2°'! S. V. 129., June 19, '68.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



503 



here preserved, which was originally the " leger " 

 belonging to the counting-house of the Fagans, 

 merchants of Cork in 1665, and the entries show 

 that they doubtless were amongst the " merchant 

 princes " of that day. How it got mixed up with 

 ecclesiastical records I cannot discover ; but on 

 August 26, 1682, the blank leaves were used for 

 entering the nominations to livings, curacies, and 

 in fact the general business of the diocese of Cork 

 and Ross, until February 23, 1703. More than 

 half the book contains copies of wills, extending 

 from about the beginning to the middle of the last 

 century. There are also subscription lists, and 

 other matters of that kind, common to all diocesan 

 registries. R. C. 



Cork. 



COCK A HOOP. 



(P' S. X. 56. ; 2"'» S. v. 426.) 



The phrase, " cock a hoop," has assumed various 

 forms in our choice vernacular : such as " cock on 

 hoop," " cock in a hoop," &c. All these modifica- 

 tions appear to spring originally from a French 

 source, coq huppe. 



Among the numerous varieties of gallinaceous 

 birds, the coq huppe is that description of barn- 

 door fowl which has a tuft (huppe) on the head ; 

 a race conspicuous in all poultry shows, of which 

 a French description may be found in the Diet. 

 Clas. d'Hist. Nat. vol. iv. p. 426. But in order 

 to trace the connexion between coq huppe and 

 "cock a hoop" (in the uppish signification of this 

 latter phrase), a word must be said respecting 

 both coq and huppe. 



Coq, like cock in English, is used to imply what 

 we express by top-sawyer : the man who com- 

 mands, dictates, takes the lead, or stands at the 

 head. Thus in English we have "cock of the 

 walk," "cock of the club" (Spectator, cited by 

 Dr. Richardson), &c. So in French, "coq du 

 village," "coq de la paroisse" (the chief person). 



Then again, with regard to the term huppe, it 

 does not apply merely to the fowl so designated, 

 but to " topping people." " Une personne riche, 

 notable, de haut parage," is huppe. (Flem. and 

 Tib. Dictionary.') Individuals eminent by posi- 

 tion were "des plus huppez" (Boyer). Attaching 

 these meanings to huppe and to coq, I think we 

 may safely derive "cock a hoop" from coq huppe. 



Still, however, Vrith respect to the phrase " to 

 sit cock in a hoop," your correspondent P. H. F. 

 seems to have the best grounds for his opinion 

 that, to ascertain the full and exact meaning of 

 this expression, we must look farther. In this in- 

 stance, " cock a hoop" appears to have passed into 

 a new signification. May we not find an illustra- 

 tion of "sit cock in a hoop" in those bird-cages, 

 or aviaries, which, for the accommodation of their 



winged tenants, have a ring or hoop suspended 

 and swinging free ? Where several birds live in 

 the same aviary or cage, only one at a time can 

 sit in the said hoop. The " cock " of the cage oc- 

 cupies it by his superior prowess ; and then may 

 very properly be said " to sit cock in the hoop." 

 Compare, in old English, " cock of the roost." 



Thomas Boys. 

 P.S. It should be remarked that, in French, 

 huppe (formerly houpe) appears to be sometimes 

 conibunded with creie. Strictly speaking, how- 

 ever, Crete is the comb, common to most gallina- 

 ceous birds ; and huppe is the tu/t, possessed only 

 by a few varieties, and by the pewit, hoopoo, &c. 



WITCHCRAFT : CASE OF MRS. HICKES. 



(P' S. V. 394. 514.) 



Turning over an old volume of "N. & Q." I 

 perceived an interesting Query on these subjects, 

 which has not been answered. J. H. L. and Me. 

 Crossley desire to know the authority for the 

 statement that Mrs. Hickes and her daughter, 

 aged nine years, were executed at Huntingdon for 

 witchcraft so lately as the year 1716. Having 

 recently seen the same statement in Mr. Charles 

 Phillips's work on Capital Punishments, I took the 

 liberty of writing to that gentleman respecting it, 

 and through his polite reply I am able to answer 

 your correspondents' queries. 



Mr. Phillips referred me to Dr. Parr's Charac- 

 ters of Fox, p. 370., where I read as follows : — 



" I know not that Judge Powel was a weak or a hard- 

 hearted man. But 1 do know that in the Augustan age 

 of English literature and science, when our country was 

 adorned by a Xewton, a Halley, a Swift, a Clarke, and an 

 Addison, this judge, in 1712, condemned Jane VVenham 

 at Hertford, who, in consequence perhaps of a contro- 

 versy that arose on her case, rather than from any inter- 

 position of Powel, was not executed ; and that five years 

 afterwards he at Huntingdon condemned, for the same 

 crime, Mary Hickes and her daughter Elizabeth, an infant 

 of eleven rears old, who were executed on Saturday the 

 17th July, "1716. 



Parr refers as his authority to Gough's British 

 Topography, vol. i. p. 439., where, under " Hunt- 

 ingdonshire," I read — 



" A more tragical story we have in ' The whole trial 

 and examination of Mrs. Marj' Hickes and her daughter 

 Elizabeth but of nine years of age, who were condemned 

 the last assizes held at Huntingdon for witchcraft, and 

 there executed, on Saturday the 28th July, 1716. With 

 an account of the most surprising pieces of witchcraft 

 they played whilst under their diabolical compact, the 

 like never heard of before : their behaviour with several 

 divines who came to converse with 'em whilst under sen- 

 tence of death ; and last dying speeches and confession 

 at the place of execution. Lond.' 12mo. Eight pages. 

 A substantial farmer apprehends his wife and favourite 

 child ; the latter for some silly illusions practised on his 

 weakness; the former for the antiquated folly of killing 

 her neighbours in effigy : and Judge Wilniot suffers them 



