Chapter C: S. T. P

Oxford.

Minor Queries.

_The Chronologic Institute._--Should not this society, as a preliminary, protest against the architectural anachronisms of these days--the building churches, for instance, in every, any, or no style of architecture? In one parish the priest erects an Early English church, copied from the _Oxford Glossary_; in the next, something very like a conventicle, with no chancel and no chimes, is built by subscription; in another, the architect is a disciple of Ruskin, and tries the Byzantine style, with a tower like St. Mark's of Venice;--a nice Gordian knot for coming chronologists!

MORTIMER COLLINS.

_Mother Carey's Chickens._--In Hawkesworth's _Voyages_ there occurs the following passage: "The petrels, to which sailors have given the name of Mother Carey's chickens." Who was "Mother Carey;" why was her name given to the petrel; and why have sailors so great an objection to their being killed?

W. B. M.

Dee Side.

_Suwich Priory._--What is known of the Priory of Suwich in Hampshire, of which a handsome seal records the former prosperity?

E. A. S.

_Anthony Babington._--Can any of your correspondents inform me whether William Kempe's _Dutiful Invective against the moste Haynous Treasons of Ballard and Babington_, &c. &c., has been reprinted in any collection of rare tracts, or otherwise? and also whether his _Censure of a loyall Subiect upon certaine noted Speeches and Behaviour of those 14 notable Traitors_ (Ballard, Babington, &c.), has also been reprinted?

I should also be glad of references to any other tracts or ballads referring to Babington and his conspiracy.

L. J.

_Sir Isaac Newton, Cicero, and Gravitation._--How is it that Sir Isaac Newton has obtained so world-wide a renown for his discovery of the law of gravitation, when the following passage in the _Tusculan Disputations_ proves it to have been well known to Cicero?

"Qua omnia delata gravitate medium mundi locum semper
expetant."--See lib. v. cap. 24.

S. E. B.

Trinity College, Oxford.

_Diotrophes._--Can any of your readers say, on what authority the Abbé Masscot calls Diotrophes, mentioned in 3 St. John, ver. 9., Bishop of Corinth. The Abbé has left the Roman Church, and joined the branch of Mr. Henry Drummond's Church in France, and is the editor of _Le Recueil Catholique_, to advocate the cause of the new church. The passage to which I refer is in the October Number, p. 208., and is given as a proof of his theory: "L'Apostolat supplanté, absorbé par l'Episcopat;" this first order of ministry in the Christian Church having been in abeyance, till it was revived in the person of Mr. Drummond and the other eleven apostles of that Church! In Mant and D'Oyley's Bible it is said that Diotrophes is unknown; and Grotius and Doddridge entertain different opinions about him, but neither speak of him as being a bishop.

ER.

_Grisly._--Can any of your readers inform me why a person in a fretful state is said to be _grisly_? the far-famed Guzzle being a pattern of meekness and patience. I am aware that Johnson gives the meaning--_fearfully_, _horribly_; but this does not seem satisfactory. Infants are often said by their nurses to be "very _grisly_."

RUBY.

_Birthplace of St. Patrick._--Can the disputed question of the birthplace of St. Patrick be settled? Some writers assign Scotland, others England, and others France, as his fatherland. He himself informs us (_Confess. sub init._) that he was born at _Bonavem-Taberniæ_. This locality has been supposed by some writers to be _Kilpatrick_, on the mouth of the Clyde, and by others _Boulogne-sur-Mer_.

CEYREP.

_Motto on Chimney-piece._--There is a carved oak chimney-piece in my possession, of the time of James I., from a mansion at Newcastle-upon-Tyne occupied as the Turk's Head Inn, and taken down about fifteen years ago. In the central compartment is a shield, but the crest is wanting. The quarterings are three stags' heads, and checky; and as the motto has puzzled wiser heads than mine, I beg leave to produce it. One or two of the letters are doubtful, but there is no omission:

"VITATRANOVULAESTOLIM."

I should feel much obliged to any one for deciphering the motto, and still more for discovering the original possessor of this interesting piece of antiquity.

Another motto, under a coat of arms on some old china, cannot meet with an interpreter:

"VE DAL AM DARO."

C. T.

_Curious Bequest._--In the parish of Eardisland in Herefordshire, I am informed that some charitable person, whose name I could not ascertain, left to certain poor persons, parishioners, the following singular bequest, viz., to each poor person--

13 bushels of wheat
13 red herrings
13 tennis balls
13 pepper corns
13 pence.

This was to be distributed on Maunday Thursday. Can any of your correspondents throw light upon this, or mention similar instances of such singular bequests?

H. C. K.

_Wilkie's Blind Fiddler._--I should be much obliged if you, or any of your correspondents, could give me some information respecting Sir David Wilkie's picture of "The Blind Fiddler." I believe he painted as many as four, if not more, copies of the original, and that the first picture was finished by him in the year 1807; that in the National Gallery is dated, as I am informed, 1808. What I wish to ascertain is, the real number of the pictures of this subject that Wilkie painted, _with their dates_; and if possible, in whose hands they are at present.

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

_Lode._--It seems to be a provincial word, according to Forby, and means "an artificial water-course," from A.-S. _lodian_, _haurire_; he also adduces the instance I have named, and also a water-course in Fincham, called in old writings "the Lode ditch." It would be interesting to know if it is used elsewhere than in Norfolk, and it may be Suffolk; but, at all events, I should much like to come at the real meaning.

J. N. C.

_Ballad quoted by Sir Walter Scott._--Effie Deans, in the _Heart of Mid-Lothian_, sings this stanza of a ballad:

"The elfin knight sate on the brae,
The broom grows bonnie, the broom grows fair,
And by there cam' lilting a lady so gay,
And we daurna' gang down to the broom nae mair."

There is a traditional ballad, very similar, of which the following is the only stanza preserved:

"Ae kings dochter said to anither,
Broom blooms bonnie, an' grows sae fair,
We'll gae ride like sister and brither,
But we'll never gae down to the broom nae mair."

Sir Walter Scott delighted in preserving scraps of old ballads; and perhaps the two fragments above quoted may be part and parcel of the same original. Some friend in the "north countrie" may perhaps settle this point.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

_Ann Stewart, Wife of Christopher Hall._--Can any of your readers inform me, by referring to an old work called _Stewart's History of the Stewarts_, page 156., whether Ann Stewart therein mentioned, who married Christopher Hall, was a descendant of the daughter of Henry VII.?

JOHN OF GAUNT.

_Moveable Organs and Pulpits._--In looking over a small pamphlet, entitled _The Temple Church, an Account of its Restoration and Repairs_, by William Burge, Esq. (8vo. 1843, Pickering), I met with the following passage, which serves me for a peg on which to hang a Query:

"Mr Etty justly observes that 'in St. Peter's at the present day,
the organ is a very small one comparatively to the building, and
is wheeled about, like the ancient pulpits, to different parts of
the church!'"--P. 34.

Are movable organs common in Italy or elsewhere? With regard to pulpits, the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, has two at the present time, placed in one of the small chapels on the north side. They are moved into the choir when required. Besides these, the neighbouring church at Grantchester has a large pulpit, which, tradition says, also once belonged to the same noble edifice. Can any of your correspondents mention other examples of churches or chapels so well supplied?

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

_Nobleman alluded to by Bishop Berkeley._--Bishop Berkeley, in his _Minute Philosopher_ (Dialogue II. vol. i.), makes mention of "an English nobleman who in the prime of life professeth a liberal art, and is the first man of his profession in the world." Who was this nobleman?

J. M.

_Chelwoldesbury._--I shall be glad to have the opinion of your readers on the derivation of the name of a village, which in early records is spelt "Chalwoldesbury," "Chelwardesbury," "Chilwardesbury," "Chedwoldesby," &c. It is partly on the site of a British or Danish encampment, in a good state of preservation. The soil is chalky, and the country for some short distance round may have been open, but more probably the woods closely surrounded the camp. These particulars may assist in arriving at the derivation of the name, now corrupted into Cholesbury.

W. H. K.

_Swallows' Nests._--

"... That wond'rous stone, which the swallow,
Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of its
fledglings;
Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the swallow!"

Longfellow's _Evangeline_, Part I. i.

May I ask for information respecting the allusion contained in these lines?

W. S. T.

_Quotation from Arthur Hopton._--Arthur Hopton (_Baculum Geodæticum_, 1610, preface) says:

"If this hold, it is time to ... take the globe out of the king
Ptolomies hand, and there place a poore Siquis, such as forlorne
forreiners use to have in Paul's Church."

What does this mean?

M.

_Group at Prague._--I have in my possession a print representing Mercury in a flying attitude, bearing a female figure in his arms: the latter figure carries a cyathus in her right hand.

The inscription at the bottom of the print is--

"IVSSV RVDOLPHI · II · CÆSARIS AVGVSTI,
ADRIANVS DE VRIES HAGIENSIS FACIEBAT. PRAGUÆ.
OPVS ALTITVDINIS PEDVM OCTO EX ÆRE. 1.5.9.3."

I apply to "N. & Q." in hopes that this "Q." may meet the eye of some erudite correspondent, and draw forth a satisfactory "N."

Was Prague ever decorated with such a group? If the group in question be not a myth, what is the meaning of it? Who is meant by the first line of the inscription?

TECEDE.

_Cards prohibited to Apprentices._--When was the prohibition to play at cards or dice first introduced into apprentices' indentures? It occurs in the form of an indenture for an apprentice in _A Book of Presidents_, printed about 1566, and compiled by Thomas Phaer, who describes himself as "Solicitour to the King and Queenes Majesties."

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

_Cursitor Barons._--Can any of your correspondents guide me to a list of the Cursitor Barons, or refer me to any account of their origin and history? I find no such officer named up to the reign of Henry VIII., beyond which I have not yet inquired; nor does any notice occur of them in Madox's _History of the Exchequer_.

EDWARD FOSS.

_Phelps's Gloucestershire Collections._--The late John Delafield Phelps, Esq., who died in December, 1842, was well known among the literati as an ardent _bibliophile_, and a great investigator and accumulator of antiquities. He was one of the original members of the Roxburghe Club, established nearly forty years ago, and had devoted a long life to his favourite pursuits. Having been a native of Gloucestershire, he felt a particular interest in everything which regarded that county, and had in his lifetime collected a great mass of materials for the elucidation of its history, antiquities, &c., in every respect. It is understood that an ample catalogue (_raisonné_ perhaps) was printed under his direction for circulation among his particular friends, giving great evidence of his assiduity and talents, and of the value of the collection. Participating to a great extent the interest which actuated Mr. Phelps to ascertain a local knowledge of Gloucestershire, I should feel obliged if any reader of the "N. & Q." could inform me what has become of Mr. Phelps's collection; if it remains entire, and if it be accessible by any recommendation to the present possessor?

Δ. (2).

_Huant Le Puisné._--I have in my possession a small gold _bonbonnière_ exquisitely enamelled with portraits and landscapes, and bearing the following inscription:

"Huant Le puisné pinxit à Berlin."

Can any of your readers refer me to a work where I shall find any account of this painter?

A. O. O. D.

_Arms of Roberson._--What is the meaning of a man, chained hand and foot, placed horizontally beneath the arms of Roberson?

R. S. B.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Winterton._--Information is requested of John [Ralph] Winterton, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, who translated, revised, and published Gerard's _Meditations and Prayers_, Cambridge, 1674, dedicated to John (Dolben), Lord Bishop of Rochester: the second part is called on the title-page the tenth edition. This book measures only four by two inches, and one inch in thickness, and contains 560 pages.

E. D.

[Ralph Winterton, in 1632, translated the _Considerations of
Drexelius upon Eternity_, in the Preface to which he says, "I left
the temple of Hippocrates and the Muses, and betook myself into
the sanctuary, to learn of David divine arithmetic, which
consisteth in the due numbering of the days of this short life, by
comparing them with the years of eternity; and so I fell upon
translating this book of eternity. And this I found, by daily
experience, to be the best hypnoticon that ever I used; for it
brought me to my rest better than if had taken diacodion." In 1634
he was nominated Professor of Physic in the University of
Cambridge; and in 1635 published an edition of the minor Greek
poets. The first edition of his translation of Gerard's
_Meditations and Prayers_ was published in 1631, and in 1640 he
translated Gerard's _Summe of Christian Doctrine_, 8vo. There is a
Latin distich by Winterton among the Additional MSS. in the
British Museum, No. 5955.]

_Emblems of a Saint._--At the sale of the late Mr. Cottingham's Museum of medieval art was sold on the seventh day "a corbel with a figure of a saint with a basket of birds in one hand, in the other a staff." Will you allow me to inquire, through your valuable columns, the name of this saint?

BURIENSIS.

[Joachim, the Father of Mary, is sometimes represented as holding
in his hand a basket with two turtle doves in it.--See _Die
Attribute der Heiligen_, &c., Hanover, 1843.]

_Quack._--Why are certain members of the medical profession so called? I have seen "in print" that the Egyptian hieroglyphic for a doctor was a _duck_. Does this afford a clue?

A. A. D.

[Our English _Quack_, or _Quacksalver_ as it was originally
written, is from the German _Quacksalber_, or rather the Dutch
_Kwaksalver_; which Bilderdijk, in his _Geslachtlijst der
Naamwoorden_, states should be more properly _Kwabzalver_
(Iatroliptes), from _Kwab_, a wen, and _zalver_, to salve or
anoint.]

_Dr. Hieron Mercurialis._--Who was Dr. Hieron Mercurialis, the author of a book having the following title: _Medicina Practica, seu de cognoscendis, discernendis, et curandis, omnibus humani corporis affectibus, earumque causis indagandis_?

W. S.

[Hieron Mercurialis, an eminent and learned physician, was born at
Forli, in Romagna, in 1530. During a sojourn of seven years at
Rome, he paid great attention to classical literature and the
monuments of antiquity, and composed the learned and elegant work
which first rendered him celebrated in the literary world, _De
Arte Gymnastica Libr. sex_, printed in 1567. After filling the
Professor's chair at Padua for eighteen years, he removed, in
1587, to Bologna, and subsequently to Pisa. He died in his native
place in 1606. See Rose's _Biographical Dict._]

_The Book of Sports._--This celebrated royal indulgence of Sabbath-breaking was first issued in 1617, and again in 1633. On its first promulgation, Archbishop Abbott forbad the reading of it in the parish church of Croydon; but in 1637 many clergymen were deprived of their livings for not complying with the royal ordinance. In that year, at least, Lawrence Snelling, Rector of Paul's Cray, was for that offence excommunicated and then deprived.

In 1643 it was ordered by the Lords and Commons that this book should be burnt by the common hangman in Cheapside and other usual places. The Sheriffs of London and Middlesex were required "to assist effectually" in the execution of the order; and all persons were required forthwith to deliver up all copies to the sheriff. The 10th of May was the day fixed for putting this order into execution. Was it complied with generally? I cannot find that any penalty was attached to disobedience. Is the book now scarce? I presume it is accessible in public libraries.

S. S. S.

[The earlier editions of _The Book of Sports_ are now scarce, but
may be seen in most public libraries. It was reprinted in 1709,
with the following title: _The Book of Sports, set forth by James
I. and Charles I._, with remarks upon the same in vindication of
Charles I. 4to. It was also reprinted in the _Harleian
Miscellany_, and in _The Phoenix_, vol. i.]

Replies.

MEANING OF GROOM.

(Vol. v., p. 57.)

Several of the recent articles of the "N. & Q." having had relation to the word _groom_, I may be allowed to submit to you a most ludicrous misconception of the duties attributed by our continental neighbours to our court-office of "Groom of the Stole," which struck me some years ago. One of the most laborious, and, from his extensive historical knowledge, one of the most competent editors of French memoirs, is M. F. Barrière, whose introductory discourses have been used so frequently by the writers on French subjects in the _Quarterly Review_, though not always with frank avowal of the obligation. In 1828 he published _Les Mémoires du Comte de Brienne_, a distinguished public man during the minority and early reign of Louis XIV., and there, at p. 372. of the second volume, referring to Brienne's father's _Mémoires_, tome i. p. 407. (Amsterdam, 1719, 8vo.), produces the following singular misapprehension of our habits and language. In 1624 the elder of these noblemen, it seems, was deputed by Louis XIII. to adjust the preparatory arrangements of our Charles I.'s marriage with Henrietta Maria, the French monarch's sister, who, it was stipulated, should be attended equally by French and English ladies. Among the former are named the Duchess of Chevreuse, the Maréchale de Thémines (wife of the Marshal), and Madame de Saint-Georges, who had been the princess's governess and lady of honour,--a title unknown, it is said, at the English court, but for which the Duke of Buckingham, the representative of Charles, proposed as an equivalent, that of Groom of the _Stool_ (sic) "qui revient assez bien à ce qu'on appelerait dans notre langue, le gentilhomme, ou la dame de _la chaise-percée_. Cette charge est très considérable; elle fait jouir de très grands privilèges," &c. A natural expression of surprise follows this portraiture of a high and regular functionary, whose attributes not even majesty could ennoble or strip of indignity. The transposition of the name and duties of Groom of the Stole has caused this most ridiculous blunder--a double one, indeed, for the office does not belong to female majesty, though it may, as of course at present, form part of a royal consort's household. The living editor of De Brienne, who dwells on these "étranges usages de nos voisins d'outremer," tells us, and it is confirmed by De Brienne himself, that this nobleman felt proud and honoured at the familiarity and confidence of Louis XIV., who often conferred with him on state affairs, enthroned "sur sa chaise-percée." The Duchess of Burgundy, mother of Louis XV., it is known, never hesitated to administer to herself a relieving remedy, not to be pronounced by name in English society, in presence of Louis XIV. and his attendant courtiers; so that these violations of decorum, falsely imputed to our court, were of historical truth at Versailles.

J. R. (Cork).

May not _groom_ be the _literal_ English of the French _écuyer_, and have in the places quoted the same meaning as _esquire_, which is evidently the Anglicised French?

W. C. TREVELYAN.

Wallington.

BALLAD OF LORD DELAWARE.

(Vol. ii., pp. 104. 158.; Vol. v., p. 243.)

As I have reason to believe that several of your readers are interested in this old ballad, I send you an exact transcript of the oral version contained in Mr. Lyle's (not _Lyte's_, as incorrectly printed in my former communication) now rare little volume.

Your correspondent C. W. G. thinks that it relates to some transaction much later than 1622; and possibly he may be right. It may be as well, however, to mention that Mr. J. H. Dixon, who inserted the ballad in his _Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England_ (Percy Society, No. LXII.), thinks otherwise, and, indeed, claims for it an antiquity as high as the reign of Edward III., A.D. 1377. He suggests that for De la Ware we should read De la Mare, and believes Sir Thomas De la Mare, Speaker of the House of Commons, to have been the hero. Mr. Dixon says:

"All historians are agreed in representing him as a person using
'great freedom of speech,' and which, indeed, he carried to such
an extent as to endanger his personal liberty. As bearing somewhat
upon the subject of the ballad, it may be observed that De la Mare
was a great advocate of popular rights, and particularly protested
against the inhabitants of England being subject to 'purveyance;'
asserting that 'if the royal revenue was faithfully administered,
there could be no necessity for laying burdens on the people.'"

The title of the "Welsh lord, the brave Duke of Devonshire," offers some opposition to Mr. Dixon's hypothesis, as no _Duke_ of Devonshire was created before 1694; but, as Sir Walter Scott observed, upon a friend pointing out an inaccuracy in his "Bonnets of bonnie Dundee," "We cannot always be particular in a ballad." Possibly the name of some other country or place should be substituted for that of "Devonshire." Indeed I remember, some ten years ago, hearing a version of this ballad sung at a village in Staffordshire, where the "minstrel" (for he was a true descendant of the wandering tribe) used _Hereford_ in the place of Devonshire.

There is an old ballad in Deloney's _Garland of Good Will_, upon the quarrel between the two Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk, in the reign of Richard II. See Hume's _Hist. of Eng._, chap. xvii., A.D. 1398, for a full account of the transaction. There seems to be some "relationship" between this "combat" and that of the Lord Delaware. At any rate, the following ballad smacks wonderfully (allowing for the march of time, and Mr. Lyle's "smoothing down") of the style of the "ballading silk-weaver," and his cotemporary poetasters.

"LORD DELAWARE.

"In the Parliament House, a great rout has been there,
Betwixt our good King and the Lord Delaware:
Says Lord Delaware to his Majesty full soon,
Will it please you, my Liege, to grant me a boon?

"What's your boon, says the King, now let me understand?
It's, give me all the poor men we've starving in this land;
And without delay, I'll hie me to Lincolnshire,
To sow hemp seed and flax seed, and hang them all there.

"For with hempen cord it's better to stop each poor man's breath,
Than with famine you should see your subjects starve to death.
Up starts a Dutch Lord, who to Delaware did say,
Thou deservest to be stabb'd! then he turned himself away:

"Thou deservest to be stabb'd, and the dogs have thine ears,
For insulting our King in this Parliament of peers;
Up sprang a Welsh Lord, the brave Duke of Devonshire,
In young Delaware's defence, I'll fight this Dutch Lord, my sire.

"For he is in the right, and I'll make it so appear:
Him I dare to single combat, for insulting Delaware.
A stage was soon erected, and to combat they went,
For to kill, or to be kill'd, it was either's full intent.

"But the very first flourish, when the heralds gave command,
The sword of brave Devonshire bent backward on his hand;
In suspense he paused awhile, scann'd his foe before he strake,
Then against the King's armour, his bent sword he brake.

"Then he sprang from the stage, to a soldier in the ring,
Saying, Lend your sword, that to an end this tragedy we bring:
Though he's fighting me in armour, while I am fighting bare,
Even more than this I'd venture, for young Lord Delaware.

"Leaping back on the stage, sword to buckler now resounds,
Till he left the Dutch Lord a-bleeding in his wounds:
This seeing, cries the King to his guards without delay,
Call Devonshire down: take the dead man away!

"No, says brave Devonshire, I've fought him as a man,
Since he's dead, I will keep the trophies I have won;
For he fought me in your armour, while I fought him bare,
And the same you must win back, my Liege, if ever you them wear.

"God bless the Church of England, may it prosper on each hand,
And also every poor man now starving in this land;
And while I pray success may crown our King upon his throne,
I'll wish that every poor man may long enjoy his own."

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

FAMILY LIKENESSES.

(Vol. v., p. 260.)

To most persons the discovery by VOKAROS of a family likeness existing between the face on the brass of the Abbess of Elstow, and the portrait of the Marquis of Bristol, after a lapse of three centuries, would probably seem moderately far-fetched; but when this is adduced as "valuable evidence on the disputed point, whether portraits were attempted in sepulchral brasses," a very great demand indeed is made upon our credulity. I have not the means now of referring to the works of Fisher and Rokewode; but I have before me a rubbing of the Elstow brass. Any person tolerably familiar with the subject will at once see that the face of the lady is identical with that which is repeatedly to be found on numerous brass effigies of persons of both sexes at the beginning of the sixteenth century; in fact, it is not very dissimilar to that of the fellow brass of the Abbot at Dorchester, Oxon. If, therefore, we might judge by the likeness, very many brazen-faced gentry of olden time might claim the honour of being ancestors of the noble lord. And so far from its being a disputed point, whether the faces on brasses are attempted likenesses, no one, I think, who has at all studied our monumental brasses, can fail to have come to the conclusion that they were _not_ intended to be portraits. The great proof of this lies in the obvious similarity in the faces of cotemporary figures which have been produced by the same artists, who, probably from their residing in London, and perhaps in a few other places, very rarely had an opportunity of seeing the persons to be commemorated. The instructions forwarded to the engravers would seem to have been confined to the inscription and other details, chiefly the costume, at least if we may judge from the large brasses at Digswell, Herts, and other similar figures. The ready adoption of unaltered palimpsest effigies may also be cited as an additional proof of the likeness being entirely a matter of indifference; and it is not improbable that many brasses were kept ready made, half-length figures of priests for instance; and files of children, all bearing a strong family likeness, may have been engraved, ready to be cut off on the shortest notice, and laid down at so much per foot. The only approach towards a likeness, if it may be termed such, seems to be the distinction between youth and age, and even that was almost wholly neglected in the fifteenth and earlier half of the sixteenth centuries. The foregoing remarks apply chiefly to brasses before the latter end of the sixteenth century; after that period portraits were evidently not unfrequently attempted. Very rare instances, however, before this time, _may_ be found. I may specify the effigy of Nich. Canteys, 1431, Margate, Kent.

Mr. Doyle, in his able painting of _Caxton submitting his proof-sheet to Abbot Estney_ (noticed in "N. & Q." No. 54. p. 398.) has taken the likeness of the Abbot from his brass in Westminster Abbey, which is, I suppose, as good a likeness of the original as any other that can be found; but the members of Queen's College, Oxford, have not been so fortunate. Several years ago, while hunting up a likeness of their founder (Robt. Egglesfield, 1340), they stumbled upon an old brass in the College Chapel, from which a painting and engraving was made purporting to be that of the founder. Recent researches have unfortunately fatally dispelled this illusion, as the effigy in question undoubtedly commemorates Dr. Robt. Langton, who deceased 1518.

H. H.

EARL OF ERROLL.

(Vol. v., p. 297.)

According to Burke's _Peerage_ for 1850, the present Lord Erroll is "the twenty-second High Constable of Scotland; and as such is, by birth, the first subject in Scotland after the blood-royal, having a right to take place of every hereditary honour, which was granted to his lordship's father on the visit of George IV. to North Britain" (in 1822).

In a small treatise, _De Jure Prelationis Nobilium Scotiæ_, printed by the Bannatyne Club in 1827, from a manuscript in the Advocates' Library, with a preface and numerous additions by Sir Alexander Seton, Lord Pitmedden, I find the following remark, under the head of "Comes de Erroll":--

"The Earle of Erroll claims precedency of all the nobilitie of
Scotland nixt to the Chancellour, though of ane ancienter creation
than himself, be vertue of his office of Constabulary, of the
which that precedency is a priviledge; and to instruct that it is
a priviledge, he produces a Report of a Commission that was
granted be the King under the Great Seal anno 1631, to take tryall
of the priviledges of the Constable; which Report, in the second
article thereof, bears that the precedency is due to the Constable
next to the Chancellor, _but he has never been in possession of
it, but only takes place by his antiquity as Earle_."

The report here referred to is given in Nisbet's _Heraldry_, vol. ii. p. 67. In the eighth chapter of Sir George Mackenzie's treatise on "Precedency" (p. 534. of the second volume of his works), your correspondent will find some interesting information regarding the ancient office of High Constable. In the course of his remarks the learned author says:

"Next to these (_i.e._ the Chancellor, Justice-General,
Chamberlain, High Steward, Panetarius, and Buttelarius) are named,
in the laws of King Malcolm Canmore (1057-1093), the Constable and
Marishal; but now the Constable and Marishal take not place as
officers of the Crown, but according to their creation as Earls:
the reason thereof I conceive to be, because of old offices did
not prefer those who possessed them, but they took place according
to their creation; whereas now the Privy Seal precedes all Dukes,
and the Secretary takes place before all of his own rank; but the
Constable and Marishal, being now the only two officers of the
Crown that are heritable in Scotland, continue to possess as they
did formerly. But in France, England, and all other places, the
Constable and Marishal take place as officers of the Crown; and it
seems very strange that these, who ride upon the King's right and
left hand when he returns from his Parliaments, and who guard the
Parliament itself, and the honours, should have no precedency by
their offices; and yet I cannot deny, but that of old other Earls
were placed before them; for in the former Charter granted by King
Alexander, Malcolm Earl of Fife is placed before them. And I
conceive their precedency has not risen of late to the same
proportion with others, because, of late, our armies have been
commanded by other officers, and so there was little use for the
Constable and Marishal."

E. N.

THE BOWYER BIBLE.

(Vol. v., pp. 248. 309.)

Seeing a fresh notice of this great book in No. 124. of "N. & Q.," I venture to forward a few particulars concerning Bowyer, who was an old friend, even of between thirty and forty years' standing. He is long since gone to his rest; he has left neither widow nor child, scarcely a distant relative, so that the following can neither "give offence nor grieve." He has often told me particulars of his early career. Being a poor youth in search of employment, and withal moody enough at his prospects, he was one day walking down Newgate Street, and pausing to look at a print or two in a shop-window, it struck him he could take a likeness; so he went home to his indifferent lodging, having procured implements suitable, seated himself before a glass, and took his own portrait, which he considered was as successful as a first effort could be. Encouraged thereby, he was soon employed to paint others, and such note did he acquire that his miniatures were carried into court-circles, so that he became a sort of celebrity in that line, and Queen Charlotte appointed him her official miniature-painter--if such be the proper term.

He soon struck out much more important occupation, planning various publications, the most promising of which was his large edition of Hume's _History of England_; and this was so ponderous an undertaking that it was only at last disposed of by a lottery. His fondness for taking portraits never left him, and a very few years before his death he gratified my family by volunteering to paint a miniature of my father, and a capital likeness it was. He was much pleased with one of his successes, of which he has more than once told me with great glee. Just before George III. was secluded finally from public view, he and another artist, an old acquaintance, went one Sunday together to the Chapel-Royal at Windsor, and during the service each sketched the King on _one of his nails_: they adjourned to an inn, and while the impression was yet fresh, transferred to a sheet of paper the likeness of the venerable monarch. On returning with it to London, Bowyer sent it for the inspection of the Prince Regent, who was so pleased with this rough pencil-drawing, that he sent word back he would never part with it, and begged to know Bowyer's price. The latter said 105_l._, which the Prince Regent immediately forwarded.

I once found Bowyer drawing at a table, a wig placed on a stick before him, and he was taking the likeness of a very old friend, who was dead and gone, from memory. In this attempt he entirely succeeded, even to the surprise of all who knew the deceased.

About ten years ago a little book, called _Henry VIII. and his Contemporaries_, by B. Bensley, contained, concerning the earlier impressions of the Bible, the following note:--

"I trust to be pardoned for introducing a little anecdote relative
to the Bible, exactly three hundred years after the period about
which I am writing, that is not the less appropriate for being
likewise illustrative of _episcopal shrewdness_. [The text is
recording an instance of the then Bishop of London being bitten in
an arrangement with a bookseller.] The most splendid Bible ever
issued was that published by Macklin, printed by my late father,
and the execution of which even his son may say, would alone hand
down his name to posterity. _Bowyer_, publisher of another great
national work--the folio edition of Hume's _History of England_,
also a splendid specimen of my father's typography--had a copy of
Macklin's Bible, which he employed his leisure during many years
to illustrate, having the best opportunities, from his pursuits as
an artist, publisher of prints, &c. On the completion of his
labours, he valued the massy product, consisting of an immense
number of prints, at 2500_l._; and, after unsuccessful efforts to
procure a purchaser, he put it up to be raffled for, issuing
proposals to the nobility and gentry, &c. Among others, an aged
_bishop_ sent his name as a subscriber to this kind of lottery,
and shortly after called at the rooms in Pall Mall to pay the two
guineas; but, before he did so, he drew Mr. Bowyer apart, and
gravely told him he could not quite make out how, by paying that
sum, he could _ensure_ possession of the great work. Upon its
being explained to his lordship, that he could only take a chance
with 1249 others, he expressed surprise and vexation, and declined
to pay two guineas for the chance, which he _then_, probably, saw
was objectionable in a moral point of view, as a species of
gambling! The parties are all long since dead."

B. B.

Pembroke.

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Exeter Controversy_ (Vol. v., p. 126.).--Your correspondent A. N. will find, probably, that the "Exeter Controversy," to which Gifford alludes, was that between John Agate, of St. Mary Arches Church, in Exeter, and John Withers, a Presbyterian. The controversy commenced in 1707, and was carried on with great violence till 1715. The tracts are numerous, but many very scarce. Agate's chief tract was entitled _Plain Truth_, and is in three parts, Exon, 1708. Withers replied in a work of three parts also: _Truth Try'd, or Mr. Agate's pretended Plain Truth proved an Untruth_, Exon, 1708-9-10. This of course called forth a rejoinder, and so on. Although carried on with great personalities, the controversy shows considerable ability on both sides. I possess almost all the tracts, and shall be happy to send a list to A. N., if required. Withers, Trosse, and Pierce are all well-known Dissenting names in the history of Exeter at the beginning of last century, when that city was the stronghold of Arianism.

RICHARD HOOPER.

_Coleridge's "Friend"_ (Vol. v., p. 297.).--The passage quoted by your correspondent J. M. can refer to one man only, viz. Thomas Wedgewood. His introduction to that gentleman, and his brother Josiah, is related by Cottle. (_Recollections of Coleridge_, 1837, vol. i. p. 305.) Coleridge might well call the former his "munificent co-patron;" for we learn from Cottle that these brothers, soon after making the poet's acquaintance, settled upon him 150_l._ per annum, in order to prevent him sinking the man of letters in the Unitarian minister. Cottle adds:

"Mr. C. was oppressed with grateful emotions to these his liberal
benefactors. He always spoke, in particular, of the late Mr.
Thomas Wedgewood as being one of the best talkers, and as
possessing one of the acutest minds of any man he had known."

The following details, which J. M. will not find in any book, may be interesting, to him:--Joseph Wedgewood, the illustrious potter, lived at _Etruria_, in Staffordshire; for such was the appropriate name of the house he built for himself. He had six children,--three sons, John, Thomas, and Josiah; and three daughters, Sarah, Catherine, and ****. John married a Miss Allen (one of four Devonshire lasses), who was accounted one of the most accomplished and excellent ladies in the county. Joshua married another of the sisters. Thomas never married. He was indisposed, both from ill health and taste, towards the pottery business, and took to philosophy. He was endowed with a rare genius, and enjoyed the society of the first _literati_ of his day. But he died while he was still a man of _promise_.

Of his sisters, Sarah was an accomplished lady with a strong intellect, which captivated Basil Montagu, without reciprocity. Catherine was a first-rate horse-woman. The third daughter married the celebrated Dr. Darwin, of Shrewsbury. All of them, I believe, are dead.