356
NOTES AND QUERIES. rio s. XL MAY i, im
Another possible (perhaps more probable)
solution is that the word is phonetic in
origin, the effect of a " punt," i.e., a full
kick from the toes (certainly not from the
instep) without allowing the ball to touch
the ground, being to produce a full and
hollow sound, something like the pronuncia-
tion of the words " bump," " pump," or
" punt." E. T. BALDWIN.
1, Gloucester Place, W.
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY QUOTATIONS (10S. x. 127, 270, 356, 515). Nos. 29 and 30 are both taken from the same place in Ruggle's ' Ignoramus,' Act I. sc. i. (p. 3 in the third edition, 1658). The passage is as follows :
At pravis litibus
Detentus hie mgratiis, usque dum haereo, Et usque, & usque. O Lernceam vere Sobolem Pragmaticorum, qui lites ex litibus serunt Mortalibus immortaliter ! Lites fuge. Macrum arbitrium opimo judicio potius est. Memento, fili.
Opimo was omitted before judicio in the query at the first reference.
J. S. Hawkins's note on Macrum arbi- trium, &c., in his edition (1787, p. 39), is :
" This passage is a translation of the Italian proverb ' Meglio e megro accordo che grazza sen- tenza.' A lean agreement is better than a fat sentence. ' '
EDWARD BENSLY.
University College, Aberystwyth.
MENDEZ PINTO (10 S. x. 488 ; xi. 76, 176). In reply to MR. DONALD FERGUSON I cannot do better than quote what he himself stated in the Indian Antiquary for October, 1901, as to Mendez Pinto's credibility :
"I do not mean to assert that the whole Peregrinacam ' is a fabrication ; but I am convinced from internal evidence that many of the incidents related are pure fiction, and that others, genuine enough, either took place before the writer came to India, or formed no part of his adventures. I append some instances of sheer mendacities." P. 439.
L. L. K.
"MARYLEBONE": 'PREPOSITIONS IN PLACE-NAMES (10 S. xi. 201, 270, 291). P. Joanne's elaborate ' Dictionnaire geo- graphique et administratif de la France (7 vols., Paris, 1890-1905) throws light on two of the place-names mentioned by COL. PRIDEAUX at the second reference. At vol. i. p. 287 it is explained that Bar-le-Duc owed the latter part of its name to the fact that in the tenth century it became the residence of the Counts (1034-1355) or Dukes (958-1034 or 1355-1431) of Bar, the Latin form being " Barrum Ducis." At vol. vi. p. 3869, under La Riche, it is
close to Tours, which he therefore named
Plessis-les-Tours, i.e., Plessis " by " Tours
(ad latus T.) ; the hamlet of that name is
in the parish of La Riche. Thus in neither
case is this apparent article a real article.
Of course " les " is commonly used in French
to show that a village is close to a much
more important village or town.
W. A. B. COOLIDGE.
I wot not how Marylebone was originally spelt, but I noticed when in London a week or two ago that a friend pronounced it ' Marybone." R. B R.
South Shields.
[It is the accepted pronunciation.]
EGG GOOD IN PARTS (10 S. xi. 70, 134). VlR. REYNOLDS BALL refers to the appearance of this in Punch about twenty years ago I. think somewhat later, for I remember it), but I remember seeing it elsewhere, in, as I best recollect, a much older book, in which it was attributed to Archbishop Laud. Being away from all books of reference, I cannot verify it, but I distinctly recollect it as so attributed.
W. P. PAKENHAM WALSH, Lieut. R.E.
Wellington, S. India.
ST. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY (10 S.'xi. 48). MR. SELLWOOD may like to be reminded that there is an architectural history of St. Mary's in the Transactions of the Shrop- shire Archaeological Society (part iii. of the volume for 1894). There, I think, the writer promises a further paper on the non- architectural antiquities of the edifice ; but I do not know whether it was ever pub- lished. If it was, it probably included some notice of the tablet in question.
J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.
THE BONASSUS (10 S. ix. 365, 451 ; x. 90 r 138, 318, 392). There is a description, with two pictures, of this beast in ' Hist. Nat.* J. Johnston, Amstel, 1657, t. i. 37, fig. 18 and 19. The references there given are Aristot., ' H. A.,' 1. 4, c. 71, ed Scalig., and Plin., ' H. N.,' 1. 8, c. 15.
FRANCIS M. LENNAN.
Montreal.
NAMES TERRIBLE TO CHILDREN (10 S. x. 509 ; xi. 53, 218). The subjoined names two Chinese and one English may be added to the list.
Chao Liao (d. 227 A.D.) At the battle of Ho-fei (218 A.D.) this famous general of Wei so severely routed the Wu army that thence- forth, in the district of Kiang-tung, children
stated that in 1463 Louis XI. built a castle would stop crying whenever they happened
