516 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 213. 



in his Dictionary, the folio edition, dei'ives mammet 

 from the word maman, and also from the word 

 man ; and mentions Shakspeare's 



" This is no world to play with mammcts, or to tilt with 

 lips." — Henry IV. (First Part), Act II. Sc. 3. 



As both Dr. Johnson, the Rev. Ch. Trench, and 

 many others, agree that mammet means " puppet," 

 •why not derive this word from the French marmot, 

 which means a puppet. — Can any of the readers 

 of the " N. & Q." give me a few examples to 

 strengthen my supposition ? Henki van Laun. 

 King William's College, Isle of Man. 



> Non-recurring Diseases. — Among the many 

 diseases to which humanity is subject, there are 

 some which we are all supposed to have once, and 

 but once, in our lifetime. Is this an unquestioned 

 fact ? and if so, has anything like a satisfactory 

 explanation of it been offered ? S. 



Warville. — There being no w in the French 

 language, whence did Brissot de Warville derive 

 the latter word of his name ? Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



Dr. Doddridge. — A poem entitled " To my Wife's 

 Bosom," and beginning 



" Open, open, lovely breast, 

 Let me languish into rest !" 



occasionally appears with the name of the Rev. 

 Dr. Doddridge as the author. Is it his ? M. E. 

 ■ Philadelphia. 



Pelasgi, — In an article which appeared some 

 time ago in Hogg's Instructor, Thomas de Quin- 

 cey, speaking of the Pelasgi, characterises them 

 as a race sorrowful beyond conception. — What 

 is known of their history to lead to this inference ? 



T. D. Ridley. 



West Hartlepool. 



Hue's Travels. — I was lately told, I think on 

 the authority of a writer in the Gardener' s Chro- 

 nicle, that the travels of Messrs. Hue and Gabet in 

 Thibet, Tartary, &c., was a pure fabrication, con- 

 cocted by some Parisian litterateur. Can any of 

 your readers confirm or refute this statement ? 



C. W. B. 



The Mousehunt. — I should feel much obliged 

 to any reader of " N. & Q." who would refer me 

 to any mention of in print, or give me any in- 

 formation from his own personal experience, re- 

 specting a small animal of the weasel tribe called 

 the mousehunt, an animal apparently but little 

 known ; it is scarcely half the size of the common 

 weasel, and of a pale mouse-colour. It is said to 

 be well known in Suffolk, whence, however, after 

 some trouble, I have been unsuccessful in obtain- 

 ing a specimen ; young stoats or weasels having 



been sent me instead of it. I could not find a 

 specimen in the British Museum. Some years 

 ago I saw two in Glamorganshire ; one escaped 

 me ; the other had been killed by a ferret, but 

 unfortunately I neglected to preserve it. Near 

 the same spot last year a pair of them began 

 making their nest, but being disturbed by some 

 workmen employed in clearing out the drain in 

 which they had ensconced themselves, were lost 

 sight of and escaped. 



Mr. Colquhoun, in The Moor and the Loch, 

 ed. 1851, says : 



" The English peasantry assert that there are two, 

 kinds of weasel, one very small, called a 'cane,' or 

 ' the mousekiller.' This idea, I have no doubt, is 

 erroneous, and the ' mousekillers ' are only the young 

 ones of the year, numbers of these half-grown weasels- 

 appearing in summer and autumn." 



The only description I have met with in print Is 

 in BelVs Life of Dec. 7, 1851, whei-e " Scrutator,"^ 

 in No. 15. of his Letters " On the Management of 

 Horses, Hounds, &c.," writes : 



" I know only of one species of stoat, but I have 

 certainly seen more than one species of weasel. ..... 



There is one species of weasel so small that it can 

 easily follow mice into their holes ; and one of these, 

 not a month ago, I watched go into a mouse's hole in 

 an open grass field. Seeing something hopping along- 

 in the grass, which I took for a large long-tailed field 

 mouse, I stood still as it was approaching my position, 

 and when within a foot or two of the spot on which I 

 was standing, so that I could have a full view of the 

 animal, a very small weasel appeared, and quickly dis- 

 appeared again in a tuft of grass. On searching the 

 spot I discovered a mousehole, in which Mr. Weasel 

 had made his exit." 



W. R. D. Salmon. 



Lochvood, the Court Jester. — In some MS. 

 accounts temp. Edw. VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, 

 now before me, payments to " Lockwoofl, the 

 king's jester," or " the queen's jester, whose name 

 is Lockwood," are of almost annual occurrence. 

 He appears to have travelled about the country- 

 like the companies of itinerant players. 



Are any particulars known respecting him, and 

 where shall I find the best account of the ancient 

 court jesters ? I am aware of Donee's work, 

 and the memoirs of Will. Somers, the fool of 

 Henry VIII. William Kellt. 



Leicester. 



Right of redeeming Tropcrty. — In some coun- 

 try or district which I have formerly visited, 

 there exists, or did recently exist, a right of re- 

 deeming property which had passed from its 

 owner's hands, somewhat similar to that pre- 

 scribed to the Jews in Leviticus xxvi. 25. &c., 

 and analogous to the custom in Brittany, with 

 which Sterne's beautiful story has made us fa- 



