2'^ S. No 36., Sept. 6. '66.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



189 



in circles. Can they be supposed to represent 

 the seven days of the week, and the twelve months 

 of the year ? and may there be any Druidical or 

 other superstition preserved in these groups ? A 

 passage which occurs in Stanley's Palestine seems 

 to show that the idea is not limited to this country, 

 though it can scarcely be supposed that there 

 could be a common origin between the Eastern 

 plantations and those of England : 



" Following the course of the Barada up throngh the 

 mountains of Anti-Libanus, on the right bank rises a 

 lofty hill, on whose summit, as yoa approach from the 

 south-east, is seen a line of tall black trees. They are 

 seven ' Sindiaiis,' or Syrian oaks, and the following is the 

 stor3'- told as concerning them by a native of Zeb'lani, a 

 village situated two or three hours to the north-west 

 of the pass. Habid (Cain) and Habil (Abel) were the 

 two sous of Adiim. The whole world was divideil be- 

 tween them; and this was the cause of their quarrel. 

 Habil moved his boundary stones too far; Habid threw 

 them at him, and Habil fell. His brother, in great grief, 

 carried the body on his back for 5(10 years, not knowing 

 what to do with it. At last, on the top of this hill, he 

 saw two birds fijjhting; the one killed the other, washed 

 him, and buried him in the ground. Habid did the like 

 for his brother's bod}', and planted his staff to mark the 

 spot, and from this staff seven trees grew up." 



G. M. Z. 



, " As tight as Dick's hatband." — What was the 

 origin of this adage ? Who was Dick, and upon 

 what occasion did he brace his beaver so lightly 

 as to cause the circumstance to pass into a pro- 

 verb? John Pav IN Phillips. 

 Haverfordwest. 



Almshouses recently founded. — Will you allow 

 me to seek an addition to the following list of 

 almshouses and asylums for the aged foun<led 

 since 1800, from the contributors to " N. &. Q." 



Derbyshire : Duke of Devonshire's, Edensor. 

 Essex : Pawnbrokers', Forest Gate. Herts : Wat- 

 ford, Baldock ; Booksellers' Retreat, Kings Lang- 

 ley; Marquis Townshend's, Hertford. Hants: Mr. 

 Dixon's, near Havant. Kent : Huggins' College, 

 Northfleet; Mr. Thackeray's, Lewisham ; Mr. 



■ Berens', Sidcup, Ashford; Tunbridge Wells. Lin- 

 colnshire : Mr. Sibthorp's. Middlesex : Aged 

 Pilgrims, Edgware Road ; Butchers', Walhara 



• Green ; Bookbinders' Benefit Societies, Hall's 

 Pond ; Printers', Wood Green ; Miss Day's, Little 

 Stanmore ; London, Marylebone, St. Pancras, 

 Shoreditch, St. Martin's. Surrey : R. Hill's, 

 Freemasons'. Camberwell : Queen Adelaide's. 

 Bailey's, Brixton. Watermen's, Cambridge. Li- 

 censed Victuallers' Asylum, Sussex. Lord Egre- 

 mont's, Petworth, Warwickshire. Licensed Vic- 

 tuallers', Birmingham. G. H. 



Sir Edward Bopsh, 1688 At the accession of 



William IIL, Sir Edward Bjiesh was " turned out 

 of employment." What was his employment ? 



Jam£S Knowx.es. 



Matthew Gwynne, M.D., Oxon, oh. 1 627. — Dr. 

 Gwynne was an eminent physician and scholar in 

 his time : he was author of the following works or 

 productions : 



1. " Epicedium in obitum illustr. Herois Hmrici Com. 

 Derbiensi.s Oxon, 1593." 



2. " Nero Tragoedia, 1603." 



3. " Orationes durn Londini habitae in .^dibus Gre- 

 shamiis, 1605." 



4. " Virtumnus sive Annus Recurrens. Oxon, 1605." 



5. " Aurum non Aurum, etc. 1611." 



6. A Book of Travels. 



7. " Letters concerning Chemical and Magical Secreta." 



No8. 2. and 3. are in the library of the British 

 Museum. 



No. 5. is in the Bodleian Library. 



Can any of your readers direct me to the others, 

 or give me any account of tlieni, or any particu- 

 lars of him or his works, or his marriage or issue, 

 beyond what is disclosed by the Athen Ox. and 

 Ward, in his Lives of the Greshum Professors f 



James Knowles. 



Construction of Quadrants. — Ts there any work 

 extant on the construction, not the use only, of 

 qiiadrants (particularly on Sutton's or Collins's), 

 which contains rules and directions for laying 

 down the azimuths and plain circles ? W. T. 



Ancient Pipe Case. — I have an old pipe case 

 with a sliding cover, carved with cherubs' heads ; 

 on the top of which are the letters " ferriol." 

 Can you tell me the meaning of this ? It has 

 been suggested that it is Gaelic. J. B. S. 



Cullompton. 



Pope Pius VII. and the Freemasons. — Can any 

 of your readers inform me where I can find a copy 

 of the bull of Pius VII., in which the Freemasons 

 are condemned among other secret societies. 



W. J. B. R. 



" Par ternis suppar." — Can any of your readers 

 give a reasonable interpretation of Lord North- 

 wick's motto " Par ternis suppar ? " 



In Burke's Peerage there is no attempt at a 

 translation, the compiler stating that " the motto 

 as it now stands is perfectly unintelligible." In 

 Sharpe's Peerage, a translation is attempted, thus : 

 "The two are equal in antiquity to the three." 

 I confess my Latin does not enable me to compre- 

 hend this last translation. S. F. 



Scarborough Spa. — Early in the last century, 

 when Scarborough, as a watering-place, was in 

 the ascendant, there was a noted character named 

 Dicky Dickason, who presided at, and was called, 

 " King of the Spa," and who cracked his joke 

 with all who went to the public rooms : in fact he 

 had his franc-parler with duke or duchess, and 

 was as familiar with them to the full as if he were 

 their equal. I am desirous to have particulars of 

 this hero, A. 



