398
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. NOV. u, im.
through these the naked feet of the prisoner are
forced, and then made tight in such a manner that
the soles are fairly exposed. The man is then
thrown upon his back, and resting upon neck and
shoulders, with feet inverted, is forthwith beaten
by a third man with a tough heavy stick."
The above describes pretty accurately a scene shown upon a realistically illustrated post card which I purchased, a few weeks ago, in Moscow. It represents the punish- ment as at present carried out in Caucasia. The only variations are that there are four inflictors of the beating (two on each side of the pole), and instead of sticks, each one holds a whip, delivering the strokes in turn. The whip itself has a wooden stock about a foot in length, whilst the leather thong is nearly three times as long.
HARRY HEMS.
Fair Park, Exeter.
Cf. the description of Higginbottom, captain of the Fire Brigade, in ' A Tale of Drury Lane ' in ' Rejected Addresses ' : The cane he had his men to bang Showed foreman of the British gang.
So apparently the bastinado was not con- fined to the Army. G. W. E. R,
MANOR ROLLS (10 S. x. 309). MRS. COPE, and other students, will find that, on the whole, Mr. Trice Martin's ' Record Inter- preter ' is the most useful book in English.
As to land measures, there is a good deal of evidence in an appendix to the second volume of Thorold Rogers' s ' Agriculture and Prices.' Examination of it may have a useful effect if it leads some writers to a greater diffidence in statistical inference.
Q. V.
" COTTESWOLD " IN ITALIAN (10 S. X. 325).
I venture to think the above is a more exact title for the subject-matter of MR. BADDELEY'S note. He will find that Dr. Cunningham's ' English Industry and Com- merce : Early and Middle Ages ' contains in its fourth edition the full text of Pegalotti's account of English monasteries that supplied Florence with wool. The MS. is a good deal later than 1315, and had suffered from transcription. I may add that all the place- names that appeared doubtful had been verified for me with the MS. before Dr. Cunningham knew that the text had been printed by Pagnini, and at least one house which Pagnini had omitted was added.
Peruzzi's list is shown by internal evidence to have been copied on slips of paper, which got out of order before they reached his printer.
The MS. is very clearly written ; and it wa*-
only in the course of attempting to check
Peruzzi's names with it a good many years
ago that I was told by the courteous librarian
hat the whole had been printed.
I am writing away from books, or might give more particulars.
ROBT. J. WHITWELL.
" WRONGHALF " : "TARGE" (10 S. x. 248). Targe or target is a familiar word in he sense of a shield. Could it not be used here in the somewhat similar sense of a )rotection, not against attack, but against observation ? From the fact that it is used n conjunction with heyes, i.e., hedges, we may conjecture that it denotes something n the nature of a decoy or screen, which, >y hiding the sportsman from view, enabled lim to approach his quarry without arousing suspicion. Dr. Mackay in his ' Lost Beauties of the English Language ' quotes Herbert Coleridge's ' Dictionary of the Oldest Words n the English Language,' where targe is defined to be "a combination of shields, ike the Roman testudo." Prof. Skeat in his
Etymological Dictionary ' says that the A.-S. targe is cognate with O.H.G. zarga, a frame, wall ; and Ger. zarge, a frame, Dorder, case. Fick gives the Teutonic type as targa, an enclosure, border, and compares Lithuan. darza, a garden, enclosure.
C. E. LOMAX.
Louth, co. Lincoln.
BRITISH ENVOY AT WARSAW IN 1774 (10 S.. x. 327). In ' The St. James's Register ; or, Royal Annual Kalendar,' for 1765, p. 106,. the British Minister in Poland is given as Tho. Wroughton, Esq. the same name- as I find mentioned in an old diary of a- journey through Poland under date of 31 July, 1778, W. C. L. FLOYD.
EXTRAORDINARY CONTEMPORARY ANIMALS (10 S. x. 309). Je sais tout is not a common object in England. W. T. would increase his chance of getting help through 'N. & Q.' if he would describe the Alaskan wonder about which he wishes for information.
ST. SWITHIN.
DONKEYS, MEASLES, AND WHOOPING- COUGH (10 S. x. 326). See 7 S. iv. 5, 176 ; 8 S. viii. 428, 514 ; xi. 206, 414 ; 9 S. xii. 126. Also Hone's ' Year-Book,' 29 February. JOHN T. PAGE.
MISSING WORD (10 S. x. 327). I fancy the Austrian writer has met with our word swashbuckler, which comprises some of his identifications. WILLIAM MERGER.
