438
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vm. NOV. so, 1907.
PEROUN (10 S. viii. 270, 330). The
memory of this fierce old deity (in Slovene
Parom) is preserved in the popular Slavic
hymn ' Hej, Slovane,' which is sung in
adaptations by different branches of the
Slav family. The air, with increasing fire
and vigour, resembles that of the Polish
song ' Jeszcze Polska nie sginela,' words
and music by General J. Wibicky (1797).
During another enjoyable visit to Prague,
Zampach, and the Sumava country I came
across the Slav hymn, and offer a free trans-
lation. (The dedication of a manuscript
copy has been accepted by the eminent man
of letters Count Liitzow, D.Litt.) The
traditional conception of the deity as
" lord of thunder " is familiar to Russian
scholars, and illustrates the tenacity of
elemental beliefs among the Slav peoples.
The force of the original cannot well be re-
produced in translation.
Hey, Slavonians, be ye mindful that our
tongue dies never, While our faithful hearts are beating for the
nation ever : Live, long live the Slavic language, sounding
through the ages, (bis) Thunder rolling, wrath eternal ! Vain our
foeman rages. 'Tis the gift our God entrusted, God the lord
of thunder, Therefore who on earth can wrest it from our
lives asunder ? Though our foes, like hosts of darkness, in
proud ranks are swelling,
(bis) God is with us : fall upon them, Perun all- dispelling ! Though against us clouds are looming, mighty
storms impending, Rocks destroying, strong oaks cleaving,
earth's foundations rending, Firm we stand as castle ramparts, tongue
and homeland shielding : (bis) May the earthquake seize the dastard who
would dream of yielding !
FRANCIS P. MARCHANT. Streatham Common.
COLLEGE HERALDIQUE DE FRANCE (10 S. viii. 368, 392). Although no Heralds' College now exists in France, it seems that, under the treaty by which Canada was ceded to Great Britain, all French titles and arms granted prior to 1763 (the year of the treaty) are, or can be, legally registered in the Canadian Heraldic Office in Ottawa, of which the Viscount Forsyth de Fronsac is, or was, Herald-Marshall (vide 10 S. v. 87).
S. D. C.
There is no official Heralds' College in France, but the profession of pedigree- hunter seems to be quite a lucrative affair.
I find in the Intermediaire des Chercheurs
the address of Mr. O'Kelly de Galway, 8,
Rue Menessier, Paris, 18. As a general rule
information concerning French families given
by the voluntary correspondents of L'lnter-
mediaire is reliable. ELS.
T. L. PEACOCK'S 'MAID MARIAN' (10 S. viii. 341). DR. YOTJNG, while tracing back to the play of 1601 an episode concerning Maid Marian, does not refer to another particular pointed out by Joseph Ritson, to wit, that the same play of 1601 embodies the earliest association of Maid Marian (a character not occurring in the earliest ballads) with Robin Hood. Ritson appears to contradict himself when he writes else- where :
" To swear by him [i.e., Robin Hood], or some of his companions, appears to have been a usuall practice. The earliest instance of this practice- occurs in a pleasant story among ' Certaine Merry Tales of the Madmen of Gottam,' compiled in the- reign of Henry VIII.," &c.
Ritson then reprints the first of the Gotham tales, wherein two of the characters swear respectively by Robin Hood and by Maid Marian. The weak point here, however, is that Ritson does not actually profess to- quote from an original edition of the Gotham tales, though it appears likely that the compilation is quite as old as the reign of Henry VIII., and it is mentioned by name as early as 1572. Nevertheless, for many years past no copy older than 1630 has been found. Consequently, whatever private opinions we may hold, one cannot be sure that the earliest editions were scrupulously followed in later ones. Such being the case,, it would seem that Robin Hood's associa- tion with Maid Marian cannot at present be carried further back than 1601.
A. STAPLETON.
WREN AND THE MOON (10 S. viii. 387). Elmes in his ' Sir Christopher Wren,' 1852, p. 144, says that this lunar globe was pre- sented to King Charles II., who received it with great satisfaction, and ordered it ta be placed among the most valuable articles of his cabinet. The globe was fixed upon a pedestal of lignum vitse, with a scale of miles,, and an inscription which, given by Elmes at length, leads one to suppose that he must have known of the globe's locus in quo at the time he wrote. This inscription is as follows : " Carolo secundo M. Br. Fr. et Hib. R. cujus amplitudini quia unus non sufficit,. novum hunc orbem selenesphsero expressum..
D.D.D. CHR. WREN."
J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.
