124
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. i. FEB. 12, 1910.
and there need be no doubt of their correct-
ness. The MS. dates from c. A.D. 1000,
and there are many ancient instances of the
misrepresentation of b by u (v). Cf . conuetoni
{with u : : b r ) for Conb r etouium (Peutinger's
'Tabula,' ssec. XIII., ' Britannia '); cair
urnach for Cair Brinach (' Historia Brit-
tonum,' Durham MS., c. 1150; also MSS.
and P, saec. XII., ed. Mommsen, p. 212,
No. 26) ; feceuir (with c : : t) for Fetebir
('Hist. Britt.,* MS. Q, ssec. XIII., p. 160,
1. 14); uulgam for bulgam (the Leyden Lorica,
S83C. X., ed. V. H. Friedel, Zeitschrift filr
celtische Philologie, ii. 64, 1. 17) ; and uedce
for Bedse (Bede's ' Chronica,' MS. Vaticanus
3852, ssec. IX., ed. Mommsen, p. 236).
In the case we are considering the original of the second Medici MS. no doubt presented e B r igantum ciuitate, and the suprascribed r was overlooked by the reader, whose vowel- flanked B sounded to the scribe like v, and was written down as u.
This leaves unexplained the facts that the Wig-ware called themselves " Wig-" when naming their city, and were called " Huicc-" by their West-Saxon neighbours. It is not quite certain that *Wig-wara-ceaster bears the same relationship to Huicc- e* that " Cant-wara-ceaster " does to Cent-ingas ; but we must remember that an A.-S. form huicc- is the rule-right phonetic repre- sentative of an Old-Celtic form cuig-, quig-. In Alfred Holder's ' Alt-celtischer Sprach- schatz,' 1904, ii. 1063, we find " Quigo ' ? given as a man's name, and documented by reference to an inscription cut at Autun, in the second century of our era, in which the words " Q. Secund. Quigonis ciuis Treueri" appear (' C.I.L.,' xiii. No. 2669). If the original name of the Wig-ware was
- Quig-ware, the word quig- would soon
have been assimilated to wig, war, by the dominant section of the mixed population of *Wig-wara-ceaster, to which it was meaningless. ALFRED ANSCOMBE.
30, Albany Road, Stroucl Green, N.
NELSON AMONG HIS INTIMATES.
ENGLAND'S greatest admiral was so con-
tinuously engaged in adding to the naval
glories of his country that it is difficult to
obtain a sight of him during the con-
viviality of strictly private festivities. Some
vivid glimpses of him at Dresden are, how-
ever, afforded to us by Mrs. Col. St. George
(afterwards the mother of Dean Stanley) in
- For the meaning of "Hwinca" (=Hwicca), in
the ' Tribal Hidage,' see 10 S. x. 226.
1800, which, as they occur in a small privately
printed work, may be worth publishing,
perhaps for the first time. Her ' Journal '
records :
" Oct. 2. Dined at the Elliots'. While I was playing at chess with Mr. Elliot, the news arrived of Lord Nelson's arrival, with Sir William and Lady Hamilton, Mrs. Cadogan, mother of the latter, and Miss Cornelia Knight, famous for her ' Continuation of Rasselas,' and ' Private Life of the Romans.' "
Miss Knight wrote ' Dinarbas, a Con- tinuation of Rasselas, 1 J 790 ; and also ' Marcus Flaminius ; or, Life of the Romans,' 1795. An interesting ' Life of Miss Knight ' has been published.
" Oct. 3. Dined at Mr. Elliot's with only tin- Nelson party. It is plain that Lord Nelson thinks of nothing but Lady Hamilton, who is totally occupied by the same object She is bold, forward, coarse, assuming, and vain. . . .
" Lord Nelson is a little man, without any dignity, who, I suppose, must resemble what Suwarrow was in his youth, as he is like all the pictures I have seen of that general. Lady Hamilton takes possession of him, and he is a willing captive, the most submissive and devoted I have seen ....
" After dinner we had several songs in honour of Lord Nelson, written by Miss Knight, and sung by Lady Hamilton. She puffs the incense full in his face ; but he receives it with pleasure, and snuffs it up very cordially. The songs all ended in the sailor's way, with ' Hi]), hip, hip, hurra,' and a bumper with the last drop on the nail, a ceremony I had never heard of or seen before.
" Oct. 4. Accompanied the Nelson party to Mr. Elliot's box at the opera. Lady Hamilton paid me those kind of compliments which prove she thinks mere exterior alone of any con- sequence. She and Lord Nelson were wrapped up in each other's conversation during the chief part of the evening.
" Oct. 5. Went by Lady Hamilton's invitation to see Lord Nelson dressed for Court. On his hat he wore the large diamond feather, or ensign of sovereignty, given him by the Grand Signior ; on his breast the Order of the Bath, the Order he received as Duke of Bronte, the diamond star, including the s\m or crescent given him by the Grand Signior, three gold medals obtained by three different victories, and a beautiful present from the King of Naples.
" On one side is his Majesty's picture, richly set and surrounded with laurels, which spring from two united anchors at bottom, and support the Neapolitan crown at top ; on the other is the Queen's cypher, which turns so as to appear within the same laurels, and is formed of diamonds on green enamel. In short. Lord Nelson was a perfect constellation of stars and orders.
" Oct. 6. Dined with Lord Nelson at tin- Hotel de Pologne. Went in the evening to a concert given to him by Count Marcolini ....
" From thence went to a party at Countess Richtenstein's, Lady Hamilton loading me with
