Vol. VIII. No. 6.

THE

American Notes and Queries

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Queries on all matters of general literary and historical interest-folklore, the origin of prov. erbs, familiar sayings, popular customs, quotations, etc., the authorship of books, pamphlets, poems, essays, or stories, the meaning of recondite allusions, etc., etc.—are invited from all quarters, and will be answered by editors or contributors. Room is allowed for the discussion of moot questions, and the periodical is thus a valuable medium for intercommunication between literary men and specialists.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-Peculiar Superstitions, 61-Other Dialectal Forms in Tennessee, 62-Uncle Sam's Polyglot Press-A Seventeenth Century Jury-Omnium Gatherum-Antemire, 63Auckie-Calamity-Borrowed Plumes, 64. QUERIES:-Latin Quotation-The Origin of the Tobacconist's Wooden Indian-A History of Christian Religion "Backward"-A Recent Fall of Manna-Testimony: Its Value in Logical Inference-English Lecturing_in_ParisDiffer From, or Differ With, 64-Catamaran-A U. S. President Abroad While in Office-Vicar Apostolic of the North Pole-Chase Estate, England-Authorship Wanted, 65. REPLIES:-Yellow Starch; Piccadilly-Sex of Hares"The Dry Drudgery of the Desk's Dead Wood"-The Oldest Inhabited Dwelling House in this Country, 65-Conun. drum-Rigolette-How to Pronounce “Parnell"—"Gauls in Spain," etc., 66-Sedgly Curse-Squee- Rouncefall - Parnell's Pedigree-Why Not Eat Insects? 67-Greek Slave Writers-Indian Names-Authorship Wanted, 68-Ten Eyck, Ten Broeck, 69.

COMMUNICATIONS:-Man vs. Woman -Curious Remedies-How Names Grow-Verdi on Rossini and on Himself, 69-Lives for Lief, 70-A Curious Bell from Japan - Lord Lytton as a Plagiarist-Bowie's Original Knife, 71-Poetry for the Postmaster- Number Thirteen-Curious WillsCommunion Tokens, 72.

ПОЛЕЅ.

PECULIAR SUPERSTITIONS.

Some of the common superstitions are amusing to persons who know there is positively nothing in "luck," everything in good management. The household notions, as they may be termed, because almost universal (among the ignorant), are often highly mentioned, as though only half believed, or as if the person who observes them were half ashamed of them.

To name a few: Visitors must go out of a house the same way they entered; if one is obliged to return for something forgotten, he must sit down a moment to break the spell; if a fork falls to the floor, points down, it denotes a coming guest; three chairs in a row

portend an early funeral; to break a lookingglass is a sign of a death in the family; a garment put on wrong side out must be worn so all day; flowers or plants given to you will not take root if thanks are returned; stolen plants are sure to grow, etc.

The list might be prolonged almost indefinitely; they are heirlooms from very ancient times an inheritance from the folklore of ancestors when every river knoll and tree was peopled with fairies, who were constant attendants of mankind and brought them good or ill luck.

Some of the most curious of these strange superstitions are those about babies. Their fingernails must not be cut for at least a year, or they will incline towards theft; to weigh or measure an infant is the worst kind of bad luck; if they are carried into the garret at a tender age they will be ambitious; carried into the cellar the reverse will take place; it is bad luck to give a name borne by another child of the family who died, and so on. In a world where death is so common, it is easy to see how many of these silly notions come to be realized, but it may be considered remarkable how firm a hold they have upon people who would be shocked at an intimation that they were due to ignorance. E. ROBERTS.

woods, he is called a country-jake, and is said to look jakey.

"In playing marbles, one boy tailers (tailors) another when he wins seven games before the other wins any. He cries slippance! when his marble slips from his thumb, and this entitles him to another go. A number of other words used in this game have been pointed out by Prof. J. P. Fruit, of Kentucky, in Part i, of Dialect Notes." Of them I used to hear in West Tennessee knock, plug, plump, middler, taw, shoot, dubs, man, fat, vents and fudge.

"We sleep under a counterpin instead of a counterpane, and call it a coverled until we learn that we ought to say lid instead of led; then we call it a coverlid. Finally some of us learn to call it a coverlet. Very ignorant people say civer (kiver).

"We have the two expressions, go kitin' and go gilpin', both of which mean about the same thing. The first presumably means 'to go like a kite,' that is, to go rapidly.' Under the word kite, Bartlett, in his 'Dictionary of Americanisms,' refers to skite, where he says, To skite about is to go running about.' I have never heard skite used, and do not remember ever to have heard kite in any other form than that in the phrase, go kiting. To go gilpin is a common expression which I take to be derived from the story of John Gilpin's Ride.' I do not find the expression in any of the lists of characteristic expressions or dictionaries of popular phrases.

speaks in a quotation of brandy as being good for the wholesomes. I have heard this phrase a number of times, or rather the singular instead of the plural, good for the wholesome, but I find upon inquiry that it is not so common as most of the other words given in this paper. Seem like I done tole you dat Brer Rabbit done gone en tuck mo' dram dan w'at 'uz good fer he wholesome.'"' (To be continued.)

UNCLE SAM'S POLYGLOT PRESS. (SEE VOL. VIII, P. 27.)

2. The Reading (Pa.) Adler.

Gegründet 1796.

Die ältefte deutsche Beitung in den Ber. Staaten.

Der Reading Adler hat eine Circulation von mehr als 5000 Exemplaren wöchentlich und ist die leitende deutsche Zeitung im öftlichen Pennsylvanien. Er bringt seinen Lesern wöchentlich die wichtigen Neuigkeiten der Welt und die Lokal-Neuigkeiten aus dieser Gegenb so vollständig als möglich. Die große Verbreitung des Adler unter der besten Classe des deutschlesenden Volkes macht ihn au einem unübertroffenen Anzeige-Medium.

Subscriptionspreife..

A SEVENTEENTH CENTURY JURY. "September 6, 1670. Yesterday at the sessions in the Old Bailey, the Recorder of the city, and the court thereof (wherein sides many other of the Justices of the were my Lord Major and the Sheriffes, bePeace) set a fine of £40 upon every one of the jury who quitted Penn (a Quaker) that was then tried upon the statute of riots, and sent them all to the gaole, where now they lay till their fines be payed, and the credit of the fanaticks beginnes much to lessen in this city of London " (Bishop Cosin to his Secretary, Miles Stapylton, Esq., in the "Mickleton MSS.").

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

[VOL. VII, P. 254.]

The following quotation, like that already given from Southey, has escaped the notice of the dictionary-makers. The term omnium gatherum is employed by "Mr. Nehemiah Nestlecock, the foolish gentleman," as the name of a dance, as may be seen in Richard Brome's comedy, "The New Academy; or, The New Exchange" (1658). This illustration is, therefore, almost a century and a half older than the one from Southey's "Letter" (1802).

It occurs just at the close of the play: "Mat.: Before you break up school, let's have

One frisk, one fling now, one cariering daunce,
And then pack up.

Omn.: Agreed, agreed, agreed.
Stri.: Play then Les tous ensembles.

Neh.

That's the French name on't, Uncle, 'tis in Dutch call'd All-to-Mall, and I call it in English

Omnium Gatherum, 'tis the daintiest daunce, We had it here to-day. I and my mother,

My aunt and all can daunce in 't, as well as the

best,

With every one in their own footing.

ΜΕΝΟΝΑ.

The common childish name, in Camden county, N. J., for the common kinds of ant or pismire, is antemire, a word which, so far as I know, is entirely unknown to literature. B. W. W.

[ CAMDEN, N. J.

MENÓNA.

Latin Quotation. Is there anything wrong with this quotation: "Quam paria sapientia regitur ?"" ???

The Origin of the Tobacconist's Wooden Indian (Vol. i, p. 59).—Somebody says in the Chicago Daily Tribune: "I used to live in Spain, and afterwards in the West Indies before I came to the States. I met the wooden Indian long before I came to this country. I have been asked before where the wooden Indian got his start. I only know what I have heard about him in the Old World. There was an adventurer named Ruiz who left his old city, Barcelona, and came to Virginia 300 years ago. When he returned

he executed the wooden Indian in a rude

way, as a type of the sort of animal he had met in the New World, and the figure was set up in front of a shop where wine was sold. Finally it became a sort of trademark. And the wooden Indian is now seen in front of every cigar store, or nearly every one in the world."

That last sentence shakes my faith in the accuracy of the whole article, for I know de visu that there are countries where the atrocity in question is absolutely unknown. Please put it among your queries. TOURIST.

Yellow Starch (Vol. vii, pp. 269, etc.); Piccadilly (Vol. vii, p. 189).—"Among the rest, yellow starch, the invention and foyl of jaundice complexions, with great cut-work bands, and piccadillies (a thing that hath since lost the name) crouded in, and flourished among us, Mrs. Turner being nominoted to be the first contriver, happily in England, but the original came out in France, which fashion and colour did set off their lean sallow countenances" (Wilson's "Life of James I," 1653).

The mention of "piccadillies " in this extract shows that the word denoted an ar

ticle of dress. If N. S. S. will consult Halliwell's "Provincial Dictionary," s.v. "Piccadel," he will find that the name was given to a kind of stiff collar, once fashionable, and among several explanatory citations will find reference to the very passage quoted from "Barnabee Rych." From Blount's "Glossographia" there is given, also, the explanation that the "famous ordinary near St. James's, called Pickadilly, took its denomination from this;" its proprietor, once a tailor, having grown rich from the fashionable "piccadilles." Probably the game of cards so called, and the noted London street of the same name, may both have been named from the ordinary, but I have not looked up the point. M. C. L.

NEW YORK CITY.

Sex of Hares (Vol. vii, pp. 295, etc.).— "Shall we have a Hare of him then? a male one yeare, and a female another" (Nashe, "Have With You to Saffron-Walden," p. 164). G.

"The Dry Drudgery of the Desk's Dead Wood" (Vol. viii, p. 302).-The following sonnet by Charles Lamb, entitled "Work," contains the line inquired for:

"Who first invented work, and bound the free And holiday-rejoicing spirit down

To the ever-haunting importunity

Of business in the green fields, and the town-
To plough, loom, anvil, spade-and (oh most sad!)
To the dry drudgery at the desk's dead wood?
Who but the Being unblest, alien from good,
Sabbathless Satan! he who his unglad

Task ever plies 'mid rotatory burnings,
That round and round incalculably reel-
For wrath Divine hath made him like a wheel-
In that red realm from which are no returnings;
Where toiling and turmoiling ever and aye
He, and his thoughts, keep pensive working-day."
E. G. KEEN.