380 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 129. 



not found the semicolon earlier than 1G38, with the 

 exception of Gerard's Herbal, 1597. It is, liow- 

 ever, probable that the communication of A. J. H. 

 (p. 164.), by which it appears that the semicolon 

 was used in 1585, may render my notes of no 

 use. However, I send my contribution, such as 

 it is. 



In an edition of Latimer's Sermons, small 4to., 

 black letter, judged to be the edition of 1584, the 

 stop in question is not found. The note of inter- 

 rogation is very cui'iously formed, — a colon sur- 

 mounted by a comma, thus .. I might also ob- 

 serve that, to one of such limited knowledge as 

 myself, the paging is singular, — only one numeral 

 on each leaf. 



In Caroli Sigonii de Eepuhlica Hebrceorum, libri 

 vij, Hanovias, 1608, no semicolon occurs. But in 

 Purchas' Pilgrimage, 1613, all the four stops are 

 used. So also in The Spanish Mandevile of 

 Myracles, 1618. S. S. S. 



Bev. Nathaniel Spinches (Vol. v., p. 273.). — Anne 

 Spinckes married Anthony Cope, Esq., second son 

 of Sir John Cope, fifth baronet, but had no issue. 

 — See Debrett's Baronetage. S. L. P. 



Oxford and Cambridge Club. 



"■'Twas they," Sec. (Vol. v., p. 10.).— 

 *' 'Twas they unsheath'd the ruthless blade, 

 And Heaven shall ask the havock it has made." 



Amicus asks where this couplet is to be found. 

 It appears to me that it has been derived from an 

 imperfect translation of the last two lines of Mar- 

 tial's epigram, L. iv. Ep. 44., in which he describes 

 the effects of a recent eruption of Vesuvius : 



" Cuncta jacent flammis, et tristi mersa favilla : 

 Nee Superi vellent hoc licuisse sibi." 



It is a petit morqeau of heathen blasphemy, in 

 supposing that the gods ought to repent of what 

 they have done. W. N. D. 



Madrigal, Meaning of (Vol. v., p. 104.). — Nemo 

 will find all that I could collect upon this subject 

 ' in the introduction to my Bibliotheca Madrigaliuna, 

 published by J. Russell Smith, 8vo., 1847. 



Edward F. Kimbault. 



AbsalowLS Hair (Vol. iv., pp. 131. 243.). — In 

 answer to P. P., who says that " Absalom's long 

 hair had nothing to do with his death, his head 

 itself, and not the hair upon it, having been caught 

 in the boughs of the tree," Rt. refers to the " re- 

 spectable antiquity " of the popular tradition. In 

 the Vulgate edition of the Bible (Venetiis, 1760, 

 e.K Typographia Balleoniana) there is a rude wood- 

 cut, evidently of much older date than 1760, in 

 which Absalom is represented as hanging by his 

 hair. Perhaps some of your correspondents can 

 mention similar woodcuts of a far earlier date. 



In a family Bible (black letter, 1634), I find 

 the following MS. note on 2 Sam. xiv. 26. : " And 



when he polled his head ... he weighed the hair 

 of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's 

 weight ; " which suggests a solution of the difficulty 

 which has puzzled many commentators, who, to- 

 make Absalom's hair of the full weight, have to 

 suppose that it was plastered with pomatum and 

 sprinkled with gold dust : 



" Y" lesser shekel weighed a quarter of an ounce, y® 

 greater half an ounce. We cannot therefore suppose 

 y' y" loppings of Absalom's hair weighed either 50 

 or 100 oz. But y' w° it was cut off his serv'' might 

 have sold it for IS"" 10' or 25'" to y" Ladys of Jeru- 

 salem, who were ambitious of adorning y'' heads w"' y" 

 Hair of y" beautifuU Absalom : w**" y' locks of y* 

 K' son . . . ." 



It is recorded that when Absalom was buried 

 " they laid a very great heap of stones on him." , 

 Was this in detestation and abhorrence (cf. 

 Joshua vii. 26., viii. 29.), or in honourable memory 

 of a prince and chief? If the former, did it give 

 rise to the custom of flinging stones in the graves 

 of malefactors ? Cuthbert Bede, B.A. 



Boivbell (Vol. v., pp. 28. 140. 212.). — Several 

 of your correspondents have pointed out instances 

 of the use of the word Bowbell as nearly synony- 

 mous with Cockney. The following lines are, I 

 believe, of earlier date than any which have been 

 quoted on this subject ; but it is not quite clear 

 in what sense the word Boivbell is there used. 



They are from a satirical poem by John Skelton, 

 who died in 1529; and the subject of them is Sir 

 Thomas More. 



" But now we have a knight 

 That is a man of might, 

 All armed for to fight, 

 To put the truth to flight 

 By Bowbell ^oVicy." 



JUVENIS. 



Quid est Episcopm? (Vol. v., p. 255.). — I 

 know not to whom Bingham may refer these 

 words in the edition of 1843 ; but in that of 1840 

 he expressly refers them to " the author of the 

 Questions upon the Old and New Testament, under 

 the name of St. Austin." But, the spurious book 

 being part of the collection printed as *S^. Augustini 

 Opera, the reference " Aug.," &c. very properly 

 occurs there " at the foot of the page." A. N. 



Nightingale and Thorn (Vol. iv., pp. 175. 242.). 

 — As an addition to the examples already adduced 

 conceiming this fable, I give the following : 

 ** Come, let us set our careful breasts, 

 Like Philomel, against the thorn. 

 To aggravate the inward grief 



That makes her accents so forlorn." 



Hood, Ode to Melancholy. 

 Cuthbert Bede, B.A. 



The Article ''An" (Vol. v., p. 297.).— '' Hospi- 

 tal" is to be found with the prefix "an" in Addison, 



