Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/259

 9*s. vii.MAKCH30,i9oi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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of Whinfield's text, where the phrase " panj hawass u char arkan " is properly translated "five senses and four elements," "elements" meaning in this place, not earth, air, &c., but "essentials, component parts, or supports (props)." The quatrain is merely a typical Omarian play on the numerals, admirably rendered by Whinfield : Ten powers, and nine spheres, eight heavens made

He And planets seven of six sides, as we see

Five senses, and/owr elements, three souls Two worlds, but only one, O man, like thee.

This quatrain is No. 160 in the Lucknow, No. 157 in the Bombay lithographs, and No. 158 in the Villon (Payne) translation. The correct rendering of drkdn throws Mr. Le Gallienne's invention into beautiful relief. The only Persian locution of the kind is " the Eight-and-Four," which is recurrent in Persian poetry and refers to the twelve Imams of Muhammad. Schwamm d'ruber. EDWARD HERON-ALLEN.

MARGARET OF BAVARIA (9 th S. vi. 369, 453, 495). I thank the correspondents who have written on above. I still hope that her date of birth may be run to earth, and shall be grateful if any reader finding it will pass on the information to me. MEGAN

MARGARET OF BOURBON (9 th S. vi. 289, 397, 492 ; yii. 55 [Bavaria, in error], 111). I thank the kind correspondents who have helped me. The date of birth of above seems unattain- able. Is it possible that it is actually un- known ? I am anxious to discover it.

MEGAN.

LINES ON THE SKIN (9 th S. vii. 27, 113) were written by the late Sir Alfred Power, M.D., K.C.B., Vice-President of the Local Government Board of Ireland. They appear in 'Sanitary Rhymes,' 8vo, London, 1871. Power was born at Market Bos worth, 1805.

J. S. C.

"MAD AS A HATTER" (9 th S. vi. 448). Jamieson has " to hatter," to be confused, &c., anything violent ; as of a turbulent crowd ; Latin turbo, glossed as " fury, rage." " Mad," in this sense, does not mean insane. For instance, Pepys, in his 'Diary,' describes some incident as making him " mad." As applied to hat makers, it is supposed to arise from personal extravagance, owing to the superabundant prosperity of journey- men hatters, from the high prices then realized for beaver hats or castors.

A. HALL.

The phrase was evidently well known before or about the time that an original

farce with this title by Francis A. Marshall was published in one act in 1863.

J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.

VERSES ON THE IRISH FAMINE (9 th S. vii. 148). In the second stanza "Mr. Commis- sioner" replies somewhat in this way : Dig up your tubers, put them in a dry place, Plenty of straw put underneath each layer, Grind them to pulp, or if you think it better,

Toast on a griddle.

Pat is overwhelmed by this advice, and says (according to memory) : Murdher an' ouns. Where's the straw to come

from, Mill for to grind, or griddle to roast them on?

The lines may have appeared in Punch.

W. H. PATTERSON. Belfast.

"CRADLE COMMISSIONS" (9 th S. vii. 169).

In the " Life of Charles Blacker Vignoles

Soldier and Civil Engineer by his Son

London 1889," pp. 5-8, one reads of a

transaction in the army similar to the subject of this inquiry. Vignoles, an infant born on 31 May, 1793, received his commission dated 25 October, 1794, qualified by the (manifestly reasonable) stipulation "that he shall exchange to half-pay immediately, as he is too young to serve." CHARLES HIGHAM.

[See ' Child Commissions,' 8 th S. viii. 421, 498 ; ix. 70, 198, 355, 450.]

D'AuvERGNE FAMILY (9 th S. vii. 68, 117, 176, 191). I am indebted to D. for his note. I should mention, however, that my com- munication was sent to * N. & Q.' before the Editor's notice of the Marquis de Monclar's statement appeared, and must not therefore be regarded as traversing what the Marquis has said. D.'s note may not be of the less value because it is negative, but it does not help towards a solution of how this Philip D'Auvergne, a British vice-admiral, came by the title of Duke or Prince of Bouillon, for that he was so styled is an historical fact. In the British ' Navy Lists ' of the period I find, for instance, the following :-- Year 1804 : Captains of Royal Navy, P. D'Auvergne, Prince of Bouillon, appointed 1784. Ships m Commission, The Severn, 44 Guns, Philip, Prince of Bouillon. Year 1808 : Vice-Admiral of the Blue, Prince of Bouillon. Year 1815 : Vice-Admiral of the Red, Prince of Bouillon. These are official and continuous recognitions of the title which a plain man would like to understand. Further, in the list of sub- scribers to Berry's 'History of Guernsey, London, 1815, there appears Vice-Admiral the Prince of Bouillon. Now, what is the