author's works, and that they be sold collectively or separately at the purchaser's option. Thus few would encumber themselves with the entire works of Dryden, but many would gladly purchase some of his poems if they could be had separately. These remarks are still more applicable to encyclopædias. The Encycl. Metropol. was a step in the right direction; and henceforth we may hope to have each article sold separately in octavo volumes. Is there no chance, amid all these reprints, of our seeing Heywood, Crashaw, Southwell, Habington, Daniel, or Drummond of HawthornMARICONDA. den? Uhland, the German Poet. Mr. Mitchell, in his speech at New York, is said to have stated that Uhland, the German poet, had become an exile, and was now in Ohio. This is a mistake; for Uhland is now living in his native Würtemberg, and is reported in the papers to have quite recently declined a civic honour proposed to be conferred on him by the King of Prussia at the suggestion of Baron Humboldt. J. M. Oxford. Virgilian Inscription for an Infant School. Queries. THE SHIPPEN FAMILY -JOHN WHITE. "downright Shippen " (Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng., three vols.)-a conjecture strengthened by another mem., "John, son of the Rector of St. Mary's parish, Stockport, was baptized July 5, A.D. 1678." Edward Shippen's daughter, Margaret, married John Jekyll, collector of the port of Boston, said to have been a younger brother of Sir Joseph; and a descendant, daughter of Chief Justice Shippen, married General Benedict Arnold, then a distinguished officer in the American army. Mr. Shippen lived in great style (Watson's Annals, &c.), and among his descendants were, and are, many persons of consequence and distinction. Besides information as to Mr. Shippen's ancestors, I should be glad to learn something of his kinsfolk, and of the Jekyll and Arnold branches. Sabine's (Loyalists) account of the latter is imperfect, and perhaps not very just. John White, Chief Justice Shippen, whilst a law student in London, writes, 1748-50, as though Mr. White was socially a man of dignified position. He was a man of large fortune; his sister married San. Swift, who emigrated to this state. His portrait, by Reynolds, represents a gentleman past middle age, whose costume and appearance are those of a person of refined and elegant education. His letters were destroyed by fire some ANON. years since. The China and silver ware, which belonged to him, have the following arms: "Gules, a border sable, charged with seven or eight estoiles gold; on a canton ermines a lion rampant sable. Crest, a bird, either a stork, a heron, or an ostrich." The copy inclosed is taken from the arms on the china; but our Heralds' College (i.e. an intelligent engraver, who gave me the foregoing description) says, that on the silver the crest is "a stork close.' THOS. BALCH. Philadelphia. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania having requested me to edit certain MSS., I should be very much indebted to any one for information, either through your columns, or addressed to me directly, concerning the following persons or their ancestry. Edward Shippen, son of William, born in Yorkshire, near Pontefract or Wakefield, as supposed, 1639; emigrated to Boston 1670, was a member of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company, afterwards turned Quaker, was publicly whipt for his faith (see Thomas Story's Journal, quoted in Southey's Common-Place Book), removed to Philadelphia, elected Speaker 1695, first mayor 1701, &c., died 1712. His son's family Bible entries (now in possession of Colonel Jno. Hare Powel) say that his (the son's) relations in England were his "uncle William's children," viz. Robert Shippen, Doctor of Divinity; William Shippen, Doctor of Laws and a parliament man; Edward, a physician; John, a Spanish merchant. The uncle William thus mentioned is conjectured to have been the Rector of Stockport, and the "parliament man to have been his son, BOOKS ISSUED IN PARTS AND NOT COMPLETED. From time to time various productions, many valuable, others the reverse, have issued from the press in parts or numbers; some have been completed, while others have only reached a few num bers. It would be desirable to ascertain what works have been finished, and what have not. I have therefore transmitted a note as to several that have fallen in my way, and should be happy for any information about them: "1. John Bull Magazine, 8vo., London, 1824. Of this I possess four numbers. A friend of mine has also the four numbers, and, like myself, attaches great value to them, from the ability of many of the articles. One article, entitled "Instructions to Missionaries," is equal to any thing from the pen of T. Hood. May it not have been written by him? 2. Portraits of the Worthies of Westminster Hall, with their Autographs, being Fac-Similes of Original Sketches found in the Note-Book of a Briefless Barrister. London: Thomas and William Boone, 480. Strand. Small 8vo. Part I. Price Twenty Shillings. Twenty Sketches (very clever). 3. Dictionary of Terms employed by the French in Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, &c., by Shirley Palmer, M. D. 8vo., 1834. Birmingham: Barlow. London: Longman & Co. Two Parts. Stops at the letter H. 4. Quarterly Biographical Magazine, No. I., May, 1838. 8vo. London: Hunt & Hart. 5. Complete Illustrations of the British Fresh-water Fishes. London: W. Wood. 8vo. Three Numbers. 6. New and Compendious History of the County of Warwick, &c. By William Smith, F.R. S. A. 4to. Birmingham: W. Evans. London : J. T. Hinton, 4. Warwick Square. 1829. Ten Numbers, to be completed in Twelve. On my copy there is written, “ Never finished." Is this the case? 66 7. Fishes of Ceylon. By John Whitchurch Bennet, Esq., F.H.S. London: Longman & Co. 1828. 4to. Two Numbers. A Guinea each. sion ? Minor Queries. Miles Smith, Bishop of Gloucester, those of the Smiths of Willoughby, those of the Smiths of Crudely, in Lancashire, and those of the Robinsons of the North Riding of Yorkshire? Also, in what church, and in what year, did Lady Elizabeth Robinson, otherwise known as Betty of the Boith, serve the office of churchwarden ? JOHN H. R. SMITH, Jun. Coin of Carausius.- A brass coin has lately come into my possession, bearing on the obverse the head and inscription : 66 IMP. CARAVSIUS. P. P. AVG." And on the reverse, a female figure, with spear and a branch: Verelst the Painter.-Can any of your readers J. M. inform me who was Jo. Verelst? I have in my possession a picture bearing the signature, with the addition of P. 1714. The celebrated artists of that name mentioned in the Dictionary of Painters cannot be the same. CELCRENA. "Hovd Maet of Laet."-Will you kindly give me a translation of the above, which is in the corner of an old Dutch panel painting in the style of Ostade and Teniers, jun., in my possesREADING. Hand in Church (Vol. viii., p. 454.).—What is the hand projecting under chancel arch, Brighton old church? A. C. Egger Moths. What is the derivation of the egger," as applied to several species of MOUNTJOY. The Yorkshire Dales (Vol. ii., p. 220.).—Is the Guide to the above by J. H. Dixon published? word " moths? R. W. D. Ciss, Cissle, &c.-Can any of your readers give me any authority for a written usage of these words, or any one of them: ciss, siss, cissle or cizzle? They are often heard, but I have never seen them written, nor can I find them in any dictionary. A. Inn Signs, &c.-Can any reader of "N. & Q.” supply information respecting inn and other signs; or refer to any printed books, or accessible MSS., relating to the subject? ALPHEGE. Smiths and Robinsons. Could any of your correspondents inform me what are the arms of human food. Can you tell me what it is, or where it is to be found? G. D. Minor Queries with Answers. Branks, or Gossips' Bridles. -Walton Church contains one of those strange instruments with which our ancestors used to punish those dames who were too free with the use of their tongues. They were called hanks [branks], or gossips' bridles, and were intended to inclose the head, being fastened behind by a padlock, and having attached to it a small piece of iron which literally "held the tongue." Thus accoutred, the unhappy culprit was marched through the village till she gave unequivocal signs of repentance and humiliation. Can any one give some account of this curious instrument ? GEORGE HODges. Oxford. It [Fosbroke says that "the brank is a sugar-loaf cap made of iron hooping, with a cross at top, and a flat piece projecting inwards to lie upon the tongue. was put upon the head of scolds, padlocked behind, and a string annexed, by which a man led them through the towns." (See also Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 108., Bohn's edition.) Engravings of them will be found in Plot's History of Staffordshire, p. 389., and in Brand's History of Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 192. In the Historical Description of the Tower of London, p. 54., edit. 1774, occurs the following libellous squib on the fair sex : Among the curiosities of the Tower is a collar of torment, which, say your conductors, used formerly to be put about the women's neck that cuckolded their husbands, or scolded them when they came home late; but that custom is left off now-a-days, to prevent quarrelling for collars, there not being smiths enough to make them, as most married men are sure to want them at one time or an other." Waldron, in his Description of the Isle of Man, p. 80., thus notices this instrument of punishment: "I know nothing in the Manx statutes or punishments in particular but this, which is, that if any person be convicted of uttering a scandalous report, and cannot make good the assertion, instead of being fined or imprisoned, they are sentenced to stand in the marketplace, on a sort of scaffold erected for that purpose, with their tongue in a noose made of leather, which they call a bridle, and having been exposed to the view of the people for some time, on the taking off this machine, they are obliged to say three times, Tongue, thou hast lyed.""] Not caring a Fig for anything.-What is the origin of this expression? J. H. CHATEAU. Philadelphia. [Nares informs us that the real origin of this expression may be found in Stevens and Pineda's Dictionaries under Higa; and, in fact, the same phrase and allusion pervaded all modern Europe: as, Fur le fiche, Ital.; Faire la figue, Fr.; Die Feigen weisen, Germ.; De vijghe setten, Dutch. (See Du Cange, in Ficha.) Johnson says, "To fig, in Spanish, higas dar, is to insult by putting the thumb between the fore and middle finger. From this Spanish custom we yet say in contempt, A fig for you." To this explanation Mr. Douce has added the following note: "Dr. Johnson has properly explained this phrase; but it should be added, that it is of Italian origin. When the Milanese revolted against the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, they placed the Empress his wife upon a mule with her head towards the tail, and ignominiously expelled her their city. Frederick afterwards besieged and took the place, and compelled every one of his pri soners, on pain of death, to take with his teeth a fig from the posteriors of a mule. The party was at the same time obliged to repeat to the executioner the words Ecco la fica. From this circumstance far la fica became a term of derision, and was adopted by other nations. The French say likewise, faire la figue."] B. C. Y.-Can you give me any information respecting the famous B. C. Y. row, as it was called, which occurred about fifty years ago? A newspaper was started expressly to explain the meaning of the letters, which said it was Beware of the Catholic Yoke;" but it was wrong. 86 H. Y. [These "No- Popery " hieroglyphics first appeared in the reign of Charles II. during the debates on the Exclusion Bill, and were chalked over all parts of Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament. O B. C. Y. was then the inscription, which meant, "O Beware of Catholic York." On their re-appearance in 1809 the Y. was much taller than the B. C.; but the use and meaning at this time of these initials still remains a query.] [A volume of his poems was published anonymously by Dodsley, and entitled Odes and Epistles; containing an Ode on his own Conversion from Popery: London, 1739, 8vo., 2nd edit. There are also other pieces by him in Dodsley's Collection, and the New Foundling Hospital for Wit. He also published Faith, a Poem; a strange attempt to overturn the Epicurean doctrine by that of the Trinity; and Verses to the Queen; with a New Year's Gift of Irish Manufacture, 1775, 4to.] Huntbach MSS.-Can you tell me where the Huntbach MSS. now lie? Shaw, in his History of Staffordshire, drew largely from them. URSUS. [Dr. Wilkes's Collections, with those of Fielde, Huntbach, Loxdale, and Shaw, as also the engraved plates and drawings, published and unpublished, relative to the History of Staffordshire, were, in the year 1820, in the possession of William Hamper, F. S.A., Deritend House, Birmingham.] Holy Loaf Money.-In Dr. Whitaker's Whalley, p. 149., mention is made of holy loaf money. What is meant by this? T. I. W. [This seems to be some ecclesiastical due payable on Hlaf-mass, or Loaf-mass, commonly called LammasDay (August 1st). See Somner and Junius. It was called Loaf or Bread-mass, because it was a day of oblation of grain, or of bread made of new wheat; and was also the holiday of St. Peter ad Vincula, when Peter-pence were paid. Du Cange likewise mentions the Panis benedictus, and that money was given by the recipients of it on the following occasion:-" Since the catechumens," says he, "before baptism could neither partake of the Divine Mysteries, nor consequently of the Eucharist, a loaf was consecrated and given to them by the priest, whereby they were prepared for receiving the body of Christ."] St. Philip's, Bristol.- Can you inform me when the Church of St. Philip, Bristol, was made parochial, and in what year the Priory of Benedictines, mentioned by William de Worcester in connexion with this church, was dissolved, and when founded? E. W. GODWIN. [Neither Dugdale nor Tanner could discover any notices of this priory, except the traditionary account preserved in William of Worcester, p. 210.: juxta Cimiterium et Ecclesiam Sancti Philippi, ubi quondam ecclesia religiosorum et Prioratus scituatur." It was probably a cell to the Tewkesbury monastery; and the historians of Bristol state, that the exact time when it became parochial is not known; but it was very early, being mentioned in Gaunt's deeds before the year 1200; and, like St. James's, became a parish church through the accession of inhabitants.] 66 Foreign Universities. - Is there any history of the University of Bologna ? or where can be found any account of the foundation and constitution of the foreign universities in general? J. C. H. R. [Our correspondent will find some account of the foreign universities, especially of Bologna, in the valuable article "Universities," Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. xxi., with numerous references to other works containing notices of them. Consult also "A Discovrse not altogether vnprofitable nor vnpleasant for such as are desirous to know the Situation and Customes of Forraine Cities without trauelling to see them containing a Discovrse of all those Citties which doe flourish at this Day priuiledged Vniuersities. By Samuel Lewkenor. London, 1594, 4to."] munications with the unseen world." In order to facilitate the acquisition of the requisite amount of facts, I beg to apprise JOHN O' THE FORD, and your other correspondents and readers generally, that a Society was founded about a year ago, and is now in existence, composed of members of the University of Cambridge; the objects of which will be best gleaned from the following extract from the Prospectus: "The interest and importance of a serious and earnest inquiry into the nature of the phenomena which are tioned. Many persons believe that all such apparently vaguely called 'supernatural,' will scarcely be quesmysterious occurrences are due, either to purely natural causes, or to delusions of the mind or senses, or to wilful deception. But there are many others who believe it possible that the beings of the unseen world may manifest themselves to us in extraordinary ways; and also are unable otherwise to explain many facts, the evidence for which cannot be impeached. Both parties have obviously a common interest in wishing cases of supposed supernatural' agency to be thoroughly sifted. The main impediment to investigations of this kind is the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of clear and well-attested cases. Many of the stories current in tradition, or scattered up and down in books, may be exactly true; others must be purely fictitious; others again, probably the greater number, consist of a But it is idle to mixture of truth and falsehood. examine the significance of an alleged fact of this nature, until the trustworthiness, and also the extent of the evidence for it, are ascertained. Impressed with this conviction, some members of the University of Cambridge are anxious, if possible, to form an extensive collection of authenticated cases of supposed 'supernatural' agency . . . . From all those who may be inclined to aid them, they request written communications, with full details of persons, times, and places." The Prospectus closes with the following classification of phenomena: In con "I. Appearances of Angels. (1.) Good. (2.) Evil -II. Spectral appearances of (1.) The beholder himself (e. g. Fetches' or 'Doubles'). (2.) Other men, recognised or not. (i.) Before their death (e. g. 'second sight.') (a.) To one person. (b.) To several persons. (i.) At the moment of their death. (a.) To one person. (b.) To several persons. 1. In the same place. 2. In several places. i. Simultaneously. ii. Successively. (iii.) After their death. nexion with (a.) Particular places, remarkable for1. Good deeds. 2. Evil deeds. (b.) Particular times (e. g. on the anniversary of any event, or at fixed seasons). (c.) Particular events (e. g. before calamity or death). (d.) Particular persons (e. g. haunted mur derers). III. Shapes' falling under neither of the former classes. (1.) Recurrent. In connexion with(i.) Particular families (e. g. the Banshee'). (ii.) Particular places (e. g. the Mawth Dog'). (2.) Oc casional. (i.) Visions signifying events, past, present, or future. (a.) By actual representation (e. g. 'second sight'). (b.) By symbol. (ii.) Visions of a fantastical nature. - IV. Dreams remarkable for coinci dences. (1.) In their occurrence. (i.) To the same person several times. (ii.) In the same form to several persons. (a.) Simultaneously. (b.) Successively. (2.) With facts. (i.) Past. (a.) Previously unknown. (b.) Formerly known, but forgotten. (ii.) Present, but unknown. (iii.) Future.-V. Feelings. A definite consciousness of a fact. (1.) Past: an impression that an event has happened. (2.) Present: sympathy wh a person suffering or acting at a distance. (3.) Future: presentiment. VI. Physical effects. (1.) Sounds. (i.) With the use of ordinary means (e. g. ringing of bells). (ii.) Without the use of any apparent means (e. g. voices). (2.) Impressions of touch (e. g. breathings on the person). 66 Every narrative of 'supernatural' agency which may be communicated, will be rendered far more instructive if accompanied by any particulars as to the observer's natural temperament (e. g. sanguine, nervous, &c.), constitution (e. g. subject to fever, somnambulism, &c.), and state at the time (e. g. excited in mind or body, &c.)." As I have no authority to give names, I can do no more than say that, though not a member of the Society, I shall be happy to receive communications and forward them to the secretary. C. MANSFIELd Ingleby. Birmingham. good, death and life, or rather the latter to the former, as water does to the gases of which it is essentially com pounded. - Ed.] STARVATION. (Vol. ix., p. 54.) Until your correspondent Q. designated the word starvation as "an Americanism," I never had the least suspicion that it was obtained from that heard some thirty or forty years ago, that it was source. On the contrary, I remember to have first employed by Harry Dundas, the first Viscount Melville, who might have spoken with a brogue, but whose despatches were in good intelligible English. I once asked his son, the second Viscount, whose correctness must be fresh in the recollection of many of your readers, if the above report was true, and he seemed to think that his father had coined the word, and that it immediately got into general circulation. My impression is, scarcity at the end of the last, and the commencethat it was already current during the great ment of this century; but the dictionary makers, those "who toil at the lower employments of life," as old Sam Johnson termed it, are not apt to be alert in seizing on fresh words, and "starv [The Night Side of Nature would seem to indicate that its ingenious, yet sober and judicious, authoressation" has shared in the general neglect. had forestalled the "Folk-lore" investigations of the projected Cambridge Society. Probably some of its members will not rest satisfied with a simple collection of phenomena relating to communications with the unseen world, but will exclaim with Hamlet "Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, and will endeavour to ascertain the philosophy of those communications, as Newton did with the recorded data and phenomena of the mechanical or material universe. Whether the transcripts of some of the voluminous unpublished writings of Dionysius Andreas Freher, deposited in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 5767— 5792.), will assist the inquirer in his investigations, we cannot confidently state: but in them he will find continual references to what Jacob Böhme terms "the eternal and astral magic, or the laws, powers and properties of the great Universal Will-Spirit of the two co-eternal worlds of darkness and light, and of this third or temporary principle." Freher was the principal illustrator of the writings of the celebrated Jacob Böhme, now exciting so much interest among the German literati; and, if we may credit William Law, it was from the principles of this remarkable man that Sir Isaac Newton derived his theory of fundamental powers. (See " N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 247.) But on this and other matters we may doubtless expect to be well informed by Sir David Brewster, in his new "Memoir of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton." According to Law, the two-fold spiritual universe stands as near, and in a similar relation to this material mixed world, of darkness and light, evil and If you permit me I will, however, afford them my humble aid, by transcribing some omitted words which I find noted in a little Walker's Dictionary, printed in 1830, and which has been my companion in many pilgrimages through many distant lands. Many of them may by this time have found their way even into dictionaries, but I copy them as I find them. |