Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's note: Original spelling varieties have not been standardized. Old English-style letters have been marked with braces {d}; characters with macrons have been marked in brackets with an equal sign, as [=e] for a letter e with a macron on top, or [q=] for a letter q with a horizontal bar in the descender; [)u] shows a character with breve. Underscores have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts.]

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. 104. Saturday, October 25. 1851.

Price Sixpence. Stamped Edition, 7_d._

CONTENTS.

Page

NOTES:--

The Old Countess of Desmond, No. 1. 305

Panslavic Sketches, by Dr. J. Lotsky 306

Monumental Bust of Shakspeare, by J. O. Halliwell 307

Notes on Passages in Virgil, by Dr. Henry 307

Folk Lore:--Superstitions respecting Bees--Bees invited
to Funerals--North Side of Churchyards--Ashton
Faggot: a Devonshire Custom--Offerings
to the Apple-trees: Devonshire Superstition 308

Poetical Imitations 310

Gloucestershire Ballads:--A Gloucester Ditty; George
Ridler's Oven 311

The Caxton Coffer, by Bolton Corney 312

Minor Notes:--Note on the Duration of Reigns--Cock
and Bull Story--"Multa renascentur," &c.--Corruptions
recognised as acknowledged Words 312

QUERIES:--

Mary Queen of Scots and Bothwell's Confession 313

Minor Queries:--"'Tis Twopence now"--Scythians
blind their Slaves--The "Gododin"--Frontispiece to
Hobbes's Leviathan--Broad Arrow or Arrow Head--Deep
Well near Bansted Downs--Upton Court--Derivation of
Prog--Metrical History of England--Finger Pillories
in Churches--Stallenge Queries--Ancient MS. History
of Scotland--Pharetram de Tutesbit--Inundation at
Deptford--Butler's Sermons--Coleridge's
Christabel--Epigram ascribed to Mary Queen of Scots 314

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--Meaning of Farlieu--"History
of Anglesey"--The Word "Rile" 317

REPLIES:--

Winchester Execution 317

Cockney 318

Sir Edmund Plowden or Ployden 319

General James Wolfe 322

Stanzas in Childe Harold 323

Replies to Minor Queries:--MS. Note in a Copy of Liber
Sententiarum--Naturalis Proles--Print cleaning--Story
referred to by Jeremy Taylor--Anagrams--Battle of
Brunanburgh--Praed's Works--Sir J. Davies--Coins
of Constantius Gallus--Passage in Sedley--Buxtorf's
Translation of Elias Levita's "Tub Taam"--Stonehenge--Glass
in Windows formerly not a Fixture--Fortune, infortune,
fort une--Matthew Paris's "Historia Minor"--Sanford's
"Descensus"--Death of Pitt--History of Hawick--"Prophecies
of Nostradamus"--Bourchier Family--William III. at
Exeter--Passage in George Herbert--Suicides buried in
Cross Roads--Armorial Bearing--"Life of Cromwell"--Harris,
Painter in Water Colours--"Son of the Morning"--Grimsdyke
or Grimesditch--Cagots--The Serpent represented with
a human Head--Fire Unknown--Plant in Texas--Copying
Inscriptions--Chantrey's Statue of Mrs. Jordan--Portraits
of Burke--Martial's Distribution of Hours 326

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 332

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 333

Notices to Correspondents 333

Advertisements 333

Notes.

THE OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND, NO. 1.

The various notices and inquiries at times in your publication respecting this lady, including, as they do, some sceptical doubts of her existence, induce me to trouble you with several particulars upon this subject, of which I have at sundry times, according to the admirable suggestion of your motto, "when found, made a note." Some of them, derived from local antiquarian opportunities, will be new; of all I shall endeavour to make an intelligible arrangement; and as the subject will probably extend itself too much for a single article suited to your pages, I propose to place it under these distinct headings:--Was there an _old_ Countess of Desmond? Is there _really_ a portrait of her? And, Who was she?

In reference to the first inquiry, I would observe that the _fact_ of the existence of such a personage rests upon no modern or uncertain tradition. This aged lady, according to an account I shall mention presently, is supposed to have lived to the latter end of the reign of James I. or beginning of that of Charles I.; and mention is made of her by Sir Walter Raleigh, in his _History of the World_ (bk. i. p. i. c. 5.), as "personally known to him" as having been married in the reign of Edward IV. (who died A.D. 1485); and who was living in 1589, and "many years afterwards, as all the noblemen and gentlemen of Munster can witness."

Lord Bacon, in his _Natural History_ (cent. viii. sect. 755.) refers to her thus:

"They tell a tale of the old Countess of Desmond, who lived until
she was seven score years old; that she did _dentize_ twice or
thrice, casting her old teeth, and others coming in their place."

Horace Walpole, in his _Historic Doubts respecting Richard III._ (p. 102.), correcting the "misrepresentations regarding his person," says:

"The _old_ Countess of Desmond, who had danced with Richard,
declared he was the handsomest man in the room except his brother
Edward, and was very well made."

This last anecdote of Walpole's is taken from an account which I certainly have _seen_ and read, but the name of the authority I cannot now recollect, which stated that the Countess actually outlived the "trust term for securing her jointure" (a period generally of ninety-nine years from the date of marriage), "and was obliged in her old age to appear in a court of justice to establish her rights; and that it was _there_ and _then_ she delivered Walpole's anecdote to the judge and audience." All these different yet concurring testimonies seem satisfactorily to establish the fact that there _was_ a Countess of Desmond "passing old."

Then, as to her celebrated _picture_, of which I have frequently seen the original on _wood_, in possession of the "Right Hon. Maurice Fitzgerald, Knight of Kerry," and have now a print before me, there are some particulars and questions which may interest your readers.

The print (same size as the original) is a mezzo-tint, ten inches by seven inches and a half, and has under it the following inscription:

"CATHERINE FITZGERALD (the long-lived) COUNTESS OF DESMOND, from
an original Family Picture of the same size, painted on Board, in
the possession of the Right Honorable Maurice Fitzgerald, Knight
of Kerry, &c. &c. &c., to whom this plate is most respectfully
dedicated by her very obedient and much obliged humble servant,
HENRY PELHAM.

"This illustrious lady was born about the year 1464, and was
married in the reign of Edward IV., lived during the reigns of
Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI.,
Mary, and Elizabeth, and died in the latter end of James I., or
beginning of Charles I.'s reign, at the great age (as is generally
supposed) of 162 years. Published as the Act directs, at Bear
Island, June 4, 1806. By Henry Pelham, Esq."

In this print the features are large and strongly marked; the forehead and upper part of the nose deeply wrinkled, the head covered with a large full black hood, showing no hair whatever about the face; the person wrapped in a dark cloak, held by a single button over the breast. As some of your correspondents speak of portraits of this lady at Knowle (Vol. iii., p. 341.), Bedgebury, and Penshurst, it may be useful to compare them with this description, for the following reason.

Horace Walpole, whose "mission" seems to have been to raise "Historic Doubts," in a letter to Rev. Mr. Cole, dated May 28, 1774, has the following sentence:

"Mr. Pennant has given a new edition of his former _Tour_, with
more cuts: among others is the _vulgar_ head called the Countess
of Desmond. I told him I had discovered, and proved past
contradiction, _that it is Rembrandt's mother_. He owned it, and
said he would correct it by a note: but he has not. _This is a
brave way of being an antiquary_: as if there could be any merit
in giving for genuine what one knows to be spurious."

This is a very _teasing_ passage. I have no copy of Pennant's _Tour_ by me; nor do I recollect ever to have seen one with the print here referred to. Probably some of your numerous correspondents will find one, and inform us, whether the print in it resembles the description I have given. It is not at all probable that Pennant's "cut" was copied from the Knight of Kerry's picture: but _if_ it was copied from any of those mentioned by your correspondents; and _if_ these be duplicates of the Knight of Kerry's "family portrait;" and _if_ Horace Walpole's cruel criticism on Mr. Pennant be correct--then have we all been _shamed with a sham_. These are a considerable number of _ifs_, upon which this conclusion depends; but in one thing Walpole is correct: "there is no merit in giving for genuine what one knows to be spurious."

Of the Mr. Pelham who published the print I have described, there are some particulars which may interest your readers. He will be found among the correspondents of the late General Vallancey, whose interest in Irish antiquities is well known. Mr. Pelham was an ingenious gentleman, who came to Kerry in the end of the last century, in the character of agent to the Marquis of Lansdowne; which engagement, after a few years, he resigned, but continued in the county, a zealous studier of its antiquities, and intending, as I have heard, either a new County History or a reprint of Smith's work. He was a good civil engineer, and executed a great part of a large county and baronial map, afterwards finished by another hand. Mr. Pelham, who perished prematurely by sudden death, in his boat, while superintending the building of a Martello tower on Bear Island, in the River Kenmare, in the very year he published this print, is said to have been an uncle by half-blood to the present Lord Lyndhurst, whose grandmother, Sarah Singleton, is said to have married to her second husband, ---- Pelham, an American--Henry Pelham being the only issue of her second marriage, as John Singleton Copley, father to the ex-chancellor, was of her first. In my next I propose to consider the question, Who was the old Countess of Desmond?

A. B. R.

PANSLAVIC SKETCHES.

The idea and conception of _Panslavism_ are the produce of the latent political events on the Continent, viz. the idea of a _re-crystallisation_ of a race of people comprising even now sixty millions, and which in former epochs extended from Archangelsk to Tissalonichi, where it bordered on the abodes of the Hellenic race. Having lost their primeval (Indian) civilisation by migrations which extend to times historical, the only monuments testifying to their most ancient origin are the languages of these various tribes,--the Russians, Czechs, Poles, &c. But these languages have all acquired a more modern type, by a great susception of Greek, Tartarian, Latin, Turkish, and German phrases and constructions. Fortunately, however, there have been other branches of this huge nation-tree, which, settled on the shores of the German ocean, afar from the tracts of migration and the stations of war, have escaped the influence of the changes contingent on the contentions and intercourse of men. And thus, the _Old Prussian_, the _Lithuanian_, and the _Lettish_ tongues (dialects) have escaped, as it were, the changes of improvement, and have remained, in the mouth of aboriginal inhabitants, such as they were many centuries ago. If the mythology of the Slavian nations, and their universal complex of languages, are undoubtedly _Indian_ (Sanscrit), the above-named three dialects have retained _most_ of their primordial type. I subjoin the Lord's Prayer, written in these three ancient Slavonic dialects, now hardly understood by any other save those very same tribes. The approximation to Sanscrit is most striking, and deserves the notice of philologists. As a number of persons conversant with Sanscrit, and even the dialects spoken in India, are to be met with in the British capital, their attention is most respectfully called to these venerable remains of old _Panslavic_ tongues.

DR. J. LOTSKY, Panslave.

8. Robert Street, Hampstead Road.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

_Old Prussian._

Tava nuson, kas tu essei en dangon, svintints virst tvais emnes; pereit tvais ryks; tvais quaits audasin kagi en dandon tyt deigi no semien, nuson deinennin geitien dais numans [=s]an deinan; bhe etverpeis numas nusons ausautins, kaimes etverpimai nusons au[=s]autenikamans; bhe ni veddeis mans em perbandasnan, [=s]lait isrankeis mans esse vissan vargan.

_Lithuanian._

Tive musû, kurs essi danguie, te essie [=s]ven[=e]amas tavo vardas; te ateinie tavo karaliste; te nusid[)u]die tavo vale, kaip danguie taip ir ant [=z]èmês; d[)u]na musû diesni[=s]ka dûk mums ir sa diena; ir attèisk mums musû kattes, kaip mes attèidsam savo kattiemus; ir ne vesk mus i pagundima, bet gèlbèk mus n[)u] pikto.

_Letton (Lettish.)_

Mûsu têvs debbesîs, svêtîts lai tôp tavs vârds, lai nâk tava valstiba; tavs prâts lai noteek, ka debbesîs ta arridzan zemmes virzû; mûsû deeni[=s]ku maiz dôd mums [=s]odeen; un pametti mums mûsu parradus, ka arrimês pamettam saveem parradneekeem; un ne ceveddi mûs eek[=s] kârdina[=s]anas, bet atpesti mûs no ta launa.

MONUMENTAL BUST OF SHAKSPEARE.

Mr. T. Kite, the parish clerk of Stratford-on-Avon, has recently completed a copy in imitation stone from a cast of the monumental bust of Shakspeare, which appears to me, after a very close and minute comparison, to be a far more faithful transcript of the original than any of the kind hitherto accessible to the public. It gives in detail most accurately those peculiarities which led Sir F. Chantrey to the opinion that the artist worked from a cast made after death; and if you would kindly spare a few lines of your paper for a paragraph to that effect, I feel sure you would not only confer a benefit on Shakspearian collectors, but at the same time pay a just tribute to Mr. Kite, for the intelligent pains he has bestowed upon the work. It is scarcely necessary to say an accurate copy of the Stratford bust is the best memorial of Shakspeare the public can possess, it being so much superior in authenticity to any other resemblance.

J. O. HALLIWELL.

Stratford on Avon, Oct. 15.

NOTES ON PASSAGES IN VIRGIL.

I. "Acti Fatis."--_Virg. Æn. I. 36._

"Si _fatis_, nulla Junonis invidia est. Si Junonis invidiâ
fatigabantur quomodo dicit _acti fatis_? Sed hoc ipsum Junonis
odium fatale est. Agebantur _fatis_ Junonis, i.e. _voluntate_; vel
_fatis_, pro _malis_, ut iii. 182."--SERVIUS.

"Non tam quoniam hoc Junonis odium fatale erat, ut Servius; sed
potius, quoniam hi ipsi Trojanorum, errores fatales
erant."--HEYNE.

Not only these two, but all other commentators and translators, as far as I know, have wholly mistaken the meaning of this passage, which is not _that the Trojans were_ jactati, fatigati, or agitati, _harassed, or driven hither and thither by the fates_, (_actus_ being never used in the sense assigned to it in such interpretation), but simply that they were _driven onward, or toward Latium, by the fates_ (acti fatis); while at the same time they were _driven backward, or from Latium, by Juno_, (arcebat longe Latio). The result was "multos per annos errabant maria omnia circum:" words could not more clearly express the opposition of the forces between which the Trojans were placed; an opposition on which hangs the whole action of the poem. The _invidia_ of Juno, concerning which Servius queries, was manifested by her using her utmost exertions to prevent the Trojans from arriving at the place toward which they were impelled by the fates, _i.e._ at which it was fated they should arrive.

As "acti fatis" here, so "fato profugus venit," verse 6; "sedes ubi fata quietas ostendunt," verse 209; "data fata secutus," verse 386; "fata deum vestras exquirere terras imperiis _egere_ suis" (_Æn._ VII. 239.); "fatisque vocantia regna" (_Æn._ v. 656.); &c.; through all which expressions runs the one constant idea of the fates _calling_, _forcing_, _driving_ (agentia) the Trojans toward Latium.

II. "Sævus ubi Æacidæ telo jacet Hector ubi ingens
Sarpedon."--_Virg. Æn._ I. 103.[1]

Observe how the poet surmounts the obvious difficulty of uniting Hector, the principal champion of Troy, and Sarpedon, the son of Jove, in one and the same sentence, without implying a preference for either, without exalting one at the expense of the other; viz., by counterbalancing, by an inferior position towards the end of a line, that advantage of priority of mention, which he must necessarily give to one of them; and by compensating the other for the disadvantage of being placed second in order, by the double advantage of first place in a line, and separation from the rest of the line by a sudden pause.

III. "Ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis
Scuta virum galeasque et fortia corpora volvit."

_Virg. Æn._ I. 104.

"Contendit cum Homero (_Il._ [Greek: m.] 22. _seq._). Potest sane
oratio nimis ornata videri ex Æneæ persona; sed innumeris locis
poetæ cum epici, tum tragici, ac lyrici, sibi indulgent in ornatu,
etiam ubi alios loquentes inducunt."--HEYNE.

[Footnote 1: The numbering of the lines is that of the Delphin edition.]

This stricture, very seasonable in a commentary on Statius or Lucan, is wholly inapplicable to Virgil; a poet remarkable, above all others, for his abstinence from gaudy ornament, and singularly careful to adapt the sentiment to the character and circumstances of the speaker. The words in the text, or some similar words, were indispensable to give full expression to the idea of Æneas; very imperfectly understood either by the annotators, or, with the exception of Caro, by the translators: _Happy those who died on the plains of Troy, in the sight of their sires? Oh! that I, too, had perished there by the hand of Tydides, or been swept away along with so many of my friends by the Simois!_

JAMES HENRY.

34. Westland Row, Dublin.

FOLK LORE.

_Superstitions respecting Bees._--It is a subject for painful reflection, that beings of so great skill and useful industry should be so liable to take affront, as is proved by the anecdotes related of bees by L. L. L. Who would not grieve, that bees--who have been said to partake of the Divine nature,

"Esse apibus partem divinæ mentis et haustus
Ætherios dixêre"--

should reduce themselves, by this susceptibility of offence at (in most cases imaginary) neglect, to a level with the weakness and folly of human creatures,--I say human creatures; for in the country I have known feuds caused by omitting to bid to the funeral of a deceased neighbour, or to send black gloves. It was to be hoped that these "offensiones muliebres" (we may add "viriles" also) were peculiar to the human race; but that, it is apparent, is not so. The custom of giving a piece of the funeral cake is new to me; though it looks like want of feeling to be greedy of cake in the hour of affliction, yet there is a sort of retributive fitness in presenting to these busy people

"_Melle_ soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam."

It is a grateful acknowledgment of past favours conferred upon the deceased head of the family, and a retainer for future services to the survivors.

With regard to the custom of informing the bees of a death in the family, and the penalty of omitting to do so, I can add to the proof of it. I find among some memoranda I made more than five-and-twenty years ago, the following note:

"In Buckinghamshire it is common, on the death of any one of the
family, for the nurse to go to all the bee-hives in the garden,
and tap gently three times, each time repeating three times these
words, 'Little brownie, little brownie, your master's dead;' when
the bees, beginning to _hum_, show their consent to remain. The
omission of this ceremony, it is believed, would occasion the loss
of the bees by flight, or otherwise."

To show that a similar custom and belief, though varying in some particulars, are found upon the continent of Europe, I give the following extract:

"In Lithuania, when the master or mistress of the house dies, it
is considered necessary to give notice of the fact to the bees,
horses, and cows, by rattling a bunch of keys; and it is believed,
that if this were omitted the bees and cattle would die."--See the
_Journal of Agriculture. Highland and Agricultural Society of
Scotland_, Oct. 1848, p. 538.

One word more of bees: "His head is full of bees" is a Scotch proverb, said of a drunkard. (Ray's _Proverbs_, p. 198.) "He has a bee in his head" is an English proverb. So, "He has a bee in his bonnet." What is the meaning? As I was writing the last lines I said to a friend who was lounging in his arm-chair by our fireside, "Why is a drunkard's head said to be full of bees?" "I don't know," he answered, "unless it is on account of their _humming_. You remember," he added,

"With a pudding on Sundays, with stout _humming_ liquor,
And remnants of Latin to welcome the vicar."

The half-hour bell rang before we had done talking of and repeating parts of V. Bourne's "The Wish." Many a time has "NOTES AND QUERIES" given subjects for talk in our family before and after dinner.

F. W. T.

Oliver, in his account of Cherry-Burton (_History of Beverley_, p. 499.), speaks thus on the superstitious practice of informing bees, and putting them in mourning on the occasion of a death in the family:

"The inhabitants entertain a superstitious belief, that when the
head of a family dies, it is necessary to clothe the bees in
mourning on the funeral day to ensure the future prosperity of the
hive."

He then refers to an instance, and says:

"A scarf of black crape was formally applied to each bee-hive; and
an offering of pounded funeral biscuit, soaked in wine, was placed
at its entrance."

In a note, he accounts for the ceremony's origin by a quotation from Porph. _De Ant. Nymp._, p. 261., in which honey is spoken of as being "anciently a symbol of death." For other notices of superstitions in reference to bees, see Hone's _Mysteries_, pp. 220. 222. 283.

R. W. ELLIOT.

I was lately informed by a native of Monmouthshire, that the belief relative to bees is entertained in that and some of the adjacent counties even by educated persons. My informant gravely assured me that though the bees are aware of the approaching event, from the acuteness of their organs of smell, they require to be duly and timely communicated with on the subject, to induce them to remain with the survivors; but if this be neglected, they will desert their hives, and disappear. The propriety or necessity of offering them any refreshment was not stated.

YUNAF.

The custom mentioned by L. L. L. still prevails in the Weald of Surrey and Sussex; probably through all the southern counties; but certainly in the Isle of Wight, where the writer only the other day, on noticing an empty apiary in the grounds of a villa, was told that the country people attributed its desertion to the bees not having had this formal notice of their master's death.

The same superstition is practised in some parts of France, when a mistress of the house dies; the formula being much like our English one, _i.e._ to tap thrice on the hive, repeating these words, "Petits abeilles, votre maîtresse est morte."

A. D.

_Bees invited to Funerals.--North Side of Churchyards._--At Bradfield, a primitive village on the edge of the moors, in the parish of Ecclesfield, I was informed by a person of much intelligence, that a custom has obtained in the district from time immemorial--"for hundreds of years" was the expression used--of inviting bees to funerals; and that an instance could be produced of the superstition having been practised even within the last year. What is done is this. When a death occurs, a person is appointed to call the neighbours to the funeral, who delivers the invitations in one form of words: "You are invited to the funeral of A. B., which is to take place at such an hour, on such a day; and there will be dinner on table at----o'clock." And if it should happen that bees were kept in the garden of the house where the corpse lies (not an unlikely thing near moors), the messenger is instructed to address the same invitation to the bees in their hives; because it is considered that, if this compliment be omitted, the bees will die.

I asked the sexton of Bradfield why, in a churchyard that was rather crowded with graves, there was no appearance of either mound or tombstone on the north side? His only answer was, "It's mostly them 'at died i' t' workhus is buried at t' backside o' t' church." An instance, but no explanation of the prejudice entertained against the north side of churchyards.

ALFRED GATTY.

In answer to your correspondent L. L. L. respecting bee etiquette, I can inform him, from my personal observation, that the ceremony of informing the bees of their owner's death is in full force in Ashborne, Derbyshire, Hinton, Wilts, and even in the highly intellectual city of Oxford. The ceremony is the same in all these places. Three taps are made on the hives with the house-key, while the informant repeats: "Bees, bees, bees, your master is dead, and you must work for ----," naming the future owner. A piece of black crape is then fastened to the hive. Many bee owners think it is politic to inform the bees of the death of a relation: but in this case they never give the name, but the degree of relationship; as "your master's brother, sister, aunt, &c. is dead." On weddings the bees always expect to be informed of the auspicious event, and to have their hive decorated with a wedding favour.

J. G. WOOD.

Oxford.

_Ashton Faggot: A Devonshire Custom._--The ashton faggot is burned on Christmas eve. The faggot is composed entirely of ash timber, and the separate sticks or branches are securely bound together with ash bands. The faggot is made as large as can conveniently be burned in the fireplace, or rather upon the floor, grates not being in use. A numerous company is generally assembled to spend the evening in games and amusement, the diversion being heightened as the faggot blazes on the hearth, as a quart of cider is considered due, and is called for, and served upon the bursting of every hoop or band bound round the faggot. The timber being green and elastic, each band generally bursts open with a smart report when the individual stick or hoop has been partially burned through.

_Offerings to the Apple-trees: Devonshire Superstition._--It was a custom in Devonshire, and probably in some of the adjoining counties also, to perform the following ceremonial on Old Christmas Eve, or Twelfth Day, namely: In the evening the farmer's family and friends being assembled, hot wheat-flour cakes were introduced, with cider; and this was served round to the company, the cake being dipped in the cider, and then eaten. As the evening wore on, the assembled company adjourned into the orchard, some one bearing hot cake and cider as an offering to the principal tree in the orchard; the cake was deposited on a fork of the tree, and the cider was then thrown over it, the men firing off muskets, fowling-pieces, pistols, &c., the women, girls, and boys shouting and screaming to the trees with all the excitement of young Indians the following rhyme:--

"Bear blue, apples and pears enoug';
Barn fulls, bag fulls, sack fulls. Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"

Query, Do these customs prevail to this day either in Devonshire or in other European countries?

R. R.

POETICAL IMITATION.

It has always been a pleasing office of criticism, to observe how often an excellent thought, having sprung from some master mind, or from some inferior mind in a happy moment, has been used by succeeding writers.

Homer,

"à quo, ceu fonte perenni,
Vatum Pieriis ora rigantur aquis,"

has, in _Il._ v. 406. _et seq._, the following lines:

"[Greek: Nêpios, oude to oide kata phrena Tydeos hyios
Hotti mal' ou dênaios, hos athanatoisi machoito,
Oude ti min paides poti gounasi pappazousin,
Elthont' ek polemoio kai ainês dêïotêtos]."

"The son of Tydeus is foolish and rash, nor is aware that he who fights with the immortals is not long-lived, and that _no children, as he returns from war and strife, gather round his knees to call him father_."

The idea of children saluting their parent at his knees, has been adopted, and accompanied with various additions, by several subsequent authors. Among the writers in Homer's language, however, we find no imitation of it, unless the following lines of Callimachus can be regarded as taken from it:

"[Greek: Patros ephezomenê gonatessi
Pais eti kourizousa, tade proseeipe gonêa,
Dos moi partheniên aiônion, appa, phylassein]."

"She (_Diana_), yet a child, sitting sportively on the knees of her father, said to him, Allow me, dear parent, to preserve a perpetual virginity."

In the Latin writers the thought occurs several times. The first in whom it is found is Lucretius:

"At jam non domus adcipiet te læta, neque uxor
Optuma, nec dulces obcurrent oscula natei
Præripere, et tacitâ pectus dulcedine tangent."

III. 907.

"But thy cheerful home shall no more receive thee, nor thy excellent wife; nor shall thy sweet children run to snatch kisses from thee, and touch thy breast with secret delight."

In whose steps Virgil treads:

"Interea _dulces pendent circum oscula nati_;
Casta pudicitiam servat domus."--_Geo._ II. 523.

"His cares are eased with intervals of bliss;
His little children climbing for a kiss,
Welcome their father's late return at night;
His faithful bed is crown'd with chaste delight."

Dryden.

(Virgil liked the expression _dulces nati_. He has

"Nec mihi jam patriam antiquam spes ulla videndi,
Nec _dulces natos_ exoptatumque parentem."

_Æn._ II. 137.

"Nec _dulces natos_, Veneris nec præmia nôris?"

_Æn._ IV. 33.

"Sed tota in _dulces_ consument ubera _natos_."

_Geo._ III. 178.)

Statius, doubtless, had both Lucretius and Virgil in his view, when he wrote,

"Rursus et ex illis soboles nova; grexque protervus
Nunc _humeris irreptet avi_, nunc agmine blando
Certatim placidæ _concurrat ad oscula_ Pollæ."

_Silv._ III. i. 179.

"Again from them springs a new race; a forward little troop, which sometimes climb on the shoulders of their grandfather, and sometimes, in pleasing congress, run to catch a kiss from the gentle Polla."

Seneca, _Thyest._ I. 145., has another imitation:

"Exceptus gladio parvulus impio,
Dum _currit patrium natus ad osculum_,
Immatura focis victima concidit."

"The little Pelops, met by the impious sword, while he was running to receive his father's kiss, fell a premature victim on the hearth."

Claudian, _Rapt. Proserp._ III. 173., has another:

"Hæc post cunabula dulci
Ferre sinu, summoque Jovi deducere parvam
Sueverat, _et genibus ludentem aptare paternis_."

"She was accustomed to bear the little infant, after it had slept in its cradle, in her fragrant bosom, to present it to almighty Jove, and to place it sporting on its father's knees."

But the best adaptations and expansions of the thought have been among the writers of our own country. The earliest allusion to it, I believe, occurs in Thomson's description of the traveller lost in the snow:

"In vain for him th' officious wife prepares
The fire fair-blazing, and the vestment warm;
In vain his little children, peeping out
Into the mingling storm, demand their sire
With tears of artless innocence! Alas!
Nor wife, nor children, more shall he behold,
Nor friends, nor sacred home."--_Winter_, 311.

But this is a less pointed imitation than that of Gray, which succeeded it. Gray had his eye on Lucretius:

"For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Or busy housewife ply her evening care;
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share."

Next followed Collins, in his Ode on the Superstitions of the Highlands, who, however, seems to have had Thomson chiefly in view:

"For him, in vain, his anxious wife shall wait,
Or wander forth to meet him on his way;
For him, in vain, at to-fall of the day,
His babes shall linger at th' unclosing gate:
Ah! ne'er shall he return."

To him succeeded Dyer:

"The little smiling cottage, when at eve
He meets his rosy children at the door,
Prattling their welcomes, and his honest wife,
-------------------------------- intent
To cheer his hunger after labour hard."

__Fleece_, Book I. 120._

Burns has a picture equal to any of these:

"At length his lonely cot appears in view
Beneath the shelter of an aged tree:
_Th' expectant wee things, todlin', stacher through
To meet their dad with flichterin' noise and glee:_
His wee-bit ingle blinkin' bonnilie,
His clean hearth-stane, his thrifty wifie's smile,
_The lisping infant prattling on his knee_,
Does a' his weary carking cares beguile,
And makes him quite forget his labour and his toil."

_Cotter's Saturday Night._

Burns may have taken the thought from Gray, or some other English source. But he has not disgraced it by his mode of treating it.

Allen Ramsay, in his _Gentle Shepherd_, has a very pretty allusion to children, which I have not at hand to consult, but which concludes with,

"While all they ettle at, their greatest wis',
Is to be made o', and obtain a kiss."

J. S. W.

Stockwell.

A GLOUCESTER DITTY.

(_From an Old Broadside without date._)

Come, my very merry gentle people, only list a minute,
For tho' my song may not be long there's something comic in
it;
A stranger I, yet, by the bye, I've ventured in my ditty,
To say a word at parting, just in praise of Gloucester city.

The Romans they this city built, and many folks came down
here,
Kings Richard, Henry, John, and Ned, did visit Glo'ster town
here;
King William dined each Christmas here, and Glo'ster folks it
pleases,
To know the food he relished most was double Berkeley cheeses.

The ladies, Heaven bless 'em all! as sure as I've a nose on,
In former times had only thorns and skewers to stick their
clothes on;
No damsel then was worth a pin, whate'er it might have cost
her,
Till gentle Johnny Tilsby came, and invented pins in Glo'ster.

Your fine cathedral when I saw, tho' much I was delighted,
Yet in the whisp'ring gallery I got most sadly frighted;
Some question there I asked myself, when not a soul was near
me,
And suddenly an answer came, as if the walls could hear me.

The Severn full of salmon fine enriches low and high land,
And then, for more variety, you've got a little island;
Of which I've read a Taylor's Tale, a dozen verses long, sirs,
And may I go to Old Harry, if it's not a clever song, sirs.

George Ridler's oven, I've been told, contains some curious
jokes, sirs,
And much of it is said by many Glo'ster folks, sirs;
But ovens now are serious things, and from my soul I wish,
sirs,
Your ovens here many ne'er want bread to fill the poor man's
dish, sirs.

Now if you will but all forgive this slight attempt at rhyme,
sirs,
I'll promise, like the little boys, to mend another time,
sirs;
May health, with every blessing, join this company to foster,
Till, with your leave, some future time I come again to
Glo'ster.

GEORGE RIDLER'S OVEN.

(_From a Broadside._)

The stwons that built George Ridler's oven,
And thauy keum from the Bleakeley's Quaar;
And George he wur a jolly old mon,
And his yead it grawed above his yare.

One thing of George Ridler I must commend,
And that wur vur a notable theng;
He meud his braags avoore he died,
Wi' ony dree brothers his zons should zeng.

There's Dick the Treble and John the Mean,
(Let ev'ry mon zeng in his auwn pleace)
And George he wur the elder brother,
And therevoore he would zeng the Beass.

Mine Hostess' moid (and her neaum 'twur Nell),
A pretty wench, and I loved her well;
I loved her well, good reazun whoy,
Because zhe loved my dog and I.

My dog is good to catch a hen,
A duck or goose is vood vor men;
And where good company I spy,
O thether gwoes my dog and I.

My mother told I when I wur young,
If I did vollow the strong beer pwoot,
That drenk would pruv my auverdrow,
And meaak me vear the thread bare cwoart.

My dog has gotten sich a troick,
To visit moids when thoiy be zick;
When thoiy be zick and loik to die,
O, thether gwoes my dog and I.

When I have dree zixpences under my thumb,
O, then I be welcome wherever I keum;
But when I have none, O then I pass by,
'Tis poverty pearts good company.

If I should die as it may hap,
My greauve shall be under the green yeal tap;
In voulded earmes there wool us lie,
Cheek by jowl, my dog and I.

The foregoing is a very famous old Gloucestershire ballad, corrected according to the fragments of a MS. found in the Speech-house of Dean several centuries ago, and used to be sung at the meetings of the Gloucestershire Society, a charitable institution held at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand.

Both these ballads are literally copied from the Broadsides.

H. G. D.

THE CAXTON COFFER.

The biographers of Caxton may be divided into two classes; those who wrote before the publication of the _Typographical antiquities_, A.D. 1749, and those who wrote after that date. The same distinction may be made with regard to those who have incidentally noticed his life or publications.

The principal writers of the first period are Leland, Bale, Stow, Pits, Fuller, Nicolson, Middleton, Birch, Oldys, Lewis and Tanner. At the present moment, I must content myself with a critical remark on the mode in which Leland has been so often quoted. The first passage contains the expression to which I allude.

(1.) "Gulielmus Caxodunus, _Angliæ prototypographus_, hæc, aut
similia his, Anglice refert" etc.

(2.) "Quanquam priusquam id, quod modo sum pollicitus,
præstitero, non alienum meo erit instituto palam facere
_Gulielmum Caxodunum_, hominem nec indiligentem, nec indoctum,
_et quem constat primum_ LONDINI _artem exercuisse
typographicam_, Chauceri opera, quotquot vel pretio vel precibus
comparare potuit, in unum volumen collegisse."

The incidental expression _Angliæ prototypographus_ has been considered as a proof that Leland discredited the typographical claims of Oxford. The second quotation conveys an opposite notion. I tax no one, however, with unfairness, but ascribe the oversight to reliance on the _Index scriptorum à Joanne Lelando laudatorum_, which refers only to the first quotation.

BOLTON CORNEY.

Minor Notes.

_Note on the Duration of Reigns._--As Mr. Clinton and others have endeavoured to invalidate Newton's conclusions with respect to the length of reigns, by examples from modern history, I have made a Note on that subject which may be of use. Taking in the times which may be supposed most to resemble those to which the question refers, we find in England, from Alfred to the Conquest, 13 kings in 166 years:

From 1066 to 1272 8 kings 206 yrs.
From 1272 to 1837 27 " 565 "

An average on the whole of 19-1/2 years.

If we add the time from Egbert, 5 kings, 73 yrs., the average becomes 19 yrs.

The average from 1272 is only 21.

In France 559 to 814 18 kings 255 yrs.
" 814 1830 47 " 1016 "

Average 19-1/2.

Average from 814 only 21-1/2.

In Germany 840 to 1835 50 emper. 995 yrs. Average not 20.

Turks 1299 to 1808, 30 sover. 509 yrs. Average 17.

Scotland 1057 to 1567, 20 kings 510 yrs. Average 25-1/2

Spain 1479 to 1833, 14 kings 354 yrs. Average 25.

Portugal 1102 to 1826, 27 kings 724 yrs. Average not 21.

Denmark 1157 to 1839, 28 kings 672 yrs. Average 25.

Russia 1722 to 1825, 9 sover. 103 yrs. Average 11-1/2 yrs.

Total: 294 sovereigns, 6085 years; being an average of about 20-2/3, although including the latest times. It is evidently unfair to take recent times only, as Hales, Clinton, &c. do.

ALTRON.

_Cock and Bull Story._--One of your correspondents, in a late reply (Vol. iv., p. 243.), alludes to "a marvellous or _cock and bull_ story." Query, as to the origin of this saying. From an early number of the _Phonetic Journal_ made the following Note.

Dr. Burgess, a Methodist preacher, who often indulged in pointed remarks, perceiving some young men attending his preaching, whose behaviour plainly showed that amusement was their only object, turned his discourse, and addressed himself particularly to them as follows:--

"Young men, I know you are come to hear a story, and I will tell
you one. There was once a man, a cock, and a bull, who, being
intimate, agreed to travel together. They had not gone far on
their journey when they found themselves on the brink of a river,
which they had determined to cross, but could discover neither
bridge nor ferry. After a consultation it was agreed the cock
should first make the attempt of crossing the water, which he did
without much difficulty; the bull afterwards plunged into the
stream, and by mere strength waded through. The man, not being
able to swim, was afraid to follow his companions; and while they
were encouraging him from the other side to get over, he was
observed to cut some osiers which grew by the water-side. Perhaps
you imagine these were intended to form a vehicle for conveying
him across the river? No such thing, I assure you. What other
purpose could he design them for? I will tell you, young men; it
was to lash the backs of those fools who chose to hear a story of
a cock and a bull, rather than the word of God."

PHILIP S. KING.

"_Multa renascentur_," _&c._--To show how stories are made standing dishes with what we may call _current sauce_ (no pun intended), take the following:--If we believe anything to have happened in our own day, that is, in Liverpool or Castlereagh time, it is the anecdote of the borough-monger who would answer nothing to the excuses of the minister, except "There are five of us." This story was told as an old one in the _Telegraph_ in 1798; and a long dialogue was given between Lord Falmouth, who wanted the Captaincy of the Yeomen of the Guard, and Henry Pelham, who had promised it elsewhere. To all the poor minister could say, the peer could only answer, "There are _seven_ of us." I hope that, in an age when coincidences are sought for, Wordsworth will not be suspected of plagiarism.

Again, what reader of gossip does not know that when George III. went to Weymouth, the Mayor, in making his address, mistook the private directions of his prompter for parts of his address, and gave it the King as follows:--"Hold up your head, and look like a man--what the ---- do you mean?... By ----, Sir, you'll ruin us all." This story was told in a newspaper in 1797, as having happened between James II. and the Mayor of Winchester.

In the _Monthly Magazine_ in 1798, is a paper on peculiarities of expression, among which are several which we flatter ourselves belong to our own time. For instance, "to _cut_ a person," which was then current: some tried to change it into _spear_, but failed. Also, to _vote_, as in "he voted it a bad lounge;" and the words _bore_, _done up_, _dished_, &c.; not forgetting _spilt_ for "upset" in a carriage.

The parliamentary phrases of "catching the speaker's eye," "being upon his legs," "meeting the ideas of the house," "committing himself," "taking shame to himself," "being free to confess," "putting a question roundly," "answering it fairly," "pushing an investigation," are all noted as then worthy of remark. And, if we are to trust the article cited, the word _truism_ was born and bred in the House of Commons, in the sense of a forcible and undeniable truth. And the same origin is given to the idiom "in my own mind" as in "I feel no doubt, in my own mind,..."

M.

_Corruptions recognised as acknowledged Words._--I recollect two curious historical instances of mere vulgar mis-pronunciation, which have established themselves in use; perhaps others of your readers may mention more, which it would be interesting to trace to their origin.

_Massaniello_ is universally recognised as the name of the celebrated Neapolitan insurrectionist, who at one time nearly overturned the government of that kingdom. How few who use the word are aware that "Mas-Aniello" is but a corruption of _Thomas Aniello_, so pronounced by his vulgar companions, and now raised to the dignity of an historical name.

_Hougoumont_ is a conspicuous feature of the great field of Waterloo, and a name familiarly used in speaking of the famous battle; in course of time it will be forgotten that this is a mere mistake, said to have originated with the great general who achieved the victory, catching up from the peasantry around, the sound of _Chateau Goumont_, the real name of the little rural demesne in question. Nobody doubts, however, the right of the "Great Duke" to call a place he has made so famous by any name he might please to apply, and so _Hougoumont_ it will remain while history lasts.

A. B. R.

Queries.

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND BOTHWELL'S CONFESSION.

Although Mr. Cosh, at p. 248. of his admirable work on _The Method of Divine Government_, observes on the rapidity with which females descend to the depths of sin, the old apothegm, "Nemo repenti turpissimus fuit," recurs when thinking of Mary Queen of Scots, and leads me to ask the following question. Permit me to preface it with a remark. Mary is represented by all contemporary and subsequent writers to have been, from her earliest years to the death of Darnley, worthily beloved for her amiable qualities of heart and her superiority of intellect, and then to have fallen suddenly into an abyss of sin and wickedness, comprising domestic treason, murder, perjury, the subornation of perjurers, adultery, the conniving at divorce without adequate grounds, and all the other crimes connected with such proceedings; and then, after fifteen months of such a desperate course, to have risen to her former elevation, and have passed the remainder of her life with dignity, calmness, resignation, and in the habitual exercise of sincere piety, and to have met her death with a degree of heroism which has secured the admiration of posterity, and strengthened the doubts of her being guilty of the crimes imputed to her. The whole controversy, from Buchanan to Bell, is, I take for granted, known to your readers. Your publication is not the place suited to an examination of such mental operations, which are without a historical prototype, and without a known parallel. If any light can be thrown on any part of this subject, it becomes an act of historical justice, a work of Christian charity to Mary, and an illustration of the workings of the mind in a great emergency.

The late Chevalier Bronsted, of whose learning and accuracy his archæological works bear record, and whose straightforward simplicity of mind was highly estimated by all who knew him, had read in manuscript the second part of the confession of Bothwell, made previous to his death. I think the manuscript was in the private cabinet of the King of Denmark. In that confession he owned to have _violated_ the person of Mary, and that she became enceinte; that she miscarried, and immediately took measures to rid herself of him. Concluding that event to have transpired, there seems to be some clue to her forwarding the discussion of her council, and acquiescing in their request to marry Bothwell. A young queen, surrounded by ruffians, barbarians, and selfish and unprincipled leaders of factions, placed in a situation in which every feeling of the woman was outraged, every sentiment lacerated, her honour, her station, her life in jeopardy, her memory liable to degradation and disgrace, in terror, having in such extremity no friend to whom she could apply for advice and succour, she may have been induced to adopt means for her safety which, if injudicious, were excusable. My request is, to learn if any of your correspondents have seen or are cognisant of this very curious and important document.

ÆGROTUS.

Minor Queries.

229. "_'Tis Twopence now," &c._--Can any of your correspondents tell me where the following lines are to be found?--

"At length in an unearthly tone I heard these accents drop,
'Sarvice is done, 'tis tuppence now for them as wants to stop.'"

I met with them in a newspaper (I think the _Morning Herald_) between twenty and thirty years ago, but I believe they have been transferred to that sheet from the pages of some periodical. The lines above given are the concluding lines of the piece; the preceding lines were devoted to the description of the dying away of the tones of the organ, and the musings of the poet amongst the tombs in Westminster Abbey.

REMIGIUS.

230. _Scythians blind their Slaves._--Can any of your correspondents explain to me the reason why, according to Herodotus, the Scythians used to blind their slaves? The passage is in chapter ii. book iv. I believe the reasoning to be hopelessly unreasonable, and have always been told that it is so, though I have met with many who have read the chapter again and again without even noticing the difficulty. The question is this:--What are we to supply in thought in order to connect the practice of blinding the slaves with the process of milking the mares, and stirring the milk to separate the cream or butter from it? Is it thus? The Scythians only feed cattle, and have no other use for slaves than to stir the milk, which they can do when blinded, at the same time that they are unable to escape, having been deprived of sight, and so their masters have not the trouble of watching them. This does not satisfy me; nor will it, I think, satisfy any one else.

THEOPHYLACT.

Blackheath.

231. _The "Gododin."_--In the Note on "The Antiquity of Kilts," MR. STEPHENS quotes the _Gododin_, an ancient poem, or poems, on which there is great diversity of opinion regarding its contents. The _Gododin_ was written or composed by Aneurin, in the dialect of the Northumbrian Britons, about the year 510, according to Llwyd. It is evident that a work of this description, with the usual accidents attending on transmission, must necessarily be somewhat obscure at the present day. Indeed, it appears to be so much so, that there are two very different versions; one giving it as the description of a battle, in which the intoxicated Britons were easy victims to the swords of the "stranger;" the other version, by the Rev. E. Davies, refers it to the "Brad y Cyllyll Hirion," (or, Plot of the Long Knives), or massacre of the British chiefs at Stonehenge, during a feast. Now as this event is stated to have occurred in 472, the Dinogat of Aneurin is not the Dinogat of 577. Moreover Davies describes him as Octa, a son of the Saxon Hengist. As MR. STEPHENS does not follow this version, and as he has given considerable attention to those subjects, perhaps he is enabled to decide this _questio vexata_. It should be observed that Davies accompanies his version with reasons that give it much weight.

GOMER.

232. _Frontispiece to Hobbes's Leviathan._--There are curious circumstances about this frontispiece which some of your readers may explain. The figure of Leviathan represents the upper part of a man with a crown on his head, a sword in his right hand, and a crozier in his left, the body and arms being made up of small human figures in various dresses. In the common editions the face has a manifest resemblance to Cromwell (the work was published in 1651), although it wears, as I have said, a regal crown. But in the copy belonging to Trinity College Library, the face appears to be intended for Charles I. The engraving of this copy is very much worse than the other, and is not worked into the same careful detail by the artist, though the outline is the same: and the text of the book is a separate and worse impression, though the errata are the same with the other copies, as well as the date. How Hobbes himself, or any other person, should come to print the Leviathan in this manner, it seems difficult to explain.

I have also a small French translation of Hobbes, _De Corpore Politico_, dated 1652, which has a similar figure for a frontispiece, but with an upright sword in the right, and a balance in the left, hand.

W. W.

Cambridge.

233. _Broad Arrow or Arrow Head._--What is the origin of the arrow head as a government mark?

[Arrow symbol]

234. _Deep Well near Bansted Downs._--Mr. Robert Hooke, professor at Gresham College, writing in 1674, says he has--

"seen at a gentleman's house, not far from Bansted-Downs in
Surrey, a well which is dug through a body of chalk, and is near
360 feet deep, and yet dry almost to the very bottom."

Is this well still known, and can any of your correspondents vindicate its situation, and give any particulars relating to it? The pamphlet in which it is mentioned is curious, for it is "an attempt to prove the motion of the earth [in its orbit] from observations." It will be observed that the work was written in the year 1674.

W. S. G.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

235. _Upton Court._--About nine miles from Reading, on the road to Newbury, and removed about two miles from the high road, is an ancient manor house called Upton Court. It is most curious as to architecture, and is a most interesting specimen of the houses of the gentry of former days. It belonged to a Catholic family of the name of Perkins. The chapel, in the house, and the hiding-place for priests, can still be seen. It is said that Pope wrote the _Rape of the Lock_ there. I should be glad to know if any of your correspondents can confirm this fact from authentic evidence.

A. E.

236. _Derivation of Prog._--In Vol. iv., p. 175., _Pirog_ is stated to be the Russian custom of the mistress of a family distributing on certain occasions bread or cake to her guests.

Query, Is this the origin of our slang word _prog_, meaning provisions?

J. SS.

237. _Metrical History of England._--I am nearly an octogenarian, consequently I ought to have something better, and humbly hope I have something better, to employ my thoughts than relics of old ditties and forgotten rhymes. Still the recurring questions of numerous grandchildren compel one to resort to long forgotten lore, and to request those whose memory still survives to compensate for the deficiencies of my own. I am particularly anxious to recover my lapsis in the following metrical, yet _logical_, history of England, which I have long ago forgotten:

"William and William, and Henry and Stephen,
And Henry the Second, _to make the First even_."

If either MR. HALLIWELL, or DR. RIMBAULT, will favour me, they will confer a great obligation, and add much to the hilarity of my ensuing Christmas table.

MÆRIS.

238. _Finger Pillories in Churches._--Besides some interesting monuments, &c., to be found in the church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, there stands under the western gallery a _finger pillory_, or stocks to confine the fingers only: it is fastened at its right-hand extremity into the wall, and consists of two pieces of oak; the bottom and fixed piece is three feet eight inches long; the width of the whole is four and a half inches, and when closed it is five inches deep: the left-hand extremity is supported by a leg of the same width as the top, and two feet six inches in length; the upper piece is joined to the lower by a hinge, and in this lower and fixed horizontal part are thirteen perpendicular holes, varying in size; the largest are towards the right hand: these holes are sufficiently deep to admit the finger to the second joint, and a slight hollow is made to receive the third one, which lies flat; there is of course a corresponding hollow in the top or movable part, which, when shut down, incloses the whole finger.

Its use is stated to have been for the punishment of persons guilty of mal-practices during divine service: truly, a mischievous urchin, or a lout of a farm servant, dragged off to the stocks, must have been a scene extremely edifying to the congregation, particularly if the offenders were obstreperous, and had no inclination whatever to be in a fix.

Query, Is there another known instance of stocks for the fingers alone, and applied to similar purposes?

THOS. LAWRENCE.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

239. _Stallenge Queries._--1. What was the christian name, birth, and parentage of the Stallenge who planted the mulberry trees at Sion House at the commencement of the seventeenth century?

2. What was the name of the _first wife_ of that Sir Nicholas Stallenge who, towards the close of the sixteenth century, married as his _second wife_ Florence Kenn, widow of Sir Christopher Kenn, of Kenn, in the county of Somerset?

3. What city or castle in England was Sir Thomas Stallenge his son governor of?

4. What was the name of the wife of the said Sir Thomas Stallenge?