38
NOTES AND QUERIES.
[9 th S. II. JULY 9,
originated in the practice of putting a chalk
mark on doors when the plague raged. " A
chalk behind the door" was the tippler's
score at the alehouse, or any running account
which was easy to keep on a door or board
with a piece of chalk, when " re'din', 'ritin',
an' 'rithmik " were not necessary qualifications
for carrying on trade in a village. A man
saying " I '11 chalk him one " meant that, as
a reminder, he would "chalk up" a grudge,
and pay it off at the first opportunity. " I '11
chalk it up " was equal to a note nowadays
made in a diary of a coming event. To put
" a chalk mark on his back " meant the in-
tention to " show up " some one for an offence
against the village code of unwritten laws ;
but to " chalk him one " did not necessarily
imply the use of a piece of chalk, for folks
and children "chalked" by making a cross
with the toe of the boot, or a finger, or a
stick, on the ground, the cross made being the
registration of "sure an' certin " bad luck coming
to the person chalked. In playing the game
of ring-taw, when an opponent was about to
shoot with an almost certainty of hitting, the
owner of the taw to be shot at " chalked " a
cross with his finger on the ground, saying,
Figure o' four !
Sure ter leap ower !
the "four" being the "cross-overs," as they were called, in the X mark.
THOS. RATCLIFFE.
Worksop.
I have never heard the expression quoted by MR. ADDY, but I know that it is a common custom among beggars to put a chalk mark on gate-posts or doors to inform the fraternity that the house should be avoided. At least, I have always imagined that such was the ex- planation of the gate-posts of my own house being thus honoured, and MR. ADDY'S note seems to correspond with my theory.
ED. PHILIP BELBEN.
Branksome Chine, Bournemouth.
With regard to my query on this subject, I am told that there is a saying in Scotland, " He 's thrown a stone at our door," meaning he has taken offence at something and ceased to call. S. O. ADDY.
[Many replies to the same effect are acknowledged.]
HONGKONG : KIAO-CHOU (9 th S. i. 348, 398). In reply to INQUIRER, Pekin is northern capital, Nankin southern capital, Tonkin eastern capital, Hongkong fragrant streams. I am unable to give the meaning of Kiao-Chmi, as I have not seen it in Chinese characters. WILLIAM PEACOCK.
Sunderland.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Sid- ney Lee. Vol. LV. (Smith, Elder & Co.) THE fifty-fifth volume of this great national work appears with the exact punctuality we have been taught to expect. It extends from Stow to Taylor, and brings, accordingly, the end of the undertaking within measurable distance. That the same level of excellence is kept up needs scarcely be said. Successive volumes have witnessed no diminution of either value or interest. In this the ' Dictionary of National Biography' differs from similar com- pilations attempted abroad, the closing volumes of which attest lamentably loss of interest or absence of means. No character dealt with in the present volume rises to a foremost place in literature except Swift. This life is entrusted to the ex-editor, Mr. Leslie Stephen, whose knowledge of the man and the period has been attested. The biography is long and important, the bibliography alone occupy- ing close on three pages. A very interesting feature in it consists of the comments of the writer upon the labours of his predecessors. Among early authori- ties Delany is said to be the most trustworthy and judicious. Swift's own writings give the best in- formation. Dr. Johnson's life, in the ' Lives of the Poets,' is both perfunctory and prejudiced. Scott's life, though agreeable and judicious, is, as may readily be believed, not very critical. Anecdotes of Swift which are given in many books become more detailed and circumstantial as they are further from their sources. Upon Sir Henry Craik's life Mr. Stephen passes a high encomium, though he does not accept all its conclusions. With regard to Swift's marriage to Stella, it is held that though the evidence in its favour has weight, it can hardly be regarded as conclusive. In saying these things we have not quite adhered to the ipsissima verba of Mr. Stephen. We should like to quote the entire estimate of Swift that is expressed ; but being unable, through conditions of space, to do this, we will leave it undisturbed. Mr. Leslie Stephen also sends a life of Sir Henry Taylor. The editor con- tributes several excellent biographies, none of them of highest importance. John Stow, the antiquary and chronicler, is the subject of one. Of Stows worthy but troublous career, of his poverty and his persecutions, Mr. Lee gives an animated account, and he describes his subject as " the most accurate and businesslike of English annalists or chroniclers of the sixteenth century." Leaving to other hands such more attractive lives of poets as those of Suck- ling and Sylvester, Mr. Lee occupies himself vith William Strode, poet and dramatist, one of the few Stuart poets whose writings have not been collected. Mr. Lee credits him with a genuine lyrical faculty and a sportive temperament. The terrible story of John Stubbs, or Stubbe, is told with much spirit. A short life of John Studley follows. The brief and picturesque career of Suckling is dealt with by Mr. Seccombe, who gives the delightful poet much well- merited praise, but speaks of his plays as "some- what dreary," which, judged by the standard of his day, they scarcely seem. There are, at least, pas- sages in them of much grace. Mr. Seccombe is justified in saying, concerning Joshua Sylvester, that his influence upon Milton, about which much has been spoken and written, was chiefly
