326
NOTES AND QUERIES. no s. x. OCT. 24, im
DONKEYS, MEASLES, AND WHOOPING-
OOUGH. The following curious bit of folk-
lore may be of interest to readers of 'N. & Q.'
I quote from the weekly issue of the local
paper for 26 September :
" In the enlightened county-town of Down, the practice is still followed of putting a child under a donkey, either as a preventive in the case of measles and whooping-cough, or as a means of .moderating their violence. That such credulity should continue to exist is remarkable. But not a .few instances of it can be cited. From the beginning an object of neglect and ill-treatment, the donkey is a type of obstinacy and stupidity. Yet in the imagination of many people, it possesses physical properties capable of warding off ills to which man- kind is heir." Down Recorder.
KATHLEEN WAKD.
"Castle Ward, Downpatrick.
" DIRECTOIRE " GOWNS. Some months since a furore was excited in Hyde Park by the appearance of a theatrical lady attired in this supposed objectionable costume. I have just become acquainted with the fact that in an ornamental plaster mantelpiece of the sixteenth century, in one of the rooms of " The Luttrell Arms Hotel " at Dunster, two women of the period are represented with the special feature by which the '" Directoire " gown is recognized.
In work of such a period it seems worthy of note, whatever may be the explanation of the portrayal of such a costume. W. S. B. H.
" DOLLS " ON RACE-COURSES. These are movable posts, on a four-footed base, used to mark out a course or gallop when it is not worth the while to fix permanent posts, a chain being led through a hole near the top. The home of the article and of the word was Newmarket Heath ; for we find in Forby's 'Vocabulary of East Anglia,' 1830, " Dool, dole, a boundary mark in an un- enclosed field." Queen Elizabeth in her
- Injunctions,' 1559, directs the admonition
to be given on Rogation Days : " Cursed be he which translateth the boundes and dolles of his neighbor." In the ' Paston Letters ' the vicar is written of as having " pullid up the doolis" See the new edition of ' Prompt. Parv.' by Mr. A. L. Mayhew. The words are variants of deal, sb.
H. P. L.
EMIGRANTS TO AMERICA. The Eighth Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commis- sion, p. 372, states that the Chester Sheriffs' books give the name of every ship entering names of all passengers, &c. Such lists would be of the greatest importance to all Americans searching for the connecting link with England.
I have made an exhaustive search in the
records now at the Town Hall, Chester,
between the years 1580 and 1700, and can
find no trace of these lists, so that if they
exist it must be for some other period.
The classes of records searched were Sheriffs' Books, Depositions and Examina- tions, Mayor's Court files, Passage Court Rolls, Portmote Rolls, Mayor's Year-books, Records of Mayor's and Sheriffs' Courts, Sheriffs' Court files, Custom Entry Books, Merchant Adventurers, Sessions files, and Mayor's Memo. Books.
GERALD FOTHERGILL.
11, Brussels Road, New Wandsworth, S.W.
" PIDDLE " AS A LAND MEASURE. Neither the 'N.E.D.' nor the ' E.D.D.' gives this word as meaning a measure of land, but it was so used in the will of Thomas Naysh of Hurst in the county of Berks, dated 3 Feb., 1715 :
" Registry of the Dean of Sarum.
" Item I give unto my son William Naysh All those my two Cottages or'Tenements situate, lyeing, and being att Naland in the parish of Hurst above- said and one Piddle of enclosed land called
burnt piddle to the use and behoof of my son
William Naysh."
The will was proved at Sunning, 13 July,
1716, before the Rev. Thomas Henchman,
A.M., Dni. Decani Sarum ; Geo. ffreme,
R.D.
The word "piddle," now rare, was used " in a trifling way, and always depreciatory." In this case it would probably refer to a small piece of land.
HARPER GAYTHORPE, F.S.A.(Scot.).
Barrow-in-Furness.
- THE MARSEILLAISE.' This much-dis-
cussed national anthem is the subject of a long and interesting article in the Figaro (Literary Supplement) of 7 August, by M. Michel Aube. M. Aube proves, as conclu- sively as such things can be proved, that the author was undoubtedly Rouget de Lisle.
W. ROBERTS.
" SCONE " OR " SCON." A scon or scone is explained by Jamieson as a thin cake of wheat or barley-meal. It is sometimes round ('E.D.D.'). But it is also three- cornered ; and a quotation in the ' E.D.D.' talks about " three-nucket scons," i.e., three-nooked scons. As to the etymology, I find from ' The Century Dictionary ' that it is from the Gaelic sgonn, a block of wood. Let us hope that it is not true.
It occurs in Douglas's translation of Virgil. The adorea liba of ' ^Eneid ' vii. 109 are there translated by " flour-sconnis." This inti-
