Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/424

 416 NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. vii. may 24,1913. visits... .in order to wash and besprinkle them- selves, out of an opinion of its great virtue and sanctity, forsooth I " Those sprinkled ' are called by the inhabitants merrasicks. These again are called by others mearagaks, alias moragiks ; that is to say, persons straying, rash, fond, obstinate.' In Celtic Cornish gycke or gyc means noise ; and mere, much." Charles Gillman. Church Fields, Salisbury. [Mr. Thos. Ratcliffe also thanked for reply.] " To carry one's life in one's hands " (11 S. vi. 508; vii. 72, 117, 255).—To the Biblical passages already mentioned may be added Judges xii. 3 and 1 Sam. xix. 5. Thomas Gataker over 250 years ago discussed the meaning of the Hebrew idiom with great erudition in his ' Adversaria Miscellanea,' bk. ii. chap. iii. He notices that the phrase " having one's soul (or life) in one's hand " occurs in a passage from a Greek comedian of the fourth century B.C. given by Athe- nseus, 569c. If, however, the latest editor of Athenaeus is right in rejecting the line in question as an explanatory gloss on some immediately preceding words, that has been incorporated in the quotation by an error, the meaning of the Greek idiom would be " in fear and trembling," so that it could not be regarded as an exact parallel to the Biblical expression. Edward Bensly. Rev. A. Hedley (11 S. vii. 370).—An appreciative memoir of the Rev. Anthony Hedley fills 4| pp. of the Rev. John Hodg- son's ' History of Northumberland,' part ii. vol. iii. Hedley was a clergyman with antiquarian tastes, who, while serving in three or four curacies (he never was a vicar), devoted his spare time to archaeological investigation, and particularly to exploration of the Roman Wall. He purchased in 1814 a dilapidated cottage, close to the ruins of the Roman station of Vindolana, and there, in 1832, he built for himself a house, well known in the history of the Wall as Chester- holme. Hodgson describes it as " standing on the Chineley burn, just below the junction of the Craiglough and Brookyburns, in a lovely and sequestered spot—procul arte, procul formidine novi. It is a sweet picture of mosaic work enlaid upon an emerald Rem—a cottage in the Abbotsford style, upon one of those charming green holms or meadows bordering upon a river which in Northumberland are generally called haughs." Mr. Hedley's explorations on this spot yielded several large and interesting altars, two extensive thermae, many coins, inscribed stones, carvings, and various implements and utensils belonging to the Roman occupation. Hodgson further describes Mr. Hedley as " a friend of the Great Talisman of Historical Romance," while the compiler of the ' Local Historian's Table Book,' recording his death on 17 Jan., 1835, states that " he furnished many valuable contributions to the Arch&ologia jEliana, to Sir Walter Scott's anti- quarian works, to Hodgson's elaborate ' History of Northumberland,' The Newcastle Magazine, and other publications." Hodgson in an article on the ' Scenery and Antiquities of Northumberland,' con- tributed to The Gentleman's Magazine (Sup- plement to vol. ciii. pt. i. p. 594), made the same remark about Mr. Hedley being an intimate friend of " the Great Talisman of Romance," upon which, under date 4 Sept., 1833, Mr. Hedley wrote him :— " You have unfortunately made one great mistake. I had by no means the distinguished honour of being an ' intimate friend' of Sir VV. Scott, and was never but once at Abbotsford." Mr. Hodgson, in his own copy of his ' History,' has a note as follows :— " Mr. Hedley, in one of his visits to Abbotsford- was pressed to stay some time longer than his invitation extended to; but, knowing that much company was expected on the day he should have left, he endeavoured to obtain his release, through fear of crowding the house. ' Take ye no heed of that; ye shall be comfortably lodged and incom- mode nobody,' was Sir Walter's reply. After the whole party had retired to rest, the baronet took a lantern and conducted Mr. H. through an opei> court into a passage which led to a snug suite of sleeping apartments, and said, ' Ye see, Maister Hedley, this is over my stables—a hundred years since I would ha' trusted never a Northumberland borderer to sleep sae near my horses.'" This anecdote is taken from Raine's 1 Life of Hodgson,' and Mr. Hedley's " never but once " and Mr. Hodgson's " one of his visits" cannot be reconciled, except by supposing that the incident occurred on the- " never but once " occasion. Richd. Welford. Newcastle upou-Tyue. Cocks' Heads (US. vii. 328).—May I suggest that the.«e were the heads of cocks, including those of hens ? That cocks' combs are a delicacy is a fact that has not escaped gourmets. They are to be bought in London in bottles and in jelly. St.* Swithtn. 'The Fly-Fisher's Entomology' (11 S. vii. 328).—The records of the Fly-Fishers' Club, 36, Piccadilly, might furnish a reply to G. F. R. B.'s inquiries; or he might consult that prince of anglers and noted authority upon the art, Mr. Edward Marston. Cecil Clarke, Junior Athenanim Club.