Notes and Queries, Number 181, April 16, 1853

Much Ado about Nothing, Act IV. Sc. 1., p 72.:"Myself would on the hazard of reproachesStrike at thy life."

When fathers kill their children, they run the risk not merely of being reproached, but of being hanged; but this reading is a mere sophistication by some one who did not understand the true reading, rearward. Leonato threatens to take his daughter's life after having reproached her.

Taming of the Shrew, p. 145.:"O, yes, I saw sweet beauty in her face,Such as the daughter of Agenor's race," &c.

"The daughter of Agenor's race" for "the daughter of Agenor" is awkward, but there is a far more decisive objection to this alteration. To compare the beauty of Bianca with the beauty of Europa is a legitimate comparison; but to compare the beauty of Bianca with Europa herself, is of course inadmissible. Here is another corruption introduced in order to produce rhyming couplet; restore the old reading, "the daughter of Agenor had."

The Winter's Tale, Act IV. Sc. 2., p. 191.:"If, &c., let me be enrolled, and any name put in the book of virtue."

We have here an abortive attempt to correct the nonsensical reading of the old copies, unrolled; but if enrolled itself makes sense, it does so only by introducing tautology. Besides, it leads us away from what I believe to be the true reading, unrogued.

King John, Act V. Sc. 7., p. 212.:"Death, having prey'd upon the outward parts,Leaves them unvisited; and his siege is nowAgainst the mind."

How could death prey upon the king's outward parts without visiting them? Perhaps, however, we have here only a corruption of a genuine text. Query, "ill-visited."

Troilus and Cressida, Act I. Sc. 3., p. 331.:"And, with an accent tun'd in self-same key,Replies to chiding fortune."

This, which is also Hanmer's reading, certainly makes sense. Pope read returns. The old copies have retires. I believe Shakspeare wrote "Rechides to chiding fortune." This puzzled the compositor, who gave the nearest common word without regard to the sense.

Troilus and Cressida, Act V. Sc. 1., p. 342.—The disgusting speeches of Thersites are scarcely worth correcting, much less dwelling upon; but there can be little doubt that we should read "male harlot" for "male varlet;" and "preposterous discoverers" (not discolourers) for "preposterous discoveries."

Coriolanus, Act V. Sc. 5., p. 364.:"I … holp to reap the fameWhich he did ear all his."

To ear is to plough. Aufidius complains that he had a share in the harvest, while Coriolanus took all the ploughing to himself. We have only, however, to transpose reap and ear, and this nonsense is at once converted into excellent sense. The old corrector blindly copied the blunder of a corrupt, but not sophisticated, manuscript. This has occurred elsewhere in this collection.

Antony and Cleopatra, Act I. Sc. 5., p. 467.:"And soberly did mount an arm-girt steed."

This reading was also conjectured by Hanmer. The folios read arme-gaunt. This appears to me a mere misprint for rampaunt, but whether rampaunt was Shakspeare's word, or a transcriber's sophistication for ramping, is more than I can undertake to determine. I believe, however, that one of them is the true reading. At one period to ramp and to prance seem to have been synonymous. Spenser makes the horses of night "fiercely ramp," and Surrey exhibits a prancing lion.

This communication is, I am afraid, already too long for "N. & Q.;" I will therefore only add my opinion, that, though the old corrector has reported many bad readings, they are far outnumbered by the good ones in the collection.

W. N. L.

Mr. Collier's "Notes and Emendations:" Passage in "The Winter's Tale."—At p. 192. of Mr. Payne Collier's new volume, he cites a passage in The Winter's Tale, ending—

"… I should blushTo see you so attir'd, sworn, I thinkTo show myself a glass."

The MS. emendator, he says, reads so worn for sworn; and adds:

"The meaning therefore is, that Florizel's plain attire was 'so worn,' to show Perdita, as in a glass, how simply she ought to have been dressed."

Now Mr. Collier, in this instance, has not, according to his usual practice, alluded to any commentator who has suggested the same emendation. The inference would be, that this emendation is a novelty. This it is not. It has been before the world for thirty-four years, and its merits have failed to give it currency. At p. 142. of Z. Jackson's miscalled Restorations, 1819, we find this emendation, with the following note:

"So worn, i. e. so reduced, in your external appearance, that I should think you intended to remind me of my own condition; for, by looking at you thus attired, I behold myself, as it were, reflected in a glass, habited in robes becoming my obscure birth, and equally obscure fortune."

Jackson's emendations are invariably bad; but whatever may be thought of the sense of Florizel being so worn (instead of his dress), it is but fair to give a certain person his due. The passage has long seemed to me to have this meaning:

"But that we are acquiescing in a custom, I should blush to see you, who are a prince, attired like a swain; and still more should I blush to look at myself in the glass, and see a peasant girl pranked up like a princess."

& more, in MS., might very easily have been mistaken for sworn by the compositor. Accordingly, I would read the complete passage thus:

"… But that our feastsIn every mess have folly, and the feedersDigest it with a custom, I should blushTo see you so attir'd, and more, I think,To show myself a glass."C. Mansfield Ingleby.

Birmingham.

Minor Notes

Alleged Cure for Hydrophobia.—From time to time articles have appeared in "N. & Q." as to the cure of hydrophobia, a specific for which seems still to be a desideratum.

In the Miscellanea Curiosa (vol. iii. p. 346.) is a paper on Virginia, from the Rev. John Clayton, rector of Crofton in Wakefield, in which he states the particulars of several cures which he had effected of persons bitten by mad dogs. His principal remedy seems to have been the "volatile salt of amber" every four hours, and in the intervals, "Spec. Pleres Archonticon and Rue powdered ana gr. 15." I am not learned enough to understand what these drugs are called in the modern nomenclature of druggists.

C. T. W.

Epitaph at Mickleton.—The following inscription is copied from a monument on the north wall of the chancel of Mickleton Church, co. Gloucester:

"The Ephitath of John BonnerHeare lyeth in tomed John Bonner by name,Sonne of Bonner of Pebworth, from thence he cameThe : 17 : of October he ended his daies,Pray God that wee leveing may follow his wayes1618 by the yeareScarce are such Men to be found in this shereMade and set up by his loveing frendEvens his kindesman and [so I] doe endJohn Bonner, Senior.   Thomas Evens, Junior1618."

The words in brackets are conjectural, the stone at that point being much corroded.

Balliolensis.

Charade attributed to Sheridan.—You have given a place to enigmas in "N. & Q.," and therefore the following, which has been attributed to R. B. Sheridan, may be acceptable. Was he the author?

"There is a spot, say, Traveller, where it lies,And mark the clime, the limits, and the size,Where grows no grass, nor springs the yellow grain,Nor hill nor dale diversify the plain;Perpetual green, without the farmer's toil,Through all the seasons clothes the favor'd soil,Fair pools, in which the finny race abound,By human art prepar'd, enrich the ground.Not India's lands produce a richer store,Pearl, ivory, gold and silver ore.Yet, Britons, envy not these boasted climes,Incessant war distracts, and endless crimesPollute the soil:—Pale Avarice triumphs there,Hate, Envy, Rage, and heart-corroding Care,With Fraud and Fear, and comfortless Despair.There government not long remains the same,Nor they, like us, revere a monarch's name.Britons, beware! Let avarice tempt no more;Spite of the wealth, avoid the tempting shore;The daily bread which Providence has given,Eat with content, and leave the rest to heaven."Balliolensis.

Suggested Reprint of Hearne.—It has often occurred to me to inquire whether an association might not be formed for the republication of the works edited by Tom Hearne? An attempt was made some years ago by a bookseller; and, as only Robert of Gloucester and Peter Langtoft appeared, "Printed for Samuel Bagster, in the Strand, 1810," we must infer that the spirited publisher was too far in advance of the age, and that the attempt did not pay. Probably it never would as a bookseller's speculation. But might not a society like the Camden be formed for the purpose with some probability, in these altered times and by such an improved method of proceeding, of placing these curious and valuable volumes once more within reach of men of ordinary means? At present the works edited by Hearne are rarely to be met with in catalogues, and when they do occur, the prices are almost fabulous, quite on the scale of those affixed to ancient MSS.

Balliolensis.

Suggestions of Books worthy of being reprinted.—Fabricius, Bibliotheca Latina Mediæ et Infimæ Ætatis, 6 vols. 8vo. (Recommended in The Guardian newspaper.)

J. M.

Epigram all the way from Belgium.—Should you think the following epigram, written in the travellers' book at Hans-sur-Lesse, in Belgium, worth preserving, it is at your service:

"Old Euclid may go to the wall,For we've solved what he never could guess,How the fish in the river are small,But the river they live in is Lesse."H. A. B.

Derivation of "Canada."—I send you a cutting from an old newspaper, on the derivation of this word:

"The name of Canada, according to Sir John Barrow, originated in the following circumstances. When the Portuguese, under Gasper Cortcreal, in the year 1500, first ascended the great river St. Lawrence, they believed it was the strait of which they were in search, and through which a passage might be discovered into the Indian Sea. But on arriving at the point whence they could clearly ascertain it was not a strait but a river, they, with all the emphasis of disappointed hopes, exclaimed repeatedly 'Canada!'—Here nothing; words which were remembered and repeated by the natives on seeing Europeans arrive in 1534, who naturally conjectured that the word they heard employed so often must denote the name of the country."

Henry H. Breen.

St. Lucia.

Railway Signals.—An effective communication from the guard to the engineman, for the prevention of railway accidents, seems to be an important desideratum, which has hitherto baffled the ingenuity of philosophers. The only proposed plan likely to be adopted, is that of a cord passing below the foot-boards, and placing the valve of the steam whistle under the control of the guard. The trouble attending this scheme, and the liability to neglect and disarrangement, render its success doubtful. What I humbly suggest is, that the guard should be provided with an independent instrument which would produce a sound sufficiently loud to catch the ear of the engineman. Suppose, for instance, that the mouth-piece of a clarionet, or the windpipe of a duck, or a metallic imitation, were affixed to the muzzle of an air-gun, and the condensed air discharged through the confined aperture; a shrill sound would be emitted. Surely, then, a small instrument might be contrived upon this principle, powerful enough to arrest the attention of the engineer, if not equal to the familiar shriek of the present whistle.

It is hoped that this hint will be followed up; that your publication will sustain its character by thus providing a medium of intercommunication for these worthies, who can respectively lay claim to the titles of men of science and men of letters, and that some experimenter "when found will make a note"—a stunning one.

T. C.

A Centenarian Trading Vessel.—There is a small smack now trading in the Bristol Channel, in excellent condition and repair, and likely to last for many years, called the "Fanny," which was built in 1753. This vessel belongs to Porlock, in the port of Bridgewater, and was originally built at Aberthaw in South Wales. Can any of your readers refer to any other trading vessel so old as this?

Anon.

Queries

BISHOP KEN

At what place, and by what bishop, was he ordained, in 1661? His ordination probably took place in the diocese of Oxford, London, Winchester, or Worcester. The discovery of it has hitherto baffled much research.

Jon Ken, an elder brother of the Bishop, was Treasurer of the East India Company in 1683. Where can anything be learned of him? Is there any mention of him in the books of the East India Company? Was he the Ken mentioned in Roger North's Lives of the Norths, as one of the court-rakes? When did he die, and where was he buried? This Jon Ken married Rose, the daughter of Sir Thomas Vernon, of Coleman Street, and by her is said (by Hawkins) to have had a daughter, married to the Honorable Christopher Frederick Kreienberg, Hanoverian Resident in London. Did M. Kreienberg die in this country, or can anything be ascertained of him or his wife?

The Bishop wrote to James II. a letter of intercession on behalf of the rebels in 1685. Can this letter be found in the State-Paper Office, or elsewhere?

In answer to a sermon preached by Bishop Ken, on 5th May, 1687, one F. I. R., designating himself "a most loyal Irish subject of the Company of Jesuits," wrote some "Animadversions." Could this be the "fath. Jo. Reed," a Benedictine, mentioned in the Life of A. Wood, under date of July 21, 1671? Father Reed was author of Votiva Tabula. Can any one throw any light on this?

J. J. J.

Minor Queries

Canute's Reproof to his Courtiers.—Opposite the Southampton Docks, in the Canute Road, is the Canute Hotel, with this inscription in front: "Near this spot, A.D. 1028, Canute reproved his courtiers." The building is of very recent date.

Query, Is there any and what authority for the statement?

Salopian.

The Sign of the Cross in the Greek Church.—The members of the Greek Church sign themselves with the sign of the cross in a different manner from those of the Western Church. What is the difference?

J. C. B.

Reverend Richard Midgley, Vicar of Rochdale, temp. Eliz.—Dr. T. D. Whitaker mentions, in a note in his Life of Sir George Radcliffe, Knt., p. 4., 4to. 1810, that at an obscure inn in North Wales he once met with a very interesting account of Midgley in a collection of lives of pious persons, made about the time of Charles I.; but adds, that he had forgotten the title, and had never since been able to obtain the book. Can any reader of "N. & Q." identify this "collection," or furnish any particulars of Midgley not recorded by Brook, Calamy, or Hunter?

F. R. R.

Huet's Navigations of Solomon.—Can you or any of your readers inform me if the treatise referred to in the accompanying extract was ever published? and, if so, what was the result as to the assertions there made?

The History of the Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients. Written in French by Monsieur Huet, Bishop of Avranches. Made English from the Paris Edition. London: Printed for B. Lintot, between the Temple Gates, in Fleet Street, and Mears, at the Lamb, without Temple Bar. 1717.

"2dly. It is here we must lay down the most important remark, in point of commerce; and I shall undeniably establish the truth of it in a treatise which I have begun concerning the navigations of Solomon, that the Cape of Good Hope was known, often frequented, and doubled in Solomon's time, and so it was likewise for many years after; and that the Portuguese, to whom the glory of this discovery has been attributed, were not the first that found out this place, but mere secondary discoverers."—P. 20.

Edina.

Edinburgh.

Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1781.—Will any one of your correspondents inform me who was sheriff of Worcestershire in the year 17812, and give his arms, stating the source of his knowledge on these points, to much oblige

Y.

Tree of the Thousand Images.—Father Huc, in his journey to Thibet, gives an account of a singular tree, bearing this title, and of which the peculiarity is that its leaves and bark are covered with well-defined characters of the Thibetian alphabet. The tree seen by MM. Huc and Gabet appeared to them to be of great age, and is said by the inhabitants to be the only one of its kind known in the country. According to the account given by these travellers, the letters would appear to be formed by the veins of the leaves; the resemblance to Thibetian characters was such as to strike them with astonishment, and they were inclined at first to suspect fraud, but, after repeated observations, arrived at the conclusion that none existed. Do botanists know or conjecture anything about this tree?

C. W. G.

De Burgh Family.—I shall feel much obliged for references to the early seals of the English branch of the family of De Burgh, descended from Harlowen De Burgh, and Arlotta, mother of William the Conqueror, especially of that English branch whose armorial bearings were—Or a cross gules: also for information whether the practice, in reference to the spelling of names, was such as to render Barow, of the latter part of the fifteenth century, Aborough some fifty years afterwards.

E. D. B.

Witchcraft Sermons at Huntingdon.—In an article on Witchcraft in the Retrospective Review (vol. v. p. 121.), it is stated that, in 1593—

"An old man, his wife and daughter, were accused of bewitching the five children of a Mr. Throgmorton, several servants, the lady of Sir Samuel Cromwell, and other persons.... They were executed, and their goods, which were of the value of forty pounds, being escheated to Sir S. Cromwell, as lord of the manor, he gave the amount to the mayor and aldermen of Huntingdon, for a rent-charge of forty shillings yearly, to be paid out of their town lands, for an annual lecture upon the subject of witchcraft, to be preached at their town every Lady-Day, by a doctor or bachelor of divinity, of Queen's College, Cambridge."

Is this sum yet paid, and the sermon still preached, or has it fallen into disuse now that it is unpopular to believe in witchcraft and diabolic possession? Have any of the sermons been published?

Edward Peacock, Junior.

Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey.

Consort.—A former correspondent applied for a notice of Mons. Consort, said to have been a mystical impostor similar to the famous Cagliostro. I beg to renew the same inquiry.

A. N.

Creole.—This word is variously represented in my Lexicons. Bailey says, "The descendant of an European, born in America," and with him agree the rest, with the exception of the Metropolitana; that Encyclopædia gives the meaning, "The descendant of an European and an American Indian." A friend advocating the first meaning derives the word from the Spanish. Another friend, in favour of the second meaning, derives it originally from κεραννυμι, to mix; which word is fetched, perhaps far-fetched, from κερας, the horn in which liquors are mixed. Light on this word would be acceptable.

Gilbert N. Smith.

Shearman Family.—Is there a family named Shearman or Sherman in Yorkshire, or in the city of York? What are their arms? Is there any record of any of that family settling in Ireland, in the county or city of Kilkenny, about the middle of the seventeenth century, or at an earlier period in Cork? Are there any genealogical records of them? Was Robert Shearman, warden of the hospital of St. Cross in Winchester, of that family? Was Roger Shearman, who signed the Declaration of American Independence, a member of same? Is there any record of three brothers, Robert, Oliver, and Francis Shearman, coming to England in the army of William the Conqueror?

John F. Shearman.

Kilkenny.

Traitors' Ford.—There is a place called Traitors' Ford on the borders of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, near the source of the little river Stour, about two miles from the village of Whichford, in the former county. What is the origin of the name? There is no notice of it in Dugdale's Warwickshire, nor is it mentioned in the older maps of the county of Warwick. The vicinity to the field of Edge-Hill would lead one to suppose it may be connected with some event of the period of the Civil Wars.

Spes.

"Your most obedient humble Servant."—In Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. ii. p. 93., mention is made of a poem entitled The Historie of Edward the Second, surnamed Carnarvon. The author, Sir Francis Hubert, in 1629, when closing the dedication of this poem to his brother, Mr. Richard Hubert, thus remarks:

"And so, humbly desiring the Almighty to blesse you both in soule, body, and estate, I rest not your servant, according to the new, and fine, but false phrase of the time, but in honest old English, your loving brother and true friend for ever."

Query, At what time, and with whom did this very common and most unmeaning term in English correspondence have its origin?

W. W.

Malta.

Version of a Proverb.—What, and where to be found, is the true version of "Qui facit per alium, facit per se?"

P. J. F. Gantillon, B.A.

Ellis Walker.—Can any reader of "N. & Q." give any information as to Ellis Walker, who made a Poetical Paraphrase of the Enchiridion of Epictetus? He dedicates it to "his honoured uncle, Mr. Samuel Walker of York," and speaks of having taken Epictetus for his companion when he fled from the "present troubles in Ireland." My edition is printed in London, 1716, but of what edition is not mentioned; but I presume the work to have been of earlier date, probably in 1690-1, as indeed I find it to have been, by inserted addresses to the author, of date in the latter year. Any information as to the translator will oblige.

A. B. R.

Belmont.

"The Northerne Castle."—Pepys, in his Diary, 14th September, 1667, says, "To the King's playhouse, to see The Northerne Castle, which I think I never did see before." Is anything known of this play and its authorship? or was it The Northern Lass, by Richard Brome, first published in 1632? Perhaps Pepys has quoted the second title of some play.

J. Y.

Prayer-Book in French.—Can any of your readers give some satisfactory information respecting the earliest translations of the English Prayer-Book into French? By whom, when, for whom, were they first made? Does any copy still exist of one (which I have seen somewhere alluded to) published before Dean Durel's editions? By what authority have they been put forth? Is there any information to be found collected by any writer on this subject?

O. W. J.

"Navita Erythræum," &c.—Running the risk of being smiled at for my ignorance, I wish to have a reference to the following lines:

"Navita Erythræum pavidus qui navigat æquor,In proræ et puppis summo resonantia pendetTintinnabula; eo sonitu prægrandia Cete,Balenas, et monstra marina a navibus arcet."H. T. Ellacombe.

Edmund Burke.—Can any of your correspondents tell me when and where he was married?

B. E. B.

Plan of London.—Is there any good plan of London, showing its present extent? The answer is, None. What is more, there never was a decent plan of this vast metropolis. There is published occasionally, on a small sheet of paper, a wretched and disgraceful pretence to one, bedaubed with paint. Can you explain the cause of this? Every other capital in Europe has handsome plans, easy to be obtained: nay more, almost every provincial town, whether in this country or on the Continent, possesses better engraved and more accurate plans than this great capital can pretend to. Try and use your influence to get this defect supplied.

L. S. W.

Minchin.—Could any of your Irish correspondents give me any information with regard to the sons of Col. Thomas Walcot (c. 1683), or the families of Minchin and Fitzgerald, co. Tipperary, he would much oblige