ii s. m. MAR. is, mi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
217
be shortly laid before the Philological
Society, and as I have not come across the
word elsewhere, or in any dictionary, it may
perhaps be of some little interest, which must
be my excuse for entering into it so fully.
JOHN HODGKIN.
' The Encyclopaedic Diet ' has " Pawper, a bird like a swan, etymology doubtful," and refers to Harrison's ' England,' p. 223.
TOM JONES.
WILLIAM MEABS, BELLFOUNDEB 1626 (11 S. ii. 445 ; iii. 75). I have never before seen the name of William Hears, bel If ounder of Nottingham, mentioned ; he may possibly have been an ancestor of William Mears of Whitechapel, but few facts of the letter's early life are forthcoming to throw any light on the matter. The earliest mention of William Mears in connexion with the Whitechapel Bell Foundry was in 1762. In that year Messrs. Lester & Pack, proprietors of that foundry, were com- missioned to recast the big bell at Canter- bury Cathedral. It being found more con- venient to do the work at Canterbury, William Chapman, their foreman, and nephew to Lester, was sent down to complete the work. While engaged in this business he noticed among the bystanders a young man who appeared to take great interest in the proceedings. He got into conversa- tion with him, asked him several questions, and eventually offered to take him back to London and teach him to be a bellfounder. The offer was accepted, and thus William Mears began his connexion with the White- chapel Foundry, and the name through several generations of bellfounders has become quite famous. Is it not possible that he may have been a native of Canterbury or of some place near there ? If some one living in that part could obtain access to the registers, possibly further particulars might be forthcoming. L. H. CHAMBERS.
Amersham.
ABNOLFINI FAMILY (11 S. iii. 147). MB. MAUBICE BBOCKWELL quotes a tablet to the memory of a member (1723-82) of the Arnolfini family on the walls of their palace in the Via del Duomo at Lucca. I cannot just now complete the inscription as he desires ; but on my last visit (1906) to Lucca I went to the old palace (which is now converted into an hotel) especially to see its bedchamber No. 11, still held sacred, and duly recognized by the present proprietors (Nieri Brothers) as that occupied by Ruskin in 1882.
That portion of the Hotel Universo is
Beautifully decorated with wall-paintings
and elaborate arabeschi in rilievo of the
ifteenth century, w 7 hich doubtless endeared
t to the great English writer on Italian art.
There are two or three rooms en suite which
were chosen by him on his first memorable
stay in 1845 at Lucca, "when his artistic
pilgrimage to Italy really began, and his first
impressions were almost overwhelming."
Tradition wrongly assigns this palace to the Lucca Pope Lucio (Terzo), whose family name was Allucingoli, and not Arnolfini, as my informant erroneously supposed. This Lucio III. was second in succession to the English Pope Hadrian IV. in the twelfth century.
Any native of Lucca should be ready to afford knowledge of Giovanni Attilio Arnol- fini, even if it is impossible to fix his descent from Jan Arnolfini painted by Van Eyck. WILLIAM MEBCEB.
JEAN VOLE'S ' LES ABBIVANTS ' (11 S. iii. 148, 178). -The chemin or passage of signifi- cation kindly suggested by M. P. from a "narrow carpet. .. .from one door to another " to the " narrow ornamental cloth laid along the middle of a dinner-table " seems dark, difficult, and dangerous. Can M. P. adduce for it any authority other than his own construing in the case of Jean Vole ? J. M.
Chemin de table is the French equivalent for " table centre " ; that is to say, a strip of embroidery embellishing the middle of a tablecloth. It may be simply laid on the surface, or it may be worked in the tissue. In the latter case it would be a chemin de table ouvrage. G. M. H. P.
LITANY : SPITTING AND STAMPING THE FEET (11 S. iii. 148). In this parish there is a traditional custom amongst the boys of " spitting their death " to confirm a promise. This is done by crossing the forefingers, look- ing earnestly at them while repeating the promise, and then spitting upon the ground. A boy who breaks this solemn asseveration is regarded as unworthy of any confidence. The meaning of the custom is forgotten, but I have no doubt it is & survival of swearing upon the holy cross. FBANK E. COOPE.
Thurlestone Rectory, Kingsbridge, Devon.
Spitting " for luck " is still practised in countless ways ; for instance, on money received or found ; on a piece of coal ; through a ladder ; on a horseshoe ; for a bad smell ; on a finger, and touching the
