Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/243

 n s. iv. SEPT. 16, i9iL] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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him in her nunnery to instruct the nuns in the convent. On his way to visit his brother, St. Ultan, who had founded a monastery at Fosse, near Liege, he was assassinated by robbers or infidels in the forest of Char- bonniere in Hainault, on 31 October, 655 {see Alban Butler's 'Lives of the Saints.').

WM. NORMAN.

[MR. A. R. BAYLEY and L. L. K. also thanked for replies.]

"CARATCH" (11 S. iv. 189). This word is probably the same as cratch, which is a Yorkshire dialect word meaning a wooden frame for holding bottles. " A cratch filled with bottles fell down the staircase," Mather's 4 Songs of Sheffield' (1862).

In the case in question, the word may perhaps have been engraved on one of the six bottles merely to indicate that it together with the other five formed a complete set. WALTER B. KINGSFORD.

United University Club.

" Caratch " is probably the same thing as 41 carack " or " caracki," a favourite relish to meat with our Anglo-Indian grand- fathers. According to ' The Nabob's Cookery Book,' by P. O. P. (no. date), this is how it was made :

"Chop eight pickled walnuts and one head o^ garlic, put these into a large jar, add walnut vinegar, oy, arid mushroom catsup, of each half a tumblerful, A tablespoonful of Harvey sauce, and one quart of vinegar ; put the jar in a dry place, and shake it every day for a month ; a few spoonfuls of mango pickle is a great improvement."

FRANK SCHLOESSER.

Can "caratch" be meant for "kharadj," the Turkish word for capitation tax, con- tribution, &c. V The initial kh is pronounced like ch in German or Scotch " loch."

L. L. K.

According to the ' N.E.D.,' " caratch " is an Arabic word signifying the tribute or poll-tax levied by the Turks on their Chris- tian subjects. The earliest quotation given Is from 1682. A. K. BAYLEY.

MILITARY AND NAVAL EXECUTIONS (11 S. iv. 8, 57, 98, 157, 193). My information on this subject was picked up many years ago, when serving in the Austro-Hungarian army. According to the service regulations then in force, which we had to know by heart, the procedure was as follows. The culprit was led into a square formed by troops with fixed bayonets, and had to stand at the centre of one of the sides of the square.

The military judge then read out aloud to him the death sentence, and, having broken a staff in two, threw the fragments to the feet of the culprit, whose eyes were then bandaged. While this was being done, the soldiers standing immediately behind him moved away in silence, making an opening in the square, and the firing party, whose members he was at liberty to choose himself, took up their position, and, at the words of command of their officer, took aim and fired. At the slightest sign of life a second party, standing in readiness behind the first, fired another volley to put the man out of his misery.

I see by the account of the recent execution at Toulon that " le -premier maitre abaissait son sabre." This reminds me of an old controversy as to whether it was more merciful to give the fatal signal by silently lowering the sword or by word of command. The objection to the silent signal is that it is more difficult to aim if the movement of the officer's sword has to be watched at the same time. L. L. K.

REV. PATRICK GORDON'S ' GEOGRAPHY ' (11 S. iv. 188). I transcribe for MR. BULLOCH the title-page of my copy of this work. It is inserted in MS. by myself, and I forget where I got it: it will be noticed that the dates are queried :

" Geography Anatomized : | or | A Complete Geo- graphical Grammer, | Being a short and exact Analysis of the whole Body of Modern Geography ; after a new, plain and easie Method, whereby any person may in a short time attain to the Knowledge of that most noble and useful Science, &c. | To which is subjoin'd, | The present State of the European Plantations in the East and West Indies, with a Reasonable Proposal for the Propagation of the Blessed Gospel in all Pagan Countries. | Illustrated with Dive/s Maps J by | Pat. Gordon, M.A. | f? Second Edition! | London | [? 1699]."

This is not, however, a second edition, but a later one, as the Preface proves

C. C. B.

My edition of the ' Geography Anatomiz'd ' is the seventeenth. The title-page agrees with that given by MR. BULLOCH except the last paragraph, the variation being as follows :

"The Seventeenth Edition, Corrected, and some- what Enlarged ; and a Set of New Maps, by Mr. Senex. By Pat Gordon, M.A. F.R.S. London : Printed for D. Midwinter, A. Ward, J. & P. Knap- ton, J. Brotherton, J. Clarke (Exchange), S. Birt, T. Longman, C. Hitch, R. Hett, J. Hodges, T. Cooper, and J. Davidson. M.DCC.XLI."

There are 17 maps. D. A. BURL.

Melrose Cottage, Epsom.