2nds.v.i2i.,AriiiL24.'58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



341 



To reply to the main question first put (p. 88.), 

 I may refer to Dr. Kitto, who says (Is. xliv. 13.) 

 the Egyptians, "in the representation of their 

 gods, were bound to observe certain forms pre- 

 scribed by the priests, and which it was accounted 

 sacrilege to transgress " — a statement he made on 

 the authority of Wilkinson's Materia Hierogly- 

 phica (Malta). 



The following points, however, are in evidence, 

 which may make out a case of sacrilege : 



1. That the Egyptian priests had pictorial re- 

 presentations as models (Achilles Tatius, Clitoph. 

 iii. sub finein). 



2. Tliat novelty of form in painting and sculp- 

 ture was forbidden by them (Plato, Leg. ii. 

 656. e). 



3. That the statuary was treated by them as a 

 mechinic (Herodotus, ii. 167.). - 



4. That he was punished for making a bad 

 statue (Winkelman, by Carlo Rea and their au- 

 thorities, i. 107.). T. J. BucKTON. 



Lichfield. 



USHEE, HEREDOS, ERETNte. 



(2"«' S. V. 258.) 

 The usher in the passage quoted is the gentle- 

 man-usher, as may be gathered from a line in the 

 same canto (the twenty-fifth line from the end : — 

 " Amen, quoth she, then turn'd about, 

 And bid her Squire let him out,") 



which shows that the " unkind widow " had a 

 male attendant with her as well as the '' slender 

 young waiting damsel." Part of the wit of the 

 passage consists in classing what Nares calls "this 

 appendage of pride" with the hood and other 

 implements necessary for ladies to wear when 

 abroad. It appears from a passage quoted by 

 Nares from Lenton's Leasures (1631), that the 

 gentleman-usher was — 



" A spruce fellow belonging to a gay lady, whose foot- 

 step in times of yore his lady followed," for he went before. 

 But now hee is growne so familiar with her that they goe 

 arme in arme." 



All the information that can be needed about 

 him, illustrated by passages from the older drama- 

 tists, may be found in Nares' Glossary, vv. Bare, 

 Gentleman-Usher, Husher, and Usher. The 

 etymology of the word is from It. uscio, Fr. Mis, 

 a door ; his original office being to let persons in 

 or out of a door. 



Reredos. Fr. ariere-das, a back behind any- 

 thing, e. g. the screen of stone or wood, or the 

 hanging of tapestry behind an altar. 



Ereyne, the spider (Lat. aranea), still called 

 aran in Yorkshire. So in Promp. Parvul., 

 " Erante or spyder, or spynnare aranea^' and in 

 a note, " Erane, a spyder or an attercopp." So 

 in a Bestiary of the thirteenth century (Iteliq. 



Antiques, No. V.), the section which treats of the 

 spinner or spider is headed " Natura iranee," 



I shall be glad to furnish your correspondent 

 with Nares' illustrations to Usher, if not other- 

 wise within his reach. J. EASTwoooi 



Ereyne. — This word, which occurs in a passage 

 quoted from Capgrave's Chronicle of England, 

 by your correspondent Beta, is explained (in the 

 Glossary appended to that work), to mean a 

 spider, i. e. " aranea." See " Araynye " in Hal- 

 liwell's Glossary, i. 80. See also " Arain," which 

 Capgrave (as a native of Lynn, changing " a" 

 into " e,") would have written " erein " or 

 " ereyn." lb. p. 77. 



^ A " reredos " is a " dossal " or hanging, [a 

 rich ornamented cloak, (Angl.-Norm.) Halliwell] 

 suspended behind (or- in the rear of) an altar. 



The word "usher" signified originally a state 

 officer, a "gentleman usher," — one who opens 

 doors, and performs similar offices for a person of 

 rank, — " Ostiarius." Afterwards the word was 

 used of a sort of upper servitUt, out of liverjr, 

 who attended on ladies. 



This is clearly the meaning of the word in the 

 passage quoted from Hudibras. It is true that 

 the word is coupled with " hood," and under the 

 common name of " implements," but this circvim- 

 stance, instead of invalidating, only serves t6 

 confirm my opinion, as a compat-ison of the pas- 

 sage from Hudibras with a passage from the third 

 act of Beaumont and Fletcher's Wild-Goose 

 Chase (quoted by Nares) satisfactorily proves : — 



" Yet if she want an usher, such an implement, 

 One that is throughly paced, a clean made gentle- 

 man, 

 Can hold a hanging up with approbation. 

 Plant his hat formally, and wait with patience, 

 ' I do beseech you, Sir.' " 



The word vten, in your corres^orident's quotiA- 

 tion from Capgrave, is a misprint for wers. 



FbAncis C. HlNKJEStdit. 

 Oxford. 



GHOST STORIES. 



(2°'i S. V. 233. 285.) 



Several instances of apparitions, warnings, and 

 dreams are known to me, of recent occurrence, as 

 well as those of old and generally established 

 authenticity. As regards the fulfilment of the 

 Tyrone and Beresford compact, the members of 

 the respective families have ever maintained their 

 entire belief in the circumstances : as also that of 

 Lady Betty Cobb, who removed from the arm of 

 Lady B. when dead the ribbon worn to conceal 

 the fatal mark. More positive information I can- 

 not afford your correspondent Candidus ; but in 

 the case of Sir John Sher broke I am happy iu 



