hundred and seventy yards. It is sufficiently re- White Hill, 182 ft. in circumference, and 60 ft. in diameter; Topach Cairn, 143 ft. in circumference; (1) Pottis (Potuisso of the charter) Cairn, 153 ft. in circumference, and 6 ft. high; (2) Pottis Cairn, 72 ft. in circumference. I do not know if such a collection of large cairns can be found in any other part of Scotland. Yet in size they are surpassed by the White Cairn upon the farm of Holmhead in the parish of Dalry, on the confines of Dumfriesshire and Galloway. A friend has kindly sent me the precise dimensions, and I find "its original circumference was 360 ft., and diameter 120 ft. Its present circumference is 268 ft., diameter 89 ft., SIR HENRY RAEBURN (4th S. ix. 319, 346.) height from the ground 14 ft." The Poldune of MR. CUNNINGHAM has been misled in consequence the charter is neither the Cample nor the Ae. It of relying on literary gossip rather than taking the is the small stream, now called Poldivan, which trouble to consult the references which I have falls eventually into the Ae, and the boundaries of already given to the Editor of "N. & Q." to Kylosbern in this part of the barony agree pre-volume and page of records in the public archives, cisely with its position. with the object of setting him right. Garrock is still a farm, now included in the Queensberry estate, of old forming part of Tybaris barony. It belongs to the old parish of Dalgarnock, which extends in this direction as far as Queensberry Hill. The charter, though it gives certain limits towards the north, does not enable us to determine its boundaries on all sides. I believe that the présent boundary between the old Kirkpatrick property, now belonging to the co-heiresses of the late Douglas Baird, Esq., and the Queensberry estate, shows the extent of Kylosbern barony towards the north-east. We cannot tell how far it extended towards the river Nith, nor can we separate it from Briddeburg barony towards the south. I showed in a former paper (4th S. ix. 214) the parts of Dalgarnock parish which belonged to Tybaris barony, and that is probably the only way by which we can approximate to its boundaries. In regard to Macricem Sicherium, of which it is said "qui se extendit per medium Musse ascendendo," there is no doubt of the correctness of the reading, as I have before me a lithograph of the old charter made by the late Mr. C. Kirkpatrick Sharpe of Hoddom; and though I do not pretend to be an expert in old handwriting, in this case it is sufficiently plain to leave no doubt on my mind that we have got the words of the charter. There is, where this landmark must have been, a very remarkable subsidence of the ground, which is known to the inhabitants as the " Dry Gill"; and the Norman lawyer who drew up the document may have so designated it. The great Moss referred to in the charter has been much curtailed by drainage and other agricultural improvements, but in early times must have come down far below the Dry Gill. This subsidence of the ground is a deep gully; the sides of which are nearly perpendicular, sinking to a depth of upwards of forty feet, and extending in length two I cannot undertake to send the same references again, but in a forthcoming work I hope satisfactorily to show the real state of the question by producing extracts from the records in question, without, however, bringing forward your correspondent personally, as that would be unnecessary, it being evident to me that he is entirely unacquainted with the facts of the case, and is only wrong in adopting the errors of others. S. DINNERS "À LA RUSSE" (4th S. ix. 422, 488; x. 11.) It is edifying, nay affecting, to see your excellent and venerable correspondent F. C. H. applying himself to this great subject. Like other abstruse questions, it, no doubt, has two sides. But I think the main argument has not been noticed. It is that this usage saves an fluous cœni dubietatem. With it, two entrées are infinitude of needless trouble and wholly superabundant for twenty people, who otherwise would require eight or nine at least; and so of other dishes. The avoidance of an idle appearance of luxury, and greater simplicity, are alone worth a good deal. LYTTELTON. "TITUS ANDRONICUS": IRA ALDRIDGE (4th S. ix. 422.)—I cannot give the date, but it must have. been after 1840, when I witnessed several of the performances of the African Roscius. It was at the Britannia Theatre, London. Mr. Aldridge appeared in Titus Andronicus, as Aaron; also as Othello, as Hamlet, as Zanga, as Bertram (in the tragedy of Maturin), and as Mungo in a farce of which the name has escaped me. He was unquestionably a man of talent, and his acting was good, though occasionally he was given to rant. From what I remember of Titus Andronicus, it was very much curtailed, but I do not think that any additions were made to the text. The playbill had a long paragraph, which defended the authorship of Shakspeare, and threw the gauntlet at all doubters. I witnessed Mr. Aldridge at the Britannia in Zanga, Aaron, Bertram, and Mungo, and I must confess that his talent was more conspicuous as the comic negro butler than in the three tragic characters where revenge is the ruling passion. He was not a genuine African-there was white blood in his veins. After leaving London he performed in Germany and in Russia. He died about ten years ago, at some place on the Continent. When he first appeared as an actor, he called himself "Kean, the African Roscius." When the name of "Kean" was abandoned for that of "Aldridge," the play-bills had always a few lines of biography, which stated that Mr. A. was a prince, and the son of an African king! but the kingdom was not named. I should like to see some reliable account of Mr. Aldridge. Perhaps Mrs. Lane, a very clever actress, and the present proprietress of the Britannia, could furnish such. She and her husband, the late much-respected Mr. S. Lane, were personal friends of Mr. Aldridge. N. "Hæc qui de suis faciebant divitiis, magnis sunt lucris levia damna soluti; plusque lætati ex his, quæ facile tribuendo tutius servaverunt, quam contristati ex his quæ timide retinendo facilius amiserunt." T. LEWIS O. DAVIES. Pear Tree Vicarage, Southampton. BARKER AND BURFORD'S PANORAMAS (4th S. ix. 435, 523.)-Although the advertisement to which MR. SCOTT refers implies, as he says, that the "Eidophusikon" was in addition to some other exhibition, I think it probable that the doubt arises from the inexact way in which it is worded. My reason for coming to this opinion is, that the "Eidophusikon" appears, as will be seen in the following extract, to have been of sufficient importance to be, and in fact to have been, an entire entertainment: IRISH STREET BALLADS (4th S. ix. 485.)-The ballad "Sweet Castle Hyde" is given in Evenings in the Duffrey, by Patrick Kennedy (Dublin, 1869). This is a small 8vo book, and with its companion book, The Banks of the Boro (Dublin, 1867), contains between forty and fifty of the ballads which were current in the co. of Wexfording the changes of the elements and their phenomena forty years ago. Mr. Kennedy's sketches of the manners of the wealthy farmers in that part of Ireland are very interesting, and he has embalmed many little bits of rural folk lore which I have not met with elsewhere. W. H. PATTERSON. bourg took up his abode at 45, Titchfield Street, Oxford "Soon after settling in this country (1771) De LoutherStreet, and was elected associate (of the Royal Academy) in 1780, and R.A. in 1781. He produced in 1782, under the title of Eidophusikon, or a Representation of Nature,' a novel and highly interesting exhibition, display CATER-COUSINS (4th S. ix. 331, 396, 456, 517.) I have often been struck with the indefiniteness of the relationship betokened by the common word cousin, even when it is used in the nearest degree; that is, as first cousin. Let me take the phrase "Tom is Dick Smith's cousin "-to show my meaning. Tom may stand in four different relationships to Dick Smith: he may be (1) Dick's father's brother's son, and in this case his name would probably be Smith; (2) Dick's father's sister's son; (3) Dick's mother's brother's son; (4) Dick's mother's sister's son,-and in the last three cases Tom's name would be no guide without other data. I have often wondered, never having heard the true meaning of the word cater-cousin, whether that word expressed any of these relationships-say cousinship on the mother's side generally; and though I must believe that it has never been conventionally used in this sense, still I cannot help thinking that a word defining more closely the relations of cousinhood would be of great use in our language, while it would undoubtedly make easier the researches of those whose delight is in tracing family connections through the medium of wills and other documents. Clent, Stourbridge. VIGORN. in a calm, a moonlight, a sunset, and a storm at sea-by SOHO SQUARE (4th S. ix. 507.)—When the city A statement to the following effect occurs in a little book called The Cairn, published several years ago:-To the north of the Earl of Leicester's house stood King's Square, on one side of which was the Duke of Monmouth's house, after whose execution the name was changed to Soho Square, "Soho " being his watchword at the fatal battle of Sedgemore. E. N. Your correspondent asks "What is the origin of Soho?" Cunningham in his Handbook to London states that it was so called before the battle at Sedgemoor, and Macaulay (as noticed) does the same. If no better explanation can be given for the word, allow me to draw attention to the fact that, as parts of the original fields were called "Dog Fields" and " Doghouse Field," which were "since more lately called or known by the names of Soho or Soho Fields" (Cunningham), that thence (as he suggests) it derived the name from "So-ho or So-how, an old cry in hunting when the hare was found"; and Johnson's Dictionary explains "Soho" as "a form of calling from a distant place." Is the following extract admissible in your journal as a use of the word ?— ... some vagabond Hector, who throughout the night struck right and left at both parties, crying out with all his might-Soho! Aubijoux! thou hast gained of me three thousand ducats, there are three thrusts for thee. Soho! La Chapelle! I will have ten drops of thy blood in exchange for my ten pistoles.'"-Cing Mars, by A. de Vigny, in “Railway Library" edition, 1864, p. 137. We know how similar suggestive names were derived, such as the ditch with a sunken fence in it, called a "Ha-ha" fence, simply from the circumstance of a person coming suddenly upon it in riding, and naturally exclaiming "ha! ha! being so suddenly stopped in his progress. at DR. RIMBAULT ("N. & Q." 1" S. ii. 227) has added the interesting notice, that "between the years 1674 and 1681 the ground was surveyed by Gregory King, an eminent architect of those days, who projected the square with the adjacent streets," and who may have given his name to the square, as often done by the surveyors and speculative builders of those days, as also of the present. King's Street, as it was printed in a "Survey of London" of 1742, may also have been named from this builder. The same work notices "King's Square, but vulgarly Soho Square." W. P. IOLANTHE (4th S. ix. 407, 475, 516.)—With all due deference, which, I believe, is the courteous way of expressing a difference of opinion, I doubt if Iolanthe, &c., are medieval variations of the Spanish name Violante, as stated by HERMEN TRUDE. Violante comes direct from the Latin viola. Iolanthe is clearly of Greek origin. They are cognate names; but the latter can hardly be a variation of the former. CCCXI. JAPANESE MARRIAGE CEREMONY (3rd S. ii. 27.) I think the lines are translated from Apollonius Rhodius's description of Medeia's elopement; if so, though the authority would be good for what was done" in the Levant from the remotest antiquity," cutting off a long lock of hair is hardly equivalent to shaving the head: Κέσσε δ' εόν τε λέχος καὶ δικλίδας ἀμφοτέρωθεν· σταθμούς, καὶ τοίχων ἐπαφήσατο χερσίτε μακρὸν ρηξαμένη πλόκαμον θαλάμῳ μνημήϊα μητρὶ κάλλιπε παρθενίης, ἀδινῇ δ ̓ ὀλοφίλατο φωνῇ. τόνδε τοὶ ἀντ ̓ ἐμέθεν ταναὸν πλόκον εἶμι λιποῦσα, μήτερ ἐμὴ, χαίροις δὲ καὶ ἄνδιχα πολλὸν ἰούση. Argonautic. lib. iv. vv. 25-31. The corresponding passage in Valerius Flaccus is: "Ultima virgineis tunc flens dedit oscula vittis; Quosque fugit complexa toros, crinemque genasque O mihi si profugæ genitor nunc ille supremos Argonaut. lib. vi. vv. 6-15. I quote the latter because it suggests a query. Where are the manuscripts of the Rev. J. S. Watson? Among those which he described in the paper written just before he took the poison, was a translation of Valerius Flaccus. If in rhyme it is probably worth publishing; if in blank verse, not, as a crib to a book not used in schools is not wanted. In Smith's Classical Dictionary a translation by Nicholas Whyte, 1565, is mentioned. I cannot find it in the British Museum. Can any reader of "N. & Q." say whether it is worth reprinting, or give a short specimen, ex. gr. the version of the passage above?* H. B. C. U. U. Club. MR. KETT OF TRINITY, OXFORD (4th S. ix. 379, 448, 517.)-I have a copy of the first edition of The Examiner Examined, Oxford, 1809. Latet is in the motto, but possibly "patet" may have been substituted in a later edition. On the fly leaf is a MS. note, "This quaint title, The Examiner Examined, is not new, Webster of Ware published a pamphlet against Bishop Hare, which begins with the same words, in 1732." H. B. C. U. U. Club. author of the Book of Mormon, a compilation "FETCH A COMPASS" (4th S. ix. 454.) -The Worthy of Munchausen himself, introduces one of the ten tribes steering by the mariner's compass! This anachronism was pointed out to Brigham Young (or as the Americans call him Bigamy Young) by an episcopalian clergyman. The Mormon chief told the clergyman that he had forgotten his Testament, and directed him to Acts xxviii. 13. The expression "fetch a walk” is very common in the west of England. N. SIR ROBERT AYTOUN (4th S. ix. 359, 516.) Was not the authenticity of the poems published by the Rev. Dr. Rogers (then Mr. C. Roger), and ascribed by him to Sir Robert Aytoun, doubted at the time of publication? J. B. NAPOLEON'S SCAFFOLD AT WATERLOO (4th S. ix. 469, 538.)-Many years ago I pasted into a scrap book several woodcuts representing scenes and incidents of the battle of Waterloo, and taken (if I remember rightly) from The Pictorial Times. One of the largest of these is called "Napoleon's Platform at Waterloo," and represents the scaffold of sixty feet high, divided into three compartments, and tapering towards its summit. On each of the three floors is a ladder, without a hand rail, giving admission to the story above. Could the artist have had any authority for the shape, &c., of this scaffold? or did he construct it after the fashion of the German's camel? CUTHBERT BEDE. If MR. OAKLEY refers to vol. ii. p. 47 of Kelly's History of the Wars, ed. 1819, he will find an account, and also an engraving, of "this curious machine." J. W. FLEMING. Brighton. "Roy's WIFE OF ALDIVALLOCH (4th S. ix. 507.)-The date is earlier than your correspondent A. X. supposes. I intended to have sent the words to "N. & Q." some time ago, but books my were packed up so that I could not get at them. The original song, which I transcribe for the sake of your readers besouth the Tweed, was by Mrs. Grant of Carron, who must not be confounded with Mrs. Grant of Laggan. Mrs. Grant was born near Aberlour in 1745. Her widowhood she bestowed on Dr. Murray of Bath, and died somewhere about 1814: "Roy's wife of Aldivalloch, As I cam o'er the braes of Balloch. "She vowed, she swore she wad be mine. She's ta'en the Carle, and left her Johnnie. "O she was a cantie quean! Weel could she dance the Highland walloch. Or I'd been Roy of Aldivalloch. Her wee bit mou' sae sweet and bonnie; Tho' she's for ever left her Johnnie. IDEM LATINE REDDITUM. By the Rev. Dr. W. Lindsay Alexander of Edinburgh, than whom, &c. WILLIAM HALLET (4th S. v. 247.)-The following extract is an interesting addition to the notice of this person, and extends to his descendants: "William Hallet, Esq., grandson to the purchaser of this estate (of Canons), sold it about six years ago (in 1786) to Mr. Dennis O'Kelly, a successful adventurer on the turf, who left it at his death to his nephew. Mr. Walpole mentions the sale of this place to a cabinetmaker, as 'a mockery of sublunary grandeur.' He might now extend his reflections by observing that Mr. Hallett has lately purchased the Dunch estate and mansion at Wittenham in Berks, which had been more than two hundred years in that ancient family. He has likewise bought the seat and estate at Farringdon, in Berks, of Henry James Pye, Esq., late M.P. for that county, and now poet laureate, whose family were in possession of it more than two centuries. Thus ancient families become extinct, or fall to decay; and trade, and the vicissitudes of life, have thrown into the hands of one man a property which once supported two families with great influence and respectability in their county."-The Ambulator; or, a Tour Twenty-five Miles Round London, 4th edition. W. P. IRON SHIPBUILDING (4th S. ix. 484.)-The following is from Mr. E. J. Reed, late Chief Constructor of the Navy, in reply to your paragraph on "Iron Shipbuilding": "EARLY IRON SHIPBUILDING. "Sir,-In your journal of to-day I observe a cutting from Notes and Queries, relative to a paragraph descriptive of the launch of an iron barge in 1788, which appeared in the Hull Packet of November 11, 1788. Às the correspondent of your contemporary inquires if earlier instances of iron shipbuilding than this are known, it may be interesting to mention that an earlier iron boat appears to have been built by the same gentleman, Mr. Wilkinson, of Bradley Forge, for whereas the Hull Packet describes the barge in question as recently launched, under the date of November 11, 1788. Mr. Grantham, in his book on iron shipbuilding, quotes a publication bearing date July 28, 1787, in which is given a description of an iron canal boat, built by Mr. Wilkinson, which arrived at Birmingham a few days before. I may add that I had occasion a few years ago to look up the early history of iron shipbuilding, but did not discover any earlier instances than this of a really working commercial vessel built of iron.-Yours obediently, "June 22, 1872. E. J. REED." H. J. AMPHLETT. ECCENTRIC TURNING (4th S. ix. 532.)-Without depreciating the merit due to M. Muhle for his "eccentric hat," he must not be considered the inventor of this sort of turning, because long before 1826, in a French 4to work, entitled Recueil d'Ouvrages curieux, published at Lyons, 1719, there are many engravings of most wonderful specimens of such eccentric articles which belonged to the grandfather of the author of the volume, viz. M. Grollier de Servieux. Copies of the work are not uncommon. It is well worth the possession of the curious in such matters. There is also the great folio by Plumier (L'Art de Tourneur) published at Lyons, 1701, with plates of such eccentric turning, but no hats certainly. H. T. ELLACOMBE, M.B. would impress on the lovers of these interesting "HISTOIRE DU BATON" (4th S. ix. 360, 455.)— MR. SKIPTON, in his learned note on what I intended as a mere suggestion for inquiry, and not referring to the Mercantile Navy List, published AGE OF SHIPS (4th S. ix. 261, 396, 491.)-On as a positive assertion, has, I think, made out a strong case in favour of the derivation of skittles by the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, from skytale or scytale, a "thick staff or cudgel.", find that the "Amphitrite" was built at North and which is compiled from official documents, I Mr. S. knows, no doubt, the "game of sticks played at country fairs, where sticks are thrown Shields in 1776, and the "Brotherly Love," 214 tons, at Ipswich in 1764; and the latter at objects placed on upright sticks. Now, have we not in this game two sorts of skytales or scy-hundred and eight years old when wrecked. Now named vessel would, therefore, have been one tales? Is it beyond the bounds of probability to suppose that, at some time or other, this game may have been known as that of skittles? and that the nine pins of the other game may have been also called skittles from the uprights of the game of sticks? JAMES HENRY DIXON. 66 "Ab, dame,' said the emperowre, 6 Thou haues ben a fals gilowre; For thy gaudes and thy gilry." Gilry meant "jargon" or "wizardy," and elloree means sorcerer" in the north of England. This term belongs to our Celtic mother tongue, the Irish, and to the kindred speech of Wales and Cornwall as well. In Welsh it is visible in cellwair," to talk jargon," or "to jest." It is also in the gipsy vocabulary, and it may be recognised in the word "glamoury." 66 But this is not all, by any means; and the incredible part is to come. The phrase "Hand of Glory" is certainly the Celtic " Caint Elloree" or "Caint Gilry"-so to write the sentence. Caint, in Irish, means speech," and we now write it cant. So that "Sorcery-cant" or "Sorcerer's jargon " was once the real meaning of that very puzzling piece of old Irish, the "Hand of Glory"! But, there is an actual hand in the tradition? No doubt; and this only shows how ready men were once to shape their legends on fragments of the elder speech then slipping out of their knowledge, and only strange sounds in their ears. I cut this note very short, and leave out a number of collateral proofs, much more surprising than those I mention. Elloree and Caint are words with very long biographies, meandering through many languages, and very curious in them all-especially in our own-of the Celtic family, and in our literature. If I had any business to draw or point morals in "N. & Q." I in the "Endeavour," 370 tons, from Deptford on Capt. Cook sailed on his first voyage of discovery July 30, 1768; on his second voyage with the tons, from Plymouth on July 13, 1772; and on "Resolution," 462 tons, and “Adventurer,” 336 his third and last voyage with the "Resolution" and "Discovery," 300 tons, on July 9, 1776. On which voyage did the "Brotherly Love" accompany Capt. Cook round the world? By the Register of Shipping for 1818 the "Betsy Cains" (not Cairns) was built in the King's Yard in 1690; and consequently when lost, 1824, was one hundred and thirty-four years old. She is described to be a ship of 176 tons, with two decks; to have been rebuilt in 1722, raised, and to have a draught of water of twelve feet; and to be employed as a Portsmouth transport, and was classified E 1. in the year 1812. As "William and Mary" landed at Torbay on November 5, 1688, they could not possibly have been conveyed in the "Betsey Cains," which was not launched until two years after. 71, Brecknock Road, N. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. The Letters and the Life of Francis Bacon, including all The Letters and Documents to be found in this new volume of Mr. Spedding's valuable contribution to the |