Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/546

 448 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. rx. DEC. 3, 1921. white, but the backs black and named i because of their reference to a " domino." I have a set of very small ivory dominoes which have no black backs. They have been in possession of my wife's family since the | middle of the eighteenth century, and date back, probably, to the early part of it, so that the statement of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica ' is incorrect as far as they are concerned. They are very small and range from double blank to double seven. I have sought for long among my co- antiquarian friends for light upon the sub- ject, but in vain, except in two cases. These are, first : " They are reported to have derived their name from the fact that they, being of religious origin, were the only re- i laxation allowed to the monks sworn to per- petual silence. And when the winner placed his last ' card or stone ' to the se- quence, the player was permitted by the rules to offer up the prayer ' Dominum Deum nostrum laudamus.' ' The second was : " These are not domi- noes but ' Napier's bones.' ' I have gone through the whole history and description of " Napier's bones " but cannot reconcile them with the dominoes I possess, as they consisted of ten rectangular slips of cardboard, each having five numbers on it. They were used for calculating num- bers, and these numbers ranged from 1 to 72, and were based upon 2, 0, 8, 5, 1. Will someone help me ? Personally, perhaps being misled by the words " religious origin," I have worked out their meaning on the lines of Sterling's ' Canon,' taking the Egyptian " ani " as basis, and twelve, with a doubtful fourteen, as basis ; and through the Chaldaic, with its seven according to the Cabala, and thus have a wavering but utterly untrustworthy (being only dependent upon my own specula- tions) idea of the real history. This real history I desire to ascertain. RICHABD H. HOLME. Newcastle-upon-Tyne. [The origin of dominoes has been discussed in ' N. & Q.' several times. We reproduce PROFESSOR WEEKLEY'S suggestion made at 1 1 S. iii. 345. " The name of the game is known to come from the expression faire domino, ' coup qui consiste a poser sa derniere piece, ce qui donne partie gagnee ' (' Diet. General '). The connexion with domino, ' camail noir avec capuchon porte par le pretre pendant 1'hiver,' has never been satisfac- torily established. I think the word capuchon in the above definition is probably the clue. Much older than faire domino is the phrase faire capot, used of a victorious stroke at piquet, and the latter expression is widely used in a metaphorical sense. Now capot means ' cape with a hood,' and it seems possible that faire domino is a playful variant of faire capot. One may compare the foolish changes that used to be rung on the expression ' to take the cake ' a few years ago." In his ' Etymological Dictionary of Modern English' ( 1921) Prof essorWeekley appears still to be of this opinion.] BOUBNEMOUTH : THE CHILDREN'S WALK. Surely some genius in the writing of Eng- lish prose or verse must have tried to put into words the essential charm of this scene, which must be familiar to very many readers of * N. & Q.' The pen of R. L. Stevenson or Mr. Kipling could have done it. But who has ? Is there already a mass of literature upon it ? C. SAYLE. JONAS COAKEB, " THE DARTMOOR POET." I shall be grateful if any reader will kindly tell me where I can meet with any writings of Jonas Coaker, known as "the Dartmoor poet," who at one time kept the Warren House Inn, formerly known as Newhouse. He was born in February, 1801, and died in February, 1890, his body being buried at Widecombe, where he had spent some of the earlier years of his life. I understand that, in 1876, he contributed some verses about Widecombe to a book which was edited by Mr. Robert Dymond of Blackslade. But I cannot dis- cover particulars about this book or whether any of Coaker's writings have survived. T. H. SOULBY. Kestor Glen, Chagford, South Devon. GILBERT IMLAY. Dr. Richard Garnett terminated his k D.N.B.' account of Imlay's life at April, 1796, the month in which Imlay and Mary Wollstonecraft finally sepa- rated. Later, Dr. Garnett discovered, and published in The Athenceum (Aug. 15, 1903, No. 3955, p. 219), a copy, made in 1833, of an epitaph in prose and verse on Gilbert Imlay, which records his birth, Feb. 9, 1758, his death, Nov. 20, 1828, and his burial in St. Brelade's churchyard, island of Jersey. Dr. Garnett added that the age of Imlay, as recorded in the parish register, would place his birth in 1754. Dr. Garnett wrote, " I have not been able to ascertain whether the epitaph still exists in the churchyard." Can any correspondent say whether this epitaph is now in existence ; and whether any church, parish, or other records of Gilbert Imlay, or his family, may be found Jersey ? W. CLABK DUBANT. "