Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/287

 ii s. xii. OCT. 9, 1915.3 NOTES AND QUERIES.

279

" SANCTE JACO A COMPOSTEL." Could any reader help with the translation of the following, taken from the Itinerary of William Wey, who went on pilgrimage to Compostella in the year 1456 ? The traveller mentions that it was sung by Spanish children before the pilgrims (probably on landing at Corunna) "pro blankys et splintris " (" blankys " = small pieces of money ; " splintris " I cannot define).

Sancte Jaco a Compostel da vose leve a votir tere, Sancte Jaco bone baron de vose da de bon pardon, Boua tempe, bona vye, bona vente, bon perpassi, Da istys kee sunt assen una brank a vowse curtese.

I have ventured a rendering as follows :

St. James at Compostella give you joy in your

land ;

4St. James, good baron, give you good pardon, Good weather, good journeys, good winds, good

<jrive those who are eager a silver piece of your

courtesy.

The language is probably Galician. It will be noticed that I have translated " ' laetitia." "Assen" presents some diffi- culty ; it may be a mistake for " appen " = & gain : I have rendered it freely as " eager " from " appetens." " Brank " has probably the same meaning as " blankys." I shall "be glad to have the opinion of some one more erudite. HENRY COLLETT.
 * leve " as " joy " inferring the root to be

TAVERN SIGNS : " MOTHER HUFF CAP," "" TOM p' BEDLAM," " GEORGE IN THE TREE." Curious Warwickshire inn signs are -" Mother Huff Cap " at Great Alne, " Tom o' Bedlam " at Baddesley Clinton, and " George in the Tree " on the Kenilworth to Coleshill road. Is a Shakespearean connexion possible in the second ? and what is the explanation of the first and third ? M. D. H.

JOHN HOPKINS OF BRITTENS. John Hopkins of Brittens, Essex, who died on 15 Nov., 1772, inherited part of the estate of the famous miser " Vulture " Hopkins, celebrated by the poet Pope. One of his daughters married Benjamin Bond, and was the mother of Benjamin Bond Hopkins <d. 1794) of Pain's Hill, Cobham, Surrey. Another daughter married a well-known London brewer named Dickenson. Particu- lars will oblige. HORACE BLEACKLEY.

REV. WILLIAM OUGHTRED OR OUTRED. Will any reader oblige me with an account of the children of William Oughtred or Outred, the mathematician ? He was from 1610 to 1622 Rector of Albury, Surrey, where seven children of his were baptized and one buried. A. E. OUGHTRED.

" BEFORE ONE CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON."

Halliwell in his ' Dictionary of Archaic

and Provincial Words,' after quoting Grose's

Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue '

without naming it, says :

" The following lines * from an old play ' are else- where given as the original of the phrase : A warke it ys as easie to be doone, As tys to saye, Jacke ; robys on" Is the reference known, and what is indi- cated by " elsewhere " ? Does " robys on " mean " Robyson " or " Robinson," or something else ?

A query about the saying appeared at 1 S. \i. 415. Beyond an editorial note giving the quotation from Grose, I think that there was no reply.

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

POSTAGE IN FRANCE. What is the exact date of the introduction of the penny (10 centime) postage into France ? Please reply direct. HAROLD MALET, Col.

Racketts, Hythe, Southampton.

AUTHORS WANTED. Who is the author of the following quotation ?

The roads are not passable, Or even jackassable, And those who would travel 'em Must get out and gravel 'em. The reference is to the roads in Spain.

HAROLD MALET, Col.

1. "Plumed wars." Can any reader tell me from what this expression comes ? I can find it in no concordance, dictionary, encyclopaedia, or book of phrases.

2. " And don't you forget the white worsted at Hint's." I should be glad to know in what old song this refrain can be found. I have looked through Mr. Cecil J. Sharp's publications unsuccessfully. The song was probably written before the nine- teenth century. E.

LEWIS MARKS. I have a " squib " (8 in. by 13 in.), in water colours, signed "Lewis Marks del." Inscribed on the lower margin is:

"And it came to'pass, on'.the Eighth day of the month December, when the Champion ! ! ! of Israel was beaten by the Baker and Israel Mourn'd and Wept aloud and swore D n theire [sic] Eyes it was a Cross ! [a cant word for a foull." A number of caricatured Jews are deploring the defeat of " Dutch Sam " (Samuel Elias, 1775-1816) by Nasmith the baker, in nine rounds, on 8 Dec., 1814. The sketch, appa- rently prepared for reproduction, is of considerable merit and originality, and much in the style of George Cruikshank, who also