490 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 268. 



tracted from Moore's Rural New Yorker, Aug. 12, 

 1854: 



" Easter, a negro woman, the property of Mrs. Eliza F. 

 Carter, near Upperville, in Fauqnier County, died on the 

 16th of July, having attained the age of one hundred and 

 forty years. This is one of the most remarkable cases of 

 longevity on record." 



Edwabd Peacock. 



In Stuart's ^Historical Memoirs of the City of 

 Armagh, pp. 505 — 508., we may read of some 

 striking cases of longevity, from which I select 

 the following : 



" Robert Pooler, Esq., of Tyross, died c. 1742, aged 116 ; 

 and others of the same family lived to extreme old age." 



" Thomas Prentice died c. 1750, aged 107." 



" William Campbell, a native of the city, died c. 1770, 

 aged 114." 



" Michael Boyle died c. 1776, and was found, on re- 

 ference to the date of his baptism, to have lived 113 

 years." 



" George Boyd, a tailor, died in 1796, aged 101." 



" Thomas Connor, a butcher, died in 1799, aged 105." 



"Mrs. O'Brien died in 1815, aged 104." 



Mention is likewise made of Robert Blakeney, 

 Esq., aged 114; Anne Neale, 121; and Robert 

 Cunningham, 117. 



" In the latter part of the year 1800, and beginning of 

 1801," writes Doctor Stuart, whose work (published in 

 1819) is worthy of being consulted, " the following five 

 persons died at Armagh, viz. James Maculla, Esq., aged 

 104 ; Mr. Charles M'Kew, aged 102 ; Ann Strain, aged 

 97 ; Mary Campbell, aged 1 00 ; and Bernard Kerr, of 

 Lisnadill, aged 103. The joint age of these five persons 

 amounted to 506 years." 



Abhba. 



The following instances of longevity, extracted 

 from a waste leaf of an old magazine (date about 

 1771), may be deemed not unworthy of insertion 

 in " N. & Q." 



"John Riva, a stockbroker, aged 118 years; he walked 

 every da)', without a stick, to St. Mark's Square, and re- 

 tained his hearing and sight till the last. He was born 

 In Morocco in the year 1653 ; at the age of 70 he married, 

 and had several children, one at the age of 90." 



" Elizabeth Gordon, Lady Leuchars, in the 100th year 

 of her age." 



" Mrs. Sholmine, aged 103, at Salisbury, who retained 

 her senses to her death." 



" Paul Barral, a priest at Nice, aged 106 yeai-s, who 

 enjoyed a good state of health all his life. He never ate 

 anything but vegetables." 



" Owen Tudor, Esq., aged 121, at Llangollen in Den- 

 bighshire, a descendant from Henry VII., Duke of Rich- 

 mond." 



" Mr. James Alexander Tompkins, aged 103, at Shad- 

 well ; formerly Captain of the ship ' Samuel and Thomas,' 

 in the West India trade." 



" One Ap-Jones, a shepherd, in the Isle of Anglesea, in 

 the 107th year of his age, who had had four wives ; the 

 last he married when near 90, and had children by her." 



" Mr. Anderson, aged 102, in Westminster." 



It is worthy of remark that this obituary con- 



tains sixty deaths, of which but sixteen have the 

 age of the deceased person recorded. Out of that 

 sixteen, however, I find but three died under 70 

 years ; one at 79 ; four about 90 ; six above 100 ; 

 and two above 110. W. B. 



Marylebone. 



"ALMA AND " BELBEC. ' 

 (Vol. X., p. 421.) 



Most of the ancient names in the Crimea are 

 either ancient Greek or Tartar ; some are Byzan- 

 tine and modern Greek, and some are Russian. 

 Perhaps the most ancient are Shemitic. " Alma," 

 if the last, may be the Arabic el-ma (the water), 

 or al-ma (on the water) ; or it may have reference 

 to the Eastern Improvoisatori alma = learned 

 (Eiicyc. Brit., art. Alma ; Clarke's Travels, vol. i. 

 p. 416.). There is a mountain in Pannonia named 

 Alma (Herod, vii. 2.; Eutrop. ix. 11.). If of 

 Greek derivation, aA.jLwj (meaning salt water) may 

 be its origin. Almaz is Russian for diamond. 



Belhek appears to be Syriac or Arabic, as it is 

 significant in both languages, meaning, " In thee 

 is the master : " but if we read Balbekke it means 

 " master or possessor of the valley." Bek in the 

 Kabesha dialect of the Caucasus means " head " 

 (Pallas, vol. i. p. 441.). The Gaelic hal, the French 

 ville, and the (jrreek ttoAis, are of the same origin 

 as the Sanscrit palli. These languages, including 

 Slavonian, Lithuanian, Scandinavian, German, 

 &c., have numerous proofs of affinity. But the 

 Scandinavian does not exhibit many affinities with 

 the Tartar, Turkish, or the Shemitic. There is 

 no reason to suppose that the Varangians gave 

 names to places in the Byzantine empire, as there 

 is none for thinking that Nesselrode or any fo- 

 reigner in Russian service has imposed his name 

 on rivers or towns in that empire. The best 

 authorities on the Crimea are Strabo, Pallas, and 

 Dr. Edward Clarke, the last aided by Reginald 

 Heber. 



The following remarks may have some interest 

 at the present time. Eupatoria is the Greek name 

 imposed by the Russians on Kos-lof, meaning in 

 Tartar Eye-hut. In-lierman means Cavern-town. 

 Catherine II. gave the name of Sevastopol, or 

 City of Augusta, to Akhtiar, the meaning of which 

 is not stated by Pallas, but means, I believe, 



* The Arabic derivation of the words Alma and Belbeck 

 acquires much probability from the statement of Pallas 

 (vol. i. p. 392.), that "the Kabardines consider themselves 

 as descendants of the Arabs. General tradition, that they 

 formerly inhabited the Crimea, is confirmed by names 

 still existing in that peninsula. The upper part of the 

 river Belbek, in the Crimea, is to this day called Ka- 

 harda." Kabarda is the name of a river and of a dis- 

 trict in Circassia. The name of the Bay of Klimata, or 

 Kalamita, is Greek, and means declivities. 



