n s. xn. DEC. 11. 1915.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
467
- Nail " was translated into law-French and
Latin as cloue, clavus, instead of ongle, unguis, either by the blunder of a scribe or through the influence of "clove." "claw," taken from the French name of the nail- shaped spice. The familiar word was readily adopted as the name of the nail-weight, not at seven pound as ordei'ed, but at eight pound ; the half of the old English stone. Now this word " cloue " having been adopted as equivalent of " nail," it is possible that in some mediaeval documents " clove " might mean an iron nail. The annual payment of horseshoes and nails by the City of Lon- don, if I mistake not, as quit-rent for some land, may be a relic of some such payment In nails. EDWARD NICHOLSON.
Les Cycas, Cannee,
[The clove in question is given as the clavus gario/ili. "Clove-gillyflower" is recognized in the 'N.E.D.'as the equivalent of " clou de girofle" being a separate thing from the English " clove-gilly- flower." In the particular Calendar of Inquisitions {Edward I.) which we took to quote in our reply, the quit-rent of a peppercorn appears three times.]
MB. RAINEY : BIBLE BEFORE 1611 (11 S. xii. 183). Judged by popularity, the most likely edition was one of the handy Genevan versions, generally issued in small foolscap <juarto size, and frequently having, about that period, the " breeches " rendering of Genesis iii. 7. (See Dore's ' Old Bibles ' for fuller detail.) W. JAGGARD, Lieut.
AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE BIBLE (11 S- xii. 183, 266, 362). Has your correspondent consulted Arber's ' Transcript of the Stationers' Registers' for the year 1611 ? .Many historical details of this version may be found in Dore's ' Old Bibles,' p. 322 et seq. W. JAGGARD, Lieut.
THEOLOGICAL DISPUTATIONS BY MEANS OF SIGNS (11 S. xii. 96, 167, 387, 407). As I have seen no reference to Rabelais (1483- 1553) in the correspondence on this subject, I should like to draw the attention of the original querist to ' Pantagruel,' book i. ^haps. xviii.-xx.., which contain the story " Comment un grand clerc d'Angleterre '(Thaumaste) vouloit arguer contre Panta- gruel (par signes sans par! er) et fut vaincupar Panurge." .My edition of the w T orks of Rabelais is that of Louis Barre, published at Paris by Gamier Freres in 1876. When the inquiry appeared in ' N. & Q.' the tale came to my memory, and I recollected having formed an impression that it was not a new one when Rabelais gave it to the w T orld. On looking it up I find the following foot-note | to chap. xx. : " Tout ce chapitre est une
raillerie dirigee contre la pretendue science
des Signes et des Nombres enseignee par
1' Anglais Beda " ; while in chap, xviii.
mention is made of Bede's work ' De Xumeris
et Signis.' I have no English version of
Rabelais, but I remember that an edition in
English, claiming to be as nearly as possible
a literal translation, was prepared some
years ago by the late W. M. Thompson,
editor of Reynolds' s Newspaper, and was
published by John Dicks & Co.
WM. C. KINLEY.
The Aberdeen incident described by your correspondent on p. 167 is not quite complete. The full interview is given in a poem to be found in an old number of Chambers' 1 s Journal of about the middle forties ; I am sorry I cannot give exact date. It is in the Spenserian stanza, and contains the incidents already named with the follow- ing addition (I give it from memory) :
Before quitting the room the Spaniard holds up an orange, to which Geordie replies by extracting from his pocket a crust of dry bread and flourishing it in the Spaniard's face. The Spaniard says that he produced the orange in proof of the Creator's bounty to mankind, and that the Scotchman re- buked him by showing that, though luxuries were confined to a few, God provided good food for all ; and the stanza ends :
No more could I presume
To question him ; I silent left the room.
Geordie's account had it that the orange was exhibited to show how much better off Spain was than Scotland, whereupon he held up his bit of bread to show that Scotchmen could do without luxuries.
Perhaps some correspondent can supply the exact date of the journal in question.
W. SURR.
WAS ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY A BENEDICTINE MONK? (11 S. xii 86, 345.) J'aurais du me douter que la question posee par votre erudit correspondant n'etait pas si simple. J'ai trouve recemment quelques documents qui confirment que St. Thomas etait considere comme ayant ete moine : Roger de Pontigny, iv. 21 ; John of Salisbury, ii. 306 ; Gamier de Pont St. Maxence, 23. Mais je regrette de n'avoir pas rencontre plus tot une Saga islandaiso (consacrant des traditions du XIII. siecle) qui fait de St. Thomas Becket un religieux regulier Augustin.
Kile indique le moment ou aurait eu lieu 1'ordination monacale, un peu avant la consecration episcopate, et le lieu meme de
