of Sir Walter's elder daughter Sophia, Mrs. J. G. Lockhart, with a very large dog standing beside her, but which dog this is I do not precisely know. Lockhart says ('Life of Scott,' same edition as above, vol. v. p. 349) of Scott's friend John Ballantyne "Rigdum Funnidos," as Scott used to call him, after a character in Henry Carey's burlesque play-that "his horses were all called after heroes in Scott's poems or novels; and at this time he usually rode up to his auction on a tall, milkwhite hunter, yclept Old Mortality, attended by a leash or two of greyhounds-Die Vernon, Jenny Dennison, and so forth, by name. JONATHAN BOUCHIER. Ropley, Alresford. PROTESTANT AND PAPIST, 1716–1731. (Concluded from p. 423.) One of the most notable points in favour of the Catholics, in interpreting the disinheriting statute of 1700, was the doctrine that the burden of showing that the declaration required by the Act had not been made rested with the Protestant plaintiff. A Bill to remedy this was rejected in 1706. It was even held* that, as this was a penal statute, and the law would never compel a party to incriminate himself, the defendant could not be asked to discover to the plaintiff whether he, or even the testator under whom he claimed, was a Papist or not. In carefully numbering and preserving all his cousins' letters Mr. Beresford seems to have had a wary eye on such a plea as this, and to meet it he would no doubt have brought out with a flourish that confiding postscript in which Mdlle. Chaumont exhorted her aunt to reflect on the advantage of dying a member of the Catholic Church. But assuming the law was strong enough to oust Mrs. Skipwith and the Chaumonts, it seems far from certain that it would have given its decree in favour of the usurping Beresford. The willt seems to have given the property to Mrs. Skipwith for life, then to the three Chaumonts, with a gift over of their shares (only in the event of their dying without issue) in favour of Beresford. No doubt Mrs. Skipwith was disabled, and the Chaumonts were disabled, for they were all Papists; but, as to the Chaumonts' issue, in whose favour a gift was here implied by law, they were unborn. Who, then, could say they were Papists, or would be Papists? This was just the kind of difficulty the judges loved to get hold of and fling in the face of the enterprising litigant. Indeed, it was in one case actually held that in order "to preserve the con * Smith v. Read (12 Geo. II.), 1 Atk., 526. I judge of the contents only from the correspondence. I cannot find the original at Somerset House. Perhaps some East Anglian reader may have the curiosity to search for it at Lincoln. tingent remainder" to the unborn sons of a Papist, the Protestant next in remainder after them must be kept out of the estate till the Papist died without Protestant issue, and in the mean time the Protestant heirs-at-law of the person creating the settlement were entitled to the rents.* According to this doctrine the real person entitled would be not Edward Beresford, but the nearest Protestant heir of Mrs. Ayscough. At this point the shadow of one Mr. Fuller Skipwith, mentioned once in the correspondence, looms vaguely in the background. To judge by his name, he would evidently be entitled as heir in priority to Beresford; and as it appears he was not in correspondence with his relations at Namur, it may be supposed he would not be disqualified as a Papist. At all events, we may imagine it would have been uphill work to prove he was such if he chose to deny it. On the whole, the prospect of litigation could not have been inviting, and Beresford must have comforted himself mightily with the idea of quietly buying up for a tenth of its value the interest of the only persons who were likely to come forward against him. Alas! as his legal friend no doubt was not slow to point out, here another difficulty arose. According to the Act, the Papists could take nothing; and it must, therefore, naturally follow that they had nothing they could convey to any one else. A plaintiff in ejectment was actually successful in ousting an unfortunate Protestant who had laid out his money on the security of a Papist's mortgage.t Here, if the dénoment was to be a happy one, and our Protestant was to be "made secure," some legal miracle was urgently needed. Was there no deus ex machina capable of performing it? Beresford hints in his letter to his adviser that his cousins might "sue out a fine and recovery"-alluding, with some confusion, pardonable in one not professionally versed in such matters, to those two time-honoured legal conjuring tricks, which, after being performed for some four or five centuries with undiminished applause, only received their quietus from the legislature in 1834. By means of a "fine," a farce in one act, so to speak, a feat most marvellous in legal eyes was accomplished; man and wife was (or were?) constituted for the nonce two separate persons, and a married woman was thus privileged to consent to the sale of her lands by her husband, he being thus enabled to pocket the proceeds without accounting to her heirs. A "recovery was a more mysterious proceeding, and required the complicity of at least a third party, who as 66 a man of straw" could be safely called upon to take the risk of an action at the hands of indefinite generations of Carrick v. Errington (1726), 2 P. Williams, 361. † Pelham v. Fletcher, Bacon's Abridg.,' s.v. "Papist." 3 & 4 Wm. IV., c. 74, an Act regarded as a masterpiece of legislative machinery both in design and execution. unborn heirs and disappointed remainder-men. This furnished a means by which a tenant in tail could with impunity defeat the claims both of his own posterity and of all the remainder-men and reversioners entitled in their default, practically dealing with his estate as an absolute owner.* Yet it is to be feared that he who entered the temple of Themis, blind-or at least given to winking-as the goddess certainly was, would be unfavourably received if he attempted the profanation of her rites by impudently applying them to purposes not sanctioned by her wisdom at their institution. The court, whose formal sanction was necessary to the validity of a fine or a recovery, would be rigidly jealous of any abuse of its pro cedure. Like many others, no doubt, Edward Beresford thought a purchase from a Papist too risky to be ventured on even at a heavy discount. He was wise enough to hold on quietly, and a year or so later Parliament came to his assistance. An Act was passed by which legal sanction was given to purchases by Protestants from Papists, in the absence of due notice at the time of sale of any claim by the person entitled in the Papists' default.+ Yet it appears he had no occasion at present to avail himself of the Act, for nearly fourteen later we find the status quo still maintained, except that we may fairly assume Mrs. Skipwith to have at length ended her misfortunes. Mary Chaumont writes thus: years to Edward Berrisford Esq. at his house in Lincoln. London 8ber y......1731. Sir,-hauing laid my aunt Ascoughs will before my counsel, m pigot, of the Temple, he has giuen me his opinion that I have wright to my aunt's Estate. You ware formerly pleas'd to offer a composition, and I being now upon y spot am ready to receaue your preposals; otherways I shall proceed in chancery as my Counseler advises, so expect to hear from you, and am, Sir, Your most humbele seruant my direction is at number 15 in glocester street nere red lion square, but if you please you may deliuer y' answer to ye person shall giue you ya from me. On the back is a draft of Beresford's reply, as follows: Mad:-I reced yor Nov. 5° wherein you say Mr. Pigot tells you by Mrs. Ayscoghes will you have a Right to her Estate, weh I beleive must be a mistake for yor Bro: & sister terretia [Theresa] has an equal right with you if they are liveing; if dead, then it devolves upon you-in y next place you put me in minde yt I offer'd a Composition, weh I did not, but I did more Honorable, fore I produced an acct under yor aunts own hand where it appear shee dyed indebted to me in a large summ of money-there was an Estamate made of yo Estate, & out of civility I offer'd to pay the Balance, because I knew by of Lawes you could not inherit anything; but you was so ungenorus as t- insist vpon all or none. You threaten me with a Bill [in] Chancery-I am ready to carry it before ye Lds-I've toe sonns booth of y Law wch will [defend] my Right. As I have Here the curtain falls upon the little drama, and the final development of the plot must be left to the imagination of the sympathetic reader. Indeed, I cannot help thinking the whole story would do very well as the basis of a romance. already hinted, the circumstances lead me rather to the conclusion that the Chaumonts never proceeded with, or, at least, never succeeded in their claim. I find in 1773 and 1774 a certain estate, Hardwick, in Lincolnshire (no doubt identical Chaumont), disposed of by the will and codicil of with the "Hardwick lands" mentioned by Mary one Isabella Beresford, spinster, of the close of Lincoln, who seems to have been one of Edward Beresford's daughters. Perhaps the matter may prove so far interesting to some Lincolnshire correspondent as to elicit an authoritative solution of the doubt. Should these lines meet the eye of any of Mr. Beresford's descendants, who are possibly the present possessors of " Hardwick lands" or "Daglands," I trust their respect for their ancestor may not be thereby abated. The romantic sense of sympathy which the earlier letters awaken naturally inclines one to take the side of the persecuted Catholics; but except that Mr. Beresford seems from his letters to change his ground in a rather uncertain manner, there appears no real reason to doubt his statement that he was entitled as a creditor to best part of the estate. He may, after all, have returned to his former proposal and paid his cousins the fair value of all they would have been entitled to if the persecuting statutes had never been passed. In conclusion, I may add that though that disgraceful Act of King William was not absolutely repealed till 1846 (9 & 10 Vict., c. 59), the disabilities created by it were avoided in the case of all Roman Catholics who duly took the well-known oath provided for them by Savile's Act of 1778 (18 Geo. III., c. 60), for securing their full political allegiance to the reigning house. Gray's Inn. CHAS. FREDC. HARDY. MR. HARDY refers (ante, p. 422) to "an Act passed 1728" as being 13 Geo. I., c. 28. As George I. died in 1727, and 1728 would have been the fourteenth year of his reign, I shall be glad if MR. HARDY will explain what seems to me a discrepancy in his statement. JOHN RANDALL. THE 'GOSPEL OF BARNABAS.'-This apocryphal book is mentioned by Fabricius, in his 'Codex Apoc. N. T.,' and also by Jeremiah Jones, in his valuable work on the canon of the New Testa Taltarum's case, Year-Book, 12 Ed. IV., p. 19. † 3 Geo. I., c. 18. This was, of course, a very sub-ment, but neither writer throws any more light stantial inducement to the Catholics to sell their estates forthwith. on the subject than is to be obtained from the fourth volume of 'Menagiana,' from which Fabri cius, as well as Toland in his 'Nazarenus,' has College, Oxford. It may be worth inquiry whether simply copied. We learn from Sale that the this Spanish, or, better still, any copy of the Italian book was held in high esteem by the Moham-version is still in existence. As to the original, premedans, especially on account of its references Mohammedan document, it seems to be universally to the founder of their religion, who is (in the acknowledged by all Christian writers that no trace Arabic version) foretold as the "messenger of of it any longer exists. Were it otherwise it might God who was to perfect the dispensation of be interesting to compare the two, and thereby Jesus," &c. This Arabic version is alluded to, ascertain the nature and extent of the post-Mohamalthough not by name, by Reland, in his little medan interpolations and alterations. F. N. bookDe Religione Mohammedica,' but it is not clear from the little he says of it that he, any more than Sale, had ever seen a copy. The version used by Sale was in Spanish, and his account of it is as follows:: "It contains 222 chapters......and is said, in the front, to be translated from the Italian by an Arragonese Moslem named Mostafa de Aranda. There is a preface prefixed to it, wherein the discoverer of the original MS., who was a Christian monk, called Fra Marina, tells us that having accidentally met with a writing of Irenæus (among others), wherein he speaks against S. Paul, alleging for his authority the Gospel of S. Barnabas, he became exceedingly desirous to find this Gospel." A SPECIMEN OF GALLICIZED ENGLISH.-In N. & Q.,' 7th S. vi. 405, I have given 'A Specimen of Pure English,' largely copied from Schele de Vere. I now present the contrast to it, also mainly derived from the same author : sion of the country; and, master of the soil, erected for- The story goes on to tell us how he discovered a copy in the library of Pope Sixtus V., and thereby (having stolen it in order that he might study it more at leisure !) became a convert to Mohammedanism. Whether this was an Arabic MS. or Italian is not clear; but assuming, as seems more probable, if, indeed, the whole story is not pure fiction, that it was the latter, it may have been the same MS. which was given in 1713 to Prince Eugene of Savoy by J. F. Cramer of the Hague.* Whatever truth there may be in the rest of the story, one thing at least is beyond question, and that is that Fra Marina found nothing in Irenæus to set him on the search for this "Gospel." Nothing seems to be really known as to the date of its composition (I am now alluding, of course, to the original document, which was certainly in existence long before the time of Mohammed, and not to the later version, in which the prophecies relating to him were interpolated); but even supposing it to have been in existence in the time of Irenæus, which is by no means probable, there is certainly not a word in his extant writings which can by any ingenuity be interpreted as alluding to it. But as I have already hinted, the whole story of Fra Marina and his discovery has all the appearance of pure fiction, and may, therefore, be dismissed without further notice. The Italian MS. is supposed to have been written about the year 1450, but of the probable date of the Arabic from which it is translated I can find no mention. Nor can I find any further account of the Spanish beyond what Sale tells us, except that, about fifty years later, Dr. White, in his Bampton Lectures' for 1784, mentions "a complete copy," together with an English trans-plex." lation of "a considerable part" of it, which was In this specimen the number of French words is lent him by his friend Dr. Monkhouse, of Queen's abnormally great, and rises to the very high rate of 50 per cent. I doubt if a much higher rate can * See 'Menagiana,' iv. 321, ed. 1716. enchanted the multitude of dancers. manners and excited the admiration of the ancient inhabitants, who, charmed by such elegance, recognized in their conquerors persons of a superior intelligence; and admiringly endeavoured to imitate their peculiarities and fashions, and even introduced numerous strange terms into a language which was thus rendered singularly com possibly be obtained in a somewhat long example without a much greater display of effort. WALTER W. SKEAT. FOLK-LORE SUPERSTITION ABOUT BANNS.— Richard Cleasby, author of the Icelandic Dictionary,' records in his 'Diary,' Sept., 1843, that while posting from Calmar to Malmoe, through Gothland, he had occasion to stop at a parsonage, called Hoby, to inspect the celebrated stone called "Runamo," and that "before leaving the parsonage he heard a piece of superstition which showed the state of mind of the middling agricultural class. A bönde (farmer) came to arrange for the clergyman marrying him; and after all was settled, hastened back to remind him on no account to publish the banns when the moon was on the wane, but when it was increasing. The expressions he made use of were ny and neðan ("Life of Richard Cleasby," by Sir G. W. Dasent, prefixed to the 'Icelandic Dictionary,' Oxford, 1874, 4to., p. xciv. Is a similar feeling traceable elsewhere in ancient or modern times? There is a common saying that pigs should be killed while the moon is waxing, and never when it is waning. W. E. BUCKLEY. BED-ROCK.-I met with this word about the middle of September in a newspaper, and though I had never seen it before, I did not take a note of it, because I thought it was probably a well-known word. And then, shortly afterwards, when I discovered that it was neither in the 'N. E. D.' nor in any other dictionary I had, I could not, of course, lay my hand upon the passage in which I had read it. I am unable now to say precisely in what sense the word was used, but I think it was in that of the real basis or root of a matter or question. In mines a stratum or seam often reposes upon a rock, which might well be termed the bed-rock* of that stratum, and so the bed-rock of a matter would be its root stripped of everything adventitious. But is this really the meaning of the word, if it is known to exist? The moral of this note, at all events, is, Swear by Capt. Cuttle. Sydenham Hill. F. CHANCE. MISSAL.-Why will persons continue to misuse this word? The following passage has just caught my eye in the columns of a contemporary. The writer is referring to a copy of a manuscript which has no relation to the mass or other church service: "The colours used for the missal letters and the final touches of the rubricator are carefully indicated." By "missal letters" I conclude the writer means large capitals. If he does mean this, it would have been much better to say so. ANON. * In Schiller's Technological Dictionary' (1878), however, I do not find the term, although I find bed-stone "lower millstone of a mill." RELICS.-In MS. Egerton 2603 is a paper, apparently a report made circa 1500 on the relics in the Cathedral Church at Coventry, which I do not remember ever to have seen in print, and think is worth publishing. The note at end of list seems to be about a score years younger than the rest :-The Inventorie of all maner of Reliques conteynyd in the Cathedrall Churche of Couentrie. first a shryne of Saynt Osborne of Copper and gylte. Saynt Osbornes hedde closyd in Copper and gylt. A parte of the Hollye Crosse in Sylvr and gylt. A Reliq'e of Thomas of Canterburie, p'te sylvr and p'te copper. A pece of Owre ladyes Tombe, Closyd in Copper. A Relyquie of Saynt Ciscilies foote, p'te sylvr and p'te copper. A An Crosse wt a Relyquie of Saynte James, Sylvr and gylt and set wt stones. Image of Saynt George wt a bone of his in his shelde, An Arme of Saynt Justyne in Sylvr. Ŏwre ladies mylke in Sylvr and gylt. And among thees reliques yor lordshipp shall finde a pece of the most holy iawe bone of the asse that kyllyd Abell wt dyvers like. H. HALLIDAY SPARLING. OMNIBOATS ELECTROLIER.-I note the following horrible additions to the English language: omniboats, advertised by the new Thames steamer company in October; electrolier, advertised in Bradshaw in November, meaning a chandelier for electric light. EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A. Hastings. Queries. We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest, to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. CHILDREN.-I believe that the proper official designation for pupils of the older public schools, commonly called "boys," is, or was, "children." I should be glad to receive examples of this of any date. The statutes (when in English) and records of the schools will no doubt afford many. Is it still applied to choir-boys, other than "the children of the Chapel Royal at St. James's"? For the latter our earliest examples are of date 1510: earlier instances will be acceptable. "Boys" were, apparently, in early times creatures of a lower and rougher order; for, in the instructions to a child how to deport himself he is told, "With brothels [=low fellows] ne boies loke thou with hem neuer play." "Boys" have looked up, and begun to look down upon "children since the days of "Stans Puer ad Mensam." HIGHERING.-Is this word of recognized use in the sense of "raising"? A youth writing to me from Rugby in reply to an advertisement says, "I am desirous of highering my position." Or is it a provincialism? I think the word, as an opposite to lowering, might serve a useful function in certain cases where raising, though strictly accurate, does not express the meaning with equal aptness. EDWARD WOLFERSTAN. Arts Club, Hanover Square. ["Bettering my position" is, of course, the customary phrase.] THOMAS LUCAS, SOLICITOR-GENERAL TO HENRY VIII.-I have lately seen in the chancel wall of Little Saxham Church, Suffolk, the remains of the cenotaph of this Thomas Lucas. I shall be glad to know the date of his death and where he was buried. When did the practice commence of knighting solicitors-general? D. K. T. ANAGRAM ON VOLTAIRE.—In the 'New English Dictionary' the following quotation is given under the word "Anagram." I should be much obliged if any one would explain this perplexing anagram, as I fail to detect it. Voltaire's real name is "Carlyle, 'Fredk. Gt.,' François Marie Arouet. II. vi. ii. 14: Monsieur Arouet Junior (le Jeune or 1. j.), who, by an ingenious anagram......writes himself Voltaire ever since."" M. J. JONAS. 57 218 4 3 [AROUET L(e) J(eune)=VOLTAIRE.] JOHN, EARL OF WERTHEIM, 1407.-Can any reader of N. & Q' tell me where I can find the correct blazon of the arms of Johann, Earl of Wertheim, who died in 1407, and has a sumptuous monument in the church of Wertheim? The arms are: Quarterly 1 and 4, a demi-eagle displayed in chief, and in base three roses; 2 and 3, Barry of five; but I can nowhere find the tinctures. W. H. WESTMORELAND AND CUMBERLAND YEOMANRY CAVALRY MEDAL. The obverse of this silver DRESS OF LONDON APPRENTICE TEMP. ELIZABETH.-Can any of your readers tell me where I can find a description, either pictorial or verbal, of medal (size 24) has the bust of Her Majesty in the ordinary dress of a London apprentice temp. miniature (similar to that on the current florin). Elizabeth? Would such costume vary in accord-On the reverse is a garnished shield, with a ance with the particular trade? I have looked in mounted trooper in high relief on each side as Planché's History of Costume' without result. supporters. M. G. D. On the shield, party per pale, are dexter the arms of the city of Carlisle, and sinister (?) in chief a three-quarter length of king crowned holding a sword in dexter hand and an orb in the sinister; in base three stags' heads couped, 2 and 1. What does this blazon represent? Answers will greatly oblige JOHN A. FOWLER. 55, London Road, Brighton. LORD LISLE'S ASSASSINATION. In a MS., written 1739, there is an allusion to an Irishman named James Cotter, "whom K. James [II.] had from a trooper in the Guards I should be glad of information as to the nobleman BUONAPARTE'S HABEAS CORPUS.-In a letter from Charles Lamb to Southey, dated August 9, 1815, the following passage occurs: "I hear Buonaparte has sued his habeas corpus, and the twelve |