492
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. m. JUNE 24,
ourie, Banffshire, who received in 1625 a
>aronetcy (of Nova Scotia). This, I pre-
ume, is the family after which A. C. G. D.
s inquiring. The ninth baronet, Sir Robert
Jlendowyn Gordon, was living, I believe,
n 1895. Your correspondent will find a
>edigree of this family in Burke's ' Baronet-
,ge '; Genealogical Magazine, vol. ii. p. 247;
md the Sketch for 31 Oct., 1898.
CHAS. H. CKOUCH. Nightingale Lane, Wansteacl.
PREEN, SALOP (9 th S. iii. 259, 418). ME, )UIGNAN'S suggestion seems to be a good >ne; otherwise " pear-tree " does not, to me, eem such an out-of-the-way one, for a por- ion of the communal woods of Chateauiieuf s known as " Le Bois de nos Poiriers." A mall wild pear, answering to the crab-apple,
- rows in the woods of Burgundy; whether
t is found in England I do not know.
THOMAS J. JEAKES.
Tower House, New Hampton.
" WlGS ON THE GREEN " (9 th S. iii. 349). Is -his not reminiscent of Donnybrook Fair, vhere the Irishman was in his glory? lis clothes spick and span new, without e'er a speck, V neat Barcelona tied round his neat neck, rle goes to a tent, and he spends half-a-crown; 3e meets with a friend, and for love knocks him
down iVith his sprig of shillelah, and shamrock so green!
In 'The Groves of Blackpool' we read of
- he Cork militia
De boys dey came flocking around us, Not a hat nor wig stuck to a skull, To compliment dose Irish heroes Returned to de groves of de Pool.
There is a note in Maria Edgeworth's 'Castle ftackrent' explaining that labourers of the >ld school
' are not in any danger of catching cold by taking )ff their wigs occasionally; because they usually lave fine crops growing under their wigs. The tvigs are often yellow, and the hair which appears from beneath them black; the wigs are usually too small, and are raised up by the hair beneath, or by
- he ears of the wearers.
It is obvious that the perukes of these bewigged peasants would soon be strewn on the green in a Donnybrook scuffle.
JAMES HOOPER. Norwich.
Scatterashuns : a riot or tumult in civic life, of which evidence exists in the wigs left on the field of contest, as arms and armoui on that of a real battle-field. But this, I fear is not giving the origin, and neither the 'H.E.D.'nor 'Slang and its Analogues ' can come to our aid just yet with possibly the firs instance of use. J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL.
' PEPYSIANA' (9 th S. iii. 388). It is recorded
n 'N. & Q.,'5 th S.v.l 68, that
'in 1858 the Rev. .John Smith, of Baldock
Rectory, Herts, who deciphered the famous 'Diary,'
tated that he had prepared a history of it ' which,'
aid he, ' may one day see the light as a sequel to
he "Curiosities of Literature" and "The Calamities
>f Authors."
In confirmation of this fact, the title-page
- o the sixth edition of the * Diary,' issued by
H. G. Bohn in 4 vols., 1858, bears the follow- ng information :
"The diary deciphered by the Rev. J. Smith, A.M., from the original shorthand MS. in the Pepysian Library."
EVERARD HOME COLEMAN.
71, Brecknock Road.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (9 th S. iii. 425). The dedica- tion of Wrangham's ' Plutarch,' third edition, 1819, is dated Hunmanby, Dec. 1, 1808. It was announced in 'Censura Literaria^lSOS, vi. 320. I have seen statements of editions dated 1809, 1810, 1813, 1819, 1826. Possibly there is an error somewhere. Were all the six volumes issued together 1 To new-date an old title-page is a well-known trick of the trade. W. C. B.
THE CONSONANTAL COMBINATION " ST " (9 th S. ii. 424, 515; iii. 133, 236). MR. ADAMS makes a distinction between using amidst, amongst, betivixt, whilst, before a vowel and using them before a consonant; but the great poets and the great prose writers have made no such distinction :
Amidst the importance and multiplicity of affairs, &c. Dr. Johnson to Warren Hastings. Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down.
Goldsmith.
Amidst the ashes of a glass-house in December. Macaulay, Essay on Boswell's ' Johnson.' Amongst these mighty men were women mixt.
Spenser. Betwixt them both the fair Medina sat.
Spenser.
Whilst thus they mingled were in furious arms.
Spenser.
I gave similar examples from Milton before; and I also could give examples from Shak- speare and others. I do not understand v. hy there ever should be care to avoid the above words, when there are in the English lan- guage words abounding in consonants which must be used. As an instance of such a word I quote the following line : At length they chanced to meet upon the way.
Spenser.
If a poet wrote a stanza in which there was much repetition of the sound st, it might be desirable to use whilst rather than while, or amongst rather than among. While or among
