shown to be "ex consuetudine hactenus obtinente in regno Angliæ," on the authority of the Register of 21 Edw. III. It arose upon a question of lapse in the case of the presentation to a benefice devolving upon the king, the right to which would not be lost by any length of time intervening before it was acted upon. I am not aware of there being any authority at all for the second member of the sentence, "vel ecclesiæ."

ED. MARSHALL.

The maxim "nullum tempus occurrit regi" is familiar enough to the lawyer, and is obviously a consequence of another legal maxim, "Rex non potest peccare." As the king was incapable of doing wrong, it followed that no negligence or laches could be attributed to the Crown, and therefore it was formerly held that no delay upon the part of the king could bar the king's right. See Broom's 'Selection of Legal Maxims' (1884), pp. 61-64. G. F. R. B.

tine marriages were not finally brought under
authority till 26 Geo. II., as shown by Blackstone,
and this seems hardly reconcilable with the above
Act of James I.
C. A. WARD.

Haverstock Hill.

Although it seems a pity to cumber the too scanty pages of ' N. & Q.' with a semi-legal point, I cannot forbear completing MR. E. H. MARSHALL'S quotation from sec. 3 of 2 & 3 Edw. VI. c. 21. MR. MARSHALL'S quotation ends, "without any ceremony being appointed," and should continue, "by the order prescribed and set forth in the book entitled the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments." This clearly refers to any ecclesiastical service that might afterwards be adopted in substitution for, or as a modification of, the then authorized marriage service. The Act clearly does not contemplate a civil service.

A licence to marry is purely an ecclesiastical document, and is no infringement of this Act. The title and preamble of the Act show it is only meant for spiritual persons, therefore the word "person "in sec. 3 must, by the ejusdem generis rule of construction, bear this limited meaning.

A. H. D.

COPYING LETTERS (7th S. iii. 369, 499).-The subjoined prospectus of James Watt's lettercopying press may, I hope, interest MR. BOWES and other readers of N. & Q.':

ST. JOHN (7th S. iii. 247, 352, 507).-The significance of the serpent issuing from the communion cup held in the hand of St. John is well explained by Wolfgang Menzel. In the excellent work of this genial German on 'Christian Symbolism' (s. v. "Schlange") reference is made to a legend quoted by Bernard of Clairvaux, relating that as St. John was drinking a cup of poisoned wine he suffered no evil, since the noxious ingredient fled away in the form of a serpent. Such "Proposals for receiving Subscriptions for an Appaa story would be naturally suggested by the pro-ratus, by which Letters, or other Writings, may be copied mise that the apostles should take up serpents, at once, and for the Licence of using the said Apparatus, and that if they drank any deadly thing it should an exclusive Privilege, by his Majesty's Letters Patent, not hurt them (Mark xvi. 18). Menzel thinks having been granted to the Inventor, for the Sole Use of the legend best befits John, because he only of the Evangelists speaks of the serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness as a type of Christ, as well as because he warned against the subtleties of Gnostic serpents, and because he most of all the disciples possessed the innocence of the dove without its silliness, and the wisdom of the serpent without its subtlety, so that he best obeyed his master's bidding:—

That thou mayst injure no one, dove-like be,
And serpent-like, that none may injure thee.
JAMES D. BUTLER.

Madison, Wis., U.S.

THE RING IN MARRIAGE (7th S. iii. 207, 275, 397, 486).—Is there no misreading with regard to the statute 1 Jac. I., c. 25, sec. 50, that no person is "to marry without asking in church"? Before the Council of Trent no priest was needed at all to convey validity to marriage. Burn, in his 'Fleet Registers,' shows that before 1754 marriage lay within the province of common law. At St. James's, Duke's Place, and Trinity Church, in the Minories, marriages were contracted without banns, and in other extra-parochial places, and at last at the Fleet, Clink, and other prisons. These clandes

his Invention.

"I. By means of this Invention, the Practice of which is exceedingly easy, any Person may take an exact Copy of a Letter or other Sheet of Paper, written with common Ink, in about a Minute or two.

Copy thus taken must be a perfect Resemblance of the original Writing; it is therefore not liable to the Faults of those copies that are transcribed, in which Words are often, from Negligence, omitted, added, or altered; and hence it is much more valuable, not only as it is perfectly like the Original, but also as it carries with it a Testimony of its Authenticity.

"II. From the Nature of the Method employed, the

"III. The Apparatus will take up but little Room, and may be fixed upon a Desk or Table in a Compting-house, or upon a separate Mahogany Stand, so as to make a small handsome Piece of Furniture in a Gentleman's Study. Proper Instructions and Drawings will be given to Subscribers, so that any Cabinet-maker or Carpenter may fix it in any of these Manners which may be required.

mercantile and all other Business, is sufficiently known; "IV. The Necessity of keeping Copies of Letters, of and the Conveniency and Satisfaction of preserving Copies of Letters, written on other Subjects, will be readily admitted. The Utility, therefore, of a Method by which Writings may be copied exactly, and almost chant, Tradesman, and Lawyer, this Invention will supply instantaneously, must strike every Person. To the Merthe Place of a Clerk, in copying not only Letters, but also Invoices, Bills of Parcels, and various other Writ

ings: the Gentleman will hereby have an Opportunity of preserving his more important Letters with little Trouble; Gentlemen, who compose for the Press, may, by this Means, obtain a Duplicate of their Works before they send them to the Printer; Ambassadors, or other Persons employed in public Affairs, may thus retain Duplicates of their most confidential Writings, without Risk of Discovery by employing Transcribers. In short, every Person, to whom Time, Labour, and Expence, are valuable, and who have Occasion to write upon Subjects in any degree interesting, will find both Benefit and Pleasure from being possessed of this Invention.

HOBBY: HOBBY-HORSE: HOBLER (7th S. iii. 182, 356, 506).-The Chronicle of Lanercost (Maitland Club edition, p. 344) describes the Scottish army defeated at Durham in 1346 as composed of "2,000 men at arms of the earls, barons, knights, and esquires; 20,000 of the community of the vills who are amongst them called hobelers; and 10,000 and beyond of foot and bowmen." May be the italicized words point to the origin of hobby, &c. Meanwhile the examples adduced show "V. Some Persons have suggested that improper Uses hobler, a light-armed peasant horseman, very much may be made of this Art; but, before the Delivery of earlier than hob, a horse-a circumstance not conany Apparatus, Care will be taken to publish (in the sistent with DR. CHANCE's theory. Were I proLondon News-papers) the Means of preventing such Practices, and of discovering them when attempted. And ceeding on DR. CHANCE's lines I would rather thus Persons interested in Paper Credit, will have an trace the descent of hob, a horse, from Hob, a name Opportunity of informing themselves of the Means of still used to denote a rustic clown, and in use detecting a Species of Fraud, which might otherwise nearly six hundred years ago, as may be inferred have been imposed on them. At present, we acquaint from my citations, as a generic term for a half-serf the Public, first, that, as only one Copy can be taken, a Person, who makes Use of this Invention, will render it villager, such as, perhaps, Edward I. had in his eye impossible for others to copy his Writings; and, secondly, when he sneered at Bruce as King Hob. Hob's that, in order to secure others, who do not choose to name might not unnaturally have been transmake Use of this Art, a good Ink will be sold at a reason-ferred to Hob's horse, and hobler, the name given able Rate, the Writings made with which will not be (as I would gather from my italicized citation capable of being copied in this Manner. above) to Hob as a horseman, might have been an intermediate agent in the process. G. N. Glasgow.

VI. Subscriptions are taken, for the Patentee, by Mr. James Woodmason, Stationer, in Leadenhall-Street, London; to whom Gentlemen, who choose to subscribe, are requested to signify their Intention, personally or by Letter, mentioning their Address.

"VII. Each Subscriber is to pay six Guineas at the time of delivery, for which he will receive an Apparatus, Directions, and Licence to use the Invention. Care shall be taken that each Subscriber shall be furnished in Order, according to the date of his Subscription.

"The Machine will be also applicable to other Purposes, as the copying of Music, taking Impressions from Copper-plates, and copying Drawings; and will be so well executed, that no single Machine could be made for the Price required, the Expectation of Profit arising solely from the Number of Machines to be manufactured.

"Mr. Woodmason will take care to acquaint the Subscribers when the Apparatus is ready to be delivered to

their Order.

"The Apparatus will be sufficiently large to copy a Sheet of the largest Post Paper. Those Gentlemen, who require to have them of larger Sizes, as for Drawings or other Purposes, will be charged higher in Proportion to the Size."

The "Proposals" are printed on two facing pages of a folio sheet, measuring 1 ft. 6 in. by 1 ft. 3 in. Immediately below the last line of the first page, which ends with the word "Invoices" in paragraph IV., is pasted a slip of paper, on which is written, in a clerkly hand :

"Time Labour and Money are saved, Dispatch and Accuracy are attained, and Secrecy is preserv'd by this newly invented Art of copying Letters & other Writings. May 25, 1780. No. 68.

Non plumali cannâ Sed Arte quadam Novâ." Opposite (on p. 2) is a strip of copying paper, on which the MS. is copied. Whence comes the quotation "Non plumali cannâ," &c.?

W. G. STONE,

The term "English Hobbes" in the Statutes of Kilkenny has no reference at all to horses. It was a term of abuse applied by English settlers in Ireland who had intermarried with the Irish to the more recent arrivals from England, who prided themselves upon their superiority to the "Irish dogs." The passage in Ware only proves that the word hobby was used for a horse in Ireland in the seventeenth century. century: H. WYLIE.

Roquefort under "Hobeler," "Hobilers," "Hobin"; Ménage under "Hober," "Hobereau," "Hobin"; Le Duchat under" Hobin"; Godefroy under "Hobelier," "Hobeleor," "Hobin," "Hobler "; Ihre under Hoppa"; Cowel under Hobby"; Jamieson Hobeleris "; and Hunter (Cassell) under R. S. CHARNOCK.

66

under
"Hobby."

I have heard this word used in Cornwall to describe men in a small boat with oars "tugging" in a coasting vessel in one of the "Porths." ESTE.

HUGUENOT FAMILIES (7th S. iii. 89, 176, 257, 297, 334, 417; iv. 15). The inscriptions below appear on a large tombstone in St. Margaret's churchyard, Canterbury, and allude to the last of the Le Grand family who resided in this city :

John Le Grand, Eldest and last surviving Son and Child of George Le Grand, Surgeon, many years of this city (who with his wife Ann was buried in the Cathedral Cloisters). Born 6th September, 1769. Died 12th July, 1845.

Also Sacred to the Memory of Caroline Le Grand, Relict of John Le Grand, who died 30th December, 1853, aged 85 years.

Other inscriptions will be found in the church-
yards of Saint Peter's, Holy Cross, and I found
one on a slab in Barham Church, near here. If
your correspondent MR. RUTTON requires further
information respecting the Le Grand inscriptions, let
him communicate with me; I have copies of them
all.
JOHN R. HALL.

12, Bargate Street, Canterbury.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
Accounts of the Churchwardens of St. Dunstan's, Canter-
bury, A.D. 1484-1580. By J. M. Cowper. (Mitchell &
Hughes.)

the shafts of a cart or waggon, and our forefathers and
their foes knew well the meaning of a cloth-yard shaft.
for the year 1428, we find, "Pro emendacione de le
In the churchwardens' accounts of St. Mary, Stamford,
schafte, xd." This, we have little doubt, was the parish
maypole; and until evidence be brought forward to the
contrary, we shall continue to think that the brother-
hood of the shaft at Canterbury were, in modern English,
brethren of the maypole. In trying to understand the
manners of our forefathers before Puritanism had made
us self-conscious, we should ever bear in mind that
amusement and religion went hand in hand, that there
was no hard line separating the devotions of the people
from their popular sports. It would seem to them no
more incongruous to have a maypole guild than a "may
guild" or a "plough guild," both of which we know
existed at Kirton-in-Lindsey in pre-Reformation times.
That the "schafte" was a tangible object is made quite
clear by an entry of the year 1511, which runs thus:
We haue receuyed of Wyllyam Carpenter of his gyfte
a gyrdyll for to bere the shafte contynuyng for euer
What this girdle was it is
from warden to wardyn."
vain to speculate. Perhaps it was an iron hoop, forming
a socket into which the maypole was fixed when in use;
or it may have been a hoop in the church-house, or the
church itself, in which the pole was suspended when not

in use.

Some of the entries suggest observances which are new to us. In an inventory of the year 1500 we find that there were four little bells for the Corpus Christi cloth; and in the account for 1545 there is a charge for making the "schrewyng sett." We can make nothing of this, unless it be meant for "shriving seat," that is, A "shyvyng stoole" is mentioned a short time before.

a confessional.

MR. COWPER has rendered a service to students of local history by reprinting these curious accounts. Those who take an intelligent interest in the ritual and local customs of the Church before the changes of the sixteenth century had destroyed that which had been the slow growth of unnumbered centuries will also be grateful. Old churchwardens' accounts are far from common. The few that have been printed are mostly to be found only in the transactions of learned societies, which are difficult of access. We know, indeed, no better work on which a student who has the time for it could be engaged than in making a hand-list of such of these documents as have, in whole or in part, been preserved by the printing-press from risk of destruction, There are very few known to exist which go back further than the beginning of the sixteenth century. The finest series we have ever seen, which is as yet almost entirely unprinted, begins in 1501. These of St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, are of earlier date, but are in parts fragmentary. They, however, contain so much that is of interest, that we can bear the losses we have sustained, if not with a light heart, at least with thankfulness that so much has come down to us. The churchhouse is a building which is constantly mentioned, not here only, but in many other documents of the same kind. No one until quite recently seems to have been aware that the church-house was a building which, if not always, was at least commonly attached to the parish church. Its uses were varied; indeed, it would seem to have been the public room of the parish, which could, with the consent of the churchwardens, be used for any purpose that the needs of the parish rendered necessary. One function it discharged, and that pretty frequently, was that of a hall in which the church ales could be held. The church ale was a great institution among our medieval ancestors. When money was required, the ale-feast seemed as natural a means of raising it as a bazaar does now. Whether it was of Christian origin, or whether, as certain learned anti-Francis Jeffrey, the famous critic. While admitting that quaries have suggested, it came down from heathen times, is a question we can never hope to have answered, except by a more or less probable guess. We know an instance in which the church-house was let out to pedlers at fair times; and Mr. Cowper tells us that in Wiltshire "dancing, bowling, and so on," took place therein. The ❝ij dosyn pones and ij dosyn trencheris," mentioned in or about the year 1521, were no doubt bought to be kept in the church-house of St. Dunstan for feasting days.

Mr. Cowper is puzzled by finding mention of the brotherhood which bore the strange name of "The Schaft." We do not profess to be wiser in this matter than he. We would suggest, however, until further light be thrown on the subject, that it is not to modern High German we should look, but to the earlier forms of our own tongue. Shaft in English means a pole. We still talk of

MR. SWINBURNE's rebuke of what he calls "Whitmania" arrests attention in the Fortnightly. It is excusable that those who regard the extremely forcible character of the language should see a recantation where none is intended. Mrs. Lynn Linton has an excellent paper on 'The Roman Matron and the Roman Lady.' 'Marie Antoinette's Milliner's Bill,' a contribution by Mr. Sala, supplies some interesting particulars about the writer as a bibliophile. A selection by living men of letters of their favourite passages in prose and verse is likely to attract attention. In a good number of the Nineteenth Century Dr. Jessopp, continuing The Trials of a Country Parson,' writes with customary brilliancy, Prince Kropotkin defends his anarchist views, and Sir Salar Jung contributes Europe Revisited.' Mr. Gladstone sends an answer to the arraignment of Prof. Lecky. Without saying that any single article is of special excellence, the whole is singularly readable, attractive, and diversified.-Mr. George Saintsbury writes in Macmillan of

it is difficult for the reader to "keep the author's point of view," he holds that the secret is in the Gallicanism of Jeffrey's mind and character. A pleasantly antiquarian paper is entitled 'At Little Gidding.' 'Invention and Imagination' is not conclusive, and one illustration from Marlowe quoted by the author as "imagery which invention could never have devised" is pure conceit. A New Overland Route to India' deals with the line of railway shortly to be opened through the Balkan peninsula and so to Salonica. 'The Story of the Ardent' and 'The Profession of Letters' are portions of an excellent number.-Mr. Percy Fitzgerald sends to the Gentleman's a paper on The Adelphi and the Brothers Adam.' Lucifers and the Poets' deals with the animals, principally marine, which are phosphorescent, The account of' A Japanese Execution' is very grim.' The

in Part XXXI. of Our Own Country, and the reader is then carried to Wells and the Mendips. Of Wells Cathedral and market-place, of Cheddar, and other places some excellent illustrations are given. The opening picture has nothing to do with the text in the number, and represents Fountains Abbey, near Studley.-The visit of the Prince of Wales to India, the assumption by the Queen of the title of Empress, and the government of Lord Lytton, of whom a portrait is given, are treated of in Cassell's History of India, Part XXIII., which supplies views of Benares illuminated, the Pâl Palace, Gwalior, infanticide on the banks of the Jumna, &c.— Part XV. of the Life and Times of Queen Victoria describes the marriage of the Prince of Wales, and then proceeds to the American War. It is lavishly illustrated. Gleanings from Popular Authors is completed with title-page and index in Part XXIV.

PART XLV. of Mr. Hamilton's collection of Parodies includes Chevy Chace,' Lord Bateman,'' Lilliburlero,' and other old ballads, with songs of C. Mackay, Barry Cornwall, and Sheridan, of which very numerous travesties have been given,

'From Skiddaw Top on Jubilee Bonfire Night' gives a
very stirring and inspiriting description of the lighting
of the Cumberland beacons. 'In Vermland' is an
account of a journey up the Gotha estuary, by the famous
Trollhättan falls and the great inland freshwater sea
Lake Venern, to a Swedish house, the name and cha-
racter of which are not denoted. The Dolomites of the
Peignitz' is fairly readable.-The Hon. Lewis Wingfield
contributes to Murray's' Play-going in Japan,' furnish-
ing a striking and an amusing account of the primitive
theatrical arrangements of that wonderful country.
Writing on The Church of the British Empire,' the
Bishop of Carlisle advocates the postponement of laying
the foundation stone of the Church House until next
year, when the Pan-Anglican Synod is to assemble.
Thomas Webster,' by Lady Eastlake; Highland Gossip,'
by C. Milner-Gaskell, M.P.; and With Mr. Forster in
Ireland,' by Capt. Ross of Bladensburg, are among the
contents. To Longman's Dr. B. W. Richardson sends a
characteristic paper entitled Toxicopolis,' in which his
well-known views find entertaining exposition. Mr. Lang
in 'At the Sign of the Ship' deals largely with ballades
and rondeaux.-A holiday number of the Century has a
remarkable amount of excellent letterpress and good
engravings. Apart from the historical essays, which are
still of highest interest, Our Kivigtok' is the most
important paper in the magazine. It is a record of
Arctic travel. A "Kivigtok," some reader of N. & Q.'
may be interested to know, is a man who, having fled
mankind, has acquired a close acquaintance with
Nature's mysteries. Is it a Piece of a Comet?' is also-Spanish levantar to raise.
valuable. Welsh Counties, Montgomery and Radnor,'
are treated of in All the Year Round.-' Then and Now,'
in Temple Bar, furnishes a vivacious contrast between
the Jubilee just over and that of George III., particulars
of which are obtained from the Observer of October 29,
1809. The article is written with much spirit, and con-
tains many delightful stories and much shrewd comment.
-In the English Illustrated, Part II. of Walks in the
Wheatfields, which is in the best descriptive style of Mr.
Richard Jefferies, is admirably illustrated by drawings
from Mr. Dewey Bates. Captain Sir Dilberry Diddle'
has some characteristic drawings by Hugh Thomson.
My Lattice towards the North' and A Visit to a Dutch
Country House' are also noteworthy as regards both
letterpress and illustrations.- Walford's Antiquarian
has an agreeable variety of contents.

Notices to Correspondents.

We must call special attention to the following notices: ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately.

PART XLIII. of Cassell's Encyclopædic Dictionary concludes with "Joint." Under that word, under "Jesuit," "Jansenism," Iron," "Iodide," "International," &c., full and valuable information is supplied. -The Egypt, Descriptive, Historical, and Picturesque, of the same firm deals with the district from Thebes to the First Cataract, and gives a full-page illustration of the First Cataract, and many plates of Assouan, its inhabitants and surroundings.-An extra sheet is given with Part XIX. of the Illustrated Shakespeare, which thus comprises all but the entire play of 'Twelfth Night,' and has no fewer than five full-page designs, with many other engravings. A scene between Malvolio and Olivia is the subject of a very spirited design. Some good views of Nottingham, its castle and its market-place, are given

must observe the following rule. Let each note, query,
To secure insertion of communications correspondents
or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the
signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to
appear. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested
to head the second communication "Duplicate."
EDWARD R. VYVYAN (" Origin of Levant, to run away").
Levantar el campo, to

break up camp; levantar la casa, to break up house.
PASMORE wishes to know when the early and later rains
in Palestine, spoken of in Scripture, now begin and end;
which are the nearest villages to the ruins of Baby-
lon, and which is the best way to reach them from
Beyrout.

DE V. PAYEN-PAYNE ("Charles Lamb").-The lines S. iii, 322. They are over Lamb's grave in Edmonton you suppose to be unpublished appear in N. & Q.,' 1a churchyard, and are variously assigned to Wordsworth, Talfourd, and Cary, the translator of Dante. See 1st S. iii. 379, 459; iv. 161.

DE COVERLEY.-No early edition of the Spectator has, we believe, a portrait of Sir Roger de Coverley. As the worthy knight was a purely fictitious character, nothing but a portrait de fantaisie could be supplied.

EVERARD FRY ("Links with the Past").-The quotation you supply from Katharine Fry's journal appeared 2nd S. vii. 365.

read ; 1. 5 from bottom, for "y or iii" read y or üi. CORRIGENDA.-P. 56, col, 2, 1. 6 from bottom, for "ce" P. 96, col, 2, 1, 4 from top, for "dulled ƒ" read doubled f.