Transcriber's Note: Italicized words, phrases, etc. are surrounded by underline characters. Greek transliterations are surrounded by tildes. Hebrew transliterations appear like this. Diacritical marks over characters are bracketed: x indicates a macron over the letter, x indicates a breve. Archaic spellings have been retained.

{349} NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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"WHEN FOUND, MAKE A NOTE OF."—CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

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No. 180.] SATURDAY, APRIL, 9. 1853. [Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:— Page Rigby Correspondence 349 Isthmus of Darien 351 Notes on several misunderstood Words 352

FOLK LORE:—Drills presaging Death—Beltane in Devonshire—Touching for King's Evil 353 Gaffer or Gammer, &c., by Thos. Keightley 354

MINOR NOTES:—Search for MSS.—Clifton of Normanton —The Three per Cent. Consols 354

QUERIES:— Wolves nursing Children, by Gilbert N. Smith 355 "The Luneburg Table"—Queen Elizabeth's Love of Pearls 355

MINOR QUERIES:—St. Dominic—"Will" and "shall" —Sir John Fleming—Deal, how to stain—Irish Characters on the Stage—Arms on King Robert Bruce's Coffin-plate—Chaucer's Prophetic View of the Crystal Palace—Magistrates wearing their Hats in Court—Derby Municipal Seal—Sir Josias Bodley— Sir Edwin Sadler—The Cross given by Richard I. to the Patriarch of Antioch—Lister Family—Family of Abrahall, Eborall, or Ebrall—Eulenspiegel: Murner's Visit to England—Aged 116—Annuellarius 356

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:—Boyer's "Great Theatre of Honour and Nobility"—List of Bishops of Norwich—"A Letter to a Convocation Man"— Nicholas Thane—Churchwardens, Qualification of— Sir John Powell—S. N.'s "Antidote," &c.—Beads 358

REPLIES:— Broad Arrow 360 English Comedians in the Netherlands 360 The Sweet Singers 361 Edmund Spenser 362 Lamech killing Cain, by Francis Crossley, &c. 362

PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES:—Photographic Notes—On some Difficulties in Photographic Practice —Mr. Weld Taylor's cheap Iodizing Process 363

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:—Somersetshire Ballad— Family of De Thurnham—Major. General Lambert— Loggerheads—Grafts and the Parent Tree—The Lisle Family—The Dodo in Ceylon—Thomas Watson, Bishop of St. David's, 1687 to 1699—Etymology of Fuss —Palindromical Lines—Nugget—Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores —The Passame Sares (mel. Passamezzo) Galliard—Swedish Words current in England—Gotch —Passage in Thomson: "Steaming"—The Word "Party"—Curious Fact in Natural Philosophy—Lowbell —Life and Correspondence of S. T. Coleridge— Coniger, &c.—Cupid Crying—Westminster Assembly of Divines, &c. 364

MISCELLANEOUS:— Notes on Books, &c. 369 Books and Odd volumes wanted 370 Notices to Correspondents 370 Advertisements 371

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NOTES.

RIGBY CORRESPONDENCE.

[We are enabled, by the kindness of their possessor, to lay before our readers copies of the following characteristic letters from the well-known Richard Rigby, Esq., who was for so many years the leader of the Bedford party in the House of Commons. They were addressed to Robert Fitzgerald, Esq., a member of the House of Commons in Ireland, and Judge of the Court of Admiralty in that country.]

Mr. Rigby to Mr. R. Fitzgerald.

Woburn Abbey, Wednesday, 11th Dec., 1765.

Dear little Bob,

I am impatient to know if you had resolution enough to attend his Excellency last Sunday, as I advised, and if you had, what was the result of the audience....

I arrived here last night, and find the Duke and Duchess, Marquis and Marchioness, all in perfect health. With my love to the Provost[1], tell him the chancellorship answers the intention to the utmost of his desire: we are wonderfully pleased with it. Tell him also that I do not find the defalcation amongst our friends to be as was represented in Dublin. Stanley is not, but has refused to be, ambassador to Berlin; Lord North is not, but has refused to be, vice-treasurer. The parliament meets on Tuesday: the ministers of the House of Commons, who are to be rechose, can get nobody who is in Parliament to read the king's speech for them at the Cockpit the night before. They, I believe, are in a damned dilemma: how much that makes for us time must show. Cooper is bribed to be Secretary of the Treasury, by 500l. a-year for his life, upon the 4-1/2 per cents, in the Leeward Islands, the same that Pitt's pension is upon. He remains for the present, however, at Bath. Calcraft will run Cooper hard at Rochester, against both Admiralty and Treasury. Wish Col. Draper joy for me of his red riband: he will have it next week with Mitchell, who returns to the {350} King of Prussia. The poor young prince cannot live. I have time for no more.

Adieu, yours ever, R. R. I expect to hear fully from you very shortly.

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St. James's Place, 1st Feb., 1766.

Dear little Bob,

Though you are a little villain for never sending me a word of news from Sir Lucius Pery, Flood, Lucas, and the rest of the friends to your enslaved country, yet I will inform you that yesterday, in the House of Commons, upon a question of no moment, only for fixing a day for the hearing a contested election, the ministry were run within 11: the numbers 137 and 148. Twenty rats in the Speaker's chamber, and in all the cupboards in the neighbourhood. Monday next is the day for deciding the American question; and do not be surprised if there is an end of the present ministry in less than a week. As soon as I know who are to be their successors, you shall hear from me again.

If you are in want of such another patriot to second Lucas, Pitt is at your service. He seems likely to want a place.

Yours ever, R. R.

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St. James's Place, 14th Nov., 1766.

Dear little Bob,

I have not wrote to you this age, nor have I anything very pleasant to say to you now. Our Parliament is met in a very acquiescing disposition. The Opposition is sickly, and my great friend, who would naturally give it most strength and energy, is tired of it as much as he is of the Court. Lord Chatham seems, by all that has yet appeared, to have adopted all Grenville's plan of pacific measures; and as he formerly told us he had borrowed a majority, he seems now to have borrowed a system. The world has it, that we are joined to the ministry, and, as matters stand, I wish there was more truth in that report than there is; but I have not the smallest expectation of a place, I assure you. Tell this or not, as you like. The Duke of Bedford says he sees no ground to oppose upon: he disapproves of mere factious opposition; that no good can arise from such conduct either to ourselves or the public.

I have been at the House only the first day, nor do I know when I shall go again. I cannot stomach giving my silent approbation to Conway's measures, be they good or bad. In this damned situation of affairs you will not expect I should write long letters; but I could not avoid giving you a hint to let you know the true state of things. Adieu, my dear friend.

Yours ever, R. R.

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St. James's Place, 2nd May, 1767.

Dear Bob,

The East India business is in a way of being settled,—400,000l. to be paid by the company for three years, and no addition of term to be given for their charter. It remains for the General Court of Proprietors to consent to this next Wednesday, which, if they do, the Parliament will confirm it on Friday. We had some good warm talk upon it yesterday in the House. Conway and Beckford and I sparred a good deal, and I am vain enough to think I did not come off with the worst of it. Conway said, inter alia, that Lord Chatham's health was too bad to have any communication of business. The world seems to agree that he is mad, and his resignation is talked of,—God knows with what truth. The American business is next Tuesday. I do not see much prospect of a junction taking place where I have been labouring for it. We remain upon civil terms with each other, and no more....

My heart's love to all friends in Dublin: tell them it is every day more and more my opinion that this Lieutenant never means to set his foot in that kingdom, and I have good reasons for what I say.

Adieu, my dear little fellow.

I am ever yours, R. R.

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St. James's Place, 30th May, 1767.

Dear Fitz,

I have received your several letters, and am much obliged to you for them. I wish I could send you something real in the political way, as you call it, in return; but there is as little reality as stability in our politics. Dyson has carried his persecuting bill against the East India Company through the House of Commons, in spite of the Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer, both of whom helped us to make up a miserable minority of 84 against 151. Charles went at one o'clock in the morning, when the House was up, to dinner with a set of our friends, at Sir Lau. Dundass's, and there talked a big language of resigning the seals the next day. The next day came, and we rallied the majority upon this state of independence with great success, both Charles himself, Wedderburn, and I; and he invited himself, Charles I mean, to dine with us again that day at Lord Gower's. Again the same language of resignation; but the spirit has subsided since, and we hear no more of it. If Conway and he will take such usage, the Court will certainly let them keep their places; for where can it find better tools? The East India Company pursue the bill, with the council and evidence, to the House of Lords, where matters run much nearer; for on the same day we were so beat in the House of Commons, Lord Gower's motions in the House of Lords, touching America, were rejected only by a majority of {351} three, two of which were the king's brothers. The Duke of York was absent. If we should succeed in that House, so as to reject this bill, possibly the ministry may break to pieces; otherwise I rather think it will hobble lamely on, through the summer, with universal discontent attending it. Chatham is certainly as ill as ever; and, notwithstanding all reports to the contrary, Lord Holland has not been sent to by the Court. He is arrived at his house in Kent, and comes, but of his own accord, to town to the birthday. On that day, the clerks, Watts, and I go down to Lynch's for five or six days: I wish you was of the party. It would have been very kind indeed in Mr. Harvey, the six-clerk, to have tipped so soon. Your Lord Lieutenant says he is to go. God help the poor man if he does. I am sorry for your account of the disorders in the college. I do not like anything that may throw reflexion on Andrews, and I will press him to come homewards. Adieu, my dear Bob.

Most faithfully yours, R. R.

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Pay Office, 2nd May, 1769.

Dear Bob,

After I wrote to you last Saturday morning, I went to the House, where I found a petition presented from fifteen tailors or tinkers, freeholders of Middlesex, against Lutterell. The opposition wanted a call of the House for Wednesday fortnight. We insisted on hearing it next Monday, and divided 94 against 49. This business retards the prorogation till this day or to-morrow se'nnight: but we are adjourned till Monday; so nothing but hearing this nonsense remains. Wilkes' stock falls very fast every day, and upon this measure there was such difference of opinion amongst his friends, that Sawbridge and Townsend would not attend on Saturday. Serjeant Whitacre has desired to be Lutterell's counsel gratis, in order to deliver his opinion at the bar of the House on the legality of Lutterell's seat; and says he shall insist, if the House should be of opinion that Lutterell is not duly elected, that he himself is, as having been next upon the poll of those who were capable of receiving votes.

No news yet of your secretary. Some people are impatient to hear his report of the state of parties, and their several dispositions to support government, on your side the water. He must certainly be a most competent judge, after so long a residence there, and after such open and frank discourse as every man there would naturally hold with him upon critical matters. Some better judges than him, lately arrived from Ireland, make no scruple in declaring there will be a majority of forty against the Castle at the opening the session. Adieu, my dear little Bob: my love to the Provost.

Yours ever, R. R.

P.S.—I shall get the Journals of the House of Commons for you certainly.

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Lawford, Saturday Evening, 4th Nov., 1769.

Dear little Bob,

It would be ungrateful in the present company here not to take some notice of you, just as they had finished the last bottle of an excellent hogshead of Burgundy, which you sent into my cellar, I believe, seven years ago. What has come since we will avoid mentioning. A few bottles, however, of the former were reserved for the divine Charlotte, and she, and Caswell, and I have this day finished them; and the last glass went off to your health. Sister Charlotte wishes you public and private happiness during this bustling winter, and hopes that you are not determined to forsake the English part of your family for ever. I received your letter of the 24th here two days ago, and should most undoubtedly desire you to send me your votes, if I had not already engaged my old friend at the Secretary's office to do it; but I beg early intelligence of your parliamentary proceedings, about which I am very anxious. I do not believe there is the smallest foundation for believing that Junius is Wedderburn. I had, a few days ago, great reason to guess at the real Junius: but my intelligence was certainly false; for sending to inquire in a more particular manner, I discovered the person hinted at to be dead. He was an obscure man; and so will the real Junius turn out to be, depend upon it. Are Shannon and Ponsonby and Lanesborough still stout against Augmentation? or must the friends to the measure form a plan that they like themselves? A letter from Colonel Hall, of the 20th regiment, this evening, informs me that General Harvey is come from Ireland, and is very impatient to see me: if his business is to consult me upon the utility of this military plan, I am already fully convinced of it: but nobody knows less than I do how to get it through your House of Commons,—I only hope by any means rather than a message from the king. Perhaps the measure is taken, and I am writing treason against the understanding of our own ministers. God forbid! but I do not approve of letting down the dignity and power of the chief governors of Ireland lower than they are already fallen, to quarrel with a mountebank at a custard feast. Adieu, my dear little fellow.

Yours ever, most sincerely, R. R.

[Footnote 1: T. Andrews, Provost of Trin. Col., Dublin.]

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ISTHMUS OF DARIEN.

As public attention is now much directed to the canal across the Isthmus of Darien, one end of which is proposed to communicate with the harbour which was the site of the ill-fated attempt {352} at colonisation by the Scotch about 150 years ago, the subjoined extract, giving an account of that harbour, by (apparently) one of the Scotch colonists, may be interesting to your readers. It is taken from a paper printed in Miscellanea Curiosa, vol. iii. p. 413., 2nd edit., entitled "Part of a Journal kept from Scotland to New Caledonia in Darien, with a short Account of that Country, communicated [to the Royal Society] by Dr. Wallace, F.R.S.":

"The 4th [November] we came into the great harbour of Caledonia. It is a most excellent one; for it is about a league in length from N.W. to S.E. It is about half a mile broad at the mouth, and in some places a mile and more farther in. It is large enough to contain 500 sail of ships. The greatest part of it is landlocked, so that it is safe, and cannot be touched by any wind that can blow the harbour; and the sea makes the land that lies between them a peninsula. There is a point of the peninsula at the mouth of the harbour that may be fortified against a navy. This point secures the harbour, so that no ship can enter but must be within reach of their guns. It likewise defends half of the peninsula; for no guns from the other side of the harbour can touch it, and no ship carrying guns dare enter for the breastwork at the point. The other side of the peninsula is either a precipice, or defended against ships by shoals and breaches, so that there remains only the narrow neck that is naturally fortified; and if thirty leagues of a wilderness will not do that, it may be artificially fortified in twenty ways. In short, it may be made impregnable; and there are bounds enough within it, if it were all cultivated, to afford 10,000 hogsheads of sugar every year. The soil is rich, the air good and temperate; the water is sweet, and every thing contributes to make it healthful and convenient."

C. T. W.

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NOTES ON SEVERAL MISUNDERSTOOD WORDS.

Mechal is from the mint of Thomas Heywood; but, like many other words of the same stamp, it continued a private token of the party who issued it, and never, as far as I am aware, became current coin. Four times, at least, it occurs in his works; and always in that sense only which its etymon indicates, to wit, "adulterous." In his "Challenge for Beauty:"

"... her own tongue Hath publish'd her a mechall prostitute." Dilke's Old English Plays, vol. vi. p. 421.

In his "Rape of Lucrece:"

"... that done, straight murder One of thy basest grooms, and lay you both Grasp'd arm in arm in thy adulterate bed, Men call in witness of that mechall sin." Old English Drama, vol. i. p. 71.

—where the editor's note is—"probably derived from the French word mechant, wicked." In his "English Traveller:"

"... Yet whore you may; And that's no breach of any vow to heaven: Pollute the nuptial bed with michall sin." Dilke's Old English Plays, vol. i. p. 161.

This misprint the editor corrects to mickle: professing, however, as he well might, distrust of his amendment. Nares discards Dilke's guess, and says, "If a right reading, it must be derived from mich, truant, adulterous." Whereby to correct one error he commits another, assigning to mich a sense that it never bears. If haply any doubt should remain as to what the true reading in the above passage is, a reference to Heywood's Various History concerninge Women will at once assoil it. In that part of his fourth book which treats of adulteresses (p. 195.), reciting the very story on which his play was founded, and calling it "a moderne historie lately happening, and in mine owne knowledge," he continues his narrative thus:

"With this purpose, stealing, softly vp the stayres, and listening at the doore, before hee would presume to knocke, hee might heare a soft whispering, which sometimes growing lowder, hee might plainely distinguish two voyces (hers, and that gentleman's his supposed friend, whom the maide had before nominated), where hee might euidently vnderstand more than protestations passe betwixt them, namely, the mechall sinne itselfe."

Mr. Halliwell, in his compilation of Archaic and Provincial Words, gives Mechall, wicked, adulterous, with a note of admiration at Dilke's conjecture; and a reference to Nares, in v. Michall. Mr. H. neither adduces any authority for his first sense, "wicked," nor can adduce one.

To lowt, to mock or contemn. A verb of very common occurrence, but, as might be expected, quite unknown to the commentators on Shakspeare, though its meaning was guessed from the context. As it would be tedious and unnecessary to write all the instances that occur, let the following suffice:

"To the holy bloud of Hayles, With your fyngers and nayles, All that ye may scratche and wynne; Yet it woulde not be seen, Except you were shryven, And clene from all deadly synne. There, were we flocked, Lowted and mocked; For, now, it is knownen to be But the bloud of a ducke, That long did sucke The thrifte, from every degre."

"The Fantassie of Idolatrie," Foxe's Acts and Monuments, vol. v. p. 406. (Cattley's edition.)

"Pride is it, to vaunt princely robes, not princely virtues. Pride is it to lowte men of lower sort or pore {353} lasers, as is some men's guise."—The Third Booke of Nobilitye; writte in Latine by Laurence Humfrey, late Englished, 1563.

"Among serving men also, above all other, what wicked and detestable oaths are there heard! If there be any of that sort which fear God, and love his word, and therefore abstain from vain oaths, how doth his company lout him! Look what an ass is among a sort of apes, even the very same is he among his fellows."—The Invective against Swearing, p. 361.; Works of Thomas Becon (Parker Society).

Samson was accounted of the Philistines for a fool, but he would rather die than suffer that opprobry unrevenged (Judic. xvi.).

"David was lowted of Michol Saul's daughter, but she was made therefore barren all her life."—2 Reg. vi.

And same page, a little above:

"He that calleth his brother fool, that is to say, contemn him, mock him, or, as men call it now-a-days, lowting of a man, committeth such murder as is worthy hell-fire and eternal damnation."—A Declaration of the Ten Commandments, ch. ix. p. 373.; Early Writings of Bishop Hooper (Parker Society).

"Renowned Talbot doth expect my ayde, And I am lowted by a traitor villaine And cannot help the noble Cheualier."

The First Part of Henry VI., Actus Quartus, Scena Prima (First Folio Shakspeare).

Where I would note, by the way, that in three copies of the folio 1632, now by me, it is printed "at traitor," although two of these folios have different title-pages; that which appears to be the later impression bears under the portrait these words: "London, printed by Thos. Cotes, for Robert Allot, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Blacke Beare, in Paul's Church-yard, 1632." The other wants the words "at his shop," as described in MR. COLLIER'S edition.

The mention of MR. COLLIER'S name is a hint that reminds me to advertise him of a mistake he lies under, in supposing that the Duke of Devonshire's copy of the Play of King Richard II. in 4to., dated 1605, is unique (vid. Collier's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 105., Introduction); as there is another in the Philosophical Institute at Hereford, presented by the late Edward Evans, Esq., of Eyton Hall, in the same county.

But to return. Mr. Halliwell, in his work above quoted, furnishes another instance of the verb lowt, from Hall's History of King Henry IV., which the reader may consult for himself. I will merely add, that the interpretation there propounded is plausible but unsound, the context only giving aim to his conjecture.

(To be continued.)

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FOLK LORE.

Drills presaging Death.—In Norfolk, agricultural labourers generally believe that if a drill go from one end of a field to the other without depositing any seed—an accident which may result from the tubes and coulters clogging with earth—some person connected with the farm will die before the year expires, or before the crop then sown is reaped. It is a useful superstition, as it causes much attention to be paid to make the drill perform its work correctly. Still it is remarkable that such a superstition should have arisen, considering the recent introduction of that machine into general use. I should be glad to learn from other readers of "N. & Q." whether this belief prevails in other parts of England where the drill is generally used.

E. G. R.

Beltane in Devonshire.—Seeing that the ancient superstition of the Beltane fire is still preserved in Scotland, and is lighted on the 1st of May, the origin of which is supposed to be an annual sacrifice to Baal, I am induced to state that a custom, evidently derived from the same source, is, or was a few years since, annually observed in the wild parts of Devonshire. At the village of Holne, situated on one of the Spurs of Dartmoor, is a field of about two acres, the property of the parish, and called the Ploy (Play) Field. In the centre of this stands a granite pillar (Menhir) six or seven feet high. On May morning, before daybreak, the young men of the village assemble there, and then proceed to the Moor, where they select a ram lamb (doubtless with the consent of the owner), and after running it down, bring it in triumph to the Ploy Field, fasten it to the pillar, cut its throat, and then roast it whole, skin, wool, &c. At midday a struggle takes place, at the risk of cut hands, for a slice, it being supposed to confer luck for the ensuing year on the fortunate devourer. As an act of gallantry, in high esteem among the females, the young men sometimes fight their way through the crowd to get a slice for their chosen amongst the young women, all of whom, in their best dresses, attend the Ram Feast, as it is called. Dancing, wrestling, and other games, assisted by copious libations of cider during the afternoon, prolong the festivity till nightfall.

The time, the place (looking east), the mystic pillar, and the ram, surely bear some evidence in favour of the Ram Feast being a sacrifice to Baal.

AN OLD HOLNE CURATE.

Touching for King's Evil.—The following passage bearing upon the custom of touching for the King's Evil, and its antiquity, is extracted from Laing's translation of Snorro Sturleson's Heimskringla. King Olaf the Rich, afterwards Saint, had fled to Russia on being driven out of his kingdom by {354} Knut the Great. Ingigerd, Queen of Russia, desired a widow to take her son, who "had a sore boil upon his neck," to King Olaf, "the best physician here, and beg him to lay his hands on thy lad." The king was unwilling to do so, saying that he was not a physician; but at last consented:

"Then the king took the lad, laid his hands upon his neck, and felt the boil for a long time, until the boy made a very wry face. Then the king took a piece of bread, laid it in the figure of the cross upon the palm of his hand, and put it into the boy's mouth. He swallowed it down, and from that time all the soreness left his neck, and in a few days he was quite well.... Then first came Olaf into the repute of having as much healing power in his hands as is ascribed to men who have been gifted by nature with healing by the touch."

Laing asks in a note:

"Is the touching for the King's Evil ... connected with this royal saint's healing by the touch?"—The Heimskringla, vol. ii. p. 297., 8vo.: London, 1844.

DE CAMERA.

* * * * *

GAFFER OR GAMMER, ETC.

These two venerable words were used by our ancestors. Every one has heard of Gammer Gurton; Gaffer Gingerbread was also famous in, as well as I can remember, a portion of the literature which amused my childhood. In Joseph Andrews, Fielding styles the father of Pamela "Gaffer Andrews:" and, for aught I know, the word may be still in use in Wilts and Somerset.

Unde derivantur Gaffer and Gammer? Lye said they were quasi good-father and good-mother; Somner, that they were the Anglo-Saxon Gefaeder and Gemeder, i. e. godfather and godmother; Webster derives the former from the Hebrew geber, man, the latter from the Scandinavian gamel, old. Having a fondness for simplicity, I go less learnedly to work. I have observed little children, when commencing to speak, to say "ganpa" and "gamma" for grandpapa and grandmamma: whence I conjecture that, in the olden time, ere we had Pa's and Ma's, the little aspirants used to say "ganfa'er" and "gamma'er," which easily became Gaffer and Gammer. I am confirmed in this view by a friend to whom I mentioned it, and who told me that his own children always called his father gaffer, a word entirely of their own formation.

There is a term now coming a little into use, which is I believe of pure Irish origin, namely, old fogie. Indeed, I have heard it used rather disrespectfully of those mature old warriors, whom it pleases the wisdom of our government to send out in the command of our fleets and armies. The word, as I said, is of Irish, or rather of Dublin birth. The old fogies are the inmates of the Royal or Old Men's Hospital, the Irish Chelsea. I think, then, that it must be plain to every one that the term is nothing more than a good-humoured corruption or diminutive of old folks.

This leads me to the simple origin of a word which seems to have posed all our etymologists—it has done so to Richardson at least—namely, "PETTIFOGGER, a low, tricky attorney." According to my view, pettifogger is neither more nor less than pettifolker, i. e. one whose practice lies among the petty folk, small tradesmen, day-labourers, and such like. This derivation, too, has simplicity in its favour.

THOS. KEIGHTLEY.

* * * * *

MINOR NOTES.

Search for MSS.—A proposal was made some time ago in "N. & Q." by MR. MACKENZIE, that some systematic effort should be made for the recovery of ancient MSS. I have heard nothing more of it, but am sure that, if a beginning were made, it would receive warm support from the friends of literature. There is, however, a kindred search which can be prosecuted nearer home, with more certain success and more important results. I mean a continued search among the numerous MSS. in which so much of our unknown history is buried. Might not a systematic examination of these be instituted, with the help of the "division of labour" principle, so that important portions of the great mass should be accurately described and indexed, valuable papers abridged for publication, and thus given to the world entire? Much is being done, no doubt, here and there; but surely much more would be accomplished by united and systematised labour. How much light might be thrown on a given period of our history by such a study of all the records, correspondence, &c. relating to it. Is there none of our existing societies within whose scope such an undertaking would fall, or might not different societies unite for the purpose? The books, of course, should be sold to the public. I leave the hint to the judgment of your readers.

ELSNO.

Clifton of Normanton.—Following the excellent example of DR. TODD, of Trin. Coll. Dublin, I send you from the fly-leaves of an old English Bible (C. Barker, London, 1599, small 4to.), for the information of any one connected, some of the particulars inscribed on the leaves, relating to—

"Thomas Clifton of Normanton, in the county of Darby, who had issue by his first wife three sonnes and four daughters; and by his second wife, two sonnes and one daughter."

The names of his wives are not mentioned. The details of births, marriages, and deaths extend from 1586 to 1671, and some of the branches of {355} the family went to Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Zachary Clifton was at the Universities of Utrecht and Leyden (at which latter university "hee comenct M'r. of Arts, March 5, 1654"), and in 1659 was ordained minister of the gospel at Wisborough Green in Sussex. Many other particulars are given. The Bible is in the library of Sir Robert Taylor's Institution, Oxford, and is in excellent preservation, having been recently carefully repaired.

J. M.

Oxford.

The Three per Cent. Consols.—In Jerdan's Autobiography, vol. iii., published in 1852, we read this anecdote:

"At a City dinner, so political that the three Consuls of France were drunk, the toast-master, quite unacquainted with Bonaparte, Cambaceres, and Lebrun, hallooed out from behind the chair, 'Gentlemen, fill bumpers! The chairman gives the Three per Cent. Consols!'"

In Merrie England in the Olden Time, vol. ii. p. 70. (published ten years before), will be found the following note:

"This eminent professor (toast-master Toole), whose sobriquet is 'Lungs,' having to shout the health of the 'three present Consuls,' at my Lord Mayor's feast, proclaimed the health of the 'Three per Cent. Consols!'"

The latter version is the correct one. It was the three foreign Consuls who were present among this annual gathering of grandees that was given; not Bonaparte, Cambaceres, and Lebrun. The after-dinner organ of Toole might easily, on hearing the toast, mistake "present" for "per cent.," and "Consuls" (in the City, too) for "Consols."

A SUBSCRIBER.

* * * * *

QUERIES.

WOLVES NURSING CHILDREN.

At the meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Society, Lord Cawdor in the chair, I read a letter on this subject from the resident at Lucknow, Colonel Sleeman, to whom India is indebted for the suppression of Thuggee, and other widely extended benefits. Though backed by such good authority, the letter in question was received with considerable incredulity, although Colonel Sleeman represents that he has with him one of these wolf-nurtured youths.

Since reading the letter, I have received from the Colonel's brother a more full account, printed in India, and containing additional cases, which I should have no objection to print in the pages of "N. & Q." In the meantime, further information from Indian experience, where mothers so often expose their children, would be thankfully received.

I appended my letter, for want of a better opportunity, and at the request of several members, to a paper on the doctrine of the Myth, read at the time; observing, that if the account is credible, perhaps Niebuhr may have been precipitate in treating the nurture of the founders of Rome as fabulous, and consigning to the Myth facts of infrequent occurrence. There is both danger and the want of philosophy in rejecting the marvellous, merely as such.

Nor is the invention of Lupa, for the name of the mother of the Roman twins, by any means satisfactory. May not the mysteries of Lycanthropy have had their origin in such a not infrequent fact, if Col. Sleeman may be trusted, as the rearing of infants by wolves?

GILBERT N. SMITH.

The Rectory, Tregwynfrid, Tenby, S. W.

* * * * *

"THE LUNEBURG TABLE."—QUEEN ELIZABETH'S LOVE OF PEARLS.

In the Travels of Hentzner, who resided some time in England in the reign of Elizabeth, as tutor to a young German nobleman, there is given (as most of your readers will doubtless remember) a very interesting account of the "Maiden Queen," and the court which she then maintained at "the royal palace of Greenwich." After noticing the appearance of the presence-chamber,—"the floor, after the English fashion, strewed with hay,"—the writer gives a descriptive portrait of her Majesty. He states,—

"Next came the Queen, in her sixty-fifth year, as we were told, very majestic; her face oblong, fair, but wrinkled; her eyes small, but black and pleasant; her nose a little hooked; her lips narrow, and her teeth black (a defect the English seem subject to, from their too great use of sugar). She had in her ears two pearls, with very rich drops.[2] She wore false hair, and that red."

{356} Then comes the passage to which I beg to call especial attention, and on which I have to invite some information:

"Upon her head a small crown, reported to be made of some of the gold of the celebrated Luneburg table."

What was this table? The work from which I quote (Recollections of Royalty, vol. ii. p. 119.) has a note hereon, merely remarking that, "at this distance of time, it is difficult to say what this was." If, anything, however, can be gleaned on the subject, some of the readers of "N. & Q." in some one of the "five quarters" of the world will assuredly be able to answer this Query.

J. J. S.

Middle Temple.

P.S.—Since the above was written, I find that Elizabeth's christening gift from the Duchess of Norfolk was a cup of gold, fretted with pearls; that noble lady being (says Miss Strickland) "completely unconscious of the chemical antipathy between the acidity of wine and the misplaced pearls." Elizabeth seems thus to have been rich in those gems from her infancy upwards, and to have retained a passionate taste for them long after their appropriateness as ornaments for her had ceased.

[Footnote 2: With respect to the rich pearl earrings above mentioned, it may not be uninteresting to remark, that Elizabeth seems to have been particularly fond of pearls, and to have possessed the same taste for them from youth to even a later period than "her sixty-fifth year." The now faded wax-work effigy preserved in Westminster Abbey (and which lay on her coffin, arrayed in royal robes, at her funeral, and caused, as Stowe states, "such a general sighing, groaning, and weeping, as the like hath not being seen or known in the memory of man") exhibits large round Roman pearls in the stomacher; a carcanet of large round pearls, &c. about her throat; her neck ornamented with long strings of pearls; her high-heeled shoe-bows having in the centre large pearl medallions. Her earrings are circular pearl and ruby medallions, with large pear-shaped pearl pendants. This, of course, represents her as she dressed towards the close of her life. In the Tollemache collection at Ham House is a miniature of her, however, when about twenty, which shows the same taste as existing at that age. She is here depicted in a black dress, trimmed with a double row of pearls. Her point-lace ruffles are looped with pearls, &c. Her head-dress is decorated in front with a jewel set with pearls, from which three pear-shaped pearls depend. And, finally, she has large pearl-tassel earrings. In the Henham Hall portrait (engraved in vol. vii. of Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England), the ruff is confined by a collar of pearls, rubies, &c., set in a gold filagree pattern, with large pear shaped pearls depending from each lozenge. The sleeves are ornamented with rouleaus, wreathed with pearls and bullion. The lappets of her head-dress also are adorned at every "crossing" with a large round pearl. Her gloves, moreover, were always of white kid, richly embroidered with pearls, &c. on the backs of the hands. A poet of that day asserts even that, at the funeral procession, when the royal corpse was rowed from Richmond, to lie in state at Whitehall,—

"Fish wept their eyes of pearl quite out, And swam blind after,"

doubtless intending, most loyally, to provide the departed sovereign with a fresh and posthumous supply of her favorite gems!]

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

St. Dominic.—Was St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order, a descendant of the noble family of the Guzmans? Machiavelli wrote a treatise to prove it; but in the Biographie Universelle it is stated (I know not on what authority) that Cardinal Lambertini, afterwards Benedict XIV., having summoned that lawyer to produce the originals, Machiavelli deferred, and refused at last to obey the order: and further, that Cuper the Bollandist wrote on the same subject to some learned men at Bologna, who replied that the pieces cited in Machiavelli's dissertation had been forged by him, and written in the old style by a modern hand.

A BOOKWORM.

"Will" and "shall."—Can you refer me to any grammar, or other work, containing a clear and definite rule for the distinctive use of these auxiliaries? and does not a clever contributor to "N. & Q." make a mistake on this point at Vol. vi., p. 58., 1st col., 16th line?

W. T. M.

Hong Kong.

Sir John Fleming.—What was the coat of arms borne by Sir John Fleming, or Le Fleming, of St. George's Castle, co. Glamorgan, A.D. 1100? Where is it to be found sculptured or figured? And does any modern family of the name of Fleming, or Le Fleming, claim descent from the above?

CARET.

Deal, how to stain.—I should be much obliged if some one of your correspondents would inform me what is the best composition for giving plain deal the appearance of oak for the purpose of church interiors?

C.

Winton.

Irish Characters on the Stage.—Could any of your correspondents inform me of the names of any old plays (besides those of Shadwell) in which Irishmen are introduced? and which of the older dramatists have enrolled this character among their dramatis personae? Was Shakspeare an Irishman?

PHILOBIBLION.

Arms on King Robert Bruce's Coffin-plate.—Can any of your heraldic readers give me any information as to whom the arms found on King Robert Bruce's coffin-plate in 1818 belonged? They are a cross inter four mullets pierced of the field. They are not the arms given in Nisbet to the families of Bruce; neither does Sir. Wm. Jardine, in his report to the Lords of the Exchequer on the finding of the king's tomb, take any notice of them further than to mention their discovery.

ALEXANDER CARTE.

Chaucer's Prophetic View of the Crystal Palace (Vol. iii., p. 362.).—

"Chaucer it seems drew continually, through Lydgate and Caxton, from Guido di Colonna, whose Latin Romance of the Trojan War was, in turn, a compilation from Dares, Phrygius, Ovid, and Statius. Then Petrarch, Boccacio, and the Provencal poets, are his benefactors; the Romaunt of the Rose is only judicious {357} translation from William of Lorris and John of Meun; Troilus and Creseide, from Lollius of Urbino; The Cock and the Fox, from the Lais of Marie; The House of Fame, from the French or Italian: and poor Gower he uses as if he were only a brick-kiln or stone quarry, out of which to build his house."—Representative Men; Shakspeare or the Poet, by R. W. Emerson.

From what sources in the French or Italian is "The House of Fame" taken? And ought not an attack on Chaucer's claim to be the original author of that beautiful poetical vision to be grounded, especially by an American, on some better evidence than bare assertion?

AN OXFORD B. C. L.

Magistrates wearing Hats in Court.—What authority is there for magistrates wearing their hats in a court of justice, and is it an old custom?

PARVUS HOMO.

West Chillington, Hurst, Sussex.

Derby Municipal Seal.—What is the origin and meaning of the "buck in the park," on the seal now in use at the Town Hall, Derby?*

B. L.

[* Edmondson gives the arms, as painted in the Town Hall, as "Ar. on a mount vert, a stag lodged within park-pales and gate, all proper. The seal, which is very ancient, has not any park-pales; and the stag is there represented as lodged in a wood."—ED.]

Sir Josias Bodley.—Was Sir Josias Bodley, as stated by Harris in Ware's Writers of Ireland, a younger brother of Sir Thomas Bodley, the founder of the Bodleian Library? Who did Sir Josias Bodley marry; where did he live after his employment in Ireland ceased, and where did he die? Any information relating to him and his descendants will be most gratefully received.

Y. L.

Sir Edwin Sadler.—In the Appendix to the Cambridge University Commission Report, p. 468., we find that nothing is known of Sir E. Sadler, the husband of Dame Mary Sadler, foundress of the "Algibrae" Lectures in that university. Can any of your correspondents throw any light on this?

P. J. F. GANTILLON, B.A.

The Cross given by Richard I. to the Patriarch of Antioch.—The "hero of Acre," Sir Sidney Smith, received from the hands of the Archbishop of Cyprus, in the name of a grateful people, a cross of which the tradition was, that it had been given by King Richard Coeur de Lion to the Patriarch of Antioch, when he went to Palestine on the third Croisade. This gift was preserved by Sir Sidney with the care due to a relique so venerable in its associations; and it was bequeathed by him to the Convent of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, at Paris, as successors of the Templars, from whose Order it originally came. He directed that it should be worn by the grand masters in perpetuity. In the biographical memoirs of Sir Sidney Smith, published a few years ago, the cross is stated to be preserved in the house of the Order at Paris. Perhaps some member of the Order residing there would take the trouble to give some description of this interesting relique, and would say whether its style and character are consistent with the tradition of its antiquity? I am not at all acquainted with the evidence on which the tradition rests; but any particulars relating to such a relique must be interesting to the countrymen of the illustrious admiral, and would much oblige his godson,

WM. SIDNEY GIBSON.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.

P.S.—Apropos of Sir Sydney Smith, may I be allowed to suggest that, in the decoration of The St. Jean d'Acre, recently launched, some personal souvenir might be introduced that would visibly connect his memory with the stately vessel whose name commemorates the scene of his greatest victory.

Lister Family.—In a communication relating to Major-General Lambert (Vol. vii, p. 269.), LORD BRAYBROOKE mentions his marriage with Frances, daughter of Sir William Lister, of Thornton in Craven. I imagine that this lady was sister to Sir Martin Lister, physician to King Charles I., of whose (Sir Martin's) descendants I shall be glad of any information.

Sir Martin Lister married Susanna, daughter of Sir Alexander Temple, widow of Sir Gifford Thornhurst. This lady, by her first husband (Thornhurst), had issue a daughter, who married Mr. Jennings, and became the mother of three celebrated women; of whom one was Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, wife of the great duke.

Had Sir Martin Lister any issue by her? and, if so, can their descendants be traced?

Mr. Lister, of Burwell Park, Lincolnshire, is probably descended from Sir Martin (if he left issue), or is of kin to him, through Dr. Martin Lister, physician to Queen Anne, who, if not a son or grandson, was certainly his nephew.

My mother's great-grandmother was a Lister, a daughter of Dr. Martin Lister.

Any information through the pages of "N. & Q." will be appreciated.

R. B. A.

Walthamstow, Essex.

Family of Abrahall, Eborall, or Ebrall.—I shall be obliged if any of your readers can give me some information relative to this family, or refer me to any work containing an account of it, more particularly as regards the first settlers in England. The arms are—Azure, three hedgehogs or.

QUAERIST.

Eulenspiegel—Murner's Visit to England.—Are any of your correspondents acquainted with the history and literature of the German tales {358} which go under the name of Till Eulenspiegel? I am searching to find out which are the English translations, but have only succeeded to trace two. The oldest is a very curious black-letter volume in small 4to. in the British Museum, C. 21. c/5, formerly in the possession of Mr. Garrick, as appears from Bishop Percy ("Dissertation on the Origin of the British Stage," Reliques, vol. i. p. 134., ed. 1812). It is entitled, "Here begynneth a merye Jest of a man that was called Howleglas, and of many marucylous thinges and Jestes that he dyd in his lyfe, in Eastlande and in many other places." Colophon: "Imprynted at London in Tamestrete at the Vintre on the thre Craned wharfe by Wylliam Copland."

Of the second I have only a reference of the title: The German Rogue, or the Life of Till Eulenspiegel, 1709.

I am also anxious to learn whether there are any more notices about the visit of Thomas Murner, the author of the German Eulenspiegel, in England, besides that in a letter of Thomas More to Cardinal Wolsey in the State Papers, vol. i. p. 125.

alpha.

Aged 116.—When your correspondents were all in a state of excitement about the old Countess of Desmond, I ventured to ask for proof that some person had, within the age of registers, insurance offices, and legal proof, ever lived to 150, or even to within twenty or thirty years of that age. No answer was given, no such proof offered; all our clever actuaries were silent. The newspapers now report one such mitigated case:

"Singular Longevity.—The Irish papers announce the recent death of Mrs. Mary Power, widow of J. Power, Esq., and aunt of the late Right Hon. R. L. Sheil, at the Ursuline Convent, Cork, at the advanced age of 116 years."

If this story be true, there can be no difficulty in proving it. The lady was not an obscure person, whose antecedents are unknown. Will some one connected with the Ursuline Convent, or Mr. Sheil's family, obligingly tell us where the lady was born, and produce the register of her birth—give us, in brief, legal evidence that she was born in the year 1737.

A. I.

Annuellarius.—Can any of your numerous readers inform me what the meaning of the word annuellarius is? It occurs in a section of the constitutions of one of our cathedral churches:

"Item, quod nullus quicq' sit qui aliqui alii servit nisi tantum Epī servus sit, in Vicarior' Choralium Annuellarior' vel Choristarum numerum in Ecclīa Cath. ... deinceps eligatur."

P. S.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS.

Boyer's "Great Theatre of Honour and Nobility," 4to. London, 1729.—At the end of the preface to this work, a copy of which is in my possession, the following advertisement occurs:

"Although this volume exceeds by one-fourth part the number of sheets proposed for subscription, nevertheless it shall be delivered to the subscribers without enhancing the price; and their coats of arms shall be inserted in the second volume; as well as theirs who shall purchase this, provided thay take care to send them, with their blazon, to any one of the booksellers named in the title-page."

I want to know whether Boyer ever published this second volume; and shall be much obliged to any correspondent of "N. & Q." who will enlighten me on the subject.

S. I. TUCKER.

[Only the first volume has been published. According to the original prospectus, now before us, the work was to have made two volumes, divided into six parts. So that the volume of 1729, consisting of three parts, is half of what Boyer originally proposed to publish.]

List of Bishops of Norwich.—Where can I find a list of the bishops of Norwich, with their coats of arms, from an early date?

CARET.

[In Blomefield's History of Norfolk, edit. 1739, fol., vol. ii. pp. 330-430.]

"A Letter to a Convocation Man."—Who, I am desirous of knowing, was the author of A Letter to a Convocation Man, concerning the Rights, Powers, and Privileges of that Body, published about 1697, which occasioned Wake's book of The Authority of Christian Princes over their Ecclesiastical Synods asserted? Atterbury says, in the Preface of his Rights, Powers, and Privileges of an English Convocation:

"If at least I were not prevented by some abler hand, particular by the author of that letter which first gave rise to this debate; and who, it was expected, would have appeared once more upon it, and freed what he had advanced from all exceptions."

W. FRASER.

[According to the Bodleian Catalogue, it was written by Sir Bartholomew Shower; but we have seen it attributed to William Binkes, the Prolocutor to the Convocation of 1705.]

Nicholas Thane.—Dr. Browne Willis, in his History of the Town of Buckingham, published London, 1755, says (p. 49.):

"About the year 1545, as we are told in the Peerage of England, in the account of the Earl of Pomfret's family, his ancestor Richard Fermour of Easton Neston in Northamptonshire, Esq., had his estate seized on and taken away from him upon his having incurred a praemunire, by relieving one Nicholas Thane, an obnoxious Popish priest, who had been committed a close prisoner to the gaol in the town of Buckingham."

Can any of your readers inform me what crime or offence this "obnoxious priest" had been guilty of, as to be committed a "close prisoner;" and that {359} Richard Fermour, Esq., who had relieved him during his incarceration, should, for this apparently simple act of charity, have incurred a praemunire, for which he was subjected to so heavy a fine as the forfeiture of his estate? I should be glad of any further particulars respecting him, or to be referred to any work in which an account of him is recorded; and also to be informed by whom the Peerage of England, quoted by Dr. Willis, was compiled, when published, and whether it contains a more copious account of this reprehensible ecclesiastic.

ARTHUR R. CARTER.

Camden Town.

[Richard Fermor was a merchant of the staple at Calais, and having acquired a considerable fortune, located himself at Easton Neston, co. Northampton. Being a zealous Romanist he refused to conform to the Reformed faith, and thus rendered himself obnoxious to the court; and being accused of administering relief to Nicholas Thane, formerly his confessor, who was then a prisoner in Buckingham Castle for denying the supremacy of the king, he was committed to the Marshalsea in July, 1540, and was afterwards arraigned in Westminster Hall, though nothing could be proved against him, except that he had sent 8d. and a couple of shirts to the imprisoned priest. He was adjudged to have incurred a praemunire, whereby all his lands and goods became forfeited, and the rapacious monarch enforced the sentence with the most unrelenting severity. See Baker's Hist. of Northamptonshire, vol. ii. p. 142.; Collins's Peerage, edit. Brydges, vol. iv. p. 199.; and Lipscomb's Buckinghamshire, vol. ii. p. 570.]

Churchwardens, Qualification of.—Can any of your correspondents give the title and price of any work which will define the qualifications requisite for filling the office of churchwarden? The case on which the question has arisen is that of a country parish divided into two townships, each township naming a warden. One of these is a dissenter, and seldom or never attends church; the other is said not to be a householder. Both of these are, by many of the parishioners, considered ineligible, owing to these circumstances. Should any one send the required information, you would oblige by allowing it to appear in the next Number of "N. & Q.," where it would be sure to be seen, and thankfully acknowledged by

B. B. F. F. T. T.

[Our correspondent will find the required information in Prideaux's Churchwarden's Guide, 5th edit. 1850, price 6s., who has devoted sect. ii. "to the persons liable to be chosen to the office of churchwarden, and the persons disqualified and exempt from serving that office." (Pp. 4-17.) Consult also Cripps's Practical Treatise on the Law relating to the Church and the Clergy, 8vo. 1850, pp. 176-201., price 26s.]

Sir John Powell.—In Vol. vii., p. 262., of "N. & Q." is an inquiry respecting Sir John Powell, and an answer given, in which there must surely be some mistake, or there must have been two Sir John Powells.

I beg to give the following extract from Britton's History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of Gloucester:

"A full-length marble statue, in judicial robes, erected by John Snell, Esq., to the memory of his uncle, Judge Powell, who in 1685 represented this city, his native place, in parliament. He was successively a Justice of Common Pleas and the King's Bench, and was one of the Judges who tried the seven Bishops, and joined in the declaration against the King's dispensing power. For this, James II. deprived him of his office, July 2, 1688; but William III. created him, first a Baron of the Exchequer, then a Judge in the Common Pleas, and on June 18, 1702, advanced him to the King's Bench, where he sat till his death, June 14, 1713."

I will add, that on the floor near the above monument are inscribed the names, &c., of various members of his family.

Sir John Powell is traditionally said to have lived at an old house called Wightfield in this county, which certainly belonged, at one time, to the above John Snell, who had married the judge's niece, and from whose descendants it was purchased by the grandfather of the present possessor.

Allow me to ask, by-the-bye, if the place, as spelt in your paper, should not be Langharne, or more correctly still, Llangharne?

F. S.

Gloucestershire.

[There were not only two, but three judges of the name of Powell, who were cotemporaries, viz.—

1. Sir John Powell, mentioned in "N. & Q." (Vol. vii., p. 262.), whose burial-place should have been printed Llangharne, as our correspondent suggests. He was made a Judge of the Common Pleas on April 26, 1686, and a Judge of the King's Bench on April 16, 1687. He was removed on June 29, 1688, on consequence of the resolution he displayed on the trial of the seven bishops; but was restored to the Bench, as a Judge of the Common Pleas, in May, 1689, and continued to sit till his death in 1696.

2. Sir Thomas Powell became a Baron of the Exchequer on April 22, 1687, and was transferred into the King's Bench in June, 1688, to take the seat there left vacant by the removal of the above Sir John Powell. He himself was removed in May, 1689.

3. Sir John Powell, or, as he was then called, John Powell, junior, was made a Baron of the Exchequer on November 10, 1691, removed into the Common Pleas on October 29, 1695, and into the King's Bench in June, 1702, where he sat till his death in 1713. He it was who was buried at Gloucester.

Britton has evidently, as Chalmers and Noble had done before him, commingled and confused the histories of the two Sir Johns.]

S. N.'s "Antidote," &c.—I have just purchased an old book, in small quarto, of which the title is—

"An Antidote or Soveraigne Remedie against the pestiferous Writings of all English Sectaries, and in {360} particular against Dr. Whitaker, Dr. Fulke, Dr. Bilson, Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Sparkes, and Dr. Field, the chiefe upholders, some of Protestancy, some of Puritanisme; divided into three Parts, &c., &c., &c. By S. N., doctour of divinity. Permissu superiorum, MDCXV."

Who is the author S. N., and what other particulars are known respecting it?

LEWIS KELLY.

Leeds.

[Sylvester Norris is the author. There is an edition published in 1622, 4to.]

Beads.—When was the use of beads, for the purpose of counting prayers, first introduced into Europe?

C. W. G.

[For the repose of a bishop, by Wilfrid's Canons of Cealcythe, A.D. 816, can. X., seven belts of paternosters were to be said; the prayers being numbered probably by studs fixed on the girdle. But St. Dominic invented the rosary, which contains ten lesser beads representing Ave Marias, to one larger standing for a paternoster.]

* * * * *

REPLIES.

BROAD ARROW.

(Vol. iv., p. 412.)

With reference to my Note, ascribing a Celtic origin to this symbol, I have just met with somewhat of a curious coincidence, to say the least of it. In Richardson's Travels in the Sahara, &c., vol. i. p. 420., speaking of the camel, he says:

"The camels have all public and private marks, the former for their country, the latter for their owner; and, strange enough, the public mark of the Ghadames camel is the English broad R." &c. [Arrow, he should have said.]

Now, the Celtic [Symbol: Arrow pointing up] (as before mentioned) is typical of superior holiness, &c. &c.; and it is singular that a city of Marabouts (saints or holy men, such as the Ghadamsee are described to be) should have adopted this symbol as their public (or government) mark. The population of Ghadames is a strange medley of Arabs, Touaricks, negroes, half-breeds of all kinds, &c., and whence their claim to superior sanctity does not appear.

That Celtic tribes once sojourned in Northern Africa is attested by Druidical remains in Morocco and elsewhere. Mr. Richardson mentions the frequent occurrence of pyramidal stones in the Sahara, incidentally, without specifying whether they are rocks in situ, or supposed to be the work of man's hand. The language of Ghadames is one of the Berber dialects; and according to Mr. Urquhart (Pillars of Hercules, vol. i. p. 383.), these, or some of them, are said to contain so much of the Celtic element, that Highlanders from the garrison of Gibraltar, and the natives about Tangier, can mutually understand each other.

The above, however, are mere speculations; and I would suggest that, previous to further research as to the origin of the broad arrow, it would be as well to ascertain how long it has been used as "the King's mark." I should incline to believe that the earliest mark upon government stores was the royal cipher—ER (with a crown above) perhaps. On old guns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, we find the rose and crown, but no broad arrow; more frequently Elizabeth's bear her cipher. A few articles I have seen of William III. are stamped with [Symbol: WR, no space between letters] (with a crown above): no broad arrow. Nor do I remember having ever seen it upon anything older than George III. This, however, is a question which may interest some gentleman of the Ordnance Department, and induce him to make research where success is most likely to reward his trouble, viz. in the Tower, in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, or amongst the ancient records in the Ordnance Office; for I presume there be such.

P. C. S. S. (Vol. iv., p. 371.) says that "he always understood" the broad arrow represented the "Pheon" in the arms of the Sydney family; but, as he quotes no authority, we are at liberty to doubt the adoption and perpetuation of a bearing appertaining to any particular master-general of ordnance as a "king's mark," howsoever illustrious or distinguished he might be.

A. C. M.

Exeter

* * * * *

ENGLISH COMEDIANS IN THE NETHERLANDS.

(Vol. ii., pp. 184. 459.; Vol. iii., p. 21.; Vol. vii., p. 114.)

Returning to this question, I will communicate a few extracts from the Gerechtsdagboeken (Minutes of the Council) of the city of Leyden:—

Sept. 30, 1604.—"Die van de Gerechte opt voorschryven van Zyne Ex'e en versouc van Jan Woodtss, Engelsman, hebben toegelaten ende geconsenteert dat hy geduyrende deze aenstaende jaermarct met zyn behulp zal mogen speelen zeecker eerlick camerspel tot vermaeckinge van der gemeente, mits van yder persoen (comende om te bezien) nyet meer te mogen nemen nochte genyeten dan twaelf penn., ende vooral betaelen tot een gootspenning aen handen van Jacob van Noorde; bode metter roede, vier guld. om ten behouve van de armen verstrect te worden."

Translation.

The magistrates, on the command of his Excellence, and on the request of John Woodtss, an Englishman, have permitted and consented that he, with his company, during the approaching fair, may play certain decent pieces for the amusement of the people, provided he take no more than twelve pennings from each person coming to see, and, above all, pay to Jacob van Noorde four guilders, to be applied to the use of the poor.

{361} And again:

Jan. 6, 1605.—"Op't versouck aen die van de Gerechte gedaen by de Engelsche Comedyanten om te mogen spelen: staet geappostilleert. Die van de Gerechte deser stadt Leyden gesien in haer vergaderinge opt Raedthuys der voors. stede, de favorable brieven van Recommandatie ende testimoniael vanden Forst van Brandenburch van de X Augustij des jaers XVI'c vier, mitsgaders t consent by Zyne Ex'ie van Nassau verleent den xxij Decembris laest verleden, Es disponerende opt versouc int blanc van dezen, hebben voor zoo veel in hem is, de Engelsche Commedianten ende musicyns toonders in dezen, conform haer versouc toegelaten binnen deser stede te mogen spelen en haer consten doen ouffenen ende vertoonen ter gewoenlycke plaetse te weten opten groten hoff onder de bibliotecque, dewelcke hem toonders mits dezen ten eynde voorseyt, belast wert te werden ingeruymt, Ende dit al voor den tyt van veertien dagen eerstcomende, en mits, voor den jegenwoordige gracieuse toelatinge, gevende ten behouve van de gemeene huysarmen dezer stede een somme van twaelf gulden van xl groot tstuck. Aldus, gedaen opten vi January XVI'c en vyff. My jegenwoordich en is get. J. van Hout."

Translation.

On the request to the magistrates of the English comedians to be allowed to perform, was decided: The magistrates of this city of Leyden, having seen in their assembly in the Town-House of the aforesaid city, the favourable letters of recommendation and testimonial of the Prince of Brandenberg of the 10th Aug., 1604, as well as the consent granted by his Excellence of Nassau, the 22nd of Dec. last, have permitted the English comedians and musicians, according to their request, to perform and exercise and exhibit their arts in the accustomed place, namely, in the great court under the library; and this for the space of fourteen days, provided they, for this gracious permission, give twelve guilders of forty groats a-piece to the poor of this city. Done on the 6th Jan., 1605. Me present; and signed "J. van Hout."

ELSEVIER.

Constanter has communicated the following lines of G. A. Brederode, confirming the statements of Heywood and Tieck:

"Ick mach soo langh oock by geen reden-ryckers zijn: Want dit volckje wil steets met allen menschen gecken, En sy kunnen als d'aep haer afterst niet bedecken; Sy seggen op haer les, soo stemmigh en soo stijf, Al waer gevoert, gevult met klap-hout al haer lijf! Waren 't de Engelsche, of andere uytlandtsche Die men hoort singen, en soo lustigh siet dantse Dat sy suyse-bollen, en draeyen als een tol: Sy spreken 't uyt eaer geest, dees leeren 't uyt een rol. 't Isser weer na (seyd ick) als 't is, sey Eelhart schrander, Dat verschil is te groot, besiet men 't een by 't ander! D'uytheemsche die zijn wuft, dees raden tot het goedt, En straffen alle het quaet bedecklelijck en soet."

Translation.

To stay with rhetoricians I've no mind: The fool they'll play with men of every kind, And, like the ape, exhibit what's behind. With gests so stiff their lesson they repeat, You'd swear with staves their bodies were replete! Heard you the men from merry England sing? Saw you their jolly dance, their lusty spring? How like a top they spin, and twirl, and turn? And from the heart they speak—ours from a roll must learn.... —From the Navorscher.

* * * * *

THE SWEET SINGERS.

(Vol. v., p. 372.)

A. N. asks for some historical notices of the above fanatics: as he may not be satisfied with Timperley's meagre allusion, allow me to refer him to the Memoirs of the Lord Viscount Dundee: London, 1714. The author of this, "An Officer of the Army," speaking of the stiff-necked Presbyterians, says:

"At this time (1681), about thirty of these deluded people left their families and business, and went to the hills, where they lived in rocks and caves for some weeks. John Gib, sailor in Borrowstowness, Walter Ker, in Trafritham, —— Gemmison, in Linlithgow, were their chief leaders. They called themselves the Sweet Singers of Israel, eat nothing that there was salt in or paid tax to the king, blotted the name of king out of their Bibles, and cohabited all together. When a party of dragoons took them at the Ouffins, in Tweeddale, they were all lying on their faces, and jumped up in a minute, and called out with an audible voice, that God Almighty would consume the party with fire from heaven, for troubling the people of God. On the road, as they went to Edinburgh, when any of their relations or acquaintances came to visit them, they spit at them, and threw themselves on their faces, and bellowed like beasts, whereof his Highness (the Duke of York, then in Scotland) being informed, ordered them immediately to be set at liberty."

A more detailed account of these Gibbites will be found in the curious Presbyterian biographies "collected by, and printed for Patrick Walker, in the Bristo-Port of Edinburgh," the early part of last century. In that entitled "Some remarkable Passages in the Life, &c. of Mr. Daniel Cargill:" 12mo. Edin. 1732, A. N. will find the original story of the crazy skipper and his band of "three men and twenty-six women," whom worthy Mr. Cargill endeavoured unsuccessfully to reclaim. From this it would appear that the sweet singers went far greater lengths than above described, and that Gib, after the dispersion of his followers, took himself off to America, "where," says the aforesaid Patrick, "he was much admired by the blind {362} Indians for his familiar converse with the devil." For the further information of your correspondent, I would add that Walker's account of the Gibbites is very well condensed in that more accessible book Biographia Scoticana, better known as the Scots Worthies, where the deluded Gib figures under the head of "God's Justice exemplified in his Judgments upon Persecutors."

J. O.

* * * * *

EDMUND SPENSER.

(Vol. vii., p. 303.)

Mr. F. F. Spenser published the results of his researches relative to Spenser in the Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1842; and towards the end of his communication promised to record "many further interesting particulars," through the same medium, but failed to do so. Mr. Craik has made special reference to Mr. F. F. Spenser's paper in a little work upon which he must have bestowed a vast deal of labour, and which contains the completest investigation of all that has been discovered concerning the life, works, and descendants of the poet that I have met with: I refer to Spenser and his Poetry: by George L. Craik, M.A.: 3 vols. London, 1845. The appendix to vol. iii., devoted to an account of the descendants of Spenser, among other interesting matter, contains the history of the family descended from Sarah Spenser, a sister of Edmund Spenser, which is still represented. To which I may add that Spenser's own direct descendants are living in the city of Cork, and, I regret to say, in reduced circumstances. This should not be. A pension might well be bestowed on the descendants of Spenser, the only one of our four great poets whose posterity is not extinct.

J. M. B.

Tunbridge Wells.

I have read with much curiosity and surprise a paragraph engrafted into "N. & Q." (Vol. vii., p. 33.) from The Times newspaper, June 16, 1841, announcing that a Mr. F. F. Spenser, of Halifax, had ascertained that the ancient residence of his own family, at Hurstwood, near Burnley, Lancashire, was the identical spot where the great Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser, is said to have retired, when driven by academical disappointments to his relations in the north of England.

I confess all this appears to me very like a hoax, there is such a weight of negative testimony against it. Dr. Whitaker, the learned historian of Whalley, describes Hurstwood Hall as a strong and well-built old house, bearing on its front, in large characters, the name of "Barnard Townley," its founder, and that it was for several descents the property and residence of a family branched out from the parent stock of Townley, in the person of John Townley, third son of Sir Richard Townley, of Townley—died Sept. 1562. His son, Barnard Townley, died 1602, and married Agnes, daughter and coheiress of George Ormeroyd, of Ormeroyd, who died 1586.

It must be remembered that Hurstwood is in the immediate neighbourhood of Dr. Whitaker's ancient patrimonial estate of Holme; and he must have been familiar with all the traditionary history of that locality. Yet he is silent on this subject, and does not allude either to the occasional residence of the poet Spenser in those parts, or to the family of Spensers, who are stated in this paragraph to have resided at Hurstwood about four hundred years.

CLIVIGEE.

* * * * *

LAMECH KILLING CAIN.

(Vol. vii., p. 305.)

Sir John Maundeville says:

"Also, seven miles from Nazareth is Mount Cain, under which is a well; and beside that well Lamech, Noah's father, slew Cain with an arrow. For this Cain went through briars and bushes, as a wild beast; and he had lived from the time of Adam, his father, unto the time of Noah; and so he lived nearly two thousand years. And Lamech was blind for old age."—Travels, chap. x., Bohn's Early Travels in Palestine, p. 186.

To which is appended the following note by Mr. Thomas Wright, the editor:

"This legend arose out of an interpretation given to Gen. iv. 23, 24. See, as an illustration, the scene in the Coventry Mysteries, pp. 44. 46.

ZEUS.

J. W. M. will find this question discussed at length in the Dictionnaire de Bayle, art. "Lamech," and more briefly in Pol. Synopsis Criticorum, Gen. iv. 23.

The subject has been engraved by Lasinio in his Pitture a fresco del Campo Santo di Pisa (tom. xvii.), after the original fresco by Buonamico Buffalmacco, whose name is so familiar to readers of the Decameron.

F. C. B.

Bayle relates this legend in his account of Lamech as follows:

"There is a common tradition that Lamech, who had been a great lover of hunting, continued the sport even when, by reason of his great age, he was almost blind. He took with him his son, Tubal-Cain, who not only served him as a guide, but also directed him where and when he ought to shoot at the beast. One day, as Cain was hid among the thickets, Lamech's guide seeing something move in that place, gave him notice of it; whereupon Lamech shot an arrow, and slew Cain. He was extremely concerned at it, and beat his guide so much as to leave him dead upon the place."

One of the frescos of the Campo Santo at Pisa gives the whole subject, from the offering of Abel's and Cain's sacrifice, to the death of the young man {363} by the hand of Lamech, painted by Pietre da Orvieto about 1390. In one corner of the fresco, Cain is depicted as a wild and shaggy figure, crouched in a thicket, at which Lamech, at the suggestion of his guide, shoots an arrow. Below, the homicide is represented as murdering the cause of his error by blows on the head inflicted with his bow.

CHEVERELLS.

The following note upon the name of Lamech may perhaps serve to throw a little light upon the difficult passage in Genesis iv. 23, 24.—Lamech, in Celtic Lamaich, or Laimaig, means a slinger of stones; and Lamech being dextrous in the use of that weapon the sling, wantonly slew two young men, and boasted of the bloody deed to his two wives, Adah and Zillah, blasphemously maintaining that as Cain for one murder should be avenged sevenfold, so he, for his wanton act, would be avenged seventy and seven fold upon whoever should slay him. It may be considered strange that the name of Lamech should be Celtic, and that it should signify a slinger; but I am strengthened in my opinion by reference to the Hebrew alphabet, in which the letter l is called lamed; but why it is so named the Hebrews cannot say. Now, if any one examines the Hebrew lamed he will perceive that it is by no means a rude representation of a human arm, holding a sling with a stone in it. The word Lamech is derived from lam, the hand; and the termination signifies dexterity in shooting or discharging missiles therewith.

It is curious to notice that the remaining names in the passage of Scripture are Celtic: thus Cain is compounded of cend, first, and gein, offspring,—pronounced Kayean, i. e. first begotten. Adah means a fair complexioned, red-haired woman; and Zillah, peace, from siotlad, pronounced shieta.

FRANCIS CROSSLEY.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES.

Photographic Notes.—G. H. P. has communicated (Vol. vii., p. 186.) a very excellent paper in reference to our numerous failures in the collodion process; but the remedies he proposes are not, as he is aware, infallible. He gives the recommendation you find in every work on the subject, viz. to lift the plate up and down in the bath to allow evaporation of ether. I have made experiments day after day to ascertain the value of this advice, and I am convinced, as far as my practice goes, that you gain nothing by it; indeed, I am sure that I much oftener get a more even film when the plate is left in the bath for about two minutes without lifting it out. I should be glad of other photographers' opinion on the point.

I have never found any benefit, but much the contrary, from re-dipping the plate in the bath; and I may observe the same of mixing a drop or two of silver solution with the developing fluid.

I think with G. H. P. that the developing solution should be weak for positives.

I omitted, in my description of a new head-rest, to say that it is better to have all the parts in metal; and that the hole, through which the arm runs, should be a square mortice instead of a round one, as is usual. A screw at the side sets it fast; the lower portion of the upright piece being round, and sliding up and down in a tube of metal, as it does in the best rests, allowing the sitter to be placed in different positions. All this is very difficult to describe, but a slight diagram would explain it easily, which I would willingly, as I have before said, send to any one thinking it worth writing to me for.

J. L. SISSON.

Edingthorpe Rectory.

On some Difficulties in Photographic Practice.—Being desirous to have a glass bath for the silver, I was glad to find you had given (in "Notices to Correspondents") directions for making one, viz. two parts best red sealing-wax to one part of Jeffries' marine glue. I tried this, but found the application of it to the glass impossible, as it set immediately. Now, can you afford room for the means by which this may be remedied; as my wish to substitute glass for gutta percha remains?

Now I am addressing you, may I offer one or two hints which may be of service to beginners? If, after what has been considered a sufficient washing of the glass, after the hypo., during the drying, crystals from hypo. remaining appear, and which would most certainly destroy the picture, I have found that by breathing well over these parts, and immediately repeating the washing, all ill effects are thoroughly prevented. To substitute hot water instead of breathing does not destroy the hyposulphite, and therefore will not do.

When the plate shall be dry after the washing process, if a leaden, dim, grey appearance occurs, I have found that by tenderly rubbing it with fine cotton, and applying with a good-sized camel's hair pencil a varnish of about 8-10ths spirits of turpentine and 2-10ths mastic varnish, and then, before this gets dry, putting on the black varnish, the grey effect will have been removed.

I have found the protonitrate of iron, as also the protosulphate, and not seldom the pyrogallic, so difficult of application, that I have stained and spoiled very good pictures. I have therefore used, and with perfect success, a tray of gutta percha a little longer than the glass (say one-fourth of an inch), and one-fourth of an inch deep; sliding from one end the glass into the tray (supplied immediately before using it), by which means the glass is all covered at once.

I think the REV. MR. SISSON'S suggestion, viz. to send you some of our specimens with collodion, {364} a very proper one, if not declined on your own part, and shall, for one, feel great pleasure in acting in accordance with it.

You will, I trust, pardon any foregoing hints for beginners, as I well know that I have lost several pictures by hypo-crystals, and very many by the difficulty in developing.

L. MERRITT.

Maidstone.

P.S.—I always find collodion by DR. DIAMOND'S formula capital, and with it from five to ten seconds is time enough.

Mr. Weld Taylor's cheap Iodizing Process.—I have no doubt MR. WELD TAYLOR will be kind enough to explain to me two difficulties I find in his cheap iodizing process for paper.

In the first place, whence arises the caustic condition of his solution, unless it be through the decomposition of the cyanide of potassium which is sometimes added? and if such caustic condition exists, does it not cause a deposition of oxide of silver together with the iodide, thereby embrowning the paper?

Why does the caustic condition of the solution require a larger dose of nitrate of silver, and does not this larger quantity of nitrate of silver more than outbalance the difference between the new process and the old, as regards price? I pay 1s. 3d. for an ounce of iodide of potassium of purest quality; the commoner commercial quality is cheaper.

F. MAXWELL LYTE.

* * * * *

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

Somersetshire Ballad (Vol. vii., p. 236.).—

"Go vind the vicar of Taunton Deane," &c.

S. A. S. will find the above in The Aviary, or Magazine of British Melody, a square volume published about the middle of last century; or in a volume bearing the running title—A Collection of diverting Songs, Airs, &c., of about the same period—both extensive depots of old song; the first containing 1344, and the last, as far as my mutilated copy goes, extending to nearly 500 pages quarto.

J. O.

Family of De Thurnham (Vol. vii., p. 261.).—In reply to Theta. I send a few notes illustrative of the pedigree, &c. of the De Thurnhams, lords of Thurnham, in Kent, deduced from Dugdale, public records, and MS. charters in my possession, namely, the MS. Rolls of Combwell Priory, which was founded by Robert de Thurnham the elder; from which it appears that Robert de Thurnham, who lived tempore Hen. II., had two sons, Robert and Stephen. Of these, Robert married Joan, daughter of William Fossard, and died 13 John, leaving a daughter and sole heir Isabel, for whose marriage Peter de Maulay had to pay 7000 marks, which were allowed him in his accounts for services rendered to the crown. Stephen, the other son, married Edelina, daughter of Ralph de Broc, and, dying circiter 16 John, was buried in Waverley Abbey, Surrey. He seems to have left five daughters and coheirs; viz. Mabilia, wife of Ralph de Gatton, and afterwards of Thomas de Bavelingeham; Alice, wife of Adam de Bending; Alianore, wife of Roger de Leybourne; Beatrice, wife of Ralph de Fay; and Alienore, wife of Ralph Fitz-Bernard. Dugdale and the Combwell Rolls speak of only four daughters, making no mention of the wife of Ralph Fitz-Bernard; but an entry on the Fine Rolls would seem almost necessarily to imply that she was one of the five daughters and coheiresses. If not a daughter, she was in some way coheiress with the daughters; which is confirmed by an entry in Testa de Nevill: and, by a charter temp. Edw. I., I find Roger de Northwood, husband of Bona Fitz-Bernard, in possession of the manor of Thurnham, with every appearance of its having been by inheritance of his wife. With this explanation, I have ventured to include Alianore, wife of Ralph Fitz-Bernard, as among the daughters and coheiresses of Stephen de Thurnham. The issue of all of these marriages, after a few years, terminated in female representatives—among them the great infanta Juliana de Leybourne—mingling their blood with the Denes, Towns, Northwoods, Wattons, &c., and other ancient families of Kent.

I have two beautiful seals of Sir Stephen de Thurnham temp. John,—a knight fully caparisoned on horseback, but not a trace of armorial bearings on his shield; nor, in truth, could we expect to find any such assigned to him at that early period.

L. B. L.

Major-General Lambert (Vol. vii., pp. 237. 269.).—Lambert did not survive his sentence more than twenty-one years. His trial took place in 1661, and he died during the hard winter of 1683.

The last fifteen years of his life were spent on the small fortified island of St. Nicholas, commonly called Drake's Island, situated in Plymouth Sound, at the entrance to the Hamoaze.

Lambert's wife and two of his daughters were with him on this island in 1673. (See "N. & Q.," Vols. iv. and v.)

J. LEWELYN CURTIS.

Loggerheads (Vol. v., p. 338.; and Vol. vii., pp. 192-3.).—Your correspondent CAMBRENSIS, whose communication on this subject I have read with much interest, will excuse my correcting him in one or two minor points of his narrative. The little wayside inn at Llanverres, rendered famous by the genius of the painter Wilson, is still standing in its original position, on the left-hand of the road as you pass through that village to Ruthin. Woodward, who was landlord of the inn at the time Wilson frequented it, survived his friend about {365} sixteen years, leaving six children (two sons and four daughters), none of whom however, as CAMBRENSIS surmises, succeeded him as landlord. His widow shortly afterwards married Edward Griffiths, a man many years her Junior, and who, at the period CAMBRENSIS alludes to, and for a lone time previous, was "mine host" of the "Loggerheads." Griffiths died about three years ago, after amassing a large property by mining speculations in the neighbourhood. There are, I believe, several fine paintings by Wilson in the new hall of Colomendy, now the residence of the relict of Col. Garnons. The old house, where Wilson lived, was taken down about thirty years ago, to make way for the present structure.

T. HUGHES.

Chester.

Grafts and the Parent Tree (Vol. vii., p. 261.).—In reply to J. P. of this town, I beg to say that the belief, that "the graft perishes when the parent tree decays," is merely one among a host of superstitions reverently cherished by florists. The fact is, that grafts, after some fifteen years, wear themselves out. Of course there cannot be wanting many examples of the almost synchronous demise of parent and graft. From such cases, no doubt, the myth in question took its rise.

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

The Lisle Family (Vol. vii., pp. 236. 269.).—MR. GARLAND'S Query has induced me to inquire, through the same channel, whether anything is known about a family of this name, some of whom are buried at Thruxton in Hampshire. There are four monuments in the church, two of which are certainly, the others probably, erected to members of the family. The first is a very fine brass (described in the Oxford Catalogue of Brasses), inscribed to Sir John Lisle, Lord of Boddington in the Isle of Wight, who died A.D. 1407. The next in date, and I suppose of much the same period, is an altar-tomb under an arch, which seems to have led into a small chantry. On this there are no arms, and no inscription. The tomb is now surmounted by the figure of a Crusader, which once lay outside the church, and is thought to be one of the Lisles, and the founder of the original church. On the north side of the

chancel two arches looked into what was once a chantry chapel. In the eastern arch is an altar-tomb, once adorned with shields, which are now torn off. This chantry stood within the memory of "the oldest inhabitant;" but it was pulled down by the owner of the land appertaining to the chantry, and of its materials was built the church tower. One of its windows forms the tower window, and its battlements and pinnacles serve their old purpose in their new position. A modern vestry occupies part of the site of the chantry, and shows one side the altar-tomb I have last mentioned. This side has been refaced in Jacobian style, and the arms of Lisle and Courtenay, and one other coat (the same which occur on the brass), form part of the decoration. Two figures belonging to this later work lie now on the altar-tomb, and many more are remembered to have existed inside the chantry. The mixture of this late Jacobian work with the old work of the chantry is very curious, and can be traced all over what remains of it. The initials T. L. appear on shields under the tower battlements.

I should be glad to find that these Lisles would throw any light on the subject of MR. GARLAND'S inquiry; and if they do not, perhaps some of your readers can give some information about them.

The coat of arms of this family is—Or, on a chief gules, three lioncels rampant of the first.

R. H. C.

The Dodo in Ceylon (Vol. vii., p. 188.).—The bird which SIR J. EMERSON TENNENT identifies with the dodo is common on Ceylonese sculpture. The natives say it is now extinct, and call it the Hangsiya, or sacred goose; but whether deemed sacred for the same reason as the Capitoline goose, or otherwise, I must leave the author of Eleven Years in Ceylon to explain, he being the person in this country most conversant with Ceylonese mythology.

I now wish to call SIR EMERSON'S attention to a coincidence that may be worthy his notice in connexion with his forthcoming work on Ceylon.

If he will take the trouble to examine the model of the Parthenon, in the Elgin Marble room of the British Museum, he cannot fail, to be struck with its resemblance to the beautiful building he visited at Polonaroowa, called the Jaitoowanarama. The dimensions of the respective buildings I cannot at present ascertain; but the ground-plans are precisely similar, and each was roofless. But the most striking resemblance is in the position and altitude of the statues: that of the gigantic Bhoodho is precisely similar, even in the posture of the right arm and hand, to that of Minerva, the masterpiece of Phidias. On consulting his notes, he may find the height of the statues to correspond. That of Phidias was thirty-nine feet.

OL. MEM. JU.

Glen Tulchan.

Thomas Watson, Bishop of St. David's, 1687-99 (Vol. vii., p. 234.).—This harshly-treated prelate died at Great Wilbraham, near Cambridge, on June 3, 1717, aet. eighty years; and, from a private letter written at the time, seems to have been buried in haste in the chancel of that church, "but without any service," which may perhaps imply that there was not a funeral sermon, and the ordinary ceremony at a prelate's burial. It is, however, {366} intimated that he died excommunicated. In Paulson's History of Holderness is a notice of Bishop Watson, and of his relatives the Medleys, who are connected with my family by marriage; but the statement that the bishop "died in the Tower" is incorrect (vol. i. Part II. p. 283.; vol. ii. Part I. p. 47.; Part II. p. 542., 4to., 1840-1).

F. R. R.

Milnrow Parsonage.

He died in retirement at Wilburgham, or Wilbraham, in the county of Cambridge, June 3, 1717, aetat. eighty.—See Gough's Camden, vol. ii. p. 140., and Gentleman's Magazine, vols. lix. and lx.