314 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 153. 



MEDALLIC QUEBIES. 



I shall feel much obliged if any of the contri- 

 butors to " N. & Q." can inform me — 



1. To which of the Alphonsos the following coin, 

 •which is of gold the size of a sovereign, but much 

 thinner, must be attributed : — Ob. Shield of arms 

 crowned, " Alfonsus Del Gracie Regis." Rev. A 

 cross in a bordure of four arches, " Alfonsus Dei 

 Gr.+Cruxatus?" The legend on either side is 

 rather perplexing and worthy of note, as well as 

 the repetition of the name, which is unusual. It 

 was found on the northern shore of Mount's Bay, 

 after a severe gale which displaced the shingle ; is 

 in a fine state of preservation ; and, from the form 

 of the letters, apparently of the fourteenth century. 

 This would give it to Alphonso IV. ; and the re- 

 Terse may have reference to the assistance he ren- 

 dered Alphonso XI. of Spain against the Moors. 

 But this is mere conjecture, as I have not been 

 able to meet with any work on Portuguese coins. 



2. What is to be understood by the word "feet," 

 •which is repeated three times on the edge of the 

 larger Sardinian silver coins ? I am aware that it 

 has been read " Fortitudo Ejus Rempublicam 

 tenet ; " but this appears rather forced, as there is 

 Bever any mark of separation between the letters. 



3. The meaning of the word Bilaeum on the fol- 

 lowing piece of money, which is diamond-shaped, 

 and about the size of a sixpence. Ob. " Post 

 Tenebras Lux," 1517. Rev. " iv. Bilaeum Argen- 

 toratense, 1617." At the sale of Mr. Moide's coins 

 in June last, it was inadvertently classed, probably 

 from its bearing the well-known motto of Geneva, 

 with the coins of Switzerland; but it evidently 

 belongs to Strasburg ( Argentoratum). The motto 

 and date on the obverse refer to the theses enun- 

 ciated in that year by Luther against the sale of 

 Indulgences ; Strasburg, by commemorating on 

 its coins the centenary of that event, wishing to 

 express its attachment to the principles of the 

 Reformation. Qutere, Does Bilaeum mean Billon, 

 which is pronounced by the French trisyllabically 

 Bi-leon? Ducange probably gives the word: 

 but I have not the Glossarium by me to refer to. 

 The " IV." may stand for four groschen. 



4. I should be glad to gain some information 

 respecting a medal which has in the field a church 

 with a crocketted spire surmounted by a cock 

 rising from a massive tower, and over, I presume, 

 its eastern end an elevated cross. Legend : " Stet 

 Protectore Jehova." Rev. The symbolic serpent, 

 typical of eternity, held at equal distances by three 

 hands with ruffles turned back, inclosed In an 

 outer circle. Legend : " Love as Brethren." I 

 should assign this to the middle of the seven- 

 teenth century, but am desirous to know on what 

 occasion it was struck. John J. A. Boase. 



P.S. — I should like to call attention again to the 

 inquiry by J. N. C. in Vol. iv., p. 40. W. T., in 



Vol. iv., p. 142., suggested that Ackey Trade means 

 the African gold-dust trade, for which it seems a 

 weight Is used of 20-^\ grains Troy, called Ackey. 

 If we accept this as the true solution, the " | "■ 

 awkwardly prefixed to Ackey Trade must have 

 reference to some higher denomination of coin : 

 but I have only met with the piece described by 

 J. N. C. Quaere, Where and for whom were they 

 struck? A note to this, seeing the date is so 

 recent as 1818, may reasonably be expected. 

 Such coins could scarcely be current in any of our 

 possessions without the cognisance of the proper 

 authorities ; and an inquiry at the Mint would 

 probably be successful. Quaere also, has the term 

 Ackey any connexion with Accra, the name (evi- 

 dently native) of the English tbrtified settlement, 

 situated nearly in the centre of the Gold Coast ? 

 Alverton Vean, Penzance. 



ANTI- JACOBIN SONG. 



" As I was a-walking through fair London city, 



I saw an old woman sit spinning of time 1 

 I thought her invention was wondrously pretty. 



The thread that she spun was so excellent fine t 

 Her hair it was like the blossoms of May, 



Her countenance also most fa'r to beliold ! 

 And as she keeps spinning and merrily singing. 



Great news to the Tories, I have to unfold. 

 The Pope 



And on with the rabble came old father Petre, 

 With his bald shining pate, close at his back, 

 They talked about things, of subjects and kings. 

 As if all their vain glory was mounted on wings." 



The above song is traditionary In Suffolk In th& 

 families of the old Covenanters, among whom a 

 branch of that from which Oliver Cromwell took 

 his wife may be numbered. I should be glad^ 

 through the medium of " N. & Q ," to have the 

 missing words supplied. The air is still Imprinted 

 on my memory as It was reported to have been 

 sung more than a century ago by a very aged man 

 with fair complexion, and long white hair flow- 

 ing down to his shoulders ; his voice, though very 

 feeble, was clear ; and it was not without trouble 

 that he performed the trills and shakes requisite 

 for the due performance of the air. At the end of 

 each verse, he cast a timid glance around and 

 cried, " Silence, gentlemen ! silence, gentlemen ! " 

 as if he had been accustomed to some demonstra- 

 tion of approbation or reproof, though none what- 

 ever had ever been offered at the period referred 

 to. B B. 



Greenwich. 



WINHALL MONUMENT AND QUARTERING OF ARMS. 



There Is a monument In Winchester Cathedral 

 about which I should be glad to receive some in- 



