Sept. 7. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



235 



bodies and voices as instruments." The only word 

 in that passage which appears to hint at what we 

 call ventriloquism is u-n-ocpBeyyeaOai. 



I have very little doubt that amongst the various 

 tricks of ancient divination ventriloipiisni found a 

 place; but I cannot give that direct evidence 

 which Me. Sansom asks for. I think it very likely 

 that "<Ae wizards that peep and niutter" (Isa. viii. 

 19.) were of this class ; but it is not clear that the 

 nmx — the iyyaaTpi^uveoi of the LXX. — were so. 

 The English version has " them that have familiar 

 spirits."" The Hebrew word signifies iy^Zes; and 

 this may mean no more than that the spirit of di- 

 vination was contained in the person's body as in a 

 bottle, "using his body and his voice as instru- 

 ments," as in the place of Plutarch cpioted above. 

 AVe have something like this. Acts, xix. 15., where 

 "the evil spirit answered," no doubt in the voice 

 of the demoniac, "Jesus I know," &c. Michaelis 

 (Suppl, p. 39.) gives a different meaning and ety- 

 mology to n'l3ii<- He derives it from the Arabic 



1 t\] (for t > ,\), which signifies (1) rediit, (2) 



occidit sol, (3) noctu venil or noctu uliquid fecit. 

 The first and third of these meanings will make it 

 applicable to the v^Kpoixavreia ((if which the witch 

 of Endor was a practitioner), which was can-ied on 

 at night. See Hor. Sat. i. ix. 



1 do not think that the damsel mentioned Acts, 

 xvi. 16. was a ventriloquist. The use of the word 

 €Kpa^€, in the next verse, would lead us to infer 

 that she spoke in a loud voice ivith her mouth open ; 

 whereas tlie iyyaa-Tplfivdoi are defined by Galen 



(^Gloxsar. Hippocr.) as ol KeKKsKX/J.ei'uv tov a-To/xaTOS 

 <p6eyy6ixfi'oi. 



Consult Yitringa and Roscnnililler on Isa. viii. 

 19., Wolf and Kuinoel on Acts, xvi. 16., Biscoe on 

 the Acts, ch. viii. § 2 ; where references will be 

 found to many works which will satisfy Mr. San- 

 80M better than this meagre note. 3. 



Ventriloquism (Vol. ii., p. 88.). — In reply to 

 Query 1, 1 wish to call Mr. Sansom's attention to 

 Pluta7-ch de Oracidorum defectu (Lipsias, 1777, 

 vol. vii. p. G32.), and to Webster's Displaying of 

 supposed Witchcraft (cliu[)S. vi. and viii.). Queries 



2 and 3. Besides the extraordinary work of 

 Webster, he may consult the elaborate disserta- 

 tions of Alliitius on these subjects, in the eighth 

 volume of Critici Sacri. Query 4. On the use of 

 tlie t(;rni eyyarrrpifjivDos by t!ie sacred writers, Ra- 

 vanelli JJibliolh. .S'., and by chussical authors, Foesii 



I (Econoiniu Hippocratis; and fur synonymous 

 "divinorum niiuistroriim nomina," Pollucis Oiio- 

 maslicon. T. J. 



lUpTic^ Xa fHiiinr (Qtifit'C!*. 



Earl of Oxfords ]'atent{\\>\. ii., ],. 194.).— M.'s 

 quotation I'roui the Wceldif Oracle relates to 



Harley's having been stabbed at the council-table 

 by the Sieur de Guiscard, a French Papist, brought 

 up for examination 8th ^larch, 1711. The escape 

 of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the subject 

 of an address from both Houses to the Queen; and 

 upon his being sufficiently recovered to resume his 

 seat, the Spealier delivered to him the unanimous 

 congratulations of the House of Commons. Har- 

 ley was shortly after created Earl of O.xford, by 

 patent bearing date 24th jNIay, 1711, which recites, 

 inter alia, — 



" Since, therefore, the two Houses of Parliament have 

 declared that tlie fidelity and affection he has expressed 

 in our service liave exposed him to the hatred of wicked 

 men, a7id the dcsperule Tu^e of a villanous parricide, 

 since they have congratulated his escape from such 

 imminent dangers, and put us in mind that he might 

 not be jjreserved in vain, we willingly comply with 

 their desires, and grant him who comes so honourably 

 recommended by the votes of our Parliament, a place 

 among our peers," &c. &c. — Collin's Peerage, vol. iv. 

 p. 260. edit. 1789. 



Guiscard died in Newgate of the wounds which he 

 received in the scuffle when he was secured. 



Bkaybrookb. 



[O. P. Q., who has kindly replied to M.'s inquiry, 

 has appended to his answer the following Query : — 

 " Is Smollett justified in using the words assassin and 

 assassinate, as applied to cases of intended homicide, 

 when death did not ensue? "] 



The Darby Ram (Vol. ii., p. 71.). — There is a 

 whimsical little volume, which, as it relates mainly 

 to local matters, ntay not have come under the 

 notice of many of your readers, to which I would 

 refer j'our querist H. W. 



It is entitled, — 



" Gimcrackiana, or Fugitive Pieces on Jlanchester 

 Men and Manners ten years ago. Manchester, 1833." 

 cr. 8vo. 



It is anonymous, but I believe truly ascribed to 

 a clever young bookseller of the name of J. S. 

 Gregson, since dead 



At page 185. he gives twelve stanzas of this 

 ballad, as the most perfect copy from the oral 

 chronicle of his greatgrandmother. 



In The Ballad Book (Edinb. 1827, 12mo.), 

 there is another entitled " The Ham of Diram," 

 of a similar kind, but consisting of only si.x verses 

 and chorus. And the Dublin Pcnnij Journal, vol. i., 

 p. 283., contains a prose story, entitled "Darby 

 and the Ram," of the same veracious nature. 



F.R.A. 



Rotten Row and Stochvell Street. — R. R., of 

 Glasgow, in(piires the etymology of these nantes 

 (Vol. i., p. 441.). The etymology of the first 

 word possesses some interest, pcrlia]is, at the pre- 

 sent time, owing to the name of the site of the in- 

 tended E-\hibiiion from all Nations in Hyde Park. 

 I sent to the publishers of Glasgoiu Delineated, 



