Chapter C: W. G

_De Burgh Family._--I shall feel much obliged for references to the early seals of the English branch of the family of De Burgh, descended from Harlowen De Burgh, and Arlotta, mother of William the Conqueror, especially of that English branch whose armorial bearings were--Or a cross gules: also for information whether the practice, in reference to the spelling of names, was such as to render _Barow_, of the latter part of the fifteenth century, Aborough some fifty years afterwards.

E. D. B.

_Witchcraft Sermons at Huntingdon._--In an article on Witchcraft in the _Retrospective Review_ (vol. v. p. 121.), it is stated that, in 1593--

"An old man, his wife and daughter, were accused of bewitching
the five children of a Mr. Throgmorton, several servants, the
lady of Sir Samuel Cromwell, and other persons.... They were
executed, and their goods, which were of the value of forty
pounds, being escheated to Sir S. Cromwell, as lord of the
manor, he gave the amount to the mayor and aldermen of
Huntingdon, for a rent-charge of forty shillings yearly, to be
paid out of their town lands, for an annual lecture upon the
subject of witchcraft, to be preached at their town every
Lady-Day, by a doctor or bachelor of divinity, of Queen's
College, Cambridge."

Is this sum yet paid, and the sermon still preached, or has it fallen into disuse now that it is unpopular to believe in witchcraft and diabolic possession? Have any of the sermons been published?

EDWARD PEACOCK, Junior.

Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey.

_Consort._--A former correspondent applied for a notice of Mons. Consort, said to have been a mystical impostor similar to the famous Cagliostro. I beg to renew the same inquiry.

A. N.

_Creole._--This word is variously represented in my Lexicons. Bailey says, "The descendant of an European, born in America," and with him agree the rest, with the exception of the _Metropolitana_; that Encyclopædia gives the meaning, "The descendant of an European and an American Indian." A friend advocating the first meaning derives the word from the Spanish. Another friend, in favour of the second meaning, derives it originally from ~kerannumi~, _to mix_; which word is fetched, perhaps far-fetched, from ~keras~, the horn in which liquors are _mixed_. Light on this word would be acceptable.

GILBERT N. SMITH.

_Shearman Family._--Is there a family named _Shearman_ or _Sherman_ in Yorkshire, or in the city of York? What are their arms? Is there any record of any of that family settling in Ireland, in the county or city of Kilkenny, about the middle of the seventeenth century, or at an earlier period in Cork? Are there any genealogical records of them? Was Robert Shearman, warden of the hospital of St. Cross in Winchester, of that family? Was Roger Shearman, who signed the Declaration {382} of American Independence, a member of same? Is there any record of three brothers, Robert, Oliver, and Francis Shearman, coming to England in the army of William the Conqueror?

JOHN F. SHEARMAN.

Kilkenny.

_Traitors' Ford._--There is a place called Traitors' Ford on the borders of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, near the source of the little river Stour, about two miles from the village of Whichford, in the former county. What is the origin of the name? There is no notice of it in Dugdale's _Warwickshire_, nor is it mentioned in the older maps of the county of Warwick. The vicinity to the field of Edge-Hill would lead one to suppose it may be connected with some event of the period of the Civil Wars.

SPES.

"_Your most obedient humble Servant._"--In Beloe's _Anecdotes of Literature_, vol. ii. p. 93., mention is made of a poem entitled _The Historie of Edward the Second, surnamed Carnarvon_. The author, Sir Francis Hubert, in 1629, when closing the dedication of this poem to his brother, Mr. Richard Hubert, thus remarks:

"And so, humbly desiring the Almighty to blesse you both in
soule, body, and estate, I rest not your _servant_, according to
the _new_, and fine, but false phrase of the time, but in honest
old English, your loving brother and true friend for ever."

Query, At what time, and with whom did this very common and most unmeaning term in English correspondence have its origin?

W. W.

Malta.

_Version of a Proverb._--What, and where to be found, is the true version of "Qui facit per alium, facit per se?"

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

_Ellis Walker._--Can any reader of "N. & Q." give any information as to Ellis Walker, who made a _Poetical Paraphrase of the Enchiridion of Epictetus_? He dedicates it to "his honoured uncle, Mr. Samuel Walker of York," and speaks of having taken Epictetus for his companion when he fled from the "present troubles in Ireland." My edition is printed in London, 1716, but of what edition is not mentioned; but I presume the work to have been of earlier date, probably in 1690-1, as indeed I find it to have been, by inserted addresses to the author, of date in the latter year. Any information as to the translator will oblige.

A. B. R.

Belmont.

"_The Northerne Castle._"--Pepys, in his _Diary_, 14th September, 1667, says, "To the King's playhouse, to see _The Northerne Castle_, which I think I never did see before." Is anything known of this play and its authorship? or was it _The Northern Lass_, by Richard Brome, first published in 1632? Perhaps Pepys has quoted the second title of some play.

J. Y.

_Prayer-Book in French._--Can any of your readers give some satisfactory information respecting the earliest translations of the English Prayer-Book into French? By whom, when, for whom, were they first made? Does any copy still exist of one (which I have seen somewhere alluded to) published before Dean Durel's editions? By what authority have they been put forth? Is there any information to be found collected by any writer on this subject?

O. W. J.

_"Navita Erythræum," &c._--Running the risk of being smiled at for my ignorance, I wish to have a reference to the following lines:

"Navita Erythræum pavidus qui navigat æquor,
In proræ et puppis summo resonantia pendet
Tintinnabula; eo sonitu prægrandia Cete,
Balenas, et monstra marina a navibus arcet."

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

_Edmund Burke._--Can any of your correspondents tell me when and where he was married?

B. E. B.

_Plan of London._--Is there any good plan of London, showing its present extent? The answer is, None. What is more, there never was a decent plan of this vast metropolis. There is published occasionally, on a small sheet of paper, a wretched and disgraceful pretence to one, bedaubed with paint. Can you explain the cause of this? Every other capital in Europe has handsome plans, easy to be obtained: nay more, almost every provincial town, whether in this country or on the Continent, possesses better engraved and more accurate plans than this great capital can pretend to. Try and use your influence to get this defect supplied.