Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/528

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vm. NOV. so, 1907.

PEROUN (10 S. viii. 270, 330). The memory of this fierce old deity (in Slovene Parom) is preserved in the popular Slavic hymn ' Hej, Slovane,' which is sung in adaptations by different branches of the Slav family. The air, with increasing fire and vigour, resembles that of the Polish song ' Jeszcze Polska nie sginela,' words and music by General J. Wibicky (1797). During another enjoyable visit to Prague, Zampach, and the Sumava country I came across the Slav hymn, and offer a free trans- lation. (The dedication of a manuscript copy has been accepted by the eminent man of letters Count Liitzow, D.Litt.) The traditional conception of the deity as " lord of thunder " is familiar to Russian scholars, and illustrates the tenacity of elemental beliefs among the Slav peoples. The force of the original cannot well be re- produced in translation.

Hey, Slavonians, be ye mindful that our

tongue dies never, While our faithful hearts are beating for the

nation ever : Live, long live the Slavic language, sounding

through the ages, (bis) Thunder rolling, wrath eternal ! Vain our

foeman rages. 'Tis the gift our God entrusted, God the lord

of thunder, Therefore who on earth can wrest it from our

lives asunder ? Though our foes, like hosts of darkness, in

proud ranks are swelling,

(bis) God is with us : fall upon them, Perun all- dispelling ! Though against us clouds are looming, mighty

storms impending, Rocks destroying, strong oaks cleaving,

earth's foundations rending, Firm we stand as castle ramparts, tongue

and homeland shielding : (bis) May the earthquake seize the dastard who

would dream of yielding !

FRANCIS P. MARCHANT. Streatham Common.

COLLEGE HERALDIQUE DE FRANCE (10 S. viii. 368, 392). Although no Heralds' College now exists in France, it seems that, under the treaty by which Canada was ceded to Great Britain, all French titles and arms granted prior to 1763 (the year of the treaty) are, or can be, legally registered in the Canadian Heraldic Office in Ottawa, of which the Viscount Forsyth de Fronsac is, or was, Herald-Marshall (vide 10 S. v. 87).

S. D. C.

There is no official Heralds' College in France, but the profession of pedigree- hunter seems to be quite a lucrative affair.

I find in the Intermediaire des Chercheurs the address of Mr. O'Kelly de Galway, 8, Rue Menessier, Paris, 18. As a general rule information concerning French families given by the voluntary correspondents of L'lnter- mediaire is reliable. ELS.

T. L. PEACOCK'S 'MAID MARIAN' (10 S. viii. 341). DR. YOTJNG, while tracing back to the play of 1601 an episode concerning Maid Marian, does not refer to another particular pointed out by Joseph Ritson, to wit, that the same play of 1601 embodies the earliest association of Maid Marian (a character not occurring in the earliest ballads) with Robin Hood. Ritson appears to contradict himself when he writes else- where :

" To swear by him [i.e., Robin Hood], or some of his companions, appears to have been a usuall practice. The earliest instance of this practice- occurs in a pleasant story among ' Certaine Merry Tales of the Madmen of Gottam,' compiled in the- reign of Henry VIII.," &c.

Ritson then reprints the first of the Gotham tales, wherein two of the characters swear respectively by Robin Hood and by Maid Marian. The weak point here, however, is that Ritson does not actually profess to- quote from an original edition of the Gotham tales, though it appears likely that the compilation is quite as old as the reign of Henry VIII., and it is mentioned by name as early as 1572. Nevertheless, for many years past no copy older than 1630 has been found. Consequently, whatever private opinions we may hold, one cannot be sure that the earliest editions were scrupulously followed in later ones. Such being the case,, it would seem that Robin Hood's associa- tion with Maid Marian cannot at present be carried further back than 1601.

A. STAPLETON.

WREN AND THE MOON (10 S. viii. 387). Elmes in his ' Sir Christopher Wren,' 1852, p. 144, says that this lunar globe was pre- sented to King Charles II., who received it with great satisfaction, and ordered it ta be placed among the most valuable articles of his cabinet. The globe was fixed upon a pedestal of lignum vitse, with a scale of miles,, and an inscription which, given by Elmes at length, leads one to suppose that he must have known of the globe's locus in quo at the time he wrote. This inscription is as follows : " Carolo secundo M. Br. Fr. et Hib. R. cujus amplitudini quia unus non sufficit,. novum hunc orbem selenesphsero expressum..

D.D.D. CHR. WREN."

J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.