Nov. 9. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



393 



P.S. It has struck me that the origin of the 

 word mass may be found in the custom, referred 

 to in an early number of " Notes and Queries," 

 of messing persons together at dinner in former 

 times. 



Poor Pillgarlick. — Whence comes the expres- 

 sion, " Poor Pilgarlick," and how should the words 

 be spelt? H. P. 



Exeter. 



Inscription on a Portrait. — Can any of your 

 correspondents explain the meaning of the follow- 

 ing inscription : — 



io par. pi a 



vx 



placed at the top left-hand corner of an old por- 

 trait in my possession, supposed to be that of 

 Philip II. of Spain ? C. Edwards. 



Burtons Parliamentary Diary. — The sale of 

 clergymen for slaves is alluded to in vol. iv. of 

 Burton's Diary. This has received elucidation 

 at p. 253. of your present volume. 



Tobacconists. — At p. 320, vol. i., of Burton's 

 Parliamentary Diary it is stated, that 



" .Sir John Reynolds said he had numbered tlie 

 House, and there were at rising at least 220 present, 

 besides tobacconists." 



What and who were the persons designated as 

 tobacconists ? P. T. 



" The Owl is abroad." — On what ground is the 

 fine base song, "The Owl is abroad," attributed 

 to Henry Purcell ? Dr. Clarke has done so in his 

 well-known selections from Purcell's works ; and 

 Mr. G. Hogarth, in his Memoirs of the Musical 

 Drama, speaking of Purcell's Tempest, says : 



" There is a song for Caliban, The Owl is abroad, the 

 But and the Tuiid, which one miglit suppose Weber to 

 have imagined." 



Is it not really the property of John Christopher 

 Smith, the friend of Handel ? Amongst the few 

 books of printed music in the British Museitm 

 Catalogue is The Tempest, an Opera, composed by 

 Mr. Smith, in which is the base song in ipiestion. 

 On the otiicr hand, I do not find it in Purcell's 

 Tempest. If, as I imagine, it belongs to Mr. 

 Smitli, it seems peculiiirly hard that the credit of 

 tiie composition siioiilil be taken from him, to be 

 given to one who stands in no need of it. A. II. 



Scandal against Queen Elizabeth. — Tlie follow- 

 ing note occurs in vol. iv. p. 135. of Burton's 

 Parliamentary Diary : — 



" Osborn. — see tiis works ClflTD), p. 'I'}?, — says, 

 ' Queen Kliz ibeth li.id a son, bred in the state of 

 Venice, and a daughter, I know not wliere or when ; ' 

 witli other strange tales that went on her 1 neglect to 



insert, as fitter for a romance than to mingle with so 

 much truth and integrity as 1 profess." 



Is this rumour any where else alluded to ? and 

 if so, upon what foundation ? P. T. 



Letters of Horning. — What is the meaning of 

 " letters of horning," a term occasionally, though 

 rarely, met with in documents drawn up by nota- 

 ries ? And, a propos, why should " notaries pub- 

 lic," with regard to the noun and adjective, con- 

 tinue to place the cart before the horse ? 



Manleius. 



Cromivell Poisoned. — At p. 516. vol. ii. of Bur- 

 ton's Parliamentary Diary it is stated, in a note 

 upon the death of Oliver Cromwell, tliat his body 

 exhibited certain appearances " owing to the dis- 

 ease of which the Protector died, which, by the by, 

 appeared to be that of poison." The words, 

 " Prestwich's MS." are attached to this note. Is 

 there any other authority for this statement ? 



P.T. 



SREpIie^. 



COLLAR OF SS. 



(Vol. ii., pp. 89. 194. 248. 280. 330. 362.) 



The dispute about the Collar of SS., between 

 Mr. J. GouGH Nichols and Armiger, is, as Sir 

 Lucius O'Trigger would say, " a mighty pretty 

 quarrel as it stands;" but I have seen no mention 

 by either writer of "the red sindon" for the 

 chamber of Queen Philippa, " beaten throughout 

 wirh the letter S in gold Iciif : " or the throne of 

 Henry V. powdered with the letter S, in an illu- 

 minated ISIS, of his time, in Bennet College Li- 

 brary, Cambridge. I fancy there will be some 

 difBculty in reconciling these two examples with 

 the theory of either of the disputants. When 

 Armiger alludes to the mcmument of Matilda 

 Fitzwalter, " who lived in the reign of King 

 Jolin," I presume he is aware that the effigy is not 

 of that period. I do not think any of the seekers 

 of this hidden signification can be said to be even 

 warm yet, umch less to burn. J. R. Planchb. 



Collar of SS. — As I conceive that the descrip- 

 tion of this Collar by your correspondent C. 

 (Vol. ii., p. 330.) is not strictly correct, I forward 

 you drawings of two examples: No. 1. from the 

 monument of Sir Humphrey Stafford (and which 

 is the general type) ; No. 2. from that of the 

 husband of Margaret Holaml, Countess of Somer- 

 set (Gongii's Funeral Monuments). The latter 

 example might have been called a Collar of 8,8, 

 were it not that that name is less euplioiiious than 

 SS. The collar was worn by several ladies. (See 

 the work above (juoted.) B. W. 



['Hie figures in the example No. 1. forwarded by 

 U. VV. cannot possibly have been intended for any- 



