Chapter 3

It is not unlikely that, if the results of research in this direction were carefully registered, many perfect pieces might be recovered.

PHILIP HALE.

Archbishop Tenison's Library, St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

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{78}

THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

I have just met with a passage in the _Pseudodoxia Epidemica_ of Sir Thomas Browne, wherein this invention is foreshadowed in terms more remarkable and significant, if less imaginative and beautiful, than that from _The Spectator_, to which public attention has already been directed, and which, I conceive, must unquestionably have been written, with this particular example of the "received tenets and commonly presumed truths" of the learned physician's day, distinctly present to the mind of Addison. The passage referred to is as follows:

"There is another conceit of better notice, and _whispered thorow the world_ with some attention; credulous and vulgar auditors readily believing it, and more judicious and distinctive heads not altogether rejecting it. The conceit is excellent, and, if the effect would follow, somewhat divine: whereby we might communicate like spirits, and confer on earth with Menippus in the moon. And this is pretended from the sympathy of two needles touched with the same loadstone, and placed in the centre of two abecedary circles, or rings with letters described round about them, one friend keeping one, and another the other, and agreeing upon the hour wherein they will communicate. For then, _saith tradition_, at what distance of place soever, when one needle shall be removed unto any letter, the other, by a wonderful sympathy, will move unto the same."--Book II. chap. ii, 4to., 1669, p. 77.

Thus it is that "coming events cast their shadows before:" and, in the present case, one is curious to learn how far back the _shadow_ may be traced. By whom has this _conceit_ been _whispered thorow the world_? and in what musty tomes is that _tradition_ concealed, which speaks concerning it? Kircher's _Catena Magnetica_ might haply tell us something in reply to these inquiries.

In conformity with an often repeated suggestion to the correspondents of "N. & Q.," to the simple signature of my _habitat_, alone hitherto adopted by me, I now subjoin my name.

WM. MATTHEWS.

Cowgill.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Sir Walter Raleigh._--In the discussions on the copyright question some years ago, Sir Walter Raleigh was mentioned as one of the authors whose posterity is totally extinct; but in his Life, as given in _Lodge's Portraits_, his descendants are given as far down as his great-grandchildren, of whom many were still living in 1699, at which period, says Mr. Lodge, my information ceases. It seems unlikely that a family then so numerous should have utterly perished since, both in its male and female branches; and perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to trace their subsequent history: the _name_ is certainly not extinct, whether its bearers be his descendants or not.

Is the gallant Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert descended from one of Sir Walter's half-brothers?

J. S. WARDEN.

_Ancient Fortifications: Hertstone, Pale, Brecost._--In the Clause Rolls, 16 John, M. 6. (_Public Records_, vol. i. p. 192.) is a warrant of King John's, addressed to the bailiffs of Peter de Maulay of Doncaster, as follows:

"Mandam' vob' q[=d] villa de Danecast[=r] claudi faciatis heritone et palo sc[=d]m q[=d] fossatu f[=cm] exigit, et una leve bretasca fi faciatis su[p=] ponte ad villa defendenda."

Which, in Miller's History of that town (p. 40.), is thus translated:

"We command ye, cause the town of Doncaster to be inclosed with _hertstone_ and _pale_, according as the ditch that is made doth require; and that ye make a light _brecost_ or barbican upon the bridge, to defend the town."

I shall be obliged by being informed if _hertstone_ is the correct translation of the word "heritone," and, if so, what species of fortification it was. _Pale_ is probably a defence composed of high wooden stakes. _Brecost_ is questionable, I imagine, and should most likely be spelt _bretesk_ or _bretex_. I shall be glad, however, of explanations of the words.

C. J.

_Newton and Somers._--It has been said that there is a complimentary allusion to Somers in Newton's writings. Where?

M.

_Daventry, Duel at._--

"Veni Daintreo cum puella, Procerum celebre duello."

"Thence to Daintree with my jewel, Famous for a noble duel."--_Drunken Barnaby's Journal._

Can any Northamptonshire reader of "N. & Q." say between whom, and when, this duel took place?

J. H. L.

_Passage in Burial Service._--Whence comes the expression in the Burial Service, "In the midst of life we are in death." I have observed that Mr. Palmer, in his _Origines Liturgicae_, refers for a parallel passage to ancient liturgies, but, if I mistake not, to none but those used in England. The passage is very scriptural: but I do not believe it exists in the Bible.

J. G. T.

"_They shot him on the nine-stane rig._"--Where is the ballad beginning with the words--

"They shot him on the nine-stane rig, Beside the headless cross."

to be found? Who is the author?

BORDERER.

_Wardhouse, and Fishermen's Custom there._--In a MS. local history, written in 1619, there is this {79} passage: "They bought herrings during the season, and then departed, _as those fishermen which kill fish at Wardhouse do use to do at present_."

Where was Wardhouse, and what was the custom there?

C. J. P.

Great Yarmouth.

"_Adrian turn'd the bull._"--In an old MS. in my possession, the following verse occurs:--

"Of whate'er else your head be full, Remember Adrian turn'd the bull; 'Tis time that you should turn the chase, Kick out the knave and take the place."

Would any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." be so good as to explain to me the reference in the second line of the verse?

G. M.

_Cary's "Palaeologia Chronica._"--I have an old book entitled:

"Palaeologia Chronica; a Chronological Account of Ancient Time. Performed by Robert Cary, D.LL., Devon. London: printed by J. Darby, for Richard Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church Yard, 1677."

and shall be glad to be informed whether the author was any relation of Dr. Valentine Carey, who was consecrated bishop of Exeter in 1620, and died in 1626. (See Walton's _Life of Dr. Donne_.)

CHRIS. ROBERTS.

Bradford, Yorkshire.

_The Southwark Pudding Wonder._--I have been very much pleased with the perusal of a collection of MS. letters, written by the celebrated antiquary William Stukeley to Maurice Johnson, Esq., the founder of the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding. These letters have not been published; the MSS. exist in the library of the Spalding Society. They contain much interesting matter, and furnish many traits of the manners, character, and modes of thinking and acting of their respected author.

Can any of your readers explain the meaning of the following passage, which is found in a letter dated 19th June, 1718: "_The Southwark Pudding wonder is over?_"

In the same letter the Dr. alludes to a contested election for the office of Chamberlain of the City of London, which took place in 1718:

"The city is all in an uproar about the election of a chamberlain, like a country corporation for burgesses, where roast pig and beef and wine are dealt about freely at taverns, and advertisements about it more voluminous than the late celebrated Bangorean Notification, though not in a calm and undisturbed way."

PISHEY THOMPSON.

Stoke Newington.

_Roman Catholics confined in Fens of Ely._--Mr. Dickens, in _Household Words_, No. 169. p. 382., in the continuation of a "Child's History of England," says, when alluding to the threatened invasion of England by the Spanish Armada:

"Some of the Queen's advisers were for seizing the principal English Catholics, and putting them to death; but the queen--who, to her honour, used to say that she would never believe any ill of her subjects, which a parent would not believe of her own children--neglected the advice, and only confined a few of those who were the most suspected among them, in the fens of Lincolnshire."

Mr. Dickens had, of course, as he supposed, good authority for making this statement; but, in reply to a private communication, he states it should have been _Fens of Ely_. I am, perhaps convicting myself of gross ignorance by seeking for information respecting it; nevertheless, I venture to ask the readers of at "N. & Q." for a reference to the authentic history, where a corroboration of Mr. Dickens' statement is to be found?

PISHEY THOMPSON.

Stoke Newington.

_White Bell Heather transplanted._--Is it generally known that _white bell_ heather becomes _pink_ on being transplanted from its native hills into a garden? Two plants were shown to me a few days ago, by a country neighbour, flowering pink, which were transplanted, the one three, and the other two, years ago; the former had white bells for two years, the latter for one year only. What I wish to know is, Whether these are exceptional cases or not?

W. C.

Argyleshire.

_Green's "Secret Plot."_--Can you inform me where the scene of the following drama is laid, and the names of the _dramatis personae_? _The Secret Plot_; a tragedy by Rupert Green, 12mo., 1777. The author of this play, which was published when he was only in his ninth year, was the son of Mr. Valentine Green, who wrote a history of Worcester.

A. Z.

"_The full Moon brings fine Weather._"--When did this saying originate, and have we any proof of its correctness? The late Duke of Wellington is reported to have said, that, as regarded the weather, it was "nonsense to have any faith in the moon." (Vide Larpent's _Private Journal_, vol. ii. p. 283.)

W. W.

Malta.

_Nash the Artist._--In the year 1802, Mr. F. Nash made a water-colour drawing of the Town Hall, churches, &c., in the High Street of the ancient borough of Dorchester; a line engraving (now rather scarce) was shortly afterwards published therefrom by Mr. J. Frampton, then a bookseller in the town. Can any reader of the {80} "N. & Q." inform me what Mr. Nash this was, and what became of him? Was he related to the _Castles and Abbeys_ Nash?

JOHN GARLAND.

Dorchester.

_Woodwork of St. Andrew's Priory Church, Barnwell._--The Cambridge Architectural Society, which is now attempting the restoration of St. Andrew's Priory Church, Barnwell, will feel deeply indebted to any of your readers who can give them any information respecting the carved woodwork removed from that church some forty years ago, to make way for the present hideous arrangement of pews and pulpit. A man who lives on the spot speaks of a fine wood screen, and highly decorated pulpit, some portions of which were sold by auction; and the rest was in his possession for some time, and portions of it were given away by him to all who applied for it.

THE TREASURER.

Trin. Coll. Camb.

"_The Mitre and the Crown._"--I find the following work, at first published anonymously, reprinted as Dr. Atterbury's in Sir Walter Scott's edition of the _Somers' Tracts_. No reason is assigned by the editor for ascribing it to him, and I should be glad to know whether there is any satisfactory evidence for doing so. The original tract appears as anonymous the Bodleian Catalogue:

"The Mitre and the Crown, or a real Distinction between them: in a Letter to a Reverend Member of the Convocation: Lond. 1711, 8vo."

[Greek: Halieus].

Dublin.

_Military Music._--Was military music ever played at night in the time of King Charles I.?

MILITARIS.

Belfast.

* * * * *

Minor Queries with Answers.

_Stoven Church._--Can you give me any information concerning the _original_ church of Stoven, Suffolk, which was of good Norman work throughout, as lately ascertained by the vast number of Norman mouldings found in the walls in restoring it?

L. (2)

[In Jermyn's "Suffolk Collections," vol. vi. (Add. MSS. 8173.), in the British Museum, are the following Notes of this church, taken 1st June, 1808, by H. I. and D. E. D.: "The Church consists of a nave and chancel, both under one roof, which is covered with thatch. The chancel is 30 ft. 3 in. long, and 15 ft. 5 in. wide. The communion-table is neither raised nor inclosed. The floor of the whole church is also of the same height. The nave is 30 ft. long, and 16 ft. 1 in. wide. Between the chancel and nave are the remains of a screen, and over it the arms of George II., between two tables containing the Lord's Prayer, &c. In the N. E. angle is the pulpit, which is of oak, hexagon, ordinary, as are also the pews and seats. At the W. end stands the font, which is octagon, the faces containing roses and lions, and two figures holding blank escutcheons, the pedestal supported by four lions. The steeple is in the usual place, small, square, of flints, but little higher than the roof. In it is only one bell, inscribed 1759. The entrance into the church on the N. side is through a circular Saxon arch, not much ornamented. On the side is another of the same description, but more ornamented, with zig-zag moulding, &c." Then follow the inscriptions, &c. in the chancel, of Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, John Brown, Thomas Brown; in the nave, of Henry Keable, with extracts from the parish register commencing in 1653.]

_The Statute of Kilkenny._--Said to have been passed in 1364. What was the nature of it?

ABREDONENSIS.

[This statute legally abolished the ancient code of the Irish, called the Brehon laws, and was passed in a parliament held at Kilkenny in the 40th Edward III., under the government of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. By this act, the English are commanded in all controversies to govern themselves by the common laws of England, so that whoever submitted himself to the Brehon law, or the law of the Marches, is declared a traitor. Among other things the statute enacted that "the alliaunce of the English by marriage with any Irish, the nurture of infantes, and gossipred with the Irish, be deemed high treason." And again, "If anie man of English race use an Irish name, Irish apparell, or any other guize or fashion of the Irish, his lands shall be seized, and his bodie imprisoned, till he shall conform to English modes and customs." This statute was followed by the 18th Henry VI. c. i. ii. iii., and the 28th Hen. VI., c. i., with similar prohibitions and penalties. These prohibitions, however, had little effect; nor were the English laws universally submitted to throughout Ireland until the time of James I., when the final extirpation of the ancient Brehon law was effected.]

_Kenne of Kenne._--Can any of your Kentish correspondents inform me to whom a certain Christ. Kenne of Kenne, in co. Somerset, sold the manor of "Oakley," in the parish of Higham, near Rochester; and in whose possession it was about the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth or commencement of James I.?

The above Kenne, by marrying Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Roger Cholmeley, and widow of Sir Leonard Beckwith, of Selby, in co. York, acquired possession of the same manor in co. Kent.

After the death of his first wife, he married a Florence Stalling, who survived him. He died in 1592.

F. T.

["Christopher Kenne of Kenne, in the county of Somerset, Esq., was possessed of the manor of Little Okeley, in Higham, Kent, in the right of his wife, the daughter and co-heir of Sir Roger Cholmeley, anno {81} 22 Eliz.; and then, having levied a fine of it, sold it to Thompson, and he, in the reign of Charles I., alienated it to Best."--_Hasted._

Of course, the Christian name of Thompson, and other particulars if required, can be obtained by a reference to the foot of the fine in the Record Office, Carlton Ride.]

_Rents of Assize, &c._--In the _Valor Ecclesiasticus_, the following varieties of income derived from rent of land constantly recur, viz.:

"De redditu (simply). De redditu assisae. De redditu libero. De redditu ad voluntatem."

Can the distinction between these be exactly explained by any corresponding annual payments for land according to present custom? And will any of your readers be kind enough to give such explanation?

J.

[_Redditus._--Rents from lands let out to tenants; modern farm rents.

_Redditus Assisae._--Quit rents: fixed sums paid by the tenants of a manor annually to the lord; as in modern times.

_Redditus Liberi._--Those quit rents which were paid to the lord by "liberi tenentes," freeholders; as distinguished from "villani bassi tenentes," &c.

_Redditus ad voluntatem._--Annual payments "ad voluntatem donatium;" such as "confrana," &c. The modern Easter Offering perhaps corresponds with them.]

_Edifices of Ancient and Modern Times._--Can any of your architectural or antiquarian readers inform me where a chronological list of the principal edifices of ancient and modern times can be found?

GETSRN.

[Consult _Chronological Tables of Ancient and Modern History Synchronistically and Ethnographically arranged_, fol., Oxford, 1835. For those relating to Great Britain, see Britton's _Chronological and Historical Illustrations_, and his _Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain_.]

_Gorram._--Please to direct me where I can find a short account of Gorram, an ecclesiastical writer (I suppose) mentioned by D'Aubigne, vol. v. p. 245.

L. (2)

[The divine alluded to by D'Aubigne is no doubt Nicholas de Gorran, a Dominican, confessor to Philip the Fair of France. He was an admired and eloquent preacher, and his Sermons, together with a Commentary on the Gospels, appeared at Paris, 1523 and 1539. He died in 1295.]

"_Rock of Ages._"--Who is the author of the hymn beginning "Rock of Ages?"

J. G. T.

[That celebrated advocate for _The Calvinism of the Church of England_, the Rev. Augustus Montague Toplady.]

* * * * *

Replies.

REMUNERATION OF AUTHORS.

(Vol. vii., p. 591.)

Responding to the challenge of your correspondent MR. ANDREWS, I copy the following from my common-place book:

_From Lintot's memorandum-book of "Copies when purchased."_

_Farquhar._ L s. d. 1705. Recruiting Officer 16 2 6 1706. Beaux Stratagem 30 0 0

_Betterton._

1712. The Miller's Tale, with some characters from Chaucer 5 7 6

_Mr. Centlivre._

1703. May 14. Love's Contrivance 10 0 0 1709. May 14. Busy Body 10 0 0

_Mr. Cibber._

1701. Nov. 8. A third of Love's Last Shift 3 4 6 1705. Nov. 5. Perolla and Izadora 36 11 0 1707. Oct. 27. Double Gallant 16 2 6 Nov. 22. Lady's Last Stake 32 5 0 Feb. 26. Venus and Adonis 5 7 6 1708. Oct. 9. Comical Lover 10 15 0 1712. Mar. 16. Cinna's Conspiracy 13 0 0 1718. Oct. 1. The Nonjuror 105 0 0

_Mr. Gay._

1713. May 12. Wife of Bath 25 0 0 1714. Nov. 11. Letter to a Lady 5 7 6 1715. Feb. 14. The What-d'ye-call-it? 16 2 6 Dec. 22. Trivia 43 0 0 Epistle to the Earl of Burlington 10 15 0 1717. May 4. Battle of the Frogs 16 2 6 Jan. 8. Three Hours after Marriage 43 2 6 Revival of the Wife of Bath 75 0 0 The Mohocks, a farce 2l. 10s. Sold the Mohocks to him again. ----------- 234 10 0 -----------

_Captain Killegrew._

1718-l9. Feb. 14. Chit Chat 84 0 0

_Mr. Ozell._

1711. Nov. 18. } Translating Homer's Iliad, 1712. Jan. 4. } books i. ii. iii. 10 8 6 1713. April 29. Translating Moliere 37 12 6

_N. Rowe, Esq._

Dec. 12. Jane Shore 50 15 0 1715. April 27. Jane Grey 73 5 0

_Somerville._

1727. July 14. A Collection of Poems. 35 15 0

{82}

_Pope._

1712. Feb. 19. Statius, 1st book, and Verstumnus and Pomona 16 2 6 Mar. 21. First edition of the Rape 7 0 0 April 9. To a lady presenting Voiture. Upon Silence. To the author of a poem called Successio 3 16 6

1712-13. Windsor Forest (Feb. 23) 32 5 0

1713. July 23. Ode to St. Cecilia's Day 15 0 0

1714. Feb. 20. Addition to the Rape 15 0 0 Mar. 23. Homer, vol. i. 215 0 0 650 copies on royal paper 176 0 0

1715. Feb. 1. Temple of Fame 32 5 0 April 21. Key to the Lock 10 15 0

1716. Feb. 9. Homer, vol. ii. 215 0 0 May 2. 650 royal paper 150 0 0 July 17. Essay on Criticism 15 0 0

1717. Aug. 9. Homer, vol. iii. 215 0 0

1718. Jan. 6. 650 royal paper 150 0 0 Mar. 3. Homer, vol. iv. 210 0 0 650 royal paper 150 0 0 Oct. 17. Homer, vol. v. 210 0 0

1719. April 6. 650 royal paper 150 0 0

1720. Feb. 26. Homer, vol. vi. 210 0 0 May 7. 650 royal paper 150 0 0

1721. Parnell's Poems 15 0 0 Paid Mr. Pope for the subscription-money due on the 2nd volume of his Homer, and on his 5th volume, at the agreement for the said 5th vol.--(I had Mr. Pope's assignment for the royal paper that was then left of his Homer) 840 0 0

Copy-money for the Odyssey, vols. i. ii. iii., and 750 of each volume printed on royal paper, 4to. 615 0 0

Copy-money for the Odyssey, vols. iv. and v., and 750 of each royal 425 18 7-1/2 ---------------- L4244 8 7-1/2 ----------------

From that storehouse of instruction and amusement, Nichols's _Anecdotes_, vol. viii. pp. 293-304.

I take this opportunity of forwarding to you a curious memorandum which I found in rummaging the papers of a "note-maker" of the last century. It appears to be a bill of fare for the entertainment of a party, upon the "flitch of bacon" being decreed to a happy couple. It is at Harrowgate, and not at Dunmow, which would lead us to believe that this custom was not confined to one county. The feast itself is almost as remarkable, as regards its component parts, as that produced by Mr. Thackeray, in his delightful "Lectures," as characteristic of polite feeding in Queen Anne's reign:

"_June 25.--Mr. and Mrs. Liddal's Dinner at Green Dragon, Harrowgate, on taking Fflitch Bacon Oath._