Various

MediÆval Parchment.—In what way did mediÆval illuminators prepare their parchment? For our modern parchment is so ill prepared, that it gets crumpled as soon as wet chalk for gilding, or any colour, is laid on it; whilst the parchment in mediÆval MSS. is quite smooth and level, as if it had not been moistened at all.

Should a full answer to this Query take up too much of your valuable space, I should be satisfied with the titles of any works on the art of "illumination," in which special mention is made of the way of preparing parchment.

F. M. (A Maltese.)

"Mater ait natÆ."—Where can the following lines, thus "Englished by Hakewill," be found?

"Mater ait natÆ, dic natÆ, filiÂ, natam

Ut moneat natÆ plangere filiolam."

"The aged mother to her daughter spake,

Daughter, said she, arise;

Thy daughter to her daughter take,

Whose daughter's daughter cries."

My object in asking the above question is for the purpose of discovering if such a relationship ever existed.

W. W.

Malta.

Fox of Whittlebury Forest.—In Mr. Jessie's Life of Beau Brummel, I met with a passage which spoke about the "well-known fox of Whittlebury Forest." Can any of your readers kindly inform me in what the celebrity of this animal consists, that Mr. Jessie takes for granted is so well known?

A Fox Hunter.

Names and Numbers of British Regiments (Vol. iv., p. 368.; Vol. vi, p. 37.).—I feel disappointed that none of your numerous and well-informed readers have responded to my inquiries on this subject. Hoping, however, that answers may still be obtained, I venture to repeat the questions for the third time, viz.:

1. What was the origin of giving British regiments the name of a certain officer, instead of numbering them as at present?

2. If in honour of an officer commanding the corps, was the name changed when that officer died or removed to another regiment; or what was the rule?

3. When did the present mode of numbering regiments begin; and by whom was it introduced?

4. What was the rule or principle laid down in giving any regiment a certain number? Was it according to the length of time it had been embodied?

5. What is the guide now, in identifying a named with a numbered regiment? For example, at the battle of Culloden, in 1746, "Wolfe's," "Barrell's," and "Howard's Foot" were engaged. Now, what is the rule for ascertaining the numbers of these, and other old regiments, in the British army at the present day?

I shall feel greatly obliged by the above information.

Z.

Glasgow.

Daughters of St. Mark.—How many were adopted as daughters of the Republic of St. Mark? Catherine Cornaro was one, and, I believe, Bianca Capello another. I think there were but one or two more: but who were they?

Rosa.

Kentish Fire.—What is the origin of the term "Kentish fire," signifying energetic applause?

Rosa.

Optical Phenomenon.—On the afternoon of the 20th January, at one o'clock, as I stood on the beach of Llandudno Bay, North Wales, I observed a rainbow, from the circumference of which passed a number of bright pencils of light, apparently converging to a point near the invisible centre of the rainbow. What is the explanation of this phenomenon?

C. Mansfield Ingleby.

Birmingham.

Cardinal Bentivoglio's Description of England.—A MS. of this interesting work exists among Bishop Tanner's MSS. in the Bodleian Library. Has it ever been printed? The account is said to have been drawn up with great care and accuracy, and betrays no sinister views.

Did Cardinal Bentivoglio visit England in person, or how did he collect his information?

Edward F. Rimbault.

Remarkable Signs.—Can any of the learned contributors of the "N. & Q." oblige a Constant Reader with the probable meanings or origins of the following signs, all of which are to be found in the London Directories:

Anti-Gallican (four taverns of this name).

Bombay Grab.

Essex Serpent.

Fortune of War (five).

George and Guy (two).

Moonrakers (two).

Grave Maurice (two).

Sun and Thirteen Cantons (two).

J. E.

Fleet Street.

Old Fable.—There is a fable in the Vicar of Wakefield of two brothers, a dwarf and giant, going out to battle, and sharing the victory but not the wounds.

There is another, perhaps a sequel to it, which relates that the dwarf, "tot bellorum superstitem," was choked in the fraternal embrace, with the sorry consolation that it was "the giant's nature to squeeze hard."

Are these fables wholly modern or not? I have thought that some such are the key to Juvenal's meaning:

to the ordinary construing of which there are positive objections.

J. E. G.

Tide Tables.—Can you, or any of your subscribers, give me a rule for ascertaining the heights of tides and times of high water, the establishment of the port, and rise of springs and neaps, being known? One divested of algebraic formulÆ would be preferred: say—

R.

Lancaster.

Passage in Ovid.—In speaking of the rude and unscientific state of the early Romans, in the third book of his Fasti, Ovid has the following verses:

The idea expressed in this passage is that the primitive Romans cared more about war than astronomy. They did not observe the stars, though they believed them to be deities. The pun upon the word signa—constellations and military standards—is worthy of notice. But what is the meaning of libera, in the first verse? Is it nearly equivalent to inobservata, and does it denote the absence of the prying curiosity of men? It cannot be intended that the courses of the stars were less regular before they were the subjects of observation, than after the birth of astronomy.

L.

Roger Pele, Abbot of Furness.—Is anything known of the antecedents of Roger Pele, last abbot of Furness, who, after years of trouble and persecution, was at length constrained to execute a deed, dated 5th April, 28 Hen. VIII., whereby he did "freely and hollie surrender, giff, and graunt unto the Kynges highnes and to his heyres and assignes for evermore ... all his interest and titill in the said monasterie of ffurness, and of and in the landes, rentes, possessions, revenous, servyce, both spirituall and temporall," &c.? This deed is, I believe, given at length in the Cotton MSS., Cleopatra E. IV. fol. 244.

Roger Pele was elevated about 1532, and became rector of Dalton, a village near his old abbey, 9th Nov., 29 Hen. VIII. This rectory he held, I believe, during the remainder of his life, in spite of all the efforts made to dispossess him. (See Beck's Annales Furnessienses, p. 346. et seq.)

What was the origin and early history of this man, remarkable for the firmness and ability which so long baffled all the power and might of Henry, whose vengeance pursued him even into obscurity.

Abbati.

Curtseys and Bows.—Why do ladies curtsey instead of bow? Is the distinction one which obtains generally; and what is the earliest mention of curtseys in any writer on English affairs?

E. S.

Hampton Court.

Historical Proverb.—I have frequently in youth heard the proverb, "You may change Norman for a worser (worse) horse." This sounds like the wise saying of some unpatriotic Saxon, when urged to revolt against the conquering invaders. If so, it is an interesting relic of the days when "Englishrie," though suppressed, yet became peacefully victorious in transmuting the intruders into its own excellent metal.

J. R. P.

Bishop Patrick's "Parable of a Pilgrim."—Can any of your contributors inform me of any bibliographical notice of Bishop Patrick's Parable of a Pilgrim? Its singular title, and the suggested plagiarism of Bunyan, lately attracted my attention; but I incline to the belief that we may still regard the Pilgrim's Progress to be as original as it is extraordinary. Patrick's work appears to have been written in 1663, while Bunyan was not committed to prison until 1660, and was released in 1673: having written, or at least composed, his extraordinary work during the interval. Bunyan might therefore have seen and read Patrick's book; but, from a careful comparison of the two works, I am satisfied in my own mind that such a supposition is unnecessary, and probably erroneous. I may add that Patrick honestly confesses, that not even his own work is entirely original, but was suggested by an elder "Parable of the Pilgrim" in Baker's Sancta Sophia.

George Wm. Bell.

Dr. Parr's Dedications.—Dr. Parr has dedicated the three parts of Bellendences de Statu respectively to Burke, Lord North, and Fox, subscribing each dedication with the letters A. E. A. O. Can any of your correspondents explain them?

Balliolensis.

"KÖnigl. Schwedischer in Teutschland gefÜhrter Krieg, 1632-1648, von B. Ph. v. Chemnitz."—As is known, the first two parts of this important work were printed in 1648 and 1653. The continuation of the original manuscript exists now in the Swedish Record Office, with the exception, unfortunately, of the third part. The Curator of the Royal Library in Hanover, however, J. Dan, Grueber, testifies, in his Commercium Epistolare Leibnitianinum, Pars 1^ma, p. 119., HanoviÆ, 1745, in 8vo., that the missing part was then in that library:

"Tertius tomus excusus non est, quippe imperfectus; Manuscriptum tamen quoad absolutus est, inter alia septentrionis cimelia nuper repertum, BibliothecÆ RegiÆ vindicavimus."

But this manuscript is no longer to be found there. Is it possible it may have been removed to England, and still to be found in one of the public collections? An answer to any of the above questions would deeply oblige

G. E. Klemming,
Librarian in the Royal Library at Stockholm.

"Officium Birgittinum Anglice."—

"Integrum BeatÆ Virginis Officium quod À S. Birgitta concinnatum, monialibus sui ordinis in usu publico fecit, Anglice ab anonymo quodam conversum, Londini prodiit ante annum 1500 in folio, ex Caxtoni, uti videtur, prÆlo editum."

is the notice of the above translation occurring in an old Swedish author. Information is requested as to whether any more detailed account can be obtained of the book referred to.^[2] For any such the Querist will be especially thankful: if it should be possible to procure a copy of the same, his boldest hopes would be exceeded. If no English translation of S. Birgitta's revelations, or of the prayers and prophecies extracted therefrom—the latter known under the name of Onus Mundi, should exist, either in print or in old manuscript, this, in consideration of the very general circulation which these writings obtained in the Middle Ages, would be a very peculiar exception. The book named at the head of this Query would appear to be a translation of the Breviarium S. BirgittÆ.

G. E. Klemming,
Librarian in the Royal Library at Stockholm.

Campbell's Hymn on the Nativity.—The hymn, of which the following are the first two verses, is said to have been written by Campbell. Can any correspondent of "N. & Q." say which Campbell is the author, and when and where the hymn was first printed?

H. S. S.