Feb. 4. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUEMES. 



113 



there given differs slightly from that of Balmo- 

 lensis, and has two more lines ; it is as follows : 

 " Cum foderet ferro castum Lucretia pectus, 

 Sanguinis et torrens egereretur, ait : 

 Procedant testes me non favisse tyranno, 

 Ante virum sanguis, spiritus ante deos. 

 Quam recte hi testes pro me post fata loquentur, 

 Alter apud manes, alter apud superos." 



Perhaps the following translation may not be un- 

 acceptable : 



" When thro' her breast the steel Lucretia thrust, 

 She said, while forth th' ensanguin'd torrent gush'd ; 

 4 From me that no consent the tyrant knew, 

 To my spouse my blood, to heaven my soul shall 



show ; 

 And thus in death these witnesses shall prove, 

 My innocence, to shades below, and Powers above.' " 



C— S. T. P. 



Oxford Commemoration Squib, 1849 (Vol. viii., 

 p. 584.). —Quoted incorrectly. The heading stands 

 thus : 



" Liberty ! Equality ! Fraternity !" 



After the name of " Wrightson" add "(Queen's) ;" 

 and at the foot of the bill " Floreat Lyceum." I 

 quote from a copy before me. W. P. Storer. 



Olney, Bucks. 



"Imp" (Vol. viii., p. 623.). — Perhaps as amus- 

 ing a use of the word imp as can be found any- 

 where occurs in old Bacon, in his " Pathway unto 

 Prayer" (see Early Writings, Parker Society, 

 p. 187.) : 



" Let us pray for the preservation of the King's 

 most excellent Majesty, and for the prosperous success 

 of his entirely beloved son Edward our Prince, that 

 most angelic imp." 



P. P. 



False Spellings from Sound (Vol. vi., p. 29.). — 

 The observations of Mr. Wayeen deserve to be 

 enlarged by numerous examples, and to be, to a 

 certain extent, corrected. He has not brought 

 clearly into view two distinct classes of " false 

 spelling" under which the greater part of such 

 mistakes may be arranged. One class arose solely 

 from erroneous pronunciation 5 the second from 

 'intentional alteration. I will explain my meaning 

 by two examples, both which are, I believe, in 

 Mr. Way leu's list. 



The French expression dent de lion stands for a 

 certain plant, and some of the properties of that 

 plant originated the name. When an Englishman 

 calls the same plant Dandylion, the sound has not 

 given birth "to a new idea" in his mind. Surely, 

 lie pronounces badly three French words of which 

 lie may know the meaning, or he may not. But 

 when the same Englishman, or any other, orders 

 sparroic-grass for dinner, these two words contain 



" a new idea," introduced purposely : either he, or 

 some predecessor, reasoned thus — there is no 

 meaning in asparagus; sparrow-grass must be 

 the right word because it makes sense. The name 

 of a well-known place in London illustrates both 

 these changes : Convent Garden becomes Covent 

 Garden by mispronunciation ; it becomes Common 

 Garden by intentional change. 



Mistakes of the first class are not worth record- 

 ing ; those of the second fall under this general 

 principle : words are purposely exchanged for 

 others of a similar sound, because the latter are 

 supposed to recover a lost meaning. 



I have by me several examples which I will 

 send you if you think the subject worth pursuing. 



J.O.B. 



"VVicken. 



" Good wine needs no bush " (Vol. viii., p. C07.). 

 — The custom of hanging out bushes of ivy, 

 boughs of trees, or bunches of flowers, at private 

 houses, as a sign that good cheer may be had 

 within, still prevails in the city of Gloucester at 

 the fair held at Michaelmas, called Barton Fair, 

 from the locality ; and at the three " mops," or 

 hiring fair*, on the three Mondays following, to 

 indicate that ale, beer, cider, &c. are there sold, 

 on the strength (I believe) of an ancient privilege 

 enjoyed by the inhabitants of that street to sell 

 liquors, without the usual license, during the fair. 



BROOKTHORrE. 



Three Fleurs-de-Lys (Vol. ix., p. 35.). — In 

 reply to the Query of Devoniensis, I would say 

 that many families of his own county bore fleurs- 

 de-lys in their coat armour, in the forms of two 

 and one, and on a bend; also that the heraldic 

 writers, Robson and Burke, assign a coat to the 

 family of Baker charged with three fleurs-de-lys 

 on a fesse. The Devon family of Velland bore, 

 Sable, a fesse argent, in chief three fleurs-de-lys of 

 the last ; but whether these bearings were ever 

 placed fesse-wise, or, as your querist terms it, in a 

 horizontal line, I am not sure. J. D. S. 



If Devoniensis will look at the arms of Mag- 

 dalen College, Oxford, he will there find the three 

 fleurs-de-lys in a line in the upper part of the 

 shield. A. B. 



Athena?um. 



Portrait of Plowden (Vol. ix., p. 56.). — A por- 

 trait of Plowden (said to have been taken from 

 his monument in the Temple Church) is prefixed 

 to the English edition of his Reports, published in 

 1761. J. G. 



Exon. 



St. Stephen's Day and Mr. Riley s " Hoveden " 

 (Vol. viii., p. 637.). — The statement of this feast 

 being observed prior to Christmas must have 



