present day ignorantly find in it the origin of the foreign vocable. I have often heard them repeat a Sanskrit stanza, to the effect that, Brahmâ being once requested to name the most esteemed of vegetable products, the word tamala (understood to import tobacco) was emitted from each of his four mouths.

"Tobacco, it is probable, was unknown to India, as well as to Europe, before the discovery of America. It appears from a proclamation of Jahângîr, mentioned by that prince in his own memoirs, that it was introduced by Europeans into India either in his or in the preceding reign. The truth of this is not impeached by the circumstance of the Hindus having names for the plant in their own language: these names, not excepting the Sanscrit, seem to be corrupted from the European denomination of it, and are not to be found in any old composition."[H. T. Colebrooke], Remarks on the Husbandry and Internal Commerce of Bengal. London ed. of 1806, p. 12. ILIADES.

BARK HART HOUSE, ORPINGTON, KENT (3rd S. xii. 244.)—I have an old print representing Bark Hart House (then a boys' school), with the spire of the church in the background." The margin has been so closely cut, that only the following letters remain in the corners: "dlin Bark Hart House L Hassels Academy."

K. J.

pages are followed by the books. His new volume, dedicated to the history of the marvellous discoveries in which have of late years added so much to the world's science-in electricity, chemistry, and mechanical science, progress and our individual comforts, is characterised by the industry in collecting materials, and tact in putting them together, which have earned for Mr. Timbs the place he now holds among compilers of books for the million.

The History of Monaco, Past and Present. By H. Pemberton. (Tinsley.)

Now that Monaco has become the resort of so many of our health-seeking and pleasure-seeking countrymen, there can be little doubt that a popular sketch of its past and present history-which is all that the work before us claims to be considered-will find ready welcome from a large number of readers.

Dingley's History from Marble.

Such of our readers as are interested in Genealogy and Topography, but are not members of the Camden Society, will be glad to learn that the Council, at their last meeting, decided that copies of the admirable photo-lithographed fac-simile of Sir T. Winnington's interesting MS., with its innumerable drawings of arms, monuments, antiquities, &c., should be sold to the public. Copies of the First Part may therefore now be had, at the price of 18s., from Messrs. Nichols of Parliament Street, the Publishers to the Society.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE.

Miscellaneous.

JUXTA TURRIM.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

The Continuity of Scripture, as declared by the Testimony of our Lord and of the Evangelists and Apostles. By Sir William Page Wood, Vice-Chancellor. (Murray, 1867.)

This little volume chiefly consists of an almost exhaustive collection of parallel passages in the Old and New Testament, with a preface indicating their controversial importance in establishing the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures. We note with interest our author's promise of a more critical reply to their assailants on another occasion; but here he writes for orthodox believers, and contents himself for the most part with pointing out his own grounds of faith. Here lies the chief value of the brochure. It is a personal profession by one of our highest legal luminaries, of his own unshaken faith in Holy Scripture, and of his reasons for rejecting with aversion such criticism upon it as is to be found in the "Essays and Reviews," and in similar more recent publications.

Wonderful Inventions, from the Mariners' Compass to the Electric Telegraph Cable. By John Timbs. With numerous Engravings. (Routledge.)

In one respect, at least, Mr. Timbs is like Coleridgehe is "a man of infinite title-pages"; but he differs from the philosopher in this, among other points, that his title

Particulars of Price, &c., of the following Books, to be sent direct to the gentlemen by whom they are required, whose names and adJOHN TAYLOR, THE WATER POET. Works in Verse and Prose. Folio 1630. With or without Portrait.

Wanted by Mr. Charles S. Simms, 53, King's Street, Manchester. WOOD'S BOWMAN'S GLORY. 1682. MARKAM ON ARCHERIE. 12mo, 1604. BEWICK'S BIRDS. 2 Vols.

QUADRUPEDS.

Esor's FABLES.

SELECT FABLES.

FROUDE'S NEMESIS OF FAITH.

STRYPE'S ANNALS OF THE REFORMATION. 7 Vols. 8vo.

TAYLOR THE WATER POET. Folio. Fine copy.

STANLEY'S MEMORIALS. First Edition.

Wanted by Mr. Thomas Beet, Bookseller. 15, Conduit Street,
Bond Street, London, W.

Notices to Correspondents.

OUR CHRISTMAS NUMBER (32 pages), to be published on Saturday next, will contain among many other interesting and appropriate articlesLancashire Recusant Ballads.

Old Sayings as to various Days.

Old Proverbs.

West Highland Legend.

Roundells and Cheese or Fruit Trenchers.

Lord Sinclair and the Men of Guldbrand Dale.
Lines by John Phillpott, &c. &c.

W. M. M. A portable one-volume octavo edition of Don Quixote in Spanish was published at Madrid in 1850. The New Bath Guide is by Christopher Anstey,We are assured that the softness of leather in old cracked binding cannot be restored.

WILLIAM KELLY (Leicester). The old sea song contributed by Mr. Charles Sloman, entitled "The Stormy Winds do blow." is printed with the music in Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time, il. 742.

F. A. MALLESON. The subject of "plain song" had better be discussed in some church or musical periodical.

"NOTES & QUERIES" is registered for transmission abroad.

CURE (this week) OF AN OLD AND DISTRESSING COUGH BY DR. LOCOCK'S PULMONIC WAFERS. From Mr. Soars, 67. Goose Gate, Nottingham. Nov. 25, 1867. "It gives me great pleasure to bear testimony as to the efficiency of Dr. Locock's Wafers. A gentleman troubled for a long time with a constitutional cough tried one box of the Wafers, and was entirely cured by them." Dr. Locock's Wafers give instant relief to asthma, consumption, coughs, colds, and all disorders of the breath and lungs. To Singers and Public Speakers they are invaluable for clearing and strengthening the voice, and have a pleasant taste. Price is. 1d. and 28. 9d. per box. Sold by all Druggists

many wounds were given on both sides, the Highlander at length was victorious, and left O'Docherty extended on the mead. In the twinkling of an eye he and Caovala were mounted on the steed, and made for the house of her father, the castle of Bally-gali, three miles from the place where the town of Larne is now built, and where its crumbling ruins may still be seen."

*

The valiant Highlander and the virgin of the soft hair were not long in the castle when Macfionn came, borne by his people, who, hearing what had occurred, went to his aid, and brought him home. It is easy to understand that Mac-fionn rejoiced greatly when he found his daughter, free and uninjured, rescued from O'Docherty. He proffered thanks, and that frequently, to the Highlander, entreating him to remain with him for the defence of his castle till he himself should be cured of his wounds, and able to pursue with vengeance O'Docherty, who had waylaid him with such despicable treachery.

During the six weeks that the Highlander remained at Bally-gali in company with Caovala, the virgin of the soft hair, the Highlander's heart was with her from the first day that he saw her, and to all appearance she entertained the same feelings towards him. When Mac-fionn was restored to health, the Highlander asked leave to converse with him in his own chamber. That was granted.

"I am," he said, "young Angus Macdonald, the Lord of Cantire. Much strife and warfare has been between those from whom we are descended. Bestow upon me now the hand of your daughter, and perpetual friendship shall be established between our families."

The King of Antrim became highly incensed; and, whenever he could give utterance, he called in his attendants: "Seize this presumptuous man, and cast him down into the strongest place of confinement, and shut its iron portals so that he shall not escape."

It was useless for Macdonald to resist; he followed them down to the dark place, where he heard the bars and chains of iron firmly fastened upon him. He threw himself on a truss of straw which they had left him, pondering how he might avenge this inhospitable outrage, which he deserved not. About midnight he heard the chains which were on the door unclosed, and the bolts withdrawn. He determined that they should not put him to death unavenged. He seized a great rod of iron that he found in the place, and stood in a corner, with his back to the wall, awaiting for those who, as he thought, were coming to destroy him. He was astonished to see that there came

Ballygally Head, and Larne on L. Larne, are distant nearly forty miles, across the North Channel, from the Mull of Cantire.

only an old man, with a faint light in his hand. "I am," he said, "the foster-father of Caovala, the lovely virgin of the soft hair; she has sent me to liberate you, and to give full assurance to the handsome Highlander that she will never forsake him. Follow me!" he said; "here is your sword. There is a swift galley, and a crew whom the drifting surge of the sea will not daunt, waiting to convey you to your own country.'

Macdonald reached the shore, and found everything as promised to him. He embarked, and, a short time after, he saw light gleaming from the high tower of Dunaverty, and before daybreak he was in his own elegant abode in the magnificent Mauchre-more.

When Mac-fioun understood that his daughter would marry none of her suitors, and that the affections of her heart were with young Macdonald, he built a strong square tower upon a rock in the sea, under a high promontory, close to his own house, and from which they could sink with stones any boat that would approach. In an upper chamber the lovely virgin of the soft hair was confined, under the care of men in whom her father had confidence, for he determined that no female should have access to her.

The patience of young Angus was completely exhausted, and he determined to find out the place where his beloved Caovala of the soft hair was confined. He left Cantire when the evening was far advanced, and, in the darkness of the night, went ashore alone on the rock where stood the tower in which she was confined. He came below the window of her apartment. The night was calm; nothing was to be heard save the heavy swell of ocean, and murmur of the little waves as they rippled on the shore. The guards were apparently asleep, and young Angus Macdonald commenced to lilt a beautiful sonnet which Caovala had been accustomed to hear from him. Ere he advanced far, the lovely virgin of the soft hair opened her window, and with her melodious voice joined in the chorus.

They consulted together, and she consented to go with him. It was difficult for him to reach the window. At last he attained it, and with the strength of his arm broke the bars which detained her, and speedily had her in the gallant Cantire bark. The wail of the bagpipe was heard in Mac-fionn's residence as he bore away the heiress of the family, and next day they were married. In a short time her father came to her. They were reconciled; and through this marriage, the Clan Donald obtained possession of the Antrim lands, which they hold to the present day.

LORD SINCLAIR AND THE MEN OF GULDBRAND DALE.

FROM THE DANISH OF EDWARD STORM.

The interest attached to the subject of the enclosed Danish Ballad will, I trust, despite the roughness of the translation, induce you to find room for it in "N. & Q."

In 1612, during the Calmar war, the Swedes engaged a band of Scotch mercenaries, under the command of one of the Sinclair family, to make a diversion in their favour by landing on the coast of Norway, as told in the following ballad. If the poet has not exaggerated the number of the men engaged in the foray, it is more than probable that some tradition relative to it has been and still is current in Scotland as well as in Norway. Can any of the Scotch readers of "N. & Q." give us the Scotch version of what appears to have been a singularly disastrous enterprise?

Risely, Beds.

Lord Sinclair sailed o'er the deep salt sea,

And steered to Norway's shore;

OUTIS.

In Guldbrand Dale a grave found he
When the bloody fight was o'er.
Lord Sinclair sailed o'er the wave so blue
Swedish gold to win a good hoard;
Heaven help thee Scot! I tell thee true
Thou shalt die by a Northman's sword.
The moon in the sky above shone clear,
The waves murmured softly below,
When a mermaid's warning voice ye might hear,
And it told of coming woe:

"Steer back thy bark to Scotland's shore,
Thou Scottish chief so bold!

For com'st thou to Norway, never more
Shalt thou thy home behold."

"Be silent, witch!" did Lord Sinclair say,
Thy song is ever of sorrow;

If e'er on thee my hand I lay

Thou never shalt see the morrow!"
He sailed for a day, he sailed for three
With the men that with gold he had won,
And joyous were they the land to see
When brightly rose the sun.
Lord Sinclair stood on Romsdale coast,
A gladsome man was he then,
And behind him trod his martial host,
Full fourteen hundred men.
With fire and sword they ruthlessly hie
Through Guldbrand's peaceful Dale,
They heeded no grandsire's piteous cry,
They heeded no grandchild's wail.
The babe in its mother's arms they slay
While it smiled at the gleaming blade,
And sad was the fate as she fled that day
Of many a Northern maid.

Quick flashed the beacon's ruddy light
From each summit far and near,

And forth each Dalesman rushed to fight
For his home and children dear.

"Our warriors are all with the king's array,"
The Guldbrand Dalesmen cry;
"But shame on the craven who fears to-day
For his fatherland to die."

From Vaage they hasted, from Lessoe and Lom,
Each man with his axe in his hand,
And in Brydabyg together they come
To fight the Scottish band.

A torrent rolls its foam-capped wave
In Ringen's rocky glen,

And its waves so wild shall be the grave
Of slaughtered Scottish men.

The water elves laughed joyously

As they eagerly grasped their prey,
For the Northmen's blows fell furiously
In Ringen glen that day.

The first that fell was the Lord Sinclair,
And when they saw him bleed,
The Scotsmen cried in wild despair-
"God help us in our need!”
"Strike home! ye valiant Northmen all,”
Was the Dalesmen's answering cry,
And fast the Scottish warriors fall,
And in their gore they lie.

The raven flapped his jet-black wing
As he mangled the face of the slain,
And Scottish maids a dirge may sing

For the lovers they'll ne'er see again.
No one of the fourteen hundred men
E'er returned to his home to tell
What peril awaits the foe in each glen
Where the stalwart Northmen dwell.
A pillar stands where our foemen lie
In deadly fight o'erthrown,

And foul fall the Northman whose heart beats not high

When he looks on that old grey stone.

CURIOUS CUSTOM IN ITALY.

As I was strolling through Venusia, the birthplace of Horace, I met with an intelligent inhabitant, with whom I had an interesting conversation on various points; among other things, he inquired, laughing, if I had ever heard of the following mode of discovering whether a youth or maiden is without knowledge of the other sex. He said that the custom was not unknown to southern Italy, and maintained that it was an excellent criterion. Measure the neck of a marriageable youth or maiden correctly with a ribbon; then double the length, and bringing the two ends together, place the middle of it between the teeth. If we find that it is sufficiently long to be carried from the mouth over the head without difficulty, it is a sign that the person is still a virgin, but if not, we are to infer the contrary.

Is this what Catullus (Nuptia Pelei et Thetidos, line 377) refers to in the following couplet?

"Non illam nutrix orienti luce revisens,
Hesterno collum poterit circumdare filo."

He knew that the idea was known to the modern inhabitants of Taranto, where the particular nature of their food was believed to have the effect of exciting the sensual appetite in a strong degree. At Taranto I heard nothing of this, but my host, Cavaliere d'Ayala, who was distinguished by his intelligence, said the parents found it necessary to be cautious as to the kind of food they gave their children, as both the climate and the fish of their bay were believed to have an exciting effect. In fact he allowed that Horace's epithet, "molle Tarentum," was as applicable in the present day as it was in ancient times.

In reference to the exciting nature of the food and the effect it has on the human system, an old priest whom I met at Taranto told me that the maddening excitement of the Tarantismo was in a great measure so produced. He had no belief in the extraordinary stories that are told respecting the "Tarantolati," except that it is occasionally assumed, and where the affection is real, it arose from constitutional hysterics. It is the young that show such symptoms; and as to the food, he said that shell-fish was abundant, and also snails, of which they made great use in soup. Such kind of food was peculiarly exciting to the nervous system, and produced, in his opinion, much of that excitability for which his countrymen were remarkable. He quoted two lines which were sung to the air of a common tune of the "Tarantati,' to show the feeling of the more intelligent of his countrymen respecting the knavery that was often mixed up with these scenes. The lines are

"Non fu Taranta nè fu Tarantella,
Ma fu lo vino de la carratella "

"It was neither the Taranta nor the Tarantella, but it was the wine from the barrel," that caused the excitement. I would ask some of your medical correspondents whether shell-fish and snail-soup are known to the faculty to be of an exciting nature to the human system; and whether the measurement of the ribbon, of which I speak, is known to the medical faculty? If there be no foundation for the belief, it is a strange idea to have got into the heads of men. It was evidently known to the ancients, as the lines of Catullus show.

CRAUFURD TAIT RAMAGE.

LANCASHIRE RECUSANT BALLADS. During a recent visit to Lancashire, I disinterred from among other domestic relics a manuscript collection of metrical compositions that has been in the possession of my family for some generations, and includes the following ballads :—

1. "An Excellent Song composed concerning Mr. John Fewlus, Priest of the Society of Jesus, who was excuted at Lancaster since the Reformation." (29 stanzas.)

2. "An Excellent Song: composed on Sir Thomas Hoghton, of Hoghton Tower, Baronet, when he was driven off from his Estate at Hoghton Tower. Since the pretended Reformation." (21 stanzas.)

The latter of these compositions records an interesting passage of family history not to be found, so far as I can ascertain, either in the baronetages-from Wotton's downwards-or in the county histories: the subject of it being the exile of Mr. Thomas Hoghton, eldest son and successor to the estate of Sir Richard Hoghton, Knt. The additions, "Sir" and "Baronet," are a mistake of the minstrel's: the first baronet in the family was Mr. Thomas Hoghton's nephew Sir Richard, and there has been no Sir Thomas, whether baronet or knight, to whom the ballad can relate.

Dodd's Church History supplies a brief account of this

"Thomas Houghton, Esq., of Houghton Tower, near Preston, in Lancashire; who, being zealous for the old religion, went abroad towards the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign; and died at Liege June 3, 1580."

Within the last few years, the family has resumed the ancient form of its name, "De Hoghton."

The ballad incidentally preserves the recollection of an honourable trait in the character of Mr. Hoghton's half-brother Richard:—

He was the comfort that I had, I found his diligence, He was as just as they were bad, this cheer'd my conscience."

From this Richard Hoghton of Park Hall descended the Mr. John Hoghton who, about one hundred and fifty years later (in 1710), succeeded to the estates of the Daltons of Thurnham; and, relinquishing his own family name, assumed that of Dalton.

The other "Excellent Song" relates to the execution, for conscience sake, of the Rev. John Thulis and Roger Wrenno', or Wrennall, at Lancaster, March 18, 1615-16, of which there is a highly interesting and graphic account in Challoner's Memoirs of Missionary Priests. Neither "Thulis" nor "Fewlus" occurs in the Rev. Dr. Oliver's Collections relative to the Scotch, English, and Irish Jesuits; and I have sought in vain in other quarters for any corroboration of the statement that the priest to whom the ballad has reference was of that Order.

The mistakes, among others, of "Fewlus for "Thulis," "one Leonard Stout" for "one Wrennall stout," and "legion" for "allegiance," seem to indicate that these ballads were originally