212 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



No. 122. 



The pelican has a long bag or pouch, reaching 

 the entire length of the bill to the neck. In feed- 

 ing its young, the bird squeezes the food deposited 

 in the bag into their mouths, by strongly com- 

 pressing it upon its breast with the bill. (See Cal- 

 met and Shaw.) Hence the popular idea. 



Mariconda. 



Feb. 10. 1852. 



Boio-lell (Vol. v., pp. 28. 140.). — Your corre- 

 spondent W. S. S. is, I think, right in supposing 

 Boiv-hell to be almost synonymous with Cockney. 

 I quote a passage from the London Prodigall, 

 •which had once the honour of being attributed to 

 Shakspeare. 

 " Enter Sir Lancelot Weathercock Young Flowerdale, 8fC. 



(Sir Arthur Green-hood, Oliver, &c., had been on 



the stage before. ) 



" Lan. Sir Arthur, welcome to Lewsome, welcome, 

 by my troth. 

 What's the matter, man ? why are you vext ? 



OH. Why man, he would press me. 



Lan. O fie. Sir Arthur, press him? He is a man 

 of reckoning. 



fFea. I that he is, Sir Arthur, he hath the nobles. 

 The golden ruddocks he. 



Ar. The fitter for the warrs : and were he not in 

 favour 

 With your worships, he should see. 

 That I have power to press as good as he. 



OH. Chill stand to the trial, so chill. 

 ■ Flow. I marry shall he, presse cloth and karsie, 

 White pot and drowsen broth : tut, tut, he cannot. 



on. Well, Sir, though you see vlouten cloth and 

 karsie, chee a zeen zutch a karsie coat wear out the 

 town sick a zilken jacket, as thick a one as you wear. 



Flow. Well sed, vlitan vlattan. 



OIL A and well sed cocknell, and hoe-bell too. What 

 doest think cham aveard of thy zilken coat, no fer vere 

 thee." — Page iv. 



Rt. 



Warmington. 



Cou-hache (Vol. v., p. 131.). — In Mr. Singer's 

 note on the word cou-hache, in the enumeration of 

 the cognate words which would appear to contra- 

 dict the usual interpretation, he would seem to 

 have forgotten the Greek Bijtro-a, which confirms it, 

 and has precisely the meaning of a shaded moun- 

 tain valley, and certainly belongs to the same tribe 

 of the Indo-Germanic languages as the pure Saxon 

 baeccha. Richard F. Littledaxe. 



White-livered (Vol. v., p. 127.). — The expres- 

 sion white-livered had its origin in the auspices 

 taken by the Greeks and Romans before battle, in 

 which the examination of the liver and entrails of 

 the victim formed an essential part. If the liver 

 were the usual shape, and a blood-red colour, the 

 omen was favourable ; if pale or livid, it was an 

 augury of defeat. The transition from the victim 

 to the inquirer was easy, and a dastard leader, 



likely to sustain disgrace, was called " a man of a 

 white liver." Richard F. Littledax,b. 



Dublin. 



" Experto crede Roherto" (Vol. v., p. 104.). — 

 Your correspondent W. L. may perhaps find the 

 origin of the above phrase in the following epitaph 

 copied from the floor of Exeter College Chapel, 

 Oxford : 



" Quam subito, quam certo, expert© crede Roberto 

 Pride A UX, Fratri Matthias minori 

 Qui veneno infajliciter com- 

 -Esto intra decern horas [ 



Misere expiravit. 



Sept. 14, 1627." 



What Is the meaning of the capitals ? Close by 

 is the following : 



" Hie jacet in pannis patris op- 

 -tima gemma Johannes 



Prideaux 

 Mathia gemellus qui im- 

 mature sequutus est fratres 

 Aug\ist L" A.D. 1636." 



H. H. G. 



Frognal. 



" Oh! Leoline" ^c. (Vol. v., pp. 78. 138.).-. t 

 " Oh ! Leolyn, be obstinately just ; 

 Indulge no passion, and deceive no trust : 

 Let never man be bold enough to say. 

 Thus, and no farther, shall my passion stray: 

 The first crime, past, compels us into more, 

 And guilt grows fate, that was but choice, before." 

 Athelwold, a Tragedy, by Aaron Hill. 

 Act V. Scene : The Garden. 



These lines were first quoted by Madan, in his 

 translation of Juvenal, as a note on the words — 

 " Nemo repente fuit turpissimus." — Juv. Sat. ii. 83. 



He prefaced the lines by confessing that he could 

 not recollect where he had met with them ; but 

 GifTord, in his translation of Juvenal (3rd edi- 

 tion, 1817), assigns them to '■'■Athelwold, a for- 

 gotten tragedy by Aaron Hill." I have referred 

 to the play, for the sake of obtaining a correct 

 copy of the quotation, and a reference to Act and 

 Scene. C. Forbes. 



Temple. 



The Word '' Blaen" (Vol. v., p. 128.). — The 

 British word Blaen, a frequent prefix, means top 

 point, or fore part: hence Blaenffnvyth^ first 

 fruit ; Blaena/on, source of a river, &c. 



E. Allen. 



Stoke (Vol. v., pp. 106. 161.). — AtErbistock, 

 near this place (it is called " Saint Erbyn's stoke" 

 in the Valor Ecclesiasticus made temp. Henry 

 VIII.), there is a stone weir across the river Dee, 

 which there washes the base of the rock on which 

 the parish church is built. The use of this weir 



