Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/311

 10 s. x. SEPT. 26, iocs.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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which differs considerably from Bulgarian.' I have not been able to discover in the British Museum the Gospel of St. John in the Paulitian version. It was publishec by the Scottish Bible Society, but printec by Hornyanszky in Budapest. L. L. K.

WELSH HERALDRY (10 S. viii. 330, 478). I am not aware of any book dealing with Welsh heraldry apart from that of any other British nation, but I would refer your corre- spondent generally to the late Dr. Wood- ward's ' Heraldry, English and Foreign " <ed. 1896).

With regard to the " Saracen's or Moor's head " being used as an heraldic charge, I have always looked upon it as an importa- tion from the wars of the Crusades. Dr Woodward mentions (vol. i. p. 212) the names of several Welsh families who bear this cognizance.

I imagine that the oldest and best-known badge of the Principality of Wales would toe the Red Dragon.

Boutell's ' Heraldry, Historical and Popu- lar ' (ed. 1864), might also be consulted with .advantage. J. S. UDAL, F.S.A.

Antigua, W.I.

COL. STEPKTN AND CAPT. BACKHOUSE, 1648 (10 S. x. 209). Charles Stepkin is given among the lieutenants under Col. David, Earl of Barrymore, in the Earl of Northum- berland's expedition of 1640, " taken accord- ing to the Muster Roll after the Armies Retreat from Newcastle into Yorkshire " tsee Rushworth's ' Historical Collections,' vol. iL pt. ii. p. 1243). For Backhouse possibly Burke's ' Extinct Baronetcies,' may be of use. A. R. BAYLEY.

"HoRS D'CEUVRE" (10 S. x. 229). The words beginning with the letter h that, unlike most such, are supposed by French theory to be " aspirated," are not pro- nounced as Americans, or educated English people, " aspirate " English words which begin with h. Therefore the dispute among MR. NICKLIN'S friends cannot be ended by either ''Yes" or "No." The French aspirate is a shibboleth, and an Englishman can no more sound a French aspirated h correctly than he can read aloud the com- mon sign of French fur-shops " Au Tigre Royal," or say " La Tour d'Auvergne."

D.

I think the tendency of an educated Englishman nowadays is to aspirate an initial h. He would astonish his forefathers if they could hear him do it in " herb," in

" humble," and in "humour." Hors-d'oeuvre is almost naturalized among us, if not quite so, inasmuch as it finds a place in the ' N.E.D.,' and I do not doubt that the editors of that worlj were right when they insisted on the h being sounded. A useful friend of mine, the ' Nouveau. Dic- tionnaire,' by E. Clifton and McLaughlin (Paris, Gamier Freres), prescribes the aspi- ration in hors-d'oeuvre, as also in hors, when an adverb unattached. This seems a neces- sary effort to distinguish the word from or the conjunction, even if or the noun could take care of itself. ST. SwrTHiN>

" WHAT YOU BUT SEE WHEN YOU HAVEN'T A GUN" (10 S. ix. 108, 217, 493 ; x. 38). There appeared in Puck, 26 Dec., 1883, this item, credited to The Troy Times :

" The latest dude story is that a farmer saw a couple of those agonizing specimens on the street, and exclaimed : ' Gosh ! what things we see when we don't have a gun.'"

It is worth noticing that " dude " came into use in 1882.

MR. BURDEN'S query about " but " (10 S. ix. 493) surprised me. The American use, except colloquially, is identical with the English. THOMAS FLINT.

Brooklyn, N.Y.

CASTLE ARCHITECTURE (10 S. ix. 429). Whether there were ever castles in Britain, as we understand the word " castle," which were employed by the ancient Britons for purposes of military defence, is more than doubtful. In Hearne's ' Curious Discourses 1775, vol. i., however, " Anonymous," writing on the ' Antiquity, &c., of Castles in England,' says :

" For that ther were castles in Britainne held out by the Brittons against the invading Romanes, appeareth by this passage of Juvenall, 'Dime Maurorum attegias, et castra Brigantum,' as also by another in Tacitus in ' Vita Agricolse.' " But does not the former allusion appear to be merely to walled camps or entrenchments ? The most extraordinary of these mural defences, observes a writer in ' Rees's

lyclopsedia,' s.v. ' Castle,'

" is situated in Caernarvonshire, called Tre'r Caeri, or the town of fortresses. The plan and elevation of this ancient stronghold and abode is given by Pennant in his 'Tour in Wales' (vol. ii. p. 206). On the accessible side it was defended by three rude walls of stone ; the upper one being lofty, about fifteen feet high, and sixteen broad ; exhibiting a

jrand and extensive front Of the same kind, of

Jortresses were Perimaen Mawr, in Caernarvon- shire; War ton Cragg, in Lancashire; Old Oswestry, n Shropshire ; the irregular encampment of Maiden Castle, nigh Dorchester ; and probably Old Sarum, whose character was new modelled by the Romans."