194 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 43. 



First, as an instance of a question and answer, 

 which might do as well (if the record be correct) 

 for the present publication. 



" Q. We read in our public papers of the Pope's 

 Bull and the Pope's Brief; pray, Gentlemen, what is 

 the difference between them ? 



" A. They differ much in the same manner as the 

 Great Seal and Privy Sfal do here in England. The Bull 

 being of tlie highest authority where the papal power 

 extends ; the Brief is of less authority. The Bull has 

 a leaden seal upon silk, affixed to the foot of the instru- 

 ment, as the wax under the Great Seal is to our letters 

 patent. The Brief has sub amiuh piscatoris upon the 

 side." 



Query. Is this answer complete and correct ? 

 Now for another specimen : 



" Q. Wise Oracle show, 



A good reason why, 

 Wlien from tavern we ffo. 

 You're welcome they cry. 

 " A. The reason is plain, 



'Cause doubtful to know, 

 Till seeing their gain. 

 If you came well or no." 



The following is an example of unanswerable 

 refutation. To show why a man has not one rib 

 less than a woman, it is stated that imperfections 

 are not hereditary ; us in the case of 



" One Mr. L , an honest sailor not far from 



Stepney, who has but one arm, and who cannot walk 

 hunself without the assistance of a wooden leg, and 

 yet has a son, born some years after the amputation of 

 his own limbs, whom. lie has bred both a fiddler and a 

 dancing master." 



One more, not for the wretched play upon words, 

 but because it may make a new Query, — What 

 does it all mean? 



" Q. Gentlemen, in the preamble to the late Earl 

 of Oxford's patent, I observed, ' And whom they have 

 congratulated upon his escape from the rage of a flagi- 

 tious parricide.'- I desire to know by whom, at what 

 time, and in what manner, the said parricide was to 

 have been committed. 



" A. Was to have been ! He actually was com- 

 mitted — to Newgate.' 



So much for some of the "Notes and Qdeeries" 

 (as the word ought to be spelt) of a century anfo. 



COLLAR OF SS. 



" .^11 the ensigns and marks of honour appertaining 

 to persons of highest distinction, are equestrian." — 

 Selmasius. 



The interest which attaches to this very ancient 

 and distinguished ensign of chivalrous honour will 

 excuse the introduction into your pages of a fuller 

 dissertation upon the subject than what appears 

 in "Notes and Queries," Nos. 39. and 41., in 



answer to the several questions put by your cor- 

 respondents B. and *. 



After referring to the papers on the Collar of 

 SS., and other collars of livery, published a few 

 years ago in the Gentleman's Magazine, and his 

 intention to arrange them, and other additional 

 collections on the same subject, in the shape of a 

 small volume, Mr. J. G. Nichols proceeds to say : 



" As a direct answer to B.'s question, ' Is there any 

 list of persons who were honoured with that badge, 

 (viz., the Collar of SS. ?)', I may reply. No. Persons 

 were not, in fact, ' honoured with the badge,' in the 

 sense that persons are now decorated with stars, crosses, 

 or medals ; but the livery collar was assumed by par- 

 ties holding a certain position. So far as can be ascer- 

 tained, these were either knights attached to the royal 

 household or service, who wore gold or gilt collars, or 

 esquires in the like position who wore silver collars." 



From the statute for the regulation of apparel, 

 passed in the 2nd year of the reign of Henry IV., 

 it is ordained that — 



" All the sons of the king, dukes, earls, barons, and 

 baronottes, might use the livery of our Lord the 

 King of his collar as well in his absence as in his pre- 

 sence ; and that all other knights and esquires should 

 use it only in the presence of the king and not in his 

 absence." 



The royal assent to this bill was accompanied 

 with further regulations, among which were : 



" That the dukes, earls, barons, and baronettes of the 

 realm might use the said livery in their counties and 

 elsewhere; and that knights and esquires might use the 

 said livery in going from the hostel of the king and re- 

 turning to it, always provided that they did not use it 

 in the counties and countries in which they resided or 

 sojourned." 



That the golden Collar of SS. was the undoubted 

 badge or mark of a knight (chevalier, eques aura- 

 tiis seu ordo eqtiestris, for these words respectively 

 indicate the same grade or dignity of knighthood) 

 all our ancient heraldic writers allow. But, were 

 it otherwise, the extract from the statute above 

 given shows that Mr. Nichols is incorrect in 

 stating, 1st. That there is no list of persons who 

 were honoured with the collar of SS. ; 2nd. That 

 persons were not honoured with the badge, in the 

 sense that persons are now decorated with stars, 

 crosses, &c. ; 3rd. That the collar was assumed; 

 and, 4th. That the assumers were, " so far as can 

 be ascertained, knights holding a certain position, 

 — such as being attached to the royal household 

 or service." 



It is important to point out these four inaccu- 

 racies of Mr. Nichols' reply to B., because it is 

 desirable that his f(jrthcoming volume should not 

 be a heterogeneous collection of notices relating to 

 the Collar of SS., mixed up with observations that 

 will only serve the purpose of darkening know- 

 ledge upon the subject of which he treats. 



■The Collar of SS. is found in a great variety of 



