Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/263

 ii s. ix. M AR. 28, MI*.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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perhaps, a week. For a long time it was known only in a small part of Tyrol -in Prof. Gschwend's own district not at all during his boyhood. It is carried on the back, and rests upon it (as I found myself, though the shoulders may feel it), in con- trast to bags carried in the hand or on the shoulder. He believes the theory of its being named after ruck (push) is that of a scholar who is accustomed to seek for* the solution of problems in ways out of the ordinary man's track, and of course the guides always use High German in their conversation with strangers.

My friend says he will make further inquiries, and let me know the result.

THOS. G. GAWTHOBP.

There has been further correspondence on this query in the pages of The Gardeners' Chronicle. Prof. Farmer now admits " the force of . . . .arguments in favour of . . . .solu- tions which " he had rejected. But he still maintains that his rucksack has more to do with a " jerk " than with his " back." The present writer used to find the weight of his rucksack was on his back, and when well packed there is no " jostle." S. L.

THE SECOND FOLIO OF THE SHAKESPEARE PLAYS (11 S. viii. 141, 196, 232, 294, 317; ix. 11,73, 114, 172,217,237).! have no wish to discuss the main point of Bacon v. Shakespeare ; but if Shakespeare was, as SIB EDWIN DURNING-LAWBENCE says, " a Strat- ford clown " who could not write, why did Bacon (that very clever man) let such an unlearned " clown " father his plays ? For Shakespeare's acquaintance must have known his ignorance and inability to write such plays, and therefore the secret must have been exposed, and it is more than probable they would have found out for certain who did write them. W. B. S.

A JUSTIFICATION OF KING JOHN (US. ix. 63, 155). In my copy of Valentine Green's pamphlet a former owner has written in pencil in the margin of p. 4 the following :

" On the opening of the tomb of King John in the Cathedral, on Monday, July 17th, 1797, a gentleman of this city took an handful of the skeletons or skins of maggots, that were in and about the abdomen of the body, and angled with them in the Severn ; and absolutely caught a brace of Bleak with them.

Imperial Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away : O, that that earth which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw ! ' History of Worcester,' by T. Eaton, 1816." A. R. BAYLEY.

PLACES IN DICKENS (11 S. ix. 169). I suggest for the street at the back of Long Acre, with its brokers and marine stores, Monmouth Street. The " Gallery of Prac- tical Science " is correctly named ; it is- represented to-day by Gatti's Restaurant. As a place for exhibitions it was celebrated for " Perkins's Steam Gun," " The Electric Eel," and " The Pacificator."

ALECK ABBAHAMS.

BlBMINGHAM STATUES AND MEMOBIALS

(11 S. ix. 202). The statue of George IV. is noted on p. 172 of Freeling's ' Grand Junction Railway Companion,' 1838. There is also a full-page advertisement of G.- Richmond, Collis & Co., late Sir Edward Thomason's. manufactory, Church Street, Birmingham. It states that "the Copper Bronze Statue of his late Majesty, upwards of 6 feet in height, was modelled, cast, and sculptured at this Establishment : as also a Shield, in honour of the Duke of Wellington's Victories. These, and numerous other Works, are stationed in separate Rooms, to exhibit the progress of British Art, which Strangers are invited to visit."

A. H. W. FYNMOBE. Berkhamsted.

CHABLES LAMB'S " MBS. S " (11 S. viii. 262, 318, 375, 414, 476). Indifferent health and other hindrances are the cause of this belated reply to MB. G. H. WHITE'S reason- able suggestion that, when Lamb in his to his " long coats," he did not mean the gown of the Bluecoat boy, but the " long yellow petticoat " worn underneath it. This is borne out by a reference in Lamb's poem ' Written on the Day of my Aunt's Funeral ' :
 * Elia ' essay, * A Chapter on Ears,' referred

I have not forgot

The busy joy of that important day, When, childlike, the poor wanderer was content ' To leave the bosom of parental love, His childhood's play-place, and his early home, For the rude festerings of a stranger's hand, Hard uncouth tasks, and schoolboy's scanty fare. How did thine eye peruse him round and round, And hardly know him in his yellow coats, Bed leathern belt, and gown of russet blue !

S. BUTTEBWOBTH.

RABBIT RIME (US. viii. 150 ; ix. 215). The author of ' Lilliput Levee ' was W. B. Rands (1823-82). See ' D.N.B.'

WM. H. PEET.

THE RED HAND OF ULSTEB (11 S. vii. 189, 275. 334, 373, 434; viii. 14, 95, 154,217, 273 ; ix. 195, 238). The query contained in the first of the above- quo ted references has not, so far as I am aware, been definitely replied to. The question asked was why