Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/375

 s. in. APRIL 22, 1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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heraldist who supplied the family with the coat of arms which Alexander Luders pasted into some of his books (now in the Inner Temple Library) to put beneath the arras the punning motto "Non deludere." The 'Dic- tionary ' calls Alexander Luders his father's second son. Possibly the eldest was Theodore Luders, "late in the dragoons," whose death, "lately, at Leghorn," was reported in The Gentleman's Magazine for October, 1785 (Iv. ii. 835). Lucretia Luders, of Widcombe, who was perhaps a sister, was married on 10 July, 1776, to William Light, of St. Marylebone, Middlesex (' Bath Abbey Registers,' i. 295).

H. C.

BRIAN BORTT: CONCOBAR. It is a great defect in Smith's 'Cyclopaedia of Names,' 1895, that the Celtic element is treated so irresponsibly. The blunders are such as to make one suspect that neither the editor nor his staff had any knowledge of either Welsh or Irish. For the present I shall deal with only two of them. The name of Brian Boru, as we generally call him in English, may be used in Gaelic in two forms, viz., Borumha, the source of English Boru, and Boroimhe, sounded like our word "borrower." Smith gives neither of these. According to him the name is Brian Borohma, pronounced Boroma, which I need hardly say is mere gibberish.

Another Irish heroic name is given by Smith as Conch6bar, with the English ch in " church." There are three distinct errors here. 1. The name may be correctly written either Conchobhar or Concobar, but not Conchobar, which is at best an old and long- obsolete orthography. 2. The ch should be hard, not soft. 3. The stress is on the first syllable, not the second. Mr. Yeats has preserved the true rhythm in his 'Poems,' 1899, p. 108 :

And all around the harp-string told his praise, And Concobar, the Red Branch king of kings, With his own fingers touched the brazen strings.

JAMES PLATT, Jun.

FOOT- WARMERS IN CHURCH. Casual refer- ences to the practice of carrying foot- warmers to church during the eighteenth century are not uncommon, and it is alluded to in the title of a patent dated 7 February, 1786, No. 1530, granted to Charles Frederick Hempel, of Cheyne Row, Chelsea, melting- pot manufacturer, for

''Proof earthen cases of different shapes, with heaters made of the same composition, for the warming of beds, dishes, plates, &c., likewise for \vanning and keeping comfortable the feet in car- riages, pews of churches, &c."

I think that Hempel's crucibles enjoyed a

certain amount of reputation. There was a Johanna Hempel, described as of "the King's Private Road, Chelsea, potter," who took out a patent, dated 1C October, 1790, No. 1776, for a

" composition made of earth and other materials, and the means of manufacturing the same into basons and other vessels, which so manufactured have the power of filtering water and other liquids in a more cheap, easy, and convenient manner than water or other liquids can now be filtered."

R. B. P.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be sent to them direct.

TENSES IN FICTION. Does any definite rule exist as to the use of the past and present tense in works of fiction, ike. ? For instance, some authors are fond of using this form : " He falls to the ground, and writhes there in agony " ; whilst others would say : " He fell to the ground, and writhed," ifec. As conveying a picture the former is more telling, whilst perhaps the latter is the more accurate. Carlyle's ' French Revolution ' is written wholly in the former strain. Some authors use both. Would such inconsistency be considered wrong in any way 1

A. P. HATTON.

lo, Argyle Square, W.C.

[The idea of the so-called "vivid present" is derived from the Latin, so that it can be used in conjunction with the past without error. But most of the fiction and prose we have read in which it occurs is by no means a recommendation for its use. It is rather in modern times the mark of the writer who tries to be vivid and fails.]

MR. MOXHAY, LEICESTER SQUARE SHOW- MAN. MR. CECIL CLARKE, in his interesting note on ' Coliseums Old and New ' (10 th S. ii. 485), alludes to the above-named person, and speaks of the panorama which was " in the centre of Leicester Square some fifty to sixty years ago." It would be very interesting if some further particulars could be supplied, for, upon looking through a fairly complete list of shows and showmen connected with this spot, I cannot find the name given. I was always under the impression that the "Great Globe," erected on the garden of the square by Mr. James Wyld, the geographer and sometime member of Parliament for Bodmin, was the first building put up there. That was built in or about 1851, and for more than ten years attracted many people. I should be glad of any information about a