Chapter C: E. H. Morwenstow

_The Ten Commandments in Ten Lines._--In looking over the Registers of the Parish of Laneham, Notts, last April, I discovered on one of the leaves the Commandments with the above title. It is signed "Richard Christian, 1689:" he was vicar at that time.

"Have thou no other Gods Butt me.
Unto no Image bow thy knee
Take not the name of God in vain
Doe not thy Sabboth day profaine
Honour thy ffather and Mother too
And see y^t thou no murder doo
ffrom vile Adultry keep the cleane
And Steale not tho thy state be meane
Bear no ffalse Witness, shun y^t Blott
What is thy neighbour's Couet not.

Whrite these thy Laws Lord in my heart
And Lett me not from them depart."

S. WISWOULD.

_Vellum-bound Books._--In a list of thirty books printed for T. Carnan and F. Newbery, and issued in 1773, I find the phrase _two volumes bound in one in the vellum manner_ in seven instances; also, _four volumes bound in two in the vellum manner_; and, _six volumes bound in three in the vellum manner_. In other cases we have only the word _bound_ or _sewed_. I have a suspicion that the phrase _in the vellum manner_ may have some obsolete meaning; and submit this note to the consideration of those who are in search of a _vellum-bound Junius_.

BOLTON CORNEY.

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* * * * *

Queries.

THOMAS GILL, THE BLIND MAN OF ST. EDMUNDSBURY.

Putting in order this morning a mass of pamphlets, which my women-kind threaten to sweep into the kitchen unless more _tidily_ kept, I came upon a few poetical tracts by "Thomas Gill, the Blind Man of St. Edmundsbury." Not having had any previous acquaintance with this poetical moralist, I have looked over the lot; but beyond the above description of himself upon their titles, they afford little information regarding their author.

There is, however, proof, in _The Blind Man's Case at London_, 1711, that Gill was a character in his day. In what he loftily calls "The Argument" to these eight pages of doggrel, he says:

"The Blind Man of Bury by the Persuasions of his Printer, and some
other supposed Friends, takes his Wife with him to London, with an
Intention to settle there, where they met with so many Inconveniences,
and so great Difficulties and Charges, as soon disgusted them with the
Place."

Hereupon the blind man, finding himself disappointed in his expectations of, apparently, a larger sphere for his begging operations, opens out upon the metropolis in a fine round style of abuse in his "Letter to his Good Friend and Benefactor at Bury."

Desirous that my successor in the O---- library should have the advantage of all the information I can collect, in regard to the bibliographical curiosities therein contained, I am induced to avail myself of the medium your pages afford to inquire whether any of your Suffolk antiquaries can give me, or point out where I can help myself to, any particulars touching my new friend with an old face.

J. O.

* * * * *

BRONZE MEDALS.

Having applied in vain to several distinguished numismatists respecting certain bronze medals in my cabinet, which have baffled my own researches, I now beg to seek for information through the medium of "N. & Q.," to which I have been already much indebted; and have little doubt but that among your many intelligent correspondents some one will be found to solve my difficulties.

The medals to which I refer, and which I will describe very briefly, are the following; and I am desirous of obtaining some account of the persons in whose honour they were struck:--

1. _Astalia._ Size (Mionnet's scale), 16. "Diva Julia Astalia." Bust to the left. Rev. "Unicum for. et pud. Exemplum." A phoenix rising from its ashes. Probably not later than the early part of the sixteenth century.

2. _Conestagius._ Size, 15½. "Hieronimus Conestagius, MDXC." Bust in armour to the right, with ruff round the neck. Beneath, "MART. S***." Rev. A pen and a sword in saltire. An oval in high relief, of Italian workmanship.

3. _Meratus._ Size, 13½. "Franciscus Meratus I.P.F." Bearded bust to the right. Rev. "Me Duce Tutus Eris." A figure seated holding a book in its right hand. Query the meaning of the initials after the name?

4. _Aragonia._ Size, 13. "D. Maria Aragonia." Bust to the right, with a crown falling from her head. Rev. None.

5. _Hanna._ Size, 18. "Martinus de Hanna." Bust in a gown, to the right. Rev. "Spes mea in Deo est." A full-length figure, with hands clasped and raised towards heaven: apparently a foreign Protestant divine.

6. _Corsi._ Size, 20. "Laura Corsi March. Salviati." Hooded bust to the left, with crucifix suspended from the neck. Beneath, "MDCCVIII." Rev. "Mens immota manet." Full-length female figure, with helmet on her head, leaning on a spear round which a serpent is twined, with a stag by her side. In the background, on one side, is represented a castle on a wooded height; on the other, a vessel is seen labouring in a storm. A striking medal; and the lady's portrait makes one feel interested to learn her history, which seemingly ought to be known: but I must confess my ignorance even whether the Marquisate of Salviati be in Italy or Sicily.

JOHN J. A. BOASE.

P.S.--John de Silvâ, Count de Portalegre, who accompanied Don Sebastian in his expedition to Africa against Muley Moloch, published at Genoa in 1585 a work entitled _Dell' Unione del Regno di Portogallo alla Corona di Castiglia_, under the name of _Conestaggio_; but not having the book by me, I do not know whether the Christian name "Geronimo" also appears.

[The remainder of the title-page reads, "Istoria Del Sig. Ieronimo De
Franchi Conestaggio Gentilhuomo Genovese."]

* * * * *

ACWORTH QUERIES.

In the church of St. Mary Luton, Beds, there is a brass slab bearing the figures of a knight and his two wives, with the following inscription:

"Pray for the soules of John Acworth Squyer and Alys and Amy his wyfes,
which John deceased the xvij day of March the yer of our Lord
M'v^cxiij. On whose souls Jhu have mercy."

For arms, he bore quarterly, 1st and 4th, erm. on a chief indented gu. 3 coronets or. 2nd and 3rd, or, between 3 roses a chev. gu.

In the reign of Henry VIII. there was one Johan Acworth (a lady of the bedchamber to Katherine Howard), who married Sir John Bulmer, and went to reside at York.

John Acworth was, I believe, succeeded by his son, George Acworth, who married Margaret, the {609} daughter of -- Wilborefoss, of Durham, Esquire, and had issue a daughter, Johan Acworth. This Johan Acworth married Sir Edward Waldegrave, the youngest son of George Waldegrave, of Smalbridge, Essex, Esq. I do not know if George Acworth had any other issue.

In 1560 there was a George Acworth who was public orator of Cambridge. He was formerly of Peterhouse, and took his D.C.L. at St. John's, Oxon. He was in his early days the friend and companion of Archbishop Parker. In 1576, he was appointed Master of the Faculties, Judge of the Prer. Court of Ireland. He is said to have died in Ireland, but where or when I do not know.

There was another of the name, Allin Acworth, formerly of Magdalen Hall, Oxon, and Vicar of St. Nicholas, Rochester, Kent. He was a sufferer by the Act of Uniformity, having been, in consequence of that Act, expelled his vicarage in 1666. Of his subsequent history I find no trace.

If any of your correspondents can give me any information relative to any of the above, their descent, or intermarriages, I shall be much obliged.

The name is, I believe, an uncommon one, and is only borne, as far as I can learn, by one family now in existence. There was, however, another family of the name formerly belonging to Suffolk, who bore for arms: Sa. a griffin segreant armed and langued or. But I cannot find any trace of their residence, &c., or when they flourished or became extinct.

I believe there was a Baron of the name in the reign of one of the early Henries, but unfortunately can discover no certain information about him.

The above particulars are wanted for genealogical purposes.

G. B. A.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

"_Row the boat, Norman._"--In the _Chronicles of England_ collected by John Stow, and printed in 1580, is the following passage:--

"1454. John Norman, Draper, Maior. Before thys time the Maiors,
Aldermen, and Commoners of the Citie of London were wonte all to ride
to Westminster when the Maior should take hys charge, but this Maior
was rowed thyther by water; for the whiche the watermen made of hym a
song, 'Rowe the boate, Norman,' &c."

Are any of your correspondents in possession of the words of this song? or is the tune to which it was sung known?

T. G. H.

_The Hereditary Standard Bearer._--In Crawford's _Peerage of Scotland_ it is mentioned, that in the year 1107 Alexander I., by a special grant, appointed a member of the Carron family (to whom he gave the name of Scrimgeour, for his valour in a _sharp fight_) the office of Hereditary Standard Bearer. Can you inform me how the Scrimgeours were deprived of this honour? The family is not extinct, and yet I see the Hereditary Royal Standard Bearer is now a Wedderburne, and the Earl of Lauderdale is also Hereditary Standard Bearer. There surely must have been injustice committed some time to cause such confusion. When and how did it take place?

T. G. H.

_Walton's Angler; Seth's Pillars; May-butter; English Guzman._--In Walton's _Complete Angler_, in the beginning of the discourse between Piscator and Venator, the former, expatiating on the antiquity of the art of angling, gives as one of the traditions of its origin, that Seth, one of the sons of Adam,

"Left it engraven on those pillars which he erected, and trusted to
preserve the knowledge of the mathematics, music, and the rest of that
precious knowledge, and those useful arts which, by God's appointment
or allowance, and his noble industry, were thereby preserved from
perishing in Noah's flood."

What is the tradition of Seth's Pillars?

Piscator in chap. v. says:

"But I promise to tell you more of the fly-fishing for a trout, which I
may have time enough to do, for you see it rains May-butter."

What is May-butter, or the origin of the saying?

In the amusing contest between the gypsies related in the same chapter, these worthies were too wise to go to law about the residuary shilling, and did therefore choose their choice friends Rook and Shark, and our late English Guzman, to be their arbitrators and umpires.

What is the explanation of these names? There appears to be some natural consequence to this choice, for the decision seems to have been arrived at by the act of reference. The notes explain that by "our English Guzman"[4] was intended one James, a noted thief. I suppose his prototype was Don Guzman D'Alfarache; but no interpretation of the passage is given. Would it be found to have reference to some passage in the book referred to in the note?

ANON.

[Footnote 4: [Sir Harris Nicolas says: "The allusion is to a work which had appeared three years before: _The English Gusman; or, the History of that unparalleled Thief, James Hind_, written by G. F. [George Fidge] 4to., London, 1652. Hind appears to have been the greatest thief of his age; the son of a saddler at Chipping Norton, and apprenticed to a butcher. In the rebellion he attached himself to the royal cause, and was actively engaged in the battles of Worcester and Warrington. In 1651, he was arrested by order of parliament, under the name of Brown, 'at one Denzy's, a barber over against St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street;' which circumstance may have introduced him to Walton's notice."--ED.]]

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_Radish Feast._--I copied the following from the north door of St. Ebbe's Church, Oxford. Can any of your correspondents explain the origin and meaning of this feast?

"_St. Ebbe's Parish._

"The annual meeting for the election of Church-wardens for this Parish
will be held in the vestry of the Parish Church on Easter Tuesday, at 4
o'clock in the afternoon.

"WM. BRUNNER, }
WM. FISHER, } Churchwardens.

"Dated 10 April, 1852.

"The Radish Feast will be at the Bull Inn, New Street, immediately
after the Vestry."

R. R. ROWE.

Cambridge.

_What Kind of Drink is Whit?_--In going over the famous old mansion Cothele, near Tavistock, the other day, I saw, among other primæval crockery, three pot-bellied jugs, two of which were inscribed "Sack, 1646;" and the third, a smaller one, "Whit, 1646." What kind of drink is _whit_?

W. G. C.

_"Felix natu," &c._--

"Felix natu, felicior vitâ, felicissimus morte."

Of whom was this said, and by whom?

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

"_Gutta cavat lapidem._"--Can any reader of "N. & Q." inform me whence the following verse is taken?

"Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed sæpe cadendo."

The first half, I know, is the commencement of a line in _Ov. ex Ponto_, Ep. x. v. 5., which concludes with--

"... consumitur annulus usu."

I have seen it quoted, but no reference given.

A. W.

Kilburn.

_Punch and Judy._--Are any of your readers of "N. & Q." not aware that _Punch and Judy_ is a corruption, both in word and deed, of _Pontius cum Judæis_, one of the old mysteries, the subject of which was Pontius Pilate with the Jews; and particularly in reference to St. Matt. xxvii. 19.? I should be glad to hear of some similar instances.

BOEOTICUS.

Edgmond, Salop.

_Sir John Darnall_ (Vol. v., pp. 489. 545.).--Can either of your correspondents, E. N. or G., inform me whether the Sir John Darnall, who is the subject of their communications, is descended from John Darnall, who was a Baron of the Exchequer in 1548, or give me any particulars of the "birth parentage, education, life, character, and behaviour" of the latter?

EDWARD FOSS.

_The Chevalier St. George._--Can any of the numerous readers of "N. & Q." inform me where ample and minute accounts, either in print or MS., of the Life and Court of the Chevalier St. George, particularly from the death of James II. to his own death, can be obtained; also, of his ministers of state, personal attendants, &c.? I have already examined such of the Stuart Papers as have been published by Mr. Glover, and by Brown in his _History of the Highland Clans_.

J. W. H.

_Declaration of 2000 Clergymen._--Several allusions have been lately made at Parliament to the 2000 clergymen who signed a Declaration calling in question the Queen's supremacy. Was a list of these clergymen ever published? If so, in what newspaper or periodical? What were the exact words of the declaration?

RUSTICUS.

_MS. "De Humilitate."_--Can any of your correspondents give me any information as to the date, authorship, or value of a MS. that has lately fallen into my hands? It is a thin quarto, beautifully written upon parchment. The title page is wanting, and the MS. commences with the index: but the title of the work is _De Humilitate_. It consists of twenty-four chapters. The heading of the first two is as follows:

"Incipit prologus in libello qui inscribitur de humilitate,

Cap. I. Quam perniciosum sit et Deo odibile superbiæ initium, et
qualiter ac de quibus gloriandum sit.

II. Quod sit superbia fugienda et sectanda humilitas, quæ in sui vera
cognitione fundata consistit," &c.

The top of the first page has a rich initial letter; and at the bottom a coat of arms: Crest, a leopard rampant; shield, argent, 3 bars gules, on a chief azure 3 fleur de lys or. The heading of each chapter is written in red ink.

CEYREP.

_MS. Work on Seals._--Moule, in his _Bibliotheca Heraldica_, states that there was at the date of the publication of his work (1822), in the library at Stowe, a MS. work, two volumes, folio, by Anstis, on the Antiquity and Use of Seals. Can any of your readers inform me in whose possession this work now is?

A. O. D. D.

_Sir George Carew._--Sir George Carew, the able commander and crafty statesman of Queen Elizabeth's time, was created Earl of Totness. His grandfather mortgaged his ancestral estate of Carew, in Pembrokeshire, to Sir Rhys ap Thomas, who, with its subsequent possessors, Sir John Perrot and the Earl of Essex, made great additions to Carew Castle, the magnificent remains of which entitle it to be called the ruined Windsor of Wales.

The Carews then pushed their fortunes in Ireland, and endeavoured to recover the "Marquisate of Cork" on an obsolete and false claim. {611}

The writer wishes for an accurate pedigree of Sir George Carew, showing his relationship to Sir Peter Carew, who was buried at Ross, and to Sir Peter who was killed at the skirmish of Glendalough in 1581.

H.

_Docking Horses' Tails._--I should be glad to learn when the practice of docking horses' tails commenced in England, or in any country of Europe, and what was the immediate cause of this amputation? I cannot trace in the plates of Froissart, or others of a later date, any indication of this practice, and in them there are no tails lopped of their fair proportions.

What other nations besides the English have ever docked their horses' tails; and where is any account to be found of their reasons for so doing?

If any of your correspondents will answer these Queries, I shall feel obliged.

TAIL.

_St. Albans, William, Abbot of._--Archbishop Morton addressed a monition in 1490 to William, Abbot of St. Albans. It is to be found in Wilkin's _Concilia_, iii. 632., and is extracted from Archbishop Morton's _Register_, fol. 22. b. Now, in Tanner's _Notitia_, and in Dugdale's _Monasticon_, it is stated that William Wallingford, Abbot of St. Albans, died in 1484; and that the chair was vacant until 1492, when Thomas Ramryge was elected abbot. Archbishop Morton's original letter is, I believe, to be seen in the register at Lambeth, and its date is distinctly 1490. This date, moreover, agrees with the Excerpta of Dr. Ducarel in the British Museum.

Can any of your readers solve this difficulty for me, as I am anxious to know immediately whether I may safely identify "William," the notorious evil-liver of Morton's monition, with "Wallington," who bears a respectable character in Dugdale's _Monasticon_.

L. H. J. TONNA.

_Jeremy Taylor on Friendship._--

"I am grieved at every sad story I hear. I am troubled when I hear of a
pretty bride murdered in her bride-chamber by an ambitious and enraged
rival," &c.--_Jeremy Taylor on Friendship_, p. 37, fol. Lond. 1674.

This was written A.D. 1657: what is the case referred to?

C. P. E.

_Colonel or Major-General Lee._--The dates of his letters tend to prove that Lee was on the continent in 1770, and this is apparently borne out by the "memoirs" published both in America and in England. But Dr. Girdleston, in his strange work published in 1813, asserts that on the 20th April, 1770, at the christening of Sir Charles Davis's eldest son, Charles Sydney, Lee was at Rushbrooke in Suffolk. The proof, however, is not adduced in a simple and straightforward manner. At page 6, Dr. Girdlestone tells us that some person, not named, remembers that Lee stood sponsor, &c.; at page 7, that the register proves that the baptism took place on the 20th April, 1770; and at page 13, that the register proves that Lee was on the 20th April "in that church." This last is the only fact bearing on the question at issue. Will any of your intelligent correspondents residing at Bury favour you with a copy of the register of the baptism of Charles Sydney on the 20th April, 1770?