NOTES AND QUERIES.

Evening Star, Issue 7331, 1 October 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

NOTES AND QUERIES.

iEoN.—A Greek word signifying an age, and also eternity. The Gnostics spoke of {eons, in a peculiar sense, as powers that had emanated from God before the beginning of time, and existed as distinct entities or spirits.

JSsculaphjs appears in Homer as an excellent physician, of human origin. In the later legends he becomes the god of the healing art, and the accounts of his genealogy are various and mythical. In the healing art iEsculapius soon surpassed his teacher Chiron, so far as to restore the dead to life, which offended Pluto, who feared that his realm would not be sufficiently peopled. He therefore complained to Jove of the innovation, and Jove slew iEsculapius by a flash of lightning. After this he was raised to the rank of the Gods by the gratitude of mankind, and was especially at Epidaurus, where a temple and grove were consecrated to him. From this the worship of the healing god extended itself over the whole of Greece, and even to Rome. Bug-a-boo. —Bogill, or bogle, is a Scotch name for a phantom. Bogill also means a figure dressed up to scare birds away, and bogill-bo a hobgoblin. Hence fotga-boo, empty terror, or groundless alarm. Bucbntauk.—The name of a ship which acquired much celebrity in Venice, at the time when that State was a flourishing republic. A vessel of the same name was burnt when the French took Venice, six centuries afterwards. The Bucentaur was propelled mainly by oars, having 168 rowers. It was employed only once a year, when the Doge married the Adriatic. A splendid water-procession was formed, with the Doge and chief notables on the Bucentaur, and other distinguished persons in gondolas, and when the procession arrived at the mouth of one of the channels opening into the Adriatic, the Doge dropped a ring into the water, uding the words "We wed thee with this ring, in token of our true and perpetual sovereignty." Thisceremnny arose out of an honor conferred by the Pope on the Doge, consequent on a splendid victory gained by the Venetians over the Emperor Frederick Barbarossr. Brank or Branks.—An instrument formerly used for the punishment of scolds in England and in Scotland, and often called in the former " the scold's bridle." It seems to have come in place of the ducking stool or cucking stool. "I look upon it," says Dr Plat, in his 'Natural History of Staffordshire,' published in 1686, "as much to be preferred to the cucking stool, which not only endangers the health of the party, but also gives the tongue liberty between every dip, to neither of which this is at all liable, it being such a bridle for the tongue as not only quite deprives them of speech, but brings shame to the transgressor, and humility thereupon, before it is taken off." The branks was made in several forms, with iron bands, and must have been a formidable implement. In a work called ' England's Grievance Discovered in Relation to the Coal Trade,' is the following descriptive account of it:—"John Willis, of Ipswich, upon his oath sayeth that he was in Newcastle six months ago, and there he saw one Anne Bidlestone drove through the streets by an officer of the same Corporation, holding a rope in his hand, the other end fastened to an engine called the branks, which i 3 like a crown, it being of iron, which was muzzled over the head and face, with a great gap or tongue of iron forced into her mouth, which forced the bloodout; and that is the punishment which the Magistrates do inflict upon chiding and scolding women, and that he hath often seen the like done to others." When the branks first came into use is unknown. One found at Edinburgh has the date 1567 ; one at Macclesfield, in Cheshire, 1623 ; another, called " the witches' bridle of Forfar," dated 1661. In the ' Archaeological Journal' for 1856 it is stated that at Bolton-le-Moors, in Lancashire, the iron bridle was still in use, not many years since, for the correction of immorality. It was affixed in the female's mouth, and tied at the back of the head with ribands ; and thus attired the offender was paraded from the cross to the church step 3 and back again. Brank was at one time a common name in Scotland for any sort of bridle. In the Dutch Netherlands the pillory was called " pranghe," the Teutonic word for branks, so-called from tje yoke or collar in which the neck of the culprit was held. Cock Lane Gho3T.—ln the year 1762 London was thrown into a state of extraordinary excitement by the reported oxistence of a ghost in the house of a Mr Parsons, in Cock Lane, Smithfield. Strange and unaccountable noises were heard in the house, and a luminous lady, bearing a strong resemblance to one who, under the name of Mrs Kemt, had once resided in the house, but who had died two years before, was said to have been seen. Dark suspicions as to Mr Kemt having poisoned the lady wore immediately aroused, and were confirmed by the ghost, who, on being interrogated, answered after the fashion of the spirits in our day, by knocking. Crowds, including the lexicographer Dr Johnson, were attracted to the house to hear the ghost, and the great majority became believers. At length a plan was formed by a few sceptics to ascertain the real origin of the noises. The girl, from whom the sounds were supposed to proceed, was taken to another house by herself, and threatened with the imprisonment of her father in Newgate if she did not renew the rappings that evening, the noises having for some time been discontinued. She was observed to take a board with her into bed, and when the noises took place no doubt was entertained that they had all along been produced by similar methods. A prosecution was then raised by Kemt, and Parsons was condemned to stand thrice on the pillory for imposture and defamation. " Game of Bowls.—lt was anciently unlawful, and was the subject of prohibitive enactments in England in the reign of Henry VIII. The law then enactea was repealed in 1845, "so that bowls or other similar games of mere skill may be legally indulged in by the people." This game is now a favorite and healthy pastime through out the British Isles and the colonies. Mauve. The French word for malva (mallow), a dye produced by Dr Stenhouse from lichens in 1848. It is now obtained from aniline.

Pantheon.—A Greek or Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pantheon of Rome, the only ancient edifice that has been perfectly preserved, is now the church of Santa Maria Rotonda —a noble edifice built by Agrippa in 27 B.C. Victor Emanuel is buried here, and it is now used as the burial place of the kings of Italy. Peter-pence. —The name given to a tribute which was collected in several of the Western Kingdoms, and offered to the Roman Pontiff, in reverence of the memory of St. Peter, whose successor that bishop is believed by Catholics to be. From an early period the Roman See had been richly endowed, although chiefly local. The-first idea of an annual tribute appears, however, to have come from England. The usage is believed to have been anterior to the Norman conquest. The tribute consisted in the payment of a silver penny by every family possessing land or cattle of the yearly value of thirty pence. In the time of King John the total annual payment was L 199 3s, contributed by the several dioceses in various proportions, which will be found stated in 'Lingard's History of England.' This tax, called Romescot, with some variation, continued to be paid till the reign of Henry VIII., when it was discontinued.

Sponsob.— InLatin, one who promises. It is the name given, in theological usage, to a I god-father or god-mother. The name is derived from the circumstance that in baptism or confirmation, and especially in infant baptism, the sponsor is understood to make certain promises or engagements in the name and on .the part of the person baptised. The idea of sponsorship is entirely rejected not only by Baptists, but generally also by Presbyterians and Independents. Saxon Language. —The terms "Saxon language" and "Anglo-Saxon" are popularly used to denote that dialect of our language which prevailed to the close of the twelfth century. The use of these terms is, howeVer, comparatively modern; and the men who spoke this dialect always called it English. Several of our MS. chronicles begin thus:—" Britain Island is 800 miles long and 200 mile* broad. And there are in the island five and Brit Welsh, and Scottish, and Pightish, and Book-Latin."