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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. m. JAN. 28, 1911.
DICKENS : ' OLD CURIOSITY SHOP,' CHAP.
xvi. : " SHALL ABALAH." When the old
man and child first met Messrs. Codlin and
Short, the persons of the Punch drama
were scattered upon the ground. They
included
"the foreign gentleman, who, not being familiar with the language, is unable in the representation to express his ideas otherwise than by the utterance of the word * Shallabalah ' three distinct times."
I have not seen any explanation of this foreign piece of lingo. Can it be an echo of the " Ma sh' Allah ! A'uz bi' llah ! " of Arab criers to proclaim a marvel ? At shadow-shows in Egypt I have heard the same words shouted by the Mutayyab (hired leader of applause) at moments when an afrit or a dreadful monster conies on the scene. Many of the tramping showmen of Europe were at one time Orientals of a kind ; I want to know if any Arabic pious formulas were part of their jargon. MABMADTJKE PICKTHALL. 5, Chimneys, Buxted.
' PICKWICK ' QUERIES. I shall be very much obliged for explanations of the mean- ing of the following phrases in Pickwick :
1. Flying the garter.
2. Punch and the flat-headed comedian and the tin box of music.
3. Green-foil smalls.
PHILIP STEPHENS ON.
[1. A game played by boys, at which they measure a distance by feet from a mark, and jump over the back of another boy bending down. Also known as " footit."
2. Close- fitting knee-breeches in tinsel ?]
REV. J. BONAR, 1646 : MORETTI FAMILY. 1. In the Scottish register known as ' the Retours ' (a register of those served heirs to deceased relatives) I find under date 9 December, 1646, John Bonar senior of Lumquhat (in Fifeshire) served heir to " Master Henry Bonar, Vicaj of St. Martin's in-the-Fields, London." I can find his name in none of the registers of that church, nor in any account of the Church. Can any of your readers assist me in tracing his name and the date of his appointment, and supply any information about him ? There can be no doubt as to the fact of his being vicar.
2. In 1816 Agnes Bonar, daughter of Thomson Bonar of Camden Place and Chiselhurst, Kent, was married to Count Moretti, and in 1820 there was a son born of the marriage. From the ' Annuario della Nobilta Italiana ' I get the following infor-
mation under ' Sormani-Moretti.' This
family was a branch of the ancient Lombard
family of Sormani, which went to Reggio
Emilia in 1699, and succeeded to the name
and arms of the noble family of Moretti. It
received the title of Count on 25 November,
1776. The noble man bearing the title on
17 January, 1833, was Patrizo of Reggio.
I am anxious to get further information as to this family and to know if there is any descendant living. HORATIUS BONAR. 3, St. Margaret's Road, Edinburgh.
WILLIAM OF WARE. I understand that some passages from this author's work on the ' Sentences ' have been printed recently in a book on the Immaculate Conception B.V.M., and shall be very glad to be referred to the title, &c., of the book. Is it in the Bodleian Library ? Q. V.
DRYDEN AS A PLACE - NAME. John Dryden of Canons Ashby, Northants, the father of Sir Erasmus Dryden, 1st Bt., is stated to have migrated from Cumberland. In 1488-9 John, William, and Archibald Drydane received the royal pardon for having fought against King James IV. They are described as " indwellers within the shire of Roxburgh." It seems probable that the Drydens of Cumberland came over the border, as Dryden is a place-name in Scot- land.
I find mentioned John Sinclair of Drydenr Kt., under date 1513, and a Sinclair occurs there again in 1551. In 1713 George Lock- hart writes from Dryden to the Earl of Ox- ford. I shall be glad of any information relative to Dryden as a place-name.
P. D. M.
THE VICTORY : EARLY SHIPS OF THE NAME. I shall be obliged for any informa- tion relating to the following :
1. Date of construction of the Victory which was lost off the Caskets, 4 October, 1744. The United Service Museum and Greenwich Hospital possess models said to be of this ship, but they differ ; another model, with the same pretension, differs from both. Would one or more models have been made before construction. Char- nock mentions a Victory as first heard of at Portsmouth in 1703, taken to pieces in 1-721. Is anything known of this ship ?
2. At what date did the bowsprit cease to terminate in a top and carry a spritsail mast and jacks taff ?
