Various

“ PETRO-PROMONTORIENSIS.
[Our correspondent has, he will perceive, misapprehended MR. CORNEY'S suggestion; which is a far more practical one, than a reprint of all the works which issued from the press of Caxton. In the first of the modes which MR. CORNEY now suggests for carrying out his views he appears to us to have hit upon a very happy expedient; which we think may easily be accomplished in a way to do credit to all parties concerned in it, and really to do honour to the memory of William Caxton.] ”

“ During the middle ages we frequently meet with the terms postilla, postillæ, postillare, and the like (from post illa verba Scripturæ sacræ) , denoting sometimes merely expositions of Scripture, and sometimes popular discourses founded upon a passage just before read.
In England, about the year 957, Elfric, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, required the priest in each parish to explain the Gospel of the day, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, on Sundays and holydays. ”

“ The ancient practice of explaining considerable portions of Scripture first showed itself openly in this University. This was to name a thesis or text from the Scripture, and make divisions upon it; which method is said to have been adopted by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, who therefore divided the Scriptures into chapters. The people at their religious assemblies much approved of this way, in preference to the raw discourses of young and ignorant preachers. ”

“ I was endeavouring to discover what particular nautical technicality might justify this application of ship in the sense of raft or float, when I recollected that sailors call the little float by which the log-line is held stationary in the water, by the term log-ship; and, by a rather singular coincidence, the origin of this very word log-ship is made the subject of comment in a recent number of "NOTES AND QUERIES" (p. 254.) , by a West Indian correspondent, A. L., who thinks the term log-chip. ”

“ The very nature of log is, not only to float, but to remain sluggish or stationary in the water: and as it might not be convenient to provide a fresh log (or chip) for every occasion, there would be a clear advantage in tying a string to it, for the purpose of hauling it inboard again, to serve another turn. Moreover, I must remind A. L. that sailors do not say, "Heave the chip," but "Heave the log."
This same passage in the Comedy of Errors suggests another consideration; which is, that Shakspeare appears to have used league and mile synonymously. ”

“ The Query is suggested by a quantity of, to all appearance, calcined small field beans having recently been found by me, in small heaps, among a deposit of ashes embedded in sand, in the perpendicular cutting of a sand-pit at Comb Wood, near Kingston. The deposit is black, reduced to a fine powder, and, with the exception of the beans, homogeneous: it was perfectly distinct from the surrounding sand, and was about two feet under the surface of the soil. For centuries past Roman remains have been from time to time discovered at Comb Wood, and it is known to have been a Roman station. ”

“ THE CAXTON MEMORIAL.
(Vol. iv., p. 283.)
In forming a literary project, whether extensive or otherwise, it is advisable to keep in view the humble science of arithmetic. Without that precaution, it may become a source of vexation both to its projector and its promoters; and, in some cases, the non-completion of it may be a real injury to literature. ”

“ Farmer, amongst other atrocities which have earned for him an unenviable immortality in connexion with Shakspeare's name, had the incredible folly to recognise, in the splendid image—
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will,"
an allusion to skewer making! ”

“ Is a very good thing to make us merry.
Soul! soul! &c.
The soul-cake referred to in the verses is a sort of bun, which until lately it was an almost general custom for persons to make, and to give to one another on the 2nd of November. Perhaps some of your readers can state whether this custom prevails in other counties in England. It seems to be a remnant of the practice of collecting alms, to be applied to the benefit of the souls of the departed, for which especial masses and services were formerly sung on All Souls' Day. ”

“ Francis, the fourth son of William Lord Dacre, carried on a long contest at law with the Earl of Arundel and the Lord William Howard for the Dacre's estates; claiming, under the entail of his father William Lord Dacre on the male line. He married, and had a son and a daughter. He fell under suspicion of the government, and retired abroad about the year 1588, and died there. His son is stated to have compromised his claims to the estates with the Howards. ”

“ To those who wish to possess a critical knowledge of their own native English, some acquaintance with Anglo-Saxon is indispensable; and we have never seen an introduction better calculated than the present to supply the wants of a beginner in a short space of time. The declensions and conjugations are well stated, and illustrated by references to the Greek, Latin, French, and other languages. A philosophical spirit pervades every part. The Delectus consists of short pieces on various subjects, with extracts from Anglo-Saxon History and the Saxon Chronicle. ”

“ His story, however, if it be not altogether the offspring of his own ingenuity, appears quite unsupported by evidence; nor, even if authenticated, would it be conclusive of the inference he draws from it. For, surely, the same origin might be attributed to log itself, with equal, or even with greater probability. ”

“ It is altogether a religious term. May I suggest that they are a relique of the old population of the mountain vallies imperfectly Christianised, therefore despised by the more enlightened population of the neighbourhood,—half-civilised, perhaps, and physically degraded by the same causes which have given the goître and the idiocy of the Cretin to the inhabitants of the Valais. ”

“ Archbishop Cranmer expounded Hebrews; as Bishops Hooper, Latimer, and Jewel, did Jonah, the Lord's Prayer, many of the Epistles, and all the Epistles and Gospels on Sundays and holydays.
"From the practice of Ambrose, Origen, Chrysostom, and Austin, among the ancients, and of our reformers, and more modern divines, we may safely affirm (says Mr. Shepherd in his Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer) that explaining and applying portions of Scripture read in the Lessons, is a very beneficial mode of preaching to ordinary congregations." ”

“ At present many individuals who have raised themselves by their native force of mind and acquirements to a position of honour and respectability as literary and scientific men, are yet looked upon and treated as pariahs by those who are the bestowers and guardians of national distinctions. ”

“ Will any of your correspondents inform me of the derivation of the word æra, as, if derived from the Latin word æra, no classical authority that I know of can be adduced. In Ainsworth I find æra signifies a kind of weed amongst corn; a mark upon money to show the value; a remarkable period of time.
J. N. G. G.
[In Andrews' Latin-English Lexicon our correspondent will find the following as the second definition of Æra, "ÆRA, Æ, f. (from Æra, the plural of Æs) , a word belonging to Later Latin. 1. In Mathem. The [384] given number, according to which a calculation is to be made. ”

“ Augustine preached four hundred sermons to the clergy and people without any thesis, and without taking a text at the beginning of his discourse. And so I (says he) preached the day and year above mentioned, in Oxford, by taking no theme or text; but I administered to the people profitable matters, without repeating of any text, but only words pertinent to matters proposed or declared.'"
The ancient practice of explaining considerable portions of Scripture to the people was revived by our reformers. ”

“ On this may I be allowed to forward a Query or two? What is their language? What are their own traditions concerning their origin? I am confirmed in my opinion that they are no way analogous to the Cretins; the latter being diseased, and Cretins because they are diseased; the Cagot being diseased and filthy, and despised because he is a Cagot, an individual of a degraded and outcast race of men. ”

“ GUIDE TO ARCHÆOLOGY. An Archæological Index to Remains of Antiquity of the Celtic, Romano-British, and Anglo-Saxon periods. By JOHN YONGE AKERMAN, fellow and secretary to the Society of Antiquaries. 1 vol. 8vo. illustrated with numerous engravings, comprising upwards of 500 objects, cloth, 15s. "One of the first wants of an incipient antiquary is the facility of comparison, and here it is furnished him at one glance. The plates, indeed, form the most valuable part of the book, both by their number and the judicious selection of types and examples which they contain. ”

“ They are a miserable race, mostly beggars, or employed only about the meanest and filthiest work, abounding in leprosy and other cutaneous diseases, and in the most loathsome vermin; houseless, half-clad, inhabiting stables, barns, or any casual place of shelter, generally mutilated and lame, outcasts from society, reputed to lead infamous lives, indulging in the most horrible practices, even of cannibalism, and worse offences than that. ”

“ One of the principal characteristics of the disease is a disgusting goître, enlarging the neck to such a size, that a part of it becomes pendulous to the length of upwards of a foot, and can even be flung over the shoulder, and is, indeed, often carried there. It is very commonly accompanied by idiocy; and, in fact, the Cretin is one of the most distressing objects that can be seen. The disease is very common in some parts of Switzerland, especially, I believe, the Valais ”

“ REV. EDWARD MANGIN, M.A.
"We cordially recommend this attractive volume."—Bath Herald.
"The production of a veteran in literature, whose varied talents and acquirements have done honour to the press. If good sense, good feeling, and good writing, embellished by a lively fancy and quaint humour, are a passport to public notice, we may, on those grounds, fairly challenge attention to the work before us, to which we both wish and augur a brilliant success."—Bristol Journal. ”

“ See Psalm lxxx. verses 8 to 13 (Common Prayer Version) , and the context before and following, which contains perhaps the most picturesque and beautiful, as well as practical, allegory in the compass even of sacred literature. "The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the field devour it."
J. M. G.
Hallamshire.
"Son of the Morning" (Vol. iv., pp. 209. 330.) .
—I have always understood Byron's apostrophe "Son of the morning, rise! approach you here!" to be merely an appeal to one of the Orientals who then ruled in that region. ”

“ VALUE OF SHAKSPEARE'S LEAGUE.—MEANING OF SHIP.—LOG-SHIP.
So universal was Shakspeare's knowledge even of the arcana of other men's pursuits, that his commentators, in their anxiety to reduce his attainments to an ordinary standard, have attributed to him a sort of ubiquitous apprenticeship to all manner of trades and callings,—now a butcher,—now an attorney's clerk,—now a schoolmaster,—and anon a holder of horses at the theatre door, where doubtless he acquired that farrier-knowledge so profusely lavished upon Petruchio's charger in The Taming of the Shrew. Dr. ”

“ This latter animal has a variety of names by which he is known in one and the same district, e.g. gray or graye, bawson or bowson, brock and badger, and in our churchwardens' accounts these names occur indiscriminately. I hope some one will be able to point out the origin of paying for the destruction of these animals out of the parochial funds; I have frequently searched without success such authorities as I have access to. The earliest entry of the kind in the books of this parish (which date from 1520) is in 1583. ”

“ It is hardly so impossible to identify the animals mentioned by your correspondent J. B. as he supposes. Glead is the A.-S. glida or kite, though, in our version of Deut. xiv. 13., both glede and kite are mentioned. Ringteal or ringtail is the female of the Circus cyaneus or hen-harrier, another species of falcon. Greas' head and baggar refer to the same animal (the badger) , for there is no wonder that a scribe who writes greas' head for gray's head should write also baggar for badger. ”

“ It will, however, be observed that their authority was not confined to "vermin," but extended to the "fowls of the air;" and the "old volumes of churchwardens' accounts," to which your correspondent has access, amply testify to the fact that those churchwardens were fully alive to their duty, powers, and authority, under the above-named statutes; inasmuch as two, at least, of the ancient names belong to the feathered tribe; glead being identical with kite, and ringteal or ringtail (subbuteo) with a species of hawk, in some districts more commonly called the hobby. ”

“ The herd boys in the district of Buchan, in Aberdeenshire, always prefer a herding stick of ash to any other wood, as in throwing it at their cattle, it is sure not to strike on a vital part, and so kill or injure the animal, which they say a stick of any other wood might do. ”

“ There is no Query so frequently put and so rarely answered to the satisfaction of the Querist as What is the fare? Walker's Cab Fare and Guide Map of London, in which all the leading streets and thoroughfares are marked off in half-miles, being so small that it may be carried in a pocket-book, yet so distinct as to admit of no doubt, will however put an end to the very unpleasant state of uncertainty and dispute in which all who ride in cabs are apt to find themselves involved.
CATALOGUES RECEIVED.—W. Waller & Son's (188. Fleet Street) Catalogue of Choice, Useful, and Interesting Books ”

“ In Halsted they founded a chantry for a master and eight priests; and adjoining Little Easton church still remains a fine chapel, known as Bourchier's chapel, where there are tombs to some of the family in fine preservation. By a visit to the churches of the parishes above enumerated, much information may probably be obtained, for there can be little doubt but so powerful a family were great benefactors to the churches of the several parishes where their estates and mansions were situated ”

“ Gay (1.) was a scholar of Peter Blundell's foundation, and in 1724 succeeded to a fellowship on the same foundation. This fellowship, of which there are two at this college, is tenable for ten years; and all our fellows are compelled to proceed regularly to the degree of B.D. (seven years after they have taken that of M.A.) . Mr. Gay was M.A. in 1725, and might have proceeded to B.D. in 1732: but he never took any higher degree than M.A. He must therefore have vacated his fellowship before 1732. I find no mention of his name in our College Office-book later than 7th May, 1730. ”

“ The reason for giving ash sap to new-born children in the Highlands of Scotland is, first, because it acts as a powerful astringent, and, secondly, because the ash, in common with the rowan, is supposed to possess the property of resisting the attacks of witches, fairies, and other imps of darkness. ”