Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/400

 330 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io» B. iv. OCT. 21. iw& attributed to certain counties is quite in- adequate—and perhaps equally useless. As for Lincolnshire, is there not Robert of Brunne ? Probably his name is little known, but he is (from an historical point of view) one of the most important authors in the language. Writing in 1303, some time before Chaucer, his English is far easier to under- stand, and his language presents a much closer approximation to standard literary English than Chaucer's does. Similar remarks are true of a Leicestershire man, Sir Richard Ros, the author of 'La Belle Dame sans Merci.' It is true that he wrote at a later date than Chaucer, but many of his lines resemble the language of the nineteenth century. Yet his poem was actually once attributed to Chaucer by critics who ought to have known better. I wonder how many people know who was the other Warwickshire man. The answer, from a literary point of view, is—Sir Thomas Malory. WALTER W. SKEAT. To the Lincolnshire catalogue Anthony Bek should be added. He was a son of Walter de Eresby. At the time of his death (1310) he was Bishop of Durham, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and King of the Isle of Man, and reported to have been the richest subject in Europe. He was a great builder and a noteworthy leader of men. N. M. <fe A. The writer of the article in The Strand Magazine allots only eight representatives of "genius " to Yorkshire, and it would be in- teresting to know if he has ever heard of the following Yorkshireinen: William Congreve, dramatic poet; Etty, the illustrious painter ; Priestley, man of science, the discoverer of oxygen; Paley, our greatest moral philoso- pher ana author of the ' Evidences or Chris- tianity'; Ebenezer Elliott, the "Corn-Law Rhymer"; Charles Waterton, the famous naturalist: John Hailstone, geologist and Second Wrangler; Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton, poet; William Watson, after Mr. Swinburne our greatest living English poet; Longfellow, who was of Yorkshire descent, although born in America. There are, of course, many others whose names do not occur to me at the present moment. S. W. 47, Connaught Street, Hyde Park, W. I think that the article mentioned by ST. SWITHIN appeared in The Strand Magazine for July, not August I enclose a copy of a letter which was in the issue of The Shrews- bury Chronicle of 7 July :— SIR,—An article under this heading appears in '/'/(• Strand Magazine for this month. The writer only places one name, that of Clive, on his map in connexion with Shropshire. Is it possible that he has the assurance to write such an article making for himself a standard of genius, and that he never heard of Admiral Benbow. Thomas Churchyard, Charles Darwin, General Viscount Hill, and Wil- liam Wycherley ? If a genius can be defined to mean a person who has left his or her mark in the history of Great Britain, then, of course, there are others who should be added to the list of noted Salopians. I only mention a few whose names will not readily fade from the memory of those who take any interest in their county. HERBERT SOUTHAM. Shrewsbury, July 5th, 1905. To the above can be added Richard Tarle- ton. Bishop Percy, Samuel Lee (Orientalist) and Betty ("Young Roscius "). HERBERT SOUTHAM. " ITALY A GEOGRAPHICAL EXPRESSION " (10th S. iv. 249).—"Italien ein geographischer Begriff" is the German form of the saying, which is based upon some words spoken by Prince Metternich in a controversy with Lord Palmerston in the summer of 1847 on the Italian question. In a letter to Count Prokesch-Osten, dated 19 November, 1849, Metternich says:— "Ich habe im Sommer 1847 den Aussprnch gefallt, doss der nationale Begriff ' Italien' ein geographischer sei, und mein Ausspruch: I'lUh'e eat un noil) geographique, welcher Palmenton giftig argerte, hat sicn dan Burgerrecht erworben.' —' Correspondence of Prokesch' (1881), ii. 343. It may be interesting to note that in the same letter Metternich said that the same might be predicated of Germany. Hence " Deutschland ein geographischer Begriff was once a well-known saying. A. L. MAYHEW. This phrase was used by Metternich in conversation with Lord Palmerston in 1847. It will be found, with further particulars, in the new edition of 'Classical and Foreign Quotations,' No. 1428. F. K. According to Karl Hillebrand (' Geschichte Frankreichs,' ii. 689), Prince Metternich's famous in "I, "Italy a geographical definition," was first used by him m his memorandum to the Great Powers on 2 August, 1814. Cf. Georg Biichmann's 'Gefliigelte Worte' (1889). p. 421. L. L K. BAINES FAMILY (10th S. iv. 69).—Perhaps MR. BAINES will have a better chance of help if he sends you all he knows about John Baines, of Layham, with dates. It will be well also to give short notes of all searches that have been made about him up far. 1 the meantime here is a small contribution to his history.