in the lake. All, young men included, were so frightened at this freak of the water fairies, that they ran away, leaving their lines in the water, and did not dare to return for the day. Another story which he evidently connected with the supernatural, though he did not say so in so many words, was that of a young man who found a silver sword on the island I have spoken of. When wading back, he found the ground so soft, that to lighten himself he pitched the sword from him forward on to the shore, where it split up into fragments too small to be picked up. A third story was told of an island in a neighbouring lake, which was covered with trees well suited for

hoe and spade handles and the like; yet, though it was easy to wade to the island, no one would cut one and incur the certainty of being drowned in returning, even in two feet of water! He added that when boughs were broken off and drifted to shore, no one would use them even for fire-wood, for fear of ill-luck.

My informant also showed me a field, now farmed by him, in which his predecessor kept a mare which he never took to the town or market. She, however, became in foal by the agency of the water fairies or otters, as some said. I think this latter was added on account of some supposed scepticism on my part, but the choice of agencies struck me as curious. The end of mare and foal was, however, tragic, both being drowned at different times (by fairy agency, as was hinted) in the lake, the former in the very shallowest part of it, in only two feet of water.

A lad who was about with us a good deal gave me what was to me a new version of St. Patrick's work in Ireland; viz., after telling me a number of stories of good people, suggesting a doubt as to their existence, and asking if I believed in them, as he had been told that St. Patrick had driven them all out of the island! A. M. B. A.

DR. JOHNSON (4th S. vi. 458.)-Replying to my own query as to the authorship of a Life of Dr. Johnson, published by C. Kearsley, 1785, I have since found, I think, sufficient evidence to show that it was written by Thomas Tyers. Boswell refers, somewhat contemptuously, to a sketch of the Doctor's life by Tyers ("Tom Tyers," as he is called by Johnson), as 66 an entertaining little collection of fragments" (ed. 1823, iii. 310); and "sketch" is the word used by the author in his preface to the volume printed by Kearsley. Besides this, reference is made in Johnsoniana (Murray, 1836) to a biography by Thomas Tyers, published in 1785, which the author is said "very modestly to call a sketch"; and as I do not find that any other account of the Doctor was published in that year, I think the authorship of the volume is clearly established.

Mr. Thomas Tyers, it will be remembered, was

the son of Jonathan Tyers, "the founder," as Boswell says, "of that excellent place of public amusement, Vauxhall Gardens." CHARLES WYLIE.

"AS COLD AS A MAID'S KNEE" (4th S. vi. 495.) This and the saying about a dog's nose always being cold are common in the west of Scotland. When Noah was in the ark it sprung a leak, and, according to a doggrel song—

"He took the dog's nose to stop up the hole,
And ever since then it's been wet and cold."
WILL. M'ILURAITH.

A NURSERY TALE (4th S. vi. 496.)—A story in its cast and incidents resembling that related by WM. E. A. AXON will be found in Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland. WILL. M'ILURAITH.

NEGRO PROVERBS (4th S. vi. 494.)-Allow me to make one correction in M. C. K. L. A.'s list of "Negro Proverbs," and to send you an additional proverb. No. 10 is thus given in Jamaica, of which island I am a native:

"Buckra dey in a trouble, monkey coat fit him,"

and

hot." "Rock a tone dry in a ribber bottom, him no feel sun

The s in Jamaica is seldom sounded; "tone" for stone.

"Man in prosperity knows not the bitterness of adversity,"

seems to be the idea of the last.

H. A. HUSBAND.

SMIJTH (4th S. vi. 474.)-The Saturday Review need scarcely, I think, have taken the trouble to inform its readers that the surname of the author of the Commonwealth was written Smyth as well as Smith in Elizabethan documents. Of course it was; and I do not think that the form Smith will be found in any "document" older than the eighteenth century. In fact, less than a century ago, the name of this particular family was Smyth, and a short time previously, plain Smith.

The author of the Heraldry of Smith simply records the fact (page 2) that "this family now write their name Smith"; and there is no doubt that he considers it a modern attempt to veil, under an affected orthography, a good old English

surname.

But if, as SP. states, a y was, in old MSS., double-dotted, Smijth is analogous to Ffolliott and Ffarrington, both of which are" orthographical errors."

I have some little acquaintance with MSS. of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but I do not remember to have met there with an example of a dotted y. Can SP. be correct? The example he gives (Mary) I should take to be the genitive case of Marius; the so-called double-dotted y

being really ij, just as I, who am a physician, constantly express in my written prescriptions the numeral 2 by ij, and 7 by vij, 8 by viij, &c.

As to the orthoepy of this uncouth name, why I fear it is but Smith after all.

Mr. Lower's theory will be found in his Patronymica Britannica. The origin suggested by his " facetious friend" really appears to me more plausible than that propounded by SP.

M. D.

SIGNITARY AND SIGNATARIES (4th S. vi. 502.) I trust that, should this meet the eye of Lord Granville, he will excuse me for observing that, when I first saw the adjective "signitary" in his reply to the Russian note, it struck me that the word was new. However, it seems good in itself; "dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter."

Neither it, nor the "signataries" of the Tablet, appear either in Johnson or Richardson's dictionaries, though the latter is very full on connexions with the word "sign." The rare word "signaturists," given in both, looks like the nearest approach to the term; but it will be found to have rather a philosophical meaning, as in Bacon, Brown, and other old writers, than one at all corresponding to its use in reference to those who may sign a document.

Islip Rectory, Oxford.

FRANCIS TRENCH.

OLD SONG: "GOODY BOTTLED ALE" (4th S. vi. 501.)-I think the version of this chorus as I have often heard it "roared out" by boys in the Midland Counties, full sixty years ago, more correct than DR. DIXON'S :

"Goody Burton's ale

Got into my noddle; Being strong and pale,

It made me widdle woddle."

I never supposed it a chorus, but the whole song. I never heard more of it. ELLCEE. SCHOOLBOY WORDS (4th S. vi. 415, 517.)-The origin of the schoolboy phrase "Bags" or "Bags I" is clear enough. It evidently carries with it the idea of getting into one's possession or into one's bag the object in question. Thus one talks of having "bagged" so many birds, &c.

"Fains" or "Fain it," a term demanding a truce during the progress of any game, I should be rather inclined to spell "feign it," expressing a desire for a temporary cession of the game for a pretence, as opposed to the earnestness with which the had until then been played. GASTON FRA. game Univ. Coll. London.

KEY TO "LE GRAND CYRUS", (4th S. vi. 387, 516.)-George de Scudéry, whom Isaac Disraeli calls a Bobadil of literature, was born at Havre de Grâce in 1601. After some years of literary activity he was, at the solicitation of the Marchioness de Rambouillet, appointed by Richelieu.

to be governor of Notre Dame de la Garde, a fortress in Provence, situate on a high rock near Marseilles. A witty author says of this appointment:

"Gouvernement commode et beau,
A qui suffit pour tout garde,
Un Suisse avec sa hallebarde
Peint sur la porte du château."

De Scudéry is known as a voluminous poet, and the author of several theatrical pieces of some merit in their day, but now quite forgotten. He died May 14, 1667.

His sister Magdalen was born in 1607, and died June 2, 1701. She was a person of greater talent than her brother.

The first part of Le Grand Cyrus was published in 1650, but the latter part did not appear until some years afterwards. It is stated in every edition that I have seen to be written " par Monsieur de Scudéry," and is dedicated to Madame de Longueville, the sister of the great Condé, the person intended to be described under the name of Cyrus. The work is supposed to be the joint production of the brother and sister, but there is little doubt that his part of the work was very the book to the sister, notwithstanding that the small. Their contemporaries always attributed title-page bears the brother's name. I have not Monsieur Cousin's work to refer to; but, if I remember rightly, he attributes the work to Mademoiselle de Scudéry.

Speaking of Mademoiselle de Scudéry, Ménage says:

"M. de Marobs ne vouloit pas qu'elle eust fait ni le Cyrus ni la Clélie, parceque ces ouvrages sont imprimez sous le nom de M. de Scudéry. Mademoiselle de Scudéry, disoit-il, m'a dit qu'elle ne les a point faits, et M. de Scudéry m'a assuré que c'étoit luy qui les avoit composez. Et moi, lui dis-je, je vous assure que c'est Mademoiselle de Scudéry qui les a faits; et je le say bien."

If any reader of "N. & Q." can tell us where to find a perfect and complete key to the work, he will be conferring a favour on one who appreciates the work for, what it was meant to be, a description of contemporary manners.

S. W. T.

GRANTHAM: BLUETOWN (4th S. vi. 475.)-The political autocrat of this borough, Lord Huntingtower, was himself known by the sobriquet of "Blue Billy." JOHN BROOKS. Birmingham.

KIRK SANTON (4th S. vi. 387, 449, 560.)—Hall Santon is a small hamlet, parish of Irton, Cumberland, whose soil is of a light sandy description.

Downham Santon or Sandy, Suffolk, in 1668 was nearly overwhelmed by an immense drift of sand from the Lackenheath Hills, five miles distant.

The soil of Santon House, Lincoln, is sandy.

pens that a coast plant grows on lofty mountains. The scurvy-grass (Cochlearia), a common seacoast plant, in one of its forms (C. alpina or grænlandica) grows on the summits of mountains. I have gathered it on the walls of Tenby in South Wales, and on the summit of Ben Lavers in Scotland. I think that I have gathered the Rosa spinosissima in Cumberland. I am certain about Scotland. In Dr. Hooker's Student's Flora of the British Isles it is said to grow in Arctic Europe and in Siberia and North China. The Rosa rubella, named by J. T. F. (4th S. vi. 484), is a very local maritime rose, and not at all likely to be the Lancashire rose inquired after by a brother "Murithian.” EDWIN LEES, F.L.S. Green Hill Summit, Worcester.

Spinosissima et rubella gentilis.-Je vous dirai, quant à ma manière de voir, que ces deux roses sont différentes. La Rosa spinosissima (Smith, Eng. Flor.) croit sur les côtes incultes du bord de la mer. De Candolle (p. 608) appelle cette même rose pimpinillifolia." Elle est abondante sur le Salève, près de Genève : je l'ai aussi trouvée à Catogne, sur Sembrancher.

Rosa rubella (Lindley)= Rosa gentilis (Sternb.) vient aussi en Suisse, sur le Salève. D'après certains auteurs, ces deux roses paraissent avoir beaucoup de rapport et de parenté, au point qu'il est difficile de les distinguer. Je crois les avoir, les deux espèces (spinosissima et rubella = gentilis), dans mon herbier. G. DE LA SOIE, Curé.

Bovernier,† Suisse.

SIR H. CHEERE, THE STATUARY (4th S. vi. 525.) I can mention a place where one of this artist's works may be seen- -Mold parish church, Flintshire-a full-length marble statue of life-size, of whom I forget. A son of Charles Madryll and Frances Cheere owns and lives at Papworth Everard, not far from Caxton gibbet. Unless I am mistaken, they have no grandson, few of the sons having married. Of the surviving sons, one is registrar of the Middlesex County Court holden at Clerkenwell; one is a major (retired, I believe, from the Indian army); another is in holy orders, and incumbent of Little Drayton, Shropshire.

ARMIGER.

THE 62ND REGIMENT (4th S. vi. 528.)—In December 1755 the 62nd regiment (or Loyal American Provincials) was raised in America. In 1756, in consequence of the capture of the 50th and 51st regiments at Oswego, the regiment was numbered the 60th. The Act of Parliament sought after by *Anglice "Pimpernel." Vide note by MR. JAMES PEARSON of Milnrow, 4th S. vi. p. 484.

[The village of Bovernier is a short distance from Martigny, on the St. Bernard route, and our correspondent A MURITHIAN says that his friend, the worthy Curé of Bovernier, is always glad to see any botanical tourists and to give every information. M. De la Soie speaks English.-ED.]

WRONG DATES IN CERTAIN BIOGRAPHIES (4th S. vi. 410.)-In the communication by the REV. DR. ROGERS to "N. & Q." on the above subject, after stating that he had shown in 1856 that the date of the birth of the Ettrick Shepherd commonly given, viz. Jan. 25, 1772, could not be correct, as the parish register proved that he was baptised on Dec. 9, 1770, he goes on to remark: "Yet the Rev. Thomas Thomson, in a memoir of the poet prefixed to the octavo edition of his works, published by Messrs. Blackie of Glasgow in 1865, has repeated the original error." The following are the words of the memoir, from which it will be seen whether the "original error" has been repeated or not :

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

The New Testament, according to the Authorised Version. With Analysis, Notes, &c. (Bagster & Sons.)

The great aim which the editor of this edition of the New Testament has had in view has been, "to make the volume truly serviceable both for public and private use; and to put the English reader as far as possible in possession of the Divine beauties, accuracies, perfections, and harmonies of the inspired original." To detail the arrangement and mode of printing, by which the editor has endeavoured to accomplish this important object, would be to transcribe literally the editor's Introduction. For this we have not space, and must, therefore, confine ourselves to the expression of our opinion that, in the volume before us, the Christian reader will find a most intelligent and trustworthy guide to the study of the New Testament.

Wonderful Stories from Northern Lands. By Julia Goddard, Author of "The Boy and the Constellations," &c. With an Introduction by the Rev. George W. Cox. M.A., and Six Illustrations from Designs by W. I. Weigand, Engraved by C. Pearson. (Longman.)

Closely as the popular tales of all nations are allied, both in the hidden myths which they veil and the shape in which they are presented, they possess nevertheless an innate freshness and vitality which serves to give an air of novelty to them under every form they may assume. The book before us furnishes a striking instance of this. There is probably not an incident, however strange or startling, in any of these "Wonderful Stories," which has not its counterpart in some cognate legend of the East or of the West, yet as we read them we are charmed by the spirit of originality and sense of genuineness by which they are characterised; and we lay down

the book with a sense of indebtedness to Miss Goddard for a capital selection of most interesting popular fictions, and to Mr. Cox for the instructive and intelligent introduction which he has prefixed to them.

Ross's Parliamentary Record, 1870. Edited by Charles Ross. (Wade.)

We suspect a very large per centage, not only of the Members of the two Houses of Parliament, but also of those specially interested in the proceedings of the legislature, are as yet unacquainted with the existence of this most useful index to the progress of legislation. The Parliamentary Record appears from week to week, and as the type is always standing and the new matter is introduced in its proper place, the Record is always complete up to the moment of publication, so that it is at once an index and record of the state of public business, and as such is a most valuable guide to all who are interested in such matters.

The Maiden and Married Life of Mary Powell, afterwards Mistress Milton. Fourth Edition. (Hall & Co.) The Household of Sir Thomas More. Fifth Edition, with an Appendix. (Hall & Co.)

Clande the Colporteur. Fourth Edition. (Hall & Co.) Cherry and Violet: a Tale of the Great Plague. Fifth Edition. (Hall & Co.)

The Provocations of Madame Palissy. Fifth Edition (Hall & Co.)

The authoress of these admirable little books must be deeply gratified by the testimony-" to the tone of pure religious piety in which so many scenes of past times are related"-which has just been borne to them by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has been indebted to them for the soothing interest which beguiled many hours during his long illness. What publisher could resist circulating such evidence of Miss Manning's genius?

PAPWORTH'S "Ordinary of BRITISH ARMORIALS.”— We desire to correct a misstatement of which we have accidentally been guilty, in announcing that this work is to be completed by Mr. Walford, the editor of The Landed Gentry. Its continuance is to be entrusted to Mr. Papworth's relative and friend, Mr. Alfred W. Morant, F.S.A., who has kindly undertaken to prepare the remainder of the original MS. for, and to see it through, the press; and whose qualifications for the task are not unknown to some of the subscribers. As three-fifths of the work have been published, and the remainder is complete with the exception of a small portion which requires retranscribing for the press, there seems now no doubt that the work will very shortly be completed, to the great advantage of all heraldic and genealogical students. Those who desire to know how they may obtain the remaining Parts of the work, or may subscribe for the book in its complete form (the price will be five guineas), should apply to Mr. Wyatt Papworth, F.R.I.B.A., 13, Hart Street, Bloomsbury Square, for a copy of the new Prospectus which he has lately circulated.

THE FAIRFORD WINDOWS.-Great fears being entertained for the safety of these matchless specimens of early art, a competent authority having declared that "at least the windows must be releaded, or a good storm would do more harm than any restoration could effect," a committee to secure their preservation has been formed ander the presidency of Earl Bathurst, and of which Mr. Edward Roberts, F.S.A., of No. 25, Parliament Street, is the honorary secretary. That gentleman is not only prepared to afford every information on the subject that may be desired, but is duly authorised to receive subscriptions.

While speaking of these windows, we may state that Mr. H. F. Holt has written a paper for the Archæological Association entitled the "Tannes of Fairford," in which he gives the rise and fall of that family from documents hitherto unnoticed, and in which he shows-1. That John Tanne did not acquire the painted glass in 1492 by conquest or piracy. 2. That he did not found Fairford church, or dedicate it to the Virgin Mary. 3. That he did not rebuild the church. 4. That he had nothing whatever to do with the painted glass, and never contemplated either its purchase or its erection; and lastly, the facts connected with the acquisition of the windows; by whom given, and when, as well as the circumstances and motives which induced the donation.

CORK CUVIERIAN AND ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.An interesting account was given at the recent meeting of this Society of an ogham stone found, near Macroon, in an ancient subterranean chamber. The fragment of inscription on the stone was translated as-" (Stone of) FECUANA THE SON OF CUOD * ," and was believed

to indicate a burial.

BODLEIAN LIBRARY.-The donations to the Bodleian Library at Oxford during the year ending Nov. 8, 1870, according to the catalogue just issued, comprise seventyfour works printed at the Boulak Press and presented by his Highness the Khedive of Egypt; letters by the Emperor Napoleon III., presented by his Majesty, and contributions from a number of universities and centres of learning in Europe and America, India and Australia.

ANTIQUARIAN EXCAVATIONS IN ITALY.-Interesting excavations are being carried on in various parts of Italy, especially at the Campo Santo of Bologna, where a stratum of Etruscan interments has lately been discovered underneath the medieval and modern strata; and also at the Leucadian promontory, where Professor Giovanni Capelini reports that traces of cannibalism have been found.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND.-This Society has just been presented with the collection of antiquities of the late Sir James Y. Simpson, which includes portions of sculptured slabs from Nineveh.

ALBERT BARNES, D.D.-The American papers record the sudden death of this well-known commentator on the Bible, at the age of seventy-two years.

AMERICAN LITERARY MEN.-Bryant is reputed worth 500,000 dollars, made chiefly by journalism. Longfellow is estimated at 200,000 dollars, the gift of his father-inlaw, besides the very considerable profit of his poems. Holmes is rated at 100,000 dollars, hereditary property, increased by lecturing and literature. Whittier, who lives frugally, is worth 30,000 dollars, inherited and earned by his popular pen. Saxe is reputed worth 70,000 dollars, inherited and earned in law, lecturing, and literature. Lowell is said to be worth 30,000 or 40,000 dollars, hereditary, and acquired in his chair as professor of Harvard College. Boker is rich by inheritance, and worth probably 100,000 dollars. Bayard Taylor is a man of independent property, the profits of his literature and lecturing, and dividends from his Tribune stock. Verily, a prosperous set of fellows.-American Paper.

A SHOWER OF BLOOD.-One of those phenomena, so interesting to scientific men-a shower of red-coloured rain, occurred recently near Sulphur Springs, Texas. It lasted for eight or ten seconds, and from the colour of the drops has been termed by the people of the vicinity" a shower of blood."

THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER OF 1636, with all the MS. alterations made by Convocation in 1661 (the