King Edward the Sixt. I appeal now to the knowledge of every man, how well that act of Parliament is observed throughout the realm, in how many Cathedral or parish churches those ornaments are observed, whether every private minister by his own authority in the time of his ministration disdain not such ornaments, using only such apparel as is most vulgar and prophane."A Refutation of Sundry Reprehensions, Cavils, and False Sleightes by which M. Whitaker laboureth to deface the late English Translation, and Catholike Annotations of the New Testament, and the Booke of Discovery of Heretical Corruptions. By William Rainold, Student of Divinitie in the English Colledge at Rhemes. Printed at Paris the yere 1583. Small 8vo. (Epistle to the Reader, p. 19.) AUGUSTUS JESSOPP, D.D. "PLEASE TO RING THE BELL," "KNOCK AND RING," inscribed in letters of brass on many a London door, are phrases familiar to us all. Ringing a merry peal, ringing the alarm, ringing the old year out and the new year in, expressive of joy, of sorrow, or of convenience, it is still ring. But why ring the bell? How came this active little word ring to be so inseparably coupled with the movement which gives tongue to the bell? How did it come about? There have been observed on the towers of some Italian churches, and depending from the walls of the Campo Santo, large metal rings much resembling the great mooring rings we remark by the canals of Venice, and on our own wharves and water-side landingplaces. What purpose, however, could they serve in such unusual and apparently useless out-of-theway positions? My friend Mr. Collingwood Smith writes to me that his curiosity was first excited by the singular appearance of these rings at the cemetery of Chiavenna, and subsequently by a very large one attached to the tower wall of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Bergamo. "I was sketching," he says, "from under the porch of the church in the cool of the evening, near the hour of vespers, and had not been there long before I observed an acolyte make his way to the ring, and, lifting it, commence violently dashing it against the deeply fretted and bruised stone to which it was fastened. The ring gave out a deep bell-like tone, and as the people came slowly into church at this summons it occurred to me that in mediæval times, probably, sonorous metal rings were not uncommonly used for church purposes instead of bells, and, if so, this may go far to explain the close relation between the words ring and bell." Jos. J. J. "TO THE BITTER END."—I am not aware whether it is known that this now common phrase is of nautical origin. Capt. John Smith, GovernorGeneral of Virginia, says: "A Bitter is but the turn of a Cable about the Bits, and veere [slacken or pay] it out by little and little. And the Bitter's end is that part of the Cable doth stay within board" (Seaman's Grammar, p. 30). But this bitter's end became altered into bitter-end. Adm. Smyth in The Sailor's Word-Book has "Bitter-end. That part of the cable which is abaft the bitts, and therefore within board when the ship rides at anchor. . . . And when a chain or rope is paid out to the bitter-end no more remains to be let go." I need add nothing to the last words of his explanation. B. NICHOLSON. HATS WORN AT TABLE.-The following is an extract from Crosby Records: a Cavalier's NoteBook, edited by the Rev. T. Ellison Gibson, 1880: "June 25th, 1666. I dined at the Castle in Dublin, at the Lord Lieutenant's table. There were, besides the Duke and Duchess, sixteen persons we sat with our hats on." What could have been the reason of their wearing hats at dinner? That it was not the custom in Blundell's time is evident from his thus recording it. In Dutch paintings of this period-we have no English ones to refer to-we often see gentlemen wearing their hats indoors, and in the company of ladies; but to do so at table, and in the presence of the king's representative, seems very strange. JAYDEE. [For "Hats worn at Meals," see "N. & Q.," 5th S. v. 27, 96.] CAMPBELL OF LOCHAW: McMALCOLM OF COR BARRAN.-The following precept, the original of which is now before me, may be worth preserving. I have extended the contractions in italics. "Duncanus dominus de Cambell miles Dominus de Lochaw dilectis nostris senescallis de Ardskodinche & lochaw Duncano yong Cambell de Duntrone & Erlestino Angusii Cambell de barbrek salutem Quia per inquisicionem de mandato nostro factam & ad capellam nostram retornatam compertum est quod Reginaldus barran' cum pertinenciis obijt vestitus & saysitus ut m molcalum de craginche quondam dominus de corde feodo ad pacem domini nostri regis & nostram de predictis terris de corbarran' cum pertinenciis quod Iohannes lator presentium filius quondam dicti reginaldi est legitimus* & propinquior heres eius dicti quondam patris sui de suprascriptis terris cum pertinenciis & quod est legitimae etatis & quod dicte terre de nobis tenentur in capite quare vobis coniunctim & diuisim mandamus & precipimus quatenus eidem Iohanni latori presentium et suo certo assignato aut attornato say inam hereditariam dicte terre cum pertinenciis ut diuidatae per se habere faciatis iudicate saluo jure cuiuslibet. Datum sub nostro Sigillo Apud strachur primo die mensis Decembris Anno Domini Millesimo quadringintesimo quadragesimo octauo." W. F. (2). * 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. THE OLD ORGAN AT ST. PAUL'S.-I am anxious to obtain the volume of the English Musical Gazette which contains an account of the building of the organ of St. Paul's Cathedral by "Father" Smith, and the dispute between him and Sir C. Wren. It is said to be in the January number of the volume for 1819 (1719), and to be from the pen of Dr. Busby. I should be grateful for any information, and still more so for the loan of the volume. (MISS) L. PHILLIMORE. 5, Arlington Street, S.W. A SWIMMING MACHINE.-Some fifteen or twenty years ago I seem to remember having seen at the Polytechnic, in Regent Street, a machine upon which a person could spread himself in the breast swimming position, placing his hands and feet into strap loops on plates which were so constrained by mechanism that when he moved his hands and feet they were guided in the proper course for breast swimming; the object of the machine was to train the limbs of learners to perform with ease the actions of swimming. I much want to know whether the machine still exists, and whether any published account of it is in existence. FRED. W. FOSTER. SHAWS CASTLE.-In St. Ronan's Well, ch. xx., Sir W. Scott says, "Shaws Castle, though so named, presented no appearance of defence." Query, the etymology or meaning of "Shaws." A. L. M. [Shaw wood (Morris, Etymology of Local Names). It is the epithet Castle," not the name "Shaws," which gave rise to Sir Walter's remark.] NAPOLEON'S POWER OF SLEEPING AT WILL. Where can I find an anecdote to the following effect? Napoleon, returning home suddenly, sent for one of his ministers to attend him in, say, twenty minutes. He then threw himself down in an armchair and slept for, say, a quarter of an hour so soundly that Josephine came in and kissed him without awaking him. R. M. G. THE TEMPLARS IN LINCOLNSHIRE.-How many preceptories had the Templars in this county? In a paper on Temple Bruer, read at a meeting of architectural societies at Lincoln in 1857, by the Rev. Edward Trollope, F.S.A., now Bishop (Suffragan) of Nottingham, it was stated : at Willoughton, near Kirton-in-Lindsey; another at "There were three preceptories in Lincolnshire-one Aslackby, near Folkingham; and the one termed Temple Bruer, near Sleaford, now under our notice." In addition to these, Sir C. J. Anderson (Lincoln Pocket Guide, p. 179) mentions Eagle, Skirbeck, Grantham, South Witham, Maltby, and Mere, his list, except as regards Skirbeck, agreeing with that given by Mr. Henry Godwin, F.S.A., in the English Archaeologist's Handbook, p. 172. Who is right and who is wrong? ST. SWITHIN. "CONSTITUTIONES ANGLIE PROVINCIALES."-I have what is probably the latest edition of this work, published in octavo, in 1557, by Thomas and dedicated to Cardinal Pole ("Carnifex et Marshe, of course in the memorable reign of Mary, Flagellum Ecclesiæ Anglicana"). It contains several curious matters relating to the state of religion, &c., in England. What is known about W. FRAZER, M.R.I.A. it? RAWDON FAMILY.-At p. 279 of Rawdon Papers, edited by Rev. E. Berwick, is a letter from Lord Breadalbane to the Duke of Albemarle (Monk), "asking for his instructions for the House of Peers to Sir Arthur Rawdon on his plea with Mr. Seymour" (sic); and in a foot-note it is stated that Edward, last Earl Conway, by his will, dated Aug. 9, 1683, and made under the most suspicious circumstances (he died Aug. 13, 1683), left his estates (Rugely, in Warwickshire, now the property of the Marquis of Hertford, and the Irish estates at Lisburne, now the property of Sir Richard Wallace, Bart.) to Mr. Popham Seymour, a son of Sir Edward Seymour, Bart., a distant connexion, thus cutting out his only nephew, with whom he appears by the published letters to have been on the most intimate and affectionate terms; and, according to a letter of Sir Thomas Newcomen in the collection, he says, "Sir Arthur was notoriously wronged out of it." Where can I see an account of the trial, and of the circumstances under which the will was made? ECLECTIC. SIR JOHN HOBART [? HERBERT], KT., M.P. FOR CORFE CASTLE, 1604-11.—In Collins's Peerage he is said to have been the eldest son of Chief Justice Sir Henry Hobart, and afterwards his successor in the baronetcy of Blackling. This, however, seems scarcely probable, for although certainly a knight at the time, he having received that honour together with his father, July 23, 1603, the date usually assigned for his birth, April 19, 1593, would make him too young for parliamentary honours at the period in question. Was there a second Sir John Hobart living at this era ? Or should the name of the member for Corfe Castle be read as "Sir John Herbert"? In the recently issued Parliamentary Blue-Book it is given "Hobert," which may mean either. W. D. PINK. Leigh, Lancashire. THE ARRANGEMENT OF BOOK-PLATES.-What is the plan adopted by collectors in arranging their ex libris? Are they pasted down in books or on loose sheets? If the former plan is the better one, is there any recognized system of classification? C. W. S. THE ETYMOLOGY OF "LACKEY."-The Academy of December 18 last contains the following: "The Revista Contemporanea of November 15 has an essay on Lackeys,' by Dionisio Chaulié, showing from the Archives of Simancas that they were originally a royal body-guard, and took their name from Cecilio Laz Cayo, their first captain, in the latter part of the eleventh century. The word was still written Lazcayo' in the time of Philip II." This derivation does not seem to be known to most etymologists. The ordinary derivation of the word is from Gothic laikan, to run. Are we, then, to conclude that the lexicographers have all been on the wrong scent? Denmark Hill. JAMES HOOPER. institution, and the word, according to Prof. Munch, is "the old Norwegian denomination þinvollr-field of the Thing or Parliament-only slightly modified." But why are the members of the popular branch of the Manx Tynwald called "Keys"? Will any of the learned correspondents of "N. & Q." favour me with information on the subject of this appellation? MANNINAGH. "THE MURDERED QUEEN."-Who was the author of "The Murdered Queen; or, Caroline of Brunswick. A Diary of the Court of George IV. By a Lady of Rank. London: Emans, Cloth Fair, 1838"? The names of Lady Anne Hamilton and Lady Charlotte Bury have been mentioned in connexion with the book. From one passage in it I conclude Lady Anne Hamilton had nothing to do with it. Had Lady Charlotte? It has a strong smack of her Diary illustrative of the Times of George IV., and the title is strikingly like it. T. M. Q. MRS. NEWBY's NOVELS.-I am very desirous of learning the title of a novel (I believe by Mrs. Newby) which appeared in 1865 or 1866. The hero was an earl, disguised throughout the greater part of the tale as a doctor's assistant. B. TALLAND TALLANT: TALLENT.-The Honour able Margaret Stanley, second daughter of Thomas, Lord Monteagle (who died in 1560), by his former wife, Lady Mary Brandon, daughter of Charles, Duke of Suffolk (this Lord Monteagle was the son and successor of the first baron, better known TWO CURIOUS HOUSES IN CROMER STREET, W.C. as Sir Edward Stanley, K.G., the "On, Stanley, -I often wish to know something of two curious on!" of Marmion at Flodden Field), was married houses in Cromer Street. They are on the right-1. to William Sutton; 2. to John Talland. I hand on turning from Judd Street. One has assume, from this brilliant espousal of his, that plaster mouldings, the other is finished en barbette. | John Talland was a gentleman of position, yet I I have not met in any handbook with a notice; if other readers of "Ñ. & Q." have, a reference will be acceptable. G. L. THE HOUSE OF KEYS.-The popular branch of the Tynwald or Parliament in the Isle of Man is composed of twenty-four members. These are denominated "Keys." The Tynwald is a Scandinavian find no arms registered at the Heralds' College under that name. On the other hand, there appear to be three coats under the name of Tallant, two of which have almost identical bearings, differenced, inter se, by the one being paly, the other barry, while the third relates to a Cornish family of the same name, and bears no resemblance to either of the others. Philip Tallent, in whose family I am interested, lived temp. Elizabeth, and died in 1618, at Newark, Notts. His wife's name was Frances. His descendants-at least those connected with Newark, commencing with his own son-have always borne the surname of Tallents, and not Tallent, though some of these have again adopted the older style. On reference to some records of early Plantagenet origin I find the name "Talenatz" (qy. represented by the "Talletz," whose arms are registered at the College) among the list of manor holders; and, in records of a little later origin, the name Talenant "" among the general category of feudal tenants, but no nearer approach to Talland, Tallant, or Tallent. Can any fellow reader help me in my researches after the ancestry of Phillip Tallent? C. T. T.-B. Replies. THE MYSTERY OF BERKELEY SQUARE. (4th S. x. 373, 399; xi. 85; 5th S. xii. 87; 6th S. ii. 417, 435, 452, 471, 514.) 66 comment in society, but that of the thousands who believed in it not one was at the pains "to knock at the door (a mistake that), to ask at the vestry, or to inquire of the turncock." Will some charitable soul make trial of J. C. M.'s expedient: knock at the door, ask at the vestry, inquire of the turncock (especially of the turncock; turncocks are such authorities in matters of mystery), and communicate to "N. & Q." the result? CLARRY is as conclusive as J. C. M., for I find no analogy between incidents such as those brought forward by MR. MEEHAN and Miss Broughton, and the maunderings of the "jilted" Mr. Myers "upstairs and downstairs" and in his back yard. CLARRY complains of the inconvenience of living near a haunted house. Will he not help us, then, to clear up the mystery, and so re-establish the peace of the neighbourhood? T. WESTWOOD. Brussels. I confess to an old attachment to the Berkeley Square "ghost," and therefore I read with a somewhat mournful sense of humour the evidence in his favour adduced by MR. MEEHAN in the extract from the letter to Bishop Thirlwall: "Miss H., who repeated the tale to Mrs. P., was told by some R. C. friends [query Rosy-Crucian?] of hers that a family "they knew hired the haunted house," &c. True, the story as there told is identical in nearly all details with that I heard from "a man in the street" at about the same date. But this intolerable sequence of hearsay is the more provoking, because a little trouble might have converted (and perhaps might still convert) it into some direct and substantial evidence. Surely it would have been quite easy for the bishop's correspondent to have got into direct communication with the original witnesses; it may still be possible for MR. MEEHAN (who knows all the names) to do so. At last we have something like tangible evidence in the communication made by Mr. MEEHAN on this subject. Unfortunately, the links of the testimony are not as closely welded together as they might be. First, we have a Mrs. who related the story of the Berkeley Square house to the writer of the letter addressed to the late Bishop Thirlwall. Then we come to a "Lady M-," who endeavours to establish the locality of the mansion (a work of supererogation that). From her we are passed on to a Miss H-," who is cited as having told the tale to a "Mrs. P-." This "Miss H-" was informed by some "R. C. friends" (Roman Catholic, I pose) that a family they knew hired the haunted house, and that it was during their occupation of it the tragic incident occurred which Miss Rhoda Broughton has also related in nearly identical terms. What I should now wish to learn is the name of these "R. C. friends." Will MR. MEEHAN favour me with it, or will he favour our Editor with it, confidentially? sup As for J. C. M., the exorbitancy of his "hopes" is absolutely delightful. The estate agent (Mr. Lofts) assures him that Atkins, an upholsterer, has had charge of the house; that he (Lofts) went over it with Atkins and Lord Fitzhardinge's solicitor about a year ago; that Miss Myers, the then owner, refused to renew the lease; that since then a reversionary lease has been sold to Mr. Fish, a "well-known builder "; and lastly comes his corollary: "I hope these particulars may satisfy the most incredulous." Need I say that not a grain of satisfaction is to be found in them by the most diligent seeker? J. C. M. then observes that the Berkeley Square mystery was, for a long time, matter of constant It seems the lease had six years to run when Mr. Myers died. CLARRY has missed the point of my argument, which was not that "the letting value of a house in Berkeley Square" would have been any consideration with Mr. Myers, but that the disregard of it had to be accounted for in the case of the lady who inherited the lease, and who is not suggested to be lunatic or eccentric. J. C. M. is in error in supposing that no attempts have been made by inquiry to elucidate the mystery. Several persons of my acquaintance have from time to time inquired at the house, in every case being repulsed by refusals to give any information. Whatever may be the truth as to the past (and these circumstantial stories would hardly have originated in the exclusive habits of Mr. Myers), I cannot help looking forward with some curiosity to the future history of this house. If there was no ghost before, there certainly ought to be one now. It is not necessary to have any personal acquaintance with haunting ghosts to know from If not an impertinent question, I should like to Putting ghosts aside, I should like to know the history of the old building. The locality can be easily identified, for the building was still there SCOTUS. in 1873. the country, with the invention of all arts and sciences, which were the property of the Egyptian priests, such as the formation of language, the invention of letters, of mathematics, of medicine, of music, drawing, of gymnastics, of rituals, as well as of all civil and ecclesiastical institutions. Thus, he is the sum total of all priestly art and wisdom; and for that reason the holy writings of the Egyptians, called after him Hermetic writings, were ascribed to him. These writings were, however, only accessible to the priests, and only on at them from a distance. Clement of Alexandria great festivities the people were permitted to look speaks of forty-two books of Hermes as existent in his time, as of a Universal Encyclopædia, comprising the totality of all divine and human knowledge. If thus we are to conceive a really existing work, all the single parts and volumes of which author, then this name was used among the later were headed by the name of Hermes, the reputed Neo-platonists in a much broader sense, and, so to say, transferred to the entire literature. And it is in this sense that Iamblichus designates the entire body of the knowledge of the sciences and arts possessed by the Egyptian priests by the name of Hermes. To him, he says, our ancestors ascribed all inventions of wisdom, and after him named all their writings, writings of Hermes. Nor will this appear strange when we find the same writer, Iamblichus, stating in another passage of his work that Hermes had written 20,000 books, or, according to Manetho, even 36,528. Of such Hermetic writings a few only have been transmitted to us and still remain. HERMES, THE EGYPTIAN (6th S. ii. 487).As your querist C. C. seems to look upon Wilson's Astral Dictionary as a work of authority, and is therefore probably a student of the occult sciences, the following information may be of service to him, although he might have got it, and more, on reference to one of the standard works on the mythologies and religions of the ancients. Hermes Trismegistus is not, as C. C. seems to assume, an historical personage in the proper sense of the term, but, as Thot among the Egyptians, and as Hermes among the Greeks, only a personification, the symbol of the priesthood, the essential mediator between the Deity and the people. He therefore is credited with the legislation and civilization of Thus we have an Hermetic medicine, an metically sealed " for things which are so tightly Hermetic Freemasonry, and the expression "herclosed that no air can reach them, because Hermes was credited with the art of closing and making inaccessible, by magical seals, treasures and vessels. The Pastor, written by Hermas, one of the socalled Apostolic fathers, does not, of course, belong to the category of Hermetic writings. J. N. THE GREAT STONE OF THOR (5th S. viii. 364).— The following statement will not be without interest to your archæological readers. In November, 1877 (as above), I called attention in the columns of "N. & Q." to this venerable relic of prehistoric antiquity, probably of Danish origin, which exists at Thursaston (Thor-stane-ton), Cheshire, about eight miles from Birkenhead, and which, from its secluded position, has almost entirely escaped notice. I then stated my apprehensions that the advance of modern improvements would be likely |