148
NOTES AND QUERIES.
[12S.1V. MAY, 1918.
Primitive Sun Dials or Scratch Dials : containing
a List of those in Somerset. By Dom Ethelbert
Home. (The Author, Downside Abbey, near
Bath, 4s. 4<L post free.)
FATHER HORNE has produced an exhaustive little monograph upon a subject that has puzzled many antiquaries, viz., the primitive sundials consisting of a few lines cut directly on the stone of numerous old parish churches. For these he suggests the name of " Scratch dials," and he explains how they differ from true sundials. He examines the various theories that have been put forward respecting their age and origin, and comes to the conclusion that " the original object of the Scratch dial was to mark the hour for mass. And if it had a further use, it was probably to tell the hour for vespers as well." Dr. .T. Charles Cox, the well-known ecclesiologist, who contributes the Introduction, accepts the conclusions which Father Home here sets forth.
The book is furnished with numerous plates showing the various types of dials, and the Appendix, which occupies more than half the volume, contains classified lists of all the churches in Somerset in which such dials have been dis- covered. Each dial is separately described, and its exact position noted, the date when it was examined being added in most cases. These details will give an idea of the thorough way in which Father Home has studied his subject. He has been aided by many friends, and it is pleasant to find recorded among them " Mr. E. E. Purnell, the rural postman at Queen Camel, who made a careful list of the Scratch dials in his neighbour- hood where they abound and gave me con- siderable assistance with them."
Dragoons,' 1887 (8s.) ; Sir George Arthur's ' Story
of the Household Cavalry,' 2 vols., 1909 (II. 6s.) ;
Davis's ' Historical Records of the 2nd Royal
Surrey,' 1877 (5s. 6d.) ; and Burgoyne's ' Historical
lecords of the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders,'
883 (12s.). Our sailors are not overlooked;
witness James's ' Naval History of Great Britain,
1793-1820,' 1826, 6 vols. (11. 10s.). ' Le Diction-
naire Infernal, ou Bibliotheque Universelle, aux
\pparitions, k la Magie, au Commerce de l'Enfer, r
&c., 4 vols., Paris, 1825 (11. 5s.), may appeal to
ome of our readers interested in ' Laying a,
Grhost ' (ante, p. 135).
MESSRS. SIMMONS & WATERS of Leamington Spa begin their Catalogue 305 with a number of extra-illustrated works, ranging from Cunning- lam's ' Nell Gwyn,' with a Life of the author by 5. B. Wheatley, and 82 additional plates (21. 10s.), A3 a complete set of the Greville Memoirs, 8 vols., with an extensive series of additional portraits and views (14L 14s.). Many of the items are, lowever, less than a half-crown ; and the 5 vols. of the 1765 edition of Bacon's works, in large type, may be had for 17s. 6d., and the first 7 vols. of the Journal of the Ex-Libris Society, 1892-8, for 21. 2s. Two books mentioned in the present number of ' N. <fc Q.' may also be indicated King's ' Classical and Foreign Quotations/ 3rd ed., 1904, 4s. Qd. (see ' Notices to Correspon- dents ' below), and ' Shakespeare's True Life, by J. Walter, 1890, 7s. Qd. (see ante, p. 131).
BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES.
MESSRS. MYERS & Co. open their ' Short List of Hare Books, Original Drawings, Autograph Letters, &c. (List C 8),' with a sumptuous copy of Vidal's ' Picturesque Illustrations of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video,' Ackermann, 1820, containing 18 additional coloured plates showing the native costumes worn in Peru (311. 10s.). For Burns's autograph of the famous four lines beginning " From the white-blossom'd sloe " OOZ. is asked ; and for a series of 46 beautiful drawings by a Chinese artist depicting the manu- facture of s'ilk, and the growing of tea, rice, corn, &c., 1201. Holinshed's ' Chronicles of England,' continued to 1586 by John Hooker, and published in 1587, 3 vols. in 4, with the reprint of the castrations, 1722, the whole bound in crushed red levant morocco by R. de Coverly, is 18?. 10s. A rare Stevenson item is also included : the ' Cata- logue of the Books and Manuscripts of Robert Louis Stevenson in the Library of the late Harry Elkins Widener, with a Memoir by A. S. W Rosenbach,' Philadelphia, privately printed, 191c (151.).
MESSRS. RIMELL & SON'S Catalogue 247 com- prises books relating to biography, history, poetry art, and travel, perhaps the most notable being a volume containing nine plays by Beaumont Fletcher, Shirley, Lee, and others, but especially a fine copy of the Fourth Quarto of ' Othello,' 1655 (100Z.). There are several regimenta histories, such as General De Ainslie's ' Historica Record of the First or Royal Regiment of
to
M. T. F. Both forwarded.
E. S. DODOSON. Forwarded to R. H.
CECIL, CLARKE (" Amelia Mouser "). See query ante, p. 49.
JOHN WILLCOCK (" Than " sometimes a Pre- position). See the discussions at 7 S. xi. 104, 256, 476 ; 9 S. i. 3, 171.
J.T.PAGE (Blackthorn Winter). Gilbert White noted in his ' Selborne ' that the country people spoke of " blackthorn winter."
J. LANDFEAR LUCAS (Bagpipes in Scotland and England). Much on the subject will be found at 6 S. xii. 186, 276, 319 ; 8 S. i. 492 ; ii. 36, with references to numerous authorities.
A. C. T. (Battle of Athanree). Low and Pulling's ' Dictionary of English History ' says that at the battle of Athenry in 1316, between the English and the Irish, 11,000 of the O'Connor sept, who were ostensibly fighting in the interest of Edward Bruce, were slain."
Lucis (" Securus judicat orbis terrarum "). St. Augustine, ' Contra Epist. Parmen.,' iii. 24. King's ' Classical and Foreign Quotations,' 3rd ed., supplies as an English rendering " The verdict of the world is conclusive," and in a long note (p. 311) refers to the effect of St. Augustine's words upon Newman.
G. H. (Etymology of Bedford, Bedanford, or Bedcanforda). Prof. Skeat discussed this pretty fully in his ' Place-Names of Bedfordshire,' printed for the Cambridge Antiquarian Society in 1906. He says that " Sedan is the regular genitive of Beda, so that the sense is ' Beda's ford,' " and that the name " was already in existence in 571."
