Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 5.djvu/600

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io- s. v. JUNE 23, im

an exhaustive memoir on Genesius and the actor-martyrs. Genesius is also the hero of an opera by the celebrated German musician Felix von Weingartner, which was given at the Berlin Hofoper, 1892.

DR. MAX MAAS. Munich.

DOGS AT CONSTANTINOPLE (10 th S. v. 170, 456). Of. 'The Life and Letters of Busbecq,' by C. T. Forster and F. H. B. Daniell (London, 1881), vol. i. p. 225, where the worthy knight explains why the Turks are so kind to dogs, although they consider them foul and unclean animals, and therefore keep them out of their houses. Aldrovandi's book on quadrupeds has no doubt some references to dogs in mediaeval literature. L. L. K.

AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED (10 th S. v. 449). " Attain the unattainable," &c., is from Tennyson's * Timbuctoo,' to be found in * Cambridge Prize Poems,' not, I think, in his collected works. W. T.

Miss METEYARD (10 th S. v. 450). Her place of burial is constantly being asked for. I think it a pity and have thought so for many years that it is not required by law to be put in the certificate of death before being sent to Somerset House. Of course, an Act of Parliament would be required, and I doubt if any member can be found to bother about such a thing it not being required for fiscal purposes. Such informa- tion is once again asked for by MR. CANN HUGHES. In this case, luckily, he will find the answer in Boase's 'Modern English Biography.' Miss Meteyard was buried at Woking Cemetery. RALPH THOMAS.

"ANON" (10 th S. i. 246, 337 ; v. 274, 454). It is difficult to see what defence of Thacke- ray's use of "anon" in the sense of 41 formerly " can be deduced from Milton's "on hill sometimes, anon in shady vale." The passages quoted from the novelist clearly indicate that at the moment of speaking or writing he had the past, and only the past, definitely in his mind. Milton, on the other hand, employs the particle with reference to the second of two periods of time, giving it, therefore, a future signifi- cance in the alternative phrase which it regulates. It would be possible to argue that the poet's "sometimes" is the Eliza- bethan word that meant "once" or "at an early stage," and that the " anon " there- fore follows in its special sense of "presently"; but this is not necessary. Even if Milton's "anon" is, tQ be taken, with lexicographers

and annotators, as meaning " at other times," it still has a future bearing in relation to the preceding times indicated.

THOMAS BAYNE.

IRISH BOG BUTTER (10 th S. v. 308, 353, 416). The following letter appeared in The Irish Times on 5 June. It records the latest find of bog butter, and may be worthy of repro- duction in 'N. & Q.' :

Find of Butter in a Bog.

SIR, It may interest some of your readers to know that while a couple of men employed by a local landowner were cutting turf in a bog in the vicinity on 30th ult. they came upon a vessel about eight feet from the surface, and which, on being opened, was found to contain a large quantity of butter, about 2cwt. The keg, or tub, which was unfortunately much injured in its removal, appears to be hollowed out of a single log of wood about two feet in height and one foot three inches in diameter, and still bears the marks of the adze or other instrument used in its formation. The lid is also in one piece, grooved in the centre to admit of a piece of wood being run through from ear to ear, and appeared air-tight. I send you a sample of contents. There are no marks which would lead one to form an opinion as to its age, but it is generally believed to be more than 100 years under- ground. The vessel is of oak, and is in a good state ot preservation. Thanking you in anticipation. Yours, &c., E. A. BBEEN.

Milltown Pass, Killucan, 1st June, 1906.

W. A. HENDERSON.

Dublin.

DIRECTION POST v. SIGNPOST (10 th S. v. 449). Ogilvie defines a "finger post" as u a post with a finger pointing for directing passengers to the road," and a ** Signpost " as "something hung or set near a house or over a door to give notice of the tenant's occupation." Barclay says, "Signpost, that upon which a sign hangs, a displayed board on the outside of a tradesman's house." Thus the direction or finger post points out the road, which the signpost such as the sign of the "George" or "Crown," &c. certainly does not.

Punch is not alone in the misuse of the latter term, for I have observed it, not only in conversation, but in leading works of fiction. I hope sincerely that MR. CURTIS'S note may prove a corrective.

HAROLD MALET, Col.

I should prefer the more usual " guide- post." "Direction post" is not, I think, the current term for such a friend-in-need.

ST. SWITHIN.

Personally I have for many years past made the distinction between "direction post" and ' signpost," using the first for roads, and the second for inns, public-houses, &g, For the first, however, I have also used