toys and goods, which St. Nicholas holds in Germany, and the "Enfant Jésus" in France, she is yet an ugly old hag in popular estimation, while under etymological treatment she always comes under the denomination witch and bugbear (lamia, spauracchio). Varchi describes her with red eyes, thick lips, and a furious expression, and the rag puppets representing her to Roman children to the present day are made as ugly as possible, and usually with blackened faces. St. Nicholas is supposed in Germany to send his gifts down by the chimney; in Rome, where few rooms have chimneys, the Befana is found, by the little ones who look for her, hanging by the side of the window on Epiphany morning, as if she had made her entrance that way, though the chimney is also put in requisition where there is one; a stocking, too, is the not infrequent receptacle of her gifts. Although Guadagnoli, in his Poeme Giocose, mentions traditions that Befana is the name of Herod's grandmother, of the maid of the High Priest who accused St. Peter of belonging to Jesus of Nazareth, or of an aunt of Barabbas, and suggests the conceit that the name may be derived by an anagram from far bene, there can be no doubt that it comes from Epifania, and is, indeed, as often written Befania as Befana. All have heard of the fair of S. Eustachio in Rome (so called from the parish in which it is held), which is designed to provide the materials for the Befana's distribution. Among these are gilt pine cones, which are reckoned to unite in themselves the representation of the gold and incense of the Magi's offering. Amid the sweeping away of old customs which has resulted from the invasion of September, 1870, the children have succeeded in maintaining this practice at least in full vigour. Moroni mentions an offering or tribute which, up to the year 1802, used to be made to the Pope on Epiphany morning by the "Collegio de' Novantanove Scrittori Apostolici," consisting of a hundred ducats contained in a silver chalice, and which was called the Befana.

In nursery parlance the Befana has two aspects: she not only brings gifts to good children, but is the terror of the naughty. "I'll tell la Befana of you," is an expression used to still noisy cries and all kinds of insubordination; and if such insubordination happens to occur about Epiphany time, the culprit may find that the Befana brings dust and ashes instead of toys.

"Another bugbear," writes Moroni, "which

The Epiphany festival was instituted by St. Julius I. (339-52), but was never adopted by the Greek Church, which celebrated the Epiphany along with the Nativity (Moroni, iv. 279); and Rinaldi, the annalist, anno 58, number 91, quoted by Moroni, xxi. 296, says that the Apostles considered it a distinct festival, though celebrated at the same time as the Nativity. Moroni also says that in the Acts of St. Julian the feast bears the simple title of "apparitio."

conveys greater fear to the infantine mind than the Befana herself, and without any qualification of beneficence, is the threat that 'Bocio, Barbocio, or Barbone shall come to take you.'" He does not offer any explanation of the former two, which, like our own ogre and bogie, are doubtless transpositions of orco, though the use of the word orco itself is also retained in that sense; and "far bau" to a child answers to our "playing bo-peep," which, of course, is connected with bogie. With regard to this use of Barbone, however, he refers to Muratori's account of the intense fear and hatred with which the cruelties of the Connétable de Bourbon's soldiers inspired the Romans, and shows it is hence mothers and nurses came to name him as the greatest source of fear known to them." Cancellieri (appendix, note xxx., and note vii.) also gives the same origin for the expression, and I can testify its use has not died out. R. H. BUSK. (To be continued.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHAUCER. (See 6th S. viii, 381; ix. 138, 141, 361.) Separate works other than The Canterbury Tales :

Troilus and Cressida.-1. Caxton's edition (no date or place), folio, single columns, 118 unnumbered leaves: "Troylus and Creside explicit par Caxton." Copies are in the British Museum Library, at Althorp, and at St. John's College, Oxford. Dibdin, i. 313.

2. Wynkyn de Worde's, 4to., 1517. "The Noble and Amorous Ancyent Hystory of Troylus and Cresyde, compyled by Geffray Chaucer." Woodcut of the lovers, and the usual printer's device. Copies in the Duke of Devonshire's library and in the Cambridge Public Library. Dibdin, ii. 212.

3. Richard Pynson's folio, no date, but probably a portion of Pynson's complete impression of Chaucer, "emprinted at London in flete strete by Rycharde Pynson, printer unto the kynges noble grace," in 1526; double columns, woodcuts; fine figured title, "The Boke of Troylus and Creseyde," &c. Dibdin, ii. 515.

4. Latin version of part of the "Troilus and Cressida" by Sir F. Kinaston : "Amorum Troili et Creseidæ libri duo priores Anglico-Latini. Oxon., 4to., 1635." Part of an English 8vo. edition of the same work was issued in 1796 by F. G.

The following is analogous: "I heard a Roman father the other day stilling the cries of a peevish child with the threat, Take care! Vittor 'manuele will soon come and take girls as well as boys, and then I'll give you to him" ("Roman Correspondence," Westminster Gazette, April 1, 1871). It was at the moment of the first promulgation of the law of conscription.

Further particulars may be found in Il Quinquennio sopra lo Spauracchio dell' Orco che si fa ai Fanciulli, by Giov. Pontano,

me ask, has it been correct to say, 'The Committee is of opinion,' 'The Committee has selected,' and so forth? In the interests of the two great men I have named, let me beseech you to mend your ways."

I grieve to be obliged to confess that, in spite of the best intentions, I am still liable to be taken in flagranti delicto, for-notwithstanding the tremendous authorities who speak and write in these days-I cannot altogether forget that rule in grammar which says, "The verb agrees with its nominative case in number and person." It is the custom now to make Government plural, with the intention, doubtless, of conveying the impression that it is the members of the Government (and not the executive in its collective capacity) who are alluded to. Thus, "Her Majesty's Government have decided to resume the control of Basutoland, in compliance with the prayer of a large majority of the Basutos" (Morning paper, Dec. 18, 1883). Now I venture to think that in this case it was the Government (i.e., the Cabinet) in its collective capacity that decided to resume the control of Basutoland. If, on the other hand, there had been a difference of opinion among its members on the subject, it would have been proper to say, "The Cabinet were divided in their opinions," the word ministers being, of course, understood. I apprehend that when the statement is true only of the whole body the verb must be in the singular. I will cull examples from the highest. Mr. Gladstone, in a speech on the Egyptian policy of the Government, delivered on Feb. 13, 1884, said, "And the House were invited to discuss a truism and a platitude......The Government were not unwarned of what would happen." I take it that the words "the House were," meant simply "the members of this House were," &c., and some such words should have been used by a great orator. Every one knows that the corporate body known as the "House of Commons". -as also the "Council of Trent," the "Council of Ten," the "Congress of Vienna "-represents a collective noun, or a noun of multitude. For reasons best known to themselves, all our leading speakers and writers delight in making Government plural, although they know perfectly well that if it were plural it would be a mere rabble, and, as such, no government at all.

The most terrible collapse which has come within reach of my personal experience befell the preacher of an extempore sermon, at which I was present, in the cathedral at Berne. I took down his words at the moment of utterance. "When the council forbade the apostles to teach in the name of Jesus, the disciples told the council to their face [sic] that it was their duty to disobey them."

Here, it will be seen, the preacher was lost in his own maze. He wished, even in the face of his own convictions, to make the council plural, although he well knew it was in its collective

"The

capacity that it had forbidden the apostles to teach. Hence he began, ambiguously, council forbade." But when it came to the interview he perceived the necessity for making it clear to us that the disciples addressed personally the individuals composing that august body. Hence the genitive plural their. But, at this moment the council again rises before him in its corporate being, which necessitated the singular face. Fortunately, the sermon was delivered extempore, else I should have lost this example, for it would have been almost impossible for any one to make such a slip in writing.

This contradiction seems to have become almost beyond the reach of protest. We are the creatures of habit, and when our most eminent men make such mistakes, is it surprising that our children get muddled? I would as soon say "the army were fully equipped," as "the Government were turned out of office," or Parliament were dissolved." One cannot say, "the army were beaten," although such a catastrophe clearly points to the defeat of the individuals composing it. It seems to me that there is less reason to speak of the Cabinet in the plural (or individual sense) since it is bound to act in concert, and none of the bickerings which must occasionally arise among its members ever sees the light. What says "N. & Q."? RICHARD EDGCUMBE

33, Tedworth Square, S. W.

DROWNED FIDDLERS. Much has been written of late in this journal on the subject of monarchs who have met with a watery grave, or death. Authenticated cases, it seems, are more rare than of the dead jackass of Dickens. But it appears that a drowned fiddler is a still greater rarity, and that such persons are exempt from risk of becoming "damp, unpleasant bodies"-unless they be unhappily swamped in the depths of their own too copious potations. Thomas Alexander Erskine, sixth Earl of Kellie, commonly known as "the musical earl," as is well known, was a great fiddler and a great drinker. A few glances of his rubicund countenance, Foote thought, were calculated to ripen cucumbers. In a little book of verse I recently picked up from a bookstall, entitled "An Asylum for Fugitives; published occasionally," vol. i., London, 1776, occurs a copy of verses of some merit, under the name of A Poetical Epistle to Lord Kelly, occasioned by his miraculous Escape from Shipwreck, in the Passage from Calais to Dover during the Great Storm in November, 1775." The piece is lengthy, and complimentary as regards his lordship's musical powers. The last few lines are interesting, and bear upon the superstitious belief-if such it bealluded to above;

"In ancient story thus I've found,
That no Musician e'er was drowned;
A harp was then, or I mistake it,
Much better than the best cork-jacket;
The Grecian harpers went abroad,
The lockers well with liquor stor'd;
For harpers ever had a thirst,
Since harping was invented first;
They in the cabbin sat a drinking,
Till the poor ship was almost sinking;
Then running nimbly to the poop,
They gave the scaly brood a whoop;
And sudden as they formed the wish,
For every harper came a fish ;
Then o'er the briny billows scudding
They car'd for drowning not a pudding,-
Methinks, my Lord, with cheek of rose,
I see you mount your bottle-nose;
Or firmly holding by a whole fin
Ride degagé upon your dolphin;

'Twas thus the tuneful Peer of Kelly
Escap'd some whale's enormous belly;
And safe in London, thinks no longer

He'll prove a feast for shark or conger." The little book, which is chiefly made up of political squibs and personalities, is new to me is there another volume ?-so are the lines. The latter are very similar in style to "The Musical Instruments; a Fable," also addressed to the harmonious earl; and if one may hazard a guess, it might be that this piece, like several others of about the same date, is from the pen of his lordship's witty cousin, the Lord Advocate of Scotland in after years, who never wearied of making fun of him. The nationality of the piece is obvious in the rhyme.

In support of this theory of authorship, it may not be irrelevant to mention that-in accordance with the invariable custom of the witty Scotch Advocate alluded to-this piece is headed by a quotation from a Latin poet :

"Illi robur et æs triplex
Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci
Commisit pelago ratem.-

Qui siccis occulis monstra natantia
Qui vidit mare turgidum !”

Horat. Od., iii.
ALEX. FERGUSSON, Lieut.-Col.

Lennox Street, Edinburgh.

held, in accordance with modern Jewish usage, that it was the day of holy convocation of Lev. xxiii. 7, which, like the day of atonement in v. 32, is called a Sabbath of rest. This was the first day of unleavened bread, the fifteenth day of the month Abib, or Nisan, and the day after the eating of the paschal lamb. Now, as the day of Pentecost, seven weeks after the 16th of Nisan, fell, in the year of the crucifixion and resurrection, on a Sunday, and the resurrection itself occurred on a Sunday, seven weeks before, this event must have occurred on the 16th of Nisan, and the crucifixion occurred on the 14th of Nisan, the evening of which day was that of the paschal feast. Surely, then, we have in this circumstance the decision of the question whether our Lord suffered on the day of the Pascha or the day after. The question, I say, seems to be thus settled in favour of the former view, in accordance with what we should naturally conclude from John xviii. 28 and xix. 14. We must suppose that the passover of the evening before, referred to by the other Evangelists, was held on the 13th of Nisan, in anticipation of the legal passover on the 14th. And the words of St. John in xix. 31, "That sabbath day was an high day," are thus easily explained to mean that on that occasion the day of holy convocation, the 15th of Nisan, fell on the weekly Sabbath. W. T. LYNN.

TELEPHONY Two HUNDRED YEARS AGO.-The name of Sir Samuel Morland is well known in the annals of the early progress of mechanical science in England. He was a gentleman of the Privy Chamber and Master of Mechanics to Charles II., and devoting his attention, inter alia, to novel methods of draining mines and marshes, was so far a successful rival of the Marquis of Worcester as to obtain from the king various grants for the exclusive use and making of the hydraulic engines devised by him for these and similar purposes. We catch a glimpse of him and his habits in the Hon. Roger North's Life of the Right Hon. Francis North, Baron of Guilford, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under King Charles II. and King James II. (second edition, 1808, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 251), where we read that " once, upon an invitation, his lordship dined with Sir Samuel at his house; and though his entertainment was exquisite, the greatest pleasure was to observe his devices, for everything showed art and mechan

the room"; "a cistern in the garret, supplying all parts of the house "; his coach, "most peculiar "; and "a portable engine, moved by watchwork-it had a fireplace and grate-cost 301.; he took it with him in his coach, and at inns he was his own cook."

Among these mechanical marvels I do not find mention of the contrivance of which I here make brief record, and which was probably of later device. The account is as follows: