Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/588

 488 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. vi. D™. 22, im Aladdin the signs of such a disposition as was bes adapted to the purpose for which he had under taken so long a journey or not is uncertain." And when years afterwards it occurs to the magician to inquire as to the exact manner of the supposed death of Aladdin, he takes out a square-covered box used in the science of geomancy." He smoothes the sand with which it is filled, arrays the points, draws a figure and forms a horoscope, and learns that Aladdin lives and prospers. And the younger brother of the African magician employs the same method. Nothing like the incident which De Quincey describes is to be found in the 'Arabian Nights,' so far as I can remember. The only English version then available was the one based on the French of Galland. It has been thought that Qalland invented the story of ' Aladdin,' but the Arabic text has been discovered, and translated by Mr. John Payne, who in one 9f the notes gives an elaborate and interest- 1Qg description of the geomantical method. The unsolved problem is this :—Did De Quincey read the incident in some other fairy tale, or did the precocious brother and sister, perhaps misunderstanding the text before them, evolve from their childish imagination this striking figure of the magician able to discriminate each one of the myriad footsteps that daily and hourly fall upon the earth ? .,, WILLIAM E. A. AXON. Manchester. fttfitt, WK must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to amx their names and addresses to their queries in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. " °E7IuN n ' NOTCHELL.' »-" To cry • notchell,' or natchell,' is to give notice that a certain person or persons will not pay the debts of another person. It is commonly used of a husband advertising that he will not be responsible for debts contracted by his wife I he expression is recorded only in Lancashire and Cheshire glossaries. Is it used else- 1 n2. ^. at 1S the etvmol°gy of "not- chell ? I have read the article in Davies's Supplementary English Glossary,' a.v. Nochell.' A. L. MAYHEW. CHAIN - MAIL REINTEODUCED INTO THE BRITISH ARMY.-During the last few months I have noticed that the shoulders of troopers in, 1 think, more than one cavalry regiment were protected by pieces of iron chain-mail. Would some one kindly give the exact date ^n which this iron chain armour was reintro- duced into the British army, and say if it has been used in South Africa? C. DEBOSCO. AUTHORSHIP OP LINES WANTED.—I have exhausted my resources, including the help of a very intelligent librarian, in endeavour- ing to trace the authorship of the following lines :— United States, your banner wears Two emblems : one of fame, The other one, alas ! it bears The token of your shame. 'Tis true your constellation types White freedom by its stars ; But what's the meaning of the stripes ? They are your negroes' scars. Can you or any of your readers solve the puzzle 1 I only _know that the passage was given as a dictation exercise about a quarter of a century since. There may possibly be a verbal error or two—not more, as it is repro- duced from memory by one on whose youth- ful mind the lines made a great impression. G. J. P. MILE END GATE POTTERY.—During some recent excavations in Bristol a small, glazed stoneware, oval barrel-shaped vessel was dis- covered some 10 feet below the level. At one end of this miniature barrel, just above the outlet, the following name and address occur, in three lines, in script characters: "Sinclair | Mile End I Gate." I imagine the address refers to London (as there is no such spot locally), and I shall be glad if some reader can answer any of the following questions:—Where was Mile End Gate situated ? If a pottery existed at that spot, ./hen was it founded, and how long did it Hourish t If the name does not refer to a otter, who was this Sinclair of Mile End fate? JOHN E. PRITCHARD. Bristol. [Mile End Bar, where Mile End begins, is exactly i mile from Aldgate. Information concerning Mile End Green, now Stepney Green, to which Shake- speare, Milton, Pepys, and many others allude, will 3e found in ' London Past and Present,' by Wheatley and Cunningham.] "THAMP." —A Lancashire dialect writer 'the late Mr. O. Ormerod) used this word, ind denned its meaning as " soft." I have ailed to find any other authority for it. A riend of mine, who knew Mr. Ormerod inti raately, assures me that it is not a misprint, and that, at all events in 1851. it was a recog- nized dialect word in Lancashire. Can any •>ne quote another example of its use ? HENRY FISHWICK. 'ESSENCE OF MALONE.'—In an old volume if ' Miscellanies' I find a pamphlet entitled