Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/617

 12 s. ix. DEC. 24, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 507 " FIRE " AS A DISYLLABIC. Mf. Alfred Noyes, in his ' William Morris,' p. 51, ex- presses his regret that Morris should have made two syllables of the word " fire." The ' N.E.D.' merely says, " In poetry sometimes as two syllables." This is true enough, but too meagre to be illuminating. I suspect that the word began its career as a disyllable, in prose and in poetry alike, but was contracted into one syllable in the Elizabethan period. Subject to correction, let me cite a few examples : Fourteenth century, attributed to Chaucer : . . . Fro the fire us defend, Which that in hell eternally shall dure. Earl of Surrey, before 1547 : The fire it cannot freeze, For it is not his kind. (Ed. 1854, p. 40. This indeed ante- dates the period of Elizabeth.) 1565. Golding's ' Ovid ' : His fier-foming steedes. 1593. * Richard the Second ' : He fires the prowd tops of the Easterne Pines. 1601. ' Julius Caesar ' : Thus much fire from Brutus. 1607. * Coriolanus ' : Or by the fires of heauen I'll leaue the foe. Before 1623. ' Macbeth ' : Fire, burn, and cauldron bubble (disyllable). 1613. Donne : This is joyes bonfire, then, where loves strong Arts Make of so noble individual parts - One fire of four in flaming eyes, and of two loving hearts. (Ed. 1669, p. 114.) 1735. Pope : Fire in each eye, and papers in each hand. ('Prol. Sat.') Should anyone wish to extend this list, I suggest that instances of " fire " as a line- end are a little ambiguous, and should be avoided. The word " prayer ** was also once a disyllable, and is still so pronounced in correct chanting. PVICHARD H. THORNTON. Portland, Oregon. " PECKS OF MUTTON." This unusual expression (it is not " necks of mutton ") appears in the record of a city banquet given in 1556, and is quoted by Mr. C. B. Rivington in an interesting account of the Worshipful Company of Stationers from his pen, which has recently been privately printed. At the same feast " 20 capons of grayse " were consumed, besides 20 other capons and many other tempting viands yet the carver, I notice, only received a guerdon of 2s., while the cook and the butler received (between them) as much as 4 2s. 3d I R B Upton. THE ARMS OF LEEDS. The following paragraph appeared in a conspicuous place in The Morning Post of December 3, 1921 : THE ARMS OF LEEDS. After 300 years of heraldic inaccuracy in the matter of the Borough Arms (now the City Arms) Leeds has at last set itself right with Heralds' College. Soon after Charles I. ascended the throne Leeds added certain un- authorised embellishments to its shield, and has borne them ever since, without the smallest title. The fault was discovered recently, and steps were taken to set it right. The Corpora- tion received yesterday from the College of Arms the confirmation of their blazonry. A helmet has been inserted under the owl of the crest. A helmet and crest for a corporation is nonsense, and makes the arms merely the private shield of the mayor. One would like to see the production, and the sort of helmet used ! Surely it is time that heralds were appointed with special know- ledge, and an examination in advanced heraldry was passed before appointment. Whatever faults there were in the Leeds arms none can be more ridiculous than a crest and a helmet. -^ ^ COPE. MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION AT ARRAS. One of the few uninjured headstones in the Communal Cemetery at Arras bears the following inscription : A la Memoire d'une mere cherie et veneree. Sepulture de Madame Louise Josephine Jeanne Therese BARONNE BONAERT nee a Ypres en 1'annee 1745 douariere de messire Charles Joseph comte BOUDART DE COUTURELLES Chevalier de 1'ordre royal et militaire de St. Louis Major au regiment de Bohan-Rochefort Chambellan de leurs altesses elector ales et palatines de Baviere. Elle est decedee a Arras le 14 Janvier 1823. Sa famille recommande son ame aux prieres des Chretiens qui visitent ce lieu de regrets et de larmes. Requiescat in pace. F. H. CHEETHAM,