Nov. 20. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



487 



antiquaries to have belonged to Mary Queen of Scots. 

 "We believe that the grounds for this conclusion are 

 the perfect resemblance of this jewel, in every minute 

 particular, to the cross Queen Mary is represented as 

 ■wearing in the picture at Holyrood; and the evident 

 identity of tiie workmanship with that of the sixteenth 

 century must strengthen that conviction in the mind of 

 any one who inspects it. We believe it was purchased 

 at the Leipsic fair, from some one who probably knew 

 only its intrinsic value as a beautiful specimen of an- 

 tique jewellery." 



I should be glad to know the opinion of the 

 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and of other 

 eminent persons, as to the claim of the Leipsic 

 jewel to be the cross of Mary Queen of Scots. 



Ceykep. 



" Cujus vita f vigor ^' SfC. — How old is the pro- 

 verb, "Cujus vita fulgor, ejus verba tonitrua," and 

 to whom does it belong ? R. C. T. 



" In Nomine Domini." — 



" You know the old saying ; and what a world of 

 errors and mischiefs men have been led into under that 

 notion. These words are used pro forma, and set in 

 the beginning of the instrument ; when all that fol- 

 loweth after in the whole writing contain nothing but 

 our own wills." 



So writes a famous old divine ; but I do not 

 " know the old saying," and cannot find anybody 

 that does. Will any of the readers of " N. & Q." 

 help me ? M. A. 



Bostal, or Borstal. — What is the meaning and 

 derivation of the word Bostal, or Borstal, a name 

 given by the common people in Sussex to certain 

 tracks on the Downs, such as Ditching Bostal ? 



E. A. S. 



[It is the narrow cut or roadway leading up the 

 steep ascents of the Downs, usually on the northern 

 escarpment and by the side of a comb. Mr. Kemble 

 {Suss. Arch. Coll., vol. ii. p. 292. n. ) derives it from 

 JBiorh (Beoph, Sax.), a hill or mountain, and Stigele 

 (Scisele, Sax.), a style or rising path. Bishop Green 

 derives it from Bous and stello, a way by which oxen 

 are driven ; and Mr. W. D. Cooper {Sussex Provin- 

 cialisms') suggests Borste, G., a cleft or crack, and hyl. 

 Sax.] 



Churches decorated at Christmas (Vol. ili., p. 

 118. ; Vol. iv., p. 109.). — I had taken my pen to 

 answer this Query before I was aware that I had 

 been anticipated by H. H. B. of South Carolina. 

 It is customary throughout the United States for 

 Episcopalians to decorate their churches with dif- 

 ferent kinds of evergreens and flowers at Christ- 

 mas ; and not unfrequently the windows in the 

 house of the rector, and those in the dwellings of 

 some of his parishioners, are decorated in a similar 

 manner. 



May I ask when this custom originated in 

 England, and if any other sect of Protestant 

 Christians excepting Episcopalians observe it ? 



w. w. 



Malta. 



[The best account of the origin of this ancient cus- 

 tom is given in Phillips's Sylva Florifera : the Shrubbery 

 Historically and Botanically treated, vol. i. p. 28 1 ., edit. 

 1823. "We revere," says the author, "the holly- 

 branch, with its spiny and highly-varnished foliage, 

 which reflects its coral berries, as an emblem that fore- 

 tells the festival of Christmas, and the season when 

 English hospitality shines in roast beef, turkeys, and 

 the national pudding. Tradition says that the first 

 Christian church in Britain was built of boughs, and 

 that the disciples adopted the plan, as more likely to 

 attract the notice of the people, because the heathens 

 built their temples in that manner, probably to imitate 

 the temples of Saturn, which were always under the 

 oak. The great feast of Saturn was held in December ; 

 and as the oaks of this country were then without 

 leaves, the priests obliged the people to bring in boughs 

 and sprigs of evergreens ; and Christians, on the 25th 

 of the same month, did the like; from whence origin- 

 ated the present custom of placing holly and other 

 evergreens in our churches and houses, to show the 



feast of Christmas is arrived The name of holly 



is a corruption of the word holy, as Dr. Turner, our 

 earliest writer on plants, calls it Holy, and Holy-tree, 

 which appellation was given it, most probably, from its 

 being used in holy places. It has a great variety of 

 names in Germany, amongst which is Christdorn. In 

 Danish it is also called Chirstorn ; and in Swedish 

 Christtorn, amongst other appellations ; from whence 

 it appears that it is considered a holy plant by certain 

 classes in those countries." Others, again, have sup- 

 posed that it originated from certain expressions in the 

 prophets, which speak of the advent of the Saviour. 

 Hence its observance at Christmas. For it must be 

 allowed that those passages in which the Saviour is re- 

 presented under the type of a Branch, a Righteous 

 Branch, a Bough, the Branch of Righteousness, who will 

 reign for ever, &c,, are, in a most lively manner, 

 brought to our memories, and strongly alluded to by 

 those branches and boughs of evergreens with which 

 our churches and houses are then adorned. Who is 

 not also reminded of the beautiful prophecy of the 

 evangelical prophet : " The glory of Lebanon shall 

 come unto thee; the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the 

 box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary"! — 

 Isa. Ix. 13.] 



" Pauper uhique jacet." — Can any of your cor- 

 respondents tell me where the words " pauper 

 ubique jacet" are to be found ? I have some 

 recollection of an epigrammatic distich of which, 

 they are the conclusion, but have not been able to 

 find it in Martial, or any of the classics to which I 

 have referred. B. M. 



[See Ovid, Fastorum, lib. i. line 218.] 



Coin or Medal. — I should be glad to receive 

 any information concerning the following coin or 



