74 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
a Query, and ask, Can any one inform me what 
became of this library, or who were the represen- 
tatives and heirs of Edward Lee, through whom 
this MS. may have passed to Mr. Conybeare, or 
give me any further particulars respecting this 
Edward Lee ? 
A person who asks a question in such a publi- 
cation as yours ought to endeavour to answer one. 
I add, therefore, that Mr Thorpe—no mean au- 
thority on such a point — in his Catalogue for 1834, 
No 1234, says that E. F., in the title-page of The 
Life of King Edward IL., represents “ E. Falk- 
land:” but he does not tell us who E. Falkland 
was, and it is questionable whether there was any 
person so named living at the time when the book 
in question was written. There was no Edward 
Lord Falkland before the reign of William ITI. 
Also, in answer to Dr. Maitland’s Query respecting 
the fate of Bindley’s copy of Borde’s Dyetary of 
Health, 1567, in a priced copy of the Catalogue 
now before me, the name of Rodd stands as the 
purchaser for eleven shillings. Josep Hunter. 
Nov. 26. 1849. 
QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 3. 
A Flemish Account. 
The readiness with which we adopt a current 
saying, though unaware of its source, and there- 
fore somewhat uncertain as to the proper mode of 
applying it, is curiously exemplified by the out- 
standing query on the origin and primary signifi- 
cation of the phrase A Flemish account. 
I have consulted, in search of it, dictionaries of 
various dates, the glossaries of our dramatic anno- 
tators, and the best collections of proverbs and 
proverbial sayings — but without success. 
The saying casts no reproach on the Flemings. 
It always means, I believe, that the sum to be 
received turns out less than had been expected. 
It is a commercial joke, and admits of explanation 
by reference to the early commercial transactions 
between the English and the Flemings. 
I rely on the authority of The merchants mappe 
of commerce, by Lewes Roberts, London, 1638, 
folio, chap. 179:— 
In Antwerp, which gave rule in trade to most 
other cities, the accounts were kept in livres, sols, 
and deniers; which they termed pounds, shillings, 
and pence of grosses. Now the livre was equal 
only to twelve shillings sterling, so that while the 
Antwerp merchant stated a balance of 12. 13s: 4d., 
the London merchant would receive only 1/.— 
which he might fairly call A Flemish account ! 
The same instructive author furnishes me with 
a passage in illustration of a recent question on 
the three golden balls, which seems to require ad- 
ditional research. It occurs in chap. 181: — 
“ This citie [Bruges] hath an eminent market place, 
with a publicke house for the meeting of all marchants, 
[No, 5. 
at noone and evening: which house was called the 
Burse, of the houses of the extinct familie Bursa, bear-= 
ing three purses for their armes, ingraven upon their 
houses, from whence these meeting places to this day 
are called Burses in many countries, which in London 
wee know by the name of the Royall Exchange, and of 
Britaines Burse.” Botron Corney. 
T think it probable that the expression “ Flemish 
Account” may have been derived from the fact 
that the Flemish ell measures only three quarters 
of our yard, while the English ell measures five 
quarters, and that thence the epithet Flemish was 
adopted as denoting something deficient. Q. Q. 
When commerce was young, the Flemings were 
the great merchants of Western Europe; but these 
worthies were notorious, when furnishing their 
accounts current, for always having the balance 
at the right side (for themselves), and hence arose 
the term. Iam not at this moment able to say 
where this information is to be had, but have met 
it somewhere. JUNIOR, 
I wonder that some better scholar than myself 
should not have explained the phrase “ Flemish 
account ;” but though I cannot quote authority for 
the precise expression, I may show whence it is 
derived. To flem, in old Scotch (and in old 
English too, [believe), is to “run away;” in modern 
slang, to “make oneself scarce,” “to levant.” Flemen 
is an outcast, an outlaw. It is easy to understand 
the application of the word to accounts. Your 
querist should consult some of the old dictionaries. 
Scotus. 
There is an old story that a Count of Flanders 
once gave an entertainment to some Flemish mer- 
chants, but that the seats on which they sat were 
without cushions. These “ princes of the earth” 
thereupon folded up their costly velvet cloaks, 
and used them accordingly. When reminded, on 
their departure, of having left their cloaks behind, 
they replied, that when asked to a feast they were 
not in the habit of carrying away with them the 
chair cushions. Could this have originated the 
expression “Flemish account?” In this case the 
proud merchants gave such an account of a valu- 
able article in their possession, as made it out to 
be quite worthless to the owner. Musarir. 
ANSWERS TO MINOR QUERIES. 
Richard Greene, Apothecary. 
Mr. Richard Green, the subject of H. T. E.’s 
Query (No. 3. p. 43.), was an apothecary at Lich- 
field, and related to Dr. Johnson... He had a con- 
siderable collection of Antiquities, &c., called 
“ Green’s Museum,” which was sold, after his death, 
for a thousand pounds. See Boswell’s Johnson, 
Croker's edition, vol. v. p. 194, 
