May 7. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



463 



Bepltejj ta JHtiior CEuerteii. 



Erroneous Forms of Speech : Mangel Wurzel 

 (Vol. vii., p. 329.)' — Against the dictum of 

 E. G. R., I beg insertion of the following quot- 

 ation from the Agriatltural Gazette, March 4, 

 1848, p. 166. : 



"Mangold wurzel is simply the German of bed-root. 

 * Mangel wurzel,' on the other hand, is one founded on 

 an idea, which, though absurd, did not the less effec- 

 tually answer the object of those who introduced the 

 plant. ' Scarcity root,' or ' Famine root,' made a good 

 heading to an advertisement." 



And Rham, Dictionary of the Farm, p. 62. : 



" The German name is ' Mangold wurzel,' or ' Man- 

 gold root ; ' but it is sometimes pronounced ' Mangel 

 wurzel,' which means scarcity root ; and, by a strange 

 translation, it is called in French racine d'abondance, 

 as well as racine de disette. The name of field-beet is 

 much more appropriate." 



I hope E. G. R. will, however, not insist on 

 classing those who say and write " mangold " with 

 those who would write " reddishes, sparrowgrass, 

 and cowcumbers." I should be sorry to be sus- 

 pected of any one of the three last ; but " man- 

 gold " I will say and write till the authority of the 

 best German scholars decrees otherwise. 



Geo. E. Frere. 



The Whetstone (Vol. vii., pp. 208. 319.). — Her- 

 bert, in his Typographical Antiquities, vol. ii. 

 p. 1144., cites a book entitled, Fower great Liers 

 striving who shall win the Silver Whetstone. Also 

 a Resolution to the Countreyman, proving it utterly 

 unlawful to buy or use our yearely Prognostications, 

 by W. P. : 8vo., printed by R. Waldegrave ; no 

 date. H. C. 



Charade (Vol. vi., p. 604.).— 



" By mystic sign and symbol known, 

 To Daniel, wise and meek, alone, 

 Was Persia's coming wo foreshown. 



" And in great Caesar's proudest day, 

 The Gospel held a mightier sway, 

 And man shone forth with purest ray. 



" But when, in Babylonia chain'd, 

 Man of his deepening wo complain'd, 

 A woman conquering both, in faithful Esther 

 reign'd." 



SOPHRONIA SpHTNX. 



Parochial Libraries (Vol. vi., p. 432. &c. ; 

 Vol. vii., p. 392.). — Totnes may be added to the 

 list of places containing parochial libi'aries. The 

 books are placed in presses in the vestry room of 

 the church, and so preserved from loss and damage 

 to which tiiey were formerly subjected. The col- 

 lection is principally composed of works of di- 

 vinity published in the seventeenth century, the 



age of profound theological literature. I noticed, 

 amongst the goodly array of weighty folios, the 

 works of St. Augustine, the Homilies of St. Chry- 

 sostom, works of St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, &c., 

 the works of the high and mighty King James, 

 Birckbek's Protestant Evidence, and Walton's 

 Polyglott. Nothing is known of the history and 

 formation of this library. Inside the cover of one 

 of the volumes is the following inscription : 



" Totnes Library. The guift of Mr. Thomas South- 

 cott, July 10. 1656." 



I found the following incorrect and antiquated 

 piece of information respecting this library in a 

 flimsy work, published in 1850, entitled, A Graphic 

 and Historical Sketch of the Antiquities of Totnes^ 

 by William Cotton, F.S.A., note, p. 38. : 



" I know not what the library contains. I believe 

 nothing more than theological lumber. It is always 

 locked up, and made no use of by those who keep it, 

 and it is inaccessible to those who would wish to ex- 

 amine it. I was once there by accident, and looked 

 into some books, which were all on Divinity." 



J. M. B. 

 Tunbridge Wells. 



Judge Smith (Vol. vii., p. 13.). — Judge Smith 

 lived towards the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign, 

 and was noted for severity against witches. His 

 monument is in Chesterfield Church. He belonged 

 to the ancient family seated at Dunston Hall, near 

 that town, which I believe has lately ended In co- 

 heiresses. The late Sir J. E. Smith was of the 

 same family : his father, a considerable merchant 

 of Norwich, married a Kindersley descended from 

 Geoffrey, — who was queried In Vol. vi., p. 603., 

 and is ancestor of the present Vice-Chancellor. 



Z. E. R. 



Church Catechism (Vol. vii., p. 190.).— B. H. C. 

 will confer a favour by printing the Latin original 

 of the Catechism. Z. E. R. 



Charade attributed to Sheridan (Vol. vii., p. 379.). 

 — Several years ago, I think in 1818 or 1819, a 

 friend gave me some verses nearly similar to those 

 communicated by your correspondent Ballio- 

 LENSis, and requested me to ascertain if they 

 were Mrs. Piozzi's, as my friend had been told , 

 that they were written by that lady. Soon after- 

 wards I asked Mrs. Piozzi if she ever wrote a 

 riddle on a gaming-table. She replied, " Yes, a 

 very long time ago." She immediately repeated 

 a line or two, and, after some consideration, recited 

 the following, which, she assured me, were her 

 original composition. These lines, it will be ob- 

 served, differ somewhat from those attributed t» 

 Sheridan, but they were probably the basis of 

 those, and also of other versions of the riddle, 

 which, I believe, are in existence. This statement 

 so thoroughly removes all uncertainty about the 



