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Read Ebook: Notes and Queries Number 30 May 25 1850 by Various
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Ebook has 198 lines and 18192 words, and 4 pages
J.R.
QUERIES.
DR. RICHARD HOLSWORTH AND THOS. FULLER.
If, as is probable, Dr. Holsworth, in this instance, preached other men's sermons, which the short-hand writer afterwards gave to the world as his, it is a singular fact, that in the preface of this supposititious volume, Fuller speaks of the abuse of printed sermons by some--
"Who lazily imp their wings with other men's plumes, wherewith they soar high in common esteeme, yet have not the ingenuity with that son of the Prophet to confesse, Alasse! it was borrowed."
A.B.R.
QUERIES UPON CUNNINGHAM'S HANDBOOK OF LONDON.
We promised to make a few QUERIES on this amusing volume, and thus redeem our promise.
Mr. Cunningham has been the first to point out the precise situation of a spot often mentioned by our old dramatists, which had baffled the ingenuity of Gifford, Dyce, and in fact of all the commentators,--the notorious Picthatch. He thus describes it:--
The following is an excellent suggestion as to the origin of the--
Can Mr. Cunningham, Sir E. Head, or any of our correspondents point out any German "Randle Holme" whose work may be consulted for the purpose of ascertaining the arms, &c. of the various professions, trades, &c. of that country?
Mr. Cunningham states, we dare say correctly, that Sheridan died at No. 17 Saville Row. We thought he had died at Mr. Peter Moore's, in Great George Street, Westminster. Was he not living there shortly before his death? and did not his funeral at Westminster Abbey proceed from Mr. Moore's?
ON A PASSAGE IN MACBETH.
If any of your correspondents would favour me, I should like to be satisfied with respect to the following passage in Macbeth; which, as at present punctuated, is exceedingly obscure:--
"If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly: If the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch, With his surcease, success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,-- We'd jump the life to come."
Now, I think by altering the punctuation, the sense of the passage is at once made apparent, as thus,--
"If it were done when 'tis done then 'twere well. It were done quickly, if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch, With his surcease, success, that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end all here," &c.
"That undiscovered country, from whose bourne No traveller returns."
But that is clear enough, as in all probability the annotators left the passage as they found it. I have not the opportunity of consulting Mr. Collier's edition of Shakespeare, so that I am unaware of the manner in which he renders it; perhaps I ought to have done so before I troubled you. Possibly some of your readers may be disposed to coincide with me in the "new reading;" and if not, so to explain it that it may be shown it is my own obscurity, and not Shakespeare's, with which I ought to cavil.
"Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
G. BLINK.
MINOR QUERIES.
J.E.
Ecclesfield, Sheffield, April 19. 1850.
"1530.--Rich. Trimble, a very merry fellow, the fiddle of the society, who called him 'Mad Trimble.' M. Stokes of 1531 wrote this distich on him:--
'Os, oculi, mentum, dens, guttur, lingua, palatum Sunt tibi; sed nasus, Trimbale, dic ubi sit?'
As "NOTES AND QUERIES" circulate in Ireland, are there any of the family of "Trimble" now in that country, and are they distinguished by any such peculiarity?
J.H.L.
I spell the word "brozier" as it is still pronounced; perhaps some of your readers have seen it in print, and may be able to give some account of its origin and etymology, and decide whether it is exclusively belonging to Eton.
BRAYBROOKE.
April 14.
REPLIES.
THE DODO QUERIES.
"In intimo sinu est parva quaedam Insula, ad quam nostri aquandi gratia naves-appulerunt. Ibi phocarum armenta conspexere admiranda quaedam multitudine. In quibus inerat tanta feritas et truculentia, ut in homines irruerent. AVES etiam eo in loco visae sunt, quas incolas apellant SOLTICARIOS, pares anscribus magnitudine: plumis minime vestiuntur, alas habent similes alis verspertionum: volare nequeunt, sed explicatis alarum membranis, cursum celeritate summa conficiunt."
I may just remark, that my observation respecting the improbability of Tradescant's stuffed specimen having been a fabrication could hardly be considered superfluous, seeing that some naturalists, Dr. Gray, I believe, among others, had suggested that it most probably was one.
S.W. SINGER.
May 3. 1850.
ABBEY OF ST. WANDRILLE.
The following notes from this chronicle may not be without interest, as showing an early connection between the abbey and this country, and our attachment to the See of Rome.
I need hardly say, that throughout the chronicle there is a tolerable sprinkling of the marvellous. I give you the following as a warning to all dishonest bell-founders.
The pious builder of a church being desirous, according to custom, of putting a bell in the turret, engaged a skillful craftsman to carry into effect his design. This man, "at the instigation of the devil," stole some of the metal with which he had been furnished for the work; and the bell was, in consequence, mis-shapen and of small size. It was, however, placed in the turret; but, as a divine punishment for his crime, whenever the bell was struck, the dishonest founder was thereupon seized with frenzy, uttering strange words and barking like a dog!
GASTROS.
ORIGIN OF THE WORD "NEWS."
I have great respect for "Mr. SAMUEL HICKSON," but I cannot treat his derivation of the word "News" with any respect . I wish "Mr. HICKSON" had been a little more modest in his manner of propounding his novelty. Can any thing be more dogmatic than his assertions? which I will recapitulate as much as possible in his own words, before I proceed to deal with them.
As regards the derivation of "News," I wish you had allowed the question to rest as it stood after the sensible remarks of "A.E.B." . Pray excuse me, Sir, for expressing a hope that you will ponder well before you again allow us to be puzzled on so plain a subject, and give circulation and your sanction to paradoxes, even though coming from one so entitled to attention as "Mr. HICKSON."
CH.
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.
I may mention that Whichcot's intimacy with Lord Shaftesbury would probably have been brought about by his being incumbent of the church of St. Lawrence Jewry, Shaftesbury having his London house in the latter part of his life in Aldersgate Street.
CH.
WM. DURRANT COOPER.
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