576 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 164. 



factory translation from tlie well-known pen of 

 EuFus, or other contributor to " N. & Q.," is a 

 desideratum. I. N. Trans-Dobunus. 



On reading the interesting specimens of chrono- 

 gram, in Vol. vi., pp. 361. 368. of » N. & Q.," it 

 occurred to me that a distich, rudely incised in the 

 cornice of the south porch of the little village 

 church of Brockthrop, near Gloucester, which 

 always struck me as oddly cramped and barbarous 

 in construction, might possibly come under the 

 same category. I send you the result of my exa- 

 mination, which has proved entirely satisfactory : 

 " Ter deno lani labens rex sole cadente 

 Carolus exutus solio sceptroque secure." 



Forming a chronogram thus : 



I "Ter Deno lani Labens reX soLe CaDente? _ 1010 



50O + 1 + 1+50 + 10 + 50+100+500 J — -"^^^ 



CaroLVs eXVtVs soLTo sCeptroqVe seCVreJ _ 40^ 



•.100 + 55+10+5+5+50+1+100 +5 + 105 j - *^o 



Year of King Charles's martyrdom . - - 1648." 



I send you a rubbing of the inscription. By the 

 extreme rudeness of the letters, and the abbrevi- 

 ation of the qve^ which would make the date de- 

 ficient hy Jive unless supplied, it is not improbable 

 that it was cut by one ignorant of its chronogram- 

 matical nature. I also subjoin a smooth and ac- 

 curate translation by a septuagenarian hand : 



" Ere thirtieth January's setting sun 

 The axe on royal Charles its work had done. 

 His throne and sceptre lost — his short race run." 



F. T. J. B. 

 Brockthrop. 



A Collection of Loyal Songs, vol. i. p. 172., 

 printed 1731, contains the following : — 

 •' Chronosticon Decollationis Caroli Regis tricesimo 



die Januarii, secunda Hora Pomeridiana, Anno Dom. 



MDCXLVUI : 



« TerDeno lani Labens ReX soLe CaDente 

 CaroLVs eXVtVs soLIo SCeptroqVe SecVto." 



This is followed by a poem in thirty-four lines, 

 probably by the " same hand," of which the follow- 

 ing is the first verse : 



" Charles — Ah ! forbear, forbear; lest mortals prize 

 His Name too dearly, and idolatrize 

 His Name ! our Loss 1 Thrice cursed and forlorn, 

 Be that Black Night which usher'd in this Morn." 



The chronogram may serve as a companion to 

 the one on p. 361. The following occurs in Owen's 

 JEpigrams, close of lib. x. : 



" Anno 



SI DeVs noblsCVM ," i. e. 1612. 



B. H. CoWPER. 



closely examined, plead a like excuse for their apparent 

 barbarism and distortion. 



Sir Gammer Vans and Footers Story of the She- 

 Bear. — The following piece of nonsense went the 

 rounds of the United States newspapers about 

 twenty-one yeai's ago, and is in the style of the 

 above-named pieces, which appeared in Vol. if. 

 of "N. & Q." It was intended to burlesque 

 Mr. Van Buren's letter resigning the office of 

 Secretary of State, which his political opponents 

 denounced as rather obscure and incomprehensible : 



*' Dear Sir, — The great moving spring of atheistical 

 principles, predicated and promulgated by the influence 

 of popish superstition, could not be more gratified than 

 Jeptha was when he was commander, under the in- 

 fluence of the Providence mail-packet coming in con- 

 tact with belles lettres. 



" That class of persons who are never entrusted with 

 anything should be careful what use they make of it, 

 for it is a well-known fact that the heterogeneous matter, 

 compounding with a sour stomach, renders the garment 

 unfit for use; therefore buff vests are fittest for the 

 rising generation, especially when dampness does not 

 conspire to prevent horticulture from springing up 

 amidst the vapours of enthusiasm, which could not 

 have inspired genius with Juiiius's Letters, although it 

 might have had a hand in hanging Gibbs the pirate." 



Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



Lord Nelson. — Everything which relates to our 

 noble-hearted hero is of importance in the eyes of 

 his admirers : therefore the , epitaph on the grave- 

 stone of one of his old followers will be read with 

 interest. I met with it, four years ago, in the 

 churchyard of Wouldham, a village on the Medway, 

 half-way between Rochester and Maidstone. The 

 concluding lines appear to contradict the state- 

 ment of my reverend brother, Mr. Gatty (" N. & 

 Q.," Vol. vi., p. 438.), that Lord Nelson died in the 

 arms of his chaplain, Dr. Scott. Can the two state- 

 ments be reconciled ? 



" Sacred 



to the Memory of 



; Walter Burke, Esq., 



of this Parish, 



who died on the 12th September, 1615, 



in the 70th year of his Age. 



He was Purser of his Majesty's ship Victory 



in the glorious battle of Trafalgar, 



and in his arms 



the immortal Nelson died." 



T. H. Kerslet, B.A. 



Corruptions and Alterations of French Names. — 

 The first European settlements in Illinois and 

 Missouri were made by the French, in their efforts 

 to connect Canada with Louisiana by a chain of 

 forts and colonies : hence the oldest names in these 

 states are of French origin. Some of them have 

 been done into English, and occasionally in a 



