Part 2

_Difficulty of getting rid of a Name._--The institution founded in Gower Street under the name of the _University of London_, lived for ten years under that name, and, since, for fifteen years, under the name of _University College_, a new institution receiving the name of the _University of London_. A few years after the change of name, a donor left reversionary property to the _London University in Gower Street_, which made it necessary to obtain the assistance of the Court of Chancery in securing the reversion to its intended owners. A professor of the _College_ in Gower Street received a letter, dated from Somerset House (where the _University_ is), written by the Vice-Chancellor of the University himself, and addressed, not to the _University College_, but to the _University of London_. And in a public decision, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as Visitor of Dulwich College, which appears in _The Times_ of July 21, it is directed that certain scholars are to proceed for instruction to some such place as "King's College or _the London University_." This is all worthy of note, because we often appeal to old changes of name in the settlement of dates. When this decision becomes very old, it may happen that its date will be brought into doubt by appeal to the fact that the place of _instruction_ (what is _now_ the _University_ giving no instruction but only granting degrees, and to students of King's College among others) ceased to have the title of _University_ in 1837. What so natural as to argue that the Archbishop, himself a visitor of King's College, cannot have failed to remember this. A reflected doubt may be thrown upon some arguments relating to dates in former times.

M.

_House of Lord Edward Fitzgerald._--The Note on his mother, in Vol. iii., p. 492., reminds me of making the following one on himself, which may be worth a place in your columns. When lately passing through the village of Harold's Cross, near Dublin, a friend pointed out to me a high antiquated-looking house in the village, which he said had been occupied by Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and in which he had planned many of his designs. The house appears to be in good preservation, and is still occupied.

R. H.

_Fairy Dances._--It might perhaps throw some light on this fanciful subject, were we to view it in connexion with the operation of the phenomenon termed the "odylic light," emitted from magnetic substances. The Baron von Riechenbach, in his _Researches on Magnetism, &c._, explains the cause of somewhat similar extraordinary appearances in the following manner:--

"High on the Brocken there are rocky summits which are strongly magnetic, and cause the needle to deviate: these rocks contain disseminated magnetic iron ore; ... the necessary consequence is that they send up odylic flames.... Who could blame persons imbued with the superstitious feelings of their age, if they saw, under these circumstances, the devil dancing with his whole train of ghosts, demons, and witches? The revels of the Walpurgisnacht must now, alas! vanish, and give place to the sobrieties of science--science, which with her touch dissipates one by one all the beautiful but dim forms evoked by phantasy."

Should such a thing as the odylic light satisfactorily explain the phenomenon of ghosts, fairies, &c., we should happily be relieved from the awkward necessity of continuing to treat their existence as "old wives' fables," or the production of a disordered imagination.

J. H. KERSHAW.

_Æsop._--It may be said, at first sight, "Why, every body knows all about him." I answer, Perhaps about as much as modern painters and artists know about Bacchus, whom they always represent as a gross, vulgar, fat person: all the ancient poets, however (and surely they ought to know best), depict him an exquisitely beautiful youth. A similar vulgar error exists with regard to Æsop, who in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_ is pronounced a strikingly deformed personage. The exact opposite seems to have been the truth. Philostratus has left a description of a picture of Æsop, who was represented with a chorus of animals about him: he was painted smiling, and looking thoughtfully on the ground, but not a word is said of any deformity. Again, the Athenians erected a statue to his honour, "and," says Bentley, "a statue of him, if he were deformed, would only have been a monument of his ugliness: it would have been an indignity, rather than an honour to his memory, to have perpetuated his deformity."

And, lastly, he was sold into Samos by a slave-dealer, and it is a well-known fact that these people bought up the handsomest youths they could procure.

A. C. W.

Brompton.

_Nelson's Coat at Trafalgar_ (Vol. iv. p. 114.).--Besides the loss of bullion from one of the epaulettes of Lord Nelson's coat occasioned by the circumstance related by ÆGROTUS, there was a similar defacement caused by the fatal bullet itself, which might render the identification suggested by ÆGROTUS a little difficult. Sir W. Beatty says, in his _Authentic Narrative of the Death of Lord Nelson_, p. 70.:

"The ball struck the fore part of his lordship's epaulette, and entered the left shoulder.... On removing the ball, a portion of the gold lace and pad of the epaulette, together with a small piece of his lordship's coat, was found firmly attached to it."

The ball, with the adhering gold lace, &c., was set in a crystal locket, and worn by Sir W. Beatty. It is now, I believe, in the possession of Prince Albert.

The intention of my note (Vol. iii., p. 517.) was to refute a common impression, probably derived from Harrison's work, that Lord Nelson had rashly adorned his admiral's uniform with extra insignia on the day of the battle, and thereby rendered himself a conspicuous object for the French riflemen.

ALFRED GATTY.

Queries.

JOHN KNOX.

In completing the proposed series of Knox's writings, I should feel greatly indebted to DR. MAITLAND or any of your readers for answering the following Queries:--

1. In the Catalogue of writers on the Old and New Testament, p. 107.: London, 1663, a sermon on Ezechiel ix. 4., attributed to Knox, is said to have been printed anno 1580. Where is there a copy of this sermon preserved?

2. Bale, and Melchior Adam, copying Verheiden, include in the list of Knox's writings, _In Genesim Conciones_. Is such a book known to exist?

3. Bishop Tanner also ascribes to him _Exposition on Daniel_: Malburg, 1529. This date is unquestionably erroneous, and probably the book also.

4. Knox's elaborate treatise _Against the Adversaries of God's Predestination_ was first published at Geneva, 1560, by John Crespin. Toby Cooke, in 1580, had a license to print Knoxes _Answere to the Cauillations of ane Anabaptist_. (Herbert's _Ames_, p. 1263.) Is there any evidence that the work was reprinted earlier than 1591?

5. The work itself professes to be in answer to a book entitled _The Confutation of the Errors of the Careles by Necessitie_; "which book," it is added, "written in the English tongue, doeth contain as well the lies and blasphemies imagined by Sebastian Castalio, ... as also the vane reasons of Pighius, Sadoletus, and Georgius Siculus, pestilent Papistes, and expressed enemies of God's free mercies." When was this _Confutation_ printed, and where is there a copy to be seen?

DAVID LAING.

Edinburgh.

Minor Queries.

116. "_Foeda ministeria, atque minis absistite acerbis_" (Vol. iii., p. 494.).--Will any of your readers who may be metrical scholars, inform me whether there is any classical example of such an accent and cæsura as in this verse of Vida?

C. B.

117. _Cornish Arms and Cornish Motto._--The Cornish arms are a field sable with fifteen _bezants_, not _balls_ as they are commonly called, 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. in pale _or_. These arms were borne by Condurus, the last Earl of Cornwall of British blood, in the time of William I., and were so borne until Richard, Earl of Cornwall, on being created Earl of Poictou, took the arms of such. According to the custom of the French, these were a rampant lion _gules_ crowned _or_, in a field _argent_; but to show forth Cornwall, he threw the fifteen _bezants_ into a bordour _sable_, round the bearing of the Earl of Poictou; but the Cornish arms, those of Condurus, are unaltered, though the _coins_ are often mistaken for balls, and painted on a field coloured to the painter's fancy. Can you tell me when the Cornish motto "one and all" was adopted, and why?

S. H. (2)

118. _Gloucester saved from the King's Mines._--In Sir Kenelm Digby's _Treatise of Bodies_, ch. xxviii. sec. 4., is this passage:

"The trampling of men and horses in a quiet night, will be heard some miles off.... Most of all if one set a drum smooth upon the ground, and lay one's ear to the upper edge of it," &c.

On which the copy in my possession (ed. 1669) has the following marginal note in a cotemporary hand:

"Thus Gloucester was saved from the King's mines by y'e drum of a drunken dru[=m]er."

To what event does this refer, and where shall I find an account of it? It evidently happened during the civil wars, but Clarendon has no mention of it.

T. H. KERSLEY, A.B.

119. _Milesian._--What is the origin of the term _Milesian_ as applied to certain races among the Irish?

W. FRASER.

120. _Horology._--Can any of your numerous correspondents kindly inform me what is the best scientific work on Horology? I do not want one containing _mere_ mathematical work, but entering into all the details of the various movements, escapements, &c. &c. of astronomical clocks, chronometers, pocket watches, with the latest improvements down to the present time.

H. C. K.

121. _Laurentius Müller._--Can any of your readers mention a library which contains a copy of the _Historia Septentrionalis_, or History of Poland, of Laurentius Müller, published about 1580?

A. TR.

122. _Lines on a Bed._--Can you tell me where I can find the antecedents of the following couplets? They are a portion of some exquisite poetical "Lines on a Bed:"

"To-day thy bosom may contain Exulting pleasure's fleeting train, Desponding grief to-morrow!"

I once thought they were Prior's, but I cannot find them. Can you assist me?

R. W. B.

123. _Pirog._--A custom, I believe, still exists in Russia for the mistress of a family to distribute on certain occasions bread or cake to her guests. Some particulars of this custom appeared either in the _Globe_ or the _Standard_ newspaper in 1837 or 1838, during the months of October, November, or December. Having lost the reference to the precise date, and only recollecting that the custom is known by the name of _Pirog_, I shall feel much obliged to any correspondent of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" if he can supply me with further information on the subject.

R. M. W.

124. _Lists of Plants with their Provincial Names._--In a biography that appeared of Dr. P. Brown in the _Anthologia Hibernica_ for Jan. 7, 1793, we are informed that he prepared for the press a "Fasciculus Plantarum Hibernicarum," enumerating chiefly those growing in the counties of Mayo and Galway, written in Latin, with the English and Irish names of each plant. See also _Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science_, i.--xxx. Where is this MS.?

Can any of your readers refer me to similar lists of plants indigenous to either England or Ireland, in which the provincial names are preserved, with any notes on their use in medicine, or their connexion with the superstitions of the district to which the list refers? Any information on this subject, however slight, will particularly oblige

S. P. H. T.

P.S. I should not be much surprised if the MS. of Dr. P. Brown existed in some of the collectanea in the Library of Trin. Coll. Dub.

125. _Print cleaning._--How should prints be cleaned, so as not to injure the paper?

A. G.

126. _Italian Writer on Political Economy--Carli the Economist._--What was the first work by an Italian writer on any element of political economy? and in what year did Carli, the celebrated economist, die?

ALPHA.

127. _Nightingale and Thorn._--Where is the earliest notice of the fable of the nightingale and the thorn? that she sings because she has a thorn in her breast? For obvious reasons, the fiction cannot be classical.

It is noticed by Byron:

"The nightingale that sings with the deep thorn, That fable places in her breast of wail, Is lighter far of heart and voice than those Whose headlong passions form their proper woes."

But an earlier mention is found in Browne's poem on the death of Mr. Thomas Manwood:--

"Not for thee these briny tears are spent, But as the nightingale against the breere, 'Tis for myself I moan and do lament, Not that thou left'st the world, but left'st me here."

He seems to interpret the fable to the same effect as Homer makes Achilles' women lament Patroclus--[Greek: Patroklou prophasin, sphôn d' autôn kêde' hekastê]. It has been suggested that it rather implies that the spirit of music, like that of poetry and prophecy, visits chiefly the afflicted,--a comfortable doctrine to prosaic and unmusical people.

A. W. H.

128. _Coleridge's Essays on Beauty._--At pp. 300, 301, of this writer's _Table Talk_ (3rd edition) there is the following paragraph:--

"I exceedingly regret the loss of those essays on beauty, which I wrote in a Bristol newspaper. I would give much to recover them."

Can any of your readers afford information on this point? The publication of the essays in question (supposing that they have not yet been published) would be a most welcome addition to the works of so eminent and original an author as S. T. Coleridge.

J. H. KERSHAW.

129. _Henryson and Kinaston._--MR. SINGER (Vol. iii., p. 297.) refers to Sir Francis Kinaston's Latin version of Chaucer's _Troilus and Cresseid_, and of Henryson's _Testament of Cresseid_. The first two books of the former are well known as having been printed at Oxford, 1635, 4to.; and the entire version was announced for publication by F. G. Waldron, in a pamphlet printed as a specimen, in 1796. Query, Who is now the possessor of Kinaston's manuscript, which MR. SINGER recommends as worthy of the attention of the Camden Society?

In the original table of contents of a manuscript collection, written about the year 1515, one article in that portion of the volume now lost is "Mr. Robert Henderson's dreme, _On fut by Forth_." Can any of your readers point out where a copy of this, or any other unpublished poems by Henryson, are preserved?

D. L.

Edinburgh.

130. _Oldys' Account of London Libraries._--In "A Catalogue of the Libraries of the late _William Oldys_, Esq., Norroy King at Arms (author of the _Life of Sir Walter Raleigh_), the Reverend _Mr. Emms_, of _Yarmouth_, and _Mr. William Rush_, which will begin to be sold on Monday, April 12, by Thomas Davies;" published without date, but supposed to be in 1764, I find amongst Mr. Oldys's manuscripts, lot 3613.: "Of London Libraries: with Anecdotes of Collectors of Books, Remarks on Booksellers, and on the first Publishers of Catalogues." Can any of your readers inform me if the same is still in existence, and in whose possession it is?

WILLIAM BROWN, Jun.

Old Street.

131. _A Sword-blade Note._--I find in an account-book of a public company an entry dated Oct. 1720, directing the disposal of "A Sword-blade Note for One hundred ninety-two pounds ten shillings seven pence." Can any of your numerous readers, especially those cognisant of monetary transactions, favour me with an explanation of the nature of this note, and the origin of its peculiar appellation?

R. J.

Threadneedle Street, Aug. 28. 1851.

132. _Abacot._--The word ABACOT, now inserted in foreign as well as English dictionaries, was adopted by Spelman in his Glossary: the authority which he gives _seems_ to be the passage (stating that King Henry VI.'s "high cap of estate, called _Abacot_, garnished with two rich crowns," was presented to King Edward IV. after the battle of Hexham) which is in Holinshed, (the third volume of _Chronicles_, fol. Lond. 1577, p. 666. col. 2. line 28.): but this appears to be copied from Grafton (_A Chronicle, &c._, fol. Lond. 1569), where the word stands _Abococket_. If this author took it from Hall (_The Union, &c._, fol. Lond. 1549) I think it there stands the same: but in Fabyan's _Chronicle_, as edited by Ellis, it is printed _Bycoket_; and in one black-letter copy in the British Museum, it may be seen _Bicoket_, corrected in the margin by a hand of the sixteenth century, _Brioket_.

Can any reader point out the right word, and give its derivation?

J. W. P.

133. _Princesses of Wales_ (Vol. iv., p. 24.).--C. C. R. has clearly shown what is Hume's authority for the passage quoted by Mr. Christian in his edition of _Blackstone_, and referred to by me in my former communication, Vol. iii., p. 477. Can he point out where the passage in Hume is found? Mr. Christian refers to Hume, iv. p. 113.; but I have not been able to find it at the place referred to in any edition of Hume which I have had the opportunity of consulting.

G.

Minor Queries Answered.

_A Kelso Convoy._--What is the origin of a _Kelso convoy_,--a Scotch phrase, used to express going a little way with a person?

B.

[Jamieson, in his _Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, Johnstone's Abridgment, thus explains the phrase:--

"KELSO CONVOY, an escort scarcely deserving the name south of Scotland. 'A step and a half ower the door stane.' (_Antiquary._) This is rather farther than a _Scotch Convoy_, which, according to some, is only to the door. It is, however, explained by others as signifying that one goes as far as the friend whom he accompanies has to go, although to his own door."]

_Cardinal Wolsey._--In the life of Wolsey in the _Penny Cyclopædia_ is the following:

"It is said that while he lived at Lymington, he got drunk at a neighbouring fair. For some such cause it is certain that Sir Amias Paulett put him into the stocks,--a punishment for which we find that he subsequently revenged himself."

I have been unable to find what was his revenge.

B.

[Collins, in his _Peerage of England_, vol. iv. p. 3., says, "that in the reign of Henry VII., when Cardinal Wolsey was only a schoolmaster at Lymington, in Somersetshire, Sir Amias Paulett, for some misdemeanor committed by him, clapped him in the stocks; which the Cardinal, when he grew into favour with Henry VIII., so far resented, that he sought all manner of ways to give him trouble, and obliged him (as Godwin in his _Annals_, p. 28., observes) to dance attendance at London for some years, and by all manner of obsequiousness to curry favour with him. During the time of his attendance, being commanded by the Cardinal not to depart London without licence, he took up his lodging in the great gate of the Temple towards Fleet Street."]

_Brunswick Mum._--Why was the beer called _Brunswick Mum_ so named? When I was young it used to be drunk in this country, and was, I am told, extensively exported to India, &c. Is it still manufactured?

G. CREED.

[Skinner calls _Mum_ a strong kind of beer, introduced by us from Brunswick, and derived either from German _mummeln_, to mumble, or from _mum_ (silentii index), _i.e._ either drink that will (ut nos dicimus) make a cat speak, or drink that will take away the power of speech.

"The clamorous crowd is hush'd with mugs of mum, Till all, tun'd equal, send a general hum."--_Pope._

Brunswick Mum is now advertised for sale by many publicans in the metropolis.]

_Meaning of "Rasher."_--What is the derivation of the word _rasher_, "a _rasher_ of bacon?"

J. H. C.

Adelaide, South Australia.

[Surely from the French _raser_, to shave--a shaving of bacon. Our correspondent will probably recollect that vessels that have been _cut down_ are commonly known as _razees_.]

Replies.

PENDULUM DEMONSTRATION OF THE EARTH'S ROTATION.

(Vol. iv., p. 129.)

I beg to send you a few remarks on the note of A. E. B., concerning the "Pendulum Demonstration of the Earth's Rotation."

Your correspondent appears to consider that the only fact asserted by the propounders of the theory, is a variation in the plane of oscillation, caused by "the difference of rotation due to the excess of velocity with which one extremity of the line of oscillation may be affected more than the other;" the probable existence of which he proves by imagining a pendulum suspended over a point half-way between London and Edinburgh, and set in motion by being drawn towards and retained over London, and thence dismissed on its course. It is clear that in such a case the pendulum would at starting be impressed with the same velocity of motion in an eastern direction which the retaining power in London had, and that its path would be the result of this force compounded with that given by gravity in its line of suspension, _i.e._ towards the north, and its course would therefore be one subject to easy calculation. I should imagine that this disturbing force arising from the excess of eastern velocity possessed by the starting point over that of suspension, would be inappreciable after a few oscillations; but at all events it is evident that it might readily be avoided by setting the pendulum in motion by an impulse given beneath the point of suspension, by giving to it a direction east and west as suggested by A. E. B., or by several other expedients which must occur to a mathematician.