Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/220

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vm. SEPT. 13, 1913.

" CERNE " (11 S. viii. 169). As this is unquestionably a river-name, both in Dorset and Gloucester, its precise meaning is not likely to be forthcoming, for it probably harks back to pre-Roman times.

The Romano-British town that stood upon the Gloucestershire Churn was Corin- ium, Saxon Cyren-ceaster,Cirrenceastre (A.D. 879), Chirenchestre (thirteenth cent.). Vil- lages still upon its banks are North and South Cerney,i.e., Cern+ea= stream. Inthe'Cartu. Saxonicum,' c. A.D. 800 (No. 299), the river is Cyrnea ; D.S. Cernei ; and, later, sometimes Cernel. The Dorset river has similar Anglo- Norman recorded forms i.e., L.R. Exch., 1156, Cerne ; 1166, Cernel and Cerna.

The question is, in the Gloucestershire and in a Staffordshire example (i.e., Churnet), how did the ch result from Corin and Cyren ? and the answer may possibly be found in the analogy of the A.-S. cirn (a churn), where c=ch ; which, perhaps, only amounts to scribal confusion in Anglo-Norman days.

It is quite possible that many place-names, such as Comdene (Glos.), Cornbrook (near Berkeley), and the river Come, in the Forest of Dean, owe their first element to another Celtic stream - term (cf. Abercorn), al- though their forms at first sight may suggest A.-S. corn = corn. ST. CLAIR BADDELEY.

Is it not probable that cerne and the first syllable of Charnwood Forest, Leicester- shire, are philologically identical ? * Charn- wood Forest,' by T. R. Potter, 1842, says :

" The name Charnwood is probably derived from Quern, a hand-mill : as rough stones, suitable for making these mills, were found in many parts of the Forest. Dr. Gale, however, thinks the name derived from Guern, an alder .... The alder is still found in many parts of Charnwood. In the lower grounds it was probably in former days, as now, the most common tree, and its early-known suitability for charring, and for many ordinary purposes, may have given it an importance which it has long ceased to possess."

The circumstance of the Dorset place- name applying, in the first instance, to the river Cerne seems to favour a supposition that it was given from alder trees growing on the river banks. W. B. H.

[MR. A. R. BAYLEY also thanked for reply.]

" SCOLOPENDRA CETACEA " (11 S. Vli. 347,

410, 517; viii. 116). Sir Thos. Molyneux, Bart., S.R.S., the eminent Irish physician and zoologist (b. 1661, d. 1733), published in 1696 an account, which was communi- cated to him by John Locke the philosopher, of a Scolopendra which was found in Decem- ber of that year in the stomach of a cod- fish taken near Dublin.

After describing it at great length, he says :

"I know the Scolopendrse marinse as described by Rondoletius, and out of him by Gesner, Grevinius, Aldrovandus and Johnstonus, are more slender and longer, and sharp at both ends," &c.

Dr. Molyneux dissected the Scolopendra, and gives minute details thereon.

This account appears in ' The Natural History of Ireland,' which was commenced by Gerard Boate, physician to King Charles I., published posthumously in 1652 by Samuel Hartlib, Milton's friend, and added to by Dr. Molyneux. CONSTANCE RUSSELL.

Swallowfield, Reading.

SOURCE OF QUOTATIONS WANTED (11 S. viii. 169). Sir Walter Scott deprecates the action of the plagiarism hunter in the memoir of Le Sage which he wrote for " Ballantyne's Novelist's Library." See ' Prose Works of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.,' iii. 408 (A. & C. Black, 1880). The passage opens thus :

" Le Sage's claim to originality in this delightful work has been idly, I had almost said ungrate- fully, contested by those critics, who conceive they detect a plagiarist wherever they see a resemblance in the general subject of a work, to one which has been before treated by an in- ferior artist. It is a favourite theme of laborious dulness to trace out such coincidences."

THOMAS BAYNE.

OLD HOUSE IN BRISTOL : CANYNGE'S HOUSE, REDCLIFFE STBEET (11 S. viii. 90, 155). Very little is known of the original character of this undoubtedly great house, but M.A. will probably find the information he wants in the following works, which fully describe what remained up to the time of issue :

Dallaway's Antiquities of Bristow, Bristol* 1834, pp. 145 and 14C.

Turner's Domestic Architecture, vol. iii. p. 336.

Dollrnan and Jobbings's Domestic Architecture in Great Britain, London, 1863, vol. ii. : plate 57 shows details of roof of hall, &c.

Pryce's History of Bristol, Bristol, 1861, pp. 373 and 374.

Evans's Chronological Outline of the History of Bristol, 1824, pp. 105 and 106.

Taylor's Book about Bristol, Bristol, 1872, p. 262.

A fire in 1881, however, did serious damage to what is known as the " Oratory," but the original tiled floor of this apartment (c. 1480) still remains in situ ; it is illustrated in ' Specimens of Tile Pavements,' by Henry Shaw, F.S.A., 1858.

I should like to add that the carved fireplace referred to by MB. AUSTIN in his reply is modern work, and that the