MINOR QUERIES.
Sir Cloudesley Shovel.—In Mrs. Markham's History of England it is stated that Sir Cloudesley Shovel escaped from the wreck of his ship, but was murdered afterwards by a woman, who on her death-bed confessed it.
Is there any authentic record elsewhere published?
H.J.
Christopher Flecamore.—Walton says that Sir H. Wotton wrote his well-known definition of an ambassador at Augusta (Augsburg), in the Album of "Christopher Flecamore." (Wordsworth, Eccl. Biog., vol. iv. p. 86., ed. 1839.) Can any of your correspondents tell me who this person was?
J.C.R.
"Earth has no Rage," &c.—Can you, or any of your contributors or readers, inform one where the following couplet is to be found:
"Earth has no rage like love to hatred turn'd,
And hell no fury like a woman scorn'd."
I do not trouble you idly, as I have a particular reason for desiring to know the source of the lines.
W.T.M.
O. and C. Club
D'Oyly and Barry Families.—Any authentic information, original or not in the usual depositories, concerning the two great Norman races of D'OYLY and BARRY, or De Barry (both of which settled in England at the Conquest, and, singularly, both connected themselves with mistresses of King Henry I.), will be thankfully received if sent to WM. D'OYLY BAYLEY (Barry), F.S.A., whose histories of both races are still unfinished.
Coatham, near Redcar, Yorkshire.
Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham.—A collector of scraps and anecdotes relating to Nathaniel Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, would be glad to know whether, in the various MS. collections of our public libraries, there are extant any letters either written by that prelate or addressed to him?
E.H.A.
Epigram on the Synod of Dort.—In the Biographie Universelle, art. GROTIUS, it is stated that the following singular distich against the Synod of Dort was made in England:—
"Dordrechti synodus, nodus; chorus integer, æger;
Conventus, ventus; sessio, stramen. Amen!"
Query, By whom was it made?
L.
Private Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth.—Several years ago I met with a book bearing this, or a similar title, upon one of the tables of the reading room of the British Museum. A passing glance made me anxious to refer to it at a future opportunity. But, although I have again and again searched through the Catalogues, and made anxious inquiries of the attendants in the reading-room, I have never yet been able to catch a glimpse of it. Can any of your correspondents furnish me with the correct title, and state whether it is still preserved in this national library?
J.E.C.
Invention of Steam Power.—The following doggerel is the burden of a common street-ditty, among the boys of Campden, in Gloucestershire.
"Jonathan Hulls,
With his paper skulls,
Invented a machine
To go against wind and stream;
But he, being an ass,
Couldn't bring it to pass,
And so was asham'd to be seen."
Now this Jonathan Hulls was the great grandfather of a man of the same name, now residing in Campden; so that if there be any truth in the tradition, the application of steam power to the propulsion of hulls must be long prior to the time of Watts his name!
Can any reader of NOTES AND QUERIES throw any light on the inventions of this man Hulls?
NOCAB.
Mythology of the Stars.—I want (in perfect
ignorance whether there is such a book) a "Mythology of the Stars." Considering how often persons of sound mind express an enthusiasm for the celestial bodies, and exclaim, of clear night, that the stars are the poetry of Heaven, it is wonderful how little most of us know about them. Nine out of ten educated persons would be quite unable to do more than point out the Great Bear and North Star.
If there is not, there ought to be, some collection of the nomenclature and mythological history of the heavens, with a familiar treatise on astrology ancient and modern. The Chaldeans, Egyptians, Grecians, Arabs, Celts, and Norsemen, must have had names and stories, whose relation (both in itself and to one another) would make a very pretty volume either of poetry or prose. Perhaps some of your readers may be able to inform me of such a work, or where detached masses of the information I want could be found.
G.I.C.
Sword of William the Conqueror.—Can any one inform me where is the sword of William the Conqueror? It was kept in Battle Abbey till the dissolution, and then taken to Sir John Gage's house at Firle, as it is said.
P.
Neville Family.—Will any of your correspondents inform me what family of the Nevilles were connected by marriage with the Fleetwoods or Cromwells?
In a collateral note in my family pedigree, I find it stated, that Sarah Neville (who married Thomas Burkitt, in 1683) was cousin to General Charles Fleetwood, who married Bridget Cromwell, daughter of the Protector; and, on the cover of a book, I find written—
"My Cozen Fleetwood he gave me this book.—Sarah Burkitt, 1684."
I have also traditional testimony in possessing a valuable cabinet, known us "the Fleetwood;" and a portrait of the above Bridget Cromwell; both of which have been preserved in the family for more than a century and a half, and supposed to have passed into their possession by the marriage of Sarah Neville.
A.H.B.
Clapham, Jan 1. 1851.
Difformis, Signification of.—Can any of your classical readers refer me to a competent source of information with regard to the signification of the word difformis, which is repeatedly to be met with in the writings of Linnæus, and which I cannot find recorded in Ducange, Facciolati, or any of our ordinary Latin dictionaries?
TYRO.
Dublin.
Lynch Law.—What is the origin of this American phrase?
J.C.R.
Prior's Posthumous Works.—Among the curiosities collected by the Duchess of Portland, was a volume containing some prose treatises in MS. of the poet Prior. Forbes, in his Life of Beattie (Vol. ii. p. 160.), speaking of this interesting volume, says:—
"Her Grace was so good as to let me read them, and I read them with great pleasure. One of them, a dialogue between Locke and Montaigne, is all admirable piece of ridicule on the subject of Locke's philosophy."
Have these treatises since been printed? And where now is Prior's original MS.?
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
Suppressed Chantries.—Does there exist (and if so, where is it to be found) a list of the 2374 chantries suppressed by 37 Henry VIII. and 1 Edward VI.?
IGNOBUS.