506
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. i. JUNE 25, 1910.
inayn). This is the name of a mythic per-
sonage mentioned in the Quran. The word
literally means "he of the two horns,"
" the possessor of two horns/'
Now, who was this two -horned personage ? The Arabic commentators of the Quran are not agreed on this point. Dhu'lqar- nayn is identified by most commentators with a conqueror named Sakandar (a form of the Greek name Alexander) ; by some specifically with Alexander the Great. But some writers make " The Two-horned " a contemporary with Moses or Abraham, or confuse him with some much more ancient traditional conqueror. I would venture to suggest that the term Dhu'lqarnayn of the Quran is due to the traditional representa- tion of Moses as two -horned ; compare the " cornuta facies " of Moses in the Vulgate (Exodus xxxiv. 29), a mistranslation of the Hebrew, as may be seen from the Revised Version and marginal note. The Heb. qeren denotes not only a horn, but a flashing ray of light, and the latter meaning is found an Arabic also. A. L. MAYHEW.
21, Norham Road, Oxford.
"DENIZEN." It is known that, in a few cases, a word has been corrupted by mistaking its written form. The most extraordinary example in English is the word gravy, in which the v (formerly written u) is an error for n ; as clearly shown in the ' N.E.D.' I think that denizen furnishes another clear case, as the Anglo-French form was deinzein, from deinz (de intus), within. It is easily seen that, in the fifteenth century, <ein was misread as eni ; owing to the very great difficulty of distinguishing, in writing, between in and ni.* The number of similar examples is certainly very small.
WATLEB W. SKEAT.
DR. THOMAS'S NOTEBOOK AT HALLOW. Dr. Thomas, the continuator of Dugdale, was vicar for a time of Hallow, near Wor- cester. There still remain among the parish documents two notebooks in which both Dr. Thomas and his predecessor Robert Robinson, who vacated the living before 1584, jotted down various notes, principally lists of subscribers to the village school, but also notes of parochial history, copies of inscriptions in the church, and the following quaint rimes. These rimes are written in what appears to be an early seventeenth -
- As I write, I have a MS. before me in which
the plural form is simply written demzens ; i.e., the m represents three down strokes, the i being un- marked.
century hand, but there is no note of author-
ship nor any exact clue to their date, though
they seem to be in the writing of Robert
Robinson :
I.
A Watch lost in a Tavern, that a crime, Then you may see how drinking looseth Time. The Watch kept Tune, and if Tune will away, I see noe reason why the Watch should stay. You say the Key hung out, and you forgott to
lock it,
Tune will not bee kept Prisoner in a Pocket. Henceforth if you will keep your Watch this doe : Pockett your Watch and watch your Pockett too.
II.
The man whose Tongue before his Witt doth
runne,
It speaks too soon and rues when he hath done. When Words are scarce, they're seldom spent in
Vaine, For they speak Truth, that breathe their Words
with Paine.
III.
Loveing God, if I neglect my neighbour, My Zeal hath lost its Proof, and I my Labour. Knowledge when Wisdome is too weak to guide her Is like a head-strong Horse that throws his Rider. J. HARVEY BLOOM.
STABLING, A CHBISTIAN NAME. I found the above curious instance at Stoat's Nest, near the station, recently, and think it- should find a place in the columns of
- N. & Q.* JOHN A. RANDOLPH.
A GEORGE IV. MUG. The making of commemoration mugs by the potters as a trade item has declined since the death of the fourth George and the last William. I can remember them set forth on the window shelves of pot-shops alongside Victoria Accession or Coronation mugs, and the latter are perhaps the rarest of all. The George IV. mug I have is by no means handsome ; it is too squat and wide-mouthed to be an attractive object, and the portrait on it is not that of an elderly man, but rather of one about fifty. This and the royal arms occupy about two -thirds of the mug, and the remaining space has
To the Memory of
His late Majesty
King George the IV.
Born Augt 12, 1762,
Ascended the Throne Jan? 29, 1820.
Publicly proclaimed Jan* 31, 1820.
Departed this life June 24, 1830.
Aged 68 years.
The decoration is in transfer, and the king's head with bust is set in a decoration of roses, thistles, and leaves of both ; a large star and a large rose on the breast.
THOS. RATCLIFFE. Work sop.
