the next year the cover for January, 1869, was working classes of London. Within the last twenty entirely new, printed in black and red, on yellow years saloop vendors might have been seen plying paper, with an admirable design by John Leighton, their trade in the streets of London. The term F.S.A. In the four corners of the design were four saloop was also applied to an infusion of the sun-dials, bearing the following Shakspearean quota- sassafras bark or wood. In Pereira's 'Materia tion: (1) "What, keep a week away! seven days Medica,' published in 1850, it is stated that and nights; (2) Eight score eight hours, and "sassafras tea, flavoured with milk and sugar, is Lovers' absent hours; (3) More tedious than the sold at daybreak in the streets of London under the dial eight score times; (4) O, weary reckoning! name of saloop." Saloop in balls is still sold in Shakspeare, Othello,' Act III. sc. iv." When a London, and comes mostly from Smyrna. "New Series" was started, in 1873, a fresh cover A. B. S. was designed by F. Waddy, in which the four [Very many contributors are thanked for replies.] quotations reappeared with a fresh treatment. But before the end of the same year there was HARPER, OR HARPUR (7th S. vi. 505).—In reply another "New Series," with a new cover and a to the query as to how the wife of John Bannister fresh design, omitting the quotation from Shak-wrote her maiden name, I think I can produce

speare.

CUTHBERT BEDE.

GRAHAM OF GARTMORE (7th S. vi. 500).-Under the title of "O tell me how to woo thee," Sir Walter Scott, in 'The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,' 1812, has the following note :

incontrovertible evidence; namely, that of the lady herself. I have before me a "sampler "-now the property of her granddaughter-on which are the words, "Elizabeth Harper ended this Sampler febuary the 1 in the Eigth year of her Age, Anno Dommin MDCCLXVI."

I may also take the opportunity of saying that during Mr. Bannister's life he used armorial bear

"The following verses are taken down from recitation, and are averred to be of the age of Charles I. They have, indeed, much of the romantic expression of passion, common to the poets of that period, whose lays stillings, Argent, a cross patonce sable within a border reflected the setting beams of chivalry; but, since their publication in the first edition of this work, the editor has been informed that they were composed by the late

Mr. Graham of Gartmore."

The Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen' gives Robert Graham of Gartmore, b. 1750, d. 1797, as author of this song, which begins :

If doughty deeds my ladye please,
Right soon I'll mount my steed.

ONESIPHORUS.

SALOOP (7th S. vi. 468).-The starchy roots of Orchis morio and O. mascula supplied the material for saloop, which was a kind of gruel sold at stalls and houses of refreshment, as we now have "Bovril, served hot." The Eastern name for such food is sahleb; the English name in "good society" is salep; in the language of the people saloop. When gruel is called "slab" we probably have saloop at one remove. It is not improbable that in Lamb's time sassafras was tacked on to the starchy stuff in saloop; but it has no more right to such a place than chicory has to be mixed with coffee.

SHIRLEY HIBBERD.

Saloop, salep, salop, and saleb are synonymous terms, derived from the Arabic sahleb, the equivalent of the Greek orchis. It is a starch procured principally from orchid tubers, and was largely exported to this country from the East before the discovery of coffee. It is made up in small yellow balls, which are ground to a fine powder before being used. Like its substitutes, coffee and tea, it is mixed with boiling water and milk, and sweetened to taste. It used to be considered a very wholesome beverage in this country, and was sold ready prepared in the early morning to the

gules, bezantée; impaling Argent, a lion rampant
within a border engrailed sable. These latter
arms, I believe, are those of a well-known Derby-
shire family from which Mrs. Bannister was
descended, but whose name has been subject to
similar variety of spelling, although it is now
usually written with a u. Mrs. Bannister died in
1849, aged ninety-one.
G. H.

I have a Haymarket play-bill of Saturday, given, and the part of "Wilhelmina (with Songs Aug. 1, 1778, on which day 'The Waterman' was Restored and Newly Composed)" was played by "Miss Harper," Bannister being the Tom Tugg.

JULIAN MARSHALL.

MARGINALIA BY S. T. COLERIDGE (7th S. vi. 501).-The first two only of the notes in MR. TROLLOPE'S Copy of Fuller's 'Worthies' are printed in "Notes, Theological, Political, and Miscellaneous, by S. T. Coleridge, edited by the Rev. Derwent Coleridge, M.A., Moxon, 1853." As it is scarcely likley that Coleridge wrote the same notes in different copies of the same book, the MR. TROLLOPE is well worth making a note of. omission by the rev. editor of the notes now sent by Most people would much prefer to know exactly what S. T. Coleridge wrote, and not what any editor, reverend or otherwise, thought it would be good for them to know. Boston, Lincolnshire.

R. R.

It

gests that thor-cake is a non-existent form, invented
for the purpose of insinuating an etymology which
has no other support. WALTER W. SKEAT.
FLINT FLAKES (7th S. vi. 489).—Though we do
not, I believe, possess any record to prove the fact,
it is reasonable to suppose that the Roman colonists
introduced into Britain the use of the tribulum as
an auxiliary implement for threshing out corn.
is described by Varro in his 'De Re Rustica,
lib. i. cap. 52, and modern travellers in sundry
Eastern countries have met with what they think
to be its modern representative type, of which they
give full particulars. Engravings of it are sup-
plied by Sir Charles Fellows in his 'Journal......in
Asia Minor' (London, 1838, p. 70), and also by the
Sieur Paul Lucas in vol. i. of his Voyage par
Ordre de Louis XIV......en Asie Mineure,' &c.
(Paris, 1712, p. 231), where a plan is given of the
arrangement of the teeth. A few months ago a
friend in Hull showed me a large quantity of dark
flints which had been found in a cargo of wheat
brought over from Smyrna last year, and were no
doubt the broken-off teeth of a tribulum.

Many, if not all, of the heaps of flakes alluded to by your correspondent as found in various parts of this country are old workings, the rubbish heaps of old workshops for the production of flint implements.

when Harington wrote his epigram he alludes to it. This kind of wit in commonplace allusion is characteristic of that author's 'Orlando Furioso,' It is almost all that makes that lengthy poem as MR. MOUNT must know, "if he has read it." readable in the search for archaisms. That the term was in use seemed to me to be the case from Ralph Roister Doister' (vol. iii. p. 153 in Hazlitt's Dodsley), and the more I look at it the more I am convinced that I am probably right. There is no occasion to quote the passage in full, any more than there was to quote Harington's epigram, which I purposely avoided doing for the salvation of space.

As for MR. MOUNT's theoretical and chrono

logical arguments, I consider them of little account. In the first place, having been duly grounded in the principles of geology, I have learned to regard "imperfect records as a possible concomitant in any antiquarian research. And though I give place to no one in my admiration for the New English Dictionary,' I do not consider it absolutely certain that this word will not yet be found prior to 1840 because the compilers of that volume have not done so. If I do not mistake, lists of overlooked priorities have already appeared in these

pages.

But I do not depend upon this line of reply. Let it be that the word never appears in print. In connexion with this subject I may mention MR. MOUNT thinks, therefore, that it is selfthat flint chipping, I am told, is carried on in Eng-evident it cannot have been in use. This is land as a regular trade to this day, though naturally on a very limited scale only, to supply a still existing demand for flint-lock muskets, a small quantity of which antiquated weapons is exported every year to some benighted corner of the globe.

The exploits of the notorious forger of prehistoric implements "Flint Jack" are still fresh in the memory of many a reader. A Malton newspaper some years ago did him the honour of publishing his biography in its columns, which has since been reprinted in pamphlet form. His portrait and tools are now in the possession of a well-known collector

in Yorkshire.

L. L. K.

called obsolete words spoken in all the provincesa strange fallacy. Are there not hundreds of sowords which would never have appeared in print again, perhaps, save for the energy of the English turned his attention to this sort of investigation. Dialect Society. Perhaps MR. Mount has never I have, and hope some day to give many instances of such words from my county. What is to hinder such terms, as they come in touch with civilization, from being started again into circulation? I believe that instances could be produced of this regeneration of terms, especially if we call to aid terms which have lived in America, and again crossed the herring-pond with modern traffic.

to our own sense.

And this

Moreover, this word has been used in a variety of provincial senses. Several are given in Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary' either for cheek or cheeky. Halliwell gives "Cheek, to accuse"; and Mr. Peacock, in his 'Manley and Corringham (Lincoln) Words' has the same sense. meaning was always capable of easy development Thus, in 'The Slang Dictionary' the interpretation given is " Cheek, to irritate by impudence, to accuse." Dr. Murray asks for some new information in the history of a word. Does it not seem a little unreasonable, when a correspondent endeavours to help him, to be told that as Dr. Murray has already traced the word to a certain point only, it is "absolutely cer

xxvii. 339). There are two parishes in the county of Somerset, where the Champflower family had the and Wyke-Champflower, near Bruton; but there manor, viz., Huishe-Champflower, near Taunton, does not appear to be any place in the county called Thursk. Possibly the Gazette was printed in error for Huishe; but an inquiry at the Diocesan C. R. M. Registry would solve the doubt.

MR. HART's surprise "to find overlooked by, Dr. Murray" the words "I shrewe his best cheeke in Ralph Roister Doister' might well have been checked till he ascertained whether the passage had actually been overlooked, which a post-card to me would have ascertained. The overlooking exists only in MR. HART'S imagination; the quotation The identification of this name is wanted. It is in question will be found in the Dictionary' in a small parish near Dunster, in West Somerset. its proper place, along with several parallel ones. It is now called "Huish-Champflower "; but in the Meanwhile, a glance at the article "Beshrew" will Gentleman's Magazine for 1757 it is named as show that one might beshrew or shrew a man's face," Thursk-Champflower." Mr. Tanner obtained a skin, fingers, as well as his beard, teeth, eyes, or dispensation to hold it with North Petherton cheek, and that MR. HART'S "impudence or Vicarage. W. HARDMAN, LL.D. assurance " is as much out of place in this connexion as in the line from Harington, of which MR. MOUNT has given the context. But no one has yet sent me a quotation for “cheek "=cool impudence or presumption before 1840, when I find it coming up in public school slang. Can it really be got no earlier? J. A. H. MURRAY.

Norwich. LIQUID GAS (7th S. vi. 448).-Macready's note on liquid gas probably refers to the gas prepared by dropping oil into red-hot iron retorts filled with coal. The gas evolved needed no purification, and was sent out, to such as required it, in iron vessels, into which it had been compressed to a density of many atmospheres, and from which it was used for lighting purposes by a special contrivance. The vessels, when emptied of the gas, were replaced by fresh ones. The costliness of the materials and preparation caused the scheme for a general use of this gas to fall through.

JULIUS STEGGALL.

TWEENIE (7th S. vi. 367, 458).—On the day I read the last-noted communication on this subject an advertisement in a Scots newspaper caught my eye: A girl seeks a situation as a go-between." I am told it is a not uncommon term for a servant who assists, equally, both housemaid and cook.

ALEX. FERGUSSON, Lieut.-Col.

"Grâce ME GUIDE" (7th S. vi. 520).—-Would some correspondent kindly inform me the exact origin of this motto, and the most serviceable books for searching out the question? I am of opinion that it is French, and that its date is about 1442; but would be greatly obliged if I could gather the contemporary literature of the period of origin. N. HAY-FORBES.

Sandgate.

MUSICAL TASTE IN BIRDS (7th S. vi. 447).—It can fall to the lot of very few to bear testimony from their own experience to such an incident as that of which the Essex naturalist was the fortunate witness. But his narrative confirms the truth of Famianus Strada's imitation of Claudian in the celebrated poem 'Philomelæ et Citharæ di Concertatio,' book ii., Prolusio 6 of his 'Prolusiones Academicæ.' This has been translated by John Ford in his Lover's Melancholy,' i. 1; by Richard Crashaw in his 'Music's Duel'; by Ambrose Philips in his Fifth Pastoral; by Sir Francis Woolley in his Characters and Elegies'; and is referred to by Robert Herrick in his 'Oberon's Feast'; to all which I must refer your readers, who will be rewarded for their trouble in looking out the passages, especially in the fine poetry of Ford and Crashaw. Classical readers will enjoy the original of Strada, whose imitations are so good. His 'Prolusiones' were printed at Oxford, "E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1745," and I hope are not unknown to the present generation. W. E. BUCKLEY.

Every one knows how canaries and other cagebirds will always sing their loudest and have, I believe, been known even to entirely exhaust themselves by so doing-when music is being played in

which time he has worn the white-lined hood. This being the case, has not DR. COBHAM BREWER transposed the terms? Not being a Cambridge man, I write with diffidence; but it seems strange that black hoods should have been assumed after five years' standing, and yet that Masters of less than that standing should alone be eligible for the E. L. H. TEW, M.A.

any room where they are. Possibly parrots will
not count, but I knew one (deceased now, poor
fellow!) who, being located in a schoolroom where
children were always accustomed to chant the
morning and evening psalms, would persist in fol-
lowing the whole through in the key and as near
the tune as he could get from beginning to end,
but was at last obliged to be removed because-black-hood house.
judging, I presume, from some inflexion in the
reader's voice-he entertained erroneous ideas as to
when the "Amens" should be chanted in the course
of the prayers.
R. W. HACKWOOD.

THE PRINTER'S CHAPEL (7th S. vi. 364, 450).— Allow me to refer your readers who are interested in this subject to a paper entitled 'The Chapel' in 'Half-Hours with the Best Authors,' vol. iv. p. 303, I remember some fifty years ago a robin took up no date, but probably published in 1850, and its abode in Durham Cathedral. It used to perch written originally by Charles Knight, the editor, in on the organ during service, apparently singingWilliam Caxton: a Biography,' one of "Knight's while the organ was being played, and very often trilling out a few notes as the organ ceased to sound. E. LEATON BLENKINSOPP.

Weekly Volumes," published in 1844. The excellent writer apologizes for its insertion as follows:

"It may appear presumptuous that I should insert an extract from my own writings in these volumes. It is perhaps no sufficient excuse that I have inserted passages from the writings of friends who are, or whose memories are, very dear to me. My apology is, that the extract has relation to the purposes of this work. The Caxton: a Biography': The scene is supposed to be the following is from the concluding chapter of 'William Almonry of Westminster. The Father of the Chapel is Wynkyn de Worde, and the workmen are said to be girding on their swords" after their day's labour. Only a few days before they had followed their master Caxton to his grave in the adjacent church of St. Margaret's, Westminster, in 1491-92.' JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

66

INITIALS AFTER NAMES (7th S. vi. 107, 255, 312, 398). It may interest some of your readers to know that, however it may be in the Oxford or Cambridge University Calendars, in the Glasgow University Calendar many graduates are entered "M. A., B.D.," though no one can be a B.D. without first being an M.A. It is redundant and utterly absurd, but still it is done. B.A., M. A., or M.B., M.D., would be about as sensible. In the Calendar for 1886-87 there are 79 M.A., B.D., and 53 B.D. In the Calendar for 1888-89, 80 M.A., B.D., and 88 B.D., the proportion improving in the direction of common sense, and many, I notice, who are entered in the 1886-87 Calendar as M.A., B.D., are entered in the 1888-89 as B.D. only. | Surely the university authorities should see that these entries are correct. On honour's head honours accumulate, and if all the initials a man of uni-I versity honours earns are to be tagged on to his name there will be no end of them. Is there not also a little bit of a desire to impress the profanum vulgus with a string of letters, reminding one of the canny Scot in Melbourne who put L.F. P.S. after his name, and when challenged with having no connexion with any Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, said it stood for Late From Paisley, Scot-memory:land. J. B. FLEMING.

A friend of mine who graduated M. A. at Christ's College in 1847 wore, and for all I know still wears, a plain black silk hood, very much like the B. D. hood. DR. BREWER's note, however, removes my difficulty, for I never could understand why my friend did not wear the ordinary M. A. Cambridge

hood.

M.A.Oxon.

I have always understood that a Cambridge M.A. of five years' standing used to remove the white lining from his hood and wear a black one. I have often seen old M.A.s wearing this latter, and my former vicar told me he had done so for many years, until the statute was altered, since

AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED (7th S. ii. 69).

Whirl the long mop and ply the airy flail.

Quoted in the 'Heart of Midlothian,' chap. xxvi. have found this line, which I inquired for more than two years ago at the above reference. It is in some 'Supplementary Stanzas to Collins's Ode on the Superstitions of the Highlands,' written by Sir Walter Scott's friend, William Erskine, afterwards Lord Kinnedder, quoted in one of the appendices to the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border' (Scott's Poetical Works,' ed. 1868, between the line as it stands in Erskine's verses and in vol. i. pp. 271-3). As there are several verbal differences the Heart of Midlothian,' Scott no doubt quoted it from

Hail, from thy wanderings long, my much-loved sprite!
[i.e., the Brownie]

Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail!
Tell, in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night,

Trail'st the long mop, or whirl'st the mimic flail.
The following lines in the same stanza, as Scott points
out in his introduction, are interesting, as showing the
susceptibilities of the Brownies in the matter of recom-

pense, particularly recompense of the nature of food, in contrast to Milton's "drudging goblin" who used to "sweat to earn his cream-bowl duly set ":

Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said,

Thou plied'st the kindly task in years of yore.
At last, in luckless hour, some erring maid

Spread in thy nightly cell of viands store:
Ne'er was thy form beheld among their mountains more.
Scott praises this poem of Erskine's highly; and, indeed,