Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/72

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. JAN. 22, '98.

consternation when merely a quantity of rough notes relating to the subject and these, too, of no kind of value could be found." It may be mentioned that, in addition, he had paid " occasional visits to the Zoological

/~1 J ^, J /*^^1 Z T / 1 *7\

Gardens ' (vol. i. pp. 16, 17). T. N. "

Salterton, Devon.

BEUSHFIELD, M.D.

'"BACCY" FOR "TOBACCO." Some twenty years ago I entered a small alehouse, about two miles beyond Farleton Crag, in West- moreland, to get refreshment after a walk from Lancaster. In the course of my short stay I asked the mistress of the place for some " tobacco," pronouncing the word very distinctly. She stared, and said, "We don't sell it." I reminded her that this assertion was contradicted by a notice over the portal ; but she seemed still more puzzled perhaps she had never read, and could not read, the notice saying she did not know the article in question. Some further remark, now forgotten, in which I mentioned the word "smoke," caused her face to brighten, and she exclaimed : " Oh ! now I know what you want ; but we call it 'baccy here."

This incident is brought to my mind by the following words in a letter from ex-Protector Cromwell to his daughter Elizabeth, of date 21 Jan., 1705 (published in the English His- torical Jteview for January, p. 122): "Adam Bodden, Bacconist in George Yard, Lumber [Lombard] Street."* It may be conjectured that "tobacco" underwent decapitation as early as its derivative, but the * H. E. D.' con- tains no example of " 'baccy " or " 'bacco " anterior in date to 1833. There is, however, an earlier occurrence of '"bacco-box" how much earlier I cannot decide in the famous song 'Wapping Old Stairs'; and in Ander- son's Cumberland ballad, 'The Twee Auld Men,' " 'bacco " is as old as 1804.

F. ADAMS.

LAST LETTER OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. In the Seventh Series of *N. & Q.' much interesting information was imparted con- cerning the last moments of this unfortunate queen at Fotheringay Castle, 8 Feb., 1586/7, and of the dress worn by her on that occasion, which Mr. Froude thinks, in his * History of England,' to have "been carefully studied, and the pictorial effect to have been appal- ling." His description is as follows :

"The black robe was next removed. Below it was a petticoat of crimson velvet. The black jacket followed, and under the jacket was a body of crimson satin. One of her ladies handed her a

described as "A. J. Bod[den's] best Virginnea."
 * In 1689 he sent a friend a " Boxe of Tobacco,"

pair of crimson sleeves, with which she hastily covered her arms, and then she stood on the black scaffold with the black figures all round her blood- red from head to foot. Her reasons for adopting so extraordinary a costume must be left to conjecture." -Vol. iii.

The following cutting from the Standard of 31 Dec., 1897, reproduces a letter of the greatest interest, the last that Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote in her lifetime, on the morn- ing of her execution, which was recently in the collection of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Carlton House Terrace :

" The greatest single treasure, for which 4001. was paid, is the letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots, to Henry III. of France, on the morning of her execution, February 8, 1587. Following is the text:

"'Monsieur my brother-in-law, Being by the permission of God, for my sins, as I believe, come to cast myself into the arms of this Queen, my cousin, where I have had much weariness and passed nearly twenty years, I am at length by her and her Council condemned to death; and having asked for my papers, which they have taken away, in order to make my will, I have not been able to recover anything of use to me, nor to obtain leave that after my death my body might be transported according to my desire into your Kingdom, where I had the honour to be Queen, your Sister, and former ally. To-day after dinner it was announced to me that my sentence will be executed to-morrow, as a criminal at eight in the morning. I have not had leisure to send you a full discourse of all that has passed, but may it please you to believe my physician and these others my disconsolate ser- vants, you will hear the truth. Thanks unto God, I despise death, and faithfully protest to arrive at it innocent of all crime. As truly as I hold the Catholick religion, and the maintenance of the right that God has given me to this ground, these are the two points of my condemnation; they never will permit me to say that it is for the Catholic religion that I die, but for the fear of changing their own, and as a proof they have taken away my almoner, who, although he is in the House, I have not been able to obtain that he may come to confess me, neither to compose me in order to administer the Communion at my death. But they urge me to receive the consolation and doctrine of their minister brought for this object. The bearer of this and his company, most of whom are your subjects, will testify to you of my behaviour in this my last act. It remains for me to beseech you, as a very Christian king, my brother-in-law, and ancient ally, who has always protested to love me, that at this blow you will give proof in all these points of your virtue, solacing me that for the discharge and ease of my conscience you will recompence my discon- solate servants, giving them their wages; and the other point is that you will cause prayers to be offered to God for a Queen who has been called most Christian, and dies a Catholic stript of all her goods. As to my son, I commend him to you as much as he will deserve, but for that I cannot answer. I have been so bold as to send you two rare stones, desiring for you perfect health, with a happy and long life. You will receive them as from your very affectionate sister-in-law, who, in dying,

F'ves you testimony of her good will towards you. again commend to you my servants. You will