as 1331, and upon which their present hall was erected. The Company also owned property in Little Moorfields, where there formerly existed a Threadneedle Alley. EDWARD M. BORRAJO. The Library, Guildhall.

assigned to the thirteenth century. The three earliest manuscripts have been destroyed by fire. More than preserved, and before the great fire of 1728, in which the one MS. of the thirteenth century has, however, been

He shoots higher far

O happy earth! reality of heaven!
Shelley's Queen Mab,' part ix.
FREDK, RULE.

Meantime Clorinda hastes against the Franks, &c. These lines are a translation of the following quatrain in Tasso's 'Gerusalemme Liberata,' iii. 13:

Clorinda intanto incontra ai Franchi è gita;
Molti van seco, ed ella a tutti è innante:
Ma in altra parte, ond' è secreta uscita,
Sta preparato alle riscosse Argante;

but from whose translation I do not know. The following is Capt. A. C. Robertson's version of the passage:

Meanwhile, to meet the Franks, Clorinda went;
Many go with her, but she all precedes ;
Hard by a postern, to support her meant,
Is placed a party, which Argantë leads.
JONATHAN BOUCHIER.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &o. The Heimskringla; or, the Sagas of the Norse Kings. From the Icelandic of Snorre Sturlason. By Samuel Laing. Revised by Rasmus B. Anderson, LL.D. 4 vols. (Nimmo.)

MR. NIMMO has, for once, gone out of his ordinary path, and, instead of giving us in covetable and unsurpassable editions the masterpieces of English literature, has applied himself to a foreign source. Altogether fitted to justify the innovation is the book he has taken. Laing's translation of the Heimskringla' ranks as a classic. The original work won the warm praise of Thomas Carlyle, who classes it among "the great history books of the world." It is, indeed, the chief monument of Icelandic history, and as such is of unspeakable importance to a country linked to Iceland by ties all-important and manifold. Literally translated, the words "Heimskringla" signify "the world's circle," the work being named, like the Psalms in the Vulgate, from the opening words of the text. Its authorship is

son

most authoritative documents perished, these had been copied. Not until 1556 was a translation into Norwegian -never printed-made by Laurenti Hanssön. Other followed. In 1835 a German, and in 1844 an English rendering followed. Laing's English translation met with immediate recognition. Dr. Anderson, who is the United States minister to Denmark, and is already favourably known by his Norse Mythology' and his residence of four years in Copenhagen, and has prepared a new edition. His aim has been to supplement rather than replace the original. In the orthography of the proper names he has omitted a large number of superfluous consonants, substituting "Hal" for Hall, “ Olaf" for Olafsson, " Fin" for Finn, &c. The "jewel of consistency with regard to the spelling of old Norse names" is, he owns, not yet discovered. New notes, embodying the latest information collected by Hildebrand for his authoritative translation into Swedish of the 'Heimskringla,' have been substituted for those by Laing, which are held irrelevant or out of date. Vigfusson's chronology has also been employed. Maps showing approximately how the world looked to Norse eyes in the tenth and eleventh centuries have been added, and indexes- - one geographical and a second of persons and peoples, founded in part upon the edition of Prof. C. R. Unger-have been added. The value of these cannot easily be over-estimated. The skaldic verses Dr. Anderson has left as he found them. Apart from the importance of this 'Saga of the Norse Kings' as an historical contribution, appeal is made to all students of poetry, myth, and folk-lore. Here will be found the original of many stories in English and American literature, and of many singular superstitions. It is needless to say that light is cast upon much savage life and much heroic action. England is naturally the scene of much adventure. Did space permit quotation it would be pleasant to show the manner of Hauk Habrak's, literally "Hawk highbreeches," visit to London to King Athelstane, and the curious insult he put on the monarch, and other similar matters. The temptation must, however, be resisted. It is sufficient to say that we have here a storehouse of romance which the poet will find inexhaustible. In all bibliographical respects the work is worthy of Mr. Nimmo's quickly won and brilliantly maintained reputa

tion.

Story of the Nations.-Media, Babylon, and Persia. By Zenaïde A. Ragozin. (Fisher Unwin.) THIS is not Madame Ragozin's only contribution to the "Story of the Nations" series. It is, however, by far the most interesting one that she has yet written. It is not, indeed, probable that she will find any other historical subject which has a charm about it equal to that of our own ancestors. Aryan life and Aryan culture have done so very much for civilization that we lie under a great temptation to attribute everything to them, and it requires a strong will, if not a good memory, to keep the fact before us that our religion has in a great degree reached us from another quarter. When so very much that we most treasure has reached us as débris from the old Aryan dream-world it is not so easy as it should be to remember that Christianity in many of its most popular forms is almost entirely Semitic. Christianity, although arising among an almost purely Jewish community, at once opened her arms to

men of all races; and it is certain that before the end of the century men and women of Aryan blood were by far the more numerous. The growth of culture within the mystic sheepfold caused Aryan influences to predominate more and more. Madame Ragozin has begun her book at what some wiseacres will call the wrong end. Before telling us about the far-off past she takes us to the modern Gebers, or fire-worshippers, as they are nicknamed, and discourses on their present position and their wanderings in the hope of avoiding the sword of the Moslem, before she goes far back and tries to picture them to us in their own land. Sanskrit is the oldest form of their language with which we are acquainted. Students of the old time, when discoveries from the East were pouring in faster than we could organize them, were, not unreasonably perhaps, of opinion that Sanskrit was the primæval language when Teuton, Celt, Latin, Greek, and Hindoo were one people, living somewhere on the plains of central Asia. There must have been some point which was home to all of them; but the hive from which all these mighty nations swarmed off has never been identified, and there are men who still hold the most widely divergent theories concerning it. It is not, indeed, certain that these wide overflows took place at times near together.

The best part of the volume seems to us to be that which treats of Aryan mythology. Writers on this subject seldom call to mind that if information is gathered for scientific use every fragment should be put on record, but that if popular information be sought after a judicious selection should be made, and results given without all the little facts which have helped to build up a ground for certainty. In a subject so beset with difficulties it is not well to criticize, but we are of opinion that the sun and the sky, the storm, the storm cloud, and the lightning have given them more influence on the life and language of our forefathers than we should dare to attribute to them. If, however, the author has in this instance gone too far, she has erred in illustrious company. We must remember that at present almost everything in the early history of religion and language

is in a state of flux.

In the latter part of the book our footsteps tread firmly on the sands of history. Little record evidence of a trustworthy type has reached us, but Persian affairs constantly clash with Jewish and Greek evidences which cannot be overlooked. It is true that

The serpents hiss

On Asia's throne in lorn Persepolis; but the remains are there, and some of them have been turned to good account. Much more, if we mistake not, is awaiting the spade of the excavator.

Wedmore Parish Registers. Marriages, 1561-1839. (Wells, Jackson; Wedmore, Pople.) THE editor of this interesting parish register is not only a diligent antiquary, but an amusing preface-writer. He tells a story of how, on a certain occasion, having asked some schoolboys when the apostles lived, one little fellow said a thousand years ago, while another thought it was a million. This is an excellent illustration of the sort of knowledge many people have of chronology. Certain dates are forced into the memory in our schooldays, and beyond these, which are mostly picked at random, we rarely acquire any accurate chronological knowledge whatever. A writer in one of the current reviews has told us that in his part of England the peasants confound the Romans who made the roads with the Roman Catholics who built the minsters, making a blunder of somewhere about a thousand years in the process; but it is not safe to look down on our rural work-folk. How

many of our non-antiquarian readers could tell a questioner when parish registers were instituted in this country? yet this is a date far more worthy of being at hand when wanted than are certain births, accessions, and deaths, which are of little importance to any human being except the manufacturers of school-books and almanacs. Though 1538 is the year one of parish registers, there are not many of so old a date preserved to us. The Wedmore registers began in 1561, and are nearly perfect from that date. There seems, as is too often the case, to be a break in the Commonwealth time. The volume before us contains the portion devoted to marriages only. The editor has given, what we have never seen before attached to any printed register, an alphabetical list of all Christian names, with the number of times they occur. The results which this table gives are not a little curious. There are, for example, 1,069 Johns, and but one Frederick. Mary is by far the commonest female name. There are 58); next comes Elizabeth, with 405. There is but one Florence. This lady flourished in the seventeenth century.

Lady Godiva: a Story of Saxon England. By John B. Marsh. (Stock.) THIS is a tale which embodies the well-known tradition concerning Lady Godiva and the town of Coventry. There are very few people able to bring the past vividly before their readers, and Mr. Marsh is certainly not one of them. History and fiction rarely harmonize, but we suppose it is useless to try to get some writers-or, for the matter of that, readers also-to see this. This book may be liked by parents and guardians anxious to administer a very small quantity of historical knowledge hidden beneath a mass of imaginary details.

Notices to Correspondents.

We must call special attention to the following notices: ON all communications must be written the name and

address of the sender, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately.

To secure insertion of communications correspondents must observe the following rule. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication "Duplicate."

L. H. ("Minsheu's' Guide into the Tongues,' 1617 "). A copy of this sold in December, 1886, for 228. The second edition sells at a lower price.

IGNORAMUS.-Richard Cumberland, the editor of the Observer, was a prolific dramatist, and Secretary to the Board of Trade. Consult the Dictionary of National Biography' or the 'Biographia Dramatica.

T. A. DYSON ("Lincoln Minster").-The term "minster" indicates that a monastery previously existed on the site.

ERRATUM.-P. 456, col. 2, 1. 11 from bottom, for "Aries" read Arles (?).

NOTICE.

Editorial Communications should be addressed to "The Editor of Notes and Queries ""-Advertisements and Business Letters to "The Publisher "-at the Office, 22, Took's Court, Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, E.C.

We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception.

he left to his sister above-named, with all his furniture, &c., with remainder to Mrs. Jane Crispin, and to her son Robert after his father's death, charged with an annuity of 121. to his niece, Fanny Hoyle, after the death of his sister, Eleanor Hoyle. He bequeathed 5l. to Mrs. CentLivre,* of Queen Square, to pay for a mourning ring, to be worn in memory of him, and all the residue of his real and personal estate he left to his sister. Eleanor Hoyle is here described as a spinster. Fanny, therefore, must have been the daughter of a brother of our author, and may have had a brother of her own-a possibility to which I shall have to refer hereafter.

It is strange that no portrait of Hoyle should be known to exist. A picture, said to be his portrait, by Hogarth, was exhibited at the Crystal Palace some years ago (1870); but Mr. F. Hoyle, mentioned before, recognized this as a likeness of an ancestor of his own, one Edmond Hoyle, it is true, but not the Edmond Hoyle of whist. Again, it was stated ('N. & Q.,' 4th S. v. 259) that a portrait of the author appeared in one of the Dublin (pirated) editions of the book; but this has never yet been verified. Allibone's 'Dictionary' tells us that the last edition of Hoyle's 'Games' was published in 1761. How far that statement is accurate and trustworthy will appear from the following attempt at a bibliography of Hoyle's works. Before commencing this "attempt," however, I may as well say at once that it does not, and cannot, pretend to be complete or exhaustive in any sense. Such a pretence would manifestly be absurd in a first essay of this kind, for the books described, though never expensive, are yet often very difficult to find, and, when found, are frequently imperfect. I shall be glad indeed if my "attempt" should awake an interest in any contributors to 'N. & Q.' sufficient to prompt them, where they can, to amend my list by corrections or additions. JULIAN MARSHALL.

(To be continued.)

THE CHAMPION OF ENGLAND.

I can add to the interesting article which appeared lately in the Illustrated London News, giving the history of Scrivelsby and the Champion of England.

a

The Dymoke, the hereditary Champion of England, at the time of the coronation of George IV., was a clergyman. He had, therefore, to appoint deputy. The king was anxious that Sir Horace Seymour, a singularly handsome man (at one time an officer in the First Life Guards), son of Lord Hugh Seymour, should play the part." Mr. Dymoke, however, very properly refused, and appointed his son in his place. Sir Horace Seymour was, I believe, the first officer in the army who wore a

*Not the authoress, of course, who died in 1723.

cuirass. I have seen a miniature in the possession of his sister, the late Mrs. Dawson Damer, who inherited Mrs. Fitzherbert's house in Tilney Street, in which Sir Horace wears a cuirass bearing a gilded sun on the breast. Such was the design originally intended for the cuirasses of the Life Guards, adopted after Waterloo. Those actually worn by the men were the old iron-sides of the Civil War from the Tower; but none of them were nearly large enough for our stalwart troopers. Some years ago new cuirasses were made that fitted the men.

Two incidents occurred at the coronation that have fallen out of memory; one, the absurd idea that visited some brainless peeress, that the chief of a Highland clan, in the full dress of his rank, with pistols, &c., intended to assassinate the king. He was actually removed by force from the Abbey; and although profuse apologies were subsequently made to him by all, including especially the king, his just indignation lasted for a considerable time.

The other incident is ludicrous, if absurdity can ever attach to the glorious name of Wellington. The duke, who at no time of his life had been an expert rider, having to act as Lord High Constable of England for the day, and in that capacity to ride beside the Champion, took the wise precaution of hiring a horse from Ducrow's Amphitheatre. The duties of the Lord High Constable and Lord High Steward were to ride up on either side of the Champion, and after the latter had received the gold goblet from the hands of the king, to back their horses the whole length of Westminster Hall to the door. This being an unusual movement for a horse, the duke took care that his steed should be disciplined day by day to retrograde with proper dignity. The intelligent animal learned his lesson only too well. The Champion appeared, accompanied on one side by the Lord High Constable, on the other by the Lord High Steward, the Marquess of Anglesey. What was the horror of the spectators, and what must have been the condition even of that iron soul, when the duke found that his well-trained horse considered it part of his duty to proceed up the ball towards the king's chair of state backwards. I can conceive few things more grotesque than the hero of Waterloo, wearing his coronation robes and ducal coronet, approaching his sovereign tail foremost. No doubt the interference was prompt; but I should say that the duke could not have forgotten the incident to his last hour.

A few days ago I was told by the Earl of Lucan, still in full freshness and vigour, that he walked up the Hall of Westminster side by side with my father as page to the Earl of Lauderdale, he, Lord Lucan, being a man of twenty-two at the

time.

Well might the coronation which followed, of of William IV. and Queen Adelaide, be called