HIS here the sex is indubitable. Thus these MICHAEL NEWTON OF BEVERLY : distinctions have apparently no relation ARMS.-In George Taylor's memoir of Robert to sex in the ordinary acceptation of that Surtees, the historian of the County Palatine word. Whether they follow a euphony so of Durham, the second issue of which was delicate and refined as to be appreciable published with additions by the Surtees only by those who have an intimate know- Society under the editorship of the Rev. ledge of the language I cannot say. James Raine the elder, the following passage occurs, quoted from a letter written by Surtees to Sir Walter Scott : H. W-D. [The French language not having a neuter gender, table must consequently be treated as masculine or feminine; and as tabula was feminine in Latin, table has become feminine in French. With respect to Mädchen, it is the rule in German that all diminutives are treated as neuter. Thus although Magd is feminine, its diminutive follows the rule relating to that class of words, and becomes neuter grammatically.] 66 So glad was he. "I am tempted to add here an heraldic bearing inserted by Mr. Gyll in Gwillim's Heraldry,' now in my hands: He beareth per pale or and arg., over all a spectre passant shrouded sable, by the name of Michael Newton of Beverly, Esq., in Yorkshire,' probably the only attempt ever recorded to describe an unembodied spirit in heraldry. The common arms of Newton are Sable, two cross thighbones proper, which perhaps suggested the above. I must apologize for the length of the above, but I could not well tell you in fewer words on what authority the extract rested." Can any one say if ever there was a Michael Newton of Beverly, Esq., and, if so, whether he bore the above arms? The editor of the second edition tells the reader in a note that “ Gyll's Gwillim' is now my property, but I find in it no trace of such an entry. This in itself is no disproof of the assertion of Surtees. The statement may not have been written in the margin, but scribbled on paper put between the pages, and afterwards lost; but in the investigation of the matter it is well to bear in mind that Surtees was wont to jest with his own modern verses, which on more than one occasion he passed off as ancient. Heraldry as well as poetry may therefore have led him astray. COм. EBOR. KING'S PLACE, PICCADILLY.-This small Duke Street or Little Duke Street, Piccadilly, court is described variously as being in or Pall Mall, and obviously from its nomenclature it must have been in the neighbour 8, Royal Avenue, S. W. MICHAEL MAITTAIRE, 1668-1747.-Who were his parents, and when and where was he born? The 'D.N.B.,' xxxv. 384, says only that he was born in France in 1668 of Protestant parents, who about the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes sought refuge in England.' 22 G. F. R. B. JOHN MAPLET, M.D., 1612 ?-70.-When hood of King Street. In the several maps that I have consulted, from Rocque's of 1744 to Laurie and Whittle's of 1776, in the Crace Collection at the British Museum, the name of King's Place does not appear. and whom did he marry? xxxvi. 113, does not say. TheD.N.B.,' G. F. R. B. WILLIAM MITFORD Was steward of the Westminster School Anniversary Dinner in 1781. His address is given as Berners Street. Can any correspondent of N. & Q. help me to identify him? G. F. R. B. 6 THOMAS ELLIS OWEN is said to have died in 1814, and to have been buried in Llanfairis-Gaer Church, Carnarvonshire (D.N.B.,' xlii. 456). I should be glad to ascertain the exact date of his death. G. F. R. B. Nevertheless, there is a clue to the exact site in The Meretriciad,' by Capt. Edward Thompson, which describes it as a snug entry leading out Pell Mell...... Between th' Hotel and Tory Almack's House. Almack's Rooms were in King Street, and as the yard of "The Rose and Crown Inn was situated on the south side of this same street, opposite the end of Duke Street, I am inclined to think that King's Place was a small court leading out of a street known which might usefully be compared with Capt. as Little Duke Street, between King Street Thompson's account. Still, I regard it and Pall Mall. Will some one familiar with with suspicion. This observation, howthe topography of this part of London about ever, does not apply to the rest of the work, 1760 give me further information? which is a valuable document. HORACE BLEACKLEY. THREE CCC COURT.-In 1761 there was a court so named on Garlick Hill, Thames Street. It is believed to have been so named after a sign of “The Three CCC." What was the origin of the sign? J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL. Replies. MEDMENHAM ABBEY: HELL-FIRE CLUB. (10 S. xii. 467.) MR. CLEMENT SHORTER's recent contribution leads one to hope that he contemplates a new and exhaustive biography of Wilkes, which is certainly much needed. We may rest assured that admiration for the fascinating "patriot" will not blind MR. SHORTER to the faults of his hero, and that he will be content to allow manifest virtues to condone obvious indiscretions. The story of John Wilkes is apt to lure one towards dangerous pitfalls, and even such a cautious critic as the late Mr. C. W. Dilke based some of his conclusions with regard to the Essay on Woman' upon false premises. In my bibliographical notes upon Medmenham Abbey I have discovered the following references : ' 1. The Poems....of Paul Whitehead ....with....his Life....,' by Capt. Edward Thompson (G. Kearsley, 1777).—On pp. xxxiii-viii. of the Life is a full description of the Franciscans " of Medmenham Abbey. Thompson was a scandalous writer of the period, and there is no doubt that he knew his subject. I have examined several of his poems in The Court of Cupid' with considerable care, and I found many of his statements corroborated by contemporary newspapers and magazines. What he says of Medmenham Abbey is worthy of atten tion. 2. Nocturnal Revels: or, The History of King's Place. By a Monk of the Order of St. Francis. 2 vols. Printed for M. Goadby, Paternoster Row, 1779.- The Introduction in vol. i. of this scarce book contains a description of "Medmenham Priory" and of the "Monks of St. Francis," 6. Abbey of Kilkhampton' (G. Kearsley, 1780). See the epitaphs on Lord Le Despencer and Sir Thomas Stapleton, pp. 56, 100. 7. 'Index Librorum Prohibitorum.' Pisanus Fraxi (H. S. Ashbee). Privately printed, 1877.-There is a note on Le Despencer, p. 211. 2 8. Paterson's Roads (ed. 1826), pp. 99-100. For obvious reasons I have selected the more obscure references, as no doubt MR. SHORTER has collected the better-known ones, such as those of Walpole and Wraxall. No apology is necessary for consulting even the most seemingly worthless authority. As Taine remarked, "Il n'y a pas de mauvais documents." Is there any evidence that the Order of the Monks of St. Francis at Medmenham Abbey (which does not appear to have been styled the Hell-Fire Club till late in the century) was founded as early as 1742 ? George Knapton's picture of Sir Francis Dashwood adoring the statue of Venus is said to have been painted in this year, for the Society of Dilettanti, but this in itself is not sufficient to indicate the date of the foundation of the "Franciscans." In addition to the above documents, MR. SHORTER should examine the contemporary caricatures in the Print-Room at the British Museum, where he will be able also to consult the Catalogue of Prints and Drawings.' I would refer him to the Satires,' Division I. vol. iii. part ii. pp. 1239, and vol. iv. pp. 306-8, where he will find further information about Medmenham Abbey. HORACE BLEACKLEY. Fair Oak, Walton-on-Thames. The monks were called Franciscans after the founder, Sir Francis Dashwood, and it would be interesting if MR. SHORTER would give reasons for his opinion that the Club was purely political. There was, of course, a similar Club which met weekly at the top of Covent Garden Theatre, and the members were virtually the same. Was this political? See Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of King George III.,' 1845, p. 313. 66 That Wilkes was probably a member may be inferred from his notes on Churchill's poem The Candidate,' where he says: Sir Francis Dashwood, Sir Thomas Stapleton, Paul Whitehead, Mr. Wilkes, and other gentlemen to the number of twelve, rented the Abbey, and often retired there in summer"; and then he gives a description of the Abbey, &c. Wilkes also only printed twelve copies of the Essay on Woman,' presumably as presents to the twelve members. If the Club was political, it is rather strange that the members numbered twelve and each bore the name of an apostle. Wilkes's description of West Wycombe, the villa of Lord le Despencer, might also be looked at in Letters between Various Persons and John Wilkes, Esq., 1769, vol. i. pp. 42-8. now chiefly remembered for his share, with Wilkes and Paul Whitehead, in founding a dissolute and blasphemous association called the Hell-Fire Club or the Monks of Medmenham Abbey." If the Club, as asserted, was founded in 1742, Cunningham's statement is manifestly absurd. Wilkes was then a boy of only fifteen. Three years afterwards Dr. Carlyle of Inveresk met him, a student at Leyden, and was much interested in his appearance and conversation, as indeed were most people who came in contact with Wilkes. See Carlyle's 'Autobiography,' pp. 168-70. But while Wilkes was not one of the founders of the Medmenham Club, there can be little doubt that he was a member. The odium theologicum which has pursued his memory cannot altogether account for the universal testimony to his connexion with the society. Even so sane and discriminating an historian as Sir George Trevelyan, in his Early History of Charles James Fox,' admits the validity of that testimony. WALTER SCOTT. Stirling. WALTHEOF, EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND (10 S. xii. 447). Will these considerations of Ralf de Toeni's wife? help to solve the question as to the parentage "Wilcumestou 1. In Domesday Book-Essex, LV., the land of Countess Judith, Beventrue (Becontree) Hundred-is the entry : About thirty years ago The Saturday (Walthamstow) was held by Earl Wallef Review had a good notice of Johnstone's in King Edward's time as a manor and as Chrysal.' J. CARTON. x hides." Dublin. 6 Under the title Monks of St. Francis, Chambers, Book of Days,' i. 608, gives a brief account of the Medmenham fraternity; His authority is Lipscomb's History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham,' vol. i. p. 481, and vol. iii. p. 615. When Dr. Lipscomb published his elaborate work," says Chambers, "he could hear of but one surviving member of the Order of St. Francis, and he in extreme old age, together with a gentleman who had been admitted to a few meetings while yet too young to be made a member." The name of John Wilkes occurs among the members mentioned by Chambers. It is not, however, asserted that he was one of the founders of the society. In Cunningham's edition of Walpole's Letters,' i. 58, the editor states in a foot note that "Lord Le Despencer, Chancellor of the Exchequer during Lord Bute's administration......is 2. In Morant's 'History of Essex' (vol. i. P. 32) the authorities for the statements that Ralf de Toni, son of Ralf de Toni, standard-bearer to the Conqueror, married Alice or Judith, daughter of Earl Waltheof, and that they had two sons, Roger and Hugh, and several daughters, are given as "Will. Gemmeticen. (William of Jumieges), 268, 312; Orderic Vital. 501,813." 3. Morant cites (I.) the 'Testa de Nevill 2 hamstow Manor by service of attending the as proof that a Ralf de Toni held Waltking in his wars; and (II.) “ Placita 25 Hen. III. crast. Mic. rot. 21, in dorso," as evidence that this Ralf's wife, Petronilla, claimed onethird of Walthamstow-as her dower, no doubt. 4. Essex Domesday shows that Ralf de Toeni, presumably the standard-bearer, held lands in Harlow Hundred, and it is certain that the head of his barony was at Flamstead in Herts-whether Flamstead near Dunstable or Flamstead End, near Waltham Cross, I do not know. The Tonis were, therefore, fairly near neighbours to Walthamstow. 5. The principal manor in Walthamstow is, and time out of mind has been, called Walthamstow Toni or High Hall, and these names may be read on the manorial boundary posts, of which there are many. 6. There are two other manors in Walthamstow parish (besides a small reputed manor, Salisbury Hall): Walthamstow Francis or Low Hall and Higham Bemsted. Of these, the latter appears in Domesday Book as part of the land of Peter de Valoigne, but Walthamstow Francis is not mentioned there. Walthamstow Francis was, no doubt, carved, by sub-infeudation, out of the principal manor shortly after Domesday Survey, for there is clear evidence (see Morant's Essex') that it was held by Simon de Senlis and his descendants as a separate manor. In fact, it looks as if Earl Waltheof's manor of Walthamstow was divided, one part being given to Maud's husband, de Senlis, and the other part to Judith's (or Alice's) husband, de Toni. The de Tonis certainly held the principal manor, by the title of Walthamstow Toni, for several generations. If the tradition that they got it by the marriage of their ancestor Ralf with Earl Waltheof's daughter, Judith or Alice, is incorrect, how did it come to them? F. S. EDEN. Maycroft, Fyfield Road, Walthamstow. I find that the 'D.N.B.' has an article on Ralph of Toesny, which, being inserted under Ralph instead of under Toesny, had escaped my notice. This article introduces a new element of confusion, as it states that Ralph married 'Adeliza, daughter of Waltheof," whilst under Waltheof the lady's name is given as Judith, as I stated previously. Lowestoft. 66 G. H. WHITE. LANGUAGE AND PHYSIOGNOMY (10 S. xii. 365, 416). In this connexion I would refer to the extremely curious plates at the end of the Alphabeti verè Naturalis Hebraici Brevissima Delineatio of F. M. B. at Helmont. These show the mechanical production of the various letters, and though the anatomy of the mouth, larynx, &c., is peculiar, an attempt is made to establish a certain connexion between phonetic sounds and the organs of speech, and the external parts of the mouth and face. My edition was published at Sultzbach in 1657. E. E. STREET. I think ST. SWITHIN would find much that would interest him on this head (generally if not specifically) in Prof. W. Z. Ripley's Races of Europe.' As regards the sharpness of the Hebrew features, it is, I believe, more pronounced in the male than in the female type; for this reason I am led to conclude that the formation of the nose is in great part artificial, if not wholly so. N. W. HILL. New York. CHEVRON BETWEEN THREE ROSES, 1630 (10 S. xii. 488).—I have a list of sixty-five families who bear the above arms, but it is impossible to tell which of them is intended to be commemorated in the monument alluded to by WORCESTER, as he does not give tincture or metal (fur would be too distinct to be overlooked) of field, ordinary, FILBERTS: "WHEN THE DEVIL GOES or charge. If WORCESTER would like me A-NUTTING (10 S. xii. 388).-Like other to do so, I will send him this list of sixty-five sacred festivals, that of the Exaltation of families, and then, if he has access to a the Holy Cross, so far as secular customs pedigree of the family whose arms are were engrafted upon it, reverted in respect represented on the other half of the shield, to such customs, in course of time, almost he may be able with something like certainty to the character of the heathen festivals which the observances of the Christian Church sometimes displaced. To such customs the word "profane " in its literal sense, might well have been applied. Holy-Rood Day, the 14th of September, is believed to celebrate primarily the consecration of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem by Bishop Macarius, at the command of Constantine (335 A.D.), although some would see in it a commemoration of the vision of the Cross seen by the emperor. It is, however, says the Rev. Robert Sinker, to the victory of Heraclius over the Persians, and his subsequent restoration of the Cross to its shrine at Jerusalem, that the renown of the festival is mainly due (Dict. Chr. Antiq.'). But the sanctity of the day became violated by the devil, who is “ a busy bishop in his own diocese," the proverb says, and he must needs go nutting with those whose intentions were originally those of innocent recreation. So, like the May Day customs, Holy Rood nutting degenerated, as the following from Poor Robin,' 1709, tends to show : The devil, as the common people say, Vide Brand's 'Pop. Antiq.' There does not appear, however, to be any particular legend associated with the devil and nutting on this day. That it was the custom to go a-nutting on Holy-Rood Day is shown by a passage in the old play of Grim the Collier of Croydon ' : 6 This day, they say, is called Holy-Rood Day And all the youth are a-nutting gone. In accordance with the Old Gentleman's well 66 In devoting a few lines to Brooke, A Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain' strikes a somewhat tragic note :— "Since the publication of the letters which he wrote....Dr. B. has been afflicted with blindness. Before he left this country he presented to the Chancellor of the Exchequer a plan for the improvement of our foreign commerce, which, during his absence, was carried into a law, and produced an important accession to the revenue. In his publication Dr. B. has expressed a hope that his services might experience some reward at a time when it would be peculiarly acceptable." He was apparently living in 1816, when the Dictionary was published; but probably his hope of reward was not fulfilled. WALTER SCOTT. Stirling. 2 6 STRAWBERRY HILL CATALOGUE : ÆDES WALPOLIANE (10 S. vii. 461, 517; xii. 216, 294, 353, 430, 491).- Ædes Walpolianæ 1 is easily to be found, and is probably in any public library to which CURIOUS may have access. My copy is the third edition, 1767. In addition to the description of the pictures in Houghton Hall, there are two pieces : one called A Sermon on Painting, preached before the Earl of Orford at Houghton, 1742, on the text Psalm cxv. 5 (the preacher's name is not given); and the other Mr. Whaley. Journey to Houghton,' a poem by the Rev. A 10, Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin. "OLD SIR SIMON" (10 S. xii. 490).— "Old Sir Simon " was a hotel as well. The known character were all his appurtenances, following is from the History of Lancaster,' and a common saying was as black as the devil's nutting-bag." J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL. [MR. W. SCOTT also thanked for reply.] N. BROOKE'S OBSERVATIONS ON ITALY,' 1798 (10 S. xii. 289).-N. Brooke is said to have been an M.D. of Bath, where his book was published in 1797, according to Watt and Allibone. He left England in 1785, invested with some kind of authoritative commission to investigate the state of commerce between Italy and Great Britain. Apparently he was an eyewitness of the terrible eruption of Vesuvius which destroyed the town of Torre del Greco in 1794. On the French invasion of Italy he was obliged to leave the country with the loss of considerable property. by Cross Fleury, ed. 1891, p. 456 : "The Old Sir Simon Hotel had originally a thatched roof and curiously shaped casement lights, and the signboard bore upon it the figure for a decent sum when the quaint inn of a man smoking..... The old signboard sold demolished." was I suppose both market and inn are named after the same personage. S. L. PETTY. ENGLISH COUNTESS AT TUNBRIDGE WELLS (10 S. xii. 368).-Possibly this lady can be identified as Mary, Viscountess Muskerry. She was the only child of the fifth Earl of Clanricarde, and was married three times― first to Charles, Viscount Muskerry; secondly, to Robert Villiers, Viscount Purbeck, who died in 1686; and thirdly to Robert Fielding, Esq. She died in August, 1698. |