Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's note: Original spelling varieties have not been standardized; "TR:" as in [TR: Lilith] marks a transcriber's note. Characters with macrons have been marked in brackets with an equal sign, as [=e] for a letter e with a macron on top. Underscores have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts, or _emphasis_ in Greek. A list of volumes and pages in "Notes and Queries" has been added at the end.]

NOTES and QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION

FOR

LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

VOL. IV.--NO. 102. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11. 1851.

Price Threepence. Stamped Edition, 4_d._

CONTENTS.

Page

NOTES:--

Effigies of English Sovereigns extant in France, by
W. S. Gibson 265

Arabic Inscriptions--Mocatteb Mountains, by T. J.
Buckton 266

Additions to Cunningham's Hand-book of London 267

Richard Rolle of Hampole, No. II. 268

A Funeral in Hamburgh, by W. S. Hesleden 269

Folk Lore:--The Baker's Daughter--"Pray remember the
Grotto" on St. James's Day--The King's Evil--Bees 269

The Caxton Coffer, by Bolton Corney 270

Minor Notes:--Braham Moor--Portraits of Burke 270

QUERIES:--

General James Wolfe, who fell at Quebec 271

Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy 272

Minor Queries:--Colonies in England--Buxtorf's
Translation of the "Treatise on Hebrew Accents"
by Elias Levita--The Name "Robert"--Meaning of
"Art'rizde"--Sir William Griffith of North
Wales--The Residence of William Penn--Martial's
Distribution of Hours--Moonlight--Ash-sap given to
new-born Children--Cockney--Full Orders--Earwig--The
Soul's Errand 272

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--Call a Spade, a Spade--Prince
Rupert's Drops--"Worse than a Crime"--Arbor Lowe,
Stanton Moor, Ayre Family--Bishop of Worcester "On
the Sufferings of Christ"--Lord Clifford--Latin
Translation of Sarpi's Council of Trent--Livery
Stables 274

REPLIES:--

Mabillon's Charge against the Spanish Clergy--Campanella
and Adami--Wilkes MSS., by Henry Hallam 275

Printing 276

The Pendulum Demonstration, &c. 277

Winifreda--"Childe Harold," by Samuel Hickson 277

The Three Estates of the Realm, by William Fraser 278

Meaning of Whig and Tory, by David Stevens 281

Recovery of Lost Authors of Antiquity, by Kenneth
R. H. MacKenzie 282

MS. Note in a Copy of Liber Sententiarum 282

Replies to Minor Queries:--Warnings to Scotland--Fides
Carbonaria--Fire Unknown--Pope and Flatman--Pope's
Translations or Imitations of Horace--Lord Mayor
not a Privy Councillor--Herschel anticipated--Sanford's
Descensus--Pope's "honest Factor"--"A little Bird told
me," &c. 283

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 285

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 286

Notices to Correspondents 286

Advertisements 287

Notes.

THE EFFIGIES OF ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS EXTANT IN FRANCE.

In the year 1816, Mr. Charles Stothard discovered in a cellar (as it is described) of one of the buildings adjoining the ruined abbey at Fontevraud, which was then used as a prison, the monumental effigies of King Henry II., Eleanor of Aquitaine his queen, King Richard I., and Queen Isabella of Angoulême. It had been feared that these monuments shared the destruction of the royal tombs from which they were torn, in the fearful outrages of the Revolution; but they were found to have escaped the general havoc, although they had suffered some mutilation. They are described to be sculptures almost coeval with the decease of the sovereigns represented, and to possess such a chaste grandeur and simplicity of character as to add great artistic value to their historical importance. Mr. Stothard represented to the English government of that day the propriety of rescuing such venerable monuments from further injury, and of bringing them to Westminster Abbey; and an application appears to have been made, through some official channel, to the French authorities; but it was not successful, though it had the effect, as it is said, of inducing the latter to direct measures to be taken for the better preservation of these effigies. About the same time, Mr. Stothard discovered the monumental effigy of Queen Berengaria in the ruins of her once-stately abbey-church of L'Espan, near Mans, which he found converted into a barn; but it was then in contemplation to place this effigy in the church of St. Julien there, when the restoration of that edifice should be completed. A memoir (which I cannot here obtain) on the sepulchral statues of English sovereigns at Fontevraud was read in 1841 in the congress of the Society for Preserving the Historical Monuments of France; and by the researches of M. Deville, a distinguished antiquary of Normandy, another effigy of King Richard "of the Lion Heart" was brought to light in 1838, from beneath the modern pavement of the choir of Rouen Cathedral, and was shortly afterwards made known in England by the very interesting communication made by Mr. Albert Way to the Society of Antiquaries of London, and published in vol. xxix. of the _Archæologia_.

I am not aware that attention has been otherwise drawn to these effigies since the publication of Mr. Stothard's great work, nor can I find that his suggestion has at any time been revived, or that the steps which may have been taken at Fontevraud for rescuing these monuments from the gradual demolition which seemed to threaten them, were such as are likely to insure their ultimate preservation. What those steps were, or what is the present state of these interesting memorials, I have not been able to learn; but, inasmuch as it appears that the tombs they covered have been destroyed; that in the fury of revolutionary violence the remains of the royal dead were scattered to the winds; and that the abbey church of Fontevraud itself fell into a state of ruin, if not of desecration; it will probably be agreed that the removal of these monuments to Westminster Abbey is unobjectionable, and that their deposit among the effigies of our early sovereigns in that glorious edifice would be appropriate, and is much to be desired. Being strongly impressed with that opinion, I trouble you with this note, which, if you should deem it worthy of insertion, may elicit some information, and perhaps lead to an application for leave to remove these monuments, and place them in Westminster Abbey. The present time seems favourable for such an effort; and if the object in view should have the sanction of Queen Victoria, the interference of Her Majesty would probably prevail.

W. SIDNEY GIBSON.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS--MOCATTEB MOUNTAINS.

The principle of decyphering propounded for the Nineveh inscriptions (Vol. iv., p. 220.) is available equally, and with better prospect of speedy solution, in the case of those of _Mocatteb_. A very interesting narrative is given of these in Laborde's _Mount Sinai and Petra_ (p. 248). The site of them is seventy miles direct distance south-east from Suez, and they extend on the rock three miles and more in length, at a height of ten or twelve feet, and in the line of route to Sinai, which is distant fifty miles south-east from Mocatteb. They also lie not only in the usual caravan route, but almost in a direct line drawn from Ethiopia to the cities of Nineveh and Babylon. Nimrod is represented as an Ethiopian (Gen. x. 8.), "_Cush begat Nimrod_" = "_Nimrod was an Ethiopian by descent_." The whole of this invaluable monument of the most ancient geography, the tenth of Genesis, must be read with reference to _nations_, and not individuals.

Both the valley and the mountains are named from these "Inscriptions" = _Mocatteb_ in Arabic; that fact alone indicates considerable antiquity, especially in a country like Arabia, where the fashion of changing any usage, especially that of names of places, has never prevailed. The vicinity of these inscriptions to that portion of the world wherein the Mosaic law had its origin, and probably, as a necessary consequence, the invention of an alphabet also; and likewise the great question of ancient intercourse between Egypt, Ethiopia, Assyria (Chaldea), and India, have rendered the interpretation of the Mocatteb inscriptions a problem of paramount interest, insomuch that Bishop Clayton offered a considerable sum of money for a copy of them. In the _Royal Society's Transactions_, vol. ii. part vi. 1832, are specimens of 187 of these, whereof nine are Greek and one Latin. Some of them are doubtless of the sixth century.

Coutelle and Roziere (_Antiquities_, vol. v. p. 57.) copied seventy-five of them, and Pococke and Montague give a few specimens. Seetzen, Burkhardt, and Henneker _saw_ them; and Niebuhr may be said to have been sent out expressly on their account, but the result was _nil_. Cosmus, Montfaucon, Neitzchitz, Monconys, Koischa, and others, mention them, and they have been seen by a caravan of persons familiar with Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Armenian, Turkish, English, Illyrian, German, and Bohemian, to all of whom they were equally inexplicable. Since the discovery of Daguerre, we are placed in a position to obtain a real _fac-simile_ of the whole of these inscriptions, at a small expense of time or money. Any person familiar with the use of the daguerrotype (the less learned the better) could now speedily furnish what the good Bishop so fervently longed after, were he only provided with the small sum of a few hundred pounds to take him thither and bring back his invaluable treasures. Although the Mocatteb are graven with an iron pen in the rock (Job xix. 24.), they are not everlasting, for the rains have had some effect in obliterating them, being cut, not on granite, as was formerly thought, but on red sandstone. It is worth remark, that although Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, he rejected entirely the hieroglyphic system of writing, and that no mention or allusion is made to the art of writing till 1491 B.C., in Ex. xvii. 14.[1], just prior to the delivery of the law, and in connection with the account of Jethro, his father-in-law; subsequently, constant allusion is made to writing. There is only one reference to this art in Homer (_Il._ z. 168.). The author of Job, who appears to have had a much more enlarged knowledge of art and science than Moses, speaks of the cutting and painting (for so the Arabic and Hebrew words should be rendered, and not _printing_) on a roll, _i.e._ with the _style_ and _brush_; also of the cutting (_felling_) with a chisel (in Arabic, a _digger_) on lead, or on a rock.[2]

[Footnote 1: "Jehovah said to Moses, Write this as a memorandum on
a roll, and let it be read to Joshua, that I intend to obliterate
entirely the memory of Amalek here below. And Moses built an altar
and called it _Jehovah Nissi_ (Jehovah is my banner). The reason
he assigned for the name was that a hand (power) opposed to the
throne of Jah was (the cause of) Jehovah's perpetual warfare
against Amalek." This is the _sense_ of the Hebrew as it stands,
in the current language of our day, and not a copy of the words
merely,--an error, it is conceived, into which most of the
translators, from the Seventy downwards, have often fallen. If a
conjectural criticism might be offered, let [Hebrew: kaf], _caf_,
be inserted for [Hebrew: nun], _nun_, and instead of Jehovah
_Nissi_ (banner), read Jehovah _Cissi_, "Jehovah is my _throne_;"
then the reason assigned by Moses for the name becomes
intelligible, which it certainly is not in the existing text,
undoubtedly very ancient, being confirmed by the Samaritan.]

[Footnote 2: The word, correctly translated _for ever_, according
to the Masoretic system, means "as a witness or testimony," if
pointed with _Tsereh_ instead of _Pathach_. The general sense of
this chapter, in some respects obscure, appears to be, "I seek for
justice, but cannot obtain it. Every obstacle is put in my way.
Neither my own kindred nor servants obey me. Look at my most
wretched condition; although I call you friends, you all hate me.
You are not satisfied with persecuting my body, but you afflict my
soul also. Oh that I could make an impression upon you. I would
set forth my petition for relief from your persecutions on a roll,
on lead, or on a rock, as a constant memorial in testimony of my
sufferings and your hate; as I know that my Goel (Redeemer or
Avenger) lives, and will at length ascend from the dust (sand or
soil). (In his approach he raises a cloud of dust.) Then arise and
destroy this (memorial), for, living, I shall get a judgment on my
case, being personally present and not by representative, although
I may be hardly able to attend from mental anxiety. Then you will
say, why did we persecute him, we were all wrong. And you will
fear punishment because you will learn that justice must be
satisfied."

Divested of its highly poetic diction, the above gives the subject
matter in the vernacular.]

The examination of the copies of the inscriptions already in our possession will probably determine whether the language is hieroglyphic, syllabic, or alphabetic. The principal point is to enumerate the characters found to be clearly distinct from each other. Should there be found two to three hundred decidedly _distinct_ characters--assuming it to be one language and one uniform character of that language, for many nations (peoples) use more than one character--the language _à priori_ must be _hieroglyphic_. If 70 to 90, it will be _syllabic_; but if only 20 to 50, it may be safely concluded that it is alphabetic. The letters distinct from each other may be less than 20, inasmuch as in the Arabic, most probably the language which will solve this problem, one character represents several sounds, the points, usually omitted, alone distinguishing the difference between _be_, _te_, _tse_, _nun_, and _jod_, between _jim_, _ha_ and _cha_, between _dal_ and _zal_, between _re_ and _se_, _sin_ and _shin_, _zad_ and _dad_, _fe_ and _kaf_, &c. &c. On the other hand, the language has increased the number of its characters, by distinguishing _initial_ from _medial_ and _terminal_ letters, having retained only thirteen originally distinct characters in its alphabet.

The Ethiopic, written from left to right, has manifestly furnished the Arabs with their cursive character, the one uniformly printed, written from right to left, or otherwise both have derived them from a common source. Of the intimate relation early subsisting between the Ethiopians and their Shemitic congeners in Asia, one remarkable instance is the former retaining to themselves exclusively "the exalted horn," so often mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the wearing of which has been long abandoned by every other family of that race.

T. J. BUCKTON.

Lichfield.

ADDITIONS TO CUNNINGHAM'S HAND-BOOK OF LONDON.

_St. Stephen's Church, Walbrook._--Sir Robert Chicheley, alderman and twice Lord Mayor of London, is said, in Wm. Ravenhill's _Short Account of the Company of Grocers from their Original_ (4to. Lond. 1689), to have purchased the ground whereon St. Stephen's church stands, and to have built, at his own charge, the church which was afterwards replaced by the edifice of Sir Christopher Wren. The founder was a member of that company, and to them he gave the advowson. He was the youngest of three brothers, of whom the eldest was Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury _temp._ Henry VI. The second brother was Sir William, who, like Robert, was an alderman, and a member of the Grocers' Company. From the younger brother, Robert, descended Sir Thomas Chicheley, who was Master of the Ordnance and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the reign of Charles II.

_Grocers' Hall._--In 1411 the custos or warden and brethren of the Grocers' Company purchased of Robert Lord Fitzwalter his mansion-house and lands, extending from near the Old Jewry to Walbrook in the centre of the city of London, for 320 marks, and soon afterwards laid the foundation of their new Common-hall. In 1429 they had license to acquire lands of the value of 500 marks. There was "a fair open garden behind, for air and diversion, and before the house, within the gate, a large court-yard." The company, after the fire of London, rebuilt and enlarged the old Hall, says Ravenhill in his _Account of the Grocers' Company_ (Lond. 1689), "with offices and accommodations far beyond any other place, for the most commodious seat of the chief magistrate." (See Mr. Cunningham's quotation from Strype, as to its civic uses.) King Charles II. accepted the office of Master of the Company, and they set up his statue in the Royal Exchange. See Ravenhill's _Short Account of the Company of Grocers_, and Howel's _Londinopolis_, fol. Lond. 1657.

W. S. G.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sept. 1851.

RICHARD ROLLE OF HAMPOLE, NO. II.

Owing to my absence from England, I was unable to answer the Queries which were put to me (No 94., p. 116.) by your respected correspondent J. E. The word _guistroun_ (as also _Salhanas_) was merely an error of the press; and with respect to the others, I concur, for the most part, in the learned observations of MR. SINGER (No 96., p. 159.). _Quistroun_, it may be added, is found in a MS. chronicle quoted in the preface to the French version of _Havelok_, and with the explanation "de sa quisyne." The singular form of _chaunsemlees_ is written _chauncemele_ in the _Promptuar. Parvul._, and rendered _subtelaris_, which, according to Ducange, would correspond exactly to _slipper_.

I now beg to present your readers with a fresh series of extracts from the same volume. The first, though rather long, will not easily bear abbreviation. It is somewhat in the style of Piers Ploughman, but earlier by several years. The subject is the unfaithfulness of the clergy in the former half of the fourteenth century:--

"Þis word is mekil agen þese clerkis
Þ't schuld kenne lewid folk good werkis,
And gader hem to goddis hord
Wiþ rightful lyf and goddis word.
Hem auhte þinke if þei wer wise
How þei schul stonde at goddis assise,
And gelden acountes of all hir wit
How þei in þ'e world han spent it.
Lord what schul þese persouns say
Whan þei schul come on domys day
To gelde of al hir lyf acounte
And what hir rentis may amounte,
Þat þei of lewid men take her
Hir soulis hele hem to ler,
And diden not so but lyued in lust
Of flesch, þ't makiþ þ'e soule rust.
For riche persouns louen mor now
Flesch-liking mor þan þ'e soule prow [_i.e._ profit];
þei wene to sewe cristis trace [_i.e._ follow His track]
Wiþ hunting and w't þ'e deer chace;
Þei fedin hir flesch wiþ good mete
Þ't lewid folk hem tilen and gete;
Þei lyuen on lewid folkis traueyle
And nouht to hem þei auayle.
For ther þei schuld w't sarmoun tille
Þe lewid folkis herte and wille
To right longing of heuene-riche bewhile,
Wiþ wikkid example þei hem begile:
For wikkid example þei hem geue
In wikkednes alway for to leue.
For þer þei schuld hem meknes schewe
Þei schewe hem pride and vnthewe,
And ther þei schulde teche hem dele
And parte w't god of hir catele,
Ther teche þei hem wiþ couetise
To spar hir good in euyl wise.
For we seen so these persouns spar
Þ't þei suffre pore men mysfar;
We see hem fayr grehoundis fede
And suffren þ'e pore to deyen for nede,
And euyl example þus þei gyue
To hir pareschyns euyle to lyue.
For me þinkeþ it is no ferly [_i.e._ wonder]
Þouh lewid folk lyue in foly,
Whan þei seen prestis and persouns
Mistake agen god as felouns.
Goddis felouns I hem calle
Þ't makiþ man in synne falle,
Wiþ example of euyl lyf
Þ't is now in þis world ful ryf.
Þerfor I rede persouns and prestis
Þ't þei ber god on hir brestis,
And þenk how al hir mete and drink
Comiþ of her pareschyns swink,
And teche þei hem how þat þei
Schul toward heuene take þ'e wei,
And after holde hem wel þerinne
And kepe hem fro dedli synne.
For wel is hem þ't wiþ preching
Mai tele [_i.e._ allure] soulis to heuene king."

2. Nor was the author of these sermons less severe in rebuking the faults of the layman. The following is a specimen of his plain-spoken fervour:--

"But crist of þ't man seyth wites [_i.e._ reproaches]
Þat in sarmoun not delytes.
For many folis heren a sarmoun
Wiþ outen ony deuocioun;
Þ't is in Englisch loue-longing,
Þ't auhte of mannes herte spring
Toward þ'e blisse þ't lastiþ ay,
And not toward þ'e worldis play.
But sum men sitten at sarmoun
Þ't wer better ben atte toun;
On worldis wele þink þei so mekil
Þ't is deceyuabil fals and fekil,
Þat sarmoun sauoureth hem nouht
So is hir herte menyng (?) in þouht.
And sum other seli gomes
Þ't for to her sarmoun comes,
And goddis word so litil kepiþ
Þ't at þ'e preching manye slepiþ:
At goddis word þei ben sleping
And at þ'e tauerne hous waking:
At lyche-wake [_i.e._ corpse-watching] and sinful plawes,
Þei ben waking til þ'e day dawes,
But whan þei come sarmoun to her
Þei ben so heuy and so swer,
Þ't hir heuedis þei may not hold vp
But hongen it in þ'e fendis cup."

3. Yet with regard to one class of questions, the tongue of the preacher was restrained. After touching the subject of confession and the frailty of some confessors, he adds in a significant way:

"Of þis mater coude I sey mar,
But God wod þ't I ne dar,
For beter is skilful pes to holde
Þan in speche ben to bolde."

4. The following extract will not fail to interest the student of prophecy:--

"Get wone ful many iewis thore, [_i.e._ in captivity]
And so schul þei don euer more,
Til ageyn domes day,
Þan schul þei þens out-stray,
And ouer al þer þei go
Cristen folk schul þei slo;
And þei schul receyue antecrist
And wene þ't he be ih[=u] crist;
And sone after comiþ domes day,
As we in prophecye her say."

5. The last passage I shall cite is a curious exposition of the First Commandment (p. 455.):--

"Þ'e first heste is þis: Þu schalt worschipen Þi lord god & him
alone seruyn. In þ't heste is forboden to don any sacrifice to
mawmettis or worschipe to fals goddis. In þ't heste also is
forboden al maner wicchecraftis, enchauntementis, wiþ seruys and
markis and al manere experimentis, coniuraciouns, as men wone to
do and maken for thynges i-stolen, in bacynes, in swerdis and in
certeyn names wreten and enclosed, holi water and holi candel and
oþere manye maneris whiche ben nought good to neuene. In þ't heste
also is forboden al maner iogelyng and for to tellyn of þing þ't
is to comen, be sterres and planets, or be metell, or be destene,
or be schynynge of þ'e pawme of mannes hond or eny oþere maneris.
For þei aproperen to man þing þ't oneliche falleþ to god, to witen
of þinges þ't arn to come," &c.

C. H.

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

A FUNERAL IN HAMBURGH.

MR. GATTY'S observations (Vol. iii., p. 499.) regarding the funeral of an Irish labourer, have reminded me that while on a visit some years ago to a brother in the city of Hamburgh, we one Sunday spent the day with a worthy pastor of a small village a few miles from that city, where we went early enough to attend morning service in the village church; and in the afternoon, while indulging with our pipes and coffee in an alcove in the pastor's garden, I observed a funeral approach the churchyard gate, and understanding that the ceremony was different to what I had been accustomed to, I laid down my pipe and walked into the churchyard to observe what passed, and my movement induced my brother and another or two to become spectators also. The funeral party having arranged themselves at the entrance, the ceremony commenced as follows. The parish clerk or verger walked first, having a lemon in one hand and a bunch of evergreen in the other; he was followed by six choristers or singing boys, then six men as bearers carrying the coffin, and after them the mourners and other attendants. As soon as the cavalcade moved off, the clerk or verger gave out a strophe of some psalm or hymn, which he and the boys chanted while moving round the churchyard; and thus chanting they followed a green path, which I discovered was kept close mown for the purpose; and I observed our worthy pastor had joined the cavalcade, though alone, and at some little distance from the mourners. I understood it was customary thus to move three times round, but being a very sultry afternoon, the party made two turns serve, when coming to the open grave the bearers let down the coffin into it, and then another strophe was chanted, which ended, the mourners took a last look at the coffin, and silently dropped their sprigs of evergreen upon it; the bearers then each took a spade, already provided for them, and quickly filled up the grave, and adjusted its form, when the funeral party returned silently home as they came. The pastor had now retreated again to the alcove in his garden, where we soon joined him, and he told me that as we had gone to witness the ceremony, it would have been thought disrespectful had he not also shown himself, though it did not appear that his attendance was necessary. The general practice here observed of the bearers filling up the grave, shows that the Irish labourers had some more general custom for their practice than MR. GATTY appears to be aware of.

W. S. HESLEDEN.

FOLK LORE.

_The Baker's Daughter._--_Ophelia_ (Act IV. Sc. 5.) says that

"The owl was a baker's daughter."

This reminds me of a Welsh tradition concerning the female who refused a bit of dough from the oven to the Saviour "when He hungered," and was changed into _Cassek gwenwyn_, [Hebrew: Lilith] _lilish_[TR: Lilith], _lamia_, _strix_, the night spectre, _mara_, or screech-owl.

G. M.

_"Pray remember the Grotto" on St. James's Day_ (Vol. i., p. 5.).--The interesting note with which MR. WILLIAM J. THOMS presented the firstborn of "NOTES AND QUERIES," may perhaps admit of a postscript, borrowed from one of Mr. Jerdan's well-deserving pupils, the _Literary Gazette_ for 1822:

"I am inclined to believe that the illuminated grottos of
oyster-shells for which the London children beg about the streets,
are the representatives of some Catholic emblem which had its day,
as a substitute for a more classical idol. I was struck in London
with the similarity of the plea which the children of both
countries urge in order to obtain a halfpenny. The 'It is but once
a year, sir!' often reminded me of the

'La Cruz de Mayo
Que no come ni bebe
En todo el ano.'

'The Cross of May,
Remember pray,
Which fasts a year and feasts a day.'"

_Letters from Spain._ By Don Leucadio Doblado.

This to prove that I _did_ remember the grotto.

* & ?

Manpadt House.

_The King's Evil._--One Mr. Bacon of Ferns, being an one-and-twentieth son born in wedlock, without a daughter intervening, has performed prodigious cures in the king's evil and scrofulous cases, by stroking the part with his hand. (_The Gentleman's Magazine_ for December 1731, p. 543.)

* & ?

_Bees._--Being at a neighbour's house about a month ago, the conversation turned upon the death of a mutual acquaintance a short time prior to my visit. A venerable old lady present asked, with great earnestness of manner, "Whether Mr. R.'s bees had been informed of his death?" (Our friend R. had been a great bee-keeper.) No one appeared to be able to answer the old lady's question satisfactorily, whereat she was much concerned, and said, "Well, if the bees were not told of Mr. R's death they would leave their hives, and never return. Some people give them a piece of the funeral cake; I don't think that is absolutely necessary, but certainly it is better to tell them of the death." Being shortly afterwards in the neighbourhood of my deceased friend's residence, I went a little out of my way to inquire after the bees. Upon walking up the garden I saw the industrious little colony at full work. I learned, upon inquiring of the housekeeper, that the bees had been properly informed of Mr. R.'s death.

I was struck with the singularity of this specimen of folk-lore, and followed up the subject with further inquiries amongst my acquaintance. I found that in my own family, upon the death of my mother, some five-and-twenty years ago, the bees were duly informed of the event. A lady friend also told me, that twenty years ago, when she was at school, the father of her school-mistress died, and on that occasion the bees were made acquainted with his death, and regaled with some of the funeral cake.

I wish to know whether this custom prevails in any other, and what part of England, and to what extent?