Notes and Queries, Number 70, March 1, 1851 / A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.

by Various

A Foreigner.

Christmas Day.—Which of the popes fixed dogmatically the 25th of December as the birthday of our Saviour? Was it not either Julius I. or II.? and what grounds had he for his decision?

J. C.

A Coggeshall Job.—"Saffron Walden, God help me."—Has the old saying of "A Coggeshall Job" occupied the attention of your readers? And why is it that many of the mendicants who ramble the county of Suffolk in search of relief, when asked where they come from, reply in a pitiful tone, "Saffron Walden, God help me."

J. C.

Easton.

T. Gilburt on Clandestine Marriages.—I have a MS. against the validity of clandestine marriages, dated from Oxford, June 23rd, 1682, signed T. Gilburt. It is a learned and argumentative treatise on this subject. It is entitled:

"An Argument against the Validitie of Clandestine Marriages in the Sight of God. Sent with a Letter to a person of Qualitie desiring my Judgment in y^e case wherein he was too nearly concerned."

I am anxious to know who this T. Gilburt may have been.