Notes and Queries, Number 46, Saturday, September 14, 1850 written by Various
V >>
Various >> Notes and Queries, Number 46, Saturday, September 14, 1850
JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS.
* * * * *
SIR GREGORY HORTON, BART.
(Vol. ii., p. 216.)
The creation of the baronetcy of _Norton_, of Rotherfield, in East
Tysted, co. Hants, took place in the person of Sir Richard Norton, of
Rotherfield, Kt., 23d May, 1622, and _expired_ with him on his death
without male issue in 1652.
The style of Baronet, in the case of _Sir Gregory Norton_, the
_regicide_, was an assumption not uncommon in those days; as in the case
of _Prettyman_ of Lodington, and others.
The regicide in his will styles himself "Sir Richard Norton, of Paul's,
Covent Garden, in the county of Middlesex, Bart." It bears date 12th
March, 1651, and was proved by his relict, Dame Martha Norton, 24th
Sept., 1652. He states that his land at Penn, in the county of Bucks,
was _mortgaged_, and mentions his "disobedient son, Henrie Norton;" and
desires his burial-place may be at Richmond, co. Surrey.
The descent of Gregory Norton is not known. There is no evidence of his
connexion with the Rotherfield or Southwick Nortons. His assumption of
the title was not under any claim he could have had, real or imaginary,
connected with the Rotherfield patent; for he uses the title at the same
time with Sir Richard of Rotherfield, whose will is dated 26th July,
1652, and not proved till 5th Oct, 1652, when Sir Gregory was dead; and,
what is singular, the will of Sir Richard was proved by his brother,
John Norton, by the style of _Baronet_, to which he could have had no
pretension, as Sir Richard died without male issue, and there was no
limitation of the patent of 1622 on failure of heirs male of the body of
the grantee.
G.
* * * * *
SHAKSPEARE'S WORD "DELIGHTED."
That the Shakspearian word _delighted_ might, as far as its form goes,
mean "endowed with delight," "full of delight," I should readily
concede; but this meaning would suit neither the passage in _Measure for
Measure_,--"the delighted spirit,"--nor (satisfactorily) that in
_Othello_,--"delighted beauty." Whether, therefore, _delighted_ be
derived from the Latin _delectus_ or not, I still believe that it means
"refined," "dainty," "delicate;" a sense which is curiously adapted to
each of the three places. This will not be questioned with respect to
the second and third passages cited by {251} MR. HICKSON: and the
following citations will, I think, prove the point as effectually for
the passage of _Measure for Measure_:
1. "_Fine_ apparition".--_Tempest_, Act i. sc. 2.
2. "Spirit, _fine_ spirit."--Ditto.
3. "_Delicate_ Ariel."--Ditto.
4. "And, for thou wast a spirit too _delicate_,
To act her _earthy_ and abhorred commands."
Ditto.
5. "_Fine_ Ariel."--Ditto.
6. "My _delicate_ Ariel."--Ditto. Act iv. sc. 1.
7. "Why that's my _dainty_ Ariel."--Ditto. Act v.
sc. 1.
I do not know the precise nature of the "old authorities" which MR.
SINGER opposes to my conjecture: but may we not demur to the
conclusiveness of any "old authorities" on such a point? Etymology seems
to be one of the developing sciences, in which we know more, and better,
than our forefathers, as our descendants will know more, and better,
than we do.
To end with a brace of queries. Are not _delicioe_, _delicatus_, more
probably from _deligere_ than from _delicere_? And whence comes the word
_dainty_? I cannot believe in the derivation from _dens_, "a tooth."
B.H. KENNEDY.
* * * * *
AEROSTATION.
Your correspondent C.B.M. (Vol. ii., p 199.) will find a long article on
_Aerostation_ in Rees' _Cyclopaedia_; but his inquiry reminds me of a
conversation I had with the late Sir Anthony Carlisle, about a year
before his death. He wished to consult me on the subject of flying by
mechanical means, and that I should assist him in some of his
arrangements. He had devoted many years of his life to the consideration
of this subject, and made numerous experiments at great cost, which
induced him to believe in the possibility of enabling man to fly by
means of artificial wings. However visionary this idea might be, he had
collected innumerable and extremely interesting data, having examined
the anatomical structure of almost every winged thing in the creation,
and compared the weight of the body with the area of the wings when
expanded in the act of volitation as well as the natural habits of
birds, insects, bats, and fishes, with reference to their powers of
flying and duration of flight.
These notes would form a valuable addition to natural history, whatever
might be thought of the purpose for which they were collected, during a
period of thirty years; and it is much to be regretted they were never
published. His own opinion was, that the publication, during his life
would injure his practice as a physician. It would be impossible without
the aid of diagrams, and I do not remember sufficient, to explain his
mechanical contrivances; but the general principle was, to suspend the
man under a kind of flat parachute of extremely thin _feather-edge_
boards, with a power of adjusting the angle at which it was placed, and
allowing the man the full use of his arms and legs to work any machinery
placed beneath; the area of the parachute being proportioned, as in
birds to the weight of the man, who was to start from the top of a high
tower, or some elevated position, flying against the wind.
HENRY WILKINSON.
Brompton.
* * * * *
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.
_Long Lonkin_ (Vol. ii., p. 168.).--If SELEUCUS will refer to Mr.
Chamber's _Collection of Scottish Ballads_, he will find there the whole
story under the name of Lammilsin, of which Lonkin appears to me to be a
corruption. In the 6th verse it is rendered:
"He said to his ladye fair,
Before he gaed abuird,
Beware, beware o, Lammilsin!
For he lyeth in the wudde."
Then the story goes on to state that Lammilsin crept in at a little shot
window, and after some conversation with the "fause nourrice" they
decide to
"Stab the babe, and make it cry,
And that will bring her down."
Which being done, they murder the unhappy lady. Shortly after, Lord
Weirie comes home, and has the "fause nourrice" burnt at the stake. From
the circumstance that the name of the husband of the murdered lady was
Weirie, it is conjectured that this tragedy took place at Balwearie
Castle, in Fife, and the old people about there constantly affirm that
it really occurred. I am not aware that there exists any connection
between the hero of this story and the _nursery rhyme_; for, as I before
stated, I think Lonkin a corruption of Lammilsin.
H.H.C.
_Rowley Powley_ (Vol. ii., p. 74.).--Andre Valladier, who died about the
middle of the sixteenth century, was a popular preacher and the king's
almoner. He gained great applause for his funeral oration on Henry IV.
In his sermon for the second Sunday in Lent (Rouen, 1628), he says;--
"Le paon est gentil et miste, bien que par la parfaite beaute de
sa houppe, par la rarete et noblesse de sa teste, par la
gentilesse et nettete de son cou, par l'ornement de ses pennes
et par la majeste de tout le reste de son corps, il ravit tous
ceux qui le contemplent attentivement; toutefois au rencontre de
sa femelle, pour l'attirer a son amour, il deploye sa pompe,
fait montrer et parade de son plumage bizarre, et RIOLLE PIOLLE
se presente a elle avec piafe, et luy donne la plus belle visee
de sa roue. De mesme ce Dieu admirable, amoreux des hommes, pour
nous ravir d'amour a soy, desploye le lustre de ses plus
accomplies beautez, et comme un amant transporte de sa bienaimee
se {252} montre pour nous allecher a cetter transformation de
nous en luy, de nostre misere en sa gloire."--Ap.
_Predicatoriuna_ p. 132-3: Dijon, 1841.
H.B.C.
_Guy's Armour_ (Vol. ii., pp. 55. 187.).--With respect to the armour
said to have belonged to Guy, Earl of Warwick, your correspondent NASO
is referred to Grose's _Military Antiquities_, vol. ii. pl. 42., where
he will find an engraving of a bascinet of the fourteenth century, much
dilapidated, but having still a fragment of the moveable vizor adhering
to the pivot on which it worked. Whether this interesting relic is still
at Warwick Castle or not, I cannot pretend to say, as I was
unfortunately prevented joining the British Archaeological Association at
the Warwick congress in 1847, and have never visited that part of the
country; but the bascinet which was there in Grose's time was at least
of the date of Guido de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, the builder of Guy's
Tower, who died in 1315, and who has always been confounded with the
fabulous Guy: and if it has disappeared, we have to regret the loss of
the only specimen of an English bascinet of that period that I am aware
of in this country.
J.R. PLANCHE
_Alarm_ (Vol. ii., pp. 151. 183.).--The origin of this word appears to
be the Italian cry, _all'arme; gridare all'arme_ is to give the alarm.
Hence the French _alarme_, and from the French is borrowed the English
word. _Alarum_ for _alarm_, is merely a corruption produced by
mispronunciation. The letters _l_ and _r_ before _m_ are difficult to
pronounce; and they are in general, according to the refined standard of
our pronunciation, so far softened as only to lengthen the preceding
vowel. In provincial pronunciation, however, the force of the former
letter is often preserved, and the pronunciation is facilitated by the
insertion of a vowel before the final _m_. The Irish, in particular,
adopt this mode of pronouncing; even in public speaking they say
_callum_, _firrum_, _farrum_, for _calm_, _firm_, _farm_. The old word
_chrisom_ for _chrism_, is an analogous change: the Italians have in
like manner lengthened _chrisma_ into _cresima_; the French have
softened it into _chreme_.
L.
_Alarm._--It is in favour of the derivation _a l'arme_ that the Italian
is _allarme_; some dictionaries even have _dare all'arme_, with the
apostrophe, for to give alarm. It is against it that the German word
_Laerm_ is used precisely as the English _alarm_. Your correspondent CH.
thinks the French derivation suspiciously ingenious: here I must differ;
I think it suspiciously obvious. I will give him a suggestion which I
think really suspiciously ingenious: in fact, had not the opportunity
occurred for illustrating ingenuity, I should not have ventured it. May
it not be that _alarme_ and _allarme_ is formed in the obvious way, as
_to arms_; while _alarum_ and _Laerm_ wholly unconnected with them? May
it not sometimes happen that, by coincidence, the same sounds and
meanings go together in different languages without community of origin?
Is it not possible that _larum_ and _Laerm_ are imitations of the stroke
and subsequent resonance of a large bell? Denoting the continued sound
of _m_ by _m-m-m_, I think that _lrm-m-m-lrm-m-m-lrm-m-m_ &c., is as
good an imitation of a large bell at some distance as letters can make.
And in the old English use of the word, the alarum refers more often to
a bell than to any thing else.
The introduction of the military word into English can be traced, as to
time, with a certain probability. In 1579, Thomas Digges published his
_Arithmeticall Militare Treatise named Stratioticos_, which he informs
us is mainly the writing of his father, Leonard Digges. At page 170. the
father seems to finish with "and so I mean to finishe this treatise:"
while the son, as we must suppose, adds p. 171. and what follows. In the
father's part the word _alarm_ is not mentioned, that I can find. If it
occurred anywhere, it would be in describing the duties of the
_scout-master_; but here we have nothing but _warning_ and _surprise_,
never _alarm_. But in the son's appendix, the word _alarme_ does occur
twice in one page (173.). It also occurs in the body of the _second_
edition of the book, when of course it is the son who inserts it. We may
say then, that, in all probability, the military technical term was
introduced in the third quarter of the sixteenth century. This, I
suspect, is too late to allow us to suppose that the vernacular force
which Shakspeare takes it to have, could have been gained for it by the
time he wrote.
The second edition was published in 1590; about this time the spelling
of the English language made a very rapid approach to its present form.
This is seen to a remarkable extent in the two editions of the
_Stratioticos_; in the first, the commanding officer of a regiment is
always _corronel_, in the second _collonel_. But the most striking
instance I now remember, is the following. In the first edition of
Robert Recorde's _Castle of Knowledge_ (1556) occurs the following
tetrastich:--
"If reasons reache transcende the skye,
Why shoulde it then to earthe be bounde?
The witte is wronged and leadde awrye,
If mynde be maried to the grounde."
In the second edition (1596) the above is spelt as we should now do it,
except in having _skie_ and _awrie_.
M.
_Prelates of France_ (Vol. ii., p. 182.).--In answer to a Minor Query of
P.C.S.S., I can inform him that I have in my possession, if it be of any
use to him, a manuscript entitled _Tableau de l'Ordre religieux en
France, avant et depuis l'Edit de 1768_, {253} containing the houses,
number of religions, and revenues, and the several dioceses in which
they were to be found.
M.
Midgham House, Newbury, Berks.
_Haberdasher_ (Vol. ii., p. 167.).--
"Haberdasher, a retailer of goods, a dealer in small wares; T.
_haubvertauscher_, from _haab_; B. _have_; It. _haveri_,
_haberi_, goods, wares; and _tauscher_, _vertauscher_, a dealer,
an exchanger; G. _tuiskar_; D. _tusker_; B. _tuischer_."
This derivation of the term _haberdasher_ is from _Thomson's Etymons_,
and seems to be satisfactory.
_Haberdascher_ was the name of a trade at least as early as the reign of
Edward III.; but it is not easy to decide what was the sort of trade or
business then carried on under that name. Any elucidation of that point
would be very acceptable.
D.
"_Rapido contrarius orbi_" (Vol. ii., p. 120.).--No answer having
appeared to the inquiry of N.B., it may be stated that, in Hartshorne's
_Book-Rarities of Cambridge_, mention is made of a painting, in Emanuel
College, of "Abp. Sancroft, sitting at a writing-table with arms, and
motto, _Rapido contrarius orbi_. P.P. Lens, F.L."
Brayley, in his _Concise Account of Lambeth Palace_, describes a
portrait, in the vestry, of "A young man in a clerical habit, or rather
that of a student, with a motto beneath, 'Rapido contrarium orbo'"
(whether the motto, as thus given, is the printer's or the painter's
error does not appear), "supposed to be Abp. Sancroft when young.--Date
1650."
G.A.S.
_Robertson of Muirtown_ (Vol. ii., p. 135.).--C.R.M. will find a
pedigree of the family of Robertson of _Muirton_ in a small duodecimo
entitled:
"The History and Martial Atchievements of the Robertsons of
Strowan. Edinburgh: printed for and by Alex. Robertson in
_Morison's_ Close; where Subscribers may call for their copies."
The date of publication is not given; I think, however, it must have
been printed soon after 1st January 1771, which is the latest date in
the body of the work.
The greater portion of the volume is occupied with the poems of
Alexander Robertson of Strowan who died in 1749.
A.R.X.
Paisley.
"_Noli me tangere_" (Vol. ii., p. 153.)--The following list of some of
the painters of this subject may assist B.R.:--
_Timoteo delle Vite_--for St. Angelo at Cogli.
_Titian_--formerly in the Orleans collection, and engraved by N.
Tardieu, in the Crozat Gallery.
_Ippolito Scarsella_ (Lo Scarsellino)--for St. Nicolo Ferrara.
_Cristoforo Roncalli_ (Il Cav. delle Pomarance)--for the Eremitani at
St. Severino.
_Lucio Massari_--for the Celestini, Bologna.
_Francesco Boni_ (Il Gobbino)--for the Dominicani, Faenza.
I.Z.P.
_Clergy sold for Slaves_ (Vol. ii., p. 51.),--MR. SANSOM will find in
the _Cromwellian Diary of Thomas Burton_, iv. 255. 273. 301-305., ample
material for an answer to his question respecting the sale of any of the
loyal party for slaves during the rebellion.
There is no evidence of any _clergymen_ having been sold as slaves to
Algiers or Barbadoes. Drs. Beale, Martin, and Sterne, heads of colleges,
were threatened with this outrage (see _Querela Cantabrigiensis_
appended to the _Mercurius Rusticus_ p. 184). In the life of Dr. John
Barwick, one of the authors of the _Querela_ (in the Eng. transl. p.
42.), the story is thus told:
"The rebels at that time threatened some of their greatest men
and most learned heads (such as Dr William Beale, Dr. Edward
Martin, and Dr. Richard Sterne) transportation into the isles of
America, or even to the barbarian Turks: for these great men,
and several other very eminent divines, were kept close
prisoners in a ship on the Thames, under the hatches, almost
killed with stench, hunger, and watching; and treated by the
senseless mariners with more insolence than if they had been the
vilest slaves, or had been confined there for some infamous
robbery or murder. Nay, one Rigby, a scoundrel of the very dregs
of the parliament rebels, did at that time expose these venerable
persons to sale, and _would actually have sold them for slaves,
if any one would have bought them_."
In a note, it is added that Rigby moved twice in the Long Parliament,
"That those lords and gentlemen who were prisoners, should be
sold as slaves to Argiere, or sent to the new plantations in the
West Indies, because he had contracted with two merchants for
that purpose."
Col. Rigby, so justly denounced by Barwick, sat in the Long Parliament
for the borough of Wigan, and in the Parliarment of 1658-9 represented
Lancashire. He was a native of Preston, was bred to the law, and held a
colonel's rank in the parliamentary army. He was one of the committee of
sequestrators for Lancashire, served at the siege of Latham House, and
in 1649 was created Baron of the Exchequer, but was superseded by
Cromwell.
Calamy, the historian and chaplain of the Nonconformists, treated
Walker's statement quoted by MR. SANSOM as a fiction, and advised him to
expunge the passage. See his _Church and Dissenters compared as to
Persecution_, 1719, pp. 40, 41.
A.B.R.
_North Side of Churchyards_ (Vol. ii., pp. 55. 189).--One of your
writers has recently endeavoured to explain the popular dislike to
burial on the north side of the church, by reference to the place of the
churchyard cross, the sunniness, and the greater resort of the people to
the south. {254} These are not only meagre reasons, but they are
incorrect.
The doctrine of regions was coeval with the death of Our Lord. The east
was the realm of the oracles; the especial Throne of God. The west was
the domain of the people; the Galilee of all nations was there. The
south, the land of the mid-day, was sacred to things heavenly and
divine. The north was the devoted region of Satan and his hosts; the
lair of demons, and their haunt. In some of our ancient churches, over
against the font, and in the northern walls, there was a devil's door.
It was thrown open at every baptism for the escape of the fiend, and at
all other seasons carefully closed. Hence came the old dislike to
sepulture at the north.
R.S. HAWKER.
Morwenstow, Cornwall.
_Sir John Perrot_ (Vol. ii., p. 217.).--This Query surprises me. Sir
John Perrot was not governor of Ireland _in the reign of Henry VIII._,
and your correspondent E.N.W. is mistaken in his belief that Sir John
was _beheaded_ in the reign of Elizabeth. He was convicted of treason
16th June, 1592, and died in the Tower in September following. In the
_British Plutarch_, 3rd edit., 1791, vol. i. p. 121., is _The Life of
Sir John Perrot_. The authorities given are Cox's _History of Ireland;
Life of Sir John Perrot_, 8vo., 1728; _Biographia Britannica_; Salmon's
_Chronological History_; to which I may add the following references:--
Howell's _State Trials_, i. 1315; Camden's _Annals_; Naunton's
_Fragmenta Regalia_; Lloyd's _State Worthies_; Nash's _Worcestershire_;
Strype's _Ecclesiastical Memorials_, iii. 297.; Strype's _Annals_, iii.
337, 398-404.; _Stradling Letters_, 48-50.; Nare's _Life of Lord
Burghley_, iii. 407.; _Fourth Report of Deputy Keeper of Public
Records_, Appendix, ii. 281. Dean Swift, in his _Introduction to Polite
Conversation_, says,--
"Sir John Perrot was the first man of quality whom I find upon
the record to have sworn by _God's wounds_. He lived in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was supposed to be a natural son
of Henry VIII., who might also have been his instructor."
C.H. COOPER
Cambridge, August 31. 1850.
_Coins of Constantius II._--The coins of this prince are, from their
titles being identical with those of his cousin, very difficult to be
distinguished. _My_ only guide is the portrait. Gallus died at
twenty-nine; and we may suppose that his coins would present a more
youthful portrait than Constantius II. The face of Constantius is long
and thin, and is distinguished by the royal diadem. The youthful head
resembling Constantius the Great with the laurel crown, _Rev_. Two
military figures standing, with spears and bucklers, between them two
standards, _Ex._ S M N B., I have arranged in my cabinet, how far
rightly I know not, as that of Gallus.
E.S.T.
"_She ne'er with treacherous Kiss_" (Vol. ii., p. 136.).--C.A.H. will
find the lines,--
"She ne'er with trait'rous kiss," &c.
in a poem named "Woman," 2nd ed. p. 34., by Eaton Stannard Barrett,
Esq., published in 1818, by Henry Colburn, Conduit street.
E.D.B.
_California_ (Vol. ii, p. 132.).--Your correspondent E.N.W. will find
earlier anticipations of "the golden harvest now gathering in
California," in vol. iii. of _Hakluyt's Voyages_, p. 440-442, where an
account is given of Sir F. Drake's taking possession of Nova Albion.
"There is no part of earth here to bee taken up, wherein there
is not speciall likelihood of gold or silver."
In Callendar's _Voyages_, vol. i. p. 303., and other collections
containing Sir F. Drake's voyage to Magellanica, there is the same
notice. The earth of the country seemed to promise very rich veins of
gold and silver, there being hardly any digging without throwing up some
of the ores of them.
T.J.
_Bishops and their Precedence_ (Vol. ii., pp. 9. 76.)--The precedence of
bishops is regulated by the act of 31 Hen. VIII. c. 10., "for placing of
the Lords." Bishops are, in fact, temporal barons, and, as stated in
Stephen's _Blackstone_, vol. iii. pp. 5, 6., sit in the House of Peers
in right of succession to certain ancient baronies annexed, or supposed
to be annexed, to their episcopal lands; and as they have in addition
high spiritual rank, it is but right they should have place before those
who, in temporal rank only, are equal to them. This is, in effect, the
meaning of the reason given by Coke in part iii. of the Institutes, p.
361. ed. 1670, where, after noticing the precedence amongst the bishops
themselves, namely, 1. The Bishop of London, 2. The Bishop of Durham, 3.
The Bishop of Winchester, he observes:
"But the other bishops have place above all the barons of the
realm, because they hold their bishopricks of the king per
baroniam; but they give place to viscounts, earls, marquesses,
and dukes."
ARUN.
_Elizabeth and Isabel_ (Vol. i., pp. 439. 488.).--The title of AElius
Antonius Nebressengis's history is, _Rerum a Fernando et Elisabe
Hispaniaram faelicissimis regibus gestarum Decades duae_.
J.B.
_Dr. Thomas Bever's Legal Polity of Great Britain_ (Vol. i., p.
483.).--Is J.R. aware that the principal part of the parish of Mortimer,
near Reading, as well as the manorial rights, belongs to a Richard
Benyon de Beauvoir, Esq., residing not very far from that spot, at
Englefield House, about five miles on the Newbury Road from Reading.
{255} This gentleman, whose original name was Powlett Wright, took the
name of De Beauvoir a few years back, as I understand, from succeeding
to the property of his relative, a Mr. Beevor or Bever. This gentleman
may, perhaps, be enabled to throw some light upon the family of Dr.
Bever.
WP.
_Eikon Basilike_ (Vol. ii., p. 134.).--I would suggest to A.C. that the
circumstance of his copy of this work bearing on its cover "C.R.,"
surmounted by a crown, may not be indicative of its having been in the
possession of royalty. It may have been, perhaps, not unusual to
occasionally so distinguish words of this description published in or
about that year (1660). I have a small volume entitled--
"The History of His Sacred Majesty Charles II. Begun from the
Murder of his royal father of Happy Memory, and continued to
this present year, 1660, by a person of quality. Printed for
_James Davies_, and are to be sold at the _Turk's Head in Ioy_
Lane, and at the _Greyhound_ in _St. Paul's_ Church Yard, 1660."