Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/341

 ii s. ix. APRIL 25, 1914 j NOTES AND QUERIES.

335

SHILLETO (11 S. ix. 71, 136, 212, 296). On 4 March, 1397/8, an Inquisition was taken at West -Pountf ret (i.e., Pontefract), and a William Shelito was one of the jurors : see " Yorks Record Series," vol. xxxix. p. 57. This is the earliest instance of the name which I have met. The next is the will of Robert Shelitoo, dated 20 Jan., 1531, proved at York in 1535 ; the testator desired to be buried at Featherstone. In 1537 the will of Thomas Shelytoo of Whitwood was proved ; burial also to be at Featherstone. In 1541 William Shelito, sen., of Whitwode, parish of Featherstone, has a will proved. So it goes on, the name varying slightly in the spelling, but always maintaining the " Sh." Now if the name was derived from " de Sigillo," how comes the " S " of the latter to be transformed into " Sh " ? Where has the 7 gone to, and how does a t get into the name? If "Sig" became " Sh " we should have "' Shillo(w)," which is a dialect word for gravel, and would not alter further, unless it became " shallow."

I would submit that the name is a nick- name in origin. From the above-men- tioned Inquisition and wills it is clear that the family lived round Pontefract ; and Paver's ' Marriage Licences ' prove that they were yeomen and husbandmen, which they continued to be in the early part of the seventeenth century, though towards the nd of that century there appear trades asso- ciated with the name: as maltster in 1672, soap-boiler in 1675, joiner in 1698. In the absence of any reference to this name before the fourteenth century, it would appear to be a newly coined one, and, at that period, recently adopted.

If a guess at its meaning is permissible, I would suggest " Shell -i' -two," i.e., a halved shell ; but further search for earlier forms of the name is the only way to reach a solid conclusion. W. H. CHIPPINDALL, Col.

Kirkby Lonsdale.

Moss, AN ACTOR (11 S. ix. 249,298), This actor seems to have made his first appear- ance in London at Covent Garden Theatre, 8 May, 1776, as Kecksey in ' The Irish Widow.'

In 1790 he was at the Haymarket, where he played Johnny Atkins ('Mogul Tale'), Peachum (' Beggar's Opera '), Bartholo (' Spanish Barber '), Old Philpot (' Citizen '), Sir Felix Friendly ('Agreeable Surprise'), Drummer (' Battle of Hexham '), Blister (' Virgin Unmasked '), Mayor (' Peeping Tom'), Puff ('Miss in her Teens'), and Rozey (' Gretria Green ').

It appears from Jackson's ' History of the Scottish Stage ' that he was a member of the Edinburgh company during the seasons 1783-4-7-8-9-90.

In 1805 he was manager at Dumfries, and at another time at Whitehaven, while in 1814 he appears to have been manager of a stroll- ing company visiting Falkirk and other small towns. He is briefly referred to in the ' Autobiography of Francis Courtney Wemys's and in Walter Donaldson's ' Recollections of an Actor.' WM. DOUGLAS.

125, Helix Road, Brixton Hill.

BONS MOTS : AUTHORS WANTED (US. ix. 291). 1. The story is told in the 'Life of Hadrian ' ascribed to ^Elius Spartianus : see the ' Scriptores Historise Augustas,' i. 15. The emperor found fault with a word used by the philosopher Fa vorinus, and the latter deferred to his opinion. On being reproached by his friends for having given way with regard to a word for which there was good authority, he " risum iucundis- simum movit " by replying, ^"Non recte suadetis, familiares, qui non patimini me ilium doctiorem omnibus credere, qui habet triginta legiones."

Isaac Casaubon observes that Spartianus does not tell us whether the word in question was a Greek or a Latin one. Hadrian's devotion to Greek culture had brought him the nickname of Graeculus, and Favcrimis, a Gaul by birth, wrote in the Greek language. Casaubon doubts whether the words reported are the actual speech of the philosopher. The reference to Spartianus was given at 10 S. vii. 328 by H. K. ST. J. S.

2. Did the " witty and plucky lady " ever exist ? If the remark was made to Napo- leon's face, the wit was nothing to the pluck. In the usual form of the anecdote it is a Pasquinade.

' During the French Revolution, the occupa- tion of Rome by Napoleon, Pasquin and Marforio uttered some bitter sayings, and among them was this dialogue :

Pasquin. I Francesi son tutti ladri Marforio. Nou tutti, ma Buona parte."

Story, 'Roba di Roma,' chap. xi.

See also Hare's ' Walks in Rome,' 3rd ed., chap. xiv. EDWARD BENSLY.

[DisiiOE also thanked for reply.]

TURTLE AND THUNDER (US. ix. 268). It is commonly believed both by the negroes and by some white people in Virginia that the turtle never relinquishes its hold on anything it has set its teeth into, except it happens to thunder at the time. I have heard this also of the tortoise, though I