"PLAYING THE WAG"=PLAYING THE TRUant. -What is the origin of this phrase? Another form is "Playing the Charley Wag." It would be Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, during

the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was the custom to sentence culprits who were convicted of certain crimes or offences to wear a cloth letter, conspicuous in its contrast of colour, sewn either upon the arm or breast or back of the outer garment. Instances are found in the colonial records which show that this letter generally indicated the crime. Thus, A, for adultery; I, for incest; D, for drunkard. Hawthorne has made use of the custom in 'The Scarlet Letter.' I have endeavoured to trace this custom back to England, but have failed to discover the record of an instance in which this penalty has there been imposed. Can any person cite a precedent in England which will show whence the colonists derived this custom?

ANDREW McFarlane Davis.

10, Appleton Street, Cambridge, Mass.

per

DRYASDUST: SMELLFUNGUS.-Were these sonages first named by Walter Scott and Carlyle respectively; and what is the special characteristic of Smellfungus? Is he the man who mistakes the fungus-growths of his own fancy for facts of the history he is recording?

A.

["Smellfungus" was first applied by Sterne to Smollett. See Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.']

READE FAMILY.-I shall be grateful for any information as to the Reades of Lugwardine, co. Hereford, especially as to the family of Richard Reade, who was thirteen years old at the Visitation When did the family become extinct? W. PALEY BAILDON.

of 1627. Lincoln's Inn.

ever noticed the irony-unconscious irony, I suppose-in chap. v., where East, in his character of cicerone, says to Tom Brown, "That's the chapel, you see, and there just behind it is the place for fights"? The italics are my own, of course. JONATHAN BOUCHIER.

MIGHELLS.-I want to find out who was the wife of Admiral Mighells. In Lowestoft Church is a monument to the Hon. James Mighells, ViceAdmiral of the Blue and Comptroller of the Royal Navy, who died March 21, 1733. On this monument-and in Gillingwater's 'Lowestoft'-his arms are given as Gu., a bendlet or surmounted of a fesse sa. I presume for difference, as he was the second There is a crescent in the sinister chief, son. In West Ham Parish Church, Essex, is a monument to "Mrs. Ann Mighells, Relict of the Hon. Jas. Mighells, sometime Vice-Admiral of the Blue and afterwards Comptroller of the Navy...... who died 21st March, 1733, and lies buried at On this monument are the arms Lowestoff." following: Per pale, dexter, Az., a chev. between three eagles displayed with two heads or; sinister, Sa., three bars wavy az. (or or) on a chief gu. a bull pass. guard. or. On account of age it is impossible to say of what metal the bars wavy are; but the other ordinaries are perfectly clear where gilt, and therefore I have reason to suppose that the bars were argent. The arms on the dexter side are those of Ashby (co. Leicester). Admiral Mighells's mother was Thomasin, sister of Admiral Sir Thomas Ashby, who was knighted for valour in the engagement with the French in Bantry Bay, and who was buried in Lowestoft Church in July,

'TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS': RUGBY SCHOOL. 1693. Can any of your readers explain (1) From -The motto to the first chapter is :

I'm the Poet of White Horse Vale, Sir,
With liberal notions under my cap.
Ballad.

Where is the remainder of this ballad to be found?
Also, where can I find the 'Coaching Song,' by
R. E. E. Warburton, two lines of which are quoted
as the motto to chap. iv.?

As Mr. Hughes's graphic work has taken its place, justly, as an English classic, there ought to be as few errors as possible in it. The first motto to part ii. chap. iv. is attributed to Rowe. The lines are Shenstone's, from the second part of his 'Pastoral Ballad.' I quote from the "Golden Treasury" edition of Tom Brown's School Days,' 1892.

Is there not a little exaggeration in chap. vi., where it is stated that the lower school boys thought that "old Brooke," the captain of the school, circa 1832, was the identical "6 brave Broke" who commanded the Shannon in the naval duel in 1813? Rugby boys of even the second, not to say the third form could hardly have been such "duffers," I should think. What do your old Rugbeian readers say? Has any one

the arms on her monument, who Mrs. Mighells
was? (2) Why she should impale the Ashby
arms, and not her husband's ? (3) Admiral
Mighells having left no sons, but three daughters,
one of whom was married to Admiral John
Gascoigne, was Admiral Gascoigne entitled to
quarter the arms of Mighells, as given in Lowes-
toft Church, the arms of Ashby, and the arms of
the family to which Mrs. Mighells belonged?
According to Papworth, vol. i. p. 42, and Robson,
the arms on the sinister side of the shield above
referred to belonged to Bullman, or Bulman,
Who were they?
WILLIAM A. LYNDE.

'TEN THOUSAND A YEAR.'-Can any student of legal history, and Samuel Warren, tell me who were the originals of the learned counsel who figure at York in the celebrated case of Doe d. Titmouse v. Jolter? MR. PICKFORD says, I observe, that Mr. Subtle, who led for the plaintiff, was Scarlett, and from Warren's full description, as compared with Whiteside's sketch of him in his descriptions of eminent English lawyers, I have no doubt he is correct. Whiteside said, "If you had a rotten case to patch up, you would, of course,

select Sir James Scarlett," and, in the case I refer to, certainly the firm of Quirk, Gammon & Snap did rightly. Mr. Quicksilver, who had received the "muffling" retainer, was Brougham, I suppose. Who was the Attorney-General depicted by Warren; and who was Mr. Sterling, the second king's counsel appearing for the defendant? I write away from my Campbell and other books, so am unable to trace the counsel on the circuit. Had Lynx, the junior who appeared for the plaintiff, any prototype? Lastly, to come to the conveyancers, Was the eminent Mr. Mortmain drawn from life? Who were Lord Widdrington and Mr. Justice Grayley?

THE WORST EDITION OF SHAKSPEARE.-To do a thing notoriously ill is, so far as fame is concerned, the next thing to doing it excellently well. In the notice of Francis Gentleman in the 'Biographia Dramatica,' by David Erskine Baker, 1782, it is stated by Mr. Isaac Reed, who edited this edition, "He has had the discredit, but we know not on what foundation, of being editor of the worst edition that ever appeared of any English author, we mean Shakspeare as printed by Mr. Bell." I do not find this book in the list of eighteenth century editions of Shakespeare. I wish to know, Is there a copy of the work in existence ? Does it merit the censure? The biographer of the unfortunate Gentleman in the 'D. N. B.' seems to hint that the stricture was unjustly severe.

The following extracts from other memoranda and annotations that I possess on the same subject may also prove interesting. The first two are to be found in news letters in the manuscripts belong

ing to S. H. Le Fleming, Rydal Hall, also published by the aforesaid Commission :

"Feb. 28, 1670-1.-On Saturday night, or rather Sunday morning, happened an unfortunate accident near Holborn. Several persons of quality being interrupted by the constable and his company, were by them

resisted. One of the beadles was wounded and died."

"March 7, 1670-1.-His Majesty, considering the late sad accident of killing the beadle near Holborn, has

315, 357, 414).—I am glad to say I have ascertained that the valuable relics of King Charles I. have been carefully preserved by Mr. MartinEdmunds, since his change of residence from Worsborough Hall, where they had been kept for generations; and I can now give a more detailed description of them.

RELICS OF KING CHARLES I. (8th S. vi. 226,

The cabinet, said to have been used by the changed the ballet, intended to have been continued till king in his travelling excursions, measures about Shrovetide, into common dancing, they therefore were this evening at Clarendon House. 2nd, His Majesty, in thirty inches in height, forty-four inches in width, detestation of the late horrid barbarous fact, has called and is twenty inches deep. The door, which is a council, commanded the Chief Justice to attend him locked at the top, opens downward, and forms a there to give him an account of the matter, and con-writing table; inside there are a number of small sidering the many mischiefs that may arise and have drawers to hold papers, &c. The cabinet is placed lately by persons under pretence of masquerade, intended it is said to have strictly prohibited the same, but after on a stand with four legs; this is modern, but was consideration it was thought fit to certify to the Justice exactly copied from the original, which had become of the Peace that the Guards have orders upon all decayed. Round the door in front is the following Occasions to assist the watch in any part of the town, inscription: "Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam against all persons of whatsoever quality they be." ipsorum est regnum coelorum, Beati mites, quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram.'

"The Duke of Monmouth, who had contrived the outrage on Coventry, in a drunken frolic with the young Duke of Albemarle and others deliberately kills a ward. beadle. Charles, to save his son, pardoned all the murderers." -Wade's 'British History,' chronologically arranged.

F. A. CHART.

I am glad to find that there is a prospect of a continuance of MR. C. A. WARD's useful and suggestive papers on Lincoln's Inn Fields and its vicinity; but I can hardly be expected to accept MR. WARD's views on archeological research. According to Mr. Ward, "All antiquarian questions are twaddle, or very near it." I have always thought that a knowledge of the past is the best guide to conduct in the future, and that any light thrown on bygone times, even if it be that of a horn-lantern only, is preferable to total darkness. But if inquiry is to be made at all, I think it should be conducted on the strictest lines of accuracy. I cannot get over my objection to "parrot's tales," and if MR. WARD choose to assail me with either beak or claws, I can assure him I shall receive the punishment "smiling," so long as I am suffering in the interests of historical truth.

The history of Whetstone Park is a very trifling "" quiddity,” but if it is brought into court at all it should be supported by evidence. MR. WARD says, "Nothing of the kind can be better attested,

There are a pair of sheets, in which the king is supposed to have slept on the night before his execution. There are also a night-shirt and a night-cap, all made of very fine linen, and beautifully worked with small stiches, the sheets being hemstitched and marked AR. with a crown above. This looks as if the monogram was of his mother, Queen Anne, who was a daughter of Frederick II. of Denmark.

There is also a book, bound in red velvet, which contains a MS. account of Sir T. Herbert's devoted attendance on the king during the latter part of his life. This, I presume, is what has since been published; and the book contains a recommendation of his faithful servant, written by the king's own hand.

The stool is eleven inches high, and is eighteen by fourteen inches across, and looks older than the cabinet, and some of the wood is rotten. It is covered with red velvet that is much worn, and is stuffed with feathers. There are marks on this which are supposed to be blood stains. Is it possible that the stool acted as the fatal blook?

ALFRED GATTY, D.D.

THE ETYMOLOGY OF "JINGO" (5th S. x. 7, 96 456; 8th S. vi. 51, 74, 149, 312, 373).—While

DR. BREWER, in his 'Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,' countenances the derivation of this word from the Basque Jainko (elsewhere literated Jaincoac, Jainkoa, Jenco, and Jinkoa, with longer forms Jangoicoa and Jaungoicoa), we must be prepared by his reply at the last reference for a different derivation in that new edition of his valuable guide the issue of which all travellers in the paths that he has trodden hail with gratitude. But the statement that the word comes to us through the music-halls must be modified to the effect that its use in the refrain of a music-hall song in 1877-8 may perhaps have temporarily increased its circulation, as it certainly led to its association with chauvinism.

the note may be merely founded on what Halliwell says the derivation is said to be.

We are indebted to the French journalist, whose absurd guess at the derivation of our English phrase has received more attention than it deserved, for causing the present renewal of a discussion which plainly is not exhausted. While those to whom we look for light and leading show difference of opinion or change of view, no reasonable offer of a suggestion should be refused. And what with popular attribution to a language that nobody knows, with two saints in the field, with a choice presented between Je renie Dieu (through Jirnigo, 2nd S. xii. 336) and Jesu son of God (through Je'-'n-Go', 8th S. vi. 373), it would seem unreasonable to exclude Gingko (Salisburia adiantifolia), the sacred tree of Japan, from the interesting KILLIGREW. competition.

As DR. CHANCE very properly points out, what we want is an historical account of this word, and he adds that PROF. SKEAT probably does not know when Jingo came into use in England. An earlier use than Swift's is that in Oldham's fourth Satire upon the Jesuits, written, I believe, in 1679. All Oldham's pungent satires on the Jesuits naturally contain references to Ignatius Loyola, Loyolites, &c.; the fourth is headed, "St. Ignatius's Image brought in, discovering the rogueries of the Jesuits, and ridiculous superstition of the Church I must quote the lines referred to

of Rome."
above :-

Besides the use of it by Dean Swift quoted above DR. BREWER'S note, we find Goldsmith putting it into the mouth not only of Tony Lumpkin, but of the demi-monde town lady, who prefixes "the living," and Dr. Brown into that of Sir Walter Scott. A contributor at 5th S. x. 457 mentions its use by Jarvis in his translation of 'Don Quixote,' edition of 1842. I am not acquainted with the edition of 1842. In the editions of 1749 and 1810 I find Sancho's Por Dios rendered, "By the living God." Perhaps Jarvis, or Jervas, thought Shelton's "By Jove" too weak. Perhaps some editor of Jervas thought his rendering too strong, and so changed it to "By the living Jingo." If so, the change is likely to have occurred at a time when the phrase was in Vogue as a mild-flavoured oath, recommended for the use of schools and families. The sort of music-hall to require such a one was not in existence in 1842. I well remember its school use-without the living"-though I think that Disraeli was well advised in making his Etonians swear exclusively by Jove. Jingo must have been familiar to Barham, or he would not have made St. Dunstan swear by him. But when, after identify- This is to me a very suggestive passage. The ing Jingo with Gengulphus, he proceeds to account first impression it conveys is that jingo is a word for the phrase "living Jingo" by a story of the of the hocus-pocus type; then one remembers that lively behaviour of the joints into which the dead Ignatius Loyola was a Biscayan, born in Guipuzcoa Gengulphus had been cut up, a story with no other in 1491. Then we are told by CANON TAYLOR apparent foundation than some tradition of the (8th S. vi. 290) that Inigo is the Navarrese of healing effects of his unmutilated body, we may Ignatius; and Dr. Charnock states, in 'Præbe forgiven for doubting his seriousness about any nomina,' 1882, p. 64, that Inigo is another orthophase of the question, etymological or otherwise.graphy of Innigo or Enneco, and adds that this Lord Byron's abbreviation of St. Gingolph, on the Enneco is the name of a saint. Lake of Geneva, to St. Gingo, not Jingo (5th S. x. 456), is noticeable.

But nothing with the crowd does more enhance
The value of these holy charlatans,
Than when the wonders of the mass they view,
Where spiritual jugglers their chief mastery show.
"Hey, jingo, sirs! What's this?" 'Tis bread you see;
"Presto begone!" 'Tis now a deity.
Two grains of dough, with cross, and stamp of priest,
And five small words pronounced, make up their Christ.

Clearly Jingo and Inigo are words that approximate very closely, and in the passage quoted It has not yet, I think, been recorded in Oldham is straining all his powers of coarse satire N. & Q.' that "By Jings," as well as "By Jove," to ridicule the "Biscain plague," as he calls the is, or was till lately, in use as an interjection in founder of the Jesuits. The dot of an i makes ordinary Shropshire speech. In the Shropshire Iingo into Inigo, and Oldham was a rough-andWordbook' there is a note to Jingo St. ready writer. At any rate, this seems to me nearer Gingoulph." A star against this points to further than St. Gengulphus, or St. Gingues, and certainly, explanation in the glossary, which I regret to say I with all deference, nearer than Jesus-son-of-God cannot find. There may be a local reason for the crushed down to "Je'-'n-Go'." derivation, which would be very interesting. But

66

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Oldham may have read some life of Loyola in