492 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 239. 



Engrease, to overfeed. " Riches, wherewithal they 

 are fatted and engreased like swine." — Foxe's Acts 

 and Monuments, v. 615. edit. 1843. 



Ensignement, (?) The Fe&tyvall, fol. cliv. 



recto : " And whan all the people come so togyder at 

 this ensignement." 



Entrecounter, to oppose. Brook's Sermon, 1553, 

 quoted in Foxe's Acts and Monuments, vol. viii. p. 782. 



Fele. An application of this word may be quoted, 

 partaking of a Grecism, unless we mistake : " And 

 whan the people felte the smell therof." — The Festyvall, 

 fol. c. recto. 



Fhjtterynge: "lyghtnynge, and not flytterynge." — The 

 Festyvall, fol. xliv. verso, edit. 1528. 



Novus. 



Inscriptions on Buildings. — The following in- 

 scriptions are taken from buildings connected with 

 the hospital of Spital-in-the-Street, co. Lincoln. 



On the chapel : 



Fvi 

 Non 



SVM 



A Dni 1398"] 



Fvi . 1594 \ 



. . 1616 J 



Dose Dei & Pavpervm. 



Qvi Hanc Devs Hvnc Destrvet." 



On the wall of a cottage, formerly one of the 

 alms-houses : 



" Deo et Divitibvs. 

 A Dni 1620." 



On the wall of a building now used as a barn, 

 but formerly the Court-house, in which the Quar- 

 ter Sessions for the parts of Lindsey were formerly 

 held, before their transfer to Kirton in Lindsey : 



" Fiat Ivstitia. 



1619." 



"H.<ec Domvs 



Dit, Amat, Pvnit, Conservat, Hovorat, 



Eqvitiam, Pacem, Crisiina, Jvra, Bonos." 



L. L. L. 



Epitaphs. — The following specimen of rural 



monumental Latin is copied from a tombstone in 



the churchyard of Henbury, Gloucestershire : 



" Hie jacet 



Requiesant in pace, 



Henricus Parsones. 



Qui obtit xxv. die Junes, 



Anno Dominii mdcccxlv, 



^Etatis suae xx. 



Cujus animia proprietur Christus." 



The following is from the churchyard of King- 

 ston-Seymour, Somersetshire : 



" J. H. 



He was universally beloved in the circle of 

 His acquaintance ; but united 

 In his death the esteem of all, 

 Namely, by bequeathing his remains." 



J. K. R. W. 



Numbers. — We occasionally see calculations of 

 how often a given number of persons may vary 

 their position at a table, and each time produce a 

 fresh arrangement. I believe the result may be 

 arrived at by progressive multiplication, as thus : 



Twice 1 - - - -2 



3 



Giving for three persons - 6 changes. 

 _4 



Giving for four persons - 24 changes. 



5 



Giving for five persons 



120 changes. 

 6 



Giving for six persons - 720 changes, 

 and so one. Probably also change-ringing is go- 

 verned by the same mode of calculation. 



J. D. Allcroft. 



Celtic Language. — As fraus latet in generations 

 in linguistics as in law, I beg to suggest that, in- 

 stead of using the word Celtic, the words Gaelic, 

 Cymbric, Breton, Armorican, Welsh, Irish, &c. might 

 be properly appropriated. The mother Celtic is 

 lost, — her remains are to be found only in the 

 names of mountains, rivers, and countries ; and 

 our knowledge of this tongue is derived from an 

 acquaintance with her two principal daughters, 

 the Gaelic and Cymbric (=Kymric). The Gaelic 

 tongue has been driven by Germanic invasion 

 into Ireland (Erse), and into the Highlands of 

 Scotland (Gaelic). The Cymbric tongue first took 

 refuge in Belgium, known afterwards as Brpton, 

 and still lives as Welsh and Bas-Breton, which 

 (and not the Gaelic) is nearest of kin in some 

 words to the Latin and Italian. 



To understand this subject, the profound induc- 

 tion of Eichhoff must be studied carefully. 



T. J. BUCKTON. 

 Lichfield. 



Illustration of Longfellow — " God's Acre." — 

 Longfellow's very beautiful little poem, com- 

 mencing : 



" I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls 

 The burial-ground God's acre." 



is doubtless familiar to all your readers. It may 

 interest some of them to know, that the " ancient 

 Saxon phrase" has not yet become obsolete. I 

 read the words " gottes acker," when at Basle 

 last autumn, inscribed over the entrance to a 

 modern cemetery, just outside the St. Paul's Gate 

 of that city. W. Sparrow Simpson. 



