Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/112

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. v. FEB. 10, im

the society appeared to be of the nature of * friendly, benevolent, or philanthropic one. THOMAS J. JEAKES.

REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES. Lloyds Weekly Newspaper for 14 Jan. asserts that by a face tious adaptation of initials as Roman numerals the City of London Imperial Volunteers, no\v on their way to the front, achieve the title o' the 154th, an appellation likely to commenc itself to the regiment. Furthermore, " som< wit" has christened them "The Turtl< Soupers," which is, remarks Lloyds, a regi mental nickname that may yet become famous. Your correspondent happened t( be present when the interesting cog nomen last referred to was conferred An ex -dragoon recited to two friends (a Yorkshire engineer and myself) a MS. paragraph proposing that the civic volunteers should be styled "The Gog and Magog Brigade," the engineer suggesting an amendment in favour of "The Turtle Soupers." The paragraph, thus improved, appeared in the Daily Chronicle of Friday, 12 Jan.

F. P.

RUBBING THE EYES WITH GOLD FOR LUCK. The following is from Thomas Miller's 1 Gideon Giles the Roper,' a Lincolnshire tale, published about forty years ago :

'"Well, I declare! locky-dalsy me!' exclaimed Mrs. Cawthry, taking up the sovereign, and turn- ing it all ways, ' and good gowd too ! I '11 hev a lucky rub at any rate ; and she rubbed both her eyes with the sovereign, then handed it to her gossip, who did the same, saying, when she had done, 'I've never rubbed my eyes with one before for above seven years ; the last time I did was in the month of May, and the* mart after that I fun sixpence as I was going to Gainsbro' ; so you see that proves it's lucky.' As this happened six months after, we must suppose the spell, or what- ever it was, to have had power a long time ; be this as it may, we have many a time seen a sovereign handed round a room, where, of course, such things are scarce, and each one in turn rub the eyes with it, believing it to be ' lucky.'" Chap, xxiii. p. 202.

H. ANDREWS. Gainsborough.

[We have known this done by girls quite recently in Yorkshire.]

" HORSE - GENTLER" = HORSE - BREAKER. I recently heard this word used by a Lincoln- shire man. It may be common enough in other counties, but I never heard it before in this locality, and therefore make a note of it.

H. ANDREWS.

Gainsborough.

"WIGWAM": " TEPEE." These two words, both well known to English readers, are synonymous, but not interchangeable. Wig-

wam, roughly speaking, is English ; it comes from the language of the Algonquins, two- thirds of whom are British subjects. Tepee is American ; it belongs to the language of the Sioux, who live under the stars and stripes. Buffalo Bill's Indians were Sioux, hence their tents should be called tepees, i\oi wigwams. The distinction. It calls tepee "American In- dian," which is surely too vague for so learned a work. JAMES PLATT, Jun.
 * Century Dictionary ' seems not to grasp this

BOX-IRONS. The box-iron used by laun- dresses for ironing linen is generally said to have been invented by Isaac Wilkinson, the father, I believe, of John Wilkinson, the great ironmaster of South Staffordshire. Isaac Wilkinson took out a patent for the invention in 1738 (No. 565). The appliance in question was, however, known long before, as is evi- dent from an entry in the minutes of the Charity School of St. Ann's, Soho, under date 25 Sept., 1704, as follows : " Resolved that Mr. Smyth and Mr. Patrick be desired to buy one box smoothing iron and three heaters, with two plain flat smoothing irons." This entry is printed in theKev. J. H. Cardwells 'Story of a Charity School,' 1899, p. 43. K. B. P.

COINCIDENCE IN NAMES. Reading under 'Hanky Panky,' ante, p. 26, an old an- nouncement of the marriage of a Capt. Hankey to a Miss Pankey, "I am reminded that a few years since I had a cottage occupied by a Mary Petty and a Richard Sessions. F. W. C.

THE ORIENTATION OF THE FABRICS OF CHURCHES IN ENGLAND. The question of the orientation of churches in England has Deen recently brought before the public by a memorial to the ecclesiastical authorities which is now being circulated for signature calling attention to the fact that so many recently built churches in the neighbourhood of Baling have, by the design of the archi- tects or others, departed from the ancient Christian custom in this respect, and pray- ng the ecclesiastical authorities to look into -he matter, and, if possible, prevent the 'urther violation of ancient and primitive practice in the matter.

In connexion with this subject, it may be

mentioned that the principle of orientation,

as applied to the building of churches in

England, appears to have been maintained

vitn almost unbroken fixity until Puritan

imes. It was then suggested that an im-

iroper and even superstitious reverence was

irected towards the chancels of cathedrals,

hurches, and chapels, which ''occupied the