230 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 201. 



the h is never heard in humble, except when the 

 word is pronounced from the pulpit. I believe it 

 to be one of those, either Oxford or Cambridge, or 

 both, peculiarities, of which no reasonable expla- 

 nation can be given. 



I should be glad to hear whether any satisfactory 

 general rule has been laid down as to when the h 

 should be sounded, and when not. The only rule 

 which occurs to me is to pronounce it in all words 

 coming to us from the Celtic " stock," and to pass 

 it unsounded in those which are of Latin origin. 

 If this rule be admitted, the pronunciation sanc- 

 tioned by the pulpit and Mr. Dickens is con- 

 demned. Benjamin Dawson. 



London. 



Lord North (Vol.vii., p. 317. ; Vol.viii., p.l84.). 



— Is M. E. of Philadelphia laughing at us, when 

 he refers us to a woodcut in some American pic- 

 torial publication on the American Revolution for 

 a true portraiture of the figure and features of 

 King George III. ; different, I presume, from that 

 which I gave you. His woodcut, he says, is taken 

 "from an Eagllsh engraving ;" he doe5 not tell us 

 who either painter or engraver was — bu»t no matter. 

 "We have hundreds of portraits by the best hands 

 which confirm my description, which moreover 

 was the result of personal observation : for, from 

 the twentieth to the thirtieth years of my life, I 

 had frequent and close opportunities of approach- 

 ing his Majesty. I cannot but express my sur- 

 prise that " N. & Q." should have given iasertlon 

 to anything so absurd— to use the gentlest term — 

 as M. E.'s appeal to his " woodcut." C. 



Singing Psalms and Politics (Vol. vIII., p. 56.). 



— One instance of the misapplication of psalmody 

 must suggest itself at once to the readers of " N. 

 & Q.," I mean the melancholy episode in the his- 

 tory of the Martyr King, thus related by Hume : 



" Another preacher, after reproaching him to liis face 

 with his misgovernment, ordered this Psalm to be 

 sung, — 



' Why dost thou, tyrant, boast thyself, 

 Thy wicked deeds to praise ? ' 



The king stood up, and called for that Psalm which 

 begins with these words, — 



' Have mercy. Lord, on me, I pray ; 

 For men would me devour.' 



The good-natured audience, in pity to fallen majesty, 

 showed for once greater deference to the king than to 

 the minister, and sung the psalm which the former had 

 called for." — Hume's History of England, ch. 58. 



W. Fkaser. 

 Tor-Mohun. 



Dimidiation by Impalement (Vol. vii., p. 630.). — 

 Your correspondent D. P. concludes his notice on 

 this subject by doubting if any instance of "Dimi- 

 diation by Impalement" can be found since the 



time of Henry VIII. If he turn to Anderson's 

 Diplomata Scotice (p. 164. and 90.), he will find 

 that Mary Queen of Scots bore the arms of France 

 dimidiated with those of Scotland from a.d. 1560 

 to December 1565. This coat she bore as Queen 

 Dowager of France, fi-om the death of her first 

 husband, the King of France, until her marriage 

 with Darnley. T. H. de H. 



^^ Inter cuncta micaus" ^c. (Vol. vi., p. 413.; 

 Vol. vii., p. 510.). — The following translation is 

 by the Rev. Geo. Greig of Kennington. It pre- 

 serves the acrostic and mesostic, though not the 

 telestic, form of the original : 



" In glory rising see the sun. Illustrious orb of day. 



Enlightening heaven's wide expanse, Expel night's gloom away. 

 So light into the darkest soul, JESUS, Thou dost impart. 



Uplifting Thy life-giving smiles Upon the deaden'd heart : 



Sun Thou of Righteousness Divine, Sole King of Saints Thou 



art." 



H. T. Griffith. 

 Hull. 



Mai'riage Service (Vol. vlii., p. 150.). — I have 

 seen the Rubric carried out, in this particular, in 

 St. Mary's Church, Kidderminster. 



CUTHBEET BeDE, B. A. 



Widowed Wife (Vol.viii., p. 56.). — Eur. Hec. 

 612. " Widowed wife and wedded maid," occurs 

 in Vanda's prophecy ; Sir W. Scott's The Be- 

 trothed, ch. xv. S. Z. Z. S. 



Pure (Vol. vili., p. 125.). — The use of the 

 word pure pointed out by Oxoniensis is nothing 

 new. It is a common provincialism now, and was 

 formerly good English. Here are two examples 

 from Swift (Letters, by Hawkes worth, vol. iv. 1768, 

 p. 21.): 



" Ballygall will be a pure good place for air." 



Ibid. p. 29. : 



" Have you sraoakt the Tattler yet ? It is much 

 liked, and I think it a pure one." 



C. Mansfield Ingleby. 

 Birmingham. 



" Purely, I thank you," is a common reply of 

 the country folks in this part when accosted as 

 to their health. I recollect once asking a mar- 

 ket-woman about her son who had been ill, and 

 received for an answer : " Oh he's quite fierce 

 agiiin, thank you, Sir." Meaning, of course, that 

 he had quite recovered. Norris Deck. 



Cambridge, 



Mrs. Tighe (Vol.viii., p. 103.). — "There is a 

 likeness of Mrs. Henry Tighe, the authoress of 

 ' Psyche,' In the Ladies' Monthly Museum for 

 February, 1818. It is engraved by J. Hopwood, 

 jun., from a drawing by Miss Emma Drummond. 

 Underneath the engraving referred to, are the 

 words ' Mrs. Henry Tighe ; ' but she is called in 



