. i. jrxE is, 1904.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
493
equal to 120)"; which is correct. The original
sense seems to have been simply "quantity
of material," and it is the same word as the
timber for building. WALTER W. SKEAT.
See 'Liber Albus' (Rolls Series), Anglo- Norman Glossary, s.v. 'Tie,' where further references are given, which AYEAHR may consult with profit. R. R. S.
In reply to AYEAHR'S inquiry as to the meaning of this, I may state that a "tyrnber" of ermine or any other fur contained forty skins of the same. See ' Ledger of Andrew Haliburton ' (Scottish Record Series), p. 359.
J. B. P.
T. L. O. Davies, in his 'Supplementary English Glossary,' has the following quota- tion :
"Having presented them with two timber
of sables, which with much diligence had been recovered out of the wreck, he was by them remitted to his lodging." Peter Heylin, ' Hist, of Reformation,' 1674.
EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.
[Other replies acknowledged.]
COFFIN HOUSE (10 th S. i. 388). The Coffin House at Brixham to which MR. DAVY refers is not the only building erected in the form of a coffin in England. At Fresshingfield, in Suffolk, is a Baptist chapel known as the Coffin Chapel, which is visited by numbers of people on account of its gruesome form. It is said that the pastor who left the money with which to build it after this design obtained his inspiration from the house at Brixham. Some account of this latter house appeared several years ago in the Brixham paper, and may be found, I believe, in the archives of the Devonshire Archaeological Society. A former vicar of Brixham also compiled a brief history of the house ; but I am unable to recall in what periodical it appeared. FREDERICK T. HIBGAME.
TEMPLE COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA (10 th S. i. 207, 297). I am informed by the editor of the leading Masonic newspaper in America (the Key-stone) that Temple College ranks very high in the opinion of American educational authorities, and that its status is unquestionable. This is the unbiassed opinion of a leading American citizen whose disinterestedness cannot be questioned. The President is Russell H. Conwell, D.D., LL.D., from whom I have received the following letter :
"Your letter addressed to the Temple College, concerning the right of the institution to confer degrees, has been referred to me. We will send
you with this same mail the catalogue of the-
College, which gives full information concerning,
that subject.
"The honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity is- conferred only upon those who have been especially recommended by at least five distinguished men.' who are acquainted with the candidates for the degree. It is never conferred for money or any other reward, and consequently no money would be received from any person upon whom the degree was conferred. The annual meeting for the con- sideration of the degrees for this year has already been held, consequently no further applications- can be received until next April.
"Our trustees have been very favourable towards- the idea of giving honorary degrees to those living: in England whose scholarship entitles them to the honor, because of their desire to cement more closely the fraternal ties now existing between the Mother Country and America ; but they strive to exercise the most conservative care in granting such degrees, so that the institution may not cheapen its honors."
CHAS. F. FORSHAW, LL.D.
Baltimore House, Bradford.
WEBSTER'S 'BASQUE LEGENDS' (10 th S. i. 190). The origin of Mr. W. Webster's ' Basque Legends ' has never been explained. Though I have conversed with hundreds of Basks in most parts of Baskland, at intervals since Ascension Day, 1886, I have never heard one of them recite or mention anything like any one of these legends. The nearest approach to it has been a casual allusion to "Baso- Yauna," the lord of the forest, an imaginary sprite, somewhat like "Hearn the Hunter." Mr. Webster once wrote to me that he "knows very little Basque." On another occasion he showed me in his house at Sara, in 1888, the manuscript Baskish version of his ' Legends.' It was in the handwriting of M. J. Vinson. It is, therefore, not wonderful that this text has not been published, because M. Vinson does not like to be corrected or criticized, and the Basks are wont to say that he neither writes nor translates their language correctly. Yet his published writings prove that he has done so, now and then. May one conjecture that Mr. Webster elaborated them, with the aid of his- friend M. Julien Vinson, in order to satisfy the craving of those readers who prefer fiction, and ben trovato, to vero and realities ? Both of them are alive. Let us hope that they will clear up this bibliographical ques- tion. E. S. DODGSON.
BIRTH-MARKS (10 th S. i. 362, 430). A propos of MR. HOOPER'S note, it might not be out of the way to mention a curious book I found some time ago at public auction :
The Force of the Mother's Imagination upon her Foatus in Utero, still farther considered : In the way of a Reply to Dr. Blondel's last Book, en
