244 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Sept. 29. 1855. 



" Rackets " or " Racquets" — As the game of 

 rackets has been for a long time a very popular 

 one at the University of Cambridge, and at Ox- 

 ford is becoming every term more and more so ; 

 and though here at Birmingham (once the cham- 

 pion ground for racket players) it has been for 

 the last five years gradually dying out, yet 

 perhaps some one may be interested enough in 

 the subject to answer the question which I now 

 put. What is the origin of the game at racquets ? 

 The word itself, written either racket or racquet, 

 is said to be derived from the Latin reticulum. 

 Menage gives the process thus : Root, rete, retica, 

 reticum, reticetta, retiquetta, reketta, raketta, ra- 

 quetta. Raquctta is the Spanish word, raquette 

 French, raket Dutch, racket German, rachetta 

 Italian. A ins worth (^Latin Diet., s. v. reticulum) 

 says Ovid uses reticulum for a racquet. 



De Arte Amandi, iii. 361. : 



" Reticiiloque pilae leves fandantur aperto : 

 Nee, nisi quam tolles, ulla movenda pila est." 



But he is there talking of the game of chess, or 

 something similar to it, and reticulum means a bag 

 or basket, or like the open pockets of a billiard 

 table. Cliaucer and Shakspeare are the earliest 

 English writers (I believe) which use the word 

 racquet, and they speak only of tennis, not 

 racquets. A Racket Plater. 



Birmingham. 



De Witt Medal. — I have in my possession a 

 bronze medal, about two inches and a half in 

 diameter, commemorative of Cornelius and Jo- 

 hannes de Witt, A.D. 1623. On the reverse is 

 represented the death of the brothers by wild 

 beasts, with this inscription : 



" Nunc redeunt animis ingentia consulis acta et formi- 

 date sceptris oracia ministri." 



Can any of the numerous readers of "N. & 

 Q." give some information respecting the history, 

 rarity and value of this medal ? G. L. 0. 



" Recollections of Sir William V/aller," forming 

 an Appendix to the Poetry of Anna Matilda, 

 12mo., 1788, quoted in the third volume of Wil- 

 liam Seward's Anecdotes, p. 301. ;* and not to be 

 confounded with Waller's Vindication. 



In what library is a copy of the above pre- 

 served ? The poems of Anna Matilda, that is to 

 say, of Hannah Cowley, *are attainable in more 

 than one form ; but it is the Appendix attached 

 to the edition above described, which I have vainly 

 sought for many years at the British Museum, at 

 Cambridge, Oxford, Dublin, and elsewhere. The 



[* Seward has also given some extracts from the Re- 

 collections, in his Anecdotes, vol. i. pp. 193 — 195. It is 

 probable these Recollections have been taken from Sir 

 William Waller's Divine Meditations upon several Occa- 

 sions, with a Daily Directory, London, 1680.1 



No. 309.] 



late Mr. Rodd told me he knew of a copy, but 

 could not procure even the loan of it. J. W. 



'■^ Lives of Leland, Hearne, and TFboc?," 8vo., Ox- 

 ford, 1772. — Is it known who is now in possession . 

 of this book, with MS. notes by Jos. Pote, the 

 bookseller at Eton, containing the name of the 

 editor, &c., mentioned in Nichols's Literary Anec- 

 dotes, vol. iii. p. 683., as belonging to Mr. D' Israeli? 



E. W. O. 



Camberwell. 



'•'■The Offering^ — Can any of your readers 

 inform me who was the author of a volume of 

 poetry published at Edinburgh, under the title 

 of The Offering ? It is a selection from the 

 poems, published and unpublished, of a minister's 

 daughter, and is dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Duff. 

 The work is published by Kennedy of Edinburgh, 

 1851. R. J. 



Glasgow. 



'■^Easter Monday, a Farce." — Can any of your 

 Newcastle readers give me any account of the 

 author of the following piece: Easter Monday, 

 or the Humours of the Forth, a farce in three 

 acts, printed at Newcastle? According to the 

 Biographia Dramatica, it was printed about 1781, 

 and is said to be written by a young gentleman of 

 Newcastle. R. J. 



Glasgow. 



"jfZerary of Transtamare." — Can any of the 

 readers of "N. & Q." tell me who wrote Henry of 

 Transtamare, a tragedy, acted at Edinburgh, Nov.l, 

 1805 ? This play was written for the purpose of 

 showing Master Betty (the young Roscius) in a 

 new part. It was said to be the author's first 

 dramatic production. R, J. 



Glasgow. 



Small Miniature of William III. — Has any 

 reader of " N. & Q." met with a small miniature 

 portrait of William III. on Ivory ? Having such 

 a one set in a finger ring, I am desirous of know- 

 ing if there are any others similar, and the pro- 

 bable date of the miniature. G. L. O. 



National Education and Reformatories. — Will 

 you be good enough to allow me to put the fol- 

 lowing questions through the medium of your 

 valuable work ? Where may I obtain the best ac- 

 count of national education in France, Belgium, 

 Prussia, Holland, Sardinia, Naples, The Roman 

 States, Austria, Russia, the United States of 

 America, British America, Brazil, and Mexico ? 

 What steps have the government taken to promote 

 education in any of the above countries ? 



I am also desirous of learning some particulars 

 respecting the criminal population and modes of 

 reformatory treatment in the above-named coun- 



