428
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. n. NOV. 26,
back ; a woman, in an attitude of mastery,
standing over him, with one knee resting on
his back, and holding a chain attached to his
hands. The man might be Hercules or Atlas.
It is almost certainly from a Greek or Roman
original. Does such a statue exist 1
JERMYN.
BARCLAY'S ' ARGENIS.' I have given up all hope of ever finding a copy of this romance, or of Miss Reeve's ' Phoenix,' which I believe is a free translation of Barclay's Latin. Under these circumstances I should be much pleased if some reader who is happy enough to possess the book would write an outline of the plot of the work for insertion in 'N. & Q.' that is, if the Editor be of my opinion that such an epitome would be well worthy of a place in these columns. THOMAS AULD.
Belfast.
[The book is discursive, and its plot could not be told in our columns within a reasonable space. We had no idea it was scarce. We own at present a copy of an Elzevir edition, and have owned transla- tions by Le Grys and by Kingsmill Long. There is no need, we fancy, to despair of obtaining the book.J
EVELYN'S ' DIARY.' In an edition of
Evelyn's ' Diary ' published in London by
Colburn in 1827 occurs the following passage :
" May, 1645. At executions (in Rome) I saw one, a gentleman, hanged in his cloak and hat for murder. They struck the malefactor with a club that first stunned him, and then cut his throat. At Naples they use a frame like ours at Halifax (a guillotine).
Are the words in the parenthesis those of Evelyn or those of an editor ? C. B.
Providence, R.I.
THORNTON OF DARTON. Can your readers inform me who were the ancestors of Isaac Thornton, of Darton, near Barnsley, Yorks, say two generations back 1 He sold his pro- perty, and married Miss Naylor, who also had an estate, on which he resided. I am desirous of knowing which branch of the Thorntons his is. He was buried at Barnsley.
B. R. T.
THEATRE-LIGHTING. Can any one tell me whether, when the auditorium of a theatre was lit by candles, there was any provision for extinguishing or temporarily shading the lights during the performance of the play ; or did the lighting remain the same through play and entr'actes ? G. L. APPERSON.
" TIPULER." In vol. iii. of the ' Calendar of State Papers,' 'Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII.,' under February, 1522, is the following : " Pardon to Joan, \vife of
Edward Legete of Hingham, Norf., spinster,
alias tipuler." What is a tipuler ?
THOS. BIRD. Romford.
BROWNING'S ' PACCHIAROTTO.' What is the reference in the following amusing lines of this poem ? Speaking of the fair sex, it says :
Of their charms how are most frank, how few
- venal !
While as for those charges of Juvenal Quce nemo dixisset in toto Nisi (cedepol) ore illoto
He [Pacchiarotto] dismissed every charge with an "Apage!"
Is this a quotation from some Latin critic of Juvenal ? A friend suggests that the words in toto and cedepol may possibly be inter- polated by Browning to fill out his line, and that the passage quoted ran : " Quse nemo dixisset nisi ore illoto" "Things which no one would have spoken, unless himself foul- mouthed." But is this a quotation, or is the phrase invented by Browning ?
T. S. OMOND.
"LE BON TEMPS OU NOUS &TIONS SI MAL-
HEUREUX ! "This expression, with trifling variations, occurs frequently in French literature, and is almost proverbial. Is it possible to trace its authorship ; or is it one of those sayings which appear to arise spon- taneously among a people without the possibility of crediting one person with its invention? At the conclusion of the elder Dumas's romance ' Le Chevalier d'Har- mental' is the following passage, in which the saying is variously attributed to Ninon de 1'Enclos and Sophie Arnould :
" Mademoiselle Delaunayf the Duchess de Maine's niece, afterwards Madame de Staal] fut conduite k la Bastille, ou sa captivit6, comme on peut le voir dans les Me"moires qu'elle a laisse's, fut fort adoucie par ses amours avec le Chevalier de Mesnil, et plus d une fois, apres sa sortie, il lui arriva, en pleurant rinfidelit6 de son cher prisonnier, de dire comme Ninon ou Sophie Arnould, je ne sais plus laquelle : ' Oh ! le bon temps ou nous etions si malheureux !'" ' Le Chevalier d'Harmental,' ii. 318.
JOHN HEBB.
Canonbury Mansions, N.
FUNERAL CUSTOMS. In an interesting history of his parish, the Rev. James Murray, of Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire, mentions that " amid the enjoyments of the people we must not fail to notice funerals " ; and he calls attention to a curious custom which was prevalent in connexion with them. It appears a sieve containing clay pipes filled with tobacco was handed round just before the cortege started. Then the mourners smoked, and when the kirkyard was reached,
