—The interesting note with which MR. WILLIAM J. THOMS presented the firstborn of "NOTES AND QUERIES," may perhaps admit of a postscript, borrowed from one of Mr. Jerdan's well-deserving pupils, the Literary Gazette for 1822:
"I am inclined to believe that the illuminated grottos of oyster-shells for which the London children beg about the streets, are the representatives of some Catholic emblem which had its day, as a substitute for a more classical idol. I was struck in London with the similarity of the plea which the children of both countries urge in order to obtain a halfpenny. The 'It is but once a year, sir!' often reminded me of the
'La Cruz de Mayo
Que no come ni bebe
En todo el ano.'
'The Cross of May,
Remember pray,
Which fasts a year and feasts a day.'"
Letters from Spain. By Don Leucadio Doblado.
This to prove that I did remember the grotto.