on gist peur ceo, mes_
caveat emptor: _lou jeo vend chivall que ad null oculus la null
action gist; autrement lou il ad un conterfeit faux et_ bright
eye." "If a man sell a horse which is lame, no action lyes for
that, but _caveat emptor_; and when I sell a horse that has _no_
eye, there no action lies; otherwise where he has a counterfeit,
false, and _bright eye_."
Thus it appears that a distinction is here made between a horse having
_no_ eye at all, and having a counterfeit, false or _bright_ one. And
probably by _bright eye_ is meant _glass eye_, or _gutta serena_; and
the words "counterfeit" and "false" may be an attempt of the reporter to
explain an expression which he did not understand. Because putting a
false eye into a horse is far in advance of the sharpest practices of
the present day, or of any former period.
Note.--_Gutta Serena_, commonly called glass-eye, is a species of
blindness; the pupil is unusually dilated; it is immovable, bright, and
glassy.
G.H. HEWIT OLIPHANT.
April 16. 1850.
_Christ's Hospital._--In reply to "NEMO" (No. 20. p. 318.), a
contemporary of the eminent Blues there enumerated, informs him, that
although he has not a perfect recollection of the ballads then popular
at Christ's Hospital, yet "NEMO" may be pleased to learn, that on making
search at the Society of Antiquaries for Robin Hood Ballads, he found in
a folio volume of Broadsides, &c., one of the much interest and
considerable length in relation to that school. The Ballad must also be
rare, as it is not among those in the two large volumes which have been
for many years in the British Museum, nor is it in the three volumes of
Roxburgh Ballads recently purchased for that noble library. {422}
The undersigned believes that the only survivor of the scholars at
Christ's Hospital mentioned by "NEMO," is the Rev. Charles Valentine Le
Grice, now residing at Trerieffe, near Penzance.
J.M.G.
Worcester, March 22. 1850.
[We are happy to say that one other, at least, of the Christ
Hospital worthies enumerated by "NEMO" still survives--Mr. Leigh
Hunt, whose kindly criticism and real poetic feeling have
enriched our literature with so many volumes of pleasant
reading, and won for him the esteem of a large circle of
admirers.]
_Tickhill, God help me!_ (No. 16. p. 247.).--"H.C. ST. CROIX" informs us
that a similar expression is in use in Lincolnshire. Near to the town of
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