2n'iS. V. 118., Apiul3. '58.] 



KOTfiS AND QUERIES. 



S73 



ible milliner's. We may add to the above that the sole 

 descendant of the beautiful Aiss^, who was asked in mar- 

 riage bv the Prince de Conde, earns a pitiful living at 

 Chaillot." 



Abhba. 



Pulci, Morgante Maggiore. — In this poem, one 

 of the numerous epics or quasi-epics on the sub- 

 ject of Charlemagne's Paladins, the author (Canto 

 XX., beginning at Stanza 45), disposes of his hero, 

 the Giant Morgante, in a more unique and un- 

 expected manner, but apparently wiihf)ut in- 

 tending any burlesque. The Giant, after disposing 

 of a wliale which had threatened the vessel with 

 destruction, is attacked on the sea by a little lobster 

 or crayfish, " Granchiolono," which bites his heel 

 and causes death. Well may the author exclaim 

 in Stanza 56., 



" vita nostra debole e fallace." 



Norwich. 



J. C. Babnham. 



" Peck of March dust." — I imagine the proverb, 

 " a peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom," 

 is very generally known. This year, so far as we 

 have yet seen the " peck of dust," and consequent 

 value, will not be bestowed on us ; still it may 

 not be uninteresting to some of your readers to 

 hear the true meaning of the proverb. 



In the Gentleman s Magazine (vol. xxiii. p. 167.) 

 the reasons are given for the verity of the pro- 

 verb, and we are also told the value of the "king's 

 ransom." The word " ransom," the writer says, 

 in the proverb, is not synonymous with our com- 

 mon acceptance of the word, but is to be under- 

 stood in the following sense : — 



The laws of the Anglo-Saxons held that when 

 any person was killed by another, a payment in 

 money by way of compensation was to be allowed ; 

 the sum being proportionate to the position in 

 life which the deceased held ; this sum was called 

 " Wergild," and varied from 200s., a " Churl's Wer- 

 gild" to 72005., or 120^. (60s. to a pound), a 

 " King's Wergild." 



The proverb, therefore, means that " the peck 

 of dust" in this month is worth " as much as was 

 paid for the redemption of a man's life on occasion 

 of the killing of a king, which was the highest 

 mulct our ancestors knew of, and which indeed in 

 those days amounted to a very great sum." 



The reason why a dry March is so desirable is," 

 as of course your readers know, that it is difficult 

 to get in the seed-corn unless we have dry and 

 fine weather after Februai-y, a month proverbially 

 wet. J. B. S. 



Woodhayne. 



A rare English Word. — In John Hall's in- 

 teresting little book, Hora Vacivce, 1646, occurs 

 this passage (p. 149.) : — 



" Tick-tack sets a man's intentions on their guard : 

 errors in this andwar can be but once amended." 



Who can quote another passage from any author 

 containing this word ? I have hunted after it in 

 many dictionaries without avail. It means I sup- 

 pose antagonism or contest, and resembles in form 

 many Anglo-Saxon words, which never found 

 their way into English proper. Perhaps nearly 

 the only vestige of the prefix is the an in av^uer, 

 from Anglo-Sax., and Suara, signifyuig probably a 

 word on or from the other side. Lethrediensis. 



^uttilti. 



TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



E. W. has an imperfect copy of what he thinks 

 is Tyndale^s Translation of the New Testament, 

 and will feel much obliged to any reader of *' N. 

 & Q." who will point out some peculiarity by 

 which he may be enabled to identify the edition. 

 The title-page is unfortunately lost, but the 

 Calendar, which appears to have immediately 

 followed it, is perfect. The text is printed in 

 black-letter, in 16mo., and commencing with the 

 signature a 1, goes on to e e 7, where the frag- 

 ment ends, with the words " Here endeth the 

 Actes of the Apostles," after which follows the 

 catch-word The. Besides the initial letters there 

 are forty-seven small and very poor wood-cuts 

 inserted in the page, throughout the Gospels, but 

 some of these are several times repeated ; there 

 is also a small cut of St. Luke at the beginning of 

 the Acts. The marginal references are but few ; 

 but here and there we meet with a word or two 

 printed in the Italian letter, referring to the sub- 

 ject in the text over against which they are 

 placed, as Siceare, Righte-cheke, Sparowes, Tabitha, 

 &c. ; the portions appointed to be read for the 

 gospel of the day are also marked in the margin, 

 but in black-letter. On the inner margins are 

 Italic capitals, from A to G, dividing the chapters 

 into tolerably equal parts. But perhaps the easiest 

 way to identify the edition will be to mention the 

 first and last line of some particular page, say sig. 

 B 2, where they are : — 



" is able to put one cubit vnto his stature ? '* 

 " is in thine own eye, ypocrite, first cast out ; " 



this page consists of thirty-four lines without the 

 heading. 



E. W. has also a 12mo. Bible, which is lettered 

 on the back as Canne's Bible. It has an engraved 

 title-page both to the Old and New Testaments, 

 on which it is said the work was printed in 1664, 

 but without the name of the printer, or that of 

 the place where it was printed ; it has " Marginal 

 Notes shewing the Scriptures to be the best in- 

 terpreters of Scripture ; " and at the end " The 

 Whole Book of Psalms, collected into English 

 Meeter, by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, 

 W. Wluttingham, and others." Same date, but 



