Mat 29. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



523 



Johnny Crapaud (Vol. v., p. 439.)-— When the 

 French took the city of Aras from the Spaniards, 

 tinder Louis XIV., after a long and a most despe- 

 rate siege, it was remembered that Nostradamus 

 bad said : 



" Les anciens crapauds prendront Sara. 

 The ancient toads shall Sara take." 

 This line was then applied to that event in this 

 very roundabout manner. Sara is Aras backward. 

 By the ancient toads were meant the French •. as 

 that nation formerly had for its armorial bearings 

 three of those odious reptiles, instead of the three 

 flowers de luce which it now bears. (Seward's 

 Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 78.) Nostradamus died in 

 1566. C.B. 



Juba Issham (Vol. v., p. 435.).— The signature 

 is two names. The first needs no explanation ; 

 Juba, in Cdto, is the lover of Marcia : the second 

 may merely mean that the first is assumed, or 

 false. We have such a surname as Isham, but it 

 is spelt with one s only. C. B. 



Optical Phenomenon (Vol. v., p. 441.). — The 

 circumstance mentioned by your correspondent is 

 only one instance of a very familiar fact, that 

 sight is rendered clearer by diminishing the quan- 

 tity of rays, which might confuse one another. 

 Some for that purpose look between two fingers 

 brought near. Others nearly close their eyes, &c. 



C.B. 



JBishop of LondorCs House (Vol. v., p. 371.). — 

 In the Wards of London, by H. Thomas, 1828, 

 vol- i. p. 7., we are told that — 



" The great fire of London having destroyed the 

 Palace of the Bishop of London, which was near St. 

 Paul's Cathedral, this house [Peter House, which 

 stood on the west side, about the middle of Aldersgate 

 Street] was purchased for the city mansion of the pre- 

 lates of the diocese, one of whom only resided there. 

 Bishop Henchman, who died there, and was buried at 

 Pulham, A.D. 1675. It was then called London House, 

 and, being subsequently deserted, was let out into 

 private tenements until 1768; when it was entirely- 

 destroyed by fire while in the occupation of Mr. Seddon, 

 an upholsterer and cabinet-maker." 



A large brick building now covers the site, and 

 retains the name of " London House." It is occu- 

 pied by Mr. H. Burton, builder. 



In the work above quoted I find no mention of 

 a residence of the Bishops of London in Bishops- 

 gate. I therefore conclude that the one I have 

 alluded to, is that respecting which your corre- 

 epondent wishes to learn. Tee Bee. 



'■'■Inveni Portum" (Vol. v., pp. 10.64.). — "Actum 

 ne agas " is generally a safe motto, and a particu- 

 larly safe one when so learned a scholar as Mr. 

 Singer has preceded. However, it may do no 

 harm to mention, that since the Query occurred 



in the " N. & Q." I have met with two quotations 

 of a very analogous kind. 



The first is given as a quotation, and may be 

 found at the end of George Sandys' Divine Poems, 



1648, — "Jam tetigi Portum valete." The 



second may be found amongst the Poems of Wal- 

 ter Haddon, and r^rs to something more ancient 

 still : 



" In ohitum N. Pointzi Equitis, 



Ex AngUco clarissimi viri Th. Henneagii. 



Per medios mundi strepitus, caecosque tumultus, 



Turbida transegi terapora, Pointzus eques. 

 NuUus erat terror, qui pectora frangere posset. 



Mens mea perpetuo quod quereretur, erat. 

 Nunc teneo portum, valeant ludibria mundi. 

 Vita perennis ave, vita caduca vale." ? 



Warmington. 



" Cane Decane,'' ^c. (Vol. v., p. 440.).— I can- 

 not inform your correspondent who was the author 

 of the punning couplet — 



" Cane Decane, canis ; sed ne cane, cane Decane, 

 De cane, de canis, cane Decane, cane." 



But I think that he has injured the spirit of the 

 original in his '■'■free translation." 



Decanus means a " Dean," not a Deacon : and 

 the word canis, which is both masculine and 

 feminine, was often used by the poets in a meta- 

 phorical sense. It seems to me that the author 

 was alluding to some aged dignitary of his day, 

 who had been in the habit of singing songs upon 

 the ladies. I therefore submit to you my more 

 free translation : 



1. 

 " Dean Hoare ! 



You sung, of yore, 



O'er and o'er, 



Molly ashore. . 



2. 

 Now, shut the door ; 

 And of such lore 

 Sing no more, 

 Dean Hoare ! " 



Bavios. 



These lines are cited by Mr. Sandys in the In- 

 troduction to his Specimens of Macaronic Poetry, 

 and are there attributed to Professor Porson. 



WiLLiAAt Bates. 



Birmingham. 



Fides Carbonarii (Vol. iv., pp.233. 283.). — In 

 reply to Querist as to this saying, E. H. D. D. 

 states that it originated in an anecdote told by 

 Dr. Milner, or some other controversial writer. A 

 coal-porter being asked what he believed, replied, 

 "What the church believes:" and being asked 

 what the church believed, replied, " What I 

 believe." 



Now I find the same meaning given by Henry 



