QUERIES.

GRAY'S ELEGY AND DODSLEY POEMS.

I have here, in the country, few editions of Gray's works by me, and those not the best; for instance, I have neither of those by the Rev. J. Mitford (excepting his Aldine edition, in one small volume), which, perhaps, would render my present Query needless. It relates to a line, or rather a word in the Elegy, which is of some importance. In the second stanza, as the poem is usually divided (though Mason does not give it in stanzas, because it was not so originally written), occurs,

And thus the line stands in all the copies (five) I am able at this moment to consult. But referring to Dodsley's Collection of Poems, vol. iv., where it comes first, the epithet applied to "flight" is not "droning," but drony—

Has anybody observed upon this difference, which surely is worthy of a Note? I cannot find that the circumstance has been remarked upon, but, as I said, I am here without the means of consulting the best authorities. The Elegy, I presume, must have been first separately printed, and from thence transferred to Dodsley's Collection; and I wish to be informed by some person who has the earliest impression, how the line is there given? I do not know any one to whom I can appeal on such a point with greater confidence than to MR. PETER CUNNINGHAM, who, I know, has a large assemblage of the first editions of our most celebrated poets from the reign of Anne downwards, and is so well able to make use of them. It would be extraordinary, if drony were the epithet first adopted by Gray, and subsequently altered by him to "droning," that no notice should have been taken of the substitution by any of the poet's editors. I presume, therefore, that it has been mentioned, and I wish to know where?

Now, a word or two on Dodsley's Collection of Poems, in the fourth volume of which, as I have stated, Gray's-Elegy comes first. Dodsley's is a popular and well-known work, and yet I cannot find that anybody has given the dates connected with it accurately. If Gray's Elegy appeared in it for the first time (which I do not suppose), it came out in 1755 which is the date of vol. iv. of Dodsley's Collection, and not in 1757, which is the date of the Strawberry Hill edition of Gray's Odes. The Rev. J. Mitford (Aldine edit. xxxiii.) informs us that "Dodsley published three volumes of this Collection in 1752; the fourth volume was published in 1755 and the fifth and sixth volumes, which completed the Collection, in 1758." I am writing with the title-pages of the work open before me, and I find that the first three volumes were published, not in 1752, but in 1748, and that even this was the second edition so that there must have been an edition of the first three volumes, either anterior to 1748, or earlier in that year. The sale of the work encouraged Dodsley to add a fourth volume in 1755, and two others in 1758 and the plate of Apollo and the Muses was re-engraved for vols. v. and vi., because the original copper, which had served for vols. i., ii., iii., and iv., was so much worn.

This matter will not seem of such trifling importance to those who bear in mind, that if Gray's Elegy did not originally come out in this Collection in 1755, various other poems of great merit and considerable popularity did then make their earliest appearance.

THE HERMIT OF HOLYPORT.

Sept. 1850.

P.S. My attention has been directed to the subject of Gray's Poems, and particularly to his Elegy, by a recent pilgrimage I made to Stoke Poges, which is only five or six miles from this neighbourhood. The church and the poet's monument to his mother are worth a much longer walk; but the mausoleum to Gray, in the immediate vicinity, is a preposterous edifice. The residence of Lady Cobham has been lamentably modernised.

HUGH HOLLAND AND HIS WORKS.

The name of Hugh Holland has been handed down to posterity in connexion with that of our immortal bard; but few know anything of him beyond his commendatory verses prefixed to the first folio of Shakspeare.

He was born at Denbigh in 1558, and educated at Westminster School while Camden taught there. In 1582 he matriculated at Baliol College, Oxford; and about 1590 he succeeded to a Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge. Thence he travelled into Italy, and at Rome was guilty of several indiscretions by the freedom of his conversations. He next went to Jerusalem to pay his devotions at the Holy Sepulchre, and on his return touched at Constantinople, where he received a reprimand from the English ambassador for the former freedom of his tongue. At his return to England, he retired to Oxford, and, according to Wood, spent some years there for the sake of the public library. He died in July, 1633, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, "in the south crosse aisle, neere the dore of St. Benet's Chapell," but no inscription now remains to record the event.

Whalley, in Gifford's Jonson (1. cccxiv.), says, speaking of Hugh Holland—

"He wrote several things, amongst which is the life of Camden; but none of them, I believe, have been ever published."

Holland published two works, the titles of which are as follows, and perhaps others which I am not aware of:—

1. "Monumenta Sepulchralia Sancti Pauli. Lond. 1613. 4to."

2. "A Cypres Garland for the Sacred Forehead of our late Soveraigne King James. Lond. 1625. 4to."

The first is a catalogue of the monuments, inscriptions, and epitaphs in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, which Nicolson calls "a mean and dull performance." It was, at any rate, very popular, being printed again in the years 1616, 1618, and 1633.

The second is a poetical tract of twelve leaves, of the greatest possible rarity.

Holland also printed commendatory verses before a curious musical work, entitled Parthenia, or the Maydenhead of the First Musick for the Virginalls, 1611; and a copy of Latin verses before Dr. Alexander's Roxana, 1632.

In one of the Lansdowne MSS. are preserved the following verses written upon the death of Prince Henry, by "Hugh Hollande, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge:"—

Our author was evidently a man of some poetical fancy, and if not worthy to be classed "among the chief of English poets," he is at least entitled to a niche in the temple of fame.

My object in calling attention to this long forgotten author is, to gain some information respecting his manuscript works. According to Wood, they consist of—1. Verses in Description of the chief Cities of Europe; 2. Chronicle of Queen Elizabeth's reign; 3. Life of William Camden.

Can any of your readers say in whose possession, or in what library, any of the above mentioned MSS. are at the present time? I should also feel obliged for any communication respecting Hugh Holland or his works, more especially frown original sources, or books not easily accessible.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

HARVEY'S CLAIM TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.

I have both a Note and a Query about Harvey and the circulation of the blood (Vol. ii., p. 187.). The Note refers to Philostratus (Life of Apollorius, p. 461., ed. 1809), Nouvelles de la République des Lettres, June, 1684, xi.; and Dutens pp. 157-341. 4to. ed. 1796. I extract the passage from Les Nouvelles:—

"On voit avec plaisir un passage d'André Cæsalpinus qui contient fort clairement la doctrine de la circrilation. Il est tiré de ses Questions sur la médecine imprimées l'an 1593. Jean Leonicenas ajoûte que le père Paul découvrit la circulation du sang, et les valvules des veines, mais qu'il n'osa pas en parler, de peur d'exciter contre luy quelque tempête. Il n'etois déjà que trop suspect, et il n'eut fallu que ce nouveau paradoxe pour le transformer en hérétique dans le pais d'inquisition. Si bien qu'il ne communiqua son secret qu'au seul Aquapendente, qui n'osant s'exposer à l'envie.... Il attendit à l'heure de sa mort pour mettre le livre qu'il avoit composé touchant les valvules des veines entre les mains de la république de Venise, et comme les moindres nouveautez font peur en cc pais-là, le livre fut caché dans le billiothèque de Saint Marc. Mais parcequ' Aquapendente ne fit pas difficulté de s'ouvrir à un jeune Anglois fort curieux nommé Harvée, qui étudioit sous lui a Padouë, et qu'en même temps le père Paul fit a même confidence à l'Ambassadeur d'Angleterre, ces deux Anglois de retour chez eux, et se voyant en pais de liberté, publièrent ce dogme, et l'ayant confirmé par plusieurs expériences, s'en attribuèrent toute la gloire."

The Query is, what share Harvey had in the discovery attributed to him?

W.W.B.

Minor Queries.

Bernardus Patricius.—Some writers mention Bernardus Patricius as a follower of Copernicus, about the time of Galileo. Who was he?

M.

Meaning of Hanger.—Can any one of your readers inform me, what is the meaning of the word hanger, so frequently occurring in the names of places in Bedfordshire, such as Panshanger?

W. Anderson

Cat and Bagpipes.—In studying some letters which passed between two distinguished philosophers of the last century, I have found in one epistle a request that the writer might be remembered "to his friends at the Crown and Anchor, and the Cat and Bagpipes." The letter was addressed to a party in London, where doubtless, both those places of entertainment were. The Crown and Anchor was the house where the Royal Society Club held its convivial meetings. Can you inform me where the Cat and Bagpipes was situated, and what literary and scientific club met there? The name seems to have been a favourite one for taverns, and, if I mistake not, is common in Ireland. Is it a corruption of some foreign title, as so many such names are, or merely a grotesque and piquant specimen of sign-board literature?

Quasimodo.

Andrew Becket.—A.W. Hammond will feel obliged for any information respecting Andrew Becket, Esq., who died 19th January, 1843, æt. 95, and to whose memory there is a handsome monument in Kennington Church. According to that inscription, he was "ardently devoted to the pursuits of literature," personally acquainted in early life with the most distinguished authors of his day, long the intimate friend of David Garrick, "and a profound commentator on the dramatic works of Shakspeare." Can any of the learned readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" satisfy this Query?

Laurence Minot.—Is any other MS. of Minot known, besides the one from which Ritson drew his text? Is there any other edition of this poet besides Ritson's, and the reprints thereof?

E.S. JACKSON.

Modena Family.—When did Victor Amadeus, King of Sardinia, die? When did his daughter, Mary Duchess of Modena, die, (the mother of the present Duke of Modena, and through whom he is the direct heir of the House of Stuart)?

L.M.M.R.

Bamboozle.—What is the etymology of bamboozle, used as a verb?

L.M.M.R.

Butcher's Blue Dress.—What is the origin of the custom, which seems all but universal in England, for butchers to wear a blouse or frock of blue colour? Though so common in this country as to form a distinctive mark of the trade, and to be almost a butcher's uniform, it is, I believe, unknown on the continent. Is it a custom which has originate in some supposed utility, or in the official dress of a guild or company, or in some accident of which a historical notice has been preserved?

L.

Hatchment and Atchievement.—Can any one of the readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" tell me how comes the corruption hatchment from atchievement? Ought the English word to be spelt with a t, or thus, achievement? Why are hatchments put up in churches and on houses?

W. ANDERSON.

"Te colui Virtutem."—Who is the author of the line—

It is a translation of part of a Greek tragic fragment, quoted, according to Dio Cassius, by Brutus just before his death. As much as is here translated is also to be found in Plutarch De Superstitione.

E.

"Illa suavissima Vita."—Where does "Illa suavissima vita indies sentire se fieri meliorem" come from?

E.

Christianity, Early Influence of.—"The beneficial influence of the Christian clergy during the first thousand years of the Christian era."

What works can be recommended on the above subject?

X.Y.Z.

Wraxen, Meaning of.—What is the origin and meaning of the word wraxen, which was used by a Kentish woman on being applied to by a friend of mine to send her children to the Sunday-school, in the following sentence?—"Why, you see, they go to the National School all the week, and get so wraxen, that I cannot send them to the Sunday School too."

G.W. Skyring.

Saint, Legend of a.—Can any of your correspondents inform me where I can find the account of some saint who, when baptizing a heathen, inadvertently pierced the convert's foot with the point of his crozier. The man bore the pain without flinching, and when the occurrence was discovered, he remarked that he thought it was part of the ceremony?

J.Y.C.

Land Holland—Farewell.—In searching some Court Rolls a few days since, I found some land described as "Land Holland" or "Hollandland." I have been unable to discover the meaning of this expression, and should be glad if any of your correspondents can help me.

In the same manor there is custom for the tenant to pay a sum as a farewell to the lord on sale or alienation: this payment is in addition to the ordinary fine, &c. Query the origin and meaning of this?

J.B.C.

Stepony Ale.—Chamberlayne, in his Present State of England (part. i. p. 51., ed. 1677), speaking of the "Dyet" of the people, thus enumerates the prevailing beverages of the day:—

"Besides all sorts of the best wines from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Grecia, there are sold in London above twenty sorts of other drinks: as brandy, coffee, chocolate, tea, aromatick, mum, sider, perry, beer, ale; many sorts of ales very different, as cock, stepony, stickback, Hull, North-Down, Sambidge, Betony, scurvy-grass, sage-ale, &c. A piece of wantonness whereof none of our ancestors were ever guilty."

It will be observed that the ales are named in some instances from localities, and in others from the herbs of which they were decoctions. Can any of your readers tell me anything of Stepony ale? Was it ale brewed at Stepney?

James T. Hammack

"Regis ad Exemplar."—Can you inform me whence the following line is taken?

Q.Q.Q.

"La Caconacquerie".—Will one of your numerous correspondents be kind enough to inform me what is the true signification and derivation of the word "caconac?" D'Alembert, writing to Voltaire concerning Turgot, says:

"You will find him an excellent caconac, though he has reasons for not avowing it:—la caconacquerie ne mène pas à la fortune."

Ardern.

London Dissenting Ministers: Rev. Thomas Tailer.—Not being entirely successful in my Queries with regard to "London Dissenting Ministers" (Vol. i., pp. 383. 444. 454.), I will state a circumstance which, possibly, may assist some one of your correspondents in furnishing an answer to the second of those inquiries.

In the lines immediately referred to, where certain Nonconformist ministers of the metropolis are described under images taken from the vegetable world, the late Rev. Thomas Tailer (of Carter Lane), whose voice was feeble and trembling, is thus spoken of:—

But in verses afterwards circulated, if not printed, the censor was rebuked as follows:—

No encomium could be more deserved, none more seasonably offered or more appropriately conveyed. I knew Mr. Tailer, and am pleased in cherishing recollections of him.

W.

Mistletoe as a Christmas Evergreen.—Can any of your readers inform me at what period of time the mistletoe came to be recognised as a Christmas evergreen? I am aware it played a great part in those ceremonies of the ancient Druids which took place towards the end of the year, but I cannot find any allusion to it, in connexion with the Christian festival, before the time of Herrick. You are of course aware, that there are still in existence some five or six very curious old carols, of as early, or even an earlier date than the fifteenth century, in praise of the holly or the ivy, which said carols used to be sung during the Christmas festivities held by our forefathers but I can discover no allusion even to the mistletoe for two centuries later. If any of your readers should be familiar with any earlier allusion in prose, but still more particularly in verse, printed or in manuscript, I shall feel obliged by their pointing it out.

V.

Poor Robin's Almanacks.—I am anxious to ascertain in which public or private library is to be found the most complete collection of Poor Robin's Almanacks: through the medium of your columns, I may, perhaps, glean the desired information.

V.

Sirloin.—When on a visit, a day or two since, to the very interesting ruin (for so it must be called) of Haughton Castle, near Blackburn, Lancashire, I heard that the origin of this word was the following freak of James I. in his visit to the castle; a visit, by the way, which is said to have ruined the host, and to have been not very profitable even to all his descendants. A magnificent loin of meat being placed on the table before his Majesty, the King was so struck with its size and excellence, that he drew his sword, and cried out, "By my troth, I'll knight thee, Sir Loin!" and then and there the title was given; a title which has been honoured, unlike other knighthoods, by a goodly succession of illustrious heirs. Can any of your correspondents vouch for the truth of this?

H.C.

Bowden, Manchester.

Thomson of Esholt.—In the reign of Henry VIII. arms were granted to Henry Thomson, of Esholt, co. York, one of that monarch's gentlemen-at-arms at Boulogne. The grant was made by Laurence Dalton, Norroy. The shield was—Per fesse embattled, ar. and sa., three falcons, belted, countercharged—a bend sinister. Crest: An armed arm, embowed, holding a lance, erect. Families of the name of Thompson, bearing the same shield, have been seated at Kilham, Scarborough, Escrick, and other places in Yorkshire. My inquiries are,—

1. Will any of your readers by kind enough to inform me where any mention is made of this grant, and the circumstances under which it was made?

2. Whether any ancient monuments, or heraldic bearings of the family, are still extant in any parts of Yorkshire?

3. Whether any work on Yorkshire genealogies exists, and what is the best to be consulted?

JAYTEE.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Pension (Vol. ii., p. 134.).—In the Dictionnaire Universelle, 1775, vol. ii. p. 203., I find the following explanation of the French word Pension:—

"Somme qu'on donne pour la nourriture et le logement de quelqu'un. Il se dit aussi du lieu où l'on donne à manger."

May not the meeting of the benchers have derived its name for their dining-room in which they assembled?

BRAYBROOKE.

Execution of Charles I. (Vol. ii., pp. 72. 110-140. 158.).—In Lilly's History of his Life and Times, I find the following interesting account in regard to the vizored execution of Charles I., being part of the evidence he gave when examined before the first parliament of King Charles II. respecting the matter. Should any of your correspondents be able to substantiate this, or produce more conclusive evidence in determining who the executioner was, I shall be extremely obliged. Lilly writes,—

"Liberty being given me to speak, I related what follows: viz., That the next Sunday but one after Charles I. was beheaded, Robert Spavin Secretary to Lieutenant-General Cromwell at that time, invited himself to dine with me, and brought Anthony Pearson and several others along with him to dinner. That their principal discourse all dinner time was only who it was that beheaded the king. One said it was the common hangman; another, Hugh Peters; others were also nominated, but none concluded. Robert Spavin, so soon as dinner was done, took me by the hand, and carried me to the south window. Saith he, 'These are all mistaken; they have not named the man that did the fact: it was Lieutenant-Colonel Joice. I was in the room when he fitted himself for the work; stood behind him when he did it; when done, went in with him again: there is no man knows this but my master, viz. Cromwell, Commissary Ireton, and myself.'—'Doth Mr. Rushworth know it?' saith I. 'No, he doth not know it,' saith Spavin. The same thing Spavin since has often related to me, when we were alone."

R.W.E.

Cheltenham.

Paper Hangings (Vol. ii., p. 134.).—"It was on the walls of this drawing-room (the king's at Kensington Palace) that the then new art of paper-hangings, in imitation of the old velvet flock, was displayed with an effect that soon led to the adoption of so cheap and elegant a manufacture, in preference to the original rich material from which it was copied."—W.H. Pyne's Royal Residences, vol. ii. p. 75.

M.W.

Black-guard.—There are frequent entries among those of deaths of persons attached to the Palace of Whitehall, in the registers of St. Margaret's, Westminster, of "——, one of the blake garde." about the year 1566, and later. In the Churchwarden's Accompts we find—

"1532. Pd. for licence of 4 torchis for Black Garde, vj. d."

The royal Halberdiers carried black bills. (Grose, Milit. Antiq., vol. i. p. 124.) In 1584 they behaved with great cruelty in Ireland. (Cornp. Peck's Des. Curios., vol. i. p. 155.) So Stainhurst, in his Description, says of bad men: "They are taken for no better than rakehells, or the devil's blacke guarde."—Chap. 8. Perhaps, in distinction to the gaily dressed military guard, the menial attendants in a royal progress were called black-guards from their dull appearance.

I remember a story current in Dublin, of a wicked wag telling a highly respectable old lady, who was asking, where were the quarters of the guards, in which corps her son was a private, to inquire at the lodge of Trinity College if he was not within those learned walls, as the "black guards were lying there."

M.W.

Pilgrims' Road (Vol. ii., p. 237.).—Your correspondent S.H., in noticing the old track "skirting the base of the chalk hills," and known by the name of the "Pilgrims' Road," has omitted to state that its commencement is at Oxford,—a fact of importance, inasmuch as that the Archbishops of Canterbury had there a handsome palace (the ruins of which still exist), which is said to have been the favourite residence of Thomas à Becket. The tradition in the county thereupon is, that his memory was held in such sanctity in that neighbourhood as to cause a vast influx of pilgrims annually from thence to his shrine at Canterbury; and the line of road taken by them can still be traced, though only portions of it are now used as a highway. The direction, however, in which it runs makes it clear (as S.H., no doubt, is aware) that it cannot be Chaucer's road.

While on the subject of old roads, I may add that a tradition here exists that the direct road between London and Tunbridge did not pass through Sevenoaks; and a narrow lane which crosses the Pilgrims' road near Everham is pointed out as the former highway, and by which Evelyn must have been journeying (passing close, indeed, to the seat of his present descendant at St. Clere) when he met with that amusing robber-adventure at Procession Oak.

M(2).

Pilgrims' Road to Canterbury.—In the Athenæum of Nov. 2nd, 1844, there is a notice of Remarks upon Wayside Chapels; with Observations on the Architecture and present State of the Chantry on Wakefield Bridge: By John Chessell and Charles Buckler—in which the reviewer says—

"In our pedestrianism we have traced the now desolate ruins of several of these chapels along the old pilgrims' road to Canterbury."

If this writer would give us the results of his pedestrianism, it would be acceptable to all the lovers of Chaucer. I do not know whether PHILO-CHAUCER will find anything to his purpose in the pamphlet reviewed.

E.S. JACKSON.

Combs buried with the Dead.—In Vol. ii., p. 230., the excellent vicar of Morwenstow asks the reason why combs are found in the graves of St. Cuthbert and others, monks, in the cathedral church of Durham. I imagine that they were the combs used at the first tonsure of the novices, to them a most interesting memorial of that solemn rite through life, and from touching affection to the brotherhood among whom they had dwelt, buried with them at their death.

M.W.

The Comb, concerning "the origin and intent" of which MR. HAWKER (Vol. ii., p. 230.) seeks information, was for ritual use; and its purposes are fully described in Dr. Rock's Church of our Fathers, t. ii. p. 122., &c.

LITURGICUS.

Aërostation.—C.B.M. will find in the Athenæum for August 10th, 1850, a notice of a book on this subject.

E.S. JACKSON.

St. Thomas of Lancaster (Vol. i., p. 181.).—MR. R.M. MILNES desires information relative to "St. Thomas of Lancaster." This personage was Earl of Leicester as well as Earl of Lancaster; and I find in the archives of this borough numerous entries relative to him,—of payments made to him by the burgesses. Of these mention is made in a History of Leicester recently published. The most curious fact I know of is, that on the dissolution of the monasteries here, several relics of St. Thomas, among others, his felt hat, was exhibited. The hat was considered a great remedy for the headache!

JAYTEE.

Smoke Money (Vol. ii., p. 120.).—"Anciently, even in England, were Whitsun farthings, or smoke farthings, which were a composition for offerings made in Whitsun week, by every man who occupied a house with a chimney, to the cathedral of the diocese in which he lived."—Audley's Companion to the Almanac, p. 76.

Pentecostals, or Whitsun Farthings, are mentioned by Pegge as being paid in 1788 by the parishioners of the diocese of Lichfield, in aid of the repairs of the cathedral, to the dean and chapter; but he makes no allusion to the word smoke, adding only that in this case the payment went by the name of Chad-pennies, or Chad-farthings, the cathedral there being dedicated to St. Chad.

C.I.R.

Robert Herrick (Vol. i., p. 291.).—MR. MILNER BARRY states that he found an entry of the burial of the poet Herrick in the parish books of Dean Prior. As MR. BARRY seems interested in the poet, I would inform him that a voluminous collection of family letters of early date is now in the possession of William Herrick, Esq., of Beaumanor Park, the present representative of that ancient and honourable house.

JAYTEE.

Guildhalls.—The question in Vol. i., p. 320., relative to guildhalls, provokes an inquiry into guilds. In the erudite and instructive work of Wilda on the Guild System of the Middle Ages (Gildenwesen im Mittelälter) will be found to be stated that guilds were associations of various kinds,—convivial, religions, and mercantile, and so on; and that places of assembly were adopted by them. A guild-house where eating and drinking took place, was to be met with in most villages in early times: and these, I fancy, were the guild-halls. On this head consult Hone's Every-day Book, vol. ii. p. 670., and elsewhere, in connexion with Whitsuntide holidays.

JAYTEE.

Abbé Strickland (Vol. ii., pp. 198. 237.).—The fullest account of the Abbé Strickland, Bishop of Namur, is to be found in Lord Hervey's Memoirs (Vol. i., p. 391.), and a most curious account it is of that profligate intriguer.

C.

Long Lonkin (Vol. ii., pp. 168. 251.).—This ballad does not relate to Cumberland, but to Northumberland. This error was committed by Miss Landon (in the Drawing-room Scrap-book for 1835), to whom a lady of this town communicated the fragment through the medium of a friend. Its real locality is a ruined tower, seated on the corner of an extensive earth-work surrounded by a moat, on the western side of Whittle Dean, near Ovingham. Since this period, I have myself taken down many additional verses from the recitation of the adjacent villagers, and will be happy to afford any further information to your inquirer, SELEUCUS.

G. BOUCHIER RICHARDSON.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sept. 7. 1850.

Havock (Vol. ii., p. 215.).—The presumed object of literary men being the investigation of truth, your correspondent JARLTZBERG will, I trust, pardon me for suggesting that his illustration of the word havock is incomplete, and especially with reference to the line of Shakspeare which he has quoted:

Grose, in his History of English Armour, vol. ii. p. 62., says that havok was the word given as a signal for the troops to disperse and pillage, as may be learned from the following article in the Droits of the Marshal, vol. ii. p. 229., wherein it is declared, that—

"In the article of plunder, all the sheep and hogs belong to such private soldiers as can take them; and that on the word havok being cried, every one might seize his part; but this probably was only a small part of the licence supposed to be given by the word."

He also refers to the ordinance of Richard II.

In agreeing with your correspondent that the use of this word was the signal for general massacre, unlimited slaughter, and giving no quarter, as well as taking plunder in the manner described above, the omission of which I have to complain is, that, in stating no one was to raise the cry, under penalty of losing his head, he did not add the words, "the king excepted." It was a royal act; and Shakspeare so understood it to be; as will appear from the passage referred to, if fully and fairly quoted:—

It is not at this moment in my power to assist F.W. with the reference to the history of Bishop Berkeley's giant, though it exists somewhere in print. The subject of the experiment was a healthy boy, who died in the end, in consequence of over-growth, promoted (as far as my recollection serves me) principally by a peculiar diet.

W(1).

Becket's Mother.—I do not pretend to explain the facts mentioned by MR. FOSS (Vol. ii., p. 106.), that the hospital founded in honour of Becket was called "The Hospital of St. Thomas the Martyr, of Acon;" and that he was himself styled "St. Thomas Acrenis, or of Acre;" but I believe that the true explanation must be one which would not be a hindrance to the rejection of the common story as to the Archbishop's birth. If these titles were intended to connect the Saint with Acre in Syria, they may have originated after the legend had become popular. But it seems to me more likely, that, like some other city churches and chapels, that of St. Thomas got its designation from something quite unconnected with the history of the patron. In particular, I would ask what is the meaning of "St. Nicolas Acons?" And may not the same explanation (whatever it be) serve for "St. Thomas of Acon?" Or the hospital may have been built on some noted "acre" (like Long Acre and Pedlars Acre); and if afterwards churches in other places were consecrated to St. Thomas under the designation "of Acre," (as to which point I have no information), the churches of "our Lady of Loretto," scattered over various countries, will supply a parallel. As to the inference which Mr. Nichols (Pilgrimages, p. 120.) draws from the name Acrensis, that Becket was born at Acre, I must observe that it introduces a theory which is altogether new, and not only opposed to the opinion that the Archbishop was of English or Norman descent on both sides, but essentially contradictory of the legend as to the fair Saracen who came from the East in search of her lover.

J.C.R.

Watching the Sepulchre (Vol. i., pp. 318. 354. 403.).—In the parish books of Leicester various entries respecting the Sepulchre occur. In the year 1546, when a sale took place of the furniture of St. Martin's Church, the "Sepulchre light" was sold to Richard Rainford for 21s. 10d. In the reign of Queen Mary gatherings were made for the "Sepulchre lights;" timber for making the lights cost 5s.; the light itself, 4s.; and painting the Sepulchre, and a cloth for "our lady's altar," cost 1s. 10d. Facts like these might be multiplied.

JAYTEE.

Portraits of Charles I. in Churches (Vol. i., pp. 137. 184.).—In reference to this I have to state, that in the south aisle of the church of St. Martin, in Leicester, a painting of this kind is yet to be seen, or was lately. It was executed by a Mr. Rowley, for 10l., in the year 1686. It represents the monarch in a kneeling attitude.

JAYTEE.

Joachim, the French Ambassador (Vol. ii., p. 229.).—In Rapin's History of England I find this ambassador described as "Jean-Joachim de Passau, Lord of Vaux." This may assist AMICUS.

J.B.C.