2-'d S. V. 117., Mae. 27. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



265 



in their first descent on this island, the parts were put 

 together by skilful workmen, with lead and cement. It 

 was carried, with the remains of St. Cuthbert, wherever 

 the flying monks wandered with their holy charge, and, 

 at last, was placed in the cemetery of Durham Cathedral. 

 The. socket- stone of the above cross is now called the 

 Petting Stone. Whenever a marriage is solemnised at 

 the church, after the ceremcmy, the bride is to step upon 

 it, and, if she cannot stride to the end thereof, it is said 

 the marriage will prove unfortunate." — See Allan's notes 

 to Hegg's Legend of Saint Cuthbert. 



A marriage custom connected with the Vener- 

 able Bede's cbair at Jarrow church is incident- 

 ally mentioned by me in P' S. v. 434., and may 

 here be indexed. Cuthbert Bede. 



''Life is a Comedy'' ^c. (2"'^ S. iv. 129.)— 

 In a letter from Walpole to Sir Horace Mann, 

 dated Arlington Street, Dec. 31, 1769, he says: 



" I have often said, and oftener think, that this World 

 is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feet, — 

 a Solution why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus 

 wept." 



And in another letter to the same, dated Ar- 

 lington Street, March 5, 1772, he says: 



" Kecollect what I have said to you, that this World is 

 a Comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel ! — 

 the Quintessence of all I have learnt in fifty years." 



Large Parishes (2"'' S. v. 148.) — I would inform 

 OxoNiENSis that the parish of Whalley, in Lan- 

 cashire, contains 106,395 statute acres. The pa- 

 rish of Lancaster contains 70,539 acres ; that of 

 Kirkham 45,428, and that of Blackburn 48,281. 

 These figures are taken from the Ordnance Map 

 of Lancashire. William Dobson. 



Preston. 



The parish of Lydford, Devon, which compre- 

 hends the greater part of the forest of Dartmoor, 

 is computed to contain 57,600 acres. T. P. 



Tiverton, Devon. 



Boswell Caricatures (2"'* S. iv. 29.) — 



" Boswell Caricatures, published May and June, 1786, 

 by E. Jackson, No. 14. Mary-le-bone Street. N. B."? 



I have one of Boswell as a monkey preparing the 

 tail of a bear (Johnson) for the Scotch Professors 

 to kiss. W. C. 



" Francion'' (2"'^ S. v. 178.) — H. B. C. is per- 

 fectly right in claiming for Sorel the authorship 

 of Francion. The title of Ronsard's poem is La 

 Franciade ; and through some unaccountable care- 

 lessness I wrote the one instead of the other, 

 whilst La Franciade itself was staring me in the 

 face. GusTAVE Masson. 



Harrow-on-the-Hill. 



Goatch or Gotch (2"'^ S. v. 106.).— This word is 

 not unnoticed in our Glossaries, as Mr. Fatrholt 

 supposes. I find it in Ray's Collection of English 

 Words, 1691 ; the Dictionaries of Bailey, Ash, 



Cocker, &c. ; and in the recent Archaic and Pro- 

 vincial Dictionaries of Messrs. Halliwell and 

 Wright. Ray's explanation is perhaps the most 

 satisfactory : — 



" A Gotch ; a large earthen or stone drinking Pot with 

 a great Belly like a Jugg." 



An earthen jug of this description is still in 

 common use by the peasantry of Norfolk and 

 Wiltshire. The former call it a gotch, the latter 

 a goche. 



It is mentioned in the following extract from 

 TTie Village Curate, 12mo. n. d., as cited by 

 Mr. Wright : — 



" It was near sun-set when he arrived at a pleasant 

 village on the border of the sea, which contained what is 

 there called an inn. Having deposited his bundle in the 

 room where he was to sleep, he repaired to the kitchen 

 and seated himself among the rustics assembled over their 

 evening gotch of nog [strong beer], joined in their dis- 

 course." 



It is common in various parts of the country to 

 call any person with a large round belly a gotch- 

 helly, evideiitly from the resemblance to the pecu- 

 liar form of this jug; and it is perhaps a matter 

 for consideration whether this term does not give 

 us the origin of gorheUy (so frequently mentioned 

 by our old dramatists, &c., including Shakspeare), 

 which has not, I think, been satisfactorily ex- 

 plained. (See Nares's Glossary, &c.) If so, it 

 will assign a much higher antiquity for the term 

 gotch than has yet been adduced.* 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



French Abbes (P' S. viii. 102.). — The meaning 

 of the word Abbe is properly speaking Father 

 (see St. Paul to Galat. iv. 6., " Abba," Father), 

 and all the priests in France are called by that 

 title. In same manner in England the " regular " 

 clergy of the Catholic Church, and, in Ireland, 

 even the " Secular" clergy, have that prefix, 

 Father, to their names. Besides, the qualifica- 

 tion of Abbe has been extended to " clercs," or 

 clergymen, who have not received ordination, as 

 priests, but only the " minor orders," as the ton- 

 sure, &c. After a time the title seems to have 

 been conferred upon women, since, in some con- 

 vents, the Superioress is sometimes called Mere 

 Abbesse. ^ 



With such exceptions, I am not aware of Laity 

 having ever borne the title, although they may 

 have other dignities in the church ; for instance, 

 the kings of France, up to the time of Louis- 

 Philippe, have been made Canons of St. Martin de 

 Tours, and had right of taking their place, in the 

 sanctuary, dressed in full ecclesiastical habit, 

 their place being the last of all the canons of the 

 church; but they never assumed the title of 

 Abbe. F. Robinson. 



Alton, Stafibrdshire. 



[* See General Index to our First Series, art. Gotch. 

 — £d.] 



