154 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 146. 



be might call upon him if he ever stood in need of 

 a favour. Mr. Fawcett now resolved to put royal 

 favours to the test. He therefore undertook to 

 present the petition, and claim a fulfilment of the 

 king's word. He did so, and succeeded : for the 

 capital punishment was remitted by royal mandate. 



Alfhed Gatty. 



BOSOM MULTIPLIED. 



(Vol.>i., p. 85.) 



In Mr. Singer's remarks upon my defence of 

 this expression, I can only find one tangible point 

 admitting of reply. Against the mere assertion of 

 adverse opinion, without argument, I have no 

 desire to contend. 



The alleged " fatal objection," in the present 

 instance, is this : 



" The context requires a plural noun to be in concord 

 with they and thdr, and therefore ' this bosom multi- 

 plied ' cannot be right." 



Now, I can scarcely believe it possible that 

 Mr. Singer could have overlooked the parallel 

 metaphor to which I directed attention in the fifth 

 clause of my original argument ; and yet in that 

 metaphor this very same peculiarity of expression 

 (which Mr. Singer is pleased to call error) is 

 much more prominent, viz. : 



" At once pluck out 

 The multitudinous tongue, let thtm not lick 

 The sweet which is their poison." 



Tills passage is, I presume, of undoubted 

 genuineness ; and yet, in it them and their are in 

 much closer apparent connexion with the singular 

 noun, than in tiie case objected to ; consequently, 

 •with such a palpable example, within a ^qvi lines, 

 of a repetition of the very difficulty he was animad- 

 verting upon, I cannot conceive how Mr. Singer 

 could indulge in the vein he has respecting it. 



But the truth is, that no real difficulty exists at 

 all ; because it is quite plain that the dominant 

 antecedent throughout the whole speech, to such 

 words as they, them, their, &c., is " the people," in 

 this question of Brutus which occurs a few lines 

 previously : 



" Why shall the people give 

 One that speaks thus, their voice ? " 



A. KB. 



Leeds. 



ON THE PATRONYMICS RAY OR WRAY. 



(Vol. iv., p. 164.) 



As no one has replied to the Query of your 

 correspondent H. W. G. R. respecting the origin, 

 arms, and motto of tliese families, may I be per- 

 mitted to offer a f^ivr remarks thereupon ? What- 

 ever obscurity may rest on the original of Ray or 

 Wray, and their numerous variations,, certain it is 



the armorial ensigns attributed to each by Burke 

 in his Armorie bear striking affinity not only with 

 each other, but even, to some extent, with the 

 obviously (at first sight) distinct families of Rees, 

 Reid, or Rede. On the kindred name Wrey 

 Wotton remarks (vol. iii. p. 362.) : 



" From an old pedigree of this family I find Robert 

 Le JfVey living 2nd King Stephen (A.n. 1136); and 

 by the prefixed adjunct they seem to take their name 

 from some office. Others denominate them from their 

 habitation of Wrey, co. Devon." 



The halberds in the coat of arms, and the old 

 crest of the family (an arm holding a commander's 

 truncheon), seem to confirm the idea of their 

 official origin. The old word to ree or ray, ac- 

 cording to Bailey, signifies " to agitate corn in a 

 sieve, that the chaffy or lighter parts may gather 

 together." Might Le Wi'ey have had originally 

 some such signification, adopted, like the patronymic 

 Malleus or Mallet, from the bruising propensities 

 of the first bearer of the name ? 



The connexion (if Burke can be depended on) 

 between this name and some of its numerous 

 affinities (supposing the variations to have been 

 adopted at pleasure, as in the case of tlie great 

 naturalist), may be inferred from the subjoined 

 tabular view which (if not trespassing too much on 

 your space) may perhnps Interest some of your 

 philological or antiquarian readers : 

 Az. on a chief or, 3 martlets gules, 



borne by - - - - Wray and Ray , 

 Sa. a fess between 3 poleaxes arg. 



helved gu., borne by - - Wrey and Ray 

 (To this last name (Ray) Burke 



assigns the " Bourchier " crest 



only as that of the family, as 



borne by Sir Bourchier Wrey, 



Bart., in conjunction with his 



paternal crest.) 

 Az. a chevron ermine between 3 



battleaxes or, handled gu., on a 



chief of the last 3 martlets gu., 



borne by - - - - Wrey 

 (This coat, it will be seen, is formed 



on the blending of the two shields 



above given.) 

 Azure 3 crescents or, borne by - Ray and Ry thee 



(Barons Rythee 

 temp. Edw. I.) 

 The same coat with roundles (for 



cadency ?) borne by - - Wray and Reay 

 The same between 4 crescents, 



borne by - - - - Rea and Ree 

 Azure 6 crescents or, borne by - Rye 

 Per pale wavy argent and sable 3 



crescents counterchanged, borne 



by ----- Reed \ 



Argent, on a bend sable, between 



3 crescents, as many annulets 



or, borne by - - - - Rees j 



