Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/223

 9* s. in. MAR. is, m] NOTES AND QUERIES.

217

i stance, the anonymous play of 'Every A r oman in her Humour,' published 1609, but j -obably acted in 1602, has (V. i.): "I pray ye what shewe will be heere to-night?

I have seen the Babones already, the Cittie of new IS inevie, and Julius Caesar, acted by the Maramets."

C ompare Dekker, ' The Wonderfull Yeare,' 1<:03:

" Held his nose hard betweene his fore-finger and h s thumbe, and speaking in that wise (like the ft How that described the villainous motion of lulius C esar and the Duke of Guise, who (as he gave it out) fought a combat together)";

and T. M[offat], 'Father Hubbard's Tales,' KJ04 :

" Thus passing from place to place like the motion of Julius Caesar or the city Nineveh."

The name of the show was obviously bor- rowed from the play, and therefore indicates that it was popular. For that slight hint, and a further clue to the date, we ought to be grateful to the " villainous motion."

PERCY SIMPSON.

THREE SISTERS MARRIED AT ONCE (9 th S. ii. 246, 453). I do not think that instances of wholesale family marriages are particularly rare. A few weeks before the appearance of the query I saw a newspaper notice of three sisters having married three brothers at the same time. I now send you a slip from the Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, Daily Sentinel of 8 Feb., telling how four sisters joined hands with four brothers in one extended ceremony. Perhaps some of the other marriage items in the clipping may interest your readers :

I "The announcement is made of four brothers

i marrying four sisters in Ohio. The girls are


 * daughters of a prosperous farmer; the young

men, sons of another, energetic, of good habits,

'and some means. It is stated that the ceremony

joccupied almost an hour, the same clergyman

jperforming all. We had occasion to unite in

Imarriage, on the same evening, two children of the


 * late General Hoitt, of New Hampshire, and took

jcounsel whether they could not be married in one

eremony. The response was that the essential

lements in legal marriage are the declaration of a

iesire and an intelligent response to the questions

overing the contract, before a person authorized

o perform the marriage, and that he shall approve

,nd shall declare them husband and wife, that all

he rest is surplusage, and may be diminished or

nlarged to any extent or wholly omitted, without

nipairing the legality of the ceremony. Therefore

we read the liturgy of the church, the two contract-

ng couples responding separately, and the ceremony

vas less than four minutes longer for the two than

t would have been for the one. It would appear

rom this account that the minister went through

he whole ceremony for each of the four couples

eparately. We know of a marriage performed

.nder circumstances justifying great haste, in which

II that was said was this : 'Do you wish to be named?' 'Yes.' Will you be faithful in the

relations ? ' ' Yes.' ' Is there any legal reason why you should not be married ? ' ' No.' ' You are married. 5 "Christian Advocate.

DOLLAR.

BOOK TERMS (8 th S. ix. 341 ; x. 400 ; 9 th S. ii. 322, 521 ; iii. 53, 172). If bibliography is to be of any value as an aid to literary know- ledge, the question of definitions must be placed on a sure footing. I do not think that the objections to ananym are disposed of by MR. THOMAS'S remarks. Words like natation, notation, nutation, differ in essentid. If a misprint occurs in one of them, the reader cannot possibly be misled. But two words ejusdem generis, like ananym and anonym, would be standing puzzles to the compositor, and it might be difficult for the reader to detect a misprint. The purpose of the biblio- grapher would thereby be defeated.

With regard to such signatures as "A Hertfordshire Incumbent," MR. THOMAS seems a little inconsistent. At 9 th S. ii. 521 he apparently regards pseudonyms as equi- valent to "fictitious names." Literally, they are false names. But, ex hypothesi, "A Hertfordshire Incumbent " is a true descrip- tion of the writer. MR. THOMAS goes on to say that a book is not considered pseudo- nymous unless it is "hoplessly deficient of all personal identification of authorship." But such a signature as "A Hertfordshire Incumbent" at once gives a clue to the authorship of the letter. I have no doubt every other Hertfordshire incumbent was able to make a very good guess at the writer. Authors who adopt a transparent veil of this kind hardly wish their identity to be entirely concealed. It is a parallel case to the use of initials.

A scientific bibliographer would therefore like a succinct term which would embrace such cases. A word like geo-demonym has a truly awful look, which would prevent its obtaining general currency. Perhaps homoso- nym would do, if we are compelled to use a fresh coinage. But, personally, I should much prefer a simple English word, if it is to be found. W. F. PRIDEAUX.

45, Pall Mall, S.W.

MR. RALPH THOMAS misapprehends my objection to the word ananym. I did not object, as he implies, "because only one letter differs " in it from the word anonym, but because the difference is insufficient, both in spelling and in sound, to distinguish the one word from the other. Besides, ananym is incorrectly formed. The two Greek words from which it is supposed to be compounded would correctly form the word anonym, and only anonym, and nothing but anonym. The