Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/410

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. m. MAY 27, m

lamps, on the top of the seven branches, bear an analogy to the planets themselves " (Stackhouse, 1842, p. 312). A. B. G.

(To be continued.)

THE GRANTING OF ARMS. The following is an extract from a thin pamphlet handed to visitors to the interesting church of S. Lorenzo Fuori at Borne. The walls of the narthex, or chapel at the east end of the choir in which is interred the late Pio Nono, are being covered with what is aptly described as " heraldic tapestry " in mosaic, in which are circles or roses showing the emblazoned arms of such dioceses, religious orders, committees, societies, colleges, and private families and individuals as contribute not less than 1,000 francs to the decoration in memory of the revered Pontiff:

"THE ARMORIAL BEARINGS OF THE AMERICAN FAMILIES. A difficulty may arise from the fact that American families do not use any armorial bearings, and therefore no American armorial bearings could appear on the monument. The Executive Committee took care to remove such an obstacle, and ordered their Heraldry Department to supply regular armorial bearings for the American families willing to render homage to the blessed memory of the beloved Pontiff by making the offering which will confer upon them the quality and rights of ' well-deserving benefactors.' It is a mistake to believe armorial bearings are by them- selves the mark of nobility ; in fact, the accessories placed on the top of them do show the title and rank, under the form of crowns of Baron, of Count, of Marquess, of Prince, of Duke, and so on. The republics and democratic governments have their armorial bearings as well as the states governed by emperors and kings ; in the same way private families may have their armorial bearings as well as the noble families. Armorial bearings are only an emblem, a mark, which a private family create for themselves, and which becomes their own emblem, as their family name is their own name, and they may use their armorial bearings in the same way, let us say, as a commercial firm use their trade-mark which is their own exclusive mark, as the firm is their own exclusive firm, in the same way as the seal of a company, of a corpora- tion, of a public officer, is respectively and exclusively the seal thereof. Therefore all those whose hearts, nurture as much love for Pius IX. as will urge them to pay to His blessed memory the liomage of the offering which will confer upon them "the title and rights of 'well-deserving benefactors' (an offering of 1,000 francs = 401. sterling = 200 dollars) should not be stopped by the question of the armorial bearings. They will acquaint the Executive Committee with their intention to make such an offering, and the Committee will, without delay, submit to the offerers the armorial bearings studied and proposed for them by the Heraldry Department."

A month or two ago no American family or individual had, so far as I observed, accepted the invitation, though its offer of

commemoration among the faithful, together with a grant of arms, for the moderate -sum of 200 dollars, would, if known, be tempting to some travellers from the States whom one meets in Rome. W. C. J.

A DESERTED VILLAGE. It may be questioned whether the name of "Sweet Auburn "was wholly an invention of Gold- smith's fancy, or whether it was taken from that of any village actually "deserted." The poem has suggested several names in the United States, of which the best known is perhaps that of the beautiful cemetery at Boston. But there is in England a " deserted village " actually called Auburn, which lies on the Yorkshire coast, near Brid- lington. The desertion has, however, been caused not by the reason assigned by Gold- smith, but by the inroads of the sea, which has now washed away the church and the whole village, with the exception of one farmhouse, itself soon to disappear, as it stands on the very edge of the cliff. This destruction has been subsequent to the date of Domesday, where the name appears as Eleburn, and afterwards as Alburn, the " eel-burn," a less poetical name than Auburn, just as Osborne in the Isle of Wight is a corruption of Oysterbourne, a name of less euphony and dignity than that which it now bears. ISAAC TAYLOR.

REMARKS ON vEsop. (See ante, p. 344.) I said in my previous note on this subject that Babrius did not acknowledge his obligations to ^Esop so positively as Phsedrus did. But I have read again the pretty and poetical introduction to his fables, and I think that he has attributed them very clearly to ^Esop. In the Greek prose collec- tion of ^Esopic fables there is one concerning an eagle and a fox ; and this must be the one to which Aristophanes alludes in 'The Birds,' lines 651-3. Aristophanes expressly says that ^Esop is the author of this fable. It is also in Phsedrus and in Croxall : but it is somewhat altered in the English version. This serves to show that fables known to be the work of ^Esop are still with us under his name. In the Greek prose vEsopic collection I met with the fable of ' The Swallow and the Crow.' Here the swallow evidently is Philomela, for she says that her tongue was once cut out, and she refers to the violence of Tereus. Aristophanes in 'The Birds,' lines 663-6, mentions the nightingale by name as Procne. There are in the Greek , ^Esopic collection several interesting fables which I do not remember to have found else- \ where, although a few lines of one of them