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.

6

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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.'

6

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 account for the universal testimony to his cannot altogether 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 help to solve the question as to the parentage of Ralf de Toeni's wife?

Dublin.

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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

of John

made a member.' 22 The name 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 footnote that

"Lord Le Despencer, Chancellor of the Exchequer during Lord Bute's administration......is

2. In Morant's 'History of Essex' (vol. i. that Ralf de Toni, son of Ralf de Toni, p. 32) the authorities for the statements 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."

·

2

3. Morant cites (I.) the Testa de Nevill ' as proof that a Ralf de Toni held Walthamstow Manor by service of attending the king 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

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.

G. H. WHITE.

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, or charge. If WORCESTER would like me to do so, I will send him this list of sixty-five families, and then, if he has access to a pedigree of the family whose arms are represented on the other half of the shield, he may be able with something like certainty

apparently that of husband and wife. If, on the other hand, he can discover the tinctures or metals, I may perhaps be able to help him to identify the family without such reference to a pedigree. FRED. C. FROST, F.S.I.

Teignmouth.

A chevron between three roses, varied as to colour, is borne by nearly a hundred families. See Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials.' WORCESTER should S. D. C. specify colours.

CROWGAY OR CROWGIE FAMILY (10 S. xii. 488).-The arms of this family as given in Burke's 'General Armory' are: Gyronny of eight vert and argent; on a chief of the last, an eagle displayed gules. Crest, an arm from the elbow, holding a key, proper.

If WORCESTER will communicate with me, I shall be happy to supply him with further

information.

S. D. C.

which the observances of the Christian Church sometimes displaced. To such customs the word "profane 22 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.').

66

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,
Doth go a-nutting on Holy-Rood day;
And sure such leachery in some doth lurk,
Going a-nutting do the devil's work.

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

:

This day, they say, is called Holy-Rood Day And all the youth are a-nutting gone.

In accordance with the Old Gentleman's wellknown character were all his appurtenances, and a common saying was devil's nutting-bag."

22

66 as black as the

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.

6

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 during his absence, was carried into a law, and improvement of our foreign commerce, which, 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

3

STRAWBERRY HILL CATALOGUE : ÆDES WALPOLIANÆ (10 S. vii. 461, 517; xii. 216, 294, 353, 430, 491).- Ædes Walpolianæ 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

If CURIOUS cannot conveniently see a him mine, in the perfect confidence that he copy of the book, I shall be happy to lend does not belong to the greater of C. Lamb's

races of men.

10, Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin.

22

L. A. W.

"OLD SIR SIMON 22 (10 S. xii. 490).— following is from the History of Lancaster, "Old Sir Simon was a hotel as well. The 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.

2

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 timesfirst 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.

An exceedingly fine lithograph (2 ft. by 1 ft. 6 in.), by A. H. Swiss, Army Printer of 111, Fore Street, Devonport, was published about a decade ago, and forms a concise history of the Devonshire Regiment from its formation in 1685 until 1895. It gives admirable illustrations of the first captain's colour in 1687, and of the present colours (two), and full-length pictures of a musketeer in 1686, a company officer in 1790, and a sergeant of modern times. The letterpress accompanying these illustrations is stated to be abbreviated from the official records. HARRY HEMS.

PARAMOR FAMILY OF KENT (10 S. xii. 329, 397). MR. E. R. MARSHALL will find some additional information respecting the Minster branch of this family, supplementing that given by Planché, in the Visitation of Kent taken by the College of Heralds in 1663-8, and published by the Harleian Society, No. 54.

The name occurs frequently in the parish registers of Margate, and there are eight entries concerning the family in those of St. Laurence, Ramsgate, 1560-1653; the latter have been printed.

22

Richard Paramor, weaver, was an "Intrante (admitted to live and trade on payment of an annual fine) of Northgate, Canterbury, in 1489-92 and 1495-6; fine was 8d. See Intrantes of Canterbury, 1392-1592,' by J. M. Cowper.

his

In the adjacent county of Sussex there was a Roger Paramorer or Paramor, member of Parliament for the Rape of Bramber, Hundred of Steyning, 1307 (Horsfield's 'Sussex'). He is presumably the same person referred to in the following quotation from the Feet of Fines 33 Ed. I. in the same work:

Rape of Bramber (Sussex), 1305. Shipcombe and Matilda his wife sold to Roger John de Parramer one messuage and four acres.

"William Paramour, late abbot's bailiff of Brightwaltham, N. Berks, fell into disgrace and was impleaded by the Abbot of Battle, 1297 (Patent Rolls, 25 Edw. I.)."

The following early occurrences of the name may be of interest to MR. MARSHALL : Richard and William Paramor, Normandy, 1198 (The Norman People and their Descendants ').

John Paramour, Lincolnshire (Hundred Rolls, about 1273)..... De Porremore, Devonshire (ibid.).

John, the son of William Paramours of Effingham (Surrey), mentioned 1325-6 (Hist. MSS. Com., vol. ix.).

66

Though her [Mrs. Moore's] early beauty had faded under the influence of time and anxiety, enough was left not only to tell of what she had been, but to excite love and admiration then. Her figure and carriage were perfect; every movement was graceful; her head and throat were exquisitely moulded; and her voice, when she spoke, was soft and clear. Moore once said to me: My Bessy's eyes were larger before she wept them away for her children." But when I knew her, the sockets were large. but the soft, brown eyes fell, as it were, back, delicate nose; the sweet and[expressive mouth; All her other features were really beautiful: the the dimples, now here, now there; the chin so soft and rounded; the face a perfect oval. Even at that time no one could have entered room without murmuring, What a lovely

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