Aug. 24. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



199 



Aerostation, Works on. — Will you have the 

 goodness to inquire for me among your readers 

 and contributors, for the titles of any works on — 

 or references to good articles in encyclopcedias or 

 dictionaries on — or for remarkable isolated pas- 

 sages relating to — Aei-ostation, or the arts of, or 

 attempts at, flying, either by means of mechanical 

 wings, &c., or by the aid of balloons. C.B.M. 



Pilgrims' Road to Canterbury. — Can any of the 

 readers of "Notes and Queries" point out the 

 route which was pursued by Chaucer and his fel- 

 low-travellers on the pilgrimage which his genius 

 has immortalised ? Is the route of the old pilgrims' 

 road laid down upon any early maps ? (it is not, 

 I believe, marked on the Ordnance Survey ;) and 

 would it be possible to traverse it at the present 

 time ? Any hints upon these points, and any 

 references to objects of interest on the line of road 

 inquired after, will be thankfully received by 



Philo-Chaucer. 



" j^dricus qui signa fundebat." — In a chronicle 

 of Battel Abbey, compiled in the twelfth century, 

 there is a list of the abbey's tenants in the town of 

 Battel. Among many such names as Gilbertus 

 Textor, Godwinus Cocus, Rotbertus filius Siflet, 

 Rotbertus de Havena, I find that of " iEdricus 

 qui signa fundebat." As this phrase is susceptible 

 of several widely different renderings, I shall be 

 grateful to any of your ingenious readers who will 

 give me their opinions as to its actual meaning. I 

 may add that ^dric was living about the year 

 1170, so that the phrase can have no reference to 

 events connected with the battle of Hastings. 



M. A. Lower. 



Lewes, July 30. 1850. 



Osmund the Waterman. — In his description of 

 the Flowering Fern (Osmiinda regalis), ]\Ir. New- 

 man observes, that " the rhizoma [root-stock], 

 when cut through, has a whitish centre or core, 

 called by old Gerarde in his Herbal, 'the heart of 

 Osmund the waterman.' IMy lore is insufficient to 

 furnish my readers with the history of the said 

 Osmund." (History of British Ferns, by Ed. New- 

 man, 2nd ed., p. 334.) Can any of yo2ir readers 

 supply this deficiency ? J. M. B. 



Logic. — What is the earliest printed book on 

 logic ? meaning tlie first which gives the common 

 theory of tlie syllogism. Does it contain the cele- 

 brated words Barbara, Celarent, &c. The difllculty 

 will probaljly arise from this, that each book has 

 some undated editions wiiich are probably earlier 

 than tiic dated ones. Of books witii dates there is 

 the exposition of Petrus IIis|)anus by Joh. Versor, 

 in 1473, and tlie SummuUe of Paulus Venetus, in 

 1474 ; the first I find in Ilain (who had not seen 

 it), the second I have seen. Can any one of your 

 readers go farther back ? M. 



Darvon Gatherall ? — Can any reader adduce 

 further information respecting an image, called 

 Darvon Gatherall, brought liom Wales at the 

 Reformation, than what is mentioned in one of 

 the treatises published by the Camden Society ? 



W. Beli.. 



Damasked Linen. — I should feel obliged for 

 any information on the earliest specimen of table- 

 cloths being " damasked," and the history of that 

 manufacture. I have lately had shown me as 

 "family curiosities" a beautiful "damask service** 

 of Flemish or Dutch work. The centre contained 

 a representation of St. George and the Dragon. 

 The hero is attired in the costume of the latter 

 part of the seventeenth century (?), with a cocked 

 hat and plume, open sleeves and breeches, heavy 

 shoes and spurs : with this motto in German cha- 

 racters over him, — 



fBcx) ®ott ift sRatt) unb Zi)at, 

 " With God is counsel and deed." 



At each corner of the cloth and napkins is a 

 representation of a female figure kneeling on a 

 rock, with clasped hands, with a lamb by her side 

 (Query, St. Agnes ?) On the border, at the top 

 and bottom, St. George is figured in armour stab- 

 bing with a spear an alligator; and then with a 

 sword, in the act of killing a bear. 



On the side borders, he is receiving the attack 

 of a lion on his arm, covered with a mantle ; and 

 then, with a raised sword, cutting at the proboscis 

 of an elephant. I have seen, also, an older speci- 

 men, I think, of the same manufacture ; the subject 

 being the " Bear and Ragged Staff," on alternate' 

 rows, with figures of trumpeters. 1 know not if this 

 subject is of sufficient interest for your "Notes 

 AND Queries," but I trust you will make what 

 use of it you please. R- G. P. M. 



Flourish. — We are told that a writer flourished 

 at such and such a time. Is any definite notion 

 attached to this word ? When it is said of a cen- 

 tury there is no difficulty ; it means that the 

 writer was born and died in that century. But 

 when we are told that a writer flourished about 

 the year 1328 (such limitation of florescence is not 

 uncommon), what is then meant ? What are we 

 to understand he did in or about 1328 ? M. 



Drax Abbey and Free School.— Can you, or any 

 of your intelligent contributors, direct me where 

 I can find any records of Drax Abbey, near Selby, 

 Yorkshire, or of the Free School in Drax, en- 

 dowed by Robert Reed, whom tradition states to 

 have been a foundling amongst the reeds on the 

 banks of the Ouse, about half a mile distant. Such 

 information will place me under great obligation. 



T. Dyson. 



Gainsboro'. 



Ancient Catalogue of Books.— \ few days since 

 I made the acquisition of a curious old catalogue 



