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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. II. JULY 9, '

of Isabella Billington, of Pocklingtqn, aged thirty-two, who, it seems, was convicted in 1649 of crucifying her mother and of offering a calf and a cock as a burnt sacrifice. Her husband was hanged for participating in her crime (p. 29). Have the depositions in this case or any account of the trial been pre- served 1 The natural explanation of such an outrage in these days would be that the perpetrators of it were insane. This, how- ever, only in part accounts for what hap- pened ; moreover, two persons dp not commonly go mad on the same subject at the same time and in the same form. To me it seems to be a very late survival of the rite of human sacrifice. EDWARD PEACOCK. Dunstan House, Kirton-in-Lindsey.

HOCKTIDE CUSTOMS. The following cutting from a daily paper is of interest :

"Old-fashioned Hungerford is once more cele- brating Hocktide with all its quaint customs and ancient ceremonies. This interesting ceremony began with the annual ' macaroni supper,' and will be continued to-day, when the two managers of the rival banks, who have been elected ' tuttimen ' for the ensuing year, go round to the houses of the tenants in the town and exercise their prerogative of kissing all the ladies in each house. Hungerford is one of the last remaining unreformed boroughs of England, and still retains its ancient official nomen- clature, electing to have, in the place of mayor and corporation, a constable, a portreeve, a keeper of the coffers, an hayward, two ale-tasters, and a bell- man. The tuttimen (who are also collectors of the poll-tax) have from time immemorial called at every house in the borough, and received from each in- habitant, if he be male, a penny, and in the case of the ladies a kiss, the ceremony being announced from the balcony of the town hall by a blast from the Hungerford horn blown by the bellman. After- wards a dinner is held, at which the officers for the ensuing year are elected."

Why should there be a "macaroni supper"? This must arise from contact with a Latin nation ; or was macaroni a Saxon dish?

K. HEDGER WALLACE.

LOCHWINNOCH, IN KENFREWSHIRE. This

name is mentioned on p. 158 of that most useful book 'Scottish Land-Names,' by Sir Herbert Maxwell, but only casually, and without etymology. Should this meet the eye of the learned author I shall feel obliged if he (or any other reader) can suggest a possible derivation for it. Its oldest recorded spelling, I believe, is Lochquhinzeoch, where the nz no doubt stands for ny, as it does in Kirkgunzeon, pronounced Kirkgunnion.

JAMES PLATT, Jun.

" TIT-TAT-TO." This well-known game is described in Cassell's 'Book of Sports and Pastimes,' p. 829, among the ' Slate Games.'

In the Century Dictionary' the deriva-

tion is given from tit, tat, to, " three meaning- less words " used in counting.

However, the East Friesic name (see Kool- man's ' E. Fr. Diet.') is tik-tak-tuk, evidently a more original form. In this name the word tik has the same sense as E. tick, a mark, in allusion to the mark made by the player on the slate : while tak, tuk are variants of the same theme, made on the principle of altering the vowel, as in Germanic verbs of the third strong conjugation, such as sing, sang, sung.

Hence the name is by no means "meaning- less," but has an obvious reference to the ticks, or marks, made by the players ; and the word is threefold, instead of reduplicated, because the object of the game is to make three ticks in a row. WALTER W. SKEAT.

CAXON : CAXIN. (See ' The Howard MSS.,' 9 th S. i. 401.) The 'H. E. D.' is not within my reach ; but the ' Encyc. Diet.' says : " From the name of a celebrated maker of wigs. A wig." (Cf. Fr. gibus =hat.)

"Taking the proffered caxon He looked dis- dainfully at the wig ; it had once been a comely jasey enough, of the colour of over-baked ginger- bread, one of the description commonly known during the latter half of the last century by the name of a 'brown George.'" 'Jerry Jarvis's Wig,' ' Ingoldsby Legends.'

Where "brown George" is the "particular sort of wig," and " caxon " and "jasey " mere wigs in general. THOMAS J. JEAKES.

[The 'H. E. D.' says, "?from the personal sur- name Caxon. A kind of wig, now obsolete."]

WE 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.

" HORSE-MARINE." " On a Torse a Demy Horse-Marine" (London Gazette, 1705, No. 4162, col. 4). What may this be ? I have no con- text. The London Gazette does not seem the place to look for small jocularities such as we usually associate with this word.

ROBT. J. WHITWELL.

70, Banbury Road, Oxford.

" BALLY." This modern slang term mean- ing very, exceedingly is not noticed in the 'English Dialect Dictionary,' or any other dictionary I am acquainted with. A sugges- tion that it is a mitigated form of " bloody " does not seem very probable. Is anything known of its origin ? A. SMYTHE PALMER,

South Woodford. .