248 



NOTES AND QUERIES. [2na s. n-* 91., sem. 26. '57. 



captain to be given up and drowned" in the At- 

 lantic — the "singular coincidence" when this was 

 done " of the storm thereupon abating," could not 

 have occurred : and, finally, of the whole story it 

 may be written, " si non e vero, e ben trovato." 



W.W. 

 Malta. 



Plagiarism. — The writer of an article in a late 

 number of The Athenamm, on " City Poems," G. 

 Alex. Smith quotes several passages which ex- 

 press ideas supposed to be taken from the works 

 of other poets. 



The following extract from the Life of Sir 

 Walter Scott shows that he is not the only lite- 

 rary man who casts old ideas into a new mould. 

 The Waverley Novels were highly admired by 

 Byron ; he never ti-avelled without them. 



" ' They are,' said he, to Captain Med win one day, ' a 

 library in themselves — a perfect literary treasure. I conld 

 read them once a year with new pleasure.' During that 

 morning he had been reading one of Sir Walter's novels, 

 and delivered the following criticism : ' How difficult it is 

 to say anything new ! Who was that voluptuary of anti- 

 quity who oifered a. reward for a new pleasure? Perhaps 

 all nature and art could not supply a new idea. This 

 page, for instance, is a brilliant one; it is full of wit. 

 I3ut let us see how much is original. This passage,' con- 

 tinued his Lordship, ' comes from Shakespeare ; this hon 

 mot from one of Sheridan's comedies; this observation 

 from another writer ; and yet the ideas are new moulded, 

 and perhaps Scott was not aware of their being pla- 

 giarisms. It is a bad thing to have a good memory.' -'I 

 should not like to have you for a critic,' observed Captain 

 Medwin. ' Set a thief to catch a thief,' was the reply." 



AUQUIS. 



Wigtoun. 



Erasmus and Sir Thomas More. — The follow- 

 ing anecdote has been related of the celebrated 

 Erasmus. The argument reductio ad ahsurdum 

 was used by him against Sir Thomas More's (then 

 Lord High Chancellor) Romish doctrine of tran- 

 substantiation. 



Erasmus had been staying on a visit at Sir 

 Thomas More's ; a long conversation took place 

 between them on this subject. Sir Thomas, de- 

 claring his unshaken belief in it, quoted the words 

 "Crede quod edes et edes." On Erasmus leaving 

 to return home, Sir Thomas sent his servant and 

 a couple of horses to convey his guest home. The 

 servant rode one and Erasmus the other : but in- 

 stead of sending back the two horses, Erasmus 

 kept one of them and sold it, and to show his wit 

 and disbelief of the doctrine in dispute, he sent 

 back the following sarcasm to Sir Thomas : 

 " Nonne meministi 

 Quod nuper dixisti 

 De Corpore Christi, 

 Crede quod edes et edes ? 

 " Sic tibi rescribo 

 De tuo Palfrido 

 Crede quod habes et habes," 



R. R. F. 

 Havering Parsonage. 



Miviav <kxiniti, 



Ginevra Legend in England. — Is there any 

 authority for the existence of a legend similar to 

 that of Ginevra in Rogers's Italy in any English 

 family, and in which ? G. W. 



^^Soliman and Perseda.'' — Dr. Hawkins asserts 

 that " Shakespeare has frequently quoted passages 

 out of this play." Now, as the play was printed 

 in 1599, a column of " N. & Q." would be well 

 occupied with a list of these quotations, which 

 might be useful in ascertaining the dates of some 

 of Shakespeare's plays. Soliinan and Perseda has 

 been reprinted separately, and is also in Hawkins's 

 Origin of the English Drama^ 1773, so that any 

 reader could easily obtain a copy of it. C. (1.) 



Acton. ^In 1654 the will of Edward Acton 

 was proved in Dublin, bis father, mother, and 

 brother being then alive. He was son of Edward, 

 and brother of Thomas Acton, and a deposition on 

 behalf of his father was made (in order to obtain 

 probate) by "Alles Acton als Coventry." The 

 arms borne by Edward Acton were, Gules, 2 

 lions pass., and 9 cross crosslets fitchee, argent. 

 Can any of your correspondents dovetail these 

 Actons into any branch of the English family of 

 the same name ? Y. S. M. 



Highbor Lace. — Could any of your readers 

 offer a suggestion concerning the probable mean- 

 ing of the inscription referred to in the following 

 brief account ? 



An ancient brooch, richly enamelled, and jew- 

 elled with about fifty rubies, has a St. Andrew's 

 cross worked in white and blue enamel, with a 

 sort of love-knot encircling it; and underneath 

 this cross is a motto worked in white enamel. 

 The motto consists of two words, "highbor 

 LACE." A slight curve or curl in the enamel 

 tracery renders it doubtful whether the third 

 letter is o instead of g-, in which case the Inscrip- 

 tion would be " HioHBOR LACE " : but the first 

 supposition is believed to be the correct one. 



On the golden back of the brooch are engraved, 

 with the date 1751, the names of two persons, one 

 of whom is designated " Lady Patroness." 



The owner has entirely failed in the attempt to 

 discover what is the meaning of the inscription, or 

 the history and purport of the brooch itself. 



HiGHBOB Lace. 



Inscription at Bowness. — As a visitor to these 

 parts, in last June, I observed the following cu- 

 rious inscription painted on one of the arches of 

 the church at this place, Bowness. On inquiring 

 of the clerk as to what it alluded, he informed me 

 that the Phillipsons originally were the great 

 landholders here, and that Christopher was one of 

 the royalists In Charles's time. 



I copy it verbatim : the church is whitewashed, 



