Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/87

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

NOTES AND QUERIES.

79

and definite signification. From statistics with which we are supplied we learn that the 'Dic- tionary ' up to the end of F has supplied a grand total of 103,198 words, which, when the limits of any individual vocabulary are taken into account, strike one with something approaching to bewilder- ment, seeing that though many of the words are subordinate, or consist of special combinations there are no fewer than 75,593, or seventy-five per cent, of main words. In the section now supplied the words are almost all native English, mostly, as is said, " well-known words of old standing and of high importance in the language." There are a few words from hebdomad onward from the Greek, but from haiv to the end of hea barely two from the Latin. Head and heart are specially worthy of notice. The former, which, with its compounds, occupies 35 columns, has 74 subdivisions of sense, against 40 applications and a space of 26 columns in the case of the latter. Heat and heaven are also words of highest importance, special atten- tion being called to the chronological illustrations of radiant, latent, specific, and atomic heat. Under haviour we should like to have seen one or two of the instances of use in Shakspeare from 'Romeo and Juliet,' ' Hamlet,' or other plays. Haivker is as old as 1510, a curiously polyglot quotation being given under that date: "Pro correctione habenda de les Hawkers." When first used in Parliament the expression " Hear, hear!" or " Hear him!" had an uncomplimentary and discomforting significance. The question constantly debated of the origin of "Heart of grace" is left unsettled, and we shall still, we expect, find fresh inquiries whether it is "Heart of grace" or "Hart of grease." Luckily, we shall now be able to refer inquirers to the ' Dic- tionary.' Hecate is said to be used as a dissyllable except in one passage in Shakspeare and one in Milton.

Index to Collinson's History of Somerset. By the Rev. F. W. Weaver, M.A., and the Rev. E. H. Bates, M.A. (Taunton, Barnicott & Pearse.) To Somersetshire antiquaries, and to all interested in local antiquities, this index to ' The History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset ' by the Rev. John Collinson will come as a boon. The original work, compiled by Collinson from collections made by Edmund Rack, and published in three volumes by subscription in 1791, when the author was still very young, has had to stand the ordeal of un- favourable criticism. It is still, however, in demand, and copies not too much spoilt as are frequently the first and second volumes are sold by auction for from six to seven pounds. Its utility will be greatly augmented by the appearance of this admir- able index, executed under the supervision of Mr. Weaver at one time, but, alas! not recently, a frequent contributor to our columns and Mr. Bates. How thorough is the workmanship may be seen by any one who will turn to entries such as 'Bath, 'Wells,' ' Bridgwater,' 'Gorges Family,' &c. A mere index to the plates and their position in the volumes is in itself an advantage, since these are sometimes wanting, and not seldom incomplete. A special feature in the volume consists of the ' Index of Armorial Bearings,' supplied by Col. Bramble, F.S.A. This very valuable appendix is in two parts, the former consisting of an alphabet of arms, and the latter of an ordinary of arms. The compilation of this has been a task of much difficulty. Heraldry was not Collinson's

strongest point, and the accuracy of his observa- tions is not always to be guaranteed. Other diffi- culties that have beset Col. Bramble are indicated by him. Tinctures are not always giv,en, or have faded and been restored in the wrong colours. In stained glass, even, discoloration is readily respon- sible for confusion. Locality, meanwhile, is not a safe guide, particularly in the impaled coats. " The enormous number of wealthy strangers in Bath necessarily introduced many coats other- wise foreign to the district." How much an index will do for the history of Somerset all know who, educated in the faith by 'N. & Q.,' hold that the absence of an index is in many cases a crime as well as a blunder. The work, the edition of which is limited, is M r ell printed at the Athena3um Press, Taunton, for Messrs. Barnicott & Pearse, to whom are owing many interesting and valuable works on Somersetshire antiquities.

An Account of the Church and Parish of Cawston, in the County of Norfolk. By Walter Rye. Part I. (Norwich, Goose.)

NORFOLK has had many eminent antiquaries, but it is pretty certain that there has never been any one in former days who has acquired so intimate a knowledge of the county in times past as that possessed by Mr. Rye. Now that the science of archaeology has become so much specialized it is very uncommon to find any one who is much more than a departmental man. We have known those learned in mediaeval architecture who were as ignorant of heraldry as babies, and have encountered students of the art of blazon whose devotion to " the queen of the sciences" as they fondly called it was so exclusive as to render them not only ignorant, but absolutely contemptuous, when any one tried to extract from them information as to dialect, land tenures, or manorial customs. This cutting up knowledge into small pieces, like the parts of a dissected map, may have its uses, but it has serious drawbacks also, for it should never be forgotten that there is a point of view from which everything relating to man becomes a unity. Sec- tional work has, we concede, its advantages; but, for our own part, we confess that we prefer those whose vision of the past extends all round, and this, to us, important qualification we find dis- played, almost to perfection, in the book before us. 1 he church of Cawston is not among the noblest in the county, but it is highly interesting and, in its simple way, beautiful. The screen is, so far as we can judge from the engraving, very fine, and has been but little injured, though, as a matter of course, its crowning ornament, the rood, with its attendant figures, and the gallery which contained them, have been swept away. The hammer-beam roof of the nave also must be a striking specimen of carpenter's work, ornamented as it is at intervals with large figures of angels with outstretched wings. The roof of the north transept chapel is stencilled in banded diaper work, which must be very effective. We trust that a time will never come when some meddling person with a passion for restoration will try to make it look new. Its general character might well be reproduced in modern work. A great treasure preserved in the church is a leathern chalice-box, if that, indeed, be its proper name, for there is some doubt as to what, it may have originally been intended to contain. On the lid is a griffin, and around it the inscription "Jhesus Nazarenus rex Judeorum." The body of this inter-