Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/85

 9 th S. II. JULY 23, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

77

(which differs widely in its constitution from any one of the English public schools), in the Pall Mall Gazette of July, 1894 ? It is illustrated with views of many parts of the college, of the high altar in the church, and of the prayer-book of Mary, Queen of Scots, used by her on the scaffold. There are also portraits of "Stonyhurst boys" who have become celebrated ; for instance, Dr. Conan Doyle, Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, Mr. Richard Lalor Sheil, and Sir Roger Tichborne, Bart. With regard to the question of cricket, the following appears on pp. 442, 443 :

"Stonyhurst cricket was the only form of the national game known at the college. It was a single- wicket game the wicket being a single stone, in size and shape like an ordinary milestone and with a very long pitch. The bats were in length like rounder bats, but were stronger in every way, and heavier and broader in the blade. The balls were not quite round, and were bowled disc- wise in swift sneaks. The batsman's innings was limited to twenty-one balls that is to say, if he were not bowled or caught out before he had received so many. The only stroke allowed was a slogging drive, so the chief requisites in the batsman were accuracy of eye, quickness, and strength."

HENRY GERALD HOPE. Clapham, S.W.

" BURIED FOR TRUTH " (9 th S. i. 487). Can this be " to ascertain the right of burial " or "to verify the claim"? In 1764, in Christ Church, Newgate Street, London, " the bodies of Robert Munden and Anne Horsley were buried in the passage on the north side of Christ Church to ascertain the right of burying in that ground to the parishioners."

This was in pursuance of an order from the Court of King's Bench (Burn's 'Hist, of Parish Registers,' Lond., 1862).

ED. MARSHALL, F.S.A.

I think the above intimates that the two men mentioned in the query suffered perse- cution on account of religious opinions. The following will explain :

" 1624, buryed ye weedow of James Joiles whitch lay beethred seven yeeres, which in Queen Marie's dayes fled with her father and mother beyond sea, for fear of the persecution that was then for the truth." Burn's ' Parish Registers,' 1862, p. 134.

JOHN RADCLIFFE.

SHORT A v. ITALIAN A (9 th S. i. 127, 214, 258, 430). I venture to suggest that none of your correspondents on this subject has taken into consideration local causes and consequent uses. The pronunciation of the a in the south, east, centre, and west of England is as a rule ah; but as soon as you get into Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lanca- shire, and further north, the pronunciation of the vowel is as a rule short (as in the

word as). Every one of the words quoted from Mr. Richard Grant White, p. 430, would be pronounced in the south with a long a, and every one of them would be pro- nounced in the north with a short a. North- Countrymen in London can generally be re- cognized by this peculiarity, though some- times they lose it. As you get further north, well above the lowlands of Scotland, the a becomes long again. It seems to me that it is not a question of right or wrong, or even of elegance or inelegance, but one merely of surrounding influence. The lower portions of England were more largely influenced by the Norman-French pronunciation than the higher portions. In the north the Saxon and Scandinavian flat sound of the a remained unaffected by the continental use. Further north there was a strong French influence for a lengthened period, the effect of which is seen in the lengthened a, and in the im- migration and pronunciation of such words as caraffe. I think this is the only secret of the double pronunciation Rafe and Raffe ; as soon as the I sound was rejected under the popular law of taking the least possible trouble in speaking, the pronunciation be- came one or the other according to locality. In some of the earliest church registers I have examined the name has no I ; the name is spelt Raff and Raffe.

FRANK PENNY, LL.M., Senior Chaplain. Fort St. George.

" CAMPUS " (9 th S. i. 384). Probably Agas's map of Oxford (1578) is unknown to your correspondent who claims America as the birthplace of campus, "meaning college grounds." The recreation ground of this University in Agas's time is distinctly specified on his map as Campus Feldes.

JOHN GILBERT.

STOLEN RELICS RESTORED (8 th S. vii. 165, 296; yiii. 17, 77). An instance of the re- storation of a stolen relic was recorded in the Evening News, 8 June. I append the cutting :

"An extraordinary incident has, says Truth, occurred at Durham in connexion with the Chapter Library. More than fifty years ago a splendid and very valuable copy of the Sarum Missal of 1514, which had been printed in Paris, was mysteriously stolen from a locked case in Bishop Cosin's library. Great efforts were made by the Dean and Chapter to trace the volume, but they proved fruitless. The other day a parcel arrived by post at the Chapter Library, which, on being opened, was found to con- tain the long-lost treasure, including the book-plate. The volume was returned in perfect condition, but by whom or whence it was sent back remains a mystery, which is not at all likely to be solved."

C. P. HALE.