gardens, and on its removal afterwards to the Papal sacristy it was found to be so much injured that it had to be thoroughly restored. This work was entrusted to Annibale Rota, the Pope's jeweller, on 28 Dec., 1833, and Monsignor Patrizi, the maggiordomo, had the satisfaction, on 15 March, 1834, of placing it once again in the Papal sacristy. Here it remained till the troubles of 1848-9, when, during the Roman Republic and the temporary exile in Gaeta of Pius IX., it was safely hidden

W. should not have contradicted LADY RUSSELL and MR. ST. CLAIR BADDELEY with so little consideration-consideration to which a lady, at least, might have been entitled. They may be mistaken as to the Vatican emerald which is the subject of MR. GALE'S inquiry (he alone can tell us what emerald he meant); but both LADY RUSSELL and MR. ST. CLAIR BADDELEY write with such evident knowledge about the emeralds which they sup. posed to be the subject of inquiry, that W. goes too far in saying that their "explanations have no

foundation whatever."

I suppose even the proverbial schoolboy has heard of the Vatican emerald concerning which W. Supposes MR. GALE to inquire; but it is only the schoolboy and cocksure people who are ready without inquiry to accept legend as history.

The inscription usually appended to engravings of the legendary likeness of our Lord, said to have been cut in an emerald by command of Tiberius (credat Judæus !), and with which many readers of N. & Q.' must be familiar, is as follows:"Vera Salvatoris nostri effigies ad imitationem imaginis smaragdo incisae jussu Tiberii Cæsaris, quo smaragdo postea ex thesauro Constantinopolitano Turcarum imperator Innocentium VIII. Pont. Max. Rom. donavit pro redimendo fratre Christianis captivo."

W. gives as undoubted historical fact,-"The Vatican emerald (so called) came into possession of Pope Innocent VIII. in the following way: During the wars with the Turks, the brother of the Emperor of the Turks [what emperor is not said] was taken prisoner, and, in order to redeem him, the said gem was given to the Pope."

Now, I trust that MR. GALE's inquiry will yet elicit distinct information as to whether or not the legendary emerald is still to be seen among the

treasures of the Vatican; meanwhile, I question the truth of the legend of the gift.

While Innocent VIII. was Pope (A.D. 14841492), the Emperor of the Turks was Bajazet II. (A.D. 1481-1512). At the time of the death of his father, Mahomet II., he was Governor of Amasia, and, instead of at once securing his succession, he persevered in the fulfilment of a previously designed pilgrimage to Mecca. His brother, Zizim, taking advantage of his absence, usurped the throne. Bajazet, on his return, inflicted on him a crushing defeat, when he sought refuge first at Rhodes and then in Italy. In the latter country the long arm of his brother reached him and compassed his death.

Emerald or no emerald, given or not given, by Emperor of Turks to Pope of Rome, the legend which I have quoted is demonstrably false. Bajazet's brother was no captive among the Christians, but a refugee. So far from wonderful emeralds or other costly gifts being bestowed to procure his redemption, some far less costly payment (some say by means of a barber's razor) secured his death. R. M. SPENCE, M.A.

Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B. P.S.-A thought has just struck me. If in the inscription given above we were at liberty to regard redimendo as a mistake for retinendo, so as to bring out the sense that Bajazet gave the emerald to Innocent to induce him to retain his brother as a captive," then the story might be true after all. It is a fact that Bajazet had paid an annual sum to Peter d'Aubusson, Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, to secure the safe custody of his brother, that he might not get at large to be a source of danger to himself. D'Aubusson, at Innocent's request, gave up Zizim to him. The Pope may have, in turn, been bribed by Bajazet, perhaps by the gift of the emerald, to keep him safe. Afterwards, to be doubly sure, he had him murdered.

MAYPOLES (8th S. viii. 184, 297).-Now the subject of maypoles is under discussion, may I ask whether instances are known in western Europe

of such poles being used as supports for a game, or religious exercise, in which the performers swing

or circle in the air!

In Russia,

"the giant steps' consist of a tall, stout mast firmly planted in the earth, bound with iron at the top, and cables which touch the ground. The game consists of a upholding a thick iron ring to which are attached heavy number of persons seizing hold of these cables, running round the mast until sufficient impetus is acquired, and then swinging through the air in a circle."—Atlantic Monthly, lxxii. pp. 353, 354.

In Mexico, at the time of the Spanish invasion, the game, which was called the "bird-dance" by the natives, and the "flying game" by their conquerors, was a far more elaborate performance. It took place

especially during the laymen's feast, and seems to have had a religious significance connected with the calendar. Nearly every game among the Mexicans and the kindred nations enjoyed divine patronage:

"In the centre of an open place, generally a public square, a lofty pole was erected. On the top of this pole was placed a wooden, moveable cap, resembling an inverted mortar; to this were fastened four stout ropes which supported a wooden frame about twelve feet square. Four longer ropes were carefully wound thirteen times about the pole just below the cap, and were thence passed through holes made one in each of the four sides of the frame. The ends of these ropes, while wound about the pole, hung several feet below the frame. Four gymnasts, who had practised some time previously, and were disguised as birds of different form, ascended by means of loops of cord tied about the pole, and each having fastened one of the ropes round his waist, they started on their circular flight with spread wings. The impulse of the start and the weight of the men set the frame in motion, and the rope unwound quicker and quicker, enabling the flyers to describe larger and larger circles. A number of other men, all richly dressed, sat perched upon the frame, whence they ascended in turn to the top of the revolving cap, and there danced and beat a drum, or waved a flag, each man endeavouring to surpass his predecessor in daring and skill. As the flyers neared the ground, and the ropes were almost untwisted, the men on the frame glided down the ropes so as to gain the ground at the same time, sometimes passing from one rope to the other in their descent and performing other tricks. The thirteen turns of the rope, with the four flyers, represented_the_cycle with its four divisions of thirteen years."-H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America,' 1875, ii. pp. 295, 296.

A very similar sport, in which the pole was crowned with a gaudily painted idol of the god of cacao, was also customary among the Mayas of Central America (Bancroft, ii. pp. 713, 714), and during the Mexican month called "fall, or maturity of fruit" a pole played a principal part in the festival held to the god of fire :

"At the beginning of the month certain priests went out into the mountains and selected the tallest and straightest tree they could find. This was cut down and trimmed of all except its top branches. It was then moved carefully into the town upon rollers, and set up firmly in the courtyard of the temple, where it stood for twenty days. On the eve of the feast-day the tree was gently lowered to the ground; early the next morning carpenters dressed it perfectly smooth, and fastened a cross-yard five fathoms long near the top, where the branches had been left. The priests now adorned the pole with coloured papers, and placed upon the summit a statue of the god of fire, made of dough of amaranth seeds, and curiously dressed in a maxtli, sashes and strips of paper. Three rods were stuck into its head, upon each of which was spitted a tamale, or native pie. The pole was then again hoisted into an erect position. Those who had captives to offer now appeared, dancing side by side with the victims, and most grotesquely dressed and painted. At sunset the dance ceased...... About midnight every owner brought out his captive.

....At dawn the human offerings were taken to the Tzompantli, where the skulls of the sacrificed were [afterwards] spitted, and there stripped by the priests of their dress and ornaments."

Then the victims were haled to the foot of the temple steps, partially stupefied by a powder thrown in their faces by the priests, borne up to the summit of the temple, and burnt nearly to death. After which each one was cast on the stone of sacrifice to have his heart torn out :—

"These bloody rites over, the people came together and danced and sang in the courtyard of the temple. Presently all adjourned to the place where the pole before mentioned stood. At a given signal the youths made a grand scramble for the pole, and he who first reached the summit and scattered the image and its accoutrements among the applauding crowd below, was reckoned the hero of the day. With this the festival ended, and the pole was dragged down by the multitude amid much rejoicing. The Tepanecs, according to Duran, had a very similar ceremony. huge tree was carried to the entrance of the town, and to it offerings and incense were presented every day during the month preceding the festival. Then it was raised with many ceremonies, and a bird of dough placed at the top. Food and wine were offered, and then the warriors and women, dressed in the finest garments and holding small dough idols in their hands, danced round the pole, while the youths struggled wildly to reach and knock down the bird image. Lastly the pole was overthrown."Bancroft, ii. pp. 329-331.

Such was the use made of festal poles among the American aborigines at the period when the New World was discovered. In what districts of the Old World and the Oceanic Islands beyond it are such poles known to have been employed at religious rejoicings, or at feasts connected with the course of the seasons?

The use of tree-stems in public or family ceremonial seems to occur at any season of the year; not alone

In May, the lovely month of May, When all the leaves are springing. As we see, one Mexican festival during which a pole was set up fell in the season of ripe fruits, and the German Christmas-tree is erected in the shelter of the house at mid-winter, when the spirits of vegetation may perhaps find comfort in the glow of the Christmas-log. M. P.

In the village of Offenham, on the Avon, near Evesham, there stands a maypole. It is, I believe, of comparatively recent erection, but I do not know whether it succeeded to a more ancient one. In some of the villages in that same district it is usual for children (generally girls), on 29 May, to carry from house to house a miniature pole, decked with garlands and ribbons. They sing the following rhymes:

All round the maypole, trit, trit, trot,
See what a maypole we have got;
Gallant behind and gallant in front,
All round the maypole, trit, trit, trot,

W. C. B.

SMOKING IN CHURCH (8th S. viii. 366).—I have a note made in 1891 of a conversation with an old inhabitant of this town, in which he told me that

HOMER OMAR (8th S. viii. 307).-The personal name which we usually write Aymer or Aylmer appears in various forms in early charters-Eymer, Eumerus, Homer, Homerus, Hamer, &c. As a patronymic it assumes the form Emerson, and the Italian diminutive Amerigo (corresponding to English Almeric) provided the name of the Western continent. HERBERT MAXWELL.

Bardsley's English Surnames,' ed. 1875, has the following statement at p. 223 :

"Our classical-looking Homers' are the naturally corrupted form of the once familiar 'le Heaumer,' he who fashioned the warrior's helmet."

ARMORIAL SEAL (8th S. viii. 429).-The arms described by MR. FLOYD as (presumably) occupying the dexter half of the shield, viz., A lion rampant reguardant sable; crest, the same holding between his paws a fleur-de-lis, are those of Sir Pryse Pryse, Bart., of Gogerddan, Cardiganshire. The impaled arms (doubtless the wife's) I am unable to identify. OSWALD HUNTER BLAIR, O.S.B. Fort Augustus, N.B.

Arms, Sable, a lion rampant reguardant or (Lloyd, co. Brecon). Sable, a fess between three dexter hands appaumy argent (Bates, co. York). Crest, a lion rampant reguardant, in the dexter paw a fleur-de-lis argent (Lloyd).

·

JOHN RADCliffe.

REV. DR. GLASSE (8th S. viii. 228, 389).—In Lysons's Environs of London' we find that Dr. Hanwell Church in 1781, the total cost of the Glasse contributed 2001. towards the rebuilding of edifice being 1,7657. He wrote an epitaph to the memory of his wife Anne, who was buried in the church in 1802. The doctor himself died in 1809. Hanway was related to Dr. Glasse, and frequently visited him at the rectory. I know one family which still bears the name of Glasse, but cannot say if they are the descendants of Hanwell's rector. ETHERT BRand.

Barry Road, Stonebridge Park, N.W.

WILLIAM THOMPSON, OF HUMBLETON (8th S. viii. 408).-Fifty years ago there existed (and for aught I know there exist still) in the village of Humbleton two endowed schools, one of them "supported by the munificence of Thomas Thompson, Esq." This fact may in part supply an answer to MR. BETHELL'S query, as Mr. Thompson, if not lord of the manor, was, presumably, at least a landowner in the parish which he thus benefited. OSWALD HUNTER BLAIR, O.S.B. Fort Augustus, N.B.

See the pedigree in Dugdale's 'Visitation,' Surtees Soc., p. 122, and Poulson's 'Holderness." An inscription at Kilham speaks of this family as gens numerosissima." W. C. B.

"COMFORTABLE"=Comforting, KIND (8th S. viii. 286, 413).-The late learned and witty Sheriff Barclay, of Perth, in his 'Old Glasgow,' gives the following grim instance of the word in this etymological sense :

"One Thomas or Tam Young long held the office of headsman. He was to be seen every day taking his solitary walk in the public Green escorted by one or two ugly bulldogs. The gallows-tree at the Cross was a strange erection, fixed with many ropes upright to the