112 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 249. 



" Before the devdopment, we find it advisable to moisten 

 the collodion film by immersion in the silver bath for 

 about half a minute, as otherwise the pyrogallic acid, or 

 iron solution, would not flow evenly over the plate. The 

 fixing, &c., is of course conducted as usual." 



^tpUtg to ^tnor Outvies. 



Legend of the Seven Sisters (Vol. ix., p. 465.). 

 — Ballybunnion, and the wild rocks and wolds 

 around it, are rich in tradition ary stories, Ossianic, 

 Fairy Lore, and lastly, Giraldine and Cromwellian 

 traditions. The legend alluded to by Geoege of 

 MtJNSTER was thus narrated to me some years 

 since by a peasant, who claimed legitimate descent 

 in the direct line from the black knight, Fitzgerald 

 of Dingle. One of the Vikingr, or northern sea- 

 kings, invaded Ballybunnion (i. e. the land of 

 Bunnion), and invested the chieftain, Bunnion, 

 in his castle. His garrison were slain, and the 

 chieftain, rather than his nine daughters should 

 fall into the hands of the Victor, deliberately 

 flung them one after another into the abyss, and 

 followed himself, leaving the deserted castle to 

 the sea-king, which he levelled to the ground, and 

 it was never rebuilt. The cave is called in Irish 

 by the peasantry pol uao], i. e. the cave of the 

 nine. J. L. 



Dublin. 



" To Jump for joy " (Vol. ix., p. 466.). — Mr. 

 Ferguson, in relation to this expression, quotes 

 some old French lines, — 



" De la novele esteit heistez, 

 E de joie saili h pfes : " 



and says, "This expression is translated in the 

 Glossary ' Saili ^ pes,' rose upon feet," and adds 

 that it appears to him to be more correct than 

 that of jumping or dancing for joy. In modern 

 French it would be — 



" De la nouvelle etait r^oui, 

 Et de joie saillit k pieds." 



This would be, translated, " Was rejoiced at the 

 news, and through joy went out on foot." Saillie, 

 a sally, is a running out of a fortress to attack an 

 enemy. Now, Maurice of Prendergast being de- 

 sirous of returning to Wales, and being impeded 

 by the Wexford traitors, having offered his ser- 

 vices to the king of Ossory, it seems very probable 

 that Maurice of Prendergast had turned traitor 

 himself to Henry II. ; and that the king of 

 Ossory having secured the services of Prender- 

 gast and his followers, was so overjoyed at the 

 prospect of success against the invaders, that he 

 did not stay to mount his horse, but " went out," 

 or " sallied out on foot," to meet them. I there- 

 fore contend that saili a pes is " sallied out on 



foot," and that it does not agree with the trans- 

 lation of Mr. Ferguson. H. D. Baschet. 



Waterford. 



Pope's Odyssey (Vol. x., p. 41.). — Mr. Mark- 

 land mentions, on the authority of Mr. Evans, 

 that in one of Edwards's letters, " There is a 

 curious mention of the publication of Pope's trans- 

 lation of the Odyssey, by which it would appear 

 that Pope had concealed the assistance he had 

 received in the version." The use of the word 

 " curious " leads to the inference that the fact is 

 made known through the fortunate preservation 

 of Edwards's letter ; whereas it is notorious, and 

 referred to I suppose by all Pope's biographers, 

 certainly by Dr. Johnson in one of the com- 

 monest books in the language. Johnson says : 



" Soon after the appearance of the Iliad, resolving not 

 to let the general kindness cool, he published proposals 

 for a translation of the Odyssey in five volumes, for five 

 guineas. He was willing, however, now to have asso- 

 ciates in his labour ; being either weary with toiling upon 

 another's thoughts, or having heard, as RufFhead relates, 

 that Fenton and Broome had already begun the work, 

 and liking better to have them confederates than rivals. 

 ... In the patent, instead of saying that he had trans- 

 lated the Odyssey, as he had said of the Iliad, he says that 

 he had undertaken a translation ; and in the proposals, 

 the subscription is said to be not solely for his own use, 

 but for that of two of his friends who have assisted him in 

 this work . . . The sale did not answer Lintot's expecta- 

 tions, and he then pretended to discover something of 

 fraud in Pope, and commenced, or threatened, a suit in 

 chancery." 



O. P. 



Perspective (Vol. ix., pp. 300. 378. 577.).— 

 Mr. Hoare evidently allows my assertion to be 

 correct, if we suppose that the eye is at that point 

 where " all the lines subtend equal angles at the 

 eye with the corresponding lines of the original 

 landscape." But when he adds, " a picture is not 

 to be looked at from one point," I totally differ 

 from him. Must we do away with the point of 

 sight altogether ? I think the rules of perspective 

 forbid it. That the focus (If such a term may 

 be applied) should be inconveniently near the 

 picture, must be the case where a large field is 

 condensed on a small ground. Also, when prints 

 are engraved on a reduced scale from large 

 pictures, the focus will approach the face of the 

 print in the same ratio that the margin of the 

 picture is diminished. This may account for the 

 peculiar appearance of the interior of Winchester 

 Cathedral, mentioned by your correspondent. 



John P. Stilweix. 



Dorking. 



" Peter Wilkins" (Vol. x., p. 17.).— The source 

 from whence Leigh Hunt obtained his informa- 

 tion of the real authorship of this charming fiction 

 was no doubt the record of a sale, of remarkable 

 interest to the historian and the antiquary, which 



