following, which did not take five minutes to not only Oliver Cromwell held a council of war, construct: Hpxhv titrygi vki fpi drd gkoxhz clv. I have divided it into words to make it easier; and I give a further clue in the statement that it represents a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth.' Unless it is discovered I will send the key by means of which it can be easily read; and I make the note that the same symbol has here several meanings. WALTER W. SKEAT. Queries. We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. SPIDER FOLK-LORE.-I shall be very grateful for direction to any analogues in the folk-lore of other countries to the well-known myth of Robert Bruce and the spider. The kindred stories of David being saved from the pursuit of Saul in the desert of Kiph, and Mahomet from his enemies during his flight from Mecca, in each instance by a spider spinning its web across the mouth of a cave in which the fugitive had harboured, are cases in point; but I think it may be possible to get closer parallels. Many people will, no doubt, resent the term "myth" being applied to Bruce's adventure, and will point to the reverence with which Scotsmen, especially those who claim descent from Robert I., regard spiders. But similar honours to spiders are reported from many other countries, and from parts of the United Kingdom as remote from Scotland as Norfolk, Yorkshire, Cornwall, and Ireland. The Cornish myth refers to a spider which covered the infant Saviour in his cradle and hid him from the search instituted by Herod. It is clear, therefore, that the tendency would be to account for the widely prevalent regard for spiders by stories connected with some character of local renown. Upon whom would Scottish fancy fix so easily as on their national bero Robert de Brus? Barbour, who would be slow to pass over such a dramatic incident, is silent on the subject; Hume of Godscroft says it was Sir James Douglas, and not Bruce, who watched the spider. I may add that it is not simple curiosity that prompts this inquiry; but as I am occupied in writing the life of Robert the Bruce for the "Heroes of the Nations" series, it would be satisfactory to obtain good reasons for rejecting a story which there seems no good reason to accept. HERBERT MAXWELL. TAAFE.-Will you kindly allow me to state in 'N. & Q.,' that, as the great-granddaughter of Catherine Dromgoole (by marriage Hope), of the Drogheda family of that name (in the drawingroom of whose house in Peter Street, by the way, but the memorable address, by the Recorder of Drogheda, was delivered to King James II. in April, 1689), I should be obliged by information respecting the name, &c., of the family of the wife of Peter Taafe, of Smermore Castle, co. Louth, grandfather of the said Catherine Hope, and uncle of John, first Viscount Taafe, grandfather of the celebrated Field-Marshal Taafe of the Austrian FRANCES TOLER HOPE. Empire? Clapham. 1524. Jehan Petit. Bibles. 1541. A. Constantia. 4to. Lyon. 1546. Thielman Kerver. Fol. Paris. 1556. T. Crespin. 4to. Genève. 1560. Sebastien Honorati. Fol. Lyon. Franc-Latin. 1562. Bourgeois, Barbier, Courteau. Genève, 1563. B. Molin. Fol. Lyon. 1565. Bernard Claud de Mont. Fol. Lyon. 1566. Julien de Monchel. 8vo. Genève. New Testaments. 1571. A. Gryphius. 12mo. Lyon (?). Please reply direct. 29, Emperor's Gate, S.W. C. MASON. 'DICTIONNAIRE DES GIROUETTES.'-Can any of your readers give me information respecting the above-mentioned work? The copy which I possess is of the third edition, and is "ornée d'une gravure allégorique." The date is 1815. I cannot find any reference to it in Brunet, although it may be 8 there catalogued under the name of the chief editor eux-mêmes." 86, Grosvenor Road, S.W. [Three editions of this work appeared in 1815. It was at first attributed to A. J. Q. Beuchot, who, in 'La Bibliographie de la France,' 1815, p. 445, expressly disavowed the paternity. It is, in fact, by Alexis Eymery, its publisher, who was supplied with notes and assistance from P. J. Charrin, Tastu, René Périn, and the Count César de Proisy d'Eppe, who incurred some suspicion of the authorship. It was answered in 1815 by Le Censeur du Dictionnaire des Girouettes; ou, les Honnêtes Gens vengés,' par M. Charles] D[oris], and it gave rise to L'Almanach des Girouettes, Paris, 1815; Le Petit Dictionnaire des Girouettes, 1826; Nouveau Dictionnaire des Girouettes,' 1831; and Petit Dictionnaire de nos grandes Girouettes,' 1842.] 6 SYMONDS'S WORKS ON THE RENAISSANCE.-I have just acquired Addington Symonds's two volumes of the Catholic Reaction,' and would be glad to know, if his other works treating on the Renaissance be procured, in what order they should be read. A. W. SARGEAUNT FAMILY.-Would any of the readers of N. & Q.' kindly tell me if there is a pedigree of the family of Sargeaunt, and where it is likely to be found? I think this family springs from the ancient French family of this name, a member of which, I fancy, married into the English branch of the De Levis family, originally of France. Chichester. DE MORO. OWRES LIGHTSHIP.-In Shaw's Tour to the West of England in 1788' the following passage occurs: "In our return to shore we rowed down the harbour Was this the first lightship placed round the Bognor. H. C. L. MORRIS, M.D. MOTTO.-Can any reader of 'N. & Q.' suggest an explanation of the motto used for a long time by the family of Paynter of Boskenna, in Cornwall, Clevedon, Somerset. SAMADEN.-Some years ago, passing through Samaden, in going either to or from Pontresina, in the Engadine, I noticed this inscription, carved, I think, in the stone of a building (probably a public one), "Ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes Angulus ridet." It was on a bright, fresh day, and the quotation from old Horace ('Carm.,' ii. 6, vv. 13, 14) R. R. DEES. seemed specially felicitous. Can any traveller say if the inscription remains, and on what building it is? Wallsend. REPORTS OF CROMWELL'S COMMANDERS.-Could you suggest to me a way by which I could obtain a copy of any reports issued by Cromwell's commanders, say in 1653? One of his officers in that year destroyed the old Castle of Stornoway. J. N. ANDerden. OUR LADY OF HATE.-Can it be true that a church exists dedicated to Our Lady of Hate? It would seem so from the following quotation at p. 181 of Elton's 'Origins of English History,' 1882: "Une chapelle dédiée à Notre-Dame de la Haine existe toujours prés de Tréguier, et le peuple n'a pas cessé de croire à la puissance des priéres qui y sont faites. Parfois encore, vers le soir, on voit des ombres honteuses se glisser furtivement vers ce triste édifice, placé au haut d'un coteau sans verdure. Ce sont des jeunes pupilles jaloux de la prosperité d'un voisin, des femmes trop rudelassés de la surveillance de leurs tuteurs, des veillards ment froissées par le despotisme d'un mari, qui viennent là prier pour la mort de l'objet de leur haine. Trois cette mort dans l'année." Ave,' dévotement répétés, amènent irrévocablement NEW TESTAMENT, BISHOPS' VERSION.-A neighbour of mine desires information concerning his copy of the Bishops' New Testament. It is imperfect, lacking all before p. 3, sig. A iii, on which begins "The Gospel by Saint Matthew"; fol. 82, the map and "Order of Times" at the end of the Acts; and all after fol. 132, the verso of which ends with the first verse of Rev. xii. It is a folio, beautifully printed in a bold Gothic letter, Beylies. VATICAN EMERALD. (8th S. viii. 347, 412, 450.) double columns, fifty-eight lines to the full page, side-notes in small Gothic type, but headings and marginal references in Roman letter. The text differs from that of the Bible of 1595, so far as I have observed (except for slight variations in spelling), only in this point, that this prints Your correspondent LADY RUSSELL may be glad within brackets such words as are not in the to have further particulars about the emerald which original Greek, which the other gives in Roman adorned the tiara of Pope Julius II. The Pope type. I should judge this Testament to have been used this tiara for the first time on 26 Nov., 1503, printed by the Barkers, because the same tailpieces on the occasion of his coronation, and it was the occur in both volumes, and in a few cases the only tiara that was saved during the great sack of capitals are identical. The Testament has the Rome under the Constable de Bourbon in 1527. heading of fol. 109 verso misprinted "1 Tthessa- It was Pope Gregory XIII. who enriched it by the lonians." Mr. Dore (Old Bibles,' p. 275, sqq.) addition of the emerald, which he had placed on enumerates several editions of the Bishops' trans- the summit, surmounted by a cross enriched with lation of the New Testament printed alone, but diamonds, and on the emerald was engraved his most of these appear to have been small in size. name, "Gregorius XIII. P.O.M." This tiara My queries are (1) What is this edition? (2) What weighed 7 lb., and the emerald 404 carats. is its value? The edges are rather frayed at Clement XI., on the occasion of the threatened beginning and end, but except for the defects men-invasion of Saxony in 1712, due to the contioned it is in very fair and clean condition. It is version of Prince Frederick Augustus to Catholoosely bound in a stiff wrapper. C. DEEDES. licism, offered to sell, if necessary, this tiara, that Brighton, he might provide pecuniary assistance to the young prince's father, King Augustus. SWINNERTON FAMILY.-Wanted, name and address of the present possessor of the evidences of the descent of the Swinnertons which were collected some forty years ago by (it is supposed) James Swinnerton, proprietor of the Macclesfield Courier, who died s.p. in 1881, and who represented in the male line the Swinnertons of Yew Tree, in the manor of Whitmore, and through them probably also the Swinnertons of Swynnerton, the Swinnertons of Eccleshall, and the Swinnertons of Butterton, all in co. Stafford. F.S.A. POEM WANTED.-Could any reader inform me where the poem 'Sigurd the Volscian' appeared? Supposed to be in a magazine in the last three or four years. H. M. S. In 1789 Pius VI. had the tiara altered, and it with the addition of 3 diamonds of large size, was reset by Carlo Sartori, the Pope's jeweller, 36 smaller ones, 24 large balas rubies from Mogul, 22 large Oriental sapphires, 12 rubies, and a large number of pearls, with this inscription in diamonds: "Ex munificentia Pii VI. P.O.M." Pius VI. was, as is well known, forced by the French to dispose of this tiara, as well as most of his treasures, to pay in part the six millions of francs required by the treaty of Tolentino in 1797. Napoleon I., in the month of June, 1805, sent as the summit of which again appeared the celebrated a gift to Pius VII. a new and magnificent tiara, on emerald of Gregory XIII. It was presented to the Pope by Cardinal Fesch, the Emperor's minister plenipotentiary, and the Pope, in his letter of thanks, dated 23 June, 1805, informed the Emperor of his intention to use it for the first time at Paul. When the Pope was taken prisoner in 1809 the Papal Mass on the Feast of SS. Peter and by the Emperor, this tiara was seized by General Miollis, together with other treasure, and taken back to Paris; but, on the restoration of the monarchy and the return of the Pope to Rome, it was restored to him by Louis XVIII. On the death of the Pope, his relations now laid claim to it, and a compromise was arranged, by which they were accorded the sum of twelve thousand scudi by the Reverenda Camera Apostolica. The tiara now became the property of the Holy See. Its vicissitudes do not end even here, for during the insurrection of 1831 Pope Gregory XVI. was obliged to conceal it, and the chamberlain to whom it was consigned placed it in a box and buried it for safety in the Vatican gardens, and on its removal afterwards to the Papal sacristy it was found to be so much injured that it had to be thoroughly restored. This work was entrusted to Annibale Rota, the Pope's jeweller, on 28 Dec., 1833, and Monsignor Patrizi, the maggiordomo, had the satisfaction, on 15 March, 1834, of placing it once again in the Papal sacristy. Here it remained till the troubles of 1848-9, when, during the Roman Republic and the temporary exile in Gaeta of Pius IX., it was safely hidden W. should not have contradicted LADY RUSSELL and MR. ST. CLAIR BADDELEY with so little consideration-consideration to which a lady, at least, might have been entitled. They may be mistaken as to the Vatican emerald which is the subject of MR. GALE'S inquiry (he alone can tell us what emerald he meant); but both LADY RUSSELL and MR. ST. CLAIR BADDELEY write with such evident knowledge about the emeralds which they supposed to be the subject of inquiry, that W. goes too far in saying that their "explanations have no foundation whatever." I suppose even the proverbial schoolboy has heard of the Vatican emerald concerning which W. supposes MR. GALE to inquire; but it is only the schoolboy and cocksure people who are ready without inquiry to accept legend as history. The inscription usually appended to engravings of the legendary likeness of our Lord, said to have been cut in an emerald by command of Tiberius (credat Judæus!), and with which many readers of N. & Q.' must be familiar, is as follows:"Vera Salvatoris nostri effigies ad imitationem imaginis smaragdo incisae jussu Tiberii Cæsaris, quo smaragdo postea ex thesauro Constantinopolitano Turcarum imperator Innocentium VIII. Pont. Max. Rom. donavit pro redimendo fratre Christianis captivo." W. gives as undoubted historical fact,-"The Vatican emerald (so called) came into possession of Pope Innocent VIII. in the following way During the wars with the Turks, the brother of the Emperor of the Turks [what emperor is not said] was taken prisoner, and, in order to redeem him, the said gem was given to the Pope." Now, I trust that MR. GALE's inquiry will yet elicit distinct information as to whether or not the legendary emerald is still to be seen among the treasures of the Vatican; meanwhile, I question the truth of the legend of the gift. While Innocent VIII. was Pope (A.D. 14841492), the Emperor of the Turks was Bajazet II. (A.D. 1481-1512). At the time of the death of his father, Mahomet II., he was Governor of Amasia, and, instead of at once securing his succession, he persevered in the fulfilment of a previously designed pilgrimage to Mecca. His brother, Zizim, taking advantage of his absence, usurped the throne. Bajazet, on his return, inflicted on him a crushing defeat, when he sought refuge first at Rhodes and then in Italy. In the latter country the long arm of his brother reached him and compassed his death. Emerald or no emerald, given or not given, by Emperor of Turks to Pope of Rome, the legend which I have quoted is demonstrably false. Bajazet's brother was no captive among the Christians, but a refugee. So far from wonderful emeralds or other costly gifts being bestowed to procure his redemption, some far less costly payment (some say by means of a barber's razor) secured his death. R. M. SPENCE, M.A. Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B. P.S.-A thought has just struck me. If in the inscription given above we were at liberty to regard redimendo as a mistake for retinendo, so as to bring out the sense that Bajazet gave the emerald to Innocent to induce him "to retain his brother as a captive," then the story might be true after all. It is a fact that Bajazet had paid an annual sum to Peter d'Aubusson, Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, to secure the safe custody of his brother, that he might not get at large to be a D'Aubusson, at source of danger to himself. Innocent's request, gave up Zizim to him. The Pope may have, in turn, been bribed by Bajazet, perhaps by the gift of the emerald, to keep him safe. Afterwards, to be doubly sure, he had him murdered. "the giant steps' consist of a tall, stout mast firmly planted in the earth, bound with iron at the top, and cables which touch the ground. The game consists of a upholding a thick iron ring to which are attached heavy number of persons seizing hold of these cables, running round the mast until sufficient impetus is acquired, and then swinging through the air in a circle."-Atlantic Monthly, lxxii. pp. 353, 354. In Mexico, at the time of the Spanish invasion, the game, which was called the "bird-dance" by the natives, and the "flying game" by their conquerors, was a far more elaborate performance. It took place especially during the laymen's feast, and seems to have had a religious significance connected with the calendar. Nearly every game among the Mexicans and the kin ired nations enjoyed divine patronage : "In the centre of an open place, generally a public square, a lofty pole was erected. On the top of this pole was placed a wooden, moveable cap, resembling an inverted mortar; to this were fastened four stout ropes which supported a wooden frame about twelve feet square. Four longer ropes were carefully wound thirteen times about the pole just below the cap, and were thence passed through holes made one in each of the four sides of the frame. The ends of these ropes, while wound about the pole, hung several feet below the frame. Four gymnasts, who had practised some time previously, and were disguised as birds of different form, ascended by means of loops of cord tied about the pole, and each having fastened one of the ropes round his waist, they started on their circular flight with spread wings. The impulse of the start and the weight of the men set the frame in motion, and the rope unwound quicker and quicker, enabling the flyers to describe larger and larger circles. A number of other men, all richly dressed, sat perched upon the frame, whence they ascended in turn to the top of the revolving cap, and there danced and beat a drum, or waved a flag, each man endeavouring to surpass his predecessor in daring and skill. As the flyers neared the ground, and the ropes were almost untwisted, the men on the frame glided down the ropes so as to gain the ground at the same time, sometimes passing from one rope to the other in their descent and performing other tricks. The thirteen turns of the with the four flyers, represented the cycle with its four divisions of thirteen years."-H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America,' 1875, ii. pp. 295, 296. · горе, A very similar sport, in which the pole was crowned with a gaudily painted idol of the god of cacao, was also customary among the Mayas of Central America (Bancroft, ii. pp. 713, 714), and during the Mexican month called "fall, or maturity of fruit" a pole played a principal part in the festival held to the god of fire : "At the beginning of the month certain priests went out into the mountains and selected the tallest and straightest tree they could find. This was cut down and trimmed of all except its top branches. It was then moved carefully into the town upon rollers, and set up firmly in the courtyard of the temple, where it stood for twenty days. On the eve of the feast-day the tree was gently lowered to the ground; early the next morning carpenters dressed it perfectly smooth, and fastened a cross-yard five fathoms long near the top, where the branches had been left. The priests now adorned the pole with coloured papers, and placed upon the summit a statue of the god of fire, made of dough of amaranth seeds, and curiously dressed in a maxtli, sashes and strips of paper. Three rods were stuck into its head, upon each of which was spitted a tamale, or native pie. The pole was then again hoisted into an erect position. Those who had captives to offer now appeared, dancing side by side with the victims, and most grotesquely dressed and painted. At sunset the dance ceased...... About midnight every owner brought out his captive. ......At dawn the human offerings were taken to the Tzompantli, where the skulls of the sacrificed were [afterwards] spitted, and there stripped by the priests of their dress and ornamente." "These bloody rites over, the people came together Presently all adjourned to the place where the pole and danced and sang in the courtyard of the temple. before mentioned stood. At a given signal the youths. made a grand scramble for the pole, and he who first reached the summit and scattered the image and its accoutrements among the applauding crowd below, was reckoned the hero of the day. With this the festival ended, and the pole was dragged down by the multitude amid much rejoicing. The Tepanecs, according to Duran, had a very similar ceremony. carried to the entrance of the town, and to it offerings A huge tree was and incense were presented every day during the month preceding the festival. Then it was raised with many ceremonies, and a bird of dough placed at the top. Food and wine were offered, and then the warriors and women, dressed in the finest garments and holding small dough idols in their hands, danced round the pole, while the youths struggled wildly to reach and knock down the bird image. Bancroft, ii. pp. 329-331. Lastly the pole was overthrown." Such was the use made of festal poles among the American aborigines at the period when the New World was discovered. In what districts of the Old World and the Oceanic Islands beyond it are such poles known to have been employed at religious rejoicings, or at feasts connected with the course of the seasons? The use of tree-stems in public or family ceremonial seems to occur at any season of the year; not alone In May, the lovely month of May, When all the leaves are springing. As we see, one Mexican festival during which a pole was set up fell in the season of ripe fruits, and the German Christmas-tree is erected in the shelter of the house at mid-winter, when the spirits of vegetation may perhaps find comfort in the glow of the Christmas-log. M. P. Evesham, there stands a maypole. It is, I believe, All round the maypole, trit, trit, trot, W. C. B. SMOKING IN CHURCH (8th S. viii. 366).—I have a note made in 1891 of a conversation with an old inhabitant of this town, in which he told me that |