2>'<» S. V. 124., May 15. '68.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



405 



to " N. & Q.," let me ask \Vhat information may 

 be now added to that which Bakewell gave in the 

 above extract ? A. Holt White. 



Tapping of Melons (2"'* S. v. 316. 347.) —I am 

 thankful to Mk. W. J. Bernhakd Smith for his 

 obliging answer to my inquiry. It was made on 

 behalf of a friend in Canada West, who cultivates 

 the melon with great assiduity, and is always glad 

 to receive new varieties. Southey, in the note 

 indicated by your correspondent, refers to Nie- 

 buhr (the traveller). I have not been able to 

 discover any statement which I can identify as 

 Niebuhr's own ; but as some of your readers may 

 wish to know more about melon-tapping, I copy 

 the following from a Swiss republication of Nie- 

 buhr's Travels : — 



'* On tire d'une espfece de ces melons une boisson fort 

 agreable : quand ce fruit est prfes de sa maturite, on le 

 perce en remuant la pulpe, et on bouche le trou avec de 

 la cire, en laissant le fruit attach^ a la tige. Quelques 

 jours apr^s, cette pulpe est convertie en une liqueur d^- 

 licieuse." ( Voyage de M. Niehuhr en Arable. En Suisse. 

 1780, vol. ii. p. 367.) • 



It is not quite clear whether this is from Nie- 

 buhr's own statement, or from that of his friend 

 and fellow-traveller, Forskal, who was charged 

 with the department of Natutal History. It 

 should be remarked, however, that the above 

 passage mentions one important circumstance 

 omitted by Southey (at least in the ed. of Thalaba 

 which I have consulted), namely, that when the 

 ripening melon is pierced, its pulp should be 

 stirred up. Thomas Boys. 



Birds'-eye Views of Towns (2'"* S. iv.l30. 343.) 

 — In Bourne's History of Newcastle -upon- Tyne 

 (1736), there is a vignette which occurs at least 

 three times in the course of the work, repre- 

 senting a bird's-eye view of that town. There is 

 also a much earlier view of the same place en- 

 graved in the third volume of the Archceologia 

 jEliana (p. 124.) from a drawing preserved in 

 the British Museum, which is supposed to have 

 been executed about the year 1590. E. H. A. 



Reeve's " History of the Holy Bible" (2"'^ S. v. 

 336.) — The Rev. Joseph Reeve, author of the 

 above-mentioned work, was a Roman Catholic 

 priest, and he was also a member of the Order of 

 Jesuits, and was a person of considerable literary 

 attainments. He was boi:n in Warwickshire in 

 1733, and received his education in the well- 

 known Jesuit Colleges of St. Omer and Liege. 

 On being ordained priest in 1767, he returned to 

 England, and proceeded to Ugbrooke in Devon- 

 shire, the seat of the noble family of Clifford, 

 where he remained in the capacity of chaplain for 

 nearly fifty- three years, until his death in 1820, 

 much esteemed by all who knew him. The His- 

 tory of the Bible was published in 1780 ; whether 

 any edition of it has been published of late years 



i know not ; but twenty-five years ago it was to 

 be found in most Catholic families. 



Mr. Reeve was also the author of the following 

 works : — A volume of Sermons published in 

 1788, entitled Practical Discourses on the Per- 

 fections and wonderful Works of God. — Another 

 volume of Sermons, entitled Practical Discourses 

 upon the Divinity and wonderful Works of Jesus 

 Christ, 1793. — A short View of the History of the 

 Church, 3 vols. 1802. — A volume of Miscellaneous 

 Poetry, 1794. — A pamphlet entitled A View of 

 the Oath tendered by the Legislature to the Roman 

 Catholics of England. Considerable differences 

 of opinion then existed among the English Roman 

 Catholics as to the lawfulness of their taking the 

 above-mentioned oath, and Mr. Reeve wrote this 

 pamphlet with the amiable intention of endea- 

 vouring to allay the angry feelings arising from 

 this dispute. For some few years before his death 

 Mr. Reeve was afiiicted with total blindness. I 

 am indebted for these particulars to the Rev. Dr. 

 Oliver's Collections towards illustrating the Bio- 

 graphy of the Scotch, English, and Irish Jesuits. 



Dean Dixie (2"^ S. v. 215.) — Edward Dixie, 

 M.A., was presented on April 6, 1654, to the 

 deanery of Kilmore, instituted May 31, and in- 

 stalled June 27. He had been ordained priest, 

 August 5, 1654. At a visitation holden in 1673, 

 at Cavan, a faculty for holding this deanery, dated 

 Nov. 17, 1645, was produced by Edward Orme, 

 who, however, does not appear to have ever been 

 in possession. (Cotton, Fasti Ecc. Hib.) Dr. 

 Enoch Reader succeeded in 1691. This may give 

 a clue to the time of Dean Dixie's death. 



Nicholas Coddington, second son of Dixie Cod- 

 dington of Holmpatrick, married Miss Dixie, and 

 had issue (with one daughter) two sons : the elder 

 of whom, Dixie, born in 1665, was ancestor of the 

 family of Coddington of Oldbridge, co. Meath 

 (see Burke's Landed Gentry). 



From the coincidence of names I would infer 

 that the two families were connected before the 

 marriage above mentioned. 



JoMn RiBTON Gabstin. 



Dublin. 



Mottoes on Rings (2°^ S. iv. 429.)— 



" The betrothal of the young couple (Frederic and 

 Sophia Charlotte, first King and Queen of Prussia) 

 speedily followed. I believe it was during the festivities 

 attendant upon this occasion that a ring worn by Frederic 

 in memory of his deceased wife, with the device of clasped 

 hands and the motto A jamais, suddenly broke, which 

 was looked upon as an omen that this union likewise was 

 to be of short duration." — Memoirs of the Queens of 

 Prussia, by E. A. Atkinson, p. 37. 



" In 1783 a gold ring was found on the field of battle 

 (Flodden Hill) which had the following inscription in 

 Norman French : On est nul loiauls amans qui se poet 

 garder des maux disans, — ' No lovers so faithful as to be 

 able to guard themselves against evil speakers.' Between 



