E. D.
John of Gaunt (Vol. ix., p. 432.).—Perhaps the best method of explaining to Y. S. M. the unmistakeable nose of the descendants of John of Gaunt, will be to refer him to the complete series of portraits at Badminton, concluding with the late Duke of Beaufort. He will then comprehend what is difficult to describe in the physiognomy of
"That mighty line, whose sires of old
Sprang from Britain's royal blood;
All its sons were wise and bold,
All its daughters fair and good!"
E. D.
"Wellesley" or "Wesley" (Vol. viii., pp. 173. 255.).—Your readers will find, in Lynch's Feudal Dignities, the name spelt Wellesley in Ireland, so long ago as the year 1230, and continued so for several centuries at least subsequent to that date. The Public Records also bear evidence of the high position and great influence of the Wellesleys, not Wesleys, for a lengthened period in Irish history.
Y. S. M.
Mantel-piece (Vol. ix., pp. 302. 385.).—In old farm-houses, where the broad, open fireplace and hearth still exist, a small curtain, or rather valance, is often suspended from below the mantle-shelf, the object apparently being the exclusion of draughts and smoke. May not the use of this sort of mantel have caused the part of the fireplace from which it hangs to be called the mantel-piece?