240 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 283. 



laurel for those of old persons. Painters' tablets 

 •were manufactured from heart of pine. Drinking- 

 cups, in Arcadia, from the tuberous nodules in 

 the stems of trees ; and in Syria, from the black 

 terebinth, equal to the best Thericlean pottery. 

 Elm was most prized for the doors of houses ; 

 and the large doors of the Temple of Diana, at 

 Ephesus, were made of cypress, the only wood 

 then known to take a polish. A kind of holm 

 oak was principally used in the manufacture of 

 ■wheels, especially the single wheels of wheelbar- 

 rows. The bai'k of the alder was used in tanning 

 skins generally, and the sumach in staining them 

 •white. The Persian apple and citron were used to 

 flavour the breath, and put with clothes to keep 

 away the moth. Double flutes were manufac- 

 tured from a jointed reed, the best kinds of which 

 grew near Orchomenos ; shields, from the willow 

 and vine ; elastic couches, from the ash or beech ; 

 coblers' sharpening-strops, from the gritty wild 

 pear ; cat-traps, from elm ; hinges, from elm ; 

 seals, from worm satin-wood ; images (etSwXa), 

 from palm-wood ; statues (a.ya\fj.ara), some of 

 •which were noted for sweating, from cedar, cy- 

 press, lotus, and box ; bread, from dates as well 

 as wheat ; ships, from the pines -which grew in 

 great abundance at Sin ope, but not from oak, of 

 •which five species were known. 



Corinth and Boeotia were famous for radishes ; 

 Philippi for double roses ; Macedonia and Bceotia 

 for heavy, Attica and Laconia for light crops, 

 Attica being especially a barley-growing country. 

 The caper plant, the artichoke, spring asparagus, 

 and lettuces, were ancient as well as modern 

 luxuries ; and Theophrastus mentions a kind of 

 omelet soujfflet {iinTvevfji.aTovfX€vos) made of cheese, 

 honey, and garlick, which however -was so strong 

 as to set people sneezing. It is amusing to find 

 that walnut-trees -were beaten in order to increase 

 their bearing, in those days as well as in ours; 

 though it may well be doubted whether the cus- 

 tom is much more conducive to any good end than 

 another. Our author mentions of sowing cummin 

 •with oaths and curses in order to ensure a good 

 crop. Mushrooms, we are told, as every rustic 

 now knows, grow in thunder ; and Egyptian beer 

 (jSptrrov) was made from barley. 



Notes of this kind might be introduced to a 

 much greater extent ; but, for fear of trespassing 

 too much, I bring them to a close. I cannot how- 

 ever omit to mention a very interesting naturalist's 

 •calendar (the flowers mentioned appear to have 

 "been in request for chaplets) at the end of 

 book v.; or to quote the truly Baconian maxim, 

 *' Ato T(t)v yvwpifj.wv /jLera^icaKeiu ra ayvaipiffra." My 

 object will have been sufficiently attained if I 

 succeed In directing the attention of the curious 

 in ancient herbal lore to the store of anecdotes 

 and observations in the too neglected writings of 

 the pupil and heir of Aristotle, whose popularity 



was such^ that his disciples are said to have num- 

 bered two thousand. J. M. Rodwell. 



Curiosities of Translation. — • In the original 

 French translation of Guy Mannering, the " prodi- 

 gious Dominie" is called "un ministre assassin," a 

 literal rendering of the " stickin minister:" and 

 again, in the same novel, when Dandie Dinmont is 

 told that " it has just chappit aucht on the Tron," 

 the translator has rendered it " il est huit heures, 

 et le roi est sur son trone !" V. T. Sternberg. 



Carr — Synge. — In Vol. viii., pp. 327-8., I 

 mentioned, from the MSS. in Trinity College, 

 Dublin, that William Carr married Elizabeth, 

 daughter of Edward Synge, Bishop of Cork. I 

 find, by looking at Bishop Synge's will, that Mrs. 

 Carr's name was Anne. Mr. Carr, I have since 

 found, had another daughter besides Mrs. Clifle ; 

 she was Mrs. Buckworth. 



Referring to Mr. Paget's inquiry (Vol. viii., 

 p. 423.), I send the following pedigree of Synge,. 

 extracted from Cotton's Fasti : 



" One Millington, belonging to the choir at Bridgnorth, 

 was called Singe or Synge, and assumed that surname; 

 his son Thomas had a'son George, an alderman of Bridg- 

 north, and bailiff of the town in 1564 — he died in 1001 ; 

 his son Richard, also an alderman and bailiif in 1598 — 

 died in 1631 : he had two sons, the elder George, bom- 

 1594, became Bishop of Cloyne; and the j^ounger Edward, 

 Bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Eoss. EdwaVd had two sons : 

 the elder Nicholas, Bishop of Killaloe; and Edward, 

 successively Bishop of Clonfert, Cloyne, Ferns, and 

 Elphin." 



In this account there are some errors, viz. : — 

 Edward, Bishop of Cork's sons were, 1st, Samuel, 

 Dean of Kildare ; and 2nd, Edward, Archbishop 

 of Tuam, whose sons were, Edward, Bishop of 

 Cloyne, Ferns, &c., and Nicholas, Bishop of Kil- 

 laloe. Bishops George and Edward had another 

 brother, the father of Dr. Nicholas Synge, wha 

 was father of Edward. Both the latter are men- 

 tioned in the Bishop of Cork's will as " my nephew 

 Dr. Nicholas Synge, and his son Edward." 



Y. S. M. 



Titles of the King's Sons. — In reference to 

 your reply to Ignoramus (No. 261., " Notices to 

 Correspondents "), will you allow me to remark, 

 in addition to what you have said, that the duke- 

 dom of Cornwall is " always vested in the eldest 

 son of the king, who becomes such the moment 

 he is born." (Nicolas's Synopsis of the Peerage, 

 Ixxvii.) Most of us, I dare say, will recollect the 

 announcement, in 1841, of the birth of the Duke 

 of Cornwall, for he was so called until her Majesty 

 had sufficiently recovered to sign the patent 

 creating him Prince of Wales. Tee Bee. 



