2'"iS.Vn. Mar.26. '59.]; 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



^5t 



relieve the labour of verbal researches, and intersperse 

 with verdure and flowers the dusty deserts of barren Phi- 

 lologj'." 



Dr. Jolinson's " Design " must be allowed to 

 have been a most valuable one, and I trust the 

 Philological Society will carry it out, so far as 

 is practicable, in their New English Dictionary. 

 I say this because in their printed " Proposal " it 

 is not mentioned as forming any part of their 

 plan. 



Is this MS. collection of '* all that h pleasing 

 and useful in English Literature " still in exist- 

 ence ? ElBIONNACH. 



Family of Lizars, Scotland, — Where can I ob- 

 tain any information about this family ? Is it 

 descended from the " Lizures" I find in one of the 

 copies of Battle Abbey Roll ? I think I have met 

 the name " Eudo de Lizures " in some genealo- 

 gical vfork. Any information will be very wel- 

 come. Sigma Theta. 



Climate of England.— Can you inform me where 

 I shall find statements which appeared some 

 months back, relative to the probable changes in 

 the climate of England consequent on the change 

 in the course of the gulf stream ? Jas. Dixon. 

 Public Librar3', Ormskirk. 



Heraldic, — I am anxious to' know whose coat 

 of arras the following is. I cannot give the colours, 

 as the coat is merely scratched in outline on an 

 old piece of plate. The field is barry of 10; in 

 the centre is a lion rampant. In the dexter chief, 

 on a small inescutcheon or canton is a wild boar 

 (?) passant. Sigma Theta. 



Art of Memo7-y, — Can any of your correspon- 

 dents, who have directed their attention to the 

 local or topical system of artificial memory, inform 

 me whether it is of any real utility, or merely a 

 sham ? Also, which is the best work on the sub- 

 ject? Ben-Simonides. 



By-names of English Counties, — Many noble- 

 men and gentlemen are in the habit of designating 

 the counties in which their residences are situated 

 by names different from what they bear in legal 

 documents. (See Dod's Parliamentary Compa- 

 nion, passim.) Of these by-names the greater 

 part end in .?, as Beds, Berks, Bucks, &c. Can 

 any of yout correspondents explain the origin of 

 these names ? Is the s the sign of the plural ? or 

 is it an abbreviation for shire ? There seems a 

 difficulty in the way of either of these suggestions. 

 This form seems to be confined to those counties 

 the correct names of which include the termi- 

 nation "shire ;" but, not to speak of Oxfordshire 

 and Shropshire, which have their special by- 

 names, Oxon and Salop, there are many English 

 counties, the names of which end in " shire," and 

 which cannot be abbreviated in this manner. 



Such, I suppose, are Cambridgeshire, Rutland- 

 shire, and Staffordshire. In these cases, as well 

 as in Devonshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, and 

 Warwickshire, the favourite mode of naming the 

 county seems to be to drop the termination with- 

 out the addition of s. The same is the case where 

 the word "shire" is preceded by set or caster, 

 though in both these cases I have seen an a 

 added. I have also seen Chesters ; but am not 

 sure that it was intended to designate Cheshire. 

 Is it ever so used ? or is Lancasters used for Lan- 

 cashire, which would be an analogous form ? 



E. H. D. D. 



Quotation Wanted, — Some years ago I saw, on 

 the back of a title-page, a quotation, intended to 

 deprecate criticism on the execution of the work, 

 by an intimation of its difficulties and toil. It 

 was to the effect that he that looketh on a fair 

 building, and seetli only its symmetry and com- 

 pleteness, cannot consider the labour expended 

 on its parts, in bringing together the material, 

 felling the timber, hewing the stone, &c. &c. So 

 he that looks only on a completed book is unable 

 to comprehend the time occupied in its prepara- 

 tion, and the research bestowed on its contents. 

 The passage was, I thought, extracted from Lord 

 Bacon, but I have failed to discover it in his 

 works. It has been suggested to me that the line 

 and style resemble those of Jeremy Taylor ? I 

 shall be greatly obliged to any correspondent of 

 " N. & Q." who will refer me to the original. 



J. E. T. 



Ploughing hy the Horse's Tail. — This Irish 

 practice was prohibited by 10 & 11 Car. I. cap. 

 15., which imposed fine and imprisonment on 

 those who should adhere to it. In 1642, Sir 

 George Hamilton, ancestor to the Marquis of 

 Abercorn, had a grant for life of all the penalties 

 accruing to the Crown under this act. Did the 

 Merry Monarch intend this as a joke ? or is it 

 possible that the penalties under the act in ques- 

 tion could have been of any considerable value ? 



E. H. D. D. 



Old Print. — I have an old print which has been 

 the folding plate of a book. In the upper part, 

 the Pope, on a throne surrounded with clouds, 

 receives rays of light from the Holy Dove, and 

 communicates them to a king, apparently Louis 

 XIV., who points to the foreground, where Mi- 

 nerva, with a flaming sword, is pursuing several 

 allegorical and real figures, dressed and undressed, 

 after the style of Rubens. One has very long asses' 

 ears ; from another, with an ugly face, a hand- 

 some mask is falling. The most prominent per- 

 sonage is robed as a bishop, but has bat's wings. 

 Behind him are nuns in spectacles. One corner 

 has been torn off"; in the other is " k Liege, 

 mdclvi." Can any of your correspoiidents tell 

 me the meaning of this ? F. H. 



