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NOTES AND QUERIES. [iis.m. MAY 20,1911,

No. 81. The reader is referred to Seguiido's work, dedicated to King George IV., entitled 'A Treatise on the Suitable Bitting of Horses, with a Description of a New System of Bridle Bits, invented by Don Juan Segundo,' translated from the original Spanish MS., 1832. TOM JONES.

THE " ALEPPO MERCHANT " INN (US. iii. 289). No such name as " Aleppo Merchant " appears among inns mentioned in itineraries or travel sketches in Wales towards the close of the eighteenth century. It may therefore be inferred that the inn at Carno, Mont- gomeryshire, was not erected until the succeeding century. The reason for its being so called can only be conjectured. Aleppo in former times was one of the greatest emporiums of the East, attracting traders from all quarters. An Aleppo merchant was the synonym for one whose goods could always be depended on to give satisfaction. Hence probably the inn at Carno was so named to indicate the excel- lence of its provision for both man and beast. U.

The name of this public-house probably owes its origin to Aleppo, in Syria, one of the chief commercial Turkish towns, its mer- chants at one time being ranked amongst the greatest traders in the world.

T. SHEPHERD.

LITANY : SPITTING AND STAMPING THE FEET (11 S. iii. 148, 217, 294). The practice to which MR. RATCXIFFE refers of spitting in front of a toad in order to avert bad luck ma Ha

the end of the last three books of his ' Vir- gidemiae ' :

"But why should vices be unblamed for fear of blame? And if thou mayest spit upon a toad un- venomed why mayest thou not speak of vice without danger?"

EDWARD BENSLY.

With reference to MR. ' ADDLESHAW'S remarks I may say that ultra-orthodox Jews daily prayed to be saved from every form of contamination, both physical and spiritual, and whenever one of them en- countered a dog, or a rat, or a pervert from Judaism, he would almost unconsciously resort to expectoration. The only excuse I can offer for this habit is the one cited respecting a bad odour, for which there may be excellent physiological reasons.

M. L. R. BRESLAR.

iy be illustrated by a comparison of Joseph ill in the ' Postscript to the Reader ' at

I think we have an allusion to the custom of spitting during church service in Earle's ' Micro -cosmographie.' One of the cha- racteristics of " a young rawe Preacher " is " he has an excellent faculty in bemoaning the people, and spits with a very good graced

P. A. McElAVATNE,

In Ireland people in a rage spit pro- bably to put themselves in a towering passion. At least, some do.

Even in America I saw one Irishman so spit. As a liner left Boston Quay, carrying some Harvard University students who were swaggeringly full of themselves, arid making hideous howls, the yelling made- the man of the people spit out the bitterness that was in him. W. F. P. STOCKLEY.

University College, Cork.

The most sacred promise one can extract from little boys in Ireland is to make them draw their right fingers across their throats,, end spit in doing so. DTJNMURRY.

MARSHAL TALLARD, PRISONER OF WAR (11 S. iii. 289). The surrender of Tallard on the battle-field of Blenheim is repre- sented (in high relief) on a terra-cotta plaque in the Soane Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Presumably, the plaque is the work of an eighteenth-century artist.

R. L. MORETON.

A whole-length portrait of Marshal Tal- lard, executed by J. Mariette, is mentioned in Noble's continuation of Granger's ' Bio- graphical History,' ii. 417. Noble's re- marks on the Marshal's captivity in England,, pp. 417-18, may be worth reading.

SUTOCS.

JAMES BALLANTYNE'S KELSO PRESS (11 S.. 1ii. 347). MR. GRANT credits Ballantyne with having printe'd Lewis's ' Tales of Terror/ and he may be right ; but I would suggest that he is confusing it with ' An Apology for Tales of Terror,' Kelso, printed at the Mail office, 1799. This was by Scott, and Was " the first specimen of a press after- wards so celebrated " (see Lockhart, chap, ix.).

Another book printed by James Ballan- tyne at Kelso was " Memoirs of the Cele- brated Dwarf, Joseph Boruwlaski, a Polish Gentleman. Translated from the Original French of M. Boruwlaski, and carefully revised and corrected. 1801." See 'The Ballantyne Press and its Founders, 1796- 1908,' Edinburgh, Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., 1909. WM. H. PEET,