gna §, No 3., Jan. 19. °56.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
57 
one syde: theyr legges are thyn and stender, lyke a 
fawne or hynde; the hoofes of the fore feete are diuided 
in two, much like the feete of a goate; the outwarde 
part of the hynder feete is very full of heare. This beaste 
seemeth doubtlesse very wylde and fierce, yet tempereth 
that fiercenesse with a certaine comlinesse. These vni- 
cornes one gave to the Soltan of Mecha, as a most pre- 
cious and rare gyfte. They were sent hym out of Ethiope 
by a kynge of that countrey, who desired by that present 
to gratifie the Soltan of Mecha.” 
Henry Kensineton. 
“ Solamen miseris,’ §c.— I have searched in 
vain for the birth-place of the well-known line, — 
“Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris,” 
Can you refer me to it? B. 
Minar Queries with Auswers. 
Death of King John. —Dipping into vol. v. of | 
Dr. Merle d’Aubigné’s History of the Reformation | 
(8vo., Oliver and Boyd, 1853), I find at p. 98. a 
statement of the cause of King John’s death 
which is quite new to me, namely, that he “drank 
‘copiously of cider, and died of drunkenness and 
fright ;” and, referring to the foot-note, I find the 
following quotation from Matthew Paris, as the 
authority for the statement in the text, viz. “ Novi 
| ing the Argument @ priori. 
| dral, 
ciceris potatione nimis repletus.” A comparison 
of the two might suggest that the English was 
only an illiterate guess at the meaning of the 
Latin; and there are other specimens of trans- 
lation in the work which render the suspicion not 
uncharitable.* But, waving this, my object is to 
ask, What was this potatio novi ciceris? It was 
hardly green-pease soup in October. It has no 
resemblance either to the decoction of toad of one 
author, or to the pears of another, or the peaches 
of a third. What was it? 2 pid evel 
[The passage in Matthew Paris is as follows :— 
“Auxit autem egritudinis molestiam perniciosa ejus 
ingluvies, qui nocte illa de fructu persicorum et novi 
ciceris potatione nimis repletus, febrilem in se calorem 
acuit fortiter et accendit;” which is thus translated by 
Dr. Giles; “His sickness was increased by his pernicious 
gluttony, for that night he surfeited himself with peaches 
and drinking new cider, which greatly increased and ag- 
gravated the fever in him.” The drink ciceris in Mat- | 
thew Paris is called pomarium by Matthew Westminster ; 
and by Dr. Brady, p. 517., new bracket. Foxe, following 
Matthew Paris, says, “ His ague increased through evil 
surfeiting and naughty diet, by eating peaches and drink- 
ing new ciser, or, as we call it, cider.” Ciceris, cicer, or | 
sicera, seems to be a general term for all intoxicating 
liquors, except wine, made from vegetable substances: 
“Est omnis potio, que extra vinum inebriare potest.” 
(Du Cange, s. v. Sicera). Cider is probably the beverage 
meant, as the epithet novi is added; the king’s death 
* See, for example, the second foot-note at p. 23., and 
the third foot-note at p. 32., respectively compared with 
the text; also the first foot-note at p. 50. Anti-episco- 
pacy seems at the bottom of the two latter perversions. 
having happened in the middle of October, when this 
drink is usually made. Consult Nares’s Glossary, art. 
Bragget. ] 
Dr. Clarke's ‘‘ Discourse.” — What work is 
meant by Dr, Clarke’s Discourse concerning the 
Connexion of the Prophels? It is referred to by 
Bishop Sherlock on Prophecy, p. 238.n. LR.R. 
[This work is entitled, A Discourse concerning the Con- 
nevion of the Prophecies in the Old Testament, and the Ap- 
plication of them to Christ: being an extract from the 
| sixth edition of 4 Demonstration of the Being and Attri- 
To which is added, A Letter concern - 
By Samuel Clarke, D.D., 
8vo., 1725. ] 
butes of God, §c. 
Rector of St. James’s, Westminster. 
The Close. — At Lincoln, Salisbury, and other 
cathedrals, there is a place called “The Close,” 
which is occupied by the dignitaries of the cathe- 
What is the origin of it ? 
Fra. Mewnurn. 
Darlington. 
[The Close, Lat. clawsum, an enelosed place. Du 
Cange says, “ CLAusA, locus, seu des, in qua inclusi mo- 
nachi degebant. Vita S. Gamelberti, cap. ii, n, 14., ‘ad 
fenestram clause in qua latebat.’ ” ] 
Replies, 
MACHINE HEXAMETERS. 
(Vol. xii., p. 470.) 
A short account of this ‘method of grinding 
Latin verses,” written by myself, appeared, a few 
years ago, in Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal 
(No. 326., New Series) ; I here add a few further 
remarks on the same subject. The tables, alluded 
to by I. H. A., are composed by setting down, in 
consevutive order, every first letter of the follow- 
ing words; then every second letter ; then every 
third letter; and so on, till all the letters form- 
ing the words are thus placed. Observing, that 
such words as do not contain nine, or the required 
number of letters, must have their deficiencies 
supplied by blanks or asterisks, ‘The first words 
of verses, thus arranged, will form the first table ; 
the second words of verses the second table; and 
so on in regular succession. 
HEXAMETER, 
First Words of Verses.—'Turbida, ignea, pes- 
sima, horrida, aspera, martia, barbara, lurida, 
effera. 
Second Words of Verses. — Fata, signa, damna, 
bella, vincla, sistra, castra, scorta, tela. 
Third Words of Verses.—Sequi, foris, pati, 
tuis, domi, patet, puto, palam, ferunt. 
Fourth Words of Verses. — Premonstrant, pro- 
ritant, promittunt, protendunt, producunt, mon- 
strabunt, progignent, prenarrant, promulgant. 
Fifth Words of Verses. —Tempora, pocula, 
