Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/44

 28 NOTES AND QUERIES. P*B.IV. is the vulgar use of off for of = from about which I am desirous to be informed. HENEY ATTWELL. SIR THOMAS ARMSTRONG.—Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me of the names of the regiments to which the well- known Sir Thomas Armstrong, temp. Charles II., belonged 1 I believe he was made a lieutenant in the Earl of Oxford's Horse, now the Royal Horse Guards, when that regi- ment was first raised ; and some ten or twelve years subsequently, when Charles II. raised the regiment of horse now known as the 3rd Dragoon Guards, he became its -first lieutenant-colonel. Am I correct; and how long was he associated with these regiments ? D. M. GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, 1674-1742.—I should like to learn the particulars of this officer's military career, and especially what regiments he commanded. He is said to have served at the battle of Blenheim, and at one time to have commanded the forces in Ireland. D. M. SCABIOUS ou DEVIL'S-BIT. (See 'Demon's Aversion,' 9th S. iii. 375.) — Jeremy Taylor asks:— "Is not the rhubarb found where the sun most corrupts the liver: and the scabious by the shore of the sea, that God might cure as soon as he wounds?" And the 'Babees Book ' says : "Scabiose is good for ache." But what particular ache or ill had the old divine in mind for which " the scabious by the shore of the sea," rather than the same plantgrowingoninland pastures, was the cure round just where it was needed? 1 suppose that the scaly eruptions for which scabious was once supposed to be efficacious are not peculiar to the seaboard. M. C. L. THE MEANING OF " LURID." — By some strange method this word has come to be used in the very opposite sense to its correct meaning. An example in point is to be found in a recent issue of the Daily Chronicle, which had " England in search of a fast bowler is a pathetic situation. The performance of Arthur Mold at Bristol will probably be re- garded in a very lurid light." Now lurid, L. luridus, means gloomy. One dictionary adds ghastly pale, dismal. The writer, there- fore, said "very gloomy light." He meant "very brilliant." Can the change of mean- ing be traced ? It will be interesting to see how the ' H.E.D.' will treat the word. ARTHUH MAYALL. [Luritlux also = yellow. Horace has " hiridi denies," and Lucretius uses it of jaundice; and " lurid" is so used in scientific phraseology.] NATIONAL NICKNAMES.—What nicknames, similar to John Bull, are applied to conti- nental nations, and what were their origins ? W. D. TONGHES.—Whereabouts is this place? It is apparently either in Warwickshire or Northamptonshire. H. T. B. SEVRES CHINA.—I have in my possession five plates of old Sevres china, which the pre- vious owner described as follows :— " Set of five very fine Sevres plates, beine speci- mens of those ordered by the five Great Powers at the Treaty of Paris, England, Austria, France, Prussia, and Russia." Can any of your readers tell me if such services were ordered; and, if so, on the occasion of which treaty, and who now pos- sesses the set ordered for England ? S. S. " MRS. Q."—There is a well-known engrav- ing of this celebrated beauty. Can any authentic details of her life be given ? JAMES HOOPER. Norwich. THEOBALDS OF KENT. — Any information will be gratefully received regarding the Theobalds of Kent, prior to William Theo- bald, of St. Dunstans, near Canterbury, will proved 1636. (Mrs.) P. A. F. STEPHENSON. Warley Barracks, Brentwood. LATIN COUPLET WANTED.—There is said to exist (or to have existed) at Paris a fountain inscribed with a Latin elegiac couplet, which many years ago was rendered by a young Etonian somewhat as follows :— The nymph who bids these waters flow Lies hid beneath this stone: Do thou like her thy gifts bestow, Nor let the source be known. Can any correspondent kindly supply the original Latin? Possibly the lines may occur elsewhere. W. F. R. Hutton Rectory. L'OEDEE DTT DEVOIE (FRANCE).—Any in- formation respecting the above will be thankfully received. A friend of mine, who has lately had the distinction of a Chevalier of the order conferred upon him, is informed that no such order exists. CHAS. F. FOHSHAW, LL.D. Hanover Gardens, Bradford. LA CIEGA BE MANZANARES.—Sir John Bowring contributed to the first volume of Once a Week (p. 525) an interesting notice of La C'iega de Manzanares. She was a blind old woman who was an inmate—why it is not stated—of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum of