Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 11.djvu/192

 184

NOTES AND QUERIES.

s. XL MARCH 7, igos.

a few years ago, of No. 70, upon which the Post Office is now built. These convivial assemblages, originally one of those schools of oratory like the "Robin Hood" (q.v.), became the means of drawing a number ot other persons to the place of meeting at Stroud Green, the scene by degrees assuming most of the features of a country fair. But the practice had long been discontinued when, in 1835, Cromwell published his 'Walks through London.'

A "Queen's Arms" in St. Paul's Church- yard also had its club, which was frequented by Dr. Johnson, Garrick, and a few elect citizens (' Hist, of Signboards ').

J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL. (To be continued.)

'H.E.D.' the slang use of "cap "as derived from the expression " to send round the cap (or hat) for an improvised collection" is given, and the word is said to be obsolete. Two quotations are added : one for " cap " of 1851 from 'Eureka; Sequel Lord Russell's Post Bag,' " What amount of Cap is realized out of an average field ? " and the other for the equivalent "cap-money" from Halliwell (1847-78), "money gathered for the huntsman at the death of the fox." The supposedly obsolete word, however, was used in the following announcement, which appeared in the London newspapers on February 10 :
 * CAP " IN THE HUNTING - FIELD. In

" The Warwickshire Hunt, in consequence of the enormous fields which attend certain of their meets, have come to the following decision : ' A cap of 21. per day will be demanded of all ladies and gentlemen hunting with the Warwickshire Hounds, the following alone excepted : (1) subscribers to the Hounds of not less than 1QL ; (2) landowners and owners of coverts within the limits of the Hunt, or within five miles thereof ; (3) occupiers of farms within the same limits as the above.'"

A. F. R.

VOLTAIRE : THOMAS ORDE. My memoir of Thomas Orde, first Lord Bolton, in the ' Diet, of Nat. Biog.,' contained the statement, quoted from 2 nd S. vii. 323, that he " drew a pen-and-ink sketch of Voltaire." I am now able to state that this sketch was given to fhe world as by Orde in an anonymous work, Observations in a Journey to Paris by way of Flanders in the Month of August, 1776,'

iiu 77 V? Vols- ' written b y Jones of Nay land. 1 he likeness is excellent and the figure 'is full of life. It was made at Ferney in 1772 (vol. n. p. 191),

"when Mr. .Voltaire, having Mr. Le Cain and

ame Uairon with him, wished to have one of

3 fii W !l plec ^ 8 re P resented > and got some strollers

to fill the under parts ; but at the rehearsal, being

put out of patience at the performance of one of them, he dashed the book on the floor, started up, and threw himself into the attitude expressed in the annexed etching, to shew the fellow what acting was."

The etching, " T. O. ft. 1772," is subscribed, " Le heros de Ferney au theatre de Chate- laine." Underneath are printed the lines : Ne pretens pas a trop, tu ne sgaurais qu'ecrire Tes Vers forcent mes pleurs, mais tes gestes me font rire. Anon.

W. P. COURTNEY.

Reform Club.

4 ' INDIGO" IN DANTE. The prevalence in the Mediterranean of the Arabic synonym for indigo, anil, favours to a certain extent the view of some commentators that the word Indico in Dante ('II Purgatorio,' vii. 74) is adjectival, with the meaning of Indian only, and does not refer to the dye. On the other hand, though the Italian indaco is only regis- tered as late as 1390 (see ' N.E.D.'), it would be strange if Dante were unacquainted with Pliny's use of the term in question. More- over, it must be confessed that the sense of the passage is benefited by rendering Oro ed argento fine, e cocco e biacca,

Indico legno lucido e sereno, Fresco smeraldo in 1' ora che si fiacca, &c.,

" gold and silver fine, kermes and white lead, indigo, shiny bright-coloured wood, freshly chipped emerald,'" &c. We then, as Scar- tazzini says, have " tutti i colori di campo fiorito," to wit, yellow, white, scarlet, blue, brown, and green.

This being the case, it is noticeable that the articles mentioned are, roughly speaking, all manufactured or industrial. Hence the commentator's proposed gloss to the re- mainder of 1. 74, " la quercia f racida rilucente di notte" (which I take to mean " rotten oak shining at night"), is, to say the least, hyper- bolical. A reminiscence of Pliny would easily enough explain Dante's use of sereno, for the naturalist used serenus to indicate a bright, clear tint ; and lucido is perfectly applicable to polished wood. J. DORMER.

A MISTRESS OF CHARLES I. (See 9 th S. x. 451.) Your correspondent Z. is scarcely justified in suggesting (without offering the least semblance of a proof) that Charles 1. led an immoral life at Madrid. In view of the purpose of his visit to Spain, there would have been something exceptionally shameless in such conduct. I believe that no reputable writer, unless it be one who, like Milton, was blinded by sectarian or party feeling, has ever cast doubt upon the purity of Charles's life. Prof. Gardiner, the most trustworthy authority that could be quoted for the Stuart