312
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. xii. OCT. 17, 1903.
afterwards played Jessica, Gilian (' Quaker '),
and Silvia (' Cymon '). In Sheridan's musical
piece 'The Camp,' produced 15 November,
1778, she was the original representative of
" Nancy (in love with William disguised as
a man). 3 ' Of her performance Genest says :
"Miss Walpole, as a young Recruit, went
through her exercise very adroitly." It must
be a portrait of her in that part which
MR. H. S. VADE- WALPOLE refers to. On
5 April, 1779, she played an original part in
'The Contrast,' and later, for Miss Pope's
benefit, Clarinda ('Double Gallant'). She
appears to have left at the end of the season
1778-9. WM. DOUGLAS.
125, Helix Road, Brixton Hill.
"TABBY ALL OVER" (9 th S. xii. 249). This seems to be merely an imperfect way of ex- pressing himself on the part of the proprietor of the ** Cat and Gridiron." What he in tended to convey was, probably, his ability to clothe in " tabby " any one of his customers who happened to be deformed, in such a way as to conceal or modify her physical crooked- ness. " Tabby " was a kind of waved or watered silk, much in vogue in Foote's time. The best definition of the word is, no doubt, that of Prof. Skeat, who in his ' Concise Dic- tionary ' says that it is from the French tabis, that tabis is from the Spanish tabi (Old Spanish'a^afo') and the Arabic l utdbi, a rich waved silk. It was the name of a quarter in Bagdad, where the silk was made, named after Prince Attab, great-grandson of Omeyya.
J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL.
CHARLES READE (9 th S. xii. 243). The pub- lication of the full note written by Mr. W. F. Peacock in the copy of Cotton's ' Short Ex- planation,' now in the possession of MR. CLEGG, discloses further inaccuracies other than that previously noted. One of these is especially remarkable, coming from such an intimate friend of Charles Reade as Mr. Peacock claimed to be. I refer to the passage : " In his lifetime Charles Reade had a noble mausoleum constructed at Brompton, and at her [Laura Seymour's] death he laid her therein." The " noble mausoleum " is a large, but otherwise ordinary brick vault, covered by an imposing marble slab, and is "con- structed " not at Brompton, but in the church- yard of St. Mary's, Willesden. Laura Sey- mour died on 27 September, 1879, and Charles Reade survived her nearly five years, dying on 11 April, 1884. On 15 April of that year he was laid to rest beside her, and I had the sad privilege of being present at his burial. Ihe funeral was entirely free from anything like ostentation, and very few persons were
present beyond the mourners ; these were his
brother, Mr. Compton Reade, Mr. Arthur
Reade, the Rev. Compton Reade, Mr. Charles
Liston, Mr. George Wood roof e, Mr. Frank
Hedges, Mr. Malcolm Drummond, Mr. W.
Lynd, Mr. E. C. Norman, and his biographer,
Mr. John Coleman. Besides these relatives
and intimate friends, there were present in
the church or at the graveside the late
Wilkie Collins, William Morris, George
Augustus Sala, Robert Buchanan, Mr.
H. F. Dickens (now K.C.), Mr. J. Billington,
and perhaps a dozen other less notable
persons. The slab recording in his own words
his eulogistic and loving appreciation of
Laura Seymour had been placed over her
grave for all the world to read late in 1879,
and, having regard to Charles Reade's truthful
and ingenuous character, appears to me to
throw considerable light upon the relation-
ship subsisting between the author and his
friend. I therefore venture to transcribe
it:
" Here lies the great heart of Laura Seymour, a brilliant artist, a humble Christian, a charitable woman, a loving daughter, sister, and friend, who lived for others from her childhood. Tenderly pitiful to all God's creatures, even to some that are frequently destroyed or neglected, she wiped away the tears from many faces, helping the poor with her savings, and soothing the sorrowful with her earnest pity. When the eye saw her it blessed her, for her face was sunshine, her voice was melody, and her heart was sympathy. Truth could say more, and sorrow pines to enlarge upon her virtues, but this would ill accord with her humility, who justly disclaimed them all, and relied only on the merits of her Redeemer. After months of acute suffering, borne with gentle resignation, and with sorrow for those who were to lose her, not for herself, she was released from her burden, and fell asleep in Jesus, September 27th, 1879, aged 59 years. 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Matt. v. 7).
" This grave was made for her and for himself by Charles Reade, whose wise counsellor, loyal ally, and bosom friend she was for twenty-four years, and who mourns her all his days."
F. A. RUSSELL.
49, Holbeach Road, Catford.
"PRIOR TO "= BEFORE (9 th S. xii. 66, 154). Whether " prior to " and " previous to " should be used or not it behoves only Englishmen to decide ; but may I ask why MR. CURRY does not at the same time declare war against ' ' preparatory to" which is a disgustingly lengthy thing and " owing to " 1 The latter has become so firmly rooted in the language that no struggle would avail, I believe, if it were ventured. G. KRUEGER.
Berlin.
Your correspondent says : " There might be excuse for 'a prior wife,' but there caa
