196 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. VIII. Sept. 3. 



death of George Prince of Denmark, 1708; and 

 the peace of Utrecht, 1713. 



C. H. & Thompson Coopeb. 

 Cambridge. 



A Bear Hunt on the Thames (2"'» S. vili. 148.) 

 — W. J. Pinks will find an interesting account 

 of " a bear-baiting on the Thames," a.d. 1539, 

 and how it involved Archbishop Cranmer in some 

 difficulty, in Soames's History of the Reformation 

 (vol. i. part ir., pp. 379-82.) He can also refer 

 to Strype's Memorials (vol. iii., part i., p. 327., 

 A.D. 1554) ; and Annals (vol. i., part i., p. 285., 

 A.D. 1559. E. C. Hakington. 



Exeter. 



Family Herald Essayists (2°^ S. viii. 131.) — 

 The author of the Es?ays here referred to is Mr. 

 J. C. Forrest, of 46. Gifford Street, Kingsland, N. 



Septimus Piesse. 



Vine Cottage, Tumham Green. 



Shim (2°* S. viii. 169.) — The idea oi appearing 

 has a natural connexion with that of shining ; and 

 this connexion is traceable in various languages. 

 Thus schein, in old German, is both shine and 

 semblance ; <f>a&uixai in Greek is both to shine and 

 to appear; and in Ps. Ixxx. 1., " Thou that dwel- 

 lest between the cherubim, shine forth " (Heb. 

 hophia'), the shining forth seems specially to imply 

 manifestatio7i : "Thou that within the Holy of 

 Holies dwellest unseen, make thyself gloriously 

 visible, appear ! " Is it not possible, then, that 

 the provincial term shim, in the sense of seeming 

 or appearing, is connected with the old English 

 word shimmer, to shine, to gleam ? 



"Shim. It seems. Wilts;" "Shim. Appear- 

 ance;" " Shim. A clear bright light." (Halliwell.) 

 Cf. in Sax. scima, splendour, and sciman, scimian, 

 splendere. Thomas Boys. 



^^ Ligaturas facere" (2"^ S. vii. 437.) has another 

 meaning beside that given. It was a species of 

 magic said to be performed by tying a knot in a 

 cord, or string, exactly at some particular junc- 

 ture, and reciting some charm at the same time. 

 Persons were then supposed to be tied, as it were, 

 and hindered absolutely from performing what 

 they intended to do. The most common occasion 

 of making a ligature was by tying a knot at the 

 moment the words " conjungo vos" were repeated 

 at a marriage. This by French writers is called 

 " noiier I'aiguillette." The results were said to be 

 most serious, and only to be got rid of by a ridi- 

 culous and disgusting ceremony. The witch, no 

 doubt, took care to let the parties know what was 

 done ; and, like most superstitions, fear and men- 

 tal emotion really did the work. Ligatures to 

 prevent a joining were also common ; but the 

 most impudent of all pretensions were charms to 

 stop running rivers, nay, even to arrest the moon 

 in its course. These superstitions are of the re- 



motest antiquity — your classic readers will re- 

 member 



" Necte tribus nodis ternos, Amarylli, colores," 



as well as the charms of Medea. A. A. 



Poets' Corner. 



Peter Gleane (2°* S. viii. 167.) was of Caius 

 College, Cambridge ; B.A. 1692-3. 



C. H. & Thompson Cooper. 

 Cambridge. 



" Wliy every nation, every clime," §-<;. (2°"^ S. viii. 

 28.) — Dexter will find the lines respecting which 

 he inquires in a Seatonian prize poem, The Day of 

 Judgment, by K. Gljnn, M.D., 1757. This poem, 

 and Death, by Beilby Porteus (two years after- 

 wards), are the best known of the earlier success- 

 ful candidates for Mr. Seaton's prize. It is found 

 in many modern collections, e, g. among others, 

 in The Sacred Lyre, published at Glasgow in 

 1834. S. S. S. 



County Voters^ Qualif cation (2"* S. viii. 70.)— 

 The forty-shilling freehold qualification was first 

 required in 1429. Before that time a sort of 

 universal sufirage appears to have prevailed, and 

 the statute 8 Hen. VI. c. 7. was passed to put an 

 end to such an anomalous and unequal state of 

 things. After reciting that " the Elections of 

 Knights of Shires in many Counties had then of 

 late been made by very great and excessive num- 

 ber of people dwelling within the same Counties, 

 of the which most part was of people of small sub- 

 stance and of no value, whereof every of them 

 pretended a voice equivalent with the most worthy 

 Knights and Esquires dwelling within the same 

 Counties, whereby manslaughters, riots, batteries, 

 and divisions among the Gentlemen and other 

 people of the same Counties would very likely 

 rise and be, unless convenient and due remedy 

 were provided," the statute enacts, " That the 

 Knights of the Shires shall be chosen in every 

 County by people dwelling and resident in the 

 same Counties, whereof every one shall have free 

 Land or Tenement to the value of Forty Shillings 

 by the year at least, above all charges." By the 

 10 Hen. VI. c. 2. the qualification must be situate 

 or arise within the county for which the freeholder 

 claimed to vote : a thing which was not expressly 

 required by the former statute. 



I cannot pretend to offer an opinion as to the 

 relative value of the qualification ; but it is quite 

 clear that a forty-shilling freeholder, 400 years 

 ago, was not deemed a person " of small substance 

 and of no value." David Gam. 



Grotesques in Churches (2°^ S. viii. 130.)— The 

 only explanation that I can suggest (and I never 

 heard any from any one else) as to the very com- 

 mon grotesque, " the head of a man with lolling 

 tongue," will be found by referring to the 3rd 



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