Volume 5 / Part 1 — Replies.

ANCIENT TIMBER TOWN-HALLS. (Vol. v., pp. 257. 295.)

MR. PARKER makes some inquiries relative to the ancient town-halls of our country towns; and should the following particulars of some still in existence be of service, I shall feel a pleasure in having been the means of gratifying his curiosity.

The town-hall in the city of Hereford is a timber structure built upon twenty-seven pillars, and was originally a very handsome building, but was many years since denuded of its upper story, in which the fourteen different trading companies of the city transacted their business. It was erected by the celebrated John Abel, in the reign of James I. Prior to the erection of the present county hall, the assizes were held in this building.

The town-hall at Leominster, or Butter-cross as it is frequently called by the inhabitants, was erected in the year 1633, by the above-named architect; it stands upon twelve oak pillars, and was originally ornamented with a variety of curious carvings, and the shields of arms of those who contributed towards the expense of its erection, but which have long since vanished. Around the building, just above the pillars, was inscribed the following sentences, but portions of which only now remain. On the south side:

"Vive Deo gratus, toti mundo tumulatus, crimine mundatus, semper transire paratus."

On the east side:

"Where justice reigns, there virtue flows. Sat cito, si sat bene vive ut post vivas. As columns do support the fabric of a building, so noble gentry do subprop the honour of a state."

On the north side:

"In memoriâ æternâ erit Justus, 1663."

In the year 1793, this hall underwent very considerable repairs, more properly called spoliation, by taking down the gables, and with them the curious carvings, shields of arms, &c., which must have greatly destroyed its picturesque effect. It contains a clock, and is surmounted by a cupola, in which is a bell, whereon the hours strike.

The town-halls of Brecon, Kington,[4] and Weobly, and probably others of which at present I can give no particulars, were built by the same person. Mr. Abel being in Hereford when that city was besieged in 1645, was of great service by constructing mills to grind corn for the use of the inhabitants and soldiers confined therein, for which Charles I. afterwards conferred upon him the title of one of his majesty's carpenters.

In Sarnesfield churchyard, in the county of Hereford, is a monument consisting of the effigies of himself and his two wives, with the emblems of his profession, executed by his own hands after he reached the patriarchal age of ninety years; it has the following inscription, being his own composition:

I believe Sarnesfield was his native place; he died there in 1694, having attained the great age of ninety-seven years.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

Leamington.

In my reply to a Query upon the interesting subject introduced by MR. J. H. PARKER, I felt anxious to direct his attention to other peculiar characters appertaining to the ancient town of Wokingham, besides those marks by which it in some degree approximates to his general description of the English towns in France. In reply to MR. PARKER'S inquiry respecting the mediæval town-halls, and other public halls of that period remaining in England (Vol. v., p. 295.), I have much pleasure in forwarding the following account of the Town-hall of Leicester, which formerly belonged to the Guild of Corpus Christi, in the church of St. Martin. It was built in the reign of Elizabeth, and was first opened by a banquet, given by George Norris, the mayor, to celebrate the victory over the Spanish Armada. This anniversary was continued until within the memory of some of the burgesses now living, and was called the "Venison Feast." The hall is a low-roofed timber building, lighted by plain latticed windows, and was enlarged, by the addition of the Mayor's parlour, in 1636. The great hall, or court, is fitted with appropriate seats of state for the mayor and aldermen, and with galleries for spectators of municipal ceremonies; and its walls were formerly enriched with many valuable paintings. The adjoining parlour is remarkable for the quaint character of its decorations; it is, like the great hall, provided with state seats or benches, and has a long range of low windows, containing stained glass illustrative of religious subjects, and emblems of the seasons. The Town-library is a storied building, containing a large hall, founded by the Corporation in 1632, and possessing at present about 1000 volumes, chiefly of old divinity, together with a few miscellaneous books, and a MS. of the Greek Testament written on vellum and paper, supposed to be of the thirteenth century, and which was given to the library in 1649 by the Rector of Thrussington.

There are hospitals in Leicester of similar style, and two of much earlier periods, 1330 and 1512.

KT.

Leicestershire.

OLD SIR RALPH VERNON. (Vol. v., p. 389.)

In an old manuscript book now before me, containing a copy of Flower's "Visitation of Cheshire," 1580, together with a very great number of coats of arms, copies of charters, &c., is the curious account of old Sir Raulfe Vernon, which I now send you. I have not at present Ormerod's History Of Cheshire to refer to; but, if I remember right, there is an account of the old knight, and of the great age he is said to have attained, there. The latest date in the book from which this is extracted is 1610; but there is bound with it eleven pages of "Armes of the Gentry of Cheshire, entred in ye Visitation of that County made in Ao 1663 and 1664, by me Wm. Dugdale, Esqr., Norroy King of Armes."

"Coppies of old Pedegrees remayning wth Sr John Savadge, 1583.

"Theare was Sr Raulfe ye Vernon ye old, ye quych levet xx vij yer and x yere, and he had to his first Wyffe on Mary ye Lordes doughter of Dacre, and he had Issue by her one Sr Raulf ye Vernon of Hanwell, Mr Ricrd person of Stockporte, other two sonnes Mighell & Hugh, ye quich wer both freres: and two daughteres, Agnes and Rose and yen deghet ye forsaid Mary, and after her death ye forsaid old Sr Raulf tooke to paremer on Maude ye Grosevener, and had Issue by her Ricrd and Robart bastardes. Ye forsaid Sr Raulf ye Vernon of Hanwell was maryed to A. Seintper, and had Issue by her Ralyn, Hychcoke, John, & Thomas, ye quiche Ralyn had Issue Sr Raulfe ye Vernon of Mottrem, ye quich Sr Raulf had Issue yong Sr Raulf, ye forsaid Sr Raufe ye Vernon of Hanwell, Ralyn his Sonn, and Sr Raufe his sonn deygen, lyvand ye old Sr Raufe; and ye sam tym on Sr Ricrd Damory was Justice of Chester, and ye forsaid old Sr Raufe and he weren accordet yat ye yong Sr Raufe shold wedde Agnes daughter of ye forsaid Sr Ricrd Damory, and that Sir Raufe ye old shold be fyne reret at Chester, gife all his landes &c. to ye said Mr Ricrd his sonn, getten by ye forsaid Mary of Dacre and to his heires, and so it was done, and the sam Ricrd pson gyfe the sam lands &c. to ye sam old Sr Raufe againe to term of his Lyve; and after his dessease to ye yong Sr Rauf and to Agnes his Wyfe daughter to Sr Ricrd Damory, and to ye heires male of yr bodyes geten; for default of Issue mall of ye forsaid yong Sir Raufe and Agnes, yat all ye Landes &c. then Remaine to Ricrd ye Sonn of Raufe ye Vernon of Shibbrocke getten by Maud ye Grosvener, and to ye heires of his body begotten male, and for default of Issue of his body getten male, that all ye Landes &c. sholden remain to ye right heires of ye forsaid Mr Ricrd wthouten ende. Ye forsaid yong Sr Raufe and Agnes deyhten wthout Issue of hose bodyes begotten male, and yen entret Sr Raufe yat last deyhten as sonn and heir to Ricrd ye Vernon ye sonn of old Sr Rauf ye Vernon and Maude ye Grosevenor, by Vertue of ye fyne before rehersed. Ye forsaid Sr Rauf Ricrd son deyget wthout heir of his body getten mall, and so Sr Ricrd ye Vernon brother to yis last Sr Rauf entret heir male, and continued all his Lyfe and had Issue mulier Sr Ricrd ye quiche is now dead wthout Issue malle."

C. DE D.

OLD TREES.—FAIRLOP OAK. (Vol. v., p. 114.)

I have, in my scrap-book, a curious old print of Fairlop Oak, to which some verses are attached, which I think is somewhat of a rarity. It is on thin, miserable paper; size, demy quarto; without date or printer's name; in general character bearing a very Catnachian aspect. The print of the tree occupies nearly half the sheet, and is a most vile specimen of both drawing and engraving. The tree is represented as in a dilapidated condition, with a huge hollow trunk, within which are seen some persons making themselves "jolly" at a drinking-table. The tree has but five principal branches, and these are only tipped here and there with foliage, the work of popular demolition under which the tree is known to have fallen being plainly seen in its many barren branches, and still more pointedly suggested by the four persons, who, having climbed aloft, are airing themselves in the forks of its boughs. The background is filled up with the incidents of the fair. To the right, in the fore-ground, is one of the well-known "boats" mounted on wheels, the deck manned by blockmakers "on their legs" singing a chorus. Behind, in the distance, is a theatre or exhibition-booth, with the band and sundry performers entertaining the crowd gratis; on the proscenium above is written, ... GELL. CLARK. On the left hand is another of these unclassical erections, with a man in front balancing himself on a ladder; the name SAUNDERS being inscribed above. Below this is an exhibition of a minor sort, and several groups of gaping cockneys. A "boat," a booth, and a set of "knock 'em down" complete the scene; in the latter case a woman caters for the encouragement of the English but ignoble sport of "three throws a penny."[5] Below the print is a line in large type (scarcely legible), announcing it to be "An original Drawing by an eminent Artist [printed off] a Woodcut engraved on a Block of the celebrated Tree." I transcribe literally what follows.

"The Stem of this vegetable Progidy, which was [roughly hollowed (?)], measured, at 3 feet from the ground, about 36 feet in girth, and the boughs extended about 300 feet in circumference. The Fair which was held upon this spot was founded about the year 1720, by Mr. Daniel Day, Block Maker, of Wapping, who gave his men an annual Bean Feast, under the shade of the Oak, on the first Friday in July; and which has been visited for a number of years by the Block Makers and Watermen of the eastern part of the metropolis, who parade round the spot singing the following songs:—

"A few years before Mr. Day died, his favourite oak lost a limb, out of which he procured a coffin to be made for his own interment, and often used to lie down in it, to try how it would fit him. He died October 13, 1767, aged eighty-four, and his remains were conveyed to Barking by water, pursuant of his own request, accompanied by six journeymen Block and Pump Makers, to each of whom he bequeathed a new leathern apron and a guinea."

So runs this historical and poetical (?) fragment. The first song I have often heard sung, or rather bawled, by Mr. Hemingway from one of the windows in the street which diverges out of the Mil-End Road, at the "King's Arms." That was before I commenced my teens. Hemingway has long since gone the way of Daniel Day; and Fairlop has lost so much of its original vigour and popularity, as to be almost one of the things that were.

There is an engraving of Fairlop Oak, as it appeared in 1806, in the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1806, p. 617. I think that some particulars of Fairlop Oak are given in Loudon's Arboretum. The woodcut in the Mirror referred to (p. 114.) bears some resemblance, in the outline of the tree, to my specimen of the Catnach literature.

SHIRLEY HIBBERD.

[Our correspondent will also find a woodcut of the Catnach style prefixed to a pamphlet published in 1813, entitled History, Origin, and Rise of Fairlop Fair; with a History and Description of the Forests of Essex, and an Account of Mr. Daniel Day, founder of Fairlop Fair. Another tract with a similar title was published in 1795.—ED.]

TAYLOR FAMILY. (Vol. v., p. 370.)

The first person of the name as Mayor of Worcester, occurring in 1648, is James Taylor, Esq.; in 1666, Henry Taylor, Esq.; in 1675, Rowland Taylor, Esq.; in 1731, Samuel Taylor, Esq. In 1732, James Saunders, Esq., was elected, but, dying in his mayoralty, Samuel Taylor, Esq., was re-elected, to serve the remainder of the year; and in 1737, a Samuel Taylor, Esq., was again elected, and this is no doubt the same person, making his third election.

It is, I think, evident from the following, which may be found in Green's History of that city, vol. ii. p. 106. of Appendix, that their burial-place was in a vault at the west end of the north aisle of St. Helen's Church:—

"Opposite the pulpit—Richard Taylor, Alderman of this city, died Nov. 11th, 1754, aged sixty-eight. There are several more of the same family interred under this stone."

In 1718, a Mr. Thomas Taylor, lay clerk, and in 1719, Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Thomas Taylor, a lay clerk of this church (Worcester Cathedral), were buried therein.

I think it very probable, from the orthography of the names being alike, that the above parties were connected by family ties.

I do not find, either in my own MS., in Green's History, or any other work, memorials of the same name in any other of the Worcester churches.

Nash, in his County History, gives the arms of Taylor of Welland, a small village near Upton-on-Severn: "sable, a lion passant, argent."

On flat stones within the communion-rails of that (Welland) church are the following inscriptions:—

"Edmund Taylor, Esq., died 10 Jan., 1721, aged 55.

"'Hic jacet Radulphus Taylor vir nullo non doctrinæ genere instructissimus uxorem duxit Penelopen filiam natu secundam Nicholai Lechmere de Hanleycastle, armigeri, quarto die Junii, obiit, A.D. 1676, æt. 39;' and several of their children are here buried.

"Penelope Taylor, died 29 May, 1710, aged 62."

Arms on the stone.

I know of no family of the name resident in that city; but, having left it many years, I am almost a stranger to its inhabitants. But I recollect a gentleman of that name resident at Strensham, the birth-place of the poet Butler (Hudibras), and who, to his honour, in 1843, erected a monument to the memory of that celebrated man, in the church of his native village. His name was John Taylor, Esq.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Portrait of Mesmer (Vol. v., p. 418.).

—Your correspondent SIGMA may be informed that there is an engraved portrait of Mesmer in tom. xiii. p. 261. of the Biographie Nouvelle des Contemporains, Paris, 1824.

TYRO.

Dublin.

Sleeveless (Vol. i., p. 439.).

—Your correspondent might have found "sleeveless errand" explained by Tooke; and from him by Todd and Richardson. It is "an errand without cover or pretext." Skinner, with the word sleeve, A.-S. slife, tegmen, before his eyes, could write, "a liveless or lifeless errand." Earm-slife is "that with which the arm is covered."

Q.

Barbarian (Vol. ii., p. 78.).

—Gibbon observes that—

"In the time of Homer, when the Greeks and Asiatics might probably use a common idiom, the imitative sound of Bar-Bar was applied to the ruder tribes, whose pronunciation was most harsh, and whose grammar was most defective."

Ch. 51. n. 162.

Tooke's suggestion is, that the Gr. βαρυς, strong, with a reduplication of the first syllable βαρ, gave the compound βαρ-βαρος; their great strength being the characteristic for which the barbarians were distinguished by the Greeks. (Div. of Purley, vol. ii. p. 183. 8vo. ed.)

Q.

"O wearisome condition" (Vol. iii., p. 241.).

—Q. inquired after the author of some remarkable verses quoted by Tillotson, beginning "O wearisome conditions of humanity." By the kind assistance of the Rev. A. Dyce, I am enabled to answer, that they are by Lord Brooke, in his tragedy of Mustapha, and may be found at p. 159. of his Works, in one vol. small folio, 1633.

Q.

The Meaning of "to be a Deacon" (Vol. v., p. 228.).

—An allusion to the fact, that to become a deacon (the first step in the priesthood) it was necessary to have the hair cut, which is also done previous to beheading. In Foxe's time the customs of the Roman church were known to all.

J. B. C.

Dr. Richard Morton.

—Perhaps the following brief particulars of this celebrated physician may be acceptable to your correspondent M. A. LOWER, Vol. v., p. 227. He was born in the county of Suffolk, educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he became Chaplain of New College. He was for some time chaplain, and probably tutor, to the Foley family in Worcestershire; but after the Restoration took his degrees in medicine, and became an eminent practitioner in London, dying at his residence in Surrey in the year 1698. An engraved portrait of him, with the large flowing wig of the period, now lies before me, with this inscription:

I have not been able to discover whether this gentleman was related to the Mortons of Severn Stoke, co. Worcester.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

Moravian Hymns (Vol. iv., pp. 30. 502.; Vol. v., pp. 113. 129.).

—Your correspondents having met with the third part only, I will describe the first and second parts now before me. Both were printed for James Hutton, London, 1746, who printed also The Watchwords of the Covenant in the Blood of Jesus for the Years 1743 and 1746. They contain 403 hymns, and two supplements. I have sought in vain for the hymn in the New Bath Guide, but the two following will show that Anstey did not colour too highly.

Many circumstances concurred to render these books now very rare. The impression was undoubtedly limited, and the wear and tear of enthusiastic singers for above a century, of a 12mo. book of nearly a thousand pages, very great. Unless preserved in "N. & Q.," the existence of such hymns might be doubted some years hence, even by the religious fraternity for whom they were compiled, and whose collection is now widely different:

E. D.

Junius Rumours (Vol. v., pp. 125. 159.).

—In spite of the memorable declaration of Junius that his secret should perish with him, and the hitherto unsatisfactory attempts that have been made to draw him from his hiding-place, I have ever felt assured that he will eventually be unearthed. After half a century's active exertion, the "Iron Mask" was unveiled.

I recollect that, somewhere in Woodfall's edition, is a letter from Junius, requiring a copy of the letters to be sent him, bound in a particular manner and colour, which, at the time that edition came out, was thought likely to afford a clue to the detection: some such casual notice may not yet be unlikely to lead to the discovery. Many years since, in conversation with an old officer, then barrack-master at Pendennis Garrison, Captain Hall, he related a circumstance that occurred when he was a boy, that curiously impressed itself on his memory. His family and Woodfall's were intimate, and when about ten years old he was taken by his mother to see Woodfall, whilst in prison on account of the publication of these redoubtable letters.

During this visit a tea-service of plate was received by Woodfall as a present from Junius, and was exhibited with no small degree of pride and gratification. Surely two such circumstances could not occur without being known to more than one or two persons; and had the inquiry been keenly followed up, I think, not unreasonably, that a chance might be afforded for the solution of the problem.

JAMES CORNISH.

Wyned (Vol. v., p. 321.).

—The supposition that the initial w of this word may have been a misreading for pa, however ingenious, is not tenable. Not having the MS. at hand (it is in the University Library, Cambridge), I wrote to a learned friend there to request him to refer to the passage. He assures me that the word is wyned, not payned. Indeed, the precedent being fairly written in a clerkly hand, there was little possibility of mistake. I beg, therefore, to leave the word in the hands of your etymological reader for further suggestion or explanation.

C. W. G.

The Tradescants (Vol. iii., pp. 119. 286. 391. 393. 469.; Vol. v., pp. 266. 367. 385.).

—The ensuing Note, although it has no reference to the Tradescants who have been the subject of many interesting communications in "N. & Q.," will, perhaps, not be considered unacceptable; for, in conjunction with the mention made in the will of the younger John Tradescant (p. 367.) of his "two namesakes, Robert Tradescant and Thomas Tradescant of Walberswick in the Countie of Suffolk," to whom the testator, if his love is to be estimated by the amount of their legacies, would not appear to have borne much esteem,—it establishes the fact that there was, at that time, at least one collateral branch of the Tradescant family. I find in the town books of Harleston, in Norfolk, the name of a John Tredeskin as a resident in that town in the year 1682-83, and of Mr. Robert Tredeskin from 1683-84 to 1688-89 inclusive, and from that time to 1691-92 Mrs. Tradeskin, widow, appears as the occupier, in the last year the name being spelt Tradescant. The name also occurs in the Court Books of the Manor of Harleston. Robert Tradescant, and Martha his wife, are mentioned in 1687, and it appears that she survived and was afterwards the wife of Charles Fox, gentleman. In 1721 John Tradescant is described as son and heir of the said Robert and Martha, both deceased. I have not met with it at a later period. Whether this Harleston family branched from Walberswick, or whether either were actually related to the Lambeth Tradescants,—for the term "namesake" does not of itself imply relationship—is not certain, but both are at all events probable. I may observe that the prefix Mr. indicated a person above the rank of a tradesman, and such as we should now address upon a letter as "Esquire."

G. A. C.

Movable Organs and Pulpits (Vol. v., p. 345.).

—Of the first-named class of curious ecclesiastical structures I know of no examples; of one of the latter, the following notice occurs in Mr. Wesley's Journal, vol. iv. p. 213.:—

"Aug. 15 (1781). I went to Sheffield: in the afternoon I took a view of the chapel lately built by the Duke of Norfolk. One may safely say, there is none like it in the three kingdoms, nor, I suppose, in the world. It is a stone building, an octagon, about eighty feet in diameter.... The pulpit is movable: it rolls upon wheels; and is shifted once a quarter, that all the pews may face it in their turns: I presume the first contrivance of the kind in Europe."

This was an episcopal place of worship connected with a noble charity, "The Shrewsbury Hospital," a suite of liberally-endowed almshouses for old people of both sexes. The "chapel" in question, as well as the almshouses, have, many years ago, given place to a large market. But I must add, the charity still flourishes, and its recipients enjoy a suite of beautiful little dwellings, and a commodious place of worship, in a pleasant and airy part of "Sheffield Park."

J. H.

There is a movable pulpit in Norwich Cathedral.

J. B.

Scologlandis and Scologi (Vol. v., p. 416.).

—These words are derived from sgológ, a Celtic word meaning a farmer, a husbandman, and probably denote the husbandlands and husbandmen holding the kirktoun (church lands) of Ellon, or parts thereof. A distinction is drawn between the husbandman and the cotter in an unpublished return to an inquisition in 1450, concerning the payments and services due by certain tenants of some ecclesiastical lands—"that is to say, of ylke husband an thraf (threave) of corn and half an ferlot of meil, and of ylke coter an pek." The husbands of church lands (bondi of Scotch charter Latin?) were in all likelihood the "Kyndlie tenantis" of the church, who seem to have had a sort of hereditary right to renewal of their leases on payment of a fine, either taxed or uncertain. In a charter lately before me, a lease of tithes was renewed to the holder as "Kyndlie tenant," on payment of a grassum (equivalent to a fine), and it was declared that the said tenant and his ancestors had held the vicarage land hereditarily, past the memory of man, on payment of a rent, though the said vicarage land belonged in property to the vicar. Neither sgológ nor bondi are applicable to tenants of church lands exclusively. The compilers of the Highland Society's Gaelic Dictionary do not appear to have met with the word sgológ, or, if they did, have confounded it with scalóg or sgalóg, a boor, a hind, a countryman.

DE CAMERA.

St. Botolph (Vol. v., p. 396.).

—Your correspondent A. B. has anticipated an inquiry I was about to make as to the history of this saint, which I am desirous of learning. It is a rather singular circumstance that three churches dedicated to St. Botolph, and all of ancient foundation, are situated immediately without gates of the city, viz. at Aldgate, Bishopsgate, and Aldersgate. There was also before the Great Fire a church similarly dedicated at Billingsgate, and a water-gate, called Buttolph's gate (vide Stow).

I can hardly imagine that this is merely a coincidence, and should be glad to know whether any explanation can be given of it.

J. R. J.

Which are the Shadows? (Vol. v., p. 281.).

—An extract from the Memoirs of Wordsworth, vol. ii. p. 273., will throw some little light on J. C. R.'s perplexities:

"The anecdote of the saying of the monk, in sight of Titian's picture, was told me in this house (Rydal Mount) by Mr. Wilkie, and was, I believe, first communicated to the world in this poem, the former portion of which I was composing at the time ('Lines suggested by a Portrait by F. Stone, 1834'). Southey heard the story from Miss Hutchinson, and transferred it to the Doctor; my friend Mr. Rogers, in a note subsequently added to his Italy, speaks of the same remarkable words having many years before been spoken in his hearing by a monk or priest in front of a picture of the Last Supper, placed over a refectory table in a convent at Padua."

It is much to be feared that this goes far towards reducing "the mild Jeronymite's" remark to the established order of stereotype. On which supposition, one need not wonder that—

J.

Nightingale and Thorn (Vol. iv., pp. 175. 242.; Vol. v., pp. 39. 305.).

—Is it known to your correspondents who take an interest in this subject, that the nightingale, when she builds her nest, inserts a thorn about an inch long in the centre of it, probably to lean her breast against.

During my angling excursions I often get comfortably housed at a little farmer's in Berks, and in conversation with him, about two years ago, relative to the habits of the nightingale, he mentioned this peculiarity, adding that he carried a nest home with a thorn an inch long built strongly through the middle of it. I recollected at the time the subject had been treated by some of our poets, but was not aware that it had any practical applicability.

In Berkshire they say of the nightingale's plaintive ditty:

MARYBONE.

Groom of the Stole (Vol. v., p. 347.).

—Your correspondent J. R. (Cork) is in error when he asserts that the above-named office does not belong to female majesty.

Among the collection of pictures at Montreal, in Kent, is a portrait which was purchased at the sale at Strawberry Hill, in 1842, on the back of which is the following inscription in the handwriting of Horace Walpole:

"Lady Elizabeth Percy, only daughter and heiress of Josceline, last Earl of Northumberland. She was first married to Henry Holles Cavendish, Lord Ogle, only son of Henry, Duke of Newcastle. 2ndly, To Thomas Thynne, Esquire, who was murdered by Count Konismark. And, lastly, to Charles Seymour Duke of Somerset. To Queen Anne she was groom of the stole, and had great influence."

Vide Swift's Journal.

By Beatson's Political Index it appears that her predecessor in this office was Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough.

E. H. Y.

The De Clares (Vol. v., p. 261.).

—I am sorry that I am unable to give your correspondents, MR. GRAVES of Kilkenny, and E. H. Y., any information on the subject of the De Clares. The pedigree from which I quoted is not one of that family, but merely contains some few of them; introduced, as I said before, among the "præclarissimæ affinitates." The arms of Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, are brought into the shield of quarterings through the well-known line of Marshall, De Braose, Cantelupe, La Zouche, and thence through Burdet and Ashbye; nor, with the exceptions of the last three, is there much mention of each family, but merely what is necessary to show their descent.

H. C. K.

—— Rectory, Hereford.

Book of Jasher (Vol. v., p. 415.).

—You might have added to your list of editions of this work, one printed at New York in 1840, a number of copies of which have been recently sent to this country. The title is The Book of Jasher, referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel, faithfully translated from the Original Hebrew, 8vo. pp. 267. It was published with the recommendations of many learned men in America, one of which by Prof. Noah, who appears to be the translator, I think worth extracting as giving some idea of the character of the book:—

"Without giving it to the world as a work of divine inspiration, or assuming the responsibility to say that it is not an inspired book, I have no hesitation in pronouncing it a work of great antiquity and interest, and a work that is entitled, even regarding it as a literary curiosity, to a great circulation among those who take pleasure in studying the Scriptures."

WM. BROWN, Jun., Bibliop.

Old Street.

I have read this book formerly. It is the jeu d'esprit of an unbeliever. The drift of it is, to present a cotemporary naturalist account of the Mosaic and Josuetic histories, in opposition to the supernatural histories in the Bible. But I remember seeing announced among the intended publications of the Oriental Translation Fund, the "Book of Jasher." That proves a work, so entitled, to exist in some oriental language. What has become of that manuscript; and why was the translation of it never printed, as promised? I have long wished to learn.

A. N.

Chantrey's Sleeping Children (Vol. v., p. 428.).

—In a highly interesting and pathetic volume of elegiac poetry, written by Sir Brooke Boothby (and published in London by Cadell and Davies, 1796), entitled Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope, is contained a fine engraving of the exquisite recumbent figure by Banks in Ashbourne Church, referred to by your correspondent. Perhaps you will afford room for the quotation of the following sonnet (Sorrows, p. 18.), which may interest readers unacquainted with the volume:

H. G. T.

Weston super Mare.

Daniel De Foe (Vol. v., p. 392.).

—Your correspondent, on referring to Wilson's Life of De Foe (vol. iii. p. 648.), will find some mention of John Joseph De Foe, his unfortunate great-grandson (not grandson), who was executed at Tyburn, January 2, 1771. In the Sessions Papers for 1770-1 (p. 25.), he will also find the trial of John Clark and John Joseph Defoe, otherwise Brown, otherwise Smith, for the robbery, on the King's highway, of Alexander Fordyce, Esq. There seems to have been no distinct identification of De Foe as one of the parties committing the robbery; but in those days juries did not stand upon trifles, and he had but little grace accorded to him. He was probably the grandson of Daniel's second son, Bernard Norton De Foe, the abused of Pope; but this is not quite certain.

Of the descendant of Daniel De Foe, who lived in or adjoining Hungerford Market, your correspondent will also find mention in Wilson (vol. iii. p. 649.). In all probability there are many descendants of this great man now living in this country or abroad.

Your correspondent is under a mistake as to Robert Drury's Journal. The first edition of that work, which I have now before me, came out in 1729, and therefore could not have been made use of by De Foe in writing Robinson Crusoe, published ten years before. How far Drury's Journal is true or fictitious, and by whom it was written, are curious questions; but to attempt their solution would be out of place in this reply.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Howard's Conquest of China (Vol. v., p. 225.).

—Is J. MT. satisfied that the scene written by the Earl of Rochester does not form part of Elkanah Settle's play, The Conquest of China by the Tartars (1676, 4to.)? It is also written in rhyme; and Rochester was, as is well known, a patron of Settle. If J. MT. have not referred to it, it may be worth while to do so, or to give a few lines from the scene, to afford an opportunity of ascertaining the point.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Buro, Berto, Beriora (Vol. v., p. 395.).

—A satisfactory explanation of these three words is much to be desired, as they have puzzled the antiquary, the linguist, and the classical scholar for nearly forty years. They remind me of a similar case I met with in my reading not long ago. The word Ilpadelt, painted on the windows of the church of the Celestines at Marconcies, was the puzzle of all that read it, till one day a Turk, who had received baptism, and was in the suite of Francis I., came to Marconcies in the year 1523, and discovered that the word was Syriac, and that it meant "God is my hope;" which explanation was registered in the abbey library. These words had been the motto of John de Montaign, who had founded the abbey, and enriched it with many valuable treasures, according to a vow he had made during the sickness of Charles VI.

However, if it will not disconcert the learned, I will, audax omnia perpati, venture upon a conjecture as to the meaning of these hidden words. Ought not the first letters, thought to be Bu, in reality to be read Pro? in which case the legend will be Pro Roberti Beri ora, i.e. pray for Robert Berry; and the ring will be a mourning ring.

While on this subject, I may add that the inscribed rings, commonly called talismanic or cabalistic rings, are improperly so designated. The Latin term is much more appropriate, "annuli vertuosi." Perhaps mystical might be a suitable name.

CEYREP.

Where was Cromwell buried? (Vol. v., p. 396.).

—A. B. will find that the interesting inquiry relative to the last resting-place of Cromwell, has been investigated in a little work by Henry Lockinge, M.A., late curate of Naseby, entitled Historical Gleanings on the Memorable Field of Naseby, published in 1830. Mr. Lockinge, besides alluding to the "Memoranda" of the vicar, the Rev. W. Marshall, on the subject, adduces evidence, apparently satisfactory, which leaves the Protector's remains slumbering, "uncommemorated, beneath the turf of Naseby Field."

OLIVER PEMBERTON.

Birmingham.

Glass-making in England (Vol. v., pp. 322. 382.).

—Allow me to refer MR. CATO to the late Mr. Turner's work on Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages. He will there find (pp. 73-83.) an interesting digression on the history of glass-making, and its introduction into domestic use. In addition to the facts contained in that work, the following anecdote from my common-place book may not be altogether uninteresting. It is recorded with gratitude that Robert de Lindesay, chosen Abbot of Peterborough in 1214, beautified thirty of the monastic windows with glass, which previously had been stuffed with straw to keep out the cold and rain. (Gunton's Hist. Ch. Peterborough, p. 27.; Stevens' Continuation of Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. i. p. 478.)

F. SOMNER MERRYWEATHER.

The Surname Devil (Vol. v., p. 370.).

—In answer to your correspondent, who inquires whether there are any persons named Devil, I beg to say that there is (or was, two years since) a person of that name, a labouring man, residing in the hamlet of Aston, in the parish of Hope, Derbyshire. Whether there are more of the name living there, I am unable to state; but I remember distinctly hearing of one, and the name being so peculiar, fixed itself in my memory.

R. C. C.