"maide the xxijth daye of Januarye, in the second yeare of the reagne of King Henry the seaventhe, by the graice of God Kinge of England, defendoure of the faithe," etc.
The lessor, Christopher Ratlife, of Hewick, died before 10 Henry VII., and the editor of the above work says, "It is impossible to account for the peculiarity in the date of this deed."
Bishop Burnet cites Spelman as asserting that several of the kings of England before Henry VIII. had borne the title of "Defender of the Faith." A correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine (N.S. xvi. 357.) conjectures that the name of Spelman had been inadvertently substituted for the name of Selden; though he justly remarks, that Selden by no means countenances the assertion of the bishop.
C.H. COOPER.
Cambridge.
Farquharson on Auroræ (Vol. ii., p. 441.).—Your correspondant L. inquires about Mr. Farquharson, shepherd or minister of Alford. Whether the word translated shepherd be pasteur or not, I cannot say, as I have not either of the works he alludes to; but certain it is that the Rev. Mr. Farquharson, minister of Alford, only recently deceased, was well known as a meteorological observer; and it is to him, doubtless, that Professor Kœnitz refers.
The "other Protestant minister, Mr. James Paull, at Tullynessle," now Dr. Paull, is still in life.
S.P.
"Old Rowley" (Vol. ii., pp. 27. 74.).—Charles II. was called "Old Rowley," after Rowley, a famous horse at Newmarket; who, like the king, was the sire of stock much better looking than himself.
A. HOLT WHITE.