Notes and Queries, Number 186, May 21, 1853

Suicide at Marseilles (Vol. vii., pp. 180. 316.).—The original authority for the custom at Marseilles, of keeping poison at the public expense for the accommodation of all who could give the senate satisfactory reasons for committing suicide, is Valerius Maximus, lib. ii. cap. vi. § 7.

    Zeus.

Etymology of Slang (Vol. vii., p. 331.).—

"Slangs are the greaves with which the legs of convicts are fettered, having acquired that name from the manner in which they were worn, as they required a sling of string to keep them off the ground.... The irons were the slangs; and the slang-wearer's language was of course slangous, as partaking much if not wholly of the slang."—Sportsman's Slang, a New Dictionary and Varieties of Life, by John Bee: Preface, p. 5.

    Zeus.

Scanderbeg's Sword (Vol. vii., pp. 35. 143.).—The proverb, "Scanderbeg's sword must have Scanderbeg's arm," is founded on the following story:

"George Castriot, Prince of Albania, one of the strongest and valiantest men that lived these two hundred yeares, had a cimeter, which Mahomet the Turkish Emperor, his mortall enemy, desired to see. Castriot (surnamed of the Turks, Ischenderbeg, that is, Great Alexander, because of his valiantnesse), having received a pledge for the restitution of his cimeter, sent it so far as Constantinople to Mahomet, in whose court there was not any man found that could with any ease wield that piece of steele: so that Mahomet sending it back againe, enioyned the messenger to tell the prince, that in this action he kind proceeded enemy-like, and with a fraudulent mind, sending a counterfeit cimeter to make his enemie afraid. Ischenderbeg writ back to him, that he had simply without fraud or guile sent him his owne cimeter, with the which he used to helpe himselfe couragiously in the wars; but that he had not sent him the hand and the arme which with the cimeter cleft the Turkes in two, struck off their heads, shoulders, legs, and other parts, yea, sliced them of by the wast; and that verie shortly he would show him a fresh proofe thereof; which afterwards he performed."—Historical Meditations from the Latin of P. Camerarius, by John Molle, Esquire, 1621, book iv. Cap. xvi. p. 299.

The following, relating to the arm and sword of Scanderbeg, may perhaps not inappropriately be added, although not connected with the proverb:

"Marinus Barletius (lib. i.) reports of Scanderbeg, Prince of Epirus (that most terrible enemy of the Turks), that, from his mother's womb, he brought with him into the world a notable mark of warlike glory: for he had upon his right arm a sword, so well set on, as if it had been drawn with the pencil of the most curious and skilful painter in the world."—Wanley's Wonders of the Little World, 1678, book i. cap. vii.

    Zeus.

Arago on the Weather (Vol. vii., p. 40.).—Elsno will find extracts from Arago's papers in the Pictorial Almanack, 1847, p. 30., and in the Civil Engineer and Architects' Journal, which volume I cannot say, but I think that for 1847. Also in the Monthly Chronicle, vol. i. p. 60., and vol. ii. p. 209.; the annals of the Bureau des Longitudes for 1834 and the Annuaire for 1833.

    Shirley Hibberd.

Rathe (Vol. vii., p. 392.).—Mr. Crossley is, I believe, mistaken in his derivation of the word rathe from the Celtic raithe, signifying inclination, although rather seems indisputably to belong to it. Rathe is, I believe, identical with the Saxon adjective rætha, signifying early. Chaucer's—

"What aileth you so rathe for to arise,"

has been already quoted as bearing this meaning. Milton, in Lycidas, has—

"Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies."

In a pastoral, called a "Palinode," by E. B., probably Edmond Bolton, in England's Helicon, edit. 1614, occurs:

"And make the rathe and timely primrose grow."

And we have "rathe and late," in a pastoral in Davidson's Poems, 4th edit., London, 1621.

Rathe is a word still in use in the Weald of Sussex, where Saxon still lingers in the dialect of the common people; and a rathe, instead of an early spring, is spoken of; and a species of early apple is known as the Rathe-ripe.

    Anon.

Carr Pedigree (Vol. vii., p. 408.).—The pedigree description of Lady Carr is "Gresil, daughter of Sir Robert Meredyth, Knt., Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland." Sir George Carr died Feb. 13, 1662-3, and was buried in Dublin. His sons were 1, Thomas, and 2, William; and a daughter Mary, who married 1st, Dr. Thomas Margetson (son to the Archbishop of Armagh); and 2ndly, Dr. Michael Ward. The pedigree is continued through Thomas the eldest son, who was the father of the Bishop of Killaloe. It does not appear that William left any issue. His wife's name was Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Sing, D.D., Lord Bishop of Cork.

    W. St.

Banbury Cakes (Vol. vii., p. 106.).—In A Treatise of Melancholy, by T. Bright, doctor of physic, and published in 1586, I find the following:

"Sodden wheat is of a grosse and melancholicke nourishment, and bread especially of the fine flower unleavened: of this sort are bag-puddings or pan-puddings made with flour, frittars, pancakes, such as we call Banberie cakes, and those great ones confected with butter, eggs, &c., used at weddings; and howsoever it be prepared, rye and bread made thereof carrieth with it plentie of melancholie."

    H. A. B.

Detached Belfry Towers (Vol. vii., pp. 333. 416. 465.).—To your already extensive list of church towers separate from the church, Launceston Church, Cornwall, and St. John's Church, Chester, may not unfittingly be added.

    T. Hughes.

Chester.

Elstow, Bedfordshire, is an instance of a bell tower separated from the body of the church.

    B. H. C.

Dates on Tombstones (Vol. vii., p. 331.).—A correspondent asks for instances of dates on tombstones prior to 1601. I cannot give any, but I can refer to some slabs lying upon the ground in a churchyard near Oundle (Tausor if I remember aright), on which appear in relief recumbent figures with the hands upon the breast, crossed, or in the attitude of prayer. These are of a much earlier date, and I should be much pleased to know if many or any such instances elsewhere occur.

    B. H. C.

Subterranean Bells (Vol. vii., pp. 128. 328.).—Bells under ground and under water, so often referred to, remind me of the Oundle Drumming Well, which I remember seeing when a child. There is a legend connected with it which I heard, but cannot accurately recollect. The well itself is referred to in Brand, vol. ii. p. 369. (Bohn's ed.), but the legend is not given.

    B. H. C.

Mistletoe in Ireland (Vol. ii., p. 270.).—I have just received, in full blossom, a very fine spray from a luxuriant plant of this parasite growing on an apple tree in the gardens of Farmley, the seat of William Lloyd Flood, Esq., in the county of Kilkenny. This plant of mistletoe has existed at Farmley beyond the memory of the present generation; but Mr. Flood's impression, communicated to me, is, that it was artificially produced from seed by some former gardener. If natural, which may be the case, this instance of its occurrence in Ireland is, I believe, unique.

    James Graves.

Kilkenny.

Stars and Flowers (Vol. iv., p. 22.; Vol. vii., p. 151. 341.).—Passages illustrative of this similitude have been quoted from Cowley, Longfellow, Hood, and Moir. The metaphor is also made use of by Darwin, in his Loves of the Plants:

"Roll on, ye stars! exult in youthful prime,
Mark with bright curves the printless steps of time;
Flowers of the sky! ye, too, to age must yield,
Frail as your silken sisters of the field."

    Cuthbert Bede, B.A.
The Painting by Fuseli (Vol. vii., p. 453.).—The picture by the late Henry Fuseli, R.A., inquired after by Mr. Sansom, is in the collection at Sir John Soane's Museum; it was purchased by him in 1802.

It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780, and is thus entered in the Catalogue of that year:

"No. 77. Ezzelin Bracciaferro musing over Meduna, destroyed by him, for disloyalty, during his absence in the Holy Land. Fuseli."

There is an engraving of the picture in Essays on Physiognomy, by J. C. Lavater, translated from the French by Henry Hunter, D.D., 4to.: London, 1789. The second volume, p. 294.

The inscription under that engraving, by Holloway, is as follows:

"Ezzelin, Count of Ravenna, surnamed Bracciaferro or Iron Arm, musing over the body of Meduna; slain by him, for infidelity, during his absence in the Holy Land."

    George Bailey.

The subject of your correspondent J. Sansom's inquiry is in the Soane Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Search among the Italian story-tellers will not discover the origin of the picture of Count Ezzelin's remorse: it sprung from that fertile source of fearful images—Henry Fuseli's brain. The work might well have been left without a name, but for the requirements of the Royal Academy Catalogue, and, it must be added, Fuseli's desire to mystify the Italian as well as the other scholars of his day.