120 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 38. 



ATHELSTANE S FOEM OF DONATION. — MEANING OF 

 " SOMAGIA." 



Tristram Risilou, in his qucaint Survey of the 

 Co. of Devon, after mentioning the foundation of 

 the church of High Eickington by King Athel- 

 stane, 



" Who," lie says, " gave to God and it one hide of 

 land, as appeareth by tlie donation, a copy whereof, 

 for the antiquity thereof, T will here insert : ' Iche 

 Athelstane king, grome of this home, geve and graunt 

 to the preist of this cliirch, one yoke of niye land frelith 

 to holde, woode in my liolt house to buyld, bitt grass 

 for all hys beasts, fuel for hys hearth, pannage for hys 

 sowe and piggs, world without end,' " — 



adils presently afterwards, tliat 



" Sir John Willington gave WceksJand in this tyth- 

 jng, unto Robert Tolla, cum 40 snmar/in aimuatiiii ca- 

 piendin Biickenholt (so be the words of the grant) in the 

 time of K. Edw. I." 



The Willingtons were lords of the manor of 

 Umberlcigh, where Athelstane's palace stood, with 

 its chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity, formerly 

 rich in ancient monuments, and having a chantry 

 near to it. Some of the monuments from this 

 chapel are still preserved in the neighbouring 

 church of Atherington. 



My Queries upon this Note are : 



1. Whence did Risdon derive his copy of King 

 Athelstane's form of donation ? 2. What is the 

 precise meaning of the word Soinagia ? 



In Ducange (ed. Par. 1726, torn. vi. col. 589.) 

 I find : 



" Somcgia. PrcEstat'.o, ut videtur ex sumynis, v. gr. 

 bladi, frumenti. Charta Philippi Reg. Franc, an. 

 1210. Idem etiam Savaricus detinet sibi census suos, 

 ■et vendltiones, et quosdam reditus, qui Somegire vo- 

 cantur, et avenam, et cupiayia hominum et foeminarum 

 suarnm, qui reditus cum una Somegiarum in festo 

 B. Remigii persolverentur ; delude sccuuda Somegia 

 in vicesima die Natalis Domini, et tertia in Octabis 

 Resurrectiouis Dominica?, ei similiter persolventur ; 

 caponum etiam suorum in crastino Natalis Domini 

 percipict solutionem : unaqucgque vero somegiarum 

 quatuor denarios bona? moiieta> valet." 



Ducange refers also to some kindred words ; 

 but, instead of clearing up my difficulty in the 

 word somagia, he presents me with another in 

 captngia, the meaning of which I do not clearly 

 understand. Perhaps some of your more learned 

 contributors will obligingly help me to the true 

 import of these words? 0. Sansom. 



Charade. — Can any one tell who is the author 

 of the ibllowing charade? No doubt, the lines 

 are well known to many of your readers, although 

 1 have never seen them in print. It has been 

 said that Dr. Robinson, a physician, wrote them. 



It strikes me that the real author, whoever he be, 

 richly deserves to be named in "Notes and 

 Queries." 



" Me, the contented man desires, 



The poor man has, the rich requires; 

 The miser gives, the spendthrift saves, 

 And all must carry to their graves." 



It can scarcely be necessary to add that the 

 answer is, nothing. Alfred Gatty. 



July 1. 1850. 



'■'■Smoke Money." — Under this name is col- 

 lected every year at Battle, in Sussex, by the 

 Constable, one penny from Q\ery householder, 

 and paid to the Lord of the Manor. AA'hat is its 

 origin and meaning ? B. 



'■'■Rapido contrarius orhi." — What divine of the 

 seventeenth century adopted these words as his 

 motto ? They are part of a line in one of Owen's 

 epigrams. N. B. 



Lord Richard Christophilus. — Can any of your 

 readers give any account of Lord Richard Christo- 

 philus, a Turk converted to Christianity, to whom, 

 innuediately after the Restoration, in Jidy, 1660, 

 the Privy Council appointed a pension of 50/. 

 a-year, and an additional allowance of 21. a-week. 



CH. 



Fiz-gigs. — In those excellent poems, Sandys's 

 Faraphrases on Joh and other Boohs of the Bible, 

 there is a word of a most destructive character to 

 the effect. Speaking of leviathan, he asks, — 

 " Canst thou with Jiz-gigs pierce him to the quick?" 



It may be an ignorant question, but I do not 

 know what fiz-gigs are. C. B. 



Specimens of Erica in Bloom. — Can any of 

 your correspondents oblige me by the information 

 where I can procure specimens in bloom of the 

 fijUowing plants, viz. Erica crescenta. Erica pape- 

 rina, E. purpurea, E. flamniea, and at what season 

 they come into blossom in England ? If specimens 

 are not procurable without much expense and 

 trouble, can you supply me with the name of a work 

 in which these plants are figured ? E. S. 



Dover. 



Michael Scott, the Wizard. — What works by 

 Michael Scott, the reputed wizard, (Sir Walter's 

 J)eus ex Machina in The Lay of the Last Minstrel), 

 have been printed ? X. Y. A. 



Stone Chalices. — Can any of the readers of 

 " Notes and Queries " inform me whether the 

 use of stone chalices was authorised by the ancient 

 constitutions of the Church; and, if so, at what 

 period, and where the said constitutions were 

 enacted ? X. Y. A, 



