Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/42

 32 NOTES AND QUERIES. p* s. VL JDLT 14, woo. The reference desired from ' The Troubles and Tryals of Laud,' vol. i. pp. 174, 175, scarcely needs to be quoted It consists of the record of an appointment of Committee for Religion on 1 March, 1640/1. To this is added a letter from John Williams, then Bishop of Lincoln, summoning certain emi- nent divines to consult on the matter of innovations. Amongst these ministers were Dr. Featly and Messrs. Calamy and White. Laud in his 'Diary,' 15 March, 1640/1, re- marks :— " Upon the whole matter I believe this Com- mittee will prove the National Synod of England, to the great dishonour of this Church. And what else may follow upon it, God knoweth." A. W. F. " QUARTER " OF CORN (9th S. v. 456).—I believe I am right in saying that a "quarter " of corn is a quarter ot a ton. Not that a quarter of corn necessarily weighs five hun- dredweight, for corn varies in weight, of course. Beans weigh forty stones to the quarter, wheat thirty-six stones, barley thirty-two stones, oats twenty-four stones. Thus, as will be seen, only of beans is it literally correct to say that a " quarter " is a quarter of a ton. But corn is measured as well as weighed, or at any rate it used to be, and eight bushels make a ''quarter." Now eight bushels are also a quarter of a tun. What connexion there is between tun and ton I do not know ; but I understand that originally they were connected in some way. A local corn-merchant tells me that Indian wheat is still sold by the ton, but this term is no longer used by English growers. C. C. B. "Quarter, the fourth part of a ton in weight, or eight bushels of grain " (Cassell'f 'Encyclopaedic Diet.'); but does "quarter' always mean a fourth part 1 The Northampton Mercury a few weeks ago, referring to the custom in the county of making rates of so many farthings in the pound, •. •,/., "2( farthings," not 5 pence, said it was a relic o the old quarterage money. What this mean i do not know, but the " quarterage money of the county was collected any number o times in the year—seven, eight, and, I believe nine times on occasion. K. This question appeared in ' N. & Q.,' I1' fc xi. 344, and the Editor explained that th expression signified originally the fourtl part of a tun in weight or capacity, i correspondent (p. 455) replied that " farmers and merchants all know that there ar jive quarter/i to a load of corn, viz., forty bushels which of ordinary wheat are about a ton in weight hilst barley is about three-fourths, and oata about wo-thirds of that weight. I believe ton is com- icnly applied to the wr.iyhl, and tun to the meaxurr. o called, though doubtless they are etymologically dentical." ^.nnandale in his 'Dictionary ' (1883) applies on to weight, and tun to measurement for •quids. EVBRARD HOME UOLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road. MURIEL (9th S. v. 415).—I beg to send the ollowing extract from a little book entitled Muriel's Birthday and Memorandum Book, with a History of the ^Name,' published by iwan Sonneuschein & Co.:— The pretty old English name of Muriel, Meriel, <iyra, or Mira, meaning perfumed, was originally erived from the Greek muron, any sweet juice istilling from plants and used for unguenta or perfumes, muron itself being derived by the ancient* from m«ro=to flow or trickle ; or, accord - ng to Athenajus, from »mrra=the oil of myrrh, hough the word is probably of Oriental origin, perhaps connected with the Hebrew m6r. The rord is of not uncommon occurrence in Greek iterature, and even enters into a proverbial saying, Sweet oil on lentils,' meaning ' Pains thrown MURIEL FOLKARD. Colinfield, Wigan. This was a favourite name with English Jewesses of the ante-expulsion period, 1290. Abraham fil Muriel, a famous London Jew, temp. John, signs his name in Hebrew, Abra- ham son of Miriam (Harl. Ch. 43a, 56). Moses de Osenfort (Oxford), executing a deed circa 1240, alludes to St. Mary-at-Hill, Billingsgate, as " Kadesh (holy) miriam del hille." M. D. DAVIS. 48, Colveston Crescent, N.E. For precisely the same question see N. & Q.,' 3rd S. vi. 168, and the many replies in the same volume. Refer also to vii.; 4th S. x.; 7th S. ii.. iii., iv.; 8th S. ix. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road. " BROTHERHOOD OF FOOLS " (9th S. iv. 539; v. 95).—I have not seen the pamphlet men- tioned at the first reference, but the following passage from 'L'Art de Verifier les Dates' seems to answer MRS. RANDOLPH'S question, and at the same time to correct a mistrans- lation of the pamphleteer's :— "[ComtesdeCleves: Adolfe 1. (1368-139*)]. L'an 1381, il institua 1'Ordre ou la Confrerie de« Faux le jour de S. Cunibert (12 Nov.). Trente-cinq (ientiU- hommes entrereut d'abord dans cette societe1 qui lie paroit avoir ete formee que pour entretenir 1'union eutre les Nobles du pays de Cloves. On lea recon- noissoit a un fou en plaque ou en broderie d'argeut qu'ils portoient sur leurs inanteaux. Le Dimanche apres fa S. Michel tous les Confreres s'assembloient
 * ts variants are Murien, Merian, and Marie,