134 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[;2nd s. No 33., ArG. 16. '56. 



among his stage-brethren as the " gentleman- 

 clown." 



A word more, as still appertaining to " N. & 

 Q." He married, as one of your correspondents 

 states, a Mrs. Power, who had a very handsome 

 house at Lambridge, Bath, and who, previously to 

 this marriage, was mother of a family of ten or 

 twelve children by Sir Andrew Bayntum, with 

 whom she lived for many years, and conducted 

 herself as a wife, and by whom the house and a 

 good income were bequeathed her. There were 

 several Morlands which came to her with the 

 house. I should like to know where they have 

 winged their way ; but, still more, what may have 

 become of a Diary, kept either by Sir Andrew or 

 his father, I forget which, and which, though it 

 might not be worth publishing in extenso, would 

 certainly, unless I egregiously err, afford many 

 valuable pickings, particularly as regards courtly 

 gossip in the elder Georges' days, to " N". & Q." 



Delta. 



Your correspondent (3. y. 5. (p. 78.) should have 

 read my communication. He needlessly asks, 

 " What would convince G. ?" And says, "A Bath 

 Directory is of no weight against a baptismal 

 register." I beg to remind him that my affirma- 

 tion was, that the statement given by D. (2"'' S. 

 i. 293.), as to the name of Robert Montgomery's 

 father, was correct; and I have shown that he 

 lived, was married, and died by the name of 

 Gomery, — a fact well known to the inhabitants 

 of Bath. As to the baptismal register, to which I 

 did not happen to refer, I have only to say that 

 if it is producible, and is worth anything, I do not 

 see why it should be withheld. No man's repu- 

 tation can be promoted by attempts to mystify 

 either his parentage or baptism. Your corre- 

 spondent D. (2'"' S. ii. 37.), who inquires at what 

 "Weston" Robert Montgomery may have been 

 christened ? should try " Weston, near Bath," the 

 worthy vicar of which is the Rev. John Bond. G. 



SATELLITE. 



(2"'i S. ii. 69.) 

 Vossius says : 



" Non h satagendo, ut Perottus putabat : sed h Syriaco 

 satel, id est latus, quia latus stipat, ut idem sit ac antiqua 

 lingua erat latro : quem Varro similiter sic dici credidit, 

 quia latus cingeret. Servius in xir. Mn. Varro dicit hoc 

 nomen posse habere etiam Latinam etymologiam ut latrones 

 dicti sint, quasi laterones, quia circa latera regum sunt, 

 quos nunc satellites vocant." 



Salmon (^Stemmata Latinitatis, London, 1796) 



says : 



" Satelles I have marked as coming from the Greek, 

 because it seems to me to come from <ra for fita (see note 

 on sapio^ and re'AAw or riXXofiai, I make or execHte, arise. 



bid, or order, send ; whence reXXi?, -ew?, part, the whole, 

 order ; whence also reAos, end, duty, or tax (on entering 

 or going out), expense, magistracy, magistrate, troop, 

 legidns, squadron, &c. : SiareAXu is not found, but may 

 have been used, as well as SiareKeay, I go through, perse- 

 vere, last ; since we find ivTeWia or evTeWofi-ai, I enjoin or 

 command, I commission or charge. And what is a satel- 

 lite but one (of a troop) always near his master, exe- 

 cuting, or ready to execute, his orders ? " 



Lemon (Eng, Etym., London, 1783) says : 



Satellites. S.d8<a Dor. for XiJ^w, latus, quia lateat con- 

 daturque sub axillis ; h latus fit Satelles, quod circa la- 

 tera regum sint ; id quod antiquitus latro, quasi latero ; 

 a life guardsman, who antiently waited at the sides of 

 princes ; also used in astronomy to signify," &c. 



Diderot CEncy.) ■says : 



" Chez les empereurs d'orient, ce mot satellite signifioit 

 la dignity ou I'oiBce de capitaine des gardes du corps. Ce 

 terme fut ensuite applique aux rapaux des seigneurs, et 

 enfin k tous ceux qui tenoient les fiefs, appelles Sergen- 

 terie. Ce terme ne se prend plus aujourd'hui qu'en mau- 

 vaise part. On dit les gardes d'un roi et les satellites d'un 

 tyran." 



But see' also Du Cange (Gloss.), Gesner (Thes. 

 Ling. Lat), and Dufresne (Gloss. Med. et Inf. 

 Lat.) 



Satila, satal, to follow. I do not know of any 

 European words derived from Arabic verbs, but 

 there are many (particularly Spanish) derived 

 from Arabic nouns, not now to be found either in 

 Meninski, Golius, or in any Lexicon that I have 

 seen. R- S. Charnock. 



WATCHTULNESS OF THE GOOSE. 



(2°« S. i. 473. 495.) 



The historical credit of the received story re- 

 specting the preservation of the Capitol by the 

 geese, set forth in a former Note, depends in great 

 measure upon the vigilant habits of this bird, and 

 of its superiority to the dog as a guardian. Having 

 consulted Professor Owen upon this point of 

 natural history, I received from that distinguished 

 naturalist an answer, which, with his permission, I 

 lay before the readers of " N. & Q.," in illustra- 

 tion of my former remarks. The alertness and 

 watchfulness of the wild goose, which have made 

 its chase proverbially difficult, appear, from this 

 decisive testimony, to be characteristic of the bird 

 in its domesticated state. The establishment of 

 this fact unquestionably confirms the traditionary 

 account of their preservation of the Capitol. The 

 following is Professor Owen's letter. The cottage 

 where he resides is in Richmond Park. 



" Opposite the cottage where I live is a pond, which is 

 frequented during the summer by two brood-flocks of 

 geese belonging to the keepers. These geese take up 

 their quarters for the night along the margin of the pond, 

 into which they are ready to plunge at a moment's notice. 

 Several times when I have been up late, or wakeful, I 

 have heard the old gander sound the alarm, which is 



