282 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°<i S. VIII. Oct. 8. '59. 



record in the Secret Service Money Book. Tliis 

 retainer, doubtless, was more than quadruple the 

 amount of poor Emmet's fee. The gifted young 

 Irishman was found guilty and executed. No one 

 is permitted to see him in prison, but Mac Nally, 

 who pays him a visit on the morning of his execu- 

 tion, addresses him as " Robert," and shows him 

 every manifestation of affection.* On the 25 th 

 August, 1803, "Mr. Pollock, for L. M., lOOZ." is 

 also recorded. 



The masterly manner in whicli Mac Nally for- 

 tified his duplicity is worthy of attention. As I 

 already observed, persons usually the most clear- 

 sighted regarded him as a paragon of purity and 

 worth. Defending Finney, in conjunction with 

 Philpot Curran, the latter giving way to the im- 

 pulse of his generous feelings, threw his arm over 

 the shoulder of Mac Nally, and with emotion 

 said ; — * 



" ' Mj' old and excellent friend, I have long known and 

 respected the honesty of your heart, but never until this 

 occasion was I acquainted with the extent of your abili- 

 ties : I am not in the habit of paying compliments where 

 they are undeserved.' Tears fell from Mr. Curran as he 

 hung over his friend." f 



Nineteen years after Curran died ; and he died 

 with the illusion undispelled. From the FreemmCs 

 Journal of Oct. 13, 1817, we gather that Judge 

 Burton wrote from London to Mac Nally, as the 

 old and dear friend of Curran, to announce the 

 approaching death of the great patriot. 



A gentleman who conducted the leading popu- 

 lar paper of Dublin some forty years ago, in 

 a communication to me observes : — 



" It was in 1811, during the prolonged trials of the 

 Catholic Delegates (Lord Fingal, Sheridan, Burke, and 

 Kirwan,) that doubts were first entertained of Mac Nally's 

 fidelit}'. Mac Nally took a leading part in the counsels 

 of the Delegates and their friends. We observed that the 

 Orange Attorney-General Saurin alwaj's appeared won- 

 drously well prepared next day for the arguments which 

 we had arranged. Mac Nally, no doubt, used to com- 

 municate to the law officers of the crown all the secrets 

 of his confiding clients." 



James ]\Iac Guicken, a Belfast attorney, was a 

 leading and trusted member of the Northern 

 Directory of the United Irishmen. In the trials 

 which followed the partial outbreak in 1798, Mac 

 Guicken constantly figured as counsel for the 

 rebel leaders of Ulster. This man was also tam- 

 psred with, corrupted, and eventually pensioned. 

 He survived until 1817. Exclusive of his pen- 

 sion he received, as gentle stimulants, between 

 March 1799 and Feb. 1804, the sum of 1460Z. 



The world now knows the guilt of Mac Nally 

 and Mac Guicken. Their memory has been exe- 

 crated. But surely the vile seducer of these once 

 honourable men deserves a share of the obloquy. 

 Who was the man who first debauched the 



• Mad den's Life of Emmet, p. 273. 

 f Life of Carran, "by his Son, i. 397. 



counsel and solicitor of the United Irishmen? 

 " Thereby hangs a tale," which I must reserve for 

 a second paper. William John Fitz-Patrick. 



Kilmacud Manor, Dublin. 



TOTE : ALL FOOLS DAY, ETC. 



I am a constant reader of " N. & Q.," and the 

 fortunate possessor of the whole from the begin- 

 ning. Every year adds to its value, and I cor- 

 dially congratulate you on its eminent success. 

 Permit me now to address you on one or two 

 subjects which have Interested me. 



The word tote, used as a verb, has often at- 

 tracted the attention of our philologists, and 

 various have been the conjectures as to its ety- 

 mology. It is always applied, in the southern 

 portion of the United States, to the act of carry- 

 ing an object from one place to another. Webster 

 in his Dictionary defines it thus : " Tote, v. t. To 

 carry, to bear;" and accompanies it with this 

 commentary : — 



" A word used in slave-holding countries, said to have 

 been introduced by the blacks. This word is said also to 

 be the same as Tolt, which see, the I being omitted. It 

 is much used in the Southern and Middle United States, 

 is occasionally heard in New England, and is said also to 

 be used in England." 



The word tolt, to which Webster refers, is of 

 course familiar to the legal profession, being the 

 name of a writ by which the proceedings on a 

 writ of right are removed (carried) from the Court 

 Baron into the County Court, the precept from 

 the sheriff being " quia tollit atque eximit causam 

 e curia baronura." — 3rd Blachst. Com., p. 34. 



I have very little doubt that the word really is 

 derived from the Latin tollo ; that it was not in- 

 troduced by the " blacks," but by our English 

 ancestors ; that it is the same as toll, the I being 

 omitted ; and that it was converted into the verb 

 to tote, being found a short and convenient syno- 

 nyme for the verbs to carry, to hear. Is it used in 

 England, and, if so, in what sense ? If it be, it is 

 difficult to conceive that it was introduced the7-e 

 by the blacks, who I suspect are entirely innocent 

 of the charge. The fact is that among that race 

 we frequently hear old Saxon words used in their 

 primitive sense, which are regarded as low, and 

 excluded from politer circles. For example, I 

 have heard one of them direct another "to out the 

 light." So, too, the word tliof is very frequently 

 used by them, as it is according to Richardson 

 (Diet, in voce) by the English country folks, in- 

 stead 0? though, and in precisely the same sense. 



My conjecture is, that these words were in 

 common use by our early English settlers, and 

 that the blacks caught them up, and have used 

 them ever since, while among the educated classes 

 they have become obsolete. 



That the verb to tote was not unknown in Eng- 



