Various

Belatucadrus.—In the Poetical History, by the French Jesuit, P. Galtruchius, 5th edition, 1683, the sixteenth and closing chapter of the first book of this history of the heathen gods is devoted to those worshipped in England, and the last of whom mention is made is Belatucadrus, being introduced and summarily disposed of as follows:

"In time the idols did increase, and we find in ancient writers, some who have been transported hither by the eastern people, as the God (Abellio vocabatur in Gallia) Belenus, or Belatucadrus. The latter, to my knowledge, hath been adored in the north part of England; for lately, since the learned Camden hath mentioned him, there was a piece of his statue found in Westmoreland, near Brougham, a castle belonging to that bountiful and venerable lady, Anne Dorset, countess dowager of Pembrook and Montgomery, &c.; and in the bottom this inscription is to be seen: 'Sancto Deo Belatvcadro,' which idol was doubtless made by the Romans, for it was their custom to adore the gods of the country which they did conquer."

My object is to ascertain, if possible, if this portion of statue has been preserved? Has any subsequent discovery been made in the same locality respecting, or any additional light thrown upon, the one of which mention is herein made?

Kappa.

Surname of Allan.—Perhaps Mr. Lower, or some other etymological reader of "N. & Q.," may kindly assist me in my endeavours to find out the correct meaning and origin of this surname, variously spelt Allen, Allan, Allin, Alleyne, &c.? My theory on the subject, from various researches, is that it is a word of Celtic or Gaelic etymon, Aluinn, in that language, signifying "delightful or pleasant." And again, several islet-rocks romantically situated in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, are called to this day Allans. I should much like, however, to have the opinions of older and more experienced etymologists than I can pretend to be; for few subjects present so interesting a field for different theories as that regarding the origin of family names does. As I am naturally interested in my own surname, I should also like to obtain a sketch of the different British families of note bearing the surname and arms of Allen or Allan, and references to those works which give their history and lineage.

A. S. A.

Wuzzeerabad.

Arms of Owen Glendower.—Could any of your correspondents inform me of the blazoning of the arms of Owen Glendower, which, according to the copy of his private seal, furnished by Meyrick to the editor of the Poems of Lewis Glyn Cottie, are, Quarterly, four lions rampant; supporters, a dragon (gules?) and a lion?

B. B. Woodward.

Tenent and Tenet.—When did the use of tenent (for opinion, dogma, &c.) give place to tenet? Surely both forms should be retained, and used according to circumstances. It is correct to speak of a tenet of John Wesley. When attributing the same doctrine to Wesleyans, it becomes their tenent.

Y. B. N. J.

"I hear a lion," &c.—Can any of your correspondents favour me with the origin of the following jeu d'esprit, reputed to have been addressed to the Speaker in the House of Commons?—

"I hear a lion in the lobby roar!

Say, Mr. Speaker, shall we shut the door

And keep him out?

Or shall we let him in,

And see if we can get him out again?"

To ascertain by whom, and upon what occasion, the above lines were uttered, would considerably gratify

Sagitta.

"The Exercist Day" at Leicester.—In the Chamberlain's accounts for this borough for the year 1604-5, I find the following entry:

There are also charges "for wyne drunk at the exercist dinners, on the viij^th of Jan^y, the fyfthe of Marche, and the ix^th of April," 1605. Were these meetings held for the purpose of exorcising the evil spirits and witches, the belief in which had at that time greatly increased in England, through the recent accession of "the modern Solomon" to the throne? and, if so, was the practice a general one, or were they merely for religious exercises?

A few years afterwards nine unfortunate women were tried at our assizes for witchcraft, and were convicted and executed!

Leicestriensis.

Ecclus. xlvi. 20.—Why does the Church order this verse to be omitted in the reading of the lessons? Is it because the passage assumes the fact that Samuel himself appeared to Saul—a statement open to discussion?

Boeoticus.

Edgmond, Salop.

Etymology of Burrow.—In the north of Gloucestershire I have met with the word burrow (I do not answer for the orthography), meaning sheltered, secure from wind, &c. The side of a thick coppice was spoken of as "a very burrow place for cattle." Can any of your correspondents give the etymology of the word, or other instances of its use?

Balliolensis.

Alexander Adamson.—I should be glad to know who Alexander Adamson was (the tutor who accompanied Wm. and Patrick Ruthven, the son of the Earl of Gowrie, in their flight into England in August 1600), and what became of him? There was a Wm. Ruthven, of Scotland, married at Chitterton, Northumberland, to Esther, daughter of Robert Adamson, vicar of that parish in 1681. Was he any relation to the Gowrie family?

E. H. A.

Psalmanazar.—The great literary abilities of Psalmanazar, and indeed all the known circumstances of his life and history, excite some curiosity as to his real name. Can any of your readers inform me of this?

St. Johns.

Coleridge's Christabel.—In the original edition of this poem, the following lines are to be found at the beginning of Part II.:

Now these lines, and a great many more which I cannot remember, as I have not the original edition, are to be found in an old volume of Blackwood's Magazine, in a review upon the poem. The poem, as published in the edition of Coleridge's Poems edited by D. and S. Coleridge (Moxon, 1852), does not contain these lines, and no notice is taken of the fact by the editors. Either Coleridge did or did not cancel the lines mentioned; if he did, can any of your readers inform me in which of his works this fact is mentioned? If he did not, then one of the most beautiful poems in the English language has been edited in a manner that no one, I trust, will imitate.

S. Y.

Beaten to a Mummy.—Whence comes this expression? It is used to signify, beaten so that form and feature are no longer distinguishable; whereas the immediate object of a mummy seems to be the preservation of the form and features of the deceased. Is not the phrase a corruption of beaten to a mammock, to a piece, to a scrap, to a fragment? And yet, in Marryatt's Pottery (Murray, 1850, p. 250.) is the following passage:

"Diodorus Siculus (Book V. ch. i.), in speaking of the usages of the inhabitants of the Balearic Isles, states that these people were in the habit of beating with clubs the bodies of the dead, which, thus rendered flexible, were deposited in vessels of earthenware."

The Gloucestershire peasants frequently use the word mammock, which they pronounce "mommock."

Robert Snow.

6. Chesterfield Street, May Fair.

Hanover Rats.—It is said that the native rat was extirpated from this country by the invading colonists from Hanover. What are the facts of this case, and where may the best account of this extermination of the natives be found? It is worth inquiring also, whether the aboriginal rat is now to be met with in any part of Great Britain. I should think that rat-catchers and farming folks could throw light on this interesting point of the British fauna.

Shirley Hibberd.

Pallant.—In the town of Chichester there are four streets, north, south, east, and west, to which the name of "Pallant" is attached.

This particular spot, which is close to the High Street, is always called The Pallant.

Can any of your readers inform me of the origin and meaning of this word?

I have never met with any inhabitant of Chichester who could solve this difficulty.

A Cantab.

Curious Fact in Natural Philosophy.—The Exeter Alfred of 1828 has in one of its numbers the following:

"Cut a couple of cards each into a circle of about two inches in diameter; perforate one of these at the centre, and fix it on the top of a tube, say a common quill. Make the other card ever so little concave, and place it over the first, the orifice of the tube being that directly under, and almost in contact with the concave card. Try to blow off the upper card, you will find it impossible. We understand that the cause that counteracts the effect at first expected of this singular phenomenon, has lately puzzled all the members of the Royal Society. A medal and a hundred guineas are said to be the reward of the successful discoverer.

Could any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." give any additional information on this rather curious point?

Elginensis.

Drying up of the Red Sea.—Will some of your correspondents kindly assist me, by a reference to a passage in one of our modern historians, alluding to the extraordinary drying up of the Red Sea on one occasion? I thought I had read it in Rollin, as a quotation from Baronius, but cannot now find it in either one or the other.

W. Stillman.

Birmingham.

Joan d'Arc.—Did Joan d'Arc (the Maid of Orleans) bear any heraldic insignia; and if so, what?

Is the family from which she sprung now represented; and if they bear arms, what are they?

Is there any family of this name (D'Arc), and if so, where? And what are the arms belonging to it, if there are any?

Bend.

Diary of Thomas Earl.—Strype (Annals, vols. i. & ii.) sometimes refers to a MS. No. 206. in the collection of Moore, Bishop of Ely, which he describes as a Diary (vol. i. pp. 135. 180.) kept by Thomas Earl, who was made parson of St. Mildred's, Bread Street, at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and "seems to have been a diligent noter of matters of remark concerning religion in his time" (vol. ii. p. 539.). In the Catal. Libr. MSS. Angl., part ii. p. 366., it is described—

"Short notes of matters relating to the church by way of annals, written by some that favoured Puritanism, from the year 1548 to 1599."

Bishop Moore left his library to the University of Cambridge. Is this MS. in their possession, and is it a piece of historic value?

Q. Q.

"Jenny's Bawbee."—I would be glad if any of the readers of "N. & Q." would inform me where the old Scottish song, "Jenny's Bawbee," is to be found? It begins,

J. Mn.

Lord North.—In Forster's Life of Goldsmith, the following remark occurs respecting Lord North, George III.'s premier:

"North was the son of the princess dowager's intimate friend Lord Guildford, and scandal had not hesitated to find a reason for the extraordinary resemblance he presented to the king in his clumsy figure, homely face, thick lips, light complexion and hair, bushy eyebrows, and protruding large grey eyes."

Will some one of your readers favour me with an explanation of the meaning of this insinuation? Is it really intended to say that "scandal" reported Lord North to be the son of an illustrious lady of the royal family? It is clear Lord North strikingly resembled George III.; did the latter "favour" his father or his mother in physiognomy? Did George III. represent the Guelphs or the Saxe-Gotha family?

Observer.

Ephippiarius.—What is the meaning of the word "Ephippiarius," occurring as the description of a person in a Latin diploma of the seventeenth century? Does it signify saddler, or, as has been suggested to me, esquire?

V.

Nixon.—Can any of your readers inform me if there was a painter of this name living at Brighton in or about the year 1806, what pictures he painted, &c., and when he died?

John Garland.

Dorchester.

Tuebeuf.—Where is it? A royal charter to the town of Doncaster, given by the hand of Master Eustacius, Dean of Salisbury, Deputy-Chancellor, and witnessed by an Archbishop of Canterbury and others, is dated at Tuebeuf, 22nd May, 5 Richard I. (1194). In Miller's History of Doncaster (Appendix, Deed No. 1.), the name is printed "Tuke or Toke," but on a reference to the original document it appears as above.

J. E. J.

Tooth of Sir I. Newton.—

"A tooth of Sir Isaac Newton was sold in 1815 for 730l.: a nobleman bought it, and had it set in a ring."

The above has gone the round of the papers without comment, contradiction, or illustration. Lest it should become matter of history, I wish to ask whether it is a new story or an old one; and whether it is a simple lie, or has any foundation in fact?

H. B. C.

U. U. C.

Thomas Ceeley.—Who was Thomas Ceeley, who defended Lyme Regis so gallantly with the famous Blake, the former being governor? His exploits have been recorded in the History of Lyme Regis, &c. Probably we must look to Plymouth for his residence.

Mr. Christopher Ceeley was with Sir Francis Drake in his third voyage into the West Indies in 1572-3. The "Elizabeth Drake," of sixty tons and thirty men, under Sir Francis Drake, when acting against the Armada, was commanded by Thomas Sealye, another way of spelling Ceeley. There were Ceeleys, Sealeys, &c., in Devonshire and Somersetshire.

G. R. L.

Marigmerii—Melinglerii—Berefellarii.—In Pirri's Sicilia Sacra (GrÆvius, Antiqu. Sicil., ii. 425.) four officers of the inferior clergy, called marigmerii, are enumerated among the members of the cathedral of Montereale: and, in the same work (iii. 921.), two officers in the cathedral of Cifalu called melinglerii. Can either or both of these words be misprints, or corruptions of some word answering to the French marguillier, which in parish churches means a churchwarden, in collegiate churches a keeper of the relics? And what is the derivation of marguillier?

In Dugd. Monast., edit. 1830, vi. 1308., seven of the inferior clergy of the collegiate church of Beverley are called by what is said to be an ancient name, Berefellarii. What does this word mean? Can it be a blunder, in the original document, for beneficiatii?

John Jebb.

Peterstow Rectory, Ross.

"JudÆus odor."—

I have seen the above lines attributed to Vigilantius, but have not been able to verify the quotation. Can any of your readers tell me where they are to be found? I suspect they are not of so great antiquity, as Sir Thomas Browne (Vulgar Errors, book iv. chap. 10.), though he investigates and denies the "JudÆus odor," does not notice the opinion that it is removed by baptism.

H.

Lord Lyon King-at-Arms, Scotland.—Where is there an account of the origin of this office, and of the different possessors of it? Scotland does not, I believe, possess any corresponding work to Noble's History of the College of Arms, and I know of no history which contains the above-desired information collectively. To trace the succession of the Lord Lyon Kings-at-Arms would be interesting, as many celebrated, and even illustrious, individuals held that high office in Scotland. Poets as well as warriors might be mentioned amongst the number.

A. S. A.

Wuzzeerabad.

Louisa Lady Gordon of Gordonstoun, N. B.—This lady, who was the only child of Dr. John Gordon, Dean of Salisbury in England, and Lord of Glenluce in Scotland, married, 1653, Sir Robert Gordon, son of the Earl of Sutherland (better known as the historian of that earldom), who was created a baronet in 1625, and died in 1656. Their lineal male descendants became extinct in 1795, in the person of their great-great-grandson, Sir William, the sixth baronet. What I desire to ascertain is, who was Lady Gordon's father, this dean of Salisbury; his marriage, death, &c., and more especially how he was Lord of Glenluce? Perhaps some of your antiquarian subscribers may be able to assist me in these inquiries.

A. S. A.

Wuzzeerabad.

Contested Elections.—What book gives an accurate account of all the contested elections since the Restoration, and prior to the Reform Bill? I have one or two wretched compilations; but it seems no Dod existed before the flood.

X. Y. Z.