2''<» S. VIII. Dec. 24. '59,] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



515 



circa Sacramentum Eucharistia;. Adhter. Ejusd. Epistola 

 de Judaeis ad Petitionem Comitissa3 Flandria;. In fine : 

 Et sic est Jinis. Char, eodem goth. maior. sine oust. sign. 

 et pagg. num. fol. 1. 33 hahet lintas ; foil. 18 fol. — 

 Laire Ind. i. p. 203."] 



'■^ Irish Pursuits of Literature." — Who was the 

 author of an 8vo. volume, entitled Lnsh Pursuits 

 of Literature, in a.d. 1798 and 1799 (Dublin, 

 1799)? Abhba. 



[The above work was followed by another from the 

 same pen, entitled Pursuits of Literature, Translations by 

 Octavius, Dublin, 8vo., 1799. Both works are by Dr. 

 William Hales, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and 

 Kector of Killesandra. These clever brochures are very 

 fuUj' noticed by Mr. Gough in the Gent. Mag. Ixix. 1135, 

 ll-li. Consult also Nichols's Illustrations, viii. 318.3 



la^pltc^. 



WHY IS IvUTIIER REPRESENTED WITH A GOOSE? 



(2"" S. viii. 243. 277. 298.) 

 A late distinguished antiquary has the follow- 

 ing note on " Luther and his goose : " 



" While travelling in the North of Germany in Aug. 

 1838, I noticed the portraits of Luther and Melancthon 

 in all churches. When Luther was represented full- 

 length, there was almost always the figure of a swan or a 

 goose at his feet. In Germany nobody could give me a 

 satisfactory reason why those birds should accompany 

 Luther's portraits. In March, 1842, 1 inserted in the 

 Gent.'s Mag. a request to any of its corraepondents to 

 give me some information on the subject. In the follow- 

 ing month (p. 346.) this answer is given: — 'It is said 

 John Huss asked his executioner, are you going to burn 

 a goose — such is the meaning of Huss in the IJohemian 

 language ; in one century you will have a swan j'ou can 

 neither roast nor boil ? This was afterwards interpreted 

 to mean Luther, who had a swan for his arms. This 

 seems to be the reason that a swan is generally placed by 

 Luther's side in his whole-length portraits.' (This inter- 

 pretation does not satisfy me. I cannot imagine that 

 Luther, the son of a poor miner of Eisleben in Saxony, 

 could ever have borne an aristocratic coat of arms. Born 

 10 Nov. 1484; died at Eisleben, 18 Feb. 1546, aged 61 

 years 3 months 8 days.) The writer in the Biog. Univ., 

 under ' Huss,' observes ' Quelques protestants du 16">"' 

 siecle, jouant sur le mot Huss, racontent gravement, 

 qu'avant d'expirer, il avoit prophetise la venue de Luther, 

 en s'^criant qu'on faisoit mourir une Oie, mais que cent ans 

 apres il renaitroit de ses cendres un Cygne, qui soutiendroit 

 la verite' qu'il avoit defendue.' Since writing the an- 

 nexed statement of my doubts as to Luther bearing an 

 armorial shield, I find that he certainly did. In the Hist, 

 de Martin Luther, par J. M. V. Audin (vol. ii. p. 535.), 

 after mentioning the death of Catherine Bora, wife of 

 Luther, which occurred at Torgau (Upp. Saxony), 20 

 Dec. 1552, M. Audin adds, 'Les restes de Catherine re- 

 posent dans I'eglise paroissiale de Torgau. Une pierre 

 les recouvre, sur laquelle la compagne de Luther est re- 

 presentee de grandeur naturelle, tenant en main une Bible 

 ouverte. Audessus de la tete, si droite, sont les Armes de 

 Luther ; h gauche, celles de sa femme ; un lion, dans un 

 champ d'or, et dans le heaume, une queue de paon.' 

 The lion in the field of gold and crest of peacock's tail 

 are the arms of Catherine Bora. The arms of Luther are 

 not described — Martin Luther, son of Hans Luther, a 

 poor labourer, afterwards a miner, born at Eisleben, in 



Upper Saxony, in the county of Mansfeld, 10 Nov. 1483, 

 ordained priest 2 Maj-, 1506, aged 22 y. 5 m. 22 d. ; mar- 

 ried at Wittembcrg, 13 June, 1525, aged 41 y. 7 m. 4 d., 

 to Catherine Bora, Bore, Bohre, of a noble but needj' 

 family of Grimma, on the Muldau, between Dresden and 

 Leipsig. She had in infancy been placed in a convent at 

 Nimptsch, near Grimma, from which, with eight others, 

 she made her escape with the assistance of Leonhard 

 Kceppen, a senator of Torgau, and Wolf Tomitzch, on 4 

 April, 1521, and fled to Wittemberg. She was bom at 

 Grimma, 29 Jan. 1499, and died at Torgau, 20 Dec. 

 1552, aged 53 y. 10 m. 21 d., having survived her 

 husband 6 y. 10 m. 2 d. (Audin.) From Memoires de Lti- 

 titer, trad, par M. Michelet, 2 vols. 1837, « Martin Luther 

 ou Luder, ou Lother (car il signe quelquefois ainsi), na- 

 quit h, Eisleben le 10 Nov. 1483. h, onze heures du soir.' 

 (vol. i. p. 3.) ; and a note, p. 295., ' Lotharius, lut-lier, 

 leute-herr, chef des hommes, chef du peuple.' Audin 

 (Hist. Luther, vol. i. p. 79.) states that Erasmus says, in 

 Epist. ad Groc., that the real name of Martin Luther was 

 Ludder or Luder, which he abandoned, because in Saxon 

 it signified ' a worthless fellow ' — ' qu'il quitta, parce- 

 qu'en Saxon luder signifie mauvais garuement ' (G. bider, 

 riot, lewdness, to lead a lewd life. Fli'igel). In the Matri- 

 culation Books of the Universitj' of Erfurtll in 1501, the 

 name is written 'Martinus Ludher ex Mansfeld,' and 

 afterwards, in 1502, ' Martinus Luder, ex Mansfeld, Bac- 

 calaureus Philosopliiaj.' 'Jean (Hans) Luther, pfere 

 de celui qui est devenu si celebre, etoit de Mcehra, petit 

 village de Saxe, prbs d'Eisenach. La mfere etoit fiUe 

 d'un bourgeois de cette ville, ou, selon une tradition que 

 j'adopterais plus volontiers, de Neustadt, en Franconie. 

 Le pbre, qui n'^tait qu'un pauvre mineur, avait de la peine 

 a soutenir sa famille. Jean Luther laissa une maison, 

 deux fourneaux h forge, et environs mille thalers en ar- 

 gent comptant. Les Armes du pere de Luther, car les 

 pa3'sans en prenaient h I'imitation des armoiries des nobles, 

 ^taient tout simplement un raarteau. Luther ne rougit 

 point de ses parens.' (Memoires ds Luther, par Miche- 

 let, vol. i. p. 3.) ' Hans Luther avait des Armes h. I'instar 

 des nobles de son temps, un marteau de mineur, dont 

 Martin etait fier corame un Sickingen de son epde.' " 

 (Audin, La Vie de Martin Luther.) 



Wachter derives Lotharius, Luderus, Lutherus, 

 Lotherus, from O. G. lauter, clarus, lucidus, ful- 

 geiis ; but all these names might also be from O. 

 Gr. laut-herr, " illustrious master." 



The name Melancthon or Melanthon is the 

 Greek translation of his real G. name Schwar- 

 zerde, " black earth," which, if from locality, might 

 account for our name Sweetland, which is possibly 

 a corruption of Svart-land. John Huss was born 

 at Hussenitz, Hussinatz, or Hussinecz in Bohe- 

 mia. I shall be glad of the derivation of the name 

 Calvin or Cauvin. I fancy it may be from O. G. 

 culf-win, for MUf-win, which would either translate 

 " a helping friend " or " a help in war." The O. 

 G. Mlf liillf, changes, not only into celf, elf, olf, 

 ulf, and wolf, but also into chilp. As a, final, it 

 takes the form of gehillf which corrnpts into culf 

 and calfj^ R. S. Chaknock. 



DR. JOHN ANDERSON. 



(2'>'' S. vii. 435. ; viii. 255. 358.) 

 I am glad your correspondent, Sigma Theta, 

 has, in addition to my meagre reply to his Query 



