622 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 191. 



up his excellencies, Mens bona regnum possidet — 

 My mind to me a kingdom is :" of Kicliard Coeur 

 de Lion, " The motto of Dieu et mon droit is at- 

 tributed to him ; ascribing the victory he had at 

 Gisors against the French, not to himself, but to 

 God and His might." Eirionnach. 



~Cai-dinal Carafa seems to have been the author 

 of the above memorable dictum. Dr. John Pri- 

 deaux thus alludes to the circumstance : 



" Cardinalis (ut ferunt) quidam juerct ttoW^s <f>avTa- 

 aias Lutetiam aliquando ingrediens, cum instant im- 

 portunius tiirbae ut benedictionem impertiret : Quando- 

 quidem (in quit) fiic populus vult decipi, decipiatur in 

 nomine Diaboli." — Lectiones Novem, p. 54, : Oxonise, 

 1625, 4to. 



I must also quote from Dr. Jackson : 



♦' Do all the learned of that religion in heart approve 

 that commonly reported saying of Leo X., ' Quantum 

 profuit nobis fahula Christi,' and yet resolve (as Cardinal 

 Carafa did, Quoniam populus iste vult decipi, decipiatur) 

 to puzzle the people in their credulity?" — Works, 

 vol. i. p. 585. : Lond. 1673, fol. 



The margin directs me to the following passage 

 in Thuanus : 



" Inde Carafa Lutetiam regni metropolim tanquam 

 Pontificis legatus solita pompa ingreditur, ubi cum 

 signum crueis, ut fit, ederet, verborum, quae proferri 

 mos est, loco, ferunt eum, ut erat securo de numine 

 animo et summus religionis derisor, occursante passim 

 populo et in genua ad ipsius conspectum procumbente, 

 ssepius secreta murmuratione base verba ingeminasse : 

 Quandoquidem populus iste vult decipi, decipiatur." — 

 Histor., lib. xvii., ad ann. 1556, vol. i. p. 521. : 

 Genevae, 1626, fol. 



Robert Gibbings. 



LATIN — t ATINER. 



(Vol. vii., p. 423.) 



Latin was likewise used for the language or song 

 of birds : 



" E cantino gli angelli 

 Ciascuno in suo Latino" 



Dante, canzone i. 

 " This faire kinges doughter Canace, 

 That on hire finger bare the queinte ring, 

 Thurgh which she understood wel every thing 

 That any foule may in his leden sain. 

 And coude answere him in his leden again, 

 Hath understonden what this faucon seyd." 



Chaucer, The Squieres Tale, 10746. 

 Chaucer, it will be observed, uses the Anglo- 

 Saxon form of the word. Leden was employed 

 by the Anglo-Saxons in the sense of language 

 generally, as well as to express the Latin tongue. 

 In the German version of Sir Tristram, Latin 

 is also used for the song of birds, and is so ex- 

 plained by Ziemann : 



" Latin, Latein ; filr jede fremde eigenthiimliche 

 Sprache, selbst fiir den Vogelgesang. Tristan und 



Isolt, 17365."— Ziemann, Mittelhochdeutsches Worter- 

 huch, 



Spenser, who was a great imitator of Chaucer, 

 probably derives the word leden or ledden from 

 him : 



" Thereto he was expert in prophecies. 

 And could the ledden of the gods unfold." 

 The Faerie Queene, book iv. ch. xi. St. 19. 



" And those that do to Cynthia expound 

 The ledden of straunge languages in charge." 



Colin Clout, 744. 



In the last passage, perhaps, meaning, knowledge, 

 best expresses the sense. Ledden may have been 

 one of the words which led Ben Jonson to charge 

 Spenser with " affecting the ancients." However, 

 I find it employed by one of his cotemporaries, 

 Fairfax : 



" With party-colour'd plumes and purple bill, 

 A wond'rous bird among the rest there flew. 

 That in plain speech sung love-lays loud and sbri'I, 

 Her leden was like human language true." 



Fairfax's Tasso, book xvi. st. 13. 



The expression lede, in lede, which so often, 

 occurs in Sir Tristram, may also have arisen from 

 the Anglo-Saxon form of the word Latin- Sir W. 

 Scott, in his Glossary, explains it : " Lede, in lede. 

 In language, an expletive, synonymous to / tell 

 you." The following are a few of the passages in 

 which it is found : 



" Monestow neuer in lede 



Nought lain," — Fytte i. st. 60. 



" In lede is nought to layn. 

 He set him by his side." — Fytte i. st. 65. 



" Bothe busked that night. 

 To Beliagog in lede." — Fytte iii. st. 59. 



It is not necessary to descant on thieves' Latin, 

 dog-Latin, Lati?i de Cuisine, &c. ; but I should be 

 glad to learn when dog-Latin first appeared in our 

 language. E. M. B. 



Lincoln. 



(Vol. vii., p. 326.) 



The list oi Jacks supplied by your correspondent 

 John Jackson is amusing and curious. A few 

 additions towards a complete collection may not 

 be altogether unacceptable or unworthy of notice. 



Supple (usually pronounced souple) Jack, a flex- 

 ible cane ; Jack by the hedge, a })lant {Erysimum 

 cordifoliuni) ; the jacks of a harpsichord ; jack, an- 

 engine to raise ponderous bodies (Bailey); Jack, 

 the male of birds of sport (Ditto) ; Jack of Dover, 

 a joint twice dressed (Ditto, from Chaucer) ; jack 

 pan, used by barbers (Ditto) ; jack, a frame used 

 by sawyers. I have also noted Jap^-Latin, Jack' 

 a- nod, but cannot, give their authority or meaning. 



