Notes and Queries, Number 69, February 22, 1851

"Tipstaff, being a seventh son, used to cure the king's evil; but his rascally descendants are so far from having that healing quality, that by a touch upon the shoulder, they give a man such an ill habit of body, that he can never come abroad afterwards."

I imagine that by the seventh son is meant the seventh son of a seventh son.

    C. H. Cooper.

Cambridge, Feb. 4. 1851.

P.S. Since the above was written, I have observed the following notice of the work of Laurentius in Southey's Common Place Book, 4th Series, 478. (apparently from a bookseller's catalogue):

"Laurentius (And.) De Mirabili Strumas Sanandi VI. Solis Galliæ Regibus Christianissimis divinitas concessa, (fine copy,) 12s. Paris, 1609.

"This copy possesses the large folded engraving of Henry IV., assisted by his courtiers in the ceremony of curing the king's evil."

Replies to Minor Queries

Forged Papal Bulls (Vol. ii., p. 491.).—In your Number, 20th Dec., J. E. inquires where is the instrument for counterfeiting the seal of the Pope's Bulls, which was dredged up from the ruins of old London Bridge. It is in my possession, and your correspondent will find an account of it, with woodcuts of the instrument itself and the seal, in the Proceedings of the Archæological Association, 11th Feb. 1846.

    Geo. R. Corner.

Eltham.

Obeism.—As your correspondent T. H. (Vol. iii., p. 59.) desires "any information" on the subject of Obeism, in the absence of more and better, I offer my mite: that in the early part of this century it was very common among the slave-population in the West Indies, especially on the remoter estates—of course of African origin—not as either a "religion" or a "rite," but rather as a superstition; a power claimed by its professors, and assented to by the patients, of causing good or evil to, or averting it from them; which was of course always for a "consideration" of some sort, to the profit, whether honorary, pecuniary, or other, of the dispenser. It is by the pretended influence of certain spells, charms, ceremonies, amulets worn, or other such incantations, as practised with more or less diversity by the adepts, the magicians and conjurers, the "false prophets" of all ages and countries.

On this matter, a curious phenomenon to investigate would be, the process by which the untonsured neophyte is converted into the bonneted doctor; the progress and stages of his mind in the different phases of the practice; how he begins by deceiving himself, to end in deceiving others; the first uninquiring ignorance; the gradual admission of ideas, what he is taught or left to imagine; the faith, of what is fancied to be so, the mechanical belief; then the confusion of thought from the intrusion of doubt and uncertainty; the adoption of some undefined notions; and, finally, actual unbelief; followed by designed and systematic injustice in the practice of what first was taken up in sincerity, though even this now perhaps is not unmixed with some fancy of its reality. For this must be the gradation more or less gone through in all such things, whether Obeism, Fetichism, the Evil Eye, or any sort of sorcery or witchcraft, in whatever variousness of form practised; cheats on the one hand, and dupes on the other the primum mobile in every case being, some shape or other of gain to the practitioner.

It seems, however, hardly likely that Obeism should now be "rapidly gaining ground again" there, from the greater spread of Christianity and diffusion of enlightenment and information in general since the slave-emancipation; as also from the absence of its feeding that formerly accompanied every fresh importation from the coast: as, like mists before the mounting sun, all such impostures must fade away before common sense, truth, and facts, whenever these are allowed their free influence.

The conclusion, then, would rather be, that Obeism is on the decline only more apparent, when now seen, than formerly, from its attracting greater notice.

    M.

Obeahism.—In answer to T. H.'s Query regarding Obeahism, though I cannot answer his question fully, as to its origin, &c., yet I have thought that what I can communicate may serve to piece out the more valuable information of your better informed correspondents. I was for a short time in the island of Jamaica, and from what I could learn there of Obeahism, the power seemed to be obtained by the Obeah-man or woman, by working upon the fears of their fellow-negroes, who are notoriously superstitious. The principal charm seemed to be, a collection of feathers, coffin furniture, and one or two other things which I have forgotten. A small bundle of this, hung over the victim's door, or placed in his path, is supposed to have the power of bringing ill luck to the unfortunate individual. And if any accident, or loss, or sickness should happen to him about the time, it is immediately imputed to the dreaded influence of Obeah! But I have heard of cases where the unfortunate victim has gradually wasted away, and died under this powerful spell, which, I have been informed by old residents in the island, is to be attributed to a more natural cause, namely, the influence of poison. The Obeah-man causes a quantity of ground glass to be mixed with the food of the person who has incurred his displeasure; and the result is said to be a slow but sure and wasting death! Perhaps some of your medical readers can say whether an infusion of powdered glass would have this effect. I merely relate what I have been told by others.

While speaking of the superstition of the negroes, I may mention a very curious one, very generally received and universally believed among them, called the rolling calf, which, if you wish, I will give you an account of in my next.

    D. P. W.

Pillgarlick (Vol. ii., p. 393.; Vol. iii., pp. 42. 74.).—It seems to me that the passage quoted from Skelton by F. S. Q. completely elucidates the meaning of this word. Let us premise that, according to all principles of English etymology, pill-garlick is as likely to mean "the pillar of garlick" as to be a syncopated form of "pill'd garlick." Now we see from Skelton's verse that in his time the peeling of garlick was proverbially a degraded employment—one which was probably thrust off upon the lowest inmate of the servants' hall, in an age when garlick entered largely into the composition of all made dishes. The disagreeable nature of the occupation is sufficient to account for this. Accordingly we may well suppose that the epithet "a poor pill-garlick" would be applied to any person, in miserable circumstances, who might be ready to undertake mean employment for a trifling gratuity.

This, I think, satisfactorily answers the original question, "Whence comes the expression?" The verse quoted by F. S. Q. satisfactorily establishes the orthography, viz., pill garlick. A Query of some interest still remains—In what author do we first find the compound word?

    R. D. H.

Pillgarlick (Vol. iii., p. 74.).—That to pill is merely another form of the word to peel, appears from the book of Genesis, c. xxx., v. 37, 38: "And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree: and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks," &c.

On first seeing your correspondent's Query, it occurred to me that perhaps "poor Pillgarlick" was in some way akin to "Pillicock," of whom Edgar, in King Lear, records that "Pillicock sat on Pillicock's hill;" but the connexion between these two worthies, if any, I confess myself quite unable to trace.

I conceive that Pillgarlick means "peeler of garlick," i.e. scullion; or, to borrow a phrase from a witness in a late case at the Middlesex sessions, which has attracted some attention, "a person in a low way of life."

The passage from Skelton, cited by your correspondent F. S. Q., may, I think, be explained thus: the will is so powerful in man's moral constitution, that the reason must content itself with an inferior place (as that of a scullion compared with that of the master of the house); or if it attempts to assert its proper place, it will find it a hopeless endeavour—as hopeless as that of "rosting a stone."

    X. Z.

Hornbooks (Vol. ii., pp. 167. 236.).—In answer to Mr. Timbs, I send you the following particulars of a Hornbook in the British Museum, which I have this morning examined.

It is marked in the new catalogue (Press Mark 828, a. 55.). It contains on one side the "Old English Alphabet"—the capitals in two lines, the small letters in one. The fourth line contains the vowels twice repeated (perhaps to doubly impress upon the pupil the necessity of learning them). Next follow, in two columns, our ancient companions, "ab, eb, ib," &c., and "ba, be, bi," &c. After the formula of exorcism comes the "Lord's Prayer" (which is given somewhat differently to our present version), winding up with "i. ii. iii. iiii. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x." On the other side is the following whimsical piece of composition:—

"What more could be wished for, even by a literary gourmand under the Tudors, than to be able to Read and Spell; To repeat that holy charm before which fled all unholy Ghosts, Goblins, or even the old Gentleman himself to the very bottom of the Red Sea, and to say that immortal prayer, which secures heaven to all who ex animo use it, and those mathematical powers, by knowing units, from which spring countless myriads."

Now for my "Query." Can any of your correspondents oblige me with the probable date of this literally literary treasure, or refer me to any source of information on the subject?

    Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie.

Bacon (Vol. iii., p. 41.).—The explanation given in a former number from old Verstegan, of the original meaning of the family name of Bacon, and the application of the word to the unclean beast, with the corroboration from the pages of Collins's Baronetage, is very interesting. The word, as applied to the salted flesh of the dead animal, is another instance of the introduction of a foreign term for a dead animal, in opposition to the Anglo-Saxon name of the living animal. It was used in this sense in France at a very early period; and Ampère, in his Histoire Littéraire de la France avant le 12ième Siècle, iii. 482., mentions the word among other instances of Gallicisms in the Latin of the Carolingian diplomas and capitularies, and quotes the capitularies of Charles the Fat. Bacco, porc salé, from the vulgar word bacon, jambon. The word was in use as late as the seventeenth century in Dauphiné, and the bordering cantons of Switzerland, and is cited in the Moyen de Parvenir, ch. 38. The passage is curious, as it would seem to intimate that Lord Bacon was one of the personages introduced in that very extraordinary production of the Rabelaisian school.

I have frequently heard the word employed by the country people in the markets of Geneva.

    J. B. D.

Lachrymatories (Vol. ii., pp. 326. 448.).—In illustration of the question as to the probable use of those small vases so commonly found in sepulchral monuments, I extract the following from Wayfaring Sketches among the Greeks and Turks. 2d edit. Introduction, pp. 6, 7. London: Chapman, 1849.

"The poorest of the sepulchres is certain to contain (in Greece) at least a few of these beautiful vases, the lachrymatories, &c.

*   *   *   *   *

When found in the graves of females, their form would generally seem to indicate that they had been used for containing scents, and other requisites of the toilet; in one that was found not long since, there was a preparation evidently (?) of rouge or some such paint for the face, &c., the mark left by the pressure of two fingers of a small hand was distinctly visible (?)."

To me, ignorant as I am of antiquarian matters, this sounds very curious; and I send it you in case you may find it worthy of insertion, as provocative of discussion, and with the utilitarian idea that I may gain some information on the subject.

    C. D. Hamont.

Greenock, Jan. 16. 1851.

Scandal against Queen Elizabeth (Vol. iii., p. 11.).—An intercepted letter, apparently from a popish priest, preserved among the Venetian correspondence in the State Paper Office, gives the following account of the death-bed of the Queen; which, as illustrative of the observations of your correspondent Cudyn Gywn, may not be uninteresting:—

    "London, 9 Martii, 1603.

"About 10 dayes synce dyed the Countess of Notingham. The Queene loved the Countess very much, and hath seemed to take her death very heavelye, remayning euer synce in a deepe melancholye, w

conceipte of her own death, and complayneth of many infirmyties, sodainlye to haue ouertaken her, as impostūmecoñ in her head, aches in her bones, and continuall cold in her legges, besides notable decay in iudgem

and memory, insomuch as she cannot attend to any discourses of governm

and state, but delighteth to heare some of the 100 merry tales, and such like, and to such is uery attentiue; at other tymes uery impatient, and testye, so as none of the Counsayle, but the secretary, dare come in her presence."

May we not class this story of her majesty's predilection for the hundred merry tales among the "black relations of the Jesuits?"

    Spes.