216
NOTES AND QUERIES, [lo*- s. in. MAECH is, 1905.
Coxon, and printed for private circulation.
Referring to the Well of the Virgin, or " Our
Lady's Well," at Nazareth, the Canon writes :
" There never has been more than this one well for supplying the whole town. Consequently, day by day, for thirty years at least, might our Lady be
seen going to this well Here are all the materials
for a living picture of the past. The shape of the pitchers, the cut and colour of the garments, remain to this day. Women and maidens, upright and stately in carriage, the Christians distinguished by their modest demeanour, all wearing the traditional blue and ichi/e, and passing back wards and forwards ; the very well, the same road, the surrounding hills and olive groves, the grassy slopes and sheltered orchards all, such as it was nineteen centuries ago." P. 28 (italics mine).
All authorities on Palestine and on things Biblical agree in this that there exists even to this day a most remarkable conservatism in the habits, customs, and manners of the people of the Holy Land ; thus, for example, we still find there the traditional Bedouin roaming about the country, the square flat- roofed houses and the same old style narrow streets, the ploughshare with its wooden head and its pair of yoked oxen, the fair-haired Arab and the "hook-nosed Jew ; and the way in which the people conduct their affairs in general is much now as it must have been in the time of our Lord. But in any case the earliest examples we can find of Madonnas in art are Byzantine an art which derived its inspiration from the Greek, and had no connexion whatever with anything Egyptian. In Byzantine art the Blessed Virgin was, I think, invariably represented in a blue mantle. B. W.
Fort Augustus.
Iron was a substance greatly dreaded by the Jinn, and it was also an effective check to the power of the Northern fairies. In India and 'elsewhere it is thought to act as
- 'a prevention of maleficent influences." A
horseshoe is a hindrance to witches, and it may be so because it is made of iron.
E. YARDLEY.
There is not much to be added to the reply of HANDFORD at 7 th S. iii. 277. Marius Fon- tane, in ' IndeJVedique' (1881), viii. 78, may supply a hint. Q.. V.
I have seen many horseshoes nailed on barn doors, cattle sheds, and on the wooden lintels of doors, and in nearly every instance they have been with the " toes " at top, the heels downward. The "witch" could only enter at one or other of the heels, and after passing through and round the bow must come out again at bottom, thus rendering her intentions of mischief abortive. On the
other hand, if the heels were upward she
would come out at top, and be in a position
- o work out her mischief. This is the em-
bodiment of an old lady of Derbyshire who ' passed " long ago, and she was in her life- time great in the mysteries of witchcraft. Horsemen will tell you, if asked, the right way to nail the shoe is the way the horse goes. I have seen in several instances doors on which three shoes were nailed triangle- wise, and in every instance with the heels downwards. And, by the way, if you find a cast horseshoe on the ground with the toe pointing the way you are going it is lucky, uid you ought, to keep the luck, to pick up the horseshoe, and carry it away never on any account leave it. THOS. BATCLIFFE. Worksop.
" TONGUE-TWISTERS " (9 th S. xi. 269, 455, 493 ; xii. 55, 233). MR. JAMES PLATT, JUN., 'attribuant a Lope de Vega, je ne sais pas pourquoi, signale les deux premiers vers d'un dizain d'Arriaza, ecrit sans autre but que celui de tourmenter le gosier de M. i'Arnbassadeur francais en Espagne apres la guerre de 1'Independance, et demande d'autres sujets analogues presentant des difficultes- dans la prononciation.
Voici un sonnet du memo genre de Villa- brille :
Son tus ojos dos ojos que en despojos Convierten a mis ojos con sus tajos. Tus ojos son la causa de que bajos Velen mis ojos picaros anteojos
Mas brillan esos ojos que los rojos Ojos del sol, que dicen que son majos ; Tus ojos son mas negros que dos grajos i Soberbios ojos son ! i Vaya unos ojos !
Al ver tus ojos niiia, desde lejos, Mis ojps en tus ojos clave fijos, Cual si tus ojos fueran ojos brujos.
Tus ojos ;i mis ojos son festejos ; Ojos tus ojos son del cielo hijos Que solo hizo Murillo en sus dibujos.
Mais je crois que la prononciation du f espagnol n'est pas un obstacle insurmontable pour les anglais, comme tel est le cas pour les francais ; du moins les personnes que je connais le prononcent sans aucun effort, sans doute a cause de sa ressemblance avec le h anglais fortement aspire comme dans les mots home, house, et d'autres.
A mon avis le son de IV double presente- pour eux une plus grande difficulte, parceque- d'ordinaire ils la prononcent en appuyant legerement le bout de la langue dans le haut du palais, et comme preuve a J'appui qui peut servir pour le verifier, voici un exemple que j'extrais du livre de M. Rodriguez Marin, 'Cantos Populares Espafioles,' que j'ai vu cite dans 'N. &, Q.,' je ne me souvieus pas.
