April 8. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



327 



any college in Oxford." In the Gent. Mag. for Aug. 

 1792, p. 716., a correspondent offers the following pro- 

 bable etymology : " It is probably derived from the 

 German bezahlen ; in Low German and Dutch bettah- 

 Un; in Welsh talz ; which signifies to pay; whence 

 may be derived likewise the English verb to tale, and 

 the noun a tale, or score, if not the corrupted expres- 

 sions to tell or number, and to tally or agree."'} 



Origin of Clubs. — Can any of your corre- 

 spondents inform me from whence the cognomen 

 of " club " came to be applied to select companies, 

 and which was the first society that bore that 

 title ? F. R. B. 



[Club is defined by Johnson to be "an assembly of 

 good felfows, meeting under certain conditions." The 

 present system of clubs may be traced in its progres- 

 sive steps from those small associations, meeting (as 

 clubs of a lower grade still do) at a house of public 

 entertainment ; then we come to a time when the club 

 took exclusive possession of the house, and strangers 

 could be only introduced, under regulations, by the 

 members ; in the third stage, the clubs build houses, 

 or rather palaces, for themselves. The club at the 

 Mermaid Tavern in Friday Street was, according 

 to all accounts, the first select company established, 

 and owed its origin to Sir Walter Raleigh, who had 

 here instituted a meeting of men of wit and genius, 

 previously to his engagement with the unfortunate 

 Cobham. This society comprised all that the age held 

 most distinguished for learning and talent, numbering 

 amongst its members Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Beau- 

 mont and Fletcher, Selden, Sir Walter Raleigh, Donne, 

 Cotton, Carew, Martin, and many others. There it 

 was that the " wit-combats " took place between Shak- 

 speare and Ben Jonson, to which, probably, Beaumont 

 alludes with so much affection in his letter to the old 

 poet, written from the country : 



" What things have we seen 

 Done at the Mermaid ! heard words that have been 

 So nimble and so full of subtle flame, 

 As if that every one from whom they came 

 Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest." 



Ben Jonson had another club, of which he appears to 

 have been the founder, held in a room of the old Devil 

 Tavern, distinguished by the name of the "Apollo." 

 It stood between the Temple Gates and Temple Bar. 

 It was for this club that Jonson wrote the " Leges 

 Convivales," printed among his works.] 



Royal Arms in Churches. — When were the 

 Royal Arms first put up in churches ? 



Are churchwardens compelled to place them 

 over the chancel arch, or in any part of the build- 

 ing over which their jurisdiction extends ? 



In a church without an heraldic coat of Royal 

 Arms, can a churchwarden, or the incumbent, refuse 

 legally to put up such a decoration, it being the 

 gift of a parishioner ? Azure. 



[For replies to Azure's first Query, see our Sixth 

 Volume passim. The articles at pp. 227. and 248. of 

 the same volume incidentally notice his other queries.] 



Odd Fellows. — What is the origin of Odd 

 Fellowship ? What gave rise to the title of Odd 

 Fellows ? Are there any books published on the 

 subject, and where are they to be had ? Is there 

 any published record of the origin and progress 

 of the Manchester Unity ? C. F. A. W. 



[Our correspondent should consult The Odd Fellows 

 Magazine, New Series, published Quarterly by order 

 of the Grand Master and Board of Directors of the 

 Manchester Unity of the Independent Order of Odd 

 Fellows. We have only seen vols. i. to vii., which ap- 

 peared between 1828 and 1842. Perhaps some of our 

 readers may wish to know what is an Odd Fellow. 

 Take the following description of one as given in 

 vol. iv. p. 287. : " He is like a fox for cunning ; a dove 

 for tameness ; a lamb for innocence ; a lion for bold- 

 ness ; a bee for industry ; and a sheep for usefulness. 

 This is an Odd Fellow according to Odd Fellow- 

 ship."] 



Governor- General of India. — Will some of 

 your learned readers be good enough to inform 

 me upon what authority the present Governor- 

 General of India is styled, in all official notices, 

 " The Most Noble ? " I have always understood 

 the style of a Marquis to be " Most Honorable." 



Novice. 



[Official notices from public departments are fre- 

 quently incorrect in reference to the styles of persons. 

 The style of a Marquis is only Most Honorable, that of 

 Duke Most Noble. - ] 



Precedence. — Supposing an earl's daughter 

 marries a commoner, do her children by him take 

 precedence as the earl's grandchildren ? Snob. 



[The children take only the precedence derived 

 from their paternal status. ] 



fteglteS. 



MARMORTINTO, OR SAND-PAINTING. 



(Volix., p. 217.) 



Mr. Haas, a native of Bibrach, in Germany, 

 was accustomed to lay claim to the invention of 

 sand-painting ; and would often with a little pride 

 repeat to his friends the way in which it was first 

 suggested to his mind. Simply this : — Once, while 

 he was engnged ornamenting a plateau with an 

 elaborate and rich design, King George III. en- 

 tered the apartment ; and after having regarded 

 the design and modum operandi for some con- 

 siderable time in silence, exclaimed, in an impa- 

 tient manner, as if vexed that so much beauty 

 should be so short-lived : " Haas ! Haas ! you 

 ought to fasten it." From that moment, the artist 

 turned his ingenuity to the subject : and how 

 successfully, his pictures show. 



The remarks of F. C. H. as to the mode of 

 painting are quite correct. The fixing of the 



