412 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 264. 



insect so called; but taret is the French name of 

 that destructive mollusc the ship-worm, Teredo 

 Tiavalis. Edgar MacCulloch. 



Guernsey. 



Ecclesiastical Maps (Vol. x., p. 187.). — The 

 Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIII., published by 

 the Record Commission, contains maps of the 

 dioceses, as they then existed, with their divisions 

 into archdeaconries, deaneries, &c. 



Edgab MacCuxi-och. 



Guernsey. 



Were Cannon used at Crecy ? (Vol. x., p. 306.). 

 -.— This has been long a qucestio vexata ; but not- 

 withstanding the statement of S. R. P., whose 

 informant was a lad, and such information there- 

 fore very problematical, I am inclined to the 

 negative. For not only are our old Latin chroni- 

 clers, but our English historians also, as Holinshed 

 and Speed, wholly silent upon this subject. Even 

 Froissart, a cotemporary and a Frenchman, 

 makes no allusion to these terrible thunderbolts 

 of war. Such a statement seems to rest on the 

 one-sided authority of French writers — as Me- 

 zerai, Larrey, and others ; making it a sort of 

 palliative of this extraordinary defeat of their 

 countrymen. The former says that these hitherto 

 unknown and formidable engines induced them 

 to believe that they were combating with devils 

 rather than men : 



" Les nostres voyant ces instrumens inconnus tonner 

 etvomir tout h. la fois des nu^es de flame et de fumee, 

 prirent Vipouvante, et crurent avoir plutost affaire ^ des 

 demons qu'Ji des hommes." 



The latter : 



" On dit que ce fut la premifere fois qu'on se servit de 

 canon dans les batailles, et qu'il y en avoit cinq pieces 

 dans i'armde Angloise, qui contribuijrent beaucoup k aug- 

 menter la terreur des Frangois" &C. 



C. H. (1) 



St. Barnabas (Vol. x., p. 289.). — Mr. Landon, 

 in his Ecclesiastical Dictionary (Baenabas, Saint), 

 states that — 



" Tlie church of Toulouse pretends to possess his (St. 

 Barnabas') body, and no less than eight or nine other 

 churches lay claim to the possession of his head." 



Is it not probable that some of these churches are 

 dedicated to the Saint ? Anon. 



Andrea Ferrara (Vol. x., p. 224.). — Many 

 of what are called " Andrea Ferrara swords," or 

 claymores, are yet to be seen here and there in 

 Scotland. They have what is usually termed 

 " sheep-head handles," from their round form and 

 supposed resemblance to the skull of the animal ; 

 the name "Andrea Ferrara" struck, or rudely 

 engraved, on the blade ; and are very much prized 

 hy connoisseurs iov their fine quality of steel, elas- 

 ticity of bending, and excellent workmanship. In 

 most cases they are shown as relics of the Scottish 



"rebellions" of 171.5 and 1745. Who the maker 

 was, I have never heard any clearer account than 

 that he was one Andrea, who lived in Ferrara in 

 Italy, a celebrated manufacturer of such weapons; 

 and as a topic not without interest, it might be 

 worth while for Centurion, or some one else of the 

 readers of " N. & Q.," to attempt throwing a little 

 light on his history. 



I think it may be presumed that Andrea never 

 had a " blacksmith shop," or residence anywhere 

 either in the " Highlands" or Lowlands of Scot- 

 land ; or we would have had some better floating 

 intelligence respecting him, — at least so far as I ato 

 aware. From the French assistance given to the 

 Scottish rebellions, there is the greatest likelihood 

 that these swords had been sent to Scotland by 

 the continental auxiliaries, or brought along with 

 their troops, or procured to the disaffected chiefs 

 and clans through the influence of the " young 

 Pretender ; " and at the termination of the strug- 

 gle had been left in the country, provided that the 

 Duke of Cumberland could not lay hands on 

 them. War instruments of various kinds are 

 asserted to have been dug from the field of Cul- 

 loden, and other places of note : it is, however, 

 thought that numbers of these are forgeries, as 

 well as a considerable portion of the extant blades 

 of Andrea, whose fame and skill as an artizan 

 had induced others to imitate them, and to use 

 his name on their works without his permission. 

 Perhaps there are genuine specimens still in the 

 Tower of London, where it strikes me I saw them 

 on a tour in the year 1825 ; and from which an 

 armourer, or expert judge, might be able to de- 

 cide pretty nearly as to the place of their manu- 

 facture. G. ]sr. 



Death and Sleep (Vol. ?., p. 356.). — There are 

 several translations or imitations of the elegant 

 lines which have been sent yoii by J. G. Some 

 of them may be interesting to your readers. One 

 by William Meyler : 



" Emblem of Death ! come soothing, balmy Sleep I 

 Friend of my pillow ! o'er my eyelids creep ; 

 Soft let me slumber, gently breathing sigh. 

 Live without life, and without dying die !" 



Another by Peter Pindar : 



" Come, gentle Sleep, attend thy vot'ry's pray'r, 

 And tho' Death's image to my couch repair. 

 How sweet, thus lifeless, yet with life to lie, 

 Thus, without dying, oh ! how sweet to die ! " 



And a third printed anonymously : 



" Come, gentle Sleep, tho' picture of the dead, 

 Be still the constant partner of my bed : ■ 

 Sweet, thus to die, and yet retain my breath ; 

 And sweet, thus living, to repose in death." 



D. S. 



General Prim (Vol. x., p. 287.). — This distin- 

 guished general officer is a Spaniard ; and has not, 

 as far as can be ascertained, any admixture of 



