2»'« S. X. Dec. 15. '60,] 



NOTES AND QUEHIES/ 



463 



a bottle of port wine. A servant in rich livery 

 attended on them, and at their departure, they 

 were offered a shilling each, which of course they 

 declined to accept, and gave the coin to the ser- 

 vant. Thus the legend was fulfilled in this in- 

 stance. Can any Irish correspondent confirm the 

 statement ? I have no doubt of the veracity of 

 the parties alluded to; and I can add that I have 

 passed the door of Howth Castle hundreds of 

 times, but never saw it closed. S. R. 



Oak v. Ash (2°* S. x. 374.) — The observations 

 of your correspondent H. J. M. of Holmfirth, rela- 

 tive to the leafing of the oak and ash during the 

 present year exactly agree with what took place 

 in this district, where the oak was most undoubt- 

 edly first to unfold its leaves, though not quite to 

 the extent of some preceding seasons. I, too, 

 have for many years observed the leafing of trees, 

 and especially of the two species in question, and 

 have invariably found the oak to precede the ash, 

 corroborating to a certain extent the testimony of 

 the poet : — 



" The tender ash delays 

 To clothe herself whea all the woods are green." 



The substratum here is magnesian limestone, but 

 my remarks are borne out by the experience of 

 a friend residing at some distance on the new red 

 sandstone, who affirms that, having watched the 

 leafing of these trees during the last twenty years, 

 he has never known the ash foremost in the race, 

 but always the reverse. Older people also in the 

 neighbourhood, who have paid attention to the 

 subject, especially an old woodman, bear witness 

 to the constant earlier leafing of the oak. I may 

 mention that some of the ashes were full of blos- 

 som this year at the time when the oaks were just 

 unfolding their buds, and misled another friend 

 of mine, who at a cursory view mistook them for 

 opening leaves. Now in the course of the time 

 over which even my own observations extend 

 there have been all manner of seasons, wet and 

 dry ; the correctness, therefore, of the old prognos- 

 tication (and the adage prevails in this neighbour- 

 hood) is here sufficiently refuted. There is, in- 

 deed, a greater interval betwixt the leafing of the 

 two in some seasons than others ; and as the ash 

 is said by writers on forest trees to affect moisture 

 in a greater degree than the oak, I suppose in a 

 wet spring it will . more nearly approach the oak 

 in the development of its foliage ; but, as before 

 stated, I have always found it lagging somewhat 

 in the rear. 



Since writing the above, a gentleman informs 

 me that he observed the oak to have preceded 

 the Aberford ash in Hyde Park this year. J. W. 



Charm foe Toothache (2"^ S. x. 363.) — To 

 tlWisQuery of AS, from what legend the charm for 

 the toothache is derived which he quotes, I beg to 

 reply that it is not derived from any. It is one 



of those unmeaning forma of words which have 

 been so often put together to impose upon the ig- 

 norant. There are very many similar ones, which 

 might be adduced for all sorts of maladies ; and 

 they all vary in different localities, and frequently 

 as to their application for the cure of maladies. I 

 have often met with the one here quoted, but al- 

 ways with the name of St. Peter the Apostle, 

 instead of Bortron, or Bertron. But in France a 

 similar charm is employed for the cure of fevers, 

 which runs thus : — 



"Ante portam Jerusalem sedebat Sanctus Petrtts, at 

 ecce supervenit Dominus Jesus, et ait illi, Quid hie jaces, 

 Petre? Cui respondit: Domine jaceo mala febre. Ait 

 illi Jesus : Surge Petre, et dimitte banc malam febrera. 

 Qui surgens secutus est eum, et Petrus ait : Obsecro te, 

 Domine et bone Jesu, ut quicumque hsec verba devote 

 dixerit, febris ei nocere non possit. Ait illi Jesus : Fiat 

 sicut petisti, etc." 



F. C. H. 

 In the north of Hampshire it is believed that 

 carrying suspended round the neck a molar tooth 

 taken from some grave in the churchyard, is a pre- 

 servative against toothache. A lad complained to 

 me the other day that in spite of his wearing such 

 a charm he had lately suffered from toothache. 

 Somehow or other the proved invalidity of the 

 charm has not shaken his faith in its efficacy, for 

 he still wears the tooth, with a devout belief in its 

 virtue. W. C. 



The Moon amd Mushrooms (2"^ S. x. 247.) — 

 The opinion that mushrooms are most plentiful at 

 the full of the moon has long been entertained in 

 this country. I know from experience that this 

 opinion is founded on fact. It should not be 

 thought wonderful that vegetables should be 

 affected by the influence of a body which can 

 move the vast ocean. Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



Walking round a Church. — Pennant, in his 

 Tour in Scotland, relates the following among the 

 customs of the Highlanders : — 



" After marriage, the bride immediately walks round 

 the church alone 



" The parturient woman never sets about her usual 

 avocations till she has been kirked, that is, has gone into 

 the church and walked round it: for no religious cere- 

 mony is used in Scotland on this occasion." 



Has this custom of walking round the church, 

 whether inside or outside, ever existed in Eng- 

 land ? I mean, of course, as a religious or effec- 

 tive ceremony. H. C. C, 



DiLDRUM, King op the Cats. — The following 

 tradition is often heard in South Lancashire. A 

 gentleman was one evening sitting cosily in his par- 

 lour, reading or meditating, when he was inter- 

 rupted by the appearance of a cat, which came 

 down the chimney, and called out, "Tell Dildrum 

 Doldrum's dead ! " He was naturally startled by 

 the occurrence, and when shortly 'afterwards his 



