ii s. iv. A, s, 19H.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
117
the destruction of the magazines and public
buildings. This plan was carried out after
the battle of Borodino, combustibles being
applied to such public edifices as were
marked out for destruction : these were
kindled when the French gained possession
of the Kremlin, and the immense city of
Moscow was involved in one general con-
flagration.
F. E. R. POLLARD -URQUHART. Craigston Castle, Turriff, N.B.
" THINK IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU MAY BE WRONG " : CROMWELL (US. iv. 68). The words " I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken," occur in Cromwell's letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scot- land, dated Musselburgh, 3 August, 1650 ; see Carlyle's ' Cromwell's Letters and Speeches,' 2nd ed., London, 1816, vol. ii. p. 188. W. S.
The words occur in the letter addressed by Cromwell to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland. The letter is given in ' The Letters and Speeches of Oliver Crom- well, by Thomas Carlyle,' edited by C. S. Lomas, vol. ii. p. 77. I do not remember if the words are quoted by Kingsley anywhere ; but they are quoted by the Rev. Dr. Stephen in ' The History of the Scottish Church ' and by Dr. Andrew Lang in his able ' History of Scotland.'
HUGH S. MACLEAN.
Birmingham.
For this quotation see Carlyle's * Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches,' iii. 22 (Chap nan & Hall, 1870). The expression "in the bowels of Christ" seems to have been a favourite, or at least a common one, with Cromwell; see 'Letters and Speeches,' iii. 53, 76, &c. T. F. D.
[HARRIET SHAWE also thanked for reference.]
DRAWING THE ORGAN (US. iii. 349, 412, 475). From the manner of entry I should say the item, " for drawing thorganes, 12d.," refers to the payment of the person who blew the bellows of the organ, and not to that of the organist, whose emolument would surely be greater, even in the six- teenth century. N. W. HILL.
' CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND ' {11 S. iii. 308, 373; iv. 58). My answer at the second reference was based partly on Allibone and partly .on the ' D.N.B.' Possibly I may have erred in supposing that the issues of ' The Church Historians,'
recorded in the ' D.N.B.' corresponded with
those indicated by Allibone. At all events,
double volumes were published in 1853,
1854, and 1856, and a single volume in 1855,
making 7 parts in all. According to Alli-
bone, there was an eighth part, which
appeared apparently in 1858, and was
reviewed in The Gentleman's Magazine for
that year on the termination of the series.
.W. SCOTT.
May I respectfully suggest that R. B R (last reference) should say which of the two series he writes of ? There are the " Pre-Reformation " and the " Reforma- tion " series.
It would appear from his mentioning five volumes only that he must be referring to the " Pre-Reformation " series. But he speaks of having part i. of vol. i., which, according to my information (see iii. 373), was never issued. I regret that, being away from home, I cannot now get at my copies of the two series (lacking part i. of vol. i. of the " Reformation " series), or the letter written to me in 1883 by Mr. G. Seeley giving full information. ROBERT PIERPOINT.
BULL YV ANT : BUTTYVANT (11 S. iii. 444 ; iv. 18). Dr. Joyce, * Irish Names of Places,' says that Buttervant is derived from Boutez-en-avant, a French phrase meaning " Push forward ! " the motto of the Barrymore family. The Irish name of the place, namely, Kilnamullagh, is said by the peasantry to mean " the church of the curse." Dr. Joyce says the legend in con- nexion with this title is erroneous, and an invention of later times, the correct meaning of Kilnamullagh being " the church of the hillocks, or summits."
WILLIAM MACARTHUR.
" NIB " = SEPARATE PEN-POINT (11 S. iii. 346 ; iv. 54). The complete writing pen is stem, holder, and pen : the nib is the point of the pen itself. People ask for nibs = pens. Quill pens were going out, and steel pens were coming in, in my earliest school- days ; but the old master stuck to the quill, and being a good maker and mender,, he was in much request. In making and mend- ing he would ask, " A fine or thick neb ? " No one said "nib " ; it was always " neb," and it was so when speaking of a duck's " neb " or anything resembling a neb. Persons say " nib " when asking for the whole pen holder and " shaft " not included. THOS. RATCLIFFE.
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