Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/336

 328

NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. x. OCT. 25, 1902.

Robert Lindon, M.D., had it, when it was lost sight of on her decease. Can any one say who is the present possessor 1

C. T. BAKER.

" CARANT " OR " CORANT." I have recently heard this word used in a Midland county as a noun-substantive, indicating a tumult, uproar, or occasion of excitement, the accent being laid on the second syllable in pronouncing. Can it be connected with any of the meanings given in the 'H.E.D.' under the word 'Coranto'? Though myself Mid- land by birth, the word "carant" was new to me. W. B. H.

ANSELM, ABBOT OF ST. EDMUND'S. Who was he 1 and when did he live 1

GEORGE C. PEACHEY.

WILLIAM HEWITT, SURGEON AND AUTHOR. Amongst a number of autographs which have recently come into my possession is one from William Hewitt, of Stalham, Norfolk. To this is attached a prospectus of a book on 'The- Encroachments of the German Ocean along the Norfolk Coast,' to which is added a long list of patrons. Can any reader of ' N. & Q.' tell me anything of the author or his book ? The patrons include Dean Buck- land, Adam Sedgwick, Sir Charles Lyell, and other eminent men of science.

CHARLES HIATT.

BROWNING AND RUSKIN. Had these two men of genius any expressed opinions of each other's personality and work 1 ? If so, where may they be found ? L. K.

OLD PEWTER - MARKS. What is the best book on old pewter-marks 1

MABEL F. GOOD. 12, The Walk, Cardiff.

[See specially 9 th S. iv. 526 ; see also 9 th S. iv. 458 ; v. 114, and General Index to 8 th S.]

IRISH SAYING ON MICHAELMAS DAY. What is the explanation of the saying, common in the north of Ireland, that "on Michaelmas Day the devil puts his foot on the black- berries"? CHARLES HIATT.

GERMAN ARMOUR. Can any one who is interested in the history of armour in Ger- many inform me if Lorenz Plattner, who made armour for Maximilian, was a native or resident of Augsburg 1 Was he, by any chance, identical with Lorenz Kolman, of Augsburg, the celebrated armourer, who died there in 1516 ? G. S. DAVIES.

LALLY TOLLENDAL : FRENCH EMIGRES. A tombstone in Kensal Green Cemetery marks the resting-place of a Mr. Thomas

Watkins, son of Amelie Hardcastle, nee Comtesse du Lally. Can any reader inform me if this Amelie was the daughter of Tro- phime Gerard de Lally Tollendal, and grand- daughter of Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally Tollendal, who took part in the battles of Fontenoy and Falkirk, was defeated by Cliye at Pondicherry, and was executed in Paris in 1766?

Any information as to Sir Gerard Lally, who 'served under General Dillon in the Irish Regiment, and who is stated to have been descended from the Lallys or Mulallys of Ireland, would be of interest.

Is anything easily accessible which will give the marriages of the French e'migre's in England 1 TEINTURIER.

Kimberley.

" BONNET - LAIRD " AND " COOK - LAIRD." These two synonymous terms are still used by old-fashioned folk in Scotland to denote one who cultivates his own land, but, except for the circumstance of proprietorship, be- longs more to the peasantry than to the gentry. Dr. Jamieson, in his ' Dictionary of the Scottish Language,' confirms this appli- cation, but does not explain the use of "bonnet" and "cock" in such a connexion. Will some one who knows (apart from guess- ing) supply this omission] W. T.

[The 'HE.D.' says of bonnet-laird, "wearing a bonnet like the humbler classes ''; and of cockJaird, " humorous."]

IANTHE. Who was the lady, indicated only by her Christian name of Janthe (in English written lanthe), alluded to by Edmond About in his amusing account of his travels in Greece, styled by him 'La Grece Contem- poraine ' 1 The lady is described as the wife of Lord E., the governor of a colony larger than Great Britain (query, India), and the friend of Mme. Sophie de Barbe-Marbois, duchesse de plaisance. It is further related of her, "Elle a pris et perdu successivement le nom de Lady E., de Baronne F. et de Comtesse T., et quoique le comte T., le baron F. et lord E. soient vivants [this was in 1852] tous les trois, Janthe aujourd'hui s'appelle Janthe, et rien de plus."

JOHN HEBB.

"BEER": " BUR. "Why might not the word beer or beare, common in Devonshire place-names (e.g., Ladybeer, Beer, Collybeer, Langbeer, Beerhill, Coursebeer, Southbeer, Begbeer, Bowbear, within a radius of two or three miles), be traced back to the A.-S. biir, which I see in Hall's dictionary meant not only bower, apartment, inner room, &c., but also cottage, dwelling ; or even to the