Bosola. I have done you better service than to be slighted thus. Miserable age, where only the reward of doing well is the doing of it.' The Duchess of Malfi,' I. i. 32-4, p. 59, cols. 1 and 2. The speech is addressed to the Cardinal, and it perverts a lofty sentiment expressed by Seneca : Recte facti, fecisse merces est: Officii fructi, ipsum officium est: The reward of well-doing is the doing, and the fruit of our duty is our duty.-Montaigne, book ii. chap. xvi. p. 323, col. 1. The Cardinal, replying to Bosola, exclaims, Would you could become honest! Bosola. With all your divinity do but direct me the way to it. I have known many travel far for it, and yet return as arrant knaves as they went forth, because they carried themselves always along with them. The Duchess of Malfi,' I. i. 43-8, p. 59, col. 2. We must go to Plato's great master for illustration this time : It was told Socrates that one was no whit amended by his travell: I believe it wel (said he) for he carried himselfe with him.'-Book i. chap. xxxviii. p. 109, col. 1. Cicero says:— Multi fallere docuerunt, dum timent falli, et aliis jus peccandi suspicando fecerunt: Many have taught others to deceive while themselves feare to be deceived, and have given them just cause to offend by suspecting them unjustly.-Book iii. chap. ix. p. 486, col. 1. Thus in Webster : Bosola. He did suspect me wrongfully. Ferdinand. For that Antonio. Now, sir, in your contemplation? You are studying to become a great wise fellow. Bosola. O, sir, the opinion of wisdom is a foul tetter that runs all over a man's body: if simplicity direct us to have no evil, it directs us to a happy being; for the subtlest folly, proceeds from the subtlest wisdom; let me be simply honest.-"The Duchess of Malfi,' II. i. 90-7, p. 67, col. 2. The sentiments are Montaigne's, and occur in book ii. chap. xii., where they are widely separated by other matter: The opinion of wisdome is the plague of man. That is the occasion why ignorance is by our religion recommended unto us as an instrument fitting beleefe and obedience.-P. 246, col. 2. Whence proceeds the subtilest follie but from the subtilest wisdome?-P. 248, col. 2. have no evill, it also addresseth us according to our I say therefore, that if simplicitie directeth us to condition to a most happy estate.-P. 249, col. 2. Antonio is duly impressed by these deepbrained reasonings, but thinks that the scholar's melancholy, which Bosola affects so much, is out of fashion, and therefore he begs him to leave it, and be wise for himself: It is for Gods to mount winged horses, and to feed on Ambrosia.-Book i. chap. xlii. p. 133, col. 1. Finally, Bosola treats Antonio to an ex You must give great men leave to take their times. position of his views on the question of the Distrust doth cause us seldom be deceiv'd. Bos. Yet, take heed; The Duchess of Malfi,' I. i. 278-87, p. 62, col. 1. Bosola has a lively imagination, which leads him at times to exaggerate very simple facts. Montaigne has the following, to prove to what lengths some persons will go to add to their personal charms : Who hath not heard of her at Paris, which only to get a fresher hew of a new skin, endured to have her face flead all over?-Book i. chap. xl. p. 122, col. 1. divinity of kings, and he demolishes the popular fallacy with the aid of some highly original illustrations, the parson's humble tithe-pig trotting in to form the tail-end of the argument:— Pepin, or he himself, what of this? Search the Say you were lineally descended from King heads of the greatest rivers in the world, you shall find them but bubbles of water. Some would think the souls of princes were brought forth by some more weighty cause than those of meaner persons the like passions sway them; the same reason they are deceived, there's the same hand to them; that makes a vicar to go to law for a tithe-pig, and undo his neighbours, makes them spoil a whole province, and batter down goodly cities with the cannon.-Ll. 115-26, pp. 67-8. Compare: as The soules of Emperours and Coblers are all cast in one same mould. Considering the importance of Princes actions, and their weight, wee perswade ourselves they are brought forth by some weighty and important causes; wee are deceived: They are moved, stirred and removed in their motions by the same springs and wards that we are in ours. The same reason that makes us chideand braule and fall out with any of our neighbours, causeth a warre to follow betweene Princes; the same reason that makes us whip or beat a lackey maketh a Prince (if hee apprehend it) to spoyle and waste a whole Province......In rowling on they [laws] swell and grow greater and greater, as doe our rivers: follow them upward into their source, and you shall find them but a bubble of water, &c. -Book ii. chap. xii. p. 239, col. 2, and p. 299, col. 1. Montaigne refers to the counsel of Epicurus to Idomeneus, that there is no man so base minded that loveth not rather to fall once than ever to remaine in feare of falling.-Book i. chap. xxxii. p. 100, col. 1. Montaigne's theme is self-murder, which, failing all other means of bettering a wretched condition of being, is approved of. In Webster, Antonio has resolved upon a certain course, if it fail, Yet it shall rid me of this infamous calling ; 'The Duchess of Malfi,' V. i. 87-9, p. 92, col. 2. Of giving way to anger and the difficulty of checking oneself in the height of the passion, Montaigne says: Slight occasions surprise me, and the mischiefe is that after you are once falne into the pits it is no matter who thrusts you in, you never cease till you come to the bottome. The fall presseth, hasteneth, mooveth, and furthereth it selfe. Book ii. chap. xxxi. p. 366, col. 2. And so in Webster, but in a varying sense, we find the same figure and phrasing used :First Pilgrim. If that a man be thrust into a well, No matter who sets hand to 't, his own weight Will bring him sooner to the bottom. cunque enim ingredimur, in aliquam historiam vestigium ponimus [Cicero, S. de Fin.']. So great a power of admonition is in the very place. And that in this city is most infinite, for which way soever we walke, we set our foote upon some history.-Book iii. c. ix. p. 511, col. 2. CHARLES CRAWFORD. (To be continued.) CHESHIRE WORDS. THE Rev. E. Ardron Hutton, vicar of Har grave, six miles from Chester, has kindly sent me a number of words found in that neighbourhood, with leave to publish them in such a way as I think best. I have compared his vocabulary with the usual sources of information, and have selected such words as do not appear to have been published already. As I remarked on another occasion, "We are far from knowing the extant vocabulary of our English dialects, "*and I was very glad to find that in making such a statement I was supported by so high an authority as MR. ELWORTHY.+ Nothing. seems to be so distasteful as the collection of material, whether it be in language, folk-lore, natural science, or historical science. There is so much more Kudos in etymologizing, and drawing brilliant inferences. Brizz, to burn or scorch. The 'E.D.D.' has bristle, brizzle, in this sense. The word is applied to a heavy wind which cuts down tender plants, &c. Horses are said to bebrizzed when they are singed after clipping. "The Duchess of Malfi,' III. iv. 45-7, p. 82, col. 1. All lovers of Webster must admire the remarkably fine speech of Antonio near the end of the play, where he indulges in reflec-word is also used substantively, with the tions conjured up by the sight of the ruins of an old abbey : Antonio. I do love these ancient ruins. We never tread upon them but we set Our foot upon some reverend history, &c. 'The Duchess of Malfi,' V. iii. 10-12, p. 97, col. 2. It is with a keen sense of regret that I must point out that the ideas and expressions in this speech are borrowed; yet Webster, here as well as elsewhere, has not done injustice to his original, for he has given them a noble setting and made them his own by his beautiful adaptation of them. But, after all, Montaigne himself is borrowing; and in many places of his book he commends such borrowing as Webster's. Montaigne is referring to Rome particularly. I have space for only a short quotation : And therefore can I not so often looke into the situation of their streets and houses, and those wondrous-strange ruines, that may be said to reach down to the Antipodes, but so often must I ammuse my selfe on then......Tanta vis admonitionis inest in locis: et id quidem in hac urbe infinitum ; qua Buggan, to shy as a timid horse does. The meaning of ghost or phantom. Catty-ruff, or catty-duff, the fish otherwise known as miller's thumb or bullhead (Cattus gobio). Dutch, affected, not only in language, but in behaviour. There is a saying, "As dutch as Devonport's mare, and it died of the scab." The E.D.D.' has "Wasn't she dutch?" Fleece, to cut or remove the sods from a 'Fleecing the reens" is only reen or furrow. done occasionally nowadays, as drainage is much shallower, and the pipes closer together. One fleecing lasts several years. 66 Gangs, the staves of a ladder. Gurr, diarrhoea in animals only, especially calves. Hazzel, to boil. A "hazzling day" is a hot,. scorching day. Hike or ike, a kick, as "He got a nasty ike The as he was teeing (tying) up the cows.' * See 'High Peak Words,' 10th S. ii. 306. † 10th S. ii. 472. 'E.D.D.' has the verb hike, to toss up and down. Kinch or kench, a cutting made in a stack. Identical with chink? Lammy, warm, balmy. Applied to the weather. Lary, cunning, wary. "Now be lary," be cautious, is a phrase often used by old people. Lommer, to leap as a cow does when appetens maris. Mexon, to clean out a cowshed. "Mexon the cows" is an expression often heard. Missick, a moist piece of ground; also poor, marshy grass. They sometimes say of poor hay "It's naught but missick." Cp. Scotch misk, land covered with coarse, moorish grass. Necker or nicker, a bullfinch. Free State-for example, in his 'Uitgesogte Zijn achter-os sjambók is lang, "FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS." When this was submitted to 'N. & 8th S. x. 357, 498; xi. 135, nothing could be added to the authorities already given in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations' (Routledge, n.d., p. 344), which only took it back to 1748. In the Copy of the Will of Matthew Tindal,' 1733, p. 23, we read, "Matters of fact, as Mr. Budgell somewhere observes, are very stubborn things." Perhaps somebody in Eustace Budgell's works. W. C. B. Nugly, black and clayey. Applied to land. can give an exact reference to the place Purled, weakened by illness or disease, reduced in flesh. A sick cow is said to be purled, and it is said that a fat lazy dog "wants purling.' Rain or reen, a space between rows of peas. Twinter, to dry up, shrink, shrivel. The word is applied to anything-e.g., apples, old men and women, flowers. Wizzen, to imagine, fancy, suppose. An aged, bedridden woman, who had lost the sense of taste, wizzened that they were poisoning her food. She also wizzened that they had put sand in her bed. The is often pronounced long. Wizzen, to whine or whimper. Apparently used of dogs only. Yare, hoar-frost. Yarry, frosty, but applied to hoar-frost only. "It was quite yarry this morning." Yaringles, the frame on which yarn was reeled, after spinning, and before it was made into hanks. Halliwell says that the word -occurs in early vocabularies. S. O. ADDY. "SJAMBOK": ITS PRONUNCIATION.-Although probably familiar to every reader, this word has got into only one English dictionary, viz., into the supplement to the latest edition of Webster. The pronunciation is there figured as shámbok. This may be the way it is pronounced in England, but in South Africa the stress is on the second syllable, shambók. That this is the original accentuation, taken from the "Taal," or Cape Dutch, is clear from the way the term is used in the interesting poems printed by Mr. Reitz when President of the Orange If JOHN BLAND, THE EDINBURGH ACTORMANAGER.-This bluff, eccentric personage Edinburgh in 1773. became co-manager with West Digges at Under Mr. Bland, Senior,' Charles Lee Lewes, in his 'Memoirs,' relates several anecdotes illustrating his his antecedents beyond furnishing the vague absent-mindedness, but says nothing of intimation that he was an Irishman, and came of "an ancient and respectable family." It seems to me that in the account given of John Bland in Dibdin's 'Annals of the Edinburgh Stage' he has been confounded with Humphrey Bland, of Bland's Fort, Queen's the D.N.B.' is to be believed, it was the County, a gentleman who died in 1763. latter who served with Honeywood's dragoons in 1715,, who fought at Dettingen, and was captured at Fontenoy. Possibly John and Humphrey may have been related, but it hardly seems feasible that the main incidents in the lives of both could have been identical. The late Mr. J. C. Dibdin, in the sound work just referred to, states that John Bland was an uncle of the celebrated Mrs. Jordan. One seeks in vain for any corroboration of this. The maiden name of Mrs. Jordan's mother was Phillips, and her father's name (according to the important narrative in Herbert's Irish Varieties') was Francis. The famous actress made her debut in Dublin as Dolly Francis, but subsequently performed for a time under the name of Bland. To the latter she had apparently no more legal right than she had to the ultimate nom de théâtre under which she gained distinction and notoriety. With Tate Wilkinson's gossipings at our command, we know perfectly well why she eventually called herself Mrs. Jordan; but why this earlier ringing of the changes from Francis to Bland and vice versa? Boaden, whose account of the great actress's novitiate is woefully inaccurate, offers some explanation of the mystery, but this is utterly lacking in plausibility, and cannot be accepted as final. W. J. LAWRENCE. IN SWIMMING. TRUDGEON STROKE - In describing the recent practice for swimming the Channel two or three daily papers mentioned the trudgeon-stroke of Miss Kellerman. Being away from a reference library, I cannot say if the word is found in the dictionaries; but it may be of interest to note that it appears to date from 1868, when it was popularized by a Mr. Trudgen, an Englishman, who, as a boy in South America, had learnt from the Indians their hand-over-hand leaping style. This is not to say that the word is always correctly used. H. P. L. DANTE: UNKNOWN PORTRAIT.-Mr. Jacques Mesnil, in an article published in the Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst (August, 1900), entitled An Unknown Fourteenth-Century Dante Portrait,' writes that hitherto but one portrait of the poet which belongs without doubt to the fourteenth century has been known-viz., that in the Palazzo del Podestà, Florence. The most competent judges ascribe the portrait in question to Giotto. In it Dante is represented as a comparatively young man. The picture portrays rather the Dante of the Vita Nuova' than the author of the 'Divine Comedy.' In the portraits of the poet which date before the fifteenth century the type of the old Dante has not yet been found. But during the fifteenth century and in the beginning of the sixteenth century the older type begins to predominate more and more, until finally it becomes the recognized type for Dante. The portraits by Michelino (Florence Cathedral) and by Signorelli (Orvieto Cathedral), that of the Codex Riccardianus 1040, and probably also the busts in the Naples Museum and the so-called Dante mask all date from that period. Mr. Jacques Mesnil then goes on to say :"There is, however, another picture which portrays Dante as an old man, and which dates from the fourteenth century. Curiously enough, this seems to have completely escaped the eyes of seekers of Dante portraits, although it is to be found in a church at Florence which every one visits, in the midst of one of the most important frescoes of the 'Trecento'-viz., in Santa Maria Novella, in the frescoes of the Cappella Strozzi, painted by Orcagna. There we notice in the Last Judgment,' in the group of the Elect (to the left of the window), in the topmost row, a figure engaged in prayer, with folded hands, the features of whose "1824, Sunday, Sept. 5. Copenhagen House. Went to this place between 5 and 6 o'clock in the afternoon, weather very fine. The place has a forlorn appearance, a fifth part so many persons as used to attend thirty years ago, very few smoaking, formerly all the men and most of the adult Room and within 10 ft. of the house is a ditch-like boys smoaked. Opposite the window of the Tea dirty pond, its shape is irregular. On one of its sides and on part of another side are some stunted Two-thirds of its thorn bushes and brambles. surface is covered with duck weed. There was a of how greatly this once celebrated place of resort dead dog rotting in it. These are sufficient proofs. has fallen into disrepute, evidence of the change of manners of the people." This rather modifies Hone's enthusiastic description of its rural beauty and respectability. Evidently it had not recovered from the disreputable management of Tooth, who in 1816 lost his licence for allowing bullbaiting and much disorderly company to assemble at the "bad eminence." ALECK ABRAHAMS. an TRANSLATED SURNAMES. The following note, extracted from the letter of American correspondent, may interest you:"The changes which befell a resident of New were that when he moved from an Orleans American quarter to a German neighbourhood his name of 'Flint' became Feuer-stein,' which for convenience was shortened to 'Stein'; and upon his removal to a French district he was rechristened M. Pierre.' Hence upon his return to an Englishspeaking street he was translated into Peters, and his first neighbours were surprised and puzzled to find 'Flint' turned 'Peters.""" Savile Club, W. W. J. L. THE GREYFRIARS BURIAL-GROUND. - The discovery of human remains on the site of Christ Church School has probably escaped notice, as it was commented upon by only one newspaper, the Daily Express, 5 August. against the Turks in 1711, tells the following romantic adventure which happened on the return march : By the courtesy of Mr. Nelson Wise I was enabled to visit the ground and gathered the following particulars. What had apparently been about eighty separate interments were "We decamped on 2 July......At our setting out found in an oblong excavation measuring Col. Pitt had the misfortune to lose his wife and approximately 50 ft. by 20 ft., situated close daughter, both beautiful women. By the breaking of to the wall on the southern extremity of the one of their coach wheels they were left so far in the Bartholomew Hospital property, and extend-rear that the Tartars seized and carried them off. The Colonel addressed himself to the Grand Vizier, who ordered a strict inquiry to be made, but to no purpose. The Colonel-being afterwards informed that they were both carried to Constantinople and presented to the Grand Seignor-obtained a pass and went there in search of them, and getting acquainted with a Jew doctor, who was physician to the Seraglio, the doctor told him there had been two such ladies lately presented to the Sultan, but that when any of the sex were once taken into the Seraglio they wore never suffered to come out again. The Colonel nevertheless tried every could not get both, till, becoming outrageous by expedient he could devise to recover his wife if he repeated disappointment, and very clamorous, they shut him up in a dungeon, and it was with much difficulty he got released by the intercession of some wards told by the Jew doctor that they both died of the Ambassadors at the Court, and was afterof the plague, with which information he was obliged to content himself and return home." ing partly under the old swimming bath of the school. The highest grave was not more than 8 ft. from the ground level. The inevitable sinking had brought the remains together in a chaotic mass that, except for certain indications, would justify the belief in its having been a plague pit. But the depth and nature of the soil, the fairly evident separate interments, and, what is of most importance, the improbability of the grounds of a school being selected for the purpose, are sufficient to dismiss such a supposition. The suggestion that this was the graveyard of the Grey Friars Monastery is of greater interest. Dugdale (Monasticon,' p. 1515) renders very little assistance; Stow ('Survey,' Thoms's edition, p. 119) says nothing of monuments or burials outside the church; Besant (London,' p. 83) identifies the burial-ground as being covered by the quadrangle; and Weever, in giving the total number interred from the first foundation to the Dissolution as 663 persons, only refers to the church. So, at least by ordinary authorities, there is no identification of this recently discovered burial-ground; but probably other records beyond my ken support this very reasonable supposition. ALECK ABRAHAMS. 39, Hillmarton Road, N. CONSTANCE RUSSELL. ROBERT HARLEY, EARL OF OXFORD.-At p. 95 of Mr. E. S. Roscoe's 'Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford,' appears the statement, "She [Abigail Masham] was Harley's cousin.' " Sir Edward Harley, father to Robert, created Earl of Oxford, married Abigail, daughter of Nathaniel Stephens, of Essington, co. Gloucester, Esq. I presume that this Nathaniel was a son of Richard Stephens, who was the greatgrandfather of Abigail Hill, afterwards Lady Masham, who, as is well known, was first cousin to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Can any of your readers confirm this? If Nathaniel was not the son of Richard, how is the relationship said to have existed between Abigail, Lady Masham, and Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, accounted for? At p. 183 of the same volume an extract is given of a letter written by Robert Harley to his brother Nathaniel at Aleppo, dated 13 April, 1716. What is known of this Nathaniel? Various peerages I have examined make no mention of him. FRANCIS H. RELTON. 9, Broughton Road, Thornton Heath. QUILLIN OR QUILLAN: NAME AND ARMS.I should be glad if some of the many readers of 'N. & Q' could tell me the meaning or origin of the name Quillin or Quillan. In earlier times it was written Huibhilin and Ugilin. The family is supposed to be of English |