116
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s.n. AUG. 5,1916.
and Legros's ' Dictioiinaire International '
(1865), and defined "petticoat"; and it
appears as " petticoat, coat," in Clifton and
McLaughlin's ' Nouveau Dictionnaire ' of
1904. The 'Petit Dictionnaire de 1'Aca-
demie Francoise ' of 1829 says that cotte is a
" Jupe, partie de I'habillement des femmes,
plissee par le haut depuis la ceinture jusqu'a
terre "; and Littre countenances this so far
as to say : " Jupe de paysanne, plissee p*vr
le haut a la ceinture," adding as a second
definition : " Tout espece de jupe," all of
which excited my curiosity as to the manner
of garment which the lad in Paris wore when
he engaged in the game of galoche. Now
that our editor tells us that a cotte is an
overall, and SIR WLLLOUGHBY MAYCOCK sets
it down as being a pair of trousers, the
mystery thickens. I confess I incline to the
editorial opinion, which is in some sort
supported by the fact that a short surplice
is known by the name of cotta in ecclesiastical
wardrobes.
I imagine the cotte overall to be a blouse or smock-frock. " Overall " is not a very exact term ; it is, to all seeming, synonymous with "surtouf or "overcoat"; but either of those brings to mind a very different article of clothing from anything in which I picture Daudet's gamin. Perhaps he sported what used to be called a " tunic," a kind of short cloth frock gathered in at the waist by a belt or cord. Norfolk jackets have sup- planted the article. ST. SWITHIN.
[" Trousers " should have been inserted in brackets after "overalls." The point is that the cotte is not synonymous with pantalon or ndotte, but denotes properly a large protective garment. In Louis Bertrand's 'LTnvasion' (1907) a book in which, as it is largely about mechanicians, the word cotte often occurs is a sentence which seems to settle the matter. It is in Part II., chap, viii., de- scribing a man preparing to work at a furnace : "Rapidement Emmanuel proceda a sa toilette. II quitta sa veste, retira sa chemise, et bien que son pantalon hit assez minable, il entila par-dessus une vieille cotte de cotonnade bleue."!
INSCRIPTION AT POLTIJIORE CHURCH (12 S. ii. 71). The inscription to which H. B. S. refers is not over one of the doors of Polti- more Church, but over the almshouse door which leads into the churchyard. The local story is to the effect that two of the Bamp- fylde family died, and, to perpetuate their memory, four rooms were given to be allotted to indigent people. These rooms are called the Almshouses. Of course, with the houses was left a sum of money, the interest of which is distributed among the inmates. Two other rooms have been added, but these have nothing to do with the inscription.
The tablet is a handsome piece of work.
It bears the arms of the Bampfylde family.
and underneath in bas-relief the faces of
the founders, supported by four figures,
representing the " f ower " benefited by the
bequest. The inscription reads :
Grvdge not my lawrell Rather blesse that power \Vhich made the death of two The life of fower.
On a slab underneath are recorded the names of Elizabeth and John Bampfylde,. followed by the lines :
Godlines with content ment is great gaine For we brovght nothing into this world and it is certaine we can carry nothing ovt.
And having food and Raiment let vs be therewith content 1667-8.
The Almshouses were founded by John Bampfylde in 1631, and enlarged, for two additional almspeople, by the executors of Sir R. W. Bampfylde, who in 1775 left, for that purpose, 200Z. The original en- dowment consisted of four and a half acres of land and two cottages at Pinhoe, which were sold in 1872 for 600?., the money being invested in Three per cent Consols by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
I have a photograph of the tablet which I shall be pleased to give to H. B. S. if he will- send me his address.
W. G. WILLIS WATSON.
229 Sigh Street, Exeter.
SCARLET GLOVES AND TRACTAKIANS (12 S. ii. 50). I do not think Mr. Hawker' & red gloves, or his wife's either, had any liturgical significance ; they symbolized only his aversion from clerical sables, and the penchant for the brightest colours, of which his son-in-law, Mr. Byles, gives some amazing illustrations, though he makes no reference to gloves.
A Roman cardinal wears scarlet gloves as part of his ordinary walking dress. Cardinal Gasquet, when paying his first official visit to Downside Abbey, emerged from his motor at the abbey gates" wearing bright red gloves embroidered with gold crosses, which con- trasted singularly with his sombre habit aa a Benedictine monk.
OSWALD HUNTER BLAIR, O.S.B.
Fort Augustus.
The late Rev. William Haslam, widely known as a mission preacher, 'gives some account of Hawker of Morwenstow in his-
