Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 5.djvu/31

 12 S. V JAN., 1919.J

NOTES AND QUERIES.

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In his ' Kalendare ' his " chesing " was yet another : Be of good comfort and ioye now, herte myne,

Wei mayst thu glade and verray lusty be, For as I hope truly, Seynt Valentyne

Wil schewe us loue, and daunsyng be with me.

O virgyn lulyan, I chese now the To my valentyne ....

The letters v and g were often inter- changeable ; and " Valentine " has been identified with the Norman Fr. galantin, a philanderer. GEORGE MARSHALL.

21 Parkfield Road, Liverpool.

BOYS BORN IN MAY (12 S. iv. 133, 172, 257). From the Life of Mang-Chang-kiun written by Sze-Ma Tsien (first century B.C.), as well as Ying Chau's ' Fung-suh-tung,' torn. ii. (second century A.D.), it appears that the ancient Chinese believed that boys and girls born on the fifth of the fifth moon respectively would hurt their fathers and mothers when grown up. Sie Chung-Chi in his ' Wu-tsah-tsu,' written c. 1610, dis- proved this popular error by naming alto- gether ten distinguished men born on the fifth of the fifth moon, and showing that but two of them proved hurtful to their fathers' reputation. KUMAGUSU MINAKATA.

Tanabe, Kii, Japan.

WHITE HORSE OF KENT : LANDSCAPE WHITE HORSES (12 S. iv. 245, 312). In ' The Ancient Kingdom of Kent,' by Mr. C. J. Redshaw, which appeared in The Invicta Magazine for February, 1908, occurs the following suggestion concerning the origin of the Kentish emblem, which may be worth considering :

" The second century B.C. marks an epoch in the history of Kent, because then a gold coin the first gold coin in Britain was added to its currency, and it was impressed with the stamp of a horse rampant. In an excellent volume entitled 4 Gravesend in the very Time of Olde,' Mr. G. M. Arnold, D.L., J.P., F.S.A., thinks it was struck in imitation of ' the stater of Philip,' a gold coin of Philip II. of Macedon, at about the year 350 B.C., v/hereon appeared a small chariot drawn by two horses abreast, a large quantity of which he presumes were carried away by Brennus, when he raided Greece, with an army of Gauls, in 279 B.C., and stiggests that it thus became the gold currency of Gaul, whence, in the ordinary way of commerce, it would naturally have been circulated here .... Mr. Arnold's idea that the Kent coin was an imitation of the ' stater ' may be correct, and as the training of horses was a leading occupation in the little kingdom at that period, the substituted design is easily accounted for. That being so, we must not overlook the important fact that therein lies the origin also of our famous county emblem, which, having appeared on our coinage about a couple of centuries before the Christian era, is the most ancient in Britain."

In * Coins and Medals,' edited by Stanley Lane-Poole (Elliot Stock, 1885), is an illustration (p. 101) of this " British gold coin " ; and in chap. v. of this volume Mr. Chas. F. Keary traces the introduction of this coinage into these islands from Greece, through Massalia into Gaul, and adds that " about the middle of the second century B.C. the southern coast of Britain adopted from Gaul the same habit."

The theory of the origin of our Kentish horse advanced in the above extract from Invicta is the only really feasible one I have ever come across. Possibly, in subsequent numbers of this magazine, other theories may have been brought forward ; but, as T have seen only Nos. 1 and 2, I am unable to say. Perhaps some Kentish reader can enlighten me. W. SHARP.

Wetheral, Carlisle.

HOTEL BRISTOL (12 S. iv. 272, 310). MR. WAINE WRIGHT'S obliging reply appears to be a satisfactory solution of the problem. It may be worth adding that since the inquiry was made I have received a copy of an interesting book upon Calcutta, ancient and modern, and among the three photo- graphs of the leading hotels, I find there also an Hotel Bristol !

J. H. RlVETT-CARNAC.

" MALBROOK S'EN VA-T-EN GUERRE " (12 S. iv. 302). The version of ' Malbrook ' in- quired for by J. R. H. occurs in Harrison Ainsworth's romance ' The Court of Queen Anne,' published in Ainswortli's Magazine some time in the forties of last century. If I remember right, the song was put into the mouth of an ex-sergeant of Marlborough's army. S. PONDER.

Torquay.

V. KNIGHTLEY CHETWOOD LAB AT : ISMENIA (12 S. iv. 188, 256). Perhaps the name Ismenia might be taken from a French romance, ' Arsaces and Ismenia,' of the middle of the eighteenth century.

W. B. S.

"HELL FOR LEATHER" (12 S. iv. 186). In or about 1914 there was a similar inquiry in the correspondence columns of The Spectator, and various solutions were offered.. Eventually, I suggested that it was a corruption of the German phrase Hulfe fur Leder, referring to the run of a hunted animal seeking " safety for its leather," or hide or skin, by flight at top speed. No* one beat me about the head for this, and I flattered myself that the explanation was accepted.