NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. The curious “ Antiquarian Notices,” by the learned author of the article “ On the Nature of the Office of Mareschal,”—and the letter relating to the compilation of a Gaelic Dictionary, will appear in our next.

The articles—“On the Utility of studying the Ancient and Foreign Languages”-“On the Origin of Whig and Tory"_" On the Detrition of Mountains, &c.”—and the Review of a recent elegant Poem, transmitted by A. D. are under consideration.

The Review of Dr Irving's Life of Buchanan has been unavoidably posta poned.

The continuation of the “ Memorandums of a View-Hunter,”—and the Letter relating to the proposed New Translation of the Psalms, were too late for insertion.

The obliging Hints' from N- 's, and the Additional Communications from • Strila,' and from “ An unknown Friend," have been duly received :-Also, several Gypsey Notices, which will be carefully attended to in our next.

The paper on ‘Craniology,' by Peter Candid,' would have appeared in our present Number if it had not contained some improper personal allusions.

The “ Memoirs of the House of Graham," in the shape in which they have been sent us, have nothing more to recommend them than the good intentions of the author.

The paper under the title of “ Irish Literature,” which announces the intended early publication of an “ Irish-English Dictionary,” in one volume quarto, by Edward O'Reilly," was omitted to be noticed in another place. From the same quarter we have received some extracts from a new work, of which the object seems to be to prove an affinity between the Hebrew and Irish languages ; but we know not well what to make of them, and our corres. pondent has not condescended to assist us.

8

EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

No II.]

MAY 1817.

(VOL. I.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

OFFICE

ON THE NATURE OF THE

OF NARESCHAL.

“ He callit his marschall till him tyt,
And bad him luke on all maner;

That he ma till his gem gud cher ;
The learned Selden has traced the For he wald in his chambre be,

A weill gret quhile in private." etymology of MARSHAL under all its

BARBOUR, II. 4. MS. * variations of Mariscaldus, Marscaldus,

Edward the Second's valet is called and Marscalcus, from the Teutonic

marescallus aule regis.”+ It was “schalk," a servant, and “ maere," a indiscriminately given to stewards of horse, or rather a maremthe mare, it

bishops and abbots, # governors of jails seems, being always the better horse*, and prisons, § and officers attending and therefore very properly used ge- upon courts of law, Il &c. &c. nerically to designate the species adding, that the term strictly describes ties of the hereditary marshal of the

These were not unfrequently depua person who busied himself about kingdom, but most commonly they horses and the manege.

were “ servientes," or functionaries of This popular derivation is, in some

rather a higher order. degree, countenanced by the epithet

There was also an old English office, having been applied to innkeepers, of a singular import to modern ears, grooms, farriers, and horse-doctors, as

held heritably by grand sergeantry, is proved by sundry

, passages from and attached to a mañor,- maresBecanust, the capitularies of Charle- callus de meretricibus in hospitio regis.” magne, and other authorities. It is,

An ancient roll of Edward the Third however, at the same time, evinced to indicates, that “ Johannes de Warhave very early received other signifi- blynton, filius et hæres Thomæ de cations, having no reference either to

Warblyntone, fecit finem cum rege, the above quadrupeds or to their at- &c. quod dictus Thomas tenuit matendants. Marshal notoriously denoted a civil

* Quoted by Dr Jamieson under this officer whose jurisdiction lay alone word. Vid. also Du Cange, voce Marescalwithin the state rooms of a palace- lus. “ marechal de palais”-an adept in of " Rex concessit valetto Galfrido de the ceremonies and forms of court. Mildenhall, marescallo aule regis, unum

(17 Ed. II. etiquette ; and, at the same time, any messuagium in Bredon.” superior domestic servant or steward, Abbreviat. Rot. Orig. Scaccar.) in which last sense it is used in this lus Abbatis," with their explanations. Du

“ Marescallus Episcopi,” “ Marescal. passage from Barbour :

Cange.

8 " Marescallus Banci Regis,” in statuto *“ Marescalcus, equorum minister vel Edwardi III. ar. 5, c. 8. Cui pottissimum potius equarum, quod præstare olim videe incarceratorum incumbebat. Inde “ Ma. batur genus fæmineum, ut apud Græcos in reschalcia,” dictus ipse carcer Londoniensis. Jovis Olympiaci certaminibus, Glossar.

n “ Marescallus Curiæ,” in Bulla Aurea + Bec. Lib. Francicorum.

Caroli IV. Imper, cap. 27. Ib. Vol. I.

Q2

66

regis."

tury.t

a

a

nerium de Shirefield, tanquam mam

The said John Warblington must rescallus de meretricibus in hospitio Have been as versatile and expansive

as Mercury; for he not only performed Such an establishment was then an the more familiar duties of this deliordinary appendage of court etiquette; cate charge, but also the high legal it was as indispensable as a foreign or- office of coroner within the liberties of chestra, or a regiment of grenadiers, to the palace-was clerk of the market to any German prince and their imitators the household, or purveyor-general in our own times.

thereof-broke condemned felons upon His most Christian Majesty, how the wheel-exercised the duties of a eter, was not so very Turkish as to gauger, and enforced the observance permit the superintendence to one of of his self-regulated standard of weights his own sex, as we find from the royal and measures. expenditure of his household at the

The etymology, then, of the excelcommencement of the sixteenth cen- lent Selden would appear not to be

altogether conclusive ; and Wachtert " A Olive Sainte, dame des filles de would seem to be more fortunate, in joye suivant la cour du royt, 90 livres seducing the term from " mer, mar, par lettres données a Watteville le 12. major vel princeps, and schalk, as beMay 1535, pour lui aider, et auxdites fore, a servant, i. e. officer of any filles a vivre et supporter les depenses kind-thus making it to signify any qu'il leur convient faire a suivre ordi- considerable officer or superintendent, nairement la cour. Alius, an. 1539.- or, according to Jameson (who seems A Cecile Viefville, dame des filles de rather to incline to this deduction), joye suivant la cour, 90 livres, par upper servant, or steward-not neceslettres du 6. Janv. 1538, tant pour elle, sarily of the crown alone; a much que pour les autres femmes, et filles more extended signification, and one de sa vacation, a departir entr'elles pour which accounts for the term having leur droit, du 1. jour de May dernier characterised so many various and he passé, qui étoit dû a cause du bouquet terogeneous employments. qu'elles presenterent au roy ledit jour, I have forgot to allude to the more que pour leurs estrains, du 1. Janvier; ordinary sense, indicative of high miainsi qu'il est accoustume de faire de litary command, either as exercised tout temps.

Eadem occurrunt annis by the marshal of Scotland over the 1540, 41, 42, 44, 46."

royal guards, previous to the union, or The old adage in papal times, " Ju- by field marshals, or marshals of ardæi vel meretrices, was not always mies, personages familiar to all. An equally vilifying. Carpentier remarks, office of a similar nature,—to com“Quæ (se. meretrices) hic uti infames pare small things with great,—would habentur, de comitatu regio fuerunt, appear formerly to have been common pensionibus etiam donisque dotatæ."$ in the Highlands of Scotland, as we

learn from the following amusing des* It is noticed in Borthwick’s Remarkscription in an ancient MS. History of on British Antiquities, but more fully in the Name of Mackenzie, composed beMadoxe's Baronia Anglica, p. 242, note, fore the year 1667, by John Macwhere the office is proved to have existed as kenzie of Applecross, extant in the far back as the time of Henry II.

Advocates' Library. + Comput. ærarii Reg. ap. Carpentier, 66 Alexander M-Kenzie of Coull was voce. Meretricialis, Vestis. # Hence the origin of courtezan, now

a natural son of Collin, the 12 laird only used in a restricted and bad sense.

of Kintail, gotten wyt Marie M-KenŠ Selden, quoth Lord Lyttelton, (Life of Henry II. vol. iv. p. 50), would not have - Johannes de Warblington, coro-admitted among the grand sergeantries War

*

ED PRINTING PRESS.

zie, daughter to Rorie M-Kenzie of ye impleyment he had, and of quhatDavoch-maluack. His first patrimonie ever fell to his hand, he conqueist to was his sword and bow, quherewith himself a resonable estate, qühilk he he did such worthie service, that he dailie augmented during the rest of conqueist first the love of his chieffe his worthie dayes. He married to his and broyer, the lard of Kintail, wyt first wife Annabel M-Kenzie, daughter the love of all his countreymen, so as

to Murdo M‘Kenzie of Fairburn, and his broyer made choise of him to be relich," &c. &c. &c. his mareschall of all his armie in all The place was not hereditary ; at ye wares he had wyt Glengarrie and least the historian, himself a male deM'Leod of the Lewis. He commande scendant and grandson of the marshal, ed sexscore of the prettiest men that does not affirm that it was ever again ware in his broyer's armie, and especi- held by any of his kindred. allie the Clanwurchie were under his

(To be continued.) command, quho served him as under officers to discharge the dutie of mari- ACCOUNT OF MR RUTHVEN'S IMPROVschalla His dutie wes, that in ye armies marching to ye enemies land, he As one of the objects of this Magazine should still guard the riar; and as the is to disseminate usef: I knowledge, we ármie rested in ther camp, he still went cannot attain the end in view with in expeditiones to bring them hership* better effect than by giving some acand provision, quhilk herschips were count of a most important improvedistributed as he liked, with the con- ment in the mechanical part of printsent of the saperior. His own pert of ing, by Mr John Ruthven, printer, of the hership was ilk cow qukose ear wes this place. This very ingenious melonger then hir horn, ilk black cow that chanician, having diligently studied his had not a white spott in her bodie, ille profession for upwards of twenty years, white cow that had not a black spott in observed that there were numerous deher bodie, and ilk horse that wes wyt in fects in the construction of the print. three years; and his under officers ing presses commonly employed, the had ail the hedes of all the cowes that principle of which is unaltered from were killed in the camp. But some- the time of the invention of printing. times he destributed his part of the The excessive and dangerous labour herships amongst the best deshervin occasioned to the workmen, and the of the shouldiers, quhilk made the very imperfect adaptation of the press shouldiers so desperat quich were un- to many purposes, were the most obder his command, that they resolved vious defects; to remedy which, by ayer to die or be victorious quhenever any improvement of the original mathey ingadged. He had power to fine chine, Mr Ruthven found, after dili, all the shouldiers that did not goe gent study, to be quite impracticable ; right in their cloathes and armes, and -he therefore resolved on attempting wytall to decern all the contravershies; something new; and, after much laquhilk place he managed so fortunatlie, bour, he has succeeded in producing that he was sent in all expeditiounes, not only a highly useful press, but in and in everie expeditioune he was vic- giving a most beautiful application of torious. His good service gott him a combination of levers, for the prothe reall affectioune of his broyer, so duction of parallel motion, with a dethat his broyer, in his death-bed, left gree of power hitherto unequalled. him his own sword, quhilk was the For the better understanding of the gretest merit a kinsman could haive, account we propose to give, it will be to haive the sword of such a brave con- well to premise a few observations on queror, as a testimonie of faithfull ser- the printing-press commonly used. vice.”

The screw has hitherto been the The situation appears to have been power employed to produce pressure, lucrative ; for he adds, " Ane estate while the types were placed on a movefrom his broyer he needed not; ffor able car age, which was moved, after befor his broyer's death, by his oune the nad been applied, under the prudent managment of ye benefit of sure for pressing. In consequence

than one half of a large sheet could be put on in the usual manner on the tym, printed at one descent of the screw. pan, a, (fig. 1.) and secured by the frisket, A most serious evil results from this, b. On turning over the tympans thus especially in printing duodecimo, be arranged, the platen, N (fig. 2.)-supcause the pressure necessarily is ap- ported by the wheels, QQ,-is drawn plied twice to the centre pages of each over the coffin by the handle, U, till the sheet, while it is applied only once to lower parts of the screw bolts, MM, be the other pages.

To these disadvan- fully secured in the clutches, LL (fig. tages may be added, the difficulty of 2.);

the lever or handle, A, is then turnascertaining and regulating the degree ed over in the front of the press till stopof pressure; the irregularity of the ped, when it will be nearly in a horimotion of the lever; the severe labour, zontal position. It is then restored to and excessive exertion of the work- its original situation, the platen pushman ; the nice accuracy in placing the ed back, the tympans raised, and the types under the centre ;—there being printing is completed. The mode in no difference, in point of trouble and which this movement is produced is labour, in printing a card and a folio; concealed by the check, R. —and the necessity for placing small The action which takes place in the work always in the same spot, which above-described process will be best necessarily wears out one part sooner understood by a reference to, and exthan the others. In obviating these amination of the section, fig. 2. The defects, Mr Ruthven has completely platen is in this represented in its succeeded ;-and after giving some ac- proper situation over the types. The count of the construction of the new parts of the external structure have printing press, we shall point out the been already sufficiently explained ; it superior excellencies of it as briefly as only remains to point out those which

are exposed in the section. Beneath The general appearance of the large the tablet, P, and immediately behind press is well represented in fig. 1. ; of the check, R, are the levers, Í I, havwhich fig. 2. is a complete section. In ing their fulcra at K K; to which are this press the types are placed on a sta- attached the clutches, LL, communitionary coffin or tablet, P; the paper is cating as above mentioned with MM;

possible.