Sept. 2. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



187 



with different attributes, and denominated by the heralds, 

 a Prester-John proper. Under no circumstances could 

 that extraordinary personage have had any connexion 

 with the see of Chichester ; it is therefore one of those 

 vulgar errors which it is easy to correct. After the Re- 

 storation, the emblazoning is described as follows : Azure, 

 a Presbyter- John sitting on a tombstone with a crown on 

 his head and glory or, his dexter hand extended, and 

 holding in his sinister hand a mound, on its top a cross 

 pattee or, in his mouth a sword fess-ways argent, hilt 

 and pomel of the second, with the point to the sinister." 

 For notices of Prester-John, see "N. & Q.," Vol. vil., 

 p. 502.] 



Words in Michael Scot. — When, a short time 

 since, I had occasion to consult the works of the 

 renowned Michael Scot, I met with the following 

 words, which I shall be obliged to any one of 

 your correspondents to explain : 



1. What colours are signified by the words, mo- 

 rellam and migranatam f 



2. What is Lotlio ? 



3. What is meant when homo se videt in somniis 

 stuffare ? 



4. ■■ Plumeum lapidem ? 



5. What sort of drink is bromium ? 



6. What is it vibrare Scolas ? Video. 



[1. The adjective morellus is a Latinised diminutive of 

 the French moreau, as un cheval moreau, a dark-coloured 

 horse ; and, as Du Cange properly renders the word, it 

 means somewhat brown, darkish. " Subfuscus. Michael 

 Scotus de Physionomia, c. 46.," where he quotes the pas- 

 sage in which the word occurs : " Cum sanguis regnat, 

 homo somniat," &c. (See his Glossary, in voce.) Migra- 

 natam may signify, of a scarlet colour, from migrania, i. e. 

 granatum, vel malum pnnicum (see Du Cange, " Supple- 

 ment "), the pomegranate, from the seeds of which was 

 extracted a scarlet dye. Todd's Johnson. 



2. Loto, or totho, as the same glossarist interprets, is 

 " semiuncia sexta decima pars marca," half an ounce, the 

 sixteenth part of a mark. 



3. If the correct reading of this passage be stiiffari, the 

 sense is plain enough, " a man sees himself well furnished 

 or equipped in his dreams." Stuffare, i. e. instruere, says 

 the same author ; hence our English word, stuff, as house- 

 hold stuff. 



4. Plumeum lapidem is obscure. 



5. Bromium is doubtless a fermented drink made of oats 

 and barley, from bromos, mentioned by Pliny, 22. ult., and 

 very similar in its quality and effects to whiskey. 



6. Vihra scolas is equivalent to oppugnare scholas, to 

 make an attack on the schools ; as the verb's derivative, 

 vibrella, signifies a military engine ; tormentum, a batter- 

 ing-ram, a cannon, &c.] 



Sculptor at Charing Cross. — Thomas Randolph, 

 in his Poems, London, 1652, p. 50., says : 



" So I at Charing Crosse have beheld one — 

 A statue cut out of Parian stone, 

 To figure great Alcides." 



This would be about the year 1630. Is it known 

 to what sculptor or statuary he refers ? 



Henry T. Rilet. 



[This seems to be one of the statues of the Arundelian 

 Collection, at this time at Arundel House in the Strand, 

 and thus noticed by Evelyn in his Diary, September 19, 



1667: — "When I saw these precious monuments mise- 

 rably neglected and scattered up and down about the 

 garden of Arundel House, and how exceedingly the cor- 

 rosive air of London impaired them, I procured him 

 [Henry Howard] to bestow them on the University of 

 Oxford." The one noticed by Randolph is probably the 

 Young Hercules wrestling with a lion, engraved in Mar- 

 mora Oxoniensia, by Dr. Richard Chandler, 1763, plate 

 *xiii.] 



Ecclesiastical Maps. — Under this title I would 

 ask, through "N. & Q.," whether there are ex- 

 tant, and where can be obtained, maps of England 

 and Wales, showing the extent and limits of the 

 provinces, dioceses, and arch-deaconries ? If 

 there should not be such a publication, I would 

 suggest it as a desideratum in topography. 



Akchibald Weib. 



[Our correspondent's suggestion is valuable, as we 

 have often thought that something like an Ecclesias- 

 tical Atlas is much required. The only attempt of the 

 kind that we remember, is a series of diocesan maps pub- 

 lished in the British Magazine, vols. xix. &c., drawn and 

 engraved by J. Archer of Pentonville.] 



Cousin German. — Will some of your learned 

 correspondents kindly enlighten a lady, and inform 

 her what is the literal meaning of this term ? 

 Does it mean ordinary first cousins, or does it 

 mean the children of two brothers having married 

 two sisters ? 



A reference to an authority will greatly oblige, 

 and put an end to many discussions. 



Emily Jones. 



[The Encyclapadia Britannica gives the following ex- 

 planation: — *^ Cousin, a term of relation between the 

 children of brothers and sisters, who in the first gene- 

 ration are called cousins-german, in the second generation 

 second-cousins. If sprung from the relations by the 

 father's side, they are denominated paternal cousins, if on 

 the mother's, mate7-nal."'\ 



"Pig in a poke." — Can you inform me as to 

 the meaning of the old saying " A pig in a poke ? " 



R. G. W. 



[^Poke, or pouch (Ang.-Sax. joocca), is a bag or sack. 

 Hence " to buy a pig in a poke," is a blind bargain, to 

 buy a thing unseen ; or, as the French say, " Acheter chat 

 en poche," to buy a cat in a bag. Another proverb says, 

 " When the pig's offered, hold up the poke," that is, 

 never refuse a good offer.] 



" Le Messagerdes Sciences Historiques." — Where 

 is it published, and through whom can it be pro- 

 cured in London ? J. K. 



[This work is published at Ghent: "Gand, Imprimerie 

 de Leonard Hebbelynck, Quai des Dominicains, 29." It 

 may probably be had at Barthe's and Lowell's, 14. Great 

 Marlborough Street ; or Baillifere Hippolyte, 219. Regent 

 Street.] 



