2MS.no 86., Aug. 22. '57.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



159 



Mrs. Siddons (P* S. xi. 424. ; 2°'' S. ii. 89. ] 20.) 

 — One of the great uses of " N. & Q." being to 

 point out to the workers in the field of literature 

 the places from which material for their work 

 may be derived, I trust that my motives may not 

 be misconstrued, when I direct attention to an 

 article of ray own ("Siddoniana") in the cur- 

 rent number of Titan, as containing many facts, 

 now first published, concerning Mrs. Siddons's 

 early years, education, youthful performances, 

 marriage, &c., which may be of use to the future 

 biographer or compiler of her life. 



CUTHBERT BeDE, B.A. 



Robin a Rie (2"'^ S. iv. 57.)— We believe that 

 this song, was first printed in The Galloindian 

 Encyclopasdia, by John Mactaggart, one of the 

 most curious books ever printed. In his commu- 

 nication, L.M.M.R. explains the Meggy -mony-feet 

 to be the wood-louse. We never heard this in- 

 sect called the Meggy-mony-foot in Scotland ; but 

 the lulus terrestris is so called, also the electric 

 centipede {Scolopendra elecirica), commonly found 

 below stones in old ruinous walls. The connoch 

 ivorm seems to be some destructive caterpillar. 

 Jamieson explains connoch to mean anything that 

 destroys* MENrANTHES. 



Chirnside. 



Pomfret's Choice (2"'' S. iv. 106.) — Granger 

 says (vol. ii. 401.) : " There is a poem called ' Hob- 

 son's Choice " which I have seen printed in a folio 

 pamphlet, together with the ' Choice ' by Pomfret." 



This was probably the form in which it was 

 first published, and the mention of it may assist 

 N. O. in his inquiry ; as to the date I can offer 

 no suggestion. 



Dr. Johnson's remark that " Perhaps no com- 

 position in our language has been oftener perused 

 than ' Pomfret's Choice ' reads rather strangely 

 now." Charles Wylie. 



Colours for Glass (2"'^ S. iv. 129.) — The ordi- 

 nary powder colours sold by the artists' colourmen 

 are used for painting magic-lantern slides ; those 

 of course only being available which are trans- 

 parent. 



Canada balsam, diluted to the required thinness 

 with turpentine, is employed for mixing them. 

 When dry this forms a remarkably hard and 

 transparent varnish. I believe it is the same as 

 that known by the name of crystal varnish. 



T. Greenwood. 



Weymouth. 



Painting on Leather (2°'^ S. iii. 229. 416.)— The 

 pictures in the Titian Gallery at Blenheim are 

 painted upon leather. F. M. Midpleton. 



Stanton, near Ashbourne. 



Womanly Heels (2"'^ S. iii. 307.) — This is a 

 strange expression, and apparently inapplicable 



to the Spanish proverb, for the chapin is without 

 heels, being a slipper or clog to protect the shoe 

 from dirt. With this use the Spanish proverb 

 literally accords — metaphorically : to raise one- 

 self above one's deserts ; " s'elever au-dessus de 

 son merite." 



This, like many other Spanish proverbs, al- 

 though very expressive, is now seldom used. 



J. B. 



Second thoughts not always best (2°'* S. iv. 8.) — 

 In Hare's Guesses at Truth, I think I have seen a 

 remark to this effect, that a wise man's answer to 

 a question is first yes, then no, and lastly yes. 



Marrying a Widow (2"'* S. iv. 91.) — A gentle- 

 man who marries a widow may not use either the 

 title, surname, or arms of her former husband. 



P.P. 



Mayors Re-elected (2°'* S. ii. 384. "477. ; iii. 19. 

 99. 159.) — Sir George Goodman, M.P., has been 

 four times Mayor of Leeds. Mercator, A.B. 



The Chisholms, Sfc. (2»'i S. iv. 68.) — The 

 O'Conor Don, of Belenegare, co. Roscommon, and 

 the O'Donoghue of the Glens, Kerry (M.P.), re- 

 present the heads of the old Irish Septs of co. 

 Kerry ; the first O'Conor " Don " (the dark) was 

 Tirlagh, in the reign of Richard II. The Chis- 

 holm (of Erchless Castle) is the translation of the 

 vernacular '* An Siosalach," by which the High- 

 landers of the Clan designated their chief. The 

 Knight of Kerry is the representative of the old 

 branch of the Fitz Geralds ; the head of the 

 O'Neils styled himself the O'Neil. John Francis 

 Fitzgerald, of Glin Castle, is called the Knight of 

 Glin. John of Callan in Kerry, the ancestor of 

 the Fitzgeralds, was slain at Callan ; his eldest son 

 Gibbon was the White Knight ; his second son, 

 John, the Knight of Glin (the vale) ; and his 

 third son, Maurice, was Knight of Kerry. 



Anon. 



'■^ Lover," as applied to a Woman (2""^ S. iv. 

 107.) — A correspondent asks for instances of the 

 use of the word " lover " in reference to a female. 

 He will, I know, thank me for recalling to his 

 memory the exquisitely musical lines into which 

 Dryden has translated the Virgilian description of 

 the death of Dido. Iris is despatched by the 

 pitying Juno to give release to the poor queen : 



" Downward the various goddess took'her flight, 

 And drew a thousand colours from the light ; 

 She stood beside the dying lover's head, 

 And ' Thus I do devote thee to the dead, 

 This offering to the infernal gods I bear,' — 

 And while she spoke, she cut the fatal hair, 

 The struggling soul was loosed, and life dissolved in 

 air." 



Shirley Brooks. 

 Garrick Club. 



