Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/137

 12 S. IX. AUG. 6, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 107 Two ITEMS CONCERNING EDMUND BURKE. The following facts concerning Edmund Burke, which were recently made public, should foe duly made available for future reference : The Daily Sketch (June 21, 1921), referring to a sale at Sotheby's on the previ- ous day, records that : A prayer-book given by Richard Burke to Edmund Burke on his 23rd birthday was sold for 2 5s. This volume establishes the birthday of Edmund Burke as January 10. Lord Morley in his Life of Burke (p. 4) writes : The precise date of Burke's birth cannot be stated with certainty. All that we can say is that it took place either in 1723 or 1729, and it is possible that we may set it down in one or the other year, as we choose to reckon by the old or the new style. The best opinion is that he was born at Dublin on January 12, 1729 (N.S.). It is also of interest to note that a special correspondent reports in the London Times an interview with Cardinal Gasquet, who, in referring to the English MSS. in the Vatican archives, said : There are two letters from Edmund Burke in his own handwriting. They are both written to the Vatican, and in one he urges with energy and almost with violence the advantage of an alliance between this country and the Holy See. JOSEPH J. MACSWEENEY. Howth, Co. Dublin. WASHINGTON FAMILY : ORIGIN AND ARMS. Recently much has been made of sketches, memoranda, memorials and other particulars of Washington celebrations largely fastening the English origin of the family on Sulgrave Manor, Northampton. Is it likely to interest you at all that John fil. John Washington, of Warton, near Kerneford (now Carnforth), was wounded at the Battle of Agincourt (1415) ? This was probably long before the family appeared at Sulgrave. It is not intended to claim for Warton the position of " fount." As near as this can be got you have it in Bardulf, Lord of Ravensworth, Richmond, Yorks., temp. William the Conqueror, the second descen- dant from whom was styled " Bonde ?? Lord of Washington-/ttotfa-Ravensworth and gave the name to the place, temp. King Stephen. The Bardulf mentioned probably had, by the way, one remove further back in Torfin, temp. Edward the Confessor. The early form of Washington is Wessington or Whassington or Whaseyngton, all of which have been used as Washington-cwm- Ravensworth, four miles from Richmond, Yorks, testifies to this day. On Warton Church tower, easily decipher- able now (outside) is, in stone, the Washing- ton .arms or early hatchment = Shield bar gemel and three mullets (said to be the origin of the " Stars and Stripes " flag). The four-pointed rowel (or mullet) is said to be very early. The family at one time considered Warton as a very important headquarters, for here they lived ; prob- ably they built a later tower upon the site of Roman or Saxon remains, now standing, but this was, of course, long before the " Sulgrave n advent. SOUND OF FINAL "A." Some years ago I suggested that when Tennyson rhymed " Cophetua " to words like " say " it was because he gave the final vowel of that name the sound of "English <a." Prof. Saints- bury, in his ' History of English Prosody ' (iii. 536), doubts this, but I think there is much to be said for it. Readers will remem- ber that in ' Pacchiarotto ' Browning rhymes xpvo-aopa to " gray or ray," and that in his earlier * Home-thoughts from the sea ' he makes " Africa " the last word in a poem every other line in which ends with the sound in question. My impression is that formerly many teachers of Latin gave this sound to terminal vowels in that language. English speech has often been vague regarding the sound of " a," and seems unable to discriminate between ah and aw. Prof. Saintsbury aptly quotes the alternative spellings of " pasha " and " bashaw," and we may compare the various sounds given to the final syllable of "hurrah ! " (some- times spelt and pronounced " hurray ! "). Even in America the same looseness seems to prevail, since in ' Marco Bozzaris ' we find: His few surviving comrades saw His smile when rang their proud hurrah. Again, some speakers Dean Liddon for one used to give the sound of " English * a ' " to the indefinite article. For this I know of no historical justification, though it may be convenient sometimes to emphasize " a man," meaning one particular man only. Of late the sound of ah is often represented by ar, a barbarism on which I shall not ven- ture to enlarge. I shall be glad to know if students of ' N. & Q.' have any opinion on this subject. T. S. OMOND. 14,.Calverley Park, Tunbridge Wells.