156 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 172. 



was choked in the fraternal embrace, with the sorry 

 consolation that it was "the giant's nature to 

 squeeze hard." 



Are these fables wholly modern or not ? I have 

 thought that some such are the key to Juvenal's 

 meaning : 



" Malitn fraterculus esse gigantis ; " 



to the ordinary construing of which there are 

 positive objections. J. E. G. 



Tide Tables. — Can you, or any of your sub- 

 scribers, give me a rule for ascertaining the heights 

 of tides and times of high water, the establishment 

 of the port, and rise of springs and neaps, being 

 known ? One divested of algebi'aic formulae would 

 be preferred : say — 



Establishment - - - - 10 h. 58 m. 

 Springs' rise ----- 8| feet. 

 Neaps' „ 2 "feet. 



R. 



Lancaster. 



Passage in Ovid. — In speaking of the rude and 

 unscientific state of the early Romans, in the third 

 book of his Fasti, Ovid has the following verses : 



" Libera currebant, et inobservata per annum 

 Sidera : constabat sed tannen esse Deos. 

 Non illi coelo labentia signa tenebant ; 



Sed sua : quae magnum perdere crimen erat." 

 V. 111—114. 

 The idea expressed in this passage is that the 

 primitive Romans cared more about war than 

 astronomy. They did not observe the stars, though 

 they believed them to be deities. The pun upon 

 the word signa — constellations and military stan- 

 dards — is worthy of notice. But what is the 

 meaning of libera, in the first verse ? Is it nearly 

 equivalent to inobseroata, and does it denote the 

 absence of the prying curiosity of men ? It can- 

 not be intended that the courses of the stars were 

 less regular before they were the subjects of ob- 

 servation, than after the birth of astronomy. L. 



Roger Pele, Abbot of Furness. — Is anything 

 known of the antecedents of Roger Pele, last abbot 

 of Furness, who, after years of trouble and perse- 

 cution, was at length constrained to execute a deed, 

 dated 5th April, 28 Hen. VIII., whereby he did 

 *' freely and hoUie surrender, gifF, and graunt unto 

 the Kynges highnes and to his heyres and assignes 

 for evermore . . .all his interest and titill in 

 the said monasterle of flTurness, and of and in the 

 landes, rentes, possessions, revenous, servyce, both 

 spirituall and temporall," &c.? This deed is, I be- 

 lieve, given at length in the Cotton MSS., Cleo- 

 patra E. IV. fol. 244. 



Roger Pele was elevated about 1532, and became 

 rector of Dalton, a village near his old abbey, 

 9th Nov., 29 Hen. VIII. This rectory he held, I 



believe, during the remainder of his life, in spite of 

 all the efforts made to dispossess him. (See Beck's 

 Annates Furnessienses, p. 346. et seq.) 



What was the origin and early history of this 

 man, remarkable for the firmness and ability 

 which so long baffled all the power and might of 

 Henry, whose vengeance pursued him even into 

 obscurity ? Abbati. 



Curtseys and Bows. — Why do ladies curtsey 

 instead of bow ? Is the distinction one Avhich 

 obtains generally ; and what is the earliest men- 

 tion of curtseys in any writer on English affiiirs ? 



E. S. 



Hampton Court. 



Historical Proverb. — I have frequently In youth 

 heard the proverb, " You may change Norman for 

 a worser (worse) horse." This sounds like the wise 

 saying of some unpatriotic Saxon, when urged to 

 revolt against the conquering Invaders. If so, it is 

 an Interesting relic of the days when " Englishrie," 

 though suppressed, yet became peacefully vic- 

 torious in transmuting the intruders into its own 

 excellent metal. J. R. P. 



Bishop Patrick's "Parable of a Pilgrim." — Can 

 any of your contributors inform me of any biblio- 

 graphical notice of Bishop Patrick's Parable of a 

 Pilgrim ? Its singular title, and the suggested 

 plagiarism of Bunyan, lately attracted my atten- 

 tion ; but I incline to the belief that we may still 

 regard the Pilgrim's Progress to be as original as 

 it Is extraordinary. Patrick's work appears to 

 have been written in 1663, while Bunyan was not 

 committed to prison until 1660, and was released 

 In 1673 : having written, or at least composed, his 

 extraordinary work during the Interval. Bunyan 

 might therefore have seen and read Patrick's book ; 

 but, from a careful comparison of the two works, I 

 am satisfied in my own mind that such a suppo- 

 sition is unnecessary, and probably erroneous. I 

 may add that Patrick honestly confesses, that not 

 even his own work is entirely original, but was 

 suggested by an elder " Parable of the Pilgrim" 

 In Baker's Sancta Sophia. George Wm. Bell. 



Dr. Parr's Dedications. — Dr. Parr has dedi- 

 cated the three parts of Bellendences de Statu 

 respectively to Burke, Lord North, and Fox, sub- 

 scribing each dedication with the letters A. E. A. 0. 

 Can any of your correspondents explain them ? 



Balliolensis. 



" Konigl. Schwedischer in Teutschland gefilhrter 

 Krieg, 1632—1648, von B. Ph. v. Chemnitz." — 

 As Is known, the first two parts of this important 

 work were printed in 1648 and 1653. The con- 

 tinuation of the original manuscript exists now in 

 the Swedii-h Record Office, with the exception, 

 unfortunately, of the third part. The Curator of 

 the Royal Library in Hanover, however, J. Dan, 



