Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/328

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NOTES AND QUERIES. tio s. vm. OCT. 5, 1907.

" sack," Falstaff s favourite drink ? But this Spanish wine, which was made from dry grapes, was exceedingly sweet, therefore anything but " dry " in the modern sense. Perhaps some expert in wines and their history will give an explanation through the medium of the ever-helpful ' N. & Q. '

G. KBUEGEB. Berlin.

MOTTO : " IN GOD is ALL." This is the family motto of Lord Saltoun. It would be interesting to know when it was first adopted by his predecessors, for in The Gentleman's Magazine for 1831, part ii. p. 456, we read of a massive silver ring that had then lately been found

" at the priory of St. Radegund, near Dover. It is set with a blood-stone, ornamented on each side of the stone with a flower growing from a heart, and at the back is inscribed ' in god is all.' "

It was at that time preserved in a collection of Kentish antiquities in the possession of Mr. Chaplin of the Clarendon Hotel, Dover. If it is known where this ring is now pre- served, it would be interesting for it to be examined, so that its probable date might be ascertained.

At Crofton, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, there is a church bell inscribed " In God is al, quod Gabriel " (Tho. North, ' English Bells and Bell-Lore,' p. 39), in which the writer finds in the above words an allusion to John i. 37. This, however, is by no means clear to all of us, who have consulted the Vulgate and the three English versions now in common use. If any of your readers are able to give other examples of these words being attributed to the angel of the Annunciation, we shall be grateful, as it may then be possible to trace them to their source. Can any one give the approximate date of the Crofton legend and refer to other examples ? Can they be a quotation from some prayer or hymn in a mediaeval breviary?

N. M. & A.

" STAKE " IN RACING. Should this word be correctly written in the singular, " Stake,' or in the plural, " Stakes," to designate the name of a horse race the Derby Stake the Oaks Stake, &c. ? I find the newspapers use both indifferently, and I should like to know which is the correct form.

E. W. J.

BRONTE = PBTJNTY. The Rev. Patrick Bronte, father of the three immortal sisters is said to have preferred the above form fo his patronymic to that of Prunty. Has i ever been ascertained that he was of Italian

>rigin, although a native of the north of reland ? I have met with the following Lescription of a work by an Italian : " Cos- umi religiosi, civili e militari degli antichi, ~giziani, Etruschi, Grecise, Romani (49 jlates of ancient costumes, implements, urniture, &c.), obi. 4to, Roma " ; and the /uthor's name, D. Prunti, so far resembles 'runty that the coincidence would seem worthy of note.

J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.

CHRISOM, BAPTISMAL ROBE. Can any reader tell me when the " accustomed offerings " made when a woman was ' churched " were given in money, instead of the chrisom ? This, I have been told, ncluded, in addition to the child's robe,
 * he cap lined with satin, mittens, and
 * ushion of quilted satin on which the child

was carried. M. ELLEN POOLE.

Alsager, Cheshire.

PEBOUN. At the conversion of Vladimir ' the huge wooden idol Peroun was dragged over the hills at a horse's tail, and whipped t>y twelve horsemen " (Stanley, ' History of the Eastern Church,' 1889, p. 291). Where can I find a representation or de- scription of this idol ? AYEAHB.

GOAT'S BLOOD AND DIAMONDS. Accord- ing to Henri Estienne, ' Apologie pour Herodote,' ed. Ristelhuber, Paris, 1872, torn. ii. p. 244, where Erasmus is cited, Robertus Liciensis (1425-75), in one of his sermons, upon the success of which he wagered a banquet, said : " Le fer se fond par le feu, le diamant est surmonte par le sang de bouc." What are the source and the explanation of the latter clause ?

In Gubernatis, ' Zoological Mythology,' 1872, vol. i. p. 422, the blood of the he-goat is stated to have been termed manus Dei, and reputed efficacious in medicine ; but no mention is made of such a wondrous property as that with which the above- named Franciscan has credited it.

Whether or not it has really any reference to this Occidental belief, the old Chinese regarded the horns of the native antelope (Antilope caudata, A. M. Edw.) as the only material with which to crush successfully diamonds as well as the tapir's bones the latter being also renowned as an extremely hard substance, and said to have been sometimes cunningly produced in the place of the Buddha's canine tooth (Li Shi-chin, ' Pan-tsau-kang-muh,' completed 1578, sub ' Ling-yang ').

Also, a history of the Maharajahs of