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NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. HI. MAR. is, wn.

toes of the boots when a black-and-white horse is espied ; on marbles or buttons whilst playing games with them, &c. A Russian gentleman tells me that the spitting " for luck " on money obtains in his country. Your correspondent, as an Oxford man, might be interested in visiting the first mile- stone out of Oxford to be found on a bridge in Botley Road, where (25 years ago) boys on a country ramble would stop and recite,

Oxford one, Witney ten [ = miles] ;

Give me good luck till I come agen."

Possibly this is still practised.

J. JACOBS. 149, Edgware Road.

My brother, who was for some years in Riga and Libau, tells me that in Russia it is believed that a priest always drives the devil in front of him. It is the custom, on meeting a priest, to spit just in front of him, where the devil is supposed to be running away. JESSIE H. HAYLLAB.

19, Highdown Road, Hove.

Spitting to avert the evil eye is a common custom in Italy, where at the same moment it is usual to form the index and little fingers into prongs (doubling the other fingers under the hand and pressing them down with the thumb) and point them at the individual.

OXONIAN.

[Much on the "evil eye " has already appeared in ' N. & Q.' See recent General Indexes.]

THOMAS MOBKIS- JONES (11 S. iii. 148) was born 22 November, 1720. He married, 7 June, 1740, in Dublin, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Cope of Loughgall, co. Armagh, M.P. for the City of Armagh, by his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Fownes, Bt. He died 12 December, 1769.

I should be glad if G. F. R. B. would write to me, as I could give further information. R. R. G. CBOOKSHANK, Major.

Sloperton, Kingstown, co. Dublin.

MOTHEB'S MAIDEN NAME AS CHILDBEN'S SUBNAME (11 S. iii. 107,. 154). MB. RHODES' s surmise is correct. The mother of Robert Browne Lillie (or Lilly), baptized at Mexborough, Yorks, 18 January, 1592, was Beatrice, daughter and heir of Richard Browne of Swinton, co. York, Esq. (Chan. B. & A., Charles I. B. 1/57).

GEOBGE SHEBWOOD.

In a baptismal register Robert Browne, son of John Lillie, would be Robert Browne Lillie, in the same way as in marriage announcements Alfred Wintle, son of James

Johnston, would be none other than myself. I am not aware of baptismal registers recording other than the Christian or baptis- mal names, the surname being ascertained from that of the duly recorded name of the parent.

In patronymics, I know of only one instance in Orkney where a man was called after his mother, viz., the last of the vikings, Sveinn son of Olaf and Asleif, known first as Sveinn Olafsson, and latterly as Sveinn Asleif arson.

ALFBED WINTLE JOHNSTON.

29, Ashburnham Mansions, Chelsea.

WILLIAM PITT'S LETTEB ON SUPEBSTITION (11 S. iii. 107). Living at a distance from any public library where old books and magazines such as one requires are accessible, but having at the same time a strong im- pression that the questions concerning Pitt were discussed during the early decades of last century, I venture to attempt a reply to this query, founded to some extent on conjecture and recollection. I will take seriatim the points raised.

1. It is inquired, What authority is there for attributing the Letter on Superstition to W. Pitt'?

The fact that Pitt was in England at the time the letter is supposed to have been written is, I believe, the only authority for the attribution. This, of course, is no authority at all. After leaving Oxford without taking a degree, Pitt travelled abroad on account of his health, and re- turned to England in 1731. He was appointed to a cornetcy in the Blues, and continued in the Army until he entered on a political career in 1735. Is it likely that while acting in a military capacity he could have found time to cultivate literature? Pitt, it must be remembered, never showed any leaning towards a literary life. Great orator and statesman though he was, he never displayed any conspicuous brilliancy in the use of the pen. By Wilkes he was termed the worst letter-writer of the age ; and although Sir George Trevelyan's milder judgment of his correspondence is probably correct, the fact remains that he never betrayed any consuming desire to rush into print. No doubt the authorship of the Letters of Junius ' has been attributed to him, but the attribution is rejected by most competent critics.

2. The second question is, Does any copy of The London Journal for 1733 contain the Letter on Superstition ?