Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/386

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NOTES AND QUERIES, [9* s. vm. NOV. 9, 1901.

11 March, 1658, by I. De Hanstegvi. Then come two tables for finding the Church festivals from 1657 to 1671 inclusive, and on p. 10 there are notices about ember days, " Garthez," and times when marriage was forbidden. Pp. 11 to 30 inclusive give the ecclesiastical calendar, the months being called Urtharilla, Oxailla, Marchoa, Apirilla, Maiatca, Errearoa, Uztailla, Abostua, Burulla, Urria, Hacilla, Abendoa, names now for- gotten or illegitimately confounded by many Basks. On p. 31 begin " Orhoitgari Batgu," that is, " Some Memoranda." P. 34 consists of an engraving of the Annunciation of Our Lady, signed " I D," and on p. 35 one gets "Matutinac Incarnacinoaz," i.e., " The Mattins of the Incarnation." Thence down to p. 191 inclusive, with the exception of a few prayers and responses, the offices are in rime. Then comes "Examena," or examination before confession, followed by Eucharistic Devotions, and meditations on sin, death, the patron saint, the guardian angel, general counsels, &c. The last page ends, like p. 4, with the words " Vici bedi lesus eta Maria."

Mr. Nicholson refers the name Marescha to Thomas Marshall, Dean of Gloucester (1621- 1685), who is described in the 'Dictionary of National Biography' as a student of languages. In 'Annals of the Bodleian Library,' by W. D. Mac ray, he is said to have been known also by the name of Mareschal. The words " The Second Book " in the title suggest inquiry for the first book. Was it ever published ? Has a copy of it survived 1 The Baskish used in the book is much superior to that written during the nine- teenth century, which was a period of decadence in literary style.

The Bodleian possesses the reputed unique copy of a book in the same Labourdin dialect by Stephen Materre, printed at Bordeaux in 1623. The late Mr. Llewelyn Thomas, Vice -Principal of Jesus College, Oxford (to whom I suggested the publication of P. d'Urte's Labourdin version of Genesis and part of Exodus, on first meeting him in the library at Bayonne in the summer of 1892), marked (illegally) in pencil upon the margin of the Bodleian copy of M. Vinson's 'Bibliography' some useful corrections of the description therein given of this treasure. It contains one of the earliest known instances of the use of the word " etorkia," by which P. d'Urte translated Genesis, a word perfectly familiar to Basks of the

E resent generation. As Mr. Thomas's notes ave not yet been published, let them appear 4 here :

P. 52, 1. 16, for "licencia" read licentia.

P. 52, 1. 10 from below, for "1613" read 1623.

P. 53, 1. 14, after "30 " insert Th. Seld.

P. 53, 1. 21, for " Murguy " read Murgy.

P. 53, 1. 4 from below, for " gogora " read gogoca, though "gogora "is what the original ought to have had.

In M. J. Vinson's description of the ' Imitatio ' in the Gipuskoan dialect, printed at Tolosa in 1829, and numbered 211 A in his ' Bibliography,' the number of pages does not tally with that in a copy which I have examined. Perhaps there were two different editions of it in that same year. EDWARD SPENCER DODGSON.

Bodleian Library, Oxford.

THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL AND ST. GEORGE.

THIS is the order the decorations of which are most largely drawn upon when it is desired to reward or compliment persons who have rendered services to their country which may be specially characterized as of a colonial nature. At the present time, when our recent foreign affairs nave rendered these services particularly acceptable and grateful to the mother country, it may be as well to consider in some detail what this order is, and whether it can be said to fulfil the object for which it was founded or to which it is now being devoted.

Originally a comparatively small order, consisting of the Sovereign, the Grand Master, twenty Knights Grand Crosses, twenty Knight Commanders, and twenty- five Companions (then called "Cavalieri" with respect to the Ionian and Maltese members), it was founded in the year 1818, for natives of the Ionian Islands, Malta, and its dependencies, and others holding high positions in the Mediterranean. Since then it has been considerably extended from time to time, particularly in 1868, with the object of making it an order of merit for the British colonies, when it was raised to ! twenty-five Grand Crosses, sixty Knight I Commanders, and one hundred Companions. The extent of the increase to which its membership has since been subjected may be gathered from the fact that in May, 1887 (the date of the last augmentation), the number had risen to sixty -five Grand Crosses, two hundred Knight Commanders, and three hundred and forty-two Companions (see the chapter on ' The Orders of Knighthood ' in Woodward's 'Heraldry : British and Foreign,' edition 1896, vol. ii. pp. 343 et seq.).

Although these statutes were repealed byj the last ones promulgated in 1891, the num-l