Feb. 22. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



151 



■whicli has attracted some attention, " a person in 

 a low way of life." 



The passage from Skelton, cited hy your cor- 

 respondent F. S. Q., may, I think, be explained 

 thus : the will is so powerful in man's moral con- 

 stitution, that the reason must content itself with 

 an inferior place (as that of a scullion compared 

 with that of the master of the house) ; or if it at- 

 tempts to assert its proper place, it will find it 

 a hopeless endeavour — as hopeless as that of 

 " posting a stone." X. Z. 



Hornbooks (Vol. ii., pp. 167. 236 ). — In answer 

 to Mr. Times, I send you the following particulars 

 of a Hornbook in the British Museum, which I 

 have this morning examined. 



It is marked in the new catalogue (Press Mark 

 828, a. 5.5.). It contains on one side the " Old 

 English Alphabet" — the capitals in two lines, the 

 small letters in one. The fourth line contains the 

 vowels twice repeated (perhaps to doubly impress 

 upon the pupil the necessity of learning them). 

 Next follow, in two columns, our ancient com- 

 panions, " ab, eb, ib," &c., and " ba, be, bi," &c. 

 After the formula of exorcism comes the " Lord's 

 Prayer" (which is given somewhat differently to 

 our present version), winding up with " i. ii. iii. 

 iiii. V. vi. vii. viii. ix. x." On the other side is 

 the following whimsical piece of composition : — 



" What more could be wished for, even by a literary 

 gourmand under the Tudors, than to be able to Read and 

 Spell ; To repeat that holy charm before which fled all 

 unholy Ghosts, Goblins, or even the old Gentleman him- 

 telf to the very bottom of the Red Sea, and to say that 

 immortal prayer, which secures heaven to all who ex 

 animo use it, and those mathematical powers, by knowing 

 units, from which spring countless myriads." 



Now for my " Query." Can any of your cor- 

 respondents oblige me with the probable date of 

 this literally literary treasure, or refer me to any 

 source of information on the subject ? 



Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie. 



Bacon (Vol. iii., p. 41.). — The explanation 

 given in a former number from old Verstegan, of 

 the original meaning of the family name of Bacon, 

 and the application of the word to the unclean 

 beast, with the cori-oboration from the pages of 

 Collins's Baronetage, is very interesting. The 

 word, as applied to the salted flesh of the dead 

 animal, is another instance of the introduction of a 

 foreign terni for a dead animal, in opposition to 

 the Anglo-Saxon name of the living animal. It 

 was used in this sense in France at a very early 

 period; and Ampere, in his Histoire Litteraire de la 

 France avant le \2ieme Siecle, iii. 482., mentions 

 the word among other instances of Gallicisms in 

 the Latin of the Carolingian diplomas and capitu- 

 laries, and quotes the capitularies of Charles the 

 Fat. Bacco, pore sale, from the vidgar word 

 hacon, jambon. The word was in use as late as the 



seventeenth century in Dauphine, and the border- 

 ing cantons of Switzerland, and is cited in the 

 Moyen de Parvenir, ch. 38. The passage is cu- 

 rious, as it would seem to intimate that Lord 

 Bacon was one of the personages introduced in 

 that very extraordinary production of the Ka- 

 belaisian school. 



I have frequently heard the word employed by 

 the country people in the markets of Geneva. 



J. B. D. 



Lachrymatories (Vol. ii., pp. 326. 448-). — In 

 illustration of the question as to the probable use 

 of those small vases so commonly found in sepul- 

 chral monuments, I extract the following from 

 Wayfaring Sketches among the Greeks and Turks. 

 2d edit. Introduction, pp. 6, 7. London : Chap- 

 man, 1849. 



" The poorest of the sepulchres is certain to con- 

 tain (in Greece) at least a few of these beautiful vases, 

 the lachrymatories, &c. 



* * if -^ ^ H- 



When found in the graves of females, their form would 

 generally seem to indicate that they had been used for 

 containing scents, and other requisites of the toilet ; 

 in one that was found not long since, there was a pre- 

 paration evidently (?) of rouge or some such paint for 

 the face, &c., the mark left by the pressure of two fingers 

 of a small hand was distinctly visible (?)." 



To me, ignorant as I am of antiquarian matters, 

 this sounds very curious ; and I send it you in 

 case you may find it worthy of insertion, as pro- 

 vocative of discussion, and with the utilitarian 

 idea that I may gain some information on the 

 subject. C. D. Hamont. 



Greenock, Jan. 16. 1851. 



Scandal against Queen Elizabeth (Vol. iii., 

 p. 11.). — An intercepted letter, apparently from 

 a popish priest, preserved among the Venetian 

 correspondence in the State Paper Office, gives 

 the following account of the death-bed of the 

 Queen ; which, as illustrative of the observations 

 of your correspondent Codtn Gtwn, may not be 

 uninteresting : — 



" London, 9 Martii, 1603. 



" About 10 dayes synce dyed the Countess of 

 Notingham. The Queene loved the Countess very 

 much, and hath seemed to take her death very heavelye, 

 remayning euer synce in a deepe melancholye, w"" con- 

 ceipte of her own death, and complayneth of many in- 

 firniyties, sodainlye to haue ouertaken her, as impostu- 

 mecofi in her head, aches in her bones, and continual! 

 cold in her legges, besides notable decay in iudgem' 

 and memory, insomuch as she cannot attend to any 

 discources of governm* and state, but delighteth to heare 

 tome of the 100 merry tales, and such like, and to such is 

 uery attentiue ; at other tymes uery impatient, and 

 testye, so as none of the Counsayle, but the secretary, 

 dare come in her presence." 



May we not class this story of her majesty's 



