208 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 122. 



constitution, which was anticipated by a person, 

 who was declared to be mad for holding • such 

 opinions. Sir David Brewster, in a note to his 

 edition of Ferguson's Astronomy, vol. ii. p. 144., 

 says: 



" It is a curious fact that the opinions of Dr. Her- 

 schel, respecting the nature of the sun, were maintained 

 by a Dr. Elliot, who was tried at the Old Bailey for 

 shooting Miss Boydell. The friends of the Doctor 

 maintained that he was insane, and called several wit- 

 nesses to establish this point. Among these was Dr. 

 Simmons, who declared that Dr. Elliot had, for some 

 months before, shown a fondness for the most extrava- 

 gant opinions ; and that In particular, he had sent to 

 him a letter on the light of the celestial bodies, to be 

 communicated to the Royal Society. This letter con- 

 firmed Dr. Simmons in the belief that this unhappy 

 man was under the influence of this mental derange- 

 ment ; and, as a proof of the correctness of this opinion, 

 he directed the attention of the court to a passage of 

 the letter, in which Dr. Elliot states, ' that the light 

 of the sun proceeds from a dense and universal aurora, 

 which may afford ample light to the inhabitants of the 

 surface (of the sun) beneath, and yet be at such a dis- 

 tance aloft as not to annoy them. No objection, says 

 he, ariseth to that great luminary being inhabited ; 

 vegetation may obtain there, as well as with us. There 

 may be water and dry land, hills and dales, rain and 

 fair weather; and as the light, so the season, must be 

 eternal ; consequently it may easily be conceived to be 

 by far the most blissful habitation of the whole system." 

 (See the Gentleman's Magazine, 1787, p. 6^6.) 



W. G. 



Monastic Estahlisliments in Scotland (Vol. v., 

 p. 104.). — In reply to Ceyrep I would recommend 

 to his notice the following publications ; they may 

 assist him materially in his inquiries, viz : 



1. " Moore's List of the Principal Monasteries and 

 Castles in Great Britain. Revised by John Caley, 

 Keeper of the Records of the Abbey lands in the 

 Exchequer. 8vo. 1 798." 



2. " Fragmenta Scoto-Monastica : Memoir of what 

 has been already done, and what Materials exist, to- 

 wards the Formation of a Scottish Monasticon : to 

 which are appended. Sundry New Instances of Goodly 

 Matter, by a Delver in Antiquity (W. B. TurnbuU). 

 8vo. 1842." 



In the Advocates' Library here, there are, I 

 understand, a few MSS. relative to these religious 

 establishments, such as Rentales; also Father Rich- 

 ard Hay's MS. entitled Scotia Sacra, being an 

 account of the most renowned monasteries in 

 Scotland, with a series of the several bishops, 

 priors, and other governors, &c., written in 1700, 

 folio. T. G. S. 



Edinburgh. 



Kissing under the Mistletoe (Vol. v., p. 13.). — 

 The editorial reply to An M. D. seems to me very 

 unsatisfactory. Would it not be more reasonable 

 to refer the custom to the Scandinavian mytho- 



logy, wherein the mistletoe is dedicated to Friga, 

 the Venus of the Scandinavians ; especially when 

 we remember that previous to the introduction of 

 Christianity, the feast of Thor was celebrated by 

 the Northmen at nearly the same period? a fact 

 which also accounts for the Bacchanalian cha- 

 racter of the Christian feast. Students of the 

 Edda will remember the importance of the mis- 

 tletoe in the Scandinavian legends ; the story of 

 Loke's attack on Balder hinging upon the parasite 

 character of the plant. It is worth a note in 

 passing, that the holly owes its importance in the 

 Christmas festivities to paganism. The Romans 

 dedicated the holly to Saturn, whose festival was 

 held in December ; and the early Christians, to 

 screen themselves from persecution, decked their 

 houses with its branches during their own cele- 

 bration of the Nativity. Shirley Hibberd. 

 The Ring Finger (Vol. v., p. 114.).— I allow 

 all that has been said, though the Rubric in our 

 Prayer Book directs the ring to be placed 07i the 

 fourth finger, and held there, &c. Still I have 

 read of the earliest custom being, after repeating 

 the words " With this ring I thee wed," &c., on 

 coming to " In the name of the Father," to place 

 the ring on tlie top of the thumb ; " and of the 

 Son," to place it on the top of the forefinger ; 

 " and of the Holy Ghost," to place it on the top 

 of the third finger; aiid, on repeating the word 

 " amen," to put the ring down over the fourth 

 finger ; thereby " ratifying and confirming the 

 same." This seems the most serious conclusion of 

 the matter. R. F M. 



Sanctus Bell (Vol. v., p. 104.). — The Glossary 

 of Architecture is right in its description, but not 

 in its conclusion. There are many instances where 

 the Sanctus Bell, or its remains, still exist in the 

 tower or bell chamber. As e. g. at Addington, 

 Bucks, the " Parson's Bell," as it is now called 

 there, is to be seen in a small aperture in the wall 

 of the bell-chamber, exposed to the outside, on the 

 west. A similar aperture, size, and position, but 

 minus the bell, can also be seen in the tower of 

 Merriott, Somerset. The recess in the wall of the 

 tower of Trumpington Church was clearly for 

 the sacristan (perhaps) to stand in to ring the 

 bell. In the ringing chamber in the tower of 

 Halstock, Dorset, is a ivedge-like aperture in the 

 wall next the nave ; it is about three feet square, 

 and splays from a narrow slit in the churcli over 

 the tower arch. This was evidently for the sa- 

 cristan to observe the proper times for ringing 

 the bell. The top of the tower, bell-chamber, &c., 

 had been rebuilt about a hundred years since, which 

 may account for no loop-hole now to be seen. No 

 doubt there are many others. R. F. M. 



Slang Dictionaries. — The following titles of 

 books of this nature are taken from A Classical 

 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. The second 



