Dec. 17. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



605 



the Tyne, and was garrisoned in vain with 

 " grand plante de Galois," to prevent the Scotch 

 from passing the Tyne under its walls (vol. i. 

 ch. xviii. xix. xxi.). 



So much by way of note ; but there is a Query 

 which I should be glad to see answered. Bayle 

 (art. Froissart) quotes a German critic as affirm- 

 ing that in the Lyons edition of Froissart, by 

 Denys Saulvage, 1559: "Omnia quo3 Aulse Gallicae 

 displicebant, deleta, vixque decimani historias 

 partem relictam esse." Does Col. Johnes notice 

 this inaccuracy in the edition generally procur- 

 able ? And does he state whether he saw, or con- 

 sulted, or received any benefit from the exist- 

 ence of the MS. copy of Froissart, once in the 

 library of Breslaw ? Henry Walter. 



Nursery Tthymes (Vol. viii., p. 452.). — I fear 

 J. R.'s anxiety to find a Saxon origin to a nursery 

 rhyme has suggested unconsciously a version which 

 does not otherwise exist. The rhyme in my 

 young days used to be, — 



" Hushaby, baby, on the tree top, 

 When the wind blows the cradle will reels." 



— a sufficient rhyme for the nursery. 



Eden "Warwick. 

 Birmingham. 



"Hip, hip, hurrah r (Vol. viii., pp. 88. 323.). — 

 Sib J. Emerson Tennent, in answering Mb, 

 Bbent's observation at p. 88., seems to have been 

 fighting a shadow. Upon reference to JMr. Chap- 

 pell's Collection, vol. ii. p. 38., quoted by Mr. 

 Brent, it appears that a note by Dr. Burney, in a 

 copy of Hawkins's History of Music, in the British 

 Museum, is the authority for the reading : 

 " Hang up all the poor hep drinkers. 

 Cries old Sim, the King of skinkers." 



In the folio edition of Ben Jonson's Worlis, 

 published by Thomas Hodgkin, London, 1692, in 

 which the "Leges Convivales" are I believe for 

 the first time printed, the verses over the door of 

 the Apollo are given, and the couplet runs : 



" Hang up all the poor hop drinkers, 

 Cries Old Sym, the King of skinkers." 



Probably Mr. Chappcll misread Dr. Burney's 

 MS. note : at all events Mr. Brent's ingenious 

 suggestion is without foundation. A. F. B. 



Diss. 



Dodo (Vol. vH., p. 83.). — Dodo or Doun Bar- 

 dolf married Beatrix, daughter of William de 

 Warren of Wormegay. She was a widow in 1209, 

 and remarried the famous Hubert de Burgh. 



Anon. 



Oaths (Voh viii., p. 364.)-— Your correspondent 

 assumes that the act of kissing the Bible, or other 

 book containing the Holy Gospels, by a judicial 



witness, is a part of the oath itself. Is it such, or 

 is it merely an act of reverence to the book ? In 

 support of the latter supposition, I would quote 

 Archdeacon Paley, who says, that after repeating 

 the oath, — 



"The juror kisses the book; the kiss, however, 

 seems rather an act of reverence to the coiUents of the 

 book, as in the Popish ritual the priest kisses the 

 gospel before he reads it, than any part of the oath." 

 — Mor, and Pol. Ph., p. 193., thirteenth edition. 



In none of the instances given by C. S. G. does 

 kissing the book appear to be essential. Does 

 not this rather favour Dr. Paley's explanation ? 

 which, if it be correct, would, I think, aflTord 

 grounds for concluding that the practice of kissing 

 the book accompanied the taking of ancient oaths, 

 and is not, as C. S. G. suggests, an addition of 

 later times. 



Again, may I bring forward the same authority 

 in opposition to that quoted by your correspondent 

 with reference to the origin of the term corporal 

 oath : 



" It is commonly thought that oaths arc denomi- 

 nated corporal oaths from the bodily action which ac- 

 companies them, of laying the right hand upon a book 

 containing the four gospels. This opinion, however, 

 appears to be a mistake, for the term is borrowed from 

 the ancient usage of touching upon these occasions the 

 corporate, or cloth, which covered the consecrated ele- 

 ments." — V. 191. 



R. V.T. 



Mincing Lane. 



The old custom of taking the judicial oath by 

 merely laying the right hand upon the book, is un- 

 doubtedly, thinks Erica, of Pagan origin. In my 

 humble opinion it is far too common with us to 

 ascribe things to Pagan origin. I would venture to 

 assert that the origin of this form of judicial oath 

 may be traced to Deuteronomy xxi. 1 — 8., where 

 at the sacrifice offered up in expiation of secret 

 murder, the rulers of the city nearest the spot 

 where the corpse was found were in presence of 

 the corpse to wash their hands over the victim, 

 and say, " Our hands did not shed this blood, nor 

 did our eyes see It." Ceyrep. 



Mayors and Sheriffs (Vol. viii., p. 126.). — In 

 answer to a Subscriber, there can be little or no 

 doubt, I consider, but that the mayor of a town 

 or borough is the principal and most important 

 officer, and ought to have precedence of a sheriff 

 of a town or borough. By stat. 5 & 6 Wm. IV. 

 cap. 76. sec. 57., it Is enacted, "That the mayor 

 for the time being of every borough shall, during 

 the time of his mayoralty, have precedence in all 

 places within the borough." As sheriffs of towns, 

 and counties of towns, do not derive their ap- 

 pointments from the Crown, but from the councils 

 of their respective towns, &c. (see sec. 61. of the 



