Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/317

 9*s. vm. OCT. 12, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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"grass- widow" in Strohwitwe. Kluge points out, s.v., that this is formed after the analogy of Strohbraut (Bavarian Strohjungfer), it having been the custom for a bride, after the consummation of her marriage, to wear a straw wreath in her hair. A straw-widow, consequently, is one who is no widow.

H. P. L.

" PRO VIDING"= PROVIDED (9 th S. viii. 162). This usage receives dictionary recognition. The entry in the 'Encyclopaedic Dictionary' is, "As conj.: Provided; on condition that; it being understood that." There is a refer- ence to " provided," but no illustrative quotation. THOMAS BAYNE.

COMIC DIALOGUE SERMON (9 th S. vii. 248, 339). The practice of imparting instruction in the manner described in * N. & Q.' is popular all through Italy, and has been in use for hundreds of years. It is known as "II Dotto e F Ignorante" ("The Learned and the Ignorant Man"). A year or two ago this " merry conceit " was employed at a mission in the Catholic church of Calicut, " for the better establishment of the faith and the con- fusion and conversion of unbelievers." The part of the " Ignorante " is the more difficult to sustain, for trumping up the old received assertions, and flying from one point to another, will avail as little as did the astute- ness of the Rev. Mr. Pope in the famous con- troversy of Pope and Maguire, or the equally historical one of " The Goan Padre " (Blessed Rudolph Acquaviva, S.J.) at the Court of Akbar (see Tennyson's * Akbar's Dream ').

M.

Mangalore.

" MARY'S CHAPPEL " (9 th S. vii. 168, 275, 373) t This print proves to be connected with the church of St. Mary the Virgin, Charing Cross Road. The Rev. G. C. Wilton, the vicar, has published a little book of pictures (including this one) connected with the church, which he will gladly send to any one in exchange for a few shillings for his restoration fund. J Rees, the designer, was minister of the church in 1824. EDWARD HERON- ALLEN.

'THE LOST PLEIAD' (9 th S. vi. 49, 274 333). With much pleasure I solve this debated question of authorship and date hitherto misrepresented by three corre spondents. The true author was Felici Dorothea Hemans ; the date certainly before 1830, when the poem was reprinted by Johr Sharpe, of Piccadilly, on p. 118 of 'The Lyre, No. 3 of his series " The Library of Belle Lettres " a choice little four-shilling volume

x-360 pp. The poem is entitled "The Pleiad : by Mrs. Hemans," with motto, Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below.

Lord Byron, 'Beppo,' stanza 14.

nd is there glory from the Heavens departed ?

Oh, void unmark'd ! thy sisters of the sky Still hold their place on high,

hough from its rank thine orb so long hath started,

Thou ! that no more art seen of mortal eye.

lath the night lost a gem, the regal night ?

She wears her crown of old magnificence,

Though thou art called thence ! ^o desert seems to part those urns of light,

'Midst the far depths of purple gloom intense.

?hey rise in joy, the starry myriads burning ! The shepherd greets them on his mountains free,

And from the silvery sea LO them the sailor's wakeful eye is turning ; Unchanged they rise, they have not mourn'd for thee!

Jould'st thou be shaken from thy radiant place, E'en as the dewdrop from the myrtle spray, Swept by the wind away ?

Wert thou not peopled by some glorious race, And was there power to smite them with decay ?

Why, who shall talk of thrones, of sceptres riven ?

It is too sad to think on what we are,

When from its height afar A world sinks thus ; and yon majestic Heaven

Shines not the less for that one vanish'd star !

It is a lucky chance that has brought again Defore the eyes of readers this tender little poem by Mrs. Felicia Hemans, who died in 1835. The memory of her influence is dear to us who had welcomed her verses and loved the pure, unaffected simplicity of her stainless character. The bulk of her total works, her more ambitious poems, such as ' The Vespers of Palermo' and 'Forest Sanctuary,' weigh heavily against her; but there are left a score of virtually flawless gems that cannot lose their lustre. Fastidious F. T. Palgrave refused to admit them into his ' Golden Treasury' in 1861, but they will be remem- bered long after he and his annotations have been forgotten. J. WOODFALL EBSWORTH.

The Priory, Ashford, Kent.

SIR FRANCIS JONES, LORD MAYOR OF LONDON, 1620-21 (9 th S. viii. 65, 190). I would add to my reply at the latter reference the following particulars, most of which my researches have brought forth since it was forwarded on 26 July last. This Sir Francis Jones was born about 1559, and died at Wellford, co. Berks, 23 December, 1622. His eldest son and heir, Abraham Jones, of the Middle Temple, London, and of Wellford, was born c. 1595, and died at the latter place 21 January, 1627/8, his relict Susanna administering to his effects in P.C.C., 13 May, 1630. She was living, a widow, 29 April, 1634, when, with the three other