594 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 216. 



caiise it is quite clear to my mind that Herodotus 

 had no idea that it had a Greek derivation. He 

 assigns the Greek origin of the word Eridanus as 

 a reason for disbelieving tiie statement as to it ; 

 and had he known that Cassiteros had a like 

 origin, it cannot be doubted that he would have 

 assigned the same reason as to it likewise. In- 

 stead of which he resorts to the fact that he could 

 not obtain any authentic account of any sea on 

 that side of Europe, as a proof that the Cassi- 

 terides did not exist. In truth, his assertion as to 

 the Greek origin of the one, coupled with the 

 reason that is added, seems almost, if not quite, 

 equivalent to a denial that the other had a Greek 

 origin. Secondly, it is in the highest degree im- 

 probable that these islands should have received 

 their name from the Greeks, as it is contrary to 

 all experience that a country should be named by 

 persons ignorant of its existence. The names of 

 places are either given to them by those who dis- 

 cover them, or the names by which they are called 

 by their inhabitants are adopted by others. 



At the time Ca3sar invaded this island, there 

 was a people whom he calls Cassi (Cces. de B. G., 

 lib. v. 21.), of whose prince Camden says, "from the 

 Cassii their prince, Cassivellaunus or Cassibelinus, 

 first took his name ; " and he adds tliat " it seems 

 yery probable that Cassivellaunus denotes as much 

 as the Prince of the Cassii." (Camd. Brit., p. 278., 

 edit. 1695.) According to which the word would 

 be compounded of Cas.si and vellaumis or hflinus ; 

 and this derivation is fortified by the word Cuno- 

 belinus, which plainly is formed in a similar 

 manner. Now there is a Celtic word, tir or ter 

 (from which terra is derived)^ and the Welsh 

 word tir (which I have heard pronounced teer), 

 all denoting land. If then this word be added to 

 Cassi, we have Cassiter, that is, the land of the 

 Cassii, Cassiiand. And as we have England, Scot- 

 land, and Ireland, possibly the ancient inhabitants 

 may have called their country Cassiter ; and as 

 chalybs, steel, was so called both by the Greeks 

 and Romans from the people that made it, so 

 might tin be from the country where it Avas found. 

 My derivation is conjectural, no doubt, and as 

 such I submit it with great deference to the 

 candid consideration of your readers. 



Isaiah, who lived b.c. 758, mentions tin in i. 25. 



Ezekiel, who lived b.c. 598, mentions tin xxii. 

 18. 20. ; and xxvii, 12., speaking of Tyre, he says : 



" Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multi- 

 tude of all kincis of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and 

 lead, they traded in thy fairs." 



This passage clearly shows that, at the time 

 spoken of by Ezekiel, the trade in tin was carried 

 on by the inhabitants of Tarshish, Avhether that 

 place designates Carthage, or Tartessus in Spain, 

 or not; and there can be little doubt that they 

 brought the tin from England ; and the addition 



of silver, iron, and lead, tends to strengthen this 

 opinion. 



Herodotus recited his History at the Olympic 

 GaniL'S, B.C. 445 ; and probably the same people 

 traded in tin in his time as in the time of Ezekiel. 



The Hebrew word for tin is derived from a 

 verb meaning " to separate," and seems to throw 

 no light on the subject. S. G. C. 



MILTON S WIDOW. 



(Vol. viii., pp. 452. 544. &c.) 



Your correspondents Mr. Marsh and Mr. 

 Hughes are entitled to an apology from me for 

 having so long delayed noticing their comments 

 on my communication on the above subject in 

 Vol. viii , ]). 134., which comments have failed in 

 convincing me that I have fallen into the error 

 they attribute to me, because it is manifest 

 Richard MinshuU of Chester, son of Richard of 

 Wistaston, the writer of the letter of May 3rd, 

 1656, set forth in the Rev. Mr. Hunter's Milton 

 Pamphlet, pp. 37. and 38., could only have been 

 fifteen years old when that letter viras written, he 

 having, as Mr. Hughes states, been born in 1641, 

 so that he must have been only three years the 

 junior of his supposed niece, Mrs. Milton, then 

 Miss MinshuU, laorn in 1638, according to Mr. 

 Marsh's account of her baptism ; and furthermore 

 he, Richard, the writer of the said letter, must 

 be fairly presumed to have been married at the 

 date of such letter, which he thus commences : 

 " My love and best respects to you and my 

 daughter [meaning no doubt his daughter-in-law], 

 tendered with trust of your health." Very un- 

 likely language for a parent to address to his son, 

 a boy oi fifteen, on so important a subject as a 

 f\\mily pedigree. If this youthful Richard Min- 

 shuU really was Mrs. Milton's uncle, his brother 

 Randle MinshuU, her father, must have been very 

 many years older than him, which was not very 

 probable. 



I noticed in a recent Number of your pages, with 

 great s.atisfaction, a communication fromCRANMER, 

 who has avowed himself to be your correspondent 

 Mr. Arthur Paget, for which, in common with 

 ]\Ir. Hughes and others, I feel very thankful to 

 him, notwithstanding it falls short of connecting 

 Mrs. Milton with Richard MinshuU of Wistaston, 

 the Holme correspondent of 1656. 



That historians have been much misled in as- 

 suming that J\Irs. Milton was a daughter of Sir 

 Edward MinshuU of Stoke, cannot, I think, be 

 questioned ; although it may be very fairly asked 

 whether there were not other respectable Minshidl 

 families living in the neighbourhood of Wistaston, 

 of which Mrs. Milton might have been a member, 

 and yet allied to the Paget and Goldsmith families. 



Garlichitiie. 



