476 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 102., Deo. 12. '57. 



scopes ; but it would be desirable to be furnished 

 with farther particulars as to this fact, before any 

 inference is drawn from it. 



I cannot agree with Mr. Buckton in his hypo- 

 thesis that ^schylus represents the telegraphic 

 communication with Troy as " under the manage- 

 ment of Macistus;" or that the resemblance of 

 liis name to that of the Persian commander of 

 cavalry in the campaign of Xerxes, Masistius 

 (called by the Greeks Macistlus) proves that he 

 was a Persian. If, with Mr. Buckton, we are to 

 take the capture of Troy as a historical event, we 

 must remember that the Persian empire was not 

 founded till centuries after the date assigned for 

 the Trojan war. Mr. Buckton farther remarks 

 that Mount Dirphys, or Dirphossus, in Euboea; is 

 " the only geographical point for a beacon-light 

 between Athos and Messapius." It is neverthe- 

 less open to the objection that it divides the in- 

 terval between these two extremes into very un- 

 equal portions, and renders the transmission of 

 the light from Athos to Dirphys impossible. L, 



H. C. K., in his observations upon the learned 

 article of L. on "Macistus" observes, that "from 

 the pier at Dover the Calais light, distant 22i miles, 

 is very plainly visible to the naked eye on an or- 

 dinary night." 



The observation has reference to the use of fires 

 as signals, and the distance at which they may be 

 visible. The subject is illustrated in a very in- 

 teresting manner in the ancient history of Eng- 

 land, when one of its kings took an active''part (as 

 England did in the present century) in restoring 

 to France its legitimate sovereign, who had re- 

 ceived a hospitable welcome in the palace of an 

 English king. The incident to which I refer oc- 

 curred in the year 936, when Louis d'Outremer 

 was (like Louis le Desire, many centuries after- 

 wards) about to be received in France. 



Without troubling your readers with the pre- 

 vious details of these transactions, here is the de- 

 scription by an author'of the tentia century of the 

 strange manner in which the parties on both sides 

 the sea intimated their presence to each other : 



" The Duke and the other great men amongst the Gauls 

 proceeded to Boulogne, for the purpose of receiving their 

 lord the King, As soon as they arrived, they arranged 

 themselves along the sea-shore, and indicated their pre- 

 sence to those on the opposite coast, by setting fire to some 

 cottages (tuguriorum incendio presentiam suam iis qui in 

 altero litore erant ostendebant). King Athelstan, ac- 

 companied by the royal cavalry, was on the opposite coast 

 with his nephew (Louis), for the purpose of sending him 

 to the expectant Gauls. By the King's order soiiie 

 houses were set fire to, in order that those on the other 

 side of the sea might know that he had arrived. (Adel- 

 stanus . . . . cujus jussu domus aliquot succensce, sese ad- 

 venisse trans positis demonstrabant.) " 



Upon the use of fire-signals amongst the North- 

 men, I would refer your correspondents to Snorro, 



KonungHakonAdalsten. FostresSaga, c.21, 22., and 

 as to the "de pyris in excelsiorum montium jugis 

 prseparandis, struibus nempe aridorum lignorum 

 erigendis, nee longiore intervallo inter se distin- 

 guendis, quam ut mutuo conspectu notari possent," 

 see Torfaeus, Hist. Norveg., lib. v. c. 10., vol. ii. 

 pp. 222, 223. W. B. Mac Cabe. 



Dinan, Cotes du Xord. 



In reply to H. C. K. I beg to hand you a list of 

 the places, with their distances, from whence tlic 

 Malvern bonfire was seen. The list was kindly 

 furnished to me by one of the Malvern Committee. 

 I myself saw it from one of the stations named, 

 Alfred's Tower, Stourton, Wilts ; although the 

 night was by no means favourable, in consequence 

 of a dense mist on the horizon : — 



„ , Milesi. 



Snowdon - - - - - 105 



Bath 53 



Nettlebed, Oxon. - - - - 73 



Wrekin, Salop ----- 42 



Bandon Hill, Leicester - - - 60 



Robinhood's Hill, Gloucester - - 23 



Dudley 26 



Bridgewatcr - - - - _ 75 



Leamington ----- 37 



Stroud .---_. 30 



Yeovil 83 



Alfred's Tower, Wilts - - - 75 



A letter was received at Malvern at the time, 

 wherein it was stated that the fire had been seert 

 from the neighbourhood of Alnwick, Northum- 

 berland. Q. C. 



ST. MARGARET, 



(2'"J S. iv, 419,) 



In reply to the Query, " Whether it is possible 

 that a tangible relic of this holy woman may still 

 be preserved," I have the gratification of inform- 

 ing the querist that such is believed by the 

 Romish Church, on what is considered reliable 

 authority, to exist at the Escurial in Spain. I have 

 in my possession three recent autograph communi- 

 cations respecting the history, and present locality, 

 and state of these remains, from reverend gentle- 

 men on the Continent, one of whom I have subse- 

 quently visited. The letters are already in type, 

 and are to be published in extenso in the second 

 volume of my Historical and Statistical Account 

 of Diivfermline, which, it is expected, will appear 

 early in January next. One donation of the relic 

 is described as consisting of "a small bone, of 

 slight importance {poca cosa), part of the flesh of 

 the right leg two inches (fingers) square, a part of 

 a member of the same leg three inches long." 

 Another " little packet has two very small bones, 

 and an inscription which says ' De Sancta Mar- 

 garita.' " In the second division of a reliquary, 

 near to which " there are seen the full-lenstb 



