Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/48

36 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vn. JULY 10, 1920. |. The Horny-handed " Ton of Soil." To an individual in the right church but in the wrong pew, " You are occupewing my pie." " Drive me to the Dull Man at Greenwich " (Green Man at Dulwich). At a wedding, "Is it kistomary to cuss the bride?" " Rambling up the scales " (scrambling up the Alps). The train " clapped at Stopham junction." Please give me a " bath of milk and a glass bun." Remark on a wet day as " Roaring with pain." " Iceland's greasy mountains." " The verger will sew you into a sheet." F Compelled to give up tradespeople and " steal at the doors " (deal at the stores). " As his horse to the ramparts we curried." At desert " I'll have some pig's fleas and stink puff! " for figs please and pink stuff;. When his hat blew off,, " Will somebody pat my hiccup " " Fighting a liar " for lighting a fire. " Lead devil " for dead level ; and many others more suitable for the smoking-room. WlLLOUGHBY MAYCOCK. Dr. W. A. Spooner, now Warden, and previously for many years Fellow and tutor of Xew College, Oxford, has been a very leading figure in the University for the last half century. Among other instances of absent-mindedness, lie is credited with various lapsus liiicjuce, two of which have become historic. Once, while officiating in chapel, he invited the undergraduates to sing the hymn, ' Kinkering Kongs,' pre- sumably meaning 'Conquering Kings.' On another occasion he announced, during a University sermon that we often found in our hearts the relics of a half -warmed fish, the context suggesting that he probably meant to say "the relics of a half -formed wish." I believe that both these slips are genuine, and are admitted, by their maker. On the other hand, the great bulk of current " Spoonerisms " is undoubtedly of spurious manufacture. About 1890 these witticisms became the rage in Oxford. A column of spoonerisms was a matter of course in the lighter undergraduate journals and a good many found their way into the London press. MR. MENMUIB might con- sult with advantage the columns of The Pal Mall Gazette in and about the year 1890. ISATIS. Probably a study of the undergraduate lighter literature and journalism of the period 1885-95 would more than satisfy your correspondent on this subject. Man;y "spoonerisms" were obviously manufac tured to order by the ingenious or th audacious : some were clever and some wer not. At the present moment I can^only recollect the the following : When kingquering congs their tatles tike Haven't we often felt a half -warmed fish in our hearts ? Madam, you are occupewing my pie. And a learned Bishop is said " to have prayed for the Duke of Yawnwell and Cork." A. R. BAYLEY. A delightful instance is quoted in a review of W. C. Loosmore's ' Nerves and the Man * in this week's Literary Supplement of The Times : " Oh, Lord, fill him with fresh veal and new zigor.' A. R. WALLER.. 1 Cavendish Avenue y Cambridge. A DESCENDANT or PONTIUS PILATE (12 S.. vi. 335). There is, or was, an ancient tower of probably some old palace of the thirteenth century in Rome, not far from the lower end of the Via Nazionale, called " Torre di Pilato." I have always supposed this to have been so named on account of its being the residence of some forgotten but ob- noxious magistrate. Similar cases of place- iam.es derived from humorous or oppro- brious epithets given to former inhabitants ,vill occur to everyone. The idea that any one should claim descent and coat-armour rom Pontius Pilate is very improbable, but at the same time there was an ancient legend that Pontius Pilate returned to Rome after nis term of office in Jerusalem and there is no reason why he should not have had descendants. G. J., F.S.A. In Otto Brentari's ' Guicla del Trentino,' i. 79 (Bassano, 1891), there is a description of the Palazzo Pretorio of Rovereto in the Piazza del Podesta, rebuilt 1476-8, by the reigning Podesta at his own expense. On it is carved a cross which recalls the murder of Pietro Marotta, of Capua in 1703 that is just before De Blainville's visit. He may have seen this cross, and so have imagined the existence of a "HierDnimvis Pila^us." W. A. B. C. " Ox " IN PLACE-NAMES (12 S. vi. 333 ; vii. 16). This query was raised in ' N. & Q.' over twenty years ago by MB. PENNY of Frome. I regret I cannot give the exact reference as my set of ' N. & Q. ' is packed for removal. I believe that the explanation suggested was that "ox " was a corruption of " oaks," Frome being in the ancient forest of SelwoocL We have it as a prefix in Oxshott, Surrey, and in a slightly different form in Woking and Wokingham. FBEDERIC Frome, Somerset.. #