218
NOTES AND QUERIES. [10* s. n. SEPT. 10, 1904.
bolder spirits bethought themselves of the
German ^Pfingsten; whist the equally wi d
idea of explaining Whitsun- from the Old
TJizh German wizzan (pronounced witsan), to
know was reserved for the twentieth cen-
turv ' Of course this involves the assumption
that the word was formed from an infinitive
mood, and meant "to know Sunday"; but
nothing is ever seen by such ingenious
people in a comic light.
WALTER W. SKEAT.
Greenwell, in his 'British Barrows' p. 412, mentions " a remarkable assemblage of early remains, consisting of a very interesting example of a fortified place called Whitsun Bank, several series of sculptured rock- markings, and sundry barrows." These are at Chatton, in Northumberland. If we may take this as our guide, we ought to divide the word as Whitsun-day, not Whit-sunday.
S. O. ADDY.
"VINE" TAVERN, MILE END (10 th S. ii. 16 7) _ I have always been led to believe that the old "Vine "Tavern occupied the site of one of the toll-houses which flanked the Mile End turnpike gate. If so, I presume the old shanty was erected on the demolition ot the gate on 31 October, 1866. A correspondence on this subject took place in the antiquarian column of the JSast London Advertiser in 1899-1900, and references were given to a number of pictures of the gate previous to its demolition. I can supply MR. NORMAN with particulars concerning these if desired.
JOHN T. PAGE.
West Haddon, Northamptonshire.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
County of Suffolk: ^s History as disclosed by Existing Records, <fcc. By W. A. Copmger, LL.D. Vol I. (Sotheran & Co.)
WE have here from Prof. Copinger, an ex-president of the Bibliographical Society, to whom are owing, among other works, 'Incunabula Biblica and a sppliment to Hain's ' Repertorium Bibhogra- phicum,' a book which, so far j we know, is unique. It consists of an alphabetical list of all materials for the history of Suffolk existing in the Siape of MSS., Charters and Rolls in the British SSeum, the Record Office, and all accessible Dublic and private depositories. The volume now issued comprises the letters A-B. It may accord- ingly be assumed that the entire work will be completed in about six volumes. It is difticul to convey an idea of the wealth of material thus calendared or of the amount of labour involved in the execution of the task Under headings such as Bohun, Bury, and the like, the reader will find proof of the kind of investigation that is made. In addition to information as to arms, pedigrees, &c.,
there are, under Bohun. references to the Harleiau
and Rawlinson MSS., the Close Rolls, the Gentle-
man's Magazine, " N. & Q. ,' the registries of Queen's-
College, Oxford, the publications of the Suffolk
Institute of Archaeology, and innumerable other
publications. Over 460 pages are published, each
containing on an average some forty to fifty entries.
How much this work will facilitate the labours of
future historians and topographers will be apparent
at a mere glance over the pages. It is inconceivable
that a book of the class shall, under present con-
ditions, be remunerative, since the outlay must
inevitably be heavy. It is accordingly only a man
of wealth and leisure by whom the performance of
such a task can be accomplished. Some attempt to
issue the records by subscription has been made, and
a list of subscribers is given at the end. This, which
occupies a single page, contains eighty odd names,,
very many of whom are naturally correspondents
of ' N. & Q.' The only libraries which figure as sub-
scribers are Chetham's Library, Manchester, the
Manchester Public Libraries, the John Rylands
Library, Manchester, the Gonville and Caius
Library, the Lincoln's Inn Library, the Reform-
Club Library, the Norfolk and Norwich Library,
the Newberry Library, Chicago, and the Library of
Yale University. Such great collections even as
the Athenaeum and the Guildhall are unrepresented-
It is scarcely to the purpose to wish that a similar
task could be accomplished for all our counties.
We can only congratulate Dr. Copinger upon
tiis loyal and disinterested labours, and Suffolk
students on the sort of supremacy for which they
are indebted to him.
Classical and Foreign Quotations. Compiled, edited,.
&c., by W. Francis H. King, M.A. (Whitaker &
Sons.)
IN its third edition, which has been revised and rewritten, the present work is, in its line, the best available. It has been exposed during recent years bo formidable competition, yet it maintains up till now its supremacy. The work of a good scholar, it is thoroughly trustworthy as regards its classical quotations, in which, indeed, it approaches per- fection. Finality is not, however, to be hoped in a work of this class, and will never be obtained. There is not, perhaps, a single arduous ^student, who has not, in some form or other, preserved sententious or gnomical passages by which he has been struck. We have ourselves indulged in the practice for more than half a century. In the case- f classical subjects we have few omissions to note n the new work. From Moliere, on the other land, we have innumerable extracts, most of which- differ from those included in Mr. King's volume, while in Montaigne we feel disposed to complain of absolute shortcoming. From our own garner we could easily enlarge and improve the volume, and we suspect that there are few serious students who-
- ouid not say the same. Occasionally, but rarely,,
we come on an inaccuracy.
The conscious water saw its God, and blushed, attributed to R. Crashaw, is by Aaron Hill. Drashaw is responsible for the Latin original only.. More often we find omissions ; but for these we lesitate to condemn. Many mottoes are given.. That of Scribe, which we think one of the best, is omitted. It is in a scroll round a pen, and runs,. "Inde fortuna et libertas." " Fuimus," the noble- motto of the Bruces, might also be given with,
