Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/251

 9's. vm. SEPT. 2i, IDOL] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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form of speech is sometimes used with regarc to very old " childish " persons, or to those a the point of death. This was formerly more common than it is now, but the custom stil" survives. Not very long ago my sister, call ing at a house where " the master " lay dying was asked by his wife to sit by the bedsidt for a few minutes while she got herself a cup of tea. During the time my sister remained the woman several times came to the door and asked, " Does it breathe 1 " This was a case in which the patient had lain for days in a semi-conscious state. There was no lack of affection on the wife's part, but her hus- band had ceased to her rustic apprehension to be a person, and had become a thing.

C. C. B. Epworth.

Qttffttf*

WE must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.

THE DICTION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT (GREEK). I have lately been studying the subject of the diction of the Greek Testament, and find a strange and startling discrepancy of opinion between two first-class authorities. The well-known Prof. Blass, in his ' Grammar of New Testament Greek ' (English transla- tion), says at p. 1 : " The language employed in the N.T. is such as was spoken in the lower circles of society." On the other hand, the Rev. H. A. A. Kennedy, the author of 'Sources of New Testament Greek,' asserts strongly the opposite in more than one passage of his very able and learned book. For example, I find at p. 69 :

" The vocabulary of this collection of books [i.e., the N.T.] cannot with accuracy be denominated 'vulgar,' seeing it possesses so many elements in common with the rest 9f Greek literature, four- fifths of it being pre-Aristotelian, and a consider- able part of the remaining fifth belonging to the literary dialect of the time. These characteristics give it a distinct tone, which marks it as the pro- perty of educated men."

Mr. Kennedy is not so widely known as Prof. Blass, but no one can read his book without being impressed with his width of reading, his sound scholarship, and his con- scientious and painstaking research. His conclusions are certainly not to be lightly set aside even if they flatly contradict the judgment of the famous German professor, who is, I believe, generally regarded as one of the greatest Greek scholars of the present day. But such a divergence, of opinion is

not a little bewildering to the student. I wonder whether among the multitudinous readers of * N. & Q.' there are any who have made a special study of this particular point, and who could give me some assistance in arriving at a sound result. I do not want, however, to be referred to any of the standard works like Winer, Green, Viteau, Mullach, &c. All of these are already within my reach, as they were also within the reach of the two writers who have arrived at such contrary opinions. PERTINAX.

NURSERY RIME. Where can I find the full text of the nursery tale beginning

John and his mare a journey went,

Humble, dumble, derry dee ; They travelled slow by joint consent, Tweedle, tweedle, twinerree ?

W. B. W.

Edinburgh.

REDMAYNE FAMILY. I shall be greatly obliged to any reader who can inform me whether Dr. John Redmayne (1499-1551), who was the first Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and one of the compilers of the Prayer Book, or Sir John Redmayne, Governor of Pontefract, &c. (1605-59), was descended from Sir Richard Redmayne, of Elarewood Castle, Speaker of the House of Commons in 1415. If so, I shall be very glad to learn the descent. W. GREENWOOD.

Croylands, Spring Grove, Isleworth.

CHILDREN HANGED. In ' N. & Q.,' 3 rd S. i. 39, it was stated that " so late as 1831 a boy nine years of age was hung at Chelmsford for arson committed at Witham, in the county of ssex." Is this correct ; and, if so, could more precise details be discovered 1

POLITICIAN.

" PANSHON." A local controversy has

arisen with regard to the word "panshon."

Among those interested the only available

dictionary that quotes the word is Webster's

edition 1900), where the definition is as

ollows : *' Parishon (pan'-shun), n. An

earthen vessel wider at the top than at the

)ottom, used for holding milk and for

Carious other purposes (Prov. Eng.)." And

he authority quoted is Halliwell.

May panshon now be considered within

he pale as a proper English word ? What

are the derivations of the two parts of the

word ? Is not the definition of ' Webster's

Dictionary' faulty in so far as that given

applies equally to an ordinary basin ; and

hould not the definition state as an essential

iharacteristic that a panshon is a shallow

vessel, capable of exposing a large surface of