Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/185

 10 s. XIL AUG. 21, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

149

TWELVE SURNAME. I came across some Lancashire people recently in Ireland with the surname Twelve or Twelves. Is this a common name ? R. B R.

South Shields.

MAGNA CHARTA BARONS. Is it the fac that there is not now living a lineal mal< descendant of any one of the barons wh< signed Magna Charta ? I have heard i stated. CURIOUS.

HOLDERNESS FAMILIES. I should be glad of information as to whether there is any history, either ancient or modern, whict contains an account of the families ol Holderness, Yorkshire, and especially any mention of the name or family of Pearson, Peirson, or Pierson of Hedon or Ryall or elsewhere, bearing as arms Az., between two pallets wavy ermine three suns in their glory ; crest, the sun emerging from clouds or any arms similar to these. H. G. P.

" LE MERIOLE " : " LE COLEBREHOUS." What was a " Meriole," mentioned in the ' Calendar of Wills,' 1435, as a sign in West- chepe ?

In 1348 " Le Colebrehous " was another sign in Bradstret (? Broad Street). What waa a " Colebrehous " ? See The Topo graphical Record, 1907, vol. iv. p. 99.

J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.

" FASEOLE " : ITS ETYMOLOGY. In Eng- lish the beans which from the shape of the pods are often called kidney beans are also called French beans. The epithet " French " here is simply used in the sense of foreign ; the vegetable in question was brought from the East, and the Germans call the bean " tiirkische," or more commonly " walsche Bohne," i.e. foreign bean. But the French call it "faseole," from the classical Greek d(ry\o<s, Latin phaselus or faselus. Now the Latin word phaselus is also used for a light boat or skiff, which, according to Liddell and Scott, is taken from its likeness to the pod of this bean. Littr6 puts the matter the other way, and says : Comme c/xxo-^Aos signifie aussi une barque, il est probable que ce nom a ete donn6 au fruit a cause de sa forme." Which, then, is the cart, and which the horse, in this derivation ? As phaselus in the sense of a boat is found only in Latin (Catullus and Horace both use it), it would seem probable that Liddell and Scott are right. But what is the origin of the Greek word dcrrj\o<s is another ques- tion. Is it possible that, like "pheasant" (Gr. <acriavds), it came from the river Phasis ?

W. T. LYNN.

" THE MAURADEN." By a deed of 4 July, 1558, William Davenport of Chorley, gent., granted to Sir Rafe Leycester of Toft in Cheshire the stewardship of his lands in Chorley, Werford, and Fulshaw, " and the conduction, governance, and service in time of war called The Mauraden, as well of him, the said William, and his heirs, as of all his tenants." This is probably a trans- lation of a Latin deed. See Ormerod's 'Cheshire' (1882), i. 505.

What is " The Mauraden " ? R. S. B.

" PROTECTION FOR BURNING," 1592. In the ' Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1592,' is a " protection for burning " granted to John Good, husbandman of Thorpe, Surrey, on certificates given by several J.P.s of Surrey, " to gather in co.s Surrey and Kent." A reference to the origjuial document throws no light upon its nature. What was it that John was licensed to gather and burn charcoal ? F. TURNER.

Egham.

" STAGGA BOB-TAIL WARNING." I wonder if there are any boys in Mid-Derbyshire who still play the rousing game which we called " Stagga bob- tail warning." It was playable best on frosty moonlit nights, where high hedges and bushes made dark shadows in which to hide. The boys divided into two equal parties. One half stayed in goal, the other went out, and into hiding. After an interval the out side had to shout " Stagga Dob-tail warning," upon which the goal party went out to seek the others, one of the former remaining within a short distance of goal to rush the goal whilst the in party were absent. If the out half were a long time Before shouting, the in party sang out :
 * o give warning if the out half should attempt

Willy, Willy, Walla,

If yow dunna shout,

Wey shanna follow Stagga bob-tail warnin'.

THOS. RATCLIFFE. Worksop.

GODFREY OF BOUILLON AND RASHI. n a volume of essays issued in the late ixties the writer mentions Edward Fairfax'8 ranslation of Tasso's poem on this cele- rated Crusader. I am specially interested oth in the poem and in " Godefroi," who, f tradition does not play us false, is reputed o have paid a visit to our great scholar lashi and obtained his benediction before Eating out for the Holy Land. My father ras wont to tell me the story, but I have ever seen it in print. Is it founded on fact ? M. L. R. BRESLAR.