On the other hand, I have known the child of highly cultured and refined parents speak with the vilest accent, from having associated with vulgar boys at school. I have known a young man, wholly free from any provincial or vulgar pronunciation (they are not by any means the same thing) enter a Government office at sixteen or seventeen, and learn from his fellows all the vulgarisms of cockney pronunciation. Walter Savage Landor used to drop his aspirates. It is difficult to suppose that he did so in early life. The defect was probably the result of long residence in Italy. It seems probable, on the whole, that such discrepancies depend on the greater or lesser degree of sensibility and accuracy of the organs of hearing. But I throw the ball to those whose opinions on the subject are better worth having than mine. Budleigh Salterton. T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE. JOSHUA COFFIN. -Hazell's Annual Cyclopædia for 1888, under the heading of 'Noms de Plume,' has this entry: "Coffin, Joshua. H. W. Longfellow." This error has appeared in other books. So early as July, 1871, Samuel Abbott Green, M.D., called attention to and corrected it in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. xxv. p. 295; and seven years later, July, 1878, an editorial reference is made to it in the same magazine, vol. xxxii. p. 340. Joshua Coffin, the author of 'The History of Newbury, Mass.,' and other works, was a real personage, and a friend of mine whom I held in high esteem. He was born in Newbury, Mass., Oct. 12, 1792, and died in his native town June 24, 1864, aged seventy-three. A long obituary of him was printed in the Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. xx. pp. 267-70. It was written by the late Rev. Elias Nason, A.M., though his name was accidentally omitted. In his younger years Mr. Coffin was a school teacher, and had among his pupils Cornelius C. Felton, LL.D., president of Harvard College, and John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet. The latter addressed a poem 'To my Old Schoolmaster,' beginning: Old friend, kind friend! lightly down JOHN WARD DEAN. 18, Somerset Street, Boston, Mass., U.S. LOCAL SUPERSTITION. - At Lingfield, in the south-eastern portion of the county of Surrey, was situated Sterborough Castle, the seat of one of the branches of the Cobham family. Of this branch was the notorious Eleanor Cobham, wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and it is doubtless in connexion with her that the following tradition still lingers in the place. "Have you heard," said an inhabitant to me the other day, "of the legend of the old woman of Sterborough, who lived in a cottage hard by, how she by her witcheries would cause the teams to stand still for hours before her house, and how she would revenge herself upon her enemies by inflicting upon them strange diseases." Such an instance of popular superstition, still surviving, based probably upon occurrences of bygone days, seems worthy to be placed upon record. G. L. G. 'JACK DRUM'S ENTERTAINMENT': 'A TALE OF A TUB.'-Mr. H. Chichester Hart, in the Academy for Sept. 15, p. 170, says, "In another play ('Pasquil and Katherine'), [the second title of 'Jack Drum'] which ought undoubtedly, in my opinion, to be included in Marston's works." Quite true, I would remark; but Simpson, Fleay, and A. H. Bullen had previously publicly given it to him wholly or in part. Mr. Bullen says, in his edition of Marston's plays, p. liii, that Jonson selected for castigation when ridiculing, in his 'Poetaster, Marston's absurd vocabulary, some expressions which occur only in 'Jack Drum.' For myself, I would also say and I said it to Mr. Bullen in writing before he published his 'Marston'- that I had from the same premises come to the same conclusion; and I may now add that I had done this some years before the publication of Simpson's 'School of Shakespeare,' in 1878. But when, in the same article, Mr. Hart says that 'A Tale of a Tub' is one of Jonson's "earliest plays, if not his very first," I would say that, while I think I know some, at least, of the sources on which he would found this erroneous conclusion, that the date of Sir H. Herbert's licence conclusively proves that it was Jonson's last finished play. Various other facts, derived from the play itself, confirm this. Nor have I said these things without due consideration; and should Mr. Hart think fit to set forth his reasons, I promise him that I will either adopt his views or give my reasons for keeping in the old paths. BR. NICHOLSON. MISTAKES IN DICKENS. - Apropos to Tattycoram and her impossible box, has any one pointed out two curious slips in 'Pickwick'? Dodson & Fogg's letter is dated Aug. 29, 1830, in vol. i. cb. xviii. But in ch. ii. it is stated-after the manner of Fielding-that "that punctual servant of all work, the sun, had just risen, and begun to strike a light on the morning of the 13th of May," 1827. The dates are confusing. What is the exact time consumed by the story up to the trial? Secondly, the episode of Sam and Mary and the hat is called "The first passage of Mr. Weller's first love." But how is this to be reconciled with the "amiable indiscretion" mentioned by the landlady of the "White Hart" when Mr. error is Phiz's, not Dickens's. In 'Bleak House,' vol. i. ch. iv., Miss Jellyby is described as "dipping her inky middle finger in the egg-cup which contained vinegar." In the accompanying illustration she is clearly represented with her forefinger in the cup. Pickwick asked for his character? Another slight dedicated to James II. (the concluding words of By the way, MR. COOPER'S note (7th S. vi. 225) suggests the question, Is Madame Gamp the original of Sairey? Hastings. EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.Α. GOLTHO REGISTERS. -The registers of Goltho, a chapelry in the parish of Rand (near Wra Wragby, Lincolnshire), are in the custody of the landlord's eldest son, who farms most of the parish. Goltho is owned and occupied by members of the Plymouthite sect, the lord of the manor and principal landowner being a member of that sect. At present there is no officiating minister. The Bishop of Lincoln has written to the Rector of Rand for information in the matter of the registers, and it is much to be wished that these valuable records may eventually find restoration to their proper place, the Rand parish chest. 34, Myddelton Square, W.C. DANIEL HIPWELL. PROTOTYPES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. - In the account of Defoe in the 'American Cyclopædia' (Ripley and Dana) we read : "He was accused by his enemies, who were numerous and bitter, of having stolen the idea and even the material of 'Robinson Crusoe' from the narrative of Alexander Selkirk; but the charge was wholly without foundation. Selkirk was not wrecked at all, but voluntarily went on shore on Juan Fernandez, which at that time was as well known and more frequented by ships than now. Crusoe's island, as the title of his narrative states, was in the northern hemisphere, in the Caribbean Sea, near the mouth of the Orinoco; and the most probable prototype of Defoe's hero was Peter Serrano, who in the sixteenth century was shipwrecked, and lived alone for several years on an island in the Caribbean Sea near the mouth of the Orinoco. His story is told at full length in Garcilasso's 'History of Peru, a translation of which was published in London twenty years before Robinson Crusoe' was written, and could hardly have escaped Defoe's notice, as the book attracted great attention, and Serrano's story is in the first chapter." The English translation of Garcilasso's book (which is by Sir Paul Rycaut) was published in 1688 and the dedication, may all the World court your Friendship and Alliance, and doe honour to your Royal Standard," read strangely in the light of events so soon to follow the publication). The story of Serrano occurs in the third chapter of the first book. It is difficult, indeed, to see any connexion between it and the story of 'Robinson Crusoe.' The shipwreck in both is really almost the only circumstance common to the two. The island on which Serrano is stated to have been thrown is one of the little islets called from him Serrano Islands, which are, indeed, in the Caribbean Sea, but in the western part of it, nearly midway between Jamaica and the mainland, and very far from the mouth of the Orinoco. They are, as Garcilasso describes Serrano's island, almost destitute of water, wood, or grass, and very different from the island imagined to have been tenanted by the immortal Robinson. Serrano, if the narrative be true, lived on this island seven yearsthree alone and four with another who was afterwards shipwrecked in the same way. Their subsistence consisted chiefly of turtles and fish; and they are said to have been at last picked up and taken to Europe, which (the other dying on the voyage) Serrano alone of the two lived to reach, going subsequently to Panama, where he died. From neither his narrative nor that of Selkirk could Defoe have got many hints for his famous story; but, notwithstanding that he places the scene of his hero's adventures nearer that of Serrano than of Selkirk, it seems to me that the latter may have furnished him with more sugges tions than the former. One coincidence struck me as worth notice. After Capt. Woodes Rogers had taken Selkirk on board the sailors continued during the rest of the voyage to call him "the governour," in allusion to his government of the island where his "right there was none to dispute"; and Robinson Crusoe was called so when there were other Englishmen on his island. No doubt this was intended to signify recognition of his authority; still the selection of the title may have been suggested by Rogers's account of Selkirk. Blackheath. W. T. LYNN. "OMNIBUS ORDER" IN LAW. -In connexion with 'Portmanteau Words' referred to 7th S. v. 147, 193, the law phrase "omnibus order" may be mentioned. Where there are several distinct applications pending before the court, and one order is made dealing with them all, that one inclusive order is technically called in the profession an "omnibus order." E. COBHAM BREWER. PENDULUM CLOCKS. - Your correspondents Mr. ALBERT HARTSHORNE and MR. OCTAVIUS MORGAN (7th S. iii. 69, 70) both state that short, or "bob," pendulums were introduced in 1661, and that the long pendulum was introduced in 1680 by William has any notes for my 'Harrison,' will he kindly 1665" (long pendulum). South Royde, Halifax. J. WHITELEY WARD. Queries. We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest, to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. HAIR-POWDER.-Dorothy Osborne, in a letter to Sir William Temple, edited by Mr. Abbott Parry, says (p. 246): "I was up early, and going out to walk in my nightcloak and night-gown, I met Mr. Fish going a hunting. I should not have been rid of him quickly if he had not thought himself a little too négligé; his hair was not powdered," &c. This was in 1654. Was hair-powder worn under the Commonwealth? A. R. Gomshall. ELL.-What is the precise meaning of this word as denoting a part of a house? It appears to be still in dialectal use. The word Eling occurs in the sixteenth century, apparently in a similar sense; the natural conjecture that it is for heling, covering, roof, does not suit the context. In the seventeenth century ell seems to occur as the name of a liquid measure, as in "ells of beer," "ell-glasses." Is anything known of the meaning or etymology of the word in this use ? HENRY BRADLEY. EXORCISM. Can any correspondent oblige with a copy of the form of exorcism used by clergy of the Church of England in expelling evil spirits and such like? GEORGE FOY. SIR NICHOLAS ARNOLD, OB. 1550.-William Harrison, in bk. iii. ch. i. of his celebrated Description of England' (p. 5, part ii. of my edition for the new Shakspere Society), says: "Sir Nicholas Arnold of late hath bred the best horses in England, and written of the maner of their production." Lowndes and Hazlitt have no entry of any book of his, nor has the British Museum any in its Catalogue. Sir Nicholas Arnold's name is not in the 'Dictionary of National Biography.' His arms are given in Metcalfe's 'Book of Knights, A.D. 1548-53, p. 102, ed. 1885. Can any one tell me anything about him? If any reader of N. & Q.' BARNET FAIR.-Is this a statute fair ? If so, who granted it, W. WINTERS. and when? Waltham Abbey. TOPEHALL.-In what work is Topehall (a sort GEORGE STREET, BLACKFRIARS ROAD, SOUTHWARK.-I shall be obliged if you can inform me if the above-named street existed in the year 1780, with the identical buildings as they now stand. If not, what class of houses were they; and what position did the tenants hold? Also the name of the parish church of the said date, 1780. A. W. GOULD. 10, Clive Road, West Hampstead. ALDERMEN OF ALDERSGATE WARD. - Sir William Acton, alderman of Aldersgate Street ward, died on Jan. 22, 1651. Sir Thomas Bloodworth removed from Portsoken to Aldersgate, Dec. 18, 1663. Who occupied during the twelve years' interval ? 3, Heathfield Road, Acton, W. JOHN J. STOCKEN. GOOSE. Do wild geese ever build in trees ? The following passage referring to them occurs in Mr. J. S. Stallybrass's translation of Victor Hehn's 'Wanderings of Plants and Animals': "When comparatively stationary settlements were formed on the shores of lakes, the young birds could easily be fetched down from their nests by boys, have their wings clipt, and be brought up in the household; if they died the attempt was repeated, until it finally succeeded, especially as the wild goose is, comparatively speaking, one of the easiest of birds to tame."-Р. 278. The common wild goose usually has its nest on the ground among reeds or other aquatic vegetation on the margins of pools or streams. It is most probable that the goslings from which our remote ancestors developed the domestic goose have been procured on the ground, not by ascending up aloft. ΑΝΟΝ. HEBREW-LATIN GRAMMAR.-Can any person give me information concerning a Hebrew-Latin grammar and lexicon printed in London by Thomas Paine, 1639? The title-page commences thus: "Wilhelmi Shickardi Horologium Hebræum, sive Consilium," &c. J. H. M. borough, then in his hands, is styled "Domus insurance companies refused payment made things Regis de Lutgar." What does this prefix mean? The ancient spelling gives no support to "lodger," which would be a natural inference from the modern, although the origin of the term Lodger's Hall would remain to be explained. H. B. ANCIENT SHIP OF THE ROTHER. In the first volume of the Mirror, published in 1822 by Limbird, in the Strand, is an interesting account of an ancient ship found buried in an old branch of the river Rother, in Kent. At p. 177 of vol. i. it is stated that she was 63 ft. 8 in. long, and about 15 ft. broad, and when dug out was taken to Waterloo Road and exhibited. Can any of your readers tell me what became of this curious old craft, which appears to have possessed some interesting peculiarities, and was in a good state of pre servation? C. E. PROPAGANDISTS OF RUSSIA. - What was, or is, their platform, and when were they organized? I OCTOBER. Last year I inquired, on behalf of a lady friend, for floral descriptions of July, and several correspondents, with our usual courtesy to each other in 'N. & Q.,' sent me various passages both from poets and prose men. (As Prior has "verse men," I may, I hope, use "prose men": see 'N. & Q., & Q.,' 7th S. iv. 369; v. 52.) look black against him at the time; but then folks did not know that the poor devil was conscious of a forgery perpetrated some ten years before. Quite enough to frighten him. Then we are told of a diary kept by him--virtually a confession of the Adam who ever saw the wondrous document. poisonings. I can find no case of any child of The question is worth going into. A. H. CHRISTIE. COMIC PUBLICATION. - I remember a small magazine, full of wit and humour, published about 1850. Among other things it contained 'A Lay of Modern Baby-lon,' beginning, Also an The ancient dame of Hubbard, extremely amusing 'Letter from Miss Jemima Cragg to her own inconstancy to her two lovers, Samuel Wilkins and "young Sarnders at the greengrocer's." What is the title? I fancy it never met with the success which it deserved. Are any of the contributors known ? Winterton, Doncaster. J. T. F. information about Master Albert Schirmer, a child ALBERT SCHIRMER.-Can any reader give me who acted about 1806 in London? I know of him only that on the portrait of him which I possess is the following: "One of the principal performers on the German stage in London. Born 27 Nov., 1790." Any references or information will be most gratefully accepted. GEO. P. BAKER, Jun. My friend now wants passages descriptive of bility'; Bacon's essay Of Gardens'; Ropley, Alresford, Hants. THE HYMN OF CLEANTHES. - Is there any good Κυδιστ' ἀθανάτων, πολυώνυμε, παγκρατὲς αἰει ? Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B. VERSES BY SIMON PATRICK.-In which of the works of Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely, does this quotation occur? Agnes, who art the Lamb's chaste Spouse, THOMAS GRIFFITH WAINEWRIGHT, who wrote in the London in the twenties as "Janus Weathercock," and was in 1837 convicted on his own confession of forgery on the Bank of England, has for the last fifty years been credited with at least four cold-blooded murders by poison. Talfourd, This is Dickens, Procter, and Bulwer all took his guilt as Latin a proven fact. More modern writers have followed 1520. in their wake. I wish to ask, Is there any reasonable evidence on which, I will not say to damn a man, but on which to kick a cat? I wish you would ventilate the subject. His flight when the O, Lady singularly great, After this state by sin opprest, supposed to be his translation of an old hymn, from a Romish missal printed in A. FRADELLE PRATT. is said by Browne Willis, in his 'Parochiale ST. RowsIo. The ancient chapel of Hampstead Anglicanum,' to have been dedicated to this saint, while Newcourt leaves the name blank; but it would actually appear that the chapel was formerly known as that of the Blessed Virgin, having the same dedication as the mother church of Hendon. Who was St. Rowsio, and upon what authority does Willis dedicate Hampstead Chapel to him? Park ('Hist. of Hampstead') states that the nearest name he can find is St. Roche, probably an Irish saint, and he queries the very existence of St. Rowsio. Is there any record of early parochial churches the dedications of which were changed at the period of the Reformation, or at any other time? E. T. EVANS. 63, Fellows Road, N.W. "THERE IS A SILVER LINING TO EVERY CLOUD." -This saying, become very current of late years, and adopted as the title of a work of fiction by Mrs. H. S. Mackarness, 'The Cloud with the Silver Lining,' may have been brought into prominence by Dickens's use of it in 'Bleak House,' chap. xviii. p. 178 of the original edition, where he makes Harold Skimpole say, "I expand, I open, I turn my silver lining outward like Milton's cloud, and it's more agreeable to both of us." The reference here is to 'Comus,' 221-225 :— Was I deceiv'd, or did a sable cloud Upon this passage T. Warton observes, "When all succour seems to be lost, heaven unexpectedly presents the silver lining of a cloud to the virtuous", and it is in this sense that the saying is generally applied. Can it to be traced further back; has it equivalents in other languages? W. E. BUCKLEY. ROBINSON FAMILY. -Can any of your readers tell me whether there are any descendants in England now of a William Robinson, who bought Rokeby in 1611? He came from Carleton-juxta Am I right in supposing that the story alluded to in your note on El Conde Lucanor is one which I met with many years ago somewhere, in the days before I had learned to make notes of such matters, and which may be compendiously given as follows? The narration, as I first met with it, was, as you say, wonderfully naïve, and to reproduce it tale quale, even if I had the needed literary skill, would occupy far too much of your space. The theme, however, of the narrator may be summarily stated thus. Three sailors (I think my version of the story called them Irish sailors) were wrecked on the coast of Spain. In utter destitution they begged their way to the residence of the Court, at the instigation of one of the three, who declared that he had thought of a plan by which, when once there, they could not only retrieve their misfortune, but make their fortune. Arrived at the Court, they presented themselves before the Lord Chamberlain, to whom they declared that they had been wrecked while coming to Spain for the purpose of submitting to his Spanish Majesty a most wonderful and important discovery. By long study of the secrets of nature (they must, one is tempted to think, have had a prophetic knowledge of the terms of some modern advertisements) they had discovered the means of making a wondrous cloth, the special property of which was that it was invisible save to the eyes of those born of legitimately married parents. The immense value of such a discovery to a people so justly proud of purity of descent as the Spaniards would be at once evident to his lordship. The Chamberlain instantly admitted the vast importance of the discovery, and professed himself willing to aid their views to the extent of his power. They explained that the manufacture of lost everything in the wreck. The Chamberlain, the wondrous cloth was very costly; and they had already enthusiastic for so priceless a discovery, declared that no question of cost should stand in the way of the utilization of it; and to their hint that, of course, it would be necessary that their operations should be conducted secretly, promised that they should be shut up, and everything provided for the manufacture which was necessary. |