538 



KOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 136. 



myrmidons, the thousands wlio were 'sliipped to the 

 Caribbees,' so these islands were then called, 'and sold 

 as slaves,' carrieil with them their language. That 

 they preserved, and there it remains to this day." 



Will some of your correspondents acquainted 

 >vith the West Indies inform me if the Irish lan- 

 guage be still spoken there, or if it be degenerated 

 and merged into the tulkee-talhee, or negro jargon? 



ElKlONNACH. 



^'■Battle of Neville s Cross." — Can any of your 

 correspondents inform me the name of the author 

 of the " Battle of Neville's Cross," a prize poem, 

 published about thirty or forty years ago ? G. 



Sir Walter RaleigKs Ring. — Can any of your 

 correspondents inform me what has become of the 

 ring Sir Walter Raleigh wore at his execution, 

 and in whose possession it now is, as I have reason 

 to believe it is still in existence as a heir-loom ? 



BOSQUECILLO. 



^^ Name; or, Pearls of Prayer."— 1 should feel 

 obliged to any of your correspondents if they 

 could give me any information of the following 

 •work, which I am unable myself to trace in any 

 catalogue or bibliographical work : — 



" Name (by William P. of Dysart), Pearle of 

 Prayer most Pretious and Powerful, &c. 1 8mo. 

 Dedicated to Charles First (dated from Dysart the 

 28th May, 1630), and afterward to the Right Vir- 

 tuous and Worshipful] Patrons of this famous Citie 

 of Edinburgh, David Aikenhead most Worthie Lord 

 Provost, &c., and to the whole Counsel), &c., of Edin- 

 burgh, &c. (dated from Dysart the last of May, 1630), 

 456 pp. (Concluding with a part of a page of 

 ■• Faults escaped' on the recto of last leaf.) Edin- 

 burgh, printed by John Wreittoun, 1630." 



J. B. Rondeau. 



Sir George Howard.— Sir N. W. Wraxall (His- 

 torical Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 614.) says of Field- 

 Marshal Sir George Howard — 



" His legitimate descent from, or alliance by con- 

 sanguinity with, the Dukes of Norfolk, notwithstand- 

 ing the apparent evidence of his name, was I believe 

 not established on incontestable grounds." 



Now It is well known that the Effingham branch 

 of the house of Howard, to which Sir Geor^-e 

 Howard is reputed to belong, is a genuine one : so 

 Wraxall must be understood as casting a slight on 

 the legitimacy of Sir George. Are there traces of 

 any scandals confirming this suspicion ? Tewars. 



"iore me, love my Dog." — Whence comes this 

 proverb ? It is quoted by St. Bernard : " Dicitur 

 certe vulgarl quodam proverbio : Qui me amat, 

 araat et canem meum." — In Festo S. Michaelis, 

 Sermo Primus, sect. iii. p. 1026. vol. i. Parisiis 

 1719, fol. Rt. 



Warmington. 



Mummy Wheat. — In January, 1843, a near re- 

 lative of mine, related by marriage to Mr. Martin 



Tupper, gave my father some grains of wheat, 

 which he had the authority of Sir G. Wilkinson, 

 direct or indirect, to believe to have been taken 

 out of a mummy case, and to be in Axct ancient 

 Egyptian wheat, perhaps a coui)le of thousand 

 years old at least. These were planted in a 

 flo\ver-pot, took root, grew, and had attained the 

 height of many Inches, when a cow got into the 

 place where the pot was and ate the plants down. 

 From the roots sprouted again a second crop of 

 stems and leaves, and a similar catastrophe befell 

 the second growth, frustrating the hopes of several 

 anxious young amateur agriculturists, so that we 

 never saw more than the leaves of this crop. In 

 making the inquiries necessary to certify myself 

 that these facts are true, I met with a lady who 

 had seen a small quantity of wheat plants, the 

 produce alleged of mummy wheat, and who 

 spoke of it as a beautiful looking plant, with se- 

 veral stems from each root, and several ears on 

 each stem. I could not ascertain whether this 

 was the fruit of mummy wheat In the first or in 

 the second generation. There was no question 

 that it was sprung from grains taken out of a 

 mummy. I believe that in the case of which I 

 speak as having occurred within the range of my 

 own acquaintance, the wheat was some of the 

 same that Mr. M. F. Tupper possessed. Perez. 



A Photographic Query. — Is It probable that the 

 number of stones and mai'bles which, without the 

 aid of art, represent human and other figures, may 

 have been natural photographs from the reflection 

 of objects in a strong glare of sunlight ? Some of 

 those mentioned by D'Israell in the Curiosities of 

 Literature are so singular, that If this Interpreta- 

 tion be not admitted, we must suspect them to be 

 factitious. One particular example will serve as 

 an Illustration : 



" Pancirollus, in his Lost Antiquities, attests that in 

 a church at Rome, a marble perfectly represented a 

 priest celebrating mass and raising the host. Paul III. 

 conceiving that art had been used, scraped the marble 

 to discover whether any painting had been employed : 

 but notiiing of the kind was discovered." 



Its classification amongst Lost Antiquities seems 

 to Imply that the operation destroyed It, which 

 proves that the figures were only on the surface ; 

 an argument in favour of its being a natural pho- 

 tograph. Any powerful die would have pene- 

 trated the pores of the stone for some considerable 

 distance. R. F. Littledaxe. 



Dublin. 



^^ Stunt with false care." — Where are the fol- 

 lowing lines, quoted by Charles VlUIers in one of 

 his corn-law speeches, to be found ? 



" Stunt with false care what else would flourish wild. 

 And rock the cradle till they bruise the child." 



J. N. O. 



