440 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2''d S. VIII. Nov. 26. '69. 



was also used in old Eng. to signify the afternoon 

 or evening (Halliwell). 



Wachter connects the German ander (alius) 

 with Goth, anthar. " Ander " does duty for " An- 

 drew " in the old term " Andersmas," S. Andrew's 

 Day. 



*' Gaffer, a head labourer or workman. WesV 

 Halliwell. " Gaffman " (the servant who superin- 

 tends a farm), properly an overlooker. Old Ger. 

 gaffen^ adspectare" Thomas Boys. 



Crooked Boundaries of Fields (2'"> S. viii. 19.) 

 — These arise from three circumstances : 1st, the 

 running of the water in the ditches, which, like 

 rivers and all streams, work themselves a crooked 

 course by indenting any soft place there may be 

 in the bank, and, flying off at an angle with in- 

 creased impetus against the opposite side, much 

 as a billiard ball does off a cushion, make a corre- 

 sponding indentation a little farther on. The 

 second cause is the growth of large trees on the 

 banks ; the roots or "toes" of which tree project 

 into the ditch for the sake of the moisture, and 

 as the neighbours do not like to injure the timber, 

 they cut the ditch closer into the land between 

 them, so as to make a sort of give-and-take line. 

 The third cause, which accounts for the large 

 curves often found in fences, is that they have 

 followed the boundary or edge of some old pond 

 or pool, since drained and filled up or levelled. 

 On comparison with old maps I have known 

 fences which were set out quite straight in allot- 

 ments a hundred years ago, have now become 

 considerably crooked. And only a short time ago, 

 in making a survey, I found a river had changed 

 its course, and had become more crooked, to an 

 extent of nearly double its width, since a map 

 made in 1745. A. A. 



Poets' Corner. 



Wm. Shahspeare Payton (2°* S. viii. 292.) — 

 The Query of Me. E. Y. Lowne on the above 

 name, and some similar ones previously inserted 

 in " N. & Q." as well aa other papers, leads me 

 to imagine that few who are not residents in or 

 near Warwickshire have any idea how common 

 the name is there. The Birmingham Directory for 

 1858 contains five Shakespeares and four Shake- 

 spears ; and these nine individuals probably re- 

 present at least forty persons of the name in that 

 town only. There are many more in the neigh- 

 bourhood ; and when to all these are added the 

 numerous allied families, individuals of which 

 have Shakspeare for a second or middle name, it 

 is likely that there are hundreds of the name 

 within a radius of a few miles. N. J. A. 



Blue Blood (2°« S. vii. 47.) — The Query, ask- 

 ing an explanation of this expression in its Spanish 

 meaning, as intimating illustrious birth and high 

 extraction, has hitherto remained without a reply. 



On referring to the Aventures of Don J. de Var- 

 gas, recently cited in your columns (p. 355.), I 

 find a note by the learned Editor which throws 

 some light upon the subject ; though not, perhaps, 

 all that is required. It appears that the Spa- 

 niards reckon three degrees of nobility: I. the 

 highest and most illustrious ; 2. that which is 

 somewhat less exalted, but still pure ; 3. that 

 which has some plebeian admixture ; and that to 

 these three degrees appertain the respective de- 

 signations of blue blood, red blood, and yellow 

 blood : — 



" L'orgueil castellan distingue dans la noblesse trois 

 especes de sang : sangre azul (sang bleu), se dit de la 

 noblesse la plus illustre ; sangre Colorado (sang rouge), de 

 la bonne noblesse; sangre amarillo (sang jaune), de cells 

 qui a re9U quelque m^ange de sang pl^b^ian." — AveiU. 

 p. 9. 



And now can any of your learned readers sup- 

 ply what is yet deficient, by explaining this appor- 

 tionment of the three colours, blue, red, and 

 yellow ? It does not appear to be heraldic ; but 

 one can hardly deem it altogether fanciful. 



Thomas Boys. 



Quotation (2"'' S. viii. 327.)— In the Appendix 

 xxiv., XXV., and xxvi. to the 



" Memoirs of the most renowned James Graham, Mar- 

 quis of Montrose. Translated from the Latin of the Rev. 

 Dr. George Wishart, afterwards Bishop of Edinburgh." 

 Edinburgh, 1819, 



will be found specimens of the marquis's poetical 

 genius. I copy the first two verses of the poem 

 from which the quotation was taken : — 

 Part First. 

 " My dear and only love I pray 

 This noble world of thee, 

 Be governed by no other sway, 



But purest monarchie. 

 For if confusion have a part. 



Which vertuous souls abhore, 

 And hold a synod in thy heart, 

 I'll never love thee more. 



" Like Alexander, I will reign. 

 And I will reign alone ; 

 My thoughts shall evermore disdain 



A rival on my throne. 

 He either fears his fate too much, 



Or his deserts are small, 

 That puts it not unto the touch, 

 To win or lose it all," &c. 



Belater Adime. 



Kenrick Family (2°^ S. viii. 328.) — A person 

 of that name was Mayor of Bewdley in 1778. 

 There are none of that family now resident in the 

 town ; but in a neighbouring parish, Astley, Wor- 

 cestershire, the name still continues. T. E. W. 



Heralds' Visitations (2""' S. viii. 303.)— To this 

 list may be added, 1684, Huntingdonshire (MSS. 

 CoUege-at-Arms, K 7. ; quoted In Gorham's His- 

 tory ofEynesbury and St. Neots, p. 154.). 



Joseph Bix. 



