Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/521

 9* B. IV. Dec. 30, '99.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 545 "IWi«W " none "is the negative of " any " as well as of " one," it seems to me that there is a differ- ence. To the question, " Is one of the melons ripe ?" the answer would be, " None is ripe "; to the question, " Are any of the melons ripe ? " None are ripe." The difference is, perhaps, one of empnasis rather than of meaning, strictly considered. " None is " is an unlimited negative; "none are" is indefinite. C. C. B. "Norman GizER"(9th S. iii. 486; iv. 112). In the reply of Me. Thomas J. Jeakes, at the second reference given above, he remarks that it would be well to have further synonyms, not only for the missel-bird, but for other of the Turdidse. I therefore enclose two lists I have compiled from the ' Curious Local Names of our British Birds,' which I have found scattered up and down a little book published in 1894 by Commander Scott Willcox, R.N., under the title of 'What's in a Name? or, the Egg Collector's Handy Dic- tionary of Reference.' Unfortunately Com- mander Willcox does not specify the actual locality where each synonym is individually in use, but gives them all as curious local names of our British birds which he has come across in his rambles in various parts of the United Kingdom. Missel-thrush {Turdus viscivorus): grey- thrush, holm-screech, holm-thrush, home- screech, missel-bird, missel-thrush, misletoe- thrush, peun-y-llwyn, screech-thrush, shrite, storm cock. Common thrush (Turdus musicus): grey- bird, mavis, merle, song-thrush, throstle. G. Yarrow Baldock. Askell Family (9th S. iv. 269, 355).—I notice James, Viscount Grimston (died 1778), married Mary, only daughter of Wm. Buck- nail, Oxhay, county Hertford, by Mary his wife, only surviving issue of Michael Askell, of Qaydon, Bishopsitchingden, Warwick, and sister of John Askell Bucknall, of Oxhay. The third daughter, Susannah Askell, married John Warde, Squerries, Kent. Francis Askell, formerly consul at Malaga, 1778, married into the Kirkpatrick family. Was he connected with Askell of Gaydon, Warwick? Jo. Schwartz. The Ivy House, Woodford Green. "Fetch "(9th S. iv. 418, 485).—We know for certain that fetch has nothing to do with the Danish vette, for two reasons : (1) that Dan. v does not originate an English /; and (2) Dan. tte cannot possibly produce an English tch. The two words have no resemblance to each other beyond the foot that both contain the vowel e; and even this is delusive, for the Dan. word is also spelt with ce. The Danish vette is simply cognate with the English wight, of which it is a mere variant. The English fetish is well known to be a Portuguese derivative of the Latin factitive, whence also our English factitious. When we consider that the Dan. vette is represented in English by wight, and the Port, feitico by factitious, the words no longer look alike, but are remarkably different. If we must have guesses, they need not be quite so wild. And why not consult the ' New English Dictionary' ? Walter W. Skeat. 'Dr. Johnson as a Grecian,' by Gen- nadius (9th S. iv. 451).—Your correspondent C. says, "The star of the famous Madame [Vestrisl did not shine in Johnson's time with the brilliancy of her father's." This is, indeed, more than true, for her star had not begun to shine at all at that period. She was born early in 1797, more than twelve years after the death of the lexicographer, which occurred near the end (19 December) of 1784. Julian Marshall. Bear and Ragged Staff (9th S. iv. 398, 484).—Probably the Rev. John Pickford and myself would not be found materially todifferin our estimate of the late W. Harrison Ainsworth as an authority on matters of strict fact in historical detail. Perhaps it is not too bold an assertion to maintain that (with the ex- ception of Scott's' Kenilworth') the privileges claimed by poets and authors of prose romantic tales have never been more liberally exercised, or more attractively displayed, than in that popular work of fiction, based, of course, on historical fact, ' The Tower of London.' The carving, still to be inspected on the wall of the principal chamber or the Beauchamp Tower, referred to by Mr. Pickford is with- out question that known as the " Dudley Memorial"; butAinsworthhasmisledyourable correspondent (' Tower of London,' chap, vii.) in attributing this work to the John Dudley, the father-in-law of the unhappy "nine days queen." At the time the romance was pub- lished it is true that the apartment, on the wall of which the unfinished design appears, was used as the mess-room of the officers in garrison, but on the completion of the new barracks, built after the fire of 1841, its service in this respect was discontinued. Mr. Pickford makes no reference to the uncom- pleted quatrain on the lower margin under the signature "Iohn Dudle," purporting to explain the object of the device, which, it may be incidentally pointed out, is far too elabq-