Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/358

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. OCT. 10, im.

inquires, I may say that they scarcely fulfil the promise of " light and entertaining " literature made by the publishers of the series. ' Titan,' in especial, in its English dress, is about as stiff a piece of reading as I ever essayed in the form of fiction.

C. C. B.

I regret with T. P. that, on account of the delightful vividness of Jean Paul's brilliant personality, he is not better known in this country. To judge by an English translation I have of his ' Levana ' or the ' Doctrine of Education,' published by Bell & Sons in 1876, he is not to be recommended for charm of diction, to which he seems to have been a total stranger. Some have figured him as worthy to rank in richness of intel- lectual power with Goethe and Schiller. His mind is characteristically Teutonic ; his industry was immense. Surely it would pay a publisher to make a readable selection of Jean Paul's " good things " for publication in a cheap form, though popular he would never be. M. L. R. BRESLAR.

Both works mentioned by T. P. have been translated into English by C. T. Brooks, and published in Boston, Mass : ' Hesperus ' in 1865, and * Titan ' in 1868. L. L. K.

DICKENS ON "HALF-BAPTIZED" (10 S. x. 29, 90, 135, 256). Certainly "half- baptized " means that the child has been privately baptized, but not yet publicly admitted to the Church in compliance with the rubric.

The late Dean Butler of Lincoln, w A ien Vicar of Wantage, used to ask, if a mother said her child had been half -baptized, " Yes ; but which half ? " thereby distinguishing between the essential Sacrament of baptism, and the ecclesiastical ceremony of " admis- sion to the Church." G.

THE LION AND THE UNICORN (10 S. x. 208). The distich in question would appear to have, at all events, been suggested by the traditional enmity which in ancient natural history existed between the lion and the mythical creature known as a unicorn. The credulity of our forefathers in this respect is illustrated by Topsell's account of their hostility in his ' Four-footed Beasts ' (pp. 551-9). The unicorn, he says, " is an enemy to the lions, wherefore as soon as ver a lion seeth an Unicorn, he runneth to a tree tor succour, that so when the Unicorn maketh force at him, he may not only avoid his horn, but also destroy him : for the Unicorn in the swiftness of his course runneth against the tree, wherein his

sharp horn sticketh fast; that when the lion seeth the Unicorn fastened by the horn, without all danger he falleth upon him and killeth him."

Konrad Gesner has the same story in his ' Historise Animalium,' 1551-87 ; and Shake- speare alludes to it when he makes Timon of Athens say : " Wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury " (Act IV. sc. iii.).

It was the contests of England, as repre- sented by the lion, with the Old and New Pretenders, as represented by the unicorn, that probably inspired the lines referred to. James I. had two unicorns for his supporters, and that gave reason to his carrying one when he ascended the throne of the united kingdoms. J. HOLD EN MACMICHAEL.

The supporters of the Scottish arms were until the accession of James I. to the kingdom of England two unicorns ramp, arg., royally gorged and chained or ; and one is retained still in the royal arms, probably symbolizing the union.

Before that time, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, a lion crowned was the dexter supporter, holding up the royal coat, France and England quarterly. But why France had the first and fourth, and England the second and third, I cannot say. Macaulay in his fine " Fragment " ' The Armada ' thus alludes to it :

Look how the lion of the sea uplifts his ancient

crown,

And underneath his deadly paw treads the gay lilies down.

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

When I was a youngster in Glasgow, the couplet I learned was

The lion and the unicorn fighting for the crown, Up comes the wee dog and knocks 'em all down. ALEX. RUSSELL. Stromness, Orkney.

TlNTAGEL : ITS PRONUNCIATION (10 S. X.

148, 194). There cannot be much doubt about the pronunciation of this word when it is remembered that in Cornish trisyllabic personal or local names the accent is almost, if not quite, invariably laid upon the middle syllable, e.g., Trevenen, Cardinan, Bolitho, Bodriigan, &c. The soft pronunciation of the g must be a concession to Saxon ears.

W. F. PRIDEAUX.

HOPPNEB AND SIR THOMAS FRANKLAND'S DAUGHTERS (10 S. x. 168, 233). Perhaps I may be allowed to give a few further par- ticulars concerning my query, which I am