370 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2« d S. IX. May 12. '60. 



Martial, xi. 32., but nothing is said of his qua- 

 lities. In the Ranee, Bacchus, among other ad- 

 vantages which he expects from going to Hades 

 disguised as Hercules, mentions : — 



" IIoA.ei5, fiiaiTas, 7rav8oKeVTpia? ( ottov 

 Kopets oAr/iaroi." — v. 114. 



And in the Nubes, v. G99. et seq., Strepsiades, 

 though complaining bitterly of the bites, says no- 

 thing of the smell. Fitzhopkins. 

 Garrick Club. 



"Jon 



Dam 



bard 



E 



FLAMBARD BRASS AT HARROW. 



(2 nd S. ix. 179. 286.) 



Although the inscription forms two hexameters 

 I would arrange it thus : — 



ii° j {• marmore Nurainia ordine 



Tnmulatur 



quoque verbere Stigis 



funere hie tueatur ; " 



and translate it : — 



" John Flambard E(ques) is now, by God's decree, in 

 marble buried, and from the pains of Styx may he in 

 death be guarded ! " 



Or thus : — 



" John Flambard E(ques) 

 Now underneath this marble lies 

 By Deity's decree ; 

 And from the punishment of hell 

 In death may he be free ! " 



There seems no reason to question that modo, 

 and not medo, is correct ; but funere may mean 

 either death or funeral rites. The protection 

 must be from the stroke of Styx, whatever that 

 means, and not by it, except quite another point- 

 ing is adopted, joining quoque verbere Stigis to the 

 first line, and rendering, somewhat in inverted 

 order, — 



" Now by God's decree and the stroke of Styx, John 

 Flambard E. is entombed by the marble : in death (or by 

 funeral honours) may he be defended!" 



The E. cannot be translated, and clearly be- 

 longs to the name of the deceased, and will of 

 course mean Eques. The entire affair is fanciful, 

 and the arrangement was made so bizarre merely 

 in order to complete the two hexameters. 



Rev. John Williams makes some of the sug- 

 gestions here adopted ; but I cannot think with 

 him that hie tueatur means " may He defend," 

 since tueor is not only a deponent but a jxissive 

 verb. I admit it may be translated either way, 

 but prefer the one above given. Styx, Stygis, is 

 one of those pagan words which* our ancestors 

 pressed into the service of Christianity, and mani- 

 festly has the general meaning here of suffering in 

 the other world. " May John Flambard, Knight, 

 be preserved from suffering in the other world ! " 

 to which doubtless every good Catholic will say 

 '.'Amen!" B. H. C. 



I think that neither of your correspondents has 

 rightly made out the puzzling inscription on this 

 brass. First, let me repeat it : — 



_" Jon me do marmore Numinis ordine flam tuni'lat' 

 Bard q°3 verbere stigis E fun'e hie tueatur." 



My old and learned friend Canon Williams 

 appears to have been enticed too far by his in- 

 genious speculations. It is too bold a stroke to 

 substitute mo for me ; for when we recollect how 

 the word me is always written in such legends, we 

 cannot reasonably suppose that the letter o has 

 been mistaken for an e. I should be very thank- 

 ful to be allowed to see a rubbing of the inscrip- 

 tion, having more than once been able to settle 

 disputes of this kind by seeing the original. How- 

 ever, I do not expect to prove an (Edipus, to 

 "clear up the enigma beyond cavil;" but I will 

 hazard an interpretation which to me appears 

 natural and satisfactory. 



I adhere, then, to the reading me do, and con- 

 sider it to mean, " I give myself up, or submit to 

 the divine decree, which consigns me to the tomb." 

 In the second line, the second word is undoubt- 

 edly quoque : I am too familiar with contractions 

 on brasses to doubt that for a moment. The 

 letter E, I take to stand for et: for, if I am not 

 mistaken, I have seen other instances of the same. 

 The following, then, is my interpretation : — 



Jon me do 



(I) John resign myself 



marmore Numinis ordine flam tum , lai > bard g"3 



in marble by God's decree is buried Flam and Bard 



verbere stigis E fune 1 hie tueatur 

 may he (God) preserve (him) from the punishment 

 and burial of hell. 



It is worth noticing how the jingle of rhymes is 

 kept up in both lines : 



Jon me 



do marmore 



Numinis ordine 



flam tumulatur 

 Bard quoque 

 vulnere 

 Stigis e funere 



hie tueatur. 



F. C. H. 



INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT OF CHURCHES. 



(2 nd S. iv. 226.) 



While looking over some back volumes of " N. 

 k Q." I met with an article on this subject, in 

 which the writer considers that seats for the laity 

 do not appear to have been contemplated by the 

 builders of our Gothic edifices, but to have been 

 added in later times. I am inclined to think the 

 idea a correct one ; but, though the writer asks for 

 the opinion of others, I am sorry to find it has not 

 been taken up by any of your correspondents as 

 I could have hoped it would have been. 



