Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/386

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. xii. OCT. ie, 1909.

II. iii.). There were, of course, elephants in Britain in prehistoric times ; and possibly representations of them, if not the living animals, during the Roman occupation.

A. R. BAYLEY.

" DARK AS BLACK PIGS " (10 S. xii. 268). I have heard the phrase " As difficult as driving a black pig in the dark," but at the present moment I cannot recall who uttered it. The comparison is a telling one to those acquainted with the " contrariness " of porcine nature. To drive a white pig in daylight is deemed a sufficiently arduous task.

" As dark as a black pig a mile off " is to be heard in Lincolnshire. H. N.

Years ago I used to hear folks say of a dark night, when the lantern they carried made the darkness beyond all the worse, that it was " as dark as a black shep," or a dog. " As dark as a swep's sut bag " was often heard. This was the " bag " which the little " chimbley-s weeps " put over their heads before they began their dismal climb " in the good old days." Another descrip- tion is " as black as the devil's nuttin' bag." THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Work sop.

NELSON'S DEATH : T. HILL SWAIN (10 S. xii. 169). According to the recognized tradition, as set down in Messrs. Broadley and Bartelot's ' Three Dorset Captains at Trafalgar,' Nelson was not caught by any one when he fell. He *' turned suddenly as he walked, and before Hardy could reach him, fell on his knees and hand. . . . A sergeant-major of marines and two seamen carried him below." The only Swain in the muster-roll of the Victory was William Swain, a " Land Man." P. LUCAS.

GRAVESTONES AT JORDANS : WILLIAM PENN (10 S. xii. 129, 231). The Daily Graphic of 22 September contained on p. 5 a view of Jordans Meeting-House and the gravestone of William and Hannah Penn, with the dates 1718 and 1726. The reason of the views is that a proposal has been made to remove the remains of Penn to America. S. L. PETTY.

" COFFEE " : ITS ETYMOLOGY (10 S. xii. 64, 111, 156, 198, 232). To the various forms used by European writers, quoted at the last reference, may be added Tcavdh, used by the Portuguese Jew Pedro Teixeira in 1610 (see the Hakluyt Society's edition of his Travels, pp. 62, n. 2, 201) j and the follow-

ing by English writers, given in Foster's ' English Factories in India,' 1618-21, 1622-3, 1624-9 : cowha (1619), cowhe, couha (1621), coffa (1628).

DONALD FERGUSON.

INVERNESS BIBLIOGRAPHY (10 S. xii. 227). Scott in his ' Fasti ' says that the author of * The Scotch Minister's Assistant ' was H. Robertson, minister of Kiltearn. He was of the Robertson family to which Gladstone was related. The book was republished under a different title at Aberdeen in 1822.

G. W. S.

RICHARD THOMPSON, SURGEON R.N. (10 S. xi. 29). One Richard Thompson, surgeon, served in the Childers from 25 Aug., 1796, to 3 June, 1801, and in the Narcissus from 5 June, 1801, to 27 Oct., 1806. I fail to trace the place or date of birth. See Record Office, Certificate of Servitude of Surgeons ; Admiralty, Secretary, Indices, Series II. No. 40. CHAS. G. SMITHERS.

47, Darnley Road, N.E.

MRS. AND Miss VANNECK (10 S. xii. 188, 251). I think MR. BLEACKLEY must be mistaken as to Miss Vanneck, at least if she was the daughter of the Mrs. Vanneck who is described in the same diary as enter- taining the Prince of Wales. Sir Joshua Van Neck had been created a baronet long before this, and his wife (or widow) would be Lady Van Neck, not Mrs. Vanneck.

JAS. TALBOT.

Dublin.

' SHORT WHIST,' BY MAJOR A. (10 S. xii. 264). I have reason for doubting that this book was written by C. B. Coles, and shall be glad if MR. PEET will give his means of knowledge. Did he get the information from Coles himself ? E. WALL.

SLOAN SURNAME (10 S. xii. 228). Is not this a contraction of Slowjane ? The Slavonians, says Dr. Isaac Taylor in his ' Words and Places,' 1888, call themselves either " Slowjane," the " Intelligible Men," or else " Srb," which means " Kinsmen " ; while the Germans call them Wends, which means " Wanderers " or " Strangers."

J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.

TWELVE SURNAME (10 S. xii. 149, 196, 257). The surname Twelves is familiar in the English Lake District. It is to-day borne by a lady long and honourably known in Keswick and Langdale for her connexion with and work for the Ruskin linen industry.

DANIEL SCOTT.

Penrith.