128 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 119. 



is stated that though for a long tune she was not 

 suspected to be an actual murderess, yet "the 

 frequency of deaths in tlie families by whom she 

 was engaged excited a suspicion among the pea- 

 santry that there was something in her nature 

 fatal to those who Avere near her ; and they said 

 that her liver ivas white, it being believed, in that 

 part of France, that persons who are dangerous 

 have white livers." In the midland counties there 

 is a similar saying among the lower classes, and I 

 have heai'd it said of an individual who had married 

 and lost several wives by death, that he had a 

 white liver. A young woman once told me that 

 she had been advised not to marry a certain suitor, 

 because he had a white liver, and she would be 

 dead within a year. " White-livered rascal " is a 

 common term of reproach in Gloucestershire. What 

 is the origin and explanation of the supposed white 

 liver? Ambrose Fi.orence. 



Worcester. 



■Welsh Names Blaen. — Can any of your cor- 

 respondents tell the meaning of the word Blaen, 

 which occurs so frequently in the names of places 

 in Pembi'okeshire, and perhaps other parts of 

 Wales ? Thus, there is Blaen-awen, near Mon- 

 ington ; Blaen-urgy, Blacn-pant, and Blaen- 

 hafren, to the south of Hantwood ; Blaen-yr-angell ; 

 Blaen-rj-foss and Blaen-nefern near Penrydd ; 

 Blaen-dyffryn ; and a great many more. It seems 

 generally to be applied to farms. a. 



Jesuits. — Can you give me any clue to the fol- 

 lowing line : 



" Haud cum Jesu ills qui itis cum Jesuitis ? " 

 A similar play on words was made a few years ago 

 by an Italian professor in the university of Pisa. 

 A large number of Jesuits made their appearance 

 one day in his lecture room, as they believed that 

 lie was about to assail some favourite dogma of 

 theirs. He commenced his lecture with the fol- 

 lowing words — 



" Quanti Gesuiti sono all' inferno !" 

 When remonstrated with, he said that his words 

 were 



" Quanti — Gesu ! — iti sono all' inferno ! " 



L.H.J.T. 



" The right divine of Kings to govern wrong." 

 — Can any of your correspondents inform me 

 the origin of the line "The right divine of 

 kings to govern wrong?" It is in the. Dunciad, 

 book iv., placed in inverted commas. Is it there 

 used as a quotation ? and, if so, whence is it taken, 

 or was Pope the original author of the lines ? 



Sakpedon. 



[Our correspondent is clearly not aware that this 

 line has already been the subject of much discussion in 

 our columns. (See Vol. iii., p. 494. ; Vol. iv., pp. 125. 

 160.) But as the Query has not yet been solved, and 

 many curious points may depend upon its solution, we 



avail ourselves of Sarpedon's inquiry to bring the 

 matter again under the consideration of our readers.] 



Valentines, when first introduced. — The quantity 

 and variety of Valentines which now occupy our 

 stationers' windows suggest the Query as to their 

 first introduction ; whether originally so orna- 

 mental, and if by hand ; when they first became 

 printed, and what early specimens exist ? ExoN. 



The Bed of Ware. — In Shakspeare's comedy 

 of Twelfth Night, the following words are used by 

 Sir Toby, Act III. Sc. 2. : 



"... Although the sheet were Wg enough for the 

 Bed of Ware in England." 



Query : What is the history of Bed of Ware ? f 



[N.Tres, in his Glossary, says, " This curious piece of 

 furniture is said to be still in being, and visible at the 

 Crown or at the Bull in Ware. It is reported to be 

 twelve feet square, and to be capable of holding twenty 

 or twenty-four persons." And he refers to Chauncy's 

 Hertfordshire for an account of its receiving at once 

 twelve men and their wives, who lay at top and bottom 

 in this mode of arrangement ; tirst two men, then two 

 women, and so on alternately ; so that no man was near 

 to any woman but his wife.] 



Merry Andrew. — W^hen did the term Merry 

 Andrew first come into use, and what was the 

 occasion of it ? x- ^• 



[Although Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes, has 

 several allusions to Merry Andrews, he does not attempt 

 to explain the origin of the term. Hearne, in his 

 Benedictiis Abbas (lom. i. Proef p. 50. ed. Oxon. 1735, 

 as quoted by Warton in his English Poetry, vol. iii. 

 p. 74. ed. 1840), speaking of the well-known Andrew 

 Borde, gives it as his opinion that this facetious physi- 

 cian gave rise to the name of Mehry Andrew, the fool 

 on the mountebank's stage: "'Twas from the Doctor's 

 method of using such speeches at markets and fairs, 

 that in aftertimes those that imitated the like humorous, 

 jocose language, were styled Merry Andrews, a term 

 much in vogue on our stages."] 



A Barons Hearse. — In reading a curious old 

 book, entitled the Statesmen and Favourites of 

 Englund since the Reformation, which was written 

 by David Lloyd, and published in 1665, I was at 

 a loss to know what a harons hearse might be, 

 and hope therefore that some of your readers may 

 be able to give me some information respecting it. 

 It occurs at page 448., in his observations on the 

 life of Sir Henry Umpton, who, he says, " had 

 allowed him a barons hearse, because he died 

 ambassadour leiger." Joun Branfill Harrison. 



Maidstone. 



[Although a "harons hearse" is not particularly speci- 

 fied in the very curious Note upon Funerals prefixed by 

 Mr. J. G. Nichols to the Diary of Henry Machyn, edited 

 by him for the Camden Society, — we refer our correspon- 

 dent to it, as furnishing much curious illustration of the 



