April 3. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



331 



Bigot (Vol. v., p. 277.). — I beg to direct at- 

 tention to the subjoined extract from Mr. Trench's 

 Lectures on the Study of Words, a most able and 

 interesting little work : 



" ' Bigot' is another word widely spread over Europe, 

 of which I am inclined to think that we should look 

 for the derivation where it is not generally sought, and 

 here too we must turn to Spain for the explanation. 

 It has much perplexed inquirers, and two explanations 

 of it are current ; one of which traces it up to the 

 early Normans, while they yet retained their northern 

 tongue, and to their often adjuration by the name of 

 God, with sometimes reference to a famous scene in 

 French history, in which Hollo, Duke of Normandy, 

 played a conspicuous part ; the other puts it in con- 

 nexion with ' Beguines,' often called in Latin ' Begutta;,' 

 a name by which certain communities of pietest women 

 were known in the Middle Ages. Yet I cannot but think 

 it probable, that rather than to either of these sources, 

 we owe the word to that mighty impression which the 

 Spaniards began to make upon all Europe in the fifteenth 

 century, and made for a long time after. Now the word 

 * bigote ' means in Spanish ' mustachio ;' and, as con- 

 trasted with the smooth or nearly smooth upper lip of 

 most other people, at that time the Spaniards were the 

 'men of the mustachio.' That it was their characteristic 

 feature comes out in Shakspeare's Love's Labour's Lost, 

 where Armado, the ' fantastical Spaniard,' describes the 

 king, ' his familiar, as sometimes being pleased to lean 

 on his poor shoulder, and dally with his mustacliio.' 

 [^Act V. Sc. l.J That they themselves connected firm- 

 ness and resolution with the mustachio, that it was 

 esteemed the outward symbol of these, is plain from 

 such phrases as ' hombre de bigote,' a man of resolu- 

 tion; ♦ ten erbigotes,' to stand firm. But that in which 

 they eminently displayed their firmness and resolution 

 in those days, was their adherence to whatever the 

 ^B'Oman Sje i-equired and taught. What then more 

 natural, or more entirely according to the law of the 

 generation of names, than that tliis striking and dis- 

 tinguishing Qutward feature of the Spaniard should 

 have been laid hold of to express that character and 

 condition which eminently were his, and then trans- 

 ferred to all others who shared the same ? The mus- 

 tachio is, in like manner, in France a symbol of military 

 courage; and thus 'un vieux moustache,' is an old 

 soldier of courage and military bearing. And strength- 

 ening this view, the earliest use of the word which 

 Richardson gives, is a passage from Bishop Hall, 

 where ' bigot ' is used to signify a pervert to Romanism : 

 ' he was turned both bigot and physician.' In further 

 proof that the Spaniard was in those times the standing 

 representative of the bigot and the persecutor, we need 

 but turn to the older editions of Fox's Book of Martyrs, 

 where the Pagan persecutors of the early Christians 

 are usually arrayed in the armour of Spanish soldiers, 

 and sometimes graced with tremendous 'bigotes.'" — 

 2nd edit. 80 — 82. 



Mr. Trench's derivation of bigot is, I think, very 

 preferable to those you cite. C. H. Coopee. 



Davies Queries (Vol. iv., p. 256.). — Llaw 

 Gyffes asks for a correct description of the monu- 



ment erected to Sir John Davys, Davis, or Davies, 

 in St. Martin's church. Perhaps the following 

 will answer his purpose : it is extracted from one 

 of a series of MS. volumes in my possession, ia 

 the autograph of John Le Neve : — 



" On the 3rd pillar, on the south range, a plain white 

 marble monument, in memory of Sir John. Davis, 

 Knight. Inscrip. : 



" D. O. M. S. Johannes Davys, Equestris Ordinis, 

 quondam attornati Regii Generalis amplissima Pro- 

 vincia regno Hib. functus. Inde in patriam revocatus 

 inter Servientes Domini Regis ad Regem primum 

 locum sustinuit, ob. 1626. 



" Accubat Dignissimo Marito incomparabilisUxorque 

 lllustre genus et generi pares animos, Christiana Man- 

 suetudine tempera vit, Erudita supra sexum mitis infra 

 sortem, plurimis major, quia humilior, in eximia forma 

 sublime ingenium, in venusta Comitate, singularem mo- 

 destiam, in Foemineo Corpore virales spiritus, in Rebus 

 adverslssimis serenam mentem, in Impio seculo Pieta- 

 tem et Rectitudinem inconcussa possedit. 



" Non illi Robustam animam ad res lauta laxavit, 

 aut Angusta contraxit, sed utramq; sortem pari animoq; 

 non excepit modo sed rexit. Quippe Dei plena cui 

 plenitudini mundus, nee benig. addere nee malignus 

 detrahere potuisset. 



" Talis Deum jamdudum spirans et sursum aspirans, 

 sui ante et Reip. fata prassaga, salutisq; Sterna cer- 

 tissima, ingenti Isetoq; ardore in Ssrvatoris dilectissimi 

 sinum ipsius sanguine totam animam efflavit, rebus 

 humanis exempta, immortalitate induit 3 nonas Quin- 

 tilis. An. Kal. 1652. . . 



" Arms ; on a Lozenge ; Argent a Heart Gules, on a 

 Chief Sable 3 Mullets. 



« Also at the bottom of the Monument, Sable a Fess 

 Ermin between 3 Cinquefoils Argent." 



Edwabd F. Rimbault. 



Fawsley, Heraldic Atchievement (Vol. v., p. 297.). 

 — See Baker's Northamptonshire, vol. I. p. 385-6., 

 where the shield of the knightly quarterings is 

 noticed In describing the Manor House. r. 



Old Scots March (Vol. v., pp. 104. 235.). — - 

 Your correspondent E. N., after quoting a pas- 

 sage from Mr. Tytler's Dissertation on ScottisJt 

 Music, says he has " never yet been aljle to meet 

 with any of the ports here referred to." I have 

 the pleasure to inform him that several curious 

 ancient ports have been preserved, and may be 

 found in the Skene MS., and in Gordon of Stra- 

 locKs Lute Book. 



Port, in Gaelic, signifies an air, either sung or 

 played upon an instrument. Mr. Tytler correctly 

 describes this species of composition as of the 

 plaintive strain, and modulated for the harp. All 

 the existing specimens answer to this character. 



The Ports which are contained in the above- 

 named MSS., are named as follows : " Rory Dall's 

 Port," "Port Ballangowne," "Jean Lindsay's 

 Port," &c. 



It may be necessary to say, that these tunes are 



