April 2. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



329 



logues have a culinary turn, and that therefore 

 the motto to your collection of them should be, 

 Animus jamdudum in Patinis. A player upon 

 words might answer him, " Any Patinis rather 

 than your Piety in Pattens." I wonder the wags 

 have not been quoting upon you, " Whose eru- 

 dition is a Christmas tale." But Mr. Johnson is 

 ready to bruise any one who calls in question 

 your classical knowledge and your happy appli- 

 cation of it. I hope Mr. Johnson has given you 

 an entertaining account of his Northern Tour. 

 He is certainly to favour the world with some of 

 his remarks. Pray do not fail to quicken him by 

 word as I do by letter. Posterity will be the 

 more obliged to his fi'iends the more that they can 

 prevail with him to write. With best compliments 

 to Mrs. Garrick, and hoping that you will not 

 punish me by being long silent, I remain faith- 

 fully yours, James Boswell. 



To David Garrick, Esq., 

 Adelpbi, London. 



W.P. 



White Roses. — In an old newspaper. The 

 Weekly Journal, or British Gazetteer, of Saturday, 

 June 15, 1723, 1 find the following paragraph : 



" Monday being the anniversary of the White Roses, 

 some persons who had a mind to boast that they had 

 bid defiance to the government, put them on early in 

 the morning ; but the mob not liking such doings, 

 gathered about them, and demolished the wearers ; 

 which so terrified the crew, that not one of them after- 

 wards would touch a white rose." 



Can you, or any of your correspondents, ex- 

 plain this curious allusion ? Is it to the emblem 

 of the House of York, or the badge of the Pre- 

 tender ? E. G. B. 



Fifeshire Pronunciation. — I have observed, in 

 various parts of Fifeshire, a singular peculiarity in 

 the pronunciation of certain words, of which the 

 following are specimens : 



. Wrong, 



Wright, 

 , Wretch, 

 Write, V. a. 

 Write, or writing, s. 



{Vrang, 

 Vricht (gut.). 

 Vretch. 

 Vrite. 

 Vreat, 



This strange mode is not altogether confined to 

 the most illiterate portion of the people. My 

 query is. Does this peculiarity obtain in any other 

 portion of Scotland ? A. R. X. 



Paisley. 



Original Letter. — The following letter, written 

 by the French general at Guadaloupe, when it 

 was taken in 1810, to his conqueror, is an ex- 

 quisite specimen of something more than that 



national politeness which does not desert a French- 

 man even In misfortune. I possess the original : 



Au quartler general du Pare, 

 le 6 Fevrier, 1810. 

 A son Excellence 

 Le General Beckwith, Commandant en chef les 

 forces de sa Majeste Britannique aux isles du 

 Vent. 



Monsieur le General, 

 J'ai ete prevenu que Votre Excellence se pro- 

 posalt de venir au Pare demain dans la matinee. 

 J'ose esperer qu'elle voudra blen me faire I'hon- 

 neur d'accepter le diner que lul offre un General 

 malheureux et valncu, mais qu'il presente de tout 

 cceur. 



Daignez, Monsieur le General, agreer I'assu- 

 rance de la haute consideration avec laquelle 

 J'ai I'honneur d'etre, 

 de votre Excellence, 



Le tres-obeissant serviteur, 



EMOur. 



Edwaed Foss. 



Erroneotis Forms of Speech. — Since you allow 

 your correspondents to correct such words as fee- 

 total, I hope you will allow me to call the attention 

 of your agricultural readers to the corruption in 

 the word mangold, as they now write it. The 

 word is in German mangel wurzel, root of scarcity. 

 It Is wrong to use even such a name as this. In my 

 opinion, while we have the English name beet, 

 which has the additional advantage of being de- 

 rived from the botanical name Beta. But if a 

 new name must be used, let it, at any rate, be the 

 pure German mangel, and not the mongrel man- 

 gold. Indeed, those who spell the word In the 

 latter way, ought In common consistency to write 

 reddishes, sparrowgrass, and cowcumbers for ra- 

 dishes, asparagus, and cucumbers. E. G. R. 



BUSTACHE BE SAINT PIEBKB. 

 (Vol. vll., p. 10.) 



Me. King's inquiry reminds me of two Queries 

 on the same subject which I sent you as far back 

 as the end of 1851, or beginning of 1852. Those 

 Queries have not appeared In " N. & Q.," and I 

 was led to suppose, -either that you had laid them 

 aside for some future occasion, or had found some- 

 thing objectionable In the form in which they were 

 presented. The following is a literal copy. 



" There are two circumstances connected with 

 this event (the surrender of Calais), respecting 

 which I am desirous of obtaining Information. 

 The first has reference to the individuals who 

 offered themselves as victims to appease the exas- 

 peration of Edward III., after the obstinate siege 



