Mar. 11. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



219 



enable Englishmen, not versed in foreign lan- 

 guages, to judge, from another point of view, of 

 Continental affairs — now becoming of surpassing 

 interest and importance. Translations or ab- 

 stracts of the leading articles of The Times, Morn- 

 ing Chronicle, Morning Post, &c, are constantly 

 to be met with in the best foreign papers. Why- 

 should not our great London papers more fre- 

 quently gratify their readers with articles from 

 the pens of their Continental brotherhood ? This 

 would afford an opportunity also of correcting the 

 false statements, or replying to the erroneous 

 judgments put forth and circulated abroad by 

 writers whose distinguished position enables them, 

 unintentionally no doubt, to do the more mischief. 

 A surprising change for the better, however, as 

 respects Great Britain, is manifest in the tone and 

 information of the foreign press of late years. 

 Let us cherish this good feeling by a correspond- 

 ing demeanour on our part. Alpha. 



Materials for a History of Druidism. — 

 " It would be a commendable, useful, and easy task 

 to collect what the ancients have left us on the subject 

 of Druidism. Such a collection would form a very 

 small but interesting volume. It would supersede, in 

 every library, the idle and tedious dreams and con- 

 jectures of the Stukeleys, the Borlases, the Rowlands, 

 the Vallanceys, the Davies's, the Jones's, and the 

 Whitakers. Toland's work on the Druids, though 

 far from unexceptionable, has more solid intelligence 

 than any other modern composition of its kind. It is 

 a pity that he or some other person has not given as 

 faithful translations of the Irish Christian MSS. which 

 lie mentions, as these have, no doubt, preserved much 

 respecting Druidical manners and superstitions, of 

 which many vestiges are still existing, though not of 

 the kind usually referred to." 



" The Roman history of Britain can only be col- 

 lected from the Roman writers ; and what they have 

 left is very short indeed. It might be disposed of in 

 the way recommended for the History of the Druids." 

 — Douce's notes on Whitaker's History of Manchester, 

 \ol. i. p. 136. of Corrections in Book L, ibid. p. 148. 



Anon. 



Domestic Chapels. — There is an interesting 

 example of a domestic chapel, with an upper 

 chamber over it for the chaplain's residence, and 

 a ground floor underneath it for some undiscover- 

 able purpose, to be seen contiguous to an ancient 

 farm-house at Ilsam, in the parish of St. Mary 

 Church, in the county of Devon. 



The structure is quite ecclesiastical in its cha- 

 racter, and appears to have been originally, as 

 siow, detached from the family house, or only con- 

 nected with it by a short passage leading to the floor 

 on which the chapel itself stood. John James. 



Ordinary. — The following is a new meaning for 

 the word ordinary : — " Do ye come in and see my 

 poor man, for he is piteous ordinary to-day." This 

 speech was addressed to me by a poor woman who 

 wished me to go and see her husband. He was 

 ordinary enough, although she had adorned his 

 head with a red night-cap ; but her meaning was 

 evidently that he was far from well ; and Johnson's 

 Dictionary does not give this signification to the 

 word. 



A cottage child once told me that the dog 

 opened his mouth " a power wide." 2HH. $. 



Thorns Irish Almanac and Official Directory 

 for 1854. — In the advertisement prefixed to this 

 valuable compilation, which, according to the 

 Quarterly Review, " contains more information 

 about Ireland than has been collected in one 

 volume in any country," we may find the follow- 

 ing words : 



" All parliamentary and official documents pro- 

 curable, have been collected ; and their contents, so far 

 as they bore on the state of the country, carefully 

 abstracted ; and where any deficiencies have been ob- 

 servable, the want has been supplied by applications to 

 private sources, which, in every instance, have been 

 most satisfactorily answered. He [Mr. Thom] is also 

 indebted to similar applications to the ruling authori- 

 ties of the several religious persuasions for the undis- 

 puted accuracy of the ecclesiastical department of the 

 Almanac." • 



I wish to call attention to the latter words ; 

 and in so doing, I assure you, I feel only a most 

 anxious desire to see some farther improvements 

 effected by Mr. Thom. 



I cannot allow " the undisputed accuracy of the 

 ecclesiastical department," inasmuch as I have de- 

 tected, even on a cursory examination, very many 

 inaccuracies which a little care would certainly 

 have prevented. For example, in p. 451. (Eccle- 

 siastical Directory, Established Church and Dio- 

 cese of Dublin), there are at least five grave 

 mistakes, and four in the following page. These 

 pages I have taken at random. I could easily 

 point out other pages equally inaccurate ; but I 

 have done enough I think to prove, that while I 

 willingly accord to the enterprising publisher the 

 full meed of praise he so well deserves, a little 

 more attention should be paid in future to the 

 preparation of the ecclesiastical department. 



Abhba. 



Antiquity of the Word " Snub." — 



" Beware we then euer of discontente, and snubbe it 

 betimes, least it overthrowe us as it hath done manie." 



"Such snubs as these be little cloudes." — Comfort- 

 able Notes on Genesis, by Gervase Babington, Bishop 

 of Exeter, 1596. 



J. R. P. 



Charles I. at Little Woolford. — There is an 

 ancient house at Little Woolford (in the south- 



