Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/279

 o»s. vi. SEPT. 22, i9oo.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 229 "CHEVAL DE ST. JEAN."—A distant coi respondent, informing me of a discover; he has made, writes, " Si je n'ai pas trouvt le cheyal de St. Jean, j'ai trouve," <fec. The meaning of the expression is pretty evi dent, but I should like to know its exac application, and how it originated. Littrt seems not to notice it, nor can I find i among the many proverbial sayings abou the horse given in Holland's ' Faune Popu laire de la France.' ANPIEL. " PEEFIDE ALBION."—What was the origin of the phrase "Perfide Albion," which, I believe, was first used by Napoleon 1.? ERNEST CRESSWELL. [In a sermon preached at Metz on the Circum cision Bossuet said : " L'Angleterre, ah ! la pertide Angleterre, que le rempart de ses mers rendoil inaccessible aux Remains, la foi du Sauveur y est abordee." See 4th S. iii. 32.] ENGLISH AMBASSADOR AND NAPOLEON.— What British ambassador did Napoleon I. deliberately deceive or break his word to in an important matter? ERNEST CRESSWELL. SOURCE OF QUOTATION.—In what poem of what author occurs the line Leaving the final issues in his hands? MARGARET G. CROW. " THE MAINS MORE." — This expression occurs, as far as I know, only in Gait's ' Sir Andrew Wylie.' " That fool antic mob of latherong and merry- andrews, devouring the mains more here the ither night wi' their gallanting."—Ch. xvii. "Some thought it wasna come to pass that ye would ever consent to let Miss Mary tak' him, though he had the main's more."—Ch. xcvi. What is the meaning of " the mains more " or " the main's more " ? Is the expression of Gaelic origin 1 A. L. MAYHEW. Oxford. MEDALLION OF WALTER SCOTT.—A bronze medallion of Sir Walter Scott in my posses- sion bears one word in its legend which is for me hopelessly obscure. Its diameter is two and a half inches, and its thickness twice that of a silver dollar. The field of the obverse is filled with a head in high relief with the word Scott; behind it, the whole encircled by a string of corollas of some flower which I cannot name. The reverse shows a Muse (Clio) at full length, standing, and seeming to espy some approaching candidate for fame. Her left hand rests on a cippus, from which a scroll hangs down inscribed "To great men." In her right hand she holds a stylus. In the exergue below are the following words : " Pub. by S. Parker, London, 1827.— T. Stothard. K.A., d.. A. J. Stothard, f." The words incised on the edge or broad rim are: "Bardorum citharas patrio qui reddidit istro." The word istro is a riddle for which I find no sphinx. Who can give rue an interpretation ? But what I desiderate I hope to discover through the columns of 'N. & Q.,' or that, to shun delay, some one of its readers will vouchsafe me a postal of the wisdom of the East, "posted o'er land and ocean without rest" to my corner of the Far West. JAMES D. BUTLER. Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. 'ROMBERT: A TALE OF CAROLINA,' 2 vols., New York, Francis, 252, Broadway, 1835. Who wrote this t D. M. HONOURS ARE EASY."—With whom did the phrase originate, and what is its exact mean- ing? D. M. [Colloquially it signifies at whist that honours are divided, and that neither party can score them. Consult 'H.E.D.,' in which the first use quoted occurs in 1884.] SMITH PEREGRINE FIELDING was admitted to Westminster School on 16 July, 1781. Can any correspondent give me particulars of his parentage and career? G. F. R. B. FOLEY.—Paul Foley was admitted to West- minster School in 1767, another Foley (whose Jhristian name is not given in the Admission Book) in 1806, and Henry Samuel Foley in .813. I should be glad to learn any particu- ars concerning them. Q. F. R. B. PARODY ON 'THE MISTLETOE BOUGH.'— Jan any of your readers tell me where a mrody can be found of the above, beginning The gates were closed at Westminster Hall, and having the refrain to each verse, Oh, what a flare up ! believe it contains allusions to the burning if the Houses of Parliament in 1834. It is not in Hamilton's collection of parodies. W. B. H. CALVIN LETTERS.—In the Earl of Chiches- /er's ' Diary' his lordship jotted down a con- •ersation he had with I)e Montier, and the atter assured him that in the king's- library t Paris were to be found letters wherein Jalvin acknowledged himself to be an theist. Are these letters still extant ? D. M. R. " MOVING HEAVEN AND EARTH." — There s a Latin saw, "Flectere si nequeo superos, movebo," from which I opine that