226
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. i. MA*, is, me.
been already provided by the Pope to this
'Canonry (' Archivio Vaticano ' ; Arm. LXII.
xxxiii. f. 144), and that though he had not
apparently entered into possession in April
(see the letter from the Cardinal of Como to
Cardinal Morone, dated April 14, 1573,
' A. V.' ; Arm. XLIV. vol. xxviii. p. 24), he was
already in possession before June 17, 1573
(see the letters of Mgr. Louis de Berlaymont,
JBishop of Cambrai, and of Dr. Hall himself,
to Cardinal Morone, ' A.V.' ; Arm. LXIV.
vol. xxviii. pp. 68-9).
JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT.
FREDERIC GEORGE STEPHENS. Col. "Stephens, the son of my old friend Frederic Oeorge Stephens, informs me that, in addi- tion to being the model for the head of "Christ in Madox Brown's ' Christ washing Peter's Feet 1 (ante, p. 160), his father is apparently the younger brother in Millais s
- Isabella, and he is also the Ferdinand in
"* Ferdinand and Ariel,' by the same artist. 'When the P.R.B.'s exchanged portraits, Millais made a very careful pencil or chalk portrait of Stephens ; and Holman Hunt
..also painted in oils a small three-quarter liead-and-shoulder portrait of him in his Dearly days. Both of them are now in the ^possession of his son.
JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS.
ORIGIN OF THE BRITISH NAVY. Perhaps it is interesting to note that Timbs, in his
- Abbeys, Castles, and Ancient Halls,' says
that Carausius, a Belgian, was the founder 'of the British navy, c. A.D. 288. If so, the Belgians little knew what a good investment he was making. E. DRAY.
Douglas, Wyoming.
" To BOX THE COMPASS." I have not seen ^any suggested origin for this expression,
-either, in the ' N.E.D.' or in any English ^dictionary to which I have been able to refer. I think, therefore, the following ^extract from a letter written in 1836 by Mr.
Thomas Bee of Charleston, South Carolina, r-may be of interest :
" You know 1 had always a smattering of etymology, but never indulged so much in it as since I have become a great reader of Spanish, which is so much made up of Latin and French
- that I have found the reading of it more easy than
that of, I believe, any other European language. You would be surprised at the many corruptions of it in the jargon of our negroes, derived from Jamaica, Florida, and other Spanish settlements. But I was principally gratified with the origin of the phrase ' to 600; the compass,' which has .puzzled me from a boy, when the sailors taught .me to do this, in my voyage to Europe. Boxar <|or, as it is more modernly written, bojar with
the same pronunciation) signifies circumire, to go
round : boxar el mundo, to go round the world ;
boxar la isla, to sail round the island. To box the
compass is, therefore, to go round the several
divisions from north to south, and from south to
north."
Thomas Bee, who was a native of South Carolina, was at Oriel College, Oxford, from 1783 to 1789. He seems from his letters to have been a man of some thoughtfulness and learning. H. J. B. CLEMENTS.
Killadoon, Celbridge.
" PLOUGH BULLOCKS." Looking over an old newspaper (1816), I read of the ringleader of a gang of " plough bullocks," who was severely reprimanded and lightly fined by the magistrate before whom he was brought. These " plough bullocks " had a notion that they had a privileged right on certain days in spring to exact donations from respectable residents, and in default of payment to damage their premises. I know not how the custom originated, but I remember it survived at a residential town I used to visit about twenty-five years ago, and may do at the present time. B. D. MOSELEY.
WE must request correspondents desiring in-
formation on family matters of only private interest
to affix their names and addresses to their queries,
in order that answers may be sent to them direct.
GEORGE WKITEFIELD. There are two
works connected with the name of Whitefield
about which I should like information. The
first is entitled :
" A Week's Preparation for the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Consisting of Preparatory Medita- tions and Prayers, For every Day of the preceding Week ; Pious and devout Ejaculations at the Time of Receiving, and Useful Directions and Admoni- tions for the Christian's Conduct afterwards. Also some Acts of Devotion peculiarly adapted to the Solemn Seasons of Christmas, Easter and Whit- suntide. The Whole intended as a Complete Directory for the worthy Receiving the Blessed Eucharist. By the Rev. Dr. Whitefield. London, Printed by W. Lloyd. 1738." 8vo.
The British Museum authorities catalogue this under " Whitefield, Rev. Dr. (pseud. ?).'< I have seen very many works by George Whitefield, and in none is he styled " Rev. Dr." Is it known who wrote this ?
The second' is :
" A Letter of Consolation to the Reverend Mr- W. Romaine : Occasioned by his Suspension from the Lectureship At St. Dunstan's in the West. Including An Apostrophe to the Persons concerned in that unprecedented Exertion of Lay Power. By
the Rev. Mr. G. W te d Prov. xxvii. 9.
London: 1759." 8vo.
