426 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»d S. X. Dec. 1. '60, 



seven houses to have the benefit of the orisons. 

 It will thus be seen how the " ashes " flew on, and 

 the confusion that must have followed amongst 

 persons running in all directions to find seven 

 houses that were not "served," and how the 

 thing progressed geometrically. Indeed, I con- 

 versed with a young man in the county of Wex- 

 ford, who assured me he rode a swift horse 

 upwards of sixteen miles, with the " ashes," before 

 he found seven houses that were not " served," as 

 the people of the country were out In all direc- 

 tions with the " ashes." Thus this chain of human 

 electric telegraphic communication encompassed 

 the whole island in one day. 



I was told some excellent and ludicrous anec- 

 dotes, too long to quote here, about this strange 

 affair when the excitement had cooled down, and 

 people began to reflect on the absurdity of the 

 proceedings. I heard many stories about the 

 origin of this great national hoax, but nothing 

 satisfactory. May I ask can any correspondent 

 IHuminate this curious proceeding ? Thousands 

 of intelligent Irish must remember it well, .and it 

 would be a pity not to leave on record whatever 

 may be known about its origin or otherwise. I 

 may also state that the plague of the cholera was 

 said to be stayed by the adoption of the above 

 curious ceremony. S. Redmond. 



Liverpool. 



Minor HattS. 



Yankee Doodle. — A communication of mine 

 , upon the subject of this old song, appeared in 

 The Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries 

 concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biogiaphy 

 of America, for July, 1858. I was not then aware 

 of the existence of three old broadsides with the 

 music, printed, in all probability, in the last 

 quarter of the elgliteenth century ; which fact is 

 of some importance as establishing the great popu- 

 larity of Yankee Doodle in this country at that 

 time. 



They are entitled as follows : — 



1. " D'Esfaing Eelips'd, or Yankee Doodle's Defeat, 

 By T. Poynton." 



2. " Yankee Doodle, or the Negro's Farewell to Ame- 

 rica. The words and music by T. L." 



3. " Yankee Doodle, or (as now christened by the 

 saints ofNew England), the Lexington March." 



The music to the two first-mentioned ballads is 

 original ; the third is adapted to the old tune. 



EdwAKD F. ElMBAUI.T. 



"Pro aris et focis." — The writer of the Minor 

 Note headed " A Phonetic Translation " (2"'' S. x. 

 345.) is in error in attributing the saying he cites 

 to a Somersetshire farmer, whom one would Indeed 

 scarcely expect to know Latin enough for render- 

 ing even pro and et. The author of the wit- 

 ticism, for such it really was, was a celebrated 



hunting parson, who passed by the name of Billy 

 Butler, and he uttered It at the mansion of the old 

 Somersetshire family bearing the name of Phelips. 

 Looking up at the motto, he said : " Pro aris et 

 focis," for our hares and our foxes! The cap fitted 

 to a nicety the squire, a man notoriously rigid and 

 zealous in carrying out the game laws. N. S. L. 



Origin of the Druses. — Notwithstanding the 

 extent of De Sacy's Arabic erudition, he has 

 f\xiled to discover the origin of the name Druse ; 

 which is the more remarkable inasmuch as he 

 quotes the very catechism In one part, wliich, in 

 another, would have supplied the source of this 

 name. But, as a Jew {Sacy being an anagram of 

 Isaac), he makes light of catechisms, althougii in re- 

 ference to the Gi'eek, Roraldli, Episcopalian, or Pres- 

 byterian religions, no author could expect much 

 credit in rejecting the consideration of their several 

 catechisms whilst professing to give an " expose " 

 of such religious communities. It Is farther re- 

 markable that he was not aware of the passage 

 from Elmaciri's History of the Saracens (p. 264.) 

 quoted by Eichhorn ("N. & Q.," 2"'» S, x. 284.), 

 nor even with the Repertorium on this subject 

 published fifty-six years prior to his Expose de la 

 Religion des Druses. Col. Churchill having fol- 

 lowed De Sacy step by step in the matter of their 

 religion, is also equally obscure as to the origin of 

 this name, explained in " N.&Q." (2"'> S. x. 284.). 

 It is, however, but justice to De Sacy to say that 

 prior to the publication of his learned work on 

 the Druses in 1838, he had waited for further 

 MSS., but was disappointed (I. adv. v.). The 

 Baron de Tott, in 1785 (il. 225.), states that they 

 derived their name from Daui-si, the apostle of 

 Hakem, meaning Drusi, the same person that De 

 Sacy refers to as Darazi, without recognising him 

 as the founder of the Druse name. Besides De 

 Sacy's Expose, he has noticed them in his Chres- 

 tomathie Arahe (2nd ed. i. 93. ; ii. 160.), and in the 

 Mem. Acad. Inscrip. et Belles Lettres (vols. Ix. x.). 



The following extracts from the Druse Cate- 

 chism, however, may be taken as conclusive of the 

 origin of this name : — 



"2. Who was Al Drusi? The same that wrote the 

 Testament, and was servant of Hakem, the Creator. 



"2G. Tell me whence the name Drusi (•, .^\) is de- 

 rived ? Know, brother, that the name of the Druses arises 

 thus : they followed the Ruler, according to the command 

 of God, who is our Lord, Mohammed the son of Isniael 

 [surnamed Al Drusi according to Elmacin] . . . Hence 

 they were called Druses. The meaning of the word 



1 th) (<^<""''^) is submission." 



Lichfield. 



T. J, BUCKTOK. 



Vicar and Curate. — This interchange of 

 meaning between these two words tells (I think) 

 a tale which has not been noticed by the Dean of 



