there for the eldest son to succeed the father in that great empire, Achabar Cha, father of the late king, upon high and just displeasure taken against his son, for climbing up into the bed of Anarkelee, his father's most beloved wife (whose name signified the Kernel of a Pomegranate), and for other base actions of his, which stirred up his father's high displeasure against him, resolved to break that ancient custom; and therefore in his lifetime protested that not he, but his grandchild, Sultan Coobsurroo (Khusru), whom he always kept in his court, should succeed him in that empire."-A Voyage to East India, by Mr. Edward Terry, Chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe, printed with the Travels into East India of Sig. Pietro Della Valle. London, 1665. Anár Kali, meaning the pomegranate bud, is supposed to have been the pet name given by Akbar to his favourite wife Donna Juliana, of Portuguese extraction, with reference to Granada,* the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, which has a split pomegranate, its armorial bearing, carved or painted on its public buildings, from the introduction of which fruit into Europe the name is said to be derived. When Abul Fagl, the enlightened minister of Akbar, was basely murdered by order of the Prince Selim, in A.D. 1603, the Selima Begum was sent on an embassy to Ilá-ábás, the modern Allahábád, to bring him to court at Agra, when reported to be sincerely penitent for this execrable murder. According to one account†, the Begum, or Sultána Selima, was only the adoptive, and not the real mother of Selim, afterwards Jahángir; but either way she would appear to have been the same as Anár Kali, supposed to be the Poppa, or Pápi Bai, proverbial for misrule, among the Rajputs. Were Selim, Murád and Danial, the sons of Akbar, all three, the sons of one and the same, or by different mothers? and in what Hindu works is any account given of the misdoings for which the Poppa Bai has become proverbial among the Rajputs? R. R. W. ELLIS. Starcross, near Exeter. "ANIMA CHRISTI."-This prose is usually assigned to St. Ignatius. Some say that St. Thomas Aquinas was the writer. Ramboch, I believe, makes it doubtful, only so far committing himself as to say that it is found in a book of devotion of the fourteenth century. Is it to be found in the works of St. Thomas? and if not by that saint, to whom is the Catholic world indebted for such a devotion? H. A. W. MADLLE. AURETTI.—I have an engraving, date 1745, of Madlle. Auretti, a theatrical personage, of whose history I should be glad to know something. A. E. BARRETT. [There are two engraved portraits of this once-famed *Pomarium Britannicum, Henry Phillips, F.H.S., p. 312. + Mountstuart Elphinstone's History of India, vol. ii. p. 307. dancer in the British Museum, one by Scotin and the other by T. Ryley. Of her personal history very little is known. Horace Walpole, in a letter to Sir Horace Mann, dated Dec. 23, 1742, says, "We are making great parties for the Barberina and the Auretti, a charming French girl.”] OLD BALLAD.-Can any of your correspondents inform me if the ballad of which I give the first verse (it consists of seven) is printed? I have it in black letter 12mo, and the heading is "A Pleasant Song." The words seem familiar to me, yet I cannot at this moment trace it to any printed This query appeared in our 3rd S. v. 496, without eliciting a reply. An account of the remarkable high tide in 1571 is printed from Holinshed in Pishey Thompson's History of Boston, edit. 1856, p. 68.] REMARKABLE CLOCK.-I have been informed by a correspondent at Barcelona that there is for sale, or has been lately sold in London, a very curious and valuable astronomical clock, made by a watch and clock maker of the name of Billeter of Barcelona, and said to be worth 5,000l. or 6,0007. Being desirous of discovering whether the said clock is still offered for sale, I shall be much obliged if you can elicit any particulars concerning it; and if it is in London, where it is to be A. L. McEwAN. viewed. 4th S. VII. APRIL 15, '71.] NOTES AND QUERIES. sable, gules, and argent, and has for supporters the two 66 But what is this new German imperial flag? Will some one who knows put it into intelligible language? It would also be interesting to hear what position is occupied by the supporters of a D. P. flag? Stuarts Lodge, Malvern Wells. GORSE.-A young lady trusts that the learned contributors to "N. & Q." will not find it beneath alike their dignity and their knowledge to acquaint her with the emblematic meaning of the shrub Before venturing to appeal to them, gorse. she has searched for it in vain in all the Languages of Flowers and other similar authorities to which MONTE DE ALTO. she has access. [A suggestion occurs to us, we may say is just on our lips, that gorse is an emblem of a good old English custom, which is said to go "out of fashion when the gorse is out of blossom."] HOLCUS LANATUS. Apropos of "Fog," why is this grass called Yorkshire fog? JAMES BRITTEN. [Lodge's "Parliamentary Register of the Irish House of Commons from 1585 to 1769" is printed in the Liber Munerum Publicorum Hiberniæ, being the Report of R. Lascelles, published by the Record Commission, 2 vols. 1824, fol. See Part I. pp. 1-40. For a continuation of the list to the year 1800, consult The Journals of the House of Commons of Ireland, vols. viii. to xix. Dublin, 1796-1800, fol.] JOHN KERSEY.-Kersey's Elements of Algebra (folio, London, M.DC.LXXIII.) is very affectionately dedicated by the author to his patrons the Dentons. This dedication, doubtless familiar to many mathematical scholars, I have given in extenso, with the hope that it may elicit some information from your learned correspondents concerning two points connected with the same, which hitherto I have been unable to obtain. The following is in accordance with the original, with the exception of some of the capitals: "To Alexander Denton of Hillesdon in the county of Bucks, Esquire, and Mr Edmund Denton his brother; the hopeful blossoms, and only offspring of the truly just and vertuous Edmund Denton, Esq.; son and heir of Sr Alexander Denton, Knt. A faithful patriot, and eminent sufferer in our late intestine wars, for his loyalty to his late Majesty King Charles the First of ever-blessed memory: John Kersey, in testimony of his gratitude, for signal favours conferr'd on him by that truly noble family; which also gave both birth and nourishment to his mathematical studies, humbly dedicates his labours in this Treatise of the Elements of the Algebraical Art." I have searched several biographical works, but cannot find any mention made of Sir Edmund of his troubles. A reference to where such may Denton, Knt., and, as a matter of course, neither be found will be gratefully accepted. Also, what were the circumstances which sufficiently interto influence them to give "both birth and nourishested the Denton family in the author's behalf as ment" to his algebraical studies ? J. PERRY. Waltham Abbey. [Sir Alexander Denton, Knt. (born 1596, died in Jan. 1644-5), resided at Hillesden House, Bucks, which was garrisoned in 1641 for King Charles I., and its situation, about fifteen miles from Oxford and eight from Aylesbury, rendered it a place of importance. In 1643 it was taken by the Parliamentary forces, of which Vicars, in his Parliamentary Chronicle, 1646, ii. 131, 133, has given the following account:-"It was taken by a party that went from Newport Pagnell, and some from about Banbury, they being in all not above an hundred; yet there were in the house 140, many whereof were then taken prisoners, and about 100 arms, but Sir Alex"The taking of Hillesden ander himself escaped." House, which a week before the garrison of Aylesbury attempted, but could not take; after which time, and before we endeavoured it, the enemy had sent in two or three loads of ammunition, where were taken above 200 prisoners, about twelve barrels of powder, and proportionable match, all their arms, and about fifty horse, which service was much to the ease and comfort of the poor inhabitants of the almost wasted county of Buckinghamshire, which was oppressed by them; and by the countenance of which house, great sums of money and contributions were raised both for themselves and Oxford, and a regiment of foot, and a completing Col. Smith's regiment of horse, was speedily intended, where also were taken Sir Alexander Denton and the said Col. Smith, besides two field officers and divers captains." The pedigree of the Denton family of Hillesden is given in Lipscomb's Bucks, iii. 17.-The works of John Kersey are better known than his personal history. He was born in 1616, and died about 1690.] "KILMENY."-In what collection of ballads shall I find one bearing the above name? It gave a name to and apparently suggested the idea of a novel by William Black, published about a year ago. K. R. ["Kilmeny" is the thirteenth Bard's Song in Night II. of The Queen's Wake, a Legendary Poem, by James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. "Bonny Kilmeny gaed up the glen; But it wasna to meet Duneira's men," &c.] "LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI."-From what source did Keats derive the original idea of this poem ? F. GLEDSTANES WAUGH. [Most probably from the poem of the same name, generally attributed to Alain Chartier; but which M. Paulin Paris (Manuscrits français, vii. 252) regards as having been written by Jean Marot.] PORTRAIT PAINTING.-Wanted the name of any writer on portrait-painting in water-colours who treats more diffusely on the subject of draperies, &c., than Mr. Merrifield does. T. H. B. MEDIEVAL SEAL FOUND IN THE ISLE OF ELY: ROBERT WILSOn of March, in the Isle of ELY. A friend of mine has sent me an impression from a seal, about three quarters of an inch in diameter. In the centre, on an heraldic rose, lies a lion curled up and asleep; and round him is the inscription, EN LE ROSE LE LIVN REPOSE. The brass seal from which this is taken was found, I am told, in the rectory garden at Wentworth, near Ely. From its general appearance and the lettering, I should be inclined to place its date about the fourteenth century. I have also an octavo print representing a man, in the dress of sixty years ago, resting his left arm on a couped pillar, on which the word "Providence" is inscribed, and holding in his right hand a scroll bearing this inscription:— "I, Robert Wilson of March, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, am of opinion that, take England, Scotland, and Ireland, the West Indies and America, sea and land together, I have seen more of those parts of the world than any man existing." Can any of your Cambridgeshire correspondents inform me whether the seal mentioned belonged to any county family there, or was merely a personal badge and motto of some long-distant rector? Lysons says the manor was annexed to the office of sacrist to the monastery of Ely. And secondly, as to who Robert Wilson of March was, and on what grounds he rested his somewhat pretentious claim? SAMUEL SANDARS. 28, Gloster Place, Hyde Park. SONG, "LAURIGER HORATIUS."-Can you inform me where I can find the words of a song called "Lauriger Horatius"? It used to be sung at one of the American universities. T. J. WADDINGHAM. STYRING FAMILY.-Any genealogical or other information respecting the following persons will oblige: Nathaniel Styring and Jane Watson, married in Rotherham 1663; Thomas Styring, born 1726; John Styring, born 1726; Robert Styring, born 1729; William Styring, born 1733,-all of Misson. C. W. STYRING. Eldon Mount, Leeds. STERNHOLD AND HOPKINS.-Is there any truth in the statement made by a writer in the Illustrated Review of March 1, that the following verse was the joint product of these twin poets? "And how did he commit their fruits And eke the labour of their hands He gave to the grasshopper." By-the-bye, it is a little curious that the Psalms should have been twice versified by a combination of poetic talent. The task was not too great for one writer, and we cannot compare the success achieved by Messrs. Sternhold & Hopkins, or Messrs. Tate & Brady, with that which MM. Erckmann-Chatrian have won. C. J. R. [In the first edition (1548-9) of Certayne Psalmes by Thomas Sternhold (without Hopkins), the verse reads as follows: "Nor how he did commit their fruites And all the labour of their handes Psalm 1xxviii. ver. 46. The same reading is given in the folio edition of 1586 by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and others.] SUN-DIAL QUERIES.-1. What is the best practical book, in English, French, or Latin, on the construction of sun-dials? 2. Where shall I find the most complete account of mottoes suitable for sun-dials? I know those quoted in "N. & Q." 3. Where can I find picturesque designs for mural sun-dials? I suppose these are not to be found in a collected form. Reference, therefore, to even one will oblige. 4. Will not some of your correspondents, in England or on the Continent, who know of quaint or picturesque sun-dials, oblige the readers of "N. & Q." by a list of them? Hôtel de Luxembourg, Nice. P. W. S. A TOADSTONE RING.-I have a ring containing a stone of a brownish-fawn colour, set in gold. The stone is about five-eighths of an inch by half an inch in size, and two-eighths of an inch thick; and has, according to the story in the family, been in our possession for many generations. We have always held it to be a toadstone, and tradition says it was efficacious in preventing miscarriages. I should be grateful for any information on the subject. H. S. C. Arts Club. CHOICE OF WORDS: "WINK" OR "BLINK"?— The word wink is so often used instead of blink, when the meaning is that a person purposely blinds himself, or shuts his eyes to any transaction, that I think the expression must be employed simply from imitation, and without a thought that the word blink, while being more elegant, really expresses in its symbolical sense the meaning intended to be conveyed by the term wink; which, being associated with the habit known as "ogling," had better be left solely to express its own vulgar meaning. Lexicographers give the same definition in the case of each word; but I think that good taste and symbolical analogy both seem to sanction the exclusive use of the term blink in the sense of "shutting out of sight," or "purposely evading" any question or allusion. M. A. B. Replies. OLD SANDOWN CASTLE, ISLE OF WIGHT. (4th S. vi. 569; vii. 103, 175.) H. H. will be pleased to learn that the very fine old carved oak chimney-piece, to which he judiciously drew attention (p. 175), has not been doomed to the destruction he deprecates. The armorial bearings to which H. H. alludes are those of Richard Weston, first Earl of Portland, Lord High Treasurer of England in the reign of Charles I., Governor of the Isle of Wight, &c., which are boldly and artistically carved upon this interesting relic, which formerly stood in the banqueting hall, but which, on the demolition of the castle, was carefully preserved by the Royal Engineers at Sandown; until at length, application having been made officially to Government, the carving in question, after due investigation, was made over to Lieut.-Colonel G. Weston, a collateral descendant of the said Richard Weston, whose family became extinct in the direct male line on the death of Thomas, fourth Earl of Portland. R. E. Your correspondent G. will, I trust, permit me to set him right as to the date of the demise of Richard Weston, first Earl of Portland. He died at Wallingford House, near Whitehall, on March 13, 1634 (O. S.), not in March 1635. My authorities in support of this correction are 1. The certificate in the College of Arms, signed by Jerome Weston, second Earl of Portland, son and heir of the deceased, a copy of which is appended to the Westonorum antiquissima et equestris familia Genealogia, by Sir William Segar, Garter King-at-Arms. 2. Harleian MS. 1137, in which the armorial achievement borne at the funeral of Richard Earl of Portland is delineated. 3. The inscription on his magnificent monument in Winchester Cathedral, which runs as follows: "Depositum I RICARDI WESTON, COMITIS PORTLAND, anno Regis Caroli quarto, annoque Domini Redemptoris 1634, may add that King Charles, "who dearly loved him," visited the dying earl in his last moments, and commanded the court to wear mourning for him. His son Jerome, second Earl of Portland, was appointed to succeed him as Lieutenant-General of the province of Southampton, Captain of the Isle of Wight, and Governor of Carisbrooke Castle and of all the fortresses in the said island; but he lost these appointments under the Commonwealth. I. A. N. TRAPP'S "VIRGIL." (4th S. vii. 237.) Having read Trapp's translation of the Eneid with satisfaction, I offer my opinion that it has been unduly depreciated. I cannot deny the applicability of "cold" to Trapp; but he has the merits of fidelity, pains-taking, and a thorough knowledge of his author. I know no translation so faithful, and none in blank verse more spirited. Mr. Collins, in his Ancient Classics for English Readers, has given an excellent essay on Virgil, and has generally used the translation of the late Professor Conington, as good a scholar as Trapp, and perhaps a better poet. I limit my comparison to four passages:— "Dixit, et avertens rosea cervice refulsit "Ambrosial tresses round her head Trapp. "When he (Trapp) preached his assize sermon_at Oxford, 1739, it was observed that the late Rev. Dr. Theophilus Leigh, Master of Baliol College, and then Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, stood up all the time of his preaching, to manifest his high sense of so respectable a character." An anonymous epigram, found in The Festoon, 1767 (p. 39), is severe upon Trapp as a translator of Virgil, but shows that his preaching was held in estimation: "Mind but thy preaching, Trapp, translate no further: Is it not written, Thou shalt do no murther'?" ANON. "So King Æneas told his tale, While all beside were still— And Fate's mysterious will: Then to its close his legend brought, "This said, she in the middle of her speech While he, with thousand things to say, Her servants lift the sinking fair, And to her marble chamber bear."-Conington. "Disce, puer, virtutem ex me, verumque laborem, Fortunam ex aliis."-En, xii. 435-6. "True toil and virtue learn, dear youth, from me, Fortune from others."-Trapp. "Learn of your father to be great, Of others to be fortunate."-Conington. Mr. Collins says: “The recent admirable translation of the Eneid into the metre of Scott by Mr. Conington will undoubtedly take its place henceforward as by far the most poetical, as it is also the most scholarly and faithful, rendering of the original."-P. 7. I have taken the specimens of Conington's version from Mr. Collins. I do not think that in fidelity or poetry Trapp suffers by the comparison. Trapp's preface to the Eneid, and "Introductory Remarks" prefixed to the fourth book, are well worth reading, and his notes are learned and useful. He was Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and published his Prælectiones Poetica, Oxon, 1711-19; London, 1736, 2 tom. The last edition is neither scarce nor dear; and I think that those who buy and read it will not feel that their money or time has been misspent. H. B. C. CHIGNONS. (4th S. vii. 93, 261.) MACCABE and HODGKIN rightly assume that No doubt your learned correspondents MESSRS. ladies' chignons are to be traced far back in antiquity. There is, indeed, proof enough of this in German and Roman engraved gems, and on the walls of the Pompeian houses there is a picture of a Roman lady putting on the palla, and a mother about to nurse her child, in the picture of a Roman farmyard, in which the ladies wear perceptible chignons, but much smaller than those now worn. I have also seen many mediaval illuminations in which a full-sized chignon is apparent. There need surely be no wonder expressed at this; there are so few ways possible of dressing the hair, that every way has surely been over and over again anticipated. But now for the word:-I have a copy, which was made a present to me by one utterly ignorant of the nature of the book, of the Mémoires de Casanova. It belonged to Thackeray, and has his autograph in two volumes, and his crest and monogram stamped on all six. It was purchased at his sale, and in spite of its "unutterable baseness," as Carlyle has it, has been diligently read by its late owner, perhaps as an historical study. In vol. ii. chap. xxi. the Chevalier, speaking of one of his many conquests, says: "Elle était coiffée en cheveux avec un superbe chignon ; mais je glissais là-dessus, tant l'idée d'une perruque m'offusquait." It is Here, then, is a chignon proper in the early days of Voltaire and Rousseau-a false chignon, which the delicate Chevalier removed. difficult to assign the exact date to this extract; but Casanova was born in 1725, and, as this occurs in a very early period of his career, we may put it down to about 1747 to 1750. The word chignon occurs in Hamilton and Legros' excellent French Dictionary (1864) before the fashion was resuscitated, but it is explained as un chignon (chez les femmes), back hair twisted in a knot, In Chalmers' Biog. Dict, the following curious way, can any of your readers tell me whether and therefore not necessarily false hair. statement is made:--By the these memoirs of Casanova are, as Carlyle and U. U. Club. |