Aprit 20. 1850.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
405 
« Eux sount les proverbes en fraunceys conferme par 
auctorite del Dibil 2 
“ Chers amys receiuez de moy 
Un beau present q vo* envoy, 
Non pas dor ne dargent 
Mais de bon enseignment, 
Que en escriptur ai trove 
E de latin translatee, &c. &c.” 
Amongst them is the following :— 
« Meux yalt un chien sein e fort ) 
Qe un lecun freid e mort; 
E meux valt povert od bountex 
Qe richeste od malueiste. 
Melior est 
canis vivus 
leone 
mortuo.” 
Sirak 
Jesus, the Son of Sirak, is not, however, the 
authority for this proverb; it occurs in the 9th 
chapter of Ecclesiastes and 4th verse. 
And now, to ask a question in turn, what is 
meant by “auctorite del Dibil 2” 
James GRAVES. 
Kilkenny. 
Monumental Brass (No. 16. p. 247.).—On the 
floor of Thorncombe church, in the co. of Devon, 
is a splendid brass, representing Sir T. Brooke, 
and Joan his wife, dated respectively 1419 and 
1436. At the lower corner of the lady’s robe is 
engraven a small dog, with a collar and bells. 
May not these figures be the private mark of the 
artist ? 8.8.58. 
The Wickliffite Version of the Scriptures.—I 
have in my possession a very fair MS. of Wickliff’s 
translation of the New Testament; and should the 
editors of the Wickliffite Versions like to see my 
MS., and let me know to whom I may send it, I 
shall be happy to lend it them. Daniet Roex. 
Buckland, Faringdon. 
Hever (pp. 269. 342.). —In confirmation of the 
meaning assigned to this word, there is an estate 
near Westerham, in Kent, called ‘“ Hever’s-wood.” 
8.8.8. 
Steward Family (No. 21. p. 335.).— Though not 
an answer to his question, “‘O. C.” may like to be 
informed that the arms of the impalement in the 
drawing which he describes are (according to 
Tzacke’s Exeter) those which were borne by 
Ralph Taxall, Sheriff of Devon, in 1519. Pole 
calls him Texshall. Modern heralds give the coat 
to Pecksall of Westminster. If a conjecture may 
be hazarded, I would suggest that the coat was a 
modification of the ancient arms of Batishull: a 
crosslet in saltier, between four owls. 8.8.58. 
4 
Gloves (No. 5. p.72.).—In connection with the 
subject of the presentation of gloves, | would refer 
your correspondents to the curious scene in Vicar's 
Parliamentary Chronicle, where “ Master Prynne,” 
on his visit to Archbishop Laud in the Tower in 
May 1643, accepts “a fair pair of gloves, upon the 
Archbishop's extraordinary pressing importunity ;” 
a 
a present which, under the disagreeable cireum- 
stances of the interview, seems to have been in- 
tended to convey an intimation beyond that of 
mere courtesy. 8.8. 
Cromlech.— As your learned correspondent 
“Dr. Topp” (No. 20. p. 319.) queries this word, 
I think it is very doubtful whether the word was 
in use, or not, before the period mentioned (16th 
century). Dr. Owain Pughe considered the word 
*cromlech” (erwm-llech, an inclined or flat stone,) 
to be merely a popular name, having no reference 
to the original purpose of the structure. The only 
Triadic name that will apply to the cromlechs, is 
maen ketti (stone chests, or arks), the raising of 
which is described as one of “ The three mighty 
labours of the Isle of Britain.” GomER. 
Watewich (pp. 60. 121. 236.).— May not “Wate- 
wich” be Waterbeach ? 8.8.8, 
“By Hook or by Crook.” —I imagine that the 
expression “By hook or by crook” is in very 
general use throughout England. It was familiar 
to my ear forty years ago in Surrey, and within 
these four years its origin was (to my satisfaction 
at the moment) brought home to my comprehen- 
sion in the north of Devon, where the tenant of a 
certain farm informed me that, by an old custom, 
he was entitled to take wood from some adjoining 
land “by hook and crook ;” which, on inquiry, I 
understood to include, first, so much underwood 
as he could cut with the hook or bill, and, secondly, 
so much of the branches of trees as he could pull 
down with the aid of a crook. 
Whether this crook originally meant the shep- 
herd’s crook (a very efficient instrument for the 
purpose), or simply such a crook-ed stick as boys 
use for gathering hazel-nuts, is not very material. 
It seems highly probable that, in the vast forests 
which once overspread this country, the right of 
taking “ fire bote” by “hook or crook” was recog- 
nised; and we can hardly wish for a more apt 
illustration of the idea of gaining a desired object 
by the ordinary means —“ a hook,” if it lay close 
to our hand; or, by a method requiring more 
effort, “a crook,” if it were a little beyond our 
reach. J. AS. 
By Hook or by Crook (pp. 205. 237. 281. &c.).— 
In confirmation of this phrase having reference to 
forest customs, my hind told me that my planta- 
tions were plundered by hook or by crook, and he 
and I once caught a man in flagrante delicto, with 
a hook for cutting green wood, and a crook at the 
end of a long pole for breaking off dry branches, 
which could not be otherwise reached. For an 
early. use of the terms, see Bacon’s Fortress of the 
Faithful, 1550. 
“ Whatsoever is pleasant or profitable must be theirs 
by hook or by crook.” 
