Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/44

 32

NOTES AND QUERIES, [iv s. m. JAX. H,

the mere custom of former centuries ; more especially since we most of us know how erratic and haphazard the spelling of our ancestors was. In his dictionary PROF. SKEAT rightly raises his voice against ascendant and descendant ; in this he rebels against former usage and authority ; but he falls away over the word attendant, because he has found attendaunce in Chaucer ; in this he becomes again a slave to authority and usage.

I appeal to PROF. SKEAT to have the courage of his opinions, and to head the

Sarty of reform in spelling. He will probably nd that Oxford, Cambridge, the Conference of Head Masters, and the chief London printers will support him in bringing about some useful changes, which other authorities are too cautious to originate. F. P.

GREAT SEAL IN GUTTA-PERCHA (10 th S. ii. 528). The Great Seal of Ireland at the pre- sent day is made of gutta-percha of a green colour. The process consists of softening two discs of gutta-percha in hot water and impressing the matrices on the discs. To use no stronger word, the very name " gutta- percha " is enough to condemn such a material for the purpose ; but apart from considera- tions of a sentimental nature, the use of gutta-percha is to be deprecated, for when subjected to certain changes of temperature, and after the lapse of some years, it seems to lose some of its consistency and to become fragile and gradually decay. The seal of Ulster's office used to be made in gutta- percha, but I have substituted for it pure vermilion wax, which is practically everlast- ing, and, even if not encased in a metal box, is safe from being eaten by rats or mice, owing to the red lead in the colouring.

I may mention that the Great Seal of England is made of a very brittle yellow material, mostly composed of resin, the result being that it is very easily broken. I would suggest to the Clerks of the Crown and Hanaper that they should return to the ways of our forefathers, and use pure wax, which can be obtained, specially prepared, from Messrs. Ready, of the British Museum.

It is lamentable to contemplate that in a hundred years or so there will hardly be a perfect specimen of the gutta-percha Great Seal of Ireland, or the resin Great Seal of England, in existence.

ARTHUR VICARS, Ulster.

MERCURY IN TOM QUAD (10 th S. ii. 467, 531). I knew Tom Quad in the early thirties, when a current story explained the recent deposition of Mercury. Coming to chapel

one morning, men beheld the eloquent grand- son of Atlas arrayed in surplice, doctor's hood, scarf, bands, and trencher cap, his black face peering out of these adornments unacademically. A frost had hardened the water in the basin, giving access to the god during the night; but the ice had been care- fully broken, so that no one could approach him in the morning without a plunge into- freezing water five feet deep. King Gaisford, in his rage and fury, commanded that the image should be removed, and I seem to- remember it lying in the St. Aldate's yard of which Canon Thompson speaks. When Lord Derby came down to be installed as Chan- cellor he is said to have recalled the freak, and to have confessed himself one of its perpetrators. SENEX.

QUEEN ANNE'S LAST YEARS (10 th S. ii. 503). The book is :

" Memoirs of the four last years of the reign of Queen Anne, from 1710, to her death. In which the characters of the most eminent persons of both parties that acted under that Princess are impar- tially drawn : and the history of those important transactions are [sic] set in a clear light. To which is prefixed a succinct view of the continual struggles of parties, from the Reformation to 1710. London, printed for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Paternoster Row, 1742."

I do not find this in Halkett and Laing's 'Dictionary,' though it is mentioned in Watt, but without information as to the author. An earlier work, with a somewhat similar but still longer title, and dated 1729,. is mentioned by both, and attributed to " Gibson."

I do not know whether the 1742 book is- founded on, or is perhaps merely a reissue of. that of 1729, as I have not seen the latter. The former is written in the Whig interest, but is of no value. J. F. R.

Godalming.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHRISTMAS (10 th S. ii. 503). May I add to W. C. B.'s second valuable list the following, relating to what must ever be a subject of unabated interest ?

Thomas K. Hervey. The Book of Christinas i descriptive of its Customs, Ceremonies, Traditions, iSuperstitions, Fun, Feeling, and Festivities. 8vo, 1836. With illustrations by R. Seymour. The Athenanim gave a very favourable review of this work.

William Sandys, F.S.A. Christmas Tide: ita History, Festivities, &c.

Christmas in N aples. The L)uke of Andria Carafa, in The Daily Messenger of Paris, Nov. or Dec. (pro- bably the latter), 1903.

Santa Claus in Italy. The Daily Telegraph, 20 Dec., 1903.

Christmas in France. Coxe's 'Tour through, France."