Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 3.djvu/238

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. m. MARCH 24, 1917.

metal badge preserved in the British Museum (p. 177 of the John Murray edition, 1912); and that the same conspicuous absence of the Holy Spirit should have occurred in the engravings of both of the subjects above (pp. 141 and 173 of the same). I wonder if in Sir Harris Nicolas's work on the ' Insti- tution of the Order of the Garter ' the badge of the Black Prince is reproduced with the same omission. PIERRE TURPIN.

With the Annual Report of the York- shire Philosophical Society for 1914 was issued a most valuable piece of work by Mr. George Benson, F.R.I.B.A., on ' The Ancient Painted Glass Windows in the Minster and Churches of the City of York.' From p. 148 of this I gain a note which I hope may be of service to MR. LE COUTEUR. It concerns the middle light of the east window of Holy Trinity, Goodramgate :

" [Its] upper panel depicts the Father in Pity holding in front of Him the lacerated body of His Divine Son, whilst the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove rests on the head of Christ. From a small kneeling figure of a priest issue the words in- scribed on a scroll ' Te adoro et glorifico O beata Trinitas.' In the usual representations of the Trinity in York, our Father exhibits His Son on the Cross."

Below this is another design in which the Three Persons are seated side by side. There the crown of Christ " is enriched by a wreath of thorns, and His under garment, showing drops of blood, is continued across the knees of the other Persons of the Trinity, symbolizing the Divine Unity."

ST. SWITHIN.

The following passage from John Adding- ton Symonds's magnificent essay ' The Cornice ' is pertinent. Writing of San Remo he says :

" The shrines are little spots of brightness in the gloomy streets. Madonna with a sword Christ holding His pierced and bleeding heart 1'Eterno Padre pointing to the dead Son stretchec upon His knee ; some souls in torment ; S. Koch reminding us of old plagues by the spot upon his thigh ; these are the symbols of the shrines.'

I myself have not infrequently seen, both at San Remo and in other Italian towns frescoed representations and shrines (som ancient and some of quite recent date which show God the Father, imperially robed and crowned, supporting on Hi knees the dead Christ, whilst overhead, o oftener on the breast of the Father, hover* the Dove. The figure of God the Fathe is generally seated upon a throne, and H sometimes wears the papal tiara with triple crown.

MONTAGUE SUMMERS, F.R.S.L.

Representations of the Blessed Trinity in. he manner described " God the Father n Pity exposing His Crucified Son," as hey are called are fairly common in stained glass, this subject having had a jonsiderable vogue towards the end of the ifteenth century. There are examples in St. John's Church, Micklegate, St. Martin- e-Grand, Coney Street, and Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York.

JOHN A. KNOWLES.

The Canterbury Diocesan Gazette, vol. iiL p. 243, 1895, states that a small stained-
 * lass window at Cheriton, Kent,

represents the Holy Trinity ; there is a similar window at Trottiscliffe in Kent ; and a wall paint- ing has lately been discovered at Boughton Aluph with a similar representation of the- Trinity in Unity."

R. J. FYNMORE.

ENGLISH COLLOQUIAL SIMILES (12 S. iii. 27 r 50,77,116, 170, 177). 5. "As innocent as a- devil of two years old." As a young devil at that age may be assumed to be already very mischievous, the phrase seems to mean, very far from innocent." This explana- tion agrees with the use of the words by Lady Smart in Swift's * Polite Conversa- tion.' The proverb would be of the same type as " Hie crescit in pulchritudinem, uti asinus " (Bebel, ' Proverbia Germanica/ No. 259).

25. " To lie like a lawyer." Such pro- verbs which defame a whole profession are not uncommon. Has MR. SVARTENGREN noted " Mentiris ut medicus," quoted by Jeremy Taylor in his ' Ductor Dubitantium, r Bk. III. ch. ii. ('Works,' ed. C. P. Eden,, x. 104), though Taylor maintains that it is to be interpreted favourably ? Mr. Walter Rye in his ' History of Norfolk,' p. 304, gives from personal observation the saying, " He lies like a tooth-drawer," but does not, like Jeremy Taylor, offer a favourable interpretation.

31. "As wise as a constable.'' The ques- tion was asked at the second reference, " Which of the constables does it refer to ? " Surely to the parish constable. Dogberry, justly or unjustly, is the immortal example of the class. The proverb will be of the same type as No. 5.

38. " As subtle as a dead pig," " As cunning as a dead pig." Whether this saying is sarcastic or not (I do not remember how Swift employs it), it seems, at any rate, worth noting that Plautus speaks of a stuck pig (or " a slaughtered sow," as Prof. TyrreJ"