'Desire,' p. 69. Things much retain'd, do make us, &c. than once contemplated starting such a library myself, but, as I may remove from Epist., Edward IV. to Jane Shore,' (signed) here on selling my house, I cannot establish Idem, viz., Drayton. 'Dispaire,' p. 74. Farre greater folly is it, &c. 'Legend of Cordilla,' st. 48, (signed) I. H., ‘Mir. of M.' * Envie,' p. 84. The other held a snake, &c. a library until in a more permanent residence. I hope, however, to do it later. If genealogists interested in a certain district or county were willing to lend their books, or certain of them, on some such terms as I have suggested, they might com Faerie Queene,' V. xii. 30-31, (signed) Idem, bine to compile a compound advertisement viz., Spenser. 'Envie,' p. 86. Envy harboureth most, &c. giving the names and addresses of owners of books for each district or county. This Arcadia [Grosart, 'Poems,' iii. 36], (signed) would make the cost of advertisement small S. Ph. Sidney. Fell Envies cloud still dimmeth, &c. 'Faerie Queene,' V. xii. 27, (signed) Ed. Spencer. Correct Collier, who refers the following to 'M. Drayton's 'Mortimeriados,' 1596" :— 'Error,' p. 88. Errors are no errors, &c. 'Civil Wars,' iii. 18 (only in ed. 1595), (signed) S. Daniell. To heare good counsell Error never loves. 'Fig for Momus,' Sat. i. (signed) D. Lodge. Adde Faith unto your force, &c. 'Faerie Queene,' I. i. 19 (signed) Ed. Spencer. 'Fame,' p. 93. Fame with golden wings, &c. .The Fates can make, &c. In vaine with terror is he fortified. CHARLES CRAWFORD. GENEALOGICAL CIRCULATING LIBRARY.For some time past I have thought it would be a great convenience to amateur genealogists, especially those residing in country places, if a Genealogical Circulating Library could be established. There must be plenty of persons interested in this science who have already a large collection of heraldic and genealogical works now lying idle on their shelves, that they could easily lend, at a small charge, the borrower paying postage each way. The borrower might leave a deposit with the owner, according to the value of the books he proposed to borrow, which would be returned to him, less the charge for reading and amount of postages incurred, when he had finished borrowing. I, for one, should be very glad to avail myself of some such system. I have more for each member, and the advertisement itself would be a useful directory to all ticular district in which they might be genealogists requiring any book on a parinterested. A library comprising books for the whole means of very few, but numbers of amateurs of England and Wales would be within the could give mutual help by lending each other the works connected with a particular district. I shall be glad to hear suggestions from any of your correspondents regarding this E. DWELLY. Ardmor, Herne Bay. matter. ORKNEY HOGMANAY SONG.-The following of a girl here in January last. It is doggerel Hogmanay song I took down from the lips in parts, but I give it as I heard it : This is good New Year's evening night, Dance before Prince Albert's sight, Prince Albert, he is not at home, Courting a lady and bringing her home, Get up, old wife, and shake your feathers; That's before Prince Albert's sight, Gie 's the lass wi' bonnie broon hair, The children go round the table, Do you wish to remind us A Happy New Year? Strominess. * A bow. ALEX. RUSSELL. LATIN EPITAPHS.-On a tombstone dated 7 June, 1691, set up in Old Ballaugh Churchyard, Isle of Man, by Patrick Phillips to the memory of his wife Eleanor Garrat, there is the following epitaph :— O Mors, quam dura Tristiaque sunt tua jura! And on another stone in the same place :Mors mea vita mihi! CHARLES SWYNNERTON. BEFANA: EPIPHANY. "On the eve of the Twelfth Day, the Creature [the children]......anticipate a midnight visit from a frightful old woman, called the Befana (an obvious corruption of Epifania, the Epifany), for whom they always take care to leave some portion of their supper, lest she should eat them up; and when they go to bed, they suspend upon the back of a chair a stocking, to receive her expected gifts. This receptacle is always found in the morning to contain some sweet things, or other welcome presents ......provided by the mother or the nurse. There is here a dressed-up wooden figure of La Befana, sufficiently, hideous, the bugbear of all naughty girls and boys."-Rome in the Nineteenth Century, iii. 205, quoted in Alexander Keith, 'Signs of the Times,' ed. 4, 1833, ii. 238. W. C. B. ALL HALLOWS E'EN: TOKENS.-Tokens and death warnings run in some families, and I believe will so run in spite of everything. I know several old Derbyshire families-the better sort of working households-who still firmly believe in tokens and warnings of death, and some members are constantly receiving such, though they are by no means on the look-out for them. Here is an instance. A member of a household was lying ill in Sheffield eight or nine years ago. He was the head of the family, and with him were some of his nearest relations, his wife and the rest of the family being at their home some miles away. One night the weights inside the case of a grandfather clock in their house fell to the bottom of the case with a great clatter. The faces of the wife and children grew blank, and "a great fear fell upon them." The next day a message came to say that the husband had died at the same time as the clock-weights fell. The clock remains with the weights at the bottom of the case, and I do not know if any member of the family will dare to set the old clock going again. An old lady, dead now more than a score of years, was born on All Hallows Eve, on the stroke of midnight, and according to the middif' and other good bodies, she would be able in future years to have 66 66 certain knowledge of coming events, more especially in connexion with the members of her own family; and as she came to womanhood, she developed the faculty of foretelling things in some degree. She could read the fortunes of folks in their faces as well as by the lines in their hands or the twirling of tea-grounds in the teacup. She was too good a woman for any one to insinuate that she had dealings with any evil thing, and she was, in her simple way, a wise woman in her native village. Regularly, when her in mind and body, and, as folks who knew birthnight came round, she was perturbed said, "the spirit was on her." At Christmas teas and little night parties she told the young people's fortunes to amuse them. At times she would look mother-like into 66 Now, the face of a young lass, and say: my dear, be careful; be a good lass, and you will have a happy life." THOS. RATCLIFFE. Worksop. BRISTOL AND THE SLAVE TRADE.-Some years ago I picked up at a sale of old metal in Liverpool a very fine bell, unfortunately badly cracked. It is of the shape and design of a large ship's bell, and bears the following inscription in relief: "The gift of Thomas Jones of Bristol to Grandy Robin John of Old Town, Old Callabar. 1770." The letter d, where it occurs in the inscription, has been cut or filed away. I made some inquiries with a view to ascertaining the history of this bell, and through the kindness of the late Mr. John Latimer of Bristol, author of 'The History of the Society of Merchant Adventurers of the City of Bristol' (1903), I found that in 1770 one Thomas Jones, doubtless the donor of the bell, had for some years been a member of the Society, whilst a much older member, William Jones, probably his father, was elected Master in that very year. Owing to the loss by fire, in 1831, of the Custom House records, Mr. Latimer could not give me any further information. From another source, however, I learnt that "Thomas Jones, Merchant, Barton Street, Bristol,' appears in Matthews's 'Directory of Bristol,' 1794. Grandy [Grandee] Robin John was one of the leading men of Old Town, Old Calabar, in 1770. Robin John was a sort of family name, and it is difficult to say to which of the family the bell was presented. According to a note on p. 533 of Gomer Williams's Liverpool Privateers and Slave Trade,' the leading people were the King, the Duke, Ephraim Robin John, Robin John Tom Robin, Orrock Robin John, &c. We hear, in addition, of Grandy Ephraim Robin John, Grandy King George, and also of "old Robin John," father of the former. Mr. Gomer Williams prints on p. 541 a letter, dated in 1773, to Mr. Thomas Jones from the captain of one of his slave ships, relating to the identity of some members of the Robin John family. There is also a letter from Grandy King George to a Liverpool shipowner asking, amongst other things, for bells, and that his name should be put on everything sent for him. There was at this time great rivalry between Bristol and Liverpool in connexion with the slave trade, and every effort was being made by the merchants of the former port to retain the lucrative trade, much of which was passing to their rivals. The supply of slaves was to a large extent dependent on the goodwill of the chiefs at Old Calabar, and it may safely be conjectured that the bell was given by the Bristol slave-trader for the purpose of influencing Grandy Robin John to continue dealing with him. The deletion of the letter d is curious, and is probably due to negro superstition that the letter might bring bad luck. Or it might have been done to bring the words into conformity with negro pronunciation. R. S. B. COCK ALE. “Cock ale is made by bruising an old Cock (the older the better), bones and all, with 3 lbs. of rasins, mace, cloves, &c., and stirring it thoroughly with 2 quarts of Sack, digesting it for 9 days in 10 gallons of ale, and then bottling off and leaving it the same time to ripen as other Ale." A correspondent contributes this to Country Life of 12 December last, and says he quotes from The First Letter-Book of the East India Company,' 1600 to 1619. Surely the old cock was not thus treated with feathers and all complete. Worksop. THOS. RATCLIFFE. DICKENS AND PICKWICK: THE "BUSH TAVERN," BRISTOL.-During a recent visit to Bath I discovered in the City Reference Library several transcripts of local parish registers, evidently copied and presented to that institution by the Rev. C. W. Shickle, Master of St. John's Hospital. In these several notes of interest to Dickens lovers are to be found. In St. Michael's register, under date 14 Sept., 1766, the marriage occurs of Richard Fisher, bachelor, of MoncktonCombe, and Ann Pickwick, spinster. Later, on 17 Aug., 1775, Eleazar Pickwick, bachelor, and Susanna Combs, spinster, were married, the witnesses on that auspicious occasion being Moses Pickwick and Frances Davis. The name of Wintles frequently occurs, but no Winkles. It is not a far cry from Bath to Bristol, an ancient city still possessing several fine old inns reminiscent of coaching days, although, I believe, The Bush of famous memory has passed into the shades, and become, as the epitaphs have it, "though lost to sight, to memory dear." In the Bristol and Bath Directory' for 1787 we find a few words of advertisement that make it live again :— times of good. 'Dextram sternuit approbationem.' Among Jews sneezing has always been regarded (at the appropriate moment, of course) as propitious. Sometimes when a baby indulges in that physical exercise, the mother will say, almost unconsciously, "Gebencht ("Be blessed"), as if she feared harm to her offspring, and desired to propitiate the Fates in advance by maternal benedictions. Jews say, "See, he sneezes on it": a note of confirmation always. M. L. R. BRESLAR. [For other expressions used when a person sneezes see 8 S. xi. 186, 314, 472, 516; 9 S. ii. 55.] Queries. WE must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct. able to help him. On their return they had 66 AERIAL NAVIGATION.-I possess an eighteenth-century French engraving (aquafort) representing a poisson aerostatique " in mid-air, driven by Dom Joseph Patinho, who on the 10th March, 1784, navigated it from Plazentia, in the mountains of Spain,. GEORGE MILTON, SCRIVENER.-I have to Coria, situated on the "Rivière d'Arrarecently finished transcribing the Ilfracombe gon," covering the distance of twelve parish register, and I found that the portion leagues. This information is conveyed by an 1566-1602 was a copy of an older register inscription on the lower margin of my print, made by a writer who describes himself which was engraved in Paris by J. Chereau as G. Milton, scrivener. I should be glad to know whether this George was any relation of John Milton, scrivener, of Bread Street, the father of the poet. The register records the marriage of George Milton to Alice Hertsell on 22 Jan., 1600; the baptism of his son George, 19 May, 1601; the burial of his wife, 10 Feb., 1602; and his marriage to "Richorde " Allen, 5 Aug., 1602. Milton would seem to have left the parish soon after this, as the name does not occur again in the register and the entries therein are in another hand. The writing is very good, and the first page tastefully illuminated in green and black. Barnstaple. THOS. WAINWRIGHT. DICKENS'S BASTILLE PRISONER. The accuracy with which Dickens was able to invent and depict characters and incidents is often noticed. A book just published gives another illustration. In 'Romances of the Revolution,' from the French of G. Lenotre, by F. Lees, is mention of a case singularly analogous to that of the old prisoner of the Bastille, so pathetically drawn in 'The Tale of Two Cities.' The Marquis de Saint P- in 1787, for some fancied slight upon the Queen, was imprisoned in a maison de santé. During the Terror his relatives left France without being in 1784. What foundation of fact is there for this aerial flight? GEORGE A. SIMONSON. FIRE ENGINES.-I wish to consult a catalogue of an exhibition of fire engines held in London six or seven years ago. Whereshould I be likely to see one? I have tried at the British Museum, and at the different libraries at South Kensington. Unfortunately, I cannot remember where the exhibition was held. There was on show a large number of out-of-date engines from the provinces. W. D. SWEETING. Wallington. [We think the exhibition was at Earl's Court.] SURNAMES ENDING IN -NELL.- -Can any reader explain the meaning of -nell at the end of surnames, as Dartnell, Bonell, &c. ? Was it used as a diminutive ? If so, can any one give an instance ? W. H. S. they had a huge jug filled with beer, and into this they put the hams of the fox, afterwards drinking the vulpine mixture, stirring their glasses with the pads of a fox, and proposing reynard's health in a peculiar doggerel which was at one time regularly employed. One old Nimrod even ate a part of the fox, and the whole scene was one remarkable in the extreme." Can any reader of N. & Q.' supply the words of the doggerel in which wishes for the welfare of the fox were embodied, and give a clue to the hunt in which the rite above mentioned was observed ? ST. SWITHIN. AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED.Lady Rosalind Northcote, in her charming HERALDRY.-I know a shield of arms, book on Devon, p. 141, quotes two rough in glass, apparently old, in a church window, but spirited stanzas from a ballad entitled and shall be glad to know whose it is. ItFarewell to Kingsbridge.' She does not consists of France ancient and England, name the author, or say where the whole quarterly, impaling Quarterly, 1 and 4, Or, ballad may be found. I give the first an eagle displayed sable (or vert ?); 2 and 3, stanza :Gules, a lion rampant arg. The impaled coats may conceivably be Monthermer and Mowbray, but, if so, I cannot trace the alliance represented by the shield. U. V. W. I LORD MELBOURNE AND BALDOCK. should be glad to have some information as to the member of the Baldock_family referred to in 'Lord Melbourne's Papers,' edited by Lloyd C. Sanders. On p. 524 the Hon. Mrs. Norton, writing to Lord Melbourne on a variety of subjects, mentions some projected improvements, about which she accuses his lordship of disturbing himself unnecessarily, and then goes on to say: "I merely repeat the observations of others when I talk of Baldock and his triumphal entries." G. YARROW BALDOCK. SIR H. WALKER: BOYNE MAN-OF-WAR.I possess a memoir written by Lieut.-Col. Samuel Gledhill of Macartney's Regiment, which he raised at Newcastle, and commanded at the siege of Douay in 1710, when it was cut to pieces by a sortie. In this memoir mention is made of the man-of-war Boyne commanded by Sir H. Walker. Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me where I can find an account of the Boyne and of Sir H. Walker ? The date is before W. H. CHIPPINDALL, Col. 1700. 5, Linden Road, Bedford. On the ninth day of November, at the dawning in O'er the meadows fair of Kingsbridge then the mist We were bound against the rebels in the North America. |