A terrific hurricane swept over England the night he died, and it is worthy of record that a similar convulsion of the elements took place at the deaths of Napoleon Bonaparte, Pitt, George IV., and other men of note.
[Note B, vol. i, p. 10.]—Weird of the Wentworths.
Weird, derived from the Saxon, means fated; it is here used as a substantive; more frequently it is found adjectively, e.g.:—
"The weird sisters, hand in hand."—Macbeth.
"To the weird lady of the woods."—Old Ballad.
Sir Walter Scott uses it as a substantive throughout his novels. Vide Guy Mannering, chap. xlvi. "The Weird's Dreed."
The original weird, curse, or fate, is to be found in the archives of a good English family; I forget where I read it, but it made a great impression on my mind.
The name Wentworth is selected merely as one connected with the author's family, and has no historic reference to the Straffords, or any other title in our peerage.
[Note C, vol. i, p. 55.]—Queen's Drive.
The road probably did not exist, certainly not as the "Queen's Drive," at the time of our tale. If any critic catches up the anachronism, I can only defend myself with Cowper's lines:—