Aug. 18. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



135 



8vo. I think there Is an English translation pub- 

 lished two or three years ago ; and in the Foreign 

 Quarterly Review, about 1845, may be found an 

 admirable article ,on the book by Mr. William 

 Macpherson, of the Inner Temple, now Master in 

 Equity at Calcutta. J. C. R. 



Buchaii's Ballads (Vol.xii., p. 21.). — Buchan's 

 collection is celebrated by Sir Walter Scott, in his 

 last Introduction to the Border Minstrelsy (Poet. 

 Works, vol. i. p. 87., edit. 1833) ; a fact which one 

 might have supposed sufficient to make the book 

 known to all persons interested in such literature. 

 The account which Mr. Grundtvig gives of Mr. 

 Dixon's publication is therefore very surprising 

 to me. But I take the liberty of hinting to Mr. 

 Grundtvig, that the Ancient Ballads lie under 

 some suspicion, notwithstanding Scott's opinion in 

 favour of their genuineness. At least I was told 

 soon after the appearance of the work, and in Mr. 

 Buchan's own part of Scotland, that many of the 

 pieces were manufactured by two very young 

 men (both since known for better things), who 

 amused themselves by imposing their productions 

 on that not very critical or judicious editor. 

 Perhaps the mention of this report may draw forth 

 either a contradiction or a confirmation of it. 



J. C. R 



jRose's " Biographical Dictionary " (Vol. xi.> 

 p. 437. )• — This book grew out of the Encyclo- 

 pcedia Metropolitana, which Mr. Hugh James Rose 

 undertook to edit after the death of the Rev. E. 

 Smedley. The intention was not to produce an 

 altogether original work, but one mainly founded 

 on the Biographic Universelle and Chalmers. I 

 still possess a paper of instructions drawn up by 

 Mr. Rose for the guidance of contributors. Mr. 

 Henry Rose succeeded his brother in the editor- 

 ship of the JEncyclopcedia, and some changes of 

 plan were made as to the Biographical Dictionary. 

 Instead of appearing as a portion of the JEncyclo- 

 pcedia, it became an independent work ; the size 

 was changed from quarto to large octavo ; and, 

 while the bulk of it was still to be executed by 

 contributors who each undertook a certain por- 

 tion of miscellaneous names, the chief articles in 

 particular classes were committed to writers who 

 were supposed to have a special acquaintance 

 with the subjects. Thus, I remember that the 

 Spanish biographies were to be executed by Dr. 

 Dunham, and the naval by Captain Glascock. I 

 do not know how far Mr. Henry Rose carried on 

 his superintendence, nor when the system of con- 

 tributors was abandoned ; but the greater part of 

 the Dictionary was the work of a single writer, 

 the Rev. J. Twycross. J. C. R. 



Ritual of Holy Confirmation (Vol. xi., pp. 342. 

 512.). — In a sermon preached Sept. 27, 1619, at 

 the first visitation of the then Bishop of Oxford, 



No. 303.] 



Dr. John Howson, by Edward Boughen, his chap- 

 lain, the following sentence occurs after a citation 

 from St. Augustine on the use of the sign of the 

 cross in holy confirmation : 



" The cross, therefore, upon this or the like considera- 

 tion, is enjoined to be used in Confirmation in the Book 

 of Common Prayer, set forth and allowed in Edward VI.'s 

 reign. And I find it not at any time revoked : but it is 

 left, as it seems, to the bishop's discretion to use or not to 

 use the cross in confirmation." — P. 11. 



Is this view respecting the bishop's discretionary 

 power to use the sign of the cross in holy con- 

 firmation borne out by any other Church of Eng- 

 land divines ; and was it ever acted upon by 

 Bishop Howson, or any of his cotemporaries ? 

 The Church in Scotland retained it ; and her 

 bishops still often, but not I believe universally, 

 use it. William Eraser, B.C.L. 



Alton, Staflfordshire. 



Nursery Hymn (Vol. xi., pp. 206. 474.). — In 

 the interesting " Report on the State of Parochial 

 Education in the Diocese of Worcester," by the 

 Rev. E. Feild (now Bishop of Newfoundland), 

 printed as an appendix to the National Society's 

 Report for 1841, may be found, at p. 164., the 

 rhyme, — 



" Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John," — 

 with variations taken down from the variation of 

 children in the dioceses of Worcester and Salis- 

 bury. J. C. R. 



Cathedral Registers (Vol. xi., p. 445.). — When 

 in Sussex lately, I met with a woman who stated 

 that she was married in Chichester Cathedral. 

 Probably thirty years ago. F. B. R. 



Full Fig (Vol. xii., p. 65.). — May not this 

 term, applied to dress, owe its derivation to the 

 costume of fig-leaves adopted by our first parents ? 

 The slang character of the phrase inclines me to 

 hazard this conjecture. While I am on the sub- 

 ject of dress I should like to have an explanation 

 of the term " dressed to the nines," common in 

 some parts of the country. J. S. C. 



May not this phrase have reference to the 

 original apron of fig-leaves, with which Adam and 

 Eve imperfectly clothed themselves ? 



Alfred Gattt. 



Pollards (Vol.xii., p. 9.). — Pollards are com- 

 mon in the marshlands of Holland and Flanders. 

 They are chiefly willows. Other trees are pol- 

 larded there to prevent them from overshadowing 

 the fields, and keeping off the sun. Trees are pol- 

 larded here for the same ground. Trees are like- 

 wise pollarded in the Netherlands, and here to 

 strengthen the trunk, and make earlier and sounder 

 timber. Hyde Clarke. 



