Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 3.djvu/524

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[12 S. III. DEC., 1917.

Ifcan find no trace of the name of Bracken- bury in Mildmay pedigrees. I am myself a by-product of the Mildmay family, which has very large ramifications.

CHARLES BARNETT.

18 Courtfield Gardens, S.W.5.

BOOKSELLERS OF GLASGOW AND EDIN- BTHBGH (12 S. iii. 445). For some interesting information about booksellers in Glasgow see the recently published ' Bibliography : its Scope and Methods,' by Dr. David Murray (Glasgow, MacLehose & Sons, 1917).

T. F. D.

ST. PETER'S FINGER (12 S. iii! 449). Is not this term used by Bishop Hall as the name of a public -house ? I have seen the sign somewhere on the road between Swanage and Ringwood. J. E. C.

See The Treasury magazine, July and November, 1917.

J. DE BERNIERE SMITH.

McBRiDE (11 S. xi. 266, 345; xii. 91). Two years ago I inserted a query as to the Scotch origin of the Rev. John McBride of Belfast. No answer gave definite informa- tion.

In ' Munimenta Universitatis Glasguensis (1450-1727),' vol. iii. pp. 173, 178, 250, are the entries of the following students :

1. Feb. 27, 1702. David McBride, Scoto- Hibernus.

2. Jan. 10, 1708. Robertus McBride, Scoto-Hibernus.

3. March 7, 1708. Alexander McBride. These are the three sons of the Rev. John

of Belfast. Both David and Robert claim Scotch descent. Why Alexander omitted it does not appear. C. M.

New Hampshire, U.S.A.

BUTTONS (12 S. iii. 445, 488). I do not think MR. FARRER'S premiss is in accord with fact, namely, that " the right hand being used in buttoning or unbuttoning, it was natural that the left-hand fold of a garment should be arranged to overlie and be buttoned on the right-hand fold." I agree that, coeteris paribus, the right hand would be nattirally used in buttoning ; but the consequence of male garments being made to button from left to right causes men to use their left hands in buttoning, as may be verified by ordinary observation.

Nor do I feel that the introduction of the lady's maid helps to explain why feminine garments button invariably from right to left. For every woman who commands the assistance of a maid at her toilet, there

are thousands who have to dress themselves, even in these latter days, when the despots who control fashion have decreed that dresses shall be buttoned down the back. HERBERT MAXWELL.

SIR HERBERT MAXWELL seeks to know the origin of the rule under which the clothes of men button from left to right, and the clothes of women from right to left. Although I cannot trace the custom to its source, I submit several theories on the subject.

It is said to be a survival from ancient times when ladies were escorted on the left arm of gentlemen, thus leaving the lady's left arm free to attend to her garments, and the gentleman's, right at liberty for the same purpose, and also for protection with the sword in case of attack, which was of common occurrence in those days.

In most of the old prints extant it will be seen that men have always buttoned left over right, and women vice versa. But the custom or fashion is older even than buttons, for I have seen two figures reproduced from a Greek MS. of the ninth century A.D., and although the clothes were without buttons, the fastenings were in the same direction male and female as in modern usage.

It has been suggested that the button- holes being on the right side for women is due to the fact that they employ maids, and this suits the convenience of the latter. Punch once hinted that it was due to women looking in the mirror. Cynics have favoured the theory that women adopt the contrary method to men out of perversity.

A. S. BRID GLAND.

27 Bedcliffe Road, S.W.10.

1. Years ago I could have answered glibly : many a medreval ancestor needed to have his sword-arm free for his weapon, so he planned his coat so that it could most readily be closed by his other hand ; the woman could use either hand, and so used the stronger one.

2. Later for me, but. earlier historically, it seemed that as the most ancient Romans and other races regarded the left as the auspicious side, so they moved their gar- ments, as they passed each other on the street, to the left for magical reasons (see American Journal of Archaeology, xxi. 1917, p. 201). When the orientation of the Greeks, &c., was subsequently adopted, the women (as one of the three most con- servative classes of mankind) refused to follow, but continued to prefer the leftward direction in each instance.