Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/329

 12 s. viii. APRIL 2, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 267 GOUNOD'S PIANO. A Brixton musical instrument dealer, in the Coldharbour Lane, lias lately had an interesting exhibit on view. According to the card in front " This unique Table Pianoforte was the original ipiano used by Gounod, the great composer, upon "which he composed his world-famous operas, ' Faust,' &c." The maker of the instrument was " Pape " of "Paris & Londres. " There is in ex- istence a lithograph print of the " Abbe Gounod " (taken in the forties) standing by 'the side of a similar piano. The biography of the great composer in Grove's ' Dic- tionary of Music,' states : " It was at this period that he attended for two years a course of theology ; in 1846 he even became an out-pupil at the ' S^minaire,' and it 'was generally expected that he would take orders.' ANDREW DE TERNANT. 36 Somerleyton Road, Brixton, S.W. HALF-SOVEREIGN : EARLY USE OF TERM. In a deed of 1552 concerning sale of property at St. Sepulchre without Newgate payment was due " in good and lawfull curia, unt golde of England that is to say .in halfe Sufferans and Angell nobles." W. BRADBROOK. JBletchley, Bucks. WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on fam ily matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct. HERALDRY : ST. AUGUSTINE'S ABBEY, BRISTOL. All histories of Bristol Cathedral {one copying from another I suppose) assert that the arms of the See of Bristol, viz. : Sable, three ducal crowns in pale, or. are the same as those used, by the previously existing Monastery of St. Augustine's, but from a search made at Herald's College it would appear that arms were never granted to the Abbey. When Henry VIII founded the Bristol Bishopric after the suppression of the Abbey and turned the Monastic Church into the present Cathedral Church it was dedicated to "the Holy and Individed Trinity," and the arms of the See are recorded at Herald's 'College charged with three crowns ; Bishop G. F. Browne says, of the Trinity " celestial crowns," but are they not properly bla- zoned as ; 'open ducal coronets" (golden strawberry leaves) ? If the above coat was not borne by the Abbey (whether granted or not) can anyone explain the appearance of this shield in the south-east window of the former chancel of Bristol Cathedral (now the Eastern Lady Chapel) ? Much of the glass in this and near by windows dates from the early fourteenth century, and if any expert in old glass can tell me that this particular shield, is of an earlier date than the dissolution of the Monastery in 1539, then the statement that the Abbey and See arms are identical would be verified, though I should still desire to know why this shield was adopted by the Abbey as the arms were not the founder's, nor borne by any bene- factor that I know of. I am aware that these windows underwent restoration in the middle of last century, but the ancient glass in all of them was most carefully re- tained. The' Abbey had its own seal. Can anyone tell me what device it bore ? If the " three ducal crowns," then the point in question would, so far, be cleared up. THOS. G. SIMMONDS. The Hill, Congresbury. CIDER AND RHEUMATISM. Those who habitually drink cider are said never to suffer from rheumatism. Is there any reliable information on this matter ? ALFRED S. E. ACKERMANN. GLOBIST. In the Danish 18th century weekly, Patrollen, a lady contributor, writing in the number of March 27, 1765, about coquetry in church, reproaches the members of the other sex with counting among them- selves " some animals which the English Spectator has very forcibly called by the name of Globists at der iblant Deres Kion ereiogle Dyr, som den Engelske ' Spectator ' meget effertrykkelig har betegnet under det Navn of Globister" The word, if English as here implied, cannot of course in anyway be identical with the only Globists the ' N.E.D.' knows of, but would seem to be connected with " globe " in the sense of "eye-ball." Can any of your readers give further information, and quote the passage from The Spectator where it occurs ? They may be interested to hear, and it may even conceivably lead them on to the right track, that the editor of The Patrol advises his fair correspondent to make her fiance " glare in his turn on those globists at gloe igien paa disse Olobistere " a new plural form whereby Globister is made into