2° d S. IS. Feb. 18. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



181 



own imprudence and folly is, up to the present 

 time, laid at the door of the much maligned " In- 

 closure Acts." I remember, some years ago, in 

 ' hunting over an old library, discovering a box 

 full of printed squibs, satires, and ballads of the 

 time against the Acts and those who were sup- 

 posed to favour them, — the library having be- 

 longed to a gentleman who played an active part 

 on the opposition side. I believe these ballads, 

 &c, were almost purely local, and, therefore, 

 would be of no service to Mr. Peacock, your cor- 

 respondent, as they bore reference to a county 

 very far from Lincolnshire. One little naive 

 epigram I remember, which forcibly impressed 

 itself on my memory : — 



" 'Tis bad enough in man or woman 

 To steal a goose from off a common ; 

 But surely he's without excuse 

 Who steals the common from the goose." 



Ex.ON. 



Donkey (2 nd S. ix. 83.) — In reference to this 

 word, a correspondent in 1 st S. v. 78., after refer- 

 ring to its absence from our dictionaries, adds : 

 " There may, however, be doubts as to the anti- 

 quity of this term ; I have heard ancient men say 

 that it has been introduced within their recollec- 

 tion." This is confirmed by the circumstance 

 that Mr. S. Pegge (who died in 1800) classes the 

 word amongst provincialisms. In his Supplement 

 to Grose's Provincial Glossary, appended to Eev. 

 H. Christmas's edition (the 3rd) of his Anecdotes 

 of the English Language (1844, p. 365.), he gives : 

 " Donkt, an ass. Essex." Can your correspon- 

 dents give early instances of the use of the word ? 

 Why is a donkey universally called, in Norfolk, a 

 dichey ? Acite. 



The Label in Heraldry (2 nd S. ix. 80.) — 

 " Labels were originally a sort of Scarf, or Band, with 

 hanging Lingels, Tongues, or Points, which young men 

 wore about their Kecks, as Cravats or Neckcloths are 

 worn now-a-days. This sort of Ribbands were tied to 

 the Neck of the Helmet, and when this was placed on the 

 Shield it cover'd the upper part of it; which served to 

 distinguish the Sons from their Fathers, because none 

 hut unmarried men wore them; and this was the Occa- 

 sion of their being used as Differences," &c. — Boyer's 

 Heraldry, p. 275., a.d. 1729. 



Senex Junior. 



Fictitious Pedigrees (2 nd S. ix.Gl.) — Although 

 Mr. Spence was a great manufacturer of fancy 

 pedigrees, he could not very well have forged all 

 tin.' Cotgreave MSS. ; but merely, by addition, 

 subtraction, or substitution, have put them under 

 contribution in the way of ingenious dovetailing. 

 Where then, let me ask, are these MSS.? If 

 forthcoming and genuine, they might be of valu- 

 able service to the county-historian, the antiquary, 

 and the genealogist. I believe they were not 

 known to, or at least not used by, Air. Ormerod 

 in his valuable History of Cheshire, — a circuin- 

 itanoe which, though suspicious, may perhaps be 



properly accounted for by the fact of their being 

 private family documents. Now, however, that, 

 the last of the family is dead, no excuse for pri- 

 vacy need be observed. I take this opportunity 

 to say, that I quite concur with your valued cor- 

 respondent Jaydee as to the Spencean upper- 

 portion of the Sherwood pedigree, and entirely 

 exonerate the lady. R. "W. Dixon. 



Seaton-Carew, co. Durham. 



Burial in a Sitting Posture (2 nd S. ix. 44. 

 94.) — I can furnish your correspondent with one 

 more instance of burial in a sitting position. At 

 Messina there is a church attached to one of its 

 numerous monasteries, by name, I think, St. Ja- 

 como, in which several monks are buried in a 

 sitting position, and may be seen through a grat- 

 ing in a vault below the church. This church is 

 situated at the top of the hill overlooking the 

 town on the road to the "Telegraph." I believe 

 numerous instances occur at Palermo, but I did 

 not get so far. M. Fodder. 



Yoftregere (2 nd S. ix. 11.) — Can this word 

 be in any manner connected with obstringillis, 

 which occurs in John of Bridlington's political 

 poem, accompanied by the following explanation 

 in the commentary? " Plebs obstringillis, i. ob- 

 structa et captiva." See Political Poems and 

 Songs, edited by Thomas Wright, Esq., under au- 

 thority of the Master of the Rolls, vol. i. pp. 176, 

 177. J. Sansom. 



Peppercomb (2 nd S. ix. 11.) — Pepper- Harrow, 

 Peper-Harow, or Peper-Hare, Surrey, was for- 

 merly Pipard-Harrow, and in Domesday, Piper- 

 herge. According to Manning, it was so called 

 from Pipard or Pepard, an ancient proprietor, 

 and the Saxon word are, signifying " a possession 

 or estate," q. d. Pipard's estate. (The A.-S. are is 

 a court-yard, area.) Pepper, in local names, may 

 sometimes be a corruption of Peover. There arc 

 three places (Little, Nether, and Over), so named 

 in Cheshire. Pepper may, in some instances, be 

 a corruption of Bever, which is found frequently 

 in local names, not only in England, but also on 

 the Continent, as in Biberach, Biberack, Biebrich, 

 Bievres, from G. biber, Fr. bievre, from Lat. fiber, 

 a beaver. R. S. Charnock. 



Dryburgh Inscription (2 nd S. ix. 80.) — The 

 words appear to be " felo de se et arsa," meaning 

 that " the woman committed suicide and was 

 burnt." T. J. Buckton. 



Lichfield. 



Bishop preacuing to April Fools (2 nd S. ix. 

 12.)- 



"L'Electeur de Cologne, fr.ere de l'Electeur de Bavifere, 

 e"tant a Valenciennes, annonoa, qu'il prfcheroit lo 1 CI 

 Avril. La foule fut prodigieuse h l'Kglise, l'Electeur 

 e"tant en chain salua gravement 1'auditoire, fit le sigue 

 de la croix, ct cria; 'Poisson d'Avril!' Puis desceudit, 



