16
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. v. JAN. e, urn.
by
that the relics of the martyred Pope Corne- lius of the third century were brought to Compiegne by Charles the Bold, whence a portion was carried to the Chapter of Rosnay, in Flanders (see Miss Yonge's 'Christian Names,' 1884). It would be very welcome if light could be thrown on the difficult question of the etymology of "Yankee." "Jan Kees" is, however, merely one out of many* nicknames applied in Flanders to the Hollanders. Another, for instance, is " Kaas-kop," i.e. "Cheese-head." JAS PLATT, Jun.
"Kees" is an abbreviated Dutch proper name for Krelis, or Kornelis, which is ap-
Elied colloquially to a blockhead, or clumsy )llow ; sometimes, also, to a fox dog (cf. Holtrop's ' Dutch-Engl. Dictionary,' 1801). If " Jan Kees " were, indeed, the origin of "Yankee" (after the analogy of "John Bull"), both the loss of its final s and its present refined sense would be the result and polishing effect of an altered time. Perhaps some earlier instances of the first occurrence of " Yankee " may be found later, enabling the editors of the 'H.E.D.' to decide the question. H. KREBS.
PARLIAMENTARY WHIPS (10 th S. iv. 507) May I point out that Lord North's interesting letter quoted at the above reference is not what is, at all events nowadays, called a "whip." Such a letter (lithographed) is sent to every member of the House of Commons by the leader of his party before the beginning of each session.
44 Whips" are notices of every parlia- mentary day's business, usually five a week. They come from the party " whips " ; e g , for the members of the Unionist party from Sir Alexander Acland-Hood, chief " whip " of that party. The chief "whips" send out the written (i.e , lithographed or type- written) " whips " according to party.
ROBERT PIERPOINT.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &o.
Lives of the English Poets. By Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Edited by George Birkbeck Hill, D.C.L. 3 vols. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.) SUCH crown upon Dr. Birkbeck Hill's Johnsonian labours as is involved in the appearance of this splendid and authoritative edition of the * Lives of the English Poets ' can only be laid upon his tomb. I he work itself is complete, and the worker Home has gone and ta'en his wages. The task of final recension has, however, devolved upon his nephew, Mr. Harold Spencer Scott, who
has respected his uncle's scheme and intention,,
has corrected obvious typographical errors, and!
has, in accordance with modern practice, in-
cluded in brackets such few changes or addi-
tions as he has felt constrained to make. Mr.
Scott's chief task has consisted in the verification
in proof of quotations, a labour in this instance of
no common toil and importance. The text is that
of the four-volume octavo edition of 1783, the last
published in Johnson's lifetime. Of this the spelling has been preserved, the one thing altered being
the punctuation, which, by express direction of Dr.
Birkbeck Hill, has been rendered conformable to
modern use. A more sparing employment of
majuscules is, we fancy, to be traced ; but on this-
subject, as we have instituted no exact comparison,
we cannot speak with certainty.
Apart from its handsome and attractive form,, which renders it a grace to any library, this new edition which, if there were in these days any such thing as finality, might well be definite and; final is notable for the appendices, the notes, and the index. The first named are most numerous in the cases of Addison, Cowley, Dryden, Gray, Milton,. Pope, and Swift. These appendices are often bio- graphical, but more often literary and critical. lit the case of Cowley, whose life opens out the series,, Mr. Aldis Wright gives, in Appendix A, an extract from the records of Trinity College, dated 30 March,. 1636, showing that Abraham Cowley was "chosen into a drie Chorister's place in reversion," a "drie chorister " being, it is conjectured, one who did not sing, which does not seem wholly satisfactory.. Appendix B supplies condemnation, by the Wartons (Joseph and Thomas), Coleridge, and Landor, of Cowley's Latin verse. Appendix C deals with ' The Cutler of Coleman Street,' with Cowley' moderate ambition, with Johnson's use of the unhappy term "metaphysical poets," and so forth- Appendix N, which follows, is affixed to Milton, and shows us what seventeenth and early eigh- teenth century writers said of that poet. The only- thing regrettable in a deeply interesting note is an injudicious criticism by Dr. Birkbeck Hill himself,, who, engrossed in eighteenth -century literature, expresses an opinion that Masson exaggerates [!} Milton's reputation, which provokes the exclama- tion, "Ne supra crepidam judicaret."
Between the appearance of Dr. Birkbeck Hill's magnificent edition of Boswell's life and that of this edition of the poets almost nineteen years have passed, without any diminution of the earnestness and the conscientiousness of the labour. The notes to the latter work are indeed as useful and as- ample as those of the previous, and the present index constitutes a valuable appendix to that of the life, which may count as the most useful of modern days. Strict and narrow as was the limitation imposed upon Johnson by his political convictions,, his lives of the poets remain priceless. While lenient and tender to the ribaldries of Prior, and indulgent to the obscenities of Swift, he is churlish and grudging to Milton. It is, however, needless and inexpedient to deal afresh with the value of Johnson's literary estimates. When these were not coloured by his prejudices, they were those of his time, and they have in plentiful measure Ine- qualities of his robust and assertive personality. To the scholar and the man of letters Dr. Birkbeck Hill's will remain not only the best, but the only conceivable edition of the lives. So large is the. mass of information these volumes contain that
