Cowgill.
Minor Queries.
Sir Walter Raleigh.—In the discussions on the copyright question some years ago, Sir Walter Raleigh was mentioned as one of the authors whose posterity is totally extinct; but in his Life, as given in Lodge's Portraits, his descendants are given as far down as his great-grandchildren, of whom many were still living in 1699, at which period, says Mr. Lodge, my information ceases. It seems unlikely that a family then so numerous should have utterly perished since, both in its male and female branches; and perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to trace their subsequent history: the name is certainly not extinct, whether its bearers be his descendants or not.
Is the gallant Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert descended from one of Sir Walter's half-brothers?
J. S. Warden.
Ancient Fortifications: Hertstone, Pale, Brecost.—In the Clause Rolls, 16 John, M. 6. (Public Records, vol. i. p. 192.) is a warrant of King John's, addressed to the bailiffs of Peter de Maulay of Doncaster, as follows:
"Mandam' vob' qđ villa de Danecastr claudi faciatis heritone et palo scđm qđ fossatu fcm exigit, et una leve bretasca fi faciatis sup ponte ad villa defendenda."
Which, in Miller's History of that town (p. 40.), is thus translated:
"We command ye, cause the town of Doncaster to be inclosed with hertstone and pale, according as the ditch that is made doth require; and that ye make a light brecost or barbican upon the bridge, to defend the town."