312 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



L2» d S. IX. April 21. 'CO. 



Raxlands : Mistakes in reading Old Docu- 

 ments (2 nd S. ix. 244.) — Your correspondent's 

 ingenuity in "wrestling" with the difficulty of 

 giving a meaning to raxlinds is worthy of all 

 praise, but it only adds another to the ten thou- 

 sand instances of how such difficulties arise from 

 want of familiarity with the characters formerly 

 used in written documents. To one familiar with 

 them, the characters interpreted raxlinds would 

 doubtless convey the meaning of captives, which 

 explains itself. It is worth knowing, and may 

 save some trouble to tyros in palaeography, that 

 many of the characters in use a century or two 

 back" are identical with those used in modern 

 German handwriting, especially c, p, r, t, s. The 

 old c somewhat resembles the modern English e 

 turned backwards way, and so might easily be mis- 

 taken for d in writing. A curious instance of 

 mistake from the cause alluded to happened not 

 long ago to myself. A medical friend consulted 

 me as to the meaning of the word nuctors, which 

 occurred in a printed medical work, in a quota- 

 tion from a MS. of Dr. Willoughby. We started 

 several brilliant conjectures about it, all equally 

 near the truth, which, on consulting the MS. it- 

 self, turned out to be not any "terrors of the 

 night," but simply emptors, i. e. authors. I enclose 

 tracings from parish documents of the year 1641 

 for the satisfaction of your Querist, which he may 

 have on application. J. Eastwood. 



Splinter-bar (2' ld S. ix. 177.) — The old form 

 of the word pointed out by Jatdee, spintree-bar, 

 leaves little doubt as to the true construction. 

 The splinter-bar is the part of the carriage to 

 which the traces are fastened. Now the term for 

 fastening draught cattle to the carriage is in Ger- 

 man spunnen, Sw. spanna, and in Old English 

 spang. Atteler, to spang, yoke, or fasten a horse, 

 ox, &c. to a plough or chariot (Cotgrave). The 

 spintree, then, is the tree or bar to which the 

 draught cattle are spanned. The word is extant 

 in Danish under ,the form speendetrae, which is 

 applied in some parts to a weaver's stick, and in 

 others to a pair of rafters. II. "Wedgwood. 



Carnival (2 nd S. ix. 197.) — There is no evi- 

 dence that St. Ambrose made any alteration in 

 the term of Lent : he speaks of it as already esta- 

 blished, and assigns as a reason for its consisting 

 of forty-two days, that such was the number of 

 stations of the Israelites in passing from Egypt, to 

 the promised land [Numb, xxxiii. 1 — 49.] (Serm. 

 xxxii., Ambr. Op. v. 22. B). He excepts, how- 

 ever, Sundays and Saturdays (Serm. xxvi. Op. v. 

 17. C). Such was the practice at Milan at the 

 end of the fourth century. The practice at Rome 

 at the end of the sixth century is described by 

 Gregory the Great, also, as consisting of forty- 

 two clays, but from which six Sundays were de- 

 ducted, leaving not more than thirty-six days of 



fasting (Homil. in Evang. i. 16.). It was only in 

 the papacy of Gregory II. (who died a.d. 731) 

 that four days were added to the thirty-six, by 

 commencing the fast on Ash- Wednesday (Gue- 

 ricke, Antiq. Ch. Ch., s. 24.). In the early ages 

 of the Christian Church there was much variance 

 as to the time and manner of keeping Lent (Sozom. 

 vii. c. 19.). (See Bingham, 1. xxi. c. 1.) On the 

 whole, the practice at Milan is of far greater anti- 

 quity than that of Rome. T. J. Buckton. 

 Lichfield. 



It is not right to say that the "privilege" re- 

 ferred to by Vebna was " granted to them (the 

 Milanese) by St. Ambrose." 



The fact is thus. Anciently there were but 

 thirty-six fasting days in Lent. Gregory the 

 Great ordained that the season of Lent should be 

 lengthened by four days, in order to make up the 

 full Quadragesima of fasting days. In conse- 

 quence of that ordinance the beginning of Lent 

 was thrown back four days, the first of which, the 

 Dies Cinerum, was to be observe*? with peculiar 

 solemnity. The Milanese, staunch to their pro- 

 fession of " noi Ambrogiani," have not accepted 

 the Gregorian prolongation of the season of Lent. 

 It was generally accepted throughout the rest of 

 Western Christendom at the commencement of 

 the thirteenth century. W. C. 



A Jew Jesuit (2 nd S. ix. 79.) — The Rev. 

 Philip Skelton, in the curious (if authentic) anec- 

 dote here given from his Senilia, asks, " Had this 

 man ever been a Christian ?" My answer would 

 be, Probably not. I would suggest, moreover, 

 that he might not be so ignorant of the circum- 

 stances of his birth as he professed to be, and that 

 he deferred an open avowal of his real principles 

 until his dying hour " for fear, or other base mo- 

 tives." I arrive at these conclusions on the au- 

 thority of statements contained in Leslie's Short 

 and Easy Method with the Jeivs, confirmed as they 

 to a certain extent are, if my memory does not 

 deceive me, by Mr. Borrow in his Bible in Spain. 

 Leslie asserts (after Limborch, Collet, p. 102.) 

 that " multitudes of the Jews have, to avoid per- 

 secution, embraced the Popish idolatry in divers 

 countries," especially in Spain and Portugal, and 

 that "many of their clergy, — Friars, Augustines, 

 Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, — bishops, and 

 even the inquisitors themselves, are Jews in their 

 hearts, and dissemble Christianity for the avoiding 

 of persecution, and to gain honours and prefer- 

 ments." (Sect. vii. § 6.) Wm. Matthews. 



Cowgill. 



DoiSNTBROOK, NEAR DUBLIN (2 nd S. viii. 119. ; 



ix. 171.) — Donnachy, or Donochie, is Gaelic for 

 Duncan; meaning, neither more nor less than 

 broton. Donat is still used as a proper name. I 

 had a servant, so called, when residing at one 

 time on the Continent. J. P. 0. 



