312
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. m. APBIL a,
Eng. lee, probably occasionally confused with
A.'Sax.A/cew=MiddleEng./a^e,&c., "mound.'"'
In seeking the derivation of a place-name
it is, of course, advisable, where possible, to
collect all the old spellings we can and then
collate and analyze them, should great diver-
gence render this necessary, rather than select
one at random or because it fits in best with
our ideas of its etymology. As to the South
Lancashire Shakerley, which I ought to have
included in ' The Place-Names of the Liver-
pool District,' I discard both of the above-
named presumed origins and prefer a simple
natural derivation, equating it with Waver-
ley, and classing it with such names as
Bromley, Risley, Farnley or Fernley, Bramley,
Clovelly, Sedgley, Bentley, Hatley, Mosley,
Riley, Cawley or Coley or Caley or Cayley,
Wortley, and Netley, representing grass,
shrub, and small plant life generally ; arid
with Ashley, Oakley, Elmley, Berkeley,
Alderley, Elderslie or Ellerslie, Aspley or
Apsley, Mapley or Mapperley, Lindley, Haw-
ley, Thornley, Appley or Apperley, Pirley or
Purley, Pluinbley, and Nutley, representing
tree life. "Shaker" is dialectal English for
the quaking or dithering grass ; and Shaker-
ley, I have no doubt, was originally meadow-
land conspicuous for this kind of growth.
In the 'Calendar to Pleadings, Duchy of
Lancaster,' we find Shakerlaye temp.
Henry VIII., and "Shakerley medowe"
temp. Henry VIII. and Edward VI. It is,
too, somewhat of a coincidence to meet
with a Shakinghey in the same 'Calen-
dar ' temp. Philip and Mary. Does not this
last name seem to bear out my derivation
of Shakerley 1 HY. HARRISON.
CURIOUS CHRISTIAN NAME (9 th S. iii. 225). For some years, during my childhood, I lived in the family of the vicar of Dunkirk, and remember his telling us of the man who was christened Acts of the Apostles, and also of the abbreviation of the name, viz., Actsy, with which we were much amused. If my memory is not playing me false, I think the four previous sons of this family were duly named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, so the fifth son was called Acts of the Apostles ! The date of this Actsy 's funeral, 14 November, 1865, is identical with my residence at Dunkirk. C. M.
'OXFORD ARGO' (9 th S. ii. 309, 475). -It is a suggestion of mine that Bichard Burdon (of Newcastle), inquired for by your corre- spondent as the writer of the ' Oxford Argo,' may be the Bev. Bichard Burdon, Fellow of Oriel College. The name is a well-known one in the north of England, and the pedigree of
Burdon of Castle Eden, co. Durham, may be
found in Burke's 'History of the Landed
Gentry.' I can remember some lines by him
in the Oxford Protestant Magazine, a periodical
in existence circa 1846 :
In eighteen hundred and eleven
I gained the Newdigate, In eighteen twelve a first class man,
As chronicles relate ; In thirteen next, in Oriel's prime,
A Fellow I was found, And in fourteen for English prose
My brow was laurel bound.
JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.
I have always understood that the author of this was the Rev. Henry Bellenden Bulteel, M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, and curate of St. Ebbe's, Oxford. J. B. R.
THE BOMAN GHETTO (9 th S. ii. 463 ; iii. 90, 154). In reply to ST. SWITHIN'S query as to my authority for the statement that the round yellow badge decreed by Innocent III. was only worn by the Jews of Borne in the thirteenth century, it consisted in the fact that in the century following we find them commanded by the Senate to wear a badge altogether different in shape and colour, namely, a red over -man tie. Here is the statute* :
" Judaei super alia vestimenta Tabarros portent coloris rubei, exceptis medicis expertis in thepria et practica medicinse, et actualiter exercentibus artem medicinse in Urbe ibi habitantibus, ap- probandis per Dommos Conservatores, Executores justitise, et quatuor Consiliarios."
It is probable that this distinction was not held so odious as the former one, of which Benjamin ben Abraham had so bit- terly complained. At any rate, we do not find complaints of it. It is to be borne in mind that interest is more poAverful in the long run than fiercest prejudice. The Angevins of Naples and John XXII. were markedly favourable to the Jews, and during the early part of the fourteenth century the Angevin figured prominently as the "Senator Urbis " in Rome. To him and other Italian princes the Israelite proved useful in three capacities : as a translator of MSS., as a physician, and as a money-lender. Hence reasons enough for mitigation in the severe attitude formerly observed toward the Roman Jew. Similarly we observe that the Venetians of that period were alternately expelling and recalling the Jews, according as public utility dictated. In the fifteenth century Martin V. (Colonna), in a severe decree, obliged the
' Statuti di Roma,' lib. ii. c. 244.
