426 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



t2n« S. V. 125., May 22. '68. 



town or village, the latter wood, woody, short- 

 ened and corrupted into Blen. In accordance 

 also with what Mr. Lower suggests, it seems to 

 be considered identical with Blayn, Blan, Blane, 

 as '■'■ Dhwhlayn, Blantyire, family name of Blane" 

 &c. Local circumstances, past or present, seem 

 also to confirm the above. F. B. D. 



Bacon's Advancement of Learning (2""^ S. v. 

 356.) — • The editor's mistake in altering " Oso- 

 rius " into " Orosius " was pointed out five years 

 ago in "N. & Q.," 1»' S. vii. 493., and was ac- 

 knowledged by the editor, ib. p. 555. L. 



Lady Pakington (2"^ S. v. 334.) — 



" The most accomplished person of her sex for learning, 

 and the brightest example of her age for wisdom and 

 pietj'. Her letters, and other discourses still remaining 

 in the family and the hands of her friends, are an admira- 

 ble proof of her excellent genius, and vast capacity ; and 

 as she has the reputation of being thought the author of 

 The Whole Duty of Man, so none that knew her well, 

 and were competent judges of her abilities, could in the 

 least doubt of her being equal to such an undertaking, 

 though her modesty would not suffer her to claim the 

 honour of it ; but as the manuscript, under her own hand, 

 now remains with the familj', there is hardly room to 

 doubt it. 



"By her great virtues and eminent attainments in 

 knowledge, she acquired the esteem of all our learned 

 divines, particularly Dr. Hammond, Bishop Morley, 

 Bishop Fell, Bishop Pearson, Bishop Henchman, and 

 Bishop Gunning, who were ever ready to confess they 

 were always edified by her conversation, and instructed 

 by her writings." — From Kimber's Baronetage, sub nomine. 



John Husband. 



Berwick. 



Coclt a Hoop (I'tS. X. 56.) — The following 

 paragraph is from a letter of Archdeacon Phil- 

 pots in his Remains : — 



_ " God's predestination and election ought to be with 

 simple eye considered, to make us more warily to walk 

 in good and godly conversation, according to God's word ; 

 and not to sit cock in the hoop, and put all on God's back 

 to do wickedly at large." 



Moore, in his Diary, suggests its derivation 

 from " taking the cork out of a barrel of ale and 

 setting it on a hoop to let the ale flow merrily ; " 

 and Talbot from a " game cock put on its mettle 

 with his houppe erect." Both these would justify 

 the use of the phrase as expressive of a high, 

 boastful, excited feeling, and probably also of 

 the reckless conduct glanced at by Philpots ; as 

 that of some high calvinistic holders of the doc- 

 trines referred to by him. 



But Philpots's phrase, sit cock in a hoop, seems 

 to me to point to some other and a very different 

 derivation. Is not its real origin yet to be sought 

 for? P.H. F. 



Ocean Telegraph (2"'' S. iv. 296.) — In " N. & 

 Q." it is stated by Wm. Winthrop that Samuel 

 F. B. Morse, in a letter to the Hon. John C. Spen- 



cer, Secretary of the Treasury, United States, 

 dated Aug. 10, 1843, has first made mention of an 

 ocean telegraph. The Americans have not pre- 

 ceded us in this matter. In the year 1842, three 

 or four telegraphs weire offered to the Admiralty 

 of this country. One of these proposed to carry 

 out a line from Whitehall to a floating station at 

 Spithead, or beyond. The plans in detail were 

 presented to the Admiralty in July, 1842. The 

 lords were Lord Haddington, Sir George Cock- 

 burn, Sir George Seymour, and others. The 

 only difference between submarine telegraphs is in 

 their length. These facts are known at the Ad- 

 miralty. E. 

 Bath. 



Mock Litanies in Children's Games (2""^ S. v. 

 333.) — A lady-friend of mine has furnished me 

 with two of these " ramnsses" (as they are called 

 in Pembrokeshire, query re-mass) which were in 

 vogue in her childhood. The first runs thus : — 



" Onethery, twothery, ackery an, 

 Bibtail, bobtail, kiddling jan ; 

 Harum scarum. Virgin Marum 

 Chiddo ! " 



The second is as follows : — 



" Onethery, twothery, ubery seven, 

 Haul a bone, crack a bone, ten or eleven ; 

 Pin pon, must go on. 

 Haul a bone, crack a bone, twenty-one." 



Each of these verslcles would seem to contain a 

 covert sneer at the Koman Catholics and their 

 doings. John Pavin Phillips. 



Haverfordwest. 



Return of Sight in Old Age (2'"^ S. v. 366.) — 

 To the example given by M. E. Berry, I can add 

 that of my own father. When he had passed 

 about his seventy-fifth year he recovered his sight, 

 so as to read and write without spectacles, which 

 he had previously worn for about thirty years ; 

 and his sight continued good till his death, in his 

 eighty-third year. I was surprised on visiting 

 him to see him read without spectacles, and he 

 told me that he had suddenly found that he could 

 read quite well without them. I consulted some 

 friends in the medical profession as to this unusual 

 effort of nature, whether it would not probably be 

 followed by a proportionate decay of some other 

 faculties. They had no such apprehension, and 

 they were right : for his health was good to the 

 last, and he died of pure old age, without any 

 disease. The machine had done its work, it was 

 worn out, and simply stopped. F. C. H. 



Recumbent Figures (2°'' S. v. 275.) — In reply 

 to the Query on the recumbent figures of founders 

 of churches, the following example will prove that 

 they are not in every instance an indication of the 

 •person being buried at the place where the effigy 

 was erected. In the wall of the church of Ax- 



