88 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Aug. 4. 1855. 



of raakinjj marginal note3 in common writing-ink 

 without blotting : I would ask are there any 

 means of obviating this defect, either by some in- 

 gredient to be added to ordinary ink, or some 

 preparation to be spread partially over the paper 

 where one wishes to add a MS. note ? C. 



The Sphinx. — What idea did the Egyptians 

 intend to convey by the sphinx ? Was it possibljt 

 that of moral and physical force ? Faunti^eeot. 



[The religion of Ancient Egypt was eminently mys- 

 terious and emblematical. It was by emblems and visible 

 signs, unknown to the vulgar, that the priests expressed 

 their thoughts, notions, and superstitions. The sphinx 

 signifies merely the state of the Nile when it inundates 

 Egypt. As these inundations happen in the months of 

 July and August, when the sun passes through the signs 

 of Leo and Virgo, and as they were fond of uniting mon- 

 strous and incongruous figures, they invented the sphinx, 

 composed of the head of a virgin and the body of a lion, 

 to intimate that the Nile overflows when the sun is pass- 

 ing through these two signs. It is scarcely necessary to 

 add, that the Egyptian astronomers were the inventors of 

 the signs of the Zodiac] 



Orator Henley (Vol. xii., p. 44.). — Is there a 

 list of the printed works of this character to be got 

 in any of the various bibliographical publications ? 

 I have in my possession rather an interesting 

 volume of Tracts by him, published in 1727-31, 

 «m. 8vo. T. G. S. 



Edinburgh. 



[The following works contain a list of Orator Henley's 

 publications : — Watt's BMiotheca ; Bodleian Catalogue ; 

 and Retrospective Review, vol. xiv. p. 224.] 



Marabout. — How did the particular sort of 

 feathers worn by ladies, and called " Marabout," 

 get their name ? C. de D, 



[" Marabout, se dit encore d'un oiseau dont la queue 

 fournit des plumes, auxquelles on donne le meme nom, et 

 qui servent d'ornement a diverses coiffures de femmes. 

 tJn chapeau orne' de marabouts. EUe avait des mara- 

 bouts sur sa toque." — Dictionnaire de VAcademie Frangaise, 

 «. v.] 



EarWs " Microcosmography" (Vol. xii., p. 42.). 

 — Is the name of the editor or publisher Blount or 

 Blunt ? Upon looking over a copy of the " ninth 

 edition, 1669," in my possession, I find it stated 

 in the notice " To the reader " that " I have, for 

 once, adventured to play the midwives' part, help- 

 ing to bring forth three infants into the world, 

 which the father would have smothered, &c. I 

 remain thine, Edw. Blunt." T. G. S. 



Edinburgh. 



|y[The name may occasionally be spelt Blunt, which was 

 probably the original orthography, but it is now better 

 known as Blount. See a notice of him in Dr. Bliss's edi- 

 tion of Earle's Microcosmography, p. xx., where it is stated 

 No. 301.] 



that " it is no slight honour to Blount's taste and judg- 

 ment, that he was one of the partners in the first edition 

 of Shakspeare."] 



" Love a la Mode." — Can you tell me who 

 wrote Love a la Mode, a comedy, 4to., 1663 ? This 

 play, which was acted at Middlesex House, is said 

 to be written by a person of honour, the initials 

 of whose name are T. S. From some recom- 

 mendatory verses prefixed, the author is supposed 

 to have been either a brother-in-law, or a half- 

 brother, of Sir R. Colbrand, Bart. Not having 

 at hand either Burke or Debrett's account of ex- 

 tinct baronetages, I shall be obliged if you 

 could inform me whether there is any relation of 

 Sir R. Colbrand, with whom the initials T. S. 

 correspond. R. J. 



Glasgow. 



[In Burke's Extinct Baronetcies it is stated, that Sir 

 Robert Colbrand married Mary, daughter of Thomas 

 Southland, Esq., of Lee, in Kent.] 



" DE JOIE SAILI A PES." 



(Vol. ix., pp. 112. 466.) 



Under the title of " to jump for joy," I some 

 time past took the liberty of making a few re- 

 marks in " N. & Q." upon the words "de joie 

 saili a pes," conceiving the term " to jump for 

 joy " to be their true translation. In a paper 

 which subsequently appeared in that publication, 

 it is stated that my construction of these words is 

 incorrect, and that their true meaning is not that 

 the person alluded to in my communication 

 jumped with J03', but that he sallied out on foot. 



The book in which these words are contained is 

 held in such high and deserved estimation in Ire- 

 land, that I trust I may be permitted to offer one 

 or two farther remarks upon this disputed pas- 

 sage. 



It may be in the remembrance of those who 

 have read this very interesting history (The Con' 

 quest of Ireland by Henry II., London, William 

 Pickering, 1837), that at pages 51. and 52. the 

 poet describes the rupture which had taken place 

 between an English knight named Maurice de 

 Prendergast, and Dermot, the King of Leinster ; 

 and (to use the words of the editor) that 

 " Maurice proffered his services to the King of 

 Ossory, who joyfully accepted them, and agreed 

 to meet him at Tech-Moylin." At the time that 

 Prendergast made this offer through his mes- 

 senger to the King of Ossory, the knight was at 

 the town of Wexford, and the king was in his 

 own country of Ossory. Prendergast's mes- 

 senger appears before the king and informs him 

 that it was the knight's intention to serve him, if 



