1T4 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 121. 



Ferdinando Palseologus appears to have died in 

 the island of Barbadoes in 1678, and was buried 

 in the church of St. John, 



These researches are extremely interesting, and 

 it is only to be regretted that they are not more 

 frequently made and left on record. Allow me to 

 suggest that such of your readers as have time, 

 inclination, and opportunity for making inquiries 

 of this nature, should, through the medium of 

 " N. & Q.," place on record any striking illustra- 

 tions similar to the above. Your own publication, 

 Vol. iii., p. 350., contains a list of names of the 

 poor of St. Albans, several of which are borne still 

 by noble families. Possibly there may be still 

 existing descendants of the Dorothy Palasologus 

 who married William Arundell at Landulph. 



To mention another instance : I believe there 

 now lives at Rugby a member of the legal pro- 

 fession, who is directly descended from one of the 

 most renowned Polish families. Particulars of 

 this case, if furnished by or with the consent of 

 the head of the fomily, would, I have no doubt, 

 prove exceedingly interesting. L. L. L. 



THE LAST LAY OF PETRARCH S CAT. 



In the year 1820 I saw the following Latin 

 Terse inscribed under the skeleton of a cat in one 

 of the rooms of Petrarch's favourite villa at Arqua, 

 near Padua. If you choose to print them, with 

 or without the accompanying English version, 

 they are at your service : — «, 



Etruscus gemino vates ardebat araore : 



Maximus ignis ego ; Laura secundus erat. 

 Quid rides ? divinas illam si gratia formse, 



Me dignam eximio fecit amante fides. 

 Si numeros geniumque sacris dedit ilia libellis 



Causa ego ne sasvis muribus esca forent. 

 Arcebam sacro vivens a limine mures, 



Ne domini exitio scripta diserta forent ; 

 Incutio trepidis eadera defuncta pavorem, 



Et viget exanimi in corpore prisca fides. 



The Tuscan bard of deathless fame 

 Nursed in his breast a double flame, 



Unequally divided ; 

 And when I say I had his heart, 

 While Laura play'd the second part, 



I must not be derided. 



For my fidelity was such, 

 It merited regard as much 



As Laura's grace and beauty; 

 She first inspired the poet's lay, 

 But since I drove the mice away. 



His love repaid my duty. 



Through all my exemplary life. 

 So well did I in constant strife 



Employ my claws and curses. 

 That even now, though I am dead. 

 Those nibbling wretches dare not tread 



On one of Petrarch's verses. 



J. O. B. 



Sobriquet. — As this word is now pretty ge- 

 nerally adopted in our language, I send you this 

 Note to say that the word is not sowbriquet, as 

 some ofyour correspondents write it, but sobriquet ; 

 the former being what the French terra a locution 

 vicieuse, and only used by the illiterate. Menage 

 derives the word from rubridiculum. 



Philip S. King.- 



Origin of Paper. — Whether a product is in- 

 digenous or foreign may generally be determined 

 by the rule in linguistics, that similarity of name 

 in dilTerent languages denotes foreign extraction, 

 and variety of name indigenous production. The 

 dog, whose name is different in most languages, 

 shows that he is indigenous to most countries. The 

 cat, on the contrary, having almost the same name 

 in many languages, is therefore of foreign extrac- 

 tion in nearly all countries. The word paper is 

 common to many tongues, the moderns having 

 adopted it from the Greek ; in which language, 

 however, the root of the word is not significant. 

 In Coptic (ai guptic) the word bavir means a 

 plant suitable for weaving : and is derived from 

 the Egyptian roots ba, fit, proper; and »?>, to 

 weave. The art of paper-making may therefore 

 be inferred to be the invention of the Egyptians ; 

 and further, that paper was made by them as by 

 us, from materials previously woven. This infer- 

 ence would be either confirmatory or corrective of 

 history, in case the history were doubtful, which 

 it is not. T. J. B. 



Lichfield. 



Persistency of Proper Names. — The village of 

 Boscastle, originally founded by the Norman 

 Botreaux, still contains, amongst other French 

 names, the following: — Moise, Amy, Benoke, Gard, 

 Avery (Qwer?/, Yvery), — all old family names;, 

 and places still called Palais, Jardin, and a brook 

 called Valency. S. E.. P. 



Launceston. 



Cheap Maps. — This is the age of cheap maps 

 and atlases, yet the public is miserably supplied. 

 We have maps advertised from \d. to 5s., and 

 atlases from 10*. 6rf. to 10 guineas. Yet they are 

 generally impressions from old plates, or copies 

 of old plates, with a itivi places of later notoriety 

 marked, without taking the entire chart from the 

 latest books of voyages and travels. Look at 



