Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/392

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. X. Nov. 15, 1902.

wanting. I shall be much obliged by any suggestion on the foregoing points of diffi- culty. W. D. PINK. Lowton, Newton-le- Willows.

and in conversation, "qui e il busillis" " here 's the rub."

It is said to be derived from the following curious circumstance. A young candidate for the priesthood, being under his examina-

KEJECTION OF THE FITTEST. I have been I ^on for holy orders, was required among amused by the following extract from Mr. other tests to read an old Latin manuscript W. D. Macray's 'Annals of the Bodleian F <*, after the manner of these exhilarat- Library, Oxford,' and should like others to ln % documents, there were no stops, the

share the pleasure. We are indebted to the Periodical for October, pp. 14, 15 :

"In 1818 a return was made to the House of Commons of such books received since 1814, in pur- suance of the Copyright Act, from Stationers' Hall,

words composing it being -joined together and run into one another in a highly aggravating way. In this cheerful paper there occurred the words "in diebus illis"; but unfortunately for our candidate the first half of the word

Parents' Assistant,' Mrs. H. More's

as it had not been deemed necessary to place in the " diebus" formed the end of a line, thus, L ^ r l ry -, T t ie ^ i? but J a triflin 8 one. consisting "i n die," and the following line commenced chiefly of school-books and anonymous novels, with with the remaining syllable of that word

great C need of cSion fn^ejec^ng a^bools eMep??, a 1 refu 1 1 1 1 /, run A *" fco the succeeding word, thus,' ing such as are of the simplest elementary character, busilhs. All went smoothly enough with and the advantage of erring rather on the side of our young friend till he came to this formid- inclusiveness than exclusvveness. Miss_ Edge worth's | able point. He translated " in die " fairly

this instance wrongly, day; but of "busillis " make neither head nor tail, and he

much more detailed than that Irom Oxford, includ- I finally threw up the sponge, exclaiming in ing, for example, ' Turner's Real Japan Blacking, a his despair, " Quel 4 busillis ' e un punto assai

Label ) shows a recklessness of rejection which oscuro e difficile" "This ' busillis ' is a most

speaks little for the judgment of the Librarians for o h<, onr p and diffirnH- noint "

the time being. Besides school-books and music, a

large number of pamphlets figure in the list, in- Well, if not true, it is pretty well found.

eluding some by Chalmers and Cobbett; the theology Anyhow, the word is now well rooted and

includes Owen's 'History of the Bible Society '; the vigorously established in the national speech.

history includes ' Memoirs of Oliver Cromwell and '

his Children'; the poetry, Byron's ' Siege of Corinth,'

L. Hunt's 'Story of Rimini,' and Wordsworth's

'Thanksgiving Ode'; and the novels, Peacock's

' Headlong Hall,' one by Mrs. Opie, and ' The

Antiquary '! The wiser plan is now carried out in

Bath.

PATRICK MAXWELL.

the Bodleian of rejecting nothing."

ST. SWITHIN.

"BUSILLIS." Readers of Italian a diminished number in these days, I fear

FIRST VISCOUNT MOUNTJOY. It is stated in the 'D.N.B.' that Sir William Stewart, first Viscount Mountjoy, "was dangerously wounded at the capture of Buda by the Imperialists on 2 September, 1686." This is not correct. The Hungarian capital was

must have met the curious word "busillis "? a P tu red on tnat date, but Viscount Mount-

1 joy was wounded twice on two earlier dates :

sometimes, but erroneously, spelt "busilis,

its signification, but still more so "of ^ its I on 3 Au gust, when he was " wounded in

genesis, which latter is distinctly interesting ^ ne face with a muskett shott." Our authority

The word occurs in the thirteenth chapter is the ' Journal of the Siege and Takinf

of the ' Promessi Sposi,' where the Grand of Bu da,' by an eye-witness, " Mr. Jacot

Chancellor Antonio Ferrer rescues the Vicario Ri na fds, one of his Ma tis Engineers." Cf.

di Provvisione from the howling mob of Milan Harleian MS. 4989, and another version among

in the famous episode of the bread riots! the Stowe MSS. When Antonio bids the trembling vicario to I Among the Harleian MSS. there is another

esta el busillis; Dios nos valga " " Here 's the does not disclose his identity, but merely

critical point, or the point of danger; may mentions the facts that on 26 June "an

God help us." The expression often occurs English volunteer had a hurt on the head

also in modern Italian, in the newspapers from a stone raised by a canonshott," and on