38
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. vn. JAN. 12, 1901.
is an error, to which I drew attention at
9 th S. vi. 331, under the heading of ' Vanishing
London.' A. HALL.
THE PENNY (9 th S. vi. 430). It will be found, upon reference to Rud ing's 'Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain,' vol. ii. p. 95, that a proclamation was issued on 26 July, 1797, to give currency to a new coinage of copper money of penny and twopenny pieces. These latter were the first and last copper two- penny pieces that were struck by authority, and they were coined by Messrs. Boulton & Co., of Soho Mint at Birmingham, in 1797. The base copper coins were withdrawn from Circulation at this date.
F. G. HILTON PRICE.
If MR. MILNE has not access to the larger works on English coins (such as R. Ruding's ' Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain and its Dependencies,' third ed., London, 1870), he will find most of the information he seeks at p. 113 of a most charming duodecimo, 'The Story of the British Coinage,' by Gertrude B. Rawlings (London, 1898), which he may purchase in London for the " nimble ninepence." Q. V.
Copper twopenny pieces were only coined in one year, namely, 1797. They are by no means rare, but a good specimen easily sells for two shillings. The price for specimens in a fairly good state of preservation varies from one shilling to eighteenpence.
CHAS. F. FORSHAW, LL.D.
MARGERY (9 th S. vi. 151, 352, 455). Marget not, probably, "Margett" is a common contraction for Margaret in the Scottish pro- vinces. Illustrations will probably be found in the character-studies of Mrs. Oliphant Miss Ethel F. Hecldle, and other writers of Scottish fiction. I have various acquaint- ances christened Margaret, whom I invariably Marget" in keeping with prevalent practice. I he owners of the name would unquestionably think there was something amiss if they were suddenly addressed as Margaret by friend or acquaintance. Manorv is contracted to " Madge."
THOMAS BAYNE.
In reply to the query as to whether Mar- fa is the equivalent of Margaret, it may be stated that 'English Surnames,' p. 76 gives Margetts as one of the many variants 'of the ARTHUR MAYALL.
Margett is constantly used in Scotland at least by the humbler classes, for Margaret
St,An4rews,N.B, ^ORGE ANGUS.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
The Romance of the Rose. By W. Lords and J.
Clopinel. Englished by F. S. Ellis. 3 vols.
(Dent.)
THREE lovely little volumes of the " Temple Classics" are occupied with a translation by Mr. ?. S. Ellis of the famous ' Romance of the Rose ' Le Roman de la Rose ') of Guillaume Lorris and Jean de Meun, known as Clopinel (the Halt). A ufficiently formidable task is essayed by one who eeks to render into English verse a mediaeval masterpiece which belongs to the thirteenth cen- ury, and is longer by 8,000 lines than the 'Divine Jomedy.' Chaucer, it is well known, began this abour and left it unfinished, the part undoubtedly lis extending to no more than 1,705 lines out of 22,074, and that wrongfully assigned him carrying he work no further than the 7,698th line. Mr. {Jllis, however, is not a man easily to be daunted. To him we owe an entire rendering in verse of Reynard the Fox,' and to him also is largely due
- he rendering of the ' Legenda Aurea,' or ' Golden
Legend.' From Mr. Ellis, accordingly, we receive what we believe to be the first complete rendering
- hat has come within ken. Beguiled by his sub-
ect, Mr. Ellis has gone on doing a little daily until
- he entire poem, with a modified termination, is
3efore us in a fluent, able, and most readable version. This is a great work to have accomplished. Among men who rank as scholars there are few who know the ' Roman de la Rose' otherwise than by report. Readers of thirteenth-century French are few both in this country and abroad, and the average student of Chaucer even is not likely to have followed very closely a translation that appeals more strongly to philologists than any other class. An idea prevails that the work is dull, allegorical, and mysterious. That it is, in fact, quite other is shown by Sir Walter Besant; but everybody is not so familiar as he should be with The French Humourists.' That there is a deep allegorical meaning underneath the long dream- poem is held by those best calculated to judge, including Mr. Ellis. We may, however, recall Hazlitt's was it not his? encouragement to readers of Spenser to take heart since the allegory will not bite. The book is written in what was in mediaeval times a favourite form, that of a dream. It differs from most works of its class and epoch in substituting cheerfulness for the melancholy in which much early work is steeped. The short first part, indeed, of Guillaume de Lorris might easily pass for a love-sick vision of a youth. The assump- tion is that it was written by a lad of little over twenty. In the second portion we have strikingly misogynistic sentiment and, as was to be expected, severe attacks upon an ignorant and licentious priesthood. At any rate, the entire work can be easily and pleasantly read in Mr. Ellis's transla- tion. How this rendering has been accomplished it is not easy to show. Mr. Ellis's poetry has a Morrisian quality, and runs on with an agreeable flow of excellence. It is accordingly difficult im- possible, indeed to find a passage capable of being quoted within limits such as we are compelled to observe. We may say, however, that as regards invective against woman we have to go to ' Samson Agonistes' to find condemnation equally severe, .Through all praise her, says our cynical poet,
