Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/452

 488 [9th S. IV. Dec. 9, "99. NOTES AND QUERIES. not seen the corrected version of the inscrip- tion when he formed the opinion that the French lines must be a bad translation of the original English. I still hope that some one iving at Montreux will see my query and be at the pains of inquiring into the history of an appeal that must be read yearly by thousands of visitors to one of the best- known spots in picturesque Europe. Henry Attwell. "King of Bantam" (9th S. iv. 419).—Mr. Percy Simpson's note is very interesting. The province of Bantam was originally a powerful and wealthy one. When Drake circumnavigated the globe he was splendidly entertained by the King of Java. This was in 1580. and doubtless his reports of the unbounded wealth of the land soon passed nto a proverbial expression. Eldorado and present-day Klondike are similar cases. The latter is often used in a mocking sense. The Dutch gained possession of the Portuguese settlement in Bantam at the end of the sixteenth century, and an English factory, presided over by John Saris, was founded in 1603. Thus Jonson's reference is tolerably clear. But at the date of ' Love for Love' things were changed. The Dutch had consolidated their possessions, and it may be doubted if there was any king- native — in Java. (Jongreve groups the Cham of Tartary, the Emperor of China, the King of Bantam, &c, in one huge lie spoken by old Legend. The reference is thus very formal. It is good to see Jonson and Con- greve quoted. The latter is terribly neglected. George Marshall. Sefton Park, Liverpool. "Ingate" (9th S. iv. 437).—In Sheffield, where many castings from iron and steel are made, the word ingate is technically used in the sense of " an aperture in a mould for pouring in metal." More frequently, how- ever, the technical name of this aperture in Sheffield is gate. It often happens that several castings are made in the same mould, in which case there are channels to allow the liquid metal to run from one cavity to another. These channels, like the apertures, are called gates. S. O. Addy. "Harateen" (9th S. iv. 419).—Your correspondent H. T. B. will find a reference to the use of the word harrateen in the Newcastle Jourwil for 28 April, 1753. A house at Monkseaton, advertised to be let, is therein stated to consist* of' '"a good kitchen, two parlours, both wainseotted, three chambers, one hung with green harrateen, the others with paper," Ac. Harrateen is usually defined as a coarse woollen cloth. W. W. Tomlisson. Sir Edward Wills Brecknock (9th S. iv. 438).—No such name appears in Townsend's 'Catalogue of Knights from 1660 to 1760'or in his 'Calendar of Knights from 1760 to the Present Time'(1828;. G. F. H. B. " To mend the fire " (9th S. iv. 439).—The phrase "to mend the fire" is merely a later English translation of the Middle-English fyr beten and the A.-S. fyr betan, where betnn means to better, to improve, to mend. The former phrase is used by Chaucer, ' Knightes Tale,' A 2253, and the latter by King Alfred, ' Orosius,' vi. 32. Both are respectable authorities. The very phrase " I mend the fyr" occurs in 1. 36 of Henryson's 'Testament of Cresseid ": and Henryson is certainly not the least of Scotland's poets. Walter W. Skeat. The Origin of "Tips" (9th S. iv. 308, 352, 461).—"Tip," in the sense of private informa- tion given, may be traced much further back than to Swift and Dryden. " Typ," meaning a secret, occurs in the sentence " He attained to the typ" in T. Harraan, 'A Caveat or Warening for Common Curseters' (1567, E.E.T.S.), p. 20. A. Smythe Palmer. S. Woodford. Mr. Thoms's Library (9th S. iv. 307, 401).— The collection of caricatures now in the possession of Mr. Bowditch formed lot 173, and realized 1/. 13s. The Lord John Towns- hend who is mentioned in the note inside the book was a nephew of Charles Towns- hend, the wit and statesman. His son succeeded to the marquisate, and was grand- father of the present peer. W. F. Prideaux. Uliscrlhituous NOTES ON BOOKS, &o. Old-Fashioned Children's Books. By Andrew W. Tuer, F.S.A. (Leadenhall Press.) This entertaining and attractive volume of Mr. Tuer may be regarded as a supplement or as a companion to his 'Forgotten Children's Books,' for which see 9th S. ii. 279. It is no less quaint than its predecossor in the nature of its contents, and, like it, reproduces no fewer than two hundred and fifty of the designs—many of them, consciously or unconsciously, humorous—of the period with which it deals, the period in question being practically, though some few works are earlier, the first three decades of the present century. Mr. Tuer has obviously a large collection of the booklets issued by the Newberys, Harrises, Lloyds, and other pub- lishers, and his two selections from them constitute a miniature library. The stories or poems are