Minor Queries.
Admiral Hopson.—In Tomkins' History of the Isle of Wight (1796), vol. ii. p. 123., an anecdote is told of a native of Bonchurch named Hobson, who afterwards became Admiral Hobson. It is mentioned that he was an orphan, bound apprentice to a tailor; and that being struck with the sight of a squadron of ships off the Isle of Wight, he rowed off in a boat to them, and was received on the admiral's ship; that the next day, in an engagement with the French, when his ship was engaged yard-arm and yard-arm with the enemy, he climbed up the mast, clambered to the enemy's yard-arm, mounted to the top-gallant mast, and took down the flag. This created consternation in the enemy, who were soon defeated. Hobson was
promoted to be an officer, and ultimately became an admiral.
This is the story as told by Tomkins. I wish to know what was his authority.
Consulting Chernoch's Lives of the Admirals, I find mention of Admiral Sir Thomas Hopson, a native of Bonchurch; who ran away from his parents, and did not return to his home till he was an admiral. This Sir Thos. Hopson was made second lieutenant in 1672, the year of the action in Solbay, in which the Earl of Sandwich perished. He rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral of the Red; and in the action of Vigo, in 1702, he distinguished himself, and was knighted in consequence. He received a pension of 500l. a year, and retired from the service in this year. He died in 1717. After he quitted the navy, he became Member of Parliament for Newtown, in the Isle of Wight.
It is evident that this Hopson is the Hobson of Tomkins; and that Tomkins spoke of the French by mistake for the Dutch enemy. But I cannot discover what authority he had for his account of the manner in which young Hobson first distinguished himself.
G. Currey.
Charterhouse.
"Three cats sat," &c.—Can any of your correspondents give me the end of a ballad, beginning thus, which a very old lady in her ninetieth year is most anxious to know?—
"Three cats sat by the fire-side,
With a basket full of coal dust,
Coal dust, coal dust,
With a basket full of coal dust."
Julia R. Bockett.
Southcote Lodge.
Herbert's "Church Porch."—Will any of your readers help me to the sense of the following stanza from George Herbert's Church Porch, verse 48:
"If thou be single, all thy good and ground
Submit to love; but yet not more than all.
Give one estate, as one life. None is bound
To work for two, who brought himself to thrall.
God made me one man; love makes me no more
Till labour come, and make my weakness score."
The lines of which I want the meaning are the last three.
S. Singleton.
Greenwich.
Ancient Tenure of Lands.—I should feel obliged to any of your readers who would inform me as to the ancient tenure by which estates were held in this country. For instance, a manor, including within its limits several hamlets, is held by A, who grants by subinfeudation one of the said hamlets to B; B dies, leaving a son and successor, who continues in possession of the hamlet, and grants leases, &c., and thus for several generations. My question is, did A, in granting to B, relinquish all interest in the hamlet, or how much did he still retain, since in after years the hamlet is found to have reverted to him, and no allusion is afterwards made to the subinfeudatory lords who possessed it for some generations? It is presumed that in early times lords of a manor were owners of the lands of the manor of which they were lords; at present an empty title is all that remains. When did the practice of alienating lands by a piecemeal partition and sale commence? and did a subinfeudatory lord possess the power of alienation? In fact, what is the origin of the numerous small freeholds into which our ancient manors are broken up?
J. B.
Dramatic Works.—Dramatic and Poetical Works, very rare, privately printed, 1840. Information relative to this work will oblige
John Martin.
Woburn Abbey.
Devreux Bowly.—An old and excellent hall clock in this city bears the name of Devreux Bowly, of Lombard Street, London, as the maker. Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." (either horologists or others) say when he lived?
Uneda.
Philadelphia.
"Corruptio optimi," &c.—What is the origin or earliest use of the saying, "Corruptio optimi est, al. fit, pessima," in its present form? I state it in this way, because I am aware of its having been referred to Aristotle's remarks on the different forms of government. The old Latin translation however, does not contain the expression, and I have not traced it farther back than to writers of the seventeenth century,—to Jeremy Taylor, for instance.
E. M.
Hastings.
Lamenther.—Who was the writer of the Life of Lamenther, written by herself, published by subscription in 1771? Is it a genuine narrative; and if so, where can I find a key to the initials?
C. Clifton Barry.
Sheriff of Somersetshire in 1765.—Will any of your correspondents resident in, or acquainted with the county of Somerset, oblige me by stating the date of death of James Perry, Esq., the Sheriff of that county in 1756; and also his place of residence, and the names of his children, if any; and where any of their descendants now reside?
H.
Edward Brerewood.—Is there any authenticated portrait extant of this learned mathematician? He was the first Gresham Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford, and the
author of several important philosophical works; one of which, on the Diversity of Language, has been more than once reprinted. Possibly at Oxford, his alma mater, a portrait of him may be in existence; and I dare say some resident member of that University will kindly endeavour to ascertain the fact.
T. Hughes.
Chester.
Elizabeth Seymour.—I have lately met with a pedigree in which it is stated that Sir Joseph Tredenham (I presume of Cornwall or Devonshire) married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edward Seymour, first baronet of the present Duke of Somerset's line, by his wife Elizabeth Champernown; but another pedigree gives this Elizabeth to George Cary of Cockington, co. Devon, Esq. Which is correct? Or did the said Elizabeth marry twice? and, in that case, which was the first husband?
Patonce.
Longfellow.—Could you inform me whether the name "Longfellow" may still be traced in any parts of England? It is the belief of that distinguished American poet that his name still exists in some of the south-western counties; and it would be an additional gratification to him that his hopes were confirmed by testimony.
Oxoniensis.
Fresick and Freswick.—In the map of the kingdom of Scotland, occurring in the Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, by John Speed, 1614, pp. 131-2., on the north-east point of Scotland a place is noted as Fresick East, in the present maps Freswick. Is Fresick a contracted form of Freswick? and if so, has it some reference to a settlement of the Frisians (anciently Fresians) on this coast? The village Freswick, on the borders of the Lek, and another Freswick in the neighbourhood of Deventus, both in the Netherlands, near the Frisians, are supposed to owe their names to a settlement or refuge of those first parents of the Anglo-Saxons.
D. H.
Has Execution by Hanging been survived?—I have heard vague and indiscriminate tales of persons who, as criminals, have undergone infliction of the punishment of hanging without total extinction of life; but I have always been disposed to look upon such accounts as mere fables, till lately, in turning over some newspapers of the year 1740, I found a case mentioned, under such circumstances that, if it were untrue, its refutation might have been easily accomplished. By The Craftsman of Saturday, Sept 27, 1740, it appears one William Dewell had been concerned in the violation, robbery, and murder of a young woman in a barn at Acton (which place has so recently been the scene of another horrible crime). The Craftsman of Saturday, Nov. 29, 1740, states that Dewell, having undergone execution, and being brought to Surgeons Hall to be anatomised, symptoms of life appeared, and he quite recovered.[[5]] This strikes me as a most unaccountable story; but perhaps similar ones may have been met with in the reading of some of your correspondents.
Σ.
Footnote 5:[(return)]
[Matt of the Mint in the Beggar's Opera says, "My poor brother Tom had an accident this time twelve-month; and so clever a made fellow he was, that I could not save him from those flaying rascals the surgeons; and now, poor man, he is among the 'otamies at Surgeons' Hall." The executed culprit noticed by our correspondent, however, seems to have been re-animated at Surgeons' Hall.—Ed.]
Maps of Dublin.—In Gough's Topographical Antiquities of Great Britain and Ireland, p. 689., it is stated that there is a map of the city and suburbs of Dublin, by Charles Brookin, 1728, and a map of the Bay and Harbour of Dublin, with a small plan of the city, 1728. I have Brookin's map of the city, 1728, but I have never seen or heard of any person who had seen the map of the Bay and Harbour of 1728. Possibly some of your correspondents could give information on the subject, and also state whether there be any map of the city, either manuscript or printed, between Speed's map of 1610 and Brookin's of 1728, and where?
C. H.
Dublin.
"The Lounger's Common-place Book."—Who was the editor of this work? Any information as to its literary history, and especially as to that of the revised edition of it, will be very acceptable to
W. H. S.
Mount Mill, and the Fortifications of London.—In a topographical account of Middlesex, published in the middle of the last century, I find the following:
"Mount Mill, at the end of Goswell Street, was one of the forts erected by the Parliament for the defence of London."
Will any of your correspondents be kind enough to inform me what the exact site was; at what period it was demolished; what were the names and sites of any other forts erected by the Parliament at the time for the purposes of defence; and, lastly, in what work any record of them may be found?
B. R. A. Y.
"Forms of Public Meetings."—Can any of your readers inform me of the name of the publisher of Forms and Proceedings of Public Meetings referred to in The Times of Sept. 16 or 17 last, and supposed to have been written by the Speaker of the House of Commons?
Z. Y.