178 



KOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 113., Fflii. 27. '58. 



militia from 1778 for thirty-three years, ^. e. till the 

 time of his death in 1811, when he was succeeded, 

 I believe, by Lord C. B. Bruce, M.P. 



While on this subject it may be stated that 

 the volunteering of regiments under 38 Geo. III. 

 c. 66. was strongly opposed, and protests entered 

 upon the journals of the House (^' Lords by the 

 Duke of Leeds and by tbe Duke of Norfolk ; * 

 but the most forcibly written protests were those 

 of the above Eurl of Carnarvon, the Earl of Rad- 

 nor, of the Berkshire, and the Earl of Fitzwilliam, 

 of the 1st West York, as regarded the measure, 

 39 Geo. III. c. 106., for permitting the men of the 

 militia to enter the regiments of the line. These 

 noblemen were most enthusiastic admirers of the 

 original principle and constitution of the English 

 militia, and considered the changes about to be 

 effected as replete with injustice, and of the most 

 degrading character. Their reasons are of consi- 

 derable amplitude, and cannot be given here in 

 extenso, but will be found in the Annual Register, 

 vol. xli. (1799), State Papers, pp. 205-207. ; and 

 there is a second protest in the same work, pp. 

 210-211., signed by the Earls of Carnarvon and 

 Fitzwilliam, and the Earl of Buckinghamshire, 

 who was a colonel in the regular army. 4>. 



Old French Argot (2"'' S. v. 69. 119.) — Three 

 of the words occur in La Vraye Histoire Comique 

 de Francion, a Leyde ches Henry Drummond, 

 1686, 12mo. 2 torn. The old woman is relating 

 what she heard from the valet who had become a 

 thief: 



" II me conta qu'ils estoient dans Paris grande quantite, 

 qui vivoient de ce metier-la, et qui avoient entr'eux beau- 

 coup de marques pour se recoimoistre, comme d'avoir tous 

 des manteaux rouges, des collets bas, des chapeaux dont 

 le bord estoit retrousse d'un coste, et on il 3' avoit une 

 plume de' I'autre, a cause de quoy Ton les nommoit 

 Flumets. Que leur exercise estoit le jour de se promener 

 par les rues, et y faire des querrelles sur un neant, pour 

 tacher d'attrapper quelque manteau parmy la confusion." 



He says that the thieves were mostly discharged 

 servants, who preferred stealing to working, but 



" Je vous diray bien plus, et k peine le croierez vous, il 

 y a des Seigneurs des plus qualifies, que je ne veux pas 

 nommer, qui se plaisent h, suivre nos costumes, et nous 

 tienuent fort souvent compagnie la nuit; ils ne daigiient 

 pas s'addresser h. toutes sortes de gens comme nous, ils 

 n'arrestent que les personnes de qualite; et principale- 

 merit eeux qui ont mine d'etre courageux, afin d'approu- 

 ver leur vaillance contre la leur. Neanmoins ils prennent 

 aussi bien les manteaux, et font gloire d'avoir gagne cette 

 proye h, la pointe de I'epee. De la vient que I'ou les ap- 

 pelle tiresoyes, au lieu que Ton ne nous appelle que tire- 

 laines."—!. 76. 80. 



Mr. Masson (2"*^ S. v. 65.) ascribes Francion to 

 Ronsard ; I have always supposed it was written 



* His Grace, for what was considered political miscon- 

 duct (not military), was about six months before dispos- 

 sessed of both the colonelcy and the Lord Lieutenancy 

 of the West Elding of Yorkshire. 



by Sorel. So it is stated in the BiUiographie 

 Universelle, and in Rigault, Histoire de la Querelle 

 des Anciens et des Modernes, p. 77. 



Boursier as " a poor scholar," and Plumet as 

 " a beardless youth," would hardly be comprised 

 among " gens de mauvaise Industrie." I beg to 

 suggest, though I have no authority to quote for 

 it, " cut-purse" as the English equivalent of bou7'- 

 sier. Had the argot been modern the correspond- 

 ing slang might have been "stag;" but in the 

 time of Sorel the Bourse had not become a place 

 of " mauvaise Industrie." 



M. A. has not been able to find the words in 

 italics. As " fanfredonnair " is not italicised, 

 perhaps he will tell us what it means ? I do not 

 know, and have in vain inquired of a friend whose 

 knowledge of old and new French I believe to be 

 unsurpassed. H. B. C. 



U. U. Club. 



Ghost and Apparitions (2"'* S. v. 89.) — It may 

 Interest Pixie to see a curious and voluminous 

 collection of the various names by which ghosts, 

 goblins, and apparitions are known, not only 

 within the bounds of the British Isles, but also in 

 various countries on the continent of Europe, by 

 M. A. Denham. This little tractate, of which only 

 fifty copies were printed, may, I believe, be ob- 

 tained of Mr. Russell Smith, 36. Soho Square. 



Nemo. 



Jack Horner (2"* S. iv. 215. ; v. 83.)— Does 

 your correspondent know that, oddly enough, the 

 present owner and holder of the Mells-Park pro- 

 perty is that prince of priests the Rev. John S. H. 

 Horner, whose bookrooms would gladden even 

 your bookish heart ? A. X. 



Indigenous Evergreens (2"* S. i. 399. &c.) — 

 The famous arbutus of Killarney must have es- 

 caped the notice <t)f your correspondent. There 

 have been found in that neighbourhood specimens 

 thirty feet high and four and a half feet round. 

 See Macaulay, iii. 136., referring to Philosoph. 

 Trans. 227. Y. S. M. 



"Z2ane"(2'"^ S. v. 118.) — 



" S. fern, bot., il se dit, dans les colonies, de toute planto 

 dont la tige, longue et flexible, grimpe sur les arbres, ou 

 rampe sur la terre : Liane h Bauduit, liane a boeufs, liane 

 brulante, liane h cabri, liane 5, glacer I'eau, liane a nidde- 

 cine, liane h, reglisse, liane h serpents, liane h. sang, &c., 

 sont les noms vulgaires de diverses plantes de cette 

 espfece." 



LlANCOURT. 



Bellevue, Hertford. 



Wedding Custom (2"'^ S. v. 48.)— Some years 

 since I had a curacy in Somerset, adjoining the 

 Bristol Channel, and I there observed an almost 

 similar custom as that which attracted B.'s curi- 

 osity in Glamorganshire. On the occasion of wed- 

 dings, the children of the village used to fasten 



