2"d S. No 85., Auo. 15. '57.1 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



125 



Deeds dated 2d and 8d of June, 1679. Witn. Godwin 

 Swift and others. Recovery suffered pursuant to said 

 Deeds in Trin. Term in 31 K. Cli, II. Late Proprietor, 

 Walter Nangle. Allowed according to the Deed, and 

 George Nangle to be examined." 



« Marg. Nangle, claimant for a Joynture on Manor of 

 KiUlalkey and other lands in co. Meath, By Deeds of 

 Lease and Release dated 2nd and 3rd of June, 1(579. 

 Wit. Godwyn Swift, &c. Late Proprietor, Walter Nangle. 

 Allowed." 



J. S. 1). 



" POJtCHASE." 



Having recently met tliis word, bearing a mean- 

 ing inanift'stly at variance with its common ac- 

 ceptation, I have been induced to make inquiry 

 into its original signification. My Note on the 

 subject I now submit, and I will be glad to have, 

 in confirmation or correction of my opinions, those 

 of more experienced philologists. I suspect that 

 the Avord was at one time a member of that 

 copious vocabulary used by the followers of the 

 " gentle craft of venery," and that all captures in 

 the chase were purchases. It subsequently be- 

 came a law term, and as such (see Blachstone) had 

 for its signification the acquisition of property by 

 any means but those of descent ; whatever was 

 obtained by fraud, by force, or by contract, was a 

 purchase. In this sense conquest was its equiva- 

 lent. The title Conqueror given to the Norman 

 William did not imply that he obtained the crown 

 of England by victory — had no direct reference 

 to the battle of Hastings, or indeed to any battle. 

 It simply signified that he did not possess the 

 crown by descent. He was the first of his family 

 to enjoy it, and therefore he was said to have suc- 

 ceeded to the throne by conquest or purchase, 

 " What we call purchase^ says BUickstone, "the 

 feudists called conquest." 



I give one passage from Shakspeare, in which 

 the distinction here noted is observed. Antony 

 and Cleopatra, Act I, Sc. 4. : 



"His faults, in him, seem as the spots of heaven 

 More fierj', by night's blackness — hereditary 

 Rather than purchased." 



Many instances may be supplied from Shak- 

 speare, showing the use of purchase, in the sense 

 oi prize or capture. Let one suffice, Richard III,., 

 Act HI. Sc. 7. : 



" A beauty-waning, and distressed widow 

 Made prize and purchase of his wanton eye." 



That the word was used in reference to acqui- 

 sitions made by fraud or force is manifest from 

 passages in many early writers. In Beaumont 

 and Fletcher's Coxcomb, Dorothy, meditating a 

 theft, exclaims, " I'll be hang'd before I stir, with- 

 out some purchase." In Ben Jonson's Fox, also, 

 the swindling Volpone thus speaks of his gains de- 

 ceitfully obtained ; " I glory more in the cunning 

 purchase of my wealth, than in the glad posses- 



sion." And when he artfully secures Corvino's 

 gifts, he speaks of the transaction as " A good 

 morning's purchase, better than robbing churches." 

 I give one more quotation, not only because«it 

 serves my general purpose, but also because it 

 illustrates an obscure passage in Ford. Dr. 

 Martin, in his description of the Isles of Scotland 

 (as quoted by Toland in his History of the Druids), 

 tells of a couple of eagles, in a small island near 

 Lewes, that never killed sheep or lamb in their 

 own island, but made their purchases in distant 

 places. This gives a very significant meaning to 

 a passage in Ford's Fancies Chaste and Noble, 

 Act I. Sc. 3., where Livio, speaking against mar- 

 riage, says : 



«' To draw 



In yokes is chargeable, and will require 

 A double maintenance — why I can live 

 Without a wife and purchase." 



It is, moreover, deserving of remai'k, that the 

 words conquest and purchase (as also conqueror and 

 purchaser) have not only departed from their 

 original significations, but having been once syno- 

 nymous, and etymologlcally very nearly related, 

 have greatly diverged in meaning from each other. 

 Conquest comes through the old French, from the 

 Latin conquisitio ; and purchase from perquisitio ; — 

 the common root of both being qucero. J. P. 



Dominicft, 



JBKYLLIANA. 



As there are no Jehylliana published, I think 



you may preserve the following funny lines of his 



in your mausoleunj, now another minister has 



gone to Pekin. W. Collyns. 



" A free translation of a letter written by the Emperor of 



China, and presented with his Imperial Hands to Lord 



Macartney, Minister Plenipotentiary from the Court of 



Great Britain to Pekin, at his Lordship's audience of 



Leave, three days after his Reception at the Court of 



China: 



" When a King or a Queen 

 Send a great Mandarin, " 



And our footstool he humbly approaches, ,. 



He niust come with prostration, -.^ 



Or taste flagellation, 

 And must give us some whiskeys and coaches. 



" These etiquettes settled. 



We're very much nettled 

 If he does not present some Repeaters, 



Magic Lanterns, or Clocks, ' 



And in tiffany smocks. 

 Ten ladies with exquisite features. 



" Mandarin, you bow'd low, 

 As Ambassadors do, 

 And you made us some very fine Speeches ; , 



So great Mandarin, 

 We've sent you Nankin, 

 For its novelty, made into Breeches : 



" Now the great Chinka Ti ; 



Has looked in the Sky, 



