Aug. 28. 1852.] 



KOTES AND QUERIES. 



199 



Iir. A labourer in Gen. Wyndham's slate mines, 

 on Honister Crag, Cumberland, told me that the 

 ■workmen up there can see the ivind. He says, 

 that at a time when the wind is still, thei'e will 

 suddenly arise a fearful gust that carries every- 

 thing before it. At last the gust strikes the flat 

 i'ace of the slate rock, and immediately an appear- 

 ance like a rainbow is seen on the slate. " This," 

 he added, " we suppose to be-the wind." 



I ask for an explanation of the first two phe- 

 nomena ; and as to the third, what does it mean ? 

 Has tlie appearance which these Alpine miners 

 undoubtedly see, anything to do with the wind ? 

 C. Massiield Inglect. 



Keel- hauling, with an obsolete Addendum. — One 

 has often read and heard of the barbarous punish- 

 ment of " keel-hauling" in the navy. There is 

 ii refinement, however, described in the following 

 extract, which is now, I think, unknown to tiie 

 "Lords Commissioners." After describing the 

 common "ducking at the main yard-arm," our 

 author (Nathaniel Boteler, Esq., " lately a com- 

 mander and a captain in one of His Majesties 

 Royal Ships of War," whose work is dedicated to 

 the immortal Pepys) proceeds thus : 



" And if the offence be foul, he is also drawn under- 

 neath the very keel of the ship, the which they term 

 keel-r.iking; and being thus underwater, a great piece 

 is given fire unto right over his head, as well to astonish 

 liini the more with the thunder thereof, which proveth 

 much oflensive to liim, as to give warning to all others 

 to look out and beware." — Six Dialogues about Sea- 

 Services : London, 1 685. 



Query hereon : At what time was the supple- 

 mentary "service" of the "great piece" given 

 up ? H. G. T. 



Weston super Mare. 



Harvesting on Sundays. — Can any of your lay 

 or clerical readers refer me to any old divines who 

 have discussed the question, How far it is lawful 

 for a Christian man to attend to his corn harvest 

 ■on a Sundaij, if, in a very wet and catching season, 

 that day turns out fine ? H. T. E. 



Civilation. — Can any of your readers supply me 

 with an authority or an etymology for this word ? 

 I cannot recall the context, but it explained it 

 clearly enough as the equivalent of " intoxica- 

 tion" ; from which it recedes into polite slang, 

 apparently about as far as the phrase " elevation," 

 employed to the same purpose. J. D. W. 



Cambridge, 



Veronica ' Plant and Saint. — Li Hooker and 

 Arnott's British Flora, the word Veronica is ac- 

 cented Veronica, and is said to be " obviously 

 derived fi'om Upx eixwv, the sacred picture, the 

 flowers (like St. Veronica's handkerchief) being 

 imagined to bear a representation of the counte- 



nance of our Saviour." The Queries I wish to pufc 

 are, firstly. Is this the true derivation, and the 

 right accent ? and, secondly, What species of 

 Veronica is it that has this marvellous portrait? as 

 in none that I have seen, either English or foreign, 

 can I trace the slightest resemblance to a face. 



I should also be obliged for a reference to any- 

 book where I can find the history of St. Veronica. 



R. A. of A. 



Hevolutionary Calendar. — Do any of your cor- 

 respondents recollect the whole of George Ellis's 

 droll version of the distinctive names assigned to 

 the months in the revolutionary calendar ? I 

 subjoin the French names, and as many as I 

 remember of Ellis's parody : 



Vendemiaire - . - Squeezy 



Brumaire - . - "\\ heezy 



Frimai^-e - _ _ lieezy 



Nivose ~ - - - Snowy 



Pluviuse - - - - Flowy '. 



Ventose - - - - Blowy 



Germinal _ _ - Seedy 



Floreal - - - - 



Prairial - - - - Meady 



Messidor - - - - iMowy 



I'herrnidor . - - Glowy 



Fructidor - - - - . 1 



I have quite forgotten the equivalents of Floreal 

 and Fructidor, and I am doubtful about some of 

 the others, as it is above forty years since I heard 

 them ; but I think the first two triads are exact. 

 " Squeezy " for the month of the wine-press, with 

 "wheezy" and "freezy" fur the months of ybo-s 

 Si.n(\ frosts, are very droll. C. 



[The version we liave met with is in the following- 

 form : — Freezy, Sneezy, IBs-eezy, Wheezy ; Sliowery, 

 Lowery, Flowery, Bowery j Suowey, Flowey, Blowey, 

 Glowey.] 



Miliar caum'cjS ^iT^toerrt. 



Edmond Howes. — Who was Edmond Howes, 

 who (Southey says) Avrote under Elizabeth, James, 



and Charles ? 



J. R. R ELTON. 



[" Edmund Howes, Gentleman," was the continuator 

 of the Annates of the venerable John Stow, which he 

 " Continved and Augmented with matters Forraigne 

 and Domestique, Ancient and Moderne, vnto the end 

 of the present yeere, 1631 ." The first edition appeared 

 in 1615. To each edition an ornamented title-page is 

 prefixed, "enough," fays Dibdin, "to give a fit of the 

 cholic to every lover of good art." Howes' " palnefuU 

 travails " are better known than his own personal his- 

 tory, as his name will not be found in any Biographical 

 Dictionary. In the dedication of the Anna'es, edit. 

 1631, to the King's most excellent Majesty, he speaks 

 of this work as "my thirty yeeres labours of imp.irtiall 

 truth, which with all faithfulness I have composed, ac- 

 cording to my oath and promise made to the late most 



