1896-97.] COUNTING AND TIME RECKONING. 321 



here is seemingly only a modified form oi ^ =m. I am not aware that 

 any other country besides Scotland and France has adopted this method 

 of expressing dates, and as to which of these two belongs the credit of 

 having originated this composite form of chronology, it is probably im- 

 possible at this late date to decide. In the history of " Biggar and the 

 House of Fleming," there is a curious protestof Robert Flemingagainst the 

 sentence of death and forfeiture which had been pronounced against his 

 father, Sir Malcolm, written partly in Latin and partly in vernacular Scotch 

 of the time, where the date of 1440 is thus given, M™° CCCC'"''and fourty 

 zeris. Mons. Silvestre, in his work on "Universal Palaeography," mentions 

 that Agnes Sorel who received gifts from Charles VII., gives a receipt as 

 follows : — le XVI 11™^ jour d'Avril I'an mil cccc quarante huit, that is 

 1448 ; the sum received is given thus, i'f LXXV, l.t. (deux cens soixante 

 quinze livres tournois), and on the tomb containing her remains, the date 

 is le IX jour de fevrier. Fan de grace MCCCC, XLIX (1449). 



In the National MSS. of Scotland, there is a Gaelic contract with the 

 date 1 6 14 given in a very peculiar way and probably is unique. It is 

 as follows : — Mil 6. c. ^. 4. X. It will be seen that the 4 coming before 

 X contravenes the established usage, as a smaller number preceding a 

 larger one usually lessens the larger one. The character ^ is probably a 

 modified form of &, " and." 



Sir John Bowring gives some curious examples of how the reform of 

 the Calendar in 1700 was recorded on many medals struck at the time. 

 One has GereChtes Zoboper Z^enk MahL, " The record of merited 

 gratitude;" the larger letters used giving the date thus, MDCLL ; 

 another : GeenZ^erten Ca.LenDers Z'enkzahZ. " In remembrance of 

 the reformation of the Calendar, DDDCLL." One has Hoert doch, 

 wunder ! Im Jahr MDCC. wusten de leuthe nicht wie alt sie waren. 

 " Listen to a wonder, in the year 1700 people did not know how old 

 they were." The taking by the Spaniards of Ostend in 1704 is thus 

 commemorated in Latin: — /tane YLanDvIaM Z/beras /ber, the large 

 letters giving the date MDLLIIII. " Is it thus Spaniard that thou freest 

 Flanders." Another celebrating the peace of 1678 has : — A DoMIno 

 Fen/ens pop FZ/s paA^ Zaeta refFZget (mdll. lxvv, viij\ translated 



\ 1600 70 8 / 



thus : — " Peace, which is the gift of heaven brings gladness to the people." 

 These are what are called chronograms, a fanciful device used by the 

 later Jlomans and subsequently introduced during the renaissance period 

 where the larger letters formed the inscription. The following is con- 

 structed from the name of the Duke of Buckingham who was assassinated 

 by Felton at Portsmouth: — Georg/Fs DVX B FfTk/ngaJZ/ae, date 



MD^.XVV. Vm, ^g^g 

 1000 20 o 



