Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/61

 10 s. XL JAN. 16, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

if the corresponding term maremoto, as applied to a seaquake, yet occurs in Italian dic- tionaries. X.

" MIRAMOIJNE." This very rare word in English occurs in Browning's ' Sordello,' Book I. ('Works,' 1896, i. 126). ' N.E.D.' (s.v. Miramolin) says, " Also, ' maramoline.' " But " maramoline " is a ghost-word, as one may see by consulting the 1896 edition, where we find the words,

grey scorching Saracenic wine The Kaiser quaffs with the Miramoline.

The word means " Commander of the Faith- ful," being a much-altered form of the Arabic amiru'l mumiriin. ' N.E.D.' does not give the Spanish form of the Arabic word, which was Miramamolin (cp. 'Poem of the Cid,' xcvii.), in Portuguese Miramolim. In 'The Lusiads' of Camoens (III. Ixxxii.) we find the Arabic form transliterated, namely, O Mir-almuminin, with the Portu- guese definite article instead of the first syllable of the Arabic word. It appears, therefore, that Browning's form is due rather to the Port. Miramolim than to the Sp. Miramamolin. It would be interesting to know whence Browning picked up his " Miramoline." Did he read Portuguese ? A. L. MAYHEW. Oxford.

IRISH CURSES. " The curse of Cromwell on you ! " is often referred to in books as an Irish cursing formula. It seems that this expression is still in use. I recently heard the Gaelic equivalent, " Mallacht Chromuil ort ! " The word for a curse, mallacht, is the same as our " malediction."

Irish curses are always picturesque, and afford an agreeable field for a collector. Readers of Borrow will remember his blind beggar's " May the Mass never comfort you ! " A common formula is " Bas gan sagart ort ! " i.e., " May you die without a priest ! " which conveys the same idea as the Italian " Accidente ! " But the moat terrible imprecation I have met with is " Go bh-fasuigh an feur arm do dhorus ! " i.e., "May the grass grow in your door ! " an image of decay to which it would be difficult to find a parallel.

JAS. PLATT, Jun.

HOTJSES OF HISTORIC INTEREST. I am informed that among the London houses which are, in the course of a short time, to have London County Council tablets affixed to them are 28, Herne Hill, with which Ruskin was associated ; 4, Beaumont Street, the residence of John Richard Green, the

historian ; 10, Berkeley Square, associated with Sir Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde ; ! 10, St. James's Square, which has many associations with the elder Pitt, and in our own day with the " Rupert of debate," Edward Geoffrey Stanley, Earl of Derby ; and 4, Buckingham Street, Strand, a stately and good brick house of the olden times, once the residence of the painters Etty and Clarkson Stanfield, and in earlier times the abode of Pepys the diarist and Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, who stood so high in the confidence of Queen Anne. These will be notable additions to London' s- historic houses.

W. E. HARLAND-OXLEY. Westminster.

SAI/TFLEETBY. This place-name is mis- printed " Saltfleet by St. Clement's " in my reply on the ninth wave (10 S. x. 512). Near the decayed port of Saltfleet, on the east coast of Lincolnshire, are three adjoin- ing parishes Saltfleetby St. Clement's, Salt- fleetby All Saints', and Saltfleetby St. Peter's. About 1850 the older inhabitants placed the accent on the last syllable, which was right, for the villages were three Danish " bys " that sprang up near Saltfleet. But a more common pronunciation was "So'laby,' r and this is probably universal now, unless the railway and " education " have brought- in a pronunciation more in accordance with the spelling. J- T. F.

Winterton, Doncaster.

IRISH CUSTOM ON CHRISTMAS EVE. In The Tablet for 26 December a writer records a conversation with an aged Irishman in a London alley. The following extract from it bears upon an interesting custom :

" 'Just a week 'till Christmas!' I said, after a pause.

" ' Aye,' replied he, rousing himself, the t does be slippin' by. Yet I cud fancy as 'twas but yesternight that we kep' last Christmas Eve. l is I mind me, too, how the wind did be rough much like 'tis to-night an' the heavy sleet did beblowin in at the open dure.'

" ' Why did you have the door open ? 1 asked.

" ' Sure,' he said, testily, 'an' is it shut ye d have it ! Why, 'twas Christmas Eve, as I'm after tellin ve !'

"I suppose I looked perplexed. Anyhow, his- tone changed to one of pitying inquiry. '-Bet! powers, an' p'haps ye don't know how ti keeps Christmas in the court ? '

" ' Tell me,' I said.

"'Well,' he began, as he settled himself in the old ragged chair, 'you must know how the Lord o the world come down from heaven on Christmas night. An' He had nowhere to go, an' ne er a friend in the wide world. So His Blessed Mother an the holy St. Joseph had to tramp the streets for to find a lodgin'. They was homeless, God help em ! An