122 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 277. 



dune, wee Wheelie ; the muckle ane canna catch 

 you." 



The same idea occurs in Jeremy Taylor's 

 Sermons : 



"Tlie hinder wheel, though bigger than the former, 

 and measures more ground at every revolution, yet shall 

 never overtake it." 



And in Persius, sat. v. 1. 70. : 



" Nam quamvis prope te, quamvis temone sub uno 

 Vertentem sese, frustra sectabere canthum ; 

 Cum rota posterior curras, et in axe secundo." 



as quoted by Taylor. 

 Is the same idea found elsewhere ? J. N. 



Tailed Men. — The reappearance of exploded 

 errors, both in natural and moral science, is one 

 of the least satisfactory phenomena observable in 

 the history of our race. 



I extract the following from old Purchas, on a 

 subject now again presented to the credulous 

 public. I fear that we have not made so much 

 progress in the intervening 250 years as we some- 

 times imagine. Writing of the Philippine Islands 

 he says : 



'' Lambri, the next kingdom, hath in it some men with 

 tayles, like dogges, a spanne long." 



And of Sumatra : 



" They say that there are certaine people there called 

 Daraqui Dara, which haue tayls like to sheepe." 



"As for those tailed people (a slander by Becket's 

 legend *, reported of some Kentish men, iniurious to that 

 angrie saint, and after applied to our whole nation ; manj', 

 indeed, esteeming the Englisli to be tayled), Galvano 

 affirmeth, that the King of Tidore told him that in the 

 islands of Battochina there were some which had tayles." 



The monstrosities depicted by mediseval limners 

 are abundantly justified by the descriptions of this 

 worthy geographer. I cannot resist quoting a 

 whole catalogue of wonders from the description 

 of the Moluccas, in which the strange truth is 

 outdone by the stranger fiction : 



" In this iland are men hauing anckles, with spurres, 

 like to cockes ; here are hogges with homes ; a riuer 

 stored with fish, and yet so bote, that it flaieth off the 

 skinne of any creature which entreth it ; there are oisters 

 so large that they cristen in the shells ; crabbes so strong 

 that with the claws they will breake the yron of a pick- 

 axe; stones which grow like fish, whereof they make 

 lime." — Purchas his Pilgrimage, edit. 1613. 



S. R. P. 



John Shakspeare. — In a roll of the seventh 

 year of Edward I., entitled 



" Placita corone coram Johanne de Reygate et sociis suis 

 Justiciariis itinerantibus apud Cantuar. in octabis Sancti 

 Hillarii anno regni Regis Edwardi septimo, Saloiii." 



occurs the following entry : 



" Danyel Pauly suspendit se in villa de Freyndeii. Et 

 Mariota fil' p'dci Danyelis prima inventrix no venit nee 



* See Lamberts Perambulation. 



malede se credlf. Et fuit attach' per Willm Morcok et 

 Alanu Bryce Ido in mia. Judm feloii de se catalla p'dci 

 Danielis Lix. s uii Robs de Scotho vie respond' et Wills 

 Paly et Rics Pally duo vicini no ven nee maletf. Et 

 Wills fuit attach' p PetrFabrQ et Johem Shakespere. 

 Et Rics fuit^ttach'p Gilbm atte Hok et Willm de Freya- 

 den, ido in mia." 



I have not consulted any other documents in 

 order to discover a farther account of this John 

 Shakspeare. Perhaps some of your readers may 

 be able to show some connexion with the poet's 

 ancestors. William Henry Hakt. 



New Cross. 



Deaths in the Society of Friends. — Statement 

 of deaths in the Society of Friends in Great 

 Britain and Ireland between January 1 and 

 December 31, 1854 ; 



Under 1 year * - 



Under 5 years - - - 



From 5 to 10 - 



10 to 15 - 



15to20 - 



20 to 30 - 



30 to 40 - 



40 to 50 - 



50 to 60 - 



60 to 70 - 



70 to 80 - 



80 to 90 - 



90 to 100 - 



157 217 



374 



Average of age, 52 years, 8 months, 10 days. 

 One-third have attained 70 years and upwards. 

 Many are total abstainers from strong drink. 



Wm. Collibr. 



Woodside, Plymouth. 



^LMtViti, 



THE " DICTIONARICM ANGLICUM," USED BT SKIN- 

 NER IN HIS " ETTMOLOGICON LINGUJE ANGLI- 

 CAN JE :" LONDON, 1671. 



Amongst the numerous dictionaries produced 

 in England during the seventeenth century, there 

 existed one, cited largely by Dr. Skinner in his 

 Etymologicon, and which was known also to Ray, 

 entitled the Dictionarium Anglicum. I am de- 

 sirous to ascertain any particulars regarding this 

 work, which appears to have comprised a remark- 

 able assemblage of archaisms and words of rare 

 occurrence. It is wholly unknown, so far as I 

 can learn, except through the citations by the 

 authors above mentioned ; and the most diligent 

 search for a copy has hitherto proved ineffectual. 

 The recondite character of the words given from 



* These numbers are included in the next, under 

 Shears. 



