Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/281

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S. I. APRIL 2, '98.]


NOTES AND QUERIES.


273


e found in a work just published by Samp- on Low, Marston & Co., entitled ' Australia's (1 irst Preacher : the Rev. Eichard Johnson, 'irst Chaplain of New South Wales,' by ames Bonwick. C. M.

ORIGINAL EDITION OF GIRALDI CINTHIO

9 th S. i. 147). The meaning of ' Gli Heca-

ommithi,' as Giraldo's collection of stories is

alled, is "the hundred tales," the word being

ioined from the Greek exarov (hekaton),

mndred, and pvQos (mythus\ story or tale.

[ transliterate for the convenience of your

correspondent, who ought with a knowledge

of Greek to have been able to answer the

question himself. The number 100 is the

imit of several of the old collections of tales,

as in Boccaccio's ' Decamerone,' the ' Cent

tfouvelles Nouvelles,' and ' A Hundred Mery

Talys ' ; and Marguerite of Angoul6me allots

en stories to each day of her ' Heptameron '

n imitation of her precursors. The ' Heca-

ommithi,' including the ten tales of the

[ntroduction, consists really of 110 tales.

F. ADAMS.

106A, Albany Road, Camberwell.

"GROUSE": "GROUSING" (9 th S. i. 128). This word, meaning to grumble, is another

orm of the Old Eng. grucche or groche, to

murmur, from Old Fr. groucer, groucher, L. Lat. groussare. See Skeat, ' Etym. Diet.,' s.v. 'Grudge.' In Scottish it takes the form of groozle or gruzzle, to keep grunting or whining ; and in provincial English a baby LS very commonly said to grizzle when it con- tinues making a fretful, discontented cry.

" [Hood was] utterly free from trumpery vanity and grizzling." Saturday Review, vol. Ivi. p. 757

" Mother grizzled an' worrited herself reg'lar ill " Cornish). E. Phillpotts, ' Lying Prophets,' p. 79 1897).

A. SMYTHE PALMER, D.D.

S. Woodford.

MR. HANSOM (9 fch S. i. 148). The following excerpt from the Supplement, published in L883, to 'A New Biographical Dictionary,' ay Thompson Cooper, F.S.A., contains the information required by your correspondent :

"Hansom, Joseph Aloysius, architect and in- ventor of the Hansom cab, was born in 1805. He was descended from an old Catholic Yorkshire family, and first came into prominent notice in 1833, as the successful competitor for the Birmingham Town Hall, the erection of which was entrusted to him and his then partner, Mr. A. Elch. The contract proved an unfortunate one for the architect and builder, and resulted in his bankruptcy. Shortly afterwards he partially retrieved his fortunes by the invention of the patent safety cab, which still bears his name. His next important venture, in December, 1842, was in periodical literature, as the


founder of the Illustrated Weekly Journal. His practice as an architect had in the meantime become extensive, and examples of his taste and skill are to be seen in all parts of the kingdom. Churches from his designs were erected at Ryde, Preston, Dalkeith, Leeds, Ripon. Boulogne, Mary- church, Oxford, Manchester, and Arundel, and ne was the architect of various structures, or portions of structures, for the colleges of Ampleforth, Ushaw, St. Beuno's, Beaumont, and Fort Augustus. Among his latest and finest works, executed in partnership with his son, Mr. Joseph Hansom, may be men- tioned the Chxirch of the Holy Name at Manchester, remarkable for its tower and for an extensive appli- cation of terra-cotta, and the noble church of St. Philip at Arundel, which he designed for the Duke of Norfolk. Mr. Hansom died at his residence, Fulham Road, London, on 29 June, 1882."

FERDINAND VINCENT BRYAN. 52, Stockwell Park Road, S.W.

For a biography of Joseph Aloysius Han- som, architect and cab inventor, see the ' Dictionary of National Biography,' vol. xxiv.

F. ADAMS.

Full particulars will be found in Boase's 'Modern English Biography,' vol. i., 1892, with references to authorities.

RALPH THOMAS.

INSCRIPTION (9 th S. i. 69). The solution would seem to be Ccelus, or the air. Terra, the earth, was the mother of Ccelus. She was also the mother of Oceanus, who may be considered to stand for the sea. It is a detail that Oceanus was perhaps more correctly the son of Ccelus, as he is also reputed to have married Terra. The personalities of the mythological gods and goddesses were very Protean. There is perhaps some classical reference for the scientific fact that fire is " the glittering father " of air or wind. For Ccelus, Terra, and Oceanus, see Lempriere's ' Classical Dictionary.' ARTHUR MAYALL.

CAEN WOOD, HIGHGATE (8* h S. xi. 384, 456, 498). In an interesting article upon High- gate Archway in the Standard of 19 January reference is made to a contemporary satirical prospectus for removing Higngate Hill en- tirely. It is dated 1812, and the following mention of the wood in question is thus made therein : " It is intended to remove the hill into the vale behind Caen Wood."

HARRY HEMS.

Fair Park, Exeter.

"HESMEL" (9 th S. i. 87). Most, if not all, of the etymological queries propounded in 'N. & Q.,' 1 st S. ii. 153, related to the manu- script of the 'Ancren Riwle' which J. MN. (James Morton) was editing for the Carnden Society. Some were answered, others elicited no reply. The passage "Hore hesmel beo