280 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 203. 



bread, butter, cheese, flesh, and broth, is not only 

 not ashamed to complain of poverty as an excuse 

 for non-payment of his rent, but has the effrontery 

 to thank God, as if he were enjoying only those 

 blessings of Providence to which he is justly en- 

 titled. W. C. 

 Argyleshire. 



Chronograms and Anagrams (Vol. viii., p. 42.). 

 — Perhaps the most extraordinary instance to be 

 found in reference to chronograms is the follow- 

 ing: 



«' Chronographica Gratulatio in Felicisslmum ad- 

 ventum Serenissimi Cardinalis Ferdinand!, Hispani- 

 arum Infantis, a Collegio Soc. Jesu. Bruxellse publico 

 Belgaruin Gaudio exhibita." 



This title is followed by a dedication to S. Michael 

 and an address to Ferdinand ; after which come 

 one hundred hexameters, every one of which is a 

 chronogram^ and each chronogram gives the same 

 result, viz. 1634. The first three verses are, — 



" AngeLe Cc-eLIVogl MIChaeL LUX UnICa CcetUs. 

 Pro nUtU sUCCInCta tUo GUI CUnCta Mlnls- 



trant. 

 SIDera qUIqUe poLo gaUDentIa sIDera VoL- 

 VUnt." 



The last two are, — 



"Vota Cano: hreC LeVIbus qUamVIs nUnC In- 

 CLyte prInCeps. 

 VersICULl3 InCLUsa, fLUent in sa;CULa Cen- 

 tUm." 



All the numeral letters are printed in capitals, 

 and the whole is to be found in the Parnassus 

 Poeticus Societatis Jesu (Francofurti, 1654), at 

 pp. 445-448. of part i. In the same volume there 

 is another example of the chronogram, at p. 261., 

 in the " Septem Maria; Mysteria " of Antonius 

 Chanut. It occurs at the close of an inscription : 



" StatUaM hanC— eX Voto ponit 

 FernanDUs TertlUs AUgUstUs." 



The date is 1647. 



♦'Henriot, an ingenious anagrammatist, discovered 

 the following anagram for the occasion of t!ie 15th : 



• Napoleon Bonaparte sera-t-11 consul a vie, 

 La [le] peuple bon reconnoissant votera Oui.' 



There is only a trifling change of a to e." — Gent. Mag., 

 Aug. 1602, p. 771. 



The following is singular : 



" Quid est Veritas? =Vir qui adest." 



I add another chronogram " by Godard, upon the 

 birth of Louis XIV. in 1638, on a day when the 

 eagle was in conjunction with the lion's heart :" 



"EXorlens DeLphIn AqUILa CorDIsqUe Leonis 

 CongressU GaLLos spe LaetltlaqUe refeCIt." 



B. H. C. 



" Haul over the Coals " (Vol. viii., p. 125.). — 

 This appears to mean just the same as "roasting" 

 — • to inflict upon any one a castigation per verhum 

 and in good humour. 



To cover over the coals is the same as to lower 

 over the coals, as a gipsy over a fire. Thus Hodge 

 says of Gammer Gurton and Tib, her maid : 



"'Tis their daily looke. 

 They cover so over the coles their eies be bleared with 

 smooke." 



To carry coals to Neivcastle is well understood 

 to be like giving alms to the wealthy ; but 

 vicM'cd in union with the others would show what 

 a prominent place coals seem to have in the popu- 

 lar mind. B. H. C. 



Poplar. 



Sheer Hulk (Vol. viii., p. 126.). — This phrase 

 is certainly correct. jSAeer = mere, a hulk, and 

 nothing else. Thus we say sheer nonsense, sheer 

 starvation, &c. ; and the song says : 



" Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling, 

 The darling of our crew," &c. 



The etymology of sheer is plainly from shear. 



B. H. C. 

 Poplar. 



The Magnet (Vol. vi. passim). — This was used 

 by Claudian apparently as symbolical of Venus or 

 love : 

 •' Mavors, sangulnea qui cuspide veiberat uibes, 

 Et Venus, humanas quas laxat in otia curas, 

 Aurati delubra tenent communia templi. 

 Effigies non una Deis. Sed ferrea Martis 

 Forma nitet, Venerem magnetica gemma figurat." 

 Claud. De Magnete. 



B. H. C. 

 Poplar. 



Fierce (Vol. viii., p. 125.). — Oxoniensis men- 

 tions a peculiar use of the word "fierce."* An in- 

 habitant of Staffordshire would liave answered 

 him : "I feci quite J?erce this morning." 



\Y. Fbaser. 



Tor-Mohun. 



Connexion hetween the Celtic and Latin Lan- 

 guages (Vol. viii., p. 174.). — Your correspondent 

 M. will find some curious and interesting articles 

 on this subject in vol. ii. of The Scottish Journal^ 

 Edinburgh, 1848, p. 129. et infra. 



Duncan Mactavish. 



Lochbrovin. 



Acharis (Vol. viii., p. 198.). — A mistake, pro- 

 bably, for achatis, a Latinised form of achat, a 

 bargain, purchase, or act of purchasing. The 

 passage in Dugdale seems to mean that " Ralph 

 VVicklifr, Esq., holds two-thirds of the tithes of 

 certain domains sometime purchased by him, for- 



