86 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 169. 



so friendly a disposition, that he was bail for above a 

 . Jiundred persons in one year. He had likewise the 

 remarkable honour of walking in Westminster Hall 

 witli a straw in his shoe." 



What was the practice here referred to, and 

 what is the origin of the expression " a man of 

 straw," which is commonly applied to any one who 

 appears, or pretends to be, but is not, a man of 

 property ? 



Straw bail is, I believe, a term still used by 

 attorneys to distinguish insufficient bail from 

 "justifiable" or sufficient bail. 



J. Lbwelyn Cuetis. 



Wages in the West in 1642. — The Marquis of 

 Hertford and Lord Poulett were very active in the 

 West in the year 1642. In the famous collection 

 of pamphlets in the British Museum (113, 69.) 

 is contained Lord Poulett's speech at Wells, 

 Somerset : 



" His lordship, with many imprecations, oaths, and 

 execrations (in the height of fury), said that it was not 

 fit for any yeoman to have allowed him from his own 

 labours any more than the poor moiety of ten pounds 

 a-year; and when the power shall be totally on their 

 side, they shall be compelled to live on that low allow- 

 ance, notwithstanding their estates are gotten with a 

 great deal of labour and industry. 



" Upon this the people attempted to lay violent 

 hands upon Lord Poulett, who was saved by a regi- 

 ment marching in or by at the moment." 



What was Lord Poulett's precise meaning ? Do 

 we not clearly learn from the above, that the Civil 

 War was due to more than a mere choosing between 

 king and parliament among the humbler classes of 

 the remote country districts ? George Roberts. 



Literary Frauds of Modern Times. — In a work 

 by Bishop (now Cardinal) Wiseman, entitled The 

 Connexion between Science and Revealed Religion, 

 3rd edition, vol. ii. p. 270., occurs the following 

 remark : 



" The most celebrated literary frauds of modern 

 times, the History of Formosa, or, still more, the Sicilian 

 Code of Vella, for a time perplexed the world, but were 

 in the end discovered." 



Will you, or any of your readers, kindly refer 

 me to any published account of the frauds alluded 

 to in this passage ? I have a faint remembrance 

 of having read some remarks respecting the Code 

 of Vella, but am unable to recall the circumstances. 



I was under the impression that Chatterton's 

 forgery of the Rowley poems, Macpherson's of the 

 Ossianic rhapsodies, and Count de Surville's of 

 the poems of Madame de Surville, were " the most 

 celebrated literary frauds of modern times." In 

 what respect are those alluded to by Dr. Wiseman 

 entitled to the unenviable distinction which he 

 claims for them ? Hemrt H. Bbeen. 



St. Lucia. 



" Very like a Whale.'" — What is the origin of 

 this expression ? It occurs in the following dog- 

 gerel verses, supposed to be spoken by the driver 

 of a cart laden with fish : 



" This salmon has got a tail ; 

 It's very like a whale ; 

 It's a fish that's very merry ; 

 They say its catch'd at Derry. 

 It's a fish that's got a heart ; 

 It's catch'd and put in Dugdale's cart." 



Henry H. Breen. 

 St. Lucia. 



[This expression occurs in Hamlet, Act III. Sc. 2. : 



" Hamlet. Do you see yonder cloud, that is almost 

 in shape of a camel ? 



Polonius. By the mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed. 

 Hamlet. Methinks it is like a weasel. 

 Polonius. It is backed like a weasel. 

 Hamlet. Or like a whale ? 

 Polonius. Very like a whale." 



Since Shakspeare's time, it has been used as a pro- 

 verb in reply to any remark partaking of the mar- 

 vellous.] 



Wednesday a Litany Day. — Why is Wednesday 

 made a Litany day by the Church ? We all know 

 why Friday was made a fast; but why should 

 Wednesday be sacred ? Anon. 



[Wednesdays and Fridays were kept as fasts in the 

 primitive Clmrch : because on the one our Lord was 

 betrayed, on the other crucified. See Mant and 

 Wheatley,] 



'•'■Thy Spirit, Independence" Sfc. — Could you, 

 or any of your readers, inform me where are the 

 following lines? — 



" Thy spirit. Independence, let me share, 

 Lord of the lion heart and eagle eye ! 

 Thy steps I'll follow with my bosom bare. 



Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky." 

 I quote from memory. H. 



[In Smollett's Ode to Independence.!^ 



"Hob and nob," Meaning of . — What is the origin 

 of these words as verbs, in the phrase "Hob or nob," 

 which means, as I need not inform your readers, to 

 spend an evening tippling with a jolly companion? 



What is the origin of "nob?" And is either 

 of these two words ever used alone ? 



C. H. Howard. 



Edinburgh. 



[This phrase, according to Grose, " originated in the 

 days of good Queen Bess. When great chimnies were 

 in fashion, there was at each corner of the hearth, or 

 grate, a small elevated projection, called hob, and be- 

 hind it a seat. In winter-time the beer was placed on 

 the hob to warm ; and the cold beer was set on a small 

 table, said to have been called the nob : so that the 



