502 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2«<i S. N" 103., Dec. 19. '57. 



where it was also pictorially embellished. It was 

 in the form of an hexameter line, ending with 

 " manet sors tertia, csedi," After the words " aut 

 disce " were represented a mitre and woolsack, to 

 denote the honours of the learned professions, to 

 which diligence might ultimately lead. After 

 " aut discede " were a sword and mariner's com- 

 pass, indicating that such as would not study 

 might go, and enter either into the army or navy ; 

 but, according to the present system of examina- 

 tion for candidates, it is doubtful whether these 

 services would now be open to idle boys. The 

 concluding emblem was a rod, which at Winches- 

 ter was formed of four apple-twigs, neatly spliced 

 to a convenient handle ; which it was the duty of 

 the Ostiarius, or prcefectus scholce, to see duly pro- 

 vided for the use of the Aidd(rKa\ot at the close of 

 the day's labours in school ; and occasionally, 

 either by unskilfulness or design, it would become 

 loose and inoperative, but generally the ceremony 

 was accompanied with " great cry and little wool." 

 There is another painting of a rod on the wall in 

 sixth chamber, and underneath it are these words, 

 " Animum pictura pascit inani." N. L. T. 



[By reference to Mr. Walcott's IVilUam of Wyheham 

 and his Colleges, we find a print of this curious inscription 

 with the following description Cp. 234.) : — "On the west 

 wall [of the School], upon a large tablet, are painted a 

 mitre and crozier, the rewards of clerical learning ; a pen 

 and inkhorn and a sword, the ensigns of the civil and 

 military professions — or the one to sign, the other to en- 

 force expulsion ; and a Winton rod, long and ample, the 

 dullard's quickener. Beneath each symbol is its apt le- 

 gend, 'Aut disce, aut discede, manet sors tertia, caidi.' 

 Underneath is the flogging-place." Christopher Johnson, 

 Head Master, mentions, in a poem descriptive of the Old 

 School, now seventh chamber (p. 227.) : — 



"Murus ad occasum capit hoc insigne decorum, 

 Aut disce, aut discede, manet sors tertia, csedi." 



The Head Master was called Informator, the Second 

 Master, Hostiarius, and not " didascalus," we alwaj's 

 thought. The duty of the Ostiarius was to " take up " the 

 delinquent, that of the Prefect of School to provide the 

 rod.] 



Long Names (P' S. vili. 539. 651. ; ix. 312.) — 

 Lady Craven, afterwards known as Her Serene 

 Highness Elizabeth Margravine of Anspach, pub- 

 lished, in 1799, a "Tale for Christmas " with the 

 following title, Modern Anecdotes of the Ancient 

 Family of the Kinhvervanhotsdarsprahengotchderns. 

 It was remarked in a publication of the time 

 that — 



"This Tale, which is dedicated to the late Lord Orford 

 (then Mr. Walpole) is told with much humour ; the de- 

 scriptions are particularly fine ; and the moral tends to 

 show that love opposed produces both craft and forti- 

 tude." 



w. w. 



Adelsberg Caverns (2"^ S. iv. 440.) — Few na- 

 tural curiosities are perhaps better known than 

 the caverns of Adelsberg alluded to by your 

 correspondent Viaggiatobe. The artificial Sta- 



lactitic Cavern at the Colliseum in the Regent's 

 Park professes to be a miniature representation of 

 them. They show you there a specimen of the 

 "Proteus" preserved in spirit. This is, I believe, 

 the only living occupant of these caverns, and as 

 far as I know it has never been met with else- 

 where. A living Proteus is now to be seen in the 

 Zoophyte House at the Zoological Gardens, Re- 

 gent's Park. E. H. Vinen. 



NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC. 



It is many a long Christmas since the gifl-giving 

 public were invited to select for presentation to their 

 friends a more dainty volume than the one which our 

 worthy publishers have just issued, entitled Poems and 

 Songs by Robert Burns, Illustrated with Numerous En- 

 gravings. Of course it does not contain all that Burns 

 wrote, but merely such of the popular poetry of the Ayr- 

 shire Bard as may with propriety be given in a volume 

 intended for the drawing-room, and nearly all the Songs ; 

 and these, which are beautifully printed on rich tinted 

 paper, are illustrated by about fifty wood engravings 

 after the designs of Cope, Horslej% Birket Foster, George 

 Thomas, and other eminent artists. Where there is so 

 much that is excellent it is somewhat difiicult to point 

 out that which is most deserving of praise. If our love 

 of Archaeology makes us admire " the chield amang us 

 taking notes," our love of fun disposes us to admire 

 hugely G. Thomas's illustrations of Tam o' Shanter, and 

 our love of the beautiful some of Birket Foster's snatches 

 of rural scenery. But indeed the book is a book which 

 will be admired south of Tweed for its beauty, and be- 

 yond Tweed for its subject. 



We have received the sixth volume of The Letters of 

 Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, edited by Peter Cun- 

 ningham, now First chronologically arranged. It is one of 

 the best and most amusing volumes of Mr. Cunningham's 

 excellent edition of the best and most amusing letters 

 that ever were written in the English language. It em- 

 braces Walpole's Correspondence between Oct. 26, 1773, 

 and Oct. 30, 1777 — four very eventful years — and con- 

 tains close upon three hundred of his unrivalled letters, 

 several of which appear here for the first time. It is 

 moreover illustrated by portraits of Lady Di Beauclerk; 

 Anne Chambers, Countess of Temple ; Samuel Foote, and 

 Mary Fitzpatrick, Lady Holland!. Prefixed to it is an 

 announcement that the collection will be extended to a 

 ninth volume ; the accession of new materials rendering 

 its completion in eight volumes quite impossible. By this 

 we are reminded of our intention to invite our readers, be- 

 fore the work is brought to a close, to give the editor the 

 benefit of their notes. There can be little doubt that 

 Mr. Cunningham's edition will long remain the only 

 standard edition of this English Classic. All, therefore, 

 are interested , in making it as complete as possible ; so 

 that if such of our readers as have gone through the 

 volumes already issued will communicate to us any notes 

 and illustrations of persons and events which may have 

 occurred to them, they may then be included as Supple- 

 mentary Notes in the ninth volume, and get duly inserted 

 in the Index : for we must have a good and full Index, 

 Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Bentley, or the work will lose 

 half its value as the Gossiping History of England. 



By the bye, Mr. Bentley has done his best to secure 

 the reading public a Merry Cliristmas, by publishing in 

 one volume, printed in a good legible type and on excel- 



