Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/278

 270 NOTES AND QUERIES. [ll S. VII. April 5, 1913. Adam : a Medieval Conceit.—In the ' Cursor Mundi' (E.E.T.S., II. 589-98) we read :— Here now the resun of his nam Qui that he was cald Adam In this nam er four letters laid That o the four yates er said ; Sua micul es Adam for to muth Als est, and west, and north and south, And thow mai ask, wit-oten blam, Qui god him gave sua mikel a nam Parfay that [es] hot eth to rede It takens Adam and his sede. What is here referred to is explained rather more fully in the following extract from a late thirteenth-century MS. now before me:— Ouatre parties le eel ad Le griu elimaz les apellad Lun ad nun oriental Laltre est dist solsticial La terce ad nun occidental La quarte est apelle brunal Ces cunctres sunt espuns En eel grezeis par altres nuns Anathole dist orient E disis redist Occident Aracon est septentriun Messimbria le su ad nun De ces quatre fu tresfurme Le nun Adam e aurne La premere lettre prenez De chesoun e puis enscmblez Si bien espeuare le sauez Le nun Adam i trouerez Cest nun ke del mund est estret Mustre ke il pur home est fet E ioo nun tresbien espunt Ke home est droit le mendre mund. " Anatole " (the Greek " sunrise " or "eastern land") and "Messimbria" (Greek "midday") are plain enough. "Aracon" may, possibly, refer to the defile of the River Aragus in the great central pass of the Caucasus. See Smith's ' Diet, of Greek and Roman Geography.' Where, or what, is the other ? F. Lambakde. [Is " Aracon " rightly transcribed ? Surely ipicrot is what is meant, dpxrot and fuavuPpla being ordinary Greek terms for north and south. " Disis " plainly stands for atScrn—sunset, the west, as opposed to &va.Toii= the east. It seems unlikely that particular localities are intended.] A Reputed Relation op George Wash- ington.—When I was a boy at Hampton- on-Thames, in the sixties of last century, an old woman named Steadman, or Stedman, kept a little shop and infant school, some- thing like the one described in ' Great Expectations.' My father always told me that she was a niece of George Washington, and that handsome offers had been made to her if she would go to the United States ; but that she had refused, being by no means proud <Jf Washington, whom she styled " a traitor." Can any correspondent inform me if this was really the case ? It was, at any rate, believed by all residents there. S. P. Biographical Information Wanted.— 1. Richard Bisset, admitted to West- minster School 19 July, 1775. Any informa- tion concerning him would be useful. 2. John Black alt,, M.D. — When and whom did he marry T The ' D.N.B.,' v. 117, does not mention his marriage. 3. Richard Blacow, admitted to West- minster School 16 Sept., 1783. I should be glad to learn any particulars about him. He cannot be the Richard Blacow who was convicted of libelling Queen Caroline (see 11 S. i. 369, 438), as that Richard Blacow seems to have been educated at Kirkham, Lanes, and to have been admitted to Trin. Coll. Camb. 10 Sept., 1783, aged 18. G. F. R. B. " Killing the calf in high style."—I remember being told some years ago that the incident of " killing the calf in high style," related by the " arch-gossip " John Aubrey of Shakespeare, referred actually to some game in which the winner had to make a speech. I should much value some authentic information upon this matter. Veritas. Memoir of John Wilson Croker.—Has the name of the author of the memoir of this writer that appeared in The Quarterly Review, No. 283, vol. cxlii., for July, 1876, ever been disclosed f The first chapter of ' The Croker Papers,' edited by L. J. Jen- nings in 1884, of necessity perhaps, follows it very closely. Editor ' Irish Book Lover.' Miracles.—Is there any authority for the statement that " miracles continued for the first two centuries a.d." T C. W. B. [If the evidence for miracles holds good at all we should imagine it difficult to regard them as having stopped abruptly with the second century.] Interior of Durham House.—Can any one inform me where I may find a descrip- tion of the interior of Durham House when occupied by Sir Walter Ralegh T P. Philadelphia. " The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea."—What were the cows doing T Were they brought in for the night, or turned out f C. B. Mount.