Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/574

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NOTES AND QUERIES. no* s. n. DEC. 10,

'German high society of the thirteenth cen- tury (the poem was written between 1200 and 1207). G. KRUEGER.

Berlin.

ANTIQUARY v. ANTIQUARIAN (10 th S. i. 325, 396; ii. 174, 237, 396). Your valued corre- spondent W. 0. B. asserts that if "antiquary" had not been in existence, "antiquarian" would have been used without question. Very possibly it would, but the fact remains that "antiquary" is in existence, and my contention is that if we have a substantive to express a personal idea, why should we employ an adjective which has a distinct meaning of its own ? " Antiquary " is a good old Elizabethan word, and it has a recognized status through giving a title to two works in English literature Shackerley Marmion's comedy and Scott's novel. Johnson is reported by Boswell to have used "antiquarian" conversationally, but I do not think it will be found in his writings. It is composed of five syllables instead of four, it possesses the advantage of sonority, and this probably accounted for the Doctor's preference. "Sectary" and "sectarian" are exact analogues to "antiquary" and "antiquarian." I can scarcely believe that "sectary" has been ousted by its adjective. " Centenary," which also dates from Elizabethan times, has a recognized meaning of its own ; "centenarian" is an invention of the nine- teenth century, and "centenary' 3 not being available, its use, if not classical, is justifiable. It may be pointed out that both "antiquary" and "centenary" were occasionally used as adjectives. W. F. PRIDEAUX.

Surely it is just a matter of usage. We have the Society of Antiquaries (Lond. and -Scot.) and Sir Walter's 'The Antiquary.' The term "antiquarian" is often preferred by "antiquariasters," among whom I cer- tainly do riot include W. C. B. J. T. F

Durham.

COSAS BE ESPANA (10 th S. i. 247, 332, 458). Dans un petit livre public a Madrid en 1730, par Fray Martin Sarmiento, je trouve ce qui suit :

" Paulo Lucas en sus viajes a Egipto, dice que los

cristianos coptos tienen la costumbre siguieute

Cuando el sacerdote copto ha de decir la misa, se

le pone enfrente una luz encendida entre dos huevos

le avestruz colgados, para que tenga atencion a lo

que hace. Fundase esto en la creencia en que estan

e que las avestruces no incuban los huebos poni-

endose encirna de ellos, sino solamente mirandolos

<C ia M b atencwn ' alt ernando en esto el macho

" Acaso aludira a esto la costumbre en Espana de colgar en los altares uno 6 dos huevos de avestruz

de marfil v los dos que cuelgan del Santo Cristo de Burgos. En Pontevedra hay uno sobre la cabeza de Nuestra Seiiora de la 0, en San Bartolome.

"Los mahometanos ponen tambien huebos de avestruz sobre las lamparas de sus mezquitas."

Probablement je trouverai entre mes notes quelque chose de plus sur cette question.

Si MR ST. SWITHIN desire des reriseigne-

ments plus complets, je serais tres-heureux

d'entrer en corresppndance particuliere avec

lui, et 1'invite a s'adresser directement a moi.

FLORENCIO DE UHAGON.

46, Gran Via, Bilbao, Plspagne.

WITHAM (10 th S. ii. 289, 333). In reply to PROF. SKEAT'S request for information to enable him to come to some conclusion about the derivation of the place-name Witham, I would state that the parish of that name in Somerset is, in my experience, always pro- nounced Wit'am. As for early spellings of the name, it is Witeham in Domesday Book (both the Exchequer and Exeter versions), and Witteham in the foundation charter of the Carthusian Monastery established by Henry II. (see the copy of the charter in Miss Thompson's ' Somerset Carthusians ').

With respect to MR. UNDERDOWN'S query at the first reference, I may say that the Frome is the stream that flows through Witham ; that instead of the parish separating the King's forest of Selwood from any one else's land, it was apparently in the centre of the forest; and that the Domesday records afford no evidence of the two Somerset estates named Witham having been forfeited to the king, except in the same way that most other manors had. J. COLES, Jun.

Frome.

Witham is a small market-town in Essex, about forty miles from London, and stupid people are told to go to Wit'ham ; in fact, I doubt whether the aborigines would know it by any other name than Wit'ham.

'The name of the river at Boston in Lincolnshire is always called the With'am, and so is the surname in Yorkshire. Lartington Hall, near Barnard Castle, was the seat of the Rev. Thomas With'am, a priest of the Latin Church, who, owing to the death of lis elder brothers, had succeeded to the 'amily property, and died recently at a very advanced age.

It is evident from this that the name s pronounced differently in different parts of England. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

EPITAPHIANA (10 th S. ii. 322, 396). I appreciate MR. J. T. PAGE'S well-intentioned remarks as to giving full particulars of