On looking over a copy of Sir John Mandeville,
"Printed for J. Osborne, near Dockhead, Southwark; and James Hodges, at the Looking Glass, on London Bridge:"
I observe he gives--at least there--no account whatever of his peregrinations to the polar regions; and the notion of ascribing to him the story of the frozen words is preposterous. I have not in my library, but have read, the best edition of Sir John's _Travels_ (I don't mean the abominable reprint), but I do not remember anything of the kind there. Indeed Sir John, like Marco Polo, was perfectly honest, though some of their informants may not have been so.
_The Witches' Prayer._--Can you inform me where I can find the epigram alluded to by Addison, in No. 61. of the _Spectator_, as "The Witches' Prayer," which falls into verse either way, only that it reads "cursing" one way, and "blessing" the other? Or is the epigram only a creation of the pleasing author's fertile imagination?
_Water-buckets given to Sheriffs._--Can any of your readers inform me the origin of the delivery of water-buckets, glazed and painted with the city arms, given to the sheriffs of London and Middlesex at the expiration of the year of their shrievalty?
_A Cracow Pike._--Can any of your readers tell me what _a Cracow pike_ is? I have searched Meyrick's works on _Ancient Armour_ without finding any notice of such a weapon; but as those works have no indexes one cannot be certain that there may not be some mention of it. I shall be obliged by a description of the Cracow pike, or a reference to any authorities mentioning it, or its use.
_Meaning of Waste Book._--Can you or any of your readers inform me the origin of the term used in book-keeping, viz., _"Waste" book_?
I am the book-keeper and cashier in an extensive firm, and I know there is very little _wasted_ that goes into our books bearing that name.
_Machell's MS. Collections for Westmoreland and Cumberland._--In the library of the dean and chapter at Carlisle, are preserved six volumes in folio, which purport to be _Collections for the History of Westmoreland and Cumberland, made in the Reign of Charles II., by the Reverend Thomas Machell_. Have these collections been carefully examined, and their contents made use of in any topographical publication?