310
NOTES AND QUERIES. [HS.XII.OCT. 16,1915.
The above particulars are from the pub-
lications of the Huguenot Society (1911),
vol. xviii. p. 279, which it would be as well to
refer to as 1 am not certain of having read
the foot-note correctly. LEO C.
WEDDING RING AND " LEFT-HANDED " MARRIAGE (11 S. xii. 258). Brand's ' Popular Antiquities,' pp. 356-7, new edition, Chatto & Windus, 1900, contains the following :
"The wedding ring is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was anciently believed, though the opinion has been justly exploded by the anatomists of modern times, that a small artery ran from this finger to the heart In the Here- ford, York, and Salisbury Missals the ring is directed to be put first upon the thumb, afterwards upon the second, then on the third, and lastly on the fourth finger, where it is to remain. As Selden has noticed, it is very observable that none of these Missals mention the hand, whether right or left, upon which the ring is to be put.
"From Aulus Gellius it would seem that the ancient Greeks and Romans wore the ring in eo
rtigito qui est in manu sinistra minima proximus
In the 'British Apollo' (1708), to the inquiry 'Why is it that the Person to be married is enjoyned to put a Ring upon the fourth Finger of his Spouse's left Hand?' it is answered, 'There is nothing more in this, than that the Custom was handed down to the present age from the practice of our Ancestors, who found the left Hand more convenient for such Ornaments than the right, in that it 's ever less employed ; for the same reason they chose the fourth Finger, which is not only less used than either of the rest, but is more capable of preserving a Ring from bruises, having this one quality peculiar to itself, that it cannot be ex- tended but in company with some other Finger, whereas the rest may be singly stretched to their full length and straightness.'"
WM. H. PEET.
The rubric in our English Prayer-Book is based upon one to the same effect in the Sarum Manual, which gives a.s a reason that from that finger proceeds a particular vein to the heart, which mediaeval idea is, of course, quite erroneous. Perhaps the original reason may have been that on the left hand the ring was more out of the way and less likely to bo lost or injured. The fourth finger is explained by the custom of placing the ring on each finger in turn, beginning with the thumb, in the name of each Person in the Holy Trinity, and leaving it on the fourth after the " Amen."
J. T. F.
Winterton, Lines.
THE SPLIT INFINITIVE (US. xii. 198, 251). As one with over thirty years' experience in dealing with the " English " of writers and contributors, may I put in a word ? This (as also " communique," which has recently been discussed in the columns of ' N. & Q.' )
is a case of the growth of English. Every
generation in every country has done and i*
doing what it likes with" the language it
speaks or writes. If the split infinitive is
going to be used by this or any future genera-
tion of English writers and speakers, it is
going to be used, and no amount of sarcasm
on the part of purists will stop it. Languages
grow by a law of nature, and no law that
can be invented by man will stop the growth..
R. C. TEMPLE.
TRANSLATION OF VERLAINE WANTED (11 S. xii. 160, 210, 270). To do justice to the original poem seems impossible. The follow- ing is a free translation :
The blue sky, there above the roof,
Is how serene ! A tree up-sways above the roof
Its branches green. A chiming bell beneath the sky
So softly rings. A pensive bird in the tree on high
So softly sings. My God ! my God ! out there is life,
Plain, tranquil, sweet. That murmur with no sound of strife
Comes from the street. What hast thou done, thou who art here
In tears, in ruth What hast thou done, thou who art here,
O what with thy youth?
" Street " should be " town," did the rime allow. I have been told that the lines relate to Verlaine's imprisonment.
M. P.
"THE MORNING CHRONICLE' (11 S. xii. 259). I think MR. REDFERN may take it that The Morning Chronicle was not resusci- tated. The following appears in vol. i. of James Grant's ' Newspaper Press ' (pub- lished 1871), p. 313:
" In two or three years The Morning Chronicle, after an existence of upwards of ninety years, was discontinued, and, as the records of the Bankruptcy Court showed, not a day too soon ; for it was proved in that court that during the last year of Mr. Stiff's proprietorship, and the last of the paper's existence, the losses were not less than 12.000Z."
CHARLES BAKER, Editor Newspaper World*
UGO BASSI (US. xii. 237). MR. WILLIAM MERCER speaks of " Barnabite monks," and Mrs. King calls Ugo Bassi " Fra " as if he were a friar ; but the Barnabites are not either monks or friars. They are, as 1 stated (supra, pp. 168-9), a congregation of regular clerics.
The letter which MR. MERCER reprints (ia a translation) does not, in fact, contain Ugo
