82
NOTES - AND QUERIES. [9 th s. VIIL JULY 27, 1901.
sa-tenga, colloquially pronounced s'tenga, "a
half,"'" half-and-half." JAS. PLATT, Jun.
VAILS. The following protest against " tipping " waiters may be of interest. It is extracted from the Stamford Mercury (a pro- vincial weekly) of 14 June, 1764:
"We hear that the Nobility and Gentry, who have left off giving vails to servants in private families, are come to a resolution not to give to the waiters of taverns or coffee-houses they frequent, as their masters can amply afford to give sufficient wages for the genteelest attendance."
J. H. S.
MUMMY WHEAT. The following appears in the Times of Monday, 22 July :
"'J. S. ' writes: 'Your sympathetic obituary notice of Miss Ormerod has told the world of the loss it has suffered by her death. All her life was spent in the improvement of agriculture and the suppression of all insect life injurious to vegetable growth. But she was equally interested in other questions of a kindred kind. I remember when I first had the honour to make her acquaintance I brought her from Egypt some mummy corn that is, corn found with a mummy of an absolutely authentic kind, and I asked her if she believed in the popular tradition that the vital principle of the corn some 4,000 years old was only suspended and not dead. She shook her head, but said, " I will give this corn the very best chance of the right soil, the right amount of moisture and sunshine, and then I will tell you what I think." I saw her some time afterwards, and said, "Well, Miss Ormerod, how about the mummy corn ?" Her reply was, " It is all nonsense the corn was dead thousands of years ago.'"
W. H. P. [See the Sixth and Eighth Series, passim.]
Qntriis.
WE must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.
LAMB QUESTIONS. COL. PRIDEAUX, in his article in 9 th S. vi. 442 on 'Lamb and the Champion,' quoted the following epigram : On a Late Empiric of 11 Balmy" Memory. His namesake, born of Jewish breeder, Knew "from the Hyssop to the Cedar"; But he, unlike the Jewish leader, Scarce knew the Hyssop from the Cedar. The date is about 1820. Can any one explain the reference ?
In the Popular Fallacy that a bully is a coward Lamb speaks of one Hickman : "Hick- man wanted modesty we do not mean him of * Clarissa ' but who ever doubted his courage 1 " Who was Hickman 1
In the Fallacy that handsome is as hand- some does Lamb describes the ugliness of Mrs. Conrady. Was she a real person ?
In the essay on the * Melancholy of Tailors '
there is a reference to " Eliot's famous troop "
charging upon the Spaniards as a proof that
tailors do not lack spirit. What was Eliot's
famous troop? If the Eliot was George
Augustus Eliott, Lord Heathfield, the
Governor of Gibraltar, the troop was pro-
bably the body of horse commanded by him
in Cuba in 1762-3, and afterwards called the
15th, or King's Own Koyal Light Dragoons
(now the 15th Hussars) ; but if so, what con-
nexion is there between them and tailors ?
K. M.
(The epigram on Solomon, the quack doctor, was explained 9 th S. vii. 12. See also 1 Kings iv. 33. " Eliott's famous troop " was raised by the defender of Gibraltar. See 8 th S. v. 328, 413, 478 ; vi. 18, 74.]
ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON. The King states that the late Queen was born in Ken- sington. Is this so 1 Surely Kensington Palace is in Westminster. R. B. T.
' THE Moss ROSE.' I herewith enclose what I remember of a piece of poetry on ' The Moss Rose ' which my father taught me when I was a child. Can any of your correspondents give me the name of the author, or tell me where I can find it ?
The Angel of the Flowers one day
Beneath a rose-tree sleeping lay,
That Spirit to whom charge is given
To bathe young buds in dews from heaven.
Awakening from his light repose,
The Angel whispered to the Rose,
"Ask what thou wilt, 'tis granted thee."
Then said the Rose with deepen'd glow, " On me another grace bestow." The Spirit paused, in silent thought. What grace was there that flower had not? 'Twas but a moment o'er the Rose A veil of moss the Angel throws ; And robed in Nature's simplest weed, Could there a flower that Rose exceed ?
ALEX. THOMS.
COVENTRY CORPUS CHRISTI GUILD. The accounts of the guild's receipts and expendi- ture from 1488 to 1553 are referred to (and one or two extracts given) at p. 101 of the First Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and again (without any further information, save of rebinding) at pp. 103-4
[* O fondest object of my care,
Still fairest found where all are fair, For the sweet shade thou giv'st to me,. These lines originally appeared in Blackwood's Magazine, whence they were transferred to 'The Naturalist's Poetical Companion,' selected by the Rev. Edward Wilson, M.A., F.L.S., second edition, Leeds, 1846 a compilation of much merit. The authorship of the poem has not been ascertained.;]
