274 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 125. 



inown under the name of ' Elvans.' We have in vain 

 skHight for the origin of this term in English writers. 

 Henwood expressly says ( Trans. Geol. Soc. of Corn- 

 loall, vol. V. ) that the etymology of the word is un- 

 known. May it not perhaps be derived from a place 

 called 'Elvan?' Reuss says, in his Lehrhuch der 

 Geognosie, that porphyry occurs near Elvan in West- 

 xtioreland." 



Oa turning to Borlase (Natural History ^ of 

 Cornwall, p. 91.), I find that he gives the derivation 

 as follows : 



" Quasi ab Hel-vasn, i. e. the stone generally found 

 in brooks ; unless it be a corruption of An-von, which 

 in Cornish signifies a smith's anvil, and might fitly 

 Tepresent this very hard stone." 



The term is a Cornish one, and applied to a 

 crystalline rock usually hard enough to strike fire 

 Teadily on sharp friction ; and may it not have 

 been derived from the Cornish word " Eloen, a 

 spark of fire," given in Borlase's vocabulary. 



S.R.P. 



Launceston. 



Wiclif. — There are few names of equal cele- 

 brity tliat have been so variously spelt, the sound 

 Temaining the same whether written Wiclif, 

 Wycliff; WicUiffe, Wykcliff, &c. Can any autho- 

 rity be given, to ascertain the correct spelling ? 



J. K. 



Showing the White Feather. — "What is the origin 

 of this periphrasis for cowardice ? Certainly not 

 the words of King Henry : 



" Press where ye see my white plume shine, 

 Amidst the ranks of war ; 

 And be your Oriflamme to-day . 

 The helmet of Navarre." 



A.A.D. 



Tiin. Coll. Dublin. 



Gray and Locke. — The germ of Gray's — 

 " For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey," 

 «>ecur3 somewhere in Locke's Works. Can any 

 one refer nie to the passage ; it commences : 



" Who ever left the precincts of mortality, without," 

 &c. 



H. E. H. 



Horses and Sheep, Remains of in Churches. — 

 In excavating the chancel of St. Botolph's parish 

 church, Boston, we have discovered a quantity of 

 horse's bones, and the jaw-bones of a sheep. Can 

 any of your correspondents enlighten us on this 

 songular case ? Thomas Collis. 



Boston. 



Archmologia Cambrcnsis, Vol I., Reprint. — I 

 Ijave recently purchased a copy of the above work 

 to complete my set ; but before doing so, I en- 

 quired of Mr, Pickering the publisher, if it was in 

 all respects as well executed as the first copies. 

 The answer, however, gave me no more informa- 



tion than " that the numbers of vol. i. Arch. Camb.^ 

 which were destroyed by fire, have been reprinted, 

 so as to make up a few copies, and the price is 

 consequently 2 Is." The "reprint" is not as Avell 

 executed as the original copies, inasmuch as nearly 

 a whole page of interesting matter is omitted, and 

 very few of the reprinted pages correspond with 

 the good old ones. I have been a long time 

 looking for the first volume of the Archceologia 

 Cambrensis, the greater portion of which had 

 been so unfortunately destroyed by fire ; and 

 though I cannot consider the "reprint" quite as 

 good as the old copies, still I was very glad to 

 obtain it. I trouble you with this "JS'ote," not 

 because I am dissatisfied with the mode of exe- 

 cution of the reprint, but in the hope that some 

 of your correspondents will favour me with a few 

 words on the work, and inform me why the page 

 has been omitted, and why the reprinted pages do 

 not agree with those of the old copies. Are there 

 any other faults in the " reprint " which may have 

 escaped my notice ? ,, E.. H. 



Dublin, 



Presbyterian Oath. — The author of the Faggot 

 of French Sticks remarks, that he never remained 

 ignorant of anything which excited his attention 

 in the streets of Paris when any one passing by 

 could give him the information required : so now 

 that there is such a living encyclopaedia to consult 

 as " N. & Q.," no knowledge should be lost for 

 want of inquiry. In more than one publication it 

 has been lately asserted, that presbyterian minis- 

 ters take the following oath : 



" We all subscribe, and with hands uplifted to the 

 most High God- do swear : 1. That we shall sincerely, 

 really, and constantly through the grace of God, en- 

 deavour in our several places and callings to bring the 

 church of God in the three kingdoms to the nearest 

 conjunction and uniformity in religion, confession of 

 faith, form of church government, &c. 2. lliat we 

 shall in like manner, without respect of persons, en- 

 deavour the extirpation of popery and prelacy (that is, 

 church government by archbishops, bishops, deans, and 

 others.) " 



The Bishop of Exeter, in a recent pamphlet, in- 

 serts this parenthesis : 



" (Whether this actual subscription and oath be 

 still continued, I know not : but the covenant is still 

 a part of the Kirk's symbolical book, and published as 

 such for the education of the people)." 



Will some friend north of the Tweed be kind 

 enough to settle this point ? C, T. 



"J. Pinch of Snuff from Dean Swiff s Box." — 

 Some years ago I saw in the shop oi* a dealer in 

 curiosities, in London, an okl snuff-box, which 

 was said to have belonged to Dean Swift; it was 

 accompanied witli three printed leaves, of the 

 common octavo size, the first page of which com- 



