H8
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. v. JUNE, 1919.
Cork. Caulfield (Richard). Rotulus Pipae
Clonensis. 1869. Dalkey. Dalkey Sixty Years Ago (Illustrated
Dublin Journal, 1861-2, pp. 475-7). Dublin. Atkinson (Sarah). Essays. 1806.
Ball (F. E.). The Vicinity of the Irish Inter- national Exhibition. 1907.'
Chart (D. A.). The Story of Dublin
(" Mediaeval Towns "). 1907.
Fitzpatrick (S. O.). Dublin (" Ancient
Cities "). 1907. Dundrum (Down). Phillips (J. J.). Annals and
Archaeology of Dundrum Fortress. 1883. Inishowen (Donegal). " Maghto chair." Inish-
owen. 1867. Kilkenny. Robertson (J. G.). Antiquities and
Scenery of the County of Kilkenny. 1851. Kilmallock. Croker (T. C.). Historical Illsutra-
tions of Kilmallock. 1840. Lisburn. Bayly (Henry). A Topographical and
Historical Account of Lisburn. 1834. Lucan. Joyce (W. St. John). Lucan and its
Neighbourhood. 1901. Monaghan. Rushe (D.C.). Historical Sketches
of Monaghan. St. Mullins. O'Lcary (Patrick). St. Mullins.
1913. Strabane. Campbell (A. A.). Notes on the
Literary History of Strabane. 1902. Waterford. Fitzpatrick (Thomas). Waterford
during the Civil War. 1912.
The Cochrane collection in the Rathmines Public Library, Dublin, is very rich in books dealing with Ireland. J. ARDAGH.
35 Church Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin.
PHILADELPHIA LINK WITH: LONDON. In
the manuscripts preserved at the Guildhall
Library I came across this entry of a
mural inscription at St. Botolph's Church,
Aldersgate :
" In the vaii It of this church are deposited the Remains of Miss Catharine Mary Meade, daughter of George Meade, Esq. of Philadelphia, North America, who departed this life the 18th day of January, 1790, in the 21st year of her age.
- * * *
Transferred from Pennsylvania's friendly coast
A father's blessing and a mother's boast On Albion's sea-girt shore an early fate
Postponed each transport to a future state Death raised a barrier to each tender scene
More fatal than the waves that roll between.
This church has a special interest, for within its parish, and indeed almost within sight of it, wa^ produced the 1623 edition of Shakespeare. WM. JAGGARD, Capt.
INDENTURES. I do not regard Old Testa- ment Scripture from the same point of view as Sir James Frazer, but his work on its folk-lore, and a great deal besides, meets a desire for knowledge and introduces new points for thought. ' N. & Q.' is not the proper medium for the discussion of those that are of the most importance, but a trifle
has struck me which may be fitly mentioned
in its pages. When considering the covenant
with Abraham, and the ceremony of the
divided sacrifice by which it was confirmed
(a procedure still apparent in the procedure
of many peoples), Sir James remarks that
this was the regular form observed on such
occasions in early times
" is strongly suggested by the Hebrew phrase for making a covenant, which is literally to * cut a covenant,' and the inference is confirmed by analogies in the Greek language and ritual, for tbe- Greeks used similar phrases and practised similar rites. Thus they spoke of cutting oaths in the sense of swearing them, and of cutting a treaty instead of making one. Such expressions, like the corresponding phrases in Hebrew and Latin, - are undoubtedly derived from a custom of sacrificing victims and cutting them in pieces asr a mode of adding solemnity to an oath, or a- treaty." Vol. i. pp. 302, 303.
This leads me to wonder whether our current indentures, parchments with an indented or wavy margin, are survivals of the practice of parting a sacrificed animal's carcase between those concerned in a contract the parties as we still call them. Originally the notched edges of one copy of an indenture fitted into those of its correspondent.
I am a little surprised that, as far as 1 remember, Sir James Frazer does not claim as a variant of the ceremonial of the Abra- hamic covenant the passing through blood at the time of the Paschal celebration. " They shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the house. ' ' To go through that doorway may have been intended as a symbol of passing; through a slaughtered animal, the Passover Lamb to wit. ST. SWITHIN.
BEDFORD HOUSE, BLOOMSBTJR.Y :
1800. The sale of the contents of this
house was commenced by James Christie
on Monday, May 5, and continued over the
five following pays. The catalogue is rare,
but the auctioneer's copy, printed on a-
heavier paper and interleaved, is preserved
in the National Art Library. The sale
appears to have proceeded much as other
sales. The auctioneer had commissions
for various buyers, and bought in many lots
for the Duke of Bedford, but the catalogue
disproves completely the ridiculous story
quoted by Peter Cunningham ( ' Handbook
for London,' 1849, i. 71): "A casual,
dropper -in buying the whole of the furniture
and pictures ____ for the sum of 6,000."
When Cunningham's text came to be revised by the late Mr. Wheatley ( ' London Past and Present '), he wisely discredited the* story, but omitted to correct the other data.
