Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/74

 58 NOTES AND QUERIES, no* s. iv. JULY is, im. did some illustrating themes by Beethoven and Chopin, but on these my recollection is not so clear. Of his Wagner designs, ideal scenes with symbolical figures, many have been exhibited. At the Salon National (the " New Salon") in Paris in 1897 a sculptor, M. d'lllbach, exhibited a remarkable series of life-size heads in coloured wax, under the title ' The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven.' They showed a great deal of poetic insight in the manner in which the characteristics of each symphony were thus symbolized. Those representing the Fifth and the Ninth Sym- phonies were particularly fine and appro- priate. I have always regretted that they were not well illustrated in some art period- ical, so as to become better known. What became of them, or whether any one pur- chased them, I have never heard. H. H. STATHAM. There is a fine drawing by Aubrey Beards- ley of a lady seated upon a prancing horse, inspired by Chopin, Ballade III., Op. 47. A. K. BAYLEY. NOTES ON BOOKS, *o. A Areio English Dictionary on Historical Principle*. By Dr. James A. H. Murray. — Maiulrayora— Matter. (Vol. VI.) By Henry Bradley, Ph.D. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.) A DODBLE section of the great dictionary, issued under the charge of Dr. Bradley, occupies over one hundred and twenty pages of vol. vi., and includes an important instalment of the letter M. The superiority over all competitors, on which we have been wont to insist, is maintained, and 3,924 words are found against 1,760 in Funk's ' Standard,' and 14,064 illustrative quotations appear against 1,432 in 4 The Century,' the instances advanced in opposition being in each case the most comprehensive to be found. Of Romanic and Latin origin are most of the words, belonging to the earliest strata of old French, and rivalling " the native words in the mul- titude and diversity of their senses." For instances of the truth of this we are referred to manner and march (sb. and vb.), market, mans (sb.), master, and matter, a portion only of which appears. In the first column of the instalment are the two words, kindred in growth and in picturesqueness of asso- ciation, mandrayora and mandrake. Both are early in appearance, the former being found so soon as c. 1000, and the latter being traced in Wiclif's Bible of 1382. A misprint of mandragpru in the First Folio Shakespeare (' Antony and Cleopatra.' I. v. 4) may, it is held, be responsible for majidragoni in Scott's 'Kenilworth.' Instances of use are un- common between 1623 (Webster) and 1830. The notion that mandrake when eaten by women pro- motes conception is said to linger in Palestine. Examples of the word mane, applied to human hair, are found respectively in 1375 and 1647. George Eliot in 1800 (' Mill on the Floss') is responsible for the picture of Maggie "tossing back her mane." Nan-eater is applied to sharks in 1837, horses in 1840, and tigers in 1862. Mangel-wurzel is worth consultation. Under mangle, derived ultimately from Greek pdyyavov (see also mangonel), refer- ence is made to the popular utterance, " Has your mother sold her mangle?" Man-hole sounds older than 1793, when it seems to be first used by Smeaton. Mania is found so early as 1400 ; maniac is two centuries later. Manicure and compounds are, naturally, quite modern. Mr. Pinero's 'Gay Lord Quex' is among the works cited. There are numerous compounds of manifest. Man in the moon is given, but not " man in the street." Man- iierist is used by Dryden, 1695; mannerism is more than a century later. For manniny, in the sense of " the manning powers of the Admiralty," Sir C. Dilke is the chief authority. Full, important, and interesting information is given under manor. Man- queller=murderer is not quite obsolete. The his- tory of mansion has abundant interest. Familiarly, at least, manteau-maker is applied to women as well as men. We recall a popular ballad- How Mary [?], the bold manty-maker, To luke at a navvy thowt sin. An instance of feminine application is given in the dictionary. Mare's-nest is anticipated by " horse- nest." Under marigold we should, for sentimental reasons, like to see Wither's Grateful and obsequious marigold. The first use of marionette is in Browne's 'Bri- tannia's Pastorals.' Mark and market, with their compounds, occupy much space and are of import- ance. " You are not for all markets," says Rosa- lind. Sterne's " greetings in the market-place" might be quoted. Marmaduf and marmady are curious misprints for maravedi. Interesting con- jecture is furnished as to the origin of marmoset. Whether marque is connected with mark is left unsettled. Marquee is an assumed singular of marquise apprehended as plural. Under marriage feast might be given Milton's The god that sits at marriage-feast. Under married cite Juliet's If he be married, My grave is like to prove, &c. Marrow, in "my winsome marrow," is of obscure origin. Marrj/, interjectional, supplies matter for a capital article. The ' Marseillaise' is unhesitat- ingly assigned to Rouget de 1'Isle. Under mar- shalled we would give Campbell's I have marshalled my clan. Under maslin the influence of the long discussion in ' N. & Q.1 is sensible. Masque (with which com- pare mask) and masquera/ie both repay attention ; and mas?, the Eucharistic service, demands close studv. Shakespeare's master - mittrfss might be included with master-miss. The form of the English word mastiff is said to be difficult to account for. Coleridge's " Toothless mastiff bitch " recurs to the memory- Matinn, the first citation of which i» from Thackeray,i«defined "a'morning'(i.e.,after- noon) theatrical or musical performance." A Fourteenth • Century English Biblical Version. Edited by Anna C. Paues, Ph.D. (Cambridge, University Press.) MANY considerations combine to make this volume one of peculiar interest. It commands attention from an ecclesiastical point of view as being one of