346
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. i. A, so, 1910.
INITIAL LETTERS FOB NAMES. Some time
ago (see 10 S. ix. 126, 174) I made some
observations concerning the present-day
abuse of initial letters for names of societies,
books, &c. Here is a curious example, on
the title-page of a little seventeenth-century
book, of initials standing for names of per-
sons :
Enchiridion Legum : A Discourse concerning The Beginnings, Nature, Difference, Progress and Use, of Laws in General ; and in Particular, of the Common & Municipal Laws of England. London. Printed by Elizabeth Flesher, John Streater, and Henry Twyford, Assigns of Richard Atkins & Edw. Atkins, Esquires.
And are to be sold by G. S. H. T. J. P. W. P. J. B. T. B. B. P. C. W. T. D. W. J. C. H. J. L. J. A. J. W. & J. P.
MDCLXXIII.
Probably these thirty initiaji letters stand for fifteen booksellers. In some cases the space between two pairs of initials is a little larger than that between two initials making, presumably, a pair.
Possibly ' ' Assigns of n points to Richard and Edward Atkins as the authors of the book. ROBERT PIERPOINT.
" HOWDE MEN": ROBIN HOOD'S MEN AT CHAGFORD. The late Mr. Ormerod, in a paper on ' The Early Churchwardens' Accounts of Chagford, Devon * (printed in the Parish Magazine, 1857), remarked on the curious term " the Howde " occurring there- in, which he was unable to interpret.
The " Young Men's Wardens," whose accounts run from 1550 to 1599, are, he wrote,
"also called the 'Howde Young Men 1 In 1537
there is an item of thirty-five shillings, 'for dowing the office of the Howde Coat ' ; and as in 1562 John Newcombe paid thirty-five shillings ' for dowing the office of the Howde,' profit or honour was pro- bably derived therefrom."
From analogy with cases in other parishes, I should imagine it was more likely that the payments were really made for not doing the office than for " doing " it, fines for refusal to act as "My Lord" or "My Lady" on Hocking Day, or to accept the responsible post of warden of a local gild, being a recog- nized source of profit to the common stock of the parish.
Having last summer enjoyed the privilege of thoroughly examining the Chagford accounts a long array of volumes dating back to 1481, which the present Rector, with exemplary care and generosity, has caused to be strongly rebound I can offer a few more extracts therefrom, one of which, I think, affords a key to the puzzling term in question, viz., in 1555, " Received. . . .of
John Northcott and other Robenhowde ys
company " (i.e., others of. Robin Hood's
Company).
No doubt the members of the ' ' Young Men's " gild, or a certain contingent of them, formed themselves into a " Robin Hood's Company," for the practice and encourage- ment of archery, representing the military element in that parish, just as in some other parishes we find the " Young Men " doing. Such bands were often enrolled under the name of St. George, the red cross of St. George on a white ground being the dis- tinctive badge of all soldiers at that period.
As at South Tawton, so, I believe, in many other places the wardens of the Young Men's, or St. George's, or the Hogner's stores frequently undertook the responsi- bility of getting up the "church ales"; and indeed at Chagford Mr. Ormerod remarks that the receipts from the " Howde Young Men "' are mostly from the sale of ale.
The following items require no further explanation :
1555. The accompte of the yongemen of the p'ysshe of Chagford, John Northecott arid others for the Howde, made the vij th day of Ap'ell in the yere
1556. To R. L., W. F., and others of the howde ys men of the p'ysshe of Chagford
1556. To Henry Hyll for fetheryn and heddyngof arowys. 1564 [Receipts horn}.-.. ...Howde men.
ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.
LAUNCESTON AS A SURNAME. (See 8 S, vi. 348 ; ix. 78 ; xi. 111.) A further instance of the adoption in fiction of Launceston as at least a titular name is furnished by the Earl of Launceston being given as the father of the heroine, Lady Molly Ffolliot, in a serial story, ' Lady Molly,' by Mr. Eric Clement Scott, just begun in the London Evening News. But I would venture once more to emphasize the fact that my original query (at the first reference) as to whether the sur- name of Phil Launceston, described in The Athenceum of 6 Oct., 1894, as " an Australian poet and a friend of Adam Lindsay Gor- don's,"' was genuine or assumed, remains unanswered. DTJNHEVED.
" BOG-SLIDE." This word is now to be regarded as officially adopted, the Chief Secretary for Ireland having been asked in the House of Commons on 7 March " whether a bog-slide has taken place in the neighbourhood of Castlerea, county Roscommon ; and, if so, whether he can state the extent of the damage and what steps, if any, have been taken to repair the damage."
ALFRED F. BOBBINS.
