Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/208

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[12 s. iv. JL-LV,

It has occurred to me that, the devil being represented in Scripture as " going about seeking whom he may devour," the idea of the inscription was that he was like a hunter blowing his horn when in full cry after his quarry. On the other hand, Hearne in his preface to Robert of Gloucester, p. xviii, speaking of the old custom of drinking out of horns, observes :

" Tis no wonder therefore that, upon the Jollities on the first of May formerly, the custom of blowing with, and drinking in, horns BO much prevailed, which though it be now generally diaus'd, yet the custom of blowing them prevails at this season, even to this day, at Oxford, to remind people of the pleasantness of that part of the year, which ought to create mirth and .gayety."

W. C. Hazlitt (' National Faiths and Popular Customs '), after quoting the above, .adds : " That the twofold use of the horn for drinking and blowing purposes is very ancient seems to be shown by the poem entitled ' The Cokwolds Daunce ' " (' Re- mains of E. P. Poetry of England,' i.). Again, ' Hunts-up ' was a tune played on the horn early in the morning under the windows of sportsmen to awaken them and summon them to the chase. It is, therefore, possible that the blowing of the devil's horn stood for A summons or call to join in revelry and worldly pleasures in which the soul would be exposed to special dangers and tempta- tions. WM. SELF WEEKS.

Westwood, Clitheroe.

DB. JOHNSON : TURNING THE TEACUP (12 S. iv. 131). Sixty years ago it was customary at most tea-drinkings to turn the teacup as a sign that the drinker had finished. Another sign was to place the teaspoon on the right side of the empty cup in the saucer to signify that more was wanted, and on the left side to show that the drinker had finished, these two signs 1>eing used at private or social "hen"- parties that is, at drinkings in cottage houses. THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Worksop.

TANKARDS WITH MEDALS INSERTED (12 S. iii. 445, 483, 520; iv. 23, 59, 82, 109). I have a punch -ladle made, I am told, of a George III. five-shilling piece, in which is inserted a silver coin or medal in com- memoration of the coronation of Charles I. One side of this coin has the king's head, crowned, surrounded by the following in- scription : CAROLVS D. G. SCOTIJE. ANGLIC. FR. ET HIB. REX. On the reverse side is a thistle, surrounded by HINC. NOSTR^:. CREVERE. ROSJE. Under the thistle is

CORON. 18 IVNII. 1633. The handle of the ladle is 12 inches long, and is composed of silver and black twisted whalebone. I should be glad to know whether this coin is well known, or not. It has come to me through my Cromwell ancestry, Mrs. Bridget Bendysh being my fourth great-grand- mother. (Miss) E. F. WILLIAMS. 10 Black Friars, Chester.

LONDON SUBURBAN PLACE-NAMES (12 S. iii. 476; iv. 111). A reference to Bristowe Causeway is provided in the Diary and Account Book of Edward Alleyn (MS. No. ix. at Dulwich College): 1617/30 Sept. " I mett Mr. Austen on Bristowe Cause- waye, and rid w s hym to Croydon."

Mr. G. F. Warner in his catalogue pub- lished in 1881 (p. 165) substitutes n for the w in the place-name, and adds the iden- tification " (Brixton)."

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

"Acr OF PARLIAMENT CLOCK" (11 S. x. 130; 12 S. iii. 462; iv. 23, 61, 118, 144). There are two examples of these clocks in Newcastle-upon-Tyne : one in the Trinity House, and one in the Committee Room of. the Town Hall. R. C. STEVENSON.

MR. MEDOP: DR. R. COSIN (12 S. iv. 132). Richard Cosin was the son of John Cosin of Newhall. Who was Richard's mother before marrying John Cosin ? She remarried one Medhope, who brought Richard up ; see ' D. N. B.' I wish par- ticularly to find the lady's maiden name.

M.A.OxoN.

ARRESTING A CORPSE (12 S. iii. 444, 489 ; iv. 28, 109). There is a chapter on ' De- taining the Dead for Debt ' in ' England in the Days of Old' (1897), by the late Wm. Andrews. In it he records a case in 1724 at North \Vingfield, Derbyshire. He also makes use of the correspondence in ' N. & Q. 1 in 1896 ; see 8 S. ix. 241, 356.

JOHN T. PAGE.

Long Itcbington, Warwickshire.

' The Grateful Dead,' published by the Folk-Lore Society, should yield much in- teresting information on this branch of the history of the laws relating to debt.

H. A. ROSE, Actg. Capt.

AUTHORS OP QUOTATIONS WANTED (12 S. iv. 135).

2. Refraining his illimitable scorn. The last line of Sir William Watson's poem ' A Study in Contrasts,' describing the different characteristics of a dog and a cat.

J. B. H.