12 s. vn. DEC. is, 1020.J NOTES AND QUERIES.
497
in temporary huts, and began to build a
solid structure ; (c) the convent entered
.a house surrendered by another Order.
I take it, that in the case of the Savigniac
houses the same abbot and monks remained
in possession. The date on which they
became Cistercian houses was when the
Bull mentioned above came into force.
'Quarr Abbey, then, became a Cistercian
Abbey in 1147, a date which, I submit, does
not entitle it to be called one of the earliest
foundations of the Cistercian Order in
England. H. P. HART.
THE STRAND LAW COURTS (12 S. vii. 447). The Battle of the Sites must have evoked numerous pamphlets, but I suggest an earlier commencing date. For example, the following advocated a site in Lincoln's Inn Fields :
" Westminster Hall Courts. Facts for the Con- sideration of Parliament, Before the final adoption of a Plan Perpetuating the Courts of Law on a Site Injurious and Costly to the Suitor. London, J. Hatchard and Son, 187 Piccadilly, 1840, 8vo, pp. 44." One folding map with various areas out- lined in colour and a note in corner tabulates the numbers of "Attorneys " practising or resident therein.
Further the architect Mr. G. E. Street discussed his plans and designs in The Architect, vol. xi. p. 71 et seq, also in The Building News, vol. vii. p. 82 et seq. Of the -completed building there is an illustrated handbook :
" The Royal Courts of Justice Illustrated Hand book. By the author of the ' Royal Courts of Justice Guide and Directory.' Printed for the .author 1883."
ALECK ABRAHAMS.
ENGLISH PLAYS PERFORMED IN PARIS
(12 S. vii. 89, 134). This subject receives
some notice in the two following works :
Albert Lacroix, ' De 1' Influence de Shake-
speare sur le Theatre Franeais,' pp. 648-725,
Bruxelles, 1854-5 ; Albert Le Roy, * L'Aube
ou Theatre Romantique,' passim, Paris,
1904. PAUL T. LAFLEUR.
McGill University, Montreal.
VIOLINS (12 S. vii. 430). In 'Violin Making as it Was and Is ' (p. 21), Mr. Edward Heron Allen wrote thus on the subject of age :
" If a violin is well made its tone from the beginning will be either good in itself or indicate future sweetness, and it will gradually improve
with use and age ; but if a fiddle is originally .
inferior no amount of playing upon it and no length 1 (
of time will make it more than it is ' a squeaking ' commence
crowde' fit only for the orchestra, or worse still for
he peripatetic fiddler who exacts rather than
joaxes pennies from the passer-by. Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes in his 'Autograph of the Break.
"ast Table ' discusses the matter most beautifully.
To that author I recommend MR. ACKER - MANN to refer. The charming passage is too long for me to copy. ST. S WITHIN.
A strolling player informs me that the answer is in the negative. An inferior instrument will always be inferior no matter how old. WALTER E. GAWTHORP.
HERALDS' FUNERALS (12 S. vii. 430). See 'Lancashire Funeral Certificates,' edited by T. W. King, York Herald, 1869, vol. Ixxv., Chetham Society Publications. The volume opens with an extract from the orders made by the Earl Marshal (1568) concerning funerals. There is also a de- scription of the funeral procession of Henry, Earl of Derby, Dec. 4, 1593. One of the funeral certificates given is that of Mr. George Clark of Manchester, haberdasher, who bore no arms. W. H. PINCHBECK.
BOOK-TITLE MIS-TRANSLATED (12 S. vii. 371, 439). I would suggest that ' M. Brit- ling commence a vbir clair ' is not intended to be a translation of 'Mr. Britling sees it through,' but is simply the title given to the French version of Mr. Wells 's book.
Titles are not always turned into their equivalent when books are translated into another language. Some time ago I read a translation of Rene Bazin's ' La Terre qui meurt,' but in English the book was called ' Autumn Glory. ' This is not the only one of M. Bazin's works which has been given an English title quite different from the original. Victor Hugo's ' L'homme qui rit ' became 'By Order of the King,' but the difficulty of finding an exact equivalent for ' Les Miserables ' has resulted in translations of that great work being known by its original name.
Whether Maurice Barres was responsible for the French title of Mr. Wells's book I do not know. But I think not. As I do not possess ' Mr. Britling ' either in English or French I cannot state when the French translation appeared or by whom it was made, but in the Revue hebdomadaire of Sept. 7, 1918, is an article entitled ' L'ame anglaise vue par un Anglais,' the author of which (M. Gaston Rugeot) discusses Mr. Wells's book under the title of * M. Britling
voir clair. *
a voir clair
The expression
' is a common
