346
NOTES AND QUEEIES. [9 th s. v. APRIL 28, 1900.
of a derivation from Du. schreef, a line or
stroke, with the remark that it fairly suits
sense and form, but historical evidence is
wanting. This suggestion is so probable
and obvious that it occurred to myself quite
independently many years ago. The spelling
cer- or ser- is an attempt at giving the sound
of the Du. sch, which is quite different from
the G. sch, and not quite easy. In the E. word
skipper, from Du. schipper, it has been ren-
dered by sk, though the true sound is not
much like it. WALTER W. SKEAT.
ASSASSIN OF WILLIAM THE SILENT (9 th S. v. 248). Philip's patent of nobility, so far as the seignories granted from the lands of William were concerned, was not long lived. Whether the family of Balthazar Gerard became landed aristocrats in any true sense may be doubted. The lands were restored to one of the sons either Maurice or Frederick Henry of William the Silent. And at this restitution the estates were charged with annuities to the family of the assassin ! (See Mr. Frederic Harrison's ' William the Silent.') How long these awful pensions were paid may well be doubtful. The panegyrics on Gerard, who was as near a hero as an assassin can well be, might tell us much. But they are not easily accessible. GEORGE MARSHALL.
Sef'ton Park, Liverpool.
" The estates remained with the Gerard family, and the patents of nobility which they had received were used to justify their exemption from certain taxes, until the union of FrancheComte" with France, when a French governor tore the documents in pieces and trampled them under foot." Motley's ' Rise of the Dutch Republic.'
H. R. G.
DOMINICAN ORDER (9 th S. v. 230). Accord ing to Brockhaus's 'Konversations-Lexikon, which makes a leading feature of heraldry or its corporate side, the arms of the order are a dog carrying a lighted torch in its mouth with a label bearing the words "Dornin canes," indicating the double purpose of the order, viz., to prevent the entrance of heresy into the Church, and to illuminate the work by the preaching of the truth. The mottx was doubtless of the punning class. Thei insignia are the white cloak and white hood with a black robe for outside wear.
ARTHUR MAYALL.
"ARGH"(9 fch S. v . 48, 97, 212). The won corresponds in form to Lat. arc-a, meaning amongst other things, a quadrangular land mark, and, in mediaeval times, a measure o land, probably from its quadrangular shape I think this later meaning of area will mak sense of all the passages cited by W. F
>ecause ancient English allotments of land
vere as nearly as possible in the form of
ectangles, being mainly derived from the
issignations of the Roman land surveyors.
S. O. ADDY.
THAMES TUNNEL (9 th S. iv. 419, 467 ; v. 35, 5, 169, 291). Readers of ' N. & Q.' must admit hat Ralph Dodd has now had justice in its >ages, whatever may have been the meagre patronage meted out to him in his day and generation. But if I might have just a last word, it would still be that MR. GEORGE MAR- HALL need not deny the distant view of a tatue to every new engineering enthusiast. /Y great enthusiast is a healthy member of
- ociety that evil smell of the great Man-
- hester Ship Canal notwithstanding. Of
course, I assume that MR. MARSHALL'S allusion to smell refers only to its physical element, and has nothing to do with the thousand and one other factors which go towards the building up of " a thing carried out." In my humble opinion the only danger of seaming the country with horrors for the sake of a statue would be that the wrong men would step on to the pedestals, whether they Happened to live in Gravesend or anywhere else, while men may be measured only by their capacity for filling their pockets, and so leaving only mundane things instead of great ideas behind them.
CHARLES COBHAM.
The Shrubbery, Gravesend.
"HOPPING THE WAG" (9 th S. v. 25, 154). A story entitled 'Charley Wag, the New Jack Sheppard,' was issued in 1861 in penny numbers, with illustrations so vulgarly done that it was always a wonder to me how any artist who could draw the figure at all could demean himself by executing such low- class illustrations. RALPH THOMAS.
Perhaps "playing the charley wag" is to be explained by a kindred saying, " To have Charlie on the back," which is variously explained in 4 N. & Q.' (5 th S. vi. 168, 258) as being applied, not only to a round- shouldered person, but also to a person of an inveterately idle disposition.
J. H. MACMICHAEL.
A local variant here seems to be " hopping the , twig," used in the sense of "bolting." An omnibus driver said to me, alluding to the electric cars that disfigure our streets, "You can 'op the twig rosy in them things !" This use of "rosy" for "finely" is common enough here, but it is probably peculiar to this part of England. GEORGE MARSHALL.
Sefton Park, Liverpool,
