Notes and Queries, Number 12, January 19, 1850

Can any of your correspondents inform me when this most interesting relic disappeared? Sandford, whose Genealogical History was published some sixty or seventy years later, says, "On an iron barr over the Tombe are placed the Healme and Crest, Coat of Maile, and Gantlets, and, on a pillar near thereunto, his shield of Armes, richly diapred with gold, all which he is said to have used in Battel;" but he neither mentions the missing "Pavoise," engraved in Bolton, or the scabbard of the sword which yet remains, the sword itself having been taken away, according to report, by Oliver Cromwell. Did that unscrupulous Protector(?) take away the "Pavoise" at the same time, or order his Ironsides to "remove that bauble?"—and how came he to spare the helmet, jupon, gauntlets, shield, and scabbard? I have strong doubts of his being the purloiner of the sword. The late Mr. Stothard, who mentions the report, does not quote his authority. I will add another query, on a similar subject:—When did the real sword of Charles the First's time, which, but a few years back, hung at the side of that monarch's equestrian figure at Charing Cross, disappear?—and what has become of it? The question was put, at my suggestion, to the official authorities, by the secretary of the British Archæological Association; but no information could be obtained on the subject. That the sword was a real one of that period, I state upon the authority of my lamented friend, the late Sir Samuel Meyrick, who had ascertained the fact, and pointed out to me its loss.

    J.R. PLANCHÉ.

FRATERNITYE OF VAGABONDES—REV. MR. GENESSE—RED MAIDS

[We have for some time past been obliged, by want of space, to omit all the kind expressions towards ourselves, in which friendly correspondents are apt to indulge; but there is something so unusual in the way in which the following letter begins, that we have done violence to our modesty, in order to admit the comments of our kind-hearted correspondent. We have no doubt that all his questions will be answered in due course.]

Never, during my life (more than half a century), do I remember hailing the appearance of any new publication with such unfeigned delight. I had hugged myself on having the friendship of a certain "BOOKWORM," possessing a curious library, of some three or four thousand volumes; how much must I have rejoiced, therefore, at finding that, through the medium of your invaluable journal, my literary friends were likely to be increased one hundred-fold; and that, for the small sum of three pence weekly, I could command the cordial co-operation, when at a loss, of all the first scholars, antiquaries, and literary men of the country; that without the trouble of attending meetings, &c., I could freely become a member of the "Society of Societies;" that the four thousand volumes, to which I had, previously, access, were increased more than ten thousand-fold. It is one of the peculiar advantages of literary accumulation, that it is only by diffusing the knowledge of the materials amassed, and the information gained, that their value is felt. Unlike the miser, the scholar and antiquary, by expending, add to the value of their riches.

Permit me to avail myself of the "good the bounteous gods have sent me," and make one or two inquiries through the medium of your columns. In the first place, can any of your readers inform me by whom a pamphlet, of the Elizabethan period, noticed in the Censura Literaria, and entitled The Fraternitye of Vagabondes, was reprinted, some years since?—Was it by Machelle Stace, of Scotland Yard, who died a brother of the Charter-House?

In the second place, can any of your clerical readers tell me where I can find any account of the late Rev. Mr. Genesse, of Bath, author of a History of the Stage, in ten volumes, one of the most elaborate and entertaining works ever published, which must have been a labour of love, and the labour of a life?

And, in the third and last place, I find, in the Bristol Gazette of the early part of last month, the following paragraph:—"THE RED MAIDS, 120 in number, enjoyed their annual dinner in honour of the birthday of their great benefactor, Alderman Whitson. The dinner consisted of joints of veal (which they only have on this occasion), and some dozens of plum puddings. The mayor and Mayoress attended, and were much pleased to witness the happy faces of the girls, to whom the Mayoress distributed one shilling each."

Can any of your curious contributors give me any account of these Red Maids?—why they are so called, &c., &c.?—and, in fact, of the charity in general?

It will not be one of the least of many benefits of your publication, that, in noticing from time to time the real intention of many ancient charitable bequests, the purposes of the original benevolent founder may be restored to their integrity, and the charity devoted to the use of those for whom it was intended, and who will receive it as a charity, and not, as is too often the case, be swallowed up as a mere place,—or worse, a sinecure.

    ARTHUR GRIFFINHOOF, JUN.

THE NAME OF SHYLOCK

Dr. Farmer has stated that Shakspere took the name which he has given to one of the leading characters in the Merchant of Venice from a pamphlet entitled Caleb Shilloche, or the Jew's Prediction. The date of the pamphlet, however, being some years posterior to that of the play, renders this origin impossible. Mr. C. Knight, who points out this error, adds—"Scialac was the name of a Marionite of Mount Libanus."

But "query," Was not Shylock a proper name among the Jews, derived from the designation employed by the patriarch Jacob in predicting the advent of the Messiah—"until Shiloh come"? (Gen. xlix. 10.) The objection, which might be urged, that so sacred a name would not have been applied by an ancient Jew to his child, has not much weight, when we recollect that some Christians have not shrunk from the blasphemous imposition of the name Emanuel ("God with us") upon their offspring. St. Jerome manifestly reads SHILOACH, for he translates it by Qui mittendus est. (Lond. Encyc. in voc. "Shiloh.") Now the difference between Shiloach and Shylock is very trivial indeed. I shall be very glad to have the opinion of some of your numerous and able contributors on this point.

But, after all, Shylock may have been a family name familiar to the great dramatist. In all my researches on the subject of English surnames, however, I have but once met with it as a generic distinction. In the Battel Abbey Deeds (penes Sir T. Phillipps, Bart.) occurs a power of attorney from John Pesemershe, Esq., to Richard Shylok, of Hoo, co. Sussex, and others, to deliver seizin of all his lands in Sussex to certain persons therein named. The date of this document is July 4, 1435.

    MARK ANTONY LOWER.

TRANSPOSITION OF LETTERS

I should be obliged if any of your readers would give me the reason for the transposition of certain letters, chiefly, but not exclusively, in proper names, which has been effected in the course of time.

The name of our Queen Bertha was, in the seventh century, written Beorhte.

The Duke Brythnoth's name was frequently written Byrthnoth, in the tenth century.

In Eardweard, we have dropped the a; in Ealdredesgate, the e. In Aedwini, we have dropped the first letter (or have sometimes transposed it), although, I think, we are wrong; for the given name Adwin has existed in my own family for several centuries.

John was always written Jhon till about the end of the sixteenth century; and in Chaucer's time, the word third, as every body knows, was written thridde, or thrydde. I believe that the h in Jhon was introduced, as it was in other words in German, to give force to the following vowel. Certain letters were formerly used in old French in like manner, which were dropped upon the introduction of the accents.

    B. WILLIAMS.

Hillingdon, Jan. 5.

PICTURES OF QUEEN ELIZABETH AND CHARLES I. IN CHURCHES

Your correspondent "R.O." will find two pictures of Charles I. of the same allegorical character as that described by him in his note (antè, p. 137.), one on the wall of the stairs leading to the north gallery of the church of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, and the other in the hall of the law courts in Guildhall Yard. I know nothing of the history of the first-mentioned picture; the latter, until within a few years, hung on the wall, above the gallery, in the church of St. Olave, Jewry, when, upon the church undergoing repair, it was taken down, and, by the parishioners, presented to the corporation of London, who placed it in its present position. In the church of St. Olave there were two other pictures hung in the gallery, one representing the tomb of Queen Elizabeth, copied from the original at Westminster, the other of Time on the Wing, inscribed with various texts from Scripture. Both these pictures were presented at the same time with the picture of Charles I. to the corporation, and are now in the hall in Guildhall Yard. The representation of Queen Elizabeth's tomb is to be met with, I believe, in some other of the London churches. The picture in Bishopsgate Church is fully described in the 1st vol. of Malcolm's Londinium Redivivum, p. 243., and the St. Olave's pictures are mentioned in the 4th vol. of the same work, p. 563. Malcolm states he was not able to find any account of the Bishopsgate painting in the parish books. Hitherto I have not been able to discover anything connected with the history of the St. Olave's pictures, which, as the old church was destroyed in the great fire of 1666, were doubtless placed there subsequently to that year. I shall be glad if any of your readers can throw any light as to the time when, and the circumstances under which, such pictures as I have mentioned, referring to Queen Elizabeth and Charles I., were placed in our churches.

    JAMES CROSBY.

FLAYING IN PUNISHMENT OF SACRILEGE

In the Journal of the Archæological Institute, for September, 1848, there are some most interesting notes on the subject of "Flaying in Punishment of Sacrilege," by Mr. Way. Since then I have felt peculiar interest in the facts and traditions recorded by Mr. Way. Can any of your correspondents, or Mr. Way himself, give any further references to authors by whom the subject is mentioned, besides those named in the paper to which I allude? A few weeks ago I received a piece of skin, stated to be human, and taken from the door of the parish church of Hadstock, in Essex. Together with this I received a short written paper, apparently written some fifty years ago, which ascribes the fact of human skin being found on the door of that church, to the punishment, not of sacrilege, but of a somewhat different crime. The piece of skin has been pronounced to be human by the highest authority. As the above query might lead to some lengthy "notes," I desire only to be informed of the titles of any works, ancient or modern, in which distinct mention, or allusion, is made of the punishment of flaying.

    R.V.

Winchester.

MINOR QUERIES

Pokership or Parkership.—In Collins' Peerage, vol. iv. p. 242., 5th edition, 1779, we are told that Sir Robert Harley, of Wigmore Castle, in 1604, was made Forester of Boringwood, alias Bringwood Forest, in com. Hereford, with the office of the 'Pokership,' and custody of the forest or chase of Prestwood for life. The same word occurs in the edition (the 3rd) of 1741, and in that edited by Sir Egerton Brydges in 1812 (vol. iv. p. 57.).

If Pokership be not a misprint or misreading of the original authority, viz. Pat. 2. Jac. I. p. 21., for Parkership, can any of your readers tell me the meaning of "the Pokership," which is not to be found in any book of reference within my reach? I like the "NOTES AND QUERIES" very much.

Audley End, Jan. 9. 1850.

    BRAYBROOKE.

Boduc or Boduoc on British Coins.—I observe there is a prevailing opinion that the inscription on the British coin, "Boduc or Boduoc," must be intended for the name of our magnanimous Queen Boadicea. I am sorry to cast a cloud over so pleasant a vision, but your little book of QUERIES tempts me to throw in a doubt.

Although the name Budic is not met with in the pedigrees of England, commonly given by Welsh heralds, yet it is often found among the families of the Welsh in Brittany, and as they are reported to be early descendants of the Welsh of England, there can be little doubt that the name was once common in England. I beg leave, therefore, to query, Whether the inscription is not intended for a Regulus of Britain of that name?

    P.

The Origin of the word Snob.—Can any of your valuable correspondents give me the origin or derivation of the word Snob?

When, and under what peculiar circumstances, was it first introduced into our language?

In the town in which I reside, in the north of England, the word Snob was formerly applied to a cobbler, and the phrase was in use, "Snip the tailor, and Snob the cobbler."

I cannot discover how and why the word Snob was enlarged into its present comprehensive meaning.

Explanations of many of the slang phrases met with in the dramatic works of the last century, such as, "Thank you, sir, I owe you one," "A Rowland for an Oliver," "Keep moving, dad," &c. &c. would perhaps give much light upon the manners of the times, and an interesting history might be compiled of the progress of slang phrases to the present day.

    ALPHA.

Mertens, Martins, or Martini, the Printer.—Can any of your correspondents inform me what was really the surname of Theodoric Mertens, Martins, or Martini, the printer of Louvain, and who was a friend of Erasmus? In a small volume of his, now before me, printed in 1517, the colophon gives: "Lovanii apud Theodoricum Martinum anno MDXVII mense April;" while, on the reverse of the same leaf, is a wooden block, of his device, occupying the whole page, and beneath it are inscribed the words "Theodoricus Martini." This appears to put Mertens out of the question.

    W.

Queen's Messengers.—I should esteem it a favour conferred if any of your readers could give me any memoranda touching the early origin of the corps now termed Queen's Messengers, the former "Knightes caligate of Armes." The only mention that I have read of their origin is a brief notice in Knight's London, No. 131. p. 91; but doubtless there exists, did I know what works to consult, many more voluminous a history of their origin and proceedings than the short summary given in the work of Mr. Knight. In whose reign were they first created? and by whom were they appointed? In fact, any data relating to their early history would very much oblige,

    J.U.G.G.

Bishop Lesly of Ross' Epitaph.– Machoreus or Macorovius, "De Prælio Aveniniano."—Would any of your readers be so kind as to favour me with a copy of the Latin epitaph of Bishop Lesly, of Ross, inscribed on his tomb in the abbey church of Gurtenburg, near Brussels?