238 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"<i S. X Sept. 22. '60. 



rally gipsy. " Cooter," for instance, is cuta, a gold 

 coin, in the language of the Danubian gipsies. 

 So " lowr," money, gipsy lowe (argent monnoye). 

 With regard to " tanner," the author of the Slang 

 Dictionary suggests the gipsy tawno, little. This 

 is hardly probable, as the gipsy word has an r, 

 tamo, apparently connected with tener and Tfprjv. 

 If the sixpence had at any time been divided into 

 ten parts, "tanner" might stand for a tenner, like 

 the twentyer or zwanziger of the old Austrian 

 coinage. Winn, an old slang word for a penny 

 given by Harnian, is probably of Welsh origin, 

 " the white coin," connected with the Armorican 

 " gwennek," a penny. Compare the &a-irpoi> of the 

 Lower Empire, the akcheh of the Turks : i. e. 

 " little white," the well-known " asper" of Turkish 

 tariffs ; as also " blanquillo," the word used along 

 the coasts of Morocco and Southern Spain for a 

 small Moorish coin. 



The gipsy words cited^above are taken from M. 

 Cogalniceano's Essai sur les Cigains de la Moldo- 

 Valachie. The first European settlement of the 

 gipsies was in these provinces, which continue,to 

 be thickly peopled with them. Cogalniceano esti- 

 mates them at 200,000 in the two Principalities. 

 Their language is, on the whole, better preserved 

 there than among their Western brethren. Not 

 a few of our general slang terms are Wallachian 

 and modern Greek words, brought by these wan- 

 derers in their migration from their early Euro- 

 pean home, and deposited in our own as well as in 

 Continental languages. Thus, " drum" for the 

 road, is the Wall, drumu, itself from the Greek 

 hp6fjios. " Boung," a purse (Harman), W&il.pungu, 

 [The oldest form of this word is in Ulphilas, 

 puggs : it exists also in the Greek iroxyyyl.l 



Ardeleanu. 



Heraldic (2"" S. x. 197.)— Blackstone, treat- 

 ing of the court military or court of chivalry, one 

 function of which is that of " redressing of in- 

 croachments and usurpations in matters of heraldry 

 and coat armour," states. that, "as it cannot im- 

 prison, not being a court of record, and as by the 

 resolution of the superior courts it is now confined 

 to so narrow and restrained a jurisdiction, it has 

 fallen into contempt and disuse." W. C. 



Passage in Dante (2""* S. x. 165.) — Your cor- 

 respondent's speculation completely breaks down 

 through a singular mistake on a very elementary 

 point indeed — a letter of the Greek alphabet, 

 He takes v, not as = n, but as = v. To make out 

 his case, the word should be Ludnik, and not 

 " Ludvik." John Williams. 



Arno's Court. 



Manchester Riots (2''^ S. x. 185.)— Temple 

 v/as created Lord Cobham in 1714 by George L, 

 and had given him, in 1714, the appointment of 

 Colonel of the 1st Dragoons. 



In 1714, Viscount Tovvnshend was made princi- 



pal Secretary of State : he retained the office till 

 1716, and was reappointed 1721. 



Putting all these facts together, and joining 

 with them the then rebellious state of that part of 

 Lancashire against the admission of the House of 

 Hanover, we may fairly conjecture the date of the 

 letter to be between 1714 and 1716 — the period 

 when the loyal Jacobites underwent such perse- 

 cution at the hands of the (to them) Usurpers. 



Jacobite. 



Pen and Ink Sketches (2"'' S. x. 198.) — Mr. 

 Dix has, in his Lions Living and Dead (the most 

 incorrectly printed book, by the bye, which I ever 

 came across), repeated some of the anecdotes of 

 his earlier book with a difference. Which book is 

 most (or least) trustworthy ? W. C, 



Suffolk Mercury (2°'' S. x. 168.) — Your 

 correspondent will perhaps be glad to learn that 

 many early numbers of this newspaper are in 

 existence. In my Suffolk collections I have an 

 early number, printed by Thompson & Baily, in 

 Bui-y St. Edmunds, being for " Monday, Jan. 30, 

 1720, and No. 5. of Vol. 8., price three-half- 

 pence." It has a portrait on the first page of 

 " The Norwich Quaker." Who was that indi- 

 vidual ? I have also a volume of seventy-nine 

 numbers, from June 8, 1730, to Dec, 27, 1731, 

 inclusive, being part of Vols. 21. and 22. He will 

 also find notices of others in your P' S. v. 127. 

 Any are at his use for inspection. C. Golding. 



Paddington. 



Hatch (2'"* S. x. 197.) — In confirmation of 

 what P. S. C. suggests, I may adduce the names of 

 two places in the north of Hampshire. One Hatch 

 is on the border of a marshy common, which has 

 not yet been entirely drained. The other Hatch 

 is on the edge of a large tract of heath and forest 

 land, which up to within the last few months was 

 unenclosed. W. C 



Hell Fire Club (2"^ S. ix. 367.) — Whilst 

 visiting Capesthorn Hall, Cheshire, I have seen 

 a curious painting, which was discovered built 

 up in the walls of Schonberg House, London, 

 depicting one of the scenes of debauchery which 

 no doubt frequently occurred at the meetings of 

 the Hell Fire Club. In it the artist is repre- 

 sented in his shirt seated on a donkey, and 

 sketching this extraordinary scene. I was in- 

 formed that the parties represented were all au- 

 thentic porti'aits. John B. Minshull. 



Sir John Gayer or Gayre (2'"> S. x. 128. 175.) 

 — The following notice of himself and his family 

 is given in a collection of pedigrees in Bodl. MS., 

 Rawllnson B. Ixxv. fol. 110, : — 



" Sir John Gayre, L^ M. of L., maryed (blank) da. of 

 (blank) — ard (blotted) Alderman, London, and had 1. 

 John. 2. Sir Robert. Sir Robert Gayre, Knt. of tlie Bath 

 at the coronation of K. Ch. 2. 29 May, 1660 (sic) maryed 



