2"^ S. No 64., Mab. 21. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



229 



period, is rushing to attack the puppets which are 

 seated at a banquet on a raised stage, above which 

 is inscribed the motto " Sic itur ad Astra ; " other 

 figures advance with the one alluded to, and bear 

 banners on which are recorded the names of 

 Otway, Rowe, Kotzebue, Schiller, Addison, Shak- 

 speare, &c., while a bill attached to the proscenium 

 gives the cast of characters in Tom Thumb at the 

 " Pic Nic Theatre " thus : 



« King Pickle Don Cy. 



Tom Thumb Don M«. 



Noodle Genl. G*. 



Doodle ------ Mr. N. 



Foodie Mr. C. 



Dollalolla ----- Donna B. 



Huncamunca ----- Donna C 



Glumdalca ----- Mrs. G." 



Through the flooring in front of the proscenium is 

 bursting a shrouded figure, holding the mask, and 

 contemplating the scene : the face of this latter 

 very closely resembles that of Garrick. I shall be 

 much obliged if any explanation of this print can 

 be given. Edwakd Y. Lownb. 



Painting on Leather. — Among sundry cu- 

 riosities found in this island is a small painting 

 upon leather ; the subject is " St. Anne teaching 

 the Virgin to read." The two figures are under 

 a canopy, which has been deeply embossed, and 

 richly gilt and silvered. The painting is not very 

 good, but evidently of great antiquity. 



The only other paintings on leather which have 

 come under my view are those in the Sala de 

 Justicia in the Alhambra, and are totally different 

 in style. Can any of your correspondents give 

 information respecting this small picture, which 

 every one who has seen it pronounces to be a 

 great curiosity. W. W. 



Malta. 



Manual of Godly Prayers, — Who was the au- 

 thor of J. Manual of Godly Prayers and Litanies 

 taken out of many famous Authors,, and distributed 

 according to the Days ofdhe Week with an ample 

 Exercise for the Morning and Evening : a Brief 

 Form of Confession, &c. 12mo. St. Omers, 1652 ? 



H. 



Clerk. — This term, now exclusively applied to 

 clergymen, was in earlier times used in describing 

 laymen having a' certain amount of scholastic 

 learning. Thus in a deed of feoffment, dated 

 1647, the feoffor appoints "my well-beloved friend 

 in Christ Samuel Brookes, clerk," to give seisin or 

 possession of the lands in question, and the in- 

 dorsement stating that seisin had been accordingly 

 given, ^ is signed " per me Samuelem Brookes, 

 scriv'," i.e. scrivenor. Query, then, at what pre- 

 cise period was the term used of the clergy alone, 

 and the motive causes ? * W. A. L. 



[• Some historical notices of this term will be found in 

 «N.&Q.,"l»tS.xii. 160.330.] 



Spurn-point. — Jeremy Taylor, in his sermon 

 On the Good and Evil Tongue, says, 



" He that makes a jest of the words of Scripture, or of 

 holy things, plays with thunder, and kisses the mouth of 

 a cannon just as it belches fire and death; he stakes 

 heaven at spurn-point, and trips cross and pile [i.e. head 

 or tail] whether ever he shall see the face of God or no." 



What was the nature of this game of spurn- 

 point ? I do not find it noted in the books 1 have 

 access to. W. A. L. 



Light on Animals. — In the same sermon Jeremy 

 Taylor remarks, 



" For so have I heard that all the noises and prating 

 of the pool, the croaking of frogs and toads, is hushed and 

 appeased upon the instant of bringing upon them the 

 light of a candle or torch." 



Is this really the case ? and has light a similar 

 effect upon animals in general ? W. A. L. 



" Gulliver," as used by Swift ; its Meaning. — I 

 am not aware whether it has ever been suggested 

 that this name, as used by Swift, had any hidden 

 meaning. Seeing, however, that the names of his 

 heroes in the Tale of a Tub, Martin, Jack, and 

 Peter, are replete with significance, I should be 

 almost inclined to think that the name "Gulliver" 

 has its meaning. 



The similarity of the name to that of Lawton 

 Gilliver, Pope's bookseller, is somewhat striking, 

 more particularly as the initials of " Lemuel Gul- 

 liver " are the same. Still, however, it can hardly 

 be supposed that if Swift did owe Gilliver a 

 grudge (of which, so far as I know, there is no 

 proof), he would take such a method as this, of 

 " damning him to everlasting fame." 



It appears to me by no means improbable that 

 " Gulliver " is a hybrid word, coined in the sar- 

 castic corner of Swift's brain, and that its compo- 

 nents are the words gull, in, verity ; it being his 

 meaning that he gulled the world in telling them 

 the truth ; or, in other words, that while he was 

 really telling his fellow men home truths, it was 

 their belief that he was only amusing them with 

 wonderful tales of fiction. Henby T. Bilet. 



Red Winds. — 



" Thus, as the goodliest trees in a garden are soonest 

 blasted with red winds, so men endued with the rarest 

 qualities," &c. — Sandys, 5th Sermon, Parker Society's 

 edit., p. 103. 



What are red winds ? T. H. K. 



The First English Book on America. — What is 

 the date of the first mention of the 'bievf World in 

 an English book ? Can anyone give an earlier 

 one than John of Doesborrowe's tract Of the New 

 Landes discovered by the Messengeres of the Kyng 

 of Portyngall, which Lowndes refers to about 

 1523 ? I should feel obliged by a reference to 

 any notices of this rare work. Saxonicus. 



