Queries.

PRINTS OF LONDON BEFORE THE GREAT FIRE.

In addition to the Tower, there was in Cromwell's time the fortification of Baynard's Castle, near Blackfriars, and the city gates were also fortifications on a small scale; they were rebuilt (St. John's, Clerkenwell, excepted, which was spared) after the Great Fire, and were taken down somewhere about 1760. Can any of your readers tell me whether there is any series of prints extant of the most remarkable buildings which were destroyed by the fire? There are some few maps, and a print or two interspersed here and there, in the British Museum; but is there any regular series of plates? We know that Inigo Jones built a Grecian portico on to the east end of the Gothic cathedral of old St. Paul's, surmounted with statues of Charles I., &c.; that the Puritans destroyed a beautiful conduit at the top of Cheapside; that Sir Thomas Gresham's Exchange was standing. But among the many city halls burnt down, were there any fine specimens of architecture, any churches worthy of note? And as Guildhall was not entirely consumed, what parts of the present edifice belong to the olden time?

You are doubtless aware that the fire did not extend to St. Giles's Cripplegate, and that at the back of the church are remains of the old city walls.

Ardelio.

BATTLE OF OTTERBURN.

On what authority does Mr. Tytler (History of Scotland, vol. iii. pp. 45—53.), in his otherwise very fair account of this celebrated battle, assert that the Earl of Douglas was a younger man than Hotspur? I have no doubt that he found it so recorded somewhere, and willingly believed that his countrymen had prevailed, not only over superior numbers of the enemy, but also over greater experience on the part of the hostile general; but a little more investigation would have shown him that the difference of age lay the other way. Henry Percy, by his own account (in the Scrope and Grosvenor Controversy), was born in 1366, and was therefore twenty-two when the battle was fought. I do not know that there is any direct evidence to Douglas's age, but the following considerations appear to me decisive as to his being much older than his rival.

1. Froissart's visit to Scotland was undoubtedly prior to 1366 (although the exact date is not given), and during his stay of fifteen days at Dalkeith, he saw much of the youthful heir of that castle, the future hero of Otterburn, and describes him as a "promising youth."

2. Hotspur, in his deposition above mentioned, says that he first bore arms at the siege of Berwick in 1378; but his antagonist must have commenced his military career long before, as Froissart mentions him as knighted on the occasion of the battle fought a few days after the surrender of that place, between Sir Archibald Douglas and Sir Thomas Musgrave; none but kings' sons were knighted in childhood in those days, or without undergoing a long previous probation in the inferior grades of chivalry.

3. An early and constant family (if not general) tradition asserts that Douglas had a natural son (ancestor of the Cavers family), old enough to bear his father's banner in the battle; on this, however, I lay little stress, as Froissart distinctly assigns that honourable post to another person, David Campbell, who was slain by the side of his lord.

Mr. Tytler is also evidently wrong in placing, on the authority of Macpherson's Notes on Winton, this battle on the 5th of August, 1388. Froissart gives the date as the 19th of August, and as the moon was full on the 18th, the combatants would have bright moonlight all night, which agrees with all the narratives; on the 5th they would have little moonlight, and would have lost it soon.

Though not very germane to the matter, except as being a point of chronology, I may add here that the remarkable solar eclipse, long remembered in Scotland by the name of the "Dark Hour," did not occur, as stated by Mr. Tytler, on 17th June, 1432, but on the same month and day of the following year.

J. S. Warden.

DE BEAUVOIR PEDIGREE.

I have in my possession a curious ancient pedigree of De Beauvoir and Harryes, headed thus:

"The name De Beauvoir is from —— in the kingdom of England; came into England with y^e Conquest of the Norman Duke, from whom is descended all that are now in England, they bearing for their coate armour the first, Azure, a chevron or, between three cinquefeuilles argent, by the name of De Beauvoir. The second he beareth the guelles a chevron between three hayeres heads erased, by the name of Harreys. The third (or) a lyon rampant azure, by the name of Throlpe. The fourth, Argent, a fess between three cressentes azure, by the name of ... within a mantle doubled guelles on two helmetes and torseyes proper and the first a demy-dragon, adorned properly guelles and argent, vert, by the foresaid name De Beauvoir; on the second a harye sitting argent between two bushes vert."

The pedigree begins with "Sir Robert Beauvoir, Lord Beauvoir, Lord Baron of Beaver Castle, Knt.;" and the maternal line with "Sir Robert Harryes of Malden in Essex, Knt., came into England with the Saxons."

In the tenth descent the sole heiress is represented as marrying "Robert, Lord Bellmoint," whose sole daughter married "John, Lord Manners, father of Edmund Manners, first Earl of Rutland, from whom is descended Roger, Earl of Rutland, now living."

The pedigree ends with the nineteenth descendant, Henry de Beauvoir, of the Isle of Guernsey, who married the daughter of Peter Harreys of the Isle of Guernsey.

Can any reader of "N. & Q." inform me whether descendants of that marriage are still to be found, and where?

There are points in the pedigree, as genealogists will see, totally discrepant from the Peerages.

Thomas Russell Potter.

Wymeswold.

Minor Queries.

Dog-whippers: Frankincense.—Can any reader throw light upon the following entries in the churchwardens' account-book for the parish of Forest Hill, near Oxford?

"1694. P^d to Tho. Mills for whipping dogs out of church, 1 shilling.

"1702. P^d for frankincense for the church, 6 pence."

The only passage which occurs to me as at all bearing upon so late a use of incense in parish churches in this country, is the following extract from Herbert:

"The country parson hath a care that his church be swept and kept clean; and at great festivals, strewed and stuck with boughs, and perfumed with incense."

This hardly brings the custom later than 1630.

As regards the former entry, I am told by a friend that the office of dog-whipper existed about fifty years ago for the church of Heversham in Westmoreland.

C. F. W.

Atchievement in Yorkshire—Lipyeatt Family.—Found and noted in a Yorkshire church tower, an atchievement painted apparently about forty or fifty years ago, of which no account can be given by the sexton or parish clerk. Query, to what names do the bearings belong? viz. Vert, on a fess or, between three bezants, three lions passant azure. Impaling: Vert, three swans in tri, statant, wings erect, argent. Crest, a lion passant azure, langued gules. The swans have head, neck, and body like swans, but their legs appear to have been borrowed from the stork. It is suspected that the dexter coat belongs to one of the Wiltshire Lipyeatts.

Is there any pedigree of the Lipyeatt family, who were burghers of wealth and consideration in the town of Marlborough, from the middle of the seventeenth century down to the latter part of the eighteenth?

Patonce.

"Waestart."—A common expression of sorrow or condolence among the lower classes in the manufacturing district around Leeds, in Yorkshire. Whence does it arise? Is it an abbreviation of "Woe to my heart," "Woe is me"?

J. L. S., Sen.

Rebellion of 1715.—Has any report been published of the trial of the prisoners taken at Preston? Mr. Baron Bury, Mr. Justice Eyre, and Mr. Baron Montague opened the Commission at Liverpool. The trials began on January 20, 1716, and lasted till February 8.

Thomas Baker.

Henry T. Riley.

Gutta Percha made soluble.—Can any one inform me how gutta percha may be made so soluble, that a coating of it may be given any article, which shall dry as hard as its former state? I have tried melting it in a ladle, but it never hardened properly.

E. B.

Leeds.

Arms of Anthony Kitchen.—Can any of your correspondents inform me what were the arms of Anthony Kitchen, Bishop of Llandaff in 1545? And what relation, if any, of Robert Kitchen, who was Mayor of Bristol in 1588? The latter was of Kendal in Westmoreland.

D. F. T.

Griesbach Arms.—Could any correspondent versed in German heraldry tell me the arms of the German family of Griesbach, or refer me to any work containing a collection of German arms?

Cid.

Postage System of the Romans.—Could any of your correspondents inform me where I may find a perfect account of the postal system of the Romans? We know that they must have had such a system, but I have forgotten the author who gives any description of it.

Ardelio.

Three Crowns and Sugar-loaf.—Passing through Franche (a village near Kidderminster in Worcestershire) the other day, I saw an inn called "The Three Crowns and Sugar-loaf." As there seems to me not the least connexion between a crown and a sugar-loaf, I send this to "N. & Q." in hopes of an explanation from some of its readers more skilled than myself in such matters.

Cid.

Helen MacGregor.—In Burke's Landed Gentry (Supplement, art. "MacGregor of Craigrostan and Inversnaid") this redoubted heroine is described as "a woman of agreeable temper and domestic habits, active and careful in the management of her family affairs." This is so directly opposed, not only to Scott's description, but to the generality of traditions about her, that, as Campbell says, "it makes the hair of one's literary faith stand on end." Helen was, very likely, a different person from what she afterwards became, ere the events happened that drove Rob Roy "to the hill-side to become a broken man;" but one can hardly imagine her, in her most happy days, to have been such a person as is above depicted—an amiable wife and clever housekeeper. The pen of a descendant is evident, in the partial description given of both husband and wife.

J. S. Warden.

Francis Grose the Antiquary.—Francis Grose, the distinguished antiquary, was Captain and Adjutant of the Surrey Militia, commanded by Col. Hodges, in which regiment he served for many years; but on some occasion, probably breach of discipline, he was brought to a general court-martial. The regiment formed part of the large encampment of 15,000 men on Cocksheath, near Maidstone, in 1778. I think the trial took place then, or within a year or two of that date; and should be thankful to any reader of "N. & Q." who would supply me with the precise date when the court-martial assembled?

Σς.

"King of Kings:" Bishop Andrews' Sermons.—From MS. Account of Fellows of Kings, compiled from 1750, A.D. 1583, Geffrey King, D.D., Professor of Hebrew, Cambridge, first chaplain to Bancroft and James I., whether he or Thos. King, 1605, or James King, 1609? One of them began his sermon at St. James: "I, King of Kings, come to James the First and Sixth, nothing wavering."

"These puns much applauded in those times, insomuch that the preacher would stop to receive applause, which was expressed by loud and repeated hums. In Bishop Andrews' printed Sermons, these stops may be discovered."

Is this true of Bishop Andrews' Sermons?

J. H. L.

Scroope Family.—Will any one be so good as to clear up the doubts noticed in the peerage books as to the family of Henry Lord Scroope, of Bolton, who died about 22 Henry VII.? His wives are generally stated to have been daughters of the Earl of Northumberland and Lord Scroope of Upsal; but other accounts are to be met with. What however I particularly refer to, is the question, who was the mother of his daughter Alice, who married Sir Gilbert Talbot? Lady Talbot could not have been by the daughter of Lord Scroope of Upsal; as, if so, she and her issue would have inherited her grandfather's barony, which it is certain was enjoyed by his younger brothers. Very likely Mr. Scroope's unpublished volume on the Lords Scroope and their seat Coombe Castle explains this.

S. N.

Harrison the Regicide—Lowle.—Thomas Willing, son of Joseph Willing and Anne Lowle (his second wife), married July 16, 1704, Anne Harrison, a grand-daughter of the Regicide. Charles (son of Thomas and Anne, born in Bristol, 1710) married Anne Shippen. One of their daughters married Sir Walter Stirling; and a great-granddaughter (Miss Bingham) married Mr. Baring, afterwards Lord Ashburton. I should be obliged for information as follows:

1. Through what descent was Anne Harrison a descendant of the Regicide?

2. Is anything known of the Lowle family? Their arms were, "Sa., a hand grasping three darts argent."

T. Balch.

Philadelphia.

"Chair" or "Char."—I am desirous of ascertaining the meaning of this term, as occurring frequently in the Cambridgeshire Fens. It is variously spelt, chair, chaire, chare, or char. In the Cambridgeshire dialect it may be remarked, air or are is pronounced as "ar." Thus, upstairs, bare, are "upstars," "bar." There is a Char Fen at Stretham, laid down in Sir Jonah Moore's Map (1663). There is also a Chare Fen at Cottenham; and at Littleport is a place called Littleport Chair. This last had the name at least as early as Edward II.'s reign; as in a description of a neighbouring fen, not later than that date, one boundary is "A le chaire per Himmingslode usque Gualslode End." A friend who has searched the documents in the Fen Office at Ely on this subject for me, has been unable to discover the least clue to the meaning of the term.

At Newcastle-on-Tyne, a narrow street or passage between houses is called a chare; but there is nothing narrow about Char Fen, which was part of an open common. The course of the rivers at Littleport may be imagined to form a rude outline of a chair or seat; but this does not apply to the other instances in which the name occurs.

There are numerous local names in the fens, of which the history may be traced for some centuries, deserving investigation.

E. G. R.

Aches.—I am aware that there is abundant proof of "aches" being a dissyllable when Shakspeare wrote, and long after; but I wish to know whether there is any rhyme earlier than that in Butler, which fixes the pronunciation as artches.

S. S.

Leeming Hall.—There was formerly a mansion somewhere between Liverpool and Preston, called Leeming Hall. Can any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." inform me if it still exists, and what is the name of the present owner? I should also be glad to have some information respecting the genealogy of the family of Leemings, who formerly lived there, or to learn the name and residence of some member of the family to whom I could apply for such information.

G.

Caricature; a Canterbury Tale.—Many facts are recorded in the caricatures of the day, of which there is no other account. The reference of the following may be well known, but I should feel obliged by any of your correspondents explaining it. Fox, the Prince of Wales, and a third figure (?), are in a boat pushing off from shore, with Burke looking over a wall with a large bag in his hand. He says, "D——me, Charley, don't leave me in the lurch;" who replies, "Self-preservation is the first law of nature." His companions joining with "Push off, Charley, push off."

H.

Perpetual Curates not represented in Convocation.—In Lectures on Church Difficulties, by the Rev. J. M. Neale, I find this statement:

"Under the old regime rectors and vicars were alone, generally speaking, allowed a vote in the election of proctors, to the exclusion from that privilege of even perpetual curates."—Lecture xi., p. 133.

I believe that this is correct, and that the curates spoken of as having their votes rejected in Day versus Knewstubbs, were perpetual curates: but can some of your correspondents confirm this view by facts?

Wm. Fraser.

Tor-Mohun.

Dr. Whichcote and Dorothy Jordan.—In the preface to the edition of the plays of Wycherley and others, edited by Mr. Leigh Hunt, the following passage occurs:

"The two best sermons we ever heard (and no disparagement to many a good one from the pulpit) were a sentence of Dr. Whichcote's against the multiplication of things forbidden, and the honest, heart and soul laugh of Dorothy Jordan."

I feel rather curious to read a sentence which is said to possess so much instruction.

Ξανθος.

Moral Philosophy.—What English writers have treated of the obligation of oaths and promises, or generally of moral philosophy, between the Reformation and the time of Bishop Sanderson?

H. P.

Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound."—Can any of your correspondents, by conjecture or reference to the original MS., elucidate the meaning of the following passage, which occurs in Act II. Sc. 4. of this extraordinary poem? It sounds so sweetly that one cannot but wish it were possible to understand it.

Shelley's mysticism is very often such as to render him unintelligible to ordinary readers, but it is combined here with a want of grammatical connexion that makes obscurity ten times more obscure. I have not the least idea whether "fills" refers to "sense which," or to "voice;" but whichsoever it may belong to, it is evident that the other nominative singular, as also the plural "winds of spring," have no verbs, either expressed or understood, to govern. A line or two may have dropped out; but all editions as far as I am aware, give the passage as above. In Act I., at p. 195. line 7 of the edition of 1853, occurs a curious error (I presume of the press); Mercury, addressing the Furies, says:

The having no food to put between one's teeth is no doubt a very sufficient cause for wailing, but still I think the passage would run better if "gnash" and "wail" exchanged places. How do other editions give it?

J. S. Warden.

Turkish Language.—Are there any easy dialogues in the Turkish language, but in the English type, to be obtained; and where? If there be not, I think it would be desirable to publish some, with names of common objects, &c.

Hassan.