46S 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 211. 



Cheshire, p. 94., is stated to have professedly made 

 a. collection for the Antiquities of Cheshire by the 

 desire of Lord Malpas ? and where is such collec- 

 tion at the present time to met with ? 



Cestriensis. 



Mackey's '■'■Theory of the Earth." — I have a small 

 pamphlet entitled, 



" A New Theory of the Earth and of Planetary 

 Motion ; in which it is demonstrated that the Sun is 

 Vicegerent of his own System. By Sampson Arnold 

 Mackey, author of Mj/thological Asironomy and Ura- 

 ma's Key to the Revelations, &c. Norwich, printed for 

 the Author." 



There is no date on the title-page, but a notice 

 on the second page indicates 1825. The book is 

 extraordinary, and shows great astronomical and 

 philological attainments, with some startling fiicts 

 in geology, and bold theories as to the formation 

 of the earth. I have endeavoured to procure the 

 other two works of which Mr. Mackey is said to 

 be the author, and also some account of him, but 

 without success. I can hardly suppose that a 

 ■writer of so much ability and learning can be 

 unknown, and shall feel much obliged by any in- 

 formation as to him or his writings. J. Ward. 

 Coventry. 



Birthplace of King Edward V. — Can you give 

 me any information as to the exact birthplace of 

 this monarch ? 



Hume (vol. ii. p. 430.) merely says that he was 

 born while his mother was in sanctuary in London, 

 and his father was a fugitive from the victorious 

 Earl of Warwick. 



Commynes (book iii. chap. 5.) also snys that she 

 took refuge " es franchises qui sont a Londres," 

 and " y accoucha d'ung filz en grant povrete." 



Chastellain, at p. 486. of his Chronique, says : 

 " EUe alia a Saincte-Catherine, une abbeyc, di- 

 soient aucuns : aucuns autres disoient a Vase- 

 monstre (Westminster), lieu de franchise, qui 

 oncques n'avoit este corrompu." 



I should be glad to have some more definite in- 

 formation on this point, if any of your readers can 

 supply it. A Leguleian. 



Name of Infants. — La Scotland there is a super- 

 stition that it is unlucky to tell the name of infants 

 before they ai*e christened. Can this be explained ? 



R. J. A. 



Geometrical Curiosity. — Take half a sheet of 

 note-paper ; fold and crease it so that two opposite 

 corners exactly meet ; then fold and crease it so 

 that the remaining two opposite corners exactly 

 meet. Armed with a fine pair of scissors, proceed 

 now to repeat both these folds alternately without 

 cessation, taking care to cut off quite flush and 

 clear all the overlappings on both sides after each 

 fold. When these overlappings become too small 



to be cut off, the paper is in the shape of a circle, 

 i. e. the ultimate intersection of an infinite series 

 of tangents. Perhaps Professor De Morgan 

 will give the rationale of this procedure. 



C. Mansfield Ingleby. 

 Birmingham. 



Denison Family, — Can any correspondent of 

 " N. & Q." inform me how the Denisons of Den- 

 bics, near Dorking, in Surrey, and the Denisons 

 of Ossington, in Nottinghamsliire, were related ? 

 Who was Mr. Robert Denison of Nottingham, 

 who took a very active part in politics at tiie 

 commencement of the French Revolution ? His 

 wife had a handsome legacy from a rich old lady, 

 one Mrs. Williams, of whom I would much like to 

 know something farther. E. H. A. 



" Came" — In Pegge's Anecdotes of the English 

 Language, p. 189., we read : 



" The real preterit of the Saxon verb coman, is com. 

 Came is therefore a violent infringement, though it is 

 impossible to detect the innovator, or any of liis ac- 

 complices." 



When was the word came introduced into our 

 language ? Early instances of its use would be 

 very welcome. H. T. G. 



Hull. 



Montmartre. — By some this name Is derived 

 from mons martis ; by others from mons martyrum. 

 Which is the more satisfactory etymology, and 

 upon what authority does it rest ? 



Henry H. Breen, 



St. Lucia. 



La7v of Copyright : British Museum. — Ob- 

 serving that the new law of copyright, which was 

 passed and came into operation on the 1st of July, 

 1842, expressly repeals all of the statutes pre- 

 viously existing on that subject, I am anxious to 

 know, through the medium of " N. & Q.," if the 

 British Museum authorities can claim and enforce 

 the delivery of any book, although not entered on 

 the books of Stationers' Hall, which may have been 

 printed and published hefore the passing of the 

 said act of 1842. If so, then what is the state of 

 the act or statute which bears upon that par- 

 ticular privilege ? J. A. 



Glasgow. 



Veneration for the Oali. — The oak — " thebrave 

 old oak" — has been an object of veneration in this 

 country from the primasval to the present times. 

 The term oali is used in several places in Scrip- 

 ture, but nowhere does it appear to refer to the 

 oak as we know it — our indigenous oak. The 

 oak, under which God appeared to Abraham, bears 

 apparently a resemblance to the tree of life of the 

 Assyrian sculptures ; and, perhaps, the Zoroastrian 



