Notes and Queries, Number 21, March 23, 1850

Alfred Gatty.

Ecclesfield, March 5. 1850.

WHO TRANSLATED THE "TURKISH SPY?"

Is it known who really translated that clever work, Letters writ by a Turkish Spy? The work was originally written in Italian, by John Paul Marana, a Genoese; but the English translation has been attributed to several individuals.

Among Dr. Charlett's correspondence, preserved in the Bodleian Library, is a letter inquiring after a Mr. Bradshaw. The writer says, "he was servitor or amanuensis to Dr. Allesbree, and proved very considerable afterwards, being the author of all the volumes of the 'Turkish Spy' but one; and that was the first, which, you remember, was printed a considerable time before the rest, and not much taken notice of till the second volume came out. The first volume was originally wrote in Italian, translated into French, and made English; and all the rest after carried on by this Bradshaw, as I am undoubtedly informed: so that I think him well worth inquiring after while in Oxford. Dr. Midgely had only the name and conveyance to the press, beside what books he helped Bradshaw to, which, by his poverty, he could not procure himself." In the margin of this letter Ballard has added, "Sir Roger Manley, author of the 'Turkish Spy.'" Baker, of St. John's College, Cambridge, has written on the cover of the first volume of his copy of Athenæ Oxoniensis (bequeathed to the Public Library at Cambridge), "'Turkish Spy,' begun by Mr. Manley, continued by Dr. Midgely with the assistance of others."

Edward F. Rimbault.

PHILALETHES CESTRIENSIS—STEPHENS' SERMONS

I shall feel much obliged if any of your correspondents can inform me what is the real name of the author of the following work:

"An Impartial enquiry into the true character of that Faith, which is required in the Gospel, as necessary to salvation; in which it is briefly shewn, upon how righteous terms unbelievers may become true Christians, &c., by Philalethes Cestriensis. 8'o. Lond. 1746. Dedicated to Philip earl of Chesterfield, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland."

In your 6th Number is an inquiry for a "tract or sermon" by the Rev. W. Stephens, which elicited a reply in No. 8. from "Mr. Denton," who mentions four sermons by that author and inquires whether any other sermons or tracts of his were published, which are not included in the two posthumous volumes?

Now it has struck me that a volume of sermons in my possession may, from the nature of the subjects, be Stephens's, but whether included in the volume alluded to I know not. The volume contains six sermons, each with separate title and separate pagination. A common preface is prefixed, and there has been a common title-page, which unfortunately is missing in my copy.

"Serm. I. The Divinity of Christ argued, from his right to worship, on Rev. v. 13, 14., preached in 1720, at Great Torrington, at the Visitation of the Archdeacon of Barnstaple."

"II. The necessity of believing the Divinity of the Son of God, John iii. 16., preached at Great Torrington on Christmas Day, 1721."

"III. The Humiliation and Exaltation of the Son of God considered in the new light, Philipp. ii. 6-12., preached at the primary Visitation of Stephen [Weston] Lord Bishop of Exon, at Great Torrington, 1726."

"IV. Christ, King of the Jews both before and after his Incarnation, Matt. ii. 1, 2., preached on Christmas Day and First Sunday after Epiphany, 1727."

"V. The Beginning, Extent, and Duration of Christ's Mediatorial Kingdom, same text, and preached at the same season."

"VI. The natural supremacy of God the Son; same text, &c."

The three last sermons have a title generally applicable, and repeated before each viz., "The Supreme Dominion of God the Son, both Natural, Oeconomical, and Judaical, proved from Scripture, in three Sermons." The separate titles bear date 1729; and the publisher was Samuel Birt, at the Bible and Ball, Ave Maria Lane.

This notice may supply the information of which Mr. Denton is in quest, and at all events I should be very glad to learn who the author really was. His sermons are, as is said of those of Stephens, far above the ordinary run. The period at which they were delivered agrees with the dates of those at page 118. The author, in the general preface, says, that Sermon II. was not "suffer'd to see the light before it had pass'd through the hands of Dr. Waterland." Was not Stephens subsequently Vicar of St. Andrew's, Plymouth?

Balliolensis.

MINOR QUERIES

Smelling of the Lamp.—Can you or one of your learned correspondents, tell me the origin or first user of the literary "smelling of the lamp?" I know that it is commonly attributed to Demosthenes? but if it is his, I want chapter and verse for it.

Gourders of Rain.—Will any of your correspondents be kind enough to suggest the etymology of the word "gourders" (= torrents)? It occurs in the following passage of Harding against Jewel (p. 189., Antv. 1565):

"Let the gourders of raine come downe from you and all other heretikes, let the floudes of worldly rages thrust, let the windes of Sathan's temptations blowe their worst, this house shall not be overthrowen."

C.H.

St. Catherine's Hall, Cambridge.

The Temple or a Temple.—I am happy to see that your correspondent, Mr. Thoms, is about to illustrate some of the obscurities of Chaucer. Perhaps he or some of your learned contributors may be able to remove a doubt that has arisen in my mind relative to the poet's well-known description of the Manciple in his Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.

You are aware that the occupation of the Temple by students of the law in the reign of Edward III. has no other authority than tradition. Dugdale, Herbert, Pearce, and others who have written on the Inns of Court, adduce this passage from Chaucer in support of the assertion; and they all quote the first line thus:

"A manciple there was of the Temple."

In Tyrwhitt's edition of Chaucer, however, and in all other copies I have seen, the reading is

"A gentil manciple was ther of a temple."

Now the difference between "the Temple" and "a temple" is not inconsiderable. I should feel obliged, therefore, by any explanation which will account for it. If Chaucer was, as he is sometimes pretended to be, a member of the Temple, it is somewhat extraordinary that he should have designated it so loosely. The words in the real passage would seem to have a more general signification, and not to be applied to any particular house of legal resort.

Edward Foss.

Family of Steward or Stewart of Bristol.—I have in my possession a drawing, probably of the time of James or Charles I., of the following arms. Azure a lion rampant or, with a crescent for difference, impaling argent a cross engrailed flory sable between four Cornish choughs proper—Crest, on a wreath of the colours a Saracen's head full-faced, couped at the shoulders proper, wreathed round the temples and tied or and azure.

On removing the shield from the paper on which it was pasted, I found a spoiled sketch of the coat of Poulett, with the name Ambrose Moore written over it in a hand of about the reign of Charles I.: the object in passing the fresh shield over the spoiled coat appears to have been merely to make use of the mantling.

I have also a locket of silver gilt containing a miniature of a gentleman apparently of the time of the Commonwealth, finely executed in oils upon copper; on the back are engraved the arms and crest above described without the impalement, the crescent bearing the addition of a label. The only information I have is, that the locket and the drawing belonged to a family of the name of Steward or Stewart, who were clothworkers at Bristol during the Commonwealth, and for some generations later; and they are now in the possession of their descendants. The first of whom I have any authentic record is Hercules Steward, who was admitted to the liberties of the city of Bristol in 1623.

I cannot find that any family of Steward has borne the arms in question; and if any of your readers can throw a light on the matter, I shall feel greatly obliged to them.

Query. Was there a Herald painter of the time named Ambrose Moore?

O.C.

Feb. 26. 1850.

Paying through the Nose.—Can any one tell me the origin of the phrase, "Paying though the nose," expressing a dear bargain?

A.G.

Memoirs of an American Lady.—Are the Memoirs of an American Lady out of print? They were written by Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, the authoress of Letters from the Mountains, and of whom some very interesting memoirs have lately been published by her son.

Nemo.

Bernicia.—Can any learned correspondent favour me with the name or title of any English nobleman who held authority in Wales, or the Borders, in 1370-80? The motive for this query is, that a poem of the time, by Trahaearn, a celebrated bard, contains the following passage:

"Though fierce in his valour like Lleon, with a violent irresistible assault, he vaulted into battle, to plunder the King of Bernicia; yet the ravager of thrice seven dominions was a placid and liberal-handed chief, when he entertained the bards at his magnificent table."

It is not supposed that the king here mentioned was any thing more than a powerful nobleman, whose possessions, or castle and lands, were situated in the north of England; in which division of the island the ancient Bernicia was placed. As there is no evidence as to the locality or limits of this ancient district, it is hoped that an answer to the above query will afford a satisfactory solution to an uncertainty that has long existed among Welsh antiquaries.

Gomer.

John Bull.—Might I beg to ask, through your columns, the origin of the name "John Bull," as applied to Englishmen? I have frequently heard the question asked; but I never heard it satisfactorily answered. An antiquary once told me that it was so applied from the number of Johns among our countrymen, and the profusion of bles in our language; an explanation which I placed to the credit of my friend's ingenuity.

R.F.H.

REPLIES

LETTER ATTRIBUTED TO SIR ROBERT WALPOLE

I feel very confident that I once read the letter attributed to Sir R. Walpole (No. 19. p. 304.) in some magazine, long before I had ever seen Banks' Extinct and Dormant Peerage. My impression is, also, that I never believed the document to be authentic; and that opinion is confirmed by a reference to the Correspondence of Horace Walpole, vol. i. ed. 1840, and to the journals of the day. I find from these authorities, that the first of the memorable divisions which drove Sir Robert from the helm, took place on the 21st Jan. 1741-2, when Pulteney's motion for a secret committee was lost by three voices only. We are told that the speeches were very brilliant, and Sir R. Walpole particularly distinguished himself. He might have been tormented by his enemies, but not by the stone, (the excuse assigned in the letter for his inability to attend the king), for Horace left him at one o'clock in the morning, after the debate had terminated, "at supper all alive and in spirits," and he even boasted that he was younger than his son. The next struggle was on the 28th of Jan., on the Chippenham election, when the minister was defeated by one, and his friends advised him to resign; but it was not till after the 3rd of Feb., when the majority against him upon the renewal of the last question had increased to sixteen, that he intimated his intention to retire. These facts, coupled with the inferences drawn by your correspondent P.C.S.S. as to the suspicious style of the letter, and the imprudence of such a communication, go far to prove that it was a forgery: but the passage in Walpole's Reminiscences, vol. i. p. cviii. ed. 1840, with which I will now conclude my remarks, seems to set the question at rest:—

"Sir Robert, before he quitted the king, persuaded his Majesty to insist, as a preliminary to the change, that Mr. Pulteney should go into the House of Lords, his great credit lying in the other House: and I remember my father's action when he returned from Court, and told me what he had done; 'I have turned the key of the closet upon him,' making that motion with his hand."

Braybrooke.

Audley End, March 18. 1850.

PORTRAITS OF ULRICH OF HUTTEN

It is pleasant to see that an answer to a query can sometimes do more than satisfy a doubt, by accidentally touching an accordant note which awakens a responsive feeling. I am much pleased that my scanty information was acceptable to "R.G."; and wish it was in my power to give him more certain information respecting the portraits of Hutten, who is one of my heroes, although I am no "hero-worshipper."

The earliest woodcut portrait of him with which I am acquainted, is to be found in the very elegant volume containing the pieces relating to the murder of his cousin John, by Ulrich of Wirtemberg (the title too long for these pages), which, from the inscription at the end, appears to have been printed in the Castle of Stakelberg, in 1519. It is a half length, in a hat, under a kind of portico, with two shields at the upper corners: the inscription beneath is in white letters on a black ground. It occurs near the end of the volume; in which is another spirited woodcut, representing the murder.

The other two cotemporary portraits occur in the "Expostulatio," before noticed. The largest of these, at the end of the volume, is in armour, crowned with laurel, and holding a sword, looking toward the left. This is but indifferently copied, or rather followed, in Tobias Stimmer's rare and elegant little volume, Imagines Viror. Liter. Illust., published by Reusner and Jobinus, Argent. 1587, 12mo.

I have never seen a good modern representation of this remarkable man, who devoted the whole energies of his soul to the sacred cause of the truth and freedom, and the liberation of his country and mankind from the trammels of a corrupt and dissolute Church; and, be it remembered, that he and Reuchlin were precursors of Luther in the noble work, which entitles them to at least a share in our gratitude for the unspeakable benefit conferred by this glorious emancipation.

Ebernburg, the fortress of his friend, the noble and heroic Franz von Sickingen, Hutten called the Bulwark of Righteousness. I had long sought for a representation of Sickingen, and at length found a medal represented in the Sylloge Numismatum Elegantiorum of Luckius, fol. Argent, 1620, bearing the date 1522.

Hutten's life is full of romantic incident: it was one of toil and pain, for the most part; and he may well have compared his wanderings to those of Ulysses, as he seems to have done in the following verses, which accompany the portrait first above mentioned:

"Desine fortunam miseris inimicaque fataObjicere, et casus velle putare deos.Jactatur pius Æneas, jactatur Ulysses,Per mare, per terras, hic bonus, ille pius.Crede mihi non sunt meritis sua præmia, casuVolvimur, haud malus est, cui mala proveniunt.Sis miser, et nulli miserabilis, omnia quisquisA diis pro merito cuique venire putas."

I should like to see the German verses your correspondent mentions, if he will be good enough to favour me, through your intervention, with an inspection of the volume containing them.

S.W.S.

March 12. 1850.

CHANGE OF NAME

"B." inquires (No. 16. p. 246.) what is the use of the royal license for the change of a surname? He is referred to Mr. Markland's paper "On the Antiquity and Introduction of Surnames into England" (Archæologia, xviii. p. 111.). Mr. Markland says,—

"Sir Joseph Jekyll, when Master of the Rolls, in the year 1730, remarks—'I am satisfied the usage of passing Acts of Parliament for the taking upon one a surname is but modern; and that any one may take upon him what surname, and as many surnames, as he pleases, without an Act of Parliament.' The decree in the above case was reversed in the House of Lords."

Mr. Markland adds,—

"From the facts and deductions here stated, it would seem that the Master of the Rolls had good ground for making his decree. The law, as it stands, however, had grown out of the practice: and common prudence dictates, that the assumption of a new surname should now be accompanied by such an authority as may establish beyond all question the legality of the act."

It must also be remembered, that a testator often directs that a devisee shall procure the royal license or an Act of Parliament for the change of name, in order to entitle him to the testator's property. If this direction be neglected, could not the party next benefited sue for it on that ground, and with success?

S.D.D.

Change of Name (No. 16. p. 246.).—The doctrine, that a person may change his surname without any formality whatever, has long been "settled," and is by no means of so recent a date as your correspondent supposes, which will presently appear.

In Coke upon Littleton, after some observations as to the change of Christian name at confirmation, it is stated—

"And this doth agree with our ancient books, where it is holden that a man may have divers names at divers times, but not divers Christian names." (Vol. ii. p. 218. ed. 1818, by J.H. Thomas.)

Reference is made to Acc. 1 Com. Dig. 19, 20., "Abatement" (E. 18, 19.); Bac. Abr. "Misnomer," B.; Rex v. Billinghurst, 3 Maul. & S. 254.: but these passages throw no additional light upon our immediate subject.

Sir Joseph Jekyll, in the case of Barlow v. Bateman, in 1730, said,—

"I am satisfied the usage of passing Acts of Parliament for the taking upon one a surname is but modern, and that any one may take upon him what surname, and as many surnames, as he pleases, without an Act of Parliament." (3 Peere Williams, 65.)

The decision of the Master of the Rolls in this case was afterwards overruled by the House of Lords; but on a point not affecting the accuracy of the observations I have quoted.

Lord Eldon, in the case of Leigh v. Leigh, decided in 1808, made the following remarks:—

"An Act of Parliament, giving a new name, does not take away the former name: a legacy given by that name might be taken. In most of the Acts of Parliament for this purpose there is a special proviso to prevent the loss of the former name. The King's licence is nothing more than permission to take the name, and does not give it. A name, therefore, taken in that way is by voluntary assumption." (15 Ves. Jun., p. 100.)

This case decided that the assumption of a name by a person, by the King's license, would not entitle him to take under a limitation in a will "unto the first and nearest of my kindred, being male, and of my name and blood." The same rule would no doubt hold as to a change of name by Act of Parliament. (See Pyot v. Pyot, 1 Ves. Sen. 335.)

These extracts from the highest authorities will sufficiently show of how little use is an Act of Parliament, or the royal license, for effecting a change of name; indeed, the chief, perhaps I might almost say the only, advantage of these costly forms, except, of course, where they are required by the express terms of a will, is the facility they afford in case it should become necessary to prove that John White was ten years ago John Brown.

Arun.

QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 6

There is no class of books which it more behoves future compilers of glossaries to consult, than those which treat of geography, navigation, military and naval economy, and the science of warfare both on shore and afloat. As far as the technical terms have been used by poets and dramatists, much valuable illustration may be found in the annotated editions of their works, but much more is required for general purposes, and I could point out some fifty volumes which would enable an industrious student, possessing a competent acquaintance with those subjects in their modern state, to produce a most useful supplement to our existing glossaries.

With very small pretensions to the amount of information which Σ ascribes to me, I will at once answer his query on the meaning of grummett.

GRUMETE is pure Spanish. It also occurs as a Portuguese word. I shall transcribe the explanations of it as given by the best authorities on those languages:—

"GRVMETE.—El muchacho que sirue en el nauio, y sube por el mastil, o arbol, y por la antena, y haze todo lo demas que le mandan con gran presteza."—Sebastian de Couarruuias, 1611.

"GRUMETE.—El mozo que sirve en el navío para subir á la gavia y otros usos. Tirunculus nauticus."—La real academia Española.

"GRUMETE.—Grumete he o moço que serve como de criado aos marinheiros, sobindo pellos mastros atè à gavea, etc."—Raphael Bluteau.

We have a statement of the rank and ratings of the officers and men of a ship of war in the Sea grammar of captain Smith, 1627. 4to. The word in question, as a rating, had then become obsolete. The duties of the seamen are thus described:

"The sailers are the ancient men for hoising the sailes, getting the tacks aboord, haling the bowlings, and steering the ship.

"The younkers are the young men called fore-mast men, to take in the top-sailes, or top and yard, for furling the sailes, or slinging the yards, bousing or trising, and take their turnes at helme."

Now, a comparison of the definitions of the Spanish and Portuguese gromete, and the English younker, leads me to infer that the latter term had been substituted for grummett or gromet, and that the duties of both classes were nearly the same.

If the above information should seem less precise than might be expected, I must make my apology in the words which Edward Jorden addressed to captain Smith on the publication of his Sea grammar:

"Who canDeriue thy words, is more grammarianThan Camden, Clenard, Ramus, Lilly were:Here's language would haue non-plust Scaliger!"Bolton Corney.

BEAVER HATS

Permit me to suggest that, in asking a question, it is often desirable that the querist should state briefly the amount of information he already possesses on the subject. For instance, had Mr. "T.H. Turner," when inquiring after beaver hats (No. 7. p. 100.), stated, that he had met with the mention of them as early as the time of Hen. III., I, of course, should not have troubled you with a notice of them in the reign of Elizabeth. Indeed, I owe Mr. Turner an apology; for if I had reflected a moment upon the extensive antiquarian information of the querist, I should certainly have concluded that he must be well acquainted with the authorities I cited, which happened to be at my elbow at the time I read the query. Mr. B. Corney (No. 19. p. 307.) has supplied a beaver hat from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; we meet with another in his Testament of Creseide, v. 386., "in a mantill and a beaver hat." We may therefore conclude that they were not unusual in Chaucer's time. I now think it very probable that beaver hats were introduced into this country as early as the Norman Conquest; for we find mention of them in Normandy at a still earlier period. In the "Chronicle of the Abbey of St. Wandrille" (edited by Acheri, in his Spicilegium), we find, amongst the gifts of the Abbot Ansegisus, who died A.D. 833,

"Cappas Romanas duas, unam videlicet ex rubeo cindato, et fimbriis viridibus in circuitu ornatam; alteram ex cane Pontico, quero vulgus Bevurum nuncupat, similiter fimbriis sui coloris decoratam in orbe."

I do not conceive this cap to have been made of the skin of a beaver, for the term would then most probably have been "ex pelli canis Pontici."

This Chronicle contains several curious inventories of the gifts of many of the abbots; in which we may see the splendour of the vessels and vestments used at that period in religious services, as well as the style of reading then prevalent amongst the monks.

Gastros.

Cambridge, March 11.

[There is a Query which arises out of this subject which none of our correspondents have yet touched upon—What was the original meaning of Beaver, as applied to a hat or cap? and was it taken from the name of the animal, or did it give the name to it?]