Notes and Queries, Number 50, October 12, 1850

"Digammaticæ doctrinæ idem accidit. In his Popius eam in ludibrium vertit, &c. Sed eximius Poeta neque in veteribus suæ ipsius linguæ, nedum Græcæ monumentis versatus, tantum scilicet de antiqua illa litera vidit, quantum de Shakespearii SAGITTARIO."

W.W.

Daniel's Irish New Testament.—F.G.X. will be much obliged for information on the following points:—

1. Which is the most correct edition, as to printing and orthography, of Daniel's Irish New Testament?

2. Does the edition now on sale by the Bible Society bear the character for incorrectness as to these points, which, judged by itself, it appears to deserve, or is it really, though "bad, the best?"

3. F.G.X. is far advanced with an Irish Testament Concordance. Can any one possessed of the requisite information give him hope of the acceptableness of such a publication? He should expect it to be chiefly useful to clerical Irish students in acquiring a knowledge of words and construction; but the lists of Irish Bibles disposed of of late years would lead to the supposition of its being desirable also as pointing out the place of passages to the native reader.

4. Does the Cambridge University Library contain a copy of the first edition of Daniel's translation?

Ale Draper—Eugene Aram.—In Hargrove's well-known history of Eugene Aram, the hero of Bulwer's still better known novel, one of the guilty associates of the Knaresborough murderer is designated as an "Ale Draper." As this epithet never presented itself in my reading, and as I am not aware that draper properly admits of any other definition than that given by Johnson, "one who deals in cloth," may I ask whether the word was ever in "good use" in the above sense?

My main purpose in writing, is to propound the foregoing Query; but while I have the pen in hand permit me to ask,—

1. Whether it be possible to read the celebrated "defence," so called, which was delivered by Aram on his trial at York, without concurring with the jury in their verdict, and with the judge in his sentence? In short, without a strong feeling that the prisoner would not have been hanged, but for that over-ingenious, and obviously evasive, address, in which the plain averment of "not guilty" does not occur.

2. Has not the literary character, especially the philological attainments, of this noted malefactor been vastly over-rated? And

3. Ought not the "memoirs" of "this great man" by Mr. Scatcherd to be ranked among the most remarkable attempts ever made, and surely made

"—in vain,To wash the murderer from blood-guilty stain?"D.

Rotherfield

Latin Epigram.—Can any of your correspondents inform me who was the author of the following epigram:—

IN MEMORIAM G.B.M.D."Te tandem tuus Oreus habet, quo civibus OreiGratius haud unquam misit Apollo caput;Quippe tuo jussu terras liquere, putantqueTartara se jussu linquere posse tuo."

The person alluded to was Sir W. Browne, M.D., the founder of the Browne medals in the University of Cambridge. Some old fellow of King's College may be able to inform me.

The medals were first given about the year 1780, and in the first year, I presume, out of respect to the memory of the donor, no subject was given for Epigrams. It has occurred to me, that perhaps some wag on that occasion sent the lines as a quiz.

W.S.

Richmond, Surrey

Couplet in De Foe—

"Restraint from ill is freedom to the wise,And good men wicked liberties despise."

This couplet is at the end of the second letter in De Foe's Great Law of Subordination, p. 42. Is it his own? If not, where did he get it?

N.B.

Books wanted to refer to.—

"Hollard's Travels (1715), by a French Protestant Minister, afterwards suppressed by the author."

"Thomas Bonnell, Mayor of Norwich, Life of."

"Canterbury, Letters and Memoirs on the Excommunication of two Heretics, 1698."

"The Book of Seventy-seven French Protestant Ministers, presented to Will'm III."

If any of your readers can refer me to the above works I shall be glad. They may be in the British Museum, although I have searched there in vain for them.

J.S.B.

Water-marks in Writing-paper.—Can any of your correspondents indicate any guide to the dating of paper by the water-mark. I think I have read of some work on that subject, but have no precise recollection about it. I have now before me several undated MSS. written on paper of which it would be very desirable to fix the exact date. They evidently belonged to Pope, Swift, and Lady M.W. Montague, as they contain their autographs. They are all of that size called Pro Patria, and two of them have as water-mark a figure of Britannia with a lion brandishing a sword within a paling, and the motto Pro Patria over the sword. Of one of these the opposite page has the initials GR, and the other has IX; but the paper has been cut off in the middle of the water-mark and only exhibits half the figure IV. Another sheet has the royal arms (1. England and Scotland impaled, 2. France, 3. Ireland, 4. the white horse of Hanover,) within the garter, and surmounted by the crown, and on the opposite page GR. within a crowned wreath. There is no doubt that they were all manufactured between 1715 and 1740; but is there any means of arriving at a more precise date?

C.

Puzzling Epitaph.—The following curious epitaph was found in a foreign cathedral:—

EPITAPHIUM."O quid tuæbe est biæ;ra ra raes et inram ram ramii."

The following is plainly the solution of the last four lines:—

ra, ra, ra, is thrice ra, i.e. ter-ra=terra.ram, ram, ram, is thrice ram, i.e. ter-ram=terram.ii is i twice, i.e. i-bis=ibis.

Thus the last four lines are,—

"Terra es et in terram ibis."

Can any one furnish a solution of the two first lines?

J. BDN.

[We would suggest that the first two lines are to be read "O super be, quid super est, tuæ super biæ," and the epitaph will then be—

"O superbe quid superest tuæ superbiæTerra es, et in terram ibis."—ED.]

MSS. of Cornish Language.—Are there any ancient MSS. of the Cornish language, or are there any works remaining in that language, besides the Calvary and Christmas Carol published by the late Davies Gilbert?

J.A. GILES.

Bilderdijk the Poet.—Banished from his native country, disowned by his own countrymen, the Dutch poet Willem Bilderdijk pitched his tent for a while on the hospitable soil of Old England. Prince William V. residing in 1795 at Hampton Court, he resolved to stay there; but, possessing no income at all, and, like the sage of antiquity, having saved nothing from the shipwreck but his genius, he shifted his dwelling-place to London, where he gave lessons in drawing, languages, and various, even medical, sciences. He was married in England to Katharine Wilhelmina Schweickhardt, on the 18th of May, 1797. His residence in the birthplace of "NOTES AND QUERIES" makes me ask, if there be still persons living, who remember him as teacher, friend, or poet? A presentation-copy of Mrs. Bilderdijk's translation of Rodrick, the Last of the Goths, was offered to Southey, accompanied by a Latin letter from her spouse. The poet-laureate visiting Leyden in the summer of 1825, Bilderdijk would not suffer him to remain lodged in the inn, where an injury to his leg urged him to favour the landlord with a protracted stay. Southey was transported accordingly to the Dutch poet's house; and did not leave it before he was cured, several weeks having elapsed in the meanwhile. Mention of this fact is made in a poem the British bard addresses to Cuninghame. I do not know whether it is alluded to in Southey's Life.

Bilderdijk's foot was crushed accidentally, in the sixth year of his age, by one of his play-fellows; and thus he, who, by his natural disposition seemed to be destined to a military career, was obliged to enlist in the militia togata. He fought the good fight in verse. It is remarkable that Byron and Sir Walter Scott, his cotemporaries, were also lame or limping.

JANUS DOUSA.

Egyptian MSS.—What is the age of the oldest MS. found in Egypt? Are there any earlier than the age of Alexander?

J.A. GILES.

Scandinavian Priesthood.—Will one of your correspondents do me the favour to let me know the best authority I can refer to for information as to the priesthood of the Scandinavians; the mode of their election, the rank from which they were generally chosen, whether they were allowed to marry, &c.?

MAX BRANDESON.

Thomas Volusemus (or Wilson?).—Is anything known of Thomas Volusemus (Wilson?) who edited the works of his father-in-law, Patrick Adamson, titular Archbishop of St. Andrew's, which were published in London A.D. 1619?

H.A.E.

REPLIES

CURFEW

We have received the following Replies to NABOC'S inquiry (Vol. ii., p. 103.) as to where the custom of ringing the curfew still remains.

Bingley in Yorkshire.—In the town of Bingley, in Yorkshire, the custom of ringing the curfew existed in the year 1824. It may have been discontinued since that year, but I do not know that it has.

It is also the custom at Blackburn, in Lancashire; and it was, if it is not now, at Bakewell in Derbyshire.

H.J.

Bromyard, Herefordshire.—The curfew is still rung at Bromyard, Herefordshire, at nine P.M., from the 5th of November, until Christmas Day; and the bell is afterwards tolled the number of the day of the month. Why it is merely confined to within the above days, I could never ascertain.

G.F.C.

Waltham-on-the-Wolds.—The curfew is still rung at Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Leicestershire, at five A.M., eight P.M. in summer, and at six A.M., seven P.M. in winter; the bell also tolling the day of the month.

R.J.S.

Oxfordshire.—I see that NABOC's inquiry about the curfew is answered at p. 175. by a reference to the Journal of the British Archæological Association. The list there is probably complete: but lest it should omit any, I may as well mention, from my own knowledge, Woodstock, Oxon, where it rings from eight to half-past eight in the evening, from October to March; Bampton and Witney, Oxon, and Stow, in Gloucester; at some of which places it is also rung at four in the morning.

C.

Chertsey, Surrey.—In the town of Chertsey in Surrey, the curfew is regularly tolled for a certain time at eight every evening, but only through the winter months. There is also a curious, if not an uncommon, custom kept up with regard to it. After the conclusion of the curfew, and a pause of half a minute, the day of the month is tolled out: one stroke for the 1st, two for the 2nd, and so on.

H.C. DE ST. CROIX.

Penrith.—The curfew bell continues to be rung at Penrith, in Cumberland, at eight o'clock in the evening, and is the signal for closing shops, &c.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.—The curfew is still rung by all the churches of Newcastle-upon-Tyne at eight in the evening; and its original use may be said to be preserved to a considerable extent, for the greater bulk of the shops make it a signal for closing.

G. BOUCHIER RICHARDSON.

Morpeth.—The curfew bell is still rung at eight P.M. at Morpeth in Northumberland.

E.H.A.

Exeter.—The curfew is rung in Exeter Cathedral at eight P.M.

The present practice is to toll the bell thirty strokes, and after a short interval to toll eight more; the latter, I presume, denoting the hour.

G.T.

Winchester.—Curfew is still rung at Winchester.

AN OLD COMMONER PREFECT.

Over, near Winsford, Cheshire.—The custom of ringing the curfew is still kept up at Over, near Winsford, Cheshire; and the parish church, St. Chads, is nightly visited for that purpose at eight o'clock. This bell is the signal amongst the farmers in the neighbourhood for "looking up" their cattle in the winter evenings; and was, before the establishment of a public clock in the tower of the Weaver Church at Winsford, considered the standard time by which to regulate their movements.

A READER.

[We are indebted to the courtesy of the Editor of the Liverpool Albion for this Reply, which was originally communicated to that paper.]

The Curfew, of which some inquiries have appeared in the "NOTES AND QUERIES," is generally rung in the north of England. But then it is also common in the south of Scotland. I have heard it in Kelso, and other towns in Roxburghshire. The latter circumstance would appear to prove that it cannot have originated with the Norman conqueror, to whom it is attributed.

W.

ENGELMANNS BIBLIOTHECA SCRIPTORUM CLASSICORUM

(Vol. ii., p. 296.)

The shortest reply to MR. DE MORGAN'S complaint against a foreign bookseller would be, that Engelmann himself printed for any of the purchasers of a large number of his Catalogues the titles to which MR. DE MORGAN objects so much.

Will you allow me to add one or two remarks occasioned by MR. DE MORGAN'S strictures?

1. Engelmann is not, strictly speaking, a bookseller, and his catalogues are not booksellers' catalogues in the sense in which that term is generally received here. He is a publisher and compiler (and an admirable one) of general classified catalogues for the use of the trade and of students, without any reference to his stock, or, in many instances, to the possibility of easily acquiring copies of the books enumerated: and although he might execute an order from his catalogues, getting orders is not the end for which he publishes them.

2. Some foreign houses in London, as well as in other countries, bought a large number of his Catalogues, not as a book but as a catalogue, to be supplied to their customers at the bare cost, or, where it appears advisable, to be delivered gratis to purchasers of a certain amount.

3. It appears to me pardonable if, under these circumstances, a notice is inserted on the title, that orders may be directed to the house which has purchased a number, and supplies them without any immediate profit; and I may add that I do not believe any of the houses concerned would object to a notice being taken of such a proceeding in your paper.

4. The error in omitting the words "from 1700" on the title-page, is one to which MR. DE MORGAN'S notice first directed my attention, classics printed before that date not being commonly in demand among foreign booksellers.

5. The practice of compiling catalogues for general use, with the names of the purchasers of any number of copies of the catalogue inserted on the title or wrapper, is very common in Germany.

Hinrichs of Leipsic issues—

1. A Six-monthly Alphabetical Catalogue, with a systematic index;

2. A Quarterly Catalogue, systematically arranged, with an alphabetical index;

Vandenhoeck of Gottigen issues half-yearly—

1. A Bibliotheca Medico-Chirurgica et Pharmaceuto-Chemica;

2. A Bibliotheca Theologica, for Protestant theology;

3. A Bibliotheca Classica et Philologica;

4. A Bibliotheca Juridica;

and Engelmann, from time to time, numerous general catalogues;—

all of which are not only supplied to London houses, with English titles, but may be had all over Germany, with the firms of different booksellers inserted as publishers of the catalogue.

Will you make use of the above in any way in which you may think it of advantage to your readers?

ANOTHER FOREIGN BOOKSELLER.

CROZIER AND PASTORAL STAFF

(Vol. ii., p. 248.)

A correspondent inquires what was the difference between a crozier and a pastoral staff. The crozier (Crocia, Mediæval Latin), Fr. Crosse, Ital. Rocco Pastorale, German. Bischofstab, is the ornamental staff used by archbishops and legates, and derives its name from the cross which surmounts it. A crozier behind a pall is borne on the primatial arms of Canterbury. The use of the crozier can only be traced back to the 12th century. Cavendish mentions "two great crosses of silver, whereof one of them was for his archbishoprick and the other for his legatry, always before" Cardinal Wolsey. The fact did not escape Master Roy, who sings thus:—

"Before him rydeth two Prestes stronge,And they beare two Crosses right longe,Gapinge in every man's face."

Hall says that he removed from Whitehall "with one cross." In the Eastern Church patriarchs only have a crozier; a patriarch has two transverse bars upon his crozier, the Pope carries three.

The pastoral staff was the ensign of bishops. Honorius describes it as in the form of a shepherd's crook, made of wood or bone, united by a ball of gold or crystal, the lower part of the staff being pointed.

"In Evangelio Dominus Apostolis præcepit, ut in prædcatione nihil præter virgam tollerent. Et quià Episcopi pastores gregis Dominici sunt, ideò baculum in custodiâ præferunt: per baculum, quo infirmi sustentatur, auctoritas doctrinæ designatur; per virgam, quà improbi emendantur, potestas regiminis figuratur. Baculum ergò Pontifices portant, ut infirmos in Fide per doctrinam erigant. Virgam bajulant, ut per potestatem inquietos corrigant: quæ virga vel baculus est recurvus, ut aberrantes à grege docendo ad poenitetiam trabat; in extremo est acutus, ut rebelles excommunicando retrudat; hæreticos, velut lupos, ab ovili Christi potestativè exterreat."—In Gemmâ Animæ, lib. i. cap. 218, 219., apud Hitterpium.

In its primitive form it appears to have been a staff shaped like a T, and used to lean upon. It was gradually lengthened, and in some cases was finished at the top like a mace. The pastoral staff is mentioned in the Life of S. Cæsarius of Arles. Gough says that the pastoral staff found in the coffin of Grostete, Bp. of Lincoln, who died in 1254, was made of red wood ending in a rudely shaped ram's horn. It was inscribed:

"Per baculi formamPrælati discite normam."

In the first prayer-book of the Reformed English Church, 2 Edward VI., at the time of the holy communion the bishop is directed to have "his pastoral staff in his hand, or else borne by his chaplain." It was used in solemn benedictions; and so lately as at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. The second book of King Edward VI., published A.D. 1552, being revived in that reign, the use of the staff was discontinued, as we find by the consecration service of Archbishop Parker.

"Postq' hæc dixissent, ad reliqua Communionis solemnia permit Cicestren. nullu. Archie'po tradens Pastorale baculum."—Bramhall, vol. iii. p. 205., Part i. Disc. 5. App., Oxon. 1844.

A crozier was borne at the funerals of Brian Duppa, of Winton, A.D. 1662; Juxon of London, 1663; Frewen of York, 1664; Wren of Ely, 1667; Cosin of Dunelm, 1671; Trelawney of Winton, 1721; Lindsay of Armagh, 1724. It is engraven on the monuments of Goodrich of Ely, 1552; Magrath of Cashel, 1622; Hacket of Lichfield, 1670; Creggleton of Wells, Lamplugh of York, 1691; Sheldon, 1677; Hoadley of Winton, and Porteus of London. Their croziers (made of gilt metal) were suspended over the tombs of Morley, 1684, and Mews, 1706. The bishop's staff had its crook bent outwards to signify that his jurisdiction extended over his diocese; that of the abbot inwards, as his authority was limited to his house. The crozier of Matthew Wren was of silver with the head gilt. When Bp. Fox's tomb was opened at Winchester some few years since, his staff of oak was found in perfect preservation. A staff of wood painted in azure and gilt, hangs over Trelawney's tomb in Pelynt Church, Cornwall. The superb staff of the pious and munificent founder of the two St. Marie Winton Colleges is still preserved at Oxford, as is also that of the illustrious Wykehamist, Bp. Fox, to whose devotion we owe Corpus Christi College in that university. One of the earliest tombs bearing a staff incised, is that of Abbot Vitalis, who died in 1082, and may be seen in the south cloister of St. Peter's Abbey in Westminster. There were croziered as well as mitred abbots: for instance, the superior of the Benedictine abbey at Bourges had a right to the crozier, but not to the mitre. The Abbot of Westminster was croziered and mitred. I intended to write a reply, but have enabled with a note.

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

7. College Street, Westminster

J.Z.P. will find a fully satisfactory answer to his Query, in regard to the real difference between the crozier and the pastoral staff, on referring to the article headed "Crozier," in the Glossary of Architecture. It is there stated, that "the crozier of an archbishop is surmounted by a cross; but it was only at a comparatively late time, about the 12th century, that the archbishop laid aside the pastoral staff, to assume the cross as an appropriate portion of his personal insignia." From which it may be inferred, that the only existent real difference between the crozier and the pastoral staff is, that the former is surmounted by a cross, and the latter is as it was before the 12th century, viz., surmounted by "a head curled round something in the manner of a shepherd's crook;" and the difference in regard to their use, that the crozier pertains to the archbishops, and the pastoral staff to the bishops.

R.W. ELLIOT

Cheltenham, Sept. 16. 1850.

PARSONS, THE STAFFORDSHIRE GIANT

(Vol. ii., p. 135.)

Harwood's note in Erdeswick's Staffordshire, quoted by your correspondent C.H.B., is incorrect, inasmuch as the writer has confused the biographies of two distinct "giants"—WALTER PARSONS, porter to King James I., and WILLIAM EVANS, who filled the same office in the succeeding reign.

The best account of these two "worthies" is that found in Fuller, and which I extract from the original edition now before me:—

WALTER PARSONS, born in this county [Staffordshire], was first apprenticed to a smith, when he grew so tall in stature, that a hole was made for him in the ground to stand therein up to the knees, so to make him adequate with his fellow-workmen. He afterwards was porter to King James; seeing as gates generally are higher than the rest of the building, so it was sightly that the porter should be taller than other persons. He was proportionable in all parts, and had strength equal to height, valour to his strength, temper to his valour, so that he disdained to do an injury to any single person. He would make nothing to take two of the tallest yeomen of the guard (like the Gizard and Liver) under his arms at once, and order them as he pleased.

"Yet were his parents (for aught I do understand to the contrary) but of an ordinary stature, whereat none will wonder who have read what St. Augustine (De Civitate Dei, lib. xv. cap. 23.) reports of a woman which came to Rome (a little before the sacking thereof by the Goths), of so giant-like a height, that she was far above all who saw her, though infinite troopes came to behold the spectacle. And yet he addeth, Et hoc erat maximæ admirationis, quod ambo parentes ejus, &c. This made men most admire, that both her parents were but of ordinary stature. This Parsons is produced for proof, that all ages afford some of extraordinary height, and that there is no general decay of mankind in their dimensions, which, if there were, we had ere this time shrunk to be lower than Pigmyes, not to instance in a lesse proportion. This Parsons died Anno Dom. 1620."—Fuller's History of the Worthies of England, 1662 (Staffordshire), p. 48.

"WILLIAM EVANS was born in this county [Monmouthshire], and may justly be accounted the Giant of our age for his stature, being, full two yards and a half in height. He was porter to King Charles I., succeeding, Walter Persons [sic] in his place, and exceeding him two inches in height, but far beneath him in an equal proportion of body; for he was not onely what the Latines call compernis, knocking his knees together, and going out squalling with his feet, but also haulted a little; yet made a shift to dance in an antimask at court, where he drew little Jeffrey, the dwarf, out of his pocket, first to the wonder, then to the laughter, of the beholders. He dyed Anno Dom. 1630." Ibid. (Monmouthshire), p. 54.

From these extracts it will be seen that the Christian name of Parsons was Walter, not William, as stated by Harwood. William was the Christian name of Evans, Parsons' successor. The bas-relief mentioned by the same writer represents William Evans and Jeffrey Hudson, his diminutive fellow-servant. It is over the entrance of Bull-head Court, Newgate Street; not "a bagnio-court," which is nonsense. On the stone these words are cut: "The King's Porter, and the Dwarf," with the date 1660. This bas-relief is engraved in Pennant.