12 S. IV. MABOH, 191S.J NOTES AND QUERIES.
89
This question is fully answered in ' The
Oxford Dictionary ' (as its editors officially
style it now), where " rook " is traced,
through various mediaeval European lan-
guages, to " Persian rukh, the original sense
of which is doubtful." In ancient times
castles were often perched, for military
reasons, upon not easily accessible rocks.
E. S. DODGSON.
See a ' History of Chess,' by H. J. B. Murray, published at the Clarendon Press in 1913. J. J. FREEMAN.
Shepperton-on-Thames .
[Other correspondents thanked for replies.]
AN ENGLISH ' GARDEN OF HEALTH ' (12 S. iii. .508; iv. 22). At MR. G. E. MANWARING'S suggestion I have looked up the two editions of William Langham's book, the first of which was published in 1579 (not 1597), and the second in 1633. My friend has " spotted " the book, but, without seeing again the mutilated copy which gave rise to my query, I am unable to fix its date, as the two editions are so much alike in appearance, type, arrange- ment, &c. If, however, its owner will turn to the article ' Birch,' he can fix the date himself by the spelling " Iche " in the first edition, and " Itch " in the second, in the list of disorders near the bottom of the page. The collation of the first edition in the Huth Library Catalogue is not quite exact, and should be amended to " Table [at end] A c4 in eights, D to o3 (4 leaves) = 28 leaves mall." L. L. K.
YEOMAN OF THE MOUTH (12 S. iii. 508). M. P. Moore, in ' The Family of Carr of Sleford,' says :
"Sir John Carr of Hartlepool. . . .was a favourite of Henry VIII. He was Squire of the Body to the King in 1509, and, after, a ' Sewer of the Mouth ' (an office equivalent to that of cupbearer)."
M. H. DODDS.
PICKWICK : ORIGIN OF THE NAME (12 S. iv. 12, 51). The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society is hardly the place in which one would expect to find any reference to Charles Dickens, and such popular favourites as Mr. Pickwick, Winkle, and Sam Weller. Yet here is a note from that Journal, to be found in a learned and most interesting paper by my friend Mr. James Kennedy, one of the vice-presidents of the Society, appended to some remarks on coincidences in legends and traditions:
" Here is a coincidence which will be novel to my readers. The retired head of a department
of the British Museum employed his leisure in
arranging the records of Westminster Abbey,
and is my authority. On one occasion the
mediaeval abbot took Mr. Winkle with hjni to
visit Pickwick Manor ; and on another occasion
he gave Mr. Sam Weller a licence for a public-
house at Croydon. Where did Dickens get these
names ? They are uncommon ; but the con-
junction of them in a mediaeval MS. would be
held good proof of Dickens's prodigious learning,
if we did not know that it was fortuitous."
Journal, April, 1917, p. 216.
J. H. RIVETT-CARNAC.
Vevey.
The trial of Brookes v. Pickwick and others (sic) at Taunton was reported in The Times of April 11, 1827 (and possibly in other London newspapers). Probably Dickens read the case in a newspaper : the law report in 4 Bingham did not appear till 1828. Of course, he may have read that too. It is clear that Mr. Pickwick was not the sole proprietor of the Bath Coach.
H. C N,
Pickwick Mews is the official name of a blind alley on the eastern side of Avon Street, Bath. E. S. DODGSON.
PICTURE OF OUR LORD (12 S. iii. 332, 401). At 9 S. i. 107 I described a similar painting in my mother's possession, and cited The Archaeological Journal, vols. viii. arid xxix., The Gentleman's Magazine, &c., for other examples. Some of these panels were inscribed, like MRS. ANDERSON'S, as " im- printed in Amirald " *; my mother's and at least one other as having been " found in Amerat." E. LEGA-WEEKES.
ONION v. MAGNET (12 S. iii. 503 ; iv. 57). It might interest MR. CROOK to learn that a well-known dentist recently told me that on one or two occasions he had had great trouble in finding the cause of pain in his patients, till he discovered that it was due to two metal fillings being in contact with each other, setting up' electrical action. The acid necessary was no doubt contained in the saliva. E. H. BLANK.
16 St. Augustine's Mansions, S.W.I.
MASONIC HERALDRY (12 S. iv. 46). A " difference for consanguinity" seems from works on heraldry to be used only in the lifetime of the father to whose sons it applies. But, as one conversant with the practice and sentiment, and one himself an old member, of the association referred to in the query, the writer would strongly reprobate any such alteration as has been suggested, in the absence of a known inten- tion to that effect by the founder. It Is not
