Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/140

 110 NOTES AND QUERIES, [is a TOLP. 6, IMI. COWPEB : PRONUNCIATION OF NAME. I have been told that the poet Cowper said somewhere cr other that he pronounced his name so that the first syllable rhymed with "loop." Could any of your readers give me a reference or supply me with any evidence that may serve to determine the question? T. NICKLIS. [This subject has been discussed in ' N. & Q.' See, for example, 10 S. xii. 265, 335, 372, 432, 616. At the first reference MB. THOMAS BAYNE gives the solution of Cowper's riddle on the Kiss (Gent. Mag.,' vol. Ixxvi.), which, not itself by Cowper, .was taken to be his and to decide the pronuncia- tion. It runs : A riddle by Cowper Made me swear like a trooper ; But my anger, alas ! was in vain ; For, remembering the bliss Of beauty's soft kiss, I now long for such riddles again. In 5 8. i. a similar correspondence will be found, and at p. 274 occurs the following : COWPEB : TBOOPEB (5 S. i. 68, 135). My wife saw some years ago a letter from the poet Cowper to the late Mrs. Charlotte Smith, the poetess, in which he stated the pronunciation of his name was " Cooper." That letter was in the possession of a lady in Leamington, who was niece to Mrs. Smith. JOSEPH FISHEB. Waterford.] ST. ANDREW'S, SCOTLAND : PRE-REFORMA- TION SEAL. I shall feel obliged if any reader can tell me (1) whether the Seal of the Bishop of St. Andrew's for the Archdiocese of St. Andrews, Scotland, was lost at the Reformation ; or (2) whether it is still in existence ; or (3) whether it was used during the early years of the Reformation, and when ? HISTORICAL STUDENT. "THE ASHES." May I appeal to the omniscience of 'N. & Q.' to tell me the exact derivation of the expression "The Ashes,", used to mean the supremacy of Australia (comes first this time) or England in the Test International Cricket Matches. I have asked several people who are all r-greed that it means the championship but why "The Ashes " ? ANXIOUS ENQUIRER. [The Intelligence Department of The Times informs us that the origin of the catch-phrase obout " bringing back the ashes " is to be found in The Sp&rting Life of 1882. In this year England was defeated at Kennington Oval by the Australians fand the paper referred to pub- lished an ' In Memoriam,' the exact wording of which cannot be remembered, to " English cricket, which died at the Oval on Aug. 29, 1882. The body will be cremated, and the ashes taken to Australia."] THE HONOURABLE MR. In accordance with a suggestion made in the Montagu - Chelmsford Joint Report on Indian reforms, the use of the courtesy designation "The Honourable Mr." has been curtailed. Members of the Provincial Councils will no longer enjoy that distinction, for an official announcement states that " The Governor- General is pleased to permit the title ' Honourable ' to be borne during their term of office by the following officers in India : (1) Members of the Governor-General's Exe- cutive Council, (2) President of the Council of State, (3) President of the Legislative Assembly, (4) Chief Justice and Puisne Judges of the High Courts, (6) Members of Executive Councils and Ministers in Governors' Provinces, (6) Residents of the 1st Class, (7) Presidents of Legislative Councils in Governors' Provinces, (8) the Chief Judge and Judges of the Chief Court of Lower Burma and (9) Members of the Council of State." Hence arises my query. When did the "Mr." append itself to the title ? I think I am correct in saying that when the title was first used in India there was no question of "Mr." When he arrived at the requisite attitude John Jones became The Hoi. John Jones : nowadays he would be callel The Hon. Mr. Jones. Why ? The officiil regulation quoted above says the title s "Honourable," and omits both "the " ard "Mr." Ought we to speak of "Honourabb Jones " or "Honourable John Jones ? " May I also be permitted to inquire whqi Provincial Governors in India first acquire! the title "His Excellency " ? There is ai odd sequel, for the wife of a Governor s designated by usage if not by ofncid sanction from the Government of India "Her Excellency." Yet I never heard o the wife of a Lieutenant -Governor, who is by right "His Honour," being called "Hei Honour." ! S. T. S. CARDINAL DE ROHAN CHABOT. I should be grateful if any reader could give me further information with regards to the life I and career of Cardinal Francis Louis Augustus de Rohan Chabot, Archbishop of i Besau9on who died in 1833, and as to whether there are any portraits extant of him. M. B. McA. WAT TYLER. Mr. C. E. Clark at p. 189 of his ' Mistakes We Make ' says that Wat Tyler was killed "certainly not as an insurgent, but as one who had incurred the vengeance of the Mavor by setting fire to all the Southwark houses of ill-fame which Walworth held as a very profitable monopoly." Can this statement be substantiated ? ALFRED S. E. ACKERMAN.