238
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vii. SEPT. is, 1920.
Gazette for 1822, which refers to the custom
then obtaining amongst London children of
begging passers-by to contribute to their
"illuminated grottoes of oyster shells."
I recollect some forty years ago being urged by street arabs in London to "Re- member the grotto," and noticing that oyster shells formed a part of the stock-in- trade, but there was no illumination, nor, as far as I can remember, was this mode of demanding bakshish limited to old St. James's day. FRANCIS S. DAYMAN.
Ashley Court, Tiverton.
Are not these "grottoes " a survival of the practice of erecting small shrines in honour of St. James the Greater, Apostle and Martyr (c. A.D. 43), whom the Church commemorates on July 25 ? Under that date Chambers's 'Book of Days ' says :
"It is customary in London to begin eating
oysters on St. James's Day In this connection of
oysters with St. James's Day, we trace the ancient association of the apostle with pilgrims' shells. There is a custom in London which makes this relation more evident. In the course of the few days following upon the introduction of oysters for the season, the children of the humbler class employ themselves diligently in collecting the shells which have been cast out from taverns and fish- shops, and of these they make piles in various rude forms. By the time that old St. James's Day (the 5th of August) has come about, they have these little fabrics in nice order, with a candle stuck in the top, to be lighted at night," &c.
FRED. R. GALE. Crooksbury, Fitzjohn Avenue, High Barnet.
WIDEAWAKE HATS (12 S. vii. 28, 157, 171, 198, 214). My recollection of the term, which extends back to the sixties, is that it referred to a soft felt hat with a more or less regular width of brim all round. It was worn with the top of the crown slightly indented.
The "Mailer " hat, referred to by ISATIS, was popularly known as the " Muller- cut-down " arising, I believe, from the murder of Mr. Briggs by Franz Miiller on the North London Railway in 1864, for which he was tried and sentenced in October of that year.
After committing the murder, to avoid detection, he cut down a "tall " hat (pro- bably of the "rough weather " type) to reduce its height and prevent it being recognized, and from this the term arose, although there was probably some playful allusion at the same time to the execution. G. W. YOUNGER.
2 Mecklenburgh Square, W.C.I.
The sensational murder of Mr. Briggs
occurred, more than fifty years ago, in a-
carriage on the North London, not on the
Underground railway. The hat was a great
feature in the case, and mainly instrumental
in establishing the guilt of the criminal.
CECIL CLARKE. Junior Athenaeum Club.
MAHOGANY AND THE DICTIONARIES (12 S. vii. 90, 157, 198). The "mahogany "men- tioned by Boswell was not rum, but "two parts gin and one part treacle, well beaten together." The recipe was given him on March 30, 1781, at a dinner at Sir Joshua Reynolds, by the best of authorities, Mr. Edward Eliot, at that time M.P. for Corn- wall, afterwards first Baron Eliot of St. Germans. Boswell, who could be trusted to sample anything alcoholic when a chance offered, begged to have some of it made,
" which was done with proper skill by Mr. Eliot. I thought it very good liquor ; and said it was a counterpart of what is called Aihol porridge in the Highlands of Scotland, which is a mixture of whisky and honey."
EDWARD BENSLY.
THE REDDLEMAN (12 S. vii. 209). The author of ' The Return of the Native ' in book 1, at the beginning of chap. ix. explains the nature of the trade of the above. He supplied the materials from which the "raddle " or red dip was made, with which sheep were dressed before being sent to the fair. This meant periodical journeys to the pit from which the material (probably a kind of red iron-stone) was dug, and a circuitous sale to customers at many out- lying farms. Sheep-farming was the main industry of the Wessex upland agricul- turists. C. R. MOORE. Ellesmere.
Sheep farmers use raddle (or rud as it is sometimes called) for more purposes than one. When the wool has grown sufficiently to hide the mark of the branding iron used after shearing, sheep are often marked on the back with raddle, not with the initial of the owner's name, but in some distinctive way that he will recognize if the sheep stray. Rams are also well raddled on their bellies befora being put to the sheep, so that it may be known which they have served.
C. C. B.
One who sells or uses reddle (red ochre or oxide of iron), commonly used all over the kingdom for distinguishing sheep, cattle or horses. Such men still attend fairs, and
