Minor Queries.
Banning or Bayning Family.—I am desirous of knowing if there was a family of the name of Banning or Bayning seated in Ireland at the close of the sixteenth century; and whether there was any other branch in England excepting that in Essex.
K.
Ladies styled Baronets.—An ancestor of mine, Sir Anthony Chester, Bart., of Chichley Hall, Bucks, in his will, dated Nov. 26, 1635, and proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Dec. 9, 1635 [128 Sadler], desires "to be buried in the north part of Chichley Church, in the same vault with Dame Elizabeth Chester, Baronet, his first wife." Are there any other instances of ladies of the same rank being styled Baronet about this time? I may mention that this Lady Chester was daughter to Sir Henry Boteler, of Hatfield Woodhall, Herts, and sister to John Lord Boteler, of Bramfeld.
Tewars.
St. Christopher and the Doree.—Brand, in his Popular Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 194., says that the fish called the Doree is traditionally said to have derived the spots on its sides frown the fact of St. Christopher, in wading through the arm of the sea, having caught a fish of this description en passant, and having left as an eternal memorial of the fact an impression on its sides to be transmitted to all posterity.
Can any of your readers inform me from what source Brand derived this idea?
E. A. H. L.
Custom of Women wearing Masks in the Theatre.—When did this custom originate? It was not common before the civil wars, nor in fashion till some time after the Restoration. Masked ladies are often mentioned in the prologues and epilogues to the plays of Dryden, Lee, Otway, &c. The custom probably originated in France. A dispute which ended in a duel (concerning a Mrs. Fawkes) caused the entire prohibition of women's wearing masks in the playhouse. This was about the 5th of Queen Anne.
Edward F. Rimbault.
Brass of Abbot Kirton; Matrices.—When was the brass of Abbot Kirton, in Westminster Abbey, removed? Have there been any brasses taken away (of which the matrices have been also removed); and if so, in whose possession are they at the present time?
Unicorn.
Lines on Chaucer.—
"Swan-like, in dying
Famous old Chaucer
Sang his last song."
Who is the author of the above lines?
Eliza.
The Nacar.—What species of shell-fish is the Nacar, said to be found in some of the islands of the Mediterranean, and off the east coast of
Spain. Is it not the same fish from which what is called mother-of-pearl is taken? Has not some part of it, the beard or otherwise, been spun and wove? Is the Nacar the true name, or only local; and, if so, what is the scientific appellation?
Cyrus Redding.
Cilgerran Castle.—I shall be much obliged to any correspondent of "N. & Q." who will direct me to any charters or other early records relating to this castle of Kilgarran, or Cilgerran, which is situated near Cardigan.
Llewellyn.
Use of Slings by the Early Britons.—In the course of the very interesting operations at present in progress on Weston Hill, there have been frequently found in the hut-pits small accumulations of shore-pebbles, of the size most convenient for slings, for which it is supposed they were intended. Any information on this topic will be received with many thanks. It is worth noting that to this day the boys of the obscure village of Priddy, on the Mendips, are notorious for the skill with which they can hit a bird on the wing with a stone thrown by the hand.
Henry G. Tomkins.
Weston super Mare.
"Squire Vernon's Fox Chase."—Can any of your correspondents refer me to a copy of the ballad called "Squire Vernon's Fox Chase?" I am anxious to meet with an original copy, and also to know if it has been reprinted in any modern collection.
R. S.
The Death Watch.—Has there appeared in any of your former Numbers a Note upon the popular, but now exploded "death watch?" In earlier life, an instance of it occurred in my presence, which did at the time, and does even now, "puzzle the sense." The noise (like the ticking of a watch) was so painfully distinct, that I endeavoured twice to discover the source of it, but in vain. I made a note of it at the time, but the narrative (although perfectly correct) reads so much like the speculation of a sick brain, that I hesitate to send it. If you would put this Query (however briefly), I should much like to see it discussed in your interesting pages.
M. W. B.
Genealogical Queries.—I beg to trouble you with the following Queries:—
On what day of the year 1690 did Elizabeth Bayning, created Countess of Sheppy for life, die? and where was she buried?
Where was buried Anne Palmer, alias Fitzroy, Countess of Sussex? She died 16th May, 1722. The Earl was buried at Chevening.
Was Sir John Mason, who died Treasurer of the Chamber, &c., 21st April, 1566, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster? He is so designated in one of the Harl. MSS. He was twice Chancellor of Oxford.
G. Steinman Steinman.
Ben Jonson's adopted Sons.—They are said to be twelve in number. Alexander Brome was one; Bishop Morley another. Can any of your correspondents give the names of the other ten? By doing so, it will oblige an
Inquirer.
Kyrle's Tankard at Balliol.—A very beautiful silver tankard, bearing the following inscription, with the arms of the donor engraved in the centre of the body of the cup; the first two words above, the others beneath the arms, was presented to Balliol College, Oxford, by that celebrated and excellent man, John Kyrle, Esq., better known by his world-wide appellation, "The Man of Ross." It will be perceived from the inscription that he was a gentleman commoner of that society:
"Poculum Charitatis.
Ex dono Johannis Kyrle, de Rosse, in agro Herefordiens, et
hujus Collegii Socio Commensalis."
It weighed upwards of five pounds, and the cover was lifted up by his crest, a hedgehog. It is said to have been always produced at table when a native of Herefordshire favoured the society with his company. Can any of your correspondents favour me with the following particulars:—Is the tankard still in existence, and has it been ever engraved? If so, in what work? Is there any record in the college books to show in what year, and upon what occasion, it was presented?
J. B. Whitborne.
Irish Language in the West Indies.—The atrocities which Oliver Cromwell committed in Ireland are fresh in the memory of the poorest Irishman, and his memory held in the deepest execration: every ruined fortress that we pass is ascribed to the great castle-killer, and the peasant's bitterest malediction is, "Mallachd Crumwell ort" (The curse of Cromwell on you).
The particular atrocity of Oliver's that we have to do with at present is thus stated by Dodd, vol. iii. p. 58.:
"At Drogheda all were put to the sword together with the inhabitants, women and children, only about thirty persons escaping, who, with several hundreds of the Irish nation, were shipped off to serve as slaves in the island of Barbadoes, as I have frequently heard the account from Captain Edw. Molyneux, one of that number, who died at St. Germains, whither he followed the unfortunate King James II."
The following note occurs in a paper on the Irish language, read by Mr. Scurry before the Royal Irish Academy, Oct. 1826:
"It is now ascertained that the Irish language is spoken in the interior of many of the West India islands, in some of which it may be said to be almost vernacular. This curious fact is satisfactorily explained by documents in the possession of my respected friend James Hardiman, Esq., author of the History of Galway. After the reduction of Ireland by Cromwell and his myrmidons, the thousands who were 'shipped to the Caribbees,' so these islands were then called, 'and sold as slaves,' carried with them their language. That they preserved, and there it remains to this day."
Will some of your correspondents acquainted with the West Indies inform me if the Irish language be still spoken there, or if it be degenerated and merged into the talkee-talkee, or negro jargon?
Eirionnach.
"Battle of Neville's Cross."—Can any of your correspondents inform me the name of the author of the "Battle of Neville's Cross," a prize poem, published about thirty or forty years ago?
G.
Sir Walter Raleigh's Ring.—Can any of your correspondents inform me what has become of the ring Sir Walter Raleigh wore at his execution, and in whose possession it now is, as I have reason to believe it is still in existence as a heir-loom?
Bosquecillo.
"Narne; or, Pearle of Prayer."—I should feel obliged to any of your correspondents if they could give me any information of the following work, which I am unable myself to trace in any catalogue or bibliographical work:—
"Narne (by William P. of Dysart), Pearle of Prayer most Pretious and Powerful, &c. 18mo. Dedicated to Charles First (dated from Dysart the 28th May, 1630), and afterward to the Right Virtuous and Worshipfull Patrons of this famous Citie of Edinburgh, David Aikenhead most Worthie Lord Provost, &c., and to the whole Counsell, &c., of Edinburgh, &c. (dated from Dysart the last of May, 1630), 456 pp. (Concluding with a part of a page of 'Faults escaped' on the recto of last leaf.) Edinburgh, printed by John Wreittoun, 1630."
J. B. Rondeau.
Sir George Howard.—Sir N. W. Wraxall (Historical Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 614.) says of Field-Marshal Sir George Howard—
"His legitimate descent from, or alliance by consanguinity with, the Dukes of Norfolk, notwithstanding the apparent evidence of his name, was I believe not established on incontestable grounds."
Now it is well known that the Effingham branch of the house of Howard, to which Sir George Howard is reputed to belong, is a genuine one: so Wraxall must be understood as casting a slight on the legitimacy of Sir George. Are there traces of any scandals confirming this suspicion?
Tewars.
"Love me, love my Dog."—Whence comes this proverb? It is quoted by St. Bernard: "Dicitur certe vulgari quodam proverbio: Qui me amat, amat et canem meum."—In Festo S. Michaelis, Sermo Primus, sect. iii. p. 1026. vol. i. Parisiis, 1719, fol.
Rt.
Warmington.
Mummy Wheat.—In January, 1843, a near relative of mine, related by marriage to Mr. Martin Tupper, gave my father some grains of wheat, which he had the authority of Sir G. Wilkinson, direct or indirect, to believe to have been taken out of a mummy case, and to be in fact ancient Egyptian wheat, perhaps a couple of thousand years old at least. These were planted in a flower-pot, took root, grew, and had attained the height of many inches, when a cow got into the place where the pot was and ate the plants down. From the roots sprouted again a second crop of stems and leaves, and a similar catastrophe befell the second growth, frustrating the hopes of several anxious young amateur agriculturists, so that we never saw more than the leaves of this crop. In making the inquiries necessary to certify myself that these facts are true, I met with a lady who had seen a small quantity of wheat plants, the produce alleged of mummy wheat, and who spoke of it as a beautiful looking plant, with several stems from each root, and several ears on each stem. I could not ascertain whether this was the fruit of mummy wheat in the first or in the second generation. There was no question that it was sprung from grains taken out of a mummy. I believe that in the case of which I speak as having occurred within the range of my own acquaintance, the wheat was some of the same that Mr. M. F. Tupper possessed.
Perez.
A Photographic Query.—Is it probable that the number of stones and marbles which, without the aid of art, represent human and other figures, may have been natural photographs from the reflection of objects in a strong glare of sunlight? Some of those mentioned by D'Israeli in the Curiosities of Literature are so singular, that if this interpretation be not admitted, we must suspect them to be factitious. One particular example will serve as an illustration:
"Pancirollus, in his Lost Antiquities, attests that in a church at Rome, a marble perfectly represented a priest celebrating mass and raising the host. Paul III. conceiving that art had been used, scraped the marble to discover whether any painting had been employed: but nothing of the kind was discovered."
Its classification amongst Lost Antiquities seems to imply that the operation destroyed it, which proves that the figures were only on the surface; an argument in favour of its being a natural photograph. Any powerful die would have penetrated the pores of the stone for some considerable distance.
R. F. Littledale.
Dublin.
"Stunt with false care."—Where are the following lines, quoted by Charles Villiers in one of his corn-law speeches, to be found?
"Stunt with false care what else would flourish wild,
And rock the cradle till they bruise the child."
J. N. O.
Winchester College.—Who wrote the account of Winchester College in Ackermann's History of the Public Schools?
Mackenzie Walcott, M.A.
Old Royal Irish Academy House, Grafton Street.—This interesting building is now some two months abandoned, and bills on the windows announcing it "to be let, or the interest in the lease to be sold," I wish to ask through "N. & Q." if any person intends to make a drawing or other memoranda of the house, ere it undergoes a thorough alteration, as it certainly will, if taken for commercial purposes. I am not aware of any sketch of the house, except one in the fourth volume of the Dublin Penny Journal, p. 129.; but I do not think that this, or its accompanying description, are well suited to the character of the institution.
R. H.
Dublin.
Quotations wanted.—
"Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasures
Thrill the deepest notes of woe."
"Like a fair lily on a river floating,
She floats upon the river of his thoughts."
Captain Cuttle.
Shakspeare's Seal.—Some years ago, when in Warwickshire, a wax impression of a seal was given to me by a gentleman as that of William Shakspeare. The gentleman had no means of verifying its authenticity, beyond the bare but positive assurances of the person from whom he had received it, an inhabitant of Stratford.
The appearance of the seal is not against the hypothesis of its genuineness. It is circular: the device is the well-known ornament called the True Lover's Knot, cut somewhat rudely in intaglio, apparently in steel; a favourite ornament in Tudor architecture from the time of Anne Boleyn downwards.
Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." encourage me to believe in the genuineness of this relic?
Sydney Smirke.
The long-lived Countess of Desmond.—An acknowledgment is due to The Knight of Kerry for his recent interesting communication respecting the portraits of this remarkable old lady: and, at the same time, the Knight may be requested to cause the portrait in the possession of Mr. Herbert, M.P., to be inspected; for it is respectfully suggested that the date on that picture is 1604, and not 1614.
This first date will correspond more closely with the age usually ascribed to the aged Countess.
It is said that an engraving of the portrait in The Knight of Kerry's possession stated that she was "born in 1464." Can any of your correspondents refer to this engraving, and say whether there is such an inscription on it, and if any authority is given for that date?
H. F. H.