Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/335

 ii s. vm. OCT. 25, i9i3.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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ANCIENT RELIGIONS. It seems to me that a similarity between certain words in a few West African languages points to th existence of an early phallic cult in thai part of the continent, so widely spreac that it was probably introduced from the north or east. Unfortunately I have not been able to come to any definite conclusion for the words required are in nearly every case omitted by missionaries, and often by others Koelle's ' Polyglotta,' for instance, is quite useless in this respect so I should be most grateful if readers would point out any similarities in the words for God, spirit, idol, fetish, fertility, copulation, altar, priest, rite, dance, circumcision, excision initiation, man or boy, woman or girl, and the male and female organs, not only in the tongues of West Africa, but also in any North African and Semitic languages. Please reply direct. A. J. N. TREMEARNE.

105, Blackheath Park, S.E.

DECORATION OF MILITARY ORDER. An English silver badge has just come under my notice which I should like to identify It is seemingly not very recent, is rather worn, and once broken and soldered. First below the chain is a small circular pendant, with an armed figure on horseback. From this depends the main piece, about the spread of the flat of my hand, whose larger circular centre has a seated female figure holding a baby, and by her side a child of 6 or 7. To this are attached by their apices four triangles with receding interiors each formed on a ram's head and horns with scrollwork, and separated by perfectly rectangular intervals of some in. long by J in. wide. It would seem the badge of some military order, but I do not find it pictured in any authority at hand.

FORREST MORGAN. Hartford, Conn.

COLONIAL GOVERNORS. I am desirous of knowing by what style Colonial Governors (particularly the Lieutenant - Governors of Pennsylvania) were addressed in the eighteenth century. Was "The Honour- able " (of which I have an example) used, or " His Excellency "? H. L. L. D.

KNIGHT'S CAP WORN UNDERNEATH HELMET. Would one of your readers acquainted with the equipment of a knight in the beginning of the thirteenth century kindly describe the covering for the head worn underneath the helmet in battle, and state the name by which it was known ?

R. C. BOSTOCK.

A.UTHORS WANTED. Whence are the fol- lowing lines taken ? They are given as a quotation in ' The Scouring of the White Horse,' by the late Thomas Hughes, pub- lished by Macmillans, 1859 :

When, the old black eagle flying,

All the Paynim powers defying,

On we inarched, and stormed Belgrade.

W. B. H.

I should like to know who wrote :

1. The Road to Ruin ; or, An Historical Account of the Doleful Termination of Two Royal Visits to Ireland ! ! ! London, 1821. Illustrations by R. Cruikshank.

2. Fudge in Ireland. London, 1822.

J. DE L.

" DEMOCCUANA." In the play called ' The Comical Revenge ; or, Love in a Tub,' by Sir George Etherege, first represented in the year 1664, the following dialogue occurs in Act V. sc. iv. :

Sir Frederick. Do not you understand the mystery of Stiponie, Jenny?

Maid. I know how to make Democcuana. " The mystery of Stiponie ^ may be solved by consulting Halliwell, or Blount's ' Glossographia,' but " how to make Democ- cuana "' I cannot find out, even from the ' N.E.D.' Can any one help me ?

A. L. MAYHEW.

Oxford.

MOUNT KRAPAK is mentioned many times in Voltaire's 'Philosophical Dictionary.' The following are a few instances : in the article on ' Jews,' 6th Letter :

" At Mount Krapak where I reside " ; in the article on ' Languages,' section 1 :

" Mount Krapak, where it is known that 1 live " ; in the article on * Passions ' :

"While I was writing this article at Mount ECrapak " ;

in the article on ' Power,' section 1 :

" The Empress of Russia, Catherine II., did ne the honour to write to me at Mount Krapak, on the 22nd of August, 1765 ";

in the article on ' Quakers,' section 3 :

" It is true, that at Mount Krapak we live nearly the same as yourselves " ;

in the article on ' Serpents ' :

" I cannot find any at Mount Krapak " ; and the Dictionary ends with

" Given at Mount Krapac, the 30th of the no nth of Janus," &c.

Can any of your readers give me particulars of Mount Krapak of which Voltaire writes ? W. M. HARRIS.