380 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 181. 



Derivation of " Canada." — I send you a cutting 

 from an old newspaper, on the derivation of this 

 word: 



" The name of Canada, according to Sir John Bar- 

 row, originated in the following circumstances. When 

 the Portuguese, under Gasper Cortcreal, in the year 

 1500, first ascended tlie great river St. Lawrence, they 

 believed it was the strait of which they were in search, 

 and through which a passage might be discovered into the 

 Indian Sea. But on arriving at the point whence they 

 could clearly ascertain it was not a strait but a river, 

 they, with all the emphasis of disappointed hopes, ex- 

 claimed repeatedly ' Canada ! ' — Here nothing ; words 

 which were remembered and repeated by the natives 

 on seeing Europeans arrive in 1534, who naturally 

 conjectured that the word they heard employed so often 

 must denote the name of the country," 



Henkt H. Bbeen. 

 St. Lucia. 



Railway Signals. — An effective communication 

 from the guard to the engineman, for the preven- 

 tion of railway accidents, seems to be an impor- 

 tant desideratum, which has hitherto baffled the 

 ingenuity of philosophers. The only proposed 

 plan likely to be adopted, is that of a cord passing 

 below the foot-boards, and placing the valve of 

 the steam whistle under the control of the guard. 

 The trouble attending this scheme, and the liability 

 to neglect and disarrangement, render its success 

 doubtful. What I humbly suggest is, that the 

 guard should be provided with an independent 

 instrument which would produce a sound suffi- 

 ciently loud to catch the ear of the engineman. 

 Suppose, for instance, that the mouth-piece of a 

 clarionet, or the windpipe of a duck, or a metallic 

 imitation, were affixed to the muzzle of an air- 

 gun, and the condensed air discharged through the 

 confined aperture ; a shrill sound would be emitted. 

 Surely, then, a small instrument might be contrived 

 upon this principle, powerful enough to arrest the 

 attention of the engineer, if not equal to the familiar 

 shriek of the present whistle. 



It is hoped that this hint will be followed up ; 

 that your publication will sustain its character by 

 thus providing a medium of intercommunication 

 for these worthies, who can respectively lay claim 

 to the titles of men of science and men of letters, 

 and that some experimenter " when found will 

 make a note'" — a stunning one. T. C. 



A Centenarian Trading Vessel. — There is a 

 small smack now trading in the Bristol Channel, 

 in excellent condition and repair, and lik«ly to last 

 for many years, called the "Fanny," which was 

 built in 1753. This vessel belongs to Porlock, in 

 the port of Bridgewater, and was originally built 

 at Aberthaw in South Wales. Can any of your 

 readers refer to any other trading vessel so old as 

 this ? Akon. 



BISHOP KEN. 



At what place, and by what bishop, was he 

 ordained, in 1661? His ordination probably 

 took place in the diocese of Oxford, London, 

 Winchester, or Worcester. The discovery of it 

 has hitherto baffled much research, 



Jon Ken, an elder brother of the Bishop, was 

 Treasurer of the East India Company in 1683. 

 Where can anything be learned of him ? Is there 

 any mention of him in the books of the East India 

 Company ? Was he the Ken mentioned in Roger 

 North's Lives of the Norths, as one of the court- 

 rakes ? When did he die, and where was he 

 buried? This Jon Ken married Rose, the 

 daughter of Sir Thomas Vernon, of Coleman 

 Street, and by her is said (by Hawkins) to have 

 had a daughter, married to the Honorable Chris- 

 topher Frederick Kreienberg, Hanoverian Re- 

 sident in London. Did M. Kreienberg die in this 

 country, or can anything be ascertained of him or 

 his wife ? 



The Bishop wrote to James II. a letter of in- 

 tercession on behalf of the rebels in 1685, Can 

 this letter be found in the State-Paper Office, oi* 

 elsewhere ? 



In answer to a sermon preached by Bishop 

 Ken, on 5th May, 1687, one F. I. R., designating 

 himself " a most loyal Irish subject of the Com- 

 pany of Jesuits," wrote some "Animadversions." 

 Could this be the " fath. Jo. Reed," a Benedictine, 

 mentioned in the Life of A. Wood, under date of 

 July 21, 1671 ? Father Reed was author of 

 Votiva Tabula. Can anv one throw any light on 

 this ? ' J. J. J. 



Canute's Reproof to his Courtiers. — Opposite the 

 Southampton Docks, in the Canute Road, is the 

 Canute Hotel, with this inscription in front : 

 "Near this spot, a.d. 1028, Canute reproved his 

 courtiers." The building is of very recent date. 



Query, Is there any and what authority for the 

 statement ? Salopian. 



The Sign of the Cross in the Greek Church. — 

 The members of the Greek Church sign them- 

 selves with the sign of the cross in a different 

 manner from those of the Western Church. What 

 is the difference ? J. C. B. 



Reverend Richard Midgley, Vicar of Rochdale, 

 temp. JEliz. — Dr. T. D. Whitaker mentions, in a 

 note in his Life of Sir George Radcliffe, Knt, 

 p. 4., 4to. 1810, that at an obscure inn in North 

 Wales he once met with a very interesting account 

 of Midgley in a collection of lives of pious persons. 



