Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/216

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NOTES AND QUERIES, no s. VIIL AUG. 31, iw.

West Riding of Yorkshire Election. The Poll for a Knight of the Shire. Wakefield, 1835.

Poll-Book for the Borough of Kingston-upon- Hull, 1841. 8vo, Hull, 1841.

Poll-Book for Election at Hull, 1868. 8vo, Hull, 1869.

J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.

I possess a copy of ' A List of the Burgesses and Freeholders in the Order they Polled at the late Election at Nottingham from 17th to 27th June, 1818.' Candidates : Right Hon. Lord Rancliffe, Joseph Birch, Esq., and Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq. Result : Birch 2228, Rancliffe, 1863, Smith 1839. MERCURIUS.

DR. JOHNSON : DR. JOHN SWAN : DR. WATTS (10 S. vii. 348, 475). I have been informed by Mr. C. A. Markham, of North- ampton, that Dr. William Watts, referred to in the letter by Dr. Swan to Dr. Johnson, was born at Milbourne, in Leicestershire, circa 1725 ; appointed physician to North- ampton Hospital, 1757 ; afterwards went to reside in Leicester, where he was instru- mental in establishing a hospital ; and died there in 1774.

It would be interesting to learn more about him, particularly whether he was successful in obtaining any appointment. Possibly some of your Leicester readers may be able to supply something more.

Dr. John Swan, the translator of Syden- ham's works, was the friend and correspond- ent of most of the literary men of the middle of the eighteenth century. Any personal or other facts concerning him, details of MS. or printed materials relating to, or by, him, and anything relative to his own or his wife's family, will put me under a great obligation. He was buried in St. Giles's Churchyard, Newcastle, Staffordshire, on 9 April, 1768, and seems to have been a very religious person, as is clearly shown by his own letter-books (2 vols., 4to), now in the possession of Mr. Markham, and a small 32mo New Testament penes myself.

R. SIMMS.

Newcastle, Staffs.

" Pis CON - LED " : FOXGLOVE CALLED " RAPPER " (10 S. vii. 226, 376 ; viii. 78). The term " piscon-led " was in common use in Pembroke when I was a boy, nearly sixty years ago, and was applied to one who wandered about in a kind of listless, aimless way, but more generally to one who lost his way, notwithstanding that it was more or less familiar. I remember that some thirty- five years ago, about half-past ten at night,

I got into a field which I had often crossed^ within a mile of home, and although I had a lantern, I roamed round and round that field for some time, but utterly failed to find the stile leading out of it. At last it occurred to me to look for the light above the town, and when I saw it, I made straight for it, having to work my way through a thick hedge. I put it down as a case of " piscon-led," or rather an illustration of the commonly understood meaning of the phrase in Pembroke. I may add that at the place and time mentioned the word " pise on " or " piskin " was applied to ants. With regard to the foxglove, MR. OWEN says he never heard it called " rapper " in South Wales. At the above place and time- it was seldom called anything else. It was so called because we boys used to pluck a flower, press the open end firmly between the thumb and the first and second fingers, and strike it sharply on the palm of the hand, causing a kind of rap by the bursting of the flower. J. BROWN.

48, Gwydyr Mansions, Brighton.

PIE: TART (10 S. viii. 109, 134, 157). I can confirm the statement of G. M. T. as far as my own family is concerned. As children, we were always taught to use the- word " pie " when speaking of baked paste,- whether containing meat or fruit, where- there was a top crust, and " tart " where the top crust was absent ; and I have remained a stickler for the distinction ever since. I have many times corrected what I have considered an error in description.

Since the query appeared I have consulted several dictionaries, and find that " tart " is defined as a fruit pie or a small fruit pie. This, however, does not settle the question of its modern usage. The only edition of Johnson's dictionary I possess is the last published under his supervision, 1779 ; there 1 find " tart " defined as " a small pie of fruit." This would seem to settle the usage nearly 130 years ago, but Johnson gives as an illustrative quotation for the word a passage from one of Bacon's essays,. where it appears to me that the writer is plainly alluding to an open piece of pastry. There is no doubt that the modern restau- rant keeper and waiter both invariably use the word " tart," as distinct from a " pie,' r when the material of which it is composed' is fruit. Still, my belief is that the distinc- tion should refer not to the material, but to the architecture of the pastry.

F. A. RUSSELL.

4, Nelgarde Road, Catford, S.E.