456
NOTES AND QUERIES.
s. v. JUNE 9, im
should be obliged if any one could tell me
whether the long cap-streamers worn by one
of these indicate a widow or a wife.
But now my ideas have been upset again by noticing, in 'Glimpses of Old English Houses,' by Eliz. Balch, an engraving from a full-length oil portrait of Queen Mary I. at Berkeley Castle ; for here a farthingale like a table-top encircles a long-pointed waist, a ruche rises above the high-dressed head, and the chest is exposed ("as all the English ladies had it till they marry," wrote Hentzner in 1599). Can there be any error in the identification of this picture, on the back- ground of which are painted the words "Q. Mary y e j."? I should be very glad for definite information and reference to authen- tic illustrations of the dresses, hose, hats, caps, &c., for both sexes (of gentle degree), and for children as well as " grown-ups," at the period with which I am concerned.
ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.
LANDOR QUERY. W. S. Land or, in the preface to his 'Simonidea,' printed anony- mously at Bath in 1806, and in his remarks on modern English poetry, speaks of " those who are introducing a purer taste, such as Mr. Grant, Mr. Heber, and Lord Strangford." Who was this Mr. Grant 1 Is the Mr. Heber the same as Bishop Heber, whose prize poem ' Palestine ' was written in 1803 1 Lord Strangford is, I suppose, the author of a translation of the * Bimas ' of Camoens (1803), who is satirized by Byron in 'English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.' (See Adams's 'Diet, of Eng. Literature.')
C. LAWRENCE FORD, B.A. Bath.
[Your conjectures concerning Lord Strangford and Reginald Heber are doubtless right.]
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF SUBJECTS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. Can any reader of ' N. & Q.' give references to authorities on the question how to determine the relative importance of subjects in libraries ? For ex- ample, in a great public library, intended for all classes of readers without distinction, about what proportion of the volumes con- tained ought to belong to mathematics, what to natural science, what to the fine arts, and so on? The question must surely have been discussed before now by some of our leading- librarians, and is undoubtedly of much in- terest and importance to all concerned in the establishment and management of public libraries. BIBLIOPHAGUS.
" TRAFFIC." The origin of the term traffic, having remained uncertain up to the present
(even after Dr. Magmisson's ingenious, though
not generally approved derivation recently
published in the Athenoeum), seems, not long
ago, to have been reduced, in a satisfactory
way, to an Arabic source. Tara/uk, in Arabic,
is explained to mean gain by commercial
association and exchange of goods. (See
Grasshoff, ' Das Wechselrecht der Araber,'
Berlin, 1899.) Will any Arabic savant among
your readers kindly inform us, and support
or refute the correctness of this explanation 1
H. KREBS.
Oxford.
"THE SPOTTED NEGRO BOY." In the church- yard at Great Marlow is a tombstone bearing the following inscription :
To the Memory of George Alexander Grattox,
the
Spotted Negro Boy, A Native of the Caribbee Islands
in the West Indies,
who departed this life Feb. 3, 1813,
aged 4 years and 9 months.
This stone is erected by
his only Friend and Guardian,
Mr. John Richardson, of London.
Then follow four lines of poetry which the weather has rendered illegible. In the porch of the church is a painting (said by the attendant to be from Richardson's show) of the lad himself. I presume, therefore, that this poor little stranger was one of the ex- hibits of Richardson, the famous showman. What is known of the boy Grattox 1 I can find no reference to him in such books as are accessible to me. R. CLARK.
Walthamstow.
[Richardson desired, in his will, to be buried in the same grave with Grattox, who was a great attraction to his show. See 'D.N.B.' under ' Richardson, John, 1767 ?-1837.']
" THEY SAY. WHAT SAY THEY ? LET THEM SAY." These words seem to me the only appropriate answer an Englishman can give to the revilings of the French, German, and Russian press at the present time, rather than the mild course of expostulation which some writers seem to recommend. But what are the original words 1 I have an idea they are Greek : Aeyovo-tv* riva Aeyovo-t ; Aeyerwcrai/. Some better classical scholar than myself can perhaps point out where they are to be found. SHERBORNE.
"QUARTER" OF CORN. Although we still use the term " quarter," a measure of capacity (eight bushels), it is now commonly used as meaning certain weights, differing with the kind of corn, as wheat, oats, barley, &c. But
