9*s. in. APRIL
NOTES AND QUERIES.
287
( mimensurate, commerce, commit, companion,
( irrupt, &c., whilst before the aspirate h, in
i there, the prefix stands co-, as before a vowel.
r \ he abbreviation co., for company in a com-
u tercial sense, is peculiar. W. T. LYNN.
Blackheath.
WE must request correspondents desiring infor-
n ation on family matters of only private interest
to affix their naines and addresses to their queries,
ir order that the answers may be addressed to
them direct.
"PEACE, RETRENCHMENT, AND REFORM." As it is evident that the Whigs are going to fight the next election with this old watch- word, may we ask, Who made it up ? When ?
D.
ELIZABETH CHRISTINE ALEXANDER. Je de- sire, dans un but historique, savoir ce qu'est devenue, ayec qui remariee et ou est dece'dee et quand, a quelle date, Elizabeth Christine Alexander, d'une branche collaterale eteinte avec elle de la famille de Lord Caledon. Elje etait nee a Londres le 31 juillet, 1768, avait epouse, a Londres, juillet, 1790, le general Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke, depuis due de Felt/re et marechal de France, et en etait divorcee le 18 juillet, 1795, apres avoir eu une fille Henriette Clarke, baptise'e le 13 fevrier, 1791 (St. Paul de Covent Garden).
LEONCE DE BROTONNE.
70, Boulevard de Courcelles, Paris.
"GEARY."
A hairy man 's a geary man, But a hairy wife 's a witch.
This is quoted as a North-Country rhyme in ,he ' Denham Tracts,' ed. Folk - lore Society, L895. What is the precise meaning of 'geary"? A. L. MAYHEW.
Oxford.
LINES BY DICKENS. Can any of your eaders tell me where the following lines, vritten by Charles Dickens, can be seen ?
Oh God, who by the prophet's hand
Didst smite the rocky brake, Whence water came at Thy command
Thy people's thirst to slake, Strike now upon this granite wall,
Stern, obdurate, and high, And let some drops of pity fall
On those who starve and die.
K.
I BOOK-PLATE. For many years I have had i my possession a handsome folio entitled liny's 'Naturall Historie,' 1601, translated N Philemon Holland. The binding being in I shaky condition, and likely in handling to
do injury to the preliminary leaves, my in-
tention is to have it rebound. In the process
of. stripping it for this purpose, I fancied I
could detect inside the fore-cover something
in the way of a book-plate. By damping the
bookbinder's lining I found a coat of arms
with the initials B. R. immediately under-
neath. The arms appear to be my know-
ledge of heraldry being very limited Argent,
a chevron between three ravens sable, and for
the crest, as near as I can make out, an arm
in armour pointing a pistol. From what I
have just stated I infer that the surname
of B. R. \vas Rice. I should be extremely
obliged if some reader of 'N. & Q.' would
do me the kindness of enlightening me in the
matter, both as to the owner of the initials
and the period in which he flourished. I
should state that the arms and the initials
look as if they were stencilled on to the
paper. In regard to the latter, it appears to
be of French manufacture. The water-mark
looks, in its outer border, like an Elizabethan
ruff, with an arrangement of fleurs-de-lis in
the centre and a star pendent. Underneath
this device there is the maker's name thus,
MVAVLEGARD. Any information regarding the
latter and the period in which he flourished
will also be welcome. S.
"THE OLD FRENCHMAN." I desire to ob- tain some extended information regarding an old and notorious newsvendor of the Strand known as "the Old Frenchman" who sold Echoes during the early eighties. This character, of noble mien and prepossessing
Eresence, excited attention, both because of is appearance and eccentricity, exemplified by going bareheaded in the coldest of weather. I wish to learn his rightful name and former circumstances. J. J. W.
48, Torrington Square, W.C.
HEBREWS ix. 27. In the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. this passage reads " al men " (Epistle for Wednesday before Easter). When did the intrusive " all " first appear in an English version of the New Testament ; and when did it disappear from the Prayer Book ? LITURGY.
ENGLISH RIMES TO FOREIGN WORDS. Is there any rule against pronouncing foreign words in English verse in their proper manner? For example, Why should we not rhyme pater with hatter, and beaux with foe ? ARTHUR MAYALL.
COLOUR OF BULLS IN COATS OF ARMS. -I believe that in many coats of arms bulls appear en part or entire. Some of these are coloured black, others red or dun, and others
