Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/375

 9 th S. II. Nov. 5, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

367

W. E. Henley and T. F. Henderson. Edin- burgh, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1897." In the " Concordance to Burns. By J. B. Reid, M. A. Glasgow, Kerr & Richardson, 1889," the quotation is given under Katy-ie, as from song " Will ye go and marry ?" with a t after it, which, on turning to the "Explanations and Abbreviations " at the beginning of the book, we find " indicates that the words which stand before it are a first line, or part of a first line." Can any of your readers help me in this matter? Job never knew what an insufficient index was.

J. B. MONTGOMERIE-FLEMING. Kelvinside House, Glasgow.

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.

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN. Many years ago I received from an antiquary, a man of pro- found learning, an anecdote that Sir Chris- topher Wren in his repairs of Westminster Abbey, for the purpose of restoring some wall or pillar to the perpendicular, adopted an expedient of the following nature.

Firstly an iron hook was firmly fixed, pro- jecting from the masonry in question. Then he brought up to the said hook a long and strong horizontal iron bar, with a loop at the end adjoining the hook, but not quite reach- ing it, the other end of the bar being an immovable fixture. Then he placed lighted lamps underneath the bar, thus extending its length until it could be attached to the hook. Then the lamps were removed, and the bar in cooling pulled the mass in the required direction.

It is obvious that the action would be extremely steady arid be capable of minute adjustment. There is no mention of this in the short account left by Sir Christopher Wren of his works ; nor does there seem to be any tradition at the Abbey itself. The quarter, however, from which I received it gives me implicit faith that there is some mention of it somewhere it may be in what may be called stray literature : and it would be an interesting item to add to Sir Chris- topher's many clever contrivances, should any of your readers happen to have met with it.

F.R.LB.A.

" FEFNICUTE." There are some interesting notes about this Lancashire word in the Manchester City News, 1 October. Au old

inhabitant of Oldham, on being asked its meaning, replied, "It's tellin a foine tale to get howd o' summut." It is also used as a substantive to designate a person (generally a child) who uses flattering phrases to gain some end. The.word is said to have originated in the Rochdale district. John Bright was much interested in the term. Can any Lancashire man give its etymology ?

A. L. MAYHEW. Oxford.

ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY THESES, 1626-1701. In the catalogue of David Laing's books sold by Sotheby on 5 April, 1880 (part ii. No. 222), appears a group of theses of Uni- versity and King's College, Aberdeen, includ- ing those for the years 1626, 1627, 1634, 1635, 1636, 1638, 1643, 1680, 1688. As no other copies of these are known to exist, I should be glad to discover their present whereabouts. The auctioneer's records do not supply information enabling one to trace the pur- chaser. In Constable's ' Catalogue of a Col- lection of Tracts,' 1827, p. 181, the King's College theses for 1691 and 1693 are included ; and our own MS. records refer to those for 1683, 1684, 1694, 1697, 1700, and 1701. I have seen none of these. P. J. ANDERSON.

University Library, Aberdeen.

BLACK IMAGES OF THE MADONNA. Any references to black images of the Madonna will be welcome. WILLIAM CROOKE.

[At the Church of the Atocha, at Madrid, there is a celebrated black image of the Madonna.]

LENDING MONEY BY MEASURE IN DEVON- SHIRE. In ' Lays and Legends of the West,' published in 1846, the author (Mr. Frank Curson) states :

" Many anecdotes are still current of the man- ner in which money was not many years since freely lent, not by coins carefully counted and grudgingly transferred, but by measures of money in dishes capable of holding a considerable sum, the party returning the loan being wholly trusted as to the exactitude of his repayment. Of one of these dishes, of which many are in existence, I have preserved a sketch, that we may not wholly lose sight of a cir- umstance so honourable to human nature."

No sketch is given in this book. I should judge from it that the Avriter was a native of Devonshire. If any readers of ' N. & Q.' can give further information on this interesting subject, or say where one of the dishes may be seen, I shall be very greatly obliged.

A. J. DAVY. Torquay.

SIR EDMONDBURY GODFREY. I understand certain memorial daggers were prepared by the supporters of this person as mementoes