Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/242

 236

NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. m. MAR. 25, m

The motto was 'Von Guetten in Besser ' ' From good to better,' 'Di bene in meglio.' Francesco was Governor of the Church during his father's pon- tificate, and this device meant to indicate the joy and gladness that prevailed, and to foretell a continuance of prosperity to the houses of Cybo and Medici."

JOHN RADCLIFFE.

Barrels containing pitch or some other inflammable material were formerly much used in times of public rejoicing. A flaming cask thus became a symbol indicating ioy and gladness, and in this sense was used as a device by Francesco Cibo, Count of An- guillara (c. 1519), with the motto "Von Guetten in Besser " " From good to better," to convey the idea of the prosperity occasioned by the union of the houses of Cibo and Medici through the marriage of his father and mother. LEO CULLETON.

THE CONSONANTAL COMBINATION " ST " (9 th S. ii. 424, 515 ; iii. 133). It is difficult to meet with amidst, amongst, betwixt, whilst, in rhyme at the end of a verse. It is not likely that they should be so placed ; but, when they are there, they prove incontestably that they were so written by the poet, and that they could not be an alteration by an editor or a printer. I have found only one instance, and that I took from John son's 'Dictionary': If contradicting interests could be mixt, Nature herself has cast a bar betwixt.

Dry den.

Chaucer in his 'Knight's Tale' has this

couplet :

The cercles of his eyen in his hed, They gloweden betwixen yelwe and red.

And Dryden has translated the lines thus :

The balls of his broad eyes rolled in his head, And glared betwixt a yellow and a red.

Both Dryden and Addison use the words which MR. ADAMS condemns. Even Pope has the line :

And 'twixt the stars inscribe Belinda's name. I find the word amidst five times in Gold smith's 'Deserted Village' A few writers avoid such words; but their authority weigh? little against that of the many great writers who have used them. I remember that John Gibson Lockhart took Sir Walter Scott to task for using them. So apparently some of the critics have condemned them.

E. YARDLEY.

" HANDS WITHOUT HAIR " (9 th S. i. 328 ii. 35 ; iii. 152). PALAMEDES'S query was, ] believe, as to whether the above is a common idiom among the Welsh. I find I erred in saying it is not. A Welshman who has livec all his life in this, the most Welsh-speaking

Dart of Wales, tells me that the expression 'dwylaw heb flew arnynt" ("hands without lair on them ") is frequently used to denote i person who is honest and upright in his dealings. But a thief or deceiver is said to lave "hair on his hands." I gave Gen. xxvii. as containing the possible origin of the diom, not the exact words themselves, their 'literary source" being presumably Daniel Owen. All the Welsh people I have con- sulted agree in supposing the words to refer to the story of Jacob and Esau. The former was certainly by nature a " smooth " man in more senses than one, but when he stole bis brother's blessing there was " hair on his hands." And it is hair of that kind, false bair, which, metaphorically, covers the hands of the thief. JEANNIE S. POPHAM.

Llanrwst, North Wales.

KIPLING'S ' KECESSIONAL ': ' DULCE DOMUM ' (9 th S. iii. 208). The ' Recessional,' published in the Times of 17 July, 1897, was reprinted in Literature 27 November of the same year. I should say that G. L. S. might buy or get a sight of one of these papers.

The Editor of ' N. & Q.' (4 th S. vi. 166) told a correspondent in search of the 'Dulce Domum ' that it had been frequently printed ; he further wrote :

" The original Latin, Bishop Wordsworth's Eng- lish translation, and the music are given inChappell s ' Popular Music of the Olden Time,' ii. 576. Consult also Walcott's 'William of Wykeham and his Colleges,' p. 266 ; Gentleman's Magazine for March and July, 1796, pp. 209, 570 ; and *'N. & Q.,' 1 st S. x. 66, 193 ; xi. 66 ; 3 ra S. vi. 61."

But, so far as I know, 'Dulce Domum' is not given at full length in ' N. & Q.,' though it has often been written about and several verses are cited (4 th S. vii. 140).

ST. SWITHIN.

" COW-RAKE" (9 th S. iii. 205). We are familiar with the fact that correspondents often inquire concerning English words that are fully treated in the ' H.E.D.,'and now the same course is being pursued with regard to the 'English Dialect Dictionary'; that is to say, it is carefully neglected. The ' E.D.D.' explains clearly that cow-rake is short for cowl-rake ; and further, that cowl is merely a dialectal form of cull, to gather. And after all, the verb cowl appears in the 'H.E.D.,' spelt coul, and is correctly explained, though without the etymology.

WALTER W. SKEAT.

A MISSING PICTURE (9 th S. iii. 167). There is an engraving of a three - quarter- length portrait of Charles Mordaunt, third Earl of Peterborough, in Lodge's ' Portraits,' vol. x.,