Oct. 20. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



313 



in this moist climate is confined to the female sex, 

 the male using a similar, but larger, covering to 

 protect him from rain. Of such protection, the 

 parapluie (umbrella) may be said to be quite of mo- 

 dern application, if not invention. In the East, no 

 doubt tJie use of this article is of an antiquity far 

 beyond historical times, that is, as a, parasoL The 

 joke of Aristophanes is, that Prometheus, the great 

 discoverer of all the arts, wishing to hide himself 

 from Jupiter (= the aether or atmosphere), covers 

 his ffice with a parasol (so translated in French 

 by Artand), as a lady now does who desires to 

 protect herself from the prying eye of day, and 

 her complexion from the influences of Jupiter. 

 Prometheus inquires what sort of a Jupiter it is, — 

 ri 'yap 6 Zevs troiel ; Is he a-cloud-gathering, or a- 

 cloud-dispersing ? The reply of Peisthetaines 

 being satisfactory, he says, " Then I will un- 

 cover," at the same time telling Peisthetaines not 

 to mention his name, lest Jupiter should hear it, 

 although he was a-cloud-gathering, and could not 

 see him, handing the parasol to Peisthetaines at 

 tiie same time to hold over his head, so that Jupiter 

 might not catch a glimse of him. " Ah ! ah I " 

 exclaims Peisthetaines, " excellent idea, and quite 

 Pi'ometheic ! " (prudent and appropriate to your 

 name and character).* ES 7' tirei^6T]aas avT6 koI 

 irpofxnOtKcSs. Several arts might be mentioned as 

 known to the ancients, some of which, after being 

 lost for centuries, have been re-discovered ; others 

 still remaining to be re-discovered, as malleable 

 glass, for example. T. J. Buckton. 



Lichfield. 



Posy on a Ring (Vol. xii., p, 194.). — -Whitaker 

 mentions a ring found on Towton Field, of gold, 

 and weighing upwards of an ounce ; it bore the 

 cognizance of a lion, and this legend, 



" Nowe ys thus." 

 Probably the crest of the Percys, and the motto 

 taken in allusion to the times, — an age as fierce 

 as a lion. 



« The posies in your rings are dways next to the finger, 

 not to be seen of him that holdeth you by the hands." 

 — Ded. to Euphnes' his England. 



" Indeed, at first, man was a treasure ; 

 A box of jewels ; shop of rarities ; 



A ring whose posie was ' my pleasure.' " 



Geo. Herbert, The Qiurch : Miserie. 

 " ' Lesse than the least 

 Of all Thy mercies ' is my posie still. 



This on my ring. 

 This by my picture, in my book I write." 

 * Ibid. The Posie. 



Turbervllle wrote a poem " To his loue, that 

 sent him a ring, wherein was graude, — 

 " ' Let Reason rule.' " 



Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



* The Latin allusion to the Prometheus of .^chyles. 

 No. 312.] 



Saints versus Serpents (Vol. vi., p. 147., &c.) 



Both Mary Magdalen and Martha are said to have 

 destroyed the Tarasque (Mone's Lat. Hymns, iii. 

 426.). St. Firminius is to be added to the ser- 

 pent-slayers : 



" Hie Augiensem insulam 

 Dei nutu intraverat, 

 Quam multitudo pessima 

 Detinebat serpentium, 

 Intrante illo, 

 Statim squammosus 

 Festinanter exercitus 

 Aufugit, ampli 

 Lacus natatu 

 Tergus tergens per triduum." — lb., p. 483. 



Add also St. Margaret : 



" Fortis hsec in passione 

 Pugnam gessit cum dracone, 



Quem scidit per medium." — lb., p. 408. 



At p. 405., the dragon swallows her : 



" Quem per medium signo crucis discidit, 

 Et de utero ejus inla^sa exivit." 



Add also St. Servulus, who slew a serpent of 

 great size by elevating the cross : 



" Ex improvise coluber, 

 In campum exit maximus 

 Erecta cruce perimit 

 Athleta Christi daemonem." — Tb., p. 499. 



Sir R. C. Hoare says that, at Teanum, in a.d. 

 333, it is said that St. Paride, who had come from 

 Athens, slew a famous dragon which the inhabit- 

 ants used to worship. A church stands on the spot 

 where the dragon was slain, and in the church is 

 a monument recording the event. Sir R. C. Hoare 

 gives the inscription. (^Classical Travels, vol. i. 

 p. 261., edit. 1819.) B. H. C. 



Priests' Hiding-places (Vol. xi., p. 437. ; Vol. xii., 

 pp. 14. 149.). — There is a secret room at Moyles 

 Court, near Ringwood, the house held by the 

 unfortunate Lady Lisle, who died on the scaffold 

 at Wincliester on the charge of concealing fugi- 

 tives after the battle of Sedgmoor. 



Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



Palindromon, vers retourne (Vol. ix., p. 343.). — 

 This line was written in Souris : 



" Sum mus ore, sed is sum mus, si deo ore summus." 

 Garasse, Recherche, Sfc, p. 387. 



English words the same backwards or forwards : 



Bib, gag, Nan, tit, eye. Bob, gig, pip, tat, ere. Eve, 

 gog, pap, tot, ewe, did, nun, pop, pup, Anna, deed. 



Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



CardinaVs red Hat (Vol. xi., p. 105.). — Cardi- 

 nals wear red, says Bayle (PensSes sur la Comete, 

 p. 37.), because Rome is the solar or holy city, 

 Sunday belonging to Christianity, and cardinals 

 therefore use the colour of the sun ! 



Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



