Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/494

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. m. MAY 27, IMS.

I strongly suspect that the word in the original had an r in the place of the first v, and that it referred to pieces of parish armour, a certain make of which was commonly at that period described as *' Almain rivets" -variously spelt. ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

BRAYLEY'S ' LONDINIANA.' The following cutting from the ' Books and Authors ' column of The Morning Post, for 28 April deserves, perhaps, to be rescued from unindexed obscurity :

"A rather remarkable instance of the abundant dangers of careless reading is afforded by the re- ference to Admiral Vernon in that well-known antiquarian work Brayley's 'Londiniana.' The -author was evidently an admirer of the poetry of his contemporary, Lord Byron, some of whose remarks on London in 'Don Juan' are quoted on the title-page, and lie speaks of 'Admiral Vernon, whom Lord Byron in the opening canto of " Don Juan " has stigmatised as " the butcher." ' Anyone who turns to the second stanza of that canto will see, of course, that it was the Duke of Cumberland, and not the hero of Porto Bello, who there, as so often elsewhere, bears the epithet."

The "remarks on London " which Brayley quotes on the title-page of his second volume consist of the lines in stanza vii. canto xi. of ' Don Juan,' beginning and ending The man who has stood on the Acropolis

May not think much of London's first appearance But ask him what lie thinks of it a year hence ?

Brayley's book, as is well known, consists of four volumes, each of which has a different quotation on the title-page. At p. 45 of the second volume occurs the passage about Admiral Vernon referred to by the writer in The Morning Post, and the curious mis- application of Byron's words leads one to .ask whether in some edition of ' Don Juan ' the first line in stanza ii. of the opening anto may not be misprinted Vernon the butcher, Cumberland, Wolfe, Hawke. The transposition of a comma would have the effect of transferring the epithet from one hero to the other. W. F. PRIDEATJX.

BYRON AND MOORE. An interesting case of parallelism, in which the influence of the minor on the major intellect is probably illustrated, seems worth noting with reference to a familiar passage in Moore and the ex- pression of a grievance in one of Byron's letters. Writing on 2 July, 1819, to Mr. Hoppner, the British Consul - General at Tenice, Byron alludes thus to his fears and anxieties about the health of the Countess Guiccioli :

" 1 greatly fear that the Guiccioli is going into a consumption, to which her constitution tends.

Thus it is with everything and everybody for whom I feel anything like a real attachment : ' War, death, or discord, doth lay siege to them.' I never even could keep alive a dog that I liked or that liked me."

In a letter to John Murray, written in Sep- tember, 1817, the noble poet said he had been looking into the ' Lalla Rookh ' volume, and considered ' The Fire Worshippers ' the most valuable of its features. It is in this poem, it will be remembered, that Moore reflects as follows :

Oh, ever thus, from childhood's hour, I 've seen my fondest hopes decay ;

I never loved a tree or flower, But 'twas the first to fade away.

I never nursed a dear gazelle,

To glad me with its soft black eye,

But when it came to know me vyell, And love me, it was sure to die !

THOMAS BAYNE.

ST. NICHOLAS'S, HERTFORD. On Thursday, 30 March, whilst the workmen were engaged in putting in a new floor in a shop in the Wash, some remains of the church of St. Nicholas, which appears to have been in use in the reign of Queen Mary, and to have fallen into complete decay by the year 1700, were unearthed. Portions of a large Early English arch and a label termination were removed to the local museum. Although other portions of the building were visible, it was impossible to continue the excava- tions, owing to the delay to business that would have been occasioned.

H. P. POLLARD.

Qttttitfl*

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.

PHILIPPINA : PHILOPOENA. This word is no doubt known to many readers of 'N. & Q.' as used in connexion with a humorous and usually juvenile diversion. When, at dessert or the like, a nut, almond, or fruit-stone is found with two kernels, these are called Philippics, and divided between and eaten by two persons, usually of opposite sexes, with the consequence that when these meet again the partner who first greets the other with the term Philippina is entitled to a present from the other. The French form is Philippine, Dutch Jilippine, Da. filipinc, Sw. Jilipin. The German is Vielliebchen, diminu- tive of viellieb, much loved, very dear ; com- pare liebchen, loved little one, darling. The