July 2. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



about 20^ N. and 224° E. from the meridian of 

 Ferro, and, of course, almost exactly in the situ- 

 ation of Owhyhee. That this large and lofty group 

 may have been seen by some other voyager long 

 before, is far from improbable; but, beyond a 

 question, Cook was the first to visit, describe, and 

 lay them down correctly in our maps. Professor 

 Meyen, however, as quoted in Johnston's Physical 

 Atlas, mentions these islands in terms which would 

 almost lead one to suppose that he, the Professor, 

 considered them to have been known to the 

 Spaniards in Anson's time or earlier, and that 

 'they had been regular calling places for the gal- 

 leons in those days! It is difficult to conceive 

 such a man capable of such a mistake ; but if he 

 did not suppose them to have been discovered 

 before Cook's voyage in 1778, his words are sin- 

 gularly calculated to deceive the reader on that 

 point. J. S. Warden. 



SUPERSTITION OF THE CORNISH MINERS. 



. Mr. Kingsley records a superstition of the 

 Cornish miners, which I have not seen noted else- 

 where. In reply to the question, " What are the 

 Knockers ? " Tregarva answers : 



" They are the ghosts, the miners hold, of the Old 

 Jews that crucified our Lord, and were sent for slaves by 

 the Roman emperors to work the mines: and we find 

 their old smelting-houses, wliich we call Jews' houses, 

 and their blocks oF the bottom of the great bogs, which 

 we call Jews' tin : and then, a town among us, too, 

 which we call Market Jew, but the old name was Ma~ 

 razion, that means the Bitterness of Zion, they tell me ; 

 and bitter work it was for them no doubt, poor souls ! 

 We used to break into the old shafts and adits which 

 they had made, and find old stags-horn pickaxes, that 

 crumbled to pieces when we brought them to grass. 

 And they say that if a man will listen of a still night 

 about those old shafts, he may hear the ghosts of them 

 at working, knocking, and picking, as clear as if there 

 was a man at work in the next level." — Yeast; a 

 Problem: Lond. 1851, p. 255. 



Miners, as a class, are peculiarly susceptible of 

 impressions of the unseen world, and the super- 

 stitions entertained by them in different parts of 

 the world would form a curious volume. Is there 

 any work on Cornish folk lore which alludes to 

 this superstition respecting the Jews ? It would 

 be useless, I dare say, to consult Carew, or Borlase ; 

 besides, I have not them by me. 



Apropos to Cornish matters, a dictionary with 

 a very tempting title was advertised for publication 

 two or three years ago : 



" Geslevar Cernewac, a Dictionary of the Cornish 

 Dialect of the Cymraeg or ancient British Language, 

 in which the words are elucidated by numerous ex- 

 amples from the Cornish works now remaining, with 

 translations in English : and the synonyms in Welsh, 

 Armoric, Irish, Gaelic, and Manx, so as to form a 



Celtic Lexicon. By the Rev. Robert Williams, M.A., 

 Oxon., to be published in one vol. 4to., price 31s. 6d." 

 When shall we see this desirable lexicon ? I 

 was reminded of It the other day by hearing of 

 the subscriptions on foot for the publication of tha 

 great Irish dictionary, which the eminent Irish 

 scholars Messrs. O'Donovan and Curry have had 

 In hand for many years. Eirionnach, 



1 



Clerical Duel. — I shall be obliged to any cor- 

 respondent who will supply the name of the 

 courtier referred to In the following anecdote, 

 which Is to be found In Burckhardt's Kirchen- 

 Geschichte der De^itschen Gemeinden in London, 

 Tub. 1798, p. 77. 



Anton Wilhelm Bohme, who came over as 

 chaplain with Prince George of Denmark, officiated 

 at the German Chapel, St. James's, from the year 

 1705 to 1722. He was afVivourite of Queen Anne, 

 and a friend of Isaac Watts. On one occasion he 

 preached against adultery In a way which gave 

 great offence to one of the courtiers present, who 

 conceived that a personal attack on himself was 

 intended. He accordingly sent a challenge to the 

 preacher, which was witliout hesitation accepted ; 

 and at the time and place appointed the chaplain 

 made his appearance in full canonicals, with his 

 Bible in his hand, and gave the challenger a lec- 

 ture which led to their reconciliation and friend- 

 ship. 



I should like also to know whether there is any 

 other authority for the story than that which I 

 have quoted. S. R. Maitland. 



Gloucester. 



Pistol. — What Is the date of the original Intro- 

 duction of this word into our vocabulary in either 

 of the senses in which it Is equivocally used by 

 Falstaff in 1 Henry IV., Act V. Sc. 3. ? In the 

 sense of fire-arms, pistols seem to have been un- 

 known by that name as late as the year 1541 ; for 

 the Stat. 33 Hen. VIII. c. 6., after reciting the 

 murders, &c. committed " with cross-bows, little 

 short hand-guns, and little hagbuts," prohibits the 

 possession of " any hand-gun other than such as 

 shall be in the stock and gun of the length of one 

 whole yard, or any hagbut or demihake other than 

 such as shall be in the stock and gun of the 

 length of three quarters of one yard." But 

 throughout the act there is no mention of the 

 word " pistol." J. F. M. 



Council of Laodicea, Canon 35. — Can any of- 

 your readers inform me whether, in any early 

 work on the Councils, the word angelos is in the 

 text, without having angulos In the margin ? If 

 so, oblige me by stating the editions. 



Clericus (D). 



