-8 Little lonely nameless mound That is a very good example of the melody arising Two points in conclusion would seem to arise out of the consideration of the subject. (1) That while it is alliteration we are dealing with it is by no means alliteration in its old sense. (2) That literally it is not alliteration at all, but should better be termed the larger alliteration, for we are not appreciating the repetition of one identical sound, but of a number of vowel or consonant sounds of the same class. Alliteration, for example, deals with the repetition of one liquid sound, but the larger alliteration with the recurrence of all or any of the liquid sounds. Mossley. ARTHUR MAYALL. think it a great testimony to the little dog's intelligence, and also to the fidelity to nature of the artist's work from a very competent critic. Since that occurrence I have not thought the story of the birds pecking at the picture of ripe fruit by Zeuxis impossible to believe. W. R. TATE. Walpole Vicarage, Halesworth. THE WEEPING INFANT.-PROF. SKEAT, ante, p. 350, refers to Pope Innocent's treatise, 'De Miseria Mundi' for the symbolic character of the infant's natural cry on its birth. An earlier instance is in Lucretius, who says of this in the infant, "Vagituque locum lugubri complet, ut æquum 'st, Cui tantum in vita restet transire malorum" (v. 227, 228). A similar notice occurs in the fathers; for instance, in St. Augustine, 'De Civ.,' xxi. 14: "Quæ (infantia) quidem quod non a risu, sed a fletu orditur hanc lucem, quo quid modo." malorum ingressa sit, nesciens prophetat quodam ED. MARSHALL. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to find in Latin or in English poetry verses which are entirely without liquids. Verses may be so made that they contain no liquids, but when made with such a TRANSLATION.-I have not seen anywhere purpose they are not poetry. I gave an ill-sound-translation of Longfellow's well-known Epitaph ing verse of Horace. I will give one which is on a Maid-of-all-work ':well sounding :— Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum. Satire viii. bk. i. l. i. This has all the liquids, and a repetition of c and t. In the English language there are undoubtedly many harsh monosyllables which are unavoidable, and must be used. In the Latin language there are not so many. E. YARDLEY. A DOG STORY.-As the Editor has inserted two stories in the review of the Spectator collection on p. 420 of the present volume of 'N. & Q.,' I venture to send the following, which is a perfectly true story, and sets forth the sagacity and intelligent observation of the dog, as I think, far more than most of the Spectator stories, some of which were manifestly hoaxes, notably the one of the American dog holding the head of a little dog to be crushed by the wheel of a passing brick-cart without getting his own head crushed-a combination of miraculous dexterity impossible for any living creature that holds its prey in its mouth to accomplish, and of cowardly malice only possible in a human being. Well, my story is as follows. In 1876, when I was curate in a Dorsetshire parish, my landlady had two little Italian greyhounds, and I had an engraving of Landseer's Dignity and Impudence' hung on the wall of my sitting-room. The first time that the dogs entered my room after I took up my quarters in the house, the female dog got on a chair under the picture, put her fore-paws against the wall, looked up at the picture, and growled. She never repeated the act afterwards on any of her subsequent visits to the room. This is not a very exciting or sensational story; but I Hic jacet ancilla Qui omnia egit; Et nihil tetegit Quod non fregit. In default of a better, I beg to suggest the following somewhat free rendering (after Pope) : A maiden's deeds, to housekeepers the source 8, Royal Avenue, S.W. 'LIFE OF SHERIDAN,' BY MR. FRASER RAE.— At p. 65, vol. i., Mr. Fraser Rae discredits the anec dote of Mrs. Sheridan's introduction of her two boys to their future schoolmaster, Mr. Samuel Whyte, of Grafton Street, and in a note at this page attributes the story to a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1816. I can refer to much earlier and more trustworthy authority for the anecdote, namely, a note at p. 277 of an edition of Samuel Whyte's Poems,' edited by his son, E. A. Whyte, and published in Dublin in 1796. I can give a copy of the note, if thought interesting. Mr. E. A. Whyte no doubt heard the anecdote from his father. E. R. McO. Dix. DANIEL COLWALL, F.R.S.-To the account of this enlightened scrivener and Searcher of Customs as every one knows who has ever read his Note X to 'The Lord of the Isles.' The word is very interesting in its origin; for it represents one of the three forms in which the Lat securus appears in English. The form secure is mere Latin. The form sure, M. E. sur, seur, from the O.Fr. seur, in which the c is dropped The third form, M.E. siker, is somewhat harder to explain. at London given in the 'Dict. Nat. Biog.' add the following from the 'Journals of the House of Commons,' iii. 63: "The House resolved (29 April, 1643) that Daniel Colwall, one of the under searchers of the Port of London, shall be sequestered from his place and profits of the said Place of Under Searcher for his neglecting of his place, and his being absent above three weeks and is at Oxon.” Colwall subsequently retired to France, but was allowed to return to London at The fact is, that the accentuation of the Lat. the end of 1645, in order to compound, and was securus was frequently thrown back by the Ger not ungently dealt with by the Committee ('Calen-manic races, who pronounced it sécurus; a prodar of Committee for Compounding,' pt. ii. p. 1001). nunciation which is represented, for example, GORDON GOODWIN. Hamlet,' I. v. 61: "Upon my sécure hour thy uncle stole." The word was borrowed by the Ger manic races as early as the seventh century (see sicher in Kluge), and appears as A.-S. sicor, G. sicher, Du. zeker. The A.-S. sicor is used by King Alfred; the M.E. siker, used in all dialects, is very common, and occurs in Chaucer at least eighteen times. The Old Friesic form is sta The O. Low Ger. is sikor. I do not object to siocar, if considered as a phonetic spelling; but it is surely unusual. HORATIANA. Te vidit insons Cerberus aureo Book ii. Ode 19. It was said that Bacchus changed himself into a Ovid, 'Metamorphoses,' bk. v. 11. 329, 330. Possibly he kept the horns as a memorial of his transformation; and he changed himself sometimes into a goat afterwards. The goat that presides at the witches' sabbath is supposed to be Bacchus, or Sabazius, who, since the birth of Christ, has been dethroned, with the other pagan deities, and become a mere devil. Hence, perhaps, in Christian times the devil is represented as having horns and hoofs. Quos inter Augustus recumbens, Book iii, Ode 3. I have never seen these lines explained as I under- may have his mouth stained purple by drinking claret. No doubt in Virgil's "lumenque juventæ purpureum," and perhaps in Gray's "purple light of love," no particular colour is meant. E. YARDLEY. "SICKER" (See 8th S. ix. 438.)-The spelling of sicker, in the sense of "secure," is discussed at the above reference under the heading 'Holborn,' with which it has nothing to do. We are there told that any Scot would write "I'll mak siccar." I protest against such dogmatic teaching; because it is notorious (1) that Sir Walter Scott was a Scotchman; and (2) that he wrote "I make sicker," WALTER W. SKEAL I think SIR HERBERT MAXWELL is rather hard upon COL. PRIDEAUX for quoting the expression make sure of his ground before writing his criticis "make sicker"; and he would have done well to He would scarcely then have said so positively, "Any Scot would write it, 'I'll mak siccar." Surely Sir Walter was a genuine Scot in more than name, yet he has, in Tales of a Grandfather,” ch. viii., "Do you leave such a matter in doubt I will make certain." Archbishop Hamilton, said Kirkpatrick; 'I will make sicker'-that his Catechism,' 1552, in five times using word, spells it four ways, sicker, sickir, sitar, sykkar. Jamieson's 'Dictionary' has sicker, sukker, sikkir, sikkar, seker, but not siccar, which alone in his Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, has sicker, SIR HERBERT MAXWELL would tolerate. Mackay, siccar, and quotes Burns's 'Death and Dr. Hon book': in favour of a reformation in the mode of reviewing current literature by the following words: 'He who tells me that there are defects in a new work tells me nothing which I should not have taken for granted without his information. But he who points out and elucidates the beauties of an original work does indeed give me interesting information such as experi. ence would not have authenticated me in anticipating."* Although his countrymen, Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt, fulfilled Coleridge's ideal with respect to bygone literature, it was left for one on the other side of the Channel to carry out his conception of just and fair criticism of contemporary writers. Many years after the publication of the Biographia Literaria' Sainte-Beuve gave to the world that wonderful series of critical studies, chiefly of French contemporary literature, "at intervals, collected and published in sets, under the titles Critiques et Portraits Littéraires,' 'Portraits Contemporains,' Causeries du Lundi,' and 'Nouveaux Lundis.'"+ In his interesting biography of Sainte-Beuve (Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. xxi, 1886, p. 165), the late Mr. Matthew Arnold tells us that "the personality of an author had a peculiar importance for him [Sainte-Beuve]. The poetical side of his subject, however latent it might be, always attracted him, and he always sought to extricate it." It was for the very want of this trait that Coleridge denounced the early Edinburgh reviewers. Apart from his individuality having so much to do with his just and humane system of criticism, it would be interesting to know how far Sainte-Beuve was led in this direction by Coleridge. The former had begun to win a name in criticism some years before Coleridge's death in 1834; but there is no mention in the biographies to which I have had access of any correspondence between them, nor any allusion to a possible influence on the part of Coleridge over Sainte-Beuve. ARCHIBALD CLARKE. 118, Heath Street, Hampstead, N.W. THE GRACE DARLING MONUMENT.-I think the following paragraph, taken from the Times of 2 June, should find a place in 'N. & Q.': "Mr. Henry Young writes from Blundellsande, under date May 30-On a visit to Bamborough last week I went into the churchyard to look at the Grace Darling monument, and found it in a deplorable state. When erected it was surrounded with iron railings, but at present all the rails on the south side, and some of them on the west, are completely broken off, and the enclosure, being thus open, was in a filthy state with animal excreta. The stone canopy is completely gone and the pillars which supported it are broken off. Half the blade of the oar, which lay lengthways with the figure, is destroyed, and the inside of the right arm is nearly so. Part of a fold of the garment is broken off, and the slab Biographia Literaria,' 1816 (Bohn's reprint, 1876), p. 30. + Saintsbury's 'Short History of French Literature' (1892), p. 528. is broken in places. The graceful recumbent figure, life size, sculptured by C. R. Smith, is, with the above exceptions, in fair preservation; but, unless attended to 8000, it is doomed to destruction by weather and "trippers. I found a piece of the before-mentioned iron rail on the monument a very likely instrument for chipping off pieces, and it had probably been used therefor. It is scarcely likely that the monument can be restored to its original state, but a few pounds would suffice to repair the railing, which would be a means of preserving for some years further a worthy commemoration of a noble deed done by a modest and brave woman. any one in the neighbourhood start a fund for the purpose I should be glad to contribute to it.' BOAK.-Could any reader of N. & Q.' kindly tell me anything as to the original etymology, location, and nationality of this surname and family? I have also seen the name spelt Boake, Boke, and think, perhaps, that the surnames of Boyack and Boick are the same. I may say I can learn little or nothing of this family, either from public or private records. There are several people bearing the above names (with the exception of Boick) in England, Scotland, and Ireland, but none can give me much information anterior to a generation or two ago. One party tells me that Boake is a Dutch name, and that the first settler in Ireland bore the name of Borche (pronounced Boak, and latterly spelt Boake). He fought for William III., and settled near Dublin anterior to the close of the seventeenth century. However, from searches in the Irish Diocesan Records, I find several families of Boaks resident in Bellee and Ballylaw, had ancestors of the same name there before them. co. Tyrone, about the same time, and I fancy they They were of repute, and called themselves "gentlemen" in their wills; but the families now are quite extinct in the above county. In regard to the theory that the Boaks came from the Continent, I find there is a river Boacq in Namur, a tributary of the Maas. From a search in most of the leading works (both ancient and modern) on arms, &c., I cannot see the name even mentioned, with the one exception, viz., in the latest edition of' Fairburn,' which gives for Boak as their crest "A beacon, fired ppr." I do not know how this has been ascertained, as, so far as I can find, there is no mention of the family in any herald college or office in Great Britain or Ireland. There was anciently a barony of Bokeland, in Devonshire, and there are still various small properties in Galloway of the name of Beoch (see way'). Of course Bog, Boig, Boag, and Bogue are common names now in the three kingdoms. Dickens makes remark as to the name of Boak in America as a curious surname, and I believe some of the descendants of the Tyrone Boaks now live Mr. Kerlie's Lands and their Owners in Gallo in America. From a search of the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland,' I see on p. 822, vol. vi. part ii. (1648 1660), a Richard Boke, a commissioner for the shire of Elgin, mentioned. one instance I was recommended to apply to you, Christchurch, New Zealand. instances from one of the best-known authors of FORCE OF DIMINUTIVES IN SILVER LATINITY. -Can any of your learned contributors afford guidance on this point, or at least indicate any work in which the subject is dealt with? It is, of course, known to every student of language that the diminutives passed in great numbers into the with a loss of the diminishing signification, as, e. g., Romance language, generally, it would appear, Fr. abeille, from Lat. apicula; but a point which grammars and linguistic works, so far as known to me, do not deal with is the time when this ignoring of the diminishing effect of the termination began. In short, how are we to determine in any given passage in a silver Latin author whether a diminutive in form (whether noun or adjective) is also a diminutive in meaning? I take at random two the silver period, Juvenal. In Sat. x. 82 occur the words "Magna est fornacula." Is fornacula There was a family of the name of Boick in here merely synonymous with fornax; or is the Edinburgh in the seventeenth century. Wm. whole expression an instance of satirical oxymoron, Boick, merchant, Edinburgh, was made a burgess in the same satire (1. 355) occurs the diminutive which would be quite in Juvenal's style? Again, and guild brother of Edinburgh in December, adjective candiduli, which one commentary trans1686; and his son William was, on 14 April, 1697, lates "The holy sausages of your white little also made a burgess and guild brother of Edinburgh (he was also one of Glasgow), "be right of porker," adding, "The diminutives aid the effect." his Father." William Boick, sen., is mentioned If the diminishing force still cleaves to the adin the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland,' in jective, the force of the word would rather be, reference to the loss of a keg of butter consigned would take a different turn from that suggested perhaps, "whitish, fairly white," and the scoff to him in Edinburgh from Campheer, Holland, by by the commentator, and would refer to the diffia Mr. Gordon there, then in charge of the exports culty of obtaining a perfectly white victim (cf. from that port. William Boick, jun., married Anna, eldest daughter of William Cochrane, Esq.; thereon). But is candidulus diminutive in meanCretatum bovem," in 1. 66, and Mayor's note of Rochsoles, Lanarkshire, and their daughter (anding at all; or was it in Juvenal's time simply equicoheires) Anna married, on 20 January, 1710, valent to candidus? Lewis and Short's 'Lexicon' Thomas Gordon, jun., of Earlston. explains "shining white," which seems to be quite ignores the diminutive termination altogether, and PERTINAX. an unauthorized rendering. I much doubt if Boak and Boick are the same, and shall be glad to hear what others think or know, as also in regard to my other queries on the subject. Please pardon the length of this, but I wish to lay before any one able to assist me all the points I have, as yet, ascertained, from whatever source, as to the surnames of Boak and Boick. MONK, EARLY BELGIAN PEDIGREES.-Will any one inform me how I can get information to complete some old Belgian pedigrees of ancestors who lived before 1100? I have written to the libraries at Brussels and Louvain, but although they always reply to my letters, I am never told how or where to apply for what I want, except in the Council Office, and sent to the Queen by that office, to which it is returned, and by which it is issued. The same office prepares charters-such, for example, as those to new municipal corporations. When it is necessary for the Queen to hold a Council for any formal matters, the Minister in attendance and one or two other Privy Councillors are pressed into the service. There is some times a difficulty in forming such a Council when Her Majesty is at a great distance from London, and on one occasion one of the great officials connected with Her Majesty was made a Privy Councillor to get over this difficulty-one of Her Majesty's sons, now dead, who was frequently in her neighbourhood, completing a Council of respectable strength with the others who have been momed.] PERYAM FAMILY.-Will some correspondent of "N. & Q.' kindly give me the names of the father and mother of Sir Edward Peryam (living about 1550), whose daughter Emily, it is said, married Edward Ryder, or De Rythre, of Carrington, Cheshire? WM. JACKSON PIGOTT. Dundrum, eo. Down. WINDMILLS.-Can any reader give me, through Our invaluable N. & Q.,' references in literature be windmills, their visionary and poetic effect in a landscape? Has anybody besides Don Quixote felt their influence? S. W. GAMES IN CHURCHYARDS.-I want instances of games of any kind being played in churchyards, or dancing taking place there. I should also be glad if any one would refer me to any book giving an account of anything of the kind. I know what "The Book of Days,' Brand, and Hone say. FLORENCE PEACOCK. Dunstan House, Kirton-in-Lindsey. HERALDIC.-I should be deeply obliged if any of your readers could tell me whether there is any meaning or probable significance in the cross forming part of the following coat of arms (or why one branch of the family should bear it and not the ether): Gules, on a chevron between three falcons argent, membered and belled or, a cross crosslet fichée sable (Headley, Hedley, or Hetley). I abould also be very grateful for any information whatever regarding this family. 30, Wolverton Gardens, W. R. H. HEADLEY. THE NATIONAL DEBT.-At what date was the national debt of England about fifty-five millions? F. G. NELSON'S "LITTLE EMMA."-In the 'Dictionary of National Biography' we are told, in the memoir of Lord Nelson, that he had two children by Lady Hamilton-Horatia and Emma, the latter born at the end of December, 1803, or beginning of January, 1804. What is the ground for the statement concerning an Emma? QUERIST. BANKS IN CALCUTTA.-Will any reader kindly inform me where I shall find particulars of the founder of the banking house of Barber & Palmer, which flourished in Calcutta somewhere about the middle of last century? Was it founded by John Barber, of Metfield, Suffolk; and does the house S. still exist? Kew. CIVIL WAR, 1645.-Are there any records of Bucks county troops engaged? I seek the name of Pontifex. A. C. H. ALLEY.-The Rev. Peter Alley, Rector of Donoughmore, co. Wicklow, where he died 1763, aged one hundred and ten, is said to have been a descendant of Dr. William Alley, Bishop of Exeter (died 1570). Can any of your correspondents verify this statement? The Rev. Peter is also said to have had three wives and thirty-three children-"sixteen by his first, and seventeen by his second wife." I would be glad to have the names and parentage of these wives. SIGMA TAU. NAME OF UNIVERSITY.-The Archbishop of Canterbury, in an address this year, said :— "An account of life in an ancient university which has come down to us, informs us that the students of the first year used to call themselves by the proud title of cópiorat, those of the second year were content with the more modest title of piλoródot, while it was only the more stupid of the third year's students who cared to claim any higher title than that of pa¤ñτaι." What university was this; and where does the story occur? G. EDWARD YOUNG, THE POET.-By his marriage with Lady Elizabeth Lee the poet left one son, named Frederic, to whom the Prince of Wales was godfather. Frederic Young married, 10 October, 1765, Miss Bell, of Wallington; and I should be glad to know 1. The Christian name of his wife, and any particulars of this family of Bell. 2. Whether she left any issue of her marriage; and, if so, whether the poet has any lineal male representative now living. 3. By what authority did he use the arms, Lozengy argent and vert, on a bend azure three griffins' heads erased of the first! E. W. D. |