2nd s. No 71., Mat 9. '67.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



379 



and music. Perhaps some friend can explain 

 this ? J- N. 



Guildford. 



Weathercochs (2"'» S. iii. 306.) — The vane, or 

 weathercock, must have been of very early origin. 

 Vitruvius calls it triton, probably from its having 

 the form of a triton. The usual form on towers, 

 castles, and secular buildings, was that of a banner ; 

 but on ecclesiastical edifices, it generally was a 

 weathercock. There was a symbolical reason for 

 the adoption of tlie figure of a cock. The cross 

 surmounted a ball, to symbolise the redemption of 

 the world by the cross of Christ ; and the cock 

 was placed upon the cross in allusion to the re- 

 pentance of St. Peter, and to remind us of the 

 important duties of repentance and Christian vigi- 

 lance. Apart from symbolism, the large tail of 

 the cock was well adapted to turn with the wind, 

 and for a similar reason the arrow and the fox 

 might be chosen ; though the hare and greyhound 

 are less favourable. On the church of St. Lau- 

 rence, in Norwich, the vane is formed like a grid- 

 iron, with the holy martyr extended upon the 

 bars. F. C. H. 



English Inns (2"'^ S. iii. 327.) — Herbert, in his 

 Priest to the Temple, writes : — 



" When he comes to his Inn, he refuseth not to join, 

 that he may enlarge the Glory of God to the Company he 

 is in, by a due blessing of God for their safe arrival, and 

 saying'Grace at meat, and at going to bed by giving 

 the host notice that he will have prayers in the hall, 

 ■wishing him to inform his guests thereof, that if any be 

 willing to partake, they may resort thither." — The Par- 

 soil in Journey, chap. xvii. 



" Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis ! " 



Geo. E. Feeke. 



Royden Hall, Diss. 



Mf'^omet (2"^ S. iii. 330.) — Yonr correspon- 

 dent Threlkeld, by referring to the second 

 volume of the New Quarterly Review, p. 200., will 

 find, in a notice of Sprenger's Life of Mohammed, 

 a critical and tolerably complete account of the 

 biographies of the Arabian prophet, and of the 

 sources from which a knowledge of his " sayings 

 and doings" may be obtained. I may add that 

 Dr. Sprenger is now engaged in rewriting the 

 first part of his remarkable work (all published) ; 

 and that, ere long, we shall be in possession of the 

 first biography of Mohammed really deserving 

 of the name. William H. Mobley. 



Richard, King of the Romans (2""^ S. iii. 312)— 

 It is as A. B. R. surmises : two persons altogether 

 different have been confounded. The epitaph at 

 Lucca need be no crux to antiquaries, or travel- 

 lers. It comn^.emorates the holy King St. Richard, 

 who is usually styled King of the West Saxons, 

 and who died at Lucca in 722. His festival is 

 kept there with great solemnity. Previous notices 



of him have appeared in "N. & Q." (see 1'* S. iv. 

 475.; v. 418.). A short life of him occurs in 

 Alban Butler's Lives, on February 7 ; but the 

 best modern account of him will be found in the 

 series of Lives of English Saints, published by 

 Toovey in 1844. F. C. H. 



Saint Accursius (2°** S. iii. 330.) — This saint 

 was a Franciscan, at Seville, martyred by the 

 Moors in the year 1220. He is represented in 

 painting and sculpture with a sword in his breast. 

 See Emblems of the Saints, p. 1. F. C. H. 



True Blue (2°^ S. iii. 329.) — "True Blue" has 

 generally been considered the Tory colour. Your 

 correspondent may find a sadly misplaced allusion 

 to this colour on a tombstone in Ferry Hinksey 

 churchyard, a few miles from Oxford. It runs as 

 follows : — 



" Beneath are deposited the remains of Richard Spind- 

 love, an independent freeman of the cit^- of Oxford, who 

 departed this life June 15, 1825, aged 76 years. 



" Sacred to Friendship, and to Memory dear, 

 All that was mortal of a Blue lies here. 

 One that stood firm throughout his lengthen'd day, 

 Though adverse scenes oft' mark'd his chequer'd way. 

 Hence love of country glowing in his breast 

 Was uniformly by his vote exprest. 

 For 'twas his Pride, and Fame the truth hath told, 

 To prize his birthright more than sordid gold." 



I once found myself under the necessity of re- 

 fusing to admit a tombstone into a country church- 

 yard, because it bore an inscription in which the 

 huntsmans horn was put in juxtaposition with the 

 angel's trumpet at the day of judgment. 



Yet even such irreverence is hardly more shock- 

 ing than the monstrous adulation upon some of 

 the monuments found within our churches. 



J. Sansom. 



Mummy Wheat (2"'^ S. iii. 259.) — In 1852, the 



late John Ley, Esq., of Torhill, Kenn, Devon, 



had a quarter of an acre of this wheat (said to 



I have been the produce of corn taken from a 



j mummy from Thebes), which gave a yield of 500 



I for L W. COLLYNS. 



I Dogwhipper (2"'^ S. ii. 187.) — This functionary 

 seems to have been as common in other countries 

 as in England. Ihre, Lex. Suio-Goth., vol. i. 

 col. 928., gives, — 



" Hundfogde ante duo secula dicebatur ille, cujus ofii- 

 cium erat, canes e templo abigere. Galli eum aliquando 

 Roy d' Eglise appellabaut nos hodie spo^ufc&e. Commemo- 

 ratur in Historia Sigismundi Regis, Swercherum, filium 

 Swercheri Olavi Elfdal, qui sub hujus Principis regiraine 

 magna gratia floruit, vile hoc munus obire, prae inopia, 

 coactum fuisse." 



At Barton Turf, Norfolk, the parish clerk has 

 the rent of three acres of land called Dogwhip- 

 per's laud, E. G, Ii, 



