Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

Sylvester de Petra-Sancta of the lozenge says much the same:

"Scutulas oxigonias scu acutangulus erectas, et quasi gradiles, referri
debere ad latericias et antiquas domus olim, viz. Nobilium quia vulgus,
et infamiae sortis homines, intra humiles casus, vet antra
inhabitantur."

Of the fusil Nisbet writes:

"The fusil is another Rhombular figure like the lozenge, but more long
than broad, and its upper and lower points are more acute than the two
side points."

He adds that:

"Chassanus and others make their sides round, as in his description of
them: 'Fusae sunt acutae in superiore et inferiore partibus, et rotundae
ex utroque latere;' which description has occasioned some English
heralds, when so painted or engraven, to call them millers' picks, as
Sir John Boswell, in his _Concords of Armory_, and others, to call them
weavers' shuttles."

Menestrier says of lozenges:

"Lozange est une figure de quatre pointes, dont deux sont un peu plus
etendues que les autres, et assise sur une de ces pointes. C'est le
Rhomb des mathematiciens, et les quarreaux des vitres ordinaires en ont
la figure."

Of fusils:

"Fusees sont plus etendues en longue que les lozanges, et affilees en
point comme les fuseaux. Elles sont pieces d'architecture ou l'on se
sert pour ornement de fusees et de pesons."

The celebrated _Boke of St. Albans_ (1486) thus describes the difference between a lozenge and fusil:

"Knaw ye y^e differans betwix ffusillis and losyng. Wherefore it is to
be knaw that ffusillis ar euermore long, also fusyllis ar strattyr
ouerwart in the baly then ar mascules. And mascules ar larger ou'wartt
in the baly, and shorter in length than be fusyllis."

The mascle is afterwards explained to be the lozenge pierced. Again:

"And ye most take thys for a general enformacion and instruccion that
certanli losyng eu'more stand upright ... and so withowte dowte we have
the differans of the foresayd signes, that is to wete of mascules and
losynges."

Dallaway, an elegant writer on Heraldry, says:

"Of the lozenge the following extraordinary description is given in a
MS. of Glover, 'Lozenga est pars vitri in vitrea fenestra.' But it may
be more satisfactory to observe that the lozenge, with its diminutive,
are given to females instead of an escocheon for the insertion of their
armorial bearings, one of which is supposed to have been a cushion of
that shape, and the other is evidently the spindle used in spinning;
both demonstrative of the sedentary employments of women. On a very
splendid brass for Eleanor, relict of Thomas of Woodstocke, who died
1384, she is delineated as resting her head upon two cushions, the
upper of which is placed lozenge-wise."--P. 140.

The above is taken from his _Miscellaneous Observations on Heraldic Ensigns_, the following from the body of his great work:

"Females being heirs, or conveying feodal lordships to their husbands,
had, as early as the thirteenth century, the privilege of armorial
seals. The variations were progressive and frequent; at first the
female effigy had the kirtle or inner garment emblazoned, or held the
escocheon over her head, or in her right hand; then three escocheons
met in the centre, or four were joined at their bases, if the alliance
admitted of so many. Dimidiation, accollation, and impalement succeeded
each other at short intervals. But the modern practice of placing the
arms of females upon a lozenge appears to have originated about the
middle of the fourteenth century, when we have an instance of five
lozenges conjoined upon one seal; that of the heir female in the centre
impaling the arms of her husband, and surrounded by those of her
ancestors."--P. 400.

I think this quotation from so learned a writer goes far towards settling the whole question. I confess myself willing to have my theory placed second to this, while I must discard the "distaff" {450} notion, unless better substantiated than by the French saying from their Salique law, which I here give for P. P.'s information: "Nunquam corona a lance transibit ad fusum." I am willing to admit the antiquity of this notion; for while the shape of the man's shield is traced by Sylvanus Morgan to Adam's spade, he takes the woman's from Eve's spindle!

"When Adam delved, and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?"

In Geoffry Chaucer's time the lozenge appears to have been an ornament worn by heralds in their dress or crown. In describing the habit of one, he says:

"They crowned were as kinges
With crowns wrought full of lozenges
And many ribbons and many fringes."

As for the difference between the lozenge and fusil, I could multiply opinions and examples, but hope those given will be sufficient.

I cannot conclude these few hasty remarks without expressing a wish that one of your correspondents in particular would take up this subject, to handle which in a masterly manner, his position is a guaranty of his ability. I refer to the gentleman holding the office of York Herald.

BROCTUNA.

Bury, Lancashire.

* * * * *

THE MYRTLE BEE.

(Vol. viii., p. 173.)

From a very early period, and throughout life, I have been accustomed to shooting, and well remember the bird in question, but whether the term was local or general, I am unable to state, never having met with it save in one locality; and many years have elapsed since I saw one, although in the habit of frequenting the neighbourhood where it was originally to be seen. I attribute its disappearance to local causes. I met with it during a series of years, ending about twenty-five years since, at which period I lost sight of it. It was to be met with during the autumn and winter in bogs scattered over with bog myrtle, on Chobham and the adjacent common; I never met with it elsewhere. It is solitary. I am unacquainted with its food, and only in a single instance had I ever one in my hand. Its tongue is pointed, sharp, and appearing capable of penetration. Its colour throughout dusky light blue, slightly tinged with yellow about the vent. Tail about one inch, being rather long in proportion to the body, causing the wings to appear forward, with a miniature pheasant-like appearance as it flew, or rather darted, from bush to bush, with amazing quickness, its wings moving with rapidity, straight in its flight, keeping near the ground, appearing loth to wing, never passing an intervening bush if ever so near; and I never saw one fly over eight or ten yards, and never wing a second time, which induced our dogs (using a sporting phrase) to puzzle them, causing a belief that they were in most instances trodden under the water and grass in which the myrtle grew, and which nothing but a dog could approach. I never saw one sitting or light on a branch of the myrtle, but invariably flying from the _base_ of one plant to that of another. I am not aware that any cabinet contains a preserved specimen, or that the bird has ever been noticed by any naturalist as a British or foreign bird.

Should W. R. D. S. covet farther information as to the probable cause of its disappearance, and my never having met with it elsewhere, perhaps he will favour me with his address. I cannot think the bird extinct.

C. BROWN.

Egham, Surrey.

* * * * *

CAPTAIN JOHN DAVIS.

(Vol. viii., p. 385.)

The earliest memoir of captain John Davis, the celebrated arctic navigator, is that given by the reverend John Prince in his DANMONII ORIENTALES ILLUSTRES, _or the worthies of Devon_, Exeter, 1701, folio. It is, however, erroneous and defective in important particulars, and has misled some eminent writers, as Campbell, Eyries, Barrow, &c.

Despite the assertions of master Prince, I _question_ if captain Davis married a daughter of sir John Fulford; I am _sure_ he was not the first pilot who conducted the Hollanders to the East-Indies; I am sure the journal of the voyage is not printed in Hakluyt; I am sure the narrative of his voyage with sir Edward Michelborne is neither dedicated to the earl of Essex nor printed in Hakluyt; I am sure he did not write the _Rutter, or brief directions for sailing into the East-Indies_; I am sure he wrote two works of which Prince says nothing; I am sure he did not make _five_ voyages to the East-Indies; and I am sure, to omit other oversights, that he did not "return home safe again." To the latter point I shall now confine myself.

In 1604 king James, regardless of the charter held by the East-India company, granted a license to sir Edward Michelborne, one of his gentlemen-pensioners, to discover and trade with the "countries and domynions of Cathaia, China, Japan," &c. This license, preserved in the Rolls-chapel, is dated the twenty-fifth of June. On the fifth of December sir Edward set sail from Cowes with the Tiger, a ship of 240 tons, and a pinnace--captain Davis being, as I conceive, the _second_ in command. In December 1605, being near the island of Bintang, they fell in with a junk of 70 tons, carrying ninety Japanese, most of them {451} "in too gallant a habit for saylers:" in fact, they were pirates! The unfortunate result shall now be stated in the words of the _pirate_ Michelborne:

"Vpon mutuall courtesies with gifts and feastings betweene vs,
sometimes fiue and twentie or sixe and twentie of their chiefest came
aboord: whereof I vould not suffer aboue sixe to have weapons. Their
was neuer the like number of our men aboord their iunke. I willed
captaine John Dauis in the morning [the twenty-seventh of December] to
possesse himselfe of their weapons, and to put the companie before
mast, and to leave some guard on their weapons, while they searched in
the rice, doubting that by searching and finding that which would
dislike them, they might suddenly set vpon my men, and put them to the
sword: as the sequell prooued. Captaine Dauis being beguiled with their
humble semblance, would not possesse himselfe of their weapons, though
I sent twice of purpose from my shippe to will him to doe it. They
passed all the day, my men searching in the rice, and they looking on:
at the sunne-setting, after long search and nothing found, saue a
little storax and beniamin: they seeing oportunitie, and talking to the
rest of their companie which were in my ship, being neere to their
iunke, they resolued, at a watch-word betweene them, to set vpon vs
resolutely in both ships. This being concluded, they suddenly killed
and droue ouer-boord, all my men that were in their ship; and those
which were aboord my ship sallied out of my cabbin, where they were
put, with such weapons as they had, finding certaine targets in my
cabbin, and other things that they vsed as weapons. My selfe being
aloft on the decke, knowing what was likely to follow, leapt into the
waste, where, with the boate swaines, carpenter and some few more, wee
kept them vnder the halfe-decke. At their first comming forth of the
cabbin, they met captain Dauis comming out of the gun-roome, whom they
pulled into the cabbin, and giuing him sixe or seuen mortall wounds,
they thrust him out of the cabbin before them. His wounds were so
mortall, that he dyed assoone as he came into the waste."--Purchas, i.
137.

BOLTON CORNEY.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Clouds in Photographs._--I wish one of your photographic correspondents would inform me, how _clouds_ can be put into photographs taken on paper? Mr. Buckle's photographs all contain _clouds_?

[Sigma].

"_The Stereoscope considered in relation to the Philosophy of Binocular Vision_" is the title of a small pamphlet written by a frequent contributor to this journal, Mr. C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY, in which he has "attempted to sketch out such modifications of the theory of double vision as appear to him to be entailed on the rationale of the stereoscope." The corroboration thus indirectly afforded to the principles of Sir William Hamilton's _Philosophy of Perception_ has induced MR. INGLEBY to dedicate his word to that distinguished metaphysician. The essay will, we have no doubt, be perused with great interest by many of our photographic friends, for whose gratification we shall borrow its concluding paragraph.

"In conclusion we must not forget to acknowledge our obligations to the
photographic art, not merely as one of the most suggestive results of
natural science, but as a means of the widest and soundest utility. To
antiquaries the services of photography have a unique value, for, by
perpetuating in the form of negatives those monuments of nature and art
which, though exempt from common accident, are still subject to gradual
decay from time, it places in the hands of us all microscopically exact
antitypes of objects which, from change or distance, are otherwise
inaccessible. To the artist they afford the means of facilitating the
otherwise laborious, and often mechanical, task of drawing in detail
from nature and from the human figure.

"To the physician, to the naturalist, and to the man of science, the
uses of photography are various and important, and already the
discoveries which have been directly due to this modern art are of
stupendous utility.

"To the metaphysician, its uses may be sufficiently gleaned from the
applications considered in the preceding pages. But to all these
classes of men the photographic art derives its chief glory from its
application to the stereoscope; and if, for elucidating the principles
of vision by means of this application, we have in any degree given a
stimulus to the practice and improvement of the photographic processes,
our pains have been happily and fruitfully bestowed."

_Muller's Processes._--Would you inform me, through the medium of "N. & Q.," what manufacture of paper is best adapted to the two processes of Mr. Muller? I have tried several: with some I find that the combination of their starch with the iodide of iron causes a dark precipitate upon the face of the paper; and with those papers prepared with size, there appears to me great difficulty (in his improved process after the paper is moistened with aceto-nitrate of silver) to procure an equal distribution of the iodide over its surface, as it invariably dries or runs off parts of the paper, or is repelled by spots of size on the paper when dipped in the iodide of iron bath.--A reply to the foregoing question would greatly oblige

A CONSTANT READER.

Essex.

_Positives on Glass._--Sometimes, when your sitter is gone, and you hold your portrait up to the light to examine its density, you find in the face and other parts which are dark, so viewed, minute _transparent_ specks, scarcely bigger than a pin's point. When the picture is backed with black lacquer, you have consequently small _black_ spots, which deform the positive, especially when viewed through a lens of short focus. A friend of mine {452} cures this defect very easily. After having applied the amber varnish, he stops out the spots with a little oil-paint that matches the lights of the picture; of course the paint is put upon the varnished side of the glass. When the paint is dry, the black lacquer is carried over the whole as usual.

T. D. EATON.

Norwich.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Peculiar Ornament in Crosthwaite Church_ (Vol. viii., p. 200.).--I am exceedingly obliged to CHEVERELLS for his reply to any Query. I am sorry to say that I failed to make a note of the number of the circles; but, as far as I can remember, there are six windows in each aisle, so in all there would be twenty-four, each window having two carved upon it, one on the right jamb without, and the other on the left within.

R. W. ELLIOT.

Clifton.

_Nursery Rhymes_ (Vol. viii., p. 455.).--I would suggest to L. that a consideration of _rhymes_ may sometimes indicate, by the change in the pronunciation, the antiquity of the verse e.g.,

"Hush aby, baby, on the green _bough_,
When the wind blows the cradle will _rock_,
And when the bough breaks," &c.

Here, according to modern pronunciation, the rhymes of the first couplet are imperfect, so that it was probably composed in the Saxon era, or while the word _bough_ was still pronounced _bog_ or _bock_.

J. R.

_Milton's Widow_ (Vol. vii., p. 596.; Vol. viii., pp. 12. 134. 200.).--Reading up my arrears of "N. & Q.," which a long absence from England has caused to accumulate, I find frequent inquiries made for some information which I once promised, relative to Milton's widow. I fear that your correspondents on this subject have formed an exaggerated idea of the importance of the expected note, and that they will see but a "ridiculus mus" after all. As I have no means at hand at the present moment wherewith to attempt to elucidate the Minshull genealogy, I shall content myself by simply sending my original notes, namely, brief abstracts of the wills of Thomas and Nathan Paget preserved at Doctors' Commons.

Thomas Paget, minister of the gospel at Stockport, in Cheshire, makes his will May 23, 1660; mentions his three daughters Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Mary; and leaves estates at different places in Shropshire to his two sons, Dr. Nathan and Thomas, whom he appoints his executors. He entreats _his cousin Minshull, apothecarie in Manchester_, to be overseer of his will, which was proved October 16, 1660.

[I have before (Vol. v., p. 327.) shown the connexion between the Pagets and Manchester.]

Nathan Paget, Doctor in Medicine, will dated January 7, 1678, was then living in the parish of St. Stephen's, Coleman Street, London, leaves certain estates, and his house in London where he resided, to his brother Thomas Paget, clerk. Bequests to his cousin John Goldsmith of the Middle Temple, gent., and _his cousin Elizabeth Milton_, to the Society of Physicians, and the poor of the parish of St. Stephen's. Will proved January 15, 1678.

I have omitted to note _what_ the bequests were. I will only add, that some time ago I dropped my _alias_ of CRANMORE, and have occasionally appeared in your sixth Volume as

ARTHUR PAGET.

_Watch-paper Inscriptions_ (Vol. viii., p. 316.).---I recollect, when at school, having an old silver watch with the following printed lines inside the case:

"Time is--the present moment well employ;
Time was--is past--thou canst not it enjoy;
Time future--is not, and may never be;
Time present--is the only time for thee."

JNO. D. ALLCROFT.

_Poetical Tavern Signs_ (Vol. viii., p. 242.).--May I add to those mentioned by your correspondent MR. WARDE, one at Chatham. On the sign-board is painted "an arm embowed, holding a malt-shovel," underneath which is written,--

"Good malt makes good beer,
Walk in, and you'll find it here."

G. BRINDLEY ACWORTH.

Star Hill, Rochester.

At a small inn in Castleton, near Whitby, the sign represents Robin Hood and Little John in their usual forest costume, and underneath appear the following doggerel lines:

"To gentlemen and yeomen good,
Come in and drink with Robin Hood;
If Robin Hood is not at home,
Come in and drink with Little John."

F. M.

_Parish Clerks' Company_ (Vol. viii., p. 341.).--The hall is in Silver Street, Wood Street; the beadle is Mr. Bullard, No. 9. Grocers' Hall Court, Poultry.

If the circulars of the company were attended to, a great service would be rendered to the public; but as there are about one hundred and sixty churches in the metropolis, the chance of a parish clerk finding any particular marriage, &c. is, at the best, but as one to one hundred and sixty. Besides this, the parish registers are generally in the custody of the clergyman, and it is therefore feared that the searches are but too often {453} neglected, unless the reward is sufficiently tempting to induce the loss of time and the probability of an unsuccessful examination.

JOHN S. BURN.

"_Elijah's Mantle_" (Vol. viii., p. 295.).--James Sayers, Esq., a solicitor of Staple Inn, was the author of this beautiful poem, and he was also the reputed author of some of Gilray's best caricatures.

SUUM CUIQUE.

_Histories of Literature_ (Vol. viii., p. 222.).--In addition to the works of Hallam, Maitland, and Berrington mentioned by you, I would recommend your correspondent ILMONASTERIENSIS to procure an _anonymous_ publication, entitled _An Introduction to the Literary History of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries_, London, 1798, 8vo. It is a much neglected work, replete with interesting information relative to the state of literature during the dark ages. I observe a copy in calf, marked 4s. 6d. in a bookseller's catalogue published lately in this city.

T. G. S.

Edinburgh.

_Birthplace of General Monk_ (Vol. viii., p. 316.).--I regret to find I am in error in saying that Lysons positively assigns Landcross as Monk's birthplace in the _Magna Britannia_.

The mistake is of slight import as respects the Query, but accuracy in citing authorities is at least desirable, and ought (in common justice) to be ever most scrupulously regarded.

"General Monk _appears_ to have been a native of this village; he was baptised at Lancras, December 11, 1608," is, I find, the actual passage, the substance of which (writing in Germany, far from any means of reference), at the time believed I was more correctly quoting.

F. KYFFIN LENTHALL.

Reform Club.

_Books chained to Desks in Churches_ (Vol. viii., pp. 93. 273.).--In the library of St. Walburg's Church at Zutphen, consisting chiefly of Bibles and other Latin works, the books are fastened to the desks by iron chains. This was done, it is said, to prevent the Evil One from stealing them, a crime of which he had been repeatedly guilty. The proof of this is found in the stone-floor, where his foot-marks are impressed, and still show the direction of his march: they also teach us the important fact, that the feet of his tenebrious majesty are very like those of a large dog, and do not, as is generally supposed, resemble those of a horse.--From the _Navorscher_.

L. V. H.

In the chancel of Leyland Church, Lancashire, are four folio books chained to a window seat which makes a sloping desk for them: they are Foxe's _Martyrs_ and Jewell's _Apology_, both in black-letter, title-pages torn, and much worn; and a _Preservative against Popery_, in 2 vols., dated 1738.

P. P.

A copy of the Bible was formerly affixed by a chain in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, but has been removed to a certain library.

The covers of a book are chained to a desk in the church of Kettering; the book itself is gone.

B. H. C.

In the parish church of Borden, near Sittingbourne, Kent, a copy of _Comber on the Common Prayer_ is chained to a stand in the chancel.

ESTA.

_Pedigree Indices_ (Vol. viii., p. 317.).--If CAPTAIN wishes to make a search for a pedigree in the libraries at Cambridge, he will learn from the MSS. Catalogue of 1697 in which of the libraries MS. volumes of heraldry and genealogy ought to be found; he should then apply, either through some master of arts, or with a proper letter of introduction in his hand, to the librarian for leave to search the volumes. He will find that generally every facility is afforded him which the safe keeping of historical evidences allows. He will do well to select term-time for the period of making a search; and before seeking admission to a college librarian, it will be found convenient to both parties for him to give a day's notice, by letter or card, to the librarian, who has often occupations and engagements that cannot always be got rid of at the call of a chance visitor.

CANTAB.

There are not any published genealogical tables showing the various kindred of William of Wykeham or Sir Thomas White similar to those contained in the _Stemmata Chicheliana_. A few descents of kindred of Sir Thomas White may be seen in Ashmole's _History of Berkshire_, 3 vols. 8vo.

G.

_Portrait of Hobbes_ (Vol. viii. p 368.).--I have an etching (size about 6-1/2 in. by 8-1/2 in.) inscribed:

"Vera et Viva Effigies THOMAE HOBBES, Malmesburiensis."

and under this:

"I. Bapt. Caspar pinxit; W. Hollar fecit aqua forti, 1665."

It is a half-length portrait, and represents Hobbes uncovered, with his hands folded in his robe; and is without any arch or other ornament.

Did Caspar paint more than one portrait of Hobbes? Is this the one mentioned by Hollar, in his letter dated 1661, quoted by MR. SINGER.

WM. MCCREE.

_Tenets or Tenents_ (Vol. vii., p.205.; Vol. viii., p. 330.).--Were there two editions of the _Vulgar Errors_ published in the same year, 1646? For my copy, "printed by T. H. for Edward Dod, and {454} are to be sold in Ivie Lane, 1646," and which I have always supposed to be of the first edition, has "Tenents," very distinctly, on the title-page. On the fly-leaf, opposite to the title-page, is the approbation of John Downame, dated March 14, 1645, and commencing thus:

"I have perused these learned animadversions upon the common tenets and
opinions of men," &c.

H. T. G.

Hull.

_Door-head Inscriptions_ (Vol. vii., pp. 23. 190. 588.; Vol. viii., pp. 38. 162.).--Over a house in Hexham, in the street called Gilligate, is the following inscription:

"C. D. 1683. J. D.

Reason doth wonder, but Faith he tell can,
That a maid was a mother, and God was a man.
Let Reason look down, and Faith see the wonder;
For Faith sees above, and Reason sees under.
Reason doth wonder what by Scripture is meant,
Which says that Christ's body is our Sacrament:
That our bread is His body, and our drink is His blood,
Which cannot by Reason be well understood;
For Faith sees above, and Reason below,
For Faith can see more than Reason doth know."

CEYREP.

The following is reported to have been inscribed by the Pope (1725) over the gate of the Apostolical Chancery:

"Fide Deo--dic saepe preces--peccare caveto--
Sit humilis--pacem delige--magna fuge--
Multa audi--dic pauca--tace secreta--minori
Parcito--majori cedito--ferto parem.
Propria fac--non differ opus--sis aequas egeno--
Parta tuere--pati disce--memento mori."

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

_Hour-glass Stand_ (Vol. vii., p. 489.; Vol. viii., pp. 82. 209. 328.).--There is an hour-glass stand attached to the right-hand side of the pulpit of Edingthorpe Church, Norfolk. The date of the pulpit is 1632.

I. L. S.

_Bulstrode Whitlock and Whitelocke Bulstrode_ (Vol. viii., p. 293.).--Bulstrode Whitlock was the son of Sir James Whitlock, Kt., by Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Bulstrode, of Hedgley-Bulstrode, in the county of Buckingham; and Whitelocke Bulstrode was the son of Sir Richard, eldest son of the above-mentioned Edward Bulstrode. (See _Lives of the Lords Chancellors, &c_., by an Impartial Hand, vol. ii p. 1.; and Chalmers's _Biographical Dictionary_.)

[Greek: Halieus].

Dublin.

_Movable Metal Types anno 1435_ (Vol. vii., p. 405.).--Although I am not able to give any information concerning Sister Margarite, or the convent at Mur, I yet may observe, 1st, that the last three letters of the legend - - K can hardly refer to Laurens Janzroon Coster, for his name in 1435 was never spelt with K, but always with C; and, besides, if a proper name be here intended, it will certainly be that of the binder. 2ndly, that in the catalogue of the Haarlem City Library, from p. 77. to 112., mention is made of six works, which, though bearing no date, were, it is more than probable, printed with movable metal types before 1435. One of these, _Aelii Donati Grammaticae Latinae Fragmenta duo_, was printed before 1425, and the writer of the catalogue adds in his notes:

"Ipsos typos, quibus hae lamellae sunt excusae, fuisse _mobiles_, cum
nonnullae literae inversae evidenter testantur, tum omnium expertissimorum
typographorum reique typographicae peritissimorum arbitrum, qui has
lacinias contemplati sunt, unanima et constans affirmavit sententia.
Quin et _fusos_ eos esse perhibuerunt plurimi, et in his Koningius,
magno quamvis studio negaverat typorum ligneorum mobilium acerrimus
propugnator Meermannus."

From the _Navorscher_. CONSTANTEE.

_Oaken Tombs_ (Vol. vii., p. 528.; Vol. viii., p. 179.).--In the chancel of Brancepeth Church, co. Durham, are oaken effigies of a Lord and Lady Neville, of which the following is a description. The figure of the man is in a coat of mail, the hands elevated with gauntlets, wearing his casque, which rests on a bull's or buffalo's head, a collar round his neck studded with gems, and on the breast a shield with the arms of Neville. The female figure has a high crowned bonnet, and the mantle is drawn close over the feet, which rest on two dogs couchant. The tomb is ornamented with small figures of ecclesiastics at prayer, but is without inscription. Leland (_Itin._, i. 80.) says:

"In the paroche church of Saint Brandon, at Branspeth, be dyvers tumbes
of the Nevilles. In the quire is a high tumbe, of one of them porturid
with his wife. This Neville lakkid heires male, wherapoan great
concertation rose betwixt the next heire male, and one the Gascoynes."

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

_Stafford Knot_ (Vol. viii., p. 220.).--It was the badge or cognisance of the house of Stafford, Earls of Stafford.

HENRY GOUGH.

Emberton, Bucks.

_Hand in Bishop's Cannings Church_ (Vol. viii., p. 269.).--See an article on this "Manus Meditationis," with a copy of the inscription, in the _Ecclesiologist_, vol. v. p. 150.

HENRY GOUGH.

Emberton, Bucks.

_Arms of Richard, King of the Romans_ (Vol. viii, p.265.).--I think it might be proved that the border refers not to Poitou (which is represented {455} by the crowned lion), but to Cornwall, the ancient feudal arms of which are _Sable, fifteen bezants_, referring, as it would seem, to its metallic treasures. See an article on the numerous arms derived from those of this Richard, in the appendix to Mr. Lower's _Curiosities of Heraldry_.

HENRY GOUGH.

Emberton, Bucks.

_Burial in an erect Position_ (Vol. viii., pp. 59. 233.).--So Ben Jonson was buried at Westminster, probably on account of the large fee demanded for a full-sized grave. It was long supposed by many that the story was invented to account for the smallness of the gravestone; but the grave being opened a few years ago, the dramatist's remains were discovered in the attitude indicated by tradition.

HENRY GOUGH.

Emberton, Bucks.

In the _Ingoldsby Legends_, vol. i. p. 106., we have:

"No!--Tray's humble tomb would look but shabby
'Mid the sculptured shrines of that gorgeous Abbey.
Besides, in the place
They say there's not space
To bury what wet-nurses call 'a Babby.'
Even 'rare Ben Jonson,' that famous wight,
I am told, is interr'd there bolt upright,
In just such a posture, beneath his bust,
As Tray used to sit in to beg for a crust."

Is there any authority for the statement?

ERICA.

_Wooden Effigies_ (Vol. viii., p. 255.).--These are by no means uncommon, though it is to be feared that many have perished within comparatively recent times. In the church of Clifton Reynes, Bucks, there are wooden effigies of two knights of the Reynes family with their wives.

HENRY GOUGH.

Emberton, Bucks.

_Wedding Divination_ (Vol. vii., p. 545.).--The following mediaeval superstition may be quoted as a pretty exact parallel of the _wedding divination_ alluded to by OXONIENSIS. It is from Wright's selection of Latin stories of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Harl. MS. 463.:--

"Vidi in quibusdam partibus, quando mulieres nubebant, et de ecclesia
redibant, in ingressu domus in faciem corum frumentum projiciebant,
clamantes: 'Abundantia! Abundantia!' quod Gallice dicitur _plente_,
_plente_; et tamen plerumque, antequam annus transiret, pauperes
mendici remanebant et abundantia omni bonorum carebant."

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

_Old Fogie_ (Vol. viii., p. 154.).--If it will throw any additional light on the controversy as to "fogie," I may add that for a long period of years I have heard it applied only to the discharged invalided pensioners of the army. On a late Queen's birthday review on the _Green_, the boys and girls were in ecstasies at seeing the "old fogies" dressed out in new suits. It is very often spoken derisively to a thick-headed stupid person, but which cannot determine accurately its primary signification.

G. N.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

Notes on Books, Etc.

The noble President of the Society of Antiquaries is fast bringing to completion the cheaper and revised edition of his _History of England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles_, 1713-1783. The sixth volume, which is now before us, embraces the eventful six years 1774-1780, which saw the commencement of the great struggle with America, which ended in the independence of the United States. In this, as in his preceding volumes, the new materials which Lord Mahon has been so fortunate as to collect from the family papers of the representatives of the political leaders of the period, and which he has inserted in his appendix, contribute very materially to the value and importance of his history.

_Cheshire; its Historical and Literary Associations, illustrated in a series of Biographical Sketches;_ and _The Cheshire and Lancashire Historical Collector_, a small 8vo. sheet originally issued every month, but now every fortnight, in consequence of increase of materials, and the great encouragement which the undertaking has received, are two contributions towards Cheshire topography, local history, bibliography, &c., for which the good men of the Palatinate are indebted to the zeal of Mr. T. Worthington Barlow, of the Society of Gray's Inn.

It is always a subject of gratification to us when we see cheap yet handsome reprints of our standard authors; for no better proof can be given of the increase among us not only of a reading public, but of a public who are disposed to read well. It is therefore with no small pleasure that we have received from Mr. Routledge copies of his five shilling edition of _The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, from the Text, and with the Notes and Glossary of Thomas Tyrwhitt, condensed and arranged under the Text_. It is obvious that considerable labour has been taken by the editor in its preparation, for he has not contented himself with merely transferring the contents of Tyrwhitt's Notes and Glossary to their proper places beneath the text; but has availed himself of the labours of Messrs. Craik, Saunders, Sir H. Nicolas, and our able correspondent A. E. B., to give completeness to what is a very useful edition of old Dan Chaucer's masterpiece. We have to thank the same publisher for a corresponding edition of Spenser's _Faerie Queene_; so that no lover of those two glorious old poets need any longer want a cheap and compact edition of them.

BOOKS RECEIVED.--_History of the Guillotine, revised from the Quarterly Review_, by the Right Hon. J. W. Croker, which forms the new part of Murray's _Railway {456} Reading_, is not only valuable as a _precis_ of all that is known upon this very obscure subject, but for all its illustration of the difficulty of arriving at historical truth.--_A Love Story; being the History of the Courtship and Marriage of Dr. Dove of Doncaster_, that delightful episode in Southey's most delightful book, _The Doctor_, forms