Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/625

 12 S. VIII. JUNE 25, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 515 JOAN or ARC ( 12 S. viii. 469). In ' Existe- t-il des reliques de Jeanne d'Arc ? ' (Orleans, 1891), M. 1'Abbe Th. Cochard has some very useful pages on the subject of the heroine's harness. He mentions a suit which after many vicissitudes found its way into the museum at Les Invalides, and I think he believed that it was genuine. It is not im- probable that some armour, which Jeanne offered to St. Denys after her reverse at Paris, would be brought to England, but I know not where the treasure conceals its history. ST. SWITHIN. "PARLIAMENT CLOCKS" (12 S. viii. 451, 493). Taxes on precious metals have been imposed at different times in this country. In 1719 Gd. per ounce was levied on silver. This led to the use of base metal. In 1758 a tax of 2 annually by dealers was sub- stituted. In 1759 the amount for a licence was raised to 5. In 1784, in addition to the licence, the Qd. per ounce tax was re- imposed. In 1797 8s. per ounce was levied on gold and at the same time Pitt imposed (37 Geo. III. c. 108) a tax of 5s. on every watch and clock. These accumulative taxes nearly ruined the trade, the demand for clocks and w^atches decreasing to such an extent that manufacture diminished by one -half. Pitt's tax was repealed in the following year (1798), but the measure had had the effect of stimulating, not creating, the manufacture of a timepiece which had a wooden dial, the hours soldered or painted ; the face always large, 3ft. and often larger ; and the trunk only long enough to allow of a " seconds " pendulum. There was no gold or silver or glass. This kind of clock had been in existence for some time, perhaps since about 1720, but the earlier examples were very finely lacquered, the lacquer being much better than that applied to most clocks after 1797. Although the Act of 1797 did not create this particular kind of clock, no doubt it did create the name, because it brought the clock into prominence, many specimens being erected in taverns, posting houses, public rooms, &c., for the convenience and benefit of those who were not able to afford to keep clocks or watches. I have never heard of, nor have I been able to trace, the use of the name " Act of Parliament Clock " before 1797. I possess a clock of the kind by Edmund Wills, Salis- bury, whose date is about 1730. SLIGO. " THE POOR CAT r TH' ADAGE ;; (12S. viii. I 431, 475, 497). The Latin version cited j by MR. DE V. PAYEN- PAYNE is given with I a slight alteration by Quarles in his 'Em- blems ' as a hexameter : " Catus amat pisces sed non vult tingere plantas." C. A. COOK. The Latin proverb as given at the second reference does not scan. " Non vult " should be substituted for " non amat." This change will at the same time bring it closer in expression to the English form quoted by J. S. Farmer. The Latin saying also appears as " Cattus amat piscem, sed non vult tangere flumen." See p. 9 of Jakob Werner's ' Lateinische Sprichworter und Sinnspruche des Mittelalters ' (1912). The French " Le chat aime le poisson, mais il n'aime pas a mouiller la patte," and the German to the same effect are given in Skeat's note to Chaucer's ' House of Fame,' 1. 1783, and he quotes a parallel from Gower, ' Confessio Amantis,' ii. 42, As a cat wolde ete fisshes Withoute weting of his clees, and an allusion in ' Piers the Plowman's Crede,' 405. EDWARD BENSLY. At the first reference MR. LUPTON says : " The adage. . . was, I understand, a French proverb/' Mr. Benhanrs ' Cassell's Book of Quota- tions,' at p. 504, has " Catus amat pisces, sed non ^ vult tangere plantas," where " tangere " is an obvious misprint for tingere. This is a medieval hexameter, and as such more authentic than the Latin proverb as given at the second reference. Mr. Benham (loc. cit.) says, " A Portuguese proverb is to the same effect," but he does not quote it. How does it run ? On p. 854 he gives Italian and German forms of the adage, but no French one. If it is known in France, what form does it take there ? JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT. EARLY STAGE-COACHES (12 S. viii. 392, 436). Much useful information concerning stage-coaches will be found in the follow- ing books : Harper (C. G.). 'The Brighton Road: Old Times and New on a Classic Highway.' 1892. Harper (C. G.). ' Stage Coach and Mail in Days of Yore.' 2 vols. 1903. Harris (Stanley). The Coaching Age.' 1885. Hams (Stanley). ' Old Coaching Day8.' 1882. ARCHIBALD SPARKE.