Mae. 1. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



167 



Christmas Day. — Which of the popes fixed 

 dogmatically the 25th of December as the birthday 

 of our Saviour ? Was it not either Julius I. or 

 II. ? and what grounds had he for his decision? 



J.C. 



A Coggeshall Job. — " Saffron Walden, God help 

 me." — Has the old saying of" A Coggeshall Job " 

 occupied the attention of your readers ? And 

 why is it that many of the mendicants who 

 ramble the county of Suffolk in search of relief, 

 when asked where they come from, reply in a 

 pitiful tone, " Saffron Walden, God help me." 



J.C. 



Easton. 



T. Gilburt on Clandestine Marriages. — I have a 

 MS. against the validity of clandestine marriages, 

 dated from Oxford, June 23rd, 1G82, signed T. 

 Gilburt. It is a learned and argumentative trea- 

 tise on this subject. It is entitled : 



" An Argument against the Validitie of Clandestine 

 Marriages in the Sight of God. Sent with a Letter 

 to a person of Qualitie desiring my Judgment in y» 

 case wherein he was too nenrly concerned." 



I am anxious to know who this T. Gilburt may 

 have been. W. F. 



Father Hehl, and Cahagnet. — If anj' of j'our 

 numerous readers can say where any account of 

 Father Hehl, who in 1774 discovered animal mag- 

 netism, may be found ; and whether such a person 

 as M. L. Alph. Cahagnet is living in Paris or else- 

 where, whether he is a doctor or pharmacien, 

 what his age may be, and whether the persons 

 whose letters are given in his book, Arcanes de la 

 Vie future devoiles, are real or imaginary beings, 

 they will greatly comfort Engastrimtthus. 



Roman Catholic Bishops in Ireland. — Can any 

 of your readers refer me to any printed or manu- 

 script account of the appointment of Roman 

 Catholic bishops in Ireland by the Stuart family 

 subsequent to the death of James II., containing 

 names, dates, &c. ? Dbumlethglas. 



Derivation of the Word Fib. — Can any of your 

 T'eaders suggest a proper derivation of this word? 

 Old Bailey, to whom a reference would occasionally 

 save many doubts and inquiries, connects it with 

 " fable." Johnson says nothing as to the ety- 

 mology, but explains it as " a cant word among 

 children;" while, at the same time, he inserts it 

 on the authority of Pope and Arbuthnot. 



In reading the works of that very learned and in- 

 structive author, Samuel Werenf'els, I was struck 

 with a passage in his Diatribe de Meteoris, p. 272. 

 (Amstel. ^Ve^3tein, 1702), which seemed to furnish 

 a probable sf)lution of the question : — "Propter 

 abusum nominis Phoebi evenit, ut omnes (^ui, 

 altius in oratione, quam decet, se exlollere volunt, 

 Gallis hodiernis (poiSoKoyfw Phoebum locjui, Purler 



Phebus, dicantur." So far as the sound is con- 

 cerned, this seems a nearer approximation to " fib" 

 than the word " fable." The sense, too, is not 

 verj/ remote from the accepted one of " talking 

 fibs." Query, as to this conjecture ? C. H. P. 



Brighton, Feb. 10. 1851. 



Thomas May., the Author of the Supplement to 

 Lucan. — Who was this Thomas May? To an 

 Elzevir edition of Lucan, 16-58, Amsterdam, "ac- 

 curanto Cornelio Schrevelio," there is added " Sup- 

 plementuni Lucani Libri Septem ; authore Thoma 

 Maio, Anglo." In the preface it is stated, " Sup- 

 plementum Lucani ab Anglo quodam antehac 

 seorsim editum, et huic materiae aptissimum ad- 

 junximus, ne cpiid esset quod hie desideraretur.' 

 In the fourth book of this Supplement, Cato is 

 represented as soliloquising before his death as 

 follows : — 

 " Quam divcrsa, inquit, restant post funera sortes ! 

 Credo cquidem, divine Plato, te dogmata vera 

 HfEc ipsum docuisse Deuni. Deus ipse sequendam 

 (Aut Natnra homines ratioque innata fefellit) 

 Proposuit virtutem, et prasmia debita justis 

 Ha;c quonian justos injusta potentia fraudat 

 Sspius in terris, et gens humana rebellat 

 Solvere post mortem justissimus ipse tenetur." 

 The famous soliloquy in Addison's Cato seems 

 to resemble this, in its general tone of thought. 

 In a former passage occur these lines : — 

 " Solatia sola hjec, 

 Quod meliore frui post mortem lumine sperat. 

 Immortalem animam spes bfec probat." 



The idea is similar to that contained in — 



" Else wlience this pleasing hope, this fond desire, 

 This longing after immortality?" 



Addison seems to me to have had May's de- 

 scription of Cato's death in his mind, when he 

 wrote the soliloquy. J. H. L. 



Bunting's Irish Melodies. — This admirable 

 musical scholar many years since promised a new 

 edition of the first two volumes of his Irish Airs. 

 Is there any hope of this being soon accomplished ? 



George Stephens. 



Stockholm. 



Rudbeck, Campi Elysii. — A copy of this work 

 is said to exist in Sherard's* Collection,'m the Bo- 

 tanical Garden, Oxford. It must have been 

 acquired before 1797. (See Bibliotheca Banksiana, 

 iii. 67.) 



Vol. I. — The title and some following leaves are 

 written. Does any note exist as to who copied 

 these leaves, or when, or ivhei-e ? 



Is any name of any former owner written 

 on the book-back, title, or elsewhere ; or is it 

 known when it was purchased, or at what price ? 



• Sherard, 1738. 



