Vol. IV.—No. 94. NOTES AND QUERIES: A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

VOL. IV.—No. 94.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16. 1851.

Price Threepence. Stamped Edition, 4d.

CONTENTS.

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

Notes.

TRADITIONS FROM REMOTE PERIODS THROUGH FEW HANDS.

On two or three occasions in the "NOTES AND QUERIES" instances have been given of "Traditions from remote periods through few hands," of which it would not be difficult to adduce numerous additional examples; but my present purpose is to mention some within my personal experience, or derived from authentic communication.

In 1781, and my eleventh year, a schoolfellow took me to see his great-grandmother, a Mrs. Arthur, in Limerick, then aged one hundred and eight years, whose recollection of that city's siege in 1691, when she was eighteen, was perfectly fresh and unimpaired, as, indeed, she was fond of showing by frequent and even unsolicited recurrence to its dread scenes, in which the women, history tells us, fearlessly participated. We are here then presented with an interval of one hundred and sixty years between a memorable event and my recollection of its narrative by a person actively engaged in it. The old lady's family had furnished a greater number of chief magistrates to Limerick than any other recorded in its annals.

Again in 1784, on a visit to my grandfather in the county of Limerick, during a school vacation, I heard him, then in his eighty-sixth year, say, that in 1714, on the accession to the British throne of the present royal dynasty, he heard in Cork, where he was at school, a conversation between several gentlemen on this change of the reigning family, when one of them, a Mr. Martin, said that he was born the same day as Charles II., on the 29th of May, 1631, and was present at the execution of Charles I., the 29th of January, 1649. His family then resided in London, where he joined Cromwell's Ironsides, and thence accompanied them to Ireland. The transfer to him of some forfeited property naturally induced him to settle there. Thus, between me and the eye-witness of the regicidal catastrophe, only one person intervenes.

In 1830 there died in London, at the eastern extremity, called the World's End, an Irishman, aged one hundred and eleven, named Gibson, whose father, a Scotchman, he told me, served under the Duke of Monmouth at the battle of Sedgemore in July, 1685, and afterwards, in July, 1690, under William, at the Boyne. Supposing, as we well may, the father to have been born about 1660, in 1830, before the son's decease, the two successive lives thus embrace one hundred and seventy years. I had rendered the son some services which made him very communicative to me. The father married and settled in Tipperary, where he became a Roman Catholic, and no adherent of O'Connell could be more ardent in his cause than the son. This veteran had served full seventy years in the royal navy. [114]

In 1790 I recollect an old man of a hundred and twenty, who appeared before the French National Assembly, and gave clear answers to questions on events which he had witnessed one hundred and ten years before.

Similar lengths of personal remembrance are related of old Parr, Lady Desmond, and others, whose ages exceeded one hundred and forty years. The daughter-in-law of the French king, Charles IX. (widow of his natural son, the Duke of Angoulême), survived that monarch by a hundred and thirty-nine years (1574-1713),—a rare, if not an unexampled fact. The famous Cardan, in his singular work, De Vita Propriâ, states that his grandfather's birth anteceded his own by a hundred and fifty years (1351-1501). Franklin relates that his grandfather was born in the sixteenth century, and reign of Elizabeth, as Sir Stephen Fox, the grandfather of our contemporary statesman, Charles, was born shortly after the death of James I., in 1627. A very near connexion of my own, though much younger, is the grandson of a gentleman whose birth retrocedes to Charles II., in 1672. Niebuhr grounds one of his objections to the truth of the early Roman history on the very great improbability of the long period of two hundred and forty-five years assigned to the collective reigns of the seven kings. It does, indeed, exceed the average of enthroned life; but the seven monarchs of Spain, from Ferdinand (the Catholic) to the French Bourbon, Philip V., inclusively, embraced a period of two hundred and sixty-seven years in their successive rule (1469, when Ferdinand obtained the crown of Arragon, and 1746, the date of Philip's death). The eminent German historian offers, however, much stronger arguments in disbelief of the Roman annals; but he had many predecessors in his views, though himself, unquestionably, the most powerful writer on the subject.

J. R. (An Octogenarian.)

P.S.—In Vol. iv., p. 73., Madame du Châtelet's epitaph on Voltaire contains an error, where canis twice appears, but should be carus. The lady's object was certainly complimentary, not sarcastic. My crampt writing was of course the cause of the mistake, though, in the opinion of many, the substituted word would not appear inapplicable to Voltaire. A subjoined article of the same page, "Children at a Birth," reminds me of something analogous in Mercier's Tableau de Paris, where reference is made to the Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences for the fact. The wife of a baker, it is there stated, in the short space of seven years, produced one-and-twenty children, or three at each annual birth; and, to prove that the prolific faculty was exclusively his, he made a maid servant similarly the mother of three children at a birth. The major portion, it appears, of this numerous progeny long survived. Bayle, in his article of Tiraqueau, a French advocate of the sixteenth century, quotes an epigram, which would make him the father of forty-five children, and, it is added, by one wife. If so, several must at least have been twins:

The accomplished authoress of A Residence on the Shores of the Baltic (1841, 2 volumes) was, it is well known, one of four congenital children in Norwich, where her father was an eminent physician.

J. R.

Cork, August, 1851.

Minor Notes.

Nelson's Coat (Vol. iii., p. 517.).

—The recognition of the coat Nelson wore at Trafalgar depends on its fulfilling a detail in the following fact. The present Captain Sir George Westphal was a midshipman on board the Victory, and was wounded on the back of the head: he was taken into the cockpit, and placed by the side of Nelson. When Westphal's wound was dressed, nothing else being immediately available, Nelson's coat was rolled up and used as a support to Westphal's head. Blood flowed from the wound, and, coagulating, stuck the bullion of one of the epaulettes to the bandage; it was deemed better to cut off some of the bullion curls to liberate the coat: so that the coat Nelson wore on that day will be found minus of bullion in one of the epaulettes.

ÆGROTUS.

Strange Reasons for keeping a Public-house.

—A clergyman in the south-west of England, calling lately on one of his parishioners, who kept a public-house, remarked to her how sorry he was, when passing along the road, to hear such noises proceeding from her house. "I wonder," said he, "that any woman can keep a public-house, especially one where there is so much drunkenness and depravity as in yours." "Oh, Sir," she replied, "that is the very reason why I like to keep such a house, because I see every day so much of the worst part of human nature."

T. W.

Superstitions with regard to Glastonbury Thorn.

—It is handed down, that when Joseph of Arimathea, during his mission to England, arrived at Weary-all-hill, near Glastonbury, he struck his travelling staff into the earth, which immediately took root, and ever after put forth its leaves and blossoms on Christmas Day, being converted into a miraculous thorn.

This tree, which had two trunks, was preserved until the time of Queen Elizabeth; when one of the trunks was destroyed by a Puritan, and the [115] other met with the same fate during the Great Rebellion.

Throughout the reign of Henry VIII., its blossoms were esteemed such great curiosities, and sovereign specifics, as to become an object of gain to the merchants of Bristol; who not only disposed of them to the inhabitants of their own city, but exported these blossoms to different parts of Europe. There were, in addition to these, relics for rain, for avoiding the evil eye, for rooting out charlock, and all weeds in corn, with similar specifics, which were considered, at this time, the best of all property!

T. W.

The miraculous Walnut-tree at Glastonbury.

—This far-famed tree was at the north of St. Joseph's chapel, in the abbey churchyard. It was supposed to have been brought from Palestine by some of the pilgrims, and was visited in former days, and regarded as sacred by all ranks of people; and, even so late as the time of King James, that monarch, as well as his ministers and nobility, paid large sums for sprigs of it, which were preserved as holy relics.

T. W.

The Three Estates of the Realm.

—Some, even educated persons of this day, if asked which are the three estates of the realm, will reply, the Queen, Lords, and Commons. That the three estates do not include the Queen, and are therefore the Lords, the Clergy in Convocation, and the Commons, is obvious from the title of the "Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving to be used yearly upon the 5th day of November, for the happy Deliverance of King James I. and the Three Estates of England from the most Traitorous," &c.; and also from the following passage of the Communion Collect for Gunpowder Treason:—

"Eternal God, and our most mighty Protector, we Thy unworthy servants do humbly present ourselves before Thy Majesty, acknowledging Thy power, wisdom, and goodness, in preserving the king, AND the three estates of the realm of England assembled in Parliament, from the destruction this day intended against them."

W. FRAER.

Queries.

BENSLEYS OF NORWICH.

As I am much interested in the above family, which I know to have existed at Norwich, or the vicinity, for a century or more, and have reason to think was one of some consequence, will you, through the medium of your useful columns, allow me to ask some of your intelligent correspondents who reside in that neighbourhood the following Queries?

1. Is anything known of the family of the late Sir William Bensley farther back than his father, Thomas Bensley? Sir William was born in the county of Norfolk, and at an early age entered the navy; transferred himself to the Honourable East India Company's service, made a large fortune, was elected a Director of the Company 1771, created a baronet 1801, and died without issue 1809.

2. Was Mr. Richard Bensley, an actor of some celebrity, who made his "first appearance" in 1765 (he had previously been an officer in the Marines, and, as I am informed, held the appointment of barrack-master at Knightsbridge till his death in 1817), any connexion of the above, or at all connected with Norwich?

3. Cowper, in one of his letters [to Joseph Hill, Esq., dated Huntingdon, July 3, 1765], says:

"The tragedies of Lloyd and Bensley are both very deep. If they are of no use to the surviving part of society, it is their own fault," &c.

Any information as to who this Bensley was, will be very acceptable; or anything concerning the tragedies mentioned.

4. Any intelligence respecting one "Isaac Bensley" of Norwich, weaver; who was alive in 1723, as his son was in that year baptized at the Octagon Chapel in that city.

If any of your contributors, in their archæological researches among tombstones and parish registers, should have met with the name of Bensley, by addressing a "note" to you thereon they will confer a great obligation on your constant reader and occasional contributor.

TEE BEE.

Minor Queries.

68. Heraldic Figures at Tonbridge Castle.

—In the court of the castle of this place, there stands a colossal figure of what I take to be an heraldic panther gorged with a ducal crown, supporting a shield of the royal arms of France and England quarterly, as borne before the accession of James I.

The corresponding supporter is gone, but the base and one claw remain, showing it to have been a beast of prey, and with it is a broken shield, thereon, "party per pale three lions rampant;" the arms, and probably the supporter of the Herberts, earls of Pembroke. The two figures have evidently capped the piers of a gateway.

Can any of your readers account for the presence of these figures here, where the Herberts are not recorded to have possessed any property?

ERMINES.

Tonbridge, July 29. 1851.

69. English Translation of Nonnus.

—I shall be obliged if any of your correspondents will inform me if any translation of the poet Nonnus, which contains, perhaps, most that is known about Bacchus, has ever been made into English; if so, by whom, and when?

ÆGROTUS. [116]

70. Of Prayer in one Tongue.

—Bishop Jewel, in his celebrated sermon preached at Paul's Cross, quotes the following argument as used by Gerson, sometime Chancellor of Paris:

"There is but one only God; ergo, all nations throughout the world must pray to Him in one tongue."

The editor of the Parker Society's edition of Jewel cannot discover the argument in the works of Gerson; but if any of your readers can point out where it may be found, I shall be much obliged.

N. E. R. (a Subscriber).

71. Inscription in Ely Cathedral.

—M. D. (Great Yarmouth) is anxious to have the meaning of the following inscription explained. It is on a tombstone in Ely Cathedral.

72. Cervantes—what was the Date of his Death?

—In the Life prefixed to a corrected edition of Jarvis's translation, published by Miller, 1801, it is stated to be April 23, 1616; and it is added:

"It is a singular coincidence of circumstances, that the same day should deprive the world of two men of such transcendent abilities as Cervantes and Shakspeare, the latter of whom died in England on the very day that put an end to the life of the former in Spain."

Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, in his Life of his uncle, the poet, remarks on his decease on the anniversary of the death of Shakspeare, but makes no allusion to the double anniversary; and in the Life of Cervantes prefixed to Smollet's translation of Don Quixote, the day of Cervantes' death is somewhat differently stated.

GEO. E. FRERE.

73. "Agla," Meaning of.

—I have in my possession a silver ring, found some time since at a place called "Grungibane" in this neighbourhood. The hoop is flat both inside and out, about a quarter of an inch broad. On the outside, occupying about half the length, is the following inscription: "+ AGLA."

I should feel great obliged by some of your learned correspondents decyphering the above.

JOHN MARTIN.

Downpatrick.

74. Murderers buried in Cross Roads.

—Though the lines of Hood's,

occur in one of his comic poems, I have often heard it gravely stated that it was formerly the custom to bury murderers with a stake driven through the body, where cross roads meet. Was this ever a custom, and when was "formerly?" Are there many such tragic spots in England and can I find them enumerated anywhere?

P. M. M.

75. Wyle Cop.

—This is the name of a street, or rather bank in Shrewsbury, leading from the English Bridge to High Street. It has always struck me as being a curious name; and I should feel obliged to any of your readers who could inform me what is the origin of the place being so called, or if there is any meaning in the words beyond being the name of a place.

SALOPIAN.

76. The Devil's Knell.

—In the Collectanea Topographica, vol. i. p. 167., is the following note:

"At Dewsbury, Yorkshire, there is a bell called 'Black Tom of Sothill:' the tradition is, that it is as expiatory gift for a murder. One of the bells, perhaps this one, is tolled on Christmas-eve as at a funeral, or in the manner of a passing-bell: and any one asking whose bell it was, would be told that it was the devil's knell. The moral of it is, that the devil died when Christ was born. The custom was discontinued for many years, but was revived by the vicar in 1828."

Is the gift of a bell a common expiatory gift for crime? And does the custom of tolling the devil's knell on Christmas eve exist in any other place at the present time?

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

77. Queries on Poems of Richard Rolle (Vol. iv., p. 49.).

—I should be glad to ask a question or two of your Cambridge correspondent, touching his very interesting contribution from the MS. remains of Richard Rolle of Hampole.

What language is meant by the deuenisch?

What is a guystroun?

How does the word chaunsemlees come to mean shoes?

An expression very strange to English verse occurs in the line,

I can think of nothing to throw light upon this intensive adverb, except the Danish saamænd, which is generally used in that language (or rather [117] was used, i.e. when Holberg wrote his comedies) as an affirmatory oath. Native authorities explain it to mean "so it is, by the holy men," or in other terms, "by the saints I swear."

I have no doubt that the same kindness which led your correspondent to communicate those delightful extracts, will also make him willing to assist the understanding of them.

J. E.

Oxford.

78. Did Bishop Gibson write a Life of Cromwell?

—Mr. Carlyle, in treating on the biographies of Oliver Cromwell, says that the Short Critical Review of the Life of Oliver Cromwell, by a gentleman of the Middle Temple, was written by a certain "Mr. Banks, a kind of a lawyer and playwright," and that the anonymous Life of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, impartially collected, &c., London, 1724, which Noble ascribes to Bishop Gibson, was by "one Kember, a dissenting minister of London."

On the other hand, Mr. Russell, in his Life of Oliver Cromwell, 2 vols. 12mo. 1829, says:

"There is an anonymous work deserving of some notice, entitled A Short Critical Review of the Political Life of Oliver Cromwell. The title professes that it was written by a gentleman of the Middle Temple, but there is reason to believe that it proceeded from the pen of the learned Bishop Gibson."

It would seem, therefore, by these statements, that two different lives of the Great Protector have been ascribed to Gibson. Query, Did Gibson ever write a life of Cromwell; and if so, which is it?

It is well worth knowing which Gibson did write, if he wrote one at all, for he was connected with the Cromwell family, and, what is of more consequence, a learned, liberal man, not given to lying, so that his book probably contains more truth than any of the other Cromwell biographies of that time.

DRYASDUST.

79. English Translation of Alcon.

—Is there any translation of Alcon by Baldisare Castiglione? The Lycidas of Milton is a splendid paraphrase of it. The parallel passages are to be found in (I think) No. 47. of the Classical Journal, published formerly by Valpy. The prototypes of L'Allegro and Il Penseroso are at the beginning of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. Thus three of Milton's early poems cannot be termed wholly original.

ÆGROTUS.

Replies.

JOHN BODLEY.
(Vol. iv., p. 59.)

John Bodley is a name that ought not to be passed over without due reverence. He not only fostered the translation of the Genevan Bible, but was specially interested in its circulation throughout England. Neither Fox, Burnet, or Strype, Mr. Todd, or Mr. Whittaker give us any particular information respecting him. Lewis glances at him as one John Bodley; and Mr. Townley, in his valuable Biblical Literature, after some notice of Whittingham, Gilby, Sampson, &c., closes by saying, "Of John Bodleigh no account has been obtained."

This good and pious man was the father of the celebrated Sir Thomas Bodley. He was born at Exeter, and according to the statement of his son (Autobiography, 4to., Oxf. 1647),—

"In the time of Queen Mary, after being cruelly threatened and narrowly observed by those that maliced his religion, for the safety of himself and my mother (formerly Miss Joan Hone, an heiress in the hundred of Ottery St. Mary), who was wholly affected as my father, knew no way so secure as to fly into Germany; where, after a while, he found means to call over my mother, with all his children and family, when he settled for a while at Wesel, in Cleveland, and from thence we removed to the town of Frankfort. Howbeit, we made no long tarriance in either of these towns, for that my father had resolved to fix his abode in the city of Geneva, where, as far as I remember, the English Church consisted of some hundred members."

John Bodley returned to England in 1559, and on the 8th of January, 1560-61, a patent was granted to him by Queen Elizabeth, "to imprint, or cause to be imprinted, the English Bible, with annotations." This privilege was to last for the space of seven years. In 1565 Bodley was preparing for a new impression; and by March the next year, a careful review and correction being finished, this zealous reformer wished to renew his patent beyond the seven years first granted. It does not appear, however, that his application to the authorities had the desired effect; for it will be remembered that Archbishop Parker's Bible was now in the field, and the Queen's Secretary, Sir William Cecil, was compelled to act with caution. A curious letter, addressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London to Sir William Cecil, concerning the extension of Bodley's privilege, is printed from the Lansdown MS. No. 8. (Art. 82.), in Letters of Eminent Literary Men, edited by Sir Henry Ellis for the Camden Society.

For a full history of the Geneva Bible, I beg to refer S. S. S. to the second volume of Anderson's Annals of the English Bible: Lond. 2 vols. 8vo. 1845.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

In the notice of Sir Thomas Bodley contained in Prince's Worthies of Devon, S. S. S. will find some particulars relating to his father, John Bodley. Prince's account of Sir Thomas is "from a MS. on probable grounds supposed to be his own handwriting, now in the custody of a neighbour gentleman," (Walter Bogan of Gatcombe, near [118] Totnes.) From this it appears that John Bodley was long resident at Geneva—

"Where [says Sir Thomas], as far as I remember, the English church consisted of some hundred persons. I was at that time of twelve years of age, but through my father's cost and care sufficiently instructed to become an auditor of Chevalerius in Hebrew, of Beraldus in Greek, of Calvin and Beza in divinity, and of some other professors in the university, which was then newly erected: besides my domestical teachers in the house of Philibertus Saracenus, a famous physician in that city, with whom I was boarded, where Robertus Constantinus, that made the Greek Lexicon, read Homer unto me."

There is, however, no mention of John Bodley's having been one of the translators of the Bible.

R. J. KING.

WITHER'S "HALLELUJAH."
(Vol. iii., p. 330.)

A correspondent, S. S. S., inquires concerning one of the numberless, and now almost fameless, works of George Wither, a poet of the seventeenth century, famous in his generation, but unworthily disparaged in that which followed him; the names of Quarles and Wither being proverbially classed with those of Bavius and Mævius in the Augustan age. The Hallelujah of the latter has become precious from its rarity. A copy of this volume (of nearly 500 pages) was lent to me several years ago, by a collector of such treasures. On the blank at the back of the cover, there was written a memorandum that it had been bought at Heber's sale by Thorpe the bookseller for sixteen guineas; my friend, I had reason to believe, paid a much higher price for it, when it fell into his hands. The contents consist of several hundreds of hymns for all sorts and conditions of men, on all the ordinary, and on many of the extraordinary circumstances of human life. Of course they are very heterogeneous, yet no small number are beyond the average of such compositions in point of devotional and poetical excellence.

The author himself, with the consciousness of Horace, in his

crowns his labours at the 487th page with the following "Io triumphe" lines:—

How has this fond anticipation been fulfilled? There are not known (says my authority) to be more than three or four copies in existence of this indestructible work; and the price in gold which a solitary specimen can command, is no evidence of anything but its market value. Had its poetic worth been proportionate, its currency might have been as common as that of Milton's masterpiece, and its trade price as low as Paternoster Row could afford a cheap edition of the Pilgrim's Progress.

J. M. G.

Hallamshire.

P.S.—Lowndes says:

"Few books of a cotemporary date can more readily be procured than Wither's first Remembrancer in 1628; few, it is believed, can be more difficult of attainment than his second Remembrancer, licensed in 1640, of which latter Dalrymple observes, 'there are some things interspersed in it, nowhere, perhaps, to be surpassed.'"—Bibliographer's Manual, p. 1971.

FIRST PANORAMA.
(Vol. iv., p. 54.)

I did not speak of my own recollection of Girtin's panorama; my memory cannot reach so far back. It was my father who does perfectly remember Girtin's semicircular panorama. I think the mistake must be with H. T. E. Some years back a large collection of Girtin's drawings and sketches were sold at Pimlico; my father went to see them, and was delighted to find among them some of the original sketches for this panorama, which he immediately recognised and bought. He afterwards showed them to Girtin's son, now living in practice as a surgeon at Islington (I believe), who identified them as his father's work, and with whom I went to see the painting, when not many years back it was found in a carpenter's loft. Girtin certainly was a painter principally in water colour, and one who, with the present J. M. W. Turner, contributed much to the advancement of that branch of art; but I do not see how that is a reason why he did not paint a panorama. I should think it not unlikely that two semicircular panoramas of the same subject were painted; and, therefore, with all deference, believe that the mistake is with H. T. E. Girtin's son, if applied to, could, and I am sure would, give any information he possessed readily.

E. N. W. [119]

We are not yet quite right about the first panorama, but perhaps the following will close the discussion.

I have lately been sitting with Mr. Barker (ætat 78), and he tells me that, when quite a boy, he sketched for his father the view of Edinburgh from the observatory on the Calton Hill: in the foreground was Holyrood House; that that was a half circle, and was exhibited in Edinburgh.

So much was thought of the discovery of its being possible to take a view beyond the old rule of sixty degrees, that they went to London, and then he took the view from the top of the Albion Mills, as was stated in Vol. iv., p. 54.

That was three quarters of a circle, and was exhibited in Castle Street, Leicester Square. Afterwards the whole circle was attempted. The idea of painting a view more than sixty degrees, was suggested by his mother. His father did not work at them, he being a portrait painter; but he did, young as he was. Mr. Robert Barker and his wife were both Irish; but Henry Aston the son was born in Glasgow.

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

Clyst St. George.

JOHN A KENT.
(Vol. iv., p. 83.)

As I have not seen the Athenæum, I send the following notes, in uncertainty whether or not they may prove acceptable to MR. COLLIER.

Sion y Cent, i.e. John a Kent, or John of Kentchurch, is very generally believed in Wales to have been Owen Glendowr; though some few—unable to account for the mysterious disappearance of the hero—are still firmly convinced that he sleeps, like Montezuma and various other mighty men, in some deep cavern, surrounded by his warriors, until the wrongs of his country shall call him forth once more to lead them on to battle.

The following extracts are from notes appended [by the editors] to some poems of John a Kent which are published amongst the "Iolo MSS." by the "Welsh MSS. Society."

"... John of Kent, as he is called, is said to have been a priest at Kentchurch in Herefordshire, on the confines of Wales, about the beginning of the fifteenth century. He still enjoys a high degree of popularity, in the legendary stories of the principality, as a powerful magician. There is in the possession of Mr. Scudamore, of Kentchurch, an ancient painting of a monk, supposed to be a portrait of John of Kent; and as the family of Scudamore is descended from a daughter of Owen Glendowr, at whose house that chieftain is believed to have passed in concealment a portion of the latter part of his life, it has been supposed that John of Kentchurch was no other than Owen Glendowr himself," &c. &c.—Page 676., note to the poem on The Names of God.

"... The author was a priest of Kentchurch in Herefordshire, on the confines of Monmouthshire and Breconshire, and is said to have lived in the time of Wickliffe, and to have been of his party. As the parish of Kentchurch is adjacent to that of Oldcastle, the residence of Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, it is by no means impossible that John of Kentchurch may also have favoured the same opinions; and may in some measure sanction the idea."

"... The poet then proceeds to speak of the indignation of the well-robed bishops, the monks, friars and priests; and in the course of the composition he makes some strong animadversions on the luxurious living of the churchmen, stating that formerly the friars were preachers, who possessed no wealth, and went about on foot with nothing but a staff; but that they now possessed horses, and frequented banquets," &c. &c.—Page 687., notes to A Poem to another's Book, by John of Kentchurch; from the collection of Thomas ap Jevan of Tre'r Bryn, made about 1670.

The following words occur in this poem:—

In addition to the two poems here mentioned, the collection contains one "Composed by John of Kent on his death-bed;" in which are some lines of considerable beauty: and also one on The Age and Duration of Things.

The parish church of Kentchurch is dedicated to St. Mary. I hope to be able to send you some further information on the subject, but I well know that quotations from memory are nearly valueless. Meanwhile, the following note on the mysterious disappearance to which I have already alluded may be not uninteresting: I give it as translated by the editors of the Iolo MSS.

"In 1415, Owen disappeared, so that neither sight nor tidings of him could be obtained in the country. It was rumoured that he escaped in the guise of a reaper; bearing[1] ... according to the testimony of the last who saw and knew him; after which little or no information transpired respecting him, nor of the place or manner of his concealment. The prevalent opinion was, that he died in a wood in Glamorgan; but occult chroniclers assert that he and his men still live, and are asleep on their arms, in a cave called Govog y ddinas, in the Vale of Gwent, where they will continue, until England becomes self-debased; but that then they will sally forth, and reconquer their country, privileges, and crown for the Welsh, who shall be dispossessed of them no more until the day of judgment, when the world shall be consumed with fire, and so reconstructed, that neither oppression nor devastation shall take place any more: and blessed will be he who shall see the time."—Page 454. [120] Historical Notices extracted from the Papers of the Rev. Evan Evans, now in the Possession of Paul Panton, Esq., of Anglesea.

[1] The manuscript is defective here. "A sickle" was probably the word.

SELEUCUS.

THE BRITISH SIDANEN.
(Vol. iv., p. 83.)

MR. J. P. COLLIER will find all the information that Cambrian antiquaries can give him respecting Sidanen in Powell's Cambria, Matthew Paris, Wynne's Caradoc, and Warrington's History of Wales, under the year 1241. The history is given at most length in Warrington; where the share which Sidanen had in an interesting episode in Cambrian history is fully developed. There were two Welsh princes named Llywelyn, who stood to each other in the following relation:

The Prince of Wales mentioned by Munday is the first, Llywelyn ab Jorwerth, whose descent, as his father was not allowed to reign on account of personal deformity, we had better indicate:

Llywelyn, as has been shown, had two sons, Griffith and David, the first and eldest of whom, being a turbulent prince, was set aside by his father at a solemn assembly of Cambrian lords, in 1238, and David was elected to succeed his father. In 1240, David became king of North Wales, and one of his first acts was to apprehend his brother and his son Owen, and put them in prison. This was done with the connivance of a Bishop of Bangor: but that worthy, fearing that the scandal would spread abroad, intrigued with Senena, the daughter-in-law, and not the daughter of Prince Llywelyn, and wife of his son Griffith, for his release. Overtures were made to Henry III.; and certain lords having joined the confederacy, stipulations were entered into, and Henry marched against King David. David, who had married the king's daughter, now began to counterplot, in which he was quite successful; for Henry, who had come to release Griffith, by special contract with his brother, took him, with his wife Senena, and his son Owen, with him to London, and imprisoned them in the Tower, in attempting to escape from whence, two years afterwards, Griffith lost his life. Such is a brief outline of all that is known of Senena, who is undoubtedly the Sidanen of Munday, and whose name is variously written Sina, Sanan, Sanant, and in the Latin chronicle Senena. The negotiations here alluded to, with the names of all the parties engaged in them, will be found in the authorities herein named; all of which being in English, MR. COLLIER can easily consult.

John a Cumber is probably John y Kymro, or John the Cambrian; but I know nothing of him.

Respecting John of Kent there is but little else known than may be found in Coxe's Monmouthshire, and Owen's Cambrian Biography, sub "Sion Cent." There is, however, a tradition in this neighbourhood that he was born at Eglwys Ilan, in the county of Glamorgan; and the road is shown by which he went to Kentchurch, in Herefordshire. It was at Eglwys Ilan that he is reported to have pounded the crows by closing the park gates. As this story has not appeared in English print, I will endeavour to furnish you again with a more circumstantial statement. Sion Kent, who lived about 1450, appears to have derived his name from Kent Chester, or Kent Church. He was a monk, holding Lollard opinions; and a bard of considerable talent and celebrity. As a matter of course, he was on good terms with his Satanic majesty; for he was a mighty reputation as a conjuror. MR. COLLIER may find a portion of one of his poems, translated in the Iolo MSS., page 687. Should this, or any other authority herein named, not be accessible to MR. COLLIER, it would afford me great pleasure to send him transcripts.

There is a very gross anachronism in making Sion, lege Shôn Kent, to be the contemporary of Senena.

T. STEPHENS.

Merthyr Tydfil, Aug. 7. 1851.

PETTY CURY.
(Vol. iv., p. 24.)

I believe that Petty Cury signifies the Little Cookery. See a note in my Annals of Cambridge, vol. i. p. 273.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge, July 12. 1851.

To those who are familiar with the Form of Cury, edited by Dr. Pegge, no explanation can be necessary for the name of this street, or rather lane. It seems, indeed, strange that any one who calls himself a Cambridge man should have failed to discover that it was the peculiar quarter of the cooks of the town; as we in London have our Poultry named from the Poulters (not Poulterers, as now corruptly designated) who there had their shops.

F. S. Q.

The Cambridge senate-house is called "Curia," [121] and therefore it may be supposed that "Petty Cury" means "parva curia," from some court-leet or court-baron formerly held there; the town-hall is at the end of it to this day. The only objection to the above is, that in the Caius map of Cambridge, A.D. 1574, now in the British Museum, Petty Curie is a large street even then, whilst neither town-hall nor senate-house exist.

J. EASTWOOD.

Surely there can be little doubt that the name of this street at Cambridge is a corruption from the French "petite écurie." We knew little enough about such matters when I was an undergraduate there; but still, I think, we could have solved this mystery. Might I be permitted to suggest that as the court stables at Versailles were called "les petites écuries," to distinguish them from the king's, which were styled "les grandes écuries," although they exactly resembled them, and contained accommodation for five hundred horses; so the street in question may have contained some of the fellows' stables, which were called "les petites écuries," to distinguish them from the masters'. Should this supposition be correct, it would seem to imply that at one time the French language was not altogether ignored at Cambridge.

H. C.

Workington.

THE WORD "RACK" IN THE "TEMPEST."—THE NEBULAR THEORY.
(Vol. iii., p. 218.; Vol. iv., p. 37.)

MR. HICKSON seems to court opinion as to the justness of his interpretation of rack. I therefore express my total and almost indignant dissent from it.

Luckily, neither in the proposition itself, nor in the manner in which it is advocated, is there anything to disturb my previous conviction as to the true meaning of this word (which, in the well-known passage in the Tempest, is, beyond all doubt, "haze" or "vapour"), since few things would be more distasteful to me than to encounter any argument really capable of throwing doubt upon the reading of a passage I have long looked upon as one of the most marvellous instances of philosophical depth of thought to be met with, even in Shakspeare,—one of those astonishing speculations, in advance of his age, that now and then drop from him as from the lips of a child inspired,—wherein the grandeur of the sentiment is so out of all proportion to the simplicity and absence of pretension with which it is introduced, that the reader, not less surprised than delighted, is scarcely able to appreciate the full meaning until after long and careful consideration.

It is only lately that the nebular theory of condensation has been advanced, for the purpose of speculating upon the probable formation of planetary bodies. Yet it is a subject that possesses a strange coincidence with this passage of Shakspeare's Tempest.

Perhaps the best elucidation I can give of it will be to cite a certain passage in Dr. Nichols' Architecture of the Heavens, which happens to bear a rather remarkable, although I believe an accidental, resemblance to Shakspeare's words: accidental, because if Dr. Nichols had this passage of the Tempest present to his mind, when writing in a professedly popular and familiar style, he would scarcely have omitted allusion to it, especially as it would have afforded a peculiarly happy illustration of his subject.

I shall now quote both passages, in order that they may be conveniently compared:

"—— in the laboratory of the chemist matter easily passes through all conditions, the solid, liquid, and gaseous, as if in a sort of phantasmagoria; and his highest discoveries even now are pointing to the conclusion, that the bodies which make up the solid portion of our earth may, simply by the dissolution of existing combinations, be ultimately resolved into a permanently gaseous form."—Nichols' Architecture of the Heavens, p. 147.

Had we no other presumption to lead us to Shakspeare's true meaning but what is afforded by the expression, "into air—thin air," it ought, in my opinion, to be amply sufficient; for no rational person can entertain a doubt that Shakspeare intended the repetition, "thin air," to have reference to the simile that was to follow. The globe itself shall dissolve, and, like this vision, leave not a rack behind! In what was the resemblance to the vision to consist, if not in melting, like it, into thin air? into air unobscured by vapour, rarified from the slightest admixture of rack or cloud.

Shakespeare knew that atmospheric rack is not insubstantial; that it is corporeal like the globe itself, of which it is a part; and that, so long as a particle of it remained, dissolution could not be complete.

And shall we reject this exquisite philosophy—this profundity of thought—to substitute our own mean and common-place ideas?

A. E. B.

Leeds, July 22.

P.S.—Apart from the philosophical beauty of this wonderful passage, there are other aspects in which it may be studied with not less interest.

How true is the poetical image of the rack as [122] the last object of dissipation! the expiring evidence of combustion! the lingering cloudiness of solution!

Replies to Minor Queries.

Pseudo MSS.—The Devil, Cromwell and his Amours.

—It is too bad! In Vol. iii., p. 282., there is a good page and a half taken up with a verbatim extract from Echard, which has either been alluded to or quoted by every writer on Cromwell from Echard's time down to a few months ago, when it appeared in Chambers's Papers for the People, No. 11. Again, in Vol. iv., p. 19., there is another page and a half relating to Cromwell, which, I fearlessly assert, I have seen frequently in print, but cannot at present tell where; and more important avocations forbid me to search. As if that was not enough, in Vol. iv., p. 50. there is another half page respecting the preservation of these precious MSS.! Is it not too bad? Do, worthy Mr. Editor, make the amende honorable by publishing the true characters of the MSS. forwarded by S. H. H., which you have so inadvertently published as original.

W. PINKERTON.

[Our correspondent seems to doubt that the communications to which he refers were really printed from contemporary MSS. The Editor is able to vouch for that having been certainly the fact. They are not printed from transcripts from Echard, but from real MSS. of the time of Charles II., or thereabouts; while the fact of these early transcripts having been printed surely does not furnish any argument against the valuable suggestion of S. H. H. as to the preservation of similar documents for the use of the public, and in the manner pointed out in his communication.—ED.]

Anonymous Ravennas (Vol. i., pp. 124. 220. 368.; Vol. iii., p. 462.).

—Your correspondents have neglected to observe that this author's Chorography of Britain was published by Gale, "ad calcem Antonini Iter Britanniarum," viz., Britanniæ Chorographia cum Autographo Regis Galliæ Mso. et Codice Vaticano collata; Adjiciuntur conjecturæ plurimæ cum nominibus locorum Anglicis, quotquot iis assignari potuerint: Londini, 1709, 4to.

A copy of the edition of Anonymi Ravennatis Geographiæ Libri Quinque (of the last of which the Chorography of Britain forms a part) noticed by J. I. (Vol. i., p. 220.) is now before me; as also a later edition, published by the editor's son, Abram Gronovius: Lugduni Batavorum, 1722, 8vo.

Horsley's Britannia Romana, book iii. chap. iv., contains "1. Some account of this author and his work; 2. The Latin text of this writer;[2] 3. Remarks upon many of the places mentioned by him, and more particularly of such as seem to be the same with the stations per lineam valli in the Notitia." His remarks are diametrically opposite to the conjectures of Camden and Gale.

[2] The Chorography from Gale's edition.

T. J.

Margaret Maultasch (Vol. iv., p. 56.).

—Your correspondent who inquires where he can meet with the particulars of the life of Margaret, surnamed Maultasch, Countess of Tyrol, will find them in the Supplement of the Biographie Universelle, vol. lxxiii. p. 136.

The great heiress in question, though a monster of ugliness, was twice married: first to John Henry, son of Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia (1331), from whom she procured a divorce on the plea of his incapacity; and, secondly (1341), to Louis of Bavaria, eldest son of the Emperor Louis IV., by whom she had a son, Mainard, who died without issue during his mother's lifetime.

I know not upon what authority rest the imputed irregularities of her life, but her biographer, in the article above mentioned, casts no such slur upon her character. Nor can I discover that the armorial bearings of the town of Halle, in Tyrol, have any such significant meaning as has been hinted at. They are to be found in Matthew Merian's Topographia Provinciarum Austriacarum, printed at Frankfort on the Maine in 1649, engraved on the view of Halle, at p. 139., and appear to be a cask or barrel, supported by two lions. There is no statue of Margaret Maultasch among those which surround the mausoleum of Emperor Maximilian (not Matthias) in the Franciscan church at Inspruck; but her ludicrously hideous features may be found amongst the historical portraits engraved in the magnificent work descriptive of the Museum of Versailles, published a few years ago at Paris, under the auspices of King Louis Philippe.

W. S.

Denton, July 28.

Pope's Translations or Imitations of Horace (Vol. i., p. 230.; Vol. iv., p. 58.).

—Is your correspondent C. correct in attributing A true Character of Mr. Pope and his Writings, in a Letter to a Friend, printed for Popping, 1716, to Oldmixon? In the Testimonies of Authors, prefixed to the Dunciad, and the Appendix, and throughout the Notes, Dennis is uniformly quoted and attacked as the author. Oldmixon's feud with Pope was hardly, I think, so early.

Assuming your correspondent's quotation from the pamphlet to be correct, the terms made use of will surely refer to Pope's Imitation of Horace (S. ii. L. i.), a fragment of which was published by Curll about this time (1716). It was afterwards republished in folio about 1734, printed for J. Boreman, under the title of Sober Advice from Horace to the young Gentlemen about Town, but in an enlarged state, and with some of the initials altered, and several new adaptations. Mrs. Oldfield and Lady Mary are not introduced in the first edition. I have both, but at present can only refer to the second one in folio. From this the Imitation was transferred to the Supplement to [123] Pope's Works, published by Cooper: London, 1757, 12mo., and from thence to the Supplementary Volumes to the later editions. The publication of it formed an article of impeachment against Dr. Jos. Warton, by the author of the Pursuits of Literature, as all who have read that satire will well remember.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Brother Jonathan (Vol. iii., p. 495.).

—The origin of this term, as applied to the United States, is given in a recent number of the Norwich Courier. The editor says it was communicated by a gentleman now upwards of eighty years of age, who was an active participator in the scenes of the revolution. The story is as follows:

"When General Washington, after being appointed commander of the army of the revolutionary war, came to Massachusetts to organize it, and make preparations for the defence of the country, he found a great want of ammunition and other means necessary to meet the powerful foe he had to contend with, and great difficulty to obtain them. If attacked in such condition, the cause at once might be hopeless. On one occasion at that anxious period a consultation of the officers and others was had, when it seemed no way could be devised to make such preparations as were necessary. His Excellency Jonathan Trumbull the elder was then governor of the State of Connecticut, on whose judgment and aid the general placed the greatest reliance, and remarked, 'We must consult Brother Jonathan on the subject.' The general did so, and the governor was successful in supplying many of the wants of the army. When difficulties afterwards arose, and the army was spread over the country, it became a by-word, 'We must consult Brother Jonathan.' The term Yankee is still applied to a portion, but 'Brother Jonathan' has now become a designation of the whole country, as John Bull has for England."—Dictionary of Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett, 1849.

H. J.

Cromwell's Grants of Land in Monaghan (Vol. iv., p. 87.).

—E. A. asks whether there are any grants of land in the county of Monaghan recorded as made by Cromwell, and where such records are preserved? I fear I can give but a negative answer to the question: but among the stores of the State Paper Office are many books of orders, letters, &c. during the Commonwealth. Among them are two bundles dated in 1653, which relate to the lands granted by lot, to the adventurers who had advanced money for the army, in the different provinces of Ireland. Monaghan is not mentioned.

SPEC.

Stanedge Pole (Vol. iii., p. 391.).

—In answer to your correspondent A. N., I beg to state that Stanedge Pole is between six and seven miles from Sheffield, on the boundary line between Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on a long causeway which was in former times the road from Yorkshire to Manchester. Its only antiquity consists in having been for centuries one of the meers marking the boundaries of Hallamshire. In Harrison's Survey of the Manor of Sheffield, 1637, appears an account of the boundaries as viewed and seen the 6th of August, 1574, from which the following is an extract:—

"Item. From the said Hurkling Edge so forward after the Rock to Stannedge, which is a meer between the said Lordshipps (of Hallamshire and Hathersedge).

"Item. From Stannedge after the same rock to a place called the Broad Rake, which is also a meer between the said Lordshipps of Hallamshire and Hathersedge."

The situation is a very fine one, commanding a very beautiful and extensive view of the surrounding country.[3]

[3] Its elevation is, according to the Ordnance Survey, 1463 feet.

H. J.

Stanedge.

Baskerville the Printer (Vol. iv., p. 40.).

—Baskerville was interred in the grounds attached to the house in which he lived, near Easy Row, Birmingham. The land becoming valuable for building purposes, he was, after lying there about half a century, disinterred and removed to the workshop of a lead merchant, named Marston, in Monmouth Street, Birmingham. While there I saw his remains. They were in a wooden coffin, which was enclosed in one of lead. How long they had been above ground I do not know, but certainly not long. This, as far as I can recollect, is about twenty-five years since. The person who showed me the body, and who was either one of the Marstons or a manager of the business, told me he had seen the coffins opened, and that the features were then perfect. When exhibited to me the nose and lips were gone, as were also two front teeth, which had been torn from the mouth surreptitiously and taken away. I understood that it was known who had them, and that they would be restored. The shroud was discoloured, I presume from natural causes, being of a dirty yellow colour, as though it had been drawn through a clay pit. The texture and strength of the cloth remained unaffected. Baskerville entertained peculiar opinions on religious subjects. There was a rumour of some efforts having been made to deposit his remains in one of the church burial grounds, but they were not successful. A year or two ago, while in Birmingham, a snuff-box was shown me, on the lid of which a portrait of Baskerville was painted, which fully agreed with a description of his person given me many years previously by one who had known him. This portrait had not, from its appearance, been painted very long. From its being there I infer that there is in existence at least one original portrait of this eminent printer.

T. JOHNS. [124]

Inscription on a Claymore (Vol. iv., p. 59.).

—Is your correspondent "T. M. W., Liverpool," who inquires the translation of an "inscription on a claymore," certain that his quotation is correct? To me it appears that it should run thus:

or, "God preserve the righteous (or just) Scots;" referring, no doubt, to the undertaking in which they were then engaged.

I believe that formerly, and probably at the present time, many of the finest sword blades were made abroad, and sent to England to be mounted, or even entirely finished on the Continent. I have in my possession a heavy trooper's sword, bearing the name of a celebrated German maker, although the ornaments and devices are unquestionably English. Another way of accounting for the inscription is, that it belonged to some of those foreign adventurers who are known to have joined Charles Edward.

W. SHIRLEY.

Burton Family (Vol. iv., p. 22.).

—In Hunter's History of Hallamshire, p. 236., is a pedigree of Burton of Royds Mill, near Sheffield, in which are the following remarks:—

"Richard Burton of Tutbury, Staffordshire, died May 9th, 8 Henry V. Married Maud, sister of Robert Gibson of Tutbury; and had a son, Sir William Burton of Falde and Tutbury, Knight; slain at Towtonfield, 1461, from whom descended the Burtons of Lindley."

"Thomas Burton of Fanshawgate, who died in 1643, left three sons; Michael, Thomas, and Francis. Michael was of Mosborough, and had a numerous issue; the names of his children appear on his monumental brass in the chancel of the church at Eckington. Thomas, the second son, was of London and Putney, married, and had issue. Francis, the youngest, was lord of the Manor of Dronfield, and served the office of High Sheriff of Derby in 1669. Was buried at Dronfield in 1687."

I find no account of any Roger Burton; but if your correspondent E. H. A. is not in possession of the above pedigree, and should wish for a copy, I shall be glad to send him it.

JOHN ALGOR.

Eldon Street, Sheffield.

Notation by Coalwhippers (Vol. iv., p. 21.).

—The notation used by coalwhippers, &c., mentioned by I. J. C., is, after all, I expect, but a part of a system which was probably the origin of the Roman notation. The first four strokes or units were cut diagonally by the fifth, and taking the first and last of these strokes we readily obtain V, or the Roman five; but as the natural systems of arithmetic are decimal, from the number of fingers, it is most probable that the tens were thus marked off, or by a stroke drawn across the last unit thus X, whence we obtain the Roman ten: these tens were repeated up to a hundred, or the second class of tens, which were probably connected by two parallel lines top and bottom [C];, which would be the sign of the second class of tens, or hundreds; this became afterwards rounded into C: the third class of tens, or thousands, was represented by four strokes M, and these symbols served by abbreviation for some intermediate numbers; thus X divided became V, or 5, the half of 10; then L, half of [C], represented 50, half of 100; and M becoming rounded thus (M); was frequently expressed in this manner CIƆ; and this became abbreviated into D, 500, half of CIƆ or 1000: and thus, by variously combining these six symbols (though all derived from the one straight stroke), numbers to a very high amount could be expressed.

THOS. LAWRENCE.

Ashby de la Zouch.

Statue of Charles II. (Vol. iv., p. 40.).

—The following passage is from Hughson's History of London, vol. ii. p. 521.:

"Among the adherents and sufferers in the cause of Charles II. was Sir Robert Viner, alderman of London. After the Restoration the worthy alderman, willing to show his loyalty and prudence, raised in this place [i. e. the Stock's Market] the statue above mentioned. The figure had been carved originally for John Sobieski, king of Poland, but by some accident was left upon the workman's hands. Finding the work ready carved to his hands, Sir Robert thought that, with some alteration, what was intended for a king of Poland might suit the monarch of Great Britain; he therefore converted the Polander into an Englishman, and the Turk underneath his horse into Oliver Cromwell; the turban on the last figure being an undeniable proof of the truth attached to the story. The compliment was so ridiculous and absurd, that no one who beheld it could avoid reflecting on the taste of those who had set it up; but as its history developed the farce improved, and what was before esteemed contemptible, proved in the end entertaining. The poor mutilated figure stood neglected some years since among the rubbish in the purlieus of Guildhall; and in 1779, it was bestowed by the common council on Robert Viner, Esq., who removed it to grace his country seat."

The earliest engraving of "the King at the Stock's Market" may be seen in Thomas Delaune's Present State of London, 12mo. 1681.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Serius, where situated? (Vol. iii., p. 494.).

—The Serius, now Serio, rises in the chain of mountains in the south of the Valteline, between the lakes Como and Ixo: it flows through a valley called the Val Seria, passes near Bergamo and Cremona, and falls into the Adda a little before that river joins the Po.

J. M. (4)

Corpse passing makes a Right of Way (Vol. iii., pp. 477. 507. 519.).

—Some time ago, I buried in our churchyard a person from an adjoining parish; but, instead of taking a pathway which led directly from the house of the deceased to the church, they kept to the high-road,—so going [125] four miles instead of one. When I asked the reason, I was told that the pathway was not a lich-road, and therefore it was not lawful to bring a corpse along it.

J. M. (4)

The Petworth Register (Vol. iii., p. 510.; Vol. iv., p. 27.).

—Your correspondents LLEWELLYN and J. S. B. do not appear to be acquainted with Heylyn's quotations from the book thus designated. In one place (p. 63., folio; vol. i. p. 132., 8vo.) he refers to it for a statement—

"That many at this time [A.D. 1548] affirmed the most blessed Sacrament of the altar to be of little regard," &c.

And in another place (p. 65., folio; vol. i. p. 136., 8vo.), he gives an extract relating to Day, Bishop of Chichester:—

"Sed Ricardus Cicestrensis, (ut ipse mihi dixit) non subscripsit."

Hence the Register would seem to have been a sort of chronicle, kept by the rector of Petworth; and it does not appear whether it was or was not in the same volume with the register of births, marriages, and deaths. In the latter case, it may possibly be still in the Petworth parish chest; for the returns to which your correspondents refer, would probably not have mentioned any other registers than those of which the law takes cognizance. On the other hand, if the chronicle was attached to the register of births, &c., it may have shared the too common fate of early registers; for, when an order of 1597 directed the clergy to transcribe on parchment the entries made in the proper registers since the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, they seem to have generally interpreted it as a permission to make away with the older registers, although there are cases in which the proper books are still preserved. (I am myself acquainted with two in this neighbourhood; and J. S. B., if I am right in identifying him with the author of the very curious and valuable History of Parish Registers, can no doubt mention many others.) But how did Heylyn, who collected most of his materials about 1638, get hold of the book?

J. C. ROBERTSON.

Bekesbourne.

Holland's "Monumenta Sepulchralia Ecclesiæ S. Pauli" (Vol. ii., p. 265.; Vol. iii., p. 427.; Vol. iv., p. 62.).—Sir Egerton Brydges, in his Censura Literaria, vol. i. p. 305., attributes this work to Henry Holland. In his notice of Heroologia Anglica, he says:

"The author was Henry Holland, son of Philemon Holland, a physician and schoolmaster at Coventry, and the well-known translator of Camden, &c. Henry was born at Coventry, and travelled with John, Lord Harrington, into the Palatinate in 1613, and collected and wrote (besides the Heroologia) Monumenta Sepulchralia Ecclesiæ S. Pauli, Lond., 4to.; and engraved and published A Book of Kings, being a true and lively effigies of all our English Kings from the Conquest till this present, &c., 1618. He was not educated either in Oxford or Cambridge; having been a member of the society of Stationers in London. I think it is most probable that he was brother to Abraham Holland, who subscribes his name as 'Abr. Holland alumnus S. S. Trin. Coll. Cantabr.' to some copies of Latin verses on the death of John, second Lord Harrington, of Exton, in the Heroologia; which Abraham was the author of a poem called Naumachia, or Holland's Sea-Fight, Lond. 1622, and died Feb. 18, 1625, when his Posthuma were edited by 'his brother H. Holland.' At this time, however, there were other writers of the name of Hen. Holland.—(See Wood's Athenæ, i. 499.)"

J. Y.

Hoxton.

Mistake as to an Eclipse (Vol. iv., p. 58.).

—From your correspondent's mention of it, I should have supposed Casaubon meant that the astronomers had been mistaken in the calculation of an eclipse. But the matter is of another kind. In the lunar eclipse of April 3, 1605, two observers, Wendelinus and Lansberg, in different longitudes, made the eclipse end at times far more different than their difference of longitudes would explain. The ending of a lunar eclipse, observed with the unassisted eye, is a very indefinite phenomenon.

The allusion to this, made by Meric Casaubon, is only what the French call a plat de son métier. He was an upholder of the ancients in philosophy, and his bias would be to depreciate modern successes, and magnify modern failures. When he talks of the astronomer being "deceived in the hour," he probably uses the word hour for time, as done in French and old English.

M.

"A Posie of other Men's Flowers" (Vol. iv., p. 58.).

—D. Q. is referred to Montaigne, who is the author of the passage; but not having access to his works, I am not able to give a paginal reference.

H. T. E.

Clyst St. George.

Davies' History of Magnetical Discovery (Vol. iv., p. 58.).

—The History, &c., by T. S. Davies, is in the British Annual for 1837, published by Baillière.

M.

Marriage of Bishops (Vol. iv., p. 57.).

—A. B. C. will find his questions fully answered in Henry Wharton's tract, entitled A Treatise of the Celibacy of the Clergy, wherein its Rise and Progress are historically considered, 1688, 4to. pp. 168. There is also another treatise on the same subject, entitled An Answer to a Discourse concerning the Celibacy of the Clergy, by E. Tully, 1687, in reply to Abraham Woodhead.

E. C. HARRINGTON.

The Close, Exeter, July 28. 1851.

"The Right divine of Kings to govern wrong" (Vol. iii., p. 494.).

—The same idea as that conveyed in this line is frequently expressed, though not in precisely the same words, in Defoe's [126] Jure Divino, a poem which contains many vigorous and spirited passages; but I do not believe that Pope gave the line as a quotation at all, or that it is other, as far as he is concerned, than original. The inverted commas merely denote that this line is the termination of the goddess's speech. The punctuation is not very correct in any of the editions of the Dunciad; and sometimes inverted commas occur at the end of the last line of a speech, and sometimes both at the beginning and end of the line.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

Equestrian Statues (Vol. iii., p. 494.).

—In reply to F. M.'s Query respecting the Duke of Wellington's statue being the only equestrian one erected to a subject in her Majesty's dominions, I may mention that there is one erected in Cavendish Square to William Duke of Cumberland, who, though of the blood royal, was yet a subject.

D. K.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

When Mr. Murray commenced that admirable series of Guides which form the indispensable companion of those restless spirits who delight with each recurring summer—

he first sent his Schoolmaster abroad; with what success those who have examined, used, and trusted to his Continental Handbooks best can tell. Whether Mr. Murray is now actuated by a spirit of patriotism, or of moral responsibility under the remembrance that "charity begins at home," we neither know nor care; since our "home-staying" friends, as well as all who visit us, will benefit by the new direction which his energy has taken. Among the first fruits of this we have Murray's Handbook for Modern London, which did not need the name of our valued contributor MR. PETER CUNNINGHAM at the foot of its preliminary advertisement to show the mint in which it was coined; for it is in every page marked with the same characteristics, the same laborious research—the same scrupulous exactness—the same clear and distinct arrangements, which won such deserved praise for that gentleman's Handbook for London, Past and Present. Any visitor to London, be he mere sight-seer or be he artist, architect, statist, &c., will find in this neatly printed volume the most satisfactory replies to his inquiries.

The Handbook to the Antiquities in the British Museum, being a Description of the Remains of Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian and Etruscan Art, preserved there, by W. S. W. Vaux, Assistant in the Department of Antiquities, has been compiled for the purpose of laying before the public the contents of one department of the British Museum—that of antiquities—in a compendious and popular form. The attempt has been most successful. Mr. Vaux has not only the advantage of official position, but of great practical knowledge of the subject, and abundant scholarship to do it justice; and the consequence is, that his Handbook to the Antiquities in the British Museum will be found not only most useful for the special object for which it has been written, but a valuable introduction to the study of Early Art.

There are probably no objects in the Great Exhibition which have attracted more general attention than the Stuffed Animals exhibited by Herrmann Ploucquet, of Stuttgart. Prince and peasant, old and young, the pale-faced student deep in Goethe and Kaulbach, and the hard-handed agriculturist who picked up his knowledge of nature and natural history while plying his daily task,—have all gazed with delight on the productions of this accomplished artist. That many of these admirers will be grateful to Mr. Bogue for having had daguerreotypes of some of the principal of these masterpieces taken by M. Claudet, and engravings made from them on wood as faithfully as possible, we cannot doubt: and to all such we heartily recommend The Comical Creatures from Wurtemburg; including the Story of Reynard the Fox, with Twenty Illustrations. The letter-press by which the plates are accompanied is written in a right Reynardine spirit; and whether as a memorial of the Exhibition—of the peculiar talent of the artist—or as a gift book for children—this pretty volume deserves to be widely circulated.

BOOKS RECEIVED.—Neander's General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. iv., is the new volume of Bohn's Standard Library; and it speaks very emphatically for the demand for cheap editions of works of learning and research that it can answer Mr. Bohn's purpose to issue a translation of such a book as this by the great ecclesiastical historian of Germany in its present form.

The Stone Mason of Saint Pont, a Village Tale from the French of De Lamartine, a new volume of Bohn's cheap series, is a tale well calculated to stir the sympathy of the reader, and to waken in him thoughts too deep for tears. It must prove one of the most popular among the works of imagination included in the series; as its companion volume, Monk's Contemporaries, Biographic Studies of the English Revolution, by M. Guizot, must take a high place among the historical works. M. Guizot describes his Sketches as "constituting, together with Monk, a sort of gallery of portraits, in which persons of the most different character appear in juxtaposition;" and a most interesting study they make—not the less, perhaps, because, as the author candidly avows, "in spite of the great diversity of manners, contemporary comparisons and applications will present themselves at every step, however careful we may be not to seek them."

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.—W. Dearden's (Carlton Street, Nottingham) Catalogue Part I. of Important Standard and Valuable Books; J. Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue Part 125., No. 6. for 1851, of Old and New Books; Joseph Lilly's (7. Pall Mall) Catalogue of a very Valuable Collection of Fine and Useful Books; F. Butsch's, at Augsburg, Catalogue (which may be had of D. Nutt, 270. Strand) of a Choice and Valuable Collection of Rare and Curious Books; Edward Tyson's (55. Great Bridgewater Street, Manchester) Catalogue, No. 1. of 1851, of Books on Sale. [127]

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.

• BRITISH ESSAYISTS, by Chalmers. 45 Vols. Johnson and Co. Vols. VI. VII. VIII. IX. and XXIII.
• KNIGHT'S PICTORIAL SHAKSPEARE. Part XXV.
• BUDDEN'S LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP MORTON, 1607.
• THOMAS LYTE'S ANCIENT BALLADS AND SONGS. 12mo. 1827.
• DODWELL (HENRY, M.A.), DISCOURSE PROVING FROM SCRIPTURES THAT THE SOUL IS A PRINCIPLE NATURALLY MORTAL, &c.
• REFLECTIONS ON MR. BURCHET'S MEMOIRS; or, Remarks on his Account of Captain Wilmot's Expedition to the West Indies, by Colonel Luke Lillingston, 1704.
• GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. Vol. I. 1731.
• NEW ENGLAND JUDGED, NOT BY MAN'S BUT BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD, &c. By George Bishope. 1661. 4to. Wanted from p. 150. to the end.
• REASON AND JUDGMENT, OR SPECIAL REMARQUES OF THE LIFE OF THE RENOWNED DR. SANDERSON, LATE LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN. 1663. Sm. 4to. Wanted from p. 90. to the end.
• TRISTRAM SHANDY. 12mo. Tenth Edition. Wanted Vol. VII.
• MALLAY, ESSAI SUR LES EGLISES ROMAINES ET BYZANTINES DU PUY DE DOME. 1 Vol. folio. 51 Plates.
• AN ACCOUNT OF THE REMAINS OF THE WORSHIP OF PRIAPUS, to which is added a Discourse thereon, as connected with the Mystic Theology of the Ancients. London, 1786. 4to. By R. Payne Knight.
• CH. THILLON'S (Professor of Halle) NOUVELLE COLLECTION DES APOCRYPHES, AUGMENTÉ, &c. Leipsic, 1832.
• SOCIAL STATICS, by Herbert Spencer. 8vo.
• THE JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. The back numbers.
• THE DAPHNIS AND CHLOE OF LONGUS, translated by Amyot (French).
• ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. The part of the 7th edition edited by Prof. Napier, containing the Art. MORTALITY.
• OBSERVATIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON HEALTH AND MORTALITY, by Arthur S. Thomson, M.D. (A Prize Thesis.)
• REPORT ON THE BENGAL MILITARY FUND, by F. G. P. Neison. Published in 1849.
• THREE REPORTS, by Mr. Griffith Davies, Actuary to the Guardian, viz.:
• Report on the Bombay Civil Fund, published 1836.
• ——— Bengal Medical Retiring Fund, published 1839.
• ——— Bengal Military Fund, published 1844.
• OBSERVATIONS ON THE MORTALITY AND PHYSICAL MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN, by Mr. Roberton, Surgeon, London, 1827.

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

Notices To Correspondents.

E. PEACOCK, Jun. We have never heard of any magazine or newspaper on the plan of "NOTES AND QUERIES" published in America.

E. is referred to our 84th No. (Vol. iii., p. 451.) for a full Reply to his Query as to the ZOLLVEREIN.

HIPPARCHUS is referred, as to the Jewish year, to Lindo's Jewish Calendar, London, 1838, 8vo., a work highly esteemed among the Jews, and with good reason.

SPERIEND will find a book at our Publisher's.

Copies of our Prospectus, according to the suggestion of T. E. H., will be forwarded to any correspondent willing to assist us by circulating them.

VOLS. I., II., and III., with very copious Indices, may still be had, price 9s. 6d. each, neatly bound in cloth.

NOTES AND QUERIES is published at noon on Friday, so that our country Subscribers may receive it on Saturday. The subscription for the Stamped Edition is 10s. 2d. for Six Months, which may be paid by Post-office Order drawn in favour of our Publisher, MR. GEORGE BELL, 186. Fleet Street; to whose care all communications for the Editor should be addressed.

Printed by THOMAS CLARK SHAW, of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5. New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride in the City of London; and published by GEORGE BELL, of No. 186. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, August 16. 1851.

      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. I.                                   |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol., No.     | Date, Year        | Pages     | PG # xxxxx  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No.  1 | November  3, 1849 |   1 -  17 | PG #  8603  |
      | Vol. I No.  2 | November 10, 1849 |  18 -  32 | PG # 11265  |
      | Vol. I No.  3 | November 17, 1849 |  33 -  46 | PG # 11577  |
      | Vol. I No.  4 | November 24, 1849 |  49 -  63 | PG # 13513  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No.  5 | December  1, 1849 |  65 -  80 | PG # 11636  |
      | Vol. I No.  6 | December  8, 1849 |  81 -  95 | PG # 13550  |
      | Vol. I No.  7 | December 15, 1849 |  97 - 112 | PG # 11651  |
      | Vol. I No.  8 | December 22, 1849 | 113 - 128 | PG # 11652  |
      | Vol. I No.  9 | December 29, 1849 | 130 - 144 | PG # 13521  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 10 | January   5, 1850 | 145 - 160 | PG #        |
      | Vol. I No. 11 | January  12, 1850 | 161 - 176 | PG # 11653  |
      | Vol. I No. 12 | January  19, 1850 | 177 - 192 | PG # 11575  |
      | Vol. I No. 13 | January  26, 1850 | 193 - 208 | PG # 11707  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 14 | February  2, 1850 | 209 - 224 | PG # 13558  |
      | Vol. I No. 15 | February  9, 1850 | 225 - 238 | PG # 11929  |
      | Vol. I No. 16 | February 16, 1850 | 241 - 256 | PG # 16193  |
      | Vol. I No. 17 | February 23, 1850 | 257 - 271 | PG # 12018  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 18 | March     2, 1850 | 273 - 288 | PG # 13544  |
      | Vol. I No. 19 | March     9, 1850 | 289 - 309 | PG # 13638  |
      | Vol. I No. 20 | March    16, 1850 | 313 - 328 | PG # 16409  |
      | Vol. I No. 21 | March    23, 1850 | 329 - 343 | PG # 11958  |
      | Vol. I No. 22 | March    30, 1850 | 345 - 359 | PG # 12198  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 23 | April     6, 1850 | 361 - 376 | PG # 12505  |
      | Vol. I No. 24 | April    13, 1850 | 377 - 392 | PG # 13925  |
      | Vol. I No. 25 | April    20, 1850 | 393 - 408 | PG # 13747  |
      | Vol. I No. 26 | April    27, 1850 | 409 - 423 | PG # 13822  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Vol. I No. 27 | May       4, 1850 | 425 - 447 | PG # 13712  |
      | Vol. I No. 28 | May      11, 1850 | 449 - 463 | PG # 13684  |
      | Vol. I No. 29 | May      18, 1850 | 465 - 479 | PG # 15197  |
      | Vol. I No. 30 | May      25, 1850 | 481 - 495 | PG # 13713  |
      +---------------+-------------------+-----------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. II.                                  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol., No.      | Date, Year         | Pages   | PG # xxxxx  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 31 | June  1, 1850      |   1- 15 | PG # 12589  |
      | Vol. II No. 32 | June  8, 1850      |  17- 32 | PG # 15996  |
      | Vol. II No. 33 | June 15, 1850      |  33- 48 | PG # 26121  |
      | Vol. II No. 34 | June 22, 1850      |  49- 64 | PG # 22127  |
      | Vol. II No. 35 | June 29, 1850      |  65- 79 | PG # 22126  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 36 | July  6, 1850      |  81- 96 | PG # 13361  |
      | Vol. II No. 37 | July 13, 1850      |  97-112 | PG # 13729  |
      | Vol. II No. 38 | July 20, 1850      | 113-128 | PG # 13362  |
      | Vol. II No. 39 | July 27, 1850      | 129-143 | PG # 13736  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 40 | August  3, 1850    | 145-159 | PG # 13389  |
      | Vol. II No. 41 | August 10, 1850    | 161-176 | PG # 13393  |
      | Vol. II No. 42 | August 17, 1850    | 177-191 | PG # 13411  |
      | Vol. II No. 43 | August 24, 1850    | 193-207 | PG # 13406  |
      | Vol. II No. 44 | August 31, 1850    | 209-223 | PG # 13426  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 45 | September  7, 1850 | 225-240 | PG # 13427  |
      | Vol. II No. 46 | September 14, 1850 | 241-256 | PG # 13462  |
      | Vol. II No. 47 | September 21, 1850 | 257-272 | PG # 13936  |
      | Vol. II No. 48 | September 28, 1850 | 273-288 | PG # 13463  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 49 | October  5, 1850   | 289-304 | PG # 13480  |
      | Vol. II No. 50 | October 12, 1850   | 305-320 | PG # 13551  |
      | Vol. II No. 51 | October 19, 1850   | 321-351 | PG # 15232  |
      | Vol. II No. 52 | October 26, 1850   | 353-367 | PG # 22624  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 53 | November  2, 1850  | 369-383 | PG # 13540  |
      | Vol. II No. 54 | November  9, 1850  | 385-399 | PG # 22138  |
      | Vol. II No. 55 | November 16, 1850  | 401-415 | PG # 15216  |
      | Vol. II No. 56 | November 23, 1850  | 417-431 | PG # 15354  |
      | Vol. II No. 57 | November 30, 1850  | 433-454 | PG # 15405  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. II No. 58 | December  7, 1850  | 457-470 | PG # 21503  |
      | Vol. II No. 59 | December 14, 1850  | 473-486 | PG # 15427  |
      | Vol. II No. 60 | December 21, 1850  | 489-502 | PG # 24803  |
      | Vol. II No. 61 | December 28, 1850  | 505-524 | PG # 16404  |
      +----------------+--------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. III.                                 |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol., No.       | Date, Year        | Pages   | PG # xxxxx  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 62 | January  4, 1851  |   1- 15 | PG # 15638  |
      | Vol. III No. 63 | January 11, 1851  |  17- 31 | PG # 15639  |
      | Vol. III No. 64 | January 18, 1851  |  33- 47 | PG # 15640  |
      | Vol. III No. 65 | January 25, 1851  |  49- 78 | PG # 15641  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 66 | February  1, 1851 |  81- 95 | PG # 22339  |
      | Vol. III No. 67 | February  8, 1851 |  97-111 | PG # 22625  |
      | Vol. III No. 68 | February 15, 1851 | 113-127 | PG # 22639  |
      | Vol. III No. 69 | February 22, 1851 | 129-159 | PG # 23027  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 70 | March  1, 1851    | 161-174 | PG # 23204  |
      | Vol. III No. 71 | March  8, 1851    | 177-200 | PG # 23205  |
      | Vol. III No. 72 | March 15, 1851    | 201-215 | PG # 23212  |
      | Vol. III No. 73 | March 22, 1851    | 217-231 | PG # 23225  |
      | Vol. III No. 74 | March 29, 1851    | 233-255 | PG # 23282  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 75 | April  5, 1851    | 257-271 | PG # 23402  |
      | Vol. III No. 76 | April 12, 1851    | 273-294 | PG # 26896  |
      | Vol. III No. 77 | April 19, 1851    | 297-311 | PG # 26897  |
      | Vol. III No. 78 | April 26, 1851    | 313-342 | PG # 26898  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 79 | May  3, 1851      | 345-359 | PG # 26899  |
      | Vol. III No. 80 | May 10, 1851      | 361-382 | PG # 32495  |
      | Vol. III No. 81 | May 17, 1851      | 385-399 | PG # 29318  |
      | Vol. III No. 82 | May 24, 1851      | 401-415 | PG # 28311  |
      | Vol. III No. 83 | May 31, 1851      | 417-440 | PG # 36835  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. III No. 84 | June  7, 1851     | 441-472 | PG # 37379  |
      | Vol. III No. 85 | June 14, 1851     | 473-488 | PG # 37403  |
      | Vol. III No. 86 | June 21, 1851     | 489-511 | PG # 37496  |
      | Vol. III No. 87 | June 28, 1851     | 513-528 | PG # 37516  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Notes and Queries Vol. IV.                                  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol., No.       | Date, Year        | Pages   | PG # xxxxx  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. IV No. 88  | July  5, 1851     |   1- 15 | PG # 37548  |
      | Vol. IV No. 89  | July 12, 1851     |  17- 31 | PG # 37568  |
      | Vol. IV No. 90  | July 19, 1851     |  33- 47 | PG # 37593  |
      | Vol. IV No. 91  | July 26, 1851     |  49- 79 | PG # 37778  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol. IV No. 92  | August  2, 1851   |  81- 94 | PG # 38324  |
      | Vol. IV No. 93  | August  9, 1851   |  97-112 | PG # 38337  |
      +-----------------+-------------------+---------+-------------+
      | Vol I. Index. [Nov. 1849-May 1850]            | PG # 13536  |
      | INDEX TO THE SECOND VOLUME. MAY-DEC., 1850    | PG # 13571  |
      | INDEX TO THE THIRD VOLUME. JAN.-JUNE, 1851    | PG # 26770  |
      +-----------------------------------------------+-------------+