Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/420

 l 346 NOTES AND QUERIES. 19° s.vL Ni>v-3.19011 that year. Horace Walpole writes : “ Excuse me, my dear Lord, from not writing with mis; own hand; but I am iust got into  wit a little return of pain. ’ This ‘phrase 18 prac- tically identical with one in alpole’s letter to Lady Ossory of 29 Nov., 1779, where he writes, “I would answer, if I were not just got into bed with a little return of pam.” Letter 1,846 may be placed between letters 1,869 (28 Nov., 1779) and 1,870 (29 Nov., 1779) in vol. vii. of Cunningham’s edition. THE RUINED CHAPEL xr Roscorr.-It may be interesting to recall at this moment an instance of generosity] on the part of the late Marquis of ute whic has, singularly enough, escaped attention in the obituary notices concerning him. He it was who purchased the remains of that historic cha l raised at Roscolli in Brittany, and dediacated to St. Ninian by hapless Mary, queen of Scots, as commemorative of her first anding, in the year 1548, upon the shores of La Belle France to be atlianced to the Dauphin. The philan- thropic nobleman was only just in time, for the municipal council coveted the spot in order to build a school upon the site. Nor did the kindly act of interposition stop here. The same liberal hand presented a plot of ground to meet the town’s educational re%1irements. hen last I viewed that relic of the st a board chronicled the romantic incid);nt alluded to, but no mention was made of the chapel’s rescuer. One would fain hope that now this record might be aptpropriately and reverently supplied. Iremar thata ounger son of the lamented marquis bears the name of N inian. CECIL CLARKE. Authors’ Club, S. VV. “TEE CRAP AS MARRIED HANNAH.”-This is a very common phrase in South Notts. “ That ’s the chap as married Hannah” means that is the person or thing I am seekin or that I need. C. C. B. R. HAYDON'S P1c'rUR1-Ls.-The enclosed cutting from the Standard of 12 May, giving a report of the sale of the Peel pictures, may be worth preserving in ‘ N. & Q.’:- “ Lord Nelson on the ‘Victory,’ with a framed testimonial signed by various persons, 4301. I0/4.; and Napoleon at St. Helena, by B. R. Haydon- the well-known gallery work which inspired and is rendered famous by Wordsworth’s sonnet-4511 The last two pictures are more in the nature ol historical curlosities than works of art.” It may come as rather a shock to readers of };Iaydon’s ‘ Memoirs ’ who have not seen his pictures to hear that the ‘Napoleon’ is no longer a work of art, but merely an historical curiosity. The picture is one that figures somewhat rominently in the ‘ Memoirs, and one would be glad to learn what has become of it. G. E. P. A. DR.4Uen'rs or AIR.*WlH(l blowing, espe- ciall on the back of the neck, on one who is not himself moving, is the angel of death to more victims than la grzyrpe. This truth is proclaimed by numerous proverbs, which prove it to have been recognized for many ages and in many countries, however men have failed to learn the practical lesson it teaches. Among Italian sayings we have the rime Aria per fenestra ch’ é colpa di balestra, - and the adage “ Women lose four things at a window-time in ogling; hearts to overs, money to beggars, and ealth through cur- rents of air.” ut there is an English couplet which has saved my life more than once, though I know not when or where I came by it ; and so I will heartily thank ‘ N. & Q.’ to show me my benefactor in situ. Who would not gladly know where such a saving race came from and how lon it has blessed the world? The words are these :- If you feel the wind come through a hole, Go make your will, go mind your soul. JAMES D. BUTLER. Madison, Wis., U.S. “To THE BITTER END.”-The Universnly Correspondent for 1 September says on p. 549:- “In the August number of Temple Bar is an interesting article on ‘Songs of the Sea# by Mr. Alan Walters, in the course of which we get a long list of current colloquialisms drawn from ideas of the sea and sea life.” Among many instances quoted is this: “ To follow a thing to the bitter end,” i.e., “to gayseut cable till there is no more left at the it. As “ bitter-end ” is given in the dictionaries as a nautical term, the above derivation at first sight seems plausible, and for aught I know may be correct. But, considering that the expression appears to be mainly used in reference to war, I venture to sug t as a possible alternative a less far-fetchedegrigin. In 2 Sam. ii. 26 we read, “Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end ? ” We may also compare Prov. v. 4, “ Her end is bitter as wormwood.” C. LAWRENCE Fone, B.A. [See 6"‘ S. iii. 26, 193, 334, 438; iv. 238, 271] JEWISH F.s'rs. - Popular mistakes die hard, but press errors die harder. Among