the greatest of eels, the fishermen, whose nets he tore, and
whose take he seriously reduced, might well call him in size, in strength,
and voracity--_Kongr_, the king.

C. D. LAMONT.

Greenock.

[Todd and Webster derive it from the Latin _conger_ or _congrus_; Gr.
[Greek: gongros], formed of [Greek: grao], to eat, the fish being very
voracious; It. _gongro_; Fr. _congre_.]

_"Si vis me flere, dolendum est primum tibi."_--This is, I think, the
ordinary form of a saying cited somewhere by Goldsmith, who calls it "so
trite a quotation that it almost demands an apology to repeat it." Whence
comes it originally? I am unable to give the exact reference to the passage
in Goldsmith, but in his _Citizen of the World_, letter 53rd, he has a
cognate idea:

"As in common conversation the best way to make the audience laugh is
by first laughing yourself, so in writing," &c.

W. T. M.

Hong Kong.

[Horace, _De Arte Poetica_, 102.]

* * * * *

Replies.

MEDAL AND RELIC OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.

(Vol. viii., p. 293.)

I possess a cast of this medal as described by your correspondent W.
FRASER, but which is a little indistinct in some of the letters of its
inscriptions. The yew-tree represented on it is generally supposed to be
that which stood at Cruikston Castle nearly Paisley; and its motto "Vires"
may perhaps have been intended to denote its natural strength and
durability. The date of the medal being 1566, and Mary's marriage with Lord
Darnly having taken place on July 29, 1565, the yew-tree may have been
introduced to commemorate some incident of their courtship, and gives
likelihood to the common tradition. I once had a small box composed partly
of its wood, and of {445} that of the "Torwood Oak" near Stirling, which
was presented to me about thirty-five years ago by an aged lady, whose
property it had been for a long time previously, and who placed much value
on it as a relic. Though visiting Cruikston Castle in early life, I never
heard of there being any feeling of "superstition" connected with such
little objects as the crosses, &c. which were long made from the wood of
the yew-tree. They are all, I think, to be viewed simply as curiosities
associated with the historical interest of the place, and similar examples
are to be found among our people in the numerous _quaichs_ (drinking-cups)
and other articles which have been formed from the "Torwood Oak" t