Constable of Scotland (Vol. v., pp. 297. 350.).
—In vol. i. p. 175. of the Analecta Scotica (Edinburgh, 1834) will be found some curious "fragments relative to the office of Great Constable of Scotland," more particularly before it became heritable in the noble family of Erroll.
E. N.
The Iron Plate in Lewes Castle (Vol. v., p. 342.).
—In answer to A. W. I beg to say that the iron plate was taken from the ruins of a cottage which was burnt down on the estate of Sir Henry Shiffner some time since; it formed the fire-back of the kitchen: the inscription was turned to the wall, and therefore not visible.
This inscription is a fac-simile of the iron plate placed to the memory of Ann Forster in the church of Crowhurst in Surrey, and it would appear that the founder cast several plates similar to that in Lewes Castle, which are known to exist and be used as fire-backs. See Brayley and Britton's History of Surrey, vol. iv. p. 131., and note at foot of the same page.
WILLIAM FIGG.
Lewes.
The monumental (cast iron?) plate in Lewes castle, referred to by A. W., probably came from the church of Crowhurst in Surrey, where there are several monuments to members of the family of Gaynsford, and there were (in Sept. 1847, when I visited the building) more than one iron plate in the pavement with inscriptions of the exact character of that at Lewes, and with the letters similarly inverted and reversed. My impression is that I saw the memorial in question in the church; but I cannot now discover the notes I made on the subject at the time, nor a rubbing which I took of another iron plate of a more ornate though not less rude character. I remember, in passing within sight of the church on the Dover Railway, since 1847, to have noticed scaffolding about the tower; possibly the plate now at Lewes may have been removed at that time.
R. C. H.