrew,  27 
Bootle,  1 14 
Boots,  Bonny,  31,  59 
Bore,  87,  114 
Bourbon,  family  name,  50 

Island  of,  12,  50 
Box,  black,  6 
Boxe,  26 
Boxer,  26 
Boxeur,  26 
Boy,  Greek,  103,  125 
Brack,  24,  39,  67,  143 
Branch,  18,  45,  48,  54 

Raystown,  296,  304 
Brazen  Fly  of  Virgil,  162,  171 
Bread  buttered  with  thumb,  86,  204 
Kreadalbane,  last  words  of  Lord,  139 
Breeching  scholar,  147 
Brick,  26 

Bridges,  natural,  224,  248 
Britain,  Little,  12 
British  Ministers  to  U.  S.,  90 
Brook,  1 8,  45,  48 
Brottus,  260 

Browning's  descent,  136 
Brygge-a-Bragge,  iij  36,  56 
Bucer,  27 
Buck  beer,  122 
Buckram,  47 

Buddhism  in  Lapland,  36,  115,  153 
Buddhist  priests  in  Mexico,  143 
Budge,  15 
Bug,  281 
Buhach,  280,  303 
Bulldoze,  22 

Bull's  blood  as  poison,  267 
Burial  customs,  curious,  163 
Burials,  eccentric,  287 
Buridan's  ass,  269 
Buss,  island  of,  141,  260 
By  and  by,  cannon  called,  207 
By  the  same  token,  245 
Byron,  Russian,  209,  221,  234 

Cabinet,  kitchen,  95 


Caciques,  306 

Cacoethes  Scribendi,  103,  113,  156 

Caisson  disease,  296 

Cake,  eating,  95 

Calf  of  Man,  221,  244,  263,  312 

Calls  and  recalls,  229 

Cambrial  Colchos,  28,  69 

Cambuscan,  233,  262 

Camelot,  28,  57,  72,  104 

Camels  in  U.  S.,  126,  137,  251 

Camwood,  54 

Candlewood,  295 

Captain  of  my  dreams,  103,  112,  131,  143,  151,  165 

Cardinals,  American,  147 

Cariacu,  204,  216,  260 

Carmagnola,  43 

Carpets,  rush,  65,  161 

Carriacu  (see  Cariacu) 

Castes  among  animals,  243 

the  reason  for,  85,  III 
Cat,  blue  sea,  7,  31 
Cat  Island,  122,  142 
Catechism,  author  of,  112 
Catlin,  58 
Cattle  calls,  256 
Cave,  Corycian,  5,  108 
Caviar  to  the  General,  3 
Celestial  Empire,  flowers  of  speech  in,  219 
Ceylon,  295 
Chair  of  Idris,  136 
Chald,  18 
Chamosalm,  6 

Characteristics  of  nations,  80 
Charity,  cold  as,  95 
Charivari,  106,  179 
Chasm,  Rafe's,  90 
Chebacco,  155 
Cheesecake  Brook,  68,  248 
Chelsea  Soldiers'  Home,  197 
Chetlins,  6 

Chewing  gum,  203,  207,  250 
Chian  hath  bought  himself  a  master,  247,  259 
Chickens,  Mother  Carey's,  101 
Children,  precocious,  140 
China,  66 
Chinese,  Greek  words  in,  276,  299 

in  America,  311 
Chowder,  306 
Christian  Cicero,  220 
Church,  crutches  in,  90,  213 

in  England,  smallest,  263 

pillars  of  the,  103 

St.  Mary's,  281 
Chute,  54 

Cicero,  Christian,  220 
Cina,  244 
Cities,  area  of,  151 

Greek  in  France  and  Spain,  126, 162,  173,  190 

Italian,  286 

names  of,  82 

Scottish,  309 

sunken,  164, 175,  275 


INDEX. 


City  built  by  gentlemen,  305 

name  wanted  for,  29,  41 

of  Ys,  20 

poets,  221,  240,  257 

Rock,  305 

Clapa,  Osgod,  7,  32,  69 
Clarenceux,  94,  154 
Claude's  Wife,  158 
Club,  26 

Cockles  of  the  heart,  250 
Cockney,  63,  So, 92 
Coehorn,  95 
Ccela,  5,  28  t 

Coenties  Slip,  145 
Colbertine,  43 
Colchos,  Cambrial,  28,  69 
Cold  as  charity,  95 
Colen  and  Boolle,  114,  162 
Coleridge's,  a  slip  of,  287,  311 
Colors  of  lakes  and  rivers,  177 
Columbus,  Christopher,  burial  place  of,  136 

landfall  of,  142,  155,  167,  188,  259 
Compass-plant,  280 
Compton's  letter,  Lady,  90,  124 
Coptic  customs,  curious,  158 
Corn,  acknowledge  the,  162 
Corp,  19 

Corrigenda,  180,  192 
Corycian  cave,  5,  108 
Coulee,  54 

Creek,  18,  30,  45,  54,  55,  71,  105,  143,  250 
Cremating  crows,  28 
Cross,  non-Christian  use  of,  204 
Croutons,  95 
Crowned  A,  162,  251 
Crows,  cremating,  28 
Crusade,  the  last,  288 
Crutches  in  church,  go,  213 
Cucumber,  cool  as  a,  176 
Cummerbund,  16,  34,  47,  271 
Cupid  playing,  246 
Cups,  throwing  the,  23 

Dahlgren,  95 
Dalles,  66 
Damnable,  9 
Dandy,  27 

Daughter,  Rappacini's,  75 
Daveiss,  Joe,  67 
Davenport,  15 

Davis  Island,  185,  204,  222,  236,  246,  262 
Day,  Saint  John's,  112 
Days  of  week,  names  of,  67,  114 
Deaf  Smith,  66 
Death,  key  of,  96 
Deaths  of  English  sovereigns,  22 
Decoration  Day,  79,  88 
Democritus  Minor,  199 
Demonax,  76 
Desert,  painted,  295 
Devil  in  geography,  265,  312 
plants,  243 


Devil's  Lake,  178 

land, 199,  220,  234,  249 
Dexter,  Lord  Timothy,  104,  162 
Dialect  forms,  115,  288 
Dice  probabilities,  52 
Dictionary,  Webster's  International,  301 
Divides  and  river  basins,  19 
Dogs  as  beasts  of  burden,  282 

Nootka  Sound,  186 

of  war,  269 
Dorimant,  281 
Dornick,  12 

Dragon-fly,  103,  113,  131,  144,  154 
Dreary  gleams,  150 
Drinks  like  a  fish,  49 
Drum-heads,  245 
Duke  of  York,  127,  166,  178 

Ear,  Jenkin's,  95 
Earth  born,  etc.,  65 

mother,  90,  112,  113 
Earthquake  of  i8n,  185,  273 

perpetual,  136,  258 
Easter,  89 

hare  and,  7 

Island  (see  Davis  Island} 
Eating  cake,  95 
Edenhall,  luck  of,  77 
Eggs,  birds',  208 
Egg  superstitions,  10 
Egyptological  notations,  38 
Eject,  9,  28 
Empire  State,  79 
Emu  in  New  Zealand,  198 
England,  rhymed  history  of,  48,  1 79 
English  words  in  French  language,  26,  37,  51 

village  names,  135,  214 
Erin  go  Bra,  72 
Eritrea,  197 

Etymologies,  71,  119,  132,  225 
Evil  eye,  97,  109,  132,  142 
Express,  27 
Eye,  criminal,  22 

evil,  97,  109,  132,  142 
Eyes  of  the  sea,  266 
Eyeglasses,  241 
Eygre,  87,  114 

Fabrics  named  from  places,  263 
Fall,  Avery's,  67 
Fanacle,  90,  113,  128,  271 
Fashion,  37 
Fashionable,  37 
Faun,  Marble,  221 
Faze,  139 
Felibre,  252 

Felix  in  geographical  names,  184 
Ff  in  proper  names,  90,  103,  129,  156,  192,  226 
Fiacre,  58 
Fiefes,  222 
Fire,  9,  28 

Fish,  drinks  like  a,  49 
flying,  291 


VI 


INDEX. 


Fishes,  fly  shooting,  87 

Fjord,  129 

Flagellants  in  New  Mexico,  139,  148 

Flamen,  183 

Flowers  of  speech,  219 

language  of,  254 
Fly,  brazen,  of  Virgil,  162,  171 

Helgramite,  36 

shooting  fishes,  87 
Fool  Hay,  101 

Foot,  bare  as  sign  of  respect,  14,  48 
Fountain  of  youth,  227 
Fox,  272 

Foxglove  Spire,  93,  118 
Franklin,  State  of,  66,  77,  89,  105 
French  language,  English  words  in,  26,  37,  5' 
Frogs  of  Windham,  171,  209 
Fruits,  forgotten  wild,  305 
Fudge,  41 
Funeral  plants,  243 
Push,  18,  41 

Galleries,  whispering,  31 

Gamblers,  superstitions  of,  116 

Gamut,  150 

Garments  following  drowned  body,  114,  137 

Catling,  95 

Gem-lore,  29,  91 

General  arose  from  sick-bed,  103 

shot  for  disobedience,  64,  77,  138 
Genius,  hardships  of,  1 80 
Gentlemen,  city  built  by,  305 
Gentoo,  8 

Geography,  Devil  in,  265,  312 
Georgeana,  306 
Ghost,  Woodhouselee,  101 
Gilsonite,  101,  116 
Glass,  Isle  of,  128 
Glasses,  covering,  looking,  6,  218 
Glorious  time,  a,  274 
God,  derivation  of  the  name  of,  86 

save  the  king,  251 
Golden,  Jerusalem  the,  91 
Goliards,  20 
Goober,  234,  248 
Goody-Two-Shoes,  3 
Goose  in  histoiy,  99,  119 

bone,  6,  102 

Gotham,  wise  men  of,  177 
Go  West,  young  man,  269 
Grain  coast,  137 

Grammar,  question  in,  27,  58,  72,  83,  96,  104,  118, 
129,  143 

more,  142 

Grant's  whisky,  270 
Grass  Poly,  66 

rescue,  1 6 
Greek  boy,  103,  125 

cities,  126,  162,  173,  190 

island  names,  147 

slaves,  269 

words  in  Chinese,  276,  299 


Green  isle,  136 

Green,  Tom,  65,  161 

Grevillea,  133,  225 

Guano,  152 

Guerriere,  18,  28 

Guinea,  164 

Gulf  of  the  Lion,  70,  93,  105,  106,  118,  130,  142 

Gyaros,  128 

Hackney-Barney,  45 
Happiness,  dread  of,  297,  311 
Hare  and  Easter,  7 

mad  as  a  March,  63 
Harmatlan  wind,  199,  255 
Hat,  stovepipe,  245 
Hay,  fool,  101 
He  hears  it  not,  280,  302 
He  spake,  etc.,  186 
Headed,  level,  33 
Hebrew,  263 
Helgramite  fly,  36 
Hell,  leading  apes  in,  84,  309 
Heraldry,  canting,  50,  94,  276 
Herod  and  Manamne,  171 
Herrings,  battle  of  the,  3 
Highbelia,  107 
Highbinder,  231,  271,  310 
High  life,  37 
Hindu  words,  71 
Holland,  269 

Holtselster,  5,  24,  30,  67,  127 
Hoop-snake,  206,  226 
Horicon,  104,  117,  125,  131 
Horn,  little  end  of,  55 

mad,  45,  58 
Hulder,  186 
Hum,  8 

Humble  origin,  men  of,  259,  296 
Humming  bird,  12,  96 
Hundred-harbored  Maine,  90 
Ilymettus,  Mount,  5 
Hymn,  heathen  inChristian  churches,  8 

oldest  Christian,  67,  152 

Iceland,  no  snakes  in,  296,  305 

Icta,  66,  82 

If  you  your  lips,  etc.,  245 

Ignatius,  Father,  23,  52 

Ignis  Fatuus,  9 

Ildegerte  of  Kotzebue,  294 

Ilford,  spoon  of,  69 

Imph-m,  45,  55 

Imprint-bearing  stones,  231 

India,  North  America  called,  207 

rubber  for  erasing,  247 

superstitions  of,  42 
Indian  summer,  185,  226 
Indigo,  126 
Infinitesimals,  288 

Inland,  rivers  flowing,  87,  108, 132, 142, 179,  202,  236 
Inquisition,  162 
Insolent  doctor,  208 


INDEX. 


Ireland's  eye,  221,  232,  249 

I  saw  a  jackdaw,  etc.,  115 

I  shall  be  satisfied,  161,  239,  246 

Island,  Davis,  185,  204,  222,  236,  246,  262 

Last,  209,  220,  239,  250 
Islands,  floating,  30,  132,  144 

line,  148 

North  Pacific,  269 

sunken,  19,  35,   131,  150,  180,  192,  227,  245, 

272 
Isle  of  glass,  1 28 

serpents,  139 
Israelite,  263 
Itasca,  232,  247 

Jambee,  4 
Jansonus,  65,  148 
Jenkin's,  300 

ear,  95 
Jersey,  263 
Jerusalem,  fallen,  263 

the  golden,  91 
Jew,  263 

market,  95 
Jiboose,  268 
Jimpsecute,  6 
Jingo,  69 
Jockey,  37 
John  Company,  239 
Joint,  3 

Jo- Jo,  115  # 

John  Dory,  79,  119 
Juffer,  7 

Junk-Ceylon,  295 
Junker,  239 

Jury.  38 

Justice,  vicarious,  41,  84 
Jutes,  233,  268 

Kangaroo,  47 

Kansas,  176 

Kaolin,  36 

Karamnasa,  266 

Karen  traditions,  207 

Katahdin,  280 

Kelp,  19 

Key  of  death,  96 

Kill,  Arthur,  16,  52,  67,  165,  178,  225 

Kill  van  Kull,  65,  78 

King  of  two  worlds,  197 

Kitchen  cabinet,  95 

Knout,  74 

Knyphausen,  General,  86,  204 

Koromantyn,  280,  303 

Kubla  Khan,  174 

Labrador,  256,  267 

Labrus,  15 

Lady,  the  white,  8 

Lake  of  the  Christians,  280,  304 

deepest,  299 

names,  122 


Lake,  Pyramid,  186 

Sadawga,  30 
Lakes,  colors  of,  177 

drained,   114,   125,  141,    179,    191,    213,   223, 
238,  249,  262,  274,  288,  300 

formed,  249,  259 

restored,  273 

walled,  65 

Lamb,  yoked  with  a,  103 
Lamballe,  Princess  de,  95 
Lambick,  16 
Lampadite,  16 
Land  of  charity,  220 

Devil's,  199,  220,  234,  249 

east  of  the  sun,  160 

of  lakes,  269 

Luic,  87 

marker,  126 

unknown,  57 
Landgraves,  306 
Land-pike,  21 
Language  of  flowers,  254 

Palestine,  245,  267 
Lapland,  Buddhism  in,  36,  115,  153 
Larrigan,  21 

Last  Island,  209,  220,  239,  250 
Latania,  n 

Latinized  Proper  Names,  27,  57,  226,  272 
Lawn  tennis,  205 
Lazirillo  de  Tormes,  159 
Leaf,  palm,  90 

Leaving  his  country  for  his  country's  good,  244 
Legends  of  the  rose,  8 1 
Lender,  95 

Leper  kings,  161,  176,  216,  223 
Lepers  in  England,  244 
Leuca,  113,  157 
Level  headed,  33 
Liard,  32 
Liberty  pole,  90 
Libraries,  198 
Like  for  as,  91 
Lin,  15 

Lingua  Franca,  233 

Lion,  Gulf  of  the,  70,  93,  105,  106,  118,  130,  142 
Liriodendron,  7 
I  -iterate,  90 
Little  meeting,  269 
Llanthony  Abbey,  23 
Lobster  changing  color,  160 
Localisms  in  speech,  46 
Lockram,  65 

Locust  trees  and  witches,  269 
Lofty  towns,  252 
London  plague,  220 
Looking-glass  fancies,  217 
Loquot,  183 
Losh,  70,  105 
Lot,  9 

Lowey,  6,  113,  213 
Lo,  what  a  motley,  etc.,  305 
Luic-land,  87 


VM1 


INDEX. 


Lynch-law,  253 

Macellarius,  65 

Madstone,  35 

Magic,  recoupment  by,  296,  303 

Mahot,  69 

Mai  Poena,  150 

Main,  Spanish,  50 

Maine,  hundred- harbored,  90 

State  of,  112 
Mainland,  94 
Maize,  84 
Majesty,  225,  248 
Malmsley,  54 
Manatee,  84 
Manege,  65 
Man-of-war,  288,  309 

of  the  world,  5 
Mantuan,  198 
Marble  Faun,  221 
March  hare,  63 
Marimba,  151,  255 
Market  Jew,  95 
Maroon,  146,  165,  216,  251 
Marshy  tracts,  names  for,  70,  127 
Marteno,  89,  103 
Martin  Vaz,  280 
Mascarene  family,  213 
Master-builders,  ancient,  298 
Mate,  Nix's,  108 
Matie,  170 

Mathematical  error,  186 
Mayflower,  63 
Meditate,  170 
Meercat,  183 
Melancthon,  27 
Menage,  65 

Men  as  things,  35,  43,  58,  68 
Mephistopheles,  160 
Meristem,  170 
Merry,  Robert,  58 
Metaxite,  170 
Metla,  295,  305 
Meum  Nil  Non  Fert,  171 
Miner's  superstition,  202 
Mirabilis,  267 
Miriam,  221 
Mirrors,  magic,  278 
Mississippi,  275 
Missouri,  281 
Moha,  147 
Money  in  all  ages,  134 

makes  the  mare  go,  188 
Monkey-wrench,  232,  256 
Moors  in  New  Zealand,  267 
Mormon  sects,  184 
Moslem,  67 
Mosquito,  the  great,  56 
Mot,  170,  225 
Mother  Earth,  90,  112,  113 
Mount  Abora,  139 
Mountain,  highest  in  U.  S.,  268,  303 


Mountain  of  Russia,  flying,  256 

Old  Bald,  123 

Shaking  Bald,  280,  304 
Muckamuck,  258,  271,  310 
Mud  baths,  294 
Mudsills  of  society,  274 
Muse,  tenth,  295,  302 
Music,  mysterious,  30 
Musical  weathercock,  62,  95 
Musion,  183 
Myatt,  158 

Nailer,  busy  as  a,  161 

Nainsook,  40,  60 

Names,  English  village,  135,  214 

Ff  in  proper,  90,  103,  129,  156,  192,  226 

how  they  grow,  207 

Latinized  proper,  27,  57,  226,  272 

odd  pronunciation,  23,  273 

peculiar,  48 

peculiar  place,  237,  258,  312 

place,  origin  of,  296 

"  The  "  in  place,  70,  92,  95,  128,  214,  239,  271, 
282 

Ville  in  place,  226 
Name  wanted,  76 

for  city,  29,  41 

Nations,  characteristics  of,  80 
Neck,  240 
Nectar,  6,  21,  46,  59 
Newspapers,  odd  names  for,  189,  214 
Nicajack,  190,  234  • 

Nicker,  35,  44 
Nicknames,  Italian,  261 

of  peoples,  273 

of  States,  224 
Nicobar,  53 
Nix's  mate,  108 
No,  17,  45»  55 

No  Man's  Land,  62,  191,  216,  227,  233,  247 
Nootka  Sound  dogs,  186 
Norman's  Woe,  66 
North  America  called  India,  207 

Pacific  islands,  269 
Norumbega,  27,  70,  235 
Not  answered  yet,  6 
Now  I  lay  me,  167 

Oaths,  forms  of,  139 

Ocean,  depth  of,  4,  31 

Oddities  of  noted  people,  165 

Old  Bald  mountain,  123 

Oldest  Christian  hymn,  67,  152 

On  the  score,  47,  227 

Once,  128 

One-eyed  commanders,  209,  221,  275 

days,  199 
Oregon,  104 
Oriana,  148,  287 

triumphs  of,  70 
Orrery,  58 
Owl-shield,  312 


INDEX. 


IX 


Oxen  in  battle,  251 
Oxford,  1 08 
Oysters  and  R,  5 

Paixhan,  95 

Palm  leaf,  90 

Palace  of  forty  pillars,  82,  114 

Palseologus,  165,  175,  276 

Pale  ale,  38 

Palestine,  language  of,  245,  267 

Parkinson,  27 

Passages,  parallel,  29,  46,  69,  92,  106,  177,  228,  251, 

312  fc 

Patience,  150 
Patriarchs,  305 
Patterson,  Billy,  181 
Pearmain,  87 
Pens,  steel,  143 
Percy,  William,  68,  91 
Peter  out,  29,  41,  56 
Pets  of  distinguished  people,  117,  154,  192,  234,  276, 

282,  310 

Phantomnation,  93 
Phonograph  anticipated,  292 
Picayune,  282 
Picnics,  277 
Pig's  eye,  87 
Pig,  swimming,  115 
Pike,  Land,  21 
Pilgrim  Island,  257 
Pillars  of  the  church,  103 
Pillars,  palace  of  forty,  82,  1 14 
Pinder,  9 
Pine  figure,  279 
Pipe-lore,  184,  252,  262 
Pipes,  T.  D.,  104 
Pits,  shrieking,  296 
Pixie,  91 
Place  names,  "ford"  in,  180 

"The"   in,  70,  92,  95,  128,  214,  239,  271, 

282 

"  ville  "  in,  226 
origin  of,  297 
peculiar,  237,  258,  312 
Plafery,  17 
Plant,  compass,  280 
cruel,  147 
Devil,  243 
traveling,  146 
Plaquemine,  152 
Playing  cards,  2 

superstitions  about,  25 
Pluck  buffet,  66,  101 
Plum  for  berry,  250 
Plum-quire,  6 
Poems,  alliterative,  8 
Poet-laureate  of  Australia,  40 
first  English,  309 
of  nursery,  137 
Squab,  296,  303 
Poets,  city,  221,  240,  257 
Point  of  view,  240 


Poison  maid,  the,  75 

Poisons,  curious,  297 

Pole,  liberty,  90 

Ponds,  bottomless,  128,  141,  165,  192 

runaway,  233,  244 

slobbery,  142 
Pope,  first  to  wear  beard,  76 

half  English,  136 

only  English,  4,  93 
Popocatepetl,  41,  53,  175,  273,  260 
Porcupig,  68 
'Possum,  playing,  126 
Pour,  turn  for,  35 
Prayer,  agony  of,  295 

an  Egyptian,  38 

book,  the  wicked,  290 
Precious  stones  in  medicine,  273 
Preexistence,  sense  of,  250 
Presbyterians,  blue  nosed,  6,  47 
President  who  did  not  vote,  86 
Pretzel,  115,  139 
Primroses  by  river  brim,  64 
Primuiste,  53,  77 

Prince  Consort's  family  name,  239,  273 
Prince  of  priests,  219 
Priscian's  head,  90,  125,  139,  227] 
Prison,  subterraneous,  306 
Program,  19 
Proverbs  of  the  sea,  75 
Punctation,  280 
Punishment  by  water,  33 

whipping  as  a,  73,  104 
Putrid  sea,  115,  160 
Pyramid  lake,  186 

of  skulls,  137 
Pyxie  (see  Pixie) 

Quadrivium  (see  Triviuni) 
Qui  vive,  103,  173,  192 
Quantrell,  257,  268 

R  and  oysters,  5 
Race-track  slang,  196 
Rafe's  chasm,  90 
Rail,  38,  170 
Rainfall,  largest,  273 
phenomenal,  203 
Rakestale,  236 
Ranpike,  61 
Raphael  of  cats,  266 
Rappacini's  daughter,  75 
Rare  words,  273 
Rattle-rand  of  beef,  5 
Raymond  Lully,  164 
Red-haired  girl,  282 
Red  Sea,  123,  176 
Redingote,  38 
Remember  boy,  etc.,  174 
Reprints,  40,  58 
Resolute,  79 
Reunion  Island,  12 
Reverend,  230 


INDEX. 


Rhymed  history  of  England,  48,  179 

Rhymesters,  hard  words  for,  32,  44,  59 

Rice,  wild,  184 

Riflemen  on  skates,  126,  139,  272,  311 

Rise,  41 

River,  accursed,  266 

basins,  19 

sabbatical,  52,  63,  64 
Rivers,  colors  of,  177 

flowing  inland,  87,  108,  132,  142,  179,  202,  236 

nomenclature  of,  54,  71,  105 

stone,  126,  149,  191 

turned  back,  159,  216 
Robbing  Peter  to  pay  Paul,  147 
Robespierre,  199,  255 
Robin,  superstitions  about  the,  203 
Rockall,  127 
Rock  City,  305 
Roland  for  an  Oliver,  279 
Romans  of  America,  199 
Rose,  legends  of  the,  8 1 
Rotten  Row,  225 
Rubber,  India,  for  erasing,  247 
Ruffets,  holly,  52 
Run,  54 

Runaway  pond,  233,  244 
Runcible,  20,  48 
Rush  carpets,  65,  161 

lights,  108 
Ruskin,  89,  102,  128 
Russian  Byron,  209,  221,  234 
Rye-coffee,  259 

S, long,  150 

Sabbatical  river,  52,  63,  64 

Sacred  trees,  199 

Sadawga  Lake,  30 

Sahara,  flooding  the,  280 

Sailor  king,  267 

Saint  Elias,  Mount,  268,  294 

John's  Day,  112 

Mary's  Church,  281 

Michael,  150,  161 

Victor,  Adam  of,  102,  155 
Sambo,  161 
Samson  Occom,  239 
Sands,  musical,  152,  179,  214 
Santa  Anna's  wooden  leg,  190 
Satyr-beetle,  206 
Saunter,  91 
Schamir,  79,  88 
Scholastic  doctors,  188 
Schoolmaster  is  abroad,  63 
Score,  on  the,  47,  227 
Scot  free,  63 
Sea,  Billington,  45 

color  names  for,  135 

proverbs  of  the,  75 

putrid,  115,  1 60 

Red,  123,  176 
Seaky,  271 
Seal  of  the  Confederacy,  161 


Seiche,  174,  186 

Sennacherib,  King,  32 

Sentence  containing  alphabet,  shortest,  12,  31,  59 

Serpents,  Isle  of,  139 

in  mineral  spring,  136 
Servant,  killed  by  a,  138 
Seven  in  Bible,  number,  1 1 
Shakespeare,  prose,  281,  304 
Shaking  Bald  mountain,  280,  304 
Shalott,  139 
Shamrock,  63,  84,  94 
Shaving,  270 
Shed  no  tear,  etc.,.  27 
Ships  and  boats,  names  of,  106 
Shoe,  casting  out  the,  199,  208,  226 
Shoes,  ancient  laws  concerning,  13,  48 

superstitions  of,  2 
Shrewsbury,  174,  208,  249 
Siege,  longest,  185,  215,  247,  260 
Si  lures,  51 
Since, 184 

Sir  Patrick  Spens,  272 
Sivash,  160 

Skate  runners,  126,  139,  272,  286,  311 
Skiff,  38 

Skulls,  pyramid  of,  137 
Slang,  6,  28,  47 

race  track,  196 
Slaw-berry,  141,  260 
Slow  and  swift,  70 
Sludge,  41 
Slush,  41 
Snakes,  countries  without,  147 

in  Iceland,  no,  296,  305 
Snickersee,  40,  271 
Snob,  121 
Snow-shoes,  286 
Sohrab  (see  Zohrab) 
Somnific  devices,  39 
Sovereigns,  deaths  of  English,  22 
Spanish  Main,  50 
Spectacles  and  eye-glasses,  241 
Speech,  38 

localisms  in,  46 
Spiders  and  bees,  59 

flying,  112,  155 
Spinsters,  famous,  1 66 
Spire,  foxglove,  93,  118 
Spontaneous  combustion,  272 
Spoon  of  Ilford,  69 
Sport,  51 
Stanhope,  58 
Starch,  colored,  170,  227 
State,  Empire,  79 

of  Franklin,  66,  77,  89,  105 

of  Maine,  112 

line  towns,  219,  239 
States,  nicknames  of,  224 
Statesman,  honest,  86 
Steamboat,  51 
Steamer,  51 
Steam  gun,  280 


INDEX. 


XI 


Steeple-chase,  51 

Steppeur,  51 

Stick,  53 

Stift,  122,  139 

Stilts,  101,  262 

Stone  age,  survivals  of,  116 

rivers,  126,  149,  191 

worn  away,  173 
Stones,  ancient  imprint -bearing,  231 

rocking,  69,  191,  213 
Stop,  51 
Stopper,  51 
Stovepipe  hat,  245 
Streams,  underground,  31,    127,  164,  192,   199,  215, 

225,  261,  273 
Strongest  weapon,  etc.,  4 
Sub  rosa,  154 
Suicidal  poets,  269 
Suicides  in  China,  191 
Sunflower,  271 
Sunset  on  the  U.  S.,  107 
Super-grammaticam,  123,  141 
Superstitions  of  Auvergne,  278 

about  drowned  people,  114,  137 

about  eggs,  10 

of  India,  42 

about  playing  cards,  25 

of  gamblers,  116 

of  goose-bone,  6,  102 

about  looking-glasses,  6,  217 

miners',  202 

popular,  in,  130,  140 

about  the  robin,  203 

about  roses,  8 1 

of  shoes,  2 
Swale,  54 

Swat,  Ahkoond  of,  16,  17 
Swatch,  53 
Swift  and  slow,  70 

Talboy,  58 

Tantrum  bogus,  114,  125 

Tatting,  65 

T.  D.  pipes,  104 

Taught  by  that  power,  etc.,  174,  186 

Telegraphic  blunders,  178 

Telephonic  tube,  aptiquity  of,  183,  266 

Telled,  184 

Ten  Pound  Court,  186 

Tenterden  steeple,  208 

Thackeray's  nose,  176 

"The"   in  place  names,  70,  92,  95,   128,  214,  239, 

271,  282 

Thimbles,  14,  68 
Thumb  to  butter  bread,  86,  204 
Time  was  made  for  slaves,  53 
Tinker's  dam,  169 
Toad-stone,  247 
Toast,  51 
Tomohrit,  148 
Tongue,  worm's,  67 
Town  bank,  78 


Towns,  lofty,  252 

State-line,  219,  239 
Tramway,  51 

Translation  wanted,  126,  156 
Traveler,  what  lies  over  the  hill,  28 
Tree  on  buildings,  245,  267 

lists,  12,  120,  288 
Trees,  sacred,  199 

weeping,  16,  31,  47,  68 
Triumphs  of  Oriana,  70 
Trivium  and  Quadrivium,  40,  141,  166 
Tube,  I  love  thee,  etc.,  186 
Tunnel,  natural,  184 
Turn  for  pour,  35 
Two  Voices,  Tennyson's  (see  Dragon  Fly] 

United  States,  British  ministers  to,  90 

sunset  on,  107 
Upsala,  91 
Usuter,  65 

Vandyke,  58 
Vernier,  58 
Verses  wanted,  115 
Victorines,  225 
Victory,  Alleluia,  108 
Village,  deserted,  128,  252 

names,  English,  135,  214 
"  Ville  "  in  place  names,  226 
Virgil,  198 

brazen  fly  of,  162,  171 
Volcanic  eruptions,  bogus,  135 
Voting  place,  highest,  20 
Vulgarisms  in  literature,  origin  of,  306 

Wagon,  51 

road,  highest,  32 
Wall,  Armenian,  124 
Walled  lakes,  65 
War-cries,  72 

of  the  axe,  66,  103    . 
Washwoods,  106 
Water,  punishment  by,  33 
Waterfall,  highest,  218,  232,  276,  306 
Waterford,  309 

Weathercocks,  musical,  62,  95 
Webster's  International  Dictionary,  301 
Week,  names  of  days  of,  67,  114 
We  know  so  little,  280 
Wells,  dropping,  79,  142,  190,  204 
Wheelbarrows,  wind- propelled,  158,  251 
When  we've  been  there,  etc.,  56,  188,  215,  226 
Whiffle-tree,  65,  77,  89,  118,  128 
Whipping  as  a  punishment,  73>  IO4 
Whispering  galleries,  31 
Wind,  Harmattan,  199,  255 
Who  shall  decide,  etc.,  220 
Wills,  eccentric,  283 
Witches  and  locust  trees,  269 
Wives  of  Presidents,  126 
Woodenjeg,  Santa  Anna's,  190 
Woodhouselee  ghost,  IOI 


•xii  INDEX. 

Woodmas,  53  Yacht,  51 

Words  for  rhymesters,  hard,  32,  44  59  Yankee  Doodle,  225 

local,  6  Year  is  this,  what,  174 

notes  on,  15,  50,  170,  183  Yoked  with  a  lamb,  103 

rare,  273  Yop,  22 

Word  wanted,  new,  6  Ys,  city  of,  20 

Worm's  tongue,  67 

Zohrab,  245,  285 

Xanadu,  48 


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CONTENTS. 


NOTES  :— Nutria,  i — Women  with  Beards — Rah,  Rah  !  2 — 
Alexander  the  Great  and  Rock-Oil,  3. 

QUERIES  :— Wide-awake  Fair— Hodge,  3. 

REPLIES  :  —  Cattle-Calls,  3  —  Bag-Pipe  —  Forgotten  Wild 
Fruits— The  Isle  of  Serpents,  4— City  Built  by  Gentlemen- 
Saffron  Robes — Subterraneous  Prison,  5. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Hungaria— 
Melleray— Canada,  5 — Matzoon— Wrens  of  Donegal — Alaes- 
tricht  Dialect — Frenchtown — Aggry  Beads,  6. 

COMMUNICATIONS:— Head  and  Foot  of  Table— Crane 
and  Stone— Origin  in  Literature  of  Vulgarisms,  6—  I  Shall  be 
Satisfied — Illusions  of  Great  Men,  8 — Mount  Saint  Elias — 
The  Goose— Name  Wanted  for  City— Relics  of  Serpent  Wor- 
ship, 9— New  Jersey  Dialect — Cat  Island— Skate  Runners — 
Ragman's  Roll  —  Sunset  on  the  United  States,  10  —  Mud 
Baths — Rise — Breeching  Scholar  —  Birds'  Eggs  —  Scholastic 
Doctors — Singular  Place  Names — Shortest  Grace,  n — Spon- 
taneous Combustion — Calf  of  Man,  12. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 12. 


NUTRIA. 

Under  "Otter,"  the  "  Century  Diction- 
ary" tells  us  that  one  South  American  species 
of  otter  furnishes  the  fur  called  Nutria.  But 
under  Nutria  it  informs  us,  correctly,  that  that 
fur  is  the  product  of  a  species  of  coypu. 
Now, the  coypu  is  a  rodent  mammal, while  the 
otter  is  a  carnivore.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  the  word  "nutria"  is  etymologically 
identical  with  "  otter."  But,  if  any  part  of 
the  nutria  fur  of  commerce  is  produced  by 
a  true  otter,  the  fact  is  one  not  generally  on 
record  in  books  which  treat  of  the  fur 
trade.  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  Diction- 
ary is  at  fault  in  regard  to  this  statement. 
If  not,  it  is  certainly  at  fault  in  not  clearing 
itself  of  an  apparent  discrepancy. 

*     *     * 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  i,  1890. 


WOMEN  WITH  BEARDS. 

Two  things  have  long  been  considered 
distinguishing  ornaments  of  manhood  and 
of  womanhood — a  beard  and  long  hair. 
In  Oriental  countries,  from  time  immemo- 
rial, a  man  with  smooth  face  inspired  about 
as  much  confidence  as  a  boy,  while  a  woman 
with  short  hair  was  regarded  as  sadly  disfig- 
ured. To  deprive  the  one  of  his  beard  and 
the  other  of  her  hair  was  a  mode  of  punish- 
ment in  Persia,  India  and  some  other  Asiatic 
countries.  A  Roman  with  a  full-grown 
beard  had  a  particular  name — he  was  called 
barbatus. 

Once  in  awhile  the  ancient  order  of 
things  is  reversed  thus :  We  see  a  man 
with  long  hair  and  no  beard  (as  the  late 
Henry  Ward  Beecher),  and  a  woman  with  a 
mustache,  incipient  fringe  and  short  hair 
(as  the  Woman's  Right's  champion). 

Now,  a  woman  with  a  beard  has  ever 
been  looked  upon  with  fearful  curiosity 
mingled  with  a  grain  of  suspicion.  Such  a 
female,  like  Owen  Glendower,  must  have 
been  born  under  a  strange  star.  She  is 
"not  in  the  roll"  of  common  women. 
There  is  something  strange,  uncanny  and 
wrong  about  her,  else  why  should  she  have 
a  beard  ? 

In  this  fashion  people  reasoned  in  days 
gone  by.  It  did  not  take  them  long  to 
come  to  the  ominous  conclusion  that  a 
woman  with  a  beard  was  to  be  feared  ;  she 
must  be  in  league  with  Old  Nick.  And  so, 
in  mediaeval  days,  witches  were  figured 
in  the  popular  imagination  as  having  pointed 
chin  whiskers.  In  all  pictures  of  the  old 
woman  with  the  broomstick,  that  feature  is 
conspicuously  plain. 

In  Shakespeare's  time  witches  were  sup- 
posed to  wear  whiskers.  Thus  Ban  quo  says 
to  the  weird  sisters:  "You  should  be 
women,  and  yet  your  beards  forbid  me  to 
interpret  that  you  are  so."  You  remember, 
of  course,  the  scene  where  Jack  Falstaff, 
disguised  as  the  fat  woman  of  Brentford,  is 
trying  to  get  out  of  Ford's  house.  But  he 
is  pummeled  by  Ford,  who  cries  out : 
"Hang  her,  witch  !"  Thereupon  Sir  Hugh 
says :  "  I  think  the  'oman  is  a  witch,  indeed. 
I  like  not  when  a  'oman  has  a  great  peard. 
I  spy  a  great  peard  under  her  muffler  !" 

In  several  notable  instances  Nature  has 


taken  a  hand  in  the  matter.  It  is  not  easy 
to  say  why  women  should  have  hardly  a 
sign  of  any  hair  on  their  faces.  If  the 
Darwinian  doctrine  of  sexual  selection  be 
true,  or  if  the  new  theory  of  physiological 
selection  be  allowed,  then  there  is  some 
explanation  of  a  curious  phenomena.  It  is 
simply  a  case  of  reversion,  a  return  to  a 
"primitive  type"  if  a  woman  nowadays 
has  a  beard. 

Several  interesting  instances  of  bearded 
women  have  been  recorded.  A  famous 
Viennese  female  dancer  in  the  eighteenth 
century  had  a  large,  bushy  beard.  Charles 
XII  of  Sweden  had  a  curiosity  in  his 
army  in  way  of  a  woman  who  wore  a  beard 
three  feet  in  length.  He  considered  her  as 
a  sort  of  "Mascot."  Mile,  de  Chene  ex- 
hibited herself  in  London  during  the  year 
of  the  Exhibition  of  1852,  and  it  is  said 
that  she  had  "  a  profuse  head  of  hair,  a 
strong  black  beard,  and  large,  bushy  whisk- 
ers." That  is  nothing.  The  thing  is  be- 
coming quite  common  of  seeing  advertised, 
"A  Bearded  Woman."  She  is  the  stock  in 
trade  of  our  "Dime  Museums"  and  our 
"  Bowery  Shows."  Whether  lo-cent 
freaks,  the  "  wonders,"  are  genuine,  we  do 
not  undertake  to  decide.  L.  J.  V. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


RAH,  RAH! 

Some  of  the  newspapers  have  latterly  been 
discussing  the  origin  of  this  college  cry.  I 
have  found  an  example  of  it  (but  not  as  a 
college  cry)  that  is  very  ancient.  It  occurs 
in  "  A  Hymn  of  Praise  to  Durga,"  found  in 
the  introduction,  or  dedication,  to  that  an- 
cient Sanskrit  epic  poem,  the  "  Mahabha- 
rata:" 

"  Thou  rejoicest  to  hear  the  dread  battle's  loud  slaugh- 
ter, 

The  sound  of  the  Ra!  Ra!  so  dire; 
The  chief  of  the  holy,  thy  names,  lady,  are  many, 
At  the  cry  of  Ra !  Ra  !  swiftly  flying !" 

(From  a  translation  by  the  Rev.  C.  Lacy.) 

In  this  case,  what  has  become  of  the  Hur 
part  of  the  hurrah  ?  That  is  an  easy  ques- 
tion to  answer.  As  the  Ra  belongs  to 
Durga,  so  the  Hur  belongs  to  her  husband 
Siva.  In  fact,  the  famous  battle-cry  of  the 
Mahrattas  is  Hur,  hur,  Maha  Deo! 

EASTON,  PA.  M-  P-  E. 


November  i,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT  AND   ROCK-OIL. 

Since  petroleum  has  come  to  be  with  the 
American  people  a  great  commercial  force 
not  only,  but,  in  the  opinion  of  a  recent 
writer,  a  moral  force,  also,  it  is  interesting 
to  learn  from  Plutarch  what  was  thought  of 
it  in  Central  Asia  more  than  2200  years  ago, 
in  the  time  of  Alexander  Magnus. 

About  the  time  the  Conqueror's  mind  was 
intent  on  his  expedition  to  India,  a  trifling 
incident  had  excited  in  his  superstitious 
nature  apprehensions  of  approaching  death, 
and  a  dread  of  the  consequent  downfall  of 
his  empire  ;  but  suddenly  all  this  condition 
of  doubt  and  fear  was  changed  to  one  of 
calm  assurance,  by  a  "  wonderful  thing,"  of 
which  there  is  the  following  account :  "  For 
Proxenus,  a  Macedonian,  who  was  the  chief 
of  those  who  looked  to  the  king's  furniture, 
as  he  was  breaking  up  the  ground  near  the 
river  Oxus,  to  set  up  the  royal  pavilion,  dis- 
covered a  spring  of  a  fat  oily  liquor,  which, 
after  the  top  was  taken  off,  ran  pure,  clear 
oil,  without  any  difference  of  taste  or  smell, 
having  exactly  the  same  smoothness  and 
brightness,  and  that,  too,  in  a  country  where 
no  olives  grew.  The  water,  indeed,  of  the 
river  Oxus,  is  said  to  be  the  smoothest  to  the 
feeling  of  all  water?,  and  to  leave  a  gloss  on 
the  skins  of  those  who  bathe  themselves  in 
it.  Whatever  might  be  the  cause,  certain  it 
is  that  Alexander  was  wonderfully  pleased 
with  it,  as  appears  by  his  letter  to  Antipater, 
where  he  speaks  of  it  as  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable presages  that  God  had  ever  favored 
him  with. 

"The  divines  told  him  it  signified  his  ex- 
pedition would  be  glorious  in  the  event,  but 
very  painful,  and  attended  with  many  diffi- 
culties, for  oil,  they  said,  was  bestowed  on 
mankind  by  God  as  a  refreshment  of  their 
labors  "  (Vol.  iv,  p.  233). 

Not  long  before  this  occurrence,  Alexan- 
der had  been  honored  with  a  grand  street  il- 
lumination, somewhere  near  Arbela,  perhaps, 
although  the  historian  is  hot  quite  precise  as 
to  the  locality ;  a  stream  of  naphtha  flowed 
out  of  the  ground  so  abundantly  as  to  form 
a  sort  of  lake.  "  The  Barbarians,  in  order 
to  show  the  king  the  highly  inflammable 
nature  of  the  liquid,  sprinkled  the  street  that 
led  to  his  lodgings  with  little  drops  of  it,  and 
when  it  was  almost  night,  stood  at  the 


further  end  with  torches,  which  being  ap- 
plied to  the  moistened  places,  the  first  at 
once  taking  fire  instantly,  as  quick  as  a  man 
could  think  of  it,  caught  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  so  that  the  whole  street  was  one  con- 
tinuous river  of  flame"  (Vol.  iv,  p.  205). 
("Plutarch's  Lives,"  Clough  Ed.) 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

QUERIES. 

Wide-awake  Fair. — What  is  the  mean- 
ing of  this  phrase  ?  McPHAiL. 
IOWA  CENTRE. 

The  sea  birds  known  as  wide-awakes,  o.r 
sooty  terns,  occasionally  assemble  in  vast 
flocks  (as  on  the  island  of  Ascension).  These 
great  bird  congresses  are  called  "wide- 
awake fairs  "  by  sailors. 

Hodge. — In  Lamb's  essay  on  "  Christ's 
Hospital  Five  and  Thirty  Years  Ago,"  he 
says  :  "  There  was  one  H — ,  who,  I  learned 
in  after  days,  was  seen  expiating  some  ma- 
turer  offence  in  the  hulks.  (Do  I  flatter  my- 
self in  fancying  that  this  might  be  the 
planter  of  that  name  who  suffered  at  Nevis, 
I  think,  or  St.  Kitts,  some  few  years  since  ? 
My  friend  Tobin  was  the  benevolent  instru- 
ment of  bringing  him  to  the  gallows.)  "  Is 
there  anything  known  of  this  man  who  was 
hanged  in  the  West  Indies  ? 

Qui  TAM. 

Lamb  probably  refers  to  one  Hodge  who 
was  hanged  in  Tortola  for  murdering  his 
slave.  We  have  not  been  able  thus  far  to 
trace  his  history.  There  was  formerly  a 
very  influential  West  Indian  family  of  the 
name  of  Hodge ;  one  of  the  name,  we 
think,  was  governor  of  Anguilla,  and  one, 
who  seems  to  have  lived  in  the  Grenadines, 
attained  the  honor  of  knighthood. 

REPLIES. 

Cattle-Calls  (Vol.  v,  p.  256).— In  the 
note  in  White's  "  Selborne,"  upon  the  lin- 
gering use  of  old  terms  ("Antiquities," 
Chap,  ii),  the  author  gives  a  "  cattle-call  " 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  i,  1890. 


among  them.  Very  likely  some  of  those 
used  in  our  day  could  be  traced  very  far 
back.  White  says : 

"  When  the  good  women  call  their  hogs 
they  cry  sic,  sic,  not  knowing  that  sic  is 
Saxon,  or  rather  Celtic,  for  hog." 

He  adds  this  quotation  as  authority  : 

"  Ecka,  porcus,  apud  Lacones ;  un  pour- 
ceau  chez  les  Lacedemoniens ;  ce  mot  a  sans 
doute  este  pris  des  Celtes,  qui  disoient  sic, 
pour  marquer  un  pourceau.  Encore  au- 
jourd'huy  quand  les  Bretons  chassent  ces 
animaux,  ils  ne  disent  point  autrement,  que 
sic,  sic1'  (Pezron,  "Antiquite  de  la  Nation 
et  de  la  Langue  des  Celtes  "). 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Bagpipe  (Vol.  v,  p.  305). — The  bagpipe 
is  almost  universal  throughout  Asia,  though 
at  present  not  so  much  in  use  as  it  seems  to 
have  been  in  former  ages.  It  is  used  among 
the  Chinese  musicians,  and  is  met  with  in 
Persia,  where  it  appears  to  have  been  more 
general  in  former  ages  than  at  present. 
There  is  also  a  Hindu  bagpipe,  and  in 
Egypt  it  was  used  to  some  extent,  but  is 
now  rarely  met  with.  In  Italy  it  is  com- 
mon. It  is  said  that  the  Italian  peasant  be- 
lieves that  it  is  the  best  beloved  music  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  also  that  it  is  the  instrument 
upon  which  the  shepherds  expressed  their 
joy  when  they  visited  the  Saviour.  When  the 
Italian  peasant  visits  Rome  on  the  anni- 
versary of  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  he  al- 
ways carries  his  bagpipes  with  him.  T*he 
Romans  are  said  to  have  been  acquainted  with 
this  instrument,  and  most  likely  the  Greeks 
also.  In  Scotland  it  is  the  national  instru- 
ment, but  even  there  its  use  is  dying  out. 

H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Bagpipes  are  known  in  Scotland,  England, 
Ireland,  Germany,  Spain,  Italy,  North 
Africa  (at  least,  I  find  a  name  for  them  in  a 
Tuarick  vocabulary)  and  in  Syria.  Proba- 
bly many  other  countries  have  them. 

ILDERIM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Forgotten  Wild  Fruits  (Vol.  v,  p.  305). — 
The  wild  lemon  is  the  common  name  given 


to  the  fruit  of  the  mandrake  plant  in  this 
section  of  New  York  State.  The  fruit  is  a 
one-celled  berry,  about  the  size  of  a  spar- 
row's egg,  and  resembles  a  lemon  in  odor 
and  taste.  Children  in  the  country  gather 
the  fruit  when  green,  and  hide  them  in  the 
hay  until  thoroughly  ripe.  H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

The  wild  lemon  of  which  your  correspond- 
ent "Anchor"  inquires,  is  apparently  the 
fruit  of  Podophyllum peltatum  (see  "United 
States  Dispensatory,"  for  1888,  p.  1188, 
where  the  name  wild  lemon  occurs).  I  sup- 
pose his  wild  tomato  to  be  some  species  of 
Physalis  ;  I  have  found  them  growing  wild 
with  edible  smooth  fruits.  The  market- 
men  call  them  strawberry-tomatoes.  They 
are  often  cultivated.  G. 

The  Isle  of  Serpents  (Vol.  v,  p.  139). — 
Ilan  Adassi,  or  the  "Isle  of  Serpents,"  once 
the  site  of  the  tomb  and  temple  of  Achilles, 
is,  at  present,  a  station  for  French  and 
English  vessels,  and  also  the  site  of  a  light- 
house. 

Dr.  Clarke  regretted  that  he  could  not 
visit  this  island  on  his  voyage  from  Odessa  to 
Ainada,  Turkey,  in  the  early  part  of  our  cen- 
tury. The  distinguished  traveler  was  not 
prevented,  however,  by  any  fear  of  a  hostile 
reception  from  reptiles,  although  he  had 
heard  many  absurd  stories  based  on  the 
superstition  that  the  island  was  covered  with 
serpents.  In  those  days  it  seldom  happened 
that  a  vessel  could  lie  to  and  thus  afford  the 
tourist  an  opportunity  of  exploring  the  fabled 
island ;  but  had  it  been  otherwise,  no  one  of 
a  ship's  crew  would  have  ventured  ashore, 
for  every  Russian  and  Turkish  mariner  on 
the  Black  sea  had  heard  how  "  four  of  a 
ship's  crew,  being  wrecked  there,  had  no 
sooner  landed,  than  they  encountered  a  foe 
worse  than  the  sea,  and  were  all  devoured  by 
serpents. "  So  it  may  be  that  the  superstition 
had  saved  the  celebrated  island  from  the 
ravages  to  which  other  classic  ground  had 
been  subject.  Dr.  Clarke  was  of  the  opinion 
that  no  traveler  had  ever  set  foot  there.  A 
slow  rate  of  speed  kept  it  in  view  five  hours 
and  enabled  him  to  sketch  a  strip  of  land 
three  and  three-fourths  miles  long,  and  one- 
half  a  mile  wide,  entirely  bare,  being 


November  i,  1890.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


covered  with  very  little  grass  and  very  low 
herbage. 

"May  not  the  name,"  he  asks,  "have 
originated  in  the  resemblance  of  the  island 
to  a  serpent  or  immense  fish  floating  on  the 
surface  of  the  water?" 

The  serpent  superstition  has  not  been 
traced  farther  back  than  the  fourth  century, 
being  alluded  to  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus, 
a  writer  of  that  period.  It  is  not  mentioned 
by  Arrian  (second  century)  who  was  em- 
ployed to  survey  the  island,  and  who  left  a 
most  satisfactory  account  of  it. 

In  ancient  times,  Ilan  Adassi  was  a  kind  of 
natural  lighthouse,  being  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year  a  resort  for  swarms  of  white  sea- 
fowl,  which  made  their  nests  there ;  it  served 
to  guide  the  mariner  to  the  shores  of  the 
Euxine,  which  lay  so  low  as  to  be  indiscernible 
except  for  the  white  appearance  of  the  island. 
Hence  its  ancient  name,  Leuce  or  White 
island,  and  its  more  poetical  appellation, 
"  The  White  in  the  Euxine." 

Let  us  revive  the  memory  of  Leuce's 
fabled  glories,  by  quoting  Arrian 's  descrip- 
tion of  it  in  the  second  century : 

"  Thetis  gave  this  isle  to  Achilles,  and  he 
still  inhabits  it ;  his  temple  and  statue,  both 
of  very  ancient  workmanship,  are  there  seen. 
No  human  being  dwells  there ;  only  a  few 
gnats,  which  mariners  convey  there  as  votive 
offerings.  Other  offerings  or  sacred  gifts 
are  suspended  in  honor  of  Achilles,  such  as 
vases,  rings  and  costly  stones.  Inscriptions 
are  also  read  there  in  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages,  in  different  metres,  in  honor  of 
Achilles  and  Patroclus ;  for  Patroclus  is  there 
worshiped  as  well  as  Achilles.  A  number 
also  of  aquatic  birds  are  seen,  such  as  the 
larus,  the  diver  and  the  sea-quail.  Those 
birds  alone  have  the  care  of  the  temple. 
Every  morning  they  repair  to  the  sea,  wet 
their  wings  and  sprinkle  the  temple,  after- 
wards sweeping  with  their  plumage  its  sacred 
pavement." 

And  let  us  think  of  this  famous  bit  of 
classic  soil  as  "  the  bird-haunted  land,  the 
white  beach,  the  glorious  race-course  of 
Achilles,  near  the  Euxine  sea  "  (Euripides, 
"  Iphigenia  in  Tauris,"  Buckley's  trans.). 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


City  Built  By  Gentlemen  (Vol.  v,  p.  305). 
— Valetta,  the  capital  of  Malta,  is  the  cky 
in  question.  It  was  built  by  the  Knights  of 
St.  John  for  themselves  and  their  successors. 

GEROULD. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Saffron  Robes  (Vol.  iv,  p.  199). — "  Saf- 
fron-Robed Hymen"  is  mentioned  in 
Linche's  (?)  poem  "  The  Love  of  Dom 
Diego  and  Gyneura"  (1596). 

JAMES  MERLTON. 
CINCINNATI,  O. 

Subterraneous  Prison  (Vol.  v,  p.  306). — 
In  Vol.  xxvii  (1881)  viLippincotf  s  Magazine, 
p.  290,  there  is  a  good  account  of  the  so- 
called  "Simsbury  Mine"  prison  of  Con- 
necticut. It  was  written  by  C.  B.  Todd. 
The  old  mine  is  in  East  Granby,  Conn.  It 
was  a  depot  of  war-prisoners,  1775-1783, 
and  a  State  prison,  1790-1827.  It  was  also 
called  Newgate  prison.  There  is  an  illus- 
trated article  on  "  The  New  England  New- 
gate ' '  in  the  New  England  Magazine  for 
November,  1890,  by  E.  A.  Start.  Richard 
H.  Phelps  published  a  "  History  of  New- 
gate," Hartford,  3d  ed.,  1844;  enlarged 
Albany,  1860  and  1863. 

ILDERIM. 


Hungaria.— In  one  of  Rudyard  Kipling's 
stories  he  speaks  of  "  blue  Hungarias,"  evi- 
dently some  kind  of  flower.  Can  any  of 
your  correspondents  inform  me  as  to  what 
kind  of  a  plant  is  meant  ?  And  also  direct 
me  to  some  treatise  which  shall  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  plant?  J.  K.  KILHAM. 

PELHAM,  N.  H. 

Melleray. — Whence  did  the  Trappist 
abbey  of  Melleray,  or  New  Melleray,  in 
Iowa,  derive  its  name  ? 

McPHAIL. 
IOWA  CITY. 

Canada. — What  is  the  origin  of  the 
name  of  Canada  ?  W.  M.  A. 

TROY,  N.  Y. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  i,  1890. 


Matzoon. — I  am  informed  that  this  is 
some  kind  of  a  fermented  medicinal  drink 
prepared  from  milk.  To  what  language 
does  the  word  properly  belong  ? 

W.  M.  A. 
TROY,  N.  Y. 

Wrens  of  Donegal.— What  are,  or 
were,  the  wrens  of  Donegal,  alluded  to  in 
Vol.  iii,  p.  303,  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES  ?  ESTES  A.  COUCH. 

PORTLAND,  ME. 

Maestricht  Dialect.— Is  there  any 
lexicon  or  vocabulary  of  that  form  of  the 
Dutch  language  which  is  spoken  in  Southern 
Limburg  (Netherlands),  and  in  the  town  of 
Maestricht?  R.  D.  T. 

Frenchtown.  —  The  older  maps  of 
Maryland  have  a  place  called  Frenchtown, 
which  was  a  place  of  considerable  historical 
interest.  In  later  years  it  was  a  railway 
terminus.  But  it  has  disappeared  from  the 
maps  and  gazetteers.  Does  it  still  exist  ? 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Aggry  Beads. — What  is  the  true  origin 
of  the  so-called  Aggry  beads,  and  whence 
comes  their  name  ?  McPHAiL.' 

IOWA  CITY. 

©OMMUNIGAJfllONS. 

Head  and  Foot  of  Table  (Vol  i,  p. 
178). — "When  (as  I  remember)  Agesilaus 
Sonne  was  set  at  the  lower  end  of  the  table, 
and  one  cast  it  in  his  teeth  as  a  shame,  he 
answered,  'This  is  the  upper  end  where  I  sit, 
for  it  is  not  the  place  that  maketh  the  per- 
son, but  the  person  the  place  honorable  '  " 
("  Euphues  and  his  England,"  p.  255). 

Crane  and  Stone  (Vol.  v,  p.  228). — 
"  What  I  have  done  was  onely  to  keepe  my 
selfe  from  sleepe,  as  the  Crane  doth  the 
stone  in  hir  foote,  and  I  would  also  with  the 
same  Crane,  I  had  bene  silent,  holding  a 
stone  in  my  mouth"  ("Euphues  and  his 
England,"  "  The  Epistle  Dedicatory  "). 

SILEX. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


The  Origin  in  Literature  of  Vul- 
garisms— (^Continued  from  page  309). — 
Gyarden  and  garding,  for  garden,  are  both 
a  little  old-fashioned. 

"Air  old  Mis'  Cayce's  gyarden-imtk  suf- 
f'rin'  fur  rain?" 

The  initial  guttural  passed,  by  palatiliza- 
tion,  into  gy,  which,  finally,  in  geard  passed 
into  yard.  In  gyarden  the  development  was 
arrested,  and  the  pronunciation  became  fixed 
until  it  went  out  of  fashion.  Gardinge  is 
found  in  Coverdale's  Version,  and  gairding, 
in  Dunbar's  "The  Thistle  and  the  Rose." 

"And  enterit  in  a  lusty  gairding  gent" 
(pretty). 

The  ending  ing,  for  en,  is  an  inheritance 
from  the  Northern  dialect,  as  the  following 
examples  would  seem  to  indicate  : 

"  All  those  quhilk  funding  (funden)  bene 
on  lyve"  (All  those  which  be  found  alive) 
(Sir  David  Lyndesay,  "The  Monarche"). 

"  And  sum  were  eke  that  fallyng  (fallen) 
had  so  sore"  (James  I  of  Scotland). 

"This  gud  knycht  said:  deyr  cusyng 
(cousin)  pray  I  the"  ("Henry  the  Min- 
strel"). 

It  survives  in  "  I  am  much  beholding  (be- 
holden) to  you." 

"  Lady  Jane  Grey  to  whom  I  was  exceding 
moch  beholdingc"  (Roger  Ascham,  "The 
Scholemaster"). 

Nor  after  a  comparative,  for  than,  as 
"  Good  nussin'  goes  furderwr  physic,"  is  a 
Northern  idiom.  I  have  found  it  in  King 
James'  "  Essayes  in  Poesie:"  "Lest  my 
preface  be  longer  nor  my  purpose,"  and 
elsewhere  in  his  writings. 

In  the  "Lay  of  Havelok  the  Dane" 
(about  1300)  there  is  an  expression  in  com- 
mon use  among  the  illiterate,  that  there 
(ce-la),  used  attributively  : 

"Hwan  Godard  herde  that  there  thrette. " 

A  curious  idiom  is  found  in  "  Genesis  and 
Exodus"  (1250) : 

"  Laban  toe  and  wente  and  folwede  on  " 
(Laban  took  and  went  and  followed  on). 

For  these  two  examples  I  am  indebted 
to  Mr.  Oliphant  ("  Old  and  Middle  Eng- 
lish"). 

Another  colloquialism  sometimes  heard  is 
found  in  Chaucer  :  "  What  did  Eolus  but 
toke  out  hys  trumpe  ?" 

Ef  for  if,  sence  for  since,  yit  for  yet,  git  for 


November  i,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


get,  tell  for  //'//,  etc. ,  were  common  in  litera- 
ture, as  the  following  examples  show  : 

"  Ef  thou  art  trewe  of  dedes  "  (King 
Horn). 

"£fhe  be  the  man  I  think  he  be  " 
(Bishop  Gardner's  Letters). 

"  But  this  much  I  dare  say  that  sence 
lording  and  loytring  hath  come  up,  preach- 
ing hath  come  down,  contrarie  to  the  apos- 
tell's  time"  (Bishop  Latiuier's  Sermons). 

"  Nedes  must  rennynge  be  taken  for  a 
laudable  exercise,  sens  one  of  the  moste 
noble  capitaynes  of  all  the  Romans  toke  his 
name  of  renning,  and  was  called  Papirius 
Cursor  "  (Sir  Thomas  Elyot,  "  The  Gover- 
nour"). 

"What  dreden  ye?  Nat  yit  han  yee 
feithe"  (Wiclif). 

Mr.  Lowell  finds  git  in  Warner's  "Albi- 
on's England."  The  old  verb  was  gitan, 
with  past  part,  giten.  Tell,  for  till,  he  finds 
in  the  Chester  plays: 

11  Tell  the  day  of  dome,  tell  the  beames 
blow,"  that  is,  till  the  trumpets  blow. 

The  old  forms  of  the  verb  have  held  on 
with  wonderful  persistence.  Axe  and  axed, 
for  ask  and  asked,  were  once  classical. 

"Ye  didn't  ax  me  that  word,"  said 
Dorinda. 

"Axe  and  it  shal  be  geven  you"  (Tyn- 
dale). 

Even  ast,  for  asked,  can  be  matched  in 
literature : 

"  An'  when  he  know'd  you  was  a-comin' 
here,  he  sort  er  sidled  up  an'  ast  you  for  to 
please  be  so  good  as  to  tell  Miss  Babe  he'd 
drap  in  nex'  Sunday." 

The  substitution  of  /  for  k  is  not  unusual. 

Compare  Wiclifs  backe  (A.  S.  bakke), 
now  bat  (ycspertilid);  make  (A.  S.  maca), 
now  mate  ;  as, 

"The  turtle  to  her  make  hath  told  her 
tale"  (Lord  Surrey). 

And,  the  child's  loot  for  look.  Drap,  for 
drop,  in  the  quotation  above,  all  are  familiar 
with  in  the  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Night :" 

"  Belyve  the  elder  bairns  come  drapping 
in." 

Het  for  heated,  shet  for  shut,  come  for 
came,  clomb  for  climbed,  seen  for  saw,  sawn 
for  seen,  growed  for  grew,  driv  for  driven, 
ris  for  rose,  are  common  in  literature,  and 
colloquial  examples  are  easily  found  : 


"  We  must  oilers  blow  the  bellers 
Wen  they  want  their  irons  het." 

"Limping  Vulcan  het  an  iron  bar" 
(Percy's  "  Reliques  "). 

"  D'rindy,  shet  the  door!" 

"  To  wayve  up  the  wiket  that  the  worn- 
man  shette  "  ("  Piers  Plowman  "). 

"  And  the  gate  was  shett  up  "  (Tyndale). 

"  There  com  a  kyte,  while  that  they  were 
so  wrothe  "  (Chaucer). 

"  We  don't  go  an'  fight  it,  nor  ain't  to  be 
driv  on." 

"  The  wood-god's  breed  which  must  forever  live; 
Others  would  through  the  river  him  have  driv." 

(Spenser.) 

"  And  thei  camen  to  Jhesu,  and  thei  seen 
hym  that  was  traveiled  of  the  fend,  sittynge 
clothid,  and  of  hoole  mynde  "  (Wiclif ). 

"  The  youngest  on  'em's  'mos'  growed 
up." 

"  Where  corall  growed  by  right  hye 
flockes  ' '  (Stephen  Hawes). 

"  But  then  the  landlord  sets  by  ye, 
Can't  bear  ye  out  of  sight." 

"He  lette  bringen  hire  bivoren  him  to 
his  heh  seotel  as  he  set  in  dome  as  reve  of 
the  burhe  "  (and  he  had  her  brought  before 
him  to  his  high  settle  as  he  sat  in  judgment 
as  reeve  of  the  burg)  ("Life  of  St.  Juli- 
ana," about  1210). 

"Into  his  sadel  he  clomb  anon" 
(Chaucer). 

"  I  remember  two  fellows  who  rid  in  the 
same  squadron  "  (Addison). 

"We  were  holp  hither"  ("Tempest"). 

"  For  on  his  visage  was  in  little  drawn 

What  largeness  thinks  in  Paradise  was  sawn." 

(Lover's  "Complaint.") 

"  Thanne  alle  the  virgynes  risen  up" 
(Wiclif). 

"vAnd  up  they  risen,  a  ten  other  a 
twelve"  (Chaucer). 

"  Out  of  bedde  they  rise  (riz), 
And  came  down  blive  "    (Occleve). 

"  For  if  ihesus  hadde  gave  reste  to  hem  " 
(Wiclif). 

Ris  for  rose,  rid  for  rode,  writ  for  wrote, 
are  traceable  to  the  change  of  vowel  in  the 
old  English  preterite;  as  "he  ras,"  but 
"  we  risen,"  "  he  rad"  but  "  we  ridon," 
"  he  wrat,"  but  "  we  writon."  In  this  way 
many  strong  verbs  have  come  down  with 


3 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [November  i,  1890. 


two  forms  for  the  past  tense,  the  distinction 
between  singular  and  plural  having  been 
forgotten  after  the  loss  of  inflection. 

Hes  for  has  is  quite  common  in  the  lit- 
erature of  the  North,  as  in  King  James' 
"Essayes:" 

"The  other  cause  is,  that  as  for  tharne 
that  hes  written  in  it  of  late." 

The  king — he  of  the  Counterblasts — 
makes  no  mistake  here  in  grammar,  since 
the  Northern  dialect  has  s  in  the  plural,  as 
well  as  in  all  persons  of  the  singular.  One 
of  Chaucer's  scholars  from  the  far  North 
says : 

"  I  is  as  ill  a  miller  as  is  ye." 

You  was  is  doubtless  due  to  Northern  in- 
fluence. Bentley  uses  it  in  his  "  Disserta- 
tion on  the  Epistles  of  Phalaris,"  "when 
you  was  a  boy;"  and  Vanbrugh,  in  his 
comedies,  puts  it  into  the  mouth  of  the 
elite.  War,  for  was  or  were — for  it  is 
found  with  both  singular  and  plural  subjects, 
just  as  in  the  Tennessee  Mountains — is  a 
common  form  in  the  Northern  dialect  of 
middle  English  : 

"  For  he  likend  man's  lyf  til  a  tre 
That  war  growand  "       (Hampole,  1340). 

"  For  some  time  when  thai  war  bright 
angels"  (Ibid.}. 

From  this  comes  our  colloquial  warn't,  as, 
"  he  warn't,"  "  they  warn't."  The  inflec- 
tion of  the  North  dialect  is  frequent  in 
Shakespeare,  as  in  "King  Richard  II  :" 

"  These  high,  wild  hills  and  rough,  uneven  ways 
Draws  out  our  miles  and  makes  them  wearisome." 

With  which  compare  : 

"I've  noticed,  tu,  it's  the  quack  med'- 
cines  gits  (an1  needs)  the  greatest  heaps  o' 
stiffykits." 

Went  as  a  past  participle,  as  in  is  went, 
had  went,  was  correct  before  usage  substi- 
tuted gone  in  its  place;  it  is  common  in 
Chaucer : 

"  I  would  that  day  that  your  Arvigarus 

Went  over  see  (sea)  that  I,  Aurelms, 

Had -went  ther  (where)  I  should  never  come  again." 

— (Prof.  Edward  A.  Allen  in  Chantauquari). 
{To  be  concluded.} 

I  Shall  Be  Satisfied  (Vol.  v,  p.  246). 
— The  stanza  quoted  by  R.  G.  B.  can 


scarcely  be  original  with  Miss  Hay,  and  cer- 
tainly was  not  written  for  "  The  Arundel 
Motto."  It  is  one  verse  of  a  poem  having 
the  above  title,  published  by  Randolph  in 
1869,  in  a  little  collection  of  religious  verse 
— chiefly  waifs — under  the  title  of  "  The 
Shadow  of  the  Rock."  The  poem  begins : 

"  Not  here,  not  here,  not  where  the  sparkling  waters 
Fade  into  mocking  sands  as  we  draw  near." 


M.  C.  L. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Illusions  of  Great  Men. — Goethe  states 
that  he  one  day  saw  the  exact  counterpart  of 
himself  coming  toward  him. 

Pope  saw  an  arm  apparently  come  through 
the  wall,  and  made  inquiries  after  its 
owner. 

Byron  often  received  visits  from  a 
spectre,  but  he  knew  it  to  be  a  creation  of 
the  imagination. 

Dr.  Johnson  heard  his  mother  call  his 
name  in  a  clear  voice,  though  she  was  at  the 
time  in  another  city. 

Baron  Emmanuel  Swedenborg  believed 
that  he  had  the  privilege  of  interviewing 
persons  in  the  spirit  world. 

Loyola,  lying  wounded  during  the  siege 
of  Pampeluna,  saw  the  virgin,  who  encouraged 
him  to  prosecute  his  mission. 

Descartes  was  followed  by  an  invisible 
person  whose  voice  he  heard  urging  him  to 
continue  his  researches  after  truth. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  leaving  his  house, 
thought  the  lamps  were  trees,  and  the  men 
and  women  bushes  agitated  by  the  breeze. 

Ravaillac,  while  chantingthe  "Miserere" 
and  "  De  Profundis,"  fondly  believed  that 
the  sounds  he  emitted  were  of  the  nature  and 
had  the  full  effect  of  a  trumpet. 

Oliver  Cromwell,  lying  sleepless  on  his 
couch,  saw  the  curtains  open  and  a  gigantic 
woman  appear,  who  told  him  he  would  be- 
come the  greatest  man  in  England. 

Ben  Jonson  spent  the  watches  of  the 
night  an  interested  spectator  of  a  crowd  of 
Tartars,  Turks  and  Roman  Catholics,  who 
rose  up  and  fought  round  his  arm-chair  till 
sunrise. 

Bostok,  the  physiologist,  saw  figures  and 
faces,  and  there  was  one  human  face  con- 
stantly before  him  for  twenty-four  hours,  the 


November  i,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


features  and  headgear  as  distinct  as  those  of 
a  living  person. 

Benvenuto  Cellini,  imprisoned  at  Rome, 
resolved  to  free  himself  by  self-destruction, 
but  was  deterred  by  the  apparition  of  a  young 
woman  of  wondrous  beauty,  whose  re- 
proaches turned  him  from  his  purpose. 

Napoleon  once  called  attention  to  a  bright 
star  he  believed  he  saw  shining  in  his  room, 
and  said:  "It  has  never  deserted  me.  I 
see  it  on  every  great  occurrence  urging  me 
onward ;  it  is  an  unfailing  omen  of  suc- 
cess." 

Nicolai  was  alarmed  by  the  appearance  of 
a  dead  body,  which  vanished  and  came 
again  at  intervals.  This  was  followed  by 
human  faces,  which  came  into  the  room, 
and,  after  gazing  upon  him  for  a  while,  de- 
parted. Nicolai  knew  they  were  but  the  ef- 
fects of  indigestion. 

Mount  St.  Elias  (Vol.  v,  p.  294,  etc.). — 
Since  writing  the  note  referred  to,  the 
National  Geographical  Society  has  published 
the  results  of  Mr.  Israel  Russel's  recent 
measurements  of  the  altitude  of  this  peak. 
According  to  Russel,  the  height  is  13,600, 
instead  of  19,500,  the  altitude  determined 
by  Baker.  Such  a  discrepancy  is  inexplica- 
ble at  present.  Both  Baker  and  Russel  are 
expert  topographers  and  are  among  the  very 
best  authorities  in  the  United  States  in  work 
of  this  character.  Both  are  trained  ex- 
plorers, and  first-class  mathematicians,  in 
fact  they  represent  the  foremost  talent  of 
the  Coast  and  the  Geological  Survey.  There 
is  no  possibility  that  Russel  mistook  Mount 
Cook  for  St.  Elias,  inasmuch  as  he  deter- 
mined the  altitudes  of  both.  His  altitude 
of  Mount  Cook  was  likewise  several  thousand 
feet  less  than  Baker's.  It  is  hardly  possible 
that  Baker  could  have  mistaken  Mount 
Wrangell  for  Mount  St.  Elias,  inasmuch  as 
the  former  is  at  least  100  miles  farther 
inland.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  an  ex- 
haustive resurvey  of  the  peaks  in  question 
will  be  ordered  by  one  department  or  the 
other.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

NEW  YORK. 

The  Goose  (Vol.  v,  pp.  119,  etc.). — It 
has  been  suggested  that  the  honor  and  even 
worship  paid  to  the  goose  in  many  countries 


was  called  out  by  the  mystery  connected  with 
its  migrations  to  unknown  regions.  In  Egypt 
the  god  Seb  is  frequently  represented  with  a 
goose  upon  his  head,  and  there  has  been 
found  there  a  temple  dedicated  to  "  The 
good  goose  greatly  beloved."  A  Buddhist 
relic  shrine,  or  dagoba,  built  in  Ceylon,  250 
years  B.C.,  as  a  depository  for  one  of  Bud- 
dha's jaws,  and  still  existing,  has  carved 
upon  the  capitals  of  the  granite  pillars  the 
figure  of  the  hansa,  or  sacred  goose. 

Camelot,  in  Somersetshire,  Eng,,  near 
Salisbury  Plain,  was  a  famous  place  for  rais- 
ing geese,  and  Shakespeare  has  kept  its 
record  in  "King  Lear,"  where  Kent  says 
to  Cornwall : 

"  Goose,  if  I  had  you  upon  Sarum  plain 
I'd  drive  you  cackling  home  to  Camelot." 

(Act  ii,  Sc.  2.) 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Name  Wanted  for  a  City  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
41,  etc.). — "  I  have  read  that  in  a  shorte 
space,  there  was  a  towne  in  Spayne  vnder- 
mined  with  Connyes,  in  Thessalia  with 
Mowles,  with  Frogges  in  Fraunce,  in  Africa 
with  Flyes  "  (Euphues,  "  The  Anatomy  of 
Wit,"  p.  no,  Arber's  ed.).  F.  R.  S. 

Relics  of  Serpent  Worship. — A  recent 
novel  writer,  Giotti,  in  his  "  II  Sacco  di 
Roma,"  p.  178,  makes  the  following  state- 
ment which  he  claims  to  have  obtained  by 
oral  tradition  from  the  Trasteverine  dwellers 
outside  of  Rome:  "From  generation  to 
generation  this  strange  means  of  incanta- 
tion (by  serpents)  seems  to  have  reached  our 
day.  They  also  say  that  these  sorcerers, 
who  are  equally  skilled  in  curing  serpent 
bites,  have  a  species  of  sanctuary  at  Cacullo, 
a  habitat  lost  in  the  mountain  ravines, 
whither  devotees  of  different  localities  jour- 
ney in  search  of  a  cure  for  bites  of  poisonous 
reptiles." 

But  the  strangest  of  all  this  is  his  asser- 
tion that  "their  patron  is  Saint  Dominic  and 
when  his  fete  arrives,  the  wonder-working 
effigy  of  this  saint,  completely  overlaid  with 
vipers  in  semblance  of  votive  offerings, 
scapularies  and  such-like  talismans  invented 
by  human  ignorance,  is  brought  in  pro- 
cession with  great  pomp  across  the  mountain 


10 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  i,  1890. 


region,  while  a  multitude  of  believers  fol- 
low the  religious  standard,  each  one  hold- 
ing, in  one  hand,  a  lighted  torch,  in  the 
other,  a  serpent."  By  way  of  affirming  the 
certainty  of  the  foregoing  the  entertaining 
romancer  concludes  :  "  Ed  anche  queste  son 
tulle,  belle  cose  che  io  ho  sentito  raccon- 
tare,  ed  anche  trovate  scritte." 

I  may  add  here  as  connected  with  the  sub- 
ject that  in  Spain  under  the  name  of 
Tarasca,  a  paste-board  serpent  or  dragon 
has  been  seen  carried  in  procession  cele- 
brating the*  Fete  Dieu  and  the  conquest  of 
Satan  by  Christ.  This  effigy  must  be  some- 
thing notably  ugly,  as  it  has  widened  its  sig- 
nificance so  far  as  to  be  applied  in  ridicule 
to  a  harridan  or  an  abominably  repulsive 
person  of  either  sex.  G.  F.  FORT. 

CAMDRN,  N.  J. 

New  Jersey  Dialect. —  Traipse  (Vol. 
iii,  pp.  255,  etc.). — Dobson's  "Fielding" 
gives  a  hitherto  unpublished  letter  from 
Richardson,  dated  August  4,  1749,  and 
written  to  two  young  ladies  who,  at  his  re- 
quest, had  sent  him  comments  upon  "  Tom 
Jones,"  more  favorable  than  suited  Rich- 
ardson's vanity.  I  quote  one  sentence  to 
show  the  use  of  "  traipse."  The  suggestion 
in  brackets  is  Mr.  Dobson's.  "  The  Low- 
est of  all  Fellowes,  yet  in  Love  with  a  Young 
creature  who  was  traping  [trapesing]  after 
him,  a  Fugitive  from  her  Father's  House." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Cat  Island  (Vol.  v,  pp.  142,  etc.). — 
There  is  also  a  Cat  island  in  the  Mississippi 
river,  twenty  miles  below  Memphis,  Tenn. ; 
one  in  Lake  Huron,  belonging  to  Canada; 
one  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  near  the  sea-en- 
trance to  Lake  Borgne.  Lowell's  island,  off 
Salem,  Mass.,  is  also  called  Cat  island. 

F.  R.  S. 

CHESTER,  PA. 

Skate  Runners  (Vol.  v,  pp.  272,  etc.). 
— In  the  article  which  I  sent  you  a  day  or 
two  ago  I  said  something  that  I  wish  you 
would  qualify.  I  said  that  Luxemburg  in 
1672  put  his  army  on  skates  in  Holland.  I 
should  have  said  that  he  put  a  portion  of  his 
infantry  on  skates,  and  furnished  his  troops 


serving  on  foot  with  crampons  (French),  for 
which  the  English  synonym  furnished  by  the 
"Grand  French  and  English  Dictionary" 
is  cramp  iron,  calkers,  frost  nails  of  a 
horse's  shoe,  such  as  are  used  by  men  work- 
ing on  the  ice,  which  the  "  Century  Dic- 
tionary" defines  as  calks  or  calkins.  Our 
Hudson  river  ice-men  style  them  creepers. 
The  rest  is  right.  A  sudden  thaw  prevented 
their  skates  and  calkins  being  of  any  service. 

ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Ragman's  Roll  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  35,  etc.). 
— Prof.  Morley,  in  "  English  Writers,"  Vol. 
iv,  quotes  from  "  Piers  Plowman  "  a  passage 
containing  the  following  line : 

"And  raughte  [reached,  got  to  himself]  with  his  rage- 
man  rynges  and  broches." 

For  the  word  "  rag6man  "  he  gives  this 
explanation : 

"  In  the  Chronicle  of  Lanercost  we  read 
that  an  instrument  or  charter  of  subjection 
and  homage  to  the  Kings  of  England  is 
called  by  the  Scots  ragman,  because  of  the 
many  seals  hanging  from  it.  '  Unum  instru- 
mentum  sive  cartam  subjectionis  et  homagii 
faciendi  regibus  Anglise  *  *  *  a  Scottis 
propter  multa  sigilla  dependentia  ragman 
vocatur!'  That  is  the  sense  in  which 
Langland  uses  the  word.  Afterwards,  in 
Wyntoun's  Chronicle,  Douglas  and  Dunbar, 
'  ragman  '  and  '  ragment '  mean  a  long 
piece  of  writing,  a  rhapsody,  or  an  account. 
In  course  of  time,  it  is  said,  '  ragman's  roll ' 
became  '  rigmarole'  "  (p.  291). 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Sunset  on  the  United  States  (Vol.  v, 
pp.  107,  etc.). — Several  newspapers  have 
taken  up  my  statement  at  the  above  entry, 
and  have  patriotically  denounced  me  for  a 
fool,  if  not  a  traitor,  because  I  have  dared 
to  suggest  that  there  is  "  time  in  nearly 
every  day  of  the  year  when  the  sun  is  not 
shining  on  any  part  of  the  United  States." 
Will  not  some  one  of  your  mathematically 
expert  correspondents  set  the  question  at 
rest  by  a  demonstration  of  the  exact  truth  ? 

E.  BROWN. 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAI.. 


November  i,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Mud  Baths  (Vol.  v,  p.  294). — In  reply 
to  W.  B.  Emmonson,  Covington,  Ky., 
I  would  name  among  mud  baths,  even  more 
famous  than  those  cited  by  you,  Carlsbad 
and  Franzensbad  in  Bohemia,  and  those  in 
the  island  of  Ischia,  in  the  bay  of  Naples. 
The  latter  were  known  to  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  and  are  to-day  of  wonderful  effi- 
cacy. There  are  fine  baths  and  hospitals 
there,  but  the  peasants,  an  exceptionally 
long-  lived  and  hardy  race,  speaking  a  patois 
with  strong  traces  of  Greek  origin,  do  not 
need  these  refinements.  When  weary  and 
footsore,  they  go  to  a  certain  spot  on  a 
mountain  side,  the  lip  of  the  crater  of  an 
extinct  volcano,  turn  over  a  stone  and  place 
their  feet  in  the  hot  steam  and  mud  of  the 


cavity. 
GARRISONS,  N.  Y. 


J.  H.  C. 


Rise  (Vol.  v,  p.  41). — While  the  ex- 
planation of  this  word  as  used  in  Jean 
Ingelow's  "  Divided,"  in  the  sense  of  a  hill 
or  rising  ground,  is  evidently  correct,  it  may 
be  noted  that  the  word  rise  once  had 
another  meaning  and  was  so  used  locally 
down  to  a  comparatively  late  period. 

Chaucer  wrote : 

"  As  white  as  is  the  blosme  upon  the  rise." 
("  Canterbury  Tales,"  "  The  Miller's,"  1.  3324.) 

Tyrwhitt  and  White  both  define  the  word, 
"  small  twigs  or  bushes." 

In  1 788,  Gilbert  White,  in  his  ' '  History  of 
Selborne"  ("Antiquities,"  Chap,  ii, note), 
included  this  among  several  Saxon  terms 
still  lingering  in  the  country  usage  of  his 
neighborhood. 

"  Coppice  or  brushwood  our  countrymen 
call  rise,  from  hris,  frondes ;  and  talk  of  a 
load  of  rise. ' ' 

Concerning  "  J.  H.'s"  assertion  that 
there  are  no  "upland  meadows"  in  Scot- 
land, I  have  recently  met  with  the  samestate- 
mentfrom  an  independent  source,  but  cannot 
now  place  the  paragraph,  that  a  high 
meadow  would  be  an  absurdity  in  Scotland. 
Apparently,  while  there  may  be  high  fields, 
a  meadow,  to  Scottish  ears,  implies  a  stretch 

of  lowland. 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Breeching  Scholar  (Vol.  v,  p.  147). — A 
good  illustration  of  the  innate  good  sense  of 
Henry  IV  of  France  is  afforded  by  the  fact 
that  he  gave  positive  orders  to  the  instructors 
of  his  son  (afterwards  Louis  XIII)  to  "  flog 
him  every  time  he  shows  his  obstinacy  in 
doing  wrong.  I  know  well  by  my  own  case 
that  nothing  in  the  world  does  more  good 
than  that."  Apart  from  the  question  of  the 
need  of  corporal  punishments  in  schools, 
one  can  but  respect  the  judgment  of  a  king 
who  despised  the  idea  that  royally  descended 
flesh  and  blood  were  too  good  to  be  put 
under  the  restraints  of  needed  discipline. 

F.  R.  S. 

Birds'  Eggs  (Vol.  v,  p.  208).— The 
island  of  Aves,  in  the  West  Indies,  is 
regularly  visited  for  terns'  eggs,  which  are 
there  collected  in  March  and  April,  in  vast 
numbers  for  the  West  Indian  markets.  The 
supply  is  not  only  large,  but  the  quality  of 
the  eggs  is  unsurpassed.  Terns'  eggs  are 
also  marketed  in  the  Southern  States. 


ISLANDER. 


MAINE. 


Scholastic  Doctors  (Vol.  v,  p.  188).— - 
Robert  Couton  was  called  Doctor  Amcenus. 


ESSEX. 


NEW  JERSEY. 


Singular  Place  Names  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
237,  etc.). — The  Knickerbocker  for  January, 
1837,  mentioned  the  following  as  then  exist- 
ing in  the  United  States:  "Horse-shoe, 
Split  Rock,  Horse-head,  Hat,  Long-a-com- 
ing,  One-Leg,  Painted  Post,  Spread-Eagle, 
Thoroughfare,  Traveler's  Rest,  Wild-cat, 
English  Neighbor,  Good-Intent,  Good- 
Luck,  White-Horse,  Half-Moon,  Temper- 
ance, Economy,  Harmony,  Industry,  Trinity 
and  Unity."  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Shortest  Grace  (Vol.  iv,pp.  71,  etc.).— 
Your  correspondent,  J.  H.,  has  attributed  to 
Charles  Lamb  a  pleasantry  which  Lamb 
himself,  in  his  essay  on  "  Grace  before 
meat,"  ascribes  to  his  friend  C.  V.  L. 
(Charles  V.  Le  Grice).  No  doubt,  how- 
ever, Lamb  upon  occasion  may  have  re- 


12 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [November  i,  1890. 


peated  the   little  half-jesting  grace  as  if  it 
were  his  own.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Spontaneous  Combustion  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
272,  etc.). — It  is  held  by  some  geologists 
of  high  repute  that  the  spontaneous  com- 
bustion of  lignite  beds  has  been  the  cause 
which  has  produced  those  strangely  distorted 
and  desolate-looking  tracts  in  the  North- 
western United  States  known  as  the  Bad 
Lands.  R.  R.  C. 

WHEATON,  ILL. 

Calf  of  Man  (Vol.  v,  pp.  244,  etc.). — 
"Man"  has  been  looked  upon  (somewhat 
blindly)  by  some  as  referring  to  the  Mono, 
of  the  early  geographers  ;  others  see  in  it  an 
abbreviation  of  Manning,  the  Manks  appel- 
lation of  the  island  ;  whereas  to  others  again 
it  seems  a  very  slightly  altered  form  of  the 
old  British  mon,  which  means  isolated. 

One  fact  which  may  support  the  latter 
derivation  has  struck  me,  although  I  have 
not  seen  it  remarked  by  any  writer  in  this 
connection ;  it  is,  that  in  the  ancient  local 
chronicles  (written  in  Latin)  the  island  is 
always  separately  designated  by  its  own 
name,  whilst  its  neighbors  are  all  put  under 
one  denomination,  the  Sodorenses,  evidently 
a  Latinized  form  of  the  Norwegian  Sudreyjar 
(which,  by  the  way,  gave  rise  to  the  decep- 
tive, and  to  many  enigmatical,  title  bestowed 
on  the  Bishop  of  Sodor  and  Man). 

As  to  "  calf,"  it  is  admittedly  an  angli- 
cized form  of  Kalfr,  one  of  the  many  Nor- 
wegian roots  common  in  the  Runic  inscrip- 
tions still  extant  and  in  the  place  names 
round  about  the  Isle  of  Man.  It  is  quite 
usual  for  kdlfr  (=  a  calf)  to  be  added  to  the 
name  of  a  larger  island  so  as  to  make  up  a 
diminutive  appellation  for  a  smaller  adjacent 
one,  which  is  supposed  to  be  its  young,  its 
calf  (compare  My  I,  Mylarkalfr) ;  and 
"Islander,"  p.  263,  remarks  how  the  habit 
exists  among  British  seamen  likewise. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


A.  ESTOCLET. 


P.  S. — A  curious  coincidence  is  brought 
to  my  mind  by  the  above ;  is  it  not  a  fact 
that,  in  the  language  of  the  Montaukets, 


man  or  mun  means  an  island,  an   isolated 
spot?  A.  E. 


BOO^S  AND 


The  Century  Magazine  celebrates  its  twentieth  anni- 
versary with  the  November  number  —  a  number  which 
is  intended  to  exemplify  the  best  what  an  illustrated 
magazine  of  our  day  can  do  for  its  innumerable  readers. 

In  the  editorial  on  the  event  the  editor  claims  for 
The  Century  "  a  sane  and  earnest  Americanism,"  an 
Americanism  "  that  deems  the  best  of  the  Old  World 
none  too  good  for  the  New."  Instead  of  viewing  at 
length  the  literary  and  artistic  achievements  of  the  maga- 
zine, the  editor  considers  it  best  to  celebrate  the  aston- 
ishing progress  in  magazine  printing  during  the  past 
twenty  years  in  an  illustrated  article  by  Theodore  L. 
De  Vinne  of  the  De  Vinne  Press. 

There  is  a  profusion  and  variety  in  the  illustration  of 
the  November  number  which  is  remarkable  even  for 
The  Century,  varying  from  the  actinic  reproduction  of 
rapid  pen  work  to  the  exquisite  engraving  of  Cole  in 
the  "Old  Master"  series  (a  full-page  after  Signorelli). 

The  great  feature  of  The  Century's  new  year,  the 
series  on  the  "  Gold  Hunters,"  is  begun  with  John  Bid- 
well's  paper,  fully  and  curiously  illustrated,  on  "  The 
First  Emigrant  Train  to  California."  Another  im- 
portant series  of  papers  herein  begun  is  Mr.  Rockhill's 
illustrated  account  of  his  journey  through  an  unknown 
part  of  Tibet,  the  strange  land  of  the  Lamas.  A  nota- 
ble and  timely  contribution  to  Dr.  Shaw's  series  on 
municipal  government  is  his  interesting  and  thorough 
account  of  the  government  of  London,  with  its  warning 
for  American  municipalities.  A  pictorial  series  begins 
in  this  number  —  "Pictures  by  American  Artists"  —  the 
example  given  being  Will  H.  Low's  "The  Portrait." 
The  first  of  two  articles  on  the  naval  fights  of  the  war  of 
1812  appears  in  this  number. 

The  fiction  of  the  number  has  as  its  most  striking 
contribution  the  beginning  of  the  first  long  story  written 
by  the  artist-author,  F.  Hopkinson  Smith  ;  it  is  entitled 
"  Colonel  Carter  of  Cartersville,"  and  is  accompanied 
by  a  number  of  pictures  by  Kemble.  Mrs.  Anna  Eich- 
berg  King  has  a  story  of  old  New  York,  with  a  dozen 
designs  by  George  Wharton  Edwards,  and  Frank  Pope 
Humphrey  has  a  ghost  story  entitled  "  The  Courageous 
Action  of  Lucia  Richmond." 

The  frontispiece  is  an  engraving  of  a  photograph  of 
Lincoln  and  his  son  "  Tad,"  accompanied  by  an  article 
by  Col.  John  Hay  on  "  Life  in  the  White  House  in  the 
Time  of  Lincoln."  In  the  prison  series  is  a  paper  de- 
scriptive of  adventures  "  On  the  Andersonville  Cir- 
cuit." W.  C.  Brownell  makes  note  of  the  work  of  two 
original  French  sculptors,  Rodin  and  Dallou. 

The  poetry  of  the  number  is  by  Edgar  Fawcett,  the 
late  James  T.  McKay  (a  posthumous  poem  entitled 
"The  Epitaph  "),  James  Whitcomb  Riley,  G.  P.  Lath- 
rop,  R.  W.  Gfldef,  Thomas  A.  Janvier,  John  Vance 
Cheney,  and  Arlo  Bates,  besides  a  full  Bric-a-brac  de- 
partment of  lighter  verse.  The  Editorial  Department 
discusses  forestry,  international  copyright,  etc.,  and 
W.  W.  Ellsworth  protests  in  open  letters  against  "  The 
Spoiling  of  the  Egyptians." 


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CONTENTS. 

QUERIES:  —  Wedding  Anniversaries  —  Inca's  Bone,  13 — 
Robert,  14. 

REPLIES  :— Snakes  in  Iceland— Hungaria— Melleray— Paint- 
ed Desert  —  Dorimant  —  The  Dogs  of  War,  14  —  Forgotten 
Wild  Fruits — Patriarchs,  15. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Life  is  Short, 
Art  is  Long — Timothy  —  Corncob— Essential  Oils  —  Ogontz, 
16. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Origin  in  Literature  of  Vulgarisms, 
16— Plaquemine— "  Four  Persons  Sat  Down,"  etc.— Cory- 
cian  Cave,  18 — Cattle-Calls — Labrador — Lofty  Waterfalls — 
Pomp's  Pond — Ff  as  an  Initial — Sunken  Cities,  19 — Calf — 
Bad  Lands — Mine  of  Beeswax — Ages  of  European  Sovereigns, 
20 — Hen  and  Chickens— Singular  Place  Names— Subterran- 
eous State  Prison,  21 — Acrophobia — I  Shall  be  Satisfied — 
Skate  Runners,  23 — A  Notable  Sand-drift,  24. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  =—24. 

Q  U  B  r^  I  B  S . 

Wedding  Anniversaries. — Can  you  give 
me  the  names  of  the  different  wedding  anni- 
versaries? F.  E.  P.  L. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

At  end  of  First  year,  the  Cotton  Wedding. 
Second  year Paper 


Third 
Fifth 
Seventh 
Tenth 
Twelfth 
Fifteenth 
Twentieth   year 
Twenty-fifth  " 
Thirtieth         " 
Fortieth          " 
Fiftieth  " 

Seventy-filth  " 


Leather 

Wooden 

Woolen 

Tin 

Silk  and  Fine  Linen 
.  Crystal 
.  China 
.  Silver 
.  Pearl 
.  Ruby 
.  Golden 
.  Diamond 


Inca's  Bone. — What  is  the  Inca's  Bone? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 
What  is  called  the  interparietal  bone  in 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  8,  1890. 


the  lower  mammals;  in  adult  man  it  is 
usually,  but  not  always,  a  part  of  the  occipital 
bone.  But  it  has  been  observed  that  in 
Peruvian  mummies  this  bone  is  not  very 
infrequently  distinct ;  the  suture  which 
usually  exists  in  very  early  life  still  persisting. 
Hence  it  has  been  called  the  Incarial  Bone. 

Robert. — Where  is  the  town  of  Robert  ? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

There  is  a  considerable  town  of  this  name 
on  the  island  of  Martinique,  French  West 
Indies. 


REPLIES. 

Snakes  in  Iceland  (Vol.  v,  p.  296). — The 
chapter  referred  to  in  this  note  has  been  at- 
tributed to  Hakluyt.  J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK. 

Hungaria  (Vol.  vi,  p.  5). — I  have  no 
doubt  that  Mr.  Kipling  by  this  name  means 
"the  Countess  Josika's  Lilac,"  Syringa 
josikcea,  a  purplish-blue  flowered  Transyl- 
vanian  lilac,  often  called  the  Hungarian 
lilac.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Melleray  (Vol.  vi,  p.  5). — The  abbey  in 
question  (New  Melleray)  no  doubt  is  named 
in  honor  of  the  abbey  of  Mount  Melleray, 
nearCappoquin,  county  Waterford,  Ireland. 
There  is  also  a  Melleray  in  the  department 
of  Sarthe,  in  France. 

But  if,  as  I  suspect,  the  Irish  Melleray  is 
named  for  the  French  village  of  La  Mail- 
leraye,  we  can  have  no  difficulty  in  de- 
riving its  name.  La  Maillcraye  is  said  to 
signify  the  mtdlary,  or  medlar-orchard,  and 
its  old  Latin  name  of  Mespiletum  bears  out 
this  conjecture.  IPSICO. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Painted    Desert    (Vol.    v,    p.     295) 

"  Painted  Desert  and  Painted  Rocks  are 
names  applied  to  several  localities  where  the 
so  called  "Aztec  pictures"  are  found. 
The  name  is  applied  to  the  rude  rock-carv- 
ings made  by  Indians.  The  surface  of  the 


rocks,  which  are  sandstone  in  composition, 
is  yet  black  in  color ;  the  interior  is  a  pink- 
ish white.  The  rough  intaglio  pictures  are 
made  by  clipping  away  the  surface  of  the 
rock.  Some  of  these  carvings  are  very  re- 
cent, others  are  more  than  fifty  years  old. 
At  Antelope  Valley,  Arizona,  I  made  pencil 
sketches  of  about  twenty  of  these  rocks,  sev- 
eral of  which  had  been  copied  about  forty 
years  previously,  and  a  reproduction  of  the 
drawing  made  at  that  time  appears  in  Ban- 
croft's "Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  Coast."  A 
comparison  of  the  two  sketches  shows  that  sev- 
eral of  the  figures  copied  by  my  predecessor 
have  been  somewhat  changed  by  adding 
other  features  thereto,  and  also  that  new 
figures  have  been  sculptured  on  the  same 
rock.  The  figures  are  mainly  rude  pictures 
of  animals,  and  their  white  surface  on  a 
black  background  gives  an  effect  of  irradia- 
tion that  would  naturally  suggest  the  name 
"Painted  Rocks." 

J.  W.  RED  WAV. 
NEW  YORK. 

Dorimant  (Vol.  v,  p.  281). — Dorimant  is 
a  witty,  rakish  character  in  Etherege's  play, 
"  The  Man  of  Mode. "  It  is  generally  held 
that  the  Earl  of  Rochester  was  intended  by 
Dorimant,  and  in  later  English  literature  it 
appears  to  signify  any  loose  and  unprincipled 
but  agreeable,  witty  and  stylish  young  man. 

N.  S.  S. 

The  Dogs  of  War  (Vol.  v,  p.  269).— This 
subject  has  been  treated  very  successfully 
in  "  Professions  for  Dogs,"  by  C.  F.  Gor- 
don Gumming.  The  article  is  enlivened 
throughout  with  anecdotes,  many  of  which 
are  historical,  and  illustrate  the  point  in 
question.  The  following  will  serve  as  a 
specimen  of  the  interesting  collection  : 

"  Probably  no  dog  ever  rendered  such 
signal  military  service,  or  been  so  honorably 
recognized  as  the  celebrated  poodle  Mous- 
tache, who  shared  the  victorious  fortunes  of 
the  French  army  through  most  of  the  wars 
of  the  Consulate,  and  the  French  Empire. 
He  won  special  honors  at  Marengo,  and  was 
decorated  by  Marshal  Lannes,  as  a  reward 
for  having  rescued  the  regimental  colors 
from  an  Austrian  soldier  when  in  the  act  of 
snatching  it  from  the  grasp  of  the  standard- 


November  8,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


bearer,  as  he  fell  mortally  wounded.  The 
plucky  poodle  drove  off  the  assailant,  and 
then,  seizing  the  tattered  colors  in  his  teeth, 
dragged  them  triumphantly  till  he  reached 
his  own  company. ' '  This  is  only  one  of  the 
many  brilliant  exploits  recorded  of  the 
Prince  of  Poodles,  Moustache. 

Bonaparte's  high  opinion  of  a  dog's  mili- 
tary value  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
letter  addressed  to  Marmount  in  1799: 
"  There  should  be  at  Alexandria  a  large 
number  of  dogs,  which  you  ought  to  be  able 
to  employ  by  massing  them  in  groups  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  walls." 

During  the  insurrection  of  1871  in  Algiers, 
the  French  could  not  but  have  been  struck 
with  the  effective  aid  rendered  by  the  African 
dogs  to  the  Arabs  of  Kabylia,  and  the 
French  themselves  revived  the  "  dog  ser- 
vice ' '  in  the  South  Tunisian  campaigns  of 
1 88 1  and  1886,  with  most  satisfactory  re- 
sults. 

In  1886,  the  French  War  Department,  as 
also  the  German,  ordered  training  schools 
for  dogs  to  be  attached  to  the  various  regi- 
ments of  the  army,  the  French  dog  service 
being  •  put  in  charge  of  General  Ferron, 
minister  of  war,  and  that  of  the  Germans, 
under  the  command  of  a  General  of  the 
Fourth  Army  Corps. 

The  dogs  are  trained,  first,  as  auxiliary 
sentinels ;  secondly,  as  scouts,  and  thirdly  as 
safe  letter-carriers. 

It  now  remains  to  be  seen  if  doggie  at  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century  will  outshine 
the  trained  dogs  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans,  or  even  the  canine  defenders  of  the 
French  standard  in  the  Napoleonic  era  (see 
"Professions  for  Dogs,"  "  Blackwood," 
Vol.  144).  F.  T.  C. 

,  HARTFORD,  CONN. 

At  present,  dogs  are  employed  by  the 
French  troops  in  Anam,  but  apparently  for 
the  purpose  of  guard-duty,  or  as  watch-dogs, 
rather  than  in  actual  fighting.  In  the 
Maroon  wars  of  Jamaica,  the  English  are 
said  to  have  employed  blood-hounds  in  trac- 
ing up  the  runaways,  but  some  writers  say 
that  the  dogs  were  never  put  to  actual  use, 
since  the  dread  of  the  dogs  induced  the 
Maroons  to  give  up  at  once  that  independ- 
ence they  had  so  bravely  contended  for. 

ILDERIM. 


"  Forgotten  Wild  Fruits  "  (Vol.  v,  p.  305  ; 
Vol.  vi,  p.  4). — "  Wild  lemon  "  is  probably 
only  a  local  name  for  the  fruit  of  the  wild- 
mandrake,  or  "May-apple,"  as  it  is 
generally  called  in  Southern  Pennsylvania. 
We  have  seen  thousands  of  them  and  have 
gathered  and  eaten  hundreds  of  them  in  our 
time.  Wild  lemon  is  perhaps  a  more  ap- 
propriate name  for  it  than  May-apple,  for  it 
resembles  a  lemon  more  than  it  does  an  ap- 
ple. It  is  the  Podophyllum  peltatum  of 
botanists.  The  fruit,  however,  at  least  in 
Lancaster  county,  is  very  much  larger  than 
a  "sparrow's  egg,"  it  is  nearly  as  large  as 
the  ordinary  lemon  (citrus),  but  more  ob- 
long and  somewhat  flattened  on  the  one 
side.  It  used  to  be  abundant  in  Lancaster 
county,  and  is  by  no  means  rare  now.  But 
it  has  nothing  of  the  citrus  or  common  lemon 
flavor  about  it.  It  abounds  in  woods  and 
contiguous  fields,  but  as  the  woods  disap- 
pear, the  mandrake  also  disappears — its 
habitat  is  wild  shady  regions,  and  it  ripens 
here  in  July.  The  stem  is  "  round,  sheathed 
at  base,  dividing  into  two  round  petioles, 
between  which  is  the  flower,"  and  subse- 
quently the  fruit.  Many  of  the  plants  have 
barren  stems,  and  only  one  peltate  leaf. 
The  root  is  said  to  be  poisonous  and  acts  as 
a  cathartic.  The  fruit  when  perfectly  ripe 
is  not  unpleasant  to  the  taste,  but  very  few 
contract  a  fondness  for  it — there  is  a  mawk- 
ish sweetness  about  it  that  soon  clogs  the 
appetite,  although  it  is  very  slightly  acid. 
Some  imagine  it  has  the  flavor  of  the  straw- 
berry, but  others  are  not  able  to  detect  that 
peculiar  flavor.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Patriarchs  (Vol.  v,  p.  305). — The  Roman 
Catholic  Church  recognizes  patriarchs  of 
Constantinople,  of  Alexandria,  of  Antioch 
(Maronite  rite,  Melchite  rite,  Syrian  rite  and 
Latin  rite),  of  Jerusalem,  of  Venice,  of 
Babylon,  of  Cilicia,  of  the  Armenians,  of 
Lisbon,  of  the  West  Indies,  and  of  the  East 
Indies.  The  Russian  Church  has  eleven 
patriarchs,  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Alexan- 
dria, Constantinople,  Russia,  Cyprus,  Aus- 
tria, Mount  Sinai,  Montenegro,  Greece  and 
Roumania.  There  is  also  a  patriarch  of  the 
Chaldeans  (Roman  Catholic  Nestorians), 
and  a  patriarch  of  the  Nestorians.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


i6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  8,  1890. 


From  "The  Universal  Episcopate  "  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Charles  R.  Hale,  Baltimore,  1882, 
and  from  other  sources,  I  have  been  able 
to  compile  the  following  list  of  Patriarchates, 
as  at  present  existing  :  i.  In  the  Orthodox 
Eastern  (Greek)  Church,  there  are  patriarchs 
of  Constantinople,  Alexandria,  Antioch  and 
Jerusalem  (Russia  and  Greece  have  no  patri- 
archates). To  the  archbishops  of  Czernovitz 
and  Carlovitz  is  also  latterly  conceded  a 
patriarchal  rank.  2.  In  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  (Latin  rite)  the  pope  himself  is  a 
patriarch  ;  others  are  the  patriarchs  of  Con- 
stantinople, Alexandria,  Antioch,  Jerusalem, 
Venice,  Lisbon,  the  West  Indies,  3.  Roman 
Catholic  patriarchs  of  the  Eastern  Rite  : 
Antioch  (Melchite  Greek  uniate) ;  Cilicia 
(Armenian  uniate)  ;  Antioch  (Syrian  uniate); 
Babylon  (Chaldee  uniate) ;  Antioch  (Maro- 
niteuniate).  4.  Armenian  Church,  under  the 
Supreme  Catholicos  in  rank  are  the  patriarchs 
of  Constantinople,  Jerusalem,  Sis  and  Akhta- 
mar  (the  two  latter  with  the  title  of  Catho- 
licos). 5.  Of  the  Jacobite  Church,  patri- 
arch of  Antioch.  6.  Coptic  Church,  patri- 
arch of  Alexandria.  7.  Nestorian  Church, 
patriarch  of  Babylon.  This  makes  a  total 
of  twenty-six  patriarchates,  but  I  do  not 
think  it  a  complete  list.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


TO 


Life  is  Short,  Art  is  Long.—  What  is 
the  full  text  of  the  passage  of  which  this 
forms  a  part  ?  Who  wrote  it  ?  And  what 
does  it  mean  ?  MEDICO. 

,   PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Timothy,  or  Herd-grass.—  What  is 

the  origin  of  these  names?  One  account 
states  that  one  Timothy  Herd  introduced  the 
culture  of  it  into  the  United  States  ;  another 
story  is  that  Timothy  Hanson  took  it  to 
England  from  New  Hampshire  about  1  780  ; 
a  third  explanation  is  that  a  Quaker  named 
Timothy  sent  the  seed  from  Durant's  Neck, 
N.  C.,  to  England  about  1662.  But  most 
botanists  regard  the  plant  as  European 
rather  than  American.  P.  G.  T. 

OSWEGO,  N.  Y. 


Corncob. — Where  can  I  find  any  account 
of  Corncob,  a  Choctaw  chief? 

M.  S.  P. 

DULUTH. 

Essential  Oils. — Are  essential  oils  so 
named  because  the  so-called  "  essences"  are 
prepared  from  them  ?  Or  are  the  oils  re- 
garded as  the  essential  or  active  principles 
of  certain  plants  ? 

ROBERT  M.  PERKINS. 

NEWARK,  N.  J. 

Ogontz. — This  is  the  name  of  a  town 
near  the  limits  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  the  name  of  an  Indian  chief. 
Where  can  an  account  of  this  chief  be  found? 


L.  M.  N. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


(UOMMUNIGAJfllONS. 


The  Origin  in  Literature  of  Vul- 
garisms —  {Continued  from  page  8). — 

When  a  boy  I  frequently  heard  cotch,  for 
catch.  I  was  delighted  to  find  this  old  pro- 
nunciation the  other  day  in  "  Gammer  Gur- 
ton:" 

"Then  I  to  save  my  goods,  toke  so  much  pains  as  him 

to  watch  ; 
And  as  good  fortune  served  me,  it  was  my  chance  him 

for  to  cotch." 

Roil  (to  vex)  conformed  its  spelling  to 
the  old  pronunciation,  and  is  now  rile; 
while  bile  (A.  S.  byle)  has  changed  its  spell- 
ing to  suit  the  modern  pronunciation.  Boil 
(tumor)  is  the  only  word  in  the  language  of 
direct  Germanic  origin  that  has  oi  (Sweet). 
The  verb  boil  comes  from  the  old  French 
boiller.  I  will  venture  the  suggestion  that 
the  pronunciation  of  neither  sometimes  af- 
fected comes  from  a  dialectic  form  noither, 
once  common. 

"Noyther  grave  ne  ungrave,  golde  noither 
silver  "  ("  Piers  Plowman,"  iv,  130). 

"  Whether  thow  shalt  be  our  kyng,  either 
we  shall  be  undirloute  to  thi  bidding  " 
(Wiclif). 

Wiclif  has  "  that  the  bodi  of  synne  be 
distried"  (destroyed).  All  are  familiar 
with  the  vulgar  pronunciation  of  going. 


November  8,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Ventur' ',   natur' ,  etc.,  Mr.   Lowell  says, 
"  The  Yankee  still  persists  in." 
"  I  recollecten  thet  'ere  mine  o'  lead  to  Shiraz  Centre, 
That  bust  up  Jabez  Pettibone,  an'  didn't  want  to  ven- 
tur' ," 

John  Lyly,  in  his  "  Euphues,"  a  classic — 
in  prose,  the  classic — of  that  age,  shows  us 
what  the  pronunciation  was  :  ''Be  valiaunt 
but  not  to  venterous" 

"Like  Darby  (Derby),  dark  (clerk), 
parson  (persona  ecclestce),  so  sarvant,  as  we 
still  pronounce  its  doublet  sergeant,  sarpent, 
sarmont  (compare  Wiclif's  "and  Symont 
suede  hym,"  Simon  followed  him),  varmint, 
(vermin),  Hanry  (whence  Harry),  chaw, 
are  common  in  the  literature  of  North  Eng- 
land ;  so,  too,  thar  and  whar. 

"  Leastways  thar's  whar  he  started  to  go." 
"  Till  (to)  thaim  that  sinful  comes  thar." 

("  Homilies  in  Verse.") 

"  Than  saw  thai  whare  Cristofer  stode  " 
(Lawrence  Minot). 

"  Ne  nowhar  in  non  other  stede  "  (King 
Horn). 

This  recalls  Mr.  Bigelow's  use  of  nega- 
tives : 

"  No,  never  say  nothin'  without  you're  compelled  tu, 
Nor  don't  leave  no  friction — idees  layin'  loose." 

Where  there  are  only  three  to  Chaucer's 
four  :  "  Ne  never  for  no  wo  ne  shall  i  lette 
to  serven  hire,  how  fer  so  that  she  wende. ' ' 

The  good  and  wise  King  Alfred  goes  even 
further.  The  school-boy  who  exclaimed  on 
rising  from  a  losing  game  of  "keeps," 
"  You  needn't  never  say  nothing  no  more 
to  me  about  no  marbles,"  was  giving  vent 
to  his  indignation  in  true  Alfredian  prose ; 
and  there  are  times  in  the  life  of  every 
true-born  Englishman  when  he  would  like  to 
wreak  his  vengeance,  as  his  children  are 
sure  to  do,  on  the  modern  importation  from 
the  Latin  grammar  forbidding  double  nega- 
tives. 

Hit  (it)  and  hem  ('em)  were  once  as- 
pirated. "Htfs  been  now  a' most  forty 
year  ago. ' ' 

"^T/Vsnewede  in  his  hous  of  mete  and 
drynke"  (Chaucer). 

"  That  hem  hath  holpen  whan  that  they 
were  seeke  (sick)  "  (Ibid.~). 

Year,  for  years,  was  quite  regular.  Years 
at  one  time  was  as  much  an  innovation  as 
deers  would  be  now. 


"  Of  twenty  year  of  age  he  was  I  gesse  " 
(Chaucer). 

A  better  example  of  guess,  in  its  expletive 
sense,  is  seen  in  Spenser's  line  : 

"  Now  it  is  time,  I  guess  homeward  to  go." 
This  exactly  matches, 
"  An'  one  is  big  enough,  I  guess,  by  diligently  usin'  it." 

The  etymology  of  chore  recalls  the  time 
when  English  was  derived  from  everything 
but  English.  Happily  now,  in  the  study  of 
our  language,  we  no  longer  turn  our  backs 
on  ourselves.  "  Chore  is  also  Jonson's 
word,  and  I  am  inclined  to  prefer  it  to  chare 
and  char,  because  I  think  I  see  a  more 
natural  origin  for  it  in  the  French  jour — 
whence  it  might  come  to  mean  a  day's  work, 
thence  a  job— than  anywhere  else."  The 
French  jour,  through  its  derivative  journee, 
gives  us  journey  and  journey-man,  a  man 
who  works  by  the  day,  but  chore  has  its  ori- 
gin in  English  itself,  that  is,  it  is  not  a  bor- 
rowed word.  Shakespeare  has  chare  as  in 
"Anthony  and  Cleopatra  :" 

"  the  maid  that  milks, 
And  does  the  meanest  chares." 

The  oldest  English  is  cerr,  a  turn,  a  job 
— from  the  verb  cerran  (Ger.  kehren),  to 
turn — the  middle  English  forms  of  which 
are  cherre,  chare,  chore,  I  find  the  verb  in 
the  version  of  "Genesis  and  Exodus" 
(1250). 

"  He  bade  hise  kinde  to  him  charen  " 
(he  bade  his  kindred  to  him  turn). 

A  form  of  the  noun  is  seen  in  char- 
woman  and  in  a-jar,  which  is  for  achar,  on 
turn. 

"  An'  bein'  as  it  air  named  arter  D'rindy, 
she  sets  store  by  it. ' ' 

This  expression  has  fallen,  I  know  not* 
why,  into  dishonor  in  America,  but  it  is  not 
unusual  in  the  best  literature  of  the  past, 
and  in  the  works  of  the  best  writers  of  the 
present  in  England.  I  find  it  in  Sir 
Thomas  Wyatt's  "  Sonettes  "  (about  1540): 
"  Taught  me  in  trifles  that  I  set  no  store." 

As  to  arter,  after,  used  to  rhyme  with 
slaughter  and  water  in  classic  poetry,  as  well 
as  in  the  Jack  and  Jill  Q{  Mother  Goose. 

In  Wiclif  we  find  stidfast,  yistirday,  pore 
men,  aferd,  turmtid  (tormented),  sperit. 

Even  the  gooder  and  badder  of  childhood 


i8 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  8,  1890. 


I  have  been  glad  to  hail  again  in  the  best 
literature:  " godere  lore"  is  in  "Ancren 
Riwle,"  and  "  badder  end  "  in  Chaucer. 

Much  of  the  slang  of  the  present  day  is 
not  modern  by  several  centuries.  When 
Mr.  Sawin  wrote,  "  An'  Rantoul,  tu,  talked 
pooty  loud,  but  don't  put  his  foot  in  it," 
he  was  probably  not  aware  of  Tyndale's 
proverb, 

"  The  bishop  hath  put  his  foot  in  the  pot." 

In  the  first  English  comedy,  "  Ralph 
Roister  Doister,"  published  about  1553, 
Ralph  says  : 

"  Nay  dame,  I  will  fire  thee  out  of  thy 
house,"  which  certainly  requires  no  gloss 
for  those  of  us  who  sometimes  hear  the  ver- 
nacular in  all  its  vigor.  It  is  no  strange 
thing  to  hear  that  the  president  of  a  bank 
has  skipt,  but  it  is  a  little  startling  to  read 
in  Wiclif  that  "  whanne  barnabas  and  poul 
hearden  this  thei  skippten  out." 

These  colloquial  survivals  of  what  was 
once  a  part  of  the  standard  language  prove 
the  soundness  of  Horace's  doctrine  : 

"  Multa  renascentur  quaejam  cecidere,  cadentque 
Quae  nunc  sunt  in  honore  vocabula,  si  volet  usus, 
Quern  penes  arbitrium  est  et  jus  et  norma  loquendi." 

("  Ars  Poetica.") 

and  the  folly  of  Swift's  "Proposal"  for 
fixing  our  language  forever.  *  *  *  that  no 
word,  which  a  society  shall  give  sanction  to, 
be  afterwards  antiquated.  If  the  examples 
cited  show  anything,  they  show  that  in  re- 
spect to  colloquialisms  and  so-called  vulgar- 
isms, 

"  Ther  nys  (ne  is)  no   newe   gyse   that  it 

nas  (ne   was)   old,"  in    the    language    of 

Chaucer,    or,   in  other  words,  whatever  is, 

was  right  (Prof.  Edward  A.  Allen  in  Chau- 

'  tauquan). 

— (Prof.  Edward  A.  Allen  in  Chautauquan). 

Plaquemine  (Vol.  v,  p.  152). — The 
author  of  "The  Story  of  an  Old  Farm," 
writing  of  Plucamin,  N.  J.,  says  that  many 
consider  Plaquemine  to  be  the  proper  spell- 
ing of  the  name.  "  It  is  repeatedly  spelled 
'  Blockhemen  '  in  the  old  German  archives 
of  Zion  Church."  He  gives  also  a  letter 
from  Edward  Eggleston,  with  whom  in  1885 
he  had  some  correspondence  on  the  point. 
Mr.  Eggleston  says:  "  I  think  it  may  be  a 


corruption  of  Puckamin,  which  I  believe, 
though  I  cannot  be  sure,  was  a  dialect  form 
of  the  Algonquin  Putchamin,  corrupted  by 
our  ancestors  to  persimmon,  the  fruit  of 
that  name.  This  seems  like  a  wild  con- 
jecture, but  I  think  it  is  the  solution.  At 
any  rate,  the  name  is  Indian,  I  doubt  not  " 
(P-  165). 

Putchamines  are  mentioned  among  the 
fruits  enumerated  in  "  A  Perfect  Description 
of  Virginia,"  London,  1649  (author  un- 
named). This  is  printed  in  the  "  Force 
Tracts,"  Vol.  ii,  but  when  making  my  note 
I  carelessly  omitted  the  page. 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

"Four  Persons  Sat  Down,"  etc. 
(Vol.  iii,  p.  58). — Horace  Walpole,  in  a 
letter  to  Lady  Ossory,  writes :  "I  send  you 
a  very  old  riddle,  but  if  you  never  saw  it  you 
will  like  it  and  revere  the  riddle-maker, 
which  was  one  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  a  star- 
gazer  and  conjurer : 

"  '  Four  people  sat  down  to  a  table  to  play ; 
They  played  all  that  night,  and  parted  next  day. 
Could  you  think  when  you're  told  that  as  they  all 

set 

No  other  played  with  them,  nor  was  there  a  bet? 
Yet  when  they  rose  up  each  was  winner  one  guinea, 
Tho'  none  of  them  lost  the  amount  of  a  penny.'  " 

Walpole  could  not  guess  it,  but  Lady 
Ossory  did,  and  sent  him  this  answer  : 

"  Four  merry  fiddlers  played  all  night 

To  many  a  dancing  ninny, 
And  the  next  morning  went  away, 
And  each  received  a  guinea." 

(  Chicago  Inter-  Ocean. ) 

Corycian  Cave  (Vol.  v,  p.  108,  etc.). 
— Your  correspondent  has  made  note  of  the 
fact  that  this  so-called  cave,  like  the  neigh- 
boring town  of  Corycus,  whence  its  name 
was  derived,  was  anciently  famous  for  its  saf- 
fron. But  he  failed  to  make  note  of  one 
very  pleasant  conjecture,  to  wit,  that  Crocus 
(Greek  */>d«oc)  the  Latin  name  of  the 
saffron,  was  probably  derived  from  that  of 
the  town  of  Corycus.  Another  word,  a 
curious  old  English  one  was  derived  from 
crocus.  I  refer  to  croker,  a  cultivator  of,  or 
dealer  in,  saffron,  a  word  which  appears  to 
survive  only  as  a  family  name. 

Qui  TAM. 


November  8,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Cattle-Calls  (Vol.  vi,  p.  3,  etc.).— A 
call  to  cows  in  milking  is  so,  meaning  "  be 
still. ' '  To  oxen,  working-horses,  or  mules,  to 
turn  to  the  right,  gee  !  gee-hwo  f  orjee-whoa 
(German,/^  /  Ital.,  gio  .'  etc.).  To  turn  to 
the  left,  haw,  or  whoa-haw  !  Qrhoi(ci.  French 
huhau  !  hue!  hurhau !  and  dia  !  To  stand 
still,  whoa,  or  hwo  /  Fr.  hau  .'  houoi!  In  the 
Middle  States  the  cry  yay  is  often  heard  (cf. 
German  je !  so!  go  on  !  hiio  f  juh  !  etc.). 
Every  reader  of  Miss  Ingelow's  poems  re- 
members the  cusha,  cusha,  used  in  calling 
cows.  I  read  in  The.  Critic  some  years 
since  that  in  Germany  hep,  hep,  was  a  call 
for  goats.  It  is  much  better  known  as  an 
old  anti-Semitic  cry.  In  my  youth  I  have 
heard  hog-drovers  calling  out  whee  to  their 
droves.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Sic  as  a  call  to  swine  is  new  to  me,  but  "sick 
him  "  (doubtless  for  "  see&him  ")  is  a  com- 
mon command  to  dogs.  About  Philadelphia 
to  sick  on  has  come  to  mean  "  to  urge  on," 
or  "to  egg  on. "  It  is  even  used  of  persons. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  this  is  an  extension  of 
the  use  of  sick  him,  or  seek  him  as  a  com- 
mand to  dogs.  P.  H.  R. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Labrador  (Vol.  v,  p.  267). — Hind  in 
his  "  Exploration  in  Labrador  "  (1863)  has 
the  following  explanation  :  "  The  traditions 
respecting  the  origin  of  the  name  '  Labra- 
dor '  prevailing  among  the  residents  on  the 
coast,  many  of  whom  occupy  the  sedentary 
seal  fisheries  of  their  ancestors,  ascribe  both 
the  discovery  of  the  country  and  its  name  to 
Labrador,  a  Basque  whaler,  from  the  king- 
dom of  Navarre,  who  penetrated  as  far  as 
Labrador  bay,  now  called  Bradore  bay,  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  In  pro- 
cess of  time  as  this  bay  was  much  frequented 
by  Basque  fishermen,  the  whole  coast  be- 
came known  by  the  name  of  the  adventurous 
whaler  who  first  visited  it." 

Hind  refers  to  Robertson's  "  Notes  on 
Coast  of  Labrador. "  According  to  Larra- 
mendi's  "  Basque  Dictionary,"  Labrador  is 
not  Basque,  but  Castilian.  The  Basque 
equivalents  are  aitgurlea,  achurlea,  necaza- 
lea,  necazaria  ;  Latin,  agricola. 


Larramendi  "  Diccionario  Trilingiie,  Cas- 
tellano,  Bascuence  y  Latin"  (1853). 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CT. 

Lofty  Waterfalls  (Vol.  v,  pp.  306, 
etc.).  —  The  waterfall  of  Pandassan,  Tam- 
passuk,  in  Sabah,  or  British  North  Borneo, 
is  1500  feet  high.  It  is  on  the  river  Kalupis. 


Pomp's  Pond.  —  This  is  a  small  and, 
as  I  remember  it,  a  somewhat  gloomy  little 
lake,  or  tarn,  near  Andover,  Mass.  I  have 
not  seen  it  for  many  a  year.  There  is  some 
kind  of  a  legend  attached  to  it.  This  pond, 
as  well  as  the  Shawsheen  river,  which  flows 
near  it,  was  one  of  the  places  in  which  the 
devil  baptized  witches.  It  was  in  that  part 
of  old  Andover  which  is  now  called  North 
Andover  that  the  Salem  witchcraft  first  broke 
out,  at  least  so  it  used  to  be  said  in  my 
school-days.  But  Pomp's  pond  is  not  in 
North  Andover.  I  believe  it  took  its  name 
from  some  ancient  negro  named  Pomp, 
whose  story  I  have  forgotten. 

EUCLID. 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

Ff  as  an  Initial  (Vol.  v,  pp.  226,  etc.). 
—  In  the  life  of  Fielding,  written  for  the 
"English  Men  of  Letters"  series,  Austin 
Dobson  says  that  in  the  original  assignment 
to  Andrew  Millar  of  the  copyright  of 
"Joseph  Andrews,"  as  well  as  in  another 
existing  document,  both  the  author's  name 
in  the  body  of  the  instrument  and  his  signa- 
ture are  written  with  the  form  Ff.  "Joseph 
Andrews"  was  published  in  1742,50  this 
brings  the  custom  down  to  comparatively 
modern  times.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Sunken  Cities  (Vol.  v,  pp.  275,  etc.).  — 
A  recent  archaeological  discovery  of  no 
slight  moment  lends  a  living  interest  to  this 
topic.  According  to  a  diver's  affidavit  there 
are  streets  and  walls  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Adriatic  sea  —  just  south  of  Boregno  Light- 
house and  about  opposite  Ravenna.  There 
is  much  reason  to  believe  the  ruins  seen  there 
are  those  of  the  lost  city  in  the  Istrian  island 
of  Cissa.  The  latest  records  of  this  city  be- 


20 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [November  8,  1890. 


long  to  the  seventh  century,  and  even  the 
site  of  it  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  Per- 
haps the  fishermen's  nets  which  brought  up 
fragments  of  masonry  have  found  what  there 
is  no  written  memorial  to  prove,  and  the  so- 
called  submarine  rocks  are  only  the  over- 
turned buildings  of  Cissa  submerged  for 
twelve  hundred  years.  The  diver's  explora- 
tions were  limited  by  his  apparatus  to  a  walk 
of  100  feet  on  a  sea  wall,  but  the  results  of 
the  initial  examination  were  enough  to  war- 
rant more  extended  investigations,  which  it 
is  hoped  will  establish,  beyond  conjecture, 
the  identity  of  the  submerged  town. 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Calf  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  12,  etc.). — We  have 
off  the  Maine  coast  no  less  than  three  Calf 
islands,  one  of  which  lies  near  Cow  island, 
and  another  is  attended  by  a  Little  Calf. 
Off  Boston  Harbor  there  are  also  islands 
called  respectively  Calf  and  Little  Calf. 
The  Maine  coast  has  two  Cow  islands,  at 
least.  Not  far  from  the  island  of  St.  Thomas, 
in  the  Virgin  islands  (West  Indies)  there 
are  rocks  called  the  Cow  and  Calf. 

There  is  a  Cow  island  south-west  of  the 
county  of  Cork,  with  a  Calf  near  it ;  and  a 
Cow  and  Calf  off  Cornwall  near  Porthqueen. 
East,  Middle  and  West  Calf  also  belong  to 
the  county  Cork.  Another  island  called 
the  Calf  is  in  the  Orkneys  near  the  isle  of 
Eday. 

ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 

Bad  Lands. — The  common  explanation 
is  that  the  French  Canadian  voyageurs  called 
these  places  Mauvaiscs  Terrespour  traverser, 
"  bad  lands  to  travel  over,"  whence,  for 
brevity's  sake,  Mauvaises  Terres  and  Bad 
Lands  were  formed  by  compression.  As 
confirming  this  view,  I  would  cite  Hayden's 
statement,  that  the  Sioux  name  is  "  Ma-koo- 
si-tcha,"  which  is  said  to  mean  "bad  country 
to  travel  through."  Per  contra,  the  Span- 
ish name  in  New  Mexico  for  such  places  is 
Malpais,  literally  "  bad  country."  Is  this 
only  a  coincidence  ?  May  it  not  be  a  com- 
paratively recent  translation  of  the  French 
or  English  name  ?  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Mine  of  Beeswax  (Vol.  v,  p.  299). — 
Ozocerite,  or  mineral  wax,  is  very  common 
along  the  Pacific  slope.  Usually  it  is  black  in 
color,  but  in  a  few  instances  it  is  almost  as 
white  as  refined  paraffine.  The  deposits  are 
confined  mainly  to  the  Coast  Range,  and 
large  masses  of  the  mineral  are  frequently 
thrown  upon  the  beach,  or  otherwise  exposed 
by  the  waves.  J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK. 

Ages  of  European  Sovereigns. — The 

new  issue  of  the  "  Almanach  de  Gotha ' '  gives 
an  interesting  table,  showing  the  ages  of  the 
reigning  sovereigns  of  Europe  and  the  dura- 
tion of  their  reigns :  "  Omitting  the  small 
German  States,  the  oldest  reigning  prince  is 
Leo  XIII,  who  is  79^  years  old,  and  has 
reigned  nearly  12  years ;  next  comes  William 
III,  King  of  the  Netherlands,  72^  years 
old,  having  reigned  40  years;  next  Christian 
IX,  King  of  Denmark,  71^  years  old,  with 
26  years  of  reign ;  then  Queen  Victoria, 
70^  years  old,  with  52  years  of  reign; 
Karl  I  of  Wurtemberg,  662/z  years  old,  with 
25  years  of  reign  ;  Frederick,  Grand  Duke 
of  Baden,  63  years  old,  with  38  years  of 
reign;  Albert,  King  of  Saxony,  61^  years 
old,  with  16  years  of  reign;  Oscar  II,  King 
of  Sweden,  60^  years  old,  with  1 7  years  of 
reign  ;  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria,  59  years 
old,  having  reigned  41  years;  Leopold  II, 
King  of  the  Belgians,  54^  years  old,  having 
reigned  24  years ;  Louis,  Grand  Duke  of 
Hesse,  52  years  old,  with  12  years  of  reign  ; 
Charles,  King  of  Roumania,  50^  years  old, 
with  a  reign  of  23^4  years  since  the  begin- 
ning of  his  government ;  Nicholas,  Prince 
of  Montenegro,  48  years  old,  with  a  reign 
of  29  years ;  Abdul  Hamid,  the  Sultan,  47 
years  old,  with  13  years  of  reign  ;  Humbert 
I,  King  of  Italy,  45^  years  old,  with  a  reign 
of  nearly  12  years;  Alexander  III  of  Russia, 
44j^j  years  old,  with  a  reign  of  8^  years ; 
George,  King  of  Greece,  44  years  old,  with 
a  reign  of  26^  years ;  Otto,  King  of 
Bavaria,  41^  years  old;  William  II,  Ger- 
man Emperor,  nearly  31  years  old,  with  i^ 
years  of  reign  ;  Carlos  I  of  Portugal,  26 
years  old,  two  months  of  reign  ;  Alexander 
I  of  Servia,  13^  years  old,  with  nine 
months  of  reign ;  Alfonso  XIII  of  Spam, 
3^  years  old,  with  3^  years  of  reign. 


November  8,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


21 


Hen  and  Chickens  (Vol.  v,  p.  312). — 
This  is  a  very  common  name  of  a  large 
rock  in  the  sea  with  smaller  ones  near  it. 
There  is  a  group  of  islets  of  this  name  among 
the  Bahamas,  near  the  Great  Isaac  light- 
house. Anothergroup  of  rocks  of  this  name  is 
near  the  West  Indian  island  of  St.  Martin. 
There  is  a  "Hen  and  Chickens"  in  Lake 
Erie.  Another  group,  far  more  considerable, 
is  in  Macassar  Strait,  Melay  Archipelago. 
Sow  and  Pigs,  Bishop  and  Clerks  are  similar 
instances. 

A  celebrated  "  Bish®p  and  Clerks"  lies 
off  St.  David's,  in  Pembrokeshire.  Drayton 
speaks  of  them  in  his  "  Polyolbion." 
Another  group  of  the  same  name  lies  south- 
west of  New  Zealand.  There  is  a  "  Sow 
and  Pigs  ' '  near  Prospect  Harbor,  Maine  ; 
another  in  Casco  Bay;  still  another  near 
Newburyport,  Mass. 

Another  Hen  and  Chickens  lies  east  of  the 
Lewis,  in  the  Hebrides;  still  another  is  near 
Lundy  isle  in  the  Bristol  channel. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Singular  Place  Names  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
n). — Horseshoe  is  in  Henderson  county, 
N.  C.  We  have  also  Horseshoe  Bend  in 
Idaho  and  Tennessee.  Horseshoe  Falls  in 
Canada  and  Tennessee.  Horseshoe  Mountain 
in  Colorado.  Horseshoe  Run  in  West  Vir- 
ginia. Calf  Killer'^  in  Tennessee.  Split  Rock 
is  found  in  South  Dakota,  New  Jersey,  West 
Virginia.  Horsehead  is  in  Maryland ; 
Horseheads'\%  in  New  York.  Long-a- Coining 
is  now  Berlin,  N.  J.  Hat  and  One-Leg, 
I  give  up,  as  non  inventa.  Painted  Post  is 
in  New  York.  Spread  Eagle  is  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Thoroughfare  is  in  New  Jersey,  also 
in  Virginia.  Traveler1  s  Rest  is  a  place 
name  in  Alabama,  Kentucky  and  South 
Carolina.  Traveler' s  Repose  is  in  West 
Virginia.  Wild  Cat  is  the  name  of  places 
in  Indiana,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Nebraskaand 
South  Carolina.  Wild  Goose  is  in  Tennessee. 
Wild  Horse  in  Kansas.  English  Neighborhood 
is  in  New  Jersey.  Gap  Civil  is  in  North  Caro- 
lina. Good  Intent  occurs  in  Kansas  and 
Pennsylvania.  Good  Luck  is  in  New  Jersey 
(a  place  of  some  historic  interest).  Good 
Night  is  in  Colorado.  White  Horse  occurs 
in  Pennsylvania  and  in  South  Carolina ; 


White  Horse,  N.  J.,  is  now  Kirkwodd. 
Half-moon  occurs  in  New  York  and  in  Penn- 
sylvania. Temperance  is  in  Georgia. 
Economy  occurs  in  Indiana,  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  Tennessee  and  Nova  Scotia. 
There  are  more  than  thirty  places  called 
Harmony  in  the  United  States,  besides  seven 
or  more  called  Industry.  Four  or  more  are 
named  Trinity,  and  fifteen  are  named  Unity. 

E.  S.  A. 

WOODBRIDGE,  N.  J. 

The    Subterraneous    State    Prison 

(Vol.  v,  p.  316).— 

"  Man's  inhumanity  to  man 
Makes  countless  thousands  mourn  !" 

The  American  Newgate  is  witness  that 
Connecticut  men  must  bear  their  share  of 
this  general  load  of  obloquy.  Most  as- 
suredly if  we  accept  Dr.  Peters'  account  of 
the  penal  abode:  "The  prisoners  are  let 
down  on  a  windlass  into  this  dismal  cavern 
through  a  hole  which  answers  the  triple  pur- 
pose of  conveying  them  food,  air  and — I  was 
going  to  say  light,  but  it  scarcely  reaches 
them.  In  a  few  months  the  prisoners  are 
released  by  death,  and  the  colony  rejoices  in 
her  great  humanity  and  the  mildness  of  her 
laws.  This  conclave  of  spirits  imprisoned 
may  be  called  with  great  propriety,  the  cata- 
comb of  Connecticut.  The  light  of  the  sun 
and  the  light  of  the  Gospel  are  alike  shut 
out  from  the  martyrs."  But  Peters  was  a 
Tory,  and  but  for  his  timely  escape  from  the 
country  might  have  found  himself  lodged  in 
Newgate,  with  thirty  or  forty  other  Tory 
sympathizers. 

But  let  us  hear  the  opinion  of  another 
early  New  England  divine  and  historian,  a 
volunteer  and  chaplain  in  the  Revolutionary 
Army — Benjamin  Trumbull — of  whom  it  was 
said,  "he  is  not  a  sensual,  sleepy,  lazy, 
dumb  dog,  that  cannot  bark  back."  He 
says:  "  The  famous  prison  called  Newgate, 
has  been  of  much  greater  advantage  to  the 
State  than  all  the  copper  dug  out  of  it." 

Kendall,  who  visited  it  in  1807,  was 
pleased  to  remark  the  cleanliness  and  airi- 
ness of  the  sick  room  or  hospital,  and  also 
to  note  that  at  the  time  of  his  visit  there 
were  no  patients. 

Authorities  are  generally  agreed  that  the 


22 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [November  8,  1890. 


atmosphere  of  the  mineral  caverns  did  not 
prove  deleterious  to  the  health  of  the  con- 
victs, possibly  from  the  presence  of  some 
medicinal  quality  and  the  equable  tempera- 
ture. 

It  is  rather  the  atmosphere  of  moral  degra- 
dation which  shocks  one — the  utter  hope- 
lessness of  any  reformation.  As  Dr.  Dwight  re- 
marks :  "In  this  case  the  young  adventurer 
in  villainy  was,  in  effect,  put  to  school  to 
the  adept,  and  initiated  in  more  crimes  and 
more  ingenious  modes  of  perpetration  than 
he  would  have  discovered  by  himself  in  his 
whole  life." 

A  chronology  of  Newgate  and  the  copper 
mine  : 

1705.  Copper  first  discovered  at  Old 
Simsbury. 

1707.  First  company  organized  for  work- 
ing the  mine. 

1715-1737.  Period  of  greatest  activity  in 
mining  operations. 

1 737-39-  Granby  coppers  made  by  one 
Highley,  a  blacksmith. 

1773,  May.  General  Assembly  authorized 
a  committee  to  examine  the  mine  with 
reference  to  its  fitness  for  a  prison.  The 
purchase  followed  soon  after,  and  the  work 
of  reconstruction  was  begun. 

1773.  December  22.  First  prisoner,  John 
Hinson,  received. 

1774.  January  9.  Escape  of  same  prisoner 
through  the  aid  of  a  young  woman. 

1775.  First      commitment      of      Tory 
prisoners. 

1776.  Prisoners  burned  the  block-house 
over  the  shaft  in  the  yard,  and  attempted  to 
escape. 

1777.  Another  fire  and  removal  of  con- 
victs  to  the  jail  in  Hartford. 

1780.  Prison     rebuilt,    and     return     of 
prisoners. 

1781.  Simeon     Baxter,    the    arch-Tory, 
preached  his  famous  sermon  to  his  fellow- 
prisoners. 

1781,  May  1 8.  A  tragedy  and  escape  of 
all  the  prisoners. 

1782,  November    6.     Third     fire,    and 
another  removal  to  Hartford. 

1786.  A  part  of  Simsbury  set  off,  includ- 
ing the  mines  and  prison  buildings,  and 
called  Granby. 

.  General  Assembly  passed  an   act 


establishing  Newgate  as  a  permanent  State 
prison,  and  provided  for  the  erection  of 
suitable  buildings. 

1790,  October.  New  buildings  occupied. 

1802.  New  stone  wall  built  to  replace  the 
wooden  palisade  mounted  with  spikes. 

1805.  Discussion  in  the  legislature  about 
separation   of  prisoners   with   no  practical 
change. 

1806.  Insurrection  of  convicts. 

1822.  Another  rebellion — 100  or  more 
rose  on  a  guard  of  seventeen. 

1824.  Tread-mill  built. 

1827.  All  the  prisoners,  126  in  number, 
removed  to  the  new  prison  in  Wethersfield 
on  the  Connecticut  river. 

1830.  Mining  resumed  at  the  abandoned 
premises  by  the  "Phoenix  Mining  Com- 
pany." 

1855.  The  "  Connecticut  Copper  Com- 
pany" organized. 

1859.  Mining  business  finally  abandoned. 

1890,  October.  Centenary  of  the  present 
Newgate  buildings,  now  in  East  Granby,  by 
the  subdivision  of  1857. 

The  name  Newgate  was  given  by  the  legis- 
lature at  the  time  the  property  was  pur- 
chased. 

Bibliography  of  Newgate  covering  over  one 
hundred  years:  "  General  History  of  Con- 
necticut," Peters  (Samuel),  LL.D.,  1781. 
"  Travels  in  Northern  Parts  of  United 
States,"  1807-8,  Edmund  Augustus  Ken- 
dall, contains  a  trustworthy  account  which 
has  been  very  generally  quoted.  "  Com- 
plete History  of  Connecticut,"  Benjamin 
Trumbull,  1818.  "Travels  in  New  Eng- 
land and  New  York,"  Tim.  Dwight, 
LL.D.,  1821.  "Historical  Collections  of 
Connecticut,"  J.  W.  Barber,  1836.  "His- 
tory of  the  Copper  Mines  and  New- 
gate Prison  at  Granby,"  Noah  Amherst 
Phelps,  1845.  "  History  of  Newgate  of  Con- 
necticut at  Simsbury,  now  East  Granby," 
Richard  H.  Phelps,  1860.  Contains  Simeon 
Baxter's  sermon,  and  Eliphalet  Buck's 
"Stanzas  on  Completion  of  Stone  Wall," 
1802,  beginning  : 

"  Attend  all  ye  villains  that  live  in  the  State, 
Consider  the  walls  that  encircle  Newgate." 

"The  American  Newgate,"  Charles  Burr 
Todd  in  Lippincotf s  Magazine,  March, 


November  8,  1890.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


23 


1881,  Vol.  xxvii.  «  The  New  England  New- 
gate  at  East  Granby  in  Connecticut,"  Edwin 
A.  Start  in  New  England Magazine -,  Novem- 
ber, 1890.  The  article  is  entertainingly 
written,  and  beautifully  illustrated. 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Though  I  am  not  your  Hartford  corre- 
spondent, or  even  some  other  New  Eng- 
lander,  may  I  suggest  that  the  New  York 
Sun  of  Sunday,  July  20,  1890,  has  an  ac- 
count of  this  famous  prison,  under  the  title 
'  The  Newgate  of  America." 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Acrophobia  (Vol.  iv,  p.  258).— The 
present  writer  knows  all  about  the  subjective 
part  of  this  symptom.  I  cannot  so  much  as 
read  a  passage  of  descriptive  astronomy 
without  growing  dizzy  and  faint.  It  is  the 
same  symptom  as  that  called  Renomania,  or 
dread  of  space.  Many  dictionaries  describe 
it  under  agoramania,  or  dread  of  the  mar- 
ket-place ;  but  that  name  properly  belongs 
to  a  far  more  formidable  symptom.  "  Dread 
of  the  market-place"  is  really  fear  of  the 
crowd,  fear  of  people.  It  is  often  an  early 
and  distressing  symptom  of  insanity.  But 
acrophobia  is  not  often  associated  with  in- 
sanity. People  of  cautious  sedentary  life, 
and  of  studious  habits,  often  experience  it, 
especially  if  the  imagination  is  somewhat 
active. 


READING,  PA. 


C.  L.  W. 


I  Shall  Be  Satisfied  (Vol.  vi,  p.  8).— 
The  poem,  "I  Shall  Be  Satisfied,"  referred 
to  on  p.  8  of  Vol.  vi,  and  from  which  the 
verse  quoted  in  Miss  Hay's  novel,  "The 
Arundel  Motto,"  is  evidently  taken,  is 
generally  credited  to  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe.  I  think  she  is  given  as  the  author 
in  Randolph's  collection,  "  The  Shadow  of 
the  Rock,"  but  of  that  I  am  not  certain.  I 
know,  however,  that  I  have  several  times 
seen  it  ascribed  to  her.  Will  you  tell  me, 
for  my  own  information,  whether  or  not  she 
did  write  it  ? 

E.  M.  H. 

PlTTSFIELD,  MASS. 


Skate  Runners  (Vol.  vi,  p.  10). — "  Le 
Siecle  de  Louis  XIV,"  public  par  M.  de 
Francheville.  A  Londres :  MDCCLII.  M.  de 
Francheville  is  Voltaire.  In  Chap,  x,  "He 
(to  translate)  [Luxemburg]  assembled  one 
night  nearly  12,000  foot,  drawn  from 
the  neighboring  garrisons.  Skates  had 
been  prepared  for  these.  He  placed  him- 
self at  their  head  and  moved  over  the 
ice  towards  Leyden  and  the  Hague.  A 
thaw  came  on.  The  Hague  was  saved. 
His  army  surrounded  by  water,  having 
neither  roadway  nor  provisions,  was  ready  to 
perish.  To  get  back  to  Utrecht,  it  was 
necessary  to  march  upon  a  narrow  and 
marshy  muddy  dyke,  on  which  they  could 
hardly  drag  themselves  along  four  abreast. 
What  is  more,  they  could  only  reach  this 
dyke  by  attacking  a  fort,  which  seemed  im- 
pregnable to  troops  without  artillery.  Had 
this  fort  stopped  the  French  but  a  single  day, 
they  would  have  been  dead  through  hunger 
and  fatigue,  Luxemburg  had  no  means  of 
safety.  Fortune,  however,  which  had  saved 
the  Hague  for  the  Dutch,  preserved  his  army 
through  the  cowardice  of  the  commandant 
of  the  fort,  who  abandoned  his  post  without 
any  excuse.  There  are  a  thousand  events 
in  war,  as  in  civil  life,  which  are  incompre- 
hensible ;  this  is  among  the  number.  The 
whole  fruit  of  this  [Luxemburg]  enterprise 
was  a  cruelty  which  succeeded  in  rendering 
the  French  name  odious  in  these  countries. 
#  #  *  This  was  so  extreme  that  more 
than  forty  years  afterwards  I  have  seen  Hol- 
landish  books  in  which,  in  learning  their 
children  to  read,  this  infamy  was  detailed, 
and  inspired  future  generations  with  hatred 
against  the  French." 

Speaking  for  himself,  the  writer  has  read 
these  horrors  in  the  old  works  and  seen  the 
pictures  illustrating  them.  The  infamy  was 
aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  motive  was 
religious  fury.  The  French  were  Romanists 
and  their  victims  Protestants.  What  is  more 
and  worse,  Luxemburg  made  a  jest  of  what 
the  unhappy  Dutch  underwent — a  jest  suffi- 
cient to  cause  a  shudder  of  horror.  ANCHOR. 

"The''  in  Place  Names  (Vol.v,  pp.  282, 
etc.). — Bukovina,  a  province,  or  crown-land 
of  Austria,  is  often  called  "  The  Bukovina." 

N.  S..S? 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [November  8,  1890. 


A  Notable  Sand-drift. — The  duning 
of  sand  under  the  action  of  the  wind  is  so 
common  as  to  merit  but  little  attention. 
Usually  the  dunes  are  ephemeral,  shifting 
from  place  to  place  with  every  change  of  the 
wind,  and  rarely  forming  anything  more 
than  hillocks.  But  the  dune  now  advanc- 
ing inland  just  north  of  Cape  Henlopen  is 
one  of  massive  proportions,  being  over  a 
mile  long,  four  or  five  hundred  feet  in 
width  and  from  forty  to  one  hundred  feet 
high.  This  dune  was  first  noticed  and  de- 
scribed by  Joseph  Johnson,  of  the  Engineer 
Department,  U.  S.  A.,  in  1845.  Tne  "dge 
was  then  seventy  feet  high  and  separated 
from  the  mainland  by  a  narrow  salt  marsh. 
Johnson  noticed  that  every  northerly  gale 
picked  up  sand  from  the  weather  side  of  the 
ridge  and  carried  it  over  to  the  leeward  in 
such  clouds  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
cross  it  during  a  wind  of  ordinary  severity, 
so  sharply  did  the  sand-blast  pelt  the  face  of 
the  traveler.  So  little  by  little  the  wave  ad- 
vanced southward.  It  overwhelmed  a  narrow 
strip  of  pine  forest  and  covered  the  salt 
marsh.  Just  across  the  marsh  was  another  pine 
forest.  This,  little  by  little,  was  buried  out  of 
sight,  all  except  the  tops  of  a  few  of  the  taller 
trees.  But  the  wind  kept  steadily  at  its  work, 
and  as  the  wave  advanced,  the  shore  strip  of 
pines,  the  salt  marsh  and  the  great  pine 
forest  were  each  in  turn  uncovered.  The 
trees  were  of  course  dead,  but  a  new  growth 
soon  sprang  up,  a  forest  of  living  and  one 
of  dead  trees  closely  intermingled.  One 
end  of  the  wave  trespassed  on  the  land  en- 
closing the  lighthouse  and  covered  up  some 
of  the  smaller  buildings.  New  ones  were 
built  in  their  places,  but  a  slight  easterly 
turn  of  the  wind  after  a  few  years  swept  the 
end  of  the  dune  out  of  the  way  and  uncov- 
ered the  old  ones  again.  At  present  the 
wave  is  traversing  land  that  is  uncultivated 
and  of  little  value.  Its  advance  is  at  the 
rate  of  from  forty  to  sixty  feet  a  year. 
Since  Mr.  Johnson's  time  it  has  advanced 
about  a  mile,  and  it  is  still  steadily  advanc- 
ing toward  the  region  of  cultivated  fields. 
NEW  YORK.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

BOOI^S  AMD   IgB^IODIGAUS. 

The  Arena  for  November  contains  one  of  its  most 
striking  articles,  a  paper  on   "  The  Future  American 


Drama,"  completed  by  Mr.  Boucicault  a  fews  days  be- 
fore his  death.  It  is  a  scholarly  essay,  and  being  the 
farewell  message  of  the  most  successful  Anglo-Saxon 
playwright  of  this  century,  possesses  peculiar  interest. 
A  paragraph  of  Mr.  Boucicault's  writing  penned  a  few 
days  before  his  death  is  reproduced  on  heavy  plate 
paper,  and  accompanies  the  article.  The  venerable 
divine,  Cyrus  A.  Bartol,  whose  strong  yet  benign  face 
forms  the  frontispiece  of  this  issue,  writes  on  "Sex  in 
Mind,"  a  striking  paper  displaying  all  the  mental  vigor 
which,  for  so  many  decades,  made  Dr.  Bartol  one  of  the 
ablest  representatives  of  New  England  thought.  Prof. 
N.  S.  Shaler  contributes  an  able  philosophical  paper  on 
the  African  element  in  America.  Prof.  Shaler  is  by 
birth  and  raising  a  Kentuckian,  by  education  and  later 
residence  a  New  Englander ;  he  therefore  views  the  race 
problem  broadly.  Rev.  Minot  J.  Savage  in  a  "  Glance 
at  the  Good  Old  Time,"  gives  a  striking  contrast  be- 
tween the  past  and  the  present.  There  is  some  pathos 
and  much  fine  humor  in  this  paper.  Nathan  Haskell 
Dole  contributes  a  paper  on  Turgenief  as  a  poet,  giving 
liberal  translations  from  the  great  Russian  author.  A 
full-page  picture  of  Turgenief,  with  his  autograph  in 
Russian,  accompanies  this  paper.  "  A  New  Basis  of 
Church  Life  "  is  the  title  of  an  essay  by  Wilbur  Larre- 
more.  The  heavy  papers  of  this  issue  are  enlivened  by  a 
charming  paper  entitled  "  Fiddling  His  Way  to  Fame." 
It  is  a  sketch  of  Governor  Taylor's  life,  supposed  to  be 
given  by  the  governor  in  the  dialect  of  his  early  home — 
East  Tennessee.  It  is  said  that  Governor  Taylor  fre- 
quently drops  into  the  dialect  of  his  boyhood  home. 
This  sketch  abounds  in  pathetic  and  humorous  inci- 
dents set  forth  in  a  delightful  manner.  A  beautiful 
poem  entitled  "  Sunset  on  the  Mississippi,"  by 
Virginia  Frazer  Boyle,  follows  "  Fiddling  His  Way 
to  Fame."  One  of  the  most  valuable  and  in- 
teresting features  of  this  number  is  a  symposium  on 
"  Destitution  in  Boston."  Edward  Hamilton,  Rev. 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  Rabbi  Solomon  Schindler,  Rev. 
O.  P.  Gifford,  Rev.  W.  D.  P.  Bliss,  editor  of  the  Dawn, 
contribute  to  this  symposium.  The  departments  on 
"  Notes  on  Living  Problems"  contain  contributions  by 
Frances  E.  Williard,  Gen.  Marcus  J.  Wright,  and  Rev.  • 
Forrest  A.  March.  The  usual  interesting  editorial 
notes  complete  this  excellent  issue.  The  Arena  has 
become  a  popular  review  among  those  who  think 
broadly  and  who  care  to  hear  all  sides.  Its  sterling 
ability,  its  conspicuous  impartiality,  and  the  fearlessness 
with  which  it  presents  all  sides  of  the  burning  issues 
that  are  agitating  society,  has  won  for  it  a  host  ot 
earnest  readers. 

Book  News  (  Philadelphia)  for  November  is  made  up 
of  about  eighty  pages  of  news  of  the  latest  books.  Mrs. 
Southworth,  who  has  had  more  readers,  probably,  than 
any  other  American  writer,  has  the  place  of  honor  as 
the  author-portrait.  Likenesses  of  Anton  Rubinstein, 
musician,  and  Sir  Edwin  Landseer,  artist,  accom- 
pany reviews  of  recent  biographies  of  these  famous 
men.  Other  illustrations  of  varied  interest  orna- 
ment the  pages.  The  "  Notes  from  Boston."  and 
''With  the  New  Books"  are  of  unusual  length  and 
interest,  and  the  really  useful  "  Descriptive  List  of 
New  Books  "  shows  the  necessity  of  a  magazine  of  this 
kind  in  these  busy  times.  For  any  one  who  wants  to 
keep  up  with  all  the  new  books  published  and  make  a 
wise  choice  of  current  reading — and  who  does  not  ? — 
Book  News  is  a  useful  as  well  as  ornamental  helper. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Moles  as  Beauty  Spots,  25— Keeper  of  the  Great 
Seal — Felix  in  Place  Names,  26. 

QUERIES  :  — Cama— Italian  of  the  East— Manchester  of  Po- 
land— Honey-Sweet — Bubb,  Stubb,  etc. — Mohammed  II's 
Flag — Spur  Money,  27. 

REPLIES  : — Romans  of  America — He  who  Died  at  Azan — 
Greek  Authors  originally  Slaves — Canada,  29. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Authorship 
Wanted — Lakes  with  Two  Outlets — Gum  Arabic,  29 — Hack- 
matack— Magnetic  Wells — Cromwell's  Sunflowers — Medric — 
Mirbane — Malays  in  Mexico — Apostle  of  Unknown  Tongues 
— Coleridge's  Escapade — Malafiges — Lay  Doctors  of  Divin- 
ity, 30. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Serpents'  Flesh  as  Food— Names  of 
Footwear,  30 — Montcalm's  Prophecy — Metallic  Tractors,  31 
—Continuous  Earthquake— To  be  Shut  Of—  Cattle-Calls— 
Lakes  Drained — Corruption  of  Names — Bed  of  Justice — Uye- 
Bye,  Day- Day — Luck  in  Odd  Numbers  —  Cacoethes  Scri- 
bendi,  32 — Bald  Eagle— Captain  of  My  Dreams— Cicero — 
Melleray — Snakes  in  Iceland— Ainhum,  33— Men  of  Humble 
Origin — Old  Grimes — Sierra  Leone — Bag-pipe — Curious  Cus- 
toms, 34 — Whirlpool — West  Wales— Curious  Derivations — 
Corrigenda,  35. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 35. 


MOLES  AS  BEAUTY  SPOTS. 

It  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
give  the  real  "points"  of  beauty  which 
hold  good  in  all  countries  and  at  all  times. 
The  reason  is  that  different  races  have  dif- 
ferent ideas  of  what  makes  good  looks. 
Like  dress,  beauty  is  usually  a  matter  of  cli- 
mate. 

It  is  quite  as  difficult  to  say  what  is,  or  is 
not,  a  blemish  on  the  fair  face  of  beauty.  Is 
a  mole  a  blemish  ?  It  seems  not. 

From  time  immemorial.  Eastern  peoples 
have  had  no  prejudice  against  moles  on  the 
faces  of  their  women.  On  the  contrary, 
they  regarded  the  mole  as  a  beauty  spot. 
An  Arab  lover,  in  lamenting  the  sudden 
death  of  his  beloved  one,  says  :  "  And  where 
is  now  that  mole  which  seemed  a  gram  of 
musk?  And  where  those  eyes  soft  as  the 


26 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  15,  1890. 


gazelle's  ?  Where  those  ruby  lips  ?  In  what 
bright  hues  is  now  thy  form  adorned  ?' '  etc. 

In  truth,  Asiatics  fairly  doted  on  the  mole 
on  a  pretty  face.  Their  poets  are  never 
tired  of  calling  attention  to  that  lovely 
"  blot  of  Nature's  hand."  Thus,  in  a  most 
generous  mood,  Hafiz  sings  : 

"  For  the  mole  on  the  cheek  of  that  girl  of  Shirdz 
I  would  give  away  Samarkand  and  Bukhdrd." 

Shakespeare  has  a  good  deal  to  say  about 
moles.  He  represents  Imogen  as  having 

"On  her  left  breast 

A  mole  cinque-spotted,  like  the  crimson  drops 
I'  the  bottom  of  a  cowslip." 

In  the  same  play  ("  Cymbeline  ")  we  are 
told  that  "  Guiderius  had  upon  his  neck  a 
mole,  a  sanguine  star ;  it  was  a  mark  of 
wonder." 

By  a  popular  notion,  a  mole  on  a  child 
was  supposed  to  be  a  bad  omen,  a  supersti- 
tion to  which  Shakespeare  alludes  in  "A 
Mid-Summer's  Night's  Dream."  In  fact,  a 
number  of  foolish  notions  cluster  round  this 
"blot  of  Nature's  hand."  All  depends, 
however,  upon  its  position  on  the  body. 
Thus,  a  mole  on  the  throat  is  a  sign  of  good 
luck,  but  one  on  the  forehead  near  the  hair 
has  been  thought  to  denote  bad  luck.  A 
mole  on  the  breast  foretokens  poverty,  but 
one  on  the  chin,  the  ear  or  the  neck  indicates 
riches. 

But  these  superstitious  fancies  have  not 
deterred  ladies  from  making  blots  on  their 
faces.  In  days  gone  by,  society  ladies  used 
to  put  a  little  black  wafer  on  their  cheeks  in 
order  to  set  off  the  whiteness  of  their  com- 
plexion. Nowadays,  Miss  Flora  McFlim- 
sey  sticks  a  bit  of  black  court-plaster  on  her 
chin  to  hide  a  pimple.  She  even  has  a 
black  patch  on  her  gauze  veil — the  Lord 
knows  for  what  purpose.  L.  J.  V. 


KEEPER  OF  THE  GREAT  SEAL 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  Great 
Britain  once  had  a  Lady  Keeper  of 
the  Great  Seal  of  the  kingdom,  an  account 
of  which  can  be  found  in  Lord  Camp- 
bell's "Lives  of  the  Chancellors"  of  the 
realm.  "  In  the  summer  of  the  year 
1253,"  so  says  the  account,  "  King  Henry 
III  being  about  to  lead  an  expedition  into 


Gascony  to  quell  an  insurrection  in  that 
province,  appointed  Queen  Eleanor,  Lady 
Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  during  his  absence, 
with  the  declaration,  that  if  anything  which 
might  turn  to  the  detriment  of  the  crown  or 
realm  was  sealed  in  the  king's  name,  whilst 
he  continued  out  of  the  realm,  with  any 
other  seal,  it  should  be  utterly  void.'  The 
queen  was  to  act  with  the  advice  of  Richard, 
Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  king's  brother  and 
others  of  his  council.  She  accordingly  held 
the  office  nearly  a  whole  year,  performing 
all  its  duties,  as  well  judicial  as  ministerial. 
She  sat  as  judge  in  the  Aula  regi'a,  beginning 
her  sittings  on  the  morrow  of  the  nativity  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary." 

She,  during  her  term  as  Lord  Chancellor, 
enforced  vigorously  her  dues  at  Queenhithe; 
this  was  the  requiring  that  all  vessels 
freighted  with  corn,  wool,  or  any  cargo 
which  came  up  the  Thames,  should  be  un- 
loaded at  her  hithe  or  quay,  where  she  levied 
an  excessive  tax,  which  she  claimed  to  be 
due  to  the  Queen-Consort  of  England.  And 
also  demanded  from  London  a  large  sum 
which  she  insisted  they  owed  her  for  Aurum 
regina,  or  "queen's gold."  For  the  refusal 
to  pay  this  excessive  tax  she  locked  up  the 
sheriffs  of  London  in  the  Marshalsea  prison 
and  also  the  Lord  Mayor.  In  fact,  she  vio- 
lated all  observances  of  the  Magna  Charta. 
So  unpopular  did  she  become  that  the  peo- 
ple rotten-egged  her  and  saluted  her  with 
such  terms  as  "  Drown  the  witch." 

Lord  Campbell  states  that  "  none  of  her 
judicial  decisions  have  been  transmitted  to 
us,  still  we  have  very  full  and  accurate  in- 
formation respecting  her  person,  career  and 
character."  THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


FELIX  IN  PLACE-NAMES. 

(VOL.  v,  p.  184.) 

Our  ingenious  friend,  Islander,  has 
fallen  into  an  old-time  and  therefore  venera- 
ble error  in  his  explanation  of  the  origin  of 
the  name  of  Arabia  Felix.  "  Araby  the 
Blest ' '  was  in  reality  so  called  from  the 
Greek  Eudaimon,  which  here  signifies  "  on 
the  right  hand,"  but  it  was  mistranslated 
felix,  or  "happy,"  by  the  Latin  geog- 
raphers. In  fact,  its  Semitic  name,  Yemen, 


November  15,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


27 


means  "  on  the  right  hand."  As  one  stands 
in  Syria  and  looks  towards  the  ris- 
ing sun,  all  peninsular  Arabia  is  towards  his 
right  ;  if  you  stand  at  Mecca,  the  Yemen,  or 
Eudaimon  country,  becomes  much  smaller. 
Arabian  writers  use  the  term  Yemen  in  many 
ways,  but  always  with  this  idea  of  the  right- 
hand  region. 

Ptolemy's  translation  of  Yemen  by  Eu- 
daimon was,  in  truth,  an  unfortunate  one, 
since  it  was  almost  sure  to  be  misunderstood, 
and  the  chances  are  that  he  himself  misun- 
derstood the  meaning  of  the  term.  For  it  is 
only  by  a  rather  bold  figure  of  speech  that 
either  eudaimon  or  felix  can  be  made  to  sig- 
nify "  on  the  right  hand."  Yet  the  mis- 
take was  certainly  made,  and  we  all  make  it 
when  we  speak  of  Arabia  Felix. 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 


B  S. 


Cama.  —  In  Tennyson's  poem,  "The 
Palace  of  Art,"  we  are  told  that 

"  The  throne  of  Indian  Cama  slowly  sail'd, 
A  summer  fanri'd  with  spice." 

Who  was  "Indian  Cama,"  and  what 
does  the  passage  mean  ? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Cama  is  the  Hindu  god  of  love,  oftener 
called  Kamadeva  (see  Thomas'  "  Dictionary 
of  Biography  and  Mythology,"  under 
"Kamadeva"). 

Italian  of  the  East.—  What  language  is 
called  the  Italian  of  the  East  ? 

F.  E.  P.  L. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

This  name  is  given  in  the  old  geographies 
to  the  Malay  ;  some  books  call  the  Telugu, 
"the  Italian  of  India." 

Manchester  of  Poland.—  What  town  is 

called  by  this  name  ?  McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Lodz  is  the  place  intended. 


Honey-Sweet. — What  language  is  called 
"  the  honey-sweet  ?" 

MRS.  H.  J.  L. 

BURLINGTON,  IA. 

The  Tamils  call  their  own  language  "the 
honey-sweet,"  but  most  Europeans,  at  least 
till  they  learn  to  understand  and  speak  it, 
find  its  sounds  very  disagreeable. 

Bubb,  Stubb,  Cobb,  Crabb,  etc.— Please 
tell    me  how  the  Latin  couplet  goes   that 
commemorates  nine  obscure  Oxford  poets. 
MARY  OSBORNE. 

Alma  novem  genuit  celebres  Rhedycina  poetas, 
Bubb,    Stubb,   Cobb,    Crabb,    Trapp,   Young,  Careyj 
Tickell,  Evans. 

These  nine  names  make  a  rude  pentameter 
verse.  Rhedycina  is  a  Latinized  form  of  the 
Welsh  word  Rhydychain,  Oxford  ;  literally, 
"  Ox-ford."  We  are  not  informed  as  to 
the  authorship  of  the  couplet,  which  is  not 
unfrequently  given  with  some  variations. 

Mohammed  ll's  Flag.— What  was  the 
color  and  design  of  the  flag,  if  any,  car- 
ried by  Mohammed  II  at  the  siege  and  con- 
quest of  Constantinople  (April,  1453)  ?  After 
conquest  of  the  same,  the  Turks  adopted  the 
crescent  as  their  symbol.  The  Koran's 
prohibitions  extend,  I  believe,  even  to  the 
interdiction  of  martial  or  civic  decorations 
and  did  then.  ?  ?  ? 

Spur  Money. — Can  you  or  any  of  your 
readers  tell  me  what  was  meant  by  spur 
money  ?  E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  following  account  of  spur  money  is 
to  be  found  in  the  "  Book  of  Days :" 

"Among  the  privy-purse  expenses  of  Henry 
VII,  in  the  year  1495,  appears  the  following 
item:  'To'  the  children  for  the  king's 
spurs,  45.'  And  between  June,  1530,  and 
September,  1532,  no  less  than  three  pay- 
ments of  6s.  8d.  are  recorded  as  made  by  his 
successor's  paymaster  '  to  the  Coristars  of 
Wyndesor  in  rewarde  for  the  King's  spurres.' 
Apropos  of  these  entries,  Mr.  Markland 
quotes  a  note  from  Gifford's  edition  of  Ben 
Jonson,  stating  that  from  the  disturbance  of 
divine  service  in  the  cathedrals  (more 


28 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [November  15,  1890. 


especially  in  St.  Paul's)  by  the  jingling  of 
the  spurs  of  persons  walking  in  their  pre- 
cincts, a  trifling  fine  was  imposed  upon  of- 
fenders in  this  way,  called  'spur  money,' 
the  collection  of  which  was  left  to  the  bea- 
dles and  singing-boys.  It  seems  to  us  that 
the  connection  between  the  text  and  note  is 
rather  doubtful,  indeed,  Mr.  Markland  him- 
self says,  '  it  must  first  be  shown  that  it  pre- 
vailed at  so  early  a  period. '  Nicholas  supposed 
that  in  the  above  cases  the  money  was  paid 
to  redeem  the  royal  spurs  from  the  choris- 
ters, who  claimed  them  as  their  perquisites 
at  installations,  or  at  the  annual  feast  in  honor 
of  St.  George. 

"  Spur  money  as  a  penalty  to  be  paid  for 
wearing  spurs  in  a  cathedral  seems  to  have 
been  thoroughly  established  in  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

"  In  the « Gull's  Horn-Book,'  Decker,  ad- 
vising his  readers  how  they  should  behave  in 
St.  Paul's,  says  :  '  Be  sure  your  silver  spurs 
clog  your  heels,  and  then  the  boys  will 
swarm  about  you  like  so  many  white  butter- 
flies; when  you  in  the  open  choir  shall 
draw  forth  a  perfumed  embroidered  purse — 
the  glorious  sight  of  which  will  entice  many 
countrymen  from  their  devotions  to  won- 
dering— and  quoit  silver  into  the  boy's 
hands  that  it  may  be  heard  above  the  first 
lesson,  although  it  be  read  in  a  voice  as  big 
as  one  of  the  great  organs.'  That  the 
custom  was  not  confined  to  St.  Paul's  is 
proved  by  a  passage  in  Ray's  '  Second 
Itinerary:'  ' July  26,  1661.  We  began 
our  journey  northward  from  Cambridge,  and 
that  day  passing  through  Huntingdon  and 
Stilton  we  rode  as  far  as  Peterborough, 
twenty-five  miles.  There  I  first  heard  the 
cathedral  service.  The  choristers  made  us 
pay  money  for  coming  into  the  choir  with 
our  spurs  on.'  Another  old  writer  com- 
plains that  the  boys  neglect  their  duties  to 
run  about  after  spur  money.  Modern 
choristers  are  not  so  bad  as  that,  but  they 
look  sharply  after  their  rights.  Some  few 
years  ago,  a  visitor  to  Hereford  Cathedral 
declined  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  boys, 
who  thereupon  seized  his  hat,  and  decamped 
with  it.  The  indignant  despiser  of  old  cus- 
toms, instead  of  redeeming  his  property, 
made  a  complaint  before  the  bench,  but  the 
magistrates  astonished  him  by  dismissing  the 


case  on  the  grounds  that  the  choristers  were 
justified  in  keeping  the  hat  as  a  lieu  for  the 
payment  of  the  customary  fine. 

"  There  was  one  way  of  escaping  the  tax, 
the  spur  wearer  being  held  exempt  if  the 
youngest  chorister  present  failed  to  repeat 
his  gamut  correctly  upon  being  challenged 
to  do  so.  This  curious  saving  clause  is  set 
forth  officially  in  a  notice  issued  by  the 
dean  of  the  chapel-royal  in  1622  : 

'"If  any  knight  or  other  person  entitled 
to  wear  spurs,  enter  the  chapel  in  that  guise, 
he  shall  pay  to  the  choristers  the  accustomed 
fine,  but  if  he  command  the  youngest  chor- 
ister to  repeat  his  gamut,  and  he  fail  in  the 
so  doing,  the  said  knight  or  other  shall  not 
pay  the  fine.' 

"  By  enforcing  this  rule,  the  Iron  Duke 
once  baffled  the  young  assailants  of  his  purse. 
When  a  similar  claim  was  made  against  the 
Duke  of  Cumberland  (afterwards  King  of 
Hanover)  in  Westminster  Abbey,  he  in- 
geniously evaded  it  by  insisting  that  he  was 
privileged  to  wear  his  spurs  in  the  place  in 
which  he  had  been  invested  with  them. 

"On  the  belfry-wall  of  All  Saints'  Church, 
Hastings,  hanged  a  rhymed  notice,  declar- 
ing the  belfry  free  to  '  all  those  that  civil 
be,'  with  the  proviso — 

"  '  If  you  ring  in  spur  or  hat, 
Six-pence  you  pay  be  sure  of  that." 

"  The  debtors  of  Lancaster  jail  demand 
largess  of  any  visitor  wearing  spurs  within 
the  castle  walls,  and  the  door-keeper  of  the 
Edinburgh  Court  of  Session  is  privileged  to 
demand  five  shillings  from  any  one  appearing 
in  that  court  so  accoutred. 

"  Lord  Colchester  records  in  his  diary 
[1776]  that,  having  inadvertently  gone  into 
the  House  of  Commons  booted  and  spurred, 
he  was  called  to  order  by  an  old  member  for 
assuming  a  privilege  only  accorded  to 
county  members.  This  parliamentary  rule 
is  noticed  by  Sir  James  Lawrence  in  his 
'Nobility  of  the  British  Gentry  :'  'Though 
the  knight  condescended  to  sit  under  the 
same  roof  with  the  citizens  and  burgesses, 
they  were  summoned  to  appear  gladio  cincti, 
and  they  always  maintained  a  dignity  of  the 
equestrian  order.  The  most  trifling  distinc- 
tion is  still  observed.'  The  military  mem- 
bers appear  no  longer  in  armor,  but  they 


November  15,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


29 


alone  may  wear  spurs  as  a  mark  of  knight- 
hood. The  citizen  or  burgess,  who,  after  a 
morning-ride,  should  inadvertently  approach 
the  chamber  with  his  spurs  on,  is  stopped  by 
the  usher,  and  must  return  to  divest  himself 
of  this  mark  of  knighthood. 

"And  to  this  humiliation,  any  gentleman  of 
the  first  quality,  any  Irish  peer,  nay,  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  himself,  who, 
whatever  might  be  his  authority  or  dignity 
elsewhere,  should  sit  in  the  House  in  the 
humble  character  of  citizen  or  burgess,  must 
submit." 

rjBPLI  BS. 

Romans  of  America  (Vol.  v,  p.  199). — 
My  impression  is  that  the  Iroquois  tribes 
were  called  the  Romans  of  North  America, 
and  the  Araucanians  the  Romans  of  South 
America.  M.  M.  FARNHAM. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

He  Who  Died  at  Azan  (Vol.  iii,  p.  177). 
— Is  not  this  Mohammed  ? 

The  poem,  under  the  title  "A  Death  in 
Arabia,"  is  printed  at  the  end  of  Roberts 
Bros.'  issue  of  "The  Light  of  Asia,"  but 
(with  some  variations)  it  is  reclaimed  for  its 
proper  connection  in  the  chaplet  of  "  The 
Pearls  of  the  Faith,"  or  "Islam's  Rosary," 
where  it  is  attached  to  the  sixtieth  bead  on 
the  string.  The  Arabic  characters  there 
forming  its  heading — one  of  the  names  of  God 
— are  read  as  "  AlMu'hid,  or  The  Restorer," 
by  aid  of  the  index,  which  also  calls  the  poem, 
"A  Message  from  the  Dead."  The  whole 
circlet  professedly  sets  forth  "  some  of  the 
beliefs  of  the  followers  of  the  noble  prophet 
of  Arabia." 

Mohammed  died,  virtually,  in  the  Mosque, 
attempting  first  to  lead  and  then  to  join  the 
prayers  of  the  faithful,  though  he  was  carried 
back  to  his  own  apartments  for  a  short  time 
before  the  actual  expiration  of  life.  More- 
over, one  who  could  be  supposed  to  return  a 
message  from  the  eternal  world  must  be  one 
believed  to  have  a  special  exaltation  above 
ordinary  sharers  in  humanity.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Greek  Authors  Originally  Slaves  (Vol.  v, 
p.  269). — Alcman  or  Alcmseon  of  Sparta, 


who  flourished  B.C.  671-631,  was  a  native  ox 
Sardis  in  Lydia  when  very  young ;  he  was 
brought  as  a  slave  to  Laconia,  but  his  mas- 
ter, Agesilas,  soon  discovered  in  him  evi- 
dences of  brilliant  poetic  endowments  and 
emancipated  him.  Once  in  the  enjoyment 
of  his  freedom,  Alcmseon's  genius  developed 
rapidly  and  he  became  one  of  the  greatest  of 
Grecian  lyric  poets  (see  Symond's  "  Greek 
Poets"  and  Smith's  "Class.  Diet.  Biog."). 

F.  T.  C. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Your  correspondent  A.  M.  W.  can  add 
the  name  of  Philoxenus,  the  dithyrambic 
poet,  to  his  list  of  Greek  slave-authors. 

Q.  R.  D. 

NEW  YORK. 

Canada  (Vol.  vi,  p.  5). — The  name 
Canada  is  derived  from  the  Iroquois  word 
Kanata,  sighifying  "  a  collection  of  huts  " 
(see  "Chambers'  Encyclopaedia"). 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


110 


Authorship  Wanted.  —  Me  and  Jim. 
—  Who  was  the  author  of  the  recitation  or 
poem,  "Me  and  Jim?"  ?  ?  ? 

Hell-hound,  by  thee,  etc.  —  Who  was  the 
author  of  an  old-time  poem  from  which  the 
following  is  quoted  : 

"  Hell-hound,  by  thee  my  child's  devoured," 

The  frantic  father  cried,  while  to  the  hilt 

His  vengeful  sword  he  plunged  in  Gellert's  side. 


Lakes  With  Two  Outlets.—  Will 
your  geographical  contributors  send  me,  (a) 
notes  of  lakes  with  two  outlets,  (£)  notes  of 
streams  which  bifurcate  (other  than  those 
which  send  out  deltaic  branches,  or  bayous, 
or  side-channels)  ?  G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Gum    Arabic.  —  Why     are    not    Gum 

Arabic  trees  planted  in  the  United  States  ? 

F.  E.  PATTERSON. 
PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  15,  1890. 


Hackmatack  and  Tacamahac. — If 

there  any  etymological  connection  between 
the  two  words  given  above  ?       McPHAiL. 
IOWA  CITY. 

Magnetic  Wells. — It  is  commonly  be- 
lieved  that  many  artesian  wells  in  Michigan 
and  vicinity  have  waters  with  magnetic 
properties,  but  the  truth  of  this  opinion  has 
been  strenuously  denied.  What  are  the  facts 
in  the  case?  N.  O.  P. 

BANGOR,  PA. 

Cromwell's  Sunflowers. — In  an  ac- 
count of  Hampton  Court  it  is  said  that, 
after  Cromwell  took  possession  of  this  resi- 
dence, golden  sunflowers  were  put  on  the 
oak  altar  rails  of  its  chapel,  and  the  mono- 
gram of  Charles  I  was  removed.  What  was 
the  significance  of  the  sunflowers? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Medrick. — What  is  the  origin  of  Med- 
rick,  or  Madrick,  a  name  for  the  sea-swal- 
low or  tern  ?  I  suppose  the  word  may  be  an 
echo  of  the  bird's  note,  whence  also  the 
equivalent  name  wide-awake  is  derived. 

B.  T.  NILES. 

Mirbane. — What  is  called  Nitrobenzole, 
or  artificial  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  is  often 
sold  as  "  oil  of  mirbane."  Whence  comes 
the  name  mirbane  ?  I  find  it  in  French,  Eng- 
lish and  American  books. 

S.  T.  HENRY. 
CHATHAM,  MASS. 

Malays  in  Mexico. — Do  any  of  your 
correspondents  know  anything  regarding  a 
Malay,  or  more  probably,  a  Manila,  element 
which  fifty  years  ago  was  said  to  be  dbserva- 
ble  in  the  Mexican  population  near 
Acapulco  ?  Are  there  now  any  traceable 
remnants  of  this  stock?  It  must  have 
been  of  Spanish  importation. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Apostle  of  Unknown  Tongues.— 

What  friend  of  Coleridge  could  properly  be 
thus  designated  ?  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Coleridge's  Escapade. — In  the  Life 
of  Coleridge,  prefixed  to  his  poems  in  "  The 
Lansdowne  Poets,"  it  is  said  that  when  he 
ran  away  from  Cambridge  and  enlisted  in 
the  Fifteenth  Light  Dragoons  he  assumed  the 
name  of  [Silas  Tomkin]  Comberback.  I 
think  it  is  De  Quincey  who  says  he  assumed 
the  name  of  Comberbatch.  Some  writers 
say  that  his  trick  was  discovered,  and  he  was 
discharged  at  Malta ;  others  say  it  was  at 
Reading.  Which  is  correct  ? 

ISLANDER. 
MAINE. 

Malafiges. — What  kind  of  sea-bird  is 
called  by  this  name,  and  why  is  it  so  called  ? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Lay    Doctors    of   Divinity.— Will 

your  correspondents  please  add  to  my  short 
list  of  laymen  who  were  doctors  of  divinity? 
It  includes  the  late  Dr.  Ezra  Abbot,  the  late 
Dr.  Kitto  and  Dr.  Strong,  one  of  the  editors 
of  "  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia." 

N.  S.  S. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


©OMMUNIGATIONS. 


Serpents'  Flesh  as  Food. — It  is  well 
known  that  in  parts  of  Italy  vipers  are 
cooked  and  eaten,  and  it  has  been  stated 
that  the  Waldenses  of  the  Alps  have  for  many 
years  been  compelled  to  make  them  an  es- 
sential part  of  their  diet.  The  rattlesnake 
is  dressed  and  served  as  "  musical  squirrel " 
in  some  parts  of  the  United  States,  appear- 
ing sometimes  in  a  disguised  form  upon  the 
tables  of  well-to-do  people.  The  same 
practice  is  not  unknown  among  the  French 
Canadians.  G.  P.  C. 

Names  of  Footwear. — The  following 
are  some  of  the  English  names,  old  and  new, 
of  boots,  or  shoes,  or  other  like  articles  of 
apparel :  Buskin,  bootee,  bottine,  galligas- 
dn,  slipper,  chioppine,  sandal,  rivlin, 
mocassin,  wigwam,  larigan,  sock,  startup, 
jantofle,  Balmoral,  Wellington,  Hessian, 
Blucher,  brogue,  brogan,  clog,  patten, 
golosh,  highlow.  R.  C.  CUTTER. 

MONTGOMERY,  ALA. 


November  15,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Montcalm's  Prophecy. — "  Journal  des 
Campagnes  au  Canada  de  1755  ^  IT^°>" 
par  le  Comte  de  Maures  de  Malartic,  Lieu- 
tenant General  des  Artnees  du  Roi,  Gou- 
verneur  des  iles  de  France  et  de  Bourbon 
(1730-1800),  public  par  son  arriere  petit- 
neven  Le  Comte  Gabriel  de  Maures  de 
Malartic  et  par  Paul  Gaffarel,  Professeur  a  la 
Faculte  des  Lettres  de  Dijon,  Dijon,  L. 
Damidot,  Libraire,  Editeur  i, Place d'armes, 
1890. 

Carlyle,  in  his  "  History  of  Friedrich  II, 
called  Frederick  the  Great  "  (Harper's  edi- 
tion), Vol.  v,  pp.  449-451,  publishes  a  let- 
ter of  Montcalm,  in  which  that  general  fore- 
casts that  even  if  the  British  conquer  Canada 
there  is  one  consolation:  "In  ten  years 
farther,  America  will  be  in  revolt  against 
England."  Montcalm  antedated  the  revolt 
by  some  seven  years,  but  he  was  perfectly 
correct  in  every  other  respect  as  to  his  pro- 
phetic views. 

This  letter  has  been  considered  as  apocry- 
phal, yet  now  we  have  a  complete  corrobora- 
tion  of  it  in  the  Journal  of  the  French 
Lieut. -General,  cited  above,  published  this 
very  year.  The  Count  says  that  when  he 
paid  a  visit  to  the  British  General  Murray, 
after  Quebec  had  fallen,  the  latter  said  to 
him,  "  If  we  are  wise,  we  [English]  will  not 
retain  possession  of  Canada.  It  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  New  England  should 
have  a  bit  to  champ  on  and  we  will  give  it 
one  which  will  keep  it  busy  by  not  holding 
on  to  this  country"  [Canada].  In  fact,  the 
British  Ministry  did  not  make  known  their 
definitive  resolutions  in  this  regard,  /.  <?., 
holding  on  to  Canada,  so  that  even  as 
late  as  the  zath  of  September,  1 760 — remem- 
ber Quebec  had  already  been  captured  and 
held  for  about  a  year — even  after  Montreal 
had  been  taken  and  the  whole  of  Canada 
conquered. 

Military  critics,  not  carried  away  by  the 
factitious  reputation  of  Montcalm,  have  con- 
curred in  the  opinion  that,  however  brave  as 
a  soldier,  he  showed  his  deficiency  in  fitness 
for  high  command  by  throwing  away  his  ad- 
vantages, by  leaving  his  defenses  —  the 
strong  fortifications  of  Quebec — and  march- 
ing out  with  an  army  inferior  in  quality  to 
encounter  Wolf  with  his  magnificent  picked 
forces  in  the  open  field.  Like  sheep,  jump- 


ing one  after  another  stupidly  through  th* 
same  gap,  historians — military  as  well  as 
civil — have  concurred  in  styling  Montcalm 
a  hero  and  his  resolution  exemplary.  It 
was  sheer  stupidity,  and  so  was  the  exactly 
similar  action  of  General  Murray  under  the 
same  conditions,  on  the  very  same  field  in 
the  following  year.  To  such  a  degree  did 
Montcalm's  subordinates  deplore  his  de- 
cision to  march  out  and  attack  Wolf,  that 
Count  de  Maures  de  Malartic  styles  it,  285 
(i),  "A  gross  [not  great,  butgross,  palpable} 
strategic  fault."  "It  was  contrary  to 
the  positive  order  of  Governor-General 
de  Vaudreuil,  who  commanded  him  to  delay 
until  all  the  Canadian  forces  had  been 
united."  Montcalm  acted,  likewise,  con- 
trary to  the  advice  of  his  own  Major-General 
[Chief  of  Staff  or  Adjutant-General],  the 
Chevalier  de  Montreuil,  who  wrote  to  the 
French  Minister  of  War,  22d  of  September, 
1759,  four  days  after  Quebec  surrendered: 
"  Though  I  regarded  (sit)  M.  de  Montcalm 
as  too  clear-headed  a  commander  to  dare  to 
give  him  any  counsel,  I  nevertheless  took 
the  liberty  to  say  to  him  before  he  had  is- 
sued his  orders  for  battle,  that  he  was  not  in 
a  condition  to  attack  the  enemy,  considering 
the  small  number  of  his  army."  The  same 
author  recorded  his  opinion  that  had  Gen- 
eral de  Levis,  second  in  command,  been  in- 
chief  authority,  instead  of  Montcalm,  the 
English  would  have  been  defeated  and  not 
the  French,  and  adds  that  he  was  by  no 
means  alone  in  this  judgment. 

Much  more  might  be  said  in  this  connec- 
tion, which  is  withheld,  fearing  to  occupy 
too  much  space,  although  it  will  be  furnished 
if  deemed  agreeable. 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Metallic  Tractors. — A  hundred  years 
ago,  Dr.  Elisha  Perkins,  of  Connecticut, 
wrought  wonderful  cures  with  his  "  metallic 
tractors,"  and  was  sat  down  upon  as  a 
quack.  But  at  present  Dr.  Charcot  and 
other  great  lights  in  the  medical  profession 
come  forward  with  metallic  "  aesthesiogens," 
and  perform  the  very  same  wonders  as  those 
which  T.  G.  Fessenden  celebrated  in  his 
"  Terrible  Tractoration  "  in  1803. 

MEDICO. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  15,  1890. 


Continuous  Earthquake  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
258,  etc.). — The  Sumas  (Washington) 
News  says  :  "  The  volcanoes  of  this  part  of 
Washington  have  been  in  action  more  or 
less  the  past  year,  and  it  is  a  question 
whether  Baker,  Rainier  and  others  are  to  be 
classed  as  extinct  or  active  volcanoes. 
Around  Okanogan  and  Lake  Chelan,  east  of 
the  Cascades,  we  are  informed,  is  a  region 
of  changing  level  and  almost  continuous 
earthquake  trembling.  W.  P.  R. 

To  Be  Shut  Of  (Vol.  i,  pp.  297,  etc.  ; 
Vol.  ii,  p.  9). — The  expression  discussed  at 
the  above  entries  occurs  also  in  Tennyson's 
poem,  "  The  Northern  Farmer,  New  Style," 
Stanza  viii.  McPHAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Cattle-calls  (Vol.  v,  p.  256 ;  Vol.  vi, 
p.  3). — Mrs.  Vanderbilt,  writing  of  olden 
times  in  the  "  Social  History  of  Flatbush  " 
(p.  102),  says,  "If  *  *  *  a  young  heifer 
loitered  *  *  *  the  sharp  call  of  '  Cobus, 
cobus,  cobus  ! '  from  the  farmer,  or  *  Cusha, 
cusha,  cusha  !'  from  the  milkmaid,  speedily 
hurried  the  loiterer,"  etc. 

The  first  word  is  like  the  N.  E.  call  of 
"  Co-bos  !"  (?  Come,  bos !)  and  the  second 
recalls  Jean  Ingelow's  "High  Tide." 
Why  should  milkmaidens  on  the  Lincoln- 
shire coast  and  those  descended  from  Hol- 
landers have  the  same  call,  and  is  the  word 
pronounced  Cu-sha,  or  Cush-a  ? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  300,  etc.). 
— A  large  part  of  Lake  Y,  near  Amsterdam, 
in  the  Netherlands,  has  been  drained  during 
the  construction  of  the  new  ship  canal  across 
the  Hook  of  Holland.  S.  M.  N. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
\ 

Corruption  of  Names. — It  is  said  that 
the  name  Bunker  was  originally  Bon-cceur ; 
Peabady   was  Pibauieres ;  Bon-pas  became 
Butfttfis,  and  De  F Hotel  has  been  changed 
''ttlc.     The  river  Purgatoire,  in  the 
Apostle  i§   called  the  Picketwire.     The 
What  friend  of  ^^sage-orange   tree,  is  often 
thus  designated  ?      idark. 
NEW  YORK  CITY.  OBED. 


Bed  of  Justice  (Vol.  iii,  p.  19). — The 
following  paragraph  from  an  account  of  the 
recent  "  Historical  Exhibition  of  the  French 
Revolution  ' '  in  the  Contemporary  Review,  is 
interesting  and  pertinent  under  this  heading : 
"  There  is  a  picture  of  the  last  ///  (/.  e.,  lec- 
ture or  reading)  of  justice.  (Carlyle,  by-the- 
by,  translated  ///  de  justice,  '  bed  of  justice,' 
as  he  translated  Serviettes — /.  f.,  port  folios  of 
the  judges  and  councillors  of  the  Parliament 
of  Paris — 'towels.')  Louis  is  perched  up 
on  a  throne  in  a  corner,  on  a  lofty,  and,  to 
modern  eyes,  grotesque  scaffold,  covered 
\i\\\ifleur-de-lys  cloth.  There  is  no  access, 
save  from  behind,  to  his  perch.  One  of  his 
brothers  sits  on  a  step,  being,  perhaps,  seven 
feet  from  the  ground.  The  Due  d'  Orleans 
protests  with  the  judges  against  the  king's 
order  to  register  what  has  been  read  in  his 
name.  They  are  drawing  thunderbolts 
upon  themselves  and  on  the  monarchy  with 
light  hearts,  not  knowing  what  they  do." 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Bye-Bye,  Day-Day  (from  "  The  Law 
is  a  Bottomless  Pit,"  by  J.  Arbuthnot,  Part 
iv,  Chap,  vii,  1712). — "Bye!  Bye!  Nic  ! 
Not  one  poor  smile  at  parting  ?  Won't  you 
like  to  shake  your  day-day,  Nic  ?  Bye  ! 
Nic!"  G.  P.  C. 

Luck  in  Odd  Numbers. — One  of  the 
Latin  prose  Goliard  pieces  contains  these 
words  :  "  Numero  Deus  impari  gaudet."  G. 

Cacoethes  Scribendi  (Vol.  v,  pp.  113, 
etc.). — Those  readers  who  are  interested  in 
the  Cacoethes  scribendi  may  be  pleased  to 
be  reminded  of  Addison's  paper  in  the 
Spectator  under  the  motto, 

"  The  curse  of  writing  is  an  endless  itch," 

which  is  Charles  Dryden's  rendering  of 
Juvenal's 

"  Tenet  insanabile  multos 
Cacoethes  scribendi." 

(Sat.  vii,  p.  51.) 

Addison  remarks  that  Juvenal's  term  ' '  cacoe- 
thes  "  is  a  hard  word  for  a  disease  called  in 
plain  English,  "  The  itch  of  writing,"  and 
his  paper  shows  indirectly,  I  think,  the  pro- 


November  15,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


33 


priety  of  the  phrase,  both  in  the  original  and 
also  in  what  seems  its  only  English  equiva- 
lent. 

And  now  that  two  hundred  years  (all  but) 
have  passed  away  since  Charles  Dryden 
translated  for  his  father  "The  Seventh 
Satire  "  of  Juvenal — the  phrase  he  gave  us 
has  lost  nothing  either  in  force  or  propriety, 
despite  the  increasing  need  for  its  applica- 
tion. The  phrase,  like  some  other  things  of 
ancient  date,  seems  made  to  last,  and  is  suf- 
ficiently expressive  of  our  own  time-spirit ; 
such,  at  least,  must  be%the  opinion  of  those 
English  scholars  who  not  long  since  declared 
no  substitute  was  wanted. 

Quite  apropos  of  this  matter  is  the  follow- 
ing opinion  expressed  by  Lord  Byron  in  a 
letter  to  Leigh  Hunt :  "  An  addiction  to 
poetry  is  very  generally  the  result  of  an  un- 
easy mind  in  an  uneasy  body ;  disease  or  de- 
formity have  been  the  attendants  of  many 
of  our  best  poets  :  Collins,  mad — Chatter- 
ton,  I  think,  mad — Cowper,  mad,"  etc. 

And  who,  perhaps,  was  even  more  af- 
flicted than  Robert  Browning,  or  do  we  need 
the  poet's  own  confession  as  proof  of  it : 

"  Our  pen  scratched 

Away  perforce  :  the  itch  that  knows  no  cure 
But  daily  paper  friction." 


F.  T.  C. 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


Bald  Eagle. — "  For  as  the  eagle  at 
every  flight  looseth  a  fether,  which  maketh 
hir  bald  in  hir  age,"  etc.  ("  Euphues  and 
his  England,"  p.  240,  Arber's  reprint). 

SILEX. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Captain  of  My  Dreams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
165,  etc.). — Still  another  possible  reason 
which  is  assignable  for  calling  Venus,  the 
captain  of  the  poet's  dreams,  is  this :  Aphro- 
dite (Venus)  Pandemos  frequently  sent 
dreams  to  men  which  duly  interpreted  were 
of  the  nature  of  oracles,  especially  in  affairs 
of  love.  P.  T.  B. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Cicero. — It  is  commonly  said  that  Tully 
received  this  name  from  a  wart  (cicer)  on  his 
nose,  but,  in  point  of  fact,  he  inherited  the 
name,  which  was  one  of  great  antiquity. 


Melleray  (Vol.  vi,  p.  5). — This  name 
is  probably  of  Italian  origin.  There  is  a 
village  in  Northern  Italy,  twenty  miles  from 
Mantua,  called  Mellora.  And  in  Ireland,  in 
the  county  Waterford,  is  Mount  Melleray,  at 
which  place  there  is  a  Trappist  monastery.  It 
is  most  probably  that  the  Irish  name  is  de- 
rived from  the  Italian,  and  that  New  Melle- 
ray in  Iowa  is  named  from  the  monastery  in 
Ireland.  THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

To  what  I  said  about  Melleray  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
14),  I  should  have  added  that  New  Melleray 
in  Iowa,  Mount  Melleray  in  Ireland,  and  La 
Meilleraye  in  France,  all  are  at  present  the 
seats  of  Cistercian  (Trappist)  Abbeys,  that , 
of  France  being  the  oldest  of  the  three. 

IPSICO. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Snakes  in  Iceland  (Vol.  v,  p.  305). — 
According  to  Dr.  Johnson,  the  famous  chap- 
ter in  question  may  be  found  in  Horrebow's 
"  Natural  History  of  Iceland,"  and  is  ex- 
actly this:  Chap.  Ixxii — Concerning  Snakes: 
"There  are  no  snakes  to  be  met  with 
throughout  the  whole  island  "  (see  Croker's 
"  Boswell's  Johnson,"  Vol.  iii,  p.  436). 

Nicholas  Horrebow  (1712-1750),  of 
Copenhagen,  was  sent  by  the  Danish  gov- 
ernment to  explore  Iceland  in  the  year  1750. 
The  description  which  he  wrote  of  the  island 
is  considered  very  accurate  and  is  often  re- 
ferred to  by  later  writers  on  Iceland. 

Horrebow,  though  a  contemporary  of  Doc- 
tor Johnson,  attained  to  but  half  the  years 
of  this  literary  giant  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Ainhum. — It  is  recorded  of  the  cele- 
brated preacher,  William  Tennent  (1705-77, 
who  was  also  noted  for  his  experiences  while 
in  a  stale  of  trance),  that  once  while  he  was 
asleep  one  of  his  toes  vanished.  In  Africa 
and  the  West  Indies,  the  loss  of  toes  by  what 
is  known  as  ainhum  (which  may  be  a  disease, 
or  perhaps  a  trick)  is  not  very  uncommon. 
It  would  seem  to  be  quite  distinct  from  lepra 
mutilans,  or  mutilating  leprosy,  in  which  the 
members  sometimes  become  detached. 

MEDICO. 


34 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  15,  1890. 


Men  of  Humble  Origin  (Vol.  v.  pp. 
296,  etc.).  —  Tintoretto  was  a  dyer's  son. 

Socrates  was  a  midwife's  son. 

Charles  Hutton  was  the  son  of  a  coal- 
miner. 

Ritschl,  the  great  Latinist,  came  of  a  very 
poor  family. 

Demetrius  Phalereus  was  of  humble  origin. 

The  architect  Hittorff  was  bred  a  mason. 

Henry  Wilson,  Vice-President  1873-75, 
was  the  son  of  very  poor  parents;  so  was 
Alexander  Wilson,  the  Scottish-American 
ornithologist. 

Tannahill,  the  Scottish  song-writer,  was  a 
weaver,  and  the  son  of  a  weaver. 

William  Blake,  the  poet  and  artist,  was  a 
poor  hosier's  son. 

Livingstone,  the  explorer,  was  brought  up 
in  a  cotton-mill. 

John  Phillip,  the  painter,  was  of  a  very 
humble  origin. 

Tartaglia,  a  noted  mathematician,  was 
bred  in  the  direst  poverty. 

John  Stow  was  the  son  of  a  wretchedly 
poor  tailor,  and  he  himself  ended  his  career 
as  a  licensed  mendicant. 

Longomontanus  was  the  son  of  a  poor 
laborer. 

Michael  Tompa,  the  excellent  Hungarian 
poet,  was  the  son  of  a  very  poor  shoemaker. 


Old  Grimes  (Vol.  iv,  p.  280).—  The 
"  original  "  of  "  Old  Grimes  "  is  not  only 
to  be  found  in  an  old  English  ballad,  but 
survives,  "  in  his  habit  as  he  lived,"  in  an 
actual  tombstone  inscription.  According 
to  Dr.  Theodore  Cuyler,  of  Brooklyn,  there 
is  a  tomb  at  the  village  of  Matherne,  near 
Gloucester,  Eng.,  which  bears  this  epitaph 
(date  not  given)  : 

"  John  Lee  is  dead,  the  good  old  man, 

We  ne'er  shall  see  him  more  ; 
He  used  to  wear  an  old  drab  coat 
All  buttoned  down  before." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Sierra  Leone.  —  This  name,  which  ap- 
pears to  mean  "  Lioness  mountain,"  is  not 
derived  from  living  lions,  but  from  a  moun- 
tain whose  top  roars  with  frequent  thunder. 

J.  R,  B. 

JERSEY  CITY. 


Bag-pipe  (Vol.  v,  p.  26). — This  instru- 
ment, though  commonly  spoken  of  as  ex- 
clusively Scotch,  is  used  in  Ireland, 
Southern  France,  Italy,  Sicily  and  Polish 
Germany  and  Austrian  Poland. 

It  was  well  known  to  the  old  Romans  and 
was  by  them  called  utricularis  tibia,  and 
tradition  says  that  it  was  invented  by  Tubal ; 
others  accredit  its  invention  to  Pan,  Mer- 
cury and  other  heathen  gods. 

There  is  in  Rome,  in  one  of  the  museums, 
a  basso  rilievo  of  Grecian  art,  a  bagpiper  play- 
ing upon  the  pipe,  and  the  instrument  is  the 
counterpart  of  that  now  used  by  the  High- 
landers. Nero  is  said  to  have  played  upon 
the  bagpipe.  THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Nicknames  of  Cities  (Vol.  v,  p.  82). 
— Lafayette,  Ind.,  "  Star  City." 
Edessa,  "  The  Athens  of  Syria." 
Norrkoping,  "  The  Manchester  of  Scandi- 
navia." 

Tacoma,  "  The  City  of  Destiny." 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  "Cream  City." 
Bucharest,   "  The  City  of  Pleasure. ' ' 
Hyderabad,  in  South  India,  "  The  Fortu- 
nate City." 

Waco,  Texas,  "The  Geyser  City,"  "The 
Central  City." 

Sherman,  Tex.,  "The  Athens  of  Texas." 
Houston,  Tex.,  "  The  Magnolia  City." 
Mayapau  (ruined),  "  The  Banner  City  of 
the  Mayas." 

Wau-Chow-Foo,  China,  "The  Great 
Bear  City,"  "The  White  Deer  City." 

L.  P.  N. 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Curious  Customs. — Although  among 
the  Bedouins  a  wife  is  considered  as  a  slave, 
singleness  is  looked  upon  as  a  disgrace. 

Persian  women  have  little  education  and 
are  reared  in  seclusion  and  ignorance,  know- 
ing nothing  beyond  the  walls  of  their 
houses. 

Hindu  women  are  forbidden  to  read  or 
write.  Indeed,  those  who  dare  to  indulge 
in  such  luxuries  are  often  "accidentally" 
missing. 

Jewish  women  of  the  higher  classes  were 
secluded  from  public  life,  and  passed  their 
time  with  the  distaff  and  spindle.  At  mar- 
riage the  ceremonies  lasted  seven  days. 


November  15,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


35 


In  China  a  wife  is  never  seen  by  her 
future  master.  Some  relative  bargains  for 
the  girl,  the  stipulated  price  is  paid,  and 
she  is  afterwards  a  submissive  slave. 

The  women  of  ancient  Rome  were  treated 
with  greatest  respect.  Still,  they  were  not 
allowed  to  inherit  property,  and  could  be 
divorced  by  their  husbands  for  counterfeit- 
ing their  keys  and  for  wine  drinking. 

In  Turkey  woman  is  held  in  the  most  rigid 
seclusion.  She  must  always  appear  veiled. 
With  pigs  and  dogs  she  is  forbidden  to 
•enter  a  mosque,  and  the  Koran  declares  a 
woman  who  is  unmarried  to  be  in  a  state  of 
reprobation. 

Siberian  women  are  raised  as  abject  slaves, 
untidy  in  dress,  and  are  bought  with  money 
or  cattle.  The  most  capricious  whim  of 
her  husband  is  law,  and  should  the  latter  de- 
sire a  divorce  he  has  only  to  tear  the  cap 
from  her  head. 

Among  the  Congo  negroes  when  a  man 
wishes  a  wife  he  secures  one  and  keeps  her 
on  probation  a  year.  If  her  temper  and  de- 
portment are  satisfactory,  he  at  the  end  of 
the  year  formally  marries  her.  But  should 
she  prove  an  incumbrance  he  sends  her  back 
to  the  parental  roof. 

"Whirlpool.  —  The  principal  so-called 
whirlpools  are  the  Maelstrom,  the  Corrie- 
vriekin,  the  Charybdis,  the  Merry-men  of 
Pentland,  the  Race  of  Alderney.  Some  have 
called  Hell-gate  a  whirlpool ;  also  the  pas- 
sage between  Nonameset  island  and  the 
mainland,  near  Wood's  Roll,  Mass.  There 
is  also  a  whirlpool  in  the  Niagara  river.  In 
English  literature  whirlpool  or  hurlpool  is 
sometimes  the  name  of  a  whale  or  other  sea- 
monster.  To  these  may  be  added  the  Sal- 
tenstrom  and  Moskenstrom,  off  Norway ; 
the  Quaerne  of  Faroe ;  the  Swona  of  Ork- 
ney ;  the  Swelchie ;  the  Merry  Men  of  Mey, 
and  others. 

The  Sasanoa  river  flows  from  the  Kenne- 
bec  near  Bath,  Me.,  for  seven  miles,  to  the 
river  Sheepscot.  In  this  distance  it  passes 
through  two  whirlpools  called  respectively 
Upper  Hell  Gate  and  Great  Hell  Gate. 
Both  are  very  dangerous  to  pass  at  any  time. 
Often  the  roaring  of  their  waters  may  be 
heard  for  miles  away.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 


West  Wales. — Historians  of  the  school 
of  Freeman  and  Green  never  tire  of  repeat- 
ing that  West  Wales  means  Cornwall  and 
Devon.  But  I  have  found  in  very  early 
writers  (chroniclers  and  the  like)  quite  a 
number  of  places  where  West  Wales  ob- 
viously and  unquestionably  means  the 
western  part  of  what  we  now  call  Wales. 

G.  H.  G. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Curious  Derivations.  —  Wicklif's 
Name. — The  enemies  of  Wicklif  in  his 
life-time  did  not  fail  to  make  a  point  against 
him  from  his  name,  which  (they  said)  meant 
wicked  life. 

In  "The  Faery  Queene,"  Spenser  de- 
rives the  word  world  from  "  worse  old,"  be- 
cause it  grows  worse  as  it  grows  old.  Spen- 
ser likewise  tells  of  a  dreadful  animal  called 
Death.  It  is  supposed  that  he  refers  to  the 
walrus,  or  morse  (cf.  Latin  mors,  death). 

CHARLES  C.  ROBINSON. 
ELMIRA,  N.  Y. 

Corrigenda  (Vol.  vi,  p.  4).  —  For 
"  Ecka  "  read  the  Greek  word  2txa.  On 
p.  ii,  sub  voce  "  Rise,"  for  "Tyrwhittand 
White,"  read  "  Tyrwhitt  and  Wright." 

On  p.  14,  for  La  Mailleraye  read  La  Meil- 
leraye  (twice).  On  p.  23,  for  Renomania 
read  Kenomania. 


BOO^S  AND   H>EFSIODIGAliS. 


The  Cosmopolitan  in  its  Christmas  number  will  con- 
tain a  feature  never  before  attempted  by  any  magazine, 
consisting  of  123  cartoons  from  the  brush  of  Dan  Beard, 
the  now  famous  artist,  who  did  such  wonderful  illustra- 
tions in  Mark  Twain's  book,  "  The  Yankee  at  the 
Court  of  King  Arthur." 

These  cartoons  are  placed  at  the  bottom  of  each  page 
of  the  magazine,  and  take  for  their  subject,  "  Christmas 
during  the  Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Christian  Era," 
with  variations,  showing  the  way  in  which  we  modern 
Christians  carry  out  some  of  the  chief  texts  of  the  Chris- 
tian Gospel. 

Above  and  at  each  side  of  the  page  is  a  quaint 
border,  the  whole  effect  being  novel  and  extremely 
pleasing,  and  with  the  unusually  varied  table  of  con- 
tents, will  make  such  a  Christmas  number  as  is  worthy 
to  go  into  more  than  100,000  households. 

The  frontispieces  of  The  Cosmopolitan  have  of  late 
become  noted  for  their  beauty,  some  of  them  having  as 
much  as  four  printings.  That  for  Christmas,  while  in 
but  two  printings,  is  not  behind  anything  that  has  pre- 
ceded it  in  artistic  merit. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [November  15,  1890. 


An  excellently  illustrated  article  is  one  on  teapots,  by 
Eliza  Ruhamah  Scidmore.  Literary  Boston  is  treated 
with  numerous  portraits,  and  an  article  which  comes 
with  the  ninetieth  birthday  of  Von  Moltke,  sketches  the 
life  of  the  great  Fieid  Marshal  in  an  interesting  way, 
and  is  by  Gen.  James  Grant  Wilson.  Elizabeth  Bisland 
has  one  of  her  charming  articles.  The  Christmas  issue 
contains  228  illustrations,  nearly  double  the  number 
that  have  ever  appeared  in  any  illustrated  magazine. 

CONTENTS  FOR  DECEMBER. 

AWAY  ON  THB  MOUNTAIN,  WILD  AND  BARK  (Frontispiece). 

THB  PASSION  PLAY  AT  OBBRAMMKRGAU  (Illustrated) 

Elizabeth  Bisland. 

THE  RACE  (Poem) George  Edgar  Montgomery. 

THE  CRUISE  OF  THE   "SONOMA"  (Illustrated) 

T.  H.  Stevens. 

COLLECTIONS  OF  TEAPOTS  (Illustrated) 

Eliza  Ruhamah  Scidmore. 

THE  ARMY  OP  JAPAN  (Part  ii)  (Illustrated) 

Arthur  Sherburne  Hardy. 

HYMN  (Poem) John  W.  Weidemeyer. 

FIELD  MARSHAL  VON  MOLTKB  (Illustrated) 

James  Grant  Wilson. 

MRS.  PBNDLKTON'S  FOUR-IN-HAND  (Illustrated) 

Gertrude  Franklin  Athenian. 

LITERARY  BOSTON  (Illustrated) Lilian  Whiting. 

EQUANIMITY  (Poem) William  Wheeler. 

A  FAMOUS  FIRBPLACB  (Illustrated) Herbert  Pierson. 

THE  BIRDS  OF  NAZARETH  (Poem)  (Illustrated) 

Elisabeth  Akers. 

THE  PURSUIT  OF  THE  MARTYNS  (Part  ii)  (Illustrated) 

Richard  Malcolm  Johnson. 

HYLAs(Poem) Marion  M.  Miller. 

REVIEW  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS ATurat  fialstead. 

SOCIAL  PROBLEMS Edward  Everett  Hale. 

The  Illustrated  American  says  :  "  A  controversy  is 
raging  in  England  over  the  question  of  the  largest 
check  that  ever  was  drawn.  This  controversy  was 
started  by  the  fact  that  early  in  September  a  check  was 
drawn  by  the  Great  Indian  Peninsula  Railway  Co.  on 
the  London  and  County  Bank  for  j£i  ,250,000.  This 
was  heralded  throughout  the  country  as  the  largest 
check  in  history.  It  was  added  that  a  check  for 
$3,500,000  drawn  by  Vanderbilt  stood  second  on  the 
list.  But  now  a  number  of  rival  instances  have  been 
cited.  A  canceled  check  for  £1 ,750,000  may  be  seen 
framed  as  a  memorial  at  the  office  of  the  Manchester 
Ship  Canal  Co.,  in  Deansgate,  Manchester.  It  was 
drawn  by  the  company  on  Glyn  &  Co.,  bankers,  when 
buying  out  the  Bridgewater  Trustees.  But  it  appears 
that  at  least  four  of  the  London  clearing  banks  have 
paid  checks  for  more  than  .£2,000,000  on  several  occa- 
sions. 

"  The  largest  check  that  was  ever  drawn,  according  to 
the  latest  advices,  was  one  that  passed  through  the 
"  house  "  in  1879  or  1880.  It  was  in  settlement  for  an 
arbitration  award,  and  the  amount  was  over  .£3,250,000. 


One  would  like  more  definite  information,  but  this  is  all 
that  is  vouchsafed  us  at  present.  Perhaps -further  light 
may  be  granted  in  the  future. 

"  The  largest  check  ever  drawn  in  this  country,  it  ap- 
pears, was  a  mere  infant  in  comparison  with  the  full- 
grown  English  giant. 

"  It  was  for  a  million  dollars,  and  was  drawn  by  John 
Rockefeller  in  favor  of  Sam  Andrews,  another  coal  mil- 
lionaire. Andrews,  according  to  the  story,  only  ac- 
cepted it  because  he  was  ashamed  to  refuse.  Not,  in- 
deed, that  he  had  heard  of  the  more  sizable  checks,  and 
looked  upon  this  as  a  trifle  which  it  might  hurt  the 
giver's  feelings  to  refuse.  No  ;  the  way  of  it  was  this : 

"  Rockefeller  and  Andrews  were  partners  and  yet 
rivals.  They  had  been  among  the  organizers  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Co.  and  had  soon  waxed  prosperous. 
Then  each  tried  to  outshine  the  other.  When  Rocke- 
feller put  up  a  big  house  or  bought  an  expensive  turn- 
out, Andrews  lavished  his  money  in  obtaining  some- 
thing more  expensive.  So  when  Rockefeller  was  made 
President  of  the  Standard  Oil  Co.,  Andrews  waxed 
jealous.  He  one  day  blusteringly  asked  Rockefeller  for 
the  books  of  the  company.  Rockefeller  refused  to 
show  them,  but  offered  him  a  general  statement 
instead. 

"  '  If  I  can't  see  the  books,'  cried  Andrews,  angrily, 
'  I  want  to  sell  my  stock.' 

"  '  And  how  much  will  you  take  for  it?'  said  Rocke- 
feller, coolly  reaching  for  his  check-book. 

"  '  One  million  dollars  cash.' 

"Mr.  Rockefeller  wrote  out  a  check  for  $1,000,000  and 
handed  it  without  a  word  to  Andrews. 

"  And  Andrews  was  obliged  to  accept  it." 

The  Chautauquan  for  December  includes  the  follow- 
ing articles:  "The  Intellectual  Development  of  the 
English  People,"  by  Edward  A.  Freeman;  "  The  Eng- 
lish Constitution,  III,  by  Woodrow  Wilson,  Ph.D., 
LL.D. ;  "The  Religious  History  of  England,  III,  by 
Prof.  George  P.  Fisher;  "  How  the  Saxon  Lived,"  Part 
III,  by  R.  S.  Dix;  "The  Tenure  of  Land  in  Eng- 
land," Part  III,  by  D.  McG.  Means;  "An  English 
Scholar  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  by  Eugene  Lawrence  ; 
"Sunday  Readings,"  selected  by  Bishop  Vincent; 
11  What  shall  we  do  with  our  Children?"  Part  III,  by 
Harriet  Prescott  Spofford;  "The  Brazilian  Constitu- 
tion," by  I.  N.  Ford  ;  "  Studies  in  Astronomy  "  II,  by 
Garrett  P.  Serviss ;  "The  Annunciation,"  by  Lucy  E. 
Tilley;  "  Under  the  Mistletoe,"  by  Ernest  Ingersoll ; 
"John  Boyle  O'Reilly,"  by  Alexander  Young;  "Our 
Remaining  Territories,"  by  Cyrus  C.  Adams;  "  Home 
Building,"  by  Byron  D.  Halsted,  Sc.D.;  "  A  Director 
of  the  French  Academy  at  Rome,"  by  Eugene  Guil- 
laume;  "  How  a  Boy  May  Win  His  Way,"  by  Felecia 
Hillel ;  "The  Prayer,"  by  Katharine  Lee  Bates. 

In  the  Woman's  Council  Table  are  :  "  The  House- 
keeping Student,"  by  Mary  Hartwell  Catherwood; 
"  Signs  of  Ideas  in  Conversation,"  by  Mary  Henry  ; 
"  Holiday  Goods,"  by  Mary  S.  Torrey  ;  "  Taking  Life 
Easily,"  by  Helen  Evertson  Smith ;  "  That  Excellent 
Thing  in  Woman,"  by  Josephine  Henderson  ;  "  When 
to  Write  Letters,"  by  Dora  M.  Morrell ;  "  A  Look  at 
Labor  and  Charity,"  by  Elizabeth  Porter  Gould;  "The 
Care  of  Vegetables  in  Winter,"  by  Mrs.  M.  J.  Ashton; 
"  Employments  for  Women,"  by  Alice  Donlevy ; 
"  Lights  in  the  House,"  by  Helen  Brewster ;  "  The 
Old  Maid  Mothers  of  New  England,"  by  Kate  Tannatt 
Woods ;  "  The  Recognition  of  Women  by  the  Greeks," 
by  J.  Wolf  Leitenberger ;  "Some  Foreign  Boys  at 
School,"  by  Josephine  Manning. 


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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  :— Arcadia,  37. 

QUERIES  :— Shaking  Bridge  —  Veddahs  —  Sydney  Smith's 
Salad— Prince  of  Painters— Zodiacal  Sign— King  of  Painters, 
38. 

REPLIES  :— Rock  City— Hell  Hound,  by  Thee,  etc.— Life  is 
Short.  Art  is  Long— The  Marble  Faun,  39 — Yoked  with  a 
Lamb— Coleridge's  Escapade — Punctation  of  Ems,  40. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Great  Scott,  40 
— The  Plow,  the  Anchor  and  the  Shuttle — Monsieur  Tonson 
—  Dead  Beat — Orelie  1— Nidaros  —  Ancon  Sheep  —  Devil's. 
Strain,  41. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Some  Famous  Riddles,  41— Cente- 
narians, 44 — Moonachie — He  who  Died  at  Azan — Staracle — 
Dosh — Thimbles — Plaquemine — Remember,  Boy,  etc.,  45 — 
Famous  Blind  Men— Greek  Authors  originally  Slaves— Cat- 
tle Calls — Devil's  Tower— Patriarchs,  46— Dread  of  Happi- 
ness—Forgotten Wild  Fruits— Lakes  Drained— Buddhists  in 
Mexico  —  Natural  Bridges,  47  —  Floating  Islands— Sunken. 
Islands,  48. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS :— 48. 


ARCADIA. 

We  are  apt  to  speak  and  think  of  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  as  the  author  of  the  '  'Arcadia, ' ' 
forgetting  that  many  other  authors  have 
written  books  or  pieces  of  the  same  name* 
Sannazaro's  celebrated  "  Arcadia  "  (1504) 
was  the  model  of  most  of  the  others,  Sid- 
ney's not  less  celebrated  piece  being  framed 
closely  upon  the  same  lines.  Daniel  published 
"The  Queen's  Arcadia."  Milton  wrote  a 
very  beautiful  poem  called  "Arcades."  In 
the  Netherlands,  Heemskirk  wrote  a  <4Bata^ 
vische  Arcadia"  (1637);  Zoeteboom  fol- 
lowed with  a  "  Zaanlandsche  Arcadia  M 
(1658);  Bos  produced  a  "  Dordtsche  Ar- 
cadia" (1662);  Elger,  a  "  Rotterdamsche 
Arcadia;"  Gargon,  a  "  Wakhersche  Ar- 
cadia," and  Van  der  Valk,  a  "  Noordwij- 
ker  Arcadia."  In  England,  Shirley's  "Ar- 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  22,  1890. 


cadia "  (1640)  was  a  drama.  In  Spain, 
Vega  Carpio  wrote  an  "  Arcadia  "  (1598), 
a  tedious  romance.  In  1690,  the  Italian 
poets  Gravina  and  Crescimbeni,  founded  an 
Academy  of  the  Arcadia,  often  called  The 
Arcadia  for  brevity's  sake.  The  literature 
turned  out  by  this  school  was  of  immense  ag- 
gregate bulk.  Rolli,  Zappi  and  Frugoni 
were  its  great  leaders.  The  satirist  Parini 
for  a  time  was  an  Arcadian  (see  Crescim- 
beni, "Storiad' Arcadia,"  1709).  In  imita- 
tion of  this  club,  the  Arcadia  de  Lisboa 
(1757-1774)  was  founded  in  Portugal. 
There  were  many  other  Portuguese  Arcadia 
clubs,  the  Nova  Arcadia^  1790-1 806)  being 
one  of  the  best  known.  In  German, 
Schwab's  "  Arkadien  "  (1852)  is  a  sober 
descriptive  or  geographical  work.  M. 


QUERIES. 

Shaking  Bridge. — What  and  where  is 
the  structure  so  called  ?  McPHAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

The  picturesque  bridge  across  the  river 
Conway,  at  Llanrwst,  in  Wales,  designed  by 
Inigo  Jones  in  1634,  is  so  called.  Its  re- 
markable vibration  gives  it  this  name. 

Veddahs.— It  is  stated  that  the  Veddahs, 
a  very  savage  tribe  of  Ceylon,  never  laugh. 
Is  this  true?  C.  V.  BELLOWS. 

FLUSHING,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  R.  C.  Caldwell  states  that  it  is  not 
true  that  they  never  laugh.  It  is  true  that 
they  rarely  laugh,  and  that  they  are  disgusted 
at  the  sight  of  laughter  in  others,  thinking  it 
very  unseemly.  They  are,  it  is  said,  much 
given  to  weeping,  and  this  is  true  of  various 
other  degraded  tribes. 

Sydney  Smith's  Salad.  —  Can  some 
one  give  me  Sidney  Smith's  recipe  for  mak- 
ing salad  ?  ANTI-STANLEY. 

STRATFORD,  ONT. 

Lady  Holland's  "  Memoir  of  the  Rev. 
Sydney  Smith,"  quotes  him  as  saying  as 
follows  :  "  But  our  forte  in  the  culinary  line 


is  our  salads ;  I  pique  myself  on  our  salads. 
Saba  always  dresses  them  after  my  recipe. 
I  have  put  it  into  verse.  Taste  it,  and  if 
you  like  it,  I  will  give  it  you.  I  was  not 
aware  how  much  it  had  contributed  to  my 

reputation  till  I  met  Lady at  Bowood, 

who  begged  to  be  introduced  to  me,  saying 
she  had  long  wished  to  know  me.  I  was,  of 
course,  highly  flattered,  till  she  added,  'For, 
Mr.  Smith,  I  have  heard  so  much  of  your  re- 
cipe for  salads,  that  I  was  most  anxious  to 
obtain  it  from  you.'  Such  and  so  various 
are  the  sources  of  fame  : 

"  'To  make  this  condiment  your  poet  begs 
The  pounded  yellow  of  two  hard  boil'd  eggs ; 
Two  boil'd  potatoes,  pass'd  through  kitchen  sieve, 
Smoothness  and  softness  to  the  salad  give. 
Let  onion  atoms  lurk  within  the  bowl, 
And  half-suspected,  animate  the  whole. 
Of  mordant  mustard  add  a  single  spoon, 
Distrust  the  condiment  that  bites  so  soon ;' 
But  deem  it  not,  thou  man  of  herbs,  a  fault, 
To  add  a  double  quantity  of  salt. 
And,  lastly,  o'er  the  flavor'd  compound  toss 
A  magic  soup9on  of  anchovy  sauce. 
Oh,  green  and  glorious !  Oh,  herbaceous  treat  I 
'Twould  tempt  the  dying  anchorite  to  eat : 
Back  to  the  world  he'd  turn  his  fleeting  soul, 
And  plunge  his  fingers  in  the  salad  bowl ! 
Serenely  full,  the  epicure  would  say, 
Fate  cannot  harm  me,  I  have  dined  to-day.'  " 

Prince  of  Painters. — Who  was  so  called  ? 

MCPHAIL. 
IOWA  CITY. 

Sir  Dudley  Carleton  said  that  Rubens  was 
the  prince  of  painters  and  of  gentlemen. 

Zodiacal  Sign. — What  English  king  chose 
a  Zodiacal  sign  for  his  emblem  ? 

McPHAIL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Stephen,  King  of  England,  is  said  to  have 
taken  the  sign  of  Sagittarius,  or  the  Archer, 
as  his  badge  or  emblem. 

King  of  Painters. — Who  was  called  by 
this  title  ?  McPHAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

F.  Zurbaran  (1598-1662)  was  hailed  by 
the  King  of  Spain,  Philip  IV,  as  "Painter 
to  the  King  and  King  of  Painters."  At 
least,  so  the  story  goes. 


November  22,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


i  39 


REPLIES. 


Rock  City  (Vol.  v,  p.  305).— Gen.  Bid- 
well  refers  to  a  rock  formation  on  the  Platte 
river,  having  the  appearance  of  an  "  im- 
mense city  of  towers  and  castles,"  in  his 
article  in  the  November  Century  Magazine 
(p.  119).  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Hell-hound,  by  Thee,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  p.  29). 
— The  author  of  the  lines, 

"Hell-hound,  by  thee  my  child  devoured," 

was  the  Hon.  William  Robert  Spencer,  son 
of  Lord  Charles  Spencer.  The  poem  is  en- 
titled "Beth-Gelert,"  or  "The  Grave  of 
the  Greyhound."  The  origin  of  the  poem 
is  from  the  life  of  Llewellyn,  son-in-law  of 
King  John  of  England.  Llewellyn  was 
Prince  of  Wales  1190  A.D.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  went  off  on  a  hunt  and  left  his  favorite 
greyhound  Gelert  at  home  with  his  infant 
child.  A  ferocious  wolf  attacked  the  child, 
and  the  greyhound  killed  it.  Llewellyn  on 
returning  home  failed  to  see  his  child,  but, 
noticing  the  greyhound  with  a  bloody  mouth, 
supposed  that  he  had  killed  and  devoured 
the  child.  In  his  rage  he  plunged  his  sword 
into  Gelert's  side ;  the  dog  in  its  death-yell 
awoke  the  child.  Llewellyn  was  struck  with 
remorse  at  his  deed,  and  as  a  tribute  to  his 
faithful  greyhound  erected  an  elegant  monu- 
ment to  his  memory.  The  name  Beth- 
Gelert  is  simply  the  grave  of  Gelert. 

THOMAS  Louis  QGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Life  is  Short,  Art  is  Long  (Vol.  vi,  p.  16). 
— This  is  an  aphorism  of  Hippocrates. 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

The  Marble  Faun  (Vol.  v,  p.  221). — 
Your  correspondent's  vexation  and  questions 
about  the  story  of  Miriam  echo  the  outburst 
that  greeted  the  first  issue  of  this  book. 
Mrs.  Hawthorne  wrote  (in  effect)  to  a  cor- 
respondent that  her  husband  was  astonished 
at  the  curiosity  showed  concerning  the  story 
[/.  e.y  its  mere  plot],  which  seemed  to  him 
so  subordinate  a  part  of  the  work.  Perhaps 
the  author  felt  much  as  Bernhardt  may  have 


done,  if  told,  after  her  first  appearance  in 
her  new  role,  that — as  is  said  to  be  true — 
the  wriggles  of  the  little  snake  representing 
an  asp,  absorbed  far  more  of  the  attention  of 
the  audience  than  did  the  actress'  splendid 
personation  of  Cleopatra's  death.  Haw- 
thorne, no  doubt,  thought  the  mere  story 
far  less  important  than  the  perfect  picture  of 
the  Roman  background,  and  the  psycho- 
logic study  to  which  his  mind  was  stirred  by 
the  sight  of  Guide's  "  Beatrice  Cenci,"  the 
effect  upon  the  primitive  innocence  of 
Donatello,  the  fervid  nature  of  Miriam,  and 
the  puritan  temperament  of  Hilda,  of  more 
or  less  direct  contact  with  sin.  But  he  for- 
got the  power  of  curiosity,  and  how  provok- 
ing to  the  average  reader  would  be  the  chal- 
lenge to  recall  some  recent  dreadful  and 
mysterious  event  for  the  explanation  of 
Miriam's  position.  Few  people,  it  seems, 
did  recall  anything  adequate.  The  clues 
lately  furnished  by  Hawthorne's  relatives 
and  biographers  are  sufficiently  helpful  to 
the  imagination  in  constructing  a  suitable 
theory  about  the  mystery  in  the  story,  so 
that  one  reads  it  with  less  dissatisfaction  at 
its  vagueness,  but  no  positive  identification 
of  the  characters  is  to  be  looked  for.  Haw- 
thorne did  not  paint  portraits;  at  most,  if 
not  ideal,  his  personages  were  composite 
pictures.  In  the  biography  of  his  father, 
Julian  Hawthorne  says  that  in  Hilda  there 
was  something  of  his  mother,  but  denies  all 
likeness  to  the  Miss  Shepard  who  was  with 
the  Hawthornes  in  Italy.  I  do  not  know 
whether  she  was  the  relative  mentioned  by 
R.  N.  T. 

Miriam,  in  personal  appearance,  he  says, 
was  copied  from  a  beautiful  Jewess  who  sat 
opposite  Hawthorne  at  the  Lord  Mayor's 
dinner  in  London  (Vol.  ii,  p.  120;  also 
"  Our  Old  Home  "—"Civic  Banquets  "). 

In  the  strong  impression  made  upon  Haw- 
thorne  by  the  picture  of  Beatrice  Cenci, 
Mr.  G.  P.  Lathrop  ("Study  of  Haw- 
thorne") finds  the  author's  inspiration  for 
the  creation  of  Miriam ;  but,  besides  this, 
her  best  recognition,  as  one  connected  with 
a  tragedy  where  she  had  been  ' '  deeply  and 
darkly"  suspected  of  complicity,  is  ob- 
tained from  a  suggestion  mentioned  in  Julian 
Hawthorne's  memories  (Vol.  ii,  p.  236),  and 
originating  with  Dean  Stanley.  Hawthorne 


4o 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  22,  1890. 


himself  partly  sanctioned  the  identification 
when  Henry  Bright  mentioned  that  Miriam 
was  thought  to  be  Mile.  Deluzy,  the  gov- 
erness of  the  Due  de  Praslyn,  by  saying: 
"  Well,  I  dare  say  she  was,  I  knew  I  had 
some  dim  recollection  of  some  crime,  but  I 
didn't  know  what,"  but  he  added:  "The 
story  isn't  meant  to  be  explained  ;  it's  cloud- 
land." 

Assuming  Miriam's  innocence,  as  she 
avowed  it  to  Kenyon,  although  that  of  Mile. 
Deluzy  was  doubtful,  the  latter's  story  fits 
the  required  conditions  quite  well  enough. 
The  affair  occurred  in  1847,  and  is  told  in 
Larousse's  "  Dictionnaire  Universel," 
"Praslyn,"  and  in  Alison's  "History  of 
Europe"  (Vol.  iv,  Chap,  xlvii).  Its  bare 
outline  is  this  :  Mile.  Deluzy,  still  young, 
was  for  some  years  resident  governess  in  the 
family  of  the  Due  de  Praslyn,  but  in  time 
she  roused  the  jealousy  of  the  duchess  by  her 
influence  over  the  husband  and  children,  so 
that,  to  prevent  the  separation  of  husband 
and  wife,  the  governess  left  the  house.  Af- 
terwards, the  duchess  was  brutally  murdered 
under  circumstances  pointing  directly  to 
the  husband.  He  was  arrested  but 
escaped  punishment  by  suicide  with  poison. 
Mile.  Deluzy  was  also  arrested  on  suspicion 
and  detained  some  months,  but  was  released 
from  lack  of  evidence.  Notwithstanding 
that  all  details  were  freely  made  known,  the 
populace,  according  to  Larousse,  firmly  be- 
lieved that  the  alleged  poisoning  of  the  duke 
was  a  pretense  to  help  him  to  cheat  the  gal- 
lows, and  that  while  the  farce  of  his 
funeral  was  played  in  Paris,  the  living  duke 
was  spirited  across  the  English  channel. 
This  rumor  would  warrant  his  presence  at 
Rome,  insane  with  remorse,  as  Miriam's 
persecutor.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Yoked  With  a  Lamb  (Vol.  v,  p.  103). — In 
reply  to  the  question,  "Does  Brutus  com- 
pare himself  to  a  lamb,  or  does  he  refer  to  a 
weakness  in  the  character  of  Cassius?"  Dr. 
W.  J.  Rolfe  says,  "  The  former  beyond  all 
question,  I  should  say,  though  lamb  may  be 
a  corruption."  Mr.  K.  Deighton,  who  has 
also  edited  "  Julius  Caesar,"  has  this  note: 
"  If  lamb  be  the  true  reading,  the  passage  must 
mean  you  have  as  your  brother  one  who  by 


nature  is  as  gentle   as  a  lamb  ;  Pope  pro- 
posed <  man  '  "  (The  Critic,  November  8). 

E.  G.  KEEN. 
WARWICK,  PA. 

Coleridge's  Escapade  (Vol.  vi,  p.  30).  — 
"  It  is  related,  however,  that  an  officer  of 
the  Fifteenth  dragoons,  one  day,  in  1794, 
happened  to  overlook  a  private  of  that  regi- 
ment reading  a  Latin  '  Horace'  in  a  public- 
house  in  Reading,  at  which  he  was  quar- 
tered. So  unusual  a  circumstance  led  him 
to  make  some  inquiries  about  this  '  notice- 
able man,'  and  he  was  told  that  his  name 
was  Silas  Tomkins  Cumberbatch,  and  that 
his  comrades  and  others  were  accustomed  to 
assemble  of  an  evening  to  hear  him  talk, 
his  conversation  being  of  an  extraordinary 
character.  This  account  stimulated  his 
curiosity,  and  he  questioned  Silas  himself, 
when  he  soon  found  he  had  run  away  from 
Cambridge,  where  he  was  a  student,  and, 
after  enduring  great  privations  in  London, 
had  enlisted  in  this  regiment,  and  that  his 
real  name  was  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge. 
When  the  friends  of  the  young  man  were  in- 
formed of  his  situation,  they  of  course 
speedily  procured  his  discharge"  (from 
"Rambles  by  Rivers,'  Vol.  i,  p.  150,  by 
James  Thome,  London,  1847).  ^n  a  note 
to  the  above  occurs  the  following:  "The 
story  is  variously  told.  Some  say  that  the 
officer  was  led  to  inquire  about  Cumberbatch 
by  finding  a  Greek  or  Latin  verse  written 
under  his  saddle,  or  on  the  wall  of  the  sta- 
ble. It  is  only  certain  that  Coleridge  was  a 
private  in  the  regiment  from  December, 
1793,  to  April,  1794,  and  was  at  Reading  in 
that  capacity."  H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Punctations  of  Ems  fVol.  v,  p.  280).  —  If 
your  correspondent  who  inquired  about  this 
term  will  consult  the  "  Century  Dictionary  '  ' 
under  "  Punctation,"  she  will  find  the  in- 
formation desired.  R.  P. 

ATLANTIC  CITY. 


(DOF^ESPONDENTS. 


Great  Scott.  —  Whence   the  origin  of 
this  exclamation  ?  ANTI-STANLEY. 

STRATFORD,  ONT. 


November  22,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


The  Plow,  the  Anchor  and  the 
Shuttle. — On  a  balmy  October  evening,  in 
the  year  1826,  I,  with  a  number  of  other 
boys,  was  attracted  to  the  side-room  of  a 
tavern  in  our  native  village  (the  word  hotel 
was  altogether  unknown  to  us).  The  mem- 
bers of  a  local  dramatic  society  had  just 
come  down  stairs,  where  they  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  rehearsal  of  an  approaching 
play  or  plays,  to  be  exhibited  on  a  country 
stage.  One  of  the  players  was  to  repeat  a 
"volunteer  toast,"  which  had  been  left 
blank  on  the  copy  of  the  play,  and  hi"  com- 
panions were  helping  him  to  compose  what 
they  thought  would  be  appropriate.  Amongst 
the  elders  of  the  party  was  the  village  school- 
teacher, and  he  suggested  the  following : 
"  The  Plow,  the  Anchor  and  the  Shuttle  " — 
"  United,  they  stand ;  divided,  they  fall. ' '  He 
then  explained  the  plow  represents  agricul- 
ture, the  anchor  represents  commerce,  and 
the  shuttle  represents  manufactures.  That 
settled  it.  I  do  not  recollect  whether  he 
offered  this  as  original  or  not.  But,  be- 
tween that  time  and  the  present,  I  have  seen 
and  read  hundreds  of  toasts,  and  I  have 
drunk  many.  But  I  have  never  seen  in 
print,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  read  the  above 
one.  And  yet,  in  its  day,  it  may  have  been 
repeated  many  times.  Can  any  ancient 
reader  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES 
give  me  any  information  on  the  subject  ?  I 
await  a  reply.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Monsieur  Tonson. — On  the  same  occa- 
sion (referred  to  in  the  above),  the  school- 
teacher represented  the  character  of  Mon- 
sieur Morbleau,  an  irritable  old  French  re- 
fugee, and  to  whom  Tom  King,  a  reckless 
rakish  character  in  the  same  play,  seemed  to 
be  a  perfect  "nightmare."  I  have  handled 
hundreds  of  plays  since  then,  and  I  have 
witnessed  many,  and  I  also  possess  several 
bound  volumes  of  plays,  but  somehow,  Mon- 
sieur Tonson  is  not  among  any  of  them.  I 
once  possessed  a  poem,  entitled  "  Monsieur 
Tonson,"  which  contains  the  whole  plot, 
but  it  somehow  got  out  of  my  possession 
over  forty  years  ago,  and  I  have  not  been 
able  to  repossess  it.  If  any  reader  of  AMERI- 
CAN NOTES  AND  QUERIES  knows  anything 
about  these  literary  antiquities,  their  "  ven- 


tilation "  might  be  of  interest  to  some  an- 
cient admirer.  S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER.  PA. 

Dead  Beat  or  Beet.— Can  you  tell  me 

the  origin  of  this  expression  ? 

ANTI-STANLEY. 
STRATFORD,  ONT. 

Orelie  I. — Where  can  I  find  a  good  ac- 
count of  the  career  of  Or61ie  I,  King  of 
Araucania  ?  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Nidaros. — Which  syllable  ought  to  re- 
ceive the  accent  in  this  word  ?  It  is  the  an- 
cient name  of  Trondhjem,  a  city  of  Norway. 

T.  C.  R. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

Ancon  Sheep. — What  are  the  original 
sources  of  information  concerning  the  Ancon 
breed  of  sheep  of  Massachusetts,  regarding 
which  Darwin  and  his  followers  have  so 
much  to  say?  R.  M.  ROBARDS. 

GEORGETOWN,  D.  C. 

Devil's  Strain. — An  Arabian  legend 
states  that  after  the  devil's  banishment  from 
heaven  he  resolved  to  make  use  of  music  for 
the  temptation  of  man,  but  God  deprived 
him  of  memory  and  he  could  only  remem- 
ber one  strain,  which  to  this  day  is  called 
"  Asbe'n,  or  the  Devil's  Strain."  Will  any 
reader  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES 
tell  me  if  there  is  such  a  strain  of  music,  or 
give  me  any  information  on  the  subject? 

L.  R.  J. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

©OMMUNIGACTIONS. 

Some  Famous  Riddles. — In  all  ages 
of  the  world  riddles  have  provided  amuse- 
ment for  the  ingenious,  the  wise  and  the 
witty. 

They  are  found  in  all  languages,  and  have 
been  and  are  a  source  of  diversion  to  all 
classes  of  people,  from  the  grave  philosopher 
in  his  study  to  the  merry  clown  in  the  circus, 
while  anciently  the  guesser  of  riddles  was 
supposed  to  be  gifted.  And  while  this  play 
upon  words  is  only  a  sort  of  witty  pastime 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  22,  1890. 


with  us,  the  riddle  once  held  a  far  higher 
place.  After  inventing  it,  men  began  to 
make  it  into  a  kind  of  game.  Bets  were 
made  on  the  answer,  and  sides  chosen,  each 
side  backing  its  champion,  and  it  is  related 
that  King  Solomon  once  won  a  large  sum  of 
money  for  his  superior  wit  in  guessing  riddles. 

The  oldest  riddle  on  record,  with  which 
no  doubt  every  one  is  familiar,  may  be 
found  in  the  Book  of  Judges,  Chap,  xiv, 
verses  14-18. 

The  riddle  propounded  by  the  fabled 
Sphinx  to  the  people  of  Thebes  is  probably 
the  most  celebrated  in  the  long  list  of  philo- 
sophical riddles,  the  solution  of  which  won 
for  (Epidus  (son  of  Laius,  King  of  Thebes) 
a  kingdom : 

"What  is  that  which  goes  on  four  legs  in 
the  morning,  two  in  the  day-time,  and  in  the 
evening  on  three  ?" 

The  answer  is  Man,  who  creeps  in  infancy, 
walks  erect  in  maturity,  and  in  old  age  uses 
a  staff. 

The  Germans  ask  :  "  What  can  go  in  the 
face  of  the  sun  and  yet  leave  no  shadow?" 
Answer,  the  wind. 

The  African  puts  it  in  this  way  :  "  What 
flies  forever  and  never  rests  ?"  And  the  Per- 
sian says,  "  What  is  wingless  and  legless, 
yet  flies  fast  and  is  never  imprisoned  ?"• 

Cleobulus,  one  of  the  "  Seven  Wise  Men 
of  Greece,"  was  a  famous  riddle  maker,  his 
riddle  of  the  year  being  an  example  of  his 
skill  in  that  line :  "  There  is  a  father  with 
twice  six  sons.  These  sons  have  thirty 
daughters  apiece,  parti-colored,  having  one 
cheek  white  and  the  other  black,  who  never 
see  each  other's  face,  or  live  above  twenty- 
four  hours." 

This  is  not  very  witty,  but  what  mediseval 
enigma  is  ? 

The  riddle  was  much  cultivated  in  the 
middle  ages.  An  old  book  entitled  "  De- 
mands Joyous,"  but  which  we  should  term 
amusing  questions,  was  printed  by  Wynken 
de  Worde,  the  second  expert  printer,  in 
1511.  From  this  book,  of  which  there  is 
said  to  be  but  one  copy  extant,  we  cull  a 
few  "  Demands." 

"  Who  were  the  persons  who  once  made 
all,  sold  all,  bought  all  and  lost  all?" 
Answer:  "A  smith  made  an  awl,  and  sold 
it  to  a  shoemaker,  who  lost  it." 


"  What  is  the  worst  bestowed  charity  that 
we  can  give?"  Answer  :  "Alms  to  a  blind 
man  for  he  would  be  glad  to  see  the  person 
hanged  who  gave  it  to  him?" 

"What  is  that  that  never  freezeth?" 
Answer :  Boiling  water. 

"  What  man  getteth  his  living  backward?" 
Answer,  the  rope-maker. 

The  Reformation  put  a  stop  to  riddle- 
making  for  a  while,  but  in  the  seventeenth 
century  it  revived  again,  and  in  France  it 
soon  rivaled  in  popularity  the  charson  and 
madrigal. 

In  some  old  ballads  the  hero's  chance  of 
winning  his  beloved  is  made  to  turn  on  his 
power  of  solving  certain  riddles.  In  an  old 
edition  of  "  HalliwelPs  Popular  Rhymes  " 
is  found  this  quaint  song  : 

"  I  have  a  true  lover  over  the  sea. 
Parla  me  dixi  me  dominie. 
He  must  send  me  love  tokens,  one,  two  and  three. 

With  a  rotrum,  potrum,  trumpetrorum, 
Parla  me  dixi  me  dominie. 

"  He  must  send  me  a  book  that  none  can  read, 

Parla  me  dixi  me  dominie  ; 
He  must  send  me  a  web  without  any  thread ; 
He  must  send  me  a  cherry  without  any  stone ; 
He  must  send  me  a  bird  without  any  bone. 

"  How  can  there  be  book  that  none  can  read  ? 
How  can  there  be  web  without  any  thread  ? 
How  can  there  be  cherry  without  any  stone  ? 
How  can  there  be  bird  without  any  bone  ? 

"When  the  book's  unwritten  none  can  read  ; 
When  the  web's  in  the  fleece  it  has  no  thread  ; 
When  the  cherry's  in  the  blossom  it  has  no  stone ; 
When  the  bird's  in  the  egg  it  has  no  bone." 

Answer:  Time. 

Here  is  a  pretty  riddle  by  Schiller,  the 
great  German  poet : 

"  A  bridge  weaves  its  arch  with  pearls 

High  over  the  tranquil  sea; 
In  a  moment  it  unfurls 

Its  span,  unbounded,  free, 
The  tallest  ships  with  swelling  sail 

May  pass  'neath  its  arch  with  ease ; 
It  carries  no  burden,  'tis  too  frail, 

And  when  you  approach  it  flees. 
With  the  flood  it  comes,  with  the  rain  it  goes, 

And  what  it  is  made  of,  nobody  knows." 

Answer :  The  Rainbow. 

Coming  down  to  the  present  century,  we 
find  that  some  of  our  most  learned  men  have 
not  disdained  to  occupy  a  leisure  hour  in 
constructing  riddles  full  of  ingenuity,  fertile 


November  22,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


in  ideas,  and  graceful  in  language.     One  of 
the  brightest  is  by  Lord  Macaulay : 

"  Cut  off  my  head,  and  singular  I  am, 

Cut  off  my  tail,  and  plural  I  appear, 
Cut  off  my  head  and  tail,  and  wondrous  feat, 

Although  my  middle's  left  there's  nothing  there. 
What  is  my  head  cut  off?  a  sounding  sea, 

What  is  my  tail  cut  off  ?  a  rushing  river, 
And  in  their  mighty  depths  I  fearless  play, 

Parent  of  sweetest  sounds,  though  mute  forever." 

In  Notes  and  Queries  for  1872  may  be 
found  this  rhymed  solution  : 

"  O  D,  must  surely  od  be, 
And  he  that  is  odd  is  a  singular  man. 
C.  O.  will  assuredly  show, 
The  plural  if  anything  can. 
Minus  '  C  '  and  '  D,'  alas,  woe  is  me. 
I  am  naught  to  the  wise  or  the  fool, 
So  if  20  were  here  and  2  disappear, 
I've  naught,  as  I  learned  at  my  school, 
And  '  C  '  to  the  ear  may  bring  very  clear 
The  sound  of  the  ocean's  main, 
While  the  '  Dee '  can  transport  to  a  northern 
Or  remove  to  a  flat  Welsh  plain. 
In  the  Northern  Sea,  I  love  best  to  be, 
And  to  play  in  its  mighty  wave, 
But  I'm  sometimes  found,  with  my  sweetest  sound 
In  the  Northern  Dee  to  lave. 
If  this  long  explanation  should  give  you  vexation, 
Yet  I  pray  you  spare  the  rod. 
You  may  boil  me  or  fry  me, 
Then  dish  me  and  try  me, 
Ah !  you'll  eat  me,  I  am  but  a  Cod." 

A  riddle  ascribed  to  Canning,  where,  by 
the  addition  of  a  letter,  the  word  "  cares  " 
is  changed  into  one  of  the  sweetest  words  in 
the  English  language,  is  very  fine.  It  runs 
as  follows : 

"  A  word  there  is  of  plural  number, 
Foe  to  ease  and  tranquil  slumber, 
Any  other  word  you  take, 
And  add  an  '  s '  'twill  plural  make. 
But  if  you  add  an  '  s '  to  this, 
So  strange  the  metamorphosis, 
Plural  is  plural  now  no  more 
And  sweet  what  bitter  was  before." 

Could  we  imagine  the  stately  Charles 
James  Fox  indulging  in  riddle-making  ?  Yet 
here  is  one  of  which  he  is  the  author,  and 
which  has  long  been  included  in  "  Mother 
Goose's  "  rhymes: 

"  Formed  long  ago  yet  made  to-day, 

Employed  while  others  sleep — 

What  none  would  like  to  give  away, 

And  none  would  like  to  keep." 

You  arose  from  the  answer  this  morning  ! 

And  Letitia  Barbauld  !  Fancy  her  sitting 

down  gravely  to  propound  enigmas.     She 


did,    however,    and   very   cleverly  too,  as- 
seen  by  the  following,  on  a  river : 

"  I  always  murmur,  yet  I  never  weep, 
I  always  lie  in  bed,  but  never  sleep, 
My  mouth  is  wide  and  larger  than  my  head 
And  much  disgorges,  though  'tis  never  fed. 
I  have  no  legs  or  feet,  yet  swiftly  run, 
And  the  more  falls  I  get,  move  faster  on." 

Another  hardly  less  clever,  also  in  a  letter, 
is  by  Lord  Byron.  We  quote  only  the  first 
and  last  stanzas  : 

"  I  am  not  in  youth,  nor  in  manhood,  or  age, 

But  in  infancy  ever  am  known. 
I'm  a  stranger  alike,  to  the  fool  and  the  sage, 
And  though  I'm  distinguished  on  history's  page, 
I  always  am  greatest  alone." 

"  Though  disease  may  possess  me,  and  sickness  and 

pain, 

I  am  never  in  sorrow  or  gloom, 
Though  in  wit  and  in  wisdom  I  equally  reign, 
I'm  the  heart  of  all  sin,  and  have  long  lived  in  vain, 
Yet  I  ne'er  shall  be  found  in  the  tomb." 

Mark  Lemon,  an  English  humorist,  and 
former  editor  of  Punch,  was  fond  of  making 
charades  which  were  both  bright  and  witty, 
as  witness  this  on  a  "  barron  :" 

"  Old  Charlie  Brown,  who  a  big  rogue  was  reckoned, 
Was  brought  up  at  my  first,  for  making  my  second, 
He  was  fined,  and  because  he  no  money  could  pay, 
Had  to  work  with  my  whole  on  the  Queen's  high- 
way." 

An  amusing  enigma  much  talked  of  at  Ox- 
ford a  number  of  years  ago,  is  said  to  have 
been  written  by  Archbishop  Whately,  who 
offered  £50  to  any  one  who  could  guess  it : 

"  When  from  the  ark's  capacious  round 

The  world  came  forth  in  pairs, 
Who  was  it  that  first  heard  the  sound 
Of  boots  upon  the  stairs  ? 

Many  attempts  were  made  to  solve  this. 
These  three  solutions,  though  disagreeing  in 
result,  show  much  cleverness  and  wit. 

The  first  suggests  that  the  "  sound  of 
boots  upon  the  stairs"  was  first  audible  to 
him  who  drove  the  kine  and  heard  their 
"  high-lows  "  as  they  emerged  from  the  ark. 

Number  Two  says  that : 

"  When  from  the  ark's  capacious  round, 

The  world  came  forth  in  pairs, 
The  "  calf"  was  first  to  hear  the  sound 
Of  boots  upon  the  stairs." 

While  Number  Three  asserts  that : 

"  To  him  who  cons  the  matter  o'er, 

A  little  thought  reveals ; 
He  heard  it  first  who  went  before — 

A  pair  of  soles  and  (h)eels !" 


44 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [November  22,  1890. 


What  say  you,  my  bright-eyed  lassie  ?  or 
you,  my  quick-witted  laddie?  Can  you  give 
a  better  solution  still  ? 

A  search  through  old  letters  has  often  re- 
vealed many  a  curious  riddle.  Evidently 
the  writers  thought  it  added  zest  to  their 
letters  to  puzzle  the  recipients. 

Among  the  correspondence  of  the  Rev. 
John  Newton,  an  English  divine,  was  found 
a  letter  from  Cowper,  the  poet,  bearing  date 
July  30,  1780.  The  contents  show  that : 

"  A  little  nonsense  now  and  then, 
Is  relished  by  the  best  of  men." 

41 1  am  just  two  and  two,  I  am  warm,  I  am  cold, 
And  the  parent  of  numbers  that  cannot  be  told; 
I  am  lawful,  unlawful,  a  duty,  a  fault ; 
I  am  often  sold  dear — good  for  nothing  when  bought ; 
An  extraordinary  boon  and  a  matter-of-course, 
And  yielded  with  pleasure  when  taken  by  force." 

'Tis  a  kiss. 

It  is  not  altogether  in  old  manuscripts  and 
letters  that  one  finds  quaint  and  curious 
things,  though  I  imagine  the  fire-place  would 
be  the  last  place  one  would  think  of  looking 
for  riddles,  but  over  the  mantel-piece  of  an 
old,  old  inn  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  may 
be  found  this  droll  quiz : 

41 A  man  without  eyes  saw  plums  on  a  tree. 
Neither  took  plums  or  left  plums.     Pray  how  can  that 
be?" 

The  answer  just  below  is  of  later  date  than 
the  enigma,  as  shown  by  the  wording : 

"  The  man  hadn't  eyes,  but  he  had  just  ore  eye, 
With  which  on  the  tree  two  plums  he  could  spy ; 
He  neither  took  plums,  nor  plums  did  he  leave, 
But  took  one  and  left  one,  as  we  may  conceive." 

One  should  not  forget  Tom  Hood's  "  Ex- 
cursions Into  Puzzledom,"  so  full  of  whimsi- 
cal rhymes  and  jolly  jokes,  such  as  only  Tom 
Hood  could  write,  but  with  which  the  youth 
of  the  present  day  are  not  quite  as  familiar 
as  the  youth  of  a  generation  ago.  The  funny 
illustrations  which  accompany  the  puzzles 
are  not  the  least  amusing  features  of  the 
book.  Tom  Hood,  too,  is  the  only  "  man 
of  letters"  whom  we  find  making  puzzles 
for  a  livelihood  (E.  F.  Wade,  in  Chicago  In- 
ter-Ocean). 

Centenarians. — According  to  "  Choice 
Notes  from  Notes  and  Queries"  "History," 
London,  Bell  &  Daldy,  1858,  the  following 


notices  of  authenticated  cases  of  persons  living 
to  100  and  upwards,  appear  at  pp.  170-177. 
This  circumstantial  statement  is  valuable  in 
that  it  has  been  dogmatically  asserted  that 
there  is  no  absolute  proof  that  any  in- 
dividual, in  any  age,  anywhere,  lived  to  the 
age  of  100. 

William  Hazeland,  Wiltshire,  died  1732, 
aet.  112. 

Alexander  McCullock,  Aberdeen,  died 
1757,  set.  132. 

Col.  Thomas  Winslow  Tipperary,  died 
1766,  aet.  146. 

James  Horrocks,  Manchester,  died  1843, 
set.  1 20. 

Mr.  Fraser,  Royal  Hospital,  Kilmainham, 
Ireland,  died  1768,  set.  118. 

Matthew  Champion,  Great  Yarmouth, 
died  1793,  aet.  in. 

David  Caldwell,  Bridgenorth,  died  1796, 
aet.  107. 

John  Campbell,  Dungannon,  Ireland,  died 

1791,  aet.  120. 

Matthew  Tait,  Auchinleck,  Ayrshire,  died 

1792,  aet.  123. 

John  Ramsay  Collercotes,  died  1807,  aet. 

"5- 

Alexander  Kirkpatrick,  Longford,  died 
1783,  aet.  116. 

McLeod,  of  Inverness,  died  1790,  aet. 
102. 

William  Billings,  Fairfield  Head,  Staf- 
fordshire, died  1791,  aet.  114. 

John  Jackson,  Burnew  Castle,  died  1799, 
aet.  117. 

Ambrose  Bennet,  Tetbury,  died  1800, 
aet.  106. 

Henry  Francesco,  White  Hall,  N.  Y., 
died  1820,  aet.  134. 

J.  Jennings,  Gosport,  died  1814,  aet. 
109. 

Alexander  Campbell,  Kincardine,  died 
1816,  aet.  117. 

Lieut. -Col.  Sir  William  of  Inness,  Bal- 
venie  Ipswich  (Bart.),  died  1817,  aet.  100. 

John  Reid  of  Delmes,  near  Nairn,  died 
1818,  aet.  104. 

Edmund  Barry,  Watergrass  Hill,  Ireland, 
died  1822,  aet.  113. 

Amazon  Phoebe  Hessel,  Brighton,  died 
1821,  aet.  108. 

William  Broughton,  Neston,  died  1816, 
aet.  106. 


November  22,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


-45 


Gillies  McKechnie,  Gourock,  died  1814, 
at.  104. 

John  Frazer  Dundee,  died  1817,  set.  100. 

Grant,  Montrose,  alive  at  1835,  8et' 

108. 

James  Stuart, Tweedmouth,  "recently  liv- 
ing," aet.  115. 

Abraham  Miller,  Grey  township,  Simcoe 
county,  Canada,  living  1852,  set.  115. 

Thomas  Wimms,  Tuam,  Ireland,  died 
1791,  set.  117. 

.     William  Walker,  Lancashire,  died  1736, 
set.  123. 

William  Gillespie,  Ruthwell,  Scotland, 
died  1818,  set.  102. 

Samuel  Mogg,  ,  died  1812,   set. 

102. 

Sir  George  Beeston,  Bunbury  Church, 
Cheshire,  died  1601,  set.  102. 

William  Marshall,  Kirkcudbright,  Ayr- 
shire, died  1792,  was  present  at  the  siege  of 
Derry. 

William  Billings,  Fairfield  Head,  Stafford- 
shire, died  1793,  set.  114. 

Paul  Henson,  Norfolk,  died  1781,  set. 
1 08. 

Sergeant  Donald  MacLeod,  Isle  of  Skye, 
born  in  1688,  alive  1797,  set.  109. 

Joshua  Crewman,  Chelsea  Hosp.,  died 
1794,  set.  123. 

I  knew  well  a  man,  like  the  preceding  a 
soldier,  Capt.  Lahrb4ush,  B.  A.,  who  attained 
the  age  of  1 10  years.  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Moonachie. — This  is  the  name  of  a 
small  place  near  Carlstadt,  N.  J.,  and  not 
far  from  New  York.  I  suspect  that  this 
name  is  the  Lenape  Monachgeu,  a  wood- 
chuck  or  moonack,  concerning  which  see 
Vol.  iii,  p.  71,  and  Vol.  iv,  p.  24;  see  also 
"  Century  Diet.,"  under  "  Moonack"  and 
"Monax."  FAIRFAX. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

He  Who  Died  at  Azan  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
29,  etc.). — By  the  fifth  line  of  this  poem  it 
appears  that  the  one  who  died  was  called 
"Abdallah."  This  was  the  name  of  the 
prophet's  father  ;  but  it  might  be  applied  to 
Mohammed  himself  in  its  literal  sense  of 
41  the  servant  of  God."  Q.  R.  D. 

NEW  YORK. 


Staracle.T— In  "  The  Payne  and  Sorowe 
of  Evyll  Maryage  "  (fifteenth  century)  it  is 
said  of  women : 

"  They  hem  rejoise  to  see  and  to  be  sayne, 
And  to  seke  sondry  pilgremages  ; 
At  grete  gaderynges  to  walken  upon  the  playne, 
And  at  staracles  to  sitte  on  high  stages, 
If  they  be  faire  to  shewe  ther  visages." 


G. 


NEW  JERSEY. 


Dosh. — Thirty  or  forty  years  ago  dosh 
was  not  uncommon  as  a  slang  name  for 
money.  I  have  not  heard  it  for  many  years. 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Thimbles  (Vol.  iv,  p.  233;  Vol.  v,  pp. 
14,  68). — Here  are  two  early  references  to 
them.  Among  the  things  brought  "instede 
of  coyne  and  monny"  to  exchange  for  the 
"  noppy  ale"  brewed  by  Elynour  Rum- 
myng, 

"  Some  brought  a  wymble, 

Some  brought  a  thymble." 
(Skelton's  "  Elynour  Rummyng,"  circum  1500.) 

"It  was  a  happy  age  when  a  man  might 
have  wooed  his  wench  with  a  pair  of  kid 
leather  gloves,  a  silver  thimble,  or  with  a 
tawdry  lace  (Rich's  "My  Lady's  Looking- 
glass,"  1616).  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Plaquemine  (Vol.  vi,  p.  18). — More 
than  fifty  years  ago  we  became  familiar  with 
this  name,  as  applied  to  one  of  the  many 
bayous  that  distinguished  the  southern  part 
of  the  State  of  Louisiana ;  but  the  residents 
of  the  country  pronounced  it  ' '  Byo  Plucka- 
min."  The  term  was  usually  applied  to 
outlets  or  channels  from  lakes  or  rivers  to 
other  bodies  of  water — as  from  the  Missis- 
sippi into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — so  named 
by  the  French  settlers  of  the  State. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Remember,  Boy,etc.(Vol.v,  p.  1 74). — 
In  Ross'  "Southern  Speaker"  are  found 
the  verses  called  for,  but  the  first  line  there 
is,  "Remember,  love,  who  gave  thee  this." 
The  verses  are  ascribed  to  W.  Ferguson  in 
that  book.  I  do  not  know  what  W.  Fergu- 
son it  was  that  wrote  it. 


46 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  22,  1890 


Famous  Blind  Men  (Vol.  v,  pp.  179, 
etc.). — Rudagi,  the  "  Father  of  Modern 
Persian  Letters,"  who  died  in  954  A.D.,  is 
said  to  have  been  blind  from  his  birth.  He 
was  one  of  the  best  of  the  Persian  poets. 
Braille,  the  inventor  of  a  system  of  writing 
and  printing  for  the  blind,  was  himself  a 
blind  man.  Mr.  Welch,  another  blind  edu- 
cator of  the  blind,  also  invented  a  kind  of 
type  for  the  blind.  Mr.  F.  J.  Campbell,  a 
very  eminent  American  instructor  of  the 
blind  in  England,  is  himself  blind.  J.  M. 
Sturtevant,  Otis  Patten,  Rev.  P.  Lane,  J. 
Chaplin,  W.  H.  Churchman,  Samuel  Bacon, 
E.  W.  Whelan,  W.  S.  Fortescue,  David 
Loughery,  Mary  Dwyer,  are  all  names  of 
American  teachers  (several  of  them  now  de- 
ceased) belonging  to  the  list  of  distinguished 
blind  people.  Elias  Tantalides,  a  modern 
Greek  poet,  was  blind.  RYLAND  JONES. 
ERIE,  PA. 

Greek   Authors    Originally   Slaves. 

(Vol.  v,  p.  269). — Archilochus,  of  Paros, 
in  Lydia,  who  was  considered  the  first  of 
the  Greek  lyric  poets,  and  flourished  between 
714  and  676  B.  C.,  was  the  son  of  a  slave 
woman. 

Bion,  a  native  of  Borysthenes,  who  flour- 
ished about  the  year  300  B.C.,  was  a  slave, 
and  was  sold  to  a  wealthy  orator,  who  lib- 
erated him  and  left  Bion  wealthy. 

lamblichus,  of  Syria,  was  a  philosopher 
and  composer  of  romances.  He  became 
poor  and  was  reduced  to  slavery. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Cattle  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  19,  etc.).— 
Gee  (right)  and  haw  (left)  are  very  common 
in  Lancaster  county,  both  in  driving  teams 
on  the  road  and  in  plowing.  The  same  ef- 
fect is  produced  in  handling  the  lines.  A 
few  abrupt  jerks  of  the  line  will  send  the 
animal  to  the  right,  whilst  a  long,  steady 
pull  will  send  him  to  the  left.  In  more  ex- 
treme cases  the  call  becomes  intensified  by  a 
loud  and  long-drawn-out  Wo- Gee  or  Wo- 
Whaw.  These  may  specifically  be  said  to 
be  horse  calls,  and  they  are  understood  by 
them  as  well  as  between  man  and  man. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


Devil's  Tower  (Vol.  v,  p.  266). — 
Mary  Osborn's  list  of  devil-places  contains- 
an  error.  The  Devil's  Tower,  which  she 
places  in  the  Black  Hill  region  of  South 
Dakota,  in  reality  stands  at  some  distance 
west  of  the  South  Dakota  line,  and  is  in 
Crook  county,  Wyoming.  It  is  near  the 
Belle  Fourche  river.  A.  C.  STODART. 
ERIE,  PA. 

Patriarchs  (Vol.  v,  pp.  15,  etc.). — Will 
correspondents  enlighten  us  further  about 
the  patriarchs  ?  The  patriarch  of  the  West 
Indies  is  sometimes  called  "  Patriarch  of  the 
Indies,"  but  I  know  of  no  East  Indian  patri- 
arch. The  so-called  patriarch  of  Cilicia 
and  he  of  the  Armenian  uniate  are  identical. 
There  was  anciently  a  patriarch  of  Russia, 
or  of  Moscow  ;  but  at  present  there  are  three 
metropolitans  and  some  exarchs,  but  no 
patriarchs  (as  I  understand  it)  in  that  coun- 
try. The  so-called  patriarch  of  Austria  is 
the  Archbishop  of  Carlovitz,  who  claims  to- 
be  patriarch  of  Servia.  Montenegro  is  un- 
der a  metropolitan.  He  of  Roumania  is 
called  a  primate,  not  a  patriarch,  by  Dr. 
Hale.  Cyprus  is  under  an  archbishop  who, 
though  not  under  any  other  patriarch,  is  not 
conceded  to  have  a  right  to  the  patriarchal 
title.  We  sometimes  read  of  civil  patriarchs 
in  Turkey,  but  they  are  not  patriarchs  in  the 
ecclesiastical  sense.  I  think  that  the  heads 
of  the  churches  of  Roumania  and  Bulgaria 
have  demanded  recognition  as  patriarchs, 
but  have  not  received  it.  The  Greek  patri- 
arch of  Constantinople  bears  the  title  of 
"  The  Most  Entirely  Holy  Archbishop  of 
Constantinople  and  New  Rome,  and  O2cu- 
menical  Patriarch."  The  Greek  patriarch 
of  Alexandria,  who  has  only  a  handful  of 
followers,  is  called  "  The  Most  Blessed  and 
Holy  Pope  and  Patriarch  of  the  Great  City 
of  Alexandria,  of  Libya,  Pentapolis,  Ethio- 
pia and  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  Father  of 
Fathers,  Pastor  of  Pastors,  Archpriest  of 
Archpriests,  thirteenth  Apostle  and  Univer- 
sal Judge."  He  of  Jerusalem  (Greek)  is 
"  The  Most  Blessed  and  Holy  Patriarch  of 
the  Holy  City  Jerusalem  and  all  Palestine, 
Syria,  Arabia,  beyond  Jordan,  Cana  of 
Galilee  and  Holy  Sion."  The  Coptic 
patriarch  is  "The  Most  Holy  Father,  Arch- 
bishop of  the  Great  City  of  Alexandria,  of 


November  22,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


47 


Babylon,  of  the  Nomes  of  Egypt  and  of  the 
Thebaid. ' '  The  prelate  who  takes  title  from 
Mount  Sinai  is  a  plain  Archbishop,  under 
the  Greek  patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  There 
seems  to  have  been  at  one  time  a  Jacobite 
titular  patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  The  oriental 
churches  abound  in  metropolitans,  exarchs, 
metrans,  catholici,  and  primates.  Consid- 
erable time  has  been  spent  by  me  in  looking 
up  the  subject ;  and  I  now  think  that  my 
list  on  p.  15  contains  all  the  recognized  pa- 
triarchates of  the  present  day.  G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 

Dread  of  Happiness  (Vol.  v,  pp.  311, 
etc.). — The  twentieth  chapter  of  Johnson's 
"Rasselas"  is  entitled  "The  Danger  of 
Prosperity."  Indeed  the  burden  of  the 
whole  volume,  as  of  very  much  of  what 
Johnson  wrote,  is  the  same  thought,  cavete 
felices.  The  old  Puritans  and  Quakers  used 
to  seem  harder  and  colder  than  they  really 
were,  partly  from  a  similar  feeling.  They 
•did  not  like  to  encourage  happiness  in 
others,  because  they  looked  upon  mere  hap- 
piness as  a  thing  not  only  of  comparative 
unimportance  in  itself,  but  actually  as  a 
snare  to  the  soul,  and  a  source  of  danger  to 
the  eternal  interests  of  every  one.  Hence 
they  used  to  "put  their  worst  foot  fore- 
most," and  this  made  them  seem  morose 
and  cold.  But  the  ancients  went  much 
farther.  They  actually  believed  that  any 
signal  happiness  was  ominous  of  impending 
evil.  Swift  and  certain  overthrow  was  in- 
tended for  him  to  whom  the  gods  granted 
marked  and  unusual  joys.  Compare  "The 
Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,"  Johnson's  best 
poem,  with  Juvenal's  "Tenth  Satire," 
upon  which  Johnson  based  his  piece. 

P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Forgotten  Wild  Fruits  (Vol.  v,  p. 
305  ;  Vol.  vi,p.  4). — The  Wild  Tomato  may 
possibly  be  a  species  of  Physalis,  but  it  is 
also  possible  that  it  may  not  be,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  a  real  tomato.  In  Physalis  the 
fine  clefted  reticulated  calyx,  after  flower- 
ing, becomes  greatly  enlarged  and  inflated, 
entirely  covering  the  edible  berry  within  it. 
This  is  not  the  case  with  any  of  the  species 
or  varieties  of  Lycoper&icum  or  Solatium. 


The  former  is  usually  a  low  spreading  plant, 
especially  when  it  is  laden  with  its  matured 
fruit.  But  on  one  occasion  at  least  we 
found  a  wild  species  of  tomato  growing 
among  other  rank  herbage,  on  a  piece  of 
bottom-land,  in  the  county  of  York,  Pa., 
that  stretched  along  the  Susquehanna  river. 
The  stem  was  slender  and  about  four  feet  in 
height,  but  it  seemed  to  be  supported  in  its 
perpendicular  position  by  the  surrounding 
vegetation.  The  leaves  were  similar  in 
form,  and  the  odor  was  similar  to  the  cul- 
tivated variety.  There  seemed  be  two  va- 
rieties of  it.  On  one  the  fruit  was  slightly 
pear-shaped,  and  on  the  other  it  was  spheri- 
cal, but  on  both  it  was  of  a  bright  crimson 
color,  and  about  the  size  of  the  naked  fruit 
of  the  Physalis.  Prompted  by  curiosity  we 
gathered  a  few  of  the  slender  branches  con- 
taining fruit,  but,  as  we  were  fifteen  miles 
from  home,  and  on  foot,  when  they  became 
wilted,  we  threw  them  away,  especially 
as  they  were  not  within  the  sphere  of  our 
specialty  at  the  time.  We  never  came 
across  them  again  afterwards.  S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  300,  etc.). 
— In  Turkestan  and  Central  Asia  there  are 
many  thousands  of  dried-up  lake  beds.  The 
sea  of  Aral  itself  is  drying  up  with  marvelous 
rapidity.  Many  of  these  lakes  dried  up  in 
prehistoric  times,  many  others  in  very  re- 
cent times.  W.  N.  D. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Buddhists  in  Mexico  (Vol.  v,  p.  143)- 
— Perhaps  light  may  be  thrown  on  this  sub- 
ject by  the  undoubted  fact  that  many  of  the 
horary  signs  of  the  Aztec  calendar  are 
identical  with  those  of  the  Chinese. 

McPHAIL. 
IOWA  CITY. 

Natural  Bridges  (Vol.  v,  pp.  248, 
etc.). — The  celebrated  Perte  du  Rhone  is  al- 
most a  natural  bridge,  the  river  flowing 
naturally  for  about  sixty  paces  under  the 
rocks,  but  latterly  the  rocks  have  been  in 
part  blasted  away.  Not  far  off  the  river 
Valserine  has  a  similar  perte  at  Bellegarde, 
and  the  river  Ain  has  at  least  one  perte  of 
considerable  interest.  OBED. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [November  22,  1890- 


Floating  Islands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  144, 
etc.). — "  Henry's  lake  is  one  of  the  wonders 
of  the  Rockies.  Directly  on  the  summit  of 
the  continental  divide,  in  a  depression  or 
gap  called  Targee's  Pass,  is  a  body  of  water 
that  was  given  the  above  name  in  honor  of 
an  old  trapper  who  made  his  home  on  its 
borders  for  several  years  in  the  enjoyment  of 
sweet  solitude. 

"  Henry's  lake  is  of  oval  shape  and  has  an 
area  of  forty  square  miles.  It  is  entirely  sur- 
rounded by  what  seems  to  be  solid  land,  and 
one  really  concludes  that  it  has  no  out- 
let. On  the  west  side  lies  a  level  meadow, 
which  floats  on  the  water,  and  the  hidden 
outlet  is  beyond  it.  Near  the  rim  of  the 
basin,  which  at  no  distant  day  must  have 
been  the  pebbly  beach  of  the  lake,  is  a 
shallow  pool,  out  from  which  flows  a  creek, 
the  source  of  the  north  fork  of  Snake  river. 

A  species  of  the  blue  joint  grass  of  lux- 
uriant growth  floats  upon  the  water  and 
sends  out  a  mass  of  large  hollow  white  roots, 
which  form  a  mat  so  thick  and  firm  that  a 
horse  can  walk  with  safety  over  the  natural 
pontoon.  The  decayed  vegetation  adds  to 
the  thickness  of  the  mat  and  forms  a  mould 
in  which  weeds,  willows  and  small  trees 
take  root  and  grow.  Back  from  the  new 
border  the  new  land  is  firm,  and  supports 
pine  and  aspen  trees  of  small  growth. 

"An  island  of  the  same  turfy  formation 
floats  about  the  lake.  The  floating  body  of 
land  is  circular  and  measures  300  feet  in 
diameter.  A  willow  thicket  thrives  in  the 
centre,  interspersed  with  small  aspens  and 
dwarf  pines.  The  little  trees  catch  the 
breeze  and  are  the  sails  that  carry  the  island 
on  its  orbit.  One  evening  it  was  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  our  camp.  Next  morning 
it  was  five  miles  away"  (Virginia  City, 
Nev.,  Chronicle). 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  272,  etc.). 
— It  is  on  record  that  many  islands  of  the 
Maldive  group  have,  from  time  to  time,  dis- 
appeared in  the  sea ;  but  new  islands  have 
in  like  manner  also  appeared,  the  inhabit- 
ants and  their  belongings  being  transferred 
from  an  old  and  decaying  coral  island  to  a 
new  one.  It  is  certain  that  this  process  of 
decay  and  new  production  among  the 
islands  has  been  going  on  for  some  centu- 


ries. As  to  whether  any  such  process  has 
been  going  on  in  any  other  coral  islands 
than  those  of  the  Laccadive-Chagos  chain 
(to  which  the  Maldives  belong),  the  present 
writer  has  no  knowledge  whatever. 

On  the  coast  of  France,  the  great  tide  of 
the  year  709  A.D.  converted  60,000  acres  of 
woodland  (not  insular,  however)  into  what 
is  now  the  Bay  of  Mont  St.  Michel.  This 
is  not  far  from  the  traditional  kingdom  of 
Lyonese. 

B.  M.  FERRET. 

LKNOX,  MASS. 


Booi^s  AND  PERIODICALS. 


The  Atlantic  for  December  continues  Mr.  Stockton's 
serial,  "  The  House  of  Martha,"  and  certainly  the  au- 
thor is  at  his  best  in  his  description  of  the  hero's  new 
amanuensis,  a  nun,  separated  from  him  by  a  wire  grat- 
ing, who,  Sifter  days  of  irritating  silence,  is  finally  in- 
duced to  speak  to  him  by  the  appearance  of  an  enraged 
wasp.  The  Atlantic  is  fortunate  in  securing  so  clever  a 
serial  for  the  new  year.  With  its  short  stories  from 
Rudyard  Kipling  and  Henry  James,  its  papers  by  Mr. 
Lowell  and  Francis  Parkman,  and  the  hitherto  unpub- 
lished letters  from  Charles  and  Mary  Lamb,  1891  will 
be  a  red-letter  year  for  the  magazine.  But  to  continue 
— Mr.  Birge  Harrison  gives  an  account  of  the  new  rival 
of  the  French  salon,  the  National  Society  of  Fine  Arts, 
in  a  paper  entitled  "  The  New  Departure  in  Parisian 
Art."  Margaret  Christine  Whiting  writes  about  "  The 
Wife  of  Mr.  Secretary  Pepys,"  a  delightful,  gossiping 
article,  with  amusing  quotations  from  the  immortal 
Diary.  Mr.  A.  T.  Mahan,  in  "The  United  States 
Looking  Outward,"  shows  the  isolation  of  the  country, 
not  only  in  respect  to  position,  but  in  regard  to  trade  ; 
and  prophesies  a  change  in  public  opinion,  which  will 
free  us  from  our  indifference  to  foreign  nations,  and 
open  our  eyes  to  the  necessity  of  the  defense  of  our  own 
coasts,  and  a  more  active  policy  of  trade  with  other 
countries.  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  contributes  a 
two-page  poem,  called  "  But  One  Talent,"  and  a  well- 
known  priest  of  the  Episcopal  Church  reviews  Hutton's 
"  Cardinal  Newman  "  Miss  Sophia  Kirk's  pathetic  and 
charming  little  sketch,  called  "  Heimweh,"  must  not 
be  forgotten ;  nor  should  an  essay  in  the  Contributors' 
Club  be  overlooked,  on  English  and  American  spelling, 
from  one  who,  if  his  name  were  known,  would  be  recog- 
nized as  of  highest  authority. 

Modem  Language  Notes  for  December  comes  to  us 
laden  with  good  things.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
this  publication  has  already  taken  a  place  of  the  first  im- 
portance in  the  current  philological  literature  of  the  day. 
It  is  hard  to  say  what  is  the  best  thing  in  the  present  ex- 
cellent number ;  but  every  student  of  words  will  turn 
first  of  all  to  Muss-Arnolt's  learned  notes  on  Kluge's 
"  Etymologisches  Worterbuch."  The  present  writer 
has  found  throughout  this  whole  series  of  "  Notes  "  a 
great  variety  of  excellent  and  stimulating  suggestions 
regarding  the  history  and  use  of  common  words  in  Eng- 
lish and  other  modern  languages. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :—  Notes  on  Words,  49. 

QUERIES  :—  Sibyl—  Couvera—  Cozza,  50—  Les  Troqueurs,  51 
REPLIES  :—  Orllie  I—  Life  is  Short,  Art  is  Long—  Aggri  Beads, 

51  —  Origin  of  Clam  Chowder,  52. 
REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :-  Blowing  Cave, 

—  Witticism  —  Naijack  —  Campveer  —  Break  ^the  Pope's  Neck 

—  Bungtown  Copper  —  Fish-hook  Money,  53. 
COMMUNICATIONS  :—  Sneezing,  53—  Thimbles—  Remark- 

able Predictions,  55  —  Artificial  Teeth  —  Swamp  Apples  —  Pa- 
triarchs, 56  —  Gunpowder  Plot  —  Father  of  Waters  —  Isle  of 
Women  —  Greek  Authors  Originally  Slaves  —  Bay  Window  — 
Motus  est  causa  Caloris  —  Beth-Gelert  —  Lakes  with  Two 
Outlets,  57  —  Singular  Place  Names  —  One-eyed  Commanders 

—  Spur  Money  —  Jedwood  Justice,  58  —  Mud  Baths  —  Discov- 
eries by  Accident  —  Arthur   Kill,   59  —  Corp  —  To    Fire,    To 
Eject  —  Felix  in  Place  Names,  60. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :—  60. 


NOTES  ON  WORDS. 

Among  the  many  interesting  remarks 
about  words  made  by  Dr.  Muss-Arnolt,  in 
his  interesting  and  important  paper  in 
Modern  Language  Notes  for  December, 
I  select  a  few  as  being  of  special  interest. 

Acetum.  —  This  Latin  word  he  somewhat 
boldly  identifies  with  the  Greek  anonov,  un- 
settled. Murray  and  the  dictionaries  connect 
it  with  acere,  to  be  sour. 

Alabaster  he  identifies  with  the  Arabic  al- 
bafra,  soft  white  stone.  Dr.  Murray  and  the 
recent  dictionaries  do  not  allude  to  this 
identification,  which,  however,  is  by  no 
means  new. 

Ampulla  (Vol.  v,  pp.  107,  etc.).  —  This 
word  is  shown  to  be  a  diminutive  of  amphora, 
the  Greek  origin  of  which  is  generally  ad- 
mitted. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  29,  1890. 


Alchymy  is  traced  back  to  the  Egyptian 
(Coptic)  chame,  black.  It  is  the  black  art — 
that  is  to  say,  the  art  of  the  blacks.  None 
of  the  late  English  or  American  dictionaries 
have  this  information. 

Balsam  and  balm  are  here  traced  to  the 
Hebrew  basam,  fragrant,  Assyrian  bashmu. 

Bombasine  is  shown  to  be  a  word  whose 
root  exists  in  Armenian  and  Persian.  Dr. 
Murray  does  not  trace  it  so  far. 

Botargo  has  long  since  been  traced  to  a 
Coptic  source,  but  here  we  find  it  pushed 
farther  back,  through  the  Greek  to  an  Ar- 
menian tareq. 

Butter,  a  word  from  the  Greek,  has  a  non- 
Aryan  element.  Its  last  syllable  is  the  Greek 
ru/>6-,  cheese,  which  Pliny  said  was  Scythian, 
and  it  is  here  identified  with  the  Turko-Tar- 
tar  turak,  Magyar  turb,  cheese. 

Fenestra. — This  Latin  word  is  shown  to  be 
the  (fictive)  Greek  ^avijarpa. 

Fetish. — The  etymology  offered  by  all  the 
dictionaries,  including  the  newest  Webster, 
he  puts  aside  in  favor  of  an  identification 
with  the  Phoenician  pittuhim,  sculptures,  and 
the  Greek  -dratKot.  Some  assign  to  these 
words  a  connection  with  the  Egyptian  Ptah, 
the  god  of  creation. 

Very  interesting  remarks  are  made  regard- 
ing the  word  hussar,  which  the  Century,  the 
newest  Webster,  and  all  the  others  derive 
from  the  Magyar  husz,  twenty,  the  huzzars 
being  regarded  as  originally  a  levy  of  every 
twenttethman.  But  Dr.  Muss-Arnolt  identi- 
fies this  word  (the  Hungarian  huszar)  with 
th'e  Servian  hursar,  a  robber,  which  is  the 
Latin  cursarius  and  our  word  corsair.  How 
many  of  these  novel  identifications  have 
been  tested  by  the  new  historical  methods 
we  have  no  means  offered  us  by  which  to  de- 
cide. The  above  points,  and  many  more 
like  them,  are  condensed  into  an  exceedingly 
compact  article,  and  the  full  elucidation  of 
them  would  require  much  space. 

#    #    * 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

gUE  F$I  ES. 

Sibyl. — What  is  the  origin  of  this  word,  or 
rather  of  its  Greek  original  ? 

L.  M.  PAGE. 

SCRANTON,   PA. 


The  old-fashioned  explanation  states  that 
fftfiuM.a  is  from  the  Doric  Ztds  fi6M.a,  in  Attic 
Greek  Jro?  ftouXi],  the  will  of  Zeus.  But 
that  explanation  is  not  entitled  to  our  re- 
spect, and  it  is  not  at  present  received  as 
trustworthy. 

Couvera. — Can  any  of  the  readers  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  tell  me  who 
Couvera  was  ?  MARIA  A.  GIRARD. 

LOWELL,  MASS. 

Couvera  or  Kuvera  was  the  god  of  riches, 
son  of  Visravas,  in  Hindu  mythology. 
Through  his  wonderful  piety,  he  obtained 
from  Brahma  possession  of  the'  island  of 
Lanka,  where  the  roads,  it  is  said,  were  cov- 
ered with  golden  dust.  He  was  driven  from 
the  island  by  his  brother  Ravassa,  and  hav- 
ing fled  to  the  mountain  Kela^a,  he  estab- 
lished there  his  capital,  named  Alaka.  Like 
the  Plutus  of  the  Greeks,  this  god  was  de- 
formed ;  he  is  a  leper,  with  three  legs  and 
eight  teeth  ;  instead  of  one  of  his  eyes  there 
was  a  yellow  spot,  and  in  his  hand  he  held  a 
hammer.  His  brilliant  court  was  frequented 
by  nymphs  and  celestial  musicians.  He 
had  an  order  of  demi-gods,  called  yakchos, 
attached  to  his  service  and  entrusted  with  the 
guardianship  of  his  gardens  and  treasures. 
His  treasures,  which  are  personified,  number 
eight. 

Cozza. — What  was  Cozza's  Christian 
name  and  when  did  he  live  ? 

CYRUS  V.  NORMAN. 
CHICAGO.  ILL 

There  were  two  Cozzas  of  prominence, 
and  it  is  impossible  from  the  above  query 
to  know  concerning  which  one  the  informa- 
tion is  desired.  One,  Francesco  Cozza,  an 
Italian  painter,  was  born  at  Istilo,  in  1605, 
and  died  in  Rome,  in  1682.  He  studied  un- 
der Domenico  Zampieri  Domenichino,  whose 
friend  he  became  and  a  number  of  whose 
paintings  he  finished. 

Another,  Lorenzo  Cozza,  an  Italian 
theologian, born  nearBolsena,  in  1654,  died 
in  Rome,  in  1729.  His  principal  works 
were:  "  Commentaria  historico-dogmatica" 
(1702),  and  "  Historia  polemica  de  Grasco- 
rum  schismate  ex  ecclesiasticis  monumen- 
tis  "  (Rome,  1719-1720). 


November  29,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Les  Troqueurs. — Can  you  give  any  in- 
formation concerning  a  French  drama  or 
opera  entitled  "Les  Troqueurs ?" 

G.  R.  M. 

COLUMBUS,  O. 

Les  Troqueurs  was  a  comic  opera  in  one 
act,  the  words  written  by  Vad6  and  the 
music  by  Dauvergne ;  it  was  first  produced 
in  1 753  at  the  fair  of  St.  Laurent.  There 
was  nothing  original  in  the  libretto.  Lubin 
and  Lucas  think  it  best  to  exchange  be- 
trotheds,  Margot  and  Fanchon.  The 
maidens,  however,  having  been  informed  of 
the  plot,  bring  it  about  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  peasants  retain  their  first  choice. 

Nevertheless,  "  Les  Troqueurs  "  mark  an 
important  period  in  the  French  lyric  theatre. 
An  Italian  troupe  had  imported  several 
Italian  works,  and  among  others  the  "  Serva 
padrona,"  by  Pergolise.  The  success  was 
so  great  that  the  French  composers  began  to 
imitate  the  Italian  style.  "  Les  Troqueurs" 
succeeded  and  brought  again  into  popularity 
the  French  comic  opera.  This  work,  revised 
by  Armand  and  Achille  Dartois,  was  again 
produced  at  Feydean  in  1819. 

REPLIES. 

Orllie  I  (Vol.  vi,  p.  41).— This  so-called 
king  (Orllie,  not  Orelie  I),  whose  real  name 
was  Antoine  de  Tounens,  was  born  about 
1820  in  Dordogne.  He  was  called  to  the 
bar  at  Perigneux  before  he  aspired  to  royal 
honors.  He  published  "  Orllie-Antoine  ler, 
Roi  d'Araucanie  et  de  Patagonie.  Son 
avenement  un  trone  etsacaptiviteau  Chili," 
1863,  8vo  ;  also  an  "  Historique  appel  a 
la  nation  francaise,"  1863,  8vo  ;  "  Retour 
en  France  du  roi  d'Araucanie  et  de  Pata- 
gonie," 1871,  8vo.  Orllie  died  in  distress- 
ing wretchedness,  September  19,  1878. 

G.  B. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

A  good  account  of  him  can  be  found  in 
Larousse  under  "  Tounens." — ED. 

Life  is  Short,  Art  is  Long  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  1 6). — The  first  aphorism  of  Hippocrates 
is  said  to  be :  "Art  is  long;  time  is  brief ;  ex- 
perience misleading,  judgment  difficult." 


I  have  never  seen  this  in  the  original  text. 
Hipparchus  (B.C.  320)  wrote  (to  give  only 
the  English  of  his  Greek)  :  "By  far  the 
most  precious  possession  to  all  men  is  skill 
in  the  art  of  living ;  for  both  war  and  the 
changes  of  fortune  may  destroy  other  things, 
but  skill  is  preserved  "  ("  Fr.  Com.  Gr.,"  p. 
1097). 

Seneca  ("  De  Brevitate  Vitse,"  i)  wrote  : 
"  Vita  brevis  est,  longa  ars." 

Goethe  ("  Wilhelm  Meister,"  vii,  9) 
wrote:  "Die  Kunst  ist  lang,  das  Leben 
kurz,  das  Urtheil  schwierig,  die  Gelegenheit 
fliichtig  ;"  while  Schiller  said  :  "  Schwer  ist 
die  Kunst,  verganglich  ist  ihr  Preis." 

For  the  remaining  lines  of  Longfellow's 
well-known  stanza,  repeating  this  thought, 
the  comparison  of  our  hearts  to  muffled 
drums  beating  funeral  marches  to  the  grave, 
the  following  parallels  may  be  cited  :  "  Our 
lives  are  but  our  marches  to  our  graves" 
(Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  "  Humorous  Lieu- 
tenant ").  "  High  time  it  is  to  flee  vanity 
when  the  drum  of  Fate  beats  a  quick  march 
to  the  silent  grave"  (Robert  Chamberlain, 
"  Nocturnal  Lucubrations,"  1638).  "The 
hand  of  Fate  beats  its  march  upon  the 
drum"  (Sa'di's  •'  Gulistan,"  trans,  by  H. 
H.  Wilson).  M.  C.'L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Aggri  Beads  (Vol.  vi,  p.  6). — Major  J. 
R.  Bale's  very  careful  and  satisfactory  de- 
scription of  the  famous  Aggri  beads  is  as  fol- 
lows :  "  What  are  known  as  Aggri  beads  are 
usually  met  with  among  the  tribes  on  the 
Gold  Coast.  They  are  highly  prized  by 
them,  and  form  part  of  the  royal  jewels  of 
the  kings  of  Ashantee.  Their  manufacture 
is  a  lost  art,  and  is  generally  supposed  to  be 
of  ancient  Phoanician  origin.  They  have 
probably  been  given  in  barter  for  slaves,  gold 
dust  and  nuggets.  They  fetch  at  the  present 
time  an  equal  weight  in  gold,  and  the  rarer 
sorts  one  and  a  half  to  twice  their  weight  in 
gold  dust. 

"They  appear  to  be  of  various  earths  of 
great  purity  and  richness  of  color,  arranged 
in  patterns,  or  distinctively  traverse  the  sub- 
stance of  the  bead  from  the  outside  to  its 
centre  or  axis,  and  are  burned  together  with 
a  brilliant  baked  glaze  on  the  surface  ;  this 
vitreous  property,  in  some  instances,  partly 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [November  29,  1890. 


extends  to  the  substance  of  the  bead,  giving 
it  a  translucent  appearance.  Such  as  are  blue 
are  like  the  sea  under  conditions  of  tropical 
light,  and  with  a  white-spotted  pattern  that 
resembles  jelly-fish  in  the  sea  swimming  at 
various  depths,  are  much  prized  for  their 
rarity  and  beauty.  The  prevalent  colors  are 
yellow  of  a  brimstone  tint,  chocolate,  dark 
purple,  white,  green  and  red,  all  separate  in 
pattern,  and  no  indications  of  blending. 

"  In  size  and  shape  they  are  commonly  like 
sections  of  the  stem  of  a  '  church  warden  ' 
tobacco-pipe,  in  lengths  of  half  to  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch.  Some  are  square,  with 
the  angles  chamfered  or  slightly  rounded ;  a 
few  round  or  shaped  like  an  orange,  and  oc- 
casionally met  with  in  segments  of  a  circle, 
which,  being  strung  together,  form  finger 
rings  and  bracelets.  These  are  the  most 
minute  in  the  pattern,  and  formed  with  ac- 
curacy and  precision  in  the  workmanship." 
Major  Bale  also  states  that  bodies  of  the 
slaves  were  buried  with  necklaces  of  Aggri 
beads  attached.  Slaves  were  sold  in  Africa 
wearing  the  trinkets,  and  shipped  to  the 
West  Indies.  Hence,  beads  of  this  kind 
have  been  found  in  burial  places  set  apart 
for  slaves  on  Barbadian  plantations. 

As  several  English  museums  of  antiquities 
exhibit  very  similar  beads  found  in  ancient 
British  burial  places,  these  ornaments  are 
supposed  by  some  archaeologists  to  have 
been  worn  by  African  slaves  in  the  service 
of  the  Roman  colonies. 

For  the  foregoing  account  and  much 
more  interesting  matter  on  the  subject,  re- 
fer to  J.  E.  Price's  paper  in  Anthrop.  Jour,, 
Vol.  xii,  February,  1882. 

Other  authorities  differ  from  Bale  as  to  the 
material  of  which  the  Aggri  beads  are  made. 
The  greater  number  describe  them  as  of 
glass,  but  Wilson  says  they  are  generally  of 
opaque  glass.  One  writer  says  the  colors  in 
the  beads  are  separated  by  a  narrow  white 
line,  agreeing  with  Major  Bale,  but  Bow- 
dich,  on  the  contrary,  emphasizes  the  im- 
perceptible blending  of  tints  as  really 
superior  to  art.  A  writer  in  the  Saturday 
Review  says  :  "Among  the  most  curious  ex- 
amples of  persistence  in  art  are  the  well- 
known  Aggry  beads,  which  occur  everywhere 
in  Africa  and  in  many  parts  of  Asia.  Similar 
beads  are  still  made  for  the  purpose  of  bar- 


ter by  glass-makers  in  England  and  Italy — 
Venice,  for  instance — yet  they  appear  among 
the  oldest  remains  in  many  widely  sepa- 
rated places,  as  Kent  and  Coomassie,  or 
Keswick  and  Nubia.  Mrs.  Nesbitt  thinks  them 
Phoenician,  and  supposes  they  were  made 
for  purposes  of  barter  with  uncivilized  na- 
tions, like  the  ancient  Britons.  These 
beads  are  found  in  England,  on  the  Gold 
Coast,  in  India  and  Germany,  in 
Italy  and  Egypt.  They  are  particularly  com- 
mon in  cities  along  the  course  of  the  Rhine. 
The  oldest  specimens  must  be  Egyptian,  but 
in  all  probability  the  pattern  was  continued 
in  many  distinct  manufactories  of  many  dif- 
ferent periods." 

The  discovery  of  Aggri  beads  in  Canadian 
Indian  grave  mounds  is  still  more  remarka- 
ble than  any  other  named.  MEN6NA. 

The  Origin  of  Clam  Chowder  (Vol.  v,  p. 
306). — The  following  is  an  extract  from  a 
letter  to  the  American  Register:  "lam 
frequently  asked,  '  What  is  clam  chowder?' 
and  I  have  replied  that  more  than  thirty 
years  ago  I  heard  the  poet  Longfellow  urge 
a  French  lady  to  eat  some  clam  chowder,  be- 
cause it  was  French.  The  lady  looked  up  in 
astonishment  and  uttered  a  most  significant 
Comment  done  !  Unto  which  Longfellow  re- 
plied that  the  French  originally  settled  on 
the  borders  of  New  England,  and  Mother 
Necessity  soon  taught  them  how  to  stew  clams 
and  fish  in  layers  with  bacon,  sea  biscuits 
and  other  ingredients  in  a  kettle  (Chaudiere). 
Now,  from  the  French  the  Indians  learned  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  and  a  little  of  the 
French  language,  and  a  great  deal  of  the  dish 
which  the  new-comers  had  invented.  The 
Indians  were  not  apt  in  the  pronunciation  or 
in  the  significance  of  French,  and  when  they 
heard  the  Gaul  speak  of  the  Chaudiere,  the 
Indians  supposed  it  referred  to  the  food,  and 
his  nearest  approach  to  the  pronunciation  was 
'  chawder  ' — the  name  which  early  English 
fishermen  and  settlers  learned  from  the 
Indian,  and  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  in  the 
New  World  further  corrupted  into  '  chow- 
der.' " 

A  reference  to  the  "  New  English  Diet." 
will  show  that  the  dish  under  consideration 
was  not  altogether  a  new  invention  with  the 
French. 


November  29,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


53 


The  above  "  letter  "  was  quoted  in  a  local 
newspaper  without  the  name  of  the  writer, 
or  its  date.  MENONA. 


TO 


Blowing  Cave. — I  have  read  of  a  cave 
in  the  Allegheny  mountains  out  of  which  the 
air  continually  blows.  Can  any  correspondent 
locate  this  cave  for  me  ? 

Lucius  MANN. 
COHOES,  N.  Y. 

Witticism.  —  "  '  I  have  heard '  (says 
one  of  them)  'of  Anchovies  dissolv'd  in 
Sauce,  but  never  of  an  Angel  in  Hallelujahs.' 
A  mighty  Witty cism  (if  you  will  pardon  a 
new  word  !)"  (J.  Dryden,  Preface  to  "The 
State  of  Innocence  and  Fall  of  Man," 
1674).  The  poet  is  defending  a  passage  in 
which  he  has  spoken  of  the  angels  who  "all 
dissolved  in  Hallelujahs  lie."  Can  this  be 
the  earliest  instance  of  the  use  of  the  word 
"witticism?"  Johnson,  as  is  well  known, 
ascribes  the  invention  of  this  word  to 
Dryden.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Naijack. — This  name  is  found  in  letters 
passing  between  Gov.  Stuyvesant  and  his 
council  in  New  Netherlands,  and  Col.  (af- 
terwards Gov.)  Richard  Nicolls  and  his  fel- 
low-commissioners sent  out  from  England. 
Gov.  Stuyvesant  first  addressed  the  new- 
comers, asking  to  know  why  they  were  there 
"  in  the  harbor  of  Naijack"  and  the  reply 
addressed  to  Gov.  Stuyvesant  "at  TheMan- 
hattoes  " — another  instance,  by  the  way,  of 
"the"  used  in  place  names — was  "dated 
on  board  his  Majesty's  ship  the  Guinea, 
riding  before  Naijack,  the  20-30  of  August, 
1664."  Apparently  the  ship  was  anchored 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson.  The  corre- 
spondence is  printed  in  Smith's  "History 
of  New  Jersey,"  published  in  1765,  of  which 
the  second  edition  in  1877  purports  to  bean 
exact  reprint,  even  to  the  paging  and  style 
of  type ;  but  the  spelling,  except  in  the  case 
of  proper  names,  seems  modern. 
What  locality  is  meant  ? 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Oampveer. — Where  can  I  find  a  his- 
torical account  of  the  old  Scottish  settlement 
of  Campveer,  in  the  Low  countries  ? 

P.  MACLEAN. 

BRISTOL,  PA. 

Break  the  Pope's  Neck. — There  used 
to  be  a  game  played  by  young  persons  of 
either  sex  in  New  England  called  "  Break 
the  Pope's  Neck."  I  never  played  at  the 
game,  nor  witnessed  it,  but  have  often  heard 
of  it.  I  imagine  that  it  is  now  about  for- 
gotten.  It  was  an  in-door  game,  played  of 
a  winter's  evening  in  country  places,  and  I 
think  a  pewter  plate  was  twirled  in  a  certain 
way  at  one  stage  of  the  game.  The  per- 
formance, as  I  suppose,  was  intended  to  com- 
bine pleasure  with  a  certain  pious  zeal  against 
popery  ;  but  I  really  know  very  little  about 
it.  Cannot  some  correspondent  enlighten 
me  about  this  old-time  diversion  ? 


MARTIN  L.  CUTTER. 


ILION,   N.  Y. 


Bungtown    Copper.— What   is    the 

true  history  of  the  Bungtown  copper  ? 

JARED  N.  BELL. 
ADAMS,  MASS. 

Fish-hook  Money. — What  was  fish- 
hook money  like,  and  where  and  when  was 
it  used  ?  LAURA  VANE. 

DOVER,  DEL. 


Sneezing. — Sneezing  is  an  operation 
that  has  been  treated  with  the  greatest 
respect  and  veneration  from  a  remote  an- 
tiquity, that  has  commanded  the  profound- 
est  thought  and  the  deepest  research  of  the 
philosophers  of  old,  and  that  to-day  in 
many  countries,  as  formerly  in  all  coun- 
iries,  is  greeted  with  a  special  salute. 

Thus  the  old  Greeks  cried :  "Jove  preserve 
thee  !"  and  the  old  Romans  had  a  variety  of 
felicitations  for  the  successful  sneezer.  "  Sit 
faustum  acfelix"  he  might  be  told,  or  "Sit 
salutiferum"  or  " Servette Deus,"  oi"jBftie 
vertatDeus."  In  modern  Italy  he  is  greeted 
with  "Felicita;"  in  France,  with  "Dieu  vous 
itenisse,"  or  "  Bonne  Santi  /"  in  Germany, 
with  "  Gesundheit;"  in  Ireland,  with  "  Save 


54 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  29,  1890 


your  honor;"  in  Scotland  and  in  Sweden, 
with  "Bless  you,"  or  "God  bless  you." 

A  similar  custom  existed  in  Africa,  among 
nations  unknown  to  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans. A  Persian  precept  is  thus  recorded 
in  the  Zend-Avesta:  "And  whensoever  it 
-be  that  thou  hearest  a  sneeze  given  by  thy 
neighbor,  thou  shalt  say  unto  him  '  Ahun- 
ovar,'  and  '  Ashim  Vuhu,'  and  so  shall  it 
be  well  with  thee."  Even  in  the  New 
World  the  practice  seemed  to  prevail,  for 
when,  in  1542,  Hernando  De  Soto  met  the 
Mexican  Cacique  Guachoya,  every  time  the 
latter  sneezed  his  followers  lifted  their  arms 
in  the  air,  with  cries  of  "  May  the  sun  guard 
you!" 

An  ancient  rabbinical  tradition  asserts 
that  from  the  time  of  Adam  to  Jacob 
sneezing  was  the  sign  of  death.  But  Jacob 
got  to  pondering  over  the  subject,  and 
finally  went  in  prayer  to  the  Lord  for  a  re- 
peal of  the  law,  and  was  so  successful  in  his 
petition  that  the  phenomenon  of  sneezing 
instantly  turned  a  complete  somersault, 
went  from  Omega  heels  over  head  to  Alpha, 
and,  ceasing  to  be  the  sign  of  death,  forth- 
with became  the  infallible  sign  of  life. 

After  Jacob's  day,  whenever  children 
come  into  the  world  they  announce  their 
arrival  by  sneezing. 

Hence  the  salutation  first  began  as  a 
grateful  acknowledgment. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  the  son 
of  the  Shunamite  widow  was  recalled  to  life 
by  the  voice  of  Elisha,  the  prophet,  "the 
lad  sneezed  seven  times  and  opened  his 
eyes. ' ' 

Classic  tradition,  too,  had  its  explanation 
of  the  custom. 

When  Prometheus  stole  fire  from  heaven 
to  animate  his  clay  statue,  the  first  sign  of 
life  which  the  latter  betrayed  was  to  bob  his 
head  up  and  down  and  emit  a  formidable 
sneeze,  whereupon  Prometheus  cried  out  in 
delight,  "  May  Jove  preserve  thee  !"  Some 
Eastern  nations  have  an  entirely  different 
version,  to  the  effect  that  one  of  the  judges 
in  the  ever-burning  pit  of  fire  has  a  register 
of  men's  lives.  Every  day  he  turns  a  page, 
and  those  whose  names  appear  are  the  next  to 
seek  his  domain.  As  the  leaf  is  turned  they 
all  sneeze,  and  those  hearing  it  invoke  a 
blessing  on  their  future. 


Polydorus  Virgilius  seeks  to  find  still  an- 
other origin  for  the  custom. 

In  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great,  he 
says,  there  was  prevalent  in  Italy  an  epi- 
demic which  carried  off  its  victims  by  sneez- 
ing ;  whereupon  the  pontiff  ordered  prayers 
to  be  ordered  up  against  it,  accompanied  by 
certain  signs  of  the  cross. 

But,  unfortunately  for  this  theory,  the 
salutation  antedates  Pope  Gregory  the 
Great. 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  sneezing 
was  usually  looked  upon  as  a  most  favorable 
omen. 

To  Penelope  the  sneeze  of  her  son  Tel- 
emachus  promised  the  safe  return  of  Ulysses. 
To  Parthenis,  who  sneezed  in  the  middle  of 
her  letter  to  Sarpedon,  it  supplied  the  place 
of  an  answer. 

Xenophon  tells  of  a  sneeze  which  may  be 
said  to  have  decided  the  fate  of  himself,  his 
army,  and  perhaps  of  Athens  itself. 

While  he  was  exhorting  his  soldiers  to 
courage  and  fortitude,  and  while  their  minds 
were  still  wavering  between  resistance  and 
surrender  to  the  enemy,  a  soldier  sneezed. 
The  whole  army,  instantly  convinced  that 
the  gods  had  used  their  comrade's  nose  as  a 
trumpet  to  communicate  an  oracle  to  them, 
were  seized  with  a  sudden  inspiration,  and, 
burning  their  carriages  and  tents,  prepared 
to  face  the  perils  of  the  celebrated  retreat. 

Plutarch  says  that  Socrates  owed  his  pro- 
verbial wisdom  to  nothing  in  the  world  but 
the  sneezes  by  which  his  familiar  genius  sent 
him  charitable  warnings. 

At  Rome  it  was  commonly  believed  that 
Cupid  sneezed  whenever  a  beautiful  girl  was 
born  (he  must  have  a  perpetual  cold  in  the 
head  in  America),  and  the  most  acceptable 
compliment  a  fast  fellow  of  the  Tiber  could 
lisp  and  drawl  to  his  lady  love  was,  "Sternuit 
tibiAmor!" — "  Love  has  sneezed  for  you." 

Even  the  ferocious  Tiberius  lost  some  of 
his  habitual  ferocity  when  the  gods  favored 
him  with  a  sneeze.  On  such  times  he  would 
drive  about  the  streets  of  Rome  to  receive 
the  felicitations  of  his  delighted  subjects. 

Neverthe^ss,  the  augury  was  not  always  a 
favorable  one.  Instances  are  not  wanting 
in  Greece  and  in  Rome  where  a  sneeze  cre- 
ated alarm  instead  of  rejoicing. 

As   Timotheus   was   sailing    out    of    the 


November  29,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


55 


Athenian  port,  he  happened  to  emit  a  pro- 
longed and  resounding  sneeze.  The  whole 
fleet  heard  it.  The  sailors  rose  as  one  man 
and  clamored  to  return.  Luckily,  Timo- 
theus  was  a  man  of  great  presence  of  mind. 

"And  do  you  marvel,  O  Athenians,"  he 
cried,  "  that  among  ten  thousand  there  is 
one  whose  head  is  moist  ?  How  ye  would 
bawl  were  all  of  us  so  afflicted  !" 

Thereupon  their  confidence  returned  and 
they  sailed  out  to  victory. 

The  virtue  of  sneezing,  it  seems,  depends 
much  upon  time  and  place.  Sneezing  from 
morn  to  noon  is  of  good  augury,  says  Aris- 
totle, but  from  noon  to  night  the  reverse. 
And  yet  St.  Augustine  tells  us  that  if  on  ris- 
ing in  the  morning  any  of  the  ancients  hap- 
pened to  sneeze  while  putting  on  their 
shoes,  they  immediately  returned  to  bed  in 
order  that  they  might  rise  more  auspiciously. 
So,  if  the  Hindu,  while  performing  his 
morning  ablutions  in  the  Ganges,  should 
sneeze  before  finishing  his  prayers,  he  im- 
mediately begins  them  over  again. 

There  is  a  Scotch  superstition  that  one 
sneeze  is  lucky,  and  two  are  unlucky,  and 
in  England  it  is  believed  that  if  any  one 
sneeze  for  three  nights  in  succession,  some 
one  will  die  in  the  house.  According  to 
Lancashire  folk-lore  you  must  be  very  care- 
ful upon  what  day  of  the  week  you  allow 
yourself  the  luxury  of  sternutation  : 

Sneeze  on  a  Monday,  you  sneeze  for  danger  ; 
Sneeze  on  a  Tuesday,  you  kiss  a  stranger ; 
Sneeze  on  a  Wednesday,  you  sneeze  for  a  letter  ; 
Sneeze  on  a  Thursday  for  something  better. 
Sneeze  on  a  Friday,  you'll  sneeze  for  sorrow  ; 
Sneeze  on  a  Saturday,  your  sweetheart  to-morrow ; 
Sneeze  on  a  Sunday  your  safety  seek, 
The  devil  will  have  you  the  rest  of  the  week  ! 

A  most  remarkable  custom,  if  we  are  to 
credit  Helvetius,  was  that  which  prevailed 
at  the  court  of  Monomotapa.  Whenever 
His  Most  Sacred  Majesty  happened  to 
sneeze,  every  person  present  was  obliged  to 
imitate  the  royal  example. 

And  this  before  the  days  of  nostril-titilla- 
ting snuff ! 

Nor  was  this  all.  The  servants  of  the 
royal  household  were  obliged  to  take  up  the 
sneeze  and  pass  it  on  to  the  stranger  without 
the  gates,  and  he  to  all  others,  until  sneeze 
followed  sneeze  from  the  foot  of  the  throne 


to  the  uttermost  frontiers  of  the  kingdom. 
• — The  Illustrated  American. 

Thimbles  (Vol.  vi,  p.  45). — 

Vasco :  "  What  is  she  heir  to  ?  A  brass  thimble  and 

A  skene  of  brown  thread?  She'll  not  yield  thee 

in 

Algiers  above  a  ducket,  being  stript ; 
And  for  her  clothes,  they're  fitter  for  a  paper 

mill 

Than  a  palace." 

(D'Avenant's    "  Love  and    Honour,"     1649,    Act    ii,. 
Scaena  i.) 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Remarkable    Predictions. — For    one 

prediction  that  comes  true  many  hundreds 
do  not,  but  of  these  we  never  hear.  But  for 
all  that  divers  remarkable  predictions  have 
at  different  times  been  uttered  which  have 
come  true  and  yet  nothing  miraculous  has 
been  attributed  to  them. 

Sylla  said  of  Csesar  when  he  pardoned  him 
at  the  earnest  pleading  of  his  friends  :  "You 
wish  his  pardon — I  consent ;  but  know,  that 
this  young  man,  whose  life  you  so  eagerly 
plead  for,  will  prove  the  most  deadly  enemy 
of  the  party  which  you  and  I  have  defended. 
There  is  in  Csesar  more  than  a  Marius."" 
The  prediction  was  realized. 

Erasmus  wrote  a  composition  at  the  age 
of  twelve  years,  which  was  read  by  a  learned 
friend  of  Hegius,  and  he  was  so  struck  by 
its  merit,  that  he  called  the  youth  to  him, 
and  said,  scanning  him  closely :  "  My  boy, 
you  will  one  day  be  a  great  man." 

Cardinal  Morton,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, early  predicted  the  future  greatness  of 
Sir  Thomas  More.  Pointing  out  the  boy 
one  day,  he  said  to  those  who  were  about 
him  :  "  That  youth  will  one  day  be  the  or- 
nament of  England." 

Cardinal  Wolsey,  although  a  butcher's 
son,  had  an  early  presentiment  of  his  future 
great  eminence.  He  used  to  say,  that  if  he 
could  but  once  set  foot  in  court  he  would 
soon  introduce  himself  there.  And  scarcely 
had  he  obtained  admission  at  court,  the  pos- 
sessor of  an  humble  benefice,  than  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  say,  that  "  henceforth  there  was 
no  favor  to  which  he  did  not  dare  to 
aspire." 

Marshal  Turenne,  in  his  early  youth, 
prophetically  foretold  the  distinction  in 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [November  29,  1890. 


arms  to  which  he  would  rise.  But,  doubt- 
less, there  are  few  youths  who  enter  the  army, 
full  of  ardor  and  courage,  who  do  not  pre- 
dict for  themselves  the  career  of  a  hero  and 
a  conqueror. 

Mazarin  early  predicted  the  brilliant 
career  of  Louis  XIV.  He  said  of  him,  "  He 
has  in  him  stuff  for  four  kings;"  and  at 
another  time,  "  He  may  take  the  road  a 
little  later  than  the  others,  but  he  will  go 
much  farther." 

One  day,  a  mason  named  Barb6  said  to 
Madame  de  Maintenon,  who  was  at  that 
time  the  wife  of  Scarron :  "  After  much 
trouble,  a  great  king  will  love  you ;  you  will 
reign,  but  although  at  the  summit  of  favor 
it  will  be  of  no  benefit  to  you."  He  added 
some  remarkable  details  which  appeared  to 
move  her  considerably.  Her  friends  joked 
with  herabout  the  prediction,  when  the  mason 
said  to  them  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  be- 
lieved in  what  he  was  saying :  "  You  will  be 
glad  to  kiss  the  hem  of  her  garment  then, 
instead  of  amusing-  yourselves  at  her  ex- 
pense. ' ' 

On  the  other  hand,  Louis  XIV  one  day 
observed  to  the  Due  de  Crequi,  "Astrology 
is  altogether  false.  I  had  my  horoscope 
drawn  in  Italy,  and  they  told  me  that  after  I 
had  lived  for  a  long  time  I  would  fall  in  love 
with  an  old  woman  and  love  her  to  the  end 
of  my  days.  Is  there  the  least  likelihood  of 
that."  So  saying,  the  king  laughed 
heartily.  But  this  did  not  hinder  him  from 
marrying  Madame  de  Maintenon  when  she 
was  fifty  years  old !  So  that  both  the  pre- 
dictions of  the  mason  and  the  Italian  con- 
juror came  true  at  last. 

Sterne  has  told  an  anecdote  of  what  hap- 
pened to  him  once  at  Halifax.  The  school- 
master had  got  the  ceiling  newly  white- 
washed, and  the  mischievous  boy  mounting 
the  steps  almost  before  the  job  was  com- 
pleted, daubed  with  a  brush  on  the  ceil- 
ing the  words,  in  capital  letters,  LAU.  STERNE. 
For  this  the  usher  cruelly  beat  him.  Upon 
hearing  of  this,  the  master  expressed  his  dis- 
pleasure and  said,  before  Sterne,  that  he 
would  not  have  the  name  effaced,  seeing  that 
Sterne  was  a  boy  of  genius,  and  certain  to 
make  a  reputation  in  the  world. 

Many  predictions  were  made  respecting 
Napoleon  about  whose  youth  there  must 


have  been  something  remarkable.  Not  only 
his  uncle,  but  all  who  knew  Napoleon,  pre- 
dicted he  would  become  an  instrument  for 
great  purposes.  He  was  scarce  fifteen  years 
old,  when  M.  de  Kergerion  said  :  "  I  per- 
ceive in  this  young  man  a  spark  which  can- 
not be  too  carefully  cultivated."  And 
finally,  Leguille,  one  of  his  teachers  at  the 
Military  School,  spoke  of  him  in  a  note,  as 
"  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  a  Corsican  by  birth 
and  character ;  this  gentleman  will  go  far,  if 
circumstances  favor  him." 

W.  W.  R. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Artificial  Teeth.— 

Altesto  :  "  I'll  lay  my  life,  sh'  hath  new  furnisht  her 

gums. 
With  artificial  teeth  ;  she  could  not  grind  so 

else." 

(D'Avenant's    "  Love    and    Honour,"     1649,    Act  ii, 
Scaena  i.) 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Swamp  Apples. — When  I  was  a  boy, 
fifty  years  ago,  we  used  to  gather  and  eat  a 
kind  of  fleshy  green  excrescence  from  the 
branches  of  the  Azalea  nudiflora.  We 
called  the  excrescences  "  swamp  apples." 
They  were,  I  believe,  a  kind  of  gall,  pro- 
duced by  some  insect.  They  were  watery 
and  insipid,  and  were  entirely  unfit  for  food, 
but  boys  will  eat  anything  their  teeth  can 
penetrate,  and  make  no  complaints  as  to 
quality.  I  have  known  boys  to  eat  young 
oak-galls.  Boys  and  girls  both  used  to  eat 
tender  beech-leaves  and  sassafras-buds,  to 
say  nothing  of  tea-berry  leaves  and  the  bark 
of  black-birch  !  I  never  knew  any  child  to 
be  injured  by  this  primitive  and  ancestral 
kind  of  diet.  L.  S.  N. 

CHICOPEE,  MASS. 

Patriarchs  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  46,  etc.).— Ec- 
clesiastical history  from  time  to  time  re- 
cords the  existence  of  anti-patriarchs,  or 
schismatical  and  partisan  prelates  who  have 
claimed  the  title,  and  exercised  the  au- 
thority, to  some  extent,  of  regularly  ap- 
pointed patriarchs.  At  one  time  there  was  a 
Jacobite  patriarchate  of  Cilicia,  which 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  an  irregular 
and  semi-schismatical  affair.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


November  29,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


57 


Gunpowder  Plot. — The  statement  has 
been  published  of  late  that  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  is  the  only  place  in  the  United  States 
at  which  the  celebration  of  the  detection  of 
the  Gunpowder  Plot  is  still  kept  up.  I  have 
a  pretty  clear  recollection  of  seeing  Guy 
Fawkes  burned  in  effigy  at  Norwich,  Conn., 
in  1844;  but  I  was  then  a  very  small  boy, 
and  my  memory  may  be  at  fault.  I  fancy 
that  in  some  of  the  nooks  and  corners  of 
New  England  the  ancient  celebration  may 
still  survive,  or  perhaps  in  some  of  the  sea- 
board Southern  States.  NEGUS. 

BROOKLYN. 

Father  of  Waters  (Vol.  v,  pp.  275, 
etc.). — It  has  been  twice  asserted  in  your 
columns,  and  twice  denied,  that  the  name 
Mississippi  means  Father  of  Waters.  In  the 
twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Johnson's  "Rasse- 
las,"  the  princess  Nekayah  addresses  the 
river  Nile  as  "great  father  of  waters,  thou 
that  rollest  thy  floods  through  eighty 
nations."  There  may  possibly  be  other  and 
older  instances  of  the  use  of  this  appellation. 

F.  N.  S. 
APPLETON,  Wis. 

Isle  of  "Women  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  218,  etc.). 
— On  the  island  of  Sena,  now  Sein,  off  the 
western  promontory  of  Armorica,  there  was 
anciently  a  community  of  nine  maidens  who 
had  the  care  of  an  orack,  and  could  work 
many  wonders  (Mela,  iii,  6).  The  ancient 
Celtic  tribe  of  the  Nannetes  had  a  com- 
munity of  Druidic  women  who  inhabited  a 
little  island  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Loire.  The  foot  of  no  male  was  permitted 
to  approach  this  place  (Strabo,  iv,  p.  190). 

R.  J. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Greek    Authors    Originally    Slaves 

(Vol.  vi,  pp.  46,  etc.). — Menippus,  noted  as 
a  satirist  and  as  a  cynic  philosopher,  was  by 
birth  a  slave  and  an  Asiatic,  probably  a 
Phoenician.  STRABO. 

Bay  'Window.  —  Altesto:  "Come, 
boys,  lift  up  your  voice  to  yon  bay  win- 
dow "  (D'Avenant's  "  Love  and  Honour," 
1649,  Act  ii,  Scsena  i).  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Motus  est  Causa  Caloris. — The  on- 
suing  citation  from  "El  Empectuado" 
(p.  88),  by  Perez  Galdoz,  an  eminent  writer 
of  Spain,  is  a  college  drinking  song  of  1811, 
and,  on  account  of  its  exquisite  humor, 
merits  reproduction : 

"  Si  Aristotles  Supiera 

Aliquid  de  cantimploris 
De  Seguro  no  dijera 

Motus  est  causa  caloris." 

The  cantimplore  is  both  a  syphon  and  can- 
teen. Aristotle's  knowledge  of  the  laws  af- 
fecting the  former  mechanical  device  is  well 
known,  so  that  the  double  entendre  becomes 
neatly  put  in  the  foregoing,  which  can  (with 
the  interpretations  given  of  cantimploris 
borne  in  mind)  be  translated : 

"  Had  Aristotle  known 

Aught  of  the  canteen  (syphon), 
Surely  he  never  had  said 

Motion  is  the  source  of  heat." 

Of  course,  canteen  here  stands  for  its  pre- 
sumed contents,  brandy  or  other  alcoholic 
drink,  of  which  the  refrain  slyly  hints  the 
sage's  ignorance,  or  otherwise. 

G.  F.  FORT. 
CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Beth-Gelert  (Vol.  vi,  p.  39).— It  may 
be  regarded  as  certain  that  Beth-Gelert  (prop- 
erly Beddgelert)  commemorates  not  a  grey- 
hound, but  St.  Celert  (see  Maclear's  "  The 
Conversion  of  the  West:  the  Celts,"  p.  63). 
There  are  in  Wales  479  village  names  de- 
rived from  local  saints.  The  story  of  the 
dog  Gelert  is  one  of  the  most  widely  spread 
of  all  the  old  folk-legends.  It  is  found  in 
nearly  every  Aryan  country,  and  in  many 
others  besides,  varying  of  course  in  some  of 
the  details,  and  in  the  names  of  the  actors. 
All  the  folk-lorists  have  long  since  given  up 
the  belief  in  this  particular  form  of  the  story 
as  being  historically  correct.  M. 

Lakes  With  Two  Outlets  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  27). — Lakes  Assawampsett  and  Quittacus 
are  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  former  is  said 
to  be  the  largest  lake  in  the  State.  Their 
waters  are  in  part  discharged  southward  into 
the  sea,  and  in  part  they  flow  northward  to 
the  river  Nemasket,  at  Middleborough. 

OBED. 

CHILMARK,  MASS. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [November  29,  1890. 


Singular  Place  Names  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
21,  etc.).—  Wildcat,  Wildcat  Run,  Wildcat 
Falls,  Wildcat  GSen.—This  was  a  local 
place  name  from  a  very  early  period  of  my 
boyhood — as  far  back  as  1820,  at  least.  Its 
locale  is  York  county,  Pa.,  on  the  Susque- 
hanna  river,  about  two  miles  above  "  An- 
derson's Ferry,"  subsequently  "  Keesey's 
Ferry,"  but  now  "Coyle's  Ferry."  For 
many  years  it  was  only  known  as  "  Wildcat" 
or  "Wildcat  Run."  Through  an  abrupt 
chasm  in  the  hills  that  there  skirt  the  north- 
eastern margin  of  York  county,  there  rushes 
a  mountain  stream,  that  tumbles  down  over 
the  rocks  in  a  series  of  cascades,  which  are 
thence  discharged  into  the  Susquehanna. 
From  the  fact  that  this  chasm  was  for  many 
years  concealed  from  view  by  the  dense 
foliage  of  overhanging  pine  and  other  trees, 
many  persons  passed  and  repassed  without 
knowing  of  the  existence  of  these  pretty 
little  falls.  About  the  year  1850,  an  attempt 
to  utilize  the  stream  to  run  a  saw-mill  dis- 
covered them.  The  mill  was  soon  aban- 
doned, because  it  did  not  pay,  and  then  the 
place  became  a  summer  resort  for  family, 
society  and  fishing  and  social  picnics,  and 
it  also  became  a  place  of  some  note  to  the 
surrounding  towns  and  counties.  It  then 
took  the  name  of  Wildcat  Falls,  and 
subsequently  that  of  Wildcat  Glen.  The 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  made  it  a  summer 
stopping  place,  and  for  several  years  it  was 
a  popular  camping-ground  for  the  Masonic 
societies,  and  is  so  used  for  miscellaneous 
gatherings  down  to  the  present  time. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

One-eyed  Commanders  (Vol.  v,  p. 
275). — Monolo,  a  Nipmuk  sachem,  was 
called  One-eyed  John  by  the  English.  He 
was  one  of  five  sachems  who  ruled  the  Nip- 
muks,  the  others  being  Mautamp,  Shoshanim, 
Matoonas  and  Sagamore  John. 

One-eyed  John  lived  near  Lancaster, 
N.  H.,  and  was  very  conspicuous  during 
King  Philip's  war.  He  boasted  that  he 
could  command  the  allegiance  of  480  war- 
riors, and  declared  his  intention  to  burn 
several  Massachusetts  villages ;  this  ruffianly 
purpose  was  fulfilled  by  him  in  the  case  of 
Groton,  Mass. 


At  the  close  of  King  Philip's  war,  he  was 
seized  by  the  English  and  sent  to  Boston, 
where  he  was  hanged  26th  of  September, 
1676. 

Hubbard  calls  him  a  "braggadocio."  We 
may  then  not  inappropriately  term  the  Nip- 
muk sachem  an  aboriginal  swashbuckler. 

MENONA. 

Spur  Money  (Vol.  vi,  p.  27). — An  ex- 
tra six-pence  or  shilling  given  to  the  driver 
of  a  hired  carriage  or  conveyance,  to  induce 
him  to  "  hurry  up,"  is,  in  Ireland,  com- 
monly known  as  spur  money.  J.  T.  L. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Jedwood  or  Jeddart  Justice  (Vol.  i, 
p.  193). — There  is  good  authority  for  assert 
ing  that  "  Jeddart  Justice  "  had  a  peculiarity 
of  its  own  which  distinguished  it  from  the 
hang-in-haste-and-try-at-leisure  sort  attri- 
buted to  several  towns  mentioned  in  the 
previous  article. 

In  his  "  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors," 
Lord  Campbell,  describing  the  trial  of  the 
Scottish  leaders  of  the  rebellion  of  1715,  by 
Lord  Cowper,  the  Lord  Chancellor  of  that 
time,  relates  that  the  Earl  of  Winton,  after 
provoking  Lord  Cowper  (pronounced 
Cooper}  to  give  a  ruling  somewhat  im- 
patiently, exclaimed :  "I  hope,  my  Lords, 
I  am  not  to  have  what  in  my  country  we 
call  Ccwper  justice — that  is,  to  hang  a  man 
first  and  try  him  afterwards."  Lord 
Cowper  prudently  took  no  notice,  but  the 
appellation  was  kept  alive  by  his  enemies, 
who,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  characterized  any 
unsatisfactory  decision  as  "  Cowper  law  " 
and  "Cowper  justice."  To  this  relation 
Lord  Campbell  adds  in  a  foot-note :  "  This 
expression  has  been  familiar  to  me  from  in- 
fancy, having  been  born  in  the  town  where 
the  Rhadamanthean  procedure  '  castigatque 
auditque  dolos '  is  supposed  to  have  pre- 
vailed." Of  course,  the  town  in  question 
was  Cupar.  He  then  mentions  Lydford  as 
another  place  where  this  sort  of  justice  was 
practiced,  quoting  for  it  from  Wescott's 
"  History  of  Devonshire  "  the  same  rhymes 
that,  in  the  previous  article,  are  given  to 
Jeddart,  and  continues : 

"  My  present  country  residence  is  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  another  town  in 


November  29,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


59 


Scotland,  likewise  famous  for  a  peculiar 
mode  of  enforcing  the  criminal  law.  'Jed- 
dart  '  or  '  Jedburgh '  is,  that  when  several 
prisoners  are  jointly  put  upon  their  trial,  the 
judge,  to  save  the  time  and  trouble  necessary 
for  minutely  distinguishing  their  several 
cases,  puts  it  to  the  jury,  '  Hang  all  ?  or 
save  all?'  "  ("  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancel- 
lors," Vol.  v,  p.  238).  M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Mud  Baths  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  n,  etc.). — 
There  are  baths  of  sea-mud  along  the  Swed- 
ish coast.  Peat  baths  are  features  at  several 
German  sanatoriums,  and  baths  of  hot  sand 
{ammotherapy)  have  proved  useful  in  cer- 
tain dropsical  conditions;  mud  from  marshes 
charged  with  saline  mineral  waters  is 
especially  esteemed  in  illutation.  The 
ancients  thought  highly  of  mud  bathing,  and 
it  is  still  practiced  in  Central  Asia,  Egypt 
and  Russia,  as  well  as  in  Scandinavia,  Ger- 
many, Switzerland  and  Italy.  The  earth- 
cure  was  once  used  in  the  treatment  of 
wounds,  but  there  is  some  reason  to  fear  that 
the  soil,  in  certain  localities,  is  a  vehicle  for 
the  tetanic  poison,  for  which  cause  it  should 
be  cautiously  used,  or  not  at  all,  if  there  are 
lesions  of  the  skin.  MEDICO. 

Discoveries  by  Accident  (Vol.  v,  p. 
44). — Glass. — Pliny's  account  of  the  origin 
of  glass  has  its  believers  among  writers  of  re- 
pute, although  Beckman  discredits  the  truth 
of  it. 

"  The  story  is  thai  a  ship  laden  with  nitre, 
being  moored  upon  the  spot,  the  merchants 
while  preparing  their  repast  upon  the 
seashore,  finding  no  stones  at  hand  for  sup- 
porting their  cauldrons,  employed  for  the 
purpose  some  lumps  of  nitre  which  they  had 
taken  from  the  vessel.  Upon  its  being  sub- 
jected to  the  action  of  the  fire,  in  combina- 
tion with  the  sand  of  the  seashore,  they  be- 
held transparent  streams  of  a  liquid  hitherto 
unknown  flowing  forth;  this,  it  is  said,  was 
the  origin  of  glass." 

The  seashore  referred  to,  and  which  for 
many  ages  is  said  to  have  furnished  the 
materials  for  making  glass,  was  that  portion 
of  Syria  known  as  Phoenicia.  The  district  was 
only  one  half  mile  in  extent,  and  closely  ad- 
joining Judea.  Among  those  who  accept 


this  account  is  the  author  of  "  Glass J>  in 
"  Encyc.  Brit.,"  C.  Heath  Wilson.  For 
the  story,  refer  to  Pliny's  "  Nat.  Hist.,"  Vol. 
vi,  p.  379.  MENONA. 

Arthur  Kill  (Vol.  v,  pp.  52,  etc.). — 
The  name  Achter  Coll  often  appears  in  the 
colonial  documents,  1631-1664,  printed  in 
the  "  New  Jersey  Archives,"  Vol.  i.  The 
editor,  Mr.  Whitehead,  says  that  "  After 
Coll,"  one  of  the  several  varieties  of  spell- 
ing used,  is  "  a  corruption  of  Achter  Kol" 
and  he  gives  to  the  latter  term  the  same  in- 
terpretation as  that  furnished  by  Prof. 
Estoclet.  "It  was,"  he  says,  "an  appel- 
lation first  applied  to  Newark  bay,  meaning 
'  Behind  or  back  of  the  bay  ' — the  great  bay 
of  the  North  river — and  was  subsequently 
transferred  to  the  land  as  well." 

In  these  documents  the  towns  of  Eastern 
New  Jersey  are  often  said  to  be  situated  "  at 
Achter  Coll;"  once,  at  least,  they  are  de- 
scribed as  "situate  in  the  Kill  van  Col;" 
while,  still  later,  it  is  recorded  that  certain 
towns  received  from  the  Council  of  War  the 
same  privileges  granted  "to  all  other  the 
inhabitants  of  Achter  Coll,  lately  called  New 
Jarsey."  By  this  it  would  seem  that  the 
name  was  by  this  time  applied  to  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  present  State,  and  subsequent 
official  documents  continue  to  make  the 
same  (apparently)  extended  application  of 
the  term,  until,  in  the  leases  gran  ted  in  1664 
to  Lord  Berkley  and  Sir  George  Carteret,  it 
was  stipulated  that  their  domain  should 
"  hereafter  bee  called  by  the  name  or  names 
of  new  Ceserea  or  new  Jersey." 

In  the  "  New  Jersey  Historical  Collec- 
tions," Vol.  i,  p.  16,  is  given  a  quotation 
fromOgilby's  "America,"  1671,  where  the 
river  mentioned  by  Prof.  Estoclet  is  noticed: 
"  On  the  north  side  of  this  [Staten]  island, 
After  Skull  river  puts  in  to  the  mainland." 
The  editor  annotates  :  "  The  river  referred 
to  by  Ogilby  is  presumed  to  be  the.  brook 
dividing  the  townships  of  Newark  and 
Elizabethtown,  or  the  Passaic  ;  for  on  refer- 
ence to  the  early  maps  of  the  country,  a 
stream  so  situated  is  called  'Achter  Kol.' 
for  the  same  reason,  probably,  that  the 
towns  on  the  bay  were  so  called,  and  not  as 
a  distinctive  appellation."  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


6o 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [November  29,  1890. 


Corp  (Vol.  v,  p.  19). — The  word  corps 
for  corpses,  occurs  in  Act  i,  Scene  i,  of 
Dryden's  tragedy  of  "  CEdipus  "  in  the  first 
speech  of  Tiresias  addressed  to  his  daughter 
Manto.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

To  Fire,  To  Eject  (Vol.  iv,  p.  287  ; 
Vol.  v,  pp.  28,  etc.). — Is  the  quotation 
cited  by  Prof.  Allen  from  "  Ralph  Roister 
Doister"  (Vol.  vi,  p.  18)  really  an  early 
example  of  our  modern  slang  usage,  as  Prof. 
Allen  seems  to  imply,  or  is  "fire  out" 
spoken  in  the  sense  in  which  Shakespeare 
and  Sir  Thomas  Brown  employed  the 
phrase  ?  Perhaps  the  context  would  make  a 
difference,  but  there  seems  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  that  Ralph  threatened  to  fire 
the  dame  out  by  burning  her  house  over  her 
head.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Felix  in  Place  Names  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
26,  etc.). — On  some  old  maps,  what  is  now 
called  the  colony  of  Victoria,  or  some  part 
of  it,  is  given  as  Australia  Felix. 

STRABO. 


AND 


The  Arena  for  December  celebrates  the  opening  of 
its  third  volume  by  appearing  in  its  new  cover  of  pearl- 
gray  background,  printed  in  deep  blue  and  silver. 

The  frontispiece  of  this  issue  is  a  remarkably  fine  por- 
trait of  Count  Tolstoi,  made  from  a  photograph  taken 
from  a  life-size  painting  of  the  Count.  It  is  a  striking 
picture,  and  will  be  prized  by  admirers  of  the  great  Rus- 
sian author.  The  opening  paper  is  on  "  The  Christian 
Doctrine  of  Non-resistance,'1  and  embodies  the  views 
of  Count  Tolstoi  and  Rev.  Adin  Ballou,  as  set  forth  in 
an  extensive  correspondence  carried  on  during  this 
year  by  these  two  great  modern  apostles  of  the  doctrine 
of  non-resistance.  It  is  a  paper  of  great  interest,  and 
probably  shows  the  real  attitude  of  Count  Tolstoi  on 
this  question  more  clearly  and  forcibly  than  anything 
else  he  has  written.  Rev.  Minot  J.  Savage  contributes 
a  paper  entitled  "Then  and  Now,"  which  will  be  en- 
joyed by  every  reader,  whether  grave  or  gay,  as  it  con- 
tains profound  philosophy  while  it  is  written  in  a  bright, 
entertaining  vein.  Prof.  N.  S.  Shaler  appears  in  a 
paper  on  "  The  Nature  of  the  Negro."  This  is  one  of 
the  most  valuable  essays  on  the  race  problem  which  has 
yet  appeared,  in  that  it  gives  us  an  insight  into  the 
nature  and  possibilities  of  the  negro  and  the  Afro- 
American.  Prof.  Shaler  is  followed  by  a  paper  by  the 
Rev.  I,yman  Abbott,  the  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church, 
on  "  What  is  Christianity?"  A  full-page  portrait  of  Dr. 
Abbott  accompanies  his  paper.  A.  C.  Wheeler,  better 


known  in  the  dramatic  world  as  Nym  Crinkle,  writes  a 
critical  paper  of  the  late  Dion  Boucicault.  Helen  H. 
Gardener  appears  in  a  contribution  entitled  "  Thrown 
in  with  the  City's  Dead."  President  E.  B.  Andrews,  of 
Brown  University,  writes  ably  on  "  Patriotism  and  the 
Public  Schools."  Prof.  Wilbur  L.  Cross,  Ph.D.,  con- 
tributes a  sketch  of  Ibsen's  great  poem  entitled 
"  Brand."  Charles  Clafflin  Allen,  one  of  the  ablest 
civil-service  workers  in  the  land,  appears  in  a  paper  on 
"Electoral  Reform  Legislation."  Hamlin  Garland  con- 
tributes a  story  entitled  "  A  Private's  Return."  Among 
the  other  contributors  are  Gen.  Marcus  J.  Wright, 
Mabel  Hayden,  T.  T.  Tertuneand  Victor  Yarros.  The 
usual  department  of  editorial  notes  contains  short 
papers  on  "A  Transition  Period,"  "Fronting  the 
Future,"  and  "  Conservatism  and  Sensualism,  an  Un- 
hallowed Alliance,"  the  last  paper  being  a  scathing 
criticism  of  the  pseudo-moralists,  who  seek  to  film  over 
the  social  ulcers  of  fashionable  life. 

The  Century  for  December  is  more  "  Christmasy  " 
than  is  usual  with  that  magazine,  there  being  a  Christ- 
mas story  by  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  and  a  Christmas 
poem  by  President  Henry  Morton,  of  Stevens  Institute, 
while  the  editor  in  "  Some  Christmas  Reflections  "  says 
that  perhaps  the  readers  may  find  as  much  of  the  true 
Christian  feeling  in  Dr.  Abbott's  article,  "  Can  a  Nation 
Have  a  Religion?"  and  in  the  article  on  the  "  Record 
of  Virtue,"  as  in  the  more  ostensibly  Christmas 
"  features  "  of  this  number  of  The  Century. 

The  frontispiece  is  a  striking  head,  "  Daphne,"  by 
George  W.  Maynard,  in  "  The  Century  Series  of  Ameri- 
can Pictures,"  and  the  opening  paper  is  General  Bid- 
well's  account  of  "  Life  in  California  Before  the  Gold 
Discovery."  Here  is  also  published  "  Ranch  and  Mis- 
sion Days  in  Alta  California,"  these  two  articles  show- 
ing with  what  thoroughness  The  Century  i  new  and  im- 
portant series  is  being  carried  out. 

The  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Franklin 
is  marked  by  Mr.  Charles  Henry  Hart's  paper  on 
"  Franklin  in  Allegory,"  with  a  full-page  engraving  of 
Franklin  after  a  portrait  by  Peale,  and  reproductions  of 
French  prints. 

The  fiction  of  this  number  includes  stories  by  Joel 
Chandler  Harris,  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps — "  Fourteen 
to  One"  (a  true  story) ;  Richard  Harding  Davis,  and 
Maurice  Thompson — "  A  Pair  of  Old  Boys;"  F.  Hop- 
kinson  Smith's  "  Colonel  Carter  of  Cartersville  "  is  con- 
tinued ;  and  "  Sister  Dolorosa,"  a  three-part  story,  by 
James  Lane  Allen,  is  begun.  This  is  a  companion  story 
to  Mr.  Allen's  tragic  story  of  "  The  White  Cowl." 

After  the  Autobiography  of  Jefferson,  the  famous 
comedian,  it  is  interesting  to  read  in  this  number  the 
views  on  acting  by  Tommaso  Salvini,  the  greatest  of 
living  tragedians. 

Other  illustrated  papers  are  Mr.  Maclay's  "  Laurels  ot 
the  American  Tar  in  1812,"  and  the  second  of  Mr.  Rock- 
hill's  series  on  Tibet,  this  one  being  called  "The  Bor- 
der-Land of  China." 

The  poetry  of  the  number  has  nothing  more  striking 
than  the  half-dozen  novel  pieces  entitled  "  Some  Boys," 
by  James  Whitcomb  Riley,  and  printed,  with  pictures 
by  Kemble,  in  Bric-a-Brac.  Other  poets  of  this  num- 
ber are  Austin  Dobson  and  Celia  Thaxter.  George 
Parsons  Lathrop  tells  in  an  illustrated  poem  the  pathetic 
story  of  "  Marthy  Virginia's  Hand." 

Further  topics  treated  are  "Trees  in  America," 
"  The  Railway  Zone-Tariff  of  Hungary,"  and  "  Higher 
Education :  A  Word  to  Women,"  the  latter  an  opening 
letter  by  Miss  Josephine  Lazarus. 


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Copyrighted  tSqo,  by  Tite  Westminster  Publishing  Co.    Entered  at  the  Post-Office,  Philadelphia,  as  Second-class  Matter. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Origin  of  Some  Names,  61— Not  Built  That  Way 
— Notes  on  "  The  Culprit  Fay,"  62 — "  He's  a  Square  Man, 
63- 

QUERIES  :— Seven  Days'  King— Lucidor  the  Unfortunate, 
63 — Solomon  of  China — Tonite — Hungarian  j*Esop — Roman 
Theocritus — Soldier's  Bath — Shaking  Hands — M.  R.,  64. 

REPLIES  : — The  Compass  Plant,  64 — Jiboose,  65. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Fairies  — 
Knights  of  St.  John — Chalcelet— Barber-Surgeon— Hand  of 
Justice — Wupperthal  Poets — Come  as  High  From  Tripoli — 
Staked  Plain,  66. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Buddhism  in  Mexico— Pine  Figure, 
66— Amerigo  Vespucci,  67 — Cambuscan  —  Ivy-bush  —  Ana- 
grams in  Science — Animal  Calls — Cowan  Plant— Coleridge's 
Escapade — Dago — Playing  Possum,  68 — He  Who  Died  at 
Azan  —  Underground  Rivers,  69  —  American  and  English 
Names  for  Marshy  Tracts — The  Serpent  as  a  Standard — Fa- 
mous Men  of  Humble  Origin,  70 — Norwegian  Skating  Rifle- 
men— Notes  on  Words — Sprogoe — Twice-born  Rajahs,  71 — 
The  Initial  LI— Reindeer  Moss— A  Lady  hi  the  Case — Fore- 
casts of  the  Phonograph — Orllie  I,  72. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 72. 

ROTES. 


ORIGIN  OF  SOME  NAMES. 

The  derivation  and  the  meaning  of  the 
names  of  our  Presidents  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  collate  are  as  follows  : 

Washington. — The  name  was  originally 
Wessyngton  or  De  Wessyngton,  and  taken 
from  the  place  where  the  family  originated. 
The  name  has  three  derivations,  to  wit:: 
wets,  a  wash  or  shallow  part  of  a  river ;  ing^ 
a  meadow;  ton,  a  hill  or  town.  Hence,  the 
word  means  the  town  on  the  wash,  or  shal- 
low part  of  the  river. 

Adams.—  There  is  no  difficulty  in  arriving 
at  the  origin  of  this  name  ;  by  dropping  the 
"s,"  we  have  the  name  of  the  first  parent, 
which  is  of  Hebrew  oiigin,  and  means  man, 
earthly  or  red.  The  name  is  an  old  one  in 
Scotland  and  the  great-grandfather  of  John 
Adams  came  from  England. 


62 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [December  6,  1890. 


Jefferson. — This  is  a  Welsh  name.  He 
says  in  his  own  autobiography  that  his  an- 
cestors came  to  this  country  from  Wales,  and 
from  near  the  mountain  of  Snowdon,  which 
is  the  highest  in  Great  Britain.  It  means 
the  son  of  Jeffer,  which  is  a  corruption  of 
the  name  Geoffrey,  which  means  God's 
place. 

Madison  has  its  derivation  in  Matthew  or 
Matilda,  and  is  originally  Welsh,  though  the 
forefathers  of  President  Madison  came  from 
York,  Eng. 

Monroe  is  Irish,  from  Monadh  Roe,  or 
Mount  Roe,  also  from  the  river  Roe  in  Ire- 
land. Moine  Roe,  a  mossy  place  on  the 
Roe.  A  contraction  of  the  first  word  brings 
it  nearer  to  the  present  spelling,  to  wit, 
M'unroe,  the  "u"  being  Anglecized  into  an 
"o,"  thus  giving  the  present  spelling. 

Jackson  is  also  Welsh,  all  hough  General 
Jackson's  father  came  from  Carrickfergus  in 
the  north  of  Ireland,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  of  Scotch  origin.  The  name  simply 
means  the  son  of  Jack  or  John. 

Van  Buren  is  Dutch.  The  family  originally 
came  from  the  town  of  Buren  in  Holland, 
Van  being  the  Dutch  form  of  the  German 
Von,  which  means  of  the  or  from.  Hence, 
the  name  means  from  the  town  of  Buren. 

Harrison  is  the  same  as  Harris,  which  is 
Welsh  and  has  its  origin  in  Henry,  thus  the 
name  is  the  son  of  Harris  or  Henry. 

Tyler  is  probably  another  mode  of  spell- 
ing Taylor.  It  is  a  trade  name. 

Polk  is  Scotch,  and  is  the  abbrev:ation  of 
Pollock  and  comes  from  the  parish  of  Pol- 
lock in  Renfrewshire.  The  Gallic  spelling 
was  Pollag,  which  means  a  little  pool,  pit  or 
pond. 

Fillnwre  is  the  same  as  Filmur  and  is  old 
Saxon,  being  the  same  as  fille,  fertile  land 
and  mere  lake,  hence  a  fertile  piece  of  land 
on  a  lake.  Another  derivation  is  the  Celtic 
Filea  and  mor,  meaning  a  bard  or  historian, 
and  great,  hence  great  or  famous  bard  or 
historian. 

Pierce\<~>  Norman  French,  from  Percy,  also 
written  Piercy  and  Percey.  It  signifies  a 
hunting  place. 

Buchanan  is  Scotch.  The  meaning  is  not 
surely  denned  ;  some  authorities  say  that  it 
is  from  Buchan,  a  place  abounding  in  deer, 
derived  fiom  the  Gaelic  boc. 


Lincoln  is  from  the  town  of  Lincoln, 
Eng.,  still  the  name  is  Welsh  and  is  derived 
from  Lin,  a  pojl  or  lake,  and  coin,  the  ridge 
of  a  hill. 

Grant. — There  are  three  origins  claimed 
for  this  name.  i.  Saxon  meaning  crooked. 

2.  Irish  Grandha,  meaning  dark,  ill  favored. 

3.  French  Grand,  meaning  great  or  brave. 
As  far  back  as   1230  there  was  a  Richard 
Grant,    Archbishop   of  Canterbury.      It  is 
probable  that  the  French  is  the  origin  of  the 
name. 

Garfield  is  Saxon  Garwian,  to  prepare.  It 
also  is  claimed  to  be  a  combination  of  Ger- 
man and  Dutch,  to  wit,  gar,  dressed,  pre- 
pared, and^<?A/,  a  place. 

Arthur  is  old  British  or  Gaelic,  meaning 
a  strong  man,  from  Ar,  a  man,  and  thor, 
strong.  Prince  Arthur  was  called  in  British 
the  bear-man,  or  man  of  strength. 

Cleveland  is  English  and  from  the  name 
of  a  place  in  Yorkshire,  it  is  the  corruption 
of  cliff  lane. 

The  only  name  in  the  list  of  Presidents 
that  I  have  been  unable  to  find  any  origin  for 
is  that  of  Ex- President  Hayes.  It  may  be  de- 
rived from  the  name  Hay,  with  the  Welsh 
affix  of  "  es."  In  that  event  it  would  mean 
a  hedge  or  place  of  safety,  and  might  belong 
to  the  Dutch,  Saxon,  Danish,  or  Cornish 
British  languages. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER.  PA. 


NOT  BUILT  THAT  WAY. 

Horace  Walpole  wrote  of  certain  persons 
that  they  were  "not  built  du  bois  dont on 
les  fait"  [/'.  e.,  great  men]. 

Littre  has,  Etre  du  bois  dont  on  fait  les 
generaux,  les  ministres ;  Etre  les  bois  dont 
on  fut  les  flutes  =  s'accorder  avec  tous  les 
monde. 

Apparently,  therefore,  our  semi  slang 
phrase,  "  not  built  that  way."  has  an 
honorable  ancestry.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


NOTES  ON    "THE  CULPRIT  FAY." 

Colen  (Vol.  v,  p.  162).— Would  not  the 
flower  called  "  painted  cup,"  Castilleia 
coccinea,  serve  as  the  bearer  of  this  name  ? 
The  trouble  with  both  this  and  the  wild 


December  6,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


columbine  is  that  they  are  scarlet,  and  not 
crimson,  and  neither  is  bell-shaped.  And  if 
you  derive  colen  from  columbine  you  have  to 
throw  away  the  last  syllable  in  a  fashion 
which  the  etymologists  would  not  sanction. 
But  that  curious  root-parasite,  the  painted 
cup,  is  a  plant  well  deserving  the  notice  of 
the  poets.  Surely,  some  of  your  North 
river  correspondents  must  know  all  about 
the  colen  and  the  bootle, 

Bootle, — In  rural  England,  the  corn-mari- 
gold is  called  buddle.  Can  this  be  the  same 
word  as  bootle? 

Flame-wood,  Fox-fire. — Drake,  in  "The 
Culprit  Fay,"  gives  the  fairy  a  "  flame-wood 
lamp."  This,  of  course,  relers  to  the  phos- 
phorescence of  decaying  wood.  In  my 
youth  it  was  sometimes  called  fox fire,  which 
seems  to  me  a  pretty  name.  Can  this  be 
folk 's  fire  for  fairies'  fire  ? 

Prong. — Drake  speaks  of  "  the  mailed 
shrimp,  or  the  prickly  p)ong"  Prong,  I 
suppose,  is  the  same  as  prawn.  Am  I  right 
in  this  conjecture?  If  so,  is  there  any  other 
example,  or  authority,  for  this  use  of  the  word 
prong?  The  "  Cent.  Diet."  admits  it  from 
Drake,  with  a  query  as  to  its  meaning. 

Squab. — Drake  also  speaks  of  "  the  lanc- 
ing squab,"  evidently  some  kind  of  a  sea- 
creatnre.     What  fish  or  animal  is  intended  ? 
Wood-tick.  —  In     "The    Culprit    Fay," 
Stanza  iii,  we  are  informed  that 

"  The  wood-tick  has  kept  the  minutes  well ; 
He  has  counted  them  all  with  click  and  stroke. 
Deep  in  the  heart  of  the  mountain  oak.'1 

Now  surely  the  poet  must  have  known 
that  the  wood-tick  does  not  tick,  or  make 
any  "click  and  stroke."  Neither  does  it 
live  "in  the  heart"  of  any  tree.  There 
are  plenty  of  ticking  and  clicking  insects, 
but  that  exceedingly  disagreeable  and  noi- 
some creature,  the  wood-tick,  is  not  one  of 
them.  That  kind  of  poetic  license  which  ig- 
nores thecommonest  facts  of  nature,andwhich 
makes  a  mere  play  upon  words  do  duty  as  if 
it  were  the  representation  of  a  fact,  is  not  to 
be  commended.  But  there  are  ticking  insect 
larvae  which  actually  burrow  in  oak  wood. 

Ising  star.—  This  is  the  poet  J.  R.  Drake's 
name  for  a  spangle  of  the  (mineral)  isinglass, 
or  mica.  Is  this  name  to  be  found  outside 
"  The  Culprit  Fay?"  It  is  in  one  or  two  of 


the  newer  dictionaries,  as  coming  from 
Drake. 

Quarl, — This  is  Drake's  name  for  the 
stinging  jelly-fi.->h  ("Gulp.  Fay,"  xiii,  xiv 
and  xix).  I  do  not  know  of  its  occurrence 
elsewhere,  but  it  is  in  the  newest  Webster,  as 
coming  from  Drake. 

Whimple("C.  F.,"  xix).— This  is  Drake's 
word  for  to  toss  about  (intransitive).  I 
do  not  remember  the  use  of  this  word  else- 
where in  this  sense,  except  in  "  Webster's 
International  Dictionary."  *  *  * 


"  HE'S  A  SQUARE  MAN." 

"  If  you  will  game,  make  choice  of  such 
as  you  know  to  be  square  gamesters,  scorr.r 
ing  to  bring  their  names  into  question  with 
the  least  report  of  advantage.  *  *  *  For  I 
never  knew  Gamester  play  upon  advantage, 
but  bring  him  to  the  square,  and  his  fortune 
was  seconded  with  disadvantage"  (Brath- 
wait's  "  Eng.  Gentleman,"  1630,  p.  197). 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


y  U  B  •  F$  I  B  S  . 

Seven  Days'  King. — Can  you  tell  me  who 
was  known  by  this  title  ? 

SUBSCRIBER. 

Masaniello  (i.e.,  Tommaso  Aniello),  born 
1622.  Headed  a  revolt  against  the  Duke  of 
Arcos,  at  Naples,  July  7,  1647,  forced  him 
to  abolish  the  tax  on  provisions,  and  for 
seven  days  was  master  of  Naples.  He  was 
most  arrogant  and  blood-thirsty,  and  was 
assassinated  July  16. 

He  is  the  hero  of  two  operas;  one  by 
Caraffa  called  "  Masaniello,"  and  the  other 
by  Auber  (libretto  by  Scribe)  called  "  La 
Muette  de  Portici." 

Lucidor  the    Unfortunate. — Who    was 

called  by  this  name  ?  McPHAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

It  was  the  title  assumed  by,  or  given  to, 
Lars  Johansson  Humerus  (1642-1674),  a 
Swedish  poet.  He  was  murdered  by  a  sol- 
dier in  a  drunken  brawl. 


64 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [December  6,  1890. 


Solomon  of  China.  —  Who  was  called  the 
Solomon  of  China?  L.  B.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Tae-tsong  (  *  ,  626-650),  one  of  the  most 
enlightened  monarchs  that  ever  reigned. 
He  was  the  son  of  Kao-tsou,  founder  of  the 
Tang  dynasty  (q.  #.).  This  reign  was  the 
Augustan  age  of  China.  His  wife  was  a 
lady  of  singular  wisdom  and  virtue. 

Tae-tsong  may  be  favorably  compared 
with  Antoninus,  the  Roman  emperor. 

Tonite.  —  Where  can  I  find  an  account  of 
the  explosive  substance  called  tonite? 

CARTER  M.  BRIGHT. 

COVINGTON,  KY. 

According  to  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 
nica,"  Art.  "Gun-Cotton,"  tonite  is  a  pre- 
paration of  compressed  gun-cotton,  prepared 
with  barium  nitrate.  It  is  used  for  blasting 
purposes. 

Hungarian  /Esop.  —  Who  was  the  Hun- 
garian y^SO?  McPHAIL. 


IOWA  CITY. 

Andrew  Fay,  a  voluminous  Magyar 
author,  has  been  thus  designated. 

Roman  Theocritus  (Vol.  ii,  p.  98).— 
Does  not  the  writer  of  your  article,  "  Delia 
in  Literature,"  make  a  mistake  when  he 
speaks  of  "  the  Roman  Theocritus?"  I  had 
supposed  that  Theocritus  was  a  Greek  and  a 
Sicilian.  P.  L.  B. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

By  "  the  Roman  Theocritus,"  the  writer 
of  course  meant  Tibullus.  Theocritus  was 
the  greatest  of  the  ancient  pastoral  poets, 
and  throughout  the  genuine  poems  of  Tibul- 
lus, as  we  have  them  now,  a  very  real  love 
for  the  country  and  for  rural  life  is  every- 
where displayed.  Hence  the  propriety  of 
calling  Tibullus  by  this  designation. 

Soldier's  Bath.  —  What  place  is  known  as 
"  The  Soldier's  Bath  ?"  N.  K.  G. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

The  guide-books  tell  us  that  Teplitz,  in 
Bohemia,  is  called  "  The  Soldier's  Bath,"  be- 
cause of  the  good  effects  of  its  thermal 
waters  upon  the  health  of  those  who  suffer 


from  old  wounds.  These  effects  are  so  real 
that  both  the  Austrian  and  German  govern- 
ments maintain  military  bathing  establish- 
ments in  the  town. 

Shaking  Hands. — Where  did  the  custom 
of  shaking  hands  as  a  greeting  originate? 

W.  P.  M. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Shaking  hands  to  confirm  a  bargain  is 
mentioned  in  2  Kings  x,  15. 

As  a  salutation,  mentioned  by  Homer,  by 
Aristophanes  ("  Nabes,"  18),  and  by  Virgil 

(">En.,"  i,  403). 

In  modern  times  the  custom  is  English ; 
most  continental  nations  salute  with  kisses. 

M.  R. — In  a  directory  of  the  reverend 
clergy  (Roman  Catholic),  I  find  that  some 
names,  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  in  England, 
are  followed  by  M.  R.,  in  a  parenthesis. 
There  are  also  a  few  names  followed  by 
R.  D.,  in  a  parenthesis.  I  would  like  to 
ascertain  the  meaning  of  these  abbrevia- 
tions. R.  D.,  I  conjecture  to  be  Rural 
Dean.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

R.  D.  means  Rural  Dean  ;  M.  R.  means 
Missionary  Rector. 

REPLIES. 

The  Compass  Plant  (Vol.  v,  p.  280). — 
The  definition  of  compass  plant  in  the  Cen- 
tury— "  a  tall,  coarse,  composite  plant," 
etc. — leads  one  to  wonder  if  such  be  the 
original  of  Longfellow's  image  of  faith  in 
the  familiar  lines  from  "  Evangeline:" 

"  Look  at  this  delicate  plant  that  lifts  its  head  from  the 

meadow, 
See  how  the  leaves  all  point  to  the  north  as  true  as 

the  magnet; 
It  is  the  compass  flower,  that  the  finger  of  God  has 

suspended 
Here   on  its  fragile  stalk,  to  direct  the  traveler's 

journey 
Over   the    sea-like,    pathless,   limitless  waste  of  the 

desert." 

These  lines  are  said  to  have  been  inspired 
by  a  personal  communication  to  the  poet  in 
January,  1847,  from  Gen.  Alvord,  the  first 
person  who  had  introduced  the  plant  to 
scientific  consideration  on  account  of  itsso^ 
called  "polarity."  , 


December  6,  1890.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Gen.  Alvord,  U.  S.  A.  (d.  1884),  had  dis- 
covered this  peculiar  property  of  the  Silphium 
laciniatum  as  far  back  as  the  autumn  of  1839, 
near  Fort  Wayne,  north-eastern  portion  of  the 
Cherokee  nation,  but  it  was  not  until  August, 
1842,  and  January,  1843,  tnat  he  communi- 
cated his  interesting  observations  to  the 
National  Institute  at  Washington.  At  first, 
his  statements  were  entirely  discredited,  al- 
though the  floral  idiosyncrasy  had  been 
familiar  to  hunters  and  others  from  the 
earliest  settlement  of  the  country. 

In  1849,  Gen.  Alvord  was  led  to  make  a 
communication  on  the  same  subject  to  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  which  held  its  second  meeting 
that  year  at  Cambridge.  Meanwhile,  the 
General's  statements  had  not  lacked  con- 
firmation, for  his  brother  officers  were  able 
to  attest  the  accuracy  of  his  observations,  all 
agreeing  in  the  conclusion  that  the  radical 
leaves  of  the  plant  really  present  their  edges 
north  and  south,  while  their  faces  are  turned 
east  and  west ;  the  leaves  on  the  developed 
stem  of  the  flowering  plant,  however,  take  an 
intermediate  position  between  their  normal 
or  symmetrical  arrangement  on  the  stem  and 
their  peculiar  mendianal  position. 

Twenty  years  later,  in  1869,  Dr.  Hill, 
President  of  Harvard  University,  added  his 
'testimony,  based  upon  personal  observations, 
he  having  calculated  the  bearings  of  the 
railway  track  by  aid  of  this  natural  floral 
magnet,  as  he  journeyed  across  the  prairies 
on  a  sunless -day. 

In  November,  1870,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Bes- 
sey,  Professor  of  Botany  at  the  Iowa  State 
Agricultural  School,  wrote  to  Dr.  Asa  Gray, 
as  follows  :  "  We  have  the  curious  '  Compass 
Plant '  growing  in  great  abundance  through- 
out all  this  region.  The  polarity  of  the 
leaves  is  very  marked.  Use  is  made  of  it 
by  the  settlers  when  lost  on  the  prairies  on 
dark  nights.  By  feeling  the  direction  of  the 
leaves,  they  easily  get  their  bearings." 

But  the  cultivated  specimens  in  Kew  Gar- 
dens and  those  in  the  Botanical  Gardens  at 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  had  never  showed  any 
disposition  to  "  orientation,"  and  Dr.  Gray 
had  gone  so  far  as  to  contradict  the  exist- 
ence of  the  property  in  the  1846  edition  of 
tois  "  Botany  of  the  United  States."  Some 
years  later  he  became  satisfied  that  the  failure 


was  due  to  placing  the  plants  in  a  position 
not  assimilated  to  their  native  haunts,  and 
Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  the  English  naturalist, 
who  had  been  equally  incredulous,  united 
with  Dr.  Gray  in  his  opinion,  after  seeing 
the  compass  plant  at  home  on  the  prairie,  as 
he  says  himself :  "  When  traveling  with  Dr. 
Gray  in  1877,  I  watched  the  position  of  the 
leaves  of  many  hundred  plants  from  the  win- 
dow of  the  railway  car,  and,  after  some  time, 
persuaded  myself  that  the  younger,  more 
erect  leaves  especially  had  their  faces 
parallel,  or  approximately  so,  to  the  meridian 
line  "  {Boianical  Magazine,  January,  1881). 
Naturalists,  generally,  refer  the  "  polarity  " 
to  the  sunlight,  the  two  sides  of  the  leaves 
being  equally  sensitive  from  the  presence  of 
the  same  number  of  stomata,  and  struggling 
for  equal  shares. 

Longfellow's  inaccuracy  of  description  is, 
perhaps,  due  to  the  ascendancy  of  the  ideal 
faculty,  rather  than  to  any  real  misapprehenr 
sion  on  his  part.  In  later  editions  of 
"Evangeline,"  however,  the  word  "delicate" 
is  found  changed  to  "vigorous,"  the  correc- 
tion having  been  made  at  the  suggestion  of 
a  friend. 

But  even  though  the  poetic  likeness  be  in 
a  way  unfaithful,  the  poet  caught  up  a 
truth  the  men  of  science  had  rejected,  and 
the  fame  of  the  floral  compass  of  the  Ameri- 
can prairie  was  spread  world-wide. 

Gen.  Alvord's  last  paper  on  the  compass 
plant  appeared  in  August,  1882,  forty  years 
subsequent  to  his  first  "  Communication  to 
the  National  Institute  at  Washington." 
Meantime  fourteen  other  "  Articles  "  on  the 
same  subject  appeared  in  various  publica- 
tions devoted  to  science,  the  earliest  of  them 
nearly  twenty  years  after  "  Evangeline " 

(1847). 

MENONA. 

Jiboose  (Vol.  v,  p.  268). — Is  not  this  a 
corruption  of  the  word  jib- house,  a  door  flush 
with  the  outside  wall  and  intended  to  be  con- 
cealed, forming  thus  a  part  of  the  jib  or  face 
of  the  house  ? 

And  is   it  not   the  name — spelled   often 
Gibbus — of  the  crush  opera  hat,  which  is 
concealed   when  closed  or  compressed  be- 
tween the  two  covers?  E.  G.  L. 
SANTA  CLARA,  CAL.  »• 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [December  6,  1890. 


TO 


Fairies.—  Are  there  any  fairies  in  thet 
United  States?  I  heard  an  aged  gentleman, 
in  Camden  county,  N.  J.,  say  that  in  his 
younger  days,  say  fifty-five  years  ago,  cattle 
which  were  suddenly,  or  inexplicably,  taken 
ill,  were  said  to  be  "  elf-shot." 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMAN-TOWN,  PA. 

Knights  of  St.  John.—  I  read,  a  few 
year  suite,  in  a  British  Consular  report,  that 
the  flug  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  was,  at 
the  time  of  that  writing  (about  1875),  st*11 
frequently  borne  by  merchant  vessels  in  the 
Levant.  In  what  circumstances  are  vessels 
allowed  to  carry  that  historic  flag?  Are 
these  vessels  Maltese  ?  I  know  that  the  order 
is  still  called  the  "  sovereign  order  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,"  and  finds  a  place 
among  the  sovereign  Slates  in  the  "Almanach 
de  Gotha,"  but  upon  what  grounds? 

M.  R.  G.  F. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL. 

Chalcelet.  —  What  species  of  bird  is  that 
which  is  called  chalcelet  by  the  heralds  ? 

ROBERT  JAY. 
OREGON  CITY. 

Barber-Surgeon.  —  Are  there  barber- 
surgeons  at  present  in  any  part  of  the  civil- 
ized world  ?  J.  L.  WARDON. 

NEW  YORK. 

Hand  Of  Justice.  —  Lady  Jackson's 
"  Court  of  France,"  Vol.  i,  p.  4,  has  a  de- 
scription of  the  funeral  pageant  made  for 
Anne  of  Brittany,  wife  of  Louis  XII,  in 
1514,  when  an  effigy  of  the  late  queen  arrayed 
in  royal  robes  was  borne  on  a  litter  above 
the  coffin.  The  accout  continues:  "Her 
right  hand  held  the  sceptre,  her  left  the 
*  hand  of  justice.  '  '  ' 

What  was  this?  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Wupperthal  Poets.  —  Who  were,  or 
are,  the  Wupperthal  Poets? 

McPHAIL, 

'OWA  CITY. 


Coxne  as  High  From  Tripoli.— 
"  Sir  John  Daw  :  *  Then  you  have  activity 
beside.' 

"La  Foole  :  'I  protest,  Sir  John,  you  come 
as  high  from  Tripoli  as  I  do,  every  whit, 
and  lift  as  many  joined  stools,  and  leap  over 
them,  if  you  would  use  it '  "  (Ben  Johnson's 
"  Silent  Woman,"  Act.  v,  Sc.  i  ;  Morley's 
"Univ.  Lib.  Ed.,"  p.  253). 

What  is  the  explanation  of  the  italicized 
phrase?  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Staked  Plain.— Why  is  the  Staked 
Plain,  or  Llano  Estacado,  called  by  these 
names?  Some  books  tell  us  that  it  is  be- 
cause the  early  travelers  and  trappers  set  up 
stakes  by  means  of  which  they  could  find 
their  way  across  it  ?  Others  say  it  was  named 
from  the  yucca  stalks  which  characterize  its 
surface.  I  hardly  think  the  latter  is  correct* 
For  although  I  never  visited  the  Staked 
Plain  region,  I  know  from  actual  observa- 
tion that  on  some  of  the  coastal  plains  of 
Southwestern  Texas  the  huge  boles  of  the 
yucca  plant  form  a  very  characteristic 
feature.  But  this  very  fact  goes  to  show  that 
the  yucca  stalks  could  not  have  given  a  dis- 
tinctive name  to  the  Llano  Estacado,  since 
they  are  not  a  peculiarity  of  that  region  any 
more  than  of  other  neighboring  regions,  if  as 
much  so.  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


Buddhism  in  Mexico  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  47, 
etc.). — Can  we  not  get  a  little  side-light  on 
this  subject  from  the  fact  that  alike  in  Peru 
and  in  the  great  Buddhistic  region  of  Thibet 
knotted  cords  were  formerly  used  in  place  of 
writing  ?  (See  remarks  by  Prof.  Terrien  de 
Lacouperie,  in  "  Encyc.  Britannica,"  near 
the  end  of  Art.  "  Tibet.")  N.  S.  S. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Pine  Figure  (Vol.  v,  p.  279). — Anti- 
quarians are  not  altogether  agreed  as  to  the 
origin  of  this  figure.  What  is  called  the 
"pine-apple  pattern  "  is,  according  to  Prof. 
J.  H.  Middleton  (Art.  "Textiles,"  in 
"  Encyc.  Brit."),  derived  from  the  artichoke 
plant.  X.  Y.  Z. 


December  6,  1890.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Amerigo  Vespucci. — "Among  biblio- 
philes the  early  editions  of  the  '  Letters  of 
Amerigo  Vespucci '  have  a  high  value. 
Some  years  since  in  a  London  catalogue 
two  editions  were  marked  ^84.  In  the 
John  Carter  Brown  Library  or  Providence, 
R.  I.,  there  are  eight  different  editions  of  this 
small,  but  rare  and  costly  book — five  in  the 
Latin  language,  two  in  German,  and  one  in 
Dutch.  The  story  of  how  Mr.  Brown  obtained 
this  last  has  been  circulated  before,  but  it  is 
worth  repeating,  because  I  do  not  think  it 
has  been  put  in  print.  I  give  it  as  I  heard 
it  in  the  words  of  a  newspaper  man  who  had 
opportunities  to  be  well  informed.  One  of 
the  most  distinguished  book  collectors  was 
F.  Muller,  of  Amsterdam.  He  sent  to  Mr. 
F.  C.  Harris,  of  Providence,  a  sheet  or  two 
of  a  recently  printed  catalogue  of  certain 
rare  books  he  had  for  sale.  In  looking  over 
the  list,  Mr.  Harris  noticed  this  Dutch  edi- 
tion. Not  wishing  to  buy  this  or  any  other 
book  on  the  list  he  sent  the  sheets  to  Mr. 
Brown,  then  at  Saratoga,  knowing  how  de- 
sirous he  was  of  completing  the  Americana 
of  his  library.  Mr.  Brown  determined  to 
possess  the  prize.  As  there  was  every  rea- 
son to  believe  that  book  collectors  in  this 
country  and  Europe  would  be  after  the  book 
as  soon  as  they  heard  of  it,  for  some  of  them 
would  be  certain  to  know  of  its  great  value, 
Mr.  Brown  went  to  the  expense  of  cabling 
for  it.  Ten  days  later  the  treasured  volume 
came  to  hand.  Mr.  Muller  accompanied 
the  tiny  parcel  with  a  note  stating  that  four 
hours  after  the  cablegram  reached  him  the 
mail  brought  an  order  from  Mr.  Lenox,  of 
New  York,  for  the  book,  which  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  sent  if  the  order  had  not 
been  anticipated  by  Mr.  Brown.  The  price 
of  the  volume,  of  some  ten  or  twelve  pages, 
was  put  down  at  1000  florins,  about  $500. 

"  The  general  public,  however,  beyond  the 
elect  precincts  of  bibliophilia,  will  be  more 
interested  in  learning  that  an  examination  of 
these  letters  show  the  innocence  of  Amerigo 
of  any  complicity  in  the  robbery  of  Christo- 
pher Columbus  through  the  medium  of  giv- 
ing his  name  to  the  New  World.  Vespucci 
was  born  of  a  noble  Florentine  family  on 
March  9,  1451,  about  sixteen  years  after  the 
birth  oif  Columbus.  His  early  education 
was  "carefully  attended  to  under  the  direction 


of  his  uncle,  Giorgio  Antonio  Vespucci,  a 
friar  of  the  San  Marco  order.  Little  is 
known  of  the  first  half  century  of  his  life. 
In  1493,  he  was  a  clerk  in  a  commercial 
house  of  Seville — for  the  noble  Italian 
families  of  that  time  were  all  of  the  trading 
kind.  While  all  Spain  was  excitrd  over  the 
return  of  Columbus  from  his  first  voyage, 
and  the  wonders  he  had  to  show  and  tell  of 
the  strange,  new  lands,  Vespucci,  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  accounts,  determined  to  sail 
on  a  voyage  of  discovery  himself.  Some 
writers  assert  that  he  sailed  with  Colum- 
bus on  his  second  voyage,  but  this  is  ques- 
tioned by  others  on  seemingly  good  au- 
thority. He  certainly,  however,  made 
several  voyages  to  different  parts  of  America. 

"On  July  18, 1500,  he  wrote  an  account  of 
one  of  his  voyages,  addressing  his  epistle  to 
Lorenzo  de  Pier  Francisco  de  Medici,  of 
Florence.  Irving  says  this  letter  'remained 
concealed  in  manuscript  until  brought  to- 
light  and  published  in  1745.  In  a  second 
letter,  written  to  the  same  person,  he  gives  an 
account  of  another  voyage  undertaken  in  the 
service  of  the  King  of  Portugal,  and  made- 
in  1501,  in  the  course  of  which  he  visited 
the  coast  of  Brazil.  Subsequently  he  wrote 
a  third  letter  to  Lorenzo,  which  contained  at 
more  extended  account  of  the  voyage  just 
referred  to.'  Another  commentator  says  of 
this  rare  book  that  it  '  is  believed  to  be  the 
oldest  printed  collection  of  voyages  extant. 
It  has  not  the  pages  numbered,  the  sheets- 
are  merely  marked  with  a  letter  of  the 
alphabet  at  the  foot  of  each  eighth  page.  It 
contains  the  earliest  account  of  Columbus, 
from  his  first  departure  until  his  arrival  at 
Cadiz  in  chains.' 

"  This  is  the  voyage  during  which  Colum- 
bus is  said  to  have  discovered  terra  firmat 
which  led  to  the  giving  of  his  name  to  the 
southern  regions  and  afterwards  to  the  whole 
continent.  That  there  was  no  attempt  on 
the  part  of  Vespucci  thus  to  affix  his  name  to- 
this  western  hemisphere,  and  intentionally 
to  rob  Columbus  of  the  plory  which  seemed 
rightfully  to  belong  to  him,  appears  now  to 
be  well  established.  The  very  text  of  his. 
letters,  which  accords  the  honor  of  discovery 
to  Columbus  and  speaks  of  him  with  the 
highest  praise,  should  be  enough  to  prove- 
this.  Harrissee,  who  is  a  high  authority  on* 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [December  o,  1890. 


these  subjects,  says  :  «  Alter  a  diligent  study 
of  all  the  original  documents,  we  feel  con- 
strained to  say  that  there  is  not  a  particle  of 
evidence,  direct  or  indirect,  implicating 
Amerigo  Vespucci  in  an  attempt  to  foist  his 
name  on  this  continent ' — a  statement  fully 
•endorsed  by  Humboldt. 
=  "  If  Columbus  met  with  that  disappoint- 
ment which  comes  of  disregarding  the 
Scriptural  adage,  'Put  not  your  trust  in 
princes,'  so  did  Vespucci.  The  King  of 
Portugal  poorly  requited  him  for  his  services 
as  a  discoverer  and  navigator.  In  1505,  he  re- 
turned to  Spain  seeking  employment,  and 
was  engaged  under  royal  appointment  in 
preparing  charts,  examining  pilots,  superin- 
tending the  fitting  up  of  expeditions  and 
other  similar  work.  During  the  last  few 
years  of  his  life  he  resided  in  Seville,  where 
he  died  on  February  22,  1512  "  (C.,  in  The 
Metropolis). 

Cambuscan  (Vol.  v,  pp.  262,  etc.). — 
Prof.  Morley,  in  his  last  volume  of  "  Eng- 
lish Writers  "  (Vol.  v,  Part  ii,  p.  33.7),  un- 
hesitatingly identifiesCambuscan — Chaucer's 
Cambyuscan — v/ith  "  Cambus,  Genghis  or 
Chinghis  Khan,  the  Mogul  whose  successful 
.attacks  on  China  only  ended  with  his  death 
in  1227." 

Sarra — Chaucer's  Sarray — he  says  "was 
.a  station  on  the  Volga  often  mentioned  by 
the  missionary  friars,  one  of  whom  wrote 
the  conqueror's  name  Camiuscan."  Mr. 
Arthur  Oilman,  the  editor  of  Chaucer  in  the 
Riverside  edition  of  "British  Poets,"  fol- 
lows in  this  connection  the  conclusions 
reached  by  Prof.  Skeat  and  other  close  stu- 
dents of  Chaucer.  Of  the  name  Cambalo 
in  the  text  he  says:  "Cambalo  was  sug- 
gested by  the  Cambaluc  of  Marco  Polo. 
Cambaluc,  now  Pekin,  was  the  seat  and 
•court  of  Kublai  Khan,  and  it  is  here  de- 
•scribed,  though  assigned  to  Gengis  Khan. 
There  is  a  double  confusion  in  the  text. 
Cambyuskan  is  Gengis  Khan  and  Milton's 
•Cambuscan."  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Ivy-bush  (Vol. 

"  When  men  see  the  Ivy-bush  hang  out 
They  knowe  the  change-house." 

(Zachary  Boyd's  "  Zion's  Flowers."  1620.) 


Anagrams  in  Science  (Vol.  v,  pp.  272, 
etc.). — I  suspect  that  amelin,  the  chemi- 
cal name  for  a  certain  compound,  is  a  crude 
anagram  Qimelamin.  The  substance  called" 
amelin  is  a  derivative  from  melamin. 

*     *     * 

Animal  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  46,  etc.).— 
Cats  are  usually  called  by  the  name/ww  (a 
word  which  in  various  forms  exists  in  many 
languages).  Kit  and  kitty  are  also  common. 
In  Scotland,  kit  takes  the  form  of  chect,  and 
in  Cheshire  of  chit.  R.  T.  N. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Cowan  Plant  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  203,  etc.). 
— I  find  accounts  of  a  third  species,  or 
variety,  of  the  "cowan,"  or  cliff  rose. 
Cowania  stansburiana  grows  abundantly  in 
Utah,  near  Salt  Lake.  It  is  said  to  be  called 
alonsenel,  and  is  valued  for  its  styptic  quali- 
ties. Still  another  species  is  C.  ericafolia, 
which  has  white  flowers.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Coleridge's  Escapade  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
40,  etc.). — For  the  verse  written  under 
Coleridge's  saddle,  refer  to  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES,  Vol.  iii,  p.  310,  s.  v.  "Sor- 
row's Crown."  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Dago  (Vol.  v,  p.  31). — In  the  December 
number  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly  for 
1890,  Mr.  Appleton  Morgan  states  that  drr^tf 
is  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  word  hidalgo. 
This,  like  all  new  or  old  etymologies  of 
whatever  description,  needs  to  be  verified  by 
the  "historic  method"  before  it  can.  be 
positively  and  definitely  accepted. 

C.  V.  F. 

LEE,  MASS. 

Playing  Possum  (Vol.  v,  p.  126).— 
I  cannot  throw  much  light,  if  any,  on  the 
subject  introduced  by  C.  S.  P. ;  but  I  feel 
sure  that  the  opossum  is  not  the  only  animal 
that  feigns  death,  or  appears  to  do  so,  in 
time  of  danger.  There  have  been  from 
time  to  time  reports  published,  also,  about 
birds  that  have  played  the  same  little  trick. 

A.O. 
VIRGINIA. 


December  6,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


He  Who  Died  at  Azan  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
29^.  — An  Arabian  Mystic's  View  of  the 
Future  Life,  and  the  Model  of  Edwin 
Arnold's  poem,  "  After  Death  in  Arabia." 

During  his  travels  in  Eastern  Arabia, 
1862-1863,  Palgrave  and  his  companions 
-were  passing  an  evening  in  the  town  of 
Mohanek  or  Maharay,  at  the  house  of  Mog- 
heeth,  an  hospitable  person,  who  pursued 
ihe  double  vocation  of  scribe  and  school- 
master. Mogheeth  was  a  member  of  the 
Kaderee  sect,  and  much  given  to  quiet  con- 
templation. He  naturally  directed  the  con- 
versation into  a  serious  vein,  and  in  the 
course  of  it  related,  on  the  authority  of 
Kaderee  tradition,  the  following  : 

"  The  famous  Ahmed-el-Ghazalee,  native 
of  Toos  or  Tus,  in  Persia,  said  one  day  to  his 
disciples,  '  Go  and  bring  me  new  and  white 
garments,  for  the  king  has  summoned  me  to 
his  presence.'  They  went,  and  on  return- 
ing with  the  objects  required,  found  their 
master  dead  ;  by  his  side  was  a  paper  on 
which  were  written  the  following  stanzas: 

"  Tell  my  friends,  who  behold  me  dead, 
Weeping  and  mourning  my  loss  avvhiie, 
Think  not  this  corpse  before  you  myself: 
That  corpse  is  mine,  but  it  is  not  I, 
I  am  an  undying  life,  and  this  is  but  my  body, 
Many  years  my  home,  and  my  garment  of  change  ; 
.1  am  the  bird,  and  this  body  was  my  cage, 
I  have  winged  my  flight  elsewhere,  and  left  it  for  a 
token. 

I  am  the  pearl,  and  this  my  shell, 

Broken  open  and  abandoned  to  worthlessness  ; 

I  am  the  treasure,  and  this  was  a  spell 

Thrown  over  me,  till  the  treasure  was  released  in  truth, 

Thanks  be  to  God,  who  has  delivered  me, 

And  has  assigned  me  a  lasting  abode  in  the  highest. 

There  am  I  now  this  day  conversing  with  the  happy 

And  beholding  face  to  face  unveiled  Deity ; 

Contemplating  the  mirror  wherein  I  see  and  read 

Past  and  present,  and  whatever  remains  to  be. 

Food  and  drink,  too,  are  mine,  yet  both  are 

Mystery  known  to  him  who  is  worthy  to  know, 

It  is  not  '  wine  sweet  of  taste  '  that  I  drink  ; 

No,  nor  '  water,'  but  the  pure  milk  of  a  mother. 

Understand  my  meaning  aright,  for  the  secret 

Is-  signified  by  words  of  symbol  and  figure — 

I  have  journeyed  on,  and  left  you  behind. 

How  could  I  make  an  abode  of  your  halting  stage  ? 

Ruin  then  my  house,  and  break  my  cage  in  pieces, 

And  let  the  shell  go  perish  with  kindred  illusions  ; 

Tear  my  garment,  the  veil  once  thrown  over  me  ; 

Then  bury  all  these,  and  leave  them  alike  forgotten. 

Deem  not  death,  for  it  is  in  truth 

Life  of  lives,  the  goal  of  all  our  longing; 

Think  lovingly  of  a  God  whose  name  is  Love, 

Who  joys  in  rewarding  and  come  on  secure  of  fear, 

Whence  I  am.  I  behold  you  unrlving  spirits  like  myself, 

'And  see- that  our  lot  is  one,  and  you  as  I." 


There  is  little  in  the  foregoing  lines  fro  re- 
mind one  of  the  sensual  delights  of  a  Mo- 
hammedan Paradise,  for,  as  Mr.  Palgrave 
justly  remarks:  "The  whole  current  of  ideas, 
as  here  expressed,  is,  indeed,  eminently  anti- 
Islamitic"  (see  Palgrave's  "Arabia,"  Vol. 
ii,  Chap.  14).  Al  Gazzali,  the  leader  of 
Arabian  philosophy  in  the  twelfth  century, 
has  been  styled  the  Plato  of  the  Moham- 
medans. He  is  said  to  have  died  at  the 
monastery  of  Tus,  Persia  (mi). 

The  opening  lines  of  the  poem  call  to 
mind  Wordsworth's  "Comparison  of  Man's 
Life  to  the  Sparrow:" 

"  Even  such  that  transient  thing 
The  human  soul ;  not  utterly  unknown 
While  in  the  body  lodged,  her  warm  abode  ; 
But  from  what  world  she  came,  what  woe  or  weal 
On  her  departure  waits,  no  tongue  hath  shown." 

Again  the  lines  offer  no  suggestion  of 
"  that  dread  of  something  after  death,"  to 
which  Hamlet  alludes  in  his  considerations 
of  the  "undiscovered  country  from  whose 
bourn  no  traveler  returns ;"  while  one  can 
hardly  fail  to  note  the  contrast  of  the  calm^ 
firm  and  cheerful  conception  of  the  Arabian 
with  the  gloomy  and  hopeless  one  of  Claudio 
in  "  Measure  for  Measure  :" 

"  Ay,  but  to  die,  and  go  we  know  not  where ; 
To  lie  in  cold  obstruction,  and  to  rot ; 
This  sensible  warm  motion  to  become 
A  kneaded  clod." 

(Act.  Hi,  St.  i.) 


F.  T.  C. 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


Underground  Rivers  (Vol.  v,  pp.  273* 
etc.). — In  addition  to  the  numerous  streams 
which  you  have  already  enumerated,  we  may 
mention  the  river  Garonne,  which  flows  for 
about  four  kilometres  directly  under  Mount 
Poumar.  The  river  Sorgue,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Vauchese,  flows  underground  for 
nearly  fifteen  miles.  The  river  Touvre  ift 
France  and  the  Poik  in  Austria  may  be  added 
to  the  list  of  streams  partly  underground. 
According  .to  Hindu  writers,  the  river 
Saraswati,  in  the  Punjab,  flows  underground 
for  many  miles  to  the  junction  of  the  Ganges 
and  the  Jumna  ;  but  in  point  of  fact,  it  seems 
to  be  lost  in  the  desert,  where  it  dries  up. 

R.  J. 

ERIE;  PA: 


7° 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  6,  1890. 


American  and  English  Names  for 
Marshy  Tracts  (Vol.  v,  p.  70). — Mr. 
Capen  does  not  give  swamp  as  a  distinctive 
name,  though  he  uses  the  word  many  times. 
In  the  "American  Encyclopaedia,"  1811, 
announced  on  the  title  page  as  "  From  ihe 
Encyclopedia  Perthensis,  with  Improve- 
ments," in  the  article  on  Virginia,  it  is 
said  :  "  The  whole  country,  before  it  was 
planted,  was  one  continued  forest,  inter- 
spersed with  marshes,  which  in  the  West 
Indies  they  call  swamps."  The  italics  are 
not  mine.  Does  this  imply  that  swamp  was 
originally  a  West  Indian  name  ? 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  M.  C.  L. 

The    Serpent    as  a  Standard. — The 

kings  of  Assyria  and  of  Babylon  adopted  as 
a  standard  a  "  Great  Red  Dragon,"  and 
Cyrus  introduced  a  similar  standard  into  the 
armies  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  (see  Ezek. 
xxix,  3). 

One  of  the  Roman  standards  was  a  ser- 
pent. The  Tartars  carried  a  serpent  stand- 
ard, and  it  will  be  remembered  that  a  ser- 
pent was  the  standard  of  the  tribe  of  Dan, 
allusion  to  which  is  made  in  Gen.  xlix,  17. 

'Ihe  ancient  Britons  adopted  the  dragon 
both  as  a  crest  and  as  a  standard.  Geoffrey 
of  Monmouth  tells  us :  "  When  Aurelius  was 
at  Winchester  there  appeared  to  him  in  the 
sky  a  star  of  wonderful  magnitude  and 
brilliancy,  from  which  there  darted  forth  a 
ray  ending  in  a  fiery  dragon."  He  adds 
that  "  Uther  had  two  golden  dragons  made, 
one  of  which  he  presented  to  Winchester 
and  the  other  he  carried  with  him  as  a  royal 
standard." 

Probably  this  is  a  pure  invention  of  the 
romancing  chronicler  to  account  for  the  title 
of  pendragon  given  to  King  Uther.  But 
dragon  is  the  British  word  for  "  leader," 
and  pen-dragon  means  simply  "  leader-in- 
chief." 

The  Greek  SpdKwv  is  derived  from  Spdia, 
to  be  active,  and  the  Welsh  dragon  is  allied 
to  the  word  draig,  lightning.  Both  express 
the  essential  characteristics  of  a  good 
general,  quick-eyed  and  quick  in  execution. 
Probably  the  astronomical  symbol  of  the 
planet  Jupiter  (a  serpent  on  a  cross),  and  the 
coiled  dragon  at  the  base  of  Satan,  refer  to 
similar  vigilance  and  activity.  *  *  * 


Famous  Men  of  Humble  Origin 
(Vol.  vi,  p.  34). — Mark  Akenside,  henry 
Kirke  White  and  John  Keats. — Mark  Aken- 
side,  as  has  already  been  noted,  was  the  son 
of  a  butcher.  The  poet  of  the  "  Pleasures 
of  the  Imagination  "  bore  through  life  are- 
minder  of  his  origin  in  his  lame-ness  occa- 
sioned by  a  butcher's  cleaver  falling  on  his 
foot  when  he  was  seven  years  old. 

Henry  Kirke  White,  who  died  of  consump- 
tion at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  was  also  the 
son  of  a  butcher,  and  assisted  his  father  in 
his  business  until  fourteen  years  of  age.  Of 
this  disadvantage,  Mr.  Southey  says  :  "  Mrs. 
White  had  not  yet  overcome  her  husband's 
intention  of  breeding  him  up  to  his  own  busi- 
ness, and  by  an  arrangement  which  took  up 
too  much  of  his  time,  and  would  have 
crushed  his  spirit,  if  that  '  mounting  spirit ' 
could  have  been  crushed,  one  whole  day 
in  the  week,  and  his  leisure  hours  on  the 
others,  were  employed  in  carrying  the 
butcher's  basket." 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  Henry  was  placed 
in  a  stocking-loom,  for  a  term  of  seven 
years;  but  he  showed  such  distaste  for  this 
occupation,  that  at  the  end  of  one  year  he 
was  placed,  much  against  his  father's  wishes, 
in  the  law  office  of  Messrs.  Coldham  and  En- 
field.  Such  were  some  of  the  drawbacks 
with  which  this  remarkable  youth  had  to 
contend,  and  who  became  the  subject  of  a 
beautiful  tribute  from  Lord  Byron  : 

"  Oh  !  what  a  noble  heart  was  here  undone, 
When  Science  'self  destroyed  her  favorite  son  ! 
Yes.  she  too  much  indulged  thy  fond  pursuit, 
She  sowed  the  seeds,  but  death  has  reap'd  the  fruit. 
'Twas  thine  own  genuis  gave  the  final  blow, 
And  helped  to  plant  the  wound  that  laid  tliee  low. 
So  the  struck  eagle  stretch'd  upon  the  plain, 
No  more  through  rolling  clouds  to  soar  again, 
View'd  his  own  feather  on  the  fatal  dart, 
And  wing'd  the  shaft  that  quiver'd  in  his  heart; 
Keen  were  his  pangs,  but  keener  far  to  feel, 
He  nurs'd  the  pinion  which  impell'd  the  steel, 
While  the  same  plumage  that  had  warm'd  his  rest. 
Drank  the  last  life-drop  of  his  bleeding  breast." 

Lord  Byrori,  in  a  letter  five  years  subse- 
quent to  White's  death,  expresses  his  high 
opinion  of  the  poet's  character  and  genius. 
He  says  :  "  Setting  aside  bigotry,  he  surely 
ranks  next  to  Chatterton.  It  is  astonishing 
how  little  he  was  known,  and  at  Cambridge 
no  one  thought  or  heard  of  such  a  man  till 
his  death  rendered  all  notices  useless.  For 


December  6,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


my  part,  I  should  have  been  most  proud  of 
such  an  acquaintance;  his  very  prejudices 
were  respectable." 

In  the  case  of  John  Keats,  "  the  .caprice 
of  genius  is  strikingly  exemplified  in  his 
parentage.  His  maternal  grandfather  was 
John  Jennings,  the  proprietor  of  a  livery 
stable  in  Lower  Moorfields,  whose  daughter 
Frances  married  the  head  stableman,  Thomas 
Keats."  John,  the  oldest  child  of  Thomas 
and  Frances  Keats,  was  born  in  the  stable. 
Such  was  the  origin  of  the  poet  whose  creed 
was : 

"  Beauty  is  truth,  truth  beauty — this  is  all 
Ye  know  on  earth,  and  all  ye  need  to  know." 

(See  London  Quar.  Rev.,  April,  1888.) 

MENONA. 

Norwegian  Skating  Riflemen  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  311,  etc.). — In  a  previous  commu- 
nication a  doubt  was  expressed  whether  or 
not  the  corps  of  Norwegian  Skate-rifle- 
men had  been  suppressed.  According  to 
the  "Grand  Dictiunnaire  Universel "  of 
Pierre  Larousse,  Paris,  1874,  this  corps 
still  exists,  for  under  the  head  of  "Skater  " 
(Patineur),  Art.  "  Milit.,"  it  reads:  "A 
soldier  equipped  for  manoeuvring  on  the 
ice."  "Encyclo.,"  Ait.  "Milit.:"  "In 
Norway  there  is  a  special  regiment  of 
skaters.  This  regiment  comprises  four  com- 
panies and  is  composed  of  soldiers  provided 
with  skates  extremely  long,  by  means  of  which 
with  facility  they  mount  ordescend  the  high- 
est mountains.  Their  uniform  isadark green, 
and  their  arms  are  a  light  musket  [rifle]  and 
a  sabre-poniard.  Each  soldier  is  provided 
with  a  staff,  seven  feet  long,  shod  with  iron, 
with  the  aid  of  which  he  accelerates  or 
slackens  his  speed  and  maintains  his  balance. 
He  plunges  it  into  the  snow  when  desirous 
of  stopping,  and  it  serves  as  a  prop  or  support 
to  steady  him  in  taking  aim."  Then  in  the 
article  "Norway"  (Ni-rege),  Larousse  states : 
"To  travel  over  the  snow, theNorwegians  wear 
on  their  feet  long  strips  of  wood  {Sietks} 
[such  as  were  described  in  another  com- 
munciation  as  worn  by  the  Lapps],  which 
enables  them  to  move  with  astonishing 
agility,"  This  testimony  would  seem  to  be 
conclusive.  ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


Notes  on  Words.  —  Chank?—  This 
word,  in  the  sense  of  to  champ,  to  chew,  is 
marked  obsolete  in  "  Murray's  Diet."  It 
is  a  common  rustic  word  in  various  parts  of 
this  country.  "  App'.e-chankings  "  are  the 
chewed-up  and  rejected  parts  of  an  apple. 

Candlewood  (Vol.  v,  p.  295). — Accord- 
ing to  "  Murray's  Diet.,"  candlewood  in 
New  England  is  resinous  pine  used  to  burn 
instead  of  candles.  The  same  work  men- 
tions candletree  as  a  name  for  the  wax  myr- 
tle, a  shrub  common  enough  in  New  Eng- 
land. The  catalpa  is  also  called  candle- 
wood. 

Pick-me-up.  —  This  slang  name  for  a 
"  bracer,"  or  stimulant  dram,  or  its  equiva- 
lent, seems  exactly  matched  by  the  Greek 
word  dyatynTiKHq,  which  literally  means 
"taking  up,"  and  which  is  applied  to  a 
restorative  medicine. 

Sprogoe  (Vol.  iv,  p.  7 ;  Vol.  v,  p.  45), 
— In  place  of  Ballyhack,  or  Hackney- Barney, 
the  Danes  send  undesirable  people  to 
Sprogoe:  "I  wish  he  were  at  Sprogoe." 
This  is  an  islet,  in  the  direct  route  between 
Denmark  and  Sweden,  midway  between 
Korsor  and  Nyeborg,  the  opposite  ports  on 
the  islands  of  Zealand  and  Funen.  In  cross- 
ing in  winter,  passengers  are  often  storm- 
staid  on  this  islet  for  several  days,  an  ex- 
perience without  much  comfort. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  M.  C.  L. 

Twice-born  Rajahs  (Vol.  v,  p.  in), 
— To  Mr.  Jones'  account  of  the  second  birth 
of  the  maharajahs  of  Travancore  some  other 
points  of  interest  might  be  added.  The  cow 
which  acts  the  part  of  a  second  mother  in 
these  cases  has  to  be  made  of  pure  gold,  of 
exactly  the  weight  of  the  new  monarch. 
After  the  process  of  birth  has  been  gone 
through,  the  golden  mother  is  broken  in 
pieces  and  the  lumps  are  given  out  to  various 
Brahmans  as  tokens  of  the  royal  favor.  But 
even  after  this  strange  process  has  been  per- 
formed, with  all  its  pomp  and  punctilio,  the 
maharajah  remains  in  theory  very  much  be- 
low the  Brahmans  in  social  rank.  He  has 
the  unique  privilege  of  seeing  a  Brahman 
eat,  but  he  would  not  on  any  account  think 
of  aspiring  to  eat  with  one.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [December  6,  1890. 


The  Initial  LI  (Vol.  v,  p.  129).— Let 
me  try  to  explain  the  Welsh  //  sound,  and 
its  mechanism,  as  I  understand  it.  The  lips 
are  held  apart,  the  tip  of  the  tongue  being 
pressed  against  the  roof  of  the  mouth  just 
back  of  the  teeth,  so  as  to  prevent  the  for- 
ward expulsion  of  the  air.  The  teeth  may 
be  closed  or  not.  The  breath  is  now  forci- 
bly driven  through  the  teeth  and  cheek 
spaces  on  both  sides,  or  on  one  side.  At 
first  the  sound  is  not  vocalic,  but  it  rapidly 
glides  into  a  slightly  vocalized  /sound.  If 
tne  tongue  fails  to  close  the  forward  part  of 
the  mouth,  we  get  a  thl  sound,  which  is  not 
•vyhat  is  wanted.  Some  people  sound  it  much 
like  el,  which  is  equally  incorrect.  I  fancy 
that  there  are  several  slightly  variant  pro- 
nunciations. I  learned  the  above  pronuncia- 
tion from  an  Aberdare  man  thirty  years 
since,  or  more.  I  was  assured  by  him  that 
I  had  caught  the  pronunciation  perfectly. 
Others  have  told  me  the  same  thing  since, 
but  of  course  I  do  not  feel  sure  of  it.  I  may 
have  failed,  too,  in  giving  a  description  of 
the  process  of  forming  the  sound,  but  the 
above  I  believe  to  be  correct. 

M.  J.  M. 

CAIRO,  ILL. 

Reindeer  Moss. — The  text-books  say 
that  this  lichen,  Cladonia  rangifcrina,  is 
abundant  in  North  America  and  in  Europe, 
and  that  in  Scandinavia  large  quantities  are 
used  as  a  source  of  alcoholic  spirits.  Why 
could  that  not  be  done  here,  so  as  to  save 
our  bread-stuffs  for  some  better  use  ?  Another 
valuable  northern  lichen,  the  Cttraria 
islandica,  or  Iceland  moss,  is  said  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly abundant  in  some  parts  of  New 
England.  It  is  capable  of  being  put  to 
various  industrial  and  commercial  uses,  and 
might  without  a  doubt  be  utilized  as  a  source 
of  alcohol.  L.  M.  B. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

A  Lady  in  the  Case  (Vol.  iv,  p.  90). 
— In  Sheridan's  "  The  Rivals,"  written  for 
Covent  Garden  Theatre  in  1774,  and  pro- 
duced January  17,  1775,  Thomas,  Sir 
Anthony  Absolute's  "gentleman,"  remarks 
to  Fag.  Capt.  Absolute's  "  gentleman  :"  "  I 
guessed  there  was  a  lady  in  the  case. ' ' 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Forecasts  of  the  Phonograph  (Vol. 
v,  p.  292). — "  Captain  Vasterlitch  has  re- 
turned from  a  voyage  in  Australasia,  under- 
taken  by  order  of  the  States  of  Holland  a 
year  and  a  half  ago.  Among  other  things, 
he  reports  having  passed  by  a  strait  below 
that  of  Magellan  ;  he  landed  in  a  country 
where  nature  has  furnished  men  with  certain 
sponges  which  retain  sounds  and  the  articu- 
late voice,  as  other  sponges  do  liquors,  so 
that  when  they  wish  to  ask  something  orcon- 
fer  at  a  distance,  they  speak  into  one  of  these 
sponges  and  send  it  to  their  friends,  who 
having  received  it,  press  it  gently  and  make 
the  words  come  out." 

The  above  account  was  found  by  Lieut. - 
Col.  A.  de  Rochas  in  the  April  number  of 
the  Courrier  Veritable,  a  small  monthly  jour- 
nal published  in  1632.  MENONA. 

Orllie  I  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  51,  etc.). — A  full 
biography  of  this  king  can  be  found  in 
Appleton's  "  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biog- 
raphy," 1888.  THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Notes  from  the  Morte  Darthur,  73— Titles  of  Eng- 
lish Poets — Origin  of  Some  Names,  74. 

QUERIES  :— Longest  English  Play— Brook  Farm— Icaria— 
The  Bayard  of  the  American  Revolution — Madawaska  Jump- 
ers— Hermit  of  Lampedusa,  75. 

REPLIES:— Come,  Push  the  Bowl  About— Me  and  Jim- 
Blowing  Cave,  75— Tube,  I  Love  Thee,  etc.— To  Fire,  to 
Eject— Hand  of  Justice  — Bungtown  Coppers— Frenchtown— 
Barber-Surgeons — Campveer,  76. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  : —Charley-horse 
— Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig— Man  of  Extensive  Misinfor- 
mation—Hep—  Ever-burning  Lamps  —  Making  History — 
Tyrwhit— Rouchi— Evergreen  on  New  Buildings— Sasserara 
— Authorship  Wanted,  77,  78. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Chinook  Jargon,  78— Evil  Eye,  79— 
Men  as  Trees— Prong — Dago— Calf— Snowdon — Zohrab — St. 
Tammany,  80— Origin  of  Some  Names — Lake.s  Drained — 
Cattle  Calls,  81— Skating  Riflemen— Hayes— Naijack— Sham- 
rock—Hild  f->r  Held— Chewing-gum— Serpent  as  a  Standard 
—Life  is  Short,  etc.,  82— Compass  Plant— Pets  of  Famous 
People— Lakes  with  Two  Outlets— London  Quarterly  Review 
—Isle  .of  Dogs— City  of  Is—  Kim-kinik— Swamp-Apples,  83— 
Llano  Estacado,  84. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS:— 84. 


NOTES  FROM  THE  "  MORTE  DARTHUR." 

Bred  in  the  Bone. — "  Thenne  syr  launce- 
lot  smyled  and  said,  hard  hit  is  to  take  out 
of  the  flesshe  that  is  bred  in  the  bone,  and 
soo  maade  hem  mery  to  gyders  "  (Cap. 
xxxix). 

Little  Britain  (Vol.  v,  pp.  12,  etc.).— 
"  And  hit  was  told  him  that  syr  Tristram  was 
in  petyte  Bretayne  with  Isoud  la  blaunche 
manys  "  (Cap.  xliiii). 

Triple  Negative.—"  Thenne  sir  Tnan 
sent  Kynge  Mark  another  spere  to  luste 
more.  But  in  no  wyse  he  wold  not  luste  no 
more  "  (Bk.  x,  Cap.  ix). 

Mother's  Son. — "He  casteth  that  we  shalle 
neuer  escape  moder  son  of  vs  "  (Ibid. ,  Cap. 
xxix). 

Bloody  Shirt  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  83,  237).— 
<(  Now  torne  we  ageyne  vnto  sire  Alysander, 


74 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [December  13,  1890. 


that  at  his  departynge  from  his  moder  toke 
with  hym  his  faders  blody  sherte.  Soo  that 
he  bare  with  hym  alweyes  tylle  hys  dethe 
daye,  in  tokenynge  to  thynke  on  his  faders 
dethe." 

Double  Negative. — "  They  alle  desyred 
syre  Tristram  to  goo  wyth  hem  to  their 
lodgynge,  and  he  said  nay,  he  wold  not  go 
to  no  lodgynge"  (Malory's  "  Morte  Dar- 
thur,"  Cap.  xxiii,  near  the  end). 

"  Thenne  sire  Dynadan  wold  not  lodge 
there  in  no  manere  "  {Ibid.,  Cap.  xxiiii). 

Two  Mile. — "And  soo  they  dyd,  and 
overtoke  Sir  Dynadan,  and  rode  to  their 
lodgynge  two  myle  thens "  (Ibid.,  Cap. 
xxiiii). 

"  So  sire  Tristram  rode  with  that  damoy- 
sel  a  vj  myle  "  (Ibid.). 

Bay  Window  (Vol.  vi,  p.  57). — "  Ryght 
as  they  stode  thus  talkyne  at  a  bay  windowe 
of  that  castle"  (Ibid.,  Cap.  xxvii). 

Cause  IVhy. — "  Syr  said  sir  Palomydes  I 
am  ful  lothe  to  haue  adoo  with  that  knyght 
and  cause  why  is,  for  as  to  morne  the  grete 
turnement  shalle  be  "  (Ibid.,  Cap.  xxix). 

Great  Britain  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  238,  etc.). 
— "And  soo  by  fortune  they  came  in  to  this 
land  that  at  that  tyme  was  called  grete  Bre- 
tayne  (Bk.  xiii,  Cap.  x)  [This  example  is 
more  than  100  years  earlier  than  any  you 
have  published,  the  Latin  examples  (Britan- 
nia magna  and  major)  being  excepted.] 

<  'A  purpose, ' '  Jor  ' '  on  purpose. " — "And 
soo  they  lete  theyr  horses  renne,  and  Syr 
Tristram  myssid  him  a  purpose"  (Bk.  x, 
Cap.  Ixii.) 

What  {the'}  Devil.— "  Wei,  wel,  said 
Dynadan  to  launcelot,  what  deuylle  doo  ye 
in  this  Country,  for  here  may  no  meane 
knyghtes  wynne  no  worship"  (Ibid.,  Cap. 
xlviii).  [The  spelling  deuylle  for  devil  occurs 
elsewhere  in  the  Sommer  reprint  of  the  Cax- 
ton  edition.  I  at  first  thought  that  deuylle 
meant  dole  in  the  Scottish  sense  of  crajt, 
mischief,  but  that  I  think  is  untenable. 
Sommer's  "Glossary,"  in  many  respects 
admirable,  is  not  complete  ;  I  note  several 
i  iteresting  words  which  he  has  missed. 
Dynadan,  a  very  rough-spoken  man,  often 
refers  to  the  devil  in  his  talk.] 


TITLES  OF  ENGLISH  POETS. 

The  moral  Gower. 
Gentle  Shakespeare ;  bard  of  Avon. 
Rare  Ben  Johnson  ;  royal  Ben. 
Rare  Sir  William  D'Avenant. 
The  tender  Otway. 
Granville,  the  polite. 
The  resolute  John  Florio. 
Holy  Herbert. 

Chaucer,  well  of  English  undefiled. 
W.  Browne,  the  shepherd  of  Hitchin  hill. 
Gasooigne,  the  Green  Knight. 
Dryden,  poet  squab. 

H.  Vaughan,  the  Silurist,  the  .  Swan  of 
Usk. 

Cowper,  the  bard  of  Olney. 
Pope,  the  bard  of  Twickenham. 

R.  M.  N. 

ORIGIN  OF  SOME  NAMES. 

(VOL.  vi,  p.  61.) 

The  following  are  additional  derivations 
and  meanings  of  names  of  some  prominent 
men  of  the  present  day  : 

Pattison. — This  is  an  Irish  name  and 
means  the  son  of  Patrick.  The  name  Patter- 
son is  the  same.  Patrick  is  derived  from  the 
Latin  Patricius,  meaning  noble,  a  senator. 
The  name  was  bestowed  upon  the  eldest  sons 
of  the  Roman  senators. 

Delamater. — This  is  a  French  name  from 
Le  Maitre,  meaning  the  preceptor,  a  master, 
or  landlord. 

Cameron  is  Gaelic,  from  Cam,  crooked, 
and  sron,  nose,  hence  hooked  nose. 

Blaine.— This  name  is  from  the  town  of 
Blain  in  France.  It  has  also  a  claim  to 
Welsh  origin,  and  in  that  case  it  signifies 
the  summit  or  top. 

Tilman. — The  farmer  or  Alliance  Gover- 
nor of  South  Carolina  is  well  named,  as  his 
name  means  tiller  of  the  soil. 

Parnell. — The  deposed  Irish  leader  has  not 
an  Irish  name.  It  comes  from  Italy,  and 
is  derived  from  Petronilla,  a  pretty  stone, 
and  also  an  immodest  girl. 

McCarthy. — This  name  is  pure  Irish  and 
means  the  son  of  Canthack,  who  was  an  Irish 
chieftain  of  the  eleventh  century. 

Dillon  is  Welsh,  from  Dillyn,  meaning 
handsome,  brave. 

Vanderbilt  is  Dutch,  from  Byl,  a  hatchet 


December  13,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


75 


or  bill.  The  ship  carpenters  in  Amsterdam 
were  nicknamed  Die  Byltye,  the  hatchet  or 
bill  men.  Van,  the  Dutch  for  the  word  of. 
Hence  Van  die  bilt,  or  of  the  bill  men. 

Astor  is  Scandinavian,  from  the  town  of 
Oster,  in  Jutland,  meaning  star. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  FA. 

^UE  1^1  E  S. 

Longest  English  Play. — What  is  the 
longest  English  play  ?  N.  M. 

ERIE,  PA. 

It  is  said  that  Barten  Holyday's  "Tech- 
nogamia  ;  or,  The  Marriages  of  the  Arts ' ' 
(1618)  has  this  distinction,  but  there  is  much 
room  for  doubt  on  this  point. 

Brook  Farm. — Who  were  the  members  of 
the  Brook  Farm  community  ? 

J.  REYBOLD. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

We  know  of  no  complete  list.  George 
Ripby,  N.  Hawthorne,  C.  A.  Dana,  J.  S. 
Dwight,  I.  T.  Hecker,  J.  Orvis,  Mrs.  Orvis, 
Maria  J.  Pratt,  H.  B.  Trask,  J.  Butterfield, 
Mrs.  Butterfield,  John  Sawyer  and  wife,  H. 
B.  Trask,  Mr.  Morton  and  his  young  daugh- 
ter (now  Mrs.  A.  M.  Diaz),  these  are  a  few 
of  the  names. 

Icaria. — Does  the  Icaria  colony  of  Iowa 
still  exist  ?  MARDONIUS. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

We  understand  that  the  Icaria-Speranza 
colony  of  California  is  an  offshoot  of  the 
Icarian  experiment. 

The  Bayard  of  the  American  Revolution. 

—Who  bore  this  title  ?  W.  C.  B. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Nobody  ever  bore  this  title  during  his 
life,  but  John  Laurens  (1756-1782)  is  some- 
times so  called  by  historical  writers. 

Madawaska  Jumpers.— Please  direct  me 
to  some  trustworthy  work  in  which  I  can 
find  an  account  of  the  "  Madawaska 
Jumpers"  of  Northern  Maine.  R.  R.  T. 

FREMONT,  O. 


Consult  the  writings  of  the  late  Dr.  G.  M. 
Beard,  who  visited  the  "  Jumping  French- 
men "  and  made  accurate  observations  of 
their  peculiar  malady.  Dr.  Hammond's 
treatise  on  "  Nervous  Diseases"  also  sum- 
marizes what  is  known  on  the  subject. 

Hermit  of  Lampedusa. — Who  was  known 
by  this  name  ?  S.  B.  A. 

SAG  HARBOR. 

In  the  folk-lore  of  Sicily,  this  hermit  acts 
the  part  of  the  Vicar  of  Bray  in  England. 
He  was  either  Christian  or  Moslem  accord- 
ing to  the  religion  of  the  parties  that  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  ascendency  on  his  island. 
Two  hermits  of  Lampedusa  figure  in  Wie- 
land's  "  Klelia  und  Sinibald." 

REPLIES. 

Come,  Push  the  Bow/  About  (Vol.  iv,  p. 
137). — This  song  is  a  variant  of  one  in 
Fletcher's  play,  "The  Bloody  Brother" 
(1624).  It  begins: 

"  Drink  to-day,  and  drown  all  sorrow," 

and  ends, 


"  And  he  that  will  go  to  bed  sober, 
Falls  with  the  leaf  still  in  October." 


G. 


Me  and  Jim  (Vol.  vi,  p.  29). — I  think  it 
not  impossible  that  the  piece  of  verse  your 
querist  asks  for  may  be  one  which  first  ap- 
peared in  The  Century  magazine  for  June, 
1884,  p.  320.  It  is  entitled  "  Spacially 
Jim,"  and  is  signed  "  B.  M."  A  parody 
on  this  piece,  having  a  political  cast,  had 
considerable  currency  in  the  newspapers  a 
few  months  later.  J.  V.  D. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Blowing  Cave  (Vol.  vi,  p.  53). — On  a 
hilltop  near,  the  Susquehanna  river,  a  short 
distance  below  York  Furnace  Bridge,  Mar- 
tic  township,  Lancaster  county,  Pa.,  is 
what  may  be  denominated  a  "  blowing 
cave,"  and  there  may  be  many  such  places 
if  they  were  noted.  This  is  not  what  is 
known  exactly  as  a  cave,  but  it  is  a  constant 
cold  draft  of  air  issuing  from  apertures  or 


76 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [December  13,  1890. 


fissures  in  the  rocks,  and  is  always  made  a 
point  of  visitation  by  pleasure  seekers  dur- 
ing their  picnics  in  the  summer  season,  and 
at  other  times  when  in  its  vicinity. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

If  Lucius  Mann  will  examine  any 
recent  history  of  Virginia,  or  possibly 
some  of  the  tourist  guide-books,  he  will 
find  an  account  of  the  Blowing  Caves  which 
are  in  the  Allegheny  mountains,  about  forty 
miles  north  of  Staunton.  These  caves  ex- 
hale a  cool  air  in  the  summer  and  inhale  the 
air  in  the  winter  season. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Tube,  I  Love  Thee,  etc.  (Vol.  v,  p.  186). 
— The  lines  asked  for  are  from  The  Gentle- 
man's Magazine.  I  do  not  know  the 
author's  name.  They  run  as  follows  : 

"  Tube,  I  love  thee  as  my  life; 
By  thee  I  mean  to  choose  a  wife. 
Tube,  thy  color  let  me  find, 
In  her  skin  and  in  her  mind. 
Let  her  have  a  shape  as  fine, 
Let  her  breath  be  sweet  as  thine ; 
Let  her  when  her  lips  1  kiss, 
B  irn  like  thee  to  give  me  bliss ; 
Let  her,  in  some  smoke  or  other, 
All  my  feelings  kindly  smother. 
Often  when  my  thoughts  are  low, 
Send  them  where  they  ought  to  go  ; 
When  to  study  I  incline, 
Let  her  aid  be  such  as  thine  ; 
Such  as  thine  the  charming  pow'r 
In  the  vacant  social  hour. 
Let  her  live  and  give  delight, 
Ever  warm  and  ever  bright ; 
Let  her  deeds  whene'er  she  dies, 
Mount  as  incense  to  the  skies." 


W.  W.  R. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


To  Fire,  To  Eject  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  60, 
etc.). — In  "  Ralph  Roister  Doister,"  Actus 
iiii,  Scsena  iii,  Ralph's  suit  to  Christian 
Custance  having  failed,  the  rejected  Ralph 
threatens  thus  :  "  Nay  dame,  I  will  fire  thee 
out  of  thy  house,  and  destroy  thee  and  all 
thine,  and  that  by  and  by."  Ralph  then 
goes  away  and  collects  a  body  of  men,  "  by 
plaine  force  and  violence  to  drive  you  to 
yelde."  Nothing  more  is  said  about  fire. 
In  Actus  iiii,  Scaena  viii,  Ralph  and  his  fol- 
lowers "shake  the  house  wall,"  Matthew 
Merrygreeke  having  promised  to  discharge 


his  "  harquebouse  "  and  his  "pot-goon." 
(This  is  the  only  firing  in  the  piece,  I 
think.)  Dame  Custance  then  goes  out  with 
her  three  maid-servants  and  Tom  Truepenie, 
her  serving-man,  and  attacks  the  party  and 
puts  them  to  rout.  I  cannot  perceive  in  the 
piece  any  evidence  which  goes  to  settle  the 
question  in  either  way.  To  fire  may  here 
mean  simply  to  burn,  or  it  may  mean  to  expel. 

G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 

Hand  of  Justice  (Vol.  vi,  p.  66).— The 
"  hand  of  justice  "  is  a  sceptre  about  a  foot 
and  a  half  long,  with  an  ivory  hand  at  the 
end.  It  was  used  as  an  insignia  of  kings.  Louis 
X  of  France  first  took  the  "  hand  of  jus- 
tice for  his  device."  All  of  the  old  French, 
Italian  and  English  kings  are  painted  with 
this  symbol  in  their  left  hand. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Bungtown  Coppers  (Vol.  vi,  p.  53). — 
Among  numismatists  this  term  is  often  used 
to  designate  any  battered  or  otherwise 
mutilated  old  coins,  which  on  account  of 
their  poor  condition  have  practically  no 
value.  The  writer  does  not  know  how  the 
words  originated,  but  they  have  been  in  use 
for  the  past  fifty  or  sixty  years. 

J.  C.  RANDALL. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Frenchtown  (Vol.  vi,  p.  6). — Islander 
will  find  that  this  old  historical  town  has 
still  a  place  on  the  maps  and  is  mentioned 
in  the  gazetteers.  THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Barber-Surgeons  (Vol.  vi,  p.  66). — I  read 
some  years  since  in  a  newspaper  that  the 
surgeons  of  the  Swedish  navy  act  regularly 
asbarbers,  also.  I  question,  however,  whether 
this  rule  has  not  been  changed. 

E.  M.  K. 

Campveer  (Vol.  vi,  p.  53). — This  is  a 
small  fortified  town  in  the  Netherlands,  now 
known  by  the  name  of  Vere,  Veere,  or  Ter- 
vere.  A  good  account  of  the  town  can  be 
found  in  "  Chambers'  Encyclopaedia." 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


December  13,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


77 


TO 


Charley-hprse.— What  is  the  origin 
iis  word  ?    It  is  a  base-ball  player's  nan 


i  Of 

this  word  ?  It  is  a  base-ball  player's  Tiame 
for  stiffness  and  weakness  of  the  joints  and 
limbs,  due  to  overexercise. 

R.  B.  DUTTON. 
LYONS,  MICH. 

Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig.— 

What  is  meant  by  this  term,  which  I  find  in 
an  old  deed  recently  placed  on  record  here  ? 
The  term  seems  to  intimate  that  a  sample  of 
the  soil  and  a  branch  of  a  tree  were  actually 
handed  over  to  represent  the  entire  convey- 
ance. When  did  the  custom  cease  to  be 
observed  in  this  country,  or  was  it  ever 
general  in  deeding  real  estate?  The  deed 
in  which  I  observed  it  was  executed  in  1721. 

ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 
NOR.RISTOWN,  PA. 

Man  of  Extensive  Misinformation. 

—  Can  some  one  give  me  the  origin  of  this  : 
"  He  was  a  man  of  large  requirements  and 
of  varied  and  extensive  misinformation." 

JOHN  DEWITT  MILLER. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Hep  (Vol.  vi,  p.  19).—  What  is  the 
,origin  of  the  old  anti-Semitic  cry  of  hep, 
hep  ?  I  know  the  standard  explanation  of- 
fered in  the  books,  that  it  signified  Hieroso- 
lyma  est  perdita,  "  Jerusalem  has  been  de- 
stroyed." But  what  significance  was  there 
in  that  fact  ?  If  it  had  been  Hierosolymita 
sunf  perdendi,  it  would  have  meant  some- 
thing. Is  not  hep,  hep,  identical  with  the 
hip,  hip  of  our  modern  hip,  hip,  hurrah  ? 

P.  R.  E. 

Ever-burning  Lamps.—  Can  any  of 
the  readers  of  AMERICAN  No  TES  AND  QUERIES 
inform  me  of  the  names  of  any  books  that 
give  an  account  of  the  various  so-called 
"  ever-burning  lamps?"  Hargrave  Jennings' 
"  Rosicrucians  "  refers  briefly  to  some  of 
these  lamps,  but  I  should  like  to  find  a  more 
detailed  narrative  of  the  most  noted  in- 
stances of  the  alleged  preparation,  use,  and 
discovery  of  these  marvelous  light  producers. 

W.  E.  C. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


Making  History. — Upon  what  occa- 
sion and  by  whom  was  some  great  action 
spoken  of  as  "  making  history  ?" 

H.  L.  B. 

Tyrwhit.— This  is  said  to  be  the  old  name 
of  some  kind  of  bird.  If  so,  what  bird  was 
thus  designated  ?  L.  A.  A. 

SACO,  ME. 

Rouchi. — In  what  part  of  France  is  that 
dialect  (or  patois)  spoken  which  is  called 
Rouchi?  N.  S.  SPELMAN. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Evergreen  on  New  Buildings  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  267,  etc.). — I  have  been  asked  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  custom  of  tying  a  cedar  or 
other  evergreen  tree  on  the  top  of  a  new 
building  when  completed.  It  is  said  to  be 
of  German  origin.  Can  you  throw  any 
light  upon  it  ?  ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 

Sasserara. — This  wcrd  occurs  in  "The 
Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  Chap.  xxi.  What 
does  it  mean  ?  I  am  not  satisfied  with  the 
account  of  this  word  in  Webster's  "  Inter- 
national Dictionary."  ISLANDER. 

Authorship  Wanted.  —  And  When 
Once  More  my  Gladdened  Eyes,  etc. — One  day 
a  gentleman  recited  to  a  group  on  the  deck 
of  an  Atlantic  steamer,  as  the  vessel  was  pass- 
ing through  the  Narrows  homeward  bound,  a 
poem,  the  concluding  stanza  of  which  was 
something  like  this : 

"  And  when  once  more  my  gladdened  eyes 

Familiar  scenes  did  scan — 
I  raised  my  hat,  Thank  God,  I  said, 
Je  suis  American !" 

Can  any  one  identify  the  poem  for  me  ? 

JOHN  DEWITT  MILLER. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

And  Helmsley,  Once  Proud  Buckingham's 
Delight,  etc. — Can  you  tell  me  who  wrote 
the  lines  beginning : 

"  And  Helmsley,  once  proud  Buckingham's  delight, 
Slides  to  a  scrivener  and  a  city  knight." 

P.  M.  L. 

ELMIRA,  N.  Y. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  13,  1890. 


'  Twas  in  the  Constellation. — 

"  'Twas  in  the  Constellation 

From  Baltimore  we  came. 
We  had  a  bold  commander 
And  Truxton  was  his  name. 

Our  ship  she  mounted  forty  guns, 
Whilst  on  the  main  so  swift  she  runs, 
She  proved  to  be  Columbia's  sons 
Are  brave  Yankee  boys. 

"  O,  then  Columbia's  thunders 
In  peals  tremendous  roar, 
While  death  upon  our  bullet  wings 
Soon  drenched  their  decks  in  gore. 
Too  soon  for  France  our  ships  drew  nigh, 
Resolved  we  were  our  best  to  try, 
The  word  was  passed,  '  Conqueror  die,' 
'  Like  brave  Yankee  boys.'  " 

History  says  :  "  Thomas  Truxton,  a  naval 
officer  in  the  American  service,  was  born  on 
Long  Island,  in  1755.  In  1776,  he  had  the 
command  of  a  privateer,  and  committed 
many  depredations  on  British  merchant  ves- 
sels, making  many  prizes  during  the  war. 
After  the  termination  of  hostilities  with  Eng- 
land, he  engaged  extensively  in  commercial 
pursuits  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  died  in 
1822." 

About  the  year  1826,  only  four  years  after 
the  death  of  Truxton,  we  first  heard  the  ac- 
companying fragment  of  a  patriotic  song 
sung  by  a  very  clever  ballad  singer  ;  but  two 
stanzas  were  all  he  knew  of  it,  and  we  never 
became  acquainted  with  the  balance  of  it,  if 
it  ever  had  a  balance.  But  these  two  stanzas 
imply  that  Truxton  was  in  command  of  the 
Constellation,  and  that  he  fought  against  the 
French,  and,  according  to  the  language  of 
the  song,  the  battle  must  have  been  a  bloody 
one.  History  says,  that  after  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  Truxton  was  engaged  in  com- 
mercial pursuits,  but  the  song  says  he  sailed 
from  Baltimore  when  he  engaged  the  French. 
Will  some  local  reader,  where  he  lived  so 
many  years,  and  where  he  died  in  1822, 
straighten  out  the  matter,  for  ever  since  1826 
these  two  stanzas — nothing  more,  nothing 
less — have  been  tossing  about  in  my  memory 
without  having  had  other  companionship. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

A  Lady's  Sleeve  High-spirited  Hastings 
Bore. — Can  you  tell  me  who  wrote  this  line 
and  where  does  it  occur  ?  P.  M.  L. 

ELMIRA,  N.  Y. 


' ' My  Friend,  Judge  Not  Me,  etc. ' ' — I  wish 
to  obtain  the  connection  in  which  the  fol- 
lowing lines  are  used  : 

"  My  friend,  judge  not  me, 
Thou  seest  I  judge  not  thee, 
Betwixt  the  stirrup  and  the  ground 
Mercy  I  askt,  mercy  I  found." 

("  Camden.  Remaines,  Concerning  Britaine,"  1636,  p. 
392.) 

My  reasons  are  these.  The  last  two  lines 
have  been  used  in  a  quotation.  One  thinks 
it  refers  to  a  rider  thrown  from  his  horse,  his 
foot  caught  in  the  stirrup,  dragging  on  the 
ground.  Another  thinks  it  refers  to  a  cour- 
tier assisting  his  queen  to  alight  from  her 
horse,  and  in  doing  so  asks  a  favor  which  is 
granted  before  her  foot  reaches  the  ground. 
I  have  become  interested  to  know  how  it  is 
and  ask  you  to  assist  me. 

A  NEW  SUBSCRIBER. 


©OMMUNIGATIONS. 


Chinook  Jargon  (Vol.  v,  pp.  310,  etc.). 
— It  is  this  roving,  trading  spirit  of  the  north- 
west tribes  which  undoubtedly  led  to  the  in- 
vention of  what  is  called  the  "  Chinook 
jargon,"  which  .for  years  has  been  the 
medium  of  communication  between  natives 
and  whites  in  Southeastern  Alaska. 

The  Chinook  jargon  probably  originated 
at  Nootka  with  the  building  of  Capt.  Mears' 
schooner.  Mears'  Indian  ally,  Comekela,  had 
become,  by  foreign  travel,  very  deficient  in 
hisnative tongue,  and  spoke  such  a  jargon  of 
Chinese,  English  and  Nootkan  as  to  be  a 
poor  interpreter.  It  was  after  white  men  had 
traded  at  Nootka  that  the  Columbia  river  was 
discovered  by  Gray.  Then  Nootka  traders 
moved  to  Chinook,  taking  with  them  the 
Nootka  jargon,  to  which  the  Chinese,  French 
and  Spaniards  contributed  until  the  present 
lingo  was  evolved.  That  this  jargon  should 
have  been  adopted  and  improved,  if  not  in- 
vented by  the  Chinooks,  is  not  strange. 
Thlinketexcepted,  their  own  language  is  con- 
sidered the  most  intricate  in  construction  of 
northwestern  dialects.  No  English  words  can 
describe  it.  "  To  speak  Chinook,  you  must 
be  a  Chinook,"  said  Ross,  years  ago.  The 
only  person  known  to  have  mastered  it  was- 
a  Canadian  employ^  of  the  Astor  Fur  Com- 


December  13,  1890.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


pany.  He  owed  his  knowledge  to  a  long 
illness,  during  which  he  was  nursed  by 
natives. 

The  Chinook  jargon  is  almost  wholly  con- 
fined to  Oregon,  Washington  Territory,  Brit- 
ish Columbia  and  Southeastern  Alaska. 
Seldom  heard  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  its 
words,  numbering  five  hundred  and  fifty, 
are  mainly  of  French,  Indian  and  English 
origin.  It  is  never  used  except  between 
Indians  and  whites  and  between  distant 
tribes  that  do  not  understand  one  another. 

Words  in  most  common  use  have  been 
adopted,  a  large  proportion  being  bastard 
French,  while  many  are  phonetic. 

For  example:  "Amusement"  is  "he-he;" 
"Cough"  is  "hoh-hoh;"  "Rain"  is 
"  patter-chuck  ;"  "  Heart  "  is  "  turn-turn  ;" 
"  Crow  "  is  "  caw-caw  ;"  "  Handkerchief " 
is  "  kak-at-chum." 

A  little  light  may  be  thrown  on  the  evo- 
lution of  this  jargon  by  the  following  com- 
parison between  the  original  and  the  manu- 
factured words : 

Nootkan.  Jargon.  English. 

Klack-Ro..    .    .  Klack-Roon  .    .  Good,  or  Thank  you. 
Klootzmah  .    .    .  Kloochman    .    .  Woman. 

Pow Pow  or  poo    .    .  Report  of  gun. 

Tyee Tyee Chief. 

With  this  easily  acquired  jargon  there  is 
no  excuse  for  misunderstanding  the  native 
requirements,  yet  few  officials  seem  to  take 
the  pains  to  learn  it.  Why  should  they, 
may  pertinently  be  asked,  when  the  official 
head  can  be  chopped  off  at  any  moment  ? 
The  Indian,  who  knows  no  change,  is 
brought  face  to  face  with  a  bewildering 
human  kaleidoscope.  No  wonder  that  he 
prefers  the  staid  ways  of  "King  George 
Men,"  or  English,  to  those  of  the  Bostons 
—Americans  (Kate  Field  in  Kate  Field's 
Washington). 

The  Evil  Eye  (Vol.  v,  p.  142,  etc.).— 
The  influence  of  the  evil  eye  is  greatly  dreaded 
by  all  Russian  mothers.  The  slightest  ill- 
ness of  a  child,  as  insomnia  or  troubled 
sleep,  excessive  crying,  unhealthy  appear- 
ance, loss  of  appetite,  colic  and  other  aches 
are  attributed  to  the  influence  of  an  evil  eye, 
which  is  called  in  Russian  ssgiait  (from  the 
word£/or,  meaning  eye),  and  the  mother  in 
great  alarm  hastens  to  the  /><  bka  (from  the 


word  baba,  meaning  mother,  midwife  and 
healer  of  all  complaints  by  incantation 
— scheptanie — and  by  other  popular  reme- 
dies), to  beg  her  to  destroy  the  influence  of 
the  evil  eye. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  hear  a  mother  boldly 
interfere  when  her  child  is  being  too  much- 
admired  and  say:  "Stop!  You  shall  not 
sglasit  my  child." 

Besides  incantation,  which  is  considered 
by  all  mothers  the  best,  there  are  other 
remedies  which  vary  according  to  the  dis- 
trict of  the  country.  In  the  northern  part 
of  Russia,  the  mother  kisses  her  child  three 
times  on  either  cheek  and  on  the  forehead, 
and  each  time  turning,  she  expectorates- 
backwards,  saying:  "Away  with  you! 
Away  with  you  !  May  the  evil  fall  on  him 
who  sent  it !"  Some  mothers,  with  the  af- 
flicted babe  in  arms,  place  themselves  before 
an  image  of  St.  Nicholas  {Nikolai  Tschou- 
dotworez),  the  miracle  worker,  and  repeat 
three  times  the  following  prayer:  "Saint 
Nicolal  Tschoudotworez,  save  my  child  !" 

Sometimes,  when  the  child  is  feverish,  the 
mother  makes  a  liniment  of  garlic  and  with 
it  rubs  thoroughly  the  body  of  the  child. 
Gypsies  often  use  tar  for  liniment.  There 
are  in  this  region  also  other  methods  of 
treatment  whose  modus  opcrandi  prevent 
their  appearance  in  print. 

In  the  province  of  Custroma  and  in 
Siberia,  according  to  Mr.  Kostilkoff,  bear 
grease  is  used  successfully  as  a  liniment  or  a, 
crow's  feather  is  burned  beneath  the  cradle 
of  the  sick  child. 

In  Lithuania  and  Poland,  the  mother 
sends  for  a  jug  of  still  water  (spring  water),, 
and  the  messenger  must  neither  speak  a 
word  nor  stop  on  his  way  or  return.  The 
water  having  been  received,  the  mot  her  places 
her  child  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  walks 
with  the  jug  thrice  around  the  child  and 
then  throws  the  water  out  of  a  window. 

In  Caucasus  and  in  the  province  of  Cou- 
bane,  it  is  customary  to  burn  certain  portions 
of  a  goat  beneath  the  cradle  of  the  suffering 
infant,  or  to  place  the  child  on  the  threshold 
of  its  home,  the  mother  holding  a  basin  of 
spring  water  over  it,  while  a  babka  dispels 
the  sickness.  Either  method  is  considered 
by  them  infallible. 

Jewish  mothers,  especially  in  Poland,  are 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  13,  1890. 


-equally  frightened  by  evil  glances  cast  on 
their  little  ones.  In  Hebrew  it  is  called 
Ain-ra,  or  Aln-hore  (from  the  words  ain, 
•eye,  and  ra,  bad) ;  it  is  a  name  of  the  illness 
given  it  by  the  Talmudists.  The  remedies 
differ  from  those  used  by  the  Christians. 
The  mother  hastens  to  the  zadik,  a  Rabbi 
who  works  miracles  and  dispels  evil  in- 
fluences. These  zadiks  abound  in  Poland, 
but  perform  their  rites  secretly,  for  they  are 
persecuted  by  the  Russian  government.  The 
zadik  for  a  sum  of  certain  magnitude  sells  a 
talisman  called  kameL  The  talisman  is 
composed  of  a  piece  of  parchment,  upon 
which  Hebrew-Chaldean  phrases  have  been 
traced  ;  it  is  folded  in  the  shape  of  a  triangle 
and  sewed  in  a  little  sachet,  which  the  child 
wears  around  its  neck.  This  is  worn  during 
the  whole  childhood.  There  are  also  kameis 
made  of  metal :  gold,  silver,  brass,  zinc  and 
even  leather,  in  the  shape  of  a  medal  or 
triangle.  They  are  made  in  Erer  Israel 
'(land  of  Israel),  in  Palestine  and  imported 
by  pilgrims. 

Wolves'  teeth  are  considered  great  pro- 
tection against  Ain-ra,  and  even  alleviate  the 
pains  of  teething.  The  same  is  believed  of 
sea  shells. 

In  certain  portions  of  Poland,  the  peasants 
attach  a  red  ribbon  to  the  left  wrist  of  the 
child.  It  seems  that  this  has  a  very  marked 
beneficial  influence  and  is  used  to  cure 
muscular  rheumatism  in  adults  of  both  sexes. 

Men  as  Trees.— In  "  The  English 
Gentleman,"  by  Richard  Brathwait,  Esq., 
1630,  is  the  following  delightful  bit  of  moral 
exhortation,  referring,  it  is  hardly  needful  to 
say,  to  the  blind  man's  description  of  his 
misty,  inexact  vision  when  first  restored  to 
sight,  as  reported  by  St.  Mark,  "  I  see  men 
as  trees,  walking  :" 

"  Therefore  wee  must  so  walke,  as  God 
seeing  our  continuall  fruitfulness,  may  say 
of  us,  'I  see  men  walking  like  trees.' 
Men  walke  like  trees,  when  men  are  never 
idle"  (p.  135).  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Prong  (Vol.  vi,  p.  63).  _  Admiral 
Smyth  ("Sailor's  Word-Book,"  London, 
1867)  defines  prankle  as  "  a  channel  term 
for  the  prawn."  H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 


Dago  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  68,  etc.). — "JSret: 
1  Right,  a  Spaniard  is  a  Camocho,  a  Cal- 
limanco,  nay,  which  is  worse,  a  Dondego, 
and  what  is  a  Dondego  ?' 

"Cloum  :  'A  Dondego  is  a  Spanish  stock- 
fish, or  poor  John.' 

"Bret :    '  No,  a  Dondego  is  a  desperate 
Viliago,  a  very  Castilian,   God  bless  us'  ' 
(Dekker     and     Webster's      "  Sir    Thomas 
Wyat,"  1607).  G. 

Calf  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  20,  etc.). — I  have  found 
two  more  islands  called  "The  Calf."  One 
belongs  to  the  county  of  Mayo,  Ireland ; 
another,  spelled  Calve,  belongs  to  Argyllshire, 
in  Scotland.  This  makes  quite  a  list  of 
Calf  islands.  How  can  we  reconcile  the 
facts  with  Dr.  Murray's  statement  that  calf, 
in  the  sense  of  a  minor  island,  is  obsolete 
except  in  the  case  of  the  Calf  of  Man  ? 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Snowdon  (Vol.  vi,  p.  62). — One  of  your 
correspondents,  under  the  heading  Je/erscn, 
states  that  Snowdon  is  the  highest  mountain 
in  Great  Britain.  Is  it  not  true  that  Ben 
Nevis  and  several  other  Scottish  mountains 
are  considerably  higher  than  Snowdon  ? 

E.  M.  K. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Zohrab  (Vol.  v,  pp.  285,  etc.). — I  have 
some  recollection  that  in  "LallaRookh"  that 
species  of  mirage  in  which  lakes  or  pools  of 
water  appear  in  places  where  no  water  really 
exists  is  spoken  of  as  the  Zuhrab.  I  have 
no  copy  of  the  poem  at  my  command.  I  do 
not  imagine,  however,  that  there  is  any  direct 
connection  between  this  word  and  the  proper 
name  Zohrab.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

St.  Tammany  (Vol.  i,  p.  52). — To 
what  is  said  about  this  personage  a  few  other 
points  might  be  added.  One  of  the  coun- 
ties, or  parishes,  of  Louisiana  is  named  St. 
Tammany.  The  saint's  other  name, 
Tamanend,  is  also  the  name  of  a  small  place, 
a  railway  junction,  in  the  county  of  Schuyl- 
kill,  Pennsylvania,  which  may  have  been 
named  in  his  honor.  J.  D.  B. 

BRISTOL,  PA. 


December  13,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


8 1 


Origin  of  Some  Names  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
62). — President  Johnson. — In  "the  deriva- 
tion and  meaning  of  the  names  of  our 
Presidents"  there  is,  perhaps,  an  inadvert- 
ent omission  of  the  name  of  President 
Johnson.  This  is  the  more  strange  because, 
taking  him  for  "  all  in  all " — from  his  boy- 
hood to  his  death — he  was  probably  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  men  that  ever  occupied 
the  presidential  chair;  and,  excepting 
Grant,  probably  the  only  one  among  the 
American  Presidents  who  served  an  appren- 
ticeship to  and  followed  a  mechanical  oc- 
cupation to  earn  a  living.  Besides,  he  grew 
to  manhood  entirely  destitute  of  education. 
His  name  has,  doubtless,  a  Norwegian  ori- 
gin. S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER.  PA. 

Lakes  Drained  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  47,  etc.). 
— That  a  very  large  part  of  the  continent  of 
Asia  is  undergoing  a  very  rapid  and  aston- 
ishing desiccation  is  true  beyond  any  sort  of 
question.  Some  have  fancied  that  the  vast 
(supposed)  annual  increase  of  the  ice-cap 
which  surrounds  the  South  Pole  is  rapidly 
causing  this  globe  of  ours  to  become  dry,  by 
storing  up  the  water  in  a  solid  form. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Cattle  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  46,  etc.).— 
In  controlling  the  movements  of  domestic 
animals  by  the  voice,  besides  words  of  or- 
dinary import,  man  uses  a  variety  of  pecu- 
liar terms,  calls  and  inarticulate  sounds  — 
not  to  include  whistling — which  vary  in 
different  localities.  In  driving  yoked  cattle 
and  harnessed  horses  teamsters  cry  "get 
up,"  "  click  click  "  (tongue  against  teeth), 
"gee,"  "haw,"  "whoa,"  "whoosh," 
"  back,"  etc.,  in  English-speaking  coun- 
tries ;  "arre,"  "  arri,"  "jiih,"  "gio," 
etc.,  in  European  countries. 

In  the  United  States,  "gee"  directs  the 
animals  away  from  the  driver,  hence  to  the 
right.  In  Virginia,  mule  drivers  gee  the 
animals  with  the  cry  "  hep-yee-ee  a;"  in 
Norfolk,  England,  "whoosh-wo;"  in 
France,  "hue"  and  "huhaut;"  in  Ger- 
many, "  hott  "  and  "hotte;"  in  some  parts 
of  Russia,  "  haita  "  serve  the  same  purpose. 


To  direct  animals  to  the  left  another  series 
of  terms  is  used. 

In  calling  cattle  in  the  field  the  following 
cries  are  used  in  the  localities  given : 
"Boss,  boss"  (Conn.);  "sake,  sake" 
(Conn.);  "  coo,  coo  "  (Va.);  "  sook,  sook," 
also"sookey"  (Md.);  "  sookow  "  (Ala.); 
"  tlon,  tlon"  (Russia);  and  for  calling 
horses,  "  kope,  kope"  (Md.  and  Ala.);  for 
calling  sheep,  "  konanny  "  (Md.);  for  call- 
ing hogs,  "  chee-oo-oo  "  (Va.). 

The  undersigned  is  desirous  of  collecting 
words  and  expressions  (oaths  excepted)  used 
in  addressing  domesticated  animals  in  all 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  in  foreign 
lands. 

In  particular  he  seeks  information  as  to  : 

1.  The  terms  used  to   start,  hasten,  haw, 
gee,  back  and  stop  horses,  oxen,  camels  and 
other  animals  in  harness. 

2.  Terms  used  for  calling,   in  the  field, 
cattle,  horses,  mules,  asses,   camels,  sheep, 
goats,  swine,  poultry  and  other  animals. 

3.  Exclamations  used  in  driving  from  the 
person,  domestic  animals. 

4.  Any     expressions     and      inarticulate 
sounds  used  in  addressing  domestic  animals 
for  any  purpose  whatever  (dogs  and  cats). 

5.  References  to  information  in  works  of 
travel   and   general  literature  will  be  very 
welcome. 

Persons  willing  to  collect  and  forward  the 
above-mentioned  data  will  confer  great  obli- 
gations on  the  writer;  he  is  already  indebted 
to  many  correspondents  for  kind  replies  to 
his  appeal  for  the  Counting-out  Rhymes  of 
Children,  the  results  of  which  have  been 
published  in  a  volume  with  that  title 
(Elliot  Stock,  London). 

To  indicate  the  value  of  vowels  in  Eng- 
lish, please  use  the  vowel-signs  of  Webster's 
Unabridged,  and  in  cases  of  difficulty  spell 
phonetically. 

All  correspondence  will  be  gratefully  re- 
ceived, and  materials  used  will  be  credited 
to  the  contributors.  Address, 

DR.  H.  CARRINGTON  BOLTON. 

UNIVERSITY  CLUB,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Sneezing  (Vol.  vi,  p.  53). — This  recalls 
a  salutation  and  an  anecdote  thereto  apper- 
taining which  was  current  in  my  early  boy- 
hood. A  village  pedagogue  had  instructed 


82 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  13,  1890. 


his  pupils  that  whenever  he  sneezed  they 
should  clasp  their  two  hands  together,  cast 
their  eyes  heavenward  and  exclaim,  "  God 
preserve  our  venerable  tutor."  Subse- 
quently, while  on  a  rural  excursion,  he  and 
some  of  his  pupils  attempted  to  form  a  per- 
pendicular line  in  order  to  reach  the  water 
in  a  well,  when  the  old  gentleman  sneezed, 
and  of  course  the  pupils  all  "let  go  "  and 
they  were  precipitated  into  the  well  of 
water.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER.  PA. 

Norwegian  Skating  Riflemen  (Vol. 
vi,  p.  71). — Are  not  the  skates  described  by 
Anchor  snow-shoes  ?  Snow-shoes  of  this 
character  are  much  used  by  mountaineers  in 
the  western  United  States.  Each  shoe  is  about 
twelve  feet  long,  grooved  on  the  under  side 
and  provided  with  a  tarpedero  to  protect  the 
foot.  These  shoes  are  neither  so  light  nor 
so  manageable  as  the  wicker  shoe,  moreover 
they  are  unfit  for  use  on  ice. 

J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Hayes  (Vol.  vi,  p.  62). — There  are  sev- 
eral parishes  in  England  called  Hayes,  pos- 
sibly they  are  named  from  hay,  a  hedge.  I 
imagine  that  Hayes  was  originally  a  place 
name.  But  it  is  not  an  uncommon  family 
name  in  Ireland,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  Irish  name  Hayes  is  distinct  in  its  origin 
from  the  English.  Hay  is  a  common  Scot- 
tish  surname. 

Naijack  (Vol.  vi,  p.  53). — Is  not  this 
name  identical  in  origin  with  that  of  Nyack, 
on  the  Hudson  ?  I  do  not  mean  to  suggest 
that  Nyack  is  the  place  referred  to  in  the 
quotations  given  by  your  correspondent. 
With  this  place  name  compare  Nayaug,  the 
name  of  a  place  in  Lackawanna  county,  Pa. 

H.  B.  S. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Shamrock  (Vol.  v,  pp.  94,  etc.). — 
Another  plant,  the  Bog-Bean,  Menyanthes 
trifoliata,  is  locally  known  as  the  water 
shamrock.  It  is  one  of  that  interesting  num- 
ber of  plants  which  are  found  native  to  both 
Europe  and  North  America. 

R.  M.  N. 


Hild  for  Held. — This  vulgarism  is  an 
archaic  one,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  extinct 
in  this  country.  In  George  Whetstone's 
"  Remembrance  of  G.  Gaskoigne''  (1577) 
we  read,  "  by  whose  fond  tales  reward  hild 
his  hands  back."  J.  M.  L. 

Chewing-gum  (Vol.  v,  pp.  250,  etc.). 
— The  sweet-gum,  copalm,  or  bilsted  tree, 
common  in  the  United  States,  affords  a 
resin,  which,  according  to  Foster's  "  Medi- 
cal Dictionary,"  Art.  "  Copallin,"  is  some- 
times used  in  making  a  chewing-gum. 

Serpent  as  a  Standard  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
70). — It  seems  not  improbable  that  in  the 
case  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  the  serpent  was  a 
species  of  totem.  Priscian,  Varro  and  Strabo 
speak  of  a  clan  of  Ophiogenes,  or  snake  peo- 
ple, in  Asia  Minor,  who  were  proof  against 
snake  venom  ;  hence  probably  came  the 
story  of  the  Cappadocian  bitten  by  a  serpent : 
the  Cappadocian  took  no  hurt  but  the  ser- 
pent died.  The  Psylli  of  Africa  had  a 
similar  immunity  against  harm  from  snakes. 
There  are  Python  tribes  in  Senegambia  to- 
day, and  in  North  America  the  Shoshones 
are  fully  as  well  known  as  Snake-Indians. 
With  them  and  most  of  the  Apaches,  as  well 
as  several  other  tribes,  the  snake  is  the 
national  symbol.  There  were  once  serpent 
clans  in  Italy  and  Cyprus.  In  Australia 
there  are  natives  whose  individual  (non- 
tribal)  totem  is  a  snake,  also  various  snakes 
that  are  family  totems.  In  Wales,  the 
Vaughan  family  arms  are  variously  charged 
with  serpents,  and  the  snake  (bisse}  appears 
in  a  canting  fashion  on  the  arms  of  Malbisse. 

ILDERIM. 

Life  is  Short,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  51, 
etc.). — In  my  earlier  days  we  used  to  read 
Hippocrates'  aphorism,  etc.,  in  this  fashion  : 
"  Life  is  short,  art  is  long,  judgment  diffi- 
cult, and  the  occasion  fleeting."  Possibly 
it  might  be  paraphrased  somewhat  as  follows : 
"  We  have  not  long  to  live,  but  our  profes- 
sion, or  art,  will  live  and  progress.  It  is  not 
an  easy  thing  to  decide  such  questions  as 
come  before  us  professionally,  and  whatever 
we  do  decide  upon,  it  must  be  done  speedily 
or  not  at  all."  P.  R.  E. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


December  13,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


83 


Compass  Plant  (Vol.  vi,  p.  64). — This 
name  is  applied  to  several  plants  having  the 
indicated  property.  Heliotropism,  to  some 
extent  of  which  the  "  polarity  "  of  the  com- 
pass plant  is  a  modification,  is  so  common  in 
plants  as  to  be  the  rule  rather  than  the  ex- 
ception. The  compass  plant  of  the  lake- 
valley  region  in  Eastern  Oregon  does  not 
correspond  with  Longfellow's  description. 

J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Pets  of  Famous  People  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
310,  etc.). — Mirabeau  had  a  little  dog, 
Chico,  to  which  he  was  fondly  attached. 
The  late  Roscoe  Conkling  at  one  time  owned 
a  pet  dog  which  at  last  dug  his  own  grave, 
lay  down  in  it  and  died.  H.  J.  L. 

NEW  YORK. 

Lakes  With  Two  Outlets  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
57,  etc.). — There  are  many  such  instances  in 
the  lake  region  of  northern  North  America. 
Usually  in  such  cases  one  outlet  is  perma- 
nent and  the  other  occasional,  being  effec- 
tive in  times  of  high  water  only.  Two- 
ocean  Pond  in  Yellowstone  Park  is  an  inter- 
esting example.  During  flood  seasons,  it 
discharges  on  the  eastern  rim  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  from  the  western  edge  into 
the  Pacific  ocean.  During  Cham  plain 
times,  the  great  inland  sea,  of  which  the  five 
great  lakes  are  remnants,  had  at  least  three 
outlets,  one  through  the  Mohawk  gap, 
another  through  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  a 
third  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  through  a 
slight  depression  now  occupied  by  Des 
Plaines  river.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

London  Quarterly  Review. — Most  of 
your  readers  probably  know  that  there  is 
some  confusion  prevailing  in  this  country  re- 
garding the  above  name.  There  is  published 
in  London  a  (somewhat  obscure)  London 
Quarterly  Review,  as  well  as  the  well-known 
Quarterly  Review.  '  But  the  latter  has  been 
for  many  years  reprinted  in  the  United 
States  as  the  London  Quarterly  Review. 
Hence  some  confusion  has  arisen  in  this 
country  regarding  these  two  publications. 
JARDINE  FISHER. 

WELLS,  PA. 


Isle  of  Dogs  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  271,  etc.). — 
In  ' '  The  Returne  from  Pernassus ;  or, 
The  Scourge  of  Simony"  (circa  1603), 
an  anonymous  play,  near  the  end  of  the 
piece,  Ingenioso,  a  Cambridge  scholar  and 
satirical  poet,  becomes  discouraged  and  re- 
tires with  his  companions  Phantasma  and 
Furor  Poeticus  to  the  Isle  of  Dogs,  the  true 
home  of  satire,  "  there  where  the  blatant 
beast  doth  rule  and  reign,  renting  [rend- 
ing] the  credit  of  whom  it  please."  This 
play  is  noteworthy  as  one  in  which  the  suc- 
cess of  "our  fellow  Shakespeare"  is  con- 
trasted with  the  failures  of  "  the  University 
play- writers."  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

City  of  Is  (Vol.  i,  pp.  124,  etc.). — I 
wonder  that  some  of  your  older  corre- 
spondents did  not  make  note  of  the  fact  that 
there  was  once  still  another,  and  a  more  im- 
portant city  called  Is.  In  fact,  it  still  exists, 
with  a  name  not  so  very  much  changed. 
The  town  of  Hit  on  the  Euphrates,  seventy 
miles  above  Bagdad,  was  anciently  called  Is. 
Its  bitumen  wells  and  salt  springs  gave  it  an 
important  standing  in  very  remote  antiquity. 
It  was  also  called  Ittu,  Ihi,  Ihi-da-kira, 
Aeipo,is,  Diacira  and  Dakira.  Some  have 
fancied,  but  without  any  good  reason,  that 
its  name  of  Hit  (which,  however,  is  modern) 
might  be  connected  with  that  of  the  Hittites. 

J.  D.  B. 

BRISTOL,  PA. 

Kini-kinik  (Vol.  i,  p.  294;  Vol.  ii,  p. 
239). — Besides  the  various  plants  mentioned 
at  the  above  entries  as  kini-kinik,  and  used  as 
substitutes  for,  or  admixtures  with,  tobacco 
by  Indians  and  others,  there  are  other 
plants  known  by  the  same  name,  and  used 
in  similar  ways.  Such  is  the  Arctosfaphylos 
uva-ursi,  often  called  uva-ursi,  and  occa- 
sionally called  kini  kinick,  or  killickinnick  by 
white  people.  Various  brands  of  smoking 
tobacco  have  from  time  to  time  been  put 
upon  the  market  under  the  name  of  killickin- 
nick. S.  S.  M. 

CHICAGO.  ILL. 

Swamp  Apples  (Vol.  v,  p.  56).— 
Another  great  delicacy  with  country  children 
in  some  places  is  the  great  buds  of  the 
Calamus,  or  Sweet  Flag,  Acorus  calamus. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [December  13,  1890. 


When  neither  too  large  and  hard,  nor 
too  small  and  insipid,  these  buds  are  in 
truth  not  unpalatable,  being  tender  and  al- 
most gelatinous ;  but  to  a  country  boy  they 
aresimply  "immense."  They  have  a  little, 
but  not  much  of  the  aromatic  quality  of  the 
rhizome,  or  root  of  the  plant.  Sometimes 
the  boys  pull  up  the  leaves  or  blades  of  the 
calamus,  and  eat  the  white  substance  at  the 
base.  This,  however,  is  not  looked  upon  as 
much  of  a  delicacy.  NEPOS."  " 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  eating  of  sassafras,  birch  and  spicebush 
buds,  and  also  the  common  locust  blossoms, 
by  boys  and  girls  in  my  early  days  was  very 
common  in  localities  where  these  species  of 
vegetation  abounded,  but  I  don't  remember 
that  they  appropriated  anything  under  the 
name  of  "  Swamp  Apples."  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Llano  Estacado  (Vol.  vi,  p.  66). — It 
is  doubtful  if  any  one  of  the  various  deriva- 
tions of  this  name  can  be  shown  to  be  au- 
thentic. The  Spanish  Americans  are  an 
imaginative  people,  and  quite  likely  some 
trivial  circumstance  or  condition  that  a 
"gringo"  would  not  have  noticed  was  the 
means  by  which  this  name  was  given.  Of 
the  two  derivations  mentioned  by  N.  S.  S., 
however,  I  should  unhesitatingly  take  the 
one  he  rejected.  The  name  Llano  Estacado 
seems  to  have  been  common  before  ever  a 
stage  road  was  constructed  across  the  plateau. 
The  plain  in  question  is  a  mesa  with  definite 
escarpments,  and,  as  in  other  similar  forma- 
tions, there  are  many  distinctive  features 
about  its  flora  and  fauna.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  yucca  and  the  mezquit,  both  of 
which  are  abundant  on  the  mesa,  are  rarely 
found  beyond  the  limits  of  this  and  similar 
formations.  The  escarpment  of  the  mesa  is 
generally  narrow,  sharply  drawn,  and  con- 
tinuous throughout  a  large  part  of  its  extent. 
My  impression  is  that  all  the  derivations  so 
far  presented  are  largely  guesses. 

J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YOUK  CITY. 

Capt.  R.  B.  Marcy,  who  made  an  ex- 
ploration of  the  Red  river  in  1853,  in  his  re- 
port to  the  Government  says  as  follows: 


"  '  El  Llano  Estacado,'  or  '  Staked  Plain,' 
is  much  elevated  above  the  surround  ing  coun- 
try, very  smooth  and  level,  and  spreads  out 
in  every  direction  as  far  as  the  eye  can  pene- 
trate without  a  tree,  shrub  or  any  other  herb- 
age to  intercept  the  vision.  The  almost  total 
absence  of  water  causes  animals  to  shun  it  ;: 
even  the  Indians  do  not  venture  across  it 
except  at  two  or  three  points,  where  they 
find  a  few  small  ponds  of  water. 
I  was  told  in  New  Mexico  that,  many  years 
since,  the  Mexicans  marked  out  a  route 
with  stakes  across  this  plain,  where  they 
found  water,  and  hence  the  name  by  which 
it  is  known  throughout  Mexico." 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Century  magazine  is  running  a  fast  press  day  and 
night  in  order  to  print  the  first  installment  of  the  delayed' 
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The  first  installment  of  selections  from  "  The  Memoirs 
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tury, will  contain  a  sketch  of  the  author's  strange  and 
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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :—  Some  Proverbial  Phrases  from  the  Dramas  of  Ben 
Jonson,  85  —  Origin  of  Some  Names,  88  —  Huon  of  Bordeaux, 
89. 

QUERIES  :—  Letters  to  a  German  Princess—  East  and  West 
Jersey,  89—  McSwiney's  Gun  —  Ichaboe,  90. 

REPLIES  '.—Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig—  My  Friend, 
Judge  Not  Me,  etc.,  90. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :—  Tiger  Parasites 
—  Authorship  Wanted  —  Huon  —  Lake  of  Blood,  91. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :—  Antonomasias  of  Rulers  and  War- 
riors, 91  —  Pets  of  Famous  People,  92  —  Compass  Plant  — 
"Lives"  for  Lief  —  Swamp  —  Underground  Streams,  93  — 
Notes  on  Words  —  Llano  Estacado  —  Playing  'Possum  —  Eng- 
lish Words  in  the  French  Language,  94—  Dogs  of  War  —  By 
and  Large  —  Pillars  of  the  Church  —  Swamp  Apples  —  Dude- 
Puss  —  Sunken  Islands  —  Serpent  as  a  Standard,  95—  Rhymes 
about  Towns  —  Leaving  His  Country,  etc.  —  Cattle  Calls- 
Whirlpool—  Taking  In,  96. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :—  96. 


SOME    PROVERBIAL    PHRASES    FROM     THE 
DRAMAS  OF  BEN   JONSON. 

One  can  hardly  fail  to  note,  in  studying 
Ben  Jonson,  his  frequent  use  of  old  pro- 
verbs, both  in  their  simple  or  original  form, 
and  also  in  his  own  elaborate  rendering. 

It  was  not  intended  to  make  the  following 
list  exhaustive,  but  rather  illustrative,  and  to 
a  limited  extent  comparative  : 

"  I  will  tell  truth  and  shame  the  fiend." 

("  Devil  is  an  Ass,"  v,  5.) 

Compare  Hotspur's  reiterative  rejoinder 
to  the  boastful  Glendower  : 

"  And  I  can  teach  thee,  coz,  to  shame  the  devil 
By  telling  truth  ;  tell  truth,  and  shame  the  devil. 
If  thou  have  power  to  raise  him,  bring  him  hither, 
And  I'll  be  sworn,  I  have  power  to  shame  him  hence. 
O,  while  you  live,  tell  truth  and  shame  the  devil." 
(First  Part,  "  Henry  IV,  '  Act  iii,  Sc.  I.) 


86 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [December  20,  1890. 


Also  the  words  of  Marina,  the  noble  wife 
of  the  Younger  Foscari,  referring  to  Lon- 
dano  : 

"  A  few  brief  words  of  truth  shame  the  devil's  servants 
No  less  than  their  Master." 

("  Two  Foscari,"  iii,  i.) 

As  introductory  to  the  next  phrase,  Mrs. 
Tailbush's  lesson  in  pronunciation  to  Mrs. 
Fitzdottrel  should  be  quoted,  which,  by  the 
way,  reminds  one  of  an  orthoepic  freak  not 
uncommon  among  some  worthy  classes  of  to- 
day: 

"  Lady  T. :  '  Devil ! 

Call  him  de-vile,  sweet  madam.' 
"  Mrs.  F. :  '  What  you  please,  ladies.' 
"  Lady  T. :  '  De-vile's  a  prettier  name.' 
"  Lady  E. :  '  And  sounds  methinks 

As  it  came  in  with  the  conqueror.'  " 
("  Devil  is  an  Ass,"  iv,  i.) 

"Whose  teeth  were  set  on  edge  with  "t." 

(Ibid.,  i,  i.  Cf.  Shakespeare  :  "  Hotspur:  '  And 
that  would  set  my  teeth  nothing  on  edge,'  " 
"  Henry  IV,"  iii,  i.) 

"  Lead  thee  a  dance  through  the  streets  "  (Ibid.). 
"The burnt  child  dreads  the  fire"  (Ibid.,  i,  2). 
"  My  heart  was  at  my  mouth  "  (Ibid.). 
"  Who  covets  unfit  things  denies  himself"  (Ibid.). 

"Let them  grow  fat  with  laughing,  and  then  fatter." 

(Ibid.,  i,  3.) 

"*•    *    *    an(j  i  iove  to  hit 
These  pragmatic  young  men  at  their  own  weapons." 

(Ibid.) 

•  •*    #    *    your  silence 
Which  ever  is  interpreted  consent  (Ibid.,  i,  3.) 

"  I'll  not  give  a  rush  for  him." 
("  Every  Man  in  His  Humor,"  Act  i,  Sc.  i.) 

"  Nor  stand  so  much  on  your  gentility, 
Which  is  an  airy  and  mere  borrowed  thing 
From  dead  men's  dust  and  bones  "  (Ibid.). 

"  Helter-skelter,  hang  sorrow,  care'll  kill  a  cat." 

(Act  i,  Sc.  3.) 

"  It  will  never  out  of  the  flesh  that's  bred  in  the  bone." 

(Act  ii,  Sc.  r.) 

"  He  has  the  wrong  sow  by  the  ear,  and  claps  his  dish 
at  the  wrong  door  (Ibid.). 

"  As  he  brews  so  shall  he  drink  "  (Ibid.). 
"She  has  me  in  the  wind  "  (Ibid.). 

"  Get  money  ;  still  get  money,  boy  ; 
No  matter  by  what  means  "  (Act  ii,  Sc.  3). 

"  Need  will  have  its  course"  (Ibid.). 


"  You  have  an  ostrich  stomach  "  (Act  iii,  Sc.  i). 
"  A  crafty  knave  needs  no  broker  "  (iii,  2). 

"  Play  the  devil  with  "  (iv,  i). 

"  To  care  neither  for  God  nor  the  devil "  (Ibid.). 

"  It  must  be  done  like  lightning  "  (iv,  5). 

"  I  am  no  such  pill'd  Cynic  to  believe 
That  beggary  is  the  only  happiness  ; 
Or  with  the  number  of  those  patent  fools 
To  sing  ;  My  mind  to  me  a  kingdom  is, 
When  the  lank,  hungry  belly  barks  for  food." 

Sir  Edward  Dyer's  famous  poem,  "  Con- 
tentment :" 

"  My  mind  to  me  a  kingdom  is, 

Such  perfect  joy  therein  I  find 
As  far  exceeds  all  earthly  blisse, 
That  God  or  nature  hath  assigned,"  etc., 

had  been  set  to  music  by  William  Byrd, 
1588,  and  was  very  popular  when  Ben  Jonson 
brought  out  "  Every  Man  Out  of  His 
Humor  "  (1599). 

Compare  dialogue  of  "  Onion  and  An- 
tonio the  Pageant  Poet  " — Antony  Munday 
("The  Case  is  Altered,"  i,  i). 

"  These  mushroom  gentlemen  "  (Ibid.,  i,  i). 

"  I  scorn  to  live  by  my  wits  "  (Ibid.). 

"  He  that  will  thrive  must  think  no  course  vile  "  (Ibid.). 

"A  rude  tongue  would  profane  heaven  if  it  could." 

(Ibid.) 
"  I  can  oil  my  tongue  "  (iv,  4). 

"  True  happiness 

Consists  not  in  the  multitude  of  friends 
But  in  the  worth  and  choice." 

("  Cynthia's  Revels,"  Act  iii,  Sc.  2.) 

"  No  matter  how  in  virtue  who  excels, 
He  that  hath  coin  hath  all  perfection  else." 

("  Poetaster,"  Act  i,  Sc.  I.) 

"  He  permit  himself 
Be  carried  like  a  pitcher  by  the  ears." 

("  Sejanus,"  i,  2.) 

"  He  threatens  many  that  hath  injured  one." 

(Act  ii,  Sc.  4.) 

"  Hood  an  ass  with  reverend  purple, 
So  you  can  hide  his  two  ambitious  ears, 
And  he  shall  pass  for  a  cathedral  doctor." 

("  The  Fox,"  Act  i,  Sc.  i.) 

"  Horn-mad  "  ("  Fox,"  iii,  5). 


December  20,  1890.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


"A  fine  gentleman  of  his  inches." 

("  Epicoene,"  Act  v,  Sc.  i.) 

"  I'll  eat  no  words  for  you,  nor  no  men." 

(Act  v,  Sc.  i.) 

Compare  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "  I'll 
make  him  eat  his  knave's  words  "  ("Scorn- 
ful Lady,"  Act  iv,  Sc.  i). 

"  Calumnies  are  best  answered  with  silence." 

("Alchemist,"  ii,  i.) 

"  Men  and  women  of  all  sorts  tag-rag  "  (Ibid.,  v,  i). 

Tom  Nash  says  :  "To  traverse  the  subtle 
distinctions  betwixt  cut  and  long  taile" 
("Saffron  Walden,"  1596). 

Another  is,  "Send  all  in,  cut  and  long 
tail,"  from  "  Match  at  Midnight  "  (1633). 
A  note  on  this  passage  informs  us  that  cut 
and  long  tail  was  the  original  of  our  rag,  tag 
and  bobtail  (Hazlitt's  "  Dodsley's  Old 
Plays,"  xiii,  p.  84). 

"  The  vicious  count  their  years,  the  virtuous  their  acts  " 

("  Catiline,"  iii,  i.) 

"  I  do  wonder  much 

That  States  and  commonwealths  employ  not  women 
To  be  ambassadors  sometimes  "  {Ibid.,  iv,  5). 

/  Sempronia's  sentiment  seems  quite  ac- 
cordant with  those  of  the  strong-minded  of 
the  gentler  sex  nowadays  : 

"  You  have  a  hot  coal  in  your  mouth." 

("  Bartholomew's  Fair,"  i,  i.) 

"  The  devil  can  equivocate  as  well  as  a  shopkeeper." 

(Ibid.,  i,  i.) 

"  He  has  a  head  full  of  bees"    {Ibid.    This  means  to 
have  many  projects  in  one's  mind — Hazlitt). 

"  Despise  not  the  wisdom  of  these  hairs  that  are  grown 
grey  in  the  care  of  thee  "  (Ibid.,  ii,  i). 

"  Sir,  this  is  a  spell  against  them  spick  and  span  new." 

(Ibid.,  iii,  i.) 

Compare  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's : 

"  Am  I  not  a  totally  span,  new  gallant 
Fit  for  choicest  eyes?"  ("  False  One,"  iii,  2). 

Also  "Albumazar,"  by  John  Tomkis,  where 
Timcalo  says,  "  I  shall  appear  a  spick-and- 
span  new  gentleman  "  (Act  ii,  Sc.  2). 

As  this  expressive  old  phrase  of  Norse  de- 
scent has  an  antiquity  of  six  centuries — its 


first  appearance  in  literature  antedating 
Chaucer — numerous  illustrations  of  its  use 
may  be  found  all  the  way  down  from  the 
thirteenth  to  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is 
of  most  frequent  occurrence  in  the  prose 
and  dramatic  writings  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  is  best  known  to  ourselves 
through  its  colloquial  use. 

"  I'll  stand  on  my  own  feet  "  ("  Staple  of  News,"  i,  i). 

"  The  covetous  man  never  has  money, 
The  prodigal  will  have  none  shortly  "  (Ibid.). 

"  An  egg  of  the  same  nest !  the  father's  bird ! 
It  runs  in-a-blood  "   (Ibid.,  v,  i). 

"  Why,  if  thou  hast  a  conscience, 
That  is  a  thousand  witnesses." 

("  Staple  of  News,"  v,  i.) 

Cf.  Shakespeare  : 

"  Every  man's  conscience  is  a  thousand  words." 
("  Richard  III,"v,  2.) 

"  A  narrow-minded  man  !  My  thoughts  do  dwell 
All  in  a  lane,  or  line  indeed  "  (Ibid.). 

"  As  drunk  as  a  fish  "  ("  New  Inn,"  iii,  i). 

"  Lord,  save  the  sovereign  "  (Ibid.,  iii,  2). 

"  As  dry  as  a  chip  "  (Ibid.,  iv,  i). 

"  His  mills  to  grind  his  servants  to  powder." 

(Ibid.,  iv,  3.) 

"  One  woman  reads  another's  character 
Without  the  trouble  of  deciphering  "  (Ibid.,  iv,  3). 

"  To  bid  them  take  occasion  by  the  forelock  "  (v,  i), 

the  equivalent  of  "  Seize  time  by  the 
forelock,"  which  is  attributed  toPittacusof 
Mitylene,  one  of  the  seven  wise  men  of 
Greece. 

"  I  tell  the  parson,  if  I  get  her  reckon 
Thou  hast  z.friendin  court." 

("  Magnetic  Lady,"  ii,  i.) 

Here  one  may  recognize  the  original  of 
our  slang  phrase,  the  expression  in  its  literal 
sense  being  common  in  the  old  plays  : 

"  My  spick  and  span  silk  stockings  "  (Ibid.,  iii,  3). 
"  He  has  fish'd  fair  and  caught  a  frog  "  (Ibid.,  v,  5). 

"  *    *    *    stand  all  together 
Birds  of  a  nature  all,  and  of  a  feather"  (Ibid.,  v,  6). 

"  The  better  leg  avore  "  ("  Tale  of  a  Tub,"  ii,  i). 


88 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [December  20,  1890. 


"  A  man  has  his  hour  and  a  dog  his  day"  (ii,  I  ;  see 
280  (line),  Day,  "  Hamlet,"  v,  i,  Furness 
Variorum  Ed.). 

"  I  am  as  cold  as  ice  "  ("  Tale  of  a  Tub,"  ii,  i). 

"  Tell  troth  and  shame  the  devil"  (Mid.,  ii,  i). 

"  Do  not  stand  in  your  own  light"  (Ibid.). 

"  Forsake  not  a  good  turn  wnen  it  is  offered  you." 

(Ibid.). 

"  The  devil  a  bit  you  care  "  (Ibid.). 

"  Send  me  to  Jericho  "  (Ibid.). 
"  All  is  not  gold  that  glisters  "  (Ibid.). 

"  Speak  then  the  truth, 

And  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth." 

(Ibid.). 

"  To  bestir  your  stumps  "  (Ibid.,  iii,  i). 

"  Now  muster  up  thy  wits, 
All  call  thy  thoughts  into  the  consistory, 
Search  all  the  secret  corners  of  the  cap." 

(Ibid.,  iii,  4.) 

Compare  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "I'll 
put  on  my  considering  cap  "  ("  Loyal  Sub- 
ject," ii,  i). 

K.  L.  H. 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

{To  be  concluded.*) 


ORIGIN  OF  SOME  NAMES. 

(VOL.  vi,  PP.  74,  ETC.) 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dents— elected — with  the  omission  of  those 
who  succeeded  to  the  Presidency  by  death 
of  the  President,  or  who  served  as  Vice- 
President  and  was  afterwards  elected  Presi- 
dent. 

Burr. — The  family  of  Aaron  Burr  were 
G2rmans ;  his  grandfather  came  from  Saxony . 

Clinton. — This  is  a  Norman-Danish  name, 
though  his  father  immigrated  to  this  country 
from  Ireland.  The  name  is  derived  from 
Kiint,  a  headland,  and  ton,  a  town,  hence  a 
town  on  the  headland. 

Gerry. — This  is  a  Teutonic  name  and  it  is 
from  Gerard.  The  latter  name  has  its 
origin  in  the  two  words  Gar,  all,  and  ardy 
natural  or  apt,  hence  one  always  ready,  or 
apt  or  natural. 

Calhoun. — This  is  Irish  from  Colquhoun. 
Tradition  says  that  the  name  was  that  of  a 


younger  son  of  the  Irish  King  Conach,  who 
moved  into  Scotland  and  settled  at  Dumbar- 
tonshire, which  he  called  Colquhoun,  the 
name  meaning  a  strong  man,  fierce.  Mr. 
Colhoun's  family  must  have  moved  back  to 
Ireland,  for  his  father  came  to  this  country 
from  that  country. 

Johnson  (Vol.  vi,  p.  81)  is  Welsh,  mean- 
ing the  son  of  John.  [I  may  here  say  that  the 
name  of  Vice-President  Johnson,  afterwards 
President,  was  unintentionally  omitted  in  the 
list  of  Presidents.] 

Dallas. — This  is  a  Welsh  name  from  Deal- 
lus,  meaning  skillful,  or  quick  of  thought. 

King. — There  are  several  origins  of  this 
name  which  have  the  spelling  very  similar. 
It  may  be  of  Saxon-Welsh  or  Teutonic  origin, 
but  in  any  event  it  always  means  a  leader  or 
chief  among  many. 

Breckenridge. — This  name  is  of  Gaelic 
origin  from  two  words,  brecken,  or  broken, 
and  ridge,  top  of  a  hill.  Brecken  is  from 
the  Latin  brecca,  a  law  term  to  denote  a 
break  in  any  legal  paper  or  writing. 

Hamlin. — This  is  most  probably  a  German 
place  name,  from  the  town  of  Hamelen,  on 
the  Weser.  It  also  appears  to  have  a  Scot- 
tish origin,  as  there  is  a  town  of  Hamelin  in 
Scotland. 

Wilson. — The  late  Vice-President  Henry 
Wilson  was  not  a  Wilson  at  all,  but  Jere- 
miah J.  Colbaith.  The  name  under  which 
he  was  popularly  known  is  Welsh  from  Wil- 
liam, hence  the  son  of  Will.  I  have  been 
unable  to  trace  the  origin  of  Colbaith ;  it  has 
somewhat  the  sound  of  German,  and  yet 
the  first  syllable  leads  up  to  Welsh.  Coll,  in 
that  language,  means  a  hazel.  If  the  word 
baith  were  spelled  braith,  then  we  have  a 
plain,  and  the  compound  word  Colbraith 
would  be  a  hazel  plain. 

Wheeler. — This  is  a  trade  name  and  is 
Old  Saxon. 

Morion. — The  present  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States  is  of  Scotch  origin,  and 
gets  his  name  from  the  parish  of  Morton  in 
Scotland.  The  name  is  derived  from  mor, 
big,  and  ton,  hill,  hence  big  or  high  hill. 

I  have  been  unable  to  trace  out  the  origin 
of  Vice-Presidents  Tompkins  and  Colfax's 
names.  If  the  Welsh  prefix,  as  in  Colbaith, 
is  retained,  and  the  suffix/ax,  which  means 
hair,  and  is  from  the  Saxon  faex,  is  added, 


December  20,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


89 


the  name  Colfax  would  then    mean    hazel 
haired.  THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


HUON  OF  BORDEAUX. 

Huon,  Duke  of  Guienne,  one  of  Charle- 
magne's  paladins,    seems   to   have  been   a 
purely   fictitious   personage.     The   original 
French  prose  romance,  "Huon  de  Bordeaux, ' ' 
seems  to  have  been  compiled  in  1454,  and 
it  was  printed  at  Paris  in  1516  ;    Copland's 
English  translation,  following  it  fairly  well, 
appeared   in    or   about    1540.     Some    have 
ascribed  the  romance  to  a  trouvere  called 
Huon  de  Villeneuve,  who  is  also  credited  with 
having  written  other  romances ;  but  it  seems 
probable  that  the  belief  in  his  authorship  of  it 
was  suggested  by  nothing  except  his  name; 
for  the  true  poetical  epic  of  Huon,  a  chanson 
de  geste,  was  probably  much  older  than  the 
prose  tale.     Indeed,  it  takes  rank  as  one  of 
the  oldest  and  best  of  the  stories  of  the  Cal- 
lovingian  cycle.     One  of  the  earliest  extant 
forms  of  the  poem  contains  more  than  10,000 
lines  of  verse ;  a  much  later  one  of  the  four- 
teenth century  has  about  30,000  lines.    The 
story  of  Huon  seems  to  have  influenced  and 
to  have  been  utilized  by  Shakespeare  him- 
self.    It    took    many    forms,    and    to-day, 
among      the     French     peasantry,     certain 
modernized   and   vulgarized    forms  of    the 
story  have  a  strong  popular  currency.     One 
of  the  best  known  stories  about   Huon  runs 
somewhat   in    this  wise :   Huon,   duke  and 
paladin,  once  upon  a  time  went  to  Paris  to 
pay  his  devoirs  to  his  liege  the  emperor.  On 
his  way  the  malicious  Chariot,  son  of  Char- 
lemagne, attacked  Huon,  but  was  overcome 
and  slain.    The  emperor  loved  his  unworthy 
son,    and,  contrary   to    the   advice    of  his 
doucepeers,  he  condemned  Huon  to  death. 
Afterwards  he  so  modified  his  sentence  that 
the  champion  was  pardoned  on  condition 
that  he  shall  first  visit  Bagdad,  from  whence 
he  shall  bring  back  to  Paris   the   caliph's 
beard  and   four  of  his  cheek  teeth,  having 
first  slain  one  of  the  lords  of  the  paynim 
court  and  kissed  the  caliph's  daughter  before 
her  father's  face.    Huon  finally  accomplished 
all  that  was  required  of  him  and  much  more, 
being  aided  by   the  effects  of  a  magic  horn 
and  cup  lent  to  him  by  the  dwarf  Oberon, 
to  whom  as  well  as  to  the  beautiful  Sirncen 


princess,  Esclarmonde,  he  owes  quite  as  much 
as  to  his  own  marvelous  skill,  courage, 
prudence  and  tact.  At  last,  after  countless 
perils  and  sufferings,  he  marries  Esclarmonde, 
wins  a  full  pardon  from  Charlemagne,  set- 
tles down  to  his  proper  rank  as  a  French 
nobleman,  lives  long  and  dies  happy.  And 
so  may  we  all.  W.  J.  LACK. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

gUE  1^1  B  S. 

Letters  to  a  German  Princess. — Can  any 

of  the  readers  tell  me  through  the  columns  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  who  -wrote 
"  Letters  to  a  German  Princess,"  and  who 
the  princess  was  ?  SIMON  DURAND. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

These  letters  were  written  by  Euler  (St. 
Petersburg,  1768-1772),  and  were  addressed 
to  the  Princess  of  Anhalt-Desian.  They 
were  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  scientific 
treatise  written  by  a  man  of  superior  educa- 
tion in  a  manner  comprehensive  to  the 
general  public.  In  them  Euler  presents 
with  great  clearness  the  most  important 
facts  concerning  mechanics,  physical 
astronomy,  optics  and  the  theory  of  sounds. 

Conderat   says :     "  Euler's  letters  are  a 
work  singularly  commendable  on  account  of 
the  clearness  with  which  he  demonstrates  the 
principal  facts  concerning  mechanics,  physi- 
cal  astronomy,    optics   and   the   theory  of 
sound.     The  name  of  Euler  was  so  great  in 
science  that  it  gave  to  such  clear,  simple 
and  easy  letters  a  particular  charm.     Those 
who    had   not    studied    mathematics    were 
astonished  and  flattered  on  being  able  to  un- 
derstand scientific  works  written  by  a  man 
of  his  renown."     The  Lettres  d  une princess 
d'  Allemagne  were  written  in  French.      The 
style  was  crude,  such  as  one  may  expect  from 
a  foreigner,  but  still  it  was  sufficiently  clear 
to  be  easily  understood.    Leonard  Euler  was 
born  at  Basle,  Switzerland,  on  i5th  of  April, 
1707,  and  died  in  St.  Petersburg,  on  7th  of 
September,  1783. 

East  and  West  Jersey. — When  did  the 
old    proprietary   distinction   between   East 
and  West  Jersey  cease  ?    J.  R.  REYBOLD. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


9o 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  20,  1890. 


It  has  not  yet  ceased  to  exist.  The  Board 
of  Proprietors  of  East  Jersey  has  its  head- 
quarters at  Perth  Amboy  ;  the  West  Jersey 
Board  sits  at  Burlington.  The  old  proprie- 
tary rights,  particularly  in  East  Jersey,  are 
regarded,  especially  by  those  who  hold  them, 
as  of  high  importance. 

McSwiney's  Gun. — What  is  McSwiney's 
Gun?  R.  N.  C. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Near  Horn  Head,  County  Donegal,  Ire- 
land, there  is  a  hole  in  the  rocks  called  Mc- 
Swiney's Gun.  It  runs  down  into  a  cave. 
When  the  north  winds  blow,  and  the  sea  is 
at  half  flood,  the  wind  and  waves  enter 
the  cavern,  and  jets  of  water  are  sent  up 
from  the  gun  to  the  height  of  one  hundred 
feet.  The  jets  are  accompanied  by  loud 
explosions  which  may  be  heard  for  miles. 

Ichaboe. — Appleton's  "  American  Cyclo- 
paedia," in  its  article  on  the  Auckland 
islands,  states  that  one  of  them,  called  Icha- 
boe, produces  guano.  But  the  celebrated 
guano-producing  island  of  Ichaboe  lies  west 
of  South  Africa,  many  thousands  of  miles 
from  the  Auckland  islands.  Is  the  "Cyclo- 
paedia's" statement  correct? 

M.  S.  B.  A. 

BOSTON. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  some  guano-deal- 
ing firm  may  have  given  to  one  of  the  Auck- 
land islands  a  name  which  does  not  belong 
to  it.  We  have,  however,  no  information 
to  offer  on  the  point  raised  by  our  corre- 
spondent. 

REPLIES. 

Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
77). — One  of  the  "  good  old  etymologies," 
now  discredited,  derives  the  word  stipulation 
from  the  Latin  stipula,  a  straw ;  the  gift  of 
a  straw  serving  to  bind  a  bargain.  I  re- 
member hearing  a  farmer  in  Massachusetts 
say  that  he  had  given  the  purchaser  of  a 
piece  of  land  a  turf  from  the  land  sold,  as  a 
symbol  of  the  transfer.  He  did  it,  I  think, 
by  the  advice  of  some  lawyer.  The  legal 


name  for  such  a  transfer  is  "livery  of 
seisin,"  or  "livery  in  deed,"  which  con- 
sists in  the  formal  delivery  by  the  feo'ffor  to 
the  feoffee  on  the  land,  of  a  clod,  or  turf,  or 
a  growing  twig.  This  and  other  ceremonial 
transfers  are  classed  as  feoffments.  These 
feoffments  have  now  gone  out  of  use  almost 
everywhere.  In  some  places  they  have  been 
abolished  by  statute,  in  nearly  all  places  the 
greater  convenience  and  security  of  written 
deeds  has  driven  feoffments  out  of  practical 
use.  Sometimes  (but  for  the  most  part  not 
of  recent  years)  a  stick,  twig,  chip,  or  the 
like  has  been  offered  as  earnest,  or  as  a 
pledge  good  in  law  when  the  price  of  the 
land  has  not  been  paid.  So  the  ancient 
Romans  sold  land  per  as  etlibram,\>y  copper 
and  scales,  the  actual  payment  of  the  pur- 
chase money  often  preceding  or  following 
by  a  considerable  interval  the  ceremonial 
transfer.  In  Scotland,  up  to  a  compara- 
tively late  time,  the  ceremony  called  sasine, 
or  infeftment,  was  a  necessary  part  of  the 
transfer  of  land,  the  attorney  of  the  selling 
party,  or  the  party  himself,  handing  over 
"earth  and  ground"  to  the  buyer,  as  a 
sign  of  the  transfer.  It  is  doubtless  not 
necessary  for  me  to  add  that  my  knowledge 
of  legal  matters  is  nothing  to  boast  of,  for  I 
value  such  studies  only  for  their  antiquarian, 
and  not  for  their  practical  interest. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN.  PA. 

My  Friend,  Judge  Not  Me,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
78). — I  know  nothing  of  the  authorship  of 
the  lines,  but  have  a  vague  remembrance  of 
hearing  the  second  couplet  quoted — in  the 
pulpit,  I  think — as  an  illustration  of  the 
promptness  of  the  divine  mercy  in  answer 
to  the  prayers  of  the  repentant  sinner.  The 
man  falls  from  his  horse,  catches  his  toot  in 
the  stirrup,  fears  that  he  will  be  killed,  utters 
the  hurried  prayer  for  mercy,  and  is  sure 
that  the  prayer  is  answered.  Whether  he 
escapes  death  and  says  these  words  after- 
wards, or  is  killed  and  is  supposed  to  say  them 
after  death,  could  only  be  decided  from  the 
context,  whatever  it  may  be.  The  second 
explanation  mentioned  by  "A  New  Sub- 
scriber "  is  probably  a  mere  guess,  and,  to 
my  thinking,  a  bad  one.  R. 

CAMBRIDGE.  MASS. 


December  20,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


TO 


Tiger  Parasites.—  Can  any  of  your 
readers  tell  me  if  there  is  any  truth  in  the 
following  statement,  which  I  have  seen  pub- 
lished in  the  papers  : 

"In  speaking  of  the  minute  parasites 
which  are  found  in  the  hairy  part  of  the 
tiger's  foot,  a  scientist  says  :  '  They  consti- 
tute one  of  the  most  wonderful  curiosities  I 
know  of  in  the  animal  world.  The  parasites 
are  so  small  as  to  be  almost  invisible  to  the 
naked  eye,  and  yet  each  is  a  perfect  coun- 
terpart of  the  tiger  —  head,  ears,  jaws,  legs, 
claws,  body,  tail,  all  are  there.  You  may 
think  this  a  big  story,  but  look  the  subject 
up  and  see  if  it  is  not  so."  " 

W.  E.  A. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Authorship  Wanted.—"  The  Mantle 
that  Statius  Scorned  to  Wear"  etc.  —  Can 
any  one  tell  me  where  can  be  found  the  fol- 
lowing lines  : 

"  The  mantle  [cloak]  that  Statius  scorned  [disdained] 

to  wear 
Catullus  gladly  donned." 

-  Statius  was  a  celebrated  Latin  poet  about 
the  time  of  Catullus.  The  former  was  re- 
finement itself.  The  latter  exactly  the  re- 
verse. Hence  the  comparison. 

ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Huon.  —  There  is  in  Tasmania  a  river 
Huon,  and  there  are  forests  of  Huon  pine  in 
the  same  island,  as  well  as  a  region  called 
the  Huon  plains.  There  are  Huon  islands 
160  miles  north-west  of  New  Caledonia; 
Huon  gulf  is  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Papua. 
Do  these  names  commemorate  any  person  ? 
Are  they  in  any  way  connected  with  the 
mythical  Huon  of  Bordeaux  ?  Concerning 
him  I  have  sent  you  a  note,  which  will,  I 
hope,  incite  other  correspondents,  more 
skilled  in  such  lore  than  I,  to  give  your  read- 
ers a  more  extended  account  than  mine.  I 
may  add  that  the  Huon  islands  are  the 
source  of  a  supply  of  guano  to  French  com- 
merce; one,  called  Huon  island,  is  noted 
for  its  turtles.  W.  J.  LACK. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


Lake    Of   Blood.— Where    is   the   so- 
called  Lake  of  Blood  ? 

J.  L.  RAYMOND. 
IOWA  CITY. 


CsOMMUNIGACTIONS. 


Antonomasias  of  Rulers  and  War- 
riors.— Africanus  of  New  Rome,  Belisarius. 

Alexander  of  the  North,  Charles  XII  ot 
Sweden. 

Apostle  of  God,  Mohammed. 

Attic  Muse,  Xenophon. 

Baron  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon. 

Black  Douglass,  Archibald  William,  Earl 
of  Withsdale. 

Bolingbroke,  Henry  IV  of  England. 

Bombalino,  Francis  II  of  Naples. 

Bluff  King  Hal,  Henry  VIII  of  England. 

Bravest  of  the  Brave,  Marshal  Ney. 

Bruce  of  Bannockburn,  Robert  II  of  Scot- 
land. 

Codrus  of  Switzerland,  Arnold  of  Winkel- 
reid. 

Cceur  de  Lion,  Richard  I  of  England. 

Conqueror  of  Italy,  Hannibal. 

Conqueror  of  the  World,  Alexander  the 
Great. 

Colossus  of  the  North,  Nicholas  I  of 
Russia. 

Corporal  John,  Duke  of  Malbo rough. 

Defender  of  the  Faith,  Henry  VIII  of 
England. 

Delight  of  Mankind,  Titus,  Roman  Em- 
peror. 

Dread  Sovereign,  Henry  VIII  of  Eng- 
land. 

Eldest  Son  of  the  Church,  Louis  Napo- 
leon. 

Emperor  of  the  West,  Charlemagne. 

Empress  of  the  East,  Zenobia. 

English  Justinian,  Edward  I  of  Eng- 
land. 

Father  Violet,  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

Firebrand  of  the  Universe,  Tamerlane. 

First  Gentleman  of  Europe,  George  IV. 

First  Grenadier  of  France,  Latour  de 
Auvergne. 

Flower  of  Chivalry,  Douglas,  Earl  of  Lid- 
dlesdale. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  20,  1890. 


Gamecock  of  the  Catawba,  Gen. 
Sumpter. 

Good  Queen  Bess,  Elizabeth  of  England. 

Good  Queen  Maud,  Matilda  of  England. 

Grand  Monarque,  Louis  XIV  of  France. 

Gray  General,  Gen.  Blucher. 

Great  Silent  One,  Gen.  Von  Moltke. 

Hammer  of  the  Whole  Earth,  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. 

Handsome  Englishman,  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough. 

Handsome  Beard,  Baldwin  IV  of 
Flanders. 

Heir  of  the  Republic,  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte. 

Hercules  of  Attica,  Theseus. 

Hercules  of  Egypt,  Sesostris. 

Hermes  Trismegistus  of  Germany,  Rudolf 

Hero  of  a  Hundred  Fights,  Horatio  Nel- 
son. 

Hero  of  Austerlitz,  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

Hero  of  Modern  Italy,  Gen.  Garibaldi. 

Hero  of  the  Nile,  Horatio  Nelson. 

Hero  of  Thebes,  Epaminondas. 

Iron  Duke,  Duke  of  Wellington. 

King  Bomba,  Ferdinand  II  of  Naples. 

King-maker,  Richard  Neville,  Earl  of 
Warwick. 

King  of  Kings,  Sesostris ;  Charles  VII  of 
France. 

King  of  the  Barricades,  Louis  Philippe. 

Last  of  the  Goths,  Roderick. 

Last  of  the  Ptolemies,  Cleopatra. 

Law-giver  of  Sparta,  Lycurgus. 

Little  Corporal,  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

Little  Magician,  Martin  Van  Buren. 

Protector  of  Christianity,  Constantine  the 
Great. 

Protector,  The,  Oliver  Cromwell. 

Protestant  Pope,  Clement  XIV. 

Pucelle,  La,  Jeanne  d'  Arc,  maid  of 
Orleans. 

Queen  of  Hearts,  Elizabeth  of  Bohemia. 

Queen  of  Queens,  Cleopatra. 

Queen  of  Tears,  Mary  of  Modena. 

Queen  of  the  East,  Zenobia. 

Queen  of  Virgins,  Elizabeth  of  England. 

Quixote  of  the  North,  Charles  XII  of 
Sweden. 

Rail-splitter,  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Rantipole,  Louis  Napoleon. 

Red  Beard,  Frederick  I  of  Germany. 


Red  Douglas,    ArchibaldDouglas,  Earl  of 
Angus. 

Republican  Queen,  Sophie  Charlotte  of 
Prussia. 

Rhody,  Gen.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside. 

Ringlets,  Gen.  George  H.  Custer. 

Rob  Roy,  Robert  Macgregor  Campbell. 

Rock  of  Chickamauga,  Gen.  George  H. 
Thomas. 

Rogue  of  a  Scot,  John  Erskine,  Earl  of 
Mar. 

Romulus  of  Brandenburg,  Henry  I  ot 
Germany. 

Royal  Prophet,  David  the  Psalmist. 

Rufus,  William  II  of  England. 

Russian  Murat,  Gen.  Michael  Milorado- 
witch. 

Sailor  King,  William  IV  of  England. 

Saint,  The,  Edward  VI  of  England. 

Sapo's  Footstool,  Emperor  Valerian. 

Sardanapalus  of  China,  Cheo-Tsin  (1154 
B.  C.). 

Sardanapalus  of  Germany,  Wenceslaus  of 
Bohemia. 

Saviour  of  his  Country,  Gen.  Charles 
Pichegru. 

Scottish  Heliogabalus,  James  VI. 

Scourge  of  God,  Attila,  the  Hun. 

Semiramis  of  the  North,  Katharine  II. 

Solomon  of  England,  Henry  VII. 
•  Star  of  the  East,  Zenobia. 

Star  of  the  North,  Christina  II  of  Sweden. 

Strong  Bow,  Earl  of  Pembroke. 

Sword  of  Rome,  Marcellus. 

Terror  of  the  World,  Attila,  the  Hun. 

Thunderer  of  Italy,  Gaston  de  Foix. 

Tippecanoe,  Gen.  William  H.  Harrison. 

Virgin  Queen,  Elizabeth  of  England. 

Wallace  of  Switzerland,  Andreas  Hope. 

Wallace  of  Wales,  Owen  Glendower. 

Washington  of  the  West,  Gen.  William 
H.  Harrison. 

Waterloo  Hero,  Viscount  Rowland  Hill. 

White-plumed  Knight,  Henry  of  Navarre. 

White  Rose  of  England,  Perkia  Warbeck. 

Wisest  Fool  of  Europe,  James  I  of  Eng- 
land.— Bizarre  Notes  and  Queries. 

Pets  of  Famous  People  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
83). — Richter  was  very  fond  of  tame  ani- 
mals, which  he  had  constantly  by  him. 
Sometimes  it  was  a  mouse,  and  then  a  great 
white  cross  spider,  which  he  kept  in  a  paper 


December  20,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


93 


box  with  a  glass  top.  There  was  a  little 
-door  beneath  by  means  of  which  he  could 
feed  his  prisoner  with  dead  flies.  In  the 
autumn  he  collected  the  winter  food  for  his 
little  tree-frog  and  his  tame  spider.  "  How 
I  wish,"  he  wrote  once  to  his  friend  Otto, 
•"  that  you  could  have  met  me  in  the  street 
or  in  the  Harmony,  then  you  would  have 
seen  my  little  squirrel  upon  my  shoulder, 
who  bites  no  longer." 

Next  to  money,  Rembrandt  loved  noth- 
ing so  much  as  his  monkey.  He  was  one 
day  painting  a  picture  of  a  noble  family, 
when  the  news  of  his  ape's  death  was  brought 
to  him.  He  could  scarcely  contain  his 
grief,  and  lamented  his  unhappy  lot.  Sob- 
bing and  crying,  he  forthwith  began  deline- 
ating the  form  of  the  ape  upon  the  family 
picture.  They  remonstrated  with  him,  and 
protested  that  an  ape  was  quite  out  of  place 
in  the  company  of  such  distinguished  per- 
sonages. But  he  continued  to  weep  and 
went  on  painting  his  ape.  The  head  of  the 
family  demanded  to  know  whether  it  was 
his  portrait  or  that  of  a  monkey  which  Rem- 
brandt was  pretending  to  delineate?  "  It  is 
the  portrait  of  a  monkey,"  said  Rembrandt. 
"Then  you  may  keep  the  picture."  ''I 
think  so,"  said  the  painter,  and  the  picture 
still  survives. 

Henry  III  of  France  was  so  foolishly 
fond  of  spaniels  that  he  used  to  carry  a  litter 
of  them  in  a  basket  suspended  from  his 
neck  when  he  gave  his  audiences.  His 
passion  for  these  animals  cost  him  on  the 
average  not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand 
crowns  a  year. 

Charles  I  of  England  was  also  excessively 
fond  of  spaniels,  and  the  breed  of  his  dogs 
is  still  famous.  Frederick  the  Great  was 
also  a  great  dog  fancier. 

The  painter  Razzi  formed  friendships 
with  all  sorts  of  animals,  and  he  filled  his 
house  with  squirrels,  monkeys,  Angora  cats, 
dwarf  donkeys,  goats,  tortoises,  and  Elba 
ponies.  Besides  these,  he  had  an  enormous 
raven,  who  gravely  strode  about  as  if  he 
were  the  exhibitor  of  this  Noah's  ark.  When 
any  one  knocked  at  the  outer  door,  the 
raven  called,  "  Come  in,"  in  a  loud  voice. 

W.  W.  R. 
PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 


Compass  Plant  (Vol.  vi,  p.  64).— In 
the  compass  plant  mentioned  in  my  note  on 
p.  83,  I  should  have  mentioned  that  the 
flowering  head  or  spike  of  the  plant  bends 
with  a  gentle  curve  to  the  south,  and  it  is 
not  until  the  stalk  is  well  towards  maturity 
that  the  direction  is  constant. 

J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

*'  Lives"  for  Lief. — "Just  as  lives11  is 
a  very  common  rusticism  for  "just  as  lief." 
It  is  very  common  in  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States.  "  Just  as  lives  (livz)  and  a 
little  /ivzer"  is  not  at  all  uncommon. 

J.  M.  L, 

Swamp  (Vol.  vi,  p.  70). — I  think  we 
may  regard  it  as  certain  that  swamp  seldom 
or  never  appears  in  literature  as  an  English 
word  before  the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  it  appears  to  have  been  chiefly,  if 
not  entirely  used  in  writings  regarding  North 
America.  Still  there  are  closely  related 
words  in  the  Scandinavian  language,  and 
Prof.  Skeat  tells  us  that  swank  is  a  local  Eng- 
lish name  for  a  morass.  Some  have  noticed 
that  the  Finnish  name  for  a  marsh  is  suome, 
but  this  is  probably  either  a  coincidence,  or 
a  borrowing  from  the  Scandinavian ;  more 
probably  the  former,  since  its  root  seems  to 
be  widely  spread  in  the  native  soil  of  the 
various  Finnic  races.  With  swamp  compare 
the  German  schwamm,  in  the  sense  of  a 


sponge. 
GERMANTOWN. 


N.  S.  S. 


This  word  as  a  root  occurs  in  several 
names  of  Indian  origin  in  the  New  England 
States.  The  occurrence  may  be  merely  a 
coincidence. 

TROIS  ETOILES. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Underground  Streams  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
273,  etc.). — The  lake  of  Janina,  in  Albania, 
discharges  its  waters  through  underground 
channels  many  miles  in  length.  Several  of 
the  streams  which  feed  Lake  Itasca  disappear 
beneath  the  sod  of  the  marshes  near  the  lake 
and  reappear  as  bold  and  copious  springs. 
There  are  in  Lancashire  extensive  (artificial) 
underground  canals  for  shipping  coal. 


94 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  20,  1890. 


Notes  on  Words  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  71,  etc.). 
— Dust. — This  word,  in  something  like  its 
modern  slang  use  of  "to  get  up  and  dust," 
occurs  in  H.  Vaughan's  "Rules  and  Les- 
sons," from  the  "Silex  Scintillans"  (1650): 

"  Let  folly  dust  it  on,  or  lag  behind." 

[I  first  heard  the  expression,  "  Get  up  and 
dust,"  in  Cincinnati,  in  May,  1863.] 

Blouse. — Some  would  derive  this  word 
from  Pelusium,  in  ancient  Egypt,  a  city 
once  world-famous  for  its  linens.  The 
"  Century"  and  the  "  New  English  Diction- 
ary" pass  this  derivation  by  without  notice. 
The  Latin  pilosus,  hairy,  is  another  possible 
source.  Both  these  proposed  derivations 
lack  historical  confirmation. 

Janeway. — In  some  old  English  books 
the  Genoese  are  spoken  of  as  laneweyes. 
Can  we  not  safely  conclude  that  this  was 
the  origin  of  the  proper  name  ? 

Walker. — In  mediaeval  English,  a  walker 
often  means  a.  fuller,  probably  because  some 
part  of  the  fuller's  work  was  accomplished  by 
walking  upon  the  cloth.  It  is  believed  that 
the  family  name,  Walker,  had  this  origin. 

Gascoigne.—rt\A&  word  originally  meant 
a  native  of  Gascony.  *  *  * 

Llano  Estacado  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  84,  etc.). 
—If  J.  W.  R.  will  consult  Prof.  Sargent's 
Census  Report  of  1880,  on  the  "  Forest 
Trees  of  North  America,"  especially  that 
part  which  treats  of  the  trees  of  Western 
Texas,  he  will  find  that  the  mezquit  is  not 
"rarely  found  beyond  the  limits"  of  the 
mesa  and  similar  formations.  It  grows 
abundantly  in  almost  every  kind  of  loca- 
tion in  that  region.  In  Cameron  county, 
Texas,  not  far  from  Boca  Chica,  I  have  seen 
great  stretches  of  mezquit  scrub  (miscalled 
chapparal),  thickly  studded  with  post-like 
stalks  of  yucca,  all  within  hearing  of  "  the 
sound  of  the  send  of  the  sea."  As  for  the 
Staked  Plain,  I  read  long  ago  an  account  of 
an  early  exploration  of  that  region.  When 
travelers  needed  fuel,  they  used  to  dig  for 
it.  Selecting  some  spot  where  a  cluster  of 
living  twigs  (of  mezquit?)  was  to  be  seen, 
the  earth  was  dug  away  freely,  and  often  a 
huge  mass  of  roots  could  be  found,  which 
made  the  very  best  of  fuel. 

Captain    (afterwards   General)    Pope,  in 


1852,  explored  the  Llano,  and  sunk  a  num- 
ber of  artesian  wells ;  but  without  finding 
much  water.  His  report,  which  1  have  not 
seen  for  many  years,  was,  according  to  my 
recollection,  a  document  of  very  great  in- 
terest and  value.  I  have  fancied  that  the 
high  buttressed  escarpments,  which,  in  part, 
bound  the  Llano,  may  have  given  rise  to  an 
appellation  which  might,  I  think,  be  trans- 
lated "the  stockaded  plain."  I  am  not 
fond  of  argument,  but  I  spent  some  weeks 
of  spring  and  early  summer  in  Southwestern 
Texas,  and  when  *I  state  that  I  saw  abund- 
ance of  both  mezquit  and  yucca  very  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  I  only  state 
what  thousands  of  others  know  to  be  true. 
The  stems  of  the  yucca,  as  high  as  a  horse, 
often  would  measure,  I  should  say,  six  or 
eight  inches  in  cross-section ;  and  in  June 
they  were  crowned  with  great  corymbs  of 
white  flowers.  The  mezquit,  the  yucca,  and 
the  cactuses  were  decidedly  the  controlling 
features  of  the  landscape. 

A  few  years  since,  Capt.  Cooper,  U.S.A., 
with  a  party  of  soldiers  made  a  journey  into 
the  Llano,  and  all  the  party  suffered  in- 
tensely from  thirst.  My  recollection  is  that 
they  were  obliged  to  drink  the  blood  of 
their  horses,  and  that  the  opportune  dis- 
covery of  a  water-hole  at  last  was  the  means 
of  saving  their  lives.  N.  S.  S. 

Playing  'Possum  (Vol.  vi,  p.  68). — 
Certainly  the  opossum  is  not  the  only  ani- 
mal that  feigns  death.  The  fox  will  often 
do  it  to  perfection.  I  have  known  several 
instances  of  his  regaining  his  liberty  in  that 
way — suddenly  starting  up  and  darting 
away  when  the  attention  of  his  captor,  who 
thought  him  quite  dead,  was  turned.  I 
have  known  a  fox  to  "  play  "possum"  when 
only  the  burning  of  a  sulphur  match  under 
his  nose  would  force  him  to  show  signs  of 
life.  C.  H.  A. 

BOSTON.  MASS. 

English  Words  in  the  French  Lan- 
guage (Vol.  v,  pp.  51,  etc.). — The  French 
poet,  Parny  (1753-1814),  published,  in 
1805,  a  satirical  and  allegorical  poem 
against  the  English  king  and  people,  en- 
titled "Goddam!  Goddam!  parun  French- 
dog."  Qui  TAM. 


December  20,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


95 


Dogs  of  War  (Vol.  vi,  p.  14). — The 
most  adroit  smugglers  across  the  Pyrenees, 
that  divide  the  frontiers  of  France  from 
Spain,  are  a  breed  of  dogs  of  the  shepherd 
class,  whose  origin  can  be  traced  back  a 
thousand  years,  as  proved  by  old  tapestries 
showing  the  retreat  of  Charlemagne  through 
the  mountain  defiles.  These  dogs  have  their 
homes  in  the  wild  region  that  girt  Navarre 
to  the  west;  and,  being  taken  across  the 
frontier  and  laden  with  Spanish  laces  and 
tobacco,  they  make  their  return  through 
secret  passes,  and  during  the  dark  hours  of 
the  night,  to  the  great  mystification  of  the 
custom  house  guards.  They  are  said  to 
scent  the  officers  from  afar,  and  remain 
hidden  until  the  danger  is  past ;  but  then, 
on  the  other  hand,  when  once  their  homes 
are  reached,  they  are  the  finest  watch-dogs 
to  be  found  in  the  country.  During  the 
Carlist  wars  some  of  the  dogs  accompanied 
their  masters  to  the  field,  and  their  services 
were  found  to  be  very  useful  in  preventing  a 
surprise  on  the  outposts.  The  Germans, 
ever  alert  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the 
army,  made  a  novel  experiment  in  the  re- 
cent manoeuvres,  of  employing  trained  dogs 
of  the  same  species  in  the  transmission  of 
messages  on  the  line  of  outposts,  resulting 
in  great  success.  The  animals  are  much 
petted  by  the  men,  and  when  not  in  active 
service,  they  do  duty  with  the  field  watch 
and  sentinels,  and  are  so  efficient  in  giving 
the  alarm  that  their  use  is  henceforth  to  be 
extended.  F. 

By  and  Large. — Among  rustic  people 
the  expression  "  by  and  large  "  is  used  in 
a  sense  quite  unlike  the  nautical  one.  In 
this  sense  by  and  large  means  something  like 
in  the  long  run,  or  as  a  general  thing,  or  even 
on  an  average.  J.  M.  L. 

Pillars  of  the  Church  (Vol.  v,  p.  103). 
— In  Henry  Vaughan's  poem,  "  Joy  of  My 
Life,"  in  speaking  of  the  saints,  the  poet 
says : 

"  They  are,  indeed,  our  pillar-fires, 

Seen  as  we  go  ; 

They  are  that  citie's  shining  spires 
We  travell  to." 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Swamp  Apples  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  84,  etc.). 
— In  addition  to  the  list  of  green  things 
eaten  with  gusto  by  children  should  be  men- 
tioned that  great  favorite,  the  young  sprouts 
of  the  checkerberry,  often  called,  in  the 
Connecticut  valley,  "  youngsters,"  and,  in 
the  Merrimac  valley,  "young  ivy."  It 
was  and  is  in  great  demand  in  its  season, 
and  parties  of  children  were  often  made  up 
to  go  in  search  of  it.  It  is  known  by  many 
names.  The  aromatic  and  toothsome  ber- 
ries were  called  "  ivy  plums"  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. C.  H.  A. 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

Dude  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  82,  etc.). — Foster's 
"Medical  Dictionary,"  Vol.  ii(  1890),  gives 
a  meaning  for  this  word  which  I  have  never 
seen  before.  He  defines  it  as  the  cochineal 
insect.  C.  J.  L. 

NEW  YORK. 

Puss  (Vol.  vi,  p.  68).— With  this  word 
compare  the  Irish  pus,  a  cat ;  Low  German, 
puus ;  Dutch, poes ;  Lithuanian,//^.  Com- 
pare, also,  the  local  Afghan  pusha,  a  cat ; 
Malayalim,  puchcha ;  South  Tamil,  pusei. 
The  Egyptian  cat-headed  goddesses,  Pakht 
and  Bast,  have  names  in  which  some  have 
found  a  likeness  to  our  familiar  "  puss." 

Sunken  Islands  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  48,  etc.). 
— With  regard  to  the  alleged  sinking  of 
the  islands  of  Rica  de  Oro  and  Morrell 
(as  noticed,  Vol.  v,  p.  19),  I  saw  not  long 
since  in  a  newspaper  the  assertion  that  "  the 
late  reports  of  the  sinking  of  certain  islands 
in  the  Pacific  are  incorrect,"  or  words  to 
that  effect.  I  failed  at  the  time  to  make  a 
note  of  the  name  and  date  of  the  newspaper. 
I  suppose  the  statement  refers  to  the  islands 
named  above,  but  I  do  not  know.  Neither 
do  I  know  whether  the  correction  offered  is 
of  any  moment.  I  should  suppose,  however, 
that  the  Hydrographic  Office  and  its  inform- 
ants would  be  of  better  authority  than  a 
nameless  newspaper  paragraph  writer. 

ISLANDER. 
MAINE. 

Serpent  as  a  Standard  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
82,  etc.). — One  of  John  Donne's  quaintest 
poems  is  entitled  "  A  Sheaf  of  Snakes  used 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  20,  1890. 


Heretofore  to  be  my  Seal,  the  Crest  of  our 
Poor  Family."  Whether  this  crest  was  in- 
herited from  some  branch  of  the  Vaughan 
race  I  do  not  know.  But  the  Donnes  claimed 
a  Welsh  descent.  Donne,  also,  in  one  of 
his  Latin  addresses  to  George  Herbert,  says : 

"  Qui  prius  assuetus  serpentum  fasce  tabellas 
Signare  (haec  nostrae  symbola  parva  donms),"  etc. 

The  Latin  address  is  virtually  a  transla- 
tion of  the  English  poem.  G. 
NEW  JERSEY. 

Rhymes  about  Towns. — Among  re- 
markable folk-rhymes  about  cities  there  are 
many  prophecies-,  thus : 

"  Musselburgh  was  a  burgh 

When  Edinburgh  was  nane  ; 
And  Musselburgh  shall  be  a  burgh 
When  Edinburgh's  gane." 

Which  is  not  unlike  that  regarding  Nor- 
wich : 

"  Caistor  was  a  city  when  Norwich  was  none ; 
And  Norwich  was  built  of  Caistor  stone." 

Compare  a  folk-rhyme  about  Plymouth : 

"  Plympton  was  a  busy  town 
When  Plymouth  was  a  fuzzy  (furzy)  down." 

R.  B.  RUSSELL. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Leaving  His  Country,  etc.  (Vol.  v, 
p.  244). — A  recent  number  of  the  Alhenaum 
states  that  "  We  left  our  country  for  our 
country's  good"  was  written  "  by  Barring- 
ton,  the  prince  of  pickpockets."  I  suppose, 
from  the  context,  that  Barrington  was  some 
Australian  convict.  I  have  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, that  the  expression  is  much  older. 
Probably  your  quotation  from  Fitzgeffrey 
suggested  the  later  forms  of  the  phrase. 

W.  J.  LACK. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Cattle  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  81,  etc.).— 
The  commands  hush  and  hwo-hush  are  often 
used  in  driving  oxen.  I  have  even  heard 
"  Hush,  come  here  ;  hwo  haw  /"  Suke  and 
Mooley  are  common  names  for  cows.  So  is 
a  command  given  by  the  milkers  to  cows 
that  are  uneasy  during  the  milking  process. 
Oxen  are  often  named  Bright,  Broad,  Buck. 
Chickens  are  called  Chick,  Chick,  or  Biddy, 
Biddy ;  turkeys,  Turk,  Turk,  Turk.  Dogs 
are  set  upon  marmots  or  woodchucks,  or 


other  animals,  with  a  Steboy  ;  or,  as  Emer- 
son writes  it,  Hist-a-boy  !  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Whirlpool  (Vol.  vi,  p.  35).  —  A  very  re- 
markable whirlpool  is  that  seen  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  Lake  of  Colta,  Ecuador,  eastward 
from  Riobamba.  It  is  believed  to  be  due  to 
a  subterranean  outlet,  through  which  the 
water  escapes  from  the  crater-lake. 

N.  L.  B. 

BOSTON. 

Taking  In.  — 

"  It  was  a  banke  of  flowers,  where  I  descried 

(Though  'twas  midday), 
Some  faste  asleepe,  others  broad-eyed, 
And  taking  in  the  ray." 

(H.  Vaughan,  "  Regeneration,"  1650,  St.  ix.) 

G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Booi^s  AND 


The  Atlantic  Monthly  for  January  has  for  its  opening 
article  a  readable  one  by  Percival  Lowell,  called  "Noto: 
An  Unexplored  Corner  of  Japan."  Mr.  Lowell  writes 
cleverly,  and  his  account  of  his  journey  is  the  freshest 
and  most  vivid  travel  sketch  that  has  appeared  for  some 
time.  He  was  accompanied  on  his  wanderings  by  a 
certain  Yejiro,  who  acted  as  servant  and  courier.  Mr. 
Lowell  says  that,  "  besides  cooking  excellently  well,  he 
made  paper  plum  blossoms  beautifully,  and  once  con- 
structed a  string  telephone  out  of  his  own  head.  I 
mention  these  samples  of  his  accomplishments  to  show 
that  he  was  no  mere  dabbler  in  pots  and  pans."  Cleve- 
land Abbe's  paper,  which  will  command  attention,  sug- 
gests "A  New  University.  Course,"  this  course  to  be 
devoted  to  terrestrial  physics  as  a  distinct  department  of 
instruction.  As  for  "  The  House  of  Martha,"  that 
cloistered  establishment  allows  one  of  its  inhabitants, 
acting  as  amanuensis,  to  listen  to  the  dictation  of  a  love 
story  under  the  sophism  that  it  is  told  to  illustrate  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  foreigner.  Mr.  Charles 
Worcester  Chark  writes  about  "  Compulsory  Arbitra- 
tion," in  which  he  says  that  one  of  the  most  striking 
features  of  our  easy-going  American  character  is  ready 
submission  to  the  domination  of  our  servants,  whether 
it  be  Bridget  in  our  kitchen,  the  railway  in  our  streets, 
or  Congress  in  the  Capital  at  Washington.  Prof. 
Royce  has  a  long  paper  on  Hegel  ;  Adolphe  Cohn 
writes  about  "  Boulangism,"  and  Mr.  Henry  Charles 
Lea  indicates  the  "  Lesson  of  the  Pennsylvania  Elec- 
tion." Sophia  Kirk  gives  a  pretty  sketch  of  "A  Swiss 
Farming  Village;"  and  "A  Novelist  of  the  Jura," 
Mademoiselle  Adele  Huguenin,  is  the  subject  of  a  long 
article  which  shows  her  to  be  a  kind  of  Swiss  Charles 
Egbert  Craddock.  The  "  Comedy  of  the  Custom 
House,"  in  the  Contributors'  Club,  concludes  with  a 
mot  which  is  worth  preserving  :  "  '  When  I  am  asked 
if  I  have  any  presents  I  always  answer  "  No,"  said  a  de- 
vout church-going  woman  to  me  one  day,  '  because  I 
do  not  consider  them  presents  until  I  give  them  away.'  " 


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SATURDAY,  DECEMBER  27,  1890. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Some  Proverbial  Phrases  from  the  Dramas  of  Ben 
Jonson,  97 — Siamese  Superstitions,  98. 

QUERIES  :— Works  of  Pierre  Beron,  99— English  Palladio— 
Father  of  the  People — Alroy — Old  Man  Plain — Homer  of 
Brabant— Juries  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court — Barber 
of  Agen — Jeanne  Dare,  100 — Emodin — Spanish  Raphael — 
Great  Geometer — Ant-Lion,  101. 

REPLIES: — Ever-burning  Limps — Possession  by  Turf  and 
Twig,  101 — Come  as  High  from  Tripoli — Rouchi — Moham- 
med Il's  Flag — 'Twas  in  the  Constellation,  102 — Bungtown 
Copper,  103. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Cacus  and 
Evander  —  Pontic  Sheep  —  Musha — Authorship  Wanted  — 
Queer — Spectacles,  103. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Quirt—  Fall  for  Autumn— Notes  on 
Words — Cockneys,  103 — The  Depravation  of  Words — Crane 
and  Stone— Nicknames  of  Cities,  104 — Curan  and  Argentile — 
Woodruff,  105 — Asturias — Protomartyr — The  Devil's  Tower 
— Pets  of  Famous  People,  106 — Strange  Etymologies — Sing- 
ular Names  of  Places,  107 — Womanless  Islands,  108. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 108. 


SOME    PROVERBIAL    PHRASES    FROM     THE 
DRAMAS  OF  BEN   JONSON. 

(CONTINUED  FROM  PAGE  88.) 
"A  man  of  mark"  ("  Tale  of  a  Tub,"  iii.  2). 

Compare  Shakespeare:  "A  fellow  of  no 
mark,"  in  "  Henry  IV,"  iii,  2,  First  Part; 
also  Fletcher's  "  False  One,"  iv,  2. 

"  I  have  it  at  my  tongue's  end  "  (iii,  i). 

"  To  stay  his  stomach  "  (Ibid.,  iii,  5). 

"  I  am  now  in  a  fine  pickle  "  (Ibid.). 

"  So  we've  brought  our  eggs  to  a  fine  market  "  (Ibid.). 

"  Malta  cadunt  inter — you  can  guess  the  rest 
Many  things  fall  between  the  cup  and  lip." 

(Ibid.,  iii,  4.) 

"  But  not  a  word  but  mum  "  (Ibid.,  iv,  i). 

Cf.  Richard  III,  7:  "The  citizens  are 
mum,  say  not  a  word." 


98 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.      [December  27,  189  o 


"  Do  you  not  smell  a  rat "  {Ibid.,  iv,  3). 

"  Sleeveless  errand  "  (Ibid.,  iv.  4). 

"  I  would  not  be  in  my  master's  coat  lor  a  thousand." 

(Ibid.,  iv.  5.) 

"  Passion's  dull  eye  can  make  two  griefs  of  one." 
("  Case  is  Altered,"  i,  I.) 

"  Your  cake  is  dough  "  (Ibid.,  v,  2). 

Amelia's  definition  of  precisianism  ought 
not  to  be  passed  by : 

"  It  is  precisianism  to  alter  that 
With  austere  judgment,  that  is  given  by  nature." 

"  I  am  thine  own  ad  unguem,  itpsie  freeze,  pell  mell." 

(Ibid.,  iv,  3.) 

Upsie-Fries,  as  well  as  Upsey- Dutch,  is  ex- 
plained by  Halliwell  and  by  Nares;  the 
latter  phrase  occurs  in  the  "Alchemist," 
iv,  4: 

"  I  do  not  like  the  dullness  of  your  eye, 
It  hath  a  heavy  cast,  'tis  Upsie-Dutch." 

"  Faith, 

Mellifleur:  So  much  virtue  should  not  be  envied. 
Alken :  Better  be  so  than  pitied." 

("  Sad  Shepherd,"  i,  a.) 

"  Who  scorns  at  eld,  peels  off  his  own  young  hairs." 

(Ibid.,  ii,  I.) 

Jonson's  comedy  is  well  larded  with  oaths, 
the  most  curious  of  which  and  the  most  dainty, 
in  the  opinion  of  Cob,  the  waterbearer,  is 
"By  Pharaoh's  foot,"  in  "  Every  Man  in 
His  Humor." 

Jack  Daw's  "  As  I  hope  to  finish  Taci- 
tus," is  characteristic  of  the  knight's  high 
scholarship. 

An  interesting  illustration  of  the  very 
early  use  of  too-too  by  Meercraft,  the  pro- 
jector, is : 

"  This  reign  is  too-too  unsupportable." 

("  Devil  is  an  Ass,"  iii,  I.) 

The  list  may  conclude  with  a  quotation 
referring  to  the  celebrated  phrase,  "To 
dine  with  Duke  Humphrey  : ' ' 

"  Much  like  Duke  Humphrey 
But  now  and  then,  as  the  wholesome  proverb  says, 
'Twill  obsonare  famem  ambulando." 

("  Staple  of  News,"  iii,  I.) 


Another   reference  appears  in  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher's 

"  A  Duke  Humphrey  spark, 
Had  rather  lose  his  dinner  than  his  jest !  " 

("  Wit  at  Several  Weapons,"  i,  i.) 

Compare  also  Shakespeare,  Richard  III, 
iv,  4.  K.  L.  H. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


SIAMESE  SUPERSTITIONS. 

As  far  as  superstitions  are  concerned,  the 
Siamese  are  not  surpassed  in  any  way  by 
their  neighbors,  the  Cambodians,  the  Anna- 
mites,  or  the  Chinese.  While  the  stars, 
planets  and  the  celestial  dome  are  inhabited 
by  the  Thevadas,  gods  and  goddesses  whom 
the  people,  although  converted  to  Buddhism, 
still  worship,  the  earth  is  haunted  by  a  legion 
of  Phi,  a  generic  term  commonly  used  to 
designate  spirits  as  well  as  demons  and 
genii  who  have  the  power  to  influence  mortal 
life,  more  often  to  disturb  a  peaceful  life 
than  to  aid  prosperity.  These  superstitions, 
believed  by  the  mandarins  as  well  as  by  the 
people,  have  influenced  and  still  influence 
greatly  public  and  private  affairs.  Buddhism, 
whose  doctrines  forbid  superstition,  does  not 
seem  to  have  modified  them  even  super- 
ficially. It  is  on  this  account  that  one  sees 
Buddha  and  the  Phi  worshiped  together. 

The  Spirits. — Under  the  nomenclature  of 
Phi  tai  hong,  the  Siamese  include  the  spirits 
of  all  those  who  have  died  of  poison,  suicide, 
snake  bites,  encounters  with  wild  animals, 
being  gored  by  buffaloes  or  elephants,  and 
in  fact  any  accidental  death  of  a  violent 
nature.  This  sort  of  death  gives  them  the 
impression  that  the  victim  did  not  leave  this 
world  willingly,  and  consequently  the  rest- 
less spirit  is  constantly  seeking  revenge  on 
those  still  enjoying  life.  This  belief, 
together  with  the  Buddhist  idea  that  the 
soul  does  not  incarnate  itself  until  the  mor- 
tal remains  are  entirely  destroyed,  has  given 
birth  to  the  custom  of  keeping  bodies  unin- 
terred  whose  death  was  incurred  by  acci- 
dent. While  the  body  still  exists,  the  spirit 
is,  so  to  speak,  unable  to  leave  its  former 
habitation,  and  time,  which  smooths  human 
hatred,  has  also  a  similar  power  on  the  other 
side  of  the  grave.  This  hypothesis  does  not 


December  27,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


99 


seem,  however,  to  entirely  reassure  those 
who  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  deceased. 
They  fear  to  see  the  spirit  of  the  deceased 
return  to  harass  the  sick  and  the  weak,  so 
they  practice  certain  charms  to  avoid  the 
evil  consequences.  Should  they  celebrate  a 
fete,  perform  the  ceremony  of  cutting  the 
hair,  or  give  a  feast,  they  never  fail  to  in- 
vite the  spirit  of  the  departed  by  a  short 
prayer  to  be  present  at  the  rejoicings. 
Should  they  receive  a  stranger  as  a  guest, 
the  spirit  is  informed  of  the  fact  and  his 
clemency  implored.  In  fact,  the  most  in- 
significant event  is  sufficient  cause  to  in- 
voke the  spirit's  good-will,  and  at  the  same 
time  alms  are  given  to  the  Talapoins,  offer- 
ings made  in  pagodas  in  his  behalf.  These 
gifts  consist  of  pieces  of  yellow  calico,  or  of 
statues  of  Buddha  in  bronze  or  gilded 
wood,  draped  in  a  piece  of  white  cloth, 
upon  which  the  prayer  is  inscribed. 

A  still-born  child  is  immediately  trans- 
formed into  a  Phi  Kumar  —  a  spirit  greatly  to 
be  feared.  Deceived  in  his  hope  to  see  the 
world,  he  seeks  vengeance  on  the  other 
beings  ;  his  rage  is  turned  against  the 
mother,  and  causes  her  to  be  delirious  and 
fo  acquire  a  fever  which  is  generally  fatal. 
Mothers  who  die  in  child-birth,  or  from  the 
consequences  of  child-birth,  are  classed 
among  the  Phi  phrai  tai  hony,  a  kind  of 
furies  who  wander  around  and  within  homes, 
always  watching  an  opportunity  to  strangle 
a  child,  especially  their  own.  The  husband 
also  shares  their  jealous  rage  and  is  pre- 
vented by  many  obstacles  to  procure  himself 
another  wife.  People  dying  from  drowning 
in  the  ocean  become  Phi  phrai  nam,  spirits 
who  dwell  in  the  water  and  are  the  cause  of 
storms  and  shipwrecks. 

\To  be  continued,  .] 


B 


B  S. 


Works  of  Pierre  Beron.  —  Will  you  give 
me  a  complete  list  of  the  works  of  Pierre 
Beron?  I  attempted  to  compile  a  list  of 
them  from  our  library,  but  the  research  was 
of  such  magnitude  that  I  concluded  to  come 
to  you.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  too  long  for 
publication.  R.  G.  THOMAS. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Although  it  is  not  customary  for  AMERI- 


CAN NOTES  AND  QUERIES  to  devote  so  much 
space  to  the  answer  of  a  query  which  may 
be  of  interest  to  only  one  subscriber,  still  we 
feel  that  as  long  as  it  lies  in  our  power  we 
ought  to  answer  the  above  query. 

Beron  was  born  in  Cortyle,  Thrace,  in 
1800.  The  following  is  a  complete  list  of 
his  principal  works  as  far  as  we  know : 

"  Systeme  d'atmosph£rologie  "  (1846,  in 
8vo)  ;  "  Systeme  de  geologic  et  origines  des 
cometes"  (1874,  in  8vo)  ;   "Deluge  et  vie 
des  plantes  avant  et  apres  le  deluge  "  (1858, 
in  410);  "Grand  Atlas  cosmo — biographiqtie, 
contenant   le   mode  et  la   production    des 
corps  celestes,  de  leurs  mouvements,  de  leur 
forme,  etc."  (1858,    in  4to,    with  plates); 
"  Origines  des  sciences  physiques  et  naturel- 
les     et     des     sciences     metaphysiques     et 
morales  "  (1858,  in  4to) ;  Atlas  met6orolo- 
gique "    (1860,    in   4to,    with  12    colored 
plates);    "Le  fluide   de   lumiere   ramene", 
comme  le  gaz,  aux  calculs  stoechiometriques 
et  aux  loix  aerostatiques  "  (1862,  in  8vo)  ; 
"  Decouverte  du  fluide  echogene,  demontree 
dans  les  proprietes  commune  a  ce  fluide  et 
a   la  lumiere"    (1863,  in  8vo) ;    "La   de- 
couverte   de   1'origine  de   la  pesanteur  de- 
montree dans  une  formule  exprimant  la  dou- 
ble cause  du  mouvement  orbiculaire  et  axial 
du  soleil,  desplanetes,"  etc.  (1863,  in  8vo); 
"  Memoire  sur  un  systeme  centre  1'incendie, 
approuve   a  Londres   par   la   marine  et  le 
corps    des    pompiers"     (1863,    in     4to)  ; 
"  Meteorologie  simplifiepar  1'application  de 
la  loi  physique  au  mode  de  la  production  de 
la  chaleur  terreste,  des  courants  maritimes, 
etc. "(1863,  in 8vo);  "Physico-physiologie" 
(1864,  in  8vo) ;  "  Le  Grand  soleil  visible  au 
centre   du  systeme  du  monde "    (1866,  in 
8vo)  ;  "  L'Inegalitedes  deux  hemispheres  de 
la  terre,  des  planetes  produisant  les  anoma- 
lies" (1866,  in   8vo);  "  Taches  solaires  et 
periodicity  de  leur  nombre  "  ( 1 866,  in  8vo) ; 
"Physique  celeste  "  (1866-1868,  3  Vols.  in 
8vo) ;  "  Origine  de  1'unique  couple  humain, 
dispersion   de  ses  descendants"    (1867,  in 
8vo)  ;    "  Etat  de  la  terre  et   de   1'homme 
avant  et  apres  le  deluge"  (1867,  in  8vo)  ; 
"Transformation   de   1'eau   en    minerais" 
(1868,    in   8vo) ;    "  Physico-chimie,  partie 
g6ne'rale  simplifiee "  (i87o,in8vo).  Readers 
of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  will  please 
supply  any  omission  in  the  above  list. 


IOO 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  27,  1890. 


English  Palladio. — Who  is  meant  by  this 
term?  W.  C.  B. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Inigo  Jones,  the  architect. 

Father  of  the  People. — What  pope  was 
called  by  this  title  ?  M.  E.  B. 

CHELSEA. 

Pope  Eugenius  II. 

Alroy. — Did  Disraeli  invent  the  character 
called  Alroy  ?  J.  S.  C. 

ABBOT,  ME. 

There  was  a  false  Messiah  called  Alroy 
(David  Alrui)  in  the  twelfth  century,  A.D., 
in  the  province  of  Azerbaijan,  P«rsia. 

Old  Man  Plain.— Where  is  Old  Man  Plain 
situated?  ERNEST  TRAYMORE. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Old  Man  Plain  is  situated  in  the  southern 
part  of  New  South  Wales. 

Homer  of  Brabant. — What  poet  received 
this  title?  N.  B.  N. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

J.  B.  Houwaert  (1533-1599). 

Juries  in  United  States  Supreme  Court.— 

I  have  seen  it  stated  somewhere  that  juries 
were  at  one  time  empaneled  in  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  and  cases  tried  before 
them  where  questions  of  fact  as  well  as  of 
law  were  to  be  decided,  and  that  there  is 
nothing  in  existing  statutes  to  prevent  trials 
of  this  kind  provided  the  court  has  original 
jurisdiction  and  a  question  of  fact  is  in- 
volved. Can  any  of  your  readers  give  the 
facts  on  this  point,  stating  the  cases  in  which 
juries  were  employed  to  assist  in  arriving  at 
a  conclusion  in  the  court  of  last  resort  in 
the  country,  and  when  and  for  what  reason 
the  practice  was  discontinued  ? 

ELWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,    PA. 

The  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States 
for  1878,  Section  689,  reads  :  "  The  trial  of 
issues  of  fact  in  the  Supreme  Court,  in  all 
actions  at  law  against  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  by  jury." 


The  marginal  note  refers  this  section  to 
the  Act  of  Congress  of  September  24,  1 789, 
Chap,  xx,  Sec.  13,  Vol.  i,  p.  80. 

It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  this  right  of 
jury  trial  was  ever  exercised  by  the  highest 
legal  tribunal  of  the  nation.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  digest  of  the  decisions  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  discloses 
no  such  case,  and  well-posted  lawyers  who 
have  been  consulted  on  the  subject  say  they 
never  heard  of  such  an  instance.  Can  any 
of  our  readers  show  the  contrary  ? 

R.  A.  W. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Barber  of  Agen. — Who  bore  this  appella- 
tion? N.  B.  N. 
BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Jacques  Jasmin  (1798-1864),  the  Gascon 
poet,  who  was  also  a  barber  at  his  native 
town  of  Agen. 

Jeanne  Dare. — Please  tell  me  whether 
her  and  her  family's  name  is  spelled  with  or 
without  an  apostrophe — /.  f.,  Dare  or 
D'atc?  W.  S.  BROWN. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

It  would  be  presumptuous  for  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES  to  give  an  unqualified 
answer  to  such  a  mooted  question.  All 
modern  historians,  with  but  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions, have  adopted  the  name  Dare.  All 
the  original  official  manuscripts  contem- 
poraneous with  Jeanne  Dare's  trial  give  the 
name  without  the  apostrophe;  in  fact,  the 
apostrophe  was  never  inserted  before  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  a  history 
written  by  a  great  nephew  of  Jeanne,  Jean 
Hordal,  printed  in  1612,  the  name  is  in- 
variably spelled  Dare.  All  historians  up  to 
the  time  of  Mezray  spelled  it  thus.  Vallet 
de  Viriville,  in  a  scholarly  work  entitled, 
"  Nouvelles  recherches  sur  la  famille  et  le 
nom  de  Jeanne  Dare,"  proves  beyond  rea- 
sonable doubt  Dare  to  be  the  proper  spell- 
ing. Larousse,  Michelet,  Martin  and  others 
are  of  the  same  opinion.  Wallon,  however, 
insists  upon  an  apostrophe.  This  question 
of  spelling  is  a  very  interesting  one,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  further  light  will  be  thrown  upon 
it  by  the  readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES. 


December  27,  1890.]      AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


101 


Emodin. — This  is  the  name  of  a  chemical 
principle  obtainable  from  various  plants,  such 
as  buckthorn  and  rhubarb.  It  is  mentioned 
in  various  dictionaries,  such  as  the  "  Cen- 
tury," Billings'  '<  New  Medical  Dictionary," 
and  others ;  but  none  explain  its  origin. 
From  what  is  the  word  derived  ? 

DR.  E.  B.  LEWIS. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

It  is  derived  from  emodt,  a  Himalayan  (?) 
name  for  a  species  of  rhubarb,  the  Rheum 
emodi  of  botanists. 

Spanish  Raphael. — What  painter  was  so 
called  ?  W.  C.  B. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Vicente  Juanes  (1523-1579). 

Great  Geometer. — Who  was  known  as 
the  Great  Geometer  ?  M.  E.  B. 

CHELSEA. 

Apollonius  of  Perga. 

Ant-Lion. — What  was  the  true  and  orig- 
inal ant-lion?  R.  T.  F. 
TOLEDO. 

It  is  probable  that  the  original  ant-lion 
was  the  one  fabled  to  be  the  offspring  of  a 
lion  and  an  ant.  Since  his  father  lives  upon 
flesh,  and  his  mother  upon  herbs  and  grass, 
the  ant-lion  (not  being  able  to  live  upon 
either  one  kind  of  food)  soon  perishes  of 
hunger.  His  forepart  is  like  that  of  a  lion, 
and  the  other  part  is  like  that  of  an  ant. 
The  full  account  of  this  fabled  creature  oc- 
curs in  the  old  Greek  work  entitled  "The 
Physiologus,"  of  which  only  translations  have 
as  yet  appeared.  The  Septuagint  version  of 
Job  iv,  n,  speaks  of  the  myrmekoleon  or 
ant-lion,  but  the  Hebrew  word  layish  is 
translated  "old  lion"  in  the  Revised  Eng- 
lish Version.  Strabo  and  ^Elian  mention  an 
Arabian  animal  called  the  ant  (niyrmecc), 
but  having  a  form  not  unlike  that  of  a  lion. 

REPLIES. 

Ever-burning  Lamps  (Vol.  vi,  p.  77). — 
Sir  Kenelan  Digby  relates  in  his  "Journal 
-of  a  Voyage,"  that  the  island  of  Lamped usa 


was  then  unpeopled  ;    but  that   there   was 
said  to  be  an  ever-burning  lamp  upon  it. 

R.  JONES. 

Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
77).— See  pp.  312  to  316,  Chap,  xx,  Bk.  ii, 
of  Blackstone's  "  Commentaries." 

H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

"Among  the  ancient  Goths  and  Swedes, 
contracts  for  the  sale  of  lands  were  made  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses  who  extended  the 
cloak  of  the  buyer,  while  the  seller  cast  a 
clod  of  the  land  into  it,  in  order  to  give 
possession,  and  a  staff  or  wand  was  also  de- 
livered from  the  vendor  to  the  vendee, 
which  passed  through  the  hands  of  the  wit- 
nesses. With  our  Saxon  ancestors  the  de- 
livery of  a  turf  was  a  necessary  solemnity  to 
establish  the  conveyance  of  lands  "  ("  Black- 
stone's  Commentaries,"  Bk.  ii,  Chap.  xx). 

In  later  times  in  England  this  delivery  of 
a  turf  or  twig  signified  the  actual  transfer  of 
the  possession  of  lands. 

Blackstone,  in  speaking  of  the  livery  of 
seizin  or  transfer  of  possession  to  lands,  says 
it  is  of  two  kinds,  either  in  deed  or  in  law. 
He  also  describes  the  manner  of  conveying 
by  livery  in  deed  :  ' '  The  feoffor,  lessor,  or 
his  attorney,  together  with  the  feoffee, 
lessee,  or  his  attorney  *  *  *  come  to 
the  land  or  to  the  house,  and  there  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses,  declare  the  contents 
of  the  feoffment  or  lease,  on  which  livery  is 
to  be  made.  And  the  feoffor,  if  it  be  of 
lands,  doth  deliver  to  the  feoffee,  all  other 
persons  being  out  of  the  ground,  a  clod  or 
turf,  or  a  twig  or  bough  there  growing,  with 
words  to  this  effect :  '  I  deliver  these  to  you 
in  the  name  of  seizin  of  all  the  lands  and 
tenements  contained  in  this  deed.'  But  if 
it  be  of  a  house,  the  feoffor  must  take  the 
ring  or  latch  of  the  door,  the  house  being 
quite  empty,  and  deliver  it  to  the  feoffee  in 
the  same  form ;  and  then  the  feoffee  must 
enter  alone,  and  shut  the  door,  and  then 
open  it,  and  let  in  the  others." 

Written  deeds  were  afterwards  introduced, 
but  for  a  long  time  were  used  only  in  con- 
nection with  the  ancient  manner  of  con- 
veyance by  delivery  of  corporal  possession 
above  described.  J.  RANDALL  MURPHY. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


102 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  27,  1890. 


Come  as  High  from  Tripoli  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
66). — "  '  To  come  from  Tripoly,'  a  phrase 
meaning  to  do  feats  of  activity  ;  to  vault  or 
tumble"  ("Halliwell's  Diet.  Arch,  and 
Prov.  Words"). 

"  The  phrase  was,  I  think,  first  applied  to 
tricks  of  apes  and  monkeys,  which  might  be 
supposed  to  come  from  that  part  of  the 
world  "  ("  Nares'  Glossary  "). 

"Like  a  most  complete  gentleman,  come 
from  Tripoly"  ("  Mons.  Thomas,"  iv,  2). 

See  interesting  note  in  Alex.  Dyce's  edi- 
tion of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

MENONA. 

Rouchi  (Vol.  vi,  p.  77). — Wedgwood's 
"Dictionary  of  English  Etymology"  ex- 
plains Rouchi  as  "  patois  of  the  Hainault." 

H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

Mohammed  II' s  Flag  (Vol.  vi,  p.  27). — 
The  Moslems  of  Constantinople  profess  to 
have  in  their  possession  the  genuine  stand- 
ard of  the  prophet.  It  may  not  be  seen  or 
touched  by  any  Christian,  in  fact  only  an 
emir  may  touch  it.  It  is  only  displayed  in 
the  a/ay,  or  triumphal  procession  of  artisans 
and  others,  which  signalize  the  outbreak  of 
a  war.  If  any  Christian  has  seen,  or  is 
thought  to  have  seen  the  holy  symbol  on  any 
such  occasion,  he  is  very  likely  to  be  put  to 
death  by  some  fanatical  Turk.  I  suppose  it 
is  safe  to  assume  that  the  flag  about  which 
your  correspondent  inquires  was  identical 
with  the  one  here  referred  to. 

R.  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 

The  "SanyakSherif,"  or  "  Sacred  Flag 
of  Mohammed,' '  was  a  subject  of  discussion 
in  European  newspapers  not  many  months 
since.  But  accounts  differed  not  only  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  the  famous  "  Standard 
of  the  Prophet,"  but  also  as  to  its  color  and 
design. 

If  the  North  German  Gazette  may  be 
credited,  the  "  San  yak  Sherif"  is  at  the 
present  time  in  the  armory  of  the  Palazzo 
Castello,  Turin,  Italy. 

It  had  been  preserved  in  the  imperial 
mosque  of  Abou  Eyoub,  Constantinople,  but 
Baron  Tecco,  the  Sardinian  ambassador, 


bought  it  in  the  year  1839,  and  sent  it  to 
his  king,  Charles  Albert,  who  had  founded 
the  armory  or  museum  of  artillery  at  Turin 
in  1833. 

The  same  account  says  that  it  is  of  red 
silk,  with  several  verses  from  the  Koran  em- 
broidered upon  it  in  yellow,  and  that  its 
height  is  slightly  over  six  feet,  and  its  width 
four  and  a  quarter  feet. 

A  correspondent  of  one  of  the  London 
dailies  claims  to  have  seen  the  sacred  em- 
blem recently  in  the  Seraglio,  and  says  it  is 
of  yellow  silk,  and  that  it  was  formerly  one  of 
the  flowing  curtains  that  adorned  the  room 
of  Mohammed's  favorite  wife. 

"Chambers'  Cyclopaedia"  says:  "Eyub 
is  inhabited  only  by  Turks,  and  here  are 
preserved  the  '  Sanyak  Sherif,'  or  the  ban- 
ner of  the  prophet,  and  the  sword  of  Osman, 
with  which  each  sultan  is  girded  on  his  ac- 
cession to  the  throne — a  ceremony  equivalent 
to  a  coronation." 

Of  the  white  marble  mosque  of  Abou 
Eyoub,  Mrs.  Pardoe  says:  "It  is  the  most 
sacred  of  all  the  Constantinopolitan  temples; 
for  on  this  spot,  tradition  says  that  Abou 
Eyoub,  the  companion-in-arms  of  the 
prophet,  was  slain  during  the  siege  of  the 
Saracens,  in  668,  a  fact  which  was  revealed 
in  a  vision  to  Mohammed  II  about  800 
years  afterwards ;  who,  in  commemoration  of 
the  event,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present 
mosque,  which  is  one  of  the  most  elegant  in 
the  capital ;  it  is  rendered  still  more  holy  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Turks  from  the  circumstance 
that  it  is  within  these  walls  that  every  sultan 
on  his  accession  is  invested  with  the  sword 
of  sovereignty. 

"  No  infidel  foot  is  permitted  under  any 
pretense  to  desecrate  the  mosque  of  Eyoub, 
and  Christians  are  rarely,  always  reluctantly, 
admitted  even  to  the  court." 

MENONA. 

'Twos  in  the  Constellation  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
78). — The  U.  S.  frigate  Constellation,  com- 
manded by  Commodore  Truxtun,  fought 
with  the  French  frigate  L' Jnsurgente,  in 
1799,  and  with  the  frigate  La  Vengeance, 
in  1800.  Truxtun  was  awarded  a  gold 
medal  for  his  skill  and  gallantry  in  the  latter 
action  by  Congress. 

M. 


December  27,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


103 


Bungfown  Copper  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  76,  etc.). 
—  According  to  Bartlett's  "  Dictionary  of 
Americanisms,"  a  Bungtown  copper  is  a 
clumsy  counterfeit  penny  of  a  kind  once 
made  at  Bungtown,  now  Barneysville,  in  the 
township  of  Rehoboth,  Mass.  Forty-five 
years  ago  Bungtown  coppers,  often  called 
simply  Bungtowns,  were  exceedingly  com- 
mon in  New  England.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 


1KD 


Cacus  and  Evander.  —  Some  have 
fancied  that  the  Cacus  of  the  classical  story 
was  named  from  the  Greek  KaKoq,  bad  ;  and 
that  Evander's  name  was  derived  from  so, 
well  or  good,  and  di/^o,  a  man.  Is  this 
opinion  well  founded  ?  A.  P.  C. 

Pontic  Sheep.  —  In  one  of  H.  Vaughan's 
poems  ("  Providence  ")  occur  these  words: 

"  Gladly  will  I,  like  Pontic  sheep, 
Unto  my  wormwood  diet  keep." 

What  fact  is  here  referred  to,  in  connec- 
tion with  Pontic  sheep  ?  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Musha.—  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
word,  so  much  employed  by  the  Irish  peo- 
ple as  an  exclamation  ? 

M.  PARRY  BARTLETT. 

CAPE  MAY,  N.  J. 

Authorship  Wanted.  —  Camoens.  — 
Can  you  give  me  the  poem  on  "  The  Death 
of  Camoens,"  commencing: 

"  Pale  comes  the  moonlight 
Through  the  lattice  streaming." 

Please  let  me  know  the  author's  name 
also?  H.  W.  HARTLEY. 

ATLANTIC  CITY,  N.  J. 

Queer.  —  One  of  H.  Vaughan's  religious 
poems  is  entitled  "The  Queer."  I  cannot 
discover  the  meaning  of  this  title  from  the 
words  of  the  poem.  Can  any  correspondent 
enlighten  me  ?  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Spectacles  (Vol.  v,  p.  241).—  In  addi- 
tion to  the  notes  on  "  spectacles"  in  your 
issue  of  September  20,  can  any  corre- 


spondent give  me  anything  more  in  reference 
to  their  invention  and  introduction  into  use? 
I  have  heard  that  a  reference  to  their  use  is 
to  be  found  in  Pliny.  What  are  the  words  ? 

G.  M.  G. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

©OMMUNIGAJFIONS. 

Quirt  (Vol.  iii,  p.  308). — Some  recent 
authorities  appear  to  identify  this  word, 
meaning  a  whip,  with  the  Spanish  cuerda,  a 
cord.  M. 

Fall  for  Autumn  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  307, 
etc.). — "My  spring  and  fall  are  in  thy 
book"  (H.  Vaughan,  "Begging,"  in 
"  Silex  Scintillans,"  Part  ii).  G. 

Notes  on  Words  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  71,  etc.). 
— Dagget. — This  word,  the  name  of  a  kind  of 
birch  oil,  or  birch  tar,  is  given  in  the  "  Cen- 
tury Dictionary,"  with  no  account  of  its 
origin.  But  under  "  Degote,"  the  origin  of 
the  word  is  correctly  given.  There  is  no 
reference  from  either  word  to  the  other. 

Cockneys  (Vol.  v,  pp.  92,  etc.). — "A 
funny  legend  exists  about  the  origin  of  the 
term  Cockney,  applied  now  chiefly  to  the 
lowest  class  of  Londoners.  An  East-end 
person,  who  had  never  been  out  of  London 
in  his  life,  had  occasion  to  go  into  the  coun- 
try, and  was  detained  all  night.  He  was 
much  disturbed  by  the  lowing  of  the  cattle, 
the  grunting  of  the  pigs,  and  other  sounds 
of  country  life  with  which  he  was  not 
familiar.  In  particular  he  was  frightened  by 
the  crowing  of  a  cock.  When  he  rose  in 
the  morning  he  said,  in  response  to  the  in- 
quiries of  the  farmer,  that  the  sound  of  the 
wild  beasts  had  kept  him  awake.  Just  at 
that  moment  the  cock  crowed  again,  and  the 
Londoner  said  : 

"  'That's  the  one;  he's  been  neighing 
like  that  for  Tiours  !' 

"  Since  then,  it  is  suggested,  Londoners 
have  been  called  Cockneighs  or  Cockneys. 

"  Camden  says  that  the  real  origin  of  the 
term  is  this.  The  Thames  was  once  called 
the  Cockney,  and,  therefore,  a  Cockney 
simply  means  one  who  lives  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames  "  (Pick  Me  Up}. 


a  04 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  27,  1890. 


The  Depravation  of  Words. — "It  is 

in  the  manufacture  of  new  and  unnecessary 
verbs,  by  the  mangling  or  twisting  of  inno- 
cent substantives,  that  some  writers  do  most 
offend.  A  contributor  to  Bentley*  s  Miscel- 
lany, nearly  thirty  years  ago,  wrote  of  some 
one  whom,  '  as  men  said,  the  Nonconform- 
ists ambitioned  to  send  into  Parliament.' 
This  ugly  verb,  although  it  also  occurs  ear- 
lier in  a  letter  of  Horace  Walpole's,  has  hap- 
pily not  yet  become  popularized.  A  jour- 
nalist wishing  to  state  that  some  important 
personage  was  waited  on  by  a  deputation, 
has  been  known  to  write  that  the  said  per- 
sonage was  '  deputated  '  by  his  visitors.  In 
the  favorite  newspaper  of  a  certain  religious 
•body  local  leaders  of  the  organization  are 
constantly  said  to  be  '  farewelling,'  when  they 
are  transferred  from  one  sphere  of  work  to 
another.  But  the  list  need  hardly  be  pro- 
longed. This  form  of  the  depravation  of 
words  is  too  common  to  have  escaped  the 
notice  of  any  reader  who  preserves  some  re- 
spect for  his  native  tongue — 

"  '  The  tongue 
That  Shakespeare  spake.' 

"More  interesting  are  those  words  that 
liave  fallen  from  their  former  high  estate, 
and  which,  while  no  longer  heard  from 
mouths  polite,  yet  enjoy  a  vigorous  exist- 
ence either  in  dialect  or  among  the  humbler 
ranks  of  society.  The  young  lady  in 
Dickens  who  '  couldn't  abear  the  men,  they 
•were  such  deceivers,'  Tennyson's  Northern 
Farmer,  who  '  couldn't  abear  to  see  it,'  and 
the  old  lady  who  '  can't  abide  these  new- 
fangled ways,'  might  all  be  said  to  speak 
vulgarly,  as  fashion  of  speech  now  goes. 
But  '  abear '  and  '  abide,'  although  not 
now  generally  used  by  educated  people,  are 
words  that  have  seen  better  days.  It  is  only 
in  comparatively  recent  years  that  they  have 
been  condemned  as  vulgar.  '  Abear,'  in  the 
sense  of  to  endure  or  to  suffer,  was  good 
English  in  the  davs  of  King  Alfred  and  for 
centuries  after.  Like  many  other  good  old 
English  words,  exiled  by  culture  from  Lon- 
don, it  has  found  a  home  in  the  dialects,  and 
there  are  few  provincial  forms  of  English 
speech  in  which  '  abear  '  is  not  a  familiar 
element.  To  '  abide,"  in  its  now  vulgar 
sense,  is  not  quite  so  old  as  '  abear,'  but  is 


still  of  respectable  antiquity.  A  character 
in  '  Faire  Em,'  one  of  the  plays  of  doubt- 
ful authorship  sometimes  attributed  to 
Shakespeare,  says  '  I  cannot  abide  physic.' 
Drayton  makes  a  curious  past  tense  of  it : 
'  He  would  not  have  aboad  it.'  The  word 
can  hardly  yet  be  said  to  have  entirely 
dropped  out  of  literary  use,  for  Sir  Arthur 
Helps,  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  book  on 
'Animals  and  Their  Masters,'  remarks  that 
'  people  can't  abide  pamphlets  in  these 
days'  "  {The  Gentleman? s  Magazine). 

Crane  and  Stone  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  6, 
etc.). — I  have  some  recollection  of  a  passage 
in  "  The  Birds  of  Aristophanes,"  in  which 
the  cranes,  flying  from  the  African  desert, 
each  bring  a  crop  full  of  stones.  J.  F. 

WELLS,  PA. 

Nicknames  of  Cities  (Vol.  v,  p.  82). 
— Antwerpia  Dives,  Antwerp,  Belgium. 

Bell  city,  Racine,  VVis. 

Bomb  city,  Chicago,  111. 

Capital  city  of  the  empire  State  of  the 
South,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Ceramic  city,  East  Liverpool,  O. 

Champion  city,  Springfield,  O. 

City  of  the  sea,  Newport,  R.  I. 

City  of  beer  and  bricks,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

City  of  flour  and  sawdust,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

City  of  hardships,  Philippopolis,  Bulgaria. 

City  of  hills,  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 

City  of  intelligence,  Berlin,  Prussia. 

City  of  men  and  ideas,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

City  of  mobs,  Baltimore,  Md. 

City  of  palaces,  Edinburgh,  Scotland ; 
Paris,  France;  Rome,  Italy. 

City  of  perspectives,  St.  Petersburg, 
Russia. 

City  of  roses,  Lucknow,  India;  Little 
Rock,  Ark. 

City  of  smoke,  London,  England. 

City  of  snow,  St.  Petersburg,  Russia. 

City  of  the  holy  faith,  Santa  Fe,  New 
Mexico. 

City  of  the  hospitable  waves,  Ning-Po, 
China. 

City  of  the  kings,  Cashel,  Ireland. 

City  of  the  mines,  Iglesias,  Sardinia. 

City  of  the  plains,  Denver,  Colo. 

City  of  the  plague,  Astrabad  in  Persia. 


December  27,  1890.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


City  of  the  priests,  Astorga,  Spain. 
City  of  the  reef,  Pernambuco,  Brazil. 
City  of  the  saints,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 
City  of  the  simple,  Gheel,  Belgium. 
City  of  the  three  kings,  Cologne,  Ger- 
many. 

City   of  the  threefold  tongue,  Palermo, 

£*•        M 

Sicily. 

Cloud  city,  Leadville,  Colo. 

Cream  city,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Gate  of  Asia,  Kazan,  Russia. 

Gem  city,  Dayton,  O. ;  Quincy,  111. ; 
St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Gem  of  the  desert,  Graaf-Reynet,  Cape 
Colony. 

German  Florence,  Dresden,  Prussia. 

German  Jerusalem,  Brody,  Austria. 

Gibraltar  of  Hungary,  Peterwardein. 

Glory  of  the  East,  Persepolis,  Persia. 

Heart  of  Ireland,  Athlone,  Ireland. 

Heart  of  the  Empire,  Moscow,  Russia. 

Imperial  city,  Rome,  Italy. 

Joy  city,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Key  of  India,  Herat,  Afghanistan. 

Key  of  the  Dutch  seas,  Flushing,  Hol- 
land. 

Lake  city,  Madison,  Wis. 

Loretto  of  Switzerland,  Einsiedeln,  Swit- 
zerland. 

Loyal  and  Valorous  city,  Porto  Alegre, 
Brazil. 

Lyons  of  America,  Paterson,  N.  J. 

Magic  city,  Birmingham,  Ala. ;  Paisley, 
N.  J. 

Manchester  of  Belgium,  Ghent,  Bel- 
gium. 

Manchester  of  Prussia,  Elberfeld,  Prus- 
sia. 

Maple  city,  Odgensburg,  N,  Y. 

Most  Noble  and  Most  Loyal  city, 
Popayan,  Colombia. 

Mountain  city,  Greenville,  S.  C. ;  Salt 
Lake  city,  Utah. 

Oleander  city,  Galveston,  Tex. 

Orthodox  city,  Salonica,  Macedonia. 

Paper  city,  Holyoke,  Mass. 

Paris  of  Eastern  Europe,  Vienna,  Austria. 

Paris  of  Japan,  Kioto,  Japan. 

Phoenix  city,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Portsmouth  of  the  Steppes,  Baku,  Russia. 

Princess  of  the  Plains,  Wichita,  Kans. 

Queen  of  the  Black  sea,  Odessa,  Russia. 

Queen  city,  Seattle,  Washington. 


Queen  city  of  the  Golden  Gate,  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal. 

Queen  city  of  Hudson,  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 

Rome  of  Buddhism,  Lassa,  Thibet. 

Rome  of  Hindustan,  Agra,  India. 

Rome  of  Protestantism,  Geneva,  Switzer- 
land. 

Rome  of  the  North,  Prussia. 

Saintly  city,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Saratoga  of  the  West,  Manitou,  Colo. 

Shell  city,  Mobile,  Ala. 

Shoe  city,  Lynn,  Mass. 

Terrace  city,  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 

Thermopylae  of  America,  Fort  Alamo, 
Tex. 

Throne  of  Jamsheed,  Persepolis,  Persia. 

Tobacco  city,  Lynchburg,  Va. 

Tunnel  city,  North  Adams,  Mass. 

Vatican  of  Buddhism,  Mandalay,  Bur- 
mah. 

Venice  of  Japan,  Osaka,  Japan. 

Venice  of  the  East,  Soo  -  Choo  -  Foo, 
China. 

Whiskeytown,  Peoria,  111. 

F.  A.  KERR. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Curan  and  Argentile. — This  odd  but 
pretty  story,  alluded  to  under  "  Holly  Ruf- 
fets,"  Vol.  v,  p.  52,  is  a  part  of  the  old 
and  famous  romance  of"  Havelok  the  Dane. ' ' 
Curan  or  Cuheran  is  Prince  Havelok's  name 
while  he  lives  in  exile  and  acts  the  part  of  a 
jongleur  and  scullion.  F.  S.  R. 

NORFOLK. 

Woodruff. — The  European  plant  called 
Woodruff,  or  Waldmeister  (Asperula  odo- 
rata),  is  used  by  the  Germans,  as  is  well 
known,  in  the  preparation  of  their  Maitrank, 
or  May-drink.  In  this  country  the  true 
Waldmeister  does  not  grow,  but  the  Ger- 
man-Americans have  found  out  some  nearly 
related  plants  with  a  similar  smell,  which 
they  substitute  for  it.  Galium  tri- 
florum,  G.  circazans,  and  other  sweet- 
scented  plants  of  the  same  genus  are,  I 
take  it,  the  North  American  Waldmeisters. 
Of  these,  the  first-named  is  European  and 
Asiatic  also. 

Qui  TAM. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


io6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  27,  1890. 


Asturias  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  312,  etc.). — 
More  than  a  year  ago  there  was  some  dis- 
cussion in  your  columns  about  whether  the 
expression  The  Asturias  was  correct  or  not. 
The  reason  which  I  gave  on  p.  298,  of  Vol. 
iii,  for  believing  that  The  Asturias  was  per- 
fectly admissible  has  never  been  answered, 
because  in  fact  it  cannot  be  refuted.  One 
of  your  correspondents,  in  Vol.  iv,  p.  n, 
closes  the  argument  with  a  general  denial  of 
the  correctness  of  the  truth  of  my  position, 
but  with  no  attempt  at  a  reason  for  his  view, 
except  that  a  certain  nameless  gentleman 
told  him  that  to  speak  of  The  Asturias  was 
incorrect.  I  have  within  the  past  year  found 
hundreds  of  examples  of  The  Asturias,  rang- 
ing from  one  year  to  250  years  old.  I  will 
sign  a  contract  and  put  up  forfeit  money  to 
make  my  list  of  examples  number  not  less 
than  one  thousand.  Mr.  B.  admits  (Vol. 
iii,  p.  274)  that  Les  Asturies  is  correct  in 
French ;  why  then  is  not  the  corresponding 
English  form  correct  also  ?  My  contention 
from  the  first  has  been  that  both  Asturias 
and  The  Asturias  are  correct.  Mr.  B.'s 
citation  of  books  where  he  finds  the  plain 
word  Asturias,  therefore,  counts  for  nothing 
against  me.  My  appeal  is  not  only  to  rea- 
son, but  to  good  use,  "  quem  penes  arbitrium 
est  et  jus  et  norma  loquendi."  I  do  not 
pretend  to  say  what  the  best  recent  Spanish 
use  may  be  in  this  regard  ;  but  that  is  not  at 
all  the  point  at  issue.  My  authorities  for 
my  position  include  some  of  the  very  best  of 
English  and  American  writers.  I  am  con- 
tent to  err  in  such  good  company,  but  no 
one  acquainted  with  the  facts  will  believe  (I 
venture  to  say;  that  I  am  in  error  on  this 
point.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Protomartyr  (Vol.  iii,  p.  31). — St. 
Alban  is  regarded  as  the  Protomartyr  of 
Britain.  J.  F. 

WELLS,  PA. 

The  Devil's  Tower  (Vol.  vi,  p.  46) 
is  a  natural  obelisk  1200  feet  in  height.  The 
tourist  can  hardly  miss  of  finding  the  Devil's 
Tower  if  he  observes  the  directions  which 
precede  the  following  description  : 

"  If  you  stand  on  some  of  the  highest 
peaks  of  the  Black  Hills,  Mt.  Harney  for 


instance,  you  can  see  half  way  across^the 
State  of  Wyoming,  and  the  only  obstruc- 
tion which  meets  your  vision  as  you  gaze  to 
the  north  and  westward  is  the  Devil's  Tower, 
or  Bear  Lodge,  in  the  direction  of  the  Belle 
Fourche  river. 

"The  Devil's  Tower  is  100  miles  north- 
west from  Mt.  Harney,  and  50  miles  west 
of  the  Dakota  line.  It  is  in  Crook  county, 
Wyoming,  20  miles  west  of  Sundance,, 
and  about  a  half  mile  from  the  Belle 
Fourche.  Except  the  remarkable  phenom- 
ena found  in  the  Yellowstone  Parkin  North- 
western Wyoming,  there  are  none  that  will 
compare  for  grandeur  with  this  awe-inspir- 
ing monument  of  Nature's  handiwork  in 
Eastern  Wyoming.  The  'Devil's  Tower,' 
or  '  Bear's  Lodge,'  is  said  by  geologists  to 
be  without  a  precedent  in  basaltic  crystalli- 
zation. It  is  a  natural  obelisk,  rising  sheer 
1 200  feet  above  the  banks  of  the  Belle 
Fourche.  It  is  800  feet  in  diameter  at  the 
base,  tapering  in  a  graceful  convex  to  a  di- 
ameter of  37  feet  at  the  top.  It  is  com- 
posed of  thousands  of  prisms  that  extend 
unbroken  from  base  to  summit.  The  con- 
tinuity of  the  crystals  is  the  most  remark- 
able feature  of  the  mass,  the  tendency  of 
the  trappe  rock  being  to  fracture  trans- 
versely in  crystallization  and  weather  away 
to  the  appearance  of  stairs,  as  in  the  Giant's 
Causeway,  Ireland. 

"Prot.  Newton  says:  '"Bear  Lodge," 
or  Devil's  Tower,  in  the  shape  and  struc- 
ture, appears  not  to  have  been  repeated 
elsewhere  by  Nature,  but  stands  alone, 
unique  and  mysterious.  It  occupies  the 
place  of  a  chimney  to  some  subterranean 
furnace  which  overflowed  with  molten  rock, 
and,  cooling,  crystallized  downward.  The 
surrounding  walls  of  the  chimney  eroded 
and  left  this  mighty  monument  to  the  work 
of  crystallization,  that  power  scarcely  less 
mysterious  than  the  force  of  life  itself" 
(St.  Louis  Globe  Democrat}.  MENONA. 

Pets  of  Famous  People  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
83). — Sir  John  Haringtori 's  Dog  Bungey. — 
In  a  letter  concerning  the  remarkable  quali- 
ties and  wonderful  deeds  of  his  pet,  ad- 
dressed to  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  son 
of  James  I,  Sir  John  Harington  says  : 

"Although  I  mean  not  to  disparage  the 


December  27,  1890.]     AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


107 


deeds  of  Alexander's  horse  Bucephalus,  I 
will  match  my  dogge  against  him  for  goode 
carriage,  for  if  he  do  not  bear  a  great  prince 
on  his  backe,  I  am  bolde  to  say  he  did  often 
bear  the  sweet  words  of  a  greater  princesse, 
Queen  Elizabeth,  on  his  necke."  The  writer 
closes  his  letter  with  the  following  :  "  Now 
let  Ulysses  praise  his  dogge  Argus,  or  Tobit 
be  led  by  that  dogge  whose  name  doth  not 
appear,  yet  could  I  say  such  things  of  my 
Bungey  as  might  shame  them  bothe,  either 
for  faith,  clear  wit,  or  wonderful  deedes,  to 
say  no  more  than  I've  already  said  of  his 
bearing  letters  to  London  and  Greenwiche, 
more  than  one  hundred  miles.  As  I  doubt 
not  your  Highnesse  would  love  my  dogge,  if 
not  myself,  I  have  been  thus  tedious  in  his 
storie,  and  again  saie  that  of  all  the  dogges 
near  the  Kinge,  your  father's  courte,  not 
one  hath  more  love,  more  diligence  to  please, 
or  lesse  pay  for  pleasinge,  than  he  1  write 
of;  for  verily  a  bone  would  content  my 
servant,  when  some  expect  much  greater 
matters,  or  will  knavishly  find  out  a  bone 
of  contention." 

In  a  P.  S.,  Sir  John  states  that  he  has 
an  excellent  picture  of  Bungey  curiously 
limned. 

The  entire  letter  is  preserved  in  that 
curious  and  interesting  miscellany,  "  Nugae 
Antiquse,"  and  is  dated  at  Kelstone,  June 
14,  1603. 

As  the  English  Marcellus  was  at  this  time 
a  lad  of  nine  years  at  Eton  School,  the  let- 
ter must  have  met  with  a  gratifying  appre- 
ciation. 

Bungey  is  also  celebrated  in  verse,  as 
among  Harington's  "  Epigrams"  is  one  (No. 
21,  Bk.  iv)  entitled  "Verses  in  Praise  of 
My  Dogge  Bungey  to  Momus." 

Sir  John  Harington,  Queen  Elizabeth's 
godson,  and  the  author  of  the  first  English 
translation  of  Ariosto's  "  Orlando  Furioso," 
should  not  be  confounded  with  Lord  John 
Harington  of  Exton,  who  was  the  intimate 
associate  of  Prince  Henry,  and  who,  like 
him,  died  at  an  early  age  (twenty-two). 

The  two  Haringtons,  however,  were 
"both  branches  of  the  same  tree,"  as  Sir 
John  replied  when  questioned  as  to  their  re- 
lationship by  King  James. 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


Strange  Etymologies. — A  contributor 
sends  the  following  communication  to  the 
Bizarre  Notes  and  Queries :  "  Watson  Fell 
Quinby,  M.D.,  in  his  pamphlet  on  '  Ophir," 
says  the  word  California  means  '  beautiful 
harbor,'  homKalos,  beautiful,  and Phornai, 
harbor,  the  bay  being  the  most  beautiful 
harbor  in  the  world ;  phonai  being  from 
phero,  to  bear,  and  nai,  ships.  He  further 
says  Alaska  is  from  Halaska,  wandering; 
Oregon  from  Oreiganon,  a  mountain ;  Cala- 
veras,  Kalai  beros,  house  of  the  cloak ; 
Stanislaus,  Stania  laus,  to  enjoy  a  feast ; 
Yosemite,  Uo  Semata,  great  waterfalls ; 
Truckee,  Trochia,  a  wheel  road ;  Mokalomy, 
Megaloma,  magnificent ;  Sonoma,  Sun- 
nomas,  pasturing ;  Mariposa,  Mara  Posa, 
great  portion." 

Concerning  the  above  derivations  it  is 
safe  to  say  (I  think),  that  hardly  one  of 
them  is  correct.  There  are  several  names 
in  the  list  that  have  been  carefully  studied 
out ;  others  which  are  so  thoroughly  altered 
from  their  Indian  originals  that  it  is  hard  to 
fix  upon  their  true  meaning.  Still  I  would 
not  class  them  with  the  good  old  etymolo- 
gies; their  true  place  is  with  the  bad  new 
ones.  R.  J. 

ERIE,  PA. 

Singular  Names  of  Places  (Vol.  iv, 
pp.  58,  etc.). — Pennsylvania  has  a  Mann's 
Choice,  Maiden's  Choice,  Hers,  Sinns,  Bird- 
in-Hand,  Shintown,  Puckerty,  Stumptown, 
Sis,  Scrubgrass,  Jugtown,  Bullskin. 

Nebraska  has  a  Rawhide. 

Maryland  has  a  Slabtown,  Pompey  Smash, 
Johnny  Cake. 

Minnesota — Purgatory. 

Alabama — Buffalo  Wallow,  Shinbone. 

Washington  has  Skookum  Chuck,  Sno- 
homish. 

New  York — Silvernails,  Shin  Creek. 

North  Carolina — Wolfscrape,  Snake  Bite, 
Quewhifne,  Gap  Civil,  Shoe  Heel. 

Texas  has  a  Sinton,  Tom  Bean,  Pipkin, 
Scabtown. 

Ohio — Slick,  Rattlesnake,  Killbuck. 

Wisconsin — Topside. 

Virginia  has  a  Skinquarter,  Pig  Point. 

Connecticut — Slabville,  Ziklag. 

Canada  has  Medicine  Hat,  Moose  Jaw, 
Pollybog. 


io8 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [December  27,  1890. 


Georgia — Logtown. 

Kentucky  has  a  Slickaway,  Scuffletown. 

Louisiana  has  a  Socda,  Negrofoot,  Alli- 


gator. 

Idaho — Pickabo. 


MAINE. 


ISLANDER. 


Womanless  Islands  (Vol.  Hi,  p.  219). 
—The  writer  of  the  pleasant  article  at  the  above 
entry  might  have  added  a  few  points  more 
about  St.  Senanus  and  his  island  of  Scattery, 
or  Inniscattery.  The  island  is  in  the  river 
Shannon,  or  rather  in  its  estuary,  near  the 
town  of  Kilrush  in  the  county  Clare.  It 
contains  the  very  remarkable  ruins  of  the 
old  abbey  which  St.  Senanus  founded,  and 
also  has  seven  churches  (so  called)  now  in 
ruins,  besides  a  round  tower  of  unknown 
antiquity.  The  island  is  often  called  Holy 
island,  and  is  a  famous  place  for  burials. 

L.  N.  B. 


BODIES  AND   E>EF$IODIGAUS. 


The  Scientific  American,  published  by  Munn  &  Co., 
361  Broadway,  N.  Y.,  issues  a  special  edition  on  the  first 
day  of  the  month.  This  is  called  the  Architects'  and 
Builders'  Edition.  Each  number  contains  about  forty 
large  quarto  pages,  equal  to  about  two  hundred  ordi- 
nary book  pages,  forming,  practically,  a  large  and 
splendid  magazine  of  Architecture,  richly  adorned  with 
elegant  plates  in  colors  and  with  fine  engravings  ;  illus- 
trating the  most  interesting  examples  of  modern  archi- 
tectural construction  and  allied  subjects.  A  special 
feature  is  the  presentation  in  each  number  of  a  variety 
of  the  latest  and  best  plans  for  private  residences,  city 
and  country,  including  those  of  very  moderate  cost  as 
well  as  the  more  expensive.  Drawings  in  perspective 
and  in  color  are  given,  together  with  plans,  specifica- 
tions, costs  and  details.  Many  other  subjects,  including 
sewerage,  piping,  lighting,  warming,  ventilating,  deco- 
rating, laying  out  of  grounds,  etc.,  are  illustrated.  An 
extensive  compendium  of  manufacturers'  announce- 
ments is  also  given,  in  which  the  most  reliable  and  ap- 
proved building  materials,  goods,  machines,  tools  and 
appliances  are  described  and  illustrated,  with  addresses 
of  the  makers,  etc.  Architects,  builders  and  owners 
will  find  this  work  valuable  in  furnishing  fresh  and  use- 
ful suggestions.  All  who  contemplate  building  or  im- 
proving homes,  or  erecting  structures  of  any  kind,  have 
before  them  in  this  work  an  almost  endless  series  of  the 
latest  and  best  examples  from  which  to  make  selections, 
thus  saving  time  and  money.  Issued  the  first  of  every 
month,  $2.50  a  year. 

The  Century  for  January  has  for  its  most  striking 
feature  the  first  installment  of  Talleyrand's  Memoirs. 
A  sketch  of  Talleyrand  by  Minister  Whitelaw  Reid  pre- 
faces this  installment.  The  opening  pages  tell  of  Tal- 


leyrand's neglected  childhood,  and  his  entry  into 
Parisian  society.  They  also  give  his  views  of  La 
Fayette,  and  the  effect  of  the  American  on  the  French 
Revolution ;  some  account  of  the  beginnings  of  the 
latter ;  a  very  contemptuous  opinion  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans ;  a  sketch  of  the  author's  stay  in  England  and 
the  United  States,  and  a  highly  interesting  conversation 
between  himself  and  Alexander  Hamilton  on  Free 
Trade  and  Protection. 

Before  plunging  into  the  Gold  Discovery  the  California 
series  pauses  at  the  "  Pioneer  Spanish  Families  in  Cali- 
fornia," of  which  Mr.  Charles  H.  Shinn  writes  with 
special  reference  to  the  Vallejos ;  a  supplementary  paper, 
by  Mr.  John  T.  Doyle,  gives  an  account  of  the  con- 
temporary life  in  the  Spanish  "  Missions  of  Alta  Cali- 
fornia." Both  articles  are  illustrated  from  authentic 
sources,  Mr.  Fenn  having  made  a  special  trip  to  Cali- 
fornia to  make  his  sparkling  drawings  of  the  Missions, 
which  refute  the  charge  that  "  America  has  no  ruins  !" 
Further  glimpses  of  the  simple  and  courteous  pastoral 
life  before  the  gold  discovery  are  afforded  by  a.  series  of 
short  articles  in  the  department  of  "  Californiana,"  on 
"  A  Californian  Lion  and  a  Pirate,"  "  A  Carnival  Ball 
at  Monterey,"  "A  Journey  from  Monterey  to  Los 
Angeles,"  and  "  Domestic  Life  in  1827,"  and  there  is 
a  characteristic  letter  from  Sutler  to  Alvarado. 
'  Under  the  title  "  A  Romance  of  Morgan's  Rough 
Riders,"  a  contribution  is  made  to  the  group  of  articles 
on  the  experiences  of  prisoners  of  war.  In  the  first  of 
three  chapters,  General  Basil  W.  Duke,  who  was  Mor- 
gan's right-hand  brigadier,  describes  General  John  H. 
Morgan's  famous  raid  into  Indiana  and  Ohio  ;  General 
O.  B.  Wilcox  contributes  a  chapter  on  the  capture  of  a 
large  part  of  the  command;  and  Captain  Thomas  H. 
Hines,  who  planned  the  escape,  relates  how  Morgan 
and  a  few  of  his  officers  tunneled  out  of  the  Ohio  State 
Penitentiary,  and,  after  thrilling  adventures,  reached  the 
Confederate  lines. 

The  frontispiece  of  the  January  Century  is  a  portrait 
of  the  sculptor  Augustus  Saint-Gaudens,  engraved  by 
Whitney  from  a  painting  by  Kenyon  Cox.  Mr.  Coffin, 
the  artist  and  art  critic,  writes  a  sketch  of  Kenyon  Cox's 
artistic  career,  and  there  are  two  other  pictures  in  this 
number  by  Mr.  Cox. 

The  opening  article  of  the  number  is  C.  W.  Coleman's 
description  of  the  fine  old  mansions  along  the  Lower 
James,  with  a  number  of  picturesque  illustrations  by 
Harry  Fenn.  Octave  Thanet  tells  a  true,  timely,  and 
thrilling  story  of  "  An  Irish  Gentlewoman  in  the  Famine 
Time"  of  1847-8.  Mr.  Rockhill,  the  Tibetan  traveler, 
describes  the  Mongols  of  the  Azure  Lake.  Mr.  Kreh- 
biel,  the  musical  critic  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  has  an 
article  (with  music)  on  "Chinese  Music."  "Colonel 
Carter  of  Cartersville,"  by  Hopkinson  Smith,  and 
James  Lane  Allen's  "  Sister  Dolorosa  "  are  continued. 
The  complete  stories  are  "In  Maiden  Meditation," 
by  George  A.  Hibbard,  "  Nannie's  Career,"  by  Viola 
Roseboro',  and  "  At  the  Town  Farm,"  by  Miss  Car- 
penter. 

In  the  Topics  of  the  Time  and  Open  Letters  the  fol- 
lowing subjects  are  discussed:  "How  to  Develop 
American  Sentiment  among  Immigrants,"  "  Ballot  Re- 
form as  an  Educator,"  "  The  Decline  of  Superannua- 
tion," "The  Library  of  American  Literature,"  "New 
York  as  a  Historic  Town,"  "  Protection  for  the  Red 
Cross,"  "  A  World-Literature,"  and  "  Who  was  the 
First  Woman  Graduate?" 

Among  the  poets  of  the  number  are  James  Whitcomb 
Riley,  Virginia  Frazer  Boyle,  Mr.  Kenyon  and  Mr. 
Liiders. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  : — Origin  of  Some  Names,  109 — Siamese  Superstitions, 
no — Amadis  of  Gaul,  in. 

QUERIES  :— Thirty  Days  Hath  September— Rosicrucians— 
Hotel  de  Sens — Bladensburg  Duels,  112. 

REPLIES  :— Lake  of  Blood— Wupperthal  Poets— My  Friend, 
Judge  Not  Me,  113. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Hieronymites— 
Turn-spit  Dog — Sybil's  Cave — Witches  of  Carnmoney — 
Dark  Day — Razor-strop  Man — Miramichi  Fire,  113 — Scotch- 
Irish  Emigrants — Cave-in- Rock,  114. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :  —  Famous  Blind  People  —  Kack  — 
Leaving  His  Country,  etc.,  114 — Nations  of  Dwarfs,  115 — 
Tantrum  Bogus — Animal  Calls — Malays  in  Mexico,  116 — Su- 
perstitions of  Actors — By  and  Large — Ewe — Names  Identi- 
fied— Lakes  With  Two  Outlets — Dogs  of  War,  117 — Skates — 
Abandoned  Towns — Rather  Brethren — Swamp  Apples,  118 — 
Liqueurs — Ginseng  and  Gentian — Antonomasias  of  Rulers 
and  Warriors — Wawa — Point  Judith,  119 — Burning  Springs 
— Llano  Estacado — Fish-hook  Money — Jiboose — Origin  of 
Some  Names,  120. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 120. 


ORIGIN  OF  SOME  NAMES. 

(VOL.  vi,  PP.  74,  ETC.) 

The  following  is  the  origin  with  the  deri- 
vation of  some  of  the  names  of  the  prominent 
statesmen  of  our  country  at  the  present  day. 

Among  the  Senators  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Allison.  —  This  name  is  said  to  be  of 
Slavonic  origin — aland,  a  wolf-dog.  Camden, 
however,  thinks  it  is  from  ALlianus,  which 
signifies  sun-bright;  but  Chaucer  holds  to 
the  first  origin.  It  has  been  gradually  made 
British  to  Alan,  then  the  suffix  son, 
which  gives  Alanson,  Allison  meaning  the 
son  of  a  wolf-hound. 

Blackburn  is  English  and  of  local  origin, 
meaning  black  or  dark  brook  or  stream. 

Butler. — The  family,  though  now  con- 
sidered to  be  English,  was  originally  Norman 
French,  and  are  descendants  of  the  old 


no 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  3,  1891. 


Counts  of  Biony  in  Normandy.  A  descendant, 
Fitz  Walter,  /'.  e.,  the  son  of  Walter  de 
Biony,  went  with  William  the  Conqueror 
into  England.  Henry  II  made  Theobold 
Biony  Chief  Butler  of  Ireland,  and  the  branch 
of  Bionys  who  went  to  Ireland  became 
known  as  the  Butlers  of  Ireland.  The  title 
in  time  became  adopted  as  a  family  name. 

Edimmds. — This  is  a  pure  Saxon  name, 
from  Edmond,  signifying  blessed  peace,  from 
Ead,  blessed,  and  mund,  peace. 

Eustis. — This  name  is  of  Greek  origin, 
from  Euardd-r^,  signifying  to  stand  firm,  or 
a  resolute  person. 

Hampton. — This  is  an  English  local  name, 
and  means  a  town  on  a  hill. 

Gorman. — This  is  of  German  origin,  and 
is  the  same  as  German  or  Germain,  which  is 
derived  from  Werr-man,  meaning  war  man. 
The  Latins  had  no  "  W "'  and  wrote  it 
with  a  "  G,"  being  nearest  to  the  sound. 

Paddock. — This  is  Old  English,  and  means 
a  croft  enclosed  in  a  park. 

Sherman. — This  is  a  name  of  Saxon 
origin,  and  means  one  who  shears  cloth. 
Shakespeare,  in  "Henry  VI,"  in  the  passage 
of  words  between  Stafford  and  Jack  Cade, 
puts  the  following  in  the  mouth  of  the 
former  : 

"Villain,  thy  father  was  a  plasterer, 
And  thou  thyself  a  Shearman." 

Among  the  Representatives  we  have  the 
following  : 

Bingham. — Which  is  Danish,  though  it  is 
a  place  name  in  England.  The  Danish  is 
from  Benge,  a  pen  or  bin,  and  ham,  a  town  ; 
hence  a  town  in  which  grain  is  gathered  or 
stored. 

Blount. — Is  Norman  French,  and  means 
fair  hair.  The  family  went  to  England  with 
the  Conqueror. 

Dalzell. — This  is  a  name  of  Gaelic  origin, 
and  is  derived  from  the  parish  of  Dalziel  in 
Lanarkshire,  in  Scotland — Dal,  a  dale,  and 
eille,  a  church ;  hence  the  church  in  the 
dale  or  valley.  It  is  said  to  have  another 
Scottish  origin,  which  is  told  by  Nesbit  in 
his  work  on  "Heraldry,"  to  wit:  "  Ken- 
nett  II,  King  of  the  Scots,  had  a  favorite 
who  was  hanged  by  the  Picts.  The  king 
did  not  wish  the  body  left  hanging  to  the 
vultures  and  offered  a  reward  for  its  rescue. 
No  one  at  first  offered,  or  was  tempted  by 


the  reward ;  finally  a  gentleman  went  to  the 
king  and  said  in  the  Scottish  or  Gaelic 
tongue  '  Dalziel,'  which  means  '  I  dare,' 
and  he  afterwards  became  the  Earl  of  Carn- 
wath." 

Farquhar. — This  is  also  of  Gaelic  origin, 
from  fear,  a  man ;  and  coir,  just ;  hence  a 
just  man. 

Herbert. — This  is  Saxon,  from  here,  a 
soldier,  and  beorht,  bright  or  famous ;  hence 
a  famous  or  bright  soldier. 

Kerr. — This  may  be  Gaelic  or  Cornish 
British,  from  Kaer,  a  castle;  or  car,  a 
friend. 

Mills. — There  are  two  origins  claimed  for 
this  name ;  one  is  the  English  place  name  of 
simply  a  mill,  the  other  is  the  Gaelic 
Milidh,  meaning  soldier. 

Van  Shaick. — This  is  a  pure  Dutch  name, 
but  the  original  spelling  is  Van  Schaick,  and 
from  the  town  of  Scheyk. 

THOMAS  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


SIAMESE  SUPERSTITIONS. 

(VOL.  vi,  P.  98.) 

Genii.  —  The  forests,  the  woods,  the 
fields,  the  streams,  are  all  filled  with  genii; 
most  of  them  evil-doers,  who  make  sport  of 
cheating  helpless  humanity.  The  Will-o'- 
the-wisp,  the  strange  cries  of  birds  and  in- 
sects, imitating  the  modulations  of  the 
human  voice,  are  as  many  means  which  they 
employ  to  attain  their  objects. 

The  legends  mention  as  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  the  Phitongtoi,  which  assumes  the 
form  of  an  almost  invisible  snake.  Resting 
on  the  branch  of  a  tree,  it  emits  certain  calls 
which  from  a  distance  resemble  plaintive 
prayers  for  help  coming  from  a  human 
throat.  Woe  betide  the  traveler  who, 
thinking  it  to  be  a  human  being,  tries  to  ap- 
proach it.  As  fast  as  the  traveler  approaches 
the  voice  retreats  and  does  not  cease  its 
cries  until  the  would-be  succorer  finds  him- 
self in  a  deserted  spot  completely  lost.  In 
order  to  rid  one's  self  of  such  a  dangerous  al- 
lurement one  needs  but  to  burn  a  piece  of 
dried  pine,  the  odor  of  which  suffices  to 
drive  the  genii  to  a  distance  so  great  that 
his  complaints  will  not  reach  the  ears  of  the 
passers-by. 


January  3,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


in 


The  mountains,  the  hills,  and  small  islands, 
which  the  waters  during  the  season  of  rain 
do  not  submerge,  are  the  homes  of  the 
genii  Phi  pa.  They  exercise  throughout  the 
extent  of  their  domain  a  despotic  power. 
The  peasants  and  the  woodsmen  fear  them 
as  the  cause  of  fever  of  the  woods,  which 
germ  poisons  the  blood  and  affects  the 
whole  organism  so  entirely  that  it  often 
brings  about  a  fatal  end.  And  in  order  to 
overcome  the  evil  influences,  it  is  their  cus- 
tom to  make  offerings  of  meat  and  cakes 
together  with  sacred  invocations. 

Certain  large  trees,  such  as  the  ficus  re- 
ligiosa,  the  tamarind,  the  diptero carpus,  and 
certain  shrubs  considered  sacred  which  or- 
nament grounds  of  the  pagoda,  are  haunted 
by  female  genii,  called  Phinangmai.  These 
genii  are  supposed  to  relish  pork,  chicken 
and  ducks;  neither  do  they  despise  spirits 
made  of  rice,  but  they  prefer,  above  all, 
sweet-scented  flowers,  and  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood  never  omit  to  offer  them  at 
certain  periods  of  the  year  and  at  each  fes- 
tival those  things  which  they  prefer.  It  is 
said  that  they  hold  in  high  esteem  these  of- 
ferings, for  any  negligence  or  omission  has 
been,  it  seems,  often  punished  with  the  great- 
est severity ;  not  satisfied  with  having  made 
those  who  slighted  them  suffer  a  thousand 
punishments,  they  go  even  so  far  as  to  enter 
their  bodies  to  smother  them. 

The  genii,  who  protect  the  homes  and 
families,  exist  also  among  the  Siamese  and 
are  called  Chas  Phumthi,  which  means 
literally  master  of  the  hearth.  The  respect 
they  command  seems  general,  in  the  palaces 
of  the  princes  and  of  the  mandarins,  just  as 
in  the  most  modest  homes.  One  may  see 
at  the  entrance,  placed  upon  a  post,  or  a 
sort  of  altar,  sometimes  large  and  sometimes 
small,  sometimes  richly  decorated,  sometimes 
not  according  to  the  rank  of  the  master  of 
the  household  and  having  as  a  rule  the  shape 
of  an  entrance  to  a  pagoda.  Inside,  statu- 
ettes of  terra-cotta  representing  Brahman 
divinities,  or  theatrical  personages,  sweets, 
flowers,  young  cocoanuts,  split  rice,  etc.,  are 
thrown  helter-skelter.  These  offerings  are 
made  to  obtain  the  cure  of  a  member  of  the 
family,  or  when  an  additional  construction 
to  the  house  is  planned. 

The  Chinese,  whose  intercourse  with  Siam 


goes  back  several  centuries,  have  imported  to 
this  country  the  cult  of  the  Tao  Kong,  a 
sort  of  titled  genii  who  reside,  according  to 
the  Chinese,  on  the  mountain  tops  and  in 
the  trunks  of  great  trees.  Altars  such  as 
those  we  have  described  above,  placed  on  the 
ground,  or  fixed  to  the  trunk  of  the  tree, 
are  dedicated  to  them.  The  genii  whom  the 
Siamese  honor  with  the  title  of  chas,  mean- 
ing lords,  do  not  confine  themselves  con- 
stantly to  their  homes  ;  they  have  a  roaming 
disposition,  and  take  tigers  as  steeds,  likewise 
crocodiles  and  venomous  serpents.  Wher- 
ever these  animals  are  present,  one  may  al- 
ways observe  altars  dedicated  to  these  genii. 
(To  be  continued.'} 


AMADIS  OF  GAUL. 

This  famous  personage,  whose  adventures, 
with  those  of  his  descendants  and  successors, 
fill  a  huge  cycle  of  Spanish  and  other 
romances,  appears  to  have  been  entirely  a 
creation  of  the  imagination.  It  is  commonly 
said  that  Vasco  de  Lobeira,  a  Portuguese 
gentleman  who  died  in  1403,  was  the  author 
of  the  original  romance,  but  there  is  not 
much  room  for  doubt  that  the  story  was  a 
very  old  one  when  he  gave  it  a  new  form. 
Lobeira's  version  is  now,  however,  believed 
to  be  lost  beyond  recovery.  There  is  a 
certain  amount  of  borrowing  in  the  stories 
of  the  Amadis  cycle  from  those  of  the  Round 
Table,  and  there  is  an  old  English  ballad  of 
Sir  Amadace  which  is  probably  older  than 
Lobeira's  redaction.  DeHerberay's  French 
version  (1540)  follows  the  prose  of  Mon- 
talvo's  Spanish  romance  (circa  1465),  which 
is  now  admitted  to  be  the  original  of  the 
story  in  its  present  form.  The  French 
translation  of  the  story  and  its  sequels, 
though  based  on  Lobeira's  story,  was  com- 
pleted by  Gohorry,  Boileau,  Aubert,  Tyron, 
Chappuys  and  others.  They  translated  not 
only  Montalvo's  part  of  the  cycle,  but  the 
greater  part  of  the  continuations  by  Paez  de 
Ribera,  Feliciano  de  Silva,  Juan  Diaz, 
Ortunez  de  Calahorra,  J.  Fernandez  and 
others.  In  the  French  renditions  of  the 
series  there  are  at  least  fifty  volumes.  Most 
of  the  tales  also  appeared  in  Italian,  by 
Roseo,  Loro,  Bernardo  Tasso  (a  poem)  and 
others.  Three  of  the  romances  appeared  in 


112 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[January  3,  1891. 


England — the  "Amadis,"  by  A.  Munday 
(1592);  the  "  Esplandian,"  by  J.  Johnson 
(1664);  and  the  "  Florisando,"  by  F. 
Kirkman  (1652).  Besides  these,  Bynne- 
man,  about  1575,  translated  into  English 
"The  Treasury  of  Amadis  of  France,"  fol- 
lowing a  French  abridgment.  Southey's 
edition  (four  vols.,  1803)  is  much  con- 
densed. W.  S.  Rose,  in  1803,  published  a 
versified  English  "Amadis."  It  is  not  a 
little  remarkable  that  in  its  original  form 
"Amadis  of  Gaul"  means  "Amadis  of 
Wales." 

T.  R.  G. 
BALTIMORE,  MD. 


us 


B  s. 


Thirty  Days  Hath  September,  etc.  —  Who 

wrote  the  lines  beginning  with  these  words? 

R.  K.  J. 

They  are  of  unknown  authorship;  they 
are  quoted  in  "The  Return  From  Parnas- 
sus," an  anonymous  play  of  1603. 

Rosicrucians.  —  What  was  the  true  origin 
of  the  Rosicrucian  Society  ? 

J.  B.  E. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

We  regard  it  as  entirely  certain  that  no 
surh  society  ever  existed.  For  a  state- 
ment of  the  known  facts  on  this  subject,  see 
the  article  on  the  "Rosicrucians"  in  the 
"  Encyc.  Britannica." 

Hotel  de  Sens.  —  There  is  a  building  at 
Sens,  France,  called  "  Hotel  de  Sens". 
Can  you  tell  me  why  it  is  so  famous  ? 

E.  G.  THOMAS. 
PORTLAND,  ME. 

Mr.  Thomas  is  wrong  in  supposing  the 
Hotel  de  Sens  to  be  at  Sens.  It  is  in  Paris, 
and  always  has  been.  This  mansion  is  No. 
i  rue  du  Figuier,  and  one  of  the  most  an- 
cient of  the  French  capital.  Although  it 
has  undergone  many  restorations  and  exten- 
sions, it  is  nevertheless  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting monuments  of  the  architecture  of 


the  middle  ages,  and  its  position  at  the  cor- 
ner of  the  Rue  des  Barres-Saint-Paul  is 
very  picturesque.  It  derives  its  name  from 
the  Archbishops  of  Sens,  whose  residence  it 
was  for  a  long  time.  The  old  Hotel  de 
Sens  was  situated  no't  far  from  the  present 
one  in  the  Quay  desCelestins.  Archbishop 
William  of  Melun  sold  the  hotel  to  Charles 
V,  who  wished  to  enlarge  his  palace  St.  Paul, 
for  £11, 500,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  The  new  and  present  Hotel  de 
Sens  was  built  from  1475  to  I5I9>  by  tne 
Archbishop  Tristan  de  Sallazar,  and  finished 
by  Cardinal  Dupont,  who  resided  there  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Francois  I.  Among  other 
notable  events,  the  Hotel  de  Sens  was  once 
inhabited  by  Marguerite,  the  "  Margot 
Queen,"  first  wife  of  Bearnais,  on  her  re- 
turn from  Auvergne. 

B  laden  sburg  Duels. — What  famous  duels 
were  fought  near  Bladensburg,  Md. 

MARTIN. 
MCCONNELLSTOWN,  PA. 

One  of  the  first  duels  which  took  place, 
according  to  the  records,  was  that  of  Edward 
Hopkins,  of  Maryland,  with  an  adversary 
whose  name  is  not  preserved.  It  occurred 
in  the  year  1814,  and  resulted  in  Hopkins 
being  killed.  The  first  duel  that  attracted 
universal  attention  took  place  on  February 
6,  1819,  and  was  between  Gen.  Armisted  T. 
Mason,  an  ex-Senator  in  Congress  from  Vir- 
ginia, and  Col.  John  M.  McCarty,  a  citizen 
from  the  same  State.  This  desperate  and 
fatal  encounter  grew  out  of  a  political  dis- 
cussion and  resulted  in  the  death  of  Mason. 
The  duel,  however,  which  gave  the  field  of 
Bladensburg  its  greatest  notoriety  was  that 
of  James  Barron  and  Stephen  Decatur,  both 
of  the  United  States  Navy,  on  the  22d  of 
March.  1820.  The  duel  between  the  Hon. 
Jonathan  Cilley,  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  Maine,  and  the  Hon. 
William  J.  Graves,  a  member  of  the  same 
body  from  Kentucky,  did  not  occur  upon 
the  Bladensburg  field,  but  at  a  spot  two  or 
three  miles  away.  The  celebrated  encounter 
between  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay  and  the  Hon. 
John  Randolph  also  took  place  near  Bladens- 
burg. 


January  3,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


FjBPLIBS. 


Lake  of  Blood  (Vol.  vi,  p.  91).  —  There  is 
a  lake  called  Yaguarcocha,  or  the  Lake  of 
Blood,  not  very  far  from  Ibarra,  in  Ecuador. 

ISLANDER. 
MAINE. 

Wupperthal  Poets  (Vol.  vi,  p.  66).—  The 
Wupperthal  is  the  valley  of  the  river  Wupper 
in  Germany,  on  which  river  stands  the  town 
of  Elberfeld,  where  Gottfried  Daniel  Krum- 
macher  (1774-1837)  was  pastor.  Krum- 
macher  was  the  leader  of  "  the  Wupperthal 
pietists,"  and  the  Wupperthal  poets,  as  I 
understand  it,  are  a  rather  recent  set  of 
hymn-writers  and  producers  of  devotional 
poetry  who  have  kept  up  the  local  tradition 
by  means  of  their  verses.  If  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, these  poets  have  not  attained  a  very 
high  repute  for  the  literary  quality  of  their 
work,  for  as  a  rule  they  are  not  highly  cul- 
tured people.  F.  E.  G. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

My  Friend,  Judge  Not  Me,  etc.  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  90,  etc.).  —  Camden's  own  account  of 
the  origin  of  the  epitaph  quoted  at  the  above 
reference  seems  to  be  quite  satisfactory,  and 
certainly  is  far  more  credible  than  the  second 
meaning  suggested  (Vol.  vi,  p.  78)  :  '/A 
gentleman  falling  off  his  horse,  broke  his 
neck,  which  suddain  hap  gave  occasion  of 
much  speech  of  his  former  life,  and  some  in 
this  judging  world,  judged  the  worst.  In 
which  respect  a  good  friend  made  this  good 
epitaph,  remembering  that  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, '  Misericordia  Domini  inter  pontem 
and  fontem  :' 

"  My  friend,  judge  not  me, 
Thou  seest  I  judge  not  thee  ; 
Betwixt  the  stirrup  and  the  ground, 
Mercy  I  askt,  mercy  I  found." 

("Camden's  Remains,"  London,  1870, 
p.  420.)  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 


NO   CslOI^ESPONDENIlS. 


Hieronymites.  —  Are  there  anywhere  at 
present  any  houses  of  Hieronymite  monks  ? 

M.  V.  B. 

NEW  YORK. 


Turn-spit  Dog. — In  describing  a  rude 
bit  of  cookery  in  an  Italian  church,  during 
the  internecine  warfare  of  early  sixteenth 
century,  the  author  of  the  historical  romance 
entitled,  "Giovanni  delle  Bande  Nere," 
compares  the  soldiers — four  of  them — who 
held  a  skinned  calf  on  their  pikes,  revolving 
them  as  necessity  required  over  the  blazing 
coals,  to  a  dog  turning  a  spit  with  a  roast  on 
it. 

I  have  indeed  read  of  the  "  turn-spit  dog," 
but  have  a  very  indefinite  idea  of  him.  Can 
any  one  of  the  correspondents  of  AMERI- 
CAN NOTES  AND  QUERIES  help  me  to  a  better 
comprehension  of  his  (evidently)  valued 
duties?  F, 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Sybil's  Cave. — What  is  the  history  of 
the  Sybil's  Cave  at  Weehawken,  N.  J.  ? 
There  was  published,  many  years  ago,  an 
illustrated  account  of  this  artificial  cave,  or 
grotto ;  I  think  it  was  in  The  Family  Maga- 
zine, either  that  or  the  American  Magazine, 
I  forget  which.  J.  F. 

WELLS,  PA. 

Witches  of  Carnmoney. — An  Irish 
correspondent  writes  that  a  play  founded  on 
the  "  Witches  of  Carnmoney  "  was  on  the 
American  stage  some  fifty  years  ago  and  ap- 
peared, he  thinks,  in  a  publication  called 
The  Bee.  Can  any  one  give  information  ? 

O.  K.  L. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Dark  Day. — Please  give  me  a  brief  ac- 
count of  the  famous  Dark  Day  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  of  other  similar  dark  days. 

RUBY  E.  C. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 

Razor-strop  Man. — What  was  the 
name  and  history  of  the  once  famous  razor- 
strop  man  ?  He  was,  I  think,  a  hawker  or 
peddler  well  known  in  every  part  of  this  coun- 
try. J.  B.  C. 

TROY. 

Miramichi  Fire. — Will  you  give  me 
some  account  of  great  Miramichi  forest  fires 
of  New  Brunswick  ?  R.  E.  C. 

VIRGINIA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[January  3,  1891. 


Scotch-Irish  Emigrants.  —  The 
Scotch-Irish  gatherings  of  the  past  two 
years  have  done  much  in  the  way  of  genea- 
logy of  those  people.  Is  there  any  record 
of  the  arrivals  from  Ireland,  from  say  1735 
to  1 745  ?  Rapp  published  the  names  of  the 
Palatines,  but  passed  the  Irish.  I  am 
especially  interested  in  those  going  to  the 
Borden  tract,  in  Rockbridge  county,  Va. 

O.  K.  L. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Cave-in-Rock. — According  to  "  Lip- 
pincott's  Gazetteer,"  there  is  a  caveat  Cave- 
in-Rock,  Illinois,  which  was  formerly  a  re- 
sort for  robbers.  Where  can  any  account  of 
the  history  of  this  place  be  found  ? 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 


©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Famous  Blind  People  (Vol.  vi,  p.  46). 
— Dr.  Thomas  Blacklock,  Scottish  clergy- 
man and  poet,  and  Maria  Theresa  Von 
Paradis,  Austrian  pianiste  and  composer. 

Thomas  Blacklock  (1721-91),  who  was  of 
humble  parentage,  his  father  being  a  brick- 
layer, though  a  man  of  some  education,  lost 
his  sight  by  an  attack  of  smallpox  when  six 
months  old.  His  love  of  poetry,  which 
showed  itself  at  an  early  age,  was  gratified 
by  readings  from  famous  authors  by  his 
father  and  friends,  and  he  began  to  write 
poetry  when  but  twelve  years  of  age. 

The  young  poet's  misfortune,  together 
with  his  amiable  disposition,  found  power- 
ful friends  for  him,  through  whose  influence 
he  was  educated  at  the  Grammar  School 
and  University  of  Edinburgh  ;  and  so  great 
was  the  triumph  of  mind  over  the  most  op- 
pressive  disadvantages,  that  before  middle- 
age  Thomas  Blacklock  had  become  an  ac- 
complished scholar,  being  master  of  Latin 
and  Greek  and  several  modern  tongues,  a 
cultivated  thinker,  and,  for  those  days,  a 
respectable  poet.  Dr.  Johnson  thought 
Blacklock  showed  only  some  facility  in 
stringing  rhymes  together,  and  was  not  in- 
clined to  accept  Burke's  more  flattering  es- 
timate of  his  poetical  efforts. 

But  the  blind  poet  rendered  his  greatest 


service  to  literature  in  writing  the  famous 
letters  (Sept.  4,  1 786)  to  Robert  Burns,  in- 
viting him  to  visit  Edinburgh.  Burns  him- 
self  attributed  his  abandonment  of  the  West 
Indian  expedition  to  Blacklock's  letter,  and, 
although  we  owe  several  beautiful  lyrics  to 
his  intention  of  emigrating,  we  are  indebted 
for  many  more  to  his  relinquishment  of  the 
same  purpose. 

Blacklock  rendered  another  great  service 
to  the  world  in  translating  into  English 
Valentin  Haiiy's  "  Essai  sur  1'Education  des 
Aveugles,"  this  being  the  first  book  printed 
in  relief  (1786). 

For  the  idea  of  embossed  letters  on  stiff 
paper,  Haiiy — the  "  apostle  of  the  blind  " — 
is  thought  to  have  been  indebted  to  Theresa 
Von  Paradis,  who  represented  to  him  musi- 
cal notes  by  pins  on  a  cushion. 

Von  Paradis  was  a  contemporary  of  Mo- 
zart, who  wrote  for  her  the  Concerto  in  B 
flat,  and  a  pupil  of  the  Abb6  Vogler 
(organ). 

Though  blind  from  early  childhood,  she 
attained  a  high  place  in  the  world  of  art  as 
a  performer  and  composer,  and  late  in  life 
became  a  successful  teacher  of  singing  and 
the  organ.  MENONA. 

Kack.— 

"God's  own  lodging,  though  he  could  not  lack, 
To  be  a  common  Kack." 

Kack  here  must  mean  either  a  stable  or 
manger,  or  something  of  the  kind.  Quoted 
from  H.  Vaughan's  "The  Shepherds,"  in 
"  Silex  Scintilians."  G. 

Leaving  His  Country,  etc.  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  96,  etc.). — George  Barrington,  a  con- 
vict whose  real  name  was  Waldron,  was  the 
author  of  the  line  quoted.  It  occurs  in  the 
prologue  to  Dr.  Young's  tragedy,  "The 
Revenge,"  as  played  by  convicts  at  Sydney, 
N.  S.  W.,  in  1796: 

"  From  distant  climes,  o'er  widespread  seas,  we  come, 
Though  not  with  much  tclat  or  beat  of  drum  : 
True  patriots  we,  for  be  it  understood, 
We  left  our  country,  for  our  country's  good. 
No  private  views  disgraced  our  generous  zeal, 
What  urged  our  travels  was  our  country's  weal ; 
And  none  will  doubt,  but  that  our  emigration 
Has  proved  most  useful  to  the  British  nation." 


WARWICK,  PA. 


E.  G.  KEEN. 


January  3,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Nations  of  Dwarfs. — In  the  legends 
of  ancient  people,  where  myths  which  re- 
late to  beings  of  unnatural  size  and  form 
so  often  occur,  we  find  that  stories  concern- 
ing dwarfs  seem  to  have  been  especially  in 
favor.  The  classic  literature  of  Greece 
makes  mention  of  the  Pygmies,  a  race  so 
small  that  they  are  said  to  be  a  few  inches 
high  and  to  live  in  the  depths  of  Central 
Africa,  where  in  mysterious  solitude  and 
silence  the  Nile  takes  its  rise.  We  are  further 
told  that  these  diminutive  men  make  war 
every  spring  on  birds  of  large  size,  and  in 
Homer's  "Iliad"  we  find  a  full  description  of 
the  battle  between  the  Pygmies  and  the 
cranes.  Strabo,  who  is  much  of  a  skeptic, 
and  knew  how  prone  to  exaggeration  were 
travelers  in  the  recital  of  their  adventures 
in  foreign  lands,  throws  discredit  on  the 
story,  and  in  one  of  his  books  bluntly  states 
that  "all  who  wrote  about  India  were  the 
biggest  liars."  Aristotle  and  Pliny,  on  the 
other  hand,  believed  that  a  dwarf  race  who 
were  troglodytes,  or  cave  dwellers,  had  their 
existence  in  Africa.  Herodotus,  more  ac- 
curate and  scientific,  distinctly  alludes  to 
these  dwarfs  in  his  books.  He  relates  that 
five  men  belonging  to  the  tribe  of  Naya- 
monen,  in  Lybia,  undertook  a  voyage  across 
the  Great  Desert,  and  came  to  the  banks 
of  a  broad  river  running  from  east  to  west 
and  full  of  crocodiles,  where  they  found  in- 
habitants who  were  all  below  the  medium 
height. 

When  the  Gothic  night  descended  over 
Europe  little  or  no  progress  was  made  in 
geography  and  ethnography.  Not  until 
1661  do  we  find  the  record  of  a  tribe  of 
small  men  called  Kimos,  who  are  said  to 
inhabit  Madagascar — perhaps  the  same  as 
those  now  known  as  the  Vaztmba,  who  dwell 
in  the  mountainous  districts  of  that  island. 

Coming  to  more  recent  times,  we  find,  in 
1820,  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  a  dwarf 
people,  the  Berikomo,  were  to  be  found 
living  to  the  north  of  the  lofty,  snow-cap- 
ped  Kenia  mountain.  In  1840,  Dr.  Krapf, 
the  missionary,  describes  a  dwarfish  race, 
the  Doko,  who  live  on  the  Upper  Djub 
river,  to  the  south  of  the  Kaffa  province, 
and  that  south  of  Bagirmi  the  natives  allude 
to  a  diminutive  tribe  called  the  Mala-Gilage, 
who  are  moreover  graced  with  a  caudal  ap- 


pendage. All  these  facts,  however,  are  of 
doubtful  accuracy  ;  and,  as  regards  the  last- 
named  people,  the  information  seems  to 
have  been  derived  from  no  better  source 
than  slaves  and  traders  of  the  interior. 

The  first  bit  of  positive  data  respecting 
the  so-called  dwarf  peoples  of  Eastern  Africa 
was  furnished  by  the  well-known  German 
explorer,  Professor  Schweinfurth.  At  the 
residence  of  Munsa,  the  Monbattu  king,  he 
found  some  individual  samples  of  the  Akka 
or  Tikki-Tikki  tribe,  men  of  small  stature, 
who  lived  as  hunters  in  the  bush,  and  some 
of  whom  King  Munsa  kept  as  a  curiosity  at 
his  court.  Some  time  after  the  Austrian 
traveler  Marno  and  Captain  Long,  the  Eng- 
lish explorer  who  accompanied  him,  discov- 
ered the  same  Akka  people.  Traces  of 
this  dwarfish  race  were  also  found  atBatalto, 
on  the  western  coast  of  Africa.  Koelle,  the 
missionary,  who  lived  at  Sierra-I^eone  and 
often  made  trips  far  into  the  interior,  heard 
of  dwarfs  living  in  a  country  further  inland 
called  Lufun,  where  those  tribes  are  called 
Kenkob  or  Bezsan. 

There  are  also  on  the  Loango  coast  na« 
tive  tribes  of  men,  who,  although  of  small 
stature,  are  good  elephant  hunters.  They 
are  called  the  Mimos  or  Bakka  Bakka.  Be- 
sides these,  on  the  Sette  river,  are  the 
Matimbo  or  Donga,  who  belong  to  the  same 
race.  More  detailed  information  concern- 
ing these  tribes  was  furnished  by  Du  Chaillu, 
the  famous  explorer  and  gorilla  hunter,  who, 
in  the  vast  forests  of  Western  Africa,  dis- 
covered the  Abongo  dwarfs  in  the  Ogowee 
river  in  Ashira  country.  I  myself  visited 
those  regions  in  1876,  and  met  with  this 
dwarf  race  on  the  Upper  Ogowee. 

At  about  the  same  time  Stanley  discov- 
ered the  Upper  Congo  and  afterwards  ex- 
plored the  country.  He  found  this  dwarf 
race  in  different  places,  and  in  his  more 
recent  expedition  from  the  Congo  to  the 
Albert  Nyanza  he  often  came  across  small 
groups  of  them  scattered  in  the  dense  forests 
on  the  Upper  Aruwimi,  and  more  to  the  east 
on  the  Semiliki  river.  These,  it  would 
seem,  are  less  harmless  and  peaceful  than 
their  congeners  elsewhere ;  they  attack  with 
poisoned  darts  the  caravans  that  seek  to 
pass  those  well-nigh  inaccessible  solitudes. 
Possibly  the  Paria  in  the  Somauli  country> 


n6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  3,  1891- 


who  are  to  be  found  between  the  Galla  and 
Somauli  tribes,  should  here  be  noticed  as 
belonging  to  the  same  dwarfish  race. 

Thus,  then,  we  see  that  a  primitive  peo- 
ple, characterized  by  a  stature  below  the 
average  medium  height,  are  to  be  found 
scattered  all  over  the  continent  of  Equa- 
torial Africa,  as  well  as  from  the  west  coast 
to  Somauli  land  as  in  the  east,  and  from  the 
regions  south  of  Lake  Tchad  down  to  the 
southern  confluences  of  the  Congo.  They 
are  nowhere  found  in  a  coherent  body  or 
nation,  with  fixed  places  of  residence  and 
commanded  by  a  chief.  They  form  small 
groups  in  the  midst  of  or  in  close  proximity 
to  more  powerful  or  more  intelligent  negro 
tribes,  who  regard  them  as  little  better  than 
slaves.  They  are  allowed  to  live  on  condi- 
tion that  they  hunt  deer  in  the  bush  and  fish 
in  the  rivers  for  their  masters,  or  kill  the 
elephant,  whose  ivory  they  are  forbidden  to 
•sell.  They  are  said  by  all  travelers  to  be 
expert  hunters,  though  they  have  no  fire- 
arms; their  only  weapons  are  bows  and 
arrows  and  spears.  Wild  animals  are  also 
•caught  by  them  in  nets,  corrals  and  pitfalls. 
They  are  exceedingly  clever  in  the  arts  and 
•devices  that  appertain  more  especially  to 
primitive  and  uncultivated  races,  and  show 
great  fortitude  in  wrestling  with  the  natural 
difficulties  offered  in  a  wild  country  like 
their  own,  by  both  man  and  beast. 

As  to  the  average  stature  attained  by 
these  people  there  is  much  discrepancy  in 
the  notes  furnished  by  those  who  have  seen 
them.  The  facts  afforded  on  the  subject  by 
travelers  are  far  from  concordant.  Perhaps 
the  best  estimate  hitherto  given  is  that  of 
•old  Herodotus,  who  says  of  them  that  they 
are  below  "  the  medium  height."  It  is  no 
•easy  task  to  obtain  exact  data.  They  are 
exceedingly  shy  and  timid,  and  in  order  to 
make  observations  I  had  to  Catch  them  as 
best  I  could,  hunting  them  down  like  a  wild 
animal.  Once  caught,  however,  they  soon 
become  tractable,  especially  when  they  see 
they  are  in  the  hands  of  a  white  man,  and 
not  in  those  of  a  slave  dealer ;  a  few  presents 
in  the  shape  of  beads,  cloth,  or — what  is 
still  more  precious  on  the  Western  coast — 
salt,  will  make  them  sufficiently  friendly  to 
allow  of  a  yard  measure  being  applied  to 
their  person.  They  are  mighty  glad,  how- 


ever, when  the  operation  is  over,  and  run 
away  most  nimble.  The  smallest  man  of 
ripe  years  I  ever  came  across  among  the 
Abongos  stood  four  feet  three  inches  from 
the  ground.  Stanley  saw  one  not  quite 
four  feet  high,  another  four  feet  four  inches, 
and  a  grown  girl  of  about  seventeen  years 
of  age  who  was  half  an  inch  short  of  three 
feet.  The  latter  may  have  been  an  excep- 
tion, although  the  women  are  proportionally 
smaller  than  the  men  {Louisville  Courier- 
Journal^). 

\_To  be  concluded.^ 

Tantrum  Bogus  (Vol.  v,  pp.  125, 
etc.). — A  question  about  a  phrase  almost 
identical  with  that  quoted  by  Mr.  Roberts, 
except  for  a  slight  variation  in  the  proper 
name,  was  recently  asked  in  Notes  and 
Queries  (Eng.):  "  We  shall  live  till  we  die, 
like  Tantrabobus. ' '  This  bears  out  the  sug- 
gestion made,  s.v.  "Bogus,"  in  the  "  Cen- 
tury Dictionary,"  after  giving  Dr.  Murray's 
remarks  and  Halliwell's  citation  of  tantra- 
bobs  as  a  Devonshire  word  for  the  devil ;  i.e., 
that  the  English  dialect  word  may  have 
been  transported  to  New  England  and 
undergone  a  natural  alteration  in  spelling. 
It  is  difficult  to  see  the  exact  force  of  the 
comparison  with  his  Satanic  majesty  in  the 
matter  of  duration  of  life. 

"Tantrum"  is  a  colloquialism  used  in 
New  England,  and  probably  elsewhere,  to 
denote  a  fit  of  waywardness,  as  if  one  were 
"possessed;"  e.g.,  "He  is  in  one  of  his 
tantrums."  Can  there  be  any  connection 
of  the  term  with  Tantrum  Bogus  ? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Animal  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  96,  etc.). 
— According  to  a  writer  in  the  "  Ornith. 
Miscellany,"  iii,  p.  213,  it  is  a  common 
thing  in  Lincolnshire  to  drive  flocks  of  tame 
geese  with  the  cry  of  "  lag'em,  lag'em." 

Malays  in  Mexico  (Vol.  vi,  p.  30). — 
Is  not  Islander  thinking  of  the  Minorcan 
colony  in  Louisiana?  Harper's  Weekly  some 
years  ago  had  an  account  of  this  colony, 
written  by  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  set- 
tlers, Lafcadio  Hearn.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITV. 


January  3,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Superstitions     of    Actors. — In     the 

New  York  World' s  account  of  the  recent 
burning  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Theatre,  N.Y., 
is  mentioned  the  following  bit  of  actor's 
superstition  : 

"  A  curious  confirmation  of  a  stage  super- 
stition is  worthy  of  note  in  connection  with 
this  fire.  When  Miss  Davenport  saw  the 
scenery  of  the  second  act,  she  cried  out  in 
dismay  at  seeing  the  wings  on  the  symbol  of 
Osiris,  the  Winged  Sun,  on  the  drop  and  de- 
clared she  would  not  play  under  it.  She 
was  told  that  it  was  essential  to  the  Egyptian 
character  of  the  scene  and  persuaded  to 
abandon  her  superstition. 

"  'Very  well — I  will  play,'  she  said, 
'but  bad  luck  will  follow.' 

"  Bad  luck  seems  to  have  come  as  fore- 
told. First  the  seizure  of  her  costumes  by 
the  Custom  House,  and  now  their  destruc- 
tion, with  the  theatre,  by  fire." 

Peacock  feathers  would  also  seem  to  be  an 
unlucky  thing  to  have  around,  according  to 
what  Mr.  Francis  Wilson  says  in  his  auto- 
biography just  published  in  Lippincotf  s 
Magazine.  His  remarks  on  them  are  as  fol- 
lows: "I  remember  in  connection  with  the 
preparation  of  this  operetta  ('  The  Oolah  ') 
that  Percy  Anderson,  the  famous  English 
water-color  artist,  who  did  the  sketches  for 
the  costumes,  told  me  how  he  had  worked 
upon  a  dress  for  one  of  the  London  theatres 
a  gorgeous  train  of  peacock  feathers  and  that 
the  whole  costume  had  been  thrown  into  the 
street  by  the  manager,  who  refused  to  allow 
so  unlucky  a  thing  as  a  peacock  feather  in 
his  theatre.  *  *  *  Just  a  few  days  be- 
fore the  opening  of  'The  Merry  Monarch,' 
'the  stage  manager  came  to  me  and  asked 
rather  feelingly  if  I  had  noticed  anything 
strange  in  the  scene.  I  hadn't.  '  Good 
heavens,  Wilson,  haven't  you  observed  that 
Hoyt  has  painted  peacock-feathers  over  the 
throne.'  This  was  too  much  for  me  and  I 
laughed  outright."  W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

By  and  Large  (Vol.  vi,  p.  95). — 
When  a  child  I  used  to  hear  one  of  my 
grandfather's  friends  express  it  "boy  and 
large,"  equivalent  to  "  a!l  my  life." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Ewe  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  55,  280,  etc.).— The 
pronunciation  yo  is  not  confined  to  the  un- 
educated. Shrewsbury  in  England  is 
Shrosebury,  and  Shakespeare  ("  Taming  of 
the  Shrew,"  Act.  v,  Sc.  2,  lines  i8&,  189) 
makes  shrew  rhyme  with  so,  thus : 

"  Hortensio :  Now,  go  thy  ways ;  thou  hast  tamed  a 

curst  shrew. 

Lucentio  :  '  Fis  a  wonder,  by  your  leave,  she  will  be 
tamed  so." 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY 

Names  Identified.— Mr.  Robson,  in 
the  introduction  to  his  edition  of  "  The 
Anturs  (adventures)  of  Arthur,"  states  that 
he  is  unable  to  identify  any  of  the  places 
mentioned  in  Stanza  liii.  But  I  think  there 
is  no  great  difficulty  with  those  names. 
Logher  is  either  Lochar  Moss,  in  Dumfries- 
shire, or  Lockerbie,  which  means  Locker 
village.  Layre  is  Ayr  (with  a  French  arti- 
cle ?),  Carrake  is  Carrick  in  Ayrshire,  Cum- 
make  is  Cumnock,  and  Conyngame  is  Cun- 
ningham, in  the  same  county,  while  Kile  is 
the  modern  Kyle.  The  Lother  seems  to  be 
the  Lauder  or,  more  likely,  Louther  Hills 
in  Lanark.  The  Lemmok  I  do  not  recog- 
nize; the  Loynak  should  be  Lennox ;  and 
the  Lile  I  do  not  know.  M. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Lakes  "With  Two  Outlets  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  83,  etc.). — It  has  been  stated  that  the 
river  Athabasca  (or  one  of  its  head  streams), 
in  Northwestern  Canada,  arises  from  the 
same  lake  with  a  branch  of  the  Fraser  river 
(or  else  the  Simpson,  I  forget  which).  Dr. 
O.  W.  Holmes  wrote  a  poem  on  this  subject 
(if  I  am  not  in  error  by  reason  of  a  treacher- 
ous memory).  OBED. 

Dogs  of  War  (Vol.  vi,  p.  95). — It  is 
recorded  that  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans  both  employed  war-dogs,  which 
were  sometimes  fitted  out  with  spiked  collars, 
and  were  sometimes  even  armed  with  mail. 
Corinth  was  once  saved  from  capture  by  its 
guard  of  fifty  dogs.  The  garrison  had  all 
fallen  asleep,  but  the  dogs  held  the  attack- 
ing forces  in  check,  until  the  garrison  were 
aroused  and  were  able  to  repel  the  assault ; 
from  this  struggle  only  one  dog  escaped 
alive.  M. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[January  3,  1891. 


Skates. — I  have  written  to  you  several 
times  in  regard  to  the  skates  (S&i — skilober) 
worn  by  the  Norwegian  "  riflemen  on 
skates  "  (skating  corps),  but  nowhere  found 
so  clear  a  description  of  these  implements  as 
in  "  The  First  Crossing  of  Greenland, 
through  the  Sahara  of  the  North  (Dr.  Nan- 
sen's  Ice  Journey),"  by  Fridtiof  Nansen. 
Translated  by  Hubert  Majendie  Gepp.  Two 
volumes.  Large  8vo.  Longmans,  Green 
&  Co.  London  and  New  York.  Norden- 
skiold's  explorations  in  the  interior  of 
Greenland,  conducted  about  that  time,  de- 
monstrated the  facility  with  which  long  dis- 
tances over  snow-fields  could  be  covered  by 
men  shod  with  the  ski,  or  Norwegian  snow- 
shoe.  Dr.  Nansen  at  once  perceived  that 
the  "ski"  would  enable  a  small  party  of 
explorers  landing  on  the  floes  of  the  east 
coast  to  go  across  the  snow-fields  and  reach 
the  Danish  settlements.  The  plan  was  pro- 
posed in  scientific  journals,  and  finally  car- 
ried out  with  financial  aid  from  Augustin 
Gamel,  the  patron  of  the  expedition.  Dr. 
Nansen  had  five  companions  in  his  march 
across  the  floes — three  Norwegians  and  two 
Lapps — all  having  been  accustomed  from 
youth  to  the  use  of  the  snowshoe.  The 
leader  himself  had  been  from  childhood  an 
expert  skilober  and  he  based  his  prospects  of 
success  in  crossing  Greenland  almost  en- 
tirely upon  the  superiority  of  this  means  of 
locomotion  when  large  tracts  of  snow  had 
to  be  traversed.  These  snowshoes  are  strips 
of  wood,  eight  feet  long  and  an  inch  thick 
under  the  foot,  beveling  off  to  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  at  each  end.  In  front  these  sticks 
are  curved  upwards,  and  pointed,  and  some- 
times at  the  back  end  also.  The  attachment 
consists  of  a  loop  made  of  leather  for  the  toe, 
and  a  band  passing  round  behind  the  heel. 
Shoe  and  foot  are  made  as  rigid  as  possible 
for  steering  purposes,  while  the  heel  is  al- 
lowed to  rise  freely  at  all  times.  On  flat 
ground  the  ski  are  driven  forward  by  a 
peculiar  stride,  there  being  no  resemblance 
to  the  motion  employed  in  skating.  With 
the  snow  in  good  condition  eight  or  nine 
miles  can  be  made  within  the  hour,  while 
an  average  of  seven  miles  an  hour  can  be 
maintained  for  long  periods.  On  the  slope 
of  almost  any  gradient  these  snow-sticks  can  be 
employed  most  effectively,  an  ascent  being 


made  either  by  feather-stitching  or  tacking, 
and  the  safety  of  the  descent  being  depend- 
ent upon  the  facility  of  keeping  the  balance. 

ANCHOR. 

Abandoned  Towns. — I  think  an  ex- 
cellent book  might  be  made  upon  the 
abandoned  towns  of  the  United  States.  In- 
deed Col.  C.  C.  Jones  has  published  a  very 
valuable  book  on  the  "  Dead  Cities  of 
Georgia."  If  the  same  scheme  were  made 
to  cover  all  the  older  States  of  the  Union, 
the  value  of  the  work  would  be  very  great, 
provided  the  performance  were  adequate  to 
the  importance  of  the  subject.  I  suppose, 
however,  that  the  greatest  number  of  aban- 
doned town  sites  could  be  found  in  the  far 
West.  But  there  have  been  not  a  few  far- 
western  abandoned  towns  which  never  had 
any  real  corporate  life,  nor  any  history 
worth  much  of  a  record.  W.  J.  L. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Rather  Brethren. — I  remember  read- 
ing or  hearing  of  a  religious  sect,  which  for- 
merly existed  in  Michigan  under  the  name 
of  "The  Rather  Brethren."  The  name 
was  taken  from  2  Peter  i,  10:  "  Wherefore 
the  rather  brethren  give  diligence,"  etc.  I 
think  there  was  an  account  of  this  sect  pub- 
lished in  a  report  of  some  agent  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  which 
was  printed  about  fifty  years  ago  in  a  monthly 
magazine  issued  by  that  society.  I  have 
often  thought  that  if  any  one  had  the  time 
and  patience  to  go  through  the  old  files  of 
the  missionary  magazines,  a  vast  number  of 
interesting  and  valuable  notes  might  be  ex- 
tracted on  a  very  great  variety  of  subjects — 
geographical,  social,  linguistic  and  biologi- 
cal. CALMET. 

ELIZABETH,  N.  J. 

Swamp  Apples  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  95,  etc.). 
— I,  too,  have  heard  young  sprouts  of  the 
checker  berry  called  "youngsters"  in  the 
Connecticut  valley,  but  perhaps  oftener  I 
have  heard  them  called  "young-come-ups." 
In  Essex  county,  Mass.,  I  have  heard  the 
berries  called  "ivy  plums,"  and  even 
"  ivory  plums  "  (see  Vol.  v,  p.  250). 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 


January  3,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


119 


Liqueurs. — The  following  list  of  the 
liqueurs  known  to  commerce  is  very  far 
from  being  complete.  I  would  like  cor- 
respondents to  add  to  it. 

Absinthe,  from  France. 

Allasch,  from  Germany. 

Anisette,  from  Amsterdam  and  Bordeaux. 

Angostura,  from  Colombia,  and  from 
Hamburg. 

Benedictine,  from  Fecamp. 

Cacao,  from  France. 

Cassis. 

Creme  de  Vanille. 

Creme  de  Rose. 

Cafe. 

Chartreuse,  from  La  Grande  Chartreuse. 

Cherry. 

Curacoa,  from  Curacoa  and  Amsterdam. 

Cariacou,  from  the  West  Indies. 

Doppel  Kummel. 

Eau  de  Noix. 

Eau  Creole,  from  the  West  Indies. 

G6nepi,  from  the  Alps. 

•Genevrette. 

•Gentian-spirit,  from  Switzerland. 

Illico. 

Iva,  from  Switzerland. 

Kirschwasser,  from  the  Black  Forest. 

Kirsebaer,  from  Denmark. 

Kiimmel,  from  Switzerland. 

Mandarine. 

Maraschino,  from  Dalmatia. 

Menthe. 

Noyeau. 

Parfait  amour. 

Peppermint. 

Pomeranzen. 

Rosoglio,  from  Dalmatia  and  Italy. 

Ratafia,  from  Danzig,  and  from  the  East. 

Trappistine,  from  French  Abbeys. 

Vanille.         Vermouth.  M. 

Ginseng  and  Gentian. — Some  years 
ago  I  was  talking  with  an  intelligent  farmer 
of  the  Connecticut  valley,  and  I  found  that 
he  had  a  new  name  for  the  plant  called  gen- 
tian. He  called  \\.jinshang,  and  from  what 
he  told  me  of  it  I  knew  that  he  had  con- 
fused it  with  ginseng.  This  was  probably  a 
mere  individualism,  but  from  just  such  per- 
.  sonal  errors  it  is  possible,  nay,  certain,  that 
popular  misconceptions  may  spring. 
MASSACHUSETTS.  OBED. 


Antonomasias  of  Rulers  and  War- 
riors (Vol.  vi,  p.  91). — This  list,  of  course, 
does  not  pretend  to  be  complete,  but  these 
additions  may  be  made  : 

Beauclerk,  Henry  I  of  England. 

Bell  the  Cat,  Archibald  Douglas,  Earl  of 
Angus. 

Black  Douglas,  Sir  Janles  de  Douglas  (not 
Archibald,  Earl  of  Nithsdale). 

Confessor,  Edward  III,  King  of  Saxon 
England. 

England's  Scourge,  William  de  Douglas, 
Knight  of  Liddesdale,  natural  son  of  Sir 
James,  sitpra. 

Good,  Sir  James  de  Douglas,  supia.   . 

Great  Earl,  Archibald  Bell  the  Cat,  supra. 

Grim,  Archibald  Douglas,  third  Earl  of 
Douglas. 

Lackland,  John,  King  of  England. 

Little  Mac,  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan. 

Little  Phil,  Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan. 

Longshanks,  Edward  I  of  England. 

Merry  Monarch,  Charles  II. 

Noble,  Frederick  III  of  Germany. 

Parfit  Gentle  Knight,  Sir  Philip' Sydney. 

Plantagenet,  Geoffrey  of  Anjou. 

Stonewall,  Gen.  Thomas  J.  Jackson. 

White  King,  Charles  I. 

Winter  King,  Frederick,  King  of 
Bohemia. 

Unready,  Ethelred  II,  King  of  Saxon 
England. 

Many  other  names  might  be  adduced. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Wawa. — This  is  the  name  of  a  town  in 
Pennsylvania.  I  don't  know  whence  the 
place  took  its  name,  but  in  Northern  Canada 
some  of  the  native  tribes  call  the  wild  goose 
ivawa.  Hence  the  English-speaking  resi- 
dents of  that  region  have  given  the  name  of 
"  Horned  Wavey  "  to  the  Chen  Rossi,  a 
very  small  species  of  goose.  Wawa,  the 
wild  goose,  figures  in  Longfellow's  "  Hia- 
watha." G. 

Point  Judith. — Point  Judith,  in  Rhode 
Island,  is  called  Point  Juda  in  the  autobiog- 
raphy of  George  Fox.  A  very  common 
name  for  it  on  the  New  England  coast  is 
Point  Judy.  F.  E.  G. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


I2O 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[January  3,  1891. 


Burning  Springs. — One  of  the  most 
remarkable  burning  springs  of  which  we  have 
any  notice  is  that  one  which  is  situated  six 
miles  east  of  Crab  Orchard,  Lincoln  county, 
Ky.  It  issues  from  a  spot  near  the  base  of 
what  is  there  called  the  Cumberland  range 
of  mountains,  and  is  near  the  Dix  river. 
The  spring  not  only  emits  inflammable  gas 
in  large  quantity,  but  every  day,  about  4.30 
P.M.,  it  overflows  its  banks,  and  this  with 
the  utmost  regularity,  every  day  in  the  year. 
There  is  a  town  called  Burning  Springs  in 
Wirt  county,  W.  Va.,  and  a  station 
called  Burning  Well  in  Venango  county, 
Pa.,  on  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railway.  The 
Burning  Well  of  Dauphiny  is  one  of  the 
"  Seven  Wonders  "  of  that  province.  The 
number  of  "  fuming  wells,"  or  springs,  on 
record  is  very  large  indeed.  W.  J.  L. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Llano  Estacado  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  94,  etc.). 
— In  his  "Notes"  of  the  military  recon- 
noissance  from  Fort  Leavenworth  to  San 
Diego,  made  in  1846  under  the  command 
of  Gen.  Kearny,  Lieut.  Emory,  of  the 
topographical  engineers,  records  that  "near 
the  dry  mouth  of  the  Big  Sandy  creek  the 
Yucca  angustifolia,  palmillo  of  the  Span- 
iards, or  soap  plant,  first  made  its  appear- 
ance, and  marked  a  new  change  in  the  soil 
and  vegetation  of  the  prairies  "  (p.  15). 

This  was  north  of  the  Llano,  which  the 
party  did  not  cross.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Fish-hook  Money  (Vol.  vi,  p.  53). — 
Silver  fish-hook  money,  called  Idren,  was 
formerly  current  in  the  Maldive  islands, 
and,  I  think,  in  other  regions.  Can  it  have 
been  a  survival  of  a  time  when  genuine  fish- 
hooks, from  their  actual  value  in  a  fish-catch- 
ing community,  passed  current  as  money 
from  hand  to  hand  ?  P.  R.  E. 

OHIO. 

Jiboose  (Vol.  v,  p.  268 ;  Vol.  vi,  p. 
65). — The  name  of  the  crush  or  opera  hat 
is  Gibus ;  another  instance  of  a  man  as  a 
thing  (Vol.  v,  p.  68),  the  inventor  of  the 
hat  being  a  Mr.  Gibus,  who  died  not  so 
long  ago  in  London.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Origin  of  Some  Names.  —  ^Vol.  vi, 
p.  88,  etc.).  —  Tompkins  is  originally  Tom- 
kin,  for  "little  Tom;"  Simpkins  is  little 
Sim,  or  Simon  ;  Wilkins  is  little  Will,  or 
William  ;  Hopkins  is  little  Hob,  or  Robert  ; 
Jenkins  is  little  Jan,  or  John  ;  Perkins  is 
little  Peter;  Hodgkins  is  little  Hodge,  or 
Roger  ;  Larkin  is  probably  little  Lawrence; 
Hankins  is  little  Henry  ;  Batkins  and  Bot- 
kins  represent  little  Bartholomew;  Huggins 
is  little  Hugh  ;  Higgins  I  suspect  to  be  little 
Hyke,  or  Isaac  ;  Dickens  is  little  Richard  ; 
Filkins  is  little  Philip;  Judkins,  is  this  for 
little  Jude?  Lukens,  can  this  be  little  Luke? 
Timpkins  must  be  little  Timothy.  Who  will 
tell  us  about  Atkins,  Hopkins  (for  little  Aus- 
tin ?),  Haskins,  Popkins,  Pitkin,  Aikin,  Ait- 
kin,  Hawkins  (little  Harry  or  Hal),  Daw- 
kins  ? 

OHIO.  P.  R.  E. 

Mr.  Ogier's  reference  of  the  name 
Adams  to  "  the  name  of  the  first  parent  " 
recalls  a  humorous  allusion  by  James  Payne 
to  "an  American  child  of  fashion  [pre- 
sumably from  Boston],  who  termed  our 
original  parents  '  the  Adamses.'  '  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


BOO^S  AND 


The  Century's  End  Magazine  is  the  name  of  a  new 
periodical  just  started  in  this  city  and  which  takes  its 
name  from  the  French  expression,  fin-de-siecle,  which 
so  aptly  expresses  the  spirit  of  the  times  or  the  "  end  of 
the  century."  The  Century's  End  is  a  readable  little 
magazine  of  some  sixty  odd  pages,  which  is  published 
monthly  at  the  low  price  often  cents  a  number,  or  $1.00 
a  year.  The  issue  before  us,  Number  2,  contains 
among  other  articles  too  numerous  to  mention,  six  com- 
plete stories,  including  one  by  Rebecca  Harding  Davis. 
Among  the  editorial  notes  is  one  on  Millet's  "Angelus," 
which  contains  some  new  thoughts  on  that  much  written- 
about  painting  from  which  we  quote  as  follows  :  "  The 
accessories  of  the  picture  are  strongly  painted,  and  the 
figures  with  a  loving  realism,  while  the  attitude  of  the 
woman,  strikingly  suggestive  though  it  be,  is  yet  em- 
phasized and  illuminated  by  her  countenance.  For 
there  is  the  centre,  the  germ  of  the  picture.  Millet 
seems,  whether  consciously  or  not,  to  record  the  fre- 
quent contrast  between  masculine  and  feminine  wor- 
ship. The  man  says  his  prayers  because  the  time  has 
come  and  he  knows  he  ought  to,  the  woman  because 
she  wants  to,  and  the  blessed  opportunity  is  here.  And 
in  the  mere  profile  view  given  of  her  face  we  see  all  the 
help  and  hope  received,  and  all  the  holy  reverence  in- 
spired by  the  unseen  call  to  the  prayer  which  lifts  her 
above  her  sordid  surroundings—  even  above  that 
glorious  sky."  Published  by  H.  Canfield  &  Co.,  137  S. 
Tenth  street,  Philadelphia. 


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Copyrighted  1890,  by  The  Westminster  Publishing  Co.    Entered  at  the  Post-Office,  Philadelphia,  as  Second-clots  Matter. 


Vol.  VI.    No.  11. 


SATURDAY,  JANUARY  10,  1891. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :  —  Siamese  Superstitions,  121  —  Notes  on  "  The  Culprit 
Fay,"  122  —  The  Apple  in  Love  —  The  Palmerin  Romances, 
123  —  What!  Never?  124. 

QUERIES  :—  Halcyon's  Bill,  124. 

REPLIES:—  Turn-spit  Dog,  124—  Hulder—  Dark  Day—  Razor- 
strop  Man  —  Monsieur  Tonson,  125. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Authorship 
Wanted,  125  —  Heard's  Island  Cabbage—  Christmas  Bills,  126. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :  —Cattle  Calls,  126—  Serpents  in  Min- 
eral Spring  —  Underground  Streams  —  Liriodendron  —  Nations 
of  Dwarfs,  127  —  Slapper  —  Pillars  of  the  Church  —  "  Raised  " 
apd  "Tote"  —  Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig,  129  —  Curious 
Remedies  —  Hissing  of  Snakes  —  Kinnickinnick  —  Minorcan 
Colonists  —  Singular  Names  of  Places,  130—  Hay  is  King  — 
Juries  in  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  —  Ambergris,  131. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :—  132. 


SIAMESE  SUPERSTITIONS. 

(VOL.  VI,  PP.  IIO,  ETC.) 

Demons.  —  The  popular  superstitions  about 
demons,  their  occult  power,  the  forms  they 
assume,  are  about  the  same  in  Siam  as  in 
other  Asiatic  countries.  Nevertheless,  popu- 
lar traditions  speak  of  certain  Phi  whose  ex- 
istence is  felt  in  a  more  particular  manner. 
Thus,  in  all  families,  there  are  often  instances 
of  the  Phi  Kasen,  a  demon  who  enters  the 
bodies  of  aged  women  and  causes  them  to 
do  acts  of  the  most  revolting  nature.  Pro- 
tected by  the  shadows  of  night,  those  pos- 
sessed leave  their  homes  and  wander  about 
from  house  to  house,  feeding  upon  the  putri- 
fying  remnants  of  food  which  have  been  cast 
aside,  and  commit  other  atrocities  too  disgust- 
ing to  describe  in  print.  They  are  the  ter- 
ror of  all  sick  women,  whom  they  seek  out 


122 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [January  10,  1891. 


particularly  and  on  whom  they  bring  all 
sorts  of  ill  luck.  They  also  ferret  out  all 
unwatched  invalids,  and  suck  their  blood 
even  to  the  last  drop.  Luckily  they  are 
easily  recognized,  thanks  to  a  peculiar  glow 
of  a  greenish  hue  which  surrounds  their 
mouths  and  appears  in  the  distance  like  a 
halo.  This  mark  of  distinction  disappears 
at  dawn  when  the  demon  leaves  the  body  of 
the  one  possessed,  who  then  becomes  herself 
again  and  performs  her  customary  daily 
duties.  Traditions  further  show  that  the 
women  who  become  possessed  live  to  an  ad- 
vanced age,  and  can  only  die  when  they  have 
bestowed  upon  some  near  relative  the  Phi 
Kasen  that  controls  their  actions  during  the 
night.  Persons  of  the  masculine  sex  are 
much  less  liable  to  become  possessed  than 
those  of  the  female,  and  why?  No  one 
knows.  Still  some  traditions  of  Laos  treat  of 
a  certain  Phi  Krahang,  who  acted  upon  men 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  Phi  Kasen  and 
made  them  devour  during  the  night  most  ex- 
traordinary substances,  only  these  were  not 
detectable  by  any  exterior  sign,  and  could 
not  transfer  the  demon  to  another  body  be- 
fore dying. 

Invalids  who,  languishing,  lose  day  by 
day  their  forces  are  constantly  watched  with 
care  on  account  of  a  demon  called  PhiXamob 
Takla,  who  is  supposed  to  prowl  around 
the  habitation  where  they  are,  watching  an 
opportunity  to  find  them  alone  and  to  enter 
their  bodies.  The  invalids  who  are  pos- 
sessed by  this  demon  show  it  by  regaining 
strength  and  appetite ;  they  seem  to  be  in 
better  health  and  crave  pork,  poultry  and  the 
most  delicate  dishes.  If  at  this  critical 
moment  no  one  happens  to  be  near  to  pre- 
vent them,  they  rise  and  satisfy  their  hunger 
in  such  an  immoderate  manner  that  they  in- 
variably die  of  indigestion. 

To  overcome  the  power  of  this  demon  and 
chase  him  from  the  body  of  the  possessed, 
they  use  the  dried  skin  of  a  certain  kind  of 
toad  known  to  the  native  doctors ;  it  suffices 
to  place  the  skin  under  the  bed  of  the  pos- 
sessed patient  in  order  to  put  immediately  to 
flight  the  Phi  Xamob  Takla.  Upon  leav- 
ing the  invalid,  the  demon  leaves  behind 
him  an  odor  resembling  that  of  a  corpse  in 
an  incipient  state  of  decomposition.  By  this 
odor  the  flight  of  the  demon  is  always 


known.  In  a  country  where  the  power  of 
demons  is  so  earnestly  believed,  it  is  not  re- 
markable that  sorcery  exists  with  all  its  dia- 
bolical practices.  Although  the  laws  of  the 
country  punish  those  who  follow  the  occult 
sciences,  yet  the  people,  convinced  of  the 
efficacy  of  their  incantations,  show  them 
great  respect.  To  put  an  end  to  an  enemy, 
blades  or  poison  are  not  necessary — -a  few 
words  of  a  magic  nature  suffice  to  make  the 
demon  Phi  pah  enter  the  body  of  the  enemy 
and  slowly  but  surely  kill  him.  This  is  the 
modus  operandi  of  the  sorcerer — he  takes  a 
whole  fresh  skin  of  a  beef  or  buffalo  and  dips 
it  in  a  peculiar  solution,  making  all  the  while 
sacred  invocations. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  invocations  the 
skin  shrinks  and  becomes  as  compact  as  light 
and  as  small  as  an  atom.  In  this  state  it  is 
carried  off  by  the  atmosphere  and  remains 
fluttering  around  the  one  intended  until  in- 
haled and  swallowed.  The  skin  then  ex- 
pands until  it  reaches  its  former  dimensions 
and  smothers  the  victim.  In  the  absence  of 
cattle,  the  sorcerer  may  use  pig's  feet,  meat, 
hair,  human  bones,  or  those  of  other  ani- 
mals and  enchant  them  in  the  same  manner. 
This  class  of  sorcerers  is  not  very  common, 
thanks  to  the  difficulty  of  initiation.  In 
order  to  become  masters  of  the  art,  it  is 
necessary  for  novices  to  have  experienced 
with  success  a  number  of  trials  of  which  the 
last  one  is  decisive.  It  consists  of  having 
the  body  buried  up  to  the  waist  in  the 
ground.  In  this  position  they  recite  several 
prayers ;  invoking  the  Phi  pah  to  take  pos- 
session of  them  while  they  are  sprinkled 
with  enchanted  water.  At  the  end  of  these 
prayers,  they  rise  from  the  hole  unaided  and 
are  proclaimed  masters  of  the  black  art 
(translated  from  "Les  Traditions  Popu- 
laires  ").  MARY  OSBORN. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

NOTES  ON  "  THE  CULPRIT  FAY." 

(VOL.  vi,  P.  62.) 

Bootle  (Vol.  vi,  p.  63). — Is  not  this  the 
common  "bottle  grass,"  Setaria  viridis? 
The  tiny  wight  would  easily  shape  his  oar 
from  its  flat  blade,  and  it  was  the  bent  grass 
that  he  afterwards  chose  for  a  spear. 

Squab  (Vol.  vi,  p.  63). — Prof.  Skeat  con- 
nects the  word  etymologically  with  the  Ice- 


January  10,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


123 


landic  knap,  meaning  "jelly,  jelly-like 
things."  Figuier's  "Ocean  World"  de- 
scribes a  common  Pleurobrachia  that  is  a 
small  globe  of  colorless  jelly,  having  a 
long,  slender  tentacle  that  at  pleasure  the 
animal  can  shoot  out  with  great  rapidity 
(see  also  "Sea-side  Studies,"  by  E.  &  A. 
Agassiz).  I  do  not  know  that  this  Pleuro- 
brachia is  ever  familiarized  into  a  "  squab," 
but  it  seems  a  not  unlikely  name. 

Whimple  (Vol.  vi,  p.  63). — In  Bryant's 
"Library  of  Poetry"  the  word  here  is 
"  wimple,"  given  by  Webster  as  an  intran- 
sitive verb.  Prof.  Skeat,  in  his  Dictionary, 
shows  its  connection  with  the  Scandinavian 
base-word,  hwim,  to  move  briskly.  The 
quotation  from  "  Love's  Labor  Lost," 
found  in  "Webster"  under  "Wimple"  (tran- 
sitive), is  cited  by  Worcester  under 
"  Whimple,"  apparently  following  John- 
son's lead.  M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


THE  APPLE  IN  LOVE. 

In  many  of  the  rural  portions  of  this  coun- 
try, as  well  as  in  England  and  Scotland,  the 
apple  is  a  very  popular  divining  medium  in 
love  matters.  This  may  be  due  partly  to 
the  common  notion  that  the  tree  of  knowl- 
edge of  good  and  evil  was  an  apple  tree,  but 
mainly  to  the  connection  of  the  apple  with 
Venus.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Paris 
awarded  an  apple  to  Venus  as  the  Queen  of 
Love.  Horace  mentions  the  use  of  apple 
pips  in  love  affairs.  A  lover  would  take  a  pip 
between  the  finger  and  thumb,  and  shoot  it 
against  the  ceiling.  If  it  struck  there  the 
lover's  wish  would  be  fulfilled.  In  Great 
Britain  the  maiden  tests  the  fidelity  of  her 
beloved  by  putting  a  pip  in  the  fire,  at  the 
same  time  pronouncing  his  name.  If  the 
pip  bursts  with  a  report  he  loves  her ;  should 
it  burn  silently,  he  does  not.  This  may  be 
performed,  however,  with  nuts  as  well  as 
pips.  Gay's  "  Hobnelia"  experiments  with 
apple  pips  by  placing  one  on  each  cheek, 
one  for  Lubberkin,  and  the  other  for  Booby- 
clod  : 

"  But  Boobyclod  soon  drops  upon  the  ground, 
A  certain  token  that  his  love's  unsound, 
While  Lubberkin  sticks  firmly  to  the  last." 

So  she  proves  that  Lubberkin  is  her  true 


love.  Gay  also  mentions  the  amusement 
still  common  in  all  English-speaking  com- 
munities on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  of 
paring  an  apple  without  breaking  the  peel 
and  then  throwing  the  strips  over  the  left 
shoulder,  in  order  to  see  the  initial  letter  of 
the  lover's  name  formed  by  the  shape  the 
paring  takes  on  the  ground.  This  is  one  of 
the  many  divinations  still  practiced  at  Hal- 
low-e'en. Another  method  is  for  the  maiden 
to  stand  before  a  looking-glass,  eating  an  ap- 
ple which  she  holds  in  one  hand,  while  she 
combs  her  hair  with  the  other.  The  face  of 
her  future  husband  will  then  be  seen  in  the 
glass  looking  over  her  left  shoulder.  In 
Sussex  another  apple  charm  is  very  common. 
Every  person  present  fastens  an  apple  on  a 
string  hung  and  twirled  round  before  a  hot 
fire.  The  owner  of  the  apple  that  first  falls 
off  is  declared  to  be  upon  the  point  of  mar- 
riage, and  as  the  apples  fall  successively,  the 
order  in  which  the  rest  of  the  party  will  at- 
tain to  a  similar  happy  estate  is  only  indi- 
cated. The  one  whose  apple  is  the  last  to 
drop  will  perforce  remain  in  single  blessed- 
ness. *  *  * 


THE  PALMERIN  ROMANCES. 

Among  the  last  of  the  mediaeval,  or  first 
of  the  modern,  romances,  we  must  place  the 
eight  volumes  of  the  Palmerin  (or  Palmeirim) 
cycle,  which  are  chiefly  of  Spanish  origin. 
In  point  of  time  they  are  quite  modern, 
dating  from  the  earliest  years  of  the  six- 
teenth century  ;  but  in  matter,  manner  and 
spirit  they  are  mediaeval.  Morally  they  do 
not  as  a  whole  rise  any  higher,  if  as  high,  as 
do  the  more  celebrated  tales  of  the  Amadis 
heroes.  The  two  earliest,  the  "  Palmerin 
de  Oliva"  (1511)  and  the  "Primaleon" 
(1512),  are  said  to  have  been  written  by  a 
woman,  but  the  low  tone  of  their  morality 
seems  to  militate  against  this  view.  But  the 
most  famous  story  of  the  series  is  the  "  Pal- 
merin of  England"  (1547-48),  which  was 
composed  by  Don  Luis  Hurtado,  a  poet  of 
Toledo.  This  is  regarded  as  by  far  the  best 
of  Palmerin  romances.  Another  story  of 
this  cycle  is  the  "Don  Duardas  II 
(Edward)  de  Bretanha"  (1589),  written 
by  Diogo  Fernandez  of  Lisbon.  The  last  of 
the  set,  "  Don  Clarisol  de  Bretanha " 
(1602),  was  written  by  Balthazar  Goncalvez 


124 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  10,  1891. 


Lobato,  a  Portuguese.  The  authorship  of 
the  others  seems  to  be  unknown.  The  three 
romances  which  we  first  name  were  trans- 
lated into  English  by  A.  Munday. 

W.  J.  L. 


WHAT  I    NEVER? 

(VOL.  ii,  p.  185.) 

F.  :  "You  have  heard  all?" 

D.  :  "No;     what    was't?      Nothing,   I, 
sir." 

F.  :   "Nothing?" 

D.  :  "A  little,  sir." 
(Ben  Jonson's    "The   Alchemist,"  Act   i, 

Sc.  i.) 

Gons  :   "  Are  you  sure  you  never  shall  be 
kind?" 

Julia:   "Never." 

Gons:   "What!  never?" 

Julia  :  "  Never  to  remove." 
(Dryden's   "The   Rival   Ladies,"  Act   iv, 

Sc.  i.)  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


UB 


E  S. 


Halcyon's  Bill.  —  In  Marlowe's  "Jew 
of  Malta,"  where  the  Jew  gloats  over  his 
jewels  (I  have  not  the  book  at  hand  for  the 
exact  reference),  he  turns  from  these  "  in- 
finite riches  in  a  little  room"  and  exclaims: 

"  But  now  how  stands  the  wind? 
Into  what  corner  peers  my  halcyon's  bill? 
Ha  !  to  the  east  ?  Yes  :  see,  how  stand  the  vanes  ? 
East  and  by  south." 

One  naturally  understands  the  halcyon  to 
be  a  vane  whose  bill  points  the  wind's  di- 
rection ;  but,  if  so,  what  means  the  subse- 
quent consultation  of  "  the  vanes?  " 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

It  was  formerly  believed  that  the  dead  and 
dried  body  of  the  halcyon  or  kingfisher,  be- 
ing suspended  in  a  room  by  a  thread,  would 
point  with  its  bill  in  the  direction  whence 
the  wind  was  blowing,  even  if  the  room 
were  closed  tightly  ;  but  if  the  bird  were 
suspended  by  its  bill,  the  breast  would  turn 
towards  the  north.  The  fish  called  miller's 
thumb  was  dried  and  used  in  a  similar  way  ; 
'  it  was  even  a  prophetic  weather- 


,'.'. 
••>. 


vane,  and  would  point  in  the  direction  in 
which  the  wind  was  about  to  blow.  This 
latter  superstition  survives  in  Russia,  the 
other  is  hardly  yet  extinct  even  in  England. 

REPLIES. 

Turn-spit  Dogs  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113). — The 
turn-spit  was  a  dog,  usually  a  cur  of  the 
coarsest  kind,  employed  in  "  ye  olden  times  " 
for  the  purpose  of  turning  the  spit  on  which 
meat  was  roasting  before  an  open  fire.  Sus- 
pended from  the  ceiling  or  fastened  to  the 
walls  of  the  kitchens  and  near  the  fire-place 
they  used  to  have  a  box  in  which  was  a 
slatted  wheel.  Into  this  cage  the  unhappy 
turn-spit  was  placed  and  the  movement  he 
gave  to  the  wheel  was  communicated  to  the 
spit  by  means  of  pulley  wheels.  A  somewhat 
similar  arrangement  can  be  seen  in  the 
present  day  in  the  little  metal  cages  which 
are  sometimes  used  for  squirrels  and 
white  mice. 

In  the  larger  private  houses  and  in  the 
Inns  two  or  more  dogs  were  ofttimes  em- 
ployed, as  the  work  would  be  too  much  for 
one  turn-spit  to  attend  to.  In  these  cases 
the  dogs  used  to  alternate  in  their  duties  in 
the  wheel.  Buffon  relates  that  two  turn- 
spits were  employed  in  the  kitchen  of  the 
Due  de  Lianfort,  at  Paris,  taking  their  turns 
every  other  day  to  go  into  the  wheel.  One 
of  them,  in  a  fit  of  laziness,  hid  itself  on  a 
day  when  it  should  have  worked,  so  the  other 
was  forced  to  do  the  work  instead.  When 
the  meat  was  roasted  the  one  that  had  been 
compelled  to  work  out  of  its  turn  began  to 
bark  and  wag  its  tail  until  it  induced  the 
scullions  to  follow  it,  then  leading  them  to 
a  garret,  and  dislodging  the  skulker  from 
beneath  a  bed,  it  attacked  and  killed  its  too 
lazy  fellow-worker. 

A  somewhat  similar  circumstance  occurred 
at  the  Jesuit's  College  of  La  Fleche.  One 
day  the  cook,  having  prepared  a  piece  ot 
meat  for  roasting,  looked  for  the  dog  whose 
turn  it  was  to  work  the  wheel  for  that  day, 
but  not  being  able  to  find  it  he  attempted  to 
employ  the  one  whose  turn  it  was  to  be  off 
duty.  The  dog  resisted,  bit  the  cook  and 
ran  away.  The  man,  with  whom  the  dog 
was  a  great  favorite,  was  much  astonished  at 


•  '' 

tf 

.    -..;..t 
>  ,.  ...V 


January  10,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


125 


its  ferocity.  The  wound  being  severe  and 
bleeding  freely,  he  went  to  the  surgeon  of  the 
college  to  have  it  dressed.  In  the  mean- 
time the  dog  ran  into  the  garden,  found  the 
one  whose  turn  it  was  to  work  the  spit, 
while  the  fire  did  the  rest,  and  drove  it  into 
the  kitchen.  The  deserter  seeing  no  oppor- 
tunity of  shirking  its  day's  labor,  went  into 
the  wheel  of  its  own  accord  and  began  to 
work. 

Turn-spits  frequently  figure  in  the  old  col- 
lections of  anecdotes.  For  instance,  it  is 
said  that  the  captain  of  a  man-of-war,  sta- 
tioned in  the  port  of  Bristol  for  its  protec- 
tion, in  the  last  century,  found  that,  on  ac- 
count of  some  political  bias,  the  inhabitants 
<lid  not  receive  him  with  their  accustomed 
hospitality.  So,  to  punish  them,  he  sent 
his  men  ashore  one  night  with  orders  to  steal 
all  the  turn-spit  dogs  they  could  lay  their 
hands  upon.  The  dogs  being  conveyed  on 
board  the  ship  and  safely  put  away  in  the 
hold,  consternation  reigned  in  the  kitchens 
and  dining-rooms  of  the  Bristol  merchants, 
and  roast  meat  rose  to  a  premium  during 
the  few  days  the  dogs  were  confined  in  their 
floating  prison.  The  release  of  the  dogs  was 
duly  celebrated  by  many  dinners  to  the  cap- 
tain and  his  officers.  W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Hulder  (Vol.  v,  p.  186).— With  Ascham's 
4  'hulder, ' '  used  to  make  '  'gaddynge  shaftes, ' ' 
•compare  the  "  Small  Elderne  by  the  Indian 
Fletchers  sought,"  mentioned  in  the  tree 
list  from  "  New  England's  Prospect"  (see 
Vol.  v,  p.  120,  s.v.  "  Tree  Lists  "),  and  also 
the  M.  E.  forms  of  "elder"  given  in  the 
"  Century  Dictionary." 

Loudon's  "  Trees  and  Shrubs  of  Great 
Britain  "  says  of  the  elder  that  the  wood  of 
old  trunks,  being  very  hard,  is  used  as  a 
substitute  for  that  of  box  and  dogwood. 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Dark  Day  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113).— -In  the  Ap- 
pendix to  "Johnson's  Cyclopaedia"  there  is 
an  account  of  the  famous  dark  day  of  May 
19,  1780,  and  of  quite  a  number  of  other 
•dark  days.  The  article  was  prepared  by 
the  late  Rev.  Dr.  F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  and 
discusses  the  subject  with  much  ability  and 


with  sufficient  fullness.  The  cause  for  the 
darkness  insisted  on  by  that  writer  is  simply 
an  unusual  density  of  the  ordinary  clouds. 
The  grandmother  of  the  present  writer  was 
living  at  Monson,  Mass.,  in  1780,  and  she 
well  remembered  the  famous  dark  day. 
From  her  accounts  of  the  event,  as  she  used 
to  relate  them  to  her  grandchildren,  I  have 
the  impression  that  the  day  dawned  much 
as  usual,  without  many  clouds;  that  the 
cattle  were  in  the  pastures  up  to  nine  or  ten 
o'clock,  A.M.,  when  the  darkness  came  on 
and  they  returned  to  their  yards,  the  fowls 
also  going  to  roost.  The  people  were  gen- 
erally terror-stricken,  but  they  took  their 
midday  meal  by  candle  light,  and  later  in 
the  day  the  darkness  grew  much  less. 

OBED. 
MASSACHUSETTS. 

Razor-strop  Man  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113).  — 
There  is,  if  I  am  not  much  mistaken,  a  very 
good  account  of  the  Razor-strop  Man  in  the 
published  "  Letters  from  New  York  "  of  the 
late  Mrs.  Lydia  Maria  Child.  Those  "let- 
ters," according  to  my  recollection  of  them, 
make  an  admirable  little  book,  a  book  about 
which  I  am  afraid  that  very  few  young  peo- 
ple of  our  day  have  so  much  as  heard  the 
name.  Yet  they  are  replete  with  good  sense, 
noble  and  generous  sentiments,  correct  views 
of  life  and  exalted  moral  purpose.  To  re- 
turn to  our  Razor-strop  Man.  I  heard  him 
once  in  Maine  as  long  ago  as  1859  or  1860. 
He  used  to  deliver  a  very  entertaining  lec- 
ture on  his  wares,  varied  by  witty  and  ludi- 
crous anecdotes.  He  drew  crowds  of  pur- 
chasers, and  was  said  to  be  a  man  of  large 
wealth.  As  I  remember,  he  was  called 
"  Smith,  the  Razor-strop  Man."  F. 

Monsieur  Tonson  (Vol.  vi,  p.  41).  —  This 
is  the  title  of  a  farce  by  W.  T.  Moncrieff, 
and  of  a  play  by  John  Taylor,  who  died  in 
1832.  For  further  particulars,  see  Brewer's 
"  Reader's  Hand-book."  M. 


110 


Authorship  Wanted.— Two  Shall  Be 
Born,  etc.—  There  is  a  poem  called  "  Fate," 
which  I  first  saw  printed  sometime 
I  have  seen  it  reprinted  a 


126 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  10,  1891. 


but  the  author's  name  was  not  attached  to 
it.     The  poem  begins : 

"  Two  shall  be  born  the  whole  wide  world  apart, 
And  speak  in  different  tongues  and  have  no  thought 
Each  of  the  other's  being,"  etc. 

Can  any  one  tell  me  by  whom  it  was 
written  and  where  it  was  first  printed  ? 

D.  W.  N. 
HARRISBURG,  PA. 

Deshecho  mi  cadaver,  etc. — Who  was  the 
author  of  the  following  lines  which  I  find 
in  "El  Copede  Nieve:" 

"  Deshecho  mi  cadaver,  sus  vapores 
Que  rueden  por  las  zonas  superiores 
Del  auchuroso  cielo, 
En  tanto  que  recoja  el  blando  suelo, 
De  mis  materias  solidas  las  sales, 
Yal  placido  regar  de  aguas  pluviales 
Se  nutran  cien  semillas, 
Y  suban  por  sedientas  raicillas, 
En  savio  trasformados  mis  despojos, 
A  coronar  de  malvas  y  de  hinojos 
De  mi  postrer  morada  las  orillas." 

"  Mouldered  my  body,  its  gases 
Shall  roll  thro'  the  empyrean  superior 
Of  the  vast  heaven, 
While  at  the  same  time  the  soft  soil 
Absorbs  of  my  solid  parts  the  salts, 
And  with  gentle  bedewing  of  rain-water 
Shall  nourish  seeds  a  hundredfold, 
And  ascend  through  thirsty  filaments 
Into  sap  transformed  my  remains 
To  crown  with  mallows  and  fennel 
The  edges  of  my  final  abode." 

Thus  translated  it  will  be  noted  these 
lines  summarize  the  notions  entertained  by 
many  of  the  last  use  of  their  "  vital 
parts,"  although  a  friend  of  your  cor- 
respondent has  idealized  a  little  more  the 
disposition  of  his  bones,  for  vine  culture,  of 
the  juice  of  which  his  surviving  friends  are 
to  partake,  at  the  same  time  remembering 
him.  F. 

Heard's  Island  Cabbage.— Is  the 
wild  cabbage  that  grows  on  Heard's  island 
in  the  South  Polar  seas  identical  with  that 
species  (called  Pringlea  antiscorbutica) 
which  grows  in  Kerguelen's  Land,  250 
miles  away  from  the  island  first  named? 
Possibly  some  botanist  among  your  readers, 
or  some  former  New  London  seal  hunter, 
may  be  able  to  answer  this  question.  I  can 
find  plenty  of  descriptions  of  the  Kergue- 
len's Land  plant,  which  is  one  of  great  in- 


terest, and  I  have  a  newspaper  cutting  which 
states  that  both  islands  produce  wild  cab- 
bages. B.  S.  A. 
CARLISLE,  PA. 

Christmas  Bills.— In  an  essay  upon 
"Pocket-books  and  Keepsakes,"  published  in 
The  Keepsake  in  1828,  Leigh  Hunt  puts  a 
parody  of  the  passage  from  Marlowe  into 
the  mouth  of  an  imaginary  publisher,  who- 
makes  "  infinite  profit  from  a  little  book." 

"  But  now  how  stands  the  ledger? 
Into  what  pockets  peer  my  Christmas  bills? 
Ha!  to  the  duke  I"  etc. 

Was  it  the  custom  to  send  out  bills  at  the 
end  of  the  year,  instead  of  after  New 
Year's,  as  now  ?  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


©OMMUNIGATIONS. 

Cattle  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  81,  etc.).— If 

one  may  judge  from  the  old  English  nursery 
rhyme,  "  Mrs.  Bond,"  dilly  was  a  word  for- 
merly, if  not  now,  used  there  to  call  ducks. 

"  Oh,  what  have  you  got  for  dinner,  Mrs.  Bond?" 
"  There's  beef  in  the  larder  and  ducks  in  the  pond." 
"  Dilly,  dilly,  dilly,  dilly,  come  to  be  killed, 
For  you  must  be  stuffed,  and  my  customers  filled." 

Then  "John  Ostler,"  having  been 
ordered  to  catch  "a  duckling  or  two  "  by 
use  of  this  call,  reports,  in  the  third  verse  r 

"  I  have  been  to  the  ducks  that  are  swimming  in  the 

pond, 

And  they  won't  come  to  be  killed,  Mrs.  Bond ; 
I  cried  dilly,  dilly,"  etc. 

I  think  that  I  have  heard  kip  used  for  a 
duck  call  in  New  England  poultry  yards. 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

In  Merrimack  county,  N.  H.,  the  cattle 
and  other  animal  calls  were  much  like  those 
reported  from  Massachusetts  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
96,  etc.),  but  hush  and  hwo-hush  were  ren- 
dered hlsh  and  hwo-hlsh.  Gee  and  haw 
meant  turn  to  the  right  and  left  respec- 
tively. Steboy  was  stuboy,  and  the  call 
for  cows  was  koh  (with  what  might  be  called 
shortened  long  o).  I  have  seen  an  article 
which  said  that  both  the  last-mentioned 


January  10,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


127 


words  were  simply  survivals  from  the  Greek, 
and  that  the  same  calls  were  used  on  the 
hills  of  Greece  in  very  ancient  times  ;  that 
Stuboy  was  from  the  Greek  <rc<.$ivu> — to 
hunt,  or  seek  the  trail  of.  This  seems  prob- 
able enough,  and  may  not  koh  be  from  KOU, 
the  Ionic  form  of  TWO — where  or  where  are 
you? 

The  call  for  sheep  was  ker-deh  or  ker-da, 
with  the  accent  on  the  final  syllable.  For 
horses  it  was  kerjoh  (with  short  o),  and  ac- 
cent as  in  the  sheep  call.  C.  H.  A. 

NEWTONVILLE,  MASS. 

Serpents  in  a  Mineral  Spring  (Vol. 
v,  p.  136). — I  am  sure  that  I  have  some- 
where read  about  a  Grotta  del  Serpi,  or 
Serpents'  Cave,  somewhere  in  Central 
Italy.  I  do  not  remember  where,  but  the 
cave  has  a  thermal  spring  which  is  esteemed 
valuable  in  the  treatment  of  various  diseases. 

M. 

Underground  Streams  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
93). — In  England  the  river  Axe  flows  out 
of  a  cavern  near  Wells  (called  Wokey  Hole) 
in  full  volume.  A  stream  flows  out  of  the 
Peak  Cave  in  Derbyshire,  near  Castleton. 
-  In  Greece,  the  Acheron  and  Styx  both  dis- 
appear, entering  cavernous  passages  in  the 
rocks.  In  the  county  of  Cavan,  in  Ireland, - 
the  great  river  Shannon  takes  its  origin 
from  the  Shannon  Pot,  issuing  from  the 
earth  in  a  large  current.  D.  F.  A. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Liriodendron  (Vol.  v,  p.  7).— The 
latest  scientific  opinion  is  that  there  is  but 
one  living  species  of  Liriodendron.  The 
Chinese  species  is  now  regarded  as  identical 
with  our  North  American  tulip  tree.  It  is 
of  course  not  impossible  that  there  may  be 
some  undiscovered  species.  If  so,  they  are 
probably  East  Asiatic.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Nations  of  Dwarfs  (Vol.  vi,  p.  115). 
— From  personal  observation  and  from  what 
I  have  read  on  the  subject,  I  am  led  to  infer 
that  the  height  of  these  pygmies  averages  be- 
tween four  feet  three  inches  and  four  feet 
eight  inches  for  a  full-grown  man,  and  three 
feet  three  inches  and  four  feet  one  inch  for 


the  women.  This  certainly  constitutes  a 
race  of  smaller  stature  than  that  to  be  found 
in  most  other  countries,  but  the  term 
"dwarf"  which  is  applied  to  them  appears 
incorrect.  Etymology  furnishes  examples  of 
many  a  tribe  and  nation  whose  stature  does 
not  much  exceed  that  which  is  here  attributed 
to  the  so-called  pygmies.  This  will  be  made 
clear  by  comparing  the  figures  I  have  just 
given  with  the  following  list  furnished  by 
anthropological  research  : 


Patagonians $ 

Swabians  (South  Germans).  .    .  ") 

Kaffirs Y  5 

Polynesians ) 

Don  Cossacks 5 

Englishmen  .          '   •  5 

German  Austrians 5 

Negroes 5 

Northern  Frenchmen 5 

Bavarians 5 

Southern  Frenchmen ) 

Chinese )  5 


5 
5 
5 

4* 
3X 


Australians 

Natives  of  Amboyna.    .    .    . 

Natives  of  Timor j  - 

Malays, S  JK 

Andamans S  J}£ 

Akka  (Tikki-Tikki) 4  « 

Lapps 4  6# 

Abongos 4  3. 

Bushmen 4  3 

Esquimaux 4  3 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Arctic  circle  are  much  of  the  same  size 
as  some  of  the  tribes  in  tropical  Africa. 
Then,  again,  the  bushmen  in  South  Africa,, 
who  style  themselves  Sandi,  offer  consider- 
able constitutional  analogy  with  these  so- 
called  dwarfs.  Their  mode  of  life,  their 
manners  and  customs  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  pygmies.  I  have  long  since  come  to- 
the  conclusion  that  the  bushmen  of  South 
Africa  are  only  a  branch  of  the  dwarfish  race 
found  in  tropical  Africa,  and  Stanley's  re- 
cent observations  only  serve  to  confirm  that 
opinion.  The  natural  inference  is  that  in. 
by-gone  years  a  distinctly  aboriginal  race  in- 
habited the  vast  forests  which  extend  be- 
tween the  Congo  and  the  great  lakes,  and 
that  this  race  was  overcome  and  scattered  in 
every  direction  by  a  more  active,  powerful 
and  intelligent  people,  compounded  of 
various  negro  tribes,  and  this  in  so  effectual 
a  manner  that  we  now  find  but  groups  and 
remnants  surviving  in  the  midst  of  other 
races,  who  countenance  and  spare  the 


128 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  10,  1891. 


strangers  only  because  they  are  expert 
hunters  and  fishermen,  or  because  in  some 
places  they  serve  to  amuse  the  native  chiefs 
by  their  grotesque  dances  and  comic  songs. 

During  his  last  great  voyage  Stanley  came 
upon  about  100  settlements  of  these  dwarfs  ; 
in  the  first  instance  at  Uledi,  where  he 
pitched  his  camp,  and  subsequently  on  the 
banks  of  the  newly  discovered  river  Semliki. 

He  captured  many  of  them  for  the  purpose 
of  an  anthropological  study,  and  concluded 
that  there  existed  two  distinct  types  among 
them,  so  different  in  the  features  they  offer 
that,  to  use  his  own  words,  one  is  no  more 
like  the  other  than  a  Turk  resembles  a  Scan- 
dinavian. One  race  belongs  to  the  Batua 
and  the  other  to  the  Wambutu.  The  bush- 
men  of  South  Africa  would  afford  another 
separate  type ;  but  the  dwarfs  to  be  found 
on  the  western  coast  might  be  classed  with 
the  Wambutu. 

I  noticed  that  they  speak  the  tongue  or 
•dialect  of  the  negro  tribe  in  the  midst  of 
•which  they  live.  There  is  no  doubt,  how- 
•ever,  that  they  have  a  language  of  their  own. 
It  is  next  to  impossible  to  compose  a  vocabu- 
lary from  the  lips  of  these  timid  and  doltish 
people.  I  could  only  get  a  few  words  from 
the  Abonzo  dwarfs,  who  dwell  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ogowee,  in  proximity  to  the  Okande 
tribe : 

OKANDB  TONGUE.       ABONZO  TONGUE. 

Goat,  taba,  embodi. 

Sun,  omanda,  eipo. 

Fire,  ibo,  esako. 

Bush,  n'binshi,  magega. 

Banana,  n'okoudo,  m'jueliele. 

Village,  n'kala,  ekoti. 

The  glossary  of  African  languages  and 
•dialects  is  a  very  difficult  one.  Often  in  the 
space  of  a  few  square  miles  you  meet  with 
three  or  four  negro  tribes,  each  consisting 
barely  of  a  few  hundred  men,  who  speak  a 
different  tongue.  The  natives  of  Africa 
must  be  divided  into  two  great  races — the 
Bantu  people  of  Kaffirs  and  the  Soudan 
negroes.  The  various  Bantu  tribes  that 
dwell  in  South  Africa  and  extend  upwards  to 
a  point  overlapping  the  Equator  speak  only 
different  dialects,  but  the  Soudan  negroes, 
from  Senegal  in  the  west  and  spreading  far 
eastward  and  to  the  south,  possess  in  reality 
several  distinct  tongues.  It  is  not  at  all  un- 
likely that  the  primitive  language  of  those 


regions  may  be  that  still  spoken  by  the 
dwarfs.  The  overthrow  of  some  big 
potentate  of  olden  time,  the  countless  migra- 
tions of  tribes  ever  at  war  with  one  another, 
the  exclusive  life  of  these  small  groups  that 
dwell  apart  from  the  more  compact  tribes 
under  whose  protection  they  abide — these 
and  many  other  facts  may  be  taken  to  ac- 
count not  only  for  the  political  but  also  for 
the  linguistic  dispersion  of  the  natives  of 
Africa  into  so  many  fractional  tribes,  each 
speaking  its  own  tongue  or  dialect.  Many 
of  these  tribes  have  mixed  by  intermarriage 
or  otherwise  with  Hamitic  and  Semitic  peo- 
ples, and  the  result  is  a  real  compost 'turn 
mixtum  of  races,  tribes  and  tongues. 

As  being  a  race  of  hunters,  these  dwarfs 
are  not  addicted  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
Their  settlements  or  villages  are  of  the  most 
primitive  description  ;  they  consist  in  ag- 
glomerations of  small  round  huts,  which 
are  readily  taken  to  pieces  and  erected  else- 
where, accordingly  as  the  site  chosen  offers 
more  favorable  opportunities  for  the  chase. 
As  I  have  said,  they  use  small  arrows  or 
darts  tipped  with  a  poison  of  vegetable 
origin,  the  effect  of  which  is  quick  and  fatal. 
A  man  belonging  to  Stanley's  expedition, 
who  was  wounded  by  one  of  the  arrows,  died 
in  a  few  minutes. 

.  To  sum  up,  therefore,  it  appears  indubita- 
ble that  a  race  of  men  of  smaller  stature  than 
that  of  the  great  tribes  to  be  found  in  Africa 
inhabit  the  tropical  regions  of  that  vast  con- 
tinent ;  that  these  diminutive  people  belong 
to  a  degenerate  family  exhibiting  the  most 
primitive  state  of  culture,  and  that,  while  in- 
digenous to  the  soil,  they  are  to  be  found 
scattered  far  and  wide  in  small  groups  of  a 
few  hundreds  each,  like  the  gypsies  of 
Europe,  without  fixed  settlements  and  wan- 
dering about  the  thick,  impenetrable  forests 
extending  between  the  Congo  river  and  the 
Nile.  The  expression  "dwarf,"  which  is 
applied  to  them,  is,  however,  somewhat  mis- 
leading, as  it  not  only  implies  an  individual 
below  the  ordinary  size  of  the  kind,  but  con- 
veys an  idea  of  deformation,  dwarfs  usually 
having  heads  too  large  for  their  bodies  and 
other  anomalies,  which  is  not  the  case  in  this 
instance.  Our  tropical  race  of  diminutive 
men  and  women,  although  small,  are 
normally  shaped,  and  no  more  deserve  to  be 


January  10,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


129 


called  dwarfs  than  the  Laplanders  and  Esqui- 
maux. The  more  recent  observations  of 
travelers  fully  confirm  the  fact  that  the  an- 
cients were  acquainted  with  this  peculiar 
race,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Pygmies  of  Strabo  and  Herodotus  were  the 
same  as  the  Batua  and  the  Wambutu  (Dr. 
Oskar  Lenz,  in  Louisville  Courier-Journal). 

Slapper. — That  article  of  food  which  we 
often  hear  called  a  fritter  (cf.  French, 
friture)  is  very  often  designated  by  the  popu- 
lar name  of  flapjack,  which  at  times  becomes 
vulgarly  a  slapjack.  Sometimes  a  further 
degradation  occurs,  and  the  toothsome 
fritter  becomes  a  slapper.  I  never  heard 
this  word,  but  I  have  often  seen  it  in  this 
city.  You  will  frequently  observe  a  placard 
bearing  the  words  "  Maryland  slappers  "  in 
the  window  of  some  fourth-rate  eating- 
house.  The  sight  of  that  word  is  enough  to 
repel  any  one,  and  I  would  rather  go  hungry 
all  day  than  enter  a  place  where  it  is  used. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA.  B.  L.  D. 

Pillars  of  the  Church  (Vol.  iv,  p.  307; 
Vol.  vi,  p.  95). — The  term  "pillar  fires," 
in  Vaughan's  poem,  quoted  by  G.,  of 
'  course  refers  to  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day 
and  of  fire  by  night  that  directed  Israel's 
desert  wanderings,  the  comparison  making 
the  saints  the  guides  and  shining  exemplars 
for  those  following.  But  is  not  the  meta- 
phor in  the  phrase  "  pillars  of  the  church  " 
that  of  a  sustaining  power,  whether  its  allu- 
sion be  to  the  pillars  of  a  building  or  to  the 
governorship  of  the  church,  as  suggested  by 
N.  S.  S.  ?  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

"Raised"  and  "Tote."— Will  you 
not  help  me  to  rescue  two  old  words  called 
Virginianisms  (very  dear  to  my  childhood), 
from  the  ridicule  that  now  surrounds  them? 
They  are  "raised"  and  "tote."  In  my 
antiquarian  researches  I  have  ascertained 
that  they  kept  very  good  company  in  Eng- 
land in  the  olden  time.  In  the  "  Life  of 
Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury,"  written  by  him- 
self and  reclaimed  from  oblivion  by  Horace 
Walpole,  "raised,"  used  in  our  Virginian 
sense,  is  employed,  and  the  word  "  tote  "  is 
properly  "  tolt,"  from  "tollo,"  a  term  in 


common  use  at  the  English  bar  from  1600 
to  the  middle  of  the  century  for  lifting  or 
removing  a  writ  from  one  court  to  another, 
and  thence  applied  at  large  to  the  lifting  of 
any  object.  Yet  Webster  has  no  more  to 
say  of  this  word  than  "  probably  of  African 
origin."  Indeed,  we  are  very  proud  of  our 
"  tolt,"  corrupted  though  it  be  in  spelling 
and  pronunciation.  The  Virginia  colonist 
brought  over  the  vocabulary  of  Shakespeare, 
Spenser  and  Raleigh.  Receiving  no  acces- 
sions of  population  from  any  other  country 
than  England,  and  being  an  agricultural 
people  requiring  no  new  words  for  our 
needs,  we  have  retained  many  expressions 
obsolete  in  the  motherland  and  in  the  rest 
of  the  United  States,  but  very  good  English 
nevertheless,  prized  by  us  as  legacies  from 
our  ancestors  (F.  W.,  in  The  Critic). 

Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig  (Vol. 
vi,  pp.  101,  etc.). — Interesting  researches  on 
this  subject  have  been  given  by  Qui  Tam, 
J.  R.  Murphy  and  others,  although  noth- 
ing definite  as  to  the  abandonment  of  the 
custom  in  this  country.  It  is  evident  that  it 
survived  long  after  written  deeds  were  gen- 
erally used.  The  deed  which  came  under 
my  observation  (the  first  intimation  I  ever 
had  of  the  custom)  and  which  prompted  the 
inquiry,  was  recently  recorded  at  Norris- 
town,  the  conveyance  being  for  a  tract  of 
land  in  Moreland  from  Thomas  Morris  to 
John  Lidyard.  The  following  note  appears 
upon  the  back  of  the  deed  :  ' '  Memorandum. 
— That  the  within-named  Thomas  Morris, 
in  his  own  proper  person,  gave  the  within- 
named  John  Lidyard,  in  his  own  proper 
person,  quiet  and  peaceable  possession  of 
the  within-granted  land,  hereditaments  and 
premises  by  turff  and  twigg,  in  the  name  of 
the  whole."  The  date  of  the  instrument 
was  April  7,  1721.  It  may  be  a  matter  of 
interest  to  some  readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES  that  there  was  at  that  com- 
paratively late  date  no  separate  acknowl- 
edgment for  the  wife  of  the  grantor  as  now, 
nor  did  she  sign  the  conveyance  with  her 
husband  as  is  now  the  practice,  merely  exe- 
cuting in  lieu  thereof  a  release  of  dower  in 
the  premises  conveyed  on  the  back  of  the 
instrument.  ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 


130 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  10,  1891. 


Curious  Remedies. — Heliotrope  (sun- 
plant,  sun-flower). — "  The  virtues  of  this 
plant  are  miraculous,  if  it  is  collected  in 
the  sign  of  the  Lion,  in  the  month  of  August, 
and  wrapped  up  in  a  laurel  leaf,  together 
with  the  tooth  of  a  wolf.  Whoever  carries 
this  about  him,  will  never  be  addressed 
harshly  by  any  one,  but  all  will  speak  to  him 
kindly  and  peaceably.  And  if  anything  has 
been  stolen  from  you,  put  this  under  your 
head  during  the  night,  and  you  will  surely 
see  the  whole  figure  of  the  thief." 

Swallow-wort. — "  This  weed  grows  at  the 
time  when  the  swallows  build  their  nests,  or 
eagles  breed.  '  If  a  man  carries  this  about 
him,  together  with  the  heart  of  a  mole,  he 
shall  overcome  all  fighting  and  anger. 
When  the  swallow-wort  begins  to  bloom, 
the  flowers  must  be  pounded  up  and  boiled, 
and  then  the  water  must  be  poured  off  into 
another  vessel,  and  again  be  placed  on  the 
fire  and  carefully  skimmed  ;  then  it  must  be 
filtered  through  a  cloth  and  preserved,  and 
whosoever  has  dim  eyes,  or  shining  eyes, 
may  bathe  them  with  it,  and  they  will  be- 
come clear  and  sound.'  ' 

Remedy  for  Consumption. — Repeat,  "Con- 
sumption, I  order  thee  out  of  the  bones  into 
the  flesh,  out  of  the  flesh  upon  the  skin,  out 
of  the  skin  into  the  wilds  of  the 
forest  *  *  *."  These  notions  are  still 
believed,  at  least  "  on  the  sly,"  even  when 
there  is  a  public  denial  of  them. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Hissing  of  Snakes. — The  question  has 
been  much  discussed  in  the  newspapers  as  to 
whether  snakes  really  hiss.  Some  years  ago, 
in  early  summer,  I  was  walking  with  my  son 
along  a  road  near  Atco,  N.  J.,  when  we  both 
heard  a  loud  hissing  sound  coming  from 
a  tuft  of  tallish  grass.  A  little  examination 
showed  a  short  but  heavy-looking  and  repul- 
sive snake  of  some  species  unknown  to  me. 
The  creature  was  soon  despatched,  and  we 
went  on  our  way,  somewhat  regretting  that 
we  had  yielded  to  a  hasty  impulse  and  de- 
stroyed a  creature  that  was  probably  harm- 
less, and  even  actively  useful  to  man.  The 
above  is  the  only  instance  in  the  course  of  a 
pretty  long  and  somewhat  observant  life  in 
which  I  am  sure  that  I  heard  a  serpent  hiss. 


Several  kinds  of  tortoise  make  a  slight  hiss 
in  the  act  of  retracting  the  head  within  the 
shell,  but  I  don't  feel  at  all  sure  that  the  hiss 
in  that  case  is  made  by  the  mouth,  probably 
it  may  be  caused  by  the  escape  of  air  from 
the  spaces  within  the  shell.  ILDERIM. 
GERMANTOWN. 

Kinnickinnick  (Vol.  vi,  p.  83). — Still' 
another  Kinnickinnick  is  the  Cornus  sericea> 
or  silky  cornel,  a  shrub  not  at  all  uncommon 
in  many  parts  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  I  have  the  impression  that  I  have 
also  heard  the  little  semi-herbaceous  Cornus 
canaden&is  (the  low  cornel,  or  ground  dog- 
wood) called  by  the  name  Kinnickinnick. 
This  pretty  little  groundling  has  a  showy 
white  involucre,  much  like  that  which  dis- 
tinguishes its  well-known  congener,  the 
Cornus  florida,  or  common  flowering  dog- 
wood tree.  It  is  very  common  northward. 

H. 

Minorcan  Colonists  (Vol.  vi,  p.  116). 
— The  Malay,  or  Manila  colony,  to  which  I 
referred,  was  situated,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
somewhere  near  Acapulco,  in  Mexico.  I 
doubt,  however,  if  it  was  described  as  a 
regular  colony.  I  know  nothing  of  any 
Minorcan  colony  in  Louisiana.  Mr.  Laf- 
cadio  Hearn  is  a  native,  not  of  Louisiana, 
but  of  the  Greek  island  of  Leucadia,  where 
he  was  born  in  1850.  There  was  once  an 
interesting  colony  of  Minorcans  and  Smyr- 
niote  Greeks  at  New  Smyrna  in  Florida. 
The  late  Admiral  Farragut  was  the  son  ol 
one  of  the  Florida-Minorcan  colonists,  at 
least,  I  have  been  so  informed. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Singular  Names  of  Places  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
107). — Having  been  much  interested  in 
your  collections  of  curious  place  names  and 
believing  that  Montgomery  county  can  com- 
pare in  this  respect  with  any  in  the  country, 
I  send  you  a  few  names  of  towns  :  Anise, 
Bala,  Blue  Bell,  Broadaxe,  King  of  Prussia, 
Lucon,  Narberth,  Obelisk,  Ogontz,  Fer- 
wood,  Trappe,  Woxall,  Wyncote.  To  King 
of  Prussia  and  Trappe,  the  was  formerly  pre- 
fixed and  the  former  in  the  vicinity  is  now 
known  as  "  the  King,"  the  latter  invariably 


January  10,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


as  "  the  Trappe."     Of  local  nicknames,  we 
have  many,  but  they  are  too  slangy  as  a  rule 
to   be  tolerated,    and   ought   never   to    be 
sanctioned  by  reproducing  them  in  print. 
ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,   PA. 

Hay  is  King. — Some  months — perhaps 
years — ago,  we  read  a  paragraph  in  an  Eng- 
lish agricultural  journal,  to  the  effect,  that 
the  editor  had  asked  his  subscribers  for  sta- 
tistics, setting  forth  the  relative  value,  in 
dollars  and  cents,  of  the  different  agricultural 
products  of  the  world,  so  far  as  they  could 
be  practically  ascertained,  and  especially 
which  predominated ;  and,  to  the  surprise 
of  not  a  few,  it  was  found  that  hay,  in  its 
various  forms,  yielded  by  far  the  greatest 
value.  When  we  reflect  upon  this,  we  need 
not  be  much  surprised,  for  there  are  many 
places  in  the  United  States  where  people  can 
make  hay,  perhaps,  all  the  year  round. 
Even  forty  years  ago,  it  was  not  an  unusual 
thing  for  some  farmers — especially  in  the 
north  of  Pennsylvania — to  begin  "  making 
hay  "  in  the  month  of  June,  and  continue 
on  to  the  end  of  October. 

We  think  it  was  the  same  year  (1886)  that 
the  "  output  "  of  pig-iron  in  the  United 
States  was  5,683,329  tons,  and  its  money 
value  $95,195,760,  but  that  made  only  are- 
mote  approximation  to  the  value  of  hay,  and 
therefore,  no  doubt,  that  hay  is  still  king. 
Nothing  connected  with  agricultural  produc- 
tions, per  se,  exhibits  such  agricultural  ad- 
vancement, and  the  manipulation  of  the 
crop,  as  the  single  item  of  hay.  The 
economy  in  labor,  in  space,  and  in  time  is 
a  marvel,  and  these  enable  the  farmer  to 
realize  satisfaction  entirely  unknown  to  him 
in  the  early  periods  of  the  country's  history. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Juries  in  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court 
(Vol.  vi,  p.  iod).— I  think  R.  A.  W.  is 
wrong  in  his  assumption  that  the  "right  of 
jury  trial  was  never  exercised  by  the  high- 
est legal  tribunal  in  the  nation."  Since 
forwarding  my  query  I  have  happened  upon 
the  following  in  the  Century  for  December, 
1882,  bearing  on  the  subject : 

"There  are  probably  few  lawyers,  even, 


if  asked  whether  a  jury  trial  could  be  held 
in  the  Supreme  Court,  who  would  answer  in 
the  affirmative.  Yet  there  were  once  juries 
empaneled  in  that  tribunal  and  cases  tried 
before  them  *  *  *  in  cases  where  the 
court  has  original  jurisdiction,  and  in  which 
questions  of  fact  are  involved.  In  the  early 
history  of  the  court  juries  were  regularly  em- 
paneled, just  as  in  inferior  tribunals,  to  be 
ready  for  duty  if  their  services  were  needed. 
The  first  mention  of  a  jury  in  the  oldest 
volume  of  minutes  is  under  date  of  February 
4,  1794.  The  court  then  sat  in  the  City 
Hall,  Philadelphia,  and  the  case  tried  was 
that  of  the  State  of  Georgia  vs.  Samuel 
Brailsford.  I  have  not  been  able  to  find 
the  record  of  the  last  jury  trial,  and  the  in- 
formation cannot  be  had  from  the  present 
judges  or  the  traditions  of  the  court.  Prob- 
ably it  was  before  the  chief-justiceship  of 
Marshall.  The  custom  is  supposed  to  have 
fallen  into  disuse  soon  after  suits  of  individ- 
uals against  States  were  barred  by  the  Elev- 
enth amendment "  (E.  V.  Smalley,  page 
172).  ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 

Ambergris,  or  Ambergrease,  as  it  is 
spelled  in  old  English  publications.  We  have 
a  volume  now  before  us,  published  in  Lon- 
don, 1794,  in  which  the  word  has  the  latter 
spelling.  Ambergris  is  French,  and  means 
gray  amber,  gris  meaning  gray.  It  is  a  sub- 
stance of  the  consistence  of  wax,  and  is 
found  floating  on  the  waters  of  the  Indian 
ocean  and  other  tropical  waters.  It  is  also 
found  as  a  morbid  secretion  in  the  intestines 
of  the  sperm  whale  (Physeter  macrocephalus~), 
which  has  been  believed  for  the  past  hun- 
dred years  or  more  to  be  its  true  origin.  In 
color  it  is  said  to  be  white,  ash-gray,  yellow, 
variegated  and  black.  It  has  been  found  in 
floating  masses,  weighing  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds.  It  is 
highly  valued  in  perfumery,  and  at  212  de- 
grees of  Fahrenheit  it  is  wholly  volatilized 
into  a  white  fragrant  vapor.  There  does  not 
seem  to  be  much  more  known  now  about  its 
real  origin  than  there  was  one  hundred  years 
ago,  there  being  alternate  denials  or  dispu- 
tations on  the  subject  of  its  first  origin,  and 
conversions  to  the  old  doctrine  again,  which 
no  doubt  have  been  influenced  more  or  less 


I32 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  10,  1891. 


by  individual  prejudices.  A  writer  in  the 
old  publication  alluded  to  says,  "  the  '  Am- 
bergrease '  is  nothing  more  than  the  excre- 
ment "  of  the  animal,  in  which  it  is  found, 
in  a  diseased  or  putrid  state.  There  are 
few,  perhaps,  of  the  admirers  of  the  per- 
fume who  would  be  willing  to  concede  to  it 
such  an  origin. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  it  appears 
a  species  of  this  whale  was  stranded  on  the 
coast  of  Norfolk,  England,  which  was  par- 
ticularly   commemorated    by   Sir    Thomas 
Brown,  who  seemed  to  have  been  willing  to 
have  discovered  ambergrease  in  it,  but  was 
repelled  by  the  intolerable  foetor  of  the  ani- 
mal, which  had  lain  for  several  days  in  a 
state  of  putrefaction.     "Sir  Thomas  related 
the  anecdote  in  his  usual  forcible  style,  but 
appeared  to  have  been  rather  in  doubt  of 
what   now  seems   to   be   a  well-ascertained 
fact,  namely,  that  the  perfume  above  men- 
tioned   has    really   the   origin    before    de- 
scribed."    Some  of  the  Greenland  discov- 
erers, it  seems,  entertained  the  notion  that 
the   whales  on  their  coast  swallowed  great 
lumps  of  ambergrease,  and  they  were  only 
deterred  from  raking  for  it  in  the  paunches 
of  these  animals  by  the  insufferable  foetor 
that  accompanied  such  a  process;  and  yet 
they  were  assured  that  that  odor  makes  the 
best  musk,  and  from  the  most  fetid  substances 
may  be  extracted  the  most  odoriferous  es- 
sences.    But  that  could  not  have  been  the 
reason  for  not  collecting  the  ambergris  from 
the  intestines  of  the  whale,  because  seamen 
generally  would  have  almost  endured  any 
degree  of  stench  to  secure  a  substance  so 
valuable  as  this,  especially  since  it  can  be 
gathered  from  the  surface  of  the  water  with- 
out disturbing  the  whale.     It  would  be  safe 
to  say  that  ambergris  is  not  swallowed  by 
the  whale,  it  is  secreted  by,  or  in,  his  intes- 
tines (and  in  due  time  it  is  expelled  there- 
from) in  some  manner  approximating  the 
secretions  of  wax  and  honey  by  the  bee  or 
the   mucilage  by  the  Chinese  swallows,  or 
other  similar  animal  secretions. 

The  species  of  whale  under  consideration 
is  the  largest  of  its  genus,  the  head  being 
nearly  or  quite  as  large  as  the  remainder  ol 
the  body.  The  substance  called  spermaceti 
is  contained  in  cells  or  bony  cavities  of  the 
head,  and  is  at  first  almost  or  quite  liquid 


3ut  on  exposure  for  a  time  to  the  air  it  be- 
comes concreted  or  hardened,  and  is  the 
.ubstance  of  which  spermaceti  candles  are 
made,  a  use  not  now  as  common  as  it  was 
before  coal-oil,  gas  and  electric  illumination 
were  discovered.  The  genus  Physeter  diffei  s 
from  that  of  Baloena,  among  other  things, 
in  that  the  former  has  teeth  in  the  lower 
jaws,  which  are  received,  when  the  mouth  is 
closed,  into  corresponding  cavities  in  the 
upper  jaw,  whilst  the  latter  has  no  teeth,  but 
instead  thereof  has  a  very  large  number  of 
long  horny  laminae  disposed  in  regular  series 
popularly  known  by  the  name  of  whalebone. 
Although  the  genera  Monodon,  Balcena, 
Physeter  and  Delphinus  are  popularly  re- 
garded as  fishes,  yet  in  point  of  fact  they 
are  really  mammals.  They  are  warm- 
blooded, viviparous,  suckle  their  young  and 
the  bony  structure  of  their  pectoral  fins  and 
tails  corresponds  to  the  bony  members  of 
other  mammals.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


AND 


The  Chautauquan  presents  the  following  table  of  con- 
tents in  its  February  issue  :    "  Practical  Talks  on  Writ- 
ing English,"   Part  i,  by  Prof.  William  Minto,  M.  A. ; 
"British  India,"  by  R.  S.  Dix ;  "The  Religious  His- 
tory   of   England,"    v,   by    Prof.  George  P.    Fisher ; 
"  England  After  the  Norman  Conquest,"    Part   ii,  by 
Sarah  Orne  Jewett ;  "  The  English  Towns,"  ii,  by  Au- 
gustus I.  Jessopp,  D.D. ;    "  A  Peasant  Striker  of  the 
Fourteenth  Century,"  by  Charles  M.  Andrews  ;  "  Sun- 
day  Readings,"  selected  by   Bishop  Vincent ;   "  The 
Constitution  of  Japan,"     by  William   Elliot  Griffis; 
"  Studies  in   Astronomy,"   v,  by  Garrett  P.   Serviss ; 
"  Schubert's  Unfinished  Symphony,"  by  Lucy  C.  Bull ; 
"  The  National  Academy  of  Sciences,"    by   Marcus 
Benjamin,  Ph.D. ;  "  Rise  and  Fall  of  Boulanger,"  by 
T.  F.  DeGournay  ;  "  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,"  by 
Mrs.   Mary  Storrs   Haynes ;     "  The   Relation   of  the 
Family    to    Social    Science,"     by  John    Habberton ; 
"  France  in  Tunis,"  by  Edmond  Plauchut ;  "  The  Ex- 
penses of  Candidates  for  Public  Office,"  by  Thomas  B. 
Preston  ;  "  New  England  and  Emigration,"  by  Edward 
Everett  Hale  ;  "  Through  Nature  Up  to  God,"  by  Mary 
Lowe  Dickinson  ;  "  Woman's  Council  Table  :  A  Sym- 
posium— Domestic  Service,"    by  Julia  Ward  Howe, 
Emily  Huntington  Miller,  Mary  Hartwell  Catherwood, 
Harriet  Prescott  SpofTbrd,  Olive  Thome  Miller,  Mary 
A.    Livermore ;    "Women's   Colleges   at  Oxford,"  by 
Emily  F.  Wheeler ;  "The  Mystery  of  the  Four  B's," 
by   Kate   Sanborn  ;    "  Should    Women   Take  Part  in 
School  Affairs  ?"    by  Abby  Morton  Diaz  ;  "  Stories  of 
the  Childhood  of  Eminent  Women,"  arranged  by  Har- 
riet Carter ;  "  What  Constitutes  a  Legal  Marriage,"  by 
Lelia  Robinson  Sawtelle,  LL.B. ;  "  How  to  Entertain," 
Part  i,  by  Helen  A.  Cornwell ;    "  The  Russian  Peasarft 
Woman,"     by   Nina  Von   Koribout    Daschkewitsch  ; 
"  The  Tignon,"  by  Grace  King. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :  —  Proverbial  Phrases  from  the  Dramas  of  Ben  Jon- 
son,  133  —  U.  S.  Orthographic  Standard  of  Geographic 
Names,  134. 

QUERIES  :—  The  Bottle  Imp,  138. 

REPLIES:—  Musha,  138—  Pontic  Sheep—  We  Learn  So  Little, 
etc.  —  Turn-spit  Dog  —  The  Queer,  139. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS:—  Four-leaf  Clover 

—  War  of  the  Fosse—  Albert  H.  Hardy,  139—  Eagle  Renew- 
ing its  Youth  —  Spontaneous  Combustion  —  Dat  Galenus,  etc. 

—  Samuel  —  Pomegranate—  Infair  —  Oyster  Bay  —  E   Pluribus 
Unutn  —  Baronets  of  Nova  Scotia  —  Witch  of  the  Pyrenees  — 
Symmes'  Hole  —  Australian  Caverns—  X.  Y.  Z.  Mission,  140. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :—  Antonomasias  of  Rulers  and  War- 
riors, 140  —  Men  of  Humble  Origin,  141  —  Sind  and  Sindhia, 
142  —  Crane  and  Stone  —  Origin  of  Some  Names  —  Death  Val- 
ley, 143  —  Strange  Etymologies—  Seminets  —  Wawa,  144. 


PROVERBS  AND  PROVERBIAL  PHRASES  FROM 
THE  DRAMAS  OF  BEN  JONSON. 

[VOL.  vi,  PP.  97,  ETC.] 

Although  the  list  of  these  expressions  al- 
ready given  far  outnumbers  the  original  in- 
tention of  the  compiler,  many  more  were 
selected  which  had  to  be  excluded.  As  may 
be  seen,  the  "Tale  of  a  Tub"  furnishes  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  quotations  than  any 
of  the  dramatist's  preceding  works.  The 
following,  however,  are  too  good  not  to  be 
added,  and  with  those  already  cited  show 
that  Jonson's  latest  comedy  (1633),  written 
on  the  sick-bed,  is  especially  characterized 
by  a  superabundance  of  homely  phrases,  in- 
dicating on  the  part  of  its  author  a  curious 
familiarity  with  this  sort  of  folk-lore  : 

"  He  will  have  the  last  word  "  (i,  i). 

11  1  smile  to  think  how  like  a  lottery 
These  weddings  are  "  (Ibid.). 


'34 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  17,  1891. 


"You  still  have  the  hap  to  hit 
The  nail  o'er  the  head  at  a  close  "  (ii,  i). 

"  Hum  drum,  I  cry, 
As  true  as  a  gun  "  (Ibid.). 

"  What  rowly-powly  maple  face!"  (Ibid.). 

"  '  There  go  two  words  to  a  bargain,'  says  Awdrey, 
When  Squire  Tub  offers  to  kiss  her"  (Idid.). 

"  Turn  not  the  bad  cow  after  thy  good  soap  " 

(Ibid.) 

"All  things  run  arsie  versie,  upside  down." 

(i".  i.) 

"  Led  by  the  nose  with  these  new  promises. 
And  fatted  with  supposes  of  fine  hopes"  (iii,  4). 

"Just  in  the  nick"  (iv,  3). 

Among  the  old  writers  in  the  nick  is  more 
commonly  met  with  than  in  the  nick  of  time. 

A  very  interesting  use  of  the  little  word 
chink  is  the  following : 

Squire  Tub  having  given  Canon  Hugh  an 
angel  (a  piece  of  money),  saying : 

"  Take  a  good  angel  with  you  for  your  guide," 

the  learned  and  canonic  Vicar  of  St.  Pan- 
eras  replies : 

"  O,  for  a  quire  of  these  voices  now, 
To  chime  in  a  man's  pocket  and  cry  chink ! 
One  doth  not  chirp,  it  makes  no  harmony.'* 

0,  I-) 

A  specimen  figure  from  "  Miles'  Meta- 
phor "  is  as  follows : 

"  Let  not  the  mouse  of  my  good  meaning,  lady, 
Be  snapp'd  up  in  the  trap  of  your  suspicion, 
To  lose  the  tail  there,  either  of  her  truth, 
Or  swallow'd  by  the  cat  of  misconstruction." 

In  the  comedy  of  the  "  New  Inn;  or,  The 
Light  Heart,"  the  proverb,  "A  heavy  purse 
makes  a  light  heart,"  is  employed  to  great 
advantage  by  the  host  at  the  opening. 
Lady  Wilde  includes  this  proverb  in  her  list 
derived  from  ancient  Irish  literature  ("An- 
cient Cures,  Charms  and  Usages  of  Ire- 
land "). 

In  the  "Silent  Woman"  (Act  v,  i), 
Morose,  whom  we  think  of  as  bearing  up  a 
huge  turban  of  night-caps,  is  contempla- 
ting a  divorce.  "I  dwell  in  a  windmill," 
he  says,  "  the  perpetual  motion  is  here,  and 
not  at  Eltham."  Truewit  asks  of  Cutbeard, 
who  is  both  barber  and  doctor,  "  Will  you 
break  the  ice?  Master  Parson  will  wade 


after."     Then  follows  a  discussion  concern- 
ing causes  of  a  lawful  divorce. 

Bishop  Hart's  picture  of  the  half-famished 
gallant,  Ruffio,  furnishes  a  fine  illustration 
of  the  use  of  the  Duke  Humphrey  phrase 
("Staple  of  News"): 

"  Trow'st  thou  where  he  dined  to-day? 
In  troth,  I  saw  him  sit  with  Duke  Humphrey. 
Many  good  welcomes,  and  much  gratis  cheer, 
Keeps  he  for  every  straggling  cavalier ; 
An  open  house,  haunted  with  great  disport. 
Many  fair  younker  with  a  feather'd  crest 
Chooses  rather  be  his  shot-fire  guest, 
To  fare  so  freely  with  so  little  cost, 
Than  stake  his  twelve-pence  to  a  meaner  host." 
(See  Bishop  Hart's  Works,  Vol.  ix,  Sat.  7,  Book  iii.) 


K.  L.  H. 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


U.   S.    ORTHOGRAPHIC    STANDARD    OF    GEO- 
GRAPHIC NAMES. 

Since  September  4  last,  there  has  been  in 
existence  a  United  States  Board  of  Geo- 
graphic Names,  the  work  of  which  promises 
to  be  of  great  value,  not  only  to  the  various 
departments  of  the  government,  but  to  those 
interested  in  geography,  history  and  kindred 
studies. 

The  first  bulletin  of  the  Board  is  dated 
December  31,  1890,  and  is  given  below. 

The  names  adopted  are  printed  in  Roman, 
the  discarded  forms  in  italics. 

Abagadasset  Point  (Kennebec  river). 
Abagadusset  Point. 

Agattu  Island  (Alaska).     Agattou. 

Aghik  Island  (Alaska).     A'ghik. 

Aghiyuk  Island  (Alaska).     Aghiyukh. 

Akkra  (West  Africa).     Accra. 

Akun  island  (Alaska).  Akhun,  Akoun, 
Akan. 

Akutan  Island  (Alaska).     Akoutan. 

Alaska  Peninsula.     Aliaska,  Aliashka. 

Amatignak  Island  (Alaska).  Amatig- 
nakh. 

Amchitka  Island  (Alaska).     Amitkhitka. 

Amukta  Island  (Alaska).  Amoukhta, 
Amuchta. 

Anacostia  River  (District  of  Columbia). 
Mas  tern  Branch. 

Andreafski  Fort  (on  Yukon  river,  Alaska). 
Andreiefski,  Andreievsky,  Andreaivsky. 

Andreanof  Islands  (Alaska).    Andreanov. 

Aniakchak  Bay  (Alaska).     Aniakcha. 


January  17,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


135 


Annobon  Island  (Gulf  of  Guinea,  West 
Africa).  Annabon,  Anno  Bon,  Anno  Bom. 

Arakan  (Burmah).  Atacan,  Arrakan, 
Arracan. 

Assini  (West  Africa).     Assinie,  Assinia. 

Atka  Island  (Alaska).     Atkha. 

Attu  Island  (Alaska).     Attoo,  Attou. 

Augustine  Island  (Alaska).  Augustin, 
Chernaboura. 

Baluchistan.  Beloochistan,  Belouchistan, 
Balouchistan,  Belutchistan. 

Baranof  Island  (Alaska).     Baronoff. 

Barbados  Island  (in  West  Indies).  Bar- 
badoes. 

Barstow  Rock  (coast  of  Massachusetts). 
Barstows,  Barslow. 

BecharofLake  (Alaska Pena.).  Botcharoff, 
Bochonoff,  Rochanoff. 

Bendeleben  Mount  (Alaska).    Berdeleben. 

Bering  Sea  (Alaska).  Behring,  Behrings, 
Kamchatka,  etc. 

Besboro  Island  (Alaska).     Besborough. 

Big  Diomede  Island  (Alaska).  Ratmanoff, 
Retmanof,  Noo-nar-book. 

Bogoslof  Island  (Alaska).     Bogoslov. 

Bonita  Point  (California).     Boneta. 

British  Kafifraria  (Africa).  British  Caf- 
fraria. 

Buckland  River  (Alaska).     Kunguk. 

Buen  Ayre  (island  in  Caribbean  sea). 
Bonaire. 

Buldir  Island  (Alaska).    Bouldit ,  Bouldyr. 

Chandler  Bay  (coast  of  Maine). 

Chankliut  Island  (Alaska).      Chankluit. 

Chernabura  Island  (Alaska).  Chernobour, 
Chernabour,  Chernobura. 

Chiachi  Island  (Alaska).  Chiacht, 
Chiache. 

Chichagof  Harbor  (Attu  island,  Alaska). 
Ts chits chagoff,  Tchitchagoff. 

Chigul  Island  (Alaska).     Tchigul. 

Chile,  Republic  of  (South  America). 
Chili. 

Chilkat  River  and  Pass  (Alaska).  Chil- 
cat. 

Chilkoot  (Alaska).      Chilkut. 

Chiniak  Bay  (Kadiak  island,  Alaska). 
Chiniatskov. 

Chirikof  Island  ( Alaska).  Chirikoff, 
Ugamok. 

Chitnak,  Cape  (Alaska).     Tchitnak. 

Chowiet  Island  (Alaska).  Chowee  Et., 
Choweet,  Chowee'et. 


Chuginadak  Island  (Alaska).  Tchugi- 
nadak. 

Chugul  Island  (Alaska).  Chegoula,  Chug- 
nel,  Tchegoula  Is. 

Chulitna  River  (Alaska).     Khulitno. 

Cleare,  Cape  (Montagu  island,  Alaska). 
Clear. 

Cold  Bay  (Alaska).  Moorovskoy,  Moros- 
koi,  Morlofski,  Mokrooskoi. 

Colombia  (South  America).      Columbia. 

Colville  River  (Alaska).     Colvile. 

Constantine  Bay  (Amchitka  island, 
Alaska).  Constantin. 

Controller  Bay  (Alaska).  Bering  Haven, 
Controller1  s  Bay,  Comptroller  Bay. 

Cook  Inlet  (Alaska).  Cook  River,  Cook's 
Inlet. 

Coos  Bay  (Oregon).     Koos,  Coose. 

Cottrell  Key.  Cotterals  Key  and  other 
forms. 

Curacao  (Island  Caribbean  Sea).  Cura- 
(oa. 

Ball  Point  (S.  of  Cape  Romanzof).  Cape 
Dall. 

Deadman  Point  (Maine).     Deadmarf s. 

Eaton  Point  (Camden  harbor,  Maine"). 
Easton. 

Ebenecook  (coast  of  Maine).     Ebenicook. 

Englishman  Bay  (coast  of  Maine). 

Eschscholtz  Bay  (in  Kotzebue  sound, 
Alaska).  Escholtz  Basin. 

Etolin  Island  (Alaska).     Etoline. 

Fiji  Islands  (Pacific).  Feejee,  Viti, 
Fidschi. 

Fish  Point  Ledge  (Maine).  Fishes,  Fish- 
point. 

Gareloi  Island  (Alaska).  Goreloi,  Goro- 
loi. 

Golofnin  Bay  (Alaska).  Golovnin  Bay, 
Golovnin  Harbor. 

Golovin  Sound  (Alaska).  Golovine 
Sound,  Golovain  Bay. 

Governors  Island  (New  York  harbor)- 
Governor  s. 

Great  Sitkin  Island  (Alaska).  Great 
Sitchine,  Great  Sitkhin. 

Guadeloupe  Island  (Indies).  Gaude- 
loupe. 

Hagemeister  Island  (Alaska).  Hagen- 
meister. 

Haiti  (Republic  of  West  Indies).     Hayti. 

Halkette  Cape  (Alaska).  Halket. 


136 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [January  17,  1891. 


Hatch  Point  (Kennebec  river).  Hatche 
Point. 

Helgoland  Island  (North  Sea).  Heligo- 
land. 

Herschel  Island  (Alaska).     Hershel. 

Hinchinbrook  (Alaska).     Hinchinbroke. 

Hokuchatna  River  (Alaska).  Ho-ka- 
chat-na  River,  No-gat-za-ka-kat. 

Hong  Kong  (China).  Hong  Kong,  Hong- 
kong. 

Hornblower  Point  (Albemarle  Sound, 
N.  C.).  Horniblows  Point,  Hornblows 
Point. 

Hudson  Bay  (Canada).     Hudson's. 

Hudson  River  (New  York).     Hudson's. 

Igitkin  Island  (Alaska).  Igitkilm,  Igit- 
kihn. 

Ikogmut  Mission  (on  Yukon  river, 
Alaska).  Ikogmiut. 

Ikolik,  Cape  (Kadiak  island,  Alaska). 
Ikalik. 

Ikti,  Cape  (Alaska).     Itkhi,  Itkbi. 

Iliuliuk  Village  (Alaska).     Iliouliouk. 

Imuruk  Lake  (Alaska).     Imourouk. 

Isanotski  Strait  (Alaska).  Issannakh, 
Isanotsky. 

Isla  De  Pinos  (West  Indies).  Isle  of 
Pines. 

Kachemak  Bay  (Alaska).  Kachekmak, 
Chugachik. 

Kadiak  Island  (Alaska).  Kodiak. 

Kaguyak  Village  (Alaska).     Kayayak. 

Kamerun  (West  Africa).  Cameroon, 
Camaroon. 

Kankal  (French  settlement  in  India). 
Carical,  Carrical. 

Karpa  Island  (Alaska).     Boulder  Island. 

Karquines  Strait  (connecting  Suisun  and 
San  Pablo  Bays,  California,  U.  S.).  Kar- 
quinas,  Carquines,  Carquinez,  etc. 

Kashega  Bay  (Alaska).     Kashuga  Bay. 

Kayak  Island  (Alaska).     Kaye. 

Kenai  Peninsula  and  Fort  (Alaska). 
Kenay. 

Khorya  Morya  Island  and  Bay  (East 
Africa).  Kuria  Muria,  Kurian  Murian. 

Khwostof  Island  (Alaska).  Khvostoff, 
Rat,  Khoostoff  Island. 

Kialagvik  Bay  (Alaska).     Kialagvit. 

King  Island  (in  Bering  Strait).  Kings, 
Oo-ghee-a-book,  Ooghe-a-book,  Uoivok. 

Kingegan  (Alaska).     King-a-ghee. 

Kipniak  (Alaska).     Kipniuk. 


Kiska  Island  (Alaska).  Kyska,  Great 
Kyska,  Great  Kysa. 

Kiukpalik  Island  (Alaska).    Kaiuklipalik. 

Kongo  River  and  State  (Africa).     Congo. 

Koniuji  Island  (Alaska).     Koniougi. 

Korovin  Bay  (on  Atka  island,  Alaska). 
Korovinski,  Korovenski. 

Koyukuk  River  (Alaska).     Koyoukuk. 

Krusenstern,  Cape  (Alaska)  Kruzenstern. 

Kruzof  Island  (Alaska).  Kruzov,  Kru- 
zoff. 

Kuiu  Island  (Alaska).     Kou. 

Kujulik  Bay  (east  side  Alaska  Penin- 
sula). Koujulik. 

Ktikpowruk  River  (Alaska).  Koopoowrook, 
Kookpowrook. 

Kulichavak  River  (Alaska).     Kvichavak. 

Kuliugmiut,  Cape  (W.  side  Kadiak 
island,  Alaska).  Kuliuycmut,  Kuliumiut, 
Ku-ling-mut. 

Kulukak  Bay  (Alaska).  Ku-liu-kak,  Kou- 
loulak,  Kouloukak. 

Kupreanof  Point  (Alaska).  Point  Kypreia, 
Kuprianoff. 

Kusilvak  Island  (Alaska).     Kusalvak. 

Kuskokwim  River  and  Bay  (Alaska). 
Kuskokvim,  Kuskoquim,  Kouskokvim. 

Kutuzof,  Cape  (Alaska).     Kutusoff. 

Kwikpak  (Alaska).     Kwikhsak. 

Leontovich,  Cape  (Alaska).  Leonta- 
vitch. 

Little  Diomede  Island  (Alaska).  Ig-na- 
look,  Krusenstern. 

Lofka  (on  Yukon  river,  Alaska). 
Lofka's. 

Long's  Peak  (Colorado).     Long. 

Lynn  Canal  (Alaska).     Lynn  Channel. 

Magdalen  Island  (Hudson  river,  U.  S.). 
Slippe  Stein. 

Maskat  (Arabia,  Asia).  Muscat,  Muskat, 
Mascat. 

Makushin  Bay  and  Volcano  (Unalaska 
Island,  Alaska).  Makouchinskoy. 

Man  by  Point  (Alaska).     Cape  Manby. 

Meade  River  (Alaska).  Cogtua,  Kolu- 
gru'a,  Kulugrua. 

Mitkof  Island  (Alaska).   Mitgoff,  Mittkoff. 

Mitrofania  Island  (Alaska).     Mitrofa. 

Morzhovoi  (Alaska).     Morzovia. 

Muni  pur  (India).    Munipoor,  Muneepoor. 

Nagai  Island  (Alaska).     JVagay. 

Nakchamik  Island  (Alaska).  Nachamik, 
Nakcham-ik,  Nakamik. 


January  17,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


137 


River     and     Lake     (Alaska). 


Naknek 
Nagek. 

Nikolski  Village  (on  Umnak  island, 
Alaska).  Nikolsky. 

Norton  Island  and  Norton  Island  Ledges 
(Penobscot  bay,  Me.).  Norton's  Island 
and  Nortori 's  Island  Ledges. 

Nunivak  Island  (Alaska).  Nounivak, 
Noonivak,  Nuniook. 

Nushagak  River  (Alaska).  Nushagok, 
Nuchagak. 

Nuwuk  (Alaska).  Noowook,  Noo-wook, 
Noo-wooh. 

Ogier  Point  (coast  of  Maine).      Ojier. 

Ootkeavie  (Alaska).      Oot  ke  av'ic. 

Oruba  Island  (in  Caribbean  sea).  Aruba. 

Oudh  (British  India).'    Oude. 

Padanaram  (Massachusetts) .  Padanarum. 

Peirce,  Cape  (Alaska).     Pierce. 

Pitmegea  River  (Alaska).  Pet  meg  e'a 
River. 

Point  Arena  (California).  Punta  Are- 
nas. 

Popof  Island  (Alaska).     Pofoff. 

Port  Townsend  (Washington).  Port 
Townshend. 

Prince  William  Sound  (Alaska).  Chu- 
gach,  Chugatch. 

Pribilof  Island  (Alaska).  Pribyloff, 
Pribylov. 

Puerto  Rico  (West  Indies).     Porto  Rico. 

Punjab  (India).  Panjab,  Punjaub, 
Pandjab. 

Punuk  Island  (Alaska).     Pinik  Island. 

Rainier,  Mt.  (Washington).      Tacoma. 

Rajputana  (British  India).     Rajpootana. 

Redoubt  Volcano  (Alaska).  Burnt 
Mountain. 

Romanzof,  Cape  and  Mts.  (Alaska). 
Romantzof,  Romantzoff,  Rumiantzoff. 

Saint  Croix  (West  Indies).     Santa  Cruz. 

St.  Matthew  Island  (Alaska).  6*. 
Mathew. 

St.  Michael  Island  (in  Norton  sound, 
Alaska).  St.  Michael's,  Michaelovski. 

Salisbury  Sound  (N.  of  Kruzof  island, 
Alaska).  Kiokacheff,  G.  of  Klokochev. 

Salvador  (Central  America).  San  Sal- 
vador. 

Sannak  Island  (Alaska) .  Sanak,  Sannakh, 
Halibut. 

Sausalito  (California).     Saucelito. 


Seguam   Island    (Alaska).     Siguam,  Sig- 
nam. 

Selawik  Lake  (Alaska).     Salawik,  Se-le- 
wik. 

Semichi     Islands     (Alaska).       Semitkhi, 
Simitkhi. 

Semidi  Islands  (Alaska).  Semedi,  Seven. 
Semisopochnoi  Island  (Alaska).     Semiso- 
poch,  Rat,  Semisopokh. 

Shaw  Island  (Alaska).     Shaws,  Shaw's. 
Sherman  Cove  (Penobscot  bay,  Maine). 
Sherman' s. 

Shishmaref  Inlet  (Alaska).    Schischmareff, 
Shismareff. 

Shumagin  Islands  (Alaska).     Choumagin. 
Shuyak    Island    (N.     of   Afognak    and 
Kadiak  island).     Chugak,  Chuyak. 
Simeonof  Island  (Alaska).     Simenoff. 
Sindhia  (British  India).     Sinde,  Scinde, 
Sindh,  Sindy,  Sindia. 

Sitkinak     Island     (Alaska).       Sikhinak, 
Sitchinak,  Sithinak. 

Somali    Coast    (East    Africa).     Somauli 
coast. 

Sorrento     Harbor     (coast     of    Maine). 
Point  Harbor. 

South  Island  (Alaska).     Kutloot. 
Spear's  Rock  (Rockland  Harbor,  coast  of 
Maine).     Spear. 

Stepovak  Bay  (Alaska).     Stepovakho. 
Stikine  River  (Alaska).    Stikeen,  Stickeen 
and  others. 

Strogonof   Point    (Alaska).      Strogonov, 
Strognoff. 

Sushitna      River     (Alaska).       Suchitna, 
Sutschitna,  Suchitno. 

Sutwik  Island  (Alaska).     Sutkwik  Island. 
Suworof  Village  (Alaska).     Suwaroff,  Su- 
varoff. 

Taiya  Inlet  (Alaska).     Tyya. 
The  Graves  (Maine).      Graves. 
Tobago  (West  Indies).     Tabago. 
Townsend  Gut  (coast  of  Maine).     Towns 
End. 

Tristan  da  Cunha  Island  (in  South  At- 
lantic).    Tristan  d*  Acunha. 

Ugaiushak  Island  (Alaska).     Ugaiuschak, 
Ugaiusha. 

Ugashik      River      (Alaska).       Oogahik, 
Sulima. 

Ulak  Island  (Alaska).     Ulakch,  Youlak, 
loulakh. 

Umak  Island  (Alaska).      Oumakh. 


'38 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  17,  1891. 


Umnak  Island  (Alaska).  Oumnak,  Oom- 
nak. 

Unalaska  Island  (Alaska).  Ounalashka, 
Oonalaska,  Ooanalashka,  Unalashka. 

Unalishagvak  Cape  (Alaska).  Unalishog- 
vak. 

Unimak  Island  (Alaska).  Oummak, 
Oonimak. 

Upper  Cedar  Point  (Potomac  river). 
Cedar  Point. 

Vsevidof  (Unimak  island,  Alaska).  Vseri- 
doff. 

Walfisch  Bay  (West  Africa).  Walfish, 
Walvish,  Walvisch. 

West  Cape  (W.  end  of  St.  Lawrence 
island,  Alaska).  C.  Sanachno,  C.  Sanackno. 

Willapa  Bay  (Washington).  Shoalwater, 
Willapah,  etc. 

Wolasatux  Village  (Alaska).      Wolasaluk. 

Wononsco  Pond  (Connecticut).  (In 
place  of  several  long  and  unpronounceable 
Indian  forms). 

Yaktag,  Cape  (Alaska).  Yaktaga,  Ya- 
kaio,  Yakiao. 

Yakutat  Bay  (Alaska).  Behring,  Yakatat, 
Bay  of  Yakutat. 

Yunaska  Island  (Alaska).      Younaska. 

gUB  F$I  B  S. 

The  Bottle  Imp. — There  is  just  an- 
nounced  as  soon  to  appear  a  short  story  by 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  with  this  title,  but 
is  there  not  an  old  story,  so  called,  by  some 
noted  writer?  I  have  a  strong  impression 
that  I  read  such  a  tale  in  my  childhood,  but 
I  cannot  place  the  authorship.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  writer  recollects  reading  a  good 
while  ago  a  weird  German  legend  by  this 
name  which  ran  about  as  follows : 

The  Bottle  Imp  was  a  malignant  little 
spirit  who  was  confined  in  a  small  glass  bot- 
tle. The  owner  of  this  bottle  was  enabled, 
by  the  power  of  the  demon  contained  in  it, 
to  have  magical  power  and  as  much  wealth 
as  he  could  desire.  But  woe  betide  him 
should  he  die  with  the  bottle  in  his  posses- 
sion, for  in  that  case  the  soul  of  the  luckless 
owner  went  straight  to  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness to  be  their  slave  for  evermore.  After 
any  one  had  become  the  owner  of  the  bottle 


there  was  but  one  way  to  be  safely  rid  of  it 
again,  viz.,  sell  it  for  a  smattersum  than  the 
amount  paid  for  it.  In  the  story,  a  hunter 
in  search  of  happiness  and  power,  not  know- 
ing the  terms  of  sale  of  the  bottle,  inadver- 
tently buys  it  for  the  smallest  coin  current 
in  the  realm  at  that  time.  After  a  while, 
however,  when  he  learns  of  his  fate  should 
he  die  with  the  bottle  in  his  possession,  he 
endeavors  to  get  rid  of  his  incubus.  But  all 
in  vain.  Though  he  throws  the  bottle  in 
deep,  swift-running  streams  and  buries  it  in 
the  earth  the  bottle  always  turns  up  again 
uninjured.  At  last,  one  day,  while  wander- 
ing in  the  depths  of  the  Black  Forest,  where 
the  scene  of  the  story  is  laid,  he  is  met  by  a 
dark,  mysterious  stranger,  who  tells  the  un- 
happy hunter  that  he  will  help  him  to  get 
rid  of  the  Bottle  Imp.  The  Prince  of  the 
province  is  to  go  hunting  in  the  forest 
shortly,  and  when  he  does  the  hunter  is  to 
put  him  in  peril  of  his  life  by  the  aid  of  the 
Bottle  Imp  and  then  rescue  him  by  the  same 
means.  Of  course  the  Prince  will  want  to 
reward  his  rescuer,  who  is  to  ask  for  the 
following  boon,  namely,  that  the  Prince 
shall  cause  to  be  issued  a  few  coins  of  a  less 
value  than  any  in  circulation  and  give  him 
some.  All  happens  as  is  foretold.  The 
hunter  gives  his  mysterious  friend  a  few  of 
the  coins,  who  buys  the  Bottle  Imp  from 
him  with  one  of  them  and  the  hunter  is 
saved. 

In  Rudyard  Kipling's  story,  "The  Bisara 
of  Pooree,"  there  figures  a  little  fish  that  is 
a  kind  of  Bottle  Imp.  This  fish  brings  good 
luck  to  its  owner  for  the  space  of  three  years, 
and  then  turns  against  him  by  bringing  all 
manner  of  misfortunes.  To  get  the  benefits 
of  the  fish  it  must  be  stolen  and  to  be  rid  of 
it  one  has  simply  to  lose  it.  Compared  to 
the  bottle  imp  just  described  the  little  fish 
would  seem  to  be  quite  a  benevolent  sort  of 
demon.  W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

REPLIES. 

Musha  (Vol.  vi,  p.  103). — This  word 
should  be  pronounced  mis/ia,  not  ntusha ;  it 
means  "  tny,"  or  is  synonymous  with  oh 
my  /  in  English.  J.  A.  L. 

NIAGARA  FALLS,  N.  Y. 


January  17,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Poni/'c  Sheep  (Vol.  vi,  p.  103). — Pliny 
enumerates  the  varieties  and  the  virtues  of 
wormwood,  and  mentions  one  kind  (identi- 
fied as  the  Artemisia  pontica  of  Linnaeus) 
"which  comes  from  Pontus,  where  the  cattle 
are  fattened  upon  it,  a  diet  which  causes 
them  to  be  destitute  of  gall"  ("  Nat.  Hist.," 
Bk.  xxvii,Chap.  xxviii ;  see  also  Bk.  xi,  Chap. 
Ixx).  Of  course,  the  metaphorical  deduction 
is  easy.  I  think  Burton  gives  wormwood 
among  plants  remedial  for  melancholy.  Be- 
sides the  docility  and  cheerfulness  supposed 
to  result  from  such  a  figurative  diet  for  the 
Lord's  sheep,  it  may  not  be  quite  fanciful 
to  find  a  further  appropriateness  for  the  con- 
nection, in  the  fact  that  wormwood  has 
sometimes  been  made  symbolical  of  immor- 
tality, though  probably  Vaughan  had  only 
Pliny's  statement  in  mind. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

We  Learn  So  Little,  etc.  (Vol.  v,  p.  280). 
— The  line  "  We  learn  so  little,  and  forget 
so  much"  occurs  in  "The  Vanity  of 
Human  Learning"  (circa  1600),  by  Sir 
John  Davies,  a  thoughtful  old  poet,  now 
much  neglected.  M. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Turn-spit  Dog  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113). — The 
turn-spit  dog  was  one  who  had  been  taught 
to  turn  the  spit  on  which  a  piece  of  meat 
had  been  placed  to  roast.  The  dog  was 
placed  in  a  kind  of  treadmill  and  made  to 
keep  on  a  constant  walk,  which  kept  the 
spit  turning,  hence  the  turn-spit  dog.  He 
belonged  to  the  less  intelligent  class  of  dogs 
of  the  mongrel  order. 

"  But  as  a  dog  that  turns  the  spit 
Bestirs  himself  and  plies  his  feet, 
To  climb  the  wheel',  but  all  in  vain, 
His  own  weight  brings  him  back  again, 
And  still  he's  in  the  self-same  place 
Where,  at  his  setting  out,  he  was." 

These  lines  Butler,  in  his  "  Hudibras," 
refers  to  the  astrologer  Sidrophel,  which 
was  the  poetical  name  that  he  gave  William 
Lilly,  the  celebrated  astrologer  and  almanac 
maker  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
lines  are  in  the  second  part  of  Canto  iii. 
THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


The  Queer  (Vol.  vi,  p.  103).  —  Wedg- 
wood, and  I  think  Prof.  Skeat  also,  men- 
tions the  change  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
meaning  of  our  present  "queer"  and  its 
comparatively  recent  introduction,  while 
Mr.  Kingston  Oliphant,  in  "  The  New  Eng- 
lish," dates  the  use  of  the  Low  German. 
word,  or  "queer,"  as  we  now  employ  it, 
from  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  nearly 
fifty  years  after  Vaughan  published  his 
"  Silex  Scintillans."  Oliphant  gives,  how- 
ever, an  earlier  employment  of  the  word  ; 
once  in  the  sense  of  career.  I  am  writing 
away  from  books  and  cannot  give  the  pagi- 
nation. 

But  "  queer  "  was  also  an  old  spelling  for 
"quire,"  or  "choir."  Vaughan  appears 
to  be  apostrophizing  the  heavenly  rapture 
that  was  "  making  melody  to  the  Lord  "  in- 
his  heart,  and  it  seems  to  me  his  title  may 
be  equivalent  to  "  The  Choir." 

I  offer  this  explanation  only  as  a  sugges- 
tion, which  G.  may  not  approve.  Possibly 
Dr.  Murray's  Dictionary  may  give  some  in- 
formation, under  "choir." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  expression  in  the  language  of  thieves 
and  "crooks"  has  the  well-known  meaning 
of  counterfeit  money,  though  I  can  hardly 
suppose  that  it  would  occur  with  this  mean- 
ing in  "religious"  poems. 

C.  H.  A. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


TO 


Four-leaf  Clover.  —  What  is  the  origin. 
of  a  four-leaf  clover  for  good  luck  ? 

CHARLES  N.  JUDSON. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

War  of  the  Fosse.  —  What  contest  is 
called  by  this  name  ?  McPHAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Albert  H.  Hardy.—  Can  you  give  me, 
for  use  in  a  reading  class,  a  sketch  of  the 
life  and  work  of  Albert  H.  Hardy, 
wrote  "The  Maid  of  Bethany?" 

J.  E.  D. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


140 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  17,  1891. 


Eagle  Renewing  its  Youth. — What 
is  meant  by  the  Scriptural  expression  about 
renewing  one's  youth  as  the  eagle  ? 

N. 

FAIRLEE,  VT. 

Spontaneous  Combustion. — Are  the 
old-time  stories  of  the  spontaneous  combus- 
tion of  the  human  body  worthy  of  credence? 

CARTWRIGHT  MANN. 
JERSEY  SHORE,  PA. 

Dat  Galenus  Apes,  Dat  Justinianus 
Honores. — Who  was  the  author  of  the 
above  line  ?  TETARTOS. 

HIRAM,  O. 

Samuel. — Who  is  the  poet  S.  Samuel, 
-quoted  by  Edna  Lyall  in  one  of  her  novels  ? 

BARDALPH. 

EDEN,  ME. 

Pomegranate. — What  is  the  significa- 
tion of  Pomegranates  on  church  vestments? 

E.  M. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Infair. — I  have  lately  heard  this  word 
for  the  first  time,  and  am  informed  it  has 
been  in  very  general  use  throughout  the 
Southern  States  to  mean  a  party  or  an  en- 
tertainment. Is  it  in  the  dictionaries? 
Should  it  perhaps  be  in-farc  ?  .  P. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Oyster  Bay. — In  Philadelphia,  many 
oyster  saloons  and  eating  houses  where 
oysters  are  the  leading  item  sold  are  called 
"  oyster  bays/'  at  least  on  their  sign  boards. 
•Occasionally,  in  the  older  part  of  the  city, 
one  comes  upon  the  sign  "  Oyster  Rock." 
Are  these  names  peculiar  to  Philadelphia  ? 

E.  M. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

E  Pluribus  Unum. — Can  you  tell  me 
the  origin  of  this  motto  ?  W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

Baronets    of   Nova   Scotia.— Are 

there  any  living  Baronets  in  Nova  Scotia? 

L.  M.  CARSON. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Witch  of  the  Pyrenees.— What  is 
the  history  of  this  witch  ?  She  figures  in 
"The  Apollyona"  of  Mrs.  R.  S.  Green- 
ough's  "  Arabesques."  D. 

Sy mines' s  Hole. — Will  not  some  of 
your  writers  who  are  skilled  in  such  matters 
give  me  some  notion  of  the  particulars  of  the 
theory  of  the  late  J.  C.  Symmes,  who  held 
that  the  earth  is  a  hollow  sphere,  having  an 
opening  at  either  pole  ?  ROBERTO. 

HUDSON,  N.  Y. 

Australian  Caverns. — Will  some  cor- 
respondent kindly  send  a  note  of  the  name 
and  locality  of  the  extensive  caverns  which 
were  discovered  in  Australia  not  many  years 
since?  E.  M.  S.  B. 

CHELSEA,  MASS. 

The  X.  Y.  Z.  Mission.— What  was 
this  mission  ?  D. 

©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Antonomasias  of  Rulers  and  "War- 
riors (Vol.  vi,  pp.  119,  etc.). — 

American  Fabius — George  Washington. 

Brandy  Nan — Queen  Anne  of  England. 

Catholic  Majesty — Alfonso  I  of  Spain. 

Citizen  King — Louis  Philippe  of  France. 

French  Solomon — Louis  IX  and  Charles 
V  of  France. 

Father  of  his  People — Christian  II  of 
Sweden. 

Farmer  George — George  III  of  England. 

Father  of  his  Country — This  name  was 
borne  by  Andronicus  II,  Caesar,  Cosmo 
d' Medici,  Cicero  and  Washington. 

German  Cicero — John  III,  Margrave  of 
Brandenburg. 

Handsome  Swordsman — Prince  Murat. 

Jean  d'Epee — Napoleon  1. 

King  of  Bark — Christopher  III  of  Swe- 
den. 

Lord  Strutt — Charles  II  of  Spain. 

Lion  of  the  North — Gustavus  Adolphus  of 
Sweden. 

Louis  Baboon — Louis  XIV  of  France. 

Madman  of  Macedon  —  Alexander  the 
Great. 

Man  of  Blood — Charles  I  of  England. 


January  17,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


141 


Man  of  Sin — Oliver  Cromwell. 

Nero  of  the  North — Christian  II  of  Den- 
mark. 

Nightmare  of  Europe — Napoleon  I. 

Old  Man  Eloquent — John  Q.  Adams. 

Old  Noll— Oliver  Cromwell. 

Old  Fox — Marshal  Soult. 

Old  Public  Functionary  —  James  Bu- 
chanan. 

Prince  of  Destruction — Tamerlane. 

Parson's  Emperor — Charles  IV  of  Mo- 
dena. 

Philosopher  of  Sans  Souci — Frederick  the 
Great. 

Rough  and  Ready — President  Taylor. 

Royal  Martyr — Charles  I  of  England. 

Son  of  the  Last  Man — Charles  II  of  Eng- 
land. 

Sage  of  Monticello — Thomas  Jefferson. 

Steenie — George  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham. 

Turnip  Hoer — George  I  of  England. 

Madame  Veto — Louis  XVI  of  France. 


THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 


WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


Men  of  Humble  Origin  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
70). — Plaurus,  the  Latin  poet,  was  the  son 
"of  free  but  poor  parents." 

Andronicus,  another  Latin  poet,  was 
made  a  freedman  by  his  master. 

Ennius,  called  "the  Father  of  Latin 
Poetry,"  was  of  very  obscure  origin. 

Publius  Syrus,  the  philosopher,  was  taken 
to  Rome  and  educated  by  his  master. 

Moehler,  the  Catholic  theologian,  was 
the  son  of  a  small  innkeeper. 

Morellet,  one  of  the  Forty,  was  the  son 
of  a  small  stationer. 

Johann  Miiller,  the  eminent  scientist, 
came  from  very  obscure  stock. 

Neander,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  came 
from  very  obscure  stock  also. 

Ockham,  called  the  "  Invincible  Doctor," 
was  of  humble  origin.  He  took  his  name 
from  a  small  village  in  Surrey. 

Gliick,  the  composer,  was  the  son  of  a 
huntsman. 

O' Donovan,  the  Celtic  scholar,  was  the 
son  of  a  small  farmer. 

Edward  Irving,  the  famous  preacher,  was 
the  son  of  a  tanner. 


Firdusi,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Persian 
poets,  was  the  son  of  a  gardener. 

The  famous  Bishop  Flechier  came  from 
humble  parents. 

Rask,  the  Danish  philologist,  was  bred  in 
the  direst  poverty. 

Rollin's  father  was  a  cutler. 

William  Roscoe's  father  was  an  innkeeper. 

Sal  lust  carne  from  very  poor  parents. 

Saussure,  the  Swiss  naturalist,  was  the  son 
of  a  small  farmer. 

Marshal  Soult's  father  was  a  peasant. 

Jared  Sparks  was  a  son  of  a  poor  farmer. 

Talma  was  the  son  of  a  dentist. 

The  father  of  Gifford,  the  poet  and  critic, 
was  a  sailor  and  plumber.  He  himselt 
worked  as  a  shoemaker. 

Hans  Sachs,  the  most  famous  of  the  early 
German  poets,  was  the  son  of  a  tailor. 

Corneliez,  the  Dutch  painter,  was  the  son 
of  a  cook. 

Abbe  Hauy,  the  "Father  of  Crystallog- 
raphy," was  the  son  of  a  weaver. 

Peter  Ramus  became  a  servant  in  the 
College  of  Navarre.  His  father  was  a  labo- 
rer. 

Gaussone,  the  eminent  physicist,  was  the 
son  of  a  bricklayer. 

Metastasio's  father  was  a  mechanic. 

Parini,  the  poet,  was  the  son  of  a  peasant. 

Giotto's  father  was  a  peasant.  He  was 
self-taught. 

Canova's  father  was  a  stone-cutter. 

Cowley's  father  was  a  grocer. 

Joseph  Butler  was  the  son  of  a  country 
shop-keeper. 

Wyatt,  the  English  architect,  was  the  son 
of  a  farmer. 

Alvarez,  the  sculptor,  was  the  son  of  a 
stone-cutter  and  worked  at  the  trade  him- 
self. 

Beranger  was  a  tavern-boy,  and  was  reared 
by  his  grandfather,  who  was  a  tailor. 

Bechstein,  the  German  naturalist,  was  the 
son  of  a  blacksmith. 

The  antiquarian  and  scholar  Ashmole, 
founder  of  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Ox- 
ford, was  the  son  of  a  saddler. 

George  Buchanan,  the  scholar,  said  that 
his  father  was  as  poor  as  he  himself  was. 

Cardano,  one  of  the  greatest  scholars  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  was  of  humble  origin. 
He  was  self-taught. 


142 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  17,  1891. 


Cardinal  Antonelli's  father  belonged  to  a 
gang  of  banditti. 

Hans  Christian  Andersen's  father  was  a 
shoemaker. 

Zurbaran,  the  eminent  Spanish  painter, 
was  the  son  of  a  husbandman. 

Fishbein,  called  by  Spooner  one  of  the 
most  eminent  painters  of  the  last  century, 
was  bred  in  a  baker's  shop. 

Roos,  the  Dutch  painter,  was  the  son  of  a 
weaver. 

Mendelssohn,  the  philosopher,  called  the 
"Jewish  Socrates,"  came  from  the  lowest 
stock  and  was  self-taught. 

Abbe  la  Caill6,  who  ranked,  according  to 
Disraeli,  among  the  first  astronomers  of  the 
age,  was  the  son  of  a  poor  parish  clerk. 

Jacob  Bohme,  the  "  Philosophus  Teutoni- 
cus,"  came  of  poor  stock,  and  was  himself  a 
shoemaker. 

Murray,  the  Orientalist,  who  taught  him- 
self French,  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew 
within  two  years,  was  the  son  of  a  shepherd. 

Antonio  Magliabecchi  came  of  wretchedly 
poor  parents.  His  father  was  a  vender  of 
pot-herbs. 

Henry  Ward,  who  taught  himself  the 
Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Syriac, 
Arabic  and  Persian  languages,  came  of  hum- 
ble stock,  and  was  himself  a  tailor. 

Archbishop  Tillotson's  father  was  a  cloth- 
ier. 

Home  Tooke's  father  was  a  poulterer. 

Pollock's  father  was  a  farmer. 

Hiram  Powers  was  the  son  of  a  small 
farmer. 

Rabelais'  father  was  an  inn-keeper. 

Dal  ton's  father  was  a  weaver. 

J.  C.  Adam,  the  astronomer,  was  the  son 
of  a  poor  farmer. 

Macpherson,  of  Ossian  fame,  was  the  son 
of  a  small  farmer. 

The  celebrated  Massillon  was  the  son  of  a 
notary. 

Massinger's  father  was  a  servant. 

Cardinal  Mezzofanti  was  the  son  of  an 
humble  carpenter. 

James  Mill,  father  of  Stuart  Mill,  was  the 
son  of  a  shoemaker. 

Pierre  Jeannin,  French  statesman,  was 
the  son  of  a  tanner. 

The  Emperor  Justinian  was  the  son  of  a 
peasant. 


Michael  Lomonosoff,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  Russian  poets,  was  the  son  of  a  fisher- 
man. 

Geijer,  the  greatest  of  Swedish  historians, 
was  the  son  of  an  iron-foundry  worker. 

Gesner,  called  the  "  Pliny  of  Germany," 
came  of  poor  parents. 

Leyden,  the  great  Orientalist,  was  the  son 
of  a  shepherd. 

Sam  Pepys's  father  was  a  tailor. 

Lamb  was  the  son  of  a  servant. 

John  Clark,  the  "plough-boy  poet,"  was 
the  son  of  a  pauper. 

Palgrave,  the  archaeologist,  was  the  son  of 
a  poor  Jew  named  Cohen. 

Noah  Webster's  father  was  a  small  farmer. 

Wilkins,  the  learned  Bishop  of  Oxford, 
was  the  son  of  a  goldsmith. 

La  Harpe's  father  was  a  peasant. 

Harvey  was  the  son  of  a  farmer. 

Volney's  father  was  a  poor  farmer. 

The  father  of  Diderot  was  a  cutler. 

James  Ferguson,  the  astronomer,  was  the 
son  of  a  day-laborer.  He  was  self-educated. 

Inigo  Jones,  the  English  architect,  was 
the  son  of  a  weaver. 

The  painter,  Northcote,  was  the  son  of  a 
watchmaker.  He  humorously  traces  his 
descent  thus:  "All  people,"  he  said,  "are 
sprung  from  somebody,  and  even  the  North- 
cotes  have  an  origin.  In  Devonshire  there 
stood  four  cottages,  one  was  called  east  cot, 
one  was  called  west  cot,  one  was  called 
south  cot,  and  one  was  called  north  cot.  I 
am  of  the  latter  house,  and  so  there  is  an 
honest  descent  without  help  from  the  Her- 
ald's office."  JOHN  T.  LUCEY. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Sind  and  Sindhia. — I  notice  that  our 
national  board  of  geographical  experts  pre- 
fers the  spelling  Sindhia  to  Sinde.  and  Sindh. 
But  Sinde  is  one  thing,  and  Sindhia  is 
another.  Sind,  Sinde,  or  Sindh  is  a  province 
of  British  India.  Sindhia  is  really  a  family 
name.  The  Maharaja  Sindhia  is  ruler  of  the 
Gwalior  State,  which  State  is  often  called 
Sindhia'' s  Dominion,  and  sometimes,  but  not 
correctly,  Sindhia.  To  say  the  least,  our 
government  geographers  have  been  a  little 
hasty  in  proposing  to  substitute  the  spelling 
of  Sindhia,  to  that  of  Sinde,  or  as  the  best 
authorities  spell  it,  Sind.  Will  you  not 


January  17,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


143 


publish    this   first    bulletin   of  the   United 
States  Board  of  Geographical  Names  ? 

P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Crane  and  Stone  (Vol.  iii,  p.  228; 
Vol.  vi,  pp.  6,  104). — J.  F.  is  correct  in  his 
remembrance  about  the  cranes  in  Aristo- 
phanes' "Birds."  The  messenger  who 
comes  hot-foot  to  Pristhetairus  to  announce 
the  rapid  progress  of  the  new  city  of  Nephe- 
lococcugia,  or  Cuckoo-cloud-town,  and  the 
marvels  that  had  been  done  by  the  birds, 
says  : 

"The  Birds,  I  say,  completed  everything: 
There  came  a  body  of  thirty  thousand  cranes 
(I  won't  be  positive,  there  might  be  more) 
With  stones  from  Africa,  in  their  craws  and  gizzards, 
Which  the  stone-curlews  and  stone-chatterers 
Worked  into  shape  and  finished." 

(Frere's  translation.; 

At  a  later  stage  the  Informer  came  to  the 
city  desiring  wings  so  that  he  might 
"trounce  the  islanders"  and  bring  back  a 
load  of  law-suits  for  ballast,  meaning 

"  To  return  in  company  with  a  flight  of  cranes 
(As  they  do  with  the  gravel  in  their  gizzards)." 

Pliny  gives  the  belief  of  his  day,  in  the 
story  that  at  night  cranes  put  sentinels  on 
guard,  "Each  of  which  holds  a  little  stone 
in  its  claw ;  if  the  bird  should  happen  to  fall 
asleep,  the  claw  becomes  relaxed  and  the 
stone  falls  to  the  ground,  and  so  convicts  it 
of  neglect."  He  asserts  as  a  well-known 
fact  that,  when  cranes  crossed  the  Euxine, 
they  were  wont  to  seek  the  narrowest  point 
"  and  then  ballast  themselves  with  coarse 
sand.  When  they  have  arrived  midway  in  the 
passage,  they  throw  away  the  stones  from 
out  their  claws,  and  as  soon  as  they  reach 
the  mainland,  discharge  the  sand  by  the 
throat"  ("  Nat.  Hist.,"  Chap.  xxx). 

Plutarch,  in  the  chapter  on  "  Which  are 
the  Most  Crafty?"  gives  the  same  story  of  the 
sentinel  cranes,  and  relates  that  Cretan  bees 
and  Cicilian  geese  also  ballast  themselves 
with  little  stones;  the  geese  making  it  a 
point  to  carry  large  stones  in  their  mouths 
every  time  they  cross  the  Taurus  in  order,  for 
fear  of  the  eagles,  to  "  bridle  their  gaggling 
tongues"  ("Morals,"  Vol.  v,  p.  175, 
Goodman's  Ed.).  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Origin  of  Some  Names  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
120). — The  Rev.  Wm.  Arthur's  "Etymo- 
logical Dictionary  of  Family  Names  "  gives 
the  following  derivation  of  Atkins :  "  Cam- 
den  derives  it  from  At,  a  familiar  abbrevia- 
tion of  Arthur,  and  kins,  a  termination,  sig- 
nifying a  child,  having  the  same  meaning  as 
the  German  kind,  a  child,  an  infant,  i.e., 
the  son  of  Arthur,  so  Wilkins,  Sirnpkins, 
etc."  Larkins,  Arthur  derives  "  from  lark, 
a  sweet,  shrill,  musical  bird,  and  kin,  a 
child.  Learcean,  or  Leargan,  a  sloping 
green,  side  of  a  hill,  near  the  sea,  from 
Lear,  Gaelic,  the  sea."  Huggins,  he  says, 
is  "the  same  as  Higgins,  from  Hug,  the 
nickname  for  Hugh,  and  the  patronymic 
termination  ings,  belonging  to,  or  the  son 
of."  "Haskins  or  Hoskins  (Cornish-Brit- 
ish) from  Heschen  or  Hoskyn,  the  place  of 
rushes,  the  sedgy  place."  Aitken,  "  proba- 
bly the  same  as  Atkins. ' '  Aiken  he  derives 
from  "(Saxon)  Oaken,  hard  or  firm,  from 
ack,  oak."  But  Arthur's  derivations  are 
sometimes  far  from  right,  and  should  be 
taken  with  some  allowance.  H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Death  Valley. — California  can  certainly 
claim  the  greatest  natural  wonders  of  the 
world.  Its  Yosemite  valleys,  its  big  trees, 
its  petrified  forests,  and  its  innumerable 
other  attractions  substantiate  this  assertion. 
One  of  the  latter  class,  little  known  and 
rarely  spoken  of,  is  the  Death  Valley  of  Inyo 
county,  in  many  respects  the  most  remark- 
able of  them  all. 

Imagine  a  trackless  waste  of  sand  and 
rock,  shimmering  under  the  rays  of  a  more 
than  tropical  sun,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides 
by  Titanic  rocks  and  mountains  whose  very 
impress  is  that  of  eternal  desolation,  and  you 
have  a  fair  idea  of  Death  Valley.  Geo- 
graphically it  is  the  sink  of  the  Amargosa 
river,  which  is  quite  a  marvel  in  itself.  It 
rises  in  the  Western  Sierras  about  two  miles 
from  the  California  line,  and  flows  south- 
ward for  ninety  miles,  when  it  disappears 
from  sight  in  the  bed  of  an  ancient  lake  at 
the  foot  of  the  Resting  Spring  mountains. 
A  little  further  south  it  reappears  and  con- 
tinues another  sixty  miles,  when  it  again  re- 
turns to  its  subterranean  channel.  Still 
again  it  reappears  and  flows  nearly  100 


144 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  17,  1891. 


miles,  when  it  finally  disappears  in  the  sink 
of  the  Death  Valley,  quite  a  remarkable 
river. 

Death  Valley  is  about  eight  miles  broad  by 
thirty-five  long,  and  comprises  some  300 
square  miles  of  the  most  God-forsaken  country 
in  the  world.  It  looks  as  if  suffering  from  some 
terrible  curse,  such  as  we  read  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. It  lies  far  below  the  sea  level,  and  in 
some  places  160  feet.  No  friendly  clouds 
appear  to  intercept  the  scorching  heat.  The 
thermometer  registers  125  degrees  week 
after  week.  No  moisture  ever  falls  to  cool 
the  burning  sand.  Bright  steel  may  be  left 
out  night  after  night  and  never  be  tarnished. 

Nothing  will  decay ;  a  dead  animal  will 
simply  dry  up  like  parchment  and  remain  so 
seemingly  forever.  No  sound  is  ever  heard  ; 
the  silence  of  eternal  desolation  reigns 
supreme.  It  is  a  curious  geological  forma- 
tion, only  paralleled  in  one  other  instance — 
that  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  rocks,  lava, 
basalt  and  granite  show  the  volcanic  forma- 
tion, which  probably  will  account  for  the 
poisonous  quality  of  the  air.  It  is  said  that 
noxious  gases  are  emitted  from  the  numer- 
ous fissures  in  the  rocks. 

Such  is  a  brief  description  of  the  most  re- 
markable valley  in  America.  Population 
may  press  onward,  but  it  will  never  enter 
here.  Reclamation  of  vast  tracts  of  land 
will  be  accomplished,  but  Death  Valley  will 
never  see  a  plow.  It  is  forever  destined  to 
remain  in  its  state  of  primitive  barrenness. 
By  the  workings  of  some  mysterious  cause 
the  place  is  hostile  to  life.  It  is  avoided 
alike  by  man  and  beast.  Geologists  tell  us 
it  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  condition 
of  the  whole  world  at  an  early  geological 
epoch.  Every  tourist  who  has  the  oppor- 
tunity should  visit  this  miniature  Sahara. 

Ex. 

Strange  Etymologies  (Vol.  vi,  p.  107). 
— In  regard  to  California,  I  have  examined 
several  authorities  and  find  the  following : 

"  California. — A  name  given  by  Cortes, 
which  he  probably  took  from  the  old  Span- 
ish romance  of  "Esplandian"  of  Montalvo. 
In  this  work  the  name  is  that  of  an  imagin- 
ary island  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Indies, 
very  near  to  the  terrestrial  paradise,  abound- 
ing in  great  treasures  of  gold."  Another 


authority  gives  it  as  from  Califa,  the  Span- 
ish for  the  Arabic  word  Rhaiifah.  ' '  Haydn' s 
Dictionary"  gives  it  as  from  the  Spanish 
words  Caliente,  hot,  and  Fornalla,  furnace, 
hence  a  hot  furnace.  This  latter  I  think  is 
more  tenable,  as  gold  was  not  found  in  Cali- 
fornia by  Cortes,  who,  by  the  way,  only 
visited  Lower  California,  which  was  sandy 
and  excessively  hot.  He  supposed  that  it 
was  an  island,  and  named  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia the  Vermilion  or  Red  Sea. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Seminets  (Vol.  iv,  p.  197).  I  think 
your  account  of  this  remarkable  black 
woman  is  substantially  correct.  She  lived 
at  Blanket  Sound,  island  of  Andros,  in  the 
Bahamas,  latitude  24°  52'  50"  N.,  where  the 
government(throughtheeffortsofMr.  Mann- 
ing, then  acting  governor)  made  her  a  grant 
of  land  in  1828.  In  Murray's  "  West 
Indies  Directory,"  Part  i,  edition  of  1874, 
p.  107,  there  are  a  few  notes,  all  too  brief, 
regarding  this  interesting  personage.  Per- 
haps other  correspondents  can  direct  us  to 
some  completer  and  more  satisfactory  ac- 
count. J.  L.  C. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Wawa  (Vol.  vi,  p.  119).— The  "  town  " 
referred  to  by  "  G."  is  not  a  town  at  all, 
but  a  railroad  station  on  the  Central 
Division  of  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington 
and  Baltimore  Railroad  ;  has  branches  lead- 
ing to  West  Chester,  Oxford  and  Chester. 
The  station  of  Wawa  is  in  Delaware  county, 
about  nine  miles  from  West  Chester  and 
twenty  from  Philadelphia.  The  name  Wawa 
was  given  to  the  place  about  twelve  or  fif- 
teen years  ago,  and  is  an  Indian  name.  The 
next  station  on  the  "  Central  Division,"  to- 
wards Philadelphia^  is  Lenni,  also  an  Indian 
name.  On  the  Wilmington  and  Northern 
Railroad,  extending  from  Wilmington  to 
Reading,  there  is  a  station  about  four  miles 
from  West  Chester  and  sixteen  or  eighteen 
from  Wilmington,  called  Lenape,  another 
Indian  name.  All  over  the  counties  of 
Chester  and  Delaware  roamed  the  tribe 
known  as  the  Lenni-Lenape. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  :— Glass  Snakes,  145. 

QUERIES  :— St.  Brendan    Isle— Man   of  Fir 
Bounds,  146. 


-Beating  the 


REPLIES:— Suicide  Among  the  Poets,  146— Cave-in-Rock— 
Cocobola  and  Coccoloba,  148 — Scotch-Irish  Emigrants — In- 
fare — Hierony mites — Miramichi  Fire,  149. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS:— Poet  Laureate 
— Fairy  Rings — Six-fingered  Queen — Authorship  Wanted — 
Gottes  Brittle — Hatteras — Death-watch— Johnny-Cake,  150. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Pets  of  Famous  People,  150— 
Woodruff— Stilt-walkers—  Pillars  of  the  Church— Thirty 
Days  Hath  September — Singular  Names  of  Places — Colum- 
bus and  the  Egg,  151 — Ant-Lion — Napoleon  and  the  Letter 
M,  152 — Fiefes — Kinnickinnick — Communion  Tokens — Hand 
of  Justice — Seven  Wonders  of  Corea,  153 — The  Tenth  Muse 
— Turn-spit  Dogs,  154 — Vicarious  Justice — The  Queer — Ro- 
sicrucians,  155 — Tacoma — Animal  Calls  —  Sambo  —  Raised 
and  Tote — Devil  in  Geography — He  Carries  His  Office  in 
His  Hat.  156. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :— 156. 


GLASS-SNAKES. 

The  so-called  glass-snake  of  North 
America,  as  is  well  known,  is  not  a  snake  at 
all,  but  a  snake-like  and  limbless  lizard. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  English  blind-worm, 
Anguts  fragilis,  but  not  of  our  American 
blind- worms  (  Typhlops,  etc.),  which  are  very 
small  and  almost  eyeless  worm-like  snakes. 
Of  these,  however,  India  and  Australia  are 
the  chief  abodes.  Snakes  they  are,  although 
in  habit  and  appearance  they  seem  rather  to 
be  earth-worms.  But  the  glass-snakes  seem 
to  be  serpents,  while  in  point  of  fact  they 
are  nothing  but  gentle  and  harmless  lizards. 
Ours  is  called  Ophiosaurus  ventralis,  and 
there  are  still  other  species  in  California. 
Europe  has  one  kind  of  glass-snake,  Africa 
another,  and  India  still  another.  Australia 
abounds  in  similar  species  and  genera.  The 
so-called  Amphisbsenas  are  in  some  respects 


146 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  24,  1891. 


near  the  European  blind-worm,  or  slow- 
worm,  and  so,  apparently,  is  the  thunder- 
worm  of  Florida  {Rhineura  floridana). 
Still  another  group  of  snake-like  vertebrates 
are  the  tropical  Casciliidse,  which  live  un- 
derground, and  are  mostly  either  blind  or 
apparently  so,  like  so  many  others  of  the 
singular  creatures  we  have  mentioned.  But 
these  Caeciliidae  are  neither  snakes,  nor 
lizards,  nor  worms.  They  are  true  amphi- 
bians, much  more  nearly  related  to  the  frogs 
than  to  either  snakes  or  lizards.  The  true 
glass-snakes  (so  called)  are  named  from  the 
brittleness  of  the  tail,  which  is  very  easily 
broken  off;  but  it  soon  reappears,  and  this 
has  given  rise  to  the  incorrect  opinion  that 
the  old,  old  tail  really  grows  to  its  stump. 
During  the  war  of  1 86 i-i  865 ,  many  Northern 
soldiers  were  much  annoyed  by  the  glass- 
snakes,  which  liked  to  hide  in  a  soldier's 
blanket,  but  they  were  never  known  to  do 
any  real  harm  except  to  insects  and  small 
creeping  things.  ISLANDER. 

gUE  1^1  B  S. 

St.  Brendan  Isle. — I  find  this  name  given 
to  an  island  charted  on  Toscanelli's  map  of 
the  world,  1474.  The  island  in  question  is 
about  the  size  of  Venezuela,  and  has  about 
the  same  position.  Is  it  possible  that  some 
adventurous  sailor  reached  the  northern 
shore  of  South  America  before  Columbus 
saw  it,  or  is  the  island  a  product  of  tradition? 

J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  story  of  St.  Brendan's  voyages  is  per- 
haps the  most  noted  in  the  old  Celtic  cycle, 
but  in  mediaeval  times  it  found  a  place,  in 
one  shape  or  another,  in  the  literature  of  al- 
most every  European  nation.  St.  Brendan's 
island  is  in  one  way  a  purely  •  mythical 
place  ;  but  so  late  as  the  eighteenth  century 
everybody  believed  in  it,  and  in  that  century 
Spain  and  Portugal  entered  into  a  treaty  re- 
garding its  possession.  Yet  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  story  was  at  first  a  sort  of  al- 
legory. Brendan's  Isle  was  undoubtedly 
the  soul  kingdom,  the  land  of  departed 
spirits.  Sometimes  it  was  visited  by  water, 
as  in  St.  Brendan's  voyages ;  sometimes 
through  a  cave,  as  in  the  Purgatory  of  St. 


Patrick ;  sometimes  in  a  vision,  or  trance, 
as  in  the  vision  of  Tundale.  The  old  Irish 
were  fond  of  stories  of  Immrams,  or  wander- 
ings by  sea,  most  of  which  had  originally  an 
allegorical  meaning;  later,  they  were  ac- 
cepted as  genuine  records  of  adventure.  Of 
these  stories,  that  of  St.  Brendan's  voyage  is 
by  far  the  most  celebrated.  It  is  probable, 
nay  certain,  that  facts  and  incidents  of  real 
voyages  became  gradually  blended  with  the 
old  myths,  partly  by  way  of  gloss  or  illus- 
tration, and  partly  by  an  unconscious  pro- 
cess of  assimilation.  There  are  manifest 
traces  of  these  old  stories  in  some  of  the 
round-table  legends  and  in  their  imitations 
and  continuations. 

Man  of  Fire. — Who  was  known  by  this 
name?  I.  M. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Caramuru,  the  man  of  fire,  was  a  noble- 
man of  Portugal,  who  established  himself 
near  where  Bahia  now  stands,  and  acquired 
great  authority  over  the  Indians.  The  poet 
Durao  published  an  epic  poem  entitled 
"  Caramuru,"  which  some  regard  as  one  of 
the  best  in  the  Portuguese  language.  The 
story  has  some  legendary  elements,  and  quite 
an  amount  of  literature  has  grown  up  around 
it. 

Beating  the  Bounds. — Are  there  any 
traces  of  the  custom  of  "  Beating  the 
Bounds  "  of  parishes  in  the  United  States? 

B.  A.  C. 

WOODBURY,  N.  J. 

Processioners  are  appointed  in  Tennessee 
and  some  other  States,  and  in  Massachusetts 
the  select  men  of  contiguous  townships  at 
stated  periods  traverse  together  the  common 
boundaries  of  their  townships.  Will  corre- 
spondents kindly  add  to  these  facts? 

REPLIES. 

Suicide  Among  the  Poets  (Vol.  v,  p. 
269). — Three  notable  cases — differing  widely 
in  cause  and  method — are  those  of  the 
Roman  poet,  Caius  Silius-Italicus,  author  of 
the  "  Punica,"  at  seventy-five  years  of  age; 
Thomas  Chatterton,  sole  author  of  the 


January  24,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Rowley  poems,  at  seventeen  years  and  nine 
months,  and  Heinrich  von  Kleist,  the  Ger- 
man  novelist  and  dramatist,  as  well  as  poet, 
at  thirty-five  years. 

Silius-Italicus  starved  himself  to  death,  in 
order  to  escape  the  protracted  suffering  of 
an  incurable  disease,  perhaps  as  Byron  has 
said  : 

"  Less  from  disgust  of  life  than  dread  of  death." 

The  act  was  in  perfect  accordance  with 
the  teachings  of  the  Stoics,  and  was  recog- 
nized by  Roman  law — as  the  right  or  privi- 
lege of  the  individual — except  when  taken 
advantage  of  to  escape  punishment  for  crime. 
In  this  connection  Mr.  Leckysays:  "The 
conception  of  suicide  as  an  euthanasia,  an 
abridgment  of  the  pangs  of  disease,  and  a 
guarantee  against  the  dotage  of  age,  was  not 
confined  to  philosophical  treatises.  We 
have  considerable  evidence  of  its  being  fre- 
quently put  in  practice  "  ("Hist.  European 
Morals,"  Vol.  P. 

Cleanthes,  who  succeeded  Zeno  as  leader 
of  the  Stoic  sect  263  B.C.,  was  another  who 
chose  to  abridge  his  life,  for  reasons  similar 
to  those  of  Silius-Italicus.  He  was  already 
eighty  years  old  when  his  physician  recom- 
mended two  days'  abstinence  from  food,  in 
order  to  cure  an  ulcer  in  the  mouth.  Being 
indifferent  to  life,  he  chose  to  continue  the 
abstinence  until  death  ensued.  Cleanthes 
was  author  of  the  famous  "  Hymn  to  Jupi- 
ter," in  which  occur  the  lines : 

"  Thy  hand,  educing  good  from  evil,  brings 
To  one  apt  harmony  the  strife  of  things, 
One  ever-during  law  still  binds  the  whole, 
Though  shunn'd,  resisted,  by  the  sinner's  soul." 

Thomas  Chatterton,  24th  of  August,  1 770, 
overcome  by  privation  and  despair,  retired 
to  his  garret  in  London,  locked  himself  in, 
tore  up  his  manuscripts  and  poisoned  him- 
self with  arsenic.  When  his  door  was 
broken  open,  his  hand  still  grasped  the 
nearly  empty  phial  which  revealed  the  means 
of  self-destruction  with 

"  The  youth,  who  smil'd  at  death, 
And  rashly  dared  to  stop  his  vital  breath." 

Coleridge,  in  "The  Monody  on  the 
Death  of  Chatterton,"  a  poem  which  Lamb 


admired  greatly,  but  did  not  think  "  quite 
perfect,"  has  these  lines  : 

"  Amid  the  shining  Host  of  the  Forgiven, 
Thou,  at  the  Throne  of  Mercy  and  thy  God, 
The  triumph  of  redeeming  Love  dost  hymn 
(Believe  it,  O,  my  soul)  to  harps  of  Seraphim." 

Near  the  close  we  find  the  beautiful  allu- 
sion to  the  famous  antiques  of  the  youthful 
poet : 

"  O  Chatterton,  that  thou  wert  yet  alive  ! 
And  we  at  sober  eve  would  round  thee  throng, 
Would  hang  enraptured  on  thy  stately  song, 
And  greet  with  smiles  the  young-eyed  Poesy, 
All  deftly  masked  as  hoar  Antiquity, 
Sweet  harper  of  time-shrouded  minstrelsy." 

No  poetical  reference  to  Chatterton  is 
more  familiar  than  Wordsworth's  couplet  in 
the  "Leech-Gatherer:" 

"  I  thought  of  Chatterton,  the  marvelous  boy, 
The  sleepless  soul  that  perished  in  his  pride." 

Perhaps  none  is  more  impressive  than  that 
of  Shelley,  in  "The  Adonais;  or,  Elegy 
on  the  Death  of  Keats : ' ' 

"  The  inheritors  of  unfulfilled  renown 

Rose  from  their  thrones,  built  beyond  mortal  thought 
Far  in  the  unapparent,  Chatterton 

Rose  pale,  his  solemn  agony  had  not 

Yet  faded  from  him," 

unless  we  except  Rossetti's  sonnet,  begin- 
ning: 

"  With  Shakespeare's  manhood  at  a  boy's  wild  heart, 
Through  Hamlet's  doubt  to  Shakespeare  near  allied, 
And  kin  to  Milton  through  his  Satan's  pride." 

(T.  Hart  Caine's  "  Recollections  of  Rossetti,"  p.  186.) 

Heinrich  von  Kleist,  the  German  misan- 
thrope, rendered  desperate  by  intense 
patriotism,  and  by  Kantian  philosophy,  of 
which  he  was  a  devotee,  committed  murder 
and  suicide  in  a  fit  of  temporary  insanity, 
2oth  of  November,  iSn.  The  poet  was 
aided  to  this  tragical  act  by  Henrietta  von 
Vogel,  a  lady  for  whom  he  entertained  a 
Platonic  regard,  and  herself  insane — he  hav- 
ing permitted  himself  to  be  bound  by  a 
promise  which  she  had  extorted  from  him 
in  one  of  his  spells  of  despondency. 

Von  Kleist's  suicide  connects  itself  with 
history,  as  being  the  most  tragical  episode  of 
Germany's  struggle  with  Bonaparte — another 
victim  of  which  was  the  beautiful  and  much 
beloved  Queen  Louisa. 


148 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  24,  1891. 


Eustace  Budgell  (1686-1737),  a  poet  in  a 
small  way,  having  become  disordered  in 
mind  from  money  troubles,  "  on  the  4th  of 
May  drove  to  Dorset  Stairs,  filled  his 
pockets  with  stones,  took  a  boat,  plunged 
overboard,  and  was  drowned."  The 
coroner  returned  a  verdict  of  lunacy  (see 
"Diet.  Nat.  Biog."). 

Byron  tells  Budgell's  story  quite  off- 
hand : 

"  Budgell,  a  rogue  and  rhymster,  for  no  good 
(Unless  his  case  be  much  misunderstood), 
When  teased  with  creditors'  continual  claims, 
'  To  die  like  Cato,"  leapt  into  the  Thames !" 

Henry  Carey  (d.  1743),  the  reputed 
author  of  "God  Save  the  Queen  " — words 
and  music — died  by  his  own  hand,  on  au- 
thority of  Dr.  Hawkins.  But  contemporary 
records  do  not  confirm  the  doctor's  state- 
ments ;  they  say,  "he  rose  in  health,  and  soon 
after  was  found  dead"  (see  "Diet.  Nat. 
Biog."). 

Edmund  Neale  (1688-1711),  usually 
called  Smith, author  of  a  dryly  classical  drama, 
"Phaedra  and  Hippolytus,"  was  a  suicide 
by  accident.  A  man  of  brilliant  talents, 
but  irregular  habits,  he  found  himself  suffer- 
ing greatly  from  his  own  excesses,  to  relieve 
which  he  took  a  dose  of  medicine  of  his 
own  prescription,  which  cut  short  his  career, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years.  He  com- 
monly went  by  the 'nickname  of  "  Captain 
Rag,"  but  with  the  ladies  he  enjoyed  the 
sobriquet  of  "  Handsome  Sloven  "  (see 
Doran's  "  Annals  of  Stage,"  Vol.  i). 

Lucan  (A.D.  39-65),  the  young  Roman 
poet,  was  a  suicide  by  compulsion.  Both  he 
and  Seneca,  in  their  deaths,  illustrate  the 
custom  under  Nero  and  other  Caesars,  of 
compelling  political  offenders  to  execute 
their  own  sentence.  Both  these  poets  chose 
the  same  mode  of  dying — to  have  the 
arteries  of  the  limbs  opened  in  a  warm 
bath. 

Lucan — "  by  his  death  approved  " — ex- 
pired calmly  in  the  presence  of  his  friends, 
repeating,  we  are  told,  verses  from  his  own 
famous  poem,  "  The  Pharsalia." 

Seneca — perhaps  the  strongest  advocate  of 
suicide  among  the  Stoics — truly  longed  for 
death,  and  regarded  it  as  his  sole  refuge 
from  oppression  and  the  various  injuries  of 
life.  But  the  mode  employed  in  the  case  of 


Lucan  was  not  successful  in  depriving  him 
of  life.  Nor  was  the  hemlock  administered 
by  his  physician  more  so ;  it  was  only  after 
protracted  tortures  that  death  ensued  from 
suffocation  by  a  vapor  stove. 

For  the  story  of  Cowper's  suicidal  mania, 
his  numerous  half-attempts,  including  his 
hanging  with  his  scarlet  garter,  see  the  poet's 
own  account  in  the  first  volume  of  Southey's 
"Life  of  Cowper."  In  connection  with 
the  subject  of  suicide,  Byron  notes  a  com- 
mon and  familiar  impulse  in  the  lines  : 

•  • »    #    #    When  the  mountains  rear 
Their  peaks  beneath  your  foot,  and  there 

You  look  down  o'er  the  precipice,  and  drear 
The  gulf  of  rock  yawns,  you  can't  gaze  a  minute, 
Without  an  awful  wish  to  plunge  within  it." 

MEN6NA. 

Cave-in-Rock  (Vol.  vi,  p.  114). — Your 
correspondent,  Islander,  will  find  a  short 
description  of  Cave-in-Rock,  111.,  in  "  Peck's 
Gazetteer"  of  Illinois,  by  J.  M.  Peck,  pub- 
lished by  R.  Goudy,  Jacksonville,  1834, 
from  which  I  extract  the  following :  "  In 
1797,  it  (Cave-in-Rock)  was  the  place  of  re- 
sort and  security  to  Mason  and  his  gang  of 
robbers,  who  plundered  and  murdered  the 
crews  of  boats,  while  descending  the  Ohio 
(p.  206).  It  is  also  well  described  by 
Thaddeus  M.  Harris  in  a  book  published  in 
Boston  in  1805.  I  don't  know  the  title,  ex- 
cept "Harris'  Tour."  The  cave,  accord- 
ing to  the  Geological  Survey  of  Illinois,  is 
in  the  S.  W.  ^  of  the  S.  E.  ^  of  Sec.  13, 
T.  12  S.,  R.  9  E.  of  3d  P.M.,  and  is  in 
Hardin  county.  CALX. 

JACKSONVILLE,  ILL. 

Cocobo/a  and  Cocco/oba  (Vol.  iv,  p.  210). 
—I  am  not  able  to  answer  O.  R.  D.'s  query, 
but  I  find  in  Webster's  new  Dictionary  the 
word  Cocobola,  with  no  botanical  identifi- 
cation of  the  species.  In  several  Spanish 
dictionaries  I  find  the  word  spelled  Coco- 
bolo.  The  other  word  Coccoloba  is  in  the 
"Century  Dictionary,"  with  what  I  con- 
ceive to  be  an  incorrect  etymology.  That 
work  derives  this  word  from  Greek  KOKKOS,  a 
berry,  and  A<J;3»c,  a  lobe  ;  so  also  in  Hender- 
son's "  Hand-book  of  Plants."  I  suspect, 
however,  that  its  name  is  really  an  adaptation 
of  the  old  Latin  name  Cocolobis,  or  Cocolubis, 


January  24,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


149 


a  Spanish  grape.  This  word  is  used  by 
Pliny  and  Columella,  and  is  said  to  be  an 
ancient  Spanish  name  for  a  sort  of  grape. 
The  West  Indian  Coccoloba  is  called  sea- 
grape.  The  description  of  Cocobola  wood 
in  "  Webster's  International  "  agrees  toler- 
ably well  with  the  account  of  Coccotoba 
wood  in  Sargent's  "Report  on  North 
American  Trees,"  Census  of  1880.  The 
Coccoloba  uvifera  grows  in  Florida  to  some 
extent.  *  *  * 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Scotch-Irish  Emigrants  (Vol.  vi,  p.  1 14). — 
Between  December  22,  1744,  and  September 
27,  1746,  Rupp  (not  Rapp),  in  his  "  Collec- 
tion of  Thirty  Thousand  Names  of  Immigrants 
in  Pennsylvania,"  makes  no  record  at  all 
of  any  nationality  as  coming  into  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  from  Europe.  In  a  note  he 
says,  that  "  the  lists  could  not  be  found  in 
the  archives  "  of  the  State.  I  am  myself  a 
member  of  a  family  who  came  over  from  the 
Palatinate  in  that  year,  but  the  name  is  not 
among  Rupp's  30,000.  Probably  the 
Scotch-Irish  emigrants  may  be  in  the  same 
category.  History  seems  to  have  its  perad- 
ventures.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

/nfare  (Vol.  vi,  p.  140). — This  word  is 
not  only  used  in  the  South,  but  quite  gener- 
ally through  the  United  States,  the  New 
England  and  Middle  Atlantic  States  ex- 
cepted.  I  have  heard  it  frequently  in 
Illinois,  Iowa,  Oregon  and  California.  At 
first  I  supposed  it  was  an  "eroded  "  rem- 
nant of  en  affaire,  but  I  am  inclined  now  to 
think  it  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin.  It  is  a  cur- 
rent  word  in  the  dictionaries. 

J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Hieronymites  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113). — Accord- 
ing to  the  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica " 
(Art.  "Hieronymites")  there  are  still  some 
Hieronymites  in  Italy.  But  the  editors  of 
Addis  and  Arnold's  "  Catholic  Dictionary" 
say  they  are  not  aware  of  any  existing  houses 
of  that  order.  L.  M.  R. 

TOLEDO,  O. 

Miramichi  Fire  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113).— The 
district  of  Miramichi  (pronounced  Mir-a-me- 


she),  Northumberland  county,  N.  B.,  was 
desolated  by  fire  7th  of  October,  1825.  In 
only  one  hour,  New  Castle,  the  present 
capital,  Douglaston,  and  all  the  villages 
along  the  north  side  the  river  Miramichi 
were  entirely  destroyed;  160  persons  and  875 
cattle  are  said  to  have  perished,  and  nearly 
600  buildings  were  destroyed. 

The  preceding  summer  had  been  ex- 
cessively hot  throughout  North  America,  and 
there  had  been  little  rain  to  refresh  the 
parched  and  withering  vegetation ;  violent 
forest  fires  had  raged  in  Canada,  Nova 
Scotia  and  Maine,  and  although  New  Bruns- 
wick had  not  escaped,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province  were  not  apprehensive  on  account 
of  their  remoteness  from  the  destructive  ele- 
ment. 

The  intense  heat  of  the  season  did  not 
pass  away  with  the  summer,  but  was  still  un- 
abated on  the  7th  of  October.  That  day 
was  perfectly  calm,  and  peculiarly  sultry,  in- 
ducing a  condition  of  lassitude.  The 
heavens  wore  a  purple  tint,  and  clouds  of 
black  smoke  hovered  over  Miramichi.  Still 
none  of  these  signs  were  ominous  to  her  peo- 
ple, who  might  have  taken  warning  from  the 
cattle  in  the  pastures,  for  they  became  terri- 
fied and  gathered  in  groups,  and  even  the 
wild  animals  of  the  wilderness  rushed  out 
and  sought  refuge  among  the  tamer  breeds. 

"At  seven  o'clock  P.M.,  a  brisk  gale  sprung 
up,  which  by  eight  o'clock  had  increased  to 
a  swift  hurricane  from  the  west,  and  soon 
afterwards  a  loud  and  almost  appalling  roar 
was  heard,  with  explosions  and  a  crackling 
like  that  of  discharges  of  musketry.  The 
air  was  filled  with  burning  pieces  of  wood 
and  cinders,  which  were  driven  along  by  the 
gale,  igniting  everything  upon  which  they 
fell.  The  roaring  grew  louder,  and  sheets  of 
flame  seemed  to  pierce  the  sky. "  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  give  any  details  of  the  terror,  horror 
and  despair  which  seized  upon  all  living 
creatures.  "  The  whole  surface  of  the  earth 
was  on  fire,  and  everything  of  a  combustible 
nature  united  in  sending  up  the  last  broad 
flame,  which  laid  the  country  with  its  towns, 
villages  and  settlements,  in  heaps  of  smoul- 
dering ashes."  Fishes  perished  in  the 
streams  from  the  intense  heat  of  the  burning 
forests  that  chanced  to  overhang  them ;  nor 
did  the  swift  wings  of  birds  offer  them  a 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  24,  1891. 


means  of  escape.  The  famous  conflagration 
was  not  confined  to  the  district  of  Mirami- 
chi,  but  overspread  an  area  of  6000  square 
miles  (from  Abraham  Gesnor's  "  New 
Brunswick,"  1847).  MENONA. 

Razor-strop  Man  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113).  —  I 
know  very  little  about  the  "razor-strop 
man,"  except  that  I  purchased  a  "  strop  " 
from  him  personally  (in  1842  ?),  and  that  I 
was  not  particularly  impressed  with  its  ex- 
cellence. According  to  the  best  of  my  recol- 
lection, he  came  from  New  England  (per- 
haps Boston),  and  his  name  was  Smith.  He 
was  a  man  of  good  address,  genteel  appear- 
ance, and  withal  a  persuasive  talker. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER.  PA. 


@0!^ESPONDEN1IS. 


Poet  Laureate  (Vol.  v,  p.  309).—  I 
think  that  nearly  every  list  of  English  poets- 
laureate  I  have  seen  omits  all  mention  of 
Oliver  Cromwell's  poet-laureate.  I  have 
mislaid  a  note  which  I  had  prepared  on  the 
subject,  and  I  have  even  forgotten  the  name 
of  the  somewhat  obscure  bard  who  is  by 
some  authorities  set  down  as  poet-laureate  to 
the  lord  protector.  Will  some  correspondent 
kindly  supply  the  name? 

I.  L.  DERRIM. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

Fairy  Rings.  —  Are  the  genuine  fairy 
rings  ever  seen  upon  lawns  and  fields  in 
America  ?  W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Six-fingered  Queen.  —  What  cele- 
brated historical  queen  had  six  fingers  on  one 
hand?  FENGAN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Authorship   Wanted.—  For  in  the 

Silent  Grave,   etc.  —  Can  you   give  me  the 
source  of  the  following  quotation  : 

"  For  in  the  silent  grave  no  conversation, 
No  joyful  triad  of  friends,  no  voice  of  lovers, 
No  careful  father's  counsel  —  nothing  heard 
For  nothing  is,  but  all  oblivion, 
Dust,  and  an  endless  darkness." 


PAWTUCKET,  R.  I. 


MINERVA  A.  SANDERS. 


Gottes  Brulle. — As  early  as  1817,  my 
mother  taught  me  to  repeat  as  an  evening 
prayer,  "  Gottes  briille,  hut  wasser  de 
fille,"  and  in  1858  I  saw  the  same  on  the 
iron  tiles  of  an  old-fashioned  fire-place. 
Who  is  the  author  of  it  ?  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Hatteras. — Will  some  correspondent 
give  the  origin  of  this  name?  On  a  map 
published  in  1626  I  find  the  form  Hatarash  f 

J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Death- Watch. — Is  the  ominous  death- 
watch,  whose  ticking  is  spoken  of  in  certain 
English  books,  identical  with  any  of  the  in- 
sects of  that  name  which  exist  in  North 
America?  H.  B.  ROBERTS. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

Johnny-cake. — What  is  the  origin  of 
this  word  ?  The  old  popular  etymology  says 
that  it  means  journey-cake,  a  cake  made  for 
a  journey.  A  friend  at  my  elbow  suggests 
that  it  is  a  variant  of  jannock,  an  old  name 
for  some  kind  of  a  cake  or  loaf.  I  remem- 
ber reading  of  Journey-cake  as  the  name  of 
a  Cherokee  Indian  of  some  distinction  at 
one  time,  not  so  very  many  years  ago  ;  I  do 
not  know  whether  he,  or  any  other  of  that 
name,  is  living  at  present. 

W.  S.  B.  A. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

©OMMUNIGAIPIONS. 

Pets  of  Famous  People  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
106,  etc.). — In  an  odd  volume  of  an  old 
book,  entitled  "  The  Memoirs  of  Louis 
XVIII,"  written  by  himself  (London,  1832), 
I  find  the  story  of  a  cat  that,  even  if  her 
memory  has  not  received  lustre  from  litera- 
ture, deserves  admission  to  the  list,  because 
of  her  high  place  in  life  and  the  distinction 
of  her  death.  She  was  the  pet  of  the 
Countess  de  Maurepas,  the  wife  of  the 
premier  of  Louis  XVI,  and  came  to  high 
honor  at  the  court  of  Versailles ;  indeed, 
since  she  ruled  her  mistress,  who,  in  turn, 
ruled  her  husband,  puss  may  almost  be 
said,  on  the  principle  of  the  noted  apothegm 
of  Themistocles,  to  have  governed  the 


January  24,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


J51 


French  nation.  "  Love  me,  love  my  cat !" 
was  the  stringent  rule  at  the  court  assemblies, 
where  puss  always  accompanied  her  mistress, 
and  as  the  shrewd  creature  was  quick  to  de- 
tect and  resent  any  covert  indignity  from 
those  unfriendly  to  her,  she  was  received 
with  much  homage  by  all  who  desired  to 
reach  the  king  through  the  lady's  favor. 
Once  when  the  countess  was  urging  upon 
M.  de  Maurepas  the  claims  of  a  favorite 
courtier  to  some  office  and  found  her  hus- 
band too  indifferent,  she  hurled  her  beloved 
cat  at  his  head.  The  minister  instantly 
recognized  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  and 
Madame  carried  her  case. 

Even  in  her  tragic  death  puss  was  distin- 
guished. One  morning,  when  Louis  entered 
the  attic  workshop  where  he  solaced  the  woes 
of  royalty,  he  found  an  intruding  cat  who 
had  overthrown  and  spoiled  some  favorite 
piece  of  mechanism,  and,  not  recognizing 
the  court  beauty,  he  avenged  the  injury  by 
an  effective  hammer  stroke.  In  her  chagrin, 
Madame  de  Maurepas  bade  fair  to  overthrow 
the  ministry  and  the  storm  was  not  quieted 
until,  at  the  premier's  intercession,  the 
Princess  Adelaide  explained  his  offense  to 
the  unsuspecting  king  and  induced  him  to 
apologize.  The  question  comes  rather 
oddly  under  this  heading,  but  can  any  one 
tell  me  whether  the  book  mentioned  was 
really  written  by  Louis  XVIII  ? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Woodruff  (Vol.  vi,  p.  105). — German 
friends  of  mine  in  New  York  used  to  tell  me 
that  the  German  Waldmeister  had  been 
found  growing  in  this  country,  and  that  it 
was  used  to  make  the  Maitrank,  the  same  as 
in  the  old  country.  They  instanced  Fair- 
mount  Park,  Philadelphia,  as  one  place 
where  they  knew  it  to  grow.  Does  Qui  Tarn 
know  this  plant,  and  were  my  friends  mis- 
taken as  to  its  being  the  genuine  Wald- 
meister? C.  H.  A. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Stilt-walkers  (Vol.  v,  pp.  262,  etc.). 
— In  Harper's  Magazine  for  March,  1886, 
pp.  613,  614,  there  is  an  account  of  the  use 
of  stilts  in  fording  streams  in  the  island  of 
Cape  Breton.  M. 


Pillars  of  the  Church  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  95,. 
etc.). — I  entirely  agree  with  the  opinion  ex- 
pressed by  M.  C.  L.  as  to  the  meaning  of 
the  above  expression  or  phrase.  I  cited  the 
place  in  the  Silurist's  poem  merely  as  an  in- 
stance where  the  saints  are  spoken  of  as 
pillars  in  another  sense.  I  think  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  blessed  example 
set  before  us  by  the  saints,  living  and  dead, 
and  that  example  alone,  which  would  entitle 
them,  in  the  poet's  view,  to  rank  as  "pillars 
of  fire  "  in  the  desert-journey  to  the  heavenly 
city.  I  think  there  is  no  evidence  in 
Vaughan's  poems  that  he  accepted  the 
opinion  that  the  patronage,  or  the  suffrages, 
of  the  departed  saints  are  of  special  value  to 
us.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Thirty  Days  Hath  September  (Vol. 
vi,  p.  112). — This  is  the  way  the  people  who 
live  in  the  Isle  of  Skye  are  said  to  describe 
their  weather  : 

"  Dirty  days  hath  September, 
April,  June  and  November  ; 
From  January  up  to  May 
The  rain  it  raineth  every  day ; 
All  the  rest  have  thirty-one, 
Without  a  blessed  gleam  of  sun  ; 
And  if  any  of  them  had  two  and  thirty 
They'd  be  just  as  wet,  and  twice  as  dirty." 

E. 

Singular  Names  of  Places  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  107,  etc.). — To  the  singular  names  ia 
Pennsylvania  may  be  added,  for  Lancaster 
county,  those  of  "Cat-fish,"  "  Pinchgut,"' 
"  Hardscrabble,"  "  Coffee-Goss,"  "Pos- 
sum-hollow," "Dry-town,"  "  Dull-hoout," 
"Gravel-hill,"  "  Fidler's-green,"  "Smoke- 
town,"  and,  although  these  are  only  what 
are  termed  "nicknames,"  yet  the  places- 
are  as  well  known  by  these  as  they  are  by 
the  real  names,  and  in  some  instances  better. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Columbus  and  the  Egg.—"  One  day 
when  I  was  a  boy  at  school  we  had  for  a 
reading  lesson  the  story  of  Columbus  and 
the  egg,  just  as  it  was  told  in  the  Tribune 
of  the  3d.  In  my  class  was  a  little  Irish 
boy  about  my  own  age,  whose  name  was- 
Jerry  Grady,  and  when  school  was  out  for 


152 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  24,  1891. 


noon,  Jerry  said  to  me,  '  Did  ye  mind  that 
sthory  about  Columbus  and  the  egg?  Sure 
that's  not  the  way  the  thrick  was  done  at  all, 
.at  all.  Come  wid  me  and  I'll  show  ye  how 
Columbus  done  it.'  Now  it  so  happened 
that  Jerry's  mother  kept  chickens,  and  when 
-we  reached  the  house  he  had  no  trouble  in 
finding  a  fresh  egg.  First  putting  a  clean 
plate  on  the  table,  Jerry  took  the  egg,  and 
shook  it  violently  for  some  seconds,  or  until 
the  yelk  and  the  white  were  thoroughly 
mixed,  like  a  compound  of  milk  and  water. 
Then  after  holding  the  egg  upright  on  the 
plate  until  the  mixture  inside  of  it  had  set- 
lied  quietly  into  the  broad  base  of  it,  he 
withdrew  his  hand  and  left  the  egg  standing 
upright  and  alone.  'There,'  said  he,  'that's 
the  way  Columbus  done  it ;'  and  I  have  no 
doubt  it  was,  for  I  have  often  done  it  myself 
that  way,  and  anybody  else  can  do  it.  My 
•object  in  correcting  this  bit  of  history,  is  to 
.set  Columbus  right  before  the  world,  and  to 
rescue  him  from  the  suspicion  that  he  was 
ignorant  of  the  easy,  scientific  and  purely 
mechanical  solution  of  the  egg  problem. 
The  reason  why  an  egg  will  not  stand  on 
«nd  is,  that  its  contents  are  not  balanced 
either  in  weight  or  place,  but  after  they  are 
thoroughly  mixed,  the  egg  will  easily  recog- 
nize its  own  centre  of  gravity,  and  stand  up- 
right, like  a  toy  soldier  which  is  made  on 
the  same  principle  "  (M.  M.  Trumbull,  in 
The  Open  Court). 

Ant-Lion  (Vol.  vi,  p.  101). — There  is  a 
four-winged  insect,  well  known  to  ento- 
mology, that  is  commonly  called  the  "Ant- 
lion,"  and  from  its  habits  is  not  inappro- 
priately named.  It  is  the  Myrmeleon  obso- 
letus,  of  Say,  and  belongs  to  the  family 
Hemerobida,  in  the  order  Neuroptera.  The 
larva  makes  a  funnel-shaped  pitfall  in  fine 
sand,  or  pulverized  wood,  and  conceals  it- 
self at  the  bottom,  leaving  the  tips  of  its 
formidable  mandibles  exposed,  and,  should 
.a  straying  ant  tumble  in,  which  it  is  very  apt 
to  do,  it  is  immediately  seized  and  de- 
voured, in  which  the  lion  manifests  its 
ferocious  disposition.  Country  boys  some- 
times approach  these  pitfalls,  and  bending 
down  over  them  sufficient  for  the  lions  to 
hear  them,  they  repeat  in  rapid  succession — 
"  Wooly,  wooly,  weaver,  please  to  dry  my 


paper. ' '  The  breathing  of  the  boy  causes 
some  of  the  particles  of  sand  to  roll  to  the 
bottom  of  the  pit,  and  disturbs  the  Lion 
therein,  which  soon  brings  him  to  the  surface. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Napoleon  and  the  Letter  M. — "  It 

has  been  said  of  Napoleon  I  that  he  was  '  all 
star  and  destiny.'  His  actions  at  the  battle 
of  the  Pyramids,  and  later  on,  when  he 
claimed  to  have  received  visits  from  '  the 
little  red  spectre,'  leave  little  room  for  any 
one  to  doubt  his  being  as  superstitious  as  the 
ghost-dancer  of  Pine  Ridge  and  Rosebud. 
One  of  his  peculiar  fads  was  his  regard  for 
the  letter  M,  which  he  considered  especially 
ominous  for  good  or  evil.  A  compilation 
of  the  facts  in  the  M  case  shows  good  reason 
for  he  and  Napoleon  III,  considering  it  a 
red  or  black  letter,  according  to  circum- 
stances. 

"  To  begin  with,  Marbceur  was  the  first  to 
recognize  military  genius  in  the  '  Little  Cor- 
poral.' Marengo  was  the  first  battle  won  by 
Napoleon,  and  Melas  made  room  for  him  in 
Italy.  Mortier  was  his  most  trusted  general. 
Moreau  betrayed  him,  and  Murat  was  first 
martyr  to  his  cause.  Marie  Louise  shared 
his  highest  fortunes ;  Moscow  was  the  abyss 
of  ruin  into  which  he  fell.  Metternich  van- 
quished him  in  the  field  of  diplomacy.  Six 
of  his  marshals,  Massena,  Mortier,  Marmont, 
Macdonald,  Murat  and  Moncey,  besides 
twenty-six  of  his  generals  of  divisions,  had 
an  M  as  the  initial  letter  of  their  last  names. 
Murat,  Duke  of  Bassano,  was  his  most 
trusted  counselor.  His  first  battle  was  that 
at  Montenotte ;  his  last  Mont  St.  Jean,  by 
which  name  Waterloo  is  known  in  French 
history.  He  won  the  battles  of  Milesimo, 
Mondovi,  Montmirail  and  Montereau.  Then 
came  the  storming  of  Montmartre.  Milan 
was  the  first  enemy's  capital  and  Moscow 
the  last.  He  lost  Egypt  through  Menon 
and  employed  Miellis  to  take  Pope  Pius 
prisoner.  Mallet  conspired  against  him, 
Murat  was  the  first  to  desert  him,  then  Mar- 
mont. Three  of  his  ministers  had  M  initials 
— Maret,  Montalivet  and  Mallien;  his  first 
chamberlain  was  Montesquieu.  His  last 
halting  place  in  France  was  Malmaison.  He 
surrendered  to  Captain  Maitland.  His  com- 


January  24,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


153 


panions  at  St.  Helena  were  Montholon  and 
Marchand  "  (St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat). 

Fiefes  (Vol.  v,  p.  122). — Is  it  not  possi- 
ble that  in  the  phrase,  "  feme  and  fiefes," 
from  the  passage  from  Bishop  Beckington's 
letter,  "  feme  "  may  be  used  otherwise  than 
as  a  plant  name  ?  The  "  Century  Dic- 
tionary "  gives  the  word  as  an  obsolete  ad- 
jective in  a  sense  that  if  one  could  find  a 
corresponding  noun,  or  suppose  the  adjec- 
tive to  be  used  substantively,  might  'throw  a 
little  light  on  the  bishop's  meaning. 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Kinnickinnick  (Vol.  vi,  p.  83). — My 
people  and  my  friends  commanded  and 
served  with,  or  against,  the  Indians,  for 
about  150  years  if  not  much  longer.  I  find 
in  my  diary,  as  a  record  of  what  occurred 
sixty  years  ago,  after  a  talk  with  Count 
Pourtales,  who  had  just  returned  from  a  so- 
journ among  the  Western  tribes,  the  real 
"  Kinnikinnick,"  or  "  Killakinnick,"  or 
"Indian  Tobacco,"  is  the  dried  and  pre- 
pared bark  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  swamp  or 
prairie  water-willow,  with  a  small  portion  of 
tobacco  intermingled,  the  whole  flavored 
with  the  testicles  of  the  castor  or  beaver.  It 
was  positively  delicious,  far  more  so  than 
even  the  famous  Latakia,  or  real  Turkish 
tobacco.  I  have  tried  in  vain  ever  since  to 
get  some  at  any  price.  What  is  sold  as 
"  Kinnikinnick"  is  humbug,  and  as  much 
the  actual  article  as  benzine  whisky  is  the 
finest  wheat  or  Monongahela. 

ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Communion  Tokens  (Vol.  iv,  p.  165). 
— According  to  a  writer  (C.  H.  Farnham) 
in  Harper 's  Magazine  for  March,  1886,  p. 
625,  communion  tokens  are  still  in  use 
among  the  Presbyterians  of  the  island  of 
Cape  Breton.  M. 

Hand  of  Justice  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  76,  etc.). 
— The  use  of  the  "  hand  of  justice  "  ante- 
dates more  than  three  centuries  the  reign  of 
Charles  X  of  France.  In  Renault's  "  His- 
tory of  France,"  Vol.  i,  p.  104  (Nugent's 
translation,  London,  1762),  under  "  Re- 


markable Events  under  Hugh  Capet,"  Mr. 
Nugent  in  a  note  says:  "  There  is  extant  an 
original  seal  of  this  prince's,  and  it  is  the 
first  on  which  we  see  what  the  French  com- 
monly call  the  hand  of  justice ;  he  holds  it 
with  his  right  hand,  and  a  globe  with  his 
left."  He  further  adds  that  it  was  "  a  kind 
of  sceptre,  with  a  little  ivory  hand  at  the 
top."  G.  D.  W.  V. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 

Seven  Wonders  of  Corea. — "  Corea, 
like  the  world  of  the  ancients,  has  its  seven 
wonders.  Briefly  stated  they  are  as  follows: 

"  i.  A  hot  mineral  spring  near  Kin- 
Shantao,  the  healing  properties  of  which  are 
believed  to  be  miraculous.  No  matter  what 
disease  may  afflict  the  patient,  a  dip  in  the 
water  proves  efficacious. 

"  2.  Two  springs  situated  at  considerable 
distance  from  each  other ;  in  fact,  they  have 
the  breadth  of  the  entire  peninsula  between 
them.  They  have  two  peculiarities.  When 
one  is  full  the  other  is  always  empty ;  and, 
notwithstanding  the  obvious  fact  that  they 
are  connected  by  a  subterranean  passage, 
one  is  of  the  bitterest  bitter,  and  the  other 
pure  and  sweet. 

"  3.  The  third  wonder  is  Cold  Wind  Cave, 
a  cavern  from  which  a  wintry  wind  per- 
petually blows.  The  force  of  the  wind  from 
the  cave  is  such  that  a  strong  man  cannot 
stand  before  it. 

"  4.  A  forest  that  cannot  be  eradicated. 
No  matter  what  injury  is  done  the  roots  of 
the  trees,  which  are  large  pines,  they  will 
sprout  up  again  directly — like  the  Phoenix 
from  her  ashes. 

"5.  The  fifth  is  the  most  wonderful  of  the 
seven  national  curiosities  of  the  peninsula. 
It  is  the  famous  '  floating  stone.'  It  stands, 
or  seems  to  stand,  in  front  of  the  palace 
erected  in  its  honor.  It  is  an  irregular  cube 
of  great  bulk.  It  appears  to  be  resting  on 
the  ground,  free  from  supports  on  all  sides, 
but,  strange  to  say,  two  men  at  opposite 
ends  of  a  rope  may  pass  it  under  the  stone 
without  encountering  any  obstacle  whatever  ! 

"The  sixth  wonder  is  the  'hot  stone,' 
which  from  remote  ages  has  laid  glowing 
with  heat  on  top  of  a  high  hill. 

"  The  seventh  and  last  Corean  wonder  is 
a  drop  of  the  sweat  of  Buddha.  For  thirty 


154 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  24,  1891. 


paces  around  the  large  temple  in  which  it  is 
enshrined  not  a  blade  of  grass  will  grow. 
There  are  no  trees  or  flowers  inside  the 
sacred  square.  Even  the  animals  decline  to 
profane  a  spot  so  holy." 

It  is  hard  to  imagine  that  such  consum- 
mate trash  should  creep  into  reputable  jour- 
nals at  the  present  time,  yet  the  foregoing 
has  found  a  place  in  not  only  metropolitan 
newspapers,  but  it  has  been  copied  into  edu- 
cational journals  as  well.  There  is  a  possi- 
bility that  the  third  specification  may  be 
half  true.  In  the  case  of  any  very  large 
cavern  there  is  an  outward  current  of  air 
during  one  period,  and  an  inward  draught 
during  the  rest  of  the  day.  The  fourth  item 
may  be  true  in  almost  any  forest-covered 
locality.  OROG. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

The  Tenth  Muse  (Vol.  v,  pp.  295, 
etc.).— 

"  Does  Sappho  then  beneath  thy  bosom  rest, 
^Eolian  earth ! — that  mortal  muse  confest 
Inferior  only  to  the  choir  above." 

There  is  no  allusion  whatever  to  Sappho 
under  Tenth  Muse  in  Dr.  Brewer's  useful 
hand-book.  But  to  Sappho  of  Mitylene  in 
the  island  of  Lesbos  (B.  C.  620),  the  famous 
appellation  belongs,  and  to  no  other  poet 
that  ever  lived  could  it  be  applied  with  any 
propriety  or  sincerity,  if  we  accept  as  com- 
petent judges,  Longinus  and  Solon,  Aristotle 
and  Plato. 

AsMr.  Symonds  has  said  ("Greek  Poets," 
first  series)  :  "Among  the  ancients  Sappho 
enjoyed  a  unique  renown.  She  was  called 
'The  Poetess,'  as  Homer  was  called  'The 
Poet.'"  Plato,  in  the  "Phaedeus,"  men- 
tioned her  as  the  tenth  Muse.  Of  all  the 
poets  of  the  world,  of  all  the  illustrious 
artists,  of  all  litterateurs,  Sappho  is  the  one 
whose  every  word  has  a  peculiar  unmistaka- 
ble perfume,  a  seal  of  absolute  perfection 
and  inimitable  grace. 

It  is  vain,  however,  to  seek  the  celebrated 
epithet  in  the  "Phsedeus."  Sappho,  it  is  true,is 
once  alluded  to  in  the  "  Dialogue  "  as  the 
"fair  or  beautiful;"  but  in  no  other  way. 
Despite  its  high  authority  the  assertion  can- 
not be  verified.  We  must  look  elsewhere  in 
the  works  of  Plato  for  the  interesting  refer- 
ence. In  his  earlier  years  the  great  philos- 


opher is  said  to  have  amused  himself  with 
making  verses,  and  among  the  epigrams  at- 
tributed to  him  is  one  on  Sappho,  the  Latin 
of  which  is  : 

"  Novem  Musas  dicunt  quidam  :  quam  negligenter ! 
ecce  et  Sappho  e — Lesbo  decima." 

The  metrical  version  of  which,  by  Hugo 
Grotius,  is: 

'•  DE  SAPPHONE. 

"  Esse  novem  quidam  Musas  dixore,  sederrant : 
Ecce  tibi  Sappho  Lesbia  quae  decima." 

For  the  Greek  original  and  the  Latin  ver 
sions,  see  "  Epigrammatum  Anthologia 
Palatina,"  Vol.  ii,  p.  105.  Also  among 
"  Pieces  de  Versattribuees a  Platon,"  isone: 

"  SUR  SAPPHO. 

"  On  dit  quil  y  a  neuf  Muses.    Quelle  erreur ! 
En  voici  une  dixieme  c'est  Sappho  de  Lesbos." 

See    "CEuvres  de  Platon,"  par  Cousin, 
Vol.  xiii,  p.  212.  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Turn-spit  Dogs  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  139,  etc.) 
constituted  a  breed  of  themselves  or  apart. 
I  have  seen  a  number  of  specimens  of  the 
kind  when  I  was  young,  sixty  years  ago. 
Whether  there  was  one  on  the  premises  of 
my  grandfather,  Hon.  John  Watts,  No.  3 
Broadway,  N.  Y.,  when  I  was  a  boy,  I  cannot 
positively  remember,  but  in  his  enormous 
kitchen  (I  should  think  some  twenty-five  feet 
square),  over  the  mantel-piece,  above  a  fire- 
place which  would  take  in  half  a  load  of 
hickory  cord  wood  at  that  time  and  years 
afterwards,  was  the  jack,  or  wheel,  over 
which  passed  the  band  communicating  with 
the  treadmill  on  which  the  turn-spit  was  ac- 
customed to  work.  The  turn-spit  dog  very 
closely  resembles  that  kind  of  canine  which 
is  now  known  among  us  as  a  Dachs-hund, 
only  it  was  a  greal  deal  heavier  built, 
although  not  more  unsightly  and  with  even 
larger  splay  feet.  The  literal  signification 
of  Dach  or  Dachs-hund  applies  to  a  peculiar, 
dog  used  in  badger  hunting  in  Germany, 
in  which  pursuit  the  short  crooked  legs 
come  into  useful  play  digging  out  the 
badger,  for  which  the  German  is  Daehs. 

ANCHOR. 

TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 


January  24,  1891."] 

Vicarious  Justice  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  84, 
etc.).— The  following  is  a  little  specimen  of 
American  Indian  history,  written  by  Samuel 
Butler,  previous  to  1662: 

"  Our  brethren  of  New  England  use 
Choice  malefactors  to  excuse, 
And  hang  the  guiltless  in  their  stead, 
Of  whom  the  churches  have  less  need ; 
As  lately  't  happened:  In  a  town 
There  lived  a  cobbler  and  but  one, 
That  out  of  doctrine  could  cut  use, 
And  mend  men's  lives  as  well  as  shoes. 
This  precious  brother  having  slain, 
In  times  of  peace,  an  Indian, 
Not  out  of  malice,  but  mere  zeal, 
Because  he  was  an  infidel, 
The  mighty  Tottipottymoy 
Sent  to  our  elders  an  envoy. 
Complaining  sorely  of  the  breach 
Of  league,  held  forth  by  brother  Patch, 
Against  the  articles  in  force 
Between  both  churches — his  and  ours  ; 
But  they  maturely  having  weighed 
They  had  no  other  of  the  trade, 
A  man  who  served  them  in  the  double 
Capacity  to  teach  and  cobble, 
Resolved  to  spare  him ;  yet  to  do 
The  Indian  Hoghan  Moghan  too 
Impartial  justice,  in  his  stead  did 
Hang  an  old  weaver  that  was  bedrid." 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


W.  S. 


The  Queer  (Vol.  vi,  p.  139,  etc.). — "The 
Puzzle" — as  a  title — would  have  rendered  the 
"poem"  in  question  more  intelligible  to 
readers  in  general  according  to  the  following 
note :  "  In  various  counties  we  have  the  pro- 
vincialism '  to  queer,'  =  to  puzzle  or  pose  ; 
<?.  g.,  Scott  in  '  The  Heart  of  Midlothian  ' 
uses  it  in  an  immortal  passage,  '  Come  now, 
Jeanie,  ye  are  but  queering  us,'  Chap.  xxv. 
This  seems  to  be  the  substantial  form  = 
puzzle  "  (Hy.  Vaughan's  Poems,  Grosart 
edition.  The  reference  as  to  place  is  wrong ; 
it  should  be  Vol.  ii,  Chap,  i,  or  Chap, 
xxvi). 

Everybody  is  familiar  with  this  dramatic 
chapter,  wherein  occurs  Jeanie's  famous 
interview  with  the  Laird  of  Dumbiedikes, 
when  she  says :  "  1  canna  break  my  word  till 
him,  if  ye  gie  me  the  whole  barony  of  Dal- 
keith,  and  Lugton  into  the  bargain."  No, 
not  even  silk-gowns  that  stand  on  end,  their 
pearlin-lace  as  fine  as  spider's  webs,  and 
rings  and  earrings,  could  make  the  honest 
Scotch  lassie  forget  ("  Reuben  Butler,  that 
Schoolmaster  at  Libberton  "). 

Halliwell  and  Wright  give  queer  as  a  verb 


m   the  sense  referred  to,  but  neither  one 
notices  the  substantial  use  of  the  same 

.The  "Century"    quotes  Halliwell,  and 
gives  illustrations  of  the  verb  queer  as  slang : 

"  Who  in  a  row  like  Tom  could  lead  the  van 
Booze  in  the  ken,  or  at  the  spellken  hustle  ?' 
Who  queer  a  flat?"  (Who  puzzle  a  silly  fellow  ?) 
("  Don  Juan,"  Canto  xi,  19.) 

MENONA. 

Queer  (Vol.  vi,  p.  139).—  This  spelling 
for  choir  is  very  common  in  the  older  Eng- 
lish literature.  Many  examples  might  be 
cited,  but  a  sufficient  number  are  to  be 
found,  as  suggested  by  our  correspondent,  in 
Murray's  "New  English  Dictionary,"  un- 
der "Choir."  But  there  is  no  obvious  refer- 
ence to  a  choir  in  the  poem  which  is  en- 
titled "  The  Queer,"  in  Vaughan's  "  Silex 
Scintillans. "  Q 

Rosicrucians  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  112).— No 
credence  is  given,  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  to  the  pretensions  of  the 
old  Rosicrucians,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
a  society  of  that  name  still  exists  or  did  in 
1884.  A  statement  was  published  in  1883 
to  the  effect  that  a  lodge  of  Rosicrucians 
existed  in  London,  whose  members  claimed 
by  asceticism  to  live  beyond  the  allotted 
age  of  man,  and  that  the  late  Lord  Lytton 
had  vainly  tried  to  gain  admission. 

Referring  to  this  statement,  Rev.  E.  Wai- 
ford,  M.A.,  asked  through  the  medium  of 
Notes  and  Queries  (London,  November  15, 
1884),  whether  anything  authentic  could  be 
learned  concerning  it. 

He  was  answered  in  the  same  periodical 
(December  13,  1884)  by  the  Magister  Tem- 
pli  of  the  society,  over  his  address,  who 
stated  that  "  the  Soc.  Rosic.  in  Anglia  still 
holds  several  meetings  a  year  in  London. 
The  fratres  investigate  the  occult  sciences  ; 
but  I  am  not  aware  that  any  of  them  prac- 
tice asceticism  or  expect  to  prolong  life  on 
earth  indefinitely.  It  is  not  customary  to 
divulge  the  names  of  candidates  who  have 
been  refused  i-  'mission  to  the  first  grade, 
that  of  Zelator,  so  must  ask  to  be  excused 
from  answering  the  question  as  to  Lord 
Lytton."  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARW  CK,  PA. 


'56 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  24,  1891. 


Tacoma  (Vol.  vi,  p.  137). — It  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  action  of  the  Board  on  Geographic 
Names  in  rejecting  the  Indian  name  Tacoma 
and  selecting  Rainier  for  the  peak  in  question 
will  have  any  influence  outside  of  official 
publications.  The  name  Tacoma  has  every- 
thing to  recommend  it  so  far  as  orthoepy  is 
concerned,  and  its  use  is  almost  universal  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  the  city  of  Seattle  possibly 
excepted,  and  it  is  moreover  in  sympathy 
with  the  policy  of  retaining  aboriginal 
names.  The  Legislature  of  California 
changed  the  name  of  the  famous  lake  Tahoe 
to  Bigler.  Happily  no  one  ever  uses  the 
latter  name,  and  it  is  hardly  probable  that 
the  musical-sounding  Tacoma  will  be 
dropped.  J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Animal  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  116,  etc.;. — 
Hoy  is  a  call  much  used  in  calling  or  driv- 
ing sheep.  Drovers  use  it  much,  and  I  am 
told  it  is  common  in  Iceland  and  in  Scandi- 
navia. Huddup,  for  "get  up,"  is  heard  in 
New  England  as  a  call  for  driving  an  old  or 
slow  horse.  It  occurs  in  O.  W.  Holmes' 
"  One  Horse  Shay."  "  I  spent  the  night 
crying,  '  hat,  hat,'  switching  the  camel," 
etc.  (Burton,  "  El-Medinah,"  p.  362). 

P.  R.  E. 
OHIO. 

Sambo  (Vol.  v,  pp.  161,  etc.). — The 
comparison  of  Sambo,  the  name  of  an  Afri- 
can tribe,  with  the  Spanish  Zambo,  Bandy- 
legged, recalls  the  fact  that  Pliny  mentions 
an  African  tribe  called  the  bandy-legs.  I 
have  not  at  hand  any  memorandum  of  the 
place  of  this  reference,  and  I  do  not  know 
whether  to  attach  any  importance  to  a  fact 
which  may  after  all  be  only  a  coincidence. 

M. 

Raised  and  Tote  (Vol.  vi,  p.  129). — 
"  Receiving  no  accessions  of  population 
from  any  other  country  than  England," 
says  F.  W.  But  I  had  the  impression  that 
many  Germans  settled  in  the  valley  of  Vir- 
ginia, many  Scotch-Irish  in  the  mountain 
valleys,  and  that  many  black  people  were 
brought  in  from  the  African  coasts.  I  do 
not  believe  that  the  old  Virginian  stock  is 
of  any  purer  English  descent  than  that  of 
various  other  States.  W.  J.  L. 


Devil  in  Geography  (Vol.  v,  pp.  312, 
etc.).  —  The  Devil's  Cat  is  a  gulch  in  the 
National  Park  region  of  Wyoming,  in  which 
there  is  also  a  cafion  called  the  Devil's  Den. 
The  Devil  has  also  a  half-acre  (commonly 
called  Hell's  Half  Acre)  in  the  same  region. 
The  Devil's  Slide  is  a  conspicuous  feature  in 
the  same  district  of  country.  M. 

He  Carries  His  Office  in  His  Hat 

(Vol.  ii,  pp.  152,  etc.).  —  In  Australia, 
a  poorly  equipped  but  legitimate  miner 
(one  who  is  not  a  fossicker,  or  worker  ot 
other  men's  idle  claims,  but  an  honest 
worker,  though  without  much  capital,  and 
without  any  recognized  business  standing), 
such  a  miner  is  called  a  hatter,  probably  be- 
cause he  carries  his  office  in  his  hat.  T.  B. 
CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Atlantic  for  February  contains  for  its  first  article 
some  curious,  interesting  and  hitherto  unpublished 
letters  of  Charles  and  Mary  Lamb,  which  are  edited  by 
Mr.  William  Carew  Hazlitt.  They  are  most  carefully 
printed,  nothing  is  suppressed  in  them,  and  they  are 
quite  fully  annotated.  One  most  characteristic  note  ol 
condolence,  written  by  Lamb  to  Thomas  Hood  on  the 
death  of  his  child,  after  many  expressions  of  grief,  ends 
with  the  extraordinary  sentence,  "  I  have  wonsexpence 
of  Moxom  by  the  sex  of  the  dear  gone  one  ;"  Lamb 
being  unable  to  forego  his  wager  and  his  pun  even  at 
such  a  moment.  Prof.  Royce's  second  "  Philosopher  ot 
the  Paradoxical  "  is  Schopenhauer.  He  treats  most 
ably  Schopenhauer's  place  in  the  world  of  thought,  and 
concludes  his  paper  with  a  ringing  passage  of  very  great 
beauty.  Mr.  Percival  Lowell's  "  Noto  "  is  continued, 
and  the  traveler  at  last  arrives  at  the  turning-point,  but 
not  the  end  of  his  journey.  There  are  several  striking 
descriptions  of  scenery  in  the  paper,  especially  Mr. 
Lowell's  first  glimpse  of  Noto,  on  the  Arayama  Pass. 
Alice  Morse  Earle  has  a  paper  on  "  The  New  England 
Meeting-House,"  which  is  full  ol  curious  bits  of  in- 
formation. Mr.  Alpheus  Hyatt  writes  on  "  The  Next 
Stage  in  the  Development  of  Public  Parks,"  in  which 
he  advocates  the  allowance  of  space  for  a  collection  of 
living  animals  grouped  for  the  uses  of  the  student. 
Frank  Gaylord  Cook  contributes  a  paper  on  "  John 
Rutledge."  William  Everett  has  an  article  on  the 
"  French  Spoliation  Claims,"  and  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
in  "  An  Object  Lesson  in  Civil  Service  Reform,"  tells 
about  the  work  of  the  National  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sion for  the  last  year,  and  its  success  in  gaining  a  large 
number  of  applicants  from  the  Southern  States  to  enter 
the  civil  service  examinations.  Mr.  Stockton's  serial, 
"  The  House  of  Martha,"  is  as  amusing  as  ever,  and 
the  hero  and  the  Sister  from  the  House  of  Martha  con- 
tinue their  surprising  adventures.  The  fortunes  of 
"  Felicia  "  are  also  reaching  their  climax.  Reviews  of 
"  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Journal  "  and  of  Adams'  "  Life  of 
Richard  H.  Dana  complete  a  cleverly  arranged 
number. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  : — Hereditary  Albinism,  157 — Liman,  158. 
QUERIES  :— Melon  Shrub— Obermann,  158. 

REPLIES  :— X.  Y.  Z.  Mission,  158— Six-fingered  Queen— In- 
fair — Pomegranates — Huon — Baronets  of  Nova  Scotia — 
Flooding  the  Sahara,  159 — E  Pluribus  Unum— Symmes' 
Hole — War  of  the  Fosse,  160. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS :— Largest  City— 
Hypnagogic  —  Snake-Stone  —  Organ  Mountains  —  Holl — 
Origin  of  Curfew,  160. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Dark  Days— Death  Valley  — 
Razor-strop  Man,  161 — Bronze — Fish-hook  Money— Gulf  of 
the  Lion— Devil-plants — Natural  Bridges,  162— Daddy- 
Long-Legs— Musha— In  God  We  Trust— Cattle-calls— Hay 
is  King,  163 — Men  of  Humble  Origin — Apple  in  Love — St. 
Brendan  and  Brazil — Singular  Place  Names,  164 — Turnspit 
Dogs — Rosicrucians,  165 — Origin  of  Names — President  Who 
Did  Not  Vote— Toads  and  Bloody  Milk — Possession  by 
Turf  and  Twig,  166 — Sindhia  and  Sind — Pontick  Sheep — 
Casting  Out  the  Shoe,  167— Sea  Cat— Initial  LI— Greek 
Colonies  in  France  and  Spain— Rocking  Stones,  168. 


HEREDITARY  ALBINISM. 

"  Scattered  through  the  several  country 
towns  and  villages  of  Rochester,  Freetown, 
Lakeville,  Long  Plain,  Acushnet  and 
My  ricks  is  a  peculiar  race  of  people  that 
stick  close  to  their  native  backwoods,  but  on 
rare  occasions  emerge  from  their  self-chosen 
retirement  to  the  neighboring  more  populous 
towns  of  Middleborough  and  Wareham,  and 
sometimes  are  seen  on  the  streets  of  New 
Bedford,  Taunton  and  Fall  River,  the  ob- 
served of  all  beholders.  Their  local  appel- 
lation that  follows  them  to  all  places  is  that 
of  <  Pink-eyed  Pittsleys.'  Their  peculiarity 
is  pink  eyes  and  perfectly  white  hair.JfcThis 
striking  singularity  is  said  to  have  first  made 
its  appearance  in  a  family  by  the  name  of 
Pittsley  in  Freetown,  a  century  or  more 


158 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  31,  1891. 


ago,  and  spread  through  succeeding  genera- 
tions among  the  offspring  of  those  who  in- 
termarried with  the  members  of  the  family, 
until  many  of  the  residents  of  this  section  of 
a  variety  of  family  names  as  well  as 
that  of  Pittsley  have  members  marked  by 
this  peculiarity  of  the  eyes  and  hair  and  an 
accompanying  facial  expression  that  is  odd 
in  the  extreme.  The  old  man  Merchant 
Pittsley  was  pink-eyed  and  he  had  nine  chil- 
dren. All  five  of  his  sons  had  pink  eyes  and 
white  hair  and  one  daughter  was  marked  the 
same  way,  but  the  other  three  girls  had  as 
fine  black  eyes  and  dark  hair  as  any  girl  in 
town.  They  married,  all  but  one,  and  had 
children,  and  some  of  their  children  had 
pink  eyes  and  white  hair,  but  not  all "  {Brock- 
ton Gazette). 

LIMAN. 

I  notice  that  the  new  edition  of  "  Web- 
ster's Dictionary  "  says  that  this  word,  in 
the  sense  of  alluvial  soil,  is  the  French  Union, 
slime,  mud.  This  is  a  plain  error,  as  will 
appear,  I  think,  from  the  following  con- 
siderations. Liman  is  a  Turkish  and  Rus- 
sian word  for  port,  bay,  inlet,  estuary,  or 
harbor.  I  have  collected  a  few  instances  in 
English  where  it  means  an  estuary  (a  Black 
Sea  estuary,  at  that),  filled  up  and  converted 
into  alluvial  land.  I  suppose  that  this  is  not 
an  English  word,  except  as  being  allowable 
in  speaking  of  Euxine  or  Levantine,  or  Cas- 
pian alluvions,  or  bays.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion that  the  local  Eastern  word  liman  is  the 
Greek  hfj-yv,  a  harbor.  In  something  like 
the  latter  sense  I  could  easily  cite  a  dozen 
or  more  examples  of  the  word.  Besides, 
the  change  of  the  French  Union  into  an  Eng- 
lish liman  would  be  contrary  to  all  rule  and 
precedent.  Will  correspondents  kindly  send 
quotations  with  the  word  liman,  in  either  of 
its  meanings  ?  As  I  have  already  said,  in  ef- 
fect, I  think  there  is  in  reality  only  one 
meaning.  G. 

gUE  P$I  B  S. 

Melon  Shrub. — What  is  the  botanical 
name  of  the  melon  shrub  ? 

M.  P.  T. 

SAN  DIEGO,  CAL. 


The  so-called  melon  shrub  of  California  is 
the  pepino  (Solanum  guatamalense),  which  is 
botanically  nearer  a  tomato  than  a  melon. 
But  in  South  Africa  there  are  true  melons  of 
good  or  even  fine  quality  growing  on 
shrubs.  We  have  not  heard  of  their  being 
tried  in  this  country,  but  there  seems  to  be 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  should  succeed 
in  the  vicinity  of  San  Diego. 

Obermann. — Please  give  me  some  in- 
formation about  "  Obermann,"  whether  a 
man  or  a  book.  I  constantly  see  allusions 
to  it  (or  him)  in  my  reading  and  would  like 
to  know  something  definite. 

E.  PRIOLEAU. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Obermann  was  a  celebrated  novel  by 
Senancour,  published  in  1804.  Like  Werther 
and  Rene,  Obermann  is  one  of  the  books  that 
have  changed  the  literary  tendency  of  a 
period.  The  pallid  face  of  the  hero  of 
Senancour's  has  often  been  reflected  in  other 
works  both  before  and  after  1804.  This 
work  is  not  properly  speaking  a  novel,  it  is 
more  a  psychological  study.  In  a  series 
of  letters  written  from  day  to  day,  Obermann 
describes,  without  ever  receiving  any  re- 
plies, his  disappointments,  his  grievances, 
his  empty  hopes  and. the  wretched  state  of 
his  mind  which  finds  rest  nowhere.  It  has 
been  said  that  these  letters  were  a  description 
of  Senancour '  s  own  character  and  histendency 
to  melancholia.  Obermann  cannot  analyze 
himself.  The  hero  of  the  book  is  a  dreamer 
who  constantly  tries  to  escape  the  surround- 
ing world  that  he  may  follow  his  own  ideals. 
He  becomes  prematurely  old  and  describes 
with  plaintive  words  all  that  has  happiness 
and  animation  in  life. 

It  was  sometime  after  the  first  publication 
of  Obermann  before  it  became  a  great  suc- 
cess. 

REPLIES. 

/.  Y.  2.  Mission  (Vol.  vi,  p.  140). — The 
refusal  of  the  United  States  to  accede  to  the 
demand  for  assistance  against  other  European 
powers,  made  by  France,  through  "Citizen  " 
Genet,  in  1793,  angered  that  nation,  who 
had  based  their  claim  on  the  treaty  of  1778. 


January  31,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


159 


The  Directory,  in  retaliation,  gave  permis- 
sion to  the  French  navy,  in  1797,  to  assail 
American  vessels.  President  Adams,  in  the 
same  year,  called  a  special  session  of  Con- 
gress, and  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney, 
John  Marshall  and  Elbridge  Gerry  were  sent 
to  France  to  arrange  matters.  They  were 
kept  waiting  by  Talleyrand,  and  in  the 
meantime  were  approached  by  three  unof- 
ficial persons  with  what  was  in  effect  a  de- 
mand for  a  bribe  and  a  loan  to  the  Directory 
before  any  arrangement  could  be  concluded 
with  the  United  States.  These  three  per- 
sons were  indicated  in  the  official  dis- 
patches by  the  letters  X.,  Y.  and  Z.,  and 
hence  the  whole  affair  came  to  be  termed 
the  "X.  Y.  Z.  Mission."  It  was  on  this 
occasion  that  Pinckney  is  credited  with  ut- 
tering the  well-known  phrase:  "Millions 
for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for  tribute." 


E.  G.  KEEN. 


WARWICK,  PA. 


Six-fingered  Queen  (Vol.  vi,  p.  150). — Is 
Fengan  looking  for  Anne  Boleyn  ?  Did  she 
have  six  fingers  on  one  hand  ?  Chambers' 
"Book  of  Days,"  Vol.  i,  p.  656  (Lippin- 
cott's  edition),  refers  to  the  diary  of  Mar- 
garet More,  the  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas 
More,  and  in  it,  after  King  Henry  VIII  had 
cast  Queen  Catharine  adrift,  says:  "And 
all  for  love  of  a  brown  girl,  with  a  wen  on 
her  throat,  and  an  extra  finger." 

.    RAWE. 

Infair  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  149,  etc.). — This  word 
is  also  commonly  used  in  the  Pennsylvania 
German  districts.  An  infair  is  an  entertain- 
ment or  social  gathering  given  in  a  newly- 
erected  house.  It  is  a  sort  of  dedication. 
A  reception  given  by  a  newly-married  couple 
when  they  go  to  housekeeping  is  also 
called  an  infair.  D.  W.  N. 

HARRISBURG,  PA. 

Even  in  New  England,  I  have  heard  the 
entertainment  given  by  a  bridegroom  and 
bride  on  taking  possession  of  their  new 
home,  called  an  in/are,  that  is  an  in-going. 
I  suppose  this  term  to  be  of  Scottish  origin, 
and  introduced  into  this  country  by  the 
Scotch-Irish. 

E.  F.  COBB. 


Pomegranate  (Vol.  vi,  p.  140). — The  cus- 
tom in  some  religious  denominations  of  em- 
bellishing the  vestments  of  their  clergy  with 
pomegranates,  is  handed  down  from  the 
Jews.  In  the  days  of  Moses  (see  Exodus 
xxviii)  he  was  instructed  by  God  as  to  the 
garments  that  his  brother,  Aaron,  the  high 
priest,  should  wear.  .  If  E.  M.  would 
inquire  of  either  Bishop  Whitaker,  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  or  Archbishop 
Ryan,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  he 
would  procure  a  better  definition  than  by 
any  other  means. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Do  not  the  pomegranates  on  church  vest- 
ments serve  to  recall  those  which  adorned  the 
robe  of  the  Jewish  high  priest  (see  Exodus 
xxxix,  24-26)  ?  *  *  * 

Huon  (Vol.  vi,  p.  91).— The  "  Century 
Dictionary"  says,  erroneously,  that  huon 
pine  is  a  native  name  for  the  tree  your  corre- 
spondent alludes  to.  The  huon  pine  was 
named  from  the  Huon  river,  and  the  river 
was  named  from  M.  Huon  de  Kermadec, 
naval  captain  in  the  expedition  of  Entre- 
casteaux,  1791-1793.  His  name  was  at- 
tached to  all  the  places  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Lack  in  his  note  on  the  subject.  The  Ker- 
madec islands  also  commemorate  the  same 
navigator.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Baronets  of  Nova  Scotia  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
140). — There  are  certainly  quite  a  number 
of  living  persons  who  are  lawfully  entitled  to 
call  themselves  Baronets  of  Nova  Scotia  (or 
of  Scotland),  but  I  don't  at  all  know  (nor 
care)  whether  there  are  any  baronets  living 
in  Nova  Scotia  or  not.  I  suspect  that  Mr. 
Carson's  question  was  intended  to  read, 
"Are  there  any  living  baronets  of  Nova 
Scotia?"  A.  B.  S. 

BOSTON.  MASS. 

Flooding  the  Sahara  (Vol.  v,  pp.  280"). — 
The  proposition  to  flood  the  great  African 
desert,  which  was  being  so  loudly  advocated 
in  1880-1881,  was  abandoned  because  the 
official  survey  (French  Government)  showed 
that  the  major  portion  of  it  was  from  500  to 


i6o 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  31,  1891. 


900  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

£  Pluribus  Unum  (Vol.  vi,  p.  140). — I 
have  read,  or  heard,  that  these  words,  or 
some  others  not  unlike  them,  occur  in  one  of 
the  minor  poems  ascribed  to  Virgil.  I  have 
not  at  command  a  copy  of  Virgil  which  con- 
tains those  minor  poems  ("  Culex,"  "Ciris," 
"  Copa,"  "Moretum,"  "  Catalepton," 
"  ./Etna  "  and  "  Dirse  ")  and  consequently 
I  cannot  verify  the  statement. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Symmes'  Hole  (Vol.  vi,  p.  140). — A  very 
good  account  of  Symmes'  "Theory  of  the 
Earth  "  can  be  found  in  Appleton's  "Cyclo- 
paedia of  American  Biography."  He 
(Symmes)  also  published  the  "  Theory  of 
Concentric  Spheres,"  in  1826,  and  his 
nephew,  P.  S.  Symmes,  has  recently  written  a 
life  of  his  uncle. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

War  of  the  Fosse  (Vol.  vi,  p.  139). — 
The  war  of  the  fosse  broke  out  at  Medina,  in 
Arabia,  in  627  A.D.  Mohammed's  enemies 
assailed  the  town  at  its  north-west  angle,  but 
the  prophet  had  here  dug  a  ditch,  or  fosse, 
so  laid  out  as  to  be  easily  defensible.  In 
this  siege  and  campaign  the  Moslems  were 
victorious,  as  much  by  the  shrewd  diplomacy 
of  their  prophet  as  by  the  skill  and  valor  of 
the  defenders  of  the  city.  ILDERIM. 


IPO 


The  Largest  City. —  What  is  the 
largest  city  in  the  world  in  point  of  area? 
In  my  school -days  I  frequently  heard  Phila- 
delphia mentioned  as  claiming  that  distinc- 
tion, the  extension  of  the"  city  limits  so  as 
to  embrace  the  entire  county,  in  1854,  hav- 
ing taken  in  an  immense  area  of  farm  land, 
most  of  which  will  probably  be  built  up  in 
the  next  half  century.  Have  you  any  posi- 
tive information  on  the  point  from  recent 
sources?  ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 


HypnagOglC. — What  is  the  real  mean- 
ing of  this  word  ?  The  "  Century  Diction- 
ary" defines  it  as  causing  or  inducing  sleep 
(I  have  not  the  dictionary  at  hand,  and  do 
not  quote  the  exact  words).  But  if  we  fol- 
low the  analogy  vicholagogue  and  hydragogue, 
it  ought  to  mean  driving  away  sleep.  Ety- 
mologically,  either  meaning  is  allowable. 
From  the  quotation  given  in  the  dictionary 
I  cannot  make  out  which  meaning  is  really 
intended.  There  are  plenty  of  professional 
terms  applicable  to  drugs  and  conditions 
which  induce  sleep  ;  but  only  a  very  few  ex- 
pressing the  opposite  quality.  I  think 
hypnagogic  ought  to  belong  to  the  latter 
class.  L.  M.  N. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Snake-Stone. — I  have  long  wished  to 
learn  something  about  the  virtues  alleged  of 
a  stone  known  as  the  magel  or  snake-stone. 
There  has  been  one  in  our  family  for  several 
years.  It  is  about  one  inch  in  diameter.  It 
was  found  near  Neath  Abbey,  a  short  dis- 
tance from  Swansea  in  the  south  of  Wales. 

H.  F.  E. 

WEATHERLY,  PA. 

Organ  Mountains. — Whence  came  the 
name  Organ  Mountains,  given  to  a  range  in 
New  Mexico  ?  There  is  also  a  range  called 
the  Organ  Mountains  in  Brazil. 

J.  P.  M. 

IOWA  CITY. 

Holl. — Why  was  the  name  of  Wood's 
Hole,  Mass.,  changed  to  Woods  Holl  ? 

L.  E.  W. 
NEW  LONDON. 

Pronunciation  of  No.— This  little  but 
important  negative  particle  is  often  pro- 
nounced to,  or  toe  (long  o),  in  some  of  the 
rural  parts  of  New  England.  This  pro- 
nunciation implies  impatience,  or  expresses 
contempt  as  well  as  negation.  I  think  it  is 
more  common  among  women  and  children 
than  with  men.  Is  it  peculiar  to  New  Eng- 
land ?  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Origin  of  the  Curfew.— It  is  com- 
monly believed  that  the  curfew  (a  signal  for 


January  31,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


161 


extinguishing  or  covering  up  fires)  originated 
in  the  desire  of  William  the  Conqueror  to 
prevent  .the  meeting  of  Saxons  to  form  con- 
spiracies against  foreign  or  Norman  rule.  Is 
not  the  custom  much  older  than  his  time  ? 
It  would  seem  to  be  appropriate  to  govern- 
ment in  its  infancy,  when  the  people  were 
emerging  from  a  savage  or,  at  least,  un- 
civilized state.  Can  you  or  your  readers 
throw  light  upon  this  interesting  subject,  be- 
yond what  is  attainable  from  ordinary 
sources?  ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 


©OMMUNIGAJfllONS. 

Dark  Days  (Vol.  vi,  p.  113). — When  I 
was  a  boy  of  about  fifteen  years  of  age 
(1827),  I  read  an  account  of  a  dark  day,  or 
dark  days,  in  the  New  England  States,  and 
notably  the  "dark  day  of  Connecticut." 
I  do  not  remember  the  title  of  the  volume 
in  which  I  read  it,  but  I  think  it  was  a  work 
on  singular  or  curious  phenomena,  or  per- 
haps on  meteorology.  I  cannot  recall  the 
date  of  either  the  event  or  the  book.  The 
darkness  was  so  intense  and  so  long  con- 
tinued, that  "  the  chickens  went  to  roost," 
the  "  cows  came  home  from  the  fields  and 
resorted  to  their  milking  places,"  and 
"  nocturnal  animals  roamed  abroad  at  mid- 
day." The  Legislature  of  Connecticut  was 
in  session,  and  one  of  the  members  was  so 
much  alarmed  that  he  moved  an  adjourn- 
ment, because  he  believed  the  judgment  day 
was  approaching.  Before  the  motion  was 
put  before  the  house,  another  more  practical 
member  rose  and  said  :  "  The  judgment  day 
fs  coming,  or  it  is  not  coming.  If  it  is  not 
coming  we  have  nothing  to  fear,  but  if  it  is 
coming,  I  wish  to  be  found  doing  my  duty, 
therefore  I  move  that  candles  be  lit."  Per- 
haps some  other  reader  of  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES  may  be  more  successful  than  I 
have  been  in  finding  a  record  of  the  fore- 
going impressions.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Death  Valley  (Vol.  vi,  p.  143").— The 
description  of  this  locality  is  quite  accu- 
rately given  in  the  note  mentioned,  but  the 
glamour  of  mystery  .  which  is  commonly 


thrown  around  it,  as  also  in  the  case  of  the 
Newport  tower,  is  wholly  undeserved.  It 
is  a  very  commonplace  locality,  in  an 
equally  commonplace  desert.  There  are 
many  other  dry  lake  basins,  many  other 
places  equally  torrid,  and  many  other  areas 
equally  destitute  of  vegetation  in  the  Mo- 
jave  and  Colorado  deserts.  It  is  not  an  ab- 
solutely rainless  region,  otherwise  there 
would  be  no  Amargosa  river  and  no  lake 
basin.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  about 
the  only  precipitation  here  or  in  any  other 
part  of  this  region  comes  in  the  form  of 
cloud-bursts.  There  is  a  sudden  darkening 
of  the  sky,  a  deluge  of  water,  and  the  sun  is 
again  pouring  its  scorching  rays  on  the 
whitened  plain  almost  before  one  can  realize 
that  anything  has  happened ;  but  the  same 
is  true  of  any  other  part  of  the  two  deserts. 
The  sink  of  the  San  Felipe,  only  a  few 
miles  distant,  is  just  as  remarkable  in  its 
way  as  Death  Valley,  and  its  physiographic 
features  are  precisely  the  same.  The  latter, 
however,  has  derived  its  notoriety  from  the 
fact  that  a  party  of  emigrants,  over  150  in 
number,  attempted  to  go  through  the  val- 
ley, and  not  knowing  where  to  look  for 
water,  nearly  all  of  them  perished.  Had 
they  crossed  almost  any  other  part  of  the 
Mojave  desert  without  a  knowledge  of  its 
character,  its  result  would  have  been  the 
same.  At  King's  Springs,  Death  Valley  is 
225  feet  below  the  sea  level.  In  its  lowest 
part  it  is  possibly  400  feet  below  mean  tide. 
There  are  no  poisonous  vapors  "  exhaled  " 
from  any  part  of  it. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 

Razor-strop  Man  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  1 25,  etc.). 
— There  is  an  account  of  the  "Razor-strop 
Man  "  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Scribner's 
Magazine  [old  series],  December,  1870. 
The  article  is  called  the  "  Street  Venders  of 
New  York."  He  was  (or  is)  an  English- 
man named  Henry  Smith,  born  in  England, 
served  in  the  late  war,  is  a  decided  advocate 
of  temperance  and  famous  for  his  wit  and 
ready  speech.  He  once  appeared  for 
seven  nights  at  the  Olympic  Theatre,  in 
Mitchell's  play  of  "  The  Razor-strop  Man." 


E.  PRIOLEAU. 


MEMPHIS,  TENN. 


162 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  31,  1891. 


Bronze. — "At  a  late  meeting  of  the 
Paris  Academy  of  Sciences,  M.  Bertholet 
made  a  communication  on  the  origin  of  the 
name  of  bronze.  The  author  quoted  the 
following  from  a  work  of  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne :  '  Compositio  brundisii :  seramen. 
partes  II,'  etc.,  that  is  to  say,  bronze  is 
composed  of  two  parts  of  copper,  etc.  This 
confirms  the  view  that  the  name  of  bronze  is 
derived  from  the  town  of  Brundusium.  It 
is  also  to  be  noted  that  bronze  vessels  have 
been  found  marked  '  ars  Brundusinum.' 
Etymologists  have  hitherto  regarded  the 
word  as  connected  in  some  way  with  brown  " 
(Queries  Magazine}. 

Neither  the  "Century  Dictionary,"  "The 
New  English"  of  Dr.  Murray,  nor  "  Web- 
ster's International "  have  any  suggestion  as 
to  the  above  interesting  identification. 

*    *    * 

Fish-hook  Money  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  120, 
etc.). — As  to  the  fish-hook  money  and  the 
value  of  a  fish-hook,  it  is  a  tradition  which 
is,  I  believe,  mentioned  in  James  Phelan's 
"  History  of  Tennessee,"  that  in  early  times 
in  that  State  a  certain  citizen,  having  volun- 
teered in  the  old  Creek  war,  left  as  his  most 
precious  legacy  and  most  valued  possession, 
a  fish-hook  to  his  nephew,  fearing  he  might 
lose  his  life  and  fail  to  transmit  this  treasure 
to  his  heirs.  E.  PRIOLEAU. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Such  money  was  current  in  Ceylon  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  name  larin  is 
properly  applicable  to  such  fish-hook  money 
as  was  made  in  Lar,  or  Laristan,  Persia. 
It  is  often  called  hook  money. 

N.  S.  S. 
GERMANTOWN. 

Gulf  of  the  Lion  (Vol.  v,  pp.  143, 
etc.). — S.  Baring-Gould,  in  his  truly  instruc- 
tive as  well  as  charming  "Ramble  in  Pro- 
vence and  Languedoc,"  London,  1891, 
remarks  that  the  Romans  constantly  made 
the  mistake  of  locating  their  ports  at  the 
mouths  of  rivers,  whereas  the  Greeks  knew 
better — witness  Marseilles.  As  a  rule,  the 
Roman  ports  are  all  choked  by  the  silt  and 
sediment  brought  down  by  rivers.  "  Mar- 
seilles has  not  been  choked."  Marseilles, 


however,  was  not  founded  by  the  GREEKS, 
but  by  the  Phoenicians,  the  greatest  com- 
mercial people  of  the  ancient  world.  It  was 
•Kffounded  by  the  Greeks.  Recent  dis* 
coveries  prove  this. 

Again,  the  Gulf  of  Lyons  cannot  take  its 
name  from  the  city  of  Lyons.  "  The  fact  is 
[it  is  NOT  the  GULF  OF  LYONS,  or  the  GULF 
OF  THE  LION]  that  the  Gulf  takes  its  title 
from  the  Keltic  word  for  a  lagoon,  LON,  or 
LYN,  a  name  that  recurs  in  Maquelonne — 
the  Dwelling  on  the  Pool — in  the  Canal  des 
Lonnes,  a  channel  connecting  the  ponds  and 
lagoons  of  the  Durance  and  Rhone,  and, 
indeed,  in  our  own  London  (Londiniuni), 
the  Dinas,  Castle  on  the  Lon,  or  pool  of  the 
Thames  and  the  Essex  marshes. ' ' 

The  Gulf  of  Lyons,  or  of  the  Lion,  is 
the  GULF  OF  THE  LON  OR  LYN,  or  Lagoons, 
as  Venice  is  the  city  of  the  Lagunes. 

ANCHOR. 
TIVOLI,  N.  Y. 

Devil-plants  (Vol.  v,  p.  243). — The 
grass  called  Stipa  spartea,  or  feather-grass,  is 
known  in  Montana  as  the  devil1  s  darning- 
needle.  It  is  a  great  pest,  for  its  sharp  awns 
and  seeds  bury  themselves  deeply  in  the 
sides  of  cattle  and  horses,  annoying  them 
greatly.  They  also  bury  themselves  in, 
human  flesh,  penetrating  clothes  and  all,  in 
a  very  surprising  manner.  This  plant  grows 
as  far  East  as  Illinois  and  Michigan.  There 
is  a  rather  rare  and  curious  weed  growing  in 
Northern  New  York,  which  is  locally  known 
as  king-devil.  It  is  a  European  nuisance, 
not  much  known  in  this  country.  I  do  not 
know  its  botanical  name ;  I  have  been  told 
it  is  Hieracium  praaltum.  S.  M. 

BURLINGTON,  VT. 


Natural  Bridges  (Vol.  v,  pp.  224, 
etc.).' — One  of  the  finest  natural  bridges  in 
the  world  is  located  in  the  northern  part  of 
Gila  county,  Arizona.  It  is  600  feet  in 
width,  spans  Pine  creek  with  a  single  200 
foot  arch,  which  averages  forty  feet  in  thick- 
ness. It  belongs  to  one  David  Gowan,  and 
is  in  that  part  of  Gila  county  known  as 
"the  great  Tonto  basin." 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 


January  31,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


165 


Daddy-Long-Legs — This  insect,  or 
arachnid,  called  also  father-long-legs,  har- 
vester and  harvestman,  is  very  well  known  in 
country  places.  When  I  was  a  boy,  chil- 
dren used  to  catch  this  creature  and  call  out, 
"Which  way  are  the  rows?"  The  insect 
n'ould  then  solemnly  lift  one  of  its  long  legs 
and  direct  it  towards  some  point  of  the 
horizon.  The  younger  boys  had  a  half-be- 
lief that  the  indication  was  a  correct  one,  but 
a  little  experience  in  actual  hunting  for  the 
cows  soon  corrected  this  foolishness. 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Musha  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  138,  etc.).— I  know 
nothing  about  the  Irish  language,  but  I  have 
often  heard  "  Musha,  now,"  among  the 
Irish  people,  and  I  have  as  frequently  read 
it  in  books  j  while  I  do  not  remember  the 
word  misha.  Will  the  correspondent  on  p. 
138  please  give  his  authorities  ? 

M.  P.  B. 

CAPE  MAY,  N.  J. 

In  God  We  Trust.— The  origin  of  this 
motto  on  our  gold  and  silver  coins,  accord- 
ing to  the  Brooklyn  Eagle,  is  as  follows: 
"  The  motto,  '  In  God  We  Trust,'  which 
is  now  stamped  on  all  gold  and  silver  coins 
of  United  States  money,  was  suggested  by  an 
honest,  God-fearing  old  farmer  of  the  State 
of  Maryland.  He  thought  that  our  national 
coinage  should  indicate  the  Christian  charac- 
ter of  this  nation,  and  by  introducing  a 
motto  upon  its  coins  express  a  national  re- 
liance of  divine  support  in  governmental  af- 
fairs. In  1 86 1,  when  Salmon  P.  Chase  was 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  he  wrote  him  and 
suggested  that,  as  we  claimed  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian- people,  we  should  make  suitable  recog- 
nition of  that  fact  on  our  coinage.  The  let- 
ter was  referred  to  the  Director  of  the  Mint, 
James  Pollock,  of  Pennsylvania.  In  Mr. 
Pollock's  report  for  1862  he  discussed  the 
question  of  a  recognition  of  the  sovereignty 
of  God  and  our  trust  in  Him  on  our  coins. 
The  proposition  to  introduce  a  motto  upon 
our  coins  was  favorably  considered  by  Mr. 
Chase,  and  in  the  report  he  said  he  did  not 
doubt,  but  believed  that  it  would  meet  with 
an  approval  by  an  intelligent  public  senti- 
ment. But  Congress  gave  no  attention  to 


the  suggestion,  and  in  his  next  annual  report 
he  again  referred  to  the  subject,  this  time  in  a 
firm,  theological  argument,  and  said,    '  The 
motto  suggested,  "  God  Our  Trust,"  is  taken 
from  our  national  hymn,  "  The  Star  Spangled 
Banner. ' '    The  sentiment  is  familiar  to  every 
citizen  of  our  country ;  it  has  thrilled  millions 
of  American    freeman.     The  time  is  pro- 
pitious; 'tis  an  hour  of  national  peril  and 
danger,    an   hour  when  man's  strength  is 
weakness,  when  our  strength  and  salvation 
must    be   of  God.     Let   us   reverently  ac- 
knowledge   His  sovereignty,   and    let    our 
coinage  declare  our  trust  in  God.'     A  two- 
cent   bronze   piece   was   authorized   to    be 
coined  by  Congress  the  following  year,  April 
22,  1864,  and  upon  this  was  first   stamped 
the  motto,  'In  God  We  Trust.'     In  his  re- 
port for  that  year  he  expressed  his  approval 
of  the  act  and  strongly  urged  that  the  recog- 
nition of  trust  be  extended  to  the  gold  and 
silver  coins  of  the  United  States.     By  the 
fifth  section  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of  March 
3,  1865,  the  Director  of  the  Mint,  with  the 
approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
was  authorized  to  place  upon  all  the  gold 
and  silver  coin  of  the  United  States  suscepti- 
ble of  such  additions  thereafter  to  be  issued 
the  motto,  <  In  God  We  Trust.'  " 

Cattle-calls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  156,  etc.). — In 
Dumfriesshire,  Scotland,  the  call  to  cows  to 
come,  or  stand  quiet,  to  be  milked  is  proo  f 
lady.  The  call  to  a  horse  to  start  or  to  go 
quicker  is  gee !  or  gee-up !  to  turn  to  the 
right,  hup!  or  hip!  to  turn  to  the  left, 
wein  !  (pronounced  somewhat  like  wine}  or 
vein  !  the  call  to  a  cat  is  cheet !  cheet !  or 
cheetie!  J.  H. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Scat  is  used  in  scaring  or  driving  away 
(or  trying  to  drive  away)  cats.  Is  this 
word  connected  in  any  way  with  skat,  a  game 
of  cards  very  popular  at  present  with  some 
of  our  German  citizens  ? 

PETER  JENKINS. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

Hay  is  King  (Vol.  vi,  p.  131).— There 
has  lately  been  erected  a  "  hay  palace  "  at 
Momence,  111.  JAMES  R.  MASON. 

ORANGE,  N.  J. 


164 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  31,  1891. 


Men  of  Humble  Origin  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
141,  etc.). — Probably  the  most  brilliant 
galaxy  of  contemporaneous  and  associated 
humble  men  were  the  marshals  of  Napoleon. 
The  following  were  all  of  humble  parentage  : 

Augereau. — The  son  of  a  grocer.  When  a 
youth  enlisted  in  the  army  of  the  King  of 
Naples,  which  he  left  and  got  a  living  as  a 
fencing  master.  The  revolution  of  1792 
him  his  start. 

Bessiercs. — The  son  of  poor  and  ignorant 
parents.  He  went  with  Murat  to  Paris  and 
became  a  private  in  the  Constitutional 
Guard  of  Louis  XVI. 

Bernadotte. — The  son  of  a  common  at- 
torney, yet  he  became  King  of  Sweden. 

Lannes. — The  son  of  a  mechanic  and  was 
bound  out  to  the  same  trade.  He  ran  away 
and  enlisted  as  a  private. 

Lefebvre. — The  son  of  poor  and  ignorant 
parents,  who  could  not  even  give  him  a  com- 
mon education.  Commenced  his  career  as  a 
private  soldier. 

Massena. — He  was  poor  and  was  left  an 
orphan  when  an  infant  and  grew  up  without 
education  ;  was  for  a  time  a  boy  on  his 
uncle's  merchant  vessel. 

Murat. — He  was  the  son  of  an  inn-keeper. 
His  parents  started  to  prepare  him  for  the 
priesthood,  but  he  ran  off  and  enlisted. 

Ney  was  the  son  of  a  cooper,  but  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  he  became  notary  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Sarre-Louis.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  entered  the  army  as  a  private. 

Oudinot  was  the  son  of  a  brewer,  and  fol- 
lowed his  father's  occupation.  The  revolu- 
tion also  made  him,  entering  the  army  as  a 
private. 

St.  Cyr  was  the  son  of  humble  parentage. 
His  father  designed  to  have  him  follow  the 
profession  of  an  artist.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  revolution  he  enlisted  as  a  private. 

Soult  was  the  son  of  a  country  notary  of 
little  or  no  distinction.  At  sixteen  he  en- 
listed as  a  private. 

Suchet  was  the  son  of  a  silk  manufacturer 
of  moderate  circumstances.  At  twenty  he 
enlisted  as  a  private. 

Victor. — His  parents  were  humble  people ; 
he  had  but  little  or  no  education,  and  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  entered  the  army  as  a  private. 
THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  FA. 


Apple  in  Love  (Vol.  vi,  p.  123.) — The 
apple  seed  plays  a  conspicuous  part  in  a  child- 
ish fortune-telling  rhyme  current  in  my  girl- 
hood. In  eating  an  apple,  it  is  named  for 
the  lover  and  the  number  of  seeds  indicates 
what  is  to  be  the  future  fate  of  the  two  most 
concerned.  It  is  not  very  remarkable  for 
sense,  as  it  somewhat  resembles  the  "  one, 
two,  buckle  my  shoe  "  rhyme,  which  every 
child  has  heard,  but  coming  under  the  head 
of  folk-lore,  may  amuse  some  of  your  readers : 

"One,  I  love,  two,  I  love, 
Three  I  love,  I  say, 
Four,  I  love  with  all  my  heart, 
Five,  I  cast  away. 
Six  he  loves.    Seven,  she  loves. 
Eight  both  love. 
Nine  he  comes ;  ten,  he  tarries, 
Eleven  he  courts 
And  twelve,  he  marries." 


E.  PRIOLEAU. 


MEMPHIS,  TENX. 


St.  Brendan  and  Brazil  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
146). — St.  Brendan  was  Bishop  of  Clonfert 
in  Ireland,  A.D.  550-572,  dying,  it  is  said 
by  some,  in  the  latter  year.  His  name  ap- 
pears in  several  places  along  the  West-Irish 
and  Hebridean  shores,  and  there  is  no  rea- 
son to  doubt  that  he  made  voyages  of  dis- 
covery. The  floating  island  which  he  is 
said  to  have  visited  is  often  spoken  of  as  Hy- 
Breasail,  "the  blessed  island."  For  my 
own  part,  I  have  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt 
that  the  country  of  Brazil  was  named  for  Hy- 
Breasail.  There  is  in  the  "  Encyc.  Britan- 
nica,"  ninth  edition,  an  interesting  article 
on  "Brazil,  Island  of,"  by  the  late  Col. 
Yule,  but  he  does  not  allude  to  the  Irish 
origin  of  the  name  Brazil ;  although  he 
notices  the  Irish  traditions  in  which  the  name 
apparently  first  occurs.  The  spelling  Hy- 
Brazil  is  not  unknown.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Singular  Names  of  Place  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
107,  etc.).  —  You  publish  some  curious 
names — what  think  you  of  this  ?  It  is  the 
name  of  a  lake  near  Webster,  Mass.  I  can- 
not pronounce  it,  but  it  is  spelled  Chargog- 
gagoggmanchoggagoggagungamugg. 

One  of  the  last  reservations  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Indians  was  located  very  near  it. 

RAWE. 


January  31,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Turnspit  Dogs  (Vol.  vi,  p.  154). — 

"  The  dinner  must  be  dish'd  at  once  ; 
Where's  this  vexatious  turnspit  gone  ? 
Unless  the  skulking  cur  is  caught, 
The  dinner's  spoil'd  !" 
(Gay's  Fables,  "  The  Book,  the  Turnspit  and  the  Ox.") 

"The  mode  of  teaching  dogs  to  turn  the 
spit,  or  broach,  as  it  was  sometimes  called, 
was  more  summary  than  humane ;  the  dog 
was  put  in  a  wheel,  and  a  burning  coal  with 
him  ;  he  could  not  stop  without  burning  his 
legs,  and  so  was  kept  upon  the  full  galop. 
These  dogs  were  by  no  means  fond  of  their 
profession  ;  it  was,  indeed,  hard  work  to  run 
in  a  wheel  for  two  or  three  hours,  turning  a 
piece  of  meat  which  was  twice  their  own 
weight"  ("Hone's  Every-Day  Book,"  i, 

IS  73-15  74)- 

Dr.  Caius,  of  Cambridge,  speaks  a 
kindly  word  for  the  turnspit,  and  attests 
his  culinary  usefulness  :  "There  is  compre- 
hended under  the  curres  of  the  coarsest 
kinde,  a  certain  dog  in  kitchen  service  ex- 
cellent ;  for  when  any  meat  is  to  be  roasted, 
they  go  into  the  wheel,  which  they  turning 
round  about  with  the  weight  of  their  bodies, 
so  diligently  look  to  their  business,  that  no 
drudge,  or  scullion,  can  do  the  feat  more 
cunningly"  (Halliwell,  from  "  Topsell's 
Four-footed  Beasts,"  1607). 

These  dogs,  however,  enter  the  wheel  wil- 
lingly ;  they  were  apt  to  be  missing  when 
needed,  sometimes  skulking  away  and  hiding 
themselves  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  "He  slinks 
aloof  and  howls  with  fear. ' '  We  are  indebted 
to  John  Gibson,  author  of  "  Science  Glean- 
ings," for  the  following  information  : 

"  The  turnspit,  a  monstrous  form  of  dog, 
is  not  confined  to  any  single  breed.  It  is 
figured  on  the  ancient  monuments  of  Egypt, 
and  occurs  among  the  Pariah  dogs  of  India 
and  Paraguay.  In  Britain,  where  they  seem 
to  be  derived  from  hounds  and  terriers,  there 
are  smooth  and  rough  turnspits,  a  name 
which  they  owe  to  their  having  been  once 
employed  in  turning  kitchen  spits  by  work- 
ing inside  a  wheel,  which,  when  once  set  in 
motion,  forced  the  dog  to  continue  run- 
ning. 

"  At  Caerleon,  Monmouthshire,  a  dog  of 
this  kind  might  have  been  seen,  a  few  years 
ago  thus  employed  in  the  inn  kitchen  " 
("Encycl.  Bnt.,"  under  "  Dog  "). 


Both  Rawlinson  and  Wilkinson  remark  a 
resemblance  in  one  breed  of  the  sculptured 
dogs  of  the  ancient  monuments  of  Egypt  to 
the  turnspit ;  hence  some  idea  of  the  shapes  of 
this  canine  variety  may  be  had  from  the 
"Plates"  in  their  works  (see  Rawlinson's 
"Hist.  Anc.  Egypt,"  Vol.  i,  p.  77; 
Wilkinson's  "Anc.  Egypt,"  Vol.  iii,  p. 
32)- 

"  The  sirloin  s  spoil'd  and  I'm  in  fault," 

is  a  better  version  of  the  last  line  of  the  quo- 
tation from  the  "Fable,"  which  is  No. 
15  of  the  second  series,  and  should  be 
read  throughout  by  those  interested  in  the 
turnspit. 

"  Was  ever  cur  so  curs'd  he  cry'd, 
What  star  did  at  my  birth  preside ! 
Ami  for  life  by  compact  bound 
To  tread  the  wheel's  eternal  round?" 

An  anecdote,  preserved  in  Hone's  "Every 
Day  Book,"  may  possibly  be  new  to  some, 
which  is  :  "  Some  turnspits  were  attending 
church  on  Sunday  when  the  lesson  for  the  day 
happened  to  be  the  first  chapter  in  Ezekiel, 
which  describes  the  self-moving  chariots. 
When  first  the  word  '  wheel '  was  pro- 
nounced, all  the  curs  pricked  up  their  ears  in 
alarm;  at  the  second  mention  of  the  wheel, 
they  set  up  a  doleful  howl,  and  when  the 
dreaded  word  was  uttered  a  third  time,  every 
one  of  them  scampered  out  of  church  as  fast 
as  he  could,  with  his  tail  between  his  legs  " 
(John  Foster,  November  25,  1825). 

Ample  justice  has  been  done  the  turnspit 
in  the  "  Book  of  Days,"  Vol.  i. 

Jesse,  also,  in  "Anecdotes  of  Dogs,"  de- 
votes a  chapter  to  the  J3asset  d  jambes 
torses,  as  Buffon  terms  him. 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Rosicrucians  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  112,  155). — 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  have  been 
societies  from  time  to  time  that  called  them- 
selves Rosicrucians.  But  the  position  of 
many  recent  critics  is,  that  the  original 
Brotherhood  of  the  Rosy  Cross,  that  de- 
scribed by  J.  V.  Andrea  in  his  publications 
(if  they  really  are  his)  of  1614,  1615,  1616 
and  1619,  was  a  purely  fictitious  affair. 

MARY  OSBORN. 
CHICAGO,  ILL 


1 66 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.           [January  31,  1891. 


Origin  of  Names. —  Gorman  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  no). — Perhaps  your  correspondent  is 
right  in  deriving  the  words  "  German  "  and 
"  Gorman,"  in  some  instances,  from  the  Ger- 
man ' '  werr-man , "  a  war-man .  But  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that,  so  far  as  the  national 
names  of  German  and  Germany  are  con- 
cerned, very  careful  scholars  do  not  assign 
these  latter  nomina  to  a  Germanic  source ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  instance  of 
"German,"  merely  say  that  the  root  is 
doubtful ;  but  that  it  is  very  likely  Celtic, 
the  ancestors  of  the  historic  Germans  not 
having  called  themselves  by  that  name  or,  in 
fact,  by  any  general  name  ;  but  were  so 
called  (Germani)  by  the  Romans,  who  got 
the  term,  in  some  form,  from  the  Celts ;  and 
that,  if  it  has  any  comprehensible  meaning 
at  all,  it  is  "brother"  (germanus),  or 
"  shouter  "  (also  from  a  Celtic  root — 
"gair,"  to  cry  out).  Prof.  Skeat,  in  his 
"Etymological  Dictionary,"  thinks  the 
name  may  probably  come  from  the  Aryan 
root  "kar,"  to  move  about,  which  see,  as 
well  as  the  article  "  Germania,"  in  Smith's 
"  Die.  of  Greek  and  Roman  Geog.,"  also 
"The  Century  Die.,"  which,  although  of 
the  latest,  has  nothing  novel  or  different  to 
say  about  the  origin  of  the  German  name 
and  nation,  which  so  far  as  that  name  is  con- 
cerned, is  an  appellative  from  a  foreign  source. 
Where  the  tribes,  whom  the  Romans  called 
collectively  Germani,  did  federate  and  take 
a  general  name  (centuries  after  Roman 
times),  they  called  themselves  "  Deutche," 
from  "  Diot  "  or  "  Diut,"  signifying  the 
people  of  their  nation  in  contradistinction 
to  foreign  people  and  oppressors. 

In  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  surname 
Gorman,  it  may,  in  some  instances,  come 
from  a  German  source  ;  but  it  certainly  has 
an  ancient  Celtic  one,  the  Irish  race  of  the 
Germans  or  O'Gormans  deriving  from  Gor- 
man (Irish,  "gorm,"  illustrious),  a  de- 
scendant of  the  chiefs  of  Ibrickan,  in 
County  Clare  (vide  p.  357,  O'Hart's  "Irish 
Pedigrees,"  third  ed.). 

C. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Luray  (Virginia)  is  said  to  be  a  corrup- 
tion of  Lorraine,  the  original  name  of  the 
town. 


Schroon  lake,  N.  Y.;  some  say  this  should 
be  Scarron  lake. 

Ely  (England)  is  said  to  have  been  named 
for  its  eels. 

Stanton  is  said  to  mean  stone  enclosure. 

Stargard  (in  Prussia)  ;  its  name  means 
"old  town  "  in  the  Slavic  languages. 

When  we  speak  of  "  the  river  Syr-Dana ' ' 
we  triplicate,  or  repeat  three  times,  the  idea 
of  river;  for  Syr  and  Daria  each  mean 
river. 

Watkins  means  little  Walter. 

Stinson  is  Stephen's  son. 

Woodward  is  a  forest-warden. 

Hayward  is  a  hedge-warden. 

Pearson  is  Peter's  son.  M. 

President  Who  Did  Not  Vote  (Vol. 
v,  p.  86). — I  think  you  are  wrong  in  your 
answer  to  "  ?  ?  ?"  on  page  and  in  volume 
above  referred  to.  Gen.  Grant  was  only 
forty-six  when  nominated  the  first  time.  In 
Chambers'  "Encyclo."  (American  reprint), 
Vol.  xiv,  Art.  "Taylor,  Zachary,"  p.  239, 
I  find  the  following:  "  *  *  *  and  Gen. 
Taylor,  popularly  called  '  old  rough  and 
ready,'  was  nominated  for  President  over 
Henry  Clay,  Daniel  Webster  and  Gen. 
Scott,  and  this  ignorant  frontier  Colonel, 
who  had  not  voted  for  forty  years,"  etc., 
"  was  triumphantly  elected." 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Toads  and  Bloody  Milk. — When  I 
was  a  boy,  we  were  often  told  that  if  we 
killed  a  toad,  the  cows  would  give  bloody 
milk.  Another  fancy  is  that  the  killing  of 
toads  will  cause  rain.  Is  this  a  relic  of  the 
old  rain-making  days  ?  More  probably  our 
English  ancestors  in  their  rainy  clime 
looked  upon  a  rain-fall  as  a  misfortune,  es- 
pecially in  the  hay-making  season,  at  which 
time  toads  are  especially  liable  to  be  killed 
by  the  scythe.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Possession  by  Turf  and  Twig  (Vol. 
vi,  pp.  129,  etc.). — The  practice  of  infeoff- 
ment  was  common  in  Maryland  (I  think) 
within  the  memory  of  living  men. 

Qui  TAM. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


January  31,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


167 


Sindhia  and  Sind  (Vol.  vi,  p.  142). — 
To  illustrate  the  difference  between  these 
terms,  take  the  article  "  Ratlam  "  in  the 
"  Encyc.  Britannica."  We  there  read, 
"  Ratlam  State  is  held  as  tributary  to 
Sindhia  ;"  "  Sindhia  agreed  never  to  send 
any  troops  into  the  country;"  "Treaty  of 
1844  between  the  British  Government  and 
Sindhia. ' '  In  all  the"se  cases,  Sindhia  might 
be  taken  as  meaning  the  Gwalior  State,  but 
its  meaning  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  was 
evidently  the  ruler  of  Gwalior.  No  one  at 
all  familiar  with  India  ever  mistook  Sindhia 
for  Sindh.  They  have  nothing  in  common, 
and  a  straight  line  drawn  east  and  west  be- 
tween the  nearest  point  of  the  two  regions 
would  be  more  than  a  hundred  miles  long, 
even  if  the  line  only  reached  to  the  outlying 
States  tributary  to  the  maharaja  Sindhia. 

P.  R.  ELY. 

OHIO. 

Pontick  Sheep  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  139,  etc.). — 

"  Gladly  will  I,  like  Pontick  sheep, 
Unto  my  wormwood  diet  keep." 

Sheep  native  to  regions  adjacent  to  the 
Pontus  Euxine,  or  Black  Sea,  are  very 
properly  described  as  Pontick. 

And  perhaps,  in  "Worm wood  Diet,"  there 
is  a  special  reference  to  the  Artemisia  pontica, 
or  Roman  wormwood,  also  a  native  of  the 
same  regions. 

Though  it  be  only  general,  the  reference 
is  plainly  to  the  Artemisia  which  grows  in 
great  abundance  and  many  varieties  through- 
out  the  southern  and  south-eastern  portions 
of  Russia  and  the  western  part  of  Asia.  The 
most  common  species  of  wormwood  thrives  in 
soil  which  is  barren  and  impregnated  with 
salt,  also  on  sandy  tracts. 

Pallas,  who  was  a  very  careful  observer  of 
the  flora  of  countries  which  he  visited, 
notices  six  varieties  of  the  Artemisia  in 
Southern  Russia,  a  land  of  salt  pits  and  pools, 
salt  lakes  and  marshes,  sand  banks  and 
tracts. 

Traveling  eastward  from  the  springs  of 
Taltan  Murat,  in  the  early  part  of  May,  he 
says  :  "  We  found  in  different  places  several 
small  pits  and  pools,  partly  filled  with 
drifted  sand,  and  overgrown,  on  a  hilly  and 
verdant  common,  interspersed  with  a  variety 
of  sand-banks,  and  producing  herbs,  among 


which  were  wormwood  and  yellow  milfoil " 
(169,  170). 

"  Near  Kossikinskoi  Stanitz  the  heath  is 
so  completely  covered  with  wormwood  that 
scarcely  a  blade  of  grass  can  be  distin- 
guished. Two  or  three  species  of  this  herb, 
namely,  the  Artemisia  Austriaca,  maritima 
and  contra,  impart  a  bitter  taste  to  the  milk 
of  cows"  (264). 

Again,  in  going  from  Astrachan  to  the 
Caucasus,  he  speaks  of  "crossing  several 
eminences  with  sand  hills  and  pits,  where 
scarcely  anything  flourished  but  two  kinds 
of  wormwood"  (from  Pallas'  "Travels, 
Southern  Provinces,  Russian  Empire  "  ) .  The 
A.  pontica  is  said  to  possess  the  same  quali- 
ties as  some  other  better  known  varie- 
ties of  the  same  herb,  being  of  a  bitter  taste, 
tonic,  aromatic  and  stimulating. 

Shakespeare  employs  Pontic,  and  also 
Propontic,  referring  to  the  Black  Sea,  and 
the  sea  of  Marmora,  as  follows : 

.     "  Like  to  the  Pontic  Sea, 

Whose  icy  current  and  compulsive  course 
Ne'er  feels  retiring  ebb,  but  keeps  due  on 
To  the  Propontic,  and  the  Hellespont." 

("  Othello,"  Hi,  3,  p.  516.) 

Grosart  refers  to  "  Polybius"  iv,  22-43. 

MENONA. 

Casting  Out  the  Shoe  (Vol.'v,  pp. 
199,  etc.). — Throwing  an  old  slipper  after  a 
bride  and  bridegroom  when  starting  on  their 
honeymoon  trip  is  supposed  to  have  taken 
its  origin  from  a  Jewish  custom,  and  signi- 
fies the  obedience  of  the  wife.  But  a  shoe 
is  often  thrown  for  luck  upon  other  occa- 
sions. Ben  Jonson  says : 

"  Hurl  after  me  an  old  shoe 
And  I'll  be  merry  whatever  I  do." 

It  is  related  that  many  years  ago  it  was 
the  custom  to  throw  a  shoe  after  persons  who 
were  going  to  the  cities  to  buy  lottery 
tickets,  and  for  other  purposes  where 
"  luck  "  was  courted.  This  custom  has  ex- 
isted in  Norfolk  and  other  English  counties 
since  time  out  of  memory. 

The  custom  as  it  originally  existed, 
especially  as  far  as  it  relates  to  weddings,  is 
dying  out,  for  it  is  known  that  our  forefathers 
threw  old  shoes  after  the  wedding  equipage, 
while  we,  in  this  luxurious  age,  purchase  new 


i68 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [January  31,  1891. 


satin  slippers  for  that  purpose.  I  differ 
with  your  correspondents  as  to  the  meaning 
the  Psalmist  intended  when  he  (in  Psalm 
cviii)  said,  "  Over  Edom  will  I  cast  out  my 
shoe."  I  think  that  he  intended  thereby  that 
success  should  attend  the  methods  used  to 
subdue  the  Edomites. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Sea  Cat  (Vol.  v,  pp.  31,  etc.). — Aberg, 
a  Scandinavian  novelist,  portraying  the 
superstitious  fears  of  storm-tossed  mariners 
in  his  "I  Frihamn,"  quotes  one  of  the 
crew  as  attributing  the  fearful  tempest  to  the 
presence  of  a  markatta  on  board  ship: 
"  Det  var  mig  en  lefvande  markatta,"  and 
more  directly  in  the  following  lines  :  "  Den 
der  Ceniga  markattan  ha  vi  sakerligen  att 
tacka  for  att  stormen  kommit  ofver  oss." 
But  here  markatta  means  not  sea-cat,  but 
ape,  according  to  the  Lexicons.  "  That  bony 
ape  markatta  surely  have  we  to  thank  for 
this  storm  coming  upon  us." 

Is  it  not  just  possible  that  the  older  Norse- 
man may  have  attributed  bad  luck  to  the 
presence  of  such  repulsive  animals  (unknown 
to  him  in  his  Arctic  regions)  on  board  ship? 

G.  F.  FORT. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

The  Initial  LI  (Vol.  v,  p.  1 29 ;  Vol.  vi, 
p.  72). — I  find  that  the  Welsh  authorities 
are  mostly  against  me  on  one  point ;  they  say 
the  left  side  of  the  tongue  should  be  held 
firmly  against  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  and  the 
air  expelled  by  the  right  side ;  but  some  au- 
thorities do  not  insist  on  this  refinement.  I 
cannot  perceive  that  it  makes  much  differ- 
ence with  the  result.  M.  J.  M. 

CAIRO. 

Greek  Colonies  in  France  and  Spain 
(Vol.  v,  pp.  173,  190,  etc.). — Greek  towns 
in  what  is  now  France,  and  besides  those  al- 
ready named,  were  Nicaa,  now  Nice,  and 
(probably)  some  prehistoric  settlements  in 
Corsica.  Additional  Greek  settlements  in 
Spain  were  Rhode  (now  Rosas),  Hemerosco- 
peum,  Mcenace,  near  Gibraltar;  Tartessus, 
and  probably  others.  The  ancient  Phoeni- 
cian settlements  seem  to  have  contained 
large  numbers  of  Greeks.  M. 


Lady-bird. — There  are  in  this  country 
many  species  of  those  useful  insects  known  as 
lady-birds.  When  I  was  a  child,  the  girls 
and  small  boys  used  to  catch  them  and  cry 
out: 

"  Lady-bird,  lady-bird,  fly  away  home  ! 
Your  house  is  on  fire  and  your  children  will  burn  !" 

I  don't  know  that  there  was  any  particular 
superstition,  in  my  time  and  place,  connec- 
ted with  the  lady-bird  ;  but  there  may  have 
been.  I  have  been  told  that  in  other  times 
and  places  there  were  various  superstitions 
connected  with  this  insect.  OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Rocking  Stones  (Vol.  v,  pp.  69,  etc.). 
— There  is  a  "  rocking  stone  "  of  immense 
proportions  (estimated  to  weigh  anywhere 
between  forty  and  sixty  tons)  on  the  Joseph 
McLaury  farm,  in  Sullivan  county,  New 
York. 

The  "  Shaking  rock  "  is  another  one  of 
the  remarkable  rocking  stones  of  America.  It 
stands  in  the  rear  of  the  grounds  attached  to 
the  homestead  of  the  late  Gov.  Gilmer,  and 
is  said  to  weigh  about  twenty  tons. 

The  Grecian  island  of  Cephalonia,  in  the 
Mediterranean,  contains  a  rock  which  oscil- 
lates several  inches  to  and  fro  with  the 
regularity  of  a  pendulum,  pressing  firmly 
against  a  fixed  rock  one  moment,  and 
directly  afterwards  opening  a  space  into 
which  the  clinched  fist  may  be  thrust.  The 
motion  is  due  to  some  unknown  cause,  hav- 
ing been  found  to  be  quite  independent  of 
the  wind  or  the  action  of  the  sea.  Near  the 
town  of  Crawfordsville,  Ga.,  there  is  also  a 
curious  freak  called  "the  moving  rock."  It 
rests  on  a  pinnacle  not  two  feet  square,  and 
is  so  evenly  balanced  that  a  touch  will  cause 
it  to  oscillate,  but  so  great  is  the  mass  that 
one  hundred  horses  could  not  pull  it  from 
its  socket. 

In  1885,  the  famous  rocking  stone  in  the 
Wye  valley,  Eng.,  was  thrown  over  by  the 
combined  strength  of  a  theatrical  company 
who  were  visiting  the  spot. 

Noank,  Conn.,  and  Lanesborough,  Mass., 
each  have  fine  specimens  of  rocking  stones, 
the  former  being  situated  on  the  farm  of 
Caleb  Haley,  a  New  York  fish  dealer. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 


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CONTENTS. 
NOTES  :— Napoleon's  Marshals,  169— Cliff  Dwellings,  172. 

QUERIES  :— D'O— L.  L.  A.— Cinq  Mars,  173. 

REPLIES  :— Death-watch— Largest  City— Hypnagogic,    173 

— Spectacles — Snake-stone,  174. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Edward  Youl 
— I  lie  His  Est,  etc. — Cambric  Tea — Alison — Authorship 
Wanted,  174. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Bronze,  174— Norumbega— Evectics 
— Woodruff — Queer— Singular  Place  Names,  175 — Curious 
Titles  of  Books— Gulf  of  Lion — Rosicrucians — Razor-strop 
Man,  176 — Leaving  His  Country,  etc. — Animal  Calls — 
Latania— Infare — Tote,  177 — Hissing  Snakes — Origin  of  Some 
Names — Tyler — Swamp  Apples — Apostle  of  Unknown 
Tongues,  178 — Slapper — Isle  ofSerpents — Sancta  Simplicitas 
— The  Bottle  Imp,  179 — Cul  de  Sac — High  Meadows — 
Dreary  Gleams— Dark  Days— Love  Among  the  Ruins,  180. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  :—i8o. 


NAPOLEON'S  MARSHALS. 

Writers  upon  Napoleon  and  his  marshals 
generally  mention  those  who  were  created 
when  the  empire  was  proclaimed  in  1804, 
and  occasionally  mention  some  of  the  others. 
Of  all  the  works  upon  Napoleon  I  have  not 
a  single  one  containing  a  complete  list,  nor 
have  I  ever  been  able  to  find  a  full  list  in 
any  one  work.  After  some  care  I  think  that 
the  following  is  a  complete  list  of  the  mar- 
shals with  their  other  titles  and  the  cause  of 
such  distinction.  The  first  four  were  honor- 
ary marshals,  being  generals  who  had  dis- 
tinguished themselves  before  Napoleon  be- 
came Consul  for  life.  They  were : 

Kellerman.—  Born  at  Strasburg,  1735; 
served  in  the  "  Seven  Years'  War. ' '  On  Sep. 
tember  20,  1792,  he  defeated  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  at  Valmy;  was  imprisoned  by 


170 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [February  7,  1891. 


Robespierre  for  ten  months,  released  on  his 
downfall  in  1795,  and  made  commander  of 
the  army  of  the  Alps;  created  marshal  in 
1804,  when  the  empire  was  proclaimed  and 
also  Duke  of  Valmy ;  died  1818,  aged 
eighty-three. 

Lefebvre. — Born  in  Alsace,  in  1755  ;  was 
in  the  1792  war;  was  made  general  of 
division,  1795;  he  was  created  a  marshal 
in  1804;  in  1807  was  created  Duke  of 
Dantzic,  for  his  success  at  the  siege  of 
Dantzic  in  1807  ;  died  1820,  aged  sixty- five. 

Periguin  or  Perignon. — Born  at  Toulouse, 
1754;  was  in  the  1792  war,  made  general 
of  division,  1793;  created  marshal  in  1804; 
died  1818,  aged  sixty-four. 

Sirurier. — Born  at  Laon,  in  1742  ;  was  in 
the  1 792  war;  made  general  of  division, 
1795;  created  marshal,  1804;  died  1819, 
aged  seventy-seven. 

These  were  the  four  honorary  marshals  at 
the  proclamation  of  the  empire.  At  the 
same  time  sixteen  other  active  marshals  were 
created,  to  wit : 

Augereau. — Born  in  Paris,  1757,  he  en- 
listed as  a  private  in  the  1792  war,  and  in 
1793  was  a  general  of  division;  was  with 
Napoleon  in  his  first  Italian  campaign  ;  was 
made  a  marshal  in  1804,  and  created  Duke 
of  Castiglione  in  1805,  in  honor  of  having 
defeated  the  Austrians  on  August  5,  1805, 
at  the  battle  of  Castiglione;  he  died  of 
dropsy  in  1816,  aged  fifty-nine. 

Bessietes  was  a  poor  boy,  born  at 
Preissac,  1 768 ;  served  in  the  campaigns  of 
Italy  and  Egypt ;  made  marshal  1804,  and 
in  1809  was  created  Duke  of  Istria;  he  was 
killed  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Lutzen, 
1814,  aged  forty-five. 

Berthier  was  the  son  of  a  military  engi- 
neer, and  trained  to  the  same  profession  ;  he 
was  born  in  1753,  at  Versailles;  served  as  a 
captain  under  Lafayette  in  American  Revolu- 
tion ;  in  1 796  was  Napoleon's  chief  of  staff; 
made  a  marshal  in  1804;  created  Prince  of 
Neufchatel  (a  canton  of  Switzerland)  in 
1806,  and  Prince  of  VVagram  in  1809;  both 
of  these  titles  were  not  for  military  exploits, 
but  the  favor  of  Napoleon ;  he  committed 
suicide  in  1815,  aged  sixty-three. 

Brune. — He  was  the  son  of  a  lawyer,  born 
at  Brive,  1763  ;  in  his  youth  was  a  journal- 
ist;  went  into  the  army  in  1793,  and  in 


1 796  was  general  of  division  ;  made  a  mar- 
shal 1804;  was  killed  by  a  Royalist  mob  in 
1815,  at  Avignon,  aged  fifty-two. 

Bernadotte  was  the  son  of  an  attorney,  and 
was  born  at  Pau  in  1764  ;  at  the  age  of  fif- 
teen, he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Royal 
Marines;  when  the  icvolution  broke  out 
he  became  a  colonel,  and  in  1795  was  a 
general  of  division  ;  made  a  marshal  in 
1804  ;  for  bravery  at  the  battle  of  Austerlitz 
(1805),  he  was  created  Prince  of  Ponte 
Corvo,  a  town  in  Italy;  elected  Crown 
Prince  of  Sweden,  1810;  and  adopted  by 
the  childless  King  Charles  XIII  as  his  son  ; 
became  king  as  Charles  XIV  in  1818;  died 
in  1844,  aged  eighty. 

Davoust  was  born  at  Aunaux  in  1770, 
and  belonged  to  the  French  nobility,  though 
his  family  were  poor  ;  he  was  at  the  military 
school  of  Brunne,  at  which  was  Napoleon  ; 
made  a  marshal  in  1804;  created  Duke  of 
Auerstadt  in  1805,  for  bravery  at  the  battle 
of  Auerstadt,  near  Austerlitz;  Prince  of 
Eckmuhl  in  1809,  in  honor  of  his  action  at 
the  battle  of  Eckmuhl ;  died  in  1823,  aged 
fifty-three. 

Jourdan  was  the  son  of  a  poor  surgeon ; 
he  was  born  at  Limoges  in  1762  ;  he  entered 
the  army  at  sixteen,  and  came  to  America 
and  fought  in  the  revolution  under  Lafayette ; 
he  also  served  with  distinction  in  the  French 
revolution  of  1792;  made  a  marshal  in 
1804;  died  in  1833,  aged  seventy-one. 

Lannes  was  the  son  of  a  mechanic,  born 
at  Lectoure  in  1 769  ;  he  was  bound  out  to  a 
trade  of  carpenter ;  he  ran  away  and  en- 
tered the  revolutionary  army  ;  made  a  mar- 
shal in  1804;  created  Duke  of  Montebello 
in  1804,  in  honor  of  his  victorious  behavior 
at  the  battle  of  Montebello  in  1 800  ;  he  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Essling  in  1809,  aged 
forty. 

Massena  was  a  poor  orphan  boy,  who  fol- 
lowed the  sea  for  a  livelihood  until  seventeen 
years  of  age,  when  he  became  a  private  in 
the  service  of  the  King  of  Naples ;  he  left 
Italy  in  1792  and  joined  the  French  revolu- 
tionary army;  made  a  marshal  in  1804; 
created  Duke  of  Rivoli  in  1804,  for  his 
bravery  at  the  battle  of  Rivoli ;  Prince  of 
Essling  in  1809,  for  gallantry  at  battle  of 
Essling;  died  in  1817,  aged  fifty-seven. 

Murat. — He    was   the   son   of    an    inn- 


February  7,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


171 


keeper,  born  1771,  and  acted  as  hostler 
around  his  father's  stables  until  nine,  when 
he  was  sent  to  school  to  prepare  for  the 
priesthood  ;  he  ran  away  from  school  and 
entered  the  army  ;  in  1795  aided  Napoleon 
to  quell  the  riots  of  the  Sections ;  he  had 
more  titles  lavished  upon  him  than  any  other 
marshal;  made  a  marshal  in  1804,  and  an 
Admiral  and  Prince  of  the  Empire  at  the 
same  time ;  created  Grand  Duke  of  Berg 
a»d  Cleves  in  1806,  and  made  King  of 
Naples  in  1808;  he  was  shot  at  Lepanto 
while  trying  to  recover  his  kingdom,  in 
1815,  immediately  after  the  last  abdication  of 
Napoleon,  who  was  his  brother-in-law ;  he 
was  forty-four  years  of  age  when  killed. 

Moncey. — He  was  the  son  of  a  lawyer ; 
was  born  at  Besan^on  in  1754;  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  he  enlisted;  he  won  laurels  in  the 
campaigns  of  1792-1796;  made  a  marshal 
in  1804,  and  at  same  time  Duke  of  Cor- 
negliano,  for  bravery  in  the  contest  at  the 
town  of  the  same  name  in  the  first  campaign 
of  Napoleon  in  Italy;  he  was  the  Governor 
of  the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  when  the  remains 
of  Napoleon  were  taken  back  to  France 
from  St.  Helena  in  1840  ;  he  died  in  1842, 
aged  eighty-eight. 

Mottier. — He  was  the  son  of  a  rich 
farmer,  born  in  Cambray  in  1768;  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three  his  father  purchased  for 
him  a  commission  of  a  regiment  of  cavalry ; 
he  rose  rapidly  to  a  general  of  division  ; 
made  a  marshal  in  1804;  created  Duke  of 
Treviso  in  1807,  for  gallantry  at  the  battle 
of  Friedland ;  he  was  the  officer  who  had 
charge  of  the  blowing  up  of  the  Kremlen 
when  Napoleon  evacuated  Moscow ;  he  was 
killed  in  1835  at  the  explosion  of  Fieschis' 
infernal  machine,  which  was  thrown  at 
Louis  Philippe ;  he  was  sixty-seven  years  old 
when  killed. 

Ney  was  the  son  of  a  cooper,  and  was 
born  at  Sarre  Louis  in  1770 ;  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  he  became  a  notary,  and  at  seven- 
teen entered  the  army  as  a  private  in  the 
huzzars;  made  a  marshal  in  1804;  created 
Duke  of  Elchengen  in  1805,  for  bravery  at 
the  battle  of  the  same  name  ;  Prince  of 
Moskva  in  1812,  for  heroic  conduct  at  the 
battle  of  Borondena;  tried  and  shot  by 
order  of  Louis  XVIII  in  1815,  for  treason, 
a^ed  forty-six. 


Soult  was  born  at  Saint-Amans  in  1769  ; 
his  father  was  a  country  notary ;  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  a  regi- 
ment of  infantry ;  he  rose  rapidly  in  rank, 
and  in  1 794  was  chief  of  staff  to  Lefebvre  ; 
in  1804  he  was  created  a  marshal,  and  in 
1807  made  Duke  of  Dalmatia ;  he  died  in 
1851,  aged  eighty-two. 

These  eighteen  were  the  original  mar- 
shals created  when  the  empire  was  pro- 
claimed. The  following  were  created  mar- 
shals at  later  dates  : 

Victor  was  a  son  of  humble  parentage  and 
without  education,  born  at  La  Marche,  in 
1 766 ;  at  the  age  of  fifteen  enlisted  in  the  ar- 
tillery as  a  private ;  he  first  came  into  view  at 
Toulon  as  a  fearless  artillerist ;  at  the  battle 
of  Mantua  he  was  colonel  of  the  Fifty-seventh 
regiment,  and  his  furious  charge  on  the 
Austrians  won  for  the  regiment  the  title  of 
"The  Terrible;"  he  astonished  Napoleon 
and  Massena  by  his  bravery ;  he  won  his 
marshal's  baton  at  the  battle  of  Friedland  in 
1807,  and  at  the  same  time  the  title  of  Duke 
of  Belluno;  he  died  in  1841,  aged  seventy- 
five. 

MacDonald  was  of  Scotch  origin,  which 
followed  James  II  to  France ;  he  was  born 
at  Sancerre  in  1765  ;  he  entered  the  army 
before  the  revolution  ;  he  won  his  marshal's 
baton  at  the  battle  of  Wagram  in  1809,  it 
being  sent  to  him  on  the  battle-field  by 
Napoleon;  in  1810,  was  created  Duke  of 
Tarante  for  his  bravery  at  the  same  battle ;  he 
died  in  1840,  aged  seventy-five. 

Marmont. — He  belonged  to  a  noble  French 
family;  born  at  Chatillon-sur-Seine,  in  1774; 
at  the  age  of  fifteen  his  father  purchased  him 
a  sublieutenant's  commission  ;  he  was  with 
Napoleon  in  his  first  Italian  campaigns, 
where  he  attracted  his  attention ;  in  1809, 
he  was  created  marshal  for  gallantry  at  the 
battle  of  Wagram,  and  also  Duke  of  Ragusa, 
for  his  bravery  at  the  battle  of  Ragusa  in 
1806  ;  he  it  was  who  surrendered  Paris  to 
the  allies  in  1814,  when  Napoleon,  who  had 
notified  him  that  he  would  soon  be  in  the 
city,  predicted  that  Marmont  would  be 
detested  by  the  French  for  that  act;  he  died 
in  exile  in  1852,  aged  seventy-eight. 

Oudinot  was  the  son  of  a  brewer,  and  was 
born  at  Bar-le-Duc  in  1767  ;  he  commenced 
his  military  career  when  but  fifteen,  by  rallying 


172 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [February  7,  1891. 


a  company  to  repel  the  revolutionary  hordes 
of  1792,  which  made  an  attack  on  his  town; 
in  1 799,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  general  of 
division ;  at  the  battle  of  Wagram  he  also 
won  his  marshal's  baton,  like  MacDonald 
and  Marmont,  and  was  also  made  Duke  of 
Reggio  at  the  same  time;  he  died  in  1847, 
aged  eighty. 

Suchet  was  the  son  of  a  silk  manufacturer, 
born  at  Lyons  in  1770  ;  at  the  age  of  twenty 
he  entered  the  army,  and  was  with  Napoleon 
at  the  siege  of  Toulon;  in  1808,  he  was 
created  a  count  of  the  empire  ;  for  his  great 
ability  in  the  Spanish  campaign  he  was  made 
a  marshal  in  1811,  and  the  same  year  was 
created  Duke  of  Albufera;  he  died  in  1826, 
aged  fifty-six. 

St.  Cyr  was  the  child  of  humble  parentage, 
and  was  born  at  Toul  in  1764;  his  father 
wished  him  to  follow  the  profession  of  an 
artist  and  sent  him  to  Rome  to  study  paint- 
ing ;  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution  in 
1792  he  enlisted  as  a  private,  and  rose 
rapidly ;  at  the  age  of  thirty-two  he  was  a 
general  of  division ;  for  his  bravery  at  the 
battle  of  Polotsk  he  was  created  a  marshal  in 
1812;  he  died  in  1830,  aged  sixty-six. 

Poniatowski  was  of  noble  birth ;  his  uncle 
was  King  of  Poland  ;  he  was  born  at  Warsaw 
in  1763;  he  served  under  Kosciusko  in  1792, 
to  keep  his  country  from  being  dismem- 
bered ;  after  the  partition  he  went  to  Vienna, 
until  1807,  when  it  was  restored  by  Napoleon 
as  the  Duchy  of  Warsaw;  he  was  created  a 
marshal  in  1813,  the  day  before  the  battle  of 
Leipsic  ;  in  the  retreat  the  next  day  he  was 
drowned  while  crossing  the  Elster  ;  he  was 
fifty  years  of  age. 

Grouchy. — He  was  a  member  of  an  old 
French  family  of  title  and  was  born  in  Paris 
in  1768;  he  entered  the  military  service  at 
fourteen,  and  at  nineteen  was  an  officer  in 
the  king's  body  guard;  in  1807,  for  bravery 
at  Friedland,  he  was  created  a  count  of  the 
empire;  it  was  not  until  the  return  of 
Napoleon  from  Elba  in  1814,  that  Grouchy 
secured  the  marshal's  baton  which  was  con- 
ferred for  his  proclamation  calling  on  the 
national  guard  to  rally  around  the  emperor; 
he  will,  however,  always  be  looked  upon  as 
the  man  who  lost  the  battle  of  Waterloo ;  he 
died  in  1847,  aged  seventy-nine. 

This,  I  believe,  completes  the  list  of  mar- 


shals ;  there  were  others  who  were  given 
titles  by  the  emperor,  for  instance  : 

Beauharnais,  the  son  of  Josephine  by  her 
first  husband,  born  at  Paris,  1781;  after 
Napoleon  married  Josephine,  he  created  him 
Prince  of  France  and  Viceroy  of  Italy  in 
1805,  and  conferred  other  titles,  as  Prince  of 
Venice,  Duke  of  Leuchtenberg  and  Prince  of 
Eichstadt;  he  died  in  1824,  aged  forty-four. 

Duroc. — Born  1772,  he  was  a  favorite  of- 
ficer of  Napoleon,  and  conducted  important 
missions  for  him ;  made  marshal  of  the  palace 
and  Duke  of  Friuli  in  1804;  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Wurtzen  1813,  aged  forty. 

Junot.  — Born  1771;  was  a  common  soldier 
at  the  siege  of  Toulon ;  created  Duke 
d'Abrantes  in  1807;  died  in  1813,  aged 
forty-two. 

Maret. — Born  1763;  a  statesman  and 
lawyer;  created  Duke  of  Bassano  in  1811  ; 
died  in  1839,  aged  seventy-six. 

Champagny. — A  diplomatist  born  1756; 
created  count  of  the  empire  1804,  and  Duke 
of  Cadore,  1807;  died  in  1834,  aged  seventy- 
eight.  THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


CLIFF  DWELLINGS. 

These  remarkable  domiciles  are  not  all 
prehistoric,  nor  are  they  all  American. 
Atitlan  in  Central  America  was  a  cliff  city 
when  the  Spaniards  captured  it.  On  the 
cliffs  of  the  remarkable  Greek  island  of 
Thera,  the  wonderful  town  of  Epanomeria 
is  situated.  The  town  consists  of  several 
tiers  or  ranges  (at  some  points  fifteen  or 
twenty  in  number)  of  dwellings,  on  the 
cliffs  face.  The  lowest  range  is  said  to  be 
400  feet  above  the  sea ;  and  the  chimneys  of 
the  highest  range  in  some  places  reach  up 
through  the  soil  above  ;  for  many  of  the 
houses  are  excavations  on  the  face  of  the 
cliff,  and  others  stand  on  shelves  of  rock. 
On  the  island  of  Minorca  there  is  an  aban- 
doned and  mainly  prehistoric  canon-town 
quite  in  the  general  New  Mexican  style.  The 
New  Mexican  mesa-towns  (of  which  Acoma 
may  be  taken  as  the  type)  are  well  matched 
by  such  Swiss  towns  as  Albinnen,  which  can 
only  be  reached  by  a  succession  of  eight 
wooden  ladders.  E.  B.  S. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


February  7,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


173 


B  S. 


D'O.— What  is  the  origin  of  the  French 
family  name  D'O?  H.  W.  C. 

ATLANTA,  GA. 

Fran9ois  Marquis  D'O  derived  his  name 
from  O,  his  birthplace.  O  is  a  small  village 
in  Normandy,  fifteen  kilometers  from  Argen- 
tan,  and  thirty-five  kilometers  from  Alencon. 

_  L.  L.  A.— What  does  this  abbreviation 
signify  ?  It  is  appended  to  a  lady's  name  in 
an  English  newspaper.  J.  M.  B. 

NEW  YORK. 

It  is  said  to  signify  "lady  literate  (or 
laureate)  in  the  arts,"  and  to  be  conferred 
by  the  University  of  St.  Andrew's  in  Scot- 
land upon  ladies  who  pass  an  examination 
in  certain  branches  of  study. 

Cinq  Mars.— What  is  the  origin  of  the 
French  family  name  Cinq  Mars  ? 

H.  W.  C. 

ATLANTA,  GA. 

Henry  Coiffier  de  Ruze,  Marquis  de  Cinq 
Mars,  derived  his  name  from  Cinq  Mars,  a 
small  town  thirty-five  kilometers  N.  E.  of 
Chinon.  This  town  once  was  called  St. 
Medard~la-Pile,  which  was  changed  into 
Saint  Medard,  Saint  Maars  and  finally  Cinq 
Mars. 


PJBPLIBS. 

Death-Watch  (Vol.  vi,  p.  150).  —  The 
death-watch  of  Europe  belongs  to  the  cole- 
opterous genus  Anobium,  of  which  there  are 
several  species,  notably  Tesselatum.  Al- 
though there  were  ten  or  twelve  species  of 
Anobium  described  as  American  nearly  fifty 
years  ago,  Tesselatum  was  not  among  them. 
As  quite  a  number  of  noxious  foreign 
insects  have  been  introduced  into  this  coun- 
try during  the  past  fifty  years,  it  may  be 
ultimately  imported,  if  it  is  not  here  now. 
Almost  any  insect  that  habitually  burrows 
in  hard  dry  wood,  will  make  the  same 
"  clicking  "  as  the  foreign  "  death-watch." 
Mr.  John  Best,  of  Lancaster  city,  owned  a 


sewing  machine,  with  hard  walnut  case,  fin- 
ished smoothly  on  the  outside,  the  inside 
lining  and  drawers  being  of  white  pine. 
For  full  fourteen  years,  at  different  intervals, 
when  not  in  use,  the  "ticking"  or  "click- 
ing" of  the  death-watch  was  heard.  At 
length  the  bottom  drawer — which  never  had 
been  used — was  opened,  and  was  found  to 
be  nearly  half  full  of  finely  pulverized  d6- 
bris,  and  the  side  and  bottom  were  "  honey- 
combed," and  amongst  it  all  was  found  a 
single  dead  specimen  of  Hylotrupes  bullatus, 
Hald.  Of  course  the  inference  is,  that  the 
ova,  or  the  larva,  must  have  been  in  the  pine 
wood — if  not  the  pupa,  or  the  beetle  itself 
— before  it  became  a  part  of  the  casing  of 
the  machine.  How  much  longer  than  four- 
teen years,  including  seasoning,  transit, 
etc.,  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA 

Largest  City  (Vol.  vi,  p.  160). — There 
are  two  cities  in  the  United  States  having  a 
larger  area  than  Philadelphia  (129  square 
miles).  These  are  New  Orleans  (160  square 
miles)  and  Chicago  (178  square  miles).  It 
is  not  unlikely  that  there  are  foreign  cities 
larger  in  area.  J.  M.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  "Encyc.  Britannica,"  Art.  "Riode 
Janeiro,"  says  that  its  municipality  has  an 
area  of  540  square  miles.  Darjiling,  in  the 
Himalayas  of  Bengal,  is  a  municipality  with 
an  area  of  138  square  miles,  mostly  wild 
land.  Philadelphia's  area  is  1 29  square  miles. 
Area  of  New  Orleans,  155  square  miles. 

ILDERIM. 

Hypnagogic  (Vol.  vi,  p.  160). — According 
to  the  conventional  construction  of  medical 
terms,  hypnotic  would  be  the  proper  form  for 
the  name  of  an  agent  that  induces  sleep, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  word  has  long 
been  used  with  this  meaning,  \lhypnagogue  is 
in  use,  it  should  mean,  to  be  consistent  with 
medical  usage,  an  agent  that  banishes  sleep. 
In  medical  lexicography,  ayst*  is  conven- 
tionally used  in  the  sense  of  to  drive  rather 
than  to  lead,  or  to  induce. 

LEXICOG. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [February  7,  1891. 


Spectacles  (Vol.  vi,  p.  103).  —  Is  the 
supposed  reference  in  Pliny  to  spectacles 
anything  more  than  the  questionable  one 
about  Nero's  emerald  ?  Your  correspondent 
asks  for  the  words,  but,  not  having  the  Latin 
text  at  hand,  I  give  only  the  translation.  In 
one  place  the  author  says  :  "  Nero  could  see 
nothing  distinctly  without  winking  and  having 
it  brought  close  to  his  eyes"  (Bk.  xi,  Chap. 
liv,  Riley's  Trans.).  Afterwards,  of  the 
emerald,  smaragdus,  he  says :  "In  form  these 
are  mostly  concave,  so  as  to  reunite  the  rays  of 
light  and  the  powers  of  vision.  *  *  *  When 
the  surface  of  the  smaragdus  is  flat,  it  re- 
flects the  image  of  objects  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  a  mirror.  The  Emperor  Nero 
used  to  view  the  combats  of  gladiators 
upon  a  smaragdus"  (Bk.  xxxvii,  Chap, 
xvii).  Since  the  Latin  ablative  (smaragdo), 
here  rendered  by  the  italicized  words,  might 
also  be  translated  "  with,  or  by  means  of  a 
smaragdus,"  some  have  supposed  that  the 
short-sighted  Nero  used  a  concave  emerald 
like  an  eye-glass.  Taking  the  two  state- 
ments independently,  it  seems  rather  more 
credible  that  the  emperor  should  have  dis- 
covered, possibly  by  chance,  the  virtues  of  a 
concave  transparent  stone  in  assisting  his  de- 
fective sight,  than  that  he  should  have  found 
it  an  advantage  to  view  combats  in  a  mirror, 
yet  the  connection  is  against  the  former  sup- 
position. 

M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Snake-stone  (Vol.  vi,  p.  160).  —  i. 
What  is  called  the  Water-of-Ayr  stone,  or 
Scotch  hone,  is  sometimes  known  as  a  snake- 
stone.  It  is  used  in  rubbing  copper,  polish- 
ing fine  marble,  and  in  sharpening  cutlery. 
a.  There  are  certain  stones,  bones,  fossils, 
or  concretions  called  snake-stones,  which 
are  reputed  on  insufficient  grounds  to  possess 
efficacy  as  antidotes  in  cases  of  snake-bite. 
They  may  possibly  have  a  slightly  absorbent 
quality,  and  thus  be  of  some  service;  but 
this  is  very  doubtful.  3.  Various  fossil  am- 
monites and  other  similar  spirally  coiled  ob- 
jects have  been  called  snake-stones  from 
their  shape.  The  so-called  mad-stone  (see 
Vol.  iv,  p.  311 ;  Vol.  v,  p.  35,  etc.)  appears 
to  be  identical  with  the  snake-stone  of  the 
second  kind  named  above.  In  India  the 


snake-stone  is  one  of  the  few  remedies  valued 
in  cases  of  snake-bite.  W.  J.  L. 


TO 


Edward  Youl.  —  Where  can  I  find  any 
account  of  Edward  Youl,  an  English  writer 
of  the  present  century  ?  T.  G.  P. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Die  hie  est  Raphael,  etc.  —  Will 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  have  a  literal 
translation  made  of  the  following  epitaph  : 

"  Ille  hie  est  Raphael  timuit  quo  Sospite  vinci 
Rerum  magnam  parens,  et  morenti  mori." 


G.  F.  F. 


CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


Cambric  Tea. — Where  did  this  name 
originate  ?  It  is  the  appellation  of  a  drink 
made  of  hot  water,  sugar  and  milk.  I  sup- 
pose it  is  so  called  because  it  is  thin,  white 
and  weak.  N.  A.  M. 

GEORGETOWN. 

Alison. — Is  not  this  name  (a  Scottish 
Christian  name  for  a  woman)  the  equivalent 
rf  Alice!  R.  F.  F. 

BOSTON. 

Authorship  Wanted.— Balder,  the 
White  Sun-god,  etc. — I  have  by  me  a  piece 
of  verse  (very  good  verse  it  is,  too),  which 
begins  thus : 

"  Balder,  the  white  sun-god,  has  departed." 

Who  wrote  this  poem  ?  B.  M.  G. 

GEORGETOWN. 

©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Bronze  (Vol.  vi,  p.  162). — I  have  some- 
where seen  the  expression — and  it  was  re- 
peatedly used — as  Brundusinum.  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  this  was  unwittingly  used  for  ars 
Brundusinum?  A  moment's  thought  will 
show  that  either  expression  has  a  very  signifi- 
cant meaning.  I  cannot  now  recall  the  au- 
thority for  ces  Brundusinum,  but  it  was  in 
some  work  of  repute.  J.  W.  R. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


February  7,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Norumbega  (Vol.  v,  pp.  70,  etc.). — 
According  to  Heylin's  "  Cosmographie," 
an  original  copy  of  which  is  now  in  the 
library  of  the  writer,  dated  London,  1657, 
Norumbega  was  not  only  a  city  but  a  country. 
Heylin  says,  pp.  1023  and  1024:  "  Canada 
contains  the  several  regions  of  Nova  Fran- 
cia ;  2.  Novia  Scotia;  3.  Norumbegue; 
and,  4.  The  Isles  adjoyning*  *  *  "  p.  1024: 
"Norumbega  hath  on  the  northeast  Novia 
Scotia;  on  the  southwest,  Virginia.  The 
aire  is  of  good  temper,  the  soil  good  and 
fruitful.  *  *  *  The  men  are  much  affected 
to  hunting.  *  *  *  The  women  are  very 
chast,  and  so  well  love  their  husbands,  that 
if  at  any  time  they  chance  to  be  slain,  the 
widdows  will  neither  marry,  nor  eat  flesh,  till 
the  death  of  their  husbands  be  revenged. 
*  *  *  The  towns,  or  habitations,  rather,  so 
differently  called  by  the  French,  Portugals 
(this  was  before  the  word  Portuguese  had 
ever  been  used)  and  Spaniards,  that  there  is 
not  much  certainty  known  of  them.  Yet 
most  have  formerly  agreed  that  Norumbegua, 
or  Arampec,  is  a  large,  populous  and  well- 
built  town,  and  to  be  situated  on  a  fair  and 
capacious  River  of  the  same  name  also,  but 
later  Observations  tell  us  that  there  is  no 
such  matter ;  that  the  River  which  the  first 
Relations  did  intend,  is  called  Pemtegonet, 
neither  large  nor  pleasant,  and  that  the  place 
by  them  meant  is  called  Agguncia,  so  far 
from  being  a  fair  City,  that  there  is  only  a 
few  Sheds  or  Cabins,  covered  with  the  barks 
of  trees,  or  the  skins  of  beasts." 

The  above  is  an  exact  reproduction  of 
Heylin's  account  of  the  fabulous  city  of 
Norumbega,  even  to  capitalization,  punctua- 
tion, etc.  It  will  be  noticed  that  he  spells 
the  name  three  different  ways. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Evectics. — This  old-fashioned  word  is 
nearly  equivalent  to  hygiene.  In  a  late 
number  of  The  Athenaeum,  a  critic  points 
out  that  the  "  Century  Dictionary  "  derives 
it  from  the  Latin  evehere,  evectum,  whereas 
its  real  origin  is  from  the  Greek  etam/tor. 
The  Athenaum  gives  the  Dictionary  much 
well-deserved  praise.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 


Woodruff  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  105,  151). — I 
too  have  heard  that  the  European  woodruff 
grows  in  Fairmount  Park  and  at  Egg  Harbor 
City,  N.  J.,  but  I  have  not  heard  of  any 
botanist  who  has  found  it,  or  pronounced 
the  plant  to  be  the  genuine  waldmeister* 
But  we  have  several  species  of  galium  which 
closely  resemble  the  true  woodruff,  and  at 
least  three  of  our  species  have  the  coumarin 
odor  and  taste  which  characterize  the  wood- 
ruff. I  have  several  times  tasted  the  maiwein 
(which  I  do  not  like),  and  have  also  seen 
samples  of  the  plant  it  was  flavored  with,  but 
not  having  the  whole  plant,  nor  its  flowers, 
I  could  not  say  positively  whether  the  plant 
was  a  galium  or  an  asperula,  for  the  two 
genera  are  nearly  related.  But  I  feel  rea- 
sonably sure  that  we  have  no  asperula  in  this 
country,  except  what  may  have  been 
grown  from  European  seed.  For  if  the 
plant  grew  here  in  any  abundance,  enough 
so  to  supply  one  wine  house  with  its  annual 
needs,  surely  some  botanist  would  have 
found  it  long  ago.  Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN.  PA. 

Queer  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  155,  etc.). — The  ex- 
cellent interpretation  of  the  word  furnished 
by  Menona  proves  my  guess  to  be  altogether 
wrong,  and  I  agree  with  G.  that  there  is  no 
obvious  reference  to  a  choir  in  Vaughan's 
poem.  But  in  explanation  of  my  sugges- 
tion, perhaps  I  may  be  allowed — applying 
Herbert's  lines  to  the  source  of  spiritual  joy 
— to  quote  them  as  partially  expressing  what 
I  imagined  Vaughan  might  mean  by  his  title 
to  verses  depicting  heavenly  ecstasy : 

"His  beams  shall  cheer  my  breast,  and  both  so  twine 
That  even  his  beams  sing,  and  my  music  shine.'1 

Except  for  a  poet  full  of  "  queer  "  con- 
ceits, no  such  remote  interpretation  could 
have  suggested  itself. 

But  I  should  like  to  ask  whether  any  con- 
nection may  be  traced  between  the  two  rare 
meanings  of  queer  as  "  a  prison  "  and  as  "a 
puzzle?"  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Singular  Place  Names  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
164). — For  many  years  the  unpronounceable 
name  of  the  lake  given  by  Rawe  has  been 
charted  Chaubunagungarnaug.  OROG. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


1 76 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [February  7,  1891. 


Curious  Titles  of  Books. — "A  pam- 
phlet, published  in  London,  in  1686,  was  en- 
titled, '  A  Most  Delectable,  Sweet-perfumed 
Nosegay  for  God's  Saints  to  Smell  at.'  A 
few  years  previous  a  popular  work  bore  the 
title,  'A  Pair  of  Bellows. to  Blow  Off  the 
Dust  Cast  upon  John  Fry.'  And  another  was 
called,  'The  Snuffers  of  Divine  Love.' 

"Cromwell's  time  was  especially  famous  for 
title  pages.  It  was  then  that  an  author 
called  his  work  on  charity,  '  Hooks  and 
Eyes  for  Believers'  Breeches;'  and  another 
who  aimed  to  exalt  poor  human  nature, 
named  his  effort,  '  High-heeled  Shoes  for 
Dwarfs  in  Holiness.' 

It  was  about  the  same  time  that  there  was 
published,  '  The  Spiritual  Mustard-pot  to 
Make  the  Soul  Sneeze  with  Devotion  ,'  and 
another  author,  evidently  fond  of  compre- 
hensive titles,  used,  '  A  Reaping-hook  Well 
Tempered  for  the  Stubborn  Ears  of  the 
Coming  Crop ;  or,  Biscuits  Baked  in  the 
Oven  of  Charity,  Carefully  Conserved  for 
the  Chickens  of  the  Church,  the  Sparrows 
of  the  Spirit  and  the  Sweet  Swallows  of 
Salvation.'  Another,  equally  exhaustive,  is 
too  curious  to  omit :  '  Seven  Sobs  of  a  Sor- 
rowful Soul  for  Sin;  or,  The  Seven  Penitential 
Psalms  of  the  Princely  Prophet,  David : 
whereunto  are  also  added,  William  Humius' 
Handful  of  Honeysuckles,  and  divers  Godly 
and  Pithy  Ditties  now  newly  augmented.'  " 

Ex. 

Gulf  of  Lion  (Vol.  vi,  p.  162).— Will 
Anchor  please  to  accept  the  thanks  of  one 
among  a  large  number  of  geographers  for  the 
result  of  his  investigations  concerning  this 
name.  It  is  by  far  the  most  reasonable  ex- 
planation I  have  yet  seen. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Rosicrucians  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  165,  etc.). 
— Was  not  the  Rosicrucian  society  connected 
with  the  Illuminati  ?  The  Order  of  the  II- 
luminati  was  founded  at  Ingolstadt,  in  1776, 
by  Adam  Weishaupt,  and  was  suppressed  in 
1785  by  the  elector  of  Bavaria.  Prof. 
Robison,  in  his  "  Conspiracy  Against  the 
Governments  of  Europe,"  a  book  directed 
against  the  Illuminati  and  founded  on 
original  documents  in  his  possession,  hints 


at  the  connection  of  the  Rosicrucians  and 
Illuminati.  Is  there  any  other  work  besides 
Robison's  which  exposes  the  Illuminati  ? 

H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Razor-strop  Man  (Vol.  vi,  p.  160,  etc.). 
— lam  inclined  to]think  that  your  correspon- 
dent "  S.  S.  R."  has  answered  the  question 
correctly.  It  is  some  fifty  years  since  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Smith  started  in  the  business 
of  selling  razor-strops  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  He  became  in  time  one  of  the  nota- 
ble landmarks  of  the  town.  He  walked  up 
and  down  Nassau  street  for  over  forty  years, 
and  his  cry  became  a  by-word  and  a  "chest- 
nut." "Only  one  more  left!  The  best 
strop  in  the  world  !  Only  one  more  left !" 
That  was  the  familiar  cry  of  Smith,  who 
finally  had  this  legend  stamped  on  every 
strop,  "  Only  one  more  left!"  After  a  while 
he  settled  down  on  the  corner  of  Pine  street, 
near  the  Subtreasury.  There  he  held  forth 
during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  business 
career,  and  there  he  continued  to  add  to  his 
fortune,  already  large.  In  Once  a  Week 
(December  30,  1890)  the  present  writer  re- 
ferred briefly  to  the  "  street  merchants  of 
Gotham."  Most  of  the  old  landmarks — 
like  old  King,  "  the  needle  man,"  and  Jim 
Moran,  "the  rubber-baby  man" — have 
passed  out  of  sight,  and  almost  out  of  mem- 
ory. But  New  Yorkers  always  speak  of 
"  the  razor-strop  man,"  meaning,  of  course, 
old  man  Smith.  L.  J.  V. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Though  not  a  relative,  as  might  be  as- 
sumed by  the  coincidence  of  names,  I  remem- 
ber Smith,  the  razor-strop  man  in  Maine,  at 
the  time  your  correspondent  F.  speaks  of,  and 
his  unique  method  of  selling  a  good  razor- 
strop  for  twenty-five  cents.  A  man  about 
fifty  or  fifty-five,  the  dress  and  manners  of  a 
gentleman,  weight  say  140  pounds,  hair  and 
what  whiskers  he  had  turning  white,  perhaps 
five  feet  eight  or  nine  inches  tall.  His 
strops  were  in  a  wicker  basket,  carried  on  his 
arm,  and  he  called  his  wares  as  he  went  along 
the  street.  As  he  made  a  sale,  the  invariable 
cry  was,  "  A  few  more  left  of  the  same  sort ; 
who'll  have  another  one?"  He  was  not 
obtrusive,  but  a  crowd  would  frequently  col« 


February  7,  1891.]          AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


177 


leet  and  he  would  entertain  them  with 
stories  and  selling  his  strops.  He  always 
when  possible  got  in  a  short  temperance  lec- 
ture, and  was  often  criticised  or  interrupted, 
and  he  was  always  ready  with  a  reply,  yet 
invariably  couched  in  such  polite  terms  as 
'  to  give  him  the  sympathy  of  the  crowd  and 
at  the  same  time  crush  his  interlocutor. 
Sometimes,  too,  jeering  remarks  were  met 
and  parried.  Once  in  Bangor,  when  talking 
temperance,  a  man  evidently  the  worse  for 
liquor  and  showing  visible  signs  of  having 
lain  down  in  the  street,  shouted  out  during 
some  of  his  temperance  remarks  :  "  That's 
a  lie,  your  business  makes  you  lie."  "Yes," 
said  Smith,  "  my  business  makes  me  lie  in 
a  good  warm  bed,  while  yours  makes  you 
lie  in  the  gutter."  The  crowd  applauded 
and  the  man  slunk  away.  Ihe  basket  of 
strops  was  quickly  sold  out. 

T.  H.  SMITH. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Leaving  His  Country,  etc.  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  114,  etc.). — Harrington,  or  Waldron, 
being  a  thief  by  profession,  doubtless  felt  no 
scruples  abouf  appropriating  old  Fitzgef- 
frey's  line  of  verse.  But  he  did  not  simply 
appropriate  it.;  he  completely  reversed  its 
meaning,  and  gave  to  it  a  humorous,  or  a 
witty  turn,  which  made  it  really  original. 

B.  M. 

Animal  Calls  (Vol.  vi,  p.  106).— An 
Americanized  Scotch-Irishman  in  whose  ser- 
vice I  was  when  a  boy  (1822),  when  he  wished 
to  capture  a  horse  in  the  field,  invariably 
called  "cope-cope-cope"  several  times  in 
rapid  succession,  and  he  as  invariably  ac- 
complished his  purpose ;  and,  so  far  as  I  can 
recollect,  he  used  that  call  alone,  which  was 
also  adopted  by  several  of  his  neighbors. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,   PA. 

Latania  (Vol.  v,  p.  ii\— According  to 
Mrs.  Chambers-Ketchum's  "  Manual  of 
Plants,"  p.  36,  both  the  saw-palmetto  and 
the  blue-palmetto  of  the  Gulf  States  are 
"called  Latanier  by  the  Creoles."  Does 
not  this  fact  point  towards  a  North  American 
origin  for  this  Neo-Latin  word  Latania  ? 

G. 


Infare  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  159,  etc.). — How- 
ever it  may  be  in  the  other  Middle  Atlantic 
States  which  J.  W.  R.  excepts  from  the 
usage  of  the  word  "  in  fare,"  New  Jersey 
should  not  be  included  in  such  an  exception. 
I  have  heard  the  word  in  that  State,  within 
recent  years,  connected  with  an  old  custom, 
and  on  inquiry  of  one  "  to  the  manner 
born,"  I  am  told  that  it  is  still  in  frequent 
use  in  country  towns.  It  has  not  there, 
however,  the  broad  sense  of  a  party  or  en- 
tertainment generally,  but  is  limited  to  the 
fete  made  when  a  bride  is  first  welcomed  to 
her  husband's  house,  "  the  home-bringing," 
as  it  is  also  called.  The  author  of  the 
"Story  of  an  Old  Farm" — a  New  Jersey 
farm — in  tracing  the  fortunes  of  its  owners, 
describes  many  quaint,  old-time  practices, 
and  of  this  one  of  the  observances  connected 
with  marriage  says:  "The  occasion  of 
bringing  the  wife  home — called  the  infare — 
was  one  of  great  festivity,  often  prolonged 
for  several  days,  the  kinsfolk  and  neighbors 
being  bidden  from  far  and  near"  (p.  243). 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

This  word  is  in  common  use  in  many 
parts  of  the  West  and  South  as  the  name  of 
a  dinner  given  the  bride  by  the  parents  or 
friends  of  the  groom.  It  occurs  usually  on 
the  day  succeeding  the  nuptials.  Have  an 
impression  the  usage  of  the  word  flows  from 
the  people  of  the  South  and  their  de- 
scendants. Would  like  further  information 
as  to  origin  and  locality  of  use.  It  is  in 
common  use  in  Southern  Indiana  and  South- 
ern Illinois.  '  S.  A.  F. 

CENTRALIA,  ILL. 

Tote  (Vol.  vi,  p.  129). — During  a  tem- 
porary residence  of  about  four  months  in  the 
States  of  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  in  the  winter 
of  1836-1837,  the  word  "tote"  was  very 
common,  not  only  in  those  States,  but  all 
along  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers.  It 
meant  to  convey  or  carry  anything  from 
one  place  to  another.  A  person  totes  home 
a  bucket  of  water  from  the  well,  or  river.  A 
colored  woman  remarked,  "I  toted  dis 
chile  on  my  back,  all  de  way  from  Rolinton 
to  Lewyvilie."  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER.  PA. 


1 78 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [February  7,  1891. 


Hissing  Snakes  (Vol.  vi,  p.  130  . — 
We  have  in  Pennsylvania  a  reptile,  called 
the  "viper,"  or  "blower,"  which  flattens 
its  body  and  makes  a  hissing  or  blowing 
noise;  but  it  is  entirely  harmless,  "although 
it  sometimes  makes  a  great  show  of  pugnac- 
ity." When  Mr.  Stauffer  was  Secretary  of 
the  Athenaeum,  he  kept  one  as  a  pet  several 
months  in  his  office,  but  one  day  a  visitor 
met  it  on  the  stairs  leading  to  his  room,  and 
summarily  dispatched  it,  not  knowing  that  it 
was  harmless.  In  fact,  there  are  but  two 
venomous  species  of  reptiles  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  these  are  the  "Rattlesnake"  {Crotalus  hor- 
tidus}  and  the  "  Copperhead  "  ( Trigonoceph- 
alus  contortrix),  the  latter  of  which  is  com- 
mon in  the  southern  part  of  Lancaster 
county.  The  true  viper  (Pelias  beni3)  is 
common  to  England,  and  is  the  only  veno- 
mous reptile  found  in  that  country,  and  hot 
olive  oil  is  said  to  be  a  sovereign  antidote 
to  its  bite.  There  is  a  "  viper  "  or  "  puff- 
adder  "  indigenous  to  South  Africa,  the  bite 
of  which  is  said  to  be  fatal.  It  is  the  Clotho 
atietana  of  naturalists.  The  actions  of  this 
animal  are  mimicked  by  our  American 
harmless  species,  and  often  produces  a 
"  first-class  scare  "  among  the  uninformed. 

About  twenty  different  species  of  the 
"rattlesnake"  are  found  in  the  United 
States  and  Territories,  some  of  which  are 
very  sinister  looking  ;  but  perhaps  our  most 
venomous  snake  in  America  is  the  "Moc- 
casin snake' '  (  Toxicophis pisdvorus},  a  water- 
snake.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Origin  of  Some  Names  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
143,  etc.). — Ruskin  is  said  to  be  the  Dutch 
rostikin,  a  rustician,  or  rustic.  Lulu  is  said 
to  be  the  Arabic  for  pearl.  Dunstan  means 
either  the  dun  stone,  or  the  dune  stone. 
IVhiting,  Browning,  Redding,  are  the  sons 
respectively  of  White,  Brown  and  Red. 
Angus  means  firm  ;  Dugald  black-haired  ; 
Brian,  a  chief.  B.  M. 

Tyler  (Vol.  vi,  p.  62). — I  do  not  know 
of  any  authority  for  making  this  name  a 
variant  of  Taylor.  In  the  case  of  the  his- 
toric Wat  Tyler,  it  is  likely  that  the  name 
means  Walter  the  tile-maker,  or  tile-layer, 
the  word  tile  here  meaning  an  earthen  or 


other  plate  to  be  used  in  roofing  a  house.  I 
suppose  that  the  word  iile  in  the  sense  of  a 
hat  is  a  slang  variant  of  that  older  use  of  the 
word.  If  it  be  necessary  to  find  a  less  ple- 
beian origin  for  the  Tyler  family  than  is  im- 
plied in  this  definition,  some  of  the  dic- 
tionaries give  us  tyler  in  the  sense  of  a 
swordsman.  But  does  not  this  masonic 
word  originally  mean  a  tile-layer?  The 
mason  was  a  house  builder,  and  the  tiler's 
trade  was  thus  a  branch  of  operative  masonry. 
I  should  imagine  this  to  be  the  way  in  which 
the  tyler  became  a  member  of  the  masonic 
family,  and  that  the  derivation  of  tyler  from 
tailleur,  a  cutter,  was  a  guess,  and  a  most 
unlikely  one  to  prove  true.  M. 

Swamp  Apples  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  56,  etc.). 
— Another  article  of  savage  diet,  that  we 
boys  of  long  ago  used  to  collect  and  eat, 
was  the  fleshy  tubers  of  a  wild  vine,  the 
Apios  tuberosa,  Qr  pig-nut.  "  I  with  my 
long  nails  will  dig  thee  pig-nuts,"  but  ours 
were  not  of  course  Caliban's  pig-nuts.  Some 
called  them  Indian  potatoes.  They  were 
very  small ;  but  roasted,  they  were  sweetish 
and  not  unpleasant. 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Apostle  of  Unknown  Tongues  (Vol. 
vi,  p.  30). — This  ought  to  designate  Edward 
Irving  (1792-1834),  who  founded  what  is 
known  as  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Church  (see 
Coleridge's  "  Notes  on  English  Divines  "). 
The  miraculous  use  of  "  unknown  tongues" 
was  one  of  the  charisms  claimed  by  the 
earlier  Irvingites.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Irving's  teaching  was  much  affected  in  some 
directions  by  the  influence  of  Coleridge's 
opinions.  Irving  may  have  had  a  vein  of 
insanity  in  his  constitution,  but  there  was 
something  very  appealing  and  engaging 
about  his  personality.  He  seems  to  have 
been  a  man  of  absolute  truthfulness,  and  of 
the  loftiest  possible  aims.  It  is  impossible  to 
read  the  story  of  his  short  life  and  work, 
with  its  wonderful  labors  and  its  apparent 
comparative  failure,  without  being  deeply 
impressed.  As  to  the  real  measure  of  his 
success  or  failure,  opinions  must  differ ;  my 
own  feeling  is  that  Irving  by  no  means  lived 
and  toiled  in  vain.  G. 


February  7,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


179 


Slapper  (Vol.  vi,  p.  129). — The  terms 
fritters  and  flat-jacks  are  very  common  to 
Pennsylvania  at  the  present  time,  and 
especially  to  the  county  of  Lancaster ;  and 
there  are  few  persons  who  are  not  familiar 
with  "  apple-fritters  "  and  "  oyster-fritters," 
although  the  latter  are  perhaps  as  well  known 
under  the  name  of  "  fried  oysters."  Apples 
are  cut  into  slices  and  dipped  into  a  batter  stiff 
enough  to  cover  them  over,  and  then  baked 
or  boiled  in  hot  lard,  until  they  colored  a 
light  brown  outside  and  the  apples  suffi- 
ciently cooked  inside.  Oysters,  egg-plants, 
potatoes  and  some  fruits,  may  be  sliced  and 
baked  in  the  same  way,  and  these  also  be- 
come respectively  fritters.  The  batter  in 
the  best  fritters  is  thickened  with  grated 
"crackers."  "  Flap- jacks,"  or  "slap- 
jacks," however,  are  made  of  hastily  mixed 
batter  alone,  baked  on  the  bottom  of  a  pan, 
or  an  iron  plate,  and  turned  with  a  small 
"hand-shovel,"  and  baked  on  both  sides, 
and  from  this  process,  perhaps,  comes  the 
name,  which  is  at  least  very  suggestive. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Isle  of  Serpents  (Vol.  v,  p.  4). — The 
suggestion  that  this  island  was  really  named 
from  its  shape  seems  to  be  a  good  one. 
Anguilla,  or  Snake  island,  in  the  West 
Indies,  is  said  to  have  been  named  from  its 
serpentine  outline.  There  is  also  an  An- 
guilla, on  Salt  Cay  Bank,  in  the  Bahama 
group,  which  is  long  and  narrow.  There  is 
also  a  Snake  island  in  Lake  Simcoe,  Canada. 

M. 

Sancta  Simplicitas  (Vol.  ii,  p.  233). 
— May  not  this  expression,  this  extempora- 
neous or  off-hand  canonization  of  Simplicity, 
have  its  true  origin  in  the  fact  that  there 
were  several  well-known  saints  named  Sim- 
plicius?  In  Smith's  "  Dictionary  of  Chris- 
tian Biography"  there  are  sketches  of 
several  saints  of  this  name.  It  is  sometimes 
said  that  "  the  collar  of  Esses,"  or  of  SS., 
well  known  to  English  heraldry,  was  named 
in  honor  of  St.  Simplicius.  If  so,  which 
saint  of  the  name  does  it  commemorate  ? 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


CORDON  BLEU. 


The  Bottle  Imp  (Vol.  vi,  p.  138).— 
Your  correspondent  M.  C.  L.  asks,  is  there 
not  an  old  story  of  this  sort  or  title  by  some 
noted  writer?  Yes;  not  one  story,  but  many 
old  stories  of  this  kind.  Perhaps  the  "  noted 
writer"  vaguely  remembered  is  Le  Sage, 
who  makes  the  bottle  imp  the  leading  idea 
of  his  well-known  novel,  "  Le  Diable 
Boiteux,"  the  English  translation  of  which 
goes  under  the  title  of  "The  Devil  Upon 
Two  Sticks." 

The  notion  that  evil  spirits  could  be  con- 
quered and  confined  in  bottles  is  really  very 
old  and  very  common.  Such  a  notion  is  the 
motive  of  a  whole  host  of  folk-tales.  Accord- 
ing to  Rabbinical  legends,  King  Solomon 
was  wonderfully  successful  in  subduing 
demons.  He  is  said  to  have  confined  no 
less  than  three  millions  of  them.  By  aid  of 
a  magical  signet-ring,  Solomon  possessed 
the  power  of  sending  demons  into  bottles  of 
black  glass.  Several  Jewish  and  Mohammedan 
stories  relate  to  the  loss  and  recovery  of  this 
ring.  They  all  cluster  round  the  name  of 
Solomon.  Thus,  in  the  "  Book  of  Sini- 
bad,"  the  Persian  poet  says:  "By  pre- 
dominant might,  he  (Solomon)  put  the 
demon  into  the  bottle,  the  genii  howled  and 
whined  on  account  of  him. ' '  We  need  only 
allude  to  the  familiar  Arabian  tale  of  the 
fisherman  and  the  genii.  In  this  case,  as  in 
many  others,  the  imp  is  outwitted  by  his 
liberator,  who  contrives  to  get  the  evil  spirit 
back  again  into  the  bottle,  and  once  within, 
the  imp  is  corked  up  for  his  stupidity. 

The  bottle  imp  cuts  an  important  figure 
in  European  folk-tales.  In  Powell  and 
Magnusson's  "Legends  of  Iceland,"  we 
read  that  the  "sending"  is  sometimes 
induced  either  by  taunts  or  flattery  to  creep 
into  a  bottle,  where  he  is  allowed  to  remain. 
Again  the  same  idea  reappears  in  those 
stories  that  turn  on  the  idea  of  confining 
an  imp  in  a  bag,  sack,  or  some  other  re- 
ceptacle. Thus,  in  the  Norse  tale  of  the 
Master-Smith,  the  devil  creeps  into  the 
smith's  steel  purse.  In  another  Norse  tale 
the  demon  is  entrapped  into  creeping 
through  the  pin-hole  of  a  walnut,  which  is 
then  stopped  up  of  course.  In  Grimm's 
household  tales,  the  old  soldier  captures  nine 
demons  by  wishing  them  into  his  knapsack. 

Closely  allied  to  the  bottle-imp  class  of 


i  So 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [February  7,  1891. 


stories  is  another  class,  in  which  the  imp.  a 
devil,  is  subdued  by  a  wish.  In  mediaeval 
tales  it  is  Death  that  is  conquered  by  a  wish. 
In  a  Dutch  legend,  Death  is  persuaded  to 
climb  a  pear  tree ;  in  a  Tuscan  version,  it  is  a 
fig  tree ;  in  a  French  story,  it  is  a  prune 
tree — in  all  these  folk-tales,  Death  cannot 
come  down  until  he  grants  some  favor  to  the 
possessor  of  the  wish. 

Another  element  in  these  kinds  of  stories 
is  that  imps  once  bottled  are  cast  into  the 
sea  or  some  other  hiding-place.  Then,  a 
luckless  fellow  comes  along,  and  unwittingly 
uncorks  the  bottle.  Once  let  the  notion  of 
a  bottle  imp  start,  there  is  no  end  to  the 
variations  which  follow  the  fancies  of  the 
folk.  L.  J.  V. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Cul  de  Sac  (Vol.  v,  p.  78).— Prof. 
Estoclet's  mention  of  the  Cul  de  Sac  (or  Cul 
de  Sac  Marin)  of  Martinique,  reminds  me 
that  there  is  a  still  larger  Cul-de-Sac  on  the 
N.  shore  of  the  islands  of  Guadeloupe  and 
Grande  Terre,  French  West  Indies.  A 
mountain-walled  plain,  near  Port-au-Prince, 
in  Haiti,  is  called  the  Cul-de-Sac.  On  the 
coast  near  it  is  Cul-de-Sac  Point.  There  is 
a  bay  called  Grand  Cul-de-Sac,  in  the 
Anglo-French  island  of  St.  Lucia,  and  the 
river  Cul-de-Sac  flows  into  it.  Returning  to 
Martinique,  we  find  on  its  shore  a  small 
rocky  cove  called  Cul-de  Sac  Tartane. 

ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

High  Meadows  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  306,  etc.). 
— My  own  impression  is,  and  it  is  based  on 
considerable  reading  and  inquiry,  that  J.  H. 
is  right  in  the  general  statement  that  "  up- 
land meadows"  are  American  rather  than 
British.  But  there  would  appear  to  be  some 
local  examples  of  English  upland  meadows, 
as  in  the  cases  cited  at  the  above  entry. 
Throughout  a  large  part  of  New  England  a 
meadow  always  means  a  tract  of  low  and 
rather  wet  ground.  C.  W.  G. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Dreary  Gleams  (Vol.  v,  p.  150). — The 
European  curlew  has  the  lining  of  its  wings 
white  (see  "  Coues'  Key,"  p.  644).  This 
would  possibly  account  for  the  gleams.  Per- 


haps the  dreariness  may  be  accounted  for  by 
its  blackish  back,  and  by  the  fact  that  the 
curlew,  or  "  whaup,"  is  a  bird  of  ill  omen 
(Goodrich's  "  Nat.  Hist.,"  Vol.  ii,  p. 
278).  The  Highlanders  pray  to  be  de- 
livered "  from  witches  and  warlocks,  and  a' 
long-nebbed  things."  The  shrill  cry  is 
monotonous  and  dreary.  It  also  haunts  the 
loneliest  and  dreariest  moors. 

A.  M.  A. 

Dark  Day  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  161,  etc.).  — 
Many  of  your  readers  are  doubtless  familiar 
with  Whittier's  poem  on  this  subject,  in  his 
"Tent  on  the  Beach."  Abraham  Daven- 
port was  the  Connecticut  legislator  to  whom 
S.  S.  R.  refers.  M. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

Love  Among  the  Ruins  (Vol.  v,  p. 
41).  —  The  site  or  scene  of  this  beautiful 
lyric  I  have  never  heard  discussed.  But  it  is 
a  deserted  place,  once  the  capital  (of  Eng- 
land ?).  Would  not  Queen  Camel,  in  Somer- 
set, the  supposed  site  of  Camelot,  fulfill  all 
the  requirements  ?  R.  JONES. 

ERIE,  PA. 


AND 


The  Cosmopolitan  contains  in  its  February  issue  the 
first  original  article  by  Count  Tolstoi  that  has  ever  been 
published  in  an  American  magazine.  The  article  con- 
tains several  illustrations,  one  of  which  being  a  rather 
poor  (though  interesting  on  account  of  its  subject) 
photographic  reproduction  of  a  view  representing  Tol- 
stoi guiding  a  plow  upon  his  Russian  fields. 

Brander  Matthews  contributes  an  interesting  article 
on  "Some  Latter-day  Humorists,"  in  which  he  touches 
upon  the  relative  merits  of  F.  Anstey  and  H.  C.  Bunner. 
Mr.  Matthews,  we  notice,  uses  a  new  word,  which  seems 
rather  apt.  It  is  unfunny  and  is  used  in  the  following 
sense,  where  it  seems  to  fit  the  idea  perhaps  better  than 
any  other  expression  might :  "  In  the  main  it  is  a  dull 
book,  for  the  most  part  it  is  lugubriously  unfunny." 
Clarence  B.  Moore  has  an  article  on  "  Amateur  Portrai- 
ture in  Photography,"  which  might  just  as  well  have 
been  omitted,  for  the  examples  given  are  not  above 
the  average  as  photographs  and  the'  text  contains  noth  - 
ing  that  could  not  be  found  in  any  good  photographic 
hand-book. 

There  are,  however,  several  very  good  articles  in  the 
number,  one  of  the  best  of  them  being  Elsie  Anderson 
De  Wolfe's  article  on  "  Chateaux  in  Touraine,"  which 
is  embellished  with  a  number  of  very  good  illustrations. 

The  third  in  the  series  of  colored  frontispieces  is  a 
delightful  sketch  by  McVickar,  illustrating  a  character 
in  Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer  Cruger's  new  story,  "  Made- 
moiselle Reseda." 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Lady-Bird,  181— Old  Scandinavian  Customs,  182. 

QUERIES  :— Land  of  Lions— Egypt— Danites— Mercury— 
The  Judas  Tree,  183. 

REPLIES  :— Fairy  Rings— Symmes'  Hole,  184— Six-fingered 
Queen — Four-leaved  Clover — Labrador — Eagle  Renewing 
its  Youth,  185. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Authorship 
Wanted — A  Birthday  Offering — Regio  Baccalos — Derne— 
The  Grave  by  the  Lake — Hipcut  Hill — Brahma's  Temples — 
Bottles  in  Drug  Store  Windows — Rippowams  and  Mianas — 
Lash  of  the  Law,  186. 

COMMUNICATIONS:— Spanish  American  Words,  186— 
Spontaneous  Combustion — Kinnickinnick,  188 — Slang — The 
Bottle  Imp — Dark  Days,  189 — Johnny-Cake—Tote— Pome- 
granate— Anagrams — Hatteras — Dutch  Words,  190— Seiches 
— Brazil — Greek  Ports,  191— Ever-burning  Lamps— Vibrating 
Rock,  192. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICAIS :— 192. 


LADY-BIRD,  OR  LADY-BUG. 

(VOL.  vi,  P.  168.) 

An  article  by  Mrs.  Bergen  appeared  in  the 
Christian  Union  for  June  6,  1889,  containing 
a  good  deal  of  lady-bug  lore,  and  I  condense 
some  of  its  information.  For  some  reason, 
probably  its  color,  this  flame-colored  beetle 
seems,  in  ancient  times,  to  have  been  asso- 
ciated with  the  sun,  and  to  have  borne  a 
sort  of  sacred  character.  In  India  it  was 
called  by  a  name  which  means  "  protected 
by  Indras,"  the  Hindu  god  of  the  sky,  the 
weather  and  the  sun.  An  ancient  Hindu 
verse  tells  how  the  "  mantled  red  beetle  falls 
down  because  it  has  flown  too  high."  In 
some  parts  of  Germany  the  lady-bug  is  said 
to  be  sacred  to  the  goddess  Holda,  or  "  the 
Lady  Holda,"  as  she  is  called.  There  is  a 
legend  of  a  peasant  maiden  who  was  fond  of 


182 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  14,  1891. 


lady-bugs,  and  who  was  taken  to  Holda's 
realm  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  the  insects,  to 
be  protected  during  an  approaching  war, 
and  who,  at  its  close,  was  sent  home  with  an 
outfit  of  fine  linen.  The  German  peasantry 
believe  that  the  lady-bird's  home  is  in 
heaven,  or  in  the  sun,  and  call  it  little  sun, 
little  bird  of  the  sun,  sun  calf,  moon  calf, 
sun  chick,  God's  calf,  little  house  of  God, 
Mary-bird,  lady-hen  and  lady-cow,  but  not 
lady-bug.  German  children  tell  it,  in  rhyme, 
to  "fly  sky  ward,"  or  to  "mount  the  throne 
and  bring  back  fair  weather."  They  say 
that  if  one  kills  a  lady-cow  the  sun  will  hide 
its  face  next  day.  They  also  tell  it  to  flee 
because  its  house  is  on  fire,  and  in  one  part 
of  Germany  they  say  that  the  angels  cry  be- 
cause the  house  of  the  lady-cow  burns. 

In  Russia,  it  is  "  the  little  cow  of  God," 
and  the  children  say  : 

"  Little  cow  of  God, 
Fly  to  the  sky  ; 
God  will  give  you  bread." 

In  Swedish  popular  belief,  the  coming 
harvest  is  foretold  by  the  number  of  spots 
upon  its  wing-cases ;  if  there  are  more  than 
seven,  corn  will  be  dear. 

In  Piedmont,  the  lady-bug  is  "  the 
chicken  of  St.  Michael,  and'  the  child  rhyme 
is: 

"  '  Chicken  of  St.  Michael, 

Put  on  your  wings  and  fly  to  heaven.'  " 

In  Tuscany,  it  is  called  lucia,  probably 
from  St.  Lucia : 

"  Lucia,  lucia,  put  out  your  wings  and  fly  away," 

say  the  children,  who  also  call  it  "  little 
dove,"  and  sometimes  "St.  Nicholas." 
When  a  child  loses  a  tooth,  he  buries  it  in  a 
hole,  and  invokes  the  insect : 

"  St.  Nicholas,  St.  Nicholas, 
Make  me  find  bone  and  coin."  " 

English  children  call  it  lady-bug,  lady- 
bird, lady-fly  and  lady-cow,  and  have  several 
forms  of  rhyming  address. 

"  Cow-lady,  cow-lady,  fly  away  home, 
Your  house  is  all  burnt  and  your  children  are  gone." 

"  Fly  to  the  east,  fly  to  the  west, 
Fly  to  the  one  that  you  love  best." 


Another  odd  one  is : 

"  Lady-bug,  lady-bug,  fly  away  home, 
Your  house  is  on  fire  and  your  children  alone, 
All  burned  but  one, 
And  that  is  Brown  Betty  that  sits  in  the  sun." 

My  own  nursery  teaching  included  a 
rhyme  similar  to  that  given  by  Obed,  except 
that  the  insect  was  called  a  lady-^.f,  her 
children  threatened  to  roam  (instead  of 
burn)  and  the  first  line  was  repeated  at  the 
end,  forming  a  triplet. 

HalliweH's(Mr.  Halliwell- Phillips)  "Col- 
lection of  Nursery  Rhymes  "  has  this  one  : 

"  Lady-cow,  lady-cow,  fly  thy  way  home, 
Thy  house  is  on  fire,  thy  children  are  gone, 
All  but  one  that  lies  under  a  stone, 
Fly  thee  home,  lady-cow,  ere  it  be  gone." 

And  of  this,  in  a  recent  number  of  Notes 
and  Queries,  Miss  Busk  gives  the  variant 
known  to  her  childhood,  which  is  the  queer- 
est of  all : 

"  Lady-bird,  lady-bird,  fly  away  home, 
Your  house  is  on  fire,  your  children  are  gone 
Except  little  Ann, 
And  she's  crept  under  the  frying-pan." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


OLD  SCANDINAVIAN  CUSTOMS. 

The  roast  pig  seems  to  have  played  a 
principal  r61e  at  the  yule-tide,  or  Christmas 
drinking  bouts  of  the  older  Norsemen,  and, 
in  fact,  added  to  its  succulent  qualities,  it 
was  used  to  give  greater  force  to  challenge- 
plight  or  vow,  especially  at  this  time  of  the 
year.  How  exquisitely  this  is  brought  for- 
ward by  Tegner  in  the  "Frithiofs  Saga," 

P-  154: 

'  Nu  blaste  lur  i  salen,  och  tyst  blef 
ofverallt  ty  nu  var  loftets  timma  och  in  bars 
Frejers  gabt,  med  Krausar  omkring  bogen 
och  apple  uti  mund,  och  fyra  Knan  han 
bojde  pa  silfverfatets  rund." 

(Then  blew  the  trumpet  in  the  saloon  and 
silence  came  over  all,  for  then  was  the  hour 
of  the  vow  and  in  was  borne  Frejer's  hog, 
with  its  shoulders  wreathed  with  garlands 
and  an  apple  in  its  mouth,  bending  its 
four  knees  on  the  round  silver  plates.) 

With  his  hand  on  the  hog's  head  King 
Ring  pledged  himself  to  subdue  Frithiof,  with 
the  aid  of  the  gods. 


February  14,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


'83 


But  perhaps  the  most  singular  of  all  the 
usages  of  the  ancient  people  of  Scandinavia 
was  the  custom  of  bequeathing  orally,  by  a 
warrior  wounded  unto  death,  his  widow  to 
be  the  wife  of  some  beloved  companion  in 
arms.  The  author  cited  above  very  prettily 
portrays  this  same  habit  in  the  heroic  verse 
quoted  at  pp.  171  and  181.  It  was  in  this 
way  that  the  great  Viking  Egil  obtained  a 
wife.  The  details  of  this  bequest,  as  related 
in  the  "Egil  Saga,"  are  quite  minute  and 
attest  that  as  long  ago  as  the  ninth  century 
this  was  the  custom  of  the  far-off  north. 


CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


G.  F.  FORT. 


QUE 


B  S 


Land  of  Lions. — What  country  is  known 
as  the  Land  of  Lions  ?  R.  E.  C. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 

Ceylon  (Sinhala)  is  said  to  mean  literally 
the  Land  of  Lions,  although  it  has  no  lions 
now,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  ever  did  have 
any.  Singhbhum  (in  Bengal)  probably  means 
Lion-land. 

Egypt. — Why  is  Southern  Illinois  nick- 
named Egypt,  and  why  are  its  people  called 
Egyptians?  M.  N.  L. 

COVINGTON. 

The  metropolis  of  Southern  Illinois  is 
named  Cairo.  There  is  also  a  place  called 
Thebes  in  the  same  district.  Dongola  is 
another  South  Illinois  town.  Possibly  these 
Egyptian  and  Nubian  names  had  something 
to  do  with  the  nickname. 

Danites. — Is  the  true  history  of  the  (Mor- 
mon) Danites  known  ?  E.  V.  B. 
ST.  Louis. 

While  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Lat- 
ter-day Saints  was  passing  through  some  of 
its  most  fiery  trials  in  Missouri,  in  the 
autumn  of  1838,  one  Sampson  Avard  under- 
took to  organize  a  band  of  devotees,  plac- 
ing them  under  oaths  and  terrible  penalties 
for  violation  of  such  secrecies  as  he  enjoined 
upon  them,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
power  and  to  take  spoil  during  the  mob  vio- 


lence that  was  being  perpetrated,  and  thus 
becoming  a  bandit,  to  rule  and  plunder 
without  regard  to  law  or  order.  These  he 
called  Danites.  By  his  secrecy  he  succeeded 
in  duping  quite  a  few  to  his  vile  purposes, 
until  his  rascality  became  known  to  the  pre- 
siding authorities,  when  Avard,  and  all 
those  who  persisted  in  his  abominable  plans, 
were  cut  off  from  the  church.  Upon  this 
turn  of  his  affairs  he  became  conspirator  and 
sought  to  make  friends  with  the  mob.  This 
is  what  our  enemies  have  attributed  to  the 
church.  Although  these  facts  have  been 
published,  as  part  of  our  church  history, 
more  than  forty  years,  still  the  enemies  of 
the  Latter-day  Saints  have  persisted  in  cir- 
culating the  infamous  lie  that  Avard's 
Danite  organization  was  entered  into  with 
the  cognizance  and  approval  of  the  church. 

F.  D.  RICHARDS, 
Church  Historian  and  Recorder. 
SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

Mercury.  —  What  eminent  astronomer 
never  saw  the  planet  Mercury  ? 

C.  T. 
BANGOR.  PA. 

The  statement  has  been  made  that  Coper- 
nicus, who  lived  in  a  high  northern  latitude, 
never  saw  Mercury. 

The  Judas  Tree. — I  recently  saw  a  state- 
ment that  a  tree  called  the  Judas  tree  was 
common  to  some  parts  of  the  American  con- 
tinent. Do  you  know  anything  of  the  tree 
and  what  part  of  the  continent  it  grows  in  ? 
It  is  said  to  draw  great  numbers  of  bees 
around  to  feed  on  the  sweets  contained  in 
its  blossoms.  T.  S.  T. 

MASSEY,  TEX. 

This  term  sometimes  designates  the  old- 
world  elder  tree,  upon  which  Judas  is  said 
by  some  to  have  hanged  himself.  More 
often  it  designates  the  European  tree  Cercis 
siliquastrum,  which  also  claims  the  same  dis- 
tinction. There  are  two  native  species  of 
Judas  tree  in  the  United  States.  One  is  the 
common  red-bud  tree,  Cercis  canadensis, 
which  has  a  wide  range  in  this  country.  In 
the  Pacific  States  it  is  replaced  by  the  Cercis 
reniformis,  a  distinct  species.  Reference  to 


184 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  14,  1891. 


the  volume  on  "Forest  Trees"  in  the  re- 
ports of  the  Tenth  Census  of  the  United 
States  will  give  the  fullest  attainable  account 
of  these  trees,  their  wood  and  the  ranges  of 
country  they  inhabit. 

FJBPLI  BS. 

Fairy  Rings  (Vol.  vi,  p.  150). — I  believe 
I  have  noticed  half  a  dozen  times  during  my 
life,  what  I  was  assured  were  "genuine" 
fairy-rings — two  of  them  in  the  same  season 
within  the  last  ten  years.  One  of  these  was 
on  the  lawn  of  the  late  Clement  B.  Grubb, 
North  Lime  street,  in  Lancaster  city,  and 
the  other  was  in  Manheim  township,  about 
three  miles  north  of  said  city.  (The  others 
were  in  Donegal  township,  but  very  long 
ago.)  Thefirsf  was  an  irregular  circle,  ten 
feet  or  more  in  diameter ;  the  other  was  an 
oval,  or  oblong  circle,  and  seemed  to  have 
been  two  circles  united.  These  rings  were 
noticed  in  the  month  of  August,  and  were 
composed  of  an  immense  number  of  small 
species  of  fungi  belonging  to  the  genus  Ly- 
coperdon,  or  what  is  commonly  called  "  puff- 
balls  ;"  and,  in  size,  they  varied  from  a  bird- 
shot  to  a  marrowfat  pea.  The  grass  within 
the  ring  seen  in  the  city  was  partially 
withered,  as  though  it  had  been  tramped 
down ;  but  in  that  of  the  country  it  had 
sprung  up  again  and  was  growing  green  and 
vigorous.  Not  that  the  old  and  withered 
crop  revived  again,  but  that  an  entire  new 
crop  replaced  the  old.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Symmes'  Hole  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  160,  etc.). — 
"The  Theory  of  the  Earth" — contemptuously 
styled  "Symmes' Hole"  and  now  almost  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  old — is  preserved  in  a 
little  volume  entitled  "  Symmes'  Theory  of 
Concentric  Spheres ;  Demonstrating  that  the 
Earth  is  Hollow,  Habitable  Within,  and 
Widely  Open  at  the  Poles."  The  book 
purports  to  be  written  by  a  "  Citizen  of  the 
United  States,"  and  not  by  Symmes  himself 
(Appleton's  "  Cycl.  Amer.  Biog.  "  to  the 
contrary),  as  may  be  seen  by  the  author's 
apology  to  Mr.  S.,  and  also  from  the  pub- 
lishers' advertisement.  It  was  written  in 
1824  by  a  friend  of  Symmes,  and  a  sincere 


believer  in  his  theories.  It  was  published  at 
Cincinnati  in  1826,  bearing  on  its  title-page 
the  appropriate  motto, 

"  There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  Horatio, 
Than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy." 

Of  the  ten  chapters  none  is  more  interest- 
ing, perhaps,  than  the  sixth,  relating  to  the 
doctrine  of  Mid-plane  spaces  situated  be- 
tween the  concave  and  convex  surfaces  of  the 
sphere.  These  spaces,  the  author  holds,  are 
filled  with  a  very  light  and  elastic  fluid — a 
certain,  hydrogenous  gas — which  is  lighter 
than  that  in  which  the  sphere  floats,  and  has 
a  tendency  to  poise  it  in  universal  space. 

With  the  aid  of  this  strange  theory,  the 
author  is  enabled  to  explain — to  his  own  sat- 
isfaction— all  the  physical  phenomena  of 
the  globe,  hitherto  unaccounted  for,  such  as 
floating  and  sunken  islands,  seiches,  subma- 
rine currents  and  subterranean  streams, 
volcanoes  and  earthquakes,  etc. 

As  the  "Book"  is  "very  scarce,"  I 
quote  a  page  (93)  of  "  Facts  tending  to  il- 
lustrate and  prove  the  theory  of  Mid-plane 
spaces  : 

"  Phenomena  which  occur  in  various  lakes 
in  Europe  may  be  adverted  to  in  support 
of  this  theory.  The  waters  of  Lake  Zirch- 
niszer  in  the  Duchy  of  Carniola,  in  Ger- 
many, flow  off  and  leave  the  basin  empty, 
and  again  fill  it  in  an  extraordinary  and  im- 
petuous manner,  bringing  up  with  its  waters 
fish  and  sometimes  wild  fowl.  In  the  same 
country  there  is  a  subterranean  lake  in  the 
Grotto  Podspitschio  of  considerable  extent, 
and  the  whole  of  this  vast  body  of  water  at 
certain  times  will  disappear  in  a  few  minutes, 
and  leave  the  basin  dry,  and  after  a  few 
weeks  it  again  suddenly  returns  with  a  fright- 
ful noise.  The  Lake  of  Geneva  and  some 
others  in  Switzerland  at  certain  times  rise 
and  fall  several  feet  without  any  cause,  which 
has  yet  been  satisfactorily  explained,  and 
some  writers  inform  us  that  those  lakes,  par- 
ticularly Geneva,  send  forth  a  grumbling 
noise.  In  the  Saian  mountains,  near  the 
source  of  the  Yenesei,  is  a  lake  called  Bou- 
lamy  Koul,  which,  at  the  approach  of 
winter,  emits  strange  sounds  somewhat 
similar  to  those  which  precede  the  eruption 
of  a  volcano,  and  which  the  neighboring  in- 
habitants compare  to  howling. 


February  14,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


185 


"  The  inhabitants,  too,  on  the  borders  of 
Lake  Baikal  state  that  they  have  often  heard 
dreadful  howlings  proceed  from  that  lake." 

Compare  "The  Earth,"  E.  Reclus, 
chap,  on  "Lakes."  In  the  next  chapter,  the 
writer  says:  "Many  of  the  theories  which 
have  been  advanced  respecting  the  earth 
are  vague  and  uncertain  and  will  remain  so 
forever  ;  not  so  with  the  theory  of  concen- 
tric spheres.  Its  correctness  admits  of  oc- 
ular demonstration.  The  interior  of  the 
sphere  is  declared  accessible,  and  the  whole 
extent  capable  of  being  accurately  ex- 
plored." 

Again  :  "Is  there  not  the  same  reason  to 
believe  that  the  earth  is  hollow,  as  there  is 
to  place  implicit  confidence  in  the  opinion 
that  the  planets  are  inhabited  ?' ' 

"  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  most  practica- 
ble, the  most  expeditious,  and  the  best  mode 
of  exploring  the  interior  regions,  would  be 
by  sea,  and  by  way  of  the  South  polar  open- 
ing." 

It  was  hoped  by  the  sale  of  the  book  from 
which  the  quotations  are  made  to  raise  funds 
toward  fitting  out  an  expedition  for  the  ex- 
ploration of  the  interior  of  our  globe. 

John  Cleves  Symmes  first  promulgated  his 
theory  in  1818,  through  a  circular  dated  at 
St.  Louis,  which  he  distributed  very  gen- 
erally at  home  and  abroad.  The  English 
thought  such  a  theory  must  have  emanated 
from  a  madman,  and  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Paris  judged  it  unworthy  of  their 
consideration,  although  laid  before  them  by 
Count  Volney.  During  the  remaining  ten 
years  of  his  life,  Symmes  kept  his  theories  be- 
fore the  public  through  the  press,  and  by  means 
of  lectures.  "The  Symmes  Theory  of  the 
Earth,"  an  article  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
April,  1873,  was  prepared  from  copious 
notes  taken  at  one  of  Symmes'  lectures  be- 
fore the  Senior  Class  of  Union  College, 
1827,  by  a  member  (P.  Clark).  See  also 
Henry  Howe's  paper,  "  Hist.  Coll.  Ohio." 

MENONA. 

Six-fingered  Queen— Anne  Boleyn  (Vol. 
vi,  pp.  259,  etc.).— In  an  article  en- 
titled "Richmond  Palace  and  its  Royal 
Residents,"  a  writer  in  the  London  Quar- 
terly for  1888  says  that  Anne  Boleyn  had  a 
double  nail  upon  the  little  finger  of  her  left 


hand,  with  something  like  an  indication  of 
a  sixth  finger.  To  conceal  this  defect,  the 
royal  favorite  wore  hanging  sleeves,  and  the 
fashion,  eagerly  copied  by  the  ladies  of  the 
court  of  Katherine  of  Arragon,  became  the 
rage.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Four-leaved  Clover  (Vol.  vi,  p.  77). 
— This  plant  derived  its  significance  from  the 
fact  that  its  four  leaves  are  arranged  in  the 
form  of  a  cross.  Moreover,  its  comparative 
rarity  and  its  very  abnormality  (if  I  may  so 
express  it)  made  it  seem  noteworthy  or  re- 
markable. If  a  person  shall  wear  a  bit  of 
this  plant  he  can  detect  the  presence  of  evil 
spirits.  It  also  brings  good  fortune. 

"  With  a  four-leaved  clover,  a  double-leaved  ash,  and 

a  green- topped  sea ve  [rush], 

You  may  go  before  the  queen's  daughter  without  ask- 
ing her  leave." 

A  /o/0-leaved  clover  enables  a  maid  to  see 
her  future  lover.  The  four- leaved  grass 
(True-love,  one-berry,  herbparis,  or  leopard's 
bane)  is  another  mystical  cross-leaved  plant 
concerning  which  much  might  be  said.  The 
quaint  St.  Andrew's  cross  (Ascyrum  Crux- 
AndrecR)  is  a  very  interesting  plant  of  our 
own  country,  with  cross-like  flowers. 
Strangely  enough  it  appears  to  have  no  folk- 
lore attached  to  it.  M. 

Labrador  (Vol.  vi,  p.  19). — On  Zaltieri's 
map  of  America,  published  1566,  this  name 
appears  applied  to  the  region  included  be- 
tween the  Mediterranean  sea  of  the  west 
(Hudson  bay)  and  the  Atlantic  ocean  in  the 
form  Tierra  del  Laborador,  This  would 
seem  to  dispose  of  the  question  concerning 
the  derivation  of  Labrador. 

J.  W.  REDWAY. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Eagle  Renewing  its  Youth  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
I40). — it  is  well  known  to  folk-lorists  that 
that  strange  old  Greek  work,  "  The  Physio- 
logus  "  (translations  of  which  abounded  in 
the  mediaeval  times,  and  were  carefully 
studied  by  the  learned  men  of  those  days), 
contains  many  traces  of  the  influence  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures.  Whether  this  influence 
can  account  for  the  following  fact  I  do  not 
know,  but  it  is  certain  that  "The  Physio- 


i86 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [February  14,  1891. 


logus"  says  that  the  eagle,  by  the  influence 
of  the  sunlight,  and  by  bathing  in  fountains, 
renews  its  youth  from  time  to  time.  With 
this  belief  compare  the  old  stories  of  the 
phoenix,  a  bird  which  renews  its  youth  in  the 
fire.  According  to  the  account  given  of 
"  The  Physiologus"  in  the  "  Encyc.  Bri- 
tannica  "  (Art.  "Physiologus"),  I  should 
say  that  many  of  its  fables  were  based  upon 
a  thin  substratum  of  fact,  but  hardly  this  one 
of  the  eagle.  Possibly  the  renewal  of  the 
eagle's  feathers  in  moulting  is  the  germinal 
fact.  M. 


Authorship  Wanted.—  "Books  and 
Books."  —  I  have  heard  the  expression, 
"There  are  books  and  books,"  attributed 
to  Bunyan.  Did  he  use  it,  and  if  so,  did  he 
originate  it,  or  can  it  be  traced  farther  ? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

A  Birthday  Offering.— 

"  Thy  birthday,  my  dear  sister, 

What  shall  the  offering  be  ? 
There's  the  red-grape  from  the  vineyard 

And  the  roses  from  the  tree. 
But  these  are  both  too  passing, 

Fruit  and  flowers  soon  decay, 
And  the  gift  must  be  more  lasting 

I  offer  thee  to-day." 

Memory  brings  these  lines  back  from  sixty 
years  ago.  What  was  the  offering  ? 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Regio  Baccalos.  —  Will  some  one  ex- 
plain what  and  where  this  region  was  ? 

TROIS  ETOILES. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Deme.  —  What  history  gives  the  best  ac- 
count of  the  capture  of  Derne,  a  town  of 
North  Africa,  by  the  American  forces  under 
Gen.  Eaton  ?  B.  N.  E. 

TROY,  N.  Y. 

The  Grave  by  the  Lake.—  What  is 
the  grave  by  the  lake  concerning  which 
Whittier  has  written  a  poem  ?  M. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 


Hipcut  Hill.— 

"And  for  the  queen  a  fitting  bow'r," 
Quoth  he,  "  is  that  fair  cowslip  flow'r, 
On  Hipcut  Hill  that  groweth." 

(Drayton's  "  Nymphidia.") 

Where  is  Hipcut  Hill  ? 


H.  E.  WALTERS. 


BALTIMORE,  MD. 


Brahma's  Temples.— It  is  commonly 
said  that  in  India  there  are  no  temples 
erected  to  the  honor  of  Brahma,  the  creator. 
But  other  authorities  state  that  there  is  one 
such  temple,  or  it  may  be  two.  If  so,  where 
are  these  temples  located  ? 

MALWAH. 

Bottles  in  Drug  Store  Windows. 

— What  is  the  origin  of  the  use  of  colored 
water  in  the  large  bottles  that  ornament 
drug-store  windows? 

PERCY  EDGAR. 
NEWARK,  N.  J. 

Rippowams  and  Mianas. —What 
place  is  meant  by  Rippowams  in  Whittier's 
poem  of  Abraham  Davenport  ?  Is  the  Mianas 
which  he  mentions  a  river?  And  is  there  a 
place  called  Mianas  in  Connecticut  ? 

M. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

Lash  of  the  Law. — In  connection 
with  deer-stealing,  White,  in  the  "  Natural 
History  of  Selborne,"  speaks  of  "  the  lash 
of  the  law."  Is  his  language  figurative  or 
literal  ?  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


©OMMUNIGATIONS. 

Spanish  American  Words. — An  ex- 
haustive and  accurate  study  of  the  Spanish 
elements  which  have  in  this  country  entered 
our  language,  would  be  an  appropriate  task 
for  some  member  of  the  American  Dialect 
Society.  This  article  may  suggest  some- 
thing of  the  interest  of  the  subject. 

In  the  region  of  the  Southwest,  where  the 
English  civilization  has  not  overpowered  and 
nearly  obliterated  the  Spanish  civilization, 


February  14,  1891.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


the  use  of  the  Spanish  language  has  had  a  de- 
cided influence  on  the  English  tongue  and 
has  added  not  a  few  words  to  our  common 
speech.  Here  two  dialects  of  the  Spanish 
language  have  been  spoken,  and  conse- 
quently the  influence  on  our  own  language 
has  arisen  from  two  sources.  The  first 
source  is  the  old  Castilian  language,  still 
used  by  the  few  remaining  aristocratic 
families  of  pure  (?)  blood.  I  say  old  Cas- 
tilian, for  several  centuries  of  use  in  the  pro- 
vinces have  changed  it  but  little  from  the 
form  in  which  it  was  introduced  into  the 
colonies  from  the  continental  Spanish. 
Even  now  it  differs  but  little  from  modern 
continental  Spanish,  for  the  Spanish  lan- 
guage, as  compared  with  other  modern  lan- 
guages, changes  but  little  from  century  to 
century.  Indeed  we  are  told  that  the  lan- 
guage spoken  by  the  people  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts of  Old  Spain  is  retained  through  its 
constant  use  in  the  commercial  contact  ot 
these  people  with  the  better  classes  of  the 
towns.  However,  it  seems  that  the  literary 
language  of  Old  Spain  has  changed  far  more 
than  the  language  of  the  provinces,  and  in 
an  entirely  different  way.  But  this  only  il- 
lustrates a  well-known  law,  that  old  forms  of 
speech  are  retained  in  the  colonies  and  re- 
mote parts  of  a  nation,  while  more  rapid 
changes  are  to  be  noted  in  the  intelligent 
and  progressive  centres. 

Thus,  we  find  in  the  provinces  that  the  II- 
sound  loses  its  force  and  is  used  as  a  long  /- 
sound,  or  more  properly  as  a  long  /-sound 
with  a  slight  breaking.  Also,  that  the  n- 
sound  so  prominent  in  continental  speech,  is 
in  the  provinces  suppressed  to  a  smothered 
fl-sound.  Likewise  the  b  is  used  inter- 
changeably with  v,  with  a  tendency  to  sub- 
stitute the  v  for  the  b.  (It  has  been  main- 
tained that  these  changes  are  noticeable  in  a 
comparison  of  the  language  of  the  rural  dis- 
tricts of  Spain  with  those  of  the  centres  of 
intelligence.)  The  old  Castilian  families 
using  this  speech  are  rapidly  disappearing 
from  the  country ;  their  great  estates  have 
passed  into  the  hands  of  others  and  their 
prominent  position  in  society  is  gone. 

It  is  chiefly  through  the  second  source,  the 
Mexican  dialect,  that  words  have  found  their 
way  into  the  common  speech  of  our  coun- 
try. It  is  through  the  language  of  the  com- 


mon people,  through  the  Spanish  language 
clipped  and  degraded  by  the  commingling 
of  unlettered  Spaniards  with  an  inferior  race, 
that  words  find  their  way  into  English.  It 
was  the  policy  of  Spain  to  amalgamate  con- 
queror and  conquered  into  one  homogeneous 
nationality,  and  the  results  of  this  attempt 
are  plainly  visible  in  the  nature  of  the  lan- 
guage produced.  The  Mexican  dialect  is 
quite  extensively  used  in  New  Mexico  and 
California  by  the  great  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Spanish  blood  and  their  native  con- 
verts to  Christianity.  This  language  is  also 
quite  commonly  used  as  a  matter  of  con- 
venience by  those  associated  in  business  with 
the  Mexican  race.  But  what  concerns  us 
most  in  the  consideration  of  this  topic  is  the 
fact  that  this  dialect  is  furnishing  the  Eng- 
lish language  with  words,  some  of  which  are 
to  be  used  as  a  matter  of  convenience  for  a 
time,  and  others  to  be  permanently  incorpo- 
rated into  our  common  speech.  I  will  men- 
tion a  few  of  the  latter  class  which  seem  to 
admit  of  universal  use  and  appear  indis- 
pensable to  an  intelligent  expression  of 
thought ;  afterwards  I  shall  refer  to  others  in 
common  use  in  certain  sections  of  country 
by  certain  classes  of  people. 

Adobe. — Prominent  in  the  first  class  is  the 
word  adobe,  meaning  sun-dried  brick.  The 
greater  number  of  the  primitive  houses  and 
public  buildings  of  the  Spanish  colonists 
were  constructed  of  this  material.  It  is  not 
uncommon  to  see  these  old  buildings,  some 
of  them  at  present  over  a  hundred  years 
old. 

By  those  familiar  with  this  style  of  archi- 
tecture the  word  adobe  is  used  without  ques- 
tion as  the  only  term  that  will  exactly  de- 
scribe it.  It  is  frequently  used  as  a  sub- 
stantive, as  "an  old  adobe" 

Canon. — No  other  word  will  express  just 
what  the  word  canon  does,  so  long  as  the 
mountains  on  the  western  half  of  the  conti- 
nent retain  their  present  structure.  It  is  in- 
dispensable, for  the  words  gulch,  valley, 
gorge,  fail  to  convey  the  exact  meaning.  It 
is  of  universal  use  as  applied  to  a  channel 
with  high  walls  formed  by  an  upheaval  or 
by  the  erosion  of  water,  or  probably  by  both. 
Its  specific  meaning  is  apparent  to  one 
familiar  with  western  mountains.  In  com- 
mon speech  it  is  frequently  applied  indis- 


i88 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [February  14,  1891, 


criminately  to  a  valley  or  gorge  of  any  de- 
scription whatever. 

Tules. — This  is  a  common  expression  for 
a  rush  or  water-reed  that  grows  along  the 
bays  and  rivers  of  California.  The  word  was 
in  common  use  by  the  Spanish  population 
and  has  continued  to  be  about  the  only  de- 
signation for  this  species  of  rush.  Bret 
Harte,  in  his  "An  Apostle  of  the  Tules," 
speaks  of  the  "  ague-haunted  "  tules. 

Bonanza. — It  is  difficult  to  determine 
whether  this  much-used  word  will  obtain  a 
permanent  place  in  our  language.  It  found 
a  ready  use  in  mining  times  as  an  expression 
of  good  fortune  in  the  discovery  of  a  rich 
mine.  Originally  it  meant  "  fair  weather  at 
sea,"  but  now  it  is  applied  indiscriminately 
to  a  treasure  of  any  sort.  Its  specific  appli- 
cation to  the  great  silver  mines  of  Nevada 
has  tended  to  give  it  a  prominence  in  use. 

Fandango. — This  word  has  been  long  used 
in  America.  It  is  the  name  of  a  dance 
brought  into  the  West  Indies  by  the  negroes 
of  Guinea.  It  has  been  frequently  used  to 
designate  any  sort  of  a  dance  of  a  low  order, 
but  should  be  applied  to  a  dance  of  the  com- 
mon people  written  in  three-eighth  time. 
The  dance  is  practiced  to  such  an  extent  by 
the  Spanish-Americans  that  it  has  been 
nationalized. 

As  the  Spanish  and  English-speaking  peo- 
ple mingled  at  a  time  when  the  tending  of 
flocks  and  herds  was  the  chief  occupation, 
many  of  the  new  words  adopted  refer  to  this 
industry.  A  few  of  this  class  will  be  men- 
tioned (F.  W.  Blackmar,  in  Modern  Lan. 
Notes}. 

\To  be  concluded.] 

Spontaneous  Combustion  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  140). — My  opinion  may  not  be  worth 
much,  but  I  consider  such  stories,  when  prop- 
erly authenticated,  worthy  of  credence. 
In  the  "Transactions  of  Copenhagen,"  1692, 
there  is  an  account  of  an  intemperate 
woman's  breath  firing  and  consuming  her 
whole  body.  Jacobeus,  the  author  of  the 
article,  is  good  authority.  In  the  "British  An- 
nual Register  "  for  1763,  there  is  an  account 
of  the  spontaneous  combustion  of  the  body  of 
the  Countess  Cornelia  Bandi.  Vicq  d'Azyr, 
in  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Methodique," 
relates  an  instance  of  great  similarity.  The 


Journal  de  Medicine  relates  several  instances 
of  spontaneous  human  combustion  which 
have  occurred  at  the  town  of  Caen  alone. 
In  the  Chicago  Times  of  Sunday,  July  14, 
1889,  you  will  find  a  splendid  two-column 
article  on  the  same  subject. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Kinnickinnick  (Vol.  vi,  p.  153"). — From 
Judge  Henry's  "Campaign  Against  Quebec  in 
1775  " — a  small  i2mo  volume — I  quote  the 
following:  "The  red  willow  (Salix  pur- 
purea),  which  is  a  native  of  the  United 
States,  is  spread  throughout  our  climate. 
The  outer  bark  is  of  a  deep  red  color,  peels 
off  in  a  very  thin  scale,  the  inner  is  scraped 
off  with  a  knife,  and  is  dried,  either  in  the 
sun  or  over  a  fire.  The  scent  when  burn- 
ing is  delightful.  To  increase  the  flavor, 
the  Indians  pluck  the  current  year's  branches 
of  the  "upland  sumac,"  and  dry  it  in 
bunches  over  the  smoke  of  a  fire.  An  equal 
part  of  the  red  willow  bark,  added  to  as 
much  of  the  sumac,  forms  the  killekenic  of 
the  Indians.  One-third  part  of  leaf  tobacco 
added  to  the  aforenamed  ingredients,  and 
the  mass  rubbed  finely  together  in  the  palms 
of  the  hands,  makes  the  delicious  fume,  so 
fascinating  to  the  red  and  also  to  the  white 
men. 

Great  care,  however,  must  be  taken,  not 
to  use  the  "swamp  sumac  "  (Rhus  vernix) 
instead  of  the  "upland"  (^Rhus glabrutri), 
as  the  former  is  most  poisonous  and  resem- 
bles the  latter  in  the  bark  and  leaf  so  much 
that  an  inexperienced  eye  might  be  de- 
ceived. The  difference  may  be  distinctly 
marked  by  observing  that  the  bunch  of  ber- 
ries of  the  upland  sumac  is  a  cone  closely 
attached  to  each  other,  and  when  ripe  of  a 
reddish  color.  The  berries  of  the  swamp 
sumac  hang  loosely  pendent  from  a  lenghty 
footstalk,  and  when  ripe  are  greenish  gray. 
On  theauthority  of  Nataniszx\&  Corn-Planter, 
distinguished  Indian  chiefs,  it  is  stated,  that 
the  person  who  should  smoke  the  swamp 
sumac  would  forfeit  his  eyesight.  The 
vanilla  of  South  America  has  been  applied 
by  the  Spanish  manufacturers  of  tobacco  in 
various  ways ;  it  is  strange  that  we  have 
never  assayed  killekenic.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


February  14,  1891.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


189 


Slang. — Two  new  and  startling  words  are 
coming  across  the  ocean  for  the  use  of  that 
large  and  imposing  body  of  Americans  to 
whom  the  word  "  English"  is  a  talisman  of 
invincible  value.  No  man  has  ever  been 
able  to  tell  exactly  how  slang  gets  a  start  in 
London,  but  it  is  certain  that  when  it  secures 
a  good  circulation  in  the  small  talk  of  the 
big  English  towns  its  appearance  here  with- 
in a  short  time  is  inevitable.  Nearly  two 
years  ago  everybody  in  London  indulged  in 
the  expression  "  in  the  movement."  Then 
came  "in  it."  Nowadays  there  is  no  more 
scathing  comment  upon  a  man's  general 
failure  than  the  remark  that  he  is  "not  in 
it."  This  has  been  surpassed  of  late  by  the 
poetical  simile  that  the  unfortunate  man  is 
like  the  label  on  a  bottle.  As  the  label  is 
not  in  it,  the  aspersion  is  severe.  The  two 
new  words  of  the  year  in  London  are 
."spoof"  and  "wide."  To  spoof  a  man 
means  to  trick  him,  to  comment  and  to  put 
up  a  wicked  trick  on  him,  and  to  generally 
cavort  with  the  more  tender  and  trust- 
worthy elements  of  his  nature.  When  you 
say  that  a  man  is  "wide"  in  London,  a 
flush  of  mingled  pride  and  satisfaction  over- 
spreads his  face.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be 
clever,  smart,  downey,  knowing  and  wide- 
awake, but  people  who  are  all  these  things 
are  as  nothing  compared  to  the  man  who  is 
"  wide."  Ex. 

The  Bottle  Imp  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  i?9» 
etc.). — The  bottle-imp  hoax  was  one  of  the 
most  gigantic  of  the  many  hoaxes  and  im- 
postures played  on  the  English  people  during 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  Duke  of  Mon- 
tague, in  the  year  1749,  laid  a  wager  with 
another  nobleman  that  if  an  impostor  adver- 
tising that  he  would  jump  into  a  quart  bottle 
should  come  along,  all  London  society 
would  flock  to  see  the  wonder.  In  order  to 
decide  the  bet,  the  following  advertisement 
was  put  in  all  the  papers  : 

"  At  the  new  theatre  in  the  Hay  market, 
on  Monday  next,  the  i6th  inst,  to  be 
seen  a  person  who  performs  the  several 
most  surprising  tricks  following,  viz.:  First, 
he  takes  a  common  walking-cane  from 
any  of  the  spectators,  and  thereon  plays 
the  music  of  every  instrument  now  in 
use.  Secondly,  he  presents  you  with 


a  common  wine  bottle  (which  any  of  the 
pectators  may  first  examine),  he  then  places 
this  bottle  on  a  table  in  the  middle  of  the 
stage,  and  he,  without  any  equivocation, 
goes  into  it  in  sight  of  all  the  spectators. 
While  in  the  bottle  he  will  sing  all  the  popu- 
lar songs  of  the  day.  During  his  stay  in  the 
bottle  any  person  may  handle  it  and  see  that 
it  does  not  exceed  a  common  tavern  bottle 
in  size." 

This  advertisement  excited  the  curiosity 
of  the  people,  and  on  the  evening  mentioned 
a  prodigious  number  of  people  gathered  in 
and  around  the  Haymarket.  Royalty  went 
in  disguise  and  beggars  in  their  every-day 
clothes.  Not  more  than  half  the  crowd,  the 
account  says,  could  find  seats  in  the  great 
building.  Finally  the  supposed  conjuror  ap- 
peared on  the  stage.  The  majority  of  those 
present  confidently  expected  to  see  him  soon 
in  the  odd-shaped  bottle  setting  on  the  table. 
Not  until  he  brazenly  told  them  that  if  they 
would  pay  double  fare  he  would  go  into  a 
pint  bottle  instead  of  a  quart  did  it  dawn 
upon  them  that  they  had  been  sold.  A  general 
row  ensued,  during  which  masks  were  re- 
moved by  force  and  many  aristocratic  fea- 
tures exposed.  This,  in  short,  is  the  version 
of  the  bottle-imp  story,  which  I  have  been 
acquainted  with  from  childhood. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KKOXVILLE,  IA. 

Dark  Days  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  161,  etc.).— 
In  the  diary  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wight,  of 
Bristol,  R.  I.,  under  date  of  May  19,  1780, 
is  a  description  of  the  famous  "  dark  day:  " 
"Some  rain,  smoky,  and  a  very  dense  fog 
or  vapor,  which  caused  an  uncommon 
phenomenon.  As  the  sun  advanced  to  his 
meridian  altitude  ye  darkness  increased  till 
1 23^  o'clock,  when  it  was  not  as  bright  as  good 
moonlight.  We  were  obliged  to  eat  by  can- 
dle light,  after  which  ye  darkness  dispelled 
by  degrees  'till  sunset,  and  in  ye  eve  ye 
darkness  came  on  again,  which  added  to  ye 
night  was  truly  like  Egyptian  darkness.  All 
nature  seemed  to  be  covered  by  a  silent  gloom 
and  was  amazed  at  ye  phenomenon" 
(Wight's  "The  Wights,"  63). 

W.  L.  R. 

ROCKFORD,  ILL. 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  14,  1891. 


Johnny-cake  (Vol.  vi,  p.  150). — In  my 
very  early  youth,  say  about  1818,  this  name 
was  very  commonly  applied  to  a  cake  made 
of  corn-meal,  and  baked  in  a  skillet.  Its 
composition  was  very  simple,  consisting  in 
its  simplest  form  of  only  meal  and  water, 
with  a  pinch  or  so  of  salt.  Those  who 
could  afford  it,  used  milk  instead  of  water, 
and  added  a  quantum  of  lard,  as  a  "  short- 
ening." The  dough  or  batter  was  made 
very  "  stiff,"  then  a  quantity  was  taken  into 
the  hands,  worked  into  a  ball  and  laid  on 
the  bottom  of  the  skillet,  and  flattened  out 
into  a  cake,  which  when  baked  on  the  one 
side  was  turned  and  baked  on  the  other 
side.  Some  Virginia  negroes  in  the  neigh- 
borhood called  it  a  "hoe-cake."  Twenty 
years  later,  in  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  I  saw 
the  same  kind  of  dough  made  into  balls — not 
flattened,  nor  turned — baked  in  an  oven  sus- 
pended over  the  fire  with  an  iron  lid,  cov- 
ered with  coals,  the  most  common  name  of 
which  was  a  "corn-dodger,"  others  called 
them  "corn-biscuits."  The  mouth  of  an 
uncouth  urchin,  munching  a  Johnny-cake, 
was  facetiously  called  his  "Johnny-cake-snap- 
per" especially  if  it  was  a  dirty  mouth.  The 
"skillet"  was  a  circular  three-footed  cast- 
iron  pan  with  a  handle  horizontally  standing 
out  at  top  ;  some  of  them  having  a  ring  at 
the  end,  to  hang  them  up  by.  The  origin 
of  "Johnny-cake"  is  most  probably  some- 
thing akin  to  that  suggested  by  VV.  S.  B.  A. 
I  have  merely  tried  to  describe  what  it 
(locally)  is,  or  was,  and  how  it  was  made. 

S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Tote  (Vol.  vi,  p.  128). — "Tote"  is  in 
common  use  all  through  the  State  of  Maine, 
where  its  meaning  is  "  to  carry."  Roads  to 
the  lumber  camps,  and  over  which  the  sup- 
plies for  the  camps  are  carried,  are  always 
called  "  tote  roads  "  and  the  teamsters  are 
called  "toters."  To  "tote"  a  thing  from 
one  place  to  another  is  in  familiar  use  all 
through  the  State  so  far  as  I  have  traveled. 
Is  this  the  Virginia  word  spoken  of  by 
F.  W.  in  the  article  quoted  from  The 
Critic  ?  I  am  much  interested  in  the  state- 
ment, which  seems  quite  probable,  that  the 
word  is  properly  "  tolt  "  from  "  tollo." 

C.  H.  A. 


Pomegranate  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  159,  etc.). 
— The  pomegranate  was  the  emblem  adopted 
by  Katherine  of  Aragon,  Henry  VIIPs  first 
wife.  It  is  a  noted  heraldic  charge  among 
the  Spaniards.  Four  hundred  pomegranates 
were  among  the  decorations  of  Solomon's 
temple.  In  the  architecture  of  Egypt  and 
Assyria  this  fruit  is  often  figured.  It  was 
vested  with  a  mysterious  religious  signifi- 
cance in  many  of  the  ancient  religious 
cults,  especially  in  that  of  Phrygia,  and  it 
can  be  said  that  its  dark  blood-like  juice, 
which  has  healing  and  refreshing  properties, 
may  be  looked  upon  as  a  type  of  the  sacrifi- 
cial blood.  And  yet  I  find  in  a  stupid 
book  on  "  The  Language  of  Flowers  "  that 
the  pomegranate  means  "foolishness" 
(some  people  thought  St.  Paul's  preaching 
was  foolishness).  The  real  significance  of 
fruits  and  flowers  is  that  which  is  derived 
from  association  and  legend,  from  estab- 
lished symbolism,  from  poetry,  and  from 
obvious  parallelism  or  natural  mimetism. 

M. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Anagrams  (Vol.  v,  pp.  272,  etc.). — 
When  Galileo,  in  1610,  discovered  that  the 
planet  Venus  exhibited  the  same  various 
phases  as  the  moon,  he  announced  the  dis- 
covery in  an  anagram  :  "  Haec  immatura  a 
me  jam  frustra  leguntur  o.  y.,"  which,  being 
written  in  its  proper  form,  is  as  follows : 
"  Cynthiae  figuras  aemulatur  mater  amorum  " 
(The  mother  of  loves  imitates  the  shapes  of 
the  moon  ").  C.  T. 

BANGOR,  PA. 

Hatteras  (Vol.  vi,  p.  150).— Henric 
Seile's  map,  1652,  renders  the  word  Hator- 
ash,  but  fails  to  give  any  history  of  the 
origin  of  the  name.  This  spelling  differs 
from  that  mentioned  by  J.  W.  R.,  only  in 
the  substitution  of  an  "  o  "  in  place  of  the 
second  "a." 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

K.NOXVILLE,  IA. 

Dutch  Words. — Cannot  your  learned 
and  honored  correspondent  Anchor  give 
your  readers  a  list  of  such  Dutch  words  as 
are  still  current  in  the  State  of  New  York  ? 

B.  M. 


February  14,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


191 


Seiches  (Vol.  v,  pp.  186,  etc.).— An 
explanation  of  the  phenomena  from  Elisee 
Reclus  is  as  follows  :  "All  long  and  narrow 
lakes,  over  which  atmospheric  variations 
often  take  effect  in  a  sudden  and  violent 
manner,  frequently  exhibit  abrupt  oscilla- 
tions of  level;  which  can  only  be  explained 
by  a  difference  in  the  pressure  of  the  air. 
Such  are  the  seiches  of  Lake  Geneva  and  the 
Ruhssen  of  Lake  Constance,  which  are 
noticed  sometimes  at  one  point,  sometimes 
at  another.  In  these  purely  local  swellings  of 
the  water,  the  latter  may  rise  all  at  once  some 
inches,  or  even  a  yard  above  the  level  of  the 
surrounding  surface.  The  outbreak  of  sub- 
terranean tributaries  cannot  be  taken  as  an 
explanation  of  the  cause  of  this  sudden  rise, 
for  it  takes  place  at  the  foot  of  mountains  of 
a  compact  formation,  which  certainly  do  not 
conceal  any  considerable  streams  in  the 
depths  of  their  rocks.  The  same  phenomena, 
too,  have  been  observed  around  islets  and 
mere  rocks  on  the  surface  of  many  lakes  and 
inland  seas.  The  seiches  of  the  Baltic, 
which  are  just  like  those  of  Lake  Geneva, 
have  been  proved  to  be  in  direct  connection 
with  the  height  of  the  barometrical  column. 
When  the  pressure  of  the  air  diminishes  the 
water  begins  to  swell,  and  when  the  barome- 
ter again  rises  the  surface  of  the  sea  sinks, 
only  the  movements  of  the  water  are  always 
a  few  minutes  earlier  than  those  of  the  in- 
strument on  account  of  the  greater  mobility 
of  the  aqueous  particles.  Now  as  the  total 
variation  between  the  different  heights  of 
the  barometrical  column  at  the  level  of  the 
sea  corresponds  to  about  a  yard  in  a  column 
of  water,  it  follows  that  the  most  considerable 
seiches  cannot  exceed  this  height. 

"  This  has,  in  fact,  been  verified  by  obser- 
vations in  the  Baltic,  in  Lake  Geneva,  and 
in  the  great  lakes  df  North  America  "  ("  The 
Earth,"  Chap.  Ivii,  p.  394,  Woodward 
trans.). 

"The  occasional  fluctuations  in  the 
level  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Superior  cer- 
tainly exceed  three  feet,  so  that  an  eleva- 
tion of  600  feet  is  probably  a  correct 
estimate  of  the  mean  height  of  the  waters  of 
the  '  Great  Lake '  of  the  Ojibways  above  the 
ocean"  (Hind's  "Red  River  Exploring 
Expedition,"  1857-1858). 

For  changes  in  lake  levels  and  variations 


in  levels  of  the  great  Canadian  lakes,  refer 
to  Chap,  i,  Vol.  i  (17-20). 

"  The  same  change  of  level  cannot 
be  observed  on  the  open  sea  during  hurri- 
canes, because  the  liquid  mass  is  at  full 
liberty  and  able  to  spread  out  freely  all 
around  the  rising  of  the  wave  and  not  re- 
stricted as  in  narrow  lakes"  (Reclus). 

MENONA. 

Brazil  (Vol.  iv,  p.  193  ;  Vol.  vi,  pp.  164, 
etc.). — The  common  explanation  of  the 
name  Brazil  is  that  it  was  derived  from  the 
brazil-wood  there  found.  The  origin  of  the 
term  "brazil-wood"  is  variously  given. 
But  the  identification  of  Brazil  with  Hy- 
Breasail  helps  rather  than  hinders  the  old 
explanation.  The  ancients  located  "  the 
fortunate  islands"  in  the  Atlantic  (one 
map  actually  gives  the  name  of  Brazil  to  one 
of  the  Azores).  Juba  and  Pliny  call  them 
the  "Purple  Islands."  Brazil-wood  was 
originally,  it  is  said,  some  dye-wood  (like 
sappan-wood,  or  cam-wood)  from  the  Old 
World  tropics.  When  people  got  hold  of  a 
purple  dye-wood  they  naturally  associated  it 
with  the  Purple  Islands,  the  country  called 
Breasail,  ' '  the  islands  of  the  blest. ' '  Hence, 
the  name  Brazil-wood.  It  seems  not  un- 
likely, however,  that  the  original  "  purple 
islands"  were  some  group  which  yielded 
the  purple  Tyrian  dye.  Many  islands  of  the 
Cape  Verde  and  Azore  range  afford  orchil, 
which  gives  a  purple  dye.  M. 

Greek  Ports  (Vol.  vi,  p.  162).— The 
Rev.  Mr.  Baring-Gould's  remark  that  the 
Greeks  knew  better  than  to  locate  their 
ports  at  the  mouths  of  rivers  is  hardly  justi- 
fied by  the  facts.  Ephesus  was  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Cayster,  now  silted  up.  The  four 
ports  of  Miletus  were  all  spoiled  by  mud 
from  the  Maeander.  Istrus  stood  in  the 
Danube  delta  (Curtius  remarks  that  "the 
broad  mouths  of  rivers  had  always  exercised 
an  especial  attraction  on  Ionian  industry  " 
("Hist.  Greece,"  i,  p.  444)-  Tyras  stood 
at  the  Dniester's  mouth.  ^Enos  was  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Hebrus,  and  is  badly  sanded 
up.  Ordessus  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Teli- 
gul.  Olbia,  a  Greek  town,  was  near  the 
mouths  of  the  Bug  and  Dnieper.  Tanais 
stood  in  the  delta  of  the  Don.  Phanagoria 


192 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [February  14,  1891. 


was  in  the  delta  of  the  Hypanis.  Phasis 
(now  Poti)  was  at  the  mouth  of  a  river  of  its 
own  name  ;  its  harbor  was  and  is  one  of  the 
worst  in  the  world.  The  Greek  Naucratis 
was  at  the  Canobic  mouth  of  the  Nile.  Of 
Sybaris,  the  port  is  silted  up  completely  by 
the  rivers  which  flowed  into  it.  I  have  no 
doubt  the  other  Greek  river-mouth  towns 
might  be  named ;  of  the  two,  I  think  the 
Romans  showed  the  better  judgment  in  the 
selection  of  town  sites.  G. 

Ever-burning  Lamps  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
77,  etc.). — Platt's  "Encyclopaedia  of  Won- 
ders and  Curiosities,"  p.  805,  gives  two  ac- 
counts of  perpetual-burning  lamps;  one  that 
was  found  at  Edessa  and  one  in  an  old 
monastery  in  England.  The  one  at  Edessa 
seems  to  have  been  a  memorial  set  up  by 
the  early  Christians  soon  after  the  Cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus.  It  was  enclosed  in  a  stone 
wall,  along  with  an  image  of  Christ,  and  is 
said  to  have  burned  500  years ;  until  the 
place  was  raided  by  the  soldiers  of  Cosroes, 
King  of  Persia.  The  oil  was  taken  out  of 
the  lamp  and  thrown  into  an  open  fire,  the 
fumes  from  it  causing  a  plague  which  nearly 
annihilated  the  Persian  forces.  The  account 
closes  with  the  following:  "The  ancient 
Romans  used  in  that  manner  to  preserve 
lights  in  their  sepulchres  a  long  time,  by  the 
oil  of  gold,  resolved  into  a  liquid  substance." 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Vibrating  Rock  (Vol.  vi,  p.  168). — 
Your  correspondent  tells  us  of  a  rock  in  the 
island  of  Cephalonia  which  oscillates  per- 
petually from  some  unknown  cause.  The 
same  island,  according  to  three  or  four  other 
correspondents  (as  on  p.  236,  of  Vol.  v)  has 
at  least  two  remarkable  inland-flowing 
streams.  Can  we  not  connect  or  correlate 
these  phenomena  ?  Is  not  the  vibration  of 
this  rock  due  to  some  seismic  influence,  a 
"perpetual  earthquake  tremor,"  such  as 
others  still  of  your  correspondents  have 
spoken  of?  If  so,  the  evaporation  by  heat  of 
the  inflowing  water  may  possibly  cause  such 
a  perpetual  earthquake  vibration  as  to  keep 
up  the  pendulum-like  movement  of  the  rock. 

W.  J.  L. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


AND 


The  Century  for  February  has  for  its  frontispiece  a  por- 
trait of  Tallerand,  in  his  youth.  The  instalment  of 
Talleyrand's  memoirs  opens  with  his  apology  for  tak- 
ing office  under  the  Directory.  A  most  striking  de- 
scription is  next  given  of  Bonaparte  in  the  first  flush  of 
his  victories.  These  extracts  are  full  of  plots.  The 
first  described  is  that  between  Bonaparte  and  Talley- 
rand himself,  just  before  Napoleon  overthrew  the  Direc- 
tory and  made  himself  ruler  of  France.  Then  comes 
Talleyrand's  apology  for  supporting  Bonaparte,  fol- 
lowed by -a  number  of  anecdotes  of  Bonaparte,  and  in- 
cluding an  account  of  his  meeting  with  Goethe  and 
Wieland. 

Miss  Clare  de  Graffenried,  of  the  U.  S.  Labor  Bureau, 
opens  the  number  with  a  paper  on  "  The  Georgia 
Cracker  in  the  Cotton  Mills,"  illustrated  by  studies 
from  life  by  Mr.  Kemble. 

The  California  series  reaches  the  discovery  of  gold,  an 
account  of  which  is  given  by  John  S.  Hittell,  Esq.,  the 
historian,  accompanied  by  numerous  illustrations, 
among  them  &fac-simUe  of  an  entry  in  the  diary  of  H. 
W.  Bigler  (one  of  the  party  of  discovery),  which  fixes 
beyond  peradventure  the  date  of  the  discovery  as  the 
24th  of  January,  1848,  instead  of  the  igth,  as  still  cele- 
brated by  the  pioneer  societies. 

The  beginning  of  a  new  novel  in  a  new  field,  by  Dr.  Ed- 
ward Eggleston.  is  afeature  of  the  February  Century.  The 
scene  of  "The  Faith  Doctor  "  is  laid  in  New  York  city, 
and  the  subject  is  not  only  "  Christian  Science,''  "  Faith 
Cure,"  but  the  social  struggle  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
The  first  "  heading  "  of  this  story  is  "  The  Origin  of  a 
Man  of  Fashion,"  and  the  second  "The  Evolution  of 
a  Society  Man."  Dr.  Eggleston  describes  a  "spon- 
taneous Pedigree,"  and  the"  Bank  of  Manhadoes." 

Besides  the  "  Faith  Doctor,"  the  fiction  consists  of 
the  third  and  closing  instalment  of  James  Lane  Allen's 
"Sister  Dolorosa,"  an  instalment  of  Hopkinson Smith's 
"  Colonel  Carter  of  Cartersville,"  a  story  by  Miss 
Wilkins  with  a  picture  by  Mrs.  Mary  Hallock  Foote,  a 
story,  "  Penelope's  Swains,"  by  Mrs.  Burton  Harrison, 
illustrated  by  Wiles,  and  a  story  by  Joel  Chandler  Har- 
ris, called  "  Balaam  and  his  Master,"  with  pictures  by 
Helmick. 

A  brief  series  is  begun  in  this  number  by  George  R. 
Parkin  on  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  in  the  Southern  Hemi- 
sphere," this  article  referring  to  the  "  Working  Man  in 
Australia."  Charles  de  Kay  writes  an  article  on 
Theodore  Rousseau,  which  is  accompanied  by  engrav- 
ings of  some  of  Rousseau's  works  by  the  late  Mr.  El- 
bridge  Kingsley  ;  there  are  also  engravings  of  the  monu- 
ment to  Rousseau  and  Millet  in  the  "  Forest  of  Fon- 
tainebleau,  and  of  Rousseau's  house  in  Barbizon. 

Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  Richard  Henry  Stoddard, 
James  Whitcomb  Riley,  and  others  contribute  the 
poetry  to  this  number.  In  the  series  of  pictures  by 
American  artists,  there  is  a  full-page  portrait  of  "  The 
Mirror  "  by  the  late  D.  M.  Bunker. 

The  Topics  of  the  Time  discuss :  "  One  Means  of 
Regulating  the  Lobby,"  "  The  Salary  Problem," 
"  Early  Education  in  Literature,"  and  "  Women." 
The  latter  article  is  apropos  of  a  remarkable  series  of 
"  Open  Letters,"  "  On  the  Opening  of  the  Johns  Hop- 
kins Medical  School  to  Women,"  by  Cardinal  Gib- 
bons, Dr.  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi,  Mrs.  Josephine  Lowell, 
Dr.  Osier  (the  physician  in  chief  of  the  hospital),  Dr. 
Folsom,  of  Boston,  and  Miss  Thomas,  Dean  of  Bryn 
Mawr. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Saints  and  their  Flowers,  193— Notes  on  Words, 
194 — Joshua  Tree,  195. 

QUERIES  :— River  of  Egypt— Battle  of  the  Ice— Bergamot— 
Pent-up  Utica  —  Woman-hating  Poet  —  Chestnuts,  195  — 
Hero  Stilton,  196. 

REPLIES  :— Charley-horse— Regio  Baccalos,  196. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Visions— Bard 
of  Amulree,  196 — Charles  Peace — Move  Eastward,  etc.— 
Moons  of  Mars — Flower  of  Burgundie — The  Four  Marys — 
King's  Cross — Say  Nothing  and  Saw  Wood — Captain  Wilson 
— Franklin's  Epitaph — Marine  Compound  Engine,  197. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Pets  of  Distinguished  People,  197— 
Spanish  American  Words,  198— Hypnagogue — Razor-strop 
Man — Smallest  Church — Even  His  Beams  Sing,  200 — Alman- 
acs Past  and  Present — Judas  Tree,  201— Turf  and  Twig — 
Morton — Musha —  Singing  Sands  —  Perpetual  Earthquake — 
Ireland's  Eye,  202 — Prince  of  Painters — Patriarchs — <Julf  of 
the  Lion — Tyler — Woodruff — Liman — Trained  Buffaloes,  203 
— Discoveries  by  Accident — Fairy  Rings — Venomous  Ser- 
pents, 204. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICAIS  :— 204. 


HONES. 
SAINTS  AND  THEIR  FLOWERS. 

To  St.  Agnes  the  hellebore  and  its  near 
relative  the  Christmas  rose  belong ;  to  St. 
Anne,  the  loved  mother  (niater  card)  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  the  chamomile  (matricarid) 
is  held  sacred ;  the  European  pig-nut  and 
the  butter-cup  are  dedicated  to  St.  Anthony. 
The  winter-cress  is  St.  Barbara's  plant. 
The  Centaurea  solstitialis  is  St.  Barnaby's 
thistle.  The  avens,  or  herb-bennet,  the 
hemlock  and  the  valerian  are  St.  Benedict's. 
St.  Catherine  the  martyr  is  honored  by  the 
nigella.  St.  Cecilia  was  crowned  with  roses 
and  lilies.  The  royal-fern,  life-everlasting, 
fleabane,  vetch  and  many  other  plants  are 
St.  Christopher's.  St.  Dabeoc  gives  name  to 
a  kind  of  heath  (Dabeocid).  St.  David's 
emblem  is  the  leek.  St.  Edward,  the  king, 
is  honored  by  the  crown- imperial.  The 
laurustinus  is  St.  Faine's  flower.  St. 


194 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  21,  1891. 


George's  beard  is  the  house-leek,  and    to 
him  the  harebell  was  dedicated.    The  barren 
strawberry    is    St.    Hilary's    emblem.     St. 
Ignatius  is  commemorated  by  a  poisonous 
tropical  bean.     To  St.  James,  a  cress  and  a 
senecio   were   held   sacred.     St.    John   the 
Baptist,    "a  burning  and  a  shining  light," 
was  symbolized  by  the  scarlet  lychnis,  and 
by  many  other  plants,  as  by  the  wormwood 
and  St.   John's  wort,   the  latter  apparently 
belonging  to  St.  John  the  Divine  also.     The 
carob-tree  furnishes   the  St.  John's  bread. 
The  common  English  laurel  was  set  apart  to 
St.  Lucian.     St.  Margaret's  flowers  are  the 
marigold    and   daisy    and    the    Virginian 
dragon's  head.    The  white  lily  is  Our  Lady's 
own  flower ;  the  rosemary,  rose-of-Jericho, 
Canterbury-bell,        arborvitae,       marigold, 
bryony,  ornithogalum,  spearmint,  foxglove, 
maiden-hair,    flower-de-luce,    broom,   rose, 
and  many  other  plants  are  hers  too.     Of 
these  more  hereafter.     St.  Michael's  plants 
are  the  Michaelmas  daisy  and  the  archange- 
lica.     St.    Mary    Magdalen's    is    the  cost- 
mary.     The  osmunda  is  St.  Olafs  beard. 
St.  Patrick's  symbols  are  the  shamrock  and 
the  London-pride.     The  Christmas  rose  was 
associated  with  St.   Paul's  name;  the  cow- 
slip, samphire,  wall-barley  and  others,  with 
St.  Peter.    St.  Philibertgave  name  to  the  fil- 
bert.    The  herb-robert  and  robin's  plantain 
seem  to  have  been  named  for  St.  Robert. 
The   small    marigold   or  calendula   is    St. 
Swithin's  plant.     St.  Valentine's  symbol  is 
the    yellow    crocus.     The     Dead-nettle    is 
sacred   to  St.   Vincent.     St.  William  gives 
name    to    two    plants,    each   called   Sweet 
William.      A    rather    common     American 
plant,  the  St.  Andrew's  cross,  bears  in  its 
flowers  the  emblem  of  that  apostle's  martyr- 
dom.    By  some  the  plants  known  as  lady's- 
fingers,  lady's-mantle,  lady's-slipper,  lady's 
smock,  lady's  tresses  (or  traces)  and  lady's 
bed-straw  are  considered  to  be  sacred  to  St. 
Mary  (as  well  as  our  lady's  balsam,  candle- 
stick, cushion,  glove,  hand,   mantle,  mint, 
seal,  milkwortand  wildwort).    Thesprekelia 
and  jacobsea  are  St.  James'  lilies,  the  An- 
thericum  liliastrum  is  St.  Bruno's  lily ;  the 
tuberose  is  St.  Joseph's  rod  ;    the  mahaleb 
or  weichsel  is  St.  Lucy's  cherry.     St.  Mar 
tin's  herb  is  Sauvagesia  erecta.     The  Bau- 
hinia  tomentosa,  of  Ceylon,  is  St.  Thomas' 


tree,  and  its  yellow  flowers  are  dabbled  with 
the  apostle's  blood.  The  common  garden 
Spiraea  is  St.  Peter's  wreath.  Many  of  these 
plants  (but  not  nearly  all)  seem  to  have  been 
named  from  the  fact  of  their  blooming  about 
the  time  of  the  saint's  festival  whom  they 
commemorate.  M.  O. 


NOTES  ON  WORDS. 

(VOL.  vi,  PP.  71,  ETC.) 

Langoon,  —  This  is  an  old  name  for  a  kind 
of  wine.  The  "  Century  Dictionary"  states 
that  its  origin  is  not  ascertained.  But  this 
word  is  probably  identical  with  Langon,  the 
name  of  a  town  in  France,  still  noted  for  its 
excellent  wines. 

Laspring.  —  This  word,  not  a  very  common 
one,  is  a  synonym  of  smolt,  a  young  salmon. 
Does  it  not  mean  a  last  spring  salmon  ? 

Linaloa,  —  The  "Century  Dictionary" 
says  this  word  is  a  "Mexican  name," 
whereas  it  is  good  Spanish  and  equivalent  to 
ltgn-aloe\n  English.  The  "Century  "  accents 
the  penult  ;  the  Spanish  dictionaries  accent  the 
ante-penult. 

Lycium.  —  The  "  Cent.  Dictionary  "  marks 
this  plant  name  as  Neo-Latin,  but  it  is  very 
old  classical  Latin,  from  the  Greek  name 


Metran.  —  The  "Century  Dictionary" 
defines  this  word  as  "  The  abuna,  the  head  of 
the  Abyssinian  or  Ethiopic  Church."  I  do 
not  know  that  this  is  not  correct  (all  the 
same  I  believe  it  to  be  an  error).  But  it  is 
certain  that  in  various  branches  of  the 
Syrian  or  Jacobite  Church  metran  is  the 
prevalent  form  of  the  title  metropolitan. 

Miaouli.  —  This  word,  the  name  of  a 
kind  of  cajuput  oil,  occurs  in  the  "  Century 
Dictionary,"  and  other  works.  But  I  think 
the  forms  Niaouli  and  Niaoulis  are  to  be 
prefered.  M  and  N  sounds  are  occasionally 
interchanged  in  barbaric  languages,  and 
there  are  sounds,  consonantal  ones  especially, 
which  are  not  to  be  represented  by  any  of 
our  letters.  The  "Century"  doubtfully 
refers  the  word  to  a  Malay  origin.  It  seems, 
however,  to  be  a  New  Caledonian  word  ;  at 
least,  several  authors  speak  of  it  as  if  it  were 
so. 

Miryachit.  —  The  "Century  Dictionary" 
gives  and  defines  this  term,  but  offers  no 


February  21,  1891.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


'95 


etymology.  According  to  Billings'  "  Medi- 
cal Dictionary,"  it  is  from  the  Russian 
miriachitje,  to  play  the  fool. 


JOSHUA  TREE. 

Throughout  a  considerable  part  of  our 
Southwestern  country,  where  the  yucca  plant 
abounds,  some  of  its  larger  representatives 
have  the  name  of  Joshua  tree,  or  Joshua- 
wood.  What  is  the  origin  of  this  designa- 
tion ?  I  should  conjecture  that  it  is  either  a 
corruption  of  some  Indian  or  Spanish  word, 
or  that  the  Mormons,  who  seem  to  have  a 
fondness  for  Scriptural  terms,  have  affixed 
this  strange  name  to  a  strange-looking 
plant.  There  has  been  some  discussion  in 
your  columns  about  the  habitat  of  the  tree- 
yuccas.  Prof.  Sargent's  report  on  "  Forest 
Trees  "  states  that  one  kind  is  found  on  the 
shores  of  Matagorda  bay.  Wood's  "Botany," 
p.  709  (ed.  of  1873),  speaks  of  Yucca  aloefo- 
lia,  which  occurs  in  Carolina,  Georgia  and 
Florida,  as  having  a  bole  sometimes  ten  feet 
high.  The  yuccas,  large  and  small,  range 
across  the  continent  from  Virginia  west- 
ward, and  southward  to  the  Gulf,  and  be- 
yond it.  M. 


QUERIES. 


River  of  Egypt. — What  is  meant  by 
the  River  of  Egypt?  S.  M.  R. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

In  the  English  Scriptures  (at  least  in  King 
James'  version,  if  not  in  the  others)  this 
term  designates  the  torrent  of  the  Wady  El 
Arish,  which  is  regarded  as  forming  the 
boundary  between  Egypt  and  the  Holy 
Land.  But  it  would  be  easy  to  cite  passages 
(not  Biblical),  in  which  the  river  Nile  is 
spoken  of  as  the  River  of  Egypt. 

Battle  of  the  Ice.— When  did  this  battle 
occur  ?  McPHAiL. 

IOWA  CITY. 

It  occurred  in  1242  on  the  ice  of  Lake 
Peipus  in  Russia,  when  St.  Alexander 
Nevsky  defeated  the  German  and  Finnish 
invaders. 


Bergamot. — In  Marvell's  grand   ode  to 
Cromwell  occur  these  words : 


"  As  if  his  highest  plot 
To  plant  the  bergamot." 


What  plant  is  meant  ? 


R. 


"  The  bergamot "  may  mean  a  variety  of 
the  pear,  of  the  quince,  or  of  the  lime  or 
lemon.  Besides  this,  there  are  one  or  two 
kinds  of  mint  called  bergamot.  Probably 
the  bergamot  pear  is  intended. 

Pent-up  Utica. — Who  wrote  the  line 

"  No  pent-up  Utica  contracts  your  powers  ?" 

C.  B. 

N.  DAKOTA. 

The  verse  in  question  occurs  in  an  epi- 
logue to  Addison's  "Cato."  It  was  written 
in  1778  by  Jonathan  M.  Sewell,  an 
American. 

Woman-hating  Poet. — What  poet  was  a 
noted  woman-hater?  S.  D. 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 

"The  republic  of  Athens,  having  lost 
many  of  its  citizens  by  war  and  pestilence, 
allowed  every  man  to  marry  two  wives,  in 
order  the  sooner  to  repair  the  waste  made  by 
these  two  calamities.  The  poet  Euripides 
happened  to  be  coupled  to  two  noisy  Vixens, 
who  so  plagued  him  with  their  jealousies  and 
quarrels  that  he  became  ever  after  a  pro- 
fessed woman-hater,  and  he  is  the  only 
theatrical  writer,  perhaps  the  only  poet,  who 
ever  entertained  an  aversion  against  the 
whole  sex  "  (Hume's  "  Essays,"  "  Of  Poly- 
gamy and  Divorce  "). 

Chestnuts. — How  came  the  word  chest- 
nuts to  be  applied  to  an  old  joke  ?  I  have  al- 
ready received  several  replies  to  this  question, 
but  they  all  differ  so  much  that  it  makes  it  im- 
possible for  me  to  select  the  correct  one. 
Will  not  you  or  some  of  the  readers  of  your 
excellent  journal  help  to  put  me  on  the  right 
track?  A  SUBSCRIBER. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

A  very  good  note  on  "  Chestnuts  "  will 
be  found  in  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES, 
Vol.  Hi,  p.  37. 


196 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [February  21,  1891- 


Hero  Stilton. — Please  tell  me  who  Hero 
Stilton  was  and  what  made  him  famous  ? 


SARAH  DOWD. 


NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 


Hero  Stilton  was  the  nickname  given  to 
Cooper  Thornhill,  an  innkeeper  at  Stilton, 
in  Huntingdonshire.  He  was  the  inventor 
of  the  Stilton  cheese  (see  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES,  Vol.  ii,  p.  126). 

REPLIES. 

Charley-horse  (Vol.  vi,  p.  77.) — This 
compound  term  is  not  in  the  dictionaries, 
but  we  do  find  Charley-pitcher,  a  low,  cheat- 
ing gambler  (slang). 

Charley-puscott,  a  vest  ("  Rogues'  Lexi- 
con "). 

Charley-ren,  a  watch-box  (Grose). 

Charley,  a  watchman  (Grose,  "  Class. 
Diet."). 

"  Charley,  a  gold  watch.  Another 
American  invention.  The  American  rogue 
cuts  his  definition  in  half  and  makes  the 
term  mean  gold  watch  (see  "  Notes  on 
Thief  Talk,"  "  Amer.  Folk-Lore,"  Decem- 
ber, 1890. 

"  Charley,  a  name  formerly  given  to  a 
night  watchman.  The  origin  is  unknown  ; 
some  have  conjectured  it  was  given  because 
Charles  I,  in  1640,  extended  and  improved 
the  patrol  system  of  London"  (Dr.  Murray). 

Charley-horse  seems  likely  to  be  of 
Charley' 's  kin,  either  near  or  remote.  Is  it 
an  "American  invention,"  or  have  the 
base-ball  men  borrowed  a  term  from  the 
vocabulary  of  the  London  police.  There 
must  have  been  some  Charley-horses 
among  the  London  constables  of  1796,  if  we 
may  rely  upon  the  following  account :  "As 
to  night  watchmen — pecuniary  inducements 
are  so  small  that  few  candidates  appear  for 
such  situations  who  are  really,  in  point  of 
character  and  age,  fit  for  the  situation. 
Managers  have  therefore  no  alternative  but 
to  accept  of  such  aged  and  often  superan- 
nuated men,  living  in  their  respective  dis- 
tricts, as  may  offer  their  services ;  this  they 
are  frequently  induced  to  do  from  motives  of 
humanity,  to  assist  old  inhabitants  to  make 
a  living.  Under  such  circumstances,  with 


so  little  encouragement,  what  can  be  ex- 
pected from  such  watchmen?  Aged  in  gen- 
eral— often  feeble — and  almost  on  every  oc- 
casion half  starved  from  the  limited  allow- 
ance received  "  (from  "  Treatise  on  Police 
of  London,"  by  a  magistrate). 

Hood,  in  "Tale  of  a  Trumpet,"  mentions 
"That  other  old  woman,  the  parish  Char- 
ley." Another  reference  to  the  inefficiency 
of  this  class  of  constables  occurs  in  some 
"  Christmas  Verses  "  of  1823 : 

"  Let  Toms  and  Jerrys  unmolested  brawl, 
(No  Charlies  have  they  now  to  floor  withal) 
And  '  rogues  and  vagabonds  '  infest  the  town, 
For  cheaper  'tis  to  save  than  track  a  crown." 

(Hone's  Every-day  Book,"  1628.) 

MENONA. 

Regio  Bacca/os  (Vol.  vi,  p.  186). — In 
several  European  languages,  baccalao,  or 
some  variant  thereof,  means  a  cod-fish.  To 
the  N.  E.  of  the  Avalon  peninsula,  in  lati- 
tude 48°  9'N.,  longitude  5 2°  5 2' W.,  lies  the 
little  island  of  Baccaleu,  Bacaliau,  Bacalieu, 
or  Bacalhao  (three  or  four  more  spellings 
might  be  added).  I  judge,  therefore,  that 
the  region  for  which  your  correspondent 
inquires  must  mean  "  the  cod-fish  country," 
or  Newfoundland.  ISLANDER. 

VERONA,  ME. 


TO 


Visions.  —  Will  some  of  the  readers  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  interested 
in  psychical  research,  cite  some  of  the 
most  notable  and  best  authenticated  visions 
(ancient  and  modern  instances)  mentioned 
in  biographical  history,  particularly  such  as 
were  experienced  while  physical  ani- 
mation was  apparently  suspended. 

MYSTIC. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Bard  of  Amulree.  —  "That  was  writ- 
ten by  the  Bard  of  Amulree,  your  lordship, 
and  a  truer  Scotchman  does  not  breathe, 
though  America  has  been  his  home  nearly  all 
his  life"  (W.  Black,  "Stand  Fast,  Craig- 
Royston,"  p.  4).  Who  was,  or  is,  the  Bard 
of  Amulree?  N.  T.  V. 

ROME,  N.  Y. 


February  21,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


197 


Charles  Peace. — Would  like  to  know 
something  more  of  a  murder  committed  near 
Manchester,  Eng.  (circa  1870),  when  a  bur- 
glar named  Charles  Peace  shot  and  killed 
Policeman  Cox  (?).  Peace  was  set  at  liberty, 
but  one  Hobson  or  Habson  was  tried  for  the 
crime  and  sentenced  to  life  imprisonment. 
Peace  committed  another  murder  and  be- 
fore executed  confessed  and  established 
Hobson's  innocence,  taking  guilt  on  himself. 
A  history  of  the  case,  not  forgetting  the 
duration  of  Hobson's  imprisonment,  would 
be  liked.  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 

"  Move  Eastward,  Happy  Earth," 
etc. — Is  this  little  poem  of  Tennyson's  the 
only  one  in  English  literature  in  which  the 
real  motion  of  the  earth  is  referred  to  in- 
stead of  the  apparent  motion  of  the  sun 
caused  thereby? 

What  is  the  "silver  sister-world  "  in  the 
poem? 

What  would  be  a  simple  prose  paraphrase 
of  the  lines : 

"  Till  over  thy  dark  shoulder  glow 
•   Thy  silver  sister-world,  and  rise 

To  glass  herself  in  dewy  eyes 
That  watch  me  from  the  glen  below." 

Teachers  have  disagreed  as  to  the  mean- 
ing and  the  situation  here.  R. 

Moons  Of  Mars. — The  discovery  in 
1877,  by  Prof.  Hall,  of  the  satellites  of  Mars 
(happily  named  Deimos  and  Phobos,  after 
the  two  chargers  of  the  god  Mars)  is  justly 
regarded  as  a  great  credit  to  American 
science.  But  I  have  read  (I  cannot  now  tell 
where)  that  in  one  of  Dean  Swift's  works  the 
two  moons  of  Mars  are  spoken  of  with  what 
seems  like  a  tolerable  precision  of  statement. 
Can  any  of  your  readers  direct  me  to  the 
passage  in  question  in  Swift's  writings  ? 

\-/«     A  • 

"The    Flower  of  Burgundie."— 

What  flower  is  meant  in  the  second  line  of 
the  following  passage  from  Aytoua's  "  The 
Heart  of  the  Bruce:" 


"  Or  bring  ye  Francis  lilies  here, 
Or  the  flower  of  Burgundie." 


R. 


"  The  Four  Marys." — What  were  the 
names  of  the  four  Marys  who  were  maids  of 
honor  to  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots  ? 

#    #    # 

King's  Cross. — The  origin  of  the  ex- 
pression "  King's  X  "  (phonetically)  em- 
ployed by  children  in  various  games  ? 

?     ?     ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Say  Nothing  and  Saw  Wood.— 

During  the  past  year  or  two  the  expression, 
"  Say  nothing  and  saw  wood,"  has  come 
into  general  use,  the  idea  conveyed  by  it 
being  to  do  a  great  deal  of  active  work  in  a 
secret  manner.  It  is  used  with  regard  to 
political  work  more  than  any  other.  What  is 
the  origin  of  the  expression  ?  D.  W.  N. 
HARRISBURG,  PA. 

Captain  Wilson. — Does  any  reader  of 
AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  know  of  the 
circumstance  of  the  landing  at  Liverpool  of 
a  Capt.  Wilson  (?)  of  the  ship  Amelie  St. 
Pierre  with  the  prize  crew  of  Americans  that 
was  to  have  taken  him  and  ship  to  New 
York  ?  Can  you  give  dates  and  a  brief  his- 
tory? ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Franklin's  Epitaph  (Vol.  iii,  p.  69). 
— There  is  in  an  old  cemetery  at  Winslow, 
Me.,  an  epitaph  altered  from  that  of 
Franklin,  and  written  (it  is  said)  for  himself 
by  the  occupant  of  the  grave,  who  was  a 
cooper  by  trade.  Cannot  some  of  your  cor- 
respondents send  us  this  very  curious  epi- 
taph ?  M.  R. 

CHELSEA,  MASS. 

Marine  Compound  Engine.— What 
was  the  name  and  when  and  where  built  the 
first  steamer  that  used  the  compound  engine? 

?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 


Pets  of  Distinguished  People  (Vol. 
vi,  pp.  150,  etc.). — Horace  Walpott  s  Dogs, 
Patapan  and  Rosette.— Lord  Oxford's  letters 
to  his  cherished  and  life-long  friends,  Mar- 


198 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [February^ i,  1891. 


shall  Conway  and  Sir  Horace  Mann,  contain 
some  very  pleasant  passages  relating  to  the 
little  white  dog  from  Rome,  and  his  suc- 
cessor, the  tanned  black  spaniel. 

Writing  to  the  former  friend,  Florence, 
25th  of  March,  1741,  Conway  being  then  in 
Paris,  a  young  man  of  twenty  years,  Wai- 
pole  says : 

"  Patapan  is  so  handsome  that  he 
has  been  named  the  silver  fleece  ;  there  is  a 
new  order  of  knighthood  to  be  erected  in 
his  honor,  in  apposition  to  the  golden. 
Precedents  are  searching,  and  plans  drawing 
up  for  that  purpose"  (Vol.  i,  p.  67). 

To  Sir  Horace  Mann,  English  Ambassa- 
dor at  Florence,  i4th  of  April,  1743,  Wai- 
pole  again  refers  to  the  beauty  of  the  same 
pet: 

"  I  think  I  have  not  said  anything  to  you 
lately  of  Patapan.  He  is  handsomer  than  ever 
and  grows  fat ;  his  eyes  are  charming,  they 
have  that  agreeable  lustre  which  the  vulgar 
moderns  call  sore  eyes,  but  the  judicious  an- 
cients golden  eyes — ocellos  Patapanicos" 
(Vol.  i,  p.  175). 

To  the  same  friend,  whom,  by  the  way, 
Walpole  did  not  meet  during  their  corre- 
spondence of  forty-five  years,  the  master 
says  : 

"  To-morrow  Patapan  sits  to  Wootton  for 
his  picture.  He  is  to  have  a  triumphal  arch 
at  a  distance  to  signify  his  Roman  birth,  and 
his  having  barked  at  thousands  of  French- 
men, in  the  very  heart  of  Paris.  If  you  can 
think  of  a  good  Italian  motto  applicable  to 
any  part  of  his  history,  send  it  to  me.  If 
not,  he  shall  have  this  antique  one,  for 
I  reckon  him  a  senator  of  Rome  while  Rome 
survives,  '  O  et  Praesidium  et  dulce  decus 
meum.'  He  is  writing  an  ode  on  the 
future  campaign  of  this  summer  ;  it  is  dated 
from  his  villa  where  he  never  was,  and  be- 
gins truly  in  the  classic  style,  '  While  you 
great  patron  of  mankind  sustain,'  "  (Vol.  i, 
p.  242). 

Wootton,  the  painter  mentioned,  was  the 
Landseer  of  the  period  1740-1760,  and  the 
portrait  he  obtained  of  Patapan  brought 
four  pounds  at  the  final  sale  of  Walpole's 
effects  at  Strawberry  Hill.  In  another  letter 
to  Sir  Horace,  29th  of  April,  1745,  Walpole 
mentions  the  death  of  Patapan  as  having  oc- 
curred ten  days  before.  "I  assure  you," 


he  says,  "  I  am  far  from  feeling  it  lightly  " 
(Vol.  i,  p.  35).  jib/*! 

To  Sir  Horace  Mann,  Strawberry  Hill, 
23d  March,  1770:  "You  know  I  have  always 
some  favorite,  some  successor  of  Patapan  j 
the  present  is  a  tanned  black  spaniel, 
Rosette.  She  saved  my  life  last  Saturday 
night,  so  I  am  sure  you  will  love  her,  too.  I 
was  undressing  for  bed.  She  barked  and 
was  so  restless  that  there  was  no  quieting 
her.  I  fancied  there  was  somebody  under 
the  bed,  but  there  was  not.  At  last,  not  be- 
ing able  to  quiet  her,  I  looked  to  see  what 
she  barked  at,  and  perceiving  sparks  of  fire 
falling  from  the  chimney,  and  in  searching 
further  found  it  in  flames.  The  fire  was 
easily  extinguished  "  (Vol.  v,  p.  232). 

There  is  an  amusing  reference  to  the  same 
pet  in  a  letter  to  Rev.  William  Cole,  i5th 
July,  1 769,  as  follows : 

"  Your  fellow-travelers,  Rosette  and  I,  got 
home  safe  and  perfectly  contented  with  our 
expedition, 'and  wonderfully  obliged  to  you. 
Pray  receive  our  thanks  and  barking,  pray 
say  and  bark  a  great  deal  for  us  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  B."  (Vol.  v,  p.  176). 

Rosette  reminds  us  of  "  Owd  Roa,"  whose 
portrait  Mr.  Tennyson  has  limned  in  verse : 

"  Faithful  and  True — them  words  be  in  Scripture — and 

Faithful  and  True 

Will  be  found  upon  four  short  legs  ten  times  for  one 
upon  two." 

F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Spanish  American  Words  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  1 86). — Corral. — This  word  originally 
meant  a  circular  yard  formed  by  setting 
posts  in  the  ground  and  fastening  them  to- 
gether with  thongs  of  raw-ride.  The  corral 
is  essential  to  the  herder  as  a  place  where 
his  stock  may  be  collected  for  the  purpose 
of  protection  or  for  successful  handling.  If 
the  tanchero  wishes  to  capture  a  certain 
horse  to  ride,  the  whole  band  is  driven  into 
the  corral  and  the  vacquero  lassoes  the  one 
desired  with  his  lariat.  The  corral  is  one 
of  the  first  structures  built  by  the  herder  on 
his  arrival  in  a  new  territory.  The  farmer  of 
the  far  West  never  says  "cow-pen,"  "barn- 
yard," or  "farm-yard,"  he  says  corral. 
The  word  is  applied  indiscriminately  to  any 
small  enclosure  for  stock. 


February  21,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


199 


Vacquero,  according  to  its  strict  ety- 
mology, means  "  cow-herder,"  or  in  more 
common  English,  "cow-boy."  However, 
this  is  not  its  better  use,  although  it  is  fre- 
quently so  applied.  The  vacquero  is  pre- 
eminently a  horseman  and  a  horse  trainer. 
He  is  frequently  employed  to  tend  stock, 
but  his  chief  business  is  to  manage  wild 
horses  or  to  tame  broncos.  The  horses  of  a 
rancho  frequently  run  at  will,  unfettered  by 
bit,  bridle,  or  even  halter,  until  they  are  de- 
sired for  use.  Here  is  the  difficult  work  of 
the  vacquero.  He  drives  the  band  into  a 
corral,  captures  the  one  to  be  ridden,  suc- 
ceeds in  getting  a  bridle  or  jacquima  on  his 
head,  blindfolds  the  animal,  puts  the  saddle 
on,  mounts  for  the  ride,  and  ihen  removes 
the  blind.  Then  begins  a  series  of  antics  on 
the  part  of  the  animal,  and  the  rider  is 
fortunate  if  he  keeps  his  seat  through  them  all. 
This  process  must  be  repeated  from  day  to 
day  until  the  animal  is  domesticated.  Some- 
times the  vacquero  finds  steady  employment 
at  a  single  rancho,  and  sometimes  he  goes 
from  one  to  the  other  plying  his  trade  as 
there  is  need. 

Ranch  is  from  the  word  rancho  and  was 
first  used  in  connection  with  the  land-grants 
to  the  Spaniards  in  the  Indies.  •  It  is  of 
Spanish  American  origin.  The  word  ranch 
needs  no  comment.  It  sounds  a  trifle  in- 
elegant in  contrast  with  the  long  accustomed 
word  "  farm,"  but  it  has  succeeded  in  en- 
tirely replacing  this  word  in  many  sections 
of  the  West.  It  is  doubtful  if  it  will  retain 
this  prominence  as  the  large  ranches  are 
broken  up  into  small  farms  and  a  diversity  of 
agriculture  is  introduced. 

Rodeo. — It  is  in  connection  with  the  rear- 
ing of  stock  that  this  word  is  commonly 
used.  In  pastoral  territories  all  stock  runs 
somewhat  at  large,  consequently  the  prop- 
erty of  different  individuals  is  widely  scat- 
tered and  commingled.  To  sort  the  stock 
and  accredit  each  owner  with  his  property, 
the  annual  or  semi-annual  rodeo  or  "  round 
up"  is  held.  Each  owner  sends  one  or 
more  representatives  to  the  rodeo.  The  cat- 
tle are  "  bunched  "  in  the  open  field,  and 
the  vacqueros  proceed  to  separate  from  the 
band  each  owner's  stock.  This  requires 
great  skill  of  the  horsemen.  In  the  olden 
time  a  judge  (huez  de  campo}  presided  over 


the  field-assembly  and  judged  of  the  rignts 
of  each  according  to  customary  law.  The 
word  rodeo  comes  from  the  Spanish  rodear, 
"  to  surround,  to  compass. ' '  Its  vulgar  pro- 
nunciation is  "  rodeer. " 

Loco  is  a  good  old  Spanish  word  meaning 
insane,  crazy  or  crack-brained.  It  is  specifi- 
cally applied  to  horses  and  cattle  afflicted  with 
a  strange  disease  accompanied  with  varia- 
tions of  insane  and  idiotic  symptoms.  It  is 
a  common  belief  that  the  disease  is  caused 
by  eating  a  plant  called  "loco-weed,"  of  the 
family  Leguminosae,  genus  Astragalus.  But 
this  has  not  been  proved,  and  there  are  many 
different  theories  concerning  it,  some  at- 
tributing the  cause  to  the  use  of  bad  water,, 
some  to  poor  food,  and  others  to  too  much- 
food,  etc.  The  animal  afflicted  with  the 
disease  stops,  trembles,  staring  all  the  while 
in  an  insane  mood,  snorts  and  springs  sud- 
denly to  one  side  as  if  dodging  a  blow.  It 
apparently  sees  things  that  are  not,  and  is  a 
victim  to  strange  hallucinations.  Becoming 
useless,  it  is  turned  out  to  take  the  chances 
of  partial  recovery  or  final  death.  The 
term  has  a  wide  application  in  common  use. 
A  person  not  quite  sound  in  mind  or  rational 
in  thought  is  said  to  be  locoed,  or  is  "  loco," 
as  the  term  is  frequently  applied.  It  is 
quite  curious  that  the  plant  is  also  called 
"  rattle-weed  "  from  its  peculiar  properties, 
and  that  the  term  "rattled"  is  derived 
from  the  idea  of  its  effect  on  animals.  Con- 
sequently the  word  "  rattled"  designates  a 
mild  form  of  locoism. 

Bronco  is  the  name  applied  to  a  wild  or 
untamed  animal,  as  a  bronco  colt  or  a  bronco 
horse.  Sometimes  it  is  applied  colloquially 
to  an  unruly  boy. 

To  pass  to  the  words  of  the  second  class, 
there  are  a  multitude  of  those  which  are  used 
by  persons  of  certain  sections  or  by  special 
classes.  I  will  mention  a  few :  sombrero, 
"  hat ;"  lariat,  "raw-hide  rope  ;"  jacquima, 
"  head-stall"  or  "halter;"  reata,  "raw-hide 
rope;" hacienda,  "estate;"  companero,  "com- 
panion ;"  vara,  a  Spanish  yard-stick,  etc. 

There  are  many  short  phrases  in  common 
speech  which  are  temporary  in  use,  such  as 
mucho  frio,  mucho  caliente,  poco  tiewpe, 
muchas  gracias,  si  Senor,  etc.  Their  chief 
influence  is  exercised  in  detracting  from  the 
use  of  good  English.  But  to  the  student  of 


200 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  21,  1891. 


institutions  nothing  is  more  interesting  than 
the  names  of  places  which  so  copiously  illus- 
trate the  former  domination  of  another  race. 
As  the  Roman,  Saxon,  Dane  and  Norman 
have  left  their  monuments  in  England,  so 
we  find  in  the  names  of  the  mountains, 
rivers,  towns  and  political  divisions  of  the 
land  evidences  of  a  preceding  civilization. 
In  most  cases  the  names  have  been  carefully 
selected  and  doubtless  will  remain  un- 
changed. The  country  is  still  full  of  the 
names  of  the  saints,  patrons  of  early  expedi- 
tions and  enterprises.  Santa  Barbara,  Santa 
F6,  San  Diego,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles 
and  Sacramento  bring  vividly  before  us  the 
labors  of  the  religious  orders  and  of  the 
padres  who  attempted  to  establish  a  civiliza- 
tion in  a  new  land.  Pioneers  they  were  who 
broke  the  virgin  soil  and  settled  a  new  State. 
So,  too,  in  Alameda,  "  the  grove,"  Fresno ', 
"the  alder,"  Alcatraz,  "the  pelican," 
Lobos,  "the  wolves,"  and  in  a  thousand 
other  words,  we  have  evidences  of  a  Span- 
ish nomenclature  without  a  Spanish  civiliza- 
tion. Likewise  Puebla  reminds  of  the 
village  common,  and  alcalde  of  the  chief 
officer  of  the  town.  We  need  not  omit  from 
this  medley  of  words  "  Monte  del  Diablo," 
and  the  legend  of  the  appearance  of  the 
wearer  of  the  cloven  hoof,  with  the  tradi- 
tion of  strange  sights  accompanied  by  the 
noise  of  clanking  chains  (F.  W.  Blackmar, 
in  Modern  Lan.  Notes). 

Hypnagogue  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  160,  etc.). — 
Cholagogue,  hydragogue,  sialagogue,  melan- 
ogogtie,  and  lithagogue  certainly  mean  (re- 
spectively) that  which  takes  away  bile, 
water,  saliva,  blackness,  or  calculi.  The 
real  meaning  of  ciyetv  (whence  dfuift'x;  comes) 
is  to  take  away,  not  to  drive  away.  Possi- 
bly our  notion  of  driving  is  connected  with 
the  Latin  agere,  to  drive.  But  even  in  Latin 
agere  means  to  lead,  to  conduct,  as  much  as 
to  drive.  Following  the  analogies  of  medi- 
cal nomenclature,  I  think  that  without 
doubt  the  word  hypnagogue  ought  to  mean 
that  which  takes  away,  leads  away,  or  drives 
away  sleep.  But  a  mystagogue  is  one  who 
conducts  or  initiates  into  mysteries;  a  peda- 
gogue was  at  first  a  slave  who  led  boys  to  and 
Jrom  school ;  later,  a  guide  or  leader  of  boys 
(cf.  Lat.  cducart,  to  teach,  and  educere,  to 


lead  out)  ;  Kapa-fuifos  meant  leading  amiss,  or 
led  astray,  dislocated,  or  displaced  (here 
force  is  implied) ;  a  demagogue  is  a  leader 
(later  a  misleader)  of  the  people  ;  Hermes, 
the  psychagogue,  was  the  leader  away  of 
souls  ;  later,  a  psychagogue  was  a  misleader 
of  men's  spirits ;  also  an  evoker  of  spirits. 
I  think  it  is  easy  to  see  running  through 
most  of  these  examples  the  partitive  idea,  the 
meaning  of  separation.  The  professional 
word  ftnmenagogue  offers  a  confirmation  of 
this  view.  Er^afiofo^,  however,  means 
bringing  on,  causing,  enticing,  alluring,  and 
hypnepagogue  would  be  an  irreproachable 
and  unimpeachable  name  for  a  medicine 
which  induces  sleep.  Meanwhile,  so  long 
as  there  is  any  doubt  as  to  whether  a  hypna- 
gogue is  a  medicine  to  expel  or  to  induce 
sleep,  it  is  a  very  good  word  to  avoid  the 
use  of,  since  there  are  unequivocal  and  ade- 
quate terms  in  abundance  which  one  may 
use  to  express  his  meaning. 

Razor-strop  Man  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  176, 
etc.). — This  noted  personage,  as  I  have 
been  told,  visited  at  various  times  nearly  all 
the  colleges  in  the  country.  The  students 
all  liked  him,  and  he  persuaded  many  a 
beardless  youth  to  be  wise  in  time,  and  pro- 
vide against  the  coming  of  a  hirsute  growth 
upon  his  chin  by  buying  one  of  his  un- 
equaled  strops.  I  think  it  was  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Georgia  that  he  was  elected  an 
honorary  member  of  one  of  the  principal 
literary  societies.  ILDERIM. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Smallest  Church  (Vol.  iii,  pp.  142, 
etc.). — I  have  read  somewhere  of  a  little 
churchlet  in  Europe  so  low  that  one  can 
only  enter  it  upon  his  knees,  and  it  is  other- 
wise small  in  proportion.  I  suppose  it  is 
some  prehistoric  or  at  least  very  ancient 
shrine,  rather  than  a  real  church. 

T.  G. 
BALTIMORE,  Mn. 

Even  His  Beams  Sing  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
175). — It  is  not  a  little  curious  that  through 
carefully  devised  apparatus  sounds  can  be 
transmitted  for  long  distances  by  means  of 
sunbeams.  J.  L.  W. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


February  21,  1891.]         AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


.201 


Almanacs  Past  and  Present. — "  The 

history  of  written  almanacs  dates  back  to  the 
second  century  of  the  Christian  era.     The 
Alexandrian  Greeks  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy, 
A.D.  100-160,  used  almanacs.     Prior  to  the 
written  almanacs  of  the  Greeks  there  were 
calendars  or  primitive  almanacs.  The  Roman 
fasti  sacri  were  similar  to  modern  almanacs. 
Knowledge  of  the  calendar  was  at  first  con- 
fined to  the  priests,  whom  the  people  had  to 
consult,  not  only  about  the  dates  of  the  fes- 
tivals, but  also  concerning  the  proper  times 
for   instituting  various   legal    proceedings. 
But  about  300  B.C.,  one  Cneius  Flavius,  the 
Secretary  of  Appius  Claudius,  learned  the 
secret,    either   by  the   stealthy  use  of  the 
documents  in  his  master's  possession,  or,  ac- 
cording to  Pliny,  by  repeatedly  consulting 
the  authorities  and  by  collating  the  informa- 
tion he  obtained.     It  was  really  publishing 
an  almanac  when,  as  Livy  relates,  he  ex- 
hibited the  fasti  on  white  tablets  round  the 
forum.     From  this  time  tablets  containing 
the    calendar,    the    festivals,    astronomical 
phenomena,  and  sometimes  historical  notices, 
seem  to  have  been  common.     Research  has 
•  brought  to  light  numerous  calendars  cut  on 
stone.     One  was  found  at  Pompeii,  cut  upon 
a  square  block  of  marble,  upon  each  side  of 
which  three  months  were  registered  in  per- 
pendicular  columns,    each   headed    by  the 
proper  sign  of  the  zodiac. 

"  Whether  the  word  'almanac'  be  from 
al  and  manah,  to  count,  or  al  and  men, 
months,  is  not  agreed;  some  authorities 
give  it  a  Teutonic  etymology,  from  the 
words  al  and-  nwna,  the  moon.  Each  of 
these  conjectures  is  plausible.  Tables  repre- 
senting almanacs  were  used  by  the  Arabs  at 
an  early  date,  mainly  as  astronomical  guides, 
and  it  is  highly  probable  that  both  the  thing 
and  the  name  originated  with  them. 

"  Manuscript  almanacs,  common  in  the 
middle  ages,  are  presented  in  several 
English  and  Continental  libraries.  Of  them 
the,  most  remarkable  are  a  calendar  ascribed 
to  Roger  Bacon,  1292,  and  those  of  Peter 
of  Dacia,  about  1300.  The  first  printed  al- 
manac is  believed  to  have  been  that  of  the 
German  astronomer,  Purbach,  published  at 
Vienna  in  1457.  His  pupil,  Regiomontanus 
published  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  under  the  auspices  of  Mathias  Cor- 


vinus,  King  of  Hungary,  several  numbers  of 
a  Kalendarium  Novum  in  German  and 
Latin  ;  these  were  in  nearly  the  same  form 
as  that  in  which  almanacs  now  appear,  giv- 
ing the  regular  calendar,  the  eclipses, 
motions  of  the  planets,  and  so  forth. 

"  'The  Shepherd's  Calendar,"  an  Eng- 
lish translation  of  a  French  work,  was  pub- 
lished in  Pans  in  1497.  Every  month  is 
introduced  with  a  fragment  of  doggerel 
verse.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  its 
contents : 

"  Saturne  is  hyest  and  coldest,  being  full  old, 
And  Mars  with  his  bluddy  swerde,  ever  ready  to  kyll. 
Sol  and  Luna  is  half  good  and  half  ill." 

"  New  additions  of  this  almanac  were 
published  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  chief  attractions  of  these  and 
subsequent  annual  publications  were  prog- 
nostications of  the  weather  an'd  fortune- 
telling,  and  they  became  highly  popular. 
Under  King  James  I,  of  England,  almanacs 
were  monopolized  by  the  universities  and 
the  Stationers'  Company,  astrology  and 
superstition  being  their  principal  ingre- 
dients. 

"The  '  VoxStellarum,'  of  Francis  Moore 
led  the  way  in  advertising  quack  medicines. 
Of  a  different  but  not  better  sort  was  '  Poor 
Robin's  Almanack,'  dating  from  1663  to 
1828,  which  abounded  in  humor,  sometimes 
extremely  coarse. 

"  The  earliest  ordinary  American  almanac 
is  believed  to  have  been  issued  from  the 
press  of  William  Bradford,  in  Philadelphia, 
in  1687.  '  Franklin's  Poor  Richard's  Alma- 
nac,' first  published  by  him  in  1732,  and 
continued  twenty-five  years,  became  very 
popular  in  this  country  as  well  as  in  Eng- 
land and  France,  where  its  proverbial  and 
sageutteranceswere  translated  and  reprinted. 
It  is  said  that  there  are  now  upward  of  one 
hundred  different  almanacs  published  in  the 
United  States,  a  number  of  them  being  il- 
lustrated, relating  to  almost  all  imaginable 
subjects  of  desirable  information  for  all 
classes  and  occupations,  and  including 
comic  almanacs,  as  well  as  versions  in 
foreign  languages,  chiefly  in  German"  (Fred 
Myron  Colby,  in  Golden  Rule). 

Judas  Tree  (Vol.  vi,  p.  183).— Your 
Texas  correspondent  lives  in  the  only  State  of 


202 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  21,  1891. 


our  Union  in  which  both  kinds  of  the  North 
American  Judas  tree,  or  Red-bud,  grow 
naturally.  Sargent's  Census  Report  repre- 
sents the  common  red-bud  as  ranging  west- 
ward and  southward  from  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania, as  Gray  states  that  it  is  found  in  New 
York.  I  may  add  that  it  is  found  occa* 
sionally  in  New  Jersey,  apparently  native ; 
but  it  is  just  possible  that  it  may  have  been 
introduced  from  some  more  western  or 
southern  region.  I  think  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  if  some  of  your  nature-loving  corre- 
spondents would  send  in  facts  which  may 
supplement  the  received  accounts  of  the 
range  and  biography  of  plants  and  animals. 

T.  S. 
HADDONFIELD,  N.  J. 

Turf  and  Twig  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  166,  etc.). 
— In  Friend's  "  Flowers  and  Flower-Lore" 
(1883),  p.  502,  we  read  that  in  the  manor  of 
Winteringham,  Lincolnshire,  "  a  straw  is 
always  inserted,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  manor,  in  every  surrender  of  copyhold 
lands,  and  the  absence  of  this  straw  would 
make  the  whole  transaction  void  and  illegal." 
Other  similar  facts  are  stated  in  the  same 
connection.  J.  M.  C. 

Morton  (Vol.  vi,  p.  88;  Vol.  i,  pp.  144, 
etc.). — As  remarked  by  J.  H.,  in  Vol.  i, 
Morton  is  an  English  rather  than  a  Scottish 
name.  There  are  several  Morton  and  More- 
ton  parishes.  The  name  is  held  to  mean 
"  the  tun  (farm-stead,  or  enclosure)  on  the 
moor."  Dallas:  as  a  matter  of  fact  and 
history,  this  name  is  Scotch  rather  than 
Welsh,  but  it  may  have  had  a  Cymric 
origin.  O.  N.  N. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Musha  (Vol.  vi,  p.  138). — I  feel  sure 
your  correspondent  did  not  intend  to  convey 
the  idea  that  musha  "means"  my;  the 
Irish  possessive  adjective  mo,  corresponding 
to  our  my,  is  too  .familiar  to  everybody  ;  we 
have  all  heard  it  in  mo  murnin  (my  love), 
mo  bron  (my  sorrow),  cuisle  mo  croidhe 
(pulse  of  my  heart),  etc. 

As  to  musha,  due  deduction  being  made 
for  the  elasticity  of  meaning  allowed  to 
popular  exclamations,  is  not  its  primary 
sense  that  of  Even  so  !  Even  though  it  were 


so  !  What  harm  if  it  be  so  !  etc.  ?  And  is  it 
not  a  corruption  of  the  Irish  ma  is  se  *=  if 
it  be?  I  have  always  looked  upon  it  as  such 
and  cheerfully  court  criticism. 

When  traveling  en  troisieme  classe  among 
the  peasants  of  Picardy  (France),  I  have 
noted  a  frequent  exclamation  singularly 
analogous  to  musha ;  it  isfusse/  It  means 
even  so!  and  is  a  corruption  of fut-ce  =. 
were  it.  Nor  is  this  the  only  instance  in 
which  I  thought  I  recognized  on  the  lips  of 
the  "sea-divided  Kelts  "  absolutely  identi- 
cal expressions  that  are  not  to  be  found  in 
any  language  but  their  respective  ones. 
Am  I  wrong  in  this  particular  case? 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Singing  Sands  (Vol.  v,  pp.  214,  etc.). 
—The  article  "Sahara,"  in  the  "Encyc. 
Britannica,"  says:  "At  times  the  weird 
singing  of  the  sands,  waxing  louder  and 
louder,  tells  the  scientific  traveler  that  the 
motion  is  not  confined  to  the  superficial 
particles  (see  Lenz's  chapter  on  this  phe- 
nomenon)." The  writer  probably  refers 
to  Lenz's  "Timbuktu,"  1884,  a  work 
which  I  have  not  seen.  S.  F.  N. 

NEW  BEDFORD. 

Perpetual  Earthquake  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
32). — The  city  of  San  Salvador,  capital  of 
the  Central  American  Republic  of  Salvador, 
is  called  "  the  swinging  mat,  or  hammock," 
by  reason  of  its  very  frequent  experiences  of 
seismic  disturbance.  M. 

Ireland's  Eye  (Vol.  v,  pp.  249,  etc.). 
— A  friend  in  Ireland  enables  me  to  supple- 
ment what  I  omitted  in  my  note  at  the  above 
reference. 

Dr.  P.  W.  Joyce  (my  informant  says) 
states  that  the  original  name  of  the  island 
was  Inis  Ereann,  or  the  island  of  a  woman 
called  Eria. 

Under  Danish  influence,  Inis  Ereann  be- 
came Ereann's  ey,  and  then  the  English 
translators,  confounding  the  name  of  the 
fair  owner  with  that  of  the  country,  took 
Ereann! s  ey  to  mean  Erin's  ey  and  changed 
it  to  Ireland's  eye.  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

*  s  before  or  after  e  is  pronounced  sh. 


February  21,  1891.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Prince  of  Painters  (Vol.  vi,  p.  38).— 
Another  "  prince  of  painters  "  was  Rafael ; 
at  least,  I  lately  read  an  article  written  by 
Clarence  Cook,  in  which  Rafael  is  so  called, 
and  there  would  seem  to  be  special  propriety 
•  in  so  calling  him.  F.  M. 

Patriarchs  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  56,  etc.). — 
Another  extinct  patriarchate,  which  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  in  existence  for  many 
years,  is  that  of  Mtzkhetha,  in  Georgia, 
founded  in  the  fifth  century,  at  or  near  the 
time  when  the  Georgian  Church  left  the 
Armenian  communion.  About  a  century 
later,  the  Georgian  Church  entered  into  a 
union  with  the  Greek  or  Russian  Church. 

G. 

Gulf  of  the  Lion  (Vol.  vi,  p.  162). — 
That  the  gulf  in  question  was  not  named 
after  the  far-distant  city  of  Lyons  is  a  fore- 
gone conclusion. 

That  the  locally  accepted  tradition  (men- 
tioned by  Prof.  Estoclet)  is  worth  no  more 
than  the  general  run  of  popular  traditions  is 
quite  possible. 

But  (with  all  due  respect  to  S.  Baring- 
Gould)  who  that  ever  heard  the  French  pro- 
nunciation of  Lion  and  Lonnes  could  believe 
in  the  existence  of  any  etymological  con- 
nection between  the  two  words,  without 
positive  documentary  evidence  thereof? 

G.  S. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Tyler  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  178,  etc.). — Accord- 
ing to  Fort's  "  Early  History  and  An- 
tiquities of  Freemasonry,"  in  which  a  chap- 
ter is  devoted  to  the  historical  derivation  of 
this  word,  its  origin  is  clearly  proven  to  be 
Norman-French  and  a  corruption  Qitaillieur 
de  peere, or  stone  cutters,  the  operative  an- 
cestors of  the  modern  Freemasons.  In  an 
appendix,  the  cited  work  gives  the  ordinance 
of  Boileau,  under  the  year  1254,  where  these 
craftsmen  in  Paris  are  thus  designated  and 
from  the  same  regulation  Mr.  Fort  has 
drawn  curious  facts  which  show  that  many 
of  the  old  customs  then  in  vogue  among  the 
taillieurs  de  peere,  as  they  are  written,  were 
continued  centuries  after  by  their  lineal  de- 
scendants, the  stone  masons  of  Great  Britain. 

OBITER. 


Woodruff  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  175,  etc.). — 
Woodruff  garlands  were  worn  by  priests  and 
clerks  in  England  on  St.  Barnabas'  day. 
Gerarde  says  that  "  Woodroofe  hath  many 
square  stalks  full  of  joints,  and  at  every  knot 
or  joint  seaven  or  eight  long  narrow  leaves, 
set  round  about  like  a  starre,  or  the  rowell 
of  a  spurre;  the  flowers  grow  at  the  top  of 
the  stemmes,  of  a  white  colour,  and  of  a 
very  sweete  smell,  as  is  the  rest  of  the  herbe, 
which  being  made  up  into  garlands  or  bun- 
dles, and  hanged  up  in  houses  in  the  heate  of 
sommer,  doth  very  well  attemper  the  aire, 
coole,  and  make  fresh  the  place,  to  the  de- 
light and  comfort  of  such  as  are  therein." 

M. 

Liman  (Vol.  vi,  p.  158).— "Tyras,  in 
the  rich  liman  of  the  Dneister,  near  the 
modern  Akkerman  ;  Odessus,  or  Ordessus, 
in  the  liman  of  the  Teligul  (it  is  significant 
that  it  is  precisely  for  these  large  bays  of  the 
Pontus  that  the  Greek  term  h^v,  i.  <»., 
harbour,  has  preserved  itself  in  the  barbarous 
tongues  of  the  country"  (A.  W.  Ward's 
translation  of  Curtius'  ' '  History  of  Greece, ' ' 
Vol.  i,  p.  444).  In  the  above  instances,  towns 
are  said  to  have  been  built  in  a  liman  ;  that 
is,  as  I  suppose,  in  an  alluvial  region,  or  in  a 
partly  filled-up  estuary. 

"  The  shore  [of  the  Caspian,  west  side] 
is  gashed  with  thousands  of  narrow  chan- 
nels, termed  limans,  from  twelve  to  thirty 
miles  in  length"  (W.  B.  Carpenter,  in 
"Encyc.  Brit.,"  Art.  "Caspian  Sea"). 

JAMES  B.  TRY. 

HELENA,  MON. 

Trained  Buffaloes. — A  writer  in  a  very 
late  number  of  The  Nation,  in  describing  a 
visit  made  by  himself  in  his  boyhood  (about 
1820,  it  would  appear)  to  Edwardsville, 
Illinois,  says  that  teams  of  buffaloes  (in  some 
instances  yoked  with  oxen)  could  be  seen  in 
the  streets  of  the  town.  I  have  read  before 
of  cattle-men  who  had  experimentally  yoked 
and  driven  the  buffalo,  and  I  may  have  seen 
something  of  the  kind  myself  at  a  circus,  but 
I  never  knew  before  that  farmers  and  team- 
sters had  ever  utilized  the  American  bison 
to  any  noteworthy  extent  as  a  draught 
animal.  The  fact  is  one  of  extreme  interest. 

KVLOE. 


204 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [February  21,  1891. 


Discoveries  by  Accident  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
179,  etc.;  Vol.  vi,  p.  59). — The  composi- 
tion of  which  printing  rollers  are  made  was 
accidentally  discovered  by  a  Salopian  printer. 
Not  being  able  to  find  the  "pelt  ball,"  he 
inked  the  type  with  a  piece  of  soft  glue  which 
had  fallen  from  a  glue-pot.  It  was  such  an 
excellent  substitute,  that,  after  mixing 
molasses  with  the  glue,  to  give  the  mass  a 
proper  consistency,  the  old  "pelt  ball" 
was  entirely  discarded. 

The  auger  with  the  twisted  shank,  which 
makes  it  self-discharging,  is  also  the  result  of 
an  accidental  discovery.  The  real  screw 
auger  is  an  American  invention,  dating  back 
to  the  year  1774,  when  John  White  and 
Benjamin  Brooke,  of  Hammer  Hollow,  Val- 
ley Forge,  Penna.,  noticed  some  boys 
boring  holes  in  the  ground  with  some  pieces 
of  hoop-iron.  One  of  these,  which  had  be- 
come twisted,  was  seen  to  bring  up  the  dirt 
each  time  as  it  made  a  complete  revolution. 
Being  men  of  an  observing  turn  of  mind, 
White  and  Brooke  began  to  debate  the  pos- 
sibility of  constructing  a  tool  for  boring 
wood  on  the  same  principle.  It  was  im- 
mediately tried,  with  the  addition  of  a 
screw  point  for  drawing  the  cutting  edge 
into  the  wood.  It  is  needless  to  add  that 
the  experiment  was  eminently  successful. 

J.  W.  W. 
IOWA. 

Fairy  Rings  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  184,  etc.). — 
We  had  fairy-rings  in  New  England,  when  I 
was  a  child.  But  they  were  not  true  fairy- 
rings.  I  think  it  was  the  fancy  of  my 
mother  that  first  found  out,  for  her  children's 
pleasure,  some  fairy- rings  in  a  field  near  the 
house  where  I  was  born.  But  according  to 
my  present  recollection  these  rings  were 
simply  round  patches  of  some  kind  of  coarse 
grass,  probably  an  Andropogon,  growing 
year  after  year,  like  circular  islands,  amidst 
the  richer  grasses  of  a  permanent  "  mow- 
ing," for  we  used  to  call  a  hay-field  a 
"  mowing  "  in  those  days. 

OBED. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Venomous  Serpents  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  178, 
etc.). — It  is  often  stated  that  the  showily 
variegated  little  harlequin  snake  of  the 


Southern  States  is  practically  harmless,  al- 
though it  undoubtedly  has  poison  glands 
and  fangs.  It  is  sometimes  stated  that  it  is 
impossible  to  irritate  it  enough  to  make  it 
inflict  a  bite.  But  I  lately  met  a  gentleman, 
a  professed  naturalist,  who  told  me  that  he 
once  found  a  harlequin  {Elaps  fulvus)  in 
Florida  which  showed  fight  from  the  start. 
He  held  a  cane  out  towards  the  reptile, 
which  bit  at  the  stick  with  the  greatest  fury. 
He  thought  it  probable  that  its  pugnacity 
and  perhaps  its  venom,  too,  belonged  to  it 
only  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year. 

M. 


BODIES  AND 


Book  News  (Philadelphia)  for  February  appears 
promptly  with  reviews  and  illustrations  of  the  more  im- 
portant of  the  month's  books,  and  short  descriptive 
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also  a  very  good  portrait  of  the  late  historian,  George 
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The  Atlantic  for  March  contains  the  final  installment 
of  Miss  Murfree'sserial  which  ends  tragically.  There  is  an 
interesting  paper  about  Richard  Grant  White,  contri- 
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of  James  Freeman  Clarke's  early  educational  training. 
"  The  State  University  in  America,"  by  George  E. 
Howard,  advocates  the  establishment  of  universities  in 
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paper  on  the  "  Capture  of  Louisbourg  by  the  New  Eng- 
land Militia,"  an  historical  study  of  much  importance, 
and  with  an  incidental  sketch  of  the  Wentworth  House, 
at  New  Castle,  Me.,  which  is  very  charming.  Miss 
Agnes  Repplier,  in  an  amusing  and  thoughtful  paper, 
called  "  Pleasure :  A  Heresy,"  appeals  not  for  mere 
cultivation  in  life,  but  for  a  recognized  habit  of  enjoy- 
ment. The  article  is  full  of  good-natured  banter  at  the 
expense  of  the  self-consciously  cultivated  persons,  who 
demand  from  both  literature  and  art,  not  pleasure,  but 
some  serious  moral  purpose.  A  review  of  Mr.  Aldrich's 
new  volume  of  poetry,  of  one  or  two  French  novels,  and 
of  Mr.  Sargent's  "  Silva  of  North  America,"  with  the 
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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :—  Golfe  Du  Lion,  205. 

QUERIES  :  —  A  Question  of  Grimaces  —  Tempora  mutantur, 
etc.  —  Wells  —  King  of  Jerusalem,  207. 

REPLIES:—  Patience—  Moons  of  Mars,  207—  Bottles  in  Drug 
Store  Windows  —  Visions;  208  —  The  Four  Marys  —  Edward 
Youl  —  Origin  of  the  Curfew,  209  —  Organ  Mountains  —  Flower 
of  Burgundy  —  Derne  —  Silver  Sister  World—  Cromwell's  Poet- 
Laureate,  210. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :—  Candleberry— 
Prince  of  Wales,  210  —  Authorship  Wanted—  XJlenullin  —  Lamb 
Tree—  Irish  Brigade  —  Seeing  Stars  in  Day  Time  —  Wenona  — 
Wearing  Cap  on  All  Occasions  —  Bastard  Heron  —  Street  of 
Bye  and  Bye,  211. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :—  Chinese  Flowers  of  Speech—  E  Plu- 
ribus  Unum,  211  —  Bulls,  212—  Lake  Drained  —  Pomegranates, 
214  —  Crane  and  Stone  —  Rock  City—  Symmes'  Hole  —  Morton: 
Dallas  —  Remarkable  Predictions  —  Snake  Cave  —  Musha,  215 
—Canon—  Rattled—  Lucky  Hook  —  Alison  —  Adobe  —  Corri- 
genda, 216. 


GOLFE  DU  LION. 

(VOL.  vi,  PP.  203,  ETC.) 

In  this  morning's  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES,  your  correspondent  G  gives  his 
estimate  of  S.  Baring-Gould's  comment  on 
the  old  Greek  ports;  J  cannot  leave  this 
same  author's  would-be  derivation  of  Golfe 
du  lion  unnoticed. 

As  quoted  by  your  respected  correspon- 
dent Anchor,  p.  162,  he  speaks  of  the  Canal 
des  Lonnes.  Now  what  is  the  matter  with 
investigating  etymological  questions  as  we 
do  others,  as  practical  men,  by  the  light  of 
history  and  of  facts  ? 

First  of  all,  the  Bras  des  Loncs  only  came 
into  existence  by  a  mere  accident  at  the  be- 
ginning of  last  century.  A  singularly  ill- 
chosen  piece  of  evidence  to  trot  forward, 
considering  that  any  one  who  will  take  the 


2O6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [February  28,  1891, 


trouble,  can  see  the  designation  Golfe  des 
lions  in  excellent  French  in  every  one  of  the 
neat  little  local  maps  executed  by  the  Sieur 
de  Beaulieu  a  couple  of  generations  before, 
and  that  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century, 
Gulielmus  de  Nangis  wrote  about  the  Mare 
leonis  and  explained  the  origin  of  the  name 

•as  now  popularly  received. 

This  does  not  do  away  with  the  patois 
word  lone  itself;  but  this  word  lone,  or  lona, 
has  the  doubtless  trifling  misfortune  of  being 
feminine  (how  appropriate  is  la  lona  to  the 

.golfe  du  lion.'),  and,  moreover,  instead  of 
being  the  old  immediate  derivative  of  "lyn 
or  Ion,"  it  is  known  to  be  the  very  latest  of 
the  various  forms  launa,  laune,  etc.,  which 

•it  took  ages  to  evolve  out  of  the  Latin 
lacuna,  a  pool ;  whereas,  on  the  contrary, 
heaven  knows  how  long  the  word  lyon  had 
already  been  in  use,  when  in  the  early  years 

-of  the  fifteenth  century,  Alain  Chartier 
sang : 

"  Batz  pres  du  lyon  le  chien 
Ainsi  te  dois  contenir." 

I  make  no  comments  and  I  pass  on  to  the 
next  wonderful  witness. 

Regarding  Maquelonne  (which  in  its  own 
country  is  spelled  Maguelonne,  or  better 
Maguelone),  are  we  to  lay  aside  the  noted 
records  of  Maguelone,  the  once  flourishing 

commercial  city,  the  see  of  an  important 
bishopric,  and  what  not  ?  Are  we  to  ignore 

-that  not  only  the  portion  of  the  Languedoc 
shore  now  occupied  by  the  pools,  but  a  con- 
siderable tract  inland  were  completely 
under  the  sea  in  the  Gallic  times,  and  that 
Magalo,  Magalon,  or  Magalone  was  then  an 
island  right  out  in  the  gulf?  And  are  we 
positively  asked  to  conclude  that  because 
(thanks  to  the  action  of  the  volcano  over 
which  it  stood,  thanks  to  the  ravages  of  re- 
ligious warfare,  of  time  and  of  the  ocean) 
that  city  is  but  a  heap  of  ruins  by  the  side  of 
a  pool  in  the  year  of  grace  1891,  therefore 
the  ancient  island  of  Maguelone  was  named 
after  that  pool  ? 

A  derivation,  in  appearance  far  more  ac- 
ceptable, was  once  suggested  :  the  Ligurians 

.had  perhaps  given  their  name  to  the  gulf 
(Ai^uiM  =  Ligyon  =  Lyon).  Alas,  if  we 
turn  again  to  the  pages  of  history,  we  find 

.the  designation  Ligusticus  Sinus  given  per- 


sistently to  the  Gulf  of  Genoa  and  never  to 
the  Golfe  du  lion.  A  sad  reward  for  such 
ingenuity  ! 

With  respect  to  lyn,  the  author  was  quite 
safe  in  stating  that  "our  own  London" 
owed  a  part  of  its  name  to  "  Ion,  or  lyn  ;" 
nor  would  he  have  gone  into  dangerous 
depths  if  he  had  named  likewise  Dub/in  in 
Ireland,  Dupp//«  in  Scotland,  and  Aberglas- 
lyn  in  Wales ;  but  in  the  name  of  the  ABC 
of  practical  philology,  what  has  "our  own 
London"  to  do  with  proving  that  Keltic 
lyn  =  Mediterranean  lion  ? 

In  my  humble  opinion,  the  interesting 
fact  that  there  is,  or  was,  a  Ria-/;#  in  Russia, 
an  IserM«  in  Germany,  a  Z<wz-op-zand  in 
Holland,  or  a  Z/«-Tsi-Cho\v  on  the  Yun-Ho 
Canal  in  the  Celestial  Empire  would  have 
quite  as  much  bearing  upon  the  case ;  and 
before  I  can  see  the  slightest  degree  of  exag- 
geration in  this  statement  of  mine,  I  must 
ask  to  be  shown  the  existence  of  the  root 
lyn  in  the  name  of  any  single  town,  village, 
hamlet  or  castel,  harbor  or  inlet,  in  any  of 
the  French  or  Spanish  provinces  bordering 
the  gulf.  Is  this  asking  too  much  ? 

Had  I  any  desire  to  push  the  traditional 
lion  theory,  I  might  adduce,  as  circumstantial 
evidence,  that,  for  centuries  the  lion  was  the 
chief  symbol  on  the  coin  used  by  the  Mar- 
seilles traders  and  through  them  by  those  of 
the  whole  coast ;  that  the  smallest  coasting 
vessel  owned  by  Arelate  merchants  that  ever 
plied  the  gulf  of  Massilia  had  a  lion  for  its 
figure  head  and  displayed  the  motto  ab  ira 
leonis  ;  that  to  this  very  day  the  armorial  de- 
vice of  the  town  of  Aries  is  ab  ira  leonis ; 
that  the  lion  was  so  common  in  heraldry  as 
to  give  rise  to  one  of  the  oldest  proverbs, 
"  Qui  n'a  armes  prenne  lyon;'1  that  the  re- 
mains of  ancient  architecture  in  those  parts 
abound  in  lions  (witness  the  two  marble 
lions  that  have  faced  the  gales  of  this  very 
Golfe  du  lion  for  the  last  800  years  on  the 
Church  of  Notre  Dame  in  the  island  of 
Camargue).  I  might  add,  without  wander- 
ing away  to  the  lions  wrongly  displayed  on 
the  arms  of  the  Spanish  city  of  Leone,  or  to 
those  of  St.  Mark's  in  Venice,*  that  bona- 
fide  lions  will  be  found  in  local  names  right 
and  left  of  this  gulf;  here  two  islets  re» 

•Which  "Anchor,"  p.  162,  recalls  to  my  mind. 


February  28,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


207 


spectively  named  Lion  de  terre  and  Lion  de 
mer,  there  the  inland  localities  of  Maoleon, 
Monleoun,  Castelleoun,  etc.,  but  I  have 
trespassed  too  far  on  your  space  already. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


ES. 


A  Question  of  Grimaces. — Why  does  the 
taste  of  anything  extremely  sour  make  us 
shut  our  eyes  and  "  make  faces  ?" 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

The  gustatory  nerve,  the  nerve  of  the 
sense  of  taste,  is  a  branch  of  the  fifth  nerve 
(so  called).  It  is  an  afferent  or  sensory 
branch,  and  takes  to  the  brain  an  impression 
derived  from  any  substance  having  the 
power  of  exciting  the  sense  of  taste.  The 
brain  responds  by  sending  a  motor  impulse 
(non-volitional)  along  the  fifth  nerve  to  the 
muscles  of  the  face,  making  use  of  the 
efferent  or  centrifugal  fibres  of  that  nerve, 
which  are  motor  fibres.  The  grimaces  are 
produced  by  this  reflected  (reflex)  impression 
without  any  volition  on  the  part  of  the  per- 
son who  tastes  the  austere  substance. 

Tempora  mutantur,  nos  et  mutamur  in 
illis. — Who  wrote  the  above  line  ? 

M.  R. 

It  occurs  in  one  of  John  Owen's  epigrams 
(1606),  but  Owen  borrowed  it  from  an  epi- 
gram, or  motto,  composed  for  Lothaire  I, 
by  Matthew  Borbonius : 

"  Omnia  mutantur,  nos  et  mutamur  in  illis." 

Wells. — -Will  correspondents  kindly  send 
notes  of  some  celebrated  wells,  or  of  such 
noteworthy  or  historic  wells  as  they  may  find 
accounts  of?  S.  B.  D. 

DAYTON,  O. 

The  marvelous  well  of  Ahmedabad  in 
India,  with  its  underground  galleries';  St. 
Joseph's  well  at  Cairo  ;  that  of  Orvieto  in 
Italy ;  a  great  well  at  Scarpa,  near  Tivoli, 
1700  feet  deep,  and  cut  down  through  solid 
rock  ;  the  ever  memorable  well  of  the  patri- 
arch Jacob,  at  Sychar ;  these  are  but  a  few 


of  the  remarkable  historic  wells  that  might 
be  enumerated. 

King  of  Jerusalem. — Who  is  at  present 
the  titular  King  of  Jerusalem  ?          S.  T. 
CALAIS,  ME. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  has  among  his 
many  minor  titles  that  of  King  of  Jerusalem. 
The  ex-King  of  the  Two  Sicilies  also  bears 
the  same  distinction,  and  there  may  possibly 
be  others  who  claim  it. 


PjEPLIES. 

Patience  (Vol.  v,  p.  150). — An  extract 
from  William  Harrison's  "  Chronologic,"  . 
for  the  year  1573,  says  of  the  newly  intro- 
duced "Indian  herbe  called  Tabaco," 
that  it  is  "garnished  with  great  leaves  like 
the  paciens."  In  a  note,  Dr.  Furnivall, 
quoting  from  Prior's  "  Popular  Names  of 
British  Plants,"  thus  explains  the  name: 
"  Passions  or  Patience,  a  dock  so  called,  ap- 
parently from  the  Italian  name  under  which 
it  was  introduced  from  the  South,  Lapazio, 
a  corruption  of  L.  lapathum,  having  been 
mistaken  for  la  Passio,  the  Passion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  Rume  x  Patientia,  L."  ("  Elizabethan 
England,"  p.  269).  E.  G.  KEEN. 

WARWICK,  PA. 

Moons  of  Mars  (Vol.  vi,  p.  197). — The 
following  extract  from  a  recent  number  of 
Current  Literature  will    doubtless  answer 
C.  T.'s  query  on  the  moons  of  Mars:  "The 
astronomer   of  the    National   Observatory, 
Prof.  Hall,  who  made  the  famous  discovery 
of  the  moons  of  Mars  not  long  ago,  spoke 
of  those  two  interesting  satellites  as  being 
each    about    the  size  of  a    forty-acre   lot. 
Revolving  about  the  planet  like  two  pretty 
little  golden  shuttles,  one  of  them  presents 
the  phenomenon  of  traveling  around  more 
than  three  times  as  fast  as  Mars  himself  does. 
Thus  is  produced  a  very  surprising  appear- 
ance of  things  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
Martian  inhabitants,  who   see  this  rapidly  . 
moving  moon  seemingly  rising  in  the  west 
and  setting  in  the  east,  while  its  companion, 
in  reality  circling  in  the  same  direction  with 
it  at  a  speed  comparatively  slow,  rises  in  the 


208 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  28,  1891. 


east  and  sets  in  the  west.  In  this  way  both 
moons  are  seen  in  the  heavens  at  once,  one 
going  one  way  and  the  other  the  other. 
They  are  doubtless  dead  spheres,  like  the 
one  that  pursues  its  endless  journey  around 
the  earth,  and  are  not  supposed  to  be  made 
of  green  cheese.  It  is  an  astonishing  fact 
that  these  two  moons  of  Mars,  so  recently 
discovered,  were  referred  to  with  much  ac- 
curacy of  description  by  both  Voltaire  and 
Dean  Swift  in  their  satirical  writings,  thus 
anticipating  astronomical  science,  at  which 
their  sarcasms  were  aimed,  by  a  century. 
It  was  all  guess  on  their  part,  but  assuredly 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  guesses  ever 
made.  Describing  his  voyage  to  Laputa, 
which  was  inhabited  by  a  people  given  over 
to  the  science  of  astronomy,  Gulliver  says  : 
'  They  have  likewise  discovered  two  lesser 
stars  or  satellites  which  revolve  about  Mars, 
whereof  the  innermost  is  distant  from  the 
planet  exactly  three  of  its  diameters,  and  the 
outermost  five  of  its  diameters  of  the  planet ; 
the  former  revolves  in  the  space  of  ten  hours, 
and  the  latter  in  twenty-one  and  a  half 
hours.'  Now,  the  fact  is,  as  discovered  only 
the  other  day,  that  Mars  really  has  two 
moons,  an  inner  and  an  outer  one.  The 
diameter  of  Mars  being  a  little  over  4000 
miles,  Gulliver's  estimate  for  the  distance 
of  the  inner  moon  from  the  planet  was  about 
1 2, ooo  miles,  whereas  it  is  actually  10,000 
miles  away.  For  the  outer  moon  Gulliver 
gives  20,000  miles  as  the  distance,  which  is 
really  only  15,000  miles.  So  he  was  only 
2000  miles  off  the  fact  as  to  one  moon,  and 
5000  miles  as  to  the  other.  Gulliver  men- 
tions the  time  of  revolution  for  the  inner 
moon  as  seven  and  a  half  hours;  it  is 
actually  ten  hours.  The  time  for  the  outer 
moon  is  set  down  by  the  imaginary  traveler 
at  twenty  and  a  half  hours;  in  fact,  it  is  a 
little  over  thirty  hours.  Pretty  good  for  a 
guess  at  moons  that  never  offered  to  human 
observers  until  a  century  later  the  slightest 
evidence  of  their  existence.  Voltaire  de- 
scribed the  journey  of  Micromegas,  an  in- 
habitant of  Sirius,  who  left  the  great  Dog 
Star  for  a  visit  to  the  solar  system.  '  He 
traveled,'  wrote  the  satirist,  'about  100,- 
000,000  of  leagues  after  leaving  Jupiter. 
Coasting  by  Mars,  he  saw  two  moons  circling 
about  the  planet,  which  have  hitherto 


escaped  the  observation  of  astronomers  on 
the  earth.'  Prof.  Hall  has  named  his  moons 
Deimos  and  Phobos,  after  the  attendants  of 
Mars,  who  are  spoken  of  in  Book  xv,  of 
Homer's  '  Iliad,'  as  helping  to  accoutre  the 
god  of  war  for  conflict." 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Bottles  in  Drug  Store  Windows  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
1 86). — Where  in  the  world  should  there  be 
bottles  if  not  in  the  windows  of  drug  stores? 
And  since  the  bottles  are  there  for  display, 
they  are  made  large  and  their  contents  are 
colored  so  as  to  attract  attention.  I  cannot 
see  any  mystery  or  any  special  wonderment 
in  the  practice  in  question.  It  is  quite  the 
parallel  of  the  custom  of  putting  up  a  gilded 
mortar  as  the  sign  of  an  apothecary's  shop. 

L. 

Visions  (Vol.  vi,  p.  196). — The  following 
clipping  from  the  New  York  World,  of  Feb- 
ruary 21,  may  be  of  interest  to  your  cor- 
respondent "Mystic:"  "Michael  Conley 
died  in  Dubuque,  la.,  about  ten  days  ago. 
His  body  was  taken  to  the  Morgue  and  the 
clothes  he  had  on  were  thrown  aside. 

"  When  his  daughter  in  Chickasaw  county 
heard  of  his  death  she  fell  into  a  swoon. 
She  dreamed  she  saw  the  clothes  he  wore 
when  dying  and  received  from  him  a  mes- 
sage, saying  that  he  had  sewed  up  a  roll  of 
bills  in  his  shirt.  On  recovering  conscious- 
ness she  demanded  that  some  one  go  to  Du- 
buque and  get  the  clothes. 

"  In  order  to  quiet  her  mind  her  brother 
visited  that  city,  received  the  clothes  from 
the  coroner  and  found  the  money  sewed  in 
the  shirt  with  a  piece  of  his  sister's  red  dress, 
exactly  as  she  had  described,  though  she  had 
known  nothing  about  the  patch  or  the 
money."  W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

William  Tennent  (1705-1777),  when  a 
student,  had  a  wonderful  trance-vision,  for 
which  see  his  published  biographies. 

Thomas  Lord  Lyttelton  (1744-1799)  had 
a  vision,  and  in  consequence  of  what  was 
seen  by  him,  he  predicted  the  hour  of  his 
own  death,  three  days  before  it  occurred,  he 
being  in  perfect  health  to  the  last.  M. 


February  28,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


209 


"  The  Four  Marys"  (Vol.  vi,  p.  197). — 
When  the  unfortunate  Queen  Mary  left 
Scotland  to  become  the  wife  of  the  Dauphin 
of  France,  she  was  accompanied  by  four 
young  ladies  of  the  highest  families  of  her 
native  land,  all  of  the  name  of  Marie — 
namely,  Ma.rie  Livingston,  Marie  Fleming, 
Marie  Seaton  and  Marie  Beaton.  The 
corps  of  young  virgins  was  kept  up,  but 
naturally  in  the  course  of  time  underwent 
modification.  After  the  queen's  return  and 
her  marriage  with  Darnley,  the  names  of  the 
Maries  were  Seaton,  Beaton,  Carmichael 
and  Hamilton.  The  last  fell  into  deadly  sin 
(the  ballad  says  with  Darnley)  and  to  con- 
ceal her  shame  destroyed  the  fruit  of  her 
amour,  for  which  she  was  executed.  The 
most  popular  ballad  on  the  subject  is  put 
into  the  mouth  of  the  culprit  at  the  foot  of 
the  gallow's  tree : 

"  When  she  cam  to  the  Netherbow-port, 

She  laughed  loud  laughters  three, 
But  when  she  cam  to  the  gallow's  foot 
The  tears  blinded  her  e'e. 

"  Yestreen  the  queen  had  four  Maries, 

This  night  she'll  ha'e  but  three  ; 
There  was  Marie  Seaton,  and  Marie  Beaton, 
And  Marie  Carmichael  and  me." 

The  queen's  Maries  are  mentioned  in  many 
ballads,  and  the  name — Marie — seems  to  have 
passed  into  a  general  denomination  for 
female  attendants : 


"  Now  bear  a  hand  my  Maries  a' 
And  busk  me  braw  and  make  me  fine." 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


J.  H. 


The  four  maids  of  honor  to  Mary  Stuart 
were  Mary  Beaton,  Mary  Seyton,  Mary  Car- 
michael, and  Mary  Hamilton.  Swinburne 
introduces  them  in  his  grand  Trilogy,  Chaste- 
lard,  Bothwell  and  Mary  Stuart.  Act  i, 
Scene  i,  of  "  Chastelard  "  is  "  The  Upper 
Chamber  in  Holyrood "— "  The  Four 
Maries,"  "Mary  Beaton  Sings,"  and  the 
last  speech  in  "  Mary  Stuart  "  is  also  given 
to  her : 

"I  heard  that  very  cry,  go  up 
Far  off  long  since  to  God  who  answers  here." 


M.  R.  S. 


SENECA  FALLS,  N.  Y. 


The  four  maids  of  honor  to  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  are  pleasantly  described  in  a  novel 
by  Whyte  Melville, 'called  the  "Queen's 
Maries,"  in  which  may  be  found  this  verse, 
part  of  an  old  song : 

"  There  was  Mary  Seatoun  and  Mary  Beaton 
And  Mary  Carmichael  and  me." 

"Me"   being  Mary  Hamilton,  who   is,  I 
think,  Melville's  heroine.  J.  H.  C. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Edward  Youl  (Vol.  vi,  p.  174). — Mary 
Hewitt's  "Autobiography"  has  some  ac- 
count of  this  gifted  swindler  (Vol.  ii,  pp. 
51-55).  Some  of  Youl' s  "Stories"  and 
"  Poems  "  may  be  found  in  Howitf s  Jour- 
nal, to  which  he  became  a  contributor  in 
1847. 

Among  his  numerous  political  contribu- 
tions to  that  periodical  is  "  King  Gin,"  be- 
ginning, 

"  A  palace,  and  a  king  within  ; 
Hail,  potent  monarch  !  Hail,  King  Gin !" 

Youl  was  a  contributor,  also,  to  the 
Standard  of  Freedom  (1847-1849)  under 
management  of  John  Cassell. 

An  engagement  with  the  Eclectic  Review 
was  pending  at  the  time  of  the  disclosures 
of  his  forgeries.  F.  T.  C. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Origin  of  the  Curfew  (Vol.  vi,  p.  160). — 
The  historian  of  the  "Conquest,"  E.  A. 
Freeman,  has  the  following  account  of  the 
institution  of  the  Curfew  ordinance  : 

"  In  the  year  after  King  Henry's  death 
(which  was  the  year  1061),  in  a  Synod  held 
at  Caen  by  the  authority  of  William  Duke  of 
Normandy,  and  attended  by  Bishops,  Abbots 
and  Barons,  it  was  ordered  that  a  bell  should 
be  rung  every  evening,  at  hearing  of  which 
prayer  should  be  offered,  and  all  people 
should  get  within  their  houses  and  shut  their 
doors.  This  odd  mixture  of  piety  and 
police  seems  to  be  the  origin  of  the  famous 
and  misrepresented  curfew. 

"  Whatever  was  its  object,  it  was  at  least 
not  ordained  as  any  special  hardship  on 
William's  English  subjects." 

Freeman  refers  to  the  "  Concilia  Roto- 
magensis  Provincial "  of  Guillaume  Bessin> 


210 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.        [February  28,  1891. 


a  Benedictine  monk  (1654-1 736),  anda  high 
authority  in  matters  ecclesiastical  ("  Hist. 
Norman  Conquest,"  Vol.  iii,  p.  185). 

That  William  ordered  the  ringing  of  the 
curfew  to  prevent  his  subjects  in  England 
from  assembling  in  secret,  to  plan  schemes 
of  rebellion  against  himself,  I  read  elsewhere 
is  only  traditional  and  lacks  the  basis  of 
historic  proof. 

Francis  Gross,  in  the  "  Antiquarian  Re- 
pository," gives  a  description  of  the  curfew, 
or  couvre-feut  and  accompanies  it  with  a 
drawing  of  the  same  utensil. 

He  says:  "Probably  curfews  were  used 
in  the  time  of  the  Conqueror  for  the  more 
ready  obedience  to  the  laws  of  that  king, 
who  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign  directed 
that  on  the  ringing  of  a  certain  bell,  then 
called  the  curfew  bell,  all  persons  should  put 
out  their  fires  and  candles.  Whether  a  bell 
was  ordered  to  ring  expressly  for  the  purpose, 
or  whether  the  signal  was  to  be  taken  from 
the  vesper-bells  of  the  convents,  is  a  matter 
on  which  antiquarians  are  not  entirely 
agreed"  ("Antiquarian  Repository,"  1807, 
Vol.  i,  pp.  3,  4). 

All  are  quite  familiar  with  the  line  in 
Gray's  famous  "  Elegy  :" 

"  The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day." 

It  would  be  interesting  to  obtain  poetical 
references  of  an  earlier  date. 

MEN6NA. 

Organ  Mountains  (Vol.  vi,  p.  160). — The 
Organ  Mountains,  or  Serra  dos  Orgoes  as 
they  are  called  in  Brazil,  are  a  range  of 
mountains  about  forty  miles  from  Rio  Janeiro, 
of  a  granite  formation.  In  the  distance  they 
resemble  the  pipes  of  an  organ,  and  are  from 
5700  to  8000  feet  in  height,  and  form  in 
part  the  Brazilian  Andes  range. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Flower  of  Burgundy  (Vol.  vi,  p.  197). — 
Years  ago,  there  was  a  small-flowered  variety 
of  the  rose  which  was  much  grown  in 
this  country  under  the  name  of  the  Bur- 
gundy rose.  Is  this  the  plant  inquired  for  ? 

S.  M.  N. 

SALEM,  N.  J. 


Derne  (Vol.  vi,  p.  186).  —  See  Festus 
Foster's  "  Life  of  General  Eaton  ;"  also, 
Sparkes'  "  American  Biographies." 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Silver  Sister-world  (Vol.  vi,  p.  197).  —  I 

would  offer,  not  as  a  finality,  but  merely  as 
a  tentative  suggestion,  the  following  para- 
phrase of  the  passage  in  question  : 

"Till  the  moon  rises  above  the  eastern 
mountains,  and  glasses  herself  in  the  tears 
of  ray  betrothed,  who  watches  me  as  I  ride 
away  across  the  hills  which  overlook  the 
valley  where  she  dwells."  R.  E.  C. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 

Cromwell's  Poet-Laureate  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
150).  —  Although  I  cannot  find  in  the  many 
authorities  which  I  have  examined  any 
statement  that  Milton  was  Cromwell's  Poet- 
Laureate,  still  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  he 
filled  that  position  under  the  "  Protector." 
He  (Milton)  was  made  Latin  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  later  was  the 
Latin  Secretary  of  Cromwell.  He  also  pub- 
lished a  defense  of  the  execution  of 
Charles  I.  THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


TO 


Candleberry.  —  Allusion  has  been  made 
several  times  in  your  columns  to  the  candle- 
berry  shrub,  bayberry,  or  wax-myrtle, 
Myrica  ccrifera.  The  books  describe  a  wax- 
bearing  African  species  of  the  same  genus. 
I  have  often  heard  old  people  tell  about  the 
former  use  of  "  bayberry  tallow,"  or  wax, 
for  candle-making.  I  wish  to  inquire 
whether  this  old-time  material  is  still  in  use 
as  an  illuminant  in  any  part  of  this  coun- 
try? Z.  B.  X. 

CALIFON,  N.J. 

Prince  of  Wales.  —  Does  this  heir  ap- 
parent to  the  British  throne  have  anything 
to  do  with  the  governing  of  the  principality 
of  Wales,  or  is  his  title  simply  an  honorary 
one? 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KXOXVILLE,  I  A. 


February  28,  1891.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


211 


Authorship  Wanted. — 

"  The  grandeur  that  was  Rome, 
The  glory  that  was  Greece." 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Origin  of  the  Name  "Glenullin."— 

In  Campbell's  "  Lochiel's  Warning,"  does 
'<  Glenullin"  (in  the  line,  "  'Tis  thine,  O 
Glenullin,  whose  bride  shall  await  ")  refer 
to  Lochiel  ?  And,  if  so,  what  is  the  origin  of 
the  name?  R. 

Lamb  Tree. — In  what  traveler's  writings 
can  I  find  an  account  of  ''the  fabulous 
"lamb-tree?" 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Irish  Brigade  at  Fontenoy.— What 
was  the  strength  of  the  Irish  "  brigade  "  in 
the  battle  of  Fontenoy  ?  Against  whom  par- 
ticularly was  it  pitted  and  what  was  the 
strength  numerically  of  its  opponents  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 

Seeing  Stars  in  Day-time.— Is  it  a 
fact  that  one  can  see  stars  in  broad  daylight 
if  he  descends  a  well  or  mining-shaft  over 
one  hundred  feet  deep,  and  looks  out  at  the 
opening  above  ? 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE.  IA. 


1. — I  have  seen  or  heard  some- 
thing about  a  species  of  serpent  of  California 
called  the  Wenona.  Where  can  I  find  an 
account  of  that  serpent,  and  whence  is  the 
name  derived  ?  CAMENES. 

WAYNE,  PA. 

Wearing  Cap  on  all  Occasions.— 

What  is  the  authority  for  a  sailor,  a  soldier, 
a  cook,  and  the  Earl  of  Piersy  and  his  de- 
scendants wearing  a  cap  on  all  occasions  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Bastard  Heron.— Who  was  "the 
Bastard  Heron,"  mentioned  in  Scott's  ac- 
count of  the  battle  of  Flodden  as  fighting  on 
the  English  side  ?  R. 


By  the  Street  of  Bye  and  Bye.— 

Who  is  the  author  or  what  is  the  derivation 
of  phrase,  "  By  the  street  of  Bye  and  Bye  we 
arrive  at  the  house  of  Never  ?" 

SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 

©OMMUNIGAJfllONS. 

Chinese  Flowers  of  Speech  (Vol.  v, 
p.  219). — The  following  example  is  quite  in 
the  line  of  the  curious  Chinese  quotations 
given  by  Prof.  Estoclet  at  the  above  place. 
When  the  Chinese  express  the  wish,  "  May 
all  your  descendants  become  famous,"  they 
say,  Lan  kuei  f  engfang,  "May  the  Epid en- 
drum  and  the  Cassia  put  forth  extraordinary 
fragrance."  Instead  of  our  "Every  dog 
has  his  day,"  they  say,  "In  the  second 
month  the  peach  tree  blooms,  but  the 
Chrysanthemums  not  till  the  ninth." 

A.  M.  B. 

FARGO,  N.  DAK. 

E  Pluribus  Unum  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  160,. 
etc.). — In  the  interesting  little  poem 
"  Moretum,"  thrown  into  comparative  ob- 
scurity by  its  bigger  brothers,  Virgil  de- 
scribes the  early  rising  of  a  poor  country 
farmer  and  the  preparation  by  himself  of  his- 
morning  meal. 

The  grinding  of  the  corn  between  two 
stones,  the  kneading  of  the  dough,  etc.,  are 
minutely  detailed ;  then,  while  the  cake  is 
baking,  we  see  the  poor  fellow  setting  about 
the  master-piece  of  his  banquet,  a  toothsome 
salmagundi  of  (please  send  this  to  Ward 
McAllister)  four  cloves  of  garlic,  some 
parsley,  coriander,  rue  and  a  lump  of  hard 
salt  cheese.  Sneezing,  weeping  with  the 
pungency  of  his  mixture,  he  triturates  the 
whole  into  a  homogeneous  mass,  and  nowr 
we  come  to  the  point : 

"  It  manus  in  gyrum  ;  paulatim  singula  vires 
Deperdunt  proprias  ;  color  est  e  pluribus  unus." 

This  seems  to  have  suggested  Sylvanus 
Urban  with  an  appropriate  motto  for  the 
first  volume  (January-December,  1731)  of 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine;  on  the  front 
page  appeared  a  hand  holding  a  bouquet  of 
miscellaneous  flowers  with  the  motto  E  pluri- 
bus unum. 


212 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  28,  1891. 


The  latter  in  its  turn  may  have  been  in  the 
mind  of  the  English  litterateur  who  suggested 
our  national  coat  of  arms  and  motto  to 
John  Adams  during  his  stay  in  London  in 
1779. 

I  remember  seeing,  somewhere,  E  pluribus 
unum  referred  to  a  line  in  Horace  ;  how  ut- 
terly careless  the  suggestion  was,  may  be 
seen  by  the  most  superficial  reader  of  the 
passage  alluded  to  : 

"  Non  es  avarus:  abi.  Quid?  Caetera  jam  simul  isto 
Cum  vitio  fugere  ?  Caret  tibi  pectus  inani 
Ambitione?  Caret  mortis  formidine  et  ira? 
•  '•*••••• 

Quid  te  exemta  juvat  spinis  de  pluribus  una  ?" 

(Epistles  ii,  2.) 


A.  ESTOCLET. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  phrase,  e  pluribus  units,  occurs  in  line 
103  of  the  "  Moretum,"  a  short  and  pleas- 
ant idyllic  poem,  commonly  attributed  to 
Virgil.  The  passage  is  : 

"  It  mantis  in  gyrum  ;  paullatim  singula  vires 
Deperdunt  proprias  ;  color  est  e  pluribus  unus  ; 
Nic  totus  viridis,  quia  lactea  frusta  repugnant." 

The  "  Moretum  ''  is  the  concluding  work 
in  "  Publii  Virgilii  Maronis  quae  extant 
Omnia  Opera,"  in  the  collection,  "Biblio- 
theca  Classica  Latina.  '  ' 

Some  scholars  have  thought  the  "  More- 
tum "  a  translation  or  imitation  of  another 
poem  by  Parthenius,  Virgil's  instructor  in 
Greek  (Teuffel). 

Not  e  pluribus  una,  but  de  pluribus  una, 
is  the  phrase  found  in  Horace,  as  may 
be  seen  : 

"  Quid  te  exemta  juvat  spinis  de  pluribus  una." 

(Epist.  ii,  Lib.  ii,  212.) 

"  E  Pluribus  Unum  "  may  be  found  at 
the  close  of  the  preface  of  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine  from  1840  down  to  1861  inclu- 
sive. Of  more  recent  volumes  I  can  not  speak. 
But  the  title-page  originally  bore  the  double 
motto,  Prodesse  et  Delectare  —  E  Pluribus 
Unum,  which  was  in  use,  excepting  for  oc- 
casional intervals,  down  to  1840.  One  of 
these  intervals  was  1790-1797,  about  the 
period,  it  is  said,  the  motto  was  adopted  by 
the  United  States  government,  when  both 
vignette  and  motto  had  disappeared  from 
the  famous  periodical.  MENONA. 


Bulls. — Maria  Edgeworth,  in  her  "  Essay 
on  Irish  Bulls,"  remarks  that  "  the  difficulty 
of  selecting  from  the  common  herd  a  bull 
that  shall  be  entitled  to  the  prize,  from  the 
united  merits  of  preeminent  absurdity  and 
indisputable  originality,  is  greater  than  hasty 
judges  may  imagine."  She  also  says, 
further,  that  "  many  bulls,  reputed  to  be 
bred  and  born  in  Ireland,  are  of  foreign  ex- 
traction ;  and  many  more,  supposed  to  be 
unrivaled  in  their  kind,  may  be  matched  in 
all  their  capital  points."  To  prove  this, 
she  cites  numerous  examples  of  well-known 
bulls,  with  their  foreign  prototypes,  not  only 
English  and  Continental,  but  even  Oriental 
and  ancient.  Among  the  parallels  of 
familiar  bulls  to  be  found  nearer  our  Ameri- 
can home  since  the  skillful  defender  of  Erin's 
naivete  wrote  her  essay,  one  of  the  best  is 
an  economical  method  of  erecting  a  new 
jail: 

The  following  resolutions  were  passed  by 
the  Board  of  Councilmen  in  Canton,  Miss- 
issippi : 

1.  Resolved,  By  this  Council,  that  we  build  a  new 
Jail. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  new  Jail  be  built  out  of  the 
material  of  the  old  Jail. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  old  Jail  be  used  until  the  new 
Jail  is  finished. 

It  was  a  frenchman  who,  in  making  a 
classified  catalogue  of  books,  placed  Miss 
Edgeworth's  essay  in  the  list  of  works  on 
"  Natural  History;"  and  it  was  a  Scotchman 
who,  having  purchased  a  copy  of  it,  pro- 
nounced her  "a  puir  silly  body,  to  write  a 
book  on  bulls,  and  no  ane  word  o'  horned 
cattle  in  it  a',  forbye  the  bit  beastie  [the 
vignette]  at  the  beginning."  Examples 
from  the  common  walks  of  life  and  from 
periodical  literature  may  readily  be  multi- 
plied to  show  that  these  phraseological 
peculiarities  are  not  to  be  exclusively  at- 
tributed to  Ireland.  But  if  we  adopt  Cole- 
ridge's definition,  which  is,  that  a  bull 
"  consists  in  a  mental  juxtaposition  of  incon- 
gruous ideas,  with  the  sensation,  but  without 
the  sense  of  connection,"  we  shall  find  fre- 
quent instances  of  its  occurrence  among 
standard  authors. 

Swift,  being  an  Irishman,  of  course 
abounds  in  blunders,  some  of  them  of  the 
most  ludicrous  character;  but  we  should 


February  28,  1891.]       AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


213 


hardly  expect  to  find  in  the  elegant  Addison, 
the  model  of  classical  English,  such  a  singu- 
lar inaccuracy  as  the  following  : 

"  So  the  pure  limpid  stream,  when  foul  with  stains 
Of  rushing  torrents  and  descending  rains  "  (Cato). 

"  He  must  have  seen  in  a  blaze  of  blinding 
light  (this  is  '  ipsis  Hibernis  Hibernior ') 
the  vanity  and  evil,  the  folly  and  madness, 
of  the  worldly  or  selfish,  and  the  grandeur 
and  truth  of  the  disinterested  and  Christian 
life  "  (Gilfillan's  "  Bards  of  the  Bible  "). 

"  The  real  and  peculiar  magnificence  of 
St.  Petersburg  consists  in  thus  sailing  ap- 
parently upon  the  bosom  of  the  ocean,  into  a 
tity  of  palaces"  (Sedgwick's  "Letters  from 
the  Baltic"). 

"  The  astonished  Yahoo,  smoking,  as  well 
as  he  could,  a  cigar,  with  which  he  had  filled 
all  his  pockets  "  (Warren's  "Ten  Thousand 
a  Year"). 

The  following  specimens  are  from  the 
works  of  Dr.  Johnson  : 

"Every  monumental  inscription  should  be 
in  Latin  ;  for  that  being  a  dead  language,  it 
will  always  live.''1 

"  Nor  yet  perceived  the  vital  spirit  fled, 
But  still  fought  on,  nor  knew  that  he  was  dead'' 

Shakespeare  has  not  only  shown  human 
nature  as  it  is,  but  as  it  would  be  found  in 
situations  to  which  it  cannot  be  exposed. 

"  Turn  from  the  glittering  bribe  your  scornful  eye, 
Nor  sell  for  gold  what  gold  can  never  buy." 

"  These  observations  were  made  by  favor  of 
a  contrary  wind." 

The  next  two  are  from  Pope : 

"  Eight  callow  infants  filled  the  mossy  nest, 
Herself  the  ninth." 

"  When  first  young  Maro,  in  his  noble  mind,^ 
A  work  /'  outlast  immortal  Rome  designed." 

Shakespeare  says : 

"  I  will  strive  with  things  impossible, 
Yea,  get  the  better  of  them." 

("  Julius  Caesar,"  ii,  i.) 

"  A  horrid  silence  first  invades  the  ear"  (Dryden). 

"  And  inaccessible  by  shepherds  trod." 

(Home;  Douglas.) 

In  the  Irish  bank-bill  passed  by  Parlia- 
ment in  June,  1808,  is  a  clause  providing 


that  the  profits  shall  be  equally  divided  and 
the  residue  go  to  the  Governor. 

Sir  Richard  Steele  being  asked  why  his 
countrymen  were  so  addicted  to  making 
bulls,  said  he  believed  there  must  be  some- 
thing in  the  air  of  Ireland,  adding,  "  I  dare 
say  if  an  Englishman  were  born  there  he 
would  do  the  same." 

Mr.  Cunningham,  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  interesting  notes  to  Johnson's 
"Lives  of  the  Poets,"  pronounces  his 
author  the  most  distinguished  of  his  contem- 
poraries. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  perpetrates  a  curious 
blunder  in  one  of  his  novels,  in  making  cer- 
tain of  his  characters  behold  a  sunset  over 
the  waters  of  a  seaport  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  Scotland. 

The  following  occurs  in  Dr.  Latham's 
"  English  Language."  Speaking  of  the 
genitive  or  possessive  case,  he  says  : 

"In  the  plural  number,  however,  it  is 
rare ;  so  rare,  indeed,  that  whenever  the 
plural  ends  in  s  (as  it  always  does)  there  is 
no  genitive." 

Byron  says : 

"  I  stood  in  Venice  on  the  Bridge  of  Sighs, 
A  palace  and  a  prison  on  each  hand." 

(He  meant  a  palace  on  one  hand,  and  a 
prison  on  the  other.) 

Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  Dictionary,  defines  a 
garret  as  "  room  on  the  highest  floor  in 
the  house,"  and  a  cock-loft  as  "the  room 
over  the  garret. 

For  the  sake  of  comparison,  we  recur  to 
the  favorite  pasture  of  the  genuine  thorough 
bred  animal. 

The  manager  of  a  provincial  theatre,  find- 
ing upon  one  occasion  but  three  persons  in 
attendance,  made  the  following  address : 
"  Ladies  and  gentlemen — as  there  is  nobody 
here,  I'll  dismiss  you  all.  The  performances 
of  this  night  will  not  be  performed  ;  but //&<?/ 
will  be  repeated  to-morrow  evening." 

A  Hibernian  gentleman,  when  told  by  his 
nephew  that  he  had  just  entered  college  with 
a  view  to  the  church,  said,  "  I  hope  that  I 
may  live  to  hear  you  preach  my  funeral 
sermon." 

An  Irishman,  quarreling  with  an  English- 
man, told  him  if  he  .didn't  hold  his  tongue, 
he  would  break  his  impenetrable  head,  and 
let  the  brains  out  of  his  empty  skull. 


214 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.         [February  28,  1891. 


"  My  dear,  come  in  and  go  to  bed,"  said 
the  wife  of  a  jolly  son  of  Erin,  who  had  just 
returned  from  the  fair  in  a  decidedly  how- 
come-}  ou-so-state ;  "you  must  be  dreadful 
tired,  sure,  with  your  long  walk  of  six 
miles."  "  Arrah  !  get  away  with  your  non- 
sense," said  Pat,  "  it  wasn't  the  length  of 
the  way,  at  all,  that  fatigued  me;  'twas  the 
breadth  of  it." 

A  poor  Irishman  offered  an  old  saucepan 
for  sale.  His  children  gathered  around  him 
and  inquired  why  he  parted  with  it.  "Ah, 
me  honeys,"  he  answered,  "  I  would  not  be 
afther  parting  with  it  but  for  a  little  money 
to  buy  something  to  put  in  it." 

A  young  Irishman  who  had  married  when 
about  nineteen  years  of  age,  complaining  of 
the  difficulties  to  which  his  early  marriage 
subjected  him,  said  he  would  never  marry  so 
young  again  if  he  lived  to  be  as  old  as 
Methuselah. 

In  an  Irish  provincial  paper  was  the  fol- 
lowing notice  :  "  Whereas  Patrick  O'Connor 
lately  left  his  lodgings,  this  is  to  give  notice 
that  if  he  does  not  return  immediately  and 
pay  for  the  same,  he  will  be  advertised." 

"  Has  your  sister  got  a  son  or  daughter?" 
asked  an  Irishman  of  a  friend.  "  Upon  my 
life,"  was  the  reply,  "  I  don't  know  whether 
I'm  an  uncle  or  aunt." 

"  I  was  going,"  said  an  Irishman,  "over 
Westminster  bridge  the  other  day,  and  I  met 
Pat  Hewins.  '  Hewins,'  says  I,  '  How  are 
you?'  'Pretty  well,'  says  he,  'thank  you, 
Donnelly.'  '  Donnelly,'  says  I,  '  that's  not 
my  name.'  '  Faith,  no  more  is  mine 
Hewins,'  says  he.  So  we  looked  at  each 
other  again,  and  sure  it  turned  out  to  be 
nayther  of  us  ;  and  where's  the  bull  of  that, 
now?" 

'  "  India,  my  boy,"  said  an  Irish  officer  to 
a  friend  on  his  arrival  at  Calcutta,  "  is  the 
finest  climate  under  the  sun,  but  a  lot  of 
young  fellows  come  out  here  and  they  drink 
and  they  eat,  and  they  drink  and  they  die ; 
and  then  they  write  home  to  their  parents  a 
pack  of  lies,  and  say  it's  the  climate  that  has 
killed  them." 

In  the  perusal  of  a  very  solid  book  on  the 
progress  of  the  ecclesiastical  differences  of 
Ireland  written  by  a  native  of  that  country, 
after  a  good  deal  of  tedious  and  vexatious 
matter,  the  reader's  complacency  is  restored 


by  an  artless  statement  how  an  eminent  per- 
son "  abandoned  the  errors  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  adopted  those  of  the  church  of 
England." 

Here  is  an  American  Hibernicism,  which 
is  entitled  to  full  recognition :  Among  the 
things  that  Wells  &  Fargo's  Express  is  not 
responsible  for  as  carriers  was  one  concluded 
in  the  following  language  in  their  regula- 
tions :  "  Not  for  any  loss  or  damage  by  fire, 
the  acts  of  God,  or  of  Indians,  or  any  other 
public  enemies  of  the  government" 

George  Selwyn  once  declared  in  company 
that  a  lady  could  not  write  a  letter  without 
adding  a  postscript.  A  lady  present  replied, 
"  The  next  letter  that  you  receive  from  me, 
Mr.  Selwyn,  will  prove  that  you  are  wrong." 
Accordingly  he  received  one  from  her  the 
next  day,  in  which,  after  her  signature,  was 
the  following : 

"P.  S.     Who  is  right,  now,  you  or  I  ?" 

Ex. 

Lake  Drained  (Vol.  v,  pp.  114,  etc.). 
— The  large  lake  in  the  rear  of  the  city  of 
Manzanillo,  Mexico,  burst  its  confines  in 
the  year  1881,  and  within  three  days  drained 
every  drop  of  its  waters  into  the  sea.  The 
lake  was  full  of  alligators  and  the  harbor  was 
full  of  sharks.  When  the  monsters  met,  a 
water  battle  immediately  began  and  was 
waged  during  the  entire  three  days  in  the 
presence  of  most  of  the  people  of  the  city. 
J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Pomegranates  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  190,  etc.). 
— According  to  Swedenborg's  interpretation 
the  pomegranate,  at  least  in  some  instances, 
signifies  natural  or  external  truths  held  in 
the  memory.  I  suppose  the  idea  is  this : 
Some  persons  apprehend  truths  correctly 
enough,  according  to  the  plain  or  literal 
every-day  meaning,  without  understanding 
or  caring  for  the  spiritual  or  heavenly  sig- 
nificance which  lies  back  of  the  outward 
seeming.  Truths  held  merely  in  the  memory 
do  not  transform  the  life  nor  affect  the  real 
and  inward  character.  Such  truth  as  is  held 
in  this  outward  manner  is  figured  by  the 
pomegranate. 

R.  G.  N. 


February  28,  1891.]        AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Crane  and  Stone  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  143, 
<etc.). — "Aristotle  thinketh  that  in  greate 
windes,  the  bees  carry  little  stones  in  their 
mouthes  to  peyse  their  bodyes,  least 
they  be  carryed  away,  or  kepte  from 
their  hiues,  vnto  which  they  desire  to 
returne  with  the  fruites  of  their  labour.  The 
crane  is  said  to  rest  vpon  one  leg,  and  hold- 
ing vp  the  other,  keepe  a  Pebble  in  her 
clawe,  which  as  sone  as  the  senses  are  bound 
by  approach  of  sleepe,  falles  to  the  ground, 
and  with  the  noise  of  the  knock  against  the 
Earth,  makes  her  awake,  whereby  shee  is 
euer  redy  to  preuent  her  enemies.  Geese 
are  foolish  bird es,  yet  when  they  flyeouerthe 
mount  Taurus,  they  shew  greate  wisedome  in 
their  own  defense  :  for  they  stop  their  pipes 
full  of  grauel  to  auoide  gagling,  and  so  by 
silence  escape  the  Eagles  "  (Gosson,  "  The 
Schoole  of  Abuse,"  1579).  M. 

Rock  City  (Vol.  v,  p.  305  ;  Vol.  vi,  p. 
35). — A  curious  group  of  rocks  near  Milan, 
Italy,  recently  described  by  the  French 
Academy  of  Sciences,  is  known  all  over  Lom- 
bardy  as  "Nature's  City,"  called  by  the 
Italians,  Montpellier-le-Vieux.  It  is  an  ir- 
regular mass  of  rocks  from  ten  to  two 
hundred  feet  in  height,  and  resembles  a 
ruined  city  in  a  most  striking  manner.  The 
"citadel  "  is  an  immense  pile  of  stones  sur- 
rounded by  fine  depressions  300  to  400  feet 
deep,  one  of  which  appears  like  a  ruined 
amphitheatre,  a  second  a  necropolis,  a 
third  a  parade,  the  fourth  a  regularly  laid- 
out  city  -quarter,  with  monuments,  gates, 
straight  streets  and  intersections,  suggesting 
at  once  such  places  as  Pompeii,  Carnac  and 
Persepolis.  The  whole  "city"  covers  an 
extent  of  some  200  acres,  and  is  surrounded 
by  a  natural  wall  some  300  feet  high. 
The  French  explorers  dub  it  "  a  most  won- 
derful freak  of  nature." 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KKOXVILLE,  IA. 

Symmes'  Hole  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  184,  etc.). 
— Apropos  of  this  subject,  I  beg  leave  to 
submit  the  following  passage,  clipped  from 
an  advertisement  of  the  present  year: 
"  Koreshan  Astronomy ;  the  '  Hollow  Globe 
Theory  '  a  fact  demonstrated  !  A  revolution 


in  astronomical  science  !  Modern  astronomy 
demonstrated  to  be  false  in  the  interpretation 
of  its  facts  and  figures.  The  sun,  moon  and 
stars  less  than  4000  miles  distant,  and  all  in- 
side the  shell  of  the  earth.  By  Prof.  Royal  O. 
Spear.  Piice,  50  cents.  The  Guiding  Star 
Publishing  House,  2  and  4  College  Place, 
Chicago,  111.,  publish  these  monographs,  and 
they  will  be  sent  on  receipt  of  the  respective 
prices.  '  The  Guiding  Star  '  is  the  exponent 
of  Koreshan  Science,  and  is  published  at 
$2.00  a  year." 

L.  N.  R. 

Mortofl — Dallas  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  202,  etc.). 
— In  corroboration  of  O.  N.  N.'s  statement 
that  the  name  Dallas  is  Scotch  rather  than 
Welsh,  let  me  refer  to  the  parish  of  Dallas 
near  the  town  of  Forres,  Morayshire,  Scot- 
land. The  connection  between  place  and 
family  names  is  too  well  known  to  require 
illustration.  If  the  name  Dallas  is  Cwmric 
at  all,  it  is  Pictish  Cwmric.  J.  H. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Remarkable  Predictions  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
55). — When  Babhia  of  Nisibis,  a  Nestorian 
saint,  was  living  at  Kephar-Uzzel,  a  woman 
brought  to  him  her  crippled  son  for  a  bless- 
ing, saying,  "  He  is  only  half  a  man." 
"Nay,"  said  the  good  and  holy  monk; 
"  this  shall  be  no  half-man ;  he  will  become 
the  father  of  fathers  and  the  teacher  of 
teachers ;  his  fame  and  his  noble  words  shall 
be  known  over  all  the  east. ' '  The  lame  boy 
became  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  eighth 
Christian  century,  and  Abraham  the  Lame  is 
still  honored  by  the  Nestorians  as  one  of 
their  great  lights. 

R.  E.  C. 

Snake  Cave.  —  The  mention  of  the 
Grotta  dei  Serpi  (Vol.  vi,  p.  127)  recalls 
the  name  of  the  Snake  Cave  (so-called)  in 
the  Cuttack  District,  Orissa,  British  India. 
It  seem  to  be  artificial,  and  like  many  other 
grottoes  in  its  vicinity  was  in  all  probability 
at  one  time  the  seat  of  a  Buddhistic  shrine. 

THOMAS  DALE. 
WYNCOTE,  PA. 

Musha  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  202,  etc.). — I  know 
the  Irish  language  through  speech  only r  and 


2l6 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.       [February  28,  1891. 


dare  not  attempt  to  write  it.  However,  I 
would  change  Musha  to  Mush^.  It  is  some- 
what difficult  to  translate  the  word,  as  it  has 
various  meanings.  Of  course  it  is  not  "the 
Irish  possessive  objective  mo"  (or  mu,  as  I 
hear  it),  but  it  comes  very  near  to  the  Eng- 
lish, Oh  my.'  or,  Oh  dear  me  !  Sometimes  it 
conveys  the  idea  of  condescension  and  pity. 
Again  it  may  express  dissent,  and  even  dis- 
gust. Any  one  pretending  to  be  what  he  is 
not,  or  presuming,  without  reason,  to  be 
better  than  his  neighbor,  is  greeted  with  the 
question,  "Mushe  what  did  you  ever  do?"  or, 
"  Mushe  where  did  you  come  from  ?"  I  have 
often  heard  the  expression,  "  0h  Mushe ! 
will  you  stop  your  fooling?"  But  mushe  in 
the  sense  of  "  even  so  "  I  never  heard.  It 
may,  however,  in  many  cases  have  the  op- 
posite meaning. 

J.  T.  L. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

i 

Canon  (Vol.  vi,  p.  187). — I  lately  came 
across  an  instance  in  a  book  where  a  certain 
river  is  said  to  canon  through  a  range  of 
mountains.  This  is  an  example  of  that 
"depravation  of  words"  (Vol.  vi,  p.  104), 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  well-informed 
critics,  is  much  more  prevalent  just  at 
present  in  Great  Britain  than  in  this  country. 

M. 

Rattled  (Vol.  vi,  p.  199). — I  wonder 
whether  the  derivation  of  this  slang  word 
from  "rattle-weed  "  is  based  upon  positive 
knowledge,  or  whether  it  is  a  mere  guess. 
It  is  well  known  that  our  North  American 
species  of  loco  (rattle-weed,  or  milk-vetch) 
are  very  numerous.  But  so  far  as  I  am  in- 
formed, our  people  in  the  Atlantic  States  do 
not  look  upon  them  as  poisonous;  they  have 
scarcely  a  common  name  for  them.  Various 
species,  like  Astragalus  Mexicanus,  have 
large  plum-like  fruits,  which  are  said  in 
Wood's  "  Botany  "  to  be  "  eaten  unripe  by 
travelers,  raw  or  cooked."  They  are  called 
ground  plums.  There  are  over  500  species 
of  Astragalus,  according  to  the  received 
classification.  I  do  not  think  that  they  are 
all  to  be  regarded  as  poisonous  plants.  In 
Europe  the  seeds  of  some  kinds  are  used  as  a 
substitute  for  coffee.  Various  Asiatic  species 
afford  gum  tragacanth,  which  is  by  no 


means  to  be  regarded  as  a  poisonous  article. 
A  genus  of  plants  pretty  closely  allied  to  the 
above  is  the  Crotalaria,  various  species  of 
which  are  known  as  rattle-box,  or  rattle-pod. 

*     *     * 


Lucky  Hook. — The  notice,  by  E.  Prio- 
leau,  of  the  legacy  of  a  fish-hook  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  162)  put  me  in  remembrance  of  days 
long  gone  by.  One  of  our  neighbors  (we 
will  call  him  Billy  Porter)  was  a  thriftless, 
or  "shiftless  "  fellow,  an  excellent  neighbor 
in  many  respects,  but  much  fonder  of  rum 
than  of  hard  work.  A  good  part  of  his  living 
was  made  by  fishing  and  hunting.  He  had 
what  he  called  a  "lucky  hook,"  and  occa- 
sionally— very  rarely — he  would  lend  it  to 
some  one  of  his  boy  friends.  Billy  Porter's 
"lucky  hook"  was  well  known  to  all  the 
boys  in  that  "neck  of  woods,"  and  I  think 
that  most  of  us  believed  it  to  possess  a  mys- 
terious excellence  as  a  taker  of  cat-fish,  eels 
and  other  "  pan  fish." 

S.  F. 

Alison  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  174,  etc.). — I  have 
memorandum  of  the  word  Alison  in  a  third 
sense.  Mr.  Friend  records  it  as  a  popular 
form  of  the  plant  name  alyssum.  According 
to  the  received  opinion  this  plant  was  named 
from  the  Greek  a  privative  and  \uaaa, 
rabies,  or  auger ;  hence  it  is  called  madwort. 
Others  say  it  was  so  named  because  it  cures 
the  hiccough  (Cf.  Gr.  A6j?e«K,  to  sob,  or  hic- 
cough). *  *  * 

Adobe  (Vol.  vi,  p.  187). — Another  use 
of  the  word  adobe,  not  unknown  in  some 
parts  of  California,  is  that  which  makes  it 
the  name  of  a  kind  of  clay.  So  distinguished 
a  writer  as  Prof.  E.  W.  Hilgard  often  speaks 
of  adobe  soils. 

M. 

Corrigenda. — Charley-horse  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
196).— For  "  Charley-puscott  "  read  "  Char- 
ley-prescott."  For  "  Charley-ren "  read 
"Charley- ken." 

In  Pets  of  Distinguished  People  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  197),  "  Lord  Oxford  "  should  be  "  Lord 
Orford." 

ED. 


American  f4otes  and  Queries: 

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CONTENTS. 

NOTES :— Mediaeval  Sermon  Books,  2i7-Pot-Herbs,  220— 
Blood-rite,  222. 

QUERIES  :— Wind  Howling,  322. 

REPLIES  :  —  Irish  Brigade  at  Fontenoy — Rippowams  and 
Mianas — Marine  Compound  Engine,  222— Memoirs  of  Louis 
XVIII,  223. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Devil  Litera- 
ture —  Royle  —  Straif —  Caduceus  —  Tom  Thumb  —  Name 
Wanted  —  Mahbe  Bosor,  etc. — Tennessee  Pygmies  —  The 
North  American  Indian  Doctor,  223. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Caves  of  Classical  Lands— Remark- 
able Feats  of  Memory,  224 — Saints  and  their  Flowers — Greek 
Poets  —  Pullen  Family  —  Kinnickinnick  —  Insane  Herbs — 
Melon-shrub,  225 — Dark  Day — E  Pluribus  Unum,  226— Hul- 
der — Musha — Brazil,  Fortunate  Islands  and  Arabia  Felix,  227 
— Source  of  the  Mississippi,  228. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS :— 228. 


MEDI/EVAL  SERMON  BOOKS. 

Few  students  there  are  that  have  any  idea 
of  the  multitude  of  Sermon  Books  which  cir- 
culated among  priests  and  people  in  an  age 
with  and  without  printing.  The  monks  made 
collections  of  sermons  and  stories  of  elo- 
quent preachers,  and  their  MSS.  are  now  hid 
away  in  the  great  libraries  of  Europe. 
These  sermons  were  immensely  popular 
among  the  unlearned  people,  among  the 
folk.  As  soon  as  there  was  a  press,  collec- 
tions of  sermons  designed  for  the  use  of 
preachers,  or  collections  of  stories  to  in- 
struct the  people,  were  issued  in  edition 
after  edition.  For  example,  the  ' '  Sermones 
Quadragesimales  "  of  Gritsch,  a  Franciscan, 
were  written  shortly  before  1440,  and  yet 


2T8 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[March  7,  1891. 


Hain  registers  twenty-six  editions  before  the 
year  1500. 

Now,  these  monkish  collections  of  ser- 
mons and  stories  form  a  most  curious  chapter 
in  our  literary  history.  Strange  to  say,  ser- 
mon books  quickly  passed  out  of  popular 
favor  and  memory.  Their  place  was  taken 
by  Volksbiicher,  which  contained  princi- 
pally stories,  fables  and  jests.  The  only 
collection  that  could  be  called  popular  was 
the  "  Gesta  Romanorum." 

It  is  quite  of  late  years  that  anything  like 
a  complete  and  scholarly  account  of  the  sub- 
ject has  been  accessible  to  English  students 
of  comparative  folk-tales  and  readers 
generally.  In  this  respect,  French  and  Ger- 
man scholars  were  ahead  of  us.  With  the 
exception  of  brief  references  in  Dunlop's 
"  History  of  Fiction,"  CEsterley's  notes  to 
the  "Gesta,"  and  a  few  other  notices,  the 
history  of  mediaeval  culture  and  fiction  was 
a  blank  to  the  average  English  reader.  In 
French,  there  was  M.  Lecoy  de  la  Marche's 
account  of  "La  Chaire  francaise  au  moyen 
age,"  first  published  in  1868.  The  same 
learned  writer  added  to  our  scanty  store  of 
knowledge  in  his  edition  of  the  "  Liber  de 
Donis"  of  Etienne  de  Bourbon.  M.  Bour- 
gain,  in  his  "La  Chaire  francaise  au  XII* 
Siecle,"  also  contributed  not  a  little  to  this 
subject.  In  German  there  was  Gruel's  "  Ge- 
schichte  der  deutschen  Predigt  im  Mittel- 
alter,"  issued  in  i879,andalsoLinsenmeyer's 
more  elaborate  history  of  the  same  period. 

But  it  has  remained  for  an  American 
scholar  to  cover  the  vast  and  little-explored 
field  of  mediaeval  sermons  and  stories  in  a 
most  scholarly  manner.  Thanks  to  the 
learning  and  assiduity  of  Prof.  T.  F.  Crane, 
of  Cornell  University,  we  are  at  last  able  to 
give  a  satisfactory  account  of  a  most  im- 
portant and  most  interesting  chapter  in  com- 
parative literature.  The  value  of  Prof. 
Crane's  two  studies  would  not  be  easy  to 
overrate.  His  first  study  was  a  paper  on 
"Mediaeval  Sermon  Books  and  Stories." 
His  second  study  is  his  edition  of  "  The 
Exempla  of  Jacques  de  Vitry,"  recently  is- 
sued by  the  English  Folk-Lore  Society. 
"  The  object  of  this  book,"  in  the  language 
of  the  learned  editor,  "  is  to  show  the  im- 
portance of  a  single  preacher,  by  exhibiting 
as  fully  as  possible  in  the  notes  the  diffusion 


of  his  stories ;  first,  among  other  preachers, 
and,  secondly,  among  the  public  at  large  by 
means  of  their  sermons."  To  his  task  Prof. 
Crane  has  brought  the  trained  mind,  the 
flair  or  scent  of  the  acute  folk-lorist,  and  the 
wealth  of  illustration  which  is  shown  in  the 
introduction,  the  analysis  and  the  notes  to 
" The  Exempla  of  Jacques  de  Vitry."  He 
made  two  visits  to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of 
examining  the  extensive  collections  of 
Jacques  de  Vitry's  exempla,  which  are  con- 
tained in  MS.  most  complete  in  the  British 
Museum  MS.  Harl.  463,  in  the  Vatican  MS. 
9352,  and  in  the  Bib.  Nat.  MS.  Lat. 
15,661.  And  if  any  of  De  Vitry's  exempla 
have  escaped  Prof.  Crane's  patient  re- 
searches, it  has  not  been  for  lack  of  attention 
or  resources  on  his  part.  The  result  is  that 
his  book  (which  has  been,  in  truth,  a  labor 
of  love)  is  the  most  important  contribution  to 
the  study  of  storiology  and  comparative 
literature  that  has  been  since  the  masterly  edi- 
tion of  that  great  storehouse  of  Indian 
fable  and  fiction — the  Pantschatantra.  The 
student  who  would  understand  the  manner 
in  which  Eastern  folk-lore  and  fiction  were 
diffused  will  have  to  avail  himself  of  Prof. 
Crane's  scholarly  work  before  him. 

Some  account  of  the  use  of  apologues,  or, 
as  they  are  usually  termed,  exempla,  may 
here  be  given.  According  to  Prof.  Crane, 
the  first  systematic  use  of  exempla  is  to  be 
found  in  the  homilies  "in  Evangelia"  of 
Gregory,  before  604.  About  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  or  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century  the  practice  of  using  exempla  in 
sermons  became  common.  The  reason  is 
concisely  stated  as  follows :  "  The  popular 
character  of  the  audiences  modified  es- 
sentially the  style  of  preaching,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  interest  and  even  amuse  the 
common  people  who  had  gradually  become 
accustomed  to  an  entertaining  literature 
more  and  more  secular  in  its  character,  and 
who  possessed,  moreover,  an  innate  love  for 
tales."  Then  came  the  eminent  and  elo- 
quent prelate,  Jacques  de  Vitry,  who  made 
stories  an  important  part  of  his  preaching  to 
the  people.  He  was  born  at  Argenteuil, 
near  Paris,  about  1180.  He  led  a  most 
busy  and  active  life  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death  at  Rome,  in  the  year  1240.  He  was 
elected  Bishop  of  Acre,  in  1214,  took  part 


March  7,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


219 


in  the  crusades,  was  sent  by  the  pope  to 
preach  the  crusade  against  the  Albigenses 
sometime  during  1228,  and  in  that  year  he 
was  created  cardinal  and  Bishop  of  Tus- 
culum.  Jacques  de  Vitry's  writings  can  be 
divided  into  two  classes — historical  and  con- 
cionatory.  We  are  here  concerned  with  his 
sermons,  which  consist  of  four  collections. 
But  it  is  in  his  "  Sermones  Vulgares " 
(seventy-four  in  number)  that  the  exempla 
are  found  so  plentifully  larded.  The  full 
title  is  "  Sermones  vulgares,  ad  status,  or  ad 
omne  hominum  genus,"  and  the  sermons 
were  arranged  to  meet  the  wants  of  both  the 
clergy  and  laity.  Soon  after  De  Vitry's 
death  the  demand  for  some  convenient  edi- 
tion of  the  exempla  alone  led  to  numerous 
collections  of  his  stories  for  the  use  of  other 
preachers  who  wanted  to  retail  them  in  their 
sermons. 

I  cannot  begin  to  mention  even  the  names 
of  mediaeval  preachers  who  made  a  sys- 
tematic use  of  exempla.  Some  idea  of  the 
enormous  popularity  of  such  collections  of 
sermons  may  be  gained  from  the  following  : 
The  "  Sermones  de  tempore  et  de  sanctis  " 
of  John  Herolt,  a  Dominican  monk  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  went  through  twenty-nine 
editions  before  1500.  The  ""  Promptua- 
rium,"  often  appended  to  the  "  Sermones," 
contained  "an  extra  supply  of  exempla." 
The  "Sermones  de  sanctis"  of  Meffreth, 
first  used  in  144.3,  passed  through  ten  edi- 
tions before  1500.  The  anonymous  collec- 
tion known  as  "  Paratus  de  tempore  et  de 
sanctis"  registers  seventeen  editions  before 
1500.  John  of  Werden's  "  Sermones  Dormi 
Secure  "  was  reprinted  twenty-five  times  be- 
fore 1500.  The  "Thesaurus  novus  sive  Ser- 
mones de  tempore,"  etc.,  passed  through  a 
dozen  different  editions  before  1500.  We 
have  already  alluded  to  the  twenty-six  edi- 
tions before  1500  of  Gritsch's  "  Quadra- 
gesimale." 

A  few  words  may  be  said  of  the  enormous 
number  of  collections  of  exempla  without  the 
sermons.  These  collections  were  used  as 
magazines,  from  which  less  imaginative  and 
less  original  preachers  drew,  or,  as  Prof. 
Crane  puts  it,  they  afforded  preachers  in 
general  a  magazine  of  illustrations.  Many 
of  these  collections  still  remain  in  MS.  and 
the  printed  collections,  which  were  ofte  \ 


fresh  compilations,  enjoyed  immense  popu- 
larity. Collections  of  exempla  for  the  use 
of  preachers  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes. 

1.  We  have  those  which  are  designated 
"  Alphabetum  Exemplorum."     They  are  ar- 
ranged  in    alphabetical    order    by   topics. 
The  "  Promptuarium  "  of  Herolt,   already 
mentioned,  passed  through  thirty-four  edi- 
tions before  1500.  The  "  Exempla  virtutum 
et  vitiorum,"  etc.,  edited  by  John  Herold 
of  Basel,  is  in  three  ponderous  volumes.  The 
"  Fleurs  des  Exemples  ou  Catechisme  his- 
torical "     of  d'Averonet   fills  1405  pages. 
And  so  on. 

2.  We  have  a  class  of  exempla  in  which 
the  story  has  appended  to  it  a  moral  con- 
clusion.    Sometimes  it  is  an  explanation  of 
the   hidden  or  allegorical  meaning  of  the 
story.     To  this  class   belongs  the    "  Gesta 
Romanorum."    In  some  of  these  collections 
of  moralized  stories,  as  in  the  "  Scala  Celi" 
(Ladder  to  Heaven),  the  moralization  is  brief 
or    perfunctory.      The     exempla     in     the 
"  Scala  "  are  taken  from  a  variety  of  sources, 
and  told  in  an  interesting  way.     In  other 
collections  of  moralized  stories,  the  allegory  is 
the  main  point,  while  the  stories  are  intro- 
duced by  way  of  illustration.     They  usually 
deal  with  natural   history.     The  "  Summa 
Magistri  "  of  Johannes  deSancto  Geminiano 
is    "encyclopaediac  in  its  character ;"  it  is 
in  ten  books,  and  passed  through  six  edi- 
tions before  1500.     The  "  De  proprietatibus 
rerum  "-of  Bartholomew  Glanville  is  divided 
into  nineteen  books,  and  is  devoted  chiefly 
to  natural  history,  vegetables  and  plants, 
heaven    and    the     elements.      It    registers 
twenty-six  editions  before  1500. 

3.  We  have  systematic  treatises  for  the  use 
of  preachers,  which  contain  large  numbers  of 
exempla.     One  of  the  earliest  and  most  in- 
teresting is  the  "  Liber  de  septem  donis," 
etc.,  of  Etiennede Bourbon,  a  friend  and  fel- 
low-preacher of  Jacques  de  Vitry.    The  real 
title   is   long  and  begins,    "  Tractatus    de 
diversis  materiis  predicabilibus  ordinatus," 
etc.     It  was  intended  to  be  in  seven  parts, 
but  extends  only  to  the  fifth  division,  prob- 
ably  arrested  by  the  death  of  the  author 
about   the   year    1261.      The    "Liber   de 
septem  donis  "  is  the  great  storehouse  from 
which  succeeding  collectors  have  drawn*,?*- 


22O 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[March  7,  1891. 


empla  for  other  collections.  Another  popu- 
lar treatise  was  Robert  Holkot's  commentary 
on  the  "  Wisdom  of  Solomon  "  ("Opus  super 
sapientiam  Solomonis  ").  It  passed  through 
eight  editions  before  1500.  The  "  Summa 
Prsedicantium"  of  John  Bromyard  consists 
of  971  folio  pages,  and  is  a  wonderful  mass 
of  exempla  "culled  from  every  imaginable 
source,  profane  and  sacred,  and  belong  to 
every  class  of  fiction  from  fables  to  jests." 
The  author  was  an  English  Dominican,  and 
his  compilation  was  first  issued  about  1485 
at  Basel. 

Prof.  Crane  also  gives  an  account  of  ex- 
empla not  in  Latin,  but  based  upon  Latin 
collections  and  intended  for  the  edification 
of  the  general  reader.  Contrary  to  general 
impression,  the  learned  editor  shows  that  the 
most  extensive  of  these  collections  are  found 
in  Spain,  "a  land  early  distinguished  for 
its  fondness  for  moral  stories  and  the  im- 
portant role  it  played  in  introducing  Orien- 
tal fiction  into  Europe."  The  collections 
of  Italian  esempi  are  not  noteworthy  or 
valuable,  except  that  they  possess  a  certain 
literary  interest.  The  use  of  exempla  origi- 
nated in  France,  but  that  country  does  not 
afford  such  extensive  collections  as  Prof. 
Crane  finds  in  Spain.  Very  recently  M. 
Paul  Meyer  discovered  a  collection  with 
moralizationsin  Anglo-Norman  French  made 
in  the  fourteenth  century  by  Nicholas  Bozon, 
an  English  Franciscan.  Another  popular 
collection  containing  exempla  is  the  "  Fleur 
des  commandemens  de  Dieu."  This  treatise 
on  the  Decalogue  was  translated  into  Eng- 
lish by  Andrew  Chertsey,  and  is  one  of  the 
rarest  productions  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde's 
press.  The  English  edition  is  dated 
MCCCCCXX.  Another  French  treatise  upon  the 
Decalogue,  by  William  of  Wadington,  was 
extremely  popular,  an  English  translation 
being  made  in  1303  by  Robert  of  Brunne. 
There  is  no  collection  of  exempla'\\\  English, 
except  the  translations  of  Etienne  de  Besan- 
con's  "  Alphabetum  narrationum  "  now  in 
MS.  in  the  British  Museum. 

But  to  conclude  :  It  was  through  the  pul- 
pit that  Oriental  tales  were  first  disseminated 
among  the  people  of  European  lands. 
Many  of  the  exempla  told  by  mediaeval 
preachers  were  rather  broad  and  coarse,  and 
the  improper  use  of  illustrative  stories  was 


checked  by  decrees  of  ecclesiastical  councils. 
Finally,  with  the  invention  of  printing,  the 
exempla  of  Jacques  de  Vitry  suddenly  "  turn 
up,"  as  Prof.  Crane  has  shown,  in  the  fin- 
ished tales  of  the  Decameron,  in  the  facetia 
or  jest-books  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  in  poetry  of  Chaucer,  in  the 
tragedies  of  Shakespeare,  and  naturally  in  the 
celebrated  fables  of  La  Fontaine. 

L.  J.  VANCE. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


POT-HERBS. 

Using  the  term  pot-herbs  in  the  sense  of 
greens,  and  excluding  such  market-garden 
plants  as  the  spinach,  orach  and  cabbage 
from  the  list,  there  is  considerable  interest  to 
be  found  in  a  survey  of  the  subject  of  pot- 
herbs, as  an  element  of  folk-knowledge,  and 
as  a  branch  of  the  domestic  economy  of 
rural  life.  The  pot-herbs  we  are  to  con- 
sider as  a  rule  are  uncultivated  plants,  but 
the  first  one  on  our  list,  the  common  dande- 
lion, is  in  some  places  grown  by  the  kitchen- 
gardeners  on  a  large  scale.  Country  people 
as  a  rule  prefer  it  to  any  other  herb.  The 
dandelion  has  a  fashion  of  closing  its  flowers 
during  the  heat.  Many  superstitions  are 
connected  with  this  plant.  Children  puff 
at  its  crown  of  seed-hairs  to  tell  the  time  of 
day.  Country  girls  manufacture  curious 
ringlets  of  its  hollow  stems,  and  boys  make 
faintly-sounding  trumpets  of  them.  It  has 
real  virtues  as  a  medicine,  when  skillfully 
employed.  Why  it  is  called  dandelion 
(lion's  tooth)  is  more  than  I  can  tell. 

The  next  pot-herb  on  my  list  is  the  Caltha 
palustris,  or  marsh-marigold,  which  grows  in 
all  the  cooler  parts  of  the  Northern  hemi- 
sphere. As  Tennyson's  "  May  Queen"  says: 
"  The  wild  marsh-marigold  shines  like  fire  in 
swamps  and  hollows  gray  "  (here  is  an 
English  example  of  the  word  swamp}.  Its 
growth  in  swamps  makes  it  necessary  to  have 
men  gather  it,  which  they  do  in  large 
quantities,  wherever  it  grows  abundantly. 
The  poet  Prior  tells  us  that  one  of  the  ques- 
tions that  King  Solomon  discussed  was  this : 
"  Wanting  the  sun,  why  does  the  Caltha 
fade?"  But  I  have  known  it  to  grow  with 
great  luxuriance  in  a  wet  forest-swale,  with 
but  little  sun-light.  This  plant  is  now  be- 
coming rare  in  the  older-settled  parts  of  this 


March  7,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


221 


country,  partly  if  not  chiefly  because  it  is 
gathered  in  the  spring  in  its  flowering  time, 
and  few  plants  are  left  to  perfect  the  seed. 
The  buds  are  pickled  like  capers.  Many 
American  ruralists  call  this  plant  cowlips ; 
others  cowslops,  which  is  almost  exactly  the 
Anglo-Saxon  form  of  the  word.  In  England 
it  is  called  drunkard,  horse  buttercup,  bull's 
eye  (for  -pool's  eye),  pool-flower,  bull- 
flower.  The  "  May  Queen's  "  reference  to 
it,  cited  above,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  May- 
day garlands  are  made  of  this  same  Caltha, 
as  well  as  of  "the  May,"  or  Hawthorn 
bloom  (this  is  a  point  for  your  Tennysonian 
students).  As  a  pot-herb,  it  takes  a  very 
high  rank,  notwithstanding  the  faint  suspicion 

.  of  poisonousness  that  attaches  to  it.  But  I 
never  knew  of  any  one  being  harmed  by  eat- 
ing "cowslip-greens." 

In  gathering  "  cowslips  "  we  always  made 
it  a  point  to  gather  all  the  leaves  we  could 
find  of  the  Saxifraga  pennsylvanica  (swamp 
saxifrage,  or  meadow  plantain).  This  is 

"highly  esteemed  as  "greens,"  but  the  sup- 
ply is  seldom  large.  It  is  therefore  cooked 
with  other  herbs. 

The  common  plantain  (Plantago  major)  is 
also  a  good  pot-herb,  especially  when  young 
and  tender.  The  Indians  are  said  to  call 
this  plant  "  the  white  man's  foot."  Civili- 
zation has  spread  it  almost  all  over  the 
world,  as  a  common  door-yard  plant.  In 
England  it  has  many  names,  as  soldiers, 
hard-head,  fighting  cocks,  way-bread, 
cuckoo,  lamb's  tongue,  etc.,  but  some  of 
these  names  really  belong  to  other  plants  of 
the  same  genus.  The  plantain  was  once 
used  in  divination.  In  domestic  medicine 
it  is  held  to  possess  singular  virtues.  Of 
the  dock  plants  (Rumex),  the  yellow  dock 
(R.  crispus)  is  most  esteemed.  Our  native 
American  docks  are  mostly  quite  unpalata- 
ble. When  the  "patience"  grows  (R. 

patientia,  a  plant  very  imperfectly  naturalized 
in  this  country),  its  large,  abundant  and 
tender  leaves  make  barely  tolerable  greens 
when  young ;  later,  the  rank  taste  becomes 
unendurable.  Dock  leaves  are  held  to  be  a 
cure  for  nettle-stings  ("  In  dock,  out  nettle; 
don't  let  the  blood  settle,"  is  an  English 
charm,  as  old  as  Chaucer's  time,  at  least). 
The  yellow  dock  has  a  yellow  root ;  conse- 
quently, by  the  doctrine  of  signatures,  it 


must  be  good  for  yellow  jaundice.  The 
patience  dock  was  in  some  esoteric  way  as- 
sociated with  the  mysteries  of  the  Christian 
religion  (Vol.  vi,  p.  207). 

"Out  dock,  in  nettle"  The  nettle  is 
prized  as  a  kitchen-herb  in  Europe,  and  by 
Germans  and  English  people  here,  but  on 
my  dinner-table  it  has  thus  far  somehow 
proved  coarse  and  unpalatable.  Nettle-rash 
is  treated  by  nettle-tea,  and  the  homoeopathic 
doctors  use  the  tincture  of  it  in  a  similar 
way.  They  call  it  Urti'ca  (not  Ur'tica, 
mind).  In  Scotland,  nettle  linen  was  once 
highly  esteemed.  The  poet  Campbell  said  : 
"  I  have  slept  in  nettle  sheets  and  dined  off 
a  nettle  table-cloth."  In  Australia  there 
are  lofty  trees  which  are  genuine  nettles,  and 
their  sting  is  not  only  very  painful,  but 
really  dangerous. 

Time  fails  me  to  mention  some  of  the 
other  old-fashioned  pot-herbs,  such  as  mus- 
tard leaves,  young  currant  leaves,  horse- 
radish leaves.  I  have  tried  them  all,  and 
they  are  all  good.  I  have  also  tried  some 
that  nobody  else  ever  thought  of.  I  must 
say  that  some  of  these  last  are  not  good. 

The  garden  weed,  lamb 's  quarters,  makes 
excellent  greens.  The  plant  called  purslane 
(or  pusley)  is  liked  by  many  when  boiled, 
but  boiled  or  unboiled,  I  do  not  like  it. 
Milk-weed  (Asclepias  cornuti*)  when  young 
is  excellent.  The  Phytolacca  decandra 
(skoke  or  poke)  is  gathered  and  boiled  when 
young,  and  is  very  good,  but  there  is  some 
danger  in  it.  "  There  is  death  in  the  pot " 
when  the  plant  approaches  maturity.  I 
have  known  several  persons  to  be  taken 
seriously  ill  after  using  it.  The  common 
evening  primrose  (the  farmers  call  it  scabish, 
(Enothera  biennis~)  is  highly  commended  as 
a  cooking-herb,  but  I  never  could  find 
enough  of  it  at  a  time  to  give  it  a  fair 
trial. 

Many  people  like  "beet  greens,"  or  the 
leaves  and  roots  of  young  garden  beets,  but 
they  are  not  wild  plants.  The  poet  Herrick 
praises  his  "  beloved  beet ;"  no  doubt  in  the 
early  season  he  had  them  cooked  as  pot- 
herbs. It  would  not  be  hard  to  lengthen 
this  list,  but  most  of  the  plants  really  suita- 
ble for  this  use  are  hereinbefore  indicated. 
Spring  is  coming,  and  the  mess  of  greens 
properly  cooked  and  served  will  prove  a 


222 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[March  7,  189-1. 


salutary  and  uncostly  spring  medicine  to 
many  a  country  family.  But  unskilled  per- 
sons should  not  gather  pot-herbs ;  jimson- 
weed,  veratrum  viride,  and  many  other  very 
poisonous  plants  grow  in  this  country,  and 
no  one  should  run  any  needless  risks  in  this 
direction.  OBED. 


BLOOD-RITE. 

If  the  well-known  Swedish  author,  Trolle, 
may  be  believed,  as  late  as  the  Finnish- 
Russo-Swedish  war  of  1808,  a  species  of 
blood-rite  was  practiced  on  the  reception  of 
volunteers  offering  their  services  in  the  de- 
fense of  Finland.  Blood  was  taken  from 
the  soldier's  arm  and. held  in  a  wooden 
bowl.  When  a  small  quantity  was  collected, 
the  bowl  with  the  blood  it  contained  was 
thrown  in  the  fire,  which  consumed  it  and 
then  it  was  that  the  new  warrior  was  received 
by  his  companions  with  open  arms  ("  Krona 
och  Torna,"  p.  198).  The  same  writer  gives 
incidentally  some  very  curious  customs,  as 
of  the  present  age,  which  are  a  faint  survival 
among  the  Finns  of  old  Norse  mythology, 
notably  at  pp.  21-25  °f  tne  work  quoted. 

G.  F.  FORT. 
CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

QUERIES. 

Wind  Howling. — Why  does  the  wind 
"howl"  and  "whistle"  in  cold  weather 
and  not  in  warm,  though  blowing  with 
equal  velocity  ? 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

In  winter,  on  account  of  the  limbs  of  the 
trees  being  bare,  the  wind  may  make  more 
noise  than  in  summer.  Given  the  same 
velocity  and  the  same  surroundings,  the  wind 
will  probably  not  "howl  and  whistle" 
more  in  one  season  of  the  year  than  in 
another. 

REPLIES. 

Irish  Brigade  at  Fontenoy  (Vol.  vi,  p.  2 1 1). 
— An  interesting  reply  to  one  portion  of  this 
query  will  be  found  in  the  report  on  the  Irish 
Brigade,  presented  to  the  French  National 


Assembly  of  1792,  by  General  Arthur 
Dillon.  Honest  J.  P.  Leonard  (a  '48  exile 
who  died  in  1889)  translated  it  a  few  years 
ago  and  had  it  published  by  James  Duffy,  of 
Dublin,  as  a  small  pamphlet.  My  copy  is 
at  the  disposal  of  your  correspondent,  should 
he  wish  it  to  be  mailed  to  him,  although  I 
value  it  considerably  above  its  market  price 
(six-pence  !)  as  a  gift  of  the  esteemed  trans- 
lator himself.  A.  ESTOCLET. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Rippowams  and  Mianas  (Vol.  vi,  p.  186)- 
— "The  small  tribute  of  the  Mianas  waved 
over  by  the  woods  of  Rippowams."  Both 
were  names  of  rivers  in  Stamford,  the  native 
place  of  Abraham  Davenport,  and  a  flourish- 
ing town  thirty-six  miles  from  New  York, 
lying  on  Long  Island  Sound,  S.  W.  corner 
of  Connecticut. 

The  name  Rippowams  also  belonged  to 
the  territory  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  It 
is  found  altered  to  Nippowams  in  some  early 
records.  Now  the  same  stream  is  called 
Mill  river. 

Mianas  river  is  between  Stamford  and 
Greenwick.  Mianas  is  also  the  name  of  a 
post-village  at  the  junction  of  the  river  with 
Coscob  Cove. 

Both  river  and  village  are  called  after  the 
Indian  proprietor,  Mayano,  Mayane,  or 
Mehenno,  who  resided  in  the  same  locality, 
and  who  was  killed  in  1643  by  Capt.  Patrick 
according  to  one  writer.  The  Sachem  Mayn 
Mayano  was  killed  by  a  Dutchman  in  self- 
defense,  and  the  killing  of  Capt.  Daniel 
Patrick,  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Underbill, 
was  indirectly  caused  by  the  affair  of  Mayano 
with  the  Dutchman  (Winthrop's  "  Hist. 
New  England,"  Vol.  ii,  p.  151). 

MENONA. 

Marine  Compound  Engine  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
197) — Admiral  Preble,  in  his  "  Notes  fora 
History  of  Steam  Navigation,"  mentions 
two  early  marine  compound  engines ;  one 
built  by  Hallette,  of  Arras,  France,  and  used 
in  the  Union,  a  steamer  launched  in 
June,  1829,  and  the  other  built  in  1837  by 
Fol,  Sr.,  of  Bordeaux,  and  used  in  1842  on 
Le  Corsaire  Noir,  His  authority  is  "a 
little  known  work,"  by  C.  A.  Tremtsuk, 
published  at  Bordeaux,  in  1842,  when  these 


March  7,  189 i.J  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


223 


steamers  were  plying  upon  the  Gironde  and 
the  Garonne.  H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 

Memoirs  of  Louis  XVIII  (Vol.  vi,  p.  151). 
—  "Memoires  (apocryphes)  de  Louis  XVIII  '  ' 
were  published  anonymously,  1832,  at  Paris. 
They  were  written  by  Baron  Etienne  Leon 
de  Lamothe-Langon,  a  distinguished  littera- 
teur, born  (1786)  at  Montpellier  (see 
"  Literature  Francaise  Contemporaine," 
par  Qu£rard  and  Louandre. 

Refer  also,  "  Les  Supercheries  Litt<§raires 
Devoil6es,"  Tome  ii,  2me  partie  (Querard 
Brunei,  etc.),  for  the  following  :  "Memoires 
de  Louis  XVIII,  recueilliset  mis  en  ordre/' 
par  M.  Le  due  de  D***,  Paris,  Mame- 
Delaunay,  Thoisnier  —  Desplaces,  1832-33. 

Querard  says:  "  Ces  Memoires  oifrent 
une  lecture  interessante.  Les  auteurs  ont  su 
reproduire,  d'une  maniere  assez  fidele,  le 
style  de  Louis  XVIII.  Nous  ignorous  les 
noms  des  litterateurs  qui  ont  refait  le  livre 
du  baron  de  Lamothe-Langon,  comme  cela  est 
arrivd  pour  maintes  publications  de  ce  trop 
f£cond  dcrivain."  MEN6NA. 


NO 


Devil  Literature.—  What  do  readers 
of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  know 
concerning  devil  literature  ?  I  have  a  volume 
entitled,  "The  Devil  arid  His  Angels," 
and  a  friend  has  MacGowan's  "  Dialogue 
of  Devils."  J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Royle.  —  In  "  Edward  Webbe,  his 
Trauailles  "  (1590),  near  the  end,  we  read  : 
"  I  haue  omitted  *  *  *  my  service  at  the 
taking  of  Tunnis,  and  what  I  did  in  the 
Royle  vnder  Duke  lohn  of  Austria."  What 
place  or  event  is  meant  by  "  the  Royle  ?" 

V. 

Straif.  —  In  an  anonymous  work  entitled 
"Heroic  Life"  (Philadelphia,  undated, 
i2mo,  apparently  a  reprint  from  an  English 
book),  on  p.  101,  are  the  words  "waif  or 
straif,"  quoted.  The  word  straif  apparently 
means  an  estray.  Is  there  any  other  au- 
thority for  this  word  ?  W.  V. 

ENFIELD,  N.  C. 


Oaduceus. — This  word,  the  Latin  name 
of  Mercury's  wand,  is  generally  considered 
a  variant  of  the  Greek  xypuxetov,  a  herald's 
wand.  Others  connect  it  with  the  Hebrew 
kadosh,  holy.  Which  derivation  is  correct? 

N.  T. 

Tom  Thumb.— Who  wrote  a  book  en- 
titled,  "  The  Travels  of  Tom  Thumb  ?" 

R.  P. 

GRANBY,  MASS. 

Name  Wanted. — "  In  Jamaica,  in- 
deed, they  talk  of  one  negroe  as  a  man  of 
parts  and  learning  ;  but  'tis  likely  he  is  ad- 
mired for  very  slender  accomplishments" 
(Hume's  "Essays,"  1742,  "  Of  National 
Characters,"  note).  What  was  the  name  of 
this  negro?  C.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Mahbe  Bosor,  Mahbe  Rimo,  etc. — 
When  I  was  a  boy  there  was  a  young  Prus- 
sian Jew,  who  went  to  school  where  I  did. 
He  used  to  repeat  what  he  called  his  Mahbes, 
beginning  somewhat  as  follows  (I  write  from 
memory,  after  many  years,  and  without  any 
knowledge  whatever  of  Hebrew  spelling)  : 
"  Mahbe  bosor,  mahbe  rimo ;  mahbe 
avodim,  mahbe  gosul,"  etc.,  which  he  ex- 
plained to  mean,  "  He  who  makes  himself 
fat  makes  food  for  worms ;  he  who  begets 
children  makes  sorrows  for  himself,"  etc. 
What  is  the  true  spelling  of  this  passage,  and 
whence  is  it  derived  ?  SYLVAN  WEST. 

DENVER,  COLO. 

Tennessee  Pygmies. — In  C.  E.  Crad- 
dock's  "  In  the  Stranger  People's  Coun- 
try," some  account  is  given  "  of  the  strange 
burial  grounds  of  the  far-famed  pygmy- 
dwellers  of  Tennessee "  {Harper1  s  Magazine, 
January,  1891,  p.  202).  Are  we  to  under- 
stand that  there  really  are  pygmy  graves  in 
East  Tennessee  ?  Can  there  be  found  a  good 
description  of  them?  SANTEE. 

SCRANTON,  PA. 

The  North  American  Indian  Doc- 
tor.— Who  was  the  author  of  the  above- 
named  work,  where  was  it  printed  and 
what  date  does  it  bear? 


KNOXVILLE,  IA. 


J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 


224 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[March  7,  1891. 


©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Caves  of  Classical  Lands. — Cave  of 
Endymion,  on  Mount  Latmos. 

Cave  of  Tiophonius,  at  Lebadea. 

Cave  of  Corycia,  on  Mount  Parnassus. 

Cave  of  Corycus,  in  Cilicia. 

Cave  of  Antiparos,  or  Oliarus. 

Cave  of  Mount  ^Egaeon. 

Cave  of  Mount  Dicte. 

Cave  of  Hecote,  at  Zerynthus. 

Cave  of  Cacus,  in  Italy. 

Cave  of  Marsyas,  in  Phrygia. 

Cave  of  Epimenides,  in  Crete. 

Cave  of  the  Seven  Sleepers,  Mount 
Ccelion. 

Cave  of  Pan,  at  Athens. 

Cave  of  Lupercus,  at  Rome. 

Caves  of  Cythera,  or  Cerigo. 

Cave  of  the  Sibyl,  at  Cumae. 

Cave  of  the  Oracle,  at  Delphi. 

C. 

Remarkable    Feats   of   Memory. — 

"  History  furnishes  us  with  a  large  number 
of  examples  of  wonderful  memory. 

"  Scaliger,  an  Italian,  in  twenty-one  days 
committed  to  memory  the  '  Iliad,'  which 
comprises  15,210  verses,  and  the  '  Odyssey,' 
which  also  comprises  a  large  number;  Lipsius, 
a  professor  at  the  University  of  Leyden, 
offered  to  recite  Tacitus'  history  in  its  en- 
tirety in  the  presence  of  a  person  armed  with 
a  poignard,  who  should  stab  him  with  it  at 
the  first  error;  Louis  XIII,  after  a  year's 
time,  could  draw  from  memory  the  plan  of 
a  country  with  all  its  details  ;  and  the  actor 
Lassaussiclere,  after  reading  advertising 
sheets  for  an  hour,  could  repeat  them 
textually,  and  this,  it  may  be  said,  by  way 
of  parenthesis,  must  have  been  pretty  weari- 
some. It  is  stated  also  that  an  Englishman 
who  had  an  extraordinary  memory  was  in- 
troduced to  Frederick  at  Potsdam,  and  on 
the  same  day  Voltaire  having  brought  some 
verses  to  the  king,  the  latter  had  the  Eng- 
lishman concealed  and  requested  Voltaire  to 
read  his  work.  '  But  these  verses  are  not 
yours,'  said  the  king,  '  they  were  recited  to 
me  this  morning. '  He  then  produced  the 
Englishman,  who,  to  the  great  astonishment 
of  Voltaire,  recited  them  without  error. 

"  It  is  especially  in  the  legendary  stories 


of  antiquity  that  we  find  numerous  exam- 
ples of  extraordinary  memory.  Let  us  re- 
call the  fact  that  to  Adrian  the  successor  of 
Trajan,  to  Mithridates,  to  Themistocles,  to 
Scipio,  to  Cyrus,  and  to  many  others,  is  at- 
tributed the  faculty  of  remembering  the 
names  of  all  their  soldiers  ;  that  it  is  claimed 
that  Hortensius  the  orator  attended  a  public 
sale  lasting  a  whole  day  and  recalled,  in 
order,  all  the  objects  sold  and  the  names  of 
the  purchasers ;  and  that  the  ambassador, 
Cineas,  having  been  received  in  the  senate, 
saluted  by  name,  on  the  following  day,  all 
the  senators,  whom  lie  had  seen  but  once. 
These  numerous  examples  from  antiquity  are 
easily  explained.  In  fact,  before  the  dis- 
semination of  the  art  of  writing,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  memory  was  indispensable.  In 
our  day,  this  faculty  is  less  cultivated,  at 
least  for  ordinary  requirements,  since,  by 
means  of  notes,  we  can  almost  dispense  with 
it.  Yet  there  is  a  memory  that  every  one 
possesses  and  that  many  persons  are  ignorant 
of,  and  that  is  the  memory  of  the  eye,  the 
memory  of  things  seen,  that  of  the  artist  and 
the  draughtsman — the  faculty  that  permits 
the  latter  to  reproduce  an  ornament,  for  ex- 
ample, that  they  have  seen  but  once.  This 
memory  is  possessed  by  every  one  in  a 
greater  or  less  state  of  development,  for 
every  one  sees,  and  to  a  greater  or  less  ex- 
tent classifies  in  his  brain  the  things  seen, 
and  that  too  without  being  conscious  of  it. 
It  is  this  memory  of  the  eye  that  forms  an 
excellent  mnemotechnical  method.  The 
following  are  a  few  examples.  Many 
soldiers,  in  order  to  recall  theory,  endeavor 
to  figure  to  themselves  the  page  recto  verso 
and  then  the  place  on  the  page  where  the 
article  that  they  wish  to  recall  is  found. 
Certain  prestidigitators  employ  the  same 
method  for  indicating  in  a  book  the  page 
and  line  containing  a  citation  that  is  made 
to  them.  Others,  after  having  had  repeated 
to  them  any  forty  common  names,  at  once 
repeat  them  in  order,  either  by  commencing 
at  the  beginning  or  the  end,  or  at  random, 
in  assigning  to  each  of  them  the  number  of 
the  order  in  which  it  has  been  given.  An 
author  of  the  sixteenth  century  named 
Muret  tells  that  he  once  saw  a  Corsican  to 
whom  he  dictated  two  thousand  Latin,  Greek 
and  barbarous  words  having  no  affinity  with 


March  7,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


each  other,  and  who  repeated  them  to  him 
in  order.  This  appears  to  us  doubtful,  for 
it  is  pretty  difficult  to  memorize  and  repeat 
forty  words  only,  and  requires  a  well-drilled 
memory.  Yet  with  the  memory  of  the  eye 
we  can  quickly  reach  the  same  result,  not 
with  forty,  but  with  twenty  names,  for  the 
difficulty  increases  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  words  added.  It  is  necessary  to  pro- 
ceed as  follows  :  Let  us  suppose  that  the 
first  name  given  is  '  mouse  ;'  do  not  attempt 
to  recall  the  word,  but  consider  your 
memory  as  a  sensitized  photographic  plate 
— in  a  word,  make  a  negative  of  the  object, 
see  before  your  eyes  the  animal  itself  walk- 
ing slowly  and  carrying  a  placard  marked 
No.  i.  Let  us  take  'hat'  for  the  second 
name.  Imagine  a  hat  with  the  number  2 
fixed  above,  as  upon  the  hat  of  a  conscript. 
For  No.  3  let  us  suppose  '  chair.'  Imagine 
a  chair  provided  with  a  number  showing  its 
price  as  marked  by  the  dealer,  etc.  You 
will  then  easily  recall  the  succession  of  the 
objects  and  the  number  of  their  order  and 
will  be  able  to  name  them  in  every  way  pos- 
sible. Proceed  in  this  manner  up  to  ten, 
and  then  the  next  day  up  to  twelve,  and  so 
on,  gradually  increasing  the  number.  After 
a  few  repetitions  of  this  exercise,  you  will  be 
astonished  at  the  ease  with  which  you  will 
succeed  in  retaining  twenty  or  more  words, 
absolutely  classified  in  your  mind  as  if  on 
drawing  paper,  so  that  when  you  are  asked 
the  number  the  name  will  come  to  your 
mind,  and  reciprocally  "  (M.  Alber,  presti- 
digitator, in  La  Nature. 

Saints  and  Their  Flowers  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  193). — Bauhin  published  a  treatise  on  this 
subject  ("  De  plantis  adivis  sanctisve  nomen 
habentibus,"  Bale,  1591).  His  list  of 
plants  named  from  or  associated  with  the 
Madonna  is  very  long,  and  contains  many 
names  which  your  correspondent  "  M."  has 
not  mentioned.  M.  O. 

Greek  Ports  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  191,  etc.;.— 
Tiits,  in  Bithynia,  was  at  a  river's  mouth; 
so  were  Attalia,  in  Pamphylia,  and  Abdera, 
in  Thrace.  Amphipolis  was  near  a  river's 
mouth ;  also  Heraclea  in  Lucania,  and 
another  of  the  same  name  in  Sicily. 

C. 


Pullen  Family  (Vol.  iii,  p.  116). — 
In  "  Edward  Webbe,  his  Trauailles " 
(1590),  Edward  Pullens  is  given  as  the  name 
of  one  of  the  Englishmen  released  with 
Webbe  from  Turkish  slavery.  I  am  sorry 
to  have  to  add  that  Webbe's  story  is  not  one 
which  commends  itself  to  me  as  being  very 
trustworthy.  Prof.  Arber  and  other  critics 
commend  Webbe  as  an  honest  and  plain- 
spoken  Englishman,  but  some  of  his  re- 
corded experiences  are  clearly  fabulous. 

V. 

Kinnickinnick  (Vol.  vi,  p.  188,  etc.). 
— Using  this  term  in  its  correct  sense  of  an 
admixture  to  tobacco,  there  are  at  least  two 
or  three  noteworthy  substances  not  yet 
named  by  your  correspondents.  In  Texas, 
New  Mexico,  and  Mexico  proper  a  substance 
is  used  called  mata,  said  to  be  the  leaves  of 
a  fragrant  species  of  Eupatorium.  This  is 
said  to  be  an  admirable  material  for  pur- 
poses of  admixture  with  smoking  tobacco. 
The  Liatris  odoratissima,  deer's  tongue,  is 
also  used  for  this  purpose.  Its  leaves  are 
gathered  and  sold  as  Florida  Vanilla,  but 
this  name  is  objectionable,  since  Florida  has 
a  species  of  true  vanilla.  Canella,  a  bark 
which  is  brought  from  the  Bahamas,  and 
which  grows  to  some  extent  in  Florida,  is 
mixed  with  tobacco  by  some  smokers,  but  its 
use  is  condemned  by  experts  as  injurious. 

G.  P. 

Insane  Herbs  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  216,  etc.). 
— The  reference  to  loco-weeds  (of  which, 
by  the  way,  there  are  several  kinds,  of  at 
least  three  genera)  and  to  "  rattle  "-weeds, 
recalls  to  my  mind  the  fact  that  in  England 
the  common  buttercup  is  known  as  "crazy" 
among  rustic  folk,  and  it  is  vulgarly  be- 
lieved that  a  person  who  smellsof  its  flowers 
is  liable  to  go  mad.  E.  RAYMOND. 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 

Melon-shrub  (Vol.  vi,  p.  158).— One 
South  African  shrub  producing  excellent 
melons  (although  Mr.  Gallon  did  not  like 
them)  is  the  narras,  acanthosicyos  hortida,  a 
very  thorny  desert  shrub.  It  ought  to  do 
well  in  Southern  California. 

C.  H.  REED. 


226 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[March  7,  1891. 


Dark  Day  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  189,  etc.). — 
The  earliest  account  of  what  Whittier  has 
styled  "A  horror  of  great  darkness,"  I 
have  met  with,  is  in  verse  and  was  written  in 
the  month  immediately  succeeding  the 
memorable  event.  And  if  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
spake  truly  when  he  said,  "  Of  all  writers 
under  the  sunne  the  poet  is  the  least  Her," 
then  the  following  quaint  lines  of  a  con- 
temporary rhymester  serve  all  practical 
needs : 

"  Attend,  I  pray,  unto  my  lay, 

While  your  poor  bard  rehearses 
Things  strange  and  true,  as  e'er  you  knew, 
In  serio-comic  verses. 

"  Of  month  of  May  the  nineteenth  day, 

In  seventeen  hundred  eighty, 
Day  turned  to  night — a  doleful  sight  1 
And  caused  transactions  weighty. 

"  The  whippoorwill  sung  notes  most  shrill, 

Doves  to  their  cotes  retreated, 

And  all  the  fowls,  excepting  owls, 

Upon  their  roosts  were  seated. 

"  The  herds  and  flocks  stood  still  as  stocks, 

Or  to  their  folds  were  hieing, 
Men,  young  and  old,  dared  not  to  scold 
At  wives  and  children  crying. 

"  The  day  of  doom,  most  thought,  was  come, 

Throughout  New  England's  borders ; 
The  people,  scared,  felt  unprepar'd 
To  obey  the  dreadful  orders. 

"  Misers  grew  sad,  and  some  stark  mad, 

Not  knowing  what  safe  measures 
They  now  could  take,  secure  to  make, 
Their  dear,  ill-gotten  treasures. 

"  Those  on  the  lists  of  Calvinists, 
Were  held  in  awful  durance, 
Thought  on  their  ways,  in  by-gone  days, 
And  lost  their  '  full  assurance.' 

"  Arminians,  too,  securely,  who 

On  good  works  were  depending, 
Quite  conscious  grew,  upon  review, 
Their  best  works  needed  mending. 

"  The  Catholics  played  autie  tricks, 

Confessing  they  were  sinners ; 
Themselves  they  cross'd  and  fairly  lost 
Their  appetites  and  dinners. 

"  The  thought,  in  hell  that  some  must  dwell, 

Those  who  long  time  had  scouted, 
Now  stood  aghast  at  actions  past, 
And  Murray's  doctrine  doubted. 

"  The  self-deceiv'd,  who  ne'er  believed, 

Save  in  the  scoffer's  lore, 
Were  sore  afraid,  and  many  pray'd 
Who  never  prayed  before. 


"  Philosophy,  with  curious  eye, 

While  viewing  this  phenomenon, 
Like  all  the  rest,  freely  confest, 
It  was  a  most  uncommon  one. 

"  Soon  it  came  out,  to  ease  all  doubt, 

In  space  of  half  a  minute, 
Though  dark  the  day,  full  of  dismay, 
No  miracle  was  in  it. 

"  In  New  Hampshire,  the  woods  on  fire, 

Sent  smoke  up,  dense  and  smothering. 
Spread  round  the  sky  a  canopy      J 
O'er  all  the  Yankee  brethren. 

"  With  one  consent  did  they  repent, 

And  promise  reformation  ; 
But,  danger  o'er,  just  as  before, 
Their  sins  regain'd  possession. 

"  Now  to  conclude  my  ditty  rude, 
The  exhorter  I'll  assume — Oh, 
Be  all  prepared — lest  you  be  scar'd 
At  what  may  end  infumo." 

The  foregoing  was  written  in  June,  1780, 
but  appeared  in  print  for  the  first  time  more 
than  fifty  years  later,  in  the  New  England 
Magazine  t  of  May,  1833.  The  new  compila- 
tion of  Stedman  and  Hutchinson's  "Li- 
brary of  American  Literature"  does  not 
contain  the  ballad,  or  any  other,  as  far  as  I 
know. 

For  scientific  treatment  of  the  "  Dark 
Day,"  see  Dr.  Samuel  Tenney's  "Letter," 
December,  1785,  "Hist.  Coll.  Mass.;"  also, 
paper  in  "Memoirs  American  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences"  (1785),  by  Prof.  Wil- 
liams, of  Cambridge  University.  Still 
another  early  source  of  information  on  the 
same  subject  is  "History  of  Pestilential 
Diseases,"  Hartford,  1799.  MEN6NA. 

E  Pluribus  Unum(Vol.  vi,  p.  211). — 
A  similar  idea  underlies  the  motto  of  the 
Basque  Provinces  of  Spain,  "  Irurac  bat," 
the  three  are  one.  The  phrase,  "  we  are 
one,"  appears  on  a  Continental  (United 
States)  coin  struck  in  1776,  six  years  before 
the  adoption  of  the  national  seal  and  motto, 
and  again  upon  the  "  Fugio  "  or  "  Frank- 
lin "  cent  of  1787,  where  it  is  circumscribed 
by  the  words  "  United  States."  These  ex- 
pressions seem  to  be  the  natural  product  of 
the  times  and  circumstances.  Perhaps, 
after  all,  our  motto  is  only  the  vernacular  in 
classic  dress.  H.  L.  B. 

MEDIA,  PA. 


March  7,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


"227 


Hulder(Vol.  vi,  pp.  125,  etc.).— I  do 
not  think  the  word  hulder  can  mean  elder, 
since  Ascham  ("  Toxophilus,  B.,"  pp.  124, 
1 25 ,  Arher's  edition)  mentions  twice  both  the 
hulder  and  the  elder  as  having  the  same 
qualities  with  the  beech,  asp,  and  various 
other  woods.  I  would  therefore  suggest 
that  hulder  may  be  a  variant  spelling  of 
alder.  Possibly  hulder  may  be  a  localism, 
or  dialectal  variant.  If  so,  it  may  (not  im- 
probably) survive  in  that  part  of  Yorkshire 
where  Ascham  was  born  and  bred.  But 
Murray  does  not  give  hulder  as  a  spelling  of 
alder.  V. 

Musha  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  215,  etc.).— A. 
Estoclet  is  quite  right  in  saying  that  I  did 
not  intend  to  have  it  understood  that 
"  musha  "  (misha)  really  means  "  my  "  as  a 
possessive  case,  but  I  did  intend  to  have  it 
understood  that,  used  as  an  exclamation 
(which  was  the  original  question),  it  is 
synonymous  with  the  English  "Oh  my!" 
Thus,  Oh  Musha  /  Musha  /  would  be  best 
translated  into  English  by  the  expression, 
"Oh,  my!  Oh,  my!" 

As  to  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word 
(when  not  used  as  an  exclamation),  it  is 
safest  to  say  that  it  means  simply  "I;"  this, 
at  least,  is  its  commonest  signification,  al- 
though some  authorities  say  it  means  "my- 
self. ' '  For  example,  keed  misha,  means  sim- 
ply "Who  am  I?"  (I  spell  the  Irish  words  as 
they  are  pronounced).  Kish misha  gow lath 
means  "  I  will  bet  with  you;"  Hanic  an 
far  lay  a  vwil  misha  cosaivil  means  "the 
man  whom  I  am  like  to  came."  These  ex- 
amples could  be  multiplied  ad  infinitum,  but 
I  think  what  I  have  given  will  serve  to  show 
the  literal  meaning  of  misha  (vulgarly 
musha).  Another  example,  however,  that 
occurs  to  me  now,  is  that  form  of  expression 
used  by  the  peasantry  of  Ireland  in  gossip- 
ing with  each  other,  arsa  misha,  "says  I," 
agus  arsa  thissa,  "  and  says  you." 

With  regard  to  the  question  of  A. 
Estoclet's,  "Is  it  not  a  corruption  of  the  Irish 
ma. is  se  (=  if  it  be),"  I  think  I  would 
answer  in  the  negative,  for  the  best  au- 
thorities give  it  as  a  combination  of  me  and 
se.  The  word  is  spelled  mise,  but  pro- 
nounced misha.  J.  A.  L. 
NIAGARA  FALLS,  N.  Y. 


I  have  for  the  most  part  heard  musha  used 
as  an  exclamation  of  surprise,  much  as  Prof. 
Estoclet  explains  it.  I  had  once  an  honest 
friend,  a  laboring  man  of  great  natural  in- 
telligence, who  used  the  expression  very 
often.  He  was  from  the  County  Clare ;  I 
have  a  fancy  that  Clare,  Kerry  and  Limerick 
people  use  this  explanation  much  more  than 
some  others  of  their  fellow-Irishmen. 

K.  G.  R. 

Brazil,  Fortunate  Islands  and  Ara- 
bia Felix  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  191,  etc.).  — 
I  would  not  be  understood  as  saying 
that  Brandon's  Isle  was  the  original 
Hy-Bresail,  or  "land  of  the  blessed." 
Almost  every  primitive  people  that  believes 
in  a  hereafter,  or  future  state  of  life,  has  a 
Blessed  Country,  a  Kingdom  of  Ponemah, 
or  Happy  Hunting-grounds.  And  it  is  en- 
tirely certain  that  the  old  Celts,  in  ante- 
Patrician  times,  had  their  "  blessed  island  " 
located  somewhere  in  this  world.  The 
ancient  Hindu  sages  seem  to  have  thought 
that  the  island  of  Socotra  was  the  place  of 
departed  spirits;  they  are  said  to  have 
named  it  Dvipa-Sakhadhdra,  "  the  island  of 
the  abode  of  bliss;"  and  the  name  Socotra 
seems  to  be  identical  with  this  word 
Sakhadhdra.  This  originally  Sanskrit  name 
appears  to  have  been  translated  by 
Agatharchides  into  Nftffoi  eu3a{/j.ov£<;t  or 
"  happy  islands/'  a  term  which  probably  in- 
cluded Aden,  Perim,  Kuria-muria  and 
other  near-by  islands.  Indeed,  the  name 
Aden  means  "Eden,"  and  that  is  another 
"abode  of  the  blest."  The  Greeks  also 
called  Socotra  Dioscorides,  which  many  be- 
lieve to  be  a  corrupt  form  of  the  Sanskrit 
name  I  have  already  given.  These  Fortu- 
nate Islands  (eudaifiuves)  lie  off  the  coast  of 
Arabia  Felix  (eudaifuav);  and  this  appears  to 
confirm  the  statement  of  your  correspond- 
ent "Islander"  (Vol.  v,  p.  184),  that 
Arabia  Felix  is  really  Arabia  the  Fortunate. 
Nevertheless,  the  view  expressed  in  Vol.  vi, 
p.  26,  is  one  that  has  the  support  of  strong 
names  among  men  of  learning.  The  land 
of  the  Hesperidse,  with  its  golden  apples, 
was  in  the  far  West  (the  Irish  legends  place 
"  the  land  of  apples  "  in  the  West.  See 
"Avalon,"  Vol.v,  p.  153).  The  late  identifi- 
cation of  the  Hesperid  Isles  with  the  Cape 


228 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[March  7,  1891. 


Verde  islands,  or  with  the  Bissago  group,  is 
not  important  to  our  present  purpose.  Some 
antiquarians  think  that  the  Fortunate  Islands 
of  the  Atlantic  were  distinct  from  the  Hes- 
peridan  country  ;  but  they  are  only  another 
phase  or  example  of  the  same  class  of  be- 
liefs.  lambulus  is  said  to  have  written  a 
book  about  the  Fortunate  Islands ;  but  it 
would  appear  to  have  been  a  mere  romance. 

M. 

Source  of  the  Mississippi. — The  Min- 
nesota Historical  Society  has  settled  the  ques- 
tion raised  by  one  Glazier,  finding  that 
neither  Itasca,  Elk,  nor  VVhipple  lake  is  the 
true  source,  but  rather  two  small  lakes  west 
of  Itasca  and  100  feet  above  it.  A  State 
law  has  declared  that  the  official  name  of 
the  so-called  Lake  Glazier  is  Elk  lake,  and 
forbids  the  use  in  public  school  of  books  or 
maps  which  call  it  Lake  Glazier.  V. 


AND   E>EF$IODIGAUS. 


The  Century  for  March  has  a  third  installment  of  the 
famous  Talleyrand  Memoirs.  This  installment  deals 
with  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Josephine,  and  the  Emperor 
Alexander. 

The  California  series  this  month  takes  up  the  Fremont 
explorations,  first  with  a  brief  paper  giving  a  resume  of 
the  five  explorations;  second,  with  a  paper  by  Mrs. 
Frdmontonthe  "  Origin  of  the  Fremont  Explorations;" 
and  third,  with  a  posthumous  narrative  of  the  terrible 
experiences  of  the  fourth  expedition  under  the  title  of 
"  Rough  Times  in  Rough  Places,"  it  being  a  personal 
record  of  Micajah  McGehee  of  Mississippi.  Included 
are  portraits  of  Thomas  H.  Benton,  the  late  George 
Bancroft,  from  a  daguerreotype,  Mrs.  Fremont  from  a 
miniature,  and  a  drawing  of  Fremont's  address  to  the 
Indians  at  Fort  Laramie,  also  portraits  of  Jim  Bridger, 
Alexis  Godey  and  Charles  Preuss,  besides  other  illus- 
trative material.  Mrs.  Fremont  tells  how  she  disobeyed 
orders  of  the  War  Department  sent  to  her  husband,  and 
the  McGehee  narrative  gives  a  graphic  account  of 
starvation  experiences  of  the  ill-fated  fourth  expedition. 

To  the  department  of  "  Californiana  "  Prof.  Royce 
of  Harvard  College  contributes  some  new  documents 
on  the  "  Bear  Flag  "  affair  taken  from  the  private 
papers  of  Commander  John  B.  Montgomery  of  the 
Portsmouth,  stationed  at  San  Francisco  during  the  con- 
quest of  California.  General  J.  F.  B.  Marshall  makes 
record  of  three  Gold  Dust  stories  ;  first,  "  How  Cali- 
fornia Gold  was  sent  to  Boston  in  1841  ;"  second,  "  The 
First  California  Gold  in  Australia,"  and  third,  "  The 
First  California  Gold  in  Wall  Street,"  the  last  being  a 
story  of  P.  T.  Barnum's  relations  to  the  gold  excitement. 


The  frontispiece  of  the  number  is  a  new  portrait  of 
Bryant  without  the  familiar  beard.  This  is  from  an  old 
daguerreotype,  and  is  printed  in  connection  with  a  his- 
torical and  illustrated  article  on  the  old  and  well-known 
Century  Club  of  New  York  City,  which  has  among  its 
illustrations  pictures  of  the  recent  home  of  the  Club  in 
Fifteenth  street,  and  portraits  of  Gulian  C. Verplanck,  the 
first  President  of  the  Club,  and  Daniel  Huntington,  the 
present  President.  Bishop  Potter,  first  Vice  President, 
and  several  other  officers.  There  are  pictures  also  of 
the  new  building  of  the  Club  on  Forty-third  street. 

"  General  Crook  in  the  Indian  Country,"  by  Captain 
John  G.  Bourke,  is  a  paper  that  has  been  in  prepara- 
tion for  several  months,  and  derives  a  special  and 
timely  interest  from  the  present  Indian  troubles.  It  has 
been  profusely  illustrated  by  Frederic  Remington  with 
pictures  typical  of  soldier  life  in  the  Indian  country. 

Lieutenant  Horace  Carpenter,  of  New  Orleans,  in  his 
entertaining  article  on  "  Plain  Living  at  Johnson's 
Island,"  describes  the  hardships,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  a  Confederate  prisoner,  of  a  sojourn  in  the  war 
prison  on  Lake  Erie,  near  Sandusky.  Only  officers  were 
confined  on  Johnson's  island  ;  and  according  to  Lieu- 
tenant Carpenter  they  were  for  months  at  the  mercy  of 
hunger  and  freezing  weather. 

The  second  article  on  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  in  the 
Southern  Hemisphere"  is  devoted  to  Australian  cities, 
their  advantages,  and  their  unusual  problems. 

A  feature  of  this  number  is  a  curious  story  by  Edith 
Robinson  called  "  Pen-hallow,"  with  two  full-page 
pictures  by  Will  H.  Low.  Dr.  Eggleston's  serial, 
"  The  Faith  Doctor,"  is  continued,  as  well  as  "Colonel 
Carter  of  Cartersville,"  and  there  is  a  strictly  true  story, 
"  The  Mystery  of  the  Sea,"  by  Prof.  Buttolph,  and  a 
humorous  skit,  "  The  Utopian  Pointer,"  by  David 
Dodge.  Mr.  Rockhill  gives  the  last  installment  of  his 
account  of  journey  ings  through  Eastern  Tibet  and  Cen- 
tral China. 

Among  the  poets  of  this  number  are  Celia  Thaxter, 
Edgar  Fawcett,  Rose  Hawthorne  Lathrop,  and  the  late 
Charles  Henry  Liiders. 

In  "  Topics  of  the  Time  "  and  "  Open  Letters  " 
there  are,  among  other  things,  discussions  of  Finance, 
Municipal  Reform,  Journalism,  Civil  Service  Reform, 
Working  Girls'  Clubs,  the  American  Desert,  etc. ;  also, 
an  account  of  "  Two  Interviews  with  Robert  E.  Lee," 
and  something  concerning  the  relations  between  Wash- 
ington and  Talleyrand. 

IN  our  days,  the  selling  prices  of  books  are  subject  to 
the  most  surprising  changes ;  it  is,  therefore,  of  the 
highest  import  to  booksellers  and  book  lovers  to  be  kept 
faithfully  informed  of  such  differences,  almost  incredi- 
ble, which,  however,  are  sufficiently  accounted  for  by 
some  new  fashionable  taste,  the  efforts  of  speculation, 
the  hasty  impulses  of  competition  -during  a  sale,  or 
merely  the  fickle  fancy  of  fastidious  bibliophiles.  Thus 
it  happens  that,  within  a  few  months,  the  same  work — 
sometimes  the  very  same  copy — will  rise  or  fall  in  value 
beyond  all  possible  expectation.  One  great  advantage, 
then,  among  others,  to  be  derived  from  our  Biblio- 
graphie  instructive,  is  to  see  at  once,  whenever  needed, 
the  present  and  actual  worth  of  any  fine  and  rare  book, 
in  all  branches  of  literature  whatsoever.  The  subscrip- 
tion (16  francs,  or  izs.  6d.,  twenty-four  parts  a  year), 
far  from  being  expensive,  will  be  amply  repaid  by  the 
large  quantity  of  interesting  and  valuable  information 
contained  in  every  number  of  the  Manuel  du  Bibliophile 
et  du  Libraire.  (Office :  Ed.  Rouveyre,  76,  rue  de 
Seine,  Paris.) 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Vagaries  of  Fashion,  229. 

QUERIES  :— Estotiland— Colleges,  232— Two-headed  Snake 
— Rachel  and  Rahel — Nabalus,  233. 

REPLIES  :— Seeing  Stars  in  Day-time— Prince  of  Wales — 
Lamb  Tree,  233 — Devil  Literature — The  Bastard  Heron,  234 
— By  the  Street  of  Bye  and  Bye — llle  hie  est  Raphael,  etc., 
235— -Wearing  Cap  on  all  Occasions,  236. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :— Cotnar— Over- 
flow of  the  Gall— First  Romance  Published  in  United  States 
— Masonic  Poets-Laureate — Whom  Biserta  Sent,  etc. — Seven 
Wonders  of  Wales,  236. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Visions,  236— Rivers  Flowing  In- 
land—King of  Jerusalem,  237 — Bulls— Razor-strop  Man- 
Parallel  Passages— Arcadia,  238— Bottle  Imp — Eccentric 
Burials — Jewish  Abbreviated  Names — Flower  of  Burgundy 
239 — Symmes'  Hole— Compound  Marine  Engine— Silver 
Sister-world — Chambers  of  Rhetoric,  240. 

ftOTES. 

VAGARIES  OF  FASHION. 

Hadrian  was  the  first  Roman  emperor 
who  wore  a  beard,  and  he  did  so  to  hide 
some  warts  on  his  throat ;  with  him  the 
Roman  type  of  face  begins  to  disappear. 
Mr.  Merivale  says  that  Trajan's  was  the  last 
face  to  show  that  type — aquiline  nose,  broad 
and  low  forehead,  angular  chin  and  firmly 
compressed  lips.  All  French  courtiers  wore 
beards  in  honor  of  Francis  I,  who  let  his 
grow  to  conceal  a  scar ;  all  shaved  when 
Louis  XIII  came  to  the  throne  at  the  age  of 
nine  to  compliment  hisbeardlessness.  Francis 
I  also  set  fashions  for  the  hair;  he  was 
wounded  in  the  head  and  had  to  cut  off  his 
flowing  locks;  all  his  court  did  likewise. 
Louis  XIII  allowed  his  hair  to  grow;  all 
then  adopted  perruques  to  imitate  the 


230 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  14,  1891. 


natural  abundance  of  his  "  chevelure." 
They  also  wore  a  barbiche  or  barbichon,  a 
tuft  on  the  chin,  called  a  "  royale"  at  that 
time  because  introduced  by  Louis  XIII  in 
opposition  to  the  Huguenot  beard  of  his 
father,  Henri  IV.  Fashion  in  beards  has 
always  followed  majesty — a  certain  way  of 
wearing  the  beard  was  called  a  royale,  and 
the  little  tuft  beneath  the  lower  lip  was 
known  by  the  term  imperiale.  Napoleon  III 
wore  such  a  tuft,  hence  the  name.  Philip  of 
Anjou,  King  of  Spain,  and  fifth  of  that  name, 
had  no  beard,  and  though  beards  and 
mustaches  had  always  been  highly  treasured 
in  Spain,  his  natural  infirmity  was  affected 
by  his  courtiers,  but  the  shaven  Dons  were 
wont  to  say  with  a  sigh,  "  Since  we  have 
lost  our  beards,  we  have  lost  our  souls." 
Servan,  in  his  "  Guerres  des  Francais  en 
Italic,"  tells  us  that  the  warrior-pope, 
Julius  II,  was  the  first  who  wore  a  beard, 
"  thinking  by  that  singularity  to  inspire  the 
people  with  greater  respect  for  him."  The 
Italian  nobility  imitated  him,  and  from  that 
time  beards  became  generally  worn  at  the 
European  courts.  Louis  VII  of  France,  to 
obey  the  priests,  shaved  his  beard  and  cut 
his  hair  short.  His  high-spirited  consort, 
Eleonora,  found  this  ridiculous,  stigmatized 
him  as  a  monk  rather  than  a  monarch,  re- 
venged herself  as  she  saw  proper,  and  the 
poor  shaved  king  got  a  divorce.  She  had 
for  dower  the  great  territories  of  Guienne 
and  Poitou,  and  carried  them  to  her  second 
husband,  Henry  II,  King  of  England,  hence 
the  wars  which  devastated  France  for  300 
years  and  cost  the  lives  of  three  millions  of 
men.  Marie  Antoinette's  hair  fell  out  in 
consequence  of  a  confinement,  and  her  ladies 
wore  theirs  a  F  enfant  in  compliment. 
Madame  de  Fontange,  favorite  of  Louis 
XIV,  one  day  while  hunting  so  deranged 
her  hair  that  it  fell  on  her  shoulders ;  she 
hastily  tied  it  up  with  her  blue  ribbon  garter, 
hence  the  head-dress  greatly  in  vogue  called 
the  "  Fontange."  The  ladies  of  Provence 
were  so  infatuated  with  the  "  Fontange" 
that  many  requested  that  their  hair  might 
be  so  arranged  in  their  coffins.  The  Round- 
heads adopted  periwigs  in  1660  to  conceal 
their  cropped  heads  and  the  fashion  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  cavaliers.  Full-bottomed  wigs 
were  invented  by  a  barber,  one  Duvillier,  to 


hide  an  elevation  on  the  shoulder  of  the 
Dauphin,  and  Louis  XIV  wore  a  long  curling 
wig  to  cover  his  high  shoulders.  Henri  IV 
is  said  to  have  invented  hair  powder  to  con- 
ceal his  gray  hair.  Anne  of  Austria  was  a 
"Spanish  blonde."  Marie  Therese,  queen 
to  her  son,  Louis  XIV;  Madame  de 
Longueville ;  the  heroine  of  the  Fronde, 
Mademoiselle  de  la  Valiere  and  Madame  de 
Fontange  were  all  fair,  hence  the  fashion  of 
dyeing  the  hair  golden,  to  imitate  the  reign- 
ing beauties  of  the  day.  Foulques,  Earl  of 
Anjou,  had  ill-formed  feet,  disfigured  with 
corns  and  bunions ;  he  invented  the  im- 
mense, horned  shoes  to  hide  the  defect  and 
the  fashion  was  followed  by  many  or  all 
whose  feet  were  perfect.  Henry  VIII  of 
England  had  swelled  feet  and  all  the 
courtiers  wore  their  shoes  six  inches  wide 
across  the  toes.  They  also  padded  out  their 
clothes  to  look  as  big  as  the  king ;  the 
sleeves  were  sometimes  so  tight  that  they 
had  to  be  sewed  on  every  day.  He  was  six 
feet  four  inches  in  height,  and  of  immense 
strength  and  weight.  Charles  VII  of  France 
was  an  insignificant  little  fellow,  with  short 
legs  and  loaded  with  imperfections  of  form. 
To  conceal  these  defects,  he  adopted  a  long 
costume  to  make  him  seem  tall,  and  wore 
false  shoulders,  called  mahoitres,  probably 
the  origin  of  Epaulettes.  We  are  told  that 
the  Emperor  Frederick  III  of  Germany  wore 
a  long  robe  of  cloth  of  gold  bordered  with 
pearls  in  the  Turkish  fashion  at  the  meeting 
he  had  with  Charles  the  Bold  of  Burgundy  ; 
he  wore  it  long  to  hide  his  distorted  foot, 
which  was  the  consequence  of  his  bad  habit  of 
kicking  open  every  door  through  which  he 
passed,  and  this  awkward  trick  was  ultimately 
the  cause  of  his  death.  Isabeau  of  Bavaria, 
queen  to  Charles  VI  of  France,  remarkable 
for  her  beauty  and  the  fairness  of  her  skin, 
introduced  the  fashion  of  low-necked  dresses. 
Great  scandal  was  excited,  because  she  wore, 
in  spite  of  the  troubles  in  France,  a  linen 
shift  and  a  cap  with  two  high  peaks.  Her 
extravagance  in  owning  two  linen  shifts  was 
considered  outrageous ;  the  court-belles  wore 
serge.  She  was  so  proud  of  her  underwear 
that  she  had  her  dresses  open  at  the  neck  and 
sleeves  to  display  it,  hence  undersleeves  and 
chemisettes.  The  "  Cid,"  at  his  wedding, 
wore  a  slashed  leather  jacket  or  jerkin  in 


March  14,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


231 


memory  of  the  many  slashes  he  had  given 
and  received  in  the  field.  The  wife  of  the 
Archduke  Albert,  Governor  of  the  Nether- 
lands, Isabella,  daughter  of  the  mighty 
Philip  II  of  Spain,  vowed  that  she  would  not 
change  her  linen  until  Ostend  was  taken  and 
had  to  wait  three  years  for  the  event,  hence 
the  "Couleur  Isabelle."  At  the  court  of 
Henri  II  of  France,  a  curious  fashion  was 
followed.  His  favorite  Diane  de  Poitiers  was 
a  widow  (and  furthermore,  twenty  years  his 
senior).  Mourning  colors,  black  and  silver 
or  white,  were  the  universal  wear ;  watches  in 
the  form  of  skulls  were  worn,  jewels  and 
pendants  like  coffins  and  rings  with  skulls 
and  skeletons.  Henri  wore  her  colors  to  the 
day  of  the  fatal  tournament  in  1559,  when  he 
was  killed  by  the  Comte  de  Montgommeri. 
His  son,  Henri  III,  after  the  death  of  Marie 
de  Cleves,  Princesse  de  Conde,  whom  he 
had  greatly  loved,  wore  death's  heads  on  his 
aiguillettes.  There  were  numberless  singu- 
lar names  for  fashionable  colors  in  Henri's 
day;  some  of  them  were  the  "sick  ape,"  the 
"  dying  Spaniard  "  and  the  "  Seven  capital 
sins."  Before  the  days  of  Anne  of  Brittany, 
queen  to  Charles  VIII  of  France,  a  royal 
widow  had  always  worn  white  mourning  and 
was  called  "  La  Reine  blanche."  A  portrait 
of  Marie  Stuart  while  thus  mourning  for  her 
first  husband,  Francis  II  of  France,  appeared 
in  the  Century  Magazine  for  February,  1889. 
When  Charles  died  Anne  ordered  that  black 
should  be  worn  instead,  its  unchangeable 
color  being  suited  to  the  outward  expression 
of  lasting  grief.  She  wore  black  herself  in- 
stead of  the  customary  white  to  show  her 
deep  grief  for  the  loss  of  her  husband,  yet 
within  nine  months  of  his  death,  Anne  ex- 
changed her  sable  robes,  symbolic  of  the 
constancy  of  sorrow,  for  the  rich  and  elegant 
costume  of  blue  and  gold  damask  in  which 
for  the  second  time  she  became  a  king's 
bride,  the  wife  of  Louis  XII  of  France,  her 
first  husband's  cousin  and  successor.  Philip 
IV  of  Spain  invented  a  kind  of  collar  called 
a  golilea,  a  stiff  linen  affair  projecting  at 
right  angles  from  the  neck.  Madame 
d'Aulnoy,  in  her  "  Voyage  d'Espagne,"  tells 
us  that  one  king  was  so  proud  of  it  that  he 
celebrated  its  invention  by  a  festival,  fol- 
lowed by  a  procession  to  church  to  thank 
God  for  it.  In  regard  to  the  wonderful 


structure  of  Philip's  mustaches,  which  he 
wore  curled  up  to  his  eyes,  it  is  said  that  to 
prevent  their  losing  shape,  they  were  encased 
during  the  night  in  perfumed  leather  covers 
called  "bigoteras."  The  ruff  was  intro- 
duced to  hide  the  yellow  neck  of  the  Queen 
of  Navarre,  and  Henri  II  wore  it  to  conceal 
a  scar  on  his  neck.  Patches  were  invented 
in  England  by  a  foreign  lady  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  IV  to  hide  a  wen  on  her  neck. 
Ruffs  were  left  off  by  Henri  III,  who  fancied 
that  the  person  whose  business  it  was  to  pin 
it  had  been  bribed  by  his  brother,  Francois 
d'Alencon,  to  scratch  him  on  the  nape  of 
his  neck  with  a  poisoned  pin.  The  "bolster 
cravat"  was  introduced  by  George  IV,  to 
conceal  a  wen  on  his  neck.  Anne  Boleyn 
had  a  large  mole  on  her  throat  like  a  straw- 
berry, which  she  covered  with  an  ornamental 
collar-band,  a  fashion  followed  by  the  other 
maids  of  honor,  though  needless  in  their  cases. 
Her  daughter,  Elizabeth,  who  had  a  yellow 
throat,  wore  the  highest  and  stiffest  ruffs  in 
Europe,  except  those  of  the  Queen  of 
Navarre.  They  were  made  of  the  finest  cut 
work,  enriched  with  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones,  while  she  used  up  endless 
yards  of  purl  (bone-lace)  pearls,  bugles  and 
spangles  in  the  manufacture  of  her  "  three- 
piled  ruff."  Starch  was  introduced  into 
England  in  Elizabeth's  day,  but  the  use  of 
colored  starch,  especially  yellow,  for  stiffen- 
ing ruffs  and  bands  was  brought  from  France 
by  Mrs.  Anne  Turner  (see  AMERICAN  NOTES 
AND  QUERIES,  Vol.  v,  p.  1 70).  The  high  mili- 
tary collar,  so  much  in  vogue  for  the  past 
few  years,  is  ascribed  to  the  Princess  of  Wales, 
who  thus  conceals  some  defect  in  her  throat. 
Another  contemporary  royal  lady,  Mar- 
gherita  of  Savoy,  Queen  of  Italy,  is  very  fond 
of  pearls,  and  wears  them  round  her  neck  in 
rows  upon  rows.  Her  husband  often  adds 
more  to  her  possessions,  so  that  her  neck- 
lace now  reaches  below  her  waist.  It  is 
hinted  that  she  wears  so  many  to  hide  a  ten- 
dency to  goitre  common  among  Savoyards. 
Bernardin  de  St.  Pierre's  story  of  "  Paul 
and  Virginia  "  quite  turned  the  heads  of  the 
Parisians  in  their  frenzy  for  simplicity  and 
nature.  He  attired  his  heroine  in  white 
muslin  with  a  hat  of  plain  straw.  Silks  and 
satins,  powder  and  pomatum  vanished  as  if 
by  magic,  while  the  whole  world  from  queen 


232 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  14,  1891. 


to  waiting-maid  appeared  in  white  muslin 
and  straw  hats.  In  1759,  Silhouette  was 
minister  of  State  in  France,  and  made  an  ef- 
fort to  introduce  economical  measures  into 
the  administration  of  the  government  which 
was  overwhelmed  in  debt.  Every  one 
joined  in  ridiculing  the  idea ;  short  coats 
were  worn  without  sleeves,  wooden  snuff- 
boxes were  carried,  and  portraits  were  only 
profiles  of  the  face  traced  on  white  paper  in 
black,  hence  Silhouette.  He  was  driven 
into  retirement,  leaving  nothing  to  perpetu- 
ate his  name,  but  this  melancholy  style  of 
picture.  During  the  civil  wars  of  the 
Fronde,  hat  strings,  bread,  hats,  gloves, 
handkerchiefs  and  fans  were  all  made  in  the 
form  of  slings.  The  Frondeurs  were  so  called 
from  the  gamins  of  Paris,  who  fought  each 
other  in  the  streets  with  slings  (frondes)  and 
stones.  The  enemies  of  Mazarin  adopted 
hat  bands  in  the  forms  of  slings,  hence, 
"  frondeurs."  The  "Palatine"  was  a 
fichu  of  muslin  or  other  diaphanous  stuff, 
christened  after  the  Princess  Palatine,  Eliza- 
beth Charlotte  of  Bavaria,  second  wife  to 
Philip  Due  d' Orleans,  brother  to  the  great 
Louis  XIV.  She  was  a  sturdy,  sensible, 
German  princess,  who  was  shocked  at  the 
exposed  bosoms  of  the  French  ladies.  The 
Empress  Josephine,  though  graceful  and 
lovely,  had  dark  and  ugly  teeth ;  before  her 
days,  a  handkerchief  was  entirely  a  private 
article  of  use,  not  ornament,  and  never  seen 
or  used  in  public.  She  introduced  small 
squares  of  cambric,  edged  with  rich  lace, 
which  she  held  in  her  hand  and  lifted  to  her 
lips  as  she  talked,  thus  concealing  the  de- 
fects of  her  teeth.  After  Napoleon's  fall, 
the  Legitimists  used  the  color  of  his  liveries 
[which  was  green]  for  their  shoes,  that  the 
imperial  color  might  be  trampled  under  foot, 
thus  testifying  their  hatred  of  the  fallen  ad- 
venturer. Madame  Hugo,  mother  of  Victor 
Hugo,  is  chronicled  as  one  of  the  ladies  who 
wore  only  the  green  shoes.  In  1848,  the 
year  of  revolution  was  first  disused  the 
fashion  of  wearing  lace  ruffles  on  the  court- 
dress,  thus  signifying  the  entire  passing 
away  of  the  "old  regime,"  so  elegantly  por- 
trayed for  us  by  W.  Taine.  One  summer's 
day,  in  1775,  Marie  Antoinette  came  before 
the  court  in  a  robe  of  brown  sarcenet.  "  It 
is  the  color  of  fleas,"  remarked  the  king. 


This  word  made  the  fortune  of  it;  all  the 
world  wore  flea  color ;  among  the  shades  were 
"old  flea"  and  "young  flea,"  "flea's 
back,"  "  flea's  belly,"  and  "flea's  thigh," 
hence  puce  color.  Agnes  Sorel,  Dame  de  la 
Beaut6,  favorite  of  Charles  VII  of  France, 
wore  the  first  set  of  cut  and  polished  dia- 
monds, introduced  by  Jacques  Cceur,  the 
princely  merchant.  To  show  the  extreme 
fairness  of  her  skin,  and  the  beautiful  con- 
tour of  her  bust,  Agnes  had  her  dresses  cut 
"  d£colletes,"  thus  introducing  that  fashion 
into  France.  An  opal  figures  in  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  novel  of  "  Anne  of  Geierstein,"  and 
its  possession  was  fatal  to  the  family  of  the 
heroine.  The  idea  that  they  were  unlucky 
obtained  such  currency  that  after  the  pub- 
lication of  the  novel  they  went  out  of 
fashion.  When  Miss  Grant  married  Mr. 
Sartoris,  she  had  among  her  presents  a  set 
of  opals.  Much  was  said  about  the  ill  omen, 
and  if  report  is  to  be  believed,  her  marriage 
has  been  a  wretched  one.  It  is  even  asserted 
that  they  are  especially  unlucky  when  given 
to  a  bride.  E.  P. 

BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 

gUE  1^1  B  S. 

Estotiland. — Your  correspondents  have 
written  much  about  Norumbega;  can  they 
tell  us  about  Milton's  "cold  Estotiland?" 

V. 

Bohun's  "  Geographical  Dictionary," 
1695,  says:  "  Estotilandia,  a  great  tract  of 
land,  in  the  North  of  America,  towards  the 
Arctic  circle  and  Hudson's  Bay,  having  New 
France  on  the  south,  and  Jame's  Bay  on  the 
west,  the  first  of  American  shores  discovered, 
being  found  by  some  Friesland  Fishers  that 
were  driven  hither  by  a  tempest  almost  two 
hundred  years  before  Columbus."  It  would 
seem  to  have  been  the  same  as  the  peninsula 
of  Labrador,  taken  in  its  geographical  sense. 

Colleges. — What  is  the  northernmost 
college  in  the  United  States? 

ENO  B.  SWORDS. 

A  correspondent  to  whom  this  question 
was  referred  replies  that  Gonzaga  College  at 
Spokane  Falls  is  probably  the  most  northern 


March  14,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


233 


in  this  country,  and  the  Roman  Catholic 
College  at  Van  Buren,  Me.,  is  the  eastern- 
most. He  adds  that  there  is  or  was  a  simi- 
lar institution  at  Brownsville,  Tex.,  the 
most  southern  of  all.  These  three  are  Roman 
Catholic.  He  thinks  that  Philomath  Col- 
lege in  Oregon  is  the  westernmost  in  this 
country. 

Two-headed  Snake.— Cotton  Mather, 
J.  G.  Whittier  and  several  other  New  Eng- 
land authors,  allude  to  the  two-headed  snake 
of  Newbury.  Can  any  of  your  corre- 
spondents give  me  any  information  about 
this  creature,  or  about  any  other  two-headed 
snakes  ?  W.  T.  W. 

CAIRO,  ILL. 

The  ancients  believed  that  there  were  two- 
headed  snakes  called  Amphisbana,  that  would 
crawl  in  either  direction.  We  were  informed 
not  long  since  by  a  missionary  from  Ganjam, 
in  India,  that  he  had  seen  two-headed  snakes, 
but  naturalists  say  that  the  two-headed 
snakes  of  India  are  artificial;  a  serpent's 
tail  is  cut  off,  and  a  head-like  stump  is 
formed.  The  creature  is  then  exhibited  by 
snake  charmers  as  a  natural  wonder.  We 
are  under  the  impression  that  the  story  of 
the  two-headed  snake  of  Newbury  is  now 
only  a  dim  tradition. 

Rachel  and  Rahel.—  Are  these  names  ap- 
plied to  one  and  the  same  person  ? 

S.  F.  C. 
GALION,  O. 

No,  Rachel  was  a  celebrated  actress,  of 
whose  career  any  cyclopaedia  will  give  you 
the  particulars.  Rahel  (Rahel  Levin),  a 
Jewess  by  birth,  was  the  gifted  and  brilliant 
centre  of  a  circle  of  admirers  in  Berlin. 
She  married  Varnhagen  von  Ense,  an  author 
and  public  man  of  Germany. 

Nabalus.— What  is  the  origin  of  this 
word  ?  C. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

It  is  the  name  of  a  genus  (or  subgenus)  of 
plants.  The  "Century  Dictionary"  refers 
its  origin  to  Cassini  (1826),  and  states  that 
Asa  Gray  derives  it  from  the  Greek  vdftfa, 
a  harp;  whilst  others  say  it  is  a  North 


American  native  name.  But  if  I  remember 
aright,  the  old  edition  of  Wood's  "Botany" 
(perhaps  incorrectly)  cites  from  Linnaeus 
a  remark  concerning  this  name :  Nomen 
omnino  sensus  expers,  forte  mutandum.  If 
this  quotation  be  properly  ascribed  to  Lin- 
naeus, and  if  it  had  reference  originally 
to  the  word  in  question,  the  latter  must  be 
much  older  than  1826.  Wood's  latest  edi- 
tions, however,  ascribe  the  name  to  Cassini. 

REPLIES. 

Seeing  Stars  in  Day-time  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
211). — Stars  can  be  seen  in  the  day-time 
from  the  bottom  of  a  well  or  shaft.  The 
long  dark  tube  shuts  out  all  side  rays  of  sun- 
light and  the  eye,  accustomed  to  the  gloom, 
can  see  stars  indistinguishable  by  "  broad 
daylight."  E.  P. 

BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 

Prince  of  Wales  (Vol.  vi,  p.  210). — This 
title  is  born  by  the  eldest  son  of  the  sover- 
eign of  Great  Britain.  When  Wales  was 
conquered  it  was  created  into  a  principality, 
and  Henry  III  created  his  son  Prince  of 
Wales.  It  is  a  title  of  honor,  and  was  given 
as  a  salve  to  the  Welsh  when  they  were  con- 
quered by  the  English.  It  is  said  that 
Edward  I  promised  the  Welsh  people  that 
the  Prince  who  should  bear  the  title  should 
hereafter  be  born  upon  Welsh  soil  and  in- 
structed in  the  Welsh  language.  He  com- 
plied with  a  portion  of  his  promise,  as  his 
son  Edward  was  born  at  Carnavon  Castle, 
but  he  was  the  first  and  last  Welsh-born 
prince.  THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Lamb  Tree  (Vol.  vi,  p.  211).— Mr.  Wright 
will  find  in  "The  Ambassadors  from  the 
Duke  of  Holstein's  Travels  into  Muscovy 
and  Persia"  ,(l636)>  a  description  of  a 
gourd  growing  (not  on  a  tree,  however)  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  city  of  Samara,  in 
Russia,  which  closely  resembles  a  lamb  "in 
all  its  members,"  and  is  so  called  by  the 
natives.  "  It  changes  place  in  growing,  as 
far  as  the  stalk  will  reach,  and  wherever  it 
turns  the  grass  withers,  which  the  Muscovites 
call  feeding  ;  they  further  say,  that  when  it 


234 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  14,  1891. 


ripens  the  stalk  withers,  and  the  outward 
rind  is  covered  with  a  kind  of  hair,  which 
they  use  instead  of  fur.  They  shew'd  us 
some  of  these  skins,  which  were  covered 
with  a  soft  frizling  wool,  not  unlike  that  of 
a  lamb  newly  wean'd,  and  swore  that  they 
came  from  that  fruit."  According  to  the 
work  from  which  I  have  quoted,  Scaliger 
speaks  of  them,  and  says  that  they  grow  un- 
til the  grass  fails  them,  when  they  die  for 
want  of  nourishment.  He  also  says  that  the 
wolf  is  the  only  animal  that  feeds  upon  it, 
and  that  it  is  used  as  a  bait  to  catch  him, 
which  statement  the  ambassadors  say  agrees 
with  what  the  Muscovites  affirmed  to  them. 


E.  G.  KEEN. 


WARWICK,  PA. 


Devil  Literature  (Vol.  vi,  p.  223). — I 
will  cite  a  few  books  that  may  be  assigned 
to  this  class  :  i.  "  The  Political  History  of 
the  Devil,"  by  Daniel  Defoe  (1706).  2.  Le 
Sage's  "Le  Diable  Boiteux  "  (1707).  3. 
Guevara's  "  Diablo  Cojuelo."  4.  James  I 
of  Great  Britain,  "  Demonologie  "  (1597). 
5.  Sir  W.  Scott,  "  Letters  on  Demonology 
and  Witchcraft"  (1829).  6.  Wierus,  "  De 
Prsestigiis  Daemonum "  (1563).  In  Bur- 
ton's "  Anat.  of  Melancholy,"  p.  i,  Sec.  2, 
Mem.  i,  Subs.  2,  there  is  "A  Digression 
of  the  Nature  of  Spirits,  Bad  Angels,  or 
Devils."  Bodin,  in  1580,  published  a 
"  Demonomania  des  Sorciers."  N.  S.  S. 

Following  are  some  notable  contributions 
to  devil-lore : 

"  Devil  is  an  Ass,"  a  drama  by  Ben  Jon- 
son  (1574-1637). 

"Devil's  Law  Case,"  a  drama  by  John 
Webster  (1582-1638). 

"  The  Political  History  of  the  Devil  and 
a  System  of  Magic,"  by  Daniel  Defoe 
(1661-1731). 

"  The  Devil's  Progress,"  a  satirical  poem, 
by  Thomas  Kibble  Hervey  (1779-1859). 

"Le  Diable  Boiteux"  ("The  Lame  Devil," 
known  in  English  as  "The  Devil  on  Two 
Sticks  "),  a  romance  by  Alain  Rene  Le  Sage 

(1668-1747). 

"The  Devil  Upon  Two  Sticks  in  Eng- 
land," a  continuation  of  Le  Sage's  "  Le 
Diable  Boiteux,"  by  William  Combe  (1741- 
1823). 


"  The  Devil  Upon  Two  Sticks,"  a  comic 
drama  by  Samuel  Foote  (1721-1777). 

"Address  to  the  Deil,"  a  poem  by 
Robert  Burns  (1759-1796). 

"The  Devil's  Dream  on  Mt.  Aksbeck," 
a  poem  by  Thomas  Aird  (1802-1876). 

"The  Devil's  Thoughts,"  a  humorous 
poem  by  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  (1772- 
I834),  the  first,  second,  third,  ninth  and 
sixteenth  stanzas  of  which  were  dictated  by 
Robert  Southey. 

"  The  Devil's  Walk,"  a  poem  by  Robert 
Southey  (1774-1843). 

CONVERSE  CLEAVES. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

The  Bastard  Heron  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  2 1 1 ,  etc. ) . 
— John  Heron,  the  Bastard,  was  an  older 
brother  of  Sir  William  Heron, 

"  Baron  of  Twisell  and  of  Ford, 
And  Castellan  of  the  Hold," 

who  died  in  1535,  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
In  "  Marmion,"  Sir  William  is  called  "  Sir 
Hugh  the  Heron  "  only  by  poetical  license. 

The  Bastard  was  one  of  the  Borderers  who 
murdered  Sir  Robert  Kerr  of  Cessford,  chief 
cup-bearer  of  James  IV,  and  warden  of  the 
Middle  Marches.  He  made  his  escape  with 
Starhead,  one  of  his  accomplices,  but  as  Sir 
William  Heron,  high  sheriff  of  Northumber- 
land and  warden  of  the  English  border,  was 
believed  accessory  to  the  crime,  he  was,  in 
accordance  with  the  order  of  Henry  VII, 
imprisoned  in  the  tower  of  Fastcastle,  Ber- 
wickshire. 

Sir  Richard  Heron,  the  family  genealogist, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  Bastard, 
after  the  crime  was  committed,  November, 
1500,  in  his  very  rare  and  curious  book : 

"  Henry  VII  summoned  him  to  answer 
for  killing  Ker.  He  professed  to  obey,  but 
at  a  village  near  Newark  his  servants  gave 
out  that  he  was  dead  of  the  plague,  and  pre- 
tended to  bury  him.  He  returned  into 
Newark,  and  lay  for  some  time  concealed  in 
the  Cheviot  hills,  where,  being  outlawed  in 
both  kingdoms,  he  collected  and  trained  a 
troop  of  horse,  with  which  he  ranged  the 
borders. 

"  When  the  right  wing  of  the  English  army 
was  defeated  in  Flodden  Field,  and  Sir 
Edmund  Howard,  who  commanded  it,  was 


March  14,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


235 


left  alone  on  the  ground,  the  bastard,  at  the 
head  of  his  troops,  threw  himself  between 
the  two  armies.  Some  accounts  join  Lord 
Dacre  with  him,  but  Hall  says  that  Heron 
the  Bastard,  though  much  wounded,  rescued 
Sir  Edmund,  and  that  'Lord  Dacre  with  hys 
companys  stode  styl  all  daye  unfoughten 
withal.'  " 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Scott  makes 
no  allusion  to  this  incident  in  "  Marmion." 
Holinshed's  account  of  the  closing  scene  of 
the  bastard's  career  seems  to  have  escaped 
the  notice  of  Sir  Richard,  the  genealogist : 
"On  the  22d  May,  1524,  being  Trinity 
Sunday,  five  hundred  Scots  had  made  an  in- 
road into  England,  and  had  plundered  the 
market  folks  on  their  way  that  day  to  the 
great  fair  at  Berwick. 

"The  V.  of  Julye  next  ensuing,  Sir  Raufea- 
Fenwicke,  Leonarde  Musgrave  and  bastarde 
Heron,  with  diverse  other  Englishe  cap- 
taynes,  having  with  them  nine  hundredth 
men  of  warre,  entered  theMers,  minding  to 
fetch  out  of  the  same  some  bootie,  and  en- 
countring  with  the  Scottes,  being  in  number 
two  thousand,  after  sore  and  long  fight, 
caused  them  to  leave  their  ground,  and  to 
flie,  so  that  in  the  chase  were  taken  two 
hundredth  Scottes,  and  many  slaine,  and 
amongst  them  were  diverse  gentlemen ;  but 
Fenwicke,  Musgrave,  and  the  bastarde 
Heron,  with  thirty  other  Englishmen,  well- 
horsed,  followed  so  far  in  the  chase,  that 
they  were  past  rescue  of  their  companie,  and 
thereof  the  Scottes  being  advised,  sodainely 
returned  and  set  on  the  Englishe,  which,  op- 
pressed with  the  multitude  of  their  enemies, 
were  soone  overcome,  and  there  was  taken 
Sir  Raufea-Fenwicke,  Leonarde  Musgrave 
and  sixe  other;  bastarde  Heron,  with  seven 
other,  was  slayne.  The  rest  by  chaunce  es- 
caped "  ("  Holinshed's  Chronicles,"  Vol. 
ii,  p.  694). 

The  date  usually  assigned  m  histories  for 
the  Cessford  murder  is  1511,  but  in  "Scot- 
tish Peerage  "  it  is  conclusively  shown  that 
early  in  November,  1500,  was  about  the 
time  Heron  the  Bastard  stabbed  the  gallant 
Kerr  in  the  back. 

Sir  William  Heron,  who  was,  by  the  way, 
the  husband  of  the  "  Wily  Lady  Heron  "  of 
the  "  Poem,"  was  not  released  prior  to 
Flodden  battle,  according  to  Sir  Richard 


Heron's  genealogy.  Histories  and  antiqui- 
ties of  Northumberland  county  make  no  allu- 
sion to  this  "Blot  on  th'  Escutcheon"  of 
the  ancient  baronial  family  of  Heron  of 
Ford.  MENONA. 

The  person  referred  to  was  a  brother  of  Wil- 
liam Heron  of  Ford.  The  Bastard,  with  two 
other  borderers,  killed  Sir  Robert  Kerr,  of 
Cessford,  who  was  the  warden  of  the  Middle 
Marches.  The  Bastard  escaped  capture,  but 
his  brother  Sir  William  was  surrendered  to 
James  of  Scotland,  by  Henry  VIII  of  Eng- 
land, and  imprisoned  in  Fastcastle  with 
Lilburn,  who  was  one  of  the  murderers.  . 

Pinkerton's  "  History  of  Scotland  and 
the  Border ' '  and  the  genealogy  of  the  Heron 
family  may  be  examined  for  fuller  particulars. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

By  the  Street  of  Bya  and  Bye  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  211). — "By  the  street  of  Bye  and  Bye 
we  arrived  at  the  house  of  Never  "  is  given 
in  most  collections  of  proverbs  as  a  Spanish 
popular  saying.  It  is  thus  of  unknown 
origin,  except  that  we  know  it  is  derived 
from  the  great  store  of  wisdom  treasured  ur> 
by  the  common  people.  A  proverb  is  the 
"  wit  of  one  man  and  the  wisdom  of 
many,"  and  the  Spanish  proverbs  are 
especially  acute  and  full  of  pregnancy  and 
meaning.  E.  P. 

BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 

Ille  hie  est  Raphael,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  p.  174). 
— The  ensuing  epitaph,  published  by  AMERI- 
CAN NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol.  vi,  p.  174, 
is  the  inscription  carved  on  the  tomb  of  the 
great  painter,  Raphael.  It  was  composed  by 
a  friend,  Bembo,  an  eminent  cardinal  of 
the  church,  and  seems  to  have  direct  allusion 
to  this  artist's  last  but  incomplete  painting, 
the  Transfiguration  of  Christ.  What  gives 
greater  probability  to  this  inference  is  the 
fact  related  by  Vasari  ("Vie  dei  Pittori  e 
Architetti,"  p.  5  70),  of  Raphael's  body  being 
laid  in  state  alongside  or  better  directly  in 
front  of  the  unfinished  painting  and  that  the 
effect  of  this  mise  en  scene  on  the  assembled 
mourners  was  so  profound  that  they  with  one 
voice  broke  forth  into  the  most  inconsolable 
lamentations. 


236 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [March  14,  1891. 


I  reproduce  the  epitaph  from  Vasari,  op. 
cit.)  p.  571,  for  translation  : 

"  Ille  hie  est  Raphael  timuit  quo  sospite  vinci 
Rerum  magnam  parens,  et  morenti  tnori," 

a  literal  translation  of  which  would  read  as 
follows : 

"This  is  that  Raphael,  who  living. 
Nature  feared  to  be  vanquished  by, 
And  (he)  dying  (likewise)  to  die." 

G.  F.  FORT. 

Wearing  Cap  on  all  Occasions  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  211). — The  Earl  of  Kinsale  can  wear  his 
hat  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  as  the  poet 
says  : 


"  For  when  all  heads  are  unbonnetted, 
He  walks  in  cap  and  plume." 


BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 


E.  P. 


Cotnar.— In  Browning's  poem,  "The 
Flight  of  the  Duchess,"  the  wine  called 
Cotnar  is  several  times  spoken  of.  Once  it 
is  described  as  "  our  green  moldavia,  the 
streaky  syrup,  Cotnar  as  old  as  the  time  of 
the  Druids."  Is  there  a  place  called  Cotnar 
whence  this  wine  is  named  ? 


A.  B.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Overflow  Of  the  Gall.— Many  years 
«ince,  the  writer  used  to  hear  rustic  people 
talk  about  "an  overflow  of  the  gall,"  or 
bile.  So  far  as  I  can  remember,  this  term 
designates  a  severe  or  fatal  attack  of  jaundice, 
or  other  disease  accompanied  by  great  yel- 
lowness of  the  skin.  Is  this  term  a  familiar 
one  to  any  of  your  readers  ? 

E.  M.  MAYBERRY. 
XENIA,  O. 

First  Romance  Published  in  United 
States. — Will  you  kindly  inform  me  of  the 
title  of  the  first  romance  or  fiction  published 
in  the  United  States,  also  the  name  of  the 
author  and  publisher  and  date  (year)  of  pub- 
lication ?  W.  C.  B. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Masonic  Poets-Laureate.— In  a  late 
number  of  Harper1 's  Magazine  Burns  and 
Hogg  are  spoken  of  as  having  been  poets- 
laureate  of  the  Kilwinning  Lodge  of  Free- 
masons. Will  the  learned  historian  of 
masonry,  your  accomplished  correspondent, 
G.  F.  F.,  tell  us  something  more  about  the 
Masonic  poets-laureate  ? 

O.  W.  W. 

RAHWAY,  N.  J. 

Whom  Biserta  Sent  From  Afric 
Shore.— Milton  ("P.  L.,"  i,  585)  speaks  of 
one  (or  more) 

"  Whom  Biserta  sent  from  Afric  shore, 
When  Charlemain  with  all  his  peerage  fell 
By  Fontarabia." 

Who  is  the  one  whom  Biserta  sent? 
Bizerta  is  the  ancient  Hippo  Zarytus  now  in 
Tunis.  J.  T. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Seven  Wonders  of  Wales.— What 
are  these  ?  O.  W.  W. 

RAHWAY,  N.  J. 


©OMMUNIGATCIONS. 

Visions  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  208,  etc.). — 
"  Mystic  "  is  no  doubt  acquainted  with  the 
several  cases  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on 
"Telepathy"  in  Camille  Flammarion's 
"  Uranie  "  (published  last  year  by  Cassell 
Publishing  Co.,  this  city). 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

George  Henry  Lewes  relates  the  following 
as  he  had  it  from  the  lips  of  Charles  Dickens 
very  shortly  before  the  death  of  the  novelist : 
"  One  night  after  one  of  his  public  readings, 
he  dreamt  that  he  was  in  a  room  where 
every  one  was  dressed  in  scarlet  (the  proba- 
ble origin  of  this  was  the  mass  of  scarlet 
opera  cloaks  worn  by  the  ladies  among  the 
audience  having  left  an  after-glow  on  his 
retina).  He  stumbled  against  a  lady  stand- 
ing with  her  back  towards  him.  As  he 
apologized  she  turned  her  head  and  said, 
quite  unprovoked,  "My  name  is  Napier." 
The  face  was  perfectly  unknown  to  him, 


March  14,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


2.37 


nor  did  he  know  any  one  named  Napier. 
Two  days  after  he  had  another  reading  in 
the  same  town.  Before  it  began  a  lady 
friend  came  into  the  waiting  room  accom- 
panied by  an  unknown  lady  in  a  scarlet 
opera-cloak,  "Who,"  said  his  friend,  "is  very 
desirous  of  being  introduced."  "  Not  Miss 
Napier?"  Dickens  jokingly  inquired.  "Yes, 
Miss  Napier."  Although  the  face  of  his 
dream-lady  was  not  the  face  of  the  real  Miss 
Napier,  the  coincidence  of  the  scarlet  cloak 
and  the  name  was  too  striking  to  fail  of  in- 
teresting the  psychologists. 

George  Foster  quotes  from  a  letter  written 
by  Dickens,  September  30,  1844,  shortly 
after  he  took  up  his  abode  at  the  Palazzo 
Peschiere,  Genoa:  "In  an  indistinct  place, 
quite  sublime  in  its  indistinctness,  I  was 
visited  by  a  spirit.  It  wore  blue  drapery,  as 
a  Madonna  might  in  a  picture  of  Raphael." 
"  I  wonder  whether  I  should  call  it  a  dream, 
or  an  actual  vision,"  he  says,  in  referring 
to  his  "Dialogue  on  the  True  Religion," 
holden  with  the  dream  visitant. 

Mr.  Thayer,  biographer  of  Beethoven,  con- 
tributes the  following  psychological  phe- 
nomenon from  the  English  Note-Books  of 
Haydn  : 

"  At  Mr.  Barthelemon's  concert,  on  the 
a6th  of  March,  1792,  an  English  priest  was 
present,  who,  when  he  heard  the  celebrated 
Andante  (Gdur),  sank  at  once  into  the  pro- 
foundest  melancholy,  because  the  night  be- 
fore he  had  dreamed  of  this  Andante,  with 
the  circumstance  that  the  piece  was  a  presage 
of  his  approaching  death.  He  at  once  left 
the  company,  and  retired  to  rest. 

"  To-day,  the  25th  of  April,  I  learned 
from  Mr.  Barthelemon  that  this  evangelical 
preacher  is  dead." 

Mr.  Barthelemon,  at  this  time  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  violinists  in  London,  en- 
tertained the  strongest  friendship  for  Papa 
Haydn,  who  was  accustomed  to  conduct 
his  concerts  during  his  stay  (1791-1795)  in 
the  metropolis. . 

James  IV,  old  Scottish  historians  tell  us, 
was  accosted  by  a  spectre  or  vision,  in  St. 
Katharine's  Chapel,  Linlithgow,  while  at 
vespers,  just  on  the  eve  of  his  fatal  march  to 
Flodden,  and  warned  of  the  impending 
disaster.  Further,  if  he  must  persist  in  war, 
was  he  admonished  to  beware  of  the  "witch- 


ing wiles  and  wanton  snare  of  woman  fair." 
The  incident  is  too  familiar  through  the 
lines  of  "  Marmion  "  to  need  further  allu- 


sion. 


MENONA. 


Rivers  Flowing  Inland  (Vol.  v,  pp. 
236,  etc.). — "There  is  an  interesting  in- 
stance of  water  flowing  inland  from  the  sea. 
It  is  found  on  the  island  of  Cephalonia  in 
the  Ionian  Sea,  west  of  Greece.  The 
phenomenon  occurs  on  the  south-west  side  of 
the  island,  near  the  small  town  and  port  of 
Argostoli.  Two  streams  flow  at  a  short  dis- 
tance from  one  another,  straight  from  the 
sea,  for  a  few  yards,  and  then  follow  dif- 
ferent courses.  One  turns  at  right  angles 
and  runs  for  some  ways  parallel  with  the 
shore  and  close  to  it.  Then  it  turns  again 
towards  the  sea,  and  running,  of  course, 
deeper  and  deeper,  doubles  completely  under 
itself,  thus  forming  a  loop,  and  finally  passes 
out  of  sight  deep  down  in  a  landward  direc- 
tion. In  its  course  it  turns  two  flour  mills, 
which  will  give  an  idea  of  the  strength  of  the 
current. 

"  There  is  no  tide  in  the  sea  here,  and  the 
flow  of  the  salt-water  brook  is  perfectly 
steady  and  continuous.  The  other  stream 
disappears  in  the  ground  in  a  similar  way. 
This  curious  phenomenon  has  not  attracted 
much  attention  because  Argostoli  is  not  on 
one  of  the  regular  tourist  routes.  No  one 
knows  what  becomes  of  this  water,  but  it 
probably  flows  to  some  subterranean  reser- 
voir, and  it  may  have  something  to  do  with 
the  earthquakes  that  occur  in  that  neighbor- 
hood once  in  a  long  while  ;  or,  possibly,  it 
feeds  some  distant  volcano,  for,  as  is  well 
known,  the  most  generally  accepted  theory 
of  the  cause  of  volcanic  eruptions  is  that 
they  are  due  to  steam  generated  from  water, 
admitted  through  cracks  in  the  earth's  crust, 
or  in  some  other  way  "  {Goldthwaite* s  Maga- 
zine}. 

King  of  Jerusalem  (Vol.  vi,  p.  207). — 
The  titular  King  of  Jerusalem  is  Humbert, 
King  of  Italy,  one  of  whose  ancestors  mar- 
ried Anne  of  Cyprus,  daughter  of  Lusignan, 
the  last  descendant  of  the  kings  of  Jerusalem. 

E.  P. 

BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 


238 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  14,  1891. 


Bulls  (Vol.  vi,  p.  212). — Your  corre- 
spondent "  Ex  "  has  collected  an  interesting 
and  amusing  variety  of '  'bulls, ' '  but  some  that 
he  gives  do  not  properly  belong  in  that  cate- 
gory, being  good  examples  of  poetical  or 
rhetorical  license.  Addison's  "  pure  limpid 
stream  "  is  really  better  than  "  once  limpid 
stream"  would  have  been,  though  not  so 
logical.  The  poet's  imagination  looks  not 
only  at  the  present,  but  "  before  and 
after,"  and  expresses  what  it  sees  by  ellipti- 
cal language  which  on  its  face  is  illogical. 
Is  Shakespeare  guilty  of  a  "  bull  "  when  he 
says,  "  Ere  human  statute  purged  the  gentle 
weal"  ("Macbeth,"  iii,  4,  76),  that  is, 
which  it  thus  made  gentle  ?  See  another  ex- 
ample of  the  same  anticipatory  or 
"  proleptic  "  use  of  the  same  word  in  i, 
6, 3,  of  the  play,  "  Nor  sell  for  gold  what  gold 
can  never  buy,"  is  only  a  vigorous  way  of 
saying,  "  what  gold  can  never  pay  for."  If 
"  by  favor  of  a  contrary  wind  "  means,  as  it 
probably  does,  in  spite  of  the  contrary  wind, 
or  so  far  as  the  contrary  wind  would  permit, 
no  fault  can  be  found  with  it.  "A  work  to 
outlast  immortal  Rome  designed"  is  ad- 
mirable in  its  way,  the  immortal  being  an 
ironical  ellipsis  for  "boasting  herself  im- 
mortal," or  "  flattering  herself  that  she  was 
immortal."  The  passage  from  "Julius 
Caesar,"  ii,  i,  is  equally  fine  from  a  rhetori- 
cal point  of  view.  And  what,  prithee,  is  the 
fault  with  Dryden's  "  horrid  silence  that  in- 
vades the  ear  ?"  How  is  the  silence  recog- 
nized if  not  by  the  ear?  "  Inaccessible  by 
shepherds  trod  "  is  a  not  overbold  ellipsis 
for  "ordinarily  inaccessible,"  or  accessible 
to  none  but  the  shepherds.  "  A  palace  and 
a  prison  on  each  hand"  is  certainly  ad- 
missible in  poetry,  like  Shakespeare's 
hounds, 

"  Match'd  in  mouth  like  bells, 
Each  under  each." 

Of  course,  each  one  could  not  be  under 
each  one  throughout  the  chime-like  series, 
but  it  isn't  a  "  bull  "  for  all  that.  All  these 
cases  are  clearly  distinguishable  from 
blunders  like  "  the  most  distinguished  of  his 
contemporaries,"  or  Milton's  "  fairest  of 
her  daughters,  Eve,"  which  no  poetical 
license  can  cover.  R. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 


Razor-strop  Man  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  200, 
etc.). — Seeing  references  in  the  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES  to  this  character,  leads 
me  to  observe,  that  I  believe  it  must  have 
been  one  Chapman,  who  for  some  years, 
perhaps  from  1840  to  1861,  used  to  sell 
razor  strops  on  the  streets  in  Eastern  and 
Middle  States  cities.  He  had  almost  a 
national  reputation,  at  one  time,  for  his 
versatility,  wit  and  energy.  I  first  heard  him 
in  the  Bowery,  New  York  city,  perhaps  in 
1847.  He  was  an  entertaining  fakir,  and 
always  amused  a  crowd.  I  remember  one 
of  his  stories.  It  was  a  rhyme  about  a  man 
who  had  mislaid  his  razor,  and  wishing  to 
shave,  'took  an  oyster  knife,  which  he  dressed 
on  the  famous  Chapman  razor-strop  so  well 
that  he  could  shave  himself.  Chapman's 
doggerel  recitation  wound  up  with  the 
couplet : 

"  And  so  he  went  on  to  the  end  of  his  life, 
Shaving  himself  with  an  oyster  knife." 

"  A  few  more  left  of  the  same  sort,  gen- 
tlemen," was  always  his  finale  to  his  amus- 
ing stories.  Chapman  enlisted  in  a  New 
York  regiment  when  the  Rebellion  broke  out 
in  1 86 1,  and  fought  through  most  of  the  con- 
flict, although  he  was  then  an  old  man.  He 
returned  to  his  old  haunts  after  the  war,  and 
resumed  his  street  sales.  But  things  had 
changed.  Men  did  not  buy  razor  strops  as 
they  once  did.  After  a  time  he  became  dis- 
heartened, and  ceased  his  vending  in  public. 
He  disappeared  from  sight,  over  twenty 
years  ago,  and  most  probably  died  about 
that  time.  J.  FLETCHER  WILLIAMS. 

ST.  PAUL,  MINN. 

Parallel  Passages  (Vol.  v,  pp.  312, 
etc.). — I  was  much  amused  lately  at  a  young 
friend  who  is  quite  a  dabster  in  the  parallel- 
passage  business,  often  finding  some  sense  of 
humor  to  lighten  up  what  otherwise  were  a 
dull  kind  of  employment.  For  Bunthorne's 
"  Hollow,  hollow,  hollow  !"  she  has  found 
a  parallel  in  Jean  Ingelow's  words,  "  Quit 
your  stalks  of  parsley  hollow,  hollow, 
hollow:'  R.  E.  C. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA. 

Arcadia  (Vol.  vi,  p.  37). — If  I  am  not 
greatly  in  error,  there  was  also  at  one  time 
a  literary  Arcadia  movement  in  Sweden. 

R.  J.  T. 


March  14,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


239 


Bottle  Imp  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  189,  etc.). — 
The  following  story,  illustrative  of  the  facility 
with  which  crowds  are  attracted  in  large  cities, 
which  I  read  many  long  years  ago,  has  been 
suggested  to  me  by  Mr.  Wright's  interesting 
note    on    the    above    subject.     I   question 
whether  it  will  be  thought  worthy  of  publi- 
cation, but  such  as  it  is  I  reproduce  it  as  ac- 
curately as  I  can  remember.     A  gentleman 
in  the  course  of  conversation  remarked  on 
the  readiness  with  which  a  crowd  gathered 
in  London  on  the   most  trivial  occasions. 
One  of  his  hearers  thought  he  was  somewhat 
overstating  matters,  and  from  argument  the 
thing  proceeded  to  a  wager,  the  first  gentle- 
man undertaking  to  collect  a  crowd  by  simply 
standing   still   and  looking  straight  before 
him.      He    took    up    his    position    before 
Northumberland  House  in  Trafalgar  Square, 
on  top  of  whose  front  wall   there  stands  a 
carved  figure  of  a  lion.     He  stood  gazing 
intently  at  the    "animile."     At    length  a 
person  who  had  observed  him  stepped  up 
and  inquired  what  he  was  watching  so  earn- 
estly.    "Well,"  replied  the  other,  "lam 
probably  deceiving  myself,  but  do  you  know 
I  thought  I  saw  the  lion's  tail  wag."    This 
gentleman  also  planted  himself  before  the 
object  and  stared  eagerly.     Now  every  one 
knows  that  if  you  gaze  long  and  intently  at 
an  object  your  eyes  begin  to  dazzle  and  it 
seems  to  move ;  so  after  a  few  minutes'  earn- 
est watching,  the  new-comer  exclaimed  ex- 
citedly, "  By  Heavens  !  it  wags."     The  two 
gazers  soon  attracted  a  third  with  the  same 
result;  the  three,  a  fourth,  and   so  on   in 
geometrical    progression,    shouts   of    "  By 
Heavens  !  it  wags,"  ever  bursting  forth  from 
the  growing  crowd,  till  not  only  the  street 
became  impassable,  but  the  whole  area  of 

the  square  became  a  dense  mass  of  human 
i    •  T    tr 

beings.  J-  «• 

Eccentric  Burials  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  143* 
etc.;  Vol.  vi,  p.  287).— May  I,  without 
being  charged  with  a  bull,  add  to  the  above 
"burials"  an  eccentric  funeral  ceremony 
which  took  place  in  New  York  harbor  on  the 
first  of  this  month  ? 

"  Puck  "  Meyer,  a  ban  vivant  and  saloon- 
keeper in  Port  Richmond,  S.  I.,  fell  ill  a 
few  weeks  ago  and  left  definite  instructions 
that,  in  the  event  of  his  dying,  his  body 


should  be  cremated  and  his  ashes  scattered 
to  the  winds  from  the  top  of  the  Statue  of 
Liberty  on  Bedlow's  island,  the  conductor  of 
the  ceremony  exclaiming  at  the  same  time  : 
"  Here  goes  the  last  of  Puck  Meyer  !  Happy 
days  !"  After  which,  his  friends  should  in- 
dulge in  copious  libations  in  his  honor. 

All  this  was  done,  accordingly,  last  Sun- 
day, with  the  only  restriction  that  a  sister 
of  his  begged  and  kept  for  herself  one-half 
of  his  ashes,  "about  two  pounds  in  weight," 
the  newspapers  say,  and  they  add  the  remark 
that  "  in  life  Puck  Meyer  weighed  200 
pounds." 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.    ' 

Jewish  Abbreviated  Names. — It  is 
well  known  that  the  Jews  have  a  set  of 
abbreviated  pet  names  for  their  great  rabbins. 
Among  these  are  Rab,  for  Rabbi  Abba 
Arikha ;  Rabbi,  for  Rabbi  Yehudah  Han- 
nase ;  Rabbenu,  a  title  given  to  each  of  the 
foregoing  men  ;  Raba,  for  Rabbi  Aba  ben 
Yoseph  ben  Hama ;  Rabad,  a  title  given  to 
five  scholars  of  the  twelfth  century,  four  of 
whom  were  named  Rabbi  Abraham  ben 
David;  Raban,  for  Rabbenu  Eliezer  ben 
Nathan ;  Rabbah,  for  Rab  Abbah  bar  Nah- 
mani ;  Rambam,  for  Maimonides  (Rabbenu 
Mosheh  ben  Maimun) ;  Ramban,  Rabbi 
Mosheh  ben  Nahman  ;  Rashba,  for  Rabbi 
Shelomoh  ben  Abraham  (and  for  two 
others)  ;  Rashbam,  for  Rabbenu  Shemuel  ben 
Meir;  Rashi,  for  Rabbenu  Shelomoh 
Yishaki ;  Riph,  for  Rabbenu  Yishak  ben 
Yaakol  Hakkohen  Alphasi ;  Rosh,  for 
Rabbenu  Asher ;  Tarn,  or  Tham,  a  title 
of  two  twelfth-century  scholars,  one 
of  whom  was  a  brother  of  the  more  cele- 
brated Rashbam,  and  Ribam,  who  was  also 
a  brother  of  Rashbam.  Will  correspondents 
send  others  of  these  curious  names  ? 

S.  S.  W. 

BERLIN,  CONN. 

Flower  of  Burgundy  (Vol.vi,  pp.  210, 
etc.).— I  do  not  believe  that  the  Burgundy 
rose  of  our  day  has  anything  to  do  with  the 
"  Flower  of  Burgundy  "  which  Aytoun  im- 
plies is  a  national  flower,  like  the  lily  of 
France.  R- 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 


240 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  14,  1891. 


Symmes'  Hole  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  2 15,  etc.). 
— The  wife  of  Gen.  William  Henry  Har- 
rison, President  of  the  United  States,  and 
hero  of  Tippecanoe,  and  grandfather  of  the 
present  incumbent  of  the  Presidential  chair, 
was  Anna  Symmes,  daughter  of  John  Cleves 
Symmes,  the  originator  of  the  theory  of 
"concentric  spheres,"  so  much  talked  of 
in  late  numbers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES.  E.  P. 

BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 

Compound  Marine  Engine  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  222,  etc.). — In  1825,  James  P.  Allaire,  of 
New  York,  built  a  compound  engine  for  the 
Henry  Eckfprd  and  'Subsequently  con- 
structed similar  engines  for  several  other 
boats,  of  which  the  Sun  made  the  trip  from 
New  York  to  Albany  in  twelve  hours  and 
eighteen  minutes. 

Writers  as  far  back  as  the  year  1872  speak 
of  seeing  two  boats  in  Normandy  built  with 
double  expansion  engines,  which  had  already 
been  in  continual  use  for  fifty  years,  but 
they  do  not  give  the  names  of  the  boats  or 
the  builders  ;  they  must  antedate  the  Ameri- 
can example. 

The  Hollanders,  according  to  Mallet 
("  Etude  sur  Machines  Compound  "),  were 
foremost  among  Europeans  in  introducing  the 
double  cylinder,  M.  Roetgen,  of  Rotterdam, 
having  built  marine  engines  on  this  principle 
since  1842,  from  a  patent  taken  out  by 
Zander,  another  Dutchman,  in  that  year. 

In  1848,  the  Rhine  boat,  Kron-Prinz 
von  Preussen,  was  built  with  one  of  these  so- 
called  "  Woolf  Engines." 

I  have  not  learned  whether  the  English 
brain  had  to  undergo  a  surgical  operation 
before  the  new  double-cylinder  idea  could 
gain  admission,  but  England  seems  a  little 
behind  in  appreciating  its  utility. 

The  invention  was  English,  originating 
with  Jonathan  Hornblower,  1781,  but  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  had  to  elapse  before 
England  made  any  important  application 
of  it. 

In  1854,  John  Elder,  an  enterprising  engi- 
neer of  Glasgow,  built  his  first  boat,  the 
Brandon,  with  a  compound  engine. 
But  in  1851,  the  steamer  Buckeye 
State  was  running  between  Buffalo  and 
Detroit,  and  giving  much  satisfaction  for  its 


high  rate  of  speed  and  its  economical  use  of 
fuel,  all  because  it  was  fitted  with  the  new 
double  expansion  engine. 

Apropos  of  this  subject,  the  new  yacht 
which  Mr.  E.  D.  Morgan  is  having  built  at 
Herreschoff's  yard,  Bristol,  R.  I.,  is  to  have 
'triple  expansion  engines,  and  is  expected  to 
make  twenty-three  miles  an  hour. 

MENONA. 

Silver  Sister- world  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  210, 
etc.).  —  The  explanation  of  Tennyson's 
"silver  sister-world,"  etc.,  by  R.  E.  C., 
does  not  seem  to  me  satisfactory.  The  time 
is  morning,  not  evening,  as  he  appears  to 
suppose.  In  my  opinion,  the  "silver sister- 
world  "  is  the  planet  Venus  as  morning- 
star.  The  betrothed  one  in  the  valley  is  up 
early  on  the  "  marriage  morn,"  and  the 
star  is  reflected  in  her  eyes  as  she  turns  them 
upward  to  the  home  of  her  lover  on  the  hill. 
I  never  knew  any  person  to  give  this  inter- 
pretation when  first  questioned  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  poem,  nor  did  I  ever  know 
any  one  not  to  accept  it  when  it  was  sug- 
gested. R. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

Chambers  of  Rhetoric. — The  chief 
towns  of  the  Low  Countries  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries  had  each  its  Kanier 
van  Rhetorica,  and  the  total  effect  of  these 
guilds  upon  the  national  intelligence  was 
very  great.  Splendid  tournaments  were  held, 
and  vast  sums  of  money  were  spent  in  prizes. 
The  outcome  was  largely  dramatic.  From 
the  writings  of  Mr.  Goose,  I  compile  the 
following  incomplete  list  of  these  chambers : 
The  Alpha-  and  Omega,  at  Ypres;  The 
yiolet,  Antwerp;  The  Book,  at  Brussels; 
The  Barberry,  at  Courtrai ;  The  Holy 
Ghost,  Bruges  ;  The  Floweret  Jesse,  Middle- 
burg  ;  The  Oak  Tree,  Vlaardingen ;  The 
Marigold,  Gouda ;  The  Eglantine,  Amster- 
dam ;  The  Fountain,  Dort ;  The  Corn 
Flower,  The  Hague  ;  The  White  Columbine, 
Leyden  ;  The  Blue  Columbine,  Rotterdam  ; 
The  Red  Rose,  Schiedam;  The  Thistle, 
Zierikzee ;  Jesus  with  the  Balsam,  Ghent ; 
The  Garland  of  Mary,  Brussels  ;  The  Pax 
Vobiscum,  Oudenarde ;  The  White  Lavender, 
Amsterdam.  Will  your  correspondents  add 
to  this  list  ?  M.  D.  D. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


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CONTENTS 
NOTES  :— Tun,  Ton,  Toun,  Town,  241— Tiny,  243. 

REPLIES  :— Tempora  Mutantur  — Royle  —  Charles  Peace- 
Wood's  Holl,  244 — Quotation  Wanted — Mount  Abora — Lamb 
Tree,  245. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  "  Almighty 
Dollar  " — Inhuming,  Inviteful — Authorship  Wanted,  2^6. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Prince  of  Wales— Dropping  Wells 
—Jack  Stones,  246— "  Shelta,"  The  Tinkers'  Talk,  2*7— 
Carrievreckin — Longevity  of  Artists — PiKicoshy,  248 — Irish 
Brigade  at  Fontenoy — Sierra  Leone — St.  Brendan's  Isle,  349 
— Remarkable  Generation — Remarkable  Place  Names — The 
Malungeons,  250 — Patriarchates  —  The  Hair-w>rm  —  Bulls, 
251 — The  Eyes  of  Insects,  252. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS:— 252. 


TUN,  TON,  TOUN,  TOWN. 

The  humble  parent  of  our  pretentious 
town  was  a  little  twig,  the  etymon  of  which 
has  clung  to  our  nomenclature  under  various 
forms  with  unusual  tenacity. 

Do  we  not,  even  now,  designate  as  tines, 
in  botany,  slender  plants  which  enclose 
others  (chief  among  them  the  popular  Capri- 
foliaceae),  and  are  not  the  tines  of  a  fork  or 
a  harrow  the  slenderest  parts  of  the  imple- 
ment ?  The  tines  of  a  deer  are  the  "  twigs" 
or  branches  of  its  antlers,  and  it  seems  but 
yesterday  when  tinet  was  excellent  English 
for  brushwood,  and  when  "  to  tine  a  gap  " 
in  a  hedge  meant  filling  the  gap  with  thorny 
brambles. 

Our  familiar  adjective  "tiny  "  is  forcibly 
called  to  mind  by  all  these  diminutive  tines, 


242 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  21,  1891. 


the  more  so  as  the  older  editions  of  Shake- 
speare spell  it  tine  or  tyne,  but  this  will  be  the 
subject  of  a  query  further  on  (see  p.  243). 

The  radical  of  our  tine  is  well-nigh  ubiqui- 
tous in  Aryan  languages;  its  immediate 
blood  relatives  will  be  found  to  this  day  in 
German  (where  Zaun,  Zaiinen,  Znunkraut 
\_kresse~],  Zaiinblume,  etc.,  represent  our  old 
tyne,  tynan,  tuncresse,  etc.),  and  its  enormous 
preponderance  as  well  as  its  lastingness  in 
English  were  doubtless  influenced  by  the 
fact  that  it  existed  both  in  Anglo-Saxon  and 
in  Latin. 

Ovid  (Metam.)  describes  a  hill  on  which 
there  grew 

"  Et  bicolor  myrtus  et  baccis  coerula  tinus," 

and  Clarke  (A.D.  1790)  translates  the  line: 

"The  two-colored  myrtle  and  the  tines  with  their  green 
berries." 

Pliny  mentions  a  tinus  which,  he  says, 
"  sylvestrem  laurum  aliqui  intelligunt,  non- 
nulli  sui  generis  arborem,"  and  he  explains 
how  best  to  sow  the  berries  and  grow  the 
shrub. 

And  in  this  connection,  the  tinettum  of 
our  old  law  records  should  be  mentioned 
too,  were  it  but  as  a  sample  of  the  Latin  that 
gave  birth  to  "brochettum,"  a  small  skewer ; 
"  flaskettum,"  a  little  flask,  etc. 

Now,  one  need  not  be  acquainted  with 
pioneer  life  to  appreciate  the  easy  evolution 
by  which  an  enclosure  may  first  be  called 
after  the  material  it  is  made  of  and  subse- 
quently give  its  own  name  to  the  land  it  en- 
closes. The  correlation  between  the  local 
names  Hagen,  Hague,  Hayes,  Haws,  the 
A.-S.  haga  (a  hedge)  and  the  Icelandic 
heggr  (a  tree  used  for  hedging)  supplies  an 
instance  quite  in  point. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  having  naturally  imported  their  Ger- 
manic* ways  and  habits  into  Britain,  they 
at  once  began  to  use  tines,  to  tynan. 

King  Ine  (688-726)  enacted  that  aceorl's 
close  should  be  betyned  winter  and  summer 
and  that  if  it  was  untyned  there  should  be  no 
rediess  against  trespass;  whereas,  elsewhere, 

*  The  Germans,  says  Tacitus,  dislike  "  inter  se 
junctas  sedes. — Colunt  discreti  ac  diversi. — Suam 
quisque  domum  spatio  circumdat." 


he  provided  compensation  for  the  case  in 
which  several  ceorls  might  have  one  meadow 
in  common  to  tynnanne,  and  it  should 
happen  that  "  haebben  sume  getyned  hiora 
dael  "  and  that  the  lazy  ones  had  not. 

And  of  course  "  a  householder  planted  a 
vineyard  and  hedged  it  round  about" 
(Matt,  xxi,  33)  appears  in  the  A.-S.  version 
as  "  and  betynde*  hyne." 

The  result  of  tyning  was  called  a  tun,  at 
first  a  simple  enclosure. 

A  meadow  was  a  gaers-/«#,  a  garden  was  a 
\vyrt-tun;  "He  went  forth  over  the  brook 
Cedron  where  (says  the  A.-S.  version  of  John 
xviii,  i)  daer  waes  an  wyrt-/««." 

"  The  fox  is  hated  by  the  husbandman," 
says  an  old  Bestiary  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, f  "because 

"  The  coc  and  te  capun 
Ge  feccheth  ofte  in  the  tun." 

The  appellation  was  soon  transferred  to 
the  "  tout  ensemble  "  contained  within  the 
enclosure,  the  cottage,  farm  or  villa,  as  the 
case  might  be,  in  a  word  to  a  man's  pos- 
sessions. 

Under  ^thelbert's  rule  (860-866),  if  a 
man  slew  another  in  the  cyninges  tun  he  had 
to  make  "  bot  "  with  fifty  shillings,  but  he 
could  indulge  in  the  same  pastime  in  an 
eorles  tun  for  twelve  shillings.  Again  if  any 
one  was  the  first  to  make  an  inroad  into  a 
mannes  tun  he  should  make  "  bot "  with  six 
shillings,  the  next  intruder  with  three,  and 
each,  after,  with  one. 

"  They  went  their  ways,  one  to  his  farm 
(efc  ruv  fStov  aypuv),  another  to  his  merchan- 
dise "  (Matt,  xxii,  5),  is  rendered  in  A.-S. 
"  sum  to  hys  tun,  sum  to  hys  manggunge." 

To  tun  in  this  sense  are  to  be  traced  the 
name  in  ton  of  many  a  solitary  English  farm 
which  has  preserved  to  our  own  times  its 
original  isolated  character  and  perpetuates 
the  name  either  of  its  first  owner  or  of  some 
peculiar  feature  of  the  primitive  settlement 
(just  as  we  might  say  Brown's  Farm,  Smith's 
Corners,  or  Sleepy  Hollow). 

Gradually  the  name  given  to  one  separate 
estate  was  extended  to  several  if  grouped  to- 
gether, to  the  hamlet,  to  the  village,  to  the 
district  in  general. 

a  The  German  has :  "und  fahrte  einen  Zaun  darum." 
f  Edited  by  Morris. 


March  21,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


243 


The  thirteenth  century  poem,  "  The 
Passion  of  our  Lord,"  *  describing  the  rid- 
ing of  Christ  into  Jerusalem,  says  : 

"As  he  com  into  the  buhr  so  rydinde 
The  children  of  the  tune  comen  syngynde," 

and  further  we  are  told  how  : 

"  Of  one  wrase  of  thorns  he  wrythen  him  one  crone 
Of  than  alre  kennuste  that  grewen  in  the  tune." 

The  passage  in  which  Matthew  (xxvi, 
36)  says  that  "  He  went  into  a  place 
(efc  '/wplov')  called  Gethsemane  "  appears  in 
A.-S.  as  "on  done  tun  de  is  genemned 
Gethsemani." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  development 
of  the  tun  idea,  at  this  stage,  by  the  vari- 
ous ways  in  which  the  word  is  translated  in 
the  old  Latin  MSS. 

Here  we  find  tun  =  villa,  tunman  = 
villanus,  tungerefaf  =  villae  prepositus,  tun- 
weg  —  privata  via  (as  dist.  from  ealles  here- 
weg  —  publica  via)  ;  there  we  have  tun  = 
cohors,  tunas =  oppida;  and  again  tunstede 
(as  we  would  say  "farmsteads")  =  pagi, 
territorii,  etc.,  while  buhr  is  translated  urbs, 
municipium,  etc. 

The  day  came,  however,  when  the  tun 
overgrew  the  buhr  and  became  our  modern 
"town." 

Was  there  any  need  for  it,  the  phonetic 
transition  from  tun  to  town  might  be  illus- 
trated at  will : 

An  old  popular  rhyme  relates  how  Wil- 
liam the  Conqueror  gave  unto  his  hunter 

"  The  hoppe  and  hoptoun 
And  all  the  bounds  up  and  down,"J 

which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  present 
Hopton  in  Salop : 

"  For  one  bow  and  one  broad  arrow 
When  I  come  to  hunt  upon  Yarrow." 

The  modern  Scotch  still  has  toun  in  the 
sense  of  a  farm.  In  his  elegy  on  his  pet 
sheep,  Mailie,  Bobby  Burns  says  how : 

"  Through  a'  the  toun  she  trotted  by  him." 

*  Edited  by  Morris. 

f  Compare  Scyr-gerefa  (Sheriff),  port-gerefa  (port- 
reeve), buhr-gerefa  (borough-reeve). 

J  His  majesty,  by  the  way,  is  made  to  add  : 
"  To  witness  that  this  is  sooth 
I  bite  this  white  wax  with  my  tooth." 


But  illustrations  of  so  simple  a  change 
seem  superfluous ;  more  to  the  point  is  the 
progressive  application  of  the  original  idea; 
and  in  this  case  the  student  of  etymology 
finds  all  the  elements  he  could  wish  for,  the 
tine,  the  hedge,  the  hedged-in  farm,  the 
collection  of  farms  or  village,  the  overgrown 
village  or  town,  an  unbroken  chain  complete 
in  its  every  link.  A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

P.  S. — Needless  to  add  that,  despite  the 
enormous  preponderance  of  "  ton  "  as  a 
local  suffix,  many  names  so  ending  may  have 
a  different  origin :  Alton  was  once  ^Ethe- 
linga  denu,  Brixton  was  Brix\-stan,  Aston 
stands  for  Kshdown,  etc.  Some  years  since, 
when  "rooting  up"  a  locality  in  Surrey 
named  in  certain  old  documents  Woodmans- 
ton,  I  found  it  styled  in  Domesday  Book 
"Odemeres/<?r,"  in  Nicholai  Taxatio  Ec- 
clesiastica  "  Wodeme//fo/7//',"  about  1700 
"  WoodmansA?//,"  in  modern  ordnance  maps 
"  Wood  man  stone,'1  and  in  the  then  (1881) 
latest  official  List  of  Unions,  etc.,  "Wood- 
man sterne  /"  A.  E. 


TINY. 

The  half-hearted  way  in  which  the 
dictionaries  suggest  the  possible  origin  of  this 
word  is  hardly  satisfactory. 

Now,  in  his  "Constitutionesde  Foresta," 
old  King  Cnut  ordains  the  hierarchy  of  his 
forest  officers  and  distinguishes  them  as 
primarii,  mediocres  and  minuti. 

The  primarii  are  naturally  the  Superior 
Board ;  under  them  he  appoints  four  "medio- 
cres homines  qui  curam  et  onus  turn  viridis 
turn  veneris  suscipiant,"  and  under  these 
again  he  orders  that  "  sint  duo  minutorum 
hominum  quos  Tinman  Angli  dicunt,"  to 
have  the  care  of  vert  and  venison  by  night 
and  perform  other  servile  duties. 

Might  not  this  minutus  homo  or  Tineman, 
this  small  official  or  petty  officer  as  we  might 
say,  supply  some  evidence  of  the  derivation 
of  tiny  (tine  or  tyne  in  Shakespeare)  from  the 
same  root  as  tine  ?  (see  p.  241). 

I  know  that  the  frequent  apposition  of 
"tiny"  to  "little"  ("  little  tiny  kick- 
shaws") has  suggested  that  it  should  be  in- 
tended to  convey  a  different  meaning ;  but 


244 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  21,  1891. 


is  not  this  a  class  of  ideas  that  we  are  par- 
ticularly fond  of  emphasizing  by  repetition  ? 
Have  we  never  used  or  heard  such  familiar 
tautologies  as  "a  wee  little  baby,"  "un 
tout  petit  peu  "  in  French,  "  ein  kleines 
winziges  Ding"  in  German,  etc.? 

I  am  aware  also  that  the  Lancashire 
"  teeny  lad  "  (a  peevish  youngster)  comes 
from  A.-S.  teona  (vexation);  but  is  the  resem- 
blance between  "  teeny  "  and  "  tiny  "  suf- 
ficient for  their  being  attributed  to  the  same 
root?  An  analogous  case  is  that  of  "  pet- 
tish "  and  "petty."  The  very  same  asso- 
ciation of  ideas  which  would  serve  as  a  con- 
necting link  between  "teeny"  (peevish) 
and  "  tiny  "  (small)  would  bridge  over  from 
"  pettish  "  to  "  petty,"  yet  no  one  assigns 
these  to  the  same  source. 

These  are  bona-fide  queries,  tendered  with 
all  the  respect  so  eminently  due  to  the  recog- 
nized authorities  in  such  matters. 


A.  ESTOCLET. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


I^BPLI  ES. 


Tempora  Muiantur  (Vol.  vi,  p.  207). — 
The  "  Deliciae  Poetarum  Germanorum  "  of 
Matthias  [?  Nicolaus]  Borbonius,  where  the 
phrase  in  question  occurs,  is  assigned  to  the 
date  1612,  later,  instead  of  earlier,  than 
John  Owen's  Epigrams ;  but,  if  my  memo- 
randum is  correct,  the  sentence  Tempora 
mutantur  et  nos  mutamurin  illis  is  in  Andreas 
Gartner's  "  Proverbilia  Dicteria,"  1566. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Royle  (Vol.  vi,  p.  223). — The  expression, 
"  Royle  vnder  Duke  lohn  of  Austria,"  re- 
fers to  his  vessel,  /.  c.,  the  Royal  galley  in 
which  he  sailed  in  the  many  sea  fights  in 
which  he  took  part  under  the  Republic  of 
Venice. 

While  referring  to  this  celebrated  prince, 
I  examined  an  old  work  in  my  possession, 
bearing  the  date  of  1654,  being  "  The  His- 
tory of  the  Warrs  of  Flanders  by  that 
Learned  and  Famous  Cardinall  Bentivoglio. 
E  iglished  by  the  Right  Honourable  Henry 
Earl  of  Monmouth." 

Its  title-page  is  in  red  and  black    anc 


aears  the  following  imprint:  "London, 
printed  for  Humphrey  Mosley  at  the  Sign  of 
:he  Prince's-Arms  in  St.  Paul's  church-yard, 
1654." 

The  modern  biographers  of  Duke  John  of 
Austria  state  that  his  father  was  the 
Emperor  Charles  V,  and  some  say  that  his 
mother  was  unknown,  and  others. say  that 
she  was  Barbara  Blomberg  of  Germany.  In 
this  work,  which  was  written  within  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  after  his  death,  is  the  follow- 
ing statement  relative  to  his  parentage  : 

"  The  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth  was  his 
Father,  and  Madam  de  Plombes,  a  lady  of 
noble  birth  in  Germany,  was  his  Mother. 
He  had  in  him  very  excellent  gifts  of  both 
body  and  mind.  *  *  *  He  was  so 
greedy  of  Glory,  as  many  judged  it  to  bean 
aspiring  after  Empire,  which  made  him  at 
last  to  be  envied,  and  so  far  suspected,  as 
made  his  service  to  the  king  (of  Spain) 
doubtful ;  as  if  from  being  governour,  he  had 
aspired  to  be  Prince  of  Flanders,  and  that 
to  this  purpose,  he  had  held  private  corre- 
spondence with  the  Queen  of  England 
(Elizabeth),  and  proceeded  more  secretly  to 
express  negotiations  of  Marriage,  which  was 
cause  why  his  death  was  thought  to  be 
rather  procured,  than  natural." 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Charles  Peace  (Vol.  vi,  p.  197). — Charles 
Peace,  alias  John  Ward,  was  an  English 
burglar.  On  November  19,  1876,  he  at- 
tempted to  kill  a  policeman  ;  on  November 
29,  1876,  he  murdered  Arthur  Dyson  at 
Bannercross,  near  Sheffield.  He  escaped 
arrest  at  the  time,  and  William  Habron  was 
arrested,  convicted  and  imprisoned.  Peace 
was  arrested,  confessed  to  the  murder,  ex- 
onerating Habron.  He  threw  himself  from 
a  train  and  was  nearly  killed  while  being 
taken  to  Sheffield,  January  22,  1879.  He 
was  hanged  at  Leeds,  February  25,  1879. 
Habron  was  released  March  18,  1879. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Wood's  Ho//  (Vol.  vi,  p.  1 60).— The  name 
Wood's  Hole  was  changed  to  Wood's  Holl 
out  of  deference  to  that  spirit  of  overrefine- 
ment  which  some  years  ago  changed  Skunk 


March  21,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


245 


Hollow,  N.  Y.,  to  Rosedale;  Hart's 
Corners,  N.  Y.,  to  Hartsdale,  and  later 
changed  Chatham  street,  N.  Y.  city,  to  Park 
Row-  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Quotation  Wanted  (Vol.  vi,  p.  211). — 

"  To  the  glory  that  was  Greece 
And  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome," 

is  a  couplet  in  Poe's  "To  Helen."  There 
are  two  poems  so  entitled.  The  quotation  is 
from  the  earlier  one,  classed  under  "  Poems 
written  in  Early  Youth,"  or  a  similar  title. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Mount  Abora  (Vol.  v,  p.  139). — The 
Mount  Abora  of  Coleridge,  that  of  which 
the  Abyssinian  maid  sings,  and  about  which 
"  Islander"  inquires,  is  the  same  one  of 
which  Milton  sings  ("P.  L.,"  iv,  280)  : 

"  Nor  where  Abassin  kings  their  issue  guard, 
Mount  Amara,  though  this  by  some  supposed 
True  Paradise,  under  the  ^Ethiop  line 
By  Nilus'  head,  enclosed  with  shining  rock, 
A  whole  day's  journey  high,"  etc. 

Mount  Amara,  or  Abora,  is  the  "  happy 
valley"  of  Johnson's  "  Rasselas."  Of  it 
Massey  says  :  "This  was  a  ridge  in  Ethiopia 
under  the  equator.  Between  two  of  these  hills 
there  is  a  plain  abounding  with  the  rich  and 
beautiful  productions  of  nature,  and  highly 
ornamented  with  the  various  operations  of 
art.  In  this  place  the  kings  of  Abyssinia 
kept  their  children  continually  confined, 
and  when  a  king  dies,  he  that  is  to  succeed 
him  is  brought  thence,  and  set  upon  the 
throne."  I  have  no  doubt  that  some  of 
your  correspondents  could  tell  us  much  more 
about  the  literature  of  the  happy  valley. 

W.  J.  L. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Lamb  Tree  (Vol.  vi,  p.  233,  etc.). — John 
Struys,  a  Dutch  traveler  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
Dicksonia  Baromez,  commonly  called 
Scythian  or  Tartarian  Lamb  : 

"On  the  western  side  of  the  Volga  there 
is  an  elevated  salt-plain  of  vast  extent,  but 
wholly  uncultivated  and  uninhabited.  Here 
grows  the  fern  Boranez  or  Bornitsch.  This 


wonderful  plant  has  the  shape  and  appear- 
ance of  a  lamb,  with  feet,  head  and  tail  dis- 
tinctly formed.  Boranez  is  Muscovite  for 
little  lamb,  and  a  similar  name  is  given  to 
this  plant.  Its  skin  is  covered  with  very 
white  down,  as  soft  as  silk.  The  Tartars 
and  Muscovites  esteem  it  highly,  and  pre- 
serve it  with  great  care  in  their  houses,  where 
I  have  seen  many  such  lambs.  The  sailor 
who  gave  me  one  of  these  precious  plants, 
found  it  in  a  wood,  and  had  its  skin  made 
into  an  under-waistcoat. 

"I  learned  at  Astrachan  from  those  who 
were  best  acquainted  with  the  subject,  that 
the  lamb  grows  upon  a  stalk  about  three  feet 
high,  and  that  the  part  by  which  it  is  sus- 
tained is  a  kind  of  navel,  and  that  it  turns 
itself  round,  and  bends  down  to  the  herbage 
which  serves  for  its  food.  They  also  said  it 
dries  up  and  pines  away  when  the  grass  fails  ' ' 
("  Voyages  and  Travels  through  Muscovia, 
Tartary,  India,  and  most  of  the  Eastern 
World;"  John  Morrison,  trans.). 

Linnaeus  says  the  wool  is  yellow  in  color 
and  that  this  species  of  fern  is  a  native  of 
China.  The  people  of  India  use  the  down 
externally  for  stopping  hemorrhages,  and 
call  it  golden  moss. 

Doctor  Erasmus  Darwin,  in  The  Botanic 
Garden  (1791),  has  the  following  : 

"  Cradled  in  snow,  and  fann'd  by  Arctic  air, 
Shines,  gentle  Baronetz,  thy  golden  hair  ; 
Rooted  in  earth,  each  cloven  foot  descends, 
And  round  and  round  her  flexile  neck  she  bends ; 
Crops  the  gray  coral-moss,  and  hoary  thyme, 
Or  laps  with  rosy  tongue  the  melting  rim'e, 
Eyes  with  mute  tenderness  her  distant  dam, 
Or  seems  to  bleat,  a  vegetable  Lamb." 

(Pt.  ii,  "  Loves  of  the  Plants,"  Canto  i,  1.  281.) 

Baromez  is  erroneous  for  Russian  Bara- 
netsfi,  or  Baranietz  (dimin.  of  baran,  rain). 

Dr.  Murray  gives  the  following  reference 
to  Maundeville  (1322):  "In  the  kingdom 
of  Caldilhe  grows  a  kind  of  fruit  like  gourds, 
which,  when  they  are  ripe,  men  cut  in  two, 
and  find  a  little  beast,  in  flesh,  bone  and 
blood,  as  though  it  were  a  little  lamb  with- 
out wool.  And  men  eat  both  the  fruit  and 
the  beast,  and  that  is  a  great  marvel "  (Chap, 
xxvi). 

When  the  Rhizoma,  or  prostrate  stem, 
is  cut  into,  it  is  found  to  have  a  soft  inside 
with  a  reddish,  flesh-colored  appearance,  a 


246 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  21,  1891. 


fact  which  may  account  for  some  of  the 
fables  regarding  its  animal  nature. 

Erman's  "Travels  in  Siberia"  is  another 
source  of  information  about  this  strange 
plant. 

It  appears  that  the  travelers,  Oderic  de 
Portenau,  or  Odorico  da  Pordenone  (some- 
times called  Le  Beato  Odorico,  1318),  and 
Baron  Sigismond  learned  about  the  Bara- 
nietz  in  India  or  China,  before  it  became 
known  in  Europe,  under  its  Russian  name. 

MEN6NA. 


TO 


"Almighty  Dollar."—  Few  phrases 
are  more  often  quoted  than  the  above. 
Where  did  it  originate,  and  who  first  made 
use  of  it  ?  It  sounds  as  though  it  might  have 
been  invented  by  some  jealous  critic  who 
wished  to  satirize  the  traditional  devotion  of 
Americans  to  making  money,  and  their  dis- 
position to  worship  wealth. 

ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 

NORRISTOWN,  PA. 

Inburning  —  Inviteful.  —  In  reading  a 
work  some  years  ago  entitled  the  "Siege  of 
Armagh,"  I  came  across  the  word  "inburn- 
ing"  used  as  a  noun.  The  word  may  be 
found  in  "Webster"  and  the  "Century"  used 
as  an  adjective,  but  I  have  never  seen  it  in 
any  dictionary  as  a  noun. 

The  expression  as  near  as  I  can  remember 
in  which  the  word  occurs  is:  "Who  can 
tell  the  cause  of  this  inburning?"  Another 
word  I  noticed  that  is  not  in  any  dictionary 
is  the  word  "  inviteful."  It  occurs  in  a  poem 
published  about  a  year  ago  in  some  maga- 
zine or  paper,  entitled,  "  Mary  and  Kitty." 
The  lines  run  thus  : 

"  Eyes  so  delightful, 
Lips  so  inviteful, 
In  truth  I  am  quite  full 
Of  love  at  their  sight,"  etc. 

Can  any  of  your  readers  give  other  exam- 
ples of  the  use  of  these  words  in  the  same 
or  a  similar  sense  ?  J.  A.  L. 

NIAGARA  FALLS,  N.  Y. 

Authorship  Wanted.—  Bis  duo  sunt 
nomini,  etc.  —  I  have  seen  the  following  lines 
(i)  attributed  to  Ovid,  and  (2)  given  as 


from  Lucretius,  in  quotation  from  Ennius. 
Can  any  one  tell  me  who  was  the  author, 
and  where  they  may  be  found  ? 

"  Bis  duo  sunt  nomina  :  manes,  caro,  spiritus,  umbra 7 
Quatuor  ista  loci  bis  duo  suscipiunt, 
Terra  legit  carnem,  tumulum  circumvolat  umbra, 
Orcus  habet  manes,  spiritus  astra  petit." 


E. 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 


©OMMUNIGAJBIOHS.. 

Prince  of  "Wales  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  233,. 
etc.). — But  the  eldest  son  of  the  sovereign 
is  not  born  Prince  of  Wales.  For  example,. 
Charles  II  was  never  Prince  of  Wales; 
Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  eldest  son  of  James 
I,  died  in  1612;  but  Charles  (afterwards 
Charles  I)  was  not  created  Prince  of  Wales 
until  1616.  The  present  Prince  of  Wales 
was  born  November  9,  1841,  and  created 
Prince  of  Wales  December  8,  1841  ;  but  he 
succeeded  to  the  Dukedoms  of  Cornwall  and 
of  Rothesay  at  his  birth.  When  he  becomes 
King  of  Great  Britain,  his  eldest  son  will 
not  become  Prince  of  Wales,  because  that 
title  will  be  absorbed  in  the  higher  title  of 
King  ;  he  will  remain  Duke  of  Clarence  and 
Avondale  until  his  father  divests  himself  of 
the  title,  and  creates  him  Prince.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Dropping  Wells  (Vol.  v,  pp.  204,. 
etc.). — There  is  a  place  in  Missouri  called 
Dripping  Spring  (in  Boone  county).  There 
is  a  Dripping  Spring  Mills  in  Edmonson 
county,  Kentucky,  and  in  Hays  county, 
Texas,  there  is  a  town  called  Dripping 
Springs.  Of  the  above,  the  first  named  is 
only  twenty  miles  by  rail  from  St.  Louisr 
and  I  dare  say  some  of  your  readers  could 
inform  us  as  to  the  reason  why  the  place  has 
received  its  name.  R.  S.  S. 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Jack  Stones. — According  to  a  work  or* 
"Irish  Folk-lore,"  by  Lageniensis,  Glas- 
gow, 1870,  1 2 mo,  the  origin  of  this  game 
would  appear  to  have  been  from  the  Irish 
game  of  Shec  Shona,  which  seems  to  have 
been  at  first  a  rude  kind  of  divination. 

V. 


March  21,  1891.  J 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


24T 


"  Shelta,"  The  Tinkers'  Talk.— "In 
the  concluding  chapter  of  Mr.  Leland's 
book,  'The  Gypsies,'  Boston,  1882,  he  dis- 
cusses 'Shelta,  the  Tinkers'  Talk,'  and 
points  out  the  existence,  throughout  the 
British  Isles,  of  a  secret  Cant  or  language 
employed  by  tinkers  and  tramps,  a  jargon 
evidently  of  Celtic  origin.  With  reference 
to  this  caste  of  'tinkers,'  the  'Journal  of 
the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,'  Vol.  i,  No.  6,  pp. 
350-357,  contained  an  article  by  Mr.  David 
MacRitchie,  entitled  '  Irish  Tinkers  and 
their  Language.'  The  number  of  the  jour- 
nal named  (Vol.  ii,  No.  2),  under  the  head 
of  '  Notes  and  Queries,'  contains  a  com- 
munication respecting  '  Shelta,'  which  is 
here  transcribed.  No  doubt  there  may  be 
opportunities  in  the  United  States  for  ob- 
taining information  respecting  this  jargon  or 
language. 

"  My  first  acquaintance  with  'Shelta'  was 
made  in  the  summer  of  last  year,  while  I  was 
spending  some  holidays  in  the  island  of 
Tiree,  off  the  west  coast  of  Argyll.  A  lady 
friend  of  mine,  who  resided  in  the  island, 
gave  me  some  words  and  phrases  she  had  ob- 
tained from  a  little  tinker  girl  some  time 
before. 

"  She  obtained  the  words  in  the  following 
way.  One  day,  going  by  chance  into  the 
kitchen,  she  found  there  a  tinker  boy  and 
girl,  who  had  come  round  begging.  Enter- 
ing into  conversation  with  them  in  Gaelic 
(I  believe  they  spoke  no  English)  she  was 
informed  by  the  little  girl  that — to  quote 
her  words — 'We  have  a  language  of  our 
own.'  My  friend  asked  her  to  tell  some  of 
the  words,  and  on  her  doing  so,  wrote  them 
down.  As  they  had  a  Gaelic  ring  about 
them,  she  wrote  these  words  according  to 
the  Gaelic  mode  of  spelling. 

"On  their  return  home  the  little  boy 
<told'  on  his  sister,  and  next  day  their 
mother  came  along  to  see  my  friend.  She 
said  the  words  did  not  belong  to  any  language 
at  all,  but  had  been  made  up  by  the  little 
girl  herself.  This  my  friend  knew  was  not 
true,  as  the  boy  had  also  shown  a  knowledge 
of  the  language.  On  my  showing  the  words 
to  a  friend  I  was  advised  to  send  a  copy  of 
them  to  Mr.  C.  G.  Leland,  and  get  his 
opinion  concerning  them. 

"This  I  did,  and  was  informed  by  that  gen- 


tleman that  the  words  belonged  to  the 
'  Shelta '  language,  and  was  referred  to  his 
own  book,  'The  Gypsies,'  in  which 
'  Shelta  '  was  first  made  public.  On  read- 
ing that  book  I  find  that  some  of  my  words 
are  the  same  as  Mr.  Leland's,  allowing  for 
the  different  systems  of  spelling.  I  here  give 
the  words  and  phrases  as  I  got  them,  and  to 
these  I  have  added  some  notes,  showing  the 
words  I  consider  similar  to  those  of  Mr. 
Leland,  and  those — both  of  my  own  list  and 
Mr.  Leland's — that  I  consider  are  similar  to 
and  connected  with  the  Gaelic. 

"I  agree  with  Mr.  Leland  that  '  Shelta '  is. 
not  Gaelic,  because  my  friend  and  I  went 
over  the  words,  trying  to  find  some  connec- 
tion between  the  two  languages.  '  Shelta  ' 
has,  however,  both  Gaelic  and  slang  words 
mixed  up  with  it. 

"Words  obtained  from  tinker  girl  in  island 
of  Tiree  : 

nold,  a  man. 

beor,  a  woman. 

pearfaig,  a  girl. 

glomhach,  an  old  man. 

liogach,  bin,  a  small  boy. 

suillean,  a  baby. 

mo  chdmair,  my  mother. 

mo  dhatair,  my  father. 

cleidean,  clothing. 

luirean,  shoes. 

pras,  food. 

turan,  a  loaf. 

tur,  fire. 

reagain,  a  kettle. 

scldiaich,  tea. 

mealaidh,  sweet. 

dan  bin,  a  tent. 

dan  toim,  a  white  house,  or  cottage. 

gifan,  a  horse. 

bldnag,  a  cow. 

deasag  shean,  a  ragged,  old,  or  dirty- 
person. 

deasag  toim,  a  pretty,  clean,  or  neat 
person. 

air  a  sgeamhas,  drunk. 

j'  deachag  ob,  I  am  tired. 

s'  deis  siutn  a  meattsacha  air  a  charan,  we 
are  going  on  the  sea. 

noid  a  maslachadh  air  an  lanach,  a  man 
walking  on  the  highway. 

s'  guidh  a  bagail  air  mo  ghit,  it  is  raining. 


248 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.          [March  21,  1891. 


"  Comparing  the  Tiree  list  with  Mr. 
Leland's  words,  I  observe  as  follows  : 

"  Bear  is  similar  to  bewr,  a  woman  ;  bin 
(pron.  been)  =  binny,  small ;  pras  =  brass, 
food  ;  tur,  fire=  terri,  fuel ;  while  turan,  a 
loaf  (or  more  probably  an  oat-cake  baked  at 
the  fire),  and  terry,  a  heating  iron,  are  con- 
nected with  fur;  sgeamhas  =.  ishkimmish, 
•drunk.  To  the  ear  of  an  English-speaking 
person,  the  way  in  which  sgeamhas  is  pro- 
nounced, viz.,  with  a  preliminary  breathing, 
would  suggest  that  it  was  spelled  with  an  /, 
prefixed  to  the  word  proper.  Cian,  a  tent  or 
-dwelling  =  kiena,  a  house. 

"  Mo  is  Gaelic  for  my,  and  dhatair  is 
probably  connected  with  athair,  the  Gaelic 
for  father.  [It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  dad,  or  dada  =  '  father '  in  many 
Gypsy  dialects;  and  that  it  takes  the  form 
'^a/chen,'  in  one  instance,  in  the  north  of 
England.  Dad,  or  dada,  is  also  used  by 
some  Gaelic-speaking  castes  in  Ireland,  of 
which,  we  believe,  the  population  of  The 
Claddagh,  Galway,  is  an  instance.  Cf. 
Welsh  tad=.  '  father,'  and  the  ordinary  dad 
and  daddy  of  familiar  English  speech. — ED.] 

"Mealaigh  is  apparently  connected  with 
Gaelic  mills,  sweet ;  and  shean  with  Gaelic 
sean,  old.  Air  a  sgeamhas  is  probably 
literally  translated  by  «  on  the  spree ;'  air 
a  is  Gaelic  for  '  on  the.' 

"From  Mr.  Leland's  vocabulary  the  follow- 
ing are  similar  to  or  connected  with  the 
Gaelic : 

"Muogh,  a  pig  =  Gaelic  muc,  a  sow ;  bord, 
a  table,  is  the  Gaelic  word.  Scree,  to 
write  =  Gaelic  scrlobh  (pron.  screeve). 

"The  numerals  quoted  by  Mr.  Leland  are 
really  Gaelic : 


hain, 

da, 

tri, 

ft  air, 

cood, 

shay, 


one, 
two, 
three, 
four, 
five, 
six, 

schaacht,  seven, 
ocht,         eight, 
nai,         nine, 
djai,         ten, 


Gaelic,  aon. 
,    dha. 

tri. 

ceithir  (pron.  Knir). 

cuig. 

se  (pron.  shay}. 
seachd(pron.  schaacht}. 

ochd. 

naoi. 

deich  (pron.  djaich). 


"  Nearly  all  these  numerals  are  written  by 
Mr.  Leland  as  the  Gaelic  equivalents  would 


be    pronounced    by    an    English-speaking 
person. 

"The  word  sy  (a  sixpence),  which  Mr. 
Leland  includes  among  his  examples  of 
Shelta,  is  a  common  slang  term  with  boys  at 
Inverness"  (G.  Alick  Wilson,  in  Journal  of 
American  folk-lore}. 

Carrievreckin  (Vol.  vi,  p.  35). — Be- 
sides the  celebrated  whirlpool  of  this  name 
between  Jura  and  Scarba  to  the  west  of 
Scotland,  there  is  another  called  Coire  Brec- 
cain,  which  lies  between  the  coast  of  Ire- 
land and  the  Isle  of  Rathlin.  It  is  said 
(no  doubt  incorrectly)  that  this  whirlpool 
was  so  named  because  in  it  Breccain,  a  son 
of  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  lost  his  life 
and  his  fleet  by  shipwreck.  V. 

Longevity  of  Artists. — "  Incessant  de- 
votion to  the  arts  and  sciences  is  often  sup- 
posed to  be  unfavorable  both  to  health  and 
longevity.  The  following  list  of  distinguished 
musicians  will  illustrate  how  very  unfounded 
the  supposition  is : 

"  Sillis  died  at  85  ;  Bird,  at  80  ;  Child, 
at  90;  Wilson,  at  79;  Turner,  at  88; 
Holder,  at  82  ;  Creighton  and  Burridge,  at 
90 ;  Repush,  at  85  ;  Handel,  at  75  ;  Ame, 
at  74 ;  Stanly,  at  70  ;  Boyce,  at  89  ;  Har- 
rington, at  89 ;  Burney,  at  86  ;  Randall,  at 
80 ;  Pasiello,  at  84 ;  Castrucci,  at  80 ; 
Sartoni,  at  78  ;  Gugliemi,  at  76 ;  Germi- 
niani,  at  82  ;  Hayes,  at  80,  and  Cervetto, 
at  104"  ("  Curiosities  for  the  Ingenious," 
1825).  It  would  be  interesting  to  know 
what  the  record  has  been  between  1825  and 
1891.  An  impression  now  exists  among 
mind-workers  that  their  longevity,  on  the 
whole,  is  on  the  increase. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Pillicoshy. — This  word,  otherwise  Latin- 
ized into  Piliocotia  and  Pilltocotia,  is  found 
in  many  medical  and  other  dictionaries  (as 
Thomas',  Billings '  and  the  "Century") 
with  no  etymology.  The  word  is  evidently 
Pilula  cochice,  or  cochia  pill ;  for  the  Pilula 
cochia  major es  described  under  "Cochia" 
in  Foster's  great  dictionary  are  practically 
identical  with  the  medicine  vulgarly  called 
pillicoshy.  G. 


March  21,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


249 


Irish  Brigade  at  Fontenoy  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  222,  etc.). — The  old  Irish  Brigade — 
forerunner  of  that  of  Fontenoy  association — 
commanded  by  Lord  Mountcashel,  and  num- 
bering 6000  men,  was  composed  of  three 
regiments.  According  to  O'Callaghan's 
*' History,"  the  Irish  Brigade  at  Fontenoy  was 
made  up  of  seven  regiments,  so  if  we  allow 
2000  men  to  one  regiment,  we  must  have  a 
force  of  14,000.  This  was  precisely  the  num- 
ber of  English  and  Hanoverians  commanded 
by  William,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  son 
of  George  II,  against  whom  the  famous 
brigade  was  pitted. 

It  was  the  suggestion  of  Count  Lally, 
colonel  of  one  of  the  Irish  regiments,  to 
bring  the  four  pieces  of  cannon  which  had 
been  reserved  for  the  defense  of  the  royal 
position,  to  bear  upon  the  victorious  English 
column.  As  Froude  says:  "  Lally  Tollen- 
dal,  who  punished  England  at  Fontenoy, 
was  O'Mullally  of  Tollendaily." 

The  Duke  de  Richelieu,  with  some  his- 
torians, has  the  credit  of  making  the  sug- 
gestion to  King  Louis  XV,  but  he  was  only 
the  bearer  of  Count  Lally's  message  to  His 
Majesty. 

Martin,  the  French  historian,  takes  no 
note  of  the  services  of  the  Irish  Brigade  at 
Fontenoy.  He  says  the  battle  was  not  a 
masterpiece  of  military  art ;  rather  that  the 
day  did  more  credit  to  the  courage  of  both 
parties,  than  to  their  tactics. 

The  most  glorious  day  (May  n,  1745)  in 
the  annals  of  the  Irish  Brigade  is  recognized 
in  Voltaire's' couplet: 

"  Clare  avec  1'Irlandais,  qu'  aniinent  nos  examples, 
Venge  ses  rois  trahis,  sa  patrie,  et  ses  temples." 

The  brigade  on  this  occasion  was  com- 
manded by  Count  Arthur  Dillon  and  Lord 
Clare.  The  French  military  writer,  Gen. 
D'Espagnac,  remarks  the  fureur  of  the 
charge  of  the  Irish  Brigade. 

MENONA. 

Sierra  Leone  (Vol.  vi,  p.  34)- — As  a 
confirmation  of  what  your  correspondent 
writes  about  the  origin  of  this  name,  I 
would  call  your  readers'  attention  to  a  pass- 
age in  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost,"  x,  702: 
"  Afer  black  with  thunderous  clouds  from 
Serraliona."  V. 


St.  Brendan's  Isle  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  164, 
etc.). — The  following  account  is,  in  the 
main,  condensed  from  a  book  on  "  Irish 
Folk-Lore"  (Glasgow,  1870): 

Hy-Breasail ';  or,  The  Blessed  Island. — 

"  On  the  ocean  that  hollows  the  rocks  where  ye  dwell, 
A  shadowy  land  has  appeared,  as  they  tell ; 
Men  thought  it  a  region  of  sunshine  and  rest, 
And  they  called  it  O' Brazil— the  isle  of  the  blest. 
From  year  unto  year,  on  the  ocean's  blue  rim 
The  beautiful  spectre  showed  lovely  and  dim  : 
The  golden  clouds  curtained  the  deep  where  it  lay, 
And  it  looked  like  an  Eden,  away,  far  away !" 

Islands,  invisible  to  most  mortals,  lying 
out  on  the  distant  ocean,  or  in  the  narrower 
seas  and  channels  near  Ireland,  are  often 
said  to  have  been  seen  by  heroes  who  set  out 
on  some  erratic  expedition.  Magicians  or 
enchanted  people  are  met  with,  and  their 
spells  sometimes  prevail  against  earthly  in- 
truders. In  certain  instances  the  enchanted 
people  are  defeated  by  mortal  skill  and 
bravery.  In  such  case  the  adventurer  is 
enabled  to  revisit  Ireland.  Thus  the  rich 
"  Island  of  the  Red  Lake,"  where  the  birds 
warble  melodiously,  is  mentioned,  and  it  is 
even  celebrated  in  some  of  our  ancient  or 
mediaeval  romances.  This  Red  Lake  is  sup- 
posed by  many  to  have  been  the  present 
Mediterranean  Sea.  An  island  lay  within 
it,  on  which  a  palace  was  built.  Here  fruit 
trees  also  grew,  and  the  immortals  there 
living  fed  on  their  luscious  produce. 

The  Firbolgs  and  Fomorian  colonists  of 
Ireland,  for  the  most  part  seafaring  men,  are 
thought  to  have  placed  their  Elysium  far  out 
in  the  ocean.  It  went  by  these  various  names : 
Hy-Breasail,  or  the  Island  of  Breasal,  Oilcan 
na  m  Beo,  or  Island  of  the  Living ;  Hy  na 
Beatha,  or  Islands  of  Life.  These  titles 
and  opinions  remind  us  of  some  striking 
analogy  with  the  Maxdpwv  N^aoi,  or  Islands 
of  the  Happy,  among  the  Greeks.  Another 
title,  applied  to  some  of  those  fabled  regions, 
was  Tir  na  m  Beo,  or  Land  of  the  Living. 
Among  our  pagan  ancestors  these  latter  were 
regarded  as  immortals,  for  in  the  fabled 
spirit-land  of  the  Irish  beatified,  under  the 
Atlantic  waves,  the  good  and  brave  had 
their  special  abodes  and  enjoyments.  The 
Firbolgs  were  also  thought  to  have  had  their 
residence  under  the  waters  of  our  lakes.  A 
somewhat  different  account  is  given  regard- 


250 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  21,  1891. 


ing  other  races  and  classes  inhabiting 
Ireland. 

The  Tuatha  de  Danaans  and  the  Druids 
are  said  to  have  held  their  seminaries  in 
caves  and  secluded  subterranean  abodes. 
Hence,  their  Elysium  was  naturally  supposed 
to  have  been  situated  under  the  earth.  By 
many,  however,  it  has  been  supposed  that 
the  ocean  paradise  had  been  tenanted  by  the 
shades  of  brave  mariners,  whose  vessels  sunk 
in  the  wild  solitudes  of  the  Atlantic,  when 
tempests  arose,  and  those  unfriended  sailors 
perished  in  the  seething  waves.  One  of 
those  most  distinguished  islands  is  said  to 
appear  far  away  on  the  verge  of  the  Atlantic's 
horizon,  beyond  the  group  of  Arran  islands, 
and  removed  to  the  shadowy  distance  fading 
from  mortal  sight.  It  is,  however,  some-, 
times  visible,  and  it  has  been  beautifully  de- 
scribed by  the  graceful  pen  of  the  Irish 
novel  writer,  Gerald  Griffin,  in  his  poeti- 
cal works.  This  description  of  Hy-Breasail 
is  prefixed  to  the  present  notice.  The 
story  runs,  that  a  peasant,  attracted  by  its 
tempting  appearance,  when  it  gleamed  on  his 
vision : 

"  In  the  breeze  of  the  Orient,  loosened  his  sail." 

But,  on  directing  his  course  westward, 
this  island  seemed  to  recede  in  proportion  as 
he  advanced.  At  last,  a  rising  tempest  sub- 
merged his  bark,  when, 

"  Night  fell  on  the  deep  amidst  tempest  and  spray, 
And  he  died  on  the  waters,  away,  far  away." 

(To  be  continued.') 

Remarkable  Generation. — Mrs.  Mary 
Honeywood  was  daughter  and  one  of  the  co- 
heiresses of  Robert  Waters,  Esq.,  of  Len- 
ham,  in  Kent.  She  was  born  in  1527; 
married  in  February,  1543,  at  sixteen  years 
of  age,  to  her  only  husband,  Robert  Honey- 
wood,  Esq.,  of  Charing,  in  Kent.  She 
died  in  the  ninety-third  year  of  her  age,  in 
May,  1620.  She  had  sixteen  children  of 
her  own  body,  seven  sons  and  nine  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  one  had  no  issue,  three  died 
young — the  youngest  was  slain  at  Newport 
battle,  June  20,  1600.  Her  grandchildren, 
in  the  second  generation,  were  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  ;  in  the  third,  two  hundred  and 
twenty-eight,  and  in  the  fourth,  nine ;  so 


that  she  could  almost  say  the  same  as  the 
distich  doth  of  one  of  the  Dalburg  family 
of  Basil :  "  Rise  up,  daughter,  and  go  to  thy 
daughter,  for  thy  daughter's  daughter  hath  a 
daughter." 

In  Markshal  Church,  in  Essex,  on  Mrs. 
Honeywood's  tomb,  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion :  "  Here  lieth  the  body  of  Mary  Waters, 
the  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Robert  Waters, 
of  Lenham,  in  Kent,  wife  of  Robert 
Honeywood,  of  Charing,  in  Kent,  her 
only  husband,  who  had  at  her  decease  law- 
fully descended  from  her,  367  children,  six- 
teen of  her  own  body,  114  grandchildren, 
228  in  the  third  generation,  and  nine  in  the 
fourth.  She  lived  a  most  pious  life  and  died 
at  Markshal,  in  the  ninety-third  year  of  her 
age,  and  the  forty-fourth  of  her  widowhood, 
May  ii,  1620  "  (from  "Curiosities  for  the 
Ingenious,"  1825).  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Remarkable  Place  Names  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  175,  etc.). — Pennsylvania,  Kladder, 
Trauger,  United,  Rambaugh,  St.  Lu,  Two- 
Lick,  Tomhicker,  Allegrippus,  Tub  Run. 

Georgia,  Sawdust. 

Massachusetts,  Artichoke. 

Louisiana,  Budge,  Yscloskey. 

New  Jersey,  Tumble,  Two  Sticks. 

Nebraska,  Bee,  Ong. 

Washington,  Zumwalt. 

Virginia,  Bird's  Nest,  Frying-pan. 

Colorado,  Yankee  Girl,  Mule  Shoe. 

New  York,  Anybody's. 

Wisconsin,  Beef  Slough. 

The  Malungeons. — In  The  Arena  for 
March,  1891,  there  is  an  entertaining  and 
valuable  account,  written  by  W.  A.  Drom- 
goole,  about  the  Malungeons,  an  outcast  race 
of  people  living  in  the  mountains  of  East 
Tennessee.  In  1834,  by  the  Act  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  the  right  of  suffrage 
was  denied  them,  but  it  has  since  been  re- 
stored. The  Malungeons  claim  to  have  been 
originally  Portuguese  (in  the  Portuguese  lan- 
guage, malandrim  means  an  outcast,  a  vaga- 
bond). Their  principal  stronghold  at 
present  is  on  Newman's  Ridge  in  Hancock 
county.  They  are  not  negroes,  for  their 
hair  is  straight,  their  complexion  is  a  reddish 
brown.  The  pure  Malungeons  are  some- 


March  21,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


times  called  Ridgemanites ;  those  who  have 
white  or  negro  blood  are  called  Blackwaters. 
Many  persons  believe,  with  some  show  of 
reason,  that  the  Malungeons  have  an  admix- 
ture of  Cherokee  blood.  These  people  are 
exceedingly  filthy  and  immoral  in  their 
habits.  Their  principal  family  names  are 
Mullins,  Gorvens,  Collins  and  Gibbins.  It 
is  a  little  remarkable  that  in  Devonshire  the 
name  Gubbin,  or  Gubbins,  was  once  very 
common  among  the  outcasts  of  the  Dartmoor, 
so  much  so  that  the  whole  stock  or  race 
(now  nearly,  if  not  quite  extinct)  used  to  be 
spoken  of  as  the  Gubbinses.  The  Malun- 
geons, according  to  Miss  Dromgoole,  who 
spent  some  little  time  with  them,  would  ap- 
pear, as  a  class,  to  be  rapidly  diminishing  in 
numbers.  M. 

Patriarchates  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  203,  etc.). 
—The  "Encyc.  Brit,"  Art.  "Lobo,"  refers 
to  one  Mendez  as  having  been  appointed 
patriarch  of  Ethiopia.  But  if  the  Latin 
church  ever  had  any  such  patriarchate  it 
must  have  been  merely  titular,  and  it  is 
surely  in  abeyance  at  present.  Some 
writers  speak  of  the  abuna  of  Abyssinia  as  a 
patriarch,  but  it  would  be  more  correct,  I 
think,  to  rank  him  as  a  primate. 

G. 

The  Hair-worm. — The  common  hair- 
worm of  Europe  is  technically  called  the 
Gordius  aquaticus,  and  the  allied  or  repre- 
sentative American  species  is  Gordius  varius 
of  Dr  Leidy,  but  we  also  have  G.  longilo- 
batus,  G.  robustus  and  G.  sub spir alts.  In 
a  volume  now  before  us,  entitled  "  Natural- 
ist's Miscellany,"  published  by  Shaw  & 
Nodder,  London,  1791,  we  find  an  interest- 
ing illustrated  article  on  Gordius  aquaticus, 
from  which  nearly  as  much  information  may 
be  obtained  about  the  development  of  the 
Gordians  as  may  be  obtained  from  works  on 
the  subject  published  at  the  present  day ;  for 
it  seems  that  after  the  exclusion  of  the  ani- 
mal from  the  egg,  very  little  about  its  sub- 
sequent development  has  been  learned,  be- 
tween that  period  and  its  mature  condition, 
when  it  looms  up  before  us  a  perfectly 
formed  and  wriggled  "hair-worm."  It  was 
demonstrated  more  than  a  hundred  years 
ago,  that  the  animal  was  not  a  vivified  or 


animated  horse-hair,  but  that  it  was  a  dis- 
tinct living  animal,  that  had  been  developed 
through  the  media  of  bona-fide  eggs.  In- 
deed, more  than  fifty  years  ago,  after  an  ex- 
perience of  more  than  six  months,  it  became 
manifest  to  us,  that  a  horse-hair  would  never 
be  transformed  into  a  Gordius.  We  have 
taken  them  from  water-puddles,  cabbage- 
heads,  moist  earth,  grass-hoppers,  ground 
beetles,  and  apple-seed  cavities — dark  and 
light  brown,  red,  pink,  nearly  black,  pale 
and  white,  alive  and  squirming. 

S.  S.  R. 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Bulls  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  238,  etc.).— Thanks 
are  due  to  R.  for  defending  good  examples 
of  poetic  license  from  the  charge  of  being 
blunders  ;  would  that  he  had  also  included 
the  case  of  good,  old-fashioned  forms,  now 
rather  outgrown,  and  frequently  ridiculed  as 
solecisms.  One  phrase  that  I  saw  thus  pil- 
loried not  long  ago,  I  select  for  example, 
because  it  is  the  converse  to  Byron's  "  on 
each  hand  ;"  this  is,  "on  either  hand,"  in 
sentences  where  the  critic  asserted  "  both  " 
should  be  used.  Evidently  he  forgot  St. 
John's  description  of  the  river,  where  "  on 
either  hand  *  *  *  was  there  the  tree  of  life,  "and 
a  further  study  of  good  English  would  have 
shown  a  continuous  similar  usage.  I  have 
just  noticed  an  instance  of  this  common  em- 
ployment of  either,  which,  however,  I  do 
not  quote  as  "  literature."  An  inventory 
of  Henry  VIII's  time  has  the  item:  "A 
paire  of  knette  gloves  with  *  *  *  ij  small 
safours  in  eyther  of  them." 

Other  examples  that  are  challenged  for 
blunders,  on  p.  213,  seem  quite  as  defensible 
as  those  upheld  by  R.  Probably  Sedgwick 
meant  to  say  just  what  he  seems  to  say,  in 
his  mention  of  Petersburg,  that — so  low  are 
the  marshy  lands  and  so  great  the  expanse  of 
water  about  the  place — the  city's  palaces  ap- 
pear to  be  rising  out  of  the  very  ocean,  to 
one  approaching  from  that  direction.  Per- 
haps, too,  Dr.  Johnson  deliberately  chose 
his  phrase  in  advocacy  of  epitaphs  in  a  dead 
language,  and  by  the  apparent  contradiction 
avoided  a  circumlocution. 

Dr.  Latham  can  be  vindicated  in  another 
way.  His  style  is  certainly  deplorable,  but 
he  did  not  write  nonsense,  and  in  the  copy 


252 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  21,  1891. 


of  "  English  Language  "  before  me  (1859), 
the  sentence  reads,  "  whenever  the  plural 
ends  in  s  (as  it  almost  always  does),"  etc. 
But  to  the  many  good  bulls  recounted,  I  am 
tempted  to  add  a  new  one,  having  "  thorough- 
bred "  characteristics,  though  originating 
with  a  New  England  clergyman.  It  is 
vouched  for  by  the  friend  who  heard  it  when 
stranded  over  the  Sunday  in  an  out-of-the- 
way  village.  The  preacher  was  not  the 
regular  pastor,  but  seemed  to  have  filled  the 
place  for  a  few  weeks  and  to  be  now  saying 
farewell,  for  towards  the  close  of  his  sermon 
he  dwelt  with  much  pathos  upon  the  proba- 
bility that  he  should  never  meet  his  hearers 
again  until  they  stood  with  him  before  the 
judgment  seat.  After  this  solemnity  fol- 
lowed the  announcement :  "  Providence 
permitting,  I  shall  preach  in  this  house  next 
Sabbath."  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

The  Eyes  of  Insects.—"  The  eyes  of 
insects  are  immovable,  and  many  qf  them 
seem  cut  into  a  multitude  of  little  planes  or 
facets,  like  the  facets  of  a  diamond,  and  have 
the  appearance  of  net-work.  Each  of  these 
facets  is  supposed  to  possess  the  power  and 
properties  of  an  eye,  and  Leewenhoeck 
counted  three  thousand  one  hundred  and 
eighty-one  of  them  in  the  cornea  of  a  beetle, 
and  eight  thousands  those  of  a  'horse-fly.'  " 
The  number  of  these  facets  is  said  to  be  very 
much  greater  in  some  species  of  dragon- 
flies.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


BOOI^S  AMD 


"  The  Historic  Note-Book,"  by  Rev.  E.  Cobham 
Brewer,  LL.D.,  which  has  just  been  published  by  the 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  is  the  third  and  last  of  a  series. 
The  first  was  the  "  Dictionary  of  Phrase  and  Fable," 
and  the  second  was  the  "  Reader's  Hand-book."  The 
present  volume  is  intended  to  do  for  history  what  the 
first  of  the  series  did  for  phraseology  and  the  second  one 
for  poetry  and  romance. 

The  compilation  of  this  book  represents  the  work  of 
years  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Brewer,  and  probably  no  one 
could  turn  over  three  or  four  pages  of  this  book  and  not 
find  some  item  which  would  not  give  him  some  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  it  through  any  other  source. 

The  arrangement  of  the  book  is  somewhat  different 
from  the  plan  usually  followed  in  historical  dictionaries. 
The  items  are  not  set  under  the  ruling  word,  but 
generally  under  the  first  noun  or  adjective  of  the  phrase. 
This,  we  think,  is  the  one  weak  feature  of  an  otherwise  ad- 


mirable book.  While  this  system  of  indexing  may  gain 
conciseness  and  work  well  in  some  instances,  it  will  not 
in  a  large  number  of  others.  On  glancing  through  the 
book  we  notice  that  "  Aaron's  Breastplate  "  is  indexed 
under  "  Aaron,"  and  "  Norrisian  Prize  "  under  "  Nor- 
risian."  This  prize  is  one  given  by  the  University  of 
Cambridge  once  in  five  years  for  an  essay  on  some 
sacred  subject.  Suppose  now  a  reader  who  knew  of 
such  a  prize  being  given  and  wished  to  obtain  further 
information  on  the  subject,  unless  he  happened  to 
know  the  name  of  the  prize  ("  Norrisian")  he  would  be 
utterly  at  a  loss  where  to  look  for  the  required  informa- 
tion in  Mr.  Brewer's  book.  Again,  "Owen  Meredith"  is 
indexed  under  "Owen."  There  are  also  a  few  omissions, 
as,  for  instance,  under  "  Obelisks"  we  find  an  account 
of  the  one  in  London,  but  not  of  that  in  Central  Park, 
New  York. 

Points  in  American  history  have  not  been  ignored, 
however,  although  the  work  is  not  especially  strong  in 
this  direction.  Most  of  the  American  topics  touched 
upon  seem  to  have  received  fair  treatment  at  the  editor's 
hands. 

The  venerable  author,  now  in  his  eighty- third  year,  in 
this  work  has  certainly  not  incurred  the  risk  of  lessening 
his  reputation  as  an  authority  on  such  matters  as  he  here 
treats  upon. 

Dr.  Brewer's  previous  hand-books,  despite  their  faults, 
are  nevertheless  extremely  valuable  works  of  reference 
and  fill  a  niche  that  no  other  work  of  their  class  can  oc- 
cupy. The  present  work  seems  to  possess  all  the  good 
qualities  of  the  older  books  of  the  series  and  only  differ- 
ing from  them  by  having  a  much  greater  accuracy  of 
statement  than  they  possess. 

In  spite  of  the  few  flaws  we  have  noted  in  Mr. 
Brewer's  work  it  is  nevertheless  a  valuable  addition  to 
our  list  of  reference  books,  and  as  such  we  heartily  recom- 
mend it  to  our  readers. 

The  Cosmopolitan  for  April  is  one  of  the  most  com- 
pletely illustrated  numbers  which  has  ever  been  sent  out 
by  the  publishers  of  that  fine  magazine.  .  Miss  Elizabeth 
Bisland,  always  a  bright  and  attractive  writer,  is  fairly 
fascinating  in  her  description  of  dancing,  the  eldest  of 
the  arts,  and  the  illustrations  charmingly  interpret  the 
article  itself.  The  executive  mansion,  the  "  White 
House,"  always  an  object  of  interest  to  the  people  of 
the  United  Slates,  and  one  of  the  first  points  to  be 
visited  by  those  who  go  to  Washington,  is  described  by 
Mr.  George  Grantham  Bain,  the  Washington  corre- 
spondent, while  the  interior  is  illustrated  with  many 
views  taken  specially  for  The  Cosmopolitan  by  permis- 
sion of  the  President. 

Perhaps  the  feature  which  will  appeal  most  strongly 
to  literary  people,  is  Brander  Matthews'  article  on  the 
"Women  Writers  of  America."  Mr.  Matthews'  criti- 
cism should  be  read  by  every  American  woman  who 
writes  for  the  press,  for  magazines,  or  for  the  book  pub- 
lisher. Mrs.  Cruger,  Amelie  Rives,  and  all  the  best 
known  modern  writers,  come  in  for  a  touch  of 
criticism. 

The  Nicaragua  Canal  is  described  and  illustrated  by 
Harvey,  and  the  Japanese  theatre  by  Miss  Scidmore. 
Samples  are  given  of  the  best  work  of  Meissonier,  and 
Frederic  Villiers  tells  the  curious  story  of  a  war  corre- 
spondent's life. 

The  frontispiece  is  a  portrait  of  General  Sherman, 
drawn  by  Gribayedoff,  and  Sherman  and  Bismarck 
come  in  for  the  major  part  of  Murat  Halstead's  Review 
of  Current  Events.  (Price  25  cents,  Cosmopolitan  Pub- 
lishing Company,  Madison  Square,  New  York.) 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— East  Indian  Place  Names,  253. 
QUERIES  : — Circular  Boundary  of  Delaware,  255. 

REPLIES  :— Straif,  255— The  Mantle  that  Statius  Scorned  to 
Wear,  etc. — Masonic  Poets-Laureate — Tennessee  Pygmies — 
First  American  Romance — Case  of  Ground  Hogs,  256. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS:  —  Everglades- 
Skunk  Cabbage,  256— Rawrenoke,  257. 

COMMUNICATIONS:— St.  Brendan's  Isle,  257— Estotiland 
— Ille  hie  est  Raphael,  etc. — Razor-strop  Man,  258 — Johnny- 
cake — Wearing  Cap  on  all  Occasions — Curfew — Visions,  259 
— Hulder — Apes  in  Oregon — Remarkable  Predictions,  260— 
Egypt — Cromwell's  Poet-Laureate,  261  —  Alison  —  Prince  o  f 
Wales,  262 — Devil  Literature — Pomegranate — Silver  Sister- 
world,  263 — Plantation — Lamb-Tree — Malungeons,  264. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS:— 264. 


OBITUARY. 

The  readers  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES  will  learn  with  regret  of  the  death 
of  our  venerable  correspondent,  Dr.  Simon 
S.  Rathvon  ("  S.  S.  R."),  of  Lancaster,  Pa. 
Dr.  Rathvon  was  for  thirteen  years  State 
Entomologist  of  Pennsylvania.  He  died  on 
the  i  Qth  of  March  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine 
years.  For  many  years  he  was  connected 
with  the  Lancaster  Farmer.  The  report  on 
"Entomology"  in  the  U.  S.  Agricultura 
reports  for  1861  and  1862  was  from  his  pen. 


EAST  INDIAN  PLACE  NAMES. 

Himalaya,  snow-abode. 
Safed-koh,  white  mountains. 
Takht-i-Suleiman,  Solomon's  throne. 
Roma,  spinal  ridge. 
Kyee-doung,  ever  visible. 


254 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  28, 


Nat-toung,  spirit-hill. 

Aravalli,  line  of  peaks. 

Vindhya,  the  hunter. 

Satpoora,  seven  towns. 

Ganges,  the  river. 

Brahmaputra,  the  son  of  Brahma. 

Lohit,  blood-red. 

Tachok-tsangpo,  horse  river. 

Tsangpo,  great  river. 

Panjnad,  five  rivers. 

Dood-dhara,  milk  stream. 

Dhooan-dhara,  misty  shoot. 

Haran  Pal,  deer's  leap. 

Mahanadi,  great  river. 

Sharavati,  arrow-born. 

Kavari,  sea  of  Siva. 

Pamir,  roof  of  the  world,  or  waste. 

Koko-nor,  blue  sea. 
-    Kandangyee,  royal  lake. 

Suez,  the  proud. 

Kabadak,  dove's  eye. 

Bhairab,  terrible  river. 

Madhumati,  honey-flowing. 

Jessor,  very  glorious. 

Rangpur,  place  of  pleasure. 

Darjiling,  holy  spot. 

Serampur,  city  of  worshipful  Rama. 

Chandernagar,  city  of  sandalwood. 

Chittagong,  seven  villages  of  the  seven 
sages. 

Patna,  the  town. 

Rajagriha,  royal  residence. 

Sasseram,  1000  toys. 

Muzaffarpur,  victorious  city. 
,   Sitamarhi,  field  of  Sita. 
.   Nagpur,  snake  city. 

Chutia  Nagpur,  mouse  snake  city. 

Samet  Sikhara,  peak  of  bliss. 

Subarnarekha,  streak  of  gold. 

Chutia,  mouse. 

Tajpur,  city  of  sacrifice. 

Burabalang,  old  twister. 

Jagannath,  lord  of  the  world. 

Bhuvaneswar,  lord  of  earth. 

Swarga-dwara,  gate  of  heaven. 

Meghasana,  seat  of  clouds. 
"Tigaria,  three  forts. 

Kathmandu,  building  of  wood. 

Naskatapoor,  city  of  cut  noses. 

Kasia,  city  of  the  holy  grass. 

Pena,  the  good. 

Gobardan,  nurse  of  cattle. 

Etah,  place  of -bricks. 


Shahdwara,  king's  gates. 

Hard  war,  Vishnu's  gate. 

Futtyganj,  mart  of  victory. 

Ajodhya  (Oude),  the  unconquerable  city 
of  the  creator. 

Manjha,  upland. 

Amritsar,  pool  of  immortality. 

Dharmsala,  a  sanctuary. 

Sirmur,  crowned  head. 

Indraprastha,  field  of  Indra. 

Pak  Pattan,  ferry  of  the  pure. 

Srinagar,  city  of  the  sun. 

Sonamary,  golden  meadow. 

Bam-i-dunia,  roof  of  the  world. 

Sir-i-kol,  head  of  the  mountain. 

Lakhipur,  city  of  the  goddess  of  fortune. 

Dwar,  door. 

Su-surja  Pahar,  hill  of  the  sun. 

Soh-pet  byneng,  navel  of  the  sky. 

Burma,  heavenly  beings. 

Za-diep-ho,  nutmeg  tree. 

Toung-goung-toon,  bald  mountain. 

Rangoon,  end  of  the  war. 

Thayet-myo,  slaughter  city. 

Kooladan,  foreigners'  place. 

Kyoukh-pyoo,  white  stone. 

Cheduba,  four  capes. 

Toung-nee,  red-earth  hill. 

Sandoway,  iron-bound. 

Doab,  two  rivers. 

Allahabad,  city  of  God. 

Surnath,  lord  of  deer. 

Ghazipur,  town  of  the  champion  of  the 
faith. 

Travancore,  sacred  and  prosperous 
kingdom. 

Comorin,  virgin. 

Anamalai,  elephant  hills. 

Padmanabha,  lotus-navel. 

Coorg,  steep  highlands. 

Anandapoor,  place  of  joy. 

Kushalnagar,  town  of  joy. 

Chaunaputna,  handsome  city. 

Anekal,  hailstone. 

Toomkoor,  a  tabret. 

Madgiri,  honey-hill. 

Kadoor,  stag-town. 

Colombo,  the  port. 

Kandy,  the  hill. 

Hong- Kong,  sweet  waters. 

Singapore,  lion  city. 

Kuching,  the  cat. 

Nilghiri,  blue  mountains. 


March  28,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


255 


Mangalore,  glad  town. 

Kerakal,  black  stone. 

Malabar,  mountain  country. 

Cochin,  small  port. 

Karikal,  fish  pass. 

Combaconum,  water-jar's  mouth. 

Mayaveram,  peacock  town. 

Trichinopoly,  place  of  the  three-headed. 

Cavery,  turmeric. 

Koleroon,  place  of  slaughter. 

Uraiyoor,  city  of  habitation. 

Sriringam,  celestial  pleasure. 

Vahara,  pig. 

Pambam,  a  snake. 

Nalloor,  good  town. 

Chengalpat,  brick  village. 

Palar,  milk  stream. 

Conjeveram,  golden  city. 

Coromandel,  sand  coast. 

Pulikat,  jungle  of  old  mimosa  trees. 

Arcot,  six  deserts  (or  forests). 

Chedamburam,  atmosphere  of  wisdom. 

Chitatoor,  little  town. 

Probdatoor,  sun  town. 

Hospett,  new  town. 

Anatapur,  eternal  city. 

Masulipatam,  fish  town. 

Cocanada,  crow  country. 

Ellore,  ruling  town. 

Amalapooram,  sinless  city. 

Coringa,  the  stag. 

Bobbili,  royal  tiger. 

Jaipur,  city  of  victory. 

Ganjam,  granary. 

Ichapur,  city  of  desire. 

Karoor,  black  town. 

Hashtnagar,  eight  cities. 

Shawl,  the  fort. 

Bombay,  great  mother  (not"  good  bay  "). 

Gharapuri,  place  of  the  rock. 

Ambarnath,  immortal  lord. 

Surat,  good  country. 

Lanoli,  grove  of  the  caves. 

Junnar,  old  town. 

Singar,  lion's  den. 

Sawantwari,  beautiful  garden. 

Merwara,  hill-land. 

Rajputana,  dwelling  of  princes. 

Delwara,  place  of  temples. 

Udaipur,  city  of  sunrise. 

Alwar,  strong  city. 

Jhalra  Patan,  city  of  bells,  city  of  springs. 

Chattisgarh,  thirty-six  forts. 


B  S. 


Circular  Boundary  of  Delaware. — Most 
of  your  readers  are  doubtless  aware  that  the 
boundary  line  between  the  States  of  Delaware 
and  Pennsylvania  (New  Castle  and  Chester 
counties)  is  curved,  being  a  circle  of  twelve 
miles  radius  around  the  ancient  town  of  New 
Castle,  once  the  county  seat.  Why  was 
that  peculiar  shape  adopted  in  Penn'stime? 
And  do  you  or  any  of  your  readers  know  of 
any  other  instance  in  ancient  or  modern 
times,  in  which  a  line  of  this  kind  was  em- 
ployed as  a  boundary  between  States  or 
counties  ?  I  am  not  aware  of  any,  and  shall 
be  glad  to  have  information  on  the  point  ? 

ELLWOOD  ROBERTS. 
NORRISTOWN,  PA. 

At  the  time  that  Delaware  was  set  off,  there 
were  but  few  points  of  latitude  and  longitude 
definitely  established  in  the  colonies,  so 
that  boundaries  were  generally  expressed, 
not  by  latitude  and  longitude,  but  by  refer- 
ence to  some  known  location.  In  the  deed 
by  which  Delaware  was  transferred  there 
was  ceded  "all  the  land  for  twelve  miles 
around  New  Castle,"  together  with  certain 
other  areas  not  necessary  here  to  describe. 
In  establishing  the  boundaries  of  the  present 
State  of  Delaware,  this  description  was  taken 
literally,  and  part  of  a  circle,  with  the  centre  at 
New  Castle,  was  surveyed  upon  a  twelve-mile 
radius.  I  believe  no  other  State  has  an  arc 
of  a  circle  for  its  boundary,  but  many  of  the 
counties  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  have 
arcs  of  circles  for  their  boundaries.  Warren 
county,  Tenn.,  is  almost  a  complete  circle. 
In  many  instances  counties  formerly  circular 
have  been  expanded  into  irregular  polygons. 
J.  W.  REDWAY. 

REPLIES. 

SfraH '(Vol.  vi,  p.  223).— Both  Halliwell 
and  Wright  give  the  verb  strafe,  to  stray,  as 
a  Shropshire  provincialism.  In  the  quota- 
tion cited,  a  corresponding  noun  seems  to 
have  taken  shape  from  "  waif." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


256 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  28,  1891. 


«  The  Mantle  Statius  Scorned  to  Wear  " 
(Vol.  vi,  p.  91). — There  must  be  a  mistake 
in  this  quotation  as  given.  Catullus  died 
100  years  before  Statius  was  born.  Catul- 
lus, B.C.  87-47;  Statius,  A.D.  55-91. 

R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Masonic  Poets-Laureate  (Vol.  vi,  p.  236). 
— I  have  the  following  in  a  scrap-book,  the 
clip  bearing  date  of  December  16,  1884: 
"  The  annals  of  Freemasonry  are  rich  with 
the  names  of  poets.  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
Thomas  Moore,  James  Hogg,  Owen  Mere- 
dith, Lamartine,  George  I.  Morris  and 
Goethe  were,  or  are,  Freemasons,  and,  in 
1787,  the  Freemasons  of  Scotland  crowned 
Burns  as  their  'Poet-Laureate.'  Since  his 
death,  that  title,  so  far  as  Freemasons  are 
concerned,  has  fallen  into  disuse,  but  on 
Wednesday  evening  it  will  be  revived  in  the 
person  of  Robert  Morris,  LL.D.,  of  La- 
grange,  Ky.,  who  will  be  crowned  Masonic 
poet-laureate  by  Grand  Master  N.  A.  Brodie, 
of  Genesee,  at  the  Masonic  Temple,  New 
York  city." 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Tennessee  Pygmies  (Vol.  vi,  p.  223). — 
Miss  Murfree's  allusion  to  the  little  graves  in 
Tennessee,  containing  small  skeletons  like 
those  of  children,  has  foundation  in  fact. 
Col.  Gates  P.  Thruston,  of  Nashville,  has  re- 
cently published  a  book,  "  Historical  An- 
tiquities of  Tennessee,"  which  will  very 
probably  give  an  account  of  them.  It  is 
from  the  press  of  Robert  Clarke  &  Co., 
price  $4.  E.  PRIOLEAU. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

First  American  Romance  (Vol.  vi,  p.  236). 
— Charles  Brockden  Brown,  who  was  born  in 
Philadelphia,  January,  1771,  was  the  author 
of  the  first  American  romance.  The  name 
of  his  book  was  "  Wieland  ;  or,  The  Trans- 
formation." It  was  published  (who  by  I 
cannot  say)  in  1798  (see  article  "American 
Literature"  in  any  standard  encyclopaedia). 
J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Case  of  Ground  Hogs  (Vol.  iv,  pp.  1 75). 
— Is  not  the  phrase  inquired  about  really, 


"A  case  of  ground  and  hogs?"  Where  the 
origin  was  forgotten,  such  a  corruption 
would  be  very  natural.  If  it  be  so,  the  say- 
ing would  be  explained  by  the  story  told  in 
Halliwell's  "Dictionary,"  s.  n.  "Plowden." 
Plowden  was  a  celebrated  lawyer  of  Queen 
Mary's  time  who,  when  consulted  whether 
legal  redress  could  be  had  for  the  trespass  of 
certain  hogs  upon  the  ground  of  his  client, 
was  sure  that  damages  could  be  secured,  but 
when  told  that  the  hogs  were  his  own,  then, 
"  'That  alters  the  case,'  quoth  Plowden." 
This  last  phrase  Halliwell  says  became  pro- 
verbial. M.  C.  L. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


TO  @OF?^ESPONDENIPS. 


Everglades. — When  or  by  whom  was 
the  name  Everglades  given  to  the  Florida 
district  so  called,  and  can  any  one 
refer  me  to  the  earliest,  or  an  early  appear- 
ance of  the  word  in  print  ? 

In  John  Lee  Williams'  "  Territory  of 
Florida,"  1837,  the  word  is  used  like  a  well- 
recognized  name,  although  the  author  says 
the  region  was  still  very  little  known.  He 
occasionally  speaks  simply  of  "  the  glades." 
In  his  "Notes  on  Florida,"  1859,  Dr. 
Brinton  mentions  "  the  Seminole  pai-o-kee, 
or  pai-hai-o-kee,  grassy  lake,  the  name  ap- 
plied with  great  fitness  by  the  tribe  to  the 
Everglades,"  but,  I  think,  he  does  not  re- 
mark upon  the  later  name.  "  Glades,"  of 
course  is  a  familiar  word,  but  the  form  Ever- 
glades is  peculiar.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Skunk  Cabbage. — Some  of  my  younger 
days  were  passed  in  the  good  old  county  of 
Essex,  in  Massachusetts.  In  that  region 
there  were  then,  or  now,  many  people  of 
Irish  birth  or  descent.  These  people  kept 
many  pigs,  and  in  the  early  summer  they 
were  accustomed  to  gather  large  quantities 
of  skunk  cabbage  leaves  which  they  boiled 
for  the  pigs  to  eat.  I  wonder  if  this  use  of 
the  unpleasant-smelling  plant  still  exists? 
Also,  I  would  like  to  inquire  whether  the 
plant  is  put  to  this  use  in  any  other  part  of 
the  country  ?  R.  T.  D. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


March  28,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


257 


Rawrenoke. — What  is  or  was  "  Raw- 
renoke?"  In  the  late  edition  of  Magill's 
"  Virginia  History  "  it  speaks  of  Powhatan 
selling  his  second  daughter  to  a  great 
Werowance  for  three  bushels  of  Rawrenoke. 


J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 


KNOXVILLE,  IA. 


©OMMUNIGAJfllONS. 


St.  Brendan's  Isle  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  249, 
etc.). — The  "  Great  Land  "  was  a  denomi- 
nation often  applied  to  Hy-Breasail, 
and,  as  in  many  other  instances,  we  may 
possibly  trace  the  acceptance  of  a  historic 
fact  through  the  mists  of  a  popular  tradi- 
tion. Nor  is  this  all ;  because,  from  an  early 
period,  the  Irish  and  Scandinavian  chroni- 
clers have  placed  on  record  the  accounts  re- 
garding an  extensive  western  continent. 
This  Irland  it  Mikla,  or  Great  Ireland,  is  fre- 
quently alluded  to  in  the  Northern  Sagas. 

It  is  now  generally  believed  by  all  who 
have  made  the  subject  of  American  mari- 
time exploration  a  special  study,  that  Colum- 
bus was  not  the  first  European  who  landed 
on  the  shores  of  the  Western  hemisphere. 
From  our  earliest  Irish  annals  and  biog- 
raphies, there  are  accounts  of  an  adven- 
turous ecclesiastic  having  gone  forth  from  our 
island,  to  spread  the  truths  of  Christianity  in 
a  land  only  conjectured  to  have  had  an  ex- 
istence, but  still  with  correct  information, 
grounded  on  a  well-understood  primitive 
tradition.  They  credit  the  first  voyage 
westward  to  St.  Brendan,  patron  and  bishop 
of  Clonfert  and  Ardfert,  on  the  southwest 
coast.  It  is  recorded  that  he  flourished 
from  the  year  A.D.  550  till  the  beginning  of 
the  following  century,  and  that  he  made  no 
less  than  two  voyages  in  search  of  the 
promised  land.  The  precise  point  of  de- 
parture is  related  to  have  been  the  foot  of 
Brandan  mountain,  now  Tralee  bay.  His 
sea-store  consisted  of  live  swine,  while  his 
companions  were  monks.  His  first  voyage 
abounded  in  adventures,  which  have  the 
poetic  glow  of  a  fervid  Celtic  imagination  to 
give  them  both  range  and  color. 

The  dates  in  these  legends  are  well  fixed, 


whatever  else  may  be  dubious,  concerning 
the  details  of  this  very  extraordinary  voyage. 
A  general  tradition  of  the  Western  Conti- 
nent's existence  was  widely  received  before 
the  birth  of  Christopher  Columbus,  nor  can 
we  reject,  as  entirely  incredible,  repeated  al- 
lusions to  this  tradition,  contained  in  early 
chronicles  of  northern  nations  in  the  Old 
World.  To  the  ancient  Irish,  as  to  the 
mediaeval  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  the 
distant  land  was  the  Eldorado  of  romance, 
but  our  insular  mariners  set  forth  on  an  ad- 
venturous voyage,  with  more  unselfish  and 
holier  purposes.  Little,  indeed,  could  they 
have  thought  at  the  time,  that  from  Ireland 
would  afterwards  issue  that  drain  of  modern 
emigration  which  has  contributed  so  ma- 
terially to  increase  the  wealth,  progress, 
power  and  resources  of  the  vast  transatlan- 
tic Republic. 

There  is  quite  sufficient  reason  to  infer, 
that  many  believed  in  the  existence  of  a 
Great  Ireland,  extending  far  towards  the 
west,  even  before  Columbus'  discovery.  As- 
suredly, if  they  were  mistaken,  we  are  in  a 
fair  way  to  see  the  doubtful  vision  of  their 
days  become  a  reality,  for  there  are  few  Irish 
families,  at  the  present  day,  who  have  not 
formed  alliances  with  that  "land  of  the 
west,"  and  whose  dearest  hopes  are  not 
bound  with  its  progressive  prosperity,  and 
whose  influences  it  is  likely  to  exercise  on 
the  current  of  modern  civilization.  Hy- 
Breasail  now  dissolves,  as  a  popular  vision  ; 
yet,  through  its  mists,  a  more  distant  region 
reproduces  the  spell  of  an  Irishman's  en- 
chantment. In  Plato's  "  Timaeus  "  there  is 
mention  made  of  an  Atlantic  island,  said  to 
have  been  greater  than  all  Libya  and  Asia 
together,  and  it  afforded  an  easy  passage  to 
other  neighboring  islands.  It  was  even  sup- 
posed that  facilities  of  access  to  a  continent, 
bordering  on  the  Atlantic  ocean,  were  at- 
tainable from  these  islands.  Storms,  earth- 
quakes, and  a  deluge  taking  place,  caused 
this  island,  called  Atlantis,  to  disappear  with 
all  its  dwellers  under  the  surface  of  ocean. 
It  was  inhabited  by  a  race  of  Athenians,  and 
they  were  suddenly  merged  under  earth  in 
one  day  and  night.  The  Rev.  George 
Croly  has  produced  some  pleasing  verses  on 
this  subject.  This  sudden  visitation  the 
poet  attributes  to  the  crimes  of  its  inhabi- 


258 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  28,  1891. 


tants  and  to  their  scoffing  at  Heaven.     He 
ends  the  account  with  these  lines : 

"  Now  on  its  hills  of  ivory 
Lie  giant  weed  and  ocean  slime, 
Burying  from  man  and  angel's  eye 
The  land  of  crime." 

Here  we  find  traces  of  ancient  tradition, 
referring  to  the  destruction  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  with  all  the  country  around,  the 
inhabitants  and  all  things  springing  from  the 
earth,  as  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Genesis. 
Ashes  arose  from  the  earth,  as  the  smoke  of 
a  furnace.  In  many  similar  instances, 
gentile  traditions  tend  to  confirm  the  argu- 
ments of  those  commentators  who  rightly 
interpret  the  Mosaic  accounts  of  early  his- 
tory as  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Somewhat  similar  accounts  are  told  about 
various  other  localities.  At  Rosnaree,  near 
Tara,  there  was  a  tradition,  that  two  hun- 
dred persons  were  swallowed  up  by  the  earth 
for  blaspheming  the  true  God.  This  is 
said  to  have  occurred  before  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  into  Ireland;  and  subsequent  to 
this  period,  in  Armorica,  an  old  city  known 
as  Chris,  or  Keris,  sometimes  called  Is,  and 
situated  on  the  seashore,  was  ruled  over  by 
a  Prince  Grandlon,  surnamed  Meur.  This 
royal  personage  had  been  a  friend  to 
Gwennole,  founder  and  first  abbot  over  the 
earliest  monastery  erected  in  that  part  of 
France.  This  saint  predicted  the  submersion 
of  Gradlon  the  Great's  chief  city.  His 
prophecy  was  thus  fulfilled  :  The  city  of  Is 
had  been  protected  from  inroads  of  the  sea 
by  means  of  an  immense  pond,  or  basin, 
which  received  superfluous  waters  during 
the  prevalence  of  high  tides.  A  sluice-gate 
opened  and  admitted  the  king  to  the  basin 
whenever  he  deemed  it  necessary,  but  he.  al- 
ways kept  the  key  of  this  secret  opening. 
The  Princess  Dahut,  his  daughter,  secretly 
entertained  her  lover  at  a  banquet  one  night, 
and  both  purposing  to  escape  from  the 
palace,  she  stole  the  key  while  her  father 
slept.  On  opening  the  flood-gate,  the  high 
waters  burst  through  and  submerged  the  city 
with  its  inhabitants.  The  offending  princess 
was  drowned,  and  afterwards  she  was  meta- 
morphosed into  a  syren.  Often  was  she 
seen  on  the  seashore,  combing  her  golden 
hair,  while  her  plaintive  songs  were  heard  in 


cadenzas,    melancholy   as   the   murmur    of 
ocean's  waves  on  the  strand. 

In  that  charming  work  of  Le  Vicornte 
Hersart  de  la  Villemarque, '  'The  Barzaz  Breiz; 
or.  Popular  Songs  of  Britanny,"  the  foregoing 
legend  is  metrically  given,  with  com- 
mentaries of  the  distinguished  editor.  Local 
tradition  maintains  that  Gradlon  escaped 
the  rising  waters,  mounted  on  his  white 
steed,  and  thus  was  he  represented,  between 
the  two  towers  of  Quimper  Cathedral,  before 
the  period  of  the  French  Revolution,  while  an 
annual  popular  fete  commemorated  the  old 
poetic  story.  The  editor  compares  this 
Breton  legend  and  other  French  traditions 
with  the  Lough  Neagh  submerged  city,  as 
immortalized  in  the  Irish  melodies  of  Moore. 
\_To  be  concluded.] 

Estotiland  (Vol.  vi,  p.  232). — Heylin's 
"  Cosmographie,"  London,  1657,  p.  1020, 
says,  in  reference  to  Estotiland:  "  Under  the 
name  Estotiland  we  comprehendthose  regions 
of  Mexicana  (North  America)  which  lie 
most  towards  the  north  and  east ;  hath  on  the 
east  the  main  ocean  ;  on  the  south  Canada ; 
on  the  west  some  unknown  tract  riot  yet  dis- 
covered, and  on  the  north  a  bay  or  inlet 
called  '  Hudson's  Streits.'  " 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 
KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Ille  hie  est  Raphael,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
235,  etc.). — In  the  second  line  of  this 
epitaph,  for  magnam,  read  magna.  It  is  not 
possible  to  scan  the  line,  nor  to  parse  it  as 
it  reads  at  present.  In  the  same  line,  for 
morente  read  moriente.  With  these  changes, 
the  epitaph  will  bear  the  translation  your 
correspondent  has  given  it.  F.  L. 

Razor-strop  Man  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  i6ir 
etc.). — Henry  Smith,  the  razor-strop  man, 
died  in  this  city,  October  12,  1889.  For 
forty  years  he  had  sold  razors  and  strops  in  the 
streets,  most  of  the  time  in  Nassau  street,  be- 
tween Pine  and  Cedar  streets.  His  stand 
was  just  outside  the  banking  house  of  Ver- 
milye  &  Co.,  and  he  stored  his  chair  and  his 
goods  in  their  office  for  many  years.  He 
may  have  had  a  double,  but  he  was  the 
original  razor-strop  man.  R.  G.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


March  28,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


259 


Johnny-cake  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  190,  etc.). — 
According  to  Halliwell,  jannocks  were  large 
and  hard  loaves  of  coarse  oaten  bread,  very 
unlike  the  soft  johnny-cake,  made  to  be 
eaten  warm  ;  nor  does  journey-cake  seem  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  name,  since, 
for  the  same  reason,  the  cake  is  ill  adapted 
to  a  traveler's  haversack.  Wright's  "Pro- 
vincial Dictionary  "  has  the  adjective  "jon- 
nick,"  equivalent  to  hospitable,  and  in  lack 
of  proof  for  any  derivation,  but  merely  as  a 
guess,  I  suggest  that  this  may  have  been 
the  original  word.  The  difference  in  sound 
betwzenjonnick-cake  an&johnny-cake  is  practi- 
cally indistinguishable,  and  the  meaning  is 
not  inappropriate  to  designate  a  loaf  so 
readily  prepared  that  it  must  often  have  been 
the  resource  of  primitive  New  England 
housekeepers  for  showing  hospitality  to  un- 
expected guests.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

"Wearing    Cap    on     all    Occasions 

(Vol.  vi,  pp.  236,  etc.). — The  Baron  of 
Kingsale,  De  Courcy  and  Ringrove,  gener- 
ally known  as  Lord  Kingsale,  is  the  peer  who 
enjoys  the  privilege  of  wearing  his  hat  in  the 
royal  presence.  The  right  was  granted  to 
John  De  Courcy,  Earl  of  Ulster,  by  King 
John,  about  1204.  This  earl  died  without 
issue  in  1219.  The  first  Lord  Kingsale  was 
a  nephew  of  Earl  John. 

R.  G.  B. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Curfew  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  209,  etc.). — Does 
"  Menona  "  mean  that  poetical  references 
to  the  curfew  "of  an  earlier  date"  than 
Gray's  would  be  interesting  ?  Several  occur 
to  me  at  once:  Shakespeare 'sin  "Tempest," 
v,  i,  40;  "M.  for  M.,"  iv,  2,  78;  "Lear," 
iii,  4,  121 ;  "  R.  and  J.,"  iv,  4,  4,  and  Mil- 
ton's  in  "II  Penseroso,"  74.  Chaucer's 
"  Abouten  Curfew-time,  or  litel  more,"  in 
the  "Miller's  Tale,"  is  earlier,  and  the 
earliest  that  I  happen  to  know  of. 

R. 
CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

Visions  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  236,  etc.). — 
The  vision  of  Charles  XI  of  Sweden  was  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  in  history. 

The  following  singular  narration  occurs 


in  Rev.  '  J.  T.  James'  "  Travels  in 
Sweden,  Prussia  and  Poland."  The  most 
marvelous  part  of  the  whole  affair  is  that,  as 
the  reader  will  see,  no  less  than  six  persons, 
the  monarch  included,  concur  in  attesting 
to  the  reality  of  this  wonderful  vision. 

Charles  XI  was  sitting  in  his  chamber,  be- 
tween the  hours  of  eleven  and  twelve  at 
night,  when  he  was  surprised  at  the  appearance 
of  a  light  in  the  window  of  the  Diet  Hall. 
He  asked  Bjelke,  the  Grand  Chancellor, 
who  happened  to  be  present,  what  it  was  he 
saw,  and  was  answered  that  it  was  only  the 
reflection  of  the  moon.  With  this  answer, 
however,  he  was  dissatisfied,  and  the  senator 
Bjelke,  brother  of  the  Grand  Chancellor, 
soon  entered  the  room,  whereupon  he  ad- 
dressed the  same  question  to  him,  receiving 
the  same  answer.  Soon  afterwards  the  king 
looked  through  the  window  and  now  de- 
clared that  he  saw  persons  in  the  Diet 
Chamber,  which  was  just  across  the  street 
from  the  regal  mansion.  The  king  now  rose 
and  said  :  "  Sirs,  all  is  not  as  it  should  be — 
in  the  confidence  that  he  who  fears  God 
need  dread  nothing,  I  will  go  and  see  what 
this  may  be." 

Ordering  the  two  noblemen  before  men- 
tioned, as  also  Oxenstiern  and  Brahe,  he 
sent  for  Grunsten,  the  doorkeeper,  and  de- 
scended the  staircase,  making  straight  across 
the  street  for  the  Senate  Hall. 

Here  the  party  seem  to  have  been  sensible 
of  a  certain  degree  of  trepidation,  and  no 
one  else  daring  to  open  the  door,  the  king 
took  the  key,  unlocked  it  and  entered  first 
into  the  ante-chamber.  To  their  infinite 
surprise,  it  was  fitted  up  with  black  cloth. 
Alarmed  by  this  a  second  pause  took  place ;  at 
length  the  king  set  his  foot  within  the  hall, 
but  fell  back  in  astonishment  at  what  he  saw. 
The  hall  was  lighted  up  and  arrayed  with  the 
same  mournful  hangings  as  the  ante-cham- 
ber ;  in  the  centre  was  a  round  table,  where 
sat  sixteen  venerable  men,  each  with  large 
books  lying  open  before  them.  Above  was 
a  king,  a  young  man,  with  a  crown  on  his 
head  and  a  sceptre  in  his  hand.  At  his 
right  sat  a  person  about  forty  years  of  age, 
whose  face  bore  the  strongest  marks  of  in- 
tegrity ;  on  his  left,  an  old  man  of  some 
seventy  or  eighty  years,  who  seemed  very 
urgent  with  the  young  king  that  he  would 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[March  28,  1891. 


make  a  certain  sign  with  his  head,  which  as 
often  as  he  did,  the  venerable  men  struck 
their  hands  on  their  books  with  much 
violence. 

"  Turning  my  eyes,"  says  the  king,  "  I 
beheld  a  scaffold  and  executioners,  and  men 
with  their  clothes  tucked  up  cutting  off  heads 
-so  fast  that  the  blood  formed  a  deluge  on  the 
floor,  those  who  suffered  all  seeming  to  be 
young  men.  Again  I  looked  up  and  saw 
that  the  throne  was  almost  overturned ;  near 
to  it  stood  a  man  who  seemed  to  be  the  pro- 
tector of  the  kingdom.  I  trembled  at  these 
things  and  cried  aloud,  '  It  is  the  voice  of 
•God!'  'What  ought  I  to  understand?' 
'  When  shall  all  this  come  to  pass  ?'  A  dead 
silence  prevailed,  but  on  my  crying  out  a 
second  time,  the  young  king  answered  me, 
saying,  '  This  shall  not  happen  in  your 
tfime,  but  in  the  days  of  the  sixth  sovereign 
after  you.  He  shall  be  of  the  same  age 
which  I  appear  now  to  be,  and  this  per- 
•sonage  sitting  by  me  gives  you  the  air  of 
him  who  shall  be  protector  of  the  realm. 
During  the  last  years  of  the  regency,  the 
country  shall  be  sold  by  certain  young  men ; 
and,  acting  in  conjunction  with  the  young 
king,  shall  establish  the  throne  upon  a  sure 
footing,  and  this  in  such  a  way,  that  never 
before  was  such  a  great  king  ever  known 
in  Sweden.  All  the  Swedes  shall  be  happy 
under  him  ;  yet  before  he  is  firmly  seated  on 
his  throne,  an  effusion  of  blood  unparalleled 
in  history  shall  take  place;  you  have  seen 
all,  act  accordingly.'  ' 

This  remarkable  document,  the  above 
toeing  a  literal  copy,  is  in  the  Imperial 
Musuem  at  Stockholm.  It  is  signed  by  Charles 
;XI,  King  of  Sweden ;  H.L.  Bjelke,  the  Grand 
•Chancellor ;  R.  Bjelke,  Senator ;  A.  Oxen- 
stiern,  Senator;  Brahe,  Senator,  and  Petre 
'Grunsten,  Huissier,  referred  to  in  the  body 
of  the  document  as  the  doorkeeper  of  the 
Diet  Hall.  Taken  all  in  all,  it  is  the  most 
wonderful  vision  on  record,  being  the  only 
•one  that  is  attested  to  by  six  persons  so 
prominent  in  the  world's  history. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

K.NOXVIILE,  IA. 

Hulder  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  227,  etc.). — Why 
may  not  Ascham's  elder  have  been  the  alder, 
thus  leaving  his  hulder  for  the  true  elder  ? 


This  is  suggested  not  only  by  the  forms 
without  the  phonetic  d  given  in  the 
"  N.  Eng.  Diet.,"  and  the  provincial  word 
dler  for  the  alder  (Halliwell),  together  with 
the  variants  for  elder  having  both  the  h  and 
d  given  in  the  "  Century,"  but  also  by  the 
quotation  cited  by  Dr.  Murray  under  the 
date  1567,  very  near  the  time  of  the 
"Toxophilus,"  showing  that  the  alder  was 
then  commonly  called  the  elder.  ' '  The  Cen- 
tury Dictionary,"  however,  seems  uncertain 
about  the  forms  mentioned. 


M.  C.  L. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Apes  in  Oregon. — A  paper  has  been 
published  by  James  Terry  upon  certain  sup- 
posed "Sculptured  Anthropoid  Ape  Heads," 
of  which  up  to  date  three  specimens  have 
been  found  near  the  John  Day  river  in 
Oregon.  They  are  reported  to  have  been 
cut  in  basaltic  boulders,  and  the  fact  that 
no  genuine  anthropoid  apes  have  been  found 
in  America  adds  fresh  interest  and  mystery 
to  the  find.  But  is  it  at  all  certain  that 
these  heads  are  designed  to  represent  those 
of  apes?  On  the  northwest  coast,  as  it  is 
very  well  known,  the  carving  of  grotesque 
heads  and  figures  is  carried  on  quite  largely 
by  the  natives,  who  appear  to  have  a  de- 
cided aptitude  for  this  rude  form  of  art. 
After  all,  are  not  these  John  Day  heads  the 
distorted  and  intentionally  ludicrous  imita- 
tions of  the  human  head  ?  This  view,  as  an 
a  priori  guess,  seems  to  have  a  basis  of 
probability.  M.  L.  O. 

CHESTER,  PA. 

Remarkable  Predictions  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  215,  etc.). — When  Henry  Tudor,  Earl 
of  Richmond,  as  a  child,  was  presented  to 
King  Henry  VI  of  England,  by  his  mother, 
Margaret  Beaufort,  the  king  blessing  him 
said,  "This  pretty  boy  shall  wear  the  gar- 
land in  peace  for  which  we  are  all  sinfully 
contending."  The  little  earl  was  then  far 
from  any  prospect  of  succeeding  to  the 
throne,  as  there  were  many  heirs  between 
him  and  the  crown,  yet  the  prophecy  was 
fulfilled  when  at  the  death  of  Richard  III 
he  became  king  as  Henry  VII. 

E.  PRIOLEAU. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 


March  28,  1891. J  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


261 


Egypt  (Vol.  vi,  p.  183). — A  writer  in 
the  Albany  Evening  Journal  thinks  that  the 
nickname  Egypt  for  Southern  Illinois  origi- 
nated "  from  the  swampy  nature  of  the  coun- 
try, and  that  the  settlers,  having  this  in  view, 
named  their  town  Cairo.  The  term  '  Egypt' 
for  the  whole  district  is  certainly  an  old  one, 
and  it  is  quite  likely  that  it  antedated  both 
the  other  local  names  above  mentioned." 

W.  W.  R. 

The  land  of  Egypt  is  subject  to  overflow 
from  the  Nile ;  Southern  Illinois  is  also  (but 
not  likewise)  subject  to  overflow  to  some 
extent.  But  I  have  the  impression  that  our 
Western  Egypt  at  first  included  a  great  deal 
more  than  Southern  Illinois,  running  down 
the  Mississippi  so  as  to  include  at  least  Mem- 
phis in  Tennessee.  In  the  current  applica- 
tion of  the  term  Egypt  to  Southern  Illinois 
there  is  also  a  covert  allusion  to  the  Egyptian 
darkness  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures ;  for  that 
region  was  long  regarded  as  a  centre  of  in- 
tellectual darkness  ("whether  justly  or  un- 
justly I  do  not  know,  but  I  dare  say  local 
prejudices  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the 
idea).  I  am  not  quarreling  with  the  answer 
already  given  to  the  query ;  I  am  only  rein- 
forcing it  with  other  facts. 

Qui  TAM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Southern  Illinois  is  so  called  from  the  great 
richness  of  its  soil,  thus  resembling  the  Egypt 
of  the  Old  World.  As  a  joke,  Egypt  is  a 
nickname  referring  to  the  supposed  darkness 
of  ignorance  resting  over  Southern  Illinois, 
just  as  Egypt  was  enveloped  in  the  darkness 
during  one  of  the  ten  plagues,  as  related  in 
the  Book  of  Exodus  in  the  Old  Testament. 


E.  PRIOLEAU. 


MEMPHIS,  TENN. 


Cromwell's  Poet-Laureate  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  210,  etc.). — Although  no  officer  of  this 
name  was  attached  to  the  household  retinue 
of  the  great  Protector,  perhaps  on  account 
of  his  own  austere  views  of  things,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  the  large  number  of  poetical 
tributes  of  which  he  was  the  subject,  all  of 
them  inspired  by  a  genuine  admiration  of 
the  Hero,  and  in  no  way  expressive  of  a  per- 
functory adulation. 


First  there  are  those  of  Andrew  Marvell, 
the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth, 
whom  Dr.  Grosart  fitly  styles  Cromwell's 
Poet-Celebrant.  Marvell  was  the  Protector's 
laureate  par  excellence,  for  never  to  a 
sovereign  ruler  was  the  meed  of  poetic  praise 
poured  out  in  more  generous  libations  than 
in  those  noble  effusions,  the  State  poems : 
"The  Horatian  Ode  Upon  Cromwell's  Re- 
turn from  Ireland,"  "  The  First  Anniversary 
of  the  Government  Under  His  Highness, 
the  Lord  Protector,"  "  Poem  on  the  Death 
of  His  Late  Highness,  the  Lord  Protector." 

In  these  tributes  to  Cromwell  occur 
pleasant  allusions  to  his  family — to  his 
saint-like  mother,  to  his  daughter,  "  Fran- 
cisca  fair,"  and  to  another  daughter, 
"  Eliza,  Nature's  and  his  darling." 

Nor  does  Marvell  show  lack  of  enthusiasm 
for  the  succession,  when  he  says, 

"  A  Cromwell  in  an  hour,  a  prince  will  grow." 

"  Cease  now  our  griefs,  calm  peace  succeeds  war, 
Rainbows  to  storms,  Richard  to  Oliver." 

Among  Marvell 's  "  Poems  of  Friend- 
ship"  we  find  "Two  Songs  at  the  Marriage  of 
Lord  Fauconberg  and  lady  Mary  Cromwell ' ' 

1655)- 
Milton,  who  during   the   period,    1640- 

1660,  forsook  the  Muses  for  the  plain  prose 
of  polemics,  addressed  one  sonnet  to  Crom- 
well, which,  though  not  one  of  his  best,  con- 
tains the  famous  sentiment,  "  Peace  hath  her 
victories  no  less  renowned  than  war."  But 
who  will  name  Milton  as  poet-laureate  on 
recalling  Wordsworth's  line, 

"  Thy  soul  was  like  a  star,  and  dwelt  apart." 

Waller's  three  Cromwell  poems  are  next 
in  importance:  "Lines  on  the  Death  of 
Lady  Rich  (Frances  Cromwell);"  "Pane- 
gyric to  My  Lord  Protector,"  forty-seven 
four-lined  stanzas;  the  famous  "Lament 
Upon  the  Death  of  Cromwell,"  which  has 
been  esteemed  a  model  of  panegyric  poems. 

Dryden — England's  future  laureate- 
wrote  thirty-seven  "  Heroic  Stanzas  on  the 
Death  of  Oliver  Cromwell." 

Thomas  Spratt  wrote  a  "  Pinduric  Ode, 
to  the  Happy  Memory  of  the  Lord  Pro- 
tector." 

George  Wither,  the  Puritan  poet,  and  de- 
vout admirer  of  our  Hero,  was  guilty  of  the 


262 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  28,  1891. 


Vaticinium  Causuale,  a  rapture  over  Crom- 
well's happy  escape  in  the  accident 
which  occurred  to  him  while  driving  the  six 
horses  presented  him  by  the  Duke  of  Olden- 
burg (1655). 

Sir  John  Denham,  a  Royalist  poet,  made 
the  same  accident  the  subject  of  a  poem, 
"The  Jolt." 

Sir  William  D'Avenant,  the  real  poet- 
laureate  of  this  period,  was,  like  the 
king,  a  prisoner  and  an  exile  much  of 
the  time.  The  office  had  been  bestowed  upon 
him  in  1638,  sixteen  months  after  the  death 
of  Ben  Jonson,  at  the  request  of  Henrietta 
Maria,  Queen  of  Charles  I.  As  D'Avenant 
survived  the  Protectorate,  he  was  able  to  re- 
sume his  duties  with  the  return  of  his  king, 
Charles  II,  and  continued  in  the  office  until 
his  death,  1668,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
John  Dryden. 

D'Avenant,  it  is  said,  wrote  an  epitha- 
lamium,  on  the  occasion  of  Lady  Frances 
Cromwell's  marriage  with  Sir  Robert  Rich, 
1657,  but  I  do  not  find  the  poem  in  the  list 
of  his  works.  Thomas  May,  another  poet  of 
some  consideration,  was  an  aspirant  for  the 
laureateship  at  the  time  D'Avenant  was  ap- 
pointed. He  very  soon  after  forsook  his 
king,  and  united  himself  to  the  parliamentary 
party,  from  which  he  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  "  Historiographer."  As  a  poet  he 
might  have  filled  the  position  of  laureate, 
the  two  offices  having  sometimes  been  com- 
bined in  one  person.  But  we  do  not  learn 
of  his  having  exercised  any  such  duties. 
Andrew  Marvell's  poem  on  "  The  Death  of 
Thomas  May  "  should  be  read  in  this  con- 
nection. MEN6NA. 

The  vocation  of  the  Laureate  appears  to 
have  been  in  abeyance  under  Cromwell. 
William  Davenant,  not  then  knighted,  who 
received  the  appointment  in  1637,  after  Ben 
Jonson's  death,  still  held  the  office,  so  far 
as  that  could  be  called  an  office,  which  had 
no  duties  or  emoluments,  nor  even  an 
acknowledged  title,  and  he  resumed  its 
functions  alter  the  Restoration.  Davenant's 
original  competitor  for  the  laurel  wreath  was 
Mr.  Thomas  May,  in  whom  the  failure  to  se- 
cure the  coveted  honor  wrought  so  splenetic 
a  temper,  that  from  an  ardent  royalist  he  be- 
came a  malcontent,  and  for  his  active  oppo- 


sition to  the  king  and  his  aid  to  the  king's 
enemies,  he  received,  in  compensation,  from 
the  Long  Parliament  the  place  of  Historiog- 
rapher. Apparently,  in  that  time  of  storm 
and  stress,  life  seemed  too  stern  for  the  au- 
thorities to  regard  the  poet's  bays,  and  the 
new  office  was  the  substitute  or  equivalent. 
During  the  decade  under  the  Commonwealth 
and  the  Protectorate,  Milton  was  a  politician 
rather  than  a  poet,  writing  such  inexorable 
prose  as  the  "  Eikonoklastes "  and  the 
"  Defensio  pro  Populo  Anglico,"  instead  of 
metrical  numbers,  with  the  exception  of  the 
sonnet  to  Cromwell  and  the  one  on  the 
Piedmont  massacre. 

After  the  Restoration,  James  Hovvell  re- 
ceived the  place  held  by  May  under  Crom- 
well ;  or  rather,  the  position  of  Court  His- 
toriographer was  created  for  Howell,  and 
when  his  death  in  1666,  and  that  of  Sir 
William  Davenant  in  1668,  opened  the  two 
offices,  the  double  honor  of  Laureate  and 
Royal  Historiographer  was  conferred  upon 
Dryden.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Alison  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  216,  etc.). — Is  that 
name  the  Scottish  equivalent  for  Alice? 
Miss  Yonge,  in  her  "  History  of  Christian 
Names,"  gives  it  a  different  origin.  She 
traces  it  from  the  Provencal  Aloys,  which 
apparently  was  the  first  shape  of  Louis  which 
threw  out  a  feminine,  the  Aloyse  or  Hiloise 
whose  correspondence  with  Abelard  was  the 
theme  of  so  much  sentiment  and  whose  fame 
brought  to  Scotland  was  no  doubt  the  origin 
of  the  numerous  specimens  of  Alison  found 
in  that  region.  Alison  is  Teutonic  and  means 
famous  war,  while  Alice  means  noble  cheer 
in  the  same  language.  Miss  Yonge  gives 
Angus  the  signification  of  excellent  virtue  ; 
Dugald,  black  stranger,  and  Brian  strength. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN.  E.  PRIOLEAU. 

Prince  of  Wales  (Vol.  vi,  p.  233). — I 
am  almost  sure  that  Mr.  Ogier  meant  to 
write  "  Edward  I,"  in  the  fifth  line  of  his 
reply,  instead  of  Henry  III ;  am  I  right  ? 
With  regard  to  the  last  sentence,  it  may  be 
well  to  remark  there  were  plenty  of  real 
Princes  of  Wales  before  Edward  II  was  born. 
Many  of  the  old  Welsh  rulers  of  the  country 
are  known  in  history  as  Princes  of  Wales. 

F.  L. 


March  28,  1891.]  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


263 


Devil  Literature  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  234, 
etc.). — The  following  are  a  few  more  instances 
of  the  Devil  in  Literature  which  have 
lately  come  to  my  notice: 

"History  of  the  Devil;  or,  A  Commentary 
on  the  Existence  of  Good  and  Evil  Spirits," 
by  Joh.  Godefroy  Meyer,  published  in  Latin 
in  1780. 

"LeDiable  Amoureux  "  (The  Devil  in 
Love),  an  allegorical  romance,  by  Jacques 
Cazotte,  published  in  1764. 

"  History  of  the  Devil,"  written  in  Ger- 
man by  G.  Gustave  Roskoff,  Professor  of 
Theology  in  Vienna,  published  in  Leipsic  in 
1869,  2  vols.,  8vo. 

"  Les  M6moires  du  Diable  "  (Memoirs  of 
the  Devil),  a  highly  sensational  novel,  pub- 
lished in  1832,  by  Frederick  Souli6. 

"Le  Diable  peint  par  lui-meme"( A  Picture 
of  the  Devil  Painted  by  Himself),  by  Collin 
de  Plancey. 

"  Le  Diable,  sa  vie,  ses  mceurs  et  son  in- 
fluence dans  les  choses  humaines "  (The 
Devil,  his  Life,  his  Habits  and  his  Influence  on 
human  events),  by  Charles  Louandre.  It 
first  appeared  in  the  Revue  des  Deux-Mondes, 
August  15,  1842. 

"  El  Diablo  Mundo"  (The  Devil-world)  is 
the  title  of  a  Spanish  poem  of  great  beauty, 
written  by  D.  Jose  Esponsedu,  about  1835. 

"  El  Diablo  cojuelo  6  Novela  de  la  otra 
vida,"  a  Spanish  romance  published  in  1641 
in  Madrid,  by  Luiz  Velez  de  Guevara  y 
Duefias. 

"  Les  Diables  roses  "  (The  Pink  Devils), 
a  comedy  in  five  acts,  by  Eugene  Grange 
and  Lambert  Thiboust ;  first  produced  in 
Paris  at  the  Palais  Royal,  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1863.  This  comedy  was  one  of  the 
greatest  successes  of  Mdlle.  Schneider,  who 
played  the  principal  part,  that  of  Flora 
Moulin. 

"Les  Diables  noirs  "  (The  Black  Devils),  a 
drama  in  four  acts  in  prose,  by  Victorien 
Sardou,  first  .produced  in  Paris  at  the  Vaude- 
ville Theatre,  on  the  28th  of  November, 
1863. 

"  Le  Diable  a  Valladolid"  (The  Devil  at 
Valladolid)  is  a  drama  in  five  acts,  some- 
times called  the  "Alcade  Ronquilla,"  from 
the  name  of  the  principal  character.  It  was 
written  by  Zorilla,  one  of  the  best  modern 
Spanish  poets. 


"Le  Diable  boiteux  ou  la  Chose  impossi- 
ble" (The  Lame  Devil  or  the  Impossible 
Thing),  a  comic  opera  in  one  act  in  prose, 
by  Favart;  first  produced  at  the  Theatre  of  the 
ComedieJtallienne,  on  the  27th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1782. 

"  Le  Diable  a  quatre  ou  la  Double  meta- 
morphose," a  comic  opera  in  three  acts,  the 
words  by  Sedaim  and  the  music  by  Dum, 
first  produced  in  Paris  at  the  Opera-Comique 
of  the  fair  of  Saint  Laurent  in  1756.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  stolen  from  the  English  of 
George  Farquhar  and  translated  into  French 
prose  by  Patu. 

"  Diable  a  Seville  "  (The  Devil  in  Seville), 
a  comic  opera  in  one  act.  Words  by  Cave' 
and  Hurlado,  with  music  by  Gomis.  First 
produced  at  the  Opera-Comique  in  Paris  on 
the  29th  of  January,  1831. 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

There  is  a  book  called  "  Letters  from 
Hell,"  which  might  come  under  the  head 
of  "Devil  Literature."  E.  P. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Pomegranate  (Vol.  vi,  p.  214). — Katha- 
rine of  Aragon  had  for  her  device  a  pome- 
granate with  the  motto,  "Not  for  my  crown  " 
(the  crown  of  the  pomegranate  is  worthless 
and  always  thrown  away).  It  was  borne  by 
the  kingdom  of  Granada — argent,  a  pome- 
granate slipped  proper — and  was  a  favorite 
cognizance  in  Spain.  E.  PRIOLEAU. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Silver  Sister-world  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  240, 
etc.). — Silver  is  an  epithet  especially  belong, 
ing  to  the  moon.  Indeed,  old  writers  called 
the  metal  silver  luna,  the  moon.  Venus 
meant  copper  in  the  alchemistic  language ; 
Jupiter  was  tin  ;  Mercury  was  and  is  quick- 
silver; Mars  was  iron  ;  Saturn,  lead  ;  Sol, 
the  sun,  was  gold.  In  modern  times  the 
chemical  elements  cerium,  selenium,  titanium, 
niobium,  tantalum,  palladium,  uranium,  tel- 
lurium and  vanadium  are  among  those  which 
bear  names  derived  from  ancient  my- 
thological personages.  I  don't  offer  these 
facts  as  having  any  direct  bearing  upon  the 
question  which  your  correspondent  R.  has 
asked  and  answered.  R.  J. 


264 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  [March  28,  1891. 


Plantation.  —  The  "  Century  Dic- 
tionary" says  that  in  Maine  and  New 
Hampshire  a  plantation  is  a  tract  of  unor- 
ganized territory.  This  is  misleading.  I 
am  not  aware  that  there  are  any  "planta- 
tions" in  New  Hampshire  in  this  or  any 
similar  sense.  In  Maine,  the  unsettled  lands 
are  surveyed  into  townships.  This  State,  so 
far  as  I  am  informed,  is  the  only  State 
in  New  England  in  which  "townships" 
exist  by  law.  When  the  Maine  town- 
ship becomes  settled,  it  receives  a  name, 
and  organizes  a  local  "  plantation  "  govern- 
ment of  a  simple  kind  and  with  limited 
powers.  When  the  plantation  has  suf- 
ficiently advanced  in  resources,  the  Legisla- 
ture incorporates  it  as  a  "  town,"  and  a 
regular  town  government  is  organized.  A 
Maine  Year-book  is  published  annually  which 
gives  lists  of  the  officers  of  both  towns  and 
plantations.  This  fact  shows  that  the  dic- 
tionary's definition  is  not  correct.  There 
are,  however,  some  named  plantations  which 
have  gone  back  in  population  and  now 
have  no  local  government. 

T.  G.  AMES. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Lamb-Tree  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  233,  etc.). — 
The  lamb- tree,  as  I  suppose,  is  the  Vittx 
Agnus-castus.  Agnus-castus means  "chaste 
lamb"  in  Latin,  but  in  reality  the  word 
agnus  (lamb)  replaces  the  Greek  dp«y, 
chaste  ;  so  that  strictly  agnus  castus  stands 
for  chaste  chaste.  There  is  a  considerable 
body  of  superstition,  or  folk-lore,  con- 
nected with  this  tree.  F.  L. 

Malungeons  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  250,  etc.). — 
If  this  singular  people  really  descended 
from  Portuguese  ancestry,  are  there  no  relics 
among  them  of  the  Portuguese  lan- 
guage, proper  names,  customs,  folk-lore,  re- 
ligion ?  It  appears  from  the  published  ac- 
count already  referred  to,  that  the  Malun- 
geons as  a  rule  profess  to  be  Baptists,  but 
have  practically  little  or  nothing  that  can 
be  called  a  religion.  We  certainly  need  a 
great  deal  more  information  about  them  be- 
fore it  is  safe  to  speculate  much  as  to  their 
origin.  Miss  Dromgoole  deserves  much 
credit  for  her  courageous  attempt  at  solving 
the  Malungeon  problem,  but  the  informa- 


tion she  has  already  given  leaves  us  with  a 
sense  of  unsatisfied  curiosity.  She  tells  us 
that  their  dialect  is  one  of  marked  peculiarity. 
If  we  only  had  a  vocabulary  of  their  words, 
and  if  we  knew  more  about  their  beliefs,  it 
might  be  possible  to  assign  them  a  probable 
origin.  Possibly  a  well-directed  search  may 
yet  reveal  other  colonies  of  the  same  stock. 
The  name  would  seem  to  be  connected  with 
the  French  melanger,  to  mix  ;  and  the  peo- 
ple certainly  seem  to  be  of  a  mixed  descent. 

V. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Atlantic  Monthly  contains  the  first  installment  of 
"  The  Brazen  Android,"  which  is  the  curious  title  of  a 
story  in  two  parts,  by  the  late  William  Douglas  O'Connor. 
It  is  a  story  of  old  London,  and  its  ancient  life  is  won- 
derfully reconstructed  by  the  vivid  imagination  of  the 
author.  Mr.  Stockton's  "  House  of  Martha  "  continues 
in  its  usual  rollicking  fashion  for  three  more  chapters, 
and  Mr.  Lowell's  traveler  pursues  his  way  through 
"Noto:  An  Unexplored  Corner  of  Japan."  Francis 
Parkman's  second  paper  on  "  The  Capture  of  Louis- 
bourg  by  the  New  England  Militia  "  is  marked  by  the 
skill  and  care  which  Mr.  Parkman  devotes  to  every  thing 
which  he  writes.  One  of  the  most  important  papers  in 
the  number  is  "  Prehistoric  Man  on  the  Pacific  Coast," 
by  Prof.  George  Frederick  Wright,  of  Oberlin,  in  which 
he  gives  us  the  results  of  his  investigations  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Nampa  Image.  The  Hon.  S.  G.  W.  Benja- 
min, for  some  years  United  States  minister  to  Persia, 
has  a  timely  consideration  of  "  The  Armenians  and  the 
Porte."  The  number  is  not  without  poetry  —  Clinton 
Scollard,  Thomas  William  Parsons,  Thomas  S.  Collier, 
and  William  H.  Hayne  being  among  the  contributors  ; 
and  in  this  connection  Mr.  William  P.  Andrew's  paper 
on  "  Goethe's  Key  to  Faust"  should  not  be  forgotten. 
The  usual  reviews  and  a  bright  Contributors'  Club 
close  the  April  number  of  this  magazine. 

Review  of  Reviews.  —  It  is  but  fourteen  months  since 
W.  T.  Stead,  the  brilliant  English  journalist,  established 
in  London  his  Review  of  Reviews.  Already  it  has  at- 
tained a  circulation  of  over  150,000  copies.  It  is  said  by 
those  who  know  that  the  American  edition  of  the  Review 
of  Reviews,  the  first  numjber  of  which  appears  in  a  few 
days,  promises  to  surpass  in  popular  attractiveness  the 
present  publication,  and  its  many  excellencies,  together 
with  its  low  subscription  price,  assure  it  in  advance  a 
universal  popularity  and  a  large  constituency. 

The  "  Progress  of  the  World,"  the  editorial  review 
of  contemporary  events  which  has  proven  so  popular  a 
feature  of  the  Review  of  Reviews,  will  not  only  be  pre- 
served in  the  American  edition,  of  that  review,  but  much 
timely  and  valuable  matter  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Albert 
Shaw,  the  editor  of  the  American  edition,  will  be  added. 
The  forthcoming  April  number,  which  inaugurates  the 
American  edition,  will  present  many  unusually  attractive 
features. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Pomegranates,  Browning  and  the  Nightingale,  265 
— The  Honey  Ant — Scandinavian  Customs — Curiosities  of 
Words,  267. 

REPLIES  :— Almighty  Dollar,  268— Rawrenoke,  269. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —  Names  End- 
ing in  Han  and  Can— Man  on  Horseback— Props— I  Was 
Born  an  American,  etc. — Moustache,  269. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Remarkable  Fecundity,  269— Prince 
Consort's  Family  Name,  270 — Folk-lore  Superstitions— St. 
Brendan's  Isle,  271— Mooley  Cow — Canada — Malungeons, 
273— Bonny  Boots— Visions,  274— Wells— Hie  hie  est 
Raphael,  etc. — Jackstones,  275. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  1—276. 

ROTES. 

POMEGRANATES,  BROWNING  AND  THE  NIGHT- 
INGALE. 

(UNDER  "  POMEGRANATE,"  VOL.  vi,  PP.  214,  ETC.) 

"  Pomegranate,  chief  of  those  whose  blooming  flow'r 
(Pomona's  pride)  may  Challenge  Flora's  bow'r; 
The  Spring  Rose  seems  less  fair  when  she  is  by, 
Nor  Carbuncle  can  with  her  colors  vie  ; 
Nor  scarlet  robes  by  proudest  monarch  worn, 
Nor  purple  streaks  that  paint  the  rising  morn." 

It  is  hardly  a  wonder  that  an  object  so 
beautiful  as  to  its  shining  dark-green  foliage, 
its  crimson  and  scarlet  flowers,  and  its  lus- 
cious, rosy-tinged  golden  fruit,  should  be  a 
favorite  design  for  embroideries,  carvings  and 
metal  work  with  artists  from  the  earliest 
period.  The  Assyrians  and  Egyptians  had 
appropriated  the  pomegranate  as  an  orna- 
mental subject  long  prior  to  Bible  times. 
But  that  it  bore  any  symbolic  significance 
when  used  to  adorn  spear  shafts,  quivers  and 


266 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  4,  1891. 


mace  heads,  or  as  a  pattern  for  doorways  and 
pavements,  is  a  matter  of  doubt  with  those 
best  informed.  Nor  is  it  more  certain  that 
any  mystical  meaning  attached  to  the 
chapletsor  festoons  of  pomegranates  wreathed 
about  the  chapiters  of  molten  brass  which 
surmounted  the  pillars  at  the  porch  of 
Solomon's  Temple. 

But  the  pomegranate,  as  an  ornamental 
design  on  the  sacerdotal  vestments  of  the 
Levites — on 

"  The  tinkling  hem  of  Aaron's  train," 

according  to  Josephus,  St.  Jerome,  St. 
Chrysostom  and  St.  Gregory,  had  with  the 
Jews  a  profound  mystical  significance. 

Twice  Josephus  describes  the  long  blue 
tunic  worn  by  the  high-priest,  with  its 
fringe  of  pomegranates,  alternating  with 
golden  bells,  adding,  "The  bells  signify 
thunder,  and  the  pomegranates  lightning." 

St.  Jerome  says  the  "pomegranates  are 
made  in  purple  and  scarlet,  and  that  there 
are  seventy-two  of  them,  alternating  with 
the  same  number  of  bells,  the  latter  signifi- 
cant of  thunder,  and  the  pomegranates  of 
lightning,  or  else  the  harmony  of  all 
things." 

St.  Jerome's  remarks  on  the  symbolism  of 
the  priestly  garments  are  both  detailed  and 
extended,  closing  as  follows  :  "  For  without 
the  bells  and  the  divers  colors,  and  the 
flowers  of  divers  virtues,  the  high-priest  can 
neither  enter  the  Holy  of  Holies,  nor  make 
his  name  one  chief  among  God's  servants." 

St.  Chrysostom  says :  "  The  fruits  and 
flowers  (referring  to  the  pomegranate)  signify 
the  righteous  habits  of  Christian  virtues,  like 
mercy,  kindness,  justice  and  brotherly  love." 

St.  Gregory  says  :  "  The  divers  colors  of 
the  Ephod  are  intended  to  teach  with  what 
variety  of  virtues  he  should  be  adorned,  who 
serves  in  holy  ministry  to  God."  The  gold 
signifies  "the  understanding  of  wisdom" 
(on  account '  of  its  extreme  preciousness)  ; 
blue,  "  heavenly  aspiration ;"  the  purple  and 
scarlet  of  the  pomegranates — the  first, 
"kingly  power  to  crush  all  evil  in  his  own 
heart;"  the  latter,  "charity  kindled  into 
fire  by  holy  love."  Thus  St.  Gregory  shows 
that  the  literal  vestments  of  the  Levitical 
are  but  the  antetype  of  the  spiritual  clothing 
of  the  Christian  priesthood. 


A  modern  explanation  of  the  pomegranate 
in  religious  art:  "A  device  signifying  the 
richness  of  divine  grace,  frequently  found 
on  ancient  embroideries,  paintings  and 
illuminations." 

"  Bells  and  Pomegranates  "  was  the  pleas- 
ing and  effective  title  which  Robert  Brown- 
ing chose  for  the  series  of  dramas  and  poems 
published  between  the  years  1841  and  1846, 
and  opening  with  "  Pippa  Passes. "  Oneat 
least  of  his  audience,  Elizabeth  Barrett, 
penetrated  its  symbolism,  and  interpreted  it 
in  a  tribute  to  the  author,  as  unique  as  it  is 
famous.  "  I  read  aloud,"  she  says,  "  from 
Browning 

"*  *  *  some  '  Pomegranate,'  which,  if  cut  deep  down 

the  middle, 

Shows  a  heart  within  blood-tinctured,  of  a  veined 
humanity !" 

"  Balaustion's  Adventure  "  (1871)  and  its 
sequel,  Aristophanes'  "Apology,"  whicft  is 
the  "Last  Ad  venture  of  Balaustion"  (1875), 
illustrate  the  same  poet's  later  literary  use 
of  the  favorite  symbol : 

"•  *  »  although  she  has  some  other  name, 
We  only  call  her  Wild-pomegranate-flower, 
Balaustion ;  since,  where'er  the  red  bloom  burns 
I'  the  dull  dark  verdure  of  the  bounteous  tree, 
Dethroning,  in  the  Rosy  Isle,  the  rose, 
You  shall  find  food,  drink,  odor,  all  at  once  ; 
Cool  leaves  to  bind  about  an  aching  brow, 
And,  never  much  away,  the  nightingale." 

The  Rhodian  lyric  girl,  having  received 
from  a  band  of  captives  a  crown  of  wild- 
pomegranate-flower,  says : 

"  So,  I  shall  live  and  die  Balaustion  now." 

The  symbolism  in  these  poems  refers  to 
the  chief  character,  and  is  traceable  through- 
out its  sustained  development  even  to  the 
end,  where  Balaustion  the  Superb  exclaims  : 

"  Saved  was  Athenai  through  Euripides, 
Through  Euthukles,  through— more  than  ever— me, 
Balaustion,  me,  who,  wild-pomegranate-flower 
Felt  my  fruit  triumph,  and  fade  proudly  so !" 

(Aristophanes'  "  Apology,"  p.  319.) 

Symbolism  aside,  Browning,  in  closing 
the  description  of  the  pomegranate-tree,  as 
may  be  seen,  associates  it  with  the  nightin- 
gale. Did  he  learn  of  Shakespeare  that 
pomegranate-trees  are  favorite  haunts  with 
Philomela  ?  For  beside  the  great  dramatist 
Browning  is  the  only  English  poet  who  records 


April  4,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


267 


this  interesting  fact.     Chaucer  places  his 
nightingale  in  the  laurel-tree. 

Crashaw,  in  "Musick's  Duel,"  calls 
Philomel, 

"  The  sweet  inhabitant  of  each  glad  tree." 

Keats  places  his  "  light-winged  Dryad  of 
the  trees"  among  the  "beeches-green." 

Coleridge  is  most  exquisitely  indefinite 
about  the  haunts  of  these  wakeful  birds : 

"  On  moon-lit  bushes 

Whose  dewy  leaflets  are  but  half  disclosed, 
You  may  perchance  behold  them  on  the  twigs." 

Shelley,  at  the  opening  of  the  "  Epipsy- 
chidion,"  like  Byron,  conforms  to  Persian 
fable,  and  makes  the  nightingale  the  lover 
of  the  rose,  the  rival  of  the  pomegranate. 
But  Shakespeare's  Juliet  says  : 

"  It  was  the  nightingale." 
"  Nightly  she  sings  on  yon  pomegranate- tree." 

(Act  iii,  Sc.  5.) 

ALISON. 

THE  HONEY  ANT. 

Although,  perhaps,  all  ants  are  fond  of 
honey,  and  probably  none  will  refuse  or  re- 
ject it,  yet  there  are  a  few  species  that  abso- 
lutely collect  it,  carry  it  about  them,  and  pro- 
vide it  for  their  progeny,  and  that,  too,  in 
considerable  quantity.  Some  years  ago,  a 
friend  residing  at  Albuquerque,  New  Mexico, 
sent  us  perhaps  one  hundred  specimens  or 
more,  the  larger  number  of  which  were 
females,  and  these  females  had  the  abdomen 
very  much  distended,  spherical  in  shape,  and 
fully  half  an  inch  in  diameter.  Indeed  the 
honey  of  the  mass  amounted  to  nearly  a 
common  teacupful  in  quantity,  and  the 
taste,  so  far  as  I  can  recall  it,  was  similar  to 
that  of  the  common  honey-bee  {Apis  melli- 
fica).  This  species  {Myrmecocystus  mexi- 
cana)  is  also  found  in  old  Mexico,  and  I  be- 
lieve, it  is  supposed,  that  there  are  different 
species  of  them.  They  form  their  nests  in 
the  ground,  and  the  rjatives  (Indians),  es- 
pecially the  children,  are  in  the  habit  of  ap- 
propriating them  to  themselves.  In  the  early 
life  of  the  insects,  the  presence  of  the  honey  is 
not  apparent,  but  as  they  advance  in  life  the 
intestines  become  filled  with  it,  and  the  whole 
abdomen  has  then  the  appearance  of  a  great 
bubble  of  honey.  There  are  only  a  limited 


number  that  are  honey  bearers,  and  these 
cannot  walk,  but  become  fixed  to  the  floors 
or  walls  of  their  galleries,  and  it  is  by  no 
means  uncommon  to  serve  this  honey  as  a 
dainty  repast  at  the  feasts  or  festivals  of  the 
natives.  S.  S.  R. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


SCANDINAVIAN   CUSTOMS. 

Towards  the  conclusion  of  Bjursten's  his- 
torical romance,  entitled  "Ofverste"  Stob6e," 
covering  the  years  1702-1721  of  Swedish 
history,  the  author  makes  the  somewhat 
startling  statement  that  the  extravagant  dis- 
plays and  expenditures  at  balls  and  ordinary 
social  parties  of  the  magnates  or  aristocracy 
in  Sweden  during  that  period  exceeded  in 
prodigality  any  such  entertainments  of  the 
present  time.  This  is  quite  adverse  to 
popular  belief  as  to  the  general  or  national 
sobriety  and  parsimony  of  the  older  people 
of  Scandinavia.  He  furthermore  insists 
"  that  already  during  the  times  of  Gustav 
Adolphus  and  Christiana,  the  upper  classes 
lived  far  more  luxuriantly  than  they  do  at  the 
present  day"  ("Hos  de  hogre  Klasserna  lefdes 
redan  under  Gustav  Adolfs  och  Kristinas 
tider  vida  yppigare  an  man  gora  i  vara 
dogar,"  Tom.  ii,  p.  215),  and  concludes  this 
singular  assertion  bysaying:  "  The  fetes  given 
frequently  by  high  officials  were  more  costly 
than  our  (present  day)  parsimonious  cabinet 
officers  and  provincial  representatives  of 
government  can  have  any  idea  of  I" 

Bjursten  offers  in  partial  explanation  of 
this  strange  statement  that  the  customs  of 
France  had  found  ready  access  and  exag- 
gerated imitations  among  the  people  of 
Sweden  of  that  period. 

G.  F.  FORT. 


CURIOSITIES  OF  WORDS— VOWEL  WORDS. 

In  one  of  the  numbers  of  AMERICAN 
NOTES  AND  QUERIES  you  had  an  article  on 
"  Vowel  Words."  You  say  "  there  are  but 
two  words  in  the  whole  range  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  containing  all  the  vowels  in 
their  regular  order."  You  continue,  "A 
search  through  the  dictionary  might  bring 
several  others  to  light."  As  President  of  a 
Chautauqua  circle,  I  offered  a  prize  to  the  one 
bringing  in  the  most  words  with  the  following 


268 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  4,  1891* 


results.     The  rule  was,  no  vowels  appear- 

Filaceous,                   Permutation, 

ing  in  the  same  word  twice. 

Filamentous,                Persultation, 

Flammiferous,              Precarious. 

VOWELS   IN   ORDER. 

Formulative. 

Abstemious,                 Facetious, 

Questionably. 

Affectiously,                 Materious, 

Gelatinous, 

Avenious,                     Tragedious. 

Gesticulator,                Reassumption, 

Gramineous,                 Recurvation, 

VOWELS   IN   REVERSE  ORDER. 

Grandiloquent,            Refutation, 

Duoliteral. 

Graniferous,                 Regulation, 

Glandiferous,               Reputation. 

EACH     VOWEL     USED     BUT     ONCE      IN     SAME 

Graciousness. 

Saliferous, 

'      ' 

Hippocentaur.              Spaciousness, 

Abstemious,                 Cautioned, 

Speculation, 

Affectious,                    Commutative, 

Importunate,                Stamineous, 

Authorize,                    Customariness, 

Incommutable,             Subordinate, 

Axiferous,                     Configurate, 

Inoculate,                     Superdominant, 

Accoutering,                Consultative, 

Inosculate,                    Sustentation. 

Ambilevous,                 Continuable, 

Insupportable. 

Anxiousness,                Continuate. 

Tourmaline, 

Armigerous, 

Journalize,                    Tenacious. 

Arsenious,                    Duoliteral, 

Jaspiderous. 

Assecution,                   Diadelphous, 

Ulceration, 

Astriferous,                   Dicephalous, 

Mensuration.               Uncontradicted, 

Astigerous,                   Disaccustomed, 

Unaccomplished, 

Avenious,                      Decrustation, 

Numeration.                 Uncongenial, 

Auterfoits,                     Decubation, 

Unconstrained, 

Abreuvoir.                    Decustation, 

Outbreaking,                Unforbearing, 

Decussation, 

Outspreading.               Unpoetical, 

Bacciferous,                  Degustation, 

Unprofitable, 

Bicephalous,                 Depuration, 

Peculation,                   Unreconcilably, 

Biconjugate,                 Desudation, 

Pandemonium,             Unsociable. 

Binoculate,                   Disastrousness, 

Persuasion, 

Blandiloquent,             Discountable, 

Pneumonia,                  Veracious, 

Boutisale,                     Discourage, 

Precaution,                   Vermiperous, 

Buccellation.                Duodecimal, 

Protuberating,             Vexatious, 

Discountably. 

Perturbation,                Vinacerous, 

Captiousness, 

Perlustration,               Voluntariness, 

Coequality,                   Education, 

Palpigerous,                 Vulneration. 

Colliquate,                    Elucidator, 
Cometarium,                Emulation, 

MARY  R.  NOBLE. 

Communicable,            Encouraging, 

Complutensian,            Equation, 

Compurgative,             Equivocal, 

REPLIES. 

Compulsative,              Eructation, 

Contubinage,               Exculpation, 

Almighty  Dollar    (Vol.    vi,    p.    246).  — 

Conduplicate,              Exhumation, 

Wheeler,in  his  '  '  Dictionary  of  NotedNames  in 

Conglutinate,               Expugnation, 

Fiction,"  gives  credit  to  Washington  Irving  as 

Continuance,               Exudation, 

being  the  originator  of  the  term  "Almighty 

Copulative,                  Exultation. 

Dollar,"    and    quotes   from    "  The  Creole 

Countervail, 

Village"  of  Irving  as  follows:    "The  Al- 

Cupellation,                Facetious, 

mighty  Dollar,  that  great  object  of  uni- 

April  4,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


269 


versal  devotion  throughout  our  land,  seems 
to  have  no  genuine  devotees  in  these 
peculiar  villages. ' ' 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Rawrenoke  (Vol.  vi,  p.  257). — Roanoke 
is  said  in  "  Webster's  Dictionary  "  (old  edi- 
tion) to  mean  sea-shell,  or  wampum.  I 
should  guess  that  the  price  paid  for  Pow- 
hatan's  daughter  was  three  bushels  of  wam- 
pum. It  was  more  commonly  the  practice 
to  string  the  wampum  and  exchange  it  by 
the  fathom.  V. 


NO  ©O^^BSPONDBHTS. 


Names  Ending  in  "Han"  and 
*'  Gan." — There  are  many  names  in  Irish 
ending  in  han  and  gan,  i.  e.,  Meehan, 
O'Hooli^0«,  McGettigan,  Reagan,  etc. 
Have  these  finals  any  particular  meaning  in 
Celtic?  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Man  on  Horseback.— Who  and  what 
is  meant  by  the  phrase,  "  The  speedy  ar- 
rival of  the  man  on  horseback,"  as  used  by 
a  speaker  that  not  until  such  arrival  would 
the  conflict  between  capital  and  labor  be 
settled?  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 

Props. — Was  the  old-fashioned  gambling 
or  drinking  game  called  props  ever  played 
outside  of  Boston  and  vicinity?  And  is  it 
still  played  there  ?  The  props  were  usually 
made  out  of  small  cowries,  or  similar  sea- 
shells,  and  were  shaken  like  dice,  and 
played  by  throwing.  The  game  was  for 
money  or  drinks.  In  my  time  it  was 
looked  upon  as  a  disreputable  kind  of  a 
game,  but  not  a  few  "  young  men  of  family  " 
used  to  take  a  hand  at  it  upon  occasion. 

M. 

I  Was  Born  an  American,  etc. — 
On  what  occasion  were  and  who  uttered  the 
words :  "  I  was  born  an  American,  I  live 
an  American  and  I  shall  die  an  American  ?" 

?    ?    ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


Moustache. — Who  is  it  that  bases  his 
claim  to  fame  because  he  wore  a  moustache 
when  wigs  and  smooth  faces  and  chins  were 
the  order  of  the  day  ?  ?  ?  ? 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

©OMMUNIGAJPIONS. 

Remarkable  Fecundity  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
250). — As  regards  the  earliest  age  at  which 
conception  and  delivery  has  taken  place, 
Beck  reported  a  case  in  which  delivery  oc- 
curred in  a  girl  a  little  over  ten  years  of  age; 
Taylor  reported  one  in  which  conception  oc- 
curred in  a  girl  of  twelve ;  Molitor  in  one  of 
nine  years  and  five  months ;  Riittel  in  one 
of  nine ;  Kussmaul  in  one  of  eight.  Kay 
reports  a  case  of  twins  in  a  girl  of  thirteen, 
and  had  reported  to  him  "  on  pretty  good 
authority ' '  the  case  of  a  Damascus  Jewess  who 
became  a  grandmother  at  twenty-one  years. 

Concerning  the  latest  age,  Capuron's  case 
of  child  bearing  was  in  a  woman  of  sixty ; 
Haller's  in  one  of  sixty-three,  and  one  of 
seventy.  Thibaut  de  Chauvalon  reported 
one  case  in  a  woman  of  Martinique  of  ninety 
years  of  age.  The  Cincinnati  Enquirer, 
January,  1863,  says:  "Dr.  W.  McCarthy 
was  in  attendance  on  a  lady  aged  sixty-nine 
years,  on  Thursday  night  last,  who  gave 
birth  to  a  fine  boy.  The  father  of  the  child 
is  seventy-four  years  old.  Mother  and  child 
are  doing  well." 

There  are  a  number  of  cases  of  quintu- 
plets on  record,  and  quadruplets  occur  once 
in  about  every  400,000  births.  In  the 
Scientific  American  Supplement  of  May  21, 
1 88 1,  there  is  an  account  copied  from  the 
Washington  Republican  of  five  babies  born  by 
the  wife  of  Michael  Hazzard,  of  Monticello, 
Pratt  county,  111.,  combined  weight  19^ 
pounds.  I  have  the  following  clipping  from 
a  newspaper  of  1886:  "According  to  a 
Spanish  medical  journal,  a  woman  of  Val- 
ladaloid  has  given  birth  to  seven  children  in 
two  days. ' '  The  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal  stated  that  on  August  21,  1872, 
Mrs.  Timothy  Bradlee,  of  Trumbull  county, 
Ohio,  gave  birth  to  eight  children  (three 
boys,  five  girls),  and  that  all  were  living  and 
healthy.  She  was  married  six  years  pre- 
viously, and  weighed  273  pounds  on  the  day- 


270 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  4,  1891. 


of  her  marriage.  She  had  given  birth  pre- 
vious to  the  eight,  to  two  pairs  of  twins, 
making  twelve  children  in  six  years.  A 
portrait  of  Dianora  Frescobaldi  in  the  San 
Donato.  collection  has  an  inscription  stating 
that  Dianora  was  the  mother  "of  at  least 
fifty-two  children."  She  never  had  less  than 
three  at  a  birth,  and  the  tradition  was 
that  she  once  had  six.  Thoresby,  in  his 
"  History  of  Leeds,"  mentions  three  cases — 
one  the  wife  of  Dr.  Phineas  Hudson, 
Chancellor  of  York,  as  having  died  in  her 
thirty-ninth  year  of  her  twenty-fourth  child  ; 
another  of  Mrs.  Joseph  Cooper,  as  dying  of 
her  twenty-sixth  child,  and  lastly  of  William 
Greenhill,  of  Abbotts  Laughy,  who  had 
thirty-nine  children  by  one  wife.  Brand,  a 
writer  of  great  reputation,  mentions  in  his 
"History  of  New  Castle,"  1789,  as  a  well-' 
attested  fact  that  a  weaver  in  Scotland  had 
by  one  wife  sixty-two  children,  all  of  whom 
lived  to  be  baptized.  David  Wilson,  of 
Madison,  Ind.,  died  in  1850.  He  had  been 
married  five  times  and  was  the  father  of 
forty-seven  children,  thirty-five  of  whom 
were  living  at  the  time  of  his  death.  In 
1535,  a  Muscovite  peasant,  James  Kyrloff, 
and  his  wife  were  presented  to  the  Empress 
of  Russia.  He  was  then  seventy  years  of 
age.  His  first  wife  had  fifty-seven  children, 
four  at  four  births,  three  at  seven,  and  two 
at  ten ;  his  second  wife  had  had  three 
children  at  one  birth  and  two  at  six,  making 
in  all  seventy-two  children. 

G.  M.  G. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Prince  Consort's  Family  Name  (Vol. 
v,  pp.  273,  etc.). — Although  not  directly 
answering  this  question,  some  remarks  by 
Prof.  Freeman  upon  royal  surnames,  in 
a  recent  article  in  The  Speaker,  are  so  nearly 
in  point  with  it.  that  they  may  well  be  quoted. 
The  current  "  Guelph  Exhibition  "  led  the 
historian  to  say  that  some  impertinent  per- 
sons in  the  days  of  William  IV  thought  it 
smart  to  talk  of  the  king  and  queen  as  "  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Guelph,"  and  he  comments  :  "It 
showed  that  some  people — very  many  people 
in  truth — believed  that  the  king  had  a  sur- 
name, and  that  that  surname  was  '  Guelph.' 
One  does  not  know  whether  they  have  gone 
.on  either  to  think  that  the  present  queen 


changed  that  surname  for  some  other  when 
she  married  one  whose  name  certainly  was 
not  Guelph,  or  to  think  that  Prince  Albert 
changed  his  surname,  whatever  it  was,  for 
that  of  her  Majesty.  *  *  *  Many  people 
seem  unable  to  fancy  a  man  without  a 
hereditary  surname.  Yet  there  have  been 
many  ages  and  countries  of  the  European 
world  in  which  hereditary  surnames  have 
been  unknown,  and  one  class  of  people  goes 
without  them  still.  That  is  to  say,  those 
princely  families  which  became  princely  be- 
fore hereditary  surnames  came  into  universal 
use  have  never  had  any  need  to  take  a  sur- 
name, because  they  are  clearly  enough  dis- 
tinguished from  other  people  without  any. 
Some  princely  houses  have  surnames,  but 
that  is  because  they  had  taken  surnames  be- 
fore they  became  princely."  He  mentions 
the  Tudors  and  the  Stewarts  as  of  this  latter 
class,  but  says  that  the  French  revolutionists 
made  a  ludicrous  blunder  when  they  sum- 
moned their  king  to  trial  by  the  name  of 
"  Louis  Capet."  The  Guelphs,  or  strictly, 
the  Welfs,  "are  in  a  somewhat  different 
case,"  since  from  the  fact  that  Welf  was  the 
personal  name  borne  by  a  long  line  of 
princes,  their  house  and  their  political  party 
came  to  be  spoken  of  under  that  designation, 
and  the  name  made  famous  as  a  party- name 
in  Germany  and  Italy.  "  Yet  to  fancy  that 
Guelph  is  a  hereditary  surname,  if  anybody 
still  really,  does  fancy  it,  is  just  as  great  a 
blunder  as  that  of  the  French  revolutionists. 
To  speak  of  any  duke  or  king  of  the  house 
as  George  or  William  Welf,  or  Guelf,  or 
Guelph,  is  quite  as  grotesque  as  to  talk  of 
'Louis  Capet.'  ' 

Correcting  the  common  error  that 
Plantagenet  was  a  hereditary  surname  from 
the  twelfth  century  onward,  Prof.  Freeman 
says :  "  No  man,  king  or  otherwise,  was  ever 
called  Plantagenet  as  a  hereditary  surname 
till  the  fifteenth  century.  Then  the  Dukes 
of  York  found  that  they  wanted  a  surname, 
and  they  chose  the  nickname  of  their  remote 
forefather,  Count  Geoffrey,  known  as 
Plantagenet.  *  *  *  The  Dukes  of  York  of 
the  fifteenth  century  were  the  last  men  of 
royal  descent  in  the  male  line  who  found 
that  a  surname  would  be  convenient. 
Since  then  princes  and  their  children  have 
always  died  out  in  an  astonishing  way  ;  all 


April  4,  1891.] 


271 


the  male  descendants  of  a  king  have  been  so 
near  to  the  crown  that  the  question  of  a  sur- 
name has  not  again  occurred.  But  let  our 
imagination  go  on  to  conceive  the  children 
of  the  tenth  Duke  of  Connaught.  Surely 
they  will  not  all  be  princes,  princesses,  and 
royal  highnesses.  *  *  *  The  sovereign  of  that 
day  may  give  them  any  title  that  he  chooses ; 
they  themselves  may,  like  the  Dukes  of  York 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  take  any  surname 
that  they  choose.  If  they  should  choose  to 
take  Guelph,  then  the  impertinence  of  the 
days  of  William  IV  will  become  a  fact  in  the 
days  of  Edward  XI,  or  Elizabeth  III.  The 
children  of  Lord  John  Guelph,  if  not  pro- 
moted by  their  very  distant  kinsman  on  the 
throne,  will  assuredly  be  plain  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Guelph."  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Folk-lore  Superstitions — "  If  Mark 
Twain's  prescription  for  curing  warts  by 
burning  with  a  red-hot  needle  should  be 
recommended  to  a  Lancashire,  Yorkshire, 
Cornish  or  Devonshire  farmer,  or  any  of  his 
peasant  neighbors,  it  would  be  received  with 
ridicule,"  said  a  native  of  Cornwall,  now  a 
member  of  a  colony  of  farmers  from  those 
towns,  known  as  the  English  settlement,  in 
Northeastern  Pennsylvania.  "  For  timeout 
of  mind  they  have  had  charms  for  the  dis- 
persion of  warts  much  more  simple,  and 
without  even  the  suggestion  of  physical  pain, 
and  they  have  the  most  implicit  faith  in  their 
efficacy. 

"For  instance,  if  a  person  with  warts  on  his 
hands  will  write  down  the  number  of  them 
on  the  band  of  a  tramp's  hat  without  the 
tramp  knowing  it,  he  will  carry  the  warts 
away  with  him — that  is,  they  will  gradually 
disappear  from  the  person's  hands  and  appear 
on  those  of  the  tramp.  By  cutting  a  notch 
on  a  green  elder  stick  for  every  wart  a  person 
may  have,  rubbing  the  stick  on  every  wart, 
and  then  burying  it  in  the  barnyard  until  it 
rots,  the  warts  may  be  cured.  Warts  may 
also  be  cured  by  taking  a  black  snail,  rub- 
bing it  on  all  the  warts  at  night,  and  impal- 
ing the  snail  on  a  thorn  bush,  repeating  the 
process  nine  successive  nights,  by  which 
time  both  the  warts  and  the  snails  will  be 
shriveled  up.  Another  way  to  get  rid  of 
warts  is  for  the  person  to  see  a  funeral  pass 


unexpectedly,  wherever  he  may  be,  and  as 
it  passes  rub  his  warts  quickly  and  repeat 
the  words :  '  Warts  and  corpses  pass  away 
and  never  more  return.'  Green  peas  may 
also  be  used  to  advantage  in  taking  off  warts. 
Let  the  afflicted  person  take  as  many  peas  as 
he  has  warts,  and  touch  each  wart  with  a  dif- 
ferent pea.  He  must  then  wrap  each  pea  in 
a  separate  piece  of  paper  and  bury  them 
secretly  in  the  shade  of  an  ash  tree  or  under 
a  hazel  bush.  If  peas  are  not  in  season,  and 
the  person  with  the  warts  does  not  care  to 
try  the  efficacy  of  any  of  the  above-named 
charms,  let  him  select  as  many  pebbles  as  he 
has  warts.  Sewing  them  up  in  a  small  bag, 
he  must  take  them  to  where  four  roads  cross 
and  throw  the  bag  over  his  left  shoulder. 
This  charm  will  never  be  resorted  to,  how- 
ever, by  persons  who  have  no  malicious- 
ness in  their  hearts,  for  if,  by  chance,  any 
other  person  should  find  the  bag  and  open  it, 
the  warts  will  appear  on  his  hand. 

"  Warts  are  not  the  only  annoying  dis- 
figurements that  these  credulous  English 
folk  have  mysterious  charms  for  removing. 
Wens  are  also  forced  to  retire  before  spells 
that  are  put  upon  them  by  these  charms. 
To  drive  away  a  wen,  take  a  common  snake, 
hold  it  by  the  head  and  tail  and  draw  it 
backward  and  forward  nine  times  over  the 
wen.  Then  cork  the  snake  in  a  bottle  and 
bury  it.  If  that  fails  the  patient  must  not 
repine,  but  simply  wait  until  the  next  May 
day.  Rise  early  in  the  morning  of  that  day 
before  the  sun  has  disturbed  the  dew.  Go 
to  a  graveyard,  and  by  passing  the  hand 
three  times  from  head  to  foot  over  the  grave, 
collect  the  dew  that  lies  on  the  grave  of  the 
last  young  person  who  was  buried  in  the 
yard.  If  the  victim  of  the  wen  is  a  woman 
the  grave  must  be  that  of  a  man,  and  vice 
versa.  Apply  the  dew  immediately  to  the 
wen,  and  a  cure  is  guaranteed.  The  strok- 
ing of  the  affected  part  with  the  hand  of  a 
dead  criminal  is  also  a  never-failing  cure  for 
wens." 

[  Jo  be  concluded.] 

St.  Brendan's  Isle  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  257, 
etc.). — A  very  curious  vellum  MS.  on  medi- 
cal subjects,  written  in  Latin  and  Irish,  is  yet 
preserved  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy. 
When  purchased  many  years  ago,  in  the  west 


272 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  4,  1891. 


of  Ireland,  it  was  traditionally  believed  that 
one  Morough  O'Ley,  a  resident  of  Con- 
nemara,  some  time  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, after  having  been  transported  by  super- 
natural means  to  the  enchanted  island  of 
O'Brasil,  there  received  a  full  course  of  in- 
struction regarding  all  diseases  and  their 
cure,  together  with  this  MS.  to  direct  him 
in  medical  practice.  The  O'Leys,  or 
O'Lees,  who  were  for  a  long  time  physicians 
to  the  O'Flaherties,  did  not  fail  to  increase 
their  hereditary  and  professional  celebrity 
by  the  acquisition  of  this  treatise. 

There  was  an  island  of  Caire  Ceunfinn 
•concealed  in  the  sea  between  Ireland  and 
Scotland,  according  to  an  ancient  tradition 
recorded  in  the  book  of  Lecan.  This  may 
have  had  some  connection  with  another 
Scotch  tradition, Flathinnis,  otherwise  known 
as  the  Noble  Island. 

It  is  said  by  Macpherson  to  stretch  out 
in  the  western  ocean,  but  it  is  surrounded  by 
clouds  and  beaten  by  tempests.  Within 
this  island  every  prospect  constitutes  a  para- 
dise for  the  virtuous  sons  of  Druids,  who  en- 
joy peculiar  pleasures.  Yet  are  they  ex- 
cluded from  the  Christian's  heaven.  Cer- 
tain practiced  incantations  cause  this  fabled 
land  to  appear.  Departed  persons,  during 
their  peculiar  happy  state,  were  believed  to 
have  been  warmly  attached  to  their  former 
country  and  living  friends. 

Among  the  ancient  Celts,  females  were 
said  to  have  passed  to  the  Fortunate  islands. 
In  the  words  of  an  old  bard,  their  beauty  in- 
creased with  this  change,  and  they  were  re- 
garded as  ruddy  lights  in  the  Island  of  Joy. 
This  enchanted  country,  called  Hy-Breasail, 
or  O'Brazil,  signified  "  The  Royal  Island," 
according  to  Gen.  Vallancey's  interpreta- 
tion. It  was  regarded  as  having  been  the 
Paradise  of  Pagan  Irish.  The  poet  of  all 
circles,  and  the  idol  of  his  own,  Thomas 
Moore,  has  not  forgotten  the  commemora- 
tion of  Arrammore,  near  the  Eden  of  im- 
mortals, in  those  inimitable  "  Melodies," 
which  have  so  much  redounded  to  his  own 
and  to  his  country's  fame.  In  this  fabled 
region  brave  spirits  are  described  as  dwell- 
ing in  a  land  of  peace,  in  delightful  bowers 
and  mansions. 

The  poet  Claudian  speaks  of  a  land 
situated  at  the  very  extreme  part  of  Gaul, 


and  beaten  by  the  ocean  waves.  Here,  it 
was  said,  a  ruler  named  Ulixes  ruled  over  a 
people  that  were  silent,  after  he  had  offered 
a  libation  of  blood.  Here,  also,  were  heard 
the  plaintive  wailings  of  shades  that  passed 
by  with  a  slight  rustling  noise.  And  the 
people  living  on  those  coasts  saw  pale  phan- 
toms of  departed  persons  flitting  through  the 
air.  Loud  lamentations  escaped  from  their 
troop,  while  all  the  adjoining  shores  re- 
echoed to  their  terrific  howls.  It  is  clear, 
however,  that  those  unhappy  ghosts  must 
have  differed  in  degree  from  fabled  denizens 
inhabiting  the  Island  of  Joy.  In  Southey's 
poem  of  "  Madoc  "  allusion  is  made  like- 
wise to  certain  green  islands  on  the  western 
ocean.  Thither  "  the  sons  of  Garvan  "  and 
"Merlin  with  his  band  of  bards"  sailed. 
Thence  they  were  not  known  to  have  re- 
turned. It  was  believed  they  reached  a  "land 
of  the  departed,"  and  as  the  poet  resumes 
his  description, 

"  There,  belike, 

They  in  the  clime  of  immortality, 
Themselves  immortal,  drink  the  gales  of  bliss, 
That  o'er  Flathinnis  breathe  eternal  spring  ; 
That  blend  whatever  odors  make  the  gale 
Of  evening  sweet,  whatever  melody 
Charms  the  wood- traveler." 

In  a  very  rare  publication,  called  "The 
Ulster  Miscellany,"  and  printed  in  1753, 
there  is  an  ingenious  political  satire,  en- 
titled, "A  Voyage  to  O'Brazul,  a  Sub- 
marine Island,  lying  west  off  the  Coast  of 
Ireland."  It  is,  doubtless,  modeled  on  the 
design  of  Dean  Swift's  voyages  to  Lilliput 
and  Brobdignag.  The  mode  of  descent  to 
O'Brazul  is  represented  as  very  peculiar. 
The  island  itself  is  described  as  flecked  with 
mellowed,  well-distributed  light,  covered 
with  beautiful  landscapes,  producing  corn, 
fruits,  trees,  grass  and  flowers ;  abounding  in 
streams,  fountains,  flocks  and  herds,  fertile 
fields  and  pastures,  with  a  happy  state  of 
society,  religion  and  government. 

Gerald  Griffin  alludes  to  a  nearly  similar 
subject,  in  one  of  his  beautiful  lyrics,  re- 
garding the  supposed  frequent  appearance  of 
a  phantom  city,  situated  amidst  the  wide  At- 
lantic waves.  According  to  another  ac- 
count, its  walls  are  yellow,  and  in  it  dwell 
certain  fairy  denizens.  These  lines  contain 
the  tradition, 


April  4,  1891. J 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


273 


"  A  story  I  heard  on  the  cliffs  of  the  west, 

That  oft  through  the  breakers  dividing, 
A  city  is  seen  on  the  ocean  s  wild  breast, 

In  turreted  majesty  riding. 
But  brief  is  the  glimpse  of  that  phantom  so  bright, 

Soon  close  the  white  waters  to  screen  it ; 
And  the  bodement,  they  say,  of  the  wonderful  sight, 

Is  death  to  the  eyes  that  have  seen  it." 

It  is  very  probable  that  a  belief  in  the  ex- 
istence of  this  fabled  island  comes  down  from 
a  very  remote  period.  It  may  have  given 
rise  to  the  traditionary  transatlantic  voyage 
of  St.  Brendan  of  Clinfert,  called  also  the 
Navigator.  This  holy  and  adventurous  man 
is  said  to  have  spent  seven  Easters  away 
from  Ireland,  having  landed  on  a  distant 
island, 

"  The  freshest,  sunniest,  smiling  land  that  e'er 
Held  o'er  the  waves  its  arms  of  sheltering  green." 

The  adventures  of  this  holy  Navigator  and 
his  companions  have  been  most  exquisitely 
described  in  Denis  Florence  McCarthy's 
"Voyage  of  St.  Brendan,"  a  poem  which,  for 
felicity  of  expression  and  ideality  of  sub- 
ject, has  nothing  superior  to  it  in  our  own 
or  perhaps  in  any  other  language. 

Notice  may  be  given  in  this  connection 
to  "  St.  Brendan's  Bank,"  a  shoal  in  the 
Indian  ocean  ;  this  appears  to  have  been 
named  from  the  old  Irish  tradition.  The 
Ossianic  Society  has  published  Mr.  Bryan 
O'Looney's  translation  of  an  Irish  poem  on 
this  subject. 

Mooley  Cow  (Vol.  i,  pp.  83,  etc.). — 
At  the  above  reference  a  correspondent  asks 
for  the  origin  of  the  term  "mooley  cow."  In 
"Irish  Fairy  and  Folk  Tales,"  edited  by 
W.  B.  Yeats,  I  find  the  following:  "Moiley 
cow,  in  Connaught  called  a  '  mweeal '  cow, 
/.  e.,  a  cow  without  horns,  from  Irish  maol, 
blunt.  When  the  new  hammerless  breech- 
loaders came  into  use,  a  Connaught  gentle- 
man spoke  of  them  as  the  '  mweeal '  guns, 
because  they  had  no  hammers." 

H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

Canada  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  29,  etc.). — P.  S. 
Duponceau  having  found  in  an  Iroquois 
translation  of  the  Gospels :  "  Ne  Kanada- 
gongh  Konwayatsk  Nazareth"  (in  a  city 
called  Nazareth),  wrote  to  Heckewelder  to 
know  if  this  Kanada  ("  gongh "  being 


merely  a  local  affix)  might  not  be  the  origin 
of  "Canada." 

The  learned  Indian  scholar  thought  it 
probable,  and  added  :  "  When  I  first  began 
to  learn  the  Delaware  language  *  *  *  I 
would  point  to  a  tree  and  ask  the  Indians 
how  they  called  it ;  they  would  answer  an 
oak,  an  ash,  a  maple,  as  the  case  might  be, 
so  that  at  last  I  found  in  my  vocabulary  more 
than  a  dozen  words  for  the  word  tree.  It 
was  a  long  while  before  I  found  out  that 
when  you  asked  of  an  Indian  the  name  of  a 
thing,  he  would  always  give  you  a  specific 
and  never  a  generic  denomination.  So  that 
it  is  highly  probable  that  the  Frenchman 
who  first  asked  of  the  Indians  in  Canada  the 
name  of  their  country,  pointing  to  the  spots 
and  to  the  objects  which  surrounded  him, 
received  for  answer  Kanada  (town  or 
village),  and,  committing  the  same  mistake 
that  I  did,  believed  it  to  be  the  name  of  the 
whole  region  and  reported  it  so  to  his  coun- 
trymen, who  consequently  gave  to  their  newly 
acquired  dominions  the  name  of  Canada." 

This  supplies  another  instance  of  "  How 
Names  Grow"  (AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES,  Vol.  v,  pp.  207,  etc.). 

By  way  of  a  contrast  with  the  earnest 
studies  of  Heckewelder  and  Duponceau, 
Thevet's  oracular  statement  is  interesting. 
In  his  "CosmographieUniverselle  "  of  1575, 
the  unreliable  monk  says  that  "Canada"  signi- 
fies "land;"  that  when  the  first  people  who 
settled  there  were  asked  what  they  were  after, 
they  replied  that  "  they  were  Segnada 
Canada,  men  in  quest  of  land,"  a  name  they 
retained  ever  after. 

One  might  care  to  know  who  or  what  those 
first  people  were,  by  whom  they  were  ques- 
tioned and  in  what  language  they  answered, 
but  such  things  were  beneath  Thevet's 
notice. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

NEW  YORK. 

Malungeons  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  264,  etc.). — 
"  When  John  Sevier  attempted  to  organize 
the  State  of  Franklin  (1784),  there  was  liv- 
ing in  the  mountains  of  Eastern  Tennessee 
a  colony  of  dark-skinned,  reddish-brown 
complexioned  people  supposed  to  be  of 
Moorish  descent,  who  affiliated  with  neither 
whites  nor  blacks,  and  who  called  themselves 


274 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  4,  1891. 


Malungeons,  and  claimed  to  be  of  Portuguese 
descent. 

"They  lived  to  themselves  exclusively,  and 
were  looked  upon  neither  as  negroes  nor 
Indians.  They  were  never  slaves,  and  until 
1834  enjoyed  all  the  rights  of  citizenship  " 
(The  Arena,  March,  1891). 

The  act  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1834,  by  which  the  Malungeons  were  de- 
prived of  the  right  of  suffrage,  is  claimed  by 
some  to  be  the  cause  of  their  present  de- 
graded mode  of  existence,  and  such  is  the 
mystery  which  surrounds  the  origin,  both  of 
their  race  and  name,  that  to-day  a  Malungeon 
is  the  Tennessean's  bugaboo  to  frighten 
children  with.  "As  tricky  as  a  Malungeon  " 
is  also  a  very  common  proverbial  expression 
with  Tennessee  people.  But  in  spite  of  its 
familiar  colloquial  use,  history  does  not 
mention  the  word ;  only  the  State  Records 
of  Tennessee,  where  it  is  used  to  designate 
free  persons  of  color. 

Malungeon  is  not  in  our  dictionaries,  we 
know;  in  fact,  the  word  has  been  pronounced 
a  puzzle,  not  too  ambitious,  I  hope,  for  solu- 
tion in  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES.  As 
the  Malungeons  claim  descent  from  the 
Portuguese,  it  seems  quite  proper  to  seek  for 
the  origin  of  their  name  in  the  language  of 
that  people.  A  glance  at  De  Lacerda's  "  Por- 
tuguese-English Dictionary"  shows  me  a 
word  bearing  a  surprising  resemblance  to  the 
mysterious  name,  and  which  may  with  reason 
be  considered  the  key  to  the  etymological 
puzzle.  It  is  Malungo,  an  African  word  in- 
corporated in  the  Portuguese,  which  signifies 
comrade,  mate  and  companion,  and  seems 
to  suggest  the  united  and  exclusive  mode  of 
existence  peculiar  to  the  Malungeons. 

MENONA. 

Bonny  Boots  (Vol.  i,  p.  8 ;  Vol.  v,  p. 
31). — I  know  little  about  Bonny  Boots  and 
still  less  about  John  Holmes,  but  since 
Holmes  was  a  contributor  to  The  Triumphs 
of  Oriana,  a  comparison  of  dates  would  seem 
to  show  that  he  could  not  have  been  Bonny 
Boots.  That  collection  was  made  in  1601 
for  the  diversion  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who 
was  intended  by  "Oriana,"  and  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  the  madrigals  which 
compose  it  were  written  immediately  for  the 
occasion. 


But,  as  Dr.  Rimbault  once  pointed  out  to 
prove  that  it  could  not  have  been  the  Earl 
of  Essex  who  was  so  called,  Bonny  Boots 
was  dead  certainly  as  early  as  1597,  for  in 
that  year  was  published  Morley's  collection 
of  "  Canzonets;  or,  Little  Short  Aers,"  one 
of  which  is  as  follows  : 

11  Fly,  love,  that  art  so  sprightly, 
To  Bonny-boots  uprightly ; 
And  when  in  Heaven  ye  meet  him, 
Say  that  I  kindly  greet  him, 
And  that  his  Oriana 
True  widow  maid  still  followeth  Diana." 

This  is  the  same  book  from  which  a 
previous  quotation  about  Bonny  Boots  was 
made  (see  Vol.  i,  p.  8),  but  the  incorrect 
date  there  assigned  to  it,  1607,  is  ap- 
parently a  confusion  of  the  real  date,  1597, 
with  that  of  the  Oriana,  1601.  From  the 
reference  to  Elizabeth  in  the  "  aer "  here 
given,  it  is  plain  that  1607  is  a  mistake. 
Even  without  this  proof,  the  inference  sug- 
gested by  G.  from  the  madrigal,  written  by 
Holmes  for  the  Oriana,  does  not  seem  to  be 
an  inevitable,  or  even  a  natural  one.  G. 
quotes  its  first  line  as  in  the  present  tense, 
but  in  the  copy  that  I  have  seen  the  verb  is 
in  the  past : 

"  Thus  Bonny  Bootes  the  birthday  celebrated."  • 

The  whole  piece  appears  to  be  simply  de- 
scriptive of  the  pleasant  manner  in  which 
Bonny  Boots  made  festival  on  some  former 
birthday  of  his  lady  dearest,  when  nymphs 
and  shepherds  "  to  sing  were  requested  ;" 
the  second  stanza  giving  the  words  of  the  re- 
quest with  an  interjected  "  quoth  he,"  and 
recording  the  response  to  it : 

"  Sing  then,  for  she  is  Bonny-bootses  sweet  mistres, 
Then  sang  the  shepherds  and  nymphs  of  Diana, 
Long  live  faire  Oriana  !" 


M.  C.  L. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Visions  ( Vol.vi,  pp.  259, etc.). — Another 
remarkable  vision  was  that  which  appeared 
to  James  IV  of  Scotland  in  the  church  at 
Linlithgow  before  the  battle  of  Flodden.  A 
man  clad  in  a  blue  gown  came  to  the  king 
and  warned  him  against  going  on  the  in- 
tended expedition,  and  cautioned  him  not 
"  to  mell  nor  use  the  counsel  of  women." 


April  4,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


275 


The  stranger  then  vanished  from  the  sight  of 
all.  Sir  David  Lindsay,  lyon  herald,  and 
John  Inglis,  the  marshal,  strove  to  detain 
the  man,  but  could  not.  This  occurred  in 
the  presence  of  the  various  lords  of  the  king's 
court.  M. 

Wells  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  207,  etc.).— At 
Fennimore,  Wis.,  there  is  a  peculiar  well  of 
which  but  little  is  known  at  present.  It  is 
about  eighty  feet  deep,  the  lower  forty  of 
which  were  drilled.  About  twenty  feet 
from  the  surface  there  enters  a  crevice, 
out  of  which  rushes  a  current  of  air, 
with  a  force  so  great  as  to  be  easily  felt  at 
the  top  of  the  well,  and  a  temperature  so  low 
as  to  freeze  a  small  stream  of  water  which 
enters  about  ten  feet  above  the  crevice. 

At  Algona,  la.,  there  is  a  well  which  is 
forty-five  feet  deep  and  has  boiling  water  at 
the  bottom.  Accompanying  the  water  is  a 
sickening-smelling  gas  that  makes  a  noise 
loud  enough  to  be  heard  a  hundred  yards 
from  the  well's  mouth.  It  is  known  through- 
out Northern  Iowa  as  "Algona's  Roaring 
Well." 

At  Brandon,  Vt.,  there  is  a  "  frozen 
well."  It  was  dry  in  November,  1858. 
First  there  were  ten  feet  of  gravel,  then  four 
feet  of  clay,  then  a  deposit  of  ten  or  fifteen 
feet  of  frozen  gravel,  then  about  two  feet  of 
gravel  not  frozen,  then  water  was  struck, 
after  which  the  well  was  dug  to  a  total  depth 
of  thirty-five  feet.  The  well  almost  im- 
mediately froze  over  and  has  remained  so 
ever  since,  the  usual  thickness  being  about 
twenty-two  inches  the  year  around. 

In  Polk  county,  Neb.,  are  many  wells 
which  exhibit  the  peculiar  phenomena  of  in- 
termittence.  They  vary  from  100  to  144 
feet  in  depth,  and  "ebb"  and  "flow"  as 
regular  as  the  ocean  itself.  The  flow  is  ac- 
companied by  a  roaring  sound  like  that  of 
the  sea,  as  though  a  distant  wave  were  com- 
ing in,  and  at  the  same  time  a  current  of  air 
rushes  out  of  the  mouth.  The  ebb  is  ac- 
companied by  a  draft  of  air  downwards. 
The  period  of  ebb  and  flow  does  not  appear 
to  depend  upon  heat  or  cold,  upon  the  damp- 
ness or  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere,  upon 
the  season  of  the  year,  or  upon  the  time  of 
day  j  but  seems  to  be  in  some  way  connected 
•with  the  direction  of  the  wind. 


In  Missoula  county,  Mont.,  there  is  a  well 
almost  identical  with  that  at  Fennimore,Wis. 
It  is  never  dry,  although  constantly  pumped 
from  to  supply  a  boiler  ;  at  a  depth  of  twenty 
feet  solid  ice  forms  around  the  pumping  pipe 
every  day  in  the  year. 

Dr.  Niles,  of  Jacksonville,' Fla.,  has  a  well 
that  is  an  enigma  to  all  who  have  examined 
it.  It  is  300  feet  above  the  high-water  mark 
of  the  Florida  coast;  is  but  sixteen  feet 
deep ;  yields  a  supply  of  pure,  cold,  fresh 
water,  and  yet  it  rises  and  falls  with  the 
ocean  tides.  1  will  give  another  chapter  on 
"  Curious  Wells  "  in  the  near  future. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE.  IA. 

Ille  hie  est  Raphael,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
235). — The  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  Sir 
Godfrey  Kneller  is  almost  an  exact  transla- 
tion of  the  epitaph  carved  on  the  tomb  of 
Raphael.  It  is  by  Pope,  and  reads  as 
follows : 

"  Living,  great  Nature  fear'd  he  might  outvie 
Her  works ;  and  dying,  fears  herself  may  die." 


H.  R. 


SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 


Jackstones  (Vol.  vi,  p.  246). — In  the 
last  number  of  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES 
there  are  a  few  lines  on  Jackstones,  in  which 
they  are  credited  to  Irish  origin. 

I  have  made  some  examination  of  such 
books  at  hand  upon  the  subject,  and  am  lead 
to  think  that  the  author  of  "  Irish  Folk- 
lore," Lagemenses,  must  be  incorrect,  un- 
less he  holds  to  the  Irish  claim  of  their 
being  a  nation  since  the  time  of  Adam. 

There  was  a  game  known  to  the  Athenians 
(see  Anthon's  "  Greek  Antiquities")  called 
huckle-bone,  and  was  played  the  same  as 
"Jackstones,"  and  were  of  the  same 
number. 

Anthon  says  :  "  By  affrayaAos  was 
originally  meant  a  huckle-bone,  and  the 
huckle-bones  of  sheep  and  goats  have  often 
been  found  in  Greek  and  Roman  tombs, 
both  real  and  imitated  in  glass,  bronze  and 
agate.  They  were  used  to  play  with  from 
the  earliest  times,  principally  by  women  and 
children.  There  is  a  painting  by  Alexander 
of  Athens  found  at  Resina,  representing  two 


276 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  4,  1891. 


women  occupied  with  the  game ;  one  of 
them  having  thrown  the  bones  upward  in  the 
air,  has  caught  three  of  them  on  the  back  of 
her  hand."  Further  on,  the  same  author 
says:  "  To  play  at  this  game  was  sometimes 
called  -K£vrahe^£tv,  because  five  bones  or 
other  objects  were  employed  and  this  num- 
ber is  still  used  at  the  present  day." 

-In  "Becker's  Charlicles,"  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing reference :  "  Of  the  games  of  chance, 
the  &ffTparahfffj.ds  claims  the  first  mention. 
The  regular  game  has  been  fully  described 
in  'Gallus,'  pp.  499-502.  But  astragals 
or  knuckle-bones  were  used  in  other  games, 
for  instance  in  the  dftTta.fffj.os,  which  was 
principally  a  children's  game.  There  was 
another  game  of  skill,  not  chance,  which  was 
played  with  these  astragals  or  knuckle-bones, 
which  is  still  a  favorite  amusement  of  school- 
boys of  our  own  day.  Five  astragals  or  peb- 
bles were  laid  in  the  palm  of  the  hand,  the 
player  then  threw  them  up  and  tried  to 
catch  them  on  the  back  of  the  hand ;  this 
was  called  x£vTah0i£etv." 

From  this  close  description  of  the  ancient 
Greek  game  of  astragals,  huckle-bone,  or 
knuckle-bone,  as  it  is  variously  termed,  I  ap- 
prehend that  it  is  very  similar  if  not  the  same 
as  our  modern  jackstones. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

"  The  ceremonies  of  courtship  and  mar- 
riage among  the  Celts  were  not  tedious,  but 
the  latter  was  never  consummated  without 
consulting  the  Druideso  and  her  purin, 
which  was  five  stones  thrown  up  and  caught 
on  the  back  of  the  hand,  called  by  the  Irish 
Seic  Seona,  now  corrupted  in  Jackstones" 
(Logan's  "  Scottish  Gael  "). 

H.  R. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 


BOO^S  AMD   gBI^IODIGALS. 

The  Century  for  April  has  for  its  frontispiece  an  en- 
graving by  Mr.  Cole  of  the  Mona  Lisa,  by  Leonard  da 
Vinci.  This  is  in  The  Century's  series  of  old  masters, 
engraved  immediately  from  the  originals  in  the  galleries 
of  Europe.  Two  other  examples  of  Leonardo  accom- 
pany Mr.  Stillman's  article  on  this  master. 

In  the  California  series  Mr.  Julius  H.  Pratt  gives  a 


graphic  description  of  the  immigration  to  California  by 
way  of  Panama  in  1846.  The  pictures  are  very  striking, 
having  been  drawn  by  Gilbert  Gaul,  after  originals  made 
from  life  by  an  artist  in  1850.  In  this  connection  is  a  paper 
of  great  historical  value  by  the  late  Gen.  J.  C.  Fremont 
on  his  own  part  in  the  "Conquest  of  California." 
Several  briefer  papers  on  the  general  subject  accompany 
the  more  important  contributions  of  the  series. 

Life  in  another  war  prison,  at  the  North,  is  described 
by  a  Confederate  soldier,  Dr.  John  A.  Wyeth,  now  of 
New  York  city.  He  shows  that  "  Cold  Cheer  at  Camp 
Morton,"  Indianapolis,  included  hardships  bordering 
on  the  worst  phases  of  cold  and  hunger. 

Mrs.  Amelia  Gere  Mason's  papers  on  the  "Women 
of  the  French  Salons"  are  supplemented  in  this  num- 
ber by  an  account  of  the  "  Salons  of  the  Revolution 
and  Empire,"  in  which  she  discusses  such  famous 
characters  as  Madame  Roland  and  Madame  de  Stael . 
who  are  prominent  among  the  portraits  of  the  magazine. 
Mrs.  Mason  will  conclude  her  essays  in  the  May 
Century. 

In  this  number  The  Century's  Mountain  Climbing 
series,  appropriate  to  the  summer  season,  is  begun,  with 
papers  on  two  separate  expeditions  to  Mount  St.  Elias, 
one  expedition  being  that  of  Lieutenant  Schwatka,  and 
the  other  that  of  the  National  Geographical  Society  and 
the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey.  A  number  of  illustrations 
accompany  these  papers  of  mountain  climbing  in 
America. 

"  Fetishism  in  Congo  Land  "  is  an  interesting  con- 
tribution to  a  great  subject  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Glave,  one  of 
Stanley's  pioneer  officers.  "  The  Wordsworths  and  De 
Quincey  "  is  the  title  of  a  very  interesting  paper  of 
literary  biography  containing  unpublished  letters  of  the 
poet  and  of  the  opium-eater;  one  of  Wordsworth's  to 
the  young  DeQuincey  is  particularly  interesting  and  has 
some  advice  to  youth  which  is  applicable  quite  as  much 
in  our  own  day  as  it  was  in  the  early  part  of  the  century. 
In  a  paper  on  "  Washington  and  Frederick  the  Great  " 
Mr.  Moncure  D.  Conway  does  away  with  the  century- 
old  myth  concerning  the  alleged  relations  between  the 
two  great  commanders.  Mr.  Conway  comes  to  the  con- 
clusion that  so  far  from  Frederick  the  Great  having 
given  Washington  a  sword,  no  gift  was  ever  sent  by 
Frederick  the  Great  to  the  American  General,  and  "  he 
never  recognized  in  any  remark  the  greatness  of  Wash- 
ington." 

The  fiction  of  the  number  is  very  diversified,  includ- 
inganew  installment  of  Dr.  Eggleston's  "Faith  Doctor;" 
a  story,  "  There  Were  Ninety  ^nd  Nine,"  by  Richard 
Harding  Davis ;  the  conclusion  of  Hopkinson  Smith's 
"  Colonel  Carter  of  Cartersville;''  a  timely  and  novel 
story  by  Dr.  Allan  McLane  Hamilton  entitled  "  Herr 
von  Striempfell's  Experiment,"  and  "A  Race 
Romance,"  by  Maurice  Thompson,  the  last  of  a  series 
of  three  short  stories,  "  with  a  purpose,"  by  this  well- 
known  writer. 

Among  the  poets  of  the  number  are  R.  K.  Munkit- 
trick,  the  late  Charles  Henry  Liiders,  Frank  Dempster 
Sherman,  R.  W.  Gilder,  Arlo  Bates,  and  J.  H.  Morse. 
In  Topics  of  the  Time  the  following  subjects  are  dis- 
cussed :  "  Cheap  Money,"  "  The  Effect  of  Christian 
Science  and  Mind  Cure  on  the  Regular  Practice,"  and 
"Country  Roads."  There  will  be  found  in  "Open 
Letters"  a  little  article  by  L.  Clarke  Davis  of  the 
Philadelphia  Ledger  on  "  Willard,"  the  new  English 
actor ;  and  a  popular  review  of  recent  experiments  and 
discoveries  of  Pasteur,  Koch  and  others,  written  by  Dr. 
Mary  Putnam  Jacobi,  of  New  York. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES :— The  Devil  in  Architecture,  277— What  is  Voodoo 
Worship?  278— Culch  and  Sculsh— Old  Scandinavian  Cus- 
toms— To  Boycott,  279. 

QUERIES  : — Mafia  —  Camorra,  279  —  Largest  Steamship  — 
Dago,  280. 

REPLIES  :— Wrens  of  Donegal,  280— Cotnar,  281. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS  :  —Calipash  and 
Calipee— Authorship  Wanted — Heroic  Epistle,  281  —  Fleet 
Captured  by  Cavalry— Dalburg  Family— Lord  Baltimore- 
Botany  Bay,  282. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— Folk-lore  Superstitions  —  Prince  of 
Wales,  282 — Two-headed  Snakes,  285 — Quotation  Wanted — 
Seals,  285 — The  Emperor  of  Austria— Royal  Lepers — Patri- 
archates— The  Evil  Eye,  287 — Almighty  Dollar — Remark- 

*  able  Predictions — Vowel  Words,  288. 

BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS  -.—2*8. 

ROTES. 

THE  DEVIL  IN  ARCHITECTURE. 

The  Devil's  Bridge  near  Aberystwith,  on 
the  west  coast  of  Wales  (Cardiganshire),  is 
shown  in  Bayard  Taylor's  "  Picturesque 
Europe  "  as  surrounded  by  scenes  of  ex- 
quisite natural  beauty. 

There  are  two  bridges  over  the  same  abyss 
and  spanning  Monk's  river,  or  Afon  y 
Mynach  in  Welsh.  Both  are  to  be  seen 
from  the  same  point  of  view,  the  ancient 
bridge  being  built  twenty  feet  below  the 
modern.  The  latter  or  upper  bridge  was 
built  in  1753.  But  the  "Bridge  of  the 
Evil  Man — that  shadowy,  spectral  object," 
which  is  preserved  only  as  a  curiosity,  being 
accessible  only  to  birds  and  wicked  boys,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  built  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury by  one  of  the  Cistercian  monks  of 
Strata  Florida  Abbey.  This  monastery  was 
erected  in  1164  by  Rheesus,  son  of  Griffith. 


278 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  n,  1891. 


Perhaps  the  bridge  was  the  work  of  the  same 
architect  (see  Grose's  "  Antiq.  Cardigan- 
shire ").  Of  the  ancient  structure,  George 
Borrow  remarks  :  "  The  Bridge  of  the  Evil 
Man,  a  work  which  though  crumbling  and 
darkly  gray  does  honor  to  the  hand  which 
built  it,  whether  it  was  the  hand  of  Satan,  or 
of  a  monkish  architect,  for  the  arch  is  chaste 
and  beautiful,  far  superior  in  every  respect, 
except  in  safety  and  utility,  to  the  one 
above"  (see  "  Wild  Wales,"  Chaps,  xiv,  xv 
and  xvi). 

A   DEVIL'S   BRIDGE   IN   ITALY. 

A  writer  in  "  Good  Words,"  describing 
the  enchanting  drive  through  the  valley  of 
the  Sorchio  to  the  Baths  of  Lucca,  says : 
"  At  length  in  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
valley,  we  come  upon  the  old  bridge,  the 
Ponte  della  Maddalena,  built  by  Castruccio 
more  than  500  years  ago,  with  one  of  the 
highest  and  widest  arches  in  Italy,  raised 
even  far  higher  than  the  roofs  of  the  neigh- 
boring houses,  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the 
sudden  floods  which  characterize  the  river. 
So  high  it  is  that  the  peasants  believe  it  im- 
possible that  it  can  have  been  built  by  human 
hands,  and  it  is  often  known  by  the  name  of 
Ponte  del  Diavolo.  When  the  builder  was 
in  despair,  they  say  the  devil  came  by  night 
to  help  him,  but  demanded  the  first  passenger 
across  the  bridge  as  his  reward.  In  the 
morning  the  bridge  was  finished,  but  the  man 
outwitted  the  fiend  by  making  a  dog  cross 
the  bridge  first.  So  furious  was  the  devil  at 
his  disappointment  that  he  seized  the  animal 
and  dashed  it  with  such  force  upon  the 
ground  that  it  went  through  the  centre  arch, 
and  was  carried  away  by  the  flood,  '  in  proof 
of  which,'  said  the  Contadini,  'the  hole 
which  the  dog  fell  through  might  be  seen 
under  the  present  pavement  to  this  day.'  " 

DEVIL'S    BRIDGE    IN    FRANCE. 

The  Pont  du  Diable  in  the  Pyrenees 
Orientales,  formerly  the  province  of  Ron- 
sillon. 

This  famous  bridge,  whose  construction 
was  formerly  attributed  to  Satanic  agency, 
spans  the  torrent  of  Tech,  near  the  small 
town  of  C6ret.  A  manuscript  has  recently 
been  discovered  which  states  that,  in  1321, 


the  notables  of  the  neighboring  town  of 
Prats  de  Mollo  contributed  ten  golden 
crowns  of  Barcelona  towards  the  building  of 
the  bridge  at  C6ret,  on  condition  that  the 
inhabitants  of  their  town  be  exempted  from 
paying  toll.  The  toll-bridge  having  long 
since  been  done  away  with,  all  trace  of  the 
origin  of  the  bridge  was  in  this  way  lost. 

Quoted  in  "Folk-Lore"  (Eng.),  Decem- 
ber, 1890.  MENONA. 


WHAT  IS  VOODOO  WORSHIP? 

There  seems  to  be  some  unnecessary  con- 
fusion about  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the 
practices  grouped  under  the  term  "  Voodoo 
worship." 

It  was  generally  supposed  that  both  the 
word  and  the  fetich  practices  were  brought 
to  the  West  Indian  islands  by  African 
slaves.  Snake  worship  and  peculiar  dances 
were  believed  to  be  of  negro  origin ;  but 
Mr.  Newell,  editor  of  the  Folk-Lore  Jour- 
nal, tried  to  prove  that  all  previous  writers 
were  off  the  track.  He  seriously  argued 
that  both  the  word  and  the  superstitious 
practices  were  European  in  their  origin. 
He  had  no  patience  with  any  one  who  could 
see  native  African  beliefs  in  "  Voodoo  wor- 
ship." He  claimed  that  the  word  was  de- 
rived from  the  old  French  word,  "Vaudois;" 
that  the  practices  could  be  traced  back  to  a 
religious  sect  in  France  during  the  middle 
ages;  that  "  Voodoo  worship  "  could  never 
have  come  from  Africa;  that  the  "  fetich  " 
or  superstitious  elements  in  the  worship  were 
literary  rather  than  original  and  primitive. 
Mr.  Newell  was  very  positive  in  his  asser- 
tions, and  many  people  came  to  think  that 
perhaps  there  was  "something"  in  this 
plausible  theory. 

However,  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly 
for  April,  the  Hon.  Major  A.  B.  Ellis  shows 
how  little  ground  there  is  for  theorizing. 
He  makes  it  evident  that  the  word  "  vodu  " 
belongs  to  the  Ewe  language,  which  is 
spoken  on  the  Slave  Coast  of  West  Africa. 
The  expression  "Vodu  worship"  means 
simply  '  'god  worship. ' '  Vodu  is  used  as  a  de- 
scriptive noun,  "god,"  and  also  as  an  ad- 
jective in  the  sense  of  sacred  or  belonging  to  a 
god.  The  Hon.  Major  Ellis  also  makes  it  plain 
that  both  the  word  and  the  snake  worship  were 


April  ii,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


,  279 


introduced  into  Hayti  by  slaves  from  Why- 
dah  and  Ardra,  or  Allada.  The  python  god 
was  the  national  god  of  these  slaves,  and 
snake  worship,  as  it  is  to-day  on  the  Slave 
Coast,  is  the  same  as  the  "  Voodoo  wor- 
ship "  described  in  the  West  Indies  and 
elsewhere.  jj.  C.  B. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


CULCH  AND  SCULSH. 

"  Culch. — This  word,  meaning  rubbish,  is 
common  in  the  west  of  England  (C.  G. 
Leland,  London,  Eng.).  Another  corre- 
spondent would  spell  the  word  <r«Mand  re- 
marks on  its  use  as  frequent  in  England  " 
("  Waste  Basket  of  W roi -ds,"  Journal  Ameri- 
can Folk-Lore,  January-March,  1891). 

Halliwell,  like  Grose  and  Pegge  ("Prov. 
Gloss."),  defines  culch  as  lumber,  stuff,  re- 
fuse of  any  sort.  "The  Century"  quotes 
this  definition. 

Forby's  "East  Anglia "  says:  Culch. 
Thick  dregs  or  sediment." 

Sculsh  is  another  word  having  somewhat 
the  same  sense,  and  is,  I  learn  from  an  Eng- 
lish friend,  very  much  used,  both  in  Old 
England  and  in  the  English  provinces  of 
North  America. 

"The  Century"  says:  "Sculsh  (origin 
obscure). — Rubbish,  discarded  stuff  of  all 
kinds.  Most  generally  used  in  England  with 
reference  to  the  unwholesome  things  children 
delight  to  eat,  as  lollipops,  etc.  Prov. 
Eng.  and  New  Eng. ' ' 

Halliwell  has  the  same  as  peculiar  to  Kent. 
Calsh  I  find  nowhere.  MENONA. 


OLD  SCANDINAVIAN  CUSTOMS. 

(VOL.  VI,  PP.  267,  ETC.) 

The  singular  custom  of  the  older  Scandi- 
navians of  using  Runic  marks  inscribed  on 
a  roll  or  cylinder  of  wood,  for  the  purpose 
of  calling  an  assembly  of  the  people,  seems 
to  have  been  continued  down  as  late  as  the 
time  of  the  great  Gustav  Vasa.  Thommsson, 
in  his  historical  account  of  one  of  the  princi- 
pal agitators  of  the  year  1542  in  Sweden 
("Wils  Dacke,"  Vol.  i,  p.  24),  announces 
such  usage,  which  is  certainly  interesting : 
"  Runic  roll  messages  were  cut  quickly  and 
sent  out  that  night  in  many  directions" 
("Bud  Kaflar  uppskuros  genast  och  utsandes 


anned  denna  afton  at  flera  hall  ").  From 
bearing  such  tangible  summons  the  carrier 
was  designated  "  Bud  Kaf'le." 

Such  marks  were  in  use  throughout  the 
middle  ages,  indeed  down  to  a  compara- 
tively recent  period  in  Germany,  for  the 
purpose  of  calling  persons  to  an  interview, 
and  perhaps  bore  about  the  same  relation  to 
such  act  as  the  ordinary  seal  of  a  court  pro- 
cess, as  indicating  a  legal  summons. 

At  page  33,  of  Vol.  iii,  of  the  cited  work, 
the  author,  relying  on  the  authority  of  a  well- 
known  Swedish  chronicler,  goes  into  a  de- 
tailed description  of  this  sort  of  Runic  roll. 
In  addition  to  these  characters  being  cut 
upon  the  cylinder  it  was  hung  with  two 
metal  rings,  one  of  brass  and  the  other  of 
iron.  The  bar  of  wood  itself  was  smeared 
with  blood,  while  a  hand,  a  foot  and  a  female 
udder  were  carved  or  drawn  on  its  rounded 
surface.  Such  symbols  were  designed  to 
horrify  the  people  against  the  great  Gustav 
Vasa  and  to  further  incite  them  to  revolt. 


G.  F.  FORT. 


CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


TO  BOYCOTT. 

When  we  change  a  personal  name  to  a 
verb  of  action,  we  (not  unnaturally  it  would 
seem)  make  this  verb  convey  the  idea  of  per- 
forming the  particular  act  for  which  the  per- 
son in  question  is  noted,  as  its  agent.  Thus 
the  verbs  to  "  burgoyne,"  to  "lynch,"  to 
"burke,"  and  others,  express  the  doing  of 
what  Burgoyne,  Lynch,  Burke,  etc.,  did. 
To  "boycott,"  on  the  contrary,  is  to  do 
what  others  did  to  Capt.  Boycott. 

I  should  be  glad  to  hear  of  other  such 
cases  in  English.  I  am  aware  they  are  to  be 
found  in  other  languages. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 


QUERIES. 


Mafia  —  Camorra.  —  What  are  these 
societies?  E.  PRIOLEAU. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

A  very  good  account  of  both  the  Mafia 
and  the  Camorra  can  be  found  in  The  Illus- 
trated American,  Vol.  iv,  No.  38. 


28o 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  n,  1891. 


Largest  Steamship. — What  is  the  name 
of  the  largest  steamship  afloat,  not  a  man-of- 
war?  ?'    ?    ? 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

"  The  steamship  Great  Eastern  was  the 
largest  steamship  built,  being  692  feet  long 
on  deck,  680  feet  from  stem  to  stern- 
post,  83  feet  broad  and  58  feet 
deep.  The  City  of  Paris  is  580  feet  over 
all,  63*^  feet  extreme  breadth  and  59^ 
feet  from  upper  deck  cabins  to  keel.  The 
Teutonic  and  Majestic  are  582  feet  long, 
ST/4  feet  broad  and  39^  feet  deep.  The 
Teutonic  and  Majestic  art  therefore  the  largest 
steamships  afloat  "  (Brooklyn  Eagle). 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  steamer  Solano, 
plying  between  Port  Costa  and  Benicia,  has 
a  greater  area  at  water  line  than  any  other 
vessel.  I  cannot  now  recall  her  dimensions, 
but  while  her  length  over  all  is  about  that  of 
the  largest  transatlantic  liners,  her  breadth 
of  beam  is  nearly  twice  as  great.  Having  a 
scow  bottom,  her  gross  displacement  is  much 
less  than  of  a  liner  of  ordinary  size. 

TROIS  ETOILES. 
PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

Dago. — What  is  the  origin  of  this  word  ? 

E.  PRIOLEAU. 
MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
i,  pp.  31,  283 ;  Vol.  vi,  pp.  68,  80. 

REPLIES. 

I  Wrens  of  Donegal  (Vol.  vi,  p.  6). — "The 
Golden  Bough,"  a  recent  work  (1890)  by 
Mr.  J.  G.  Frazer,  will  interest  the  inquirer 
after  the  "Wrens  of  Donegal."  In  it  the 
author  has  something  to  say  about  the  wren, 
the  little  bird  with  whom  the  idea  of  royalty 
is  universally  associated,  as  is  shown  by  the 
epithets  bestowed  on  him  in  various  lan- 
guages, \\ktregulus,  Zaun-konig,  roitelet,  etc. 
In  treating  of  wren  traditions,  the  hunting 
of  the  wren,  his  death,  and  the  procession 
with  his  body,  are  passed  over  without  ex- 
planation. They  may,  perhaps,  be  the  relics 
of  a  superstition  that  the  wren  represented, 
as  their  sovereign,  the  race  of  birds,  which 


may  be  the  very  idea  intended  to  be  con- 
veyed by  the  third  of  the  familiar  lines, 

"  The  wren,  the  wren,  the  king  of  all  birds, 
St.  Stephen's  Day  was  caught  in  the  furze  ; 
Although  he's  little,  his  family's  great." 

Mr.  Frazer  having  laid  down  the  axiom, 
"  Ritual  may  be  the  parent  of  myths,  but 
never  can  be  its  child,"  a  writer  in  the 
Quarterly  Review  (January,  1891)  is  con- 
vinced that  the  two  well-known  wren  myths 
are  illustrations  of  its  truth,  they  being 
stories  invented  to  account  for  a  custom. 
The  hunting  and  killing  of  the  wren,  a 
practice  of  unknown  antiquity,  has  been  mis- 
interpreted in  later  generations,  when  sup- 
posed to  imply  a  grudge  against  the  slain  on 
the  part  of  the  slayer.  This  misunderstand- 
ing of  the  custom,  the  writer  thinks,  is 
plainly  indicated  in  the  older  English  myth, 
that  the  wren  was  slain  because  the  song  of 
a  wren  awoke  the  Danish  army  which  the 
English  would  otherwise  have  destroyed,  and 
also  in  the  more  modern  Irish  version  that  a 
wren  by  beating  with  his  feet  on  a  drum  saved 
some  troops  of  William  III  from  being  sur- 
prised by  James  II.  "  It  is  clear,"  concludes 
the  reviewer,  "  that  the  latter  myth  is  an  in- 
stance of  modern  characters  being  fitted,  for 
local  reasons,  into  an  old  story.  The  very 
oldest  form  of  the  story  was  an  attempt  to 
explain  a  still  older  custom." 

The  wrens  myth  has  been  adjusted  to 
several  crises  in  Ireland's  history — the  mas- 
sacre of  1641,  the  rebellion  of  '98,  and  the 
time  of  William  III  of  the  Boyne. 

The  myth  as  localized  in  Donegal  county 
belongs  to  the  first-named  period,  according 
to  John  Aubrey,  and  is  as  follows  :  ' '  Near 
the  same  place  a  party  of  the  Protestants  had 
been  surprised  sleeping  by  the  Irish,  were  it 
not  for  several  wrens  that  just  wakened  them 
by  dancing  and  pecking  on  the  drums  as  the 
enemy  were  approaching." 
.  Aubrey  then  proceeds  to  violate  Mr. 
Frazer's  axiom :  "  For  this  reason  the  wild 
Irish  mortally  hate  these  birds  to  this  day, 
calling  them  the  Devil's  servants,  etc." 
(Aubrey's"Miscellanies,"p.45).  The  locality 
referred  to  is  in  the  valley  of  the  Suly  near 
Letterkenny,  county  of  Donegal,  it  being 
the  site  of  the  last  battle  of  the  ten  years' 
war  inaugurated  by  the  massacre  of  1641  in 


April  ii,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


281 


Ulster.  The  Irish  were  commanded  by 
Veneras,  Bishop  of  Clogher,  and  the  Par- 
liamentary forces  by  Sir  Charles  Coote. 

MENONA. 

Cotnar  (Vol.  vi,  p.  236). — The  wine  so 
called  derives  its  name  from  Cotnar,  a  little 
town  of  Roumania  among  the  foot-hills  of  the 
Carpathians,  near  which  are  the  most  noted 
vineyards  of  Moldavia. 

The  "Century  "  gives  asecond  form  of  the 
name,  Catnar,  but  elsewhere  I  find  Cotnar, 

"  A  cup  of  our  own  Moldavia  fine, 
Cotnar,  for  instance,  green  as  May  sorrel, 
And  ropy  with  sweet." 

("  Flight  of  the  Duchess,"  line  86.) 

"  And  poured  out  all  lovelily,  sparklingly,  sunlit, 
Our  green  Moldavia,  the  streaky  syrup, 
Cotnar  as  old  as  the  time  of  the  Druids." 

(Ibid.,  line  838.) 

"  Taking  some  Cotnar,  a  tight  plump  skinful," 

refers,  I  suppose,  to  the  preservation  of  the 
wine  in  leather  bottles. 

"Strong  Cotnar"  is  contrasted  in  the 
same  poem  with  light  French  wines. 

According  to  Redding  ("Hist.  Mod. 
Wines"),  it  is  the  wine  of  Piatra  which  is 
green  in  color,  growing  deeper  with  age.  It 
is  spirituous  like  brandy,  and  is  preferred  by 
some  to  the  celebrated  Tokay  of  Hungary. 

Cotnar  wines  are  sweet,  being  both  red  and 
white. 

Mr.  Browning,  it  seems,  through  the 
power  of  poesy  has  created  a  third  kind 
of  wine,  blending  the  excellent  qualities  of 
the  other  two,  the  Cotnar  and  the  Piatra. 

The  prose  accounts  of  these  Moldavian  or 
Roumanian  wines  are  not  so  enthusiastic. 

Emile  de  Laveleye  says:  "The  vine 
flourishes  well  in  the  hilly  region  at  the  foot 
of  the  Carpathians.  The  wines  of  Odo- 
beschte  and  Cotnar  in  Moldavia  are  both 
good  and  cheap"  ("The  Balkan  Penin- 
sula"). 

Arthur  J.  Evans,  author  of  "Through 
Bosnia  on  Foot,"  says  the  Moldavian  wines 
are  inferior  to  what  they  should  be,  and 
that  nothing  but  industry  and  enterprise  are 
wanting  to  make  Roumania  a  wine-growing 
country  of  the  first  rank. 

"  The  Flight  of  the  Duchess  "  may  have 


spread  the  fame  of  the  Cotnar,  but  the  Mol- 
davian wines  have  generally  little  reputation 
outside  of  their  own  land,  unless  it  be  in 
Russia  and  Poland,  where  they  were  for- 
merly highly  esteemed.  MENONA. 


IPO 


Calipash  and  Calipee.—  Many  of 
your  correspondents  are  familiar  with  the 
old  jesting  derivation  of  these  names  from 
the  Greek  ^VZ^STTO?  and  yaAenij,  which  as 
your  readers  generally  know  are  respectively 
the  masculine  and  feminine  of  an  adjective 
that  means  "difficult."  The  Calipash  is  so 
called  because  it  is  difficult  (of  digestion), 
and  the  Calipee  because  it  is  equally  diffi- 
cult of  digestion.  Now  shall  I  confess  that 
I  half  believe  there  is  something  more  than 
a  joke  in  this  old  explanation  ?  Calipash,  as 
I  suppose,  must  be  a  derivative  from  carapace. 
May  it  not  be  true  that  some  Eton-bred  club- 
man, or  alderman,  jestingly  evolved  calipee 
from  calipash  by  some  such  process  of  punning 
variation  as  is  implied  in  this  old  jest  ?  Can 
any  one  inform  me  as  to  the  source  whence 
the  above  punning  jest  is  derived  ?  I  read  it 
many  years  ago,  I  have  forgotten  where. 

Qui  TAM. 

Authorship  Wanted.  —  See  Where  the 
Startled  Wild  Fowl,  etc.  —  Can  you  tell  me 
by  whom  the  following  lines  were  written  ? 
They  are  found  under  the  engraving  of 
Landseer's  painting,  "  The  Sanctuary  :" 

"  See  where  the  startled  wild  fowl  screaming  rise, 
And  seek  in  marshalled  flight  those  golden  skies. 
Yon  wearied  swimmer  scarce  can  reach  the  land, 
His  limbs  yet  falter  on  the  watery  strand. 

"  Poor  hunted  Hart  !  The  painful  struggle  o'er, 
How  blest  the  shelter  of  that  island  shore. 
There,  whilst  he  sobs  his  panting  heart  to  rest, 
Nor  hound  nor  hunter  can  his  lair  molest." 


E.  E.  L. 


BEDFORD,  N.  Y. 


Heroic  Epistle. — Where  can  I  find  a 
copy  of  "  The  Heroic  Epistle  to  Sir  William 
Chambers,"  written  by  Walpoleand  Mason 
and  so  often  alluded  to  in  Boswell's  "  Life 
of  Johnson  ?" 

E.  PRIOLEAU. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 


282 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  n,  1891. 


Fleet  Captured  by  Cavalry.— Can 

you  tell  me  when  and  where  was  a  fleet  cap- 
tured in  the  midst  of  the  sea  by  cavalry  ? 

J.  T.  L. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Dalburg  Family  (Vol.  vi,  p.  250). — 
Can  you  tell  me  where  I  can  find  any  ac- 
count of  the  "  Dalburg  Family  of  Basil  ?" 

E.  E.  LUQUIER. 
BEDFORD,  N.  Y. 

Lord  Baltimore. — Which  one  of  the 
Calverts  bore  the  title  of  Lord  Baltimore  in 
1742.  Will  some  correspondent  of  AMERI- 
CAN NOTES  AND  QUERIES  respond,  giving 
his  full  Christian  name?  H.  R.  K. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Botany  Bay. — Who  named  this  bay 
and  why  is  it  so  called  ? 

J.  T.  L. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

©OMMUNIGAJHIONS. 

Folk-lore  Superstitions  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
271). — "The  charm  for  curing  nose  bleed 
is  also  a  curious  one.  If  a  person  is  subject 
to  nose-bleed  he  may  effect  a  cure  by  going 
to  a  person  of  the  opposite  sex  and  request- 
ing him  or  her  to  purchase  a  piece  of  lace 
such  as  may  be  specified  for  the  person  mak- 
ing the  request.  When  the  lace  is  brought, 
the  person  must  take  it,  and  neither  pay  for 
it  nor  return  thanks  for  it.  He  must  make 
a  necktie  out  of  the  lace  and  wear  it  for  nine 
days,  and  he  will  never  have  the  nose-bleed 
again.  If  the  person  is  too  modest  or  too 
gallant  to  get  the  lace  in  that  way,  let  him 
catch  a  toad  and  kill  it,  and  wear  it  around 
his  neck  and  his  nose  will  never  bleed 
again. 

"  A  person  who  has  not  had  positive  proof 
of  the  fact  by  association  with  these  honest 
people  can  scarcely  believe  the  many  out- 
landish superstitions  in  which  they  still  have 
the  utmost  faith,  especially  the  old  men  and 
women.  The  skins  of  adders  in  or  on  their 
houses  or  buildings  are  a  certain  charm 
against  fire.  To  cure  ague,  the  patient  is 
taken  to  a  spot  where  two  roads  cross,  and 
an  oak  tree  is  found  as  near  the  spot  as  pos- 


sible. A  lock  of  his  hair  is  lifted  up  and 
driven  into  the  tree  with  an  ash  peg.  The 
patient  must  then  tear  himself  loose,  leaving 
the  hair  sticking  in  the  tree,  and  walk  away 
without  looking  behind  him.  Sufferers 
with  erysipelas  by  wearing  in  a  silken  bag 
around  their  neck  a  toad  from  which  the 
right  hind  leg  and  the  left  fore  leg  have  been 
cut  until  the  mutilated  reptile  dies,  will  get 
well  of  the  disease.  The  tongue  cut  from  a 
living  fox,  and  carried  about  the  person, 
will  ward  off  disease  of  all  kinds,  but  as  the 
person  carrying  one  of  these  fox  tongues  will 
surely  die  if  he  should  happen  to  meet  a  fox 
at  any  cross-roads,  the  charm  is  seldom  in- 
voked. The  tooth  from  a  dead  person's 
mouth  carried  in  the  pocket  is  a  certain 
charm  against  toothache.  A  double  hazel- 
nut  carried  about  the  person  is  also  a  pre- 
ventive of  toothache.  If  the  person  has 
cramps  in  the  legs  or  feet  he  has  but  to  place 
his  stockings  in  the  form  of  a  cross  on  the 
floor  in  front  of  the  bed  when  he  retires,  or 
lay  his  slippers  under  the  bed,  soles  upward. 
Placing  the  shoes  under  the  coverlid  at  the 
foot  of  the  bed  so  that  the  toes  protrude  is 
also  a  sure  preventive  of  cramps.  No  one 
who  wears  a  snake  skin  around  his  head  need 
ever  have  the  headache.  If  one  feels  a  sty 
coming  on  his  eye  let  him  take  a  hair  from 
the  tail  of  a  black  cat,  rub  his  eye  with  it  nine 
times  before  midnight  on  the  first  night  of 
the  new  moon,  and^the  sty  will  die"  (Mt. 
Joy  Herald}. 

Prince  of  "Wales  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  262, 
etc.). — As  there  has  been  some  discussion 
relative  to  the  title  of  "Prince  of  Wales," 
I  have  made  a  careful  examination  of  several 
authorities  upon  the  subject.  But  before 
stating  them,  I  will  say  to  "  F.  L."  (Vol. 
vi,  p.  262)  that  I  should  have  written 
Edward  I  instead  of  Henry  III,  and  the 
word  "born"  in  (Vol.  vi,  p.  233)  should 
have  been  "borne,"  which  would  have 
spared  "R.  G.  B."  making  the  statement, 
"  But  the  eldest  son  of  the  sovereign  is  not 
born  Prince  of  Wales."  Now  to  the  subject 
of  this  article. 

Of  the  Plantagenets  who  were  Princes  of 
Wales  there  were : 

i.  Edward,  born  at  Caernavon  Castle, 
Wales,  April  25,  1284;  son  of  Edward  I, 


April  ii,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


285 


King  of  England.  He  became  king  as 
Edward  II,  July  8,  1307  ;  deposed  January 
25, 1327 ;  murdered  in  Berkeley  Castle,  Sep- 
tember 20,  1327. 

2.  Edward,     born     at    Windsor  Castle, 
November  13,  1312  ;  son  of  Edward  II ;  be- 
came king  as  Edward  III,  January  25,  1327; 
died  June  21,  1377. 

3.  Edward — called    Black   Prince — born 
at  Woodstock,  1330,  died  1376,  one  year  be- 
fore his  father,  Edward  III. 

4.  Richard,  son  of  the  Black  Prince,  and 
grandson  of  Edward  III,  born  at  Bordeaux, 
April  3,    1366;  succeeded  his  grandfather 
June  22,    1377;  dethroned   September  28, 
1399;   murdered  February   10,   1400.     He 
was  the  first  Earl  of  Chester  and  Cornwall, 
as  well  as  Prince  of  Wales;  with  him  ended 
the  line  of  the  Plantagenets. 

Of  the  House  of  Lancaster  the  Princes  of 
Wales  were : 

5.  Henry,  son  of  Henry  IV,  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  commonly  called  Henry  of  Bol- 
lingbrook.     Prince  Henry  was  created  by 
his  father  Prince  of  Wales,  Duke  of  Corn- 
wall and  Earl  of  Chester.     He  was  born  in 
1388,   at    Monmouth.     He  became    King 
Henry  V,    April    21,    1413,  on  the  death 
of  his  father;  died  August  31,  1422.     His 
son,  Henry  VI,  does  not  appear  to  have  held 
the  title  of  Prince  of  Wales,  possibly  on  ac- 
count of  his  extreme  youth,  as  he  succeeded 
his  father  when  only  nine  months  of  age. 

6.  Edward,  son  of  Henry  VI ;  he  was  mur- 
dered after  the  battle  of  Tewkesbury  (May 
4,  1471),  at  which  his  father  lost  his  crown. 
With  that  disaster  terminated  the  reign  of 
the  Lancaster  House. 

There  were  but   two  Yorkist  Princes  of 
Wales. 

7.  Edward,    son    of    Edward   IV,    born 
November   4,    1470.     He   became   king  as 
Edward  V,  April  9,  1483,  on  the  death  of 
his  father,  deposed  June  25,  1483;  murdered 
by  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester  (afterwards 
Richard  III),  in  the  same  year. 

8.  Edward,    son   of    Richard   III,    born 
1471,  died  in  1484.     This  ended  the  York 
line. 

The  Tudor  House  produced  the  following 
Princes  of  Wales : 

9.  Arthur,  son  of  Henry  VII,  born  1487, 


married  at  the  age  of  fourteen  Catherine^of 
Aragon,  died  the  same  year,  1501. 

10.  Henry,  second  son  of  Henry  VII  and 
brother  of  Arthur,  created  Prince  of  Wales 
on  the  death  of  his  brother,  Arthur,  and  be- 
trothed  to   his  (Arthur's)    wife  Catherine. 
Henry  was  born  1491  ;  succeeded  his  father 
as  Henry  VIII  in  1509. 

[It  is  recorded  in  "  The  Historic  of  Eng- 
land, by  Sir  Bulstrode  Whitlocke,  London, 
1713,"  the  following  passage,  relative  to 
Catherine  of  Aragon,  first  wife  of  Henry 
VIII,  when  he  was  divorced  from  her,  which 
it  seems  would  give  her  the  right  to  be 
classed  as  a  Princess  of  Wales.] 

"The  king  privately  marrieth  the  Lady 
Anne  Bullen.  Shortly  after,  by  act  of  Par- 
liament, his  marriage  with  Catherine  was  de- 
clared Void  and  Incestuous.  Appeals  to 
Rome  were  forbidden  and  no  other  Title  to 
be  given  Catherine  but  Princess  of  Wales." 

Henry  VIII  had  a  son  by  Catherine  who 
was  called  Henry,  but  he  lived  but  two 
months,  and  probably  did  not  have  the  title 
Prince  of  Wales  conferred,  as  he  was  from 
his  birth  very  sickly,  and  it  was  not  thought 
that  he  would  live  from  day  to  day. 
Catherine  also  bore  Henry  VIII  two  other 
sons,  both  of  whom  died  almost  immediately 
after  their  birth.  On  February  18, 1516,  she 
became  the  mother  of  a  daughter,  Mary. 
Some  writers  claim  that  she  was  made 
Princess  of  Wales,  which  others  deny. 

11.  Edward,  son  of  Henry  VIII,  and  his 
wife,  Jane  Seymour,  born  at  Hampton  Court, 
October    12,    1537.     In   addition  to  being 
created  Prince  of  Wales,  he  was  made  Duke 
of  Cornwall  and  Earl  of  Chester.    This  must 
have  resulted  in  the  setting  aside  of  his  half 
sister  Mary's  title  of  Princess  of  Wales.     He 
succeeded  his  father  as  Edward  VI  in  1547, 
aged  ten  years.     He  died  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen and  was  succeeded  by  his  sister,  Mary, 
who  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  Elizabeth, 
when  the  line  of  Tudor  ended. 

The  Stuart  line  commenced  with  James  I 
of  England,  also  James  VI  of  Scotland. 

12.  Henry  Frederick,  eldest  son  of  James 
I,    born    at   Sterling,  February    19,   1549* 
died  November  6,  1612,  supposed  to  have 
been  poisoned. 

13.  Charles,  second  son  of  James  I,  born 
at   Dunfermline,    Scotland,     November   9, 


284 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  n,  1891. 


1600.  At  four  years  of  age  he  was  created 
Duke  of  York.  On  the  death  of  his  brother 
Henry  in  1612,  he  was  created  Duke  of 
Cornwall  and  Prince  of  Wales.  He  became 
king  as  Charles  I. 

14.  Charles,  son  of  Charles  I,  born  at  St. 
James,  May  29,  1630,  became  king  in  1660 
as   Charles  II.     James   II,    who   succeeded 
Charles    II    in    1685,  was    not    Prince  of 
Wales. 

1 5 .  James,  commonly  called  the  Pretender, 
son  of  James  II,  was  born  at  St.  James,  June 
10,    1688.     He  never  came  to  the  throne. 
James  II  was  succeeded  by  William  III,  son 
of  Mary,  daughter  of  Charles  I,  and  William 
of  Orange,  who  reigned  jointly,  until  Mary's 
death  in  1695.     On  his  death  in  170 2  he  was 
succeeded  by  Anne,  daughter  of  James  II.  He 
left  no  issue.    She  died  without  leaving  issue, 
and  with  her  terminated  the  Stuart  House. 

The  House  of  Hanover  gave  the  following 
Princes  of  Wales : 

1 6.  George  Augustus,  son  of  George  I, 
born  in  Hanover  in  1683.     He  was  created 
Prince  of  Wales  1714;  succeeded  his  father 
as  George  II,  1727. 

17.  Frederick,  eldest  son  of  George  II, 
born  1707.     He  died  in  1751,  several  years 
before  his  father. 

1 8.  George  Frederick,  commonly  called 
Prince  George,  was  created  Prince  of  Wales 
April  25,  1751,  by  his  grandfather,  whom  he 
succeeded  as  king  as  George  III  in  1760. 

19.  George    Augustus    Frederick,     born 
August    12,   1762,   succeeded  his  father  as 
George   IV  in    1820.      His  only   child,  a 
daughter,  died  in  1817,  before  he  became 
king.     He  was   succeeded  as  king  by  his 
brother,  William  IV,  in  1830,  being  the  third 
son  of  George  III.     He  left  no  lawful  issue 
when  he  died  in  1837,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  niece,  Victoria,  daughter   of  Edward, 
Duke  of  Kent,  the  fourth  son  of  George  III. 

20.  Albert  Edward,  eldest  son  of  Queen 
Victoria,  born  November  9,  1841.     In  ad- 
dition to  his  title  of  Prince  of  Wales,  he  is 
Duke  of  Cornwall,  Duke  of  Rothesay,  Earl 
of  Chester,  Earl  of  Dublin,  and  by  the  act 
of  the   Scottish   Parliament,   his   titles  are 
Prince  and  High  Steward  of  Scotland,  Duke 
of  Rothesay,  Earl  of  Carrick,  Baron  of  Ren- 
frew,   Lord  of  the  Isles ;    also  Prince   of 


Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ;    besides    many    com- 
plimentary titles  in  foreign  countries. 


THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 


WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 


Two-headed  Snakes  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
233,  etc.). — In  September,  1867,  a  two- 
headed  snake  was  captured  near  Bethlehem, 
Ky.  It  was  small,  only  about  ten  inches  in 
length;  had  but  one  vertebra  and  one 
pelvis  ;  both  heads,  however,  were  perfect  in 
every  particular.  Each  head  had  two  eyes 
and  a  mouth  of  about  equal  size  and  appear- 
ance. Sometimes  it  would  dart  out  one 
tongue  and  sometimes  the  other,  then  again 
both  simultaneously.  The  heads  both  turned 
from  the  body  at  about  the  same  degree ; 
the  distance  between  the  noses  being  about 
i^4  inches  at  the  points.  The  forked  head 
prevented  the  snake  from  making  much  pro- 
gress in  high  grass,  the  stalks  of  which  be- 
came entangled  between  the  necks. 

In  June,  1879,  William  Bosley,  of  Oak- 
land, Hartford  county,  Md.,  killed  a  double- 
headed,  four-foot,  black  snake,  wholly  dis- 
similar to  the  Kentucky  oddity  described 
above,  the  heads  of  Bosley 's  snake  being  four 
feet  apart,  one  on  each  end  of  the  body. 
Mr.  Bosley  says  that  he  could  have  captured 
the  reptile  alive,  had  he  known  its  interest- 
ing deformity  before  his  club  descended 
upon  what  he  took  to  be  the  only  breathing 
end  of  his  snakeship. 

The  third  and  last  double-headed  snake 
the  writer  has  ever  had  the  good  fortune  to 
hear  of  or  read  about,  was  found  by  J.  B. 
Matlock,  of  Crescent  township,  Pottawat- 
tomie,  la.,  in  the  summer  of  1883.  The  ac- 
count given  below  is  from  a  Council  Bluffs, 
la.,  paper:  "We  have  a  wonderful  tale  of 
a  reptile  to  tell,  which  many  citizens  who 
yesterday  saw  the  curiosity  can  verify.  It  is 
of  the  discovery  of  a  genuine,  living,  double- 
headed  snake  of  the  garter  species.  This  re- 
markable specimen  was  picked  up  a  few  days 
ago  by  J.  B.  Matlock,  a  well-known  farmer 
of  Crescent  township.  The  little  fellow  is 
only  about  six  inches  long,  yet  owns  and 
uses  two  perfect  heads.  Both  seem  to  be 
equally  active  and  useful,  joining  the  body 
about  3^  of  an  inch  back  of  the  mouth  or 
mouths.  *  *  *  It  is  certainly  a  wonder,  a 


April  n,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


285 


snake   never  before    being 


double-headed 
heard  of." 

The  last  sentence  in  the  note  above 
quoted  proves  that  the  writer  of  it  was  not 
familiar  with  his  subject,  even  if  he  did  un- 
derstand how  to  write  up  a  two-headed 
wonder  of  the  snake  species. 

J.  WELLINGTON  WRIGHT. 

KNOXVILLE,  IA. 

Quotation  Wanted  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  245, 
etc.).— "To  Helen,"  of  the  "Poems  of 
Early  Youth ' '  series,  is  thought  by  com- 
petent critics  the  most  beautiful  of  Poe's 
minor  poems.  It  seems  not  a  little  strange, 
therefore,  that  it  should  not  be  included  in 
every  so-called  complete  edition  of  the 
author's  works;  As  this  is  not  the  case,  the 
"  poem  "  being  short,  I  give  it  entire  : 

TO  HELEN. 

Helen,  thy  beauty  is  to  me 

Like  those  Nicean  barks  of  yore, 
That  gently  o'er  a  perfumed  sea, 

The  weary  way-worn  wanderer  bore 

To  his  own  native  shore. 

On  desperate  seas  long  wont  to  roam, 
Thy  hyacinth  hair,  thy  classic  face, 

Thy  Naiad  airs  have  brought  me  home 
To  the  glory  that  was  Greece 

And  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome. 

Lo  !  in  yon  brilliant  window -niche 
How  statue-like  I  see  thee  stand, 
The  agate  lamp  within  thy  hand, 

Ah  !  Psyche,  from  the  regions  which 
Are  Holy  Land ! 

The  lady  whose  memory  is  said  to  have 
inspired  these  lines  was  the  mother  of  one 
of  Poe's  schoolmates.  R.  H.  Stoddard,  in 
Harper's  Magazine,  has  given  the  following 
account  of  the  poet's  acquaintance  with  her  : 
"The  extreme  tendernessof  Poe's  feelings  was 
shown  one  day  when  he  visited  the  house  of 
one  of  his  schoolmates,  whose  mother,  on 
entering  the  room  where  he  was,  took  his 
hand  and  spoke  some  words  of  welcome, 
which  penetrated  his  heart  so  deeply,  that 
he  lost  the  power  of  speech,  if  not  of  con- 
sciousness itself.  To  the  friend  thus  formed 
he  was  wont  to  impart  all  his  youthful  sor- 
rows. She  had  a  happy  influence  over  him 
in  his  darker  moods,  and  after  her  death  it 
was  his  habit  for  months  to  pay  a  nightly 
visit  to  the  cemetery  in  which  she  was 


buried.  The  drearier  the  nights,  the  longer 
he  lingered,  and  the  more  regretfully  he  came 
away." 

We  are  not  favored  with  Poe's  assent  to 
this  explanation  of  the  origin  of  his  lines  "To 
Helen."  MEN6NA. 

Seals.— 

The  hop  and  the  hop  town, 

With  all  the  bounds  upside  down, 

And  in  witness  that  it  was  sooth, 
He  bit  the  wax  with  his  foretooth. 

Thus  in  rhyme  has  been  celebrated  the 
manner  in  which  King  Edward  III  sealed  a 
deed,  which  he  gave  to  Norman,  the  Hun- 
ter. Even  if  not  original,  King  Edward's 
style  of  making  his  signature  was  compara- 
tively odd,  even  at  a  time  when  any  dis- 
tinctive .impression  on  wax  attached  to  a 
written  document  was  a  "seal,"  knife 
handles  and  even  splintered  sticks  being 
dignified  into  the  instruments  of  sign 
manual. 

While  King  Edward  set  a  fashion  in  the 
instrument  to  be  used,  John  O' Gaunt,  in 
deeding  Sutton  and  Putton,  contemptuously 
ignored  the  wax.  But  Blackstone  had  not 
yet  been  born  to  deliver  the  dictum  that  a 
seal  was  "wax  impressed."  John  bit  into 
the  parchment  itself,  upon  which  he  had 
rhymingly  written : 

I,  John  O'Gaunt, 

Do  give  and  grant, 

»        *        *        * 

Sutton  and  Putton 

Until  the  world's  rotten. 
There  is  no  seal  within  this  roof 
And  so  I  seal  it  with  my  tooth. 

King  William's  rhyming  deed  to  Plowden 
Hoyden  is  not  sufficiently  well  authenticated 
to  dissipate  the  suspicion  that  some  literary 
joker  had  not  before  his  eyes  the  fear  of  the 
antetype  of  the  modern  blue  pencil,  when  he 
palmed  this  off  on  his  publisher : 

I,  William,  King, 

Give  to  thee,  Plowden  Royden, 

From  heaven, to  earth, 

From  earth  to  hell, 

For  thee  and  thine  to  dwell. 

In  witness  that  this  is  sooth, 

I  bite  this.wax  with  my  tooth,* 

In  the  presence  of  Magge,  Maude  and  Margery, 

And  my  third  son,  Henry. 

*See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol.  vi, 
P-  243- 


286 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  ii,  1891- 


LOOKED  UPON  WITH  VENERATION; 

Since  the  days  when  a  seal  was  looked 
upon  with  some  such  veneration  as  the 
heathen  look  upon  their  idols,  the  super- 
stition has  been  growing  very  shadowy. 
The  law  moves  much  like  the  gods  of 
Homer,  an  interval  of  ages  between  the 
steps,  and  to  the  layman,  unversed  in  its 
wonderful  mysteries,  the  legal  effect  of  a  seal 
can  hardly  fail  to  seem  less  than  a  miracle. 
The  simple  wax  wafer  must  appear  to  him 
like  "some  amulet  of  gems  annealed  in 
upper  fires."  Why  it  should  have  the  con- 
secrating influence  the  law  imputes  to  it,  he 
will  never  be  able  to  understand,  and  even 
lawyers  are  beginning  to  wonder  if  after  all 
they  themselves  ever  understood  it. 

"The  phrase  '  hand  and  seal,'  "  said  one 
of  Philadelphia's  most  learned  jurists,  "  is 
a  lawyer's  phrase,  useless  and  obsolete,  but 
the  old  fellows  cannot  forget  it.  Educated 
persons  sign  their  names ;  ignorant  people, 
as  the  Indians,  seal  papers.  Hence  edu- 
cated people  never  use  seals  to  indicate  their 
acts  nowadays." 

The  times  of  the  earliest  use  of  seals  by 
the  English-speaking  people  were  those  of 
gross  ignorance,  and  their  use  was  by  a 
grossly  ignorant  people  who  could  handle 
the  sword  but  knew  not  how  to  use  the  pen. 
They  were  then  of  significance  when  each 
one  had  his  particular  signet.  Now  that 
person  is  an  exception  who  knows  not  how 
to  write,  but  under  the  lead  of  the  lawyers  in 
a  matter  which  has  only  a  legal  aspect,  this 
people  is  not  yet  equal  to  the  task  of  freeing 
itself  entirely  from  a  venerable  superstition. 
However,  it  has  made  the  observance  of  it 
as  easy  and  meaningless  as  possible.  Tn  no 
State  of  the  United  States  is  the  old  common 
law  ceremony  of  "impressing  upon  wax" 
required.  Most  of  them  require  only  a 
scroll  or  any  written  or  printed  device  which 
shows  the  intention  of  the  signer  to  have 
been  to  invest  the  instrument  with  the  im- 
portance of  a  sealed  instrument. 

In  this  State  the  mere  dash  of  a  pen  after 
a  signature  has  been  held  by  the  Supreme 
Court  to  be  sufficient  sealing.  In  contrast 
with  this  is  the  very  recent  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  an  opinion  delivered  by 
Justice  Mitchell,  that  the  absence  of  this 


scratch  or  a  scroll  is  fatal,  although  the 
symbol  "L.  S."  followed  the  signature. 

"  The  printed  letters  'L.  S.,'  "  said  Jus- 
tice Mitchell,  "  following  the  signature, 
literally  import  the  '  place  of  the  seal ' — 
locus  sigilli.  They  simply  draw  the  atten- 
tion of  the  signer  to  the  place  for  making 
his  seal.  Unless  there  be  some  act  or 
declaration  of  the  signer  showing  his  adop- 
tion of  them  as  his  seal,  the  instrument 
signed  is  a  simple  contract,  and  not  a 
specialty.  A  place  for  a  seal  indicated  by  a 
printed  blank  is  not  a  seal,  and  signing  be- 
fore it  cannot  imply  a  seal  in  that  place 
wherein  none  is  made." 

The  superstition  surrounding  the  seal  has 
not  unnaturally  led  even  lawyers  into  the 
absurdity  of  attaching  them  to  wilts 
where  they  are  utterly  useless,  since  signing 
rather  than  sealing  is  relied  on  for  authenti- 
cation. This  one  instance  of  an  extreme 
case  in  which  a  seal  need  not  be  used  must 
suffice  for  this  article,  for  there  are  many 
technical  and  arbitrary  distinctions  in  the 
law  relating  to  seals,  knowledge  of  which  the 
layman  may  reach  only  through  a  fee  to  his 
legal  adviser,  and  even  then  he  "  pays  his 
money  and  takes  his  choice."  Enough  to 
say  of  the  effect  of  a  seal,  that  it  is  held  to  im- 
part a  consideration  for  the  deed,  though 
none  is  expressly  stated  ;  it  estops  the  party 
from  averring  anything  contrary  to  the  deed 
when  by  the  same  words  in  a  simple  con- 
tract he  would  not  be  estopped,  and  extends 
the  limitation  of  the  presumption  of  pay- 
ment to  twenty  years,  while  on  simple  con- 
tracts the  limitation  is  six  years.  It  is  pretty 
well  settled  in  this  State  that  when  a  seal  is 
necessary,  the  courts  will  adopt  anything, 
scrawl,  scroll,  letter  or  dash,  but  where  a 
seal  is  not  necessary  they  will  not  regard 
anything  as  a  seal  which  is  not  strictly  one. 

The  origin  of  seals  is  lost  in  the  obscurity 
of  unhistorical  times,  but  that  they  were  in 
use  for  the  authentication  of  writings  in  the 
days  of  the  patriarchs  is  shown  by  the  Books 
of  Esther,  Kings,  Daniel  and  Jeremiah.  At 
all  times,  from  then  to  now,  they  have  had 
the  same  purpose,  to  give  greater  solemnity 
to  contracts.  Traces  have  been  found  in  the 
Assyrian,  Babylonian  and  Persian  explora- 
tions. From  the  East  the  seal  traveled  into 
Greece,  thence  to  imperial  Rome.  From 


April  n,  1891. J 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


287 


Rome  its  use  extended  among  the  nations  of 
the  continent  of  Europe,  where  it  prevailed 
during  the  middle  ages.  From  the  eighth 
to  the  twelfth  century  it  was  confined  in 
Europe  to  kings  and  persons  of  high  official 
position.  Subsequently  sealing  became 
general  among  all  classes  until  the  revival  of 
learning  made  it  possible  for  men  of  the 
lower,  and,  in  fact,  sometimes  of  the  upper 
classes  of  society,  to  subscribe  their  names. 
Since  writing  has  become  common  and  the 
distinctive  character  of  the  seal  lost,  sealing 
has  become  almost  a  hollow  form,  and  legal 
enactments  in  different  States  are  gradually 
tending  towards  its  abolition. — Ex. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria.— Among 
the  titles  of  this  potentate  are  the  following : 
Emperor  of  Austria;  Apostolic  King  of 
Hungary ;  King  of  Bohemia,  of  Dalmatia, 
of  Croatia,  of  Slavonia,  of  Galicia,  of 
Lodomeria,  of  Illyria,  and  of  Jerusalem ; 
Archduke  of  Austria ;  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  and  of  Cracow;  Duke  of  Lorraine, 
Salzburg,  Styria,  Carinthia,  Carniola,  and 
Bukovina ;  Grand  Prince  of  Transylvania ; 
Margrave  of  Moravia ;  Duke  of  Upper 
Silesia,  of  Lower  Silesia,  Modena,  Parma, 
Piacenza,  and  Guastalla,  of  Auschwitz  and 
Zator,  ofTeschen,  Friuli,  Ragusa  and  Zara ; 
Prince-count  of  Habsburg,  Tyrol,  Kyburg, 
Goritz  and  Gradiska ;  Prince  of  Trent  and 
Brixen ;  Margrave  of  Upper  Lusatia,  Lower 
Lusatia  and  Istria;  Count  of  Hohenems, 
Feldkirch,  Brigenz,  Sonnenberg,  etc.,  and 
Lord  of  Triest,  of  Cattaro,  and  the  Wendish 
Marches.  There  are  more  titles  to  come,  but 
I  must  pause  to  take  breath. 

ILDERIM. 

GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Royal  Lepers  (Vol.  v,  p.  244).— Was 
King  Henry  IV  of  England  a  leper? 
Holinshed  quotes  Edward  Hall  to  the  con- 
trary, as  follows:  "On  the  morrow  after 
Candlemas-day,  all  things  being  in  readiness 
for  such  a  roiall  journie  as  he — King  Henry — 
pretended  to  take  into  the  holie  land,  he  was 
eftsoons  taken  with  a  sore  sickness,  which 
was  not  a  leprosie,  stricken  by  the  hand  of 
God  (saith  Maister  Hall)  as  foolish  friers 
imagined,  but  a  very  apoplexie,  of  the  which 
he  languished  till  his  appointed  time,  and 


had  none  other  greefe  nor  maladie " 
("  Chronicles,"  Vol.  iii,  p.  57). 

The  following  contradicts  the  foregoing : 
"  And  this  same  year,  A.D.  1412,  it  was  ac- 
corded betweene  the  Prince,  King  Harrie's 
sone,  and  Harry,  bisshope  of  Wynchestre, 
and  many  other  Lordis  of  this  lond, 
that  certayn  of  thayin  sholde  speke  to  the 
king  and  entrete  him  to  resigne  the  crowne 
to  the  sayd  Prince  Harri,  his  sone,  because 
he  was  so  gretli  vexid  and  smyte  with  the 
sicknesse  of  lepre ;  but  he  wolde  in  no  wise. 
And  sone  aftir  he  dide,  etc."  ("  Old  Eng- 
lish Chronicles,"  1377-1461,  Camden  Soc. 
Coll.). 

John  Harding,  another  old  English 
chronicler  (1378-1465),  is  an  authority  on 
this  side,  and  is  quoted  in  Southey's  "  Com- 
mon-Place Book."  MENONA. 

Patriarchates  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  251,  etc.). 
— I  find  references  to  a  Nestorian  patriar- 
chate of  Samarcand  and  the  East,  but  it  has 
long  been  extinct,  if  it  ever  existed. 
Writers  occasionally  call  metropolitan  sees 
by  the  loftier  title  of  the  patriarchate,  but 
the  practice  is  an  objectionable  one,  because 
it  is  misleading.  G. 

The  Evil  Eye  (Vol.  vi,  p.  79). — "  It  is 
the  common  belief  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Nicaragua,  Indians  and  Spaniards,  unlet- 
tered and  educated,  that  after  a  person  has 
been  exposed  in  the  sun  and  agitated,  as  on 
returning  from  a  journey,  the  animal  heat  of 
his  body  finds  vent  from  his  eye,  with  fatal 
effect  upon  young  children  and  infants  who 
may  be  exposed  to  its  influence.  The  Ojo 
caliente,  or  '  heated  eye,'  as  it  is  called,  is 
so  much  feared,  that  children  are  always  sent 
away  or  covered  with  a  cloth  when  any  per- 
son approaches  who  is  thought  to  be  agitated 
and  overheated  from  exposure  to  the  sun. 
It  is  also  said  that  the  '  heated  eye  '  of  an 
intoxicated  person  is  very  dangerous  to 
children.  It  is  believed  that  the  Ojo 
calientc  would  break  their  bones  and  cause 
their  dissolution,  and  the  deaths  of  many 
infants  are  attributed  to  this  cause.  Corals 
are  worn  by  children  as  a  protection  against 
its  influence,  with  the  addition  of  an  alli- 
gator's tooth,  which  is  also  considered  effi- 
cacious "  {Journal  American  Folk-Lore}. 


288 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  n,  1891. 


Almighty  Dollar  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  268, 
etc.). — Washington  Irving  is  generally  be- 
lieved to  have  originated  this  phrase,  but  it 
appears  also,  without  acknowledgment,  in 
Dickens'  "  American  Notes,"  Chapman  and 
Hall's  Ed.,  in  the  chapter  on  "Boston," 
p.  31  :  "  The  golden  calf  they  worship  at 
Boston  is  a  pigmy  compared  with  the  giant 
effigies  set  up  in  that  vast  counting-house 
which  lies  beyond  the  Atlantic,  and  the 
almighty  dollar  sinks  into  something  com- 
paratively insignificant,  amidst  a  whole  pan- 
theon of  better  gods." 

While  Irving  has  the  credit  of  first  using 
the  phrase,  the  idea  is  traced  by  Bartlett  in 
his  "Familiar  Quotations"  to  the  old 
English  authors,  and  he  furnishes  for 
comparison  with  Irving  from  Ben  Jonson's 
"Epistle  to  Elizabeth:" 

"  Whilst  that  for  which  all  virtue  now  is  sold, 
And  almost  every  vice,  almighty  gold" 

And  again  from  John  Wolcot's  (Peter 
Pindar)  "  Ode  to  Kien  Long  :" 

"  No,  let  the  monarch's  bags  and  coffers  hold 
The  flattering,  mighty,  nay  almighty  gold" 


GERMANTOWN,  PA. 


CONVERSE  CLEAVES. 


Remarkable  Predictions  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
269,  etc.). — Henry  V  of  England  made  the 
following  remark  when  his  son,  afterwards 
Henry  VI,  was  born  at  Windsor  Castle, 
December  6,  1421  :  "I,  Henry,  born  at 
Monmouth,  shall  remain  but  for  a  short 
time,  and  gain  much,  but  Henry,  born  at 
Windsor,  shall  reign  and  lose  all." 

Another  of  Henry  V's  sayings  was  the  fol- 
lowing: "When  his  Ambassadors  to  the 
French  king,  who  had  been  sent  to  demand 
the  peaceful  delivery  of  that  kingdom  be- 
longing to  the  King  of  England.  That  if 
the  French  king  would  yield  this  without 
Effusion  of  Blood  then  King  Henry  would 
marry  Katherine,  the  French  king's  daughter, 
and  endow  her  with  those  Provinces,  other- 
wise he  would  attempt  to  gain  his  right  by 
the  sword." 

The  French  king  made  answer :  "We  crave 
time,  and  promise  to  send  Ambassadors  to 
King  Henry."  But  the  Dauphin  scoffed  at 
King  Henry's  youth,  sent  him  a  present  of  a 
tun  of  tennis  balls;  intimating  it  to  be 


more  agreeable  for  him  to  sport  himself  at 
tennis,  than  to  dream  of  gaining  so  potent  a 
kingdom  as  France. 

"King  Henry,  apprehensive  of  the  scorn, 
protested,  that  in  a  few  months  (if  God  as- 
sisted him)  he  would  toss  so  many  Balls  of 
Iron  within  that  kingdom,  that  the  strongest 
Rackets  in  France  should  be  too  weak  to  Re- 
turn them."  The  outcome  of  this  threat 
was  the  battle  of  Agincourt. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Vowel  Words  (Vol.  vi,  p.  268). — Be- 
sides the  words  which  Mary  R.  Noble  has 
given,  I  have  made  note  of  a  few  others : 


Unabolished, 
Unavoided, 
Uncanonized, 
Uncombinable, 
Unfashioned, 
Unproclaimed, 
Bacterious  (in  or- 
der), 


Limaceous, 

Linaceous, 

Micaceous, 

Souterrain, 

Uncanopied, 

Unepiscopal, 

Ungarrisoned. 


I  found  the  above  in  a  very  short  time,, 
and  I  believe  I  could  add  many  more  to  it. 

R.  N.  BILLINGS. 
WARETOWN,  N.  J. 

BODIES  AND   gEI^IODIGAUS. 

"  The  New  Philadelphia  "  is  the  title  of  a  deeply  in- 
teresting article  which  will  appear  in  the  May  Cosmo- 
politan, and  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Henry  C.  Walsh. 
To  those  who  are  not  entirely  familiar  with  "  The  City 
of  Brotherly  Love  "  of  to-day,  and  who,  taking  the  joke- 
maker  at  his  word,  entertain  the  erroneous  idea  that  the- 
third  largest  city  in  the  Union  is  at  best  but  a  sleepy 
and  unenterprising  town,  the  Cosmopolitan's  article 
will  prove  a  veritable  revelation.  The  great  change 
that  has  been  wrought  during  the  past  decade  in  the 
external  appearance  of  Philadelphia  is  ably  set  forth 
and  greatly  augmented  by  the  splendid  illustrations 
drawn  by  Mr.  Harry  Fenn.  A  glance  at  these  masterly 
drawings  shows  that  in  beauty  of  architecture,  the 
solidity  and  modernness  of  construction  and  design  in  her 
homes,  clubs  and  commercial  buildings,  Philadelphia 
stands  at  the  very  head  of  flourishing  American  cities. 
The  business,  social  and  intellectual  advancement  of 
this,  perhaps  the  most  habitable  of  cities,  is  no  less 
marked  than  is  its  mere  outward  progression.  Doubtless 
too  much  attention  has  been  paid  to  other  more  osten- 
tatiously progressive  cities,  especially  of  the  West,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  Quaker  City  and  its  marvelous  growth. 
The  article  in  the  May  Cosmopolitan,  however,  places 
Philadelphia  before  the  public  in  its  true  light  as  one  of 
the  best  governed,  most  enterprising  and  socially,  com- 
mercially and  politically  progressive  cities  of  the  United. 
States. 


American  flotes  and  Queries: 


Copyrighted  tSqi ',  by  The  Westminster  Publishing  Co.    Entered  at  the  Post- Office,  Philadelphia,  as  Second-class  Matter. 

I  ft.M  per  year.    $1. 7i,  (  month*. 

|  fti  .00,  t  montbi.   It  eentc  per  number. 


Vol.  VI.    No.  25. 


SATURDAY,  APRIL  18,  1891. 


THE  IE 

American  Notes  and  Queries 

PUBLISHED  WEEKLY  BY 

THE  WESTMINSTER  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

619  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia. 


SAMUEL  R.  HARRIS.  EDITOR. 


Single  copies  sold,  and  subscriptions  taken  at  the  publishers'  office. 
Also,  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  John  Wanamaker,  and  the  prin- 
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Washington:   Brentano's.     Boston i    Damrell    & 
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Co.,  10   Post  Street. 


Queries  on  all  matters  of  general  literary  and 
historical  interest— folk-lore,  the  origin  of  prov- 
erbs, familiar  sayings,  popular  customs,  quota- 
tions, etc.,  the  authorship  of  books,  pamphlets, 
poems,  essays,  or  stories,  the  meaning  of  re- 
condite allusions,  etc.,  etc. — are  invited  from 
all  quarters,  and  will  be  answered  by  editors  or 
contributors.  Room  is  allowed  for  the  discus- 
sion of  moot  questions,  and  the  periodical  is  thus 
a  valuable  medium  for  intercommunication  be- 
tween literary  men  and  specialists. 

Communications  for  the  literary  department 
should  be  addressed : 

EDITOR  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES, 

All  checks  and  money  orders  to  be  made 
payable  to  the  order  of  The  Westminster  Pub- 
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phia. 


CONTENTS. 

NOTES  :— Some  Popular  Errors  Contradicted,  289—"  Under 
Weigh"  and  "Under  Way,"  291 — Old  Scandinavian  Cus- 
toms, 292. 

QUERIES  :— Belfry— Gazebo,  292. 

REPLIES : — Botany  Bay — First  American  Romance— Mous- 
tache— I  Was  Born  an  American — Fleet  Captured  By 
Cavalry,  293. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS :— Maguelone— 
Patonee — Tanning  Plant — Authorship  Wanted,  294. 

COMMUNICATIONS :— Suicidal  Poets— Delia  in  Literature 
— Egypt,  294 — Royle — Tenth  Muse — Devil  in  Architecture — 
A  Legend  of  St.  Patrick,  295 — Royal  Lepers— Lake  Drained 
—Silver  Sister  World,  296— Ground  Hog  Case— Nickna  mes, 
297 — Devil  in  Literature  —  Condog,  298  —  Visions — Spon- 
taneous Combustion — Tyler — Remarkable  Predictions  — 
Musha,  299  —  Remarkable  Fecundity  —  Puccoon  —  Owl 
Shield,  300. 
BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS:— 300. 


SOME  POPULAR  ERRORS  CONTRADICTED. 

Too  many  bold  and  bald  statements  pass 
unchallenged  and  uncontradicted.  Let  a 
person  speak  as  one  having  authority,  and 
his  counterfeit  coin  is  apt  to  circulate  as 
good  and  lawful  currency.  Trie  more  posi- 
tive the  assertion  the  more  voraciously  it  is 
swallowed  by  the  "  gentle  reader."  Let  us 
nail  as  untrue  a  few  things  generally  be- 
lieved. 

Wendell  Phillips  is  chiefly  responsible  for 
the  popular  bit  of  fiction  about  malleable 
glass.  In  his  lecture  on  the  "  Lost  Arts  " 
he  tells  of  a  Roman  who  had  been  banished, 
and  on  his  return  to  Rome  exhibited  a  won- 
derful cup.  During  his  exile  in  the  reign 
of  Tiberius,  the  Roman  had  come  across  a 
glass  cup  which  could  be  dashed  upon  the 


290 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  1 8,  1891. 


marble  pavement ;  it  was  crushed,  but  not 
broken  by  the  fall.  Dented  with  the  blows 
of  a  hammer,  it  could  be  bent  into  shape 
again.  This  magic  cup  of  malleable  glass 
was  brilliant,  transparent,  but  not  brittle. 
There  is  also  another  kind  of  glass  spoken 
of  by  the  writers  of  that  age ;  if  held  by  its 
own  weight  on  one  end,  in  a  day's  time  it 
would  wither  down  to  a  thread,  so  that  it 
could  be  curved  around  one's  wrist  like  a 
bracelet. 

Now,  all  this  sounds  nice  and  quite  won- 
derful, but  fine  words  butter  no  parsnips. 
Briefly  stated,  glass  is,  from  its  very  nature, 
a  brittle  substance.  You  can  no  more  re- 
move this  quality  from  glass  than  you  can 
take  it  away  from  the  diamond  which,  al- 
though the  hardest  of  all  known  substances, 
is  also  one  of  the  most  brittle.  Any 
chemist  or  mineralogist  will  unhesitatingly 
affirm  that  the  cup,  of  which  Mr.  Phillips 
eloquently  tells,  could  not  possibly  have 
been  made  of  glass,  all  Roman  reports  to  the 
contrary. 

When  the  wonderful  things  of  antiquity 
are  closely  examined  by  the  "daylight" 
of  modern  science,  they  generally  turn  out 
to  be  deceptions,  or  else  they  never  existed 
outside  of  the  imagination  of  writers  who 
did  not  know  exactly  what  they  were  writ- 
ing about.  The  "Lost  Arts"  do  not  com- 
pare in  subtlety  and  in  skill  with  the  arts 
found  and  invented  in  modern  times.  The 
luminous  paintings  said  to  have  been  known 
to  the  Japanese  centuries  ago ;  the  organ-like 
instrument,  which  under  a  warm  sun  would 
play  airs  of  itself,  but  would  not  play  in  the 
shade  ;  the  immense  burning  glass  reported 
to  be  of  such  strength  that,  at  a  great  dis- 
tance, burned  and  destroyed  the  fleet  of 
ships  that  blockaded  Byzantium ;  the  won- 
derful Damascus  blades  that  cut  anything 
and  everything,  all  these  "  lost "  inventions 
should  be  taken  with  a  big  grain  of  allow- 
ance. Thus,  the  "everburning  lamps," 
said  to  have  been  found  alight  in  ancient 
tombs,  may  be  nailed  as  a  fairy  tale.  A 
perpetual  lamp  is  about  as  probable  as  a  per- 
petual motion. 

Another  matter  of  general  belief  may  here 
be  exploded.  It  is  a  frequent  assertion  that 
every  drop  of  water  swarms  with  thousands 
of  animalculae.  We  have  been  to  exhibi- 


tions where  a  drop  of  Croton  water  was 
shown  to  be  literally  alive  with  small 
creatures,  which,  when  magnified  on  a  huge 
screen,  looked  like  mediaeval  dragons.  We 
recently  saw  a  man  with  a  microscope  on  a 
street  corner  in  New  York,  inviting  passers-by 
to  take  a  look  (five  cents  a  peep)  at  the  won- 
derful animals  people  innocently  swallowed 
every  day  of  their  lives.  The  whole  thing 
is  greatly  exaggerated.  Confessedly,  a 
drop,  or  even  a  gallon  of  ordinary  lake 
water,  contains  at  the  most  only  a  few  small 
animals,  but  they  are  perfectly  harmless. 
All  forms  of  life  are  absolutely  missing  from 
rain,  spring  and  other  pure  waters.  On  the 
other  hand,  under  certain  conditions  im- 
pure waters  develop  bacteria,  which  are 
not  by  any  means  regular  inhabitants  of 
ordinary  waters. 

Again,  the  popular  saying  about  "  setting 
the  river  on  fire  "  may  have  arisen  from  the 
general  impression  that  by  certain  chemical 
processes  water  can  be  made  to  burn. 
True,  when  water  is  decomposed  into  its 
constituent  gases,  the  phenomenon  of  com- 
bustion can  be  produced  by  recombining 
them.  But  always  remember  that,  in  such 
an  experiment,  it  is  the  hydrogen  gas  which 
burns,  not  the  water.  In  other  words,  when 
a  certain  number  of  molecules  of  hydrogen 
combine  with  a  certain  number  of  those  of 
oxygen,  a  chemical  reaction,  accompanied 
by  heat  and  light,  takes  place,  and  water  is 
a  completely  oxidized  body. 

Once  more,  the  Keeley  motor  and  other 
like  schemes  have  taken  hope  and  have  re- 
ceived courage  from  a  chance  remark  of 
Faraday's  to  the  effect  that  in  every  drop  of 
water  is  "stored  up"  the  energy  of  a 
lightning-stroke.  What  force  of  any  kind 
is  "stored  up  in  water?"  Absolutely 
none.  The  amount  of  electricity  developed 
in  a  flash  of  lightning  might  possibly  de- 
compose a  single  drop  of  water  into  its 
constituent  gases,  but  the  power  of  lightning 
is  due  to  the  enormous  tension  of  the  elec- 
tricity, "  like  a  very  small  boiler  in  which 
the  steam  is  at  an  enormous  pressure." 

Allied  to  the  foregoing  popular  delusion 
is  the  general  belief  about  a  mysterious 
"vital  force."  Some  people  have  identified 
this  "force"  with  electricity.  Thus,  one 
often  hears  of  the  curious  thing  known  as 


April  18,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


291 


"human  electricity."  The  belief  is  based 
on  no  known  facts.  In  the  popular  mind 
electricity  has  certain  wonderful  life-giving 
properties,  because  it  often  acts  as  a  stimu- 
lant and  a  tonic  to  the  worn-out  nerves. 
That  is  all  there  is  to  it. 

Some  writer  has  said  that  it  is  very  com- 
mon to  regard  the  barometer  with  "  a  sort 
of  superstitious  reverence."  Indeed,  most 
people  pin  their  faith  to  the  barometer  as  a 
weather-glass.  In  this  case  there  is  a  slight 
foundation  for  the  general  belief.  For  ex- 
ample, where  the  climate  is  marked  with  but 
a  few  daily  changes  (as  af  the  equator  and 
the  tropics),  there  the  oscillations  of  the 
barometer  may  mean  something.  But  in  a 
climate  where  there  are  sudden  storms  and 
great  changes  of  weather,  the  connection  be- 
tween the  height  of  the  mercury  in  the 
glass  and  the  special  state  of  the  weather  is 
seldom  apparent.  Neil  Arnott,  in  his 
"  Elements  of  Physics,"  has  summed  up  the 
facts  thus  :  "  The  atmospheric  disturbances 
are  most  irregular  over  the  temperate  zones  of 
our  globe  ;  from  the  number  of  varying  ele- 
ments that  enter  into  the  determining  cause, 
the  weather  in  those  regions  may  be  said  to 
defy  anticipation.  The  absolute  height  of 
the  barometer,  it  is  to  be  noted,  does  not  at 
any  place  indicate  a  special  state  of  weather ; 
much  less  do  the  weather  indicators  for  one 
place  apply  to  another  place,  whose  condi- 
tions of  climate  are  dependent  on  a  wholly 
different  geographical  situation. 

It  is  strange  how  erroneous  notions  com- 
monly held  may  arise.  Few  people  stop  to 
think  that  kerosene,  coal  oil,  oil  of  turpen- 
tine, and  oil  of  vitriol  are  not  oils  at  all, 
any  more  than  carbolic  acid  is  an  acid,  in- 
stead of  a  phenol.  Many  people  are  thrown  off 
the  track  by  such  phrases  as  cream  of  tar- 
tar, sugar  of  lead,  soda  water,  milk  of  lime, 
black  lead,  copperas  and  German  silver, 
each — all  are  misnomers,  because  they  do  not 
contain  elements  implied  by  their  names. 

But  to  conclude  :  There  is  a  widespread 
belief  that  the  five  senses  of  savages  are  extra- 
ordinarily sharp  and  acute.  Especially  in 
the  matter  of  vision,  popular  opinion  would 
award  the  palm  to  the  Indian.  Here, 
again,  the  popular  notion  is  clearly  in  the 
wrong.  An  English  traveler  in  South 
America  recently  had  occasion  to  test  the 


question.  He  was  greatly  surprised  to  find 
that  his  guides  could  distinguish  objects 
which  he  could  not  make  out  at  all.  Thus, 
when  a  tiny  speck  appeared  on  the  landscape 
of  the  pampas,  a  native  could  tell  by  the 
sight  and  movements  what  manner  of  thing 
it  was.  The  Englishman  subsequently  dis- 
covered that  this  extraordinary  range  of 
vision  was  due  more  to  long  experience  than 
to  the  actual  possession  of  keen  eyes.  For 
he  took  two  of  his  guides  off  their  native 
heath,  and  by  giving  them  unfamiliar  sights 
and  scenes  in  a  city,  neither  one  of  them 
could  see  any  better  than  an  ordinary 
person. 

In  truth,  the  five  senses  of  the  Indian  or 
savage  are  dull  compared  with  the  five 
senses  of  civilized  man.  Major  Powell,  of 
the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Washington  (than 
whom  there  is  no  higher  authority  in  this 
country),  says  that  a  savage  sees  but  few 
sights,  hears  but  few  sounds,  tastes  but  few 
flavors,  smells  but  few  odors;  his  whole 
sensuous  life  is  narrow  and  blunt.  The  sen- 
sitiveness of  the  Indian  is  as  big  a  myth  as 
the  wisdom  of  the  owl.  L.  J.  V. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


"UNDER  WEIGH"  AND  "UNDER  WAY." 

W.  Clark  Russell,  the  sea-novelist,  con- 
tends in  a  recent  article  that  under  weigh  is 
always  the  proper  form  of  this  nautical 
phrase,  totally  ignoring  the  other  and 
equally  proper  form,  underway.  There  are 
really  two  distinct  phrases  which  have  been 
confused  in  use  partly  because  their  pro- 
nunciation is  the  same  and  partly  because 
they  are  usually  applicable  at  the  same 
time. 

Under  weigh  refers  to  the  position  of  the 
anchor.  A  vessel  is  said  to  be  getting  under 
weigh  when  her  crew  are  weighing  the  an- 
chor ;  the  anchor  is  aweigh  when  it  is  broken 
from  the  bottom  and  hangs  by  the  cable ;  and 
a  vessel  is  under  weigh  when  the  anchor  has 
been  weighed — she  is  under,  in  the  condition 
of  having  a  weighed  anchor.  But  as  she  is 
then  generally  in  motion  the  phrase  is  some- 
times transferred  to  the  result,  and  a  vessel 
under  weigh  means  a  vessel  in  motion  in  con- 
trast to  one  at  anchor. 

Underway  means  in  motion,  having  way, 


292 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  1 8,  1891. 


and  in  its  nautical  use  intimates  that  the  ves- 
sel is  under  control  of  the  helm.  So  a 
vessel  is  said  to  gather  way  or  to  lose  way,  to 
increase  or  to  decrease  the  rate  of  motion, 
to  have  headway  or  sternway  or  to  make  lee- 
way, and  the  oarsman  gives  way  to  his  boat 
with  oars.  A  similar  use  of  under  appears 
in  under  one  bell,  under  a  full  head  of  steam, 
under  sail,  designating  the  source  of  the 
way.  Compare  German  unter  Weges. 

Hence  the  two  phrases  need  not  be  dis- 
criminated in  all  cases,  but  a  vessel 
"  hove  to  "  is  under  weigh,  and  not  under 
way — her  anchor  has  been  weighed,  but  she 
has  no  appreciable  way.  Steam  vessels, 
manoeuvring  about  wharves  and  other 
vessels  in  a  harbor,  where  sailing  vessels 
must  anchor  or  be  towed  or  warped,  may 
not  use  an  anchor  for  weeks  at  a  time  and 
yet  may  get  under  way  several  times  a  day. 
A  steamship  disabled  at  sea  is  not  under  way, 
though,  strictly  speaking,  she  is  still  under 
weigh.  In  these  cases  way  is  the  proper 
spelling  because  it  is  the  motion  of  the  vessel 
and  not  the  position  of  the  anchor  that  is 
under  consideration. 

The  question  whether  or  not  a  vessel 
"  hove  to  "  should  be  considered  as  under 
way  came  up  in  the  Marine  Conference  at 
Washington  in  1889.  The  purpose  was  to 
decide  whether  or  not  a  vessel  under  such 
circumstances  should  be  allowed  the  privi- 
leges of  a  vessel  not  under  control.  It  was 
said  that  the  United  States  courts  hold  that 
a  vessel  "  hove  to  "  is  not  under  way  and 
is  therefore  entitled  to  such  privileges,  while 
the  English  courts  hold  the  contrary.  In 
other  words,  the  English  are  construing 
under  weigh  and  the  Americans  under  way, 
the  former  stretching  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase  "  under  control,"  and  the  latter  con- 
fining it,  to  the  true  meanings  of  the  ex- 
pressions they  respectively  have  in  mind. 

MEDIA,  PA.  H.  L.  B. 


OLD  SCANDINAVIAN  CUSTOMS. 

[VOL.  vi,  PP.  279,  ETC.] 

Under  the  designation  of  Egyptian  Days 
Starbark,  an  eminent  writer  of  Sweden,  both 
historical  and  romantic,  in  his  interesting 
treatise  on  "  Engelbrekt  Engelbrektsson," 
Vol.  ii,  p.  130,  alludes  to  singular  custom 
of  the  Norse  people  at  and  before  the  yea 


1412.  In  an  explanatory  note  at  p.  293  of 
his  volume  he  cites  the  prohibitory  ordinance 
of  the  Swedish  priestly  conclave  of  that  year, 
which  is  worthy  of  translation,  and  suf- 
iciently  explains  the  curious  belief  and  man- 
ners of  the  times  without  further  comment. 

It  was  ordered  that :  "  Sortilege  of  com- 
.ng  events,  Sorcery,  spying  into  the  future 
^spaadomar),  interpreting  dreams,  lettersand 
other  tokens  (bokstafver  och  andra  marken 
samt  obekanta  ord),  together  with  unknown 
words  not  found  in  Scripture,  that  are  used 
to  put  out  fire,  blunt  swords,  cure  sickness 
or  retard  death,  and  all  and  every  writ  in 
lead  or  on  walls  preventive  of  toothache  and 
chills  (alia  slags  skrift  bly  eller  paa  vog- 
garne  emot  tandvark  och  frossor),  all  devices 
to  recover  stolen  goods,  all  Egyptian  days  or 
such  as  are  regarded  as  lucky  or  unlucky  to 
undertake  anything  (alia  egyptiska  dagar, 
eller  saadana,  som  anses  for  olyckliga  eller 
lyckliga  till  foretaga  naagot),  are  condemned, 
entirely ;  he  who  is  convicted  thereof,  shall  be 
punished  as  for  mortal  sin,  and  whoso  coun- 
tenances such  superstition,  shall  be  kept 
from  church,  undergo  public  confession  and 
a  fine  of  three  marks." 

The  reference  to  "  unknown  words " 
would  seem  to  imply  the  use  of  certain 
words,  perhaps  runes,  but  more  likely  such 
as  traced  their  origin  back  to  Egypt  and 
may  have  been  brought  back  from  the 
Southern  or  Latin  countries  by  such  ancestors 
of  the  people  of  the  years  prior  to  1412  as 
were  fortunate  enough  to  return  from  their 
predatory  incursions  abroad. 

G.  F.  FORT. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


B  S 


Belfry. — Please  give  me  the  meaning  and 
derivation  of  this  word? 

CORRESPONDENT. 

Consult  either  Worcester's  or  Webster's 
Dictionary. 

Gazebo. — What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
word  ?  G.  B.  LAWSON. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

See  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES,  Vol. 
iv,  pp.  S3>  84. 


April  18,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


293 


REPLIES. 


Botany  Bay  (Vol.  vi,  p.  282).— This  bay, 
which  is  in  Australia  (the  colony  of  New 
South  Wales),  was  so  named  by  Captain 
Cook,  who  discovered  it  on  his  first  voyage 
in  1770.  He  gave  it  this  name  on  account 
of  the  large  number  of  new  plants  discovered 
in  its  vicinity.  It  was  in  1787  first  used  by 
England  as  a  penal  colony.  On  account  of 
the  first  convicts  being  sent  out  there,  all 
convicts  sent  to  any  part  of  Australia  were 
called  "  Botany  Bay  men."  From  this  the 
slur  upon  Australia  has  become  an  every- 
day saying.  Though  it  is  many  years  since 
that  beautiful  continent  has  been  used  as  a 
penal  colony,  the  name  will  continue  in  use. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

First  American  Romance  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
256,  etc.). — Jeremy  Belknap's  "  The  Fores- 
ters, an  American  Tale"  (1796),  is  the 
earliest  specimen  of  American  fiction  entered 
in  "A  Library  of  American  Literature," 
compiled  by  Stedman  and  Hutchinson 
(Vol.  iii).  This  date  of  publication  does 
not  accord  with  that  of  the  copy  I  have  in 
hand,  which  was  printed  at  Boston  by  I. 
Thomas  &  E.  T.  Andrews,  proprietors  of 
the  work. 

"Faust's  Statue,"  Ne.  45  Newberry street, 
1792.  The  same  had  previously  appeared 
in  the  Columbia  Magazine. 

"Modern  Chivalry;  or,  The  Adven- 
tures of  Capt.  Farrago  and  Teague 
O'Reagan,  his  Servant,"  by  Hugh  Henry 
Brackenridge,  was  published  at  Pittsburgh, 
1796.  I  have  in  hand  a  copy  of  this  work, 
printed  and  sold  by  George  Metz,  Wilming- 
ton, Del.,  1815.  The  first  part  only  was 
published  in  1796. 

Mrs.  Susanna  Rowson,  author  of  "Char- 
lotte Temple,"  published  at  Philadelphia: 
"The  Inquisitor;  or,  Invisible  Rambler," 
in  1794;  "The  Trials  of  the  Human  Heart," 
in  1795;  "Reuben and  Rachel,"  in  1798. 

"  Charlotte  Temple  "  appeared  in  London 
in  1790. 

"  The  Coquette;  or,  The  History  of  Eliza 
Wharton,"  by  Mrs.  Hannah  Webster 
Foster,  was  published  1797. 


"The  Art  of  Courting,"  displayed  in 
eight  different  scenes,  the  principal  of  which 
are  taken  from  real  life  (author  unknown). 
Published  by  W.  Barrett  at  Newburyport, 
1795  (entered  as  fiction  in  the  Brinley 
Catalogue).  MENONA. 

"The  Bay  Psalm  Book,"  which  was  pub- 
lished at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1640,  was 
for  many  years  supposed  to  be  the  first 
book  printed  on  the  American  Continent, 
until  it  was  noted  that  books  had  been 
printed  by  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico  over  a 
century  earlier.  It  is  stated  in  Fernandez1  "Ec- 
clesiastical History,  "published  at  Toledo, 
Spain,  in  1611,  that  the  first  book  printed  in 
the  New  World  was  a  devotional  book  for  the 
guidance  of  the  faithful  members  of  the 
church,  published  by  Antonio  d'Ispanola  in 
the  city  of  Mexico  in  1535,  by  order  of  the 
Spanish  viceroy.  There  is  no  copy  of  this 
first  American  book  known  to  be  in  exist- 
ence "  (Chicago  Inter-Ocean). 

Moustache  (Vol.  vi,  p.  269). — The  "Ency- 
clopaedia Britannica"  says  that,  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  the  second  Lord 
Rokeby  (Matt  Robineau)  endeavored  to  re- 
store the  fashion  of  wearing  beards,  but  it 
was  followed  by  few  others.  E.  P. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

/  Was  Born  an  American,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
269). — The  quotation  is  from  Daniel  Web- 
ster's speech  of  July  17,  1850. 

W.  W.  R. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

This  was  the  utterance  of  Daniel  Webster 
in  his  speech,  "The  Compromise  Measure," 
delivered  in  the  United  States  Senate,  July 
17,  1850.  Miss  Anna  L.  Ward's  "A  Dic- 
tionary of  Quotations  in  Prose"  gives  the 
entire  paragraph  in  which  are  included  the 
famous  words.  L. 

Fleet  Captured  by  Cavalry  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
282). — In  1794,  the  Dutch  fleet,  being 
frozen  in  the  ice,  was  captured  by  the  troops 
of  the  French  revolutionists  commanded  by 
Pichegru  as  it  lay  at  the  Texel.  The  troops 
were  hussars.  E.  P. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 


294 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  1 8,  1891. 


IPO 


Maguelone  (Vol.  vi,  p.  205).  —  When 
using  that  common-sense  sledge-hammer  of 
his  so  effectually  at  the  above  reference, 
your  correspondent  made  no  allusion  to 
what  the  origin  of  the  name  Maguelone  might 
be. 

I  have  an  idea  that  the  omission  may  have 
been  intentional  on  his  part,  still  I  would 
like  to  ask  him  the  question  if  he  will  grant 
that  privilege  to 

AN  UNKNOWN  READER. 

HARLEM,  N.  Y. 

Patonee.  —  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
word  ?  It  is  used  in  Scott's  "  Kenilworth:" 
"  Patonee  between  two  martletts." 

G.  B.  LAWSON. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

Tanning  Plant.  —  I  remember  seeing 
at  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  1876,  some 
samples  of  the  Iowa  tanning  plant,  probably 
Polygonum  amphibium,  together  with  sam- 
ples of  leather  tanned  with  the  same.  I 
would  like  to  inquire  whether  the  supply  of 
this  plant  is  as  yet  of  any  commercial  or  in- 
dustrial importance,  and  if  not,  whether  it 
seems  likely  to  become  so  in  the  future. 

L.  L.  D. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Authorship  Wanted.  —  Lose  this  day 
loitering,  etc.  —  Can  you  name  the  author  of 
the  following  lines,  which  are  quoted  by 
Longfellow  in  his  tale  of  "  Kavanagh?" 

"  Lose  this  day  loitering,  'twill  be  the  same  story 
To-morrow,  and  the  next  more  dilatory  ; 
For  indecision  brings  its  own  delays, 
And  days  are  lost  lamenting  o'er  lost  days. 
Are  you  in  earnest  ?  Seize  this  very  minute  ! 
What  you  can  do  or  think  you  can,  begin  it  ! 
Boldness  has  genius,  power,  and  magic  in  it  ! 
Only  engage,  and  then  the  mind  grows  heated  : 
Begin  it,  and  the  work  will  be  completed." 

?      ?      ? 
WAREHOUSE  POINT,  CONN. 

©OMMUNIGAJfllONS. 

Suicidal  Poets  (Vol.  vi,  p.  146).  — 
Robert  Burton,  the  author  of  the  "Anatomy 
of  Melancholy,"  wrote  at  least  one  good 
poem,  that  prefixed  to  his  '  'Anatomy.  '  '  There 


was  an  early  rumor  that  he  committed 
suicide,  but  there  never  was  any  positive 
reason  for  this  belief  except  his  melancholy 
and  the  fact  that  he  was  found  dead  on  the 
very  day  that  he  had  foretold  that  he  should 
die.  Gerard  de  Nerval,  whose  real  name 
was  Gerard  Labrunie,  a  French  poet  and 
author  of  tales,  committed  suicide  in  1855. 
Hugh  Miller,  the  geologist,  published  in 
1829  a  volume  of  verse,  and  was  thus  far  a 
poet,  committed  suicide  in  1856.  Empedo- 
cles,  a  Sicilian  poet  and  philosopher  (fifth 
century,  A.D.),  according  to  the  common 
account,  committed  suicide  by  leaping  into 
the  crater  of  Etna.  The  volcano  cast  out 
his  brazen  sandals  and  thus  revealed  the 
secret  of  his  death.  M. 

Delia  in  Literature  (Vol.  ii,  p.  98). 
— Another  "Delia"  is  the  one  twice  al- 
luded to  in  Akenside's  "  Ode  XI  on  Love, 
to  a  Friend."  The  poet  mentions  quite  a 
number  of  ladies  who  seem  to  have  won  his 
distant  and  respectful  admiration.  But 
he  never  forgot  "  Parthenia,"  to  whom  he 
was  pledged  in  his  youth,  and  whose  early 
death  seems  to  have  shadowed  his  whole 
life.  Whether  the  "Olympia"  whose  loss 
he  several  times  mentions  was  the  same  as 
"  Parthenia,"  I  do  not  know.  It  is  probably 
true  that  many  of  the  classically  named 
ladies  existed  only  in  the  poet's  fancy. 

V. 

Egypt  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  261,  etc.). — In  Edgar 
and  Coles  counties,  I  have  heard  the  legend 
given  that  in  the  early  days  of  the  settlement 
of  the  section  along  the  line  of  the  counties 
named  above  and  north  was  a  failure  of 
crops,  while  further  south,  at  Marshall  county 
and  below,  a  fair  crop  was  had,  and  the  set- 
tlers further  north  went  down  there  to  buy 
corn,  and  spoke  of  it  as  going  "  Down  to 
Egypt  to  buy  corn."  From  that  remark  all 
south  came  to  be  known  as  Egypt.  From 
quite  an  extended  acquaintance  in  the  sec- 
tion I  am  inclined  to  believe  it  the  true 
origin,  though  the  fact  of  the  character  of 
many  of  the  early  inhabitants  may  have 
helped  it  to  "stick"  as  being  on  that  ac- 
count doubly  applicable. 

T.  H.  SMITH. 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


April  18,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


295 


Royle  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  244,  etc.). — Don 
John  of  Austria  was  the  son  of  Charles  V  by 
Barbara  Blomberg,  a  noble  lady  of  Augs- 
burg, otherwise  stated  to  have  been  a  washer 
woman  of  Ratisbon.  He  was  born  on  the 
birthday  (and  also  the  coronation  day)  of 
his  father,  the  2 4th  of  February,  St.  Matthias' 
day,  which  Charles  thought  his  "lucky 
day."  Barbara  Blomberg,  the  mother  of 
Don  John,  was  given  in  marriage  to  Jerome 
Pyraneus  Kegel.  Her  son  was  removed  from 
her  care  when  an  infant,  a  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance for  him.  Her  beautiful  singing 
is  said  to  have  soothed  Charles'  melancholy 
fits,  but  Alva  thought  her  voice  harsh  when 
years  after  he  had  to  restrain  her  ex- 
travagance, prevent  her  from  marrying  and 
even  to  immure  her  in  a  Spanish  nunnery. 
When  Don  John,  who  had  not  seen  her  since 
his  infancy,  came  to  the  Netherlands,  he  in- 
duced her  to  go  to  Spain  at  the  wish  of  the 
king.  She  is  said  to  have  repaid  him, 
though  he  gave  her  a  liberal  allowance  in 
addition  to  the  royal  pension,  by  denying 
that  he  was  the  Emperor's  son. 

E.  P. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Tenth  Muse  (Vol.  vi,  p.  154).— "Mrs. 
Anne  Bradstreet  was  the  first  woman  in 
America  to  write  poetry.  A  volume  of  her 
poems  was  published  in  London  in  1650, 
and  the  title-page  of  that  book  called'  her 
the  '  Tenth  Muse.'  She  was  not  called  the 
'American  Sappho,'  probably  because  the 
Puritans  would  not  give  a  Christian  woman 
so  heathen  a  name. 

"In  Europe,  at  that  period,  however, 
every  woman  who  wrote  poetry  was  called 
by  the  name  of  that  Greek  woman  who  was 
the  first  and  has  yet  remained  the  greatest 
of  her  sex  among  the  poets"  {Critic, 
March  28,  1891). 

"The  Tenth  Muse,  Late  Sprung  up  in 
America"  was  printed  on  the  title-page  of 
the  English  edition  referred  to. 

"  A  Dirge  for  the  Tenth  Muse,"  by  John 
Norton,  was  appended  to  the  posthumous 
edition  of  Anne  Bradstreet's  Poems  (1678). 

The  Devil  in  Architecture  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  277). — The  "old  gentleman  in  black" 
has  another  bridge  named  after  him.  It  is 


located  in  the  Canton  of  Uri,  in  Switzer- 
land, and  over  the  river  Reuss.  From  a 
Swiss  hand-book  of  travel  (Murray,  London) 
I  take  the  following  :  "  The  Devil's  Bridge 
is  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  most  stern  but 
magnificent  scenery  of  the  whole  pass  (St. 
Gothard's).  The  Reuss  leaps  down  into  the 
head  of  this  savage  gorge  in  a  lofty  cataract. 
*  *  *  The  ancient  bridge  was  first  founded 
by  Abbot  Gerald,  of  Einsiedeln,  in  1118." 
For  ages  this  bridge  has  spanned  the  river, 
but  has  now  been  superseded  by  a  new  one 
suspended  in  the  air  seventy  feet  above  the 
river.  The  old  bridge  still  remains  ' '  a 
thin  segment  of  a  circle  spanning  a  terrific 
abyss.  During  the  campaign  of  1799  the 
Devil's  Bridge  and  the  defile  of  the  Schel- 
linen  were  twice  obstinately  contested 
within  little  more  than  a  month.  On  August 
1 4,the  French,  having  surprised  the  Austrians, 
drove  them  up  the  valley  of  the  Reuss  as  far 
as  this  bridge,  which  having  been  en- 
trenched was  defended  for  some  time,  but 
was  at  last  carried  by  the  French,  who  pur- 
sued the  Austrians  on  the  bridge,  which  was 
scarcely  wide  enough  for  two  persons  to 
pass  *  *  *.  Immediately  above  after  pass- 
ing the  Devil's  Bridge  the  road  is  carried 
through  a  tunnel,  bored  180  feet  through  the 
solid  rock  called  Urnerloch  or  Hole  of  Uri. 
It  is  fifteen  feet  high  and  sixteen  feet  broad." 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

A  Legend  of  St.  Patrick.— The  notes 
on  "St.  Brendan's  Isle,"  "Devil's 
Bridges"  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  271,  277),  recall  a 
tradition  I  heard  many  long  years  ago  (with 
variations)  in  the  parish  of  Kilpatrick,  Dum- 
bartonshire, Scotland.  The  parish  lies  on 
the  Clyde  immediately  above  Dumbarton, 
where  the  estuary  is  skirted  by  a  long  almost 
continuous  range  of  bluffs  or  hills,  in  many 
places  craggy  and  precipitous.  In  one  of 
these  bluffs  St.  Patrick  (who  was  a  native  of 
the  parish)  found,  or  excavated,  a  cave 
which  he  used  as  a  cell,  hence  the  name  of 
the  parish.  The  devil,  be  sure,  kept  a  very 
close  eye  on  the  saint  and  his  doings,  but 
luckily  had  not  power  to  enter  his  cell  when 
he  was  at  his  devotions.  He  had  learned  of 
Patrick's  purpose  of  crossing  over  to  and 
Christianizing  Ireland,  and,  of  course,  de- 


296 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  1 8,  1891. 


termined  to  foil  him.  He  kept  watch,  ac- 
cordingly, to  intercept  him  when  he  tried  to 
set  out.  But  the  saint  was  a  match  for  the 
devil,  even  in  finesse.  Not  far  from  his  cell 
there  lived  a  brother-anchorite  who  had 
been  a  disciple  of  his  own,  and  had  caught 
so  much  of  his  master's  manner  and  tone  as 
easily  to  deceive  the  unwary.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  day  that  Patrick  had  fixed  on  for 
his  departure,  he  asked  this  disciple  to  take 
his  place  at  matins,  and  the  brother  chanted 
his  prayers  and  lauds  so  lustily  and  so  long 
as  to  scare  the  devil  to  a  distance  and  give 
the  saint  time  to  gain  a  good  offing  before 
detection.  When  the  service  came  to  an 
end  and  the  deluded  Wicked  One  saw 
Patrick's  boat  clear,  or  all  but  clear,  of  the 
Firth  and  Well  on  its  way  to  Ireland,  he  was 
so  inflamed  with  disappointment  and  rage 
that  he  tore  from  the  bluff  the  whole  of  its 
rocky  face,  a  half-mile  or  more  in  length 
and  some  hundreds  of  feet  in  height,  and 
hurled  it  at  the  skiff  with  the  purpose  of 
sinking  it  and  drowning  the  holy  man. 
Luckily,  however,  it  fell  short,  and  Patrick 
reached  Ireland,  with  the  consequences  we 
all  know.  But  Ailsa  Craig  (for  it  was  it 
Satan  fired)  and  the  scarred  face  of  the  hill 
still  remain  to  testify  to  the  truth  of  the 
legend.  When  any  one  questions  the 
fact  of  Patrick  being  a  Kil patrician,  the 
natives  proudly  point  to  these  mute  wit- 
nesses and  silence  the  skeptic,  and  vindicate 
their  claim  that  it  was  by  a  brother-parishioner 
that  Ireland  was  converted  into  the  "  Island 
of  the  Saints."  J.  H. 

Royal  Lepers  (Vol.  v,  pp.  244,  etc.). 
— Charles  the  Bad,  King  of  Navarre,  was  a 
leper.  His  physician  ordered  him  to  be 
wrapped  in  bandages  of  linen,  previously 
steeped  in  brandy  and  sulphur.  One  of  his 
attendants  let  a  spark  from  a  taper  fall  upon 
him,  which  set  fire  to  the  bandages  and  he 
was  miserably  burned,  and  died  at  his  capi- 
tal, Pampelona,  three  days  after,  1387. 

Regarding  Henry  VI  being  a  leper,  as 
stated  in  Vol.  vi,  p.  287,  I  have  a  history  of 
England  which  was  written  by  Sir  Bulstrode 
Whitlocke,  who  lived  between  1605  and 
1675.  The  history  was  published  by  William 
Penn  in  1713.  In  it  is  the  following  state- 
ment about  Henry  VI :  "He  made  great 


preparations  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land,  but 
was  prevented  by  an  Apoplexy" 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 
WEST  CHESTER,  FA. 

Baldwin  IV,  King  of  Jerusalem,  is  sur- 
named  the  Leper,  and  we  are  told  that  King 
John  of  England  built  a  lazaretto  because 
one  of  his  sons  was  a  leper,  and  his  son 
Henry  III  was  called  by  an  enemy,  "a 
squint-eyed  fool,  a  lewd  man  deceitful  and  a 
leper."  "  Henry  of  Monmouth  shall  small 
time  reign  and  much  get.  Henry  born  at 
Windsor  shall  long  time  reign  and  lose  all  of 
it.  As  God  will,  so  be  it."  E.  P. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Lake  Drained  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  214,  etc.). 
— An  event  like  that  described  at  the  above 
entry  is  thus  noticed  in  Price's  "  Sport  and 
Travel,"  p.  165:  "A  few  years  ago,  dur- 
ing a  very  heavy  rain,  a  number  of  alligators 
got  out  of  the  lake  by  a  small  river  running 
into  the  sea,  which  was  greatly  flooded. 
They  were  immediately  attacked  by  the 
sharks,  and  a  strange  battle  ensued  between 
these  equally  voracious  monsters,  which  all 
the  people  of  the  village  flocked  out  to  wit- 
ness. The  battle  lasted  all  day,  and  the 
noise  of  the  conflict  could  be  heard  half  a 
mile  off.  John  Shark,  however,  was  more 
at  home  in  his  native  element  than  his  scaly 
antagonist,  and  eventually  the  alligators 
were  all  eaten  up  or  killed."  The  Man- 
zanillo  lagoon  whence  these  alligators  es- 
caped was  very  near  the  sea  level.  Sir  R. 
L.  Price,  who  wrote  the  above  account, 
made  his  visit  to  Manzanillo  in  1875.  The 
event  which  Mr.  J.  W.  Wright  describes  oc- 
curred, as  he  tells  us,  in  1881.  It  seems 
probable,  therefore,  that,  the  Manzanillo 
lagoon  has  burst  its  bounds  at  least  twice  in 
recent  years.  ISLANDER. 

MAINE. 

Silver  Sister  World  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  263, 
etc.). — Excluding  the  satellites,  or  moons, 
and  the  asteroids  from  the  list,  the  only 
planets  bearing  feminine  names  are  the 
Earth  and  Venus.  Therefore  there  is  a  cer- 
tain propriety  in  speaking  of  them  as  sister 
worlds.  They  are,  moreover,  unseparated 
by  any  intervening  planet.  M. 


April  18,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


297 


Ground  Hog  Case  (Vol.  vi,  p.  256). — 
A  boy  was  digging  for  a  woodchuck,  and 
some  one  who  was  watching  the  performance 
told  him  he  might  as  well  give  up,  he  could 
not  get  him.  "  Can't  get  him  !  Mister,  I 
must  get  him ;  the  minister's  coming  to  din- 
ner and  there  is  no  meat  in  the  house."  He 
went  at  it  with  redoubled  vigor.  From  this 
story,  as  I  have  always  understood,  comes 
the  remark,  "  It's  a  ground  hog  case,"  and 
indicating  that  the  line  of  action  to  be  pur- 
sued admitted  of  no  alternative. 

T.  H.  SMITH. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Nicknames. — Abraham,  Abe. 
Adelina,  Lina. 
Agnes,  Aggy,  Ness. 
Albert,  Bert. 

<  Alexander,  Aleck,  Sandy,  Sawny,  Sanny. 
Alice,  Assy. 

Ambrose,  Nam,  Namby. 
Ann,  Nan,  Nancy. 
Anthony,  Tony,  Dunny. 

Baptist,  Bab. 
Barbara,  Bab. 
Bartholomew,  Bart,  Bat. 
Beatrix,  Trix. 
Bridget,  Biddy. 

Caroline,  Cad,  Carry. 
Catherine,  Kate. 
Cecilia,  Cis. 
Charlotte,  Lotty. 
Chester,  Chet. 
Christopher,  Chris,  Kit. 
Claudius,  Glaus. 
Cuthbert,  Cuddy. 

Daniel,  Dan. 
David,  Daff,  Dave. 
Debora,  Deb. 
Dorothy,  Doll,  Dot. 

Edmund,  Mun,  Edward,  Te,  Ne. 
Eleanora,  Nell,  Nal. 
Elizabeth,  Lib,  Liz,  Bess,  Beth,  Bet. 
Ellen,  Nell. 

Florence,  Floy. 
Frances,  Fanny. 
Francis,  Frank. 
Frederick,  Fred. 


George,  Dod. 
Gilbert,  Gib,  Gil. 
Geoffrey,  or  Godfrey,  Jeff. 
Griffith,  Griff. 
Guido,  or  Vitus,  Guy. 

Herbert,  Hab. 
Henry,  Harry,  Hal,  Hank. 
Harriet,  Hatty. 
Horace,  Hod. 

Isabella,  Bell,  Neb,  Ib,  Nib. 
Isaac,  Ike,  Hyke,  Nickin. 

Jane,  Jenny. 
Joanna,  Joan,  Jug,  Jin. 
Joseph,  Jo,  Joss. 
Joshua,  Josh,  Joss. 
Judith,  Judy,  Jug. 

Lester,  Let. 
Letitia,  Lettice,  Let. 
Lucas,  Luke. 

Magdalen,  Madge,  Maudlin,  Lena. 

Matthew,  Mat. 

Margaret,  Mag,  Meg,  Greta,  Gretchen, 

Peg. 

Maria,  Malkin,  Moll,  Poll. 
Matilda,  Maud,  Mat. 
Maximilian,  Max. 
Matthew,  Mat. 
Martha,  Matty,  Patty. 
Michael,  Mike,  Mick. 

Nicholas,  Nick. 
Oliver,  Noll. 

Patrick,  Pat,  Paddy,  Patsy. 
Peregrin,  Pel. 
Philip,  Phil,  Pip. 
Prudence,  Prue. 

Richard,  Dick,  Rick,  Dickson. 
Robert,  Bob,  Rob,  Dob,  Hodge,  Hob. 
Ralph,  Raff,  Rafe. 
Rebecca,  Beck. 

Sarah,  Sally,  Sed,  Sady. 
Sibyl,  Sib. 
Simon,  Sim. 
Sylvester,  Syl,  Vet. 
Susan,  Sue,  Suky,  Susy. 

Theophilus,  Taff. 


298 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  1 8,  1891. 


Theobald,  Tib,  Tibalt. 
Theodorick,  Derrick. 
Theodore,  Dode,  Tid. 
Tobias,  Toby. 
Thomas,  Tom. 
Theresa,  Tress. 

Ursula,  Ure,  Usly. 

Valentine,  Val,  Vol. 
Vincent,  Vin. 

Walter,  Wai. 

William,  Will,  Bill,  Wick. 

Winifred,  Win. 


Zachary,  Zack. 
SANFORD,  FLA. 


J.  E.  STERNS. 


The  Devil  in  Literature  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
263,  etc.). — It  has  been  my  intention  for 
some  time  past  to  send  you  a  communication 
on  this  subject,  but  additions  were  so  fre- 
quent that  although  the  following  list  is 
lengthy  it  is  by  no  means  complete. 

"  A  Treatise  on  the  Inconstancy  of  Fallen 
Angels  and  Demons,"  by  De  Lancre  (Paris, 
2  vols.,  1612). 

"  The  Enchanted  World,"  by  Balthazar 
Bekker  (Amsterdam,  1694). 

Five  books  on  the  "  Imposture  and  De- 
ceitfulness  of  Devils,  on  Enchantment  and 
Sorcery,"  translated  into  French,  by  Jacques 
Gr6vin  de  Clermont  (Paris,  1569),  from  the 
Latin  of  Jean  Wierus,  physician  to  the  Due 
of  Clems. 

"  An  Inventory  of  the  False  Monarchy 
of  Satan,"  by  Jacques  Gr<§vin  de  Clermont. 

"The  History  of  Satan,  Prince  of 
Demons,"  by  the  Abb6  Pascal  (Vannes, 

1859)- 

"The  Nature  of  Demons,"  by  Ananias- 
Laurent  d'Anagni. 

"  A  Treatise  on  and  a  History  of  Spectres, 
Visions  and  Apparitions  of  Spirits,  Angels, 
Demons  and  Souls,"  by  Pierre  le  Loyer  de 
la  Brosse  (Paris,  1605). 

"  A  Collection  of  Scattered  Facts  to  Serve 
as  a  History  of  the  Devil,"  gathered  from 
Authors  worthy  of  belief,  by  Sandrag  (Paris, 

1797)- 

"  Sorcery  Exposed,"   by  Reginald  Scot 


"  The  Strategies  of  Satan,"  by  Jacques 
Acona,  dedicated  to  Queen  Elizabeth  (Bale, 
1565). 

"General  History  of  the  Devil,"  by  A. 
Morel  (Paris,  1861). 

"  Miraculous  Speech  of  a  Young  Flemish 
Girl  who  was  Strangled  by  the  Devil"  (Paris, 
1603,  in  8vo). 

Five  books  on  "  The  Imposture  of  Devils," 
etc.,  by  S.  Weir  (Paris,  1527,  in  8vo). 

"The  Imposture  of  Devils,"  by  P.  Massie 
(Lyons,  1579,  in  8vo). 

'.'  The  Wonderful  Story  of  a  Captain  from 
Lyons  who  was  Kidnapped  by  the  Devil ' ' 
(Paris,  1613,  in  8vo). 

"  The  Marvelous  Tale  of  a  Gentleman  to 
whom  the  Devil  Appeared  "  (1613,  8vo). 

"  History  of  Magdalene  Bavent  "  (Paris, 
1652,  in  8vo). 

"  History  of  the  Devil,"  bySchivindenius 
(Amsterdam,  1729). 

"  The  Magic  Library,"  by  Hortz,  in  Ger- 
man (1820,  in  8vo). 

"The  Devil  of  Fire,"  in  the  Revue  des 
deux  Mondes,  by  N.  Mercey  (July  15, 

1837). 

"An  Analytic  and  Critical  Treatise  on  Oc- 
cult Science,"  by  Ferdinand  Denis  (Paris, 
1830,  in  32010). 

"The Infernal  Dictionary,"  byCollinde 
Plancy,  sixth  edition  (Taris,  1853,  in  8vo). 

"  History  of  the  Devil :  His  Manifesta- 
tions and  His  Works,"  etc.,  by  the  Abb6 
Lecam  (Paris,  1861,  in  8vo). 

"History  of  the  Devil,"  in  the  Revue 
des  deux  Mondes,  by  Albert  Reville,  1870. 
In  the  same  collection  there  is  also ' '  Interven- 
tion in  Human  Events"  (August  15,  1842). 

"History  of  the  Devil,"  in  German,  by 
Rastoff  (Vienna,  1869,  in  8vo). 

"Religious  Progress  of  Strasburg"  (Decem- 
ber 4,  1869,  in  4to). 

E.  BRADLEY  SIMS. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Condog. — This  ancient  slang  substitute 
for  concur  is  to  be  seen  (I  am  told)  in 
"  Cockeram's  Dictionary,"  1632,  and  some 
have  thought  that  Cockeram  invented  it. 
But  it  is  to  be  found  in  Lyly's  "Gallathea" 
(Actus  tertius,  Scaena  Tertia),  which  was 
first  played  "  on  Newyeeres  Day  at  Night," 
1592.  G. 


April  18,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


299 


Visions  (Vol.  vi,  pp.   274,   etc.).— In 
one  version  of  the  vision  of  Charles  XI  of 
Sweden,  it  is  related  that  after  the  whole 
phantasmagoria  had  faded  away,  the  king's 
slipper  was  spotted  with  blood,  which  had 
spattered  on  it  from  the  persons  beheaded  in 
the  dream  or  vision,  whichever  it  might  be 
called.     The  vision  of  James  IV  of  Scotland 
before  Flodden  and  noticed  in  Scott's  "Mar- 
mion  "   was  thought  to  be  a  premeditated 
fraud  gotten  up  by  those  who  feared  the  re- 
sult of  a  conflict  with  England.     The  man 
"  clad  in  a  blue  gown,  girt   with  a  linen 
girdle,  having  sandals  on  his  feet,  with  long 
yellow  hair,"    who  counseled   him  in  the 
name  of  "  his  mother  to  forbear  the  journey 
and  beware  of  the  society  of  women,"  had 
been  dressed  to  personate  St.  John,  called 
in  Scripture  the  adopted  son  of  the  Virgin. 
The  partisans  of  the  queen,  Margaret  Tudor, 
were  supposed  to  have  been  the  perpetrators 
of  this  farce,  as  she  doubtless  objected  to  a 
contest  with  her  brother,  Henry  VIII.     The 
hint  as  to  the  "counsel  of  women  "   was 
directed  to  the   beautiful  Lady  Heron  of 
Ford,  with  whom  James  IV  had  an  intrigue, 
in  prosecuting  which    he   idled   away  the 
time  when  he  should  have  been  directing 
his  course  against  the  English  forces. 

E.  P. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

Spontaneous  Combustion  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  12). — "  The  supporters  of  the  much-dis- 
puted theory  of  spontaneous  combustion 
have  received  fresh  ground  of  belief  from  the 
case  of  Milton  Hardcastle,  of  Baltimore, 
whose  remains  were  recently  found  nearly 
consumed  in  his  shanty  on  the  outskirts  of 
that  city.  Hardcastle  was  an  old  negro  of 
unknown  age,  enjoying  a  small  monthly  in- 
come left  him  some  years  ago  by  his  former 
owner,  Colonel  Eustace  Hardcastle,  and 
which  went  almost  entirely  for  whisky. 
It  is  said  the  negro  consumed  a  gallon  and 
•  a  half  a  day,  and  would  often  buy  and  drink 
the  pure  alcohol  in  large  quantities,  often 
for  days  at  a  time  partaking  of  no  other 
nourishment.  He  lived  all  alone,  being  of 
a  singularly  taciturn  disposition,  so  that  it  was 
some  days  before  he  was  missed,  but  his 
shanty  was  observed  to  remain  closed,  and, 
search  being  instituted,  he  was  found  in  his 


bed  burned  nearly  to  a  crisp,  while  the  mat- 
tress and  clothes  were  slightly  scorched. 

"The  room  was  in  perfect  order,  and  no 
trace  of  fire  was  found  on  the  hearth,  which 
was  swept  clean,  and  as  Hardcastle  was 
known  to  have  been  unique  among  negroes 
in  never  smoking,  the  whole  affair  seemed 
shrouded  in  mystery.  Dr.  Everhardt  was 
called  upon  to  make  an  investigation,  and 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  it  was  a  case  of 
spontaneous  combustion.  In  this  he  has 
been  supported  by  several  prominent  physi- 
cians, who  agree  in  declaring  the  circum- 
stances admit  of  no  other  explanation" 
(Philadelphia  Times). 

Tyler  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  203,  etc.). — This 
word  seems  to  have  acquired  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  our  word  plasterer.  Under  "Beamfill" 
in  "  Murray's  Dictionary  "  is  given  a  quo- 
tation of  1469 :  "  My  mastyr  made  a 
couenant  with  Saunsam  the  tylere,  that  he 
schalle  pergete,  and  whighte  and  beamfelle 
all  the  new  byldynge."  Q.  T. 

Remarkable  Predictions  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
269,  etc.). — When  Rizzio  was  stabbed  to 
death  by  George  Douglass,  Lord  Ruthven 
rushed  into  the  presence  of  Queen  Mary  (of 
Scotland)  with  his  hands  reeking  with  the 
blood  of  the  Italian  favorite,  and  threw  him- 
self in  a  chair  and  called  for  wine ;  he  also 
used  very  insulting  and  coarse  language  to 
the  queen.  She  in  reply  said :  ' '  I  trust  that 
God  who  beholdeth  all  this  from  high 
Heaven  will  avenge  my  wrong  and  move 
that  which  shall  be  born  of  me  to  root  out 
you  and  your  treacherous  posterity."  This 
terrible  denunciation  was  fulfilled  by  the  de- 
struction of  the  house  of  Ruthven  during  the 
reign  of  James  VI,  her  son. 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

Musha  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  227,  etc.).— By  the 
courtesy  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  for 
the  Preservation  of  the  Irish  Language 
(Dublin),  we  are  informed  that  the  current 
forms  of  the  above  in  actual  use  among  the 
Keltic-speaking  Irish  people  are  maise 
(ma  is  <?)  and  maisead  (ma  is  ead),  if  it  is  it, 
if  it  is  so. 

These  combinations,   while  bearing  out 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  1 8,  1891. 


Prof.  Estoclet's  derivation  of  musha,  would 
seem  to  account  likewise  for  the  different 
vowel  sounds  observed  by  our  other  cor- 
respondents in  the  English  (?)  exclamation 
under  discussion.  ED.  A.  N.  &  Q. 

Remarkable  Fecundity  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
269,  etc.).  —  I  should  consider  it  "remarkable 
fecundity,"  what  a  mediaeval  chronicler  re- 
cords of  a  certain  high-born  dame,  that  she 
gave  birth  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-one 
children  at  one  delivery,  seriatim.  The 
earliest  record  of  such  event  that  I  know  of 
runs  back  to  the  early  twelfth  century,  and 
the  same  (assumed)  prodigy,  after  being 
handled  diversely  by  succeeding  annalists,  is 
finally  fastened  on  the  wife  of  Frederick 
Barbarrosa  a  century  or  two  later.  If  I 
mistake  not,  this  wonderful  fecundity  closes 
altogether  (/.  e.,  such  record)  with  the  four- 
teenth century  chroniclers,  but  in  a  modified 
form  seems  to  survive  in  the  really  modest 
figure  seven,  as  mentioned  by  G.  M.  G. 
(Vol.  vi,  269).  OBITER. 

Puccoon.  —  This  is  a  plant  name  well 
known  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States. 
One  of  your  correspondents  (Vol.  ii,  p.  3) 
quotes  from  Strachey  (1618),  the  Indian 
word  pohcoons,  meaning  a  red  dye.  Two 
species  of  Lithospcrmum,  yielding  a  red  dye, 
are  called  puccoon  in  Gray's  "  Manual  of 
Botany,"  p.  322.  The  common  blood-root 
with  its  red  juice  is  also  called  puccoon,  and 
the  name  /<?/&,  or  pokan  (puccoon  ?)  is  given 
to  a  plant  whose  berries  have  a  red  juice. 

Owl-shield  (Vol.  iii,  p.  20).—  "And 
wee  which  stand  in  awe  of  report,  are  com- 
pelled to  set  before  our  owle  Pallas  shield, 
thinking  by  her  vertue  to  cover  the  other's 
deformity  "  (Lyly's  "  Campaspe,"  Pro- 
logue, first  sentence).  E.  B.  N. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


The  Atlantic  Monthly  for  May  contains  the  conclud- 
ing portion  of  the  "  Brazen  Android."  If  the  first  por- 
tion of  the  romance  was  remarkable,  it  was  at  least 
within  those  lines  in  which  story-tellers  are  accustomed 
to  confine  themselves  ;  but  the  character  introduced  in 
the  second  portion  is  so  inexplicable,  and  his  action  in 
the  story  so  tremendous,  that  what  has  seemed  but 
strange  hitherto  becomes  now  the  merest  commonplace. 


The  power  of  the  story  is  of  the  same  kind  that  one 
finds  in  Poe's  "  Fall  of  the  House  of  Usher." 

It  is  a  relief  to  turn  from  the  tension  of  "  The  Brazen 
Android"  to  the  portion  of  a  hitherto  unpublished 
journal  of  Richard  H.  Dana,  which  describes  a  voyage 
on  the  Grand  Canal  of  China.  Mr.  Dana's  description 
of  Su-Chau  is  immensely  interesting,  and  it  is  curious 
to  compare  it  with  Mr.  Lowell's  Japanese  papers  ;  but 
the  most  valuable  thing  in  Mr.  Dana's  notes  is  the  de- 
scription of  a  Chinese  gentleman,  named  U-u.  The 
picture  of  the  exquisite  courtesy  and  politeness  of  this 
individual  is  one  of  the  most  charming  things  in  the 
magazine.  He  showed  a  characteristic  bit  of  Chinese 
courtesy  when,  declining  to  smoke  more  than  one  or 
two  puffs  of  his  cigar  or  to  take  more  than  one  or  two 
sips  of  wine,  he  said,  not  that  they  were  too  strong  for 
him,  but  that  he  was  not  strong  enough  for  them — a  fin- 
ished politeness,  which  does  not  seem  overstrained  to  the 
Eastern  mind.  Miss  Jewett  has  never  done  anything 
better  than  her  description  of  the  return  of  the  Hon. 
Joseph  K.  Laneway  to  his  native  town,  Winby.  His 
self-conscious  address  to  the  scholars  of  the  old  school 
in  which  he  was  formerly  a  student,  his  surprise  that  he 
was  entirely  forgotten  in  his  native  place,  and  the  final 
satisfying  happiness  of  an  evening  spent  with  an  old 
lady,  a  former  schoolmate,  are  precisely  the  kinds  of 
things  Miss  Jewett  knows  how  to  do,  and  are  done  at 
her  very  best.  There  is  but  little  space  left  to  mention 
Mr.  Parkman's  admirable  concluding  paper  on  the 
"  Capture  of  Louisbourg  by  the  New  England  Militia." 
Mr.  H.  C.  Merwin,  on  the  "  Ethics  of  Horse-Keeping," 
will  interest  lovers  of  that  animal.  Mr.  William  P. 
Andrews  finishes  a  second  paper  on  "  Goethe's  Key  to 
Faust,"  and  the  well-known  historian,  Mr.  George  E. 
Ellis,  has  a  paper  on  "  Jeremy  Belknap."  There  are 
four  chapters  of  Mr.  Stockton's  serial,  "  The  House  of 
Martha,"  in  which  the  hero  encounters  the  heroine 
under  circumstances  in  which  no  hero  has  ever  been 
known  to  encounter  a  heroine  since  the  world  began. 
The  usual  reviews  and  the  Contributors'  Club,  which  is 
divided  among  six  writers,  concludes  the  May  number. 

The  Review  of  Reviews  for  May  contains  under  the  title 
"Three  Empire  Builders,"  some  very  timely  and  inter- 
esting character  sketches.  One  deals  with  Sir  Henry 
Parkes,  Prime  Minister  of  New  South  Wales,  the  father 
of  Australian  federation,  and  chairman  of  the  great 
constitutional  convention  which  has  just 'concluded  its 
labors  at  Melbourne.  The  sketch  is  furnished  by  a 
writer  intimately  acquainted  with  Sir  Henry  and  with 
Australian  politics,  and  is  illustrated  with  the  only  por- 
trait of  Sir  Henry  Parkes  that  has  been  seen  in  any  re- 
cent American  periodical.  Another  of  these  sketches 
deals  with  Sir  John  Macdonald,  the  great  federator  of 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  the  veteran  Prime 
Minister  who  has  just  been  successful  in  securing 
another  lease  of  power  at  the  recent  elections.  It  is  ac- 
companied by  a  very  handsome  drawing  showing  Sir 
John  in  his  library.  The  third  sketch  has  the  Hon. 
Cecil  Rhodes  for  its  subject,  Mr.  Rhodes  being  the 
gifted  young  Englishman  who,  a  few  years  ago,  went 
out  as  a  consumptive  student  from  Oxford  to  regain  his 
health  in  Africa,  and  who  has  been  conquering  a  new 
empire  for  Great  Britain  with  Capetown  as  its  capital. 
Mr.  Rhodes,  besides  being  Prime  Minister  of  Cape 
Colony,  is  the  president  of  the  British  South  African 
Chartered  Company,  which  owns  the  fabulously  rich 
diamond  fields,  and  has  also  acquired  the  so-called 
"  Land  of  Ophir,"  the  African  gold  fields  surpassed 
only  by  those  of  California  and  Australia. 


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Copyrighted  1891 ',  by  The  Westminster  Publishing  Co.    Entered  at  the  Post-Office,  Philadelphia,  as  Second-clot*  Matter. 


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CONTENTS. 

NOTES:— Von  Moltke,  301— How  England's  Rulers  Died, 
302 — How  Names  Grow,  304— Old  Scandinavian  Customs— 
A  Curious  Punishment,  305. 

REPLIES : — Swimming     Pig,     305 — Maguelone — Man    on 
Horseback,    306— To    Boycott— Naijack— Lose    This   Day 
Loitering,  307. 

REFERRED  TO  CORRESPONDENTS :  — Authorship 
Wanted — For  When  All  Heads  Are  Unbonneted — Maryland 
in  Africa — Helmet  of  the  Percies — Tree-planting — Tu  Quoque 
Argument — Umailik — Tobacco  Smoking — Corse  Family,  307. 

COMMUNICATIONS  :— The  Devil  in  Literature,  308— First 
Clipper-ship— Six-fingered  Queen — Rivers  Flowing  Inland- 
First  American  Romance,  309 — Suicide  Among  the  Poets — 
Prince  of  Wales— Spontaneous  Human  Combustion— Lakes 
With  Two  Outlets,  310— Belfry— Brazil— A  Valuable  Book 
Wanted,  311— Partridge  Berry — Cacoethes  Scribendi — Cur- 
few, 312. 


VON  MOLTKE. 

The  great  general  now  so  deservedly 
mourned  by  Germany  was  not  of  Prussian 
stock.  Those  who  saw  him  in  the  flesh  will 
not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  he  was  im- 
mediately of  Danish,  and  remotely  of  Scotch 
descent.  A  genuine  highlander  he  is  said 
to  have  been,  of  the  clan  of  the  Macleans  of 
Coll,  his  own  grandfather  and  one  of  his 
granduncles  having  been  the  first  to  emigrate 
to  Copenhagen  and  settle  there. 

This  being  the  case,  Moltke  was  related  to 
the  late  Hobard  Pasha,  to  explorer  Cameron, 
and  therefore  to  the  latter 's  grandfather, 
Hector,  who  was  mayor  of  Paris  (a  strange 
coincidence)  during  the  occupancy  of  that 
city  by  the  Allies  after  Napoleon  I  was  taken 
prisoner. 


302 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  25,  1891. 


During  the  diplomatic  trouble  which 
paved  the  way  for  the  Franco-Prussian  war, 
Von  Moltke  was  seriously  indisposed. 
When  war  was  declared  by  the  French  em- 
peror, King  William  did  not  hear  the  news 
until  a  late  hour  of  the  night ;  he  at  once 
went  to  confer  with  his  trusty  marshal,  and 
had  him  aroused  for  the  purpose. 

"  War  is  declared !"  said  he  to  him 
abruptly. 

"  With  whom,  your  Majesty?" 

"With  France." 

"  There  you  are,  Sire,  the  third  portfolio 
on  the  left" 

And  so  saying,  Moltke  composed  himself 
to  sleep  again. 

He  knew  a  good  cigar.  The  first  great 
blow  was  being  struck  in  the  war  of  1866. 
Moltke  sat  like  a  marble  statue  on  his  well- 
known  black  steed,  watching  the  progress  of 
the  long-doubtful  battle  at  Koniggratz. 
Bismarck  would  fain  have  questioned  him, 
but  dared  not.  At  last  unable  to  bear  the 
suspense  any  longer,  he  took  out  his  cigar- 
case  containing  but  two  cigars,  one  of  a 
superior  brand,  the  other  of  an  inferior 
quality,  and  silently  held  it  to  the  marshal. 
Not  a  word  did  the  latter  speak  as  he  ex- 
amined the  two  cigars  and  straightway 
selected  the  good  one  ;  not  even  the  faintest 
"  danke  "  passed  his  lips  as  he  returned  the 
worthless  weed,  but  Bismarck  went  away 
with  a  light  heart  and  soon  proclaimed  his 
opinion  that  if  Moltke  was  just  at  that 
moment  capable  of  selecting  a  cigar  with 
such  calmness,  it  was  a  sure  sign  that  the 
issue  of  the  battle  promised  well. 

A  few  years  later,  Das  Deutsche  Tageblatt 
related  that  a  young  lady  having  asked  both 
Moltke  and  Bismarck  to  favor  her  with  a 
few  words  in  her  album,  the  former  wrote : 

"  Liige  vergeht,  Wahrheit  besteht." 

(V.  Moltke,  Feldmarschall.) 

which  may  be  rendered : 

"  Lies  pass  away ;  truth  lives  for  aye." 

To  which  the  Chancelor  at  once  added  : 

"  Wohl  weiss  ich,  dass  in  jener  Welt 
Die  Wahrheit  stets  den  Sieg  behalt ; 
Doch  gegen  Liige  dieses  Lebens 
Kampft  ein  Feldmarschall  selbst  vergebens." 
(V.  Bismarck,  Reichskanzler.) 


which  I  may  be  permitted  to  "  English  :" 

"  In  yonder  world  full  well  I  know 

Truth  will  at  last  the  victory  gain  ; 
But  'gainst  the  lies  told  here  below 
A  marshal  e'en  will  fight  in  vain." 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  for 
the  greater  part  of  his  life,  and  to  the  very 
end  thereof,  Moltke  rose  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  retired  punctually  at  ten 
P.M.,  a  practice  from  which  the  most  im- 
portant meeting  could  not  make  him  deviate ; 
nor  will  certain  "  drawing  room  "  military 
men  in  the  Old  World  hear,  without  an  un- 
comfortable feeling  of  surprise,  that  the  old 
soldier  slept  on  a  camp-bed  of  straw  in 
preference  to  any  other. 

It  was  noticed  that  both  Emperor  William 
and  his  son  Frederick,  as  well  as  Moltke, 
had  died  on  a  Friday ;  and  moreover  that 
the  very  day  of  his  death,  Moltke,  com- 
menting on  the  fact  that  his  birthday  had 
never  yet  fallen  on  a  Sunday,  remarked  with 
a  smile  :  "  Were  I  superstitious,  I  might  be 
inclined  to  believe  I  have  seen  my  last 
birthday."  A.  ESTOCLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


HOW  ENGLAND'S  RULERS  DIED. 

(VOL.  v,  p.  82.) 

There  has  always  and  will  still  be  more  or 
less  mystery  and  romance  about  the  death 
of  many  of  the  kings  of  Great  Britain.  I 
have  with  some  care  gone  through  the 
pleasant  task  of  examining  sundry  records 
relating  to  the  rulers  of  that  country  since 
the  conquest. 

William  the  Conqueror died  in  Normandy, 
and  was  buried  at  St.  Stephen's,  Caen, 
Normandy,  now  France.  His  death  oc- 
curred September  9,  1087,  being  caused  by 
being  overheated  at  the  burning  of  the  town 
of  Mantes  and  a  rupture,  the  result  of  his 
horse  stumbling  or  rather  jumping  aside,  on 
account  of  stepping  on  the  hot  ashes  in  the 
burning  town. 

William  II  was  accidentally  shot  by 
Walter  Tyrell,  while  hunting  at  New  Forest. 
There  is  the  following  romance  of  his  death 
cited  in  William  of  Malmesbury :  "The day 
before  the  king  died,  he  dreamed  that  he 
was  let  blood  by  a  surgeon,  and  that  the 
stream  reached  to  heaven,  clouded  the  light 


April  25,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


303 


and  intercepted  the  day.  Calling  on  St. 
Mary  for  protection,  he  suddenly  awoke, 
commanded  a  light  to  be  brought,  and  for- 
bade his  attendants  to  leave  him.  Shortly 
after,  just  as  the  day  began  to  dawn,  a 
foreign  monk  told  Robert  Fitz  Hamon  that 
he  had  a  fearful  dream  about  the  king,  to  wit : 
'That  he  (the  king)  came  into  a  certain 
church,  and  with  menacing  and  insolent 
gesture,  as  was  his  custom,  looked  con- 
temptuously on  the  standers-by ;  then  vio- 
lently seizing  the  crucifix  he  gnawed  the 
arms  and  almost  tore  away  the  legs ;  that 
the  image  endured  this  for  a  time,  but  at 
length  struck  the  king  with  its  foot  in  such 
a  manner  that  he  fell  backward ;  from  his 
mouth,  as  he  lay  prostrate,  issued  so  copious  a 
flame  that  the  volumes  of  smoke  touched 
the  very  stars.'  " 

In  Henry  of  Huntingdon's  Chronicles  is 
another  romantic  statement :  "A  short 
time  before  his  death,  blood  had  been  seen 
to  spring  from  the  ground  in  Berkshire." 
The  same  story  is  -told  by  Matthew  of  West- 
minster, as  by  William  of  Malmesbury,  also 
by  Roger  of  Wendover. 

Henry  I. — His  death  was  caused  by  an 
excess  at  the  table  by  eating  lampreys,  after 
coming  in  from  a  hunt  near  Paris.  His 
body  was  buried  at  the  Abbey  of  Reading  in 
Berkshire,  England,  but  his  bowels  were  in- 
terred at  the  monastery  of  St.  Mary  des 
Frees  near  Rouen. 

Stephen. — He  was  taken  suddenly  ill  at 
Dover  while  conversing  with  the  Earl  of 
Flanders,  and  died  in  a  few  days.  None  of 
the  writers  that  have  been  examined  state 
what  was  the  character  of  his  disease  ;  but  it 
is  intimated  that  it  was  inflammation  of  the 
bowels. 

Henry  II. — He  died  of  melancholy.  Three 
days  before  he  died  he  cursed  the  day  on 
which  he  was  born.  His  melancholy  was 
the  result  of  the  war  that  his  son  John  was 
waging  against  him  and  for  having  joined 
the  League  against  him  (Henry).  The  ex- 
citement of  the  news  brought  upon  him  a 
fever. 

Richard  I. — Died  from  the  effect  of  hav- 
ing been  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Chalus  in 
Limose,  by  a  poisoned  weapon  by  Peter 
Basilii  or  Bertrand  de  Gurdun  (both  of  these 
men  have  the  credit  of  the  deed).  He  died 


on  the  twelfth  day  from  gangrene.  His 
body  was  buried  at  Fontevrault  at  the  feet 
of  his  father,  and  his  bowels  interred  at  the 
castle  of  Chalus  and  his  heart  in  the  church 
at  Rouen. 

John. — His  death  was  the  result  of  dysen- 
tery, caused  by  an  excess  in  eating  peaches 
soaked  in  new  wine  and  cider. 

Henry  II. — This  king  died  a  natural 
death,  the  result  of  a  worn-out  constitution 
and  old  age. 

Edward  I. — Died  of  chronic  dysentery 
while  traveling  to  Carlisle  from  Cumberland. 
His  death  occurred  in  his  tent  at  Burgh-on- 
the-Sands,  about  five  miles  from  Carlisle. 

Edward  II. — His  was  a  most  horrible 
death ;  it  occurred  at  Berkley  Castle,  where 
he  was  held  a  prisoner,  and  was  consummated 
by  John,  Lord  de  Matrevers  and  Sir  Thomas 
Gourney,  who  thrust  a  red-hot  iron  into  his 
bowels. 

Edward  III. — He  died  of  old  age  and  a 
natural  death. 

Xichard  II.  —  This  king  deliberately 
starved  himself  to  death,  in  Pontefract 
Castle,  where  he  was  held  prisoner  by  Henry 
Bolingbrooke,  afterwards  Henry  IV.  The 
Ingulf  Chronicles  say :  When  told  of  the  death 
of  the  earls,  his  brothers,  in  whom  he  placed  a 
remarkable  degree  of  confidence,  being  al- 
ready absorbed  in  sorrow,  and  despairing  of 
his  own  safety,  he  pined  away,  and  most  in- 
considerately and  rashly  vowed  for  very 
grief  that  he  would  never  after  take  food,  and 
thus,  after  abstaining  from  sustenance  five 
days  and  as  many  nights,  he  departed  this 
life,  miserably  dying  of  hunger."  Another 
account,  by  Sir  Bulstrode  Whitlocke,  who  was 
Lord  Commissioner  of  the  Great  Seal  under 
Cromwell,  gives  the  following :  "  King 
Richard  was  sent  prisoner  to  Pontfract 
Castle,  where,  by  the  new  king's  directions, 
he  was  assaulted  in  his  lodgings  by  Sir 
Pierce  Exton  and  eight  other  armed  men. 
From  one  of  which  he  wrested  a  brown  Bill, 
and  slew  four  of  his  wicked  assailants,  and 
fought  with  the  rest,  till  the  cowardly  knight 
standing  behind  the  king's  chair  to  save  him- 
self, when  the  king  came  that  way,  struck 
him  with  a  Pole-Axe,  in  the  hinder-part  of 
his  Head  so  that  presently  he  fell  down  and 
died ;  thus  basely  and  treacherously  mur- 
der'd,  and  by  so  many  against  him,  singly 


3=4 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  25,  1891. 


in  his  own  Defense.  His  Body,  after  being 
Three  Days  expos'd  in  St.  Paul's  Church, 
was  first  obscurely  Buried  at  Langley  in 
Hertfordshire,  but  afterwards  brought  to 
Westminster  Abbey." 

Henry  IV.  —  He  died  suddenly  in  the 
Abbot's  lodgings  of  Westminster,  having 
been  seized  with  a  fit — to  which  he  was  sub- 
ject— while  at  his  devotions  in  St.  Edward's 
Chapel.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
making  preparations  to  go  on  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  Holy  Land.  Shortly  before  his  death, 
"he  caused  his  crown  to  be  placed  by  him 
on  his  pillow,  lest  in  his  extremity  it  might 
be  delivered  to  some  other.  But  when  his 
attendants  supposed  he  had  been  dead,  the 
Prince  of  Wales  seized  the  crown.  At  which 
the  king  started  up  and  demanded  who  had 
taken  away  his  crown  ?  The  Prince  an- 
swered, it  was  he.  Then  the  king  lay  down 
again,  and  sighing  said  :  'My  son,  my  son, 
what  Right  I  had  to  this  Crown,  and  how  I 
have  enjoy'd  it,  God  knoweth,  and  the 
World  hath  seen.'  The  son  said:  'Good 
Father,  Comfort  yourself  in  God.  The 
Crown  you  have,  and  if  you  dye,  I  will  have 
it,  and  keep  it  with  my  sword  as  you  have 
done'"  (Whitlocke). 

Henry  V. — He  died  while  fighting  in 
France,  supposed  to  have  been  camp  fever, 
caused  by  his  exposed  life ;  it  was  this  king 
who  made  the  remark  on  hearing  of  the 
birth  of  his  son  at  Windsor,  "  I  Henry  born 
at  Monmouth,  shall  remain  but  for  a  short 
time,  and  gain  much  ;  but  Henry  born  at 
Windsor,  shall  reign  long,  and  lose  all."  It 
is  stated  on  various  authorities  that  his  death 
was  caused  by  St.  Anthony's  fire,  pleurisy 
and  fistula ;  the  latter  appears  to  be  the  best 
authenticated. 

Henry  VI. — There  is  a  mystery  surround- 
ing this  king's  death.  He  was  a  prisoner  in 
the  tower,  and  on  the  morning  of  May  13, 
1471,  he  was  found  dead.  Report  says  that 
he  was  murdered  by  the  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
brother  of  Edward  IV,  who  stabbed  him. 
The  chroniclers  of  the  day  seemed  to  have 
had  a  hesitancy  about  writing  about  his 
murder.  Peter  of  Blois,  in  his  continuation 
of  the  history  of  the  Abbey  of  Croyland, 
says:  "  I  would  pass  over  in  silence  the  fact 
that  at  this  period  King  Henry  was  found 
dead  in  the  tower  of  London ;  may  God 


spare  and  grant  time  for  repentance  to  the 
person,  whoever  he  was,  who  thus  dared  lay 
sacrilegious  hands  upon  the  Lord's  anointed  ! 
Hence  it  is  that  he  who  perpetrated  this  has 
justly  earned  the  title  of  tyrant,  while  he 
who  thus  suffered  has  gained  that  of  a 
glorious  martyr." 

The  Chronicler  in  Leland  writes  thus  of 
the  event :  "  The  same  night,  beyng  the  2ist 
day  of  May,  and  Tuesday,  at  night  betwixt 
a  xi  and  xii  of  the  clok,  was  King  Henry 
being  Prisoner  yn  the  Toure,  put  to  Deth  : 
the  Duke  of  Glocestre  and  dyverse  other 
beyng  there  that  night."  Fabyan  says, 
"  Of  the  death  of  this  Prynce  dyverse  tales 
were  tolde :  but  the  most  common  fame 
wente,  that  he  was  stykked  with  a  dagger  by 
the  handes  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester." 

Edward  IV. — It  is  said  that  his  death  was 
not  the  result  of  any  particular  disease, 
"  but  was  anguish  of  mind,  and  the  bad 
habit  of  his  body,  brought  on  by  his  ex- 
cesses." Whitlocke  says,  "He  was  over- 
come by  melancholy,"  and  further  says, 
"others  relate  by  surfeits  of  excess."  The 
Croyland  Chronicles  say  :  "The  king  neither 
worn  out  with  old  age  nor  yet  seized  with 
any  known  malady,  the  cure  of  which  would 
not  have  appeared  easy  in  the  case  of  a  per- 
son of  more  humble  rank,  took  to  his  bed. 
This  happened  about  the  feast  of  Easter  and 
on  April  9  he  died."  The  same  authority 
speaks  of  him  as  "  a  man  of  such  corpulence, 
and  so  fond  of  boon  companionship,  vani- 
ties, debauchery,  extravagance  and  sensual 
enjoyment,"  which  remarks  go  to  show  that 
he  was  given  to  excesses,  and  makes  it  more 
probable  that  overindulgence  rather  than 
melancholy  was  the  cause  of  his  death. 
(To  be  continued, .) 

THOS.  Louis  OGIER. 

WEST  CHESTER,  FA. 


HOW  NAMES  GROW. 

(VOL.  v,  P.  207.) 

From  a  recent  issue  of  the  Toronto 
Canadian  Queen  I  take  the  following,  which 
may  be  interesting  in  this  connection  : 

"Some  curious  changes  in  names  have 
come  about  in  cases  where  Frenchmen  have 
settled  among  an  English-speaking  people. 
Sometimes  their  names  have  been  translated 
literally,  and  then  we  have  such  fanciful 


April  25,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


3«5 


cognomens  as  '  Goodnature,'  '  Butterfly  ' 
and  '  Cherry,'  but  it  often  happens  that  the 
foreigner  is  arbitrarily  rechristened  by  his 
new  neighbors,  who  find  it  next  to  impossi- 
ble to  pronounce  a  French  word,  and  ac- 
cordingly substitute  for  it  one  with  which 
they  are  familiar. 

' '  It  happened  once  in  a  Vermont  town  that 
a  French  family  remained  nameless  for  some 
months,  simply  because  no  one  could  pro- 
nounce the  word  to  which  they  were  entitled. 
One  day,  however,  a  man  rode  up  to  their 
door  and  asked  : 

"  '  Does  John  Mason  live  here  ?' 

"  *  No,'  said  the  man  of  the  house  ;  but, 
as  he  said  it,  the  thought  occurred  to  him  that 
the  name  was  one  which  would  give  Yankees 
no  difficulty,  and  that  he  might  as  well  adopt 
it  for  his  own.  Accordingly  he  became 
John  Mason  with  the  concurrence  of  his 
neighbors. 

"  Another  Frenchman,  originally  Michel 
St.  Pierre,  was  called  so  long  by  his  Christian 
name,  that  his  children  became  known  as '  the 
little  Michels.1  As  time  went  on  the  change 
was  universally  accepted,  and  they  were  no 
longer  St.  Pierres,  but  '  Mitchells.'  That 
was  a  solid  English  name  which  the  towns- 
folk could  countenance  ;  St.  Pierre  savored 
to  them  of  '  French  nonsense.' 

"  'Who  lives  at  the  Berry  farm  now?' 
asked  a  gentleman  when  revisiting  the  town 
of  his  birth. 

"  '  John  Berry  and  his  family.' 

"  '  But  I  thought  the  Berrys  sold  out  and 
went  away  ?' 

"  '  Oh,  so  they  did,  but  these  are  French 
people  who  bought  the  farm.  They  had 
some  sort  of  outlandish  name,  but  of  course 
we  didn't  use  it.'"  V.  E. 

QUEBEC.         


OLD  SCANDINAVIAN  CUSTOMS. 

(VOL.  vi,  PP.  292,  ETC.) 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  system 
in  use  among  poor  Swedish  scholars  in  the 
early  part  of  the  present  century,  and  no 
doubt  long  before,  of  boarding  (and  lodg- 
ing ?)  at  the  houses  of  some  of  the  principal 
peopte  of  a  given  district.  It  would  seem 
that  this  gratuitous  providing  of  meals  to 
indigent  pupils  had  almost  the  sanction  of 
law.  These  scholars  took  turns  in  different 


houses,  where  they  got  their  meals  much  in 
the  same  way  as  the  old-time  schoolmaster 
would  board  and  lodge  around  his  district 
with  different  families  for  stated  periods  at  a 
time  when  private  accommodations  and 
good  pay  were  generally  unknown. 

I  find  references  to  the  custom  noted 
above  in  Bjurnsten,  "  Adets  Lek,"  Tom.  i, 
p.  82:  ' 'lag hade hittils haft  mat dagarinagra 
of  de  formognaste  husen  i  staden  och  derige- 
nomrippehaallitmittlif.,"  *'.  <•.,  "Ihadupto 
this  time  had  meal  days  at  some  of  the  better 
class  people's  houses  and  thereby  sustained 
my  life."  Another  example  of  such  system 
I  have  met  with  in  Flygare-Carlen's  "  Kamrer 
Lassman,"  where  the  custom  is  alluded  to  as 
one  so  long  established  as  to  be  looked  upon 
as  a  matter  of  course. 

Can  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES  throw 
further  light  on  this  matter  ? 

G.  F.  FORT. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 

A  CURIOUS  PUNISHMENT. 

In  Malta,  the  English  let  the  municipality 
administer  their  own  laws,  and  frequently 
that  means  that  the  affair  is  referred  to  the 
clergy. 

There  is  a  fine  church  in  process  of  build- 
ing just  without  the  walls  of  Valetta,  but  it 
progresses  very  slowly.  It  is  all  the  work  of 
one  single  man's  hands.  He  was  a  stone 
mason,  and  he  assassinated  a  brother  work- 
man in  cold  blood.  The  clergy  condemned 
him  to  build  this  church  alone,  and  with  his 
own  money,  or  suffer  the  penalty  of  the 
criminal  courts.  One  may  see  the  murderer 
working  out  his  expiation  early  and  late 
(extract  from  a  letter  to  The  Hartford 
Daily  Courant  of  April  3,  1891). 

For  Valetta,  see  AMERICAN  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES,  Vol.  vi,  p.  5.  F.  T.  C. 

REPLIES. 

Swimming  Pig  (Vol.  v,  p.  115).— 

"  The  pig  swam  well,  but  every  stroke 
Was  cutting  his  own  throat." 

"  At  ev'ry  stroke  the  water  dyed 
With  his  own  red  blood." 
("  Devil's  Thoughts,"  Robert  Southey.) 

It   is  a  fact  quite  generally  understood 


306 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  25,  1891. 


that  a  pig  will  swim  in  case  of  emergency ; 
times  of  great  freshets  furnish  him  the  oppor- 
tunity of  exercising  his  powers  in  this  direc- 
tion, as  many  must  have  observed.  It  may 
not  be  as  well  known,  however,  that  the  pig 
will  at  the  same  time  cut  his  own  throat, 
provided  he  swims  a  sufficient  distance. 

The  motion  of  the  pig  through  the  water 
is  not  different  from  that  of  a  dog ;  the  acci- 
dent occurs  because  his  four  legs  are  so  short 
that  every  stroke  brings  them  in  contact 
with  his  jowl.  Owners  of  pigs  are  very  care- 
ful to  keep  them  from  getting  into  the  water, 
as  the  excessive  loss  of  blood  from  a  cut  in 
the  throat  must  result  in  the  death  of  the 
animal. 

The  above  on  the  authority  of  a  native 
Connecticut  farmer. 

The  following  incident,  which  occurred 
not  many  years  since,  never,  I  believe, 
found  its  way  into  the  newspapers,  but  the 
truth  of  it  is  vouched  for  by  the  parties  con- 
cerned. 

A  thrifty  villager  living  on  the  east  side  of 
Connecticut  crossed  the  river  one  day  in  his 

sail-boat  to  the  town  of  W L,  where  he 

bought  a  pig.  He  returned  home  im- 
mediately after  with  his  new  purchase,  and 
placed  it  securely  in  the  pen.  All  seemed 
right  with  the  pig  when  the  master  retired 
for  the  night,  but  the  following  morning  he 
failed  to  hear  those  familiar 

"  Meditative  grunts  of  much  content." 

The  pig  was  missing,  and  a  diligent  search 
of  the  premises  did  not  reveal  his  where- 
abouts. 

Good  Mr.  W.,  being  at  a  loss  to  account 
for  the  speedy  disappearance  of  the  animal, 
crossed  the  river  again,  and  called  upon  the 
former  owner.  Much  to  his  astonishment,  he 
found  the  porcine  runaway  all  safe  in  his 
old  quarters.  As  at  the  time  there  was  no 
bridge  across  the  Connecticut  near  the  scene 
of  this  occurrence,  the  pig  could  have 
reached  his  former  home  only  by  swimming, 
the  river  being  at  this  point  1000  or  uoo 
feet  wide. 

The  story  does  much  credit  both  to  the  in- 
telligence of  the  pig  and  the  strength  of  his 
attachments,  reminding  us  at  the  same  time 
of  an  old  Welsh  saying,  "  Happy  is  the  man 
who  is  as  wise  as  a  pig."  MENONA. 


Maguelone  (Vol.  vi,  p.  294). — Asking  a 
courteous  question  is  not  a  "privilege,"  I 
hold  it  to  be  a  right.  The  only  possible 
drawback  is  the  answering  it  satisfactorily. 

The  omission  noticed  by  "  An  Unknown 
Reader ' '  was  intentional,  partly  because  the 
actual  etymology  of  Maguelone  had  really 
no  bearing  on  the  case,  partly  by  reason  of 
my  great  regard  for  the  maxim,  "Don't 
never  prophesy  onless  ye  know;"  and, 
candidly,  in  the  present  instance  I  do  not 
know. 

Still  if  I  might  throw  out  a  mere  sugges- 
tion, it  would  be  the  following  : 

Seeing  that  those  parts  were  first  made 
known  to  our  ancestors  by  the  Phoenicians, 
would  not  a  Phoenician  name  for  this  island 
be  at  least  as  likely  as  "  our  own  London  ?" 

Why,  within  shot  of  this  very  Magalo,  we 
have  Barcelona,  named  after  the  Carthaginian 
Barca. 

And  Barca  calls  to  mind  that  Carthage 
was  originally  made  up  of  two  towns :  one 
called  Byrsa,  and  another,  surrounding 
Byrsa,  and  styled  Magalia  *  from  the  Phoeni- 
cian adjective  Magal,  round. 

Now  in  the  event  of  Magalo  having  been 
first  christened  by  the  Phoenicians,  this  root 
magal  seems  a  particularly  suitable  epithet 
for  them  to  have  applied  to  the  little  island ; 
an  isolated  volcanic  mound  was  hardly 
likely  to  strike  them  as  rectangular  ! 

This  much  by  way  of  a  "  common-sense" 
guess,  based  upon  a  historical  fact. 

A.  ESTOCLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Man  on  Horseback  (Vol.  vi,  p.  269). — 
The  phrase,  by  whomever  it  was  first  used, 
originally  designated  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
in  allusion  to  the  many  familiar  pictures  of 
the  "  Little  Corporal "  on  horseback,  and 
so  became  equivalent  to  the  "  Man  of 
Destiny,"  the  appellation  bestowed  on 
Napoleon  by  Walter  Scott.  In  this  last 
sense  the  expression  came  into  frequent  use 
in  this  country  during  the  political  turmoil 
of  1860,  as  is  told  in  the  Historical  Magazine 
for  December,  1861,  because  of  a  passage  in 
a  famous  letter  written  by  the  Hon.  Caleb 

*A11  this  will  be  found  somewhere  in  Cornelius 
Nepos.  The  particular  chapter  and  verse  I  am  unable 
to  quote,  writing  as  I  do  away  from  home. 


April  25,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


307 


Gushing  from  Bangor  in  January  of  that 
year,  as  follows  :  "  Cruel  war  —  war  at  home, 
and  in  the  perspective  distance  a  man  on 
horseback  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand. 
Some  Atlantic  Caesar,  or  Cromwell,  or 
Napoleon,"  etc.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

To  Boycott  (Vol.  vi,  p.  279).—  Although 
the  question  "why?"  was  not  asked  at  the 
above  reference,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
name  of  the  passive  object  may  have  been  in- 
stinctively selected  in  this  case,  because  the 
numerous  active  agents  bore  no  collective 
name  out  of  which  a  verb  could  be  readily 
made.  PHILADELPHIA!*. 

Naijack  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  53,  82).—  A  tribe  of 
Indians  of  that  name  was  living  in  1645  ^>e- 
low  Red  Hook  on  Long  Island. 

"There  was  also,"  says  Schoolcraft, 
"  along  the  east  shore  of  the  Tappan  the 
village  of  Kastoniuck  (a  term  still  sur- 
viving in  the  opposite  village  of  Niuck  or 
Nyack)."  TAPPAN. 

Lose  This  Day  Loitering,  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
294).  —  The  lines  are  quoted  from  Dr. 
Anster's  translation  of  Goethe's  "Faust,"  and 
form  part  of  the  last  speech  of  the  manager, 
in  the  "  Prelude  for  the  Theatre." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


mo  ODOF^ESPOHDENTS. 


Authorship  Wanted.  — 

"  When  Bishop  Berkeley  said  there  was  no  matter 
And  proved  it  —  'twas  no  matter  what  he  said." 

E.  H. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

"For  When  All  Heads  Are  Un- 
bonneted,"  etc.  (Vol.  vi,  p.  236).—  Will 
E.  P.  kindly  give  me  the  whole  of  the  poem 
(if  not  too  long)  from  which  the  above  line 
is  quoted?  W.  L.  C. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Maryland  in  Africa.  —  Where  can  I 
find  a  good  account  of  the  history  of  Mary- 
land in  Africa,  now  a  part  of  the  republic  of 
Liberia  ?  ONYCHOS. 


Helmet  of  the  Percies. — Pennant's 
"Tour  in  Scotland,"  1761,  describing  the 
condition  of  Alnwick  Castle,  the  ancient 
home  of  the  Percies,  says:  "You  look  in 
vain  for  the  helmet  on  the  tower,  the  ancient 
sign  of  hospitality  to  the  traveller,"  etc. 

Was  this  the  general  sign  of  hospitality, 
or  something  peculiar  to  the  Percies,  and,  in 
either  case,  what  was  the  connection  be- 
tween the  sign  and  the  thing  signified  ? 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Tree-planting. — I  have  just  become  the 
happy  owner  of  a  country  lot.  This  is  of 
questionable  interest  to  any  of  your  readers 
save  myself,  but  it  leads  me  to  a  query  and 
will  account  for  my  making  it. 

I  employed  an  Irishman,  a  late  nursery- 
man's assistant,  to  plant  a  certain  number  of 
young  trees  for  me ;  and  I  noticed  that  on 
the  side  of  each  of  these  trees,  yet  not  quite 
against  them,  he  was  careful  to  stick  in  the 
ground  a  piece  of  wood  a  few  inches  wide 
and  about  a  man's  height.  I  confess  that  a 
feeling  of  mauvaise  honte  kept  me  from  ask- 
ing him  his  motive ;  perhaps  some  kind 
correspondent  will  take  pity  on  me. 

URBANUS. 

Tu  Quoque  Argument.— I  would 
like  to  know  the  authority,  classical  or  philo- 
logical, for  the  use  of  the  term  tu  Quoque  as 
the  equivalent  of  "You're  another." 
What,  according  to  the  best  authority,  were 
the  exact  words  used  by  Caesar  to  Brutus  ? 

G. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Umailik. — Who  or  what  is  an  umailik  f 
I  am  positively  assured  that  the  word  is  in 
actual  use  somewhere  in  this  country  of  ours. 

NONPLUSSED. 

Tobacco  Smoking. — Is  the  self-con- 
stituted "  lord  of  creation  "  the  only  animal 
that  (I'll  not  say  "  smokes  "  but)  enjoys  the 
smoke  of  tobacco  ?  NON-SMOKER. 

Corse  Family. — Can  any  of  your 
readers  inform  me  as  to  the  origin  of  this 
name  ?  I  would  like  to  find  out  if  the  name 
is  derived  from  the  De  Courceys.  W.  L.  C. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


3o8 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


[April  25,  1891. 


©OMMUNIGACTIONS. 

The  Devil  in  Literature  (Vol.  vi,  pp. 
298,  etc.). — As  a  brief  bibliography  of  this 
subject,  referring  to  books  published  in  Eng- 
land prior  to  the  Restoration,  the  following 
from  Hazlitt's  "  Hand-Book  of  Old  Eng- 
lish Literature"  is  furnished  to  help  com- 
plete the  list : 

"  The  Plyament  of  Deuylles  [Col.]  Thus 
endeth  the  Parlyament  of  Deuylles.  En- 
prynted  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Prynter 
unto  the  moost  excellent  Pryncesse  my  Lady 
the  Kynges  Moder  the  yere  of  our  Lorde 
MCCCCCIX.  410. 

"  The  Wyll  of  the  Deuyll,  and  last  testa- 
ment, Colophon."  Imprinted  at  London, 
by  Humfrey  Powell.  i2tno. 

"  The  wyll  of  the  Deuyll ;  with  his  ten 
detestable  Comaundementes:  Directed  to  his 
obedient  and  accursed  Chyldren  ;  and  the 
reward  promised  to  all  such  as  obediently 
will  endeuer  themselues  to  fulfil  them. 
Whereunto  is  adioyned  a  Dyet  for  dyuers  of 
the  Deuylles  dearlings  comonly  called  dayly 
Dronkardes.  Very  necessarie  to  be  read, 
and  well  considered  of  all  Christians."  Im- 
printed at  London  by  Richard  Ihones. 
Circa  1580.  8vo. 

A  reprint  of  the  former  article,  with 
some  foolish  additions,  it  has  been  sometimes 
but  erroneously  attributed  to  Gascoigne. 

"  The  disclosyng  of  a  late  counterfayted 
Possession  by  the  Deuyll,  in  twoo  Maydens, 
within  the  Citie  of  London.  Whereunto  is 
annexed,  Part  of  a  Homilie  of  Chrisostome, 
and  also  Strange  Stories  and  Practises,  as 
well  in  England  as  in  other  Countries." 
London,  by  Richard  Watkyns,  1574.  8vo. 

"  The  Worlde  possessed  with  Deuils,  Con- 
teyning  three  Dialogues,  i.  Of  the  Deuill 
let  loose.  2.  Of  Blacke  Deuils.  3.  Of 
White  Deuils."  Imprinted  at  London,  by 
Thomas  Dawson,  for  John  Perrin,  1583. 
8vo. 

"  A  true  and  most  dreadful  Discourse  of 
a  Woman  possessed  with  the  Deuill."  Lon- 
don, 1584.  i6mo. 

"A  true  discourse  upon  the  matter  of 
Martha  Brossier  of  Romorantin,  pretended 
to  be  possessed  by  a  devill. ' '  Translated  out 
of  French  into  English  by  Abraham  Hart- 


well.  London.  Imprinted  by  John  Wolfe, 
1599.  4to. 

"  The  Boy  of  Bilson ;  or,  a  True  Dis- 
covery of  the  late  notorious  impostures  of 
Certaine  Romish  Priests  in  their  pretended 
Exorcisme  or  expulsion  of  the  Devill  out  of 
a  young  Boy  named  William  Perry,  sonne 
of  Thomas  Perry,  of  Bilson,  in  the  Co.  of 
Stafford,  Yeoman."  London,  1622.  4to. 

"The  Devil  and  the  Scold."  To  the 
tune  of  "The  Seminary  Priest." 

"  A  pleasant  new  ballad  you  here  may  behold, 
How  the  Devill,  though  subtle,  was  gul'd  by  a  scold." 

Printed  at  London  for  Henry  Gosson,  dwell- 
ing upon  London  Bridge,  near  to  the  Gate. 
Circa  1620. 

"  A  Relation  of  the  Devill  Balams  De- 
parture out  of  the  Body  of  the  Mother 
Prioresse  of  the  Ursuline  Nuns  of  London." 
London,  1635.  4to. 

"  The  Devil  turned  Round  Head ;  or, 
Pluto  become  a  Brownist."  London,  1642. 
4to. 

"  The  Devills  White  Boyes ;  or,  a  mixture 
of  malicious  Malignants,  with  a  bottomlesse 
Sackfull  of  Knavery."  1644.  4to. 

"  A  Relation  of  Joyce  Dovey,  a  young 
woman  possest  with  the  Devill."  1647. 
4to. 

"  The  Devil  sene  at  St.  Albans."  1648. 
4to.  See  Hone's  "Anc.  Mysteries,"  p.  89. 

"  The  Devil's  Cabinet  Broken  Open,  or  a 
New  Discovery  of  the  Highway  Thieves." 
1658.  410. 

"The  Devil's  Conquest,  or  a  Wish  Ob- 
tained, shewing  how  one  lately  of  Barnsby- 
street  in  Leg  Ally,  in  St.  Olave's  Parish, 
Southwark,  one  that  carded  wooll  for  stock- 
ings, carried  home  some  work  to  her  Mistris, 
living  upon  Horsby-Down,  who  asked  her 
how  much  shee  owed  her  for;  the  Maid  an- 
swered eight  pounds ;  her  Mistris  said  'twas 
but  six :  whereupon  the  Maid  began  to  swear 
and  curse,  and  wisht  the  Devil  fetch  her,  if 
there  was  not  eight  pounds  owing  for ;  the 
Mistris  loving  quietness,  paid  her  for  eight 
pound  :  the  Maid,  with  two  of  her  Com- 
panions, walking  over  Horsby-Down,  she 
having  a  Childe  in  her  arms,  one  came  and 
throwed  her  down,  and  presently  took  her 
up  again,  which  caused  her  to  say,  Thou 
Rogue,  dost  thou  fling  me  down  and  take 


April  25,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


3°9 


me  up  again,  and  suddainly  he  vanished 
away,  neither  she,  nor  the  two  women  with 
her,  could  discern  which  way  he  went,  which 
caused  them  to  say,  It  was  the  Devil,  which 
for  all  this  nothing  terrified  the  Maid,  who 
went  boldly  home,  and  to  bed,  and  the 
two  women  with  her ;  at  midnight  she  heard 
a  voice,  which  called  her  by  name  very 
often,  she  answered,  I  come,  I  come  :  but 
the  voice  still  continuing,  she  swore  she 
would  come,  and  being  got  out  of  the  bed, 
fell  down  upon  her  face,  and  was  taken 
speechless,  yet  her  body  moving  in  most  ter- 
rible manner,  manifesting  her  inward  pangs; 
her  Mistris  was  sent  for,  who  freely  forgave 
her,  and  wisht  God  might  forgive  her  too, 
and  then  shee  departed,  and  her  body  was 
found  as  black  as  pitch  all  over;  and  all 
this  was  for  no  more  than  the  value  of  eleven 
pence,  which  was  done  on  the  sixth  of  this 
instant  May,  1663,  and  was  written  for  a 
warning  to  all,  to  avoid  the  like  course. 
The  time  is,  Summer  Time."  London. 
Printed  for  S.  Tyus  on  London  Bridge,  with 
privilege.  A  sheet  with  four  cuts. 

"  The  Devil's  Oak;  or,  his  Ramble  in  a 
Tempestuous  Night,  where  he  happened  to 
discourse  with  Men  of  several  Callings  of  his 
own  Colour  and  Complexion.  To  a  very 
pleasant  new  tune."  London.  Printed  for 
C.  Bates  at  the  Sun  and  Bible  in  Pye-Corner. 
A  sheet  with  three  cuts. 

"A  Strange  Banquet;  or,  the  Devil's 
Entertainment  by  Cook  Laurel  at  the  Peak 
in  Derbyshire,  with  an  Account  of  the 
several  Dishes  served  to  Table.  To  the 
Tune  of,  Cook  Laurel,"  etc.  London. 
Printed  by  and  for  W.  O.  for  A.  M.  and  are 
to  be  sold  by  J.  Deacon  at  the  Angel  in 
Giltspur-street. 

"  A  True  Account  of  the  Devil's  Appear- 
ing to  Thomas  Cox,  a  Hackney  Coachman, 
on  Friday,  October  31,  1684."  1684.  4*o. 

CONVERSE  CLEAVES. 
GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

First  Clipper-ship  (Vol.  iv,  p.  202). 
— The  frigate  Alliance,  reckoned  by  some 
as  the  first  or  earliest  ship  in  the  Navy  of 
the  United  States,  seems  to  have  been  built 
on  the  clipper  model.  She  was  built  by 
William  Hackett,  at  Amesbury,  Mass. 

G.  V. 


Six-fingered  Queen — Anne  Boleyn 
(Vol.  vi,  pp.  185,  etc.). — Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt,  an  ardent  admirer  of  Anne  Boleyn, 
left  some  manuscript  notes  upon  her  life, 
which  were  privately  printed  in  1817,  and 
reproduced  in  an  edition  (Singer's)  of 
Cavendish's  "  Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,"  in 
1825.  In  the  description  of  the  queen  is 
this  passage :  "There  was  found  upon  the 
side  of  her  nail  upon  one  of  her  fingers,  some 
little  shew  of  a  nail,  which  yet  was  so  small, 
by  the  report  of  those  that  have  seen  her,  as 
the  workmaster  seemed  to  leave  it  an  occa- 
sion of  greater  grace  to  her  hand,  which, 
with  the  tip  of  one  of  her  other  fingers,  might 
be,  and  was  usually  by  her  hidden  without 
any  least  blemish  to  it." 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Rivers  Flowing  Inland  (Vol.  vi,  p. 
237). — A  very  remarkable  example  of  this 
unusual  phenomenon  is  found  in  Africa. 
Near  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Aden  is  a 
small  body  of  salt  water,  Lake  Assal,  occu- 
pying a  basin  whose  flow  is  several  hundred 
feet  below  sea-level.  The  surface  of  the  lake 
itself  is  nearly  700  feet  below  mean  tide  and 
it  is  fed  by  a  stream  some  twenty  or  more 
miles  in  length  flowing  from  the  ocean.  It 
is  highly  probable  that  the  whole  basin  which 
the  lagoon  partly  fills  was  once  an  arm  of 
the  sea  which  became  separated  therefrom 
by  the  'duning  of  loose  sand.  The  inflowing 
river,  which  is  of  course  nothing  but  the 
remnant  of  a  tidal  estuary,  has  a  limited 
volume  and  it  has  filled  the  basin  to  the  ex- 
tent that  evaporation  and  supply  exactly 
balance  each  other.  It  is  evident  that  Lake 
Assal,  like  the  Kara  boghas,  is  destined  to 
become  a  salt-bed.  J.  W.  REDWAY. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

First  American  Romance  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  293,  etc.). — Another  early  American 
novel,  not  mentioned  in  the  list  given  by 
Menona,  was  the  "Algerine  Captives, 
written  by  Ryall  Tyler  in  1797,  but  I  have 
no  reference  immediately  at  hand  to 
determine  whether  the  book  was  published 
in  this  country  or  in  England. 

M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


3io 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  .QUERIES. 


[April  25,  1891. 


Suicide  Among  the  Poets  (Vol.  vi, 
p.  294). — "Laureate  of  the  Centaurs"  is 
the  appropriate  title  which  has  been  be- 
stowed on  Adam  Lindsay  Gordon,  who  com- 
mitted suicide  on  the  24th  of  June,  1870,  at 
Melbourne,  Australia.  Every  one,  it  is  said, 
leads  a  twofold  existence.  This  was 
especially  true  of  Gordon,  who  was  both 
sportsman  and  poet.  Before  the  world  he 
was  the  horsebreaker,  the  steeplechaser  and 
at  one  time  the  proprietor  of  a  livery  stable. 
In  his  retirement  he  courted  the  Muse,  scrib- 
bling poems  on  bits  of  paper,  which  he  pub- 
lished anonymously.  So  shy  and  reserved 
was  he  about  his  literary  gifts  that  he  boxed 
up,  so  to  speak,  in  a  panting,  fevered 
breast,  powers  of  intellect  which,  if  wisely 
and  ably  directed,  might  have  saved  him 
from  that  melancholy  which  pervades  his 
work,  and  finally  led  him  to  suicide.  The 
poet's  own  fatalistic  creed  finds  expression 
in  the  following  lines : 

"  I've  had  my  share  of  pastime,  and  done  my  share  of 

toil, 

And  life  is  short — the  longest  life  a  span ; 
I  care  not  now  to  tarry  for  the  corn  and  for  the  oil, 

Or  for  the  wine  that  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man. 
For  good  undone,  for  gifts  misspent,  for  resolutions 

vain, 

"Tis  somewhat  late  to  trouble.    This  I  know : 
I  should  live  the  same  life  over,  if  I  had  to  live  again, 
And  the  chances  are  I  go  where  most  men  go." 
("  The  Sick  Stockrider.") 

Gordon  left  England  at  the  age  of  twenty, 
his  education  not  half  completed,  and  emi- 
grated to  Australia.  There  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  being  but  thirty-seven 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

It  was  only  shortly  before  the  close  of  his 
life  that  he  came  to  be  recognized  as  a  poet. 
The  extreme  popularity  of  his  ballad,  "  How 
we  Beat  the  Favorite,"  brought  about  this 
recognition,  Gordon  having  rather  re- 
luctantly confessed  himself  its  author. 

In  1867,  he  published  his  first  volume  of 
poems.  The  fourth  edition  has  recently 
been  issued  by  Samuel  Mullen,  of  London. 

The  Spectator  of  March  28,  1891,  has  a 
review  of  Gordon's  works,  with  copious  ex- 
tracts.  MEN6NA. 

Prince  of  Wales  (Vol.  vi,  p.  282). — 
Mr.  Ogier  says  that  the  young  son  of  Henry 
VIII  and  Catherine  of  Aragon  "probably  " 


did  not  become  Prince  of  Wales.  That  this 
prince  certainly  did  not  receive  the  title  is 
shown  by  the  following  quotation  taken  from 
a  detailed  official  identification  furnished  by 
the  College  of  Arms,  of  a  heraldic  device 
sent  ihere  for  recognition,  which  proved  to 
be  the  arms  of  Queen  Anne  Bullen. 

"  The  Prince  of  Wales'  feathers  within  the 
coronet  are  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  title  was  at  that  time  merged  in  the 
crown,  Henry  VIII  having  been  created 
Prince  of  Wales  after  the  death  of  his 
brother  Arthur." 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  no  son  of  the 
king,  who  died  before  Anne's  coronation, 
could  have  been  created  Prince  of  Wales 
since  Henry  had  not  then  divested  himself 
of  the  title.  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Spontaneous  Human  Combustion 
(Vol.  vi,  p.  299). — There  is  one  trivial 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  explaining  certain 
cases  of  spontaneous  human  combustion  that 
is  not  usually  taken  into  consideration  by 
those  who  favor  such  a  theory.  A  human 
body  weighing  150  pounds  contains  about 
no  pounds  of  water.  Moreover,  it  requires 
about  four  pounds  of  alcohol  to  evaporate 
one  pound  of  water.  Hence,  to  merely 
desiccate  a  human  body,  something  like  450 
pounds  or  not  far  from  forty-five  gallons  of 
alcohol  would  be  required,  while  to  incin- 
erate the  body,  three  or  four  times  as  much 
would  be  required,  a  volume  several  times  as 
great  as  the  volume  of  the  body  itself. 

TROIS  ETOILES. 

Lakes  With  Two  Outlets  (Vol.  vi, 
pp.  29,  57,  83,  etc.;.— On  pp.  73  and  74, 
Vol.  ii,  of  J.  F.  W.  Johnston's  "  Notes  on 
North  America,"  American  edition,  we  are 
told  that  from  some  small  marshy  lakes  on 
the  isthmus  which  connects  Nova  Scotia  with 
the  mainland  the  river  Missiquash  flows  to 
the  Bay  of  Fundy  ;  and  that  a  small  stream, 
sometimes  dry  in  summer,  also  flows  north- 
ward from  the  same  lakes  to  the  Baie  Verte. 
Very  likely  the  railway  works  on  the  Nova 
Scotian  isthmus  may  have  interfered  with 
the  above-mentioned  arrangements. 

G. 


April  25,  1891.] 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


Belfry  (Vol.  vi,  p.  292). — The  origin  of 
this  word  gave  rise  to  what  Prof.  Skeat 
styled  "  a  tedious  discussion  "  in  English 
Notes  and  Queries, 

Dr.  Murray,  in  the  "  New  English  Dic- 
tionary,"  records  the  now  accepted  derivation 
of  belfry  through  Old  French  belfrei  and 
berfroi,  and  Late  Latin  berefridus,  from  a 
Teutonic  bergfrid,  and  then  expresses  him- 
self on  the  subject  as  follows : 

"  The  subsequent  change  of  the  first  r  to 
/  by  dissimilation  from  following  r  (as  in 
armarium,  almarium,  almerie  ;  peregrinum, 
pelegrin,  pilgrim  ;  parafredus,  palefrei,  pal- 
frey) is  common  in  later  med.  L. ;  it  is  rare 
and  exceptional  in  Fr.  (where  the  normal 
form  dropped  the  r,  befroi,  beffroi} ;  in  Eng., 
btlfray  did  not  appear  bef.  isth  c.,  being 
probably  at-first  a  literary  imitation  of  med. 
Lat.,  its  acceptance  was  doubtless  due  to 
popular  association  with  BELL,  and  the  par- 
ticular application  which  was  in  consequence 
given  to  the  word.  The  meaning  has 
passed  from  a  'pent-house,'  a  'movable 
tower '  used  by  besiegers  and  besieged,  to 
'a  tower  to  protect  watchmen,  a  watch- 
tower,  beacon-tower,  alarm-bell  tower,  bell- 
tower,  place  where  a  bell  is  hung.'  The 
sense  of  '  pent-house  '  or  '  shelter-shed '  is 
retained  dialectically  in  Lincolnshire  and 
Notts. 

"  The  etymology  of  Ger.  bergfrid,  bercvrit, 
presents  some  difficulties  ;  but  it  is  generally 
agreed  that  the  latter  part  is  a  form  of 
O.  H.  G.  fridu,  O.  Teut.  friduz,  '  peace, 
security,  shelter,  place  of  shelter  or  safety  ' 
(cf.  the  range  of  meaning  of  O.  E.  fridu, 
frid,  M.  E.  frith),  the  final  vowel  being 
dropped  as  in  proper  names,  Gottfrid,  Sig- 
frid,  etc.  ;  and  that  the  former  part  is  the 
stem  of  berg-en,  to  protect,  defend;  the 
whole  meaning  '  protecting  '  or  '  defensive 
place  of -shelter,'  an  obvious  description  of 
a  pent-house  fitted  to  ward  off  missiles  from 
those  to  whom  it  gave  shelter  during  siege 
operations. 

"For  the  form  taken  by  bergfrid'm  Romanic 
and  thus  in  Eng.,  cf.  the  adoption  of  O.H.G. 
fridu  in  late  L.  as  fridus,  fredus,  '  peace, 
protection,'  the  proper  names  from  G.  -frid, 
Gottefridus,  Godefrey,  Galfridus,  Geoffrey, 
and  the  sb.  affray,  O.  F.  esfrei,  mod.  effroi, 
parallel  to  berfrei,  beffroi.  Med.  L.  had  the 


forms  berefridus,  berfredus,  bil-,  bal-,  bel- 
fredus,  berte-,  balte-,  bati-,  buti-fredus,  with 
the  latter  of  which  cf.  the  It.  battifredo,  as- 
similated by  popular  etymology  with  battere, 
to  beat  (the  tocsin),  to  strike  (as  a  clock)." 

BOOKWORM. 
NEW  YORK. 


Brazil  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  191,  etc.). — I  find 
in  a  current  publication  the  following  quo- 
tation from  the  book  to  which  it  is  credited : 

"  The  «  Land  of  Dye-wood,'  a  change  of 
name  bewept  by  ecclesiastical  authors. 
Popular  history  tells  us  that  it  took  its  name 
from  the  Caesalpinia,  then  known  as  brasyll 
or  brasido,  t.  e.,  coloured  like  brasas,  braise, 
or  burning  charcoal.  If  that  were  the  case, 
'  Brazil '  should  be  Brazal.  The  name  was 
used  by  a  curious  coincidence  long  before 
the  land  was  discovered,  by  the  wild  Irish  of 
the  Galway  coast.  Hy  (island)  Brazyle  was 
a  land  far  to  the  west,  seen  especially  when 
there  are  fog-banks.  I  have  treated  the  sub- 
ject in  my  'Lowlands  of  the  Brazil,'  still 
in  MS."  (Sir  Richard  Burton's  "Life  of 
Camoens,"  1881,  Vol.  i,  p.  273).  Has 
the  book  spoken  of  as  in  MS.  ever  been 
published?  M.  C.  L. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

A    Valuable   Book  "Wanted The 

Latin-American  Department  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  is  very  anxious  to  ob- 
tain information  concerning  a  copy  of  a  little 
quarto  published  in  Rome  in  1493,  contain- 
ing the  important  bull  of  Pope  Alexander 
VI,  by  which  he  divided  the  New  World  be- 
tween Portugal  and  Spain.  Only  two  copies 
of  this  pamphlet  are  in  existence  as  far  as 
can  be  ascertained.  One  is  in  the  Royal 
Library  at  Munich ;  the  other  was  sold  at 
auction  by  Puttick  Sr  Simpson,  auctioneers, 
on  the  24th  of  May,  1854,  and  was  bought 
by  Obadiah  Rich  for  four  pounds  eight 
shillings  for  some  private  library  in  the 
United  States,  which  he  declined  to  name. 
It  has  entirely  disappeared  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  bibliophiles,  and  no  trace  of  it  can 
be  found.  Any  one  having  knowledge  of 
the  whereabouts  of  this  historical  treasure 
might  find  it  to  his  advantage  to  notify  the 
Department  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


312 


AMERICAN  NOTES  AND  QUERNS. 


[April  25,  1891. 


Partridge- Berry. — Under  this  name 
the  "Century  Dictionary"  says  that  the 
plant  Mitchella  tepens  "  yields  an  oil  which 
contains  ninety  per  cent,  of  methyl 
salicylate,  and  is  largely  used  in  rheumatism. ' ' 
This  is  surely  an  error,  arising  from  some 
confusion  of  names.  The  Gaultheria  pro- 
cumbens  (which  is  also  sometimes  called 
partridge- berry)  is  the  plant  which  affords 
the  medicinal  oil.  MARY  OSBORN. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Cacoethes  Scribendi  (Vol.  vi,  p.  32). 
— Why  not  call  it  scribbler's  itch  ?  There  is 
a  barber's  itch,  a  grocer's,  and  a  baker's 
itch.  Qui  TAM. 

Curfew  (Vol.  vi,  pp.  259,  etc.). — 

"  By  the  evening  curfew-bell, 
By  the  doleful  dying  knell ; 
O  let  this  my  direful  spell, 
Hob,  hinder  my  uprising." 

(Drayton's  "  Nymphidia.") 


M.  C.  L. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 


BODIES  AND 


The  Century  for  May  begins  a  new  volume,  and  in  it 
are  begun  several  new  features  of  what  The  Century 
calls  its  "  summer  campaign."  "  The  Squirrel  Inn," 
by  Frank  R.  Stockton,  is  one  of  the  principal  and  most 
popular  of  these  new  features.  The  "  Inn  "  itself  is  care- 
fully depicted  in  a  picture  which  is  the  joint  product  of  the 
artistic  skill  and  ingenuity  of  both  the  author  and  Mr. 
Frost,  the  illustrator.  Mr.  Frost  brings  out  also  several  of 
the  principal  characters  of  the  story  —  which  promises  to 
be  one  of  the  most  curious  and  characteristic  of  Mr. 
Stockton's  inventions. 

The  long-promised  papers  (two  in  number)  on  the 
Court  of  the  Czar  Nicholas  I  are  now  begun,  the 
frontispiece  of  the  magazine  being  a  portrait  of  the  Em- 
peror Nicholas.  These  papers  are  by  the  late  George 
Mifflin  Dallas,  in  his  day  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
statesmen  of  the  country.  A  brief  sketch  of  his  life  ap- 
propriately accompanies  this  paper.  Mr.  Dallas  de- 
scribes minutely  the  social  movement  and  the  luxury  of 
the  court.  He  tells  of  "  A  Dramatic  Visit  from  the'  Em- 
peror," who  came  to  see  him  incog.,  on  the  minister's 
arrival,  "  A  Court  Presentation,"  the  "  Burning  of  the 
Winter  Palace,"  "  The  Russian  New  Year's,"  etc. 
These  papers  furnish  a  remarkable  contrast  to  those  by 
Mr.  Kennan. 

"  Pioneer  Mining  Life  in  California  "  is  a  description 
from  personal  experience  of  adventures  and  mining 
methods  in  1849  on  the  tributaries  of  the  Sacramento 
river  and  of  the  Trinity.  It  is  a  day-to-day  description 
of  the  conditions  of  mining  life  in  '49  and  '50.  The 
writer  is  the  Hon.  E.  G.  Waite,  Secretary  of  State  of 


California,  and  the  narrative  is  supplemented  by  illus- 
trations of  a  typical  character  and  by  caricatures  of  the 
time. 

Mrs.  Amelia  Gere  Mason's  articles  on  the  "  Salons  ot 
the  Empire  and  Restoration"  are  concluded  in  the 
present  number  of  The  Century  with  a  paper  on  some 
of  the  most  prominent  women  of  France,  including 
Madame  de  Genlis,  Madame  de  Remusat,  Madame 
Recamier,  and  Madame  Swetchine,  whose  pictures  with 
others  are  given. 

Among  the  separate  papers  none  is  more  striking 
than  that  of  F.  Hopkinson  Smith,  who  made  a  special 
trip  to  Bulgaria  to  gather  impressions  for  The  Century. 
Mr.  Smith  entitles  his  paper  "  A  Bulgarian  Opera 
Bouffe,"  and  illustrates  it  not  only  with  photographs  or 
prominent  persons  but  with  sketches  from  his  own 
pencil.  Mr.  Smith's  paper,  though  not  professing  to  be 
a  deep  study  of  the  situation,  throws  a  great  deal  of 
light  on  current  affairs. 

The  first  article  in  the  number  is  a  paper  by  C.  F. 
Holder  entitled  "  Game  Fishes  of  the  Florida  Reef," 
strikingly  illustrated  after  sketches  by  the  author. 

Ex-Minister  John  Bigelow  gives  a  chapter  of  secret 
history  which  he  calls  "  The  Confederate  Diplomatists 
and  their  Shirt  of  Nessus."  Mr.  Bigelow  shows  how 
the  institution  of  slavery  handicapped  every  effort  made 
by  the  Confederate  diplomats,  and  he  severely  criticises 
the  government  of  Jefferson  Davis  as  lacking  in  knowl- 
edge of  and  regard  for  foreign  prejudices,  and  wanting 
a  firm  hold  of  facts  as  they  were. 

Mr.  Fraser,  of  The  Century  Art  Department,  prefaces 
with  a  few  words  a  novel  feature  of  magazine  illustra- 
tion ;  namely,  a  little  picture-gallery  taken  from  a  re- 
cent "  Exhibition  of  Artists'  Scraps  and  Sketches  "  in 
the  Fellowcraft  Club,  and  sprinkled  over  six  pages  of 
the  magazine  without  intermediate  letter-press,  except 
titles  of  pictures.  The  artists  represented  are  among 
the  best  known  and  cleverest  in  New  York. 

Other  interesting  papers  are  those  on  "  Visible 
Sound  "  by  the  English  singer,  Mrs.  Margaret  Watts 
Hughes,  with  comment  by  Mrs.  S.  B.  Herrick,  of  The 
Century  staff.  Mrs.  Hughes  succeeded  in  producing 
with  her  voice  and  preserving  a  number  of  shapes  of 
flowers,  etc.  The  experiments  are  described  by  the 
singer,  and  their  origin  is  scientifically  explained  by 
Mrs.  Herrick,  who  describes  also  other  experiments. 

The  literary  paperof  the  number  is  by  Miss  Josephine 
Lazarus,  and  is  an  interesting  study  of  the  character  and 
career  of  the  late  Louisa  May  Alcott,.  the  popular 
writer  for  children.  Portraits  are  given  of  Miss  Alcott 
and  her  father. 

Besides  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Stockton's  story,  The 
Century  includes  further  chapters  of  Dr.  Eggleston's 
"Faith  Doctor;"  the  story  "Old  Gus  Lawson,"  by 
Richard  Malcolm  Johnston ;  and  "  In  Beaver  Cove," 
by  Matt  Grim. 

The  poetry  of  the  number  is  by  O.  C.  Auringer, 
Robert  Underwood  Johnson,  Maurice  Francis  Egan, 
John  H.  Boner,  Frances  Louise  Bushnell,  Mary  Ange 
De  Vere,  Grace  Denio  Litchfield  and  others. 

In  "Topics  of  the  Time"  are  discussed  the  accom- 
plishment of  International  Copyright,  the  new  law  being 
analyzed  and  explained  ;  "  Lobby  Evils  and  Remedies ;" 
"  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections;" 
and  "An  American  Cheap  Money  Experiment,"  the 
latter  in  The  Century's  series  of  popular  financial 
studies. 

In  "Open  Letters,"  Mr.  James  Lane  Allen  replies 
to  certain  criticisms,  and  there  are  brief  papers  on  "  The 
Negro  in  Nashville,"  "Homeopathy"  and  "Vivisection." 


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