Notes and Queries, Number 34, June 22, 1850

After the death of Simpson, the Rev. John Lawson, who appears to have inherited no small portion of the spirit of his predecessors, began to take the lead in geometrical speculations; and having himself carefully studied the principal writings of the ancient geometers, now formed the happy project of unfolding these treasures of antiquity to the general reader, by presenting him with English translations of most of these valuable remains. With this view he published a translation of Vieta's restoration of Apollonius on Tangencies, in 1764, and to this, in the second edition of 1771, was added the Treatise on Spherical Tangencies, by Fermat, which has since been reprinted in the Appendix to the Ladies' Diary for 1840. In 1767 appeared Emerson's Treatise on Conic Sections; a work which, notwithstanding its manifest defects, contributed not a little to aid the student in his approaches to the higher geometry, but whose publication would probably have been rendered unnecessary, had Dr. Simson so far loosened himself from the trammels of the age, as to have written his own admirable treatise in the English language. The frequency, however, with which Mr. Emerson's treatise has been quoted, almost up to the present date, would appear to justify the propriety of including it amongst the means by which the study of geometry was promoted during the last generation. The success which attended Mr. Lawson's first experiment induced him to proceed in his career of usefulness by the publication, in 1772, of the Treatise on Determinate Section; to which was appended an amended restoration of the same work by Mr. William Wales, the well-known geometer, who attended Captain Cook as astronomer, in one of his earlier voyages. In 1773 appeared the Synopsis of Data for the Construction of Triangles, which was followed in 1774 by his valuable Dissertations on the Geometrical Analysis of the Ancients; and although the author used an unjustifiable freedom with the writings of others, Dr. Stewart's more especially, it is nevertheless a work which probably did more to advance the study of the ancient geometry than any other separate treatise which could be named. As these publications became distributed amongst mathematicians, the Magazines, the Diaries, and various other periodicals, began to show the results of the activity which had thus been created; geometrical questions became much more abundant, and a numerous list of contributions appeared which afford ample proof that their able authors had entered deeply into the spirit of the ancient geometry. During the year 1777 Mr. Lawson issued the first portion of Dr. Simson's restoration of Euclid's Porisms, translated from the Opera Reliqua of that distinguished geometer; and though the work was not continued, sufficient had already been done to furnish the generality of students with a clue to the real nature of this celebrated enigma of antiquity. The last of these worthy benefactors to the non-academic geometers of the last century was Mr. Reuben Burrow, who by publishing in 1779 his Restitution of Apollonius Pergæus on Inclinations gave publicity to a valuable relic which would otherwise have remained buried in the Latin obscurity of Dr. Horsley's more elaborate production.

During the greater portion of the time just reviewed, Mr. Jeremiah Ainsworth was resident in the neighbourhood of Manchester, and so early as 1761 was in correspondence with the editors of the Mathematical Magazine. He subsequently associated with Mr. George Taylor, a gentleman of kindred habits, then resident in the immediate vicinity, and these worthy veterans of science, as time wore on, collected around them a goodly array of pupils and admirers, and hence may truly be said not only to have laid the foundation of the "Oldham Society," but also to have been the fathers of the Lancashire school of geometers. Such then was the state of affairs in the mathematical world at the period of which we are speaking; all the works just enumerated were attracting the attention of all classes of students by their novelty or elegance; Dr. Hutton and the Rev. Charles Wildbore had the management of the Diaries, each vieing with the other in offering inducements for geometrical research; whilst both, in this respect, for a time, had to contend against the successful competition of Reuben Burrow, the talented editor of Carnan's Diary: correspondents consequently became numerous and widely extended, each collecting around him his own select circle of ardent inquirers; and thus it was, to use the words of Mr. Harvey, and answer the questions proposed, that inquiries which had hitherto been "locked up in the deep, and to them unapproachable recesses of Plato, Pappus, Apollonius and Euclid * * porisms and loci, sections of ratio and of space, inclinations and tangencies,—subjects confined among the ancients to the very greatest minds, (became) familiar to men whose condition in life was, to say the least, most unpropitious for the successful prosecution of such elevated and profound pursuits."

The preceding sketch is respectfully submitted as an attempt to answer the queries of Pen-and-Ink, so far as Lancashire is concerned. It is not improbable that other reasons, equally cogent, or perhaps corrective of several of the preceding, may be advanced by some of your more learned correspondents, whose experience and means of reference are superior to my own. Should any such be induced to offer additions or corrections to what is here attempted, and to extend the inquiry into other localities, your pages will afford a most desirable medium through which to compare notes on a very imperfectly understood but most important subject of inquiry.

T. T. Wilkinson.

Burnley, Lancashire, June 5. 1850.

QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 8

Passing over various queries of early date, on which it has been my intention to offer some suggestions, I have endeuoyred me, as Master Caxton expresses it, to illustrate three subjects recently mooted.

Trianon (No. 27.).—The origin of this name is thus stated by M. Dolort, in his excellent work entitled Mes voyages aux environs de Paris, ii. 88.

"Le grand Trianon.—Appelé au 13e siècle Triarmun, nom d'une ancienne paroisse, qui était divisée en trois villages dépendant du diocèse de Chartres. Cette terre, qui appartenait aux moines de Sainte-Geneviève, fut achetée par Louis XIV. pour agrandir le parc de Versailles, et plus tard il y fit coustruire le château."

Wood paper (No. 32.).—At the close of the last century a patent was granted to Matthias Koops for the manufacture of paper from straw, wood, &c. In September 1800, he dedicated to the king a Historical account of the substances which have been used to describe events, in small folio. The volume is chiefly printed on paper made from straw; the appendix is on paper made from wood alone. Both descriptions of paper have borne the test of time extremely well. Murray, in his Practical remarks on modern paper, speaks of Koops and his inventions with much ignorance and unfairness.

Tobacco in the East (No. 33.).—Relying on the testimony of Juan Fragoso, physician to Felipe II. of Spain, I venture to assert that tobacco is not indigenous to the East. To the same effect writes Monardes. Nevertheless, it was cultivated in Java as early as the year 1603. Edmund Scott, factor for the East India Company at Bantam, thus describes the luxuries of the Javans:—

"They are very great eaters—and they haue a certaine hearbe called bettaile which they vsually have carryed with them wheresoeuer they goe, in boxes, or wrapped vp in cloath like a suger loafe: and also a nutt called pinange, which are both in operation very hott, and they eate them continually to warme them within, and keepe them from the fluxe. They doe likewise take much tabacco, and also opium."—An exact discovrse etc. of the East Indians, London, 1606. 4o. Sig. N. 2.

Bolton Corney.

MEANING OF "BAWN."

Bawn (Vol. i, p. 440.) has been explained as "the outer fortification, inclosing the court-yard of an Irish castle or mansion, and was generally composed of a wall with palisadoes, and sometimes flankers."

The word bawn or bane (the a pronounced as in the English word hat) is still applied in the south of Ireland to the spot of ground used as a place for milking the cows of a farm, which, for obvious reasons, is generally close to the farm-house. Before the practice of housing cattle became general, every country gentleman's house had its bawn or bane. The necessity for having such a place well fenced, and indeed fortified, in a country and period when cattle formed the chief wealth of all parties, and when the country was infested by Creaghadores and Rapparees, is obvious; and hence the care taken in compelling the "undertakers in Ulster" to have at least "a good bawn after the Irish fashion." In Munster the word bane or bawn is used to express land that has been long in grass; tholluff bawn being used to signify grass land about to be brought into cultivation; and tholluff breagh, or red land, land which has been recently turned. To redden land is still used to express either to plough land, or, more generally, to turn land with the spade.

Now the milking field was, and is always kept in grass, and necessarily receiving a good deal of manure, would usually be white from the growth of daisies and white clover. Hence such a field would be called the white field: and from this to the general application of the phrase to grass land the transition is easy and natural. It may be proper to add, that in Kerry, particularly, the word is pronounced bawn, in speaking Irish; but the same person will call it bane, if mentioning such land in English. The a in the latter word is, as I said before, pronounced like the a in hat.

The Irish for a cow being bo, the phrase may have had its origin therefrom. On this matter, as on all relating to Irish antiquities, the readers of "Notes and Queries" may be glad to have a sure person to refer to; and they cannot refer to a more accomplished Irish scholar and antiquarian than "Eugene Curry". His address is, "Royal Irish Academy, Grafton Street, Dublin."

Kerriensis.

Replies To Minor Queries

Births, Marriages, &c., Taxes on (Vol. ii., p. 10.).—The first instance, that I am aware of, of a tax on marriages in this country, occurs in the 5 of Wm. and Mary, c. 21. The war in which William engaged soon rendered it necessary to tax other incidents of humanity; and accordingly the 6 & 7 Wm. III. c. 6. was passed, granting to his Majesty certain rates and duties upon marriages, births, deaths, and burials, and upon bachelors and widowers (a widely-spread net), for the term of five years, "for carrying on the war against France with vigour." The taxes on births, marriages, and burials were continued indefinitely by the 7 & 8 Wm. III. c. 35. I know not when this act was repealed; but by the 23 George III. c. 67., taxes were again imposed on burials, births, marriages, and christenings; and by 25 George III. c. 75. these taxes were extended to Dissenters. By the 34 George III. c. 11., the taxes were repealed, and they ceased on October 1st, 1794. The entries in the parish register noticed by Arun, refer to these taxes. Query, Were our ancestors justified in boasting that they were "free-born" Englishmen as long as one of these taxes existed?

C. Ross.

M. or N. (Vol. i., p. 415.).—These must, I think, be the initials of some words, and not originating in a corruption of nom, as suggested. We have in the marriage service:—

"'I publish the banns of marriage between M. of – and N. of –.'"The curate shall say unto the man,"M. 'Wilt thou have this woman,' &c."The priest shall say unto the woman,"N. 'Wilt thou have this man,' &c."The man says: 'I, M. take thee N. to my wedded wife,' &c."The woman says: 'I, N. take thee M. to my wedded husband,'" &c.Again, "Forasmuch as M. and N. have consented together," &c.

All these passages would go to show that the letters are initials either of some word by which the sex was denoted, or of some very common Christian names of each sex, which were formerly in use.

I grant that, in the baptismal service, N. may possibly stand for nomen.

Thos. Cox.

Preston.

Arabic Numerals.—I am not entitled to question either the learning or the "acumen" of the Bishop of Rochester; but I am entitled to question the interpretation which E. S. T. tells us (Vol. ii., p.27.) he puts upon the Castleacre inscription. My title to do so is this:—that in the year of grace 1084 the Arabic numerals were not only of necessity unknown to the "plaisterers" of those walls, but even (as far as evidence has been yet adduced) to the most learned of England's learned men.

As to the regular order in crossing himself, that will entirely depend upon whether the plaister was considered to be a knight's shield, and the figures the blazonry, or not. Is it not, indeed, stated in one of your former numbers, that this very inscription was to be read 1408, and not 1048? I have already hinted at the necessity of caution in such cases; and Mr. Wilkinson of Burnley has given, in a recent number of your work, two exemplifications. The Bishop of Rochester certainly adds another; though, of course, undesignedly.

T. S. D.

Shooter's Hill, June 7.

Comment. in Apocalypsin (Vol. i., p. 452.).—There was a copy of this volume in the library of the Duke of Brunswick; and in the hope that Sir F. Madden may succeed in obtaining extracts, or a sight of it, I intimate just as much, though not in this kingdom. (See Von der Hardt's Autographa Lutheri et Coætaneorum, tom. iii. 171.) You do not seem to have any copy whatever brought to your notice. This collection was, it appears from the Centifolium Lutheranum of Fabricius (p. 484.), bequeathed by the Duke to the library at Helmstad.

Novus.

Robert Deverell (Vol. i., p. 469.).—If my information is too scanty to deserve a place among the Replies, you may treat it as a supplement to Dr. Rimbault's Query. Mr. Deverell also published (according to Lowndes) A New View of the Classics and Ancient Arts, tending to show the invariable Connexion with the Sciences, 4to. Lond. 1806; and Discoveries in Hieroglyphics and other Antiquities, 6 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1813,—which was suppressed by the author after a few copies had been sold. I have the second and third volumes, being all that relates to Shakspeare. They consist of an edition of Hamlet, Lear, Othello, Merchant of Venice, and the third satire of Horace, copiously illustrated with notes and woodcuts, intended to prove that in the works in question, in common with "all the classics and the different specimens of the arts which have come down to us from the ancients, no part of them is to be understood without supposing that they were mere vehicles of knowledge, not intended to meet the eye or the understanding on the first inspection or perusal;" in short, that all the phrases, characters, and incidents are merely allusions to the appearances of the moon! a representation of which, and of Shakspearian characters, &c., bearing supposed resemblance to its lights and shadows, form the staple of the illustrations. I collect from passages in these volumes, that the first was devoted to a similar illustration of Hudibras. The whole affair seems to afford indications of insanity. In the Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors, 8vo., Lond. 1816, I find that in 1802 he was returned to Parliament by the borough of Saltash, in Cornwall: and from the same authority it also appears that, in addition to the works above noticed, he was the author of A Guide to the Knowledge of the Ancients, 1803, and A letter to Mr. Whitbread on two Bills pending in Parliament, 8vo. 1807.

J. F. M.

The Hippopotamus.—The Scotch Kilt.—I was on the point of addressing a Minor Query to you, when No. 33. arrived, and therein I saw a Major Query from L. (p.36.), which prompts an immediate answer. He asks, "Has there been a live hippopotamus in Europe since the reign of Commodus?" To be sure there has, and Capitolinus would have set him right. A goodly assemblage of animals of all sorts was collected by Gordianus Pius, but used by the elder Philip, for the celebration of the secular games on the 1000th anniversary of the building of Rome, or A.D. 248. Among them were 32 elephants, 10 tigers, 10 elks, 60 lions, 30 leopards, 10 hyænas, 1 hippopotamus, 1 rhinoceros, 40 wild horses, 20 wild asses, and 10 giraffes, with a vast quantity of deer, goats, antelopes, and other beasts. "And," it is added in Captain Smyth's Roman Catalogue, "still further to increase the public hilarity, 2000 gladiators were matched in mortal affray."

The portrait of the hippopotamus exhibited on that splendid occasion is well represented upon the large brass medals of Otacilia Severa, Philip's wife, and on those of their son, Philip Junior. That of Otacilia is described at length in Captain Smyth's work.

Now for my Minor Query. Can you, Sir, or any of your intelligent correspondents, oblige me by saying who introduced the kilt into Scotland and when? However it may wound local prejudice, I fear our northern brethren will find its use to be much more recent than they seem willing to be aware of. At present I will not put a rider on the question, by asking, whether an Englishman first gave it them: but perhaps you, Sir, will sift it thoroughly, even although a whole corps of rabid MacNicolls should enter the field against you.

Σ

Ashes to Ashes (Vol. ii., p. 22.).—The word is taken from Genesis, xviii. 27.:

"I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes."

It is plain that this has nothing to do with the treatment of the corpse; but that whatever the exact meaning of the word in Hebrew may be, it is synonymous with dust. As to dust, this is perfectly plain in Genesis, iii. 19.:

"Till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Here burial seems to be distinctly meant.

The Latin word cinis, which denotes ashes produced by burning, is derived from the Greek, which denotes natural dust, I forget whether burnt ashes also.

C. B.

Dr. Maginn's Miscellanies (Vol. i., p. 470.).—Mr. Tucker Hunt (brother of Mr. F. Knight Hunt, author of The Fourth Estate, a History of Newspapers, &c. &c.) showed me some years since a collections of these papers from various sources, which he proposed to publish, and which I was very glad to learn, as I had always regretted that Dr. Maginn had left no memorial of his splendid talents in a seperate publication, but frittered away his genius in periodicals. As "J. M. B." appears very anxious to obtain an authentic reference to any article contributed by the Dr., I think if he could communicate with Mr. Tucker Hunt, it might be of great assistance. I have not the latter's address, but probably a note to the care of his brother's publisher, "D. Bogue, Fleet Street", might lead to a communication.

W. H. Lammin.

Fulham, June 5. 1850

Living Dog better than a dead Lion.—For an answer to my Query at Vol. i., pp. 352. 371., where I asked for the authority upon which Baunez gave Homer credit for the expression (which is evidently none of his), "quod leoni mortuo etiam lepores insultant," a friend has referred me to Antholog. Græc.. 8vo. Lipsiæ, 1794, tom. iv. p. 112.; out of which you may, perhaps, think it not too late to insert the following Epigr. xi.

"Ὡς ἀπὸ Ἕκτορος τιτρωσκομένου ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων,Βάλλετε νῦν μετὰ πότμον ἐμὸν δέμας. ὅττι καὶ αὐταὶΝεκροῦ σῶμα λέοντος ἐφυβρίζουσι λαγωοί."J. Sansom.

Gaol Chaplains (Vol. ii., p. 22.) were made universal by act of parliament in the fourth year of George IV. Before that they may have existed in some places. In Gloucestershire from 1786.

C. B.

Rome Ancient and Modern (Vol. ii., p. 21.)—Such a map as your correspondent A. B. M. describes, was at Rome in 1827. It was by Vasi. I got it, but never saw it in England.

C. B.

Trianon (Vol. ii., p. 47.).—In justice to myself, and in reply to your correspondent C., who believes I have "not the slightest authority" for my explanation of the word Trianon, I beg to refer him to the French dictionaries, in some of which, at all events, he will find it thus written: Trianon, subst. masc., a pavilion.

J. K. R. W.

Miscellanies

Aboriginal Chambers near Tilbury (Vol. i., p. 462.).—Mr. Cook, of Abeley, Essex, having seen this Query, which had been kindly quoted into The Athenæum of the 25th ultimo, communicated to that journal on Saturday, June 1st, the following information respecting two of these caves, the result of a personal examination of them:—

"The shafts are five in number; and are situated at the edge of Hanging Wood, in the parish of Chadwell, about three miles from Grays Pier. I descended two of them in 1847, by means of a rope and pulley fixed to the branch of a neighbouring tree,—taking the precaution to have a lighted lanthorn swinging a few yards beneath me. They were between eighty and ninety feet in depth,—their diameter at the top six feet, gradually diminishing to three feet at the bottom. There was a great deal of drift sand at the bottom of the shaft, extending a considerable way up, which nearly blocked up the entrance to the chambers. By treading down the sand I soon gained an entrance, and found five chambers communicating with the shaft—three on one side and two on the other. In form they were nearly semicircular. Their dimensions were small, not exceeding thirty feet in length by fifteen in width, but very lofty; they were quite dry and free from foul air. The chambers in both shafts corresponded exactly with each other in size, form, and number. I trust this brief account may be of some service to those gentlemen who intend to explore them, and should be most happy to afford any assistance in my power."

Mistake in Conybeare and Howson's Life of St. Paul.—In the splendid and learned Life of St. Paul, now publishing by Messrs. Longmans, there occurs in a note a broad assertion, but quite erroneous, which may mislead those who would be inclined to take it without examination, induced by the general accuracy and learning of the work. At page 35, note 1., the writer says, "It is remarkable that the Sadducees are mentioned in no other books of the New Testament, except St. Matthew and the Acts." I mentioned this as a fact to a friend, who immediately remembered a passage in St. Luke, chap. xx. v. 27.: "Then came to him certain of the Sadducees," &c. I then turned out Sadducees in Cruden, and there found only Matthew and Acts referred to. On looking at the passage of St. Mark parallel to the abovementioned of St. Luke, I read, "Then came unto him the Sadducees," &c. (xii. 18.) The note, therefore, should end, "except the first three Gospels and the Acts."

E. S. Jackson.

Miscellaneous

NOTES ON BOOKS, CATALOGUES, SALES, ETC

The Rev. W. Haslam, the author of Perran Zabuloe, has just issued a little volume entitled The Cross and the Serpent, being a brief History of the Triumph of the Cross through a long Series of Ages in Prophecy, Types, and Fulfilments. Though the present work belongs to one of the two classes which, for obvious reasons, we do not undertake to notice in our columns, there is so much of curious matter illustrative of Folk Lore, early remains, and old-world customs, in the third part of it, as to justify our directing the attention of our antiquarian readers to the archæology of the volume. The Druidic Beltein or Midsummer Fire still burns brightly, it appears, in Cornwall. We shall endeavour to transfer to our Folk Lore columns some passages on this and other cognate subjects.

Mr. Russell Smith announces a series of Critical and Historical Tracts on the subject of, I. Agincourt; II. First Colonists of New England (this is already issued); and III. Milton, a Sheaf of Gleanings after his Biographers and Annotators. The name of Joseph Hunter, F.S.A., which figures upon their title-pages, is a sufficient warrant that they will deserve the attention of the historical student.