Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/174

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. FEB. 26, '98.

wonders of what his library consisted that he should leave Kalph Haynes the book men- tioned ; possibly Haynes was a medical student." The question is, What was the book 1 Is it not likely that it was a copy of the priest's directory, a kind of Pie directing the order of services? That this seems probable and explains the difficulty, I think, is shown in the following note in l Tracts of Clement Maydeston,' Henry Bradshaw Society's series, p. xliv of Introduction :

"John de Burgh* tells us that he based his ' Pupilla Oculi ' upon an earlier manual called 'Oculus Sacerdotis.' This consisted of various portions with fancy names, 'Dextra pars oculi,' Sinistra pars,' ' Cilmm oculi sacerdotis, &c. Hence we frequently find in inventories, wills, and cata- logues, ' Pars Oculi ' as the title of a manuscript."

H. A. W.

MINATORY INSCRIPTIONS ON FLY-LEAVES. In my copy of ' De Conservanda Bona Vale- tudine, Scholse Salernitanse Opusculum,' small 8vo., printed by Christian Egenolphus at Frankfort, 1553, and owned in 1565 by W. Parett, occurs this inscription on a fly-leaf : Vse tibi qui rapida librum furabere palma Nam videt altitonans cuncta secreta deus.

J. ELIOT HODGKIN. Richmond.

HOUSES WITHOUT STAIRCASES. In many places there is a popular belief that a certain house was built without a staircase, and that the mistake was not discovered until the house was ready for occupation. The late Sir Julian Goldsmith's house in Piccadilly, at the corner of Brick Street (now the Wal- singham Club House), was said to have been so built. The Lyceum Theatre was said to have been built without a staircase to the gallery, and it has been held that it was only when the theatre was about to be opened to the public that the omission was detected by the architect, Mr. Charles Beazley, who was compelled to provide a temporary external staircase. This tale, I need scarcely explain, is a fable, and was contradicted by the archi- tect himself at the time, but like other fables is still believed.

I recently came across a statement that Prof. Blackie built himself a house at Altna- craig, near Oban, N.B., in which the architect forgot the staircase. I have looked through Miss Stoddart's ' Life of Blackie,' but though there are several allusions to the house at Altnacraig and to the architect (who, I suppose, was not Prof. Blackie), I find no reference to the staircase being omitted.

"* John de Burgh was the author of 'Pupilla Oculi,' and Chancellor of Cambridge, 1384."

Perhaps some Scotch correspondent can in- form me whether this legend (as I assume it to be) has appeared in print or whether it is merely gossip. JOHN HEBB.

Canonbury.

THE POSSESSIVE CASE IN PROPER NAMES. Amongst the older people of Wakefield, and in the neighbourhood of that town, the sign of the possessive case is rarely used in proper names. For instance, they speak of Jonn wife," instead of " John's wife." In Derbyshire I have heard the same thing with regard to surnames, as when a man says "Mr. Bagshawe park," instead of " Bagshawe's." That the practice is ancient may be seen in such a name as " Matilda Dickwyuemalkinson," which stands for "Dick's-wife's-Malkin's-son," and contains a whole pedigree in itself. This name is taken from ' The Returns of the Poll Tax for the West Eiding of the County of York,' in 1379, p. 42. It would appear that such names as Johnson and Williamson did not originally consist of John's-son and William's-son, but of John-son and William- son. S. O. ADDY.

'THE CHALDEE MS.' In the course of an excellent, well-informed article on ' The House of Blackwood,' in the January number of the Quarterly Review, the writer speaks twice of "the Chaldee MSS." "Hogg," he curiously says in the more important of the passages, " suggested the Chaldee MSS., and wrote a rough draft of it." Now, apart from what, after all, may be a clerical error, is this statement accurate ? Hogg, we used to be told, made a beginning with the article, and the idea recommended itself so strongly to Wilson and Lockhart that they started with his fragment, and elaborated the famous brochure. Ferrier's statement on the subject seems quite definite. Introducing ' The Chaldee MS.' in his edition of the 'Noctes Ambrosianse,' iv. 295, he says :

"The first thirty-seven verses of Chapter I. are to be ascribed to the Ettrick Shepherd: the rest of the composition falls to be divided between Prof. Wilson and Mr. Lockhart, in proportions which cannot now be determined."

THOMAS BAYNE.

Helensburgh, N.B.

CURIOUS SIGNBOARD. At St. Petersburg, as is known, many of the shops still have their frontage gaily decked with painted boards on the outer walls, presenting bright- coloured pictures of the various articles to be had or made to order there. In the sur- rounding villages a pair of scissors and a top- boot, cut out of paper, and stuck in a window-