410
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. v. MAY 26, im.
Cruel Gift,' and given in full in The Weekly
Journal ; or, British Gazetteer for Saturday,
5 Jan., 1717, it being asked,
Where are the rough brave Britons to be found,
With Hearts of Oak, so much of Old renown'd ?
ALFRED F. ROBBINS
[The earliest quotation in the 'N.E.D.' is "Yonkers that have hearts of oake at fourscore yeares," from ' Old Meg of Herefordshire,' 1609 : the next is from Wood, 'Ath. Oxon.,' 1691, ii. 221:
"He was a heart of oke, and a pillar of the
Land." The origin and date of the song " Hearts of Oak," are discussed at 7 th S. vii. 18, 151, 213.]
JOHN HOOK, OF NORWICH. Can any reader give me information concerning the native place or parentage of John Hook, who was minister of the Norwich Taber- nacle, 1764-75 ? John Hook was father of James Hook, a musical composer, and grand- father of Theodore Hook, the novelist.
A. J. HOOK.
Staplegrove, Taunton.
J. RAMPINI. I have the title of a com- position, "Les Tourbillons by Signer
Rampini" (1817), which is not in the B.M. The Library appears to me to be very deficient in early musical publications. Rampini is not in Grove's 'Dictionary.' Is anything known about him ?
RALPH THOMAS.
CHURCHWARDENS' ACCOUNTS.
(10 th S. v. 369.) Say. There were two distinct fabrics oj this name. One was a thin sort of silk stuff used for wearing apparel ; and the other which is obviously the one mentioned in the churchwardens' accounts, was a thin woollen stuff or serge, much used for upholstery. In an inventory (temp. Henry VIII) of the effects of Sir John Foskewe, among his hal" furniture, is mentioned " a hanging of greer saye bordered with darning." In James I.'i and Charles l.'s time proclamations were issued concerning "the true making of al sorts of vendible cloths, bayes, felts, says &c. "; and about this time we gather fron 4 The Book of Rates' the value and varietie of say :
"Sayes, Double sayes, or Flanders serges, th piece containing 15 yards, 91. Double say or serge the yard 9*. Mil'd says, the piece 61. Hounsco (? Houdscot in Flanders) say, the piece, conlainin 24 yards, 61."
Camden ('Britannia,' 1610) says that th< Netherlanders, who apparently first manu factured wool'len say, "being weary of th
)uke of Alva's cruelty, repaired to Norwich
n great numbers, and brought there the
naking of saies." Sudbury and Braintree
ecame also famous for this serge.
Buccorum, or buckram, a fabric woven posely and afterwards gummed, used for ining and stiffening. In 1529 two yards of 'buckeram to lyne the upper sieves of anight gowne" cost Is. (see Privy Purse Expenses of lenry VIII.) . Another fabric bearing the ame name is described by Strutt as a very hin cloth, in use for church vestments and urniture as well as for wearing apparel.
- Buckromes of France ' and " Buckromes of
Grermany" are mentioned in the charter granted to the City in 1640.
Caddas. " Caddas or cruel ribbons" are nentioned in a charter of Charles I., 1640, and ' Caddas or cruel sayette " in ' Book of Rates,' 1675. A kind of yarn used for embroidery, t was generally sold by the dozen pieces. Oan "Tos"be u Doz"?
Pace money, for decorating the Easter eggs, ailed "Pasche eggs " and also "Pace eggs." This ancient custom survives in some places, and a song is still heard in the North com- mencing :
Here 's two or three jolly boys all of one mind ; We have come a pace-egging, and hope you '11 be kind.
CONSTANCE RUSSELL.
Swallowfield Park, Reading.
It is a pity not to consult the 'English Dialect Dictionary' and the 'New English Dictionary.' The object of these works is to give help.
The 'E.D.D.' gives cant, a stick, staff (perhaps here a support) ; steal (the same as staile), a handle; say, a kind of serge; caddas, a kind of galloon ;' being, a livelihood, or a lodging (either makes sense) ; pace, Easter.
For buccorum and caddas, see buckram and caddis in 'N.E.D.'
Tos is probably tass; a variant tosh is given in 'E.D.D.,' meaning a bunch of ribbon, cluster of flowers, apparently for decoration.
Gornacon ought to be a form of "corona- tion."
Perhaps Abbot of Wark is all one title.
A brudis child means a bride's child ; the old form brud or burd meant a young woman who was about to be married, and sometimes even one who was not, but ought to have been.
Bustned is busten or bursten, i.e., ruptured, with a superfluous -ed added.
WALTER W. SKEAT.
A " long Cant " seems to have been a length of timber placed on the church wall or
