= 
Fes. 16. 1850.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
253 
MISCELLANIES. 
Pursuits of Literature.—The lines upon the 
pursuits of literature, quoted by you at p. 212., 
remind me of some others, which I have heard 
ascribed to Mr. Grattan, and are as follows : — 
“?Tis well, Pursuits of Literature ! 
But who, and what is the pursuer, 
A Jesuit cursing Popery: 
A railer preaching charity ; 
A reptile, nameless and unknown, 
Sprung from the slime of Warburton, 
Whose mingled learning, prfde, and blundering, 
Make wise men stare, and set fools wondering.” 
Doctor Dobbs and his Horse Nobbs.—I remem- 
ber having read somewhere of “ Doctor Dobbs 
and his horse Nobbs,” but where I cannot now 
recall. Ionly remember one anecdote. The horse | 
Nobbs was left, one cold night, outside a cottage, 
whilst the Doctor was within officiating as ac- 
coucheur (I believe) ; when he was ready to start, | 
and came out, he found the horse apparently dead. 
The Doctor was miles from home, and, as the 
horse was dead, and the night dark, in place of | 
walking home, he, with his host, dragged the | 
horse into the kitchen, and skinned him, by way 
of passing the time profitably. But, lo! when 
the skinning was finished, the horse gave signs of | 
returning animation. What was to be done? 
Doctor Dobbs, fertile in resources, got sheep- 
skins and sewed them on Nobbs. and completely 
clothed him therein; and — mirabile dictu! — the 
skins became attached to the flesh, Nobbs re- 
covered, and from theneeforward carried a woolly 
coat, duly shorn every summer, to the profit of | 
Doctor Dobbs, and to the wonder and admiration 
of the neighbourhood. 
I have also read somewhere that Coleridge told | 
the story of “ Doctor Dobbs and his horse Nobbs” 
to Southey at Oxford, J.M.B. 
Dr. Dobbs and his Horse Nobbs. — Although of | 
small moment, it is, perhaps, worth recording, 
that a Doctor Daniel Dove, of Doncaster, and his 
horse Nobbs, form the subjects of a paper in “ The 
Nonpareil, or the Quintessence of Wit and 
Humour,” published in 1757, and which, there 
can be little doubt, was the source whence 
Southey adopted, without alteration, the names so 
well known to all readers of the Doctor. 
Manchester. JNo. SuDLow. 
Seeing the communication of “ P, C. 8. S.” 
.73.), reminds me of a note taken from our 
arish Register : — 
“1725, Feb. 10, ‘Dorothy Dove, gentlewoman, bur.’ ” 
I have never seen the name in connection with 
Doneaster before or since the above date. J.S. 
Doneaster, Jan. 15. 
——— SI PROPRIUS STES, 
TE CAPIET MINUS, 
(From the Latin of Vincent Bourne.) 
Glide down the Thames by London Bridge, what 
time 
St. Saviour’s bells strike out their evening chime; 
Forth leaps the impetuous cataract of sound, 
Dash’d into noise by countless echos round. 
Pass on — it follows —all the jarring notes 
Blend in celestial harmony, that floats 
Above, below, around: the ravish’d ear 
Finds all the fault its own —it was Too NEAR. 
Rurvs. 
St. Evona’s Choice. —To your citation of Ben 
Jonson’s exceptional case of the Justice Randall 
| as “a lawyer an honest man,” in justice add the 
name of the learned and elegant author of 
Eunomus ; for Mr. Wynne himself tells the story 
of St. Evona’s choice (Dialogue II. p. 62. 3rd ed. 
Dublin, 1791), giving his authority in the fullow- 
ing note: — 
“* The story here dressed up is told in substance in a 
small book published in 1691, called a Description of 
the Netherlands, p. 58.” 
In strict law, Sir, the profession may in courts 
| of Momus be held bound by the act of the re- 
spectable but unlucky St. Evona; but in equity, 
let me respectfully claim release, for Evona was a 
churchman. A Temprar. 
[We gladly insert our correspondent’s “ claim to re- 
lease,” but doubt whether he can establish it ; inasmuch 
as St. Ivo or Evona, canonized on account of his great 
rectitude and profound knowledge both of civil and 
canon law, was both lawyer and churchman, like the 
Cxexicus so recently discussed in our columns ; and 
clearly sought for and obtained his patron saint in his 
legal character. ] 
Muffins and Crumpets, §c.— Not being quite 
satisfied with the etymology of “muffin,” in p. 
205., though brought by Urquhart from Pheenicia 
and the Pillars of Hercules, I am desirous of 
seeking additional illustration. Some fancy that 
“coffee” was known to Athenzeus, and that he 
saw it clearly in the “ black broth” of the Lace- 
demonian youth, In the same agreeable manner 
we are referred to that instructive and enter- 
taining writer for the corresponding luxury of 
“muffins.” Maphula, we are told, was one of 
those kinds of bread named as such by Athenzeus ; 
that is to say, “a cake baked on a hearth or 
griddle.” . If we need go so far, why not fetch our 
muffins from Memphis, which is Méph in Hebrew ? 
(See Hosea, ix. 6.) It is, perhaps, mou-pain, in 
old French, soft bread, easily converted into 
moufin. So “crumpet” may be a corruption of 
crumpate, a paste made of fine flour, slightly 
baked. The only difficulty would then be in the 
