,
S. I. APRIL 9, '98.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
287
-here is a single reference to Capt.
Jamilton which is of some interest. At a
ionsultatioii held in Fort St. George on
! April, 1719, amongst other matters that
occupied the Council was
' the perusal of Captain J. Powney's protest against Captain A. Hamilton for certain injuries done to him, and of a part of Captain A. Hamilton's letter regarding Captain Po\vney,"
copies of the documents in question being appended to the minutes of the meeting. I can find no further reference in the ' Press List' to the matter; but Hamilton himself lias told us in his book (chaps, xxix., xlvii.) what the subject of the correspondence was, and, judging by what he says, Powney's protest and his own letter should contain some spicy reading. These references to Hamilton in the ' Press List ' are of some value as confirming the general accuracy of the dates given in his book, avowedly from memory. DONALD FERGUSON.
Croydon.
WE must request correspondents desiring infor-
mation 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.
" HOIST WITH HIS OWN PETARD." This
Shaksperean phrase is now in general use as a stock quotation. How long has it been so 1 Our first modern instance is from George Eliot's 'Felix Holt' (1866); but I think it must occur earlier. One would expect that Sir Walter Scott, through whom so many Shaksperean expressions became "household words," would be found to have used this also.
J. A. H. MURRAY. Oxford.
CHAMBERLAIN AND BRIGHT. Who were Canning's Bright and Chamberlain, whose names figure conspicuously in the Parlia- mentary debates Chamberlain, one of Can- ning's chief diplomatists, and Bright, who in the name of peace attacked Canning's truly peaceful policy in the House of Commons 1
C. A. B.
" HOKEDAY." The earliest quotation I find for this word is one for 1218-19 in Mr. E. Green's ' Pedes Finium ' (Somerset Record Society, 1892), at p. 37, in a translation of a fine it would seem the thirtieth Somerset- shire fine of 3 Henry II. by which certain persons were " once at Hokeday, and again at the feast of St. Martin, to make view of their frank pi edge." I should like to have the
original Latin for the ' New English Diction-
ary '; and as I do not know Mr. Green's ad-
dress I ask your help to obtain the information.
If any earlier use of the word is known, a
reference will be very valuable. Du Cange
pointed out, more than a century ago, the
difficulties in the way of the traditional
explanation of the origin of the name. Has
the question been recently solved ?
R. J. WHITWELL. 70, Banbury Road, Oxford.
" DANNIKINS." This word was in common use about Bolsterstone and Oughtibridge about sixty years ago as the name of a feast or wake on Holy Thursday. People would speak of "the Bolsterstone Dannikins " or the "Oughtibridge Dannikins." Why was this feast so called ? Mr. Addy, in his ' Glossary,' connects the word with the Danes, but does not produce any historical evidence in support of his conjecture.
A. L. MAYHEW.
Oxford.
'ALONZO THE BRAVE.' Wanted, name of publication containing the ballad of ' Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogene.'
BREASAIL.
[You will find this in Matthew Gregory Lewis's reprehensible novel ' The Monk,' and in the Gentle- man's Magazine for September, 1796, p. 773.]
" CHARME." In some family correspondence of 1737 I have come across the following :
"It rain'd this morning for about an hour or Two, and I look'd out of the Window and read Here is old Cole Charcole Charme and Small Cole Dust," &c.
Is there any saying of the period explanatory of the above ; and, if so, what is the meaning of the word " charme " in this connexion ?
C. L. S.
" STRIPPER." Hibernian English is a most interesting study. It has such phrases as "having drink taken" instead of "having taken drink," which sounds like a leaving of the Scandinavian vikings. In Kerry and other rural regions the farmers use the term 'stripper," meaning, as I am told, "a cow that had a calf last year and none this year, but will, if continually milked, give milk till next year, though not so much as if she had had another." What is the origin of this word 1 Is it confined to Ireland in its circulation ? PALAMEDES.
EARLY GREEK TYPE. The Lancet, in its issue of 5 March, makes the statement that ' it was in the title-page of Siberch's ' Augus- fcinus' that Greek type was first used in England." The Lancet is, of course, a great
