Notes and Queries, Number 25, April 20, 1850

"That which brought most profit to the convent, was the chapel of Our Lady in this church, called Scala Celi, to which people were continually coming in pilgrimage, and offering at the altar there; most folks desiring to have masses sung for them here, or to be buried in the cloister of Scala Celi, that they might be partakers of the many pardons and indulgences granted by the Popes to this place; this being the only chapel (except that of the same name at Westminster, and that of Our Lady in St. Buttolph's church at Boston,) that I find to have the same privileges and indulgences as the chapel of Scala Celi at Rome; which were so great as made all the three places aforesaid so much frequented; it being easier to pay their devotions here, than go so long a journey; all which indulgences and pardons may be seen in Fox's Acts and Monuments, fo. 1075."

In Bishop Bale's singular play of Kynge Johan, published by the Camden Society, the King charges the clery with extorting money

"For legacyes, trentalls with scalacely messysWhereby ye have made the people very assys."(p. 17.)

And Simon of Swineshead, after drinking the poison, says,—

"To send me to heaven god rynge the holye belle,And synge for my sowle a masse of Scala Celi,That I may clyme up aloft with Enoch and Heli."(p. 82.)

There are bulls of indulgence in Scala Coeli in Rymer's Fædera, xii. 565. 591. 672., xiii. 102.; but I can now only give the reference, as I have not that work in hand.

C.H. COOPER.

Cambridge, April 6, 1850

WATCHING THE SEPULCHRE

"T.W." (No. 20. p. 218.) will find no end of "Items" for watching the sepulchre, in the "Churchwardens' Accounts" before the Reformation, and during the reign of Queen Mary. At Easter it was the custom to erect a sepulchre on the north side of the chancel, to represent that of our Saviour. This was generally a temporary structure of wood; though in some churches there still remain elaborately ornamented ones of stone. Sometimes the founder's tomb was used for the purpose. In this sepulchre was placed on Good Friday the crucifix, and occasionally the host, with other emblems; and a person was employed to watch it till the morning of Easter Day, when it was taken out with great ceremony, in imitation of our Lord's resurrection. It was the payment for this watching that occurs continually in the Churchwardens' Accounts, and of which, it appears, Fuller could not understand the meaning. A paper on the subject of Easter sepulchres, by Mr. Venables, was read at the meeting of the Cambridge Camden Society in March, 1843, but I am not aware whether it has been printed. Some very curious "Items" on this subject are given in Britton's Redcliffe Church, which are quoted in the Oxford Glossary of Architecture. They are so illustrative, that I subjoin them, to give you an opportunity, if you please, of serving them up to your readers:—

"Item, That Maister Canynge hath deliver'd, this 4th day of July, in the year of Our Lord 1470, to Maister Nicholas Petters, Vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe, Moses Conterin, Philip Barthelmew, Procurators of St. Mary Redcliffe aforesaid, a new sepulchre, well gilt with gold, and a civer thereto.

"Item, An image of God Almighty rising out of the same sepulchre, with all the ordinance that 'longeth thereto; that is to say, a lathe made of timber and the iron work thereto.

"Item, Thereto 'longeth Heaven, made of timber and stained clothes.

"Item, Hell, made of timber, and the iron-work thereto, with Divels to the number of 13.

"Item, 4 knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in their hands; that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears, with 2 pavés.

"Item, 4 payr of angels' wings for 4 angels, made of timber and well painted.

"Item, The Fadre, the crown and visage, the ball with a cross upon it, well gilt with fine gould.

"Item, The Holy Ghost coming out of Heaven into the sepulchre.

"Item, 'Longeth to the 4 angels 4 chevelers."

Ducange (vol. vi. p. 195. new edit.) gives a detailed account of the service performed at the Easter sepulchres on the continent.

E. VEE.

Cambridge, March 27.

"Watching the Sepulchre" (No. 20. p. 318.).—At the present day, in most Roman Catholic countries it is the custom to exhibit in the principal churches at this period, and at Christmas, a kind of tableau of the entombment and of the birth of the Saviour. The figures are sometimes small, and at other times the size of life: generally coloured, and formed of wax, wood, stone, or other materials; and when artistically arranged, and judiciously lighted, form sometimes beautiful objects. I have no doubt the entry in the Churchwardens' Accounts of Waltham Abbey refers to a custom of the same kind, prevailing in the country before the Reformation. If the date of their entry were sought for, I have little doubt but that it would be found to have been about Easter. The sepulchre itself was often, I believe, a permanent erection of stone, and some of them probably now remain in the churches of England on the north side of the chancel, where they may sometimes be taken for the tombs of individuals there interred.

W.C. TREVELYAN.

Watching the Sepulchre.—In reply to "T.W.'s" Query in No. 20., I have witnessed at Florence the custom of dressing the sepulchre on the Thursday before Good Friday with the most beautiful flowers, many of which are reared especially for the purpose. The devout attend at the sepulchre, and make their prayers there throughout the day, the most profound silence being observed. The convents rival each other in the beauty of their decorations.

Do you think that the Churchwardens' entries in Fuller can refer to a similar custom?

The loveliness of the flowers, and their delightful perfume, which pervades the church, present a most soothing and agreeable type of death and the grave, under their Christian phase. I was always at a loss to understand why this was done on Thursday, instead of on Saturday; the latter being the day on which Our Lord rested in the sepulchre.

A.M.

QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 7

A new blunder of Mr. Malone.—I love the memory of Edmond Malone, albeit he sometimes committed blunders. He committed a pitiable blunder when he broke his bow in shooting at the worthless Samuel Ireland; and he committed an irreparable blunder when he whitewashed the monumental effigy of the matchless Shakspere. Of the blunder ascribed to him by a reverend querist (No. 14. p. 213) he was quite innocent.

Before we censure an author or editor, we should consult his own edition. He cannot be answerable for the errors of any other impression. Such, at least, is my notion of critical equity.

I shall now state the plain facts. Malone, in the first instance, printed the spurious declaration of John Shakspear in an imperfect state. (Plays and Poems of W.S., 1790, vol. i. part ii. p. 162.) He was soon afterwards enabled to complete it. (Ibid. vol. i. part ii. p. 330.) Steevens reprinted it entire, and without comment. (Plays of W.S., 1793, vol. ii. p. 300.) Now the editor of the Irish reimpression, who must have omitted to consult the edition of Steevens, merely committed a blunder in attempting to unite the two fragments as first published by Mr. Malone.

There was no audacious fabrication on the occasion—there is no mystery in the case! (No. 24. p. 386.) So, to stop the current of misconception, and economise space on future occasions, I venture to repeat a few words in suggesting as a canon of criticism:—Before we censure an author or editor we should consult his own edition.

BOLTON CORNEY.

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES

Compendyous Olde Treatyse.—"F.M." (No. 18. p. 277.) will find this tract reprinted (with the exception of the preface and verses) in Foxe's Acts and Monuments; a portion once peculiar to the first edition of 1563, p. 452., but now appearing in the reprint of 1843, vol. iv. p. 671-76., which may be of some service in the absence of the original tract.

NOVUS.

Hordys (No. 5. p. 157.).—I have waited till now in hopes of seeing an answer from some more competent pen than my own to the Query as to the meaning of the word "hordys," by your correspondent "J.G.;" but having been disappointed, I venture a suggestion which occurred to me immediately on reading it, viz. that "hordys" might be some possible or impossible derivation from hordeum, and applied "irreverently" to the consecrated host, as though it were no better than a common barley-cake.

Whether in those early days and in Ireland, the host was really made of barley, and whether "hordys" was a name given to some kind of barley-cake then in vogue, or (supposing my suggestion to be well founded) a word coined for the occasion, may perhaps be worthy of investigation.

A.R.

Kenilworth, April 5.

Eachard's Tracts.—The Rev. George Wyatt, who inquires (No. 20. p. 320.) about Eachard's Tracts, will probably get all the information he wants from the Life of Eachard prefixed to the collected edition of his Works in three volumes, which I am sorry I have not the means at present of referring to.

"I.O.," to whom the last of the tracts is addressed, is Dr. John Owen.

Philatus (what objection is there to Latinising, in the usual way, the Greek termination os?) is, of course, intended for Hobbes; and, to convey Eachard's opinion of him, his opponent in the Dialogue is Timothy, a God-honourer.

Let me add, as you have headed Mr. Wyatt's communication "Tracts attributed to Eachard," thereby casting a doubt upon his authorship, that there is no doubt about Dr. John Eachard being the author of all the tracts which Mr. Wyatt enumerates; nor was there any concealment by Eachard. His authorship of the Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy is notorious. The "Epistle Dedicatory," signed "J.E.," mentioned by Mr. Wyatt as prefixed to the Dialogue on Hobbes' State of Nature, refers also to the five subsequent letters. These were published at the same time with the Dialogue on Hobbes, in one volume, and are answers to attacks on the Grounds and Occasions, &c. The Epistle Dedicatory is addressed to Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, "and," says Eachard, "I hope my dialogue will not find the less acceptance with your Grace for these Letters which follow after."

The second edition of the volume I have by me, published in 1672: the title, Mr. Hobbes's State of Nature considered, &c.; to which are added, Five Letters from the Author of "The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy."

C.

Masters of St. Cross.—In reply to "H. EDWARDS" (No. 22. p. 352.), A List of the Masters of St. Cross, I believe, is given in Browne Willis's Mitred Abbies, vol. i.; but the most correct and perfect list is in the Sketches of Hampshire, by the late John Duthy, Esq. Henry or Humfrey de Milers is the first master whose name is recorded, and nothing further is known of him: between Bishop Sherborne and Bishop Compton there were thirteen masters.

F.J.B.

Has "H. EDWARDS" seen the History of St. Cross Hospital, by Mr. Moody, published within the last six months? It may materially assist him.

JOHN R. FOX

A living Dog better than a dead Lion.—Your correspondent "MR. JOHN SANSOM" may, perhaps, accept the following as an answer to the first part of his Query (No. 22. p. 352.). In an ancient MS. preserved in the archives of the see of Ossory, at fol. 66., is entered, in a hand of the latter part of the fourteenth century, a list of ancient proverbs under the following heading:—

"Eux sount les proverbes en fraunceys conferme par auctorite del Dibil?

"Chers amys receiuez de moyUn beau present q vo' envoy,Non pas dor ne dargentMais de bon enseignment,Que en escriptur ai troveE de latin translatee, &c. &c."

Amongst them is the following:—

"Meux valt un chien sein e fortQe un leoun freid e mort;E meux valt povert od bountexQe richeste od malueiste."

Jesus, the Son of Sirak, is not, however, the authority for this proverb; it occurs in the 9th chapter of Ecclesiastes and 4th verse.

And now, to ask a question in turn, what is meant by "auctorite del Dibil?"

JAMES GRAVES.

Kilkenny.

Monumental Brass (No. 16. p. 247.).—On the floor of the Thorncombe church, in the co. of Devon, is a splendid brass, representing Sir T. Brooke, and Joan, his wife, dated respectively 1419 and 1436. At the lower corner of the lady's robe is engraven a small dog, with a collar and bells. May not these figures be the private mark of the artist?

S.S.S.

The Wickliffite Version of the Scriptures.—I have in my possession a very fair MS. of Wickliff's translation of the New Testament; and should the editors of the Wickliffite Versions like to see my MS., and let me know to whom I may send it, I shall be happy to lend it them.

DANIEL ROCK.

Buckland, Faringdon.

Hever (pp. 269. 342.).—In confirmation of the meaning assigned to this word, there is an estate near Westerham, in Kent, called "Hever's-wood."

S.S.S.

Steward Family (No. 21. p. 335.).—Though not an answer to his question, "O.C." may like to be informed that the arms of the impalement in the drawing which he describes are (according to Izacke's Exeter) those which were borne by Ralph Taxall, Sheriff of Devon, in 1519. Pole calls him Texshall. Modern heralds give the coat to Pecksall of Westminster. If a conjecture may be hazarded, I would suggest that the coat was a modification of the ancient arms of Batishull: a crosslet in saltier, between four owls.

S.S.S.

Gloves (No. 5. p. 72.).—In connection with the subject of the presentation of gloves, I would refer your correspondents to the curious scene in Vicar's Parliamentary Chronicle, where "Master Prynne," on his visit to Archbishop Laud in the Tower in May 1643, accepts "a fair pair of gloves, upon the Archbishop's extraordinary pressing importunity;" a present which, under the disagreeable circumstances of the interview, seems to have been intended to convey an intimation beyond that of mere courtesy.

S.S.S.

Cromlech.—As your learned correspondent "Dr. TODD" (No. 20. p. 319.) queries this word, I think it is very doubtful whether the word was in use, or not, before the period mentioned (16th century). Dr. Owain Pughe considered the word "cromlech" (crwm-llech, an inclined or flat stone,) to be merely a popular name, having no reference to the original purpose of the structure. The only Triadic name that will apply to the cromlechs, is maen ketti (stone chests, or arks), the raising of which is described as one of "The three mighty labours of the Isle of Britain."

GOMER.

Watewich (pp. 60. 121. 236.).—May not "Watewich" be Waterbeach?

S.S.S.

"By Hook or by Crook."—I imagine that the expression "By hook or by crook" is in very general use throughout England. It was familiar to my ear forty years ago in Surrey, and within these four years its origin was (to my satisfaction at the moment) brought home to my comprehension in the North of Devon, where the tenant of a certain farm informed me that, by an old custom, he was entitled to take wood from some adjoining land "by hook and crook;" which, on inquiry, I understood to include, first, so much underwood as he could cut with the hook or bill, and, secondly, so much of the branches of trees as he could pull down with the aid of a crook.

Whether this crook originally meant the shepherd's crook (a very efficient instrument for the purpose), or simply such a crook-ed stick as boys use for gathering hazel-nuts, is not very material. It seems highly probable that, in the vast forests which once overspread this country, the right of taking "fire bote" by "hook or crook" was recognised; and we can hardly wish for a more apt illustration of the idea of gaining a desired object by the ordinary means—"a hook," if it lay close to our hand; or, by a method requiring more effort, "a crook," if it were a little beyond our reach.

J.A.S.

By Hook or by Crook (pp. 205, 237. 281. &c.).—In confirmation of this phrase having reference to forest customs, my hind told me that my plantations were plundered by hook or by crook, and he and I once caught a man in flagrante delicto, with a hook for cutting green wood, and a crook at the end of a long pole for breaking off dry branches, which could not be otherwise reached. For an early use of the term, see Bacon's Fortress of the Faithful, 1550.

"Whatsoever is pleasant or profitable must be theirs by hook or by crook."

S.S.S.

Tablet to Napoleon.—Will it assist "EMDEE's" interpretation of the inscription to Napoleon (No. 17 p. 262.) if I suggest that it may mean—Ægyptiaco bis, Italico semper invicto?

C.I.R.

Feb. 25.

Lines on Pharaoh (No. 19. p. 298.).—I beg to inform "J.T.," that the well-known couplet about Pharaoh, and rascal rhyming to pascal, are from a certain History of the Bible, or Bible History, by the Rev. Dr. Zachary Boyd, of Todrig, who was either Principal or Professor of Divinity at Glasgow in the seventeenth century.

He left considerable property to the College there, on condition that his bust should be placed in the quadrangle, and his great work printed under the care of the Academical Senatus. The bust was placed accordingly, and is, or lately was, to be seen in a niche over the inner doorway. The History was also printed, it is said, but never published. However, curious visitors have always, I believe, been allowed a peep into it—whether the MS. or the solitary printed book, I am not sure—and a few choice morsels are current. I recollect one stave of the lamentation of Jonah—

"Lord! what a doleful place is this!There's neither coal nor candle;And nothing I but fishes' tripesAnd greasy guts do bandle."

I think it a shame that the Maitland Club of Glasgow has not, ere now, volunteered an edition of Zachary's immortal performance. The Senatus would hardly object (if the expense were undertaken), as the circulation would be confined to true Scots.

PHILOBODIUS.

[The following communication from a very competent authority, and the very passage quoted by "PHILOBODIUS" himself, quite justify the non-publication of Zachary's doggrel.]

Zachary Boyd (No. 19. p. 298.).—Your notice of Zachary Boyd, and his extraordinary paraphrase of the Bible in the College at Glasgow, has reminded me of my having examined that strange work, and found ample cause for its not being published, though a sufficient sum was bequeathed for that purpose. The whole doggrel is only calculated to bring ridicule and contempt upon the Scriptures; but there are, besides, passages such as refer to Job's "Curse God, and die;" to Jeshuram waxing fat; to Jonah in the whale's belly; and other parts, which utterly unfit the MS. for decent perusal.

W. JERDAN.

Welsh Ambassador.—The origin of the word "Welsh," from the Saxon "Wealh," a stranger, and the use of it in this sense by our old writers (see Brady's Introd., p. 5.: Sir T. Smith's Commonwealth of England, chap. xiii.), sufficiently explain this designation of the Cuckoo, the temporary resident of our cold climate, and the ambassador extraordinary in the revolutions of the seasons, in the words of the Nursery Rhymes,—

"She comes as a stranger, and stays three months in the year."

"Quid tibi vis aliud dicam? me vox mea prodit."

Alciati, Emblema lx. Cuculi, Comment.

T.J.

Prince Madoc.—I was much gratified on reading "T.T.'s" note, commenting on my observations respecting the Mandan language, as he proves the existence of Celtic words amongst the American Indians. Regarding "T.T.'s" doubts as to the Mandans being descended from the followers of Madoc, I confess that my opinions on the point do not differ very widely from his own. The circumstances attending Madoc's emigration, in the paucity of its numbers and the entire separation from the mother country, with the character of the Indians, would almost ensure the ultimate destruction of the settlement, or the ultimate absorption of its remains by those who might have had friendly relations with the Welsh. In this most favourable view, the evidences of the presence of the Welsh seven centuries since would be few indeed at the present day. The most striking circumstance of this nature that I met with in Mr. Catlin's work, is a description of what he calls a "bull-boat," from its being covered with a bull's hide, which, in construction and form, is perfectly identical with the Welsh "cwrygl." Yet, strong as this resemblance is, it will have but little weight if unsupported by other evidence. In conclusion, I would observe, that I never supposed Prince Madoc to be the discover of America, but that his voyage was induced by the knowledge that other lands existed in the great ocean (see Humboldt's Examen critique). The emblems found in America, and said to be crosses, are obviously the tau [cross symbol], or symbol of life, and can have no connection with Christianity.

GOMER.

Poghell (No. 12. p. 186.).—In Cornwall and Devon there are places called Poughill or Poghill,—in Domesday, Pochelle; and in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica, Pockehulle and Pogheheulle. The etymology of the word, I take to be merely the addition (as is often found) of the Anglo-Saxon hill, or hull, to the old Teutonic word Pock, or Pok, an eruption or protrusion. In low Latin, Pogetum is colliculus. (See Ducange.)

S.S.S.

Swingeing Tureen (No. 19. p. 211., and No. 21. p. 340.).—How could "SELEUCUS" "conclude" that Goldsmith's "Poor Beau Tibbs and Kitty his Wife," should have had "a silver tureen" of expensive construction? It is evident that "Kitty's" husband, in the "Haunch of Venison," was the Beau Tibbs of the "Citizen of the World." There can be no doubt that, however the word be spelled, the meaning is swingeing, "huge, great," which I admit was generally, if not always, in those days spelled swinging, as in Johnson—"Swinging, from swinge, huge, great;" but which ought to be, as it is pronounced, swingeing.

Tureen (pp. 246. 307. 340.).—"And instead of soup in a China terrene." (Knox, Essay 57 Works. vol. ii. p. 572.)

S.S.S.

"A" or "An."—Quem Deus vult perdere.—Allow me to refer your correspondents "PRISCIAN" and "E.S. JACKSON" (of No. 22.), to the Selections from the Gentleman's Magazine, London, 1814, vol. ii. pp. 333. and 162., for some interesting papers on the subjects of their respective inquiries.

The paper first referred to, at p. 333., is certainly well worth perusal, as the writer, "KUSTER," has examined the question with considerable care, and proves, by many curious instances, that most of those whom we have been taught to look up to as the greatest authorities in English writing—Dryden, Swift, Pope, Johnson, and others—seem to have had no fixed rule on the subject, but to have used "a" or "an" before the same words with the most reckless inconsistency.

The second paper, at p. 162., gives a more detailed account of the adage, "Quem Deus (potius Jupiter) vult perdere," &c., than "F.C.B." (whose object, of course, was rather to compare results than to trace derivations) has supplied in his interesting communication.

C. FORBES.

MISCELLANEOUS

NOTES ON BOOKS, CATALOGUES, SALES, ETC

Such of our readers as do not possess Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, which Mr. Way, a very competent authority, lately designated in our columns as Mr. Halliwell's "useful glossarial collections," will be glad to learn that Mr. Russell Smith has announced a second and cheaper edition of it.

The new number of the Archæological Journal is a very interesting one. That portion if it, more particularly, which relates the Proceedings of the Meetings of the Archæological Institute, contains a great mass of curious and valuable information; made the more available and instructive by means of the admirable woodcuts by which it is illustrated.