384
NOTES AND QUERIES.
[9 th S. X. Nov. 15, 1902.
wanting. I shall be much obliged by any
suggestion on the foregoing points of diffi-
culty. W. D. PINK.
Lowton, Newton-le- Willows.
and in conversation, "qui e il busillis"
" here 's the rub."
It is said to be derived from the following curious circumstance. A young candidate for the priesthood, being under his examina-
KEJECTION OF THE FITTEST. I have been I ^on for holy orders, was required among amused by the following extract from Mr. other tests to read an old Latin manuscript W. D. Macray's 'Annals of the Bodleian F <*, after the manner of these exhilarat- Library, Oxford,' and should like others to ln % documents, there were no stops, the
share the pleasure. We are indebted to the
Periodical for October, pp. 14, 15 :
"In 1818 a return was made to the House of Commons of such books received since 1814, in pur- suance of the Copyright Act, from Stationers' Hall,
words composing it being -joined together and
run into one another in a highly aggravating
way. In this cheerful paper there occurred
the words "in diebus illis"; but unfortunately
for our candidate the first half of the word
Parents' Assistant,' Mrs. H. More's
as it had not been deemed necessary to place in the " diebus" formed the end of a line, thus,
L ^ r l ry -, T t ie ^ i? but J a triflin 8 one . consisting "i n die," and the following line commenced
chiefly of school-books and anonymous novels, with with the remaining syllable of that word
great C need of cSion fn^ejec^ng a^bools eMep??, a 1 refu 1 1 1 1 / , run A *" fco the succeeding word, thus,' ing such as are of the simplest elementary character, busilhs. All went smoothly enough with and the advantage of erring rather on the side of our young friend till he came to this formid- inclusiveness than exclusvveness. Miss_ Edge worth's | able point. He translated " in die " fairly
this instance wrongly, day; but of "busillis " make neither head nor tail, and he
much more detailed than that Irom Oxford, includ- I finally threw up the sponge, exclaiming in ing, for example, ' Turner's Real Japan Blacking, a his despair, " Quel 4 busillis ' e un punto assai
Label ) shows a recklessness of rejection which oscuro e difficile" "This ' busillis ' is a most
speaks little for the judgment of the Librarians for o h<, onr p and diffirnH- noint "
the time being. Besides school-books and music, a
large number of pamphlets figure in the list, in- Well, if not true, it is pretty well found.
eluding some by Chalmers and Cobbett; the theology Anyhow, the word is now well rooted and
includes Owen's 'History of the Bible Society '; the vigorously established in the national speech.
history includes ' Memoirs of Oliver Cromwell and '
his Children'; the poetry, Byron's ' Siege of Corinth,'
L. Hunt's 'Story of Rimini,' and Wordsworth's
'Thanksgiving Ode'; and the novels, Peacock's
' Headlong Hall,' one by Mrs. Opie, and ' The
Antiquary '! The wiser plan is now carried out in
Bath.
PATRICK MAXWELL.
the Bodleian of rejecting nothing."
ST. SWITHIN.
"BUSILLIS." Readers of Italian a diminished number in these days, I fear
FIRST VISCOUNT MOUNTJOY. It is stated
in the 'D.N.B.' that Sir William Stewart,
first Viscount Mountjoy, "was dangerously
wounded at the capture of Buda by the
Imperialists on 2 September, 1686." This is
not correct. The Hungarian capital was
must have met the curious word "busillis "? a P tu red on tnat date, but Viscount Mount-
1 joy was wounded twice on two earlier dates :
sometimes, but erroneously, spelt "busilis,
its signification, but still more so "of ^ its I on 3 Au gust, when he was " wounded in
genesis, which latter is distinctly interesting ^ ne face with a muskett shott." Our authority
The word occurs in the thirteenth chapter is the ' Journal of the Siege and Takinf
of the ' Promessi Sposi,' where the Grand of Bu da,' by an eye-witness, " Mr. Jacot
Chancellor Antonio Ferrer rescues the Vicario Ri na fds, one of his Ma tis Engineers." Cf.
di Provvisione from the howling mob of Milan Harleian MS. 4989, and another version among
in the famous episode of the bread riots! the Stowe MSS. When Antonio bids the trembling vicario to I Among the Harleian MSS. there is another
esta el busillis; Dios nos valga " " Here 's the does not disclose his identity, but merely
critical point, or the point of danger; may mentions the facts that on 26 June "an
God help us." The expression often occurs English volunteer had a hurt on the head
also in modern Italian, in the newspapers from a stone raised by a canonshott," and on
