Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/480

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. vi. NOV. w, 1912.

for the Lord God omnipotent, reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."

For " unexpressive," in the sense of inexpressible, ineffable, cf. the Nativity Ode, 1. 116, and ' As You Like It,' III. ii. 10 : The fair, the chaste, and unexpressive she. THOMAS BAYNE.

And hears the unexpressive nuptial song.

I think the reference must be in the first instance to Revelation xiv. 3 : " They sing a new song before the throne .... and no man could learn the song," &c. But " nviptial " comes from Revelation xix. 9, " the marriage supper of the Lamb," where, however, no " song " is mentioned. Per- haps Milton, quoting from memory, con- fused these two passages.

C. S. JERRAM.

[C. C. B., W. B., MR. W. CBOOKE, MR. W. II. PINCHBECK, and C. B. W. also thanked for replies.]

AUTHOR OF QUOTATION WANTED (11 S. vi. 330).

There is pleasure in the wet, wet clay. This is the first line of Op. 3 in ' The Nau- lahka,' at the head of chap. vii. The above is from the ' Kipling Dictionary ' (Rout- ledge), F. G. [J. L. D. and PELLTPAR also thanked for replies.]

" MOROCCO " OR " MAROCCO " (11 S. vi. 266, 372). " Marocco " is undoubtedly the more correct spelling. On this question the following note appeared in The Geographical Journal, vol. vi., 1895, p. 283 : /

" While the Arabic name Marraksh or Marra- kesh (" the adorned "), applied to one of the capitals of the western kingdom of Barbary, was written by the Spaniards Maruecos, by the Italians Marocco, by the French Maroc, and by the Germans Marokko, the first vowel has in English been more frequently changed into o, no doubt owing to the slight distinction in the sound of the two letters when slurred over in the characteristic English fashion, and to the con- nection siipposed to exist between the name of the country and the ' Moors.' Count Gleichen writes to us urging that an effort should be made for the adoption of the more correct spelling ' Marocco,' which has already been used to some extent in English publications. Indeed, this form is found in the sixteenth century, in ' Hakluyt's Voyages ' ; but during the next two centuries the other form seems to have come into fashion, being found in Addison's 'West Barbary' (1671), in Simon Ockley's ' Account of South-West Barbary ' (1713), in the 'Geographical Dictionary' pub- lished by J. Coote (2 vols., folio) in 1759-60, and in other works. During the present century both forms have been largely used. Richardson (' Travels,' &c., 1860) still writes Morocco,

though he gives the Arabic form as Maraksh (not Moraksh, as stated in Egli's ' Nomina Geo- graphica ' ). The more correct spelling is used by Hooker and Ball, by Lieut. -Colonel Trotter, and also in Stanford's ' Compendium,' and other recent works, though the form Morocco still holds its own in popular usage. It certainly seems desirable that Count. Gleichen's suggestion should be adopted."

The Geographical Journal is the official organ of the Royal Geographical Society, but yet, after this decided pronouncement, the incorrect spelling " Morocco " is still persisted in by the Society; and this in spite of the fact that the Society has other- wise done much to standardize the spelling of foreign geographical names, so as to bring it into agreement with the system adopted by other countries. Thus it has effected the substitution of Sudan for the long-familiar Soudan. The variation of English spelling from that of Continental nations (which, it may be pointed out, are in the majority) causes inconvenience in consulting foreign works, and it is a pity that our spirit of conservatism and insularity should stand in the way of the correction of an obvious error.

FREDK. A. EDWARDS, F.R.G.S.

VANE AND CROMWELL : BROTHER FOUN- TAIN AND BROTHER HERON (11 S. vi. 210). A short time ago I asked if any of your readers could kindly guide me to some explanation of the sobriquets applied to each other by Cromwell and Vane at one period in their intercourse. Through the erudition and kindness of your correspondent MR. J. B. WILLIAMS, the difficulty has been solved.

" The Fountain " was a private house in King Street, Westminster, which was evidently the meeting-place of politicians of a certain type. As Cromwell's resi- dence was in King Street, we can under- stand his connexion with it. In Nickall's ' Original Letters ' the name Brother Foun- tain is applied to another of the coterie, probably Scott. It is to be presumed that Vane at the time in question belonged to some similar club meeting at the hovise or tavern called " The Heron." The names, therefore, are an indication not of any special affection between the two men, but of their relations as politicians belonging to different coteries. The notices which we have of Cromwell and Vane at the time when these sobriquets were used by them show quite plainly that their political opinions were divergent from each other.

Lerwick. J ' WlLLCOCK.