Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/276

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [i2s.iv.ocr.,i9i8.

WAR SLANG : " SANDBAG MAEY ANN." A curious saying is rapidly becoming popular with the soldiers in France, and that is " Sandbag Mary Ann." Let 1 me" make a note to prevent its origin being " wropt in mystery."

Mary Ann started her career as Fairy Ann in the well-known phrase " Cela ne Fairy Ann," which is army French for " Cela ne fait rien," one of the half-dozen items necessary for conversing with the remaining natives. Fairy Ann, not being sufficiently homelike for old soldiers, becomes Mary Ann ; while owing either to cherished idols at home being protected by sandbags or to the ignorance of the " 18-pounders " (as the under-age recruits are affectionately called) when Sammy apologizes to Tommy for pushing past him in the trenches the cryptic phrase " Sandbag Mary Ann " is more readily uttered and understood than the conventional " That's all right, chum."

L.R.B. B.E.F., France.

WAR SLANG. Kipling has preserved for us the conversation of the men of India and South Africa, but the New Army, containing many scholars, has coined many additional terms, such as " hot and dirty " (cocoa), " wet and warm " (tea), " Cafe Adelaide " (cafe au lait). I hope some of our military friends will compile a complete list of these.

J. ARDAGH.

35 Church Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin.

[See next page.]

" HEATER-SHAPED." The Oxford Dic- tionary records the compound adjective " heater-shaped," without date or quotation to exemplify it. In an essay on ' Gloucester- shire Fonts,' by Alfred C. Fryer, Ph.D., F.S.A., published in the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society for 1917 (vol. xl.), one finds, p. 41, " a half angel vested in [an] alb and holding a heater-shaped shield"; p. 43, "the chamfer is ornamented with eight heater- shaped shields of arms " ; p. 45, " is a heater- shaped shield hung by a guige."

EDWARD S. DODGSON.

G. W. M. REYNOLDS. In Boase's ' Modern English Biography,' vol. iii., it is said of G. W. M. Reynolds that he was " church- warden of St. Andrew's, Well Street, London, to death." The Vicar of St. Andrew's informs me that Reynolds never held any office connected with that church.

R. GRIME.

(Qnmzs.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

JEAN INGELOW : COL. ROBERT MATHEWS. When the Erebus arid Terror sailed under Sir John Franklin, never to return, one of the senior officers was engaged to be married. When time had banished hope, Jean Ingelow wrote some verses on the sad circumstances. I have never seen them. They may not have been published, or the references may have been veiled. Where are the papers of this poetical friend of our youth ? Will some one kindly help me ?

I should like to get into communication with the representatives of Col. Robert Mathews, long military secretary to Lord Dorchester in Canada, and subsequently employed in the War Office or Horse Guards.

DAVID Ross McCoRD. McCord National Museum,

Temple Grove, Montreal.

ABRAHAM MOORE, TRANSLATOR OF PINDAB. Can any correspondents of ' N. & Q.' give me information about Abraham Moore, the gifted translator of Pindar, or tell me where I may obtain such ? I have ransacked more than one of our great libraries to learn about him, but have been uniformly unsuccessful. The Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum cannot tell me, and the monumental ' Dictionary of National Biography ' is silent. I therefore appeal to ' N. & Q.'

WARREN H. CUDWORTH.

Norwood, Massachusetts.

ROSA CORDER. This lady was known to be a friend both of Rossetti and Whistler. She was an accomplished artist. I have seen a portrait of Col. Burnaby by her ; another of Algernon Graves, which was painted in 1878 ; and a drawing of his son Sidney, which was made at the same time. She painted a pretty little picture of Radfont Church, with trees cut as peacocks, and a small picture of Master Howell ; she also painted a good portrait of her mother, which was exhibited at the Academy in 1879.

I should be glad to know if this artist is still living, or when and where she died. Any further information regarding her will be greatly appreciated, and will be duly acknow- ledged if sent to, JOHN LANE. Bodley Head, Vigo Street, W.I.