Mar. 12. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



265 



campanas pulsarent, ecclesiarum custodia invigilarent 

 [^church-wardens in the true sense of the word], eas 

 scoparent ac mundarent. Atque inde Matriculariorum 

 (nostris Marguillier) in ecclesiis parochialihus origo," 



Of another singular word, Berefellarii, and of 

 the adoption of PersoncB instead of it, the history is 

 very amusinj?, though, perhaps, scarcely fit for tlie 

 pages of " N. & Q." It would seem that these 

 inferior servitors of the church were not very 

 cleanly in their person or habits. The English 

 populace, by a not very delicate pun on their 

 name, were wont to call them bewrayed fellows, 

 the meaning of which it is not necessary farther to 

 explain. In a letter of Thomas, Archbishop of 

 York (preserved in Dugdale's Monasticon, torn. iii. 

 p. ii. p. 5.), the good prelate says : 



" Scilicet PrEBcentoris, Cancellarii, et Sacristce, ac 

 Septem Personarura qui olira Berefellarii fuerunt 

 nuncupati . . • Sed quia eorum turpe nomen 

 BerefeUariorum, patens risui remanebat, dictos Septem 

 de castero non Berefellarios sed Personas volumus 

 nuncupari." 



The glossarist adds, with some naivete : 



" Cur autem ita obsc£ena hujusmodi iis indita ap- 

 pellatio, dicant Angli ipsi ! " 



P. c. s. s. 



Mr. Jebb, in his Query respecting the exotica 

 voces "Marigmerii" and " Melinglerii," seems to 

 be right in his conjecture that they are both of 

 them corruptions of some word answering to the 

 French Marguillier, a churchwarden. The word 

 in question is probably Meragularius. It appears 

 to be a term but rarely used, and to occur but 

 once in Martene, De Antiq. Eccl, Ritihus, torn. i. 

 p. 233., Venice, 1783, in the conclusion of his 

 extract " de ordlnario MS. ecclesiae Cabilonensis ;" 

 where the officer in question performs the duty of 

 the Vestararius : 



" Diaconus et Subdiaconus inter se plicant vesti- 

 menta sua, Meragularius pra;stat auxiliuin sacerdoti." 



Though elsewhere Martene explains the term by 

 "-S^dituus, custos asdis." 



With regard to the latter word, the meaning of 

 which Mb. Jebb inquires, Berefellarii, I may 

 suggest that he will find, on reading somewhat 

 further in the archbishop's Statuta for Beverley, a 

 further account of these same Berefellarii ; which 

 almost precludes the likelihood of a blunder in 

 the original document, or at least of Beneficiarii 

 being the correct word. For the archbishop, 

 having occasion to mention them again, gives the 

 origin of their institution : 



" Quos quidem Berefellarios recolenda3 memori® 

 Dom. Johannes de Thoresby dudum Eborum Archie- 

 piscopus ad honorem dictae Ecclesije Beverlaci, et 

 majorem decentiam ministrantium in eadem provincia 

 ordinabat." 



He then proceeds : 



" Sed quia eorum turpe nomen BerefeUariorum, pa- 

 tens risui remanebat, dictos Septem de caetero non 

 Berefellarios sed Personas volumus nuncupari." 



And accordingly we find them called hereafter 

 in this document by the very indefinite appella- 

 tion, Septem Personce. 



The word Berefellarii seems obviously to be of 

 Anglo-Saxon origin ; as well from the extract I 

 have given above, as from the absence of the term 

 in works on the continental rituals, as Martene 

 for instance. And I would suggest, in default of 

 a better derivation, that the word may have been 

 Latinised from the Anglo-Saxon here fellan or 

 sellan. The office would then be that of almoner, 

 and the Berefellarii would be the "persons" who 

 doled out victuals to the poor ; literally, barley- 

 givers. Such an original would make the term 

 liable to the objection to which the archbishop 

 alluded; and the office does not altogether dis- 

 agree with what was stated as the object of its 

 institution, viz. : 



" Ad honorem ecclesiae Beverlaci, et majorem decen- 

 tiam ministrantium in eadem." 



H. C. K. 



Rectory, Hereford. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Replies to Photographic Questions. — Sir Wil- 

 liam Newton is right respecting the active pro- 

 perties of sulphuric acid ; it should therefore not 

 be stronger than merely tasting of the acid ; but it 

 has appeared to me to possess a superior effect in 

 setting the alkalies free. I believe muriatic acid 

 would have precisely the same effect, or Beaufoy's 

 acetic acid, though It would be rather expensive. 

 Starch would be Invaluable both for positives or 

 negatives, if it could be laid on perfectly even ; but 

 if pinned up to dry it all runs to one corner, and 

 if laid flat It runs into ridges. Perhaps some artist 

 may be able to favour us with the best mode of 

 treating starch; Its non-solubility in cold water 

 makes it an Invaluable agent in photography. 



The above Includes a reply to Mr. J. James' 

 first Query : to his second, the solution may be 

 elthed brushed or floated, but all solutions re- 

 quire even greater care than doing a water-colour 

 drawing, to lay them perfectly flat. The re- 

 maining questions depend for answer simply on 

 the experience of the operator : the formula given 

 was simply for iodizing paper ; the bringing out, 

 exposure in the camera, &c., have been so clearly 

 described lately by Dr. Diamond, it would be 

 useless to give further directions at present. 



G. H. should dispense with the aceto-nltrate and 

 gallic acid, and bring up with gallic acid and 

 glacial acetic acid only. This makes no dirt 

 whatever, and is quite as effective. The marbling 



