Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/497

 12 s. i. JUNE 17, 1916.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

491

searching. For the theory expressed by Hilarius's words one may compare Deutero- nomy xii. 23, " sanguis enim eorum pro .anima est " ; Empedocles's line, A?/m yap av#/ow7rois irtpiKapStov tort vorj/xa, wid Cicero, ' Tusculan Disputations,' i. 9, 19, with John Da vies' s note. On the other hand, Tristram Shandy's father was shocked at

"the very idea of so noble, so refined, so im- material, and so exalted a being as the Anima, or even the Animus, taking up her residence, and sitting dabbling, like a tadpole all day long, both summer and winter, in a puddle, or in a liquid of

any kind he would scarce give the doctrine a

hearing " ' Tristram Shandy,' II. chap. xix.

But " Anima certe, quia spiritus est. in sicco habitare non potest," has a further interest for the student of literature. Was not this in Coleridge's mind when he defined Swift as " anima Rabellaisii habitans in sicco " (' Table Talk,' June 15, 1830), even though at the same time he may have re- collected the unclean spirit walking through dry places in St. Matthew xii. 43 ?

EDWABD BENSLY.

GARBRAND (12 S. i. 410). Caleb J. Garbrand, who appears to have been -exclusively a portrait painter, contributed twenty-four pictures to various exhibitions between 1773 and 1780. Six of these exhibits were hung at the Society of Artists, ten at the Free Society of Artists, and eight at the Royal Academy. His Academy pictures were all dispatched from 1 Cecil Street, Strand. The following is alist of his con- tributions to the Academy exhibitions :

1775. Portrait of a gentleman. Portrait of a young lady.

1776. Portrait of a young gentleman.

1777. Three portraits in oils.

1778. A lady in masquerade ; Kitcat. A philosopher, three-quarters.

1780. Portrait of a lady. Portrait of a lady.

ARCHIBALD SPARKE.

There exists at Ewell in Surrey, Garbrand Hall, an important house surrounded by con- siderable grounds, including a lake fed by " The Springs " opposite the main entrance gate, which is surmounted by a big dog, and was much noticed by those passing through the village on their way to the races on Epsom Downs. It was occupied by Mrs. Torr, whose daughter married the late Sir William Bell ; and maybe the name of the liouse has some association with Garbrand the painter. F. W. R. GARNETT.

. Wellington Club, S.W.

TOUCHING FOR LUCK (12 S. i. 430). Oddly enough, the parallel case demanded by your correspondent I? furnished by a para- graph in The Evening News of May 26 :

THE LUCKY TOUCH.

A Queer Custom Which Puzzles Jack in Yorkshire Towns.

Touch a sailor for luck !

" Wherever we go in Yorkshire towns, 1 ' said a sailor on leave to the Yorkshire Evening Post, " we encounter girls who tap us for luck ! In York, Bradford, Halifax, it is just the same as in Leeds.

" Even kiddies will run across the street to touch us. Do we mind ? Oh, no."

A first class artificer, who was on board the Triumph when she was torpedoed, said the custom, which was confined to Yorkshire, started at a Hull party, where a woman touched a sailor's collar and then said: "Just for luck!" From Hull the practice seems to have spread to all parts of Yorkshire.

'* A sailor," he said, " is supposed to be lucky, and it is considered lucky to touch him on his collar, the white stripes of which indicate the victories of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar. Some of our fellows who come to Yorkshire lose their tempers because of the frequency with which they are 'tapped' in the streets."

I have some faint recollection of having met with this before, in the dim past. Perhaps a search through the indexes of ' N. & Q.' would result in some trace of it. EDWARD SMITH.

Wands worth,

Incidents that occurred at the celebration of the Lupercalia in ancient Rome illustrate the belief in the utility of touching for luck. Plutarch, in his ' Life of Caesar,' c. 61, de- scribes what was done by expectant and speculating matrons on the occasion. He introduces the experimental ventures when speaking of the friction that arose between Caesar and the tribunes, Flavius and Marul- lus. This is the passage :

"It was the festival of the Lupercalia, about which many writers say that it was originally a festival of the shepherds, and had also some rela- tionship to the Arcadian Lycsea. On this occasion many of the young nobles and magistrates ran through the city without their toga, and for sport and to make laughter strike those whom they meet with strips ot hide that have the hair on : many women of rank also purposely put themselves in the way and present their hands to be struck like children at school, being persuaded that this is favourable," &c.

THOMAS BAYNE.

See ' Little Dorrit,' chap, xviii. : "Mr. Chiyery had on sundry Sunday morn- ings given his boy what he termed 'a lucky touch,' signifying that he considered such commendation of him to Good Fortune preparatory to his that day declaring his passion and becoming triumphant."

G. W. E. R.