Notes and Queries, Number 203, September 17, 1853

Derivation of Celt.—What is the proper derivation of the word celt, as applied to certain weapons of antiquity? A good authority, in Dr. Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 351., obtains the term from—

"Celtes, an old Latin word for a chisel, probably derived from cælo, to engrave."

Mr. Wright (The Celt, Roman, and Saxon, p. 73.) says that Hearne first applied the word to such implements in bronze, believing them to be "Roman celtes or chisels;" and that—

"Subsequent writers, ascribing these instruments to the Britons, have retained the name, forgetting its origin, and have applied it indiscriminately, not only to other implements of bronze, but even to the analogous instruments of stone."

And he objects to the term "as too generally implying that things to which it is applied are Celtic." On the other hand, Dr. Wilson (Prehistoric Annals, p. 129.) prefers to retain the word, inasmuch as the Welsh etymologists, Owen and Spurrell, furnish an ancient Cambro-British word celt, a flint stone. M. Worsaae (Primeval Antiq., p. 26.) confines the term to those instruments of bronze which have a hollow socket to receive a wooden handle; the other forms being called paalstabs on the Continent. It seems clear that there is no connexion between this word and the name of the nation (Celtæ); but its true origin may perhaps be elicited by a little discussion in the pages of "N. & Q."

    C. R. M.

Ancient Superstition against the King of England entering or even beholding the Town of Leicester.—The existence of a superstition to this effect is recorded in Rishanger's Chronicle, and also, as I am informed, in that of Thomas Wikes; but this I have not at present an opportunity of consulting.

Rishanger's words are:

"Rex [Henricus III.] autem, capta Norhamptun., Leycestr. tendens, in ea hospitatus est, quam nullus regni præter eum etiam videre, prohibentibus quibusdam superstitiose, præsumpsit."—P. 26.

It is also mentioned by Matthew of Westminster. (Vide Bohn's edition, vol. ii. p. 412.) The statement, that no king before Henry III. had entered the town, is however incorrect, as William the Conqueror and King John are instances to the contrary.

Can any of your correspondents explain the origin of this superstition, or favour me with any farther notices respecting it?

It is not unworthy of observation that very many of the royal personages who have visited Leicester, have been either unfortunate in their lives, or have met with tragical deaths.

We may, however, hope, for the credit of the town, that their misfortunes may be attributed to other causes, rather than to their presence within its time-hallowed walls.

    Wm. Kelly.

Leicester.

Burton.—Is there any family of this name who can make out a descent from, or connexion with, a Mr. John Burton, alderman of Doncaster, who died 1718?

    C. J.

The Camera Lucida.—I should feel much obliged to any reader of "N. & Q." who would be kind enough to answer the following questions, and refer me to any work treating of the handling and management of the Camera Lucida. I have one made by King of Bristol, and purchased about thirty years ago: it draws out, like a telescope, in three pieces, each six inches long; and at full length will give a picture of the dimensions of twenty inches by twelve. The upper piece is marked from above downwards, thus: at two inches below the lens, "2;" at an inch below that point, "3;" at half an inch lower, "4;" at half an inch lower still, "5;" half an inch below the point "5," a "7" is marked; and half an inch below the "7," there is a "10;" at seven-eighths below this last, "D" is marked. What reference have these nicely graduated points to the distance of an object from the instrument? Do the figures merely determine the size of the picture to be taken? How is one to be guided in their use and application to practice?

    Caret.

Francis Moore.—Francis Moore was born at Bakewell about the year 1592, and was Proctor of Lichfield Cathedral at the time of the Great Rebellion. I am anxious to know who were his parents, and what their place of abode.

    Edward Peacock.

Bottesford Moors, Kirton-in-Lindsey.

Waugh, Bishop of Carlisle.—What were the family arms of Dr. John Waugh, Bishop of Carlisle, who died October 29, 1734? Was he of a Scotch family, and are any of his descendants now living?

    Rufus.

Palace at Enfield.—We read that there was formerly a royal palace at Enfield in Middlesex, ten miles north from London; and one room still remains in its original state. Can you, or any of your subscribers, inform me whereabouts in the town it is situated? Also, the date of erection of the church?

    Hazelwood.

"Solamen miseris," &c.—Please to state in what author is the following line? No one knows.

"Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris."

    A Constant Reader.

Soke Mills.—Correspondents are requested to communicate the names of "Soke" or Manorial Mills, to which the suit is still enforced.

    S. M.

Second Wife of Mallet.—The second wife of Mallet was Lucy Elstob, a Yorkshire lady, daughter of a steward of the Earl of Carlisle. Can any of your readers inform me at what place in Yorkshire her father resided, and where the marriage with Mallet in 1742 took place? She survived her husband, and lived to the age of eighty years. Where did she die, and what family did Mallet leave by his two wives?

    F.

Leamington.

Minor Queries with Answers

Books burned by the Common Hangman.—

"Historia Anglo-Scotica: or an Impartial History of all that happen'd between the kings and kingdoms of England and Scotland from the beginning of the Reign of William the Conqueror to the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, &c., by James Drake, M.D., 8vo., London, 1703."

Of this work it is said, in a note in the Catalogue of Geo. Chalmers' library (fourth day's sale, Sept. 30, 1841), that—

"On June 30, 1703, the Scotch parliament ordered this book to be burned by the hands of the common hangman, and that the magistrates of Edinburgh should see it carried into effect at eleven o'clock on the following day."

Will any correspondent of yours furnish me with some notice of Dr. Drake, the author, and also explain the ground of offence upon which his book was condemned? I confess to be unable to discover anything to offend; neither, as it seems, could Mr. Surtees, for he says:

"I quote Drake's Historia Anglo-Scotica, 1703, a book which, for what reason I never could discover, was ordered to be burned by the common hangman."—History of Durham, vol. iv. p. 55. note l.

Any notices of books which have been signalised by being subjected to similar condemnation, would much interest me, and perhaps others of your readers.

    Balliolensis.

[The ground of offence for burning the Historia Anglo-Scotica is stated in The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vol. xi. p. 66., viz.: "Ordered, that a book published by the title of Historia Anglo-Scotica, by James Drake, M.D., and dedicated to Sir Edward Symour containing many false and injurious reflections upon the sovereignty and independence of this crown and nation, be burnt by the hand of the common hangman at the mercat Cross of Edinburgh, at eleven o'clock to-morrow (July 1, 1703), and the magistrates of Edinburgh appointed to see the order punctually executed." It would appear from the dedication prefixed to this work, that Drake merely pretended to edit it, for he says, that "upon a diligent revisal, in order, if possible, to discover the name of the author, and the age of his writing, he found that it was written in, or at least not finished till, the time of Charles I." But he says nothing more of the MS., nor how it came into his hands. A notice of Dr. Drake is given in Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, and in the preface to The Memorial of the Church of England, edit. 1711, which was also burnt by the common hangman in 1705. See "N. & Q.," Vol. iii., p. 519.]

Captain George Cusack.—It appears by an affidavit made by a Mr. Thomas Nugent in the year 1674, and now of record in the Exchequer Record Office, Dublin, that—

"He, being on or about the 20th of September preceding in London, was by one Mr. Patrick Dowdall desired to goe along with him to see one George Cusack, then in prison there for severall hainous offences alleadged to have beene by him committed, which he could not do by reason of other occasions; but having within two or three days afterwards mett with Mr. Dowdall, was told by him that he had since their last meeting seene the said Cusack in prison (being the Marshalsea in Southwark) with bolts on, and that none of Cusack's men who were alsoe in prison were bolted:"

that on the 11th of November Cusack was still in restraint, and not as yet come to his trial:

"That there were bookes written of the said Cusack's offences, which he heard cryed about in the streets of London to be sold, and that y

generall opinion and talke was that the said Cusack should suffer death for his crimes."

By a fragment of an affidavit made by a Mr. Morgan O'Bryen, of the Middle Temple, London, it appears that this man was a Captain George Cusack, who, I presume, was a pirate. May I take leave to ask, are the above-mentioned books in existence, and where are they to be found?