294
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. iv. OCT. 7, 1911.
opened (Brockedon's * Road-Book from
London to Naples,' 1835). It was Calonne's
original octroi barrier that gave rise to the
well-known line. F. A. W.
Paris.
" J'Y suis, J'Y RESTE" (11 S. iv. 44, 94, 155, 197, 252). The extraordinary diffi- culty in tracing the authorship and original form of even the most popular, striking, and modern phrases is once more illustrated by the maze of contradiction which surrounds this one. M. Gabriel Hanotaux, for ex- ample, in his great work on ' Contemporary France ' I quote from the English transla- tion, vol. ii. p, 10 says that, when " questioned later as to the authenticity of these words, he [MacMahon] said he had simply indicated his determination not to retire. ' I do not think that I gave my thought that epigrammatic form, J'y suis, j'y reste I am riot given to phrases.' "
Years after this was published, the Marquis de Castellane claimed the credit of the crea- tion for himself ; and in May, 1908, he told in his memoirs, then appearing in the Revue Hebdomadaire, how he had a speech to make before the National Assembly on the pro- posal to extend MacMahon's powers. He confided to the Marquise that he wanted an epigram to hammer his point home, and the Marquise suggested one :
"On the following day," runs his narrative, "I made my speech, and this was my peroration : 'Do .to-day for France what MacMahon did sixteen years ago for the army at the Malakoff. He was the first to enter the citadel. It was mined. It seemed about to bury him in its ruins. But no matter. He ran to the telegraph and sent his chief this message, sublime in its simplicity : " J'y suis, j'y reste!"'
" The effect," the Marquis continued, " was indescribable, and the newspapers have ever since insisted upon the historic phrase which the Marshal never uttered, but which my young wife invented for my use." But the Castellane story was immediately con- tradicted by U Eclair on the strength of a letter written by General Biddulph to M. Germain Bapst. General Biddulph, then attached to the submarine telegraph service, entered the Malakoff soon after MacMahon had stormed it, and found the Marshal in what seemed a precarious position. He wrote I am retranslating from the French : " After having looked on for some time at the spectacle, I went up to General MacMahon, and after informing him of my position on the Head- quarters Staff, proposed to make myself useful by informing the English commander of his situation General MacMahon, who had maintained an admirable calm, replied that all was well. * You can tell the English General,' he added, ' ouefy suis et que j'y reste. "
That ought to be conclusive, and the pre-
sumption, .as was pointed out at the time,
is that the Marquis de Castellane' s memory
was at fault. ALFRED F. BOBBINS.
" ALL MY EYE AND BETTY MARTIN "
(US. iv. 207, 254). I am afraid that the story of the sailor and the Latin prayer mentioned by several correspondents, and given in Brewer's ' Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ' as the only known explanation of this saying, will not be of much service in fixing a date for its introduction into our slang- vocabulary. The anecdote does not appear in my copy of ' Joe Miller ' (a " Genuine Edition," printed and sold by James Barker, Great Russell Street, Covent Garden, no date, but probably published before 1751), and it was probably inserted as padding in later editions.
HERBERT B. CLAYTON. 39, Renfrew Road, Lower Kennington Lane.
I cannot refrain from protesting against the explanation of this phrase offered by some correspondents one which had, I imagined, received its death-blow long since namely, that it is a corruption of " O mihi beate Martine." If such an ejaculation were ever uttered in prayer, it would be pronounced according to ecclesiastical and Continental practice somewhat as if written for English readers " O meehee bayahteh Marteeneh." It is impossible, therefore, that it should give rise to the vulgar phrase attributed to that source. These spurious etymologies of the " Goat-and-Compasses " type die very hard, but it is surely high time that their currency should be checked, for they are very disturbing to one's equanimity.
HERBERT MAXWELL.
Charles Lee Lewes in his ' Memoirs,' 4 vols., 1805, gives an account of " the origin of the vulgarism ' My eye, Betty Martin ' : (i. 120-24). According to this memoirist, " the public are indebted for this common expression ' ' to one Elizabeth Grace, who married " a young gentleman of a reputable family in co. Meath, Ireland," circa 1741. She refused to support Martin, saying :
" Bah, bah, Mr. Gentleman, so I was made your property to maintain you in idleness, was I? Oh,
my eye, for that my dear. There Christopher
Martin, there's the door "
Betty afterwards married a Mr. Workman, and became an actress. Lee Lewes gives a long account of her various adventures. HORACE BLEACKLEY
[Reply from MR. J. F. BENSE next week.]
