376 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. N" 97., Nov. 7. '57. 



which I have also seen, by " Shankin Shbn, Ap- 

 Morgan, Shentleman of Wales," which probably 

 some of your correspondents may have or know, 

 and be enabled to give its exact title, and which I 

 also think was published at Carmarthen. A. B. C. 



" Tlie Goat in Boots " is a quiz on the Welsh, 

 Shenkin Shon being simply Jenkin Jones, a cha- 

 racter equivalent to Paddy, Sandy, or John Bull. 



Signet. 



Prester John (2°'' S. iv. 171. 259.)— Under the 

 words Prester Joao, Nestorians, Gengis Khan, 

 Dalai Lama, Abyssinian Christians and Buddba, 

 in the Penny Cyclopedia, will be found authorities 

 for consultation in explanation of this historic 

 mystery. In Hue's Travels in China and Tartary 

 some interesting notices may be found of the 

 Buddhists, who trace their origin to the West, but 

 possess no history. Without entering into details, 

 I may express an opinion that this supposed Chris- 

 tian prince and kingdom originate in the institu- 

 tions and forms of Buddhism, which very much 

 resemble those of Romanism, even to the Fran- 

 ciscan dress. Buddhism may be said to be the 

 characteristic religion of the human race. Ac- 

 cording to Hassel there are 



315 millions of Buddhists, 

 111 „ Brahmaists, 



252 „ Mahommetans, 



120 „ Christians, 



4 „ Jews. 



Oungh Khan has the best title to be the " Prester 

 John" of the Portuguese. He died'A.c 1202, 

 after conquest by Gengis Khan, and was reported 

 to be a Christian, and to have taken priest's orders. 

 The Nestorian Christians seem to have claimed 

 him as of their sect. But it was not till 1246 that 

 " Prester John" was first spoken of, but not seen, 

 by John Carpini, a Franciscan, in his mission by 

 Innocent IV. to Batou Khan, son of Gengis. 



T. J. BUCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



Double Christian Names (2°'^ S. iii. 312.) — 

 At the celebrated contest for Lincolnshire, be- 

 tween Sir Nevile Hickman, Bart., and Robert 

 Viner, Esq., in 1723, when 4990 freeholders voted, 

 it appears from the Poll Book that only five of 

 them had more than one Christian name. These 

 were Adlard Squire Stukeley, Lucius Henry Hib- 

 bins, Esq., Rev. Anthony James Brasley, Rev. 

 Chas. Montague Bertie, and Michael-Bard Em- 

 raerson. W. H. Lammin. 



Fulham. 



«' He is a brick " (2°'^ S. iv. 247., &c.) — I was 

 told once by an old servant, that I was " a brick, 

 both sides alike ! " The latter part of this address 

 struck me as being something new, so I inquired 

 what it meant. " What ! " said the servant, " did 



you never hear that before, Sir ? It means you 

 are the same inside as out ; that is, you say and 

 do as you feel, and are the same behind a person's 

 back as before their face." Perhaps this may give 

 some clue as to the probable origin of the saying. 



Henri. 



W. W.'s account of the origin of this expression 

 may be right, but I am inclined to think that it 

 must rather be looked for in the solid and perfect 

 form of the brick ; and so far it seems to corre- 

 spond with the Greek Terpdycovos. Vebna. 



Impressions on the Eye (2"'^ S. iv. 268.) — If I 

 may' add another query to Mb. Hackwood's on 

 the above subject, I would ask, Is there any par- 

 ticular point of time at which the body dies, — that 

 is, as I understand, ceases to exercise its functions ? 

 and if not, would there be any particular impres- 

 sion which could be fixed on as the last ? If, as it 

 seems more natural to conceive, the operation of 

 dying takes place over a period more or less ex- 

 tended, the images transmitted from the retina 

 to the brain would, I suppose, be gradually less 

 and less distinct till they ceased entirely. 



It would be easy for some of your medical cor- 

 respondents to experiment with the eyes of dead 

 animals. The eye of a bullock for instance, ac- 

 cording to the American theory, would show much 

 the same appearance as did that of Mr. Beardsley, 

 except that a man in a blue coat would be visible 

 instead of one in a light one, and an axe instead 

 of a stone be seen suspended in the air. 



T. Gkeenwood. 



Weymouth. 



Clans of Scotland (2"'^ S. iv. 271.) — The older 

 pedigrees of many of the clans are to be found in 

 MS. in the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh, and 

 were published in the Collectanea de Rebus Alba- 

 nicis, privately printed for the lona Club (long 

 since defunct). Perhaps Skene's Highlanders is 

 the best work on the Clans, though some of the 

 early history in it is more fanciful than correct. 



Signet. 



Knowledge is Power (2"'' S. iv. 220.) — Those 

 who are interested in the origin of this and many 

 kindred expressions (equivalents of power), will 

 do well to peruse chapters ix. and x- of Hobbes' 

 Leviathan. ' R. C. 



Cork. 



VYgrec (2"^ S. iv. 269.).— The Greek Y is, of 

 course, Upsilon. If H. Roset has an edition of 

 Virgil which gives Servius' note on JEn. vi. 540., 

 he will find there the explanation he asks for, viz. 

 that Pythagoras likened the course of human life 

 to the letter Y; the stem represented the early 

 part of life, the right hand branch the narrow 

 path of virtue, the left the broad path of vice. 

 Allusions to this simile are not uncommon either 



