372 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Nov. 10. 1855. 



Sandys's "Ovid" (Vol.xii., p. 296.). — The only 

 excuse I have in writing this, my first attempt, 

 is, that being impressed with the value of your 

 journal to the " Trade " generally, I think the five 

 minutes' trouble I have taken might set an exam- 

 ple to others, who might often assist the Queries 

 of your correspondents. 



Seeing a question upon George Sandys's Ovid's 

 Metamorphoses answered in your " Notices to 

 Correspondents," and having a copy for sale, dated 

 1632, 1 find the following occurs in the Dedication 

 and Prefiice, which I think partly answers the 

 question : 



DEDICATION. 



" To the Most High and Mightie Prince Charles, King of 

 Great Britaine, France, and Ireland. 



"Sir, 

 " Your gracious acceptance of the ' First-fruits of my 

 Laurels iclien you tvere our Hope,' as now our Happiness," 

 &c. &c. 



As Charles ascended the throne March 27, 

 1625, and the former edition, addressing him as 

 the " Prince," there could not have been an edi- 

 tion of 1626. 



PREFACE. 



" Since it should be the principal end in publishing of 

 Books, to inform the understanding, direct the will, and 

 temper the affections, in this the Second Edition of my 

 Translations, I have attempted," &c. &c. 



This settles the question of the second edition 

 being 1632. H. Blackwell. 



18. Coppice Kow, Clerkenwell. 



Sepulchral Monuments (Vol. ix., p. 539.). — 

 Some tisne ago, I endeavoured to prove, in contra- 

 diction to the opinion of many modern archasolo- 

 gists, that the mediaeval effigies are representations 

 of the dead bodies, as laid in state, or prepared 

 for consignment to the tomb. The following cir- 

 cumstance from Simeon of Durham's History of 

 the Kings is strongly corroborative. The body of 

 St. Cuthbert was disinterred, on account of the 

 incredulity of certain persons, four hundred and 

 eighteen years after his burial, a. b. 1104. 



" His hands, reclining on his breast, appear to be ex- 

 ■tending their stretched out fingers to heaven, and to be 

 incessantly demanding the mercy of God in behalf of a 

 people devoted to him. For he, who at the hour of his 

 deatli, raised those hands aloft in prayer in behalf of him- 

 self, now since his death hath ever kept them raised for 

 the expiation of our crimes." 



The effigies of bishops being most commonly 

 represented with the right hand raised in the act 

 of benediction, it Is imagined by many, that this 

 is undeniably living action ; yet a passage in 

 Malmesbury's Life of the Kings seems to elucidate 

 the subject : 



"When it pleased God to call the bishop (St. Augustine) 

 to heaven, and he was lying in extreme bodily pain upon 

 his bed, neighbours flocked around him that they might 

 partake the final benediction of the holy man." 



No. 315.] 



If such importance was attached to this final 

 benediction. It was obviously an imposing, and 

 most suitable attitude for the corpse ; and, In all 

 probability, the arm of an embalmed bishop, with 

 the fingers extended, was sometimes thus placed. 

 It appears from a modern work, that in the Poly- 

 nesian Islands, the chiefs are to this day laid out 

 in a similar manner, holding various instruments 

 In their hands. C. T. 



Brass Plate in Aughton Parish Church (Vol. xii., 

 p. 164). — It may be interesting to C. E. D. to, 

 know, that in the parish church of Ormskirk, 

 affixed to the wall of the north aisle, and over a 

 small burial-place, called the " Mossock Chancel," 

 in the parish registers is an inscription on brass, 

 nearly like the one he has copied at Aughton. 

 Here is a copy of it : 



" Jesus ]Maria, 

 " God save the King. 

 " My ancestors have beene interred heare 385 years — 



This by auntient evidence to mee appeares ; 



Which that all maye knowe and none doe offer wrong, 



It is tonne ffotte broade, and 4 yeardes and a halflfe longe. 

 Anno Domini 1G61. Henry Mosoke, ^Etatis sua 14. Ad 

 Maiorem dei Gloriam. Eichard Mosok, Sculpsitt." 



How this family, which is generally believed to 

 be one and the same In both cases, could have in- 

 terred regularly at both churches, for nearly the 

 same length and period of time, as the plates 

 would seem to denote, has for some time been a 

 puzzle to me. I know of none of the descendants 

 of this ancient family bearing the above name. 

 The hall, at which they for a long time resided, 

 still bears their name ; and is occupied as a farm- 

 house, about four miles from Ormskirk. J. D. 



Ormskirk. 



''La Saxe Galante'' (Vol. xii., p. 205.).— The 

 Query of S. T. refers to a curious little book, at- 

 tributed by Barbier to the Chev. de Salignac, 

 author of a Histoire Generale de Pologne, Paris, 

 1750; but which other bibliographers, probably 

 with more truth, consider to be an anonymous 

 production of the Baron Poellnltz, celebratedfor 

 his Memoires and his religious tergiversation. 

 The book is, what the title of the English transla- 

 tion Imports, a secret history of the court of 

 Dresden under the Elector Jean George IV., and 

 his brother Frederic Augustus, King of Poland ; 

 seasoned with ample details of their various mis- 

 tresses, and a rich store of amorous and diplomatic 

 intrlTue. Much of this we are led to expect 

 from the character of the latter monarch, which 

 is given in the commencement of the volume : 



" Ce dernier Prince etoit galant, bien fait, et amoureux, 

 et quoiqu'il eut eu diverses passions, il aimoit aussi ten- 

 drement que si le plaisir d'aimer eftt ^t^ nouveau pour 

 lui." 



S. T. also asks whence this book is translated. 

 This information I cannot afford him ; nor was I 



