Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/377

 10 s. XL APRIL 17,

NOTES AND QUERIES.

309

calendars from which Dr. Knauz has com- piled the list of saints in his book on Hun- garian chronology. Consequently the lady must be a mythical personage like the Santa Guglielma, another " Queen of Hungary," whose life is narrated in Add. MS. 10,051 in the British Museum. Where did Paul Dela- roche find the name ? L. L. K.

COLE'S ' CALENDAR OF HUNTINGDON.' John Cole (1792-1848), bookseller and anti- quary of Northampton and Scarborough, resided a few years at Huntingdon, where he published ' The Calendar of E very-day Reference for the County of Huntingdon,' 1845, 2 parts, sm. 8vo, (cf. ' D.N.B.' xi. 270-72; ' N. & Q.,' 6 S. i. 301). Where could I see a copy ?

HERBERT E. NORRIS.

Cirencester.

LAWRENCE THE WIT. There is a passage in one of Macaulay's letters, written when he was thirty years old, which is very repre- sentative of the man. In a letter to Whewell he says :

" The House of Commons is a place in which I would not promise success to any man. It is the most peculiar audience in the world. I should say that a man's being a good writer, a good orator at the bar, a good mob-orator, or a good orator in debating cluba, was rather a reason for expecting him to fail than for expecting him to succeed in the House of Commons. A place where Walpole succeeded and Addison failed ; where Dundas succeeded and Burke failed ; where Peel now succeeds and where Mackintosh fails ; where -Erskine and Scarlett were dinner- bells ; where Lawrence and Jekyll, the two wittiest men, or nearly so, of their time, were thought bores, is surely a very strange place. And yet I feel the whole character of the place growing upon me. I begin to like what others about me like, and to disapprove what they dis- approve. Canning used to say that the House, as a body, had better taste than the man of best taste in it, and I am very much inclined to think that Canning was right."

Personally, as an outsider who has always been interested in the game, I am disposed to think that the House of Commons of the present day differs from that of Macaulay's time in having the good taste to conceal any pretensions to taste, and that it resem- bles it in extinguishing the society wit, if such a being exists nowadays. A dili- gent study of the works of Mr. G. W. E. Russell and of Mr. Henry Lucy leads me to the conclusion that the race of Jekylls and Luttrells is extinct. My query, how- ever, is, Who was Lawrence, one of the wittiest men of his time, and what relics of his wit has he bequeathed to us ? The only La\vrence of any note in those days

was the painter, who certainly had the power of fascinating the opposite sex, but, so far as I am aware, had no reputation as a wit, nor do I think he ever entered Parliament.

I am of opinion the time has come when Sir George Trevelyan's ' Life ' of his illus- trious uncle might be more fully annotated. W. F. PRIDEAUX.

" LA PIERRE QUI RAGE." In the old part of Marseilles is a small street named " Rue de la pierre qui rage." The verb rager, meaning " se facher," "s'irriter," is an old word. Is there any legend about an angry stone which would account for this queer name ?

Near to the " Rue de la pierre qui rage" is a " Rue pavee d' amour."

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

" PlCKSHAFT " OR " PlKESHAFT," A

MEASURE. By indenture dated Friday after Corpus Christi, 1460, the prior of Beauvale sold to the Prior of the House of the Blessed Trinity of Lenton, in consideration of the sum of IOL paid in advance, " certain porcionem carbonum subterraneorum in campo de Newfelde prout iacent in longitudine ad mensuram xx pikshaft et in latitudine ad mensuram octo selionum continenc[ium] duas acras terre in longitudine,"

to be won within the space of seven years (Office of Augment., Miscell. Book XLIII. No. 106).

I shall be glad to know whether other in- stances occur of this standard of length ; and whether such instances settle its dimen- sions. Q' V.

SAINTE-BEUVE ON CASTOR AND POLLUX. Sainte-Beuve, ' Causeries du Lundi,' vol. ii. p. 105, says :

" Jl s'est dit de bonne heure qu'il n'y avait qu'une maniere de ne pas tomber dans le degout et 1'insipidite : c'etait de se Jeter sur Castor et Pollux, et de parler le plus qu'il pourrait, a c&te, au-dessus, a Ten tour de son sujet."

Can any of your readers enlighten me as to the meaning, and possible explanation or origin, of the phrase " se jeter sur Castor et Pollux " ? Is it used in any other lan- guage ? Can it be of Latin origin ? I have searched a number of dictionaries in vain. E. TRECHMANN.

27, Langland Gardens, Hampstead, N.W.

FOOTBALL AT SCONE, PERTHSHIRE. Will some Scotch antiquary tell me whether the game of football played at Scone on Fastern's Tuesday is, or formerly was, a contest between two parishes or districts lying near together ?