Minor Queries.

Poem on the Burning of the Houses of Parliament.

—On the 17th of October, 1834, the houses of parliament were burnt down, and I believe you will recollect that very soon afterwards a long serio-comic poem was published, detailing the event; the following stray morsels of which just occur to me:

"And poor Mrs. Wright,

Was in a great fright,

For she swore that night,

She saw a great light."

Again—

"She felt a great heat

Come thro' to her feet,

As she sat herself down

In the black rod seat."

I wish very much to find out this poem, or whatever else it may be called; can you assist me? I am told it was published in one of the weekly papers at the time, probably the Sunday Times or Dispatch.

T. B.

Exeter.

Newton's Library.

—In 1813, Leigh and Sotheby sold the books of Mrs. Anne Newton, professing to contain the collection of Newton's own books. As it is fully believed that no personal property of Newton descended to any relatives of his name, how is this pretension explained? The statement is copied from Sotheby's catalogue of sales into Hartwell Horne's Bibliography, and will be credited at a future time, if not now called in question.

Meaning of Royd.

—What is the meaning of the word Royd, which is attached to the names of so many persons and places in Yorkshire, as Ackroyd, Learoyd, Brownroyd, and Boltonroyd?

C. W.

The Cromwell Family.

—I have in my possession a document, which shows that my great-grandfather, "William Cromwell of London," mason, was admitted into

"The freedom aforesaid, and sworn in the Mayoralty of Thomas Wright, Esq., Mayor, and John Wilkes, Esq., Chamberlain; and is entered in the book signed with the letter A., relating to the purchasing of freedom and the admission of freemen, (to wit) the 4th day of April, in the 26th year of the reign of King George the Third, and in the year of our Lord 1786. In witness whereof," &c.

The parchment bears the initials "J. W."

I am anxious to learn, from some of your numerous correspondents, whether this person once lived near Bath, and then at Hammersmith? and, secondly, whether he was descended from the Protector?

J. G. C.

Sir John Darnell, Knt.

—Who was Sir John Darnell, whom did he marry, who were his father and mother, and what arms did he bear? His daughter Mary was married to the Hon. Robert Ord, Lord Chief Baron of Scotland (alive in 1773). Any other particulars regarding his family will be gratefully received by

E. N.

Royal "We."

—Can you inform me when, and under what circumstances, the use by royalty in Europe sprung up, of using the plural "we" instead of "I," the first person singular?

FRANCIS J. GRUBB.

Gondomar.

—Mr. Macaulay, in one of his "Essays," remarks,

"The skill of the Spanish diplomatists was renowned throughout Europe. In England the name of Gondomar is still remembered."

True, oft have I heard of thee, Count Gondomar, and have read from time to time divers anecdotes of thy wit and wisdom, quips and quiddities. But is it not passing strange that this man, this Spanish Don, who, as is well known, exercised such a powerful influence over the weak-minded "Solomon of Whitehall," and who, moreover, bore so large a share in the murder of the brave and highly gifted Raleigh, should be excluded from a niche in the biographical temple; for such I am told is the case. Having deputed a friend to make search for me in the several biographical dictionaries, he reports that the name of Gondomar is not to be found in the best book of the kind, the Biographie Universelle, nor in the dictionaries of Rose and Chalmers. This desideratum will, I confidently hope, ere long be supplied through the medium of "N. & Q.," by some of its learned contributors.

W. STANLEY SIMMONDS.

Wallington's Journal.

—At the sale of the library of Mr. Joseph Gulston, 1784, was sold a Journal of Mr. Nehemiah Wallington, a Puritan divine, written in the year 1630. This volume probably contains some curious matters respecting the Puritans of the day; and, as it is much desired, should any person know of its whereabouts, I should feel much obliged by a note of it.

Epistola Luciferi, &c.

—Nicolas Oresmius, or d'Oresme, bishop of Lisieux, who died in 1382, wrote Epistola Luciferi ad prælatos Ecclesiæ, afterwards printed, Magd. 1549, 8vo., and in Wolf's Lect. Memor., vol. i. p. 654. So far Fabricius. Who was Lucifer? I mean, was he the potentate who goes by the opposite name of the Prince of Darkness? And what is the tenor of his letter? The bishop was a quiet man, of orthodox fame, and tutor to a king of France.

Cambrian Literature.

—Being a collector of works on Druidical remains and Cambrian history, I shall feel greatly favoured if any of your numerous readers will answer me the following questions, viz.:—

1st. The name of the first book or commentary printed in any language abroad, previous to the introduction of printing into England, actually written by a Cambrian?

2nd. The first book printed in the English language, actually written by a Cambrian then living?

3rd. The first and second books printed in England in the Welsh language?

4th. The first book printed in the Welsh language abroad?

5th. The first book printed in the Welsh language in Wales?

6th. The most ancient author in MSS. and in print who mentions Stonehenge and Aubury; also the monument called Cromlêch?

7th. Who has on sale the most extensive collection of Welsh books, and those relating to British history?

P. B. W

7. Harrington Street, Regent's Park.

"VCRIMDR" on Coins of Vabalathus (Vol. v., p. 148.).

—As no professed Oriental scholar has directed any attention to this word yet, and as, although root in the words Karimat and Akram appears the same, the analogy to VCRIMDR is not very obvious, I may mention that on searching further I have found the adjective Ucr, with the various meanings, weighty, precious, esteemed, honourable. I leave it to Orientalists to tell us if VCRIMDR is a compound or an inflexion of Ucr. I regret that owing to a peculiarity in my handwriting, De Gauley was twice substituted for De Sauley in my last note, Vol. v., p. 149.

W. H. S.

Edinburgh.

Lines on Woman.—

"Oh, woman! thou wert born to bless

The heart of restless man; to chase his care;

To charm existence by thy loveliness,

Bright as a sunbeam—as the morning fair.

If but thy foot trample on a wilderness,

Flowers spring up and shed their roseate blossoms there."

Will any of your readers be kind enough to favour me with the completion of the above stanza, as well as to state who is the author of the same?

J. T.

Penkenol.

—John Aubrey, the antiquary, in his Collections for North Wilts, Part I. p. 51. (Sir Thomas Phillips's edition), describing the stained glass in Dauntsey Church, uses the following expression:

"Memorandum. The crescents in these coats: Therefore Sir John [Danvers] was not the penkenol."

The word is correctly printed from the original MS. Can any of your readers explain its meaning?

J. E. J.

Fairfax Family Mansion.

—On the right-hand side of the road between Tadcaster and Thorpe Arch, Yorkshire, extends the domain of the Fairfax family. The mansion, a comfortable old fashioned red-brick Tudor-looking structure, stands some two hundred yards back in the grounds through which, from the road to the front door of the house, extends a fine avenue of chestnuts, terminated at the roadside by a pair of venerable, rusty, and decaying iron gates which are kept closed; the entrance to the park being by a sort of side gateway of insignificant and field-like appearance further on. Can any of your readers give me the facts, or the local tradition which accounts for this peculiarity? I believe it is a family incident of somewhat historical interest, and a subject on which I am desirous of information.

G. W.

Postman and Tubman in the Court of Exchequer.

—In the Legal Observer of the 24th April, I find the following:

"LAW PROMOTION.—Mr. James Wilde has been appointed to the office of Postman, in the Court of Exchequer. The Postman is the senior counsel without the bar attending the court, and has pre-audience of the attorney and solicitor-general in making the first motion upon the opening of the court. The Tubman is the next senior counsel without the bar. The Postman and Tubman have particular places assigned them by the Chief Baron in open court."

My Query is, from whence and at what date these two offices sprang into existence, with a list of the persons who have occupied them. And it would be as well to inquire what their duties are: for although Stephen's Blackstone derives the names from the places in which the individuals themselves sit, still the explanation hardly conveys sufficient to gather what their duties are.

JOHN NURSE CHADWICK.

Second Exhumation of King Arthur's Remains.

—What chronicle narrates the circumstances of the second disinterment of King Arthur's bones in Glastonbury, temp. Edw. I. (A.D. 1298)?

H. G. T.

Stukeley the Antiquary, and Boston.

—In Anecdotes of British Topography, &c. (Lond. 1768), occurs the following, speaking of Boston:—

"The Churchwardens' account from 1453 to 1597, and the town-book, wrote by Mr. John Stukeley, 1676, one of his (Dr. Stukeley's) ancestors, are in the hands of the Doctor's son-in-law, Mr. Fleming."

Query, into whose hands have the above records fallen? Did Stukeley leave a family?

The name of "Wm. Stukeley" is appended to sundry parish records, anno 1713, at Boston. I believe he practised here for some years.

THOMAS COLLIS.

Letters of Arthur Lord Balmerino.

—Can any one inform me if there are any letters extant of Arthur, seventh Lord Balmerino, and where they are deposited?

W. PELHAM A.

Rochester.

Portrait of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland.

—Is any portrait known of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who was beheaded at York, A.D. 1572, for the part he took in the "Rising in the North?"

E. PEACOCK, Jr.

Newtonian System.

—Is it known who was the author of a satirical pamphlet against Newton: The Theology and Philosophy in Cicero's "Somnium Scipionis" explained, London, 1751, 8vo.? And has an absurd story which it contains, relative to Newton, Locke, and Lord Pembroke visiting Patrick, the barometer-maker, to be shown that the mercurial vacuum was not a perfect one, ever been told elsewhere?

Antiquity of Vanes.

—We are informed by Baron Maseres, as quoted by Lingard, that the Danes, in the last invasion by Sweyn, 1013, had vanes in the shape of birds or dragons fixed on their masts, to point out the direction of the wind. Is there any record of an earlier adoption of this method of ascertaining the way of the wind?

B. B.

Richard of Cirencester de Situ Britanniæ.

—Is this work a forgery or not? Charles Julius Bertram, Professor of English in the Royal Marine Academy at Copenhagen, wrote to Dr. Stukeley in 1747 that such a manuscript was in the hands of a friend of his. It was not until some time had elapsed, and after Dr. Stukeley was presented to St. George's Church, Queen Square, that he "pressed Mr. Bertram to get the manuscript into his own hands, if possible; which, at length, with some difficulty, he accomplished;" and sent to Dr. Stukeley, in letters, a transcript of the whole. Authors go on quoting from this work as genuine authority, and therefore are perhaps misleading themselves and their readers; and it would be conferring a great boon if "N. & Q." could clear up the doubt as to its authenticity.

Mr. Worsaae, the eminent Danish author, or his English translator, are exactly in the position to render this further service to antiquarian literature; and, as relating to the subject of Roman Britain, the question is of so much interest that a little trouble would not, probably, be deemed uselessly expended in the inquiry.

G. I.

Spanish Vessels wrecked on the Irish Coast.

—Is it true that sixteen Spanish vessels, with 5300 men on board, were wrecked on the coast of Ireland in 1589, and all put to the sword or hanged by the executioner, at the command of the Lord Deputy; who found that they had saved and got on shore a good deal of their treasure which he wanted to secure for himself. Where is any account of it to be found? How came Spanish ships so far north?

CYRUS REDDING.

Analysis of Newton's Principia.

—In the Journal des Savants for April of this year, the celebrated mathematician Biot, in a review of the Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton and Cotes (Cambridge, 1850), makes mention, with the highest praise, of an analysis of Sir Isaac's Principia contained in the Acta Eruditorum for 1688. Mons. Biot says that at that time there were only two men who could have written such an analysis, Halley and Newton himself; but adds, that the style is not Halley's, being too concise and simple for him. His admiration could not have been contained within such bounds. M. Biot firmly believes that the writer of this analysis was no other than Newton himself (ex ungue Leonem), and earnestly calls on the learned of England and Germany to assist in discovering the origin of the analysis; should there perhaps be any means left for doing so in the literary depôts of the two countries. Permit a contributor to "N. & Q." to repeat M. Biot's inquiry through the medium of a publication far more extensively circulated in England than the Journal des Savants.

J. M.