Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/526

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434


NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XIL NOV. 27, im


On p. 315 of the Horace edited by H. A. J, Munro, and illustrated from antique gems by C. W. King (1869), is " a life-like portrait " of Epicurus, " engraved in the best Roman style." King adds (p. 449) :

" Heads of this philosopher are extremely rare on gems ; a thing difficult to account for, as icero (' De Fin.,' I. v. [should be V. i. 3]) laughs at the fondness of his sect for carrying about their Master's likeness in their rings ; and considering the popularity of his doctrines at Rome, one would naturally have expected his head to present itself in our cabinets at least as frequently as that of Socrates."

EDWARD BENSLY.

Aberystwyth.

In Marc Meibom's edition of ' Diogenis Laertii . . . . Libri X.,' Amstelsedami, 1692, vol. i., between pp. 602-3, is an engraving of the head of " Epicurus Ex Cimeliarchio Cl. V. Ericl Puteani." Assuming that the I in " Ericl "' is an error, I suppose that the reference is to the treasury of Ericius Puteanus (1574-1646).

In ' A Select Collection of Drawings from Curious Antique Gems,' by T. Worlidge, London, 1768, No. 112 is "Epicurus, on Onyx," from the collection of Dr. Chauncey.

The former picture, being oval, is appa- r ently also taken from an engraved gem. It is a poor thing as a work of art. There is, however, a considerable likeness between the faces in the two engravings.

ROBERT PIERPOLNT.

" BOURNE ?? IN PLACE-NAMES (10 S. xi. 361, 449 ; xii. 130, 191, 272, 372). CAITJS may rest assured that Closeburn is rightly interpreted cil Osbern, " at the cell or chapel of Osbjorn.' 1 The name was written Kylos- bern when the barony belonged to the Crown in the reign of David I. (1123-54). The cell itself was hewn out of a cliff of New Red Sandstone, and was known as the Elf's Kirk ; but it is recorded in the ' Old Statistical Account, 1 compiled towards the close of the eighteenth century, that it had recently been destroyed in quarrying the stone. It may be worth noting how the name Kylosbern came to receive its present misleading form. The Crichope Burn, after performing a fine cascade over a precipice of 100 feet, has cut a very deep and narrow channel through the Red Sandstone beds a regular little canon a " close burn " in short. HERBERT MAXWELL.

In reference to the origin of Bourne Beck in Wiltshire, it may be observed that the primitive meaning of bourne or burn is a spring or fountain, and hence running water.


Beck means a stream, and by transference also the bank or valley bottom through which the beck flows. Bourne Beck some- what corresponds to such names as Burn- brae, Brook-bank, Bourne Valley (Bourne- mouth). TOM JONES.

SPURGEON ON MONTE CARLO : PASSMORE & ALABASTER (10 S. xii. 308). The Rev Joseph W. Harrald informs me that ' The Serpent in Paradise ; or, Gambling at Monte Carlo,' is the title of an article by Mr. Spurgeon which appeared in The Sword and Trowel for 1879 (p. 260) ; and that there is another article from his pen in the same publication for 1887 (p. 71), entitled ' Gambling, a Common Snare,' in which there are further references to Monte Carlo. Both articles were reprinted as leaflets by Messrs. Passmore & Alabaster. It was while at Mentone for his health that Spurgeon once went to the casino, but it is recorded in the ' Autobiography, * edited by his wife and Mr. Harrald (vol. iv. pp. 211-12), that " in all later years he avoided even the gardens surrounding the building where so many had been ruined, .... and he did not like any of those who were staying with him to go merely to look at the players.'*

Spurgeon carefully corrected the proofs of each sermon before publication, bestowing much time so that each sentence should be perfect in construction. After the great preacher's death, until the purchase of the Passmore & Alabaster business by Messrs. Marshall Brothers, Mr. Harrald (who was Spurgeon' s private secretary from 1878 to 1892) saw every sermon through the press, except during three months when he was ill. He is now revising the sermons for the new publishers. Three years ago, on the 9th of August, 1906, No. 3,000 of the sermons was published ; and in ' John Ploughman's Almanack,' 1907, the publishers of ' The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 1 estimated that more than 150,000,000 of the sermons had been sold by them, besides the trans- lations and reprints in newspapers at home and abroad. In Spurgeon's ' Autobio- graphy J is a very fine portrait of Mr. Harrald, and some playful lines addressed to him, written by Spurgeon one evening at Mentone :

Poor old Spurgeon we must urge on, Not so Joseph Harrald.

Joseph Passmore, the founder of the firm of Passmore & Alabaster, died on the 1st of August, 1895. He was a nephew of Dr. Rippon, and told me that he was a scholar in my father's class at the New Park Street