1st ed.), misled by Warton and others, gives a very defective and erroneous account of the Progymnasmata Scænica, which he supposed to contain several dramas; but he concludes by saying, "the book is very scarce, and I have never seen it." Gottsched, in his History of the German Drama, merely says he had seen some notice of a Latin drama by Reuchlin. Hans Sachs translated it into German, after his manner, and printed it in 1531 under the title of Henno. S. W. S.
Micklcham, Dec. 1. 1849.
MYLES BLOMEFYLDE—ORTUS VOCABULORUM.
Sir,—In reference to the Query of Buriensis in No. 4. of your periodical, as to the parentage of Myles Blomefylde, of Bury St. Edmund's, I beg to contribute the following information. In the library of St. John's College, Cambridge, is a volume containing an unique copy of "the boke called the Informacyon for pylgrymes vnto the holy lande," printed by Wynkyn de Worde, in 1524, at the end of which occurs the following manuscript note:—
"I, Myles Blomefylde, of Burye Saynct Edmunde in Suffolke, was borne ye yeare followyng after ye pryntyng of this boke (that is to saye) in the yeare of our Lorde 1525, the 5 day of Apryll, betwene 10 & 11, in ye nyght, nyghest xi. my father's name John, and my mother's name Anne."
This tract is bound up with two others, on both of which Blomefylde has written his initials, and from one entry seems to have been at Venice in 1568. He was undoubtedly an ardent book-collector, and I possess copies of the Ortus Vocabulorum, printed by W. de Worde, in 1518, and the Promptuarium Parvulorum, printed by the same, in 1516, bound together, on both of which the name of Myles Blomefylde is inscribed.
I may add, as a slight contribution to a future edition of the Typographical Antiquities, that among Bagford's curious collection of title-pages in the Harleian Collection of MSS. (which I doubt if Dr. Dibdin ever consulted with care), there is the last leaf of an edition of the Ortus Vocabulorum, unnoticed by bibliographers, with the following colophon:—
"Impr. London, per Wynandum de Worde, commorantem in vico nuncupato Fletestrete, sub intersignio solis aurei, Anno incarnatiōis Dominice M.CCCCC.IX. die vero prima mēsis Decēbris"—Harl. MSS. 5919. art. 36.
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ANSWERS TO MINOR QUERIES.
The Curse of Scotland—Why the Nine of Diamonds is so called.
When I was a child (now about half a century ago) my father used to explain the origin of the nine of diamonds being called "The curse of Scotland" thus: That it was the "cross of Scotland," which, in the Scotch pronunciation, had become "curse."
St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland; he suffered on a cross, not of the usual form, but like the letter X, which has since been commonly called a St. Andrew's cross. It was supposed that the similarity of the nine of diamonds to this form occasioned its being so called. The arms of the Earl of Stair, alluded to in your publication, are exactly in the form of this cross. If this explanation should be useful, you are most welcome to it. A. F.
Thistle of Scotland.
Sir,—Your correspondent R. L. (No. 2. p. 24.), will find the fullest information on this head in Sir Harris Nicolas's work on the Orders of Knighthood of the British Empire. He does not assign to its origin an earlier date than the reign of James III., in an inventory of whose jewels, Thistles are mentioned as part of the ornaments. The motto "Nemo me impune lacessit," does not appear until James VI. adopted it on his coinage. G. H. B.
For Scottish Thistle, see Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. ii. Order of St. Andrew. Selden, Titles of Honour, p. 704. ed. 1672, refers to "Menenius, Miræus, Favin, and such more." Scotus.
Record Publications.
Will any of your readers kindly favour me with a reference to any easily-accessible list of the publications of the Record Commission, as well as to some account of the more valuable Rolls still remaining unpublished, specifying where they exist, and how access is to be obtained to them?
With every wish for the success of your undertaking, Yours, &c.D. S.
[The late Sir H.. Nicolas compiled an account of the publications of the Record Commission, which was published in his Notitia Historica, and also in an 8vo. vol., and is easily obtainable. There is also a series of articles in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1834, which contains a good deal of information upon the subject, with a classified list of the publications. The principal unpublished records are in the Tower and the Rolls' Chapel; any record may be inspected or copied at those places, or in any other Record Office, upon payment of a fee of one shilling.]
Katherine Pegg.
Sir,—Katherine Pegge, one of the mistresses of Charles II., was the daughter of Thomas Pegge, of Yeldersley, near Ashborne in Derbyshire, Esq., where the family had been settled for several generations, and where Mr. William Pegge, the last of the elder branch, died without issue in 1768. Another branch of this family was of Osmaston, in the same neighbourhood, and of this
