Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/215

 ii s. VIIL SEPT. is, 1913.] NOTES AND QUERIES,

209

SMUGGLING QUERIES. (1) Will Watch. In Chester's ' Chronicles of the Customs,' p. 60, reference is made to the noted Will Watch as having operated from Hayling Island, Hampshire. Notices of books giving details would be welcomed.

(2) "Skellum." In Burns's 'Tarn o' Shanter ' occurs the line

She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum. Some years ago, an informant says, a criticism appeared in The Spectator suggest- ing that Burns, when residing at Kirk- oswald, where smuggling was extensively carried on, may have heard the word used by foreign sailors. Can any reader give the reference or suggest derivations ? List of smugglers' terms, such as Kent and Lingtow, desired.

(3) " Smuggle the ge.g or keg." Refer- ences to this child's game wanted.

R. M. HOGG. Irvine, Ayrshire.

[For Will Watch see 11 S. ii. 353; iii. 429. " Skellum " suggests the German Schelm.]

THE HIGHLAND CLAN TARTAN. It is commonly said that the tartans are of com- paratively modern origin as distinctive indications of the different clans. I should be obliged for information on the following points: (1) Are the tartans based on the colours in the coats of arms of the High- land chief ? or what is their origin ? (2) When did they become officially recognized ?

(3) Are they registered at the Lyon Office ?

(4) Is the Scottish national costume recog- nized as Court dress in England and in Scotland ? INVER-SLANEY.

[See 4 S. v. 146, 255, 370, 543, 606 ; vi. 27, 116, 264, 347, 484.]

WHICHCOTE IN WILTSHIRE. Can any of the readers of ' N. & Q.' say where Which- cote in Wiltshire was or is situated, and whether it is or was a manor or hamlet within another parish ? Many topographical dictionaries and gazetteers have been searched without finding any such place in Wiltshire, or, indeed, in England, though it is believed that a place called Whichcote once existed in Salop. F. DE H. L.

" MISTER " AS A SURNAME. I should like to know whether this surname is still to be found in any part of England. My mother bore the name, and in a small Greek Grammar of 1654 I find the inscription " WILLIAM MISTER 1732." Perhaps the name does not occur out of Warwickshire.

S. JOHN COTTERELL.

City Chambers, Birmingham.

HISTORICAL DESIGNATIONS OF CITIES AND TOWNS. In my reading I have come across such expressions as the following :

" The Ever-Faithful City " (Exeter).

" The Maiden City " (Londonderry).

" The King's Own Town " (Maidstone).

" The Royal Borough " (Brighton). Have these ever been collected and explana- tions of their origin given ? Would not such a record be of interest ?

W. Louis KING.

Wadesmill, Ware.

[Lists of descriptive names for cities will be found in Cob ham Brewer's ' Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,' ' The Reader's Handbook,' and ' The Historic Note-Book,' in each case s.v. ' City.']

BRITISH GRAVES IN THE CRIMEA. In his brilliant new book * Changing Russia,' Mr. Stephen Graham devotes a chapter to the Crimea and the graveyard of our soldiers. He quotes several of the inscriptions on the stones notably one in memory of John Baillie Rose of Kilravock. Has any com-

Elete list of the inscriptions ever been pub- shed, and, if so, where ?

J. M. BULLOCH. 123, Pall Mall, S.W.

" CORPSE." In the Earl of Surrey's poem on the death of Sir Thomas Wyatt this word is used for a living body :

A valiant corpse, where force and beauty met. Is this the earliest and also the latest use of the word in this sense ?

JAS. CURTIS, F.S.A.

[Examples of this use (now obsolete) from Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton are cited in the ' N.E.D.,' s.v. ' Corpse.']

" GRASS WIDOW." Pierre de Coulevain, the popular French novelist who died recently, has in ' Eve Victorieuse ' a foot- note, in which she states :

" Grass-widow du franQais grace, traduit d'une maniere erron^e par ' grass ' herbe."

Is this French writer correct ? The dic- tionaries seem uncertain on the point.

J. LANDFEAR LUCAS.

Glendora, Hindhead, Surrey.

[The ' N.E.D.' speaks with no uncertain sound. It says : " Certainly from Grass, sb., + Widow .... The etymological notion is obscure, but the parallel forms disprove the notion that the word js a ' corruption ' of grace-widow."]

AN ELZEVIR. I desire details of a book about 4^ in. by 2^ in. entitled ' Donati lannotii Respublica "Veneta.' At the foot of one of the title-pages is " Lvgd. Batav. Ex Officina Elzeviriana. cio IDC xm." Where can I see another copy ? i

J. ISAACS.