ERRORS IN MR. HINGESTON'S EDITION OF CAPGRAVE'S CHRONICLE.

MR. URBAN,-The very great value of

the Chronicles and Memorials issued under the superintendence of the Master of the Rolls, and the exceedingly careful and scholar-like manner in which most of that series have been edited, must be my excuse, if excuse be needed, for pointing out some errors to be found in one of the number, namely, "Capgrave's Chronicle of England." This work contains, among others, two blunders which may be classed with the most comical in English litera

ture.

At page 56 the following occurs in the text of the Chronicle:

"And in this same tyme Judas Machabeus and his bretherin conqwered the lond of Inde, killid here enimes, purged the Temple, and had victorie of ful many tyrauntis."

On reading this I, of course, thought it a mere slip of the printer, or the copyist who transcribed the manuscript, where n's and u's are almost, if not quite, alike; it never occurred to me that it was possible that any one could interpret Iude, however mis-spelt, when connected with the name of Judas Maccabæus, to mean anything other than Judea. Judge my surprise when, on turning to the index, the following entry presented itself:

"India. . . conquered by Judas Maccabeus and his brethren."

Surely the editor did not compile that index.

The former error may possibly be an oversight, the following is undoubtedly grounded on a misunderstanding of the text. At p. 173 we read:

"In the xxxii. 3ere there was a man thei cleped Wiliam Waleys, that was in Scotland, and reised the puple, and mad al the cuntre rebel to Edward the Kyng."

To this passage the following highly intelligent marginal note is attached :

"Rebellion of Wallace in favour of the English king."

Of course the editor has interpreted the to in the text to mean, in favour of: if he had made very deep researches into the dialects of East Anglia and Mercia, mediæval or modern, he would have been aware

that to was constantly used in the sense of

against; but the text does not require even this licence, "rebel" may be read as (what it probably is) a noun, and then even the very slight grammatical difficulty of a pro

vincial idiom vanishes.

With the glossary there is not much fault to find, except the uncommon one of over-copiousness. There are words in it by the dozen of which every child knows the meaning; "geven," "axed," "patently," "scholere," and "gore" do not require great lexicographical acumen to interpret them, but there are some not to be found in the glossary which certainly Moises-werk," ought to have been there." (p. 98,) for instance; every reader will not see on the instant that Mosaic is here meant".

I could also conceive it possible that persons might read Capgrave's Chronicle who were unaware that Sistewys (pp. 128, 156, 203) was the vernacular for Cistercian. An editor who thinks it necessary to explain to his readers that "hosen" means stockings should not leave them in darkness on this point.

The word " lyster" in the following

passage,

"There was he mad lyster of the Paleis, and comensale with the Pope," (p. 235,)—

is given in the glossary, but without any explanation. I believe it to be a form of the Anglo-Saxon lastend, "one who does a thing," "an executor." Perhaps it would not be far wrong to render it in this case a house-steward, or seneschal. Mr. Halliwell in his Dictionary gives listre, person who read some part of the church service."-I am, &c.,

EDWARD PEACOCK. The Manor, Bottesford, Brigg.

ENGLISH COUNTY ARMS OR DEVICES.

a

MR. URBAN,-Has any English county a coat of arms or other device except Stafford, which bears the well known "Stafford knot," and Kent, which bears the white horse? If so, what are those peculiar to the counties of Salop, Worcester, and Warwick? H. S. G.

Nov., 1858.

Query, is not this the earliest occurrence of the word in the English language?