Mar. 20. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



281 



often struck me that this last tune is the origin 

 from whence the air called Jock d Hazlcdean was 

 drawn. It is almost the same. 



Francis Ckossley. 



Sir R. Hoiourfls " Conquest of China " (Vol. v,, 

 p. 225.). — Dryden, in his letters to his sons, writes : 



" After my return to town, I intend to alter a play 

 of Sir Robert Howard's, written long since, and lately 

 put into my hands : 'tis called The Conquest of China 

 hif the Tartars. It will cost me six weeks' study, with 

 the probable benefit of an hundred pounds." 



The Biographia Dramatica states that this play 

 •was never acted or printed. C. I. R. 



Mary Howe (Vol. v., p. 226.). — Mary Howe was 

 probably one of the three daughters of Scrope, 

 first Viscount Howe, by his second wife, Juliana, 

 daughter of William Lord Allington. She was, in 

 1720, appointed a maid of honour to Caroline, 

 Princess of Wales ; and in 1725 married Thomas, 

 eighth Earl of Pembroke, whom she survived, as 

 well as her second husband, John Mordaunt, a 

 brother of Charles, Earl of Peterborough. She 

 died in 1749 s.p. Bbatbeooke. 



Dutch Chronicle of the World (Vol. v., p. 54.). — 

 '■'■ Historische Chronica. Mit Merianischen Kupfern. 

 viii. Theile. Frankf. 1630. sqq. in 4. Haec editio 

 propter elegantiam figurarum rara est. Bibl. 

 Solger. ii. p. 298." — Bauer. Bibl. Libror. Rariorum. 



" Historische Chronica, &c., Iblio. Francf. 1657. 



" 3 vol. fol. Francf. 1743, 



45 and 59." — Bibliothecce Regies Catalogus (inMus. 

 Brit.) s. V. Abelinus. 



" Abelin John Philip, an historian, born at Stras- 

 burgh, died 1646 ; often known by the name of 

 John Louis Gottfried, or Gothofredus. Historical 

 Chronicle from the beginning of the World to the 

 year 1619; being a number of plates by Merian, 

 with letter-press descriptive of them." — Watt's 

 Bibl. Brit. 



The life of Merian is given by Sandrart, in his 

 Academia Artis Pictorice. Strutt, in his Dictionary 

 of Engravers, neglects to mention that Matthaeus 

 Merianus Basileensis was employed at Nancy, to- 

 gether with Brentel, a.d. 1608, in designing 

 Pompce (funebres) Caroli III. Lotharingice Ducis. 

 They are etched in a slight style, but with great 

 spirit. The procession consists of a great many 

 plates : these, bound up together with the descrip- 

 tion, make a large folio volume. I bought a copy 

 six years ago. Can any of your readers inform 

 me whether there is another in England ? 



BiBLIOTHECAR. ChETHAM. 



Thistle of Scotland (Vol. i., pp. 24. 90. 166.).— 

 I have just accidentally stumbled upon my pro- 

 mised note on this subject ; and as it appears to 

 be entirely different from any yet offered to you, 

 I gladly send it for the information of your cor- 

 respondents. I copied it from an old scrap-book : 



" The Scotch Thistle The origin of the national 



badge is thus handed down by tradition : — When the 

 Danes invaded Scotland it was deemed unwarlike to 

 attack an enemy in the darkness of night, instead of a 

 pitched battle by day : but, on one occasion the In- 

 vaders resolved to avail themselves of stratagem ; and, 

 in order to prevent their tramp from being heard, they 

 marched barefooted. They had thus neared the 

 Scottish force unobserved, when a Dane unluckily 

 stepped with his foot upon a superbly prickled thistle, 

 and uttered a cry of pain, which discovered the assail- 

 ants to the Scots, who ran to their arms, and defeated 

 the foe with great slaughter. The thistle was imme- 

 diately adopted as the insignia of Scotland." 



R. H. 



Bull the Barrel (Vol. v., p. 200.).— The practice 

 of " bulling the barrel" or " cask," as mentioned 

 by C. FoBBES, is an every-day occurrence in the 

 Navy. As soon as a rum cask is emptied, a few 

 gallons of water are put into the cask (and it is 

 struck down again into the spirit-room) ; this is 

 done to keep the wood moist, and prevent it from 

 shrinking, so as to keep the cask water-tight : 

 this is called " bulling the cask ; " and from the 

 water receiving after some time a strong impreg- 

 nation, which makes It really strong grog, salt 

 water is used, though even the " salt-water bull," 

 as it is called, when again poured out, has often 

 proved too attractive for seamen to resist. Again, 

 it is common to talk in the same way of " bulling 

 a tea-pot," coffee-pot, &c. ; that is, after the first 

 "brew" has been exhausted, by adding fresh wa- 

 ter, and boiling over again, to make a " second 

 breio" from the old materials. This probably was 

 derived from "bulling the cask;" but whether the 

 " bulling " originally applied to the preserving the 

 water-tight qualities of the cask, or to the making 

 the " second brew," I cannot pretend to say, 

 though I should define the present acceptation of 

 the term " bulling" to be " the obtaining an im- 

 pregnation from that which had been already 

 used." G. M. T. R. N. 



Bishop Kidder s Autobiography (Vol. v,, p. 228.). 

 — Mr. Bowles, In the Introduction to his Life of 

 Bishop Ken, vol. I. p. xi. (Lond. 1830), expresses 

 his thanks to the late Bishop of Bath and Wells 

 " for the Information contained in the MS. life of 

 Ken's successor, Bishop Kidder ;" and adds : 



" This work, never printed, is a very curious and 

 valuable document, preserved in the episcopal palace of 

 mils." 



J. C. R. 



Which are the Shadows? (Vol. v., p. 196.).— 

 The story is told as of Wllkie at the Escurlal by 

 Southey In The Doctor, vol. Hi. p. 235. ; also, with 

 a fine compliment to the "British Painter," by 

 AVordsworth, In one of the pieces published with 

 Yarrow Revisited (1835, pp. 305-6.) The 

 coincidence with the note by Mr. Rogers — to 

 whom, by the way, Wordsworth's volume is dedi- 



