Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/618

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XIL DEC. 25, im

ham, and joined the Southampton Road at Alton ; at Chawton, one and a quarter miles further, it turned off, via Farrington and East Tisted, to Petersfield, thence follow- ing the old Portsmouth Road to its terminus. Dodsley's guide gives the total distance as 66 miles, but according to ' Paterson's Roads J (ed. 1826) the mileage was 80, whereas the distance from London to Ports- mouth by the old road was only 72. I shall be obliged if any one can inform me how long the mails continued to follow this route, and what advantage it was supposed to possess over the old route.

HORACE BLEACKLEY.

DUN Y. In Scott's ' Lord of the Isles 3 I read :

His monks have heard their hymning high Sound from the summit of Dun Y.

Can any Highland reader tell me how this is pronounced ? Is it a real place, and is it usually spelt in this way ? The nearest thing I know is the Y, also written I and lye, which was used in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to represent the Gaelic male name Aodh. From this Christian name are derived the surnames Mackay, Mackee, MacKie, MacCoy, MacCuy, where each of the five vowels has been tried to reproduce the Gaelic diphthong. JAMES PLATT, Jun.

ARISTOTLE AND THE GOLDEN RULE. Will one of your correspondents kindly refer me to the words in Aristotle of which the follow- ing is, I believe, a translation ? It seems an^ anticipation of the Golden Rule: m " Sacrifice thyself at the shrine of duty, forgiving injuries, and acting only towards others as thou wouldst have them behave towards thyself."

Lucis.

"BLUE IDLE" MEETING-HOUSE. In a recent issue of The Friend (a weekly publica- tion of the Society of Friends) there was an account of an ancient meeting-house belong- ing to the Society, which has the somewhat singular name of " Blue Idle. ?s The meet- ing-house is situated some eight or ten miles irom Horsham, in a very secluded district. It was some 250 years ago a farm-house, and was altered later to serve its present purpose. It was attended by William Penn lor some considerable time previous to his going to America.

The writer of the article in The Friend lazards the conjecture that its name was given because, firstly, it was coloured blue

iside and some remains of this colouring can still be seen on removal of the present coating, and, secondly, the meeting-house

was closed for a number of years, and in that sense was certainly idle. A certain amount of official sanction is given to the name by its appearing on a neighbouring signpost.

Can any of your readers throw light upon the origin of the name ? Perhaps MR. NORMAN PENNEY, or some one else having access to the Friends 5 ' records, may be able to do so. THOMAS C. MCMICHAEL.

[Was the house not originally an inn called " The Blue Idol"?]

GREAT FOSTERS, EGHAM. So long ago as 1868 (see 4 S. i. 504) DR. FURNIVALL gave an extract from a long and interesting letter concerning Great Fosters written by the late Albert Way to Col. Halkett, the then owner. DR. FURNIVALL called attention to "the curious problem which this remarkable old mansion, so strangely neglected by prior inquirers, presents,'* and hoped that some reader of ' N. & Q.* might be able to produce evidence regarding Great Fosters earlier than the epitaph on Sir John Dod- dridge's tomb in 1628. Mr. Way in his letter points out that the evidence most to be desired is a grant of Fosters "either from Henry VIII. to some courtier, or from Elizabeth to Sir John Doddridge.'*

During the last three or four years I have been able to trace the descent of the house from the time of Edward VI. to the present day, but I have never found any trace of a royal grant, although the house belonged to the Crown. I write this in the hope that some more fortunate reader of ' N. & Q.* has already found, or may yet find, what I have searched for in vain.

During the latter part of the seventeenth century the house was held by Foster, C. J. ; but there is no evidence that I can find how it left the family. His granddaughter lived until 1726, and was buried at Thorpe, close by.

From the arms of the Percies being found upon the ceilings it would appear that the ninth Earl of Northumberland had some connexion with the house. This question also obstinately resists all attempts at solution. The builder or restorer of the house was no doubt Sir Antony Mayne, for his initials A. M. with the date 1609 appear on one of the water-spouts ; the house is also referred to in Rentals and Surveys, 20 James I., No. 626, as " formerly Sir Antony Manies, and before Ed. Owen gent."

Having been so fortunate in my efforts, I hope that some reader of ' N. & Q.' may be able to help me to complete my labours. FREDERIC TURNER.