14 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"J S. IX. Jan. 7. '60. 



above ancient French word. Is it a single or com- 

 pound word; and, if the latter, can it be an abbre- 

 viation of outre-passei; as if one should say "to pass 

 out of time ?" An answer will oblige A. B. R. 



[The French etymologists derive tre'passer, through its 

 corresponding noun trepas ; death (iu old Fr. trespas, It. 

 trapasso, Romance traspas, trespas,) from L. trans and 

 passus ; and Menage is very decided in maintaining that 

 the Fr. ties (of disputed origin) is from the L. trans. 

 We think, however, that some consideration is certainty 

 due to our correspondent's suggestion that trc'passer may 

 possibb' be an abbreviation of outrepasser, taking outre 

 (formerly oultre) as a Fr. modification of the L. ultra, 

 and at the same time bearing in mind that we have in 

 It. oltrapassare, oltrepassare, and in Romance outrapas- 

 sar, outrepassar.] 



Life of Lord Clive. — Who has collected the 

 best account of this extraordinary man ? Or must 

 his Life be sought for in the history and the 

 journals of the times in which he lived ? 



Vkyan Rheged. 



[Consult The Life of Robert dim, collected from the 

 Family Papers, communicated bv the Earl of Powis, by 

 Major-Gen. Sir John Malcolm, K.C.B., 3 vols. 8vo., 1836. 

 Also " Lord Clive," by the late Lord Macaulay, iu The 

 I'raveller's Library, 1851.] 



" A propos de bottes." — Can any one tell 

 me the origin of the phrase a propos de bottes f 



Selrach. 



[Tn offering the received explanation of this phrase, it 

 is necessary to premise that on this side of the Channel, 

 we use the expression in a sense somewhat more limited 

 than that attached to it by the French. We say "h pro- 

 pos de bottes " (or " a propos to nothing "), when a sub- 

 ject is " brought in neck and shoulders." But in France 

 they apply the phrase to any thing that is done without 

 motive. "Ilditdes injures a propos de bottes." "Use 

 fache a propos de bottes." The saying is thus accounted 

 for. A certain Seigneur, having lost an important cause, 

 lold the king (Francois I.) that the court had un-booted 

 him (Favait ddbotte'). What he meant to say was, that 

 the court had decided against him (II avait etc" deboute", cf. 

 med.-Lat. debotare). The king laughed, but reformed the 

 practice of pleading in Latin. The gentlemen of the bar, 

 feeling displeased at the change, said that it had been 

 made a propos de bottes. Hence the application of the 

 phrase to any thing that is done " sans motif raison- 

 nable," or " bors de propos." (Cf. Bescherelle on botte.) 

 A slightly different explanation, but to the same effect, 

 is given by Carpentier under debotate, DuCange.] 



"The Ragman's Roll." — What is the origin of 

 this title to the catalogue of names of those Scots 

 who swore fealty to Edward I. ? Dorricks. 



[So many conjectures have been offered respecting the 

 origin of the uncouth appellation, "Ragman Rolls," that 

 we must refer our correspondent to the editorial Preface 

 to Instrumenta Publiia sive Processus super Fidelitatibus 

 et Homagiis Scotorum Domino Regi Anglian Factis A. D. 

 1291—1296 (Bannatyne Club), 4to. 1831, edited by T. 

 Thomson, as well as to Dr. Jamieson's elaborate illus- 

 trations of the meaning of this word in his Etymological 

 Dictionary, 4to. 1808. Mr. Thomson says, that "it seems 

 to be abundantly obvious that in diplomatic language 

 the term Ragman properly imports an indenture or other 

 legal deed executed under the seals of the parties ; and 

 consequently that its application to the Rolls in question 



implies that they are the record of the separate ragmans, 

 or sealed instruments of homage and fealty, executed by 



the people of Scotland Dr. Jaraieson is inclined to 



prefer a Teutonic etymology, suggested by what seems to 

 have been rather an infrequent use of it, implying ac- 

 cusation or crimination. It must, however, be confessed 

 (adds Mr. Thomson) that after all the origin of Ragman 

 still remains a problem for future lexicographers."] 



Claude, Pictures by. — According to Smith's 

 Catalogue of Painters, Claude's " Judgment of 

 Paris " is in the possession of the Duke of Buc- 

 cleugh. I should be obliged to any reader of 

 "N. & Q." who would inform me iu which of his 

 Grace's collections it is contained. Also in what 

 collection is Claude's " Cephalus and Procris," 

 which, when engraved by Vivares, was in the 

 possession of Lord Clive ? IT. S. Oram. 



[Of" Cephalus and Procris " there are two pictures in 

 the National Gallery. Of the "Judgment of Paris" 

 there are four; one in the collection of the Duke of Buc- 

 cleugh, and one formerly in that of the Prince of Peace 

 at Rome.] 



&pjjlt'rst. 



WATSON, HORNE, AND JONES. 

 (2 nd S. viii. 396.) 

 It would be satisfactory if Mr. Gutch's Query 

 should draw forth any sermon written by the 

 Rev. George Watson. I never yet met with one, 

 nor can I find mention of his name and works in 

 any Catalogue which I have consulted. Their 

 scarcity will presently be explained. The sermon, 

 of which Mr. Jones speaks in Mr. Gutch's ex- 

 tract, is thus alluded to by Bishop Home, in his 

 Commentary on the Nineteenth Psalm : — 



" If the reader shall have received an}' pleasure from 

 perusing the comment on the foregoing Psalm, he stands 

 indebted to a Discourse entitled ' Christ the Light of the 

 World,' published in the year 1750, by the late Rev. Mr. 

 George Watson [of University College] for many years 

 the dear companion and kind director of the author's 

 studies ; in attending to whose agreeable and instructive 

 conversation he has often passed whole days together, and 

 shall always have reason to number them among the best 

 spent days of his life ; whose death he can never think of 

 without lamenting it afresh : and to whose memory he 

 embraces, with pleasure, this opportunity to pay the tri- 

 bute of a grateful heart." — Bishop Home's Works, vol. ii. 

 p. 119. 



The same prelate has appended the following 

 note to bis own striking and beautiful sermon, 

 " The prevailing Intercessor" : — 



" The plan and substance of the foregoing Discourse 

 are taken from one published some years ago, by my late 

 learned and valuable friend the Rev. Mr. Watson. But 

 it always seemed to me that he had much abated the 

 force and energy which the composition would otherwise 

 have possessed, bj T introducing a secondary and subordi- 

 nate subject. I was therefore tempted to work up his 

 admirable materials afresh." — Works, vol. iv. p. 370. 



An interesting sketch of Mr. Watson's cha- 

 racter, with a high tribute to his talents, will be 



