244 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 150. 



correctly spelt ; Hanover, for example, is made to 

 stand on the Seine. 



At Berlin " the proprietors of tlie inns are very 

 condcsconding to strangers." At lialberstadt the 

 LiebfraxienMrclie is recommended to our notice as 

 " the Cliurch of Our Dear Wives." The English 

 traveller may be puzzled to make out either the 

 " National Museum of Mahr " at Briinn, or the 

 " Nautical Real- Academy " at Trieste. Among 

 the curiosities of Vienna, a " collection of ana- 

 tomical properties " sounds rather odd ; and those 

 ^miliar with the Gesellschaftswagen will hardly 

 recognise those omnibuses as " the Company's 

 coaches." But the crowning glory of the trans- 

 lator is reserved for the description of the environs, 

 wherein he tells us that Passauer IliUten signifies 

 " Huts of the Passover." Jaydee. 



^Mtxiti, 



EGBERT AND THE OCTARCHY. 



" N. & Q." should be precise in its definitions and 

 assertions as a dictionary, or we shall, many of us, 

 be led into error. Now, I observe that Charles 

 Sandys, Esq., of Canterbury, in his interesting let- 

 ter (Vol. v., p. 615.) on thejprovincial distinction 

 of " Men of Kent" and " Kentish men," makes this 

 statement : " Egbert reduced all the kingdoms of 

 the Octarchy under his dominion at the commence- 

 ment of the ninth century, and thus became the 

 first king of all England." This, as I am fully aware, 

 agrees with the popular account of the matter ; 

 but is it so in fact? At the period indicated 

 (ann. 827), did an octarchy exist at all, or was it 

 not, though nominally an hexarchy, in reality a 

 triarchy ? Did Egbert, again, actually annihilate 

 the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, or do more 

 than oblige them to acknowledge his predominant 

 authority, as Bretwalda ? With a single doubtful 

 exception, is this king ever styled, in ancient his- 

 torical memorials, " primus Monarcha Anglorum," 

 or even " Angul Saxonum Rex ? " Are any of 

 his immediate successors so designated ? Or can 

 this title be justly assigned to them, though it is 

 sometimes given to Alfred, until the day of the 

 great battle of Brunanburgh (ann. 934), when, ac- 

 cording to the assertion of Alured of Beverley, 

 established by the testimony of our most exact 

 historians, " totiiis Angliaj Monarcliiam primus 

 Anglo-Saxonum obtinuit Edelstakus ? " 



Cow GILL. 



THE ROBIN REDBREAST. 



It has frequently come across my mind what 

 could have been the original cause of the great 

 affection, so generally rooted in mankind, as that 

 which pervades every class, from infancy to old 

 age, in respect of the interest we all take in the 

 welfare and protection of the Robin Redbreast. 



It is true he is a very pretty bird, both as to his 

 form and plumage ; but there are many others of 

 our warblers equally, if not more, favoured by 

 nature, and which we pass by and heed not, and 

 which, indeed, are open to the attacks and rough 

 usage of men and boys, whilst it is of rare occur- 

 rence that even the most thoughtless schoolboy 

 can be self-induced to commit an assault or injure 

 a Robin in the slightest degree, and which, if com- 

 mitted per chance, and made knowH to his com- 

 rady, would call forth their just indignation. 



Now, as early impressions are well known to 

 have a lasting and indelible eflfect on our minds, I 

 have sometimes attributed this veneration and at- 

 tachment to have arisen from the early tale we 

 have all listened to in the nursery, from the mo- 

 ment we were able to comprehend the kind and 

 amiable prattle of the nurse or mother ; and as 

 the story of the innocent little babes in the wood 

 forms one of the first and most interesting events 

 that touch our sensitive faculties, it may, perhaps, 

 have laid the foundation, ab initio., for this kindly 

 feeling towards our little favourite. And I am 

 rather inclined to think tliis may be the cause, 

 when I recollect the rehearsal of the story, where 

 the poor babies, we are told, were so cruelly used, 

 and left uncovered, exposed to the inclemency of 

 the weather, and without the slightest protection ; 

 it was then the pretty dear little Bohins brought 

 down leaves and covered them with the greatest 

 care. Now there is hardly a child, whether rich 

 or poor, that has not in his earliest days heard this 

 interesting story told, and we must all be conscious 

 with what effect. From the same cause also may 

 have arisen, though in an opposite direction, the 

 great and general antipathy to the toad and serpent, 

 engrafted so strongly on our minds, that we never 

 even think of them but with disgust : here again 

 the nursery tale of the serpent or toad tvhispering 

 mischief in Eve's ear, and its punisliment from on 

 high, accompanied by the perpetual denunciation 

 of anything done amiss as the act of a " nasty dirty 

 filthy toad,'' all this must inevitably dispose our 

 minds to perpetuate the first impression. 



If any of the readers of " N. & Q." Avill furnish 

 me with a more feasible elucidation of the subject, 

 it will please me much and greatly to hear it. 



W. R. 



Surbiton. 



jHtiior CElttrn'c^. 



Irish Names. — In what sense was the name 

 Maol-na-mho assumed, and of Avhat cow was any 

 man the servant or devotee? What is the import 

 of the name Giolla-na-naemh, and what does the 

 word naemh mean ? How early, after the intro- 

 duction of Christianity, did Irish women begin to 

 be called by the name Mary, in its Gaelic form? 



A. N. 



