Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/118

 _|_* *__ _ `,f.Y.- l ‘- 'w' “r-"~.-. °"'_' " 96 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9°' S- VL AUG-4.19011 ashamed to suggest anything so far-fetched as the following. If two vine-props, several feet apart, were inclined so as to meet in an angle, the space contained by the round, as base, and the props, as sides, would be trian- gular, like a pediment.R . M. SPENCE, D.D. Manse of Arbuthnott, N. B. Is it possible that “ periment ” is a shortened form of “experiment,” used in the sense of “first attempt,” “ essay,” “ novelty ”'l When the British workman gets hold of a long foreign word he general y manages to cut its head or its tail off. The other day a man spoke to me of an “astical ” staircase, mean- ing, I suppose, “ ecclesiastical.” What he meant was a newel or circular staircase. Compare such words as “pistle” for “epistle” S. O. ADDY. PRESSGANG SONGS (9"‘ S. vi. 28).-A version of the second son on the above subject will be found in the ‘gUniversal Songster,’ vol. i. . 143, published, I believe, in 1825 or 1826. gurther particulars as to the authorshi, &c., I am unable to supply. J. F. IERY. The second song MR. SIMEON asks for is to be found in most song-books published from 1840 to 1850. I shou d hardly call it a press- gang song, although the hero at one part of is ife had been pressed. It is about the doings of a Vagabonding fiddler and a rantipoling wife. The last lines run as follows :- And you shall be contented and have all your heart’s deli ht, With fiddling in the morning and a drop of Max at night. By the way, what is “ Max ”? ALFRED F. CURWEN. ST. THOMAS’S DAY CUs'roM (9"‘ S. v. 497%- St. Thoma.s’s Day is so near to Christmas t at I suppose the candle given to old women and others who “ go a-Thomasing”-“ mumpin ” it used to be called in Lincolnshire-may is contributed towards their celebration of the coming festival. In Yorkshire grocers for- merly made such an offering to their cus- tomers, and I dare say the gift is still looked for in country places. “Yule-candles” are lighted at supper on Christmas Eve, and they must not be snuffed or ill luck will befall the family. In folk-lore fire stands for life, and he who checks it, endangers its continuance, or fails to treasure it, is sure to rue. I have a note from a RomandCatholic bookltaken many vears ago, an not ro r re- ferenced, which shows how crandlis yhave been constituted symbols of the Saviour who gave us Christinastide, and so justifies their use in observing it :- “The wax signifies the flesh, the _fire His death, the wax His humanity, _the l1ght_ _His doctrine. The wax further signifies humility ° the moulded wax obedience ; the flame the love of God. Also the wax and wick replresent body and soul, and the light the shining of t e faith.” In the ‘ Vision of Piers the Plowman, passus xx. 168, &c., are the words :-- To a torche other to a taper the Trinitie is likened. Str. SWITHIN. The candle, more especially in the days when artificial light was scarce, was t e cherished emblem of the Light of the World, so that, in the case of St. Thomas, it woul_d a pear to have been strikingly emblematic oi) the li ht that shone throug the obstinate mists ofqlis doubt. J. HOLDEN MACMICHABL. Mayford, Wimbledon Park Road. Some of the women here “go a-Thomasing" as regularly as the saint’s day comes round. It may have been the custom here many years ago to give candles, but it is not so now. In Derbyshire some of the shogkeepers gave candles which were called “C ristmas candles ”-very long moulds, I remember; but these were gliven to all their regular customers, and t e practice was continued until the era of the chromo almanac came in. In that county “Thomasing gifts” comprised almost everything of smal value-an egg, a handful of meal, a few apples or potatoes, a tin of milk, and so forth. Taos. RA'rcLrrr1:. Worksop. Your corres ndent asks, “ Why a candle? ” St. Thomas’s Doay is celebrated on 21 Decem- ber, which is the winter solstice or shortest da . Is not a candle the most appropriate for The longest night and the shortest day, when the sun is less than eight hours above the horizon? Evnnssn Hom; COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road. 81 AN UNCLAIMED Poms BY BEN JoNsoN (sw S. iv. 491; v. 34, 77, 230, 337, 477).-Mn. CURRY’s last reply is an instructive warning on the need of verifying references. When Gifford penned his fatuous remark about “the most beautiful song in the language,” he did refer to ‘ Underwoods ’ (2), not, as my critic says, to (3). My quotation was direct from Gilford. I suppose that, on such a iikiestion, he knew his own mind better than bert Bell, who, probably from sheer care- lessness, transferred the pronouncement to