Notes and Queries, Number 39, July 27, 1850

Franz von Sickingen.—Perusing a few of your back numbers, in a reply of S.W.S. to R.G. (Vol. i., p. 336.), I read:

"I had long sought for a representation of Sickingen, and at length found a medal represented in the Sylloge Numismatum Elegantiorum of Luckius," &c.

I now hope that in S.W.S. I have found the man who is to solve an obstinate doubt that has long possessed my mind: Is the figure of the knight in Durer's well-known print of "The Knight, Death, and the Devil," a portrait? If it be a portrait, is it a portrait of Franz von Sickingen, as Kugler supposes? The print is said to bear the date 1513. I have it, but have failed to discover any date at all.

    H.J.H.

Sheffield.

Blackguard.—When did this word Come into use, and from what?

Beaumont and Fletcher, in the Elder Brother, use it thus:—

"It is a Faith
That we will die in, since from the blackguard
To the grim sir in office, there are few
Hold other tenets."

Thomas Hobbes, in his Microcosmus, says,—

"Since my lady's decay I am degraded from a cook and I fear the devil himself will entertain me but for one of his blackguard, and he shall be sure to have his roast burnt."

    JARLTZBERG.

Meaning of "Pension."—The following announcement appeared lately in the London newspapers:—

"GRAY'S INN.—At a Pension of the Hon. Society of Gray's Inn, holden this day, Henry Wm. Vincent, Esq., her Majesty's Remembrancer in the Court of Exchequer, was called to the degree of Barrister at Law."

I have inquired of one of the oldest benchers of Gray's Inn, now resident in the city from which I write, for an explanation of the origin or meaning of the phrase "pension," neither of which was he acquainted with; informing me at the same time that the Query had often been a subject discussed among the learned on the dais, but that no definite solution had been elicited.

Had the celebrated etymologist and antiquary, Mr. Ritson, formerly a member of the Society, been living, he might have solved the difficulty. But I have little doubt that there are many of the erudite, and, I am delighted to find, willing readers of your valuable publication who will be able to furnish a solution.

    J.M.G.

Worcester.

Stars and Stripes of the American Arms.—What is the origin of the American arms, viz. stars and stripes?

    JARLTZBERG.

Passages from Shakspeare.—May I beg for an interpretation of the two following passages from Shakspeare:—

"Isab. Else let my brother die,
If not a feodary, but only he,
Owe, and succeed thy weakness."

    Measure for Measure, Act ii. Sc. 4.
"Imogen. Some jay of Italy,
Whose mother was her painting, hath betrayed him."

    Cymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 4.

    TREBOR.

King's College, London.

Nursery Rhyme.—What is the date of the nursery rhyme:—

"Come when you're called,
Do what you're bid,
Shut the door after you,
Never be chid?"—Ed. 1754.

In Howell's Letters (book i. sect. v. letter 18. p. 211. ed. 1754) I find—

He will come when you call him, go when you bid him, and shut the door after him.

    J.E.B. MAYOR.

"George" worn by Charles I.—I should be glad if any of your correspondents could give me information as to who is the present possessor of the "George" worn by Charles I. It was, I believe, in the possession of the late Marquis Wellesley, but since his death it has been lost sight of. Such a relic must be interesting to either antiquaries or royalists.

    SPERANS.

Family of Manning of Norfolk.—Can any of your readers supply me with an extract from, or the name of a work on heraldry or genealogy, containing an account of the family of Manning of Norfolk. Such a work was seen by a relative of mine about fifty years since. It related that a Count Manning, of Manning in Saxony, having been banished from thence, became king in Friesland, and that his descendants came over to England, and settled in Kent and Norfolk. Pedigrees of the Kentish branch exist: but that of Norfolk was distinct. Guillim refers to some of the name in Friesland.

    T.S. LAWRENCE.

Salingen a Sword Cutler.—A sword in my possession, with inlaid basket guard, perhaps of the early part of the seventeenth century, is inscribed on the blade "Salingen me fecit." If this is the name of a sword cutler, who was he, and when and where did he live?

    T.S. LAWRENCE.

Billingsgate.—May I again solicit a reference to any early drawing of Belins gate? That of 1543 kindly referred by C.S. was already in my possession. I am also obliged to Vox for his Note.

    W.W.

"Speak the Tongue that Shakspeare spoke."—Can you inform me of the author's name who says,—

"They speak the tongue that Shakspeare spoke,
The faith and morals hold that Milton held," &c.?

and was it applied to the early settlers of New England?

    X.

Genealogical Queries.—Can any of your genealogical readers oblige me with replies to the following Queries?

1. To what family do the following arms belong? They are given in Blomfield's Norfolk (ix. 413.) as impaled with the coat of William Donne, Esq., of Letheringsett, Norfolk, on his tomb in the church there. He died in 1684.