NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

"When found, make a note of."—Captain Cuttle.

CONTENTS.

Notes.

THE GROANING-BOARD, A STORY OF THE DAYS OF CHARLES II.

The English public has ever been distinguished by an enormous amount of gullibility.

"Ha ha, ha ha! this world doth pass

Most merrily I'll be sworn;

For many an honest Indian ass

Goes for an unicorn."

So sung old Thomas Weelkes in the year 1608, and so echo we in the year 1853! What with "spirit-rapping," "table-moving," "Chelsea ghosts," "Aztec children," &c., we shall soon, if we go on at the same rate, get the reputation of being past all cure.

In looking over, the other day, a volume in the Museum, marked MS. Sloane 958., I noticed the following hand-bill pasted on the first page:

"At the sign of the Wool-sack, in Newgate Market, is to be seen a strange and wonderful thing, which is an elm board, being touched with a hot iron, doth express itself as if it were a man dying with groans, and trembling, to the great admiration of all the hearers. It hath been presented before the king and his nobles, and hath given great satisfaction. Vivat Rex."

At the top of the bill is the king's arms, and the letters C. R., and in an old hand is written the date 1682. On the same page is an autograph of the original possessor of the volume, "Ex libris Jo. Coniers, Londini, pharmacopol, 1673."

In turning to Malcolm (Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London, 4to. 1811, p. 427.), we find the following elucidation of this mysterious exhibition:

"One of the most curious and ingenious amusements ever offered to the publick ear was contrived in the year 1682, when an elm plank was exhibited to the king and the credulous of London, which being touched by a hot iron, invariably produced a sound resembling deep groans. This sensible, and very irritable board, received numbers of noble visitors; and other boards, sympathising with their afflicted brother, demonstrated how much affected they might be by similar means. The publicans in different parts of the city immediately applied ignited metal to all the woodwork of their houses, in hopes of finding sensitive timber; but I do not perceive any were so successful as the landlord of the Bowman Tavern in Drury Lane, who had a mantle tree so extremely prompt and loud in its responses, that the sagacious observers were nearly unanimous in pronouncing it part of the same trunk which had afforded the original plank."

The following paragraph is also given by Malcolm from the Loyal London Mercury, Oct. 4, 1682:

"Some persons being this week drinking at the Queen's Arms Tavern, in St. Martin's-le-Grand, in the kitchen, and having laid the fire-fork in the fire to light their pipes, accidentally fell a discoursing of the groaning-board, and what might be the cause of it. One in the company, having the fork in his hand to light his pipe, would needs make trial of a long dresser that stood there, which, upon the first touch, made a great noise and groaning, more than ever the board that was showed did; and then they touched it three or four times, and found it far beyond the other. They all having seen it, the house is almost filled with spectators day and night, and any company calling for a glass of wine may see it; which, in the judgment of all, is far louder, and makes a longer groan than the other; which to report, unless seen, would seem incredible."

Among the Bagford Ballads in the Museum (three vols., under the press-mark 643. m.) is preserved the following singular broadside upon the subject, which is now reprinted for the first time:

"A NEW SONG, ON THE STRANGE AND WONDERFUL GROANING-BOARD.

"What fate inspir'd thee with groans,

To fill phanatick brains?

What is't thou sadly thus bemoans,

In thy prophetick strains?

"Art thou the ghost of William Pryn,

Or some old politician?

Who, long tormented for his sin,

Laments his sad condition?

"Or must we now believe in thee,

The old cheat transmigration?

And that thou now art come to be

A call to reformation?

"The giddy vulgar to thee run,

Amaz'd with fear and wonder;

Some dare affirm, that hear thee groan,

Thy noise is petty thunder.

"One says and swears, you do foretell

A change in Church and State;

Another says, you like not well

Your master Stephen's fate.[^[1]]

"Some say you groan much like a whigg,

Or rather like a ranter;

Some say as loud, and full as big,

As Conventicle Canter.

"Some say you do petition,

And think you represent

The woe and sad condition

Of Old Rump Parliament.

"The wisest say you are a cheat;

Another politician

Says, 'tis a misery as great

And true as Hatfield's vision.[^[2]]

"Some say, 'tis a new evidence,

Or witness of the plot;

And can discover many things

Which are the Lord knows what.

"And lest you should the plot disgrace,

For wanting of a name,

Narrative Board henceforth we'll place

In registers of fame.

"London: Printed for T. P. in the year 1682."

The extraordinary and long-lived popularity of the "groaning-board" is fully evinced by the number of cotemporary allusions: a few will suffice.

Mrs. Mary Astell, in her Essay in Defence of the Female Sex, 1696, speaking of the character of a "coffee-house politician," observes:

"He is a mighty listener after prodigies: and never hears of a whale or a comet, but he apprehends some sudden revolution in the state, and looks upon a groaning-board, or a speaking-head, as forerunners of the day of judgment."

Swift, in his Tale of a Tub, written in the following year (1697), says of Jack:

"He wore a large plaister of artificiall causticks on his stomach, with the fervor of which he would set himself a groaning like the famous board upon application of a red-hot iron."

Steele, in the 44th number of the Tatler, speaking of Powell, the "puppet showman," says:

"He has not brains enough to make even wood speak as it ought to do: and I, that have heard the groaning-board, can despise all that his puppets shall be able to speak as long as they live."

So much for the "story" of the groaning-board. As to "how it was done," we leave the matter open to the reader's sagacity.

Edward F. Rimbault.

Footnote 1:[(return)]

This was Stephen College, a joiner by trade, but a man of an active and violent spirit, who, making himself conspicuous by his opposition to the Court, obtained the name of the Protestant joiner. His fate is well known.

Footnote 2:[(return)]

Martha Hatfield, a child twelve years old in Sept. 1652, who pretended to have visions "concerning Christ, faith, and other subjects." She was a second edition of the "holy maid of Kent."

THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "AWKWARD."

Most persons who have given their attention to the formation of words, and have employed their leisure in endeavouring to trace them to their source, must have remarked that there are many words in the English language which show on the part of learned philologists, the compilers of dictionaries, either a strange deficiency in reading, or a want of acquaintance with the older tongues: or perhaps, if we must find an excuse for them, a habit of "nodding."

The word awkward is one of these. Skinner's account is as follows:

"Ineptus, ἀμφαριστερός, præposterus, ab A.-S. æþerd perversus; hoc ab æ præp. loquelari negativa privativa, et weard, versus."

Johnson follows Skinner, interpreting awkward in the same way, and with the same derivation; but unfortunately he had met with the little word awk, and, not caring to inquire into the origin of it, as it seemed so plain, he explains it as "a barbarous contraction of awkward," giving the following example from L'Estrange:

"We have heard as arrant jingling in the pulpits as the steeples; and the professors ringing as awk as the bells to give notice of the conflagration."

Now the real state of the case is, that just as forward and backward are correlatives, so also are toward and awkward. We speak of a toward child as one who is quick and ready and apt; while, by an awkward one, we mean precisely the contrary. By the former we imply a disposition or readiness to press on to the mark; by the latter, that which is averse to it, and fails of the right way. Parallel instances, though of course not corresponding in meaning, are found in the Latin adversus, reversus, inversus, aversus.

The term awkward is compounded of the two A.-S. words aweg or awæg (which is itself made up of a, from, and wæg, a way), meaning away, out: "auferendi vim habet," says Bosworth, of which we have an instance in aweg weorpan, to throw away; and weard, toward, as in hamweard, homewards. We thus have the correlatives to-weard and aweg-weard, with the same termination, but with prefixes of exactly opposite meanings. In the latter word, the prefix would naturally come to be pronounced as one syllable, and the g as naturally converted into k.

The propriety of the use of the word awkward by Shakspeare, in the Second Part of Henry VI., Act III. Sc. 2., is thus rendered apparent:

"And twice by awkward wind from England's bank,

Drove back again," &c.,

i.e. untoward wind, or contrary: an epithet which editors, while they thought it required an apology, have been unable to explain rightly.

With regard to the word awk, I can only say that it is one of very unfrequent occurrence; I have met with it but once in the course of my own reading, so that I am unable to confirm my view as fully as I could wish; still, that one instance seems, as far as it goes, satisfactory enough: it occurs in Golding's translation of Ovid's Metam., London, 1567, fol. 177. p. 2.:

"She sprincled us with bitter jewce of uncouth herbes, and strake

The awk end of her charmed rod uppon our heads, and spake

Woordes to the former contrarie," &c.

The awk end here is, of course, the wrong end, that which was not towards them.

Perhaps some of the readers of "N. & Q." may have met with other instances of the usage of the word. It does not occur in Chaucer nor (I am pretty sure) in Gower.

H. C. K.

INEDITED POEM.—"THE DECEITFULNESS OF LOVE."

The following lines, written about 1600, are, I think, well worthy of preservation in your columns. I believe they have never been published; but if any of your correspondents should have met with them, and can inform me of the author, I shall feel much obliged.

Chris. Roberts.

Bradford, Yorkshire.

Deceitfulness of Love.

Go, sit by the summer sea,

Thou, whom scorn wasteth,

And let thy musing be

Where the flood hasteth.

Mark how o'er ocean's breast

Rolls the hoar billow's crest;

Such is his heart's unrest

Who of love tasteth.

Griev'st thou that hearts should change?

Lo! where life reigneth,

Or the free sight doth range,

What long remaineth?

Spring with her flow'rs doth die;

Fast fades the gilded sky;

And the full moon on high

Ceaselessly waneth.

Smile, then, ye sage and wise;

And if love sever

Bonds which thy soul doth love,

Such does it ever!

Deep as the rolling seas,

Soft as the twilight breeze,

But of more than these

Boast could it never!

BALE MSS., REFERRED TO IN TANNER'S "BIBLIOTHECA BRITANNICO-HIBERNICA."

Most persons who consult this laborious and useful work will probably have been struck and puzzled by the frequent occurrence of two references given by the Bishop as his authorities, namely, "MS. Bal. Sloan." and "MS. Bal. Glynn." To answer, therefore (by anticipation), a Query very likely to be made on this subject, I have to state, that by "MS. Bal. Sloan." Tanner refers to a manuscript work in two volumes, in Bale's handwriting, formerly in Sir Hans Sloane's collection, and numbered 287, but presented by him to the Bodleian Library; as appears by a letter from Hearne to Baker (in MS. Harl. 7031. f. 142.), dated August 6, 1715, in which he writes:

"We have Bale's accounts of the Carmelites, in two volumes, being not long since given to our public library by Dr. Sloane."

In the original MS. Sloane Catalogue, the work was thus entered: Joannes Balæus de sanctis et illustribus viris Ordinis Carmelitarum, et eorum Scriptis: Joannis Balæi Annales Carmelitarum. Another volume, partly, if not wholly, in Bale's handwriting, relative to the Carmelite Order, existed formerly in the Cottonian Library, under the press-mark Otho, D. IV., but was almost entirely destroyed in the fire which took place in 1731.

By "MS. Bal. Glynn.," or (as more fully referred to under "Adamus Carthusiensis") "MS. Bale penes D. Will. Glynn.," Tanner undoubtedly means a printed copy of Bale's Scriptorum Illustrium Majoris Brytanniæ Catalogus, with marginal notes in manuscript (probably by Bale himself) which was preserved in the library of Sir William Glynne, Bart., of Anbrosden. I learn this from Tanner's original Memoranda for his Bibliotheca, preserved in the Additional MSS. 6261. 6262., British Museum; in the former of which, ff. 122—124., is a transcript of the "MS. notæ in margine Balei, penes D. Will. Glynne." The Glynne MSS. are described in the Catt. MSS. Angliæ, fol. 1697, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 49.; but the copy of Bale, here mentioned, is not included among them. These MSS. are said to be preserved at present in the library of Christ Church College, Oxford; and it is somewhat singular, that no account of the MSS. in this college should have been printed, either in the folio Catalogue of 1697, or in the valuable Catalogue of the MSS. in the college libraries recently published. Perhaps some of the correspondents of "N. & Q." may communicate information on this head.

F. Madden.

CHARLES FOX AND GIBBON.

The following is taken from the fly-leaves of my copy of Gibbon's Rome, 1st vol. 1779, 8vo.:

"The following anecdote and verses were written by the late Charles James Fox in the first volume of his Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

"The author of this work declared publicly at Brookes's (a gaming-house in St. James' Street), upon the delivery of the Spanish Rescript in June, 1779, that there was no salvation for this country unless six of the heads of the cabinet council were cut off and laid upon the tables of both houses of parliament as examples; and in less than a fortnight he accepted a place under the same cabinet council.

"On the Author's Promotion to the Board of Trade in 1779.
By the Right Hon. C. J. Fox.

"King George in a fright

Lest Gibbon should write

The story of Britain's disgrace,

Thought no means more sure

His pen to secure

Than to give the historian a place.

"But his caution is vain,

'Tis the curse of his reign

That his projects should never succeed;

Tho' he wrote not a line,

Yet a cause of decline

In our author's example we read.

"His book well describes

How corruption and bribes

O'erthrew the great empire of Rome;

And his writings declare

A degeneracy there,

Which his conduct exhibits at home."

G. M. B.

SAMUEL WILLIAMS.

The obituary of the past week records the death of Samuel Williams, a self-taught artist, whose pencil and graver have illustrated very many of the most popular works during the last forty years, and to whose productions the modern school of book-illustrations owes its chief force and character. Samuel Williams was born Feb. 23, 1788, at Colchester in Essex; and during his very earliest years, his self-taught powers were remarkable, as he could draw or copy with the greatest ease anything he saw; and he would get up at early dawn, before the other members of the family were stirring, to follow the bent of his genius. His boyish talents attracted much notice, and, had he not been very diffident, would have brought him before the world as a painter. In 1802, he was apprenticed to Mr. J. Marsden, a printer in Colchester, and thenceforward his pencil was destined to be employed in illustrating books. Whilst yet a lad, he etched on copper a frontispiece to a brochure entitled the Coggeshall Volunteers; and this was a remarkable production, as he had never seen etching or engraving on copper; and he about the same time taught himself engraving on wood, executing numerous little cuts for Mr. Marsden: amongst others, a frontispiece to a History of Colchester. So much was his talent seen by parties calling at his employer's, that Mr. Crosby, a publisher of some note in his day, promised that, when his apprenticeship ended, he should draw and engrave for him a natural history; and this promise was faithfully performed, and a series of three hundred cuts given to him immediately. Besides these, he executed numerous commissions for Mozley, Darton and Harvey, Arliss's Pocket Magazine, and other works; in all which a strong natural feeling and vigorous drawing were leading characteristics.

In 1809 he visited London for a short time, and returned to Colchester; and resided there till 1819, when he settled in London. In 1822, Mr. C. Whittingham published an edition of Robinson Crusoe, the illustrations to which are drawn and engraved by the subject of this notice; and the freedom of handling, as compared with cotemporary works, was conspicuous. After these, Trimmer's Natural History, published by Whittingham; the illustrations to Wiffin's Garcilasso de la Vega; and other works, showed his talents as a designer as well as engraver.

In 1825, William Hone started his Every-Day Book, employing Mr. Williams to make the drawings for the "Months," and other illustrations; and the peculiar style, like pen-and-ink sketches, attracted much notice, the freedom and ease of these drawings being greatly admired; and some of our present artists confess to having been first taught by copying the free off-hand sketches in Hone's Every-Day Book. A second volume followed in 1846, and the Table Book in 1847; in 1848 the Olio was published, and afterwards the Parterre; both works remarkable for their spirited illustrations. Several of the engravings to the London Stage, 1847, displayed great variety of expression in the figures and faces. Howitt's Rural Life of England, Selby's Forest Trees, Thomson's Seasons (the edition published by Bogue), Miller's Pictures of Country Life, all drawn and engraved by him, exhibit exquisite rural "bits," in which, like Bewick, Samuel Williams could express with the graver the touch of his pencil, thus far excelling his cotemporaries. The Memorials of the Martyrs was the last work on which he exercised his double skill. Of works not drawn by himself, Wiffin's Tasso shows some of his best efforts; but as for years past he had been engaged on most of the best works of the day, it is impossible to specify all. Had he devoted his time to painting, which the constant employment with pencil and graver prevented, he would have taken high rank as a painter of rural life, as his pictures of "Sketching a Countryman," and "Interior of a Blacksmith's Shop," exhibited in the Royal Academy when at Somerset House, testify, as they are marked by perfect drawing and admirable expression. Some miniatures on ivory, painted in his very youthful days, are marvellous for close manipulation and correct likeness. After a long and painful illness, borne with great fortitude, Mr. Williams expired on the 19th September, his wife having predeceased him not quite six weeks, leaving behind him four sons.

J. T.

SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE.

On a Passage in the Second Part of Henry IV.—The Death of Falstaff.—I have read with much pleasure your very temperate remarks on the fiery contributions of some of your correspondents; and I trust that, after so gentle a rebuke from certainly the most good-natured Editor living, all will henceforth go "merry as a marriage bell." Amongst the lore that I have picked up since my first acquaintance with "N. & Q.," is that profound truth,

"'Tis a very good world that we live in:"

but I must say I think it would be a very dull one if we all thought alike; as "N. & Q." would be a very dull book if it were not seasoned with differences of opinion, and its pages diversified with discussions and ingenious argument. And what can be more agreeable, when, like an animated conversation, it is conducted with fairness and good temper?

However, now we are to start fair again; and to begin with a difference, I must presume to question a decision of your own which I would fain see recalled. I believe with you that Mr. Collier's Notes and Emendations gives the true reading of the passage in Henry V., "on a table of green frieze," and I, moreover, think that Theobald's conjecture "and 'a babbled o' green fields," was worthy of any poet. Theobald was engaged in the laborious work of minute verbal correction, and necessarily took an isolated view of particular passages. Presenting the difficulty which this passage did, his suggestion was a happy and poetical thought. But when you say that the scholiast excelled his author, we must take another view of the case. The question is not as to which passage is the most poetical, but which is most in place; which was the idea most natural to be expressed. And in this I think you will admit that Shakspeare's judgment must be deferred to, and that taking the character of Falstaff, together with the other circumstances detailed of his death, it is not natural that he should be represented as "babbling o' green fields."

You are aware that Fielding, in his Journey from this World to the next, met with Shakspeare, who, in answer to a similar question to that put to Göthe, gave a like answer to the one you report. This arises in a great measure from the imperfection of language; the most careful writers at times express themselves obscurely. But with regard to Ben Jonson, I should say that, though neither a mean nor an unfriendly critic, he was certainly a prejudiced one. He saw Shakspeare from the conventional-classic point of view, and would doubtless have "blotted" much that we should have regretted submitting to his judgment. Yet, after all, the anecdote is not according to the fact. Shakspeare did "blot" thousands of lines, probably many more than Ben Jonson himself ever did; and of this we have the best evidence in whole plays almost re-written. Even in the single instance rare Ben gives of Shakspeare's incorrectness, published many years after the latter's death, the memory or hearing of the former either were at fault, or the line had been "blotted."

Absolute perfection is, of course, not to be looked for; there is no such thing in reference to human affairs, unless it be in constant and unobstructed growth and development. This is exhibited in Shakspeare's writing to a degree shown by no other writer. The shortcomings of Shakspeare are most evident when he is compared with himself,—the earlier with the later writer. But take his earliest work, so far as can be ascertained, in its earliest form, and the literature of the age cannot produce its equal.

Samuel Hickson.

"I knew there was but one way, for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and 'a babbled of green fields."—Shakspeare.

"I knew there was but one way, for his nose was as sharp as a pen on a table of green frieze."—Shakspeare corrected.

Some of the alterations in the manuscript corrections in Mr. Collier's old edition of Shakspeare's plays I agree with, but certainly not in this one, since we lose much and gain nothing by it. Shakspeare, in drawing a character such as Falstaff, loaded with every vice that flesh is heir to, and yet making him a favourite with the audience, must have been most anxious respecting his death, and therefore awakened our sympathy in his favour. In ushering in the account of the death-bed scene, he makes Bardolph say:

"Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in heaven or in hell."

This expression Burns the poet considered the highest mark of regard that one man could pay to another, for in his poem on a departed friend, he says:

"With such as he, where'er he be,

May I be saved, or damn'd."

Mrs. Quickly, in describing the scene, says:

"He's in Arthur's (Abraham's) bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. 'A made a finer end, and went away, an it had been any christom child; for after I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his finger's ends, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and 'a babbled of green fields."

Mrs. Quickly, after describing the outward signs of decay and second childishness, tells us he babbled. Shakspeare, as the only means of gaining our forgiveness, makes him die in repentance for his sins, and seems to have had the Twenty-third Psalm in his mind, where David puts his trust in God's grace, when amongst other passages it says: "He maketh me lie down in green pastures," and further on, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." I have endeavoured to give you a reason why I prefer the old reading of the text: if any of your correspondents will give a better for the new, I shall be glad to see it, as I am convinced the more we examine into the works of our wonderful bard, the more we shall be convinced of his superhuman genius; we are, therefore, all indebted to Mr. Collier for his searching investigations, as they set us in a reflective mood.

J. B.

Your just remarks on Theobald's "'a babbled of green fields" recalls to me a note which I find appended to the passage in the margin of my Shakspeare,

"'A babbled of green fields, i.e. singing snatches of the 23rd Psalm:

'In pastures green He feedeth me,' &c.

'And though I walk e'en at death's door,' &c."

This note I jotted down in my schoolboy days, and thirty years' experience at the beds of the dying only convinces me of its correctness. Again and again have I heard the same sweet strains hymned from the lips of the dying, and soothing with hope the sinking spirit, ay, even of great and grievous sinners. Indeed, I have come to stamp it as a sure mark of impending death, and have said with the dame, "I knew there was but one way, for 'a babbled of green fields;" though I trust with different doctrine than her's, viz. that religion is the business of none but the dying, and thence, that to talk of religion is a sure sign of approaching death.

When Falstaff "babbled of green fields," he was labouring under no "calenture." His heart was far away amid the early fresh pure scenes of childhood, and he was babbling forth snatches of hymns and holy songs, learned on his mother's knee, and now called up, in his hour of need, to cheer, as best they might, his parting spirit. Strange is it that Theobald, when he suggested so happy an emendation, missed half its beauty and its real bearing.

Throughout the whole passage it is evident that Falstaff was ejaculating scraps of long forgotten hymns and Scripture texts, which were utterly incomprehensible to those about him. "'A babbled of green fields,"—"he cried out of sack,"—"and of women,"—"incarnate,"—"whore of Babylon,"—all suggest holy ejaculations, perverted by the ignorance of the godless bystanders.

In all Shakspeare there is hardly to be found a more touching scene, or one more true to nature; it is most graphic and characteristic. The loneliness of the dying sinner, with none to stand by him but the godless companions of his riot and debauchery; the eagerness of the despairing man to catch at anything of the semblance of hope that he could recall from the lessons of his childhood, "He shall feed me in a green pasture," &c.—then—ere he could reach those assuring words, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me," the miserable consciousness that it is all too late, "So 'a cried out God, God, God;"—then—the utter want of religious sympathy in the bystanders, Nym, Quickly, Bardolph, Boy, in their misinterpretations, and perverse commentaries on his ejaculations, just such as we might expect from hearts gorged to the full with vice and sensuality;—then—the redeeming touch of tenderness in the Dame, beaming through all her benighted efforts to cheer, in her own way (awful to think on, the only way known to her), the last hours of her dear old roysterer, "Now I, to comfort him, bid him 'a should not think of God, I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet;" and the undying fondness with which she upholds his memory, and will not brook a word of ribaldry, or what she deems slander, against it, all evidencing that—

"The worst of sin had left her woman still."

Surely a scene more characteristic of all the parties in it, is not to be found in Shakspeare.

Nemo.

Minor Notes.

Doings of the Calf's Head Club.—In an old newspaper called The Weekly Oracle, of Feb. 1, 1735, is the following curious paragraph:

"Thursday (Jan. 29) in the evening a disorder of a very particular nature happened in Suffolk Street; 'tis said that several young gentlemen of distinction having met at a house there, calling themselves the Calf's Head Club; and about seven o'clock a bonfire being lit up before the door, just when it was in its height, they brought a calf's head to the window dressed in a napkin-cap, and after some huzzas, threw it into the fire. The mob were entertained with strong beer, and for some time hallooed as well as to best; but taking a disgust at some healths which were proposed, grew so outrageous that they broke all the windows, forced themselves into the house, and would probably have pulled it down, had not the guards been sent to prevent further mischief. The damage is computed at some hundred pounds. The guards were posted all night in the street for the security of the neighbourhood."

E. G. Ballard.

Epitaph by Wordsworth.—There is a beautiful epitaph by Wordsworth in Sprawley Church, Worcestershire, to the wife of G. C. Vernon, Esq., of Hanbury. Wordsworth has made the following slight alterations to it, in his published poems: I quote from the one-volume 8vo. edition of Moxon (1845). The first two lines are not on the tablet. The words within brackets are those which appear in the original epitaph:—

"By a blest husband guided, Mary came

From nearest kindred, Vernon her new name;

She came, though meek of soul, in seemly pride

Of happiness and hope, a youthful bride.

O dread reverse! if aught be so which proves

That God will chasten whom he dearly loves,

Faith bore her up through pains in mercy given,

And troubles that [which] were each a step to Heaven.

Two babes were laid in earth before she died;

A third now slumbers at the mother's side;

Its sister-twin survives, whose smiles afford [impart]

A trembling solace to her widow'd lord [her father's heart.]

Reader! if to thy bosom cling the pain

Of recent sorrow combated in vain;

Or if thy cherish'd grief have fail'd to thwart

Time, still intent on his insidious part,

Lulling the mourner's best good thoughts asleep,

Pilfering regrets we would, but cannot, keep;

Bear with him [those]—judge him [those] gently who makes [make] known

His [their] bitter loss by this memorial [monumental] stone;

And pray that in his [their] faithful breast the grace

Of resignation find a hallow'd place."

Cuthbert Bede, B.A.

Tailor's "Cabbage."—

"The term cabbage, by which tailors designate the cribbed pieces of cloth, is said to be derived from an old word, 'cablesh,' i. e. wind-fallen wood. And their 'hell,' where they store the cabbage, from 'helan,' to hide."

Clericus Rusticus.

Misquotations.—1. Sallust's memorable definition of friendship, as put into the mouth of Catiline (cap. 20.), is quoted in the "Translation of Aristotle's Ethics," in Bohn's Classical Library (p. 241. note h), as the saying of Terence.

2. The Critic of September 1st quotes the "Viximus insignes inter utramque facem" of Propertius (lib. iv. 11. 46.) as from Martial.

3. In Fraser's Magazine for October 1852, p. 461., we find "Quem patente portâ," &c. quoted from Terence instead of Catullus, as it is correctly in the number for May, 1853.

P. J. F. Gantillon, B.A.

The Ducking Stool.—In the Museum at Scarborough, one of these engines is preserved. It is said that there are persons still living in the town, who remember its services being employed when it stood upon the old pier. It is a substantial arm-chair of oak; with an iron bar extending from elbow to elbow, just as the wooden one is placed in child's chair to prevent the occupant from falling forward.

W. J. Bernhard Smith.

Temple.

Watch-paper Inscription.—Akin to dial inscriptions are inscriptions on watch-papers used in the days of our grandfathers, in the outer case of the corpulent watch now a-days seldom seen. I send you the following one, which I read many years since; but as I did not copy the lines, I cannot vouch for their being strictly accurate:

"Onward perpetually moving,

These faithful hands are ever proving

How quick the hours fly by;

This monitory pulse-like beating,

Seems constantly, methinks, repeating,

Swift! swift! the moments fly.

Reader, be ready—for perhaps before

These hands have made one revolution more

Life's spring is snapt—you die!"

F. James.

Queries.

BIRTHPLACE OF GEN. MONK.

In a clever biographical sketch by M. Guizot, originally published in a French periodical (the Revue Française) under the title of "Monk, Etude Historique," George Monk, first Duke of Albemarle, is said to have been born on the 6th of December, 1608, at the manor-house of Potheridge, the ancient inheritance of his family, in the county of Devon.

This Potheridge (otherwise Pen-the-ridge) is, it appears, a village or hamlet situated "on the ascendant ridge of a small hill," in the parish of Merton, about four miles south-west of Torrington. As M. Guizot's statement, in so far as locality is concerned, seems open to doubt at least, if not positive exception, I wish to elicit, and place on record, through the medium of "N. & Q." if I can, some farther and perhaps more decisive information on the subject. In opposition to M. Guizot's authority (whence derived or whatever it might be), Lysons, in his account of Devonshire in the Magna Britannia, positively lays the venue of Monk's birth in the parish of Lancros or Landcross, near Bideford, confirmatorily alleging that his baptism took place there on the 11th of December in the year above mentioned. In another account, a notice of the Restoration by M. Riordan de Muscry, appended to Monteth's History of the Rebellion, he is said to have been born in Middlesex, an assertion to which (in the absence of all authority) little value can, of course, be given. The slightest local investigation, including a reference to the parochial registers of Landcross and Merton, would, however, probably at once solve the difficulty. But for the known fidelity of Lysons, and the probability of his possessing superior information on the specific point at issue over that of M. Guizot, I should be most reluctant to impeach the accuracy of any statement of fact, however trifling or minute, emanating from that distinguished writer. Few indeed there are, even amongst our own historians, whose claims on our faith, arising from close and accurate research, intimate knowledge, clear perception, and thorough comprehension of the events of that most eventful period of English history, commencing with the Revolution of 1640, can (as manifested in their published works at least) vie with those of M. Guizot. With some few of the opinions, interpretations, constructions, and comments passed or placed by M. Guizot on the life and actions of Monk in this same "Etude Historique," I shall, perhaps (with all deference), be tempted to deal on some future occasion. An able translation of the work, from the pen of the present Lord Wharncliffe, appeared in 1838, the year immediately succeeding its first publication. The prefatory observations and valuable notes there introduced richly illustrate the text of M. Guizot, whose labours, in this instance, are certainly not discreditably reflected through the medium of his English editor. With one expression of Lord Wharncliffe's, however (in the note to which this paper chiefly refers), I take leave to differ, wherein he hints that the question of Monk's birthplace can have little interest beyond the limits of the county of Devon, clearly a palpable error.

F. Kyffin Lenthall.

Minor Queries.

Harmony of the Four Gospels.—Can any of your correspondents furnish me with the date of the earliest Harmony, or the titles of any early ones? Any information on the subject will much oblige

Z.4.

The Noel Family.-Will any of your readers be kind enough to give me information on the following point? About the commencement of the last century, a Rev. Wm. Noel lived at Ridlington, county of Rutland: he was rector of that parish about the year 1745. What relation was he to the Earl of Gainsborough then living? Was it not one of the daughters of this clergyman who married a Capt. Furye?

Teecee.

Council of Trent.—References are requested to any worlds illustrative of the extent of knowledge attainable by the Romish clergy at the sittings of this council, in (1.) ecclesiastical antiquities, (2.) historical traditions, (3.) biblical hermeneutics.

T. J. Buckton.

Birmingham.

Roman Catholic Patriarchs.—Has any bishop in the Western Church held the title of patriarch besides the Patriarch of Venice? And what peculiar authority or privileges has he?

W. Fraser.

Tor-Mohun.

The "Temple Lands" in Scotland.—I am anxious to learn some particulars of these lands. I recollect of reading, some time ago, that the superiorities of them had been acquired by John B. Gracie, Esq., W. S. Edinburgh; but whether by purchase or otherwise, I did not ascertain. Mr. Gracie died some four or five years ago. Perhaps some correspondent will favour me with some information on the subject. In the Justice Street of Aberdeen, there is a tenement of houses called Mauchlan or Mauchline Tower Court, which is said to have belonged to the order. In the charters of this property, themselves very ancient, reference is made to another, of about the earliest date at which the order began to acquire property in Scotland.

Abredonensis.

Cottons of Fowey.—A family of "Cotton" was settled at Fowey, in Cornwall, in the seventeenth century. The first name of which I have any notice is that of Abraham Cotton, who married at Fowey in 1597. They bore for their arms, Sable, a chevron between three cotton-hanks, Or a crescent for difference: crest, a Cornish chough holding in the beak a cotton-hank proper. William Cotton, mayor of Plymouth in 1671, was probably one of this family. The name is not Cornish; and these Cottons had without doubt migrated at no distant period from some other part of the kingdom. Any information relating to the family or its antecedents will be very gratefully received by

R. W. C.

Draught or Draft of Air.—Will some of your contributors inform a reader what term or word may be correctly used to signify the phrase "current of air" up the flue of a chimney, or through a room, &c.? The word draught or draft is generally or universally used; but that signification is not to be found attached to the word draught or draft in any dictionary accessible to the inquirer. The word is used by many English scientific writers, and was undoubtedly used by Dr. Franklin to signify a current of air in the flue of a chimney (see also Ure's Dict.). Yet the word cannot be found in Johnson or Ogilvie's Imp. Dict. with this signification. The word "tirage" is also used by French writers with the above signification; and though in French dictionaries its meaning is nearly the same, and nearly as extended as the English word draught or draft, yet it cannot be found in the Dict. de l'Acad. to signify as above.

New York.

Admiral Sir Thomas Tyddeman commanded the squadron sent during the war with the Dutch in the reign of Charles II. to assist in the capture of certain richly laden merchant vessels which had put into Bremen, but (owing to the treachery of the Danish governor, who instead of acting in concert with the English, as had been agreed, opened fire upon them from the town) was unable to effect his purpose.

After the admiral's return to England, a question was raised as to his conduct during the engagement; and some persons went so far as to accuse him of cowardice; but the Duke of York, who was then in command of the fleet, entirely freed him from such charges, and declared that he had acted with the greatest discretion and bravery in the whole affair.

He died soon after this, in 1668, according to Pepys's account, of a broken heart occasioned by the scandal that had been circulated about him, and the slight he felt he was suffering from the Parliament. Perhaps some of your readers can inform me where I may meet with farther particulars relating to Admiral Tyddeman. I am particularly desirous to gain information as to his family and his descendants; also to learn upon what occasion he was created a baronet or knight.

Captain.

Pedigree Indices.—Is there any published table of kin to Sir Thomas White, the founder of St. John's College, Oxford, or of William of Wykeham, after the plan of Stemmata Chicheliana?

Is there any Index to the Welsh and Irish pedigrees in the British Museum? Sims' valuable book is confined to England.

Are there Indices to the pedigrees in the Lambeth Library, or the Bodleian Library at Oxford?

The proper mode of making a search in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge wanted?

Y. S. M.

Apparition of the White Lady.—I observe in two works lately published, an allusion made to an apparition of the "White Lady," as announcing the death of a prince; in the one case of the throne of Brandenburgh[^[3]], the other that of France.[^[4]] Can any of your readers point out the origin of this popular tradition?

C. M. W.

Footnote 3:[(return)]

In Michaud's Biographie.

Footnote 4:[(return)]

Louis XVII., by A. De Beauchesne.

Rundlestone.—Can any information be given of the origin of the term "Rundlestone," as applied to a rock off the Land's End; and also to a remarkable stone near Hessory Tor? (Vide Mr. Bray's Journal, Sept. 1802, in Mrs. Bray's work on the Tamar and Tavy: and see also in the Ordnance Maps.)

J. S. R.

Garrison Library, Malta.

Tottenham.—What is the derivation of Tottenham Park, Wilts, and of Tottenham Court Road? The ancestor of the Irish family of that name was from Cambridgeshire.

Y. S. M.

Duval Family.—Is or was there a French family of the name of Duval, gentilhommes; and if so, can any relationship be traced between such family and the "Walls of Coolnamuck," an ancient Anglo-Norman family of the south of Ireland, who are considered to have been originally named "Duval?"

H.

Noses of the Descendants of John of Gaunt (Vol. vii., p. 96.).—What peculiarity have they? I am one, and I know many others; but I am at a loss to know the meaning of E. D.'s remark.

Y. S. M.

General Wall.—Can any of your Irish correspondents give me any information respecting the parentage and descent of General Richard Wall, who was Prime Minister at the Court of Spain in the year 1750 or 1753 (vide Lord Mahon); also whether the General belonged to that branch of the Walls of Coolnamuck, whose property fell into the hands of certain English persons named Ruddall, in whose family some Irish property still remains?

Did the general have any sisters? Is there any monograph life of the general?

H.

John Daniel and Sir Ambrose Nicholas Salter.—Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." give any information respecting one John Danyel or Daniel, of Clement's Inn, who translated from the Spanish, Jehovah, A free Pardon with many Graces therein contained, granted to all Christians by our most Holy and Reuerent Father God Almightie, the principal High Priest and Bishoppe in Heaven and Earth, 1576; and An excellent Comfort to all Christians against all kinde of Calamities, 1576?

Also any information respecting Sir Ambrose Nicholas Salter, son of John Nicholas of Redingworth, in Huntingdonshire, to whom the first tract is dedicated; or of his mayoralty of the city of London, 1575-6.

B. B. W.

Edward Bysshe.—I shall feel particularly obliged to any of your correspondents who will favour me with a biographical notice of Edward Bysshe, author of The Art of English Poetry, The British Parnassus, &c., especially the dates and places of his birth and death.

Civis.

President Bradshaw and John Milton.—In a pamphlet by T. W. Barlow, Esq., of the Honorable Society of Gray's Inn, entitled Cheshire, its Historical and Literary Associations, published in 1852, it is stated that among the memorials of friends which President Bradshaw's will contains, is a bequest of ten pounds to his kinsman, John Milton, which cannot be said to be an insignificant legacy two centuries ago.

Can any of your numerous correspondents afford a clue to the family connexion between these distinguished individuals?

T. P. L.

Manchester.

Minor Queries with Answers.

Ket the Tanner.—Can you or any of your correspondents give me any information about "Ket the Tanner;" or refer me to any book or books containing a history or biography of that remarkable person? As I want the information for a historical purpose, I hope you will give me as lengthy an account as possible.

W. J. Linton.

Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire.

[A long account of Ket, and his insurrection, is given in Blomefield's Norfolk, vol. iii. pp. 222-260., edit. 1806. Incidental notices of him will be also found in Alexander Nevyllus' Norfolke Furies and their Folye, under Ket, their accursed Captaine, 4to., 1623; Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials, vol. i.; Heylin's History of the Reformation; Stow's Chronicle; Godwin's Annales of England; and Sharon Turner's Modern History of England, under Edward VI. A Fragment of the Requests and Demands of Ket and his Accomplices is preserved in the Harleian MS. 304. art. 44.]

"Namby-pamby."—What is the derivation of namby-pamby?

Clericus Rusticus.

[Sir John Stoddart, in his article "Grammar" (Ency. Metropolitana, vol.i. p. 118.), remarks, that the word "Namby-pamby seems to be of modern fabrication, and is particularly intended to describe that style of poetry which affects the infantine simplicity of the nursery. It would perhaps be difficult to trace any part of it to a significant origin.">[

Replies.

EDITIONS OF BOOKS OF COMMON PRAYER.

(Vol. vii., pp. 18. 91. 321.)

As you have printed various lists of Prayer-Books, I send you the following of such books as are in my own possession. Other persons may, perhaps, send lists of copies in private libraries:

I have excluded from my list all those thin editions of the Prayer Book, which were usually bound up with Bibles, except in three instances. The exceptions are these:—The folio, 1578; Young's edition, 1633; and that of 1715. Generally these thin books, which have only references to the Epistles and Gospels, are of no value whatever. The exceptions in this list, however, are important books. The book of 1578 was prepared by the Puritans, and is so altered that the word priest does not occur in a single rubric. Young's book of 1633 is the first Prayer Book printed in Scotland; and the edition of 1715 is remarkable for "The Healing," though George I. never attempted to touch for the king's evil.

Should you deem this list worth printing, I will send another of occasional forms, now in my possession, from the reign of Elizabeth to the accession of the House of Hanover. It may lead others to do the same, and thus bring to light some forms not generally known. The Prayer Books and occasional forms in our public libraries are known to most persons; but it is important to ascertain the existence of others in private collections.

Thomas Lathbury.

Bristol.

I possess a copy of the Prayer Book of an edition I do not see mentioned in any of the lists published in "N. & Q." It is small octavo, imprinted by Bonham, Norton, and John Bill, 1627.

K. L.

THE CRESCENT.

(Vol. viii., p. 196.)

Your correspondent W. Robson, in asking to have pointed out "the period at which the crescent became the standard of Mahometanism," appears to assume, what is more than doubtful, that it has been, and still is so. For although "modern poets and even historians have named it as the antagonistic standard to the cross," the crescent cannot be considered as "the standard" of Mahometanism—emphatically, much less exclusively—except in a poetical and figurative sense. That it is one among several standards, I admit; it is used by the Turks as an ornament, and probably as a symbol, of their dominion, or in connexion with their religion. This may have originated in the following fact:—Mahomet, at the introduction of his religion, said to his followers, who were ignorant of astronomy, "When you see the new moon, begin the fast; when you see the moon, celebrate the Bairam." And at this day, although the precise time of the lunar changes may be ascertained from their ephemerides, yet they never begin either the Ramazan, or the Bairam, till some have testified that they have seen the new moon. (Cantemir's History of the Othman Empire, pref. pp. iv, v.) But the ancient Israelites had precisely the same custom in commencing their "new moons and appointed feasts." (See Calmet, art. "Month.") That which may properly be called the standard of the Turks, is the Sanjak Cherif, or Standard of the Prophet. It is of green silk[^[5]], preserved in the treasury with the utmost care, and never brought out of the seraglio but to be carried to the army. This banner is supposed by the Turks to ensure victory, and is the sacred signal to which they rally. (De Tott's Memoirs, vol. ii. pp. 2, 3.)

The military ensigns which the grand seignior bestows on the governors of provinces and other great men, include the following: 1. The sanjak, or standard, only distinguished from that of Mahomet by the colour, one being red and the other green. 2. The tug, or standard consisting of one, two, or three horse-tails, according to the dignity of the office borne by him who receives it. Pachas of the highest rank are distinguished by three tails, and the title beglerbeg, or prince of princes. Those next in rank are the pachas of two tails, and the beys are honoured but with one. These tails are not worn by the pachas, but fastened at the end of a lance, having a gilt handle, and carried before the pacha, or fixed at the side of his tent. 3. The alem is a large broad standard, which instead of a spear-head has a silver plate in the middle, bored in the shape of a crescent or half-moon. (Cantemir, Hist. Oth. Emp., p. 10.)

The sultan's barge, with canopy of purple silk, supported throne-like by four gilt pillars, is adorned with three gilt candlesticks; and only the capudan pacha, when going to sea, is allowed to have similar ornaments, as he is then considered as deriyá padishahi, emperor of the sea. Even the vizier is only permitted to display a canopy of green silk on ivory pillars, but without candlesticks. (Ib., p. 424.)

Thus it appears that the crescent holds but a subordinate position among the ensigns at present in use among the Turks. As to its history, I have found no trace of it in connexion with that of the Crusades. Tasso, in La Gerusalemme Liberata, mentions "the spread standards" of the soldan's army "waving to the wind" ("Sparse al vento ondeggiando ir le bandiere," canto xx. st. 28.), but he makes no allusion to the crescent. I have not access to Michaud's Histoire des Croisades, and shall be glad if your correspondent will quote the passage to which he has referred. Does Michaud speak of it as existing at that time? This does not clearly appear from the reference. There were several sultans named Mahomet who reigned in or near the age of the Crusades, two of the Seljak dynasty; the first the conqueror of Bagdad, the second cotemporary with Baldwin III., king of Jerusalem. In the Carizmian dynasty, Mahomet I. was cotemporary with Godfrey, Baldwin I., and Baldwin II.; and Mahomet II. commenced his reign about A.D. 1206. But the conqueror of Constantinople, Mahomet II., was of the Othman dynasty, and lived some centuries later, the fall of that city having taken place A.D. 1453. To which of these eras does Michaud ascribe the use of the crescent for the first time?

After all, perhaps, the Turkish crescent, like the modern crown of Western Europe, may be but a variation of the horn, the ancient symbol of authority, so often alluded to in the Old Testament. The two cusps or horns of the crescent, and the circle of diverging rays in the diadem, suggest that the variation is simply one of number; and the derivation is strongly corroborated by etymology. The Hebrew word ‎ ‏קרן‎‏ (keren) is connected with, and possibly the original source of, our two words horn and crown. Its dual (karnaim) signifies horns or rays, as in Habak. iii. 4.

A fact mentioned by D'Herbelot may have some connexion with the Turkish crescent. When the celebrated warrior, Tamugin, whose conquests preceded those of the Othman dynasty, assumed in a general assembly of the Moguls and Tartars the title of Ghenghis Khan, or king of kings, "Il y ordonna qu'une cornette blanche seroit dorénavant l'étendart général de ses troupes" (Bibliothèque Orientale, p. 379.). Thus did the Mogul conqueror (to use the words of the Psalmist) "lift up the horn on high." (Psalm lxxv. 5.) About half a century after the death of Ghengis Khan, Aladin, Sultan of Iconium, conferred on Othman, who afterwards founded the Turkish empire, the tabl alem—the drum, standards, and other ornaments of a general. (Cantemir, Hist. Oth. Emp., p. 10.) The explanation of the alem by the historian in his annotations, I have already quoted. This is the only allusion to the crescent as an ensign that I have met with in Cantemir.

The painters of Christendom (no high authorities in this matter) often represent the crescent as a part of Turkish costume, worn in front of the turban. But in the portraits of the Turkish emperors, "taken from originals in the grand seignior's palace," there appears no such ornament. (See the plates in Cantemir's History.) Many of them are represented as wearing the sorgus, a crest of feathers adorned with precious stones. Like the horn, it is an emblem of authority. Many of them have two fastened to the turban.

Your correspondent states that "the crescent is common upon the reverses of coins of the Eastern empire long before the Turkish conquest." I think this highly probable, but would be glad to see the authorities for the fact. I cannot admit, however, that the crescent was in any degree "peculiar to Sclave nations" for, first, the Sclave nations reached no farther south than Moravia, Bohemia, and their vicinity, they did not occupy the seat of the Eastern empire, which was partly Greek and partly Roman. Secondly, though I have no work on numismatics to consult, I have casually met with instances in which the heavenly bodies are represented on Persian, Phœnician, and Roman coins. As instances, in Calmet's Dictionary, art. "Moloch," is represented a Persian coin with the figures of a star and crescent; in the Pictorial Bible, 2 Chron. xv. 16., a Phœnician coin bearing a crescent; and in Matt. xx. 1., on a Roman coin of Augustus, there is the figure of a star. The Turks, however, stamp nothing on their coins but the emperor's name and the date of coinage.

Again, in European heraldry, Frank, German, Gothic, and not Sclave, the crescent appears; in "common charges," for example, as one of the emblems of power, glory, &c. and among "differences," to distinguish a second son.

Should the above facts tend to throw any light on the subject of your correspondent's inquiry, I shall be gratified; and if any of my views can be shown to be erroneous, it will afford me equal pleasure to correct them.

J. W. Thomas.

Dewsbury.

Footnote 5:[(return)]

So says De Tott; Cantemir says it is red. But this discrepancy in the authorities is easily accounted for, since the Sanjak Cherif is so sacred that it must be looked upon by none but the Muslimans, the true believers. If seen by the eyes of giaours (unbelievers), it would be profaned. (De Tott, Memoirs, p. 3.)

SEALS OF THE BOROUGH OF GREAT YARMOUTH.

(Vol. viii., p. 269.)

I fear that the result of my researches will be but of little service; but your Querist is heartily welcome to the mite I offer.

The second seal appears to have been the seal of assay; probably used for certifying the correctness of the king's beam, or for sealing documents authorising exports, of which there were formerly many and various from this port. Yarmouth was held by the kings until 9 John, when a charter was granted to his burgesses, inhabitants of Gernemue, that they should henceforth hold the town in "fee-farm," paying yearly the sum of 55l. in lieu of all rents, tolls, &c. Probably on this occasion a seal of arms was granted. About the year 1306 a dispute fell out between Great Yarmouth and the men of Little Yarmouth and Gorleston adjoining, the latter insisting on the right to load and unload fish in their harbours; but the former prevailed as being free burgh, which the others were not. In 1332 a charter was granted (6 Ed. III.) for adjusting these disputes, wherein it was directed—

"That ships laden with wool, leather, and skins upon which the great custom is due, shall clear out from that port where our beam and the seal called coket remain, and nowhere else (ubi thronus noster et sigillum nostrum, quod dicitur coket, existunt, et non alibi carcentur)."

What coket is, I am unable to say: but the king's beam for weighing merchandise, called thronus or tronus, stood usually in the most public place of the town or port. The legend on this seal appears to be old French, and is evidently the "seal of assay of Great Yarmouth."

The third seal has probably belonged to Little Yarmouth. The arms of Great Yarmouth were "azure three herrings in pale argent." It is not unlikely that during disputes between the two ports the Little Yarmouthites might assume a seal of arms; but as such thing were more carefully looked after then than in these degenerate days, they would not venture on the three herrings, but content themselves with one; and they might desire to dignify their town as "New" instead of "Little" Yarmouth.

With regard to the first seal, I should judge from its oval shape, the cross, and legend, that it is ecclesiastic, and has no connexion with Yarmouth.

Broctuna.

Bury, Lancashire.