Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/16

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL JAN. 2,

times of good. ' Dextram sternuit approba- tionem.' "

Among Jews sneezing has always been regarded (at the appropriate moment, of course) as propitious. Sometimes when a baby indulges in that physical exercise, the mother will say, almost unconsciously, " Gebencht " ("Be blessed"), as if she feared harm to her offspring, and desired to propitiate the Fates in advance by maternal benedictions. Jews say, " See, he sneezes on it": a note of confirmation always. M. L. B. BRESLAR.

[For other expressions used when a person sneezes see 8 S. xi. 186, 314, 4?2, 516 ; 9 S. ii. 55.]

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

GEORGE MILTON, SCRIVENEK. I have recently finished transcribing the Ilfracombe parish register, and I found that the portion 1566-1602 was a copy of an older register made by a writer who describes himself as G. Milton, scrivener. I should be glad to know whether this George was any relation of John Milton, scrivener, of Bread Street, the father of the poet. The register records the marriage of George Milton to Alice Hertsell on 22 Jan., 1600 ; the baptism of his son George, 19 May, 1601 ; the burial of his wife, 10 Feb., 1602 ; and his marriage to " Richorde " Allen, 5 Aug., 1602.

Milton would seem to have left the parish soon after this, as the name does not occur again in the register and the entries therein are in another hand. The writing is very good, and the first page tastefully illuminated in green and black.

THOS. WAINWRIGHT. Barnstaple.

DICKENS'S BASTILLE PRISONER. The accuracy with which Dickens was able to invent and depict characters and incidents is often noticed. A book just published gives another illustration. In 'Romances of the Revolution,' from the French of G. Lenotre, by F. Lees, is mention of a case singularly analogous to that of the old prisoner of the Bastille, so pathetically drawn in ' The Tale of Two Cities.'

The Marquis de Saint P in 1787, for some fancied slight upon the Queen, was imprisoned in a tnaison de sante. During the Terror his relatives left France without being

able to help him. On their return they had either forgotten him, or thought him dead. He continued quietly in prison, reading and writing. In 1837, when over seventy, he was accidentally brought to remembrance and released. He was in good health, and proposed dedicating to Louis XVI. an essay he had composed in prison. Could this be the prototype of Dickens's interesting cha- racter, heard of by him during one of his visits to Paris ? D. J.

DICKENS'S " KNIFE-BOX." Where does Dickens describe the antiquated knife-box in some such words as these : "all angles

and fluting now happily obsolete."

IAN COMYN.

AERIAL NAVIGATION. I possess an eigh- teenth-century French engraving (aquafort) representing a " poisson aerostatique " in mid-air, driven by Dom Joseph Patinho, who on the 10th March, 1784, navigated it from Plazentia, in the mountains of Spain,, to Coria, situated on the " Riviere d'Arra- gon," covering the distance of twelve leagues. This information is conveyed by an inscription on the lower margin of my print, which was engraved in Paris by J. Chereau in 1784.

What foundation of fact is there for this aerial flight ?

GEORGE A. SIMONSON.

FIRE ENGINES. I wish to consult a cata- logue of an exhibition of fire engines held in London six or seven years ago. i Where- should I be likely to see one ? I have tried at the British Museum, and at the different libraries at South Kensington. Unfortu- nately, I cannot remember where the ex- hibition was held. There was on show a large number of out-of-date engines from the provinces. W. D. SWEETING.

Wallington.

[We think the exhibition was at Earl's Court.]

SURNAMES ENDING IN -NELL. Can any reader explain the meaning of -nell at the end of surnames, as Dartnell, Bonell, &c. ? Was it used as a diminutive ? If so, can any one give an instance ? W. H. S.

YORKSHIRE HUNTING INCIDENT. The following cutting is from The Yorkshire Herald of 30 January last :

"The old custom of honouring the kill by drink- ing fox-flavoured liquor was (says a correspondent) revived in a Yorkshire pack this week. After the huntsmen had broken up the fox a number of foot followers rescued a portion of the carcase of the fox and hurried to the little inn near at hand. Here