Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/225

 12 s, iv. AUG., i9i8.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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maymed, halting, wanting some principall member " ; but such a meaning in this instance would seem to hint that French- men at this period were in the habit of riding with broken or otherwise accidentally damaged spurs. CHABLES BEARD.

Military Hospital, Felixstowe.

NAPOLEON ON COLONELS. Where is Napoleon's dictum, " There are no bad regiments, only bad colonels," to be found ?

W. A. HIRST.

" SON OF A DUKE, BROTHER OF A KING." Can any of your readers tell me the name of the Englishman concerning whom hi enemies were wont to say : " He was the son of a duke, the brother of a king, the grandson of an esquire, and the great-grandson of a carpenter. The carpenter was the only honest man in the family, and the only one who died in his bed" ? ... T. J. E.

" STUNT." Can any reader of ' N. & Q." tell me the exact equivalent of this word in English ? Fpr instance, |I see in an American newspaper, " He very soon did that little stunt." So many American slang words are borrowed from foreign languages, and especially from Dutch and German, that " stunt " may have the same origin. It was in use in America five-and-twenty years ago, though I seldom saw it in print at that time. Now, however, it seems to be a recognized word in the U.S.A. It is essen- tially an ugly word, and one can but regret its introduction into our language.

FREDERICK T. HIBGAME. 64 Chapel Field Road, Norwich.

" KYN " SUFFIX. I know it is the opinion of most authorities on surnames that " kin " or " kyn," used after a name, has a diminutive sense ; but it would appear at least possible that it may also have had the meaning of family or descendants, as in " kith and kin," " kinship," &c. This would seem to be borne out by the following extract from the Calendar Patent Rolls at the Public Record Office (Index vol. 243, p. 172) :-

" Pardon granted to John, son of Henry Rud of Louswater, for the death of Robert of the KYN.

" Given at Dumferline on Nov. 10th, 1303, Ed. I."

Many pardons were granted at the same time, in consideration of services in the King's war in Scotland, to persons accused of murders and offences, and consequently outlawed. H. E. RUDKIN, Major.

Feniton, Farnborough, Kent.

BIRTH FOLK-LORE : PARSLEY BEDS AND GOOSEBERRY BUSHES. In, reading Mr. Duncan Tovey's ' Gray and his Friends ' I came across the following sentence on p. 56 :

" 'Tis comical to see a one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants in a city [i.e., Rome] where you scarce ever see one that has not taken a vow never to propagate [i.e., I presume, monks, friars, and priests] ; but they say there are larger parsley beds here than in other co\m tries." I was puzzled as to the meaning of this but I have been informed by residents in Cambridge that it is a custom here to tell inquisitive children as to the origin of species that babies come from parsley beds. In my native county, Norfolk, I remember gooseberry bushes there took the place of parsley beds. Can your readers throw any light on varying local customs in this matter ? H. T. F.

HERALDIC : SABLE, ON A CHEVRON ARGENT. A book-plate bearing Sable, on a chevron argent, between three cross-crosslets or, three escallops of the first, is on the inside of the cover of a bound volume containing seventy - seven of Boy dell's Shakespearian plates in the library of the Torquay Natural History Society. I shall be much obliged by information as to who is the owner of this coat of arms.

S. S. BOASE.

The Museum, Torquay.

BURRO WES HALL. In the illustrated edition of Green's ' Short History of the English People ' (1893, vol. ii. p. 781) there is given a bird's-eye view of " Burrowes Hall, Cheshire," from the " Duchy of Lancaster maps and plans, Public Record Office." The name does not occur in Ormerod's ' Cheshire.' Perhaps some reader of ' N. & Q.' can identify the place, or give the correct county."." ";;':! CHARLES MADELEY.*

ROBERT ARBUTHNOT, AUDITOR OF THE EXCHEQUER. Can any of your readers give me information with regard to a certain Robert Arbuthnot, Auditor of the Ex- chequer in Scotland, who is known to have accompanied John, 2nd Earl of Stair, on his embassy to Paris in 1715 ? Little has come to light with regard to him beyond this fact. He died intestate in Lord Stair's house in Hanover Square, Aug. 4, 1727, and after his death Lord Stair and Dr. John Arbuthnot were the complainants in a suit concerning certain money owed by the defunct to Dr. Arbuthnot. The Auditor of
 * he Exchequer was not the Doctor's brother