Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/39

 9«-s. vi. JULY 14, im] NOTES AND QUERIES. of the Campbells of Argyle t The origin and history of the family (before the seventeenth century), and the rule exercised by its mem- bers, are points on which I would like information. If there are several volumes dealing with the subject, I should be much obliged for information regarding their com- parative trustworthiness. JOHN WILLCOCK. Lerwick, N.B. [Much ia, of course, to be found in the ' D.N.B.'J LETTERS ON A CLOCK.—I have seen a clock at a friend's house bearing on its face two letters, which can doubtless be interpreted by one of your correspondents who is learned in the ways of clockmakers. On the left of the face, opposite to the ix and 45, is a sort of quadrilateral keyhole having the letter N above it and the letter S below it. What do these letters mean ? The clock is by D. Quare, London. ALDENHAM. [Many interesting particulars concerning Daniel Quare will be found in Mr. F. J. Britten's 'Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers,' 189-95.] TWYFORD YEW TREE.—Is an account of this fine tree in the churchyard at Twyford given in any books besides Warren's ' Guide to Wincher' ? WILLIAM ANDREWS. Royal Institution, Hull. " A BOLT FROM THE BLUE." — Can any contributor to 'N. & Q.' tell me who first used the expression "A bolt from the blue"? I do not want to start another discussion about the physical possibility of such a thing happening, but only to know who first hit upon this bold and striking simile. C. L. S. [See 7th S iii. 388, 522; iv. 212, 333; 8th S. iii. 345, 457 ; iv. 175, 290, 455; v. 56, 236. It is, as our correspondent implies, undesirable that the general question discussed at these references should be reopened.] THE ' SPECTATOR.'—Who is the- author of No. 250, marked Q ? In Prof. Morley's edi- tion the name at the beginning of the paper is omitted, from which I infer that the authorship was unknown to the professor. Budgell's signature appears to have been X. No. 262 is ascribed to Steele, but it is marked C., one of Addison's four initial signatures, C. L. I. O. How is the paper named and marked in other editions? Who is the author of the short, but charming paper, No. 622? In Prof. Morley's edition it appears without either name or initial letter. JONATHAN BOUCHIEB. [In Mr. Aitken's edition in 7 vols. No. 262 is ascribed to Addison. The authorship of 250 and 622 is regarded as unknown.] ANCIENT TOWERS IN SARDINIA. (9th S. v. 497.) THE nuraghi are fully described by Delia Marmora in the second volume of his 'voyage en Sardaigne": and the Sardinian archseo- logist, Canon Spano, has devoted a volume to the subject, entitled 'Memoria sopra i Nuraghi di Sardegna,' which is also incorporated in his 1 Bullettino Archeplogico Sardo, 8th year. If none of these publications is accessible to your correspondent, he may content himself with the account which concludes the article on Sardinia in Smith's ' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.' These structures, it is there said, " are certainly more ancient than either the Roman or Carthaginian dominion in the island." References in proof hereof are given to the Aristotelian treatise Iltpl /.'nr/tiicri!.!!' aKovtrfiaTtov (Tauchnitz ed. of Aristotle, vol. xvi. p. 200), and to Diodorus, iv. 30. But the question whether they were erected by the Phoenicians or by the native inhabitants (probably Iberian, see Smith- Marindin's 'Classical Dictionary,' 1894, p. 836) "is a point on which it is very difficult to form an opinion." Among etymological conjectures may be mentioned, for what they are worth, one which regards nuraghe as an aboriginal word meaning fire-circle or hearth, and another which deduces the word from Nura, an old name of Minorca, where such towers (called " talyots," cf. Greek 0oAos) are com- mon. An engraved representation of these curious Sardinian towers is printed in Smith's ' Geography' (ut supra), and a whole plate of illustrations (tavola vi.) is given in Spano's ' Mnemosine Sarda.' One writer draws atten- tion to their close resemblance to the so- called Pictish towers or brocks in the north of Scotland ; but these, it is surmised, may have been originally of greater height than the nuraghi. F. ADAMS. 115, Albany Road, Camberwell. There has been much discussion among antiquaries as to the origin and use of the nuraghi. It has been suggested that they were sepulchres, although few human remains have been found in them, or, again, that they were temples, though some thousands of them may be seen in a comparatively restricted area. Some say that the Carthaginians built them; others that there is no proof of this. Signor Spano, an indefatigable explorer of Sardinian antiquities, brought the learned world round to the view that they were houses, but since his day two erudite French- men have declared hia theory to be untenable.