Major-General Lambert (Vol. vii., p. 237.).—Major-General Lambert appears, from a meagre memoir of him given in the History of Malham in Yorkshire, by Thomas Hursley: 8vo. 1786, to have descended from a very ancient family in that county. According to the register of Kirkby Malhamdale, he was born at Calton Hall, in that parish, 7th of September, 1619, and lost his father at the age of thirteen. On the 10th of September, 1639, he married Frances, daughter of his neighbour Sir William Lister, of Thornton, in Craven, then in her seventeenth year, and said to have been a most elegant and accomplished lady. Nothing seems to be known as to the precise time or place of the death of Lambert or his wife, beyond the tradition of his having been imprisoned in Cornet Castle, in the island of Guernsey, after the Restoration, and that he remained in confinement thirty years. His marriage is confirmed in the account of Lord Ribblesdale's family in Collins' Peerage, vol. viii. edition Brydges. John Lambert, son and heir of the major-general, married Barbara, daughter of Thomas Lister, of Arnoldsbigging, and had by her three sons, who all died v. p., and one daughter, who was the wife of Sir John Middleton, of Belsay Castle, in Northumberland, and became the heir-general of her family. Pepys speaks of Lady Lambert in 1668.
Perhaps these very imperfect notices may elicit further information,—on which account only can they be worthy of a place in "N. & Q."
Braybrooke.
Mistletoe (Vol. iii., pp. 192. 396.).—In addition to the trees, on which the mistletoe grows, mentioned by "the late learned Mr. Ray" in the quotation cited by Dr. Wilbraham Falconer, I subjoin others named in Jesse's Country Life, some of which I have had opportunities of verifying viz., horse-chestnut; maple (Acer opalus, A. rubrum, A. campestre); poplar (Populus alba, P. nigra, P. fastigiata); acacia, laburnum, pear; large-leaved sallow (Salix caprea); locust tree (Robinia pseudo-acacia); larch, Scotch fir, spruce fir; service tree (Pyrus domestica); hornbeam
(Carpinus ostrya); Loranthus Europæus (itself a parasite); olive, vine, walnut, plum, common laurel, medlar, grey poplar. The localities and authorities are stated.
In answer to your correspondent Ache, I may add, that the opinion of recent botanists is contrary to Sir Thomas Browne's notion with reference to the propagation of the seed; for it is known that the seeds, in germinating, send their radicles into the plant to which they are attached; and grow afterwards as true parasites, selecting certain chemical ingredients in preference to others. The mistletoe has never been known to grow in Ireland; but its frequency in various parts of the world—in France, Italy, Greece, and parts of Asia—has been remarked by travellers. Its use seems to be to provide food for birds during those rare seasons of scarcity, when a very sparing supply of other fruits and seeds can be procured.
Robert Cooke.
Scarborough.
The Sizain (Vol. vi., p. 603.; Vol. vii., p. 174.).—I know not whether any one of the sizains you have published may be the original, from which all the others must be considered as imitations or parodies; but they bring to my mind an English example, which I met with many years ago in some book of miscellanies. I do not recollect whether the book in question attributed it to any particular author; who, I presume, must have been some staunch adherent for Protestant ascendancy in the early part of the last century:
"Our three great enemies remember,