300 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. x. APRIL 15, 1022.
of Orange. Bloemfontein is the subject of an interesting disquisition which goes to show that its true derivation is the obvious one, "fountain of the flowers," not that from the name of an old robber chief, Jan Blom. Place-names from personal names abound, however, some from native heroes (Moroka's Hoek, Sikonyela's Hoed), more from eminent Europeans or Afrikanders. There is a Napoleon's Kop—so called from its resemblance, seen against the sky, to the head of Napoleon wearing his cocked hat; and a Nelson's Kop, which has nothing to do with the great Admiral, but is called from a worthy of that name who once lived in Grahamstown. A few scriptural names have been noted; and two classical names, Tempe and Telemachus Kop. Early Dutch names derived from fauna now serve largely as a reminder of the past, when game of all kinds was plentiful. The descriptive names given by the Voortrekkers are fairly numerous, but of a pedestrian quality for the most part. Among names of miscellaneous origin is Misgunstfonteindrift—from misgunst, envy, jealousy—which, if it ever becomes important, and is not changed, will surely be shortened, and would doubtless have provided a pretty problem for future philologists but for the intervention of Mr. Pettman.
Acts of the Privy Council of England (1613-1614).
(H.M.S. Stationery Office.)
A fire at Whitehall in January, 1618, destroyed the Privy Council Registers from 1602 to 1613. The Preface to this volume quotes the contemporary account of the fire, which is supposed to have been caused by two labourers, though they do not seem to have been actually convicted of the offence; it also tells us that materials towards filling up the gap are being prepared.
The present volume contains plenty of material for the social history of the year. Among the documents relating to London are those concerned with the dispute between the parishioners of St. Peter the Poor and Henry Robinson, who was putting up buildings in Austin Friars which interfered with the "best light" of the church; those relating to a dispute between the plasterers and the bricklayers; and one concerning the regulations for London carriages, the number of which "since the fowerth yeare of King Edward 6" had "bin restrayned to 400." The state of the Tyne is the subject of several letters, and others of like nature are con- cerned with Norfolk and the neighbourhood of Ely. Ireland bulks rather largely. Of recusants and Roman Catholic priests we get a fair amount of detail, and there is a voluminous and frequent insistence on a stricter keeping of Lent and abstinence from meat. Those of our corre- spondents who are interested in the Andertons of Lostock may like to know that they once or twice figure in these pages. An interesting point of ecclesiastical history is the establishment of the Church in Jersey and the questions con- cerning the orders received by a certain Elias Messervy, a native of Jersey and student of Oxford University, " after the manner of the Church of England," which did not obtain the " likeing and approbation " of the Jersey authorities, who would have had him ordained by the rite received amongst them. Bacon and Shakespeare. By A. S. E. Ackermann. (Contributed to The Central.) VfB. ACKEBMANN, occupied with Popular Fallacies, las hit on a good line for testing the Bacori- Ihakespeare hypothesis. He presumes that Bacon, indefeasibly scientific, would not, even in plays, write loosely about natural facts, or give my adherence in them to popular errors which tie knew to be such and Bacon knew a great deal. If the plays contain many Popular Fallacies the presumption goes against his author- ship. Mr. Ackermann takes Bacon's principal works as the backbone of his plan, and, subject by subject, compares whathe finds in.them with what he finds in the plays. We are given a shock at the very outset. Considering the Popular Fallacy that the act of dying is painful a fallacy which Bacon rebuts our author says : " Shakespeare has only one reference to death," and proceeds to quote Edgar in the last act of ' Lear.' We think of the beetle and the giant in ' Measure for Measure '; of ' Hamlet.' . . . But this would take us too far. This is not the only criticism which a lover of Shakespeare might make ; but, on the whole, this little treatise is suggestive, amusing, and even instructive. At the end Mr. Ackermann gives us a tabular statement wherein Rfor right is conspicuous under Bacon and W for wrong under Shakespeare. Bacon, we are assured, is right in 47' 6 per cent, of the fallacies he touches ; Shakespeare in only 21-6 per cent, and wrong in 74-5 per cent. Whereby it appears that prima facie the evidence in this kind supports Shake- speare's authorship. i STBEET NOISES. Mr. J. C. OXENFOBD writes : I am a student and am persecuted in my work by the street noises. Some years ago I saw the advertisement, headed ' A boon to brain-workers,' of some device which one inserted in the ears, and which, it was claimed, muffled noises, have searched repeatedly since, but cannot find the advertisement in current periodicals. Can anyone oblige with a reference to the vendors ? " to CorreSponbentsL EDITOBIAL communications .should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries ' " Adver- tisements and Business Letters to " The Pub- lisher " at the Office, Printing House Square, London, E.C.4 ; corrected proofs to The Editor, ' N. & Q.,' Printing House Square, London, E.C.4. ALL communications intended for insertion in our columns should bear the name and address of the sender not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WHEN answering a query, or referring to an article which has already appeared, correspondents are requested to give within parentheses immediately after the exact heading the numbers of the series, volume, and page at which the con- tribution in question is to be found. JOHN LECKY. 'Life! we've been long to- gether,' &c. By Mrs. Barbauld. It will be found in many anthologies 'The Pageant of English Poetry ' among others.
