Minor Queries Answered.
Arms displayed on Spread Eagle.
—For what reason are the arms of Methwen (and some others, I believe) placed on the breast of a two-headed eagle displayed sable?
H. N. E.
[When armorial ensigns are borne upon the breast of an eagle, the general inference is that the bearers thereof are Counts of the Holy Roman Empire, it being the practice in Germany for Counts of the Empire so to display the eagle.
There are some cases in which especial grants have been made to Englishmen so to do, as in the case of the family of Methwen; and persons having received the royal licence in England to accept the dignity of Count of the Empire, so carry their arms, as in the cases of Earl Cowper, Lord Arundel of Wardour, St. Paul, &c.]
St. Beuno.
—Where can I obtain any information respecting St. Beuno, to whom I find several churches dedicated in Wales?
J. D. D.
[In Rees's Essay on the Welsh Saints, p. 268., and Williams's Ecclesiastical Antiquities of the Cymry, p. 137. The college of Beuno is now called Clynog Vawr. See also The Cambro-Briton, vol. iii. p. 14.]
Lists of Knights Bachelor.
—What publication contains a list of the knights bachelor made by George I. and George II. (1714-1760)? With regard to the subsequent reign I have found the Calendar of Knights, by Francis Townsend, London, 1828, very accurate and perfect.
☞ N.
[There is not any continuous list of Knights Bachelors in any published works since Philpot's Catalogue, 1660, until Townsend's Calendar, which commences in 1760. The knights made by Kings George I. and II. will be found only in some of the genealogical publications of the day, such as the British Compendium, published at intervals between 1720 and 1769; Chamberlayne's State of Great Britain; or Heylin's Help to English History, or Phillipps's List of Nobility, and similar works.
Mr Townsend contemplated the publication of a list, and left an imperfect MS., which passed into the hands of Sir Thomas Phillipps, who printed it; but though privately circulated, it was never published. See Moule's Bibliotheca Heraldica for various works of the character referred to.]
Walker.
—An American lady lecturing on Bloomerism last week was much puzzled by the audience bursting into roars of laughter upon her quoting Professor Walker as an authority for some statement. The roars redoubled upon her declaring her belief that Professor Walker was a most respectable and trustworthy person. Can any one explain the origin of the joke that lies in the name "Walker?" Why do people say "Walker" when they wish to express ridicule or disbelief of a questionable statement?
DAVUS.
[The history of the renowned "Hookey Walker," as related by John Bee, Esq., is simply this:—John Walker was an out-door clerk at Longman, Clementi, and Co.'s in Cheapside, where a great number of persons were employed; and "Old Jack," who had a crooked or hooked nose, occupied the post of a spy upon their aberrations, which were manifold. Of course, it was for the interests of the surveillants to throw discredit upon all Jack's reports to the heads of the firm; and numbers could attest that those reports were fabrications, however true. Jack, somehow or other, was constantly outvoted, his evidence superseded, and of course disbelieved; and thus his occupation ceased, but not the fame of "Hookey Walker.">[
See of Durham.
—Can any of your readers inform me of "The privileges of, and the ancient customs appertaining to, the See of Durham?"
H. F.
Clapham, Nov. 3. 1851.
[These relate most probably to the palatine rights of the Bishops of Durham, granted by Egfrid, King of Northumbria, in 685; when he gave to St. Cuthbert all the land between the Wear and the Tyne, called "the patrimony of St. Cuthbert," to hold in as full and ample a manner as the king himself holds the same. This donative, with its ancient customs and privileges, was confirmed by the Danes, and afterwards by William the Conqueror; in addition to which, the latter made the church a sanctuary, and the county a palatinate. Its bishop was invested with as great a power and prerogative within his see, as the king exercised without the bounds of it, with regard to forfeitures, &c. Thus it was a kind of royalty subordinate to the crown, and, by way of eminence, was called The Bishoprick. For an account of the ancient customs connected with the cathedral, our correspondent is referred to the curious and interesting work of Davies of Kidwelly, entitled, The Ancient Rites and Monuments of the Monastical and Cathedral Church of Durham, 12mo. 1672, which has been republished by the Surtees Society.]