he was buried in his city of Gand, "the city of a CURIOUS ARMS (6th S. iii. 508).—The arms in 50, Woburn Place, Russell Square. DID NELL GWYNNE EVER LIVE AT 6, PALL MALL PLACE? (6th S. iv. 88, 152).-I am unaware of any authority for supposing that Nell Gwynne ever lived in Pall Mall Place; thus I fear the Century Club cannot claim the distinction of their premises having been occupied by "pretty witty Nell." In 1670 she lived at the east end of Pall Mall on the north side, and from 1671 to 1687, the year of her death, her house was on the south side, with a garden leading down to St. James's Park. The king granted her a long lease of it, but when she discovered it was only a lease under the crown, she returned it, saying she had always "conveyed free" under the crown and always would. The king then had it conveyed free to her by Act of Parliament. At her death it was sold. The present site is occupied by No. 79. Dr. Heberden resided there, having first rebuilt the house. F. G. HILTON PRICE. BRITISH SYSTEM OF THERMOMETERS: THERMOMETER SCALES (6th S. iii. 507).—My countryman justly complains of the inconvenience of the scale of Fahrenheit. Besides the trouble which Scorus refers to, of having to speak of "so many degrees of frost," it is a great defect having to speak of so many degrees below zero. Thirtyseven years ago, in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal for January and for October, 1844, I inserted the following suggestions for a new scale. In forming his scale Fahrenheit took as its commencement thirty-two degrees below the freezing of water, and then, finding that there were greater degrees of cold, he made a series of descending degrees below zero. In temperate countries, such as Britain, little inconvenience is caused by this defect in the scale, as the temperature is seldom below zero; but in other lands, as Canada, Russia, &c., the thermometer is often below it, and this imperfection in the graduating of the instrument produces very great inconvenience and often errors in the accounts of the temperature. In copying these accounts and in having them printed, if the sign minus be omitted great mistakes are the result, and in taking the mean of two degrees, one above and the other below zero, more trouble is given than would be required if a slight improvement were made in the scale. of water is divided by Celsius into one hundred, The space between the freezing and the boiling and by Réaumur into eighty, degrees, but these two plans are open to the same objection as that of Fahrenheit that two systems of numeration are required, one above and the other below that imaginary point called zero. For the proposed scale it is suggested to take as its commencement the freezing of and to divide the interval into 252 degrees. Mermercury, and as its other limit the boiling of water cury freezes at forty degrees minus of Fahrenheit, and the new scale might begin at zero equal to minus 40 F.; its 40° would be zero F.; its freezing point of water 72°, equal to 32° F.; and its boiling point of water 252°, equal to 212 F. This graduation provides for a sufficient range of temperature without having to go below zero, and would answer for most parts of British North America and similar climates. Almost the only places where a British observer has to note a degree of cold greater than this are the northern parts of the Hudson's Bay Territory and during polar expeditions, for which there might be constructed spirit-thermometers graduated below zero of the new scale. Speaking of the Canadian winter, the superiority of the proposed scale over that of Fahrenheit would be that zero is not so much in the way, and it would not be necessary to be continually saying and writing "above" and "below zero." Rules for converting one scale to the other :A. To turn Fahrenheit's into the proposed scale : 1. To any degree above zero F., add 40. 2. For any degree below zero F., subtract the degree of F. from 40. B. To change the proposed scale to Fahrenheit's: 1. From any degree above 40 subtract 40. 2. For any degree below 40 subtract the degree from 40. If the proposed scale were adopted it would be well for it to be introduced by the old one, both scales being engraved, one on each side of the tube. THOMAS STRATTON, M.D. believe it will be found somewhat a novelty by the readers of " N. & Q." to have laid before them a concidence without theory founded thereon : "It is almost impossible to believe that the name affixed to a sort [of food] much eaten here was originally derived from the Greek, yet the appellative by which that dish is distinguished in Scotch agrees almost exactly, both in letters and in sound, with the generic term Bowoc, which signified meat at Sparta; an amusing coincidence." ALEX. FERGUSSON, Lieut.-Col. -P. 40. Lennox Street, Edinburgh. "TENNIS" (6th S. iii. 495; iv. 90).-It is not as interesting" to me as PROF. SKEAT supposes, "to learn that the etymology of tennis from the HAUNTED HOUSES (6th S. iii. 490). Will plural of ten is wholly impossible," because I never ECLECTIC, if he gets the list he asks for, or any gave that etymology as one which satisfied me, but one else, help me to fix the locus of a ghost story? only as arising naturally from the derivation of The house of which the story is told stands on the fives suggested by Strutt, whatever that may be south side of the main street in some southern or worth. It would interest me much more to hear western county. It is an old-fashioned, red-brick of a really satisfactory etymology than to see edifice, standing close to the street and having a former guesses destroyed. In this direction, how-line of posts in front. It is entered by a door in ever, we are not much helped by the suggestion of the middle, opening to a passage, on each side of dance (tanz), or tania. Teniludium was not used, which is a small room having a window to the I think, till tennis had been used for some time. street. This passage ends in a large square hall, I hope a good English origin for the word, which open to the top of the house, and having a gallery has never been used out of England, may be found with carved oak balustrades running round it, and for us by PROF. SKEAT, or by some one else. on which are the doors of the principal chambers. The gallery is approached by a wide staircase on the left. This gallery and a small room at the south-east corner, entered by a descent of two or three steps from the gallery, are the parts of the house principally affected by the revenant, who is said to be a gentleman in the costume of about the time of the Commonwealth. If I can hear of a house answering this description to which such a story attaches I shall be ready to investigate the matter and to communicate to you the result of the investigation with the very singular circumstances which have led me to make this inquiry. JULIAN MARSHALL. It would be a satisfaction to know who is the high authority referred to by MR. HALL (ante, p. 90). There can be little doubt that the word is derived from TELvw, the root being Sansc. tan or ten (extendere), L. tenere, to hold, F. tenez, hold, take it, from tenir. Tennis is the old French game of le jeu de paume, and on striking the ball with the flat of the hand the player cried out tenez, as we in several games call out play. "Tenir à la paume. Tenez le jeu. Etre du côté de la grille pour recevoir et jouer le GEORGE WHITE. service." Ashley House, Epsom. "BROSE" (6th S. iii. 512).—MR. WEDGWOOD asks whether the Scotch brose is used as a plural. I believe it never is; indeed, according to my experience, in the South of Scotland the phrase invariably used is "a brose." In connexion with the question of the etymology of this word I would, with your permission, add a short paragraph from a work not the most likely, it might be thought, to deal with such a subject, namely, The Nature and Descent of Ancient Peerages in Scotland, by Geo. Wallace, Esq., Advocate, 1785. I am the more inclined to quote the passage as I A. F. B. NUMISMATIC (6th S. iii. 507).—The coin reading "Regna" for Regina is simply an error piece." The engraver of the die inadvertently left out the i, and the mistake also evidently escaped the notice of the other Mint officials; hence a few pieces found their way into general circulation. Blundered coins of this kind are not uncommon, up to quite a recent date. There is a halfpenny of George II. reading "Georius" for Georgius. There is no special value or interest attaching to these blundered pieces; and, as they are merely accidental anomalies, they are not usually described in works on the regular coinage. HENRY WM. HENFREY. "To SHAKE A LEG" (6th S. iii. 490).—Whilst crossing the Atlantic in the Allan steamer Parisian, recently, I used to listen with much interest to the songs of the sailors when hoisting the sails. A big black, named Brown, used to lead the singing; and one of his songs, as nearly as I recollect it, was very much the same as that quoted by M. E. Some other songs were very quaint; one ended with the more generally called cowslips by an inhabitant of A PARLIAMENTARY RETURN OF REGISTERED MEETING-HOUSES (6th S. iii. 328). From the General Index of Parliamentary Papers, 1801-32, I conclude that MR. TUCK refers to a paper entitled :: "Abstract of the total Number of Parishes in each Diocese in England and Wales, containing a population of 1,000 Persons and upwards; the Number of Churches and Chapels therein;-the Number of Persons they will contain;-and the Number of Dissenting Places of Worship therein." This paper is contained in Parliamentary Papers, 1812, vol. x., and is in the library of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. G. F. R. B. "TO MAKE A LEG" (6th S. iii. 149, 337, 375).Not needing to do more than refer to the unexpected confirmation of my argument as given by MR. COOKE, I would give three examples, which, without search for them, I have since come across. Great ones of Venice "off-capp'd," but did not necessarily bow to Othello, but Iago, speaking of the courtesy of inferiors, speaks (I. i. 45) of "Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave"; and Cassio, on the landing of Desdemona and on her appearance, exclaims, "Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees." These, with other passages in Shakespeare, show, I think, that the "knee-crooking" was, at least, the principal part of the deferential salute. The same is shown by this from Reg. Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, Bk. 1, chap. v., "So also he [is an idolater] that alloweth and commendeth creeping to the crosse, and such like idolatrous actions, although he bend not his corporall knees." Kent (Mereworth). I have since ascertained that the distinction in that county between the terms ladykeys and cowslips is that the flowers in the fields commonly known as cowslips are called ladykeys, but when ladykeys have become coloured or variegated (supposed to be the result of transportation into a flower-garden and the due application of manure appropriate to their furture designation) they go by the name of cowslips. This word seems to be a localism peculiar to the county of Kent. MERYON WHITE, M.A. Oxford and Cambridge Club. CUTTS FAMILY (6th S. ii. 488; iii. 94, 178; iv. 157).-John Cutte, Mayor of Bristol in 1566, was lord of the manor of Burnet in Somerset, by purchase probably. He died May 21, 1575, and was buried in the church there. The inscription on his brass tablet (Collinson's Hist. of Somerset, ii. 414) records that by Joan his wife he had eight sons and four daughters, whose names are given. William of Burnet was the eldest; and another, Nicholas Cutte, of St. Nicholas Street, Bristol, wine cooper, left by Bridget his wife a daughter and heir, Bridget, who married at St. Nicholas' Church, April 2, 1585, John Whitson, the munificent benefactor, "just magistrate, and fearless man," of whom Bristol may still be proud, as Mr. Nicholls writes in Bristol Past and Present (i. 271). They had an only child, also named Bridget, wife of Sir George Trenchard, but she died without issue. A. S. ELLIS. 66 WHEN WERE TROUSERS FIRST WORN IN ENGLAND? (5th S. xii. 365, 405, 434, 446, 514; 6th S. i. 26, 45, 446, 505, 525; ii. 19, 58, 94; iv. 37).— My father went up to Cambridge in 1794. In his undergraduate days a strong attempt was made to put down pantaloons" by the vicechancellor, Lowther Yates, Master of as it was then called-Catherine Hall. When he appeared in public he used to be saluted by the undergraduates-from some safe place, we will supposewith the following couplet : "'Od zoons, 'od zoons, Lowther Yates and pantaloons." ARCHDEACON. SIR JAMES LUTTRELL, OR LOTEREL (6th S. iv. 8, 137).—Sir James Luttrell, Kt., Lord of Dunster, was only son of Sir John Luttrell, K.B., by his second wife Margaret, daughter of John, Lord Audley. On the death of his father in 1431 (Inq. P. m. 9 H. VI. No. 51), James Luttrell was in ward to Sir Philip Courtenay. He married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir William Courtenay (not noticed by Dugdale), elder brother of Sir Edward Courtenay, of Haccombe, who was created Earl of Devon 1 H. VII. (Savage's History of Carhampton). James Luttrell was a faithful adherent to the house of Lancaster, and after the battle of Wakefield was knighted on the field, but soon after, in the second battle of St. Albans, Feb. 17, 1460-1, he was mortally wounded, and died next day. In the 1 E. IV. he, with many others, was attainted in Parliament, and his whole estate in the counties of Somerset, Devon, Dorset, and Suffolk declared to be forfeited to the Crown, and accordingly his lands were seized into the king's hand. All these possessions were granted to Sir William Herbert, who was soon after created Earl of Pembroke (Pat. Rolls, 4 E. IV. p. 2, m. 20). An inquisition was taken, 1 E. IV., relating to the property of Sir James Luttrell, when it was found that he was possessed at his death of the castle and borough of Dunster, and several other manors, advowsons, and lands in the counties of Devon, Somerset, and Dorset (Inq. p. m. 1 E. IV. No. 43). He had issue two sons and several daughters, who were all under age at the time of his death. Alexander, the eldest son, died soon after his father. Hugh, the only surviving son, upon petition to Parliament in 1 H. VII. obtained a reversal of the attainder passed on his father, and a restoration of all the lands of his inheritance. Elizabeth, the widow of Sir James Luttrell, survived her husband many years, and died Sept. 1, 1493, and was buried in Dunster Church, where, on a flat stone in the pavement, is still to be seen her Latin monumental inscription cut in old English letters. B. W. GREENFIELD. Southampton. JOHN THORPE, ARCHITECT (6th S. iv. 128, 171). -When Lord Beaconsfield spoke of John of Padua as 66 a mysterious personage," he probably, like D. G. C. E., was not aware that, both under his artistic title of "John of Padua" and his proper name of John Thorpe, there is really about as much known of him as might be reasonably expected. Walpole has a good deal to say of him in his Anecdotes, and Thorpe's most interesting volume of plans, elevations, and perspectives, of his numerous and remarkable works, formerly in the possession of Hawkesmore and now in the Soane Museum, shows how considerably he was employed as an architect during the greater part of the sixteenth century. In fact, making due allowance for certain crudities and vagaries inherent in the new birth of a style, a man who could design such buildings as Burghley, Holdenby, Audley End, Longleat, Longford Castle, and Kirkby would have taken a high position in any age or country. Perhaps not more than the hem of his mantle has fallen upon his professional brethren of the nineteenth century, and it is desirable that there should be no question as to his identity. In accordance with the custom, so very usual with artists of his time, John Thorpe was better known as "John of Padua," no doubt in allusion to the city in which he more particularly studied his art. It is stated that the Paduan influence may be traced in many of his English houses. His last and greatest monument is Longleat. There is said to be a picture in that noble house representing his death, in 1607, on one of the terraces. Perhaps some correspondent of " N. & Q.” will confirm or refute this statement. ALBERT HARTSHORNE. 152).—I thank MR. MARSHALL for his answer. THE PARISH OF IFIELD, SUSSEX (6th S. iv. 48, Vagueness must needs characterize the query of one who seeks for information on an obscure subject. MR. MARSHALL confounds Ifield, near Crawley, with Isfield, near Lewes; yet it appears that there at both places, and Lord Holles is frequently was a Sir John Shureley (or Shirely) [Shirley] described as "Baron of Isfield." speaks of this confusion as causing much difficulty Cartwright in historical research. AUBREY BLAKER. St. Mary Magdalene's Parsonage, Crawley, Sussex. SERVANTS OF GOOD FAMILY RELATED TO THEIR EMPLOYERS (6th S. iv. 111, 153).-The following are from the registers of the parish of Wedmore, co. Somerset : "Nov. 5, 1569.-Sepultus fuit Joannes Pitte famulus et nepos Gualteri Pitte." "April 11, 1577.-Sepulta fuit Anna Browninge cognata et famula Richardi Browninge." S. H. A. H. THE ABBEY OF PETERBOROUGH AND THE PRIORY OF SPALDING (6th S. iii. 469; iv. 93).— Has HAUTBARGE read Mr. J. C. Cox's admirable little manual, How to Write the History of a Parish (London, Bemrose & Sons, 1879), a multum in parvo that ought to be in the hands of every topographer and genealogist? At p. 100, under the heading "Religious Houses," he gives a list of authorities and sources of information too lengthy for insertion in "N. & Q." I may mention that a further list of monastic chartularies than that in Sims's Manual will be found in Nichols's Collectanea, vols. i. ii., in the British Museum, press-mark 2062 C. I believe a second and improved edition of Mr. Cox's Manual is soon to appear. R. H. C. F. DOTTEREL: DOTEREL (6th S. iv. 49, 93).-Doterel is, no doubt, correct etymologically. Skelton, in his Phyllyp Sparowe, 1. 408, first applies it to the bird, speaking of "The shouelar with his brode bek, The doterell that folyshe pek." The word was very commonly applied to a silly fellow, a dolt, and the earliest instance of this use, in Baldwin's Treatise of Moral Philosophie, 1547, fo. 39a, is spelt dotrel. With regard to fagot, which MR. BLENKINSOPP thinks a new form, it will INDIGENOUS TREES OF BRITAIN (6th S. iii. 468; iv. 91).—Higden, the monk of Chester, who wrote circa A.D. 1350, says, speaking of Salopia, "Britannice vero vocatur Fenquern quod sonat caput abietis." Now it has always been thought that Penquern meant the head of the alder trees, quern being alder. If this be so, abies must be alder too, and not the Scotch fir, or the silver fir, or the spruce. BOILEAU. SPANISH PROVERBS: "GARIBAY" (6th S. ii. 513; iii. 55, 76; iv. 98). An extract from Jortin's Life of Erasmus will, I think, assist MR. MOUNSEY'S query :— "This author undertakes to show, against Marsollier, that the Protestants never claimed Erasmus; and indeed the Protestants have generally accounted him a man who saw the truths which he had not the courage to maintain, and who, endeavouring to steer* between the violent and contending parties, was thoroughly liked by neither." EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A. "DRAY" SQUIRREL'S NEST (6th S. iii. 449; iv. 78, 116).—This term, once used to mean a nest, has now, in some parts of England, come to be applied to its contents; i. e., just as we say a "nide of pheasants," so we speak of a "dray of squirrels." JOHN PICKFORD, M.Ă. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge. OLD HOUSES WITH SECRET CHAMBERS (5th S. xii. 248, 312; 6th S. ii. 12, 117, 295, 433, 523; iii. 96; iv. 116).-I have heard that there still exist rooms entered by sliding panels at Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire, and Bollington Hall, Cheshire. Is there any authenticity in this rumour? Allow me to express my thanks for the numerous answers on this subject. ALLAN FEA. Highgate. "THE ASS LADEN WITH BOOKS "" (6th S. iii. 109, 330).-The following paragraph occurred in the Rock of August 12th last : "Useless Learning.-He who learns and makes no use of his learning is a beast of burden with a load of books. Comprehendeth the ass whether he carries on his back a library or a bundle of fagots ?-Saadi." If this saying is properly attributed to the Per "In the Pasquilli this motto is given to Erasmus from Virgil: 'Terras inter cœlumque volabat.' sian poet, the analogy with that of Aristophanes in the Frogs is striking. JAMES HOOPER. "A FEW BROTH" (6th S. iii. 286, 454, 497, 511; iv. 33).-Forby, in his Vocabulary of East Anglia, gives "a few broth" and "a few gruel" as common The former is still common, the expressions. latter has perhaps gone out with the more restricted use of gruel. Forby quotes from a sermon preached at Paul's Cross, in 1550, the following : "At ten of the Clocke they [the scholars at Cambridge] go to dynner, whereat they be content with a peny pyece of byefe amongst iiii, having a few potage made of the brothe of the same byefe, with salt and otemele and nothing els." E. M. D. ANCIENT INN SIGNS: INVITATIONS TO DRINK (6th S. iii. 166, 233, 315, 378).-One of the most curious inn signs I know of is, or at least was some forty years ago, one on a house in the churchyard of Leigh, in Lancashire. It opened out into the churchyard, opposite the north door of the church, and was kept by Sam. Whittle, who was also parish clerk. Its sign was "The House of Correction." During some riots a company of troops was quartered in Leigh. The officer in command was told that his billet was "The House of Correction." I remember the dismay pictured on the face of his wife at being ordered to go to "The House of Correction." Perhaps MR. PINK can tell us the origin of this most incongruous sign. E. LEATON BLENKINSOPP. AN AUGUSTAN EPIGRAM (6th S. i. 473).-May I venture to suggest the following as a tolerably literal translation of this somewhat curious discovery?— "O come, ye guests, cast crabbed cares away, Nor let dull hearts becloud this cheerful day! Still'd be the murmurs of each anxious breast, Unfettered so in friendship's arms to rest; We may not always sport: time flies! be glad! A day thus snatch'd from fate is seldom had." C. W. BINGHAM. MRS. PHILADELPHIA SAUNDERS (6th S. iv. 167, 196).-In my copy of the sale catalogues of the Strawberry Hill collection there is no mention of the pictures being "reduced copies from Sir Peter Lely," but the last lot is thus described :-"122. A portrait of Mary, Princess of Orange, daughter of King Charles I., a beautiful little picture by Sir Peter Lely." Unless the sale numbers remain on the backs of the two portraits in the possession of C. L., it will be seen that the catalogue affords no means of identifying the two ladies represented by the pictures. WILLIAM KELLY, F.S.A. Leicester. |