148 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 120. 



Thomas Overlaithe in the records of the Council ; 

 (2) Eugenius O'Harte, there named Ohairte, a 

 Dominican friar, Bishop of Ardagh ; and (3) 

 Donagh MacCongal, Bishop of Raphoe : Sir 

 James Ware adds a fourth, Robert Waucup, or 

 Vincentius, of whom, however, I find no mention 

 in the official catalogue of the assisting prelates. 

 Deprived of sight, according to Ware, from his 

 childhood, he yet made such proficiency in learn- 

 ing, that, after attaining the high degree of Doctor 

 of Sorbonne in France, he was appointed Arch- 

 bishop of Armagh, or Primate of Ireland ; but of 

 this arch-see he never took possession, it being 

 held by a reformed occupant. Dr. George Dowdall, 

 appointed by Henry VIII. in 1543. 



J. R. (Cork.) 



FOLK LORE. 



Valentine's Day (Vol. v., p. 55.). — Your corre- 

 spondent J. S. A. will find the following notice of 

 a similar custom to the one he alludes to in Mr. 

 L. Jewitt's paper on the Customs of the County of 

 Derby, in the last number of the Journal of the 

 British Archceological Association : 



" Of the latter (divinations) there is a curious in- 

 stance at Ashborne, where a young woman who wishes 

 to divine who her future husband is to be, goes into the 

 church-yard at midnight, and as the clock strikes 

 twelve, commences running round the church, repeating 

 without intermission -~ 



' I sow hemp-seed, hemp-seed I sow. 

 He that loves me best 

 Come after me and mow.' 

 Having thus performed the circuit of the church twelve 

 times without stopping, the figure of her lover is sup- 

 posed to appear and follow her." 



J. 



Nottingham Hornhlowing. — About the begin- 

 ning of December the boys in and around Not- 

 tingham amuse themselves, to the annoyance of 

 the more peaceable inhabitants, by parading the 

 streets and blowing horns. I have noticed this 

 for several years, and therefore do not think it is 

 any whim or caprice which causes them to act 

 thus ; on the contrary, I think it must be the relic 

 of some ancient custom. If any of your corre- 

 spondents could elucidate this, it would particularly 

 oblige Stomachosus. 



Bee Superstitions — Blessing Apple-trees — ".4 

 Neck! a Neck!" — The superstition concerning 

 the bees is common among the smaller farmers in 

 the rural districts of Devon. I once knew an 

 apprentice boy sent back from the funeral cortege 

 by the nurse, to tell the bees of it, as it had been 

 forgotten. They usually put some wine and honey 

 for them before the hives on that day. A man 

 •whose ideas have been confused frequently says 

 his "head has been among the bees" (buzzing). 



The custom is still very prevalent in Devonshire 

 of "hollowing to the apple-trees " on Old Christmas 

 Eve. Toasted bread and sugar is soaked in new 

 cider made hot for the farmer's family, and the 

 boys take some out to pour on the oldest tree, audi 

 sing — 



" Here's to thee, 

 Old apple-tree, 

 From every bough 

 Give us apples enough, 

 Hat fulls, cap fulls 

 Bushel, bushel boss fulls. "l 



Hurrah, hurrah ! " 



The village boys go round also for the purpose-, 

 and get some halfpence given them for their 

 " hollering," as they call it. I believe this to be 

 derived from a Pagan custom of offering to Ceres. 



The farmer's men have also a custom, on cutting 

 the last sheaf of wheat on the farm, of shouting 

 out " A neck ! a neck ! " as they select a handful 

 of the finest ears of corn, which they bind up, and 

 plait the straw of it, often very prettily, which they 

 present to the master, who hangs it up in the 

 farm kitchen till the following harvest. I do not 

 know whence this custom arises. 



William Collyns, M. R. C. S. 



Kenton. 



Hooping Cough. — In Cornwall, a slice of bread 

 and butter or cake belonging to a married couple 

 whose Christian names ai'e John and Joan, if eatert 

 by the sufferer under this disorder, is considered 

 an efficacious remedy, though of course not always 

 readily found. W. S. S. 



NOTK ON THE COINS OF VABALATHUS. 



(Vol. iv., pp. 255. 427. 491.) 



Since the publication of my last note on the 

 coins of Vabalathus, I have obtained the Lettres 

 Numismatiques du Baron Marchant, 1850. The 

 original edition being very rare, and I believe 

 only three hundred of this one having been printed,. 

 I have thought it might be as well to record some 

 additional information from it in your pages. 

 Marchant reads, " Vabalathus Verenda Conces- 

 sione Romanorum Imperatore Medis datus Rex." 

 It is needless to remark on this, further than on 

 the more ancient interpretations. He points out 

 that the Greek letters, or rather numerals, show 

 the coins to have been struck in a country where 

 Greek, if not the popular language, was that of 

 the government, along with Latin. This country 

 was necessarily an Oriental one, and I think this 

 observation would rather lead to the inference 

 that the word vcrimdr, occupying the place 

 usually filled by Cassar, Augustus, ceBACa)C, &c., 

 might be an Oriental title, though expressed in 

 Latin letters. Millin, to whom he had commu- 

 nicated his view, thought correctly " que 9a 



