Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/352

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io- s. m. APBIL 15, IMS.


vellyn, viz., as "Yellow mountain" (alluding to its " gorse-covered slopes "), now generally accepted 1 (See his ' Names and their His- tory,' second ed., 1898.)

If the first part of this name Hel can be identified with a Gaelic and Old Irish obsolete word ai7 = rock (v. Al. Macbain's ' Gaelic Dic- tionary/ Inverness, 1896), and if the second part vellyn is = Cymric or Welsh melyn, yellow (initial m being changed in to/ or v, according to the Cymric law of mutation), the name would evidently denote Yellow rock. The Cymric noun llel,& meadow or dale, occurring in O. Pughe's ' Welsh Diet.,' could hardly be applied to the summit or peak of a mountain. It seems strange that so few ancient Cymric local names appear to have been preserved in Cumberland (besides Helvellyn, for instance, Penrith), since this region was early cut off from the principality of Cymru, and popu- lated by Anglian and Norse settlers, who must have replaced the old by new local names.

After I had written the above, my attention was kindly drawn (by the editor of the great, and now happily finished ' E.D.D.,' Prof. J. Wright) to B. Ferguson's 'Dialect of Cum- berland." This Cumberland glossary, printed at Carlisle in 1873, contains a welcome supple- mentary chapter on its place- (and river-) names. They appear to be thoroughly in- vestigated and elucidated, both regarding the Celtic and Old Norse sources of their origin. However, this book does not record nor deal with our Celtic mountain-name in question, Helvellyn. H. KREBS.

" WARM SUMMER SUN." The following lines were inscribed by Mark Twain upon his daughter's gravestone ; but he does not know their author. What was his name ? Warm summer sun, Shine kindly here. Warm southern wind, Blow softly here. Green sod above, Lie light, lie light. Good- night, dear heart, Good-night good-night.

D. M. Philadelphia.

JUVENAL TRANSLATED BY WORDSWORTH. I have seen a statement that Wordsworth once attempted a translation of Juvenal. Has it ever been published ? and, if so, is it now obtainable ? KOM OMBO.

WEATHERCOCK. Why "weather," seeing that it indicates nothing but wind 1 True, we speak of "wind and weather," yet the very combination implies a distinction.


Nevertheless, when a sailor speaks of "weather" he is thinking chiefly of wind.

SHACKLEWELL. In one of his whimsical papers Wainewright mentions his many walks with Charles Lamb about Shacklewell. I often tread the classic ground of Shackle- well Lane, where I believe Elia lived during the most distressing period of his life, and where the tragedy that nearly wrecked his life happened. Will some student of Eliana be good enough to tell me where the famous old house may be, that I may seize the first opportunity to visit it 1

M. L. E, BRESLAR.

[Lamb when his sister killed his mother was living at Little Queen Street, Holborn.]

DRYDEN'S SISTERS. I should be glad to know if any late works have thrown any new light on the subject of the _ sisters of John Dryden, the poet, who are said to have married London tradesmen, but concerning whom few details are given. A. F. R N.

MRS. HUMBY, ACTRESS. Is anything known of this lady beyond the somewhat meagre account of her in the ' Diet. Nat. Biog.' by Mr. Joseph Knight? It seems incredible that there is no record of the later years nor of the date of the death of so distinguished an actress, the contemporary of Macready, Listpn, Fawcett, and other celebrated players with whose lives we are familiar. On the death of her first husband Mrs. Humby married again, but it seems scarcely probable that she relinquished the name by which she had been known ever since her first appearance on the stage.

What was the name of Mrs. Humby's second husband? If this were known it might be possible to trace the date of her decease. JOHN HEBB.

"LEDIG": "LEISURE": "LiCERE." Brachet, s.v. loisir, connects this with Lat. licere. So Skeat, s.v. leisure. But Kluge, 'Diet.' (1891), s.v. ledig, connects this with O. Icel. lifagr, free, untrammelled ; Mid. E. leQi, a., unoccupied, and lethe, sb., spare time; and doubtfully with A.-S. unlcede, un- happy, or Lat. liber (for lethero), free. Which authority is right ? T. WILSON.

[The 'N.E.D.,' under leisure, says the word is adopted from O.F. leisir (mod. F. loisir], subst. use of the infinitive leisir, representing L. licere, to be permitted.]

VALUE OF MONEY IN SHAKESPEARE'S TIME. Mr. Sidney Lee, in his 'Life of Shakespeare,' estimates Shakespeare's income in 1599 at