Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/374

 308 NOTES AND QUERIES. l9"‘B-V1»0U1‘-20» 1900- span new is newly span or s un, &c.,” and also to “ the Dutch spykefr, &c.’P I would humbl take exception to this translation. Sir Vgalter Scott no doubt uses the words as “ matter and form,” Butler “ with glossy freshness,”but these are not necessarily, assume, synonymous, nor do they convey the same meaning. But does not “s ick ” come from Latin spica, an ear of cornl) May not “span ” have its origin in spatium, space, a measure of len th, and so have a relation to “ hand ”? Hbwever, an ex lanation in a magazine upwards of a hund)red years old agpears to be at variance with what has been o ered in elucidation of this adagie, thus: “Italian slricata de la spamw., snatc ed from the hand! ALFRED Clms. J oius. Thornton Heath. [See 1" S. iii. 330, 480; v. 521 ; 4“‘ S. iv. 512.] “ SAVE THE mos or ('ro).”- “The business of these peace commissioners is save the face of the Palace clique.”-Times leader, 6 Sept. What is the origin of the hrase here used now becoming common? lit is not entered under ‘ Face ’ in the ‘ H.E.D.’ AL1QU1s. “HA'1"1‘ocK.”--What is the meaning of this word? The motto to the eighth chapter of ‘ The Black Dwarf’ is “ Now horse and hattock,” cried the Laird, “Now horse and hattock s eedilie; They that winna ride for TelIfer’s kye, Let them never look in the face o me.” ‘ Border Bal1ad.’ If this is from ‘ Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dod- head ’ in ‘ The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border’ there is no mention of “horse and hattock ” in it. There are the following lines :- Gae warn the water, braid and wide, Gae warn it sune and hastilie! They that winna ride for Telfer’s kye, Let them never look in the face o me. Scott probably quoted the lines from memory. In a foot-note in ‘ The Fair Maid of Perth,’ chap. vii., Scott says, “ Horse and hattoclc, the well-known cry of the fairies at mounting for a moonlight expedition, came to be familiarly adopted on any occasion of mount- ing.” But this does not explain the meaning of “hattock.” My glossaries do not help me. JONATHAN BOUCHIER. [Hattock is a little hat (see ‘ H.E.D.’). A societ should be formed to supply country centres with this work.] NELL GWYN, GWYNN, on GWYNNE. -The theatres with one accord adopt the first- mentioned method of spellin this royal favourite’s surname. But are ghey correct? The ‘D.N.B.’ apgears somewhat in doubt, for I find both wynne and Gwyn within its folios. ‘Chambers’s Encyclopaedia’ says Gwynne. Who shall Hnally convince? And was not the “sweet” one really called Eleanor? Nell more closely suggests Ellen. Cscn. CLARKE. BIEDLEVAL BADGE, CHESTER.-A lozenge- shaped armorial pendant (badge), apparently for the decoration of horse-trappings, wit the hinged attachment complete, an retain- ing the rivet by which it was fastened to the leather. It is of copper, enamelled in red and blue champlevé, interspaces of the gilt surface of the metal representing the gold bars. Arms, Barry of six or and azure, a bend gules. It is evidently the cognizance (apparently one of the little badges orna- menting the harness of a horse) of a member of the family whose shield was so chargwed. and quite possibly of a Cheshire house. er- haps some reader of ‘ N. & Q.’ may be able to trace this bearing; if so, it will much oblige me. FRANK H. W1LL1AMs. Chester. CoUNT GIUSEPPE Pnccmo.-In abioglraEhi- cal sketch ireflxed to ‘La Storia de ’ co- nomia Pub lica’ Pecchio, the author, an Italian refugee, is stated to have died at Brighton on 10 May, 1835. In the Gentle- man’s Magazine for July, 1835, is the entry: “ Died, June 4th, 1835, at Hove, near Brighton, a ed 48, the Chevalier Peccio.” Is it possible that these two entries refer to the same erson? Pecchio, who was a friend of Ugo Eoscolo and Antonio Panizzi, passed a considerable part of his life in this country, and married an Englishwoman. J oHN HERB. THIRKELL FAMILY.-I should be grateful for any information with resgct to the ancestors, and date of birth (a ut 1760 or 1770), of Edward Thirkell, who lived for many ears in the neighbourhood of Hough- ton-le-Spring, Durham. He was educated at Houghton-le-Spring Grammar School, and married a Mary Cummings, of Hetton Mill, who had five or six chil ren by him. The following appears on a gravestone in Hough- ton-le-Spring Churchyard: “ Mary, wife of Edward Thirkell, died 1803, agled 30 years, and their daughter Henrietta, w o died 1826.” E. THIRKELL Pinson. 54, Gough Road, Birmingham. R1-:mG1oN: A DEFINITION.-Most men talk va uely and reason laxly, careless of exact deénitions, darkening counsel by words without knowledge. t is, therefore, always