54 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 142 



of which I forget the name, on (I think) the 

 Rhine. They consisted of about twenty bodies of 

 monks ranged side by side, in a vault which was 

 open to the air ; and it was alleged that the pe- 

 culiar character of the atmosphere had alone pre- 

 served them in their then state, namely, as soft to 

 the touch as in life, the only peculiarity being the 

 brownish hue of the face, which caused my friend 

 to suspect that they had been baked. Can any of 

 your correspondents refer me to any information 

 on the subject ? A. A. 



Abridge, Essex. 



The Merry -thought, or Wish-bone. — Whence 

 comes the custom of breaking the wish-bone or 

 merry- thought, with the attendant ceremony ? 



A. A. D. 



Bells on Horses' Necks. — Does this custom 

 exist in any county but Kent or Sussex ? A. C. 



Dissertation on a Salt Box. — Where can I 

 find a " Dissertation on a Salt Box," or " The 

 Logical Salt Box ? " I remember seeing it in a 

 magazine some thirty-five years ago; and,although 

 I have made many inquires, I have not been en- 

 abled to obtain a reference to it. J. Wn. 



Meaning of Alcohol. — Can you enlighten me as 

 to the derivation of the word "alcohol; " or rather, 

 I should say, as the first syllable almost of itself 

 proclaims it to be Arabic, what is the meaning of 

 the word or words whence it is derived ? 



A.E. S. 



" Hip., hip, hurrah .'" — What was the origin of 

 this bacchanalian exclamation, and what does it 

 mean ? I make the inquiry, although I annex an 

 attempt to define it, which was cut from the 

 (Columns of the Edinburgh Scotsman newspaper 

 some years ago : — 



" It is said that ' Hip, hip, hurrah!' originated in 

 the Crusades, it being a corruption of H. E. P., the 

 initials of ^ Hierosolyma est perdita" (Jerusalem is 

 lost !), the motto on the banner of Peter the Hermit, 

 whose followers hunted the Jews down with the cry 

 of ' Hip, hip, hurrah 1 ' " 



I never read elsewhere of such a motto being 

 upon the standards of the first Crusaders. Had 

 they any other motto than Dieu le volt ? R. S. F. 



Perth. 



Armorial Bearings of Cities and Toivns. — It 

 will doubtless be in the memory of most of your 

 correspondents that a meeting of the mayors of 

 every town in England was held in London about 

 the time of the Exhibition, and that at such meet- 

 ing were displayed flags with the armorial bear- 

 ings of each town represented by their mayor; 

 and I shall be glad if any of your correspondents 

 can ii f jrm me whether there was published an 

 account of such meeting, with the engraving of 

 each town's armorial bearings ; and, if so, where 



it is to be seen, as such a work would be highly 

 useful to all who feel an interest in heraldry ? 



John Nuese Chadwick. 

 King's Lynn. 



Hands in the Pockets. — On looking over some 

 transcripts I found the following, but without a 

 reference as to what book it had been copied from. 

 Can you, or any of your correspondents, give me 

 information where it can be found, or whether 

 you ever heard of such an observation ? 



" Whoever has passed through Braintree and Bock- 

 ing in Essex, must have observed that the inhabitants 

 have a custom of standing with their hands in their 

 pockets. Not only men and boys, but even women 

 are generally seen in that attitude. This seems to be 

 an old subject of observation, for I remember forty 

 years ago, when walking with my hands in my pockets, 

 I was asked by a friend whether I had been staying at 

 Booking." 



C. DE D. 



John de Huderesjield. — Does the fame of John 

 de Huderesfield, a civil engineer or architect of the 

 time of Richard II., enable any correspondent to 

 point to any great work of his, or account of him ? 



G. R.L. 



Lyme Regis. 



John., King of France, at Somerion (Yol. v., 

 p. 505.). — In an interesting article, " A Journal 

 of the Expenses of John, King of France, in Eng- 

 land, 1359-60," the following places of confinement 

 of the monarch are mentioned: 1. Hertford Castle; 

 2. Somerton Castle, in Lincolnshire ; and, lastly, 

 the Tower of London. 



I have a view of Somerton, in Somersetshire, 

 which I put with other antiquities, as it contains a 

 view of the Bear Inn, built, as Somerset history 

 has it, upon the site of Somerton Castle, where 

 King John of France was confined, and from 

 which he was removed owing to the supposed con- 

 nexion of some landings of the French upon the 

 south-western coast. Am I to understand that 

 King John never was confined at Somerton in 

 Somersetshire ? G. R. L. 



Lyme Regis. 



Tapestry from Richmond Palace. — In an inven- 

 tory of the goods at Richmond Palace belonging 

 to Charles I., in the custody of Mr. Theobald 

 Pierce, which were viewed and appraised on the 

 5 th October, 1649, and sold by order of the Council 

 of State, there is marked No. 1. : 



" Ten pieces of Arras hangings of the Old and New 

 Law, containing 727 ells at 21. 10s. per ell. — 1817/. IDs." 



These were sold, on Thursday, October 23, 1651, 

 to Mr. Grinder, according to the appraisement. I 

 believe they were of the manufacture of Sir Francis 

 Klein, at Mortlake ; and I beg to be informed, 

 through the medium of the " N. & Q.," where the 

 above tapestry is at the present time. Amicus. 



