Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 11.djvu/97

 ii s. XL JAN. so, i9i5.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

87

- "LUTHERAN." In the recent controversy about the prophecies attributed to Brother Johannes one writer declared the name " Lutheran " to be an anachronism in 1600, but, of course, it is much older. Thus, e.g.,

I have before m.3 the second part of the lished at Venice in 1570, in which we find the following expressions : " Books printed by Lutherans," " Lutheran sect," " Lutheran lady," " Scotland becomes Lutheran," &c.
 * Commentarii ' of Ascanio Centorio, pub-

L. L. K.

" PORPHYROGENITUS." The original meaning of this word will, perhaps, always be in doubt. The quotations given in the ' New English Dictionary,' s.v. * Porphyro- genite,' are 1614, Selden ; 1619, Purchas^; 1662, Heylin, &c. Selden and Purchas give the " born in the Porphyry palace "deriva- tion ; while Heylin says that the word comes from the fact that the Imperial princes, at their first coming into the world, were wrapt in purple.

Perhaps what was written by an arch- bishop of the Greek Church about 240 years ago is worthy of consideration. I refer to Joseph Georgirenes, Archbishop of Samos, for some meagre particulars of whom see

II S. x. 450, 493 :

" Of all the Isles of the Archipelago, this [Nicaria] only admits of no mixture with strangers in Marriage, nor admits any stranger to settle with them : They being, as they pretend, all descended of the Imperial Blood of the Porphyrogenneti, must not stain their noble Blood with inferiour Matches, or mixtures with Choriats,* or Peasants, for so they term all the other Islanders. Porphyrogenniti, were those of the Blood Royal, in the Days of the Greek Bmperours, so call'd, from their wearing of Purple, which was a Badge of Royalty, and allow'd only to Princes of the Blood ; and not from an house call d Porphyra, where the Empresses were wont to lie in. But Purple was throughout the East, the known Badge of Royalty. Hence came that unsanctify'd Wit, and learned'st Writer that ever oppps'd the Christian Religion with his Pen, to be calld Porphyrius: For his true name in the lianguage of Syria, his native country, was Malchus, or King ; but the Greeks did paraphrase it Porphyrius, or Purple-robed ; that being a Colour peculiar to Kings."" A Description of the Present State of Samos, Nicaria, Patmos, and Mount Athos. By Joseph Georgirenes, Arch- bishop of Samos. Now living in London. Translated by one that knew the Author in Constantinople." London, 1678, pp. 66, 67.

Nicaria was " under the Jurisdiction of the Arch-Bishop of Samos" (p. 54). The book is dedicated to James, Duke of York,

is a familiar word in modern Greek, meaning "a villager, a peasant." Of. XW/HTI/S in ancient Greek.

who in the dedication in Greek is styled Tropvpoyevvr)Tos. In the English version this word is rendered " of Royal Birth."

The following is the exordium of the presumably original dedication :

Tu V\f/rj\OTrpTTO'TQLT(i) T Kelt 7TOp<f)VpOyV- VT^T(i) ap^Ol/Tfc KVpLUt, KVpt(p 'laKW/^W T(T

rrj<$ /xeyaA-OTToAecos 'E^opaKov 6 rutv 6

VYjV

It is given thus in the English dedication :

"To the Most High Prince of Royal Birth, James, Duke of York, &c. Joseph Georgirenes of Samos, The least of Arch-Bishops, offers his most Humble Reverence."

Liddell and Scott's ' Lexicon,' 7th ed., 1883, has " Tropcfrvpo-yevvrjTO's, born in the purple, a term of the Byzantine Court for a child born to the reigning emperor" In Josephi Laurentii ' Amalthea Onomastica,' Lucse, 1640, I find " Porphyrogenetes, in purpura genitus, patre Imperatore." Fac- ciolati gives " Patre Imperatore natus " in his ' Verba partim Grseca Latine scripta .... a nobis improbata, et expulsa.'

Seeing that yei/v^ros means " begotten " as well as " born," may not Trop^vpoyevvTjTos be properly interpreted " begotten in the purple " or "purple [Imperially] begotten " 1 Gibbon in his ' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire/ chap, xlviii., favours the Porphyry Palace derivation.

BOBEBT PlERPOINT.

MORTIMER'S MARKET, TOTTENHAM COURT KOAD. I am indebted to Mr J. W. Avant for the following interesting details concerning this curious little purlieu, which is situated on the east- side of the Tottenham Court Road between University and Francis Streets, and running through into Huntley Street. Tottenham Court Road is undergoing such extensive altera- tions that it is not improbable that Morti- mer's Market will, before long, vanish into obscurity.

Mortimer's Market appears to have been built about 1781, for a newspaper dated 29 August of that year reads :

" The ground on which the new market is to be built, on the east side of Tottenham Court Road, is the property of Mr. Mortimer, member for Shaf tes- bury."

Behind the market (which was also called Mortimer's Folly) were ^fields named Mortimer's Fields, in which 'was a large pond, where many drowning fatalities occurred. The row of shops on the east side of Tottenham Court Road was formerly