Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/415

 I. MAY 21, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

407

1 he English," but was not even burnt to death I y them, such theories being, it is claimed,, i upported by "authentic official and private documents." Thus the martial features of i he tradition are rudely shattered at a blow. Is the mystery of Jeanne d'Arc's fate to < ontinue for ever unsolved ? It is greatly to ]>e hoped that with the ceremony referred 1o all uncertainties as to her end may be dispelled by the production of absolutely "authentic" records, and thereby an ugly blot be removed from the pages of English

history. Authors' Club, S.W.

CECIL CLARKE.

[There is a literature on the subject.!

WK must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.

BLISTRA : FISTRAL. Can any one explain the meaning of the old Cornish names Blistra and Fistral? The old name of New Quay was Towan Blistra, and the bay between New Quay Head and Crantock or Pen tire Head was Fistral Bay. Dr. Jago, of Ply- mouth, writes to say Fistral is so obscure that it is difficult to trace its root word ; but as regards Blistra, he says it is a compound of Ihs, a corruption of pillis, a sort of naked corn, formerly much grown in Cornwall, and //v/, a form of tre, a dwelling-house, a home- stead, a town. As the Cornish and Welsh languages are of common origin I find no difficulty as regards Towan, Crantock, or Pentire, as they are scarcely disguised from their Welsh equivalents. E. ROBERTS.

Brunswick Villas, Swansea.

ST. THOMAS A BECKET. The village feast here falls on the second Sunday and the following Monday in July. Chauncy, in his 'Historical Antiquities of Herts,' vol. i. p. 181, ed. 1826, says Henry VIII. granted three fairs to Royston : one on Ash Wednes- day, another on Wednesday in Whitsun week, and another on the Feast of St. Tho. Becket, being 7 July. What event in St. Thomas a Becket's life does this date commemorate ; or was he on that day beatified or canonized ? .t would be interesting to discover if any other parish the church of which is dedicated to Becket keeps its feast on the same day as this. I should like to discover to what saint this church was dedicated before Becket's day. M.A.OXON.

Clapham, Beds.

ANGELS AND THEIR TRADITIONAL REPRE- SENTATION. In Architecture, January, p. 21, is an engraving of 'The Women at the Sepulchre,' a fine panel by Mr. George Tin- worth, in the Marquis of Northampton's chapel, Castle Ashby. According to the engraving, the angels watching the tomb are winged women ; but ought they not rather to be young, beardless men? Of late years Christmas cards, illustrations for cheap magazines, and so on, have frequently repre- sented feminine angels : but are they permis- sible in serious art? If so, will some corre- spondent of * N. & Q.' mention instances to the point dating from an earlier period than the Renaissance ? Putting aside the historical aspect of the question with popular ecclesias- tical tradition, is not angel a masculine noun in all the European languages in which heed is given to gender ? G. W.

PORTRAIT OF QUEEN CHARLOTTE. Cassell's ' History of England/ 1861, vol. v. p. 13, con- tains an engraving of Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III., from an authen- tic portrait. Can any of your readers inform me where the original is located? I have inquired at the publishers', but they can give no definite information. R. F. G.

WILLIAMSON OF COVENTRY. John William- son, previously of Annan, Dumfries, was Mayor of Coventry in 1793-5. Will some resident of Coventry, or student of heraldry, kindly say if he used a coat of arms, and, if so, furnish particulars ?

ARTHUR MAYALL.

Endon, Mossley, Lanes.

"SLIPPET." In mining operations well- sinkers, pit-sinkers, and, indeed, all excava- tors, are familiar with slippets, though not always, perhaps, by this name. A slipjwt is a sand-slide in the bore-hole or excavation, and occurs when the work is passing through strata of sand in which there is a large quantity of water. Another name is quick- sand. A slippet is a source of danger to workmen, occurring without warning. Is the word slippet in general use ?

THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Worksop.

PIGOTT. Is there any record of a Lieut, or Capt. John Pigott having been killed in any of the following engagements or assaults, viz., Plains of Sillery, Belleisle, Pondi- cherry, Langensaltza, Slangerode, Kirk-Den- kera, Graebenstein, Berkerasdorf, Homburg, Johannesburgh, Buckr-Muhl, isle of Cuba, Havannah, Martinico, Moro-Castle, from 1760 to the latter end of 1762 ? BELLEISLE.