92 NOTES AND QUERIES. [i 2S .ix. JULY so, 1021.
I can find no explanation either of their names or of their original purposes. Can there be any connexion with the old story of "walling the cuckoo"? Or might "Cuckoo Pen" be a euphemism for cock-pen or cockpit? There was formerly an inn at Wytch where "skittling" was played; possibly cock-fighting was another attraction. Are there any other cuckoo pens or cuckoo pounds in Dorset or elsewhere? Any light on the subject would be gratefully received. G. M. Marston.
SIDESMAN. On p. 43 of ' Xew Elements
of Conversation, French and English,' by C.
Oros, author and editor of severa-1 books of
instruction. Fifth edition, carefully revised
3,nd corrected. London : 1824, and under
the heading, ' A Diner : At Dinner,' you
rec.d : " Que vous offrirai-je ; une cuisse ou
une aile ? Je pref ere un morceau de la car-
casse, le cote du croupion. / prefer a bit of
the body, a sidesman." In the wordbooks
one finds no example of " sidesman " in this
sense. Where are other specimens of it to
b3 met with ? EDWARD S. DODGSON.
Poste Restante, Douglas, Tsle of Man.
SIR THOMAS MILLER, OF CHIC-HESTER.
Sir Thomas Miller, of Chichester, b. 1635,
d. Dec. 2., 1705 ; knighted in 16 , 1st
baronet (cr. 1705), J.P., Mayor and M.P.
for Chichester, married in 1665 " Hannah."
Neither on the memorial marble to him and
" Hannah :! in the N". chancel aisle of
Chichester Cathedral, nor in the Miller
pedigree given by Dallaway and Cart-
wright in their 'Western Sussex,' is any
maiden name given for " Hannah."' This
is now sought, also date of knighthood of
Sir Thomas Miller. Family tradition says
that Hannah was an " heiress "
UVEDAXE LAMBERT.
AUTHOR WANTED. Can any of your readers
kindly tell me Author and Publisher of a book
in which the following lines occur :
" At last she raised her hand, appalled,
And quickly found that she was bald,
And for her speech did strive."
And
How would yoa feel, if General Bligh
Were taken from us to the sky
And you should be the cause ?
The book, which is in verse, is a kind of bur-
lesque on the " didactic " poetry once written for
children. The writer is, I think, a woman.
ALICE M. WILLIAMS.
7, Ullswater Boad,
West Norwood, 8.E.27.
And
Life is a Story in Volumes three.
The Past, the Present, the Yet to be.
The first is finished and laid away ;
The Second we're reading day by day.
The Third and last of the Volumes three
Is locked from sight, God keepeth the kej .
Walsall. s. A. GRUXDY-^EWMAN.
'TO CURRY FAVOUR."
(12 S. viii. 512; ix. 77.)
THE ' X.E.D.,' under ' Favel,' says
that ;i the phrase ' to curry Favel/ O.F.
estriller, torcher Fauvel, comes from the
Roman de Fauvel (1310), the hero of which
is a counterpart of Reynard the Fox ;: and
refers to Paulin Paris's ' Les manuscrits
francais de la Bibliotheque du Roi,' I. 306.
We are told that the phrase has been adopted
in German as den fahlen hengst streichen,'
but that ic it is not clear whether before the
date of this poem a ' fallow ' horse was
proverbial as the symbol of dishonesty."
The German ' den fahlen hengst reiten ' (re-
corded from the loth century) is quoted
with the sense "to play an underhand
game, act deceitfully." See also ' curry '
in Prof. Weekley's ' Etymological Dictionary
of Modern English.'
Paulin Paris, in the place referred to by
!the ' X.E.D.,' gives a detailed account,
with extracts, of a manuscript in the Biblio-
theque Xationale containing the ' Roman
de Fauvel ' with the curious addition of
" motets, ballades et autres morceaux
chantes," which were designed apparently to
accompany the recitation of the Roman.
The latest edition seems to be ' Le Roman
de Fauvel par Gervais du Bus public d'apres
tou's les manuscrits connus par Arthur
Langfors,' Paris, Firmin Didot et Cie, 1914-
1919 (Societe des anciens textes francais).
The poem is an allegory. In the first book
we are shown all people on the earth, the
highest princes and potentates included,
doing homage to Fauvel, who typifies the
Vanities of the World. The second book
describes Fauvel's Court and his proposal
I to marry Dame Fortune. She repulses
him and^he takes as his wife Vaine Gloire,
The work has been ascribed to more than
one author. In the text printed by Lang-
f ors his name is given by means of an enigma
as Gervais du Bus. " EDWARD BE^SLY.
Much ITadham, Herts.