Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/472

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL MAY 15, im

" STORM IN A TEACUP." What is the earliest recorded use of this popular phrase I inquire especially because what seems to be its original and in a form now forgotten is to be found in a letter from James Butler, first Duke of Ormond, to the Ear of Arlington, written from Dublin 28 Dec. 1678, in which he says :

" There has been a pen war carried, on betwix' nay Lord of Orrery and me ever since the dis covery of the [Popish] Plot, that hath already cost some lives, and God only knows how many more it may. Our skirmish seems to be come to a period, and, compared with the great things now on foot, is but a storm in a cream bowl." Historical MSS. Commission, ' Ormonde MSS, New Series, vol. iv. p. 292.

ALFRED F. ROBBINS.

MILTON AND HACKNEY. In his fine mono- graph on Milton, Matthew Arnold tells ui that his second wife, Catherine Woodcock, was a native of this ancient and classic borough. He calls her " this fair, gentle daughter of the rigid sectarist of Hackney." Will some Miltonist kindly tell me where I can find information about Catherine's parents ? Is the house still in existence where she was born ?

M. L. R. BRESLAR. Percy House, South Hackney.

SIR JAMES MONTAGU, LORD CHIEF BARON OF THE EXCHEQUER. When was he admitted to the Middle Temple, and when was he called to the Bar ? The ' Diet. Nat. Biog.' is silent on these points. G. F. R. B.

RICHARD NEILE, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. Whom and when did he marry ? The ' D.N.B.' (xl. 171) tells us that he left a son, but forgets to give any information con- cerning the marriage. G. F. R. B.

GOOSE WITH ONE LEG. Can any reader direct me to the original of the story of the goose which a cook sent to table with only one leg ? It was told to me many years ago (probably before 1870), the narrator adding that it originally was published in rim e. H. S.

['The One-legged Goose,' beginning "A wealthy gentleman in Hertfordshire," was written by J R Planche, and will be found in ' Routledge's Tem- perance Reciter ' (Routledge & Sons), pp. 182-4.]

'LE MATIN DE LA VIE.' I have at my elbow a small volume, paper cover, bearing this title. It is a translation from English, and is^ further styled " notice sur Bessie A...." But there is no indication as to authorship. Perhaps some reader of ' N. & Q.' can supply this omission and give

the English name of the book. It is of a deeply religious character, and has a some- what lengthy appendix. The volume was published in 1856 by Charles Leidecker,. Neuchatel. CECIL CLARKE.

CHEYNE : ITS PRONUNCIATION. In the section on the ' Pronunciation of Certain Surnames ' in Jack's ' Reference Book/ 1908, the pronunciation of Cheyne is said to be " Tchee-ne (English), Tchain (Scotch)." As regards the Scotch this is quite correct. Elspeth's song in ' The Antiquary ' leaps to one's mind :

Were I Glenallan's Earl this tide,

And ye were Roland Cheyne, The spur should be in my horse's side,

And the bridle upon his mane. The English pronunciation I have always understood to be Tchainy, riming with rainy- I have never met with Tchee-ne, nor is it mentioned in the correspondence on Cheyne Walk (10 S. v. 245, 312, 375, 415, 476). I& there any authority for it ? Or it it a mere blunder ? JAS. PLATT, Jun.

PARTRENDUNE, BUCKS. John Speed in his ' England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland ' (edition of 1627) mentions among the re- ligious houses of Bucks one of the name of Partrendune. In lists of different religious foundations in the works bearing ,on Bucks, no one can be found to correspond with the above name. Can some reader interested in topography or ecclesiastical antiquities afford a clue to its whereabouts ? R. B. Upton.

DE QUINCEY : QUOTATIONS AND ALLU- SIONS. I shall be obliged for information respecting several quotations and allusions in De Quincey

1. De Quincey in ' Early Memorials of Grasmere ' quotes the lines

Vital warmth

Gave the last human motion to her heart with reference to the death of George and Sarah Green (about which Wordsworth wrote a poem).

2. In the ' Early Memorials ' we read of ' that holy angel who gathers the whisper- ings of dying mothers torn asunder from their infants." What legend or tale is

eferred to ?

3. De Quincey also mentions " that Beautiful Persian apologue " of the pearl which bewails its lot, because it is consigned ,o the depths of the Persian Gulf ; but it is. ound by a diver, and added to the tiara of he Shah. Whence comes the story ?