Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/140

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NOTES AND QUERIES.


[9 th S. II. Au. 13, '98,


SPADE GUINEA, 1796 (9 th S. ii. 67). Accord- ing to Mr. R. L. Kenyon's 'Gold Coins of England ' (1884), p. 195, the British Museum does not possess a guinea of this date.

G. F. R. B.

ANGEL AND LONDON AS SURNAMES (9 th S. ii. 44). Angels are habitants of Norton St. Philip, Bath ; and within the last twenty years a clergyman named London was head master of Pocklington School, Yorkshire.

ST. SWITHIN.

THE STANDING EGG (9 th S. i. 386, 472 ; ii. 53). Great is the virtue of type ! Not till it appeared in print did I notice the absurd blunder in my note at the last reference. It is, of course, the yolk that rises, the white that sinks, in the egg. And it is not necessary to break the yolk to make the egg stand : the displacement of the air-bubble is sufficient. I have never seen an egg stand on its small end. C. 0. B.

CAXON : CAXIN (9 th S. ii. 26). Halliwell, in his ' Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words,' says that caxon means a worn-out wig.

Charles Lamb wrote :

"He had two wigs, both pedantic, but of different omen. The one serene, smiling, fresh powdered, betokening a mild day. The other, an old, dis- coloured, unkempt, angry caxon, denoting frequent and bloody execution."

Anstey, the author of the 'New Bath Guide,' published in 1776, ridiculed in ' The Election Ball ' the mode in which a country girl supplied herself with oneof those fashion- able monstrosities, a modern headdress : With presence of mind flying up to the garret, Brought down my old wig, that s as red as a carrot, And to it she went, dear, ingenious sweet soul, Drawing up the old caul till it fitted her poll. Then with dripping and flour did so baste it and

frizzle,

The hair all became of a beautiful grizzle ; Those curls, which a barber would view with

despair, She did coax, twist, and twine with such skill and

such care, With combs, pins, and paste make such frequenl

attacks on,

She triumph'd at length, and subdu'd the old caxon Which done, she the front in a cushion did wrap, Till the foretop stood up like a grenadier's cap.

The italics are mine. Does not the tern apply to an old wig of any description ?

EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.

"COME, LASSES AND LADS, GET LEAVE o YOUR DADS " (9 th S. ii. 68). Nothing is knowr of the author* of these words. They are t be found in many ballad collections. In hi


Popular Music ' Chappell gives seven verses, he first six from 'Westminster Drollery,' 672, and the last from a later collection. They are obviously words capable of varied landling. Nothing is known about the music, ither, beyond the fact that the present tune

not that originally used. Chappell prints >oth, and the early one (probably " the first ^igure-dance at Mr. Young's Ball, in May, 671") was employed in 'Pills to Purge Melancholy.' MR. JONATHAN BOUCHIER ightly regrets that the song cannot be raced ; but he should console himself by the hought that ' The Leather Botte'l ' and r Bar- >ara Allen,' better and older tunes both, are n no better plight. GEORGE MARSHALL.

Sefton Park, Liverpool.

DR. JOHNSON'S RESIDENCE IN BOLT COURT, JLEET STREET (9 th S. i. 506 ; ii. 71). The long, original, and important communication on this subject in ' N. & Q.,' 1 st S. v. 232, ought ro be pointed out. W. C. B.

"WHITSUL" OR "WHITESOWLE" (9 th S. ii. 68). See 7 th S. xi. 506 ; xii. 108, 233, 277, 374, 449 ; 8 fch S. i. 55. C. C. B.

SHEPHERD'S CHESS (9 th S. ii. 8). I should imagine this to be the same as nine men's morris, which is a substantial kind of tit-tat- to (ante, p. 26). ST. SWITHIN.

This explains the words of one of the school- ohildren's singing games here which always puzzled me only they have it "shepherd's cross " (see ' Berkshire School Games ' in the Antiquary). E. E. THOYTS.

Sulhampstead, Berks.

FAITHORNE'S MAP OF LONDON (9 th S. i. 409 491, 517). This appears to have been sur- veyed and designed by Richard Newcourt. Is there any valid reason why his claims are now eliminated 1 A. H.

FOLK-LORE (9 th S. i. 488). The fear of being charged with burglary can hardly be called "folk-lore." The coincident informa- tion with respect to Belgian labour in France is interesting. In February, 1893, I noticed at the P.L.M. station, Paris, a number of men with bags of linen, dress, or apron stuff', and with implements shaped like a sickle, without an edge, but with a sharp point which was guarded with a cork. Some distance down the line they got out ; and I then asked a porter what they were. He told me they were Belgians who came to work on the sugar-beet farms.

THOMAS J. JEAKES.

Tower House, New Hampton.