Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/63

 s. V.JAN. 20, im] NOTES AND QUERIES.

55

plete works (6 vols.), published in Nichol's " Puritan Divines." See ' N. & Q.,' 3 rd S. iv. 228 ; 4 th S. vii. 342, 417.

EVERARD HOME GOLEM AN. 71, Brecknock Road.

DELAY AL (9 th S. iv. 417, 486). MR. PITMAN will find accounts of the battles of Plassey and Biderra in Orme's 'History of Hindo- stan,' vol. ii. ; Stubbs's 'History of the Bengal Artillery,' vol. i. ; and in Capt. Arthur Broome's 'Rise and Progress of the Bengal Army.' Malcolm's ' Life of Clive ' also gives accounts of both battles.

DUNCAN PITCHER, Col.

Gwalior Residency, Central India.

Robert and Henry Delaval were the sons of Capt. Francis Blake-Delaval, R.N., M.P., of Seaton Delaval, co. Northumberland, by Rhpda Apreece his wife. Mr. Cole, in his 'History of Doddington,' gives a very full account of the family, and on p. 132 states :

"In 1758 we read in a Newcastle paper 'that Captain Robert Delaval sailed from Shields with a number of recruits he had enlisted for the Honor- able East India Company.' According to the statement of his sister, Lady Mexborough, he lost his life at the capture of Quebec, in Sept., 1759. This is so far confirmed by the fact that his will, dated at his brother John's house, King's Square Court, Soho, 11 May, 1758, was proved by his said brother John Hussey-Delaval, as sole executor,

16 October, 1759 Henry, an officer, was killed in

battle in the East Indies He was recruiting

soldiers at Bellingham in 1755, and was a Captain in the 73rd Regiment from 1757 to 1762. His por- trait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, representing nim half-length in a cuirass, is now at Ford Castle, and has been engraved."

V. L. O.

" POLDER ": " LOOPHOLE " (9 th S. iv. 347, 426). Judging by the nature of the locality of the three Polders on the banks of the Forth, polder might perfectly well mean marshy land, the locality indeed being Flanders Moss. There is a hamlet called Polders in Kent, and a description of its locale might be of service. WALTER M. GRAHAM EASTON.

BROWNING'S 'LURIA' (9 th S. iv. 5*16). When Luria declined to open Braccio's intercepted letter, Tiburzio instantly ex- pressed his appreciation of his magnanimity by asking to be allowed to grasp his hand. Then, he added, "If you fall, beside, the better " ; that is, there is a further reason for approval of your attitude, for should you fall when we encounter each other, as no doubt we shall do, in the forefront of the battle, then I shall be in a position to state and uphold your manly and independent resolu- tion. You commend yourself to me by your present Decision, and, besides, should you

fall, I shall be strengthened by what has now passed to stand forward in your interest. Read thus, the passage is quite intelligible : Your hand !

I lead the vanguard. If you fall, beside,

The better : I am left to speak !

Sometimes ambiguity is caused by the use of "beside" when besides might be more explicit and definite. DR. SPENCE'S proposed emenda- tion would make a very good text, and one not foreign to Browning's method ; but as the passage is the same in all the editions of the poem, and as it is susceptible of a reason- able and convincing interpretation, there would appear to be no necessity for the alteration. THOMAS BAYNE.

The only word that requires explanation is the word " beside." This I take to be a dramatic indication of an unspoken thought of Tiburzio's. I should write his thought at large thus : " Give me your hand ! It would have been good to have had you for a comrade, but it is something to have so noble a foe. Beside, if you fall it will be better that you were matched with a kindred spirit : I shall be there to speak for you. My duty required me to win you to our side if it were possible ; but I am not sorry to have failed, for you will look gallantly found dead with that unopened letter in your breast."

C. C. B.

"HowK" (9 th S. iv. 308, 385). See 'New English Dictionary,' s.v. ' Hoik.' Q. V.

The following passage from the 'Antiquary/ the scene of which is supposed to be the ruins of St. Ruth, near Arbroath, in Forfar- shire, may prove illustrative :

" 'It 's travell'd earth that,' said Edie, 'it howka sae eithly ; I ken it weel, for ance I wrought a simmer wi' auld Will Winnet, the bedral, and hpwkit maur graves than anein my day ; but I left him in winter, for it was unco cald wark ; and then it cam a green Yule, and the folk died thick and fast for ye ken a green Yule makes a fat kirk- yard.' " Chap, xxiii.

The meaning of " howk " is, of course, to dig. Halliwell in his ' Dictionary ' gives the meaning as "to dig, to scoop. North."

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

BLEEDING IMAGE IN CHRIST CHURCH, DUBLIN (9 th S. iv. 127, 311, 407, 527). Your correspondent regards Robert Ware as "an honourable and valuable historical com- piler." I, on the other hand, have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that the bleeding-image story and much else that he gave to the world are spurious documents. I agree with the late Rev. T. E. Bridgett ija