Peb. 3. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



79 



woll was, and still may be, for aught we know, a 

 surname in this country. This appears from the 

 following extract : 



« Test. Chiyistiswoll — The testament, testamentar, 

 &c., of vmqle Johne Chryistiswoll, zonger, ane of the 

 portioneris of Lunderstoun, ffaithfullie maid, &c., the 

 xiiij dav of November, 1606 zeiris. Quhairin he nominat 

 and constituit Thomas Chryistiswoll, in Brae, his brother, 

 and Jonet Sympsone, spous to the defunct, his exrs , &c. 

 . . . This testament was maid be the mouth of the 

 deid, day, moneth, zeir and place, foirsaid. Befoir thir 

 •witnesses — Mr. Thomas Zonger, minister atlnnerkipe; 

 Thomas Sympsone in Brae ; James Tailzeour, ane of the 

 portioneris of Lunderstoun, and James Hyndman, in 

 Clochnmir. . . . Confirmed at Glasgow, the penult 

 day of May, 1608 zeiris." 



It farther appears that Chryistiswoll, or Crystis- 

 woll, was the name of a place as well as of persons : 

 Robert Stewart, of Crystiswoll, is a witness to the 

 testament of " Robert Birsbane of Bishoptoun, 

 within the parochiu of Erskyne," dated 16th Ja- 

 nuary, 1610. 



In Scotland, " Christie's Will," and " Cryistis- 

 woll," as pronounced by the peasantry, are pre- 

 cisely similar ; hence the possibility that the one is 

 merely a misnomer of the other, and that the 

 freebooter of the ballad was not an Armstrong at 

 all, but a genuine descendant of the Cryistiswolls ! 



A. 



FACTS BESPECTING COLOUR. 



It has sometimes been maintained, that every- 

 thing material has its symbolical signification. 

 Have any of your readers, who incline to this 

 opinion, ever observed how remarkably this theory 

 is supported by the following facts in regard to 

 colour ? 



If twenty persons were asked which they con- 

 sidered the most beautiful of the three primary 

 colours — blue, red, or yellow ? probably fifteen 

 out of the twenty would reply " blue" — heaven's 

 own hue. Yet ask those fifteen to name the two 

 colours which they consider would form the most 

 harmonious combination, probably not one of them 

 would mention blue as forming part of this fa- 

 vourite mixture. 



It is a law of colouring, that no two primary 

 colours will blend — the effect would be harsh, the 

 contrast too violent ; but a primary colour must 

 always be united with a compound, and in that 

 compound the primary must bear a part. Thus, 

 red and purple are a good mixture, because red 

 is an ingredient of purple. Green and gold are a 

 good mixture, because yellow is an ingredient of 

 green. Upon the same principle, blue and green 

 ought to be an agreeable combination, because 

 blue is an ingredient of green ; yet blue and green 

 are universally considered a bad mixture. Thus 

 we see that blue will not harmonise either with 

 red, yellow, or green. It stands alone, exquisitely 



beautiful, but almost incompatible with other 

 colours. Nevertheless, by mixing it with red, we 

 produce purple — a colour which harmonises more 

 universally than any other, whether primary or 

 compound. Thus purple and red, purple and 

 gold, purple and green — nay, even purple and 

 blue itself — are all manifestly good mixtures. But 

 though purple is so harmonious, and is in itself so 

 beautiful, yet it has this peculiarity, viz. it loses 

 all its charms when seen by an artificial light. 



Surely none can be so dull of imagination, as 

 not to see the obvious spiritual meaning of all this. 

 Blue — the hue of heaven — is too bright and pure 

 to blend with earthly hues. How, then, can we 

 bring heavenly things to harmonise with things 

 earthly ? Has it not been by the shedding of blood ? 

 Is it not the red stream of our Saviour's blood, 

 which has brought down Heaven to earth ? Is it 

 not that crimson stream which has restored har- 

 mony between man and his Maker, between earth 

 and Heaven ? And as purple — an apt emblem 

 of the Gospel — is the only colour which is suited 

 to all other colours, so the Gospel is the only 

 scheme of religion which is suited to the condition 

 of all men. And as purple, so beautiful when 

 seen by the light of Heaven, looks dead and mean 

 by an artificial light, so the Christian religion, 

 when contemplated by a heaven-illuminated mind, 

 is seen to be the sublimest of ideas ; but, seen by 

 the dim taper of human reason, it looks mean 

 and despicable. 



If there be any truth in these considerations, 

 how much might colouring, in every branch of 

 the art, be improved and ennobled by a due re- 

 gard to its syuibolical meaning ! — a meaning 

 which seems to have been graciously implanted in 

 matter, in order that it may act as an antidote to 

 itself, and raise the mind from an undue attach- 

 ment to material things to the contemplation of 

 things spiritual. Surely it is presumptuous to 

 condemn Mr. Ruskin as romantic and fanciful, 

 because he considers that to be the most perfect 

 system of colouring in which red, blue, and pur- 

 ple (the colours revealed to Moses on Mount 

 Sinai) predominate. It may be objected that 

 blue harmonises with brown and grey ; but it 

 should be remembered, that these are neutral 

 tints, and, as far as the present argument is con- 

 cerned, must be placed in the same category with 

 black and white. E. H. 



Bromsgrove. 



NOTICES OF THE DEAD SEA. 



It is not without reason that readers are puzzled 

 when finding such contradictory statements in the 

 works of well-known authors, as are to be met 

 with in the following passages: 



1. "The lake Asphaltites is vastly great in circum- 

 ference, as if it were a sea. It is of an ill taste, and is 



