The word would easily be corrupted into war- 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. Darbye, Parson of Pitneye. Hewes is evidently "Huish Episcopi," and is the parish adjoining Pitney, both of them near Langport, Somersetshire. When I visited them, about thirteen years ago, I found the registers did not extend back so remotely; and I was assured that there were no Cliffes in either parish. Anthony leaves legacies to his "eldest brother," John, and to John's son Anthony and daughter Maudlin. He makes his wife Avise residuary legatee. Guernsey. HENRY L. TOTTENHAM. CHAPMAN'S ALL FOOLS': "To......SIR TнO. WALSINGHAM."-My obliging_friend Mr. R. F. Sketchley, librarian of the Dyce and Forster GEORGE HANGER, FOURTH BARON COLERAINE. Libraries, tells me that this dedicatory address is-1. What was the exact date of his birth? He stated to be found only in a copy in the possession died March 31, 1824, "aged seventy-three." of J. P. Collier, from which that gentleman printed 2. Where was he buried? 3. Is there any portrait a few copies for distribution. Might I ask, What of him in existence? I am aware of the woodcut has become of that copy? Was it sold after Mr. in the 'Life, Adventures, and Opinions,' and of Collier's death; or did it depart this life with its the frontispiece, after Reinagle, in the second possessor? I ask because, though it is possible edition of Hanger's 'To all Sportsmen,' &c. that Chapman, as says this dedication, may have 4. Who was the Hon. George Hanger, who was taken measures that his play should be pub-gazetted an ensign in the 70th Foot on Sept. 29, lished, it is certain that it was not printed from an author's copy, but from a stage transcript; and not improbably from the transcript of a transcript. The book is, as regards its wording, accurately transcribed and printed as compared with the usual playbooks of the period; but here and there there is verse printed as prose, and verse wrongly divided into overlong and shorter quasi-verse portions, such as no author would allow to be printed; irregularities, however, which might occur in a prompter's or other copy, where verbal accuracy was alone aimed at. BR. NICHOLSON. CLIFFE OR CLIVE FAMILY.-In the Harl. MSS. there are several pedigrees of the Cliffes of Cheshire and Shropshire, as well as of the family of the same name, but bearing different arms, settled in Essex. Of the latter a branch, I think, was established in Yorkshire. The name of the former family was generally spelt Cliffe, but is occasionally spelt Clyffe, Clive, or Clyve. It seems strange that the heralds should call the name Cliffe, while Lord Powis's ancestors used Clive or Clyve in their wills. Some time since a friend told me that in the Journal of the Archæological Society, Taunton Division, it was stated that the Cliffe family were benefactors to the ancient Abbey of Old Cleeve, in Somersetshire. This abbey seems to be identical with that of St. Mary's Redcliff. My friend thinks these Cliffes were also connected with Cliff-Pypard, in Wilts. I shall be obliged if any of your antiquarian correspondents will supply me with information respecting these Cliffes. From them possibly may have descended Anthony Cliffe, who made his will on April 16, 1573. He desires his body to be buried in the "Church Haye" of Hewes, and among other legacies is one of 10s. to William 1796 ? G. F. R. B. "ODD-COME-SHORTS": "TANTADLING TARTS." -In an amusingly illustrated sheet song, dated 1807, entitled 'The Odd Dealer,' mention is made of "odd-come-shorts" and "tantadling tarts." The compound seems to denote misfits in dress which had come into the dealer's possession at odd times; but what is meant by "tantadling tarts"? The Leadenhall Press, E.C. ANDREW W. TUER. H.-Can any of your readers give me any trustthe mispronunciation of the letter h in English? worthy sources of information as to the origin of It seems to be a comparatively late phenomenon. In what author is the peculiarity first noticed? HERBERT A. STRONG. NEWSPAPERS.-Is there any list or bibliography of Scottish, and more especially Edinburgh, newspapers? Where can I most readily obtain information respecting the dates of issue of Edinburgh newspapers, their politics, and when they were discontinued? At the British Museum the newspapers are not catalogued. I have seen Grant's, and also Hunt's 'History of Newspapers.' Information regarding periodicals of any sort, ancient or modern, published in Edinburgh, or sources of information, will prove acceptable to J. W. SCOTT. 137, Lothian Road, Edinburgh. RANDLE MACDONNELL.-I have in my posses- in his 'History of Staffordshire,' mentions the sion a book-plate which belonged to "Mr Randle McDonnell," and was taken from an edition of the Spectator published in Dublin in 1753. The arms on it are: 1 and 4, MacDonnell, quartering 2, Az., a buck's head between three spur rowels (Dingwall); and 3, Gyrony of eight, or and sa (Campbell). The crest is placed over a viscount's coronet, and the supporters of the Earls of Antrim are used. I am unable to find any MacDonnell who was entitled to use those quarterings, and in reply to inquiries which I made at the Irish Office of Arms, I have been informed that "No person could be entitled to use the supporters of the Earls of Antrim and a viscount's coronet but Viscount Dunluce, the eldest son of the Earl of Antrim. No Viscount Dunluce that has existed was entitled to this coat. In fact, there is no authority on record for the armorial ensigns on the book-plate." Who, then, can the owner of the book-plate have been? I shall be much obliged for any information which will throw a light on the subject. J. DE C. MACDONNELL. Fairy Hill, Limerick, ELASTIC. Is anything known of the history of this word (in any language) before 1651 ? In Pecquet's 'Experimenta Anatomica,' published in that year, elastica virtus denotes the "impulsive" force of the atmosphere, which, since the Torricellian discovery of 1643, has been recognized as the cause of the phenomena previously ascribed to "Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum." The earliest English occurrence of the word that I have been able to find is in the translation of Pecquet, 1653. In Boyle's 'Spring and Pressure of Air,' 1660, the author uses elastical force as a well-known term. but apologizes for the expression "elastical bodies" as a novelty of his own. So far as the evidence is known to me, the adjective was first employed to denote the expansive force of air or gases, its use with reference to solid or liquid substances being a later development. It would be interesting to know by whom and for what purpose the word was invented, whether it was first used in the discussions raised by the Torricellian experiment, or whether, as might also be conjectured, its original use referred to the "propulsive" force developed in the explosion of gunpowder. I should be surprised to find that the word was older than the seventeenth century. Is it to be found in Galileo or in Descartes ? HENRY BRADLEY. 11, Bleisho Road, Lavender Hill, S.W. founder of the castle and of Croxton Abbey 44, Bird-in-Bush Road, Peckham, is said to have saved his life by putting a nightA NIGHT-CAP Stratagem.—A certain general cap on a lion's head. Who was it that employed this stratagem? Madison, Wis., U.S. JAMES D. BUTLER. ALEX. HAMILTON.-I should be thankful for information as to the parentage and birth-place of this Sanscrit scholar, professor at Haileybury College, who died at Liverpool in 1824. J. G. A. VENABLES.-Can any of your readers inform me with the inscription "tatis suæ 69, 1708. Philo BLUE APRONS.-It is said it was the fashion in Queen Anne's day for tavern waiters to have blue aprons. Are there any pictures representing this, or literary papers illustrating it? Walthamstow. C. A. WARD. ALTON CASTLE, IN STAFFORDSHIRE, between NEVILLE M.I. AT HIGH OFFLEY.-During the Cheadle and Ashborne, is situated at the apparent recent restoration of the ancient parish church of termination of a romantic valley, about a mile High Offley, in the county of Stafford, a fragment long, in the bottom of which flows the Churnett. of a mural tablet was discovered behind one comTradition says it was demolished by the Parlia-memorating, I believe, one of the Skrymshire mentary forces during the Civil War. Erfdwick, family who formerly resided in the parish, on which this portion of the original inscription re- fields, dotted with yellow paint for flowers. What mains : a horrid fancy! If no poet before Shakespere had Elizabeth his wife eldest daughter used the primrose in his sense, nor made it typical to Sr Henry Nevile of Billingbloore of youth, love and tenderness, smiles and tears, in the Covintie of Berks who departed this life the 8th day of July 1655. many have done so since. Its attributes are now I notice that H. C. F., at the reference Hampton say that the greatest poet would now be unable to fixed for all time; and I think I may venture to Poyle' (7th S. v. 350), mentions "Sir Henry make it typical of anything different from the sense Nevill, of Pillingbere, within the parish of Walt-it acquired (or had) during the first half of the ham St. Lawrence, in the said county of Berks, seventeenth century. Were I to pursue this subKnt." May I ask which is right, Billingbloore or ject ever so long, more could not be said than is Pillingbere; whose wife was Elizabeth; and for contained in the two following beautiful lyrics by information concerning Sir Henry Nevile, her Herrick. He would have had no difficulty as to father? W. F. MARSH JACKSON. where Shakespere got his idea from, I imagine. Aske me why I send you here This sweet Infanta of the yeere? Aske me why I send to you PORTUGUESE REVOLUTION OF 1640.-I find it stated in a genealogical history that during the revolution in Portugal in 1640 the Portuguese (or Lisbonites?), pending the acceptation by the Duke of Braganza (crowned John IV.) of the crown of Portugal, elected a merchant of Lisbon, of Irish origin, named James Darcy, as their nominal king, and that James Darcy bore the title of king for a few days between December 1 and 13, 1640. Can any reader of‘N. & Q.' tell me if there is any foundation for this statement regarding the election of James Darcy; and where I can find a detailed account of the events connected with the revolution in question? W. DARCY. Replies. "PRIMROSE PATH." I cannot help N. M. AND A. to an earlier example than Shakespere's; but surely there is no necessity. Every one feels the beauty and correctness of the imagery. The primrose is so exactly the right flower where Shakespere has put it that no other would have done so well. The primrose is the "first-born child of Ver," peculiarly marking the youth of the year. It is "the rathe Primrose,' which is not only "Merry Springtime's harbinger," but it is "the rathe primrose that forsaken dies." "The pale primrose"-"that peeps beneath the thorn." That element of pathos as well as beauty has been recognized by many poets. The primrose excites altogether different feelings from the brisk, perky, cheerful daisy, so much admired by Chaucer, "these flowers white and red," which he said "softeneth all my sorrow." "Why primose path"? Primroses almost always do seem to grow on banks, and by paths and along foot-ways in woods and copses, and in shady retired places likely to be chosen by amorous youth. They love shade and retirement. No doubt Shakespere had seen many such primrose paths; and it was those he had in his mind's eye when he wrote the passage, and not the representation of hell on some old church wall with streaks of green and brown for roads and This Primrose, thus bepearl'd with dew? The sweets of Love are mixt with tears. To Primroses fill'd with morning-dew. Who were but borne Teem'd her refreshing dew? Alas you have not known that shower, Nor felt th' unkind Breath of a blasting wind; Who think it strange to see Such pretty flowers (like to Orphans young), Speak, whimp'ring Younglings, and make known Ye droop, and weep; Or that ye have not seen as yet forth. Or brought a kisse From that Sweet-heart to this? By your teares shed, Wo'd have this Lecture read, That things of greatest, so of meanest worth, Conceiv'd with grief are, and with teares brought Herrick, 1648, pp. 117-8. Lest some deeply-read person should haste to inform me of certain lines by a Lake-poet on the primrose, I may remark that he correctly describes it as growing on "a river's brim," by which there R. R. would most probably be a path." Boston, Lincolnshire. 66 The quotation from Ebenezer Jones, introduced by N. M. AND A. in their reply about the 'Primrose Path,' will be found in his 'Studies of Sensation and Event,' London, 1879, p. 185, under the heading, "When the World is burning," "Stanzas for Music." The lines had previously appeared in Ainsworth's Magazine, January, 1845. They are not in the first edition of E. Jones's Poems' (a rare volume), as that was published in 1843. The reference to "limnings on church walls" is very ingenious, and will be the more satisfactory if the "existing examples " alluded to by the writers are pointed out. W. E. BUCKLEY. LITTLE SUMMER OF ST. LUKE (7th S. v. 507). -A recurrence of warm weather of a milder kind, the duration of which is usually about ten days or a fortnight, takes place nearly every year in the middle of October; and as the 18th of that month is St. Luke's Day, this is generally called by us St. Luke's summer. In America the same thing is experienced, and is there called the Indian summer. It would be interesting to ascertain, if possible, the earliest use of the expression. It is not likely to be very old, since before the reformation of the calendar St. Luke's Day in England corresponded to what is now the 29th of October, whereas the warmer weather usually occurs about the middle of that month, near the time when St. Luke's Day is now kept. Of course, in countries where the Gregorian calendar was observed from the beginning, St. Luke's Day (the 18th of October) corresponded to the same time with respect to the seasons as it does now from the year 1582. Between then and 1700 that day corresponded astronomically in England to the present 28th of October, from 1700 to 1752 (when the Gregorian reckoning was accepted here) to the 29th of that month. W. T. LYNN. Blackheath. [MR. E. H. COLEMAN points out that the subject was fully discussed in the 1st, 4th, and 5th S., under various titles. A mass of correspondence on the subject which has reached us becomes thus superfluous.] PALM SUNDAY (7th S. v. 408).-This has been discussed several times in N. & Q.' See 1st S. ii. 68; 4th S. iii. 553; iv. 286; 5th S. vii. 260; 6th S. x. 329 under heading Fig Sunday," and the last under "Fig Friday." The custom, so far as appears from the above communications, prevails in the counties of Bedford, Buckingham, Hertford, Northampton, Oxford, Wilts, and North Wales. Hone, in his Year Book,' p. 1593, has : "Palm Sunday. At Kempton, in Hertfordshire, five miles from St. Albans, it hath long been-and for aught the writer knoweth still is-the custom for the inhabitante, rich and poor, great and small,' to eat figs on the Sunday before Easter, there termed Fig Sunday,' when it is also usual for them to keep wassel,' and make merry with their friends. A dealer in groceries, resident at Kempton, affirmed to me from his own lengthy observation, that more figs are sold in the village the few days previous than in all the year beside. I am not aware that any similar usage is in existence, neither can I form any probable conjecture illustrative of its origin.” As the narrative of the withering of the barren fig-tree follows immediately after the account of the triumphal entry into Jerusalen (St. Matth. xxi, St. Mark xi.), which is commemorated upon Palm Sunday, it seems to be most likely that the two events were connected in popular estimation, and as a good tree is known by its fruits, so the devout provided themselves with figs, as a sort of symbolical evidence of their own productiveness of good works. W. E. BUCKLEY. EDWARDS FAMILY (7th S. v. 349, 472).-It may be well to place upon record in 'N. & Q.' the annexed extract anent the author of the Canons of Criticism,' from the Admission-book of Lincoln's Inn: "Thomas Edwards, gent., son and heir of Thomas Edwards, late of Lincoln's Inn, Esq., deceased, admitted 3 March, 1720. that he was admitted of that society y 24th of No. Mr. Tho. Edwards has a certifycate from Grayes Inne, 1715." DANIEL HIPWELL. 31, Myddelton Square, Clerkenwell. ANDREW BRICE AND LORD OGLEBY (7th S. v. 448).-In The Thespian Dictionary' (1802) it is stated that Thomas King (s. v.),— "in 1766, by his performance of Lord Ogleby ("The Clandestine Marriage') reached the summit of his reputation. His exhibition of this character was totally different from that in which Mr. Garrick had conceived and intended to have represented it. rehearsal of it, however, he declared himself satisfied On hearing Mr. King's with it, and encouraged him to expect, what he afterwards received, the universal applause of every spectator. The tremulous, feigned voice which Mr. King adopted has been said to be an imitation of a very respectable printer at Exeter." J. F. MANSERGH. "BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER" (3rd S. iii. 367; xi. 34, 103, 163).—This proverb has not only not come into use in English in modern times, as is pointed out, but it is not even confined to English. The same sentiment is to be found in other languages. Thus the Germans say, "Blut ist dicker "Bluet isch nid als Wasser"; and the Swiss, Wasser" ("Blood is not water"). In Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian the mode of expression is somewhat different, and runs either Blood is never so thin that it is not thicker than water," or "That blood is thin which is not thicker than water." The Italians have another way of putting it, and say, "Il sangue non fù mai acqua," "Il sangue non è acqua," or "L'acqua lava, e il sangue stringe"; whilst in Italian dialects (in which the saying seems to be common), in a Spanish dialect, and in the Swiss Romance dialects we find either "Blood is not water," "Blood fouls, and is not the same as water," or 66 does not (or cannot) become water." See Sprichwörter der Germanischen und Romanischen Sprachen,' by Ida and Otto von Düringsfeld, Leipzig, 1872, i. § 252; and Giusti, 'Proverbi Toscani,' p. 197, Malta, 1874. Sydenham Hill. F. CHANCE. "STRAWBOOTS" AND "VIRGIN MARY'S GUARD" (7th S. v. 307, 395).—Maria of Austria lived 15031558. Of course this is not the person referred to by MR. RAYNER, as the first colonel of the 7th Dragoon Guards was Ligonier (1720-1749). I think, however, it was in some foreign service that the name "Virgin Mary's Guard was acquired. Does MR. RAYNER mean Maria Louisa, wife of Napoleon I., who in her flight was attended by some 700 men in 1814? If so, were the 7th Dragoon Guards deputed to this service? This, of course, was in the reign of George III.; but I have always understood that the name arose in the reign of George II., and, if so, the meal has not yet been bolted to the bran. E. COBHAM BREWER. With all due deference to your correspondents, I venture to suggest that the real cause of the sobriquet "Strawboots" being applied to the 7th D.G. is as follows. Such was the stupidity of some batch of recruits, not even knowing their right foot from left, that the drill instructor caused a wisp of hay to be bound round one leg, and a ditto of straw round the other, and instead of saying "Right," "Left," the word of command was "Hay boot," "Straw boot," hence the regiment got the nickname of "Strawboots." This I elicited by a query in the Broad Arrow, November, 1886, when it was fully answered by one signing himself" Cheval Noir" (another sobriquet, "The Black Horse," from the facings of that gallant corps) to above effect. Since then I questioned an old sergeant of the regiment, who gave the same information. "Cheval Noir" at the same time referred me for confirmation to several old officers of "The Black Horse"-"Ligoniers," as formerly named. I am glad of information as to why they were called "Virgin Mary's Guard," though I confess I do not see any connexion between the ArchDuchess of Austria and the Virgin Mary. S. V. H. "EX PEDE HERCULEM" (7th S. v. 367).-See 1 S. iii. 302, 380, 457. P. J. F. GANTILLON. Taking MR. MARSHALL to be correct in saying that there is no classical authority for the words "Ex pede Herculem," I hazard the guess only that they may have originated in some one's mind from the rather similar sound of the words "Expende Hannibalem,” which do occur in Juvenal. R. M. BURIAL-PLACE of George I. (7th S. v. 488).— for Hanover, King George I. died at Osnaburg in Having embarked at Greenwich on June 3, 1727, the night between the 10th and 11th, having landed at Vaert on the 7th of that month. An account given in 1775 states that "he arrived at Delden on the 9th inst., about eleven o'clock at night, in all appearance in perfect health. He part of a melon. Setting out about three next morning, eat his supper pretty heartily, and among other things he had not travelled above two hours before he felt some griping pains, and being come to Linden, where his dinner was provided, could eat nothing; whereupon he was let blood and had such remedies as were thought proper to give him. Being desirous to reach Hanover [spelt with one n at this date; see query at same reference] he bid his people drive on with all speed, and falling into a kind of doze in his coach, he remained in that condition in the arms of a gentleman that was in the coach with him, to whom, as it was reputed, he said in French, 'I am a dead man.' About ten at night he arrived at the Duke of York's palace at Osnaburg, where he was let blood in the arm and foot to no purpose, for his lethargy increased, and he died about midnight." On June 14 a messenger brought advice to Sir Robert Walpole at Chelsea, "about three in the afternoon," that His Majesty died as above. Sir Robert thereupon "went to Richmond and communicated this intelligence to their Majesties and attended them from Richmond to Leicester House. In the night between the 3 and 4h September, 1727, the Corpse of the late King was delivered, without ceremony, at Osnaburg, into the hands of the present King of Great Britain's officers and conducted to the frontiers by a detachment of the Duke of York and Bishop of Osnaburgh's life guards, who were there relieved by a detachment of the regiment of dragoons of Wenden, which guarded the procession two nights; after the regiment of Pont Pietin as far as the plain between which it was escorted by a detachment of dragoons of Ahle and Limmer, where fifty of the Life Guards received it at midnight and conducted it to Hanover, arriving about one o'clock before the gate of Callemberg. The Baron von Gertz, governor of the Castle, had the direction of the funeral." An account is then given of the order of procession, which concludes : "It being fair time with them, and consequently many strangers in the town, 1000 men of the garrison were ordered to be under arms till two o'clock to prevent disorders. Part of those troops stood in lines and presented their pieces while the body coach was passing by. Notwithstanding the unseasonable time of night when the burial was performed, there was a great concourse of people from all parts to see this last honour paid to their late Sovereign." R. W. HACKWOOD. It appears from the Daily Courant of July 17, 1727, that the king had given orders by a codicil to his will that if he should happen to die in Ger |