Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/282

 316 NOTES AND QUERIES. f9" s. iv, Oct. 28, * (c. 1761) the ravine is distinctly shown, and is named "Warbreck Gin." Warbreck is a hamlet half a mile away. I am anxious to learn whether the name Ginn occurs else- where, either in the Fylde or in any other part of England. J. R. Boyle. "Loon."—The modern dictionary includes this word, but explains it in only one of its two uses. In the ' Encyclopedic Dictionary,' e.g., it is defined as "a rogue, a worthless person, a naughty woman," and the ex- planation is added that " the word is of both genders." In the comprehensive statement of the world's iniquity embodied in his Prologue to '/Eneid,' viii., Gavin Douglas makes his dreamer address the "selcouth sage" in the unqualified accusation "Lovne, thou leis," that is, " Loon, thou liest." Here, no doubt, the word may be taken as equivalent to "rogue" or "slanderer," or something equally uncomplimentary. In his'Coraplaynt to the King,' 1. 405, Sir David Lyndsay suggests that loafers should be sent to the galleys :— And, as for sleuthfull idyll lownis, Sail fetterit be in the gailyeownis. Then there is no doubt as to the meaning he attaches to it in the 'Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis,' 1. 3642 :— This limmer luiks as lyke ane lown As any that ever I saw. The "limmer" or knave in question is Flattery in the guise of a friar, whom two officers relieve of his hood and gown, giving him the explanation that when travelling "fra toun to toun " he will suffer less from heat if denuded of these articles of dress. In addition to this use of the word, which, as now shown, has notable literary sanction, there is another which has currency at the present time, and ought to be recognized. _ A loon" in certain parts of the Scottish Lowlands (Jaraieson in ' Sc. Diet.' says in the eastern counties only) is a lad or a boy, the term as so employed implying nothing what- ever as to character. It is quite likely to be discoverablesomewhere in literature,although at the moment I cannot cite an instance. I am able, however, to give an illustration at first hand. An old man, desirous of giving me an idea of his son's appearance when about fourteen years of age, pointed to a youth by my side and said, " He was aboot the size o' the loon there." The tone indicated nothing depreciatory, but was altogether kindly and gracious. It may just be added that this occurred in Fifeshire, where this quite impartial application of the word is perfectly common- Thomas Bayne. Pitt Portraits.—At an auction sale held by Engall, Sanders it Engall, at the auction mart, Cheltenham, on 23 June, 1865, there were the following :— " Lot 237. Portrait of William Pitt, son of the Earl of Chatham. This celebrated portrait of Pitt is acknowledged to be one of the finest specimens of portraiture ; by Gainsborough." " Lot 245. William Pitt (afterwards Earl of Chatham), by Barker of Dublin ; this picture was painted in 1750." This sale also included a portrait of Boswell by Reynolds, 1790; of Handel by Hudson, 1744 : of Wolfe by Gainsborough : of Gray and Prior by Hogarth. I do not know who the proprietor or the property was nor the prices realized, and the present whereabouts of the portraits is equally unknown to rne; but I think that the fact of the Pitt portraits being in this sale is worthy of notice. I sent my copy of the catalogue a few weeks ago to the S.K.M., where it may be consulted by those interested. W. Roberts. 47, Lansdowne Gardens, S. W. QxLttlti. We must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. "A Highland Donald hastie."—In Burns's poem ' The Inventory ' he tells the Surveyor of Taxes that he has "four brutes o'gallant mettle." The fourth he describes as a Highland Donald hastie, A damn'd red-wud Kilburnie blastie. What would the Surveyor of Taxes under- stand by the expression "a Donald hastie "? A. L. Mayhew. Oxford. Armorial.—Can any of your readers tell me to what family or person the following armorial bearings, as shown in a simple, un- adorned book-plate, belong? Arms, Or, a rose gules (or ppr.), on a chief azure two mullets azure []J. Crest, A cubit arm ppr., vested gules, issuant from a ducal coronet or, the hand grasping by its stalk a rose ppr. Motto, " Quisque faber fortunte suae." They are not to be found in Papworth and Morant. The book-plate is unnamed. Michael Ferrar, Arm. Roos and Cromwell Families. (See ante, pp. 229, 293.) —Since my query appeared, much investigation of pedigrees and records has taken place, and although subsequent connexion between these families occurred,