Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/18

 12

NOTES AND QUERIES.

[12S. IV. JAN., 1918.

origin of the word " mebus," he replied that he understood it was formed from the initials of the German words composing the name of these concrete blockhouses. A friend siiggests that four of the letters may re- present " Eisem. Beton Unter *Stand," but is unable to suggest a word for m. Can some correspondent confirm or supplement the suggestion ? JR. THOKNE.

THOMAS MAI/TON THE YOUNGER, 1748- 1804. T should be grateful for the following information, which is not given in the ' D.N.B.' or 'Bryan ' : (1) name and parent- age of his wife ; (2) parentage of his father, Thomas Malton the elder (172^-1801), and also the name of his wife ; (3) any other information or references concerning these two artists. L. E. TANNER.

Savile Club, W.

PEAESON'S EDITIONS OF CHAPMAN'S, HEYWOOD'S, AND DEKKER'S DRAMATIC WORKS. Who edited thess editions, and what is the estimate of them as to accuracy ?

J. F. ROTTON. Godalming.

SANIGAR StrRXAME. Can any of your readers tell me the derivation and meaning of this very uncommon name, and if there are any other people in the country who bear it ? The only families in Bristol answering to it are all branches of our own. I did once, however, hear a rumour of some one in the vicinity of Cheltenham (a farmer, I believe) who was said to be known by it. Among ourselves it ha* been variously spelt (through ignorance) Sinegar, Senigar, but I think there can be no doubt that the correct method is Sanigar.

WM. SANIGAR.

205 Avon Vale Bead, Barton Hill, Bristol.

' MODERN SOCIETY ' : " KEIRKENNY." I should be glad to know the identity of a contributor to Modern Society (now no more) of numerous notes and anecdotes relating to the peerage and the aristocracy generally, some twenty years ago, under the pseudonym " Keirkenny." His style of writing was very similar to that of the late G. E. C(okayne). CURIOUS.

WILLIE ALD. In the light of recent criti- cism it would appear to be desirable to reconsider one's views about Willibald, the biographer of St. Boniface. Would some correspondent be so kind as to say whether the following statement represents cor- rectly the latest opinions ? There woiild seem to have been two persons named

Willibald living in the eighth century, not related to one another: (1) Willibald (presbyter), probably born at Crediton, Devon, nephew and biographer of St. Boniface ; (2) Willibald, Bishop of Eich- stadt, a Palestine pilgrim and a saint, place of birth unknown. M.

' THE CLOWN or LONDON.' How many numbers were issued of The Clovm of London, a humorous publication circa 1845 ?

J. ARDAGH.

TAX ON ARMORIAL BEARINGS. I have read somewhere that Lord Beaconsfield, when engaged in proposing some modifica- tions of taxation, is reported to have said, " All Europe will laugh at us if we support the British Constitution on footmen's hair- powder," and so the tax on hairpowder disappeared. Does not the tax on armorial bearings belong to the 'same category as to origin ? I cannot find any reference in encyclopaedias or elsewhere as to when this tax originated.

The operation of this tax is certainly very disastrous from an antiquarian point of view. I have recently heard of several cases of persons possessing armorial bearings on their old furniture, plate, &c., going to the trouble of having them erased on account of this tax, or the fear of being prosecuted for its non-payment. G. J., F.S.A.

PICKWICK : ORIGIN OF THE NAME. Mr. Justice Darling, in summing up in Seymour v. Heinemann on Nov 23, 1917, is reported to have said : " Dickens got the name Pick- wick from the name of the proprietor of a line of coaches running between London and Bath."

But is this actually the case ? There is a Wiltshire village bearing this name about 10 miles from Bath, on the old coaching road. All readers of ' Pickwick ' must agree that Dickens' s description of Bath must have been written from personal knowledge. Might not, therefore, the some- what quaint name of a spot where probably his coach changed horses have attracted his attention, and suggested a name for his great character ? Is this view at all held elsewhere,.? T. E. R.

SPENSER AND ' THE SHEPHERD'S CALEN- DAR.' I shall feel very grateful to anybody who can throw light upon a problem con- nected with ' The Shepheardes Calender ' (1579).

" Colin's Emblem," at the end of the December Eclogue, is left blank. It was