244 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[No. 202. 



whom he married, and the names of his several 

 children, if any. Newburiensis. 



Professional Poems. — Can you tell me who is 

 the author of Professional Poems by a Profes- 

 sional Gentleman, 12mo., 1827, published at Wol- 

 verhampton ; und by Longman, London ? Gw. 



" A mockery" Sfc. — Whence is the quotation, 

 *' A mockery, a delusion, and a snare?" W. P. 



Passage in Wliiston. — In Taylor on Original 

 Si?i, Lond. 1746, p. 94., it is said : 



" IMr. Whiston maintains that regeneration is a 

 literal and physical beinff born again, and is granted to 

 the fiiithful at the beginning of the millennium." 



The marginal reference is, Whiston on Original 

 Sin, Sfc, p. 68. 



I cannot find the book or the doctrine in any 

 collection of Whiston's writings which I have met 

 with ; but as he was a copious writer and a ver- 

 satile theologian, both may exist. Can any reader 

 of " N. & Q." tell me where to find them ? J. T. 



Shoulder Knots and Epaulettes. — What is the 

 origin of the shoulder knot, and its ancient use ? 

 Has it and the epaulette a common origin ? 



Getskn, 



_ The Yew Tree in Village Churchyards. — Why 

 did our forefathers choose the yew as the insepar- 

 able attendant upon the outer state of the churches 

 raised by them ? Apart from its .grave and 

 sombre appearance, I cannot help recognising a 

 mysterious embodiment of the spirit of evil as the 

 intention of the planters. We know that in all 

 mediasval edifices there is an apparent and dis- 

 cernible endeavour to place in juxta-position the 

 spirits of good and evil, to materialise the idea of 

 an adversative spirit, antagonistic to the church's 

 teachings, and hurtful to her efforts of advance- 

 ment. I look upon the grotesque cephalic corbels 

 as one modification of this, and would interpret 

 many equally mysterious emblems by referring 

 them to the same actuating desire. Now the yew 

 is certainly the most deadly of indigenous pro- 

 ductions, and therefore would be chosen as the 

 representative of a spirit of destruction, the op- 

 posite to one that giveth life by. its teachings, of 

 which the building itself is the sensible sign. I 

 crave more information from some learned eccle- 

 siologist on the subject, which is certainly a most 

 interesting one. R. C. Wakde. 



Kidderminster. • 



Passage in Tennyson. — 



" Or underneath tlie barren bush, 

 Flits by the blue sea-bird of March." 



In ^lemoriam, xc. What bird is meant ? 



W. T. M, 

 Hong Kong. 



" When the Maggot bites." — A note will oblige 

 to explain the origin of the phrase, that a thing 

 done on the spur of the moment is done " When 

 the maggot bites." Anon. 



Eclipses of the Suji. — Where can I find a list 

 of solar eclipses that have taken place since the 

 time of the invasion of Julius Cajsar ? I am 

 greatly in want of this information, and shall her 

 grateful to any correspondent who will give me- 

 the reference required. C. Mansfield Ingleby. 



Birmingham. 



"An" before "?<" lo7ig. — I should be much 

 obliged to any of my fellow-students of " N. & Q."" 

 who would answer the following Query : What 

 is the reason of the increasingly prevailing custom 

 of writing an before words beginning with u longy 

 or with diphthongs having the sound of u long ? 

 Surely a written language is perfect in proportion 

 as it represents the spoken tongue ; if so, this is 

 one of the many instances in which modern 

 fashions are making English orthography still 

 more inconsistent than it was wont to be. It ap- 

 pears to me just as reasonable to say "«?i youthful 

 (pronounced yoothful) person," as "an useful 

 (pronounced yooseful) person." 



If there is a satisfactory reason for the practice^. 

 I shall be delighted to be corrected ; but, if not, I 

 would fiiln see the fashion " nipped in the bud." 



Benjamin Dawson^ 



London. 



Reversible Names. — Some female names spelt 

 backwards and forwards the same, as Hannah, Anna, 

 Eve, Ada : so also does madam, which is feminine. 

 Is this in the nature of things, or can any one pro- 

 duce a reversible proprium quod maribus ? No 

 arguments, but instances ; no surnames, which are 

 epicene ; no obsolete names, such as Odo, of which 

 it may be suspected that they have died precisely 

 because an attempt was made to marify them : or 

 say, rather, that Odo, to live masculine, vv'as obliged 

 to become Otho. Failing instances, I shall main- 

 tain that varium et mutabile semper fcmina only 

 means that whatever reads backwards and for- 

 wards the same, is always feminine. M. 



Gilbert White of Selborne. — Can any of the 

 correspondents of " N. & Q." inform me whether 

 any portrait, painted, engraved, or sculptured, 

 exists of this celebrated naturalist ; and if so, a 

 reference to it will greatly oblige "W. A. L. 



St. John's Square. 



Hoby, Family of; their Portraits, ^-c. — In the 

 parish church of Bisham, in the county of Berks, 

 are some fine and costly monuments to the me- 

 mory of several members of this fomlly, who were 

 long resident in the old conventual building there. 

 Are there any engravings of these monuments ? 



