Notes and Queries Vol. V., No. 126, Saturday, March 27, 1852

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

In an article in the Retrospective Review (2nd Series, vol. ii. p. 234.) it is stated that the first book ever printed concerning Pilgrimages to the Holy Land was the Peregrinatio Bernhardi de Breydenbach, Moguntiæ, 1486; and in the Preface to the Pylgrymage of Sir Richard Guylforde to the Holy Land in 1506, lately published by the Camden Society, the learned editor remarks that the work of Bernhard de Breydenbach, Opus transmarinæ Peregrinationis ad venerandum et gloriosum Sepulchrum dominicum in Jherusalem (fol. Mogunt. 1486), is believed to be the first book of travels that was printed. Having by me notes of five works printed earlier than that of Breydenbach just mentioned,—and all of these, with one exception, being Pilgrimages to the Holy Land,—I forward them for publication in "N. & Q.," and probably some of your correspondents may be able to add to the list.

1. Ludolf von Suchen ("Ludolphus parochialis ecclesiæ in Suchen rector"), De terra sancta et itinere Jhierosolymitano.—Three undated editions, but in all probability printed before 1480, are mentioned in Brunet's Manuel du Libraire. A German translation, entitled, Von dem gelobten Land vnd Weg gegen Iherusalem, was published at Augsburg in 1477 in 4to. The author travelled about the year 1340. "His journal," observes Dr. Robinson (Biblical Researches in Palestine, iii. p. 11.), "is written with great simplicity, and has something of the marvellous; but is decidedly the best itinerary of the fourteenth century."

2. Marco Polo, the celebrated Eastern traveller, wrote an account of his peregrinations in Italian, about the year 1300. A German translation was printed at Nuremberg as early as 1477, with the following title: Hie hebt sich an das Puch des edeln Ritters vnd Landtfarers Marcho Polo; in dem er schreibt die grossen wunderlichen Ding dieser Welt. (In folio.)

3. Sir John Mandeville. Both French and Italian editions of the well-known "Marvaylous Travailes" of this worthy knight were printed in 1480. (See Brunet ut supr.)

4. Santo Brasca, a gentleman of Milan, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1480, of which he wrote a journal in Italian, and published it the following year at Milan. Brunet gives the title as follows: Tutto il suo Itinerario di giorno in giorno al sanctissima cita di Jerusalem nell' anno 1480, 4to. This is a very curious and rare book, written in simple and natural style; and at the end of which are "Instructioni a ciascuno che desidra fare questo sanctissimo viagio," and two prayers in verse: "1. Oratione per sancto brascha fatta a piedi nudi in Monte Calvario a di 29 Julij, 1480: 2. Oratione facta in la vale de Josaphat a la sepultura de la Vergene Maria."

5. Johann or Hans Tucher, a counsellor (Rathsherr) of Nuremberg, undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mount Sinai in the year 1479, in company with Balthasar, Duke of Mecklenburg, and two of his fellow-citizens. The title of his itinerary in Brunet is, Wallfart und Reise in das gelobte Land. Such was its popularity that it passed through two editions in the same year (1482); the one appearing at Augsburg, in folio; the other, corrected by the author, at Nuremberg, in 4to. (Vide Will's Nürnbergisches Gelehrten-Lexicon.) The work is, however, very rare. In it full directions are given for the guidance of all such as might thereafter be disposed to venture forth with scrip and staff on these pious but somewhat perilous expeditions.

Referring again to Breydenbach, Dr. Kitto (no mean authority) is of opinion that the account which goes under his name was written by the Dominican monk Felix Faber, who was Breydenbach's secretary and companion in the journey. (See Kitto's Physical History of Palestine, p. 9.)

PEREGRINE A.

The subject of surnames has more than once been referred to in the pages of "N. & Q.," and it may assist those of your readers who have investigated the question of their origin and use, to offer them the following examples of peculiar forms of personal designation which occur in certain of the more ancient public muniments of the city of Norwich.

It is the opinion of Camden, Du Cange, Pegge, Sharon Turner, and other writers, that the custom of appropriating a permanent appellation to particular families, became fully established in this country at the period (sooner or later) of the Norman Conquest. The instances, however, exhibited below, prove that such custom was not, at any rate, universally prevalent at that time amongst us. And, indeed, whatever might have been the case in reference to "the high men of the lond," it is very certain that surnames, properly so called, were not completely adopted by the mass of the people until the close of the fourteenth century.

But as the intention of this Note is simply to adduce original examples of individual designations, without inquiring into the circumstances attending their acquisition, or pointing to the causes, obvious enough for the most part, to which their various after-changes and modifications are to be attributed, the subject calls for no other general remark, except, perhaps, as to the prefixes "Le"[1] and "De," which, it may be noticed in passing, are, though not constantly, as is commonly asserted, attached to names in records of an older date than the time of Edward IV., when they began to fall into desuetude.

[1] This prefix was occasionally in Cheshire, and in the North with few exceptions, contracted into "A," as Thomas à Becket, Thomas à Dutton, &c.

With these introductory observations are now given, from the source above indicated,—

I. Examples of sons bearing a name different to that of their fathers:—

"1230. Will. fil. Silvestri, als. Will. Silvestre, fil. Silvestri Pudding de Holmestrete;

"1232. Joh. de Worthestede, Tannator, fil. Simonis le Spencer;

"1239. Sim. Pellipar (Pelter, or Skinner), fil. Ranulph. le Furmag. de N.;

"1242. Will. Pryse, fil. Clementis Mayne de N.;

"1249. Walt. de Swathingg de N. Aurifaber, fil. Joh. de Birlingham;

"1273. Rob. Leck, fil. Add. de Tifteshale;

"—— Rad. fil. Willi de Castelaire (Castleacre) qui vocatur Rads. de Lenn (Lynn);

"1333. Rycard de Byteringe, fil. Johis le Yunge (Ling), Ballior;

"1334. Joh. del Stonhous, fil. Ad. de Storston, Clici, C. N.

"1354. Willm. de Bernham, fil. Adam. del Sartyn defti."

Attention is requested to the last entry but one of this list; and it may be further mentioned, in reference to it, that sub ann. 1270 occurs this notice:

"Adam le Clerk de Stirston et Anger (?) ux. ej."

II. Examples of wives described by names other than those borne by their husbands:

"1255. Rob. de Wurthestede, et Basilia le Ro', ux. ej."

1288. Will. de Devenschyr, le Wayte, et Alicia de Wetinge, ux. ej.

1307. Johes Mengy de Besthorp, et Martha de Felmingham, ux. ej.

—— Thos. Toyth, et Juliana le Ropere, ux. ej.

1316. Agnes Richeman (Rickman), Relicta Ric. Holveston defti.

1318. Rob. de Poswyk, Taverner, et Alicia Godesman, ux. ej.

1352. Isabell. de Mundham fuit ux. Willi de Dunston, et nunc uxor Simonis Spencer."

It is also to be noticed that wives, if more than once married, are frequently described in old documents by the names, distinctly and united, of their several husbands.

III. Examples of changes in the form of particular designations:

Between 1332 and 1348 the name borne by the famous knight, Sir Rob. de Salle, commemorated by Froissart, and who was killed by the insurgents near Norwich in 1381, is severally written, de la Sale, de Salle, de Aula, de la S'aule, de Halle, Saul, and Halle.

In temps. Ed. II. and III. is the following name thus modified: Fitz Benedict, Benediscite, Bendiste, Bendish, Bennett.

The twenty-ninth bishop of Norwich (1446-1472) is styled Walter Lyhart, Le Hert, and Hart.

In 1337 we have "Jas. de Briseworth als. de Bliclingg;" and in 1368, "Johes. de Welburn (Frat. Thome de Welburn nuper defti), als. de Cobeslound de Welburne, Taverner."

Then, again, it were easy to produce innumerable examples of professional and business descriptions, which have originated many modern surnames, as Joh. le Lytester (Lister, Dyer), Regin, le Paumer (Palmer), Bateman le Espicer, (Spicer), &c.

But this Note has already somewhat unduly encroached upon your pages; and it is now brought to a conclusion with the single observation, that many of the causes of various readings and differences of form in the same original surname, as well as of a total change from one designation to another, are now in full force and daily practical operation in many isolated parts of the country, where, from the predominance of identical family and baptismal appellations, some method, such as is illustrated in the foregoing examples, must obviously be adopted, in order to distinguish one individual from another. In many of the remote valleys, indeed, of the North of England, a more comprehensive reply might be given than that which the unsuccessful gaberlunyie woman, mentioned by Sir W. Scott, received in a certain Scottish dale, when, in the bitterness of her disappointment, she exclaimed, "Are there no Christians here?" and was answered, "Christians! nae; we be a' Elliots and Armstrongs!" So—but certainly not under like circumstances—it might be replied, "We're a' Meccas (Ang. Metcalfes)!"

COWGILL.

—Probably some of your numerous correspondents could give me some idea as to the number of surnames there are in this country used by British subjects. We have no good work on surnames, as those of Lower and others do not go sufficiently into the subject to satisfy the curiosity of those who wish to know the origin and date of the names in use among us. A work of some study and research, giving all the names in use at present in the country, and showing when they were first adopted or brought into the country, with the changes that have been made in them, would be very interesting, and as worthy, if not more so, than many that are brought before the public.

J. H.

P.S.—I would suggest that the names should be classed in the different periods of history, beginning with the Britons.

Among the old family deeds relating to the manor of Wishanger, I find the following curious and interesting document. It affords evidence that in 1596 there was a dearth of corn which was general through the kingdom; that barley was then much used for bread; that there was a custom, either general, or occasioned by the scarcity, that the poor should be served in open market, at an accustomed hour; that one of the means relied upon to supply food to the people was to restrain the making of malt; and, therefore, that malt liquor must have been very generally consumed by our forefathers at that time.

The writing is in perfect preservation, and the ink jet black.

I give it in the original orthography, according to the literature of those easy times when every man spelled that that was right in his own eyes and the world was little troubled with dictionaries or critics.

JULIUS PARTRIGE.

Birmingham.

"Glour.—Wee, her Mats Justices of the Peace within this Countey, whose names are hereunder writen accordinge to the late orders publyshed by her Matie and the Lo. of her most honorable privye Counsell for and concerninge the dearth of corne and graine, and for the better effectinge whereof we have taken recognizance of all such as shall make any malte, what quantitye they shall make, and where they shall buy it, and when, and to sell the same soe by them converted into malte in the open markett next unto them adioining, and for that none can soe doe without he be thereunto especially licenssed by us and pesented by the Jury Have therefore licenssed and by these psents doe licensse the Bearer hereof Georg Fowler of Hibley to convert into Malte one quarter weekly and to buy the same Barley soe by him to be converted in the any the next Mkett Towne unto him adioininge and that one houre after the poor shall be served at the least. praying yose to whom it shall and may appertaine quietly to pmitt and suffer him soe to doe whout anye of yor lette interupcion or molestation the said Georg Fowler comitinge nothing to the hdance of our last orders only (these[2]) psnts in execution.

"In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names the fourthe of December in the nine and thirtiethe year of the raigne of our Sovraigne lady Elizabethe by the grace of God of England Fraunce and Ireland Queene Defender of the ffaith A.D. 1596.

"H. WINSTON.
⁎⁎⁎
⁎⁎⁎"

[2] The word "these" is not in the original; and two of the three signatures at foot are not readable.

In referring to the passage of Heda's history relating to bishop-boiling, the following curious fact caught my eye. Speaking of the same bishop, Florentius de Wevelichoven, he says:

"Fecit et exhumari ossa cujusdam hæretici Matthæi Lollaert atque ante atrium Pontificale comburi, cineresque in fossas urbis dispergi."—Hist. Episcopor. Ultraject. p. 259.

Now though the Christian name, Matthæus, of this Lollaert does not agree with that usually assigned to Lollard, viz., Walter; nor yet this assertion that his bones were dug up, and burned at Utrecht, with the current story that Lollard was buried alive at Cologne; yet it is evident from the note upon this passage on p. 263., that Heda is speaking of the founder of the sect of the Lollards. In this note he refers to Prateolus and Walsingham, to which I turned in order to ascertain where he got his information; but, alas, in vain! They only give a very meagre account of the origin of the Lollards. Heda must therefore have had some independent source from which he wrote, as he could hardly have invented the story. The form of name, Lollaert, would make it more than probable that Lollard was a Dutchman, which agrees very well with the account that he preached in Germany.

How much is it to be wished that some member of the many learned Dutch Antiquarian Societies now in existence, would endeavour at last to clear up the history of Lollard by reference to the records of the city of Utrecht, if they are still in being, and extend so far back as the fourteenth century.

Florentius became Bishop of Utrecht in 1379, and died 1394.

J. B. MCC.

British Museum.

The letters and other MSS. of Dr. John Lyon, who was prebendary at Rathmichael, in the archdiocese of Dublin, between the years 1755 and 1764, by some chance or another recently got into the possession of a shopkeeper in this city, by whom they have been, for the most part, used as waste paper. The originals from which the following transcripts have been made, are now in my possession.

"The Booksellers' Certificate.

"We the undernamed have examined and considered ye Catalogue of ye late Dr. Swift's Books, to which we find were added Dr. Wilson's Books. The whole is done with great exactness, and correctly printed. And in consideration that ye Gentleman who made and corrected ye said Catalogues not only pieced and numbered all ye said Books, but examined them also leaf by leaf, in order to distinguish those with a Star in ye Printed Catalogues that were noted and observed upon by Dr. Swift; which added very much to rise ye value of ye said Books at ye time of Sale, as may be seen by ye Prices paid for many of them. We are of opinion that ye Gentleman who took all ye trouble above mentioned did deserve to be paid one shilling per Pound upon ye sale of ye said Books. Given under our hands this 26 day of January 1749.

"George Faulkner.
John Torbuek.

"Rockfield, Fryday Evg.

"Lord Shelburne's compliments to Doctr Lyons, and has many thanks to return to him for his Incomparable Present of Dr. Burnet's History, the property of Dean Swift. It has been his daily Intention to wait upon Doctr Lyons, but has been prevented by the attention which his private affairs have required. He is just return'd from the Co. Meath. Lady Arabella Denny joins Lord Shelburne in requesting the favour of Dr Lyons' company to-morrow to Dinner, at Peafield, near the Black Rock. Ld S. embarks on Sunday. [Septr 1770.]"

J. F. F.

Dublin.

—In Herefordshire it is considered contra bonos mores for the husband to appear in church on the day of his wife's churching, or, at all events, in the same pew with her. An antiquary of that county considers this a relic of Roman paganism, connected with the worship of Bona Dea. Query, is this so elsewhere?

C. S. P.

—I am happy to be able to send you the following particulars respecting the apple-tree superstitions, as they prevail in this county; and it is as well to preserve the recollection of them, for I suspect they are wearing away. In this neighbourhood (Chailey) the custom of wassailing the orchards still remains. It is called apple-howling. A troop of boys visit the different orchards, and encircling the apple-trees they repeat the following words:

They then shout in chorus, one of the boys accompanying them on the cow's horn; during this ceremony they rap the trees with their sticks. This custom is alluded to in Herrick's Hesperides, p. 311.

R. W. B.

—"The schoolmaster with his primer in his hand," to quote Lord Brougham, is unquestionably abroad, and dispelling, with surprising rapidity, the prejudices of the people; in some cases, perhaps, to make way for prejudices yet stronger and more tenacious than those they displace. You are doing good service by collecting and recording some of those that are fast disappearing. In this neighbourhood I know ladies who consider it "lucky" to find old iron; a horse shoe or a rusty nail is carefully conveyed home and hoarded up. It is also considered lucky if you see the head of the first lamb in spring; to present his tail is the certain harbinger of misfortune. It is also said that if you have money in your pocket the first time you hear the cuckoo, you will never be without all the year. The magpie is a well-known bird of omen. The following lines were familiar when I was a boy:

T. D.

—The Denbighshire peasantry watch with great anxiety for the position in which young lambs are seen by them the first time in the year. If their heads are towards them it is lucky; if their tails, great misfortunes will ensue.

AGMOND.

—Perhaps J. P. Jun. may not be aware that an experiment somewhat similar to these is practised in the Isle of Man. The operator holds a thread between the finger and thumb, with a shilling fixed horizontally to it, gradually drops the shilling into a glass, and after it has once become stationary, the shilling begins to oscillate, and, as the superstition goes, invariably strikes the hour of the day against the glass. I have frequently practised it, and consider the motive power to be the pulse, which is completely under the operator's control. This performance has been known in the Isle of Man certainly more than a century, and bears a resemblance to the experiments of Mayo and Reichenbach with the Od Force, or the vagaries of the Magnetoscope.

Perhaps some of your correspondents can instance cases and tricks of this kind of much earlier date.

AGMOND.

—There are many villages in England, the names of which have old traditionary couplets attached to them, illustrating some natural or other peculiarity; some such have already incidentally found their way into the pages of "N. & Q." Might not a complete collection be easily made, and would it not be an interesting one? I send, as a beginning, two Staffordshire villages in my immediate neighbourhood, which are very characteristically described. One is—

being very lonely, and out-of-the-way; and the other—

which explains itself.

W. FRASER.

—I annex a singular connexion between the dates of some of the most important occurrences in the history of France, which was mentioned to me by a French lady, with whom I had the pleasure of travelling from Soissons to Paris the day after the melancholy death of the Duke of Orleans, in July 1842. By following out the same principle of addition, the next great national event appears to be in store for the year 1857. Of course the superstitious reader must shut his eyes on 1848.

E. N.

—The Black Book of Scone, containing the history of Scotland from Fergus I., was in Sir Robert Spottiswood's library, and was given by Lewis Cant (a Covenanting minister) to Major-General Lambert, and by Lambert to Col. Fairfax; which book Charles I. had ransomed from Rome by a considerable sum of money: and it is certain Archbishop Spottiswood had it and the Black Book of Paisley, signed by three abbots, when he compiled his History, which, with the famous Red Book of Pluscardine, Buchanan says he had, and frequently cites.—Sir George Mackenzie's Defence of the Antiquity of the Royal Line of Scotland; and also Lives of Scotch Writers.

The fate of the Black Book of Scone may be a clue to the inquirer after the Black Book of Paisley. It is not now in the library at Spottiswood; and most of Sir Robert Spottiswood's property was pillaged and ransacked during his imprisonment.

L. M. M. R.

—Some years ago, being a schoolboy at the time, I spent my Christmas holidays at my grandfather's house in Somersetshire. The members of the family were assembled for evening prayer, when suddenly music, resembling that of an Æolian harp, was heard, produced apparently by some person upon the lawn immediately beneath the window. As soon as the prayers were concluded I opened the hall door, and was greatly surprised to find the musician had departed. On returning to the drawing-room I was informed that the moment I had left the room the music ceased. Believing that some village friend had come to serenade us, we drew our chairs round the fire in expectation of his return. A few minutes only elapsed when the music was again distinctly heard. A second visit was made to the hall door, but with no better success. It was then resolved to open the shutters, which was no sooner done than the mystery was clearly explained. During the day a pane of glass had been cracked, and the music was produced by the two pieces of glass vibrating against each other. We found, from repeated experiments, that it required the atmosphere of the room to be at rather a high temperature to produce the effect, for the moment the door, or one of the other windows, was opened, the vibration ceased. I have only to add that the music was very pleasing to the ear, and consisted of rapid cadences. I have often mentioned the circumstance, but I never found any one who had met with a similar musical fracture.

M. A.

—I carry in my memory the following verses. Are they to be found in any Spanish canzonero? I certainly have not invented them.

Here my memory fails me.

L. H. J. T.

I shall be much obliged for any information or hints as to the following Queries:—

1. Is there any list extant of the Prothonotaries of the Supreme Courts of Judicature from the time of Edward III. downwards, or any source from which their names could be obtained? Was John Hayward a prothonotary of one of the courts in Edward III.'s time, or during the reign immediately following? or can any information be furnished about a lawyer of that name about that time?

2. Is anything known of a place called "Schypmen Hall" existing in London or elsewhere in the time of Edward IV.?

3. When did "Mr. Goldsborough, one of the Prothonotaries of the Common Banke," flourish?

4. Is anything known of Traherne, said to have been reader at Lincoln's Inn temp. Hen. VIII., whose Reading on Forest Laws is much referred to by Manwood?

5. Is anything known of Frowick, a lawyer probably of the sixteenth century?

C. W. G.

I have to thank two of your correspondents for their Notes in answer to my Query respecting mediæval towns built on a regular plan in England. They have reminded me of Hull and Wokingham, with both which places I was previously acquainted; neither of them is by any means of the same regular and perfect plan as the English towns in France, but they approximate to it in some degree; and I am not the less obliged for being reminded of them. My success in this instance encourages me to trouble you with another Query. Can any of your correspondents furnish me with information respecting any mediæval town halls remaining in England? I am acquainted with several, but believe there are many more than is commonly supposed. Some of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are mentioned in Mr. Turner's work on Domestic Architecture, as the County Hall at Oakham; the Guildhall at Lincoln; the King's Hall at Winchester. In addition to these, the Guildhall at Exeter is partly of the thirteenth century, and partly of the fifteenth. The old Town Hall at Colchester of the twelfth has, I believe, been destroyed within these few years. The Town Hall at Winchelsea is of the time of Edward I., though mutilated. The Town Hall at Aldborough is of the fifteenth century, or earlier. The hall of St. Mary's Guild at Coventry is a well-known and beautiful example. The Town Hall of Weobly in Herefordshire is, if I remember rightly, an early example of timber work. These are a few instances which occur to my memory. I have no doubt there are many others; and, as the subject is one of considerable interest, perhaps you will not object to assist me in collecting information upon it. You will observe that I include under the general name of Town Halls all public halls, whether called by that name or by any other. I am aware that they do not all belong to the same class, strictly speaking; but I should be glad to know of other examples of any of them.

J. H. PARKER.

Oxford.

—This regiment is noticed under the head of "Foreign Corps on English half-pay," in the Army List for 1850-1, pp. 494. 530. Can any of your readers favour me with some particulars regarding it, and when and where it was raised, &c.?

E. N.

—Can any of your readers inform me what connexion has ever existed between the Knights Templars and the Freemasons, as there is a degree in Freemasonry called the Knight Templar's degree? It is supposed that the persecuted Templars betook themselves to the Freemasons' lodges, and secured their protection. The two orders became closely connected, the succession of Grand Masters kept up, and the ritual of the Templars preserved. There is a French order of Knights Templars, which claims direct succession from Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the original order; but the Freemasons say that this is a spurious body, and that the only legitimate claimants to representation of this once powerful order are the Freemasons.

I shall be glad if any of your readers can give such information as may aid my inquiries into this subject; or if they can furnish me with the titles of such works as are most likely to aid my researches. My object is to trace the history of the order of Knights Templars subsequent to the persecution and death of Jacques de Molay, and to ascertain the correctness of the statements of those who profess to be the proper representatives of the order.

E. A. H. L.

—Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." supply any information which will assist my researches into the real meaning of the representations of St. Christopher, which are so frequently found on the north walls of churches? I have read Mr. Duke's essay on the subject in the Prolusiones Historicæ, but do not quite agree in his view of the meaning which these singular paintings were intended to convey. Why should this saint, of whom so little is correctly known and of whom Alban Butler gives a very scanty account, occupy such a very important position in the iconography of the mediæval church, and which it appears has not been maintained by the Roman Catholics of the present day? I am quite aware of the doggrel lines occasionally found underneath these representations, ascribing extraordinary powers of cure to the picture when looked upon by the faithful; but I cannot think that this reason alone would have led to the adoption of this extraordinary representation in almost all our parish churches. Are there any known representations of St. Christopher in painted glass; if so, where?

E. A. H. L.

—Can any of your readers inform me who was "the daughter of the house of Bavaria" married to Arnold Bilson, great-grandfather of Thomas Bilson, Bishop of Winchester (who died 1616); and under what circumstances the marriage took place?

It seems there was some romance in the case, as, according to memorandum (Lib. Coll. Arm., c. 19. p. 48., and Harl. MS. 1101. p. 29. [1582]), the arms granted by the duke to his son-in-law were—"azure, per pole, a rose and thistle, pper;" crest, "a horn, or." This union of what I apprehend to be the royal and plebeian flowers, would seem to indicate that the husband was merely a "roturier;" and, indeed, the "horn" itself may point to his occupation, as it is the simple hunting instrument of the time.

Arnold Bilson after his marriage left Germany, and settled in England.

T. C.

—W. Gifford, in his Autobiography, says, that the shoemaker to whom he was bound apprentice "was a Presbyterian, whose reading was entirely confined to the small tracts published on the Exeter Controversy."—Transl. of Juvenal, ed. 2. p. x. What controversy, and whose, was that?

A. N.

—What means were employed in the time of Queen Elizabeth for the education of the people? Were there any schools at that time, such as we have now, for the education of the lower classes? Or was it confined chiefly to the higher orders of society?

JAMES COE.

Manchester.

—If some one of your learned correspondents could point out any other references to the useful accomplishment of sword swallowing, the information would confer a favour on me. The reference to which I allude is about the date of B.C. 326, and is, unless my memorandum be inaccurate, Plu. Lycur. c. 19, and runs thus:

"Ἄγις μὲν οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς, σκώπτοντος Ἀττικοῦ τινὸς,
τὰς Λακωνικὰς μαχαίρας εἰς τὴν μικρότητα καὶ λέγοντος,
ὅτι ῥᾳδίως αὐτὰς οἱ θαυματοποιοὶ καταπίνουσιν ἐν τοῖς
θεάτροις, Καὶ μὴν μάλιστα, εἶπεν, ἡμεῖς ἐφικνούμεθα τοῖς
ἐγχειριδίοις τῶν πολεμίων."

ÆGROTUS.

—Grotius, in his Commentary on Matt. v. 13., gives as a parallel passage to "τὸ ἅλις τῆς γῆς," the following quotation from Livy: "Græcia sal gentium." Can any of your correspondents inform me where in Livy this passage occurs?

T. K. R.

—In a family pedigree I find—

"Eleanor, lady of the ringe, daughter and heir of Thomas Ddu, married John, first cousin of William Herbert, first earl of Pembroke."

What is the meaning of the sobriquet "Lady of the ringe?"

W. R. D. S.

—Some information is requested of an octavo volume of 252 pages, being a catalogue of a collection of pictures consigned to Mr. Samuel Pawson, wine merchant in Cecil Street, Strand, without date or name, or residence of printer; it contains succinct annotations "of the several masters whose performances are herewith exhibited." These are very curious, and the prices affixed to each picture (800 in number), as added together by some possessor of the volume, amount to 55,379l. It appears to have been highly esteemed; and, amongst other autographs, has "J. P. Roberts, Kingsgate;" "J. P. Powell, Quex park."

E. D.

—Can any one tell me where I can hear of an old tune which was well known in my father's early days, called "Well bobbit, Blanch of Middleby?" I can now find no trace of it.

L. M. M. R.

—If Thomas Lord Lyttelton wrote the Letters of Junius, who was the author of the Letter to a Brigadier-General, published in 1760? This letter is now very generally believed to have been written by Junius, when Thomas Lyttelton was about fourteen years old!

W. C.

—Can any one inform me who the author of the following lines is, and their original application:—

J. N. C.

—Dibdin, in his Northern Tour, vol. i. p. 97., says of this distinguished prelate:

"We may anticipate the portrait of this truly great man drawn to the life in the intended biography of my friend Mr. Willson."

Dibdin published this in 1838. Has the memoir of Grostete ever appeared?

I may add, as a pendant to this Query, that two years back I saw a beautiful English MS. of Grostete's on vellum, at the library of the English College at Douay, out of which some British traveller, to whom it had been obligingly lent, had cut every one of the illuminations.

O. T. D.

—During a brief sojourn at Harrogate, Yorkshire, I have visited two remarkable groups of rock, locally known as Great Almas-cliffe and Little Almas-cliffe: the former crowning a lofty ridge about five miles south-west of this place; and the latter standing upon a wild, heathery moorland, about three miles north of the other. Both command most extensive views; and, on the table-rock of each, I noticed circular basins, with channels by which superfluous fluid may be carried off. Tradition says, that in remote ages they were used as druidical altars; and, that in later days, after the introduction of Christianity into England, mass was occasionally celebrated upon them. In some of the local guide-books they are called Almias Cliff. Whence is the name derived? Can it be a corruption of holy mass, or hallowmas?

G. H. of S.

Harrogate.

—What special ordinance of taciturnity had the burghers of Amyclæ?

MORTIMER COLLINS.

Can any of your correspondents inform me to what classical writer, or to what source, Milton is indebted for Cynthia's "dragon yoke?"

H. T. P.

Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A.

—Will you, or one of your correspondents, oblige a subscriber with information as to the above society? Is it in existence, and has it published any of its works, and how obtainable?

W. P. A.

—It is asserted that the article an is prefixed before six words only that begin with the letter h. Is hospital one of them? The others are, I believe, heir, honest, honour, hotel, humble.

NIL NEMINI.

Tunbridge Wells.

—Can any of your readers give me any information about a poem called "Black Gowns and Red Coats?" It is a satire on Oxford, which was published in 1834, at the time of the Duke of Wellington's installation as Chancellor; but the satire was so severe, that it was at once suppressed. The author is said to be dead; I should like to know something of the circumstances of its publication, for I had once seen it, and it bore the marks of very great genius. If any one has a copy to dispose of, I would gladly buy it.

S. F. C.

Oxford.

—Who is the person alluded to in the following note in Coleridge's Friend, 1st edition, No. 8. Oct. 5, 1809, p. 124.?

"He is gone, my friend, my munificent co-patron, and not less the benefactor of my intellect! he who, beyond all other men known to me, added a fine and ever-wakeful sense of Beauty to the most patient accuracy in Experimental Philosophy and the profounder researches of Metaphysical Science," &c.

J. M.

—In Phillips and Herbert's History of Shrewsbury, pages from 263 to 266, vol. ii. 4to. 1837, giving an account of the ancient family of the Plowdens, and their claim to the barony of Dudley, allusion is made to a passage in Baker's History of Northamptonshire respecting some comic verses of the poet Wycherley on Plowden, of Plowden Hall, and the Countess of Sunderland. I cannot find these verses in Wycherley's Works in the British Museum. Can any of your readers inform me where they are to be found? Baker seems to allude to them as being well known in his time.

ALBION.

—Having sometimes occasion to investigate the lineage of Irish families derived from Wales, I am very anxious to learn, through your valuable oracle, where may now be that genealogical collection. According to the notes I have of it, it contained "the pedigrees of all the gentlemen in North Wales, and of some adjacent counties, with their arms finely illuminated;" and took its name from the compiler, John Salusbury, Esq., of Erbistock, who lived about the middle of the seventeenth century, and is reported as having executed the labour with great accuracy. Does its actual scope justify the above description, and where is it now? About the year 1780 it was in the possession of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, the very surname on which I am at present engaged.

JOHN DALTON.

48. Summer Hill, Dublin.

[In all probability, the present Sir W. W. Wynn could give some information upon the subject if applied to.]

—I have somewhere seen it stated, that in virtue of his distinguished office as Great Constable of Scotland, which was granted to his ancestry by King Robert Bruce, in 1312, his lordship is by birth the first subject in Scotland; and in right of this privilege, on all state occasions, where the sovereign is present, appears at his or her right hand, and takes precedence of the entire peerage of Scotland. Is it so?

PETROPROMONTORIENSIS.

[His Lordship cannot be by birth entitled to precede the whole peerage of Scotland, though as Lord High Constable, when attending the sovereign, he may have that precedence.]

—A friend has sent me the following Note "from a local paper:"

"In the hall, Fawsley, Northamptonshire, is an escutcheon, containing no less than 334 quarterings."

Can any of your correspondents verify this statement, or refer me to any other example of so full a blazonry?

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

[The shield is probably that of Knightley, whose quarterings are very numerous. We do not know where to refer our querist to an emblazoned shield, but there are other families whose quarterings would be as numerous, viz. Howard Percy, and Brydges Chandos, Duke of Buckingham, &c.]

—Thomas, second Marquess of Dorset, had four sons; Henry, Thomas, Leonard, and John. Henry was created Duke of Suffolk, and was with his two brothers, Thomas and Leonard, beheaded in 1555, for taking part in Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion. John was ancestor of the Earl of Stamford. The Queries I wish to make are, were Thomas and Leonard, or either of them, married? If they were, what were the names of their wives, and did they leave issue? And most particularly did Thomas?

C. DE D.

[Thomas, the second brother of the Marquess of Dorset, married and left a daughter and heir, Margaret, wife of John Ashley, Esq., Master of the Jewels to Queen Elizabeth, and she left issue. Edward, the third son, died s.p. Some pedigrees call Edward Leonard, but upon what authority does not appear.]

—Is the mint mark of the cross to be found on any of the coins of Richard III. struck at London? I am aware that it is to be found on pieces from the country mints; but on metropolitan coins his heraldic cognizance (the boar's head) is the more usual, if not the only mark impressed.

RICHARD F. LITTLEDALE.

Dublin.

[We are not aware that the cross occurs as a mint mark on the coins of Richard III., either of the London or provincial mints. If our correspondent has a coin of Richard III., with the plain cross on the reverse for M. M., the probability is that it is struck from the die of a reverse of Edward IV., on whose coins it does occur.]

—Can any of your correspondents inform me whether Sir Edward Bagshaw, of Finglas, near Dublin, who settled in Ireland about the commencement of the seventeenth century, left other children besides two daughters; one of whom married William, eldest son of Sir William Ryves, and by him had issue Bagshaw, William, Thomas, and Francis Ryves, together with a daughter married to a Captain Burrowes? I also wish to ascertain whether Castle Bagshaw, co. Cavan, the seat of the late Sir William Burroughs, derives its name from this branch of the family of Bagshaw. Any information, genealogical or historical, concerning the above Sir Edward Bagshaw, would be acceptable.

W. B.

Cambridge.

[This statement does not appear quite correct. Thomas Ryves, the second son of William, is said to have married Jane, daughter of Captain Burrows. See Hutchins's Dorset, vol. iii. p. 366., ped. of Ryves.]

—What is the earliest example of the use of this word in the sense of "to embody," thus: "he couched his thoughts in excellent language?" Johnson cites Dryden and Atterbury as authorities for the word, which, me judice, ought to be banished from the English dictionary, since we have several older and more expressive terms of synonymous import.

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

[In Baret's Alvearie (1580) we find the meanings of the word couch, "The knitting and couching of wordes in talke—Sermonis compositio.—Quintil. To joine and couch—componere et coagmentare verba.—Cic." In Cotgrave, "mettre par escrit" is explained, to "couch in writing:" and in Phillips' World of Words, couch is defined "to comprehend, or comprise." These are somewhat analogous uses of the word.]

—What was the date of the marriage of Oliver Cromwell's daughter with Mr. Claypole? Any one giving a Note in reply to this Query, will much oblige

B. N.

[Noble, vol. ii. p. 375., says that Claypole "in 1645-6 was married to Mary, the second and most favoured daughter of Oliver Cromwell, then of Ely in Cambridgeshire, Esquire."]

I beg to renew my acknowledgments to the various gentlemen who have afforded additional information respecting this brave man. So little has been recorded of his personal history, that every item which can be gleaned is valuable. It is certainly strange that no proper memoir of one so distinguished in arms as Wolfe has yet been written. His career, though short, was brilliant and embraces a period of time, as well as events, which would render a sketch of his life, by a competent writer, singularly interesting. Materials do not seem wanting; the detached pieces of information, and references to sources where more may be obtained, which have already appeared in "N. & Q." since I ventured to start the subject in October last, indicate, that with a little industry and research in proper quarters, Wolfe's history can yet be written to advantage. England's young hero has, in this respect, been too much neglected. Surely this national reproach will not be allowed to continue.

In the Gentleman's Magazine for January last, there is a very interesting letter from Wolfe to a young officer on the subject of military studies, supplied from the rich MS. stores of Mr. Robert Cole. I am enabled to contribute the fragment of another letter from Wolfe, also to a very young officer, pointing out how he ought to conduct himself on entering the army. This fragment was discovered within these few weeks, in the same old military chest where the twelve letters in my possession were found, to which I formerly alluded. This fragment, though neither dated, signed, nor addressed, is in Wolfe's handwriting beyond all doubt. I have compared it with his other letters, and not only do I find the resemblance perfect, but the paper on which the fragment is written is identically the same with several of these letters, the water-mark being the very appropriate one for a soldier, "pro patria." This newly discovered portion of Wolfe's letter is written closely on two pages of a sheet of post paper; and from circumstances I am inclined to think the date must have been in the end of 1757, when he was at Blackheath, soon after his return from the descent on Rochefort, in which he held a command. I am unable, however, to point out the name of the young officer for whose advantage the fragmentary epistle was written; but he was evidently one in whose welfare Wolfe took much interest, and intimate in Wolfe's family. The introductory words, "Dear Huty," seem to be an affectionate abbreviation of the young gentleman's surname; but how the fragment came amongst the papers of Wolfe's other friend, Lieut.-Col. Rickson, to whom the whole of the twelve letters in my possession are addressed, I cannot at present say. Here is an exact copy, viz.:

"Dear Huty,

"By a Letter from my Mother I find you are now an officer in Lord Chs. Hay's Regiment, which I heartily give you Joy of, and as I sincerely wish you success in Life, you will give me Leave to give you a few Hints which may be of use to you in it. The Field you are going into is quite new to you, but may be trod very safely, and soon made known to you, if you only get into it by the proper Entrance. I make no doubt but you have entirely laid aside the Boy and all Boyish amusements, and have considered yourself as a young man going into a manly profession, where you must be answerable for your own conduct. Your character in life must be that of a Soldier, and a Gentleman: the first is to be acquired by application and attendance on your duty; the second, by adhering most strictly to the Dictates of Honour, and the Rules of Good Breeding. To be more particular in each of these points; when you join your Regiment, if there are any Officer's Guard mounted, be sure constantly to attend the Parade, observe carefully the manner of the officers taking their Posts, the exercise of their Espontoon, &c.; when the Guard is marched off from the Parade, attend it to the Place of Relief, and observe the manner and form of Relieving, and when you return to your chamber (which should be as soon as you cou'd, lest what you saw slip out of your Memory), consult Bland's Military Discipline on that Head; this will be the readiest method of learning this part of your Duty, which is what you will be the soonest call'd on to perform.

"When off Duty get a Sergt or a Corporal, whom the Adjutant will recommend to you, to teach you the Exercise of the Firelock, which I beg of you to make yourself as much master of as if you were a simple soldier; the exact and nice knowledge of this will readily bring you to understand all other parts of your Duty, make you a proper judge of the performance of the Men, and qualify you for the post of an Adjutant, and in time many other employments of Credit. When you are posted to your Company, take care that the Sergeants or Corporals constantly bring you the orders; treat those officers with kindness, but keep them at a Distance, so will you be beloved and respected by them; read your orders with attention, and if anything in particular concerns yourself, put it down in your Memorandum Book, which I wou'd have you constantly in your Pocket ready for any Remarks; be sure to attend constantly morning and evening the Roll Calling of the Company, watch carefully the Absentees, and enquire into reasons for their being so, and particularly be watchfull they do not endeavour to impose on you sham Excuses, which they are apt to do with young officers, but will be deterr'd from it by a proper severity in detecting them;——"

Here, unfortunately, the remainder of the sheet has been torn off, and the continuation of the excellent precepts it no doubt contained, is irretrievably lost. Enough has luckily been preserved to show what an admirably disciplined soldier mind Wolfe possessed, taken in conjunction with the outline of military reading, pointed out in the letter contributed by Mr. Cole, already alluded to, and written with the same kindly object (the instruction of youthful officers), probably only a few months prior to the date of the mutilated one.

As it may be thought desirable to say something more than I have done, regarding the packet of Wolfe's letters in my custody, I beg to state that the officer to whom they are all addressed, was William Rickson, a native of Pembroke. He was eight years older than Wolfe. They appear to have served together in Flanders. Both were at the battle of Dettigen, and their names appear in the list of promotions consequent on that victory. Rickson and young Wolfe were also in the same regiment, commanded by Wolfe's father, in Flanders. I think it was then known as "Onslows." Both father and son appear to have felt a strong attachment to Rickson: this appears from the letters. On the part of James Wolfe in particular, this attachment was of the most ardent description. In one letter, dated Banff (Scotland), 9th June, 1751, he thus writes to Rickson:

"I believe that no man can have a sincerer regard for you than myself, nor can any man wish to serve and assist you with more ardour;" and "Attachments between men of certain characters do generally arise from something alike in their natures, and should never fall from a certain degree of firmness, that makes them the same all the world over, and incapable of any diminution. I have (as you justly acknowledge) a perseverance in friendship, that time, nor distance, nor circumstance, can defeat,—nay, even neglect can hardly conquer it; and you are just as warm and as near me in North America as you would be upon the spot."

Rickson survived Wolfe eleven years, and I possess the key of the tomb in which his remains repose in Restalrig churchyard, near Edinburgh. A fine miniature of him in his antique regimentals also exists; and it is interesting to contemplate the lineaments of a countenance so familiar to Wolfe, and of a man to whom the latter seems to have communicated his inmost thoughts. There are passages in the letters indicative of this to a degree, that I felt bound in honour not to disclose. Rickson died a lieutenant-colonel in 1770. His antique military chest remained in possession of relatives in Scotland almost forgotten, till about three years ago curiosity prompted the examination of a mass of old papers, covered with dust, lying at the bottom of it. A number of curious documents have thus been brought to light, including a file of letters to Rickson from the Duke of Queensbury (under whose auspices he constructed the military roads in Gallowayshire) and other distinguished personages of the last century, but best of all twelve invaluable letters from the lamented Wolfe, tied up by themselves, probably by Rickson, as memorials of his bosom friend who fell in the arms of victory. It was, as already said, among these old papers that the fragment of the letter above quoted was also found lately, on a more careful inspection of the antique chest in which they lay. I was so much struck with the noble sentiments expressed by Wolfe in the letters, that I ventured to write a short sketch of him from very imperfect materials, which appeared, along with the letters themselves, ad longam, in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine for December, 1849. Had I been aware of some of the facts which have since been contributed to the "N. & Q.," I would have modified certain passages in the narrative. All I aimed at, however, was merely to elucidate the letters which accident placed in my custody. But I now earnestly invite some competent writer to rescue Wolfe's history from the undeserved neglect and obscurity in which it is at present shrouded. I shall cheerfully allow any such party access to the whole letters, under proper guards for their safety, and my address has been left with the Editor accordingly.

Ȝ.

Glasgow.

The seeming difficulty regarded in these communications arises from Hooker's unauthorised translation of "Comes Strigulensis" into "Earl of Chepstone," and in a phrase of ancient parlance appearing a Title of Dignity. The error does not exist in the original work, as Giraldus wrote "Dermutius Morchardi filius, Lagenensium Princeps, Ricardo Comiti Strigulensi, Gilleberti Comitis filio, S."—Camden's Anglica, &c., p. 767.

The town, called in later times Chepstow by the English, and sometimes Cas Gwent, or Castell Gwent, by the Welsh, is clearly Strigul (as shown in Lhwyd's Commentariolum, p. 102. edit. 1731, and Archæologia, vol. xxix. p. 31.); but these names are not precisely equivalent. In early documents the Town, Vill, or Burgh is thus variously named, and the style of the present Court Baron is, "the Honour of Chepstow, alias Striguil;" but in old charters and chronicles the Lordship Marcher, the castle, and the honorary description of its lords, are usually designated by the word "Strigul" (variously written) only; and of this "Hooker alias Vowell" was perhaps ignorant. Giraldus himself is correct, as shown above.

As to the style of "Earl of Strigul," Dugdale admits the use of it by Richard Fitz-Gilbert, who occurs as "Comes Strigulensis" above, and as "Ricardus Comes de Striguil Dermuciigener," in Ralph de Diceto (p. 590.). His descendant Gilbert Marescall is also termed "Counte de Strogoile" in the petition of Margaret, daughter of Thomas de Brotherton, at the coronation of Richard II. (Vincent's Corrections, p. 345.) There is a stronger instance in Selden's Titles of Honour (p. 617. edit. 1631), correctly cited from Hoveden, and mentioning the fact of William Marshall and Geoffrey Fitz-Peter being severally girded "gladio Comitatus de Striguil et gladio Comitatus de Essex," at the coronation of King John, with remarks on their previous rank as earls, their administration of earldoms, but their non-investiture, and their sitting at the royal table in consequence of this investiture.

Nevertheless, it is laid down in the third Report on the Dignity of a Peer, p. 146., that such expressions are to be considered vague. It refers, for instance, any description of Roger de Montegomeri, as Earl of Arundel (if such exists), to residence; adding, "that is, he was an earl, and from his residence was denominated Earl of Arundel, as the Earls of Pembroke were denominated Earls of Strigul, a castle which appears to have been built by William Fitz-Osborn, Earl of Hereford, and which had no connexion with the county of Pembroke."

As to the immediate parentage of Earl Richard Fitz-Gilbert, proof will be readily found in the Foundation Charters of St. Neot's Priory and Tintern Abbey, in Gorham's St. Neot's, p. cv.; Monasticon, vol. v. p. 267.

GEO. O.

S. P. near Chepstow.

In the parish church of Tenby there is an emaciated figure, lightly wrapped in a winding-sheet, which is supposed to represent Tully, Bishop of St. David's, of whose death a tradition, similar to that related by BURIENSIS, is current. I should mention that there is also in the same church another monument of a bishop (as is shown by the still distinguishable mitre and crozier), which is also stated to be his. I have been informed that where a monument was surmounted by a representation of an emaciated corpse (emblematic of the poverty of spirit in which the original was supposed to live and die), it was usual to erect a second effigy, representing the departed as he actually appeared to his fellow men. This last sentence I must however put in the form of a Query, in the hope that some of your correspondents may answer it with special reference to the supposed tomb, or tombs, of Bishop Tully?

SELEUCUS.

There are two monuments of the description respecting which BURIENSIS desires information in the county of Devon. One against the south wall of the chancel of Feniton Church, is an elegant altar tomb ornamented with quatrefoils, on which lies the effigy in a shroud, tied at the head and feet. This may be assigned to the thirteenth century, but nothing appears to indicate whether it is the monument of a priest or of one of the Malherbe family, who were the lords of the soil. The other similar monument is in the north aisle of the choir of Exeter Cathedral, and is of later date. The skeleton figure lies on a slab in a recess under an obtuse arch, all highly decorated with tracery, panels, and foliage. This is said to be to the memory of Canon Parkhouse, buried in 1540. See Gough. Sepulch. Mon. Introd. p. 111.; and Britton's Exeter Cathedral, p. 139., and plate xxii.

J. D. S.

In the north aisle of Exeter Cathedral there is an instance similar to that mentioned by your correspondent, BURIENSIS, of a monument with the figure of a human skeleton lying at full length on a winding sheet. The following inscription is over the arch:

Tradition ascribes it to Bishop Lacy's tomb, and the vergers even at the present day inform visitors that it was erected to commemorate his attempt to fast during Lent. It is an exquisite piece of work. An engraving of it may be found in Britton's Exeter Cathedral. I have heard that there is a similar monument in Salisbury Cathedral, and it appears probable, from there being more than one, that it was a favourite device to represent the instability of human grandeur.

EXONIENSIS.

There is a tradition similar to that related by BURIENSIS, and alike unfounded, concerning Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, who is buried on the north side of the choir of Lincoln cathedral in a chapel of his own foundation. On the floor is an image of a decayed skeleton-like body; on the tomb above, his effigy arrayed in his episcopal robes.

K. P. D. E.

I would remind your correspondent BURIENSIS of the splendid monument in Winchester cathedral, beneath which are deposited the remains of Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, and founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who died here on the 14th of September, 1528. In an oblong niche, under the third arch, lies the figure of Bishop Fox, represented as an emaciated corpse in a winding-sheet, with his feet resting on a skull. It is a tradition of the vergers that he died whilst endeavouring to imitate the example of Our Lord by a fast of forty days.

The figure of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, is also represented, like that of Fox, as a skeleton; and the same tale of a forty days' fast traditionally delivered by the same authorities.

E. S. S. W.

Winton.

Your correspondent μ asks whether any traces of such a popular belief exist at present.

In the Highlands of Scotland, where at this season the heather is burned by the shepherds, the belief is general among the people; I may add that it is a belief founded on observation. In Australia a hot wind blowing from the north caused (in part at least) by bush fires in the interior, is invariably succeeded by rain from the opposite part.

It would not be difficult, perhaps, to assign a satisfactory reason for a meteorological fact, which by a misnomer is dubbed "Folk Lore."

W. C.

It is believed in the neighbourhood of Melrose that burning the heather brings rain.

It must be remarked that Tweeddale runs mainly west and east; that the heather-covered hills are all to the west of this place. West wind brings rain.

†

In the north of England, and in Scotland, and probably in all moorland districts of the country, it is the practice of shepherds in spring, when the heather is dry enough, to set fire to it and burn large tracts of it, in order to get rid of the old woody plants. The young heather which springs up from the roots produces much better and more palatable food for the sheep. In this process, which takes place at the same time in a whole district (viz. when there has been no rain for some time), the whole air becomes loaded with smoke, and a very misty state of the atmosphere is produced. It is the general belief throughout the south of Scotland and in the Cheviot range, that this burning "doth draw downe rain."

Luckily this season, though there has been much moor burning, the general expectation has been agreeably disappointed, and the weather has now continued perfectly dry for several weeks, and appears likely to do so for some time to come, to the great delight of the farmers, as most propitious for sowing their grain of all kinds.

J. SS.

Lammermuir.

A short time since, an eminent naturalist directed my attention to Yarrell's History of British Fishes (2 vols. 8vo. 1836, and Supplement, 1839), with reference to this curious fish.

Mr. Yarrell does not attempt to identify the vendace with any foreign species, nor to answer the question, who introduced them in Lochmaben? However, his account of the other species of the genus Coregonus in Great Britain is well worth giving.

The species of the genus Coregonus are numerous in Europe, and several of them are so similar to each other that they are often confounded.

"Some writers have even considered the Vendisse of Lochmaben as the same with the Powan of [Loch Lomond] Perthshire, the Schelly of Cumberland, the Gwyniad of Wales, and the Pollan of Ireland. This is not the case, for the Pollan of Ireland is distinct from the two species of Coregonus found in Great Britain."

"The Gwyniad is very numerous in Ulswater and other large lakes of Cumberland, where on account of its large scales it is called the Schelly. The fish is not unlike a herring in appearance; the Welsh term Gwyniad has reference to their silvery white colour."

Izaak Walton notices it at the end of chap. xiii.:

"Nor would I have you ignorant of a rare fish called a Guiniad," &c.

The Pollan is principally found in Loch Neagh, also in Loch Derg and Loch Erne. Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, says:

"The habits of this fish do not, with the exception of having been in some instances taken with the artificial fly, differ in any marked respect from those of the Vendace of Scotland, or the Gwyniad of Wales, and are in accordance with such species of Continental Europe as are confined to inland waters, and of whose history we have been so fully informed by Bloch."

In 1835, Mr. Thompson published some observations on this species. The earliest notice of it that he has seen, occurs, he says, in Harris's History of County Down, 1744.

"The Vendace or Vendis (Coregonus Willughbii); Vendace, Jardine; Vangis and Juvangis, Penn, Brit. Zool., vol. iii. p. 420.; Vendace, Knox, Trans. R.S.E., vol. xii. p. 503.

"But little is known of this delicate fish," says Mr. Yarrell, "beyond what has been published by Sir William Jardine, Bart., in the 3rd volume of the Edinb. Journal of Nat. and Geog. Science, and by Dr. Knox. The Vendace is only known in the lochs in the neighbourhood of Lochmaben, in Dumfriesshire. Sir W. Jardine says, 'The story that it was introduced into these lochs by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, is mentioned by Pennant in his description of the Gwyniad, (and it is likely that his information was derived from this vicinity,) and is still in circulation. That the fish was introduced from some continental lake, I have little doubt, but would rather attribute the circumstance to some of the religious establishments which at one time prevailed in the neighbourhood, and which were well known to pay considerable attention both to the table and cellar. The introduction must have taken place by means of spawn: the fish themselves could not be transported alive even a few miles. They are not confined to the castle loch, but are found in several others, some of which have no communication with that where they are thought peculiar. In general habits, the Vendace nearly resemble the Gwyniad, and indeed most of the allied species of the genus."

Mr. Yarrell gives representations of two magnified specimens of their food.

JARLTZBERG.

Perhaps some of the correspondents of "N. & Q." who take an interest in this style of composition are not acquainted with the two following productions, which appeared at Oxford several years ago, the author of the first being an accomplished first-class man, and, I think, a member of Worcester College:

1. "Viæ per Angliam ferro stratæ." (The Railroads);

2. "Poema Canino-Anglico-Latinum, super adventu recenti serenissimarum Principum." (The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria.)

The perusal of MR. CORNISH'S curious communication (Vol. v., p. 251.) also reminds me of the subjoined clever and amusing verses which were written by a talented friend and schoolfellow, whose premature decease occurred about two years ago, and which appear to be well worthy of publication. It will be seen that the words, which are all Latin, are quite unconnected and unmeaning, but when separated or united they become converted into our own language, or rather into a mixture of English and Irish. I have thought it absolutely necessary to annex a key.

E. N.

—Eight years ago I saw, at the house of my friend, A. Macdonald, Esq., since deceased, but then living in Hyde Park Square, three miniatures, which were said to be by Cooper, of Cromwell and his two daughters. The miniatures of the women were, I thought, stiff and harsh; but that of their father (of which only the head was finished) appeared to me to be the finest painting of the kind that I ever saw. I examined it through a strong magnifying glass, when the face exhibited all the truth and force of a portrait. A high value was set upon it; but I do not know whether it was sold, or where it is.

ALFRED GATTY.

[We take this opportunity of stating that we have availed ourself of General Fox's invitation, and examined the beautiful miniature of Cromwell, described by him in our Number for the 6th instant, and so considerately left by him at Colnaghi's, for the inspection of all who are interested in the subject. The General having placed beside it the volume of Carlyle's Cromwell, containing the engraving from Cooper's miniature in the possession of Archdeacon Berners, we are bound to agree with him that the Archdeacon's may be "better painted;" but General Fox may certainly congratulate himself upon being the possessor of a work of very high art, as well as of great historical interest; and one which we are extremely pleased to have had the opportunity of examining. It will, we believe, remain on view until the 31st.]

—Your correspondent MR. HAGGARD tells us, that from the time he read the private correspondence between Junius and Woodfall he has examined all book catalogues that came in his way, in the hope of finding a copy, or the copy, "bound in vellum"—so bound by Woodfall, for and at the express desire of Junius. Of course the edition so bound was "the author's edition," as Junius calls it, the edition of 1772, printed by H. J. Woodfall. At last, says MR. HAGGARD, "the long-wished-for object appeared at the Stowe sale;" but though, he bid eight pounds, he was not so fortunate as to obtain it. Thus far all is simple and clear enough. But then MR. HAGGARD subsequently informs us (Vol. iii., p. 307.) that the reason of his "being so desirous to procure this copy" was, because it was "not only bound in vellum, but was printed on that article"—that is, as I understand it, because it was not the copy bound by Woodfall for Junius. I am at a loss to reconcile these statements. However, as I observe by the periodicals that MR. HAGGARD'S first statement is getting into circulation, and that it now assumes this form—that the vellum-bound copy of Junius presented by Woodfall to Junius was sold at the Stowe sale, I think it right to state, that the Stowe copy, printed on and bound in vellum, was, as I am informed on good authority, not the edition of 1772—not a Woodfall edition at all—but the common illustrated edition, printed more than thirty years after, by Bensley, for Vernor and Hood.

V. B. J.

—Dr. Ogilvie's derivation is absurdly far-fetched. Sept is notoriously from the Latin septus or septum, inclosed, an inclosure, and it is applied to one kindred or family living in or round the inclosure in which they herded their cattle. See Spenser's Ireland; see also Cole's Dictionary:

"SEPT, an inclosure; the multitude of the same name in Ireland."

In ancient Rome certain classes of voters were called Septs, from the septa or inclosures in which they were arranged.

C.

—I am indebted to the Rev. J. Sanford, orderly preacher at the Rolls chapel, for the subjoined curious statement, which you may add, if you please, to the instances of female fecundity already recorded in your pages.

The Marchese Frescobaldi, the representative of one of the most ancient Florentine families, is still possessed of a portrait of his ancestress, Dionora Salviati, wife of Bartolomeo Frescobaldi of the same house. She gave birth to fifty-two children, never less than three at a time; and there is a tradition in the family that she once had six, and that twelve were reared. The portrait was painted by the celebrated Bronzino, who died in 1570, and has recorded the remarkable circumstance in the following inscription placed under the picture, and in some degree has thus made himself responsible for the authenticity of the story:—

"Dionora Salviati moglie di Bartolomeo dei Frascobaldi, fece 52 figli, e mai meno di tre per parto, come riferesce Gio. Schenzio nei libri delle osservazioni amirabili, cioe nel libro quarto de Parto a carta 144."

BRAYBROOKE.

Relative to extraordinary births, I may mention that within half a dozen miles of this city, and not more than six weeks since, a poor woman gave birth to four children, two of each sex, and all, with the mother, doing well. Some millions are born without such, as I may term it, a phenomenon.

In a very late Brussells paper I find it stated, that in nine years the wife of a tradesman had twenty-four children, three on each delivery,—"chose désespérante (it is added) pour le mari, qui désirait transmettre son nom, car c'étaient toutes des filles." Mercier, in his Tableau de Paris (1786) quotes L'Histoire de l'Académie des Sciences of the preceding century for a similar fact, where it is asserted that a baker's wife had twenty-one children in seven years, three at each birth, and that he had again three children at a birth by a servant maid.

J. R. (Cork)

—Your correspondent who writes from Ashby-de-la-Zouch will, it is probable, be surprised to find that Hog's Norton is almost in his own immediate neighbourhood. In Curtis' Topographical History of Leicestershire (printed, by-the-bye, at Ashby), he subjoins to the modern names of places the ancient names as found in Domesday Book, Inquisitiones post mortem, &c. It appears that Norton juxta Twycross was in other days "Nortone, Hoggenortone, Hog's Norton." There is, then, no doubt as to which of the many Nortons in England is Hog's Norton: but whether there is now, or ever was, an organ in the church; or whether a Mr. Pigge, or any number of pigs, played on one there, I know not.

S. S. S.

—Your correspondent J. P., who inquires in your last respecting the identity of a certain skull with that of Oliver Cromwell, will find valuable information on the subject in an article in the fifth volume of the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science (1848), entitled—

This article is very ably written, and throws much light on a vexed question.

ANTIQUARIUS.

Athenæum.

—It is long after the "N. & Q." are published that I get sight of a number, or I should have urged (what may probably have been already done) the very great importance of obtaining from the workhouse, or wherever else in Suffolk or Essex it can be obtained, an authentication of the report by Turner, that he was the poisoner of the family in Chancery Lane, for which crime Eliza Fenning was executed. One would hope that a question of so much and such serious monument would not be permitted to remain undetermined, if by any possibility it can be cleared up.

I well knew the medical man who attended the case, and gave evidence at the trial,—he was cruelly assailed afterwards by some who had taken a prejudice against him, and no doubt suffered in his practice in consequence.

T. D. P.

—The lines referred to by M. are to be found in Grey's Memoria Technica and Lowe's Memories, p. 172., and runs thus:

C. S. P.

—Your correspondent who inquires about an attendant of the Scottish queen who disappeared when she was in England, will find a notice of the same person in the appendix to Tytler's History of Scotland, reign of Queen Mary. There is a letter there from the English ambassador at Paris to his Court, with an account of the Queen Dowager's visit to France: he mentions that King Henry had been captivated by one of the ladies in Mary's train, who, it was reported, was with child to him. The frail fair one left with her mistress, but returned shortly thereafter. I think she must be the person referred to in the Grey Friars' Chronicle.

J. F.

Belfast.

—AJAX, who asks the name of some work on this subject, may perhaps find his wants supplied in Geographia Ecclesiastica, &c., "Auberto Miraeo auctore."

D. ROCK.

—MR. WM. DURRANT COOPER, in "N. & Q.," has quite mistaken the subject of my inquiry. I am well aware of the cavern, or old copper mine, supposed to have been worked by the Romans; but the place I inquire about is of a different description, in every respect, and is only six feet across, and eight or ten feet high, and fitted up as a place of worship, with a font, altar, seats, &c. I hope some one who has seen it will be able yet to throw some light on the subject.

L. G. T.

Lichfield.

—Professor Scholefield, in his valuable Hints for an improved Translation of the New Testament (p. 64. 3rd edit.), renders the words τὸ μὴ ὑπὲρ ὃ γέγραπται φρονεῖν (1 Cor. iv. 6.), "not to be wise above that which is written," and supports this rendering by clear and (to my mind) satisfactory argument.

C. P. PH***.

—The origin of this fancy has not yet been reached. The earliest mention of it that I have met with is by Gascoigne:

Again, in The Spanish Tragedy:

And in The Two Noble Kinsmen:

C. P. PH***.

—H. M. S. "Wellesley," bearing the flag of the Earl of Dundonald, on leaving Plymouth for the West Indies, got under way on Friday the 24th of March, 1848; and, after she had got outside the breakwater, she was recalled by the Port-admiral, and did not leave again until the next day: it was to take in the mail-bags, but the firm belief of the men was, that the gallant admiral purposely left something behind to avoid going to sea on such an unlucky day as Friday.

W. B. M.

Dee Side.

I heard it stated the other day, in conversation, that the ill-fated Amazon commenced her voyage on a Friday. Can any of your readers say with certainty if this was the fact?

W. FRASER.

—I transcribe, for the benefit of your readers, the full title of the largest Geographical Dictionary which I know to contain the information M. asks for. Dr. William Smith's New Dictionary of Classical Geography may be expected to supply the desideratum, in regard to places known to the Greeks and Romans, but will not, I presume, take up all the names in Baudrand's Dictionary. Its title-page reads as follows:

"Novum Lexicon Geographicum, in quo universi orbis oppida, urbes, regiones, provinciæ, regna, emporia, academiæ, metropoles, flumina et maria, antiquis et recentibus nominibus appellata, suisque distantiis descripta, recensentur. Illud primum in lucem edidit Philippus Ferrarius Alexandrinus, totius servorum cœtus supremus Præsul, S. T. D. atque in Ticinensi Academia publicus Metaphysices et Mathematices Professor.

"Nunc Vero Michael Antonius Baudrand, Parisinus, prior commendatarius de roboribus, de novo mercato, et de Gessenis, hanc ultimam editionem, ita emendavit, illustravit, dimidiàque parte auctiorem fecit, ut Novum Lexicon jure optimo dicatur.

"Accesserunt sub finem Dominici Magri, Melitensis, Theologi, Cathedr. Viterb., &c., appendices et correctiones: atque in has M. A. Baudrand notæ."

The work is very useful, but of course no longer new. It is in two thin folios, and was printed at Eisenach in MDCLXXVII., by John Peter Schmidt.

O. T. D.

—BURIENSIS, in a recent Number, says that he has somewhere read of a tree called the "Gospel Elm." May, in his Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon, published about twenty years since, gives the following description of an elm, which is probably the one referred to by your correspondent. After describing the hamlet of Bishopton, he writes:

"In varying our return to Stratford, pursuing thus the path along the Henley road, we pass at the town's entrance the now decaying 'Gospel Tree,' that still indicates the boundary of the borough in this direction, towards the 'Dove house close.' In a perambulation of the boundaries, made here on the 7th of April, 1591,[3] this elm—judging from its now decayed and weather-beaten aspect—is the one there noted as seated on the boundary in this direction, whence the line is therein stated as continuing, to 'the two elms in Evesham highway.' Such a perambulation was anciently made yearly, during Rogation week, by the clergy, magistrates, and burgesses; not omitting, for evidence' sake, the boys of the grammar school, who then doubtless received, as still is customary, some sensitive reminiscences of local limitation."—May's Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon, p. 92.

[3] "Presentment" in the possession of R. Wheler, Esq.

The author gives a very plausible reason for the tree's peculiar name, in the ensuing remark:

"When the bound mark was a tree, as in the present instance, a passage of Scripture was read beneath its branches, a collect was recited, and a psalm was sung. Hence its sacred designation, long retained, but now well nigh forgotten."—Ibid. p. 93.

SOUTHAMIENSIS.

—Near the hamlet of Cressage, co. Salop, is a very old oak tree, under which tradition says the first missionaries of the Gospel to this land preached. The name of the hamlet, Cressage, is, I have been told, a contraction of Christ's Oak.

There is also, near Dudley, a place called Round Oak; and on the road between Walsall and Lichfield, near the latter, may still be seen the old Shire Oak.

At Stanford's Bridge, co. Worcester, is a place called the Apostles' Oak; and in the parish of Hartlebury, in the same county, is a tree bearing the name of the Mitre Oak. Both these places, and also a Rock, have contended for the honour of being the scene of the conference of St. Augustine and the British bishops, A.D. 603. (Nash, vol. ii. p. 399.)

J. N. B.

West Bromwich.

—In Cowper's Tirocinium, v. 80., are these lines:

LOUISA JULIA NORMAN.

—I think I can give a clue to the Query of BEAU NASH respecting the origin of this phrase. In Kent, if a person has been talking at random, it is not uncommon to hear it said, "you are talking havers," or folly. Now I find in an old dictionary that the word havers means oats; and therefore I conclude, that the phrase "to sow your wild oats" means nothing more than "to sow folly."

RUBY.

—The picture of Mrs. Percy holding in her hand the scroll, mentioned by W. S. G., is still in the house of Ecton. I have made the inquiry from the present Mr. Isted of Ecton's sister-in-law, who lives within three miles of the place.

L. M. M. R.

—As an instance of the "few links" required to connect the present time with a remote period, I may mention that a grand-aunt of mine who lived far into the year 1843, remembered perfectly her "uncle Chamberlaine,"[4] who was an officer in King James II.'s army, and who fought at Aughrim and at Limerick, thus connecting in her own person the days of the "Monster Meetings" with those of the Revolution of 1688. She remembered many of the old soldier's anecdotes of the stirring times in which he lived, and I now regret having been so careless as not to have taken any Note of them. He was, I believe, the last of his race. I hold his commission, signed by the celebrated Tyrconnell, and also many old deeds, some of which are prior to the reign of Richard II., and of which he was said to be very careful, though on examination they have proved to be of no value, except as antiques.

[4] Her grand-uncle.

As a descendant I should be much gratified if some of your correspondents could give me any information as to the family of Chamberlaine, when they came into Ireland, and who is now the chief representative of that name?

T. O'G.

Dublin.

—The parish church of Wednesbury, co. Staffordshire, is dedicated to that saint; where, in the east window, is a full-length figure: it is however of modern date.

J. N. B.

West Bromwich.

—The pedigree in my private collection ends thus:

"[5]Rev. John Rogers of Beminster, Dorsetshire, from 1796 to 1810, when he removed to Tisbury, Wiltshire, where he died in 1815, aged 57, leaving two daughters, viz.

[5] Seventh in direct lineal male descent from the protomartyr.

E. D.

—The Queries of M. on this subject have arisen out of an error, which I fancy must be his own. After quoting the clause of the 36th Canon, quodque eodem taliter uti liceat, he says:

"The English translation, to which subscription is now made, has the following rendering of the second clause: 'And that the same may be lawfully used.' The word 'taliter' seems to be not rendered at all."

Of course I cannot tell on what authority he says this; but he is certainly wrong: for in the Oxford edition (1844) of the Homilies and Canons this clause stands thus: "and that it may lawfully so be used." And so it is printed in Hodgson's Instructions, p. 8., and in the Instructions to be observed by Candidates for Holy Orders in the Diocese of London: and I myself not long ago subscribed to it in this form. There is then no difference here at all; the Latin being rendered by the English, not only fully, but literally. I will only add, that the grammatical meaning of taliter, or so, appears to me in this place to be plain enough, without requiring a "theological controversy" to determine it.

F. A.

—I am afraid I did not make myself intelligible in my former communication. Certainly W. A. C. does not understand me. The question is, are we justified in translating alibi atque "otherwhere than," in like manner as we translate aliter atque "otherwise than?" W. A. C. takes for granted that the line in question refers to only one district. But that is the very point in doubt. The "head master's" translation makes it refer to two.

W. S.

—In reference to this practice, I may state that a similar custom prevails here (Gainsborough, Lincolnshire), but on the 29th May, or "Royal Oak Day." For some days previously the boys collect all the birds' eggs they can find or purchase, and early in the morning of the 29th, they may be seen returning from the woods in crowds, with an ample supply of oak. They next procure a large quantity of flowers, with which they construct a garland in the form of a crown, the apples of the oak being all gilded, surrounded by flowers and festoons of birds' eggs. The garland is then suspended across the street, and every little urchin being provided with a horn, some the natural horn of the cow, others of tin, similar to those formerly used by the guard of the mail coaches, they keep up throughout the day a most terrible blowing of horns; the doleful noise being ill in accordance with the festivity and rejoicing which the garlands are presumed to indicate. I have been unable to learn the origin or import of this singular custom.

T. DYSON.

Gainsborough.

—If T. S. will refer to Wood's Athenæ Oxon., vol. iii. col. 698. edit. 4to., he will find all account of the author of God's Love. Wood records an edition of 1659. In the Bibliotheca Anglo-Poetica, No. 594., was one dated 1679; but I have now before me the first, which neither Wood nor his editor appear to have heard of. The title:

"God's Love and Man's Vnworthiness: whereunto is annexed a Discourse between the Soul and Satan. With several Divine Ejaculations. Written by John Quarles. London: Printed for John Stafford, and are to be sold at his house in S. Bride's Church-yard; and by Humphrey Moseley, at the Prince's Armes, in St. Paul's Church-yard; and John Holder, at the Blue Anchor, in the New Exchange. 1651."

Collation: the minde of the frontispiece: 8 lines verse. The frontispiece, or engraved title: God's Loue, Man's Vnworthiness, by Io. Qu. "Lord, what is man," &c. Ps. viii. 4. An engraved portrait of the author, kneeling and saying, "O giue salvation vnto Israell out of Sion!" (this unknown to Granger or Bromley: the latter records three other portraits of the author.) Then the title, as given before. The dedication: "To my much honoured and esteemed Friend, Edward Benlowes, Esq." To the Reader. To my Muse: "Tel me, presumptuous Muse, how dar'st thou treat." God's Love, &c., pp. 1. to 66. A Dialogue, &c., pp. 67. to 108. Pp. 109, 110. wanting in my copy, but probably blank, as the catch-word "Divine" agrees with "Divine Ejaculations," which commence on p. 111. and end at p. 160., thus concluding the volume.

P. B.

—One of these stones is (I believe) still standing at Bury Saint Edmunds. In a paper read to the Bury and West Suffolk Arch. Inst. (vide vol. i. p. 42. of the Society's Proceedings) Mr. S. Tymms says:

"The small-pox has been a frequent visitor of Bury in its most terrible forms. In 1677, says Gillingwater (Hist. Bury, 226.), it was so prevalent that the people resorting to the market by the Rislygate Road, were accustomed to dip their money in water (tradition says vinegar) which had been placed in the cavity of the ruined base of the boundary cross situate at the bottom of Chalk Lane, with the view of preventing any infection being conveyed to the neighbouring towns and villages."

My attention has been frequently called to a stone of similar description standing in the parish of Stuston in this county, by the side of the Ipswich and Norwich turnpike; it is called in Kirby's Suffolk Traveller, 1st ed. pp. 52-3., a "Stuston Stone" and "The White Stone," and is nearly equidistant from Diss and Eye, between two and three miles.

J. B. COLMAN.

"Sed neque Cygni canunt," says Leland, in his Cygnea Cantio, "nisi flante zephyro vento geniali quidem illo, si quicquam Æliani judicio tribuendum."

In the work itself, which is a poetical panegyric on King Henry VIII., the following lines occur:

The last line, however, seems only to apply to the applauding sound of the wings, and not to intimate that any music was produced by them.

C. I. R.

—The belief that the Cymry are descended from Gomer can prove very little as to the restlessness of those who hold it; and if it is making progress, the opinion must be supported by probability: consequently a mere denial will not dispel the illusion. Authors quite as remarkable for their matter-of-fact opinions as A. N. may be, have not rejected the connexion of the Cymry with Gomer. For instance, Volney, in his attacks on Scripture history, when examining Gen. x. on Gomer, adopts an argument in support of this paternity, though not in its Biblical sense, viewing Gomer as a chief. As it is not an unusual circumstance for a nation to adopt the name of its patriarch or founder (and on this point I would refer to a note to Gibbon's Decline, chap. lxiv.), I trust I shall be excused for believing myself descended from Gomer, until decided evidence is adduced that I am not.

Pompeius Festus I am unacquainted with; but on consulting Plutarch, in Mario, the following contradictory statements may be seen: "The Germans called banditti Cimbri;" and, "Hence, therefore, these barbarians who came into Italy first issued; being anciently called Cimmerii, and afterwards Cimbri, and the appellation was not at all from their manners."

That the old Germans may have called robbers Cimbri, does not prove that word implies robbers, or anything of the kind; but it indicates that the intrusion of the old Germans on the lands of the Cimbri caused the invaded to make reprisals on the invaders; and then the injured Germans connected or identified the Cimbrian name with that of enemy or robber.

GOMER.

—I think that the towns and parishes of Tawstock, Culmstock, Tavistock, Plymstock, Stockton on Tees, Severn Stoke, Stoke in Teignhead, Stoke on Tern, Stoke on Trent, must have received their names from a stockade of some kind in the rivers near which they are situated. There is at a ford across the river Severn, about half a mile from Welsh Pool, a weir made of stakes and brushwood erected a few yards above the ford, for the sole purpose of diminishing the force of the current, and spreading the water into a stream of an uniform depth. I conjecture that in ancient times the fords of our larger rivers were kept in a passable state during the winter season by weirs of this description, and that there were fords in the rivers at the places above mentioned. There is near Nuneaton the chapelry of Stock in Ford, but I am not sufficiently acquainted with that place to be able to conjecture from what circumstance it may have derived its name. I infer that one meaning of the word stoke is wood of any kind, from the fact that the opening through which coals are introduced under the larger boilers in our houses is called a stoke-hole, from the wood formerly used for fuel.

S. S. S. (2).

—See Blomefield's History of Norfolk, vol. i. p. 406., and vol. ii. p. 388. At the latter reference, under the head of Richard Nykke or Nix, Bishop of Norwich, 1500, occurs this passage: "This bishop incurred a premunire for extending his jurisdiction over the Mayor of Thetford, and was fined for it. With part of the fine, it is said, the beautiful windows in King's College Chapel, Cambridge, were purchased." The statement is given at greater length at the first of the above-quoted references. I never heard of the story before I met with it in Blomefield.

T. H. L.

Mr. Blomefield, referring to Richard Nykke, Bishop of Norwich (1500-1535), says he incurred a premunire for extending his jurisdiction over the Mayor of Thetford, "and was fined for it, with part of which fine 'tis said the beautiful painted glass windows in King's College Chapel at Cambridge were purchased."—Hist. of Norfolk, 8vo. edit., ii. 52.; iii. 546.

There is good foundation for the statement that this bishop "was condemned in the premunire" (Coke's Reports, xii. 40, 41.); but I question if there be authentic evidence that he "redeemed the punishment of that offence by the glasing of the King's College Chappell windows in Cambridge." Bishop Nykke is no doubt the prelate to whom Ferne alludes.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

—"Cujus vita despicitur," &c., is from S. Gregor. Magn. Homil. xii. in Evangelia, § 1.

J. C. R.

—J. S. is informed that this illustrated Bible is now in the hands of Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, and may be seen at their sale-rooms in Piccadilly.

F. S. Q.

—The white feather is the sign of the cross-bred bird; you will never see one in my tail.

GAMECOCK.

never was Bishop of Ely. John Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the second son of John Berkeley, was a British admiral; he died on the 27th of July, 1696-7, not more than thirty-four years of age, during eight of which he had filled the office of admiral. See Rose's Biographical Dictionary.

TYRO.

Dublin.

—C. I. P. will, I think, find much of the information required in David Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, London, 1805, 4 vols. 4to. particularly in vols. iii. and iv.; also in The History of European Commerce with India, by the same author, London 1812, 4to. Neither of them is entered in the Bodleian Catalogue.

C. I. R.

—The third volume of Tytler's Lives of Scottish Worthies (No. 37. of the Family Library) contains a series of antiquarian illustrations, of which the last is devoted to "Ancient Scottish Games and Amusements." The author refers particularly to the MS. accounts of the Lord High Treasurer during the reign of King James IV. (1488-1513), in which, however, there appears to be no notice of the "roaring game." The origin of this favourite amusement is certainly involved in mystery, and I have repeatedly failed in my endeavours to ascertain the meaning of the name by which the game is known. On consulting the abridgment of Jamieson's Dictionary for the derivation, I find the following:—

"Perhaps from Teut. krollen, krull-en, sinuare, flectere, whence E. curl; as the great art of the game is to make the stones bend or curve in towards the mark, when it is so blocked up that they cannot be directed in a straight line."

E. N.

—Notwithstanding the assertion of Dr. Johnson, many fine specimens of timber have long existed to the north of the Tweed. At p. 20. of the Edinburgh Antiquarian Magazine (Edin. 1848) will be found a "List of Scottish Trees, of remarkable magnitude, as they existed in 1812," including numerous examples of the oak, larch, ash, elm, beech, silver fir, Scots fir, sycamore, chesnut, black poplar, and yew. One of the largest in the catalogue is the great yew at Fortingal, in Perthshire, measured by the Hon. Judge Barrington in 1768, when its circumference was no less than fifty-two feet.

E. N.

"Now no superfluity of our food, or in general no excrementitious substance, is looked upon by them (the Egyptian priests) as pure and clean; such, however, are all kinds of wool and down, our hair and our nails. It would be the highest absurdity therefore for those who, whilst they are in a course of purification, are at so much pains to take off the hair from every part of their own bodies, at the same time to cloath themselves with that of other animals. So when we are told by Hesiod 'not to pare our nails, whilst we are present at the festivals of the Gods,' we ought so to understand him as if he designed hereby to inculcate that purity with which we ought to come prepared, before we enter upon any religious duty, that we have not to make ourselves clean, whilst we ought to be occupied in attending to the solemnity itself."—Plutarch's Treatise of Isis and Osiris, translated by Squire, p. 5. 1744.

This note will show the great antiquity of these nail-paring and hair-cutting superstitions. What is there does not come from Egypt?

A. HOLT WHITE.

POPE'S WORKS, BY WARTON, 1797. Vol. IV.

ROSCOE'S NOVELIST'S LIBRARY.—TRISTRAM SHANDY. Vol. II.

LINGARD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 4to. edit. Vol. VII.

LEBEUF, TRAITE HISTORIQUE SUR LE CHANT ECCLESIASTIQUE.

NOTES AND QUERIES. No. 19.

EDWIN AND EMMA. Tayler, 1776.

GEMMÆ ET SCULPTURÆ ANTIQUÆ DEPICTÆ IN LATINUM VERSÆ, per Jac. Gronovium. Amstelodami, 1685.

MASSARII ANNOTATIONES IN NONUM PLINII HISTORIÆ NATURALIS LIBRUM. Basileæ, 1537.

SWALBACI DISSERTATIO DE CICONIIS, &c. Spiræ, 1630.

SYNTAGMA HERBARUM ENCOMIASTICUM, ABR. ORTELIO INSCRIPTUM. Ex officina Plantin. 1614.

TYRWHITT, THO. CONJECTURÆ IN STRABONEM. London, 1783.

CRAKANTHORP'S DEFENCE OF JUSTINIAN THE EMPEROR AGAINST CARDINAL BARONIUS. London, 1616.

HALLERI (A.) ELEMENTA PHYSIOLOGIÆ CORPORIS HUMANI. 8 Vols. 4to. Lausannæ and Lugd. Batav. 1757-66. Vol. III.

RACCOLTA DI OPUSCULI SCIENTIFICI, &c., dal Padre Calogera. Venezia, 1728-57.

THE WHOLE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN, by Way of Question and Answer: designed for the Use of Charity Schools. By Robert Nelson, 1718.

QUARTERLY REVIEW. Nos. 153. to 166., both inclusive.

BELL'S FUGITIVE POETRY COLLECTION. Vols. X. and XVI. 12mo. 1790.

THE CRITIC, London Literary Journal. First 6 Nos. for 1851.

VOLTAIRE, ŒUVRES COMPLETES DE. Aux Deux-Ponts. Chez Sanson et Compagnie. Vols. I. & II. 1791-2.

SCOTT'S CONTINUATION OF MILNER'S CHURCH HISTORY. Part II. of Vol. II. 8vo.

SPECTATOR. No. 1223. Dec. 6, 1851.

EDWIN AND EMMA. Taylor, 1776.

ANNUAL REGISTER, from 1816 inclusive to the present time.

MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL TRANSACTIONS. From Part II. of Vol. XI. March, 1819; and also from Vol. XXX.

THE CODE MATRIMONIAL. Paris, 1770.

PRO MATRIMONIO PRINCIPIS CUM DEFUNCTÆ UXORIS SORORE CONTRACTO RESPONSUM JURIS, COLLEGII JURISCONSULTORUM IN ACADEMIA RINTELENSI. Published about 1655.

*⁎* Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

We are this week compelled to omit our usual Notices of Books, &c.

Among other interesting communications which we are this week compelled to postpone from want of room, is one of great interest from the KNIGHT OF KERRY, on the portrait in his possession of the Old Countess of Desmond; one by LORD BRAYBROOKE on the celebrated interview between Bonaparte and Lord Whitworth; and Archbishop Laud's Notes on Prynne's Breviate.

REPLIES RECEIVED.—Epitaph on Voltaire—Meaning of Blaen—Music by Handel—Plague Stones—George Trout—Title of Reverend—King's College Chapel—Cromwell's Skull—Song of "Miss Bailey"—Macaronic Poetry—Story of Ginevra—Sir E. Seaward's Narrative—Arms of Manchester—Fern Seed, &c.—"Man proposes," &c.—Mispronounced Names of Places—Palace of Lucifer—Alecknegate—Bigot—White Feather—Ballad of Lord Delamere—Old Scots March—Maps of Africa—St. Paul and the Heathen Writers—"Wise above that which is written"—Paring the Nails—Rev. John Paget—History of Commerce—London Street Characters—Great Bowyer Bible—Wiclif, Orthography of—Ancient Trees—Game of Curling—Family Likenesses—English Translation of the Canons—Quotations wanted—Ecclesiastical Geography.

H. T. H. Queries respecting Irish Antiquities are quite within the province of "N. & Q."

MAY MARRIAGES. CONSTANT READER is referred to our Second Volume, p. 52., for an answer to his Query upon this subject.

COMBE'S WORKS. We have received an obliging Note from MR. COLE, in which he informs us that the List of Combe's Works referred to in The Athenæum and "N. & Q." (Vol. v., p. 194.), has been placed by him at the service of the Gentleman's Magazine, and will probably appear in the April Number of that Journal.

MONASTIC ESTABLISHMENTS IN SCOTLAND. CEYREP will feel obliged by the transcript of the List of these Establishments contained in Cardonnel, so kindly offered by M. S. at p. 189.

H. W. The proper line is—

It is from Lee's Alexander the Great.

E. N. The Epigram beginning "Cum sapiente Pius" has already appeared in our columns. See Vol. ii., p. 461.

C. W. G. and W. COLLYNS. The communications sent to us for these gentlemen have been duly forwarded.

F. CROSSLEY. Will this correspondent say how we may forward a letter to him?

CHARLEMAGNE'S MAGIC RING. E. A. S. will find the history of this curious relic in our First Volume, pp. 140. and 187.

Full price will be given for clean copies of No. 19. upon application to our Publisher.

Neat Cases for holding the Numbers of "N. & Q." until the completion of each Volume are now ready, price 1s. 6d., and may be had by order of all booksellers and newsmen.

VOLUME THE FOURTH OF NOTES AND QUERIES, with very copious INDEX, is now ready, price 9s. 6d. cloth boards.

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