Sept. 7. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



231 



of what family Mr. Richardson was, who he mar- 

 ried, and what was his profession or business. 



T. N". I. 

 Wakefield. 



Tobacco — its Ai-ahic Name. — One of your cor- 

 respondents, A. C. ]M. (Vol. ii., p. 155.), wishes to 

 know what is the Arabic word for tobacco used in 

 Sale's KoraiL, ed. Svo. p. 1G9. Perhaps, if he will 

 refer to the chapter and verse, or even specify 

 which is the Svo. edition which he quotes, some of 

 your correspondents may be able to answer his 

 Query. M.D. 



Pole 3Ioney. — Some time ago I made a copy of 

 " A particular of all the names of tlie several persons 

 within the Lordship of Marston Montgomery (in 

 Derbyshire), and of their estates, according to the acts 

 of parliament, for payment oi pole nioneij assessed by 

 William Hall, constable, and otliers." 



This was some time between 1660 and 1681. And 

 also of a like 



" Particular of names of the several persons within 

 the same lordship under the sum of 51., to pole for 

 according to the acts of parliament." 



Can any of your correspondents inform me to 

 what ta.x the above lists applie<l, and what were 

 the acts of parliament under which this tax (or 

 pole-money) was payable. T. N. I. 



Wakefield. 



Wehh Money. — T have never seen in any work 

 on coins the slightest allusion to the money of the 

 native [)rinces of ^Vales before the suhjug.ition of 

 their country by Edward I. Is any such in exist- 

 ence ? and, if not, how is its dis.ip[)earance to be 

 accounted for? I read that Athelstan imposed on 

 tiie Welsh an annual tribute in mojfij, wliich was 

 paid for many years. Query, In what sort of 

 coin ? J. C. WiTTON. 



A Skeleton in every House. — Can you or any of 

 your correspondents explain the origin of that 

 most significant saying: "There is a skeleton in 

 every house ?" Does it originate in some ghastly 

 legend ? JVIors. 



[Our correspondent is ri;Tlit in his conjecture. The 

 saying is derived from an Italian story, which is trans- 

 lated in the Italian Tales of Humour, Gallantrij, and 

 Romance, published some few years ago, with illustra- 

 tions by Cruikshank.] 



Whetstone of lleproof. — Can any of your readers 

 inform nu; who was the author of the book with 

 the followiTig title ? 



" The Whetstone of Reproofo, or a Reproving Cen- 

 svre of the misintitled Safe Way: declaring it by Dis- 

 couerie of the Authors fraudulent Proceeding, and 

 captious CauiHiT\g, to be a iniere liy-way, drawing 

 pore Tranellers out of the royalle and cominoti Streeto, 

 and leading them dcccill'ully int(j a Path of Perilition. 



With a Postscript of Advertisements, especially touch- 

 ing the Homilie and Epistles attributed to Alfric : and 

 a compendious Retorliue Discussion of the misapplyed 

 By-way. Avthor T. T. Sacristan and Catholike Ro- 

 manist. — Catvapoli, apud viduam Marci Wyonis. 

 Anno jiDcxxxn." Sm. Svo. pp. xvl. 570. 193. 



It is an answer to Sir Humphrey Lynd's Via 

 Tula and Via Devia. In AYood's Ath. Oxon., edit. 

 Bliss, fol. ii. col. 602, two answers to the Via Tula 

 are mentioned ; but this is not noticed. From the 

 author stating in the preface, " I confesse. Sir 

 Humfrey, I am Tom Teltruth, who cannot flatter 

 or dissemble," I suppose the initials T. T. to be 

 fictitious. John I. Dhedge. 



Morganatic Marriages.— Morganatique. — What 

 is the derivation of this word, and what its actual 

 signification ? 



In the Dictionnaire de V Acadernie Franqaise (ed. 

 4to., 1835), the word does not appear. In Bolster's 

 Dictionnaire Uuiversel (Bruxelles, 1835) it is 

 thus given : — 



" 3I0RGANATIQUE, adj. 2 jr., nocturne, mysterieux, 

 entrainee par seduction; (mariage) mariage secret des 

 princes d'AUemagne avec une personne d'un rang in- 

 ferieur. " 



And the same definition is given by Landais 

 (Paris, 4to., 1842), but this does not give the de- 

 rivation or literal signification of the word " mor- 

 ganatic." It is not in Johnson's Dictionary; but 

 in Smart's Dictionary Epitomized (Longman and 

 Co., 1840) it is thus given : — 



" Morganatic, a., applied to a marriage in which a 

 gift in the morning is to stand in lieu of dowry, or of 

 all light of inheritance, that niiglit otherwise fall to the 

 issue." 



This, however, is inconsistent with the definition 

 of nocturne, mysterieux, for the gift in lieu of 

 dowry would have nothing of mystery in it. 



^\\\\ some of your corre^ponllents affijrd, if they 

 can, any reasonable explanation which justifies 

 the application of the word to inferior or left- 

 handed marriages ? Q, 



[Will our correspondent accept the following as a 

 satisfactory reply ?J 



Morganatic Marriage (Vol. ii., p. 72.). — The 

 fairy ^Morgana was married to a mortal. Is not 

 tills a sullicient ex|)lanation of the term mor"-anatic 

 being applied to nuirriages where the parties are 

 of unequal rank? S. S. 



Gospel of Distaffs. — Can any i-^.\der say where 

 a copy of the Gosj>cl of Distaffs may be acc-cssible? 

 It was [irinted by Wynkyn de Worde, and Sir E. 

 Brydjj;es, who describes it, says a complete cojjy 

 was in Mr. llel>er's library. A few leaves are 

 found inlJagfin-d's Collection, IlarJeian MS. 591D., 

 which only raises the desire to see the whole. 

 Dibdin's Ames' Typography, vol. ii. p. 232., has an 

 account of it. W. Bell. 



