on a tour in Scotland, with the old palace of Linlithgow, so worthy in point of hoary grandeur and situation, on the banks of a lovely lake, of being a royal residence. True, it is now dismantled, having been barbarously set fire to in some period of civil dissension; but I hope an architect would say that its walls are still sound, and capable of forming the supports of a noble structure. I can only judge from a somewhat hasty visit to the palace. Adjoining it is one of the best preserved and most ancient Gothic churches in Scotland, which luckily escaped the fury of the reckless spoliators. A TRAVELLER. THE RULE OF THE ROAD AT SEA.-Much has been written in "N. & Q." on the "Rule of the Road" on land. Surely the following is worth preserving: "SAILING RULES: AIDS TO MEMORY, IN RHYME, BY THOMAS GRAY, ASSIST. SECRETARY, BOARD OF TRADE. "Two Steam Ships Meeting. "Meeting Steamers do not dread "Two Steam Ships Crossing. "If to your Starboard red appear, It is your duty to keep clear; To act as judgment says is proper To Port-or Starboard-Back-or, Stop her! "But when upon your Port is seen A Steamer's Starboard light of GREEN, "Both in safety and in doubt LATE DINNERS.-People who have fallen into the modern fashion of dining at 8.30 P.M. should read and digest the following advice, addressed to the great Lord Bacon by his kind, venerable, and sagacious mother, from Gorhambury: "Look very well to your health. Sup not, nor sit up, late. Surely I think your drinking to bedwards hindereth your and your brother's digestion very much. I never knew any but sickly that used it, besides being ill for heads and eyes. Observe well, yet in time.” Her letter is dated August 20, 1594, but modern matrons might repeat the admonition. SHODDY: MUNGO.-I read in the Third Report of the Commissioners on the Pollution of Rivers, that shoddy, the produce of soft woollen rags, such as old worn-out carpets, flannels, Guernseys, stockings, and similar fabrics, was first introduced about the year 1813, at Batley near Dewsbury. Mungo was adopted in the same district, but somewhat later. It is the produce of worn-out broad or similar cloths of fine quality, as also of the shreds and clippings of cloth. The term is stated to have arisen in consequence of the difficulty at first of manipulation: a manufacturer gave some of the materials to his foreman, who, after trial in the shoddy machine, came back with the remark, "It winna go"; when the master exclaimed, "But it mun go"! PHILIP S. KING. BANKERS', OR MASONS' MARKS. In November, 1864, when I was last staying with my late cousin, the Rev. Canon Hutchinson, in the Close at Lichfield, a stranger visited the Cathedral, and passed a considerable time one morning in the pursuit of a branch of archæological study to which I had not then turned my attention. He examined many parts of the interior walls of the building in search of ancient masons' marks scratched or cut on the stone. The subject, to me, having the charm of novelty, induced me to make inquiry from stone-cutters and others as to the employment of such marks, whether in ancient or modern times, and whether they were merely fanciful, or were intended to answer any useful purpose. When a man is about to work a block of stone, he places it upon a stool or stout table, or more commonly a heavy junk of wood. This table or support is termed in the trade a "bank," and the men who work at it are called "Bankers." Hence it follows, by an easy sequence, that the marks of these men should be termed " Bankers' Marks." One or two reasons were given me in explanation of their use. It is plain that every man must work his different pieces of stone as to make them fit well together when they are placed in the building, and, to know those which he has himself worked, he will put his own mark upon them. This might be his own private reason for their employment, but another was also given me. The foreman or clerk of the works will sometimes require to know what work was executed by what men; for where a block of stone has been sent up to the building (among twenty others) badly shaped or carelessly worked, the foreman would require to know who did it, in order to reprimand the bad workman. The use of such marks therefore nails every bit of work upon its author. The employment of such marks in masonry is said to date from a very early period. Down to about the fourteenth or fifteenth century, I was informed, it was customary to put these marks on the outside face of the stone, where they remained visible after the building was completed; but subsequently to that time, for some reason or other (perhaps because they were thought to be unsightly), they were placed on the bed of the stone, where they are concealed. When Sidmouth parish church, in Devonshire, was rebuilt in 1860, by a whim of the clerk of the works the masons' marks were put on the outer face, where they may still be seen-that is, in such cases as where the lamentably soft stone has not decayed away. During the process of restoring Lichfield Cathedral, nearly the whole of the interior had been scraped, so as to remove the successive coats of whitewash, by which operation any scratches still retaining the lime revealed themselves clearly upon the darker coloured stone. Mr. Yeend (pronounced Yend), the head verger, and a very intelligent man by the way, informed me that the gentleman who was engaged in the researches alluded to was named Ford, and that he had it in contemplation to bring out a book on the subject of these marks, illustrated with facsimiles of them. Having been shown some of the marks by Mr. Yeend, and fired by the newness of the subject, I set to work examining the cathedral, and made rubbings of such as I found. As further tending to give interest to the practice amongst workmen of using such devices, I was told that men jealously adhered to them through life, and that they were frequently transmitted from father to son. Before I left Lichfield I had collected nearly thirty of them, all of which I still retain, pasted into a book, together with memorandums noting the places where they occurred. In illustration of this I will mention some of them, as, for instance, a plain cross occurring on the south side of the large south-west pier of the central tower: the fylfot on N. side of presbytery, this part of the building having been erected about 1325; the saltier, three examples on first pier (from the west door) on N. side of nave; the saltier crossed again like a crosscrosslet, on third pier, S. side of nave, built about 1250; a rude Greek λ, two examples on columns E. side of N. transept, near the organ; figure like a bent bow with string, or chord and arc, two on seventh pier N. side of nave; arrow head, two on W. side of N.W. pier of central tower; arrow on E. side of N. transept; two lines conjoined, making a figure like a flail, three examples, from N. transept, built about 1240, and central tower; two flails saltier-wise, W. side of N. transept; a perpendicular line with three side lines sloping upward out of it, two or three on fourth pier on S. side of nave; a saltier between two perpendicular lines, two on fifth pier on S. side of nave; a triangle crossed at the points, two on N. side of first pier on S. side of nave, nearly twenty feet from floor: & trefoil of three vesica-shaped figures conjoined i point, almost regular enough to have been struck with the compasses, two on S. side of S.W. pie of central tower; a trefoil of three triangles conjoined in point, one near great west door, N. side. and two behind S. half of chapter-house door: a star like eight spokes of a wheel, third pier S. side of nave; a star like six spokes of a wheel on left side of organ; a star on six points formed of two equilateral triangles, one on left of organ front on wall in N. aisle of choir, and another on left of door going to chapter-house, in same aisle; a star of five points on W. side of S.W. pier of central tower, near the floor. I may also mention rudely formed letters used as marks, such as 1. V, R, W., &c. occurring in different places. They are all Roman capitals. On the wall to the left of the organ front are apparently the letters 1-R conjoined by a horizontal line. In looking for masons' marks, the inquirer ought to find at least two of the same sort, in order to be certain that the scratches are not accidental. With regard to the modern marks used by the masons who rebuilt Sidmouth church in 1860, I may as well add that I copied the marks at the time, and I also took down the names of all the to know the names of those who had put them on men who used them. It would be interesting now the stone-work of Lichfield Cathedral more than 600 years ago. Such are my notes. By way of query I would ask whether Mr. Ford has gone on with his book? P. HUTCHINSON. ANONYMOUS WRITERS (2nd S. iii. 103.)-Under this heading MR. BOLTON CORNEY quoted some verses for your readers to identify. As this has never been done, will he now supply the author's name? RALPH THOMAS. BARTLET HOUSE. In a quotation from The Postman for April 6, 1699 (3rd S. x. 357), Bartlet House is referred to as being "at the east end of Hide Park." Is anything known of the place, or its occupants, previous to the above date? Whence did it derive its name? CPL. DR. BLOW. I remember to have heard some time ago the following story of Dr. Blow, who was organist of Westminster Abbey about the year 1700. Once, when travelling, a foreigner showed him a piece of music, the work of some eminent composer on the Continent. Blow borrowed the manuscript, and returned it the next day with a second part added to it; whereupon the foreigner exclaimed, "Sir, you are the devil or Dr. Blow." Can any of your correspondents tell me the name of the musician whose work was thus supplemented, and what composition can have made Blow's name so famous on the Continent? X. L. D. CINQUE-PORT SEALS.-At the Congress of the British Archæological Association, held at Hastings in August, 1866, a paper was read by T. H. Cole, Esq., M.A., on the " Antiquities of Hastings," which has been printed in the volume of the Transactions of the Association. In his re marks upon the town-seal of Hastings, Mr. Cole alludes to the representation given on the seal of the victory gained in 1267 by Hubert de Burgh over the fleet of Prince Louis of France (the device on the seal being that of one vessel running down another), and believes the Hastings seal to be unique in this characteristic. On this point, however, he is in error, as this nautical feat is still more clearly given on the town-seal of Pevensey, a cinque-port under Hastings. The French ship on the Pevensey seal has for its solitary occupant a bishop, with mitre and pastoral staff; perhaps intended to represent Eustace le Moine, or "the Monk," who had the command of the Dauphin's fleet, but who is said to have been beheaded after the engagement as a mere sea-rover, and no true knight entitled to the honours of war. May I further draw the attention of such of your readers as have access to any collection of mediaval seaport seals, to the position of the ship's rudder in the seals of Bristol, Dover, Dun wich (oldest), Faversham, Southampton, Pevensey, and especially Winchelsea? Instead of projecting from the stern of the ship, the rudder in these examples passes over the side of the vessel in a way which I never heard of or ever before saw delineated. Any information upon this curious point will be of interest to me as a collector of mediaval seals. M.D. SIR ROBERT CLAYTON, KNT.-In 1701 the authorities of St. Thomas's Hospital, to which he had been a considerable benefactor, erected a statue in marble to Sir Robert Clayton, Knt. The work is considered to be one of great merit, but there is no record as to the artist. If any of your readers can assist me in discovering the name of the sculptor, I shall be extremely obliged. W. R. C. HAWK BELLS.-When were these first introGEORGE VERE IRVING. duced in England? MORE AND GUNNE FAMILIES.-Will any reader of "N. & Q." inform me if they can enlighten me on the following query? Sir John More, Lord Chief Justice of England, in his will mentions the name of Gunne. In the State Papers of Henry VIII. Christ' Gunner or Gunier is mentioned between King Henry VII. and VIII. and Wolsey, when the latter was in Calais in 1627, and Sir T. More was acting with them, and a note in vol. i. p. 279 states that he was sometimes called Mores. I wish to ascertain if his real name was Abel Gunne. There was a William Gonel, the friend of Erasmus, and who came from Sir T. More's family, who was a learned man, familiar at Cambridge College, and was supposed to be the clergyman who was collated by Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, to be rector of Conyngton in Cambridge, and remained rector there for many years. Can he be the same as Abel Gunner or Gunne? Any particulars explaining why Gunner was called Mores, &c., will be thankfully received by A. RIDGE, Mrs. Maxwell's, Stationer, Museum Street, W.C. PHILOLOGY.-Can any of your readers tell me of any book or paper treating fully of a subject which Trench, in English Past and Present, touches slightly upon, viz., "words formerly good English now become provincial or vulgar"? J. B. L. "Crossbows, tobacco-pipes, And he looked like the head I may be wrong in the rhyme, but I heard it many years ago, and should like, if possible, to obtain a copy. EDWARD COLLINS. REFERENCE:"Perchance such may be in via perficiendorum, which Divines allow to Monasticall life, but not perfectorum, which by them is only due to the Prelacy." What divines are here referred to as drawing this distinction between the life of monks and prelates? CPL. RICHARD, KING OF THE ROMANS.-Can any one inform me whether any engraving of Richard, King of the Romans, brother of Henry III. of England, exists; and if so, whether it is to be obtained? Also, where Professor Gebauer's Life of the same prince can be procured? H. L. ROSNY. In a window at Charmouth I saw an old-fashioned bracket in plaster, bought a few years ago at the sale of a French lady's furniture. There was nothing remarkable about it except the inscription, which ran thus-the letters in capitals, well formed and gilt: — "Relevez-vous, mais relevez-vous donc, Rosny. Ils vont croire que je vous pardonne." To what event in the life of Sully, or any other Rosny, can these words refer? The bracket did not seem older than the period of Louis Quinze. K. B. CROKER AND GUTHRIE FAMILIES. Richard William Croker of Croom Castle, co. Limerick (youngest son of John Croker of Ballynaguard, by Sarah Pennefather), is said to have married, about the year 1790, Miss Guthrie. Can any of your Irish correspondents give me further information about her and the children of this marriage? I am endeavouring to complete the pedigree of the ancient family of Croker in all its branches. It became extinct in Devon, I believe, on the marriage of Mary, daughter and heir of Courtenay Croker, with James Bulteel of Flete. C. J. R. SHARD.-"Shard-borne" or "shard-born beetle" (Macbeth, Act III. Sc. 2): does it, or does it not, mean born of dung? That is clearly a meaning of shard. See Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic Words, where he cites for this meaning North, who explains shard by cow-dung; and Elyot, "sharde and dunge." Mr. Halliwell says also, that Harrison calls the beetle the "turd-bug." This is also clearly the meaning of shard in Dryden's lines: SHOOTING STARS: THE BATTLE OF SEDGMOOR. -The following lines in Dryden's "Hind and Panther," part II., describing a celestial phenomenon seen by himself on the night of the battle of Sedgmoor (July 6-7, 1686), seem to be a description of a shower of shooting stars: "Such were the pleasing triumphs of the sky It is singular that there is no other known contemporary allusion to what is here referred to by Dryden. Lord Macaulay has not noticed this passage in his account of the battle of Sedgmoor. Sir Walter Scott says in his note on the passage, "The author seems to allude to some extraor dinary display of the Aurora Borealis on the evening of the battle of Sedgmoor, which was chiefly fought by night." In a learned paper on Shooting Stars just published in the Cornhill Magazine the showers of July 25-30 are mentioned. CH. SYMPREE: FRAYT.-In a certain document, endorsed "Burg' Shaston, 1565," relating to a tripartite division of the conventual buildings there, published in Hutchins's Dorset (1st edit. vol. ii. p. 21), one or two unusual words occur, e. g. sympree : "The scite & precincts of the late monastery of Shaston, with all maner of houses &c., & also the symprez & the ground called Park Gardens," &c. "Item, the ground of the sympree & of the Church.” Also frayt: "the great chamber next to the frayt', called the frayt' chamber." I should be glad of an elucidation of these two words, which I cannot find in the glossaries. C. W. BINGHAM. [The earldom of Devon was in abeyance two hundred and seventy-four years. Sir Edward Courtenay, created Earl of Devon Sept. 3, 1553 (the grantee of the patent under which Viscount Courtenay in 1830 claimed the earldom) was an object of jealousy to the crown during the reign of Edward VI., in consequence of his proximity to the throne, and was confined in the Tower. Upon the accession of Queen Mary he was immediately released and received into her especial favour, which circumstance has been attributed by historians to her entertaining a personal affection for him. Not long after the patent creating him earl was issued, having incurred the queen's displeasure, he was induced to go abroad, and died at Padua in 1556, without issue. This unfortunate nobleman seemed to be born to be a prisoner; for, from twelve years of age to the time of his death, he had scarcely enjoyed four entire years of liberty. Sir William Courtenay, of Powderham, third Viscount Courtenay, descended from Sir Philip Courtenay, son of Hugh XI., second Earl of Devon, claimed the earldom in 1830 as heir male of the above Edward XX., fourth Earl of Devon; and the House of Lords resolved, March 14, 1831, that he had established his claim. He died unmarried at Paris, May 26, 1835, when the earldom devolved on his cousin William Courtenay, son and heir of Henry Reginald Courtenay, D.D., Bishop of Exeter.] "THE DESERTION," 1689.-Who was the author of "The Desertion, or account of all the public affairs in England from Sept. 1688 to February following," by a Person of Quality, 4to, London, T. E. WINNINGTON. 1689 ? [This is one of the tracts occasioned by the abdication of James II. The controversy was commenced by Bishop Burnet, in a pamphlet entitled "An Inquiry into the Present State of Affairs; and, in particular, whether we owe Allegiance to the King in these Circumstances? And whether we are bound to treat with him, and call him back again or not? Printed by Authority, 1688, 4to." In this work King James is considered as a deserter of the crown. Jeremy Collier was one of the first to support publicly the claims of King James. This he did in a tract under the title of "The Desertion Discussed, in a Letter to a Country Gentleman, 1688, 4to," which was the first direct attack upon the principles of the Revolution. It appears to have been written just after the Com mons had declared the throne vacant; and doubtless was intended to influence the decision of the Upper House. Edmund Bohun replied to Collier in the tract possessed by our correspondent, entitled "A History of the Desertion, &c.," containing an account of all the proceedings connected with the Revolution, and a review of the king's acts, which led to the attempt of the Prince of Orange. Bohun's pamphlet is reprinted in the State Tracts of William III., i. 39-98.] EOBANUS.-A few days ago I saw in the library of a friend a small curious work, entitled "De tuendâ bonâ valetudine Libellus Eobani Hessi, commentariis doctissimis a Joanne Placobomo Professore Medico quondam in Academiâ Regiomontanâ illustratus. Franc. Anno M.D.LXXXII. ... Of Eobanus I know little, and that not to his credit. He died in 1540. Some of his writings are mentioned in a very brief account of him in Lemprière's Universal Biography, but not the above. S.S. S. [Helius Eobanus Hessus, a Latin poet of Hesse, was born Jan. 6,1488, under a tree in the fields, and therefore probably of obscure parents. He became, however, so famous by his poems, as to be called the German Homer. He taught the belles lettres at Erfort and Nuremberg, then at Marpurg, where the landgrave of Hesse loaded him with favours. Eobanus was given to his country vice of excessive drinking, in which he prided himself. He died Oct. 5, 1540, at Marpurg. A list of his works is given in the Biographie Universelle, ed. 1855, xii. 497, and Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica. His De Tuendâ bonâ Valetudine has been frequently reprinted, 1555, 1564, 1571, 1582, and particularly admired. The Life of Eobanus was written by Joachim Camerarius, Nuremb. 1553, 8vo.] RAGNAR LODBROG. Can you tell me where I can get an English version of Lodbrog's Sword Song? Also whether there is any good English poem on the death of Ignatius the martyr? W. P. WALSH. Sandford Parsonage, Dublin. [By the Sword Song our correspondent no doubt alludes to Lodbrog's Epicedium, or Death Song, of which every stanza began "Hiuggom ver med hiaurvi" (We hewed with our swords), or, according to Olaus Wormius' Latin version," Pugnavimus ensibus" (We have fought with swords). The following versions of this famed song have been published: (1.) "The Death-Song of RagnarLodbrog, King of Denmark. Translated from the Latin of O. Wormius, by H. Downman. Latin and English. Lond. 1781, 4to." (2.) "Lodbrokar-Quida: or the DeathSong of Lodbroc, now first correctly printed from various manuscripts, with a free English translation. To which are added the various readings, a literal Latin version, an Islando-Latino Glossary, and Explanatory Notes. By J. Johnstone. Printed at Copenhagen, 1782, 16mo." We have never met with any good English poem on the death of Ignatius. There is a tragedy entitled The Martyrdom of Ignatius, by the late John Gambold, M.A. |