Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 5.djvu/47

 s. v. JAN. is, i960.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

35

"SJAMBOK": ITS PRONUNCIATION (10 th S. iv. 204, 332. 512). In the Supplement to my

Cape Dutch sjambok seems to have been adopted from the Malay chdbok (Portuguese chabuco) ; also, that the Malay word is obviously borrowed from the Persian chdbuk, which (as an adj ) means "alert, active," and (as a sb.) a "horsewhip." And I refer to ' N. & Q ,' 9 th S. iv. 456 ; ' Chawbuck ' in Yule's Glossary, and 'Chabouk," Chawbuck,' in 'N.E.D.' WALTER W. SKEAT.
 * Concise Dictionary ' I have said that the

CHALONER : THOMAS MEIGHEN : THE FOR- TUNATE BOY (10 th S. iv. 509). There is a long notice of the "Fortunate Youth," as he was styled, in Gunning's 'Reminiscences of Cam- bridge,' chap, x., 1817 to 1820 (ii. 283-91), under the heading 'Remarkable Imposture'; but it leaves him when the Discovery is made. His subsequent career is mentioned in a now scarce book, ' Whychcotte of St. John's,' pub- lished in 1833, and 1 believe written by the Rev. Erskine Neale (once rector of Kirton, an adjacent parish to Newbourne), a very voluminous author. After alluding to the bursting of the bubble, and the youth's mysterious and sudden disappearance con- sequent thereon, Mr. Neale records having heard him preach a sermon, in a small country church in Cheshire, on the fleeting tenure of all earthly good (ii. 143-50). He resided, so says the author, for some time in France after his imposture, and then went to St. Bees College, Cumberland, whence he was ordained by Dr. Law, then Bishop of Chester. Here again the story stops.

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A,

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

[MR. W.'P. COURTNEY also refers to Gunning.]

FULHAM BRIDGE (10 th S. iv. 509). The coloured print of 'La Veue du Pont de Fulham Bridge' is probably that by Chatelain, of which there is a copy among he engravings in the library of the Corpora- tion of London. It is described in the cata- logue thus : " A view of Fulham Bridge from Putney. Chatelain del., Roberts sculp." J. B. Chatelain was an English artist, born in London in 1710, who, whenever his disso- lute habits permitted, gave undoubted proofs of the excellence of his taste and the readi- ness of his invention. He was peculiarly successful in his designs for landscapes, some of which he engraved. His other engravings are from the works of Gaspar Poussin and Cortona. He died in 1744. The plan of the bridge, completed in 1729, was drawn by Cheselden, the great surgeon (Faulkner's


 * Fulham,' p. 6) and the builder was Mr.

Phillips, carpenter to George II. Its cost was 23,075Z., and it is 789 ft. long and 24ft.

wide. J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.

6, Elgin Court, W.

THE BOAR'S HEAD (10 th S. iv. 506). At the annual Christmas supper of the Man- chester Literary Club, of which Mr. George Milner is president, the boar's head is brought fro^n the kitchen into bhe dining- hall carried on high by thecAe/, and followed by a procession consisting of a cook (who carries a very large knife and a very small fork), a master of the revels, an usher, a jester, courtiers, minstrels, and singers, all in old-time costumes. The carol is the well- known "Caput apri defero ":

The boar's head in hand bring I,

With garlands gay and rosemary ;

I pray you all sing merrily

Qui estis in convivio.

ARCHIBALD SPARKE, F.R.S.L. There are so many grotesque stories as to the origin of this Christmas custom that it is interesting to discover what appears to be the true explanation. According to Puricelli (chap, iv., 'Dissert. Nazar., 7 pp. 471-2),

" Neque hrec praxis inanis, seu mysterio vacua. Illud compertissimum est, apud nobiles etiam Mediolanenses inviolabiliter ad hue ex antiqua, et immemorabili majornm traditione hunc vigere usum, ut in Nativitate Domini suillas carnes, et^ex capite prsesertim comedant, in prima mensa, t*tfe in execrationem JudcRorum, qui Messiam, et sal- vatorem pertinaciter negant nobis esse natum, obstinatique contendunt, antique legis caeremonias, et ritus adhuc servandos esse, ac proinde a suillis etiam carnibus, tanquam immundis, adhuc absti- 'nendum."

It was customary on Christmas night for the Curia and Papal household to be enter- tained at supper at Santa Maria Maggiore at the conclusion of the Papal Mass, and it devolved on the Cardinal Bishop of Albano to provide at his own expense two boars heads ("duo optima busta porcorum ) for the supper. On the death of Pope Inno- cent ILL, in 1216, the expenses of this banquet were no longer paid for by the cardinal, but by the reigning Pontiff. Although the "Static ad S. Mariana Maiorem" is still held there on Christmas night, the "ccena,"alas ! has for many years been discontinued.

HARTWELL D. GRISSELL, I.S.A. Oxford.

SEVEN SACRAMENT FONTS (10 th S. iv. 386). These fonts are somewhat rare, and are chiefly found in Norfolk. The finest of those I have seen was some years ago in the Cathedral of Norwich. There are, how-